Screenplay: Apocalyptica (Scenes 1 & 2)

Scene 1: The Family Table

EXT. GARBAGE-STREWN BEACH – DAWN

A grayish-pink dawn light casts over a desolate beach. Trash is strewn as far as the eye can see. Waves lap lazily at the shore, nudging old plastic bottles, rusted cans, and crumpled wrappers.

We hear a young girl’s VOICE.

LITTLE GIRL (O.S.)

“Mom, do I have to eat my peas?”

The camera pans across the sand, focusing on a bird picking up a scrap of brightly colored plastic. It squawks and flies off.

LITTLE GIRL (O.S.)

(in a lower voice)

“Yes, sweetie. You need to eat your peas.”

The camera continues its slow pan to a shack, patched together with scavenged materials. It has no windows except for one small, square hole where a faint, flickering glow emanates.

LITTLE GIRL (O.S.)

(mock grumbling voice)

“Lypty, let’s try just one bite.”

INT. SHACK – CONTINUOUS

The camera pushes through the glowing window to reveal the source of the voices. The inside of the shack is dim but homey, in a resourceful, post-apocalyptic way. Flickering LED lights dangle overhead. Furniture is mismatched and battered.

At a small, rickety table, APOCALYPTICA (“LYPTY”), about 10 years old, sits surrounded by empty chairs. Her clothes are frayed but carefully mended. She wears a crooked hat with a wilted plastic flower stuck to the side. Her face is oddly clean, her eyes bright despite the gloom.

Lypty is playacting. She zips back and forth between chairs, mimicking the voices of her family:

LYPTY (as Mom)

“Apocolyptica, sweetie, eat your peas.”

She scoots to another chair and deepens her voice.

LYPTY (as Dad)

“Lypty, they’re good for you. Just one bite.”

She moves to a smaller chair, scrunching her face and waving her arms wildly.

LYPTY (as Baby Brother)

(squealing)

“Nooo peas! Nooooooo!”

Lypty hurls a fork across the room to punctuate Baby Brother’s tantrum. It clatters against the wall. She sighs and returns to her original seat.

LYPTY (as herself)

“Fine. One bite.”

She grimaces and spears a pea with her fork, shoving it into her mouth. She quickly eats the rest, as though getting it over with.

She collects her plate and places it in a makeshift sink. Pausing, she looks around at the empty chairs. Her expression softens.

LYPTY (quietly)

“Love you guys.”

She walks to the door. It creaks loudly as she opens it, revealing the vast, trash-strewn landscape outside.

LYPTY (cheerful)

“Okay. I gotta find some other people now!”

She steps out and shuts the door behind her.

INT. SHACK – CONTINUOUS

The camera lingers in the empty shack. It’s eerily silent now. The chairs sit still, mismatched and hollow, around the table. A broken clock ticks faintly in the background.

EXT. WASTELAND – MONTAGE

Instrumental music swells as we see a sweeping aerial shot of Lypty walking along the wasteland. The beach transitions into ruined cities, overgrown with weeds. Crumbling skyscrapers loom in the distance, surrounded by endless trash heaps. Lypty is small but determined, her flower hat bobbing as she treks onward.

TITLE CARD:

APOCALYPTICA

Scene 2: A Trail of Life

EXT. DIRT ROAD – DAY

Lypty trudges along a dusty dirt road, her tattered satchel slung over her shoulder. The bag looks stuffed to the brim with random scavenged items: pots, pans, old tools, and scraps of fabric.

She hums a little tune to herself, playful and off-key.

Lypty stops, kneels, and rummages through her bag.

LYPTY (muttering to herself)

“Let’s see… magnifying glass… string… emergency snack. And—”

She pulls out a small frying pan, holding it aloft like a weapon.

LYPTY

“Boom! Enemy beware!”

She swipes it dramatically at the air, pretending to duel an invisible foe. Suddenly, the bag tears at the seam, spilling a cascade of junk onto the dirt road. Pans clatter loudly, and random odds and ends scatter across the ground.

Lypty freezes, staring at the mess in mild shock.

LYPTY (after a beat)

“Oop, there it is.”

She picks up a monoscope, dusts it off, and squints through it. Satisfied, she holds it triumphantly.

LYPTY (in her dad’s voice)

“If you keep things tidy, you’ll never lose anything!”

She tosses the useless bag aside, grabs her monoscope, string, pan, and hand-drawn map, and marches down the road again.

LYPTY (cheerful, to herself)

“Let’s go find some people!”

She whistles a lively, made-up tune as she walks. She looks at her map, with question marks scrawled over places she hasn’t explored yet. She points to one area and heads that way. Montage of her passing everyday [destroyed] buildings, community areas, lakes, and it turns more rural as she goes.

EXT. FOREST EDGE – LATER

The dirt road narrows, giving way to overgrown foliage. Lypty scans her surroundings with the monoscope, mimicking the mannerisms of a seasoned investigator. She spots a broken branch hanging oddly from a bush.

Lypty crouches low to the ground, serious now, and crawls toward it. She brushes the dirt and finds a half-eaten berry lying near some disturbed greenery.

She holds it up like a prized discovery, inspecting it.

LYPTY (whispering to herself)

“Signs of life… someone or something’s been here.”

A sudden CRACK of a twig nearby snaps her out of her investigation.

Lypty freezes, clutching her monoscope like a weapon. The sound grows louder, closer.

LYPTY

(tense whisper)

“Who’s there?”

She crouches lower and holds her breath, her eyes darting.

CRUNCH. SNAP. CRACK.

The tension builds until—a DEER bursts through the underbrush. Lypty and the deer lock eyes. For a moment, both are completely still.

Then, they both scream.

Lypty’s scream starts as one of surprise, then turns into a giddy, excited squeal.

LYPTY (grinning)

“You’re real!”

The deer bolts, leaping into the brush.

LYPTY (calling out)

“Hey, wait!”

Lypty grabs the string from her pocket and quickly ties one end around a tree, leaving the other end trailing behind her like a lifeline.

LYPTY (to herself)

“Don’t lose it! Don’t lose it!”

She dashes into the underbrush, following the deer’s path.

EXT. FOREST – CONTINUOUS

Lypty scrambles through the dense foliage, clutching her string and monoscope. She catches glimpses of the deer ahead, its white tail flashing as it bounds over roots and rocks.

LYPTY (breathless)

“Wait!”

The forest grows thicker, darker. The sounds of the deer fade into the distance. Lypty slows to a stop, breathing hard.

She looks around, realizing how far she’s gone. Her string is tangled among the trees behind her.

LYPTY (softly, to herself)

“Oops.”

She untangles the string and peers into the forest with her monoscope, determined.

LYPTY

“If I were a deer, where would I hide?”

She sets off again, this time moving with more caution, her expression a mix of excitement and resolve.