THE SEA MERCHANT

Story by Richard Brown

Screenplay by Jacob Williams

FADE IN:

EXT. PACIFIC OCEAN - NIGHT

The burnt wreckage of a boat surrounds a small patch of sea, in the center is a single life raft. Two men, GLENN and BART sit quietly. Their clothes are the remnants of a tuxedo, it is clear the boat was a ocean liner. Across from them are two women, JENNA and CANDICE. They are still in their cocktail dresses. 

					BART
			What happened?

					GLENN
			I think it had something to do with the
			Engine.

					CANDICE
			Why do you say that?

					GLENN
			Didn’t you hear that loud bang? It was 					The Engine.

					BART
			We don’t know that…it could have been 
			Anything.

					GLENN
			It was the engine! I’d bet my life on 					It.

					BART 
			We don’t know that!

					GLENN
			Your right, we don’t. But at this point, 						GLENN
				(Cont’d)
			Here is what I know…our ship burnt up 					and sunk, we’re alone in the middle of 					the Pacific ocean and my five thousand 					dollar tux is ruined. 

					JENNA
			I feel sick.

					BART
			Maybe your sea sick?

					JENNA
			I smell burnt skin.

					CANDICE
			Oh my god, me too.

Bart sniffs the air.

					BART
			That isn’t skin, it just burning oil.

					JENNA
			No it’s not! It’s skin! Everyone is 					dead!

Jenna begins to cry hysterically and Candice comforts her.

					GLENN
			Once the sun rises, it’ll be easy to 					spot us from the air.

					BART
			Let’s hope.

					GLENN
			You’re not very optimistic are you?

					BART
			I’m just realistic.

					GLENN
			Whatever! We just need to have faith.

Bart gives a giggle.

					BART
			Faith? I’ll tell you what faith is. 		
			Faith is finding out that your wife is 					sleeping with your boss. Faith is loosing 				your job right before you’re expecting to get
			A promotion. That’s what faith is. 

					CANDICE
			I’m sorry that your life is bad.

Bart gives her a look, a look of “you shut the hell up”

					GLENN
			Have faith and we’ll make it out of this. 
			We all have to have faith, we all have to
			Believe we’ll live through this.

					BART
			Oh save it!

Bart stands up, causing the life boat to rock. 

					GLENN
			Sit back down!

Bart quickly sits back down. Jenna still weeps in Candice’s arms. 

					CANDICE
			What did you guys do for a living?

					GLENN
			I’m an Ad Executive for People magazine. This 
			Is supposed to be my vacation but I’m more
			Stressed here than I ever could be at work.

They all giggle at the comment. 

					GLENN
				(Cont’d)
			I’m divorced and have no children.

					BART
			How old are you?

					GLENN
			Forty-Eight.

					BART
			Wow. No children.

					CANDICE
				(To Bart)
			What about you?

					BART
			I’m thirty-two and I used to work for as
			Photographer up in Vermont. Taking pictures
			Of the local festivals for this small paper
			But now I take pictures for of celebrities 
			And they’re fancy new designer dresses.

					CANDICE
			What do you mean?

					BART
			I cover events like the Academy Awards and 
			The Emmy’s. Stuff like that.

					GLENN
			Married?

					BART
				(Laughing)
			Well soon not to be but for the mean time…
			Yes. And I have two girls, they’re eight
			And five.

					CANDICE
			What are their names?

					BART
			Julie and Roxanne.

There is silence. Jenna starts to calm down.

					CANDICE
			I’m not married but I probably should be.
			I’ve slept with enough men for two lifetimes.
			But I’m twenty-seven and I’m receptionist
			For a plastic surgeons office. 

					JENNA
			I’m thirty-five and married. I don’t
			Have a job…stay at home mother. My husband
			Was on the ship but we were separated 
			During the evacuation.
			
					JENNA
				(Cont’d; Begins to cry)
			I think he’s dead.

Suddenly there is splashing in the distance and they all turn to the sound.

					CANDICE
			What is that? 

					GLENN
			It might be sharks feeding on the dead.

					BART
			Jesus, that’s reassuring.

Glenn shrugs his shoulders. 

					VOICE OF A MAN
			Help me!

					JENNA
			Holy shit, somebody else made it.

					VOICE
			Please! Anyone?

Bart stands up.

					BART
			Hey! Follow my voice!

					VOICE
			Where are you?!

					BART
			Just follow my voice! We’re on a raft!

					VOICE
			Okay! I’m following it.

					GLENN
			Come on, let’s start rowing to him.

They all bend down and begin to use their hands as
Paddles.

					BART
			We’re coming! Follow my voice!

They stop for a second to rest.

					VOICE
			I’m almost there!
				(Quietly)
			What the hell?

Suddenly, the piercing scream of the man is heard. The rest jump at the shock. His scream is heard as he is (presumed) quickly pulled underneath the waves. 

					JENNA
			What the fuck happened?

They try to look for the man but all they see is darkness
Lit only briefly by the small fires around them. 

					GLENN
			Something got him.

					BART
			What do you mean?

					GLENN
			I mean something pulled him underwater.

					CANDICE
			Like what?

					GLENN
			Maybe a shark? A squid?

					BART
			A squid?

					GLENN
			Well I don’t fucking know!

					JENNA
			Something ate him.

					CANDICE
			It had to be a shark.

					BART
			I don’t think so. A shark wouldn’t just pull 			him down, it would chew him up a bit.

					GLENN
			Jesus!

					BART
			What! It’s true.

					GLENN 
			Row over to where he was pulled under.

					CANDICE
			Are you crazy?! What if the thing that took
			Him comes back?

					GLENN
			There might be more survivors.

They hesitantly being to row, the boat begins to glide over the ship debris.

					BART
			Hold on! Stop!

They stop rowing.

					BART
				(Cont’d)
			I see something. Let’s row over there.

They begin to do so.

					BART
				(Cont’d) 
			Okay, stop.

He leans over the side, as do the others but not as much. There appears to be a burnt carcass floating on the top of the water. The carcass lies face down. 

					BART
				(Cont’d)
			Oh, I thought is was a survivor.

Suddenly the carcass lunges up and grabs Bart, he begins to scream. Candice and Jenna jump back and shriek as Glenn tries to help Bart.

					BART
			Help me! 

Glenn tries to loosen the grip of the carcass but it is not a carcass at all. Only by the dim light of the fires, the face of the menace is shown, the face of the carcass is not human at all but eel-like. It’s eyes are black and its mouth agape revealing rows of razor sharp teeth. Before Glenn can react, Bart is pulled screaming from the raft and down to the depths. Glenn falls back, they are all in shock. 

					GLENN
				(Shocked)
			Holy shit. 

					JENNA
			What was that?

Silence.

					JENNA
				(Cont’d)
			What the fuck was that?!

					GLENN
			I don’t know! Some sort of fish.

					CANDICE
			That was not a fish. It was a man!

					GLENN 
			I saw its face, it was some sort of animal,
			Aquatic definitely. 

					JENNA
			Well, how do we know what’s human and what’s
			Not.

					GLENN
			We don’t. 

FADE TO:

EXT. PACIFIC OCEAN - MORNING

Glenn and Jenna rest. Jenna beings to wake up and she notices Candice is nowhere in sight. The sea around them is full of debris but the fires have died. 

					JENNA
			On my god, Candice? Candice!

Glenn wakes up, he too notices no Candice. 

					JENNA
				(Cont’d)
			Candice?

She soon notices the body of Candice floating in the water.

					JENNA 
			Oh my god, Candice.

She begins to row over to Candice’s body, which lies face down in the water. Jenna leans over the side to retrieve the body. Suddenly the body lunges up but Glenn acts quick and pulls Jenna away before it can grab her. The creature quickly shoots back down into the abyss. Glenn leans over the side.

					GLENN
			Oh my god.

					JENNA
				(weeping)
			What?

					GLENN
			It’s almost like Venus Flytrap, it draws
			It’s prey close and them attacks it, pulling
			It down into the deep. It goes down so quick,
			Almost like it’s being pulled down. I think
			It’s connected somehow, like anchored on
			The bottom of the sea bed. It pulls us down
			So deep…we must either drown or die from the
			Pressure. 

					JENNA
			Then what does it do?

					GLENN 
			Only one other thing…it eats.

Glenn begins to panic.

					GLENN
				(Cont’d)
			We have to get out of here, there is 
			Probably hundreds of them in this sea.
			Maybe even thousands. 

					JENNA 
			What do we do?

Glenn turns to Jenna.

					GLENN
			I have no idea. 

Glenn stands up and notices something. A large sail boat is in the distance, he smiles. Jenna stands up too and they begin to wave their arms. 

					GLENN
			Hey! Over here! Help us!

					JENNA
			Help us! Over here!

The boat beings to rock and Glenn begins to tip over the side. He goes overboard into the water. Jenna begins to scream.  

					GLENN
			Help me, Jenna! Help me!

Jenna bends down to help him, Glenn slowly turns and notices a floating carcass. Jenna jumps backs. 

					GLENN
			Oh god. No.

The carcass is suddenly right next to him, Glenn is still but Jenna screams. In less than a second, the carcass turns and reveals its horrid, eel-like face. On top it my look slightly human but underneath it’s body it is covered with shinny scales much like a fish. Glenn screams and the creature quickly pulls him under the waves. Glenn’s scream fades as he is pulled deeper and deeper. Jenna cowers in a corner of the boat.

PAN UP: 

To reveal at least a couple dozen carcasses in the water surrounding the raft. They all float very slowly towards the raft as Jenna lets out a silent scream. 

FADE TO:

EXT. PACIFIC OCEAN

The large sail boat pulls along side the empty raft. Two young men pull the raft closer with wooden boards. 

					YOUNG MAN ONE
			You heard that scream too, right?

					YOUNG MAN TWO
			Yeah, it had to have come from this raft.

The two young men scan the ocean and sea all the burnt debris.

					YOUNG MAN ONE
			I don’t even want to know what happened here.

Young Man One gets closer to the water and pulls a piece of floating debris. It is a burnt life preserver which reads PROPERTY OF THE SEA MERCHANT OCEAN LINER.

					YOUNG MAN ONE 
			I think the ship is called the Sea Merchant.

					YOUNG MAN TWO
			Was called the Sea Merchant.

					YOUNG MAN ONE
				(Giggling)
			Yea…
				(Beat)
			I wonder what happened to all the passengers?

					YOUNG MAN TWO
			I’m going to call this in.

Young Man Two exits to the cabin of the ship.

					YOUNG MAN ONE 
			Alright.

Young Man One notices something in the water, it is a burnt carcass. Young Man One grabs a wooden board and begins to turn to carcass over.

					YOUNG MAN ONE
			Hey! I found a body!

Suddenly, the scaly hands of the creature grab the board.

SLAM TO BACK:

Hearing the screams of the young man as he is pulled deeper and deeper toward the sea floor. 

THE END