Alien |
"FINAL DESTINATION" (Continue) He looks at her. CLEAR (CONT'D) She looks at him... CLEAR (CONT'D) Alex looks within her, as a soft ocean breeze blows through Clear's hair. CLEAR His eyes well with tears. Only as she looks at Alex does Clear become emotional... they move closer, and kiss, the desire for each other, to defy the events around them; darkness; the isolation... They dive into a deep feverish kiss. Embracing, as if the tighter, the safer. She pulls him back down to the beach and lifts his shirt over his head. ALEX Clear looks down the beach, checking for any sight of Billy and Carter. CLEAR ALEX CLEAR Alex looks to Clear, then kisses her with passion that reflects the defiance of death. He pulls open her shirt and falls into her arms. CAMERA CRANES UP as the young man and woman make love in the sand... consciously and defiantly oblivious, to anything around them... including the stars, possibly Flight 180, up above. CUT TO: INT. CARTER'S CAR - NIGHT Carter drives. Billy rides shotgun. Alex and Clear are in the back. Everyone anxious, looking for cops. ALEX CLEAR Carter, however, continually glances into the rearview mirror, checking Alex. Finally, hotheaded and unable to withhold it any further... CARTER ALEX CLEAR ALEX BILLY ALEX CARTER Alex looks at Clear, her expression asking the same question... ALEX The three others turn quiet, considering what it must be... CARTER Alex eyes them... hesitant to respond. BILLY CARTER Billy looks out the window, despondent. BILLY CARTER CLEAR CARTER ALEX CARTER ALEX The three are silent. CARTER Carter's expression becomes frightened, but he cannot have this. He counters with an irrational bravado. CARTER Carter bares down on the wheel, hits the GAS... EXT. AN INTERSECTION - NIGHT The muscle car ROARS past a stop sign. INT. CARTER'S CAR - NIGHT The interior bounces as the car clears a dip past the intersection. Alex, Clear, and Billy tenses... CLEAR CARTER CLEAR EXT. ANOTHER INTERSECTION - NIGHT The car GUNS IT through another stop sign. INT. CARTER'S CAR - NIGHT Every passenger hangs on as the car BOUNCES from the next dip. CLEAR BILLY CARTER ALEX CLEAR EXT. TRAFFIC LIGHT INTERSECTION - NIGHT Red light. A car approaches with the greenlighted right of way. Carter's car TEARS INTO FRAME, just missing being T-boned in the intersection as the other car HITS THE BRAKES, fishtailing. INT. CARTER'S CAR - NIGHT BILLY ALEX CLEAR CARTER CLEAR CARTER BILLY EXT. A SECOND TRAFFIC LIGHT INTERSECTION - NIGHT Carter barrels through the intersection as a car makes a left turn at the intersection. TURNING CAR DRIVER'S POV - CARTER'S CAR flying down the road, appears to be heading straight towards him. INT. CARTER'S CAR - NIGHT Carter takes his hands off the wheel and raises them in the air, like a terrorized child on a roller coaster... EXT. A SECOND TRAFFIC LIGHT INTERSECTION - NIGHT The turning car HONKS, ROARING through the intersection as Carter's car nearly clips the rear end of the turning car. INT. CARTER'S CAR - NIGHT Cater hooks his elbow on the window and his right arm around the front seat, driving; no hands. CLEAR ALEX BILLY CLEAR Carter eyes Clear in the rearview mirror. CLEAR EXT. BACKSTREET - NIGHT In the backseat, Alex and Clear ease... just as a railroad crossing arm drops INTO FRAME in the REAR WINDOW. O.S., the CLANG CLANG CLANG of a RAILROAD CROSSING ALARM. OUT OF THE FRONT WINDOW The front crossing arm drops INTO FRAME before the car. Carter turns and flashes a "that's why I stopped" smile. INSIDE THE CAR CLEAR Carter turns off the engine, then sits back into his seat and folds his arms, indicating he has no intention of moving. ALEX Scared to death, Billy fumbles with the car door handle. From the front passenger seat, he looks up and to his left... OUT OF THE DRIVER'S WINDOW - BILLY'S POV A locomotive headlight arcs across the trees... approaching. RETURN CLEAR ALEX Billy collects himself... CLOSE - BILLY'S DOOR HANDLE POPS open! EXT. TRAIN TRACKS - NIGHT The train appears around the blind bend... INT. CARTER'S CAR - NIGHT Billy opens the door and pours out. Clear and Alex are quickly behind him. Carter remains in the drivers seat. EXT. TRAIN TRACKS - NIGHT The train WARNING WHISTLE BLOWS as Alex, Clear and Billy hustle away from the car, on the same side of the tracks. They quickly turn around, desperate to convince... CLEAR ALEX BILLY INT. CARTER'S CAR - NIGHT Arms crossed, Carter remains in the front seat. As the interior fills with light from the headlight of the oncoming train, Carter turns and looks at them with a smart ass smile, pleased that he's shown how brave he truly is. With a beam of cocky definace... CARTER He cooly turns back to the ignition, grabs the key and turns it over... only to be met with the DULL CLACK of a dead engine. CAMERA SWEEPS INTO HIM AS his EYES FLARE with tension... CLOSE - IGNITION he turns it, again and again... nothing. CARTER looks up... EXT. TRAIN TRACKS - NIGHT - CARTER'S POV - THE TRAIN is moments away. ALEX, CLEAR AND BILLY assess the situation... ALEX CLEAR INT. CARTER'S CAR - NIGHT As he turns away from them, Carter sees something in the rearview mirror... CARTER'S POV - REAR VIEW MIRROR the passing shadow is darker than any surrounding darkness. CARTER as if the image has effected him, he looks to his lap belt and CLACKS the button. He tugs at the restraint, but it will not move. He's strapped in. He tries to open the door... it won't open. He pulls at the door handle... tugs at the seatbelt... panicked. Horrified, he whips towards the others. CARTER EXT. TRAIN TRACKS - NIGHT Alex, Billy and Clear look at one another, equally frightened... BILLY Alex takes off toward... CARTER'S CAR Alex hustles around the drivers' side. CAMERA SWEEPS INTO THEM as Alex desperately tries freeing the seatbelt. THE TRAIN the WHISTLES SCREAMS! CLEAR AND BILLY tense, as the train nears... ALEX AND CARTER Alex grabs Carter by the shoulders and strains with all his might to pull the much more muscular kid out of the driver's window. CLOSE - CARTER'S SEAT BELT the shadowy presence is reflected by the chrome buckle, however, after it passes... the seat belt begins to TEAR. ALEX AND CARTER As CAMERA SWEEPS IN to ALEX and he releases a deep GROAN... ACROSS THE TRACKS The train TEARS THROUGH the front end of the muscular car! GLASS and METAL ERUPT as the locomotive THUNDERS THROUGH FRAME. CLEAR AND BILLY must turn away from the shower of metal and broken glass. ALEX AND CARTER Alex holds Carter by the shirt at the shoulders, dragging him away from the wreckage. The two boys collapse on the road as the trian continues to ROAR PAST... TRAIN TRACKS as the heavy train wheels THUNDER and CLACK, a broken two foot long shard of the car's debris BOUNCES upon the tracks, kicked about by the train wheels. CLEAR AND BILLY run to the two survivors. CLEAR runs and falls into Alex's arms, holding him tight. ALEX, CLEAR, CARTER AND BILLY Carter lies on the road, urine stains around his crotch, hyperventilating and near tears. CLEAR Carter looks at the piece of seatbelt. CARTER CLEAR CLOSE - TRAIN WHEELS continue to kick around the chunk of twisted metal... RETURN The THUNDERING TRAIN intensifies the situation... BILLY Billy begins backing away from the others. CARTER CLEAR Billy continues backing away, horrified. BILLY CLOSE - TRAIN TRACKS the debris rattles beneath the wheels... CARTER AND ALEX still on the ground... CARTER BILLY backing away... BILLY TRAIN TRACKS the debris bounces directly on the track. With great power and force, a train wheel runs over the debris, cutting it in half. It catches in the wheel and is spun around until shot out with the force of a missile... BILLY BILLY (CONT'D) FWOOP! The metal tears ACROSS FRAME, ripping Billy's head from
his ALEX, CLEAR AND CARTER The ROAR of the TRAIN seems exaggerated as they are frozen in horrified shock. EXTREMELY WIDE - ACROSS THE TRACKS The train CLEARS FRAME and is gone... REVEALING, across the tracks, Alex, Clear and Carter can do nothing but watch Billy's decapitated body macabrely wobbling on its two front feet before falling to the ground. CARTER For a beat, there is SILENCE... until, in the distance, SIRENS can be heard, approaching. As Alex stands and Carter manages to rise on wobbly legs... none of them can remove their eyes from Billy's body. ALEX CARTER ALEX CLEAR ALEX Alex looks at Clear as if expiriencing an intense epiphany. ALEX (CONT'D) CARTER ALEX CLEAR Alex considers, mind racing... then realizes... ALEX Clear grabs Clear and touches her face. ALEX (CONT'D) Carter turns to them; it's as far as he will go to admit he believes... or will help... CARTER As she moves to Alex, Clear nods her acknowledgement and appreciation to Carter. She takes Alex by the hand and the pair begin running away, off into the woods. In the DISTANCE, a TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS, eerie, as if Death was punctuating the moment. CUT TO: EXT. CABIN - NIGHT The windows are boarded. The front steps are worn and dilapidated. In the early evening moonlight, the dwelling appears eerie and ghostly. CAMERA CREEPS TOWARD the house, a pre-storm breeze swaying branches and blowing leaves. In the distance... LIGHTNING... INT. CABIN - DAY - A SMALL TABLE A final piece of duct tape is applied to the corner of the table, dulling any sharp edges. Even though it is sunny outside, all the shades are pulled. The room sits in dark shadows broken by occasional bright shafts of light. CAMERA FOLLOWS a hand as it carefully picks up a Coleman lantern and sets it atop an empty can placed in the center and above the water line of a large metal tub; a fire protection moat. ALEX finds his way to a chair in the center of the room, away from everything except a nearby table holding a fire extinguisher and a first aid kit, both at less than arm's reach. Unshaven, a week and a half's growth, and unkept, Alex looks horrible. An anxious zombie, especially in the dim glow of the lantern. Dark circles, from lack of sleep. Thin, from lack of food. Pale, from lack of sunlight. He places workman's gloves on his hands before picking up a can of Underwood chicken spread. With some degree of difficulty, he works the gloves beneath the tab and pulls. Careful not to cut himself, he reaches out and drops the lid into a small trash can. Alex removes the gloves and, with a plastic spoon, begins to eat. CAMERA PUSHES IN as he begins to chew methodically, chewing and chewing and chewing with concentration until... after steadying himself... prepares to swallow... then, carefully does. Pause... he's alright. He takes the spoon. Scoops some more. And the process begins again. CUT TO: INT. BATHROOM - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - DAY A pink circle fills THE ENTIRE FRAME. EXTREMELY CLOSE - CLEAR'S EYES look downward, anxious and full of thought. A HOME PREGNANCY TEST the results are positive, two pink dots, confirming. WIDER Clear sighs, frightened as she tosses the test upon a half dozen other discarded tests. You can never be too sure. Outside, WIND of an approaching storm blows. CAMERA tensely INCHES IN ON Clear... CUT TO: INT. CABIN - NIGHT - CRACK BENEATH DOOR The resulting THUNDER RUMBLES. A breeze blows beneath the door, carrying some Autumn leaves. CAMERA FOLLOWS the breeze across the floor to Alex's pant legs which slightly flutter. CAMERA RISES TO ALEX, sitting in his safe chair. Paranoid and obsessively cautious, his eyes move towards the door, anticipating the consequential events. Following the path of the breeze, Alex turns around... ALEX'S POV - TRASH BAG the brown shopping bag tips over. Amongst the trash spread on the floor, a can rolls out and across the floor. ALEX tenses. He doesn't look to where the can has been, but where it is going. ALEX'S POV - CAN rolls across the floor and gently hits the end of a fishing pole, propped in the corner. The pole teeters and falls over. FISHING HOOK falls, hooking a closet door. The door begins to swing open. ALEX is quickly out of his safe chair, hustling towards... THE DOOR Alex slams the door shut before it can open. Behind the door, a CRASH as something falls. Alex cracks a wicked half smile, cocky he has caught Death before this attempt has brought to fruition. Alex removes the hook from the door and places the pole on the floor. He cautiously opens the door, REVEALING an old fish scaling knife embedded on the back side of the door, unaware. Removing the knife and securing it, his eyes turn towards the floor. CLOSET FLOOR a tackle box has spilled thick, rusted old treble and aberdeen fishing hooks upon the floor. Alex bends down and examines them. ALEX O.S., a sound. Like a THUMP near the cabin steps. He freezes, like an animal sensing danger. THUNDER RUMBLES. The light around him begins to flicker and sway. COLEMAN LANTERN a draft creeps beneath the glass enclosure. The flame, dancing. CUT TO: INT. BEDROOM - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - DAY ENTERING FRAME, Clear peeks out the window, careful not to be seen. EXT. CLEAR RIVER'S STREET - DAY - CLEAR'S POV The unmarked F.B.I. sedan maintains surveillance. Schreck and Weine sit inside. INT. BEDROOM - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - DAY Distant... APPROACHING THUNDER RUMBLES as she steps away. The weight of the world on her shoulders, Clear paces, considering her options. She looks to a bookshelf... CLOSE - AN OLD PHOTOGRAPH A man, early thirties, holds a six year old girl in his arms, waving at the camera. Both appear happy and alive. They are standing before the cabin surrounded by the thick woods. The photograph is turned over. On the back is marked in a young girl's handwriting, "me and dad at the cabin. 1986." CLEAR As CAMERA PUSHES INTO HER... considering life. Then, now and what is to come. CUT TO: INT. UNMARKED CAR - NIGHT Weine sits in the passenger seat looking through the pair of binoculars. Schreck is behind the wheel. WEINE A figure steps into the drivers side window, from the rear. The two agents are startled as Clear Rivers leans into FRAME. She pauses, gauging their trustworthiness, then... CLEAR The two agents remain respectful... CLEAR WEINE She considers... and understands. CLEAR WEINE As she senses the agents' sincerity... INT. CABIN - NIGHT Distant THUNDER ECHOES. Alex kindles a fire in the fireplace, balling up old newspapers. He begins to crumble the local news... then pauses. A headline catches his attention. CAMERA INCHES IN ON HIM, tense, while THUNDER RUMBLES. As he unrolls the paper, his expression is rocked... anxious... he cocks his head to consider... recalling... as CAMERA PUSHES ALL THE WAY INTO... HEADLINE - CRUMPLED NEWSPAPER "PARENTS TO ESTABLISH MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIPS." Besides the headline are two yearbook photos; Christa Marsh and Blake Dreyer. ALEX his expression reflects a terrifying revelation... ALEX CAMERA PUSHES into a TIGHT CLOSE UP... ALEX (CONT'D) CUT TO: INT. CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT Clear paces in her living room. She moves to the curtains and checks out the window. Although it is not raining, LIGHTNING CRACKS across the sky! EXT. CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT - POWER LINE The lightning STRIKES the top of the pole, SNAPPING two power lines, which whip in the wind. INT. CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT The power goes out. The room turns dark. Outside, brilliant bluish white arc lights CRACKLE. Clear moves to the window. EXT. CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT - CLEAR'S POV - POWER LINES ARC violently striking the ground and each other. Each line whips
INT. CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT She assesses the situation and moves to a pair of candles on the mantle, lightning them with a Bic. O.S., from the backyard, a DOG BARKS. Clear brings the candle through the small house. INT. KITCHEN - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT Clear moves quickly to the kitchen, holding the candle. Outside, BLUE ARC LIGHT CRACKLES. She looks out the backyard. EXT. BACKYARD - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT - CLEAR'S POV An old circular clothesline turns like a pinwheel in the wind. In the center of the yard is an oblong, tarped above ground pool. In the furthest corner of the yard, her dog is chained to a tree, BARKING AND FREAKED OUT. An old tire swing rocks in the storm. From the manner in which the house is situated and the length of the snapped power lines, one is capable of reaching the backyard. The power line STRIKES the ground, "closing in on" the dog. INT. KITCHEN - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT Clear considers the danger of venturing out to get the dog. Although no window is open, and the power outage has shut off any air conditioning... the candle flame whips, then extinguishes. The blue smoke swirls ominously into the room. EXT. BACKYARD - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT - CLOTHESLINE Sharp metal edges spin. Glinting blue arc light... CUT TO: EXT. CABIN - NIGHT Alex charges out the front door, leaping over the steps. O.S., SEVERAL CARS APPROACH, headlights pan across the trees. Alex stops dead in his tracks and runs off into the woods, just as the F.B.I umarked sedan and three Sheriff 4x4s THUNDER up to the cabin, siren lights swirling. INT. UNMARKED CAR - NIGHT Weine is driving, leading the other vehicles. Schreck points out the passenger window. SCHRECK EXT. CABIN - NIGHT - WEINE'S POV - THROUGH CAR WINDOW Full sprint, Alex disappears into the dark forest. WIDER the cars BRAKE to a stop, SKIDDING in the dirt. Sheriffs leap out of their vehicles. High powered flashlights shoot beams in Alex's direction. The officers take after the suspect. CUT TO: EXT. BACKYARD - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT The backdoor opens. Clear charges out into the backyard. THE DOG Helpless, chain wrapped around the tree. THUNDER RUMBLES. CLEAR continues to run... THE CIRCULAR CLOTHESLINE is whipped by a power line. SPARKS FLY as the base pole snaps in two. CLEAR the metal poles punge into the ground just before and behind her, inches from impaling her. She stumbles, but quickly steps aside and continues toward the tree. THE CIRCULAR CLOTHES-LINE FRAME is rolled by the winds, across the yard toward... ABOVE GROUND POOL the clothesline frame punctures the pool. Water streams from the rupture. CLEAR reaches the tree and begins unfastening the dog's collar from the chain. THE POWER LINES whipping, strike one another causing an angry FLASH! THE RIVETS holding the pool frame begin to BREAK and POP. Water floods into the yard. CUT TO: EXT. FOREST - NIGHT CAMERA MOVES WITH Alex, blindly running through the forest, sheriffs' flashlight beams crossing behind him... in pursuit. Looing back to check the postition of the agents, Alex blindly runs over the lip of a downward slope... GULLY He rolls and tumbles uncontrollably down the hillside. As he nears the base... ALEX stops with a CRUNCHING THUD... his face an inch from being impaled by a sharp, thick protruding branch. No time to catch his breath, he's up and running. CUT TO: EXT. BACKYARD - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT - CLEAR'S FEET water floods, pooling the backyard, cascading over Clear's feet. She looks down, in the reflection of the puddle, the dark shadow passes. Clear whips up, checking the position of... A POWER LINE coils, like a cobra, ready to STRIKE! TREE Clear drops the chain and hits the dog on its backside. CLEAR The dog starts to tear off toward the house. Clear runs toward the hanging tire. Leaps... THE POWER LINE whips, the frayed wires hitting the puddle of water... CLEAR in mid-air, desperately grabs the tire, hanging on, literally for her life. O.S., the dog YELPS. Clear turns back... CLEAR'S POV - THE DOG convulses in the small pool of water, burning from the overwhelming amounts of electricity. CUT TO: EXT. FOREST - NIGHT - SMALL CREEK Distant flashlights reflect in a small stream, barely two inches deep. Alex's foot splashes in the water. THUNDER RUMBLES. ALEX races along the path of the stream. SHERIFFS continue their pursuit through the dark trees. ABOVE Lightning CRACKS a tree branch. SPARKS FLY! The tree tumbles down the branches. ALEX The thick branch falls from above, landing on top of him. He's knocked to the ground and pinned... face down in the creek. CAMERA MOVES IN... his nose and mouth, just below the water line, but he cannot move. His eyes flash with panic, as he struggles... battles to move and avoid drowning in two inches of water. As he struggles in the f.g., Weine and a pair of Sheriffs appear ten yards beyond him. They pause, confused, panning their flashlights across the forest. WIENE'S POV - FOREST the lights actually expose the area where Alex lies. From their postition, however, he is covered by the branch and out of sight. ALEX struggles to raise his head above the water, chest bursting... WEINE AND SHERIFFS believing Alex is not in the area, move ahead into the woods. CUT TO: EXT. BACKYARD - CLEAR RIVERS'S HOUSE NIGHT Clear pulls herself up to a tree branch. Lighting and THUNDER CONTINUE amongst the ARCING, CRACKLING POWER LINES. She searches for an escape. CLEAR'S POV - THE TREE BRANCH extends toward the house. CLEAR straining in the storm, begins moving up the branch... CUT TO: dart open. Taking a tenth of a second to gather all of his strength, all his courage, he arches his back, pushing with his hands, anything to lift his face out of the stream. With a DEEP GASP, he does so. Drinking up the air. It appears to infuse him with another blast of adrenaline as he manages to push with his arms and free himself from the pinning tree branch. He pauses only for a couple gulps of air... and is off. CUT TO: EXT. WINDOW - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT Clear leaps from the end of the branch to her window, grabbing the sill awkwardly, she dangles outside the house. With a breath, she pulls herself inside, just as the power line bites, ARCING, at her feet. CUT TO: EXT. FOREST - NIGHT Weine RUNS INTO FRAME, looks around, frustrated... WEINE ANOTHER PART OF THE FOREST - SCHRECK deperately scans the area. SCHRECK CUT TO: EXT. CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT The power lines strike the rooftop. INT. CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT Clear River's stands in her bedroom just as it fills with blinding blue light. Her television screen BLOWS OUT. Sparks jet across the room. Blasts of FLAME erupt from the electrical outlets. She quickly turns, racing toward the hallway. INT. HALLWAY - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT CAMERA IS LOW, RACING WITH HER as SPARKS EXPLODE FROM the lamps and electrical outlets. She cuts and leaps three steps at a time down the staircase... CUT TO: EXT. EDGE OF THE WOODS/BACKYARD - NIGHT Alex tears across the fenceless backyards towards Clear's house. Blue ARC light glowing from the front yard. CUT TO: INT. GARAGE - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT A mid-eighties Corolla is parked amongst Clear's artwork. A door, adjacent to the kitchen flies open. Clear hustles through, running to the car and entering via the passenger door, for the sake of expediency. EXT. GARAGE - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT The power lines WHACK angerily against the door. INT. COROLLA - NIGHT Clear scoots into the driver's seat. She CLICKS the automatic garage door opener... GARAGE DOOR OPENER MOTER connected to a metal arm, attached to the door, remains motionless - there is no power. INT. COROLLA - NIGHT Realizing the motor is dead, Clear takes a beat, STARTS THE ENGINE and SHIFTS INTO REVERSE... EXT. BACKYARD - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT Alex reaches the backyard. CAMERA PUSHES IN as he quickly tries to deduce the deadly situation. HE RUNS OUT OF FRAME... INT. GARAGE - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT Clear guns the small car in reverse. GARAGE DOOR as the rear of the car makes impact with the door... THE GARAGE OPENER trembles, the long metal arm collapses, falls... EXT. GARAGE - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT BAM! In reverse, the Corolla SMASHES through the garage door. THE METAL ARM INT. COROLLA - NIGHT The car SHUDDERS, wheels spinning uselessly, as the arm "holds" onto the car. INT. GARAGE - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT - DOOR OPENER MOTER the screws holding the arm to the ceiling begin to pull away... A METAL CAN on a shelf, is rocked as, O.S., the CAR rattles the garage, trying to break free. The can is marked "TURPENTINE: EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE." The can tumbles over the shelf. GARAGE FLOOR the can SMACKS on the floor, edgewise, REVREALING the can is sealed tight with a cap. EXT. CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT - POWER LINE thick cable ARCS, snapping toward the car INTO FRAME. INT. COROLLA - NIGHT Foot to the floor, Clear SCREAMS for the car to move. INT. GARAGE - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT - DOOR OPENER MOTOR pulls away from the ceiling. EXT. GARAGE - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT The Corolla lurches backward, freed from the grasp of the house. INT. GARAGE - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT a chunk of the ceiling collapses upon Clear's artworks, including the canvas incorporating a jagged piece of debris from Flight 180. The metal SLAMS to the floor, on top of... THE CAN OF TURPENTINE which causes the flammable liquid to stream out, toward the driveway. EXT. GARAGE - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT As the Corolla lurches away from the house down the sloped driveway... THE POWER LINE THUDS upon Clear's car. INT. COROLLA - NIGHT An ear splitting CRACKLE. SPARKS FLY! The electrical system of the samll car erupts and the engine dies. The car stops. EXT. GARAGE - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT From the rear of the house appears Alex. CAMERA SWEEPS IN ON HIM as he reacts to the situation... ALEX WIDER The power line sadistically rests atop the automobile. The exposed end of the cable flutters and whips like a cat's tail, SPARKING, CRACKLING, as it hits the ground. INT. COROLLA - NIGHT Clear looks up desperately to Alex. EXT. GARAGE - CLEAR RIVER'S HOUSE - NIGHT Alex extends his hands. O.S., CARS approach THUNDEROULSY... ALEX IN THE STREET The unmarked F.B.I. vehicle and two sheriff patrol cars pull up on the street. Schreck and Weine hustle out of the car. WEINE SCHRECK THE POWER LINE SNAPS in ALEX'S DIRECTION. ALEX lurches back... THE STREAM OF TURPINTINE is ignited by a single spark fom the power line. It flows toward the car. ALEX backs away, eyes locked with Clear's, assuring she's remaining in the car. CLEAR keeps her eyes locked on Alex, watching him. Suddenly, a BURST OF FIRE FLASHES FROM BELOW FRAME... ALEX reacts, shocked. He realizes... WIDER the underbelly of the Corolla has ignited from the stream of combustible fluid. SCHRECK AND WEINE step forward... THE POWER LINE atop the car, whips, ARCS, warning everyone away. IN THE COROLLA Clear can see the flames, her instinct is to grab the handle to get out. CLEAR'S POV - GARAGE WALL The fire roars angrily in the f.g., on the garage wall, however, the shadows do not match that of the flames, rather, the approaching form of Death appears. ALEX steps closer... ALEX CAMERA PUSHES IN ON ALEX as he quickly considers, then moves toward the hood of the burning car... SCHRECK AND WEINE WEINE ALEX AND CLEAR hearing this, Alex's mind is made up. He looks to Clear. ALEX CLEAR ALEX At that moment, Clear doesn't understand. She looks to him, scared... ALEX He reaches out and grabs the power line, falling back to pull it away from the hood of the car. The cable ARCS furiously. COROLLA Clear opens the driver's side door and runs out, knocked to her feet as behind her the car EXPLODES. ALEX is engulfed in the flames. ALEX'S POV - THE SHADOWS the edges of the FRAME are collapsing. Alex's face, gray and emotionless appears, yet, before it can transform into decay... ALEX through the flames, as if sensing the oncoming horror, defying the image... ALEX He looks toward... CLEAR - ALEX'S POV She... is the last sight he'll ever see. WIDER The power line ERUPTS! Alex disapears behind the wall of fire and sparks before falling limp on the driveway. CLEAR Schreck, Weine and PARAMEDICS rush to the girl. Schreck turns back, calling out to a paramedic, helplessly watching by ther burning car. SCHRECK CLEAR'S EYES flash open, horrified, answering the question... THE SKY a web of LIGHTNING CRACKS across the Heavens, as if Death was making a final angry proclamation. SCHRECK AND WEINE CAMERA EASES IN on the agents, exchanging rattled expressions that convey their unease in the proof that Alex was right. CLEAR - OVERHEAD As a pair of paramedics work on her, a soft breeze blows across the girl, and only the girl. CAMERA MOVES DOWN TO HER FACE, her eyes opened... welling with tears... seeming to realize... to sense, he is gone. CUT TO: INT. DELIVERY ROOM - DAY - CLEAR SCREAMS, as if reacting to Alex's death, but in actuality it is a reaction to the pain of delivering her child. DOCTORS AND NURSES stand between Clear's legs in the stirrups... DOCTOR CLEAR breathes, pushes hard. Alex's parents stand on each side of her, holding her hand, wiping her forehead. THE DOCTOR cuts the umbilical cord. DOCTOR CLEAR, KEN AND BARBARA smile and fight back the tears. Clear begins to laugh euphorically through the tears. CLEAR Clear lifts her head up, still battling the pain of labor... CLEAR'S POV - THE BABY covered in goop, eyes shut... a new life arrives. DOCTOR looks at the clock and reprots to an attending nurse. Another nurse cleans up the baby, wieghs him and places him in a hospital bassinet. DOCTOR CLEAR, KEN AND BARBARA Barabra places a cool wet cloth on Clear's forehead... BARBARA Everyone recognizes the eerie, yet beautiful coincidence. Clear leans her haed back, relieved, euphoric... CLEAR Cleaned and wrapped in a swaddling blanket, the baby is placed in the mothers arms. The long retrospective harmonica of Neil Young's "Long May You Run" reprises as Clear looks at the I.D. braclet... WRIST BRACLET "Alexander Chance Browning II." DELIVERY ROOM CAMERA PULLS BACK. The birthing room is quiet; the people introspective. The doctors. The family. The mother and child. A room of new life, in which, each recalls a life lost. As "Long May You Run" OVERLAPS... DISSOLVE TO: INT. ALEX'S BEDROOM - DAY - FLOWERS A bright, colorful arrangment of flowers is carefully placed into a vase. CAMERA ADJUSTS to REVEAL Alex's bedroom is now lived in by Clear and the baby. Clear makes the final adjustment in the arrangement, then checks the sleeping baby in the bassinet. Clear moves to her bed with a book. As she settles in, O.S., a faint RUSTLE. CAMERA INCHES IN ON CLEAR as she looks to... CLEAR'S POV - THE FLOWERS a soft breeze causes the petals to flutter... CLEAR looks toward... CLEAR'S POV - THE WINDOWS which are closed. CLEAR'S POV - THE FAN which... is off. CLEAR looks across the room... CLEAR'S POV - THE ROOM The breeze moves through the flowers... billows the cutains, posters and photos on the wall... until seemingly settling over the bassinet. The lace trim and blankets rustled by the breeze, it is hovering over the child. CLEAR CAMERA SETTLES, but her expression does not reflect fear. She knows Alex is here... and she smiles, tears welling in her eyes. THE BABY the bassinet trim settles, as if the presence is leaving. Before it fully departs... CLEAR the wind softly and rapidly passes over Clear. He smile remains as the room becomes still and her eyes looks across the room. CLEAR'S POV - ON THE WALL is a pencil rubbing, like people take away from the Vietnam veteran's Memorial. The name... "ALEX BROWNING..." CUT TO: EXT. MT. ABRAHAM HIGH SCHOOL - DAY - CLOSE - MONUMENT "ALEX BROWNING" is marked in the granite. CAMERA PULLS BACK TO REVEAL the name has been added to the memorial, along with Tod Waggner, Valerie Lewton, Terry Chaney and William Hitchcock. A hand ENTERS FRAME, fingers hover in space before they gently trace over "Terry Chaney." CAMERA ADJUSTS TO REVEAL Carter Horton, staring at the name. Alone, he allows himself the moment to grieve. Carter glances up to find Clear approaching with the baby in the stroller. Carter straightens and nods, then begins to walk away. He hesitates, then turns back to Clear. CARTER Clear looks up. CARTER (CONT'D) Clear smiles. As she takes the baby out of the stroller... CLEAR Clear holds baby Alex up to the monument, showing her son his father's name. Carter stands, watching. CAMERA WIDENS to REVEAL the entire monument against the deep blue sky. At the base in readable, but understandable lettering... "FLIGHT 180." CAMERA HOLDS as "Long May You Run" CONTINUES... RETURNING each of us to the awaiting darkness. FADE OUT. |