1
(MELANIE TAKES DEEP BREATH)
MELANIE: (WHISPERS) One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
11, 12, 13, 14, 15,
16, 17, 18, 19, 20,
21, 22, 23, 24, 25,
26, 27, 28, 29, 30,
31, 32, 33, 34, 35,
36, 37, 38, 39, 40,
41, 42, 43...
(DOOR CLANKS OPEN)
(KLAXON HORN BLARES)
MAN: Transit, let's go.
- Wakey-wakey, we're on the move!
- (BANGING ON DOORS)
Transit, let's go.
Rise and shine, you friggin' abortions.
Let's go.
- Transit!
- (BANGING ON DOORS)
Wakey-wakey.
Transit!
Come on, you friggin' abortions.
Good morning, Private Gallagher.
Good morning, Private Devani.
GALLAGHER: Head secured.
DEVANI: OK.
GALLAGHER: Limbs secured.
"Cuffs and straps to be verified manually
and by line of sight."
Nice going, shithead.
Knows the drill better than you do.
(MAN SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY)
MAN: Need some help here!
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Good morning, Sergeant Parks.
- Gallagher, keep your distance.
- Sarge.
(DOOR CLANGS SHUT)
(DOOR OPENS)
- Good morning, Miss.
- ALL: Good morning, Dr Selkirk.
DR SELKIRK: Quiet, please.
Is that everyone?
Let's make a start.
The periodic table.
Close your eyes and visualise it.
And open. Actinides. Anne.
Ac... Actinium.
- Thorium.
- DR SELKIRK: With numbers.
- Who knows the numbers?
- 89, 90.
DR SELKIRK: Yes. Next, Peter.
PETER: Uranium. 92.
Protactinium, then uranium. Kenny?
- Cobalt?
- DR SELKIRK: Actinides.
We're on row seven.
(WHISPERS) Neptunium.
- Neptunium.
- DR SELKIRK: Number?
Half a mark. Switch to period four. Anyone?
19, potassium.
20, calcium. 21, scandium...
Earth metals? Downwards from row two.
- Joe.
- (DOOR OPENS)
(DOOR CLANGS SHUT)
Morning, class.
ALL: Good morning, Miss Justineau.
- I hope you're well, Miss Justineau.
- I am very well. Thank you, Melanie.
Erm, I'm done with the regression analysis.
Thanks for filling in.
Ah, the periodic table.
We haven't really covered this yet.
Just data pairs. Names and numbers.
Content is not really relevant, is it?
Enjoy!
OK, I've got chemical elements here.
- Oh. Lots and lots.
- Can we have a story?
Oh, yeah, that's a great idea.
Then someone goes and tells Dr Caldwell
and I'm in the sweat box for a week.
We won't tell. We promise.
We did stories last time.
Greek myths? Then it counts as history.
All right. We'll do one as a warm-up.
Now, where were we?
Prometheus and Epimetheus.
The war with the gods.
- Got it. Thank you, Melanie.
- You're very welcome, Miss Justineau.
"The gods do not forget.
"And by and by,
"Zeus wanted to punish
Epimetheus for his misdeeds,
"so he fashioned a woman of clay
and gave her the name Pandora.
"'She who brings gifts.'
"Pandora opened up the box
whereupon every plague and tribulation,
"every misfortune and evil thing
in the world came pouring out,
"and they have afflicted
mankind ever since,
"all because of Pandora's curiosity..."
Good night, Private Dillon.
Good night, Private Devani.
- Yeah. Sweet dreams, Cujo.
- Don't bloody talk to it.
(DOOR CLANGS SHUT)
"But then, Pandora peered into the box
and found one more thing in the bottom.
"It was hope.
"And she lifted it in her
hands and set it free.
"Hope...
"... is the good thing that makes you
be able to stand all the bad things."
But there isn't anything bad here.
Is there?
Good night, black-and-white kitten.
(LIGHT SWITCH CLUNKS)
No.
I guess we do OK.
MELANIE: (WHISPERS)
Good night, Miss Justineau.
(LIGHT SWITCHES CLUNK)
(KLAXON HORN BLARES)
MELANIE: (WHISPERING) 22, 23, 24, 25,
26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31,
32, 33, 34, 35,
36, 37, 38, 39, 40...
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
Hello, Melanie.
Hello, Dr Caldwell.
Did you solve the problem?
Nobody broke into the room.
Lupin stole the jewels right at the start
when he pretended to check
if they were still there.
Very good.
Here's another. There's a cat in a box.
It could be alive or it could be dead.
Fifty-fifty.
- How would you find out?
- You'd open the box and look inside.
Before that, when the box is closed,
is the cat alive or dead?
- Am I allowed to listen?
- No.
Or shake the box, or weigh it?
Or drill a hole in it?
Nothing like that. It's a logic problem.
(SIGHS) I'll have to think about it.
- What are you writing?
- Subject's responses.
"Exquisite mimicry of observed behaviours."
- Question mark.
- What does that mean?
That means the jury's still out.
Give me a number from one to 20.
- Thirteen.
- Thank you.
- PARKS: Transit! Let's go!
- (BANGING ON DOOR)
Rise and shine! Come on, up you get!
Transit.
Come on, you friggin' abortions. Let's go!
Rise and shine...
MAN: Look, we all agreed
to do our bit of time here.
WOMAN: Three months, not six.
- Where's Kenny? Is Kenny coming to class?
- MAN: I know, but when we rotate...
WOMAN: Should have fucking rotated
in week 40.
I should be in Beacon now.
MAN: Carlisle said
the transport's coming next week.
WOMAN: Yeah, he said that
last week, didn't he?
"'But no, 'the old man said.
'These are indeed your sailors,
"'turned into animals
by the witch's power.'
"'By the gods!' Odysseus cried.
'If that were my fate
"'and I brought down to a beast,
"'I would rather die by my own hand."'
Wow, tough audience.
- Will Kenny come to class today?
- Not today.
Tomorrow?
Here's an idea.
I'm gonna unlock your writing hands
and take your trays out
and you're gonna tell me a story.
- JOE: But we don't know any stories.
- Only the ones you've told us.
That's all right. I want you to make it up.
What should it be about?
Anything you like, Melanie.
It's up to you.
DILLON: Christ,
look at the creepy little fuckers.
How can she stand being that close to them?
She's well fit, though, in't she?
(CHUCKLES)
All right, time's up. Pencils down.
So, who would like
to read their story out loud?
Melanie. Start us off.
"Once upon a time, in ancient Greece,
there was a woman.
"She was very beautiful,
"the most beautiful and kind and clever
and amazing woman in all the world.
"One day, she was walking in a forest
"when suddenly,
she was attacked by a monster.
"It was a friggin' abortion
and it wanted to eat her.
"The woman was really brave.
"She fought and fought,
but the monster was big and fierce.
"She couldn't kill it.
She broke her sword and her spear.
"The monster was about to eat her.
"But then a girl came running up.
"She was like Achilles
because she couldn't be hurt,
"except in one place she kept secret.
"She fought the monster and killed it
"and cut off its head
and went galumphing back.
"And the woman...
"The woman said,
"'You are my special girl.
You will always be with me
"'and I'll never, never let you go.'
"And they lived...
They lived happily together ever after."
I'm sorry.
(SNIFFLES)
Can I try again?
Can I try again, please?
- PARKS: No! No fucking way! No.
- (GASPS)
- I didn't... Oh, Jesus.
- You just touched her.
My fucking Christ,
you just touched her face.
I touched her head, the top of her head.
Watch.
- (RUBBING HAND)
- No, please, don't do that.
(BREATHES HEAVILY)
(SNIFFS)
(CRUNCHING)
(RETCHING AND CLICKING)
(HISSING)
(SNARLING AND PANTING)
(PANTING)
(ALL START SNARLING)
(ALL GIBBER AND SNARL)
Stop it!
(SNARLING AND GIBBERING CONTINUES)
You think something's human
because it's vaguely the right shape?
- No, I don't think that.
- Good. Here endeth the lesson.
(GIBBERING AND SNARLING SUBSIDES)
(DOOR CLANGS SHUT)
What are you looking at?
If I had a box full of all the evils in the world,
I'd stick you inside and close the lid.
(SCOFFS)
(CHUCKLES) Oh, shit.
I'd better make sure you never get a box.
She likes me best. She touched me.
She wouldn't ever touch you.
- You're all done here.
- Sarge, wrist and ankle restraints.
Dismiss!
(LOCK CLANGS)
(FOOTSTEPS RECEDE)
(DOOR WINDOW SLIDES OPEN)
Melanie.
- Good evening, Miss Justineau.
- Who did this to you?
Hello?
Someone?
(SIGHS)
(KEYS JANGLE)
It was Sergeant Parks, wasn't it?
He did this to you.
(MELANIE SNIFFS)
Miss... Miss Justineau, you smell nice.
- Don't talk to him, OK?
- (CLICKING AND CRUNCHING)
- Promise me. If you ignore him, then...
- No! Get out!
Get out!
(SNAPPING, RETCHING AND GASPING)
(GASPING AND PANTING)
(SNARLING CONTINUES)
I'm sorry!
(SOBS) I'm sorry!
DR CALDWELL: Good evening, Melanie.
- I see you had another visitor tonight.
- No.
These are rationed and numbered.
I can find out whose it is
by looking on the list.
I think I know who it might have been.
Would you like to give me another number?
- Anything from...
- Four.
Number four.
Really?
"Four."
(LIGHT SWITCHES CLUNK)
(KLAXON HORN BLARES)
- MAN: Transit! Let's go!
- (BANGING ON DOOR)
Up you get!
Wakey-wakey, we're on the move!
WOMAN: Come on, now!
MAN: Transit!
- (BANGING ON DOORS)
- MAN: Transit!
(FOOTSTEPS RECEDING)
(PANTING)
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
Good morning, Private Raison.
Good morning, Sergeant Parks.
Where are we going?
What's this place called?
(LIFT RATTLING)
Why is it shaking?
(DISTANT RATTLE OF MACHINE GUNFIRE)
(MEN SHOUTING)
Sarge, south section. Fence one is down.
Use the flamethrower. Short bursts.
(MACHINE GUNFIRE)
(SOLDIERS SHOUTING)
- Need me for anything else?
- Emphatically not.
Lock all the doors after I'm gone,
and stay inside until the all-clear.
Good morning, Dr Caldwell.
Good morning, Dr Selkirk.
Good morning, Melanie.
Did you think about that cat?
The cat in the box?
It's not alive or dead. It's just gone.
- DR CALDWELL: Why?
- Cats are clever.
The standard answer is, it's both.
Alive and dead at the same time.
MELANIE: That's stupid. (GASPS)
DR CALDWELL: Possibly.
But it's what you came here for, isn't it?
The answer to the mystery.
It's you, Melanie.
In this analogy, you open the box
and you find yourself there.
I'm sorry.
Dr Caldwell, I'd like to get back
to the classroom now, please.
Three mil, thiopental.
(DOOR OPENS)
- Good morning, Miss Justineau.
- (PHONE RINGS)
DR CALDWELL: Helen, we are
in the middle of a procedure.
Leave it. I'm not doing this any more.
More self-doubt, Helen. We are so close.
This isn't what I signed up for.
It is exactly what you signed up for.
We're cutting up children.
They present as children.
You know my opinion on that.
That the pathogen, the fungus,
does their thinking for them?
You only have to speak to them
for five minutes!
I do that every day.
I read your reports every day.
Helen, this is an argument
I've had with myself a thousand times.
But I'm listening.
Look, putting the scalpel down.
And you can put down your weapon.
Please.
Please.
- Ow! (GASPING)
- Miss Justineau!
Security detail. Go!
(SCREAMS)
No! Leave her alone.
(COUGHS)
(HELEN GROANING AND COUGHING)
Wait a moment.
Helen, this is not another blind biopsy.
This is a processing run.
Do you understand me?
I am producing a test batch of a vaccine
and she is the main ingredient.
What you're feeling...
I respect it, but I can't afford it.
- Put her in a safe place.
- Doctor, we're really busy right now...
You're responsible for her.
- (HELEN GRUNTS)
- Miss Justineau!
(KLAXON ALARM BLARES)
Should we postpone?
No. Drop the shutters.
- She's moving too much.
- (MELANIE STRUGGLING)
There's a cranial strap on the left.
I'm not gonna cut around a cranial strap.
Do I re-dose her?
DR CALDWELL: Yes, yes, Jean,
that would be extremely...
(SCREAMING)
- (SNARLING)
- (GASPING AND GRUNTING)
(SNARLING AND SNAPPING)
(GRUNTING)
(GASPING AND PANTING)
(RETCHING AND CRUNCHING)
(PANTING)
(SNARLING)
(SNARLING)
(SNARLING AND GIBBERING)
(MELANIE PANTING)
(SNARLS)
(POUNDING ON DOOR)
(SNARLING)
(SCREECHING)
(MELANIE STRAINING)
(DR SELKIRK SPUTTERING)
(PANTING)
(PANTING)
(GUNSHOTS)
(SOLDIERS SHOUTING)
- (SNARLING)
- Argh!
(GUNSHOTS AND SCREAMING)
WOMAN: Help! Help me!
(SHOUTING AND SNARLING)
(GUNFIRE)
MELANIE: Miss Justineau!
HELEN: Melanie!
- Get off! Stupid bitch!
- No!
- (SNARLING)
- (GRUNTS)
DEVANI: Stop!
(SCREAMING)
Fuck! (SCREAMS)
- (GUNSHOTS)
- (RETCHING)
(GUNFIRE AND SHOUTING)
(PANTING)
PARKS: Come on!
(GATES RATTLING)
(PANTING)
- (SNARLING)
- (SOLDIER SCREAMING)
(MACHINE GUNFIRE)
Melanie. Melanie.
Shh, come on. Shh, shh. It's OK.
It's OK, Melanie. It's OK.
It's OK.
(BOTH GASPING)
(SIGHS)
Put our coordinates out on all frequencies.
- Log it as muster point one.
- Sarge!
- Sergeant, no!
- She's not hurting anyone! Just let her out!
- Move.
- Let her out, then she's gone! Go! Go! Go!
DR CALDWELL: What the fuck are you doing?
That's not your decision to make!
(GASPING)
(INSECTS BUZZING)
Nothing, Sarge. Empty on all frequencies.
Then we'll leave.
But I need you to retrieve the test subject.
PARKS: Gallagher,
check the locker for supplies.
Dillon, cover the kid.
Don't shoot her unless she moves.
Oi, stay with the vehicle.
No. Don't come too close to me.
I won't.
- Are you OK?
- I did something bad.
You did a good thing.
- You saved me like in your story.
- It wasn't like my story.
I ate bits of the soldiers.
The girl in my story didn't eat people.
If they were coming, they would be here
or they would have answered
your muster call.
What have we got? Any water?
The truck was in the shop, Sarge.
Tank got emptied out when they cleaned it.
There's canteens, a few clips of ammo,
blocker gel and... This lot?
I figure it's what the field teams
used back when they were,
- you know, trying to catch the...
- Yeah, I know what it is.
Justineau!
(SOFTLY) Just wait here.
Right, everybody, listen to me.
We're going south to Beacon.
We're gonna stock up on water
and then we're off.
What about the base personnel?
The children?
Got to assume they're dead.
As far as the kids are concerned,
hungries don't eat their own.
Once we get back to Beacon,
we can mount a search-and-rescue.
- And Melanie?
- She belongs to the programme
and she's vital.
I would suggest you take out the spare
wheel and put her in the wheel well.
- It's an enclosed space...
- (GRUNTS)
Was that cathartic?
Whoa! Once is enough.
HELEN: She's not going in the wheel well.
I just wanted to make that clear.
No, she's not.
(ENGINE STOPS)
PARKS: Suppressors on. Soft rounds.
MELANIE: How can bullets be soft?
DILLON: Do you want me to gag it, sir?
- Means they're hollow at the tip.
- Why?
Spreads as it goes in. Doesn't come out.
- Less blood spatter.
- Why?
Less chance of spreading the infection.
Thank you, Sergeant Parks.
Let's move.
PARKS: Be quick.
(TWIGS RUSTLING)
- Jesus Christ, I said suppressors!
- Sorry, I didn't... Shit!
(RUNNING FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
Move. Let's go. Go!
Go!
(SNARLING AND CLICKING)
(SNARLING)
(GUNFIRE)
(GRUNTS)
- (SNARLING)
- (GRUNTING)
- Sarge!
- Shit!
- Fucking hell!
- (SNARLING)
(GRUNTING)
(SCREAMING)
Get its head up! Get its fucking head up!
- (SNARLING)
- (GALLAGHER STRAINING)
- PARKS: Move! Go!
- (PANTING)
(GASPS)
Your arm.
(BREATHING UNSTEADILY)
That's... That's not a bite, Sarge.
- I laid it open on a rock.
- Stay there.
Sarge, I cut myself, I swear to God.
Wait.
What, with my fucking bollocks hanging out?
Sod that, let me in!
See, I told you, I'm fine.
I'm fine. There's nothing... Wrong...
(GASPING)
(SNARLING)
MELANIE: He was turning into one of them.
- Like Dr Selkirk.
- What the fuck is she doing in here?
She's got a muzzle on her face
and her hands are tied behind her back.
And you're still afraid of her?
Yeah. And you should be, too.
Melanie...
The hungries,
they've got this sort of disease...
And people can catch it.
A fungal infection.
Ophiocordyceps unilateralis.
Transmitted by bodily fluids.
So your bite is...
She's not gonna be biting anyone.
PARKS: Professional opinion.
- Were they following us?
- DR CALDWELL: Probably not.
They gather in groups,
as they did in the base.
We're not sure why.
They must be lonely.
Oh. I hadn't thought of that one.
(IGNITION SPUTTERS)
(IGNITION SPUTTERS)
Bullet hit the fuel line,
so we're back to Shanks's pony.
We'll take the direct
route through to London.
More hungries, but more food, too.
- It's a fuck sight quicker.
- Seriously?
Why can't we just call Beacon and tell them
where we are? They can send a chopper.
I tried. The truck's radio
doesn't have the range.
We'll call on the handhelds
once we're closer in.
All right, let's take a stroll.
HELEN: Come on.
MELANIE: Will we see the river?
There's a river. The Thames.
It's the second-longest river in England
and it rises in the Cotswold Hills.
How deep are rivers?
In the picture, The Elephant's Child,
the water is up to the elephant's feet.
But boats sail on rivers and fish live in them,
so some rivers must be very deep...
Here. Watch where you put your feet.
GALLAGHER:
They're all over the place, Sarge.
PARKS: The shops were looted
a long time ago.
We might get lucky
if we go through some of the houses.
- Hungries?
- By the ton.
We're going in.
On tip-toe.
Really? Through a herd of them?
Their main sensory cue is smell.
The gel makes us invisible.
PARKS: Up to a point.
Anything loud, any fast movements
will wake them, too.
We walk slow, steady. No talking.
No eye contact.
OK?
OK?
(CHUCKLES) We're not children,
Sergeant Parks.
Least of all, her.
(WHEELS SQUEAKING IN DISTANCE)
(MELANIE BREATHING HEAVILY)
(SOFTLY) Caldwell.
- (GASPS)
- (SNARLING)
PARKS: Up, up. Everybody, up.
Move. Up. Up.
(SNARLING)
(SNARLS)
(PANTING)
PARKS: Be quiet and settle in.
HELEN: What?
What else you wanna do, go back out there?
(SIGHS)
Doctor, what was that?
I've never seen maternal
or nurturing behaviour in a hungry.
I was gathering data,
which is part of our mission statement.
It was until the fence went down.
Now our mission statement
is to keep ourselves off the fucking menu.
I'll be more careful, where possible.
(PARKS SIGHS)
Let's get ourselves some privacy.
We'd better do a quick recce.
Make sure we've got this
place to ourselves.
- Melanie stays here.
- Private.
And someone stays with her.
I won't have her put at risk.
(HAN DCUFFS RATTLING
AGAINST RADIATOR)
MELANIE: I'll be fine, Miss Justineau.
I'm not scared.
- Justineau, you take the left.
- Yeah.
Gallagher, you take the right.
Eyes and ears.
Melanie...
If you need me, shout really loud.
Yes, Miss Justineau.
(WINCING)
Dr Caldwell?
What am I?
We don't really have a term for it.
But you know where I came from?
Tell me.
Please.
(DISTANT CLANG)
Sergeant Parks and his people used to
go into the cities on retrieval runs.
On one of those visits,
they found something else.
(DISTANT THUD)
(CLANG)
DR CALDWELL: Neonates.
Newborns.
Infected, very definitely. Hungries,
but different from anything we'd seen.
They were still able to think,
to...
Interact with their environment.
In many ways,
they behaved like real people.
(DISTANT BANGING AND CHAIN RATTLING)
(EXHALES SHARPLY)
MELANIE: Why were the babies different?
It seemed these children might have
a partial immunity to the hungry pathogen.
But where did they come from?
From where all babies come from.
But by a...
Slightly eccentric route.
(DISTANT THUDDING)
(THUD)
DR CALDWELL: The newborns
were found in a place like this.
A maternity hospital,
where mothers go to give birth.
The mothers were there, too. They were...
Empty.
Cored.
All their organs devoured.
- By hungries?
- No.
From the inside.
(DISTANT BANGING)
- Babies can't eat people.
- These ones did.
The mothers were probably
all infected at once, in a single incident.
Then the embryos they were carrying
took the infection as well...
Through the placenta.
They ate their way out.
(BANGING GETS CLOSER)
(SNARLING)
I don't want to be a hungry.
But that's what you are.
In dissection, it's very clear.
The fungus is wrapped around your brain
like ivy around an oak tree.
But I can talk. I'm like you.
You're not like anything
that's ever existed before.
(CHOMPING)
(CHAIN RATTLES)
(SNARLS)
(SNARLS)
(SNARLING CONTINUES)
You said you could make a vaccine.
It's the whole focus of my research.
Nothing matters more.
I want to save people, Melanie.
I want to save everybody.
(SNARLING)
(EXHALES)
I tried to find some food for you,
but... I didn't manage.
But I did find something else.
They're really great, aren't they?
Now you can get out of those stinky things.
They're very nice.
Thank you.
Tomorrow I'll try and
find some food for you.
First thing. OK?
Do you think you can hold out till then?
Mmm.
(CHUCKLES)
Do you think Beacon
have missed our comms yet?
Hard to say.
They check in when they can.
They've been stretched just lately.
"Sufficient unto the day."
What, don't you fraternise
with the enlisted men?
You ever killed a kid?
I was in the Terries.
I didn't say boo to a fucking goose turd
before all this kicked off.
- She looks at me like I'm Jesus.
- She loves you.
Yeah, she loves me.
I just couldn't get out the way in time,
that's all.
I'm not a good person.
I've never met a good person or a bad one.
You just do whatever's in you to do.
So no one's ever responsible for anything?
Responsible to who?
MELANIE: (READING IN DISTANCE)
"'He's dreaming now, ' said Tweedledee.
"'And what do you think
he's dreaming about?'
"Alice said, 'Nobody can guess that.'
"'Why, about you!' Tweedledee exclaimed,
clapping his hands triumphantly.
"'And if he left off dreaming about you,
where do you suppose he'd be?'
"'Where I am now, of course, ' said Alice.
"'Not you, '
Tweedledee retorted contemptuously.
"'You'd be nowhere.
You're only a sort of thing in his dream."'
Do you want to see the picture, Kieran?
PARKS: This does not look good.
That ruckus yesterday
must have brought them.
Look, if we wait, something will turn up.
A cat or a... Something,
and they'll run off chasing it.
We could be waiting a bloody long time.
- It's gonna be all right.
- I can do it.
No. I won't allow it.
I'm the only one who can go down there
and not get hurt.
If we let her go,
there is no reason for her to come back.
Yes, there is. I want to be with you.
- With Miss Justineau and Kieran, anyway.
- "Kieran"?
HELEN: You were gonna put
a bullet in her head yesterday.
- What have you got to lose?
- I have a great deal to lose.
She is indispensable to my programme.
There is no programme any more.
There's just us.
And I'll come back because I said I would.
I don't tell lies.
Also...
Can I wear my new clothes, please?
(MELANIE CHUCKLES)
(PARKS CLEARS THROAT)
(SNIFFS AND SNARLS)
(BANGS ON DOOR)
Hello?
(GIGGLES)
Transit! Transit! You friggin' abortions!
Wow.
(BOTTLE CLATTERS)
(DOG BARKS)
(DOG BARKS)
(DOG WHINES)
(SNARLS)
(ALL SNARLING)
(ALL GIBBER AND SNARL)
It fell off. But it's safe to come down.
My God.
I'm not hungry now.
Good job.
Let's go.
(SEAGULLS CRY)
HELEN: So we're just
gonna wade in again then?
PARKS: Not if I can help it.
Do you wanna get some more exercise?
You can run ahead and
find us a clear route.
Can I use the radio thing?
Gallagher, give her your radio thing.
- Sarge?
- She'll give it you back.
Right, there you are.
Show me.
Push that button to talk.
Then let go so I can talk back.
(BEEP)
- (FEEDBACK WHINES)
- It's Melanie.
Hello, I'm over here.
Just like that, yeah. Off you go, then.
(CHUCKLES)
Don't play with anybody that looks dead.
She better not bloody lose it.
Hello, it's Melanie. Melanie calling.
On the radio.
PARKS: I know. What have you got?
Well, the third street's the best one.
There's a few hungries right at the top,
but if you keep on going there's no one.
Thank you. Over and out.
Well done.
HELEN: Do you want a cat?
I already had one.
GALLAGHER: Fuck me.
- PARKS: Doctor...
- (GASPING)
I saw this in Bristol.
And the team in Glasgow
says it's spreading everywhere.
It's the next stage in the
pathogen's life cycle.
PARKS: Leave it.
This is the same thing that's in my brain.
Will that happen to me?
Well, it depends.
Do you know what symbiosis is?
Like the little birds
that clean a crocodile's teeth?
Exactly. In the second generation,
your generation,
the fungus may function as a symbiote.
It certainly seems to.
Let me know if you start to sprout.
HELEN: It's gone quiet all of a sudden.
Must be the off-season.
Gallagher, don't step on them.
HELEN: We're never gonna get past this.
We're gonna have to go around it.
GALLAGHER: What the fuck is that?
PARKS: What are we looking at, Caldwell?
DR CALDWELL: I told you.
The next stage in the fungus' life cycle.
The mature sexual stage.
This is why there are no hungries here.
When the density is the highest,
when enough of them come together...
- MELANIE: They turn into a forest?
- (EXCLAIMING SOFTLY)
This is a sporangium, a seed pod.
There must be tens of thousands of them
in that mass.
If they were to open...
What?
The end of the world...
Probably.
PARKS: Let's keep moving.
- You're sick, Dr Caldwell.
- I'm fine. Thank you.
You smell sick.
I saw you.
You picked one up. Can I see it?
Why would it be the end of the world
if it opened?
The hungry pathogen would become airborne.
You'd catch it by just breathing.
But look...
(HARD KNOCKING)
It's a bad design.
Mutants have to take the rough
with the smooth.
PARKS: What the hell is this?
PARKS: It's full armour. Coded access.
Emergency access
is under the midsection door.
- And you know this because?
- We made them.
Fully functional mobile labs.
Armed and armoured,
so they could go anywhere.
Solar-powered, so they never had to stop.
PARKS: Emergency access, show me.
It's under there.
(MOTOR HUMS)
Come on, Kieran.
(TAPS BUTTONS)
(DR CALDWELL GASPS)
Solars are still working.
See if the engine's any good.
(IGNITION SPUTTERS)
(IGNITION SPUTTERS)
(MATCHES RATTLE)
I need to find some food.
(CLATTERING AND BANGING)
GALLAGHER: Wonder where they are.
Maybe they went out to explore.
And stayed over their friends'?
(DOOR CREAKS OPEN AND SHUT)
- How's the engine, Sarge?
- Should be able to get it working.
- Let's try Beacon first.
- (RADIO STATIC)
Runaways from base Hotel Echo,
calling Beacon. Over.
(STATIC)
Runaways from base Hotel Echo,
calling Beacon. Over.
Runaways calling any friendlies
in the southeastern area. Over.
(STATIC)
- Did you check out the kitchen?
- HELEN: Cupboard's bare.
I could do a supply run, Sarge.
(PANTING)
- PARKS: OK. We'll work on the engine.
- (VOICE ECHOING)
PARKS: Gallagher, stay close.
Call in every 10 minutes.
GALLAGHER: Sarge.
(PANTING)
- What?
- I need to eat, too. I can smell you.
I can smell all of you.
(SNIFFING)
(WINGS FLAP OVERHEAD)
(PIGEONS COOING)
Right, try that.
(ENGINE TURNS OVER)
Good job.
(GROANS)
(EXHALES)
(CHILD SQUEALING)
(CHILDREN SQUEALING)
(DOOR OPENS)
(GIBBERS)
(SNARLS)
(SNIFFS DEEPLY)
(SNIFFS AND SNARLS)
(ALL GIBBERING AND SNARLING)
No. Oh, no.
(GIBBERING AND SNARLING)
(FLICKS SWITCHES)
(SIGHS)
(STIFLED GROAN)
Want me to change that dressing?
No, thank you. There's no point.
Is it healing?
I'm dying.
(CHUCKLES)
I'm surprised you hadn't noticed.
Inflammatory sepsis.
Blood poisoning from the cuts.
I dosed up on flucloxacillin
when we arrived,
but I'm pretty sure it's too late.
- I'm sorry.
- How sorry?
Would you let me have her?
Forget it.
I was almost there when the base fell.
With this equipment, I can do it.
I can synthesise the vaccine.
But I need her brain and her spine.
Isoflurane.
Surgical anaesthetic.
She'd feel nothing.
That's more your thing than hers.
(BANGING ON DOOR)
MELANIE: Miss Justineau!
Kieran is out there
and they're out there with him.
They've got his smell
and they're looking for him right now.
And you've got to find him first.
Now! You've got to go now!
Melanie, who are you talking about?
The children. They're going to eat him.
I saw them. They're exactly the same as me.
They're just going to hunt him down.
MELANIE: They've got his scent
and they're gonna go and find him.
- He's got blocker on.
- Blocker's got a smell, too.
It's nasty, but if you know what it means,
you can follow it.
How would they know
what blocker smells like?
Isn't it obvious?
Gallagher, what's your position? Over.
(OVER RADIO) Gallagher, could you call in
with your location, if you can? Over.
Gallagher, call in with your location
if you can. Over.
I could find him. Please.
Let's head out with her.
WOMAN: (OVER RADIO)
This is Beacon. Do you copy?
- Here. Copy.
- Confirm status. Over.
Uh, London. North of the river.
About a day away from Beacon. Over.
Confirm status of base Hotel Echo.
We need to start evacuating
our people while we still can.
The fences are coming down.
(BREAKING UP) It's only a matter of hours
before they're inside the complex.
(TRAN SMISSION BREAKS UP)
- Beacon, this is...
- We've got to go, Sergeant.
We've got to go now!
- Beacon, this is...
- We've got to go! We've got to go now!
It's Kieran!
(SNIFFING)
He was here lots of times.
(SNIFFS)
He doubled back. (SNIFFS)
That way!
Come on.
(FAINT CLATTER)
- (SNARLS)
- Hey.
What's your name, then?
Is, er, is that yours, is it?
No, I'm... I'm... No, I'm good, er...
I've, er... I've had my dinner.
Yum-yum. Full.
Fucking hell, look,
you need it more than I do. Look at you.
You're all skin and bone.
All right, all right.
It's all right. Hey, it's all right.
Come here.
It's all right.
Look, I'm not... It's all right.
Don't be daft. It's all right. Come here.
Come here. Look, I'm not playing with you.
Just come here.
- (SNARLS)
- (GASPING)
(SNARLING)
(WHIMPERING)
(HYPERVENTILATING)
(SNARLING)
(SCREAMS) Fuck! Fuck.
You see this?
(SNARLING)
You fucking see it? (IMITATES EXPLOSION)
(SOBS)
I mean it! You touch me and I'll blow
you all to fuck, do you understand?
No, I mean it, I will!
(STUTTERS) Please.
- No, please!
- (SNARLING)
(SCREAMING)
(ALL SNARLING)
(SNIFFING)
Help me get this up.
(ALL STRAINING)
Little fuckers.
- Dirty little fuckers...
- MELANIE: They just want to live.
Everyone wants that.
You know what this is?
They set a trap for him,
the same way you'd trap an animal.
Miss Justineau...
This is a trap, too!
(SNARLING AND GROWLING)
(SNARLING)
Sergeant, let me! Put it down.
(EXCLAIMS)
(SNARLING)
(YELLING)
(SNARLS)
(SNARLS)
(GRUNTS)
Melanie!
(ALL SNARLING)
(STRUGGLING)
(ALL SNARLING)
(SNARLS)
(SCREAMS)
(CONTINUES SCREAMING)
(PANTING)
(SCREAMS)
(SCREAMS)
(TRIUMPHANT SCREECH)
(SCREAMS)
Miss Justineau! Sergeant!
(SNARLS) Don't look at them!
- (GIBBERS)
- Shut up!
Just at me!
(SCREAMS)
- Pretend you're really scared of me.
- "Pretend"?
(SNARLING)
Go. Quick, go!
They're mine! You can't have them!
If you try...
(QUIETLY) Hurry up.
Well, you'd just better not!
(SCREAMS)
(SCREAMS)
(SCREECHES)
(SCREAMS)
HELEN: As soon as we get in,
we hit the road, right?
First things first.
If Beacon's relocating, we need coordinates.
Yeah, we need to tell them
that Hotel Echo isn't there any more.
Is there somewhere else, another field base
close enough for us to get to?
Shit, why has she left the doors open?
(GAS HISSING)
(PANTING)
Caroline. What are you doing?
(COUGHING AND SPLUTTERING)
(WHIRR OF MACHINERY)
(GRUNTS)
(PANTING)
(STRAINING)
(MOANING)
(SHRIEKS WITH PAIN)
(PANTING)
(SCREAMING)
(STOPS PANTING)
(PANTING)
I'm much faster than you, Dr Caldwell.
If you try to cut me, I'll bite you.
I don't think you'd like that.
I don't need to breathe as often as you do.
Out on the base, I used to hold my breath
and count to 1,000.
(CALDWELL SIGHS)
The fungus metabolises your oxygen for you.
Probably we're symbiotes, like you said.
Melanie...
You're a clever girl.
- I think you know...
- You think you can make a cure out of me.
I can.
I can do it right here.
I have everything I need.
A cure to save Helen
and Sergeant Parks.
And Kieran.
Kieran's dead.
But the others.
Melanie,
only the second generation can be like you.
Would you want to see Miss Justineau
turn into a monster, an animal?
- No.
- Of course not.
And it's up to you.
You can give her something
that nobody else can.
A long, full life.
Safe.
Surrounded by people who love her.
She can be safe in Beacon.
Beacon is falling apart. You heard.
- But she can go somewhere else.
- And when the pods open?
They won't, you showed me.
(CHUCKLES) You can't
break them open with your hands,
but they respond to heat or moisture.
One flood,
one brushfire...
I promise,
it won't hurt.
Will you tell her?
She'll know you did it for her.
I need you to lie down.
(SNIFFLES)
What about the children, Dr Caldwell?
Melanie, lie down, please.
I don't have long.
If I don't do this now...
"Subject's responses.
Exquisite mimicry of observed behaviours.
"Question mark."
Do you still think that, Dr Caldwell?
- Melanie, I...
- Do you?
No.
We're alive?
Yes.
You're alive.
Then why should it be us who die for you?
(CLOSES VELCRO ON SHOES)
Stay here.
If you stay here, you'll be safe.
Melanie.
- (MATCHES RATTLE IN BOX)
- Melanie.
(GASPS)
(GROANS)
(GROANING)
(PANTING)
(HUNGRIES GIBBERING AND SNIFFING)
(SNARLING AND GIBBERING)
(ALL SNARLING)
(PODS POPPING)
(PODS CONTINUE POPPING)
(PARKS COUGHING AND PANTING)
MELANIE: You should have
stayed inside, in the lab.
PARKS: I was looking for you. (COUGHS)
- Is Miss Justineau with you?
- She's back there.
- With the airlock closed?
- Yes.
Melanie, what is this?
It's seeds.
The seeds that make people into hungries.
Jesus fucking Christ.
- I'm sorry, Sergeant. I'm so sorry.
- (PARKS PANTING)
What did you do?
I made the pods open.
Oh, Jesus Christ.
It's going to be all right.
No. It's over. It's all over. (SPITS)
It's not over.
It's just not yours any more.
But I thought you'd be safe.
I made sure you'd be safe.
I closed the airlock.
(COUGHS)
(PANTING)
(LABOURED BREATHING)
Melanie...
(STRAINING)
Melanie...
I don't want to end up like them.
Please.
Please!
(PANTING AND GROANING)
Where did you learn that?
I watched you.
Of course you did.
(GASPS)
(SPUTTERS)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
The last time...
Last time I ever saw her,
she was seven months.
She was as big as a house.
She looked beautiful.
Beautiful. (SOBS)
(PANTING) I had to hope that...
...she was out there, somewhere.
(GASPS AND GROANS)
- (GUNSHOT)
- (PARKS STOPS STRUGGLING)
(TEARFULLY) Transit.
(COUGHS)
Oh, my God.
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
Good morning, Miss Justineau.
Morning, Melanie.
- Down!
- (OVER TANNOY) Good morning, class.
ALL: Good morning, Miss Justineau.
- Get down!
- (SNARLING)
Okay, so we're gonna continue with...
(SNARLING AND SCREAMING)
Okay, we're gonna continue
with getting the new kids up to speed.
Everyone else, if you can just be patient
while they catch up with us. Okay?
MELANIE: Can we have stories?
Later. If there's time.
There'll be lots of time.