ahura's children (working title)

8/3/2019 Ahura's Children (Working Title)

1/22

AHURA'S CHILDREN

BY RYAN M. NICE

412 S. CELIA [email protected]


2/22

BLACK

ESMUND (O.S.)(whispered)

Who are you?

FADE IN

EXT. CITY - NIGHT

An impoverished neighborhood. Smoke bellows from an oil drum,a fire lit inside it. People, of all ages, in worn andtattered clothing huddle around. Only the fire illuminatestheir faces.

ESMUND (V.O.)Who is anyone?

INT. VOID - FLASHBACK

ESMUND, a thin man in his 20s with dark hair, sits with hislegs crossed beneath him, surrounded by nothing, but white.The void is vast and empty. Esmunds button-up shirt andkhaki pants drape over him, too large for his slender frame.

ESMUND (V.O.)Who am I?

INT. OFFICE - NIGHT

A pair of legs, DR. AHURA, walk into a dark office. Filecabinets surround the large desk. A single lamp on the deskilluminates the room. Stacks of manila envelopes are oneither side of a nameplate that reads DWIGHT HARMON. Behindit sits HARMON, a strong-jawed, muscular man in his 30s

wearing a suit and loosened necktie. He writes in an openfolder.

ESMUND (V.O.)To ask is to admit our ignorance.

The pen scribbles across the page, which is rife with blackcensor bars. The folders surrounding it are all marked with ared stamp reading CONFIDENTIAL. A hand reaches down andplaces a photograph down. Its Esmund. The pen stops.

Harmon slowly looks up. Dr. Ahura stands at the edge of thedesk.


3/22

Dr. Ahura looks down at him. He is older, in his 50s, withgraying hair. Sweat covers his forehead, he is panicstricken.

INT. BAR - EVENING

A dark, desolate bar. A MAN is slouched on the bar, as hesits in his stool. The BARTENDER drys a glass as he looks upat the television screen on the wall. The TV is all theilluminates the room besides faint yellow lights from above.A newscast is playing, muffled and unintelligible at first.The footage being played is of war.

ESMUND (V.O.)And so...we answer.

The ANCHORWOMAN comes on the screen. Beneath her, the lowerthird title reads WORLD AT WAR. Her words slowly become

less distorted.

ANCHORWOMAN...forces continue to advance alongboth coasts, the White House isexpected to officially declareNevada, Arizona, and Pennsylvania

war zones as soon as next week. Theepicenter remains in the MiddleEast, as the battle for what littleoil remains intensifies.

ASTORRA, a beautiful brunette in her twenties, stumbles

behind the man at the bar and sits next to him. She looks upat the screen.

ANCHORWOMAN (CONTD)Some headway in France may havebeen made in the subsequent foodshortages...

Astorra brushes her some of her messy hair behind her ear,looking at the man as she does so.

The man glances back at her, then picks up his drink. He

watches the brown liquid gyrate as he swirls the glass.Astorra reaches into her bag and pulls out a cigarette. Shelights it.

The bartender turns from watching the television at the soundof the lighter.

BARTENDERHey, you cant smoke in here.

2.


4/22

ASTORRAReallY?

She gestures to the television with her cigarette.

ASTORRA (CONTD)

You think youre going to last longenough for secondhand smoke to killya?

The man chuckles to himself.

The bartender is about to retort, but decides against it.

ASTORRA (CONTD)Yeah, I doubt it. Hell, I might as

well have some good brown too, eh?Unless you think Ive got a realshot at liver disease.

The bartender walks to prepare her drink. The man laughsagain.

MAN #1If anyone does, its me.

He belches.

Astorra turns to the man.

ASTORRAWell I think I can give a big fella

like you a go for his money.

He chuckles again, momentarily, but immediately returns tohis despondent state and continues drinking.

Astorra steps closer.

ASTORRA (CONTD)Hey, whats eatin at you Gilbert?

He turns to her, and upon seeing how close she now is,improves his posture.

MAN #1Well...what do you mean? Whatsthere not to be grapes about? The

worlds gone to shit, and were alljust sitting around waiting for ourturn.

3.


5/22

ASTORRASounds like what we were doinbefore. Cept now the lines areshorter and they got an expresslane.

The man is intrigued by her responses and draws closer toher. The bartneder sits Astorras drink down beside her.

MAN #1You got a funny way of lookin atthe end of the world.

ASTORRAOh come now, its just the end ofus is all. The worldll survive.

The gawks at this, hamming up his response flirtatiously.

MAN #1Why miss, I dont think you realizethe gravity of the situation!

ASTORRASure I do, well all be dead withinthe year.

MAN #1How can you be so callous about it?

She playfully slaps his arm, she sips at her drink.

ASTORRAIm not! Im just being practical.The boats full of holes, and theycant be filled. So I could eitherfight over the good china or whoselife jacket is real. Or I could goto the bar and go swimming.

The man cocks his end to a tilt, then tips his glass tosalute her answer.

MAN #1

Well. hat is one dandy of a way ofseeing this whole mess, Misspeculiar.

ASTORRAAstorra.

She sips her drink.

4.


6/22

MAN #1Even more peculiar! Whoa!

She laughs at this mid drink and hurriedly sits the glassdown, but it slips of the edge and into the mans lap. Shegasps.

ASTORRAOh! I am so sorry!

(to Bartender)Excuse me! Can I have a towel?

The bartender, still watching television, throws her thetowel thats been drying dishes.

MAN #1Did you do that on purpose?

She giggles and grabs the towel, patting his lap, then his

chest.

ASTORRAI am so sorry. Im so clumsy when Idrink.

MAN #1Oh, its alright.

He cheekily grins. She finishes. She keeps the wet towel andrubs her hands in it.

ASTORRA

Im going to go to the littlegirls room. You better be here

when I come back. I simply mustmake this up to you.

The man smiles.

MAN #1Youd need an iceberg to get me offthis stool.

She laughs and walks away towards the bathroom.

A bathroom door with the standard Womens sign. Astorrawalks past it.

EXT. BAR - NIGHT

Esmund clutches his arms to his chest for warmth. Hes behindthe back door of the bar, surround by trash cans and graffiti-covered walls. He yawns.

5.


7/22

ESMUND (V.O.)Im still not used to feelingtired. Then again, Im not used tothe sensation of feeling to begin

with.

Astorra walks out the back door, the towel still in hand.

ASTORRAGot it.

She unfolds the towel to reveal the mans wallet. She opensit and takes out the green currency as well blue currency.

INSERT

Blue Papernote

Food Ration, United States Government

BACK TO SCENE

She looks at Esmund and nods. He nods back.

ASTORRA (CONTD)We can have somewhere warm to sleeptonight.

She throws the wallet into the trash can beside her. Shehurriedly walks out of the encasement, Esmund follows.

EXT. SIDEWALK - CONTINUOUS

As they exit they walk into a dark sidewalk. Astorra pullsout another cigarette from her bag and lights it. She turnsto Esmund.

ASTORRAYou want one? Itll warm you up.

She offers a cigarette out in front of him. Esmund stares atit blankly, refusing to take it.

ASTORRA (CONTD)No? Alright. How long have you beenawake now? Two weeks?

ESMUND (V.O.)Ten days.

ASTORRAYeah, you should be getting yourevoice back soon.

6.


8/22

She looks both directions and heads away from the bar.

ASTORRA (CONTD)This way.

Esmund follows behind, watching her. They pass various

rundown buildings. Trash litters the sidewalk. Only hercigarette and the passing streetlights illuminate them.

ESMUND (V.O.)You woke me from the coma ten daysago.

ASTORRAMaybe it was more like ten days? Idont remember.

ESMUND (V.O.)But the patient is supposed to

remember things before the coma.

INT. VOID - FLASHBACK

Esmund sits, legs crossed, in the white void. His eyes areclosed.

ESMUND (V.O.)I cant. All I remember is nothing.

INT. SIDEWALK - NIGHT

They continue walking down the sidewalk, turning down alleysoccasionally.

ESMUND (V.O.)And then you. Hunched over me,appearing out of the nothing likean angel. And Ive been here eversince. Following you through thisalien world.

ASTORRA

Were almost there. We need tohurry, Esmund.

ESMUND (V.O.)Always rushing. Someones chasingyou. Or me. Or us. Im not sure,but I feel your fear. We are indanger.

They come up to the hotel, and walk through the rusty door.

7.


9/22

INT. HOTEL LOBBY - CONTINUOUS

The hotel is dark and dusty. Furniture is scattered about thelobby in no particular order. A short, stocky man in his 30s,the HOTEL MANAGER, sits behind a desk, heating a can of soupon a hot plate.

Astorra drops her cigarette on the ground and continues tothe desk. Esmund steps on it to put it out.

The hotel manager doesnt look up from his soup.

HOTEL MANGERNo cash.

Astorra pulls out the blue food rations from her bag.

ASTORRAHow about rats?

The manager looks up at her, then at the rations, and smiles.

HOTEL MANGERYeah, yeah, yeah, we take those!

He turns around in his chair to grab the keys to a room.

ASTORRAGreat, and if anybody comes, um,looking for us, could you give ussome notice?

He reaches for the rations.

HOTEL MANGERYoure not in some kind of troubleare you?

Astorra doesnt release the rations, both holding them nowlike tug of war.

ASTORRADoes it matter?

He looks at the rations, then back at her.HOTEL MANGER

Oh...no not at all. Just, you know,leave me out of it.

She nods and releases the rations, then grabs the keys.

8.


10/22

ESMUND (V.O.)This world is dying and I would nothave survived it without you.

They walk past the desk toward their room.

INT. BAR - NIGHT

Harmon holds a picture of Esmund in the air. Dr. Ahura isbehind him with a file in his hands.

The bartender shakes her head to say no.

Harmon gives the picture to Dr. Ahura, who reaches into hisfile and removes another photograph to hand to Harmon. Harmonholds the photograph of Astorra up.

The bartenders eyes widen. She turns to look down the bar.

The man sits in a stool, more distraught than before.

INT. HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

Esmund sits on the one old mattress in the hotel room,huddled up in blankets. A television is on playing anothernewscast, no sound emanates from it. The rest of the room issparse and decaying.

A closet with horizontal, wooden blinds is in the corner nextto a door. The door opens, and Astorra walks out in the same

clothes, but drying her wet hair.

Esmund watches her.

ESMUND (V.O.)I want so badly to ask you who youare?

ASTORRAI needed that.

She walks over and sits on the bed, staring at the

television.The news broadcast shows clips of war and destruction. Theysit and watch in silence.

ASTORRA (CONTD)Esmund, you need to know something.

9.


11/22

ESMUND (V.O.)Theres an entire list of things Ineed to know. Who you are, who Iam, who were running awa-

She turns and looks at him.

ASTORRAYoure special Esmund. Youre notlike everyone else.

ESMUND (V.O.)The blank space of memory was atip.

ASTORRAYou can solve this.

ESMUND (V.O.)

Solve this?

ASTORRAWe can.

She looks back at the screen. Esmund stares at her.

EXT. SIDEWALK - NIGHT

Dr. Ahura and Harmon walk down the sidewalk, both intentlylooking at the surrounding buildings.

ESMUND (V.O.)I cant even solve who I am.

They turn a corner and the sign for the hotel emerges. Dr.Ahura looks the opposite direction, but Harmon follows himand points it out.


Astorra is still sitting on the bed, brushing her hair now.Esmund still stares at the back of her head.

ASTORRAYou have gifts Esmund, you can help

me save everything.

ESMUND (V.O.)My throat quakes, my head isbuzzing with words. How and so many

whos.

10.


12/22

Astorra stands and puts the brush down on top of thetelevision. She wraps her hair in a ponytail. She walks overto him.

ASTORRAYou just have to keep trusting me,

okay? You do trust me right Esmund?

She drops to her knees beside him and places her hand on hisleg.

ESMUND (V.O.)I vaguely understand what trust is.But, Yes Astorra, you are all Iknow, and want to know, I trustyou. I long to say to her, but allI can do is nod.

He nods.

She smiles.

INT. HOTEL LOBBY - NIGHT

Dr. Ahura and Harmon walk into the hotel lobby.

The hotel manager is eating his soup. He looks up at the twomen, and pauses.

Harmon holds out both pictures to the hotel manager.

The hotel manager squirms slightly.

HOTEL MANGERUm...nope, dont think so.

Harmon nods, then looks around the lobby, about to walk away,when he notices the corkboard of keys with one missing.

The hotel manager turns around and see the empty space.

He turns back around, face to face with the end of Harmonsgun. The manager clears his throat, loudly.


Esmund turns his head away from her towards the door.

ASTORRAWhat is it?

11.


13/22

The front door is kicked open by Harmon. Dr. Ahura and thehotel manager follow.

HOTEL MANGERHey!

Inside the closet, light streams in through the smallopenings of the blinds. Esmund and Asturra stand perfectlystill inside. Through the cracks in the blind the three menare visible.

HARMONWhere the hell are they?!

HOTEL MANGERI-I dont understand they were justhere.

Dr. Ahura walks to the window, its ajar.

DR. AHURAThey cant have gone far.

ESMUND (V.O.)Just two men. The older looking man

would be easy enough to handle onhis own, but the other one, he-

Harmon goes to the window and looks out into the street.

DR. AHURAWell now wha-

BANG!

Harmon, without looking at the hotel manager, puts the gun upto his head and fires. Dr. Ahura is immediately startled.

Esmund flinches.

Esmund and Astorra hold one anothers hand tightly.

A long, high frequency pitch follows the gunshot.

DR. AHURA (CONTD)Wha-What was that for?

HARMONWhats it matter?

DR. AHURAYou cant just go around shootingup everyone that sees him.

12.


14/22

HARMONI could shoot a thousand, tenthousand more, and itd still be

worth it, Doc.

DR. AHURA

I guess, if we can get him awayfrom her.

Harmon removes the empty bullet casing and replaces it.

HARMONThat wont be too difficult, Ahura.

DR. AHURAShes all he knows right now. Oncehe figures out how, hell protecther.

Harmon walks over to the closet.

Esmund clutches her hand tight.

HARMONWell then we better find thembefore he does, and she ruinseverything.

Dr. Ahura walks around the room. He examines the hair brushon the television.

Harmon tries to open the closet. It wont. He tries harder,

but no luck.

HARMON (CONTD)What the-

DR. AHURAWhats wrong?

HARMONJust these stupid old doors.

Dr. Ahura walks over to the closet.

DR. AHURAEsmund?! Are you in there?

ESMUND (V.O.)He knows my name?

Harmon looks at Dr. Ahura.

13.


15/22

HARMONYou think hes in there?

DR. AHURAI doubt it.

HARMONOnly one way to be sure.

Harmon point his gun at the door.

Esmund shakes with fear. He closes his eyes.

INT. VOID - CONTINUOUS

Esmund is standing in the same position, and same clothes.Sweat drips down his forehead. He senses the sudden calmnessand opens his eyes. Around him are dangling bullets. They are

perfectly still.

He walks up to one and picks out of the air. He examines itin his hand.

ASTORRA (O.S.)Wher-? How?

Esmund turns around to see Astorra behind him, he extends hisarm to her.

ESMUNDHere.

She stares at him in amazement, then reaches her hand out tohis. Just before she touches him, the white fades quickly.


Esmund opens his eyes. The high pitch frequency is ringing.He looks down. There are holes throughout the door.

Esmunds hand tightly clasps Astorras.

Harmon empties the shells onto the floor.DR. AHURA

What are you doing?! What if theyhad been in there?!

HARMONHe would have been fine.

14.


16/22

DR. AHURABut she wouldnt have.

Esmund looks to his right at Astorra.

She is holding her right hand to her left hip. She takes the

hand away, its stained red with blood.

DR. AHURA (CONTD)And good luck getting him to trustus after you kill the only personhe knows.

Esmunds face turns red. His eyes sharpen with purpose.

ESMUND (V.O.)Kill?! Shes dying?! She cant die!We have to save it!

HARMONHes all we have, hell learn totru-

The doors fly off the hinges and strike Harmon from behind,sending him to the ground. Esmund and Astorra run out fromthe doorway.

DR. AHURAEsmund! Please, wait! Shes-

Esmund strikes Dr. Ahura with his fist. Dr. Ahura goes downimmediately.

Esmund runs to the door, dragging Astorra with him. He stopsmomentarily to try and examine her wound. The men moan.

ASTORRAIm fine, just go!

They go through the door.

ASTORRA (O.S.) (CONTD)(faintly)

Go out back!

Harmons hand reaches for his gun. He grabs it. The woodendoor lifts up.

EXT. HOTEL - CONTINUOUS

Esmund and Astorra run along an outdoor balcony in the backof the building. They run down stairs from the third floor tothe second.

15.


17/22

HARMON (O.S.)Come on!

As Esmund and Astorra start climbing down the stairs to thefirst floor, Harmon and Dr. Ahura appear behind them on thethird floor. Harmon takes a shot, which ricochets off the

stair railing. They pass beneath a brick archway leading outof the complex, running through a thick amount of smogpouring out of the drain below. They immediately head down analleyway.

Harmon and Dr. Ahura appear in the archway as silhouettesthrough the smog. A flash of orange light as Harmon fires ofanother shot. Dr. Ahura runs past him following the othertwo. Harmon runs after him.

HARMON (CONTD)Theyre headed to the church.

Harmon then cuts down another alley.

EXT. SIDEWALK - CONTINUOUS

Esmund and Astorra run down sidewalks, a large church abeacon in the night sky.

Dr. Ahura is close behind, panting heavily.

Harmon runs down a parallel alley. He picks up speed.

EXT. CHURCH - CONTINUOUS

Esmund and Astorra get to a large Catholic cathedral andquickly swing the doors open.

Dr. Ahura does the same moments after.

INT. CHURCH - CONTINUOUS

The building is vastly empty except for the pews and lit onlyby candles. Its dirty and dusty, and there are rocks on the

ground in the middle, where someone has made a fire.Esmund and Astorra run in and are bout to exit through theback, when Harmon walks in through the back, gun drawn andpoint at them.

ESMUND (V.O.)Damn, the brute is fast.

16.


18/22

HARMONThats enough.

He gestures for them to back up with his gun.

DR. AHURA

Esmund! Finally, its so good to seeyou.

ESMUND (V.O.)Thanks Doc, its so good of you tosick your reformed junkyard dog onus.

HARMONSit down.

He gestures to the pews.

They slowly walk over and sit down. Dr. Ahura sits in the pewacross the aisle from them.

HARMON (CONTD)The good doc has some informationhe thinks you should be aware ofEsmund.

ASTORRADont listen to their lies bab-

BANG!

Harmon fires the gun in the air. Again, the high frequencypitch rings out.

ESMUND (V.O.)My head splinters every time hedoes it, I feel it everywhere!Everywhere?

HARMONThats your last warning!

Esmund scowls at Harmon.

DR. AHURANow Esmund, Im sure you have anentire of list of questions rightnow.

ESMUND (V.O.)Youre damn right I do.

17.


19/22

DR. AHURAAnd Im sure your friend therehasnt been the most...forthcoming.

Esmund pauses then looks at Dr. Ahura.

ESMUND (V.O.)Wait...what?

DR. AHURASurprised? No doubt shes enviousof your gifts.

ASTORRAHey!

Harmon slaps her.

HARMON

Shut up!

Esmund looks back at her, concerned.

DR. AHURAOh shes fine.

(to Harmon)Show him her wound.

She looks from one to the other, her eyes full of hate.

DR. AHURA (CONTD)How old is it? Five minutes?

ESMUND (V.O.)Four minutes, twenty-three seconds.

She squirms as Harmon partially lifts her shirt to show herbare hip, not even a scratch is present.

Esmund looks at it bewildered.

DR. AHURAHere it is Esmund, all the howsand whos.

ESMUND (V.O.)If he had em all, the world

wouldnt need saved.

DR. AHURAWhat did she tell you, youd beenin a coma or something like that?

Esmund nods.

18.


20/22

DR. AHURA (CONTD)All you can remember is white, abig old dream of nothing.

ESMUND (V.O.)But...how?

DR. AHURAWell it wasnt a dream. That wasyour reality for your entire life.I had to ensure that you were neverexposed to human greed andcorruption.

Dr. Ahura stands up and walks towards the front of thecongregation, almost preaching.

DR. AHURA (CONTD)You are more than human, Esmund.

You are the perfect combination ofhuman genetics. I made you this

way. And you have amazing powersthat remain unbeknownst to you. Youare the next evolutionary rung with

which our species will climb.

Esmund looks at Astorra.

DR. AHURA (CONTD)And she, well she was the firstversion of you, a failure. Iexposed her too early to humanity,

and it stunted her cognitivegrowth.

ASTORRAYou bastard!

Harmon shoots her in the foot. She screams out in pain.

Esmund is panic stricken, beads of sweat cover his forehead.

DR. AHURAPlease relax dear, show some

respect for your creator. You canat least heal yourself?

ASTORRANot what you did to me.

19.


21/22

DR. AHURAWe may have been a little...harshin your development, but wecertainly are paying the price forthat. For our final creation, theonly one that can unify the world

and save humanity thinks he has tohelp you save the world!

Esmund stands up, staring at Dr. Ahura.

Harmon lifts his gun.

DR. AHURA (CONTD)Its alright Harmon.

He brings the gun back to Astorra.

DR. AHURA (CONTD)

Did she tell you how youre goingto save the world? Or what youregoing to save the world from?

ESMUND (V.O.)No...

Esmund looks at her in disbelief. She scowls at Dr. Ahura,paying Esmund no mind at all. Esmund looks back up at Dr.Ahura.

Esmunds fingers are trembling.

DR. AHURAShe thinks we dont deserve the

world. That we need to beextinguished. Shes beenresponsible for half the bombingsyou see on the news. She may nothave your gifts, but she is quiteconniving.

Astorra looks at Esmund.

ASTORRA

Esmund, I know you trust me. Itsfor the best. You and I could startthe world over again, a new era ofthe next man, a more responsible

man.

DR. AHURAAnd kill your entire species intoextinction in the process!

20.


22/22

The high pitch frequency starts ringing quietly, then slowlybuilds.

Esmunds entire body is shaking slightly.

Dr. Ahura and Astorra scowl at one another, oblivious to what

Harmon notices.

HARMONUm...Esmund, what are you doing?

The rocks from the old fire pit begin to raise up off theground and start to hover.

The candle fires start to flicker in a strange wind.

Dr. Ahurra and Astorra both look on. All three look at Esmundwith fright.

DR. AHURADont Esmund, control it.

ASTORRABring it down Esmund, bring themall down, its our time!

The high pitch frequency reaches its peak. Esmund closes hiseyes fiercely.

INT. VOID - CONTINUOUS

Esmund opens his eyes, standing in the white void. His faceis panicked. He looks over his right shoulder, then his leftshoulder. He glances around the space and doesnt move.

Beat.

ESMUND(whispered)

Oh, God.

CUT TO BLACK

21.

ahura's children (working title)

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