EVIL DEAD 4: APOCALYPSE NOW by Josh Allen (inspired by the Army of Darkness shooting script) ------------ Ash had saved the world from the terrorist army of the Deadites. So what's the problem? He isn't in his own time. SOME WISEMEN Cook up a recipe from the Necronomicon for Ash. They dip a flask into the vat they used and scoop up a bit of the liquid. They hand it to Ash. The Book tells us that each drop allows a man to sleep a century. Swallow six drops, and thou shalt awaken in thine own time. ASH Yeah, Right.... takes the flask and studies the liquid inside carefully. It has an odd color. ......but what other choice do i have? ASH takes the flask, mounts a horse, and rides off dragging his Deathcoaster behind him. I had to find a place to crash. For a very long time. EXT. CAVE - DAY ASH with the aid of his horse, drags the Deathcoaster inside the cave. He sets the horse free. ASH YAHH!! It gallops off. INT. CAVE - DAY ASH Places a black powder charge at the mouth of the cave. He ignites the fuse and climbs into the car. I locked the door. INT. MOUTH OF THE CAVE BOOM! The powder charge blows. The cave's entrance is sealed shut with an avalanche of rock. INT. CAVE - DEATHCOASTER The car headlights come on, piercing the blackness. INT. DEATHCOASTER ASH uncorks the flask filled with the Wiseman's brew. I closed my eyes. He lets six drops fall into his mouth. One for each century he must sleep. I took a drink. Ash is unaware that an extra drop has fallen into his mouth! A 7th drop! Ash swallows the liquid. I didn't know if it was day or night. I started... to get drowsy... And I slept... ASH falls into a deep slumber. THE DEATHCOASTER'S HEADLIGHTS fade. CLOSER ON ASH'S SLEEPING FACE now in a different position. Time has passed. He needs a shave. ASH ...And dreamed. THE HANDS ON ASH'S WRISTWATCH wind faster and faster, then halt and rust in time lapse photography. The leather band rots away and the watch falls from Ash's wrist. THE SUN rises then sets. THE MOON quickly follows. A CRACK forms along the surface of the aging rock wall. ASH My dreams lasted centuries. A BARREN TREE sprouts buds, they swell forming leaves which change to the brilliant colors of fall then drop. INT. DEPARTMENT STORE The camera fades in on a spinning blue light. ASH is telling his story to a fellow employee of S-Mart. His metal hand rests comfortably on the end of a broom. EMPLOYEE So did you say the words right this time? ASH Well...not every single syllable...But i mainly said it. ASH is stocking a shelf. A female employee walks up to him. Ash stands and faces her. FEMALE EMPLOYEE Hey Ash, you know that story where you could've been king.....I think its cute. A CUSTOMER stands with her back to Ash and the Female Employee. Suddenly the customer turns around. She has become a Deadite! THE DEADITE throws Ash across the room and over the counter for the sporting goods department. DEADITE You will all die! ASH smashes the glass door of the gun rack with his metal hand. He removes a loaded Winchester rifle. He begins firing on the Deadite whom is now floating in the air. DEADITE I will devour your soul! ASH Come get some. ASH jumps onto the counter still firing. He then proceeds to jump onto a portable clearance sale table. While still firing, the table rolls toward the Deadite. THE DEADITE falls to the floor. ASH grabs the female employee and dips her in his arms. ASH Hail to the king baby. ASH kisses the female employee. *FADE OUT* ASH awakens in a heap of rusted scrap, which was once the Deathcoaster. His clothes and armor having deteriorated, he is buck ass naked as he staggers to the mouth of the cave. He digs at the rocks that block the cave's entrance. Sunlight streams into the hole he has created. ASH notices that his metal hand has also deteriorated to nothing. A stump is all that remains again. EXT. HILLSIDE ASH climbs from the cave and steps into the sunlight. And then i awoke..... ASH looks in shock and surprise. A FUTURISTIC CITY - after the next Nuclear war: a dead land. A FRACTURED CLOCK TOWER lays sprawled on its side. The time of mankind's death frozen on the cracked face of the clock. A SHATTERED BRIDGE abruptly ends, a third of the way across a river it once spanned. Upon it, rest heaps of futuristic, yet rusted taxicabs piled eight high in some places. CAMERA PULLS BACK from a stunned Ash, amidst the atomized pieces of iron and bone. ASH ....I found that I had slept too long. ASH explores this post-apocalyptic city. He passes by a museum. There were some clothes in fairly good condition inside a broken display case. ASH didn't hesitate getting the clothes on. He didn't care what kind of clothes they were, they were better than nothing. ASH is now wearing a slightly damaged cowboy-style shirt and brown leather vest. He is also wearing an old pair of blue jeans which fit kinda loosly. He decides to take the hat which is also inside the display case. It is brown and fits quite nicely. down the street in his new threads. He walked toward a large mall-like building which was in moderately good condition. THE DOORS TO THE MALL are brittle and rusty. ASH pushes on the door slightly. It crumbles into a heap on the floor. ASH walks over the pile of door and enters the mall. Skeletons litter the ground everywhere. THE SUN is high in the sky. It shines down through holes in the decayed roof of the mall. ASH walks through main hallway of the mall. He passes a familiar sign..... An S-Mart! ASH enters the S-Mart where a door was SUPPOSED to be. He walks through the store noticing how a lot of the objects are in somewhat good condition. ASH wanders to the sporting goods section. There are guns which he has never seen before. He looks through the gun rack at strange looking guns until his eyes fall upon something truly spectacular. ASH finds a twelve-gauge, double barreled Remington pump action shotgun with a walnut stock, cobalt blue steel, and a hair trigger. He then raids the store for shells. Ash knocks over a couple of racks and finally finds 3 boxes of shells. As ASH picks up the shells from behind the counter, he spies a nice treat. A colt .45 semi-automatic in a hoster and about 8 extra clips of ammo. He quickly claims his new present. ASH buckles the holster to his leg and pockets the ammo. INT. - THE MALL A SKELETON begins to move. Soon, it and about a dozen more scramble to their bony feet. ASH walks out of the S-Mart with his new found toy to be confronted by an ugly looking decaying skeleton. ASH hits the skeletons skull with the butt of the shotgun. The skull crumbles. So does part of the shotgun handle. Bring it on you undead bastards! ASH lunges at the brittle skeletons. He swings the shotgun around hitting some and kicks others. Soon, only small pieces of skeleton remain scattered on the floor. I never get a break. Ash walks out of the mall watching his back. He didn't want to be caught off-guard if any more skeletons came to life. ASH is walking out near the broken bridge. He stops to load the shotgun. EXT. - THE BRIDGE There is a gigantic eruption. A large piece of the bridge bursts into the air sending pieces in all directions. A large rumble quickly follows. Next comes a beast the size of a skyscraper! It is a hideous creature with 7 eyes protruding from it's oddly shaped head. It has many large tentacles which thrash around aimlessly. THE BEAST spots ASH and lets out a deep roar. ASH stares wide-eyed. He drops the shells he was loading into the shotgun. He quickly scrambles to pick up the shells. ASH loads the shells into the gun. He aims and pulls the trigger to fire the first shell. THE SHOTGUN *Click* It doesn't fire. The shell was a dud. ASH fires the second shell. *Click* ASH Damn! ASH opens the gun, drops the shells, and reloads. THE BEAST leans forward and looks at ASH. It's center eye is just feet away from ASH's face. ASH clicks the shotgun close. Happy birthday asshole. ASH pulls the trigger of the shotgun. *BANG!!!* the shot causes the BEAST's eye to explode. Pieces of eye and black putrid blood pour everywhere. ASH is covered with it. THE BEAST Lets out a gigantic roar of pain. It thrashes its tentacles wildly. One of them hits ASH sending him flying backward. ASH hits the ground and slides a couple feet. The shotgun is still in his hand. A SMALL SHIP flies overhead. It zooms over the beast and drops a small object. THE BEAST *BOOM!!!* The BEAST explodes. Black ooze showers the area. ASH gets to his feet and spits some putrid ooze out of his mouth. He is covered with it from head to toe. ASH wipes the ooze off of his clothes and shotgun. As he does this, the small ship lands over to his left. Ash tosses away the now broken shotgun and puts his hand on the holstered weapon on his side. He is prepared for the worse. THE SHIP'S DOOR opens. A FUTURISTIC SOLDIER steps out. His face isn't visible through some kind of protective helmet which covers his face. Without saying a word, the soldier pulls out some kind of gun and fires it at ASH. ASH is hit by some kind of electrical blast. He cannot move. He begins to get dizzy. It gets worse and worse until he passes out on the ground. It takes about 30 seconds. FADE OUT: FADE IN: INT. A STARBASE The Starbase floats just over the planet Earth. However, Earth has gone through so much hell, it looks much like the red surface of Mars. ASH wakes up in a prison cell. He looks around for a moment. It doesn't look like there is a door. He steps into the doorway only to be knocked painfully to the ground. A FORCEFIELD blocks the exit. It is invisible to the naked eye. ASH gets to his feet as a LUITENNANT walks into the prison section accompanied by a few SOLDIERS. LUITENNANT MANKE "Ah, you're awake. I'd like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind." THE LUITENNANT then begins pressing buttons on the outside of ASH's cell and walks in. ASH "Where am I" LUITENNANT "You are on the Starbase UTAH-7. Would you mind telling me what you.." ASH is shocked to hear that he is on a starbase. He interrupts the Luitennant. ASH "What year is it?!" LUITENNANT "2099 a.d. That's After Deadite if you prefer." The Luitennant begins to chuckle to himself thinking his little joke was funny. ASH "Who the hell are you?" LUITENNANT MANKE "I am Luitennant Neil Manke, Earth World Forces. After Earth was taken over by deadites, the rest of humanity came up here. We have been fighting them for years trying to get our planet back." ASH "Well hello Mr. Fancy pants! Look pal, all I want to know is how to get the hell out of here." LUITENNANT MANKE "And go where?" ASH "Well....ehh.....Anything's better than a jail cell." LUITENNANT MANKE "Very well. We will give you a room and a set of fresh clothes. But, after you've cleaned yourself up, I want you to answer a few questions." ASH "Answer some questions? How bout this? I've fought against deadites throughout time, they've killed everybody I have ever loved, and they even took my....." ASH stops talking as he lifts his handless arm. He finds that he once again has a hand on his right arm instead of a nub. ASH "....Hand.....what the hell?" ASH then begins moving the fingers on the hand. He looks at it all the while in amazement. LUITENNANT MANKE "I'll explain it to you later. Go get cleaned up." FADE OUT: FADE IN: INT. A CONFERENCE ROOM The room overlooks the planet Earth. However, it isn't much of a view anymore. Just death and decay. ASH enters the room. He is now wearing a jumpsuit. The blood has been washed from his hair and face. LUITENNANT MANKE is already in the room. He is seated at one end of the table. ASH sits at the other end of the table. He looks intently at LUITENNANT MANKE. LUITENNANT MANKE "What's your name?" ASH "Ashley....Ash. Just call me Ash." MANKE "What were you doing down there?" ASH "Well, that's kind of hard to explain." MANKE "Humor me." ASH "Ok. I was in this cabin in the woods in my own time. I destroyed a group of deadites that killed my girlfriend. But I was sucked back in time to 1300 a.d. where I had to kill the deadites again. When I had succeeded, I was supposed to go back to my own time. But I slept too long. And now I'm here." MANKE "Interesting." ASH "How bout you answer one of my questions?" MANKE "Ok." ASH "How did I get my hand back?" MANKE "State-of-the-art robotics my boy. It is a synthetic exoskeleton which has been molecularly bonded with the nerve stems in your wrist." ASH "ehhh......right." MANKE "Well...Ash. I have a proposition for you." ASH "Wait. Let me guess. Go find some book, kill a bunch of deadites, and you will give me something. Right?" MANKE "Well..." ASH "You know, this is getting really damn old!" MANKE "Calm down Ash. It's not just for you, it's for all of humanity." ASH "So, you want me to help you get the planet back?" MANKE "Exactly." ASH "Why not? Lets do it." FADE OUT: FADE IN: INT. COMBAT SUPPLY BAY ASH stands inside the bay looking at all the things around him. MANKE(V.O.) "Ash, inside the Combat Supply Bay, you will find a Hazardous Environment Suit or H.E.V. for short. You are going to need it. It's hell down on Earth. You will also find a standard 9mm pistol and ammo, and a retracting steel baton. You never know when it will come in handy. Get you supplies and report to the logistics bay." ASH suits up in the H.E.V., get's his supplies, and heads to the Logistics Bay. CUT TO: INT. THE LOGISTICS BAY Ash enters the room all suited up and ready for action. He can see a bunch of scientists fiddling with equipment all around the room. In the middle of the room is some cylindrical device. LUITENNANT MANKE walks into the room behind ASH and puts his hand on his shoulder. MANKE "Ready to go?" ASH "Sure." MANKE "Good. Step into the teleporter. It will only take a few seconds to get you to Earth's surface." ASH "Step into the whatta?" MANKE "The Teleporter. It's right there." MANKE points to the cylindrical object in the middle of the room. As he does, a door slides open. ASH "Wish me luck." ASH then walks into the teleporter. The door closes behind him. ASH'S P.O.V. Everything fades to black. For a split second, Ash could swear he saw a bunch of deadites. Everything is black again. The deadites reappear, only closer this time. Everything goes back to black. Finally, Ash reaches the surface. He can see the death and decay of Earth all around him. FADE OUT: FADE IN: EXT. EARTH'S SURFACE The Adventure Begins.