Buffy the Vampire Slayer Page #27

MERRICK:

This one may surprise you.

CLOSEUP - THE GUN

Merrick holds it firm behind his back, finger on the trigger.

LOTHOS:

I rather doubt it, if she was raised

here.

He laughs. He doesn't appear to have noticed the gun, but:

LOTHOS:

(continuing)

Where is she? I can't wait to meet

her. Do you think she's ready to

face me? Or perhaps you can stop

me with that gun.

MERRICK:

Perhaps.

Merrick looks out at the trees nearby.

MERRICK'S POV

Buffy appears, far away, between the trees.

Merrick looks at Lothos, afraid he will notice.

ANGLE - BUFFY

Approaching, stopping some twenty yards away. She looks about

her for a weapon.

LOTHOS:

Look at you. You pathetic thing.

So small, so full of fury. After

you've served me for a hundred years,

I think you'll have a little more

perspective.

MERRICK:

I don't think so.

Lothos rushes suddenly at Merrick, hissing, his feet just off

the ground. Merrick steps back, whips out the GUN, and SHOOTS

himself without hesitation in the head.

Buffy's eyes go wide.

Lothos growls, holding Merrick's spurting corpse.

A small, involuntary noise escapes Buffy.

CLOSEUP - LOTHOS

Even twenty yards away, he hears. He spins and stares, starest

at CAMERA. Listening.

Buffy walks slowly, silently backward, fading back into the

dark, terrified and shocked.

Lothos turns back and looks at Merrick dead in his hands.

Disgusted, he lets him drop.

LOTHOS:

Fool.

He looks at the blood on his fingers. After a moment, he tastes

it.

CUT TO:

EXT. STREET (LATER)

Pike is standing by the trees where Buffy stood before, looking

out into the street.

PIKE'S POV

The same angle as Buffy's, before. Now Lothos is gone. Buffy

is kneeling quietly by Merrick, holding his head in her lap.

CUT TO:

EXT. A WOOD - JUST BEFORE DAWN

Through the dark mist Buffy appears, carrying Merrick's body

in her arms. She is alone. She does not stop.

CUT TO:

EXT. GRAVEYARD - MORNING

On the outskirts of the graveyard, Buffy finishes filling in

Merrick's grave under an old tree. She is still wearing her

cheerleader outfit, now caked with dirt. She stands at the

foot of the grave, tries to think of a prayer.

BUFFY:

Ummm, our Father, Who art in Heaven,

duhmm... hallowed be Thy name.

Uhh, kingdom come, daily break, I

don't know. I don't even know if

you're religious. You probably

are. But you're dead, you know.

You're just totally dead. and...

She sits heavily on his grave.

BUFFY:

(continuing)

... and I don't know what to do.

You were the one who... I don't

know if the training was over. I

don't even know if I passed. You're

so stupid! How could you be so

stupid? What am I supposed to do

without you? You son of a b*tch!

She stops, looks down for a moment.

BUFFY:

(continuing)

Amen.

CUT TO:

INT. ZEPH'S AUTO REPAIR - DAY

Pike is at work on a contraption. Built out of scraps and

parts, it is the beginnings of a cartridge-load crossbow.

Zeph watches, behind him.

ZEPH:

Hah, I'd knew you'd be back. Didn't

I say you'd be back? Ha, ha, ha!

You're sitting in your old car saying

'Nope, I'm never coming back.'

Hee, Hee! Like you got anywhere to

go. 'I'm never coming back' But I

knew you would. Birds got to return

to the nest sooner or later. That's

what I said. Just like I told you...

Pike pays no attention to this babbling monologue. Over the

course of it he takes a slim, handmade wooden shaft, slightly

thicker than an arrow, and rubs it with garlic. He places it

in the crossbow, take aim in front of him. He fires into the

tire of a truck. The tire pops flat. Zeph cracks up.

ZEPH:

(continuing)

Hah! Shot the damn tire, dumbass,

didn't even look, just going around

shooting things, popped it flat, ya

bonehead.

Pike, still not listening, continues to work.

CUT TO:

INT. GYM - DAY

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