Survivors (1975) s01e03 Episode Script

(EXHALING) Somebody should have turned them loose.
Hello? Get out! Get out, you.
Get out, damn you! Go! Go on! (CHICKENS CLUCKING FRENZIEDLY) Go on! Go on, damn you! Filthy lot! Come on! All this pathetic Go on, out! Shoo! Shoo! Ugh! (CHICKEN CLUCKING) Here, get out! Get out! Somebody's been here before you, boy.
Damn! (COUGHING) Lovely.
(EXHALING) Hey! Hey! Hey, you there! Come back! Come back, damn you! That's mine! Come back! Come here, I tell you! Come back, damn you! That's mine! That's my chicken! Gotcha, you little Stay where you are.
Don't come any closer.
He He stole my chicken.
The boy needs food.
Well, I need food, too.
Look Look, it's been two days since we've had anything proper to eat.
The boy needs something.
You've got a gun.
The woods are alive with rabbits and game.
There must be plenty more chickens on the farm.
-I'm having that one.
-No! -Hand it over.
-No, I told you, stay back.
You don't have to worry about the disease, I'm not carrying it.
How do you know we're not? Yeah Uh Eh? You You mean, you've got the Sickness? I've been ill for a few days, but not like the plague.
Something else.
We sheltered at an empty house for about a week.
I think the water might have been contaminated.
I'm not sure.
But it might be typhoid.
Oh, for God's sake, just leave us be.
Mmm, this is the first hot food I've had since Since Oh, I don't know, a long time.
What are we going to do about Anne? -Well, she wasn't in the barn.
-Well, did you look around for her? Well, what's the point? I'm not responsible for her.
Oh, she'll be all right.
She's the sort.
Who was she? Oh, just a woman I met.
Man who was looking after her died.
She had me marked down to take over from him.
Was it awful? London.
JENNY: Mmm.
Well, must have been bad in all cities.
Be a long time before we can go into any of them in any sort of safety, all those unburied dead and God knows what sort of disease building up.
Yes, but they say much of what we'll need is stored up in them.
Yeah, well, I suppose when people get desperate enough, they'll start taking risks.
Have you seen many people? -No.
-How about you? Well, I made contact with one group who were trying to organise.
There are eight or nine there.
Why didn't you stay with them? I didn't like what they were planning.
Anyway, I have to find my son.
That's really why I came here.
I needed a centre of operations.
Up until now, I've just been driving around aimlessly, hoping.
And then I thought, well, if I had a base, then maybe I could attract other people and they might have seen a boy, have news.
That's why I built the fire.
When you find your son What's his name? Peter.
When you find him, what are your plans then? Well, find a place to live.
Join up with other people.
We'll have to grow food and things, learn to look after ourselves.
I know we can't go on living on what's left, even if it was all available.
It may take a long time to get through, but it is a diminishing supply.
Yeah, but don't you think that that's a hell of a long way off? Yes.
But if our children and their children are going to survive, they're going to have to learn an awful lot of things.
-Where are you two heading? -We're not together.
It was really just until we found some more people.
That's been the worst thing for me, really, just being on my own.
I'd be glad of the company, if you'd like to stay.
Oh, I would.
Yes, I would, I really would.
Good.
Yes, well, I thought I'd do some scavenging today, try and find some more food.
And I also want to find some maps.
I can't go on searching haphazardly for Peter.
I've got to make a definite search pattern.
What about you? Yeah, well, I'd like to ride around with you for a while, just until I can pick up a car.
Yes, of course.
(SHOT FIRING) Stand still, blast you! (CAR STARTING) Ooh! Okay.
-All right? -Mmm-hmm.
It's coming through.
-Well, how's it going? -Slowly.
-Anything over there suit you? -Not at those prices.
I want something more rugged than that.
I prefer a Jeep or a Land Rover.
That's what you ought to get, too.
Yes, I suppose it will be handy.
-Let me do some.
-No, it's all right.
If it's always going to be this hard, there's not going to be a lot of pleasure motoring now, is there? Ah! (BURPING) (SIGHING) Like Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
GREG: Well, we're not the first.
(GASPING) Oh! Go on! Shoo! Shoo! Out! Out! No, you'll just have to ignore them.
(COUGHING) Oh, I hate rats.
Yeah, I'm not mad about them myself.
Stick to cans, and if things are wrapped, make sure the paper isn't broken.
Rats are disease carriers.
Well, I think we should just load up and get out of here.
And basic items only.
We haven't got room for luxury goods.
Oh, and take some of that dried milk, will you? Right.
(GASPING) No, we'll get what we came for.
Look, we can get what we want somewhere else.
-Everything we want is here.
-You just can't ignore that.
And that's a pretty calculated way to warn people off.
You'd just be damn stupid to ignore it.
It'll only take me 10 minutes to get what we need.
We've as much right to those things as anybody else.
It's not a question of rights.
Look, somebody's obviously laid claim to this place and they're prepared to kill to protect it.
And I'm telling you, I'm not going to get involved in any hassle about it.
I'll be as quick as I can.
You all right? Mmm.
It just made me feel a bit sick, that's all.
Yeah, well, we ought to get out of here.
-Well, what about Abby? -She's still picking things up.
She won't leave till she has what she wants.
-Well, I'd better go and help her.
-Look, help her? Look, just get her out of there, will you? Just try and make her see sense.
But the sooner we get what she wants, the sooner we'll get away.
Come on! Come on! You don't have to take all day! We're coming.
About time.
There are a few half-hundredweight sacks of flour in there.
Can you give me a hand with some? Couldn't you make do with what you've got? Oh, I'll get them myself.
(CAR APPROACHING) Abby? Greg? Mrs Grant, isn't it? Yes.
Yeah.
You know, Mr Wormley was a bit put out when you went off the other day.
He thought you were the right sort.
You could have been on his executive.
I told you.
I had to look for my son.
Oh, yeah, that's right.
Well, you're not going to find him here, are you? We needed supplies.
We couldn't risk going into a village or a town.
So you just come here and help yourselves, is that it? You just walk in, take what you want and off you go.
Yeah, well, there's nobody sitting at the checkout counter.
Don't get cocky with me, mate.
Anyway, you're in enough trouble as it is.
Trouble? What sort of trouble? Well, looting.
That's what we're talking about.
Looting? Well, that's right.
That's what it amounts to, isn't it? Well, that's stupid.
Under the present conditions, that word doesn't have any meaning at all.
If we could pay someone for the stuff, we would.
It's not a question of paying for it, it's a question of conserving, sharing it out properly.
I mean, for all I know, you could keep coming back, day after day, loading up and hauling the stuff away somewhere till the whole place is empty.
Then it's a question of, "I'm all right, Jack," while other people are starving.
Look, all we've got is just enough to last for a few weeks, and that's all.
It's still got to be rationed, doled out fair.
If you want food, medicines, petrol, provisions of any sort, then you come to Headquarters and you get a chit.
Well, that goes for everybody.
You sign a register, you get a chit.
Look, and just what the hell has it got to do with you? I'll tell you what it's got to do with me, mate.
We're representatives of the Emergency Administration.
We've assumed responsibility for this area.
Well, somebody's got to organise.
Somebody's got to take charge of law and order.
And is that your sort of law and order? (SCOFFING) We didn't hang him.
We found his body down the road.
But hanging him there makes a better warning than chalking "Keep Out" across the door.
That's disgusting! And what happens if we don't recognise your authority? You don't have any choice, mate.
We're the government in this area, whether you like it or not.
It's up to you.
You can come back with us to Headquarters and register as being residents in this area, and in which case, you'll be given ration books, which will entitle you to collect food from here.
Yeah, but otherwise, what? This will act as your first warning.
If you're caught looting in this area again, we'll take steps.
There was a state of martial law declared.
We're the authorities now, and we're in our rights.
Looters can be shot on sight.
They killed a man the other night.
He was executed.
It was legal.
And you'd kill us, just for taking food? I said we'd take steps.
Well, make up your minds.
Either you come with us and get chits for that food, or you can get out of this district.
I'm not going back to Wormley's.
None of us are.
(CHUCKLING) You'll come round to it sooner or later, when you get hungry enough.
And I shan't leave the district.
At least, I shan't be forced to.
Now, listen, missus, you'll damn well do as No, no, leave it, Reg, leave it.
Now, get that stuff out of your car.
-We're taking it with us.
-You're not, you know.
It's like Mr Wormley said.
If you're going to live in a community, you've got to learn to be part of it.
Reg, get our food out of the car.
Right.
No! No! -Hey! -You can't! No! No! Hang about.
Watch him, Milner.
Stop it! Leave me alone! No! I'm warning you, missus, I'll get nasty next time.
Ahhh! No! We've as much right to those things as you have! Ah, ah, ah.
Get down there! Go on! Now empty it.
Come on! Now throw it.
You're only being silly now.
Come on.
Come on, now, give me the gun.
You can have the stuff you picked out.
We'll forget about it this time.
Next time, you'll have to get permission.
She won't shoot.
Go on, Dave, take it from her.
Come on, now.
Give it to me.
We don't want trouble any more than you do.
All right, then, shoot if you're going to.
Right, over there, all of you! Move! You're in real trouble now, mate.
You just do as you're told and shut up.
Now, Jenny, load up the car.
And, Abby, you move their Land Rover.
We're going to be looking for you! I promise you that! We're going to be looking for you! I'll have him for that.
I'll fix the wheel.
Well, they won't be moving for a bit.
GREG: It won't take them long to change the wheel.
Yes, but I've got the ignition keys.
Do you think they really do have any authority? Yes.
That's what's really been bothering me.
Perhaps we were in the wrong.
Oh, come on.
They're no better than a criminal gang.
They just grabbed the chance to take over everything.
Yes, but if they do have some sort of organisation, I mean, we may not like what they're doing or what they are, but at least they've got some sort of order, and God knows we need it.
Are you saying we should join up with them? No.
Well I don't know.
All I do know is that if people form into small groups with definite ideas of their own and they meet other groups who disagree, then we have the makings of a war on our hands.
But not between reasonable people.
Like you said, there's few of us left and plenty to go round.
Just give it time and then all these communities will come together because they actually want to.
I hope you're right.
That's what I want.
Now that that lot are looking for us, what are we going to do? Well, we backed them off once.
Yes, we were damn lucky to do so.
Look, I don't like them and I don't like what they're doing.
But they're just feelings.
It's not a cause.
My only cause is to stay alive and find my son.
Look, you said, you told us about trying to sort of live together, form some new sort of community and learning things again, working together.
Well, that makes a damn sight more sense to me than living under some paramilitary group who are just out for power.
And I'll give you a shade of odds that a lot of other people are going to see it in your way.
Oh, I don't give a damn about other people.
I want to find Peter.
Was it me? No, just leave her for a minute.
Well, if it was something I said, I'll go and apologise.
No, just leave her.
(SOBBING) Here.
Sorry.
It just sort of all caught up on me.
And back there, well, I was terrified.
We all were.
You see, until then, I thought however dreadful it was, I had at least come to terms with the situation.
I was alive.
I thought I knew what needed to be done.
I tried to be absolutely realistic.
But in a way, however hard it was going to be, it seemed quite straightforward.
You mean, forming a settlement? Yes.
It seemed obvious.
I just couldn't believe that other people would have another solution.
I think your way is right.
I thought that those of us who were left would come together.
I mean, really come together.
There wouldn't be national interests, nor political, just a total unity and a sense of purpose in that one thing that we have in common, that we are survivors.
It should have been enough.
It will be, for some of us.
Oh, no, not for all, not by a long chalk.
I mean, those men, what makes their way so wrong? Perhaps we do need a powerful, even brutal, force to lead us, unite us.
Anyway, what I thought was so simple and straightforward isn't.
I'm confused, uncertain.
You're not, really.
You know your way is still right.
For myself, and I think probably for a lot of other people, we need your lead.
But I couldn't be a leader.
I can't be responsible for other people's lives.
I couldn't do it.
Then who else? Hey! It's not going to take them forever to fix that Land Rover.
He's probably right.
Do you want me to drive? No, I think I know the roads round here better than you.
You're the boss.
Try it now.
(ENGINE STARTING) (DOOR OPENING) I I haven't taken anything.
Only some food.
I was starving, see, but nothing else.
Yes, we're having something to eat ourselves quite soon.
-You're welcome to stay.
-Eh? Well, now, I don't know, but I tell you, I got things to do, see.
Well, please yourself.
I've seen you before.
-Have ye? Oh, yes, yes! -Twice.
Yeah, but I was being a bit cautious, you see, miss.
You were driving a Rolls-Royce.
Yes, that's right, miss.
I remember.
A Rolls? Why, yes, yes.
Well, look, to tell you the truth, it wasn't mine, no.
I took it to help some people who were sick, you see.
Anything I could do to help the sick people.
I'll bring some of the other stuff in.
Did you have the disease? Oh, no.
Me, miss? No.
I've always looked after myself, see.
Kept fit.
I mean, your health is everything, isn't it? That's why I always try and keep myself clean.
I don't want no germs, see.
I thought you said you were helping the sick.
Uh, yes, yes, that's right, miss.
Anything I could do to help the poor souls.
-Have you seen many people? -A few.
In the beginning, there were quite a few, and then, not so many.
I thought I'd see what was happening in London, you see, -so I took the car.
-Well, what was it like? Phew! Terrible! Any people about? Oh, none that I saw.
I got through to Blackheath, and there the roads were choked with traffic.
I had to drive across the grass.
I was going downhill, and then it hit me, the stench.
It was like a brick wall, man, like a wall.
I got out of there double quick, I can tell you.
Oh Yes, well, let's get on.
If you want to stay for something to eat, you can help unload the car and get a fire started.
Oh, yes, anything you say.
I always like to do my fair share.
I'll do more than pull my weight.
Just you say anything you want done.
Yeah, well, you can come and give me a hand.
I I'll be right with you, boy.
Right with you.
I think you might have a new recruit.
You see anything? Not a sign of anybody.
Chances are they've settled somewhere in this area.
If they'd been outside it, they'd have gone somewhere else for their food.
It's a very big area.
Yeah.
We'll have a wander round this section.
Is it all that important? Do you want to take charge? Take over from me? No, no.
Then shut up and do as you're told.
It was you that let that young tart grab that shotgun.
Anyway, this isn't official business any more.
It's a personal matter.
Think we'd let them get away with it after what they done to us? Anyway, I fancy that young bit.
I wouldn't mind either of them.
(CHUCKLES) (BLOWING) (COUGHING) You sure you're warm enough? You wouldn't like me to collect some kindling for the fire? Oh, no, we've got enough to see us through the night.
You haven't got a fag, have you? Oh, ta.
One of those two your wife, is it? No, I just bumped into them.
Oh, so now you're sticking together, eh? Well, I'm not.
I'll hang around for a while, I suppose, but I Well, I don't intend to take on a whole pack of responsibility.
-I don't want to get tied down.
-Quite right, too.
You want your independence.
You're like me, see.
I'd work like a dog for somebody for my own fair share, but nobody can buy my independence.
That's right, boy, pick some of the dry stuff.
I might take an axe tomorrow and get some cut.
I might get some fresh meat, too, rabbit or a chicken or something.
I'm pretty handy with a shotgun, see.
Oh, yes, I can see you're a pretty handy fellow to have around.
Oh, aye, aye.
I can turn my hand to most things, see.
I got a chicken three or four days ago, man.
I gave it to some youngster.
Well, I reckoned he needed it more than me.
A youngster? Aye.
Oh, a youngster, he was.
-He was camping with some older bloke.
-And where was this? Oh, five or six miles back in the wood, there.
And how old was the boy? Oh, nine or ten, something like that.
-Come and tell Abby.
-Eh? Come on.
-What, now? -Yes.
Hold it, Dave! Yeah, it could be them.
How far is it, do you reckon? Straight line, three or four miles.
I don't know by road.
We'll find it.
Keep your eye on it.
I'd come with you now, see, if it wasn't for the old leg.
You see, I'm not sure it would stand up to it without a bit of a rest, see.
All of you going, is it? Oh, well, now, don't worry about anything.
I'll have the fire going and some food ready by the time you come back.
Don't worry about anything, yeah? I'll take care of everything.
They might be gone by now, mind.
I wouldn't swear they'll still be there.
Hey, uh Uh Oh, well.
Please yourself.
You know, I think we should be a bit more to the right.
Abby, listen.
You know it's odds against being Peter.
Yes, but it could be him.
From the description, it The only description you've got is of a boy about 10 years old, wearing a blazer.
Now, that's all you've got.
Just be ready for it.
Ah! Is anybody there? Is anyone about? It's all right, Abby.
I'll go.
They've gone? They're both dead.
You'd better come and have a look at him.
You have to.
(VOICE BREAKING) It's not Peter.
(SOBBING) (DOOR BANGING OPEN) Where are they? They're waiting for you inside.
-What are we going to do? -Keep under cover.
But all our things are in there.
Don't go in there.
I won't be able to stop them if you do.
Have they got the guns? Look, just stay out of sight for a bit.
I'll get them out of there and away from here.
Thanks.
Dave! Reg! Quick! They came out of the woods, up there.
They must have seen the Land Rover and run off.
Leave it! We'll never find them in the dark.
DAVE: You sure it was them? JOHN: Yes, the man and the two women.
Well, they won't come back now that they've spotted we're here.
We'd better turn it in.
Where are you going? Come and give us a hand.
It won't take a minute.
Keep under cover until we've driven out.
Don't take any chances or you'll drop me in it, too.
This gent wants to come with us and register.
Yes, yes, I do.
See, I'm all for law and order, see.
I mean, I wouldn't have mixed in with this bunch of thieves if I'd have known.
Now, I wouldn't mind, mate, joining with your lot, see, me being ex-military, crack shot and all that.
Regimental champion, see.
Well, we can always use a good man.
Well, you don't have to look no further, boy.
Come on.
Right, then, let's go.
(SHOT FIRING) (SHOT FIRING) (AIR HISSING) (AIR HISSING) Why would they do that? I don't understand.
Yeah, well, perhaps now they've got it out of their system, they'll just leave us alone.
Yes.
Well, we'd better get on with the job of trying to get this lot cleared up, and then we can try and get something organised.
I'm not staying here.
I was undecided until now, but this settles it.
I want to start again, do all the things I said I would.
But I won't be able to until I know about Peter, one way or another.