Welcome to Paradise

A busy mall is attacked by a horde of the undead during the onset of the apocalypse forcing survivors to take refuge wherever they can.

You can read the transcript here.

## **Synopsis**

The beginning of the story sees us at Willamette Parkview Mall, in Colorado. The mall is the main attraction of the otherwise uninteresting small American town.

Owen Gliefield, a medical assistant, gets off the phone with his concerned wife and sits down to take his prescribed pills for his heart condition. Meanwhile, a private investor by the name of Quentin Richards enters the food court. He notices people coughing before having a weary interaction with a sickly-looking cashier. Unable to focus on his meal due to his growing concern of all the sick people around him, he gets up and leaves.

In the mall’s security room, the two managers, Felix Quarterman and Helen Cullen debate the amount of revenue the mall is bringing in. Felix decides to have their assistant Kate Bloodstone fetch a children’s entertainer in the wonderland plaza, a clown by the name of Skittles. Insisting that he isn’t worth the salary, Felix fires him. Skittles begins to plead for his job, explaining that his brother is sick and he needs the money to no avail. Felix threatens to call security, angering Skittles, who curses the manager on his way out.

Back in the Entrance Plaza, Police Officer Clayton Freeman attempts to deal with an intoxicated homeless man, Steven Philips, who is causing a ruckus in the mall and damaging property in the entrance plaza. As the situation escalates, Clayton prepares to arrest the man and escort him out. Steven headbutts Clayton and makes a run for it, leaving the officer unable to catch up to him due to his asthma.

Clayton then rejoins his bewildered partner Randall Forster, whose attention is drawn to a supersized horde of a few hundred people that are stumbling across the car park toward the mall. A woman exits the mall into the oncoming horde that immediately attacks and devours her. Another man is eaten after her. This causes the shoppers inside to panic, prompting an older man, Jeffrey Cortez, to control the situation, closing the doors and asking everyone to barricade the entrance with furniture as the undead begins to bang on the glass. Alex Weiss, a German author who had been browsing in the bookstore nearby, is fascinated by the entire situation. He begins to take notes as inspiration for his next novel.

Among the shoppers is Jacob Feldman, an English teacher, and his best friend William Reynes, a Biology teacher. William struggles to comprehend the science of the situation, analyzing some of the injuries sustained by the people banging on the window. Together, the two devise a plan to arm themselves, leading to William searching a sporting goods store. There, he encounters Kate, who asks him to pick out a weapon for her too. She begins to smoke while William looks around the store. He tries to explain to a concerned Kate what is happening outside, but she remains in denial of the situation.

Now armed, William and Kate rejoin everyone in the entrance plaza. Kate insists they open the doors to get outside, boasting that they have the numbers to match the mob. Despite everyone around her objecting to the idea, Kate clears part of the barricade and opens the front doors. The undead horde begins to spill into the building, overwhelming most of the people inside and devouring them. Realizing the gravity of the situation and what she has just unleashed, a shocked Kate flees the scene. Randall and Clayton open fire on the horde but more and more continue to flood the area. Helen Cullen emerges at the top of the stairs, yelling for anyone who’s still alive to follow her to the security room.

In the end, only William, Jacob, Owen, Quentin, Alex, Officer Clayton, and Randy Wheeler make it up to Helen. Most of the other survivors inside the plaza were devoured by the zombie horde or fled elsewhere.

Helen leads the survivors into the security room. They are all questioned by Felix Quarterman as to who they are. An unhappy Felix scolds Helen for bringing them all back with her. Randy remains lax about the entire situation, assuring himself that the military will deal with whatever is going on. Owen questions if there’s a way out of the mall, expressing his desperation to get back to his family. Clayton tries to assure him that they’ll be alright, but a hysterical Owen recalls the bloodbath he just witnessed outside. Alex admits they might be dead by now, enraging Owen and causing him to lunge at the author. While the survivors continue to panic among themselves, Helen introduces herself and asks that they all calm down and seat themselves in the waiting rooms until help arrives.

A disgruntled Felix follows Helen into the security room’s office. He continues to complain about letting the survivors join them, insisting that it is a mistake. Helen’s attention is drawn to the overhead television. The emergency broadcast system that is playing cuts off.

Quentin escorts Owen into one of the waiting rooms, asking him to calm down and take a breather. While the survivors question the disease that has caused the outbreak, William concludes that the attackers are most certainly undead after evaluating their unnatural injuries. Alex makes small talk with Randy in the other waiting room, telling him about how the current situation is inspiring his newest work. After snooping around the room, they open Felix’s beer fridge and begin to drink. They quickly end up in a drunken state together.

Jacob and Helen meet in the hallway to discuss a plan of action. Helen explains that the mall has already been overrun, but a lot of survivors are still down there. Felix emerges from the office and argues that they aren’t worth saving. After Jacob spots a vent revealing that they have access to the roof, Felix and Helen inform him that the roof has further access down to a storage room by the paradise plaza. They reveal that the paradise plaza is especially crowded due to being the home of Colby’s Movieland, a cinema that was hosting the premiere of a new movie with the star in attendance.

Meanwhile, Quentin, Owen and Clayton are deep in a discussion about the ongoing situation, and how they're going to go out into the mall for supplies and to rescue other survivors. In the other waiting room, Randy and Alex are having a grand time, drinking and playing games.

In the main hall, Jacob begins to devise a plan to go out and gather food, which involves Felix leading them throughout the mall. Felix argues that he's a busy man and has no time, as he heads up to the roof via the vent. Both Jacob and William follow him with his permission.

On the roof, the three are able to get a grasp of just how terrible their situation is. In the parking lot, hundreds of zombies wander, with many still funneling in through the main doors. After taking it all in, Felix suggests that if they do leave the security room, they should head to one of the nearby restaurants in Paradise Plaza for food, but he doesn't advise trying it without a big team. After debating who'll be most useful to take on the mission, they crawl back through the vents into the security room.

Randy and Alex shuffle their way into the first waiting room where the other three are, continuing with their drunken games. After some time, the two turn on each other after Randy insults Alex, leading to Alex beating Randy with a baseball bat. William and Felix eventually enter the room, and are furious at the sight of the two drunkards, especially Felix, who realizes they've been consuming his beer. When it becomes apparent that Randy and Alex will be of no use, William leaves angrily. Clayton follows him out, as does Felix.

In the main hall, William and Felix curse about the two idiots fighting each other in the waiting room, before they decide that they should get going. Felix reluctantly agrees to go into the mall with Jacob, William and Clayton there to protect him. Helen wishes the four of them luck as they climb up the vents.

Felix and the others walk across the roof over to the storage elevator, which Felix says will take them down into the storage room. After a quick ride down, the elevator opens up into a maze of a storage room. Felix leads them through it, and they arrive at a set of doors on the other side. Once they've prepared themselves, Felix swings open the doors into Paradise Plaza.

Over in the security room, the fighting between Randy and Alex worsens when Alex reveals a knife. As the drunkenness wears off, Randy backs away, but doesn't get far. Alex charges him and drives the knife into his hand. As Randy yells in agony, he turns to punching Alex with his uninjured hand. Randy eventually spins around, trying to flee the room. As the door is pulled open, Alex rams the knife into Randy's shoulder, sending both men tumbling into the hallway.

Helen finally notices the ongoing fight, and steps in to intervene, yelling at both of them to stop. But as soon as Helen moves out of the way, and Randy is on his feet, he swings at Alex, sending him to the ground. Slowly getting back up, Alex leads Randy into a false sense of security by offering a handshake and asking that they stop the fighting. As a frightened Randy goes to shake his hand, Alex shoves a knife into his stomach that was hidden in his other hand. Randy gasps for air, sliding to the ground, bleeding from his three wounds. Helen jumps in and smacks Alex's head off the wall, knocking him out. She then helps Randy up and rushes him into the waiting room where he can be tended to by Owen.

In Paradise Plaza, Felix and the others quickly come across a crazy man standing atop a raised platform and defending himself from numerous zombies. Jacob decides to risk it and runs out into the horde, knocking down zombies in his way, before he jumps onto the platform with the crazy man. Felix curses at Jacob, before running after Jacob following the same path he'd taken. William and Clayton are close behind, and all three of them climb onto the platform. The crazy man, whose name is Edward Remar, welcomes them, before he demands to know if they know why zombies are trying to kill him. William tries to explain that he's learned about the virus, but Edward pays little attention. When Jacob mentions that they're looking for food, Edward claims that the nearby Colombian Roastmasters restaurant has already been looted... by him. He claims that a movie-star inside the movieland had requested food, and so Edward got him some. Now knowing that the food they need is in the movieland, Jacob, William and Clayton all agree to go and get some, whilst Edward and Felix are content with staying on the platform. However, Jacob gets Edward to come with them on the conditions that they'll take him back to the security room afterwards. Felix watches as the four of them hop down and fight their way over to the movieland.

The group rushes into Colby's Movieland, slamming the doors behind them. Once safe, they begin searching for the movie star. It doesn't take them long to discover Clyde Rollins sitting in one of the theaters, watching his own movie on the big screen. When Clyde notices the four men, he quits watching his movie and asks who they are. After telling him their names, Jacob questions if he even knows what's going on outside. Clyde says that his press team had gone out to investigate, and that he is awaiting their return. Edward bluntly tells him that his press team is already dead, before he storms out of the theater in rage. William then whispers to Jacob and Clayton to play along and coerce Clyde to give them some food. However, before they can continue, Felix's screams for help are heard outside.

Edward, Jacob, William and Clayton all rush out into Paradise Plaza, where they witness a clown carrying Felix into Leisure Park, laughing. With a horde of zombies quickly enclosing in on the movieland, Jacob and the others are forced back inside.

## **Cast**

#### **Starring**

* Jacob Feldman
* William Reynes
* Clayton Freeman
* Randall Forster
* Felix Quarterman
* Edward Remar
* Helen Cullen

#### **Also Starring**

* Owen Gliefield
* Clyde Rollins

#### **Guest Starring**

* Kate Bloodstone
* Steven Philips
* Skittles the Clown
* Quentin Richards
* Randy Wheeler
* Alex Weiss

## **Deaths**

* Numerous counts of unnamed shoppers & mall employees