Bird Box Page #2

onset of psychotic behavior.

Malorie gets up and follows Jessica.

INT. KITCHEN

Jessica unloads the bags. Malorie loiters nearby.

RUSSIAN OFFICIAL ON TV (O.S.)

--not that we know of, but somehow

it’s spreading at an alarming rate,

which is why we are being careful-

MALORIE:

It’s in Russia.

JESSICA:

Try telling that to the soccer moms

fighting over the bottled water. I

don’t want you going out there

until people remember to calm the

f*** down. Okay? Is Dad texting you

survivalist bullshit?

Jessica uncaps a beer bottle with her shirt, takes a swig.

MALORIE:

I was in the bath. I have that OB

appointment, remember?

JESSICA:

Sh*t! Right. I can drive you.

8.

MALORIE:

Maybe we should postpone.

Jessica faces Malorie, who won’t make eye contact.

JESSICA:

Hey. We talked about this. It’ll be

fine. You’re having this baby.

MALORIE:

Yeah.

(then)

Of course.

JESSICA:

I was an accident, too. Ask mom.

Jessica goes back to stowing the groceries.

MALORIE:

But Dad never bailed on Mom.

JESSICA:

Doesn’t matter. Moms are moms.

Malorie nods. Trying to buy into it.

JESSICA (CONT’D)

How goes the Great Unwrapping?

MALORIE:

It goes. I don’t know what half

this stuff does. Alison got me

something.

JESSICA:

Seriously? What?

MALORIE:

(grin forming)

A wipe warmer.

JESSICA:

(laughs)

Perfect. You’ll think of her every

time you wipe the kid’s ass. C’mon,

let’s get you to the doctor.

Jessica grabs her car keys and her purse from the counter.

NEWS ANCHOR (O.S.)

--but the CDC has not found any

evidence of a contagion.

9.

INT. LIVING ROOM

Jessica passes Malorie, on march for the front door, but

Malorie lingers a moment, captivated by something on TV.

ON SCREEN:
low-quality dashboard camera footage of civilians

fleeing past the car in a downtown district. One of the

people running by wears a HOSPITAL GOWN.

INT. HOSPITAL EXAM ROOM - DAY

Malorie sits on an exam table, wearing a HOSPITAL GOWN.

DR. SUE LAPHAM (40s, cheery) is dressed in a white coat over

her street clothes, and she gestures with her clipboard.

DR. LAPHAM

Thanks for meeting here, by the

way. Another patient of mine is

about to pop. How have you been

feeling? Sleeping any better?

MALORIE:

Sleep is still rough. No one told

me how hard it would be to get

comfortable in this shape.

DR. LAPHAM

You know my method? Couch cushions

on the bed. Here and here, so your

belly fits between them.

MALORIE:

I’ll try that.

DR. LAPHAM

You’re due in twelve weeks, so

let’s try some natural remedies for

the insomnia before I prescribe

anything.

(casually)

You have a name picked?

MALORIE:

Not yet. Something about it... It

hasn’t really clicked with me. You

know? The idea. Motherhood.

DR. LAPHAM

That’s normal. It will pass.

Malorie smiles sadly and nods. While holding that smile:

10.

MALORIE:

What if it doesn’t?

Dr. Lapham reads from her clipboard.

DR. LAPHAM

Everything will change after the

baby’s born. Now, let’s talk about

the next trimester. Expect more

weight gain, but if it gets more

than forty pounds over where you

were before, call me.

CREEPING IN on Malorie as she listens to the doctor, and it

all plays out on her face: A silent war against encroaching

anxiety. She looks away. Takes a breath as Lapham continues:

DR. LAPHAM (O.S.) (CONT’D)

Heartburn will be more common. You

might also deal with hemorrhoids,

discharge, bleeding, and varicose

veins, that’s all natural. Be aware

of Braxton Hicks contractions at

odd hours, like tremors before a

real quake...

The doctor’s voice grows more and more distant as Malorie

struggles to keep it all together. And then-

INT. HOSPITAL BATHROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Malorie vomits into the toilet bowl.

She cleans herself up at the sink and stares at herself in

the mirror. Her own bloodshot eyes stare back.

Malorie washes her face. Then goes to the towels to dry her

face and hands.

Nearby:
A basket of reading material. Magazines. Pamphlets.

Flyers about parenthood, childbirth.

Malorie notices one. Picks it up.

The headline:
“YOU HAVE A CHOICE. // Give your child to a

good home!”

An informational flyer on adoption.

Malorie considers something.

Then puts the flyer in her purse.

11.

INT. HOSPITAL - DAY

A cacophony of noise.

Malorie navigates a hallway, leaving Lapham’s office. A pair

of PARAMEDICS rush by the other way, wheeling a MAN with a

leg injury on a gurney.

INT. HOSPITAL LOBBY

The commotion is louder here. Other PATIENTS waiting for

urgent care watch in horror at the scene playing out in the

corner of the room-

A WOMAN in a pricey jogging suit and glossy fingernails

shrills at two NURSES trying to close in on her-

As she SCREAMS non-words she digs her fingernails into her

right cheek and begins to tear into her flesh-

With her other hand she starts with the thin skin around her

eyelid and pulls-

And the NURSES go for her and blood gets everywhere and

Malorie hurries out the door amid the AD LIB SHOUTS-

EXT. HOSPITAL - MOMENTS LATER

Malorie gets to Jessica’s car in visitor parking. Shaking.

Jessica waits in the driver’s seat, texting on her phone.

INT. JESSICA’S CAR

Jessica doesn’t look up from her phone as Malorie gets in.

JESSICA:

How’d it go? Still having a baby?

MALORIE:

It’s happening now.

This gets her attention.

JESSICA:

The baby?

MALORIE:

No, the-- whatever it is in Russia.

The thing that makes you go crazy?

I think it’s here.

12.

JESSICA:

Doctor Lapham is crazy?

MALORIE:

Can we get going please?

JESSICA:

Okay, number one, you gotta calm

down for me. And B-

Outside, an ambulance drives up, lights and sirens going, and

screeches to a halt at the door. The back of the ambulance

rocks violently from some struggle playing out inside.

Jessica notices, tosses her phone in her purse, throws it in

back, and starts the car.

EXT. PARKING LOT

Jessica’s car tears out just as two squad cars pull in.

INT. JESSICA’S CAR - DAY

Malorie holds her phone to her ear.

JESSICA:

Who are you calling?

MALORIE:

Mom and Dad.

JESSICA:

They’ll be fine. Takes an act of

congress to get them out of their

house more than once a week.

Malorie listens with the phone to her ear.

MALORIE:

Voicemail.

(to Jess)

It went to voicemail.

Jessica lets out a stiff breath, then changes lanes.

JESSICA:

We’ll swing by. But I’m calling it

now:
They’re both fine.

At the next red light, they pull up alongside another car.

A YOUNG MAN drives with his pretty GIRLFRIEND.

13.

He nods at Malorie. Malorie nods back. They’re strangers, but

just checking in with each other. It’s okay.

Then:
A loud but distant CRACK. And a RUMBLE. Malorie looks

around -- it’s behind her.

Four blocks back and one or two over: A FIRECLOUD. Smoke

rising like black cellophane.

JESSICA (CONT’D)

Damn. Seriously?

MALORIE:

I don’t like this. Jess, can we

just go? Maybe we just drive.

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