"THE TRIGGER EFFECT" (1996)

A bunch of coyotes GRUNT and GROWL as they rip apart a kill in a clearing in this thick forest. A legend says:

Friday

From somewhere far off the coyotes hear a noise and scatter in all directions. We follow one of them, tagging along as he bounds through the trees in his lopsided gait.

As the coyote moves through the wilderness, he passes a structure that’s distinctly out of place here --

-- a_heavy-duty power line pylon. The coyote keeps running,

but we stick with the pylon, and start to climb it. The * structure is enormous, part of a huge power station that sits

in the middle of an otherwise barren spit of land, a bizarre technology island.

Coils, capacitors, dense forests of cable and wire HUM and * SNAP as the current surges through them, on its way to --

-- an unassuming AC outlet stuck in a wall plate. An orange *

extension cord is plugged into one of the sockets, and from somewhere nearby comes the HUM of a power tool.

We follow along the cord as it rises and falls, pulled taut * occasionally by a JANITOR using a large floor buffer in the * distance. FEET pass over the cord every few seconds,

successfully avoiding it.

As we pass a bar in this outdoor mall, a TRENDY GERMAN GUY gets * up from a table and walks toward us. As he approaches, an UNLUCKY BLACK SHOE hooks a toe on the cord and trips its owner. The Trendy German Guy CURSES (in German).

Rising up, we see the situation. The GUY WHO TRIPPED has * dumped a whole cup of coffee on the Trendy German Guy’s trendy German suit.

The Trendy German Guy spouts off in German, cursing and * gesturing, but the Guy Who Tripped edges away from him.

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CONTINUED: 2

The Trendy German Guy checks his watch and hurries off, toward the street. We pull back with him as he CURSES some more, mumbling and gesturing. This place is crowded and modern; a couple people talk on cellular phones.

The German Guy’s walking fast, and preoccupied, so he doesn’t see a HANDHOLDING COUPLE approaching rapidly. He SMACKS right in between them, busting their hands apart. Pissed off, he keeps walking, barely MUTTERING a German apology.

HANDHOLDING GUY spins around. Now he’s pissed off.

At the top of the escalators, Handholding Couple hurries to the box office, where another young couple, their double dates, is waiting for them, tickets in hand. DOUBLE DATE COUPLE smiles broadly and greets Handholding Couple by name.

But Handholding Guy, still pissed off, barely acknowledges them, just snatching the extra tickets out of Double Date Guy’s hand and breezing inside, leaving Double Date Couple to follow behind them.

We stay with Double Date Couple. Now Double Date Girl is the one who’s pissed off.

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The Couples come in and head for the concession counter, moving quickly.

Double Date Girl waves them off.

The other three head off to the right. The Concession Counter WOMAN turns around from the popcorn machine.

Not really looking, Double Date Girl steps up to the counter, right past an African American man in his late twenties (whose name is RAYMOND). Raymond was looking the other way too, and when he looks back, Double Date Girl has skipped in front of him.

Well, I didn’t see you.

(to the Counter Woman) Okay, two medium popcorns -- one with no butter, one with really really light butter -- two medium diet cokes -- well, hang on, how much is a large?

Exasperated, Raymond looks at his watch and says the hell with it. He takes off to the left, headed for one of the cinemas, and we go with him. As he walks, he MUTTERS under his breath, the bad mood now passed on to him. A distinctive earring dangles from his left ear.

He reaches the doors to a theatre and heads inside.

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RAYMOND comes into the darkened theatre. The crowd is urban, the theatre about half full, the movie already underway. Raymond picks his way down the aisle, looking for somebody, his eyes not yet adjusted to the light.

He is SHUSHED, but a voice calls out from the middle:

VOICE (0o.s.) Over here!

Raymond goes over toward the voice. He fights through an aisle and PLOPS down next to JOHNNY, same age, his friend.

As they go on about it in loudish tones, we drift off of them and down a row, to the people sitting directly in front of them --

-- MATTHEW and ANNIE KAY, thirties, white middle class. They’re trying to watch the movie, but Johnny and Raymond are clearly audible, talking in normal speaking voices.

Forced to listen, Matt in particular is going crazy. He rolls his eyes. He squirms. He and Annie exchange a look. Finally, he leans over to Annie and whispers.

Raymond and Johnny’s conversation continues unabated. Matt rolls his eyes, in agony.

5. 7/17/95

CONTINUED: 5 MATTHEW (cont/’d) I gotta say something. * ANNIE You should.

Summoning his nerve, Matt steals a quick look behind him.

Raymond is closest. Matt’s eyes flicker over Raymond’s

clothes, searching for clues to break his code. Jeans, a tee shirt -- doesn’t tell him much. Matt settles for giving him * the old Half Turn Angry Glare and turns around again.

Matt looks at Annie, shrugs, and goes back to watching the movie. On screen, a truck ROARS by and Johnny exclaims:

Now Annie turns and gives them the Glare. Johnny catches eyes with her, they stare for a second, then she turns back and * whispers something to Matt.

Whatever she said, Johnny thinks she said something else. * Surprised, he turns to Raymond. JOHNNY What did she just say?! *

Annie turns around and faces him squarely.

Annie just stares at him, surprised. She turns and looks to Matthew. He’s staring at the screen, as if he hasn’t heard.

But he heard. He feels Annie’s gaze on him and turns around, sneaking half a glance at them. Matthew briefly catches eyes with Raymond, but he turns away without saying anything. Annie, surprised and angry, turns away as well.

The color rises in Matthew’s cheeks. His jaws clench. Seconds tick away, agonizingly, and then --

6. 7/17/95

CONTINUED: 2 5 -- everything goes completely black. The power in the theatre abruptly goes out, killing the projector, the exit signs, anything once lit isn’t now.

Since we can’t see anything, we listen extra hard, but the crowd is silent at first, just hoping for the power to come back. But it doesn’t, and they start to GROAN, and then one or two OOOOH! and HOOT.

But then, as abruptly as it left, the power returns. The projector flickers back to life, the sound of the movie crawls up to speed, and things progress as normal.

Unnerved, Matt leans over and whispers to Annie.

She looks at hin.

They get up and slide out of the row. Annie walks ahead, up the aisle. Matthew gets a couple rows past Raymond’s. He stops. He looks back, over his shoulder.

Raymond, as if sensing it, looks back at him. They hold eye contact for a moment --

-- then Matt turns and walks away, up the aisle.

CUT TO;

The movie’s over now, and the CROWD is letting out. MATT and ANNIE come out of the theatre lobby and onto a terrace. Matt

recoils at the oppressive summer night.

He looks over his shoulder, distracted, as they head for the escalators.

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CONTINUED: 6

Behind him, RAYMOND and JOHNNY come out of the movie theatre and head for the escalators. Matthew sees them and swerves, changing course to head for the elevator.

She follows him. As he turns away, she looks back, at the escalators, and sees why he changed course.

Matt SLAPS the down button for the elevator. The moment he does so, we leave them and jump --

INSIDE THE ELEVATOR MACHINERY. 7

There is a low POWER HUM as the metal contact point on the other side of the button makes contact with a metal plate inside the panel.

A circuit closes, which flicks a relay switch on a panel of many. A signal pulses down a wire, and at the top of the elevator shaft a large stack of counterweights goes into a controlled descent, raising the elevator car.

From inside the shaft, we watch the elevator machinery tug the doors open. Matt and Annie climb in, but we don’t see them, just overhear snippets of their conversation over the BUZZ and CLICK of circuits and currents they pay no attention to.

The sequence of connections plays itself out in reverse and --

-- the elevator doors slide open. MATT and ANNIE step out and into a parking garage. He darts a look around, to see if they’re alone.

THRU

ail

They walk.

Pause.

8. rev.

Unspoken words tremble in the air.

MATTHEW

You think I should have said something?

He puts his arm around her.

She shrugs.

7/31/95 (blue)

She walks off, ahead of him. He stares after her.

OMITTED

EXT

CUL-DE-SAC NIGHT

THRU

abst

A middle class street on the verge of the suburbs. The street’s short, a cul-de-sac with three houses on each side and two at the end.

11A

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CONTINUED: 11

Matt and Annie’s car turns onto the block and pulls into the driveway of the last house on the left.

A central air conditioner HUMS outside the living room window, a tag on the front says "Environmental Control Systems."

A door from the garage opens into the foyer and an alarm panel in the wall starts to BEEP. MATT and ANNIE come in. Their house is comfortable, not opulent.

A baby can be heard crying from upstairs.

She heads up. Matt punches in the alarm code, silencing it.

There are ladders, drop cloths, and other tools around the kitchen, someone is working on the cabinets. MATT goes to one of them and opens it. A photo strip, one of those black and white one you have taken in a dollar photo booth, is taped to the cabinet door. Matt, Annie, and their baby are captured

in the strip, grinning into the camera.

The cabinet door nearly falls off in Matt’s hand, held only by the hinge at the bottom. He curses as he catches it and replaces it gently. He MUTTERS as he takes a glass from the cupboard.

AT THE WATER JUG,

the big plastic bottle GLUGS as water tumbles into Matt’s glass.

ANNIE is already there with DEBBIE, seventeen. She has SARAH, a ten or eleven month old baby, in her arms when MATTHEW comes in. Sarah is crying.

feel bad? Huh? (MORE)

ee ee

* *

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CONTINUED: 13 ANNIE (cont’d) (nods to the dresser)

The thermometer’s in the second drawer.

Matt goes to get it.

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f 13 CONTINUED: 2 13

MATT hangs up their bedroom phone. ANNIE pokes her head out of the bathroom, unbuttoning her blouse.

Matthew starts to get undressed.

amp 7/17/95

CONTINUED: 14

MATTHEW

That’s kind of a sweeping statement.

ANNIE

Oh, go run for Congress.

She goes back into the bathroom. Matt sits on the edge of the bed, listlessly takes off his shoes, and sits back against the pillows. He picks up a magazine off the night table and flips through it.

Annie reappears in the doorway to the bathroom, getting undressed. Underneath her fairly conservative clothes, she’s wearing some wicked lingerie.

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CONTINUED: 2 14

Behind the magazine, he doesn’t notice her or what she’s wearing.

Noticing him not noticing, Annie disrobes further, running her fingernails slowly across one breast.

Finally, he turns a page in the magazine and notices her. MATTHEW

Oh. Hey. C’mere. Lay down a second.

But the easy moment that might have been there is kind of labored and forced now. She just looks at him. He looks back, and neither of them speaks for a moment.

But from the other room, Sarah starts to cry. They both hold out a fist.

On three, Matt holds out two fingers, Annie holds her hand out flat. Scissors cuts paper -- he wins.

1?

13. 7/17/95

CONTINUED: 3 14

She sighs and heads for the baby. Matt lays back, reaches over to the light, and flicks the switch.

INSIDE THE LIGHT BULB, 15

the brilliant blue bolt of energy that arcs between the wavering filaments abruptly FIZZES out.

SARAH, the baby, so tired she can hardly keep her eyes open, sits in ANNIE’s lap in a chair in her bedroom. ANNIE reads soothingly from a children’s book by the pale light of a nightlight.

until his ceiling hung with vines and the walls became the world all around. And an ocean tumbled by with a private boat for Max -- "

Night is taking over, only a few lights on in the Kays’ house. ANNIE’S VOICE continues over, still reading.

A racoon waddles across the driveway, setting off a motion sensor light above their garage. The racoon looks up at it. We look up too, rising high above the house.

The skyline of the city is visible in the distance now, its glow seeming to waver in the night heat.

Suddenly, as if someone reached out and threw a switch --

-- the skyline shuts off.

Every light in every building goes black, and on this dark night, that means the whole city just vanishes from our view.

14. 7/17/95

CONTINUED: 17 In rapid succession, the lights of every intervening building between the city and the cul-de-sac shut off as well, crashing toward us like a wave until finally the streetlight in the foreground unceremoniously blackens with a quiet little 2Z22T. ON THE SIDE OF THE HOUSE, the air conditioner shuts off, WHIRRING to a stop.

A red light in an alarm panel, next to the word "Armed," abruptly goes out. The TV shuts off too, as does everything else in MATT and ANNIE’s bedroom. In bed, they GROAN.

He starts to get up.

They lie still for a moment, staring at the dark. Finally:

He gets out of bed.

He looks at her.

15. 7/17/95

Sure is dark out. MATT comes outside, shining a flashlight this way and that. He shines it up at the streetlight. Yep, it’s out all right.

From across the street, he sees another flashlight, this one extremely powerful, a halogen beam, in his neighbor’s yard. Matt wanders into the street.

The beam turns and shines in his face, blinding him.

Matthew winces, eyes stung by the light, and waves his hands at it. The Neighbor redirects it and we get a look at STEPH, fortyish, bearlike, wearing sweat pants and a football sweatshirt. He walks with the only slightly unsteady gait of a practiced drinker.

STEPH ¢cont/’d) Sorry.

Steph shines his flashlight back and forth over Matt’s house. Matt looks over his shoulder, watching the investigation.

al)

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CONTINUED: 19

He shines his light ona neighbor’ s house accusingly. From down the street, another flashlight makes its uncertain way toward them. steph notices.

Matthew looks. MR. SCHAEFER, sixtyish, hurries toward them in his bathrobe. Mr. Schaefer never gets too close, and he never turns fully toward you, as if he’s reluctant to commit to actually being present.

MRS. SCHAEFER lurks ten yards behind him, clutching her robe at her neck.

He turns and heads back the way he came.

Matt looks at him and Steph laughs. Matt recoils a little at Steph’s breath and waves his hand in the air as he turns to head back inside.

Steph heads for his own house, which we now notice has a huge satellite dish parked in the middle of the front lawn.

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CONTINUED: 2 i9

All right.

Steph turns back, shining his flashlight under his chin ina spooky way.

Matthew laughs.

It’s morning now and a piercing SHRIEK from off screen blasts MATT’s eyes open. He squints at the digital clock on the nightstand, but its face is still dead. Over the blank face, another legend:

Saturday

ANNIE hurries into the bedroom, carrying SARAH, who is crying desperately.

Her fever, I swear to God, it’s worse, feel her.

She sits on the edge of the bed, next to him, and he feels his daughter’s forehead.

ITA. * rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

He grabs the cordless phone from the night table, but it is, of course, dead.

23A

18. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

MATT, dressed in whatever he threw on, snaps up the kitchen

phone, the older kind you don’t have to plug in. But when he raises the receiver to his ear, all he hears is a rapid busy * signal. *

He hangs up and tries again. Same result.

ANNIE comes in with SARAH, trying to soothe her. Matt grabs his jacket off a chair.

cuT TO: OMITTED 22

MATT comes out of the house, car keys in hand. He happens to look across the street, to Steph’s house. Steph’s car is gone and a metal gate has been hastily rigged and closed in front

of the front door. Curtains are drawn in front of all the windows. Matt shakes his head.

MATT gets in his car and slams the door. He starts it and immediately turns on the radio. STATIC blasts from the speakers. He punches a couple of preset buttons. More static. He hits the "SEEK" button. The digital display whirs up and down the dial, searching for a signal.

+e ee

It finds none.

OMITTED 24

MATT comes into the drugstore. The lines are long at the checkstands, where of course the power is out. A GUY at the front substitutes for the public address system.

18A. * rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: : 25

BACK AT THE PHARMACY COUNTER,

Matt, at the front of a line, is dealing with a beleaguered PHARMACIST.

19. 7/17/95

I tell you what, if you can just let me have it I’1ll bring the prescription in when the power’s back on.

20. V{1A7T/95

25 CONTINUED: 2 25 MATTHEW Look, let’s -- we’re not talking about morphine, okay, it’s penicillin. PHARMACIST

What do you want me to do? I’m nota physician, I can’t prescribe drugs. The law is the law.

PHARMACIST

What do you want me to tell you?

The line behind him is growing impatient. The Pharmacist gets frosty.

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CONTINUED: 4 25

PHARMACIST

I don’t like you. MATTHEW

You don’t like me? PHARMACIST

Uh uh. MATTHEW

I’m not trying to start a fight.

He trails off, realizing he’s gone too far. They stare each other down for a moment. The Pharmacist gestures for Matt to lean in closer. He does. PHARMACIST Tell you what. You turn around and get your skinny little butt out of

here or I’1l push your face through the other side of your head.

Matt notices the Pharmacist’s forearms for the first time. They’re like four by fours.

After another moment of eye contact -- -- Matt turns and leaves.

OMITTED 26

MATTHEW BANGS through the kitchen door of his house. He goes straight to the phone, picks it up, and gets the same rapid busy signal. He SLAMS it down.

22. T{17/95

CONTINUED: 27.

ANNIE, down the hall, hears him over the continued cries of SARAH.

She heads toward him, down the hallway, carrying the still shrieking baby.

Matt just stands there, frozen, as she approaches him. She extends her free hand as she draws close to him, and he looks down at her empty right palm.

MATTHEW

They wouldn’t give it to me. ANNIE

What? MATTHEW

The idiot pharmacist, I’m telling you, I got into a huge fight with the guy, but Bischel never got through with the prescription and legally they can’t give --

pharmacist doesn’t like me?

She is, in fact. Their voices grow progressively louder over the baby’s HOWLS.

23. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

fr 27 CONTINUED: 2 27

anything right now, certainly not how long it’1l take for things to get back to normal. I tried the car radio and all I got was static.

She hands him the baby, which makes things worse -- her cries grow louder. Annie goes to the counter and picks up the car keys. MATTHEW ™, What are you doing? ANNIE

I’1l take care of it.

He hands the baby back to her.

cut TO:

24. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

The emergency room of a local hospital is jammed, noisy, oddly lit by emergency lights. In one corner, a SICK TWO YEAR OLD leans against his MOTHER, exhausted. He holds a toy telephone in his hands, when he pushes the colored buttons, they announce themselves -- "RED, RED, GREEN, RED" -- over and over and over.

MATTHEW stands at the front of a line at the emergency admitting desk, talking to the ADMITTING NURSE.

Matthew stands there for a moment, stewing, burning up inside. He looks across the crowded emergency room, to where ANNIE is rocking SARAH, who’s still CRYING.

The E.R. seems to grow louder, more chaotic, as he stands, immobile. The Sick Two Year Old keeps banging on his plastic phone, but now he’s only hitting one button -- "YELLOW, YELLOW, YELLOW, YELLOW."

Matt marches across the room, past Annie and Sarah.

ANNIE

Where are you going? But he’s out the door.

OMITTED 30

25. 7/17/95

Back in the strip mall, there is a narrow alleyway between two of the buildings. Far down the alleyway, a LITTLE GUY sits on the ground, his back against the wall, his hands up in self-defense as a BIG GUY towers over him. From this distance, it almost looks as if the Big Guy is raising a hand to the Little Guy --

-- but MATTHEW hurries past the alleyway, dragging us with him as he walks quickly down the sidewalk. One by one, the STORE OWNERS of the shops he passes CLANG shut their big metal security gates.

Closing early.

The store is twice as crowded as before, and there has been a not-so-subtle increase in the tension level. There is another announcement from the GUY:

On his way to the back, MATT passes a very vocal argument at the front register, where a MAN is demanding they accept his personal check.

Matt starts down an aisle that leads to the pharmacy counter. All the way at the back, he can see the PHARMACIST, who is with a customer.

Matt slows as he reaches the end of the aisle. He stops just around the corner from the pharmacy counter, leaning against a display for "The Club." Sweating now, he takes a deep breath and stares at those drawers behind the counter where the medecine is kept.

The Pharmacist, a prescription slip in hand, turns and goes into the back.

Matt looks up, into a corner of the ceiling. A surveillance video camera is mounted there, but its red light is dead and the camera seems to droop.

26. 7/17/95

CONTINUED: 32

As if pushed by an unseen hand, Matthew moves forward, out of the aisle. He strides to the counter, lifts the hinged portion of it, and slips behind it. The people in line watch him do it, staring blankly at him, as if watching TV.

He walks the few steps to the row of drawers he pointed at earlier. He opens a few, searching quickly, not finding what he needs. A VOICE speaks from the counter behind him.

Matthew whirls. A GUY is staring at him.

Matt turns back and opens a drawer that has a dozen or so bottles of a thick pink liquid inside. He grabs one, slips it into his pocket, and darts away, back to the other side of the counter again.

He walks away coolly. Behind him, a few Customers shake their heads in disapproval. The Pharmacist comes out of the back. One Customer, the Guy who urged Matthew on, gestures for the Pharmacist.

TOWARD THE FRONT OF THE STORE,

Matthew walks quickly down a row, his hands in his pockets, the front doors of the store in his sights. He just barely forces a smile through his sweaty mask when --

Matthew turns. The Pharmacist is standing at the end of the aisle they’re in, livid.

Now everything happens at once. The Pharmacist SHOUTS for security, other People in the aisle move out of the way of any potential conflict, and Matthew takes off, up the aisle, toward the exit.

The Pharmacist gives chase.

Matthew tears down the aisle, toward the front of the store. The Pharmacist is slower, but he’s not that far behind.

21s L{17I/95

CONTINUED: 2 32

Ahead, a SECURITY GUARD appears at the end of the aisle, but Matthew blows by him and breaks out into the open at the front of the store. He vaults the turnstile and races out the door.

MATTHEW has his keys out of his pocket before he gets to the car. He unlocks it --

-- the Pharmacist and Security Guard come flying out of the store --

-- Matthew jumps in and slams the door --

-- they paw at the handle --

-- and he hits the door locks.

SHOUTING obscenities, the Pharmacist HAMMERS on the window, nearly breaking it, but Matthew gets the car started and SQUEALS away.

The Pharmacist whips a pair of glasses out of his pocket and squints at the license plate as it recedes.

He lost it.

CUT: TOs

MATTHEW is sitting in a chair in the living room, a faint,

strange smile on his face. ANNIE comes quietly down the stairs and over to him.

jumped all over you before --

28. 7/17/95

:

THRU

29. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 2 34

He kisses her neck. She tilts her head, to open it to him. ANNIE There had to be other ways. I don’t like this.

But she shifts, to sit astride hin.

MATTHEW

You like something about it. He brushes the shirt she’s wearing back, to expose her * shoulders. She adjusts her position on him. His hands slide * over her. * ANNIE * (whispering) * Right here? *

Looking over his shoulder, Annie’s gaze falls on the living room windows, covered with blinds. Outside the windows --

-- someone walks past. Annie GASPS.

ANNIE

Right outside our window, I_saw somebody! Looking in!

OMITTED THRU

MATTHEW scurries through the dining room, staying below the *

window line. Outside, he sees a figure move away quickly, as if it saw him. The figure moves toward the front door.

on 37A

37B

29a. * rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

MATTHEW rummages through a closet and comes up with a baseball bat.

MATTHEW reaches the front door, grips the bat, and flings the door open, brandishing his weapon.

37B

30. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 37B

JOE stands outside. Joe is the same age as Matthew, but there’s a confidence in his carriage, it’s not necessarily size, he’s just physically impressive.

Matthew lowers the bat in relief.

ANNIE appears behind Matthew.

She gives him a look. ANNIE Sorry, Sarge. (to Joe) C’mon in. CUT TO;

JOE reaches into their refrigerator and takes a can of beer. MATTHEW and ANNIE are in the kitchen with hin.

JOE

Don’t you guys have any idea what’s

goin’ on? MATTHEW

What? Blackout. * JOE

You don’t know. You really don’t. *

31. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 38

He looks at them somberly.

women. (to Matt) Watch her like a hawk.

Annie finds this funny, Matthew does not.

(takes it out) Sorry. He says a meteor landed in the preserve last night. And a guy in the line at the Food King says there was a meltdown out at Indian Point. And the checker at the Food King says he saw the meteor, but that’s not the problem, the problem is our "grid is fucked up."

Matthew is at the phone, still trying to get a dial tone. Still no luck.

+e

31A. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 2 38 ANNIE That’s all you’ve got? Rumors from the Food King?

He grabs a remote control from the kitchen table and hits the power button, pointing it at a small, unresponsive TV. on the counter.

Joe pulls a beeper off his belt and tosses it on the table.

Matthew hangs up the phone, giving up.

+

Pause.

B26 rev. 7/31/95

; JOE Right. So I’m gonna go find out. ANNIE You wanna go out there?

Ask the cops. Wanna come?

cuT TO:

(blue)

+ ee

33. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

A DESK OFFICER sits behind the counter in the reception area of a city police station, sorting through a stack of reports. She looks up and breaks into a big, friendly smile.

She’s speaking to SARAH, who rides on the hip of ANNIE as she, MATTHEW, and JOE come into the police station.

Contrary to their fears, the police station is clean, well-lit

by back-up power, and completely devoid of people. Soothing

MUZAK echoes in the clean, empty space.

The Desk Officer reaches into a bowl on the counter and holds a Hershey’s Kiss out to Sarah.

She looks up at Annie.

Mom?

She unwraps the chocolate and hands it to Sarah, who takes it happily. The whole mood of the station is so calm it momentarily throws the three of them off.

34. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 39

She takes three copies from a stack of public information releases in front of her and hands them out.

Matt spies a couple pay phones on the far wall. He goes to them and tries then.

Annie notices Sarah has managed to smear her entire face with chocolate.

eee EH HE * +e eH *

* *

40A

40B

35. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 2 39 DESK OFFICER (pointing) Down, first right, bear left.

ANNIE walks down a long corridor, toward a ladies’ room. She turns a corner and starts down another corridor.

At the door to the bathroom, she pauses, her eye caught by a doorway all the way at the end of the hall. The door is slightly ajar, and she can hear VOICES from beyond.

There’s a sign on the door:

She looks back, down the corridor. She’s alone.

Matt is trying the pay phone, with no success. Joe, still at the desk, isn’t satisfied with the answers so far.

Pause.

For some reason, she was staring directly at Matthew when she said that.

Annie walks toward the door, slowly. The voices from behind it get louder as she approaches.

40C

40D

36. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

Joe is still grilling the Desk Officer.

The Desk Officer doesn’t answer, just stares at him.

You know, I work for an awfully big company. It has eighteen divisions. Do you know exactly what’s going on in every department of your company all the time? Especially when your phones are down?

Matt returns from the pay phones.

The last traces of the Desk Officer’s smile fade, her jovial mood completely gone.

Annie reaches the door. She stretches out a hand, and nudges it open another foot or so. Through the door --

-- it’s like Attica. There must be a hundred and fifty PEOPLE jammed into the booking area, handcuffed to benches, bars, and each other. DOZENS of COPS mill around, trying to keep up with the paperwork, SHOUTING at the prisoners to shut the hell up for a minute, dozens of PERPETRATORS are dragged in in handcuffs, kicking and screaming.

Annie GASPS. A COP sitting near the door hears her, reaches out to the door, and SLAMS it shut.

37. 7/17/95

The dead eyes of a stop light stare blankly at two cars, smashed together in a city intersection, smoke curling from under the hood of one. Traffic is backed up at all four corners of this intersection, HORNS are blaring as the DRIVERS SHOUT at each other, out of their cars and in the middle of the road.

MATT and ANNIE are in the front of Matt’s car, stuck in the chaos. JOE is in back, with SARAH in her car seat. Annie must have told them what she saw; the mood is quiet.

Finally:

Matthew turns and looks at her.

Another pause. More horns BLARE all around them. JOE Well -- if you want me to. (to Matt) And you don’t mind.

The Two Guys in the intersection have come to blows, the reflection of their brawl reflected in the windshield.

38. 7/17/95

CONTINUED: 42

CUT TOs

SARAH crawls around MATT, ANNIE, and JOE’s feet, playing with a TV remote control as the useful contents of the kitchen are assessed and arranged on the counter. They have:

-- two packages of size D batteries, one package of AA, one loose AAA,

-- two working flashlights, one fairly dim already,

-- an odd assortment of a dozen candles, different sizes and colors,

-- a cigarette lighter and a fire starter, -- two big five gallon jugs of bottled water,

-- and a small stack of cash, mostly singles, a few fives and tens, and a lone twenty.

ANNIE is going through the contents of the refrigerator, JOE is on a chair, rummaging in a cabinet high up.

MATTHEW counts the cash.

39. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 43

He stops, as the WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP of two helicopters zips right over the top of the house. They all look up. Joe hops off the chair.

JOE

Unless you have one. I don’t. They turn and look at him. He’s serious.

* ee

£m

rN

or

40. 7/17/95

2 43

Sarah is calling for attention. Annie picks her up.

favor to me?

She leaves the room with Sarah, who is WAILING now. Matthew and Joe watch her for a moment, then Matthew takes the cash off the counter, pockets it, and takes his jacket off the back

of a chair.

He looks at Joe.

MATTHEW

You coming? JOE

(smiles)

Really? MATTHEW

My house too.

IN SARAH’S ROOM, 44

ANNIE hears the kitchen door open and close. She shakes her

head.

a>

FN

i

41. 7/17/95

CONTINUED: 44

A MAN with a distinctive earring walks in front of us, toward the entrance to a gun shop in the city. He reaches the door and holds it open for a minute while he looks down, drops a cigarette on the ground, and mashes it out with his shoe.

While he’s doing that, MATTHEW and JOE pass in front of him, through the open door and into the shop. The Man in the hat looks up.

It’s RAYMOND, the guy from the movie theatre. He didn’t see Matthew. Matthew didn’t see him. Raymond goes into the shop behind them.

This gun shop is dark, crowded, and the mood surly. MATTHEW and JOE are at the front of an impatient line, facing a CLERK.

Matthew and Joe look at each other, unprepared.

People are waiting, fellas. Matthew turns to Joe, and just as he does, RAYMOND steps up to the counter on the other side of him and asks the Clerk a question.

22), 7/17/95

CONTINUED: 46

Joe turns and looks at him -- what the hell does that mean? Next to them, the Clerk answers Raymond, pointing to the other side of the store.

Matthew and Joe turn back, just as Raymond turns and walks away. Again, they’ve missed each other.

defense.

JOE

We’ve got this.

He gestures to Matthew, who takes off his watch and holds it out to the Clerk.

The Clerk takes the watch, glances at it quickly, and tosses it into a box filled with more watches, rings, and other jewelry.

He takes a twelve gauge shotgun and SMACKS it on the counter in front of them.

He grabs the

43. rev. 7/31/95

(blue)

watch out of the box and holds it out to them.

MATTHEW and JOE come around the corner of the building and

into the gun shop’s parking lot.

gauge and a box of shells.

Matt is carrying the twelve

a

44, rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

JOE

I am a licensed carpenter’s foreman.

I am not "in construction." You

think you can keep that straight? MATTHEW

Oh, come on, I didn’t mean anything

by that. JOE

Maybe it’s all the same to you, but it’s not all the same to me.

He walks to a Ford Explorer.

He tries the back door, but it’s locked.

45. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

47 ‘CONTINUED: 2 47

Joe pushes a button on his car keys. The Explorer CHIRPS and the doors unlock.

Matt opens the back of the truck and throws the gun in.

and -- you deal with an element of society that’s more -- more like -- JOE Scum? MATTHEW (fed up)

Yes, Joe. Scum. That’s exactly the word I was searching for. You yourself, scum of the earth, that’s what you are.

+e

Matt stops.

46. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

That stung.

An uncomfortable moment goes by.

+e ee

46A. * rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

47 CONTINUED: 4 47

Joe gets in the car and SLAMS the door. After a moment, Matt does the same.

THRU

OMITTED

47. rev.

7/31/95 (blue)

THRU

A few candles glow in the windows of the half dozen houses on the otherwise darkened cul-de-sac.

It’s night now, and a fire burns brightly in the fireplace in

the living room of Matt and Annie’s house.

The shotgun leans

against the hearth, the box of shells on the mantel above it.

MATT, ANNIE and JOE are sitting around, Matt and Joe on opposite ends of the room, Annie sitting on the floor in Matt has a phone on the couch next to him, and is idly dialing it over and over again, still hoping for a

between them.

dial tone.

An empty wine bottle or two is on the table and they’re tipsy. Especially Annie.

She fans her

JOE

Too much paperwork.

blouse. ANNIE (cont/’d)

Do we really need the fire? I’m burning up over here.

+ * +

5i

47A. *

rev.

7/31/95 (blue)

Syal.

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pS

She notices Matt is unamused.

(softly, to Matt) You used to like my checkered past.

49. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 3

Matt doesn’t answer, just stares at her.

I know I do.

They get up. Annie salutes Matt smartly and marches off to the kitchen. Joe follows.

ANNIE opens the loose cabinet in the kitchen, the same one Matt opened earlier. The black and white photo strip is gone, just the bits of tape left at the corners of where it use to be. JOE is behind her, leaning against the counter while she gets glasses.

Sarah.

JOE

I’m telling you.

He has risked a glance at her cleavage, which she notices. realizes she’s seen him. Both of them change the subject at the same time. Joe opens a drawer and takes out a screwdriver.

SL

He

* %

+ ee eH

49A. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

Joe looks at the unfinished carpentry in the kitchen as he opens the cabinet door and tightens a turnscrew on the hinge.

50. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

52 CONTINUED: 2 52

He ends up looking at her again.

lot.

He closes the cabinet door. All fixed.

ANNIE

I hate you.

51. 7/17/95

MATT sits on the couch, in the middle, alone. From the kitchen, he can hear their VOICES, laughing as they make something involving glasses and ice.

They must have a candle in the kitchen, as their shadows are thrown out the door and onto the ceiling of the living room.

Matthew stares at the shadows as they bop playfully across the ceiling.

They laugh again, loudly.

JOE and ANNIE are making drinks from what’s left of the ice. They’re laughing, having a good time.

JOE

Scotch is dead, babe.

She slurs it horribly.

MATT’s voice calls from the doorway.

They turn around.

Great! Could you run out and loot us some scotch?

Annie elbows him and he breaks into a laugh. Matt looks at her, aghast.

52% rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

JOE * Looter. *

ee +

53. 7/17/95

CONTINUED: 2 54

Pause.

He sets his glass down and leaves, leaving Matt and Annie

alone. When he’s out of earshot -- ANNIE Matt, I -- MATTHEW Good night.

He leaves the room, leaving her alone.

She dumps her glass in the sink in frustration.

ANNIE, alone now, blows out candles in the living room. She stops at the mantel, next to the box of shotgun shells. Intrigued, she opens the box and takes out one of the shells. She examines it in the candlelight. It’s a fat plastic cartridge, folded at one end, with a gold cap at the other and a small, round firing pin.

Annie sets the shell down and picks up the gun, feeling its weight.

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CONTINUED: 55

She looks down the barrel, which glows an odd blue in the candlelight.

She looks over her shoulder, to see if she’s alone. She is.

The house is dark now, the only light coming from the full moon shining down on it.

Inside the house, FEET creep up the stairs. Whoever it is moves very, very slowly down the corridor, placing his feet carefully, not to make a sound.

He reaches the end of the corridor and reaches out to the doorknob. He opens the door to the bedroom, and as he slips inside, we see that it’s JOE.

MATTHEW and ANNIE are asleep in bed. JOE is a dim silhouette, standing over Annie, staring down at her. He looks up, at

Matthew, and raises his arm, revealing something he was holding slightly behind his back.

It’s a long-bladed kitchen knife. Joe walks quickly around the foot of the bed and leans down over him, close --

-- and WHISPERS in his ear.

Matthew wakes. He sits up, slowly.

e+e %

59A

55- rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 58

Annie sits up and looks at then.

pool. They just look at her for a moment.

She stares at him. She didn’t know that.

Matthew does, shaking. He’s wearing sweat pants already. He reaches under the bed and finds the baseball bat.

MATTHEW and JOE edge down the upstairs hallway, moving as silently as possible. Halfway down, Joe turns back and looks at Matthew. Joe is grinning.

MATTHEW and JOE come down the stairs and into the foyer. Joe moves ahead, creeping along the wall, headed toward the kitchen. From here, they can hear occasional sounds as whoever is in the kitchen rummages through their things.

Matthew follows Joe, darting a look into the empty, darkened dining room. They reach the living room.

Joe leans forward, peers around the edge of a doorway, and looks into the kitchen.

56. 7/17/95

IN THE KITCHEN, 60

a PROWLER is in there all right, a smallish guy, wiry, his movements jerky and erratic. He’s filling his pockets with their batteries, with food, with anything he can find. He opens one particular drawer and finds --

-- the stack of money.

He holds it up in the moonlight, counting it, then pockets it. He searches on.

IN THE LIVING ROOM, 61

Matthew moves a few steps to his right, away from Joe, and into the living room. There is an archway there that also leads into the kitchen, through which he too can see the Prowler.

The Prowler moves toward him --

-- and Matthew slides back along the wall, meeting Joe where they once stood. Joe points to the kitchen, speaking with half-whispered words, half gestures.

He points to the front door, and indicates circling around to the kitchen door.

Matthew shakes his head no, vigorously. Joe practically rips Matthew’s head off. A fierce whisper this time, right into his ear.

And before Matt can object again, Joe is off, scampering away toward the front door.

He manages to open it silently and slip through, but when he pulls it shut behind him, the latch makes a loud CLICK.

Matthew freezes, against the wall. He turns slowly to see if the Prowler heard --

-- and the Prowler did. He’s standing right there, just around the corner of the door, in the kitchen, only three feet away, but he and Matthew are just out of each other’s sight lines.

P=

7 61A FY

THRU

Fae

57. 7/17/95

CONTINUED: 61

Sensing something, Matthew lowers himself to a crouch and stays pinned against the wall. The Prowler steps forward, into the living room.

Matthew dares to turn his head. He sees the Prowler, who is inches from him, reach into his pocket and pull something out. The Prowler raises his hand --

-- and the hand CLICKS open a switchblade.

The Prowler looks to the left. Nobody. He turns and looks to the right, right over Matthew’s head.

Nothing. He backs away, back into the kitchen.

Matthew pauses, waiting for him to recede, then turns and darts across the dining room.

As Matthew crosses the dining room, he stays low, and it’s a good thing he does, as the Prowler is crossing the kitchen at the same time, visible through the still-under-construction wall frame between them.

Matt reaches the far end of the room and pauses, looking into the kitchen. He can see the french doors the Prowler must have come through, which have a broken window pane just above the doorknob.

Through the glass, Matt can dimly see the shape of Joe moving outside. Matt gestures, but Joe moves away before seeing him.

Matt hurries over to the window on the far side of the dining room. He can see Joe’s back now. He raises his hand to knock, thinks better of it, and raises a finger to the pane of glass between them.

He runs his finger lightly down the pane. It SQUEAKS. Joe hears it and turns.

OMITTED THRU

IN THE KITCHEN, E 65

the Prowler goes to a certain drawer, opens it all the way, and finds a small key in the bottom of a dish in the back.

With the key, he goes to another cabinet, opens it carefully, and moves some bowls out of the way. In the back, there is a strongbox. He seems to know exactly what he’s doing as he uses the key to open the strongbox.

65A

65B

65C

THRU

58. T/17{95

IN THE DINING ROOM, 65A

Joe comes to the window and faces Matthew. Joe furrows his brow and stares -- "what?"

Matthew points to the kitchen. He raises one hand slowly, as if holding a knife, and makes a slashing gesture across his throat.

Joe gives him a thumbs up gesture, as if this is good news.

IN THE KITCHEN, 65B the Prowler opens the strongbox. Inside is a gold Tiffany clock, heavy and expensive looking, the kind of thing you inherit from your grandparents.

The Prowler takes it, turns away, and now finds the last thing he was looking for -- a set of car keys.

IN THE DINING ROOM, 65C

Matthew sees the Prowler turn and leave the kitchen. He looks back to Joe. Joe’s eyes light up with an idea. He digs in his pocket.

Behind Matthew, the Prowler moves through the foyer, headed for the front door.

Outside, Joe pulls his car keys from his pocket and holds them up, showing something to Matthew. It’s the remote control for his car alarm.

OMITTED THRU

The Prowler is halfway across the driveway, heading for Matthew’s car, when Joe’s truck, parked on the street behind him, erupts to life, lights flashing, horn HONKING, shrill alarm SCREAMING.

The Prowler whirls. He sees Joe hiding in the bushes near the corner of the house. He pulls out the switchblade and CLICKS it open.

IN THE BEDROOM, 70

ANNIE, holding SARAH now, hears the alarm and holds her tighter.

zie

59. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

IN THE DRIVEWAY, 71

the Prowler is at Matthew’s car, fumbling with the keys, while the other car’s alarm continues to SHRIEK behind him. He rips open the door to Matt’s car --

-- and sets off that alarm as well. MATTHEW comes racing out the front door as JOE peers out from around the corner of the house and SHOUTS.

blaring. He drops the keys, backing off. As he reaches the middle of the cul-de-sac --

-- a brilliant white beam of light switches on. The Prowler turns around and squints into it, disoriented.

He starts to sort of slide away from it, toward the mouth of the cul-de-sac, his arms dropping now.

CRACK.

A single GUNSHOT rips the air. The Prowler’s body lurches, a slug slams into his chest, and he flies back, off his feet.

The clock sails over his head and SMASHES to a million pieces on the pavement; the knife skitters a few feet away and spins to a stop.

The halogen beam stays on the motionless Prowler, held on hin, as if checking for further movement.

Joe and Matthew take a few tentative steps toward the body.

A moment goes by, the only sound the continued SCREAMING of Joe’s car alarm.

Realizing, Joe pushes the button again, and with a contented CHIRP, the alarm ceases.

Silence. From across the street -- -- the light shuts off.

Tal

60. 7/17/95

CONTINUED: 71 Matthew stops, but Joe continues to move forward, toward the dead body. He pauses when he reaches it and leans forward, staring into the sightless, glassy eyes.

The knife lies on the other side of the body. To reach it, Joe skirts the body carefully, bends down --

-- and a hand latches onto his wrist.

The Prowler, not dead after all, pulls hard and Joe THUDS to the pavement.

Matthew GASPS and races forward a few steps, but it all happens in just a second or two. He watches as the Prowler scoops up his switchblade and SLASHES at Joe.

He misses, Joe lunges, and lands on him with a THUD. The Prowler raises the switchblade --

-- but Joe sinks the kitchen knife into his chest.

Just as quickly, Joe pulls it out and crawls away from the Prowler, horrified.

He drops the knife, which CLATTERS to the pavement.

The Prowler drops the switchblade again and lies still. Matthew walks forward slowly, horrified, and bends over the Prowler. Joe stands a short distance away, staring, his eyes wide in disbelief.

ANNIE now appears at the end of the driveway, holding the baby.

Matthew puts a finger to the Prowler’s neck, feeling for a pulse.

Across the street, the halogen light goes on again.

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CONTINUED: 2 71

He looks at her, but she’s looking over his shoulder. Matt turns. The light is walking towards them.

It’s STEPH, the neighbor from across the street. In one hand he holds the powerful flashlight, in the other he’s carrying a deer rifle with a scope. Steph weaves a little where he stands, he’s had a few tonight. When he speaks, he over-enunciates.

MATTHEW hovers over the PROWLER, who bleeds into the driveway, one leg twisted unnaturally under hin.

She turns and hurries back into the house. Matthew, Steph,

and Joe just stare down at the Prowler in silence for a few

seconds. The pool of blood spreads; it looks like motor oil on the pavement.

No one replies. Finally, Steph speaks.

Something occurs to Matthew. He turns and looks up at Steph, noticing for the first time his dead-eyed alcohol glaze.

Matt looks away. Annie comes hurrying out of the house with a towel. Before she gets to them:

Annie reaches them. Matthew grabs the towel and presses it to the Prowler’s severely bleeding chest.

62. 7/17/95

71 CONTINUED: 3 a1. STEPH (cont'd) (to Joe) What’d he mean by that? Joe can’t speak.

Annie leans down and whispers into Matt’s left ear.

MATTHEW

We don’t know!

Steph walks around, bends down, and whispers into Matt’s right ear.

They all look down at the Prowler. He is. They stand.

Steph turns and walks away quickly, back to his house.

MATTHEW

Get her inside! ANNIE (staring at the dead body) It’s Richard.

63. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 4 ie 8

They turn and look at the dead man again. Somehow, things are different. They know him. Annie peers at a wristwatch Richard wears on his left wrist.

Pause. The three of them stare down at the body for a moment, watching as the pool of blood spreads out from under him. The blood nears the tips of their shoes, and they are forced to take a step back.

Annie retreats, toward the house, still staring. Joe staggers a short distance away and drops to a sitting position on the asphalt.

Matthew turns away. He too takes a few steps away from the body. Long pause.

Several NEIGHBORS have come out of their houses and are headed toward them, tentatively. MR. SCHAEFER is one of them, MRS.

SCHAEFER trailing a few yards behind him. RAJI is another, dark-skinned, mid-forties, an unfamiliar accent. His OLDEST SON is with him, also trailing behind.

Steph comes back out of his house and hurries over to the body of the Prowler as Matthew and Joe walk toward the Neighbors.

64. 7/17/95

CONTINUED: 5 a1

Matt turns and looks at Steph, incredulous. Steph avoids his gaze, looking at Joe instead.

Joe doesn’t answer right away. Matt turns and walks back to the body. The Prowler now holds a handgun in his stilled right hand.

Steph and Joe step up beside him, hovering over the body.

They have a second alone, before the others reach them. They look at each other. Matt stares at Steph, aghast. Steph says nothing, just returns the gaze, evenly.

The other Neighbors now join them, just the men, the women and Raji’s son lingering behind. They all look back at the body.

Light suddenly washes over them, brilliant light, white, red, and yellow, flashing. Their heads snap in the direction of the end of the block --

-- where a police car has turned the corner and now approaches them, fast.

But they back off, not wanting to be part of any official business. The police car CRUNCHES to a stop and TWO COPS get out. Steph moves quickly, to get to them first, and starts telling his story.

Matthew looks at Joe -- "what do we do?"

m wae | | a

a

65. Tf/177{95

CONTINUED: 6 fal

He walks over, to join Steph and the cops. Matthew remains behind. He looks back, over to Annie, standing near the doorway of the house. He’s alone on this one.

Slowly, he walks over and joins Steph and Joe with the Cops.

The Cops turn and look at Matt.

OFFICER

That how you saw it? Pause.

The Officer takes Matthew aside a few steps and lowers his voice.

We stay with Steph, and can’t hear what is said between Matthew and the Officer.

The cul-de-sac is awash in the flashing red lights of the patrol car and, now, an ambulance parked there.

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CONTINUED: 72

The body of the PROWLER is loaded into the back of the ambulance.

MATTHEW and STEPH are separated, at opposite sides of the driveway, each with a POLICE OFFICER. The Officer with Matthew hands him back a small pile of cash.

Matt takes it, feeling sickened. He mumbles something and pockets the money. He looks over at Steph.

The Officer looks at the puddle of blood on the driveway. He looks back at Matthew.

cuT TO:

Everyone from the block, children excluded, is crowded into

the candlelit living room of Raji’s house -- ae ge ANNIE (SARAH is asleep in a bassinet next to her), MR. & MRS.

SCHAEFER, RAJI and his WIFE, STEPH (with a couple cans of * beer on a six pack ring), and a MIDDLE-AGED COUPLE we haven’t * seen before. JOE is there too, numbed by the events. The front door is open, to let some fresh air in, but temperatures, and tempers, are running a little high. MR. SCHAEFER "Back on in an hour," who do they * think they’re kidding? *

67. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

The group GROANS, not this again.

that?

While the group dissolves into an argument, Matthew turns and looks across the room, at Steph, who is staring at him.

+e eH eee

eee

67A. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

73 CONTINUED: 2 73 Steph doesn’t look away. So Matt does.

68. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 3 73 Mr. Schaefer notices Joe for the first time.

They all look at each other, hoping someone is in the know. But there’s only silence and blank, frightened gazes.

The silence only grows, and that alarms them even more. Finally, quietly:

69. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

generator.

STEPH

So we’1l use our own gas.

we -- RAJI Miami. MIDDLE AGED MAN What?

AE

10% T{17/95

CONTINUED: 4 73

Yeah, stick together. But not with your generator, and not with his car. Is that about the size of it?

They all look at him.

CUT ‘TO:

One by one, flashlights nose out of Raji’s house as the RESIDENTS disperse, making their way back to their own homes.

MATTHEW, ANNIE, and JOE head back to their house; across the street, STEPH is keeping pace with them. He calls out.

Vis rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 74 Matthew looks.

Still walking, Matthew doesn’t change directions. Steph stops and lightens his tone, he sounds almost friendly.

Matthew and Joe step forward together.

Joe looks at Matthew. Matt takes a deep breath and walks across the street to Steph’s driveway. Joe follows anyway, two steps behind, just to be there.

It’s a long walk. Matthew reaches the other side of the road and he and Steph stare at each other, a few feet apart.

Steph breathes a sigh of relief.

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CONTINUED: 2 74

He turns to walk away. Steph grabs his arm and pulls him back. Matthew rips it free.

STEPH

Where do we stand? You and me. I mean, do we -- have a problem now?

Matthew doesn’t answer. Doesn’t even look at him.

Tied STEPH (cont’d) Hello?

Still no answer.

He looks over Matt’s shoulder, at Joe, then back at Matt.

Steph stares him down. Matt returns the gaze --

-- but then breaks it, turning around and walking away, back toward his house.

CuT TO:

The middle of the night, but no one’s sleeping. JOE lights a cigarette from a candle with shaking hands and takes a puff. He, MATTHEW, and ANNIE sit around the kitchen table, shaken hard. Matt is holding SARAH, who is asleep on his shoulder. They all whisper, not to wake her.

tS

73. 7/17/95

JOE : What the hell’s the matter with you?

JOE

Just be grateful you didn’t have to get your hands dirty.

Matthew lets it go. Joe does not.

ff

t 1 £™

74. 7/17/95

CONTINUED: 75 JOE (cont/’d) No, actually, let me be absolutely clear about this. I feel good about what I did. I acted, me and that guy across the street, and you, or you, or your child may be alive because we acted. Okay? They do not respond. After a moment: JOE (cont/’d) But tomorrow morning, if you want me to leave, I will. ANNIE No. We’re all leaving. Until this is over. We’re getting the hell away from this. CUT TOs

The middle of the night. JOE sits on the sofa, his eyes big * and empty, smoking a cigarette by candlelight. A sound makes him jump -- -- but it’s only ANNIE. ANNIE Mind if I sit here? He shakes his head no. She sits. ANNIE (cont/’d) Can’t sleep either? * Joe shakes his head. He won’t look at her. She leans * forward, takes one of his cigarettes from the pack, and lights it from the candle. They sit in silence for a moment. She looks at him again. * ANNIE (cont’d) Are you all right? * Finally, he makes eye contact with her. His eyes are red and full. He just shakes his head "no." Annie gets up and goes to him. She sits down on the couch *

next to him and puts her arms around him. He buries his head in her shoulder and cries, quietly.

v7

75. 7/17/95

CONTINUED: 76 ANNIE (cont/’d) (whispering) It’s okay. It’s okay. Shhhh. *

After a moment, he pulls his head off her shoulder and looks at her. They’re very close. The moment seems to last an awfully long time --

- and then Annie gets up. She puts her hand on his one more time.

ANNIE (cont/’d)

Good night, Joey. * She blows out the candle and leaves the room. * Cur TO:

ANNIE creeps back into the bedroom. MATT is in bed, facing away from her. His eyes are wide open. She slides into bed next to him, trying not to disturb him, but he rolls over and looks at her.

He stares at her for a moment --

-- then rolls over again, facing away. There is a long pause. She thinks.

ANNIE (cont/’d)

Matt? No answer. ANNIE (cont/’d) Why are your feet so cold? * Still no answer. She rolls over, facing away from him. * ANNIE (cont/’d) Shit. *

76. 7/17/95

The morning sun reflects off the surface of the Kays’ swimming pool. At the bottom of the water we can just make out the shimmery outline of the submerged twelve gauge and box of shotgun shells, just where Annie said they were.

Sunday

A figure moves, under the water, swimming toward the gun and shells. It grabs onto them and kicks, heading up.

The figure breaks the surface -- it’s JOE, stripped to his shorts. He sets the gun and shells carefully on the brick edge of the pool and looks at them despondently.

Over this and the following, JOE’S VOICE:

JOE has laid out the shotgun shells, one by one, on a towel in the kitchen to dry. He has another towel and is carefully blotting the shotgun dry, bit by bit.

ANNIE throws clothes into a suitcase. She has SARAH with her, and she will from now on.

MATTHEW opens the garage door, spilling sunlight into the dark, dirty space.

7 JOE (v.o.)

The tank holds fourteen, we can siphon some from the other two cars and keep it in a can in the trunk.

Matt hunts through a pile of crap and comes up with a length of plastic tubing. He SNAPS the tubing out of the pile and cuts one end with an exact-o knife.

77. 7/17/95

CONTINUED: 81

JOE (v.0.)

That means somewhere between here and Colorado we’re going to need another seven gallons of gas. Gas stations aren’t going to be open. Even if they are, they won’t sell to us. And even if they wouid, we couldn’t pay.

OMITTED 82

MATTHEW is in the driveway now, one end of the plastic hose stuck into the gas tank of his Honda, the other end in his mouth.

He takes a gentle suck, gets nothing, tries harder --

-- and spits out a mouthful of gas. He quickly shoves the now-flowing end of the siphon hose into the open top of a five-gallon gas can.

While the gas drains, he looks up, across the street. STEPH stands in the garage of his house. Watching him. Matt looks away.

JOE is in the side yard of Matt and Annie’s house. He carefully slides one of the now-dried shotgun shells into the belly of the twelve gauge. MATTHEW appears and approaches him.

Joe FLICKS the safety off, puts the gun to his shoulder, aims it at the ground, and pulls the trigger.

CLICK. Misfire.

Joe RACKS the pump, expelling the useless shell, and pulls the trigger again.

CLICK. Misfire. He racks.

84A

84B

THRU

T8is rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 84 MATTHEW (cont’d) They’re not gonna work, not after they sat at -- CLICK. Misfire. He racks.

KA-BOOM! Matthew leaps backwards as the gun BLASTS.

ANNIE, loading SARAH into the car seat in the back of Joe’s Explorer, jumps at the gunshot.

JOE picks up the empty shell casing and flips it to MATT.

OMITTED THRU

JOE wraps the shotgun in a blanket and puts it in the back of his Explorer. ANNIE stares at him from the passenger seat. Their eyes meet; he looks away quickly. * JOE Won’t do us any good if we don’t

bring it.

MATTHEW comes from the house, and notices Annie sitting in the passenger seat. He turns to Joe.

a

87A

79. 7/17/95

CONTINUED: 87 MATTHEW We’1ll switch off. JOE Your car, you drive. My car, I

drive.

He gets into the driver’s seat. Matt looks over at Annie plaintively.

MOMENTS LATER, 87A

the Explorer, all loaded and ready to go, backs into frame, revealing MATT, steamed, sitting in the back seat next to SARAH, who’s in her car seat. JOE drives, ANNIE is in front next to him.

The car pulls out of frame, and out of the cul-de-sac.

OMITTED 88

The long, straight cul-de-sac dissolves into an image of a longer, straighter two-lane highway in the middle of nowhere. The highway’s pretty busy, considering where it is, a continuous stream of cars zips by, one every five or ten seconds.

Tall, green corn grows on the left side of the road, the

"Plainfield Cafe" is planted on the right. Five or six cars are parked in front of the Cafe, Joe’s approaching Explorer turns into the gravel parking lot and makes it six or seven.

JOE, MATT, and ANNIE get out of the car and stretch their legs. Joe wanders over to the antique-looking gas pump.

80. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

Inside the cafe, JOE steps to the counter just as a WAITER turns away, carrying two plates with sandwiches and two cans of Coke. Instead of hanging with Joe, we go with the Waiter as he crosses the room --

-- and stops at a table on the other side. There’s a Guy at the table, facing away from us, but we can see he has a familiar, dangly earring. The Waiter comes around hin.

The guy is RAYMOND, the man from the movie theatre and the gun shop. There are two place settings on the table, one in front of Raymond, one across from him. But no one is sitting across from him.

The Waiter walks off. Raymond looks up, and his glance falls on the booth across from him. TWO REDNECKS are staring at him. He looks away. They don’t. It makes him uneasy.

Raymond checks his watch, then casts an anxious glance up at a door marked "REST ROOM."

The front door of the cafe opens and a guy walks in. GARY is in his early forties, dressed in jeans and a denim jacket it looks like he’s had on for days.

As Gary comes in, Joe, who has his Coke now, passes hin, headed out. They bump each other and mumble “excuse me’s" over their shoulders without looking back.

Gary looks around the cafe and goes to a MAN and WOMAN in a booth. Something ain’t necessarily right about Gary, and Raymond watches hin.

Raymond jumps as Gary LAUGHS hard, sarcastically, at something the Man or Woman said. Raymond keeps an eye on him as Gary turns and looks around the cafe, scanning the clientele.

Gary’s eyes fall on Raymond, who looks away. Too late. Gary comes over to his table. He looks Raymond up and down.

81. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

He offers his hand. Raymond shakes it.

Shit. Oil pump’s about to go, I Eninn: You don’t know anything at all?

RAYMOND * Sorry.

Gary nods, just staring at him. He looks at the sandwiches on the table.

Gary smiles and shakes his head. He looks at the WOMAN in the booth next to Raymond’s, who’s staring at him anxiously.

82. 7/17/95

90 CONTINUED: 2 90

The Woman looks away. Gary looks at Raymond’s table and notices the empty place setting.

Raymond notices Gary is looking down at the table again and he follows his gaze. Gary’s staring at Raymond’s car keys. Gary looks up again. Raymond meets his eyes.

Gary turns abruptly and calls out to the Waiter.

The Waiter points to the door in back. Gary starts to turn, but Raymond’s voice stops him.

Gary just looks at him and sighs. GARY I don’t think you and I are ever going to be friends.

He turns and walks off, to the far end of the counter, climbs into a chair, and starts in on the waiter.

Raymond watches him until he’s seated, then casts another anxious look at the bathroom, and that empty seat across from him.

83. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

At the intersection of two state highways, three or four cars are stopped beside a large white truck with an ice cream cone on the side. A handwritten sign leaning against the truck says "FREE!"

Joe’s truck pulls up and stops and MATT, ANNIE, and JOE get out, stretching their legs. Joe and Annie head across the road, Matt leans against the car, glancing in at SARAH, asleep in her car seat.

Matt turns and watches Joe and Annie as they get big helpings of half-melted, gloppy ice cream from the truck.

Matt looks around, at several PEOPLE leaning against their cars, eating ice cream. There’s a weird sort of peace out here, a respite from the storn.

A car, a newish red four door Cadillac, ZIPS down the road between the cars, faster than it ought to for so many people around. Matt glances at it in annoyance, but it’s already gone.

Matt looks down the road at a WOMAN, sixtyish, sitting on the hood of the car in front of theirs. She smiles at him.

Across the road, Annie turns and walks away from the truck. She has a cone, which is ill-advised, drippy as it is. He watches as she walks off by herself, struggling with it.

A breeze blows, whipping her hair around her head. She brushes it away the best she can with one hand, and as she does she notices him staring at her.

She looks at him. She pushes himself forward and walks across the road to him. She looks up at him apologetically, a lot on her mind, not saying any of it. He reaches out and brushes her hair away for her, tucking it behind one ear.

ACROSS THE ROAD,

Joe stands by the ice cream truck, staring at them for a long time, a strange look on his face. Matt pulls Annie close, and she holds onto hin.

Now another car drives through this little gathering, this one a new black BMW with heavily tinted windows that prevent even a glimpse inside. The car slows and turns up a long, gravel driveway, headed for a beat-up farmhouse.

Joe watches the car as it goes, throwing up a cloud of dust as it winds up the drive toward the farmhouse. He furrows his brow.

+t et * ee + + +e et

* *

* ee * *

+e ee

84. * rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

91 CONTINUED: C}at

Joe points at the car, and the house it’s heading for.

JOE

Try this. BMW guy comes running out of the city, like us, like everybody else. He runs low on gas. Suddenly, he realizes he has no food or shelter. He sees this house. So he pulls up the driveway, waits for the right moment, then breaks in, kills the owner, and lives off his stuff.

Matt just looks at him for a moment, then laughs. Joe laughs too. They look back at the BMW. It just sits there, seeming to wait, nobody getting out. The dust settles around it. Annie appears next to then.

THRU

85 ue rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 2 91

They turn and head for their car. Just as they turn, the driver’s door of the BMW opens.

OMITTED THRU

Further down the highway, a newish red four door Cadillac sits by the side of the road, abandoned, its hood and trunk opened in a position indicating distress. It’s parked on the wrong side of the road, and skid marks behind it indicate a sudden stop.

A big black crow is perched on top of the car, not a very good vantage point, but it’1l do.

In the distance, the Explorer approaches. It passes the distressed car, slows, and stops in front of it. The crow lazily flaps its wings and takes off.

JOE starts to get out of the car.

ee +

86. 7/17/95

CONTINUED: 95

Matt turns and looks out the back, at the red car.

JOE upends their gas can into the Explorer’s tank.

MATT looks over to the abandoned Cadillac. He walks back toward it. As he draws close, he sees under the hood. It’s a steaming, smelly, oil-stained mess.

Matthew pauses, checking it out.

Looking down, he notices something odd. No license plates. He looks back at Joe.

Joe doesn’t seem to hear. Matt continues toward the car. As he moves along the hood, he leans in close, looking down at the dashboard. There’s a plastic frame inside the dashboard, long and thin, but nothing in it.

Matt turns back to Joe again.

He turns back, to gesture to the dashboard, and just as he does --

-- a MAN pops up from inside. Scared out of his skin, Matthew leaps back a few feet and SHOUTS.

87. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 96 Matthew walks quickly back to his own car.

Joe sets down the gas can as Matthew reaches hin.

ANNIE looks out from inside the car.

The guy gets out of the car. It’s GARY, the guy from the cafe. He smiles broadly and raises his hand in a wave as he walks over toward then.

Wiping his hands on his trousers, Joe walks forward and meets Gary halfway. Matthew follows.

They stop midway between the cars.

He gestures behind him, to the twin towers of a nuclear power plant far in the distance.

88. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 2 96 MATTHEW Did you come from the city? GARY Sure did. (to Matt) You scared the hell out of me. MATTHEW Yeah. Likewise. Pause. GARY Any chance of my getting a ride from you guys? MATTHEW Well, uh --

As he lights a cigarette, Gary stretches his neck around them for a look at their car. He sees Annie in the front seat, holding Sarah. She’s looking back at them.

As he puts away his cigarettes, Gary’s denim jacket parts ever so slightly. There is a brilliant glint as the sunlight catches something metallic shoved in his belt.

It’s the butt end of a gun. Joe notices. He looks over at Matthew, to see if he saw. He did not.

Gary turns back to them and smiles.

A moment goes by. Joe is thinking like crazy.

GARY

Oh, no. You sure?

39. 7/17/95

CONTINUED: 3 96

Silence for a second. Joe just stares at him.

(to Gary) Geez, it sure must have been hot in there, you look like you took a dip in our pool. I did the same thing this morning.

(to Matt) You know what I mean?

Matt looks at him for a moment, then deciphers that statement. He looks back at Gary.

Sorry to hear you say that. That had menace to it. Joe suddenly brightens.

GARY | Oh, I’d sure appreciate that. I/11 grab my stuff.

He turns and heads for the Cadillac. Joe turns and walks quickly to the Explorer. Matthew goes with him.

90. 7/17/95

CONTINUED: 4 96

Matthew inadvertantly slows, but Joe grabs him by the jacket and pulls him along.

BEHIND THEM,

Gary, looking back over his shoulder, notices their hushed tones and the hitch in Matthew’s step. His smile fades.

AT THE CAR, Joe gets in and makes a big show of rummaging in the back, shoving things this way and that. He looks up at Matthew, who stands near the door, frozen. JOE Talk to him. Stay between him and me.

Annie, in front, turns around.

water. ON THE ROAD, Matthew turns away from the car, to head toward Gary -- -- but Gary is already walking towards him. MATTHEW It’s okay -- I think if we put some stuff on the roof --

IN THE CAR,

Joe tugs sharply on one end of the blanket, spinning the shotgun cut onto the floor.

- JOE Get down on the floor.

ON THE ROAD,

Joe backs slowly out of the car, right behind Matthew. He starts to draw the gun out behind him --

-- Gary’s eyes widen as he identifies what the shape is --

91. 7/17/95

CONTINUED: 5 96

-- Joe pulls back faster, revealing the shotgun -- -- and Gary draws his pistol and FIRES. A CRACK echoes over the highway. Matthew gapes as the slug

WHIZZES right past him and SLAMS into Joe, blowing him off his feet.

He lands flat on his back in the middle of the road. The shotgun CLATTERS to the pavement and SKITTERS a few feet further.

In the car, Annie SCREAMS and scrambles over the seat to Sarah, in the back.

Matthew runs to Joe and bends over him. His chest is a bloody mess, near his right shoulder. Joe’s pawing at it, his eyes wide open in disbelief. :

MATTHEW

ON THE FLOOR!

She pulls Sarah out of her seat and covers her with her body. Matthew crawls frantically across the pavement and paws at the shotgun.

CRACK!

Another gunshot, and this one BLASTS up a chunk of pavement between Matthew and the shotgun. Matthew jerks his hand away from the gun and Gary is on him in two more steps.

Matthew looks up at him.

92 7/17/95

96 CONTINUED: 6 96

Gary fumbles a handkerchief out of his pocket and picks up the shotgun with it. He flings the gun into the bushes. As he does, his "John Deere" baseball cap comes off and falls to the pavement.

Gary turns and points his pistol at Annie, who is on the floor with Sarah.

Annie scrambles out of the car, holding Sarah.

She huddles near the ground and stares at it, using as much of her body as possible to cover her baby. Gary jumps into the driver’s seat of the Explorer.

GARY

The fucker pulled his gun first. Remember that.

He punches the gas -- -- and SQUEALS away.

Matthew crawls across the concrete to where Annie is huddled over Sarah and grabs onto them.

Annie is crying. Matthew looks up, watching, desperate, as

the truck recedes into the distance. As the sun beats down, they are a tableau --

OSe rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 7 96 -- the abandoned Cadillac by the side of the road -- -- Joe’s body, writhing on the center stripe --

-- and Matthew, Annie, and Sarah, huddled in the middle of the asphalt.

Late afternoon. JOE lies in the back seat of the abandoned car, his chest wrapped tightly in a jacket that serves as a makeshift bandage, blood seeping through it. He’s conscious, but shivering violently, sweating. Annie is with hin, holding SARAH, trying to keep them both calm.

ON THE ROAD, 98

MATTHEW stands in the middle of the highway, staring off into the distance. His eyes look almost artificial, big and empty. A car approaches. Matthew waves to it, frantic.

The car draws closer, and it’s moving very fast. Matthew stays exactly where he is.

The car draws closer. The driver lays on his HORN and holds it down. Matthew stays rooted in the middle of the road.

* +

94. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 98

It’s a matter of split-seconds now, Matthew is right in the middle of the road and the driver obviously has no intention of even slowing down, but Matthew holds his ground --

-- Matthew just closes his eyes, his feet planted in the center of the road --

-- and the car cuts ever so slightly around him, nailing him with a BLAST of air, but nothing else.

The day is fading now. ANNIE is in the scrub brush at the side of the road, hunting for something. She finds it.

The twelve gauge.

She comes back to the car. Matthew is standing next to it, holding SARAH. Annie returns, with the gun. She takes the baby from-him and hands him the weapon.

He holds it up, pointing to the safety, a little metal post next to the trigger.

Annie nods. He puts the safety catch back on.

In answer, he racks the pump and a shell flies out the side. She nods and takes the gun from hin.

95. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 99

She picks up the shell and replaces it in the belly of the gun, which accepts it with a metallic CLICK.

He holds the gun out to her. She takes it.

As the sun goes down, Matthew turns and walks away from the car, leaving ANNIE, holding SARAH, behind him. He bends down and picks something up from the middle of the road.

It’s a "John Deere" baseball cap, the one Gary wore. Matthew puts it on. He picks up his pace, walking faster.

Then jogging. Then running down the middle of the highway.

JOE is awake in back, his eyes big and empty. We think the worst for a moment, but then he turns his head to the sound of soft SINGING coming from the front seat, where ANNIE cradles SARAH in her arms. The baby isn’t crying, exactly, but she’s far from happy.

Lullaby. And goodnight. Go to bed now, sleep tight. Close your eyes

and -- start to yawn -- pleasant dreams until the dawn. (MORE)

96. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 101

ANNIE (cont’d)

Close your eyes -- start to yawn -- dreams until -- dawn.

This is the farmhouse Matthew and Joe saw from where they were stopped on the side of the road. The BMW is still in the driveway.

In the gathering night, MATTHEW half-walks, half-jogs along the shoulder of the road and stops at the foot of the driveway. He bends over, hands on knees, catching his breath.

He. summons himself and starts up the driveway. It’s a long walk. He tries to catch his breath as he draws closer. He reaches the front porch. He climbs it. He pauses, then RAPS confidently on the door.

A long moment goes by. Matthew reaches out, to knock again, but the door jerks open suddenly, stopped by a chain. The man inside --

-- is RAYMOND. He has a flashlight, which he holds on Matthew while he speaks.

Matthew blinks, there’s something vaguely familiar about the guy. He squints from the probing beam of the flashlight, trying to place him.

Raymond studies hin.

97. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 102

He furrows his brow, maybe recognizing it, maybe not, definitely confused and suspicious. While Matthew talks, Raymond glances around outside, looking for others.

Is there any way -- can you drive us? RAYMOND You want me to drive you? MATTHEW Or -- we could use your car. I can give you money -- once the power’s * back -- RAYMOND

You mean take my car?

Matthew fumbles in his pocket for his wallet and shows his driver’s license.

MATTHEW

You can keep my driver’s license.

You can keep the whole wallet -- * RAYMOND *

Just hold it up.

Matthew does, and Raymond shines the light on it, examining it. Matthew squints at Raymond, almost recognizing him. *

MATTHEW * Do I know you?

Raymond finishes examining the license and shines the light back in Matthew’s face. Finally --

98. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

-- the flashlight CLICKS off.

He starts to

close the door. Matthew panics.

If I was lying I would have kicked through the God damn door by now!

Matthew notices something. The window to the right of the door has a pane broken in the top, near where the window

latches.

Somebody I know. I don’t have to explain myself to you.

99. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

8 102

+ ee

+e *

+

100. 7/17/95

INSIDE THE HOUSE, 103 for the first time, we see the other side of the door.

Raymond is holding it shut with both hands, his left near the crack and his right in the middle of the door.

The right, which Matthew can’t see --

-- is holding a .38.

BACK OUTSIDE, 104 the two men stare each other down for a long moment. Finally,

Matt turns and walks away, quickly, feet CRUNCHING on the gravel driveway.

A very, very dark night. Back in the abandoned car, MATTHEW slides the shotgun shells back into the belly of the gun, one by one. JOE is conscious now, and staring at him, his face covered in sweat. ANNIE, holding SARAH, is sitting in the front seat. They’re looking at him too. Matt doesn’t return any of their gazes.

As he works, a sound comes from the distance, the WHINING of engines, cars operating at high speed. The sound grows rapidly louder as the cars get closer.

Matthew ignores the sound, calmly loading the gun as four cars BLAST by, right on each others’ tails, doing at least ninety.

He RACKS the pump once. The gun is loaded.

OMITTED 106 EX? FARMHOUSE NIGHT 107 Night envelopes the little farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. Smoke now curls out of the chimney of the house, firelight is visible through the windows. Raymond must be up, keeping watch. MATTHEW arrives again, stepping up to the foot of the driveway, the very place he stood before --

-- but this time he’s got the shotgun.

101. 7/17/95

From the side, the house looks even smaller. Matthew creeps through the desert brush, moving as low to the ground as he can, and approaches a window.

He reaches the side of the house and leans against it. He turns and raises his head, slowly, to window level.

THROUGH THE WINDOW, 109

he sees the empty living room. A fire does indeed burn in the fireplace, throwing exaggerated shadows on the walls.

Whoever used to live here must have moved out, and they only left a few sticks of furniture, like a tall wardrobe against the wall and the coffee table in the middle of this room.

But the table’s in use, a solitaire game laid out on it. A FIGURE passes right in front of Matthew’s field of vision, startling him.

It’s RAYMOND, returning to his game, carrying a Coleman lantern and a can of beer.

Matthew freezes. Raymond sits down with his back to him and goes back to his game.

Also on the table in front of Raymond, Matthew sees what he is looking for.

Raymond’s car keys.

On the other side of the living room, there is a doorway that leads to the bedrooms. To the right there is an archway that leads to the kitchen.

OUTSIDE, 110

Matthew pulls back from the window. He continues around the house, casing it. There’s a doorway in back, at the top of a few stairs, that seems to lead into the kitchen. Doesn’t look right.

Matthew continues on, looking for a vulnerable place to try to enter the house.

Around the corner at the bedroom side, he finds a certain window and looks through it. It leads to an empty bedroom. He examines the window. It’s held by a single lock, the kind that twists into a clasp in the middle of the frame.

OMITTED 21,

1238

102. 7/17/95

Raymond CRACKS open the beer. He deals out another hand of solitaire, very particular about where he lays the cards, very orderly.

Matt works his way down the side of the house, to the next window. He peers through it. The moonlight spills in ona bathroom.

Suddenly, yellow light from inside washes over Matt’s face.

He ducks back, out of sight, as the light gets brighter and enters the bathroom.

Matt risks a peek over the ledge.

INSIDE,

he sees Raymond, coming into the bathroom.

OUTSIDE,

Matt gets an idea. He scurries back along the house, to the bedroom window, and rests the butt end of the gun stock

against it, waiting.

He turns his head, listening for something. After a few moments, he hears what he was waiting for -- a toilet FLUSHES.

Immediately, Matt BANGS the gun stock into the pane of glass, just hard enough to break it, sending glass TINKLING onto the floor below.

Raymond hears nothing over the ROARING water.

Matt stands, frozen, waiting.

Carrying the lantern, Raymond heads back into the living room and resumes his game of solitaire.

Matt picks a few ragged pieces of glass out of the window frame, reaches in, and unlocks the window.

Matt slides the window open, making a space big enough to

climb through. That done, he passes the shotgun through first, resting it carefully on the floor next to the window.

122A

122B

122C

122D

103. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

Raymond doesn’t like the way his game of solitaire is going. He messes the cards around to start another.

Matthew passes himself through the window, one limb at a time. Moving slowly, he finally brings himself fully into the room and stands upright.

He nearly loses his balance, but catches himself. His breathing is quicker, and he’s trying to contain it, keep it quiet. Not moving his feet, he reaches over and picks up the shotgun.

He takes a single step forward --

-- and his shoe CRUNCHES down on the broken glass.

Raymond turns his head. He heard it.

Matt, both feet on the floor and gun in hand now, keeps moving. He creeps across the room, silently.

For a moment, the living room is empty. Then Raymond, also moving quietly, returns from the other room.

But now he’s carrying the .38. He looks down at it, thinking. He looks up, at the wardrobe on the other side of the room.

He starts to cross the room, toward the wardrobe, staring at the top of it. There is a small box on the top shelf. A box of bullets.

Nearly out of the room, Matthew steps on a certain board. It SQUEAKS.

Raymond, halfway across the living room with the gun in his hand, hears the sound and freezes in the middle of the floor. He turns and looks through the archway, toward the kitchen.

Looking through the dining room, the kitchen appears empty.

We draw closer and closer, until, from around the corner of

the refrigerator --

122D

104. V/IT/S5

CONTINUED: 122D

-- an eye peers out. It’s Matthew. Slowly, silently, he steps out from the cover of the refrigerator and starts to make his way across the kitchen floor.

He reaches the dining room. Ahead, he can see into the living room. It’s empty. He continues forward.

Near the archway now, he can see the coffee table in the middle of the floor. Raymond’s car keys are sitting in the middle of it. Beyond them, the front door, only a few feet further.

Close to his goal, Matthew walks faster, into the living room.

As Matthew passes through the archway, only feet from the keys, he glances quickly to his right, to make sure Raymond’s not pressed against the wall.

Unfortunately, his excitement makes him careless and he does not dart a look to his left --

-- which is where Raymond is, flattened against the wall just beside the arch.

Matthew covers the few steps to the keys and reaches down to pick them up.

Behind him, Raymond raises the .38 and points it at the back of Matthew’s head.

Matt’s hand is just inches from the keys when Raymond’s VOICE speaks up from behind hin.

Matthew whirls, raising the shotgun and pointing it at Raymond. Now both men, facing a gun barrel, panic and start to SHOUT.

I< Oo

105. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 123 MATTHEW I ASKED YOU! I BEGGED YOU FOR THAT CAR -- RAYMOND

YOU GOT NO RIGHT TO BE HERE!

Enraged, Matthew points the shotgun slightly to the left of Raymond’s head, intending to frighten him with a warning blast. He pulls the trigger.

CLICK. Misfire.

Matthew’s eyes widen. So do Raymond’s.

Quickly, Matthew racks the gun, expelling the useless shell. Raymond turns to the tall wardrobe and grabs the box he wanted before. He loses his grip and the box falls, spilling bullets all over the floor. He flips open the cylinder. The gun was empty.

Matthew pulls the trigger on the shotgun again.

CLICK. Another misfire.

Hands shaking, Raymond frantically loads a few bullets into the gun.

Matthew RACKS the shotgun. Raymond SNAPS the cylinder shut. Matthew pulls the trigger. INSIDE THE SHOTGUN,

the firing pin drives forward, into the round gold nub at the base of the shell --

-- the pin ignites the powder with a WHOOSH --

-- the end of the shotgun shell unfolds, firing the wad out the end of the barrel with a deafening BLAST --

-- and the ceiling over the fireplace EXPLODES in a shower of wood frame and plaster dust.

IN THE LIVING ROOM,

+

106. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 2 123 Raymond COCKS his revolver. Matthew RACKS the shotgun.

Standing on opposite sides of the room, Raymond raises his revolver, pointing it at Matthew’s head. At the same time, Matthew raises the shotgun, points it at Raymond’s face, and as the barrels of the now-primed weapons swing into

position --

-- a HIGH-PITCHED SCREAM rises up in the room. Soft at first, the scream must have started some time ago, but neither man heard it over their growing battle. Now, however, the scream is piercing, unavoidable, and it’s coming from the doorway to the bedrooms.

Instead of firing at each other, both Raymond and Matthew jerk their heads to see the source of the scream.

It’s A_SIX YEAR OLD GIRL.

She stands framed in the doorway to the bedrooms. She’s staring at them, her arms stiff at her sides like steel rods, her face contorted in horror. The scream is a child’s scream, a WAIL, long, plaintive, and horrified.

Matthew turns back, facing Raymond, frozen in the bizarre moment.

The little Girl’s scream tapers off into sobs. Raymond starts to move toward her, then realizes that would draw Matthew’s weapon in that direction too, and he freezes.

Matthew just stares at him, for a long moment, absorbing the situation.

And then he lowers his gun.

Raymond still has the .38 pointed at Matthew, his hand shaking with rage as he decides what to do now that he has the drop on his adversary.

107. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 3 123 Matthew looks down, at the keys on the coffee table. MATTHEW (cont/’d) I have to take your car. I will bring it back. And you -- have to trust me. Slowly, he bends down and picks up the keys.

Matthew looks at him, thinking, looks right into the barrel of the gun. :

With that, he puts the shotgun down on the table and --

-- turns his back on Raymond, turns his back on the loaded

gun pointed at him. He walks out of the house, slowly, giving Raymond all the time in the world to shoot him, if that’s what he wants to do.

Raymond takes a few hesitant steps after him, deciding.

MATTHEW walks out of the house, down the steps, and across the gravel driveway, headed toward the BMW. Behind him, he hears the door of the house open and BANG shut. He winces, but doesn’t turn. FOOTSTEPS approach him in the dark.

As he reaches the car, he turns to open the door. RAYMOND steps out of the darkness, now carrying his daughter on his hip.

He and Matthew look at each other for a moment.

CuT TO: OMITTED 125

The flashing lights of an ambulance cut the gloom over the abandoned car, still parked at the side of the road. TWO PARAMEDICS lift JOE carefully from the back seat and set him on a stretcher.

126A

108. rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

CONTINUED: 126

Raymond’s car is parked on the other side of the road, RAYMOND and KARI next to it. MATT, ANNIE, and SARAH are on the opposite side of the road, the ambulance between then.

As the stretcher is wheeled onto the road, Matt makes eye contact with Raymond, across the way. He nods his thanks. Raymond nods back. He opens his mouth, as if he’s about to say something --

-- but the ambulance doors open between them, obscuring their view of one another. A PARAMEDIC turns to Matthew, who has been holding a wallet.

He opens the wallet and starts flipping through the contents, looking for something. He finds a red health insurance card and pulls it out, but he stops, noticing something under the card.

It’s the black and white photo booth strips that was hanging on the cabinet in their kitchen, the one with the pictures of Matt, Annie, and Sarah. Matt looks up at Joe, surprised.

He replaces the picture in the wallet, hands the card to the Paramedic, and goes to Joe. He presses the wallet into Joe’s hand. Joe looks up at Matt and raises a hand. Matt takes

it. They look at each other for a long moment --

-- and then the Paramedics wheel him into the back of the ambulance and SLAM the doors. Matt looks up, across the road, to Raymond again. But Raymond, Kari, and his car are gone.

Matt turns. The BMW is pulling away from them, down the road, its taillights disappearing into the night.

Faintly, several dogs begins to BARK in the distance. INSIDE A LIGHT BULB, 126A

the razor-thin filament SIZZLES and switches on. It wavers delicately, but it burns, burns so brightly that --

eee

109-110. * rev. 7/31/95 (blue)

127 127 THRU OMITTED THRU 129 129

-- we have to blink back the brightness for a second. The

bulb that lit up is a streetlight, the one that burns * vigilantly over the cul-de-sac. The BARKING DOG is louder * now, and they walk below us, three or four of them straining * mightily at their leashes, reluctantly domesticated, tugging. * a DOG WALKER along the sidewalk. * The neighborhood seems to be back to normal as this day ends.

The WHINE of power tools comes from somewhere on the block. * MUSIC comes from somebody’s boom box. THREE KIDS play ina * sprinkler while a fourth, a LITTLE GIRL, admonishes them from * the sidewalk. * The dogs drag the Dog Walker past Matt and Annie’s house. * MATTHEW sits on his front steps, still in his shirt and tie * from the office. * Across the street, STEPH is in his driveway. There’s a boat * upside down on sawhorses, and he’s scraping the bottom. Steph looks up, at Matt. He sees him staring and stops scraping.

They stare at each other for a moment. * Behind Matthew, ANNIE comes out of the house, carrying a * couple of beers. Over Matthew’s shoulder, she sees the * staredown between him and Steph. * She watches as this time Steph is the one who looks away. He * goes to the wall, punches a button, and his electric garage * door closes. * Annie steps forward, holding one of the bottles of beer over * Matt’s shoulder, pressing it onto the skin of his neck. He * jumps from the cold, smiles up at her, and takes it. * She sits down next to him. Behind them, their figures are * silhouettes looking out at the cul-de-sac. But there’s still * a foot or so between them. Matthew reaches over, puts his arm * around her waist, and with one sharp tug he closes the * distance, pulling her over right next to him. * She rests her head on her husband’s shoulder. *

FADE OUT. *