Carnival Page #6

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flower pots... broken PIECES FLYING as...

SWASH! - the hook BURIES into the owner’s skull -Enter

the HELPER - CHARGING at Goliath with a pair of sharp

gardener’s SCISSORS -A

torch FIRES UP in the dark - Dante is REVEALED:

WHOOSH! - he blows a lethal plume of FIRE at the helper -

35.

He BURNS, SCREAMS and ROLLS on the floor.

The carnie team watches him burn until he finally goes STILL.

The greenhouse now littered with BODIES, broken pots and

pieces of jagged glass. No more foes left.

Shiv approaches Doug, still lying on the floor with the SHARD

stuck into his back. His breath now a wheeze.

SHIV:

Alright. Let’s start again.

DOUG:

I didn’t -(

cough)

Pull the trigger...

SHIV:

You bought the flowers.

DOUG:

I’m just the hitman’s handler. A

middle man. I book his gigs...

His voice trails off, his eyes glazing over.

Shiv SLAPS him back into consciousness.

SHIV:

Don’t die on me, a**hole.

DOUG:

I book his gigs with the Black

Rose.

SHIV:

Where can I find him?

DOUG:

We’ve never met. We use a dead

drop. Lockers -

He COUGHS, fading. Hands Shiv a KEY.

DOUG:

Train station.

SHIV:

Who hired the hit?

DOUG:

Heard he had some beef with a stash

house manager.

36.

SHIV:

The Black Rose has stash houses all

over town. Which one?

Doug’s cough gets worse... and worse...

Until he lets out a final wheeze... taking the rest of the

answers to his grave.

Shiv searches the body. Finds an ENVELOPE. He’s about to

check what’s inside when...

Zodiac enters the greenhouse, spots the thugs butchered by

Shiv’s blades.

SHIV (V.O.)

As she takes in the bloodbath and

turns to me, I notice something’s

changed in her eyes.

A KNIFE:

Stuck into a thug’s chest reflects her face.

SHIV (V.O.)

She no longer looks at me like I’m

some kind of joke.

EXT. CARNIE TRUCK - NIGHT

Racing along with a purpose as neon lights dance across its

WINDSHIELD. Shiv drives, blood smeared on his face like war

paint. Steely stare fixed dead ahead.

SHIV (V.O.)

I hear Ayleen’s voice warning me it

shouldn’t take mayhem and murder to

earn a girl’s attention. That this

isn’t some kind of goddess I must

please with blood sacrifices.

Zodiac rides shotgun, shoots a quick glance at him.

SHIV (V.O.)

But the other voices are legion and

they scream louder, telling me to

keep the blood flowing.

37.

INT. CARNIE TRUCK

SHIV:

Tell me something about yourself.

Her eyes bore into him for a beat.

ZODIAC:

You can ask one thing.

SHIV:

Where are you from?

ZODIAC:

Many places.

SHIV:

Where did you spend the most time?

ZODIAC:

Prison.

Off Shiv, taking in the answer he didn’t expect...

CUT TO:

EXT. TRAIN STATION - PARKING LOT - NIGHT

The CARNIE TRUCK parked by a lamp post, bathed in a white

circle of light.

The team in mid-debate:

DANTE:

If we watch the dead drop, sooner

or later the shooter will show up.

SHIV:

I’m not here to watch a stupid

locker.

DANTE:

That stupid locker is our only

lead.

SHIV:

He’s a pro. We stay there too long,

he might see us. And if we spook

him, he’ll vanish.

DANTE:

If you have a better idea...

38.

Shiv produces the ENVELOPE he got from the Handler and

empties its contents over the truck’s hood:

A stack of bills.

A black rose.

A picture of an OLD MAN - the TARGET.

SHIV:

We don’t know how to find him. But

we know how to hire him.

He throws the target’s picture away.

Then RIPS his own CIRCUS FLIER from the truck’s side.

And puts it in the envelope along with the flower and the

cash.

SHIV:

I can make him come to me.

DANTE:

By hiring a hit on yourself?

SHIV:

Correct.

Everyone seems taken aback by his suicidal stupidity, except:

GOLIATH:

You’re an ass, knife boy. But I

think I’m starting to like you.

INT. TRAIN STATION - LUGGAGE LOCKERS - NIGHT

Shiv and Zodiac hurry along the corridor and stop at one of

the lockers.

He produces the key he got from the handler - opens the

locker - it’s EMPTY.

Zodiac feels the cabinet with her hands, eyes GOING WHITE as

she’s hit by a -

VISION:

A lone FIGURE stands in a dark alley, holding a silenced

handgun -

39.

Wait - it's actually TWO FIGURES standing in tandem - the

illusion of one from the previous perspective.

TWIN HITMEN. Elegantly dressed, yet eerily menacing. Standing

amid a DOZEN BODIES on the murky floor.

ZODIAC:

Snaps out from her trance.

ZODIAC:

I saw two gunmen. Probably

partners. Definitely pros.

SHIV:

Anything I can use?

ZODIAC:

You could use what I just told you

and think better of this -

He THROWS the envelope into the locker - SLAMS the door shut

as we -

CUT TO:

EXT. DIRT ROAD - NIGHT

The CARNIE TRUCK speeds through the desert on its way back to

the carnival.

TRUCK’S BED

Zodiac and Goliath sit in silence. He catches her staring at

him. Smiles his playboy smile.

GOLIATH:

Do I owe you money, gypsy queen?

ZODIAC:

Rumor has it you screwed three

burlesque dancers. Two trapezists.

The snake charmer. Tigra. One of

the juggler’s assistants -

GOLIATH:

I’m blushing already.

ZODIAC:

How come you never even made a move

on me?

40.

GOLIATH:

You’re trouble, of the bad kind.

ZODIAC:

Says who?

GOLIATH:

I know your type.

ZODIAC:

From experience, I take it.

GOLIATH:

Get out of my head.

ZODIAC:

Who’s Cindy?

The name hits a nerve with Goliath.

GOLIATH:

Stop using your sight on me.

ZODIAC:

Didn’t have to. I can read your

tat.

Her probing gaze is fixed on the TRIBAL TATTOO covering his

right shoulder:

As we see what she sees, for a moment, part of the design

fades away to REVEAL the name “Cindy” cleverly camouflaged

inside the tribal design.

ZODIAC:

Nice cover up.

(off his silence)

But you still love her, don’t you?

(off his silence)

How sad.

GOLIATH:

Gonna let this one pass. But next

time... next time I’ll hit you

back.

TRUCK’S CABIN

Shiv drives while chatting with:

DANTE:

Two shooters?

41.

SHIV:

That’s what she saw.

DANTE:

And you went ahead with it, without

giving it the slightest thought -

SHIV:

I thought about it.

DANTE:

Didn’t see you hesitate.

SHIV:

I think fast.

DANTE:

I think you are trying to impress

that girl.

SHIV:

Think she’s impressed?

DANTE:

I’m impressed. You just hired a hit

on yourself and look where your

head is at.

SHIV:

Funny it’s you telling me not to

play with fire.

DANTE:

Didn’t burn my mug “playing”.

SHIV:

Then how?

DANTE:

I used to be a fireman. I used to

“think fast”.

Shiv digests this in silence.

SHIV:

Think the hitmen will smell the

trap?

DANTE:

Probably. But at least now your

head is in the right place.

CUT TO:

42.

EXT. MIDWAY - DAY

THRONGS of townies pace back and forth.

Shiv among the crowd. Walking alone. His bleak stare

contrasting with the music and the cacophony of joy.

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