SCENE 3



Characters
JEAN – Jean Pierre – Charlotte's closest friend
AIKO – Harukawa Aiko – Young Japanese American woman
MS. WILCOT – Ms. Elsie Wilcott – elderly, God fearing woman.
ULYSSES – Army officer, occasional antagonist
CHARLOTTE – Charlotte Chaudhari
JOHN – Timid follower, tends to look up to Ulysses.

Setting
(The lights slowly fade in on a large metal door in one corner of the room. Located right next to the door is a large, red button. After a few seconds, the rest of the lights fill the room. JEAN, AIKO, and MS. WILCOTT are in the dining room, which is just as uninviting CHARLOTTE's lounge. JEAN and MS. WILCOTT sit at the table. JEAN is half-heartedly reading an old newspaper, while MS. WILCOTT is flipping through her bible. AIKO sits in the corner, frantically typing at a computer. She stops typing, stares at it for a few seconds, then slams her hands on the desk in frustration.)

AIKO
Dammit!

JEAN
Aiko, give it up.

(AIKO continues fooling with the computer, clicking the mouse rapidly.)

AIKO
God dammit.

MS. WILCOTT
Young lady, your language-

AIKO
Is atrocious. I know!

MS. WILCOTT
Do not raise your voice at me. The lord's name is not to be taken in vain.

AIKO
"He" is not my god, Ms. Wilcott.


MS. WILCOTT
And THAT is precisely why we're here. We have sinned, therefore, we have to watch the last days of the world as we know it.

AIKO
Ms. Wilcott, do you even listen to yourself?

JEAN
Cut it out, Aiko.

AIKO
The Internet won't work.

JEAN
It's never going to work. There are more important things you could be doing.

AIKO
It was working yesterday.

(JEAN drops the newspaper, glowering at AIKO)

JEAN
How long were you online?

AIKO
Not long enough.

JEAN
Three minutes. And two of those three minutes were spent waiting for pages to load!

AIKO
Yeah, but it worked!

JEAN
For three minutes. You checked your Facebook.


AIKO
I had eight new notifications!

JEAN
Oh, our little celebrity! You couldn't even check them. That was as far as you managed to get before we lost the connection.

(JEAN goes back to reading his newspaper.)

Three minutes to check absolutely anything, and you went to Facebook...

AIKO
Well, let's consider the state of the world on the outside... What would you have checked, Jean?

(Beat. JEAN grunts and continues to read the newspaper. AIKO turns back to the computer. A few seconds pass.)

MS. WILCOTT
The Internet is the devil's playground.

JEAN
Okay, Ms. Wilcott.

MS. WILCOTT
We all know why we're here!

JEAN
Ms. Wil-

MS. WILCOTT
Forced to watch the world die around us, as we live forever, immortal... at least, until we run out of food and starve to death.

JEAN
Ms. Wilcott, please... try to keep a positive attitude, would you?

AIKO
(quietly)
At least that threat was rational...

(MS. WILCOTT glances up, nervous.)

MS. WILCOTT
What? It's gone international?!

AIKO
(raising her voice)
I said, at least that threat was more rational than the bloody water and the locusts!





MS. WILCOTT
Oh, yes... Well, that too. Our hair will fall out in clumps, and our skin will be covered in boils, and Death Himself will come to collect us when everyone else is dead.

JEAN
This is not 1348, Ms. Wilcott. There is no Bubonic plague!

AIKO
I think we'd have seen some of these signs by now.

MS. WILCOTT
Why, no... because this is all happening on the surface!

AIKO
Good God.

MS. WILCOTT
And he will have you first, you heathen harlot! Then you will beg for forgiveness for your sins.

AIKO
I'm about to make YOU beg for forgiveness for my sins.

MS. WILCOTT
You wouldn't dare lay a finger on me.

(JEAN stands up, preparing to break up the ensuing fight as ULYSSES enters the room.)

JEAN
No, she wouldn't. Right, Aiko?

AIKO
Jean!

ULYSSES
Ladies and Gentleman... ATTENTION!

(JEAN, AIKO and MS. WILCOTT stop bickering and glance over at ULYSSES. ULYSSES hastily inspects them, then nods and takes a seat at the head of the table, folding his arms. JEAN and MS. WILCOTT drop what they were doing, but AIKO continues to fiddle with the computer.)

JEAN
…What's going on?


ULYSSES
Emergency meeting.

(JEAN stares at ULYSSES in confusion, then glances at the single clock in the room.)

JEAN
Ulysses, it's eight in the morning.

ULYSSES
Any time is a good time for an emergency, Pierre.

JEAN
(excited)
We have news from the surface, right? That's the emergency!

(ULYSSES doesn't respond. Instead, he glances over at AIKO and whistles.)

ULYSSES
Hey, Chee-chee. Stop playing with that damn thing and get over here.

(AIKO swivels around to glare at ULYSSES, then rolls her eyes and reluctantly wanders over to the table. JEAN and ULYSSES continue speaking as she walks.)

JEAN
What's the news, man? Did they find someone else? Is it safe to leave? …Or is it bad news?

ULYSSES
We'll talk when everyone is present.

AIKO
Which means we'll be here for a while.

JEAN
Aiko…

AIKO
What? It's true. She rarely leaves that room.

MS. WILCOTT
She has sinned. She hides her face in shame, unable to communicate with us, fearing our presence will remind her of the judgment that awaits her.

AIKO
Or she's just hiding from you.

(CHARLOTTE and JOHN appear in the doorway as the fighting continues.)

MS. WILCOTT
You know what they called you, girl? Back in my day, we had names for your kind.

AIKO
Ms. Wilcott, I am a fucking American!

MS. WILCOTT
You don't look like one.

CHARLOTTE
Has the meeting begun?

(The room falls silent as everyone turns to look at CHARLOTTE. ULYSSES grins, extending his arm.)

ULYSSES
Charlotte, my dear! Come, have a seat!

(The room remains silent as CHARLOTTE casually chooses a chair closest to the open doorway. JOHN remains standing, nervously rubbing his hands together.)

How's the day treating you? I trust you're doing well…

CHARLOTTE
It's the morning.

JEAN
What's the news, Ulysses?

(ULYSSES stares at CHARLOTTE for a few awkward seconds, then clears his throat and slams his hands down on the table.)

ULYSSES
Right! We've been down here for a month, more or less/, and we-

AIKO
Less.

ULYSSES
Silence! …We've been down here for a month, and things are starting to seem rather hopeless. We've only managed to intercept news from our bordering nations – namely Mexico and California – yet we barely know what is going on above our heads. Perhaps the entire country is dead… perhaps there are more people just like us, hidden in bunkers, forgotten… Whatever the case, I feel it is time we discuss an important issue.

(Everyone glances around the table, confused. JEAN glances at the big, metal door, his face brightening.)

JEAN
Escape?!

ULYSSES
What? No! Repopulation!

(He falls silent, smiling, letting the word sink in.)

See, when we're free to go, we don't know what state the world will be in. I propose a plan… we'll need to start repopulating the world. What better place than to start here?

AIKO
…What the fuck…

JEAN
Ulysses… that's crazy.

ULYSSES
No! It's a brilliant plan!

MS. WILCOTT
Like Noah and his family…

AIKO
It's insane! …Plus, Ms. Wilcott is past her prime.

ULYSSES
(Disgusted)
Of course… no offense, Ms. Wilcott, but you've already done your part for the country.

AIKO
(Snickering)
Forty years ago.

MS. WILCOTT
(Glaring at AIKO)
And what of the harlot? Have we forgotten that love should be between a woman and a man?

(AIKO stops snickering, returning the glare.)

ULYSSES
That won't matter when the apocalypse arrives! It's survive, mate, feed, kill, reproduce, rebuild, spread-

CHARLOTTE
I'm leaving.

(CHARLOTTE stands up to leave, silencing ULYSSES immediately.)

This is insane. The world is fine. The country is fine. No one is going to do anything stupid.

ULYSSES
Charlotte…

(CHARLOTTE leaves the room, and ULYSSES watches her go, his face red.)

Charlotte…. Charlotte!!

(As he yells, the rest of the table quietly gets up and leaves the room through various doors, trying to avoid any ensuing conflicts.)

…This isn't over.

(The lights fade.)