The Vail: London Fog (Episode Four: The Men)

This was one of the most difficult episodes I ever wrote. One thing led to another and I found myself with eleven characters in one scene in what is supposed to be no more than a five page short script. It was tough. But I feel I may ahve puled it off while still throwing a lot of informaton and acting into the scene. I did my best to follow and adhere to the David Mamet rules of not fucking up scripts while also being inspired by the Joss Whedon kick ass and awesome the audience until they can't breathe way of writing. I would really love feedback on this one.... if any of you are still reading.

The Vail: London Fog
by Joey Pettine

Episode Four: The Men

(A tiny hospital room. In bed is ANDY VAIL, tossing, turning, groaning, having a terrible nightmare. STEVEN TILLHOUSE sits beside him, concerned. Andy wakes with a start.)

ANDY
I have to go to London.

STEVEN
London? Why?

ANDY
I don't know. Somethings happening there. I think. I need to check it out. Where am I?

STEVEN
Rotterdam Memorial Hospital.

ANDY
The zom—undead have hospitals?

STEVEN
Hospital, just one. Most victims of the undead are misinformed medical practitioners, they deserve a place to ply their trade. You caused a bit of excitement, almost dying. People fought over you. Straws were drawn.

ANDY
That's morbid. At least I made it. I did make it, right? I'm not--

STEVEN
You're alive. The conventional alive. But it was touch and go for a bit there. What happened to you?

ANDY
I got chunks of flesh ripped out of my back, you were there. Might be a minor inconvenience for you but wounds like that don't tend to sit well with us living folk.

STEVEN
I've seen you pick up grown men with one hand. You once took a bullet to the belly and brushed it off like a bug bite. You're superhuman.

ANDY
I'm only human, Steve.
STEVEN
Since when?

ANDY
Since Henry left. It just happened.

STEVEN
From hero to zero.

ANDY
Just like that. Mostly. I didn't lose everything, just the physical stuff. I've still got the sixth sense. I see dead people. And a bunch of other things.

STEVEN
Andy, being human is alright but not if you make a habit of chasing after monsters.

ANDY
Could you go back? If you weren't dead, if you were regular old living Steve, could you just go back and act like nothing was different?

STEVEN
I'd try.

ANDY
I'm not you.

STEVEN
I'm just saying. You keep on like this, you'll die.

ANDY
Didn't stop you. Now help me up.

STEVEN
I'd like the nurses to check you out first. Barb?

(Enter BARBARA with NURSE B, who looks perfectly normal for being dead, and NURSE R, her right eye missing.)

BARBARA
How you feelin', Mister Livin'?

ANDY
Like something ate pieces of my back.

STEVEN
That's what the girls are here for. Check him out, ladies.
NURSE R
Already have been, Mister T.

NURSE B
You're so bad.

NURSE R
Alright, Mr. V, this is gonna hurt.

(The nurses get on either side of Andy, grip his arms, and, with one swift movement, they sit him up. He groans pain and surprise. They begin to check and replace the bandages on his wounds.)

ANDY
That wasn't gentle at all.

NURSE B
Gentle shmentle.

NURSE R
You like it rough.

STEVEN
Why London?

ANDY
I feel I should.

STEVEN
You know where those feelings lead you.

ANDY
That's why I have to g-OW!

NURSE B
Enough jibber jabber.

NURSE R
You're not going anywhere until we say so.

STEVEN
How's he look?

NURSE R
Damn good, unfortunately.

NURSE B
And not just in the his-living-flesh-glistens-like-a-sexual-God way. His wounds are clean, infection free, and healing as they should. It's refreshing to treat supple, yummy flesh.

NURSE R
Lot better than scraping off mushrooms or scooping out maggots.

ANDY
Do that a lot around here?

NURSE R
This is a zombie hospital, fleshpot. That's half the job description.

NURSE B
You know I don't like that word.

NURSE R
I know, I wouldn't call this much of a job either.

NURSE B
The “z” word.

NURSE R
I'm undead. I'm allowed to say it.

ANDY
So I can go?

NURSE B
If you wish.

NURSE R
But if you didn't I'm sure we could find a bed for you. Might not be empty but it's not really necrophilia if they move.

ANDY
Pants! Steve, I wants my pants now.

NURSE R
Don't be such a wuss.

NURSE B
It would probably help with those nightmares of yours.

STEVEN
Nightmares?
NURSE B
Mr. V here was tossing and turning and running up a cold sweat all evening.

NURSE R
Screamed for your Nana at one point, you big baby.

NURSE B
That's what you said. Said you wanted Nan.

STEVEN
What were the nightmares?

ANDY
You're playing the concerned parent a bit much, buddy.

BARBARA
Steven cares, Mr. Vail. A caring friend does not warrant snipitiness.

ANDY
They're just nightmares. I'm allowed to have nightmares in this line of work.

STEVEN
This isn't something you have to do. How long have you been having them?

ANDY
Steve, I'm fine and you really need to help me out of this bed.

STEVEN
Andy, talk to me. What's wrong?

ANDY
You know those feelings I get?

STEVEN
London can wait.

ANDY
This can't.

(The high pitched alarm begins to blare.)

BARBARA
What's going on? Is it those men again?

ANDY
No. Something else.
(DR. NORTH rushes in with a slam.)

STEVEN
What's happening?

DR. NORTH
They've come for... me.

ANDY
Let me see.

STEVEN
See what?

ANDY
I can feel it on you. Let me see it.

NURSE R
That's what she said.

BARBARA
Not the time.

DR. NORTH
Someone... delivered it... to me... last week.

(North gives a small, black, circular box to Andy who immediately begins to vomit blood and puss until he throws it back to North. The nurses rush to Andy's aid.)

ANDY
That's not meant for anyone but you, North.

NURSE R
He lost a lot of blood.

NURSE B
Do you need anything? How do you feel?

ANDY
Like I'm dying. And my throats scratchy.

(Nurse B runs off for water.)

STEVEN
What is that thing?

BARBARA
It's just a box.

ANDY
No. It's not.

DR. NORTH
When I... opened it... birds flew out. Big black birds.

ANDY
How many?

DR. NORTH
Five.

ANDY
Alright, there's five of them. Do we have any weapons?

(Nurse R reveals a snub nose.)

NURSE R
What are these things?

ANDY
Bad.

STEVEN
Dangerous?

(Nurse B reenters with the water and a gun to her head. SAM, a man in a black suit with black gloves, is her captor. He is blind and a pentagram is tattooed on his forehead.)
SAM
I'd say so.

NURSE R
Drop it before I drop you, shit eater.

SAM
Calm down. If I wanted you deader than you are, you would be by now.

NURSE R
You've got till three.

SAM
I wouldn't if I were you. I may be blind but that just helps me see better.
NURSE R
One...

DR. NORTH
I... knew you'd come.

NURSE R
Two...

BARBARA
Stop it. Someone stop it.

STEVEN
Put down the gun.

NURSE R
I don't do nothing for no man.

DR. NORTH
They're not... men.

STEVEN
They?

(From behind them step two more men, MAMMY, who is extremely skinny with dark sunglasses, and MERRY, who looks like he has a bad cold. Both of them have pentagrams on their head and wield guns. Mammy presses his gun to Nurse R's temple with a smile. She grimaces and Merry takes her weapon with a sneeze. Sam releases Nurse B who runs to her friend, crying tearlessly.)

DR. NORTH
Are you... death?

SAM
Only for you, Dr. North.

ANDY
Is that what the box was?

MERRY
It's called a pentagram.

MAMMY
Penta-GRAM. Get it.


SAM
We can only enter this realm with the aid of a human. Dead or alive.

DR. NORTH
I... opened the box.

MAMMY
And let us out to raise some Hell.

STEVEN
What do you want?

SAM
To do my job, that's all. If you people cooperate, that's all I'll do. If you try and stop me, there will be a bloodbath.

(Mammy laughs maniacally. Andy takes the water from Nurse B and holds it close.)

SAM
My boys would love a blood bath. They don't get out much. Though it seems Merry is allergic to this realm.

MERRY
Ugh, the humanity. It's sickening.

DR. NORTH
They already... killed Mrs. Addams.

MAMMY
More than that, dead head.

SAM
They got in the way. We have a job to do.

MAMMY
Come Hell or high water.

ANDY
Then stop messing around. Where are the other two?

(TEMA, who wears a white suit, and LEO, with scraggly hair and duffel bag, enter. They also bear pentagrams.)
TEMA
Give us the doctor without trouble.

LEO
Or I'll give you trouble.

(Leo unzips the duffel revealing a bomb. Mammy laughs some more.)

LEO
Kaboom!

MAMMY
Kaboom!

STEVEN
What do you want with Dr. North?

TEMA
It's his time.

STEVEN
He's not dead. No more than anyone else here.

TEMA
But he is damned.

SAM
No one escapes Hell that easily. You aren't the first to skip out on judgment.

MERRY
We all get judged. We all pay our dues.

MAMMY
This isn't jury duty. Hell doesn't care if you're sick.

NURSE B
Bounty hunters from Hell.

NURSE B
And meanies.

DR. NORTH
I'll... go if... no one else is hurt.

STEVEN
You can't take him.

BARBARA
He's changed, repented.
LEO
Ain't that easy, rape meat.

STEVEN
What did you just say?

SAM
Dr. North has murdered innocents and defiled the laws of God and nature. Then he died. He burns for it. That's how it goes.

TEMA
Thus is the will of God.

NURSE B
I thought God was forgiving.

MERRY
What Bible have you been reading?

ANDY
The power of Christ compels you! Run, Dr. North.

(Andy throws his water on Merry and runs at Tema. Tema shoots him in the gut. Andy falls to the floor and the nurses go to him again. Dr. North stands there complacently. Merry holds his face screaming. Tema shoots Merry in the head, there is a demonic roar and the lights flicker.)

SAM
Holy water.

ANDY
Blessed it myself.

SAM
Anyone can get ordained these days. We never should have invented the internet.

LEO
Or Al Gore.

DR. NORTH
They'd... find me if I ran. More would... die.

SAM
The doctor has accepted his fate. Why can't the rest of you?


BARBARA
That's what friend do. Help each other.

MAMMY
Would any of you really call Dr. North your friend?

ANDY
I sure wouldn't. If it wasn't for him my brother would still be alive.

TEMA
I can taste your hate, Mr. Vail. You have a terrible Wrath within you.

ANDY
Yeah, I bet you love it. But I still found it in my hate filled heart to forgive North. Him saving my life helped, but if I can forgive North, after all he did, why can't that holier than thou prick upstairs do the same?

TEMA
You take the Lord's name in vain?

NURSE R
God's bitches! Holy hell! Here I spent my whole life and unlife thinking demons were bad ass warriors against the Lord, like fucking super terrorists or the unholy rebel alliance, and turns out you're just God's bitches. Ain't enough that he smacked your boss outta Heaven and keeps the rest of you outta the pearly gates just cause he's a demophobe. You still gotta lick his shiny, shitty feet.

NURSE B
Such language.

SAM
I wouldn't say such things about the Eternal Flame.

DR. NORTH
It's... over... friends. I accept what I did.

ANDY
No, North. We don't play by their rules.

STEVEN
It's not right.

TEMA
On your knees.


ANDY
You assholes.

DR. NORTH
Please, make it... quick.

SAM
Enjoy it. Every moment after this will be an eternity.

TEMA
Thus is the will of the Lord.

(Tema presses the gun to his head. The other demons circle North pressing their guns to his skull.)

BARBARA
You're a good man, Ermine. Remember that no matter what. You proved yourself to us.

ANDY
You convinced me.

DR. NORTH
You... are my first... friends. Even if you're not. I... love you.

STEVEN
I'm sorry.

(A cell phone rings. They all look perplexed. Tema answers his cell then hangs up. He lowers his gun.)

MAMMY
No!

LEO
It's been so long!

(Tema shoots Mammy then Leo right in the pentagrams. There are two demonic roars and the lights flicker.)

SAM
Congratulations, North. Mr. Vail, you could learn a thing or two.

(Tema shoots Sam in the pentagram. A roar and flicker.)



TEMA
You have been pardoned, Dr. North. To love another person is to see the face of God. Don't waste this. I can always come back for you.

(He shoots himself dead with a final roar and flicker. They all look at the dead bodies in shock. Andy passes out and the nurses panic.)

NURSE B
He's hemorrhaging.

NURSE R
We gotta get him to surgery, stat!

(Dr. North and Steven help the nurses lift Andy back into the bed, blood pours from his belly. Nurse R grabs a pillow and presses onto the wound. Everyone exits, rolling the bed with them. Barb grabs the bomb duffel and follows. The lights grow dim but the hospital setting is the same. NANCY VAIL, wheelchair bound, is rolled on stage by DETECTIVE HARDY. DETECTIVE WILLIAMS follows.)

NANCY
Detective Williams, I'm glad you could come on such short notice.

WILLIAMS
I was surprised to hear from you. Not just cause you were in a coma.

NANCY
You mean because of how you harassed me while in custody.

HARDY
We don't need to talk about that. Wait, are you suing?

WILLIAMS
I was doing my job. Trying to find your husband's killer.

NANCY
I understand that now.

HARDY
Alright, I'm stepping in because this conversation is going exactly where it shouldn't. As tragic as your husband's death was, Mrs. Vail, it was an accident, nothing more, case closed. And you, Detective. This obsession has gone far enough.

(Williams gets a migraine.)

HARDY
You're killing yourself and destroying your life in the process.
NANCY
They'll never see, Detective. That's why I needed you.

HARDY
Sir, you really think they'll let you reopen this case?

NANCY
Justice doesn't require the law.

WILLIAMS
What are you suggesting?

HARDY
This is vigilantism! Vengeance!

WILLLIAMS
Leave, Hardy. You've been a good partner but you'll never understand. You can't.

(Williams hands Hardy his badge.)

HARDY
You're right. I don't understand. You're giving up everything for... insanity!

WILLIAMS
I don't blame you, Hardy. You just don't know.

(Hardy stalks off, shocked.)

NANCY
We're the only ones who remember what actually happened.

WILLIAMS
It's more than that. It weighs on you. Something making me see Andy's innocence so much I can't help but see he's not. I need it to be over.

NANCY
No matter what the cost?

WILLIAMS
This is all that matters.

(Williams grabs his head and passes out. Nancy screams, nurses run in. Blackout.)