The Monster Squad Page #9

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Liam stumbles blindly through the underbrush, losing his

footing and falling to his knees. He fights back the urge to

throw up, shoulders shaken with dry heaves. Collecting his

bearings, he looks up, only to find that he's looking

straight at a TOMBSTONE. It's the old inmate's graveyard, the

marker just one of dozens amidst the weeds. Liam rises, and

the rustle of something moving catches his attention.

He looks to the nearby ridge, where a spindly figure is

standing. Darrow's mummy. The thing moves with a spidery kind

of agility, all angles and odd, double-jointed grace. Liam

sucks in a sharp breath and doesn't hesitate to RUN.

He staggers along, dodging tombstones and rocks, as the

petrified creature continues to gallop down the hill in his

wake. The ground gives way under the boy's sneakers, and he

pitches forward, tumbling down a steep embankment; the bottom

peters out into a murky stream, which Liam splashes into. He

emerges from the muddy water and begins crawling, but the

mummy's closed the gap and LANDS ON HIS BACK. Colton's

fingers dig into the boy's neck, trying to drown him in the

frigid stream.

.

Liam's hands thrash about, fingers finding a rock and

swinging it at the creature's head. It nearly knocks Darrow's

skull off of its shoulders.

57.

Adrenaline surging, Liam notices a storm drain just a few

feet away. He lunges for it, but Darrow's got him by the

ankle. Cross SCREAMS as the thing's sharp fingers dig into

the flesh of his leg, but rips himself loose, crawling into

the pipe and dragging down a grating behind him.

BANG. The mummy slams its weight against the metal

mindlessly. BANG, BANG. Liam's dirty fingers fiddle with the

hinge's locking mechanism, engaging it and crawling backwards

on his hands and knees. The sounds of violent impact

continue, as the boy continues crawling.

EXT. THE HIGHWAY

The outflow empties into a ditch along the side of a quiet,

two-lane highway. Liam claws his way free from the pipe and

across the gravel of the shoulder; we can still hear the

sounds of Colton's IMPACT clanging steadily from the other

end.

BANG. BANG. CRASH.

The sound of something metal being busted through rings out,

echoing through the pipe. Liam limps across the asphalt,

turning frantic looks over his shoulder; the sound of

clattering is growing louder and more pronounced, coming from

within the drainage tube.

Liam falls to the ground as Darrow's corpse scuttles out of

the pipe's mouth. Stretching back to its full height, the

mummy wobbles across the road as Liam-out of breath,

hysterical, bloodied and muddied-scrabbles to the opposite

shoulder. The creature closes in. Step by step.

BEEEEEEEEP-

The sound of a horn precedes the deafening screech of brakes,

as an SUV PLOWS RIGHT OVER Darrow's corpse, skidding across

the highway and fishtailing some thirty yards down the road.

The vehicle lurches to a stop, and out stumbles a COLLEGE GUY

with a baseball cap and a polo shirt on. R and B music pumps

from the SUV's speakers as he yells at Liam.

.

58.

COLLEGE GUY:

Hey! Did I just run over a f***ing

homeless guy? Hey kid! Want a ride?

Liam's already running like hell was on his heels in the

opposite direction. The college guy scoffs and heads around

to the front of his truck, checking the grill. The bumper's

been dented, but there's no signs of blood or Colton.

Confused, he straightens back up. Darrow's mummy is perched

atop the vehicle's hood. It makes a papery hiss and lunges at

the driver, his horrified howl cutting off SHARPLY as a

splash of blood splatters across the SUV's headlights.

INT. CHERRYMOUNT ASYLUM - FURNACE ROOM

Flames paint the walls as Rueger shields his mouth against

the heat and vapors, forcing the tarp-wrapped corpse of one

of the security guards through the grating.

Kaziglu looks on in the background, wrapped stoically in his

cloak, his hood drawn over his head. The scuttle of uneven

steps descends the stairs, and Colton's mummy moves from the

shadows. Wordlessly, Bey takes one of the petrified

creature's fingers and suckles it thoughtfully.

KAZIGLU:

Blood. (Beat) But not enough.

RUEGER:

You mean whoever that was got

away?! We have to get out of here

before…

KAZIGLU:

No. It was only a child. Even if he

does convince others, they've no

time to stop us.

INT. THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE - DAY

An alarm clock's digital display clicks over to 9:00, and a

squeaky Top 40 pop song chirps to life.

59.

A heap of blankets on Liam's bed begins to move, and a

filthy, mud-streaked hands reaches out to pound on the clock

until it quiets.

Liam sits up quickly. He hasn't changed out of his clothes,

and his face is still a dirty mess. Tentatively, he reaches

down to tug up the covers over his leg; as they recede, we

can see that the ANGRY PURPLE WOUND from Colton's hand is

still there. He touches at it lightly before sinking back

down against his pillow.

.

INT. THE CROSS HOME

Inside, the breakfast routine is in full swing. The

television yammers on with its white noise, bacon sizzles,

Len and Mrs. Cross move about the kitchen, conversing. Liam

creeps across the hallway, looking particularly filthy and

worn against the white of the walls.

MRS. CROSS

Len, it's a college town. We're

always at the mercy of its moods.

LEN:

Yeah, but when you have

disappearances being reported off-

campus, it's bigger than just the

usual stupid Greek pranks…

Lize steps out of her bedroom and into the hallway. She

yawns, rubs her eyes, and looks at Liam. She doesn't even

register his face; she just SHRIEKS.

LIAM:

Lize!

There's a brief commotion, and Len and Mrs. Cross come

spilling into the hallway. They stare at Liam in disbelief.

MRS. CROSS

LIAM? Oh my god, is that… what did

you do to your PANTS?!

60.

INT. THE CROSS HOUSE'S BATHROOM

Liam-now cleaned up-sits in an oversized bathrobe amidst

bottles of shampoo and unused towels. His mother dabs at a

few scratches on his face with a cotton swab.

LIAM:

Mom.

MRS. CROSS

You can "mom" at me until your

tonsils fall out, but you're not

moving from this spot until I clean

these up. Thank god Len's around to

make sure they aren't infected.

Liam scowls.

MRS. CROSS

I heard about it. And I'm not going

to pick on who said what, but I

don't think you're giving him

enough credit, Liam. He's trying.

He's doing the best he can.

No response.

MRS. CROSS

And it isn't easy raising a young

man when you've never had kids.

That's all I'm going to say as far

as motherly wisdom goes. (Beat) So

who'd you get in a fight with,

exactly?

LIAM:

Nobody.

MRS. CROSS

Mmhm. So you cartwheeled down a

hill and got beaten up by a five-

fingered branch?

61.

LIAM It wasn't a branch. It was a…

He trails off. It's no use trying to explain. Mrs. Cross

smiles.

MRS. CROSS

Well, whoever it was had some long

fingernails. I hope you gave her as

good as you got.

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