Eight Legged Freaks Page #9

SAM:

(taken aback)

Are you asking me out on a date?

CHRIS:

Only if you’re going to say yes.

Sam smiles slightly.

INT. MUSEUM -KITCHEN -DAY

The basement door is wide open. Gladys mixes food in a

bowl. A cigarette with a massive ash hangs off her lip.

A male tarantula moves across the ceiling. The creature

is the size of a pit bull. Two quivering palps flank

dart-sized fangs. Multiple eyes the size of quarters.

Hair all over.

(CONTINUED)

50.

CONTINUED:

Gladys is oblivious to the ominous threat above her. As

she works, the spider shadows her. Every time the spider

is about to strike, she goes another direction to get

spices, utensils, a pan.

Gladys places her bowl on the stove. Suddenly the

tarantula drops onto the stove right in front of her.

Gladys shrieks. The tarantula lashes out at her. Gladys

grabs a frying pan and smashes it across the face as she

stumbles backward. The spider reels, striking the burner

knobs, turning on the gas.

Gladys registers the sound of ESCAPING GAS. She looks

back toward the fuse box and makes a run for it. As she

goes, the tarantula fires a webline at her.

Gladys gets the fuse off the top of the fuse box, but the

webline prevents her from slotting it home.

Gladys strains with all her might, finally slots the

fuse. She turns toward the kitchen just in time to see

the broken burner spark to life. The gas ignites. The

tarantula is engulfed in flame.

Gladys is knocked down by the blast. She lies on her

back when a second male tarantula nails her with a

webline. Gladys screams as she’s dragged across the

floor toward the basement door.

The fire grows more intense, spreading quickly.

INT. POLICE STATION -DAY

CHRIS:

So that’sa ’No.’

SAM:

My kids are the world to me,

Chris. When their dad left... it

really took a toll. On all of us.

I can’t go through that again. I

won’t.

CHRIS:

No... I understand... I don’t know

what I was thinking...

(laughs)

Gladys has some crazy ideas. I’m

gonna kill her.

Deputy Pete throws open the door.

(CONTINUED)

51.

CONTINUED:

PETE:

The museum’s on fire!

OFF Chris’s look.

EXT. BURNING MUSEUM -DAY

The museum burns. The volunteer fire department attacks

the conflagration. All the locals are there to help.

Sam’s COP CAR SKIDS to a stop. Chris leaps out. Stares

at the fire for a beat. And then he charges toward the

inferno. Sam tackles him from behind. Pinning him to

the ground.

CHRIS:

No! Let me go! Gladys! Let me

go!

The museum collapses. Chris watches it burn to the

ground.

EXT. MUSEUM -DAY (LATER)

The fire is out. The once-proud building is now a

smoldering pile of rubble. Locals stand in small groups.

Chris wanders through the ruins as firemen mop up. He

picks something out of the char. The map of the mines.

Almost completely burned. Soaked with water. He stares

at it for a heavy beat. All that remains of his legacy.

Sam steps up.

SAM:

Maybe she got out.

Sam puts a comforting hand on his shoulder.

CHRIS:

(devastated)

She was cooking. The stove was

broken.

SAM:

Why don’t you come home with me?

We’ll get you cleaned up.

Chris hesitates for a moment. And then he lets the map

fall. He walks out of the ruins with Sam.

(CONTINUED)

52.

CONTINUED:

Mike stands off to the side. He spots something near the

edge of the ruins. He goes over to pick it up. It’sa

piece of arachnid exoskeleton. A spider’s leg. Big.

Very big. Travis the fire chief warns him away.

TRAVIS:

Get away from there, Mike!

Mike hurries clear with his prize. He puts it on the

ground, sketches the outline of a spider to fit the scale

of the leg.

MIKE:

Holy God...

Mike looks around for his mom. He sees her driving off

in the cop car with Chris.

MIKE:

Mom! Wait!

EXT. PALMER HOUSE -DUSK

The sun hangs low in the sky. Sam’s cop car parks beside

Bret’s monster truck.

INT. PALMER HOUSE -DAY

Ashley watches TV. A doctor resuscitates a dying patient

with CPR. The doctor counts as he pumps the man’s chest.

TV DOCTOR (V.O.)

One... two... three...

Ashley watches intently. The patient is revived.

TV DOCTOR (V.O.)

Helping people never gets old.

Ashley hears KEYS in the front DOOR. She quickly

switches channels to MTV. Sam enters with Chris.

SAM:

Is Bret here?

ASHLEY:

No.

SAM:

Then why is his truck out front?

(CONTINUED)

53.

CONTINUED:

ASHLEY:

Don’t worry about it.

SAM:

What do you mean? What happened?

ASHLEY:

Nothing.

Ashley starts crying. Sam goes to comfort her daughter.

Chris stands by in shock. Watching, Upset.

ASHLEY:

Nothing happened, alright!

Ashley runs off to her room. Sam follows.

Chris stands alone for a beat. He walks to the kitchen

and pulls a bottle of Vodka from the freezer. He puts

the cold bottle against his head and neck. Trying to

cool off.

Mike bursts into the house carrying his piece of

exoskeleton. He sees Chris opening the bottle of vodka.

MIKE:

Spiders shed their skins when they

grow.

Chris looks at Mike for a moment.

MIKE:

Like snakes.

CHRIS:

Gladys is dead.

Chris drinks vodka straight from the bottle.

MIKE:

Maybe not.

That got Chris’s attention.

MIKE:

This is a tarantula’s leg. Or it

was. It’s an exoskeleton, to be

scientific.

CHRIS:

It’s a little large.

(CONTINUED)

54.

CONTINUED:

Chris has another gulp of vodka as Mike holds up his

Cassiopeia full of spider data. He shows Chris a video

of a male tarantula mummifying its food. Chris watches

in amazement.

MIKE:

See! Male tarantulas wrap their

prey in webbing. Tight like a

mummy. The food stays alive so

they can eat it later.

Sam enters the room in time to overhear this.

SAM:

Mike, please. Now isn’t the time.

Chris looks up at Sam.

CHRIS:

They keep their food alive.

Mike hands his mother the new piece of exoskeleton.

SAM:

What is this?

MIKE:

A spider’s leg!

Sam flinches, dropping the object to the floor.

MIKE:

Careful!

SAM:

No. That’s a piece of cactus.

Look... It’s covered with spines.

MIKE:

Those are quills! Tarantulas can

flick them at you like darts!

Mike does an odd flicking motion. Kind of like a dog

scratching a flea.

SAM:

Giant tarantulas?

MIKE:

Tarantulas! Wolfs! Trapdoors!

Joshua had a ton of exotics!

(CONTINUED)

55.

CONTINUED:

CHRIS:

If there were giant spiders

roaming the desert, don’t you

think somebody would’ve seen them

by now?

MIKE:

The jumpers hunt in daylight. But

not the others. They only come

out when the sun goes down!

The group looks to the window, the sun hangs low in the

sky.

EXT. TOWN -DUSK

Prosperity is bathed in sunset. The mine shaft entrances

are clearly visible. Like black holes of malevolent

promise.

INT. PALMER HOUSE -GARAGE -DAY

The garage is cluttered. Old station wagon. Bikes.

Skis. Sam leads Chris to a bag full of her ex-husband’s

clothes.

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