Synopsis/Details
This script is the first of six which tell the first part of 'Abject in the Dust'. The content for the first six episodes is written. A further twelve episodes are envisaged to bring the story to its final conclusion.
The world is devoid of vegetation after organisms engineered to destroy specific crops and destabilize economies have mutated and laid waste to everything they have touched. Billions have perished across the world. The air is heavy with poisons and civilizations have collapsed. Food is in short supply and cannibalism is common.
The opening scene is where the viewer is first introduced to the main protagonist – a woman named Sam – a woman born out of chaos, with an unrivalled will to survive. Sam is a borderline sociopath and trust and lack of empathy are central themes to how the story unfolds.
Sam is a loner who comes to act as a guide for a man (Rize) and woman (Lykke) who have already travelled half way across Europe in search of a ship which they believe to be located in the Black Sea. The ship contains a large stockpiles of seeds. Lykke and Rize’s community, based in mines deep in Sweden’s frozen North, have had some success in combating the destructive organisms and had been seeking to secure delivery of some of the seeds for further research. Contact with the ship stopped unexpectedly and a large party set out to re-establish contact. Rize and Lykke are the only survivors of this party by the time they reach Croatia. They are in need of a guide and Sam has an intimate knowledge of the ship they seek.
The manner by which Sam comes to act as a guide is unconventional and appears to be borne out of her own desires rather than a more noble cause. However, Sam’s true motivations are constantly brought into question as the party of three face a series of challenges – both physical and emotional - on their journey. Sam kills seemingly without conscience and her colleagues struggle with the violence she employs.
The relationship between the group is both complex and dynamic, as Lykke comes to love and hate Sam in equal measure and sacrifices her sexuality in order to save Sam’s life. It is an act which Sam refuses to acknowledge.
The group are pursued across Eastern Europe by a power crazed cult of cannibals. The leader of this cult believes that he has employed Sam to do his bidding and there are a series of events and actions which would seem to support this theory. However, Sam also kills those that pursue the group without mercy and her real motivations are deliberately left unclear within the first six episodes.
