Eight Legged Freaks Page #2

Chris chips at the wall with his pickaxe. As it makes

contact, the occasional spark flies up. Chris pauses to

scrutinize the target area with his helmet-light.

Something sneaks along the floor of the mine behind him.

Chris is oblivious to his unseen stalker. He chips away

a section of stone to reveal shiny minerals. Reflections

of silver and gold splash across his face. His smile

fades...

CHRIS:

Damn.

(CONTINUED)

7.

CONTINUED:

Chris bends over, reaching for a bottle of water. A

large rat scurries out of hiding dragging away Chris’s

sack lunch.

Chris grabs his pick-axe and goes after the rat. The

rodent dodges every hit. Sparks fly when the axe strikes

rock. These ignite a vent of methane gas.

A BRIEF EXPLOSION knocks Chris off his feet. He notices

a small hole in the floor is lit like the burner on a

stove. Chris pats out the flame as the rat scurries away

with lunch.

CHRIS:

Hope you like bologna!

EXT. HIGHWAY -DAY

A police car drives with a bicycle hanging out of the

trunk.

INT. POLICE CAR (HIGHWAY) -DAY

SAMANTHA "SAM" PALMER (30s) is the sheriff of Prosperity

and a confident, single mother. Mike is seated beside

her.

MIKE:

You should see them, Mom. Each

one has a unique feeding behavior.

The spitters fire poisonous snot.

The tarantulas mummify their prey.

The jumpers can...

SAM:

Why does he have all those things?

MIKE:

He studies them. NASA uses spider

webs in outer space. And for

medicine. They’ve been here

forever, and they’ll be here long

after we’re all dead.

SAM:

You’re givin’ me nightmares.

MIKE:

Nightmares are cool.

(CONTINUED)

8.

CONTINUED:

SAM:

U.P.S. brought this to the

station.

Sam hands Mike a small package.

MIKE:

It’s from Dad! He didn’t forget

my birthday. I told you he

wouldn’t.

SAM:

Better late than never.

Mike tears open the box to reveal a Cassiopeia PDA.

MIKE:

Rockin’!

SAM:

Is that the one you wanted?

MIKE:

Cassiopeia 2304 with 64 megs of

ram. Integrated modem. Voice

recording capability. This baby

is tight.

Mike can’t turn on the gizmo.

SAM:

What’s wrong?

MIKE:

He forgot to send the batteries.

SAM:

(annoyed)

I told him to send batteries.

EXT. DESERT -DAY

The ROAR of two off-road MOTORCYCLES tearing up the

desert.

BRET HALE (18) leads the way. A Kid Rock-punk with good

looks and FU attitude. Seated behind him is ASHLEY

PALMER (16). This milk-fed desert honey is a wannabe

Britney Spears. LARRY (17) is the wiseacre on the other

bike.

BRET:

Hang on, babydoll!

(CONTINUED)

9.

CONTINUED:

They GUN their BIKES onto the highway. Slalom the yellow

lines. Wheelie for days. Ashley peeks over Bret’s

shoulder at a police car coming at them in the opposite

lane.

ASHLEY:

Oh sh*t.

INT. POLICE CAR (HIGHWAY) -DAY

Sheriff Sam watches intently as the bikes wheelie past.

SAM:

Hang on.

MIKE:

Why?

EXT. HIGHWAY (DESERT) -DAY

The police car does an impressive bootlegger 180. Lights

ablaze. SIREN WAILING. The bikes pull over to the

shoulder.

EXT. SHOULDER OF HIGHWAY (DESERT) -DAY

The motorcycles stop with the cop car behind. Sam’s

voice barks over the PA.

SAM (V.O.)

Party’s over, gentlemen. Off the

bikes.

Sam exits the car and approaches. The bikers dismount.

BRET:

There is something very sexy about

an older woman in uniform.

LARRY:

Her nine-millimeter gives me a

stiffy.

ASHLEY:

Don’t antagonize her, you guys.

SAM:

I told you not to act like

kamikazes. Especially with Ashley

riding behind. That is

unacceptable, Bret.

(CONTINUED)

10.

CONTINUED:

BRET:

I could always ride her from

behind.

Larry snickers. Sam steels her rage.

SAM:

You just bought yourself a

reckless.

Sam begins to write up the ticket.

ASHLEY:

Can’t you give ’em a break?

SAM:

Get in the car, Ashley. Now.

ASHLEY:

But, Mom!

Sam shoots his daughter an intimidating glance.

BRET:

No sweat, babydoll. We’ll hook up

later.

SAM:

(threatening)

Over my dead body.

INT. SAM’S COP CAR (HIGHWAY) -DAY

Mike grins from the front seat as Ashley climbs in back.

MIKE:

You have the right to remain

silent. Anything you say can and

will be used...

ASHLEY:

Shut up, dork.

EXT. SHOULDER OF HIGHWAY -DAY

Sam hands Bret the ticket.

BRET:

Larry, do we know anybody at City

Hall who can mark this go away?

(CONTINUED)

11.

CONTINUED:

LARRY:

Your Dad is the Mayor.

BRET:

Oh, yeah.

(to Sam)

He signs your paycheck.

SAM:

The next time you put my

daughter’s life in danger, I’ll

show you exactly how little that

means to me.

Bret and Larry feel her resolve.

BRET:

Relax, bee-otch. It’s all good.

The punks remount their bikes.

SAM:

I want both wheels on the ground.

The punks REV their BIKES and defiantly wheelie toward

town.

INT. POLICE CAR -DAY

Sam climbs behind the wheel.

MIKE:

I read her her rights.

SAM:

I can always count on you, Mike.

Sam STARTS the CAR and drives toward town.

ASHLEY:

Do you get off on humiliating me?

SAM:

This bad girl act doesn’t suit

you, Ash.

ASHLEY:

I’m just trying to have fun.

Don’t you remember what it’s like

to grow up here?

SAM:

That’s what scares me.

(CONTINUED)

12.

CONTINUED:

Sam reaches over and opens the glove box. She pulls out

a stun gun. Mike passes it through the bars to Ashley.

SAM:

I told you to keep this with you.

Ashley slides the zapper into her backpack.

ASHLEY:

You are so over protective.

Mike and Ashley lip-sync along with Sam’s response.

SAM:

A mother’s job is to protect her

children.

ASHLEY:

You need to start trusting me.

SAM:

I’d like to. But you keep

skipping classes to go to the

dunes with Bret.

ASHLEY:

Why do you hate him so much?

SAM:

I don’t hate him. I just want you

to have a future. I thought you

wanted to get out of town. Go to

med school.

ASHLEY:

Maybe I want to stay. I could get

pregnant by nineteen. Then

divorce with a couple of kids I

can’t handle. Slap on a badge and

be a trailer trash sheriff.

SAM:

(deeply hurt)

Thanks for the flashback.

They drive on in painful silence. Mike turns ON the

RADIO.

HARLAN (V.O.)

... listening to W.F.R.E. Freedom

radio. We’ve put aside the

U.F.O.’s and conspiracy

theories...

13.

INT. PICKUP TRUCK (HIGHWAY) -DAY

Chris drives into town with the RADIO ON.

HARLAN (V.O.)

... for some down home talk back

with our own mayor: Wade Hale.

CHRIS:

Oh, great.

WADE (V.O.)

Thanks, Harlan. As I was saying,

Chemical Technologies has been

looking for viable storage sites.

And Prosperity is lucky enough to

be on that list.

HARLAN (V.O.)

Lucky? I think most of us are

insulted that some outsiders think

our town is a perfect place to

dump toxic waste.

CHRIS:

Right on.

EXT. MAIN STREET (TOWN) -DAY

Chris’s pickup approaches... The entire town is not much

bigger than a few football fields. The kind of place

where everybody has known each other since childhood.

Some buildings date back to the 1880’s gold rush.

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