x-50 a film treatment The film begins in an upper middle class suburb in South Carolina. Once a nice neighborhood, it now looks like a war zone. Cars are burned out and flipped over, bodies lay on the streets, stray animals like crows and rats scurry around looking for food. A series of still shots takes us from the outside of the gated community, which is surround by a large black iron fence. The front entrance to the subdivision has a sign made of brick that says “Excalibur Estates”, which looks worn and slightly grown over with weeds and vines. As the camera movies into the neighborhood, the sounds of screaming and gun shots gets louder. We see a few people run by in a blur. Most of the houses look unkept and have their windows broken and boarded up. Suddenly, the main character, Art (a dark haired white male in his late 30’s) runs into view runs like a man possessed around the corner his house to some bushes, carrying a shotgun. He is being chased by a larger bearded man wielding an ax. Art runs behind the bushes and begins to frantically search for something, In only a matter of seconds the man with the axe will be there. Art finds a shotgun shell and quickly loads into the gun just as the bearded man appears from around the corner of his house. As he finishes loading his gun, Art falls to his knees, with the butt of the shotgun in his stomach, and the barrel pointing upward towards the charging man. The bearded man lifts the ax up over his head and starts to yell. He starts to swing it down towards Art’s head when the shot gun goes off and he is hit in the throat. The force of the shotgun discharging knocks Art back into a seated position. Art’s face and hands are covered with splattered blood as the bearded man falls dead to the ground. Shaking, Art wipes the blood off his eyes so he can see, and he slinks further to the ground in shock and exhaustion. Breathing heavily, he starts to cry as he put his head in hands. All around the sounds of hand to hand combat rages and the camera fades to black. 1 year earlier The camera fades in from black and focuses on the same “Excalibur Estates” sign seen at the very beginning of the film. The composition of the shot of is the same, but the sign looks different. It looks clean and well kept. A series of still shots leads us thru the subdivision. The streets are full with cars rushing home from work, and kids returning from school. We see Art pulling his Chrysler Cirrus in the driveway, trying to avoid some toys that were left in his driveway. He get out of his car, carrying his notebook computer in one hand, and talking on his cell phone on the other. He runs to grab his mail, which is filled
with catalogs. The neighbors on both sides of his house wave to him, as he waves back, struggling to keep the magazine from falling as he rushes toward his door. Cut to inside the house, to the kitchen. Art comes in, still talking to his boss on the cell phone, while he drops the mail in a big pile on the island. He grabs two frozen kids dinners, quickly removes them from their boxes and places them on top of each in the microwave. He turns on the microwave. Shortly after his pager starts peeping. He looks down at the number, makes an irritated faced, and keeps talking on the cell phone while quickly glancing throw the catalogs. We hear another car pull up and doors open. His wife Gwen (an attractive 35 year old with shoulder length brown hair) is coming up the stairs holding the hands of his children, Dave, age 4, and Melissa, age 2. The microwave dings. Art grabs the two tv dinners out of the oven. Forgetting the plates are hot, he grabs them, winces in pain for a second, and throws them on the table. His children run up and hug his legs as his wife gives him a quick peck on the cheek. Thru their dinner table discussion, we find out their son, Dave, is autistic, and is under going therapy to help with his language skill. Gwen informs Art that Dave has been the “more” sign a lot lately. Both of them talk about how busy they are at work, while their daughter Melissa tries to eat her dinner, but it is still frozen in the middle. She looks up at them to get their attention, but they are both to busy talking about work to notice. We next see a series of shot that show them try to get their kids ready for the baths and then bed. Dave and Melissa are more interested in running around the house so their parents will chase them. As Art is trying to get Dave to brush his teeth, his cell phone rings again. It is his work. He keeps talking on the cell phone as he takes Dave to his bed room and puts his Pajamas on. Art manages to get off the phone in time to tuck Dave in. He starts to read him a bedtime story. Then his page goes off. He moans and looks down at the number. He has to go. So Art closes the book, kisses David on the forehead, and turns out the light. With the kids asleep, Art and Gwen both are now working on their laptops on the couch with the tv on. Their legs are crossed over each other’s, but all eyes are on the computer. We hear the sounds of e-mails going out and instant messages coming in, while they both drink coffee. The obviously still love each other, but the daily grind of work and kids takes it toll and on weekday evenings they are pretty much exhausted by 9:00pm. The camera fades to black as they work away on the couch. It is early in the morning and the sun has started to rise. We see the front of Art’s house, as the sun rises behind it. We hear the faint sound of an alarm clock going off. Cut to inside the house, with a close up of the alarm, which reads 6:00am. The alarm sound is much louder and it continues for another second before Art’s hand comes crashing down to turn it off. Gwen pulls her pillow over her head and lets out a slight groan, not being thrilled at the prospect of having to get up.
They both lay in bed, trying to muster the will to get up, when they hear the sounds of their young children running around and laughing. They both jump out of the bed with their eyes barely open. Mornings in their house are like a precision drill. While Art makes their breakfast (eggo waffles and bananas with juice), Gwen dresses the kids. Again, the kids aren’t too cooperative; they are more interest in running and playing. Gwen tries to get Melissa to sit still to comb her hair by putting cartoons on the tv, but Melissa would rather run around the kitchen than watch the television. So Gwen leaves the news on. With nobody paying attention, a segment comes on about “solar flares” with the news caster saying there could be some interruption of cell phone services, depending on when it reaches the earth. Gwen mentions that she needs a check for David’s speech therapy as he gets his computer bag ready for work. They go over a list of what each other needs to do that day: call a plumber to get the bathroom facet fixed, schedule to the dryer ducts cleaned, buy gift for a birthday, etc…. And its off to work they go, as the clock strikes 7:00am. Gwen takes the kids to day care on her to her job, and Art heads off by himself in his sedan to his job as project manager at a software company. Traffic is almost at standstill as Art tries to get something to listen to on his xm satellite radio. For some reason, no satellite stations are coming in. Frustrated, Art is left to listen to only FM stations. “Great, stuck in traffic, and I only can get the Bill Bob and Jared morning show” he says aloud as he tunes it in. Immediately on the radio, we hear two guys with deep southern voices laughing loudly at a joke they just heard. The host says “ It’s time for some Eagles” and begins to play “Life in the fast lane”. We then cut to far away shot that shows Art car stuck in a sea of non-moving cars in the freeway, as we hear the chorus of the song says “Life in the fast lane, sure to make you loose your mind”, which is ironic since the nobody is moving. The next shot is inside of the software company that Art works in. It is large tobacco warehouse that has been converted into office building. It is very open, every one sits in cubicles, because there are no hard offices. In the center of the open space is very large plasma screen that currently displays a screen saver that shows the latest tech news headlines. Apparently, their e-commerce servers when down over night for some unknown reason. Art is the project manager of a new software product that is supposed to launch at the end of the week. As a result of the server outage, people are running around frantically trying fix the situation. When Art comes into the main part of the office, he is immediately approached by two of his coworkers. They are telling that company’s CEO is threatening to fire people if the product launch is delayed.
Art ask if any one was able to trace the source of the outage, but no knows the cause yet. Art makes to his cubicle, still flanked by his coworkers. He sits down at his computer to see since last night he has another 24 unread e-mails in his in box. Morning goes on, and we learn the servers have come back online as suddenly as they went down. So some normalcy returns to his works place for a while. They begin to talk about were to go to lunch. Art goes to the cubicle of one his friends, to find him completely engrosses in a message forum online. When tries to talk to him, his friend holds up his hand and gestures for Art to be quiet. Intrigued, Art asks him what the big deal is. His friend, Kevin, begins to tell him, never once taking his eyes off of his computer screen. Apparently it has leaked from some inside of FEMA (or NASA, he isn’t sure) that is something coming, like a shot from the sun, that will hit the earth in about 8 hours. He reads some more. The message board folks say that is a solar flare. Art hears this, and wonders aloud what the big deal is. Solar flares hit the earth all the time. The really big ones, if they hit, only result in some cell phones and satellites going down for while. Kevin informs that words used over and over are “massive” and “life changing”. Art steps back for second, phased by what he has just heard. He looks around the office and sees a big change from the normal routine at work. No one is talking to each other, they are trying to get information for the news web sites, which look like they are slowed down from the heavy traffic. Some are calling loved ones on the phone, trying to find out more. The large plasma screens switch to Special Bulletin from the network news. Every one stops what that they are doing and stares at the screen in silence. The newscaster starts off by telling everyone that they should remain calm. He tells them that subject of the press conference from FEMA is a very serious matter to be sure, but it is not life threatening. The video switches from the news studio the press conference. A middle aged man with glasses and a beard starts off by giving a short explanation about what solar flare are, and how larger ones can effect electronics and communication here on earth. He restates the fact that they do not physically harm humans or animals, just electronic systems. NASA has been following a very large solar storm, that apparently has emitted the largest solar flare ever recorded about two hours ago, Solar flares are measure in “x-classes”. The largest on record till this point was an x-9 in 2002 that narrowly missed the earth. This is an x-50. It is so large and its duration will be so long it will effect the entire earth, not just one hemisphere. The flare will hit the earth in about 6 to 8 hours, depending on what part of the globe you live. The newscast switches from the NASA scientist to the White House press sectary. He states that the government is expecting massive, and he repeats massive, power outages because of this event. Not only will the electricity be out for most everyone, but they are also expected most communication satellites to be burned out by this event. The also expect that most unprotect electric circuitry and computer networks will be effected. That means anything that uses computer chips won’t be working after the solar flare hits. Even cars, unless they are parked in thick garages, won’t start.
So at this time the government is asking people to orderly return to their home, because they do not want people stuck in mass transit systems or in their cars on the freeway. Once the event has passed, he assures us government agencies will be working hard to supply neighborhoods with the supplies they need. They will broadcasting on short wave radio bans, and they will handing out the radios in the coming days. He again states that everyone should remain calm, because the solar flare is not dangerous to anyone’s health, but everyone should take this event seriously. He ends the press conference by saying this will not end life as we know it, but it will definitely change it, at least for the next year or so, and that we should be patient, thoughtful of our neighbors, and try to adapt to the situation. The press conference ends, and the screen switches to the emergency broadcast system pattern and tone. A wide shot from the back of the building shows everyone still starring up at the screen in silence for a few moments. Gradually you see people start to disburse, and that soon turns into a full fledge panic, with everyone push and shoving to get out of the building. Art runs as quickly as he can to his desk, dodging moving bodies out of the way. We see a close up of his cell phone and keys on his desk, in front of picture of his family. His hand comes into the shot and he scoops them up as he runs out of the building. As he is trying to make it to his car, he keeps trying to call his wife on the cell phone. A messages says “sorry, all circuits are busy, please try again later”. He throws the cell phone down on the front passenger seat as he tries to drive out the parking lot, which is now a mad house. The camera briefly cuts back inside the office building. We see a long track shot that goes left to right, slowly moving as it shows the inside of row of cubicle works spaces. The first couple are empty, only showing a computer and family photos as well as some personal items like sports figurines and flowers. Then we see one that still has person in it. Instead of panicking. the young man looks very calm as he plays a video game (something like Halo) on his computer. They are no family pictures in this man’s cubicle, just Star Wars and Matrix photos and action figures. As the camera continues moving right, we see a few more empty cubicles before we see another one that still has person in it, but she is hiding under the desk, curled up in fetal position with his hands over his head, crying to herself. Art is driving like a NASCAR racer. The only thing on his mind is that he gets back to his family before the solar burst hits. He pulls up to intersection, shortly before the merger to the highway. The traffic is backed up and no one is moving an inch. Art drives over the curb, knocking over a paperbox in the process. He has made it around the traffic, and he is now speeding down the thruway. Traffic is heavy, but it is moving at a good speed, for a few minutes anyways. Then is slows to crawl. He has the am radio on (the fm and satellite bands have gone off), and man from the emergency broadcasting system is again informing people they should return to their homes. Any one with pacemakers and other medical devices should make sure they are in doors. Again he states no one should
harmed by the solar flares. But since they are expecting power outages, they are recommending that everyone store some water in containers, and make as much as spare food as possible. While listening to the broadcast, Art is getting impatient with the traffic, and starts pounding his hand on the dashboard. Some time pass with Art still stuck in traffic. The man on the radio says they are expecting the solar flare to start effected the earth in about 2 hours. Art looks down at his watch and worries that he won’t be able to get home in time. He finally makes the decision to try to run the rest of the way home. He grabs his wallet and his notebook computer, leaves his car, and starts running down the side of the street. As he runs on the side of the road, we hear cars honking the horns, people yelling at each other, and helicopters flying overhead. Eventually other people start leaving their cars, and begin to run home. The thruway now has hundreds, if not thousands of people getting out of their cars. Art has run about 2 miles, and it starting to get worn down. He spots a 4 x4 truck that is basically running over everything in its path in the wooded area besides the thruway. It is headed in the direction of his house, so he runs over to the truck, and when is slows down for second to make it over some thick bushes, he jumps onto the bed of the truck. The driver of the truck is too preoccupied to notice Art in the back. The truck goes by the street that leads to Art’s subdivision. Even though the truck has picked up speed, Art jumps off and has a hard landing as he rolls on the grass. Shaken up, Art takes a moment to get himself off the ground, and starts jogging into “Excalibur Estates”, his subdivision. As he makes it around the corner of his street, he sees his wife’s car in the driveway. It appears she has made it home as well. Excited, he picks up his pace, as we then see his wife and kids run out the front patio and greet him with hug. Gwen starts to kiss him all over his head and neck, so happy to see him she can hardly contain herself. Their family reunion on the front yard is interrupted by the sound of a large crash. A SUV had taken the corner too quickly, and it ends up go over the curb and runs over some mailboxes. Art suggests that they should quickly get inside their house, it may not be safe out in the open. They place the children momentarily in the downstairs office, which now looks more like a playroom. They talk about what they had heard on the emergency broadcast, and agree they should start bottling as much water as possible. Gwen starts emptying any plastic container she can get her hands on, and Art rifles through all the drawers, gathering candles, matches, batteries and flashlights. Gwen dumps all the ice in the freezer into cooler, and starts to put all the food from the fridge that fit in it. Art runs throw the house, making sure every window is shut, and every door is locked. Meanwhile the children play unaware of what their parents are doing. Gwen check her watch, it is now 5:30pm. The solar flare should hit any minute.
It is late September. The sun has just started to set. The weather, typical for North Carolina at this time of year, is beautiful. Sunny, low 70s, light breeze. The leaves have started to turn color. The orange glow of sunset has started to color the sky. The colors are made even more striking by the solar activity accruing at this moment. We see an overhead shot of the neighborhood. Cars are parked all over the place. There are bicycles and toys left on the side of the road. But the neighborhood is mostly quite. Families are huddled together inside their houses. Art, Gwen, and his children are sitting together on the family room couch, everyone wrapped under a large blanket. The room is lit up by the flicker of the large projection tv, which is set on a local news broadcast (cable has gone offline already). The newscaster is saying the first effects of the solar burst are now being reported. The reporter states that he will stay on air all night to keep his viewers informed about the latest news. Just as he says that, the tv and lights go out. The room is now only lit by candles, which flicker about and cast shadows of his on the wall. The scene fades to black. THE MORNING AFTER Gwen slowly wakes up, and eases her way off the coach, trying not to wake up the rest of her family. Her first instinct is make a pot of coffee, but she quickly realizes there is no power. Art has awoken, and makes a comment that breaking their coffee addiction is the worst thing they will ever face. He walks up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder as the both peer out the front neighborhood. It is another bright sunny day. But the streets aren’t full of cars. Instead, a few neighbors mull about and talk to each other. They glance back at their children to see they are still sleeping on the couch. Art tells Gwen that his going to go talk to the neighbors, and asks her to stay with the children. Art walks out to meet his two next door neighbors. Jason, a handsome black male in his mid thirties, and Lance, and older white man in late 40’s with scruffy beard and lot of grey in his hair. Jason asks Art if his car still works, and Art replies he hasn’t tried it yet. Lance asks how both their wives and kids are doing, and they both reply they fine. Art wonders how long the power will be out. Lance guesses that entire North American grid most have been burnt out. And if that is the case, it would be many months before power could be restore. He says that the government and the utility companies will have repair all the transforms around the country that got fried, and that they might be in the dark a long time. So then the conversation turns to food. Art makes a comment that their pantry is pretty full since they just went shopping two days ago. Jason says they too have a lot of food because they were supposed to have some guest come visit later in the week. Lance says that he is well stocked, because it is hurricane season, and he is always prepared for emergencies. He lets them know if they need any water he has them covered. Not only
does he have 6 Fifty gallon drums in his garage, he was “water purification tablets”, that can make rain water drinkable. This strikes both Art and Jason as strange. Why would he have so much “survival” gear? After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Art tries to lighten the mood, by saying maybe it won’t be so bad, since they have plenty of food and water, and the weather is nice, maybe this whole ordeal won’t be so terrible, it will be just like camping. He makes a joke is the worst thing will be that they will miss the start of the NFL Season. THREE WEEKS LATER (MID-OCTOBER) The same streets that were relatively quite three weeks ago are now filled with the noises of people yelling and some young children crying. Neighbors are accusing each other stealing food. Teenager are whining that they want their x-box to work, Teenage girls are complaining that they feel “gross” because they haven’t showered in a while. Women accuse each other of “holding out” and not sharing supplies with each other. Men almost come to blows over bars of soap. A 10 year old boy is still carrying his ipod and plays with the controls, even though he knows it won’t work. It has recently rained, so the streets are a little muddy. Art is sitting with his family on the corner of the street, watching two men in a heating argument. One the men is hold a golf club, and looks like he might start swinging it at the other man. When it looks like he is about to blow his top, he swings the golf club down into the ground, it becomes stuck in the mud, The man then walks away from the argument, still mumbling to himself. Art has been staying out of the fray as an observer on the sidelines, As the arguments become more and more intense, he gets up and walks over to the middle of the crowd, Gwen asks him what he is doing, but Art does not reply. And his way over, he pulls the golf club out the ground. It is wedge in the mud deeply, so it requires quite a tug to get it out. With the golf club in hand, he jumps on the wood of car. The crowd is too busy yelling at each other to notice him on the car. Art swings the club and hit a stop sign, making a loud crash that startles the crowd into silence. Now that he has their attention, Art gives a stirring speech in which explains that if loose their collective composure is only going to make matters worse. He goes to tell them that people in the past have survived with out electrify, without supermarkets, without cell phones. He does joke that missing the football season will be tough for him. Art brings up up that everyone in their subdivision has some knowledge or skills that would be helpful to everyone. He points to a wooded area on the side on neighborhood, and says that there many animals living there, such as deer, that they could eat. A burly man in the back raises his and volunteers to do the hunting, Art says that is a great example of pitching in. Then he mentions that there are more lucky then people in other parts of the word at this time. North Carolina in the fall is almost perfect weather wise, and doesn’t get that cold. He mentions that the power could be back on before it gets too warm. Water can be had by collecting rain and purifying it. They can make their own soap. They can pull through this, but not as individuals, only as community working together.
However, rules will have to made and followed at all cost, Once someone starts breaking them, the structure of the community will fail, and they might not make it thru. Art says that they should have a meeting the next evening to work on their new set of rules, their constitution. He tells them to go home and think about it over night. One representative from each household should come to his garage at sunset tomorrow to work on these rules. Art says that every one should think about what they knowledge or skill they have that would be of use. He closes by saying he is going home with his family now so that can start think about these things and come up with some good ideas. The crowd parts for slightly as we grabs Gwen’s hands and they gather their children and head back to the their house. Back at their house, they are getting their kids ready for bed. The house is lit by several candles, and the windows are open, letting in a nice fall breeze. Gwen tell Art she was very impressed by they way he took charge out in the street. Art replies that he did not know were the words came from. He just opened his mouth and the words started flying out. Gwen heads down the hall with her daughter, and Art goes with Dave into his bedroom. The room is lit by one candle on the dresser. The windows are open, letting the light from bright, full moon, that is tinted red from the solar flare. Art tucks David in bed, He instinctively looks down at his watch and then his pager. He forgot for a moment that no one from work will be paging him for a long time. He gives Dave a hug, and tells him goodnight, and start to get up from the bed. David tiny hand grabs his, and Art stops and looks back at him. Dave makes the “more” sign with his hands. Art is bemused and says “More? More what?’ Dave makes the hand sign for “hugs” and smiles up at him. Art whispers as he smiles, “more hugs? Sure..” and then gives an bear hug and then starts to tickle him. We then see a shot from the street of Arts house, and he can see the outlines of the two of the playing in the candle lit room. The next day. Art’s garage door opens. There is about 20 people, all men, out side looking in. Art invites them into the garage. There is a large poker table, with folding chairs. All the men sit around the table. Art pulls out a pad and paper and begins to write down all the rules and ideas that people shout out. After a number of hours, Art reads out what will become the neighborhoods’ “constitution”. All current food and water will be stored in the community club house. The club house will be locked and their will be 4 keys given out, that will “float” between members of the community. Food and water will given out three times a day at the same times. Exceptions will be made for the sick. Several men with hunting equipment will patrol the wood area once a day to try to get dear or other animals. Other family members will have garden duty, and other will be in charge of collecting rain water for drinking and washing. Art’s neighbor, Lance, apparently know how to make soap and makeshift toothpaste (among other things, seems he is a bit of survivalist nutjob). He will begin making those items and teaching others how to do it.
One of the most important rules is that no one can take supplies out of turn, unless they seek approval of the “council” first. No exceptions. They are determined not to let the kind of civil breakdown happen in their neighborhood that happened after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. If any adult breaks one of their rules, the will be locked in solitary confinement for one month. If the commit more than one offense, they could be banished from the community. The subdivisions boundaries are to be fortified. It is already a gated community, but they plan on adding things like make shift barbwire to the fences, and they also plan on barricading the street entrances with dead cars that they will push into position. A copy of their “Constitution” will be made and place in each household. The “council” will have weekly meetings in Art’s garage at the “round table” to talk over events and areas of concern. As Art reads aloud the document to his neighbors, we see shots of people doing the things he mentions. Men hunting deer with bows, some of the women purifying rain water with fire and storing it, several older children making soap with Lance. Supplies being stored and inventory taken at the clubhouse house., etc… Several weeks have past…. It is now late fall. The leaves have really started falling, and the temperature during the day is crisp 58 degrees. The nights are cool and clear around 43 degrees. The people of the neighborhood have gotten into a “groove” and seem to be making the best out of it. The neighbors have gotten to know each other much better. Friends and family gather on rooftops to watch a meteor shower, children line up their old iPods and cell phones and use them as target practice for their BB guns and sling shots. The entire neighborhood gathers in the park area for a football game between the men of the subdivision. There is a larger, makeshift scoreboard. The high school age girls have on their cheerleading outfits on. Kids that were in band in high school play on the sidelines. A man dressed like a vendor sells roasted chestnuts. During the course of the large and rowdy game, several of the neighborhoods dogs break free from the ropes and run into the field during a play. A larger German shepherd playfully nips at Art’s heels as he tries to throw a pass, causing him to drop the football. A Golden Retriever runs in and grabs the football, and runs across the field, with members of both teams chasing him. The dog runs into and out of the end zone, causing everyone in the crowd to stand up and cheer. Later that evening…. Art’s neighbor Jason quietly gets out of bed, so he doesn’t wake up his wife. He walks out into the backyard to take a piss in the bushes. As he starts relieving himself, he spots
one the neighbors, Doug, sneaking into the clubhouse. Doug is a single man in his earlier 30, who lives by himself. Jason watches him work his way in to the building, and quietly waits in the bushes to see what will happen. After a few moments, Doug emerges from the building with a bunch of food in his hands. Jason waits to Doug is out of his sight, and the heads over to Arts house to wake him. Art and Jason get another 4 males in neighborhood to go over to Doug’s house to confront him. Art and Jason start pounding on his front. Doug looks thru the peep hole on the door, and immediately knows what they are they for. He tries to sneak out the back door, but is caught by the other 4 men who pin him to the ground. They yell for Art and Jason to come around the back to get him. The people of the neighborhood decide that, according to their laws, Doug must spend 30 day in solitary confinement in part of the pool house. He will be given three small meals a day which will be pushed under the door in tray. Likewise, we can relieve himself in a box that is attached to a rope, which is also slid under the door. Two people will guard him at all times in shifts. During the time Doug is confined, many of the people in the subdivision wonder if the punishment it too harsh for a first offense. But Art holds firm, and says the rules most be followed at all cost, or the community they created will fail. 30 Days Later….. Doug emerges from the pool house look very rough and angry. Several people try to talk to him as he walks out. Doug remains silent, but throws Art an angry stare as we walk slowly to his house… That evening before bed Gwen tells Art she is worried that Doug may try something to get back at him. She says if he doesn’t, the next person he passes a “judgment” down on might. Gwen ask Art he does he have to be the one in charge, why can’t some one else take that risk? Art responds that he didn’t plan on it happening this way, the words just came out of his mouth, and people started listen to him and looking at him for leadership and direction. Before they fall asleep, he says that people who just lay back and wait for other people to swoop in and save them, aren’t going to make it. He says he has to stand up and be proactive in this new world the find themselves in. Later that night, Art and his family are fast asleep. Their son Dave wakes up, and tries to get a drink of water from the cup that is beside his bed, but it is empty. David jumps out of bed and heads to the door that leads down stairs. As he slowy opens the door, he sees a shadowy figure creeping up the stars on its hands and feet. Dave is jolted back by the sight, and tries to yell for his parents, but no voice comes out. He looks down the stairs at the figure, which has stopped moving, apparently jolted by the boy opening the door. We then see a sliver of light reflect a knife in the figures hand. David takes another step back and tries to yell again, but no voice comes out. The shadowy figure realizes David can’t scream for help, so he slows starts back up the stairs towards him, holding the knife in
one hand. The figure’s hand comes down two steps below David’s feet. As the knife slowly comes close to his neck, Dave yells out loudly for the first time “DAD!”. Within in seconds, Art and Gwen wake up and come flying out of bed. As Art runs to his son, he pick up the golf club (the same one he pulled out of the mud months ago) and carries it with him. David’s yelling startles the intruder into retreating down the stairs and out of the house. Art catches up to him in the backyard, and wacks his ankle with the golf club, while Gwen tends to the their son. Art hits the intruder a second time in the back of the neck, dazing him. By now a small crowd has gather to see what the commotion is. The intruder is of course, Doug. According the Excalibur Estates constitution, this second volition of the laws (seeking to harm another community member, is an intolerable offense). Doug is sentencde to be vanquished from the community. He can never come back. The rest of his belongings at his house are to be split about among the remaining residents. The whole neighborhood gathers to watch has he is lead, with his hands tied behind is back., to the now heavily fortified entrance to the gated subdivision. Several men grab Doug by the arms and quickly push out the doors which have been briefly unlocked. Once he is outside the gates, the ropes biding his hands are cut, and his given another shove. The doors of the iron gates slam behind him. The community members at first question if this was the right thing to do, but over the course of a few days, all is back to “normal” for them. Doug, looking very tired and hungry, wanders into another subdivision several miles down the road. The streets are littered with trash, and at first, no one is visible. It looks deserted. It looks in much worse shape than Excalibur Estates, the neighborhood he was vanquished from. As he walks further into the neighborhood, he sees that the side streets have crude signs in front of them, along with make shift barricades. The signs divide the subdivision into areas based on ethnic backgrounds. “Whites only” “Africans only” “Asians only” “Hispanics Only”. Apparently this neighborhood has been divided along racial lines. He also notices signs that look older and more worn that say things like “Help Us” “FEMA, WHERE ARE YOU?” and “S.O.S: Hungry and Cold”. Doug notices now he is being followed by several small groups of people, and these groups are also divided among racial lines.
Doug gradually picks up his pace, and then starts to run, and the groups of people chase after him. He turns the corner of a street and runs smack dab into a group of white men, who look very worn down and dirty, but also a little angry. The other crowds that were chasing him stop when they the gang around Doug, One the Asian gang members asks “is he one of yours”, to which they reply “no”. Two men walk up and forcefully take off his rolex watch. The man who appears to be the leader of the white gang says “Do you have any food?” Doug shakes his head to say no. The gang leader says they have no place for him, and they can’t have another person in the group taking up what little resources they have. He instructs two large men to throw Doug out of the neighborhood. As he is led away, Doug tells them he can take to place that plenty of food and water. All they have to do is sneak in at night. THAT EVENING. Art and several other men are woken up by the sound of their make-shift “alarm” being sounded. They rigged the door to the club house that holds of their food and supplies with trip wire contraption that cause some bicycle bells to ring if the wire is moved. As Art jumps out of bed, he reaches down to grab his golf club, but he stops for a second, and grabs his shotgun instead. Gwen looks concerned and tries to say something, but Art is already out the door. He runs down to the clubhouse just as three other neighbors get there. They see that the lock has been broken, and some of the jars of water and containers of food have been stolen. Just then, they hear some noise in the woods by the clubhouse that sound like people running threw tree branches. Art and the three men, who all have guns, start firing into the woods. They don’t see it, but one of the invading men is hit in the side and falls down. The others in his group keep running. Back at the clubhouse, Art is very angry and declares there will have to be guards there every night for now on.
BACK AT THE OTHER NEIGHBORHOOD The two men who raided the clubhouse have return with the arms full of supplies.
As soon as they enter the subdivision, the are jumped on by other people who want their food. A large fight starts up in the street, with lots of pushing in shoving. The fighting stops when a man fires his gun in the air. With every one now quite, he asks what happened to his teenage son, who went with them on the raid. Then men say the heard shooting, and they all ran off in different directions, lying about the fact that they left him after he got shot. The boy’s father gets a group to go search for him. In the woods near the Excalibur subdivision, the find him dead, and it looks like he has been shot in the back. His father runs to his body and falls his knees crying. Back at Excalibur…. Art and his neighbors start to fortify the neighborhood. The set up arm guards in shift to watch the front gates and the supplies in the club house. They start to gather and build other weapons out of household supplies. Art gives a pep talk to people of the subdivision about how they can’t let the outside world come in a ruin what they have made together. Later that evening, Art is in his bedroom, putting shells in his shotgun. He goes to put some extra ones in coat pockets when Gwen comes in to talk to him. Gwen tells she is worried about him, and that he has changed, He is more cold and serious, She is also worried about having loaded guns in the house with the children. She tells him it might be betted to try to share what the have if other come. Art is angry at that notion, saying that once they open those gates, it would only be a matter of time till they are over run, All that they have work so hard to build would be destroyed, and it would end up with the children starving. The argument escalates, and Gwen takes a hand full of shells and throws them out the window, landing the bushes below. The next day, in the other neighborhood The father of the dead teenager has rallied the rest of the neighborhood in to a large, armed group that plans to storm the other subdivision as soon as the sun starts setting. A few of them advance on the gates of Excalibur, and kill the two guards with home made spears. The rest then arrive at the gates with ladders, ropes, and a few chains saws. The noise alerts others in Excalibur that they are under assault, and quickly people start grabbing their guns and homemade weapons. The mob breaks down the gate, and then rushes into the streets, shooting and stabbing a path to the clubhouse. Other man from their parties run to home to search for things to steal. Art, with Jason by his side, hide behind a car, and take shots at the invaders. By now, there is total chaos, people are running and screaming in all direction. People are fighting hand to hand, while other are in gun fights. Some one throws a bottle filled with gasoline under the car were Art and Jason are firing from. Then a flaming arrow hits the car, it
goes up in flames, so Art and Jason scatter. Gwen has taken her two children up into the pull down attic and hiding behind some boxes. Art see a large bearded man with Axe head toward his house. He runs behind the man and get ready to fire his shotgun at him, but he realize his is out of shells. The bearded man hears the noise behind, and see Art searching threw his jacket for more shells. He starts to run after Art with the Ax held above his head. Art starts to run away, and runs in a semi circle around to the back of his, the same scene as the beginning of the film. He is leading to the man to the bushes were the shells landed that Gwen threw out of the window. Art finds a shotgun shell and quickly loads into the gun just as the bearded man appears from around the corner of his house. As he finishes loading his gun, Art falls to his knees, with the butt of the shotgun in his stomach, and the barrel pointing upward towards the charging man. The bearded man lifts the ax up over his head and starts to yell. He starts to swing it down towards Art’s head when the shot gun goes off and he is hit in the throat. The force of the shotgun discharging knocks Art back into a seated position. Art’s face and hands are covered with splattered blood as the bearded man falls dead to the ground. Shaking, Art wipes the blood off his eyes so he can see, and he slinks further to the ground in shock and exhaustion. Breathing heavily, he starts to cry as he put his head in hands. It is dark out, a small fire light the streets a bit. Threw all the smoke, you hears screams, yelling, glass shattering and crying. In the midst of all the fighting, the streets lights that have dark for almost a year start to light up, one by one. The power systems have started to come online. The people that were fighting each other stop, shaken by the carnage they can now see clearly. The people that stormed the subdivision, the ones that can still walk, start to make their home. Art gets up from the ground, and runs into the house to pull the step ladder down. He runs ups to get his family. At first they don’t come out, but once he yells “it’s me”, they come quickly to him. They all hug in a group in the attic, which now has a light bulb on, so they can all see. The last shot shows a caravan of red cross vehicles and other supply trucks driving threw the neighborhood, with bodies and burning cars around them.