Breakdown Page #13

JEFF:

I know where she is! My wife!

SHERIFF BOYD:

(ignoring him)

Drop the gun!

Jeff pitches the gun away and it skitters down an

embankment. He raises his hands.

JEFF:

You don’t understand! She’s been

kidnapped!

SHERIFF BOYD:

I understand plenty. Now get down

on the ground or I’ll shoot!

He means it.

75.

INT. PICKUP -DAY

Earl struggles for breath. The duct tape is still tight

around his neck. He strains against the tape binding his

limbs.

He glances in the side view mirror to see the Sheriff

ordering Jeff down on the ground.

By wriggling and contorting his wrists, Earl is able to

tear one hand free. Then he pulls away the rest of the

duct tape from his knees.

The tape is still wrapped tightly around his neck,

pinning him to the backrest. Earl claws at the tape, but

it won’t come free. Finally, with both hands, he reaches

behind his head and yanks the read rest from the seat.

He reaches into his boot for something...

EXT. HIGHWAY -DAY

Jeff is spread-eagled on the ground. Sheriff Boyd calls

out to Earl in the cab. He keeps his gun leveled.

SHERIFF BOYD:

You there --in the pickup! You

all right? Can you get out?

EARL:

Yeah! Just don’t shoot me,

officer! He’s crazy, I tell you!

SHERIFF BOYD:

Well, get out dammit!

JEFF:

Officer, please. You gotta listen

to me -

SHERIFF BOYD:

(glances down

at Jeff)

Shut up.

(to Earl)

C’mon out, sir. It’s safe -

Earl sets one foot on the road. The headrest dangles

against his back, still taped to his neck. Suddenly Earl

whirls, holding a .22 snub-nose REVOLVER and FIRES!

The sheriff stumbles away, blood spurting from his

shoulder, the gun flying from his hand.

Jeff looks up in horror as the sheriff falls.

(CONTINUED)

76.

CONTINUED:

Earl comes around the pickup after Jeff, raising the gun

to fire. Jeff scrambles to his feet and dives down the

embankment.

Earl runs to the edge of the embankment. Down below,

Jeff is reaching for the automatic pistol the sheriff

ordered him to drop.

He finds it... too late...

Earl is aiming at point-blank range from the top of the

embankment. He is already squeezing the trigger when...

BLAM! Earl’s chest erupts outward as a bullet passes

through his body from behind!

Earl staggers and flops down the embankment. He comes to

rest near Jeff, blood gurgling from a massive chest

wound.

Jeff climbs the embankment. The sheriff is lying on the

road, critically injured, gun lying nearby and still

smoking from the shot that killed Earl.

The sheriff is struggling to speak into a remote

transmitter strapped to his uniform.

SHERIFF BOYD:

(weak)

Shots fired... Officer down...

Suspect...

DISPATCHER (V.O.)

Help is on the way, Sheriff. Just

hang on. I have units and an

ambulance en route.

Jeff bends over the Sheriff and examines his wound with a

grimace. He is verging on unconsciousness. Jeff

deliberates, torn. There is nothing he can do here.

Making up his mind, Jeff runs to the pickup. The handheld

cellular phone has spilled into the road. He scoops

it up, jumps behind the wheel and LAYS RUBBER.

CUT TO:

EXT. BLUFF -DAY

Jeff stands on a ridge overlooking a Texaco truck stop.

Behind him, the Dodge Ram pickup lies hidden in a growth

of scrub oak and tumbleweeds.

Jeff looks overwhelmed by what he sees spread out below.

77.

JEFF’S POV -TEXACO TRUCK STOP

It’s a giant truck stop. There are hundreds of big rigs

parked in rows like silvery sardines.

A sign towers over the main building: "DIESEL $.99 GAL."

BACK TO JEFF:

He looks shaken. How will he ever find Red here? It

seems impossible.

He descends the bluff to the truck stop.

EXT. TRUCK STOP -DAY

Jeff skids on his heels down the loose hillside and

reaches the edge of the parking lot. There are trucks

everywhere. Diesel MOTORS RUMBLE. Exhaust fills the

air.

He reaches the end of a row of big rigs, starts searching

the grounds for the markings of Red’s 18-wheeler.

It’s nowhere in sight.

A high-pitched FEMININE SQUEAL from an adjacent truck’s

sleeping compartment startles Jeff.

TRUCKER (O.S.)

(muffled)

C’mon, baby, give it up!

The woman GIGGLES, O.S. Jeff ignores it, scanning the

truck stop. He stiffens.

A police car is arriving at the truck stop.

Staying out of sight, Jeff passes quickly to the rear of

a tractor trailer.

EXT. TRUCK WASH -DAY

Jeff peers out from behind a parked mini-van as trucks

emerge wet and dripping from an immense truck wash.

Across the way, trucks are filling up on diesel at the

gas islands. Jeff’s eyes narrow. Is that Red’s

Peterbilt among them?

He quickens his pace, then falls back, slumping. The

rig’s black driver is getting in the cab. Jeff glances

to the side, frowns.

(CONTINUED)

78.

CONTINUED:

An older vacationing couple is eyeing Jeff warily.

Jeff looks down, cops to it instantly. His clothes are

ripped, caked with blood. He ducks between two parked

cars, using a side-view mirror as he hastily wipes blood

off his face. He checks to be sure no one is watching.

Something catches his eye.

EXT. BLUFF -JEFF’S POV

A highway patrol car with flashing lights is parked near

the place where Jeff ditched the pickup. Beside it, a

state trooper surveys the truck stop with binoculars.

EXT. TRUCK WASH -DAY

Jeff’s jaw tightens. He glances toward the road, sees

two more highway patrol cars cruising the perimeter of

the truck stop.

Swearing, Jeff turns on his heels and walks away in the

opposite direction, shielding his face.

EXT. TRUCK STOP PARKING LOT -DAY

Jeff emerges from between two vehicles, glancing over his

shoulder nervously. He keeps his head down, moving fast.

He scans the truck stop in all directions. The patrol

car is still parked on the ridge, the patrolman peering

through binoculars.

Jeff quickens his pace alongside the truck stop building,

passing a row of pay phones. He looks up, stops dead.

Red is talking on a pay phone six feet away.

Jeff stares. Red is facing away, unaware of his

presence. Jeff darts into an adjacent pay phone.

He shields his face with the receiver and listens.

RED:

(on phone)

I don’t know, dammit, he was

supposed to be here a half hour

ago. There’s reports on the

police band about a cop down and

this place is crawling with

uniforms...

(CONTINUED)

79.

CONTINUED:

Red waits, listens.

RED:

Look, I’m getting out of here.

Stay off the airwaves. Bring the

girl and meet me at the barn...

You got that?

He hangs up. Jeff presses the phone against his face and

turns away.

When he looks up, Red is walking toward his Peterbilt

truck, parked in a row of big rigs. Jeff starts to

follow, then freezes.

Several cops are fanning out on foot, questioning

everyone they encounter.

Jeff sees Red getting into his truck. The ENGINE KICKS

OVER. The BRAKES HISS and the truck begins pulling out.

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