Cold - Part 1

COLD Part one An Original Screenplay By Jack Bush

Copyright © Jack Bush 2004

ACT I The screen is black. We hear a voiceover. It belongs to David Reid. DAVID (v.o) The last thing I ever wanted to do with my life was kill people. Now... that's all I want do. EXT – ALLEY – NIGHT The alley is gloomy in the darkness of night. The moonlight casts shallow light into the murky back street. Some of the sheet metal doors have bar lights above them, but not many. A cat rummaging around in a dustbin dives for cover as one of the metal doors fly open. The man exits the doorway in mid-air, he crashes into the dustbin just vacated by the feline. He rebounds off the alley wall and falls to the ground with a grunt. He is in his middle thirties, dressed in suit trousers and blood stained white shirt. Laying there, he looks up at the door he's just left behind, fear in his eyes. A man in black appears in the doorway. Black suit, black shirt, black tie. His name is David Reid. He stands, glaring down at the prong figure before him. DAVID Where are they? The man on the ground has no energy to talk. His battered face contorts an expression that resembles a smirk. A mistake. David's eyes narrow with anger at the man’s defiance. He opens his jacket and takes a gun out of a shoulder holster. The smirk on the grounded man’s face has vanished. David walks to him and grabs him by the shirt collar, pulling him into a sitting position. David aims the gun at his face, the barrel of the snub nose revolver millimeters from the man’s forehead. The man opens his mouth, the smirk appearing again in his eyes. David lowers the gun and rests it on the man’s bottom set of teeth. The man closes his mouth around the barrel. He looks David straight in the eye and then slowly closes his eyelids, the edges of his mouth creasing upwards into a final smile. David retracts the gun barrel. The man opens his eyes in confusion. Holding the gun in one hand, with the other hand still holding the man up in a sitting position, David tosses the gun in the air, flipping it over and catching it by the barrel. The man now stares at the butt of the gun aiming at his face. It's David's turn to smile. DAVID (cont’d) You didn't think I'd make it quick, did you? David raises the gun butt, as if ready to hammer in a tent peg. The 2

man gasps.

The butt of the gun connects with the bridge of the man’s nose. The bone shatters. Blood explodes from the broken appendage like a charge has been set off in the middle of the man’s face. David raises the bloody butt twice more, one hit caves in a cheek bone. The other bursts an eyeball. David raises the gun again and the whole scene goes into freeze frame. A commentary by David runs over the still picture of violence. DAVID (v.o) (cont’d) A man once told me that revenge is a dish best served cold. The only downside to that statement is, that to wreak revenge, wrong must first be wreaked on you. I have all but cried my tears of sorrow. This is my time now. And no-one's going to stop me! FADE OUT: FADE IN: INT – HOUSE – EVENING David is standing in the livingroom of his house. The room is a shambles. The television is over turned and smashed, furniture has been ripped open and the stuffing is hanging out. Broken ornaments lay in pieces on the blood stained carpet. At David's feet is the body of a woman, naked. She has a knife sticking out of the side of her neck and a trickle of blood coming from the corner of her mouth. The blood has long since stopped flowing. She has been badly beaten and also has blood smeared down her inner thighs. Her name was Michelle Reid. David's wife. He gazes down at her with a blind stare on his face, a single tear rolling down his cheek. His voice- over continues. DAVID (v.o) (cont’d) Michelle and I were married June 29th. It was the second happiest day of my life. She was the only woman I had ever loved. Everything was great, our social life, our love life, even to sit in silence in each others company gave me the deepest feeling of contentment I still to this day can't explain. If there ever was such a thing as a sole mate, I had been lucky enough to find mine... On the day I found her, 3

she had been beaten, raped and murdered. Inserted in her vagina, was her own severed tongue.

CUT TO: INT – HALLWAY – CONTINUOUS David stands looking at the closed door of his son's bedroom. A name plate on the door says “Peter”. Above the name on the plaque, is a cow jumping over the moon. Bloody hand prints are scattered over the upper and lower door panels of the white finish. On the wall beside the door, crudely written in blood, is the word, “CUNTS”. David’s voiceover continues. DAVID (v.o) The birth of our son, Peter, was number one on the list of my happiest days. Born August 2nd. He weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces and didn't stop crying till he was put in his mothers arms. Once there a smile beamed across his face that made me weep with a joy I had never felt before and knew I would never feel again once the moment was gone. As we sat there, Michelle, little Peter and me, nothing was said, words were inadequate. The slightest sound would have spoiled the whole passing of time. We were in the presence of our own family history in the making and we were absorbing ever second of it to memory. David slowly open the bedroom door. He stands there gazing into the room at a site we thankfully do not see. Voiceover. DAVID (v.o) (cont’d) The image of Peter's discovery is a vision I will never forget. He had been used like a human football, cigarette burns decorated his tiny frame, both his arms and legs had been broken, and his dummy tit had been inserted into his anus... He was two days away from his 4

first birthday. David falls to his knees at the threshold of the door and screams at the top of his voice. DAVID (cont’d) Noooooooooooo!!!

DAVID (v.o) (cont’d) At this point, the thought of the culprits still being in the house didn't concern me in the least. Death was all I had to look forward to, my life had already been taken away. The shadow of a small group of people appear behind David. He senses there presence and turns, still on his knees with tears streaming down his face. He looks up at the men that we do not see. DAVID (cont’d) Why?! A baseball bat smashes into his up-turned face. Freeze frame. Voiceover. DAVID (v.o) (cont’d) Then all I saw was darkness. And all I felt was pain. But it didn't last forever. Nothing ever does... The only mistake they made that day, was not killing me. Instead, I was reborn... And not in a good way. FADE OUT: FADE IN: INT – CAR – DAY David is driving the car, dressed in casual shirt and trousers. Michelle is in the passenger seat, a thin white blouse and skirt is her choice of clothing. In the back of the car, in a baby seat, is Peter. He has a bemused look on his little face as he stares out of the side window at the world going by. Michelle turns in here seat to check on her son. He looks at her, a little gurgle building in his throat. David glances in the rearview mirror at the child in 5

the baby seat. He smiles. Michelle faces front again and gazes at the side of her husbands face, she puts her hand on top of his which is on the gear stick. David's voiceover returns to us. DAVID (v.o) The day was beautiful. It was the first time we had all gone away together. Peter's beginning of many planed outings. If I'd only known the purpose of the day that fate had arranged for us, we would’ve never left the house... But that's life in a nutshell, isn't it?... Who knows what the next corner will bring.

DAVID (v.o) (cont’d) If each one of us knew our destinies, life wouldn't be lived. It would be feared... Our Journey began at dawn. EXT – HOTEL – DAY David steers the car into the car park of the hotel. The building itself stands as an old castle renovated into a hotel. A stones throw from the edge of the car park is a roaming hillsides that lead down to Loch Ness. Voiceover. DAVID (v.o) The great stretch of water known as Loch Ness has always had a fondness in my heart. As a child, my parents had taken me to this place many a time. Never had a summer holiday taken a turn for the worst while I spent it in the company of the Loch. The place was more then peaceful, it was tranquil. It was something that I wanted to introduce to my son at the earliest of ages. The car parks and David and Michelle get out. Michelle opens the back door of the car and releases Peter from his baby seat. She hugs him into her chest and David closes the door. They walk to the front of the hotel and enter. INT – HOTEL – CONTINUOUS 6

David walks up to the reception desk and Michelle takes a seat by the door, cradling Peter in her arms. The man behind the desk greets David. He is a big built, tall man, dressed in a suit. His name is Mr. Foyers. MR. FOYERS Mr. Reid, it's great to see you back again. DAVID It's great to be back again. Mr. Foyers looks over David's shoulder and sees Michelle with the baby. MR. FOYERS And if my eyes don't deceive me, I think we have a new arrival? David turns and smiles at his wife and son.

DAVID That's Peter. Peter, this is Mr. Foyers. The baby stares aimlessly at his father and the new face. MR. FOYERS He has the look of his Mother. DAVID Thank God for that! Both men laugh. MR. FOYERS So, you'll be looking for a family room then? DAVID That would be about right. MR. FOYERS We have an excellent one at the top of the building. Breath taking views of the Loch. DAVID Sounds perfect. MR. FOYERS Would you like a hand with any bags you have? 7

DAVID Don't worry about that, I'll take care of them. What you could do for me, is tell me if there’s any of your staff that would be up for a bit of over time, baby sitting little Peter. Just for a couple of hours this evening. MR. FOYERS I'm sure I can take care of that. What rate will I tell them it's going for? DAVID Whatever they get here an hour, they can double it. MR. FOYERS No problem, Mr. Reid. A porter will show you to your room.

DAVID Thanks. INT – HOTEL BEDROOM – MOMENTS LATER A porter enters the room followed by David and family. The porter goes about his business, showing them all they need to know about the room and the hotel. We hear nothing that is said, as David's voiceover returns. DAVID (v.o) This was it. This was my life. And I was so happy with it. We were the proper family unit. We never argued, I never got drunk and played away from home. Michelle was the most caring and loving mother and wife I have ever heard of. She adored her new son and she adored her new role as head of the family. I was the bread winner, but she was the head of the family, there was no question about it. She had her head screw on, mine was merely placed... Come to 8

think of it, what you're seeing here is pointless. The sole reason of this is to establish that we were nice people. That my wife and son should never have died the way they did. Take my word for it, we were nice.... Now there's just me. And I don't do “nice,” anymore. EXT – SHORES OF LOCH NESS – NIGHT David and Michelle are standing on the pebbled shore looking over the ripple free surface of the great stretch of water. Michelle starts skipping a stones over the water. David counts the skims. Behind them we see a tent has been pitched on a grassy area, with a little fire burning in front of it. Cue David's voiceover. DAVID (v.o) Little Peter had taken quite well to his babysitter. A young girl called Lindsay, very polite. So Michelle and I could nip off for a couple of hours, have a little bit of togetherness. The first time we made love was at this very site. I'd been bugging her to come camping with me.

DAVID (v.o) (cont’d) The main reason being, she would have to sleep with me. In saying that, I don't mean she would have to have sex with me, don't get me wrong. I mean we would have to spend the night under the roof of the same tent. That was good enough for me. For her to be the last face I saw at night and the first one to see in the morning, that was all I needed. That did it for me. We're talking true love here...! Just pay attention, this is where it all begins. Michelle skims a stone, David counts. DAVID (cont’d) Seven! 9

MICHELLE No, that was eight. DAVID Behave, it was only seven. MICHELLE Was not. Michelle turns on David, with a sly grin on her face. She grabs him by the arms. MICHELLE (cont'd) Just because you hold the record, and eight beats it. DAVID That's right, eight does beat it. That's why it was only seven. MICHELLE You may be a lot of good things David Reid, but your not a good loser. DAVID Hey, you just can't count worth a shit. Michelle laughs and pulls David to her. They kiss. David breaks the kiss and pulls back.

DAVID (cont’d) Ok, here's the deal. If I agree it was eight, can we do the kissing thing quite a lot tonight? MICHELLE How about making it nine? DAVID I don't know if my blood pressure could take that! MICHELLE I think we can chance it. Michelle pulls him close again. Their lips connect. Both of them 10

slowly lower to the ground. In the background, someone cries out. Not a shout for help. More a war cry of a command for something to begin. David and Michelle both break the kiss and look in the direction of the sound. They see, in the distance between the trees, a small explosion of light, as a fire is lit in a not too distant field. DAVID What the hell? David gets to his feet, followed by Michelle. Both have their eyes glued to the far off fire in the middle of an empty field. MICHELLE What is it? David, what they doing? DAVID I don’t have the first idea. But lets take a closer look. David looks at Michelle and gives her a wink. His eyes twinkle with mischief. MICHELLE How old are you? DAVID I'll be twelve and a half on my next birthday. Michelle shakes her head at him, with a bemused smile on her face. She chuckles at her husbands childishness. DAVID (cont’d) Come on, it could be an orgy! Michelle punches him on the side of follows him as he walks to the tree field beyond. As they stare through view, they see a single tree in the

the arm playfully, then line, separating them from the the branches for a better middle of the field.

It looks like it’s died a death years ago. Savage branches stick out at odd angles. It's completely bare of leaves. In front of the tree the fire has been lit. A group of around twelve men surround the over-sized campfire, all have on black robes with hoods up. David and Michelle gaze at the sight in wonder of what they're seeing. The man at the head of the fire, wearing a red robe, raises his arms and says a single word that has no place in the English language. It's similar to the cry that got the fire lit. At that signal, every other man in the group shrugs off the black robe. Eleven men now stand there, naked. MICHELLE 11

Holy shit, It is an orgy! David puts a hand over his wife’s eyes. DAVID Why couldn't it be women?! Michelle pulls his hand away and continues to stare at the sight before them. MICHELLE You'd love that, wouldn't you? Besides, none of them are really putting you to shame. DAVID Nice to know you're looking so closely, dear. MICHELLE Purely on a professional level. I don't think they would be my type anyway. Maybe it's just me, but a dozen naked guys in a field... I don't think they'd be into women some how. DAVID I'll tell you one thing, if they all turn to the right and start playing stationary leap frog, we're leaving. MICHELLE I never thought you were homophobic? DAVID I just don’t see it as a spectators sport, that’s all. Michelle laughs quietly at David. David starts to stare more intently at the scene before them. DAVID (cont’d) Something’s happening.

They watch as the only man still in his red robe, at the head of the fire lifts up a pot that was on the ground, hidden by the flames of the fire until now. He raises it over head, then lowers it and passes it to the first naked man to his left. The man takes the pot, without looking inside, takes out what looks like a small chunk of bread, and holds it in the air. He then passes the pot on to the next man, who does the same. This continues with every man 12

doing the same thing till it gets back to the dressed man at the head of the fire. He then lowers the pot out of sight again and seems to survey the raised balls of dough. He points at a man who's bread looks darker in colour to the rest of them and lets out the war cry again. All men then lower their morsels of food and eat. When finished, the man who was pointed at, walks to the head of the fire and nods to the dressed man. He then turns his back on him and closes his eyes. The red robed man reveals a length of pipe and swings it at the back of the man’s head. Even in the distance between them, David and Michelle hear it make contact with the rear of the man’s skull. The man drops out of sight behind the fire. MICHELLE Oh my God! The man in the robe now takes out a length of rope from under his garment. The remaining ten naked man all walk to the head of the fire. Two pick up the unconscious man. One takes the rope from the dressed man and puts it round the unconscious man’s neck, he then throws the other end up and over one of the jagged limbs of the dead tree. The others catch the slack as it come down the other side. They all begin to pull on the rope. The man raises off the ground. Once his chest is about head hight, his ascent is stopped. The rope is then tied off at the base of the tree. All men gather at the swing feet of the hanging man. The man in the robe has one more thing to reveal. He takes the sacrificial knife from a sleeve, reaches up and slashes the man’s throat, severing the carotid artery. Blood jets out of the dying man’s neck, splashing onto the men below. All of the naked men begin to chant. NAKED MEN Give joy, give joy, give joy, give joy, give joy, give joy. David glances at Michelle, with a look of disbelief and horror on his face. His wife meets his gaze with the same expression. DAVID I think it’s time we got the hell out of here. MICHELLE No shit! They turn and come face to face with a shaggy looking German Shepard, who has obviously been standing there some time watching them. It's mouth turns into a snarl and the faint sound of a growl starts to build in it's throat. Freeze frame on the dog. David's voiceover returns.

DAVID (v.o) Because of this mutt my wife is 13

dead. My son is dead. Where it came from, I don't know. Where it went back to, I don't know. I think sometimes, things just appear. There is no reason for them being there, but they just are. Like this dog, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night. With no other purpose, than to fuck up my life. The scene goes back into motion. David holds Michelle's hand. DAVID (cont’d) Don't make any sudden movements and whatever you do, don't... The dog barks, breaking the silence of night. The chanting in the field stops. David and Michelle look over their shoulder. Every man is staring at the area of trees they are standing at. The man with the robe points at them and lets out the war cry. Every naked man starts running towards David and Michelle. They both turn back to face the dog. It's gone. David says one word. DAVID (cont’d) Run! David bolts into action, dragging Michelle away from the danger by the hand. They charge back through the borderline of trees and into the clearing of their campsite. With no time to stop and collect anything, David swoops down as they race past the campfire and grabs up the hatchet he had used earlier to chop some wood. They start to run up a grassy incline, leading them to their parked car in a lay-by. They are half way up when Michelle slips on the dewy grass, her hand is wrenched from David's. She lets out a yelp as she starts to slide back down the small hillside. David turns and is about to give chase when his feet give out beneath him too. David lands on his butt with a grunt and starts to slide. He sees one of the naked men appear, about twenty feet from the bottom of the hill. Michelle is ten feet away and still sliding. David has only one option. He tosses the hatchet. It flies end over end and the blade catches the approaching man on the side of the head, shearing off one of his ears. The man stops and screams in pain, throwing his hands up to the bleeding side of his head. Michelle lands at the bottom of the hill and desperately tries to get back on her feet. David slides in beside her a second later, he dashes to the man and pushes him out of the way and retrieves his hatchet. Just as David turns back towards the hillside and sees Michelle making her way back up the slope, another man appears and lets out a scream of anger. David spins round blindly and swings the blade of the small axe at the naked man’s mid-section. The sharp edged metal makes the connection with the tip of the man’s penis, slicing off the appendage of limp flesh. The man cups himself and falls to his knees. Shocked into total silence, he falls on his face. Then the scream comes. A shriek of pain through his grass filled mouth. 14

David hears the approach of the rest of the men and turns tail and heads for the slope. As he glances up, he sees that Michelle is nearing the top. He thrusts a hand into his pocket and pulls out the car keys, he shouts to his wife. DAVID (cont’d) Michelle! Michelle turns her head and looks down at her husband. David launches the keys up the slope towards her. Michelle puts a hand out to catch them. David's throw is a couple of inches short, the keys fall in front of Michelle, landing on the grassy slope. Before they have a chance of skidding away, Michelle hook her foot down on top of them. She bends down, grabs them and continues to the brim of the hill. Michelle stops at the top and looks down at her husband. He is just passing the half way mark, with four naked man about fifteen feet behind him. David glances up and sees his wife waiting. He shouts at her again. DAVID (cont’d) Don't wait for me! Start the car! Michelle dashes out of sight, beyond the top of the hill. David chances a look over his shoulder. The four men behind him have a look of pure anger on their faces. The one who had his ear sliced off is also getting to his feet to rejoin the chase. David grunts in panic as he puts all his energy into getting to the top of the hill. He reaches the summit on hands and knee and jumps to his feet. He sees his car no more than thirty feet away and rushes to it. As he nears it he looks confused as to why it's not running yet. David glimpses Michelle in the driver’s seat franticly turning the ignition key. He reaches the passenger door and tugs it open. INT – CAR – CONTINUOUS David throws himself into the passenger seat and slams the door closed. Michelle is still turning the ignition key to no avail. DAVID You've got to be kidding me! MICHELLE The guy at the garage said he'd fixed it! David slams his hand on the dashboard. DAVID Fucking cowboys! David glances out the side window and sees the first naked man 15

reaching the summit. He jumps to his feet, as David did no more than thirty seconds ago. David turns back to Michelle, a crazed look in his eyes. David talks again with more of a softness in his voice, more to the car than to Michelle.

DAVID (cont’d) Come on baby. Michelle turns the keys again. The car bursts into life. She floors it. David looks back out the side window at the man running at the car. As the car pulls away he makes a dive at it and smashes through the back passenger window. Glass tears into the man’s flesh, but it seems not to bother him. Michelle screams but keeps driving, David turns in his seat and tries to fight the man off and put him back out the window his legs are still hanging outside of. The man makes a grab for the back of Michelle's head and shouts. NAKED MAN I'm going to eat your cunt!! David blocks the man’s advancing arms and hits him on the bridge of the nose, the man screams in anger and blindly throws a forearm in David's direction, it hits him at the top of his forehead and skids away. The man loses his balance of being half in and half out of the car and start to topple out. The man nearly falls back out the window, but as he's almost disappeared from sight, his hand catches hold of the safety handle inside the car above the back door. The man screams from outside as he's pulled alongside the car. David looks at the hatchet on his lap, then to Michelle. She looks back at him. MICHELLE Do it! David swings the small axe round and connects it with the man’s wrist. The scream heightens from outside. The blade has gouged half way into the man’s wrist, blood is spraying onto the white ceiling of the car but still the man doesn't let go. David swings again. The man disappears out of sight. The severed hand remains tightly gripped to the safety handle above the door. David turns to face front again and winds down his window. He leans out and vomits. MICHELLE (cont’d) Jesus Christ, I can't believe this. Did you hear what he said to me?! David, finishes throwing up and closes the window again. DAVID I heard him, Michelle, I heard him. If it's any consolation, I can't believe this either. 16

Michelle glances at him, taking her eyes off the road for a second. MICHELLE Are you ok? DAVID I'm guessing you're meaning that in the rhetorical sense.

DAVID (cont’d) We're running for our lives from about a dozen naked guys who just killed someone. Being ok is something I'm not going to be till we get Peter and get the hell out of this whole area. MICHELLE I'm asking about your health, David. You just chucked out the window. DAVID I'm fine. Just don't look in the back seat. Michelle cranes her neck round and has a quick look. She looks at the actual seat and not the safety handle. She whips her head back round. MICHELLE There's nothing there. DAVID What did I just say!? MICHELLE Hey, you tell someone there's wet paint, the first thing they do is touch it! Tell me what I'm looking for, I'm still in shock, nothings going to freak me out more than I am already... Tell me! DAVID The safety handle, above the back door. Michelle slowly takes her eyes off the road and prepares to turn. David puts a hand on the steering wheel. Michelle looks. She sees the severed hand and the jet splash of blood that is spurted on 17

the ceiling of the car. Michelle puts a hand to her mouth and stiffens, forcing her foot down on the pedal. The car bursts forward with the sudden extra surge of acceleration. David struggles with the wheel. DAVID (cont’d) Jesus shit, Michelle! Michelle whirls round and goes to grab the wheel again. Headlights appear in front of them, speeding round a sharp corner. The car is in the middle of the narrow road. Michelle screams, David lets out a yelp of fear and grabs the wheel again and tugs it towards him. The car, just feet in front of them, swerves at the last moment. David pulls up the hand brake.

The car goes into a skid, the back end fish tailing onto the grass verge at the side of the road. The back wheels slip into a ditch and the whole car begins to slide side ways alone the verge, heading straight towards a telegraph pole. David sees it coming. DAVID (cont’d) Oh shit! They brace themselves for impact, but with only about ten feet to go, the wheels of the car are caught on the undergrowth and it flips onto it's side and the roof crashes into the pole caving it in down the middle. The dent inside has bent the metal roof down to the top of the head rests. With the drivers side now being up in the air, Michelle is thrown on top of David. David grunts underneath the added weight as the broken glass from his window digs into his side. The car stops moving. Everything goes still and silent. David groans, Michelle tries to pull herself up off the top of him. MICHELLE Are you ok? DAVID There’s that question again. MICHELLE I'll take that as a yes. Give me sec. Michelle pulls herself up towards her side of the car, which is in the air. With her drivers side window broken too, she pops her head out. The night is quiet. A sight fog is rolling in through the darkness. DAVID Anything? MICHELLE Thankfully, no. We're going to 18

have to get out of here. DAVID You think I don't know that? Those guys could come round the corner at any moment. MICHELLE Don't say that. DAVID I just did. And even if I didn't, it wouldn't make it anymore untrue. MICHELLE Jesus, you've nearly got us condemned already.

DAVID If we don't get out of here we will be! Michelle sighs down at David, then pulls herself out of the car. David hears her jumping off the side of the car and hitting the ground. DAVID (cont’d) You ok? MICHELLE (o.c) Yeah, your turn. David pushes himself off the side of the car where the broken glass is grinding into his ribs. He grunts and groans as he gets himself into a standing position along the front of the car. He reaches up to the driver’s broken window and begins to climb up the seats as Michelle did. CUT TO : EXT – DARK LONELY ROAD – CONTINUOUS David gets out onto the side of the car and jumps down to join his wife. Michelle looks at the blood on the side of his shirt. MICHELLE (cont’d) Oh God, are you ok? Does it hurt? DAVID Only when I laugh. 19

David forces a smirks at Michelle. MICHELLE This is no time for jokes David Reid! Michelle puts a hand onto David's shirt to feel the wound. David shouts in pain. DAVID What the hell are you doing?! MICHELLE Seeing if you're hurt! DAVID Don't you see the blood?! MICHELLE Don't you get snappy with me. DAVID Michelle, this is no time for a domestic.

DAVID We need to get the the road. We could deep shit if those up.

(cont’d) car back on still be in guys do turn

MICHELLE So what do you suggest? They both turn to look at the car resting on it's side, wedged against the telegraph pole. David dashes behind it and starts to push on the bonnet, trying to get in back on to it's wheels. It starts to sway, but not enough. He looks round from behind the car at Michelle, she is standing watching him. DAVID A little help? MICHELLE Right, sorry. Michelle runs round and starts to push on the boot. David joins in and the car starts to rock with more strength. It swings back down onto it's wheels with a bang of crunching metal. David runs round to the driver’s side, throwing Michelle a glance. DAVID I'm driving. 20

MICHELLE Be my guest. They both get into the car and David turns the key. It starts first time. DAVID Thank you God. David steps on the pedal and the car shoots back onto the road, tires burning rubber as they go. EXT – HOTEL – MOMENTS LATER The Reid's car comes racing into the carpark and skids to a stop at the front door of the hotel. David and Michelle both get out in such a hurry that David nearly falls on his face, he drops the car keys but keeps on running. Michelle scoops them up as she hurriedly follows her husband into the building. INT – HOTEL – CONTINUOUS David and Michelle dash into the hotel's reception area. Michelle doesn't stop and heads for the stairs and takes them two at a time as she makes her way towards baby Peter.

David stops at the reception sitting with bemused look on watching Michelle run up the David slaps his hands on the shouts his words.

desk, where a young woman is now her face as she turns back from stairs. Her name badge says “Susanne”. desk right in front of her and almost

DAVID You have to call the police! SUSANNE I'm sorry sir, what's wrong? Is there something that I could help you with? DAVID There's twelve men with erections chasing us, what d'you suggest, open your legs!? SUSANNE Sir, I will have to ask you to leave if continue with that line of abuse. 21

DAVID Just call the fucking police! We just saw a man murdered! David turns away from the girl before she can answer and runs up the stairs after his wife. The receptionist picks up the phone. SUSANNE (into phone) Yes, police?... I'd like to report an abusive guest... I'm afraid he might become violent. CUT TO : INT – HOTEL CORRIDOR – MOMENTS LATER Michelle is still fishing a hand in her bag for the room key when David comes rushing round the corner. DAVID What's going on, why aren't you in? MICHELLE I can't find the keys. DAVID Shit, you didn't have them, I did. David looks in his pockets and finds nothing.

DAVID (cont’d) Oh no. MICHELLE What?! DAVID I've lost them... I lost them falling down that hill. MICHELLE If they've picked them up.... DAVID ... They'll know where we are. David and Michelle gaze at each other in a silent stare that speaks volumes. Their room door opens. They turn and look at the young girl that stands in the doorway. She is in the hotel housemaids 22

uniform. Her name badge says

“Lindsay”.

LINDSAY Mr and Mrs Reid, I thought I heard someone out here. DAVID Lindsay?... Lindsay! Jesus, we forgot you were here. We've lost our keys. Get inside quick. David and Michelle barge into the room, forcing Lindsay backwards into the room herself. CUT TO : INT – HOTEL BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS David slams the door behind him and faces Lindsay. Michelle rushes over to the baby cot that houses little Peter. David puts his hands on Lindsay's shoulder and stares right into her eyes. LINDSAY You're scaring me Mr. Reid, what's going on? DAVID Lindsay, we saw something tonight, something we weren't suppose to see. Now those men are after us. We have to get the police and we have to get out of here. We lost our room key and we think that the men that are after us could have found it. If they have, they could be here any minute.

LINDSAY I'll phone down and get Susanne to call for help. Lindsay breaks out of David's hold and goes towards the phone. DAVID I've already told her. LINDSAY I'll just make sure she's done it. Lindsay picks up the phone and dials for reception. David goes to 23

Michelle who now has Peter in her arms. David takes Peter from her as she starts trying to pack up their belongings. Lindsay hangs up the phone with a confused look on her face. LINDSAY (cont’d) That's strange. David turns to look at her. Peter is almost nodding off in his Father's arms. Michelle has stopped packing for a second as she also looks at Lindsay. DAVID What's strange? LINDSEY It's engaged. DAVID Well that's good. It probably means she’s calling them right now. LINDSAY No, there's seven separate lines into this hotel. The chances that they're all busy at this time of night are slim to none. David looks at Michelle. She has the start of a pained expression coming over her face. She edges over to the window that looks out over the front of the hotel carpark down below. Michelle looks out. She see, parked beside their car, a big black van that wasn't there when they arrived not ten minutes ago. Michelle turns to tell David what she sees. MICHELLE There's a big black v... The phone rings. Everyone in the room stops and stares at each other. The shrill of the phone echoes round the room like a wailing banshee. Lindsay, looking at the ringing device, subconsciously backs away from it. David passes Peter back to Michelle, he then begins to slowly venture towards the phone.

Michelle's eyes are welling up with tears. David is now standing over the phone and staring down at it as if trying to work out the caller before picking up. He extends his arm and snatches it up, mid-ring. David puts it to his ear and listens. Silence. He hesitates. DAVID ... Hello? 24

Silence. Then a voice shrieks through the ear piece at him. VOICE GIVE ME BACK MY FUCKING EAR!! The phone goes dead. David stands with a dazed look on his face. He drops the phone. MICHELLE Who was that ?... David, was that the police ? David turns to face his wife. He doesn’t trust himself to say anything. David then snaps into action and rushes over to the window by Michelle. He has a look out and sees the van. Michelle grabs his arm. MICHELLE (cont’d) David, who was that on the phone?! David turns to face Michelle. They stare deep into each others eyes. DAVID They're in the building. MICHELLE What?! LINDSAY Who’s in the building? The people who’re after you? Is that why reception didn't answer the phone.... Oh God, Susanne! Lindsay dashes to the door of the room. David gets there before her and blocks the way out. DAVID What you doing? LINDSAY I have to get down there. I have to see what's happened at reception.

DAVID What we've seen of these men already, I can tell you it won't be pretty. 25

LINDSAY I have to. That's my sister down there! Lindsay pushes David out of the way and is gone, slamming the door closed behind her. David looks to Michelle, a expression of despair on his face. MICHELLE We've just killed everyone in this hotel, haven't we? All David can do is stare at his wife. MICHELLE (cont’d) What do we do? Behind the door, a distance gunshot rings out. DAVID We don't leave by the front door. MICHELLE Oh Jesus, we have to get Peter out of here, I don't care what happens to me. DAVID Don't be stupid, we're all getting out. The three of us. There should be a fire escape or something on this floor. It's the top floor, there must be something. MICHELLE I'm sure there is, but it's not in this room and I don't want to know what's happening out there! Michelle nods towards the door. DAVID Give me a second. David goes to open the door. MICHELLE What the hell are you doing?!

26

DAVID I'm going to take a peek. If there is a fire door I might be able to see it from here. MICHELLE We didn't see one when we were standing outside. DAVID We weren't looking for one, that's why. Calm down, Michelle. We'll be fine. Do you trust me? Michelle stares deep into her husbands eyes. MICHELLE I've always trusted you David. DAVID Then trust me now. David opens the door a crack. Through the small gap he sees at the end of the corridor, a fire door marking the end of the hallway. He softly closes the door again and turns back to Michelle. DAVID (cont’d) We're in luck. MICHELLE Luck is not a word I would choose to use, given the situation at hand. DAVID Michelle, forget what's going on. Our only concern is getting Peter out of this building in one piece, that's it! People are dying, yes, but it's not us, and it won't be us if we focus on our goal. All we have to do is get from here to the fire door and we're home free. MICHELLE And then what? The car's out front. How the hell are we suppose to get to it?! DAVID Let's just take things one step at a fucking time, shall we?! Michelle eyes her husband and is about to something about his tone 27

of voice, but changes her mind.

MICHELLE You're right, I'm sorry. DAVID Don't be sorry. Just get yourself out of here in one piece. MICHELLE That's my plan. Let’s do it. Michelle hugs little Peter to her chest and tries to give David a brave smile, it comes off more of a grimace. She nods at him to go for the door. David puts his ear to the door and listens for a second, then tugs it open. He exits. Michelle follows. CUT TO : INT – HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS David dashes as quietly as he can along the hallway towards the fire door. Michelle, with Peter in her arms, is only one pace behind him. A voice coming up the stairs stops them in their tracks. VOICE (o.c) The cunts are in room 417, then we torch this place! David and Michelle look from each other to the door they just left behind. On the plaque in the middle of the wooden frame is the number 417. In a hushed voice, David says one word. DAVID Run! Michelle doesn't need to be told twice. They both race along the corridor towards the fire door. David reaches it first and slam the palm of his hand against the middle of the horizontal bar going across the door. It flies open. An alarm blares into life. Michelle gasps at the sudden noise but neither stops running. EXT – METAL FRAMED FIRE ESCAPE STAIRS – CONTINUOUS Michelle being the last out, slams the fire door behind her. The alarm continues to blare. David is already half way down the first flight of stair, Michelle making haste to keep up with him. MICHELLE They're going to hear that 28

alarm! DAVID Tell me something I don't know. David points down at a tree line that starts just at the back of the hotel and leads into a thick forest.

DAVID (cont’d) We just have to make it down to the trees and they won't see us. MICHELLE Well get your finger out! David tries to pour on more speed. DAVID Are you ok with Peter? MICHELLE Don't worry about me, just move! David and Michelle clamber off the ground flight of stair and make a dash for the woods. The fire door at the top of the building flies open as the alarm is silenced, and a figure looks over the side of the railing just as Michelle, with Peter in her arms, disappears into the trees. Once in the cover of the woods, David stops, trying not to make anymore sound to give their position away. Michelle is about to say something, David clamps his hand over her mouth. They both turn and look through the branches at the top of the building. Watching the man searching for them. He turns round and says something back through the open door way. He's too far away for us to hear, but he points down at the tree line. Michelle and David stiffen. The man at the top of the fire escape is thrown something from an unseen person. He catches it and holds it in his hands, it's about the size of a football. He turns back to look down at the area that David and Michelle are standing in. Then he throws the shape towards them. They are frozen in fear. They don't move. The “thing,” hits the branches above them and snaps through, landing about a meter from David's feet. Michelle nearly screams, David holds his hand more firmly over her mouth as he himself can feel the terror creeping up the back of his neck. Staring back at them from the ground, is Lindsay's severed head. David looks back up again at the man at the top of the fire escape. Even in the darkness, he seems to be smiling. David begins to walk slowly backwards, taking Michelle with him, his hand loosening over her mouth. He doesn't take his eyes away from the form at the top of the stairs. Little peter begins to wake up and a sob is heard in his throat. DAVID 29

Oh no. The baby begins to cry. The noise seems amplified in the silence of the woods. The shape at the top of the fire escape looks over the railings more intently. He then shouts down at the area of trees David and Michelle are backing away from. MAN Now we've got you, you pair of cunts!

The man turns and shouts at someone we can't see through the open fire escape door. MAN (cont’d) They're in the woods, set the fucking dogs on them! David takes his hand away from Michelle's face and grabs her hand. Peter is now in full swing with his crying. David turns and runs, taking them both with him. As they run through the dark woods, David's voiceover returns. DAVID (v.o) Now I understood where the dog came from. But for one dog to just appear then disappear into thin air was bad enough, the thought of a pack of the bastards coming after us didn't hold too well with me at all. I realised then that our night for survival was just beginning. Getting out of the hotel was the easy part. We now had to get to the car. And then we still had to get out of the area. Proper fear is an emotion that very few people experience in their life. I'm talking real, “turn your hair grey,” fear. This night, Michelle and I were two of the few. Little peter was crying because all he wanted feed!... Ignorance is bliss. The sound of barking dogs can now be heard coming through the branches of the trees. David now has a desperate look on his face as he continues to lead Michelle as quickly as he can through the maze of foilage and undergrowth. Michelle is hugging Peter tightly to her chest. The small boy is beginning to cry more out of 30

confusion and fear now. By the expression coming over David's eyes, he know they can't hide from the dogs if the crying is kept up. He slows his pace and pauses to pick up a thick branch about the length of his forearm and twice as thick. He turns to Michelle, who has also stopped. MICHELLE What you doing? DAVID Keep going. MICHELLE What?!

DAVID We're not going to get away from the dogs with Peter crying like that. I'll hold them back, then catch up with you. MICHELLE Are you out of your mind?! DAVID Michelle, there's no other way out of this, now don't argue. Go! David tries to push her away. She doesn't budge. Fresh tears are beginning to well in her eyes. MICHELLE I can't leave you. DAVID Then Peter will die. Michelle, just go. I'll be fine. It's just a couple of dogs. Go, now! David pushes her again, this time she goes. Walking backwards, with tears streaming down her face. MICHELLE I love you. Michelle turns and runs. David smiles at the back of his retreating wife, then turns to face the sound of the dogs. He says under his breath, more to himself than to Michelle. DAVID 31

I love you too. David stands holding the branch like it's the best weapon in the world. He awaits the appearance of the dogs. He doesn't wait long. They come out of the darkness like ghosts into the real world. Three of them. The first one, at the head of the small pack, jumps at him. David swings the branch at the head of the beast, and misses. Instead, the thick wooden limb smashes into the side of the dogs ribcage. Bones are shattered as the side of the animal is caved in. It lets out a single yep and falls to the ground squirming in pain. The second one catch David high on his forearm and latches it's teeth deep into his flesh. David screams in agony. The third one bites into his lower shin a second later causing a fresh wave of pain to engulf his body. The pain now turns into rage as David swings his dog infested arm at the nearest tree. The dog is pulled off it's feet such is David's strength and it hits the tree with a sickening thud, but the dog keeps a hold of his arm. He then pokes the branch at it's under belly, the point of the thick stick breaks the skin and enters the stomach of the mutt. It lets go and drops to the ground with a groan. With just the dog on his leg now, David raises the branch for the last time and brings it down on the top of the final dogs skull.

The branch snaps in two, the end of it twirling away into the darkness. The dog does not let go. With only half a branch now, with an ugly spike at the end of it, David forces it into the animals face, grounding the splintered end of the stick into the dogs eye ball. It pops like a liquid balloon. David pushes the stick further still when the beast still won't let go. When the branch goes far enough in to reach the dogs brain, the animal drops like a stone. David stands, exhausted. He drops to his knees and puts a hand to his bleeding forearm. David looks at the dogs. The one with the shattered ribs is still whimpering. He crawls over to it and takes it head in both his hands. In one swift movement he twist the head ninety degrees. The sound of the breaking neck echoes round the woods. In the distance David hears voices, we can't make out the words but they're getting closer. David gets to his feet and staggers off in the direction of his wife. CUT TO: EXT – WOODS – MOMENTS LATER Michelle is running along holding Peter to her chest, who has now ceased crying. The sound of the dogs have stopped. She slows her pace and comes to a halt. Michelle slowly turns round and peers through the darkness in the direction she just came. The woods are now silent but for her heavy breathing and the blood ringing in her ears. In front of her, just beyond her field of vision, footsteps approach. She gasps and turns to run again. A voice stops her. DAVID (o.c) Michelle! 32

Michelle whirls back round at the sound of her husbands voice. David staggers out of the darkness and into the arms of his family. MICHELLE David, I thought I'd lost you. I thought I was all alone. DAVID Like I'd do that to you. MICHELLE Are we safe? DAVID From the dogs, yes. But we'd better keep moving, these woods must end somewhere. Michelle notices David's wounds on his forearm. MICHELLE Oh my God, you're bleeding! DAVID Don't worry about it baby, we got to keep moving.

A beam of light shoots through the night as they are illuminated by a torch in the distance. DAVID (cont’d) Shit! Come on. David takes a hold of Michelle and they begin to run. A voice reaches them through the trees. The same one David heard on the phone in the hotel room. VOICE (shouts) You killed my dogs, cunt. Now we kill you... Slow! David and Michelle, with Peter clutched to her chest, run for all they're worth. Amazingly, peter stays quiet, as if he now knows the penalty of noise. As they run, Michelle starts to ramble in panic. MICHELLE I don't believe this is happening. This can't be happening to us, this kind of thing only happens to other people! 33

DAVID Michelle, calm down. If they were going to get us, they would have got us by now. We're not going to get this far and fall at the final hurdle, now come on. As they get further away, the noises of their pursuers are all but gone. They still continue to run. Then Michelle begins to slow her pace. David notices and stays level with her. DAVID (cont’d) You ok? MICHELLE I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. DAVID Look, I'll take Peter. David reaches over. They have now slowed to a jog. Michelle holds the little boy more firmly to her chest. MICHELLE No, he stays with me. What if you have to fight again? What happens to Peter? DAVID I won't have to fight again.

MICHELLE With or without Peter, my legs are like lead. You know, I thought when you were running for your life, you'd have endless energy, but that's bullshit, I'm nearly dead, and that's before they catch us! DAVID They're not going to catch us, Michelle. I swear to you, they will not put a hand on you or little Peter. David starts to survey his surroundings as they jog along. He sees a tree with low hanging branches. David grabs Michelle by the shoulder and gently pulls her off of the straight line they've been running in. DAVID (cont’d) 34

Over here. David leads his wife and baby Peter over to the tree. All three look up at it. Michelle looks back at David. He points upwards. DAVID (cont’d) Up. MICHELLE Are you insane! They'll see us. DAVID It's the only place they won't see us! Please baby, don't argue, we don't have the time. David take Peter from his mothers arms. Michelle rubs her hands together in preparation to begin climbing. She lunges at the lowest branch and grabs it with both hand, hooking them over the top and begins to try to pull herself up. Once her feet are at shoulder hight, David walks under her. Michelle accepts the gesture and puts her feet on each of his shoulder blade and gives herself the boost she was needing. She manages to throw her legs up and hooks her feet round the branch as well as her hands. Michelle then shimmies towards the body of the tree. She find a hollow in the center of the structure of wood, just at the point where all the branches reach out. She get herself settled then reaches down for little Peter. David stretches up as far as he can and hold Peter out for Michelle to reach down and grab him up to safety. Once little Peter is nestled back in his mothers arms, it's David's turn for the climb. He jumps at the same branch Michelle did a minute earlier, swings for a second, then kicks his legs up and bumps his body along to join his family. Once there, they cuddle and don't say a word. The look of love mixed with desperation in their eyes says it all. After no more than a minute, footsteps can be heard, heading in there direction. David and Michelle subconsciously hold their breath. Even the baby has a look of alertness on his face.

Torchlight appears through the trees as four figures come into view, weapons can be seen in their hand as they get closer. One has a machete, the other an axe. The other two are armed with shotguns. As the foursome get close to the tree, they stop. David leans back from his vantage point and closes his eyes in dread. We hear the men speak but don't see them. We stay with David, Michelle and little Peter. MAN 1(o.c) This is becoming a joke, where have the fuckers gone!? MAN 2 (o.c) We've got to find them. MAN 2 (o.c) (cont’d) 35

Those cunts can't get away, they've seen too much. MAN 3 (o.c) How long do we look for them? We could be here all fucking night! The fourth man swings his axe at the tree. We don't see it but a thud hits the tree, he screams in anger as he does it. Michelle puts a hand to her mouth, as if scared that she can't trust herself enough not to scream. The man below them begins to rant. MAN 4 (o.c) Then we stay out here all fucking night if that's what it takes. They saw what we did. And then they killed my fucking dogs...! You hear me pigs?! You killed my fucking dogs! You stick your finger in my pie. That was a big mistake! You'll never see daylight again! The footsteps begin to recede, as the men start walking away from the tree and farther into the woods. Soon the forest is silent again. Michelle looks to David, with hopefulness in her eyes. They whisper back and forth. MICHELLE Do you think they're gone? DAVID If they are, it won't be long before they're back. If we're going to make a move, we're going to have to do it now. MICHELLE I don't know if I can move. I've never been this scared in my life.

DAVID You and me both, honey. But all we have to do is get back to the car, then we're out of here. Ok? Michelle takes a deep breath and nods to her husband. MICHELLE Ok. 36

DAVID I'll go first. David starts to maneuver himself into a position that will lead him feet first back down the trunk of the tree. The growl of a dog stops him dead. He stares at Michelle in a stunned expression, which pretty much says, “What the fuck?” David slowly turns his head to look beneath his feet. At the base of the tree stands the dog. The dirty looking German Shepard gazes up at David. With the help of Michelle, David gets himself back into the sitting position he was in a minute before hand. DAVID (cont’d) Shit. Where the hell did that come from, I thought I'd got them all! MICHELLE That's it, we're fucked! DAVID No we're not. It can't get to us. MICHELLE Maybe so, but with that thing there, we can't get down either! Can we?! David looks back down at the dog. It stares right back at him. It seems to smile at him. He turns his head back to Michelle. DAVID We'll give it five minutes; if it doesn't go away I'll think of something. A sound from the base of the tree catches David's attention, like claws on bark. David turns his head back towards the dog. His eyes widen in disbelief at what he's seeing. The dog is beginning to dig its claws into the thick stump of the trees trunk and pull itself up. David turns back to Michelle. DAVID (cont’d) Ok, we could be in trouble. MICHELLE What?!

DAVID It's coming up. MICHELLE What do you mean, it's coming up?! 37

Michelle glances over the side of the tree herself and sees the dog slowly making its way up the trunk using its claws like climbing spikes. She jerks her head back in shock. MICHELLE (cont’d) No, no, no, dogs can't do that! DAVID Well someone’s taught this one a new trick. MICHELLE What are we going to do?! DAVID I don't know, but we've only got a short time to do it. Michelle hugs little Peter more tightly. David watches his two person family in front of him. A tear wells up in the corner of his eye. He makes a decision. DAVID (cont’d) I love you. Michelle turns to David and is about to say something, but she doesn't get the chance. David throws himself over the side of the tree. Michelle puts a hand to her face in fright. MICHELLE No! As David falls down the side of the tree, he grabs the mutt on his way down, ripping it off the trunk. Man and beast twist in the air on their way to the earth of the forest floor. The dog lands on top of him and instantly starts snapping at his face. David grabs the dog by it's jowls with lightning speed and holds it at bay. He manages to force it over on to its back, its claws scratching up into his chest, tearing fresh wounds into his already scared body. David has no other option. With his hands of no more use than holding down the beasts grabbing jaws, David bites down. Forcing the mutts head over to the side, he sinks his teeth as hard as he can into the hairy flesh of the German Shepard’s neck. Blood spurts out of the side of the wound; it also fills David's mouth. He tries not to gag and bites down even harder. David snaps his head back away from the neck wound, a lump of dog flesh hanging out of his mouth. Blood jets out of the animals raw gash but soon diminishes. The dog goes limp. Its bladder gives out with the noise of a balloon deflating. David spits out the hairy mound of bloodied flesh. He vomits on the still warm dead dog. David himself, now slumps over onto his side.

Exhausted. We stay on David. Then Michelle's soft whisper can be 38

heard through the silence of the night. MICHELLE (o.c)(cont’d) David...? David, are you Ok? David pushes himself up onto one elbow and looks up at his wife. DAVID What d’you say we get the fuck out of these woods? Michelle smiles down at her husband. EXT – TREE LINE BORDER OF THE WOODS – MOMENTS LATER David and Michelle gazes out of the mangle of trees into the car park at the back of the hotel. Michelle still holds Peter close to her chest. David scans the whole area. At the top of the fire stairs, the door still stands open. A rectangle of light beyond, but no movement. David tugs on Michelle's sleeve to follow him. They walk slowly round the perimeter of the car park, keeping to the shadows of the forest. The front of the hotel comes into view. Their car is still there. The big black van is gone. Michelle looks at her husband with hope in her eyes. MICHELLE D'you think they're gone? David surveys the area again. DAVID Don't know... It doesn't make sense. Four of them are still in the woods. Why would they leave without them? MICHELLE Maybe they're trying to find us. Figured we wouldn't be able to double back past the others. But we did. DAVID Yes, we did. MICHELLE I think we should just go for the car and get out of here. The longer we hang about, the more chance they might come back. Michelle goes to make a move towards the openness of the car park. David holds her back. DAVID 39

Wait. It could be a trap.

MICHELLE David, how are we going to know if we don't go for it? DAVID I don't want us to have come this far only to get caught. MICHELLE You think I do?! I just want to get home, hug our son and put him to bed. DAVID Me too. David has a last look round. DAVID (cont’d) Ok, lets go. With David leading the way, they dash into the car park. David reaches the car first and pulls open the driver’s door. Michelle enters the passenger side. INT – CAR – CONTINUOUS David rummages in his pockets for the keys. Michelle holds Peter to her chest as he begins to get a bit active and the start of a cry can be heard building in his throat. Michelle tries to comfort him. MICHELLE Please, not yet Peter. Give Daddy just two minutes and you can cry your heart out. DAVID Where's the fucking keys?! I don't have them! Michelle stares at her husband, fear coming back into her face. Then something dawns on her. MICHELLE Wait, you didn't have them. You dropped them. I’ve got them! Michelle puts a free hand into one of her side pockets and takes out the car keys. She dangles them in front of David. He smirks at her and snatches them out of her hand. He jabs them into the ignition and turns. It starts first time. 40

DAVID Now, we're out of here! The body of Mr. Foyers crashes onto the bonnet of the car, having being dropped from the roof of the building.

His head shatters the windscreen and his forehead connects with the top of the steering wheel causing the skull to fracture and split open. The contents of the broken head bursts into the interior of the car. Blood, bone and brains scatter everywhere. David yelps in shock, Michelle screams in terror and little Peter begins to cry. All three of them have been streaked red and gray, with blood and brain matter. From above the car, on the roof of the building come the screams of madmen. Amongst the noise, David makes out two words. VOICES Give joy! David slams his foot down on the accelerator and the car wheel spins out of the car park. Mr. Foyers mangled body falls off to the side and disappears into the night. INT – HOTEL – CONTINUOUS The reception desk is covered in blood. The receptionist, “Susanne”, lays face down; blood is pooled around her head. The back of her skull is missing. We see people milling about, but only see their mid-sections. No faces. A hand lifts a slip of paper from a drawer. VOICE 1 (o.c) What room were they in? VOICE 2 (o.c) 417. VOICE 1 (o.c) Got it right here. Room 417, Mr. and Mrs. Reid, 107 summerhill drive, Aberdeen, Scotland. They've even put on the post code. Maybe we should just send them a threatening letter. Some of the men laugh. VOICE 1 (cont’d) No, I didn't think so... Now let’s torch this fucking place!

41

ACT II

INT – CAR – LATER David is driving. He is focused the passenger seat, staring out daze. Peter sleeps in her arms. unnoticeable. David's voiceover

on the road ahead. Michelle sits in of the side window in a kind of The night passes by outside almost returns.

DAVID (v.o) It would have been almost a two and a half hour drive home. But with the darkness and the bad roads, it was going to take closer to three. We hadn't even been on the road for an hour. Already it felt like I'd been driving for an eternity. Since leaving the hotel neither of us had said a word. What was there to say, after the initial, “Thank fuck we're out of there!” We just sat in silence. Peter soon fell back into a sleep. What kept me awake was the wind whistling through the broken windscreen. But then if I was honest, I would tell you that it was the fear of something digging away at me, telling that there was no way that this thing was over. That's what was really keeping me awake. Probably Michelle too. What I should have done was gone straight to the nearest police station. But I didn't. They would have got us. That's what I thought. Michelle 42

must have thought that too. She knew I was heading straight home, she never said a word. We had both been shocked into a reality where true evil existed. Where the bad guys win, and the good count for nothing. Our world had been turned upside down... And it hadn't even begun yet. Something catches David's attention. He looks in the rearview mirror. The road behind is in darkness. He looks in the wing mirror. Still nothing. David strains his ears to listen. He can hear nothing over the noise of his own car.

David looks over to Michelle who is still staring out of the side window. DAVID (cont’d) Can you hear something? Michelle turns from her vigil at the side window. Her expression tells she was miles away. MICHELLE Huh? DAVID I said, can you hear something? Michelle becomes instantly alert. Fear coming back into her face. MICHELLE What! Where?! DAVID Can you see anyone behind us? Michelle turns in her seat and glares out of the rear window. All she sees is the dark road leading away behind her. There's no other vehicle in sight. She turns back to David. MICHELLE There's no-one in sight. Don't do that. You scared me. DAVID Michelle, are you sure? MICHELLE David, its dark but I can still see the road. There's no-one there. 43

DAVID Oh, no. MICHELLE What d'you mean, oh, no? I thought that was good news... What? David takes his eyes off the road for a second and looks his wife in the face. DAVID I think there's someone in the boot!

EXT – QUEIT COUNTRY ROAD – CONTINUOUS The car pulls over to the side of the road and comes to a stop. David gets out of the car and looks up and down the road. He sees nothing but the darkness of night. David closes his door and stands there. The passenger door opens and Michelle gets out, a worried look on her face. She looks over the roof of the car at her husband. David turns round and looks at her. MICHELLE What you going to do? DAVID I'm going to have to look. MICHELLE But there could be anything in there! DAVID That's why I've got to look. Would you like us to take whatever's in there back to our house? MICHELLE Of course not. DAVID Well then, I've got to look. David walks to the end of the car. Michelle follows from the other side of the car. 44

DAVID (cont’d) Where you going? MICHELLE I'm looking too. You're not doing a solo. I'm not being left alone again. They get to behind the car and face the boot. David holds the keys in his hand. MICHELLE (cont’d) What d'you thinks in there? DAVID We'll find out in a minute. David puts the key in the key hole. Michelle grabs his hand. MICHELLE What if it's a person? One of those man that are chasing us? He could be getting ready to jump out on us.

MICHELLE (cont’d) Then what do we do?! DAVID We defend Peter. MICHELLE With what?! David thinks for a second. DAVID Two minutes. David walks away from the back of the car, leaving Michelle staring at the keys dangling out of the key hole. Michelle reaches a hand to the keys and grips it by her thumb and forefinger, holding them in place in case they will some how open the boot on their own accord if left unattended. She glares intensely at the boot, as if trying to see through the metal of the car. She's startled back to reality by David's return. DAVID (cont’d) What you doing? Michelle lets go of the keys and steps back from the car. MICHELLE 45

Panicking! What do you think! David stands there with a torch in his hand. Michelle looks down at it. DAVID It's the best thing we have. MICHELLE What about the hatchet? DAVID Gone. MICHELLE That's not good. DAVID I know, so here. David hands her the torch. MICHELLE What am I suppose to do, shine them to death!

DAVID No. If someone comes jumping out of here, you whack them over the fucking head, ok? MICHELLE Oh God, this is a nightmare. DAVID No shit. But the difference in a nightmare is you're normally alone. We hold it together and we'll get out of this. Michelle nods at David in agreement and hefts the torch above her head, ready to strike. David takes hold of the key in the hole. He gives Michelle a final glance. DAVID (cont’d) Ready? David twists the key and throws up the boot and takes a quick step back to allow Michelle to bash off an attack. The attack never 46

comes. David and Michelle both stand frozen in position. Michelle still with torch over head, they try and see what's in the boot of the car. With night upon them, all they can see is a hole of darkness. David takes the torch from Michelle and aims it at the blackness of the boot. He turns on the light. Michelle whirls away and vomits. David stares on in bewilderment at what he's seeing. One of the dogs he killed is laying there with it's guts hanging out. It's head is missing. In it's place is the severed head of Lindsay, the housemaid. Sticking out of her dead mouth is a room key. The number 417 can be seen on it. David puts his free hand to his mouth and jerks the gaze of the torch away from the sight before him. As he does, he see writing on the underside of the boot lid. David aims the beam of light back onto the writing, being careful not to illuminate the sight beneath it. The words are written in blood. He reads them word by word by the torchlight. It reads, “Don’t... Look... Behind... You!” David freezes in fear. He turns off the torch. Without turning round, David talks to Michelle, who is just finishing her wrenching at the side of the road. DAVID (cont’d) Michelle, get in the car. Don't talk, just do it. MICHELLE What's wrong. DAVID Please Michelle, just trust me. Michelle walks back to the passenger side of the car without a word and gets in. David closes the boot and starts to walk slowly to the driver’s side. As he opens the door to get in. He can't help it. He looks over his shoulder.

No more than thirty meters behind the car, a pair a headlights burst into life followed by the roar of an engine. DAVID (cont’d) Shit!! INT – CAR - CONTINUOUS David throws himself into the driver’s seat, thrusts the key into the ignition and turns it. Nothing. DAVID (cont’d) No fucking way! MICHELLE What's wrong?! 47

DAVID I looked behind me. David tries the keys again. Still no joy. MICHELLE You looked behind you? Michelle turns round in her seat and looks out of the back window. She sees the headlights. Michelle spins back round in her seat. MICHELLE (cont’d) No fucking way! David tries again. It splutters then dies. DAVID I'm going to fucking kill that mechanic! Michelle looks out the back again. The car behind is making no attempt to come up behind them. MICHELLE Why aren't they moving? Why are they just sitting there? David looks in the wing mirror at the stationery headlights behind them. He realizes something. DAVID Bastards. MICHELLE What? DAVID They don't want to just catch us. They want to hunt us!

David turns the key again. The car comes to life. David looks in the wing mirror again and talks to Michelle as he does so. DAVID (cont’d) Is Peter tightly in the baby seat? Michelle turns and looks at their son. He sits in his baby seat, fast asleep. Michelle turns back to David. MICHELLE He's fine. 48

DAVID Ok... Fasten your seat belt. David throws the car into gear and stamps down on the accelerator. The car shoots forward. EXT – DARK COUNTRY ROAD - CONTINUOUS The wheels of the black van spin wildly on the asphalt as it gain purchase and take up the pursuit. INT – CAR – CONTINUOUS Michelle turns and looks out the back window. She sees the van gaining on them. David is looking in the rearview mirror. He too sees it getting closer. MICHELLE It's coming in fast, David! DAVID I know, I can see it. Watch Peter, these bastards are going to ram us! MICHELLE What are we going to do?! DAVID Go faster! David throws the car into fourth gear and punches the pedal again. They surge just that little bit farther ahead. The black van keeps up without to much trouble. MICHELLE It's still with us... Shit, hold on! The van slams into the back of the car. David fights to keep control of the steering wheel. Little Peter wakes and starts crying. Michelle climbs into the back seat to comfort him. Her butt restricts David's view of the road for a second.

DAVID Jesus Christ, Michelle, what you trying to do?! David pushes her, sending Michelle into the back seat with less grace than she was intending. She lets out a little yelp as she lands beside Peter in the baby chair. 49

MICHELLE Are you trying to kill me?! David glares at her in the rearview mirror. MICHELLE (cont’d) Sorry. The back of the car is charged again. David holds the wheel this time with more ease. He looks again in the rearview mirror and shouts. DAVID What the fuck do you want from us!!? In the back seat Michelle covers Peter's ears. He continues to cry. MICHELLE What're we going to do?! DAVID Well, going fast doesn't seem to be working. They are buffeted again by the van behind. MICHELLE Oh my God...! So what do we do?! DAVID Maybe we should just stop. MICHELLE What?! Are you out of your fucking mind?! If we stop, they kill us! DAVID Get back in the front. Take Peter with you. MICHELLE David Reid, you are not going to stop this car!

DAVID Michelle, get back into the front seat and take Peter with 50

you. If you don't, we will die. That's a fact. MICHELLE But... DAVID Now! Michelle takes Peter out of his baby seat, at the same time, trying to comfort his tears to a stop. She manages to get into the front seat, with Peter held to her chest. David glances over at them for a second, not daring to take his eyes off the road for a moment longer. A desperate expression is now etched on his face. DAVID (cont’d) Fasten your seatbelt. MICHELLE What are y... DAVID Just do it! Michelle latches the belt across her chest, resting Peter on her knee for the briefest of moments. Once done, she snatches him up again and holds onto him tight. MICHELLE Ok, now what? DAVID Do mine. David hooks his arm over his shoulder and grabs the belt and pulls it so far over his chest. Michelle reaches over and finishes the task. Once the belt is clipped into between the two front chairs, Michelle looks at David for the next instruction. He gives her it. DAVID (cont’d) Now, hold the fuck on! With a worried look on her face, Michelle jams her legs straight into the foot well of the car. David stamps on the brakes. The screech of the tires is nearly enough to drown out Michelle's screaming, but not quite. David looks in the rearview mirror and watches as the van tries to swerve out of the way of the sudden stop. It fails. The van goes into a full side-ways skid and crashes into the back of David's car. The momentum of the van tips it over the car and causes it to barrel-roll the full length of the vehicle, it comes smashing onto the bonnet of the car and keeps rolling onto the road. After another three tumbles, it comes to a stop on its side. The roof of David's car has been dented in that little bit farther, but not too much as they're hurt. The bonnet has been crumpled but the engine is still running.

51

David turns to Michelle, a look of disbelief on his face. DAVID (cont’d) You don't see that every day. MICHELLE Holy shit! David slowly drives towards the wreckage of parallel, he stops. Petrol is streaming out from a ragged gash down the metal body work petrol tank. Out of the buckled back doors, to open them, in an attempt to escape.

the van. As he gets of the side of the van that conceals the a hand appears trying

DAVID Time to go. MICHELLE Quickly! David steps on the gas and they take off, leaving the scene of carnage behind. David watches the overturned van in his wing mirror, as it gets smaller in the distance. He sees a figure emerge from the back of it. DAVID Oh, oh. MICHELLE What? Michelle turns round in her seat and sees the figure. She turns back to David. MICHELLE (cont’d) Oh no. You don't think he’ll follow us again, do you? Before David has a chance to answer, the van explodes, engulfing the figure in flames. David glances at Michelle, with the slightest of smirks on his face. DAVID No. They disappear into the night. INT – CAR – LATER David and Michelle are still on their journey home. Neither are speaking, both their faces set in hard lines as they stare out into the blackness of the night ahead of them. Peter, in the back seat again, is sleeping. David's voiceover comes back to us. 52

DAVID (v.o) On the way home there was no shouts of joy at our escape.

DAVID (v.o) (cont’d) No conversations about the brutality of our past pursuers. No talk at all. We both sat and tried to get straight in our own heads what had happened to us that night. It was like something out of a Richard Laymon novel. That stuff isn't supposed to intrude into reality; it's more enjoyable when read from the pages of a book. To live it is indescribable. But it was over... Or so we thought. My only concern was getting us home in one piece, considering I was now driving a car that would be more at ease in a circus. After a while Michelle too fell asleep, off to join our son in the land of nod. How she accomplished that after all we'd be through, I'll never know. Sleep was something I knew I'd never have again. Not proper sleep anyway. Not the kind you yurn for so much that when you go to bed you have a stupid smile on your face. My life already was in tatters. Looking back now, all I had done was got the easy part out of the way. If I'd known the pain I still had to suffer, I would've driven us off the nearest cliff! INT – CAR – LATER David is still driving along the narrow twin lane road; he glances up to the night sky and catches sight of the full moon that is casting the only other light on the tarmac apart from his headlights. He looks in the rearview mirror and sees Peter in the reflection, head drooping over to the side and a trail of glistening drool running down from the corner of his mouth, the baby continues to sleep. David grins to himself. Turning his head, he takes in the sight of Michelle. She sits with her arms crossed just under her chest and her head hanging straight down. Were her 53

eyes to be open you’d think she was trying to look down her own top. The slight noise of a raising snore is starting to make it volume heard as she falls into an even deeper sleep. A small tangle of hair has fallen down the side of her face, masking her eyes from David. He reaches over with his right hand and gently tucks it behind her ear. The simple connection between them causes her to stir in her sleep. She groggily opens her eyes and squints over at David.

MICHELLE Hello. DAVID Hello to you too. MICHELLE We nearly home? DAVID Still about sixty miles yet. MICHELLE God, it feels like I’ve been asleep for ages. DAVID Hasn’t even been half an hour. Reality comes crashing back into her at what they have been through tonight. A panicked look comes over her face and she jerks her head back to gaze at little Peter. She turns back to David with a pleading look as if she’d like him to tell her that it’s all been a bad dream. All she has to do is look at the crumpled roof of the car to realize otherwise. DAVID (cont’d) He’s ok. He’s been sleeping longer than you. MICHELLE How’s he ever going to forget this? DAVID At his age, I doubt he’s been able to take much of it in. But when we get home we make sure we spoil him rotten. With a bit of luck we can force it out his psyche with chocolate. MICHELLE And what about us? 54

David has no answer for her. DAVID At least we got away. MICHELLE But we’ll never forget, will we? DAVID No, but that’s a small price to pay compared to what could have happened.

MICHELLE I still don’t believe it actually did happen. DAVID It’s true what they said. Factual events are always a lot more fantastic than fictional ones. I mean really, who could make up what has happened to us tonight? MICHELLE He’d be one sick puppy. Like those guys you read. DAVID Which one? Hutson? MICHELLE Is that the guy who’s not scared to write about anything? DAVID That would be Hutson. MICHELLE And that Laymon guy’s not much better. DAVID Michelle, you have no idea when it comes to authors. Laymon and Hutson are two of the best horror voices of the 20th and 21st century. David gives Michelle a devilish grin. DAVID (cont’d) 55

They’d have a field day with our story, that’s for sure! MICHELLE Maybe you could give them a phone when we get home. DAVID Yeah, straight after the police. Michelle slouched back in her seat and lets out a loud sign. David glances over to her. MICHELLE I just can’t believe it’s over.

DAVID Remember and touch wood when you say that. Michelle reaches a hand over and taps on David’s head. David laughs at her. MICHELLE Best I could do. The inside of this car seems to be made of plastic. DAVID Hey, do you mind! This car was top of the line at the time of its release. MICHELLE And when was that? DAVID Just after Jesus was born. Michelle smiles at her husband and puts a hand out to him. David takes it in his and rests it on his knee. MICHELLE I love you, David Reid. David turns to her and gives her a gently smile. DAVID Right back at you, you are the only one I ever wanted…. Even more than her from check-out 5 56

at Safeway! Michelle squeezes his hand. David puts on a faked pained expression. DAVID (cont’d) Just kidding. The car splutters and jerks forward a little, then calms back to a normal speed. David glances at Michelle and makes a face. MICHELLE What was that?! DAVID That can’t be right. MICHELLE What? David looks at the petrol gage. The arrow is approaching the “E” for empty. David grimaces.

DAVID No, no, no. That can’t be right! MICHELLE What?! David turns to Michelle with a strange look on his face. DAVID According to the dial, we’re almost out of petrol. MICHELLE No way! You filled it up!... No wait, I filled it up! What’s going on?! DAVID Could be a leak in the tank? MICHELLE You think? DAVID Oh no. MICHELLE You don’t think…? DAVID 57

Yeah. MICHELLE They siphoned the petrol?! DAVID Fuck!! David slams his hand on the steering wheel. MICHELLE Why didn’t they take it all and to hell with us?! DAVID ‘Cause the bastards are still playing with us. MICHELLE But their van blew up! DAVID We’ve no idea how many of them were in that van. Could’ve been only two. Maybe even one!

MICHELLE You mean they could still be following us?! Michelle strains her neck round and stares out the back window. All she sees is darkness. DAVID Michelle, I’ve got no idea. But one thing’s for sure, we need to get a top up. Michelle looks out the windows at the desolate landscape moving by. MICHELLE From where?! DAVID Maybe we’ll get lucky; there must be a petrol station somewhere near. MICHELLE I haven’t seen one yet. 58

DAVID That’s why there must be one coming soon. MICHELLE God, I hope you’re right. David’s expression sets into hard lines as he himself begins to scour the bleak landscape as Michelle continues her vigil in her own personal pursuit of salvation in the form of a petrol station. The tension in the car grows as they drive in silence, both have resorted back to the fact that the night will not be over till they are literally walking over the threshold of their own dwelling. Even though David knows there is no car behind him, he glances in the rearview mirror out of old driver’s habit. His heart begins to sink at what he sees. In the reflection, in the distance behind the car, a pair of headlights appear as twin pin pricks of white in the otherwise dark mirror. David groans. Michelle shoots her head round to David, on hearing her husband making the defeated noise. She sees him still looking in the mirror and turns in her seat again to peer out of the back window. She sees the headlights in the distance. MICHELLE (cont’d) Oh please, no! DAVID Stay calm. MICHELLE Stay calm? How am I supposed to do that?!

Michelle reaches into the back seat and unhooks Peter from his baby seat. The little man still sleeps. She gently takes him in her arms and faces front again, hugging the baby tight to her chest. More for her own comfort than the sleeping child’s. David continues to glare in the rearview mirror as he drives the car alone at a steady speed. DAVID They’re catching up. MICHELLE What d’we do? DAVID Baby, I don’t know. If we try and outrun them we’re just going to run out of petrol sooner. Then we’re sitting ducks. MICHELLE 59

We have to do something! David searches the road ahead with his eyes, praying in his head for some kind of solution to their problems to produce it’s self. He sees it in the form of a lay-by, just about twenty yards ahead of them. DAVID Yes!! MICHELLE What? Where? DAVID Hold on. David flicks a lever on the underside of the steering wheel and the headlights go out, the outside world is plunged into darkness as they cruise alone the road. Driving with just the shallow light of the moon for guidance, David sees the opening of the turn for the lay-by and jerks the wheel, swerving the car into the stopover area. He drives as far as a clump of bushes that is large enough to mask the car from the road. He turns off the engine and exits the car, snapping a quick command to Michelle. DAVID (cont’d) Stay here. I’ll be right back. MICHELLE David, where you goi… Before she can finish her sentence, the door has slammed and he’s gone, into the darkness of night. She twists in her seat, trying to catch sight of him. She sees his silhouette darting towards the cover of the same bush that’s hiding the car.

CUT TO: EXT – LAY-BY - CONTINUOUS David tries his best to stay hidden behind the bush as the headlights of the approaching car near him. He crouches and peers through the thicket of twigs and leaves. The car glides by without the occupants even giving the lay-by a second glance. David can just make out the people in the car and no more. He lets out a short grunt of laughter as the old couple drive on along the road and shakes his head to himself. He turns and makes his way back to his own car. CUT TO: INT – CAR - CONTINUOUS 60

Michelle watches David’s silhouette come back towards the car. She stares at him, wide eyed as he slumps back into the driver’s seat. He turns and grins at her. MICHELLE Well? DAVID It’s fine. MICHELLE Who was it? DAVID Well I never stopped them to ask, but I’m guessing it was someone’s grandparents. Defiantly no threat to us. They’d be more scared to bump into us I would think. MICHELLE Thank god for that. DAVID Yeah, well, it’s better to be safe than sorry. We’ll give it another couple of minutes to make sure no-one else is close enough behind to give us another heart attack, then we’ll make a move again. MICHELLE Don’t you think we should just go? Hanging about could be a bad idea.

DAVID Michelle, there’s no way they can know we’re here. But if they are trying to catch up to us, they’re not going to be checking out every lay-by from here to Aberdeen. If anything we’ll see them speeding past. MICHELLE Are you sure? 61

DAVID I’m sure. Come here. David stretches out an arm towards Michelle. She leans into him and he cuddles her, careful not to squash little Peter who is still in her arms. David looks down at his sleeping son. DAVID (cont’d) I can’t believe he’s still sleeping. MICHELLE Be thankful for small mercies. DAVID I am. I just wish it was me. MICHELLE You and me both, mister. David kisses Michelle on the forehead then rests his head against hers as they both gaze down at their son cradled in Michelle’s lap. EXT – QUIET ROAD – LATER The road running past the lay-by is silent in peaceful darkness. As the moonlight casts a cold white glow over the asphalt, a small shape appears at the side of the road. The hedgehog doesn’t have the common sense to look both ways before crossing; it just begins to amble across without a care in the world, with no real idea why it has to cross the stretch of road in the first place. As if that very thought passes through it’s mind, it gets to the central line, then makes an about turn and begins to make it’s way back to the grassy verge at the side of the road again. It’s no more than two inches from safety when a car speeds past, buffeting the small creature with a gust of wind. It tucks its limbs and head into its body, turning itself into a ball of spikes. It spins on it’s back for a few seconds, still recovering from the not so friendly blast of cool night air, then uncurls and scurrying back into the undergrowth from where it once came.

CUT TO: INT – CAR - CONTINUOUS David is still sleeping. His back straight against the seat, arms behind his back. Michelle is no longer in the passenger seat holding Peter. Other than David, the car is empty. The sound of 62

his driver’s door opening is heard. His hair is teased by the fresh night air. A fist slams into the side of his face, crushing his cheek and rocking his head over to the side, spittle flying from his lips. The sudden assault shocks David awake. He looks in the direction of the open door with confusion and fear flashing in his eyes. A masked man leers in at him from the doorway of the car. A huge frame of a man. The man cocks his arm back readying himself for another strike. David tries to raise his arms to defend himself, and realizes he can’t. His hands are cuffed behind the driver’s seat. The man lowers his arm and smiles an evil smile in at David. David stares up at the man. DAVID Where’s my wife and son? MAN Where indeed. The man stands back from the door and swings his arm behind him like he’s introducing something David might appreciate. As the man walks out of the way, David see where Michelle and Peter are, and he wished he hadn’t. His stomach drops and his heart sinks. Standing in front of him are another four masked men standing in a line. Michelle is on her knees at their feet, her head bowed and softly weeping. At the right hand side of the men is a German Shepard dog. Hanging in its drooling jaws, by the scruff of his neck, is baby Peter. For some odd reason, Peter is smiling, like he’s almost ready to start laughing at the predicament that he’s found himself in. The dog snarls at David as it stares right at him. David tries to get up from the seat in anger at what he sees before him. His locked arms behind the chair snap him back into place; he winces as the cuffs dig into his wrists. DAVID Let me out of this fucking seat you cowardly bastards!! The man, who punched him, approaches again. David shrinks into the seat fearing another strike. The man’s hidden face almost comes nose to nose with David’s. MAN You’re going to fucking love this. Things are about to heat up around here. The man backs himself out of the car again. Once again, David sees the other men standing behind his wife. But something is different. One of them now holds a petrol can. All four smile at David.

DAVID Don’t you dare, you bastards! 63

Don’t you dare, please! Don’t, I’ll do anything! David starts to sobs as he watches one of the men begin to douse petrol over the top of Michelle’s head. It instantly darkens her hair and shoulders of her clothes as the liquid flows down the rest of her body, pooling round her knees. Still, she doesn’t look up at David. She seems to be mumbling something to herself. David catches a couple of words and realizes it the Lords prayer. As the petrol can begins to empty, the pourer tosses it over his shoulder. The man next to him produces a box of matches. David starts franticly shaking his head from side to side. DAVID (cont’d) No, no, no. Please, don’t do it. We’re not going to say anything. We’re not going to tell a sole. The man with the box of matches takes one out and strikes it. It flares into life illuminating the head of the balaclava covered face like a Halloween ghoul. The man looks into David’s tear streaked eyes. MAN 2 We know you won’t. He touches the live match to Michelle’s hair. Her head goes up with the sound of a soft whoomph. David screams in emotional pain and agony. DAVID Nooooooooooo! Arrrrggggghhhhh! The flames race down the arms of Michelle’s clothes. Within a second, her whole body is alight. She screams in a high pitched squeal. She finally raises her head and stares at David. With her face ablaze she tries to say something, but no words come forth, as her lips have already been burnt off and flames are beginning to bubble her tongue. Michelle tumbles forward and thuds onto her face as flames continue to consume the remainder of her body. The German Shepard lets out a bark and somehow manages to keep Peter in its jaws. David looks at the dog just as it swings it head in the direction of the burning pile of flesh and clothes that was once his wife. It releases its grip on Peter’s collar, sending the baby skywards. He arcs in the air and drops into the flames that Michelle’s body still cascade into the night. David’s eyes widen in pure horror, shocked and stunned into silence. He takes large gulps of air trying to stop himself from convulsing at the sights he has just witnessed. The man who had punched him, comes towards him again. He leans into the car and laughs. MAN Bet you were wondering what happened to all your petrol.

64

MAN (cont’d) Hope that answers your question. A hand shoots round from behind David’s seat, grabbing him round the chin and forces his head backwards, exposing his bare neck to the chuckling man. MAN (cont’d) Now it’s your turn. The man lifts a chisel into view and holds it in front of David’s face for him to see it. David glances at it and tries to struggle with the hand holding his chin back. He tries to catch the reflection of his backseat perpetrator in the rearview mirror, but has no luck. The backseat looks empty. The man now raises a hammer into view. The hand holding David’s chin forces some fingers into his mouth and pushes up his top lip, to expose his teeth, making David look like a snarling dog. The chisel begins to hover over his top two teeth. David guesses what’s coming and tries to free his head from the phantom hand but can’t overpower it. He open his mouth for a moment and one of the fingers slip between his teeth. David bites down for all he’s worth. He feels the finger break in his mouth and his teeth sinking into the flesh. He bites down harder still, the hand pulls back stretching skin and escapes David’s mouth, but leaving the severed digit behind resting on David’s tongue. Strangely no sound of pain comes from the backseat. David is about to spit out the finger when the man with the chisel clamps his hand over his mouth. MAN (cont’d) You bite it, you swallow it! The man then grabs David’s nose and pinches it closed. With mouth covered and nose closed, David has no option. He swallows the finger. The man takes his hand away and David gasps for breathe, forcing his head forward. The hand still holding his chin from behind comes too, it drops down his shoulder and lands in his lap. David stares at the severed hand that was somehow holding him from behind. The man laughs again. MAN (cont’d) My friend would like that back at some point. David looks at the man as he nods behind him, to the men standing over Michelle’s body. One of the men raises an arm in a waving gesture. But his arm comes to an abrupt halt at the wrist, as the hand itself is missing. Blood begins to spurt from the severed wound. The man smiles at David. David looks back to the hand on his lap. It suddenly jumps onto the end of each finger tip, like a spider ready to pounce. As all the men begin to laugh, it lunges at David’s face. 65

CUT TO:

INT – CAR – NIGHT David is shocked out of his nightmare with a gasp of terror escaping from his throat. He sits there stunned as Michelle is staring into his eyes, hands on his chest. He looks down at her lap and sees little Peter smiling up at him. He glances up to Michelle and hold her in a sorrowful gaze, tears have welled up in his eyes. MICHELLE Are you ok? David smiles at her and lets out a small laugh of relief. His face then goes solemn again. DAVID We’re out of here! David reaches forward and twists the keys of the ignition and the car grumbles, then starts. He steps on the gas and guides the car out of the lay-by and onto the deserted road. He gives his rearview mirror a check as if looking for something in the back seat, he sees nothing there. Michelle sees him looking and glances over her shoulder. She looks back to David. MICHELLE David, you sure you’re ok? David reaches over and tickles Peter on the tummy. He smiles at Michelle. DAVID Next stop, home. MICHELLE What about…? Michelle nods at the petrol gage. DAVID Via a nice friendly petrol station. MICHELLE I like the sound of that. They drive off. EXT – DESERTED ROAD – MOMENTS LATER 66

The Reid’s family car comes cruising down the middle of the empty road. The only sound is that of the motion of the wheels grounding over the surface of the tarmac. Once the car has passed, the road is desolate again. Then, just off in the distance, headlights appear on the horizon.

ACT III INT – CAR – CONTINUOUS David seems more relaxed as he drives the car alone at a steady speed. The wind rushing through the broken windscreen help fight off the feeling of tiredness that itches away behind his eyes. Michelle reaches over and turns on the radio. The soft mellow tune of an Eva Cassidy song fills the interior of the car. Michelle sinks back in her seat, Peter again, fast asleep in her lap. She sighs at the sound of the long time gone diva while she listens to her rendition of “Time after time.” MICHELLE God, I haven’t heard that one for a while. I used to love Eva Cassidy. DAVID I still do. She has a very special place in my heart. MICHELLE Really? DAVID Don’t you remember? MICHELLE Should I? DAVID About nine years ago. MICHELLE Nine years ago?! We’d only just got together about nine years ago! DAVID I know. The first time I heard this song was the night we met. You were in the middle of 67

telling me a story about your childhood when this song came on in the background. Even since then, whenever I think about the night we met, I remember two things. This song, and the way you looked that night. David glances over to Michelle. She is staring at him, doe eyed, tears welling up in the corners.

MICHELLE You never cease to amaze me, David Reid. DAVID What can I say? Love at first sight is a hard thing to forget. I could even tell you the scent of your perfume that night. MICHELLE You are kidding?! DAVID No. MICHELLE What was it? DAVID Er…. Old Spice, wasn’t it? Michelle blurts out a horrified laugh at David’s statement and playfully punches him in the arm. MICHELLE You were doing so well. You’ll never change. David laughs too. Then he stops and says, while staring at the road ahead. DAVID It was Pink Plume fragrance. Once again, Michelle is stopped in her tracks. Stunned, she looks at the side of David’s face. He glances at her. She sees a deeper love in his eyes than she’s ever seen before. MICHELLE 68

I don’t believe you said that. How could you remember that?! That’s amazing. After all these years. DAVID It’s not only ever the bad things that people remember. Some good things hang around in the mind too. MICHELLE I love you so much, you know that, don’t you? DAVID And you know that I….

David notices the headlight behind them in the mirror. Michelle sees his expression change. MICHELLE What? Michelle twists in her seat and looks out the back window, she sees the lights approaching them. DAVID Probably just another pair of old foggies. MICHELLE You think? DAVID Yeah. Don’t worry about it. Michelle faces forward again. David continues to watch the lights in the mirror. As they begin to get closer, they separate, like the car behind has split in two. DAVID (cont’d) What the hell…? Then he hears the roar of the motorbikes as they race towards the car. One coming along the right side and one to the left. DAVID (cont’d) Uh oh. Michelle has turned again in her seat at the sound of the revving engines. She sees the bikes racing to flank the car on either side. 69

MICHELLE No!! David is watching both bikes approach in each wing mirror. The bikes are now only about ten feet behind the car. An abject seems to be getting swung over the head of one of the riders. David doesn’t understand how that can be possible as the rider has both hands on the handle bars. Then he realizes that there’s a second person on the back of each bike. The object being swung over head is a length of chain. DAVID Shit! MICHELLE What? DAVID There’s two on each bike. I think the ones on the back have weapons.

MICHELLE Oh no, they’re going to get us this time, I can feel it! DAVID Honey, if you’ve nothing constructive to say, keep it to yourself, please! MICHELLE I’m sorry, but what d’you expect! David ignores the comment and eyes the bike coming along his side of the car, chain swinging. DAVID Keep a tight hold of Peter. The chain comes smashing into the side of the car, its end licking at the corner of David’s already broken window ledge. David jerks away from the attacking metal with a yelp. DAVID (cont’d) Jesus Christ! MICHELLE Get us out of here, David! DAVID If I floor this thing, we’re going to run out of petrol 70

sooner than we’d hopped! Then we are in trouble. We have to lose these guys quick. MICHELLE How?! DAVID I’m working on!... Watch out! The other bike has leveled itself at Michelle’s side and the man on the back is trying to make a grab at the side of the car. David jerks the wheel, swerving away from the attempt to board the bodywork of his car. The swing of the vehicle causes the bike on David’s side to clatter against the bodywork of the automobile; it then veers to a safer distance, but stays parallel. MICHELLE If we run out of petrol now, we’re stuffed! DAVID Not going to happen. David glances over to the bike at the passenger side of the car.

The rider on the backseat has a whip as opposed to the chain welding psycho on his side. A thought rushes through David’s mind. DAVID (cont’d) We need to swap bikes. MICHELLE What?! DAVID I want the biker with the whip on my side. MICHELLE You think I want to trade for the fucker with the chain!? DAVID Trust me. MICHELLE And how do you plan to get them to change sides. Will I ask them nicely through window for you!? DAVID Don’t lose it baby. 71

MICHELLE Do you blame me?!... What are you doing? David has put his foot down on the pedal. The car has begun to speed up. MICHELLE (cont’d) We can’t outrun a pair of motorbikes! What about the petrol!? David gives Michelle a sly look and a reassuring smile. DAVID Time to hold on again, baby. MICHELLE Oh, Jesus. David smashes his foot on the brakes, bringing the car to a screeching halt. Both motorbikes on either side go zooming by, being caught out by the sudden stop. David thrusts the car into reverse and jolts his family back the way they’ve came from. The two bikes have come to a stop, and have begun squealing they’re back tires, as they wheel spin in a sharp turn. David, watching them turn, spins his own steering wheel. The car whirls round in a backwards turn and lands up pointing the opposite direction.

Once again, facing away from the bike, who are now starting after him again. As David throws the car into first gear, he glances into the wing mirror to see that the one with the whip is now coming up fast on his side. DAVID Ok, cross your fingers. MICHELLE We’re going back the way we came! David, what are you doing?! DAVID Praying! The bikes have now managed to level themselves along either side of the car again. David looks out of his broken window at the riders at his side. The man on the back thrashes the whip at him, it licks at the edges of his window. David swerves slowly towards the bike. David mumbles to himself. DAVID (cont’d) Try again, dick-head. 72

David puts his hand on the door handle. The man on the back of the bike whips at him again. As David sees the man’s arm cocking back, he opens his driver’s door. The man cracks the whip at him. Just as the tongue of it is reaching towards David’s face, he slams the door, catching the end of the whip in the closed door frame. David floors the car once more, looking out the window and sees to his surprise that the man has had the handle of the whip wrapped round his wrist to stop him from losing it. As David conjures more speed from the car, he swerves away from the bike, tightening the slack that the whip had. The man is ripped off the back of the bike and falls to the side of the car with a clatter, followed by screams as he’s torn along the tarmac of the road. David jerks the wheel again, once, in the direction of the screaming man. The back of the car bumps as his body is caught under the back wheel. The screaming stops. David grimaces over to Michelle. She shouts in shock as the man with the chain on her side of the car, thrashes out at the automobile, the wing mirror flies off into the night. David swerves the car over at them in a sharp turn. The bike crashes off the side of the bonnet as both riders fall from the machine. The one on the back is flipped over the driver and slams onto the metal work of the car. David, slams on the brakes and once again throws it into reverse and floors it. The man on the bonnet rolls off. David stops and puts it back into first. The man on his knees in front of the car looks at David through the brightness of the headlight. The noise of the wheels of the car spinning almost drowns out the shout of terror from the man. But not quite. The car bumps again. The other man that was on the bike makes a grab for the side of the car from his prone position on the side of the road. David sees him at the last minute and veers over to him. His head goes under the rear wheel and bursts like an over ripe egg, crushing even the crash helmet. David continues to speed on.

Michelle now has her eyes closed, trying to shut out the horrors of the outside world. Her hands still embrace little Peter, who unbelievably still sleeps. The last remaining bike keeps up the chase, but hangs back, being the final man left. Michelle opens her eyes and looks to David. MICHELLE Is it over? DAVID One left. MICHELLE Is it nearly over? DAVID Lets not hold our breathe. Counting chickens will only get us in the shit. It’s already been proven this isn’t our 73

night! MICHELLE You trying to make me feel better?! DAVID Just trying to levitate things. MICHELLE Don’t levitate, kill this bastard and get us home. DAVID I don’t believe we’re at the stage where we’re talking about murder like it’s a daily chore. MICHELLE Tonight it is! David checks the rearview and sees that the man is sticking with them, about ten feet behind the car, keeping up without too much problem. DAVID Any ideas? MICHELLE Don’t ask me. You’ve done quite well on your own so far. DAVID Why don’t we just stop and drive away when he gets off his bike?

MICHELLE I don’t know if I like the sound of that. DAVID Honey, we don’t have the fuel for harder thinking. MICHELLE David, you know I trust you. Whatever you do now, I’m with you. What d’you want me to do? DAVID You just keep Peter safe, whatever happens. 74

MICHELLE Ok. David smiles at her. DAVID I love you. MICHELLE Just get us home, baby. David begins to slow the car to a stop. The bike behind slows too, keeping its distance. Once the car has stopped, David looks in the mirror and sees that the bike has stopped a good twenty feet behind them. The rider stays on the bike. With both modes of transport stationary, the two parties stare at each other. The rider glares straight ahead, David watches for movement in the rearview mirror. MICHELLE (cont’d) What’s he doing? DAVID Just sitting there. MICHELLE He’s not coming towards us? DAVID Not yet. MICHELLE He maybe knows what we’re planning. DAVID Maybe. But we can’t sit here all night. Cyclist and driver continue to stare at each other for a small amount of time.

Enough for David to realize that the rider is not going to dismount his bike. MICHELLE This isn’t going to work, is it? DAVID It’s not looking too good, no. The bastard won’t get off his bike. 75

MICHELLE Shit, so what now. DAVID We’re going to have to keep going and see what happens. We need a petrol station. If he’s just going to hang back, we’d be just as well looking for one. MICHELLE With him following us?! DAVID Tell me what to do then? MICHELLE I don’t know, David! DAVID Then we just keep going. David put the car back into first gear and steps on the gas. And stalls the car. DAVID (cont’d) Shit. David cranks the key in the ignition. Nothing. DAVID (cont’d) Oh, Jesus no! MICHELLE Don’t tell me! DAVID We really need petrol. MICHELLE Are we out?

DAVID No, the gage isn’t completely in the red. We should still get a good couple of miles out of it. 76

MICHELLE So what’s the problem?! DAVID It’s just struggling. Give it a minute. MICHELLE We might not have a fucking minute! David tries it again. The car coughs then dies. David checks behind him. The man is getting off the bike. He stands by it and opens his jacket and takes out a machete. Holding it down by his leg, the blade reaching down past his knee, he begins slowly walking towards the prone car. David stares opened mouth at the riders approach. DAVID Jesus fucking Christ! Michelle looks behind and sees the man approach. She also sees what he’s holding down the side of his leg. She throws herself forward again and grabs David’s nearest shoulder. MICHELLE We have to go… Now!! DAVID You think?! David tries the car again. Again it splutters and dies. The man is now only a few feet from the back of the car. He shouts at then through his helmet. RIDER (o.c) Get out the car! David ignores him and tries the ignition again. Nothing. The man now stands at the rear of the car. He has stopped just at the boot. He raises the machete and swings it down onto the metal work of the back area. Paint’s chipped off and the blade squeals on the metallic surface. RIDER (o.c) (cont’d) GET OUT THE FUCKING CAR NOW, CUNTS… Your fuel is gone. You ain’t going anywhere now. If you’re lucky I’ll make it quick for you both… Well, maybe not the lady.

RIDER (o.c) (cont’d) 77

But if you’re a good boy, I’ll let you watch. Think I’ll save the little baby cunt for desert. The last statement from the man kicks David in the guts. He comes to a decision in his head. He reaches for the handle of the car door and turns to Michelle. DAVID Whatever happens, don’t get out this car. MICHELLE Are you out of your mind, you’re not going out there!? DAVID I’m not letting him come in here to get you and Peter. MICHELLE David, please! David grabs Michelle and kisses her on the mouth then whispers in her ear. DAVID It’s going to be ok. Ok? Michelle softly nods her head against his shoulder then turns her head away. David turns back to the door and pushes it open. CUT TO: EXT – DESERTED ROAD - CONTINUOUS David slams the door and stands staring at the crash helmet clad man who glares at him from the end of the car. DAVID What do you want? The man laughs inside of the helmet. RIDER Isn’t that becoming a bit obvious? He raises the machete and point the blade at David’s chest. RIDER (cont’d) You… And the pair in the car… But we’ll get to them. Or should I say, I’ll get to them! 78

The rider walks towards David. David takes a step back then thinks better of it and holds his ground. Both men stop, no more than two feet separate them. RIDER (cont’d) Now, what you going to do? There’s no such thing as a hero in the real world. You’ve seen too many movies you fucking civilian… It’ll only hurt for a second. The rider raises the down towards David’s helmet. His knuckles the rider jerks back

machete over head and is about to thrust it skull, when David throws a punch at the man’s clatter off the darkened visor. The head of a few inches, then straightens again.

RIDER (cont’d) You are a fighter, aren’t you? DAVID Just let us go… Please! RIDER Don’t whine, it’s over. The man thrusts the machete again at David’s head, but not the blade. The handle of the large blade crashes off the side of David’s temple, opening a gash just above his ear. David drops to the ground. The Rider looks down at him and shakes his head. RIDER (cont’d) Looks like all the fight has gone from you. Didn’t take long, did it? The rider now raises the blade for the last time, the sharp edges of the steel aiming at David useless body on the tarmac. As David looks up, all he can do is feebly shield his head with an arm. The man is just about to let loose with the blade. MICHELLE (o.c) HEY!! The rider whirls his head round at the sudden sound of Michelle’s voice behind him. Michelle stands with the torch clutched in her hand. As the dark head of the helmet comes round to look at her, she whips it’s forward into the tinted glass visor. The connection shatters it and sends the shards inwards to the man’s eyes. He screams and drops the machete. He throws his hands up to his head and tries to pull off the crash helmet. Michelle then takes the chance to power in foot up between his legs. Kicking hard enough for the tip of her shoe to make contact with the man pelvis. The 79

rider lets out a whimper and falls to his knees. David, coming back to his senses, grabs the fallen machete and pushes himself back onto his feet. He stands over the man who is still on his knees hold his groin.

David puts the flat of his foot on the man’s back and thrusts him forward. His hands stay on his ruined groin and falls face-first onto the hard ground. The noise of the helmet’s metallic crash on the asphalt echoing round the deserted road. David looks to Michelle. Michelle looks at the length of blade in his hand. MICHELLE (cont’d) Do it! David raises the blade above the man’s head. He looks again to Michelle. MICHELLE (cont’d) He’ll kill us both if you don’t. David swings the blade down, catching the man in the neck, just below the lip of the helmet. The machete doesn’t sever the head. The blade gets stuck halfway and sticks. Blood begins to pool round the dying man. A soft expel of gas can be hear as the man’s bowels give out and his sphincter muscle fails. David stands back in shock at what he’s been forced to do. He looks to Michelle. DAVID You ok? MICHELLE I am now. She looks down at the man. MICHELLE (cont’d) Think we can get the car started? DAVID I hope so. INT – CAR – MOMENTS LATER David is cranking the key in the ignition to no avail. It’s dead. He slams the steering wheel with the heal of his hand. DAVID Balls!! We’re going nowhere! MICHELLE 80

We can’t just sit here! DAVID Tell me something I don’t know. Shit, there must be way out of this. MICHELLE Yes. Petrol!

DAVID I’ve got a petrol can in the boot, and we don’t want to go in there! It’s empty anyway. MICHELLE Maybe there’s a farmhouse close by. DAVID Yeah, but in which direction?! MICHELLE We could split up. David gives her a look. MICHELLE (cont’d) Yes, I know. Bad idea. I’m just thinking out loud. David scans the countryside that surrounds the car. He looks over the field they’re parked beside. At the other side of it he sees a building in the darkness silhouetted by the moonlight. DAVID What d’you think that is. MICHELLE Where? David points into the darkness in the direction of the building. Michelle scrunches up her eyes as she tries to figure out what it could be. MICHELLE (cont’d) Not too sure, but you know what it kind of looks like? DAVID What? MICHELLE 81

A petrol station! DAVID I doubt it, we’re not that lucky. MICHELLE It’s about time we had some though. DAVID Only one way to find out. David opens his door and looks to Michelle.

DAVID (cont’d) You in the mood for a hike? MICHELLE If it is a petrol station, I’ll go through hell to get there! DAVID We already have. CUT TO: EXT – DESERTED ROAD - CONTINUOUS David gets out the car, followed my Michelle at the other side, Peter cradled in her arms. When they get to the fence that borders the field, David climbs over and turns so Michelle can hand him little Peter. He takes his small son in his arms and at the same time tries to assist his wife over the fence. Once both on the other side Michelle takes Peter back and holds him close to her, making her feel a little more secure. They begin to walk through the field, both focused on the dark build in the distance. Once getting to such a position that they can work out what the building is, David recognizes that it is a petrol station. MICHELLE Yes!! David, I could kiss you! DAVID Nothing gets past these peepers. Michelle laughs at her husband and kisses him. Neither of them has noticed the black van that is pulling to a stop beside their abandoned car in the darkness behind them.

82

EXT – DESERTED ROAD – CONTINUOUS Four men get out of the van. Two out the back, two out the front. All wear ski-masks. They stand and look down at the dead form of the rider who was once a member of their group. They then look at the wreck of a car. MAN 1 Where the fuck are they! MAN 2 Can’t be far. Not if they’re going by foot. The third man has crouched down by the dead rider and is putting his fingers in the pool of blood round his head. He brings his hand up and looks at his stained digits through the eye holes in the mask.

MAN 3 They haven’t been gone long. Blood’s still warm. MAN 4 What do we do with him? The fourth man nods down at his dead comrade. MAN 2 Fuck all. He’s dead, fuck ‘im. Should have been more careful. To get taken out by civilians is a disgrace. He stays here to be found. He has nothing on him to indicate who he is. No-one will come looking for us, we know that for a fact. The group laughs at the statement. MAN 3 Maybe we should each take a different direction. North, south, east and west. We’ve must get our hands on the cunts soon, and before daylight! No witnesses. There hasn’t been one in over fifty years and we’re not going to let our generation fuck that up. Not for a pair of cunts like that. Whoever finds them, don’t waste 83

time, kill them. We meet back here in two hours regardless… Oh, and whoever does get to them… Take the baby alive. The Master would quite enjoy that. Haven’t had a little cunt for some time now. Right, let… In the distance, some light burst forth from a building at the far side of the field they are standing beside. The other men follow the third man’s gaze. All men stare at the building. The lights go off again. MAN 3 (cont’d) Why would a petrol station that’s closed for the night have lights going on and off?... I think someone just fucked up. Follow me. EXT – PETROL STATION – MOMENTS EARLIER David and Michelle have just emerged from the field and are approaching the front of the station.

David is first to round the corner of the building to find that it’s closed. He turns to Michelle as she joins him. DAVID I thought as much, it’s closed. MICHELLE So what now?! DAVID At this point, a closed door is not going to stop us. We haven’t committed a petty crime all night. It’s about time we started. Look around for a decent sized stone. MICHELLE What you going to do? DAVID Smash in the door, what d’you think. MICHELLE That’ll make a helluva noise. David looks around at how isolated they are. 84

DAVID Who’s going to hear it?! MICHELLE We should know better by now not to take chances. David sees a good sized stone and walks towards it. DAVID Yeah, you’re right. David picks up the stone and holds it between his knees as he starts to take off his jacket. MICHELLE What you doing now?! DAVID Quit asking question. I wasn’t always so law abiding when I was young. I learned a thing or two. David walks over to the glass door of the station. He tries to push it open. It doesn’t budge. He looks over his shoulder at Michelle.

DAVID (cont’d) Well, you don’t know till you try. David then holds his jacket flat against the glass, then punches the stone into the middle of the fabric, smashing the glass behind but not making nearly as much noise if he’d done it without the jacket acting as a silencer. David drops the rock and puts his jacket back on. He then reaches through the jagged hole he has created and finds the lock. Two seconds later, he’s pushing the door open. He waves in a sweeping gesture towards the entrance, indicating for Michelle to enter. DAVID (cont’d) Ladies first. MICHELLE Please, I insist. She waves David in first. MICHELLE (cont’d) Knowing our luck, there’ll be guard dogs, and your better 85

with dog then I am. DAVID Don’t mention dog, honey. That’s not even remotely funny. MICHELLE I wasn’t looking for a laugh. David enters the gloomy station, Michelle, with Peter still sleeping in her arms, right behind him. Once inside, the door swings closed. Swallowing them in darkness. CUT TO: INT – PETROL STATION - CONTINUOUS Everything is dark. David feels the way with his hands. The moonlight coming through the windows shows him the way to the counter. Michelle is following by having her free hand on his shoulder. DAVID Right, we need to find the control switch that’ll turn the pumps on. Then all we have to do is find a petrol can and we’re out of here and homeward bound. MICHELLE Sounds simple enough. Give yourself a minute and our eyes should adjust to the gloom.

DAVID Yeah, if you look round the shelves to find a can, I’ll check round the back for some switches. They must be round there somewhere. MICHELLE Ok. Michelle venture away from David and begins squinting her eyes as she searches the shelves. David goes to the end of the counter to find a locked door that must lead behind the cash desk and onto behind the scenes of the station. David softly shoulders the door, it doesn’t seem too strong. DAVID Michelle, I’m about to make a 86

noise, don’t worry I’m just breaking down a door. MICHELLE (o.c) Ok. Try not to be too loud. DAVID I’ll try. David steps back a couple of feet and rams his shoulder at the door, it gives way under the pressure and flies open. David stumbles through and goes sprawling onto his face with a grunt. MICHELLE (o.c) David! You ok? DAVID I’m fine David pushes himself to his feet and begins to search. He’s in a corridor. A door to his left must lead behind the desk. That’s the one he tries. It’s not locked. He pushes through and searches under the counter. Not being able to see much, he grabs a lighter from the display of cigarettes behind him. He sparks it and looks under the counter again. David’s confronted with an array of switches and buttons. He mumbles to himself. DAVID (cont’d) Jesus Christ… Michelle, how you getting on? MICHELLE (o.c) Nothing yet… hold on, here we go. Got one. I’ll take two just in case. DAVID Good idea.

MICHELLE (o.c) Need a hand? DAVID I think so. Michelle comes round to behind the desk, two cans clasped by the handles in her free hand. She bends down and looks at the switch that are in front of her husbands face. Then she does a double take at the lit lighter in his hand. MICHELLE You think that’s a good idea in 87

a petrol station?! DAVID You broke our torch, remember? MICHELLE Are you complaining? DAVID No chance. But this is the best I could do. They look back at the switches. MICHELLE Just flick them all. DAVID You think? MICHELLE Yes, what’s the worsted that could happen. DAVID True. David flicks them all. The lights in the shop burst into life. DAVID (cont’d) Holy fucking shit! David flicks them off again. DAVID (cont’d) That’s the worsted that could happen. MICHELLE Did the pumps go on? DAVID No, these are all lights. Must work everything in the shop.

MICHELLE So, where would the pump switches be. DAVID There’s another door through there. 88

David point alone the counter and out the door. A closed door faces there. MICHELLE I’ll check. DAVID Yeah, come on. David lets the lighter die and follows his wife through the counter door and to the other one. Michelle tries the handle and it opens. It a small room with a couple a levers on the wall. MICHELLE This looking promising. DAVID It does that. David pulls them both. He flicks the lighter again and stares at the levers. They now both point down. Just level with them, a sign on the wall reads, “ON”. DAVID (cont’d) I think we’re in business, come on. David leads his small family back into the front of the station and out the door back to the forecourt. CUT TO: EXT – PETROL STATION FORECOURT - CONTINUOUS David pulls one of the pumps out of its holder. He puts the lighter in his pocket and takes one of the cans from Michelle. He presses the trigger and the flammable liquid gushes into the container. He beams a grin at Michelle, Michelle returns the expression. Once the first one is full, he lays it on the ground and takes the other one from his wife and fills that one. David is just about to put the pump back into its holder when a voice catches them both off guard. MAN 1 (o.c) So close, but yet so far. David and Michelle jerk their heads in the direction of the voice.

Four figures have rounded the corner from behind the station and are walking towards them. All wear ski-masks. The married couple are shocked into stunned silence. The four men stop about fifteen 89

feet from their foes. MAN 1 (cont’d) You didn’t think you’d get away from us did you? MAN 2 Now, we’re going to have some fun with you. Or more to the point, your cunt of a wife, but we will make sure that you die slow. As for the child, well, I suppose it’s a blessing it’s sleeping. It won’t be for long. The men start laughing and begin to advance. David aims the pump at them and pushes the trigger again. The petrol flies out and soaks the men, David douses them like he’s armed with a machine gun. The men stop and try to cover their faces from the onslaught of the fluid. David releases the trigger. The men stand and stare at him. MAN 2 You cunt! Now you’ll fucking suffer! David fumbles in his pocket for the lighter. The men begin to charge. David turns and shouts to Michelle. DAVID RUN !! David flicks the lighter in his hand and pushes the trigger of the pump again. The petrol gushes out again. David touches the tip of the flame to the spurting liquid. With a roar it ignites, turning the pump into a poor man’s flamethrower. In seconds the charging men are human torches, screaming and writhing in pain. Three of them fall to the ground, the final one tries to make a run at David, but collapses in pain before reaching him. David drops the pump and picks up the two full petrol cans and runs to Michelle, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the fence at the back of the petrol station. They clamber over the fence and keep running. When they’re about half way through the field the petrol station blows-up behind them. As fire and bits of debris scatter into the night sky, neither of them look back, they just keep running till they get to the other side of the field. Once there, they turn and look back at the inferno. They hug each other and climb the fence. On the other side, David wrenches the machete out of the dead bike rider and thrusts the blade into the front tire of the black van which is parked behind them. Michelle gets into the passenger seat of their car as David begins to pour the petrol into the tank. When finished, he throws the empty cans into the field and gets into the driver’s seat.

90

CUT TO: INT – CAR - CONTINUOUS David turns to Michelle. DAVID Would you like to go home now? Tears are welling up in her eyes. MICHELLE I’d like that. David starts the car. It bursts to life first time. He stares out the broken windscreen and says more to himself then Michelle. DAVID Me too. They drive off. EXT – HOUSE – LATER David's car drives into the driveway of the semi-detached bungalow. It's set in the middle of a suburban street. David stops the car and turns off the lights, plunging the scene into almost total darkness. David's commentary restarts. DAVID (v.o) Be there nowhere quite like it. Home sweet home... A place now I can never go back to. We'd stayed here for five years. We'd been trying for a child for the past two, Peter was the answer to our prayers. This night our lives had been torn apart, we thought at the sight of home we could start to rebuild. David and Michelle get out of the car. Michelle gets the sleeping form of Peter out of the back seat. They enter the house, closing the door behind them. Commentary. DAVID (v.o) (cont’d) This is the part of the story that you could call, “the eye of the storm.” INT – HOUSE – CONTINUOUS 91

Michelle carries Peter up the stairs to his bedroom. We follow David as he heads into the living room.

He opens the drinks cabinet and pours himself a shot of whiskey. He downs it in one. David refills it, then fills another glass. He carries them both to the sofa and sits down, putting one of the glasses on the coffee table by the large chair. David sits and swills the glass in his hand, staring down into the brown liquid. Michelle enters the room, breaking the spell of the whiskey. MICHELLE I don't believe he's managed to sleep through most of tonight. DAVID That's one thing we should be thankful for. MICHELLE That's the only thing we should be thankful for. David picks up her glass from the coffee table and holds it above his head. Michelle takes it from him and downs it in one. She then walks to the drinks cabinet and refills her glass. She joins David on the sofa. MICHELLE (cont’d) David, what do we do now? DAVID We thank our lucky stars we made it home. MICHELLE Then what? DAVID Go to bed? MICHELLE We can't just go to bed. Not after what we've been through tonight. DAVID I don't know what else to do. MICHELLE Call the police, tell then what happened. Those men tried to kill us tonight! And they killed God knows how many at 92

the hotel as well! DAVID Don't forget we killed some people too.

MICHELLE If we hadn't, we'd be dead David. So would Peter. DAVID Don't say that. MICHELLE It's true, and you know it. DAVID That's why I don't want you to say it. MICHELLE So, are you going to call them? DAVID Let slow down a second, my heads all over the place. If we call the police just now, we're going to be telling them about a crime that they have no idea about. This happened over a hundred miles away. Two, we get them out here, we show them the massacre in the boot of our car, they take a sniff of our breath and we spend the night in the cells! Where does Peter go? I think the best thing to do is go to bed. First thing in the morning I'll drive over to the nearest station and tell them the story, show them the boot. By then they'll know what I'm talking about. And more importantly, you’ll stay here with Peter. David glances at the wall clock above the fireplace. DAVID (cont’d) Baby, it's four in the morning. I'm talking about a couple of 93

hours shut eye, I'll go round the crack of dawn. Two, three hours of sleep can't hurt. Then I'll be more together as well and I won't sound like a Looney. And with a bit of luck they won't lock me up. David half smirks at Michelle. She tries to return the gesture and fails. A sadness is welling in her eyes. David puts a hand on her shoulder.

DAVID (cont’d) Trust me. A single tear rolls down the side of Michelle's cheek. She smiles at David, but the grin never touches her eyes. She kisses David on the forehead and gets up, making her way to the door. When she gets there, she stops and turns. MICHELLE I always have. Michelle manages to give David a proper smile, then leaves the room. David hears her footsteps as she ascends the stairs. David downs his drink, then stares at the empty bottom of the glass. He gets up and walks over to the drinks cabinet again and refills his glass, he then goes over to the front window that looks out over his garden. It can hardly be seen in the gloom outside. All he sees is his own reflection. As he does this his voiceover returns. DAVID (v.o) Thoughts began to tumble through my mind that night. Thoughts I daren’t think. The thoughts of what could have happened played tricks with my head. It’s funny how it’s mostly at night that your demons come to visit. As I looked out the window at my own reflection, I felt like nothing. I’d had no control over the evening we’d had. Which was stupid. Looking back, I realize there wasn’t much else I could have done. All I could do now, was go to bed. CUT TO: 94

INT – BEDROOM – MOMENTS LATER David lays down flat on his back beside Michelle. He stares at the ceiling, wide eyed, as if in a trance. Voiceover. DAVID (v.o) I knew before I even lay down that sleep would take it’s time to find me… It did. FADE OUT: FADE IN:

EXT – HOUSE – MORNING The front door of David’s house opens and he walk onto the path, Michelle follows, dressed in just her robe. MICHELLE Are you sure you don’t want me to come? DAVID Baby, we went through all this last night. This is the best way we can play it. If they decide to lock me up, I’ll demand my phone call, give you a bell and tell you and Peter to flee the country. David smirks at Michelle, she tries to return the gesture but fail. The worry shows on her expression. DAVID (cont’d) Michelle, it’s over. All I’m doing today is tying up the loose ends, trying to help them catch these guys. Hey, maybe we even killed them all!? What do you think? Michelle has sadness in her eyes even at the thought of last night. MICHELLE That would be nice. 95

DAVID It will be nice. David kisses her on the forehead and walks down the path to the car. He gets in, gives Michelle a final wave and drives off in the mangled car from the night before. INT – CAR – MOMENTS LATER David is driving the car, his face set in deep concentration. His voiceover returns. DAVID (v.o) On the journey to confess our misfortune, thoughts still kept tumbling through my mind. Thoughts best hidden from judgmental demons. How was I going to explain the previous night? How was I going to explain the state of the car I was driving?

DAVID (v.o) (cont’d) How was I going to get round the questions that the contents of the boot were going to spark off? And the daddy of them all. How was I going to tell them that, I myself had killed several of the pursuers personally? Whatever my subconscious mind had in store for dialogue, it had better get it together sharpish. The trip wasn’t as long as I’d hoped. EXT – POLICE STATION CARPARK – CONTINUOUS David’s car swings into the car park and draws to a halt. David gets out and looks at the building before him. He takes a deep breath and walks the short distance to the five stone steps leading to the front door of the station, he climbs them slowly. David gets to the front door and enters. INT – POLICE STATION – CONTINUOUS David walks into the reception area of the station. A desk sergeant is writing in a ledger. David goes over to him. The sergeant looks up from the book. 96

SERGEANT Can I help you, sir? DAVID I’d like to report some murders. Freeze frame on the sergeants look of confusion on his face. Voiceover. DAVID (v.o) So much about trying to think what I was going to say… But on the up side, that’s a killer line that will get the attention of any policeman, in any police station… My job was half done already. The scene goes back into motion. SERGEANT Excuse me sir?!

EXT – POLICE STATION – CONTINUOUS We watch a shot of the front of the police station. We see David’s car in the car park. His voiceover returns. DAVID (v.o) I talked, he listened. When he realized I might not be a wacko, I was introduced to a D.I Murray. I did some more talking, and once again, I was listened to. By the time I got to the massacre in the boot of my car, he was looking at me like I was head of the Manson family. Then he snapped, he wanted some proof. So… David comes walking out of the front doors of the station, a man wearing a suit follows. D.I Murray is of medium build, with dark hair. They get to the back of the car. David fishes the keys out of his pocket. He inserts them in the lock and turns to the policeman. DAVID 97

I warn you, this is not a pleasant sight. And maybe then you’ll believe me. David unlocks the boot and turns away as he raises it up, as not to see the carnage inside again. Murray looks in the boot, then looks to David, who still isn’t looking at the contents. The policeman clears his throat. David glances at him. Murray nods at the open boot. David slowly looks. It’s empty. Not just empty, it’s spotless. Even the writing on the underside of the boot has gone. David looks down at the luggage space in shock. MURRAY You do realize that there are laws against wasting police time, don’t you, Mr. Reid? DAVID This doesn’t make sense. It was there last night. MURRAY If that’s a fact Mr. Reid, why didn’t you report it last night? DAVID I didn’t think you would have known about the incident at the hotel last night. It was over a hundred miles away.

MURRAY A hotel burns down, killing every occupant and all members of staff, everyone hears about it… You know what I think? DAVID What? MURRAY I think you, hadn’t heard about it last night. But this morning you thought you would have a sick joke and waste valuable police time. People like you make me want to vomit! DAVID I didn’t make it up! 98

MURRAY Then where’s the body of a dog, with the head of a housemaid called Lindsay, gone ? DAVID I don’t know. MURRAY Maybe it’s gone for walkies? And before it decided to go, it washed the blood off the underside of the boot. “Don’t look behind you?!” What horror movie did you steal that out of? DAVID Look, it happened. And there’s no way they could have cleaned out my car. I was only in the station for about twenty minutes and even so, someone would have seen them. You should ask around if anyone saw anything. MURRAY Sir, you’re about half a line of speech from spending the rest of your day on the point of my right shoe. Both men regard each other silently for a second. David has a desperate look in his eye. D.I Murray turns to walk away. David watches him go, he mumbles to himself.

DAVID How the hell could they have done this? Where did they do this? In the background, D.I Murray takes out his radio and starts talking into it, he’s too far away for us to hear. He stops for a moment and turns back to David, he shouts across the car park. MURRAY Just go home, Mr. Reid. D.I Murray disappears back into the police station, the radio, again pressed to his ear. David is left standing at the back of his car not knowing what to do, or think. He talks to himself. 99

DAVID If I go home, I’m back to square one… Home. David’s face frowns into deep thought. Then something hits him. DAVID (cont’d) Oh, my god, they know where I live!… Michelle! David dashes round to the driver’s side of the car and wrenches the door open. Freeze frame on the look of stark panic on his face. Voiceover. DAVID (v.o) Unknown to me then, my wife and son were already dead. INT – HOUSE – EARLIER Michelle is dressed in only a towel. Her hair is still wet after coming out of the shower. She is standing at the kitchen sink washing the glasses they were drinking out of the night before. Once washed, she puts the glasses on the draining board just by the sink. Michelle gazes out of the back window, into their garden beyond. She is lost in a daydream when the front door bell rings. She’s shocked out of her thoughts with a start. The bell rings again. She looks down at the towel she’s wearing and mumbles to herself. MICHELLE Typical! Michelle tightens the knot above her breasts and walks to the front door, just as the bell rings again. MICHELLE (cont’d) (To herself) Jesus, give me a chance.

EXT – FRONT DOOR OF THE HOUSE – CONTINUOUS We see the back of five men. All dressed in black. We see no faces. We hear the front door being unlocked from the inside. It opens just enough for Michelle to stick her head out. She is about to make an excuse about not opening the door properly. MICHELLE I’m sorry, I’m just out of… 100

Michelle stares at the five men and an expression of realization comes over her face. Although she never saw any faces of the men from last night, she knows this is some of them. Michelle starts to slam the door. The man nearest to her barges forward, shouldering the door. INT – HOUSE – CONTINUOUS Michelle is flung backwards, such is the force of the blow to the door. She lands on her back and the five men enter. Before we can see any of there faces, they all put on black ski masks. When they turn back to Michelle, all eyes are focused on her barely covered body. She tries to cover herself up best she can with the towel. A couple of the men snigger. The man standing at the front of the group turns to one of the men on his left and says a simple demand. MAN 1 Get the kid. Those three words spark Michelle into action. She jumps to her feet, not caring when the towel falls from her body, and runs for all she worth. Two of the men give chase. She gets to the stairs and takes them in leaps and bounds. As Michelle gets to the top of the stairs, one of the men is right behind her, he lashes out with his fist and catches her on the back of the head. Michelle grunts and falls, skidding on the carpets as she lands. The man who hit her jumps on her back and gets himself into a sitting position, preventing her from getting up. Michelle screams. The man on top starts laughing. The second man who appears at the top of the stairs walks over to the two figure and looks down at Michelle. Michelle scowls up at him. MICHELLE You stay away from my son! MAN 2 Your son is about to be awakened to the horror of the new world. MICHELLE He’s just a baby for God sake! MAN 2 It’s best to catch them young.

The man on top starts laughing again. Michelle just stares with disbelief at the man standing above her. He smiles a smug smile down at her. MICHELLE 101

I’ll do anything you want. MAN 2 What fun would that be? The man kicks her in the face. INT – CAR – MORNING David is racing home, tears streaming down his face. His voiceover begins. DAVID (v.o) Looking back now, I already knew the fate that awaited me. I knew I was going to find my family dead. But still I continued to race forward, trying not to believe the thoughts that were plaguing my mind. INT – HOUSE – CONTINUOUS Michelle is dragged, naked into the living room and thrown to the floor. The five men circle her. They now have knives in there hands, two of them carry bats. The men begin to strip, keeping on only their masks. David’s voiceover continues. We hear no noise from the scene itself, just the sound of David’s voice. DAVID (v.o) The first time I ever saw Michelle, was in a pub. I had been out with a couple of friends, and she happened to be on a night out with some of her work mates. My friend knew her from the school he went too. He said I wouldn’t stand a chance, that she was to good for me. He was right about that. If ever there was someone that was too good for me, it was Michelle. Two of the naked men grab Michelle’s arms and two of them grab her feet. She starts to scream a silent scream. The fifth man crawls in between her legs and begins to rape her.

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DAVID (v.o) (cont’d) That night, I bit the bullet and went over to ask her if I could buy her a drink. And if you knew me, that just wasn’t in my character, but I knew there was something special about her. I got the usual whoops and cheers from her friends and my face went a nice colour of scarlet, but it was worth it. The man between Michelle’s legs gets out. Another gets in. DAVID (v.o) (cont’d) She joined me at the bar and I bought the drinks. She had a southern comfort and coke, I had a pint. We landed up standing at the bar the rest of the night. I had forgotten my friends, she had forgotten hers. By the end of the night we felt like we had known each other a life time. She’d invited me back to hers for a night cap; I told her I didn’t wear one! I thought she was going to wet herself. I remember that when she laughed, it made me want to shout with joy that I could so easily entertain such a person as her. The second man gets out from between her legs. They then pull Michelle to her feet. They make her face the mirror over the fireplace. She sees her own reflection. Tears are quietly running down her cheeks and blood is pouring freely from her nose. The men push her hard, towards the mirror. Michelle’s forehead makes contact and the glass shatters, cutting into her face as she falls back to the floor. The naked men look down on her and laugh. DAVID (v.o) (cont’d) As it turned out, I did go back to hers. Sex was not on the menu, we both knew that. In the space of only four hours we had risen above the predictable Friday night knee trembler down some dark and dingy alley. What we had that night was a connection like no other either of us had experienced in our lifetime. The men drag Michelle back onto her feet. 103

Two of them steady her, while one of the men holding one of the bats, aims for the strike. He lets rip, it catches her right across the jaw line, sending her head backwards, lifting her off her feet and again crashing into the floor, going through the glass topped coffee table on the way down. DAVID (v.o) (cont’d) That night, back at Michelle’s flat, all we did was talk. What about, I don’t know. But it was the kind of night where no-one else existed. It was just Michelle, me and a living room. It was the kind of night you read about in mills and boon. There was no rush for the sex. It was on route, we both knew that, but it had to be just right. Michelle makes a feeble effort to get up. One of the men slashes down at her with a knife. The blade cuts deep into her cheek, gashing her down to the bone. She lets out a little silent yelp of pain; it’s all she’s got left to give. Michelle flops down again, the glass from the broken coffee table grinding into the flesh of her back. DAVID (v.o) (cont’d) On the night it finally happened, it couldn’t have been more perfect. I’d bought a bottle of champagne, it’s not cheap that stuff, but this was the night that was going to seal our destiny and join us together forever. I was the happiest man in the world. The sound comes back into the scene. Michelle is weeping softly. One of the men with the knife bends down and smiles into her face. Michelle, using her final ounces of strength, manages to utter a last plea. MICHELLE Please, not my son. MAN 3 For the final moments of your life, I’d like you to imagine what we’re going to do to your newly born cunt of a kid, then times it by a hundred. 104

MICHELLE Please, no. MAN 3 Ssshh. It’ll soon be over.

MAN 3 (cont’d) Give joy. The man rams the knife into the side of Michelle’s neck. A look of sheer disbelief comes over her face. She tries to talk, but blood just spills from her mouth instead. David adds his last comment. DAVID (v.o) And now she’s dead… I will never be happy again. The man stands up, leaving the knife protruding from the side of Michelle’s bleeding neck. He turns to the rest of the men. MAN 3 Let’s get the kid. EXT –HOUSE – MORNING David’s car comes screeching into the driveway of his house. He dives out the motor and races for the front door, kicking it open without even trying to open it properly. INT – HOUSE – CONTINUOUS David enters the house and comes to a sudden stop as he sees the mess of the place. He walks slowly into the living room to find Michelle lying on her back, knife sticking out the side of her neck. David stands at her feet and takes in the sight. Tears begin to roll down his cheeks with no effort at all. CUT TO: INT – TOP OF STAIRCASE – MOMENTS LATER David is just reaching the peak of the stairs. He walks at a very slow pace. David knows he has nothing to rush for. He walks along the hallway to his son’s bedroom door. It’s covered with bloody hand prints. He reads the word, “cunts”, which is written in blood by the door frame. He pushes the door open and stands in the doorway, taking in the sight that we can’t see. David falls down to his knees and screams. DAVID 105

Nnnnnooooooo ! Behind him, shadows appear. He sees them on the wall beside him. David turns, slowly on his knees, to face the men. He stares up at the five men. All are dressed again and still wear the ski masks. David gazes up at them, new tears forming in his eyes. He asks a simple question. DAVID (cont’d) Why?

A baseball bat smashes into his face, sending David reeling backwards onto his back. The offender with the bat looks down on him. MAN 4 Why not? All five men start laying into David, with bats, knives, fists and feet. We pan away from the scene of pure violence along a corridor, leaving David isolated and alone to his fate. David is lost under the sea of arms and legs and all we hear is the grunts and pants of the attackers. FADE OUT: DAVID (v.o) That was the last taste of mortality I ever had. FADE IN: INT – PRIVATE HOSPITAL ROOM – DAY David bolts upright in bed, taking in a gasp of much needed air. The sweat is pouring down his face. After composing himself, he sits trying to work out where he is. At either side of the bed is a drip machine. One is inserted into the crook of his right arm, the one on the other side is sticking out of the back of his left hand. David looks at each with confusion growing on his face. A heart monitor beeps to the rhythm of his pulse just above his head over to the right, and a small T.V is mounted high on the wall in front of him. The screen is blank. There is a door just down to the left of the telly. David also notices that there is a door just to the left of his head, leading to a room behind the bed he’s in. He swings his legs out of the bed and takes the drips out of his arm and hand. David also pulls the rubber suckers off of his chest that relate to the heart monitor. The machine flat-lines and lets out a slow monotone endless beep. David ignores it and walks to the door by his bed. He turns the handle and opens it. It leads to a small bathroom, a shower stall and toilet bowl. The mirror is the first thing that David notices, positioned right in 106

front of him on the wall opposite the door, full length. He watches his own reflection enter the small room, the first thing he acknowledges is the scar that runs from the corner of his left eye and disappears under his chin. David gets close to the mirror and traces the line with a finger, wondering where it came from. He glances down at the V of flesh that is showing above his light blue pajama top, he sees more marks there. David slowly starts to unbutton the top, watching himself in the mirror as he does so. He drops the top to the floor, as he stands in disbelief staring at the patchwork of scaring that confronts him in the reflection before him. His upper torso is a maze of skin graphs and heeled wounds. Even thicker scaring can be seen running the full length of both arms, looking more like operation marks than wounds. A single tear begins to roll down his face, as a thought enters his mind. David says one word to himself.

DAVID Michelle… David’s sorrow quickly turns to rage. He wipes away the tear and roaring in anger, he lets fly with his right fist, shattering the mirror, broken glass falls to the floor, scattering round his bare feet. David takes his hand away from the wall and looks at his fist. Pieces of mirror are sticking out, one particular large piece is sticking out from between his two middle knuckles, blood is flowing freely from the wounds. David pulls the glass from his knuckle with a look of confusion on his face. He flexes his hand, as if he can feel no pain at all. As if to prove it, he lashes out again, punching the now, bare wall. The bloody fist crashes into the wall, leaving a blood splash behind, along with a small dent in the walls finish. David inspects his hand again, showing only bewilderment, not rage. He holds both hands before him and clenches them into fists. He mumbles to himself. DAVID (cont’d) What’s happened to me…? David turns away from the wall and is about to leave the room, walking on the broken glass as he goes, when he sees a calendar just behind the open door. David swings the door closed to reveal the full thing. He stares at the month, it say, August. DAVID (cont’d) August? That’s not right… It was July. David thinks to himself. DAVID (cont’d) Jesus, I’ve nearly lost a month. What have I been doing for a month? 107

David looks at his hands again, then at the upper part of his body. DAVID (cont’d) I’ve got to get out of here. David is about to open the door again and leave the room, when something else catches his eye on the calendar. Not the month this time. The year. It reads in large numbers at the top of the page, 2008. David’s eyes widen in horror. DAVID (cont’d) What…?! 2008…! “2000 and fucking 8…! What the hell is going on here…?! I’ve lost four years?! The bathroom door opens and a man dressed in doctor’s attire stands looking at David. A look of concern on his face. Both men stand and stare at each other. The silence is finally broken by the doctor.

DOCTOR We need to talk. FADE OUT:

To be continued…..

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