The Sanctuary Network
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Helen Magnus wakes up to find the Old City Sanctuary in ruins and the entire city decimated with no memory of how the devastation occurred.

Cold open[]

Teaser sequence[]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - UPPER LEVEL - HALLWAY

[Magnus awakens on the floor of a dark, dusty Old City Sanctuary in disarray. She pushes herself to a sitting position as a strange mist appears beside her and then disappears. Magnus takes her own pulse and then gets up from the floor. She tries the light switches on the wall but no lights come on.]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - UPPER LEVEL - MAGNUS'S STUDY - DAY

[She walks to her office and forces the door open to find the room also in shambles. Magnus carefully steps over the debris on the floor, avoids the water dripping from the ceiling and finds her book was left to the elements and destroyed on her desk. She picks up the phone but is unable to get a connection. Sighing, she continues looking around.]

EXT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - ROOF - DAY - CLOUDY - WINDY - RAINING

[She makes her way to the roof in the pouring rain and sees nothing but destruction.]

Title sequence[]

Act I[]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - UPPER LEVEL - HALLWAY

[Cold and wet Magnus picks up a coat from the debris and puts it on. She moves down the hallway calling out.]

MAGNUS:
Will!

MAGNUS:
Henry!

[Magnus gets no replies. She walks to Henry's array to find it in similar condition as the rest of the building.]

MAGNUS:
The abnormals.

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - LOWER LEVEL - MAIN LAB

[Magnus enters the Main Lab and looks from one abnormal habitat to another to find them all destroyed and empty. She stops at what was once the mermaid's habitant and sighs sadly. Magnus starts searching for weapons; finding only a knife.]

EXT. - OLD CITY - STREET - DARK - RAINING

[She takes to the rainy streets of what was once Old City. Magnus moves through the bleak streets looking for supplies. She picks up a bag and searches through it. She empties the bag and takes it. Feeling uneasy, Magnus keeps watch of her surroundings while she picks up supplies and puts them in the bag. Finding a stick and rope she ties the knife to the stick to make a spear. Someone is following Magnus but staying to the shadows. She comes to an abandoned car and raises the hood and cuts her hand removing wires from the engine. She looks in the interior of the car but turns around suddenly when she hears a crash. She sees the mist again but then hears the man rushing her. Crying out Magnus lashes out with the spear. Magnus manages to stab him once before he grabs the spear and grabs her by the throat pushing her against the near building. He uses the spear to choke her and then pulls down his mask to reveal he is an abnormal as an appendage comes out of his mouth. Just as the appendage reaches Magnus's face the abnormal is shot and propelled away from her. Magnus turns to where the shot was fired to see men in hazmat suits holding weapons at her.]

MAGNUS:
What the hell is going on?

[The men shoot Magnus. She falls unconscious to the ground and one of the men approaches her.]

INT. - OLD CITY - BUILDING

[Magnus is roughly thrown to the ground. The men savagely remove her clothes as Magnus fights them.]

MAGNUS:
No! No!

[Magnus's screaming has no effect on the men. Once her clothes are removed, Magnus is sprayed with fluid from a large fire hose forcing her against the wall. One of the men uses a brush with a long handle to wash her. Magnus tries unsuccessfully to bat it away. The hose is turned off and coughing Magnus collapses breathless to huddle against the wall. One of the men holds up some type of scanner and scans her. The device beeps and a blanket is thrown at her. Magnus covers herself with the blanket and glares at the men as she tries to catch her breathe. The men leave and she wraps herself in the blanket and then checks to make sure they left. She sits on the platform where the men had showered her. A man enters and drops some clothes next to her. Magnus turns and glares at the man but makes no move for the clothes until he leaves. She puts the clothes on and wraps the blanket back around herself and lays down to rest. Soon she hears footsteps and sees a man approach and stand in the shadows.]

MAGNUS:
More fun and games?

[Magnus struggles to sit up.]

MAN'S VOICE:
Don't move.

[The man moves forward into the light. Magnus stares unbelieving.]

MAGNUS:
Will?

[Will hair is long and he looks unkempt]

WILL:
I said, "Don't move!"

[Will rushes forward and pushes her back to the floor and points a gun at her. Magnus raises up on her arm and looks back at Will.]

MAGNUS:
What the hell is going on? What the hell happened to you?

WILL:
Who are you?

MAGNUS:
Will, it's me--

WILL:
Your name!

MAGNUS:
Helen. Magnus. Satisfied?!

WILL:
I don't think so. Helen Magnus died three years ago.

MAGNUS:
[in a whisper] What?

Act II[]

EXT. - STREET OUTSIDE THE BUILDING

[A man is standing guard behind a barricade.]

INT. - BUILDING

[Magnus is sitting while Will and another man point guns at her.]

WILL:
Answer my question.

MAGNUS:
Will...

WILL:
Who are you?!

MAGNUS:
I told you! I'm Helen Mag—

[Will grabs her and pulls her up. Magnus manages to get away.]

MAGNUS:
Let go of me! Let go of me!

[Will holds the gun out threaten Magnus.]

WILL:
Say it again. Say it again...You expect to just show up here after three years dead and think we're just going to make nice? No way. You want me to believe this, make it good!

EXT. - BUILDING

[The man standing guard; he doesn't see more abnormals approaching like the one that attacked Magnus earlier.]

WILL:
You see, if you'd done your homework, you'd know, the real Helen Magnus died in the battle for Buenos Aires.

MAGNUS:
What?

WILL:
And you'd have a good spin on how she survived. Right now, you got neither.

MAGNUS:
I don't remember any battle.

WILL:
How does this work? Are you a chameleon, a shape-shifter? How did you get this far into the red zone by yourself?

MAGNUS:
I am not an impostor!

WILL:
How?

MAGNUS:
I woke up in the Sanctuary!

WILL:
[laughs ruefully]We don't call it that anymore.

MAGNUS:
I found myself here.

WILL:
You a telepath, is that it? That's how you know my name.

MAGNUS:
Will, this is insane--

WILL:
Prepare one hit, medium voltage; this mind-reading crap won't fly.

[The man behind Will pulls something from his pocket.]

MAGNUS:
No!

WILL:
Helen Magnus is dead!

[Will hears the abnormals approaching, moaning inhumanly.]

EXT. - BUILDING

SIMMONS:
Incoming!

[He starts shooting the abnormals.]

INT. - BUILDING

JASON:
We have a breach.

WILL:
Go! Secure the perimeter!

[Jason leaves and Will moves toward Magnus.]

WILL:
Did you summon them?

MAGNUS:
What? No!

[Will forces her roughly into a chair and ties her arms behind her.]

WILL:
Did you? You better pray this goes well.

[Will leaves Magnus to rush out into the battle.]

JASON:
Grenade!

[He throws a grenade into the abnormals then all three of them dive for cover. Jason battles a number of them with only a knife and his gun. Simmons and Will use the barricade for cover as they fire at the abnormals.]

WILL:
One hit on my mark, cover me.

[Will jumps in front of the barrier and crawls a small distance away. Simmons fires his weapon providing Will cover. Will sets a device down and it starts beeping. He falls back and shoots as abnormal approaches his position and then dives back over the barrier. Some kind of electrical energy surrounds the approaching abnormals and they fall to the ground. Meanwhile Jason is losing his battle with the abnormals. He is attacked as Simmons fires at the abnormal. Man 1 rushes over to Jason.]

SIMMONS:
Damn it Jason! You trying to be a hero again?!

[Jason spits out blood and is in obvious pain. Will walks up to them.]

SIMMONS:
No, he's got time, Will!

[Will keeps moving forward.]

JASON:
No!

SIMMONS:
Come on, we can use him!

[Will cocks gun and aims at Jason.]

WILL:
Sorry, Jason.

[Will fires]

WILL:
Pack up the supplies, we're heading out.

INT. - BUILDING

[Will with Simmons returns to where he left Magnus to find she is gone. Will checks a bag left in the corner of the room.]

WILL:
She's armed.

[Will runs out of the building.]

INT. - SUBWAY TUNNELS

[Magnus has a gun and a flashlight as she walks cautiously down the tunnel. A young girl rushes out at her with a pole.]

YOUNG GIRL:
Die!

[The girl hits Magnus with the pole but Magnus is able to avoid the brunt of the force and twist around to hold the gun at the girl.]

YOUNG GIRL:
Please don't kill me!

[Magnus stares at the young girl but lowers her weapon.]

Act III[]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - UPPER LEVEL - MAGNUS'S STUDY

[Magnus hands the young girl some food and the girl takes it and eats hungrily.]

MAGNUS:
I'm Helen.

[Magnus is kneeling next to the girl who is sitting on the couch. The girl doesn't respond.]

MAGNUS:
Proper etiquette would be to offer your name in return.

[The girl continues eating ignoring Magnus. Magnus begins to throw logs in the fire place then walks over to stand in front of the girl.]

MAGNUS:
I've rigged up some perimeter alarms; quite rudimentary but they should give us ample warning if we have any visitors.

[The girl looks at Magnus but continues to eat.]

MAGNUS:
I'll see what else I can find.

[Magnus turns to leave.]

YOUNG GIRL:
Jessica.

[Magnus turns back.]

JESSICA:
Mitchell.

MAGNUS:
What were you doing down there by yourself, Jessica Mitchell?

[Magnus walks over and sits on the other end of the couch from Jessica.]

JESSICA:
What were you doing down there?

MAGNUS:
Shelter, mainly. I suppose I was looking for something to help me understand all of this.

JESSICA:
There's nothing out there but them.

MAGNUS:
Your parents...are they...sorry. How long have you been on your own?

JESSICA:
I don't know. It's easier to keep moving when you're by yourself.

MAGNUS:
Try and get some rest. I'll be close by.

[Magnus walks over to her desk and picks up the gun.]

JESSICA:
They'll find us, you know, they always do. We shouldn't stay here.

[Jessica has walked over to stand next to Magnus.]

MAGNUS:
Where else should we go?

[Jessica sleeps as Magnus works on a computer; attaching a wire to a car battery placing a hard drive into the computer and powering it up. The computer starts to load a video file.]

MAGNUS:
[ON VIDEO] The outbreak is spreading at an alarming rate. We cannot contain the impact....

[The video fades in and out.]

MAGNUS:
[ON VIDEO] The city is now evacuated. Our last stand is to hold on to the Sanctuary....Hearing this; we will abandon the last Sanctuary. All efforts to find a cure for this plague have failed. Our only hope is to find safe ground to protect what few of us remain. I'm sorry for everything.

MAGNUS:
Dear God.

[Magnus hears clattering in the distance and picks up the gun.]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - UPPER LEVEL - HALLWAY

[Magnus is walking cautiously down the hallway. Someone is approaching from the other side. Magnus is able to trip the person and stands over them pointing the gun.]

MAGNUS:
Don't move!

[Magnus kicks a weapon away as Will sits up and winces in pain.]

WILL:
Relax; I'm not here to start anything.

MAGNUS:
What the hell are you doing here?

WILL:
Bleeding.

[Will has a laceration on his lower abdomen.]

MAGNUS:
What happened?

[In obvious pain and exhausted, Will pushes himself back to sit and lean against the wall.]

WILL:
What do you think?

[Will coughs weakly.]

WILL:
More palefaces, but this time I'm the only one who made it out.

[Magnus couches down near Will.]

MAGNUS:
How did you get in here? I checked every access point.

WILL:
I broke in through the old river gate, but don't worry, I locked it behind me.

[Magnus reaches down to look at Will's wound.]

WILL:
Ah!

[Will pulls back away.]

WILL:
It's just shrapnel; you can patch it up later.

MAGNUS:
Why should I, after the reception you gave me?

[Magnus stares at Will defiantly but he just turns and smiles at her.]

MAGNUS:
Come on, let's get you sorted.

[Magnus holds out her arm to offer him a hand up. Will looks at her but then accepts the help by grabbing her arm.]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - UPPER LEVEL - MAGNUS'S STUDY

[Will groans as Magnus places him on the end of the couch opposite Jessica and starts to treat his wound.]

WILL:
Scare you?

JESSICA:
Only when I saw your face.

MAGNUS:
Behave, both of you.

[Magnus finishes with Will's wound and goes to sit at her desk.]

MAGNUS:
It may be a shambles, but this is still my house.

[Will chuckles and sits up staring at Magnus.]

MAGNUS:
What?

[Will picks up a book and starts tearing pages out and putting them in the fire.]

WILL:
Three years ago, the Air Force dropped a daisy cutter on an Argentine neighborhood that you were trying to evacuate.

[Will throws the book and walks toward Magnus.]

WILL:
Fifteen thousand people were vaporized, including you, at ground zero. And suddenly, here you are, alive and well. You were gone, Magnus, without a trace--

MAGNUS:
I can't explain it.

WILL:
Try.

MAGNUS:
I don't know. I-I woke up here with no memory of anything, I mean, you, those creatures. Buenos Aires? I...

WILL:
Well, you look good. You must have been holed up somewhere real sweet. You look like you've had...food, shelter, sunlight. Was there a colony that I didn't know about?

MAGNUS:
The last thing I recall...

WILL:
Was what?

MAGNUS:
A mission, Central America, I...why can't I remember anything since then? It's like this is all a dream.

WILL:
Everything is gone. Everything we built, gone. Everyone we ever cared about is dead! Does this look like a dream?

MAGNUS:
What happened to you, Will?

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - HALLWAY

[Magnus is sitting against the wall and Will comes over and sits next to her.]

WILL:
It was more than just a plague. It was a new kind of species; cannibalistic, mindless, soulless. At first we tried containment, treatment. We wanted to understand.

MAGNUS:
But it wasn't natural evolution.

WILL:
Rampant infection rates, quick mutation; within a year, millions had turned. It affected both humans and abnormals. There were too many to fight, too powerful. They fed on anything alive, and if they drew blood, if you survived the attack…

MAGNUS:
You changed.

WILL:
Five, six hours, a day max, and you were one of them; infected.

MAGNUS:
We never found the point of origin? But there had to have been a patient zero.

WILL:
The infection spread too quickly to find the source. We did everything we could to slow it. Nothing worked. After a while, you were euthanizing more than you treated. Governments evacuated cities. We abandoned the Sanctuaries.

[Will sighs heavily.]

WILL:
That global panic thing, it's a bitch, let me tell you. Then they started deploying tactical nukes.

MAGNUS:
How many are left?

WILL:
Uninfected, a hundred thousand worldwide maybe; I set up a colony in the arctic. There's a few thousand living on remote islands. We've been fighting these creatures. We're part of a larger militia, but...

[Will sighs heavily.]

WILL:
But we've been whittled down one by one just trying to save the last of the last. It's over; it has been for a long time.

MAGNUS:
Why can't I remember any of this?

WILL:
You must've got out somehow, been in a colony suffering from amnesia, battle shock--

MAGNUS:
No. No, that's not it. There is a reason I came back here now.

[Jessica comes into the hallway leaning against the wall.]

JESSICA:
Helen? I don't feel so...

[Jessica collapses.]

MAGNUS:
Quick, Will

[Will tries to grab Magnus to prevent her from going to Jessica.]

WILL:
Don't touch her! She's infected. You didn't check her?

MAGNUS:
I didn't know!

[Will pulls out his gun and takes aim at Jessica.]

MAGNUS:
Will!

[Magnus moves to stand in front of Jessica.]

WILL:
She's dead already.

MAGNUS:
You said we have five hours, maybe more; please, help me understand this.

WILL:
Magnus, if she turns, they'll come.

MAGNUS:
Then I suggest you leave, because I will not let you shoot this girl.

[Will uncocks the gun and lowers it then turns away walking down the hallway. Magnus checks on Jessica.]

EXT. - OLD CITY

[The palefaces are on the move approaching the Sanctuary.]

Act IV[]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - LOWER LEVEL - INFIRMARY

[Will walks in and sees Jessica restrained in a chair in an isolated room as Magnus watches the computer monitor.]

MAGNUS:
[ON VIDEO] Unfortunately, the elixir from the vial seems to have had no effect on me except a spike in my immunoglobulin levels. Repeated attempts to bring them back down into normal range have failed.

WILL:
This is all a very bad idea. Which means you really must be you.

[Will has entered the room and stands on the other side of the desk in front of Magnus.]

WILL:
Why did you come here? So you could retrace ground you've already covered?

MAGNUS:
I don't have the right equipment to run the proper blood tests, but I should be able to cross-reference Jessica's symptoms with entries from my previous research, look for some sort of deviation.

[Will scoffs and starts to pace the room.]

WILL:
Deviations, they've become the dominant species on the planet. They're like locusts that turn other life forms into more locusts.

MAGNUS:
But the contagion had to have started somewhere. Someone must have been the first to contract it.

WILL:
Let's do the time warp again! Typhus, smallpox, cholera, yellow fever, scarlet fever, malaria; they all bear no relation to this disease. Have you caught up yet?

MAGNUS:
There has to be evidence of this disease somewhere in the past. It cannot have come out of nowhere.

WILL:
We've done this dance. You've tried cures, treatments, for years; nothing works. The contagion mutates; it wins. Humans are extinct.

MAGNUS:
We're not. You and me, we're alive. Isn't that a reason for hope?

WILL:
Reason, there is no reason for anything anymore. We know how we're dying, but why it's happening? What we did to deserve this, who the hell knows?

MAGNUS:
This doesn't make any sense. There has to be a way to stop it--

WILL:
You've already done this! You tried every single waking moment until the very end.

MAGNUS:
You kept going; you're still fighting.

WILL:
Life without purpose isn't...life; I learned that from you.

MAGNUS:
I'm sorry I disappeared.

[They hear clattering in the distance.]

WILL:
Company's here. I'll go head them off at the access tunnels. You might want to go protect the girl.

[Magnus and Will leave.]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - HALLWAY

[The palefaces have entered the Old City Sanctuary and are moving down the hallway. Will charges out weapon blasting. Will struggles but he is able to kill all of them.]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - HALLWAY NEAR INFIRMARY

[Magnus rushes down hallway killing palefaces and she goes.]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - RIVER DOOR

[Will finds the door ajar and knocks the door down as he goes through.]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - LOWER LEVEL - INFIRMARY

[A paleface is trying to get into the glass enclosure where Jessica is. Magnus arrives in time and shoots the paleface. Magnus looks in on Jessica who is in obvious distress. A paleface approaches Magnus from behind. Magnus turns leading with her elbow, catching the paleface in the face, and then follows the blow by striking him with the gun; he falls to the ground. She fires the gun finishing him off.]

[Jessica screams.]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - LOWER LEVEL - INFIRMARY

[Using candle light, Magnus is studying a file. She sets the file down and starts to look through the pictures.]

MAGNUS:
Henry...

[The last picture she comes to is a postmortem picture of Henry. The strange mist appears in the room with Magnus. Magnus watches it approach.]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - LOWER LEVEL - INFIRMARY

[Will enters the lab carrying car batteries. Magnus is once again at the desk and the mist is gone.]

WILL:
Couple of storerooms on the garage level I missed when we evacuated, though we were in kind of a rush.

[Will starts to connect the cables to the batteries.]

WILL:
I rigged this up with one of our one-hits, should keep you in computer land for a while. Oh, and I hate to break it to you, but the Internet's down, has been for about five years.

MAGNUS:
I'll survive.

WILL:
More of them will be coming.

MAGNUS:
Defenses?

WILL:
Nonexistent, it's just me and you against thousands of inhuman cannibals.

MAGNUS:
Well, then we should be fine.

[Magnus glances over to Will who gives her a look and then keeps working.]

MAGNUS:
There was a time you would have laughed at that.

WILL:
Yeah, I'm sure there was.

MAGNUS:
Central America, is that where the outbreak started? Could that have been ground zero for the contagion?

WILL:
No, I think all evidence pointed to the Pacific Northwest. Why?

MAGNUS:
Honduras. It figures into this somehow.

WILL:
Why?

MAGNUS:
I-I don't know. I have to access my personal log, but there's something there important that I'm missing. I'll be damned if I know what it is.

WILL:
Magnus, what are you doing with this girl?

MAGNUS:
I have a theory I'd like to test. I found some anticoagulants and older blood thinners in the storeroom.

WILL:
The old dialysis-on-the-fly trick, yeah, I've been there, done that.

MAGNUS:
I know. I saw the notes, but we've also never had such an early jump on the infection. All the other test subjects were either long infected or completely turned. Jessica's only been showing symptoms for less than a couple of hours. It's much earlier in the transformation process.

WILL:
Bring on the Hail Mary.

MAGNUS:
Mmm...

[Magnus turns back to her work but then turns back to Will.]

MAGNUS:
Will...the others?

WILL:
Henry made weapons for the government until it finally fell.

[Will moves away and picks up a knife and starts to splice the wires.]

WILL:
He kept finding newer, better ways to stop them, to kill them, then his number finally came up.

MAGNUS:
I saw the photos.

WILL:
The Big Guy refused to leave after we pulled up stakes, even though there was nothing here left to protect. I'm guessing he took more than a few with him when he finally went.

MAGNUS:
And Kate?

WILL:
She died...in the fighting. She was a good fighter, a good leader. Druitt...

[Will chuckles mirthlessly]

WILL:
He took a tactical nuke and teleported into the middle of a high-density infection area. He took most of Boston with him. That was two weeks after we thought you were dead.

[Magnus closes her eyes and hangs her head.]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - ENCLOSED GLASS ROOM

[Jessica is panting and gasping as Magnus injects her and takes her pulse.]

MAGNUS:
She's been in v-tach for more than an hour. Pulse is off the charts.

WILL:
There's a reason we don't let it run its course. It's not a pretty sight.

MAGNUS:
Just give it some time.

[Magnus leaves the enclosure.]

WILL:
Heard that before.

[Will follows Magnus out.]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - HALLWAY

[Magnus and Will are walking down the hall.]

WILL:
I respect you trying to save this girl; it's even kind of nostalgic, but come on, this is all just more stuff for the archaeologists to find in the future after we're long gone.

[Magnus stops suddenly and looks at Will.]

WILL:
Magnus?

[Magnus walks quickly away and into the infirmary.]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - LOWER LEVEL - INFIRMARY

MAGNUS:
Eastern Honduras, ten years ago; I remember.

WILL:
What about it?

MAGNUS:
I went there looking for the tomb of Pacal the second, a Mayan king from the late dynasty.

WILL:
So?

MAGNUS:
It wasn't long after Ashley had died. I...I was tired of outliving people I loved. I wanted to find a cure for my longevity.

WILL:
In a Mayan tomb?

MAGNUS:
I'd been researching ancient myths and legends. How certain cultures had claimed to have found a way to shorten time, to manipulate it. The Mayan kings were abnormals who aged very slowly, like I do. T-there was evidence that they'd developed an elixir capable of giving them a normal human lifespan. The kings wanted a release from their advanced age.

WILL:
So you were looking for a way to grow old. What does that have to do with the end of everything?

MAGNUS:
It doesn't, except that the Mayan people died out at an incredibly rapid pace. The empire fell within several decades. Entire sections of their population simply disappeared, gone without a trace; no one knows why.

WILL:
So you think that the contagion that's killed off the intelligent life on this planet is the same one that wiped out the Mayans? That's not possible; there'd be evidence to show--

MAGNUS:
The virus can mutate, it is entirely possible.

WILL:
No.

MAGNUS:
Will, help me go further with this. Tell me where things stood before the end. Was there anything I had tried that had come close, anything remotely hopeful?

WILL:
Well, we certainly didn't talk about the damn Mayans!

[Jessica screams. Magnus rushes out and back to the enclosure. Jessica gags in convulsions.]

MAGNUS:
Jessica!

[Magnus steps next Jessica and see her mouth start to foam. Magnus backs away as the appendage comes out of Jessica's mouth making an unearthly sound. Will pulls out his gun.]

MAGNUS:
Will, no!

[Will fires weapon hitting the appendage and causing the glass to shatter behind Jessica.]

WILL:
She was calling to them!

[They hear the palefaces approaching.]

EXT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - ROOF

[Magnus and Will look down from the roof.]

MAGNUS:
We need to seal off any section we can't hold, fall back to a safe position and wait for them to leave.

WILL:
I'll help out as long as I can.

MAGNUS:
We can do this, Will. I'm sure you've been through worse.

WILL:
No, I haven't. That last skirmish didn't go so well for me.

[Will pulls his shirt down away from his shoulder to show a sore from the infection.]

WILL:
We kill as many as possible, and then when it's my turn, you don't hesitate. Not for one second.

Act V[]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - HALLWAY

[Magnus and Will rush through the hallways with the palefaces close behind. Will stops to shoot at them and then rush forward through a door Magnus has opened. Magnus tries to close the door but one of the palefaces grabs Magnus's arm through the opening in the door.]

MAGNUS:
Will!

[Will puts the gun in the opening and blasts the paleface as Magnus shuts and seals the door.]

WILL:
That should buy us about 15 seconds.

[There is thudding and banging on the door.]

INT. - OL CITY SANCTUARY - LOWER LEVEL - MAIN LAB

WILL:
You barricade yourself in here; don't let anyone in, especially me.

MAGNUS:
Will, I just need some—

[Magnus is hooking up car batteries to a computer.]

WILL:
Time, here...take this.

[Will hands Magnus his gun.]

MAGNUS:
Will...

WILL:
We had a son... Kate and me, he'd be about two now. He's been living up in the arctic colony ever since she died. We named him Magnus, Magnus Zimmerman. If you make it out of here, you find him.

[Magnus nods as Will picks up two weapons and gives a war cry as he runs out of the lab.]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - HALLWAY

[Will has his weapons blasting as he moves through the hallway.]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - LOWER LEVEL - MAIN LAB

[Magnus powers up the computer.]

MAGNUS:
I need to go back further, the Honduras mission...

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - HALLWAYS

[Will continues his battle with the abnormals.]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - LOWVER LEVEL - MAIN LAB

MAGNUS:
[ON VIDEO] ...From the Mayan tomb of King Pacal...

[Video cuts in and out.]

MAGNUS:
[ON VIDEO] I am hopeful about the one artifact I found there that matched the legends.... Markings on this suggests an unorthodox relationship to time, the ability to manipulate it at will...via the protection of mystic guardians....

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - HALLWAY

[Will is losing his battle.]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - LOWVER LEVEL - MAIN LAB

MAGNUS:
[ON VIDEO] All of this makes me hopeful that the contents of this vial are what allowed King Pacal to die within a normal lifespan...A full chemical breakdown and diagnostic of the fluid inside should reveal its properties.

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - HALLWAYS

[Will has lost his guns so he begins to stab the palefaces with his knife.]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - LOWER LEVEL - MAIN LAB

[Palefaces are banging on door.]

MAGNUS:
[ON VIDEO] Seven years and nine months since the outbreak began...My unique physiology seems to have prevented any outward symptoms...The contagion mutates at such speed I'm not sure I can analyze it fast enough...There's still no way to control the immunoglobulin spikes in the blood of those infected.

MAGNUS:
Immunoglobulin...

EXT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY

[Will roars violently as he struggles with the palefaces. More join against him.]

INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - LOWER LEVEL - MAIN LAB

[The palefaces banging and thudding increases on the door. The door is beginning to show signs of giving way as pieces crumble to the floor.]

MAGNUS:
[ON VIDEO] Unfortunately, the elixir from the vial seems to have had no effect on me except a spike in my immunoglobulin levels. Repeated attempts to bring them back down into normal range...

MAGNUS:
It was the artifact itself. It held the contagion.

[Louder move insistent banging on the door.]

MAGNUS:
I was patient zero.

[The door crumbles as the strange mist appears behind Magnus.]

MAGNUS:
I caused this, I caused all of this.

[The palefaces enter the lab. Suddenly Magnus finds herself in another place.]

INT. - MAYAN TOMB - DAY

[Magnus is standing holding the artifact as if she is about to open it. She stops and pulls her hand away from the top. The strange mist is in the tomb with Magnus.]

MAGNUS:
Dear God.

[The mist hovers in front of Magnus.]

MAGNUS:
You're keeping it hidden from the world; guarding it.

[A sound comes from the mist which Magnus seems to understand.]

MAGNUS:
You won't let me destroy it, will you?

[Magnus turns to place it back on the shelf.]

MAGNUS:
Is it safe here? Thank you.


INT. - OLD CITY SANCTUARY - UPPER LEVEL - MAGNUS'S STUDY - DAY

[Magnus enters her office with a pack over her shoulder. She is still wearing the same coat as she was in the tomb. She walks slowly to her desk and places the bag on a chair. She looks around the room as Will comes in.]

WILL:
Hey! Welcome back. Wow, nice coat. Did you pick that up in Honduras?

MAGNUS:
No, it's-it's one of my own.

WILL:
Huh, well, it's a very good look for you. So how was the safari?

MAGNUS:
Safaris are in Africa.

WILL:
Okay, then the, uh...

WILL:
[imitating Sean Connery] ...jungle hunt for the tomb of the Mayan king.

WILL:
[stops impression] Which, when you think about it, sounds like a bad cable special, doesn't it?

MAGNUS:
Which is why I went alone; to avoid the mockery.

WILL:
Ah, that's a good plan. So did you find it, or what?

MAGNUS:
The tomb? No, no, I didn't.

WILL:
Really? You did a lot of research. It's not like you to strike out like that.

MAGNUS:
Searched the area for days; came up empty, not even a whiff. We'll just call the trip a massive tax write-off.

WILL:
You're totally pissed, aren't you, that you came up empty.

MAGNUS:
[chuckles] Absolutely furious.

WILL:
Come on, these things happen for a reason, right?

[Will walks over to the window and looks out.]

WILL:
Wow, look at that. What a beautiful day.

[Magnus walks up behind him.]

MAGNUS:
Mm...Not bad, Will.

[Magnus is looking at Will and not outside. He turns to her and she smiles then looks out the window. They both stand looking out the window side by side.]

End credits[]

Pavor Nocturnus/Credits

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