Episode 1 Nowhere Boys

RADIO PRESENTER: Hey, kids, you're listening to Bremin FM,

bringing you that afternoon pick-me-up.

Coming up now is last year's number one smash hit,

You Can't Bring Me Down,

so turn it up loud.

Bags the last packet of beef jerky.

You're really into those processed foods, aren't you?

HE INHALES DEEPLY Mmm!

You know, that's disgusting.

No, that's typical.

Meaty goodness.

You haven't paid for those yet!

That'll be 9.80.

Do you guys have any money?

No.

ZAPPING

-Hey!

-Who turned out the lights?

It must be a blackout.

It's show time!

Why do you always do that?

Hey...where did he go?

-Stuff's missing from the shelves.

-Uh...come on, guys, let's go.

Let's go!

What the hell's going on?

What happened to this car?

-Uh, guys...

-THUNDER RUMBLES

There's nobody in there.

Where is everybody?!

Mum, where's the cereal bowls?

Uh, try the box labelled "bowls."

Dad packed it, so good luck with that.

Ah, bowls, plates, cups.

Books. Nice packing, Brett.

Maybe the one marked "books."

Yeah, that makes PERFECT sense.

Hey, quick game before school?

-Go Gee Boy 5?

-It was the first one I unpacked.

Brett, we've gotta be out the door in two minutes.

Look, you know the rules - no gaming before school.

Yes, I know.

-How do I look?

-Great.

Says "amazing vice-principal" to me.

Acting vice-principal.

Keys, keys... Where's my keys?

KEYS RATTLE

New house, new spot.

SHE SIGHS

Thank you.

All right, let's go.

Wait up.

I didn't have time to make you lunch, so...

lolly snakes?

Really? You fell for that?

Brett!

-Thanks, Brett.

-Hey, don't worry, I didn't forget you.

Thanks, babe. OK, that one?

-Yeah.

-OK. Keep unpacking, please.

Have a good day.

SHE SIGHS So, how are you feeling?

-You ready for this?

-Mum, don't sweat it.

I'm an old hand at being the new kid.

SHE LAUGHS

Which one's that? Zombies or aliens?

-Zombie aliens.

-Uh-huh.

Wait, alien zombies.

Well, remember, no calling me "Mum" in the hallway.

Yes, Vice-Principal. Oh, wait - Ms Jarrah.

I wouldn't want to get teased on my first day, now.

-You got everything?

-I've got everything.

-Mum?

-Yeah?

SHE SCOFFS

DOOR LOCK CHIRPS

-Meet you back here after school?

-Yes.

What?

Shh. CHICKENS CLUCK

-GIRL:

-Watch out!

Thanks for the heads up.

Welcome to Bremin High, Luke.

Who's that?

Hey, new kid.

-We better get it.

-Oh, they keep falling off.

-Just put it there.

-Here will do.

-THEY LAUGH

-That's much better.

I'm so glad you could fill in, Sonia.

-You're a life-saver.

-Aww!

Luke, you remember Principal Bates?

Ah, yes, Luke, nice to meet you again.

Are you getting your bearings?

Yes. I'm used to it.

I'm sort of like a human map.

Ah, Ben, over here.

Ben can show you around.

Oh, sir, it's fine. I can find my own way around.

-Luke...

-Don't worry - I'm his go-to guy.

I'll leave you to it.

Did you skip a grade?

No.

Oh! I did.

I mean, I'd skip another one,

but they said it would be bad for my social interactions.

Um...OK.

Ben, take it down a notch, remember?

No-one likes a show-off.

Take this to the library and they'll set you up with an e-mail address

and get you on the intranet. Enjoy your first day.

I'm sure it won't be long before you fall in love with the place.

Any second now.

Groovy.

He thinks he's so cool.

Seems OK to me.

He'll pretend to be your friend but he won't actually mean it.

-You're from the city, right?

-Yeah.

I'm not too sure my body knows what fresh air is.

Oh, I bet your old school had everything -

3-D printers, a gifted students' annexe.

Not really.

It had a lot of graffitied lockers and I never left my bag unattended.

Hey!

BEN LAUGHS UNCOMFORTABLY

-Friends of yours?

-Neanderthals.

Every school has them.

Brooklyn, it was you -

you covered up my poster with your face!

What poster?

Lost In The Forest - The Story of the Bremin Four,

a Jesse Banda musical.

-Never heard of it.

-Come on! You auditioned.

-Did I?

-My ears are STILL bleeding.

Well, there clearly wasn't enough room on the notice board.

My musical opens in six weeks and I...

Dude! Who cares?! They came back.

Really? Then how would you explain the search party

finding no sign of them?

Or that they didn't look dirty, or hungry, or ungroomed...

Jess, it's not the time for conspiracy theories.

Um, they ate berries and washed in the river - there's no mystery.

Finally! Someone who's not an idiot!

Yeah, well, I did get 100% on 96.4% of my tests this year.

THEY LAUGH

BELL CHIMES

Oh, and this is Ellen O'Donnell, our student teacher.

-Do you need some help?

-No, thanks.

-I'm good.

-Ellen was a pupil here.

It's always a good sign to see a student return to their alma mater.

It's ironic, seeing as a teenager I couldn't stand teenagers.

It gets that way some days.

Anyway, I better... Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-Good.

Uh, well, there's some more paperwork to do

-and then I'll get you to meet the rest of the staff.

-OK.

MUFFLED CLUCKING

Is that...?

Oh...

GENERAL CHATTER

Sorry for the late start, everybody.

CHATTER CONTINUES

Hello?

BANG

SHE CLICKS HER FINGERS

You do not...

..want to mess...

..with me.

Understood?

Niccolina, you're late.

Sorry, Miss O'Donnell.

May I interrupt for a moment?

CHUCKLING

I'm sure you all think this is pretty funny.

Sorry, what's pretty funny, Mr Bates?

Chickens...in my office.

LAUGHTER

Were they free-range, sir?

Ha-ha! Very amusing, Heath.

What isn't amusing, though, is the mess they've made of my desk.

That much is certain.

So if the culprit would just own up now,

they can clean up the mess and then we can all get on with the day.

Ben.

Um, you have a chicken feather on your shoulder, sir.

LAUGHTER

And there's one in your hair, too.

Yes, thank you, Ben.

And I'm actually allergic to chicken feathers, um, and eggs.

Look, Ben...

..I know you need the attention, but right now is not the time.

CLASS: Ohh!

Luke, can I see you out in the hall for a moment?

Right, Luke.

Whoever did this got in before school started.

I know you were here early with your mother.

It wasn't me, I promise. I didn't do it.

No, I didn't say you did.

I understand no-one wants to be a snitch.

I didn't see anything.

Right.

OK, go back in.

THUNDER CRACKS

KNOCK AT DOOR Miss O'Donnell.

Which one of you is Heath?

Stand up, please.

-What for?

-Now.

Now, I know I'm new here, but as a new principal,

I will not tolerate this behaviour.

My office is out of bounds, especially to fowl.

S-Sorry, what?

Heath, don't talk back to Principal Jarrah.

Principal who?

Where's Principal Bates?

If you keep going this way, I'll put you in detention.

Hands up if you want to know where Bates is.

Fine, you have after-school detention today.

But you can't prove I did anything.

-And tomorrow.

-Great, you're doing me a favour.

You want to make it three days in a row?

Heath!

This is not how I imagined my tenure to start - believe me.

I want my office spotless by lunchtime,

and I'll be calling your parents to discuss your behaviour.

Yeah, but you're not the principal...

I'd stop now, if I were you.

Let's go.

All right, everybody back to revision.

Hey!

You remember Bates, right?

-Who?

-Principal Bates.

He was in the classroom this morning,

telling us off about the chickens.

No, that was the totally scary Ms Jarrah.

Isn't she your mum?

Yeah, but...she's the vice-principal, not THE principal.

You're a really strange guy.

How was your day, sweetie?

It was very weird, actually.

-Weird?

-Since when are you principal?

Since I started this morning.

-What's gotten into you?

-What happened to Principal Bates?

Principal who?

You were there this morning...

and you gave me this.

I don't know whose signature that is.

Should I be worried about you?

No... I'm...I'm fine. I must have just been confused.

Just forget about it.

OWL HOOTS

OK, look, I know how it sounds, but I'm not making this up.

Trust me, if I was going to make something up,

it would not be about Bates.

COMPUTER CHIMES

-Oh, that's Mum and Dad.

-Good, I need to talk.

No, no, no. No. You are not going to tell them

that you think your principal has been kidnapped.

Not kidnapped...

Disappeared.

-Hi, guys.

-Hi!

-Hey.

-How's Singapore?

-Hi, Jess.

-What's happening?

Nothing.

Everything's great, Mum.

DOG BARKS

Maybe if you were around more than one weekend a month.

It's not fair to blame me for all of Heath's problems.

What's not fair is me being responsible for everything.

-Heathie Boy.

-Dad.

-It's good to see you.

-What are you doing here?

Hey, mate.

The principal called.

-Which one?

-What?

Well, there are two.

They both hate me, so that's reassuring.

RU?

Ruthenium.

RH.

Rhodium.

Hey...

What's the name of that movie where everyone started disappearing?

Maybe you're doing too many sit-ups, not enough oxygen to your brain.

Ha-ha.

Kayla, can you set the table, please?

Why can't Nicco do it?

Kayla, do as you're told.

Yes, Yia Yia.

CO is cobalt.

CU is copper.

ZN... ZN...

Zinc. ZN - zinc.

Hey!

You can't kick it from back here.

Oh, um, sorry, uh, there's this test...

Your evenings are your study time.

Mornings belong to me.

I-I know, but I really...

There's no buts. Do you want to win the Interschool State Final?

-Yeah...

-Well, get out there.

Come on!

You! We need to talk.

Look, I didn't dob you win, I swear.

-What?

-About the chickens.

-I'm not a dobber.

-I don't care about the chickens.

What happened with Bates in the hallway?

I have no idea. He was fine when I left.

Yeah, but everyone else has forgotten him.

I mean, it's so weird. It doesn't make sense.

It's like he's been abducted

and everyone else has had their memories wiped,

but human beings don't have that type of technology, so my bet...

is aliens.

Yes, aliens! Why didn't I think of that?

Whatever happened, it didn't work on everyone.

What do you mean?

There is someone else who remembers Bates.

Hey, I got you a doughnut.

I've got to go, OK? Sorry.

Jesse.

Um, hi.

You remember Bates?

Huh?

I saw you raise your hand in class.

I thought maybe I was losing it.

No, it's everyone else who's gone...

blank.

Clear your desks, please. This is a closed book test.

The test will begin in exactly one minute.

It will count towards your final grade.

Look at this.

Brooklyn, last warning, or I will confiscate it.

You can't do that, Miss.

She'd totally die if she couldn't take a selfie,

like, every 15 minutes.

Not listening.

All right, everybody, turn over your papers and begin.

So if this is an alien abduction, we really should report it to someone.

You've lost it.

What? Come on.

You can still have it, by the way.

Oh, sorry. Um, thanks.

You're welcome.

Oh, new guy!

-Watch this.

-What?

So, you probably haven't seen any of the cool places in Bremin yet.

Are there any?

Oh, wait, I mean, I'm sure there are.

Best place in Bremin is the "You Are Now Leaving Bremin" sign.

I could show you Little Gino's.

Here we go.

If you don't want to, that's fine.

No, that... That'd be great.

-I'd love that.

-Oh, brilliant!

For the website. Say "Brooklyn for SRC".

Oh, hey...

Hey, Ben, could you move a little?

Yep.

Big step to the left, Ben, come on.

Thanks. All right, go.

-BOTH:

-Brooklyn for SRC.

-Louder. BOTH LOUDER:

-Brooklyn for SRC.

School rules on phones are pretty clear.

Sorry, Ms Jarrah.

That's an automatic detention, all three of you.

Luke, we'll talk at home.

Your mum is way strict.

See you in detention.

Did you just ask that new guy out on a date?

-Did you see his face?

-SHE LAUGHS

ZAPPING

BELL CHIMES

Nice of you to join us, Luke.

Sorry, Miss.

Jesse.

-What did you do?

-Apparently, gym class isn't optional.

She never gets detention.

Maybe she thinks it's a study group.

Guys, what are we going to do about Bates?

What can we do?

We're the only ones that remember him.

Right, looks like we're all here.

Including me, unfortunately.

So no more talking.

You can read, do your homework or just sit there, I don't care.

-Yes, Heath.

-Uh, what about Brooklyn?

She got detention, too.

-Who?

-Brooklyn.

Brooklyn, the city?

Brooklyn, the girl.

She's in our science class.

First, I don't know anyone named Brooklyn.

Second, Brooklyn's a stupid name for a girl.

Third, Brooklyn's a stupid name for a girl.

Guys...

Wasn't that Brooklyn?

We should check Brooklyn's locker.

Well, this is her locker.

But this is definitely not her stuff.

Unless she has freakishly large feet.

Oh, Peter's. Try Peter's.

OK, they changed lockers. That's all.

-Right?

-No. It was covered in all her Brooklyny stuff.

Did they have any time to change?

Guys...

Where's she gone?

She was in all the photos.

She had a pink dress on, not a floral dress.

Since when did you start judging on Project Runway?

Yeah, that dress is...eugh.

Brooklyn's gone...

..just like Bates.

This is just like the Bremin Four all over again.

-It's nothing like that.

-They were lost.

Yeah, in a forest, not in the school.

Why don't you go kick a ball or something?

When those boys disappeared, it was news cameras and search parties...

Look, no-one even knows they're gone except us.

-Exactly.

-You know what?

At first, I thought this was like Roswell -

a government conspiracy with secret alien experiments -

but now I think it's mind control.

It explains everything.

-SHE SIGHS

-We need to tell the police.

Tell them what, exactly?

No-one remembers Brooklyn, Peter or Bates.

It just doesn't make sense that we still do.

Really? That's what doesn't make sense to you?

All right, I've got it.

Maybe we're immune somehow.

-What do we have in common?

-ALL: Nothing.

Come on, there has to be a reason.

-Oh, bags the last packet of beef jerky!

-Yuck.

You're really into those processed foods, aren't you?

HE INHALES DEEPLY Mmm.

You know, that's disgusting.

No, that's typical.

Meaty goodness.

You haven't paid for those yet!

That'll be 9.80.

-Do you guys have any money?

-No.

ZAPPING

-Hey!

-Who turned out the lights?

It must be a blackout.

It's show time!

Why do you always do that?

Hey, where did he go?

-Stuff's missing from the shelves.

-Uh...come on, guys, let's go.

Let's go!

What the hell's going on?

What happened to this car?

THUNDER RUMBLES

Uh, guys...

THUNDER CRACKS

There's nobody in there.

Where is everybody?!

THUNDER CRACKS

-What was that?

-What is going on?!

It's like everyone's just...

Disappeared.

Can we stick together?

I can't be around you people.

-Where are you going?

-I guess we're not sticking together.

Jesse's house is for sale?

Come on.

My sister should be here.

Everything's gone!

Yia Yia.

Let's just hope there's someone out there to see this fine work.

Why is everything different... except us?

That is not a garden variety storm.

Argh! Luke, help me!

Luke!