This is a story...
a story of a very special boy...
who found himself at the end of the world.
But our story doesn't begin here.
We have to go back...
before The Great Crumble.
- Don't forget-- - The turkey, I know.
Because it's also the story of a doctor who was happy living a normal life.
So, what you're telling me is, is that your crocodile's name is Croc?
That's a great name for a crocodile.
We're gonna have you out of here in no time, and get you to enjoy this lovely weather.
This is the third best doctor here, aren't you, doctor? Joking.
I'm gonna take your temperature,
and you can tell me about your symptoms when you first--
Let's meet the Guardians' defense, starting with its captain.
- Damn it. - You forgot, didn't you?
I'll get it tomorrow.
I love you. Bye.
Enjoy your lollipop.
Let me see.
But there was nothing normal about the Sick.
Come on.
And life would never be normal again.
- How long did this take? - She was fine three days ago.
Get the room sealed.
Check the bag.
We're anticipating numbers not seen since the Black Plague.
The H5G9 strain is now officially the deadliest virus in our lifetime.
It is here, it is now.
If you don't pray, now's a good time to start.
But while the doctor faced the horrors of the city,
a father was escaping to the wilderness...
to leave the world behind.
Rani?
Rani!
Rani?
Okay, okay.
Come on now. We'll go to the car, okay?
- Oh. Oh! - Anyone leaving the--
- No, no, no! - You two, get back here!
Okay. We're all right.
Hold my hand. Hold my hand. I love you, okay?
Hang on. No, no.
Oh, my God.
Emergency curfew is now in effect.
Whoa, hey, hey!
Out of the way!
Out the way!
Move! Move out the way!
Get out of the way!
You're okay. You're okay.
Oh, okay. You're okay.
You're okay. You're okay. Shh, shh.
Oh, God.
But this, this wasn't the end of their story.
Excuse me? Are you a doctor?
Yeah.
I think I need your help.
It just started this morning.
You see, as the world slipped into chaos,
something else was happening.
Something extraordinary.
No one knew which came first,
the hybrids or the virus.
But that question would become the biggest mystery of our lifetime.
This is a story about a very special boy.
A boy by the name of Gus.
Some stories start at the beginning.
Ours... begins here.
What the...?
They're called hybrids, unexplained phenomenon
of animal-human babies being born...
Part animal, part human.
What came first, the virus or the hybrids?
That's the greatest mystery of the 21st century.
Biologists are still searching for any connection between the Hybrid H5G9 virus.
Parents are pushing back on hospitals over the new law requiring hybrid testing.
♪ Winter's wood is cut ♪
♪ Three cord I have stacked Out back of my house ♪
♪ Well, is it enough to feed on Through bitter wind? ♪
♪ Well, start the black stove now ♪
♪ Winter's wood is cut... ♪
Stay right there.
I'll be right back.
♪ And I don't know if it'll last through the year ♪
♪ This woodshed defines ♪
♪ What am I worth? ♪
♪ And what am I worth? ♪
Pubba.
What?
What did you say?
Pubba?
You, Gus. Me, Pubba.
Happy birthday.
Okay. Open this thing up. Let's see what we got.
- What do you think it is? - Books.
Yeah. Let's see.
Wait for it.
You're gonna scare the fish.
No, I'm not.
- If I hear a growl... - I will duck.
If I hear a voice?
I will run.
If I see a human?
I will hide.
You'll get it.
All right. Try again.
- No. - Here I go.
- You know how humans have blood? - Yeah.
Well, trees have sap.
Be careful, it's gonna be hot.
All right. This will be loud for you, buddy.
Let's cover your ears.
It's a bird. It's a big, big bird, okay?
All right. It's all right.
As much as the father tried to keep the dangers of the world out,
the outside world had a way of sneaking in.
All right.
From now on, no more fires during the day.
It's too dangerous.
Yeah.
I worked very hard on this.
- A dog. - Yeah, it's a dog.
So, what do you wanna name it?
I'll name him...
Dog.
Well, that's the perfect name for a dog, yeah.
"Oh, shucks, baby.
You wanna see your mother, I reckon?
Yes, I--"
Pubba!
Hey, I'm here. I got you.
Hey, it's just Mother Nature, Gus, washing her world clean.
Can we live on a raft in the river, like Huck?
There are no rivers inside the fence, Gus, you know that.
What about out there?
Well, I told you, we can't go out there.
Why not?
Because I said so.
You said when I'm old enough, you'll tell me.
I know what I said.
So?
So, what?
I'm 7. So?
Once upon a time,
bad people ruled the Earth.
They were doing what they wanted, taking from the planet.
Just like those ants.
They were greedy things.
Self-destructive.
Only out for themselves.
So Nature made everyone sick
and wiped away as many as she could.
And then a miracle happened.
Your kind.
They called them hybrids.
No one knows where you came from or how.
But the people who were left feared you.
They were meaner now, angrier.
They didn't like you because you were different.
So Nature set the rest of the Earth on fire.
And now it burns forever.
But some bad people are still out there, Gus.
In the flames.
Waiting.
It's my job to make sure they never get in.
And it's your job to live a full life.
To be happy, to be kind.
I saw her today.
Who?
Mama.
She was pretty, but she didn't have nubbins like me.
Yeah, that wasn't your mother, Gus.
How do you know?
Because your mother is gone, Gus.
That's how I know.
That night, the father decided that some of the boy's questions...
were just too hard to answer.
Happy birthday.
Wow.
What is it?
You'll figure it out.
Ah!
Is that gift a mistake?
Mama.
Growl...
duck.
What did I tell you? What did I tell you?
What did I tell you? Someone could've seen you.
I heard something.
- What did I tell you? - I thought it was her!
I told you, she's gone.
It's my fault. I told you not to be afraid. I thought I could trust you.
You can.
- No, we need to trust each other. - I don't trust you.
You don't tell me everything. You think I'm too little.
You are too little, Gus.
And you just proved it.
Hello?
Sarah!
Sarah?
Hey! Don't come any closer.
Afternoon.
You mind lowering the gun?
Feel better if I didn't.
I'm just looking for someone.
Well, they're not here.
You better look someplace else.
How long you been here?
I realize how this looks, but I give you my word,
I had no idea your camp was here.
Who said I had a camp?
My sister went off in these mountains, a week and a half ago.
- Not a place for an unarmed woman. - Don't move.
I wanna know if she made it through.
She didn't come through here.
You should get back on the road before it gets dark.
The road's the last place you wanna be, friend.
You haven't gotten out much lately, huh?
What's it like out there?
It sucks.
No rules, no laws.
Once the Internet went down, it was over.
Just tribes of people, scared.
Fighting over whatever's left.
What about the Sick?
It's slowed down.
But it's still out there.
People think the hybrids caused it.
Yeah, well, maybe it caused them.
Yeah, maybe.
Any case, ain't many of us left.
Though if you're out here alone, isolated and whatnot...
you probably aren't in a company.
Are you?
In a company?
Alone.
I've lived here alone by myself
for nine years and 17 weeks and three days!
Hey!
Hey, where'd you go?
Stay back! Stay back!
Hey!
He marked us.
- Gus, son, get in. - I don't wanna.
- I said get in the cubby. - It's a hole.
It's not a hole.
You know how foxes hide out during the day in their little fox house in the ground?
What's the Sick?
It's, uh...
grownup stuff.
Why'd you say you lived alone?
To protect you.
Sometimes it's okay to bend the truth if it helps someone you love. Understand?
I'm scared.
I know.
But I promise you, if you hide in the cubby and be very quiet,
I'll be back before the sun goes to bed.
You can take your syrup.
Remember what I said?
It's okay to lie?
That's what you took from that conversation?
No, I said, don't come out until you hear from me.
I love you, Gus.
You're not too little.
Stay big for me.
Mama.
No!
Pubba.
Pubba!
Pubba, what took you so long?
I heard a scream.
I know.
I didn't like it.
But you're safe.
You're safe now.
He won't hurt you.
Pubba! Wake up!
Pubba!
Pubba?
Pubba! Pubba!
Wake up, Pubba.
I was doing the right thing.
There's a good boy.
You did the right thing. You did the right thing.
You did this?
Your mother...
she was like me, Gus.
Or she was better than me.
She would be so proud of you.
You were her joy.
You were her life.
You always will be.
What happened?
Life.
We were separated,
so I brought you here.
What was her name?
Birdie.
Yeah, her name was Birdie.
When you get better, we can look for her?
If I hear a growl.
I will duck.
If I hear a voice.
I will run.
If I see a human.
I will hide.
Okay. And what don't we do?
Cross the fence.
Ever?
- Never ever. - Okay. Promise me, Gus.
Pinky swear.
Hey.
I'm the luckiest dad in the world.
You know why?
Because I got to spend the last nine years
with a very, very special boy.
You.
In a world we got to build together.
And I couldn't ask for anything else.
I'm tired.
You know what could wake me up though?
Breakfast.
Will you go make us some?
But you make the breakfast.
You watch me so you know how, okay?
What do we start with?
A plate?
What food?
Eggs.
See that?
Then you'll tell me more?
Yeah, I'll tell you...
everything.
Hello, ducks.
Pubba! Pubba!
I did it.
I crossed--
Pubba?
By his 10th winter,
the boy was now the man of the house.
With hard work came harder play.
As his antlers grew...
so did his imagination.
You should've saw it.
Bad people were everywhere.
I thought they was gonna take me and Dog,
but Dog scared them away for good.
Didn't you, Dog?
Sometimes all a boy has is his imagination.
Rabbit, you're on garden duty.
Goat, you need to keep the birds off the peas.
We can't lose any more.
And me and Dog will do the syrup and the water.
And remember: Do not cross the fence.
Now go.
Yes!
No--!
Stupid weed.
Stupid weasel thing!
Dumb goat!
You!
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Pubba.
Hmm.
Colorado.
I'm coming for you, Birdie.
Hide.
If I see a human, I will hide.
- Come on, buddy. - If I see a human, I will hide.
I've seen you.
Show yourself.
You like that candy?
Well, then you poke your little head out,
and I'll put one right between your eyes. Come on.
I got him!
- Have a look! - I told you.
- I got him! - What did I tell you?
- I've never seen a deer one before. - Me neither.
- Oh, he's got a little shirt and everything. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hey, don't he look bigger than the others?
Yeah. Older too.
You thinking what I'm thinking?
- We take it to the lab? - No, no, no.
We bring him east. This one's too special.
- Yeah. - Let me go!
- Oh, did you hear that? - It talked.
I got you.
Hey. Hello. Uh...
We can share, huh?
Hey! Hey!
No, no, no.
Okay. Hey!
It's yours.
You know how much your antlers are worth to a poacher?
I counted three points.
Jackpot.
Thought I saw every type of mutant half-breed critter thing out there.
I never saw a deer kid.
You forgot this.
Come here!
Leave me alone!
The shit?
- Speak. - Stay back.
You talk.
Shit.
Who taught you?
My Pubba did, and he's gonna be back here any minute now.
So you best git!
He's bigger than you.
They don't make them bigger than me.
- That your old lady? - Put that down!
I don't talk to bad people!
Them two in the field were bad.
Most of them are.
Take it nice.
No, no, no!
No booms. No booms.
You shouldn't set fires in the daytime, little man.
Your daddy didn't teach you that?
Saw the smoke 20 miles off.
I said go away!
How long you been here?
Go back to the fire where you belong.
Goddamn it.
What was that boom?
It's a called a gun.
Makes people disappear.
What do you want?
I was thinking about turning you in.
But I'm not gonna.
I'm an asshole,
but even I got limits.
Shoo!
Hey! You put them back! They don't belong to you!
You like those sweets so much,
you ought to plant beets.
Mix up your sugar intake.
That should keep them off the peas.
Using that scarecrow inside,
you wanna set him out here, reposition him every few days.
Birds ain't dumb.
You wanna rotate this crop too.
Peas eat up all the nitrogen.
Soil will be shot in a few years.
Your daddy keep a tarp or anything?
What killed your folks?
They get the Sick?
I told you, my Pubba's coming back and he's gonna run you away.
He leave you with a name?
I said go.
Yeah.
Yeah, you keep that edge, Sweet Tooth.
Just remember:
good poachers don't miss.
Where's Colorado?
Ain't close.
Which way?
Stay here, little man.
People out there hunt kids like you.
Don't make it easy for them.
There are no kids like me.
I'm the only one left.
That's what he told you?
There are others.
Out there.
What's in Colorado?
Nothing.
The Preserve?
My mama.
You go out there alone,
they'll have your head mounted to a wall by morning.
So long, Sweet Tooth.
What if he were wrong?
♪ The son was an okay guy ♪
♪ They had a pet dragonfly ♪
♪ The dragonfly ran away ♪
♪ But it came back with a story to say ♪
♪ So for a while things were cold ♪
♪ They were scared down in their holes ♪
The boy broke his father's rules slowly...
And then all at once.
♪ But she and her furry friends ♪
♪ Took down the queen bee and her men ♪
♪ And that's how the story goes ♪
♪ The story of the beast With those four dirty paws ♪
♪ La, la, la ♪
♪ La, la, la, la ♪
♪ La, la, la ♪
♪ La, la, la, la ♪
♪ La, la, la ♪
♪ La, la, la, la ♪
♪ La, la, la ♪
♪ La, la, la, la ♪
Some stories start at the beginning.
Gus' story begins here.
Big Man!
Take me!