Basic Page #12

EXT. DEMOLISHED CABIN -- FIRST LIGHT

Hours later. The rain has lessened and the Hurricane has

begun to lift as Dunbar pulls himself from the debris.

Hearing a FAINT CRY from his left.

65.

Kendall. Half conscious, his arm, bloody.

Dunbar slings the man across his shoulders as the rising sun

begins to peak through the clouds overhead.

EXT. LOUISIANA BAYOU -- SUNRISE

Dunbar, carrying Kendall towards the clearing when GUNFIRE

comes from behind. He turns to look...

Nunez. The only other survivor from the Cabin. A hundred

yards back, rifle in hand, coming after them with a vengeance.

Dunbar, sprinting towards the clearing, bullets at his heels

and as he bursts from the tree line he looks up to see a

HELICOPTER OVERHEAD

DUNBAR (V.O.)

And then I killed the last of them.

FLASHCUT TO - Nunez, chest blown open, going down...

INT. COFFEE ROOM -- PRESENT DAY

And we're back to the interrogation. Dunbar, stubbing out a

cigarette and looking up at Hardy and Osborne.

DUNBAR:

Can I have some coffee?

Osborne blinks, like a trance has been broken.

OSBORNE:

Yeah... yeah, sure.

She goes over to the machine and pours a cup.

HARDY:

You shot Childs and Nunez.

DUNBAR:

They would have killed us both. You

want me to write a confession, I'll

write a confession.

HARDY:

You saved Kendall's life-

DUNBAR:

But not Pike's.

Osborne hands him the coffee.

OSBORNE:

Why didn't you tell us all this in

the first place?

66.

DUNBAR:

Would you have believed me?

Their faces say "no". Osborne spreads a MAP out on the table.

OSBORNE:

Where's the cabin?

DUNBAR:

Don't know on a map. West told us

it was there, we just found it.

Maybe the hurricane took it away.

HARDY:

Raymond, for you to have any chance

of coming out of this, we need to

locate the other bodies and examine

them to corroborate your testimony.

Otherwise this is just another story-

DUNBAR:

Mr. Hardy, I joined the army for

college money. I didn't ask for any

of this - I tried to do the right

thing out there and people got killed.

You say finding those bodies'll help

me, then go find them. I don't want

to die.

EXT. FOR MCKINLEY -- CORRIDORS -- DAY

Hardy and Osborne, walking and talking.

OSBORNE:

Talk it through:
Childs, Mueller,

and Nunez know they're going out on

the regular Tuesday Night drill,

hurricane or ho hurricane, so they

plan it:
Kill West, pin it on Pike.

HARDY:

And they're smart about it. They

know when you commit a crime you

know is going to be investigated,

you need a fall guy and for that to

work, you have to have a witness.

OSBORNE:

Dunbar.

HARDY:

Exactly, someone who's not involved,

who's word can’t be questioned. You

only let them see what you want them

to see, you make them believe, so

when the time comes, they've totally

bought into your version of events.

67.

OSBORNE:

They believe the innocent are guilty

and the guilty are innocent.

HARDY:

And if they're asked, that's what

they'll tell the, world.

OSBORNE:

So it's a good plan but it goes wrong;

Mueller flips out and shoots their

fall guy, which means they have to

bring Dunbar and Kendall into the

Cover story-

HARDY:

Kendall maybe would have agreed, but

The hurricane buttfucks the cabin-

OSBORNE:

Buttfucks the cabin?

HARDY:

And all hell breaks loose. A lot of

Good guys shoot a lot of bad guys

and whiz, bang, zoom, happy ending.

OSBORNE:

So why, after Dunbar drags Kendall

out from under a house, does the

Senator's son try and get us to put

his savior in the gas chamber?

HARDY:

That bugs you too?

OSBORNE:

Little bit.

HARDY:

Let's go talk to Bill...

INT. STYLES’ OFFICE -- DAY

Hardy and Osborne stand in front of an agitated Styles. He

tries to take a hit off his asthma inhaler and gets nothing.

Frustrated, he tosses it away.

STYLES:

F***ing asthma... This whole thing's

driving it nuts.

A beat.

HARDY:

What I said before

68.

STYLES:

Was dead right. You think Dunbar's

on the level?

HARDY:

Yeah.

STYLES:

Does Osborne agree?

OSBORNE:

Yes, sir, I do.

Hardy lays a piece of paper on Styles' desk.

HARDY:

Dunbar's confession. It should be

enough to get you out of trouble.

Styles looks at it and then slowly up to Hardy.

STYLES:

You want Kendall, don't you?

OSBORNE:

He tried to burn Dunbar to us. You

don't do that if you're not involved.

Hardy nods, agreeing. Styles stares at them.

STYLES:

You both know if you do this, if you

go after a Senator's son and you're

wrong... it's not just me in the hot

seat anymore.

OSBORNE:

We know.

STYLES:

(to Hardy)

I'm giving you a chance to walk away.

HARDY:

We know.

Styles nods and looks to his desk. Almost to himself:

STYLES:

You don't get to be a Colonel without

compromising. Without getting out

of the way of the bigger dogs. You

politic, play it safe, think of the

career first. And when things get

dirty, you just look the other way...

He looks back up at Hardy. His eyes, steeled.

69.

STYLES:

Four of my men are dead. You think

Kendall had something to do with it,

then you go get the son of a b*tch.

INT. KENDALL'S HOSPITAL ROOM -- DAY

Kendall lies in his bed, looking worse than before. Hardy

and Osborne enter.

OSBORNE:

Pike never confessed.

KENDALL:

We've been making progress, I see.

Osborne looks to her watch. Kendall notices.

KENDALL:

Running out of time, are we? Tick-

Tock, tick-tock, how long till your

witnesses fly the coop?

OSBORNE:

Fifty minutes.

KENDALL:

Not much time to solve the crime.

Tell me, detective, how did it feel

taking blood money from Guissepe

Torres? Did it weigh on your

conscience or did you just not think

about it?

HARDY:

You tried to pin three stone murders

on Dunbar-

KENDALL:

How many murders did you cover up?

One? Five? Maybe an even ten.

HARDY:

(to Osborne)

Can I go to jail for punching a guy

who's been shot?

Kendall begins coughing.

KENDALL:

I think they're giving me the wrong

medicine. This isn't a very good

Hospital, you know-

Hardy sighs and goes to the sink to get him some water.

70.

KENDALL:

Epileptic attacks are murder on your

system. Rattle your internal organs

like a paint mixer.

HARDY:

My heart weeps.

He returns with a GLASS OF WATER and hands it to Kendall.

OSBORNE:

Pike never confessed.

KENDALL:

No, but it got you interested, didn't

it? Got you to dig. Inspired Ray

to tell you terribly sordid tales

about drugs and creek beds and dead

little sergeants who stuck their

noses where they didn't belong.

HARDY:

Is it the truth?

KENDALL:

There's that word again.

(smiling)

As I told you, I wasn't in the room

when everyone started shooting.

OSBORNE:

Dunbar says you were.

KENDALL:

Then he's mistaken. You know, I

really don't think my father would

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