Infections (Reboot)/S1E1

"Pilot" is the first and debut episode of Season 1 of Infections. It is the first episode overall. It premiered on April 4, 2018.

Synopsis
"Humanity takes a turn for the strange and begins to crumble as citizens try to make sense of the strange epidemic in the series premiere."

Plot
Silence, as a hotel door slowly creaks. The knob jiggles and the door opens, and Monica steps out. She runs a hand through her hair, and swallows air, catching it in her throat. For a moment, she cannot bring herself to breathe. And she drops to her knees in seconds. Quietly staring at the ground, she finally sighs, taking a breath. She blinks, looking around, the empty hotel looking too normal, in contrast to the dark, bloody room behind her.

Monica’s eyes fall on her hands. Stained with old blood. Fresh blood. Old fresh blood. It’s black and sticky, and she balls up her fists, trying to regain feeling. Her expression doesn’t change, and she looks down at the floor. The knife she had dropped lay haphazardly on the floor before her.

The growls behind her pick up in volume. She doesn’t turn around.

“I’m… I’m sorry.” Monica’s voice shakes, but has an air of sternness to it. She grabs the knife and stands up, looking over her shoulder.

It stumbles towards her.

“I’m… sorry. I can’t.” Monica shakes her head. “I can’t cry, I mean. You know me… I can’t just… do that…”

She steps back.

“You know I’m too afraid.” And she keeps talking, her cares jumping about. “Maybe of you, maybe of the world… maybe whatever happens next.”

It’s almost out the door when suddenly, she stabs the knife into its chest. It falls back and she lets go with a grunt, stumbling back.

“D-Dammit, just… take that!” She shouts. “'''Take that fucking knife! GO AWAY!'''”

It lays on the floor, groaning. Her shouts fall on deaf ears. A tear runs down her cheek.

“... I-I can’t… end you. Not you. Not… anybody.”

She slams the door shut, walking briskly down the hall, rubbing her face with her bloodied hands, masking the tears, masking the pungent scent of the cruel world with the putrid smell of moldy blood. The growls behind her become muffled. A soft banging on the door can be heard. And she briefly stops.

“Not… not yet. Not yet. But never you… I’m sorry.”

Monica walks away hurriedly, leaving the haunting sight behind, for nobody to ever uncover.

THEN

“Alright… fine then. Be locked. Whatever.”

Jane huffs and steps back from the front door of the Moyer Hotel. She kicks her luggage aside and crosses her arms, the chirping birds only irritating her further.

“When the fuck is a hotel closed.” She rolls her eyes. “It’s a hotel.”

She sits down on the bench and waits. And waits. And waits.

“Come the fuck on!” She stands up and pounds on the door. “Hey! Anyone inside?! Why is a hotel closed?!”

Suddenly, someone turns the hall and notices her. A teenage girl hurries down to the door and pushing it open. “Oh, sorry, sorry… I thought I heard pounding, but I didn’t think anyone was actually trying to get inside.”

“It’s a hotel, no shit I wanna get inside…” Jane pulls her luggage in and stops with a sigh. “Sorry, I’m just… on edge. I just moved here, but the trip has been absolute hell.”

The girl grimaces. “Yeah, this place kinda has a good record of people coming in pissed. Most people use the front entrance though.”

Jane slowly turns on her heel. “... what.”

The girl snorts and chuckles. “This is the back entrance. Nobody usually comes back here, but granted, this is the only way to the first floor bathrooms…”

Jane slams a palm to her face. “Fucking hell… of course…”

“Hey, look, I’ve seen it happen before. The front and the back of the building look pretty similar.” She smiles and holds out a hand. “Welcome to the hotel. I’m Monica.”

She glances at Monica’s hand and shakes it. “Jane. You work here?”

“Dear god no. I live on the third floor. I’d rather die than work here.” Monica picks up one of Jane’s bags and smiles. “C’mon. I’ll help take these to your room.”

She starts walking down the hall, and for a moment, Jane smirks. She begins pulling her rolling suitcase along. “Thanks. I guess.”

As the two step on to the fourth floor, Jane is very out of breath, hunched over as she takes big gulps of air while Monica is just fine, looking at the other girl with a chuckle. “You’ll get used to it.”

“I hope I won’t have to. That elevator’s gonna get fixed, right?” Jane pants.

Monica shrugs her shoulders. “I mean, Bill says he’ll get it fixed, but he hasn’t.” The pair start walking down the hall, both of them eye each room number. “That being said, I haven’t even seen him today. I wonder if he’s been lounging in his office again.”

They go on until a door opens, Abby Walters stepping out of her room, a sigh of annoyance escaping her lips. She sees Monica and Jane and immediately walks towards them. “Well, mom’s on another witch hunt with the damn flu shots.”

Monica snorts while Jane gives a confused look to both of them. “Again?”

“Hey, you know how crazy she is when it comes to sickness.” Abby laughs before looking to Jane. “So, who’s this?”

“This is Jane. She’s moving into the building. Jane, this is Abby Walters.” Monica says.

“Hi.” Jane doesn’t seem interested in the girl. “I don’t want to sound rude, but can we continue going to my room please? I really need to set everything down and relax.”

Monica nods to her. “Of course.” She looks back to Abby. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Alright. I’m heading to the store to get groceries.” Abby says.

Monica tilts her head at her friend. “I thought your dad always got them.”

“He usually does, but today when he went downstairs, some man had jumped on him and bit his hand. He came back up freaking out, which made my mom freak out.” Abby explains.

Jane looks between the two girls with a shocked expression on her face. “What the hell kind of town did I move into?” She starts walking on.

Beginning to follow, Monica waves to Abby. “Text me later.” She then turns around and catches up to Jane. “Sorry. We’re pretty close friends.”

“It’s no problem. I just really want to lay down in my room already.” Jane is looking at all the room numbers.

Monica joins in on looking. “What was your number again?”

“4-18.” Jane responds before seeing it and smiling, taking the key from her pocket. “Here we are!”

She unlocks the door, turning the knob and pulling it open. Her and Monica enter the room, Monica lowering the bags to the floor. Jane looks around the room, smiling softly to herself.

“Thank you for helping me out.” Jane says to the other girl, who just smiles at her.

“It’s no problem at all.” Monica says before turning to the door. “Well, I’m in 3-09 downstairs if you need anything else. Feel free to come by anytime.”

The girl leaves her alone. Jane smiles at her room. “Well, the day started out rough, but-” Her happiness is short lived, as that’s when she sees it.

A rat. Right next to the couch.

Jane’s face falls into a glare, shaking her head at the rodent. “You fucker…”

In the hallway, Monica is walking down the corridor and reaches into her pocket, pulling out her phone, a bright blue case on it. She sees a message from “Vince <3” and smiles at it.

She opens her phone and calls him, leaning against the doorframe to the stairwell as she lifts the phone to her ear.

“Hello?” Vince says from the other end, followed by shooting from the video game he was playing.

“Hey.” Monica greets just above a whisper.

She smiles at his soft laugh on the other end. “Hey, baby. What’re you doing?”

She shrugs her shoulders, pushing herself off the doorway and walking across the landing. “I was just helping a new tenant move in. I saw your text and decided to call you.”

“I wanted to know if you wanted to do something tonight.” He says, the sounds from the TV were now gone.

Monica smiles, starting to make her descent to the third floor. “What did you have in mind?”

Before he can answer, the stairwell swings open as someone slams their body weight against it. Monica is startled, turning around quickly to see Jane out of breath.

“Oh… There… You are…” Jane pants with a soft chuckle, her hands on her knees as she recollects herself. “So… You said if I needed something… just ask… There’s a rat in my room… Help… Please…?”

Shaking her head at the other girl, Monica laughs as she raises the phone back up. “Yeah, I’ll be there in a minute.”

Jane looks relieved as she opens the door. “Make it fast. I didn’t ask for a roommate.”

Monica snickers as she goes back to her room. “Sorry, Vince, I have to go help the new tenant. But whatever you have in mind, I’m okay with.”

“Oh… Okay. Well, in that case, I’ll get you at 6.” Vince says.

Monica makes her way back up the stairs. “See you then. Bye.” She ends the call, tucking the phone in her pocket. As she is about to reach for the door, she hears, “Monica?!”

Monica’s eyes go wide and she turns to the stairs going to the fifth floor. “Maggie!”

The blond girl rushes down the steps, Monica opening her arms, both of them hugging one another tightly. “What are you doing here? You were supposed to be in Orlando until Sunday.”

Maggie nods her head, frowning as she pulls away. She looks very troubled and upset. “It was horrible, some psychopath attacked my mom yesterday. We had to come back because of how shaken up she was. The man bit her - He bit her!”

Monica thinks back to Abby’s story about her dad. “Abby’s dad was attacked this morning, too.” She shakes her head. “Something weird is going on…”

The door opens again, Jane stepping out and looking at Monica. She scoffs. “Why tell me to get you if I needed help when you aren’t even helping?”

Monica looks to Maggie with a small chuckle, grabbing the door quickly. “I’ll see you later.” She shuts it behind her, Maggie walking down to the lobby.

A few streets away, a gas station sits empty except for one worker. Greg Evans.

He is scrolling through his phone, looking through some social media website. He comes across a video of a group of friends all by a bonfire. He tapped his thumb on it to see what it was about.

Four friends just trying to take a picture while their friend holds the camera. The man is intoxicated heavily, not aware that he is taking a video.

“And 3… 2… 1… say cheeeeese…”

“I didn’t see a flash… Damn it, Jamie, you’re recording!” The blond woman says, dropping the hand she had resting on her hip.

She doesn’t see the woman stumbling out of the darkness behind her.

“Sh-Shit, I don't know…” He says with a chuckle.

Suddenly the woman grabs the blond’s shoulders, immediately sinking her teeth into her upper arm. She screams in pain, trying to pry herself away. Her friends all panic and assist her, the man dropping the phone into the sand.

The video just ends there, leaving Greg confused as he stares at the screen in disbelief. He sees a trending video thumbnail and taps it.

In this one, a young police officer is trying to stop a man, yelling for him to put his hands up. “Stop where you are, sir!” She shouts, pulling out her gun. “Stay right there!”

He keeps shuffling forward, groaning as he does. The officer has no choice. He pulls the trigger, firing a bullet through the man’s chest, the man instantly collapsing to his knees.

The young officer lowers his gun, hands shaking as he stares down at the man. The man looks up at him and grabs his wrist, pulling him down and biting into the back of his neck. The crowd erupts into screams, the cameraman running, the video ending.

He opens his texts and messages Monica.

“''Are you okay? Where are you?''”

He waits for a reply, setting his phone down.

In room 4-08, Sarah Walters is sitting on the couch with her flu shots laid out in front of her on the coffee table. She turns her head to look at the bathroom door. “Honey? Are you okay?” She calls.

Inside, Pete Walters is hunched over the sink. His face is covered in sweat, his eyes are red and bloodshot. The water from the sink is running as he catches it in his hands, splashing it on his face.

Sarah knocks on the door. “Honey?”

“S-Sarah, I-I’m just gonna go to bed. I’m not feeling well.” He says before breaking into a coughing fit.

Sarah frowns. “Would you like me to make you soup?”

“N-No… Thank you.” Pete replies, turning on the sink and unbuttoning his shirt.

Sarah sighs, stepping away from the bathroom door.

The lobby of the hotel is empty. Maggie is alone, leaning against the desk. “Bill, are you here?”

She taps her fingers against the desk impatiently, peeking over to see if he’s ducked behind.

The blond turns around and starts walking up the stairs, passing an older couple coming down. The old woman is holding her wrist. “That child almost bit me! What kind of parent lets their kids roam a hotel alone?”

Maggie takes a deep breath as she climbs up the steps. She knew something weird was happening. She ascends the stairwell gradually to the fourth floor, stopping on the landing with her eyes glued on the door.

She takes a deep breath before reaching for the handle when suddenly she hears someone on the next floor tumbling down the stairs above her.

Frightened, she jumps away from the door and darts for the stairs to see if the person is okay.

On the landing, a young boy is laying face down. Maggie rushes to his side, kneeling beside him. “Hey, are you okay?” He looks up at her. What she sees makes her stomach drop.

His lips are gone. Chewed off by something. A chunk of his left cheek has been bitten off, some hanging off. The front of his shirt is covered in blood, some still dripping from his chin.

The boy’s hands immediately grab onto her wrists, gripping them tightly. Maggie can’t hold back a scream as he lurches forward, opening his jaws to bite her.

Maggie pulls back, falling onto her back, but managing to get her leg up and kick the boy in the chest as hard as she could, the boy releasing her.

Gasping for air, Maggie crawls up the first few steps before getting to her feet and bolting up to the fifth floor. She turns the handle and pulls the door open as quickly as she can, stepping in and pulling the door shut behind her, tripping as she steps back and landing on her back.

Her chest is heaving and her eyes are wide, glued on the handle. She slowly gets to her feet, stepping away from the door.

There is suddenly a loud thud against the door as the boy slams himself against it. He begins hitting his hands against the door, lightly scratching at it.

Maggie turns around, running down the hall. She doesn’t look back.

She runs up to the door to her room, taking her key from her pocket and unlocking the door, opening it fast as she can, pushing herself against it and turning to shut it quickly, slamming her back against it. Her hands blindly reach for the latch. “Mom? Dad? Something’s wrong!”

She walks towards her parents room. “A… A boy attacked me just now. It was like what happened to mom in Orlando.”

She pushes the door open, but it’s too dark to see anything. Maggie hears what sounds like chewing. She reaches next to the door for the light switch and flicks it on.

With the room illuminated, her eyes go wide at what she sees. Her father is laying on the bed, his stomach ripped open as her mother rips her hands into it and eats what she pulls out. Maggie screams in horror, stumbling back against the wall.

In Jane’s room, Jane is standing on the couch, looking frantically for the rat while Monica is a few feet away from her with a broom raised, ready to swing it.

The scream from upstairs distracts them, both of them looking up with worry and confusion.

Monica lowers the broom and looks to Jane. Jane shakes her head. “I know you’re not thinking we should investigate the screaming.”

“It sounded like Maggie. She’s one of my best friends.” Monica argues.

“My condolences.” Jane crosses her arms. “We’re not going up there.”

Monica turns to the door and walks to it. “I am. If it was you, you’d want help.”

Jane glares at her as she leaves the room. She groans, rolling her eyes before stepping down from the couch and storming to the door. She opens it and walks out, not paying attention to where she’s walking. “If I die up there, I swear to God-“ She suddenly bumps into Monica, who’s staring ahead at a woman and a man shuffling down the hall.

“Mr. and Mrs. Raymos… They live in the building.” Monica says to Jane before walking towards the couple. “Excuse me? Do you two know what’s going on upstairs?”

The couple stop where they are and slowly turn around. Their clothes are stained with blood. Mr. Raymos has a chunk of his shoulder ripped apart. Mrs. Raymos’ leg has multiple bite marks on them, even a bite on her neck and arms.

The girls are both taken by surprise. While Jane backs away with disgust, Monica steps forward with worry on her face. “Do you two need help?”

“Monica, wait a minute. There’s something off about them.” Jane looks the bloodied couple up and down as they stumble towards them. “And I’m not just saying that because of all the blood.”

Monica feels Jane pull her back by the shoulder, and she shrugs her off. “Jane, I know them. They’re good people. And they look like they’re in a lot of pain. Call an ambulance, I’m gonna lay them down.”

Jane blinks and watches her briskly move forward, extending a hand to assist the couple. The two citizens continue to slowly shamble towards the girl. Monica’s gentle smile remains. “Hey, we're gonna get you two help, okay? I’ll grab some rags.”

“... wait, no!” Jane steps forward. “Monica, DON’T—!”

It only takes one otherworldly snarl from Mr. Raymos to make her realize her words have fallen on deaf ears.

The man lunges at her, grabbing her by the shoulders. Monica suddenly screams and falls back, trying to push Mr. Raymos’ form off of her, his bloody jaw snarling just barely above her face.

“Monica!” Jane quickly scrambles into action, sprinting down the hall, only to be stopped by Mrs. Raymos. She almost charges Jane as she steps back and shoves her. “Fuck off, you sick bitch!”

Mrs. Raymos wobbles but her balance doesn’t even waver for more than a second. She mimics the abnormal snarling and reaches for Jane again.

Acting fast, Jane notices one of the candelabra light fixtures attached to the wall. Tacky as hell but that isn’t important. She grabs hold of it and struggles to try and yank it off.

Mrs. Raymos grabs hold of her arm, just as Jane yanks the fixture free and slams it against her temple. Blood flies from her head as Jane stumbled back.

Taking the opportunity while it’s available, Jane readies the spiked base of the candelabra and rams it forward, piercing Mrs. Raymos’ skull. Blood splatters onto her chest and face as her actions sink in. The teen gasps as she immediately rips the fixture out of the older woman’s skull, as she falls to the ground, slumped in a pool of blood, unmoving.

She’s definitely dead.

“Oh f-fuck…” Jane breathes, panting after the whole ordeal.

Another snarl catches her attention, as she sees Monica still struggling with Mr. Raymos. “'''Shit! G-Get the hell off of me!'''”

“Leave her alone you son of a bitch!” Jane slams the candelabra into Mr. Raymos’ head, knocking him to the side and allowing Monica to push him off. She pants and scoots back across the carpet frantically, just as Jane stabs the candelabra’s end into Mr. Raymos’ surprisingly brittle skull.

As she rips it out, she pants again, stumbling back and dropping the light fixture, as she falls to the ground beside Monica.

Silence fills the hall, as the blood of the deceased couple drenches the carpeted floor. Monica stares at the corpses, still adjusting to what she just saw.

Jane is panting for air, turning her head to the other girl. “What… the fuck… kind of hotel is this?”

Monica doesn’t know how to respond. Her wide eyes are glued on the corpses. “I… I don’t understand…” She shakes her head, looking to Jane. “What makes people act like that? I’ve known them for years, they wouldn’t just do that!”

Before she can respond, Jane hears a door slam behind them. The two look back to see Sarah Walters exit her room, walking towards them with concern. “Oh goodness, are you both okay?! I heard what sounded like a...”

Sarah stops hurrying down the hall as her eyes fall on the bloodied corpses, the two girls staring back at her, each of them still regaining their composure.

“Th-They attacked us.” Monica slowly pushes off the ground and gets to her knees. She shivers as her clothes are drenched in blood, and she stands upright once she feels she’s able to balance. “Mr. and Mrs. Raymos… th-they just… oh god…”

Monica chokes out a sob, and then quickly hunches over and vomits, dropping back to her knees. Jane steps back and looks to Sarah for any sort of confirmation. The woman’s eyes dart between the girls and the corpses.

Taking a breath, Sarah walks towards them, kneeling down carefully as not to get blood on her pants. “Alright… Monica, we’ll go to my room. You two can explain what happened there.”

Monica takes short, shaky breaths and tries to stand up. Sarah offers a hand out to help her, the teenager accepting as the woman lifts her to her feet. Jane uses the wall to help stabilize herself.

The woman motions for the girls to go forward, placing a hand on each of their backs. She turns her head back to look at the corpses one last time before facing forward again as they go further down the hall.

“Just make yourselves at home.” Sarah says as they approach her door. She pulls her key from her pocket and unlocks the door, allowing the two teenagers to enter.

As she enters, Sarah heads straight to the bathroom door, opening it to see her husband is no longer in there. She turns back to the girls, both of which are standing by the door. “Monica, if you want to clean up in here, you can.”

The girl walks towards the bathroom with her head down. She mumbles a thank you as she enters, closing the door behind her. Sarah turns to Jane and walks towards her, motioning to the couch. “I don’t believe we’ve met. My name is Sarah.”

“Jane. I just moved into the building today.” The teen says as she sits down. Sarah sits beside her. “I… I don’t even know what to say. First we heard a scream from upstairs and Monica wanted to check it out. Then we saw that couple… I knew something was weird about them… I mean, yeah, being covered in blood is pretty weird, but the noises they made…

“When that man attacked Monica, I ran to help, but the woman got in the way. It was weird. I hit her, but… It’s like she barely even knew what was happening.”

“What do you mean?” Sarah asks.

Jane shakes her head. “Just… she barely noticed I hit her. She didn’t stumble much, just kept coming for me.” She sighs, looking up to the ceiling. “It was so… inhuman. I… I don’t even know if they were… human anymore.”

“Well we better make sure to call an ambulance, it was good you knocked them out so they wouldn’t act out any more…” Sarah stands up, and Jane grimaces, recalling piercing each of their skulls.

The very thought makes her body go stone cold.

“Justified self defense.” Sarah adds, going over to the kitchen sink and beginning to wet a rag. “You won’t get in trouble for fighting back. But those poor people… I knew Mr. and Mrs. Raymos were in failing health, but I didn’t expect them to do something like you said…”

Jane stops herself from asking about her absurd calmness in the situation. “Are you… a nurse?”

Sarah smiles and hands her the rag, sitting beside her. “Going on my eighth year. I do my best to make sure everyone’s healthy. I’ve been regularly working with the Raymos couple for a while, especially recently with the flu apparently going around…”

“Must be some… new kind of flu then.” Jane wipes the blood from her face, and shivers again, relieved to get it off of her. “I mean… they just… attacked. Didn’t say anything, didn’t even make any noises that sounded normal… just snarled. And the guy had a chunk of his shoulder missing, like it was ripped off.”

“Dear lord, I should get back out there and check on--”

“No.” Jane stops her. “Just… if they get back up and attack… even Monica struggled to keep them off. They were so strong, even just for a couple of old people.”

Sarah stops and blinks, staring off in thought. The silence dwindles before she speaks again. “Pete’s hand…”

“Excuse me?”

“Pete Walters, my husband. He… got into a scuffle with someone down in the lobby earlier.” Sarah explains. “Bit his hand apparently. I tried to look at it but he was too sick, trying to clean it off. And he just… I tried, but… his hand looked torn. It’s not easy for a person to tear the skin with a simple bite.”

“... what if that guy’s shoulder was bitten?” Jane asks. “What… what the hell is going on?”

Monica’s shrill scream breaks the silence, immediately prompting the two to jump up and rush to the bathroom.

“Monica? What’s wrong?!” Sarah shouts, reaching the bathroom. She gasps as Jane looks in.

Pete’s back is to them as Monica is pinned against the wall.

“What the hell?! Pete, that’s Monica Evans! What are you doing?!” Sarah storms forward and grabs Pete’s shoulder.

He spins around and snarls, his eyes a sickly yellow and his skin incredibly pale.

Sarah screams as Pete lunges at her, blood flying from his dry, molded teeth.

Co-Stars

 * None

Uncredited

 * Unknown as Mr. Raymos
 * Unknown as Mrs. Raymos
 * Unknown as Little Boy
 * Unknown as Mr. Thomas
 * Unknown as Mrs. Thomas

Deaths

 * Little Boy (Alive, Confirmed Fate)
 * Mr. Thomas
 * Mrs. Thomas (Alive, Confirmed Fate)
 * Mr. Raymos (Alive, Confirmed Fate; Zombified)
 * Mrs. Raymos (Alive, Confirmed Fate; Zombified)
 * Pete Walters (Alive)

Trivia

 * First appearance of Monica Evans.
 * First appearance of Jane.
 * First appearance of Abby Walters.
 * First appearance of Maggie Thomas.
 * First appearance of Greg Evans.
 * First appearance of Sarah Walters.
 * First appearance of Vince Jameson. (Voice Only)
 * First (and last) appearance of Pete Walters. (Alive)
 * First (and last) appearance of Mr. Raymos. (Zombified)
 * First (and last) appearance of Mrs. Raymos. (Zombified)
 * First (and last) appearance of the Little Boy. (Zombified)
 * First (and last) appearance of Mr. Thomas. (Corpse)
 * First (and last) appearance of Mrs. Thomas. (Zombified)