Die Hard Page #14

HEARING Karl's approach, McClane thinks fast, looks down at

his narrow confines, and then at:

118-A HIS WEAPON 118-A

and its canvas gunsling and metal strap slides.

118-B BACK TO SCENE 118-B

Quickly, McClane lets out all the slack in the sling. Then,

he BRACES the weapon across the outside opening of the air

shaft door and lowers himself into the:

119 AIR SHAFT 119

meanwhile holding onto the canvas sling with his elbows bent

over it like a kid doing a half-asses skin-the-cat on a swing

set.

His feet slowly move down the smooth aluminum walls until they

reach the top of the air duct, then DANGLE in the open space.

He straightens his arms to give him length enough to touch

the bottom edge of the duct.

Suddenly he FEELS something GIVE above him and looks up.

120 CLOSE ON THE SLING 120

It was designed to carry a gun on a man, not vice versa. The

few inches of extra canvas are sliding through the clips.

When they're gone...he will be too.

121 KARL 121

He moves silently toward the corner.

122 CLOSE - MCCLANE'S TOES 122

now only inches from the bottom edge. McClane's arms are

fully extended now. He hears Karl on the metal catwalk. His

muscles strain and quiver.

123 THE SLING 123

One of the canvas end slips through the clip.

124 ON MCCLANE 124

FALLING. He grabs the ledge of the air duct as he falls and

his body slams into the aluminum wall with an echoing BOOM.

Above him on the catwalk the rifle rattles on the metal outside

the door.

125 ON KARL 125

Around the corner Karl FREEZES, unsure of the sound:

126 ON MCCLANE 126

holding onto the ledge by his hands. With every ounce of

strength he tries to pull himself up into the horizontal duct,

clawing for a hold.

127 ON KARL 127

He rounds the corner and sees McClane's rifle lying beneath

the doorway. He moves to the small door, shines his light and

aims his rifle down into the air shaft ready to fire.

128 HIS P.O.V. 128

The shaft is deserted. Moving his light around he sees the air

duct. Without hesitation he turns and backtracks to the pump

room door.

129 INT. AIR CONDITIONING DUCT - ON MCCLANE - SAME 129

He lies exhausted and motionless in the narrow crawl space. He

awkwardly fishes out the lighter from his shirt pocket and

thumbs it ON.

The flickering GLOW shows him this ain't no place for

claustrophobics -- it's a long, long long dark and narrow

corridor full of weird shadows. The far end (if there even

if one?) is BLACK.

MCCLANE:

Whew...for a moment there I was

worried.

He turns out his lighter, and starts crawling.

130- OUT OUT 130-

133 133-

133-A INT. MACHINE FLOOR 133-A

The three terrorists rush down from the roof in hot pursuit,

Karl leading the way through the door. Karl points quickly to

the left and right where there are a series of rooms. The

others checks these while Karl approaches the CAMERA, trigger

finger ITCHING. Almost immediately, the others return.

FRANCO:

(a whisper)

Nothing.

Karl looks puzzled. Then he thinks, mentally retracing McClane's

few options. Karl's eyes scan the architecture here, and then

suddenly he looks UP.

133-B OUT OUT 133-B *

134 HIS P.O.V. 134 *

The ceiling is criss-crossed with air ducts. He fires a *

burst into the ducts.

135 INT. AIR DUCT - SAME 135

McClane remains motionless in the air duct. Three quarter-size

holes inches from his face show how close Karl came to nailing

him. Sweat covers his face, drips silently onto the aluminum.

136 MACHINE ROOM 136

Karl listens patiently for sound. Just then the two other

terrorists return.

FRANCO:

Nothing.

Karl hesitates a moment, fighting his instincts before finally

turning to go. Suddenly the duct McClane is in GROANS slightly

under his weight. Karl stops and looks up at the matrix of

aluminum duct work, trying to single out the source of the

sound. He steps back into the room and raises his rifle.

Holding it upright he presses the barrel up into the belly

of McClane's air duct, feeling for weight -- the weight of a

body.

137 INSIDE THE AIR DUCT 137

McClane sees the indention of the barrel pressing into the

aluminum fifteen feet away. There is a pause and another

three feet closer. He can hear Karl's footsteps on the

concrete -- moving slowly below the duct.

138 ON KARL 138

His eyes are fixed above him on the air duct. He presses the

barrel up again. Still nothing.

139 ON MCCLANE 139

Silently he moves his hand, slowly draws his Beretta. The

next indention presses up six feet away. McClane points his

gun downward and waits.

140 KARL 140

stops directly below him. The barrel starts up and just

touches the duct under McClane when Franco returns to the

door and calls:

FRANCO:

Karl! Police! Come on.

Karl hesitates then lowers his gun and leaves.

141 CLOSE - MCCLANE 141

He hears the door close and lowers his head.

141-A INT. 33RD FLOOR - SAFE ROOM 141-A

The large LED WINDOW in the front of the safe BEEPS and letters

creep by:
ACCESS CODE ACCEPTED. We HEAR a CLUNK.

Rate this script:5.0 / 3 votes