Night of the Living Dead - Preparing for Defense and Escape
Ben: [to Tom]
Judy, I need you to find some bedspreads or sheets to tear up into small strips, okay? Is there a fruit cellar here?
Tom:
Yes.
Ben:
We need some bottles or jars to make Molotov cocktails to hold them off while we try to escape.
Tom:
Hey, There's a big can of kerosene down there.
Judy:
I'll see what I can find.
Tom:
I'll look for the bottles.
Harry:
There's a big key ring down there. There may be a key to the gas pump on it.
Tom: [goes down in the cellar]
I'll check.
Ben:
We can toss the cocktails from a window upstairs. Meantime, some of us can go out and try to get the gas, then we can come back for the rest of the people.
Harry:
But that'll leave a door open someplace.
Ben:
Yeah, that's right. It better be this door. It's closer to the truck. Before we go out, we'll put some supplies behind the cellar door. While we're gone, the rest of you can hole up in there.
Tom:
I found some fruit jars in the cellar. And there's a key on here that's labeled for the gas pump out back.
Ben:
I'm not really that used to the truck. I found it abandoned.
Tom:
I can handle the truck, no sweat.
Ben: [to Harry]
You're it, then. You and I'll go. We'll put whatever lumber we find behind the cellar door. You can go upstairs and toss the cocktails from a window. Tom, you and I will have to unboard this door. After you toss the cocktails, you hustle back down here and lock this door. It's no good to board it up because we'll have to get back in quickly. After we get the gas and get back into the house, then we'll worry about getting everybody into the truck. Now, let's move it.
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Night of the Living Dead - Discussing Local Knowledge and Recent Events
Ben:
Willard. I saw a sign that said Willard.
Tom:
It's only about 17 miles from here.
Ben:
You know this area. Are you from around here?
Tom:
Judy and I are both from around here. We were on our way to the lake to go swimming. Judy had a radio, and we heard the first reports about this. So we knew the old house was here and we came in and found the lady upstairs dead. Then these other people came. We went down into the basement and put a bar across the door, and it is pretty strong.
Harry:
How could we possibly get away from here? We've got a sick child, two women, one woman out of her head, three men, and the place is surrounded with these things.
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Night of the Living Dead - Miscommunication During a Crisis
Ben:
How long have guys you been down there? I could have used some help up here!
Harry:
That's the cellar. It's the safest place.
Ben:
You mean you didn't hear the racket I was making up here?
Harry:
How were we supposed to know what was going on? Could have been those things for all we knew!
Ben:
That girl was screaming. Surely you know what a girl screaming sounds like. Those things don't make any noise. Anybody would know somebody needed help!
Tom:
Look, it's kind of hard to know what's going on from down there.
Harry:
We thought we could hear screams, but for all we knew, that have meant those things were in the house after her.
Ben:
And you wouldn't come up here and help?
Tom:
Well, if there were more of us...
Harry:
That racket sounded like the place was being ripped apart. How were we supposed to know what was going on?
Ben:
Now wait a minute. You just got finished saying you couldn't hear anything down there. Now you say it sounded like the place was being ripped apart. It would be nice if you get your story straight, man.
Harry:
All right, now you tell me! I'm not gonna take that kind of a chance when we've got a safe place! We lock into a safe place, and you're telling us we gotta risk our lives just because somebody might need help, huh?
Ben: [disgusted]
Yeah, something like that.
Tom:
Alright, why don't we settle this--
Harry:
LOOK, MISTER! We came up, okay?! We're here! Now, I suggest we all go back downstairs before any of those things find out we're in here!
Ben:
They can't get in here.
Tom:
You got the whole place boarded up?
Ben:
Yeah, most of it. I'll put a few spots upstairs. They won't be hard to fix.
Harry:
You're insane! The cellar's the safest place!
Ben:
I'm telling you they can't get IN here!
Harry:
And I'm telling you those things turned over our car! We were damn lucky to get away at all! Now you're telling me those things can't get through this lousy pile of wood?
Tom:
His wife and kid's downstairs. The kid's hurt.
Ben:
Well, I still think we're better off up here.
Tom:
We could strengthen everything up, Mr. Cooper.
Ben:
With all of us working together, we can fix this place up in no time. We have everything we need up here.
Harry:
We can take all that stuff downstairs with us. Man, you're really crazy. You know that? You got a million windows up here. All these windows! You're gonna make them strong enough to keep those things out, huh?
Ben:
I told you, those things don't have any strength. I smashed three of them and pushed another one out the door.
Harry:
Did you hear me when I told you they turned over our car?
Ben:
Oh, hell! Any good five men could do that!
Harry:
That's my point! Only there's not going to be five, or even ten! There's going to be twenty, thirty, maybe a hundred of those things, and as soon as they find out we're here, this place is gonna be crawling with them!
Ben:
Well, if there's that much, they'll probably get us wherever we are.
Harry:
Look! The cellar. There's only one door, right? Just one door. That's all we have to protect. Tom and I fixed it so that it locks and boards from the inside. But, all these windows? Like, we'd never know where they're gonna hit us next!
Tom:
You got a point, Mr. Cooper. But, down in the cellar, there's no place to run to. I mean, if they did get in, there'd be no back exit. We'd be done for.
Harry: [disregards Tom's statement]
Daah!
Tom:
We can get out of here if we have to, and we got windows to see what's going on outside. But, down there with no windows? If a rescue team did come, we wouldn't even know it.
Harry:
But, the cellar is the strongest place!
Ben:
The cellar is a death trap!
Tom: [to Ben]
I don't know, Mr. Cooper. I think he's right. You know how many is out there?
Ben:
I don't know, maybe six or seven.
Harry:
Look! You two can do whatever you like! I'm going back down to the cellar, and you'd better decide! Cause I'm gonna board up that door, and I'm not going to unlock it again no matter what happens!
Tom:
Now wait a minute, Mr. Cooper.
Harry:
No, I'm not going to wait! I've made my decision, now you make yours!
Tom:
Now wait a minute! Let's think about this! We can make it to the cellar if we have to! And if we do decide to stay down there, we'll need some things from up here! So let's at least consider this a while!
Ben:
You box yourself in the cellar and those things get in the house, you've had it. At least up here, you have a fighting chance.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.