NURSING HOME
by Jack Monroe & Matt Holly
When BRANDON HARTLEY left for school, he felt a tremendous guilt, having had to put his grandmother, LOUISE, into a nursing home. When his parents died in a car accident, it was Louise that took custody of the then seven-year old Brandon. She raised and cared for him.
But as he got older, it was Brandon who became his grandmother's caretaker. He would have to do everything for her, including bathing and dressing her. It was an especially difficult burden for a high school senior. And when he received the college scholarship, he jumped at the chance to leave home.
Since being placed in the Vista Point Nursing Home six months ago, Louise's health has declined rapidly under the often neglectful care of an underpaid staff and the questionable practices of the Administrative Director, BELANESE EDWARDS.
In recent days, Louise has slipped into a coma and the end seems inevitable. Returning home, Brandon finds comfort in the arms of his former girlfriend, AMBER, and a welcomed distraction in his old high school party-pals, MIKE and CADENCE. But still, he faces the difficult decision of removing Louise from the machines keeping her alive.
Amber feels letting her go is the humane thing to do and supports Brandon's decision, but deep down Brandon knows it is a selfish choice he's making, hoping that with Louise's death, he can move on with his life guilt-free. Once the machines are turned off, Louise begins breathing on her own and it seems she will not go quietly into that good night.
Brandon asks, "Now what?" "Now we wait," retorts the corrupt Belanese. As they wait, unusual events start unfolding at the nursing home such as when an eighty-year old couple are found getting it on in the utility room, or an old man, barely able to lift his head, suddenly heaves a thirty-pound medicine ball that knocks an orderly into the wall.
What Brandon and Amber don't know is that these strange occurrences are the direct result of a black market batch of drugs Belanese has purchased to cut his operating costs down and pocket more for himself. The bizarre goings-on come to a head when Brandon's grandmother suddenly wakes from her coma. Before Brandon can even wrap his arms around her, she attacks an orderly.
Belanese and his staff face a nightmarish situation when the side effects of the new drugs kick in. The patients turn from energetic, spry seniors to blood-thirsty cannibals. As the hospital staff and their friends, fall prey to the flesh-eaters, Brandon and Amber fight to survive and find a cure.
In the end, Brandon is forced to face off with his grandmother. In a fierce battle, he gets the upper hand, pinning her to the ground. He has a hammer in hand and struggles with whether to kill the creature that was once his loving granny. As the black market drugs wear off, the elderly return to their feeble or catatonic states. Amber, realizing this, screams at Brandon to put the hammer down.
Clearly hearing her, but acting as if he doesn't, Brandon brings the hammer down on Louise's skull believing he can finally escape the burden of caring for her, a fateful decision that will haunt him forever. As Brandon is taken away by the police, Amber is left to deal with the bloody aftermath that has forever changed her and the town of Vista Point.
