The Crazies Page #2

EXT. TOWN CENTER, OGDEN MARSH, KANSAS - DAY

A lone street light flashes yellow on Main Street. It will

do that all day. An A & P, a post office, a bank. No

frills. No artifice. Like the people that live here.

David's cruiser pulls up outside C. R. Finley Funeral Home

which doubles as the town morgue.

INT. FINLEY FUNERAL HOME - DAY

MORTICIAN CHARLES FINLEY and the TOWN PASTOR are discussing

funeral arrangements in the dimly-lit foyer. David enters

and they go silent, unintentionally.

DAVID:

Pastor, Charlie...

TOWN PASTOR:

(to Finley in parting)

I'll talk to the family, see if

that schedule suits them.

The Pastor pats David's arm as he exits, a gesture of

solidarity. David comes over to Finley. An odd man whose

bony features reflect the grim solitude of his trade.

6.

DAVID:

Medical examiner still here?

FINLEY:

Was a minute ago.

DAVID:

Charlie, whatever the costs are for

the funeral, bill comes to me, all

right?

Finley nods okay. David heads for the back.

INT. BACK ROOM, TOWN MORGUE - DAY

TIP OF A PEN writes: "Aorta ruptured - fatal wound:

gunshot..."

The MEDICAL EXAMINER, balding, bespectacled, finishing his

autopsy notes. David walks over. A body sheeted in plastic

on the autopsy table. Tag on the toe: HAMILL, RORY C.

DAVID:

Just wanted to get his blood-

alcohol, put in my report.

MEDICAL EXAMINER

Zero-point-zero.

DAVID:

Come again?

MEDICAL EXAMINER

Zero-point-

DAVID:

I heard what you said. Stacy,

that's not right, he was drunk.

The Examiner shakes his head. Collects his things to go.

MEDICAL EXAMINER

Checked it twice. Rory was a

drinker, but not last night.

He exits. David, baffled, peels back the sheet and studies

the corpse like it might offer clues. But there is only the

grim reality of death. The tell-tale Y-shaped incision

sutured shut across the torso.

And the small black hole his bullet made.

7.

INT. SHERIFF STATION - DAY

Small, functional. David's lone deputy is fielding phone

calls in the common area. DEPUTY RUSSELL. Young. Capable.

Built like a linebacker. He'd be sheriff if David weren't

around but his loyalty is absolute.

RUSSELL:

(into phone)

I can’t answer that - look, like I

said, you'll have to talk to

Sheriff Dutton, try back later.

David enters as he hangs up.

RUSSELL:

Hey.

DAVID:

Russ.

David goes into his office. Sorts through the mail on his

desk. Russell follows, only as far as the doorway, stands

there for a moment gauging the climate.

RUSSELL:

Some f***in' ball game, huh.

David sits down, nods.

DAVID:

Yeah.

EXT. OGDEN MARSH HIGH SCHOOL - DAY

Humble brick building with a sign out front. Home of the

wildcats.

DAVID (V.O.)

So you all saw something last night

I sure wish you hadn't...

INT. SCHOOL GYMNASIUM - DAY

David, before a microphone, addressing the STUDENTS in

general assembly. SCHOOL OFFICIALS looking on.

DAVID:

...Hard to make sense of it, even

for me. Talk to your teachers,

talk to me if you want...

The SEA OF YOUNG FACES, some visibly upset, some visibly not.

8.

DAVID:

...We don’t have all the answers,

but we’re here to help.

INT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE GYM, HIGH SCHOOL - LATER

Post assembly, David walks down the hall with the PRINCIPAL.

Students swarm past back to class. Flirting. Talking on

cell phones. Life returning to normal.

PRINCIPAL:

Wasn't so long ago you were roaming

these halls. That hellraiser

turned into a sheriff somehow. And

a fine one.

(then)

Your mom and dad still liking

Florida okay?

DAVID:

Yeah. Dad swore he wouldn't last a

month down there. Then he saw the

golf courses.

They come past a teacher who can’t unlock his classroom door.

Mid-forties. Shirt and tie. Native Kansan. BILL FARNUM.

PRINCIPAL:

Bill...?

BILL FARNUM:

I give up. They rekey the locks

this weekend? Maybe it’s jammed...

Farnum tugs on the door, mystified. But no one is more

mystified than David and the Principal.

PRINCIPAL:

Bill, you don’t - you retired, five

years ago.

Farnum looks at them in utter confusion. Rubs his nose and

his finger comes back with a BLOODY SMUDGE on it. The

Principal offers a handkerchief as he walks Farnum away,

gesturing to David ‘I got it’.

PRINCIPAL:

Hit your head or something? Come

on, why don’t you sit down in my

office.

David watches them go, the tide of students flowing past him.

9.

EXT. BALL FIELD - DAY

David stands at the fence staring at the empty field,

dismayed.

TWO PLANES fly past high overhead. Side by side a half mile

apart.

David glances up, barely taking notice. Sees the coffee cup

he dropped is still lying there in the grass. Tosses it in

the trash can before heading up the hill to his cruiser.

EXT. KANSAS PRAIRIE - SUNDOWN (AERIAL VIEW)

We're flying over the prairie at ten thousand feet.

Beautiful view. Farms. Open fields. A sudden burst of HIGHSPEED

PHOTOGRAPHS rips the entire county into a GRID OF

FREEZE FRAMES.

EXT. TOWN CENTER - SUNDOWN

Small town life. Families in the local pizza joint. Guy

washing his truck. Woman walking her dog on an empty road.

EXT. OGDEN MARSH MEDICAL CLINIC - SUNDOWN

A single-story brick-and-mortar building with two cars in the

lot.

INT. EXAM ROOM, MEDICAL CLINIC - SUNDOWN

Judy, in a traditional white doctor's coat, gives a tetanus

shot to a boy with a bandaged foot. She has a gentle touch.

JUDY:

(finished)

Wasn’t too bad, was it?

The boy shakes his head. He and his mother stand to go.

JUDY:

(musses boy’s hair)

Adventure on, young man, but keep

an eye out for...?

BOY:

Rusty nails.

JUDY:

Rusty nails.

(to mother)

Take care, Dana. Let me know if

there’s any swelling.

10.

INT. RECEPTION AREA, MEDICAL CLINIC - DUSK

Typical slow night. Judy is updating records with her part-

time office helper BECCA DARLING. Seventeen. Pretty. Local

honor student. NURSE VIOLET, town gossip, also the clinic

receptionist, wanders over, bored, buffing her nails.

NURSE VIOLET:

Started talking about names yet?

JUDY:

Not yet.

NURSE VIOLET:

If it’s a girl, I like Beatrice.

If it’s a boy, Morton. Knew a

Morton once, ‘course we all called

him Morty, maybe you should just go

with Morty.

JUDY:

(endearing, not poking

fun)

Thanks, Violet, I’ll put those on

the list.

Becca’s cell phone CHIRPS. She checks the message, keys in a

quick reply and resumes work, the entire exchange lasting ten

seconds.

BECCA DARLING:

Okay if I leave a little early

tonight?

Judy, playing, scans the empty waiting room.

JUDY:

Hmmm, how’s our staff to patient

ratio? I think you’re good.

Everything all right?

BECCA DARLING:

Yeah. Casey Strout’s having some

people over.

JUDY:

Algebra?

BECCA DARLING:

Yep. Math party.

JUDY:

My husband excelled at math in high

school.

11.

Becca smiles. Then:

BECCA DARLING:

Oh, by the way, he was really cool

at assembly today.

JUDY:

Thanks.

BECCA DARLING:

It’s so scary to think what

would’ve happened if he hadn’t been

there the other night.

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