CHARLOTTE, ASH and EMMA have 2 tickets to the Resettlement Zone. 

 

DARREN has 1 ticket.

 

Having fallen mysteriously ill, both Charlie and Ash have died, leaving Darren in charge of getting Emma to the Resettlement Zone. GABIE and MICHAEL KING, a rich couple who want a child, are looking for Emma. 

 

Darren has been injured in the recent bomb blast. 

 

The unlikely pair stand at a crossroads on the outskirts of Leamington. Which way to turn? Emma has flipped a coin.

 

Heads. They should turn right.

 

Darren decides to go left anyway, but Emma gets angry, so he obeys the coin. The disagreement has delayed their progress …

 

In this strand we see the effects of her parents’ behaviour on Emma. With them gone, how well equipped is she to cope with the world? How will the night’s events shape her?

 

The KINGS, unbeknownst to Darren, see the pair as they walk away down the street. They career down the street after them and Gabie jumps out of their still moving car, to corner Darren. He is taken by surprise and fights and kills Gabie. In full sight of Emma.

 

Michael launches himself at his wife’s killer, and manages to land some heavy blows on an already injured Darren. Michael sees Emma running away and chases after her. She’s small, and easily weaves through the debris on the ground but as Michael makes a final lunge for the fleeing child, she dodges, he falls, and is impaled on the wreckage of a car.

 

Emma watches as Michael realises he is mortally wounded. He looks her in the eye. 

 

Darren swoops in, picks her up, and starts walking. He’s bleeding out.

 

But he can’t go on. Darren falls to his knees and goes into cardiac arrest. Emma watches on. She has seen too much.

 

A jeep rolls past. Two SOLDIERS inside see Emma and pull over. They try desperately to save Darren but there’s nothing they can do.

 

They scan Emma’s bracelet and load her into the jeep. It’s OK. She’s safe now. Emma doesn’t say a word. They drive past the pick up point, now a burning ruin. The soldiers are talking to Emma but it's a blur. She can’t hear them.

 

7am. An ORPHANAGE in the SWANSE A RESETTLEMENT ZONE. A CARER tells another: the government knows what’s causing the crisis, they’re going to announce it soon. They’re going to survive this!

 

Emma’s in the orphanage. She’s offered a choice of two breakfasts. She flips the coin. Chooses one, then walks past another, quieter child and takes the other. The look in her eye is worrying. She sits alone. Emma’s in survival mode. What might she have become?