Tired of the everyday grind ever dream of a life of romantic adventure Want to get away from it all? We offer you escape Escape, designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure You are alone in a world of decay and desolation Looking down on what was once a great city While coming slowly to meet you a hand stretched out in greeting to you is a beautiful girl Whose very existence may be the cause of your death Your death listen now as escape brings you Jack London's classic novel the Scarlet Plague I Am recording this only for myself for my own sanity Perhaps even from some age-old sense of duty for I have not the slightest hope that it will ever be heard by any living human being I was at one time a professor of English literature in the great University at San Francisco Professor James Smith was a professor of English literature at the University of San Francisco Professor James Smith A man who believed in reason and intellect and who abhorred the instincts of animal nature But that was before Before the terror and the madness of the Scarlet Plague This morning I killed a sheep with my bare hands Then squatting on the ground I tore a haunch from my prey and ate it raw It began simply on a Monday morning as I recall I was having breakfast at the counter in the campus cafeteria with Bill Domby of the physiology department He was glancing over the front page of the morning paper I don't know why I do it Jim do what buy a paper every morning Nothing changes, but the date senator so-and-so back in Washington after whirlwind tour love nest killing in Omaha You bomb test it into a talk schedule. What what's that item down at the bottom? Where down the corner? New York fight Scarlet Plague some news reporters pipe dream, I suppose Nine persons have died since last evening of a strange malady which has left doctors at Manhattan hospitals admittedly baffled The disease if it is the disease strikes without warning and slays its victim in less than an hour Apparently the first symptoms are a feeling of well-being and lightheadedness accompanied by a slight rise in temperature a few minutes later a fiery red rash appears on the hands and face and spreads rapidly over the entire body within 10 to 30 minutes the victim goes into coma and dies It's ridiculous. There's no disease that acts like that. It's food poisoning something of that sort. He's Bill. I'm eating Medical authorities are unanimously agreed. However, that no general danger exists and that there is no cause for public concern or alarm Which is double-talk for we don't know what it is yet. Hmm What about a mutation mutation of what how do I know you're the physiologist? Oh, you're talking about those scare stories I suppose harmless virus or bacteria mutates and throws down some new deadly type Antibiotics won't touch it medical science help us a million people wiped out overnight. It's a possibility, isn't it? Oh Jim bacteria strains are always mutating And usually the mutation is less harmful than the parent that idea has been overworked for years pass the cream, please. No Bill, hmm, is it a possibility or not? Yes. It's a possibility I Hey, you're stalling Jim that rooks the only piece you can move and you know it don't rush me I still got the Queen back here Let's see. Hmm. And here is the latest development on the scarlet plague No, the following statement I would move on. How are you? Up to this hour. The official death toll in Greater New York is 321 persons in Boston 94 Washington DC 111 Chicago 181 medical spreading like wildfire around the clock it is expected momentarily That the causative agent of the disease will be isolated and an effective treatment prescribed. Meanwhile, stay home and stay calm We return you now to dance time Turn it off Jim How can it spread so fast it's hard to tell not knowing the period of incubation whether it's airborne Contagious by contact how long it's contagious before the symptoms show up might even knowing what it is. In fact, one thing sure though Something's got to be done fast. Yes, we can call ourselves lucky out here. There hasn't been a case reported in San Francisco. No Not yet. When all the breathers of this world are dead, you still shall live. Such virtue hath my pen where breath most breathes even in the mouths of men Now I did not choose this particular sonnet because of possible contemporary suitability But because it does I think best keynote the transitional phase that later That later appears in the philosophies and the poetic Is something wrong back there? Yes. What's the trouble? Miss Wilson Look at my hands. My arms all red. I feel so strange cold and numb. I'm dying. Everyone who gets it dies. I'm only 19 and I'm dying. When all breathers of this world are dead, you Now it's in San Francisco I sat for a long time in the empty classroom paralyzed by shock by a strange fear. I'd never felt before the fear of the unknown The girl had walked into my class smiling and talking and now she laid dead at the back of the room. Why? How could it happen so suddenly? What had caused the plague? Where the terror started? Where would it end? I went to the faculty club. Bill Downby was listening to the latest reports Around the nation include the following figures. Greater New York estimated 184,000 deaths. Philadelphia estimated 150,000 deaths. St. Louis estimated 83,000 deaths. Chicago, one moment please. A bulletin has just been handed to me from London. The scarlet plague is raging in Europe. Unofficial reports from Russia estimate the death toll in Moscow at 180,000 with additional millions dead and dying throughout the Soviet Union and China. New bulletins will be broadcast whenever they are received for as long as our facilities last and we No word of any cure yet. Jim, I didn't hear you come in. I just walked across the campus. It's completely deserted. Yes, I guess the faculty club here is the only holdout and at that there are only four. Four? Counting you, I were Blake of graphic arts. She went over to her room to pack some keepsakes. She'll be back. Dr. Barnes is out in the kitchen trying to rustle up something to drink. Bill, that girl who died in my class a while ago. One minute she was all right and a minute later she was dead. Well, it's fast. That's one thing. Can you get it from contact? I lifted her head. I put some books under it. Nobody knows how you get it. I don't suppose contact matters much. It couldn't be all contact. Not millions of cases in less than 48 hours. Well, why can't they find a cure? They've had two days now. What are they all doing? Dying, Jim, like everybody else. Zombie, Smith. Oh, Dr. Barnes. Here, maybe this will help. Scotch. Why not? The whole case of it out there. I think it might be a good idea to keep that radio on. Yes, you're probably right, Dr. Barnes. Technicians, engineers, they've died by thousands all over the country. How much longer can services like radio, telephone, transportation... ...issued a few minutes ago. All conveyances, regardless of ownership or occupancy, are being stopped and turned back at Army control points. Stay where you are. Do not attempt to travel. You are no safer in one place than another. The plague is everywhere. Repeat. The plague is everywhere. It won't stop until they'll still try to run it. Yes, anywhere, just as long as it's somewhere else. Repeat. The Army has not mutinied. The statement is signed by Edmund C. Dover, Senate member and acting president of the United States... ...and by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In a bulletin just handed to me, Johns Hopkins regretfully states that Dr. Theodore Von Zwickler... ...who had earlier announced partial success in identifying the causative agent of the plague, has just died. So Dr. Zwickler left no notes on his work. Hospital personnel continue to... What happened to the lights? Power failure, I guess. It was bound to happen sooner or later. There's a flashlight in that desk drawer. I got it. There's a portable radio with batteries in the game room. Oh, let's leave it for the moment, Dr. Barnes. Yes, the liquor sounds better than the news. Well, in that case... ...I wonder what's keeping Miss Blake. She was coming right back. Hey, wait a minute. Where's that light coming from? Looks like a fire. Maybe we can see from the windows. Not one fire, a thousand fires. Down there, toward the bay. Berkeley, Oakland, and over in the city. Why? What started them? Open! Can't you hear why, Jim? Gunfire! Yes. They're not waiting for the plague to do the job. No. They're already out in force. The looters, the maimers, the robbers. People with a hate and a grievance. If it started already, it'll get a lot worse. Oh, yes. It'll get worse. You are listening to The Scarlet Plague, tonight's presentation on Escape. Sunday afternoon, CBS Radio will bring you another of its successful on-the-scene reports... ...gathered by its feature project team. This time, we'll take you to the United States' wide-open back door, the Mexican border... ...the crossing point for two million illegal entrants last year alone. We call this report the Wetbacks... ...because that's what so many of these illegal entrants are called as they swim the Rio Grande into the United States. Hear the Wetbacks, Sunday, on most of these same stations. And now, Escape and the second act of The Scarlet Plague. We stood at the window of the faculty club, looking out across the campus, down over the hills toward the bay... ...where fires lit up the growing night, and where even fiercer fires of greed and lust and hate... ...burned in hearts that were beating their last hours or even seconds of life in this world. For a world was dying at our feet, and though we had so far been spared, we knew we too were dying with it. Contact is still being maintained with Buenos Aires, and since London Overseas went silent a few minutes ago... ...this is now our only contact outside continental North America. Makes you know you're alone. We are in present able to maintain contact with only two stations in this country, Washington and Chicago. The West Coast has been silent for some 30 minutes, and we do not know whether we are being heard there at this time. Oh, this is unbelievable. A crazy dream that it can't be happening. At the moment we are waiting for word from Washington, naming the new President of the United States to replace Edmund C. Dover... ...who died on the Senate platform while attempting to conduct... Yeah, what's the use? Well, are we still agreed on leaving? We must. If by some miracle we do survive, we will be out of food here in three days. And tonight may be the last chance to find any. They're probably looting every store in the Bay Area. Grocery stores, liquor stores, jewelers, four shops. More of the reason to get started now, then. Right. If we can make three or four trips with the station wagon tonight, we ought to be set here for quite a while. What about those pistols, Dr. Burns? We said there were a couple in the safe. Yes, I'll get them. It's funny how things are changing. He was Chancellor of this university, now he's foraging for food. Yes, well, I'll gas up the station wagon and get it over here so we can... Is anybody here? Jim, turn that flashlight on the door. Myra! Jim, thank heaven you're still here. Dr. Burns was worried about you, Myra. He just went into the other room. I'll tell him you're here. All right, Jim. I was afraid there might not be anybody here. I was hurrying to get back and I caught my heel on the edge of the walk and fell. I think I hit my head. Tripped and fell. The whole world dying and you trip and fall. I guess it is funny. Myra! Vilt! What is it? What's wrong? Dr. Burns is lying just outside. Dead in plague? Yes. But he got the pistols. Thanks. Do you know how to use one of these, Jim? In a general way. Well, we'd better get started, Bill. We shouldn't be too long, Myra. You're not going to leave me here alone. Of course she's right, Jim. I wouldn't want to be left alone either. All right. Let's go. We tried the Oakland docks first. The big food warehouses along the railroad tracks. It was a dead end. From a mile away we could see the blaze towering into the night sky. The whole dock area was in flames. We swung the station wagon back onto the ramp and headed across the bay bridge toward the city itself. Fighting our way in and out of the jumbled traffic and the terrified crowds on foot. Turning and twisting among the dead and dying. We'd better go back, Bill. This is getting worse every block. Yeah, I know. I'm trying to get a chance to turn around. There's an alley there by the hotel. Maybe you can edge in there. It's worth a try anyway. Look out, Bill! Hey! Watch who you're boomin' into! Sorry? I ain't taking a push around from nobody. Not anymore, you understand? I told you. That's on account of what I got. You take a look at a 45-wise guy. Careful, Bill. He's drunk. Look close and you can see the bullet coming out. Watch that! No! I bet he saw it all right. I bet he got a real good look at it. He's crazy, Miles. Come on, hurry. We've got to get out of here. What about the other men? We'll leave the car. Come on, out this side. This way, Myra. The hotel entrance. Out of the way. One side. Step aside. All right, come on. What can we do, Jim? They saw us. Come in. They'll be after us any second. The stairway there, next to the elevator. Hurry, Myra. Hurry. Maybe we can find a room, some place to hide in case they come up the stairs. Try that one, Jim. All right. Hey, look! We've got more guests. Sorry. Come on in and live. That's what all of us are doing. Living while we're dying. A party? Come on in. We've got plenty to eat, plenty to drink. 50 pounds of diamonds, tens of money. Lots of women and not a worry in the world. Come on, Myra. Let's go. Saw her head? Come on, let me open another bottle. Jim, where can we go? Well, the hotel's about 12 or 14 stories high. The elevators aren't working. I doubt if anybody would bother us on one of the top floors, but they wouldn't have any reason to climb up there. You want to try it? All right, Jim. Let's go. For five days we stayed on the top floor of the hotel, and no one came up to bother us. With pistol in hand, I left Myra in the room and slipped down into the streets to forage for food and supplies. Gradually, over the three days, I saw the mobs diminish, thin out, as the scarlet plague continued to rage unchecked. And finally, on the morning of the sixth day, I brought Myra down from the room to see what had happened to the city. There's not a person inside, Jim. No one but us. Not another living soul, as far as you can see. Listen. There's not a sound. A dead world. But there must be others, Jim. Not just us. They're hiding. We'll take a car and drive and look for them. There must be others. But she was wrong. We drove for a hundred miles, all over the city and the countryside around it. And when we finally stopped on a hill above the bay, we knew that there was not another living soul in the whole city. We were the only human beings left alive in San Francisco. And most likely, the only ones in the entire world. But why, Jim? Why us and no one else? I don't know why. I don't know why any of this. It's just too vast to begin to comprehend. But we're alive. That's the only thing that's certain. We're both alive. To be alone, to be the only living human in the world, would mean terror. Absolute terror and insanity. I feel guilty somehow. Being alive and everyone else is dead. No. There can't be any guilt when you don't have a choice. It was nothing we did. And besides, Myra, don't you see what it means? Since we've been spared, mankind itself has been spared and civilization. We'll have children. We'll teach them, see that they remember and pass on the greatness of the past. Yes. Oh, yes. Together. Together we can do it. We can give mankind another chance. You and I, Myra, we can keep it from being lost forever. Together everything is different. There's a new hope, something to live for and work for. And we... We... What's wrong, Jim? Myra. What? Your face. It's turning scarlet. Under the direction of Norman MacDonald, Escape has brought you The Scarlet Plague by Jack London, specially adapted for radio by Les Crutchfield, starring Vic Perrin. Featured in the cast were Parley Bear, Virginia Gregg and John Danaer, with Eleanor Tannen, John Larch, Barney Phillips and Sam Edwards. Your announcer, George Walsh. The special music for Escape is composed and conducted by Leith Stevens. Next week. You are standing in the bedroom of an English inn. The sound of revelry coming faintly up the stairs. While in the shadows across the room from you, the gun in his hand already aimed at you, is an enemy agent whose success depends upon your death. So listen next week when Escape brings you Ben Wright's story, Affair at Mandrake. Every Saturday evening at the Star's Address, enjoy William Conrad as Marshal Matt Dillon in Gunsmoke. It's a drama of the frontier of America in the 1870s, authentic, dramatic and full of the lore that made the American cowboy a part of our national heritage. Remember, Gunsmoke, Saturday night. Mr. Keene, Tracer of Lost Persons is heard Friday nights on the CBS Radio Network.
