"Leaving on a Jet Plane" is the twenty-sixth mission of Season 9.
Another dawn, another way to escape – but has your luck just run out?
Cast[]
- Janine De Luca
- Maryam Abani
- Sam Yao
- Mohammed Boujettif
- Frances Dempsey
- Ernest Van Ark
- Guillemette Felis
Crew[]
- Writer: Zombies, Run! Writing Team
- Director: Matt Wieteska
- Sound Designer: Mark Pittam
- Series Created By: Naomi Alderman
Plot[]
Your Carriage Awaits[]
You've made it to the small airfield where you'll begin the next leg of your journey. Mo has acquired camels for you, while he and Frances will travel with his wife's caravan and reunite with you later. You're almost to the Maghreb border. Maryam says there's an extraction point that was intended for her. If you're there in three days' time, the Maghreb will take you. Your plane is just across the airfield and if you run you should be there just as the tracker goes off.
Goat Herder[]
You've reached the plane with 90 seconds to go until the tracker goes off. As you prepare for takeoff, Sam talks with Ernie about the supersoldier he stopped. Ernie took the chip from her neck to study and hopes he can find a way to make her death mean something. Just as you're about to get onto the plane, a herd of goats wanders onto the runway. You'd better move them, because the tracker has just gone off and Guillemette now knows your location.
The Runaround[]
Janine begs you to hurry because Red Scorpion will be on their way. Ernie spots some vegetation and starts coaxing the goats away. But the noise has lured a horde of zombies and now they're between you and the plane. You'll need to run around them!
Guided Missile[]
You've made it around the zombies so you just need to reach the plane. You hear a noise – a missile! Remotely guided, so they must be hoping to stop you escaping as they get closer. You need to run!
Somewhere That's Green[]
The plane explodes. Ernie says he saw Janine get out, but it was a huge explosion. Janine contacts you on comms and says she's safe, but had to lead away some zombies lured by the sound. But she's on the other side of the airfield, and Ernie has spotted Guillemette's supersoldiers approaching. Ernie tells you to split up while he distracts the supersoldiers. Using the chip he took, he thinks he can force them to focus on him while you escape. He allowed Red Scorpion to track you, so he should fix it. If you let the zombies chase you, they'll mask your departure. Run!
Gambit[]
You've been split up from Sam, who feels incredibly guilty for not sticking with you. From his vantage point he can see the supersoldiers surrounding Ernie, who's taken his earpiece out. He can't hear you, but you can hear him. You hear Ernie surrender to Red Scorpion. He says that he will tell Sergeant Felis where you've gone when he arrives.
Other Side[]
You need to keep moving, but if Sergeant Felis gets near you Janine has a highly explosive canister of jet fuel in the jeep. She'll use it to save you, even if it costs her life. Over comms, you hear Ernie insist he didn't betray Red Scorpion, but helped track you, and that you'd held him prisoner. When Guillemette insists that he should tell her where you went, he says that you took the microlite back to the acid city to hide. He's bought you as much time as he can. Janine directs you to a salt flat which should affect Sergeant Felis's instruments. Sam and Janine will meet you on the other side and you'll have Ernie to thank for it.
Transcript[]
JANINE DE LUCA: Five, Maryam, Ernie, you made it.
MARYAM ABANI: And just in time. The copter’s very nearly out of fuel.Can you give me a hand out, Five?
SAM YAO: Welcome to the airfield at the end of the world. [chuckles] Bleak, isn’t it? Stranded planes gently rusting away, and scrubby hills for miles in every direction, plus one droopy-looking forest to the east.
MOHAMMED BOUJETTIF: A fitting setting for sad partings.
FRANCES DEMPSEY: You really found us camels, Mo?
MOHAMMED BOUJETTIF: I did. Unlovely beasts, but adept to desert travel. My wife’s caravan is close by. You and I, Frances, will be safe among them until we can be reunited with our friends in a better place.
SAM YAO: That, uh, that makes it sound like we’re dying.
MOHAMMED BOUJETTIF: An infelicitous choice of words. I merely meant safe within Maghreb territory. Come, Frances. The sun has nearly risen. We must away.
FRANCES DEMPSEY: I can’t believe I’m leaving you guys this close to the end.
JANINE DE LUCA: Miss Dempsey, you are performing a crucial service. The more trails lead away from here when the locator chip emits its signal, the harder it will be for Red Scorpion to track us. We’re so close now. One final push and Five and the panacea will be over the border and out of Red Scorpion’s reach.
MARYAM ABANI: I can’t warn the Maghreb where you’re coming or when, but listen. There’s an extraction point for me. It’s marked on this map. In three days time, they’ll be waiting just over the border there. If you’re there, Five, the Maghreb will take you.
SAM YAO: You’re… you’re giving up your extraction point for us?
MARYAM ABANI: I’ll be fine. I have a microlight here. I’ll get away.
JANINE DE LUCA: I don’t know what to say.
SAM YAO: Thank you. Thank you, Maryam.
ERNEST VAN ARK: We’ll make sure we’re there.
MARYAM ABANI: I know you will. Make it count.
JANINE DE LUCA: Sam, Five, Ernie, our plane is on the far side of the airfield. We can be there as the tracker emits its signal if we run now. Go!
~
JANINE DE LUCA: This is the plane we’ll be using, a Cessna Skyhawk. Only 90 seconds until your tracker emits its signal. Sam, Five, if you could remove the chocks from the wheels. Prof - Ernie on the lookout, please.
SAM YAO: Ernie, Maryam told me what you did. You know, with the uh, with the super soldier.
ERNEST VAN ARK: Oh yes. I scavenged the chip from her neck to study, you know. It’s fascinating. Very advanced. I’m glad I’ve been remembering some of my electronics courses.
SAM YAO: Oh. Uh, that-that must be nice for you.
JANINE DE LUCA: 60 seconds.
ERNEST VAN ARK: Red Scorpion broke that soldier and they never bothered to mend her. They just threw her away like a piece of obsolete machinery. It was all so pointless. I thought if I took the chip and used it to find a way to fight the others, I could make her death… mean something. Was that wrong?
SAM YAO: Oh, no! No, that’s-that’s… that’s really good. Janine… [laughs] I can’t believe I’m saying this, but uh, chocks away!
JANINE DE LUCA: 30 seconds. I’ll start the engine.
[goats bleat]
ERNEST VAN ARK: Um…
SAM YAO: What? Well, what’s the problem?
ERNEST VAN ARK: Well, a small herd of goats just wandered onto the runway.
SAM YAO: Oh, for goodness sake. [plane engine starts] Janine! Janine, we’ve got a goat problem.
JANINE DE LUCA: What, Mr. Yao? We have 15 seconds until the tracker emits its signal! Into the plane now!
SAM YAO: It’s a… [sighs] Never mind, we’ll sort it. Just hang tight! Five, Ernie, come on. We’ve got - we’ve got some goats to herd. [laughs] Again.
[tracker beeps]
JANINE DE LUCA: Whatever you’re doing, do it quickly. Guillemette has just been made aware of Five’s precise location.
~
[goats bleat]
JANINE DE LUCA: Five, please hurry. Several minutes have passed since the tracker sent its signal. Red Scorpion will be on their way.
SAM YAO: Well, we’re trying, Janine! Goats are surprisingly stubborn. Ugh, and smelly. Ow! Also, one of them’s trying to eat Five’s T-shirt.
ERNEST VAN ARK: They must be hungry. Look, there’s vegetation at the side of the runway. If I hold some out to the goats -
SAM YAO: Yes! It’s working. They’re walking towards you, Ernie. Well, most of them. Five, give that straggler a gentle shove.
JANINE DE LUCA: Mr. Yao.
SAM YAO: Yeah, yeah. Nearly there, Janine.
ERNEST VAN ARK: Noisy, aren’t they?
JANINE DE LUCA: Indeed, and the noise has attracted some unwanted attention. Mr. Yao, Five, zombies at your nine o'clock.
ERNEST VAN ARK: Oh no, scores of them pouring out of the planes, shambling towards us! They’re barely more than skin and bones!
SAM YAO: Ah, they must have been in there since the beginning of the apocalypse.
JANINE DE LUCA: They’re between you and the plane. You must run around them, then come back down the runway. Every second counts. Go, now!
~
SAM YAO: All right, okay. The zombies are behind us, the plane is in front of us. All right. It’s at the end of the runway, but we can make it, Five. Just one more push.
ERNEST VAN ARK: What’s that noise?
JANINE DE LUCA: Behind you, a missile! Its contrail stretches back to the horizon.
ERNEST VAN ARK: Remotely guided. Advance forces. They’re trying to stop us escaping.
SAM YAO: It’s heading straight for the plane. Janine, you need to evacuate!
ERNEST VAN ARK: They’re not going to let us get away. I led them to us and now they’re going to capture us all.
SAM YAO: They’re only going to capture us if we let them. Ernie, Five, run!
~
[explosion]
SAM YAO: Janine? Janine! She’s not answering.
ERNEST VAN ARK: I saw her get out of the plane before the missile hit.
SAM YAO: Yeah, but that explosion was huge. It’s taken out half the runway. Janine!
JANINE DE LUCA: I’m here by the administration block, Mr. Yao. I was forced to flee a small group of zombies attracted by the explosion. Several were aflame. I’m clear of them now.
SAM YAO: [sighs] Great. Great! Also, less great, The plane’s gone. How are we gonna get away?
JANINE DE LUCA: I took the precaution of readying a jeep. Always have a backup plan.
ERNEST VAN ARK: But you’re on the other side of the airfield, Janine. And look, in the foothills, not a mile away, Guillemette’s super soldiers. You can tell by how they move. They’re going to be here in moments.
SAM YAO: All right, so we need to get moving to the jeep.
ERNEST VAN ARK: No, you won’t make it. We need to split up. I’m going toward the super soldiers, distract them.
JANINE DE LUCA: That won’t help. Five’s blood contains the key component of the panacea. Five is their target. They will follow Five above all.
ERNEST VAN ARK: No, but you see, I can make them focus on me. That chip I took from the defective super soldier? I had a bit of a fiddle with it while I was in the helicopter. Five, you saw how focused on me she was, didn’t you? Well, I’ve just amped that up a bit. Now I can send a signal that makes all the super soldiers focus on me.
SAM YAO: But that’s… that’s crazy. Well, you’ll be captured. Or killed.
ERNEST VAN ARK: Veronica isn’t the only one who can calculate odds, you know. I realized a few days ago that something like this could happen. And I thought, Ernie old fellow, this entire thing is your fault. Guillemette would never have found them if it weren’t for you. So why don’t you fix it?
JANINE DE LUCA: Ernie, that’s… more than I ever would have expected of you, but we’ll find another way.
ERNEST VAN ARK: I’m pretty sure you can’t, not in time. I did so want to go to the Maghreb, make something green. Five, it’s been such a pleasure getting to know you, even though you did kill me.
I’m going to switch this thing on in 10 seconds. You and Sam need to run into the forest right now. Let the zombies chase you. There are so many of them that they’ll mask your departure. Don’t look back. Run!
~
SAM YAO: Janine, can you hear me?
JANINE DE LUCA: Loud and clear, Mr. Yao. Sitrep.
SAM YAO: Uh… there are a lot of zombies. Well, I mean, a lot. Five and I… we split up, Janine. We had to do a McShell to shake the zoms from the airfield, but there were more in the forest. I’m sorry, Five. I-I climbed a tree, but there was no time for Five to… Five, I can still see you from here. Five’s heading north. Oh, you’ve got a lot of zoms on your tail, but-but you’re keeping ahead of them.
JANINE DE LUCA: I see. Five, continue to run. You’re safest on the move.
SAM YAO: I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Five.
JANINE DE LUCA: None of this is your fault, Mr. Yao. I should have anticipated the goats.
SAM YAO: From where I am, I can see the super soldiers. Now they’re-they’re surrounding Ernie. He’s taken his earpiece out. He can’t hear us anymore, but we can hear him.
SOLDIER: Ernest Van Ark, surrender.
ERNEST VAN ARK: Yes, yes! I surrender. I surrender. I-I belong with you, with Red Scorpion.
SOLDIER: Where is Runner Five?
SAM YAO: Oh, come on, Ernie. Don’t let us down.
ERNEST VAN ARK: Yes, yes, I know exactly which direction they’ve all gone. As soon as Sergeant Felis gets here. I can lead you to Runner Five.
SAM YAO: Five, we knew this could happen. You have to keep going, put as much distance as you can between you and them. Run!
~
SAM YAO: Just keep going, Five. There’s a chance… I don’t know. Janine, you can get to Five, right?
JANINE DE LUCA: If Sergeant Felis and her soldiers try to approach you, Five, I will put myself in harm’s way. I have a canister of jet fuel in the jeep, highly explosive. I will stop them from reaching you.
SAM YAO: But that… Janine, you’ll die.
JANINE DE LUCA: Runner Five must reach the border.
GUILLEMETTE FELIS: Ah, Ernie, good to see you. After you betrayed us.
ERNEST VAN ARK: No, I-I didn’t. I never! I… I wouldn’t. I just tracked them so that you could find them, Sergeant Felis. I was trying to help!
GUILLEMETTE FELIS: Yes, well, this is precisely the kind of help I'd expect from you.
ERNEST VAN ARK: It’s been so ghastly! They’ve held me captive for days. They seem to hate me for some reason. Treated me so badly. Starved me! Is it because they knew him, the real Van Ark?
GUILLEMETTE FELIS: That’s not your concern, Ernie.
SAM YAO: Starved him? He always got first choice of veggie sausages from the ration packs!
ERNEST VAN ARK: I was so frightened.
GUILLEMETTE FELIS: Yes, well, you’re back with us now.
ERNEST VAN ARK: Yes, I-I want to go back home. Back to the desert, away from all this green.
GUILLEMETTE FELIS: You will soon. Where is Five now?
ERNEST VAN ARK: I shouldn’t say…
SAM YAO: No, you bloody shouldn’t! Keep running, Five.
GUILLEMETTE FELIS: You must say. If you want to come back where you belong, you must tell us.
ERNEST VAN ARK: Five took the microlight, heading back to the acid city, I think. Somewhere to hide where they know you can’t find them.
GUILLEMETTE FELIS: Ah, clever. I see. Well, never mind. My soldiers will find a way through the city. Thank you, Ernie.
ERNEST VAN ARK: It’s enough to know I can live with myself, Sergeant.
[radio static]
SAM YAO: Oh.
JANINE DE LUCA: You rather misjudged him, Mr. Yao.
SAM YAO: Yeah… yeah, I did. He’s bought you as much time as he can, Five. It won’t last. Your tracker is going to ping again at dawn and who knows what lie Ernie’ll have to tell them.
JANINE DE LUCA: Head due east, Five. At the far side of the forest, you will enter a huge salt flat. The mineral deposits in the sand should play havoc with Sergeant Felis’s instruments. Mr. Yao and I will meet you on the far side. After that, we have only a few miles to go to the border.
SAM YAO: I hate leaving Ernie behind. But he wanted his legacy, Van Ark’s legacy, to be more than pain and death. If we manage to get the panacea out to the world, it will be down to him, his sacrifice. There’s no better legacy than that.
Codex[]
Letter[]
Dear Five,
I’ve seen Sam sneaking notes into your backpack now and then - I thought he was giving you top-secret information, but they seem to make you smile more than anything, so I thought perhaps I would write you a note that would make you smile, too.
The thing I like the most about Friends is that they're always there for each other. Phoebe and Monica might argue, Chandler and Joey might disagree, but most of the time by the end of the episode everything’s okay. That’s what my time with all of you has felt like. Circumstances are dire, but at least we all have each other. Despite looking at me and seeing…... him, you didn’t let me fall through the glass to be eaten by zombies, or leave me wandering in the desert.
I’m not going to throw away this opportunity like Red Scorpion threw away that broken soldier. I’m going to try to be a good friend.
I'll be there for you.
Ernie :)
Supplies[]
The following supplies can be found in this mission.
(List may be incomplete.)
9mm Ammo
Bandages
Batteries
Bottled Water
Box of Lightbulbs
Cricket bat
Cutlery
Deodorant
Mobile Phone
Network Cable
Pain Meds
Pencil
Playing cards
Power Cable
Radio
Saucepan
Seeds
Shorts
Sports Bra
Tinned Food
Trousers
Underwear
USB Key
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