#s7m34

[zrtranscripts]

Season 7, Mission 34: We'll Meet Again

Celebration

SAM YAO: Hello, Colonel Sage! Good to have you on comms again.

COLONEL SAGE: Thank you, Sam. It's good to be back in the field and running alongside you, Runner Five. Jones asked me to pass on his sincere and heartfelt apologies for being taken in by that rogue element in the ANNIE device. He has good in his heart, but he's suspicious where he should be open and trusting where he should be cautious. I've had a chance to talk with him as he works on the cliff excavations, and I think he's understood where he went wrong. I'm sorry you went through that, Five. I'm pleased to see you.

SAM YAO: Yeah, we all are. It was a near thing. Still, lots to celebrate today. Veronica's got some good leads on the V-type problem. The country's coming together at last, and the Exmoor Militia are welcoming the Undaunted home.

COLONEL SAGE: I'm grateful to you for introducing me to the Exmoor Militia. Their accomplishments make them a good choice to form a country-wide government. I want to know them. They're understandably cautious about outsiders, but they do trust Abel. I'm very happy to be here today.

SAM YAO: Yeah. You've done a lot for us. I mean, saving Five and Maxine from the goo would have been enough for us to owe you one, really. Not to mention the necropolis, and Peter. [laughs] We owe you several.

COLONEL SAGE: My settlements have enough volunteers with navy experience to form a full replacement crew for the Undaunted. Give the Exmoor family members a chance to come onto dry land. It's an offer I'm happy to make to cement trust. We so badly need one single organizing principle to unite against the next V-type horde. With the Exmoor families reunited, it will be time to suggest that they take a leading role in government.

SAM YAO: [laughs] Yeah, well, they're going to find it hard to turn that down. If you and Five speed up, you may just beat the Undaunted to port. The entrance is through the flowered arch at the end of this next field.

SAM YAO: Well, Jules is supposed to meet you there on the pier. I don't know how she'll get through that crowd.

COLONEL SAGE: It's an impressive celebration. How did they find so much bunting?

JULES: We do still have resources. Colonel Sage, is it not?

COLONEL SAGE: Yes, and I -

JULES: Five, good to see you. As for your company, any friend of Abel's is... allowed within our borders.

COLONEL SAGE: Thank you. And wonderful job with your security. I didn't know a noisy celebration like this would be possible in the apocalypse.

JULES: We've drafted in more citizens to work on our security. Five, I do hope you'll stay to watch the ceremony. I'm giving a toast to Harry and the others. We've even got champagne. I'm sure the crew will think it's too much, but we're happy to have them home, even for a short while.

COLONEL SAGE: On that note, I have a proposition -

JULES: No time now, Colonel. I'll talk to you after the ceremony.

SAM YAO: Oh, hang on. Wait. Janine just gave a message for Jules.

COLONEL SAGE: Well, she's gone, Sam. Lost in the crowd.

SAM YAO: Bother. Yeah, well, apparently someone on Rofflenet is reporting suspicious activity in a building near you. [laughs] Actually, they were complaining about weird smells and gurgling. It sounds more like, well, you know, dodgy plumbing. But Janine wants me to be extra thorough today. Uh... yeah, I'll message you through to Exmoor HQ.

COLONEL SAGE: Tell them Five and I can handle it. If it turns out to be serious, we'll alert them immediately.

SAM YAO: Yeah, all right. It's a gray building just off the pier. Flat 302. If you check it out quickly, you should be back in time for champagne!

COLONEL SAGE: 306, 304... 302. This is the flat.

[door opens and closes]

SAM YAO: See anything suspicious?

COLONEL SAGE: Nothing in the sitting room. Sofa, chairs, table. There – there is an odd smell, I'll grant you. Can't quite place it. [door creaks open]  Runner Five, in here.

SAM YAO: What is it?

COLONEL SAGE: Bathroom. Runner Five, look at that. Residue of blood in the bath. What is that smell? There's a green container here, Sam, labeled "Comansys." Empty, smells of... oh, I know. It's celery. How odd.

SAM YAO: Oh crap. Comansys! Celery smell. That's exactly what you said that stuff in Moonchild's labs smelled of, Five. The stuff that made the fungus grow really fast. Oh crap. I think I've worked something out. Accelerant, zombie blood. Colonel Sage, this is very serious. I know we said the Last Riders were all gone, but this sounds to me like someone's been mixing up one of their "turn into a zombie fast" cocktails.

COLONEL SAGE: No, the Last Riders are all gone now. I've spoken to your friend Kytan. He's worked with the remainder. The whole evil horde of them has been purged from the system.

SAM YAO: Well, maybe this is the last Last Rider, waiting undercover to strike.

COLONEL SAGE: This is the force of chaos. This is what I've spent my life fighting, and yet it rises and rises. This person will want to do maximum harm. They will be in that crowd of joy and celebration.

SAM YAO: If they take the pill in that crowd, it'll be carnage! I'll radio to Exmoor security.

COLONEL SAGE: Five, come with me. If we head over to that tower overlooking the pier, we may spot suspicious movements in the crowd and help the security forces identify the Rider. Run!

[speaker squeals]

JULES: We are proud of what we've accomplished together. The bonds from charity auctions and play groups became strategy meetings and lines of defense. We survived.

COLONEL SAGE: Sam, Five and I are in position on the tower. Patch us through to Exmoor security.

SAM YAO: I can't reach them. No one's answering! Something must be blocking my transmissions. I'll keep trying. I'm putting messages on Rofflenet. I don't know what to do! If you shout or cause a panic, whoever it is will definitely take the pill. But what can we do?

COLONEL SAGE: All right. This person has not taken the pill yet. He or she must be waiting for their perfect moment. That means we still have a chance. Five, I'll scan the crowd. I'm trained in neuro-linguistic programming and body language. There are signs of an attacker like this. An overconfident stride, a nervous tic. Someone who seems to be waiting, watching. Within the celebration, but apart from it.

SAM YAO: What if it's just a person who got distracted by a butterfly?

JULES: But survival alone has never been our style. We began to thrive. We built a settlement that the Undaunted is proud to come home to.

COLONEL SAGE: Five, that one there! A man in a security jacket, of course! He would have to access the security radios to block your transmissions, Sam! See him, Five? Red cap, ignoring the speech, walking into the middle of the crowd, tapping his pocket.

SAM YAO: If that's the guy, I will actually start to believe you can do magic.

COLONEL SAGE: We have to try and bring him down before he takes his pill. Sam, keep trying to raise security forces by any means you can. Five, run with me now.

COLONEL SAGE: We're almost there. Five has a knack for weaving in and out of crowds.

JULES: I will now read a list of those we have lost in our struggle before we raise our glasses to toast them. Marjorie Reinhardt, who ran our northern border defense until her encounter with a so-called "fast zombie." She is survived by her sister Georgie on the Undaunted.

LAST RIDER: Get off me!

COLONEL SAGE: Got him. Great job, Five. He won't be moving a muscle in that hold. Now you, where is your zombie pill? If you hand it over, things will go easier for you. Five, empty his pockets.

LAST RIDER: Congratulations. You arrived just in time.

COLONEL SAGE: What are those things in his pockets, Five? Champagne corks. No!

SAM YAO: Oh God. He's dosed the champagne. But everyone's got a glass.

LAST RIDER: Three cheers for the fallen!

COLONEL SAGE: Exmoor Militia -

[crowd cheers]

LAST RIDER: Hip, hip, hooray!

COLONEL SAGE: Don't drink!

LAST RIDER: No tomorrows!

[crowd applauds]

SAM YAO: They'll never hear you over that. You need to get out of there now.

COLONEL SAGE: If we head for the front, we can warn everyone over the microphone. Come with me, Five. Run!

COLONEL SAGE: Come on, Five, faster! We're nearly there! Jules, please stop!

JULES: And so everyone, please. A toast to all of us. Undaunted.

COLONEL SAGE: No! No, don't drink!

[glasses clink, glass shatters]

JULES: Colonel? Five? What's wrong? Please, everyone, hold off on your toast for a moment.

[zombies growl]

SAM YAO: Oh no, no! They're V-types. No!

COLONEL SAGE: We're too late!

JULES: Too late for what?

COLONEL SAGE: A Last Rider. He put a zombie pill into the champagne. He must have done it before we arrived. I'm – I'm so sorry! We have to evacuate now. Everyone we can now!

JULES: No. Not now. Not here. Not us.

SAM YAO: I can hear the security forces, but they can't hear me. People are turning gray all over the settlement. Families attacking each other, people trying to run, but being trapped by the crowd. It's – it's horrible.

COLONEL SAGE: Not everyone's turned. Not yet.

JULES: No! No, of course they haven't. Some will escape. And the children won't have drunk the champagne. They're all in the petting zoo enclosure with their teacher. Oscar's there. Five, you see? Please go and lead them over here through that fenced-off pathway. I'll direct everyone who hasn't been bitten to the Undaunted. [laughs]We'll have to do quarantine on board, but we'll manage. We... we'll... manage.

[speaker squeals] Everyone, stay calm. If you have not had the champagne, drop it immediately. Stay as far away from the zombies as you can and rendezvous at the center dock leading to the Undaunted. Oscar, darling, mummy sees you there with your friends. You just stay away from the fence where the zombies are. Yes, just like that. Mrs. Walsh, your teacher, will help. Mrs. Walsh? Runner Five is coming. Please, Five. I can't go to Oscar myself. Colonel Sage and I must help my people.

SAM YAO: Be careful, Five. It's chaos down there. That many zoms, that close together...

COLONEL SAGE: There, on the far left of the boardwalk. If you go straight down, you should get through untouched. If anyone can get to them, it's you, Five. Hurry. Run!

JULES: Five, get on board. That's the last of them. Thank you. Pull away from the dock. Undaunted, move. [submarine engine whirs] Oscar, darling, you ran so bravely. Well done. Do you have any cuts and bruises? Let mommy look. Stop wriggling and let mommy look now, Oscar, now.

You're okay! You're all right. No cuts, no marks. You and your friends did marvelously running with Five. And now we're all on the Undaunted and you get to see daddy. [laughs] Go down that hallway there. You see? Five, Colonel, thanks to you, all the children made it, and some adults. As many as we could wait for. And some may survive in our shelters.

COLONEL SAGE: You could go below, too. You should not have to see the destruction of your own community.

JULES: Someone has to bear witness. To think that I has just 22 names of the fallen to read this morning. [laughs]

COLONEL SAGE: I wish we could have done more for you. For all of you. I can offer safe harbor. Seaside Settlement, near to Banktown, is an offshore oil rig with maximal security. You will be safe there.

JULES: Thank you. On behalf of what remains of the Exmoor Militia, I accept. If you'll pardon me, I must write down my list before the names fade from my mind. The fallen include Elaine Walsh, who worked in the primary school. Amartia Nuzzaci, orchard keeper. Natalie Roman, fishing net weaver...

[pldubrahs]

I don't know what's going to happen in this mission (s7m34) but I'd like it to be known that I thought the whole ANNIE thing was Jones' fault (and maybe an accident) up to the VERY moment that Sage started apologizing for it. Idk but smth about the way he talked and the words he chose made me suddenly Incredibly wary of him