Earth Abides (2024) s01e01 Episode Script

1
[PENSIVE PIANO PLAYING]
[TRAFFIC NOISE]
[CROWDS ROARING]
[SURF CRASHING]
[SCREAMING AND CHEERING]
[JET ROARING]
[ORCHESTRA JOINS PIANO]
[MUSICAL THEME INTENSIFIES]
[ORCHESTRA FADES OUT]
[PIANO PLAYING ALONE]
[BIRDS CHIRPING]
["BEAUTIFUL DAY" BY AMOS LEE PLAYING]
Woke up this morning with
a bear inside my brain ♪
Scratchin' and a-clawin' ♪
Tryin' to get out of its cage ♪
There ain't no taming it ♪
There ain't no blaming it ♪
For its animal ways ♪
I let him out to play ♪
[ISH] This'll be the third time
to the south face of the quarry.
I know she's still
hiding traces of pyrite.
and today I'm feeling lucky.
Bound and gettin' on ♪
But I'm still tryin' to get along ♪
- [PHONE VIBRATING]
- She says to me ♪
She sees a sadness in my eyes ♪
- [VIBRATION CONTINUES]
- I was trying to hide it ♪
While I waited ♪
For the worst of it to fade ♪
It's a beautiful day ♪
Beautiful day ♪
A beautiful day ♪
Beautiful day ♪
[CROW CAWING]
[CAWING]
[STONES CLATTERING]
[SIGHING]
[HAMMERING]
[PEN SCRATCHING PAPER]
[SCRAPING]
I've been looking all over for you.
[ROCKS CLACKING]
[HISSING AND SNAPPING]
Aah! Fuck!
Ahh! Ahh!
[WINCING AND GASPING]
[RATTLING]
Gah! Shit!
Fuck!
Ah! Ahh. Ah.
Gotta get get out of here.
No, no, no!
Gah!
[GASPING]
[CRYING OUT]
[WINCING]
[CRYING OUT]
[SUCKING HARD]
[SPITTING]
Ah! [PANTING]
Gah! Ah!
[FOREBODING MUSIC PLAYING]
[PANTING]
[THUD]
Oh, son
son of a bitch.
Ah.
Fuck!
Fucking bitch!
[GASPING AND WHEEZING]
[PANTING]
[CLATTERING]
[GASPING]
[DRINKING]
- [GASPING]
- [BOTTLE CLATTERING]
[GRUNTING]
[WHIMPERING]
Breathe!
Fucking breathe.
[WHEEZING]
[HEARTBEAT POUNDING, DISTORTING]
[GASPING]
[UNSETTLING MUSIC PLAYING]
[SHIVERING AND WHIMPERING]
[GASPING]
[SIGHING]
[WATER RUNNING]
[WIND CHIMES RINGING]
[WEARY WHEEZING]
[UNSETTLING MUSIC PLAYING]
[WHEEZING]
[OMINOUS NOTE]
[FOOTSTEPS ON CREAKY BOARDS]
[KNOCKING]
[MAN] Is anybody in there?
[RATTLING]
[MAN] He's sick. Let's go.
[FOOTSTEPS RECEDE]
[WHEEZING]
[DISTANT HELICOPTER WHIRRING]
[HELICOPTER WHIRRING]
[HELICOPTER RECEDING]
[ISH GASPS]
[SIGHING WEAKLY]
[GRUNTS]
[SIGHS]
[GRUNTING]
[CLATTERING]
[SIGHING]
- [GASPING]
- [BOTTLE CLATTERS]
[BOTTLE RATTLES AND ROLLS]
[PANTING]
[CLATTERING]
[GRUNTING]
[SPLASHING]
[GASPING]
[BOTTLE CLATTERING]
[SLURPING]
[GASPING]
[SLURPING]
[GASPING]
[SIGHING]
Mom.
Mom.
Mom.
[MOANING] Mom.
[INSECTS BUZZING]
[PHONE VIBRATING]
[BREATHING STEADILY]
[EXHALING DEEPLY]
[EXHALING]
[SIGHING]
Jesus Christ, Ish.
Rip Van fuckin' Winkle.
[DISTANT THUNDER RUMBLING]
[DOOR OPENING]
[DOOR CLOSING]
[KEYS JANGLE]
[ENGINE STARTER CHUGS AND FAILS]
[ENGINE FAILS TO START]
[STARTER CHUGS]
[ENGINE STARTING]
[SEATBELT CLICKS, SIGHING]
[WOMAN'S VOICE IN RECORDING]
Since the beginning of time,
humans have longed to know the secrets
hidden within the land
upon which we stood.
To calculate its age and
understand its secrets,
and from this curiosity,
geology had its nascent beginning.
And while others looked to the stars
to divine meaning,
geologists have always
sought the treasures
that can only be found
by digging in the
[SWITCHING STEREO OFF]
[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
[TURNS ENGINE OFF]
[FLIES BUZZING]
[BUZZING]
[BUZZING]
[WHISPERING] Oh, my God.
[BUZZING CONTINUES]
[FLAPPING IN THE BREEZE]
[ELECTRONIC BEEPING]
[BEEPING]
No.
No! No!
[OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
[ENGINE STARTING, TIRES SQUEALING]
[RADIO STATIC CRACKLING]
[WOMAN] outbreak has occurred.
It is highly contagious and
lethal. Please shelter
[EMERGENCY ALERT BEEPING]
[MAN] by the Emergency Alert System.
This is not a test.
Citizens are advised to
take the following steps.
Stay alert to news
media events or local
[EMERGENCY ALERT BEEPING CONTINUOUSLY]
[BEEPING CONTINUES]
[DOOR OPENING]
[DOOR CLOSING]
[WIND CHIMES RINGING]
[CROW CAWING]
[WIND CHIMES RINGING]
[PEACEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
[DOOR OPENING]
[DOOR CREAKING CLOSED]
Mom?
Dad?
[STAIRS STEPS CREAKING]
[DOOR OPENING]
[DOOR CLOSING]
[GENTLE PIANO MUSIC PLAYING]
[FLIES BUZZING]
[BUZZING]
[GASPING]
- [GASPING]
- [BOTTLE RATTLES]
[GASPING]
[HE EXHALES DEEPLY]
[HE SOBS]
[PEACEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
[CRYING]
[DEEP, SHAKING SOBS]
[PEACEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
[SNAPPING]
[THROWING IT AWAY]
[GRUNTING INTENSELY]
[PANTING]
[CRYING SOFTLY]
[SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING]
[KISSING]
[CLICKING SWITCH]
[CLICKING SWITCH]
[TOY SINGING] Take
me out to the ball ♪
Take me out to the ♪
[ISH] "Alone."
It's a word I'd always liked.
It meant freedom to study.
to think,
to learn.
It meant quiet.
Now it's too quiet.
In the first season,
the grass grows tall.
If one were to give it 20 years,
it would become a
jungle of second growth,
but give it a hundred years,
you walk in a full-grown forest,
scarcely knowing that
man was ever there.
[FLIES BUZZING]
[CART RATTLING]
[THUMP]
- [SIGHING]
- [CART RATTLING]
[DOOR CLOSING]
There has to be someone
left in the city.
[ENGINE STARTING]
[ISH] As for man
there's little reason to think
that he can escape the
fate of other creatures.
[SIGHING]
[SEA BIRDS CALLING]
[TURNING ENGINE OFF]
[PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING]
During 10,000 years,
his numbers have been on the upgrade.
in spite of war, pestilence, and famine.
No. No! No!
[RAGING] No!
Wake up, Ish.
Wake the fuck up!
Wake the fuck up. Wake the fuck up, Ish!
Wake the fuck up.
[DOOR CLOSING]
[SCREAMING]
[HONKING THE HORN]
[LONELY MUSIC PLAYING]
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
[ENGINE ROARING]
[ISH] Biologically,
man has, for too long,
been rolling an
uninterrupted run of sevens.
[EXHALING]
[ENGINE ROARING INTO DISTANCE]
[FOUNTAINS SPLASHING]
[THOUGHTFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
[ESCALATORS HUMMING AND CLACKING]
[VOICE FROM MACHINE] Spin
to win, and win to spin!
[GAME SOUNDS OVERLAPPING]
Hit the dragon for maximum payout!
The more you spin, the more you can win!
Spin to win, and win to spin!
Hit the dragon for maximum payout!
Where the fuck is everyone?!
Hello?!
Hit the dragon for maximum
[FOOTSTEPS ECHOING]
[WIND BLOWING]
[WATER BUBBLING]
[SOPHISTICATED LOUNGE MUSIC PLAYING]
[DRUMMING ON COUNTER]
[POPPING CORK]
[SIGHING]
[POURING]
[WOMAN] Make mine a double.
Oh.
We've frightened you.
Uh. I apologize for not having, uh
[WOMAN] A naked body is
nothing to apologize for.
Milton, get me a robe from the pool,
for our new friend's modesty.
He's not my life partner,
if that is your worry.
Just my death one.
[SHE SIGHS]
Drink it. Quick.
It fixes almost everything.
[MILTON] Did you tell him
we're we're not married, dear?
- Come on.
- I think he knows.
[STOOL SCRAPING FLOOR]
Ann and I met here, truth be told.
[THUMPS COUNTER]
Both here on business.
Why?
Are we here?
"Immune" is the word.
"Fucked to hell" is the definition.
Did you sleep through the matinee, kid?
[ANN CHUCKLES]
[ISH] A little bit.
I was, uh, bitten.
It doesn't matter.
Missed about three weeks.
Well, that's not a problem,
because I videoed the news.
I. needed a record of
all this impossibility.
[ANNOUNCER] This is
breaking news from Channel 7.
The CDC issuing a Level 1 activation,
its highest alert.
[MAN] news has learned,
several breaking developments
in the mystery virus outbreak.
[MAN] There are no
longer any medical teams,
so we can't help
As I stand outside the hospital
reporting to you tonight,
the number of casualties
has exceeded our capacity
[ISH] I knew there was a new pandemic.
Vaccines weren't working.
[SNIFFLES] My parents called
me three times a day, but.
I thought they were just
stuck on the wrong channel.
Turns out, they were
all the wrong channel.
[OVERLAPPING NEWS REPORTS]
[ISH] And people were
getting sick, yes, but.
it wasn't supposed to be
the fucking end of days.
[ANN] The government overcorrected.
Went too scary on the first one,
and played this one down.
[MILTON] Once it had a grip,
it moved too fast for us to react.
The government is suspended
until further notice.
Good luck to you all.
[ISH SNIFFLES AS HE STOPS THE VIDEO]
I watched my daughters die on Zoom.
There. I said it.
Although saying it out loud, somehow,
makes it even more unreal.
Milt always makes it sound softer,
like a sympathy card.
But everyone's dead, hon.
That is the final score.
Not everyone.
And there's nowhere left?
Nowhere ♪
No one?
[ANN] You. Us.
Maybe it doesn't matter.
The Earth is done with us.
[MILTON] When we could
still watch the news,
it was only to see which
nation fell that day.
So whoever might be left is
out of time.
[ANN] After a while, you
just curl up and turn away.
[MILTON] Or
you slip out of all that sadness
and into a tall Martini, baby!
[ANN AND MILTON LAUGH]
- [MILTON] Ah, boy.
- [ANN] The martini helps.
[MILTON SCOOPING ICE]
The sadness remains.
[MILTON HUMS AS HE POURS]
You scared him away, honey.
I mean, really?
[CHUCKLES]
Where's he gonna go?
[SHAKER RATTLING]
[ELEVATOR BUTTON BEEPING]
[ELEVATOR RUNNING]
[SIGHING]
[ELEVATOR DOORS DING AND OPEN]
[JAUNTY ELEVATOR MUSIC PLAYING]
[SIGHING DESPONDENTLY]
[BLOWING TENSELY]
[EXHALING SOFTLY]
[GROANING GROGGILY]
[SIGHING]
Hello?
[GAMES WHIRRING AND DINGING]
Milt?
[GAME SOUNDS OVERLAPPING]
Hello?
[LOUDER] Guys?
Hit the dragon for maximum payout!
Hey!
Hello?
[EXHALING]
[CHUCKLING LIGHTLY]
I try to start my days down here.
Choose and shed a skin or two.
As if one of these skins
might actually carry me home.
[CHUCKLING]
I woke up knowing there's
a whole world out there
"Knowing."
[CHUCKLES MIRTHLESSLY]
You think these minks knew
they were headed for a hanger
when they were born?
A merger for all their little lives
into one big dead thing?
Turns out, all of us were.
Doesn't it matter you're still alive?
Just because my heart is beating
doesn't mean I'm alive.
Milton's waiting for us.
Oh, Danny boy ♪
The pipes ♪
The pipes are calling ♪
[KNIFE ON A CHOPPING BOARD]
When no one cares what
you do for a living,
or where you're from,
or where you're going.
Turns out, there's not much
for humans to really talk about.
[CHUCKLES]
Hotel was full, wasn't it?
[ANN] Probably 80%.
Once the HVAC finally gives out,
this hotel will give up its true aroma.
Your husband?
Died with the girls, back in Dayton.
I came here for a conference
on holistic healing.
[LAUGHING BITTERLY]
Talk about a "fuck
you" from Mother Nature.
[ISH] And Milt?
[ANN] His wife died here.
They were on my floor.
I helped as much as I
could, and he was grateful.
When we both were somehow survivors.
There was no reason not to stay close.
Is he a good cook?
The worst!
[LAUGHING]
There you are, my dear.
Here you are, my good man.
- Thank you, Milt.
- [MILTON] Mm-hmm.
And
- cheers.
- [ALL CLINKING]
[EXHALING]
We thought we were the
only two left on Earth.
[ISH] Maybe you are.
Well, we're three now.
No. I'm not staying.
It's a big country.
Not anymore.
[FOOTSTEPS RECEDING]
Ahem. I wish you'd reconsider.
We have,
we're guessing, a few more weeks
of the buried generators
running without interruption.
We have food and drink.
We have everything we need.
to get us to the end.
"The end"?
Ann and I have an understanding.
three days of hunger is enough
when you know there's nothing
that will ever fill you up again.
Why not stay?
Ann wants you.
Would makes things easier for me.
We can all play our part.
All of your math
is about this hotel.
There's a big world out there.
enough goods to keep
you alive for years.
On the Strip alone, you
could live for a decade.
Yes.
But would you want to?
When you've lost the only
things you ever cared about,
why would living feel better than dying?
[DROPPING HIS CUTLERY]
[SIGHING]
[BONE HITS PLATE]
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACH]
[ROMANTIC MUSIC PLAYING]
[UNZIPPING]
I could take you away from here.
[LAUGHING]
I wouldn't leave with you
if you were Jesus himself.
If you wanted to stay,
we could make your visit feel like
something.
Anything.
But I am here now to do one more thing.
and nothing will stand in my way.
One last thing?
To die, sweet boy.
Of course.
It's the only thing I
have yet to accomplish
on this fucked-up circle in the sky.
Now, if you'll help me
zip my dress back up,
seems no reason to upset Milt
after he's cooked us
such a magnificent meal.
[ROMANTIC MUSIC PLAYING]
[MILTON] Another one, my dear?
[GUNSHOT RINGS OUT]
[ENGINE ROARING]
[GUNSHOT]
[SCREAMING]
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
[ACCELERATING]
[BRAKES SCREECHING]
[TURNING ENGINE OFF]
[DOOR CLOSING]
[PANTING]
How fuckin' lucky are you?
[PANTING]
"Lucky" it fuckin' is.
[PANTING]
Let's go, boy.
Looks like it's you and me, kid.
Just tell me where we should go.
[LUCKY PANTING]
Fuck it. Let's go home.
[STARTING ENGINE]
[ISH] What does a man run to
when there's no more target to reach?
Is the only way forward
to go back, start again?
[BIRD CALLING]
To find, underneath the rubble,
the original words of wisdom,
broken tablets,
the forgotten songs?
Maybe the only way to survive the end
is to remember the beginning.
Please tell me you taught
us something worth learning.
[LUCKY BARKING]
Come on, Luck!
[THOUGHTFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
First time I've been
excited about doing homework.
[PUTTING BOOK ON TROLLEY]
Yep!
Come here. [WHISTLING]
[WHISTLING FOR LUCKY]
Lucky?
[CLAPPING] Come here.
Ohh! There we go!
Sit!
Ah!
[AFFECTIONATELY] Ohh!
[SNIFFING]
I got a feeling
these late fees are gonna
mean bankruptcy, Luck.
unless you're willing to get a job.
[LUCKY SNIFFING]
[SIGHING]
[LUCKY WHINES]
I don't know what the
hell we're gonna do,
but at least we're gonna do it together.
[ISH] Whatever comes next
will just be for Lucky and me.
Will we be enough?
["WERE YOU THERE?" BY
MAHALIA JACKSON PLAYING]
[LUCKY PANTING]
Really?
Finally got me to make a bed, Mom.
[PANTING]
[ISH] "Meaningless."
"Meaningless," says the teacher.
"Utterly meaningless."
"Everything is meaningless."
Ooh.
We're gonna die alone, aren't we, Luck?
Whoever goes second
has to promise not to eat the first.
We're the last-chance Texaco, Luck.
and no one's coming by anymore.
[ISH] Sometimes I hold my
breath and it feels like
all of creation is holding it with me.
No sound.
Not even a heartbeat.
I wonder if the Earth
if it has even noticed
that I'm still here.
[HOPEFUL PIANO MUSIC PLAYING]
[EXHALING]
[JOGGING]
[BALL BOUNCING]
Golden brown, Luck.
That's some Michelin-star
cooking right there.
Mm!
[ISH] The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north.
[BALL BOUNCING]
round and round it goes.
ever returning on its course.
Get it together, Ish.
[ISH] All streams flow into the sea
[WOOD SPLITTING]
Get it together.
Get it together, Ish.
[GIGGLING] Get it together, Ish.
"Get it together, Ish."
Get it together, Ish.
yet the sea is never full.
I read once that we hope for things
that we cannot actually see.
[BARKING INSISTENTLY]
That is what makes it hope.
[LUCKY BARKING]
But what happens if we see it?
What is the cost of that
hope changing into reality?
And what can take root in
the space between hope
and everything that
is still yet to come?
[CLOSING THEME PLAYING]