A Hero Needed Tonight

by Jaime Savage

  RATHBONE

  'It's out of the question. The state of affairs has deteriorated last evening. We have to go right now; we may already be too late'.

  LUKE

  'But she's signed the contract, she'll lose her job over this'.

  RATHBONE (leaving the room)

  'We can sort this out back home. We have to go right now though. Five minutes. Get your things and we're gone'.

  LUKE

  'You expect us to fly all the way back to America and tell Perkins that his apes have run away? Madness. We can't leave like this'.

  RATHBONE

  'Make that four minutes?until I leave here. Perhaps you can make your own arrangements'.

  Rathbone guides the riled up man out of the room.

  LUKE (looking at Ava)

  'Can you believe the nerve of these people'?

  Ava is not looking at him.

  LUKE

  'Ava?Ava we won't let them get away with this rubbish'.

  She continues looking away.

  AVA

  'It was me'.

  LUKE

  'It was?what'?

  AVA

  'I let them go'.

  LUKE

  'What? I'm sorry I don't understand what's going on here'?

  AVA

  'I couldn't do it to them. They are wild animals. Something that beautiful shouldn't be caged'.

  Rathbone screams through the door at them.

  RATHBONE

  'Make that two minutes'.

  LUKE

  'You'll lose your job over this?your career'.

  AVA

  'Maybe?I don't care anymore. Don't you see? We build all these walls around ourselves as humans to protect us from harmful people. This may work in the short term until we realize that we are merely keeping others out and dwelling on our own loneliness. The only way we can truly let go is to be completely free and to enjoy our life to its fullest. It's the same for the animals. I can't do it anymore?I just can't'.

  LUKE

  'But?but'.

  Ava has broken down in tears. Luke hugs her as they embrace.

  SCENE: GORILLA CAGE

  The party passes the now empty gorilla cage on their departure from the farmhouse. Ava and Luke look into the cage and then into the dense foliage the cage overlooks. There is no sign of the gorillas anywhere. Luke places his arm around Ava's shoulder and they begin the start of their long journey home.

  SCENE: HIGHWAY

  The jeep is speeding through a squalor town set on the banks of a turgidly flowing river. As the jeep drives along the rocky, arid road that serves as the town's main road, the party do not see a soul on the streets. An apocalyptic town left for ruin it seems. The jeep pulls abruptly into a service station and Rathbone urges them to pile out.

  RATHBONE

  'Keep together. Things are worse than I feared'.

  Ava requires no exposition; her fears are warranted.

  RATHBONE

  'The rebels are advancing. A displacement has taken place here; the entire town has fled'.

  LUKE

  'Holy Shit'.

  Rathbone holds a stalking gun in a two hand carry. He urges them to follow as he approaches what he assumes to be an unmanned service station door.

  RATHBONE

  'Not a soul remains here?not a soul would be'-

  He freezes.

  RATHBONE

  'Hello?what do we have here'?

  Rathbone pulls the glass door open and ushers them inside the store where a truly baffling-and innocuous- scene awaits them. Five of the oldest people they have ever seen in their lives are sat around a table playing card games, drinking liquor and smoking cigars. Music blears from speakers while a delightful aroma of baking fills the store from a back room. One of the card players reveals his hand resulting in a fit of hysterical laughter from all at the table. An elderly woman hobbles into the store carrying a tray of cookies. The woman waves at them and offers them some of her baking. For Ava and Luke the Doomsday Festival may have been a mere dress rehearsal; it's hard to imagine a gathering of people coming together under more looming tragedy than these damned but clearly content souls. Rathbone speaks to the woman tersely in her native language. She replies in a jovial tone.

  LUKE

  'What are they doing here? Why haven't they fled'?

  Rathbone speaks to the woman again.

  AVA

  'Maybe they don't know what's going on? Perhaps they've been left behind'?

  RATHBONE

  'Oh they know what's going on'.

  LUKE

  'Why are they here? We have to get them out'?

  RATHBONE

  'She says they are too old to run. They are staying. What will be will be she says'.

  AVA

  'They'll be slaughtered'.

  RATHBONE

  'They know'.

  The card players have now launched into song. It's as though they have gate crashed the world's most ill timed reunion.

  AVA

  'Clearly they don't know what's going on'.

  The elderly woman speaks to Rathbone again.

  RATHBONE

  'She says that although we are welcome to stay she is well aware of our answer. What remains unanswered is if we will take any of her baking with us'.

  Ava starts pleading directly to the woman to leave. The woman's jovial smile is unmoved. She ushers the baking towards them again.

  RATHBONE

  'They have allowed us to fill the jeep up'.

  LUKE

  'We can't just leave them'?

  RATHBONE

  'Look we have to go'.

  Ava continues pleading to the woman but it is futile. She gives up and hugs the woman with everything she has. Luke, unsure of what is happening around him, instinctively takes out from his backpack the golden crow bar to the city Mickey McKay had given him. He proceeds to place it in the card table pot.

  LUKE (facing Rathbone)

  'Tell them the next hand wins'.

  RATHBONE

  'What the fuck? You were carrying that around with you the entire time'?

  LUKE

  'I thought we might be able to use it to bribe our way out of a situation should it arise it but I see it may help them more than us now'.

  Rathbone is stunned.

  RATHBONE

  'It looks like a freaking crowbar bullion. It must be worth a fortune. Where the hell did you get that'?

  LUKE

  'Through living'.

  Luke walks out of the service station hand in hand with Ava. Rathbone stares on truly flabbergasted. The elderly people have started laughing hysterically again in their shock. They could never imagine something so affluent let alone the prospects of possessing it. We focus on the joy in the elderly people's faces as everything fades to black.

  SCENE: PLANE

  (The end of 'Robbers' by The 1975 plays.)

  They are flying over Africa on the start of a long journey home. Luke is staring blankly out of the plane's window while Ava rests her head on his broad shoulder. The monotonous sight of the barren Savannah outside which Luke has been watching suddenly gives way to a once in a lifetime image. A herd of African Elephants are making their way across the rolling grasslands. Shielded in the middle of the herd are a couple of elephant calves clumsily making their way forward driven by the curiosity and eagerness of youth. Luke sits up in his seat in shock and soon points out the remarkable image to Ava. They both press their heads against the panel taking in the moving sight. The plane flies on. The end of their adventure is near.

  (The end of 'Robbers' by The 1975 ends.)

  Chapter 20

  SCENE: EPILOGUE

  TITLE: SIX MONTHS LATER.

  Ava wakes abruptly on her sofa in her apartment. Her eyes are blinded by the rays of morning light streaming in through the open curtains. She lies there for a few passing moments, taking in the warmness of the morning light. Other than the sofa and the television all
that remains in the apartment is a number of sealed moving boxes. The television is still turned on from the night before and the news is playing. We see on the monitor the image of the all conquering boxer, Jesse Johns, who had been up on performance enhancing drugs allocations. He is fronting a press conference, a smile cemented on his face while the grand daddy of all prizes, his heavy weight championship belt, proudly sits on full display for the cameras. The breaking news headline streams across the page stating that he has been cleared of all wrongdoing. Ava smiles at the sight of this news. She looks at a funeral program from Luke's funeral which is lying face up in an opened moving box near her. Somewhere up above Luke would be looking down on her right now with a smile on his face. She can almost hear him saying, 'I told you so'. He had never stopped believing in his home town hero and now his vindication was complete.

  SCENE: RECEPTION

  Ava signs some paperwork officially ending her rental tenancy at the apartment block. A young, timid receptionist collects the paperwork and files it accordingly. Ava proceeds to place a number of keys on the counter.

  AVA

  'I guess that's it then'?

  RECEPTIONSIT

  'Hang on a minute'.

  The receptionist collects one of the keys and unlocks a multiunit mailbox situated behind her.

  RECEPTIONST

  'I think something came in for you this morning'.

  The woman places an envelope on the counter.

  RECEPTIONIST

  'It has been addressed from Africa'.

  We see on the envelope that it has been sent from a one, Luke Fitzgerald.

  RECEPTIONST

  'I didn't mean to snoop. It's just that it's not every day we receive a letter from Africa'.

  Ava is struggling to keep her emotions in check.

  AVA

  'Thank you'.

  It sounds like Ava is thanking the woman for saving her life.

  SCENE: UNDERGROUND CARPARK

  ('Fordlandia' by J?hann J?hannsson plays.)

  Ava is seated in her vehicle in the underground car park of the apartment block reading the posthumous letter. She is inconsolable. The electronic entrance of the car park suddenly opens casting afternoon sunshine into the stark setting. Ava starts her vehicle, places the letter on the passenger seat and attempts to compose herself. She places the car into gear and drives off into the sunlight.

  SCENE: STREETS OF EPIPHANY

  The sterile, orderliness streets of Epiphany blur by as Ava drives. In the distance, the infamous walls of the city grow larger with every passing mile. Soon the road opens up into a spacious boulevard which runs directly straight leading all the way to the entrance gate of the citadel. As Ava drives along the boulevard she sees a novel sight in Epiphany-a string of billboards attempting to steal her attention. The billboards serve as a final warning against the fast approaching outside world. We see a billboard reinforcing the need to take out life insurance before leaving Epiphany. Another promotes Epiphany made food and the need to stockpile for outside trips. The most lamentable of the billboards merely depicts a portrait of Ricardo Stensnan smirking. Ava consciously picks up speed and the billboards are soon lost from view.

  SCENE: ENTRANCE GATE

  A stern faced security man stamps some documents and hands them back to Ava through the car window.

  SECURITY MAN

  'Open it up'!

  We see a front on view of Ava waiting in her vehicle through the monotonous iron gates. After a few moments the gates begin to slide open. The gates slide tediously out of view and the security man waves vigorously for her to leave. Ava obliges and drives off into the verdant landscape. As Ava drives along the open road we get a sense of how immense the size of the landscape surrounding her is. Ava's vehicle and the citadel that is the bubble city are mere specks amongst the Pacific Northwest countryside. We are able to follow the solitary vehicle for a few moments but as the music swells it is soon lost as the landscape grows in size. Soon, even the city itself can no longer be seen. We dwell on the beauty and vastness of the world as everything fades to black.

  ('Fordlandia' by J?hann J?hannsson ends.)