Hero Page #13

JOHN BUBBER is at the wheel, a shabbily dressed, tired, haunted

man. He gives BERNIE a look. Should he believe?

BUBBER:

And you pulled people out?

You're... a hero.

BERNIE:

Nah, I f***ed it up. I was tryin'

to impress this kid, don't ask me

why. I was gonna rescue his old

man, but I couldn't find the poor

bastard. He musta blew up.

(then...)

I got the hell outta there. I

didn't have the nerve to face the

kid.

BUBBER:

(thoughtful, serious)

A lotta people wouldn't have tried.

It was pretty brave even trying...

BERNIE:

Try stupid.

BUBBER brakes for traffic and a cardboard box from the back seat

hits BERNIE and cascades crushed cans all over him.

BUBBER:

Sorry about that. Just toss them

in back.

(very serious)

A lot of people would say that's

what heroism is... stupidity. Doing

something that if you thought about

it, you wouldn't do it, it's not

in your... interest.

BERNIE indicates the clutter of cans.

BERNIE:

You got a drinking problem or what?

BUBBER:

I sell them at the recycling center.

Gives me a little for gas and food.

BERNIE:

(considering the back

seat)

Looks like you live in here, for

Chrissake!

BUBBER:

In bad weather, yeah. Mostly I camp

out in the woods. I thought maybe

you were down on your luck too when

I picked you up.

BUBBER indicates BERNIE'S muddy, torn clothes, stocking foot.

BERNIE:

Down on my luck! Hey, I toldja,

a goddamn plane fell on me outta

the sky. In America, for Chrissake!

See this shoe! Hundred dollar pair

of shoes. One shoe!

BUBBER glances at the shoe BERNIE'S waving.

BUBBER:

You should give it to someone with

only one leg.

BERNIE:

One leg! Like the Red Cross or

something?

BUBBER:

I know a guy who only has one leg.

BERNIE drops the shoe on the floor, shakes his head, disgusted.

BERNIE:

Sell it to him. You get a couple

bucks, it pays for the ride.

(a beat, then...)

I got a job, nice apartment. I do

okay.

BUBBER:

They interview you or anything?

At the plane crash?

BERNIE:

Hey, do I look crazy? I don't go

for that sh*t... interviews, media.

They're manipulators. "Keep a low

profile," that's my motto.

EXT. FREEWAY - DAWN

The Chevy inches forward as the traffic moves again, heading

slowly toward the city.

BERNIE'S VOICE (O.S.)

(continuing, grandly)

Besides, I got these legal problems.

My attorney don't want me giving

statements to the press.

Traffic is still crawling.

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY

GALE sits up in bed in spite of an I.V. in one arm and a cast

on the other. There's a big bandage across the bridge of her

nose and her left leg is also heavily bandaged...

GALE.

I don't understand. You can't find

him?

She stares incredulously at her trio of visitors, CONKLIN,

CHUCKY, and DEAKINS. DEAKINS, uncomfortable outside his

office, is awkwardly trying to vase a bouquet of flowers.

DEAKINS:

There's a lot of confusion around

what went on last night, it's not

clear...

GALE:

You said all the passengers were

accounted for...

DEAKINS:

Apparently the guy who pulled you

out wasn't a passenger...

A NURSE gracefully relieves DEAKINS of the flowers he's

destroying and skillfully vases them while GALE questions...

GALE:

A paramedic? A fireman? He didn't

have a uniform...

CONKLIN:

From what we could get, there's a

kind of... sort of... "mystery

guy"... involved.

DEAKINS:

We're piecing together different

accounts and...

GALE:

A "mystery guy!" "Not a passenger."

Who?

CONKLIN:

We don't know who he is, he...

DEAKINS:

He disappeared.

GALE:

(incredulous)

A non-passenger, non-rescue-worker

went into a burning plane and pulled

me out and... disappeared?

GALE starts to get up, struggling with covers, I.V., etc.

CONKLIN:

Not just you. Apparently this guy

is the one who opened the emergency

exit from the outside...

DEAKINS:

Everybody! He saved everybody on

the plane! Because of him, no

fatalities! I don't think you're

supposed to move around like that,

Gale. You're attached there...

GALE is getting out of bed, the I.V. still inserted in her arm.

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - LATER (DAY)

LESLIE looks directly into the camera as CHUCKY tapes her over

GALE'S shoulder.

LESLIE:

And all of a sudden, this...

"civilian"... rushed into the

plane. Next thing you know he's

hauling Freddy... he's the other

flight attendant... out and then he

goes back in.

(a beat, a tear,

then... )

That's what gave me the courage to

hang in there even though I knew

the plane could blow any minute...

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