Germ Warfare

Written By
Joseph Crouch

INT. DUGOUT - MORNING

It is dark. Somewhere, out in the distance, we hear the boom
of artillery.
Inside, A LAMP is turned on, and the surroundings are
illuminated. We are in a DUGOUT.
An incredibly drained looking PVT. COLLIS sits hunched,
fervently scribbling on some paper.
PVT. COLLIS - (V.O.)
I do not know how to start this
letter. Only that it must be
written. I am not to post this in
the hopes that should something
happen to me, it is perhaps found
on my person. It strikes me now,
that this will be my final
correspondence. I write this only
so that someone knows what happened
here. I am alone now...and the
Germs are coming.
FADE TO BLACK.
PVT. COLLIS (V.O.)
We were supposed to stop them in
their tracks, eradicate all
disease. That's what we were told.
An' at first we did. Culling them
before they could even reach the
cell wall, saving millions from
annihilation, but then the tides
changed...Our weapons began to have
no effect, until finally, We were
left here to hold the line whilst
the others left to develop stronger
ones. It were me, PEN, DOX, VANCO
and PIPER. But, now they're dead
an' I'm all that's left...
CUT TO:
[A SERIES OF STILL IMAGES, SHOWING THE DEATHS OF THE
SOLDIERS]
- PVT. COLLIS, PVT. PEN, PVT. DOX, PVT. VANCO and SGT. PIPER
are flattened along the trench wall. SGT. PIPER keeps
lookout.
- SGT. PIPER is snatched away, past the barbed wire, to the

precipice of NO MAN'S LAND.

PVT. COLLIS (V.O.)

SGT. PIPER was taken. Out past our
limits, where the rest of us dared
not follow. We hadn't expected they
would reach us. At first, they were
small, manageable, even. We were
strong. We slew them, and their
bodies piled high.
- The other soldiers fire on the tiny assailants, killing
many of them.
- PVT. PEN is on lookout.
PVT. COLLIS (V.O.)
PEN was the first to notice our
folly. They came for their dead. He
was as pale as if Old Hob himself
had come to visit. He said he could
hear them, eating their own.
Stripping them bare. Changing.
Adapting.
- Then he isn't.
PVT. COLLIS (V.O.)
The next morning, PEN was gone. We
looked for signs, Only to have one
of the creatures attack us. It was
different, larger. Harder to put
down. Our rifles barely pierced its
hide...
- A savage creature is attacking the soldiers. It has PVT.
DOX and PVT. VANCO in its grasp.
- PVT. COLLIS kills the creature.
PVT. COLLIS (V.O.)
...I killed the one that got DOX
and VANCO. But, that's it. I'm the
last. The last at the cell wall.
We've got to stop them multiplying,
breaking through and turning my
home into a breeding ground for
more of em' with nothing holding
them back.

- On the horizon he sees multiple, larger creatures.

PVT. COLLIS (V.O.)
I only hope I can outlast them,
hope that they build stronger
weapons, fast enough, before it's
too late.

CUT TO:
INT. DUGOUT - NOW
PVT. COLLIS finishes his letter, wra ps it in an envelope
and puts it in his pocket.
PVT. COLLIS (V.O.)
If only we'd held back. If we
hadn't been so damned concerned
with winning the battles and more
concerned with winning the war. We
only made them stronger in our zeal
to eradicate them. Blast. I think
they're coming.
PVT. COLLIS turns the lamp off.
PVT. COLLIS (V.O.)
This is PVT. COLLIS, last upon the
Cell Wall, goodbye and godspeed.
Outside, the ground booms. The boards fortifying the dugout
creak, dirt falls from the ceiling.
FADE TO BLACK.