ScavCity

ext. forested hill - late day

Lia stares down into the valley before them. The blackened ruins of a destroyed city lie in the distance.

Arin

Don't tell me you're stopping to let me drive.

LIA

We have to figure out how to get through that city.

Arin

Abandoned ruins don't put up much of a fight.

LIA

There will be Scavs living inside the city walls.

Arin

What? Don't tell me you believe those old war stories.

LIA

They're not stories. Anyone who's been in this part of the world long enough knows that.

ARIN

So, you're telling me a Resistance assassin is afraid of a group of people with spongy brains.

LIA

I didn't say I was afraid. I just said it wasn't going to be easy.

Arin

Why not? If anything I heard about them is actually true, then they were stripped of all their weapons during the war. They have nothing to fight with.

lia

They don't need weapons. They swarm. You may be able to take down a few, but once they surround you, it's over. They'll take everything we have and if we try to fight, they'll just kill us.

Lia pulls one of the guns out from under her jacket.

LIA

I need you to protect us.

Arin

Are you serious?

LIA

Very. So, will you?

Arin

Okay.

LIA

Don't shoot unless I say. They may come at us, but we'll be going faster. As long as we keep moving, we'll be okay. And if we stop moving, for any reason, then just shoot as fast and as accurately as possible. Understand?

Arin

Aye, aye, sir.

Lia hesitates to hand Arin the gun, fearing that he does not believe her. He reaches for the gun. She pulls it back.

ARIN

I won't let anything happen, Lia. I promise.

Lia passes over the gun. Arin checks the ammo and the safety, then holds the gun up in front of him. Lia takes a deep breath and starts the motorcycle up again.

ext. Scav city - sunset

The city is a total ruin. The buildings are either reduced to rubble or nothing but burnt out shells. Dust clouds the air and strange vapors rise from the street.

Lia and Arin speed along at a steady pace, straight into the heart of the city. The buildings increase in height and the streets grow darker and more narrow.

ARIN SEES A FLASH OF MOVEMENT out of the corner of his eye. SCAVS, shrouded in rags, dart around in the shadows. Arin peers down each narrow corridor, trying to track the movement of the Scavs as they scatter.

A CRAZED MAN FLIES OUT from behind a pile of rubble and jumps at Lia. He grasps her hair tries to tug her off the motorcycle. LIA SCREAMS.

LIA

Now!

ARIN SHOOTS. The Man's body bounces off the back of the motorcycle and rolls onto the street behind them. Lia speeds up.

LIA

They'll have heard that. More will be coming.

LIA TAKES THE TURNS AT FULL SPEED, screeching the tires along the streets. There are sunken faces everywhere and eyes look out from every shadowy crevice.

Lia looks around, frantically scanning the city for signals as they speed through the streets.

LIA

In front!

TWO SCAVS RUN STRAIGHT TOWARD THEM. Arin shoots one and then the other, square in the chest. They drop to either side of the motorcycle as it zooms into another street.

LIA

I have to turn around.

Arin

They're right behind us.

LIA

Just hold on.

LIA PULLS A HARD U-TURN, kicking dust and rubble up around the motorcycle. They come to a momentary stop, then zoom back down the corridor.

SCAVS JUMP OUT FROM EVERYWHERE. They leap at them and try to grab anything they can. They jump in front of the motorcycle. The wheels bump over their limbs.

A WOMAN GRABS THE BACK OF THE BIKE and is dragged along the street. She loses her grip and gets trampled by a HOARD OF SCAVS as they chase they motorcycle down the street.

Lia drives out into an open square. SCAVS SWARM THEM FROM EVERY DIRECTION. Arin shoots them one by one, but there are far too many. The crowd closes in on them.

Lia drives the motorcycle toward a massive hole in the side of a building that has been loosely boarded over.

Arin

What are you doing?

LIA

Brace yourself!

LIA KICKS UP SPEED AND THE MOTORCYCLE FLIES AT THE BOARDS.

int. underground staircase - continuous

THE MOTORCYCLE CRASHES THROUGH THE BOARDS and slides down a large staircase. IT SLAMS INTO A WALL at the end of the first flight. Arin shakes off a pile of debris.

Lia, dazed from the crash, is bending over the handlebars coughing up dust. Arin pulls her off of the motorcycle.

THE SCAVS CLOSE IN. Lia and Arin run down the stairs into the darkness below. The staircase is choked with old human skeletons that splinter under their feet.

They run further and further down the large staircase, pushing through bones, as the hyena like snarls of the Scavs above grow louder.

Lia and Arin reach the bottom of the stairs and enter a dark tunnel. A single shaft of sunlight shines down from the street above. Lia tugs on Arin's arm.

LIA

Wait . . . wait.

Lia and Arin both stop, panting for breath. They stare up into the shaft of sunlight, listening to the chaos above.

Sounds of scraping, twisting metal, and loud crashes mix with screams, snarls and growls of the Scavs above them. The Scavs tear the motorcycle to shreds.

The last shaft of sunlight slowly disappears, leaving Lia and Arin in total darkness.