Here is the piece I have been working on for the past few days, hope you enjoy it.
Romero & Juliet (OR HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER THE ZOMBIE NURSE)
INT: Inside a boarded up suburban house. FRANK Johnston looks through the peephole in his front door as the WGON-TV van pulls up outside his house.
THE CAMERA STARTS WITH A WIDE SHOT OF THE ROOM.
The room is cluttered with empty food can's, furniture upended and blocking the windows and other doors. The only piece of furniture left alone is an armchair in front of the tv. A shotgun is resting against the side of the seat. The fireplace has a raging fire blazing.
THE CAMERA ZOOMS IN AND LOOKS THROUGH THE PEEPHOLE IN THE DOOR REVEALING THE VAN DOORS OPENING AND TWO MEN CARRYING CAMERA EQUIPMENT APPROACHING THE DOOR.
Frank Johnston is a man in his mid-40's, fairly heavy set with thinning hair on top. he is wearng a yellow sweater vest on top of a chequered white shirt.
The WGON-TV crew approach the door of the Johnston house and knock.
Frank unlocks the door and removes the wooden plank that has been braced against the door as extra support to keep the living dead from breaking through.
FRANK: In you come guys, is it just the two of you?
Frank relocks the door and replaces the plank once the guys enter his house.
SCOTT the cameraman is in his late 20's with short fair curly hair and wearing a plaid shirt and jeans.
SCOTT: We are working on a real skeleton crew since the shit hit the fan.
JOSH Carpenter is on his first day as an unofficial anchorman. Josh is in his early 30's with brown hair and is wearing a cheap navy suit which hangs off him.
JOSH: Shall we set up over here?
Josh points toward the armchair which sits in front of the TV & Fireplace in the corner of the room. The TV is on but all we see is static.
FRANK: That's fine.
Frank seems uneasy, he is sweating ever so slightly and seems like his mind is elsewhere.
SCOTT: Nervous Mr Johnston?
FRANK: A little.
JOSH: Don't worry, we don't bite.
CAMERA CUTS TO CLOSE UP OF SCOTT WHO LOOKS AT JOSH WITH A REAL LOOK OF DISGUST AS HE SHAKES HIS HEAD.
JOSH: Sorry Sir, I never thought. I'm so sorry.
FRANK: (Rather angrily) Shall we get started.
SCOTT: Ready to go Mr Johnston.
FADE TO BLACK
THE TV INTERVIEW
CLOSE UP OF FRANK.
JOSH IS OFF CAMERA FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW AS THERE IS ONLY ONE CAMERA AND MOST OF THE EXPERIENCED STAFF HAVE NOT COME IN TO WORK SINCE THE OUTBREAK.
JOSH: Can I first of all say how sorry I am to hear about the passing of your wife. Can you tell us how you both met?
FRANK: Thanks. I met June at the Monroeville Mall in Pittsburgh. I was heading up the escalator to Penny's when I remembered I'd forgotten something on the ground floor. Stupidly instead of going up to top and then coming back down the down escalator, I decided to turn around and walk down the up one. That's when fate stepped in. I bumped into the most stunning woman I'd ever seen...
Frank pauses and starts to whell up.
JOSH: Are you alright to continue? We can take a break if you like, I know it's hard.
Frank composing himself
FRANK: No I'm alright. (Clears his throat). She was on her lunch break from the hospital, a vision in white, dressed top to toe in her nurses uniform. That was it, I was floored. A year later we were married. We've been married now for 17 years. We made quite a few visits to the mall as we courted. June loved ice-skating so we'd go for a skate and then we'd go to the Brown Derby for a juicy steak dinner. It was a long trip but well worth it.
Off camera there is some quiet banging heard. Josh and the Cameraman Scott seem a little uncomfortable but choose to ignore it.
JOSH: Sorry Frank where were we? Alright can you explain in your own words what happened 3 nights ago? Take your time, I know this must be really hard for you.
Frank is getting more and more distressed. He is starting to look very feverish and uncomfortable.
FRANK: (Clearing his throat again) June was at work as usual, working the night shift at the hospital. The police brought in a man who had to be restrained and seemed to be bleeding from a wound in his neck. June went to clean his wound and the man snapped his head forward biting her arm.
FRANK is now in tears. The room is eerily quiet until another series of quiet bangs can be heard from another room.
Scott zooms the camera in to a close up of franks face.
FRANK: (Coughing) Her bosses sent her home after cleaning and bandaging her wound as she was clearly in shock.... She got home and went straight to bed. The next morning she didn't wake up..... It was at that point that the news started to come through that the dead were returning to life and attacking the living.
SCOTT: Shall we break there?
FRANK: No. No, I can continue..... I had to do what I had to do.... She is my world.
Frank stretches out his arm towards his shotgun which rests beside the armchair. As his arm is out-stretched, his shirt cuff moves to reveal a bandage on his wrist. Frank rises to his feet taking the shotgun in his hand.
JOSH bolts to his feet.
JOSH: What the hell are you doing Frank?
Frank backs towards the door at the rear of the room and slowly unbolts the lock.
FRANK: I'm sorry.....She's hungry and I don't know what else to do.
The door bursts open, knocking Frank to the floor. The undead body of June, still dressed in her nurses uniform shuffles towards Josh who has grabbed a poker from the fireplace and is swinging it in front of him.
June (nurse zombie) is dressed in her full nurse uniform and her skin has turned a pale grey blue colour. SHE moves slowly like rigamortis has set in to most of the muscles in her body. each step IS laboured and her eyes roll in THEIR sunken sockets.
Frank pumps his shotgun and takes aim at Josh's leg. His gun goes off, blowing a hole in Josh's leg, crumpling him to the floor like an accordion, dropping the poker as he goes down.
JOSH: (Cries out in agony). You ****!
Frank pumps his shotgun ready for a second shot. Frank still lying on the floor, doesn't look like he's getting up any time soon.
Cries can still be heard from Josh as June drops to her knees and sinks her teeth in to the flesh hanging around the hole in his leg. The flesh stretches as she pulls her head away from his leg snapping the flesh away with it. Josh passes out with the pain as the nurse goes in for a second helping this time taking a chunk out of his neck.
SCOTT THE CAMERAMAN after standing motionless still in shock walks toward frank as the nurse continues to feed on josh.
SCOTT: Please Frank, just let me go. You could let me go.
FRANK: Through the door and head down the hall and you'll come to back door.....(Coughing loudly) Key is in the door.
THE CAMERA IS CLOSE IN ON SCOTT AND PULLS BACK SLOWLY TO A WIDE SHOT REVEALING JUNE THE ZOMBIE NURSE BEHIND SCOTT.
The floorboards behind Scott creak, as a bloody hand grabs Scott's throat. With a gurgle, the nurse rips Scott's throat out. Scott stumbles backwards falling into the armchair, spraying blood over the family portraits that line the mantle above the fireplace.
SLOW MOTION SHOT OF THE MANTLEPIECE SHOWING THE BLOOD SPLATTERED FAMILY PHOTOS.
CAMERA TURNS TO SCOTT AS HE FALLS BACK INTO THE CHAIR.
As Scott lays dying in the chair, June tears at the wound where his throat used to be, frantically feeding into the meat she manages to tear away.
Frank sits quietly on the floor as the woman he called his wife eats the remains of the two tv journalists.
FRANK: I'll always love you honey.
THE CAMERA ZOOMS INTO THE FACE OF JUNE AS SHE BREAKS FROM HER MEAL FOR A SECOND. HER FACE COVERED IN BLOOD SHE LOOKS TOWARD FRANK. THE CAMERA PANS INTO A CLOSE UP OF HER EYES, REVEALING WHAT CAN ONLY BE DESCRIBED AS THE LAST OUNCE OF HUMANITY LEFT IN HER.
FADE TO BLACK
THE END
IN MEMORY OF CLAYTON HILL 1931-2009 (Sweater/Escalator Zombie)