Suspect Zero Page #12

Mackelway eyes those books on evil, then those ancient

weapons... Casually, almost imperceptibly, he reaches for his

sidearm, as O'Ryan continues:

O'RYAN (CONT'D)

Some of my colleagues think I'm

fascinated with evil. I think the truth

is just the opposite: evil is fascinated

with us. What better vehicle could there

be for creating havoc in the world - what

better instrument - than Man? We're vain,

we're stubborn, we're deceitful, we have

an imagination that is limitless in its

perversions. Of course Evil keeps trying

to harness us. Wouldn't you?

The more he talks, the closer Mackelway comes to extracting

that gun...

Then, disturbing the silence, a KNOCK at the door.

O'RYAN (CONT'D)

Excuse me.

O'Ryan rises, goes to the door... as Mackelway unholsters his

gun. O'Ryan opens the door. Standing here is a COED, with a

backpack. She looks confused.

COED:

Oh. I'm sorry. I was looking for

Professor--

Just like that, O'Ryan has bolted past the Coed, literally

tossing her onto Mackelway, exploding into the hall.

She screams. Mackelway grabs her, moves her aside as gently as

time allows, then blows out of the room...

60 INT. BUILDING - BASEMENT CORRIDOR - CONTINUING 60

O'Ryan turns a corner, vanishing. Mackelway follows.

61 INT. BUILDING - CORRIDOR CORNER - CONTINUING 61

Mackelway finds himself facing another endless corridor: One

door after another, for what seems like a mile. But no O'Ryan.

Then Mackelway spots an EXIT SIGN. A stairwell...

62 INT. STAIRWELL - CONTINUING 62

Mackelway enters. The stairs go six stories UP from here...

and one story DOWN. A sub-basement.

It's a guess. He descends, gun drawn.

63 INT. SUB-BASEMENT - CONTINUING 63

Mackelway emerges. "B-2" looks a lot like B-1: long and

endless. We hear air moving around us, pipes carrying water,

the wheezing of an old generator...

And, on all sides of us, DOOES, a mile of them: maintenance

offices, supply rooms, labs. He opens one - a janitor's

supply. No one in here.

Tries another door. Locked. A second. Locked. A third. Locked.

Air sucks through a corridor around us. He thinks he hears

footsteps around a corner. Runs at them.

64 INT. SUB-BASEMENT - CORNER - CONTINUING 64

Nothing. No one. Just another vast corridor. More doors.

Then, a sound. GLASS, shattering on the floor. He runs down

the corridor, passing a long metal CAGE that houses this

building's FIVE FURNACES. They're old and wheezy.

It's dark behind them, shadowy. Not a bad place to hide.

Farther down the corridor is another door - made of frosted

glass. A sign on it reads "Neuropsychiatric Lab." That's where

the sound came from... he thinks.

65 INT. SUB-BASEMENT - LAB - CONTINUING 65

Mackelway enters. The lab is dark. He throws on every light

switch within reach... and finds himself standing over the

shards of what used to be a GLASS BEAKER.

So he's in the right place. He scans it: five rows of work-

stations, ten microscopes per row, each with a sink beside it.

Lining the walls are wide CABINETS.

But there's also a MINI-LIBRARY down here: Four rows of

BOOKSHELVES, housing medical journals. These are the "stacks" -

perfect for hiding behind.

He plunges in. Row #1. Doesn't see anyone. Then Row #2, Row

#3, Row #4. Okay, the stacks check out...

He walks along the rows of work-stations, scanning, crouching,

nudging open cabinets. One has been opened:

Bottles of SOLUTIONS sit inside it. And a JAR that's been

unsealed:
It's got GAUZE PADS in it...

In the back of the room, an INSTRUCTOR'S DESK awaits. It's

tall enough to hide beneath. Mackelway slinks around it.

Kneels down, looking into darkness...

Then, a NOISE. The FRONT DOOR of this lab just swung open...

And O'Ryan just bolted out. F***.

66 INT. SUB-BASEMENT - CORRIDOR - CONTINUING 66

Mackelway emerges from the lab. Those furnaces whine beside

him on the other side of that cage. But a GATE on that cage

has been left ajar...

67 INT. "FURNACE ROOM" - CONTINUING 67

Five furnaces, separated from the sub-basement corridor by

steel mesh. Mackelway enters. A few meager BULBS burn.

He moves amidst shadow and noise: the chugging of engines, the

humming, the wheezing, a slight vibration to the floor beneath

us. He walks along the edge of Furnace #1...

...and is assaulted, from above.

O'Ryan falls on him, knocking Mackelway hard into the sharp

CORNER of that furnace, then down to the ground. Mackelway's

gun skids across the floor.

And his mouth, suddenly, has been covered with gauze.

He wants to fight back... but suddenly he finds that his head

is swimming. Something's on that gauze. The room is getting

fuzzy.

We see the belly of a furnace - flames, heat. Then our own

BLOOD... (Mackelway's CHEST was torn open by the corner of

that furnace.) Wait. Did we just see the glint of a KNIFE?

O'Ryan is leaning over us, in utter control.

Then O'Ryan's head turns, abruptly - at the sound of

FOOTSTEPS. And we hear:

MALE VOICE (O.S.)

Hey! You! What're you doing down here!

We turn, groggily. TWO JANITORS rush toward us, keys jangling.

It's all foggy, wavy, distorted.

We see O'Ryan RISE. Then everything goes black...

CUT TO:

68 INT. A HOSPITAL ROOM - MORNING 68

Mackelway's head is ringing. Feels like he can hear

electricity in the walls around him. Slowly, he awakens. Above

him are fluorescent lights. Monitors blink...

Fran is here. So's Charlton. Mackelway tries to sit up. The

shock of pain from his chest stops him.

FRAN:

How ya doin'?

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes