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DRIVING OVER THE REDLINE
BY CHRISTOPHER HARMASON
EXT. PARK IN FRONT OF MAGIC SHOP
Children and their parents run around playing as a pair of
men follow a family through the crowd. As the family gets
farther away, the pair move faster, getting more anxious. As
the family nears a corner the pair of men begin running to
catch up, almost knocking down kids along the way, dodging
the angry grabs of the concerned parents. Just as family is
about to clear the corner the men catch up, 1 grabbing the
girl in the group to spin her around and check her picture,
while the other pulls a gun on the rest. When they realize
the girl doesn't match the one in the picture, they run. A
park officer on patrol sees them and starts chasing them.
After a quick cellphone call while on the run, a car pulls
into the lot of the park. As they get in the car, sounds of
bumping come from the car's trunk.
MAN #1
We didn't find her, it was the
wrong girl!
DRIVER
Don't worry, we did.
The car speeds off. Onlookers that are watching from the
grass watch the car leave with a nod, then head towards the
magic shop at the other end of the park.
INT. MAGIC SHOP. AFTERNOON.
Children are laughing and enjoying a magic puppet show. THE
GREAT HARPO and his assistants MERRICK. A group of adults
start watching from the back. Before the curtains close, and
MAN #1 approaches THE GREAT HARPO. He places a picture on
the table next to him. The puppets slowly go limp as THE
GREAT HARPO recognizes the girl. He glances around the
crowd, sees her, and looks back at MAN #1.
MAN #1
This is our new puppet. Only you
can cut her strings. The scissors
are a job and a sentence. More
powerful than a word and in silence
until the end. That, or she gets
left to go to prison. Try to free
her, and you won't see her again.
Either way...
THE GREAT HARPO looks at an empty spot in the crowd, then
turns to his assistant.
THE GREAT HARPO
Merrick, I need your help.
MERRICK glances at the empty spot in the crowd, MAN #1, the
thugs in the crowd, then at the magician.
EXT. SUBURBS. NIGHT.
MERRICK looks up and down the street for a car to drive. He
notices masked thugs in a van and a sports car. He watches
them from the street, looking for a chance to steal the car.
INT. BEDROOM. NIGHT.
A HUSBAND rushes from kissing his WIFE goodnight into a
private room with a computer as a masked figure looks on
from a window. A gorgeous WOMAN beckons on the monitor
screen as the HUSBAND puts on headphones. The sound of a
zipper parallels the sound of the house door being busted
open as masked thugs rush the home, leaving the WIFE and
children bound and gagged. THUG #1 shoves the family members
into a closet, grabs a card that says 'Security Pass' on
it,then notices a false wall. Behind the wall is a hidden
room with a huge cache of money, guns, and drugs wall to
wall. The WIFE mumbles and shakes her head in fright. THUG
#1 knocks the WIFE out and drags everything he sees out the
front door with the help of the rest of the intruders. A
clicking sound can be heard as a satchel of weapons is
dragged. THUG #1 doesn't realize he just triggered the timer
of a bomb set to 7 days. As the HUSBAND reaches his climax
from the webcam show, the sounds of tires screeching rings
out as the thugs speed off. As the tension leaves him, the
HUSBAND screams when he sees a STRANGE FIGURE block the cam,
then walk off, leaving the woman dead on the monitor.
STRANGE FIGURE
I'm getting closer...
The STRANGE FIGURE glances at a photo, turns to the camera
and shoots it. As dust settles, papers that were blown and
knocked around settle. on top of them is a sealed documents
labeled timed explosives.
THE GREAT HARPO stands masked and worried in a corner
holding a box. A thug, after hearing the HUSBAND's screams,
takes the box off his hands while another cuffs him to a
fixture on the wall. One, thinking the HUSBAND was killed,
tosses the magician the gun, then they both run off. Thugs
pour out of the suburban house. Some pile into the van while
others load up things into the trunk of the sports car. As
the thugs close the trunk the engine revs and MERRICK drives
off in the sports car. THE GREAT HARPO checks the gun and
seeing it's empty, drops it. He begins working at his cuffs
to escape as the sounds of sirens get louder and closer. HE
gets out of them, jumps out of the nearest window into the
bushes, only to be greeted by the police waiting outside.
EXT. SECURITY FIRM OFFICES. NIGHT.
Thugs in a van pull up next to a large security firm
building, hop out of their vehicle, and go into a back door
using a stolen security card.
THUG #1
We'll only have a little time
before the alarms go off.
A little while later, alarms sound. A SECURITY GUARD that
lost track of the security camera monitors picks up a phone
and calls the police.
INT. SECURITY FIRM OFFICES. NIGHT.
Rain pours down outside the building. Gunshots faintly echo
through the halls. The rhythm of the gunshots is broken by
the sound of the boots of a security team beginning their
sweep of the building. They follow the sound of the gunfire,
getting closer and closer until a few shots sound right
around the corner. They enter the room expecting an army,
only to find a man, MERRICK, sitting wounded in a chair.
MERRICK
Come on in...the table's set...want
a smoke?
A member of the security team motions to a table in front of
MERRICK. The numbers on a device tick their final seconds.
INT. POLICE VAN. MORNING.
A monitor gets fuzzy then displays nothing but static. A
SECURITY GUARD that works in the building looks up from the
video console where he is deleting footage before the police
can see it.
DETECTIVE #1
And that's where the security tape
ends. Only one survivor was found,
a member of the security team. They
didn't find the body of the man in
the chair yet.
A cellphone buzzes on vibrate. The SECURITY GUARD steps out
of he van and answers.
SECURITY GUARD
The tapes have been deleted. They
saw a few things not everything. I
doubt they'll find anything. The...
The SECURITY GUARD stops talking and notices an emergency
exit spilling water out of the side of the building with
police around it.
DETECTIVE #1
They're still searching for the
other body.
DETECTIVE #2
But if his body isn't there where
the hell is it?
EXT. DUST FIELD. DAY.
Workers run back and forth between machinery shouting. Off
to one end on the field, men stand in a half circle. Almost
seems like they're betting on a cock fight. 3 more men are
digging up dirt. MERRICK's head can be seen while the rest
of him is submerged in dirt. The FIELD BOSS stands in the
middle of the group. He pulls a mask off a head sticking up
out of the ground.
FIELD BOSS
You look like you could use some
sun... Every day we bury
you out here and dig you up. Our
workers could use a break. There's
a job tonight. Could get some use
out of you after what you did that
night. How would you like to give
them a chance to rest, and let the
rest of you get some more
air?
The FIELD BOSS tells MERRICK about the news of what
happened, but decides to leave him there and send one of his
men to handle the job.
FIELD BOSS
I think I'll send one of my men
instead. And leave you here to rot.
What do you think of that?
MERRICK looks at the FIELD BOSS like he wants to kill him,
and smiles.
FIELD BOSS
Why are you smiling?
He tosses some dirt at MERRICK, puts the mask back on him,
and walks off. A cement truck pulls up and starts filling
the hole MERRICK is in. He chats one the phone then goes
back to where MERRICK is buried. He drops the phone is
shock. MERRICK is gone, with another body in the hole, now
covered in cement, and a smiley face with the message "HAVE
A NICE DAY!" drawn in the ground being all that's left of
him.
INT. MAGIC SHOP. DAY.
Children and adult customers browse and shop. The SHOP
KEEPER heads into the back storage area of the shop. Sand
drips then streams from the ceiling. The SHOP KEEPER looks
up and is startled to see MERRICK, loose and cuffs dangling
from one wrist, watching him from the storage room skylight.
MERRICK hops down.
MERRICK
I need my things.
SHOP KEEPER leads MERRICK to a cabinet. MERRICK opens the
cabinet and sighs relief.
MERRICK
The show must go on...
MERRICK fiddles with and packs up a number of devices before
heading back out through the skylight. As he closes the
hatch, DETECTIVE MORRIS walks into the shop.
DETECTIVE MORRIS
MERRICK overhears, and follows DETECTIVE MORRIS to his next
destination. DETECTIVE MORRIS drives to the police station.
MERICK listens to his chat on the cellphone. After DETECTIVE
MORRIS gets out at the police station and goes in, MERRICK
puts tickets on his windshield to a magic show, then heads
to the Stadium, an entertainment venue.
©2009 United States Copyright Christopher Harmason
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