Gal Gadot's apartment.
With Judy and Bar Refaeli gone, Eric was the only one left in the living room.
He turned on the TV, switched to HBO. It was only 7:40, so there were still 20 minutes until the walking dead started.
Looking at the water glass on the table, and the prominent red lipstick stain on its rim, Eric picked it up and walked to the kitchen.
Splash!
He turned on the faucet and rinsed it clean. Only then did he nod in satisfaction. When you dislike someone, everything about them often feels wrong; you'll even detest their good qualities.
After all that, only 2 minutes had passed. Eric sat on the sofa, looking at his Nokia phone, and couldn't help but miss the smartphones of the future.
In the future phone wars, Apple was, of course, the one that had the last laugh.
As a Chinese person, Eric didn't have much affection for Apple, but he had to admit that globally, it was absolutely dominant.
However, Apple phones hadn't risen yet, and Nokia still held the position of industry leader.
While this wasn't the absolute best time to buy Apple stock, it was still a suitable one.
Unfortunately, Eric's available funds were truly stretched thin. He had no extra money to buy stocks, especially after his conversation with his father last time, when he truly understood his father's difficulties.
MGM currently had over a dozen projects launched simultaneously. Even though many were low-budget horror films, and even if films weren't funded all at once, the pressure was still immense.
Especially with big productions like transformers and frozen, each with investments exceeding 500 million USD. In another month, the second payment to Weta Digital would be due, another tens of millions of dollars in expenditure.
Then there were the bank debts. 50 million USD of the principal had already been repaid, but the interest remained enormous. By June, it would be time to repay the second quarter's interest.
Eric didn't have many assets left to mortgage for loans. The most valuable was his 16% stake in Hasbro. To be precise, a portion of it had already been used for loans; otherwise, he and Elena would have been taken to court by JPMorgan Chase.
Mortgaging the remaining portion for more loans was, in principle, possible, but constant borrowing wasn't a solution. It was like smoking opium—the more you smoked, the more addicted you became, and banks didn't just give you money for free.
The second way to quickly alleviate financial pressure was to re-list on the stock market. However, after discussing it with his father, both felt it wasn't the right time. If they could just hold out until transformers was released, MGM's market value would at least double.
Money! So poor!
So don't envy those who drive big Mercedes; maybe they bought them with loans.
"Eric, what time is it?"
Gadot walked out of the bathroom, wearing a bathrobe, her still damp hair draped over her shoulders.
A beauty emerging from her bath. Even without makeup, she was still beautiful, especially the pure aura that made her exude temptation.
"Let me see, 2 more minutes until 8 o'clock sharp."
"What! Then I won't have time to blow-dry my hair."
"Just go blow it, my beautiful lady. Though I can't wait to embrace you, I've heard that wet hair makes women very uncomfortable."
Gadot laughed heartily, "But I don't want to miss the show. The beginning is always important; if you skip it, you'll miss crucial information."
Eric pointed to himself: "Look here, look who I am, baby. Sitting on your couch is the writer and producer of the walking dead. If you want, I can get you the content of the next few episodes right now."
"Hahahaha, you're right! How could I forget who you are? Alright, then I'll go dry my hair first, and you can tell me the plot later."
The sound of a hairdryer echoed from the bedroom, and Eric's gaze shifted to the TV screen.
As a yellow-haired lion roared, the story officially began.
In a small town, a police car was parked by the roadside. The male protagonist, Rick, was chatting with his colleague, Shane.
Their conversation was mainly about family. Rick mentioned that his relationship with his wife, Lori, had been tense recently. His good friend, Shane, said it was nothing, that marital arguments were common, and he could help mediate.
The subsequent plot differed from the original timeline, where the two officers were responding to a call to intercept a criminal's car.
However, Eric believed this was too unrealistic. Usually, when encountering such an armed fugitive, at least dozens of police officers would be dispatched, and a single spike strip would be far too flimsy and inadequate.
So, it was changed to a patient's family causing trouble at the hospital. Rick and Shane went to handle it, but the person suddenly pulled out a hidden dagger and stabbed Rick.
Being in the hospital, Rick was immediately rushed into surgery.
Then came some hazy memories: Shane frequently visited him, always bringing a bouquet of fresh flowers. His wife, Lori, came a few times at first, but then stopped appearing. Later, even Shane stopped coming.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but he seemed to hear screams and gunshots. Rick slowly regained consciousness, looking at the withered flowers beside him, which indicated that Shane hadn't been there for a long time.
Just then, a pair of cool, small hands suddenly clasped Eric's neck from behind: "The zombies are coming!"
Eric tilted his head back, looking up: "If all zombies looked like you, I think all men in the world would wish for the apocalypse to arrive quickly. Oh, and Judy too."
Gadot giggled a few times, then kissed Eric.
"Mmm, as much as I want to keep tasting, this position isn't very good for the cervical spine."
"Then what do you want?" Gadot blinked.
He patted his thigh, and the girl obediently sat on it, leaning her entire body against Eric's chest. The two then half-reclined on the sofa.
"OMG! Seeing this environment, I can imagine what kind of disaster happened here."
On the TV screen, as Rick explored the hospital, the surrounding environment was revealed to the audience.
The corridor was in ruins, lights flickering, shattered glass all over the floor, and bloodstains on the walls, though clearly dried. There were also numerous bullet holes.
It was clear that a fierce battle had taken place here, corresponding to the shouts and gunshots Rick had vaguely heard.
Rick tried to make a call, but the signal was cut off. He could only search aimlessly, everything leaving him bewildered.
It also bewildered the audience. They wanted to know why things had turned out this way and what would happen next.
Just like Gadot, whose hands had been idly drawing circles on each other, now her hands were still, her gaze completely captivated by the plot. And all of this happened in less than 3 minutes.
This was the excellence of the walking dead: tense and exciting, it could instantly capture the audience's hearts.
Suddenly, Eric felt his hand being squeezed tightly, because on the TV screen, the first corpse had appeared. It was a female corpse, gnawed down to just a skeleton, with a few scraps of flesh hanging on it, looking extremely terrifying.
Such a scene is rare even in R-rated movies, and it had a strong impact.
If the MPAA review found such a scene, an R-rating would be out of the question; it would most likely be tagged with an NC17 rating.
"Gadot, are you scared?" Eric asked softly.
"No, just very tense. He's going to that door, the one that says 'Do Not Open!'"
Bang, bang, bang!
As if smelling living people, the iron door rattled incessantly. Suddenly, several filthy, rotting hands stretched out from the gap in the iron door.
Startled, Rick quickly turned and fled. Dragging his weakened body, he struggled to exit through the hospital's side door.
As soon as he opened the door, a wide-angle shot appeared, revealing the entire hospital to the audience.
Clearly, it and some surrounding buildings had been reduced to ruins.
And as the camera panned down to the ground, countless white body bags were piled up, abandoned Ratchets were parked haphazardly, and truck beds were also filled with numerous corpses.
Flies crawled all over the bodies, and Rick's mouth hung open, unable to make a sound.
This shot was very impactful; Eric was stunned when he first saw it. The feeling of the apocalypse was instantly created.
He looked at Gadot, who was frowning, her expression growing even more tense.
Next, Rick walked to the military camp stationed not far from the hospital, but it too had been reduced to ruins, as if it had experienced a great battle.
"Has the world ended?" Gadot asked Eric.
"Yes, the army is gone, so the world, of course, no longer exists. This is fundamentally a survivor's tale. Look, he found a bicycle."
Gadot's attention returned to the TV, but just as Rick was about to ride away on the bicycle, a half-zombie not far away suddenly moved, emitting a low growl and lunging at him.
The half-body instantly gave Gadot a strong shock. She couldn't help but turn her head slightly: "Eric, how was this filmed? I find it a bit scary."
"We originally wanted to use special effects, but Darabont just hired a dwarf actor, and after makeup, that's how it looked."
"Alright, hearing you say that, I don't feel scared anymore."
After that, Rick rode his bicycle home. A sick man riding a bicycle in the apocalypse—the contrasting image made people smile wryly.
Then he encountered Morgan and his son. The director used them to inform the audience of the current situation.
Under the care of Morgan and his son, Rick's body began to recover. Until the father and son faced the choice of whether to completely kill Morgan's zombified mother, the first test of humanity in the walking dead arrived.
"Eric, if you were really in this situation, what would you do? Could you bring yourself to do it?"
Eric nodded without hesitation: "I would have to do it, even if it were the person I loved most."
"Why? Wouldn't you be unable to bear it? That's your wife or mother, after all!" Gadot frowned.
"Yes, I know, but the deceased are gone. Is it good for them to exist in that form? And I also have to protect my living family. The living are more important than the dead."
"If I were to turn, and I still retained my thoughts after turning, then I would definitely want to die, as long as it could protect those who are still alive."
Gadot climbed onto Eric's neck and gently kissed his face: "I agree with that answer. I would do the same."
The two embraced for a while. On TV, Rick had already brought Morgan and his son to the police station. A hot shower eased the tense plot, and the weapons found at the police station made the protagonist seem less helpless.
On the way to Atlanta, Rick contacted Shane via the car radio, but the signal was too poor, and they didn't recognize each other.
Shane had now become the leader of a small group, which also included Rick's wife, Lori, and son, Carl.
Just when the audience thought Shane was a hero who had rescued his good friend's wife in the apocalypse, he had already gotten together with Lori.
Gadot stared wide-eyed at all of this, pointing at the TV and asking, "Wait, let me think. Rick just showed a picture of his wife, and it's this woman, right? So, his wife and his best friend got together?"
"Exactly. This is the apocalypse. Under the pressure of survival where death can strike at any moment, the shackles of morality have become increasingly weak."
Gadot shook her head: "These two actors are going to get a lot of hate. Audiences won't think that deeply; most people only see what's in front of them."
"Then let them curse. After all, every show needs a villain. We can't let these emotionless zombies be the villains, can we?"
"You mean, this Shane?"
"I didn't say that. I'm not sure how Darabont will film it either."
"But aren't you the writer?"
"Just kidding with you!"
"Damn, you're getting naughtier, my dear."
The time came to 8:50, with 10 minutes remaining until the end of the first episode, and the next classic shot appeared.
In a wide-angle shot, a man and a horse rode on the highway entering Atlanta. To the left were rows of abandoned vehicles, bumper to bumper, incredibly crowded, stretching as far as the eye could see, with zombified people vaguely visible inside. To the right was a derailed train, with many shattered bones still scattered around it.
After entering Atlanta, the horse, sensing danger, began to whinny, but this action only attracted a zombie onslaught.
Rick rode away, but then turned a corner and encountered a whole street filled with zombies.
Upon seeing Rick, these zombies immediately rushed forward.
Soon, the escape route was completely lost, compressed by the horde of corpses. Rick fell from his horse, and the horse was also tackled and devoured by the horde.
And facing thousands of zombies, the audience finally realized that the weapons Rick had obtained from the police station were completely useless.
Moreover, these zombies moved very quickly, far beyond what was typically seen in zombie movies.
The atmosphere of despair was maximized. Gadot again tightly grabbed Eric's hand, staring intently at the TV screen.
Rick fled into an abandoned tank, but it was still useless, as the zombies were even pulling open the tank's entry hatch.
In a desperate situation, Rick knew escape was impossible and prepared to shoot himself.
Just then, a voice came over the radio.
"If you want to live, follow my command!"
Listening to the mysterious voice on the radio, the camera finally froze on Rick's terrified expression.
the walking dead, Episode 1, ends!
Seeing the credits roll on the TV screen, Gadot stared speechlessly at Eric: "Only that? Is that all?"
Eric shrugged: "What else do you want? The first episode was a special 60-minute broadcast, it's already an hour, girl."
"What! That fast? I didn't feel it at all. Quickly, tell me what happens next." Gadot asked eagerly.
"Can't say. You're making me violate a non-disclosure agreement, missy."
"Hehe, how about I exchange something for it?"
Eric pondered for a moment, feigning thought: "That depends on what it is."
"How about this?"
"Mmm, her value is very high!"