Return to Terra Nova

Episode 8

"Interlopers"

EXT. COLONY GATES, DAWN

It is the first light of a new morning in Terra Nova. A fresh dew coats everything, and a subtle fog covers the colony. It is calm; peaceful. At the front gate of the colony, a rhino transport vehicle is being loaded up with supplies. Stocking the car is Carmichael, Greg, Ramirez, Evans, Charles, and Blake. Their moods range from tired, to seeming very ambivalent. Carmichael in particular, however, seems incredibly excited, and loads as much stuff as he can, as quickly as he can. Amanda stands off to the side of the vehicle with Spunkmeyer. The two of them are talking.

AMANDA
You need to be as careful as possible out there in the badlands. I can't stress it enough. You go in, document what needs to be documented, and get out, preferably with as little of a trace as possible. You remember what Shannon said about the place, and what kinds of things lurk within it.

SPUNKMEYER

I have a bit of a plan for covering our tracks on the way there. I can't guarantee we'll leave no trace, but I'll try my best to make sure our route is difficult to follow back to here. As for safety…

Spunkmeyer turns around, to see Evans load a massive pack of guns into the transport.

SPUNKMEYER

Well… hopefully we'll be able to defend ourselves better than the original colonists did.

AMANDA
I wouldn't count too much on firepower. I'd say your best bet is to stay out of sight, but I don't know, you're all going into uncharted waters here. There's no telling what dangers are hidden out in the badlands. Just do whatever you can to get yourself and everyone else back here in one piece.

SPUNKMEYER

Don't worry, we won't let you down. Also, good luck on your continued investigation of the murders. I have a feeling you'll need it.

Amanda nods, and Spunkmeyer runs back over to the transport and gets in. The rest of the crew seem to have finished packing, and grab seats with the rhino transport as well.

GREG

Hey Spunkmeyer, it's awfully convenient you finish talking to the commander as soon as we get done lifting all that heavy gear into the car.

SPUNKMEYER
It was official business, Fraser. You should understand its importance.

Spunkmeyer turns and salutes Amanda, who salutes back. He then turns on the transport, and presses the pedal, rolling out through the colony gates and off into the jungle. Once the rover vanishes off into the distance, Amanda turns around and heads back towards Taylor's building.

INT. TAYLOR'S BUILDING, MORNING

Amanda enters the doors to Taylor's office, and is greeted by Louis, the temporary second in command while Spunkmeyer is away.

LOUIS

Commander.

AMANDA

At ease.

She walks past him and sits down at Taylor's desk.

AMANDA

Well, Louis, you haven't by any chance heard anything new about the recent murders in the colony, have you?

LOUIS

Nothing of any substance, ma'am.

AMANDA

(sighs)

Guess we're going to need to keep playing detective to figure this out. How much do you know about the situation?

LOUIS

Not much.

AMANDA
Well, I guess I'll have to give you a bit of a briefing about what exactly is going on. Basically, we have these security nodes set up around the colony which act as cameras. On the night the murders occurred, we managed to capture our murderer on tape, but there's an issue. Have a look.

Amanda brings up a hologram display of the camera feed outside of a house. The time is 3:21 AM according to a timestamp in the lower right of the video, and it is really dark out. Out of the shadows, a hooded figure appears. Their identity is completely hidden, but you can tell that they are wearing the same armor underneath the hood as every other person in the colony. In the figure's hand is a knife. They sneak into the house through an open window, and disappear from view. Amanda skips forward a few minutes, where the video then shows the hooded figure exit the house through the front door, carrying a knife that is now covered in blood.

AMANDA
This video was from Wayne's house. There is very similar footage at Leon's house as well about 15 minutes later, but the identity of the murderer is similarly obscured.

LOUIS

There's no footage from elsewhere in the colony of the killer perhaps putting that cloak on?

AMANDA
No, the security nodes aren't able to cover every square inch of the colony. There are a lot of gaps between locations where the murderer must have been able to change unnoticed.

LOUIS

Well… damn. Wait, aren't there serial numbers of everybody's smart armor? The person in the video is wearing one just like the rest of us are. If you could find the unique number in the video somehow, maybe we could trace it back to a certain person in the colony.

Amanda stares off into space for a second.

AMANDA

That's… actually a really good idea.

Amanda excitedly springs into action and begins quickly scrolling through the footage on the hologram in front of her. She reaches a point in the video where the armor on the attacker is most visible. She zooms into the arm of the attacker.

AMANDA
The serial number can normally be seen on the arm. The resolution of this video isn't quite high enough to capture it in a readable fashion, but I happen to possess an AI program which can enhance the image. Hang on.

Amanda brings up a terminal, and types in a few commands. Within a few seconds, the image is upscaled, and certain details are much more visible. She tries to look at the serial number on the arm of the armor, only to be met by a bunch of squiggly lines which are impossible to read as numbers.

AMANDA

Crap, these damn AI programs always seem to give me trouble. Looks like it butchered the pixels relating to the serial number. It would seem this footage isn't going to get us anywhere.

Amanda slumps back into her chair, disappointed.

EXT. JUNGLE STREAM, MIDDAY

The rhino transport carrying the expedition team is driving in the middle of a jungle stream, following the curves of the stream exactly, and running against the current. Water keeps splashing up and into the transport through the slitted windows of the vehicle. Evans in particular is getting soaked, and he is not happy.

EVANS

Remind me why we're driving through this damn creek again. I'm getting sick of being splashed every five seconds.

SPUNKMEYER

We can't afford to have our tracks be followed back to the colony. By driving in this creek, we will hopefully be leaving less of a trace. Don't worry, we should be getting close soon.

GREG

What's wrong, Evans? Never been on a road trip before?

Evans groans in anger.

INT. TAYLOR'S OFFICE, DAY

Amanda is fruitlessly combing through all the video footage she can find, and has a frustrated look on her face.

AMANDA

Damn it, we've really got nothing on this guy.

Louis notices her frustration.

LOUIS

Nobody who lives near the crime scene reported anything from that night?

AMANDA

Well, I did attempt to ask around there before, with no luck. I tried the infirmary as well, since the people working the night shift were the last to have seen Leon and Wayne before their deaths. No luck. Although, now that you mention it, there were a few people living around there I wasn't able to question yet. I think I'll go try again now. Thanks.

Amanda gets up and walks out towards the door.

AMANDA

And Louis, keep an eye out around here. If someone comes by with more information, let me know immediately.

LOUIS

Understood.

Amanda leaves.

EXT. COLONY, DAY

Amanda is walking through the colony, when she notices that one of the guard posts isn't staffed at all. Amanda stares at it, concerned. Amanda turns on her comm.

AMANDA

(Into comm)

Hello everyone, I first of all must report that the guard post near the infirmary is not staffed at all. We cannot allow this to occur. Having guards on our perimeter is an absolute necessity. Need I remind everyone of the recent incident where hostiles holed up in our infirmary?

INT. BOYLAN'S BAR

A bunch of soldiers are sitting around a table, drinking. One of them has their comm on the table. Amanda's transmission is playing through it.

AMANDA

(From comm)

We cannot leave ourselves open to attack like this.

One of the soldiers just picks up the comm.

AMANDA

(From comm)

Someone needs to get over here and take up the job of watching-

A soldier just drops the comm into a glass of liquor. The comm mumbles through the liquid for a second before shutting off.

SOLDIER

Much better.

EXT. COLONY, DAY

Amanda is still talking into her comm.

AMANDA
(Into comm)

Also, I am still investigating the murders of Leon and Wayne. Should anyone have any information about the situation, please come forward and let me know. I have released images of the attacker, although their identity is not discernable. If you have seen someone who was dressed like that on the night of the murders, do not hesitate to contact me.

Amanda turns the comm off, and continues on her way.

EXT. HOUSE, DAY

Amanda reaches a house near where Leon was murdered. She goes up to the front door, and begins knocking.

INT. HOUSE

Inside of the house, a soldier gets up from the couch and quietly sneaks up to the door and looks through the peephole on it. He sees that it's Amanda.

AMANDA

(From other side)

Hello, this is commander Ravenholme. I'm gathering information about the recent murders in the colony.

The soldier groans in annoyance, and walks away from the door and back to his couch. Amanda keeps knocking. The soldier lays down and puts on headphones, drowning her out.

EXT. HOUSE, DAY

Amanda gives up knocking on this particular house.

AMANDA

(Quietly, to herself)
Hmm, guess nobody is home…

She turns around and looks at all the other houses in this sector of the colony.

EXT. LEON'S SECTOR

Amanda knocks on doors all around the area Leon lived in, but she does not get a response from a single one. Eventually, the sun begins to set, and Amanda decides to call it quits, and leaves.

EXT. JUNGLE, SUNSET

The light in the jungle is beginning to fade, and the survey team is still driving up a creek.

SPUNKMEYER
We're getting really close to the badlands, but it'll be dark soon. We need to stop and make camp somewhere.

Ramirez looks at the navigation system, and points out a small clearing on the very edge of the jungle.

RAMIREZ

How about we camp out here in this clearing? I think it's at the top of a cliff, but it overlooks at least part of the badlands.

SPUNKMEYER

Sounds good.

Spunkmeyer drives out of the creek, and towards the clearing on the map.

EXT. CLIFF TOP CLEARING, DUSK

The trees thin and the ground turns to rock. Spunkmeyer stops the transport and everyone piles out to look out over the cliff. In the distance, as far as the eye can see, is a rocky wasteland covered in dark volcanic sand.

BLAKE

That's where we're headed tomorrow?

EVANS

Looks like hell.

GREG

You know, they call it the badlands for a reason.

SPUNKMEYER

Let's get a camp set up. Come on.

CUT

EXT. CLIFF TOP CAMP CLEARING, NIGHT

The stars in the sky are bright as can be. Everyone lays in sleeping bags around a small fire. It's late, but nobody is sleeping.

EVANS

Is anyone asleep?

CARMICHAEL

Of course not, I'm positively brimming with excitement!

Everyone looks at Carmichael funny.

SPUNKMEYER

Excitement? You're not at all concerned about the danger we might face out there?

CARMICHAEL

Discovery overshadows danger. What we are likely to find out in that desert is something of extraordinary value.

SPUNKMEYER

Or extraordinary peril.

CARMICHAEL

Well, whatever the case, any risk is completely justified in my mind. Don't forget, the anomaly that potentially came from here fried the terminus, and caused all sorts of magnetic disturbances. Understanding the source of the anomaly could offer some form of protection should it ever happen again.

SPUNKMEYER
Sure, but for that information to be useful, we have to make it out alive to deliver it.

CARMICHAEL

Well, I'm sure we'll be fine…

(Pausing for a second)

...maybe.

GREG

(Jokingly)

Hell, if you get eaten, Carmichael, I think I'll be better than fine.

Evans and Ramirez chuckle at Greg's joke a bit. It then goes silent, and everyone stares into the fire. Ramirez scoots herself closer to Greg. Spunkmeyer shuts his eyes and tries to go to sleep, only for several flashes of light, accompanied by loud popping noises, cause his eyes to jolt open again. He sits up and looks for the source of the commotion. Everyone else has their eyes trained on the badlands off in the distance. There is some kind of weird light show going on in the sky. Several small flashes of light are occurring in quick succession over the badlands.

GREG
Is that lightning?

CARMICHAEL

No... that's... more of those sky anomalies. Small ones, at least.

Carmichael stands up and walks to the edge of the cliff to watch the phenomenon more closely. Greg clutches Ramirez closely. The lights come to a stop as quickly as they started, and the night once again falls quiet. Even though the anomalies are gone, everyone stares off into the unknown, wondering what is waiting for them in the badlands.

FADE

EXT. CLIFF TOP CAMP, MORNING

Everyone has crashed and has fallen asleep, except for Carmichael, who seems like he was wide awake the whole night. The campfire has been reduced to a pile of ash with smoke fizzling away from it.

CARMICHAEL

Hey! Everyone up!

Carmichael lightly kicks Spunkmeyer in the back to wake him up. He jolts awake and grabs the rifle by his side out of panic, while everyone else groggily gets up as well.

CARMICHAEL

It's morning, we need to get moving.

Spunkmeyer looks around a bit, before nodding.

SPUNKMEYER

You're right.

(To everyone)
Come on you all, we have to hit the road as soon as possible.

INT. TAYLOR'S OFFICE, DAY

Amanda is scrolling through some records, looking for any information she missed relating to the murders. Louis is watching her comb through the records.

AMANDA

We really don't have much in the way of leads right now. I know where I could probably get some fresh ones though, although I've admittedly been putting it off. Connor was one of the three people sent to the hospital from the bar fight two nights ago, and was the only one of those three who didn't later turn up dead. I've sent him some emails regarding the event, but he has not replied to any of them. Looks like I need to give him a visit in person. I'll be back soon, Louis, and if I'm not, Connor probably shot me.

Amanda gets up and leaves the office.

INT. BOYLAN'S BAR

Connor and a bunch of other people are gathered in the bar, scheming.

CONNOR

Now the plan stipulates that we kill her, but I'm not sure if it's the best route, at least right now. I still have to think about whether or not we should follow it to the letter.

A panicked soldier runs into the bar, panting and sweating. They are clearly in distress.

PANICKED SOLDIER

Connor! Ravenholme is on her way here! What are we going to do?!

Several people in the bar draw their guns, and begin to stand up from their tables. Connor puts his hand up to stop them.

CONNOR
Hang on! Everyone, calm down and let me handle this. I want to hear what she wants, and see what information I can glean from her.

Everyone sits down, but there is an uneasiness to everyone in the room.

EXT. CLIFFS, DAY

Spunkmeyer is driving the transport along the top of the cliffs that border the badlands. The elevation seems to slowly be going down over time, bringing them closer and closer to the entrance of the badlands.

SPUNKMEYER
Look sharp, everyone. We'll be there in a matter of minutes.

INT. BOYLAN'S BAR

Amanda reaches the top of the staircase of the bar, and slowly descends down them and inside. The whole bar glances at her, but then tries to pretend they weren't looking. Amanda notices, but tries to shrug it off. She is nervous, although she doesn't want to show it. She reaches the bottom of the stairs, and looks around for Connor. She spots him at one of the corner tables in the bar. She walks up to him, and he stares at her as she does.

AMANDA
Connor, you haven't responded to any of the inquiries I sent you.

CONNOR

(Sarcastically)

Oops.

AMANDA
I'd like to discuss the matter privately with you. Would you mind heading outside with me?

CONNOR

We can talk privately all you want, but I'm staying right here.

AMANDA
Very well.

Connor offers her a seat across from him, she takes it.

AMANDA

I'm trying to uncover the culprit of the murders from two nights ago. I recognize that you were a friend of Leon and Wayne. So, do you have any information that could help my investigation? After all, you left the hospital with them that night.

CONNOR

I've got nothing for you. We parted ways that night, and that was that. Next thing I know they turned up dead.

AMANDA

Well, do you think that there is perhaps a reason why you were the only one of you three that wasn't targeted by the murderer?

CONNOR

What kind of question is that? Do you suspect me or something?

AMANDA
That is not what I'm saying.

CONNOR

Well it sure sounds like it.

AMANDA
So you've got nothing on who killed Leon and Wayne?

CONNOR

I'll tell you what I have. I have a sneaking suspicion that your buddy Charles killed them.

AMANDA
Charles isn't my buddy, but he is a suspect.

CONNOR

And yet you just let him wander off on the badlands mission? What are you going to do when he kills off the entire badlands crew?

Amanda says nothing.

CONNOR

Every single call you've made as leader has been wrong.

AMANDA

I doubt you could have done better, Connor.

CONNOR

Wanna bet?

Amanda stands up aggressively, and Connor does the same. Amanda glares at Connor, and then glares over her shoulder at the rest of the bar. Everyone is watching, and a lot of them look pissed. She turns back to Connor, and tries to calm down.

AMANDA
This isn't over, Connor.

Amanda turns and walks out of the bar.

EXT. ROCKY SLOPES, DAY

The cliffs bordering the badlands eventually turn into a rocky slope leading down to the sands below. The transport carrying the survey team travels down this slope, dodging boulders and jagged rock formations that litter the rocky decline. Eventually the transport reaches the bottom, and drives out onto the volcanic gray sands of the badlands.

SPUNKMEYER

This is it, everyone. Look alive.

The transport continues out into the badlands, but with an air of caution.

EXT. BADLANDS, DAY

The transport drives through the sand, leaving large tracks in its wake. Spunkmeyer looks back at the tracks, concerned. Charles, who is in the passenger seat, covers his face, as sand is getting blown in through the slits on the windshield. The transport drives through the badlands, although it cannot go too fast due to the difficulty of the terrain. There are lots of jagged rocks to avoid throughout the area, some of which are the size of buildings. The sandy dunes between all the rocks also make driving a difficult endeavor. The whole team keeps their eyes peeled for wildlife, but there doesn't seem to be a single living thing around. They reach an area surrounded by a bunch of large rock formations, and have to drive through the gaps between them. In doing so, they find themself in an area almost like the bottom of a rocky canyon. The ground becomes less sandy for a bit, and more rocky. There are a few branching paths between the formations to make. Spunkmeyer just takes whichever path leads in the direction of the distress signal. At one such fork in the road, while the transport is making a turn, Carmichael's eyes shoot wide open as he looks out through the slits on the side of the rover.

CARMICHAEL

Stop the car! Stop it!

Spunkmeyer complies, and eases onto the brakes. Carmichael opens the door of the transport and jumps out before it has even come to a complete stop.

SPUNKMEYER
Carmichael! What the hell are you doing! Get back here!

Everyone else starts hopping out to go get him. Carmichael is running like a crazy person. He disappears around a bend in the rock formation. The team follows him around the bend. Upon turning the corner, they notice what he's running towards, at which point they all just stop and stare. In the middle of the path between the rock walls, is a bunch of wrecked cars and structures. There are some torn tents as well in the area, but they're so old and worn that they're barely recognizable as tents anymore. Whatever this place is, it looks to have been some kind of camp site, although it had to have been sitting out here for years.

EVANS

Woah.

Carmichael continues running towards the ruined camp. Everyone else picks up the pace again and tries to catch up with him.

EXT. RUINED CAMPSITE, DAY

Carmicahel runs over to the one car in the site. It looks smashed and heavily damaged. Interestingly, the car itself appears to be some kind of armored military vehicle, not unlike the rhino transport that the recon group came here in. The paint on the car has faded considerably from years of sunlight and being blasted by sand. Charles walks over to another wrecked car on the site. This car is smashed even more, and looks like it was thrown into the wall of the canyon. It is however in a much shadier spot than the other car, and has not been bleached by the sun as much. There is a bit of sand coating the side of the car though. Charles brushes the sand off of the side, revealing the logo of a phoenix. Carmichael motions for Spunkmeyer to come over.

CUT

Everyone is now looking at the car with the phoenix logo on it.

SPUNKMEYER

Well I'll be damned. Looks like Phoenix might have gotten what was coming to them. This must have been their camp, originally.

RAMIREZ

This place looks trashed, and it doesn't look like the sands of time are the reason for it.

CHARLES

Well, it was likely those reapers we were briefed about.

SPUNKMEYER

That is a definite possibility. Let's search their tents and stuff. See what else we can find.

Everyone pairs off and searches the rest of the wrecked stuff in the camp. Greg and Ramirez search what was probably the main operations tent of the camp. All they find is a bunch of equipment that has been smashed to pieces.

GREG
This all looks like communication equipment and magnetometers and stuff, but it's all smashed to hell and back. Weird.

Carmichael is doing his own searching, and notices a crevice about six feet up on the side of the rock wall surrounding the camp. It's a tight fit, but a person could easily climb into it. There even appears to be some kind of cave inside it. Carmichael pulls out a flashlight, activates it, and holds it with his mouth. He then jumps up and grabs the edge of the crevice, before hauling himself up and into it. Spunkmeyer notices as he is pulling his legs inside of it.

SPUNKMEYER

Carmichael! What the hell do you think you're doing! Get out of there!

INT. CREVICE CAVE, DAY

Carmichael looks around, trying to find anything left over by the phoenix group. He shines his flashlight around a bit. He notices that there is a tunnel in the back of this cave that seems to exit out of the rock formation, as there seems to be the faint glow of sunlight through it. As he is looking at the tunnel, he stubs his toe on a pile of rocks on the ground. After wincing in pain, he looks down at the pile of rocks. It's actually part of a grave. There's even a name and a cross etched into the wall above it. Carmichael shines his flashlight on the writing. It says that the person buried there is named "Mira."

CARMICHAEL

Huh.

Carmichael moves on and heads over to the tunnel, following it to its presumed exit.

EXT. CAVE EXIT, DAY

Carmichael exits the rock tunnel and is once again hit by sunlight. The area outside of the tunnel is way more open than the canyon they were just in. There is once again a lot of sandy dunes and such. However, Carmichael sees something that completely surprises him. Outside of this tunnel seems to be a massive wooden shipwreck, like something you would see from an old pirate movie. Carmichael gets really excited and runs back into the tunnel he came from.

CARMICHAEL

Guys! You have to get over here and look at this.

EXT. DESERT SHIPWRECK, DAY

Spunkmeyer drives the transport out of the rock canyon, at the direction of Carmichael, and ends up in the area where the shipwreck is located. Spunkmeyer stops the car, and everyone gets out. Carmichael, of course, bolts off again towards the wreck. Everyone else just stares at it, confused.

GREG

Someone call blackbeard?

RAMIREZ

I don't know much about naval history, but I know they didn't have ships of any sort in the Cretaceous period.

They all go over and meet up with Carmichael, who is examining every square inch of the vessel. He reaches the prow of the ship, and his eyes widen. It looks like the prow was cut off of the ship using some kind of precise laser cutter.

CARMICHAEL

This is one of the most fascinating things I have ever seen! An old wooden ship like this in the cretaceous period is amazing enough, but this isn't just any wooden ship, this must be THE wooden ship!

BLAKE

THE wooden ship? What do you mean by that?

CARMICHAEL

Back in the colony, in the old storage containers left behind by the colonists, there was a figurehead from a wooden ship. It must have been cut off of this and taken to the colony while it was under Phoenix control! This is just absolutely incredible. We need to stop and study this and figure out how it got here!

Charles doesn't seem too impressed, and climbs up the side of the ship and reaches the top. He looks out at the badlands on the other side of the ship.

CHARLES

If we're going to stop to study every strange artifact we find out here, we're going to be at it for months.

Charles waves everyone else to get up to the deck of the ship. The rest of the group climbs up to see what he's talking about. Once they see what he sees, they are once again bewildered. Out in the distance, are dozens of strange objects that are displaced from time: planes, trains, boats, satellites, you name it, all half buried by the sands of the badlands.

EVANS

Holy hell.

CHARLES

We don't have a lot of time, right? We should probably get back to following that signal.

Spunkmeyer nodes.

SPUNKMEYER

He's absolutely right. We need to get going again. Everybody, get back into the transport.

The team starts to climb down. Spunkmeyer stays on top of the ship for a few seconds after everyone else climbs down. He gets another brief look out at the field of lost artifacts. It goes on for miles, and yet, out in the desert among the debris, he notices what looks like the movement of dark shapes. The movement is hard to make out though, as they are the same color as the sands of the wasteland, and there is also a considerable distortion in his view of distant lands due to the heat. Spunkmeyer is unable to pinpoint if he's seeing something real or just a hallucination. Eventually, he can't notice any movement anymore, and just shrugs it off as a mirage.

EXT. BADLANDS, DAY

The transport moves along once more, driving past all sorts of displaced artifacts. For each artifact passed, a little part of Carmichael dies inside from not being able to go out and study them. As the transport gets closer to the SOS signal, the artifacts become more and more frequent. Another thing that picks up in intensity is dunes of sand that the transport has to drive over. The dunes seem to be spaced out relatively evenly from each other, and each upcoming dune is taller than the last. The repetitive motion of driving up a dune and back down is making Evans a bit car sick.

EVANS

Jeez, why are all these sand dunes showing up so often all of a sudden? I think I might hurl if this keeps up. Can we stop for a bit?

Spunkmeyer drives up another dune, and as he reaches the peak, he notices a very large and tall object far in the distance, just barely peeking up over the tops of the other dunes.

SPUNKMEYER

What the? What the hell is that?

CARMICHAEL

That must be the source of the SOS. It looks like a…

The car peaks over the dune and begins descending downwards, removing the object from view. Carmichael looks to the right, and sees a rock formation nearby that looks climbable.

CARMICHAEL

Hey, drive over to that rock formation to the right. We could use it as a vantage point to get a better look.

Spunkmeyer nods and turns the transport to the right.

CUT

EXT. ROCK FORMATION PEAK, DAY

Spunkmeyer is helping up various crew members to the top of the rock formation. After everyone is up, he pulls himself up. Everyone is staring off in the distance. Charles is the most flabbergasted looking of the entire group.

CHARLES

Holy mother of god.

Spunkmeyer looks out over the badlands. From the top of the rock formation, things are visible for miles. The object that they saw from the dunes is immediately visible. The object is a massive aircraft carrier. It's on top of some smashed rock formations, which managed to pierce the hull of the carrier before the rocks were crushed. Painted on the side of the hull is the very visible logo of a corporation called TriVex Industries. Arranged in a circular pattern around the carrier is a bunch of metallic objects from various time periods. The artifacts surrounding the carrier become more frequent the closer they are to it. Similarly, the gray sands of the badlands itself have been magnetized around the carrier as well, forming the dunes that the team was driving over moments earlier.

SPUNKMEYER

Jesus Christ, that's not…

CHARLES

It is.

SPUNKMEYER

God damn…

EVANS

Is what? The biggest thing here?

SPUNKMEYER

You don't recognize that ship? Seriously? It's the T.V.S. Drakor!

EVANS
Never heard of it.

SPUNKMEYER

Oh my god. Does the start of the great war ring any bells? There were massive tensions between the UN and Axis powers in 2133, and they were on the brink of war for a long time. Remember how the war was kicked off when the American-based corporation known as TriVex Industries said that their floating research facility got destroyed by the Axis? This looks to be that exact ship…

EVANS

Well, I don't get it. If it was destroyed, what's it doing intact and in the Cretaceous period?

BLAKE

Yeah, he's right. That can't be it, could it?

GREG

(Sarcastically)

Corrupt mega corporations lying? Who knew?

BLAKE

Well, either way, Evans is still right. How did that ship, or any of this stuff from other time periods, end up here?

CARMICHAEL

I have a few theories about what actually brought them through time, but I can say for sure that the carrier coming through time is what caused the anomaly in the sky all those nights ago.

SPUNKMEYER

Really? Makes sense, I guess.

CARMICHAEL

Indeed. You see, the kind of time travel we performed to come here had many years of polish behind it. It's efficient, safe, and optimized, thanks to Eric Harper's algorithm. All these artifacts, however, are being sent back in a much more unstable manner, characterized by massive flashes of light and electromagnetic disturbances. When an object of the carrier's size came through time like that, it seemed like the world was ending here, and it magnetized everything towards the source of the rift. As you can see, the volcanic sands of the badlands, and all the metallic artifacts hiding under them, were pulled in towards the carrier once it began entering this time period.

Everyone turns their heads towards the carrier again, taking in the sight of the circles of debris and sand arranged around it.

CARMICHAEL

When it came through, the terminus also picked up its energy, thinking it was a normal portal activation from 2156. The terminus detected wrong, obviously, and was fried to a crisp from the volume of energy coming from such a rift in time and space.

SPUNKMEYER

But how are all these objects coming through in the first place?

CARMICHAEL

I don't know for sure, but I have a feeling there might be some data on board that carrier which could potentially give us an answer.

RAMIREZ

How are we planning on getting inside though?

BLAKE
If you look carefully at the base of the carrier, there's some holes that have been punched into it from rocks, presumably from it falling out of the sky or something.

Spunkmeyer pulls out some binoculars and looks.

Good eye. That'll be our entry point. Let's get going.

CUT

EXT. BADLANDS, DAY

The transport speeds towards the carrier. Its massive size becomes more and more apparent the closer they get. The dunes are so frequent that it starts to seem like they're hitting a speed bump every second. Eventually, they reach the base of the carrier. Spunkmeyer stops the car at the base of the ship. In front of the rover is a hole in the side of the ship that is around 20 feet in diameter. The interior is dark, but some cargo containers can be seen inside. Everyone begins to pile out of the carrier. Evans unfurls a massive bag of rifles and other guns. He grabs one and loads it.

EVANS

Everyone, take your pick of a weapon. We might need it.

Everyone grabs a weapon.

SPUNKMEYER

Alright, everyone. We have no idea what to expect inside of this ship, and we don't know much about what we're looking for, so let's exercise extreme caution. Is that understood?

Everyone nods.

SPUNKMEYER

Very well, let's get this done, and then get back to the colony.

Spunkmeyer turns around and enters the carrier. Everyone else follows.

INT. CARRIER CARGO BAY

The group enters in through the hole in the carrier, getting deposited in some kind of massive storage room for cargo. When the ship hit the ground, the cargo containers must have been thrashed around, as they are now scattered everywhere, making the room look like the inside of a box of legos. The room is illuminated mostly from the sunlight shining in through the hole they entered from, but there appear to be a few emergency lights highlighting a few doors exiting the hangar.

GREG

Hey look, those doors there are illuminated by emergency lights. Looks like the ship still has some degree of power. There must be a reactor or something that's keeping it running.

CHARLES

The T.V.S. Drakor was said to have an on-board nuclear reactor to power all of the TriVex research projects they were doing inside. It was partially why there was a lot of concern when the ship was presumably taken out by axis forces.

BLAKE

Interesting.

SPUNKMEYER

Well, if I had to guess, the distress signal on board is being transmitted from one of the higher levels of the ship.

There is a large set of doors nearby illuminated by some of the emergency lights. Spunkmeyer points to them.

SPUNKMEYER

Those doors look promising. Fraser, could you hack them open or something?

GREG

Yeah sure, watch and learn.

Greg walks up to the door, does a bit of a stretch, and cracks his fingers. He then just reaches over to the panel on the side of the door and hits a button. With a loud creak, the doors begin to slide open.

GREG
(Jokingly)
Hacking complete.

Ramirez giggles a bit. Spunkmeyer tries not to look embarrassed, and motions for everyone to proceed through the door.

INT. SHIP CARGO RAMP

On the other side of the door, is a massive ramp. The ramp has several portions sloping upwards, but also has some flat portions representing each floor of the ship, which have doors and entrances to hallways on the sides of them. There are signs on the walls denoting what each floor is, with arrows for directions to certain things.

EVANS

Jeez, this thing is massive.

SPUNKMEYER

It looks to be a ramp for transporting cargo throughout the ship. If you follow it long enough, it'll lead you to the top deck of the vessel.

EVANS
And is that where we need to go?

SPUNKMEYER

Yeah, so we'd better get climbing. Hopefully it won't be too bad. Come on.

Spunkmeyer begins walking up the ramp. Everyone else begins to follow him.

CUT

The team bends the corner onto the flat portion of the ramp denoting deck 5 of the ship. Everyone is exhausted. They look like they've been walking forever, which means they probably have. Spunkmeyer makes it up first, albeit slowly. Blake makes it up behind him, looking tired, but still with a decent amount of energy left. Behind them, Evans and Carmichael show up, both struggling to climb the ramp. After that, Greg and Ramirez are helping Charles up, who can barely walk anymore.

SPUNKMEYER

We're close, but it's been quite the climb. This deck looks like a good one to rest at. Let's give it five minutes. If that's no good, ten minutes, but no longer than that.

Everyone collapses to the ground, exhausted and looking to rest their legs as much as possible. Blake looks around at the hallway on this deck, and the sign next to it. The sign says:

"DECK 5: ANOMALOUS RESEARCH LABORATORIES"

In addition to that, there are arrows pointing to numerous different things. There are arrows on the sign pointing further upwards on the ramp, saying that the top deck and operations room are up there. The sign also says there are restrooms on this floor, down the hallway.

BLAKE

I need to go take a leak. I'm going to go check out the restrooms on this floor.

SPUNKMEYER

I don't think it's a good idea for you to go off alone.

BLAKE
Well, if someone else wants to come along they can. I'm not waiting longer than I have to though.

Blake walks off down the entrance to the hallway on this deck. He disappears around the corner. Spunkmeyer shakes his head, but goes back to resting. However, he isn't given much time to rest. Blake lets out a loud scream a few seconds after he disappears from view. Everyone's heads poke up, and they jump to their feet, running down the hallway to see what is going on.

INT. DECK 5 HALLWAY

The hallway is dark, but there are a few infrequent emergency lights, which give a slight, albeit red-colored, reprieve from the darkness. The walls are metal, with nondescript cables running along them. The team turns the same corner Blake did. They find him immediately, standing there, staring off down the hallway. He looks disgusted.

SPUNKMEYER
Turner, what's wron-

Spunkmeyer stops talking when he notices what Blake is looking at. In front of Blake, jutting out of the wall, is the upper body of a human being. The person is dead, with an agonized look on their face. The person isn't just stuck on the wall, they are fused into it, with everything below their belly being inside the wall itself. The team is horrified by the sight of the person. Greg throws up.

EVANS

What in god's name is this?

Carmichael walks up to the body.

CARMICHAEL

Well, it looks to me like the matter making up this poor soul has been forced to occupy the same space as the matter making up this wall, which ultimately led him to be crushed to death.

Charles points further down the hallway, where there are a few other bodies fused into the wall.

CHARLES

Looks like he wasn't the only one.

SPUNKMEYER

How the hell can something like this even happen?

CARMICHAEL

I have a few ideas, but like I said, it's difficult to know for certain until we find out exactly what happened on the ship.

SPUNKMEYER
Well, then I guess we should probably find out where the data storage room is.

BLAKE

I can tell you where it will likely be.

Spunkmeyer turns to Blake.

SPUNKMEYER

You can?

BLAKE

Sure, just take a look here.

Blake taps his finger on the wall behind him. On the wall is a general map of the entire vessel. Each deck of the ship and its purpose is labeled. Each deck is also divided into squares, denoting certain important rooms and sections. Blake points at a room on deck 4 labeled as "Communications and Data Entry."

BLAKE

If I had to guess, that's where both the distress signal and the ship's black box will be stored. If you want the records of what happened here, that's where you need to go. I think we can actually get over there quicker if we cut through this hallway, rather than going back to the cargo ramp.

Blake pulls out his plex and takes a picture of the map. Spunkmeyer does the same. As he is taking the picture, Spunkmeyer notices something called "The Vault" on the map, located on deck 6, which is the engineering deck. He doesn't think too much of it though.

SPUNKMEYER
Alright, let's hurry up and get to that communications room.

The group begins walking down the hallway, carefully avoiding the arms and legs jutting out of the walls from the crew's bodies.

As the group makes it further down the hallway, they begin to notice a sort of alarm sound. It gets louder as they proceed down the hallway. It's coming from some room up ahead. As they go further down, they notice sparks coming from some kind of bulkhead door. The door consists of two massive vertically sliding slabs of metal, painted with caution symbols and text reading "authorized personnel only." On the side of the door is some kind of card reader, which is the thing giving off the sparks. The doors themselves are half open, with the bottom door completely open, and the top one stuck. A shimmering red glow oozes through the opening. It looks like the gateway to hell. The group gets close to the doors and crouches down to get a look inside the room on the other side. Behind the doors is some kind of massive laboratory, with various things strewn about and sparking. There are red emergency lights spinning in the room, causing the red glow through the doors. There also, curiously, is a massive apparatus in the center of the room, which looks like it has fallen over and broken. Carmichael ducks under the stuck upper door and enters the laboratory before anyone can tell him not to. Blake enters next. Then Greg. Spunkmeyer gets a bit annoyed that they're just running off into a burning room, but he follows them.

INT. BURNING LABORATORY

Inside, the state of the room is much more visible. There are corpses fused into the walls and floors, much like elsewhere in the ship, though the ones in this particular room look somewhat burned. The room itself seems like it must have been a mess even before whatever happened in here occurred. Several terminals are set up around the room with spaghetti tangles of cords extruding from them. The apparatus in the center of the room is one ugly looking piece of equipment. It is like a giant metal easter egg, the size of a car, with a rough texture like sandpaper. There are a ton of cords and pipes plugged into the top and the bottom of the apparatus, but at some point the apparatus split in half and fell on its side. The top half is shooting a green laser off into a nearby wall, and seems to be melting a hole into it. Whatever it is though, seems to be the focal point of the room. Carmichael goes over to it and begins inspecting it, as does Blake.

SPUNKMEYER

What is that thing?

CARMICHAEL

I don't know.

CHARLES

Why don't we find out? Take a look here.

Everyone turns their heads to Charles, who is at one of the few terminals in the room to have not been destroyed. The terminal is powered up and projecting a hologram. Charles is browsing some of the files on it. They all come over, and see that Charles is browsing a folder on the terminal called "Experiment Logs." Charles clicks the most recent video in the list, and it begins playing.

CLOSE UP ON SCREEN

The video opens up as a split view from multiple different angles in the lab. The biggest screen in the middle opens with some scientist standing in front of the camera. The man looks tired and weak, like he's been working non-stop for days. Despite this, there is still quite a bit of enthusiasm in his voice. The apparatus in the room is situated directly behind the scientist. Unlike how it is now, the device is intact, and the two halves are hooked into each other, with one half right above the other. The green laser from the top half is beamed down directly into the center of the bottom half. The whole device is framed perfectly in the shot, likely as a means of showcasing whatever it does. The scientist begins to address the camera.

SCIENTIST

This is Dr. Corts, and I am pleased to announce that the day we have been working for these past few years is finally upon us! The gateway device has been completed, and this ship has just entered the legendary Dragon's Triangle, off the coast of Taiwan. Now, I want this momentous occasion to be recorded as this will be the event that changed history forever. For those who need a quick explanation, the Dragon's Triangle, much like the Bermuda Triangle, among others, is the site of occasional rifts in the space time continuum. These rifts are caused by anomalies in the Earth's magnetosphere, and are to blame for quite a few strange occurrences around the world, from disappearing ships and aircrafts, to potentially even the rare appearances of sea monsters. Due to their anomalous and random nature, these rifts tend to either send or receive objects, and sometimes even organisms, to and from random points in time and space. Essentially, the rifts are a form of time travel, and potentially also a means of teleportation. Their random nature has made utilizing those abilities impossible, at least, until now.

The scientist turns around and waves to the other people in the room. At his prompt, they begin fiddling with their terminals, and the gateway device begins whirring to life. Glass rods extend from the bottom of the device, and begin spinning around the laser at high speed. The scientist now turns back to the camera.

DR. CORTS

Now, the gateway device is able to absorb energy from the magnetic disturbances that cause rifts to open, and is able to then bend these rifts in any way we see fit. Whereas going through a rift would normally deposit you in a random time and place on this planet, the gateway device allows us to specify where and when we want to appear. Momentarily, once we have absorbed enough energy, we will transport the ship 10 seconds into the future, and about a mile east of our current location.

The glass rods on the device spinning around the laser begin to glow blue. One of the technicians working on a terminal in the background of the video speaks to Dr. Corts.

TECHNICIAN

Sir, we have just harnessed the energy from a magnetic anomaly, and are ready to make the passage.

DR. CORTS

Good. Start the transportation sequence.

The technician nods, and taps away at their terminal. The device begins to hum even louder, as the glowing blue tubes begin to slowly rotate inwards. As the tubes get closer and closer to the laser, a sort of faint rainbow aura begins to cover everything in the room, and everything becomes visually warped, much like the distortion you would see from a heat mirage. Suddenly a beeping noise goes off. The technician at the terminal from before starts panicking.

TECHNICIAN

Something is wrong! Magnetic stability is way off! Attempting to terminate the test.

DR. CORTS

No! This test must continue! We must succeed!

TECHNICIAN

It's… It's not shutting down!

Suddenly, terminals in the room begin to explode, sending the technicians near them flying backwards. Some of them are able to pick themselves back up, and start running for the exit.

RANDOM TECHNICIAN

Get the exit doors open! We have to get out of here!

DR. CORTS

Cowards! We're so close, and you all want to leave? Think about what we are on the cusp of achieving!

The technicians ignore him, and one of the technicians hits the override to get the exit doors open. However, the exit doors malfunction, and only the bottom half begins to open up. People begin piling out of the room as soon as there is a gap big enough. Dr. Corts continues staring at the device in the center of the room. The glowing tubes have almost touched the laser, and are spinning even faster than they were before.

DR. CORTS

Any second now, we will have succeeded!

The glowing tubes continue rotating inward. Finally, the very tips of the tubes tap the laser in the center of the device. As soon as contact is made, a blinding white flash comes on screen for all the cameras, and after that, all but one of the cameras are taken out. The only remaining functional camera is pitch black for a full minute after the white flash, until it eventually automatically corrects its exposure to showcase the room again. Everything is wrecked, with most of the terminals shattered and sparking. The device has split in half, and is in the same position it is in outside of the recording. Dr. Corts has been fused into the floor of the room. His upper body is the only thing visible. He is dead, with his arms outstretched and a look of pure agony on his face. Several other corpses around the room are now fused into the walls as well. Within a few seconds, the camera turns off.

Everyone watching the screen looks a bit unsettled.

BLAKE

Well, I take it that the ship didn't end up getting sent 5 minutes into the future.

CARMICHAEL

I thought it would be something like this. Their attempts to control anomalies in time and space completely backfired, and due to the dirty method in which the jump happened, our friends here all died horrible deaths. Seems that these natural anomalies may not be suited super well for simultaneously transporting both organic and inorganic matter. From my understanding, Hope Plaza had similar concerns when they were constructing their portal, although they obviously figured out how to create a safe gateway through time and space, unlike these poor saps.

GREG

Alright, but what about all these other things in the badlands? How'd they end up here?

CARMICHAEL

As that scientist mentioned, there are anomalies around the world that just suck up objects and organisms, and spit them out somewhere and sometime else. As for why they are all drawn to the badlands and this time period specifically, it likely has to do with this ship itself.

SPUNKMEYER

What do you mean?

CARMICHAEL

This ship may have seemingly punctured a hole through the space time continuum, and now serves as a lighting rod of sorts for many objects that get sucked up by these anomalies.

EVANS

I don't get it, a lot of these objects are from time periods before this ship even got sucked up.

CARMICHAEL

When you can jump to any place and time after getting sucked up by an anomaly, the linear flow of events from one timeline doesn't really matter anymore. Plus, if this is anything like the portal we came through, these objects are all from a timeline different from the one we are in now anyways.

SPUNKMEYER

Well, this is all very interesting, but we mustn't forget that we need to investigate the S.O.S. signal coming from this ship.

CARMICHAEL

Don't hold your breath for finding anyone alive. The dirty jump between timelines this thing underwent most definitely killed all life on board. If I had to guess, that signal is probably automated.

SPUNKMEYER

Well, I'd like to know for sure, so let's go and see.

Spunkmeyer begins to walk out of the room. The others follow. Carmichael is the last out, and takes a final peek at the gateway device before departing with the rest of the group.

INT. COMMUNICATIONS ROOM, EVENING

The door to the room swings open, and Spunkmeyer steps forth into the room. He immediately squints his eyes, as sunlight is shining in through the massive windows in the room. The sun outside is setting over the horizon, and lighting the sky up with a beautiful orange color. Everyone else enters the room. Spunkmeyer walks over to a large instrument on the wall. It has a screen, and various controls attached to it on the side. It is giving off some faint beeping noises, repeatedly.

SPUNKMEYER

Here's the transmission device.

Spunkmeyer fiddles with it a bit, and manages to pull up the ship logs. He scrolls through them for a bit, reading them.

SPUNKMEYER

Well, looks like you were right, Carmichael. The distress signal is just an automated S.O.S. that gets sent out whenever the ship sustains major trauma.

CARMICHAEL

Well, at least we're not leaving empty handed.

EVANS

I don't see us walking home with anything of value.

CARMICHAEL

Are you kidding? Think about what we've learned by coming here!

GREG

Hey, uh, speaking of going home. We're not driving back now are we? I mean, it's getting dark out soon. I don't think we should be wandering around these lands at night.

SPUNKMEYER
No, Fraser, you're absolutely right. We can't go home until tomorrow morning. We'll have to stay here, although I don't know where exactly we'll be resting.

BLAKE

How about the crew quarters? I saw them listed on the map.

SPUNKMEYER

You know where they are?

BLAKE

Yeah, follow me, I think I can lead us to them.

Blake waves his hand for everyone to follow him, and exits the room.

EXT. SHIP, SUNSET

Outside of the ship, in the badlands, the last bit of light from the sun is starting to vanish. The rhino transport vehicle the survey team rode in on is still sitting outside the ship. Everything is quiet, until something can be heard walking through the sands, towards the rover. The footsteps are heavy, and animalistic. As they get closer, some kind of snorting can be heard. The jagged shadow of a reaper is projected upon the rover. It sniffs the air some more, and snarls.

PAN TO

The hull breach leading into the ship. The dark entrance into the ship beckons to the creature.

INT. CREW QUARTERS

A typical ship's bulkhead door is opened up, and the light pours in from the hallway. On the wall is a label saying "Crew Room 11." Standing in the doorway is Blake. The others in the group peek over his shoulder into the room he just opened. The room has about four bunk beds, eight mattresses in total. The place is pretty trashed, with trinkets scattered all over the ground.

GREG

Well, at least the room isn't full of dead bodies.

Everyone enters the room and walks over to a bed, they place their gear by the side of the bunks, and then they climb onto the mattresses. Evans takes the bunk above Blake. Nearly everyone collapses into a mattress, exhausted. Spunkmeyer stands at the side of an empty bunk, checking his smartwatch.

SPUNKMEYER

We'll rest here for the night, but we're getting up at first light so we have time to get out of here.

Spunkmeyer's statement is met with snoring from Evans, and also a few other members of the team. Spunkmeyer sighs, and walks over to the light switch, turning it off, and then crawling into the empty bunk. He closes his eyes.

CLOSE ON

Blake, on his bottom bunk, isn't asleep at all. In fact, he looks wide awake. He stares at the wall with his back to everyone, biding his time.

INT. TAYLOR'S BUILDING, NIGHT

It's quite late out, and Amanda is at Taylor's desk, still flipping through security camera footage. Louis is near the entrance. He is leaning against the wall, and is nodding off. Amanda notices, chuckles a bit, and is about to say something to him, when all of a sudden, she hears some yelling outside. She can't quite make out what is being said, but the people yelling sound angry. Before she can do anything else, a molotov flies through the window, smashing on the floor and starting a fire. Louis jolts awake.

LOUIS

Commander!

AMANDA

Run, Louis! We're under attack!

Another molotov hits the roof of the building. Fire begins to spread throughout the entire room. Louis opens the front doors and tries to escape, but as soon as he steps outside, he gets shot in the head and dies instantly. Amanda, feeling cornered, looks around the room. There is an open window in the back of the room. With no other choice, she runs over and dives out the window.

EXT. TAYLOR'S BUILDING, NIGHT

Amanda flies out the window, and rolls off the balcony onto the ground below. She lands on her stomach with a loud thud. She lifts her chin to see Connor in front of the building with a few other soldiers. They are all armed, and are obviously the ones who just shot Louis. One of the goons with Connor notices Amanda.

GOON

Hey! There she is!

The goons all raise their weapons and aim for Amanda. She draws her gun and pops up to her feet. She fires a few shots at the attackers, but starts to run away after a few bullets whizz past her. As she's running, one bullet grazes her arm. She yelps in pain and drops her gun. She tries to stop and pick it up, but bullets hit the ground near it, so she gives up and continues running, covering her injured arm with her good hand. The goons are all chasing after her. She manages to lose them temporarily by running around a building into a part of the colony that is more structurally cluttered.

EXT. COLONY, NIGHT

The area Amanda is in has many different houses all in close proximity to each other. There is tons of debris around as well. Amanda weaves through the pathways between all of these obstacles. Behind her, the echoing of footsteps off the sides of the houses can be heard. Connor and his band of rebels are not far behind her. She reaches a clearing between all the houses which branches off in four different directions. She comes up with an idea, and runs slightly down the center path. There is a trash can sitting on the center path, which she knocks over. She then runs back and takes the left path instead, where she finds an alcove to hide in. Within seconds, Connor and the rebels enter the clearing, and begin looking at the various pathways it leads to.

GOON

Where did she go? There are four passageways here!

Connor points towards the center path, where there is a knocked over trash can.

CONNOR

It may be the center one. I heard something get knocked over a few seconds ago, and that path has a toppled trash can. Come on.

Connor and his goons run off that center path. After no more running can be heard, Amanda slips out of her alcove and runs off away from the pursuers.

INT. SAM'S HOUSE, NIGHT

Sam is laying on his bed, sleeping like a log. He is woken up, however, by a loud banging at the front door. Sam reluctantly gets up, and shambles over to the door. He opens it, to see a very panicked Amanda.

SAM

Amanda? What's going on?

(Notices her arm)

Hey! You're hurt!

AMANDA
Don't worry about me, it's just a graze. Does Connor or anyone associated with him know you live in this house? He just tried to murder me. I got away, but he's likely to come after you next when he can't find me.

SAM

I don't know, but there's a decent chance they'll find out soon enough. What are you planning on doing?

AMANDA
I'm going to get out of the colony and lie low until Spunkmeyer comes back… if he comes back.

Sam notices Amanda's gun holster is empty.

SAM

Your gun is missing, and are you sure you're alright? Do you need any supplies?

AMANDA
No, Sam, that's not why I'm here.

SAM

It's not a problem. I'll go get some. Hang on a second.

Sam turns around and vanishes into his house before Amanda can say anything else. He comes back a second later with his pistol, knife, and some other survival gear.

SAM

Take these, you'll need them outside the colony.

AMANDA
No, Sam, really. I'm not here to take your supplies. I am here to take you along with me.

SAM

You're wha-

(Stares at her for a second, surprised)

...I appreciate it, but I would only be a burden. Take the supplies and go. I can buy you some extra time to escape when Connor finds me.

AMANDA

Look Sam, you may think you're helping me by sacrificing yourself, but you're not. I need you out there with me.

SAM

But what about the jungle? What about the danger? My inexperience would probably get you killed.

AMANDA

You always make that excuse, Sam. You and I have survived it before. We can survive it again, together.

She grabs him gently by the arm. Sam stands there silently for a second.

SAM

Very well, but we can't leave empty handed. Come in and help me grab some more supplies. Maybe we can bandage up that wound as well.

Sam pulls Amanda inside.

INT. CREW QUARTERS

Everyone in the survey team is asleep on a bunk bed, except for Blake. He scans the room, making sure no one is awake. Once he is satisfied, he quietly leans up and tries to get out of bed. When he does this, there is a loud squeak from the bunk bed. The noise disturbs Evans (although Blake cannot see this), but not enough to where Evans jolts awake. Blake cringes from the sound he caused the bunk to make, and freezes for a second. Evans is half awake, and squints his eyes to see what is going on. Blake doesn't notice this, and after several seconds of silence, he fully gets out of bed and quietly slips on his gear and leaves the room. Evans sees all of this, and is incredibly confused in his tired state.

INT. SHIP HALLWAY

Blake exits the crew quarters, and turns down the hallway, heading towards one of the higher floors of the ship. After Blake is gone, Evans peeks his head out from the crew quarters room, looking at the direction Blake just went in.

INT. DECK 6 HALLWAY

Blake enters deck 6, and begins looking through the hallway. There are various dead people fused into the walls on this floor as well. Blake stops and inspects each one. Eventually, he finds one who has their torso sticking halfway out of the wall. Clipped onto their coat is a sort of red key card. Blake snatches the card off of the corpse, and grabs the corpse's hand, which is only barely sticking out of the wall. Blake pulls out his knife and slices off a finger from the corpse. He then takes off down the hallway.

INT. VAULT ENTRANCE

Blake comes up to a massive metal door. Written on the door in massive red lettering is text saying:

"VAULT ENTRANCE RESTRICTED TO TOP LEVEL CLEARANCE. SWIPE CLEARANCE CARD AND SCAN FINGERPRINT FOR ENTRY."

Blake taps the keycard against a scanner next to the door. The scanner then asks for a fingerprint. Blake puts the finger he collected onto the scanner. It turns green, and with a loud groan, the vault door begins to open.

EVANS

Impressive.

Blake jumps and turns to his side, surprised to see Evans.

EVANS

Doing some late night snooping around by yourself?

Blake chuckles.

BLAKE

Well, I just had to know what was in this vault that was mentioned on the map.

EVANS

Did you now? Shouldn't you have told the others?

BLAKE

I thought it was best not to concern them with it. If I find anything of interest, they can know afterwards.

EVANS

And what are you expecting to find in there?

BLAKE

Well, let's just say something of extraordinary value. How about we find out for sure, though?

Blake motions for Evans to enter the opened vault.

BLAKE

After you.

Evans looks at Blake with suspicion.

EVANS

Nah, I'll let you take the lead.

BLAKE

Very well. Don't mind if I do.

Blake enters the open doorway and disappears into the vault. Evans follows.

INT. THE VAULT

Inside is a sterile environment. The room is circular, with much of it painted with spotless white paint. At a few places on the wall are dark black safes, all with electronic interfaces to enter a four number pin. All of these boxes, however, pale in comparison to what is in the center of the room. The entire room seems to revolve around some kind of large electronic box. The box has a sleek black case with numerous flashing lights on it. When Blake and Evans enter the room, the two men have very different reactions. Evans twists his head around, trying to look at the whole place, whereas Blake moves straight towards the box in the center of the room, as if he was expecting it.

EVANS

Must be some pretty special stuff in here if the vault itself contains a bunch of mini-vaults.

Blake ignores Evans, and begins fiddling with the box in the middle of the room. He manages to get a holographic screen to pop up. It is asking for a 4 digit access code. Blake, not even hesitating, enters the code "0451." The code is accepted, and the hologram changes to display another screen, asking for a fingerprint.

EVANS

Hey, how did you know the code?

Blake ignores his question. Evans repeats himself, with more insistence.

EVANS

(serious)
How did you know the right code?

Blake doesn't even turn around.

BLAKE

(Barely acknowledging Evans)

I found it on a note. Don't worry about it.

Blake pulls out the finger he retrieved from before, and presses it on a scanner once again. The hologram accepts it, and enters some kind of control screen. On the screen are two options: "RELEASE BACKUP DATA DRIVE" and "LOGOUT." Blake taps the first option. A warning message comes on screen, saying "ARE YOU SURE? V.I.R.E. IS STILL UNSTABLE AND SHOULD ONLY BE UTILIZED IN AN ISOLATED TESTING ENVIRONMENT!" Blake hits yes once again. The box makes a bunch of whirring noises, and a door opens up on the front of it, sliding out some kind of small storage drive. Blake snatches it and puts it in his pocket. Evans kind of just watches. He doesn't know what to make of what Blake is doing. All of a sudden, Evans' and Blake's comm units come online.

SPUNKMEYER

(From comm)

Turner, Evans, where the hell are you two? I get woken up and told you two are missing? What's going on?

Evans turns on his microphone and begins to speak. Blake gets a panicked look on his face when he does this.

EVANS

(Into comm)

Hey, I followed Blake to check out that vault thingy. It's-

Blake unholsters his gun and points it at Evans.

INT. CREW QUARTERS

Spunkmeyer is standing in the center of the room, talking into his comm. Greg is by his side. Everyone else is half up, staring at Spunkmeyer from their beds. A look of horror appears on all their faces as a gunshot is heard. The comm goes silent.

SPUNKMEYER

(Into comm, panicked)

Hello? What was that? Evans, are you there?!

Silence. Spunkmeyer looks at everyone else in the room.

SPUNKMEYER
Gear up, we've got to get to the bottom of this.

CUT

INT. VAULT

Spunkmeyer and everyone else sprint into the vault, only to find Evans' dead body on the ground. He was shot in the back of the head. Blake is nowhere to be seen.

SPUNKMEYER

Son of a bitch. That Turner bastard must have killed him! But why?

Charles looks at the body, and then at the electronic box in the center of the room.

CHARLES

Something was in this room that he wanted. Looks like he got it, and killed Evans so he could get out of here without being tracked.

SPUNKMEYER
Do you think he's going to try and escape in the transport car without us?

CHARLES

I don't know, but it's possible.

Spunkmeyer slings his rifle back over his shoulder and motions for everyone to follow him. They all run out of the vault room.

INT. SHIP CARGO RAMP

The team runs down the ramp as fast as they can.

SPUNKMEYER

Come on! We've got a few more decks to go before we reach where we entered from!

The group tries to pick up the pace. However, as they run down the ramp, a bloodcurdling roar begins echoing from the bottom, stopping everyone in their tracks.

GREG

What in god's name was that?

CARMICHAEL

Oh no…

Carmichael begins to walk backwards a bit.

SPUNKMEYER

That can't be a…

Carmichael turns and begins running up the ramp again.

CARMICHAEL
(shouting back at the group)

I bet it is! Run!

Spunkmeyer stands there for a second, contemplating the situation. Everyone else turns and begins to run away with Carmichael. Spunkmeyer turns and looks down the ramp. A dark, jagged silhouette of a dinosaur turns the corner of the ramp, and heads up closer towards him. It's a reaper. It snarls as it sees him. Spunkmeyer turns and begins running as well. The loud stomping of the beast pursuing Spunkmeyer begins to reverberate through the tunnel. Spunkmeyer runs like the wind, and starts to catch up with the rest of the group. However, when Spunkmeyer turns around, he can see that the reaper is still gaining on them. The whole group just takes a sharp right into the entrance of a hallway on the current deck, hoping to escape the reaper pursuing them. The creature is not far behind them, and enters the hallway as well.

INT. SHIP CORRIDOR

The reaper is a smaller one, so it is able to fit through the corridor no problem. The group continues running, with Spunkmeyer now in the front. As he runs through the labyrinth of the ship, he notices a door labeled as "stairwell." He runs past it initially, but quickly screeches to a halt, before running back over to it. He opens the door.

SPUNKMEYER

Everyone, get in here!

The rest of the group pours into the stairwell. The reaper is right behind them. Spunkmeyer shuts the door as the last person gets inside. The reaper bangs against the door.

INT. STAIRWELL

SPUNKMEYER

Quickly, if we head downstairs, we might be able to go around this thing and get to the car!

Everyone runs down the stairwell a few floors, eventually though, the stairwell becomes blocked by rubble. They try to exit through the lowest available door, but as soon as they open it, they are met with a terrible sight. On the other side of the door is another corridor, filled with corpses that have been fused into the walls like elsewhere in the ship. The problem here though is that there are three reapers in the corridor feasting upon the mangled bodies. The reapers immediately notice the door open, begin snarling, and charge towards the stairwell door. Spunkmeyer shuts it again, and everyone starts running back up the staircase.

INT. COMMUNICATIONS ROOM, NIGHT

The night sky is visible through the window of the control room. The stars are brilliant and bright. They see no admiration though from Blake, who is sitting in a chair at the beefiest computer in the room. He has the drive he got from the vault plugged into it. The light from the hologram illuminates his face, and displays a message saying "BUILD COMPLETE. Please enter any personal data into the whitelist. You will not be able to do so after program initialization." Blake pulls out his dog tag, and presses a button on it. A hologram displaying an image of his face, as well as some of his personal information, appears. He simply slides the hologram with his info onto the hologram from the ship terminal. The data is downloaded to the terminal. The terminal then displays a message saying "setup complete. Settings are permanent." He unplugs the drive and exits the control room, looking at a map of the ship as he walks away.

INT. STAIRWELL, NIGHT

The gang runs up the stairwell a bit, stopping a few floors up from where they were before. There is a lone porthole in the wall, which some faint light from the night sky filters in through. Everyone is panting and sweating.

RAMIREZ

Jeez, did that traitor make it past those things? They seem to be swarming the entire lower section of the ship.

GREG
No way, that guy had to have been turned into lunch by now. No chance he could have gotten out.

As if on cue, a low whirring noise can be heard. Everyone gets confused for a second, before realizing it's coming from outside. They all look through the porthole. It's dark out, so it's not the best visibility, but they manage to make out some strange lights in the sky. Upon further inspection, the lights are attached to some kind of flying craft. It looks like a futuristic version of an osprey. The craft slowly guides itself away from the ship, having clearly originated from it, and eventually zooms off into the night.

INT. OSPREY, NIGHT

Blake is at the controls of the aircraft. The inside is incredibly complex, but he is flying it like a pro. He checks one screen listing the ammo for all the craft's on-board weapons. All are completely full. He chuckles, and flies the craft off towards Terra Nova.

INT. STAIRWELL, NIGHT

Everyone is looking out the porthole in disbelief.

GREG

Son of a bitch! Where the hell did he even get that?

CHARLES

Well, there were a few hangar bays listed on the map of the ship. I suppose it's not unreasonable to assume there were a few aircrafts in there.

SPUNKMEYER

If he could fly out of here using an aircraft from those hangars, so can we. Come on!

Spunkmeyer begins running up the stairwell. Everyone else follows.

INT. SAM'S HOUSE, NIGHT

Sam and Amanda are tearing the place apart, and are grabbing whatever supplies they can carry. They are stuffing the supplies into two small bags as quickly as they can.

AMANDA
We need to get going, we don't have much time.

Sam stuffs some more stuff into his bag, and then zips it shut.

SAM

I'm ready, let's go.

The two of them shuffle quietly out of the front door, peeking around to make sure the coast is clear. Nobody seems to be around. Amanda points in a certain direction, and they start heading off that way.

EXT. SAM'S HOUSE

Sam and Amanda shuffle off away from the house, as quietly as possible. They have their bags strapped to their backs. Amanda points towards a certain house about 20 yards away.

AMANDA

(whispering)

We go around that house right there and make a break for the fence.

SAM

(whispering)

Got it.

AMANDA

(whispering)

Just check and see if the coast is clear first.

Sam nods, and runs over to the corner of the house. He takes a peek around the corner. An entire group of Connor's rebels is right there around the corner, staring him in the face.

REBEL

Trying to escape, are we?

Sam quickly ducks back around the corner towards Amanda, and draws his gun.

SAM

Run!

Amanda grabs Sam's hand and begins dragging him away. The rebels begin chasing them. Sam raises his gun and fires a few shots. He actually hits one of the rebels in the shoulder. As Sam and Amanda try to run away, they turn another corner, only to be met by another group of rebels, waiting for them. Connor is at the head of this bunch. He is holding a rifle, pointing right at them. Sam and Amanda notice, and try to come to a stop. Connor fires a sonic blast at them from his rifle, sending them flying backwards. Sam lands on his back with a hard thud, disorientating him. He tries to pick his head back up, and sees Connor and some of his goons walking over to him.

REBEL

What should we do with them?

CONNOR

Well, I know Blake told me to kill Amanda the first chance I got, but I think that killing her and her boyfriend here in a dark alleyway would be a waste of an opportunity. I have something in mind. Bring them with us.

The rebel nods and walks over to Sam. He hits Sam in the face with the but of his rifle. Everything goes black.

INT. STAIRWELL

Greg, Ramirez, Carmichael, Charles, and Spunkmeyer are all running up the stairwell as quickly as they can. Spunkmeyer is way ahead of everyone else. He stops and lets the rest of them catch up.

SPUNKMEYER
Come on! Those hangars are all the way on the second deck from the top of the ship! We have to get there, and fast!

As everyone runs past him, Spunkmeyer waves them all by, and resumes running once he is in the back of the group. They reach another floor and move past a door presumably leading into another hallway. Nobody pays the door any mind, and zooms past it. Spunkmeyer, in the back of the group, is about to zip past it as well, when all of a sudden, it gets slammed off of its hinges. Spunkmeyer reacts to the sudden flying piece of metal that was once the door, and dodges around it. While the door misses him, Spunkmeyer runs into another problem: on the other side of the doorway is a reaper. It was waiting for them to run by, and now that it has knocked down the door, Spunkmeyer is right next to it. With lighting speed it snaps at Spunkmeyer, who attempts to dodge it as well. He doesn't make it though, as the reaper grabs a hold of his leg, clamping down. Spunkmeyer screams in pain, and grabs onto the edges of the doorway as the reaper tries to pull him into the hallway. The rest of the group takes notice, and quickly runs back, grabbing onto him and attempting to pull him away from the reaper. The beast will not let go, however. They are in a deadly game of tug-of-war, and they seem to be losing to the reaper, as Spunkmeyer is slowly but surely being dragged out of the stairwell. In an attempt to free Spunkmeyer, Charles grabs his rifle and aims it right at the head of the reaper. He fires, but the bullet doesn't manage to puncture the beast's skull. The creature, wincing from the pain, clamps down harder on Spunkmeyer's leg, causing him to scream even more. Everyone continues pulling against the creature. After a few more seconds, something terrible happens: Spunkmeyer's leg gets ripped off below the knee. Blood spurts everywhere and everyone falls backwards. Spunkmeyer screams even louder. The reaper, realizing what happens, spits out the leg and tries to stick its head through the doorway to snap at Spunkmeyer again. Charles begins firing more shots at the reaper. The bullets once again cannot truly penetrate the creature's hide, but it delays it enough for the rest of the group to pull Spunkmeyer up the stairs and out of biting range. The reaper tries to squeeze through the small doorway, but cannot make it. Ramirez grabs her medical kit and pulls out a tourniquet, wrapping it around Spunkmeyer's leg and pulling it tight.

RAMIREZ
We have to get him out of here!

Charles nods, and motions for everyone to head up the stairs. Greg and Ramirez pick up Spunkmeyer and begin climbing the stairs. Spunkmeyer, in shock, begins to pass out. His eyes close, as the screams of the reaper behind them echo throughout the stairwell.

END OF EPISODE