Rocky couple CHARLIE and ASH have been told by their government there’s a fast-moving national emergency, and a curfew in immediate effect. The couple’s MAJOR PROBLEM is how to keep EMMA, their daughter, safe. Their IMMEDIATE PROBLEM is how to prepare for the night ahead.

 

Decisive Charlie tends to side with this government. Ponderous Ash tends to resist them.

 

They flipped over whether to break the curfew and go to ASH’S PARENTS’ (nicer, more isolated) HOUSE, or whether to secure THEIR HOME and risk getting trapped in a more populous area.

 

The COIN is HEADS. CHARLIE WINS. They’re staying in the house, risking being surrounded by terrified neighbours.

 

ACT TWO.

Charlie and Ash prepare to settle in for the night. There’s a TO DO LIST from their normal life, and then Charlie deals with the apocalypse-specific jobs.

 

MONTAGE of Ash and Charlie taking their time preparing - Ash starts by cooking pasta for them all.

 

As Charlie munches on pasta, she reviews their SUPPLIES in their PANTRY, taking notes on a clipboard.

 

Ash changes from his VERY TIGHT TROUSERS into trackies in their BEDROOM.

 

Charlie’s up in the LOFT, hunting for items with a torch in her mouth.

 

Ash and Emma have choc ices in the CONSERVATORY. Ash scans the INTERNET on his OLD MOBILE PHONE for theories about the crisis. News sites and foreign governments appear to be confused, in the dark. He looks on REDDIT, reading through CONSPIRACY THEORIES. Some think it’s a RUSSIAN ATTACK. Ash posts that he thinks it’s an alien invasion.

 

Charlie has a thought, in the bedroom. She removes a BASEBALL BAT from on top of their cupboard.

 

Ash snaps on some marigolds and does the washing up. Emma sits on the counter beside him, playing a game on Ash’s phone. She drops the phone and it bounces into the sink water. Ash yelps and fishes it out quickly. Emma watches as he puts the PHONE IN RICE.

 

Charlie plugs and fills the bath and every sink in the house with TAP WATER.

 

The MONTAGE ends with Charlie discovering Ash doing a silly song-and-dance for Emma in the KITCHEN. She tells him to put Emma to bed. Ash points out that she hasn’t had her bath, but Charlotte decides it’s too late - plus they need to conserve water, anyway.

 

Ash puts a fussy, resistant Emma to bed.

 

Then finds Charlie laying out items in the bedroom. She readies their HIKING BOOTS. She prepares a ‘GO-BAG’ containing their PASSPORTS, a HUNTING KNIFE and medical equipment including a SCALPEL. Ash mocks her packing - you’d think she was Rambo. What would they need all this for?! What Rambo didn’t have, but Charlie does, is 3 HAZMAT SUITS. Ash is incredulous - who did he marry?! He sees, laid out on the bed, his MEDICATION - antidepressants and SLEEPING PILLS. Charlie notices, and reassures him that he’s got enough to last a little while. Ash turns the packing into a joke by adding really important items, like Immodium, copies of his NOVELS, and various LUBES and sex toys. There’s a playful scuffle as Ash tries his hardest to get a vibrator into the bag.

 

Ash enters the lounge, a little sweaty from the vibrator fight. He sits on the sofa and looks at what’s left on his To Do list: ‘tape up the broken strap on Emma’s BABY REINS’ -

 

QUICK FLASH to the reins’ frayed strap.

 

‘Fix the BROKEN PATIO DOORS’ -

 

QUICK FLASH to the doors, slightly open.

 

‘Charge the ELECTRIC CAR’ -

 

QUICK FLASH to the car’s dashboard, where an indicator signals it’s half-charged.

 

But Ash’s eyes are fluttering closed … He’s slipping into a snooze … CUT TO:

 

A chorus of notification sounds. Ash’s eyes open. His LAPTOP and tablet computer have come to life. It’s 8pm. Ash picks up his laptop and clicks on an email alert. It’s from the government, directing him  to a page on a ‘GOVERNMENT GATEWAY’ WEBSITE. (Headers at the top of the site include ‘Census’, ‘HMRC’, etc - it’s a site for all your government-related needs.) On the page, there’s a video of the PRIME MINISTER, and then a lot of text beneath it. Ash plays the video:

 

The PM’s explanation: the government has built a number of ‘RESETTLEMENT ZONES’ in secret locations. There has been a LOTTERY, based on census data and location, for who gets TICKETS for the Resettlement Zones. If you received this alert, then you have been selected for a place in the Zones. Tickets should be downloaded to your ID BRACELET. Ticket holders will be picked up from their homes at a specified ‘PICK UP TIME’, by the authorities, and taken to the transport to their specified Zone. If for whatever reason ticket holders do not want their spot in the Zone, they are free to TRANSFER THEIR TICKETS to another citizen. It is advised that this citizen lives in your local area, as Zones have been allocated based on location. Only ticket holders can come to the Resettlement Zone, and this includes children. You are advised to keep this scheme quiet, for your own safety and the safety of the nation. Please follow the instructions at the bottom of the screen to see your ticket, and the tickets for anyone else in your household.

 

Ash clicks on the link at the bottom of the screen. Ash’s laptop offers the option to log in to the government site via password or via Touch ID. He uses Touch ID.

 

He’s greeted by the Dhumals’ Pick Up Time: 5am. Then he scrolls down, and discovers that the ticket holders are Ash Dhumal and Emma Dhumal. Charlie isn’t even listed.

 

Ash’s first thought is that someone’s made a mistake. Is there a HELPLINE to call? He goes back to the original site - and there is a number, at the bottom of the page. The fineprint notes that the call will be charged for. Ash goes into their cupboard under the stairs, and dusts off a novelty LANDLINE PHONE in the shape of a burger (an old birthday present from a distant relative). He places the call, and a robot asks why he’s calling. He explains that his wife hasn’t received a ticket to this Zone thing. The robot does not understand, and asks him to try again.

 

Charlie walks down the stairs, getting used to the weight of the baseball bat. She pokes her head into the lounge and asks Ash if everything is going okay. He does a thumbs up, and she moves on to the kitchen, where she starts to gaffa tape the seals on the windows.

 

Ash is placed 300th in a queue. He sets the landline phone - piping out tinny, polite music - down, and searches for the ticket issue on Google and Reddit, but finds nothing up there yet. He goes onto the STREET’S SOCIAL MEDIA GROUP, and starts to post a message.

 

Charlie enters the lounge, to tape up the windows. Ash finally gives a brief, garbled explanation of what’s happened. His tone: peeved. All of the blood drains from Charlie’s face. To her, Ash sounds delusional.

 

She scrabbles out her own phone and logs in to the government website. No sign of a lottery or tickets.

 

She goes onto Ash’s laptop, and starts to read, eating down her fear at the situation and her fury at Ash. Ash keeps interrupting to point out how ridiculous the situation is - this government will bring in martial law, make ‘Zones’, but also let you sell your tickets? They’re so weird. 

 

From their conversation, we continue to clarify Ash and Charlie’s politics - he hates and distrusts this government; she doesn’t mind it, and respects its thinking. He’s lefty, she’s centrist (or arguably centre-right).

 

Ash goes to tell Charlie that he’s posting about it on the street’s social media group - But, before he can, Charlie asks (straining not to freak out) if she can read the information first. Ash agrees to stay schtum, and posts the message.

 

Once she’s done, Charlie starts to convince Ash of the severity of the situation. It’s clear to her that the nation is even more fucked than they thought. To her, their 2 tickets are a horrible reality to be dealt with. Ash struggles to accept any of this - don’t overreact!

 

From their reactions, we see that Charlie leaps to the worst case scenario and begins to plan for that circumstance, while Ash refuses the bad news and delays. While Charlie accepts (what she believes to be) the harsh reality, Ash resists it and seeks ways out of the situation.

 

Ash remains blasé about it - they’ll find Charlie a 3rd TICKET! He’s called the helpline; they’ll ask friends. He’s going to text RISHI again! Charlie asks him to also contact a guy he went to school with, who’s now in the civil service - CURTIS. Ash tries to brush this off, claiming that Curtis is a nobody, he won’t know. Ash clearly doesn’t like Curtis, and Charlie clearly knows this, so she starts to push at this - what’s Curtis’s job? When was the last time they spoke? For Charlie, this discussion is a test of how dedicated Ash is to the cause - if he won’t contact a guy he likes, is he really going to fight for his family?

 

Wanting to prove that he’s on top of things, and reassure (himself, mostly) that everything is absolutely definitely fine, Ash points out that they could really go to his parents’ COTTAGE IN CORNWALL, if necessary. It’s isolated, and there’s a MOTORBOAT - they could CROSS THE CHANNEL! Charlie systematically dismantles the idea: it’d be dangerous to travel that far; crossing the channel in a little motorboat would be a nightmare; they’d possibly be counted as refugees, maybe arrested; this crisis could be in France too - or worldwide.

 

Charlie still wants to test Ash. She wonders aloud: what if they can’t get that 3rd ticket for her? She sort of wants to scare Ash, and she sort of wants an answer. Ash hesitates, and the question hangs out there. He really, really should just say that Charlie and Emma will have the tickets. But he doesn’t, and he gets a little testy instead - they just will, of course they will! Is this just a stumble in the moment, or is this indicative of a deeper desire …? There are clearly some relationship-threatening tensions ahead …

 

Which will culminate, in every version of Two Roads, in ‘THE CONFRONTATION’. The Confrontation is a scene in which Charlie and Ash finally address the problems in their relationship, who they are as people, and who they think the other person is. They’re pushed to this point in every version of events; they’re fated to have this battle, on this night.

 

For the moment, the introduction of the Resettlement Zones and their tickets ups the stakes - both for the film’s world and for Ash and Charlie’s relationship. Only having 2 tickets, plus the politics of the government’s decisions, set Charlie and Ash against each other. This development is an OBSTACLE to the Dhumals’ HAPPIEST ENDING.

 

Charlie moves on from this heart-in-mouth moment - she wants to make something clear: the most important thing is getting Emma to the Resettlement Zone. Ash kneels - his trademark mix of a bit silly, a bit knowing, a bit sweet - and promises her that he will dedicate himself to this task. His gesture softens Charlie a little.

 

Once again, Charlie and Ash come together with a common cause - get a 3rd ticket for Charlie, and make sure Emma gets to the Resettlement Zone.

 

Charlie notes that they have to keep their tickets quiet. Ash’s hesitation tells her what a part of her probably already knew - he has told people. He posted it on the street’s social media group. Heading to the lounge window, Charlie somehow manages to bite her tongue, and requests that Ash please not tell anyone else. She checks outside -

 

There’s no one on the street. But a curtain twitches in the HOUSE OPPOSITE.

 

The Dhumals hear an argument begin next door - it’s either THE SMITHS or their guests THE SAMAANS. Charlie rushes out, through the conservatory, into the GARDEN, and sneaks to their SHARED FENCE. Ash follows. Charlie leans over the fence to get a look, and reports to Ash, who’s crouched in a flower bed: NAZIM (45) and MAARA (39) are packing, as is ALI (10). Maara just used the word ‘tickets’. Charlie thinks the SAMAANS have tickets.

 

Thinking, Charlie heads back inside. Ash follows. Charlie’s phone buzzes - she checks it, and finds multiple texts from ‘DARREN FROM WORK’.

 

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. At their FRONT DOOR. Ash goes to the lounge window; Charlie readies her baseball bat. Ash reveals that it’s PENNY - nosy neighbour, head of the Neighbourhood Watch, and snobby founder of publishing company Artemis Books. Charlie keeps her baseball bat raised, until Ash asks her to put it away.

 

Ash goes to answer the door - But Charlie points out that Ash is too desperate to please Penny. Charlie thinks she should answer instead - But Ash points out that Charlie so obviously hates Penny, she’ll just make the situation worse.

 

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. Penny is dimly visible through the front door’s glass. She knows they’re in there.

 

Ash takes out his COIN, calls ‘Heads’ and flips. As the coin rises slowly:

 

Beneath Ash appears onscreen: ‘Heads’. And, below that, ‘Ash charms bully Penny’.

 

Beneath Charlie appears onscreen: ‘Tails’. And, below that, ‘Charlotte faces off with bully Penny’.

 

As the coin reaches its peak, and begins to fall into Ash’s open palm, we see the sweat on Ash’s palm, and Charlie twisting the baseball bat into the carpet. Which road will you choose?