Bringing Out the Dead Page #7

TIMECUT:
radio wakes Frank from his reverie.

RADIO DISPATCHER

Zebra. One-three Zebra.

(Frank opens eyes)

Zebra, answer the radio. Come on,

I've got one for you. Pick up the

radio and push the button on the

side and speak into the front.

FRANK:

(answering call)

Zebra.

RADIO DISPATCHER

Male bleeding, corner of Houston and

One. No further information.

FRANK:

Ten-four.

Frank hangs up, bangs Larry's steering wheel:

FRANK (CONT'D)

We have a call Chief. Somebody's

bleeding, Houston and First.

Larry instinctively reaches for the ignition key, starts the

engine, drops the ambulance into gear, hits lights, jerks

the EMS bus away, still half asleep.

CUT TO:

EXT. HOUSTON & FIRST--NIGHT

13 Zebra coming to a bone jarring stop at the corner. Getting

out of the techie seat, Frank sees Noel, his face bloody,

charging at him.

NOEL:

Kill me!

Noel has sliced up a tire and fastened the pieces with string

over his shoulders. Tin cans circle his wrists and ankles.

One hand carries a broken bottle, the other a stringless

violin.

Frank jumps back inside as Noel rams the window, leaving

stains from his blood-matted dreadlocks. Larry calls for

backup:
medics, police, firemen, anybody.

The side window glass bends as Noel rams his head against

it. Frank reaches for the short club between the seats; Noel

holds the jagged bottle to his neck.

FRANK:

Noel, don't!

Noel drops the bottle. Frank rolls down the window.

LARRY:

He's crazy.

FRANK:

You really think so?

NOEL:

See, I can't do it. I came out of

the desert.

FRANK:

You came out of the hospital. You

were tied down and hallucinating.

You got some bad chemicals in your

head, Noel. There's some medicine at

the hospital that will fix that.

NOEL:

No, no medicine!

Noel swings his bloody dreadlocks: Frank ducking, getting

splattered anyway, rolling up the window.

LARRY:

He got you.

A BLACK PUNK calls from the crowd:

BLACK PUNK:

Do it! Man wants to die. Take him

out! I know how to kill that mother.

(points a finger)

Pop, pop.

Noel, spraying blood, chases the Punk. The crowd scatters.

Noel trips, falls to the sidewalk. Frank, carrying the short

bat, gets out, walks over, hunches beside Noel:

FRANK:

Noel, you didn't let me finish. We

have rules against killing people on

the street. Looks bad, but there's a

special room at the hospital for

terminating. A nice quiet room with

a big bed.

NOEL:

Oh man, do you mean that?

(smiles)

Thank you man, thank you. How?

FRANK:

Well, you have your choice: pills,

injection, gas.

A siren draws closer, Noel gets to his feet as Larry opens

the rear doors.

NOEL:

I think pills. Yes, pills, definitely.

A second ambulance skids to a stop. TOM WALLS, 35, a 220

pound bald-headed bruiser, gets out.

LARRY:

Jesus, Tom Walls, that crazy

motherf***er.

FRANK:

Used to be my partner.

WALLS:

Frank, this the guy you called about?

I know him.

(pushes Noel)

You give my friend here any trouble

and I'll kill you.

NOEL:

Yes, at the hospital.

WALLS:

This looks like a very bad man I

took in a couple weeks ago, a man

who'd been holding two priests hostage

with a screwdriver. I told him if I

ever caught him making trouble again

I'd kick the murdering life outta

him.

FRANK:

It's not worth it, Tom. He's

surrendering.

WALLS:

No prisoners. Don't worry, Frank,

just a little psychological first

aid.

Walls hauls back, swings at Noel; Noel ducks.

WALLS (CONT'D)

Stay still, dammit!

Walls throws Noel against the bus, knocks him down, sets to

kicking him.

FRANK:

Don't do it, Tom!

Noel moans. Larry sticks his head out the back of the bus:

LARRY:

There's a double shooting three blocks-

up. First and Third. confirmed.

WALLS:

(looking up)

We'll do it.

Walls releasing Noel as Noel scrambles into the bus, Frank

stepping over him, Larry climbing into the driver's seat,

Frank closing the doors. Noel trembles:

NOEL:

At the hospital. You told me at the

hospital.

Larry squeals off full gun, all sirens blaring: the Wah, the

Yelp, the Super Yelp. Strobe bar, side strobes, quarter panel

strobes. Rock n' roll.

CUT TO:

EXT. FIRST & THIRD--NIGHT

Both EMS buses breaking to a stop at the crime scene, cops

holding the crowd back; Walls, Frank, Larry, Walls' partner

moving through the crowd.

FRANK & WALLS

EMS. Move it!

BYSTANDER:

Man just walked up and shot 'em. Not

a word. Man, that was cold.

Rate this script:3.5 / 4 votes