Panic Room Page #7

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After a moment, they break apart and Junior steps up to the

camera holding a pad of paper. He shows it to the camera.

On the top page, in big block letters, they've written.

WHAT WE WANT:

After a suitable pause for reading, he turns to the second

page, where four more words are written.

IS IN THAT ROOM.

IN THE PANIC ROOM,

Sarah GASPS, Meg sits back.

MEG:

"What we want is in that room."

SARAH:

They're coming in here, aren't they?

MEG:

No, I told you, they can't. It's

not a possibility.

Angry, she sits forward and jabs the talk button.

MEG:

(into speaker)

What do you know about this room?

ON THE MONITORS,

there is more frenzied writing, more arguing, and a first

draft of a response torn up. Finally, Junior steps forward

with another sign:

MORE THAN YOU.

IN THE PANIC ROOM,

Meg's confidence is ebbing, but she doesn't want to show it.

She hits the talk button again.

MEG:

(into speaker)

We're not coming out. We're not

letting you in. Get out of my

house.

(clicks off)

SARAH:

Say f***.

MEG:

(into speaker)

F***.

SARAH:

"Get the f*** out of my house."

MEG:

(into speaker)

Get the f*** out of my house!

She clicks off again, looks to Sarah for approval, and gets

it, sort of, in Sarah's half-smile. But Sarah's eyes go back

to the screen.

SARAH:

Answer.

Meg follows Sarah's eyes back to the screen, where another

message is being held up for them.

ON THE MONITORS,

the notepad says:

WE WILL LET YOU GO.

IN THE PANIC ROOM,

Meg and Sarah speak at the same time.

MEG:

Oh, please.

SARAH:

Give me a break.

INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

In the living room, her voice booms from the speaker.

MEG (O.S.)

Conversation's over.

With an audible CLICK, she signs off. Burnham, Raoul, and

Junior stand arrayed beneath the camera, staring up at it,

dumbfounded.

BURNHAM:

Got her right where you want her,

Junior.

JUNIOR:

Shut up.

BURNHAM:

When you said you'd let 'em go I

thought she'd come running right out

for sure.

JUNIOR:

Shut up and let me think.

He opens a pack of cigarettes, takes out a joint and lights

it.

BURNHAM:

I'm afraid to let you think, Junior.

Things get worse when you think.

(sniffs)

Oh, that's gonna help.

JUNIOR:

(holding in a hit)

Okay, fuckball, you think. What are

we gonna do?

RAOUL:

What if she called the cops?

BURNHAM:

She didn't.

JUNIOR:

She said she did.

BURNHAM:

She lied. Cops woulda been here by

now if she called 'em. Besides,

Junior cut the phones.

Burnham goes to the window and stares outside. He laughs,

covers his face.

RAOUL:

What the f*** is funny about this?

BURNHAM:

God.

RAOUL:

There is not one thing funny here.

BURNHAM:

Who else but God could think this

sh*t up? I spend ten years building

those f***ing rooms to keep people

out, now I gotta figure out how to

get in. God, man, He just loves the

irony.

JUNIOR:

Yes. Yes, it's all terrible ironic

and amusing. You f***. Now how are

you gonna get us into that room?

BURNHAM:

Can't. Whole point. Can't get in

the room.

RAOUL:

So what the f*** are we supposed to

do?!

BURNHAM:

Make her come out. And when she

does, that's when we gotta be

careful. She can't get out of this

house. She can't even think she can

get out of this house. We just keep

them here and keep them quiet for

forty-five minutes. And I don't

want

(Raoul)

Joe Pesci here standing over them

with his fat sweaty finger on the

trigger. That's a sure way for us

to end up with two dead bodies and

little puffs of smoke burning out of

our heads up in Greenhaven. So

we're gonna seal the place up. They

wanna hole up in here? Fine, we'll

help 'em. Make it impossible for

them to leave. Once they come out

of that room.

JUNIOR:

And why exactly would they want to

come out?

At the window, Burnham notices something sitting just outside

the French doors, on the balcony. It's a large outdoor

barbecue grill. He thinks, takes a step closer.

He sees a white five gallon tank of some kind underneath the

grill.

BURNHAM:

Workin' on it.

CUT TO:

INT. PANIC ROOM - NIGHT

In the panic room, Meg is sitting cross-legged on the floor,

leaning against a wall, but Sarah is in motion, sorting

through shelves, opening drawers. Every drawer has something

in it, sealed under plastic. She opens and closes, sorts and

lifts finds the following:

Waterproof matches and lighters.

Flashlights.

Unopened packages of batteries.

Sealed water bags stamped "PURE FIVE YEARS FROM DATE."

Tinned food.

Flares.

Pillows, fireproof blankets (we know because the bags are

stamped FIREPROOF BLANKET).

A complete tool kit.

As Sarah explores, she discovers something in the far wall at

the end of the room, down on the floor at eye level.

It's a small round portal, about eight inches across, with a

four-pronged cloverlike seal. The portal is closed tight, as

Sarah pokes and scrapes at it idly with a finger or two, it

resists her attempts to crank it open.

Meg notices.

MEG:

Hey. Relax, okay?

But Sarah keeps at it, feels along the edges of the portal,

then all along the wall, looking for some kind of hidden

switch that controls it.

MEG:

I mean it, lie down. You get your

adrenaline up and you know what's

gonna happen.

Sarah stops, looks at her mother, who is pale and wan,

huddled in the corner.

SARAH:

Are you freaking out?

MEG:

Little bit. Yeah.

Sarah looks around the room.

SARAH:

Small space?

MEG:

(nods, fast)

Don't though.

(talk about it, that is)

Sarah looks at her, thinks. It's not an unfamiliar

situation, her needing to comfort her mother.

SARAH:

Why did the chicken cross the road?

MEG:

What am I, a five year old?

SARAH:

Why did the chicken cross the road?

MEG:

I don't know, why?

SARAH:

To prove he wasn't chicken.

Meg tries to push a smile across her face, but it's

immediately dashes as she looks back at the video screens.

Her eyes show alarm, staring at the kitchen.

MEG:

What the hell are they doing?

CUT TO:

INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT

The contents of one of the satchels is dumped out over the

kitchen counter, every kind of tool imaginable, many that are

unfamiliar to us. They sort through the pile, choosing

things.

INT. KITCHEN FLOOR - REAR DOORS - NIGHT

At the French doors that lead to the garden, Burnham has a

cordless screwdriver and a pile of long screws in his hand.

He reaches up, drills a screw through the door, into the

corner of the door frame. He does the same at the bottom of

the door.

He unlocks the doorknob, tries it. The screws hold the door

fast. He moves on, to the next door.

INT. PANIC ROOM - NIGHT

In the panic room, Meg stares at the video screens, eyes

wide, terrified. She watches them. Can't take her eyes off

them.

MEG:

(barely audible)

... locking us in...

INT. LIBRARY - NIGHT

In the library, in the front of the house, Raoul screws shut

a window, driving the long screws into its frame. He looks

out at the street, at two CLUBGOERS walking home.

He pulls the drape.

INT. PANIC ROOM - NIGHT

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