Samuel operates on Scotty. Paula assists. Gaines looks on for a moment, leaves medical. Rhonda and Spike sit on the sofa, silent. Rhonda holds his poorly-bandaged hands in hers. Celine and Frankie stand by the stairs to the balcony. Woman from the crate sneaks up to Celine.
Woman: "Pst!"
Celine turns to her.
Celine: "Oh, hello."
Woman (whispering): "God really spoke to you?"
Celine: "She did."
Woman (shifty eyes): "I hear voices too."
Celine (curious): "Who?"
Woman: "I don't know. But they warn me. Of witchcraft. Like my mother."
Celine: "Your mother?"
Woman: "She killed my father."
Celine: "So you are the prisoner's sister?"
Gaines overhears it, slips behind the stairs and listens in on their conversation.
Woman: "No. Jude's. Was."
Celine (warmly): "Then you are family. ... Sorry, I did not hear your name."
Woman: "Julia."
Celine: "It is nice to meet you, Julia. I am Celine. I was Jude's wife, but we were married only a little while."
Celine rubs Frankie's arm.
Celine: "This is his granddaughter, Frankie."
Frankie: "Hello."
Julia (curt): "Hi."
Celine: "Do not worry, you are safe with us."
Julia harrumphs.
Gaines leaves the women, opens the door Larson pointed at and sees a locker room with a shower, toilet and sink. He closes the door, opens another. Ariel is sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, surrounded by shelves full of stuff.
Ariel (impatient): "When will you untie me?"
Gaines ignores Ariel and inspects the shelves.
Ariel (indignant): "You can't keep me like this forever. I can't eat like this. I can't even go to the loo."
Gaines shuts the door, approaches Celine.
Gaines (blunt): "You insisted we keep Ariel alive; you get to spoon feed him and wipe is ass."
Gaines goes down another hallway. Celine sighs.
Celine (dejected): "So. It is like sister Sofia. Only he will not be so warm. Or wise."
Gaines opens another door, sees a master bedroom with a king-size bed. He opens another room with two single beds. The third room has three double-decker beds. Jamie lies in the middle one, under a sheet, surrounded by Dave and Layla. They turn to the door. Layla points at Gaines.
Layla: "You're that General from the video, aren't you?"
Gaines (cautious): "I am."
Layla: "What did you mean, the future of humanity is secure?"
Gaines: "Scotty and I built a bunker. Mt Genesis. It'll run for a century, until the ash clears."
Jamie: "A hundred years? How are we going to survive a hundred years down here?"
Gaines: "We can't. Not like this. We'll have to recreate Mt Genesis."
Layla: "How do we do that?"
Gaines: "Scavenge the surface. Improvise."
Dave: "Wait a sec - on the video - you said the president is dead."
Gaines: "U-huh."
Dave: "You killed him, didn't you?"
Gaines: "Yeah."
Jamie: "Why?"
Gaines: "The bunker was for our best and brightest women and, uh, sperm."
Layla's, Jamie's and Dave's brows rise simultaneously.
Gaines (unfazed): "He wanted to turn it into a harem. They'd be inbred before it opened."
Dave: "Huh. That actually makes sense."
Gaines (not caring): "Glad you agree. Excuse me."
Gaines returns to the atrium, looks around for other passages. Rhonda gets up from the sofa, walks up to him.
Rhonda (earnest): "Thank you. For everything."
Gaines (tense): "I didn't do it for you, I did it for Scotty."
Rhonda: "Well I'm grateful anyway."
Gaines nods, turns away, strides off. Rhonda jogs after him.
Rhonda: "Where are you going?"
Gaines (defensive): "Somewhere I can be alone."
Rhonda: "You shouldn't be."
Gaines stops, pinches his lips.
Gaines (hurt): "He chose you."
Rhonda: "What?"
Gaines turns.
Gaines: "We had one thing; one purpose. He convinced me not to start a family so we wouldn't have a conflict of interest in case we needed the bunker. And then when the time came; when the president decided to take a shit on everything we built; he just dropped it all and ran off to save you. Family. ... I don't blame him. You harassed him. You and Spike. You have any idea how miserable he was? He couldn't sleep; started doubting his own plan. I had to keep him from falling apart 'n' then I had to leave him to pull it off. You made him get involved. He couldn't just stand aside to launch Savior; he had to sell you out. You broke him."
Rhonda (torn): "Ariel was after Spike. What was I supposed to do?"
Gaines gets in her face.
Gaines (blunt): "Turn yourself in."
Rhonda stares with her mouth open.
Gaines: "Come clean. Tell the cops what his plan was. They'd've found Spike for you; pardoned you for helping catch the White Horse."
Rhonda: "But Spike-"
Gaines: "Didn't hurt anyone. NSA would have recruited him. But he wanted to stick it to 'the man'. Like Ariel. The guy who held a gun to his head."
Rhonda goes wide-eyed, stares at the floor, dismayed.
Gaines: "Scotty is 'the man'. He saved your asses. And now he's lying there with a hole in his side."
Rhonda (guilty): "I'm sorry."
Gaines (shaking head): "I don't care." (shrugs) "He makes it, you 'n' I, we're fine. If he doesn't..."
Gaines' eyes water. He walks away. Rhonda drifts back to Spike. Frankie breaks from Celine, runs to the bunks, passes Dave on the way out, comes to the door left ajar, peeks in. Inside, Jamie and Layla are kissing. Jamie 'pitches a tent' for a second.
Layla (smiling): "You are definitely not Ariel."
Jamie (confused): "What? How-" (panic) "He didn't-"
Layla (smirking): "He couldn't."
Jamie sighs.
Jamie: "Oh, thank God."
Frankie opens the door, runs to her parents.
Frankie (smiling): "Daddy!"
Jamie (smiling): "Hi, sweety."
Layla strokes her hair.
Frankie (proud): "I helped catch Ariel. He was pretending to be you but I knew he wasn't and I told everyone."
Jamie (serious): "Really?"
Frankie nods.
Jamie (happy): "That's great. Thank you." (to Layla) "Why Frankie?"
Layla: "Francine. Our honeymoon."
Jamie (surprised): "Oh." (happy) "I love it."
He tussles Frankie's hair.
Outside, Celine opens the door to the other room. Gaines is sitting on the side of a bed, elbows on knees, fist-in-hand over his mouth, staring through the other bed.
Celine: "Do you want to talk?"
Gaines: "No thank you."
Celine: "It helps."
Gaines sighs, leans back against the wall, stares at nothing.
Gaines: " ... That should've been me."
Celine: "Why do you think so?"
Gaines: "Scotty's a saint; me, I'm just the necessary evil. ... I don't even know how many people I've killed. By the end it was just report estimates. ... But if I took a bullet for someone it would've been even. And I would've taken one for him. ... Instead he takes mine." (at her) "Happy?"
Celine: "... I will pray for him."
Gaines nods. Celine leaves the room, walks down the hall. Frankie catches up with her.
Frankie: "Can I ask you a question?"
Celine (kindly): "Of course."
Frankie: "When dad kissed mum, his winky twitched."
Celine goes wide-eyed.
Frankie: "Why is that?"
Celine (flustered): "Ah, yes, well, you see, sometimes when daddy is with mommy he gets... excited."
Frankie (focused): "Like a dog wagging its tail?"
Celine (relieved): "Exactly!"
Frankie (disappointed): "Oh. ... Thanks."
Celine (gentle): "Of course."
Frankie runs off. Celine sighs.
In medical, Samuel is sitting on a wheeled stool, dressing Spike's wound. Rhonda stands by Spike's side, rubbing her arms. Scotty is unconscious on the bed, hooked to an IV. Paula inspects the IV and checks his pressure. Leanne leans against the wall in one corner and watches Scotty. Sutton sits in an armchair in the other corner and watches both Scotty and Spike.
Leanne (at Scotty): "He gon' be alright?"
Paula: "He should."
Rhonda (to Leanne): "I thought you decided you don't like men?"
Leanne: "I don't. But them two don't really count, do they."
Rhonda and Spike snort. Paula and Samuel look at each other. Sutton scoffs.
Sutton (frustrated): "Why do the handsome ones all decide to be dead ends?"
Rhonda (annoyed): "Shut up."
Samuel finishes dressing Spike's wounds.
Samuel: "Aaand done."
Spike: "Thanks, doc."
Rhonda wraps an arm around Spike.
Rhonda (to Samuel): "Thank you; thank you so much."
Rhonda leads Spike out, waves Leanne over. Leanne follows them. Paula leaves after them, goes down the hallway, finds Layla.
Paula: "Lemme see your hands."
Layla holds them out. Paula turns them over, feels over the bones.
Paula (professional): "Nothing's broken."
Laya (uncertain): "Are we going to be like this from now on?"
Paula sighs, faces Layla.
Paula (stern): "I was angry at you because you left. Because I was afraid you'd get him to forgive you and vanish again. But if what he said is true, if you took off to protect Frankie... I'd do that too. ... You two are good for each other. That's why you hurt him so much. But you have nowhere to go now, do you?"
Layla: "I suppose not. ... So. Truce?"
Paula: "Truce."
Paula leaves Layla, goes down the hall, peers in the first room, then the second. Gaines looks up.
Paula (warm): "You can see your soldier now."
Gaines lets out a breath, leaves the room. Paula goes in the third room. Gaines heads for medical, enters. Inside, Sutton and Samuel stop talking.
Gaines: "Ma'am; doctor."
Sutton (to Samuel): "We'll finish our little chat later, hm?"
Samuel (nervous): "Of course."
Sutton leaves.
Gaines (to Samuel): "Problem?"
Samuel: "No, no problem. ... Right, ah. I'll leave you two alone, then."
Samuel leaves. Gaines sees him out, wheels the stool to the bedside, sits next to Scotty and takes his hand. Scotty suddenly opens his eyes, fully alert, glances around the room.
Gaines (amused): "Someone 's been playing spy."
Scotty (whispering): "We have a problem."
Gaines leans closer.
Gaines (muttering): "Make that two."
Scotty (surprised): "You too?"
Gaines: "You first."
Scotty: "My mother didn't invite us to save us, she only wants to save herself. She needs transfusions. It's rent. Anyone who can't pay up will be thrown out."
Gaines: "Shit. ... Okay. ... I'll handle it."
Scotty: "What did you find?"
Gaines: "There not enough anything here. They brought a dozen champagne bottles and no water filters. I found ammo. They plan to raid survivors."
Scotty: "They don't know about the smog and dust."
Gaines: "No; they don't. ... There's one more thing. I counted ten beds."
Scotty: "Larson said she came for Spike, Rhonda and me. She never mentioned you or Raj. My mother planned for blood relatives only. Who exactly is in here?"
Gaines: "Your mother, her doctor and enforcer, the five of us, Ariel, his twin - Jamie, their wife - Moscow girl, their kid, the guy's mother, and his step-dad-slash-friend. The nun is his step-grandmother on his father's side. And she's pregnant. And the woman from the crate is his aunt. Scotty, they're a soap opera. I tried to make a mental map of their family tree and it came out spaghetti."
Scotty chuckles, turns serious.
Scotty: "So they're related. But how are they related to my mother?"
Gaines: "I don't know."
Scotty (to himself): "Sixteen people, eleven relatives including the baby." (to Gaines) "We need to save them."
Gaines: "Yeah. And ourselves. ... You make this place permanent; I'll take care of your mother. Okay?"
Scotty nods.
In the atrium, Leanne sits alone on the sofa. Frankie walks up to her.
Frankie (frowning): "What's that on your forehead?"
Leanne (sighs): "Something bad."
Frankie: "Then why did you draw it?
Leanne (looks away): "'cos I was stupid." (looks at Frankie) "Never get a tatoo, kid."
Frankie: "Okay."
Layla: "Frankie, what did I tell you about strangers?"
Leanne (to Layla): "Don't worry; I aint gonna eat her."
Layla: "I know." (to Frankie) "She bothers people."
Frankie grins.
Layla: "Go see what dad is doing."
Frankie nods, runs off. Layla pulls out a safety pin from her pocket.
Layla: "Let me get you out of those."
Leanne quirks a brow.
Leanne: "Why you wanna help me?"
Lalya: "Well first off, you kicked Ariel in the nuts, so that's always a great first impression."
Lenane smirks.
Layla: ".And second, if the general trusts you, I guess he has a reason. Hands please."
Leanne holds her hands out. Lalya starts picking the locks.
Layla: "So what's the story? You and the general I mean."
Leanne: "He pulled me outta death row and I pulled him out of a plane wreck. Of course there was a lotta yellin' in between."
Layla: "Of course."
Leanne: "But I was having second thoughts about this-" (points to tattoo) "...before he showed up."
Lalya: "Why did he break you out?"
Leanne: "They came for Rhonda. On account of her brother beein' his wife."
Layla: "Wife?"
Leanne: "Well he aint the one wearing the pants."
Layla (smirking): "Now I'm picturing him in a dress."
Leanne (smirking): "Oh I got one better. Saw a real man in a dress. With flowers."
Lalya: "Real man?"
Leanne: "Yeah. Beard, shotgun 'n' everythin'." (serious) "I think he said he was a patriot. ... I really was stupid, wasn't I?"
Layla: "You want to talk stupid? I ran off with Ariel and married him."
Leanne: "Hey this aint a contest, girl. ... But you'd win."
Lalya chuckles. Leanne puts her feet on the coffee table so Layla can work on the ankles.
Layla: "Why were you in jail?"
Leanne (ashamed): "I messed up a girl like you."
Layla (confused): "So they put you on death row?"
Leanne: "For that? No, I- ... Ariel left me to die, right? Well my best girl Rhonda came back for me. But my no good husband wanted to turn her in for the reward, on account of her hackin' the government, only she was coverin' up for that brat of hers. Anyway, I let her go so he turned me in for helping her."
Layla: "To lousy husbands then."
Leanne: "Amen."
Lalya stands up.
Layla: "There you go."
Leanne sways her feet, grins.
Leanne (smiling): "Thanks girl; you a real peach."
Layla (smiling): "Don't worry about the tattoo. I don't think anyone cares now."
To be continued...
