Have at it internet. Act One of Five
A Dissident in Erewhon-Act One
Prologue
People are gathering around a large stage
in front of a church. Workers with cleaning supplies are disposing of
what appear to be bloody rags. Two lawmakers with rifles stand on the stage. Victoria Nordman steps onto the stage.
(Loud classical music)
Victoria Nordman
(almost inaudibly)
The time has come to cast aside our old dreams and
visions and look instead to our new future. A future that combines God
and Mankind, the future that unifies us all, black or white, a future
of prosperity and wealth.
More people are now at the base of the stage.
VICTORIA NORDMAN
(Louder)
In the age before us forsaken men had launched
their nuclear weapons into the air to smite their apparent enemies.
Their ill-advised plans went astray when their bombs fell down to the
earth. Millions died immediately after the first wave. But the true
anguish came from the contamination of the water and the air. But out
of chaos and despair came the righteous hand of God. He swept up the
believers with his loving care and brought you to me. We built this
community, safe from the evils of the world. We forged anew and built
mighty walls and buildings, we are safe, we are godly and we are pure.
The world has few constants since the attacks happened over a hundred
years ago. However constants do exist; God loves you, every day when
you wake up the sun will rise,
and I love you.
Now many people are gathered around the stage
Victoria Nordman
(Almost inaudibly)
It is time to embrace one another not as adversaries
but as friends and benefactors. This utopia we have created, will stand
for eternity, if we can rally together and keep the dissenters out.
Remember the dark ages, when the sky was seared and we lived scared and
alone, subject to the whims of outlaws and thugs. Imagine where you would be without the mighty lawmakers who
stand ready to enforce the law and protect the town. Respect them for
they are your protectors. Thank you for your time, citizens of River
City, and may God be with you.
The crowd
(cheering)
Long live Victoria, River City as one...forever
after the assembly lawmaker #1 stands in the street with a parchment
Scene one: Rules
A crowd of commoners is brought in front of Lawmaker #1
lawmaker #1
(Forcefully)
People of River City,
your endearing leader and friend has created 3 new edicts, that will
ensure the safety of all, and expose dissenters.
One: No one is to be allowed in the streets after ten o' clock
Two: Anyone attempting to leave the confines of River City will be
arrested on site, this includes crossing the lake to the south, or
being in the woods to the east. Three: Dissenters are subject to
public executions, there is a fifty-thousand Denarii prize for
capturing a dissident. People guilty of aiding dissenters will suffer
the same fate as their conspirators.
The Lawmaker #1
nervously paces up and down the sidewalk, he repeatedly checks his gun
as if to reassure himself that it is still there
lawmaker #1
Thank you for your time
citizens, that will be all for today. Any information regarding the
locations of dissenters can be reported to any stationed lawmaker in
River City or anonymously in the hot box outside the guard station.
The lawmaker turns and walks away quickly, most of
the people listening look dazed and confused, but a few look angry and
shout at the lawmaker. Then the work bell rings and they head back to
work
That Night In the woods
Scene Two: The shot heard round the world
It is dark out, a man
and a woman sneak out of the trees, they are holding hands. As they
pass the patrol tower everything appears to be quiet. They are headed
towards the fence that separates River City from the rest of the world
Suddenly a lawmaker on patrol notices the man and woman and raises his
rifle. He fires at the man who falls immediately the woman screams for
a brief second, she is then silenced by the gunfire. As dawn starts to
break, the lawmaker brings his communicator to his mouth and asks for a
disposal crew. A woman views this incident from the window of her home.
By sunrise, all that is left of the couple is an ugly red stain on the
ground
That same day on main street
Scene Three: I predict a riot
Hector Demick is on the street on his way to work. As
he passes the main street he notices a large group of people to his
right. They are in the process of tearing down pro-Victoria propaganda.
They are inflamed and yelling. Hector sees the crowd and heads over.
HECTOR DEMICK
What is this? What's going on?
He attempts to stop a man from tearing down a poster but is pulled away by the crowd.
Rioter
We are sick of Victoria and her goon squad, she can't just kill us whenever she feels like it!
HECTOR DEMICK
Well I don't know about all this killing you're
talking about, but I'm sure Victoria has a reasonable explanation if
you'll just listen to her.
RIOTER
(Laughs harshly), I doubt it.
The rioter stomps off and joins the rest of the mob,
Hector is pushed out of the way and stumbles away, the mob is marching
down the street yelling loudly about tyranny and such.
A few moments later
Scene Four: The removal of the masses
Hector Demick follows the crowd to their destination
in front of town hall. Victoria steps up to the podium in front of her.
Lawmakers
raise their rifles in the air, in preparation of violence. The crowd
looks angry, their rage is barely contained.
Victoria
I come before you now,
my people, to apologize from the bottom of my heart. I have wronged
you. Two brave souls were shot last night while taking a stroll around the
border of this great city. For this I feel the utmost shame, but out of
misery comes happiness. And to atone for my sins I will offer you good
people this, anyone that wishes to leave River City may do so.
Food, water, and supplies will be given to you, if you ask. Just
remember before you go that I love each and everyone of you. And that I
am sorry. You have until sundown to reach a decision.
The
crowd at the bottom of the stage starts to talk energetically amongst
themselves and disperse in different directions.
Hector leaves the scene heading back in the direction of his work.
Scene Five: A rash choice
Hector goes to work. He is greeted at the entrance by
his wife CAROL. She embraces him and the head into the building. Hector
works in propaganda and Carol works in logistics. They settle into
their office spaces. Hector's office door says, "Hector Demick Public
Relations" and hers says, "Carol Demick Logistics." Hector begins to
work on a new series of half finished posters. They read VICTORIA
NORDMAN! THE RIGHT CHOICE FOR, and the rest has not been made yet.
Hector works for a while and then brings the finished poster over to
Carol.
HECTOR DEMICK
Hey, how does this look to you?
Carol briefly glances up from her papers and mumbles to the affirmative.
HECTOR DEMICK
By the way, how are you dealing with all of those people leaving.
Carol looks up from her papers and stares at Hector.
Carol Demick
What people leaving? No one leaves.
HECTOR DEMICK
Didn't you hear Victoria's speech this morning, she
said that anyone who wanted to leave would be provided with supplies
and driven outside the city.
Carol checks her papers closely and then looks back up puzzled.
CAROL DEMICK
That doesn't sound right, I don't have anything in my
records that would allow for that much food and water to be given away.
I would have been told about this, food consumption is already at a
maximum.
She checks her papers again.
CAROL DEMICK
Where are these supplies even supposed to come from?
Hector we need to get follow those people tonight, I have a horrible
feeling about all of this.
Hector places a hand on her shoulder.
HECTOR DEMICK
This is probably just a case of miscommunication.
Victoria just forgot to tell you about this, that's all that's going on
here, I promise.
CAROL DEMICK
B.But the forms
HECTOR DEMICK
It's hard being the leader, she forgot, that's all.
Hector turns to leave the room. He glances over his
shoulder at Carol who is now digging through a filing cabinet
frantically. Hector shakes his head and goes back to his desk.
Fade to black.
Scene Six: An Exodus
Victoria is at her podium again. X number of trucks
are waiting in the road. She is waiting for stragglers to make their
way to the crowd in front of her. She looks at the head Lawmaker, who
is by her side, he nods knowingly.
VICTORIA
I see that you have all have made your choice. I will respect your wishes, best of luck to all of you. And God bless.
The crowd disperses to the trucks that have been
idling this entire time. They load their possessions into their truck
and enter the vehicles. and drive off. The trucks roll away, no one in
the crowd realizes that the last truck only contains lawmakers
At Hector's house.
Scene Seven: Trouble in paradise
Hector is asleep in his bed. He hears the trucks pass
and he rolls over to hold his wife. He grabs the air. He wakes up and
realizes that his wife isn't there. Hector stands up and puts on his
robe. He sees a note on the dresser, is reads "Gone out, will be back
by morning, love you" Hector folds the note up and tucks it into a
pocket. He realizes where his wife is and then checks the time.
HECTOR DEMICK
SHIT!
His watch reads 11:30, an hour and a half past
curfew. Knowing that his wife could be killed. He races to his garage
and grabs his bicycle. He rides off into the distance, the same way the
trucks went.
Fade then transition
Hector rides up to the border, he can see the trucks
in the distance. Before he can get closer, he hears a loud whistle. He
looks around and sees his wife in a tree. She motions for him to be
quiet and hisses.
Carol Demick
WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE
Hector tries to climb up the tree in vain, he then sees a low laying branch which he uses to join his wife.
Hector Demick
(huffing, out of breath)
I'm here to help you! You know that you're out past curfew, we need to go before anyone sees you.
Carol, silences Hector with a finger and points to
the trucks. Hector sees nothing unusual and tries to get his wife to
leave,unsuccessfully.
CAROL DEMICK
Just give me a moment, something weird is going on.
The gate's not open and there aren't any supplies here. I need to watch
this.
HECTOR DEMICK
(pleading)
We need to go, this isn't our concern.
The doors of the trucks open and the people begin to exit the vehicles. The Lawmakers in the last car have not exited yet.
At the gate
Scene Eight: The Elimination of the dissenters
The people continue to exit the trucks, Lawmaker #2 directs them to a ditch next to the gate.
Lawmaker #2
All right everyone line up for processing. We'll get this done as fast as possible.
The large group of people line up shoulder to
shoulder by the ditch. Lawmaker #2 grabs a list and starts to read off
names. As people hear their named called they raise their hands and say
here. While this process is going on the Lawmakers that have been
hidden in the last truck exit and and remove their rifles from the
trunk. As the last names are read from the list, Lawmaker #2 steps back
and the Lawmakers from the truck line up, military style, towards the
crowd. They raise their weapons and fire into the crowd of people.
POV: As one of the people in the ditch.
People fall all around the person. He blearily sees
people screaming and being silenced just as quickly. The exchange lasts
a few moments. A lawmaker notices that this person is still alive,
walks up to him and executes him point blank.
With Hector and Carol in the tree
Scene Nine: A sudden realization of truth
Carol covers her eyes and grabs Hector as the
Lawmakers begin to mop up the remains of the people. She stifles a
shriek and begins to cry. Hector is shocked, and tries to get Carol to
leave the tree, she won't budge. Hector begins to descend and misjudges
where the limb is, Hector falls to the ground. A lawmaker hears the
noise and begins to head for the source. Hector tries to get up and
realizes that he has twisted his ankle. He curses, loudly, and the
sound of Hector talking breaks Carol out of her trance. She begins to
head down the tree when the Lawmaker spots her and shoots her. The
bullet enters her chest and exits her back. She falls to the ground.
Blood is spilling out onto the ground
HECTOR DEMICK
(in disbelief)
NO!
Hector begins to try and stop the bleeding. Carol's
eye's flutter a bit and she tries to mouth a few words. Hector tries to
make out what she is saying to no avail. CAROL DIES. Hector realizes
that his wife is dead. Tries to perform CPR, stops. Holds his wife and
kisses her, telling her that he is sorry. Hector hears the lawmakers
approaching he kisses his wife and puts her on his back, he stands
awkwardly and begins to run off. The lawmakers give chase. Lawmaker #2
shoots at Hector and the bullet passes through his shoulder he falls
and hits his head on a rock. Hector is about to pass out. He hears more
gunfire, from both sides, through bleary eyes he sees the lawmakers
take fire. LAWMAKER #2 DIES. A man picks up Hector.
REBEL CAPTAIN
This one is still breathing, help me carry him.
Rebels approach from all directions. They are heavily
armed. Two appear to be wounded. The REBEL CAPTAIN has a beret on. A
different rebel checks on Carol's condition.
Rebel
Captain, this one's gone
REBEL Captain
Leave her then. Let's get back to base. Move out.
Hector tries to touch his wife. The Rebels carry him
away. Carol lies dead next to a tree. The rebels load Hector into one
of the Lawmakers truck. A nearby lawmaker (shot) begs for help. A rebel
kills him. The rebels load up and leave. Hector passes out.
End of Act One
