EXT. SKY - DAY
Daniel plummets through the sky towards an island. He yells frantically as he free falls.
Bailey appears behind him and grabs onto him. They lock eyes.
DANIEL
Bailey!
BAILEY
I’ll see you on the ground!
Bailey pulls Daniel’s parachute and he shoots upward. Bailey pulls her chute. The two glide down towards the island.
EXT. ISLAND - DAY
Bailey lands on the ground. Daniel’s parachute gets caught in the trees and he dangles in the air. Bailey pulls out a knife and throws it. The knife cuts the parachute and Daniel falls to the ground. Bailey walks over to him and helps him up. They stare at each other and smile. They hug.
DANIEL
I thought I’d lost you.
BAILEY
I know. Did you talk to the Programmer?
DANIEL
Yeah, he explained everything.
BAILEY
Crazy isn’t it? I mean, this whole time we were living in a simulation.
DANIEL
Yeah. Except, this doesn't look like... a real world.
BAILEY
I don’t know what happened. When I was put back in, it was already like this.
DANIEL
And what is this?
BAILEY
Some kind of arena. People killing each other for points and supplies.
DANIEL
We need to find the others.
Bailey taps on her wrist. A pop up screen appears in the air in front of her. She taps on the screen and a map appears with multiple dots on it. She points to a small cluster of dots.
BAILEY
They’re by Rock Ridge. Looks like they’re pinned by another squad.
DANIEL
Squad?
BAILEY
Teams. Gives you a better chance of surviving.
DANIEL
We need to go help them.
Bailey taps on the screen and a dirt bike materializes in front of them. Bailey gets on it.
BAILEY
Get on.
DANIEL
Can you drive this thing?
Bailey pinches Daniel’s cheek.
BAILEY
Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.
Daniel gets behind Bailey on the dirt bike. Bailey revs the bike and takes off. The bike rides through the forest. Around them, they pass by people engaged in firefights, knife fights, hand to hand, and other forms of combat. Some people are hit with a weapon and they dissolve
Joel, Tyler, and Greg duck behind a giant boulder in a rocky landscape. Another squad shoots at them.
TYLER
What do we do!
JOEL
We stay here and... well, wait for our slow impending death. NIce knowing y’all.
The dirt bike zooms across the rocky landscape towards the boulder.
BAILEY
I need you to jump off! Take cover with the others!
DANIEL
What!
BAILEY
Now!
Daniel jumps off and tumbles onto the ground. He gets up and runs towards the boulder and takes cover with the others.
JOEL
Dude, you made it.
DANIEL
Yeah.
JOEL
Any ideas?
DANIEL
No, but I think Bailey has one.
JOEL
Bailey?
The guys peak over the boulder. Bailey’s dirt bike disappears and she jumps through the air. She pulls out two pistols and starts shooting at the opposing squad in midair. She lands on the ground and continues shooting while dodging enemy gunfire. She somersaults and flips as she shoots. Wherever she hits squad members they vaporize and leave behind supplies. She shoots all the squad members.
The guys emerge from behind the boulder and stare at Bailey in shock.
BAILEY
What?
Bailey collects the leftover supplies and ammo.
TYLER
Ok, what in the world is going on? I thought we were going back to our “world”.
BAILEY
I thought so too but something happened. I don’t know what.
DANIEL
Programmer, can you hear me?
A static voice is heard.
THE PROGRAMMER
Yes-can’t-need to-hold on- Can you hear me now?
DANIEL
Yes. What the hell is going on? This doesn't look like the real world.
THE PROGRAMMER
Boss changed the layout of the Refugium. He... IT is becoming stronger. More self aware.
TYLER
Why would it change the layout?
THE PROGRAMMER
From what I can tell about this new layout, each player has a total of 1,000 health.
GREG
What happens when you run out of health?
BAILEY
You respawn in the sky and continue playing. Of course, you lose a bunch of your supplies.
THE PROGRAMMER
She’s correct.
JOEL
Holy shit. This... this is Fortnite. Well, not exactly but it’s definitely a battle royale.
BAILEY
I’m already down to 700 health.
GREG
Ok, but why did Boss choose this layout? No one dies. What’s the point?
THE PROGRAMMER
My guess is that Boss is trying to buy time. Maybe he’s trying to infiltrate one of the many firewalls. This will give me time to create an anti-virus. I need to get to work.
The Programmer cuts out
TYLER
So what now? Do we actually participate in this?
DANIEL
Yes, we do. We’re here to stop Boss. This may not look like the world we’ve lived in for the past 30 years but it’s the world we’re in now.
JOEL
If we want to stop Boss, we need to understand this world. And also get weapons. Probably should do that first. Definitely that first.
BAILEY
Here.
Bailey taps on her wrist and the pop up screen appears. She taps on a weapons icon and swipes the weapons and ammo towards each of them.
BAILEY
There. You each have a rifle and some ammo. That should last you for a while.
DANIEL
Thanks. So, how does this world work?
BAILEY
It’s called Battle Island. You can either play solo or with squads. Squads are more likely to win. Now, there are four outer regions. Rock Ridge, The Jungle, Winter Carnage, and Death Desert. In the middle of the island, is the Focal. It’s basically a neutral hangout spot where you can upgrade your weapons, costume, or if you want a bite to eat.
GREG
So, I guess we’re a squad then?
DANIEL
Yeah.
BAILEY
We’ll need a name.
Daniel contemplates a name.
DANIEL
How about Phoenix Squad?
The group nods in agreement.
DANIEL
Ok then, Phoenix Squad it is.
A pop up icon bearing the name Phoenix Squad appears over the group.
BAILEY
We’re officially a squad now.
INT. THE FOCAL - DAY
Adrian Slater looks at a digital screen. The name Phoenix Squad appears next to other team names. He taps on the name and sees the members' names. He walks over to a table surrounded by other squad members. At the table is Boss. He is draped in weapons and armor.
ADRIAN
We have a problem.
Adrian shows Boss the screen.
BOSS
Hmmmm. It’ll be interesting to see how they’ll do.
ADRIAN
Want me to send some of our people out. Take them out.
BOSS
No. Let them collect some weapons and XP. Do keep our allies on them though.
ADRIAN
Of course. But are you not worried? They defeated us once.
BOSS
Yes, once. But this my dear friend... is our island.
END.