NIGHT ON THE LIVING DEAD - ACT 3 “The Television Will Not Save You”

Summary

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Table Read: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD – ACT 3

Episode Title: "The Television Will Not Save You"
Podcast: Table Read (Manifest Media)
Date: October 29, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode of Table Read delivers Act 3 of the dramatic and suspenseful adaptation of Night of the Living Dead, immersing listeners in the tense climax of the classic script. Soundscapes and a full cast bring to life the chaos, fear, and human conflict that erupt as survivors seek rescue from a farmhouse besieged by the undead. True to Romero’s original vision, Act 3 pulls no punches as alliances fracture, hope fades, and social order inside the farmhouse collapses. The episode sharply illustrates that, amid apocalyptic horror, human nature is often the real monster.

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Key Discussion Points & Dramatic Beats

Tensions Boil Over in the Farmhouse ([00:04]–[04:17])

• The episode swiftly resumes after the failed escape and burning of the truck, setting a mood heavy with dread and mistrust.
• Characters debate whether to stick together, wait for rescue, or attempt escape, with Ben and Harry’s ongoing power struggle at the core.
• The presence of Barbara, traumatized and exhausted, adds to the emotional weight. Helen and Harry’s fraught marriage and Karen’s illness introduce further vulnerability.

The Televised News: False Hope ([03:00]–[07:58])

• The group manages to set up a TV, desperately seeking information.
• A Civil Defense broadcast provides grim details:
  • Attacks are widespread; rescue is unreliable.
  • Authorities advise to arm oneself and not wait for rescue.
  • Fire and shooting the undead in the eyes are recommended for defense.
• Sheriff McClelland’s TV interview is stark, blending dark humor with bleak advice:

  “All you gotta do is draw a sharp bead and shoot for the eyes. Or you beat them down, lop their heads off.” – Sheriff McClelland [08:33]

Escape Plans and Final Preparations ([11:47]–[15:59])

• Tense debates continue between staying put and making a dangerous break for a distant rescue station.
• The group scrambles to craft improvised weapons (Molotov cocktails) and a stretcher for Karen.
• Roles are hastily assigned; distrust simmers over who will get the only gun and who’s willing to risk betrayal for survival.

The Escape: Chaos and Catastrophe ([16:15]–[20:15])

• Under Ben’s direction, the crew attempts a fiery distraction, setting Molotov cocktails to clear a path.
• Tom and Ben’s fuel run goes awry. Tom accidentally sets the truck ablaze; chaos ensues, culminating in Tom’s fiery death.

  “Tom’s torch has inadvertently set fire to the Dallas truck. The flames begin to lick and spread.” [17:37]

• Ben barely survives, pounding on the farmhouse door for re-entry as the living dead swarm closer.

Violence and Betrayal Inside ([20:15]–[23:22])

• Ben and Harry, momentarily united to barricade the door, immediately turn on each other. Ben physically assaults Harry in rage:

  “Next time you try something like that, I’ll kill you.” – Ben to Harry [21:23]

• Grief, distrust, and desperation dominate the survivors.

Sudden, Unrelenting Horror ([26:41]–[29:02])

• Helen discovers her daughter Karen has become one of the undead in the episode's most chilling sequence.
• As undead break through barricades, Harry betrays Ben by stealing the gun and attempts to retreat—and is immediately killed by his zombie daughter.

  “Oh, now we'll see who's going to shoot who. I'm going to the cellar and you can rot up here, you crazy bastard.” – Harry [28:13]

• The barricades break and a final, futile fight erupts; the scene is frantic and visceral.

Climax: Tragedy, Loss, and Aftermath ([31:36]–[36:58])

• Morning brings a sheriff’s posse sweeping the area, their dialogue matter-of-fact and oblivious to the horror inside:

  “Never can tell what we’ll run into up here.” – McClelland [31:36]

• In a cruel twist, Ben, the lone uninfected survivor, is mistaken for an undead and shot dead by the rescue party:

  “A shot rings out. Ben reels, driven back, a circle of blood on his forehead, right between his eyes.” [34:43]

• McClelland’s team only finds Barbara alive. The episode closes with the disposability and tragedy of Ben’s death passing as "an accident."

  “It’s too bad. An accident. The only loss we had the whole night.” – McClelland [36:50]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Survival Advice Amid Chaos:

  “Don’t wait for us to rescue you, because if they get you too far outnumbered, you’ve had it.” – Sheriff McClelland [09:02]

• Ben’s Leadership and Fury:

  “Next time you try something like that, I’ll kill you.” – Ben, after slugging Harry [21:23]

• The Final, Bitter Irony:

  “It’s too bad. An accident. The only loss we had the whole night.” – McClelland, after Ben is killed [36:50]

• Barbara’s Despair:

  “We’ll never get out of here. None of us will never get out of here alive. Johnny. Johnny. Oh God. None of us. None of us. Help.” – Barbara’s breakdown [23:27]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Farmhouse tensions & TV setup: [00:04]–[04:36]
• Civil Defense broadcast & McClelland interview: [04:36]–[10:05]
• Team splits & escape rehearsal: [11:47]–[16:15]
• Molotov attack & failed rescue attempt: [16:15]–[20:15]
• Violence between Ben and Harry: [20:15]–[21:23]
• Preparing for the end, despair: [21:27]–[26:07]
• Karen, now a ghoul, attacks: [26:41]–[28:13]
• Barricades fall, all-out battle: [29:02]–[31:36]
• Morning posse & tragic resolution: [31:36]–[36:58]

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Tone and Takeaway

The adaptation, true to the original script's bleakness, is urgent, shocking, and deeply cynical about society’s ability—or willingness—to save itself, even in the face of shared threat. Human frailty, racism, mistrust, and official incompetence ensure a devastating outcome, underscoring Romero’s thesis that the real monsters are often within.

Table Read’s immersive sound design and committed performances make Act 3 a gut-punching reminder of the timeless, societal critique at the heart of Night of the Living Dead.

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For scripts, cast info, and behind-the-scenes insights, visit tablereadpodcast.com.

Transcript

[A]

Previously on Night of the Living Dead. The farmhouse turned fortress became a powder keg, and Ben was the man holding the match. Harry Cooper clawed for control. Ben demanded respect. The dead just wanted flesh. And when fear took the wheel out on that lonely road, the truck burned, hope died, and sunrise started to look a lot like judgment. Act three where the masks fall, the guns come out, and Romero proves the real monster was America all along. Act 3 the Cellar Door swings open. Helen and Harry step into the hallway. Faltering, they peer through the entranceway into the living room. Harry, standing behind his wife, is hostile, partially due to anger with himself because he has reneged on his decision about the cellar. Helen, too, is overwrought due to the emotional effect of the recent argument and to the fact that she's about to meet strange people in an anxious circumstance. But only Tom and Barbara are in the living room and Barbara, overcome with nervous exhaustion, is sleeping fitfully on the couch.

[B]

We can see the broadcast. I think if the TV works. I have to go help Ben.

[A]

Helen has gone immediately to Barbara, looks down at her sympathetically, brushes back her hair and pulls the overcoat around her shoulders.

[C]

Poor thing, she must have been through a lot.

[A]

Harry, during these moments, has been flitting anxiously all over the house, from door to window to kitchen to living room, checking out the actual degree of security and worrying about imminence of attack at any second.

[B]

I think her brother was killed out there.

[D]

Tom hey Tom, are you gonna give me a hand with this thing?

[A]

Tom startles, aware of his procrastination, and bolts for the upstairs to help Ben. Harry, pausing momentarily in his anxiety, comes over to where his wife is looking after Barbara.

[C]

Her brother was killed.

[E]

This place is ridiculous. There's a million weak spots up here.

[A]

We hear sounds from upstairs of Tom and Ben struggling with the television set. They are making their way down the steps.

[C]

I don't care. There's people up here. Why don't you do something to help somebody?

[A]

Harry, not really hearing her, is staring once more into the gloom outside.

[E]

I can't see a damn thing out there. There could be 50 million of those things. I can't see a thing. That's how much good these windows do us.

[A]

The truck driver, who with Tom has reached the landing with the heavy television set, has heard the last part of Harry's remark. He glowers even as he moves with his end of the burden, but says nothing as he and Tom gingerly deposit the TV in the center of the room. They hunt for an outlet, find it, then slide and walk the set until the cord is close enough to be plugged in. Ben kneels behind the set to plug in the cord.

[E]

Wake the girl up. There's gonna be a thing on the tube. She might as well know where she stands. I don't want anybody's life on my hands.

[C]

Harry, stop acting like a child.

[D]

I don't want to hear nothing else from you.

[A]

Mister.

[D]

If you stay up here, you'll take your orders from me and that includes leaving that girl alone. She needs rest. She's just about out of her head as it is now. So now we're gonna just let her sleep at all. And nobody's gonna touch her unless I say so.

[A]

Ben stares Harry down for at least a moment to ascertain that he is at least temporarily silenced. Then his hand plunges immediately to the television set. He snaps it on. The occupants of the room jockey for vantage points and there are abated few seconds of dead silence as they all wait to see if the set will actually warm up. All eyes are on the tube. A hiss begins. Increases in volume. Ben cranks the volume all the way. A glowing band appears and spreads, filling the screen.

[C]

It's on. It's on.

[A]

There are murmurs of excitement and anticipation but the tube only shows nothing. No picture, no sound. Just the glow and hiss of the tube. Ben's hand raises the tuning dial through the clicks of the various stations.

[E]

Play with the rabbit ears. We should be able to get something.

[A]

Ben fusses with horizontal and vertical, with brightness and contrast. On one station he finally gets sound. He adjusts the volume. The picture tumbles. He plays with it and finally brings it in full screen. Is a commentator in the middle of a news report. The people in the room settle back to listen.

[F]

Assign little credibility to the theory that this onslaught is a product of mass hys. Authorities advise utmost caution until the menace can be brought under absolute control. Eyewitness accounts have been investigated and documented. Corpses of vanquished aggressors are presently being examined by medical pathologists. But autopsy efforts have been hampered by the mutilated condition of these corpses. Security measures instituted in metropolitan areas include enforced curfews and safety patrols by armed personnel. Citizens are urged to remain in their homes. Those who ignore this warning expose themselves to intense danger from the aggressors themselves and from armed citizenry whose impulse may be to shoot first and ask questions later.

[A]

During the telecast there are mixed feelings and reactions, but these responses are sporadic and infrequent. Predominant mood of all involved is to learn as much as possible from the telecast.

[F]

Rural or otherwise. Isolated dwellings have most frequently been the objective of frenzied, concerted attack. Isolated families are in extreme danger. Escape attempts should be made in heavily armed groups and by motor vehicle, if possible. Appraise your situation carefully before deciding upon an escape tactic. Fire is an effective weapon. These beings are highly flammable. Escape groups should strike out for the nearest urban community. Manned defense outposts have been established on major arteries leading into all communities. These outposts are equipped to defend refugees and to offer medical and surgical assistance. Police and vigilante groups are in the process of combing remote areas and search and destroy missions against all aggressors. These patrols are attempting to evacuate isolated families, but rescue efforts are proceeding slowly Due to the increased danger of nightfall and the sheer enormity of the task. Rescue for those in isolated circumstances is highly undependable. You should not wait for a rescue party unless there is no possibility of escape. If you are few against many, you will almost certainly be overcome. The aggressors are irrational and demented. Their sole urge is the quest for human flesh. Sheriff Conan W. McClelland of the County Department of Public Protection was interviewed minutes after he and his vigilante patrol had vanquished several of the aggressors. We bring you now the results of that interview.

[A]

Fade and segue to videotape. Interview open on wide shot. A night scene. Dense woods. Posted guards maintain the periphery of a small clearing. Sporadic gunfire can be heard in the distance. Some of the men smoke, some talk in groups. The area is illumined by a large bonfire. Sheriff McClelland is the focal figure, medium close up, so that as he talks, we catch glimpses of activity in the background. He is shouting commands, supervising defense measures and the burning of the bodies at the same time, trying to answer reporters questions, we cut or zoom closer. McClelland is pacing around, not straying too far because a lavalier microphone is hanging on a cord around his neck. The crackle of the bonfire, the shouts and bustle of activity can be constantly heard behind his commentary. As he talks, he frequently turns away, his primary concern being his efforts in dealing with the aggressors and controlling his search party.

[G]

Yeah, well, this is a rough country for an evening hike, but things ain't going too badly. The men are taking it pretty well. We killed 19 of them today right around this general area. These last three we found trying to claw their way into an abandoned mine shed. Nobody in there but these things. Just pounding and clawing and trying to bust their way in. It's funny In a way. Must have thought there was people in there. We heard the racket and came blasted them down.

[F]

What's your opinion then? Can we defeat these things?

[G]

There ain't no problem. The only problem is whether we can get to them before they kill off all these people. But me and my men, we can handle them. Okay. We ain't lost nobody or suffered any casualties. All you gotta do is shoot for the eyes. You can tell anybody out there, all you gotta do is draw a sharp bead and shoot for the eyes. Or you beat them down, lop their heads off.

[F]

Then I'd have a decent chance, even if I was surrounded by two or three of them.

[G]

If you had yourself a club or a good torch, you can hold em off or burn em to death. They catch fire like nothing, go up like wax paper. But the best thing is to shoot em in the eyes. You know, don't wait for us to rescue you, because if they get you too far outnumbered, you've had it. And we're doing our best, but we only got so many men and a whole lot of open country to come.

[F]

But you think you can bring these things under control?

[G]

Oh, we got things in our favor now. It's only a question of time. We ain't for certain how many there are of them things, but we know that when we find them, we're gonna be able to kill em. So it's a matter of time. They're weak, but there are plenty of them. So don't wait for no rescue party. Arm yourself to the teeth, get together in a group and try and make it to a rescue station. That's the. But if you're alone, you gotta sit stock still, wait for help and we'll try like hell to get there before they do. Oh, tell them to shoot for the eyes. That'll stop them low.

[F]

Jobbers, you have heard Sheriff Conan W. McClellan for the county Department of Public Protection. This is your Civil Defense Emergency Network with reports every hour on the hour for the duration of this emergency, remain in your homes. Keep all doors and windows locked. Do not under any circum.

[A]

Ben reaches over and clicks off the television.

[B]

Why'd you click it off for?

[D]

Man said they only come on every hour. We heard all we need to know. We gotta get out of here.

[C]

He said the rescue stations have doctors and medical supplies. If we could get there, they could help Karen.

[E]

How are we gonna bust out of here? We got a sick kid, two women, one of them out of her head, and three men. And there's a million of them things outside.

[B]

Willard has a checkpoint there about 17 miles from here.

[D]

Wait. You from here? You know this area?

[E]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

I was working in the cemetery across the road. I'm the caretaker. Two of them things attacked me, and I hightailed it over here. Found everybody wiped out. Not too long after, these other people fought their way in here. And I was scared, but I opened the basement door and let them in.

[A]

Unbeknownst to everybody else, Barbara has been sitting up, listening. Now she speaks, startling them and gathering their attention. She has come down from her hysteria, but is very weak. You work in the cemetery? My brother is over there.

[C]

You poor thing. My girl is hurt, too. We have to get to a rescue station. The television told us we have to try and escape.

[E]

Well, I think we ought to stick right here and wait for a rescue party. He said if you're few against many, you don't have a chance. We. We can't tramp 17 miles through those things.

[D]

We ain't got to tramp. My truck's right outside the door.

[A]

This stops, Harry. There is a moment of silence.

[D]

But I'm. I'm just about out of gas. But there's a pump near the shed outside. It's just locked.

[B]

The key ought to be around somewhere. There's a big key ringing in the basement.

[E]

I'm gonna go look. The keys are labeled.

[D]

Is there a food seller?

[E]

Yeah. Why?

[D]

We're gonna need lots of jars. We can make Molotov cocktails, scare those things back and then fight our way to the pump and gas up the truck.

[B]

Going to need kerosene. There's a jug in the basement, too.

[C]

Barbara and I can help. We can rip up sheets and things.

[E]

Here's the key ring. The pump key is marked with a piece of tape.

[D]

Good. That settles that question. But we should take a crowbar anyway, in case the key don't work. The crowbar can double as a weapon for whoever goes with me. But I don't want to get all the way out there and find out the pump won't open.

[B]

I'll go. Yeah. You and me can fight our way to the pump. The women can stay in the center and take care of the kid. We should have a stretcher. Barbara and Helen can do that.

[D]

Harry, you're gonna have to guard the upstairs. Once we unboard the door, those things can get in here easy. But me and Tom gotta get back in here, too. Once we get back with the truck, you gotta guard the door and unlock it for us. Then we'll board it up as Fast as we can. Cuz those things are gonna come fast on our heels. All right? Now, if we don't get back, well, then you'll be able to see from upstairs. And you can. You can barricade the door again and go to the basement. Then you can just sit down there and wait for your rescue party.

[B]

Mm.

[E]

I want the gun. Then it's the best thing for me to use. You're not gonna have time to stop and aim.

[D]

Oh, I'm keeping this gun. Nobody else lays a hand on it. I found it and it's mine.

[E]

You don't care what happens to us. How do we know you and Tom won't just take the truck and cut out?

[D]

That's the chance you gonna have to take. If we cut out, you'll have your goddamn basement like you've been crying about this whole time.

[C]

We're gonna die here if we don't all work together.

[A]

My brother's out there. Maybe we can get him and bring him back. He's just wounded. He'll be okay.

[C]

That's okay, honey. We'll be all right. Maybe your brother will be too.

[D]

Let's get busy. We got a lot to do if we're gonna bust out of here.

[A]

He is on his feet, taking command. We fade out of the scene. We fade into a new scene. Completion of escape preparations. Tom is pouring kerosene into fruit jars. Helen is dipping twisted rag fuses in kerosene in the bottom of a dish. Barbara comes from the kitchen with more jars, drying them on the outside and putting them on the table. She and Helen begin working the kerosene soaked fuses through the holes which Thomas cut in the jar lids. Between them is a crude stretcher made of broomsticks and torn sheets. This presumably for the wounded girl, Karen. The television is off, but the radio drones lowly, repeating the recorded message. The radio is on as a monitor only, but they might work and still keep up with news that may affect their situation. I don't know what to think about my brother. We have to get out of here. Maybe we'll find him in Willard. Maybe he was able to crawl to the car and get away.

[C]

We have to think of ourselves now. It's hard for you, but it's all we can do. My girl's getting worse too. I have to get her a doctor.

[E]

Broomsticks and belt buckles and old sheets. Seems to hold okay. I always hated the Boy Scouts.

[B]

It'll be okay. Is there anything open upstairs?

[E]

Some windows in the room. Spin is unfastening the Doors.

[B]

Now, we'll throw the cocktails from upstairs. Just. Just splash the whole area with them. That should keep most of them away while we break for the truck.

[C]

We're ready. Here comes Ben now.

[A]

Ben, the gun strapped around his back, is carrying a crowbar and claw hammer. He walks around checking preparations, smiles at Barbara, glad to see she's a little better.

[D]

All right, things are ready up there. Now, me and Tom gonna unboard the front door. Harry, you take the two women upstairs. Carry the Molotov cocktails with you. Soon as the door's unbarred, we can throw those things all over the place. Make sure they catch fire.

[A]

Good.

[D]

Then the women bust down here and get in the cellar. Don't forget the stretcher. All right. When we hear footsteps on the stairs, me and Tom will be gone. It'd be up to you, Harry. You gotta watch this door. Got yourself a good length of pipe.

[E]

I have a pitchfork.

[D]

Good, good. Okay.

[A]

Tom and Ben go over to the door. The others gary fruit jars, etc. And sneak quietly to the unboarded room. Upstairs, Tom and Ben are left alone. Tom is soaking a table leg in kerosene, ready to light it for use as a torch. They fall to work on the door, the painstaking work of quietly undoing the barricade. They do not want to give alarm to the lurking things outside. With crowbar and claw hammer, very carefully, both men working on each separate piece of lumber, they undo the barricade. Each nail creak is a menace. They are alert to the constant danger. They finish and watch, posting themselves anxiously by the door. Shadowy figures lurk in the dark outside. Tom and Ben wait for the Molotov shower to begin. A cry is heard. A window flies open. The first fiery blaze. Lights in the yard. More follow, some aimed for the creatures themselves. One or two catch fire. The others start to back away. The entire field is lit up. Bombs shower from upstairs.

[E]

That's open. Run for it.

[A]

His voice echoes as Tom and Ben burst into the yard. They're armed with torches and with a gun, they leap into the truck. Tom plunges a torch into the chest of an attacker, who immediately catches fire and goes down in blaze. Clutching the torch, the truck starts up and careens in a U turn for the old shed. Attackers fall away as it starts out. Ben Ames fires several shots. Most miss as the truck jounces toward the gas pump across the yard. But one creature goes down at the front of the gas pump near the old shed. Tom and Ben leap out. Attackers are starting to make their way to them from across the yard. Tom fumbles with the key to the locked pump. Ben shoves him back, hurriedly aims the gun. The gun fires, blowing the lock to pieces. Gas spurts out all over the place. Creatures advance, gas still spurting. Tom crammed the nozzle into the mouth of the gas tank. In the back of the truck, Ben crouches and levels off with his weapon. An approaching attacker goes down, but more are coming in. Tom's torch has inadvertently set fire to the Dallas truck. The flames begin to lick and spread. The attackers gather in force, ever closer. Tom leaps into the flaming truck. It skids and lurches across the yard. Ben shouts, to no avail. The flaming truck speeds away, driven by the panicked Tom. Several of the things are upon them. He thrashes and pounds them with torch and gun. Ignoring Tom, he has to try and fight his way back to the house. From inside the house, the panicked and cowardly Harry has only seen pieces of the action. He has been darting back and forth from door to window, trying to see what has been happening outside. From his viewpoint, the escape attempt has met with total doom. He has seen the truck catch fire, driven away by Tom. Ben appears to be overwhelmed. Harry runs again to the door. He sees the truck completely in flames, speeding away from the house toward a small rise back to the kitchen window. Ben is about to be overcome. Things all around him Harry does not see. As Tom jumps from the burning truck to be seized by attacking ghouls. The truck continually unmanned from the far rise and explodes violently, the noise and flames shattering the night. Several ghouls are at the front door, trying to beat their way into the house from inside. Harry is in complete terror. He cannot hold out. All is lost. He panics and bolts for the cellar. But Ben has slugged his way through the attackers on the porch. Let me in.

[E]

Open this door.

[A]

He is pounding for admission at the front door. He turns and with a powerful lunge, kicks the last attacker off the porch. On the rebound, he plows his shoulder against the door. It crashes open, the lock broken, and Ben bursts in time to catch Harry at the cellar door. But there is no time. Ben frantically turns to re boarding the door. His eyes meet Harry's for an instant, then they both fall to work. They board up the door. They are temporarily safe. They turn and look at each other, sweatshirt streaming from each face. Harry knows what is coming. Ben's fist crashes against Harry's face. He is driven back, one punch following another, until Ben corners him, clenching his lapels against the wall. Ben's words spit out each Word punctuated by an additional slam of Harry against the wall. You did right, dude. Next time you try something like that, I'll kill you. Ben slams him one foot final time. He slides down the wall, crumbles on the floor. His face is swollen. He is streaming blood. Ben is already at the cellar door.

[D]

Come on up. It's us. It's all over. Tom is dead.

[A]

Fade out. The survivors are gathered in the living room. Barbara and Helen are slumped on the sofa. Overwhelming mood of hopelessness and despair. Harry sulks in a corner, his head slung back, his face swollen. He is holding an ice pack against his eye. His good eye follows Ben, who is pacing about the room. Where Ben's pacing takes him to the kitchen or to some area out of Harry's sight. The good eye nervously relaxing. Ben's movements make virtually the only sound. He is checking the defenses by force of old habit rather than hope. The rifle is slung on his back. For a long time we dwell on the scene, on the absolute dejectedness of the prisoners within the barricaded house. Ben paces from door to kitchen to window. He starts to go upstairs, stops, checks himself, goes to the door again. He looks at his watch.

[D]

10 minutes to 3. There'll be another broadcast in 10 minutes.

[A]

Nobody says anything. Ben pulls back the curtain. His eyes grow suddenly wide. But he watches for a long time. Moment we see his view of the outside. There are many ghouls lurking in the shadows of the hanging trees. Some of the things are in the open, much nearer to the house than they dared come before. Remains of charred bodies are dimly apparent in various parts of the lawn. But Ben's eyes are fastened on a more grizzly scene at the engine. In the moonlight. Several ghouls devouring what had once been tongue. They rip and tear into aspects of his body, ghoulish teeth biting into Tom's arms and hands. Ben stares, fascinated and repulsed. With a convulsive movement, his fingers release the curtain. He turns, shaken and faces the others, beads of perspiration dripping from his forehead.

[D]

Don't none of you look out there. You won't like what you see.

[A]

Harry's good eye fastens on. Ben watches him, satisfied and contemptuous to see the big man weaken. Ben moves for the television. Clicks it on. Barbara's scream pierces the room. Ben leaps back from the television. She is on her feet, screaming uncontrollably. We'll never get out of here. None of us will never get out of her life. Johnny. Johnny. Oh. Oh God. None of us. None of us Help. Oh God, help. Before anyone can move to her, she chokes up as suddenly she began and slumps, sobbing violently to the couch, her face buried in her hands. Helen tries to soothe her, but great sobs come racking from deep within. She grows gradually quiet. The sobs diminish, but she remains slumped on the couch, her face covered with her hands. Helen covers her with the overcoat, but this action seems futile. Barbara makes no movement whatsoever. Ben allows himself to sink very slowly into a chair in front of the tv. Harry's good eye goes from Barbara to Ben. His eye fastens on the gun, which Ben lowers butt first to the floor and leans across his legs. Ben threads his arm through the fringe sling and maintains his grip on the four piece. Harry watches.

[C]

I'm going to the cellar to take care of Karen. Come on, honey. Come and talk to me. It'll make you feel better.

[A]

But Barbara makes no response. Helen turns and starts for the cellar door. She has to squeeze past Harry's chair furtively, his eye on Ben. Harry touches her and pulls her towards him. She too watches Ben. She knows something is up. Ben remains transfixed before the tv. He is lost in thought. His mind drifts. Somewhere there is nothing on the screen. Just a dull glow and low hiss over scanning lines and static. He has turned the set on too early.

[E]

I've got to get that gun. We can go to the cellar. You have to help me.

[A]

He has let the ice pack come away from his eye. We see it as swollen, in blackened condition and the desperation on his face. Ben still gazes at the tv, worried about the possibility that Ben might catch them in the act and not really sympathizing with Harry. Helen pulls away, but she leans her face to Harry's and whispers quickly.

[C]

I'm not going to help you. Haven't you had enough? He'd kill us both.

[A]

She goes to the cellar and on the way has to pass behind Ben's chair. She hesitates. Her eyes fall on the gun. The sling is wound around Ben's arm. We study her face. It is not clear whether she would have taken it or not. But she makes no attempt. She opens the door and goes down into the cellar. Harry's eye follows her as she leaves. As Helen reaches the bottom of the cellar stairs, she looks up and her face shows startlement, a shaken smile. Her daughter is sitting up, propped on her elbows on the workbench table.

[C]

Karen.

[A]

She starts for her, but stops. There is something strange. Her face turns slowly toward her. We see the ghoulish look in her eye. She begins to rise. Slowly, terrifyingly, her features grotesque. The coat that was her blanket begins to fall away. Her eyes stare through Helen and beyond her. Slowly, agonizingly, she raises herself from the table. Helen, terrified, begins to back away. Across the cellar. Her hand falls on a knife. Her child creeps toward her. She moves a large packing crate, trying to block her path, trying to stave the confrontation. But she is too late. She springs. It appears as though the knife will be driven into her breast. But on the spring, we cut to the upstairs, where simultaneously, a scream pierces the room. An assault has begun. The things are beginning to break into the house. They've gotten into the den and are hammering at the barricaded door. The walls are starting to come apart. Ben is on his feet, trying to reinforce the barricades with hammer and crowbar. He works furiously. Harry. Harry, give me a hand over here. Harry comes over behind Ben and instead of helping, rips the gun from Ben's back. Holding the gun on Ben, Harry backs toward the cellar. Ben turns around, panicked. The things are breaking into the house. What are you up to, man? We gotta get these things out of the house.

[E]

Oh, now we'll see who's going to shoot who. I'm going to the cellar and you can rot up here, you crazy bastard.

[A]

His hand goes behind him to the cellar door. But at that moment, the ghoulish Karen leaps upon him with great thuds. Karen is at Harry's throat. Ben is able to grab the gun. He levels off, trying to hit the kid, but a sudden wrench at the two struggling bodies and then misses. Harry screams. A great clot of blood appears at his chest. Clutching the wound, he begins to go down. He falls through the entranceway to the cellar stairs. He reels, grabs the banister, begins to descend. We see his view as he falls, reeling head first down the stairs. Ben, meantime, has flung the kid. Karen, with one heave, against the wall. But things have broken into the house.

[E]

Everywhere.

[A]

The barricades are coming apart. Barbara, with a hysteria of revenge, has flung herself into the attacks. She smashes a chair against one of the aggressors. It goes down. She smashes and smashes it on the floor until there is nothing left of the chair. She climbs up, still swinging, fighting with Ben against the things that have come into the house. It is quite apparent that they cannot hold out. The attack rages. They are overwhelmed. Ben grabs Barbara and pulls her after him, toward the cellar. She is lashing and swinging, beating at an attacker even as he drags her. Ben brings open the door to the and Helen is at his throat. He brings the gun up between their struggling bodies until the muzzle is against her throat and squeezes the trigger. She is blown halfway across the room. Ben and Barbara run down the stairs, but Harry is sprawled in a pool of blood on the floor. He is dead but beginning to rise. Ben pushed Barbara back. She turned her head away. Ben raises the gun and we study this as three evenly spaced shots rip the room. Ben is almost glad to kill Harry. He turns to Barbara, breathing. She collapses against him and begins to sob. We hear faint pounding against the barricaded cellar door, but it is holding. The creatures cannot get in. The screen is black. There are sounds of birds, fainter sounds of dogs. Human voices fade up quickly. SUNRISE the morning after the siege. The sky is clear. The rising sun is bright and warm. There is dew in the high grass of a meadow, men with dogs and guns reworking their way up from the woods that surround the meadow. We do not see the posse at first. We merely hear their sounds, shouts, muffled talk, panting and straining of dogs against leashes. Sheriff McClellan's posse. A few men, some with German shepherds on leashes, finally come up out of the woods and onto the edge of the sunlit, dewy meadow. The wet grass has dampened the boots and trouser legs of the men. McClelland is perhaps the third man up from the surrounding thicket. He is a heavy man, mustached, breathing hard because of his weight and the difficult job of leading the posse through the night. He is armed with shotgun and pistol and a belt of ammunition strung over his shoulder. He pauses, looks back into the woods, and mops perspiration from his brow with a balled up dirty handkerchief.

[G]

Come on, let's step lively now. Never can tell what we'll run into up here.

[A]

He accosts a man just climbing up out of the woods. The man wears an improvised sweatband, carries a rifle and sidearm, and has a walkie talkie strapped on his back.

[G]

You keeping in touch with the squad cars, George? Yeah. They know where we are.

[A]

They should be intercepting us at the house.

[G]

Good. These men is dog tired. They could use some rest and hot coffee. Let's push along now. The squad cars will be waiting with coffee and sandwiches at the house.

[A]

The men push on across the field. Inside the house, Ben and Barbara have been dozing on chairs in the basement. Ben wakes abruptly, thinking he has heard something, but he isn't sure. He sits up and listens more closely. From far off there is the sound Of a dog. Ben listens for a long time but hears nothing more. Outside, the meadow has become the apron of a cemetery. The one Barbara and John had come to with the flowers for their father. The posse is advancing, threading its way among the grave markers. A man finds John's skeletal remains. Near the spot where he had found. Fallen down a dirt road and up a short grade is Barbara's car with a smashed window.

[G]

And it looks like this guy's car or fella never had a chance.

[A]

The men pass through the cemetery and over the wall, where several squad cars are waiting on the road. There are also one or two motorcycle patrolmen. One. The men dismounts and hails McClelland.

[B]

Hi, Connie. How's things going?

[A]

McClellan advances and shakes hands, stops a while, mops his brow again. The men begin to catch up and regroup. The posse fills the bend in the narrow road.

[G]

Hey, sure glad to see you fellas. Shirley. We've been at it all night, but I want a break till we get in that house over there. We might be lollygagging around while somebody needs our help. We'll see first, then stop and get some coffee.

[B]

Anything you say, Connie.

[A]

Inside the house, Ben has sneaked up to the top of the cellar stairs. He listens there very intently, not wanting to open the door because creatures may still be in the house. This time for sure. He hears gunshots and the mumbled sound of what must be voices of approaching men. There is even what sounds like a car engine. Ben bolts excitedly down the stairs. Ben wakes the girl.

[D]

Barbara. Barb. Here, honey. There's men outside. I. I can hear him. He must be here to rescue us.

[A]

Outside we see the cause of the gunshots. The posse is flushing out ghouls from the pump house and surrounding area. The squad cars have driven up. The posse is advancing across the lawn guardedly toward the partially destroyed old farmhouse. The men crouch and sneak up slowly, keeping their eyes fastened on the house. A loud, sudden noise stops them. They watch, stopped in their tracks.

[G]

Shoot for the eyes, boys, like I told you before, always aim right for the eyes.

[A]

Inside, ready to shoot or swing. Ben has slammed open the cellar door. The force of his shoulder against the door has carried him into the living room. Nothing. Only the ramshackle and destruction from the recent siege. He edges his way through the twisted wreckage and overturned furniture toward the front door. There is no light in the place. His hand finds what is left of the curtain. He pulls it back and starts to peer out. But a shot rings out. Ben reels, driven back, a circle of blood on his forehead, right between his eyes. Barbara's scream is heard from downstairs. Simultaneously. McClelland shouts, his face flushed with anger. Damn it.

[G]

What'd you shoot for? I told you to be careful. There might be people in there.

[F]

Nah, this place is demolished. There ain't nobody in there.

[B]

I'm sure I heard girls scream from maybe the basement.

[A]

Several men have advanced to kick in the front door. They step back and peer cautiously inside. Their faces search the room. A patch of sunlight from the open door falls partially on Ben. He is dead. The men look down at him but step past him toward the cellar. They do not know he was a man. From the cellar they hear muffled sobs. McClellan enters and begins to inch his way down the stairs.

[G]

Anybody down there?

[A]

He draws his pistol, inches his way down the stairs. At the bottom he confronts Barbara, sitting wide eyed in a chair. McClellan raises his pistol, aims it for her head, but something stops him. A tear in her eye. He lowers the weapon.

[G]

It's all right, men. Come on down. It's just a girl down here.

[A]

He goes to Barbara, bends over her, looks at her, begins to help her up. CLOSING SCENE with titles and credits Burning of bodies in the yard of the old house. Perhaps the burning of the house itself. In the background against the scene of McClellan draping his jacket around Barbara and bringing coffee to her lips. We see Ben's body on a stretcher carried by two men they lifted into the rear of a station wagon.

[G]

It's too bad. An accident. The only loss we had the whole night.

[A]

The END.

[F]

Excellent.