12
Jack, out of breath, runs out of the forest. He emerges on the edge of the ranch, stretching five or six acres out in front of him. On the other side of the field is the gravel road, where his police car is parked. Beside the field is the Strutemyer's farmhouse.
Jack hears a CRASH. He turns to see the diseased Strutemyers in their driveway, all holding rocks now, smashing the pickup's windows.
"Hey!"
The Strutemyers stop, mid-swing. They turn toward him. Kylie sees Jack through the rear windshield. She unlocks the door, and jumps out of the car.
"What's …?" Jack splutters. Kylie runs past her family and up to Jack. She grabs onto him, and hides behind him, weeping as he asks "What's going on here?"
Kylie's Dad's cadence is also like Johnny's "Well, hello there, Harkness-Jones."
"What happened to you, Dwight?"
Kylie's Dad looks down at his own bloated arm. "Poison ivy out back, maybe?"
"We're itchy!" the girls singsong.
Kylie is obviously in shock. "They're not my... They killed..."
"Okay. Y'all just wait in this spot. I'm gonna call the paramedics for you. Kylie can come with …"
"Hey there, killer."
Jack turns to see the Rancher with the cleft palate, now diseased, holding a shovel. He swings it into Jack, knocking him down. Kylie screams. Her family runs in toward them. She looks around to see a couple more diseased ranchers rushing toward them through the fields. The Cleft Palate Rancher stands over Jack and raises the shovel to bring it down again. Jack feels for his shotgun, which has fallen into the dirt beside him.
Ianto is suddenly there, picking it up and valiantly aiming it, even if he is shaking a bit. He yanks the trigger.
The BLAST hits the Rancher in the foot. He buckles.
Jack stands, pulling Kylie with him as the other diseased folks rush toward them through the fields. "Come on Yan."
They dash toward the cluster of cars as the diseased chase them.
.
.
The infected posse - Archie, Yong Cop, the Older Cop, and the Redneck recruit - are all coming in towards Andy and Gwen.
"Now, what did I say?! Y'all just sit down! You need to get some Goddamn rest! You're sick!" Gwen orders.
Rhiannon watches this, by herself, next to the creek. She eyes a rifle in the dirt.
Young Cop grabs a fistful of Andy's hair and restrains his arms. Archie pulls his pistols from their holsters and tosses them into the dirt. "Let go!"
Gwen goes to grab her pistol, when the Redneck opens his mouth wide and BLERGHHHHH- that is, he sends a yellowish globby-stream shooting out of the back of his throat. The glob splashes on Gwen's hand. She screams, drops the pistol.
"It burns!" Gwen looks at her hand as the gleek-liquid sinks into her skin. The hand is swelling monstrously. It's soft. Parts of it are nearly dripping off the bone. "What'd you do to my fuckin' hand?!"
The Young Cop opens his mouth and GLEEKS too … shooting the stream… glob forward and onto her neck. Gwen screams again, grabbing onto her neck. Gwen tries to speak, but she struggles just to breathe, as her neck puffs up, impeding her thorax.
"Meat."
The Older Cop buries his fingers into her neck. The puffy flesh comes off easily; it's soft, almost creamy. He stuffs the flesh into his mouth, eating it.
As Gwen topples over, dying, the other posse members turn to look at a very freaked-out Andy. The Redneck opens his mouth at him, when Rhiannon snarls "Let him go!"
The posse turn and see Rhiannon, who has made her way over to where the rifle was on the ground, and is now pointing the rifle at the posse, trembling.
"Andy, come on." Surprised, they release Andy.
"What'd you do to her?!"
Young Cop stares at Rhiannon. He too speaks with Johnny's cadence. "There you go, sugarplum! Why you choosing camps before you hear Both sides of the story!?"
Old Cop echoes "Both sides of the story!?"
"Why are you talking like Johnny?!"
The posse moves toward her. Rhiannon is crying. The posse makes a collective groan sound, then speaks again "'Cause I am Johnny!"
"I'm you husband -I'm you husband, Goddammit" Young Cop says "You swore to honour and obey…" -
Older Cop agrees "Obey me -Obey me, so put that Goddamn gun down."
"Don't come any closer. I'll... shoot." She sobs.
"You ain't gonna shoot me! You always needed me to protect you! You for damn sure ain't got the balls to …"
Rhiannon BLASTS Archie, blowing open a big crater into his face. Archie falls to his knees. Rhiannon and Andy look on in shock, as they see a slithering parasite squirming out of the crater on his face - out of the Archie's brain.
The little thing squirms down Archie's body and slithers off quickly into the woods. Archie falls over, dead.
The sick posse look at Rhiannon, surprised, infuriated. And then they leap at her.
Rhiannon tries to shoot them. But she's out of ammo.
She and Andy turn and dash away as quickly as their legs can take them.
Andy and Rhiannon run in a zigzag pattern through trees rooted closely together, panicked, breathing heavy.
"Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit!"
.
.
Jack, Ianto and Kylie arrive at his police car. Jack throws the door open, and shoves Kylie inside. As he starts to get in, he turns to see the two little girls closing in.
Ianto squeals as he leaps in the back.
One little girl opens her mouth and GLEEKS - it shoots out and lands on the car right beside Jack's hand.
The other little girl opens her mouth to GLEEK as Jack jumps into the driver's seat. He slams the door shut just as the oozy liquid splashes on the window beside him.
Ianto is grossed-out by this, but he doesn't have much time. He goes to reload his shotgun, when he remembers. "Shit. Ammo's in the trunk."
Jack grabs the police radio.
"Andy! Gwen!"
.
.
Andy turns and sees Jack, the Redneck, and the Older Cop leap powerfully over the brush behind them, coming in fast. But he's able to grab onto his radio. "They killed Gwen!"
.
.
Kylie's two sisters jump onto the hood, SCREECHING. They slam rocks on the windshield. Kylie screams as Ianto tries to comfort her between the seats.
Jack yells into the radio "Where are you?!"
"We're coming your way, man!" Andy replies.
Jack slams the car forward, knocking the sisters off the hood. Then he slams on the brakes. He looks back and sees the two little girls running toward the car again. And he sees the mass of diseased ranch families also running toward the car. Kylie is screaming and crying "Go! Go! Please!"
But, instead, of pulling forward on the gravel road, Jack turns up and onto the ranch itself - back towards the running diseased.
"Our friends are still in the forest." Ianto pants as he holds her tightly.
Jack speeds the police car over the dirt field, trying to avoid approaching ranchers. Some leap at the car, holding on and getting tossed aside. Jack zooms back toward the trees. Just as Jack gets a little headway on the diseased, the car gets stuck in some mud. The wheels spin, spraying mud, as the infected approach.
Rhiannon looks back to see the Young Cop right behind her.
They seem stuck alright.