DESSI
Well, who you want? In all this time, all these cities, I ain’t ever seen you with nobody.
CAL (LOOKS AT HER INTENSELY)
Oh, there’s somebody I want, but just ain’t sure she’d ever want me.
Before Dessi can respond, an air raid siren goes off, a mournful, eerie sound that rises and falls, signaling that bombs will be dropping soon. The people walking around begin scrambling, heading for a building with red-glazed terra-cotta blocks: Aldwych tube station.
CAL (GRABS DESSI’S HAND)
Come on! We gotta find shelter.
Dessi and Cal follow the streams of people underground.
CLOSE SHOT ON SIGNS ON THE TUBE STATION WALLS THAT READ:
Shelter’s bedding
The practice of shaking bedding over the platforms, tracks, and in the subways is strictly forbidden.
In air raids
If you are in a train during an air raid or when an alert is sounded:Do not leave the train between stations unless so requested by a railway official.
Should a gas attack be suspected:
Close all windows and ventilators. Refrain from smoking. Do not touch any outside part of a car.
Always have your gas mask with you.
The escalators are still. People crowd the tracks with makeshift bedding. Some cluster at the corners of the escalators. Some are bedding down on benches. Children huddle with their parents, looking afraid.
CAL (POINTING TO AN EMPTY SPACE AGAINST THE WALL)
This’ll do.
The sounds of the night’s first bombs drop above.
DESSI
How long we gotta be down here?
CAL
Better down here than out there. A lot safer.
TIME LAPSE/MONTAGE
Sounds of the bombs. Those taking shelter demonstrate an array of emotions and ways to pass the time. Some look startled and frightened. Others go on playing cards, reading, ducking under blankets, and lying down to go to sleep.
CLOSE SHOT ON A LITTLE GIRL STARTING TO CRY
BRITISH GIRL
Mummy, I’m scared.
MOTHER
