The Rewilders Read online

  INTERVIEWER (VOICE-OVER)

  Minister!

  PROCTOR (VOICE-OVER)

  We are nations of laws and they must be followed, my good fellow! Otherwise, well, chaos would reign! We wouldn't wish that, would you? The law states, and I remind -

  K) As static interrupts Proctor and takes him off the air, newspapers are scattered about an empty office somewhere:

  "God must love the beasts more than us"

  "Nature 1, Mankind 0. Game, Set, Match"

  "London falls. But remember:

  Conservation is still important!"

  All of this is amongst posters fluttering on the wall from a light breeze coming in through broken windows:

  "Save the Frogs! Save the Weasel!"

  "Ban the mouse trap! Here's a kind way to trap mice!"

  "Animals: Property of Humankind, or Citizens of the Planet?"

  Evey and Harry at Wits End

  EXTERIOR - MACGILLVRAY HOUSE - DAY

  We finally see the quaint outside of the MacGillvray house. Remnants of a fallen wind turbine fill an alleyway nearby.

  EVEY (VOICE-OVER)

  When is the government going to come and help us, Harry?

  HARRY (VOICE-OVER)

  I dunno, Evey.

  EVEY (VOICE-OVER)

  Where are you going now?

  HARRY (VOICE-OVER)

  Just taking out the garbage, Evey.

  The door opens and Harry emerges with a refuse bag. He wears a full bulky cricket uniform, with mask, shin and arm pads, and wields a cricket bat, as howls and snarls come from OFF-SCREEN.

  Storyteller Prepares for the Finale

  INTERIOR - UNDEFINED FUTURE RESIDENCE - NIGHT (TWILIGHT)

  The candles are lower still, and the kids have cuddled up closer together under the blankets. Mom does a big stretch.

  GIRL

  Mother?

  BOY

  What about Great Great Gramma Rachel?

  MOM

  I'm coming to that, children.

  GIRL

  I hope she was all right!

  MOM

  Oh yes, Great Great Grandmother was safe with Professor Gruberstein and their friends.

  Great sighs of relief come from the kids.

  MOM

  But they were all very sad at the way things had turned out.

  Final conversation with Proctor

  INTERIOR - GOVERNMENT OFFICE/C.R.A.P. - DAY

  All alone, everyone stands at the counter, as if waiting for enviro-curious citizens who will never visit them again.

  BOY (VOICE-OVER)

  What did they do, mother?

  MOM (VOICE-OVER)

  Well, here's what happened next...

  There are all sorts of wild animal sounds OFF-SCREEN: Hisses, brays, coos, bleats, snorts, chirps, snarls and barks.

  Then one really long, spooky bellowing.

  ROGER

  Yabby, will you shut up!

  YABBY

  Huh?

  RACHEL

  That wasn't Yabby!

  Their eyes grow wide, wondering what on earth it was!

  INTERIOR - OFFICE/MINISTER PROCTOR (SAME TIME)

  As Proctor leisurely packs his desk, through his doorway movers can be seen dragging away furniture on dollies, unplugging computers, taking down and rolling up posters.

  His co-workers run around crazily, getting in the way. One stops outside Proctor's door and shouts to the sky.

  STAFF MEMBER

  We're doomed! We're doomed!

  Proctor sniffs sarcastically and shakes his head.

  PROCTOR

  Worrywart.

  An ASSISTANT pokes his head in the door.

  ASSISTANT

  Minister, we have to lift the prohibitions against shooting dangerous predators!

  PROCTOR

  No. We must only trap them.

  INTERIOR - OFFICE/ALLY GRUBERSTEIN

  Ally dials a number on the phone, as the others join her.

  ALLY

  So now they're securing whatever animals they capture in big temporary zoos, behind moats -

  WALLY

  Not even fenced?!

  RACHEL

  The moats dry up, and then the animals escape again!

  All five of them groan in unison.

  INTERIOR - OFFICE/MINISTER PROCTOR

  PROCTOR

  Absolutely no animals must be harmed, do you understand?

  ASSISTANT

  (wearily)

  Yes, Minister.

  The Assistant departs, defeated.

  PROCTOR

  (to himself)

  It's all the fault of that terrorist, Cadwraeth, and his like-minded comrades.

  Standing, he carries on, now, seeming to go a little nuts, muttering at first and then getting increasingly agitated.

  PROCTOR

  You see, ten thousand fresh water shrimps support a thousand bleak fish, which in turn sustain a hundred perch, followed by ten pikes, and finally one osprey!

  A few heads pop around the corner of his door, curious.

  There's a buzz at his desk phone.

  PROCTOR

  It's still working? Who could be calling?

  (into phone, takes seat)

  Yeeesss? Ally, my dearest! Ally!

  INTERIOR - OFFICE/ALLY GRUBERSTEIN

  Everyone crowds around. Ally activates the speakerphone.

  ALLY

  I didn't expect to you to still be there, Minister. You should -

  INTERCUT between ALLY and PROCTOR

  PROCTOR

  Oh, Ally, I thought of how to fix things! Wait till you hear this. We just have to find a natural predator for those damned beavers. They started it all. What about foxes?

  ALLY

  Well, we have lots of foxes around now, too. But when they run out of food, they'll turn on domestic animals. Then on us.

  PROCTOR

  Ha, ha, well, we'll release their predators, then! Coyotes and wolves, then lions and tigers.

  ALLY

  Minister! Not here - in Scotland!

  PROCTOR

  (insane chuckle)

  Do it!

  ALLY

  And what predator will we release when the lions and tigers overpopulate, Minister?

  PROCTOR

  We're the apex of apex predators!

  ALLY

  We were.

  PROCTOR

  Well, we'll worry about that when the time comes. We can just ship in more food for them - zebras and wildebeests or something.

  ALLY

  (slowly rises from chair)

  But they don't belong here, Minister! They're in Africa, and tropical! And when they come here, they'll eat vegetation that'll destroy other ecosystems! Then we'll have to fix that! Then we'll have to fix the fix, Minister.

  PROCTOR

  Oh, I don't care, just do something, Ally! I'm just the bureaucrat! You're the experts!

  ALLY

  But Minister!

  PROCTOR

  (has an epiphany)

  Ally! Wait! I've got it! I've finally got it!

  Everyone in both rooms freeze - those surrounding Ally, and the faces sticking around the corner of Proctor's door.

  PROCTOR

  What we need, to fix all of this... is an un-re-de-introduction program!

  END INTERCUT.

  The line goes dead. The speakerphone buzzes and buzzes.

  Rachel and the whole team stands there, frozen.

  Proctor Goes Crazy

  INTERIOR - OFFICE/MINISTER PROCTOR (SAME TIME)

  Proctor hasn't realized the connection has terminated.

  PROCTOR

  Ally? Ally! I want you to be in charge Ally! Because... I know you can do it, and... because...

  Everyone careening in his doorway holds their breath...

  PROCTOR

  Ally, I love you! I love you!

  He starts wailing and thrashing, crying and laughing. Those at the door glare at him with bug-
eyes realizing he's crazy.

  INTERIOR - OFFICE/ALLY GRUBERSTEIN

  Ally disconnects the speaker on her phone. Silence.

  Then the crashing and neighing and growling increases OFF-SCREEN.

  RACHEL

  It's time to go. Let's see who we can help, out there.

  She looks over to a table, leading the others' eyes over.

  On it are a crossbow tranquillizer, several pistol and rifle tranquillizer guns, and lots of boxes of darts.

  Team Rescues some Families

  EXTERIOR - STREET/GLASGOW - DAY

  Rachel and the Team dodge through the people-less streets.

  At a dumpster, a bear rummages. Wolves fight over a leg of lamb at a butcher shop. A hawk swoops down and lands on a telephone wire to join several other birds of prey there.

  Our VOICE-OVER narrators, the Mom and her kids, pick up again:

  GIRL (VOICE-OVER)

  So they ran away somewhere protected?

  BOY (VOICE-OVER)

  Did they get to safety, Mother!?

  MOM (VOICE-OVER)

  Well, a short distance away, they came across some parents and their children - children just like you!

  Oddly, amidst all this predatorial danger, a fearless kiwi waddles down the middle of the street in front of the Team.

  RACHEL

  Listen...

  First Rachel, and then everyone else, reacts to the sound of human shouts OFF-SCREEN, mixed in with the caws, growls and barks.

  ALLY

  It's coming from Argyle Street!

  WALLY

  Let's go!

  YABBY

  Woo woo wooo!

  EXTERIOR - ALLEY/EXIT TO ARGYLE

  Tranquillizer weapons in-hand, Rachel and her Team emerge from an alley into a much more active city street.

  A sharp snarl OFF-SCREEN initiates a stampede of wildebeests and elephants. A panther is perched, watching from atop a department store across the street.

  Pinned against a wall as the stampede passes, Rachel nods in the other direction, leading the others' eyes along.

  From their POINT OF VIEW, a block away, a caravan of refugees, five adults and about 30 kids, on foot, bicycles, wheelchairs and rickshaws, are trapped in an enclosed courtyard.

  EXTERIOR - COURTYARD/STREET

  The Team creeps over to the group. The refugees' faces light up at the sight of their rescuers.

  Rachel corrals the kids as Ally motions the rest to follow. Wally, Roger and Yabby run ahead of everyone, poking at the remnants of the stampede to steer them away.

  At an intersection blocked by a herd of zebras, Yabby roars his best lion growl to scare them into taking off.

  As the people skulk through the intersection, they react to a snarl OFF-SCREEN. A real lion, annoyed at losing his potential meal, peers down at them from atop a supermarket.

  EXTERIOR - ANOTHER STREET/PARK

  Emerging from another alley into the open, they race across a park, dodging crocodiles snapping at them from a fountain. A little boy falls behind. Rachel and Yabby return to help.

  Refugees flee to the Zoo

  EXTERIOR - ABANDONED PROPERTY/ENTRANCE

  Those in front reach a gated property, one that is not just empty but run-down and overgrown. At the entrance is an ancient, tipped sign: "Glasgow Zoo - Closed 2003"

  http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/index.php/Secrets/GlasgowZoo

  ADULT #1

  What's this?!

  ROGER

  It's what's left of the zoo!

  From their POINT OF VIEW, inside there are only a few animals loitering about, grazing: Swans, gazelles, a badger family.

  WALLY

  It was shut down by zoo-protesters years ago.

  ALLY

  All the poor animals were shipped away or euthanized.

  ADULT #2

  Can we hide here for a while?

  They skitter around the big gate, inside. Unfortunately, this attracts the attention of animals outside, who follow them in: A family of elk, a giraffe, bobcats and others.

  EXTERIOR - ZOO/OLD CAGED AREA

  Wally directs everyone into a cage and slams the rusty bars shut to close themselves in. The animals now surround the cage and gaze in at the humans as if they're the captives.

  Team Rescued by Cadwraeth and Friends

  EXTERIOR - STREET

  Rachel, Yabby and the little boy are pinned down as dozens of galloping African buffalos flee a pair of tigers.

  Almost encircled, Yabby speaks his first English phrase!

  YABBY

  Aw, crikey. I sorry, Rachel.

  RACHEL

  Yabby! Don't worry -

  One of the buffalos twists and bumps a light standard. It creaks, tips and falls across Rachel's and Yabby's path, forcing them up against a wall as more buffalo cut closer.

  The sound of groaning buffalos, snarling tigers and stomping hoofs is deafening. Yabby crouches down over the boy, hands over his ears. Rachel surrounds them both with her arms.

  Suddenly, amidst the cacophony, Charlie, aka Cadwraeth, in his mask and billowing overcoat, swoops in on his noisy motorcycle, leading several others on motorbikes, too.

  With his comrades moving in front of the tigers to deflect their attention, Charlie hoots and hollers to divert the buffalos, just like a real cowboy.

  He wheels over to Rachel and sweeps her onto his bike behind him. Yabby jumps on another, with the little boy.

  Then off they roar, at a great clip!

  EXTERIOR - ABANDONED PROPERTY/ENTRANCE

  The motorcyclists rev their engines as they round the corner into the old zoo, scaring away the animals before it.

  EXTERIOR - ZOO/OLD CAGED AREA

  The beasts surrounding the cage full of refugees now number in the dozens. The bobcats paw at the unlocked gate, as the kids inside cower down under the adults' protective hugs.

  Charlie roars up and blasts a flare pistol into the air to send all of the creatures scattering.

  Inside, Ally, Wally and Roger rise with the children they hold - but some of the other adults hold back.

  ADULT #1

  It's Cadwraeth! The Terrorist!

  ADULT #2

  Run for your lives!

  ADULT #3

  (to Wally)

  Use your crossbow! Shoot them!

  Charlie stops his bike at the gate and swings it open. With Rachel perched on the seat behind him, hanging on tightly, he sheds his mask.

  ALLY

  No, it's that fellow, Charles Rath!

  Rachel, momentarily confused, loosens her arms around Charlie's waist and peeks over his shoulder.

  WALLY/ROGER

  Charlie Rath! Remember, Rache?

  Charlie, confused, glances back to Rachel, quizzically, to meet her beaming face, her eyes now full of awe - and love - as she moves close and retightens her grip around his chest.

  EXTERIOR - ZOO/EXIT (LATER)

  Charlie, with a child in a leg cast behind him on the bike, leads the other motorcyclists and the band of refugees on foot, bikes, rickshaws and wheelchairs, to freedom.