DAY OF THE DEAD (The original script) by George A. Romero

[the Unholy]

JOHN
      There are soldiers near here. Guards.
      I'll take my hand away if you won't
      scream.

   SARAH nods and JOHN lets her go. There are two other humans
   standing behind the big man. There's BILL McDERMOTT, wearing
   the grease-covered jump-suit of a mechanic and swilling
   generous shots of brandy from a hip flask, and there's a
   smallish woman with a sensitive face who, apparently out of
   character, is armed to the teeth. She's a deaf mute,
   nicknamed SPIDER, and she is urgently signing "Come on! Let's
   get outa here!" with her hands.

            JOHN
      Right. We better get away from that
      Bee. He might have friends.

   THE GROUP starts moving. SARAH follows voluntarily. We notice
   that all three strangers are wearing the same pullover vests
   that we saw on the foot soldiers, the ones with big orange
   circles.

76   EXT. THE JUNGLE - EVENING

[the Unholy]

THE GROUP trudges through thick brushland, occasionally
   needing to chop a path with their blades. JOHN speaks in low
   tones as they move.

            JOHN
      Bees. That's what we call the dead...
      the walking dead...here on
      Gasparilla's island.

             SARAH
      Gasparilla?

            JOHN
      He was a pirate who sailed these
      waters long ago. His name is bein'
      borrowed these days by the long lost
      Henry Dickerson.

                     (CONTINUES)

[the Unholy]

76   CONTINUED:

            SARAH
      Governor Dickerson? Of Florida?

            JOHN
      That's the man. He's been holed up
      here ever since the **** hit the fan.
      Him and his family owned these islands
      'round here. They was leasin' this one
      to the Fed. The whole underneath is
      dug out. There was missiles here and
      laboratories and bomb proof housing,
      nuclear power, all o' that. Now this
      is Dickerson's....Gasparilla's...
      private fortress. Him and a bunch o'
      his cronies from all the best golf
      courses in Tallahassee...and his
      private army, of course.

            SARAH
      We ran up against a platoon of
      soldiers. There were actually walking
      dead...in uniform...with guns.

            JOHN
      Captain Rhodes and his Red Coat Bees.
      They could sting, sister. We know you
      came up against 'em. We been watchin'
      you since you landed. Couldn't help.
      I'm sorry for that. We ain't supposed
      to be outside. If we was spotted it
      could....well, it could be the end of
      everything.

[the Unholy]

SPIDER is signing for everyone to be quiet. They all stop in
   their tracks. BILL McDERMOTT swigs some more brandy. With the
   stealth of a Mohican SPIDER pushes aside the branches of a
   giant oleander and peers through.

77   EXT. ENTRANCE TWO - EVENING

   There's A HATCHWAY in sight built into A CONCRETE, BUNKER
   LIKE STRUCTURE. FOUR OR FIVE SOLDIERS are coming up out of
   the ground. They're armed with PRODS AND RIFLES.

   Behind the men, lurching on unsteady feet, come A HALF-DOZEN
   OF THE LIVING DEAD, all wearing vests of white and blue.

   Behind the lumbering creatures come A WOMAN AND A MAN both
   wearing white laboratory coats and carrying clipboards. The
   woman is MARY HENRIED, one of the top behaviouralists in The
   Cave. (We'll learn a lot more about her later.)

   THE ZOMBIES are pushing through the undergrowth right in the
   direction of SARAH and her friends. SARAH shows some alarm at
   this but JOHN calms her with a strong hand.

   SPIDER has seen the approaching danger. She silently draws A
   FARMER'S SICKLE from her belt. (With her other hand she draws
   A PISTOL for good measure.) BILL McDERMOTT unarmed, nervously
   takes another swallow from his flask.

   THE ZOMBIES are getting closer. Too close for comfort.

   Finally, MARY HENRIED and THE OTHERS turn and disappear into
   the bunker. The last man down pulls the hatch shut.

   The moment the coast is clear, SPIDER AND JOHN jump up from
   cover. THE OTHERS follow their lead. But it's too late. THE
   ZOMBIES have spotted them. The creatures begin to growl and
   make AGITATED, APE-LIKE SOUNDS. SPIDER brings her BLADE up
   chest-high, ready to repel an attack. SARAH lifts her own
   MACHETE but JOHN reaches over and takes it away from her.

[the Unholy]

JOHN
      Give that to me. Get behind me. Stay
      behind me.

      (SARAH resists, not understanding,
      somewhat insulted.)

      You ain't wearin' a vest. They been
      taught not to touch the ones with the
      circles. There ain't no hundred
      percent, all-a-time rules with the
      Bees, but most-a-time they leave us
      alone. The colour on their vests tell
      ya how much schoolin' they got. It's
      the ones without colours you gotta
      watch out for.

   SARAH gets behind JOHN, his orange circle acting as her
   shield. He reaches around with one strong arm and pulls her
   in tight against his back.

   THE ZOMBIES, snarling and showing teeth, move through the
   thicket. ONE shuffles right past SPIDER AND McDERMOTT. It
   gets stuck in the bramble, changes course and moves on
   without attacking.

                     (CONTINUES)

[the Unholy]

77   CONTINUED:

   ANOTHER ZOMBIE, a "white", trudges within arm's reach of
   JOHN, growling all the while. Suddenly it reaches its arms
   out and takes two angry steps towards the humans who back
   away.

   THE ZOMBIES charges. Things happen quickly. JOHN pushes SARAH
   away and swings the MACHETE. THE BLADE SINKS INTO THE
   CREATURES SKULL. BLACKENED BLOOD FLIES. An instant later
   SPIDER'S SICKLE PUNCHES IN BESIDE THE BIG KNIFE. THE ZOMBIE
   twitches for a moment, its eyes rolling, then it falls,
   lifeless, to the ground.

   McDERMOTT trots up beside SARAH. He takes a huge swallow from
   his flask then offers some to her. She puts the flask to her
   lips but nothing comes. She holds it out, neck down, to show
   that it's empty.

            McDERMOTT
      Sorry. Guess I don't know my own
      strength.

   JOHN wipes SARAH'S MACHETE on some thick leaves, cleaning off
   most of the gore, then he returns the weapon to the woman.

            SARAH
      Thanks. I can fight my own battles.

[the Unholy]

JOHN
      I know you can. Like I said, we been
      watchin' you.

            McDERMOTT
      We better get as far away from here as
      we can. We can work the other side of
      the island tonight.

            JOHN
      (explaining) We found nine entrances
      to the Cave so far, and we ain't got
      the whole thing near charted yet.
      That's what we was doin' out here
      today. Huntin' for entrances.

            McDERMOTT
      Come on. They find a Bee done like
      this and they'll know somebody's been
      out walkin' where they shouldn't have
      been.

   JOHN bows his head over the downed ZOMBIE. He mumbles softly.
   We can't hear the words but we can tell that he's praying,
   reciting the good words over the corpse of the "white-coat".

            SARAH
      The man I was with...until today...
      believed that praying was for blind
      men who couldn't see the truth.

[the Unholy]

JOHN
      How we gonna break the curse without a
      prayer or two.

            SARAH
      Curse?

            JOHN
      What is it if it ain't a curse?

            SARAH
      It's a disease. It's a...a bug...a
      parasite that infects the brain.

            JOHN
      That sounds like a curse to me.

            SARAH
      We thought we were escaping here. We
      thought we'd found an uninhabited
      island. Christ! This place is a worse
      nightmare than anything I've seen yet!

            JOHN
      I'm sure that's true, miss. And that's
      why we're doin' what we're doin'.
      What's happenin' underground here is
      just what Lucifer planned for this
      sinful race o' man. But we're gonna
      beat Lucifer. We're gonna put an end
      to what's happenin' here.

[the Unholy]

SARAH
      Oh, what did I run into? A bunch o'
      Jesus nuts? Religiosos? Prayer won't
      stop a bullet from one of those storm
      troopers and prayer won't keep one of
      those monsters from eatin' your liver
      for lunch.

            JOHN
      That's why we didn't use prayers on
      this here white coat 'til after he was
      destroyed. We ready to fight when we
      have to. And we gotta fight now.

                     (CONTINUES)

[the Unholy]

77   CONTINUED:

            SARAH
      Look. I BEEN fightin', mister. I been
      fightin' for what feels like a hundred
      years and I'm finished. I don't need
      religion. I don't need prayers. I need
      a couple guns and a couple hands. We
      can sail on outa here. Find another
      island where there ain't so
      much....traffic.

            JOHN
      You think you can find your boat?
      There's a thousand little inlets and
      backwaters all through here. You
      remember all the ways you turned to
      get where you are now? You leave
      yourself a trail?

   SARAH is stopped by this. She stares at the big man
   suspiciously, not sure whether to believe him.

            JOHN
      We didn't see the exact spot but we
      know about where you landed. But we
      ain't ready to take you there. Not
      yet. You see...we need guns, too.

   SARAH looks around her at the unlikely band of guerillas. She
   thinks for a moment...not very long...then she turns and
   starts off into the jungle.

            SARAH
      I can find it myself. I didn't come
      that far.

            JOHN
      Farther than you think. You'll get
      lost. You will. And there's Bees all
      through the jungle. I ain't lyin' to
      ya. Religiosos don't lie.

[the Unholy]

SARAH
      No. They just try to hold you for
      ransom. **** you, Moses! I'm outa
      here!

   SARAH plunges into the brush and without so much as a look
   back over her shoulder she disappears.

            McDERMOTT
      We can't let her go, John.

            JOHN
      We don't need her guns that bad. Billy
      boy. (He's joking.)

            McDERMOTT
      The hell we don't! But that's not what
      I mean. She'll be dead in ten minutes
      out there alone. That or she'll be
      firin' off her automatics and wakin'
      up the troops.

            JOHN
      We'll split up. Billy, you go with
      Spider. Just an hour or two tonight,
      that's all. Rhodes might have extra
      guards on after all the commotion.
      We'll meet up at number six and go
      back home together.

[the Unholy]

McDERMOTT
      God save us. And me with me flask dry.
      I'll never make it.

   THE GROUP splits up, moving off in two different directions
   through the darkening underbrush.

78   EXT. SOMEWHERE IN THE JUNGLE - NIGHT

   DARKNESS has fallen. The jungle is as black as the background
   on a velvet painting.

   SARAH is moving cautiously. She bumps into something, jumps
   back, her MACHETE high, and freezes. Cautiously she moves
   ahead...one step...another...another...

   SPLASH!!! She steps down off a hidden ledge into A KNEE-DEEP
   RIVER. She manages to keep her balance but her MACHETE falls
   into the water and drops to the bottom invisible in the dark
   silt. Slowly she bends down and reaches into the water. A
   SNAKE swims past just inches away. SARAH recoils. Before she
   can reach down again she hears A LOUD, ANIMAL SNORT followed
   by A GREAT SPLASHING SOUND. Then ANOTHER. She squints to see.

   SHAPES approach on the black water. ALLIGATORS, big ones,
   just their very tops showing as they move on a straight
   course toward the woman.

[the Unholy]

She backs up feeling for the shore, for the ledge behind her.
   THE FIRST ZOMBIE GRABS HER SHOULDERS. She spins and sees the
   thing. It has one eye dangling out of its socket and there's
   a broken-off length of wooden pole stuck clean through its
   torso just under the left breast.

                     (CONTINUES)

[the Unholy]

78   CONTINUED:

   SARAH smashes her RIFLE BUTT INTO THE THING'S HEAD. AGAIN.
   AGAIN. It keeps coming. (So do the gators. They're getting to
   within a few yards.) SARAH swings a fourth time. THE ZOMBIE
   grabs her rifle. She pulls with all her might and the
   creature, hanging on to the gun, topples off the ledge and
   into the water.

   When SARAH starts to climb up on the ledge, ANOTHER ZOMBIE
   lurches towards her from dry land. She spins around, looking
   for options. The gators are just about close enough to bite
   her ass and THE ZOMBIE that fell into the river is rising up
   again, covered with moss and slime and looking pissed.

   SARAH faces THE ZOMBIE on the bank. She has no choice. She
   aims her AUTOMATIC. She's just about to fire when SOMETHING
   FLASHES out of the darkness. It's A MACHETE. IT CLEAVES OPEN
   THE ZOMBIE'S SKULL. From out of the night big JOHN appears.
   He struggles to free his blade from the dead creature's head.

   SARAH scrambles up onto the muddy ledge. THE GATORS are still
   moving in and THE ZOMBIE, its moss-covered arms reaching out
   rigidly like the arms of Frankenstein's monster, is growling
   ferociously (almost swallowing its own dangling eyeball in
   the process).

[the Unholy]

SARAH
      Are you gonna pause to say words over
      the dead this time or can we be on our
      way?

   Without answering, JOHN steams off through the bush pulling
   SARAH along behind him, his big hand tight around her arm.

79   INT. THE CAVE - NIGHT

   CLOSE on: A TELEVISION SCREEN. First there is only VIDEO
   NOISE, then an image blinks onto the screen.

   MONTAGE: OTHER VIDEO SCREENS on MONITORS in various places
   throughout the huge underground facility. ZOMBIES watch the
   screens gathered in groups of four, six and eight, like
   children in ranked classes.

   The screens show scenes of ZOMBIES taking FOOD from humans in
   ORANGE CIRCLE VESTS. GUNS are pointed at ORANGE CIRCLES then
   lowered harmlessly. GUNS are pointed at HUMANS without orange
   circles and FIRED. The images repeat and repeat and repeat.
   THE ZOMBIES watch the scenes with dumb curiosity.

80   INT. COMMUNICATION CENTER IN THE CAVE - NIGHT