Choices

**"Choices"** is the upcoming first episode of *Storytellers*, the rewrite of *Chronicles Season 1: 'The Storytellers'*.

## Plot

*Young criminal Mark Watson is granted a second chance at life when the world is gripped by a horrifying plague.*

## Synopsis

Sitting in the back of sedan, Mark Watson loads a pistol as three others do the same. Each donning black masks, they pull up at a gas station on the outskirts of St. Cloud, Minnesota. The driver turns off the radio as the broadcast describes the rise in the number of cases of a mysterious new disease as they get out of the car. The four of them hold up the customers inside and demand the cash register be emptied. Mark, clearly nervous, orders a customer to stand still, but the man refuses, giving Mark words of comfort and asking him not to make this mistake. The lead robber fires a shot to hurry the attendent up, and the customer reaches for Mark's gun while he is distracted. Acting on reflex, Mark pulls the trigger, hitting the man in the chest. Horrified by what he has done, Mark drops his gun and holds the dying man in his arms, apologising profusely. The others, panicked by the turn of events, decide to abandon Mark as they rush out of the gas station. The other customers run away in panic and call the police as the man dies in Mark's arms.

Three police cars turn up; Mark does not resist and a young officer, clearly inexperienced, cuffs his wrists in front of him. The man is declared dead as Mark is marched to the police car; there is suddenly a disturbance as the man seemingly comes back to life. Mark watches as the cops try to comfort the man, but he suddenly springs to life and attacks, tearing out a cop's throat with his teeth. The cops keep the man at gunpoint, but he appears unfazed and attacks; the cops fire, but the man appears to be unaffected by the gunshots. Fearing for his life, the youngest cop gets into the police car and drives off despite Mark's protests. Still cuffed, Mark notices that the cop has been bitten on the arm and is already feverish. Within just a few minutes, as the streets suddenly turn to chaos, the cop veers off his side of the street and hits a pickup head-on, crashing into a wall and knocking Mark out.

Mark wakes up, his head bleeding, and realizing it is still night. His wrists still cuffed, he asks the cop if he is okay, but the officer only grunts weakly in response. With the window cracked, Mark smashes his way out, only to find the streets in ruin and the pickup smoking nearby. Mark spots the keys on the cop's body and opens the driver's door; the cop spills out, groaning, pale and frothing at the mouth. Mark reaches for the keys, only for the officer to snap at his hand. Mark kicks the creature across the jaw and manages to grab the keys and the officer's gun. He pockets the gun and unlocks the cuffs before checking out the crashed pickup.

Approaching, he spots a woman slumbed over the steering wheel and calls out to her; the door opens and the woman falls out. She picks herself up, her skin mottled and pale, her head split open. Mark approaches and asks if she needs help; the woman growls and lunges for him. Mark drops the pistol and wrestles with the woman, telling her to stop. She tackles Mark to the ground, biting furiously; he manages to reach for the gun and fires, hitting her in the throat. The woman is unfazed and is only stopped when Mark shoots her in the head. Pinned beneath her, Mark sees the cop also stand up and approach; he shoots several times before striking the cop in the head, and it drops dead on top of the woman's corpse.

Mark crawls out from beneath the pair, remarking to himself that they both looked dead when they attacked him. He hears a second noise from the pickup and aims the pistol, only to hear a child's voice. The door opens and a young boy steps out, clearly dazed; behind him sits another, younger boy, his arm bloodly and sat completely still. The boy calls out the name "Emily" and freezes upon seeing Mark, who by now is covered in dark blood.

Mark holsters his pistol in his trouser pocket and approaches the boy, attempting to calm him. The boy backs away, and screams when the boy behind him suddenly jolts awake, snarling and reaching for the boy. Mark lunges forward, grabbing the boy by the arm and pulling him away from the truck. He tells the boy to look at him, reassuring him that everything is okay. Feeling pity for the boy still trapped inside, Mark tells the boy to look away before shooting the trapped boy in the head. Mark drags the child's body to the roadside, next to the cop and the woman, before climbing into the driver's seat. He turns the ignition and yells with relief when the engine starts. He opens the door for the boy to climb in; after a moments hesitation, he does so. Mark asks the boy his name: he replies "Kyle Granger". Mark gives his own name before asking when Kyle and his family were headed; Kyle replies they were heading for their aunts in the town of Brookland, a days drive north of St. Cloud.

The two drive in silent in the damaged truck. All around them people run in panic, their corpses littering the roads. Fires break out across the region, engulfing the roads in smoke. Several people try to run alongside the truck, and others try to break in as Mark avoids traffic. As the duo leave St. Cloud's city limits, a pair of explosions erupt over the city, and the sound of a plane disappears into the night.

Mark takes the road north out of St. Cloud, using a map in the glovebox to guide his way to Brookland, at least a six hour drive away. The night turns to gloom as the pair drive by empty fields, smoke bellowing from the horizon as nearby towns fall to the strange creatures.

At around 4am, the truck finally starts to splutter and die, finally coming to a stop by the side of the road. Mark tells Kyle to stay in the car before checking out the damaged engine. He discovers that the radiator is leaking from the crash. While they wait for the engine to cool, a pair of headlights shine from down the road. Mark waves them down, shouting for help.

The vehicle, a second truck, pulls up a distance in front of them; the driver gets out before immediately pointing a pistol at Mark. He demands that the pair hand over any weapons, food or water. Mark, frustrated, begs him to leave them alone; the driver steps forward and fires a warning shot, narrowly missing Kyle in the front seat. Mark relents and throws his pistol at the driver's feet while insisting that they have no food or water. Apparently desperate to get on, the driver pockets Mark's pistol before driving away, leaving the pair stranded.

The engine finally cools and the pair continue north; after another hour they arrive on a straight piece of road flanked by forest and discover the raider's truck, crashed and streaming, the driver dead on impact and a bound, gagged and bloody zombie in the passenger seat beside him. Mark gets out to retrieve his pistol, only to find the clip empty. He takes the driver's pistol and shoots the gagged zombie in the head, ending its misery.

Daylight finally breaks the horizon as Mark and Kyle finally stumble across the town of Brookland; to their dismay they several plumes of black smoke billowing over the town. With nowhere else to go they enter the town and soon the engine resumes overheating. They decide to go on foot in search of Kyle's aunt, but the entire town seems abandoned. They round a corner and see a figure shuffling along, making a series of low groans. Mark calls out, asking if the figure is friendly; it immediately turns, its cheek blown open by a gunshot wound. It growls and jogs its way towards them, arms outstretched. Marks takes out his pistol to defend himself until Kyle screams: two more zombies approach from the left. The creatures appear to hesitate, as if assessing their prey, before lunging forward. Mark shields Kyle with his body as the zombie with the broken face approaches.

A deafening gunshot rings out, splattering the head of the jogging zombie. The others turn around, drawn to the sudden noise, as other gunshots arrive with delays between them. Two more zombies go down before Mark and Kyle make a run for it, heading in the direction of the gunshots. Zombies start pouring out of alleyways, all carrying various open wounds. A male voice calls out to the pair, drawing them to a clear alley; inside they find a man, armed with a hunting rifle and dressed in combat fatigues.

He orders the pair to follow him through the maze of alleys, which open up to a burned-out town square housing the town's police station. With the faster zombies on their tail, the man bashes on the doors, yelling for them to be opened. As the first zombies reach the bottom of the station's steps, the doors swing open. The soldier ushers the pair inside before following them, throwing the doors closed. The three of them hold the doors shut before a woman beside them slides a piece of rebar between the handles, sealing the door.

## Deaths

*To be added...*

 **Season 5: Remake** | "Blood" • "Rules" • "Dissent" • "The Game" • "The Coming Storm" • "Brotherhood" • "Call to Arms"