Reindeer Games Page #5

And the world goes dark.

INT. PRISON CELL - NIGHT

Darkness and shadows. Rudy sits in a corner, holding his

head. The cell block silent for the first time.

Bootsteps from down the row. A SHADOW falls across Rudy's

somber figure. It's the Mean Guard. He stares at Rudy with

distinct pleasure.

RUDY:

The man had two days...

MEAN GUARD:

Well. Least he won't be coming back.

The guard grins a gold tooth. Rudy looks at him --

-- and then springs to his feet, charges the room, grabbing

through the bars. The guard takes a calm step back. Keeps

the cruel smile.

MEAN GUARD:

You need company tonight, Rudy...

you just give a holler.

He puckers a kiss and walks on. Starts whistling "Are You

Lonesome Tonight?" Several shadowed VOICES request that he

shut the f*** up. The bootsteps and melody drift down the

row.

RUDY:

turns back, starts toward his bunk. And stops. His eyes on

Nick's empty bed. And the wall behind.

THE PICTURES OF ASHLEY

Smiling, laughing, playing kissy-face. Hearts drawn on the

photos. All colors of stationery taped to the wall.

RUDY:

takes a seat on Nick's bed. There's a shoebox at the foot of

it.

Rudy opens it. It's filled with Ashley's letters.

He trails a finger along them, must be over a hundred pages.

He selects the one nearest the front. Surveys it.

NICK (V.O.)

Rudy, man, here we go, here, what

she wrote here:
"The car's waiting.

The motel's waiting. And I'm waiting.

I've waited for so long. I'm burning

for you, Nick. My whole body. My

whole heart. I'm burning for you..."

Rudy turns to the wall. To the lakeside picture of Ashley, a

swimsuit siren. Rudy stares sadly.

RUDY:

He was burning for you too...

And puts the letter away.

CLOSE ON RUDY'S CALENDAR - NIGHT

As his hand slashes through December 21st. Prison's over.

CUT TO:

EXT. IRON MOUNTAIN PRISON - DAY

Snow swirls. Near blizzard conditions. A heavy steel door

BANGS open, held by an EXIT GUARD. And FIFTEEN CONVICTS,

make that EX-CONVICTS, trudge onto a fenced drive, covered

in snow.

EXIT GUARD:

Your world and welcome to it,

dumbfucks! Don't be a stranger now!

We'll keep the lights on for ya!

Rudy stumbles out with the group, shivering in a Goodwill

hand-me-down coat. Thin canvas, wouldn't keep him warm in

summer.

Secondhand shoes. No possessions.

He clutches his sides with his hands, hunched over. All

fifteen huddle and herd toward the gate at the end of the

fenceway.

BEYOND THE GATE:

There are a dozen FRIENDS and RELATIVES waiting. A few MEN,

several WOMEN, a couple KIDS. Bundled in winter coats, hats

and hoods. A prison shuttle bus is parked behind them.

The released cons reach the gate, where a GATE GUARD unlocks

the fence to the outside world. Fifteen men are free.

The ex-cons and relatives scan each other's faces. Wives

rush over to embrace their men. Pals nod to ex-cons and trade

slaps on backs. Reunion time.

The snow batters them, wind whipping. Rudy keeps his head

down, leaning forward, keeps walking. Toward the bus. But he

can't help himself -- he glances up --

TO SEE A YOUNG WOMAN

bundled in a silver ski jacket, pink wool hat with a poofball

on top, scarf and mittens. Scanning the released prisoners.

RUDY:

drops his head, looks away. Climbs onto the shuttle bus.

INT. BUS - CONTINUOUS

Rudy shakes his arms, basking in the vehicle's warmth. Takes

a seat at the back. A couple other lone ex-cons climb aboard.

Then the cons with relatives start to pile in.

Rudy's window is steamed against the cold. He stares into

his lap, then reaches for his coat pocket. Takes out the

picture of Ashley, in her bikini by the lake. Stares at it.

He rubs his window with his sleeve.

Outside, the woman in the silver coat turns this way and

that, troubled. She's watching the other ex-cons climbing

onto the bus with their loved ones.

The woman looks back to the prison. The guard closing the

gate. The steel door has been shut. No one else is coming.

Rudy watches her sadly.

Aboard the bus, the seats fill up. Ex-cons are feeling up

their wives, kids are climbing on their absent daddies,

buddies are jawing loudly 'bout how the neighborhood's

changed.

The woman outside is now alone. Silver coat, pink poofball.

Rudy looks at the bikini picture again.

Then at the shivering bundle.

RUDY:

Don't do it, Rudy...

The bus ENGINE starts up. In the seat beside Rudy, an EX-CON

makes out with his WIFE while his bratty KID punches his

leg.

Out the window, the young woman is scanning the bus windows.

Then the prison again. She turns in a worried circle. Rudy

looks swiftly away. Closes his eyes.

RUDY:

Don't do it ...

The bus door closes. It REVS and starts forward. Rudy sighs

with relief. The photo of Ashley falls to the floor.

EXT. PRISON RELEASE GATE - CONTINUOUS

The young woman watches the bus pull away, down the snowy

road. But it doesn't get fifty feet before it suddenly stops.

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