How i Died S1 E08: Bubble Burst

Transcript: How i Died S1 E08: Bubble Burst

This transcript is adapted from the episode’s original script, so the final audio may differ slightly.

[Car turning off and mic muffle. The keys in car sound plays.]

Jon: I just arrived at the abandoned Springfield Corporation facility toward the edge of town. It’s… Dark. The whole facility is nearly covered in brush and overhanging trees, and the shitty weather isn’t helping. There’s a big fence blocking me from driving any closer. It doesn’t look well kept or guarded in any way, so I think I can climb through a broken piece. I’m keeping the recorder on in my jacket pocket, just in case I see anything noteworthy.

[Mike muffle. Jon gets out of the car, locks it and goes up the hill. He climbs through a fence and falls.]

Jon: Ah. Damnit.

[Jon continues up the hill.]

Jon: The facility is a big gray building. Kind of bland looking, with faded red lettering up the side. It obviously said Springfield at one point, but the letters are almost gone now. I’m not seeing anything from here, surprisingly. I would’ve expected to see some equipment or signs of other people here, but… Nothing. I wonder if they really did just close up shop immediately after the accident.

[More walking in silence.]

Jon: I’m coming up to what looks like a shipment entrance. Chances are it’ll be locked…

[Chain and door rattling.]

Jon: Yep. But the chain is loose enough for the door to open a little… If I squeeze, I might be able to fit.

[Jon squeezes through and the mic hits the ground. He picks it back up. There’s an eerie lack of sound.]

Jon: I’m in. It’s dark in here, but not pitch black. No doubt the power won’t work, even if I could find some sort of switch. I see a small glow in the distance, down this hallway.

[Jon walks a bit further and continues to get closer as he]

[Walks.]

Mike: (in distance) Day 10,922. The sky, the sky is overcast.

Jon: I hear someone talking. It’s comimg from the light.

Mike: No signs of another storm though. Good. More time, we have more time.

Jon: (whispering) There’s a corner here. The light is coming from behind it…

Mike: (in distance) More time to finish the project.

Jon: (whispering) I’m in front of a big set of thick doors and a broken out observation window. This definitely looks like a lab. I can hear someone talking on the other side, but I don’t antone yet. I’m going to get closer to the window.

[Jon steps on broken glass and approaches.]

Mike: (very close) Who are you?

[Jon stumbles back]

Jon: Holy shit.

Mike: I don’t know you. Don’t know you. Don’t know you.

Jon: (heart racing) Whoever that was just walked through the wall and then stepped back to the other side. He had a white lab coat. Clearly he’s a ghost. I was NOT expecting that.

Mike: (echoing inside) Do we have the Crochet in place? Yes. Good.

[Jon walks on broken glass again.]

Jon: Excuse me?

Mike: No storm in sight. No storm in sight. Let’s get to work.

Jon: Hello? He doesn’t seem to be noticing me. He’s just… Pacing around this empty lab. On the far side, most of the wall is destroyed. I can see right back outside. I should’ve come in that way…

Mike: George! I need you to move your ass. We’re busy today.

Jon: Mike? Hey! Are you Mike Melba?

Mike: You know my name. He knows my name. You’re not George, or Steve. What do you want?

Jon: I just came to see you, actually.

Mike: I need you to scan your ID to come in then. I am very busy. We’re all very busy.

Jon: I don’t have an ID.

Mike: Then I cannot help you. Goodbye.

Jon: Ray Melba sent me. He’s your brother, right?

Mike: Ray sent you? Ray sent you!

Jon: Yeah. I met him a few days ago, and he told me I could find you here.

Mike: Can you tell him that he’s fired? He hasn’t come to work in 10,922 days. That’s grounds for forfeiting his position, and now I’m in charge.

Jon: He hasn’t been to work…? Mike, how can I get in?

Mike: Use the scanner on your ID. The doors will open.

[Jon tugs at the doors, which are locked]

Jon: I’m going to have to climb in through this broken window. I just need something to… Here.

[Jon breaks away the glass. It shatters on the ground.]

Mike: You are making a mess – making a mess! Steve get a broom. Ohhh my. Oh my.

[Crunching on glass]

Jon: Oof. Ouch.

Mike: Do we have an injury? Call medical. Ohh no, you’ve made a mess. Everything is RUINED.

Jon: I’m sorry. I can clean it up. It’s okay.

Mike: It’s okay. It is okay. I’m busy. Who are you?

Jon: Ugh. I’m… I’m Jon.

Mike: There’s no Jon on our team. No Jon. This is a restricted area!

Jon: I’m sorry to interrupt you. I used my ID on the door and came to see you.

Mike: Oh, you did?

Jon: Yes.

Mike: Why didn’t you say so? Steve, George – get back to work. Nothing to see. Back to work.

Jon: Can I talk to you for a moment?

Mike: Very, very busy.

Jon: Wait! Where are you going? (Pause) Damnit. He walked through another wall. I don’t know what to do here. I don’t think Mike is aware that he’s dead.

[Jon crunches on glass.]

Jon: Wow. This lab is huge. And the light from before is coming from the ceiling, which is completely see through. About halfway up the far wall and goes across most of the ceiling. Like a window frame you’d see in a museum exhibit, except… We’re inside it. That must be the bubble project…

Mike: How do you know about the bubble? Are you here to shut us down?

Jon: Jesus you scared me. Ray, your brother, told me about the project you two were working on.

Mike: Were? We are working on it. I am working on it. He is fired. I am working on it. He is fired.

Jon: You’re right. Of course. Of course.

Mike: I am working on it.

Jon: I know. How is it going?

Mike: Not well.

Jon: Why is that?

Mike: There’s. There was… A storm that we weren’t prepared for.

Jon: Right. Ray told me about that. He said it came suddenly in 1989 and that-

Mike: No! No! Not that one. Not that storm. That storm was 10,922 days ago.

Jon: There was a second storm? That must have been what Crowley was hinting at…

Mike: Yes, of course. Today is day 10922. The last storm was day 8515.

Jon: 8515? So it was recent? 365 on a year… About 2,400 difference. Was that… 2012? 2013? Around there.

Mike: Day 8515.

Jon: What is going on around here?

Mike: The Crochet should be working but it’s not.

Jon: The Crochet? I heard you say that earlier. What is it?

Mike: It is what it is. The storms are coming and we must be ready.

Jon: Mike…

Mike: It could be any day. And the bubble is still not working!

Jon: Mike! Listen to me. Do you know what exactly happened in 1898?

Mike: What day?

Jon: Umm. Day 1… I guess.

Mike: Yes, day 1 I got back to work after the storm. Steve was on time but George was late. Ray never showed up. There were more people here than now.

Jon: Oh, I got it… Day zero then.

Mike: Day zero… Day zero, I was working, and the sky went red…

Jon: And then what?

Mike: (creepy and low) I don’t like day zero.

Jon: Please…

Mike: I don’t like day zero. I don’t like day zero!

Jon: Please… Ray asked me to find out.

Mike: Ray… I saw him on the other side of that glass… He looked so scared. And then I looked up, and the bubble was cracking. The flares… And then… I was hit. I felt it in my whole body… It was…

Jon: It was what?

Mike: And then it hit him, too.

Jon: Who? Ray?

Mike: No. It hit him. HIM. And he wasn’t supposed to be here…

Jon: There was someone else in here with you?

Mike: Yes. Yes! I’m telling you.

Jon: Is he dead too?

Mike: Dead too? What? No. He’s trapped.

Jon: Trapped where? Here?

Mike: No! Listen. You don’t listen. He’s trapped out THERE!

Jon: Out… Outside?

Mike: (growing quieter) Yes. The pressure in the room cracked the wall. I couldn’t move, but he could. He crawled out as soon as the crack was big enough.

[Jon walks over while mike is talking. Rubble sounds]

Jon: Some of these broken cinder blocks have flecks of red on them… It definitely looks like blood.

Mike: (close again) He clawed at it. I kept yelling for him, but he couldn’t hear me. And then he ran.

Jon: Ran where?

Mike: I… I followed him. I kept yelling… Why couldn’t he hear me?

Jon: I don’t know.

Mike: You!

Jon: What?

Mike: You have to help him.

Jon: Wait. Where are you going? (Pause) shit! He just ran through the broken wall. I think I can climb through… Damnit. All this crap. MIKE, WAIT!

[Rubble crumbling and job grunting.]

Jon: Mike, What’s going on? What do you mean I have to help him?

Mike: H’s trapped in the bunker. You can get him out. I can’t – I can’t open the door. Maybe you can.

Jon: Wait! He took off into the woods. Do I seriously follow this guy into the woods…? (Long pause) Fine. Fine!

[Jon running and goinf across rubble, then sticks and dirt.]

Jon: Mike! Mike, wait.

Mike: Hurry. He’s this way.

Jon: What is going on? Slow down. I can’t keep up.

Mike: There’s no more time. It’s been 10, 922 days.

Jon: (out of breath) This guy’s been in the bunker the whole time?

Mike: This way.

[More running]

Jon: What in the hell is this place…? Between all these trees, there’s actually … Something sticking out of the ground.

Mike: The bunker!

Jon: It looks like a mound of dirt, but I can see some metal… Sticking out. That looks like a vent… There’s… More over here.

Mike: Yes. Yes. Here. The hatch.

Jon: The hatch?

Mike: He’s in here.

Jon: There’s a bump here. I can see…

[Jon drops down into his hands and rubs at the dirt]

[Vigorously.]

Jon: There’s a hatch here. Like a submarine door.

Mike: Yes. Yes. Open it.

Jon: Uhh…

[Jon struggles to open it and it doesn’t budge.]

Jon: I can’t. It’s stuck.

Mike: Open it. Open it.

Jon: I can’t!

Mike: He’s going to die!

Jon: Are you sure there’s actually someone in the-

[Loud banging and yelling comes from below the ground.]

Jon: Jesus christ. Hello? Is someone down there?

[Inaudible yelling and banging continues.]

Jon: Holy crap.

Mike: I told you.

Jon: If he was dead, he could’ve just passed through the wall… There must actually be someone down there. (Pause) my phone. My phone! Hold on.

Mike: Who are you calling?

Jon: Help. (Pause) Hello? Crowley, it’s Jon. …yes. Sorry to bother you. I’ve got an emergency. I found someone trapped in a bunker. Yes. Really. By the back of the old Springfield Corporation building – maybe… A hundred feet back into the woods. South, I guess? I don’t know. Just bring the fire department or something to break open a metal door. I’ll stay here. Call me when you get close.

Mike: They’re coming? They can get him out.

Jon: I can’t believe someone is actually in there. Who is it?

Mike: Alex… Alex… I don’t remember.

Jon: Alex, help is on the way!

Mike: Get him out!

Jon: How in the hell did he survive so long?

Mike: Day 10,922.

Jon: Exactly… That is a long time down there… And how in the hell did he survive the flare when you died- shit.

Mike: I what?

Jon: I didn’t-

Mike: I’m not dead. I can’t be dead.

Jon: No, I didn’t mean-

Mike: I’m not dead! I’m not dead! Did Ray tell you to come trick me? Is that it?

[Sirens in the background. They continue to grow louder.]

Jon: No. Ray has been blaming himself for the accident. For day zero. He wanted me to tell you he’s sorry.

Mike: I have to get back to work.

Jon: Don’t run away again! I have so many questions…

[Cell phone rings]

Jon: Damnit. Hello? Yeah I can hear the sirens. Head up the hill behind the building. Yeah. I see your flashers. Right up here. Heyyy. Whoa. Don’t run me over.

[Car approaches. Doors open and close.]

Jon: Hey! Right here. Below me. It’s some sort of hidden bunker –

Sheriff: And there’s someone in there?

Jon: Yeah. I heard them on the other side just a few minutes ago.

Sheriff: Where are you going?

Jon: I have to check something… I’ll be back.

Sheriff: What? Get back here! (Fading out) hey!

Jon: They can handle opening the bunker door. I need to find Mike.

[Jon walking quickly through the woods.]

Mike: (far away) Jon?

Jon: Mike? Hey. I thought you went back to the lab.

Mike: I was on my way.

Jon: What happened?

[Sirens in background stop.]

Mike: The car… On its way up here… I hit me and I…

Jon: You went through it.

Mike: Yes. Yes. I did. Why?

Jon: You were alone for so long in the bunker after day zero… I don’t know if it was from the flare or just being left alone for so long, but… Mike – you died on day zero. You’re a ghost. And Ray killed himself thinking he was the reason you died. I spoke to him as a ghost, too.

Mike: But you’re not a ghost?

Jon: No. I’m not.

Mike: The flares… I remember it hitting me. I watched my body fall to the ground… And then I just felt like something was wrong.

Jon: I’m so sorry. Ray wanted me to tell you that he was sorry, too. He wished you both could’ve left before the storm.

Mike: After my body collapsed… He slammed on the windows and doors. He screamed and cried. I remember. I remember…

Jon: Mike, I have to ask: What are those flares? What was the Bubble project for?

Mike: Geo… Geomagnetic flares cause mental abnormalities in those affected…

Jon: Abnormalities? How so?

Mike: The Bubble was supposed to dissipate any concentrated blasts in order to reduce hazardous effects…

Jon: You don’t think that the Bubble…

Mike: I… I don’t know for certain, but… The Bubble may have spread the effects of the blast to the entire town…

Jon: What are the effects? What happens to people?

Sheriff: Jon!

Jon: Not again. Mike, please wait for me.

Mike: I… I have to get back to work.

Jon: Mike, no!

Sheriff: Jon! What in the hell do you think you’re doing?

Jon: Huh?

Sheriff: There was no one in there.

Jon: In the bunker? Of course there was. I heard him.

Sheriff: There was nothing. Go look for yourself. And I swear, if you waste my time on another… (Pause).

Jon: That’s impossible…

Sheriff: ( in distance) Come on guys! We’ve got a real case to look into.

Jon: I heard him knocking… Ghosts can’t interract with the physical plane…

[Mic click off]