THE HOLLOW WOODS
963 Words
📺 Season One – Episode 5: “The Hollow Woods”
FADE IN:
EXT. DINER – MORNING
The survivors exit cautiously, morning light spilling across cracked pavement. The diner walls are still marked with faint red symbols.
Mara squints at them.
MARA
They’re not fading.
Ellen shoulders her shotgun, grim.
ELLEN
Nothing here fades.
EXT. MAIN STREET – DAY
Jalen leads the group down the street. The plan: find more supplies, maybe survivors.
Ivy drags her feet, muttering.
IVY
We’re just walking in circles. Same streets, same boarded houses. Like this place… rearranges itself.
Ellen glares.
ELLEN
That’s because it does.
The group stops, stunned.
JALEN
(tense)
Explain.
Ellen exhales, heavy.
ELLEN
The Hollow moves. Roads don’t lead where they should. Landmarks shift. That’s why you can’t map it. That’s why no one leaves.
Mara processes this, eyes darkening.
MARA
So… we’re in a maze.
ELLEN
No. We’re in a trap.
EXT. EDGE OF TOWN – DAY
The group arrives at a crumbling wooden bridge leading into dense forest. The mist hangs thick on the other side.
Ivy stares at it, uneasy.
IVY
If the town’s a trap, then what’s the forest?
Ellen grips her gun tighter.
ELLEN
That’s where the worst of it lives.
Mara steps forward anyway.
MARA
Then we’ll need to face it. If we’re gonna survive, we can’t stay in one place.
Ellen tries to protest, but Jalen backs Mara.
JALEN
She’s right. Standing still gets you killed.
After a long pause, Ellen nods reluctantly.
They cross the bridge.
EXT. HOLLOW WOODS – DAY
The forest swallows them. Trees tower overhead, gnarled and twisted, roots like skeletal fingers.
Every sound is amplified: crows cawing, branches snapping, their own footsteps crunching leaves.
Ivy lags behind, whispering.
IVY
Feels like something’s watching us.
Mara glances back.
MARA
That’s because something is.
EXT. HOLLOW WOODS – DEEPER – DAY
The group discovers a derelict cabin. Door hanging loose, windows shattered.
Inside: rotted furniture, a fire pit long dead, children’s toys scattered.
Jalen picks up a diary half-buried in dust. He flips through. Pages are smeared with drawings of smiling figures, stick-thin with too-wide mouths.
Last entry scrawled:
“THEY COME FROM THE TREES.”
Jalen shows the others. Silence hangs heavy.
EXT. HOLLOW WOODS – LATER
The survivors push deeper. The air grows colder, shadows longer though the sun hasn’t set.
Then — a faint sound. Singing.
VOICE (O.S.)
🎵 La… la… la… la… 🎵
Ivy stiffens.
IVY
You hear that?
The singing grows louder, drifting through the trees.
Mara motions the group down. They crouch behind roots.
Through the trees — pale shapes dancing in a clearing. Half a dozen of the smiling creatures, twirling in slow, eerie circles. Their movements jerky, puppet-like.
The survivors watch in horror.
Suddenly, one creature stops. Head jerks. Slowly… it turns toward them.
Its grin widens.
ELLEN
(whispers)
Run.
EXT. HOLLOW WOODS – CHASE – DAY
The group bolts through the forest. Branches whip their faces. The singing turns into shrieks.
Mara pulls Ivy along, heart pounding. Jalen fires a shot behind them. Ellen covers the rear with her shotgun.
They burst through underbrush and—
EXT. HOLLOW WOODS – RUINS – DAY
They stumble into a ruined stone structure, half-buried in vines. Strange carvings cover the walls.
Mara presses Ivy against the stones.
MARA
Quiet.
The creatures’ whispers circle them. Figures move in the trees, grinning, searching.
One passes so close Mara can see its hollow, milky eyes. But it doesn’t enter the ruins.
Slowly, the whispers fade.
The survivors remain frozen, breath held.
Finally — silence.
INT. RUINS – DAY
The group explores cautiously. The carvings depict twisted human figures bowing to something enormous — a towering shadow with too many arms.
Ellen touches one carving, voice low.
ELLEN
This place is older than the town.
Ivy’s flashlight beam lands on a crude altar in the center of the ruins. Dried blood stains the stone.
Ivy swallows hard.
IVY
This isn’t just some monster town. This is… worship.
Mara stares at the altar, horrified but fascinated.
MARA
No. This is sacrifice.
EXT. HOLLOW WOODS – SUNSET
The survivors hurry back toward the bridge. The sky bleeds orange. Night is coming.
The trees creak as though alive.
Jalen whispers urgently:
JALEN
We’re not alone.
From the shadows — a figure stumbles into view. Human. A MAN, ragged, bleeding, eyes wild.
MAN
(panicked)
Help me! Please— they’re coming!
The group freezes.
Ellen raises her gun, suspicious.
ELLEN
It’s a trick.
But the man collapses at their feet, unconscious. His blood is warm. Real.
Mara kneels beside him.
MARA
(urgent)
He’s alive.
Behind them — distant singing starts again. Closer.
Ellen curses.
ELLEN
We have to move. Now.
The group drags the wounded man toward the bridge as shadows begin slithering through the trees.
EXT. DINER – NIGHT
The survivors slam the diner doors shut just as the last of the light disappears.
Outside, whispers rise. Scratching on the wood begins again.
Inside, the man lies on the floor, bleeding badly. Mara presses cloth to his wound.
The man stirs, whispering weakly:
MAN
(hoarse)
You shouldn’t have brought me back…
Mara looks at him, startled.
MARA
Why?
The man’s eyes roll back. He gasps one last breath before passing out.
Outside — the creatures’ whispers grow into laughter.
The camera pushes in on the man’s still face, blood pooling beneath him.
FADE OUT.
END OF EPISODE 5 – “The Hollow Woods”
⚡ Key Notes for Episode 5:
• First real foray into the woods.
• Introduction of ritual ruins — hints of worship/sacrifice.
• Creatures display strange behavior (singing, dancing).
• Survivors bring back a new mysterious man (possibly cursed, maybe bait).
• The creatures seem pleased he’s been brought into the diner.
- Writer
