Strange Days Page #17

Lenny is keyed up and tense. He keeps looking out the

back window.

MACE:

Will you relax. There's nobody back

there.

LENNY:

Mace, the guy had a knife. To my

throat. In my living room.

Relaxing might be right out, okay?!

MACE:

You better keep a low profile for a

while.

LENNY:

No sh*t. You got someplace in mind?

CUT TO:

EXT. BACKYARD/MACE'S HOUSE - DAY

On Zander, face lighting up, giving Lenny a high five.

Lenny drops his bag, shakes, does a little silly hand

choreography -- a goof on a bro grip -- that makes Zander

laugh. Mace watches this ritual and smiles herself.

Zander can call out a part of Lenny that Mace would like

to see more of.

Cecile is there, hanging out with her boyfriend CURTIS,

and Curtis' friend VEJ. These two guys are about 18,

dressed in gangsta garb. They are listening to "The

Prophets of Rage" on a CD player, and watch Lenny with a

dispassion that flirts with distaste.

ZANDER:

What do you got?

LENNY:

(pulls a tape out of

his pocket)

Today I have...

MACE:

(seeing the tape)

Lenny, have you lost it completely?

LENNY:

Easy, there, Mom. Easy. This is

audio only.

(hands tape to

Zander)

John Coltrane. "A Love Supreme."

Give it a listen, let me know what

you think, maybe you won't go for it

now, but it'll get in your head and

grow like a seed into something

really beautiful.

ZANDER:

Let's play it now!

LENNY:

Later. Your mom'n I are heading

right back out.

Groans of outrage and protestations of unfairness from

Cecile, Vej and Curtis follow this bad news. Cecile even

musters the gumption to speak up.

CECILE:

Hey, come on, I been baby-sitting a

full 24 hours, I have to get ready

for the party tonight...

MACE:

Cecile.

Mace frosts her with a look. You don't mess with Mace.

MACE:

(to a disappointed

Zander)

You're not the only little boy I

have to look out for, honey.

Zander nods:
OK. Lenny gives him the grip. Zander's hand

outmaneuvers his, and the boy smiles in triumph.

CUT TO:

INT. UNDERGROUND PARKING GARAGE

POV:
squid tape of Iris' death. Quick barrages of the

savage imagery interspersed with bursts of static...

... until Tick slips off the trodes. He's been totaled by

what he's seen.

TICK:

Whoa. That is one unbelievable

piece of eyefuck.

LENNY:

Skip the art criticism, Tick, what

can you tell me about the wearer.

TICK:

Well... the guy's f***ed up.

MACE:

We know that, Tick.

TICK:

No, I mean the killer's got some

kind of distortion in his visual

cortex. The color and gray-scale

values are all messed up, like color

blindness.

He gives the tape a fast run through his processing

equipment.

TICK:

Lookit, you see the peak period

ratios there? Could be some kind of

tumor or brain lesion or something.

Some kind of trauma

(shaking his head)

This is not good. I don't like this

at all...

LENNY:

What?

TICK:

Well, it's cutting awful close to

me. I mean she was just here.

LENNY:

Who was just here?

TICK:

Iris, man. Pay attention.

LENNY:

Wait, wait... wait a minute. Iris

was here?!

TICK:

Yeah, she came by last night.

Shaking like a junkie, wanting me to

make a copy of some clip.

LENNY:

What clip? What was it?

TICK:

I don't know, man, she wouldn't let

me see it. Said I wouldn't want to

see it. She said she was going to

give it to you to hold for her.

Like insurance or somethin'

LENNY:

She never gave me a tape.

MACE:

(to Lenny)

Think back about what she said.

Exactly what she said.

LENNY:

(revved up)

She wanted to go out to my car,

something about my car...

MACE:

Something in your car...

Lenny and Mace swap a look: oh sh*t.

CUT TO:

EXT. SAN PEDRO IMPOUND YARD - DUSK

6:
05 P.M.

The last night of this millennium is falling. Mace's limo

pulls to the curb. The yard is located in the vast no-

man's land of storage lots, cranes and warehouses near

harbor piers. The impound office is locked. Closed for

New Years Eve.

CUT TO Lenny and Mace cutting the chain off the gate with

the long-handled bolt-cutters. They enter the yard. Mace

is carrying a blunt object that looks like a ray-gun. A

TAZER.

Right on cue a huge Rottweiller bounds out of the shadows

at them, growling, its head low on an attack run. Mace

fires and the tazer lights up the with 120,000 volts (low

amperage, not lethal). It whines and flips over twice,

then runs off behind some parked cars.

LENNY:

That's a handy little attitude

adjuster.

(sees his car)

Damn. I'm boxed in.

Lenny and Mace approach his BMW, blocked in by ten other

cars, so he's not getting it back this trip. He unlocks

the door and looks inside with a tiny Mag-Lite while Mace

covers them with the tazer. A puppy-like whine comes

occasionally from behind some cars nearby. We catch a

glimpse of the puzzled, snuffling Rottweiller eyeing them

warily.

Lenny finds the tape on the floormat, passenger side,

still wrapped in the note. He reads the note: "HELP ME.

IRIS."

MACE:

What's it say?

He crumples the note.

LENNY:

Nothing. Let's go play this back.

CUT TO LENNY AND MACE returning to the limo. As they

reach the car they are hit by two flashlight beams. It is

the two cops, SPREG AND ENGELMAN, out of uniform, but

looking very serious with their pistols aimed at Lenny and

Mace. They have been following Lenny, knowing sooner or

later he would lead them to the tape.

SPREG:

Give me the tape. Right now.

LENNY:

What tape? I'm just trying to get

my car back but the place is

closed--

SPREG:

Shut the f*** up Nero.

Engelman grabs a fist-full of hair at the top of Mace's

head and jams his 9mm into the back of her skull.

MACE:

(cool and even)

Lenny, give them the tape.

LENNY:

It's in my case. Okay? I'm going

to open my case...

ENGELMAN:

Facing us, where we can see it.

Lenny slowly opens the Haliburton. He takes out the tape

and holds it out toward Spreg.

LENNY:

Take it and turn her loose. Okay?

SPREG:

Absolutely.

And you see in his eyes that it isn't going to go that

way. Spreg edges forward and takes the tape. Then he

points his pistol at Lenny's head, about to fire--

Which is when the pissed-off Rottweiller shoots through

the open gate like a black torpedo and tears into

Engelman's leg. Engelman screams in pain. Mace twists

out of his grip. Engelman shoots the dog.

Lenny swings up his Haliburton, using it as a shield, and

dives for the car. The case takes three rounds from

Spreg's 9mm before Lenny gets behind cover.

Mace just seems to vanish. She reappears over the trunk

of the limo and puts two rounds squarely into Spreg's

chest, knocking him down. Lenny and Mace scramble into

the car, starting it up.

Spreg sits up, pulling up his shirt to make sure his body

armor stopped the slugs. No blood. He comes up firing.

He and Engelman empty their magazines at the limo as it

pulls away. No damage. They realize the limo is a bullet

proof security model and run to their pickup truck, parked

nearby, to give chase.

Spreg's face is a mask of rage. He slams the truck in

gear and accelerates after the limo before Engelman even

has the door closed.

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