NIGHT ON THE LIVING DEAD - ACT THREE “The Television Will Not Save You”

Speaker 1 Why choose a sleep number smart bed?

Speaker 3 Can I make my site softer?

Speaker 4 Can I make my site firmer?

Speaker 5 Can we sleep cooler?

Speaker 1 Sleep number does that, cools up to eight times faster, and lets you choose your ideal comfort on either side. Your sleep number setting.

Speaker 4 Enjoy personalized comfort for better sleep night after night.

Speaker 1 It's our Black Friday sale, recharged this season with a bundle of cozy, soothing comfort.

Speaker 8 Now only $17.99 for our C2 mattress and base, plus free premium delivery.

Speaker 1 Price is higher in Alaska and Hawaii. Check it out at a sleep number store or sleepnumber.com today.

Speaker 3 November is all about gathering, friends giving feasts, Thanksgiving dinners, and football weekends.

Speaker 3 Total Wine and More has everything you need for your table and your toasts, with thousands of wines, spirits, and beers at the lowest prices.

Speaker 3 From bold reds to sparklers, you'll find the perfect wines to raise a glass this season.

Speaker 3 And when it comes to spirits, Total Wine has you covered from smooth bourbons and tequilas to all the essentials for your holiday cocktails. Hosting Thanksgiving?

Speaker 3 Total Wine's guides make it easy by taking out the guesswork. With the lowest prices for over 30 years, you'll always find what you love and love what you find only at Total Wine and more.

Speaker 3 Curbside pickup and delivery available in most areas. See TotalWine.com for details.
Spirits not sold in Virginia and North Carolina. Drink responsibly.
B21.

Speaker 4 Previously, on Night of the Living Dead, the farmhouse turned fortress became a powder keg, and Ben was the man holding the match.

Speaker 4 Harry Cooper clawed for control. Ben demanded respect.
The dead just wanted flesh.

Speaker 4 And when fear took the wheel out on that lonely road, the truck burned, hope died, and sunrise started to look a lot like judgment.

Speaker 4 Act 3.

Speaker 4 Where the masks fall, the guns come out, and Romero proves the real monster was America all along.

Speaker 4 Act 3.

Speaker 4 The cellar door swings open. Helen and Harry step into the hallway.
Faltering, they peer through the entranceway into the living room.

Speaker 4 Harry, standing behind his wife, is hostile, partially due to anger with himself because he has reneged on his decision about the cellar. Helen, too, is overwrought.

Speaker 4 due to the emotional effect of the recent argument and to the fact that she's about to meet strange people in an anxious circumstance.

Speaker 4 But only Tom and Barbara are in the living room, and Barbara, overcome with nervous exhaustion, is sleeping fitfully on the couch.

Speaker 12 We can see the broadcast, I think.

Speaker 12 If the TV works.

Speaker 12 I have to go help Ben.

Speaker 4 Helen has gone immediately to Barbara, looks down at her sympathetically, brushes back her hair, and pulls the overcoat around her shoulders.

Speaker 13 Poor thing.

Speaker 13 She must have been through a lot.

Speaker 4 Harry, during these moments, has been flitting anxiously all over the house, from door to window to kitchen to living room, checking out the actual degree of security and worrying about imminence of attack at any second.

Speaker 12 I think her brother was killed out there. Tom!

Speaker 5 Hey, Tom!

Speaker 6 Are you gonna give me a hand with this thing?

Speaker 4 Tom startles, aware of his procrastination, and bolts for the upstairs to help Ben.

Speaker 4 Harry, pausing momentarily in his anxiety, comes over to where his wife is looking after Barbara.

Speaker 13 Her brother was killed.

Speaker 14 This place is ridiculous. There's a million weak spots up here.

Speaker 4 We hear sounds from upstairs of Tom and Ben struggling with the television set. They are making their way down the steps.

Speaker 13 I don't care. There's people up here.
Why don't you do something to help somebody?

Speaker 4 Harry, not really hearing her, is staring once more into the gloom outside.

Speaker 5 I can't see a damn thing out there.

Speaker 14 There could be 50 million of those things.

Speaker 15 I can't see a thing.

Speaker 6 That's how much good these windows do us.

Speaker 4 The truck driver, who with Tom has reached the landing with the heavy television set has heard the last part of harry's remark

Speaker 4 he glowers even as he moves with his end of the burden but says nothing as he and tom gingerly deposit the tv in the center of the room

Speaker 4 they hunt for an outlet find it then slide and walk the set until the cord is close enough to be plugged in ben kneels behind the set to plug in the cord wake the girl up there's gonna be a thing on the tube she might as well know where she stands

Speaker 14 i don't want anybody's life on my hands.

Speaker 13 Harry, stop acting like a child.

Speaker 14 I don't want to hear nothing else from you, mister.

Speaker 6 If you stay up here, you'll take your orders from me.

Speaker 17 And that includes leaving that girl alone.

Speaker 14 She needs rest.

Speaker 10 She's just about out of her head as it is now. So

Speaker 14 now we're going to just let her sleep it all. And nobody's going to touch her unless I say so.

Speaker 4 Ben stares Harry down for at least a moment to ascertain that he is at least temporarily silenced. Then his hand plunges immediately to the television set.

Speaker 4 He snaps it on, the occupants of the room jockey for vantage points, and there are abated few seconds of dead silence as they all wait to see if the set will actually warm up.

Speaker 4 All eyes are on the tube. A hiss begins, increases in volume.
Ben cranks the volume all the way. A glowing band appears and spreads, filling the screen.

Speaker 13 It's on!

Speaker 17 It's on!

Speaker 4 There are murmurs of excitement and anticipation, but the tube only shows nothing. No picture, no sound.
Just the glow and hiss of the tube.

Speaker 4 Ben's hand races the tuning dial through the clicks of the various stations.

Speaker 18 Play with the rabbit ears. We should be able to get something.

Speaker 4 Ben fusses with horizontal and vertical, with brightness and contrast. On one station, he finally gets sound.
He adjusts the volume. The picture tumbles.
He plays with it and finally brings it in.

Speaker 4 Full screen is a commentator in the middle of a news report.

Speaker 4 The people in the room settle back to listen. Assign little credibility to the theory that this onslaught is a product of mass hysteria.

Speaker 18 Authorities advise utmost caution until the menace can be brought under absolute control. Eyewitness accounts have been investigated and documented.

Speaker 18 Corpses of vanquished aggressors are presently being examined by medical pathologists, but autopsy efforts have been hampered by the mutilated condition of these corpses.

Speaker 18 Security measures instituted in metropolitan areas include enforced curfews and safety patrols by armed personnel. Citizens are urged to remain remain in their homes.

Speaker 18 Those who ignore this warning expose themselves to intense danger from the aggressors themselves and from armed citizenry, whose impulse may be to shoot first and ask questions later.

Speaker 4 During the telecast, there are mixed feelings and reactions, but these responses are sporadic and infrequent. Predominant mood of all involved is to learn as much as possible from the telecast.

Speaker 18 Rural or otherwise isolated dwellings have most frequently been the objective of frenzied, concerted attack. Isolated families are in extreme danger.

Speaker 18 Escape attempts should be made in heavily armed groups and by motor vehicle if possible. Appraise your situation carefully before deciding upon an escape tactic.
Fire is an effective weapon.

Speaker 18 These beings are highly flammable. Escape groups should strike out for the nearest urban community.
Manned defense outposts have been established on major arteries leading into all communities.

Speaker 18 These outposts are equipped to defend refugees and to offer medical and surgical assistance.

Speaker 18 Police and vigilante groups are in the process of combing remote areas and search and destroy missions against all aggressors. These patrols are attempting to evacuate isolated families.

Speaker 18 But rescue efforts are proceeding slowly due to the increased danger of nightfall and the sheer enormity of the task. Rescue for those in isolated circumstances is highly undependable.

Speaker 18 You should not wait for a rescue party unless there is no possibility of escape. If you are few against many, you will almost certainly be overcome.
The aggressors are irrational and demented.

Speaker 18 Their sole urge is the quest for human flesh. Sheriff Conan W.

Speaker 18 McClelland of the County Department of Public Protection was interviewed minutes after he and his vigilante patrol had vanquished several of the aggressors.

Speaker 18 We bring you now the results of that interview.

Speaker 4 Fade and segue to videotape interview. Open on wide shot.
A night scene. Dense woods.
Posted guards maintain the periphery of a small clearing. Sporadic gunfire can be heard in the distance.

Speaker 4 Some of the men smoke, some talk in groups. The area is illumined by a large bonfire.

Speaker 4 Sheriff McClelland is the focal figure, medium close-up, so that as he talks we catch glimpses of activity in the background.

Speaker 4 He is shouting commands, supervising defense measures, and the burning of the bodies, at the same time trying to answer reporters' questions. We cut or zoom closer.

Speaker 4 McClelland is pacing around, not straying too far, because a lavalier microphone is hanging on a cord around his neck.

Speaker 4 The crackle of the bonfire, the shouts and bustle of activity can be constantly heard behind his commentary.

Speaker 4 As he talks, he frequently turns away, his primary concern being his efforts in dealing with the aggressors and controlling his search party.

Speaker 9 Yeah, well, this is a rough country for an evening hike.

Speaker 5 But things ain't going too badly.

Speaker 15 The men are taking it pretty well.

Speaker 18 We killed 19 of them today, right around this general area.

Speaker 5 These last three we found trying to claw their way into an abandoned mine shed. Nobody in there, but these things just pounding and clawing and trying to bust their way in.

Speaker 9 It's funny in a way. Once I thought there was people in there, we heard the racket and came and blasted them down.
What's your opinion then?

Speaker 20 Can we defeat these things?

Speaker 9 There ain't no problem.

Speaker 5 The only problem is whether we can get to them before they kill off all these people. But me and my men, we can handle them okay.

Speaker 9 We ain't lost nobody or suffered any casualties.

Speaker 19 All you gotta do is shoot for the eyes.

Speaker 19 You can tell anybody out there all you gotta do is draw a sharp bead and shoot for the eyes.

Speaker 5 Or you beat them down, lop their heads off.

Speaker 4 Then I'd have a decent chance even if I was surrounded by two or three of them?

Speaker 9 Well, if you had yourself a club or a good torch, you can hold them off or burn them to death.

Speaker 15 They catch fire like nothing.

Speaker 5 Go up like wax paper. But the best thing is to shoot them in the eyes.
You know, don't wait for us to rescue you because if it gets you too far outnumbered, you've had it.

Speaker 9 And we're doing our best, but we only got so many men in a whole lot of open country to come. But you think you can bring these things under control? Oh, we got things in our favor now.

Speaker 5 It's only a question of time. We ain't for certain how many there are of them things, but we know that when we find them, we're going to be able to kill them.

Speaker 19 So it's a matter of time.

Speaker 11 They're weak, but there are plenty of them.

Speaker 9 And so don't wait for no rescue party.

Speaker 19 Arm yourself to the teeth, get together in a group, and try and make it to a rescue station.

Speaker 9 That's the best way.

Speaker 5 But if you're alone, you got to sit stock still, wait for help, and we'll try like hell to get there before they do.

Speaker 14 Oh, tell them to shoot for the eyes.

Speaker 9 That'll stop them, low jobbers.

Speaker 18 You have heard Sheriff Conan W. McClellan for the County Department of Public Protection.

Speaker 18 This is your civil defense emergency network with reports every hour on the hour for the duration of this emergency. Remain in your homes.
Keep all doors and windows locked.

Speaker 18 Do not, under any circumstances.

Speaker 4 Ben reaches over and clicks off the television.

Speaker 6 Why'd you click it off for? Man said they only come on every hour.

Speaker 6 We heard all we need to know. We got to get out of here.

Speaker 13 He said the rescue stations have doctors and medical supplies. If we could get there, they could help Karen.

Speaker 6 How are we gonna bust out of here? We got a sick kid, two women, one of them out of her head, and three men. And there's a million of them things outside.

Speaker 12 Willard has a checkpoint there, about 17 miles from here.

Speaker 5 Wait, you from here?

Speaker 6 You know this area?

Speaker 5 Yeah.

Speaker 12 Yeah, I was working in the cemetery across the road.

Speaker 12 I'm the caretaker.

Speaker 12 Two of them things attacked me, and I hightailed it over here.

Speaker 12 Found

Speaker 12 everybody wiped out. Not too long after these other people fought their way in here, and

Speaker 12 I was scared, but I opened the basement door and I let them in.

Speaker 4 Unbeknownst to everybody else, Barbara has been sitting up listening. Now she speaks, startling them and gathering their attention.
She has come down from her hysteria, but is very weak.

Speaker 5 You work in the cemetery?

Speaker 14 My brother is over there.

Speaker 13 You poor thing.

Speaker 13 My girl is hurt too.

Speaker 13 We have to get to a rescue station. The television told us.
We have to try and escape.

Speaker 14 Well, I think we ought to stick right here and wait for a rescue party.

Speaker 6 He said if you're few against many, you don't have a chance. We...

Speaker 6 We can't tramp San Magin miles through those things.

Speaker 14 We ain't got to tramp.

Speaker 6 My truck's right outside the door.

Speaker 4 This stops, Harry. There is a moment of silence.

Speaker 14 But uh, I'm...

Speaker 6 I'm just about out of gas.

Speaker 4 But there's a pump near the shed outside.

Speaker 5 It's just locked.

Speaker 12 The key ought to be around somewhere. There's a big key ring in the basement.

Speaker 6 I'm gonna go look. The keys are labeled.
Is there a food cellar?

Speaker 11 Yeah, why?

Speaker 7 We're gonna need lots of jars.

Speaker 6 We can make Molotov cocktails, scare those things back, and then fight our way to the pump and gas up the truck.

Speaker 12 We're gonna need kerosene. There's a jug in the basement, too.

Speaker 13 Barbara and I can help. We can rip up sheets and things.

Speaker 14 Here's the keyring.

Speaker 6 The pump key is marked with a piece of tape.

Speaker 5 Good.

Speaker 11 That settles that question.

Speaker 20 But we should take a crowbar anyway.

Speaker 6 In case the key don't work, the crowbar can double as a weapon for whoever goes with me.

Speaker 11 But I don't want to get all the way out there and find out the pump won't open.

Speaker 16 I'll go.

Speaker 12 Yeah, you and me can fight our way to the pump. The women can stay in the cellar and take care of the kid.
We should have a stretcher. Barbara and Helen can do that.

Speaker 6 Harry, you're going to have to guard the upstairs. Once we unboard the door, those things can get in here easy.
But me and Tom got to get back in here, too, once we get back with the truck.

Speaker 6 You got to guard the door and unlock it for us. Then we'll board it up as fast as we can because those things are going to come fast on our heels, all right?

Speaker 6 Now, if we don't get back,

Speaker 6 well, then you'll be able to see from upstairs, and you can barricade the door again and go to the basement.

Speaker 7 Then you can just sit down there and wait for your rescue party.

Speaker 9 Hmm.

Speaker 6 I want the gun, then. It's the best thing for me to use.
You're not gonna have time to stop and aim.

Speaker 11 Oh, I'm keeping this gun.

Speaker 6 Nobody else lays a hand on it. I found it and it's mine.
You don't care what happens to us.

Speaker 6 How do we know you and Tom won't just take the truck and cut out?

Speaker 20 That's the chance you're gonna have to take.

Speaker 4 If we cut out, you'll have your goddamn basement like you've been crying about this whole time.

Speaker 13 We're gonna die here if we don't all work together. My brother's out there.

Speaker 13 Maybe we can get him and bring him back.

Speaker 5 He's just wounded. He'll be okay.

Speaker 13 That's okay, honey.

Speaker 13 We'll be all right. Maybe your brother will be too.

Speaker 6 Let's get busy. We got a lot to do if we're going to bust out of here.

Speaker 4 He is on his feet, taking command. We fade out of the scene.
We fade into a new scene. Completion of escape preparations.
Tom is pouring kerosene into fruit jars.

Speaker 4 Helen is dipping twisted rag fuses and kerosene in the bottom of a dish. Barbara comes from the kitchen with more jars, drying them on the outside and putting them on the table.

Speaker 4 She and Helen begin working the kerosene-soaked kerosene-soaked fuses through the holes which Thomas cut in the jar lids. Between them is a crude stretcher made of broomsticks and torn sheets.

Speaker 4 This, presumably, for the wounded girl, Karen.

Speaker 4 The television is off, but the radio drones lowly, repeating the recorded message. The radio is on as a monitor only, that they might work and still keep up with news that may affect their situation.

Speaker 17 I don't know what to think about my brother.

Speaker 13 We have to get out of here, bit. Maybe we'll find him in Willard.
Maybe he was able to crawl to the car and get away. We have to think of ourselves now.
It's hard for you,

Speaker 13 but it's all we can do. My girl is getting worse, too.
I have to get her a doctor.

Speaker 15 Broomsticks and belt buckles and old sheets.

Speaker 6 Seems to hold okay.

Speaker 6 I always hated the Boy Scouts.

Speaker 14 It'll be okay.

Speaker 21 Is there anything open upstairs?

Speaker 6 Some windows in the room. Spen is

Speaker 6 unfastening the doors now.

Speaker 12 We'll throw the cocktails from upstairs. Just splash the whole area with them.
That should keep most of them away while we break for the truck. We're ready.

Speaker 5 Here comes Ben now.

Speaker 4 Ben, the gun strapped around his back, is carrying a crowbar and clawhammer. He walks around checking preparations, smiles at Barbara, glad to see she's a little better.

Speaker 5 All right.

Speaker 6 Things are ready up there. Now, me and Tom are onboard the front door.

Speaker 4 Harry, you take the two women upstairs.

Speaker 6 Carry the Molotop cocktails with you.

Speaker 11 As soon as the door is unbarred, we can throw those things all over the place.

Speaker 4 Make sure they catch fire good.

Speaker 6 Then the women bust down here and get in the cellar. Don't forget the stretcher.
Alright?

Speaker 6 When we hear footsteps on the stairs, me and Tom will be gone. It'll be up to you, Harry.

Speaker 20 You gotta watch this door.

Speaker 6 Got yourself a good length of pipe? Yeah, I have a pitchfork.

Speaker 5 Good, good.

Speaker 5 Okay.

Speaker 22 Hi, I'm William Googe, a Vuri Collaborate and professional ultra runner from the UK. I love to tackle endurance runs around the world, including a 55-day, 3,064-mile run across the US.

Speaker 22 So I know a thing or two about performance wear. My go-to daily short is the core short from View.

Speaker 22 It's perfect for my daily run in the gym, strength training, or even when I'm taking a day off, relaxing, doing some stretching, and recovering the best way I can.

Speaker 22 Check them out by visiting viewery.com/slash William. That's V-U-O-R-I dot com slash William, where new new customers can receive 20% off their first order, plus enjoy free shipping in the U.S.

Speaker 22 on orders over $75 and free returns. Excluding supply, visit the website for full terms and conditions.

Speaker 23 This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game?

Speaker 23 Well, with a name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try it at progressive.com.

Speaker 23 Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law, not available in all states.

Speaker 24 Hi, it's Sarah. I'm the founder of Olive in June.
And can I tell you the one thing that always makes my day better? A fresh manicure. But who has the time or the money to go to the salon every week?

Speaker 24 That's why we created the Olive in June Gel Mani system. It gives you that same Manny that you get at a salon for so much less.

Speaker 24 It comes with everything you need: a pro-level lamp, salon-grade tools, or damage-free gel polish that lasts up to 21 days. All you do is prep, paint, cure, and you're good to go.

Speaker 24 And the best part, it's super easy and so affordable. Each Manny breaks down to $2.

Speaker 24 So let's skip that $80 salon appointment and get the salon quality look at home for so much less than on your schedule.

Speaker 24 Head to olivinjune.com/slash mannymagic20 and use code MANNIMAGIC20 for 20% off your first gel system. That's olivinjune.com/slash mannymagic20.

Speaker 24 Code Manny Magic20 for 20% off your first gel Manny system.

Speaker 4 Tom and Ben go over to the door. The others carry fruit jars, etc., and sneak quietly to the unboarded room upstairs.
Tom and Ben are left alone.

Speaker 4 Tom is soaking a table leg in kerosene, ready to light it for use as a torch. They fall to work on the door, the painstaking work of quietly undoing the barricade.

Speaker 4 They do not want to give alarm to the lurking things outside. With crowbar and clawhammer, very carefully, both men working on each separate piece of lumber, they undo the barricade.

Speaker 4 Each nail creak is a a menace. They are alert to the constant danger.
They finish and watch, posting themselves anxiously by the door. Shadowy figures lurk in the dark outside.

Speaker 4 Tom and Ben wait for the Molotov's shower to begin. A cry is heard.
A window flies open. The first fiery blaze lights in the yard.
More follow, some aimed for the creatures themselves.

Speaker 4 One or two catch fire. The others start to back away.
The entire field is lit up. Bombs shower from upstairs.

Speaker 18 That's all Ben!

Speaker 6 Run for it!

Speaker 4 His voice echoes as Tom and Ben burst into the yard. They're armed with torches and with a gun.
They leap into the truck.

Speaker 4 Tom plunges a torch into the chest of an attacker, who immediately catches fire and goes down in blaze, clutching the torch.

Speaker 4 The truck starts up and careens in a U-turn for the old shed. Attackers fall away as it starts out.

Speaker 4 Ben Ames fires several shots. Most miss as the truck jounces toward the gas pump across the yard.
But one creature goes down, at the front of the gas pump near the old shed. Tom and Ben leap out.

Speaker 4 Attackers are starting to make their way to them from across the yard. Tom fumbles with the key to the locked pump.
Ben shoves him back, hurriedly aims the gun.

Speaker 4 The gun fires, blowing the lock to pieces. Gas spurts out all over the place.
Creatures advance. Gas still spurting.
Tom crams the nozzle into the mouth of the gas tank in the back of the truck.

Speaker 4 Ben crouches crouches and levels off with his weapon. An approaching attacker goes down.
But more are coming in. Tom's torch has inadvertently set fire to the Dow's truck.

Speaker 4 The flames begin to lick and spread. The attackers gather in force, ever closer.
Tom leaps into the flaming truck. It skids and lurches across the yard.
Ben shouts to no avail.

Speaker 4 The flaming truck speeds away, driven by the panicked Tom. Several of the things are upon Ben.
He thrashes and pounds them with torch and gun.

Speaker 4 Ignoring Tom, Tom, he has to try and fight his way back to the house.

Speaker 4 From inside the house, the panicked and cowardly Harry has only seen pieces of the action. He has been darting back and forth from door to window, trying to see what has been happening outside.

Speaker 4 From his viewpoint, the escape attempt has met with total doom.

Speaker 4 He has seen the truck catch fire, driven away by Tom. Ben appears to be overwhelmed.
Harry runs again to the door.

Speaker 4 He sees the truck completely in flames, speeding away from the house toward a small rise. Back to the kitchen window, Ben is about to be overcome, things all around him.

Speaker 4 Harry does not see as Tom jumps from the burning truck to be seized by attacking ghouls. The truck continually unmanned from the far rise and explodes violently.

Speaker 4 The noise and flames shattering the night. Several ghouls are at the front door, trying to beat their way into the house.
From inside, Harry is in complete terror. He cannot hold out.

Speaker 5 All is lost.

Speaker 4 He panics and bolts for the cellar.

Speaker 4 But Ben has slugged his way through the attackers on the porch.

Speaker 4 He is pounding for admission at the front door. He turns and with a powerful lunge kicks the last attacker off the porch.
On the rebound, he plows his shoulder against the door.

Speaker 4 It crashes open, the lock broken, and Ben bursts in time to catch Harry at the cellar door. But there is no time.
Ben frantically turns to reboarding the door. His eyes meet Harry's for an instant.

Speaker 10 Then they both fall to work.

Speaker 4 They board up the door. They are temporarily safe.
They turn and look at each other, sweat streaming from each face. Harry knows what is coming.
Ben's fist crashes against Harry's face.

Speaker 4 He is driven back, one punch following another, until Ben corners him, clenching his lapels against the wall.

Speaker 4 Ben's words spit out, each word punctuated by an additional slam of Harry against the wall.

Speaker 5 You did right, dude! Next time you try something like that, I'll kill you!

Speaker 4 Ben slams him one final time. He slides down the wall, crumples on the floor.
His face is swollen. He is streaming blood.
Ben is already at the cellar door.

Speaker 17 Come on up! It's us! It's all over! Tom is dead!

Speaker 4 Fade out.

Speaker 4 The survivors are gathered in the living room. Barbara and Helen are slumped on the sofa.
Overwhelming mood of hopelessness and despair. Harry sulks in a corner, his head slung back, his face swollen.

Speaker 4 He is holding an ice pack against his eye. His good eye follows Ben, who is pacing about the room, where Ben's pacing takes him to the kitchen or to some area out of Harry's sight.

Speaker 4 The good eye, nervously relaxing. Ben's movements make virtually the only sound.
He is checking the defenses by force of old habit rather than hope. The rifle is slung on his back.

Speaker 4 For a long time, we dwell on the scene, on the absolute dejectedness of the prisoners within the barricaded house. Ben paces from door to kitchen to window.

Speaker 4 He starts to go upstairs, stops, checks himself, goes to the door again. He looks at his watch.
10 minutes to three.

Speaker 6 There'll be another broadcast in ten minutes.

Speaker 4 Nobody says anything. Ben pulls back the curtain.
His eyes grow suddenly wide, but he watches for a long moment. We see his view of the outside.

Speaker 4 There are many ghouls lurking in the shadows of the hanging trees. Some of the things are in the open, much nearer to the house than they dared come before.

Speaker 4 Remains of charred bodies are dimly apparent from various parts of the lawn. But Ben's eyes are fastened on a more grisly scene at the engine loft.

Speaker 4 In the moonlight, several ghouls devouring what had once been Tom.

Speaker 4 They rip and tear into aspects of his body, ghoulish teeth biting into Tom's arms and hands. Ben stares, fascinated and repulsed.

Speaker 4 With a convulsive movement, his fingers release the curtain. He turns, shaken, and faces the others, beads of perspiration dripping from his forehead.

Speaker 10 Don't

Speaker 10 know none of you look out there.

Speaker 15 You won't like what you see.

Speaker 4 Harry's good eye fastens on Ben, watches him. satisfied and contemptuous to see the big man weaken.
Ben moves for the television, clicks it on. Barbara's scream pierces the room.

Speaker 4 Ben leaps back from the television. She is on her feet, screaming uncontrollably.
No, we'll never get out of here.

Speaker 4 None of us. We'll never get out of here alive.

Speaker 4 Johnny!

Speaker 4 Help! Oh God, help!

Speaker 4 Before anyone can move to her, she chokes up as suddenly she began and slumps, sobbing violently, to the couch.

Speaker 4 Her face buried in her hands. Helen tries to soothe her, but great sobs come racking from deep within.

Speaker 4 She grows gradually quiet. The sobs diminish, but she remains slumped on the couch, her face covered with her hands.
Helen covers her with the overcoat, but this action seems futile.

Speaker 4 Barbara makes no movement whatsoever.

Speaker 4 Ben allows himself to sink very slowly into a chair in front of the TV.

Speaker 4 Harry's good eye goes from Barbara to Ben.

Speaker 4 His eye fastens on the gun, which Ben lowers butt-first to the floor and leans across his legs. Ben threads his arm through the fringe sling and maintains his grip on the four-piece.
Harry watches.

Speaker 13 I'm going to the cellar to take care of Karen.

Speaker 5 Come on, honey.

Speaker 13 Come and talk to me. It will make you feel better.

Speaker 4 But But Barbara makes no response. Helen turns and starts for the cellar door.
She has to squeeze past Harry's chair. Furtively, his eye on Ben.
Harry touches her and pulls her towards him.

Speaker 4 She too watches Ben. She knows something is up.
Ben remains transfixed before the TV. He is lost in thought.
His mind drifts somewhere. There is nothing on the screen.

Speaker 4 Just a dull glow and low hiss over scanning lines and static. He has turned the set on too early.

Speaker 4 I've got to get that gun. We can go to the cellar.
You have to help me. He has let the ice pack come away from his eye.
We see it is swollen, in blackened condition, and the desperation on his face.

Speaker 4 Ben still gazes at the TV. Worried about the possibility that Ben might catch them in the act and not really sympathizing with Harry, Helen pulls away.

Speaker 4 but she leans her face to Harry's and whispers quickly, I am not going to help you.

Speaker 13 Haven't you had enough? He'd kill us both.

Speaker 4 She goes to the cellar and on the way has to pass behind Ben's chair. She hesitates.
Her eyes fall on the gun. The sling is wound around Ben's arm.
We study her face.

Speaker 4 It is not clear whether she would have taken it or not, but she makes no attempt. She opens the door and goes down into the cellar.
Harry's eye follows her as she leaves.

Speaker 4 As Helen reaches the bottom of the cellar stairs, she looks up and her face shows startlement, a shaken shaken smile. Her daughter is sitting up, propped on her elbows, on the workbench table.

Speaker 16 Karen?

Speaker 4 She starts for her, but stops. There is something strange.
Her face turns slowly toward her.

Speaker 4 We see the ghoulish look in her eye.

Speaker 4 She begins to rise slowly, terrifyingly. Her features grotesque.
The coat that was her blanket begins to fall away. Her eyes stare through Helen and beyond her.

Speaker 4 Slowly, agonizingly, she raises herself from the table.

Speaker 4 Helen, terrified, begins to back away across the cellar. Her hand falls on a knife.
Her child creeps toward her.

Speaker 4 She moves a large packing crate, trying to block her path, trying to stave the confrontation, but she is too late. She springs.
It appears as though the knife will be driven into her breast.

Speaker 4 But on the spring, we cut to the upstairs, where simultaneously, a scream pierces the room.

Speaker 4 An assault has begun. The things are beginning to break into the house.
They've gotten into the den and are hammering at the barricaded door. The walls are starting to come apart.

Speaker 4 Ben is on his feet, trying to reinforce the barricades. With hammer and crowbar, he works furiously.

Speaker 5 Harry!

Speaker 16 Harry! Give me a hand over here!

Speaker 4 Harry comes over behind Ben and instead of helping, grips the gun from Ben's back. Holding the gun on Ben, Harry backs toward the cellar.
Ben turns around, panicked.

Speaker 4 The things are breaking into the house.

Speaker 5 What are you up to, man?

Speaker 6 We got to get these things out of the house.

Speaker 14 Now we'll see who's going to shoot who. I'm going to the cellar, and you can run up here, you crazy bastard.

Speaker 4 His hand goes behind him to the cellar door. But at that moment, the ghoulish Karen leaps upon him with great thuds.
Karen is at Harry's throat. Ben is able to grab the gun.

Speaker 4 He levels off, trying to hit the kid, but a sudden wrench of the two struggling bodies, and Ben misses. Harry screams.

Speaker 4 A great clot of blood appears at his chest. Clutching the wound, he begins to go down.
He falls through the entranceway to the cellar stairs. He reels, grabs the banister, and begins to descend.

Speaker 4 We see his view as he falls, reeling, headfirst down the stairs. Ben, meantime, has flung the kid.
Karen with one heave against the wall. But things have broken into the house.

Speaker 4 Everywhere, the barricades are coming apart.

Speaker 4 Barbara, with a hysteria of event, has flung herself into the attack.

Speaker 4 She smashes a chair against one of the aggressors. It goes down.
She smashes and smashes it on the floor until there is nothing left of the chair.

Speaker 4 She climbs up, still swinging, fighting with Ben against the things that have come into the house.

Speaker 4 It is quite apparent that they cannot hold out. The attack rages.
They are overwhelmed. Ben grabs Barbara and pulls her after him toward the cellar.

Speaker 4 She is lashing and swinging, beating at an attacker, even as he drags her.

Speaker 4 Ben flings open the door to the cellar, and Helen is at his throat. He brings the gun up between their struggling bodies until the muzzle is against her throat and squeezes the trigger.

Speaker 4 She is blown halfway across the room. Ben and Barbara run down the stairs.
But Harry is sprawled in a pool of blood on the floor. He is dead, but beginning to rise.
Ben pushed Barbara back.

Speaker 4 She turned her head away. Ben raises the gun, and we study this as three evenly spaced shots rip the room.

Speaker 4 Ben is almost glad to kill Harry. He turns to Barbara, breathing hard.
She collapses against him and begins to sob.

Speaker 4 We hear faint pounding against the barricaded cellar door, but it is holding. The creatures cannot get in.

Speaker 4 The screen is black. There are sounds of birds.
Fainter sounds of dogs. Human voices.
Fade up quickly. Sunrise.
The morning after the siege. The sky is clear.
The rising sun is bright and warm.

Speaker 4 There is dew on the high grass of a meadow.

Speaker 4 Men with dogs and guns reworking their way up from the woods that surround the meadow. We do not see the posse at first.

Speaker 4 We merely hear their sounds, shouts, muffled talk, panting and straining of dogs against leashes. Sheriff McClellan's posse.

Speaker 4 A few men, some with German shepherds on leashes, finally come up out of the woods and onto the edge of the sunlit, dewy meadow. The wet grass has dampened the boots and trouser legs of the men.

Speaker 4 McClelland is perhaps the third man up from the surrounding thicket. He is a heavy man, mustached, breathing hard because of his weight and the difficult job of leading the posse through the night.

Speaker 4 He is armed with shotgun and pistol, and a belt of ammunition strung over his shoulder.

Speaker 4 He pauses, looks back into the woods, and mops perspiration from his brow with a balled-up, dirty handkerchief come on let's step lively now never can't tell what we'll run into up here he accosts a man just climbing up out of the woods the man wears an improvised sweatband carries a rifle and sidearm and has a walkie-talkie strapped on his back you keeping in touch with the squad cars george yeah

Speaker 14 they know where we are they should be intercepting us at the house good These men is dog tired.

Speaker 21 They could use some rest and hot coffee. Let's push along now.
The squad cars will be waiting with coffee and sandwiches at the house.

Speaker 4 The men push on across the field. Inside the house, Ben and Barbara have been dozing on chairs in the basement.
Ben wakes abruptly, thinking he has heard something, but he isn't sure.

Speaker 4 He sits up and listens more closely. From far off, there is the sound of a dog.
Ben listens for a long time. but hears nothing more.

Speaker 4 Outside, the meadow has become the apron of a cemetery. The The one Barbara and John had come to with the flowers for their father.
The posse is advancing, threading its way among the grave markers.

Speaker 4 A man finds John's skeletal remains near the spot where he had fallen. Down the dirt road and up a short grade is Barbara's car with a smashed window.

Speaker 7 It looks like this guy's car, poor fella, never had a chance.

Speaker 4 The men pass through the cemetery and over the wall, where several squad cars are waiting on the road.

Speaker 4 there are also one or two motorcycle patrolmen one of the men dismounts and hails mccleland hi county how's things going mcclelland advances and shakes hands stops a while mops his brow again the men begin to catch up and regroup the posse fills the bend in the narrow road

Speaker 9 sure

Speaker 21 glad to see you fellas charlie we've been at it all night

Speaker 21 But I don't want to break till we get in that house over there.

Speaker 20 We might be lollygagging around while somebody needs our help.

Speaker 7 We'll see first, then stop and get some coffee.

Speaker 12 Anything you say, Connie.

Speaker 4 Inside the house, Ben has sneaked up to the top of the cellar stairs. He listens there, very intently, not wanting to open the door because creatures may still be in the house.

Speaker 4 This time, for sure, he hears gunshots and a mumbled sound of what must be voices of approaching men. There is even what sounds like a car engine.
Ben bolts excitedly down the stairs.

Speaker 4 Ben wakes the girl.

Speaker 5 Barb, Barb, here, honey,

Speaker 10 there's men outside.

Speaker 5 I can hear them.

Speaker 10 He must be here to rescue us.

Speaker 4 Outside, we see the cause of the gunshots. The posse is flushing out ghouls from the pump house and surrounding area.
The squad cars have driven up.

Speaker 4 The posse is advancing across the lawn, guardedly, toward the partially destroyed old farmhouse. The men crouch and sneak up slowly, keeping their eyes fastened on the house.

Speaker 4 A loud, sudden noise stops them. They watch, stopped in their tracks.

Speaker 21 Shoot for the eyes, boys, like I told you before. Always aim right for the eyes.

Speaker 4 Inside, ready to shoot or swing, Ben has slammed open the cellar door. The force of his shoulder against the door has carried him into the living room.
Nothing.

Speaker 4 Only the ramshackle and destruction from the recent siege. He edges his way through the twisted wreckage and overturned furniture toward the front door.
There is no light in the place.

Speaker 4 His hand finds what is left of the curtain. He pulls it back and starts to peer out, but a shot rings out.
Ben reels, driven back, a circle of blood on his forehead, right between his eyes.

Speaker 4 Barbara's scream is heard from downstairs. Simultaneously, McClellan shouts, his face flushed with anger.

Speaker 16 Damn it, what'd you shoot for? I told you to be careful. There might be people in there.

Speaker 2 Nah, this place is demolished.

Speaker 4 There ain't nobody in there.

Speaker 2 I'm sure I heard girls scream from maybe the basement.

Speaker 4 Several men have advanced to kick in the front door. They step back and peer cautiously inside.
Their faces search the room. A patch of sunlight from the open door falls partially on Ben.
He is dead.

Speaker 4 The men look down at him, but step past him toward the cellar. They do not know he was a man.
From the cellar, they hear muffled sobs. McClellan enters and begins to inch his way down the stairs.

Speaker 21 Anybody down there?

Speaker 4 He draws his pistol, inches his way down the stairs. At the bottom, he confronts Barbara, sitting wide-eyed in a chair.
McClellan raises his pistol, aims it for her head, but something stops him.

Speaker 4 A tear in her eye. He lowers the weapon.

Speaker 16 It's all right, men. Come on down.
It's just a girl down here.

Speaker 4 He goes to Barbara, bends over her, looks at her, begins to help her up.

Speaker 4 Closing scene. with titles and credits.
Burning of bodies in the yard of the old house. Perhaps the burning of the house itself.

Speaker 4 In the background, against the scene of McClellan draping his jacket around Barbara and bringing coffee to her lips, we see Ben's body on a stretcher carried by two men.

Speaker 4 They lift it into the rear of a station wagon. It's too bad.

Speaker 20 An accident.

Speaker 4 The only loss we had the whole night.

Speaker 4 The end.