The Host Page #2

transfer tomorrow.

We will stay outside

your door tonight

so no harm will come to you.

Or to others.

MELANIE:
Please. I don't care if I die.

I can't have her inside me.

Melanie, I have to do my duty.

You have to do what's right.

She'll kill my family.

Jamie, Jared, she'll kill them.

Wanderer, please.

Your Healer.

Do you think he would help?

I think so. But I don't

know how to reach him.

We need to find him.

We have to get out of here.

We?

Yes!

Put the chair against the door.

No. The other way.

How does this help?

There's no way out.

Yes, there is. That way.

Do it, Wanderer. Move.

Open it.

Come on.

You can do this.

It's not so high.

This is nothing.

It's gonna be okay.

Climb up.

Now jump.

I can't.

It's a good thing I can.

(SCREAMS)

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

Swim!

SEEKER REED:
Wanderer?

Are you all right?

You could have killed us.

(BREATHING HEAVILY)

Run!

Step aside.

Wanderer?

(GRUNTS)

I'm sorry.

We need to steal a car.

Don't worry.

I've done it before.

Let me handle this.

You?

What are you doing? Wait!

Shh! Quiet!

Do you need help?

May I borrow your vehicle?

Please. It is important.

Certainly.

Can I be of assistance?

No. Thank you.

This is an extremely

reliable model.

(TIRES SCREECHING)

The tank is full.

MELANIE:
Huh!

That's a good trick.

It was no trick. We do not lie.

We trust each other.

You guys take

the fun out of everything.

Where are we going?

I will take you to my

Healer in Fort Worth.

Even if your Healer agrees

to keep me inside you,

I'll still be a prisoner.

You will still be alive.

So will the people you love.

That Seeker is a lot of

things, but she's not a fool.

Sooner or later, she'll work

out where you're going.

We need a map.

I'll show you the way.

(JIVE MUSIC PLAYING)

(LAUGHS)

(SCREAMS)

What's wrong?

Are the memories too painful?

How do you think I feel?

I know how you feel.

That's the problem.

When you take the body,

the feelings come with it.

It's a package deal.

Where are we?

You tell me. You're the one

with the steering wheel.

You sent us

in the wrong direction.

You have been putting thoughts

in my head to distract me.

(TIRES SCREECHING)

The Seeker was right. You are

an unreasonable species.

I try to help you and

this is how you thank me.

We are going to Fort Worth.

No!

(TIRES SCREECHING)

(COUGHS)

Will it still work?

Not anymore.

Now what do we do?

We walk.

Which way?

You can go my way,

or you can go your own

way and kill us both.

You planned this.

I made a promise. I promised

my brother I'd come back.

How could I have

been so foolish?

I can never trust you again.

How do I know I can trust you?

I'm giving you

exactly what you wanted.

Taking you to my family

could get them killed.

We head east.

Come on.

Don't leave tracks.

Walk on the rocks.

Did you really think

you could beat me?

(PANTING)

Save the water.

We're gonna need it.

I need it now.

We've been walking for ages.

How do you think

you're going to find them?

My uncle had a cabin

out here in the desert.

We were heading

out here to join him.

If he survived.

It's farther than I thought.

I don't know how much

farther I can go.

We've walked too far

to walk back.

(CAR ENGINE HUMMING)

(TIRES SCREECHING)

JEB:
Melanie.

(GASPS)

Come on, girl.

Stay with me.

Uncle Jeb.

(BREATHING HEAVILY)

You found us.

Us?

Jamie? Jared? Are they here?

Are they safe?

MAN:
I told you I saw one.

Why did you give it water?

On account of it was dying.

MELANIE:
Uncle Jeb!

I'm in here!

Hold it, Kyle.

Why?

She's one of them.

Well, yeah, she surely is,

but she's also my niece.

Was.

I'm just saying

it's complicated, Ian.

I can make it simple.

Yeah, me, too.

MELANIE:
Aunt Maggie!

Aunt Maggie!

You don't fool us, parasite!

MELANIE:
Oh, God. They don't see me.

They only see you.

Now, Maggie.

Don't you "Maggie" me,

little brother.

It could bring a whole

army down on our heads.

I don't see anyone.

I'm in here.

This is unkind, Jebediah.

Let's go.

Life is unkind, Magnolia.

JEB:
Watch your head.

MELANIE:

Where are we, Wanderer?

I reckon it's safe enough now.

So many humans alive.

We haven't lost.

Jared!

Jared!

Jared's alive! Jared's...

(GRUNTS)

Enough, Jared.

MAGGIE:
Jebediah,

I know it's hard.

But we gotta do

what's best for everyone.

She's gotta go to Doc's place.

Just like the rest.

Ain't that right, Doc?

No!

Jamie!

I don't see any tracks.

She didn't fly away.

This Wanderer is

living up to her name.

We find her,

we find the resistance.

Melanie?

Wanderer?

They don't know a human can

stay alive in a body.

You can't tell them

I'm in here.

They won't believe you.

They'll think you're

lying to save yourself.

Oh, God.

They're gonna kill us.

I'm sorry.

Move aside, Jared.

Get out of the way.

IAN:
We can't keep her

prisoner forever.

It's gonna escape

and lead them to us.

I don't want to

hurt you, Jared.

But I will.

No!

I am what you want!

Stay back!

I am what you want!

(GRUNTS)

Ian! Get it!

Leave him alone!

MELANIE:
Keep breathing! Come on, Wanderer!

Fight him! Fight!

Finish it!

(CHOKING)

JEB:
Good evening, everyone.

I hate to remind you, but this is

my place, and you are my guests.

For the moment, she is, too.

I don't take kindly to my

guests strangling each other.

Jeb, it's got to die.

We took a vote.

This ain't a democracy.

It's a dictatorship.

It's a benign dictatorship, but

it's a dictatorship just the same.

You mind telling us what

you plan on doing with it?

This ain't never

happened before.

One of our own coming back.

For right now,

this tunnel is off limits.

If I find any of you back here,

I'm asking questions second.

I'll take

the next watch, Jared.

Keep it away from the kid.

SEEKER REED:
I do not think

we are looking for Wanderer.

I think we are

looking for a body.

SEEKER PAVO:
Even if she were

not hurt in the wreck,

how long could she

survive in this place?

From my experience, this

host has difficulty dying.

There's too much

land for us to cover.

I am requesting more Seekers,

ground and air patrols.

Are they really such a threat?

We outnumber them

a million to one.

He's still pissed you hit him.

I told him you were sorry.

I'm not.

I know.

No one's ever sorry

for hitting my brother.

It looks like they're

calling off the search.

Not that one.

MELANIE:
Jamie!

Little brother.

Do you know who I am?

You are Jamie.

But you're not Melanie.

I want to know what happened

to my sister that night.

She said that she

was gonna come back.

If he can't know I'm alive,

he deserves to know

what happened to me.

I'm not a kid.

Please.

To protect you and Jared,

she tried to take her life.

Our healers mended her

and put me in her

hoping I could find out if there

were other human survivors.

JAMIE:
Do you have a name?

They call me Wanderer.

Where do you come from?

Another planet.

What the hell?

Damn it, Jeb, I told you.

JEB:
To keep her

away from the kid.

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