S1: E5: Monkey Blood

            A younger Zach at age 13 is running outside crying, and carrying a rope with him. He’s running into the wooded area of the property. He climbs up a tree and ties a rope around the branch he stood on, and then ties the other end around his neck. Zach is crying louder, standing on the branch and looking down at the ground. He shuts his eyes tightly before he steps off the branch.

{Scene goes black}

            Lee is sitting on the ground staring at his dad’s severed arm. Lee’s face, shirt and hands are showered with blood. He hears the rovers in the mobile home-neighborhood getting closer. He stands up and pulls his dad into the truck. He throws the machete and the backpack into the bed of the vehicle and races into the driver’s seat, speeding away from the rovers.

{Intro}

            Mrs. Balusek runs inside the bathroom to Dylan with a medical kit. She takes Dylan’s arm, holding it tightly along the bone above the elbow to prevent blood flow. She pulls out one of the towels in the bathroom to cover the cut.

[Robyn]: Kelly! I need string or zip-ties; anything that’ll stop the bleeding!

            Kelly runs up to Robyn with a bandana. She ties it around Dylan’s arm above the cut as tight as she can.

[Robyn]: Ok Kelly, I need you to hold up his arm while I work on stopping the blood.

            Kelly holds Dylan's arm just like Robyn told her and she held his arm up above her head so that the blood flow would have to fight gravity and pressure points to get to the wound. The blood slows down some. Robyn cleans off as much blood as she can so she can look at the deepness of the wound.

[Robyn]: It’s not deep. But if the blood doesn’t stop he could possibly bleed out.

            Dylan is crying with growing regret of his actions. 

[Kelly]: Dylan, baby, I need you to relax.

            Zach and a few other students are outside the guest bedroom. Zach is freaking out, and Taylor, Danielle and Rose are crying. Robyn then calls out for Zach.

[Robyn]: Zach, do ya’ll have anything that you can think of that will stop the bleeding?!

[Zach]: Let me check!

            Zach runs into the kitchen cabinets where his grandma used to keep her medical supplies. He looks around and sees a small tincture of Iodine. He snatches it and then looks in the arts and crafts drawer in his grandpa’s old designer’s office. He finds a capsule of superglue, and races to the bathroom. He gives both of the items to Robyn.

[Zach]: I found some superglue and this extract of Iodine.

[Robyn]: This will work?

[Zach]: My grandpa used both of the stuff for when he got cuts and it worked pretty well. Construction workers used to call the Iodine stuff “Monkey Blood”.

            Robyn took the Monkey Blood, opened it and poured several drops on the line of the cut. Dylan yelled at the top of his lungs in agony.

[Robyn]: Zach, hold the cut together so I can glue it.

            Zach runs to Dylan’s arm and squeezes the wrist together as Robyn spread huge blobs of superglue onto his arm.

[Robyn]: Is there a hairdryer in here?

[Zach]: Center drawer under the sink.

            Robyn opened the drawer and pulled out the hairdryer, plugged it into the power outlet, and activated it, holding it over the superglue so that the heat dried it up quicker. Just then, Dylan’s knees buckle as he falls unconscious and he collapses. Zach and Kelly carry him to the bed.

[Kelly]: Use the pillows to keep his arm up.

            They stack pillows on top of each other and set Dylan’s arm on the stack. Robyn sits beside him to continue to dry up the superglue. Kelly takes Zach outside the guest room and closes the door.

            Lee is going over 90 miles per hour down the road. He pulls into the property and parks the truck just outside the green house. He takes his dad’s shotgun and fires a shot into the air. He pulls his dad out of the car as Dustin and Shane rush out to see what the shot was. They help Glenn into the house. Glenn, at this point is unconscious due to loss of blood. Maddy sees her dad and sobs loudly along with everyone else who saw him. They lay him on the bed in the boy’s bedroom. The arm is still bleeding badly.

[Lee]: (Crying) He was bit I didn’t know what else to do!

[Shane]: You’re ok, Lee, you might’ve just saved his life.

            Dustin took off his belt and tightened it around the arm a couple of inches from the sliced area.

[Dustin]: We gotta keep his arm elevated.

[Shane]: I could rig up a string that’ll tie around the arm and secure the string on the wall.

[Dustin]: Ok, do that now.

            Shane runs out of the room to find supplies.

            Lee is just outside the guy’s bedroom in tears when Maddy runs to him and hugs him. Lee hugs her tightly crying into her shoulder.

[Maddy]: Come on, let’s go, you don’t need to see this. 

            Lee and Maddy back out of the room and close the door. Lee sprints across the property and inside the white house. He runs up to Kelly as other students freak out at seeing him covered in blood. Zach is surprised to see him.

[Zach]: Lee?

[Lee]: Dustin needs Kelly and all the medical stuff we can. My dad’s hurt.

[Kelly]: Ok, I’ll get the stuff.

            Lee runs back out to the other side before Zach can ask further questions. Shane has already strung Glenn’s arm up so that it’s elevated. Shane isn’t in the room when Kelly comes in. There is still blood coming out but not as much as earlier. Glenn’s skin is increasingly pale. Kelly runs inside the room with the medical supplies. She gasps in shock at seeing Glenn’s missing arm.

[Dustin]: We need to wrap it.

[Kelly]: We can’t until it stops bleeding, or else it’ll just bleed through the gauze.

[Dustin]: How do we stop the bleeding?!

            Shane steps into the room with the lid to a pot. The lid is glowing red with heat.

[Shane]: We have to cauterize it.

            Shane kneels down next to the stump and holds the lid firmly against the stump. The stump hisses as the flesh cooks. Smoke rises from the wound. After a minute or two, Shane pulls away the lid, some of the flesh sticking to the it.

[Shane]: We might need to do it one more time just to ensure the cauterization worked.

            Shane goes back out the room and to the kitchen stove to heat the lid again. Lee steps into the room.

[Lee]: Is he gonna be ok?

[Kelly]: Of course he is, honey.

            Dustin looks doubtful. With the amount of blood lost, Glenn could possible die.

[Kelly]: Why don’t you go step out of the room, we’ll do what we can, ok?

            Lee walks back out of the room and closes the door. He steps into the living room and Zach is standing there. They’re the only two in the room.

[Zach]: (Quietly) what happened?

[Lee]: (Shaken voice) we were attacked. He was bit, so I…

[Zach]: I’m sorry, man. I sorry for a lot. I’m sorry for almost hitting you this morning.

[Lee]: You don’t have to be. I get it.

[Zach]: Whatever happens, Lee, I promise I’ll be here.

[Lee]: Thanks man.

            The two “bro-hug” it out. Lee and Zach start walking towards the white house.

[Zach]: (Hesitant) Dylan cut his wrist this morning.

[Lee]: What?!

[Zach]: He should be ok though. Before you came, we managed to stop the bleeding. I don’t know how he’s doing now, though.

[Lee]: Dang.

            The two are walking outside across the property.

[Lee]: Things literally have been getting worse every day.

[Zach]: …

[Lee]: I mean we’ve been here for three days. I thought it was bad enough having to be around people who’ve worn the same pair of socks and underwear for the past few days, so thanks, by the way, for letting me wear some of your clothes.

[Zach]: Yeah.

[Lee]: But then Dylan’s family, and then yours…now Dylan attempted suicide and I had to chop off my own dad’s arm. I’m getting so sick of this, you know?

[Zach]: …Yeah.

[Lee]: (Hesitant) Sorry, I wasn’t thinking when I brought up your family.

[Zach]: It’s fine.

            A tear rolls down his face and Zach wipes it away. They reach the white house and they walk inside the guest bedroom where Dylan is still unconscious. Robyn is sitting beside him in a chair watching him.

[Robyn]: Lee, you’re back!

            She gives Lee a hug.

[Robyn]: Why are you bleeding, what happened?!

[Lee]: You need to go to the other house. It’s dad.

            Robyn covers her mouth with her hands.

[Robyn]: What happened?

[Lee]: He should be fine. You’ll just have to go.

[Robyn]: …Ok, when it reaches 4:30 wrap his wrist in gauze carefully. His arm should be ready in a couple of minutes I wanna make sure the glue is dry.

            Robyn immediately leaves the room, leaving the two to watch Dylan. Lee notices the orange stain on Dylan’s wrist as well as the huge amount of dried superglue around the wrist.

[Lee]: Superglue?

[Zach]: …

[Lee]: What’s the orange stuff?

[Zach]: Monkey Blood.

[Lee]: What?

[Zach]: It’s an Iodine extract. Construction workers used to call it “Monkey Blood”.

[Lee]: Oh.

[Zach]: My grandpa used it all the time…he used to manage his own construction business.

[Lee]: That’s cool.

            Alissa is talking to her brother Josh in the living room of the white house.

[Alissa]: We need to talk to Dustin about going back home.

[Josh]: Right.

[Alissa]: Thing is, they’re probably not gonna let us and Nick go on our own.

[Josh]: Of course not.

[Alissa]: I’m just saying that right now things are really crazy, but we need to get home. 

[Josh]: Right.

[Alissa]: What do you think? Should we just leave a note and then go, or wait another couple of days?

[Josh]: I don’t know. I wish we could call our parents but the phone lines went down yesterday I can’t get a hold of them.

[Alissa]: Yeah. I’m gonna go talk to Nicholas and see what he thinks.

[Josh]: Ok.

            Alissa gets up and walks away. Josh watches her leave. He looks down at the ground contemplating of what they should do.

            Taylor’s grandpa drives into the parking lot and takes her home. Dustin waves them goodbye. He stays outside by himself to enjoy the silence. He covers his hands with his face.

[Dustin]: (Whisper) when is this going to end? Is it going to end?

            Dustin moves his hands from his face.

[Dustin]: (Normal voice) is this the end?

            Noah comes out of nowhere and hugs his dad’s leg.

[Noah]: Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy.

            Dustin smiles and picks up his son and hugs him as he walks back inside.

            Glenn’s arm is wrapped up. The string rig was taken down, allowing his arm to rest on top of several pillows to keep it elevated. Robyn is crying over him, and Maddy is in the corner with tears falling down her face. Haven comes into the room and hugs Maddy.

[Robyn]: Come back to me, Glenn. I lost a husband before I can’t bear to lose you.

            Robyn kisses Glenn’s forehead.

[Robyn]: (Sobbing) I love you, Glenn.

            Dylan’s entire arm is poorly wrapped in several layers of gauze. Lee and Zach are standing over him.

[Lee]: I think that’s good.

[Zach]: Yeah.

            The two hear the sound of a car engine turning on. They run outside and see Josh, Alissa, and Nicholas in Josh’s truck about to leave the property. Zach and Lee run in front of the truck to stop it. Josh slams on the breaks and gets out of the truck.

[Zach]: What are ya’ll doing?!

[Josh]: We’re going home.

            Alissa gets out of the car.

[Zach]: Without telling me: one of your best friends?! You just decide to leave expecting everyone to not notice?!

            Zach pushes Josh in the chest. Alissa steps between the two.

[Alissa]: That’s not true! We didn’t wanna burden Dustin or any of the others to have to come with us while everything else is going on!

[Lee]: My sister needs her friends right now; all of them. And it honestly doesn’t help either way for you guys to leave.

[Alissa]: We want to stay with you guys, don’t think that we don’t!

[Zach]: Then stay until we figure this out! We’ll figure it out I know it!

[Alissa]: Almost four days, Zach. I can only imagine what our parents are thinking right now. They probably think we’re dead.

[Zach]: And you think you will be any different going out there on your own?

[Josh]: You expect us to stay here?

[Lee]: No…well I mean, kind of, but just until things slow down before the adults freak out over a couple of students disappearing all of the sudden.

            There is a pause for a few seconds.

[Josh]: We’ll stick around.

            Alissa turns around to face josh with a bit of shock on her face.

[Josh]: They’re right. If we leave we’ll just be another problem for them.

            Alissa understands and calms down.

[Alissa]: Fine. But once Mr. Balusek is for sure gonna make it-

[Lee]: My dad will make it.

[Alissa]: Then we have to get to our family.

[Zach]: We understand, Alissa, we do. We just love you guys too much. Ya’ll are family.

            Zach hugs Alissa and bro-hugs Josh.

[Zach]: Just don’t leave without saying goodbye. I’m sorry for pushing you.

[Josh]: Don’t worry about it.

           

            Another car pulls into the property in front of the green house. It’s Haven and Emily Chance’s parents. The two step out of the vehicle and Dustin leads them inside. They walk into the boy’s bedroom to see Glenn. Mrs. Chance hugs Robyn.

[Mrs. Chance]: We saw the paper on the student center door while we were looking for Haven and Emily. Are they here?

[Robyn]: Yes, they’re here. They’re probably in the other house on the other side.

[Dustin]: I’ll walk them over.

[Mrs. Chance]: I’m sorry Robyn. We’ll be praying for him. We’ll stay until he gets better.

[Robyn]: Thank you.

            Dustin, and Mr. and Mrs. Chance walk into the white house. Haven and Emily immediately run to them and hug them. Emily starts crying.

[Emily]: I thought ya’ll were dead!

[Mrs.]: We’re here now, Emmie, it’s ok.

            Zach, Josh, Alissa, Lee and Nick watch the family’s reunion in the kitchen until they hear Dylan groan in the guest room. The five run inside to see him. Zach sits next to him. Dylan is waking up.

[Zach]: Hey, man, hey you’re ok, dude.

            Dylan sees his friends watching him. At first he’s confused as to why they’re looking at him, and then he remembers. He covers his face with his hands.

[Dylan]: I…

[Zach]: (interrupts) you’re alive, and that’s all you gotta worry about. I’m glad you’re safe, man.

[Dylan]: (Sighs) Dude, now everybody’s gonna judge me and-

[Alyssa]: No one’s gonna do that, Dylan.

[Lee]: If they do, we’ll punch them in the nuts.

[Zach]: No one is gonna look at you differently, man. I know it.

[Dylan]: How? They all know what I tried to do! I feel awful, bro.

[Zach]: I know because a lot of us here right now have tried the same thing you did…

            Dylan looks at Zach as well as the other four. Zach hesitates before finishing his sentence.

[Zach]: …including me.

[Nicholas]: Seriously? What? That’s stupid what do-

[Alissa]: (Punches Nick in the stomach) shut up nick!

[Zach]: (Hesitates) I was thirteen, I was depressed because I was rejected by almost everyone. I was self-centered and thought my life would be better if I ended it. So I climbed up a tree and tied a rope around the branch and the other end around my neck, and then I stepped off….

            Zach sees a flashback of him stepping off the branch.

[Zach]: …and then I heard a loud snap. I thought that was it; I just killed myself; I just ended my life because life threw me a curve ball in that particular time. I just killed myself not thinking of what my family would react to seeing my lifeless body dangling from a tree. I felt this overwhelming weight of selfishness but I knew it was too late. Then suddenly…

            Zach sees a flashback of himself landing on the ground hard.

[Zach]: My feet hit the ground and I landed on my back. I didn’t know what was happening. I looked around and behind me…was the branch that I tied the rope around. It just snapped. Like a twig. I felt so relieved in that moment, I started crying. I was given a second chance that I didn’t deserve, but God gave it to me anyways. I think it was that moment that I decided to live out my life as a better Christian. Since then I have friends that I call family. Lee, Josh, Alissa, Maddy, you. Ya’ll are my family, and I almost lost all of you when I lost my mind yesterday.

[Lee]: Nah, man. You wouldn’t have lost us, just like you won’t lose us, Dylan. We got you.

[Zach]: (slight smile) But hey Dylan, listen. Just because life is hard now, doesn’t mean it’s going to be hard forever. You gotta pull through, poor some monkey blood on it, and move on as best you can. Find a reason to keep going, and there’s always is a reason.     

            Dylan nods, and bro-hugs Zach.

            Haven and Maddy are talking in the living room of the green house.

[Haven]: So maybe now we can go to the farm.

[Maddy]: Yeah. Well, I don’t know, because my mom was saying that things might change with Zach and Hannah and everything.

[Haven]: They could come with us.

[Maddy]: Yeah they should that would be cool. But I don’t know, my mom’s weird, she doesn’t think there’s enough room, not even for your family, and my family, and Brittany’s family.

[Haven]: Yeah.  

[Maddy]: I just can’t wait for it all to be over.

            Lee, Brittany, Dylan and Zach are sitting on the couch in the living room of the white house.

[Brittany]: So what do you think is gonna happen?

[Lee]: The farm?

[Brittany]: Yeah.

[Lee]: (Inhales sharply) I don’t know. I don’t really see the point. We haven’t seen any rovers for the past three days.

[Zach]: Almost four.

[Dylan]: It’s only been three days? It felt like an entire week.

[Lee]: Yeah.

            The four are silent for a few seconds. Zach is thinking hard.

[Zach]: (Mumbling) we could stay here.

[Brittany]: What?

[Zach]: We could stay here. There’s plenty of room for more beds, we’re isolated from most of society so rovers are gonna be fewer in number…

[Lee]: I don’t know, tell that to my dad.

[Zach]: Ok yeah what happened was terrible, but at the same time, if we’re honest with ourselves, we don’t know how to deal with any of this. All we know is how to kill them, and how to distract them. We haven’t figured out how to survive this, but when we do, we will.

[Dylan]: That’s true.

[Zach]: We can build stronger fences, put together inventions to help us collect water when it rains, we can plant food and go on supply runs when we need to, my grandpa has the gun shop just outside the house and I know how to make bullets so we don’t have to worry about ammo…we could survive here.

[Lee]: …Honestly, it’s not a bad idea.

[Dylan]: We should talk to the adults. See what they think.

[Zach]: You want to?

[Brittany]: Yeah we really should, plus it’s in the area of most of the homes of the other kids and it would give us more time to find their parents.

[Zach]: Exactly. We should go talk to them, let’s go.

{Cut to the end of the conversation between the four kids and Dustin, Robyn, Mr. and Mrs. Chance, and Shane.}

[Robyn]: No.

[Zach]: Hold up, let me finish: If we stay here, first of all, it’ll give Uncle Glenn more time to heal, and less stress. Also, we’re already here, and risking the safety of everyone just to get to another area that is just like this one doesn’t make sense. Plus, there’s enough room for all of us, even the students. We throw away the furniture we don’t need and replace them with beds, and…

[Dustin]: No, Zach, listen. This isn’t some apocalypse movie where all of your best friends survive together all the way to the end. This is actually happening and people are dying. We all have families to go to, even if some of the students lost some. You seriously can’t expect all of us to stay here and not go back to the rest of our families?

[Zach]: Well no, but at the same time how would we find them in the first place? If the kid’s parents are not at their homes, where else are we gonna go? Do you expect all of these kids to remember where their uncles and aunts or grandparents live if they have any?

[Dustin]: So you’re just gonna give up on them and have them stay here?

[Zach]: (Raising his voice) No, that’s the thing, staying here will buy us more time to help them find their way back home!

[Lee]: It really is safer here too, attempting to get our farm would be risking too much because we gotta drive through town and down the highways and that’s gonna be impossible.

[Robyn]: How can you think this place is safer? Do you realize what could happen to your father?!

[Lee]: Because we didn’t know and we still don’t know how to deal with them! Look we had a good system going using sound to drive them away and everything, it was because dad’s truck got stuck that this is happening not because it isn’t isolated enough!

[Zach]: But we’ll learn, we’ll figure it out because that’s how we’re gonna make it is by learning. We’ll wait for Uncle Glenn to heal, and then we’ll help the students find their families-

[Dustin]: You guys can do what you want, but my family and I aren’t staying.

            The group is silent.

[Dustin]: Kelly and I were gonna wait to tell you after Glenn healed, but apparently I gotta tell you now. We’re leaving as soon as Glenn’s survival is confirmed.

            Brittany starts tearing up.

[Brittany]: After all that’s happened and after everything we’ve been through your just gonna leave?

[Dustin]: I have family, Brittany. Kelly has family. We can’t abandon them. I don’t want to leave I really don’t. But I have to do what I feel is best for my family.

            Brittany starts crying, she walks away from the conversation. Lee is beginning to tear up. A tear roles down Dustin’s cheek but he quickly wipes it away. Zach starts welling up with tears.

[Dustin]: Now, Zach. I know you’re trying to make things work out so that everyone wins. But it’s not. You just can’t.

            Zach shuts his eyes tightly to hold the tears and walks away. Dylan follows him. The adults are quietly standing together.

            Brittany and Lee are sitting together up against the wall of the girl’s bedroom. Shane walks in.

[Brittany]: (Sobbing) did you know about Dustin leaving?!

[Shane]: No, Brittany I-

[Brittany]: Are you leaving too?!

[Shane]: No, of course not, you and Roger while your mom isn’t here are my responsibility. You need to relax, and calm down. 

[Brittany]: (Sobbing) After everything…all those praise band practices the events we planned for the youth group all summer, all the good times the youth had with Dustin and now all of the sudden he’s just gonna leave.

[Shane]: You have to understand his predicament. You want to see your mom just as much as Dustin wants to see his family. As close as you are to Dustin, he’s not your family.

[Brittany]: You don’t have to be blood to be family, Shane! You and I and Roger of all people should know that!

[Lee]: Brittany…

[Brittany]: No, Lee, you are not taking Shane’s side on this!

[Lee]: (Stands up) I’m not taking anyone’s side, Brittany but you have to understand what’s happening.

[Brittany]: (Stands up) Do you wanna know what’s actually happening?! We are falling apart! Our youth group used to be so tight but now when things are falling about and when our relationships are supposed to be stronger…we’re falling apart just like the rest of world. You know maybe Dustin never cared in the first place! Maybe all this time, me, you, Zach, Lauren, all the older kids were just kids going through the youth group and made Dustin smile every once and a while!

[Lee]: Ok, you and I both know that’s not true.

[Brittany]: Then what is, Lee?! What else is there?!

            The three simply stare at each other without a response.

[Lee]: There’s me…Shane, Zach…my sister and mom, there are still people here that you call family. If you really care about Dustin like I do, you have to let him go to his family. If God plans it, then we’ll see him again.

            Brittany is left without words. She burst into tears submitting to what Lee and Shane were trying to tell her.  

            Zach is walking down the hallway entrance to his house in tears when he suddenly hears the door knock. He stops what he’s doing and slowly walks towards the door. He opens it, and standing in front of him covered in dirt and blood stains is Timothy and Kelly Roland.

{Scene goes black}

{End Credits}