Human Target Page #9

CUT TO:

EXT. MONTEREY ONE - CRAWL-SPACE - CONTINUOUS

Chance slips into the crawl-space. The wind is overwhelming.

Hard to keep his eyes open... Hard to breathe...

The space itself is open on three sides, made up of a loose

criss-cross of supports. Above is the undercarriage of the

train. Super-tight; very little room to maneuver.

Chance hangs on to the supports above, with his feet wedged

into the side struts for support.

(CONTINUED)

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CONTINUED:

He shimmies awkwardly down the crawl-space, straining to keep

his weight suspended over the bottom guard rail.

He sees the brake-case, just needs to make it that far... A

few more yards... But, as he moves, his leg jerks back. His

shoelace caught in the rigging... Chance yanks at it, but

can’t get it free... Straining to hold himself up... On his

undershirt, we see THE RED SPOTS JOINING, where the wound on

his chest is now worsening...

Chance gives it one last pull... His foot comes out of shoe,

the shoe falls onto the guardrail, and is then SUCKED IN BY

THE JETSTREAM... ROCKETS AWAY LIKE A BULLET, OUT TO THE SIDE

OF THE TRAIN, and then UP IN THE AIR, riding the train’s air

current like it was shot out of a cannon. It’s violent and

quick. On Chance, resolving not to go the way of the shoe...

He digs deep and regains his grip. It takes all he’s got,

but he REACHES THE BLACK BOX... Feels around behind it...

CUT TO:

INT. MONTEREY ONE - CARGO CAR - DAY

Stephanie waits nervously by the open access panel... No

sign of Chance... She’s really starting to worry, as A HAND

POPS OUT OF THE OPENING. Then another...

Stephanie rushes over, and helps A GRIMY, BLOODY CHANCE haul

himself up onto the deck. He collapses, exhausted.

STEPHANIE:

Please tell me we’re ok...

CHANCE:

(heaving)

Well... Ok...

STEPHANIE:

We’re not ok, are we?

CHANCE:

We’re screwed...

Stephanie pops up off the ground, paces nervously.

CHANCE (CONT’D)

Here’s what we’re gonna do. We go to the

front, and you’re gonna tell them they

need to cut the engines-

STEPHANIE:

It’s not that simple... There are three

high grade curves on the route.

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

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CONTINUED:

STEPHANIE (CONT'D)

If we are where I think we are, there’s

one coming up in about 60 miles.

CHANCE:

So?

STEPHANIE:

So there are only two rules to driving a

train. And one of them is, when you get

to a curve, slow down.

CHANCE:

(putting it together)

We’ll go off the rails at this speed...

How long would it take to coast to a

safer speed?

STEPHANIE:

More than we’ve got-

CHANCE TACKLES STEPHANIE to the ground, just before-

BANG! Gunshots ring out... The ASSASSIN IS AT THE OPPOSITE

END OF THE CAR, FIRING AT US...

Chance pulls his gun and returns fire, as he and Stephanie

take cover behind a bundle of machinery. A beat, as Chance

peers over the bundle to check the Assassin’s position.

CHANCE:

Run as fast as you can to the door.

STEPHANIE:

But it’s the wrong way, we have to get to

the main car to warn them about-

CHANCE:

Go!

Before Stephanie can even react, Chance pops up and WALKS OUT

IN THE OPEN TOWARDS THE ASSASSIN. The Assassin eyes go wide

with surprise as he sees Chance walking right into his fire.

The Assassin tries to aim for a clean shot, but Chance forces

him to take cover...

STEPHANIE RUNS towards the rear door. As she nears it, Chance

starts to fall back, TOPPLING A STACK OF BOXES to cover their

retreat... They both sprint out the door and into-

CUT TO:

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INT. MONTEREY ONE - EMPTY PASSENGER CAR - CONTINUOUS

Chance and Stephanie sprint through a barebones passenger

car, largely unfinished... A beat, before THE ASSASSIN

APPEARS AT THE DOOR, FIRING AWAY... Chance returns fire, but

after the first shot-- CLICK. Out of ammo...

He and Stephanie quickly make it through the next door, and

shut it. The Assassin’s gunfire impacts off the closing

door, just missing them...

CUT TO:

INT. MONTEREY ONE - 2ND TO LAST CAR - MOMENTS LATER

Chance enters, shuts the door, and shuts a CLOSET DOOR just

inside, which covers the main door. He then HAULS DOWN A

CART FULL OF EQUIPMENT, barricading both doors closed. A

beat, before THWACK, the Assassin runs up against the

barricade on the other side.

CHANCE:

Oughta hold him for a few minutes...

Inside the car, we see tools, equipment... It’s the rear

engineering car. Through the barricaded door, we can hear

the Assassin working at the door, trying to get through.

STEPHANIE:

I don’t know how many minutes we’ve got.

12, maybe 15 before we hit the curve...

She pulls out her phone. TIGHT ON THE DISPLAY: A RED BATTERY

INDICATOR. Stephanie dials: JAMES. It rings, hits voicemail.

CHANCE:

Who are you calling?

STEPHANIE:

James. He can at least warn them...

Come on, pick up...

Stephanie dials again, but as she does the battery goes, and

the phone shuts itself down.

STEPHANIE (CONT’D)

Dammit!

CHANCE:

There’s gotta be an intercom or

something...

(CONTINUED)

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CONTINUED:

STEPHANIE:

They hooked up these cars so they could

test speed at full capacity. They’re

ballast. Only electronics working are

the lights and the air conditioning...

A beat, as they both arrive at the same idea together...

They slowly look up to a partially exposed AIR DUCT...

MOMENTS LATER, INSIDE THE AIR DUCT...

--Chance’s head is poked into the duct, checking it out.

It’s tight, barely big enough for a person to be on all

fours. Chance then drops back down to-

THE REAR CAR, with Stephanie...

CHANCE:

Will it support both of us?

STEPHANIE:

I don’t know. I didn’t exactly design it

to be a jungle gym.

CHANCE:

It doesn’t have to hold for long, we just

have to get past him to the next car.

Off Stephanie...

CUT TO:

INT. AIR DUCT - MOMENTS LATER

Chance leads Stephanie down the cramped duct...

reach a thick grating at the end of the car-They

quickly

STEPHANIE:

There’s two-

Chance makes a face--Shhhhh!!! Then, whispered-

CHANCE:

If he hears us, we’re gonna be dodging

bullets...

STEPHANIE:

There’s two grates between here and the

next car. You can just unscrew them...

Chance pulls out a UTILITY KNIFE, and carefully unscrews the

grate, before gently setting it aside. They then crawl into

the next section. Like ribbed, flexible Kevlar; we’re now in

the connecting space between the cars.

(CONTINUED)

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CONTINUED:

Chance then carefully, quietly, unscrews the second grate

that’ll take them into the Assassin’s car. As he finishes, he

turns to Stephanie, and holds a finger to his lips. He takes

a breath... But as he pulls away the grate to set it aside-

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