Episode Six (gun practice extended scene)
This takes place during the last episode of the second series of Survivors. Tom Price is teaching young Najid Hanif how to use a gun in the forest near to the Lab Complex where Abby Grant hopes she will find the answers that will lead her to her missing son Peter. Although this scene is not included in the episode it does fit the storyline so you may call it a deleted scene if you like. Not much is really known about Tom's past except that he was serving twenty years in prison for robbery and murder so some of what he says here may not be strictly true. As always I do not own any of the characters from this TV show and I don't expect to make money from it. It is for entertainment only. Hope you enjoy.
Twelve year old Najid and Tom Price are both sitting in the grass next to a tall oak tree while taking a break from target practice with Tom's automatic gun. Tom has always been a loner and not always an easy man to talk to. It is Najid who decides to break the ice and start the conversation.
Najid: Tom, why do you think I should learn to use a gun? I don't plan on shooting anyone.
Tom: (he grins) Maybe not, son, but there's a lot out there who'll kill you for the shirt on your back. You're a nice kid but you're just a kid. You don't realize what a cruel world this is, always was. The haves and the don't haves. It's gonna be a lot worse now. Take it from one who knows. Let's face it, your friend Al might not always be there to protect you. Come to that I might not be either.
Najid: (he nods) It's a shame about Sarah, isn't it! She and Al would've made a great couple.
Tom: (he shrugs) Yeah!
Najid: What about you, Tom? Has there ever been someone you've cared about and wanted to be with if you don't mind me asking?
Tom: (he laughs) Sure, me mother but she's dead now.
Najid: Have you ever had a wife and kids?
Tom: (he shakes his head) Not me, mate! I'm not the family type, never was.
Najid: What about Anya? I know you like her a lot.
Tom: (he pauses for a moment) I've never felt about any woman the way I feel about her, I can tell you. But I know it'll never work out between me and her.
Najid: Why not?
Tom: She's nice and well educated. What am I? A bloody killer and a thief.
Najid: I don't think you're that bad really.
Tom: (he seems amused) Well, I'm no angel, that's for sure!
Najid: If you were really bad why did you come back and rescue us all from that coal mine? You could have left us there but you didn't. So Greg was wrong, you DID came back to save us so that must count for something. I'll always be grateful to you for that.
Tom: (a rare smile) Good of you to say so, Naj! I just don't like seeing people locked up, that's all. I spent enough time in prison to know how unpleasant it can be.
Najid: My father used to say that bad people can do good things just as good people can do bad things.
Tom: Sounds like he was a clever guy. I'm probably the first one.
Najid: Can I ask you something, Tom?
Tom: Fire away, kid!
Najid: Why do you kill people?
Tom: (he considers for a moment) Because that's what I do, Naj, that's what I'll probably always do. Maybe I was just born that way.
Najid: I think you could change if you wanted to. (he pauses) I don't know what you did before that flu virus came and I don't really care. About that time you shot that Jake who worked for Samantha. I know Greg has always condemned you for doing it but after the way him and that other man was threatening Abby and all the rest of us I'm glad that you did. I know I shouldn't say that but I will. They both deserved what they got. I just want you to know that.
Tom: (he ponders for a moment) I think you're growing up at last! (he ruffles the boy's dark hair) Come on then! Are we gonna sit on our bums all day or do you want to learn how to shot?
So the young Muslim boy and the convicted Tom Price go back to the open clearing in the woods and Najid begins more target practice with Tom's gun. He thinks that he understands the man a lot more now and, like Abby, can accept him for what he is. He is no longer weary and a little afraid of him as he was at the start because he knows that Tom is not dangerous to him or any of the others in the group. He has no doubt known a great deal of pain and disappointment all of his life which is probably why he turned out a little bad. He just never got the breaks.
This had been the first real conversation Najid had had with Tom and he now realizes that, for all of his faults, he rather likes him. The two of them continue the practice session until they are rudely interrupted by Anya who at once shows her disapproval. If you saw the episode, as I imagine most of you have, then you will know all the rest.