Z for Zachariah Page #3

---

One day, I see this warehouse

by the main road.

There's some water jugs

on the outside.

I'm hoping for water.

Readings were low.

When I come out,

there's someone in my wagon.

It's a boy maybe 13,

maybe even 14 years old.

He must've been on the main

road, coming from the south.

I was scared

of going south back then.

I don't know why.

The fallout--I was--

He's the reason I came this way.

He was sick.

Filthy.

His belly distended,

stealing my food.

Everything he put down,

he just was throwing up.

I couldn't help him.

I get him out of the wagon.

He's grabbing for the door,

so we get into it.

Pulls out a knife.

Swinging at me weakly.

That's when I took out my gun.

Soon as he saw it, he gave up.

Just started crying.

He was on his knees,

just begging me to kill him.

I couldn't do anything.

I just put him off

to the side of the road,

and I left him there to die.

You know how I said the people

I worked with in the mine left

and never came back?

That's not really true.

It was me and four others.

They were older guys,

family men, like I said.

You know, the first weeks

down there were...

awful.

Phones were down.

Radio station went off one by one.

Started getting... claustrophobic,

thinking everybody's

plotting against you.

One of them, Micah--

he's this really big dude,

but a gentle fellow--

Well, he just snapped.

Says he's got to get

out of the mine no matter what,

but the others won't let him.

Thought the radiation

would leak inside

if the safe room hatch was open.

Well, he--

he threw himself on the others.

They ripped each other to shreds

just using their hands.

In the end, only Micah

was left, covered in blood,

and I'm sure

he's gonna kill me too.

But I just--I met his glance.

I looked him back in the eye...

And he backed away from me.

Collapsed.

A few hours later, he was dead.

I'm so sorry, Caleb.

And we keep some water

here in the house

if you need any tonight.

Easier than waking up

and walking out to the well, huh?

Yeah, right.

Ann:
And up here is your room.

- These pictures of you?

- Yeah, it's me.

Bathroom.

And this is you.

Hmm. Middle school football.

Man, oh, man,

I'd rather be in hell

with my back broke

than be back there again.

Well, I'll..

I'll clear away all this stuff

in the morning.

No, don't.

I like it like this.

I won't be here long.

What are you doing?

What do you mean?

We don't know anything

about this guy.

Could be anybody

for all we know.

I was just showing him his room.

John, you wanted him to stay.

No, no, no, no,

you invited him into the house.

You cooked him dinner.

You set him up

down the hall from us.

You know what?

I mean, it's not like he's a bad man.

Right? I mean...

You really believe that?

I don't know what to think yet.

You never told me

about that boy in the wagon.

Look, I don't want to--

I don't want to

talk about that, okay?

Well, I wish you would.

Truth is, I don't think

you'd understand.

Why wouldn't I understand?

I lived through this too,

remember?

Know how I said I was gonna

plant the fields

back before summer?

I actually started to,

and then just...

thought I wouldn't even bother.

I mean, I'm sure what--

what you went through

out there was horrible.

L ml-

but it--I mean, it wasn't--

wasn't...easy here.

I kept--I kept this calendar

for the first few months

after they left.

And then after awhile,

I just realized it didn't...

it didn't matter.

They weren't coming back.

Just seemed stupid.

I stopped--

stopped thinking about

how many days were going by.

I just was really sick

of being on my own, you know?

I just didn't want

to be on my own anymore.

What I'm saying

is that you come

and made me want to

go through it all again.

And not just somebody.

You.

I killed him.

The boy.

I think it was your brother.

I don't know.

Looked like him.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

It's okay.

So we got kale down there,

soybeans up by the house.

Round here, there's cucumber,

tomato, squash,

milk from the cows,

obviously, and eggs

and occasionally meat

from the chickens.

She seems older

than she is, huh?

Yeah.

You know what you also got? Turkey.

You hungry, Mr. Loomis?

- Oh!

- Damn it.

Just missed.

- So what's your plan?

- Early on,

when the radio stations

were still broadcasting,

there was talk about a lot

of people heading south.

Well, there was plenty

of old recordings

hoping over and over

on the BBS-

Yeah, we heard all those.

We could tell the difference.

No, you most certainly misheard.

I mean, the ancillary fallout?

- Especially in the South--

- No, Mr. Loomis.

Mr. Loomis, it's a town

called Anson near the Gulf.

- There's no one left out there.

- The guy on the radio said

there're about three dozen,

all family of military.

You were military, right,

Mr. Loomis?

- I was a civil contractor.

- Shh.

You fancy a wager

on which one of us bags him?

All right. What do we stake?

Ann.

I'm joking, Mr. Loomis.

For bragging rights is all.

So you're gonna put

the platform down there?

Mm-hmm.

Water's radioactive,

but we got the suit.

Put the wheel on the platform

to stabilize it,

then we get some kind of--

some kind of race to divert

the water into the buckets

and spin it fast enough

to power the generator.

And you know how to do all that?

Yeah.

See, we don't need Anson.

We could be Anson.

It's pretty cool, Mr. Loomis.

So why haven't you started

building it yet?

Well, the issue

is the raw materials.

Ann has a sentimental

attachment to her church.

Father was the pastor there.

I don't know.

She says she's okay with it,

but I didn't want to upset her.

Good shot.

Ann:
Okay, who's gonna carve it?

Mr. Loomis should. He shot it.

All right.

So that's your daddy's chapel?

Mm-hmm.

Well, he'd say it's God's chapel

and he just works there.

Mr. Loomis says

you have to tear it down

to build his water project up.

That's not what I said.

I said we didn't have

to do the water project,

at least not right away.

Hmm.

Ann, you probably want to wait.

Well, you know,

rebuilding's important.

I think we should plan for it.

Well, I'm confused now.

You sound like Mr. Loomis.

Excuse me?

It's just a project.

It'll happen when

it needs to happen, okay?

I mean, we have wood

coming out of our ears here

- with the trees and--

- Ann...

there's no way to cut the trees.

I'm sure we can come up

with a way to take them down.

- Don't you think?

- No, it's--

it's not even the taking them down.

It's the milling them

that's the problem.

Would you ever

consider another building?

- Maybe one not so near to her?

- We had this conversation.

We had this conversation.

There's not another building.

You want to drop it now?

Hmm.

I guess the-- It's the only way.

Yeah, guess so.

Well, let's get to it then.

Ha.

Ann?

Yeah.

Sure. Why not?

John:
All right!

Whoo!

Come on, lift it up, Mr. Loomis!

A little more. That's good.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes