12 Monkeys Page #13

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Bookshelves line two walls. The front window is blanked cut with

posters of Animal Rights demonstrations, newspaper clippings,

photos of animal atrocities. The fourth wall features the

counter where the three ACTIVISTS face COLE as a JUNGLE BIRD

SCREAMS in the DOWNPOUR.

FALE:

Uh, can we help you?

COLE looks confused as the RAIN abates and an ELEPHANT trumpets

an urgent warning.

FALE:

Excuse me. You looking for something

in particular?

RAILLY:

It's all right, James -- it's just a tape.

COLE'S eyes follow her look. It's a tape recorder underneath a

sign advertising, "THE TRUE MUSIC OF THE WORLD".

COLE:

I, uh, I'm looking for the, ah, the

Army of the Twelve Monkeys.

FALE glances at BEN and TEDDY. "We have a problem!" the look says.

MONKEYS start CHATTERING on the tape as TEDDY comes around the

counter, bigger than COLE, physically imposing, menacing.

TEDDY:

We don't know anything about any "Army

of the Twelve Monkeys", so why don't

you and your friend disappear, okay?

COLE backs away, a firm grip on RAILLY, as a LION ROARS.

COLE:

I just need some information...

TEDDY:

Didn't you hear me? We're not...

TEDDY breaks off mid-sentence...freezes.

COLE is pointing a pistol at them. A TIGER SNARLS.

RAILLY:

James, no -- don't hurt them.

(to the activists)

Please, I'm a psychiatrist -- just do

whatever he tells you to do. He's...

upset -- disturbed. Please -- he's

dangerous -- just cooperate.

MONKEYS CHATTER wildly as TEDDY backs up.

FALE:

What do you want -- money? We only

have a few bucks.

COLE is suddenly very much in charge and self-confident again. A

BABOON HOWLS with laughter.

COLE:

I told you what I want.

(snaps at Railly)

Lock the door!

RAILLY:

James, why don't we...?

COLE:

Lock it now!

RAILLY hurries to the door to lock it as BEN says to FALE,

BEN:

I told you that fuckhead Mason would

get us into something like this.

FALE:

Shut up!

COLE:

Mason???

RAILLY:

Jeffrey Mason?

BEN:

Yeah, tucking, crazy Jeffrey Mason.

INT. FAA STORE BASEMENT - TWENTY MINUTES LATER (DAY)

The three ACTIVISTS are tied tightly together in the middle of

the floor in this dimly-lit, windowless basement. They're very

frightened, eager to cooperate.

FALE:

Then, Jeffrey becomes like this...big

star -- the media latch on to him

because he's picketing his own father,

a "famous Nobel Prize winning virologist".

You musta seen all that on TV.

COLE:

No, I don't watch TV.

COLE, the gun next to him, rummages through boxes of papers while

RAILLY watches helplessly. Suddenly, COLE finds something he

thinks he's seen before. He holds it up.

COLE:

Is this him -- Dr. Mason?

It's a photograph of DR. MALCOLM MASON, being escorted by a

phalanx of riot cops through a mob of raging activists.

FALE:

That's him.

BEN:

(very frightened)

What are you going to do with us?

COLE:

(stares at the photo, then)

Tell me more about Jeffrey.

FALE:

(a helpless shrug to his cohorts)

Jeffrey started getting bored with the

sh*t we do...picketing, leafleting,

letter-writing stuff. He said we were,

"ineffectual liberal jerkoffs". He

wanted to do guerrilla "actions" to

"educate" the public.

COLE holds up a clipping showing horrified SENATORS standing on

their desks as RATTLESNAKES slither along the Senate Floor.

FALE:

Yeah, that's when he let a hundred

snakes loose in the Senate.

TEDDY:

But we weren't into that kind of stuff.

It's counter productive, we told him.

FALE:

So he and eleven others split off and

became this underground..."army"

COLE:

The Army of The Twelve Monkeys.

BEN:

They started planning a "Human Hunt".

TEDDY:

They bought stun guns and nets and bear

traps. They were gonna go to Wall

Street and trap lawyers and bankers...

BEN:

But they didn't do it. They didn't do

any of it.

TEDDY:

Yeah, just like always, Mr. Big Shot

sold his friends out!

COLE:

What's that mean?

FALE:

He goes on TV, gives a news conference,

tells the whole world he just realized

his daddy's experiments are vital for

humanity and that the use of animals is

absolutely necessary and that he, Jeffrey

Mason, from now on, is going to personally

supervise the labs to make sure all the

little animals aren't going to suffer.

COLE:

(holding up a rolodex)

What's this?

EXT. FREEWAY - AFTERNOON

In the crawling traffic, WE FIND a battered FORD covered with

bumper stickers and painted slogans. "I BRAKE FOR ANIMALS"...

"FREE THE ANIMALS"..."WOULD YOU LET A MINK WEAR YOUR SKIN?"

RAILLY (v.o.)

You can't just barge in on a famous

scientist. They'll have security guards,

gates, alarm systems. It's insane, James.

INT. MOVING FORD/FREEWAY

A ROLODEX CARD with an address on "Outerbridge Road" for "Jeffrey

Mason c/o Dr. Malcolm Mason" rests on a map spread across COLE'S

lap. COLE is in the passenger seat, RAILLY'S at the wheel,

maneuvering in heavy traffic.

RAILLY:

If those young men don't get loose,

they could die in that basement.

COLE glances out the window, indicates the PEOPLE in passing

cars...COMMUTERS, FAMILIES, TRUCKERS.

COLE:

All I see are dead people. Everywhere.

What's three more?

RAILLY:

(a beat, carefully, a new tack)

You know Dr. Mason's son, Jeffrey

Mason, don't you, James? You met him

in the County Hospital six years ago.

COLE is studying the map again.

COLE:

The guy was a total fruitcake.

RAILLY:

And he told you then his father was a

famous virologist.

COLE is absorbed in the map, his finger tracing "Outerbridge Road".

COLE:

No -- he said his father was "God"!

EXT./INT. FORD/COUNTRY HIGHWAY - LATER (DAY)

The RADIO BLARES a country song as the Ford zips along an open

highway. COLE has his head out the window, sucking air, loving

the music, but his bliss is feverish now -- he's not well. As

the SONG ends, he pulls his head inside. An ANNOUNCER'S VOICE

intones over the RADIO...

RADIO ANNOUNCER (o.s.)

This just in:
police are widening

their search for Dr. Kathryn Railly,

prominent psychiatrist and author.

Authorities confirm that Dr. Railly has

been abducted by escaped mental patient,

James Cole. The two are believed to be

traveling in Railly's 1992 black Acura,

license plate H-E-A-D-D-R.

RAILLY glances at him, sees he's in pain. She feels so badly for

him. She wants to help him. She says, tenderly...

RAILLY:

This can't go on, James. You're not

well. You're burning with fever.

COLE, refusing to succumb, instead, leans over to check the gas gauge.

COLE:

We need gas.

RAILLY:

I thought you didn't know how to drive.

COLE:

I said I was too young to drive. I

didn't say I was stupid.

RAILLY:

What's the matter with your leg?

COLE:

I got shot. Look -- there's a gas

station up ahead.

RAILLY:

Shot! Who shot you?

COLE:

It was some kind of...war. Never mind,

you wouldn't believe me. Turn off here.

INT. PARKED FORD/GAS STATION - MINUTES LATER (AFTERNOON)

The GAS STATION ATTENDANT checks the oil while COLE and RAILLY

remain in the car. She's pulling a gas card from her wallet.

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