[Theme music playing]
(Narrator) You're tra vel/ng through another dimension...
A dimension not onl y of sightand sound, but of mind,
a journey into a wondrous land
whose boundaries are tha t of ima Gina tion.
Your next stop, the twilight zone.
[Footsteps in snow]
[Clanking]
[Car door closes]
[Footsteps]
[Gasps]
[Snap]
[Gasp]
[Rustling]
[Footsteps]
[Muffled cry of fear]
[Shuffling feet]
[Trash can olattering]
[Shuffling]
[Gasping for breath]
[Whistle blows] [Horn blares]
[Two gunshots]
[Gasps]
[Clattering]
[Gasping for breath]
[Car drives a way]
(Male voice, strained) Help!
Please help!
[Whispering] Who is it?
Go away.
I've... I've been shot.
I need help.
Who are you?
[Yaw/fig] An... officer.
Pol/oe.
[Groaning] Pl ea se, open the door.
I need help.
You're lying to me.
I know you.
You can't fool me.
Help.
You're lying.
You're no policeman.
Why can't you leave me alone?
I know who you are!
I know what you are.
(Narrator) An old woman living in a nightmare.
An old woman who has fought a thousand battles with death
an d always won.
Now she's faced with a grim decision:
Whether or not to open a door.
And in some strange and frightening way,
she knows that this seemingly ordinary door
leads to the twilight zone.
Won't somebod y help?
[Gasping]
[Struggling] Unless... you help me,
I'm going to die.
I don't think I can move.
Don't say that, it isn't fair.
You're trying to trick me.
Don't move.
I-i-I'll close the door.
Wha t? [Yaw/fig]
I've been shot.
I'm bleeding to death.
Please.
My name is Harold... beldon.
I need a doctor.
Please, call the hospital.
I haven't got a telephone.
I'd have to unlock the door.
You can't ask me to do that.
I don't want to die.
You understand.
I know who you are.
You're not going to help me?
You're going to let me die?
I... I don't understand.
But... see... it hurts.
[Inhales sharpl y]
Oh, it hurts!
Stop. Stop.
Why do you torture me?
It isn't fair.
I... I can't move.
Ooh, it hurts.
It isn't fair.
I'm still alive.
[Liquid pouring]
[Humming]
[Humming continues]
Now, listen, you should try and get some rest.
Really, I feel much better.
When the doctor gets here, he'll take me off your hands.
You didn't call the doctor.
Well, why not?
I haven't got a telephone.
But couldn't you go to one of the neighbors?
There aren't any, they've all moved away.
Trucks came and took away their furniture.
First one and then another.
And...
Even-even if I could call a doctor somehow,
I couldn't take a chance and let him in.
Don't you see?
He might be him.
"Him?"
Mr. Death.
I know he's out there.
He's trying to get in.
He comes to the door and knocks.
He begs me to let him in.
Last week he said he came from the gas company.
Oh, he's clever.
After that, he claimed to be a contractor hired by the city.
I knew who he was.
He said this building was condemned
that I'd have to leave.
I kept the door locked,
and he went away.
He knows I'm onto him.
Mr. Death?
Is this a person, like you or me?
I know it sounds crazy,
but it's true.
I know it's true.
But people die
all 0 ver the world.
Now how could one man
be in all those places at once?
I don't know.
Don't ask me that.
Maybe there is more than one.
Maybe...
Please don't cry, I...
I don't want to hurt you.
Please, I'm sorry.
There.
At first,
I couldn't be sure.
It was a long time ago.
I was on a bus.
There was an old woman
sitting in front of me knitting.
Socks, I think.
There was something about her face.
I thought I knew her.
Then this young man got on.
There were empty seats, but he sat down beside her.
He didn't say anything, but...
His being there upset her.
He seemed a nice young man.
When she dropped her yarn,
he picked it up, right in front of me.
He held it out to her.
I saw their fingers touch.
He got out at the next stop.
When the bus reached the end of the line...
She was dead.
Hmm.
But you said yourself she was an old woman.
But I've seen him since, several times.
I've seen him in crowds, I've watched for him.
Every time someone I knew died, he was there.
Once he was a young soldier,
a salesman, a taxi driver...
Someone you wouldn't notice
unless you were watching.
I wondered why I could see him
and thatno one else could.
Then I knew.
It was because I was getting older
and my time was coming.
I could see clearer than younger people could.
All right.
But if you knew what he looked like, why be afraid?
You could avoid him.
Because his face is always different, I couldn't be sure.
How about when you go out?
Couldn't he touch you then
if he wanted to?
I never go out.
Never?
I ha ven't been out for years.
Well, what do you do about food?
A boy delivers it.
I leave him money and a list.
And I always wait until he's gone away
before I unlock the door.
How can you live like this?
If I don't live like this, I won't live at all.
If I don't wa toh out,
ifi let down even for a moment,
he'll get in.
I know he will.
I haven't always lived like this.
I was young once.
People said I was pretty.
I lived out in the sunlight.
People said I'd spoil my fine complexion.
I didn't care.
I loved outdoor things.
I lived out in the sunlight.
I've al wa ys ha Ted the dark and the cold.
I'm old.
I've lived a long time.
Buti don't want to die.
I'd rather live in the dark
than not live at all.
Here.
There's nothing to be afraid of.
We're alone here.
And there's nobody at the door.
You need some rest...
[Gasps and groans in pain]
Ooh, and I need help.
[Footsteps approaching]
[Knocking at door]
There's nothing to be afraid of.
You better answer it.
Go on.
[Knocking louder]
That's right.
Go ahead.
[Knocking loud/ y]
Go ahead, answer it.
[Breathing hard]
I'm sorry, lady, but I've got my orders.
[Heavy breathing]
I can't fool around any longer.
Easy, lady.
Just lie quiet
till you get your strength back.
You gave me quite a scare when you caved in like that.
And still I live.
Well, you got to understand, ma'am, I...
I don't get no pleasure out of busting in doors.
You don't seem to realize
ho w important this is.
I've got a-a crew and equipment coming in an hour
to pull this tenement down.
Begging your pardon, ma'am, but it's long overdue.
I'm surprised it's still standing.
An d you're really...
Not Mr. Death?
Well...
I don't know what you're talking about.
All I know is I got a contract
to demolish this row of buildings.
Everybody else moved out long ago.
Until the other day,
ithought this building was deserted.
I seen them windows boarded up,
I figured you moved when the rest of them did.
You want me to go outside?
You want me to leave here?
I can't.
You were notified months ago, right?
I'm just trying to do my job.
These buildings were condemned by the city,
and I'm the one
who's got to tear them down.
How can you?
This building has had it.
It's worn out, used up.
All these buildings have got to come down.
Iain't a monster, lady.
I... I've got a heart just like anybody else,
but, uh...
I can see how you could get attached to a place
and not want to see it wrecked,
but when a building is old, it's dangerous.
It's got to come down to make room for a new one.
That's life, lady.
Old make room for the new.
Well, people get the idea
that I'm some kind of destroyer, but...
They think I get kicks out of tearing stuff down.
That ain't the way it is.
I... I just clear the ground so other people can build.
In a way, I help them do it.
Look around... It's the way things are.
A big tree falls, and a new one
grow right out of the same ground.
Old animals die and...
Young ones take their places.
Even people step aside when it's time.
I won't.
[Sighs]
The door!
There's no need in that.
Now, what's the sense of locking a door
that won't even be here in an hour?
If you've got any possessions you'd want to keep,
I'd move them out. I'll help you.
Now, look, I've been trying to go easy,
but if you insist on staying here,
I'll have to call a cop.
Please cooperate, lady.
Of course.
Explain to him.
Tell him the reason I can't go out there.
You'll help me, won't you?
What are you doing?
Who are you talking to?
Mr. Beldon is a policeman.
Please tell him.
I'm sorry, but if you're still here
when the crew arrives,
I'll have to call a cop.
Why didn't you help me?
I thought you understood.
You.
He looked right at you
and didn't see you.
No!
Look in the mirror, Wanda.
You tricked me.
It was you
all the time.
Yes.
I tricked you.
But why?
The moment! Let you inside,
you could have taken me anytime.
But you were nice.
You made me trust you.
But I had to make you understand.
Am I really so bad?
Am I really so frightening?
You've talked to me,
you've confided in me.
Have I tried to hurt you?
It isn't me you're afraid of.
You understand me.
What you're afraid of
is the unknown.
Don't...
Don't be afraid.
But I am afraid.
The running's over.
It's time to rest.
Give me your hand.
But I don't want to die.
Trust me.
No!
Mother,
give me your hand.
You see,
no shock.
No engulfment.
No tearing asunder.
What you feared would come like an explosion
is like a whisper.
What you thought was the end
is the beginning.
When will it happen?
When will we go?
Go?
Look.
We have already begun.
(Narrator) There was an old woman who lived ina room
and, like all of us, was frightened of the dark,
but who discovered ina minute last fragment of her life
that there was nothing in the dark that wasn't there
when the lights were on.
Object lesson for the more frightened amongst us,
in or out... of the twilight zone.
(Male presenter) Rod serl/ng, orea Tor of the twilight zone,
will tell youabout next week's story
after this message.
And now, Mr. Serling.
Next week, on the twilight zone,
we let you in on a... an extravagant practical joke.
A man who wants to convey an illusion
that the world is coming to an end.
Now there are jokes and there are jokes,
but this one stands all by itself
as an exercise in the very different and the very bizarre.
Our play is called one more pallbearer,
and we commend it to you as something quite special.
(Arness) This is James arness.
You know, it's onl ya short hop
fromthe twilight zone to dodge city/ngunsmoke.
Sa turda y nights over most of these stations.