The Relic Page #26

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D'AGOSTA

One, two... three.

All three fire. There's a loud report. The kickback knocks Kawakita

backwards. Screams erupt from the huddled group. Hobbes abruptly shuts

up. The men fire and fire until there's nothing left. D'Agosta reaches

for more shells, comes up empty.

D'AGOSTA

Jonathan! Get everyone behind me!

Jonathan moves. D'Agosta sweeps his light across the room but already

the shape is gone. Cuthbert hides behind the Mayor, calls out in a

terrified squeal.

CUTHBERT:

It went out the door to the rotunda!

D'Agosta runs across the room to a set of double industrial doors.

There's a noise in the darkness beyond and he just manages to slam

both doors. He picks up a metal chair and jams it through the handles.

Backs up. The doors shudder as something hits them hard.

D'AGOSTA

Get everyone into the stairwell!

Jonathan, the Mayor, Cuthbert and Kawakita together herd everyone

towards the stairwell. They move inside.

INT. STAIRWELL - NIGHT

Dark and close. The smell of gunpowder and death. The Mayor's Wife

sees Bailey's body and clutches her mouth so as not to throw up.

CUTHBERT:

Sweet Jesus!

D'AGOSTA

Get his gun and his walkie talkie,

Jonathan. Move.

CUTHBERT:

My office is on the third floor!

There's a walk-in safe and a

portable phone! We can lock

ourselves in the safe and call for

help!

D'AGOSTA

I have to help Pendergast. Kawakita

and Jonathan stay with me. The rest

of you can go with Cuthbert!

MAYOR:

I think we should stick together!

FRANK:

(taking Bailey's shotgun)

Me too.

CUTHBERT:

I'm leaving. Whoever wants can come

with me.

No one follows.

D'AGOSTA

Wait!

Cuthbert's gone.

D'AGOSTA

Jonathan, go with him! He isn't

armed.

Jonathan grabs Hobbes' leash from the Mayor and bounds up the stairs.

MAYOR:

Good luck!

Everyone else follows D'Agosta. Together, they head down.

EXT. MUSEUM - NIGHT

Police cars are pulling up outside the museum. Sirens wail. Torrents

of rain limit the number of onlookers. Crowds of people are scattered

about. There's disbelief on everyone's faces. Many people are in

shock. Ippolito sprints through the pelting rain to a GUARD STATION

near the gate. He yanks the door open and jumps inside.

INT. GUARD STATION - NIGHT

A number of museum security personnel are milling in confusion.

IPPOLITO:

All right everyone. I'm in charge.

Status report.

One of the security men, WATERS, rises.

WATERS:

Swat teams are on the way. Fire

trucks with them. Everything's

slowed down because of the rain.

We're bringing in portable

generators. They'll get the

emergency lights working but they

won't pump enough power to lift the

doors.

Ippolito pulls out his walkie talkie.

IPPOLITO:

D'Agosta? Ippolito. Come in.

D'AGOSTA (ON RADIO)

(a string of curses followed by...)

Where the hell are you?

IPPOLITO:

I made it outside. I'll co-ordinate

the rescue efforts from here. Help

is on the way. Just sit tight.

D'AGOSTA (ON RADIO)

It's a little late, you son of a

b*tch. There's a friggin' monster

loose in here! Get the FBI, the fire

department. Find metal cutters, cut

through. And bring a cannon. The

damn thing is huge.

A long moment as the men look at each other.

WATERS:

Did he say monster?

IPPOLITO:

Panic attack.

INT. MUSEUM STAIRWELL - NIGHT

D'Agosta's group has reached a lower floor. Here this stairwell ends.

Ahead stretches the hall of the Asian peoples.

IPPOLITO (OS)

D'Agosta, put on the Mayor.

D'Agosta passes the walkie talkie to the Mayor.

MAYOR:

Mayor Jordan here.

IPPOLITO (ON RADIO)

This is Ippolito, head of museum

security. Relieve D'Agosta and take

command.

MAYOR:

Don't tell me what to do you chicken

sh*t bastard. I saw you cut and run!

Lieutenant D'Agosta stayed with us.

He is in charge. There is a monster.

I saw it. Cut through those doors

and get us out of here, now!

The Mayor shuts off the walkie talkie and they round another corner

and disappear from sight.

INT. SECURITY ROOM - NIGHT

Ippolito finds Waters and the others staring at him. Humiliated, he

swallows hard.

IPPOLITO:

All right. The steel doors are

designed to retard cutting. We can

go through them, but it would take

hours.

WATERS:

The quickest way in would be to go

through the roof, sir. Cell two goes

up to the fifth floor. There are sky

lights up there.

IPPOLITO:

Co-ordinate with the fire department

and SWAT teams. Move.

INT. HALL OF THE ASIAN PEOPLES - NIGHT

It's very dark. The huge shape of MBWUN can barely be seen sliding out

of the stairwell and into the Hall of the Asian Peoples. Then DIM RED

HALL LIGHTS come on in the corners of the ceiling. The monster utters

a low growl. The emergency generators are beginning to come on. The

animal lopes to the spot where we last saw D'Agosta and his group,

sniffs the ground. It looks up and, with a curiously human gesture,

c*cks its massive head.

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