The Crazies Page #8

DAVID:

I need to talk to somebody right

now! Hey, do you hear me?!

The examiner jams a thermometer in David’s ear. Pushes the

button. BEEP. Moves on to Judy, who is preoccupied with

patient care.

JUDY:

This woman is asthmatic, she needs

her medica -

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!!!!!!!!

Time stands still. Judy in disbelief. David spins to fend

off the onrushing medtechs.

38.

DAVID:

Get away from her! She’s not sick,

she’s pregnant!

They grab her. David fights, but is hopelessly outnumbered.

Russell tries to help and is quickly subdued. They drag Judy

away screaming.

JUDY:

DAVID! DON'T LET THEM TAKE ME!

DAVID:

LEAVE HER ALONE!!

You've never seen a man fight like David Dutton fights for

his wife. Zapped with a Tazer gun, kicked, knocked to the

ground by a rifle butt, kicked once more. Again and again he

tries to rise, again and again he is beaten down, until his

body no longer answers to his will.

Lying in the grass, he lifts his gaze just enough to see Judy

being taken up the hill to the high school. By sheer

stubbornness, he climbs to his feet once more. Takes a

couple of wobbly steps.

A gun butt CRACKS him in the back of the head. He goes down

and stays there this time. Facedown in the dirt by second

base. Expelling one last breath of resistance, her name

along with it:

DAVID:

Judy...

And then, mercifully, he blacks out.

INT. ODGEN MARSH HIGH SCHOOL - NIGHT

POV of ceiling lights whipping by above as a masked examiner

wheels us down the corridor.

It’s Judy’s POV, strapped to a gurney. The passing

classrooms offer flashes of nightmare imagery:

PEOPLE ON GURNEYS GOING BERZERK. A TEENAGER RACKED BY WILD,

TEETH-CLATTERING CONVULSIONS. OTHER PEOPLE SITTING IN

STUPORS, DROOLING.

Suddenly, right in front of us -

A SCREAMING FACE SHATTERS the window of a classroom door,

spraying the corridor with shards that CRUNCH as we roll over

them. A biosuited GUARD beats the screaming man back with a

baton. Turning the corner, we see

39.

THE GYMNASIUM:

Spanned by rows of sterile-white cots that have not been

touched. Unopened boxes of supplies on pallets. Equipment

wrapped in plastic. A medical contingency plan abandoned in

its early stages.

As Judy is pushed into a maintenance elevator, an EXAMINER

leans over her with an ANESTHESIA MASK. She tries to resist

but her arms are strapped and the mask fitted so quickly to

her face that her scream of protest fogs the plastic.

INT. LIVESTOCK TRUCK - NIGHT (MOVING)

David awakens in darkness. Lifts his head, disoriented.

He’s lying in what appears to be a livestock trailer.

Judy. The thought sends him scrambling to the back door. He

rams it with his shoulder. Pounds it with his fists. Kicks

it with his boot. His fists again. And as he continues this

futile effort to force it open

A DARK FIGURE emerges from the shadows behind him. Creeping

closer. A man. Sinister face catching the light. David,

still hammering the door, doesn't see him coming.

The figure stops right behind David and we see the grim

visage was a trick of the shadows. It's his friend, the

concessions vendor from the ball game. KEVIN MILLER.

KEVIN MILLER:

David...

David spins, wild-eyed, caught in a moment of madness.

DAVID:

Kevin! I gotta get outta here!

Continues his furious pounding.

KEVIN MILLER:

DAVID!!

DAVID:

(spins again)

WHAT?!?!

KEVIN MILLER:

You're scaring us.

David sees them now. FACES IN SHADOW at the far end,

terrified by his erratic behavior. Men, women, children.

Faces we recognize from the ball game, the high school, the

town meeting. David calms himself, explaining:

40.

DAVID:

They took Judy.

KEVIN MILLER:

(commiserates)

They took Linda.

(indicating other

unmatched spouses)

And they took George and Francine

and Whit and Simon and a whole mess

of other people. Breaking your

hand on that door's still a dumb

idea.

David takes his point. Follows Miller back to the group.

The townspeople sit huddled together like Third World

refugees. A mechanic in a John Deere ball cap (EDWARD)

engages David. Frazzled nerves fuel the exchange.

EDWARD:

Can't you do something? I mean,

Christ

DAVID:

What do you want me to do, Ed?

EDWARD:

Something! You're the sheriff for

God's sake!

KEVIN MILLER:

(as peacemaker;

overlapping)

Edward -

EDWARD:

You're supposed to protect us -- !

KEVIN MILLER:

(to Edward; overlapping)

Hey! HEY!! This ain't helping,

Eddie. We're all in the same boat

here.

Edward simmers down. Feels no real rancor toward David.

Just can't handle the situation.

DAVID:

Anybody heard what it is yet? What

they spilled?

Nobody has.

41.

TOWN PLANNER:

Whatever it was, they’re keeping us

here till it’s cleaned up. Whole

town’s sealed off. Roadblocks,

everything. Tim Mitchell tried to

run one of ‘em, they shot him dead.

It’s the guy who gave David the pipeline schematic, here with

his ten-year-old son. Other children are in tears. Some of

the parents as well. A DISTRAUGHT MOM breaks down at the

sight of David.

DISTRAUGHT MOM:

Amy’s out there... my Amy...

He embraces her, not knowing what to say. A tall open-faced

guy named SHELDON steps forward, local choir director

clinging to his faith.

SHELDON:

I know things look bad right now, I

know they do, but like they say in

every tragedy there's a blessing -

FEMALE TEACHER:

(angry)

What's our blessing, Sheldon? I'm

dying to hear this one.

SHELDON:

We're not sick yet. Which means we

still got a chance.

A blessing indeed. Suddenly, the SQUEAL OF BRAKES. The

truck slowing. Lots of NOISE outside. A look of panic

sweeps the group. David rips a metal brace from the wall. A

weapon.

The truck STOPS. Parents shield their kids as the door is

unlocked. It swings open. SHADOWY FIGURES rush through.

David comes at them, ready to attack when he sees they are

RESCUE WORKERS (in less severe biosuits, faces visible)

offering bottles of spring water and Powerbars.

RESCUE WORKER:

Quickly, people. We're getting you

out of here.

EXT. QUIK PHIL'S TRUCKSTOP - NIGHT

David and the others step warily from the truck, take in

their surroundings. A TRUCKSTOP being used as an operations

staging area. Military trucks refueling.

42.

Transport helicopters coming and going from the adjoining

field. Supplies and troops being shuttled to and fro.

In the fenced-in parking lot where the livestock truck is, a

few HUNDRED SURVIVORS await evacuation, getting treatment in

first aid tents. A SITE COORDINATOR stands on a military

flatbed megaphoning instructions to a LINE OF SURVIVORS being

processed for transport:

SITE COORDINATOR

As you board the buses you will

each be given a dispensation card,

it looks like this, do not lose it,

you will not be allowed into the

safe zone without your dispensation

card...

GREEN PLASTIC BARCODED BRACELETS being snapped on wrists and

hurriedly scanned into handheld computers. Temperatures

taken one last time. Visible relief on people's faces as

they look toward the EVACUATION BUSES idling nearby.

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