Rick(op): Nothing personal.
Rick(op): Weren’t those your words?
2. Rick is standing in front of a woman tied to a chair. She has clearly been beaten, bloody strands of hair hang in her face. We do not know her name because no one ever finds it out. It isn't important. Rick looks like the God of War, seething anger.
Rick: You thinking fucking with our way of life and destroying our worlds was nothing personal?
Woman: IIII’m-…
Rick: You’re what‽
3. Close up on the woman’s face. A tooth is missing, blood crusting her nose, tears streaming down her face.
Woman: I’m sorry…just looking for food.4. Rick is screaming down at her.
Woman: Didn’t mean f-
Rick: You wanted to take our food! You wanted to starve us to death instead of yourself! And in the process you brought death quicker to us!
5. Rick takes a moment to calm down, his back is to her.
6. Rick is walking away from her.
Rick: So, now he’s just looking for food. That’s all he’ll ever be looking for.
Rick: Nothing personal.
7. Rick is leaving through the door, on the floor we see a zombie child, it’s Carl. He’s dead but not yet up.
Rick: I’ll let my son have one last meal and then I’ll kill him.
Rick: …
Rick(wh): Fuck you, and rot in hell.
Loved the, "That’s all he’ll ever be looking for," line. It sums up the zombie affliction in one concise sentence. Nice one.
ReplyDeleteMan, for a second I thought you were reading Rick more harshly than I have, then when we get the reveal, it all makes sense. Rick would go absolutely nuts in this case. More nuttier than general that is.
ReplyDeleteHoly heck man, I like it! That it exactly how Rick would react in this situation.
ReplyDeleteThis is great! I was, initially, going to go a similar route, but don't think I could've written it as expertly as this. Think I might've been tempted to involve a lot of pointless exposition. Really good stuff, Ryan. Like Danial said, those lines "So, now he’s just looking for food. That’s all he’ll ever be looking for," are brilliant.
ReplyDeleteNail. Head. Ryan, this is absolutely brilliant. Easily one of the best I've read from you.
ReplyDeleteRyan - that is true zombie noir. Darker than a black steer's tuckus on a moonless prairie night.
ReplyDeleteMan, it took me ages to get a handle on Rick. I just couldn't give him a situation that came anywhere close to the stuff he's already dealt with in the comic. I wanted to have him confront his son as a zombie but it felt like too easy a grab for attention. Then I wanted him to rbutally interrogate an outsider, even though he sees a lot of himself in the person. In the end, Rick is a man who protects his own, no matter what.
ReplyDeleteI just couldn't bring the thunder. Then, a few days later, this melding of the two ideas came to me. I scripted it quickly and felt very happy with the outcome. I'm really happy with how this came out and the comments seem to vindicate that. Seems like I got the character just right - even though Paul was worried at the start, ha.
Thanks guys, it's nice to finally hit one out of the park (or at least near the fence). Feels like it's been a while.