CHINA RED

by Bruce W. Durbin

  Jim looks at the people.

  Jim, "Why don't you all sit down and have a nice little rest?"

  Rachel, "One of the flight crew is in the cockpit..."

  Rachel nods towards Lee, "That's where he got the flight suit."

  Jim looks down at Lee and smiles, "Ah, Lee, you are a fuckin' pervert, aren't you?"

  Lee, "I'm a man of many facets."

  Jim walks away, as Ming looks at the people. He looks at Tommy, then Doug, then back to Tommy.

  Ming, in Chinese, "You work for him?"

  Tommy, in Chinese, "We're partners. Fifty-fifty."

  Ming, in Chinese, "Yeah, whatever. Where were you headed?"

  Tommy, in English, "Headed?"

  Ming, in Chinese, "In the stolen helicopter."

  Tommy, " How could you know that?"

  Ming starts to smile, then laughs, with Tommy quickly understanding his mistake.

  Lee laughs, "Amateurs."

  CHAPTER 62

  Six graves have been dug, with Doug and Tommy beginning to pile dirt onto the bodies. Timothy is nervous, as he looks around the area, then back at the bodies, which are being covered up.

  Ming, "Pilot, co-pilot of the cargo airplane, two scavengers, and..." Ming looks at Timothy, who stops moving, and looks at Ming. Ming, "Your friend and...pilot."

  Timothy, nervously, "Uh, yeah, too bad, I'm sure they all were good men." Timothy looks over at the dead TIGER, with Ming following his gaze. Ming, "Is there something you want to tell us?"

  Timothy, "Uh, no, I was just wondering, well, if there were any more, uh,

  animals."

  Timothy looks over at the helicopter, seeing the dead RHINO. Ming, looking at Jim, "Yeah, he's right, we should check the rest of the

  containers."

  Ming looks at Doug, "Take that vehicle..."

  Ming waves behind him to Chung's old vehicle, "Pull the rhino and tiger

  somewhere and bury or burn them."

  Doug tosses some more dirt on the graves.

  Doug, "Yeah, I don't think so. Out of decency, we've help you bury these,

  these people, but...the animals? Leave them."

  Timothy is nervous, as he looks around.

  Timothy, "He's right and there's nothing else we can do here. We should

  leave and, well, we can report the location to the authorities for them to, to clean this, this up." Jim walks up to them, shaking his head, "Radio in the airplane is shot and that vehicle, it won't start."

  Jim looks around the area, then up at the sun, which is rapidly starting to set.

  Jim, "We'll stay here tonight, then start walking out tomorrow morning."

  Timothy, "We still have several hours of sunlight left. I think, I think it would be better if we started...NOW. With these dead people and the dead animals...the blood will draw more...more animals."

  Tommy, "Maybe you want to tell us what was REALLY in that container. I mean, you wearing a gas mask and all."

  Timothy looks at Tommy, giving him a hard look. Timothy looks around, then slightly laughs, "You know? Allergies? Afraid of the swine flu? Chicken flu, and..."

  Tommy, "When Rachel and I were inside the airplane, I had to kill one of the looters."

  Jim, "Are you sure he was a looter or was he your...competition?"

  Doug, to Jim, "Fuck you. Tommy? What happened?"

  Tommy, "Guy was missing his arm and no way he could be walking, but he was. He was dead and he wouldn't stop, until I put a pry bar through his head....he was a fuckin' zombie."

  Lee, softly, "China White."

  Everyone looks at Lee.

  CHAPTER 63

  Tommy looks at Lee, "Heroin?"

  Lee shakes his head, "Isn't that the name of the...wine?"

  Ming, "Yeah, so?"

  Timothy is looking very nervous.

  Lee, "I heard a story. A couple of months ago..."

  Timothy, "Really? We're going to start telling stories? We need to get out

  of here, before..." Lee, "There was this professor. Had searched all over China for this legend..."

  Timothy, getting upset, "It wasn't a legend and..."

  Timothy stops, seeing that everyone has turned towards him. Timothy turns away.

  Lee, "The legend of China White, the legend of China Black. A hundred years ago...a thousand years ago, some warriors developed a..."

  Lee slowly looks at each person, as he smiles, "Wine, a wine like none other. A wine to grant them immortality, but..."

  Lee looks at each person, with a hard look.

  CHAPTER 64

  Several EMPEROR WARRIORS, dressed in ancient battle gear, are drinking from clay vases of wine.

  Suddenly, several ENEMY WARRIORS, dressed in different colored battle gear, appear from different directions.

  An intense battle quickly begins.

  Lee's voice, "Everyone wants to live forever, so...the warriors had to fight."

  EMPEROR WARRIOR #1 is stabbed through the chest with a sword and falls to the floor.

  ENEMY WARRIOR #2 spins around, starting to fight with EMPEROR WARRIOR #3, when the dead EMPEROR WARRIOR #1 gets up, moves towards ENEMY WARRIOR #4, and rips his throat open.

  EMPEROR WARRIOR #1 drops the now dead ENEMY WARRIOR #4 to the ground, then starts to move towards another ENEMY WARRIOR #5, when the dead ENEMY WARRIOR #4 gets up and continues fighting.

  Lee's voice, "They couldn't be killed, they had found the secret...China White, but...their enemies, they also couldn't be killed."

  The scene is very bloody, as the living and dead WARRIORS fight each other.

  CHAPTER 65

  At the crash site, it's now late afternoon, with Timothy visibly nervous. Timothy, "Legend, it was just a legend."

  Lee, "Yes, just a legend, but the story I heard..."

  Timothy, getting angry, "Enough of the stories. You're just, just a, a

  common gangster, what would you know of..." Lee, "A couple of months ago, my, my organization was approached to provide..."

  Lee gives Timothy a forced smile, "Transportation...for something, something that the..."

  Lee struggles and looks directly at Timothy.

  Lee, "Professor had found and was trying to hide, but something he wanted to get out of China, back to the United States. Involved lots, lots of money." Timothy swallows hard.

  CHAPTER 66

  The CHINESE WORKERS have put several crates onto an old truck. Timothy motions for Seth to come over and he whispers something to him. Seth slightly frowns, as he looks back at the CHINESE WORKERS, who are talking amongst themselves.

  Seth looks back at Timothy, who has a firm look on his face. Seth slightly nods his head, then moves over to the CHINESE WORKERS.

  Seth motions for the CHINESE WORKERS to follow him.

  Lee's voice, "Seems that after the good professor..."

  Seth and the CHINESE WORKERS disappear from view.

  Lee's voice, "Found the China White, he..."

  There is the sound of rapid gunfire.

  There's a brief pause and then Seth reappears, without the CHINESE WORKERS.

  Lee's voice, "He killed all of the workers."

  CHAPTER 67

  Everyone is looking at Timothy.

  Tommy, softly, "Know what's worse than a thief?....a killer." Lee, "Then, he needed someone, experienced in smuggling items out of

  China to...help him. That's when he called one of my associates, but..." Lee slightly frowns, as he shakes his head, "We declined..." Lee looks at Timothy, with a hard look, "After paying the families of the

  workers for their loss...any additional business dealings didn't seem to make very much sense." Lee slightly smiles, as he looks at Rachel, "Even brutal killers, like myself, have...standards."

  Lee laughs, as Jim and Ming look at Timothy.

  Ming, "Is it true?"

  Timothy, "You believe him? He's a cold, blooded killer. A criminal..."

  Tommy, "I saw the zombie..."

  Tommy looks at Rac
hel, who nods her head, "The man was dead, but..."

  There's a noise, with everyone jerking around and seeing the TIGER, which is struggling to get to its feet.

  Ming and Jim quickly begin firing at the TIGER, but the bullets have no effect.

  The TIGER gets to its feet and lets out an unnatural ROAR. Everyone starts backing up.

  Jim, "Get everyone inside the plane."

  Ming hurries and begins moving the people towards the airplane, but Doug stands there, with the shovel in his hands, as the TIGER starts to approach.

  Jim fires more bullets, hitting the TIGER, but having no effect. Ming has managed to get everyone inside the airplane, except Lee, who is still on the ground.

  Lee, "Hey, hey..."

  Jim turns slightly, seeing Lee.

  Jim, to Doug, "Get him to the airplane."

  Doug takes the shovel, puts it on the ground at an angle, and then slams his foot onto the handle.

  Jim, to Doug and louder, "I said, get him in the fuckin'..."

  Doug breaks the shovel part, leaving a jagged pole.

  The TIGER continues walking towards them, getting closer to Lee.

  Doug quickly moves up, raises the pole and slams the jagged end into the TIGER's eye. TIGER roars, then drops to the ground.

  Doug twists the pole, then jerks it free. He turns slightly, looking at Jim.

  Doug, "Haven't you ever seen a zombie movie? The head...you gotta hit them in the head."

  Doug moves past Jim, heading towards the airplane.

  Jim looks at the TIGER, then down at Lee. Jim moves and helps Lee to his feet.

  CHAPTER 68

  The sun is quickly descending, as the Village Men stop and look around. Several of the men point in the direction they've traveled, then point in the direction, where they believe the crash to be.

  The men softly talk to each other, as though there's a disagreement about continuing or going back to the Village.

  Village Man #1, in Chinese, "We will camp here tonight."

  Village Man #2, shaking his head and in Chinese, "No, we should back to the village....this makes no sense...it's not worth the money."

  Village Man #1, in disbelief and in Chinese, "Not worth the money? Any money will help us. The sale of our rice this year will be much less than last year...we don't get the reward, we won't eat."

  Several men softly talk.

  Village Man #2, in Chinese, "Alright, we've come this far...we will see it to the finish, but..."

  Village Man #2, gives Village Man #1 a hard look and in Chinese, as he points in the direction of the crash, "I feel that this thing we're doing, it is bad. Whatever crashed, it was meant to crash. We should leave it alone."

  Village Man #1, with an evil smile and in Chinese, "You're afraid."

  Village Man #2, in Chinese, "Yes, I'm afraid, because taking whatever crashed is the same as robbing a dead man's grave....we will cursed. This, what we're doing, it's wrong. No good will come from it."

  Village Man #1, in Chinese, "We will camp and..."

  Village Man #2, in Chinese, "No...if we're going to do this, then we should continue....now. If there is something of value, then we should be there first."

  Village Man #2 looks around at the other men, in Chinese, "We've all traveled in the dark and we know the trail. Doesn't it make more sense to keep going, rather than sleeping here?"

  The men seem to think, then they all nod their heads.

  Village Man #1, in Chinese, "Then we will continue."

  Village Man #1, in Chinese and looking at Village Man #2, "You're just afraid of the dark."

  CHAPTER 69

  Inside the airplane, Jim pushes Lee inside the airplane, seeing that everyone is sitting down, with their heads slightly bowed down.

  Jim shoves Lee to the floor, then moves to Ming.

  Jim, "We're going to need more weapons."

  Rachel, without raising her head, "One of the containers...it's filled with rifles."

  Ming, "Which one?"

  Rachel moves and gets up, "I'll show you."

  Doug and Tommy quickly get up, starting to follow Rachel. Doug still has the shovel handle.

  Ming, to Doug, "I need one of you to watch him..."

  Ming motions towards Lee, then towards Timothy.

  Ming, "And him."

  Doug, "Not my problem."

  Doug moves past Ming, continuing to follow Rachel.

  Tommy starts to follow, but then stops.

  Ming, in Chinese, "Watch them."

  Tommy looks at Ming, seeing a slight pleading look. Tommy nods his head, with Ming taking out a handgun and handing it to Tommy. Tommy is surprised, then smiles, as Ming exits.

  Tommy turns around, looking at Lee and Timothy. Tommy motions with the handgun for Timothy to move closer to Lee.

  Tommy, "I want you both together."

  Timothy slowly gets up and moves closer to Lee, where he sits down.

  Timothy, "This, this is all just a big misunderstanding. I'm a professor and I teach Cultural Affairs, not..."

  Timothy looks at Tommy, "Zombie one-oh-one."

  Tommy slightly smiles.

  Timothy, "Tell me. The man you killed? How was he acting? How was he..."

  Tommy, "I think you should be quiet."

  CHAPTER 70

  Outside the airplane, Rachel leads Jim, Ming, and Doug to a container, with Jim looking inside. He enters the container.

  Doug, to Rachel, "A zombie? Really?"

  Rachel, "Yeah, a zombie....I could have went to the Embassy Party, met some nice Foreign Service agent, drank some champagne and..."

  Doug, smiling, "Been bored. Come on, a ride in a stolen helicopter? Finding a crashed cargo airplane? Meeting a real life gangster? A zombie? It'll make a great story."

  The sun is quickly setting, casting the area in semi-darkness.

  Rachel, "I'm tired of WAR stories. I want to do some nice, boring, plain human interest stories."

  Doug turns and starts looking around the area.

  Rachel, "You know? Grandmother raises cats to..."

  Doug, pointing, "Look."

  Jim exits the container, with several rifles and some bags of ammunition. They all look, as Doug points towards the graves, where they see silhouettes of the dead, starting to crawl out of the graves.

  CHAPTER 71

  Doug starts to move towards the graves, but Ming grabs his arm. Ming, "What are you doing?"

  Doug, "I'll sleep better, knowing that those zombies are dead." Doug jerks free from Ming's grasp and starts walking towards the graves. Rachel swings her camera up and begins snapping photographs. Rachel, "You guys going to just watch him?"

  Jim and Ming look at each other, then hurry up to Doug.

  Doug reaches one zombie and drives the pole into his head. Doug twists the

  pole, but it's stuck.

  Doug looks to the side, seeing another zombie starting to move towards him. Doug struggles with the pole, but it's stuck. Doug hears a noise and looks to

  the other side, seeing another zombie moving closer to him.

  There's a gunshot and Doug watches, as the head of one zombie explodes. There's another gunshot and Doug turns to the other side, seeing that the

  other zombie has been shot in the head. Doug finally twists the pole, jerking it out, with the zombie dropping to the ground, as Jim and Ming move up.

  They begin shooting the remaining zombies in the head, as Doug also sticks the pole in the heads of a couple of zombies.

  They look around, seeing that all of the PEOPLE zombies have been shot/stuck in the head.

  There's a noise.

  They all jerk around.

  There's another noise.

  They all jerk around, seeing the RHINO, which is fighting to get free of the helicopter. Doug, Jim, and Ming slightly smile, as they walk over to the struggling RHINO.

  They shoot/stick the RHINO in the head, until it stops struggling. They all look at each other and slightly smile.

  Behin
d them, Rachel snaps more photographs. They turn and see Rachel.

  CHAPTER 72

  Inside the airplane, Timothy is shaking his head.

  Tommy, "What is it? What's wrong?"

  Timothy looks up at Tommy, "They, they can't be killed."

  Jim, "Yeah, well, they look dead to me."

  They look up, seeing Jim, Doug, Ming, and Rachel walk into the airplane. Ming is carrying some camping lanterns, which he sets down and turns on.

  Rachel is carrying some sleeping bags, which she sets down, as well as what appears to be a bow, with a quiver of arrows.

  Doug is carrying a box, which he sets down.

  Timothy, "China White isn't some..."

  Timothy stops and looks around, "Assuming the legend is true...China White doesn't act the same as the viruses depicted in American movies. As the monks discovered, you can't kill an infected person by merely poking them in the head and China White can be transmitted in a number of different ways, such as inhalation, open wound..."

  Ming, "Professor...I think we've heard enough. You can either keep your mouth shut or I can tape it shut."

  Timothy and Ming stare at each other, with Timothy crossing his arms, in defiance.

  Ming, "Good, now, we found some food and water. We'll have something to eat, get some sleep, then, in the morning, we'll start walking."

  The Village Men approach a slight hill and then move up, becoming silhouetted at the top of the hill. They just stand there, looking down and seeing the crashed airplane, the scattered containers, and everything else.

  The Village Men start to move towards the airplane.

  CHAPTER 73

  Inside the Cargo Airport Office, Supervisor is on the telephone, as he nervously moves in a circle.

  Supervisor, "Yes, yes, everything you asked...it has been done. A theft, a theft of all the cargo has been reported. The flight plan...it has been erased. There, there is no, no record of the flight of the...cargo...no, no there will be no search."

  The call ends, with Supervisor holding the telephone, as sweat beads on his forehead. He drops the telephone and wipes the sweat from his forehead, with his sleeve.