Paradise Read online

  ALANA

  Sand?

  SEBASTIAN

  (smiles)

  You can call me Forest.

  ALANA

  I guess they'll do for now.

  She turns around, looking back over the forest.

  ALANA (CONT'D)

  I don't see any fires.

  Sebastian finishes with the branches.

  SEBASTIAN

  They'll be on the other side. The picture

  had five coming down. There's three more

  around here somewhere. We'll find them

  soon enough.

  He continues on.

  SEBASTIAN (CONT'D)

  Lets go.

  Alana continues to look over the forest, then turns and follows.

  CUT TO.

  EXT. FOREST - MOUNTAIN - SUNSET

  Dry grass is thrown onto a fire. Sebastian looks aside and sees Alana staring at something in her hand.

  SEBASTIAN (O.S)

  (beat)

  It means you have someone.

  Alana comes about.

  ALANA

  What?

  Sebastian nods to the gold ring in her hand.

  SEBASTIAN

  You have someone.

  Alana looks back at the ring.

  ALANA

  I found it in my pocket.

  She turns the ring over.

  ALANA (CONT'D)

  There's something written on it.

  SEBASTIAN

  Let me see.

  Alana hands the ring over. She watches as he studies it.

  ALANA

  (beat)

  You know what it says?

  Sebastian shakes his head.

  SEBASTIAN

  No.

  He hands back the ring.

  SEBASTIAN (CONT'D)

  Sorry.

  Alana nods, disappointed. Sebastian touches her knee.

  SEBASTIAN (CONT'D)

  It'll all come back. Just give it time.

  Alana nods again, closing the ring in her hand.

  ALANA

  Yeah.

  She looks down at the fire

  FADE TO BLACK.

  FEMALE GUARD (O.S)

  “Stay in your seats!”

  CUT TO.

  INT. PRISON BUS - GHETTO - NIGHT (FLASHBACK)

  A female guard stands at the front of the bus, gripping a rifle with one hand and a rail with the other.

  ELIN, a dark haired blue eyed girl of 18, tries to look out the window.

  Through the bars we glimpse fires in several buildings.

  A man crawls on the pavement, two masked men, riot officers, club him with their rifles. One of the officers aims at the man's head and fires once.

  Elin drops into her seat. ALANA (aged 8) looks around, terrified.

  Elin leans down and speaks to her in a foreign language (a hybrid of Russian and Chinese).

  ELIN

  (subtitled)

  Stay close to me, don't let go of my hand,

  you understand??

  Alana quickly nods.

  “BHAM!”, an explosion rocks the vehicle, the tyres “pop” and “screech”.

  FEMALE GUARD (O.S)

  Jesus Christ, pull over pull over!

  Alana grips her sister's hand. “Gunshots” rise in the distance. We see a gold ring on Elin's finger as well as a bar code tattooed on her wrist.

  CUT TO.

  EXT. FOREST - MOUNTAIN - MORNING

  The “gunshots” fade... Alana's eyes open.

  DISSOLVE TO.

  EXT. ROCKY SLOPE - MOUNTAIN - DAY

  Sebastian hikes on.

  SEBASTIAN

  You have any dreams last night?

  ALANA

  What do you mean?

  SEBASTIAN

  About where we're from?

  Alana shakes her head.

  ALANA

  No. Nothing

  SEBASTIAN

  (beat)

  I think I remembered something.

  Alana glances at him.

  ALANA

  What did you remember?

  SEBASTIAN

  A city... lights... A place, high up...

  He struggles.

  SEBASTIAN (CONT'D)

  Keeps coming and going.

  Alana nods.

  SEBASTIAN (CONT'D)

  I think... I think I was someone important.

  He shakes his head, letting it go.

  CUT TO.

  EXT. CLEARING - MOUNTAIN - NIGHT

  The two are again asleep on opposite sides of the fire. Alana turns her head, fighting another nightmare.

  CUT TO.

  EXT. CAVE - MOUNTAIN - NIGHT

  Alana throws up next to some bushes, coughing hard. She tries to settle but winds up vomiting more. She closes her eyes, balancing against a tree, and takes slow deep breathes.

  She wipes her mouth and is about to turn away when she hear a light “crunch” nearby.

  She slowly turns her head and sees two glowing red eyes staring at her from the mouth of the cave.

  EXT. CAMP

  ALANA (O.S)

  Forest...

  Sebastian stirs out of sleep.

  ALANA (O.S) (CONT'D)

  Forest!

  EXT. CAVE

  Alana backs away, trembling.

  Sebastian approaches from behind.

  SEBASTIAN

  What is it?

  He moves around her and freezes.

  SEBASTIAN (CONT'D)

  -Oh God.

  There are now several glowing red eyes in front of them, all hidden in shadow.

  ALANA

  (low)

  -What the Hell are they?

  Sebastian takes her hand and pulls her away.

  SEBASTIAN

  (low)

  Back up.

  The silent red eyes follow them as they retreat.

  EXT. CAMP

  The two reach the light of their campfire.

  The red eyed shadows follow and stop, still hidden.

  ALANA

  What they do they want??

  Sebastian looks around. Behind them the steep drop of the cliff. Another branch “snaps”, Alana half screams.

  SEBASTIAN

  -Don't move.

  He quickly wraps some vines around a branch and sets it alight.

  He turns back to the red eyes and holds the torch out.

  The red eyes back away, dry leaves rustling.

  Sebastian watches them.

  SEBASTIAN (CONT'D)

  (low)

  Keep the fire going.

  Alana looks down.

  The creatures aren't crossing the perimeter of the fire's light.

  She quickly gathers the branches and dry grass as Sebastian stands close to her, torch raised.

  The red eyes continue to watch them. Silent.

  CUT TO.

  EXT. CAMP - MOUNTAIN - MORNING

  The fire burns on. Alana slowly comes about then snaps awake, her head resting on Sebastian's shoulder.

  SEBASTIAN

  It's all right, they left as soon as the sun

  came up.

  Alana looks around. The creatures are gone.

  CUT TO

  EXT. CAVE - MORNING

  Sebastian carries a staff, approaching the mouth of the cave. Alana slows down and pulls him back.

  ALANA

  Don't go any further.

  Sebastian looks down and sees something on the ground. Alana sees it too.

  SEBASTIAN

  (beat)

  We'll make two fires from now on, keep

  them burning all night.

  ALANA

  What are they?

  SEBASTIAN

  I don't know.

  He slowly backs away, taking her hand.

  SEBASTIAN (CONT'D)

  Come on.

  Several footprints are pressed in the ground, large with six claws.

  CUT TO.

  EXT. FOREST - MOUNTAIN - DAY

&n
bsp; The two push on, Sebastian helping Alana along.

  ... They rest by a stream, Alana cupping and drinking some water...

  ... Sebastian gathers firewood and ties them together...

  ... Alana picks some fruit and bites down, hungry...

  ... Sebastian packs away their camp... Alana looks back over the forest.

  Still no fires can be seen.

  CUT TO.

  EXT. PEAK - MOUNTAIN - MORNING

  The galaxies rise in the sky. Alana staggers forward.

  Sebastian slows down and rests his hands on his knees.

  He looks up and stops. A smile spreads over is lips.

  He drops his supplies and runs forward, calling back to Alana.

  SEBASTIAN

  We're here!

  Alana looks up, relieved.

  She follows him out onto the clearing and stops beside him.

  Crashing waves can be head.

  Sebastian's smile fades.

  Alana lowers her head.

  The sun is setting into the ocean.

  There's nothing beyond the waters.

  She slowly touches Sebastian's shoulder. Sebastian doesn't respond.

  The two stand in silence, the wind blowing aside their scruffy hair.

  FADE TO BLACK.

  FADE IN.

  EXT. BEACH - pod area – DAY

  Alana sits on the sand, staring out into the distance. She's no longer in her white jumpsuit but a simple hand-made dress made of leaves and vines.

  She looks down at her hand. The gold ring in her palm.

  CUT TO.

  EXT. STREET - GHETTO - NIGHT (FLASHBACK)

  A hand grabs Alana's shoulder. Elin is blocked by riot officers.

  RIOT OFFICER #1

  Get her in line!

  An “explosion” rocks a building nearby. Elin pushes forward and pulls Alana close.

  ELIN

  (subtitled)

  Be strong. Don't be afraid.

  She quickly takes off the gold ring.

  ELIN (CONT'D)

  -Don't forget. Never forget.

  She presses the ring into her hand.

  RIOT OFFICER #2

  Get back!

  The ring slips from Alana's hand and rolls aside.

  ELIN

  (accented)

  Wait, wait!

  Elin goes for the ring. An officer pulls her by the hair. Elin turns and bites into his hand.

  RIOT OFFICER #1

  Marshy bitch!

  He clubs her with the butt of his rifle and kicks her into the road. The other officers turn and open fire.

  Alana freezes.

  RIOT OFFICER #2 (O.S)

  (reloading)

  She's the last, get moving, now!

  Alana is thrown into another van.

  Through the window she sees Elin's dead body lying still in the middle of the road, her blue eyes still open.

  CUT TO.

  EXT. BEACH - POD AREA – DAY

  Alana slides her thumb over the engraving on the ring.

  “ALANA”

  She slowly stands and approaches the water. Her feet ankle-deep in the surf.

  She stares out a long while, then throws the ring as far as she can.

  She looks away and closes her eyes. Tears forming.

  CUT TO.

  EXT. FOREST – NEAR BEACH

  Sebastian sits cross-legged under a tree, his eyes closed as if in meditation. Alana throws down a cooked rabbit-creature. Sebastian doesn't move.

  ALANA

  (beat)

  You need to eat.

  Sebastian doesn't respond.

  ALANA (CONT'D)

  What do you think this is going to achieve?

  Still no response.

  Alana lowers her head and exhales.

  ALANA (CONT'D)

  (softly)

  This is our home now.

  SEBASTIAN

  -No it's not.

  ALANA

  -This IS our home. No matter what we

  remember it won't change a thing.

  Sebastian looks away.

  Alana sits down beside him.

  ALANA (CONT'D)

  (beat)

  We're lucky, you know. We're in a place

  where there's food, water, everything we

  could possibly want. We can still have a

  life.

  Sebastian laughs to himself.

  SEBASTIAN

  A life. Right.

  Alana looks at him. Hesitant.

  ALANA

  (beat)

  We can have more too, when the time is

  right.

  SEBASTIAN

  What you talking about?

  Alana hesitates again, embarrassed.

  ALANA

  I'm not saying now but in the future it

  doesn't have to be just the two of us. We

  are... capable.

  Sebastian looks at her and stops.

  SEBASTIAN

  I don't believe this.

  He gets up.

  SEBASTIAN (CONT'D)

  You wanna pop out some kids just because

  we CAN?

  ALANA

  (softly)

  I never said that.

  SEBASTIAN

  You think I don't remember? I remember,

  I remember a lot, I had a life, I HAVE a

  life, and so do you. You have someone

  waiting for you. You could have a whole

  family waiting for you.

  Alana rises and shakes her head, not wanting to argue.

  ALANA

  Forget it.

  SEBASTIAN

  What is it, did this person mean nothing to

  you? Was that ring just for show?

  Alana slaps him.

  ALANA

  (beat)

  You know nothing, NOTHING, about me.

  Sebastian touches his cheek.

  SEBASTIAN

  (beat)

  No, I don't. But neither do you.

  Alana trembles, burning with rage. She looks across at the rabbit and backs away.

  ALANA

  Starve yourself.

  She turns and leaves.

  Sebastian kicks away the rabbit and shakes his head.

  He leans against the tree and closes his eyes.

  FADE TO BLACK.

  FADE IN.

  EXT. BALCONY - PENTHOUSE - NIGHT (FLASHBACK)

  A glass of bourbon is swirled. Sebastian stands alone.

  WOMAN (O.S)

  (beat)

  Didn't forget about me did you?

  A pair of arms wrap around him from behind. A tall BLONDE leans forward, lightly kissing his neck. Sebastian smiles.

  He sets down the drink and slowly kisses her, leading her back inside.

  Beyond the balcony we see a brightly-lit city bustling with air traffic, the moon above also covered with city lights.

  CUT TO.

  EXT. FOREST – NEAR BEACH – NIGHT

  Light rain. Sebastian is still under the tree, eyes closed as water runs down his face. Over the rain he hears a light “crunch”.

  He opens his eyes and looks to the side. The rain is hitting several branches.

  He returns to his meditation when he hears another “crunch”. Closer.

  He slowly opens his eyes again.

  Something is ahead. A tiny speck of light... A red light.

  Sebastian freezes.

  Two glowing red eyes are staring at him.

  He scrambles to his feet and looks around. There's nowhere to hide. He grabs a log just as a BLACK SHAPE leaps at him from the side, a claw lashing across his arm. Sebastian screams, striking the red eye across the head.