Scene 1
Opening monologue (narration of Claire Danes as Katherine Brewster while showing the different scenes related to the narration): “The destruction of the Skynet Central in 2018 was supposed to make the machines weaker than us. But that resulted in us, the Resistance, becoming almost extinct. The worldwide nuclear attacks, Skynet’s last resort, a second Judgement Day, was deployed without mercy. Now, 2029. My husband, our leader, John Connor, says it’s the year of our victory, but I barely see any sign of that...”
Intro and music plays...
Scene 1:
The newly set up camp in Colorado, hidden under the wreckage of what was once Denver, now a graveyard of torn and twisted metal and crushed skulls and bones. The remaining leaders of the Resistance are gathered around a fire, their faces gaunt, their clothes torn, the air thick with the scent of sweat and desperation. The flickering flames cast long shadows, making the survivors lo ok like ghosts themselves. Katherine Brewster watches as Christian Bale as Commander John Connor, Lonnie Common as Captain Giles Barnes, and de-aged Michael Biehn as Sergeant Kyle Reese discuss their current situation. Kyle looks behind at the skeletal figures, men, women, and children, only 17 left, barely clinging to life. “Sir, we barely have anything left to eat, really hard to find rats and cockroaches,” he mutters, voice hoarse from days without proper water. John’s jaw tightens, “We need to change our tactic... We’ll have to go out, can’t keep hiding like this...” Katherine snaps, “How, John? Tell me how! This wasn’t the fate your mother told you about, did she?!” A heavy silence follows, broken only by the distant howl of a Hunter-Killer prowling the wasteland. The tension is thick enough to choke on.
“Just keep...” John starts only to be interrupted by his wife again, “Just keep doing what? Treating the sick without medicine, teaching Marcus how to program chips when there’s no computer left?” She angrily kicks a pile of rusted debris. “Kate! Calm down,” Giles tries to mediate, but she isn’t having it. “No! You don’t get to tell me to calm down when we’re all starving to death!”
“One more bomb and we’re done,” John murmurs, more to himself than the others, “We can’t let the machines find our location, but there’s got to be a way... a way... go out and find food and water without getting detected... but how?” He clenches his fists, knuckles white under the grime. Katherine exhales sharply, wiping the sweat from her brow with a shaking hand. The firelight flickers across Marcus Connor’s face, John and Katherine’s ten-year-old son, who sits silently beside them, looking at his mother with expectant eyes, maybe his days of learning pointless programming would end soon, maybe his father would stop pressuring him to be something more than just a survivor.
“Giles, how good is Kyle now in combat? how strong is he?” John finally asks, his voice low and measured, as though he’s testing an idea before it fully forms. Giles glances at Kyle, who stiffens under the sudden scrutiny. “Good enough. Fast. Can lift the broken car engine alone if he has to.” Katherine’s eyes narrow, catching on before John even speaks. “No,” she breathes, shaking her head violently, “You’re not sending him out there to die...” “I’m not,” John says, “Giles, how about we also use Andy, Ryan, Bret, and... umm... Kevin, the ones with the most combat skills?”
Giles rubs his forehead, leaving streaks of ash, “Use for what exactly, John? Scavenging? Because if we send them out blind, they’ll walk right into a patrol.” John leans forward, the firelight carving hollows under his eyes, “We’ll sneak out to another building area where there might be a computer still intact with more cockroaches and rats...maybe under the ruins of an office. The boys can carry the ones who are unable to move, and step up when there’s danger.” Katherine lets out a sharp, humorless laugh, “And they won’t spot us? Don’t be delusional!”
“Delusional? We’ve managed to reach here from San Francisco...” John tries to reason, but Katherine cuts him off with a snarl, “And how many did we lose in the process? All because of your stupid prophecy of a victory in Colorado, in 2029. Well, we’re here, it’s the year, and look us! Looking very victorious aren’t we?!” Her sarcasm drips like acid, and even Marcus flinches at her tone.
“Kate, please don’t...” Giles starts, but John raises a hand, silencing him, “Take the boys out and start your preparation for the mission, just wait for my signal...” Giles hesitates, glancing between John and Katherine before nodding and pulling Kyle away from the fire, the others reluctantly following.
