Breakdown Page #15

DEKE:

Cool!

(CONTINUED)

85.

CONTINUED:

Deke takes the knife and runs off. Red goes to the rear

of the trailer, unlocks it and raises the slatted door.

He hops up inside. His FOOTSTEPS ECHO in the metal

trailer. We hear him SHIFTING BOXES.

EXT. BARN -NIGHT

Jeff seizes his chance. He crawls out from under the

windfoil and hoists himself onto the overhanging eave.

The STRUCTURE CREAKS under his weight.

INSIDE TRAILER:

Red sticks his head out of the trailer, puzzled.

RED:

Deke? Deke, you back there?

EXT. ROOF OF BARN -NIGHT

Jeff crouches in the shadows. He can see Red poking his

head out from the trailer, peering up at the roof.

INSIDE TRAILER:

Red shrugs, lets it go. He resumes unloading boxes,

tosses down a full set of Louis Vuitton luggage. He lugs

the items into the barn.

EXT. ROOF OF BARN -NIGHT

Jeff goes to a second-story window. A board has been

nailed over the window. He pulls it away, steps into...

INT. BARN HAYLOFT -NIGHT

and looks around, amazed. Everywhere around him there

are stolen goods.

Matching luggage sets... a rack of women’s coats... a

table piled with cameras... a crate filled with car

phones...

A stack of windshields... two sets of golf clubs... three

child safety seats... a ten-speed bicycle...

(CONTINUED)

86.

CONTINUED:

Several dozen "COMMERCIAL VEHICLE" license plates are

scattered about --Arkansas, Oregon, Texas, Iowa, South

Dakota...

As Jeff stares, reeling, there is a RUMBLE outside.

EXT. BARN -NIGHT

Red looks up from toting a box of car stereos and snarled

wiring as the moving van and Pontiac Firebird arrive at

the barn.

He beckons for the vehicles to pull forward into...

INT. BARN -NIGHT

Al dismounts from the moving truck. Billy climbs out of

the Firebird. They are travel-sore, stretching. Red

shuts the door behind them.

AL:

Man, if I never see another couple

from Massachusetts it’ll be too

soon.

RED:

Tell me about it. You get any

word on Earl?

BILLY:

(shakes head)

There’s reports of an accident up

Five Mile, but that’s about it.

Red grunts, unlatches the door to the moving van, lowers

a ramp. The three men begin unloading boxes.

INT. BARN HAYLOFT -NIGHT

Jeff lies on his belly peering through a knothole.

JEFF’S POV THROUGH KNOTHOLE

The men unload Jeff and Amy’s belongings --luggage,

photography equipment, miscellaneous items. Inside the

moving van, the battered Jeep Cherokee is visible,

partially covered with a tarp.

(CONTINUED)

87.

CONTINUED:

BILLY:

I told you we shoulda gotten rid

of ’em like that couple up in

Utah. Nice and clean.

RED:

So it got a little f***ed up --so

what? We stay out of the area for

a while, things will cool off.

There is a HAMMERING noise, O.S. Red looks over,

irritated.

RED:

Dammit, Al, what the hell you

doing?

Al sits at a workbench hammering precious stones out of

Amy’s jewelry. He looks over at Red.

AL:

Figured I’d get started on the

jewelry.

RED:

F*** that, you can work on it

later. Help us with the girl.

INT. BARN HAYLOFT -NIGHT

Jeff breathes in sharply, presses his eye against the

knothole.

INT. BARN GROUND FLOOR -NIGHT

Red unlatches a hidden compartment under the chassis of

the moving truck. He and Billy slide out a long metal

box, similar to a drawer in a morgue.

They lift the metal lid, revealing -

CANVAS SACK:

The sack is stained and ripped. Red pokes at it. The

sack doesn’t move. Red shrugs.

RED:

Must’ve died from the exhaust.

88.

INT. BARN HAYLOFT KNOTHOLE -NIGHT

Jeff stares, paralyzed, his universe exploded. Moisture

forms in his eyes.

INT. BARN GROUND FLOOR -NIGHT

Billy and Al reach into the compartment, start to lift

out the sack.

RED:

I’ll get some plastic. We’ll bury

her before it gets light out.

Suddenly the sack drives its legs into Al’s belly.

AL:

(startled)

Aagh!

Al falls backward, drops the sack on the floor. It tears

open revealing Amy --gagged with duct tape, her wrists

and ankles taped. She squirms and kicks wildly, her

screams muffled.

INT. BARN HAYLOFT KNOTHOLE -NIGHT

We see Jeff’s eye in the knothole. It’s all we need to

see to gauge the effect on him of seeing Amy alive.

INT. BARN GROUND FLOOR -NIGHT

Al gets to his feet, furious.

AL:

Goddamn. Scared me half to death.

BILLY:

(chuckles)

Gotcha good, huh, Al? Oughta be

more careful next time.

AL:

Shut up.

(glaring at Amy)

Lemme do her, Red. I’ll cut her

head off right now.

ARLEEN (O.S.)

(muffled)

Warren? You in there?

Red reacts.

(CONTINUED)

89.

CONTINUED:

RED:

Sh*t, it’s my wife. Help me get

her in the freezer.

(calling out)

Just a second, Arleen.

Red walks to a corner, moves aside a section of false

flooring. He pulls up a hidden trap door, revealing a

root cellar.

AMY:

squirms on the hay-strewn floor. Her clothes are ripped,

face bruised. She looks up, reacting: Jeff’s eye is

visible in the knothole.

Their gaze meets... and holds...

RED:

returns and takes Amy by the legs. Al and Billy lift her

by the arms. As they carry her to the root cellar, Red

peers into her terrified face.

RED:

Don’t worry, honey. It’s not as

bad as it sounds. It’ll take you

about 10 minutes to suck the air

out. Probably won’t even feel it.

Amy reacts, writhing even more violently, but she’sno

match for the three men.

BARN HAYLOFT:

Jeff watches helplessly as...

BARN GROUND FLOOR

The men disappear with Amy into the cellar. We hear a

METALLIC THUD, then a few moments later, the men reappear

without her. Red closes the trap door, secures it with a

heavy padlock, then slides the panel of false flooring

over it.

RED:

C’mon, let’s go.

They turn, walk toward the door. Red opens it. Arleen

is standing there. Al and Billy greet her politely:

(CONTINUED)

90.

CONTINUED:

AL:

Howdy, Arleen.

BILLY:

Hey, Missus C.

ARLEEN:

Well finally. Are you coming to

breakfast? I’ve been calling you.

RED:

Sure thing, honey.

The barn goes dark as the men leave. The barn door rolls

shut. A LOCK CLICKS.

INT. BARN HAYLOFT -NIGHT

Jeff quickly climbs down a ladder in the pitch darkness.

He crosses the room, bumping into a workbench. He

swears, makes his way toward the...

INT. REAR OF BARN -NIGHT

Jeff drops to his hands and knees, feeling for the

padlocked trap door. He finds it, speaks in an urgent

whisper.

JEFF:

Amy? Amy, can you hear me?

No reply. Jeff cups his hands, presses his mouth to the

floor.

JEFF:

(louder)

Amy?

Still no reply.

Jeff swears, glances around the dark room. There is a

tool bench across the room.

JEFF:

Hang on, baby. They’re in the

house; I can’t use the lights.

I’m gonna get you out.

He goes to the tool bench, fumbling in the darkness. He

knocks over a cardboard box --a pile of car keys spill

across the table. His hands run over an assortment of

tools. He locates a hammer, takes it.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes