1st Draft December 1996 TOP STORY Screenplay by John Monteleone CONTACT: e-mail: writing@johnmonteleone.com PO Box 2723 Sag Harbor, NY 11963 __________________________________ Copyright 1997 by John Monteleone All Rights Reserved Registered with WGAE FADE IN: INT. UPPER-MIDDLE CLASS HOME, SAN FRANCISCO--MORNING THE CAMERA SLOWLY PANS a well kept home furnished with quality, contemporary taste. WE HEAR the constant switching from one television show to another, to commercials, to half of what someone is saying and to a commercial ending that makes no sense. CU LARGE TV IN A HOME ENTERTAINMENT CENTER. Now the images on the TV are switching fast, one to the other with no continuity, logic or sense. WE HEAR a young child, giggling. VICTORIA MATTHEWS, a five year old girl, in an adorable pink dress with her blond hair in pig-tails, is sitting on the floor with her ten stuffed animals surrounding her. She is switching the television very fast, then faster trying to outdo herself-- how fast can she switch the channels? CU ON THE TV AGAIN. We're getting dizzy from the channels changing and the massive juxtapositions of sound and images that bombard us. She giggles, then laughs hard at something she sees. DR. DAWN MATTHEW'S enters. She's dressed in a purple suit and is a beautiful, highly intelligent woman of 35. DAWN Honey? Why are you doing that? Could you turn it down, it's very loud? VICTORIA It's fun. DAWN It's giving mommy a headache. You look so cute... She kneels and Victoria rises. Dawn kisses her profusely, stops and smiles. DAWN I love you. VICTORIA Me too. And she comfortably falls into her mommy's arms for a big hug. DAWN You're going to the Museum today. That should be so much fun. Come on, honey, we don't want to be late. VICTORIA 'K. Dawn turns off the TV and there's sudden silence. She grabs her shoulder briefcase, purse and Victoria's hand and they're out the door. BEGIN CREDITS. INT. DAWN'S VOLVO--MORNING Victoria is in the back in her child's safety seat, and Dawn is driving, looking back occasionally to be sure Vicky's okay. Dawn's face is stern. VICTORIA When's daddy comin' home? DAWN Today, sweetheart. VICTORIA He's gone too much. DAWN I know. But Daddy's a detective, honey and sometimes he has to go away to help people. Aren't you proud of him? VICTORIA No. I wanna hug 'im. DAWN You will, tonight. VICTORIA 'K... Play Barney's tape? DAWN You got it. VICTORIA 'Cause I'm so cute..? Dawn laughs and they continue down the road. It's a glorious day. EXT. PARKING LOT ACROSS FROM THE PIER--MORNING Dawn is getting into her Volvo. Across the lot is a museum with a RED TILE ROOF, and a class of school children playing on the small playground in front. WE SEE Victoria playing happily with the other children. Two TEACHERS, both women, watch smiling in the bright sunlight. Dawn watches the children and waves good-bye to Victoria who waves back smiling. Dawn gets in the car. INT. VOLVO--MORNING We're in the heart of THE SAN FRANCISCO PIER and Ghiadelli Square; an old chocolate factory and several piers including piers 38 and 42. Dawn has stopped for a light at an intersection. The sun is shining brightly and glistens off the water and cobblestone streets. Joni Mitchell's SEX KILLS from her TURBULENT INDIGO ALBUM is playing on Dawn's car radio. We follow her through the Piers beautiful, gentle and historic sights: A bright red trolley car passes by, people shop in the outdoor boutiques and have breakfast at sidewalk cafes. JONI MITCHELL SINGING "And the gas leaks. And the oil spills. And sex sells everything. And sex kills. Sex kills." The light changes and Dawn drives off. WE SEE Victoria on the playground in her rear-view mirror, the red tile roof of the Museum brightly lit by the sun and tourists criss-crossing everywhere. END CREDITS. INT. BASEMENT--MORNING A dripping black pipe leaks onto a cement floor. Hands in rubber surgical gloves are working to place a bomb on the gas pipe-- they're almost finished. INT. WNCN TELEVISION STATION, NEW YORK CITY--MORNING A NEWSROOM in full swing. TEN identical television monitors line the room and a TV talk show is on all of them. WE BREAK INTO A COMMERCIAL: An arm-pit fills all the screens for "Underarm Deodorant". DOUG BARNES, a no nonsense, award-winning journalist, 56-years old, enters the newsroom. He's as cynical and mistrusting as one gets--but then, he's seen it all having worked the worst parts of New York City. DOUG (to everyone) Hello. Hello. Hi. Hi. Blah blah blah... He enters his office and drops his coat at the same time. ROSE ...Sorry about your vacation. He's put a stop on everyone's--another panic attack. I'd be pissed off, too... DOUG ...File? ROSE ...On your desk... DOUG ...Thanks babe. Two weeks in Maine, gone. It's Fall for Chrissakes! Mary's heartbroken... He grabs the file, his coat and exits. DOUG (to everyone) ...Bye. Bye. Seeya Seeya. Blah blah blah... INT. BASEMENT--MORNING The hands in rubber surgical gloves are finishing up the bomb--a black cover is closed, and a button pressed that starts the bomb. A red light begins to flash on and off, one flash every second. INT. LOU AND DAWN MATTHEW'S SUBURBAN HOME--DAY We're in the same house where we started and everything is familiar except LOU MATTHEWS who has just exited the shower and is wiping his head with a towel. He flops onto the couch, exhausted. He picks up the remote, turns on the TV and he begins switching from channel to channel. LOU is a gentle but tough looking man of 41. He's kind, but his work has made him see things in life most do not have to. Having just returned from a big assignment out of town, he's exhausted and falls asleep on the couch. But the TV continues and WE HEAR a Jell-O commercial. INT. MR. THURSTON WHITEHEAD'S OFFICE AT WNCN TV NYC--MORNING We're in a high rise with a panoramic view of New York City. Through large windows WE SEE the tops of skyscrapers and the huge city stretching out in every direction. It's that type of office that spells M.O.N.E.Y and the room is full of executives and important staff members who are sitting at a long table. At the head of it is MR. THURSTON WHITEHEAD: A 72-year old man, with a full head of white hair and a silly mustache that might look better in the eighteen hundreds. He's wearing a light gray suit, horned rimmed glasses and looks like a kid that never really grew up. Whitehead smokes a cigar that's much too big for his mouth and is the CEO of WNCN, A SMALL CABLE TELEVISION NETWORK in financial trouble. Amongst the other people sitting at the conference table is BEN SHEPARD, a 50-year old Texan who speaks with a true Texas accent and wears a high white cowboy Stetson hat all the time. Ben smiles too much. Next to Ben is MR. RED HAWK, a smooth, good-looking tailored American Indian of 34 and a financial wizard, smoking an expensive pipe. Whitehead was starting to brief everyone and the atmosphere is cheerful. Barnes enters a bit grouchy. WHITEHEAD (pretending to be pissed) Late? DOUG I was goin' on vacation. Two weeks-- remember? You called at eight and you want me here at eight thirty. I live an hour away. First grade math? (they look at one another) Sorry I'm late. It'll never happen again until next time. Doug Barnes paces--he knows what's coming. INT. BASEMENT--MORNING The red light on the bomb flashes VERY FAST. EXT. PLAYGROUND ACROSS FROM PIER, SAN FRANCISCO--MORNING The children play and the teachers are watching. One teacher waves to them and points to the museum behind them whose doors are being opened. Victoria is laughing loudly as she spins and circles with her friends. The children see the MUSEUM doors opening, scream happily and run inside. The two teachers follow smiling, talking to one another. INT. WHITEHEAD'S OFFICE, NEW YORK CITY--DAY Doug Barnes is still pacing. WHITEHEAD Let's put our feelings aside. This is a business after all and because of that injustice, I need you to go out there and get me laughs, get me bad news, get me stupidity. That's what our viewers want, and that's our job--to satisfy our customers. I hate this, just like you do, I want you to know that... (pops a TUMS) ...but our jobs are on the line and I have no choice. Barnes? Please stop pacing and sit down--we have an emergency. DOUG Everything on the news is an emergency and now you're basically telling us that you want us to get cheaper than cheap disaster? How "Twentieth Century" of you. WHITEHEAD Thank you, Doug. I appreciate the support. It's your paycheck, too. DOUG I was hired to write journalism. Not this kinda crap. You're going back on your word again. WHITEHEAD Doug... we almost went out of business--what am I supposed to do? This... strategy's only a short-term cure to a long-term ill--financial ruin. DOUG Yeah yeah I've heard this line of reasoning before. You're all a bunch of frightened idiots. NO GUTS! (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: WHITEHEAD That's not true. DOUG Yes it is. WHITEHEAD If it weren't for Ben and Red Hawk here, you'd be writing cook books like everyone else. DOUG Tellin' the truth isn't easy, Thurston! You can justify this ridiculous business decision any way you want. But the truth-- that's what I do, what this station used to be about, what you used to be about before... BEN (stepping in) ...May I say somethin'... We've got to face the fact, Dougy, that we're still in the red--not one hit on the air, every new show's gone under--even the news for Chrissakes... How do you screw up ratings with the news? I'll tell ya how--ya cover a lot of stupid shit. No one wants to hear talk- shows on Freud, or the Mythology of the Myan Culture, com'on Doug... DOUG ...I resent that... BEN ...I don't care, because IT'S THE TRUTH! General, uneasy laughter. DOUG Don't pull this manipulative shit with me, Ben. You're fear-tactics won't work! This station isn't... (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: BEN (Raising his voice) ...Bottom line's we need a turn- around like it or not or we're doomed. It's over. Are you gettin' this, Dougy? WHITEHEAD I'm sorry, Doug, I love your writing but for a while they'll be no more of the special interest and "intellectual crap" I love! I'm sorry. Really. DOUG This stinks. It STINKS! WHITEHEAD Let's work together. I need your help. Mr. Whitehead's secretary BARB (a Doris Day look alike), runs in frantic. BARB Mr. Whitehead, I'm sorry to barge in like this but there's been another bombing. Horror fills the room. Whitehead is stunned. He looks up bewildered. WHITEHEAD Again? Where? BARB San Francisco. The Pier, sir. All those tourists... WHITEHEAD ...My God... The room is loud with shock. Everyone is talking to everyone else. WHITEHEAD (flustered) I... I want everything we have on this. I'm beginning to hate this business... Ben, take over... My stomach. (rising to exit) Excuse me, I'll be right back... (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: Whitehead exits holding his stomach. The room quiets. BEN ...As much as I hate to admit it, this just might be the lifesaver we need. (sadness is in his eyes) Frank? FRANK I'm with ya. BEN That's refreshing: Archives. Clips. Bomb sites. Films. TV shows. God knows there's got to be a million shots of mindless disasters... I need interiors. Exteriors. Slant: What happens when it really happens. FRANK Yo. BEN Is that English, boy? FRANK American. BEN We've come a long way! You and Tom, make a ten, fifteen second clip that'll scare the daylights offa General Pattons Panties. We'll air it with the live coverage. Frank exits. DOUG I see Emmy's lining our shelves. BEN Dougy boy... DOUG Yeah Benny poo? (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: BEN Oooooo I love it when you talk dirty... I want you to work on the Denver bombing--the aftermath: Interviews with families, survivors, policeman, clergy, I don't care what. Get ANY story that has to do with disasters like this. We might be able to corner this market and extend coverage. DOUG (rising) At least I gave up my vacation to do something meaningful. BEN What are you all waiting for? Half the staff leaves. Whitehead enters, weak and still sick. BEN Ben, we have a crew already there, don't we? BEN Yes sir, covering the celebrity party for the new mall downtown. WHITEHEAD Get that crew on it and send in backups on the double. I don't care what it costs. RED HAWK You better. BEN Can we afford it, Red? RED HAWK We'll borrow. Ben and Red exit. The large, beautifully decorated office clears out. Whitehead, alone now, rubs the back of his neck and pushes a button on his recliner seat and A HUGE TELEVISION SCREEN, twelve by eight feet, begins to descend. He stands in the middle of the large room nervously looking at his father's large portrait, then the screen, then the panoramic view of NYC, and puffs on his cigar thinking deeply. PINT. JAIL THERAPY ROOM--DAY Dawn seems proud listening to VITO, a twenty-two year old one-time street kid talking to a group of petty criminals, drug addicts and alcoholics. VITO ...an' like I'm still here thanks to Dr. Matthews. See... I was on heroin, stealing everyday, you know, and now I'm clean... An' like before I start, I just want you alls to know, Dat Dr. Matthews here, well, she's about as awesome a person, not to mention like a therapist, that's ever walked this mother-fuckin' shithole of an earth, man... No... Shit, I mean it. We're tight... Applause at his passionate thank you. A secretary enters fearfully. SECRETARY ...Dr. Matthews I'm sorry to interrupt, but it's an emergency. DAWN What's wrong, Gretch? GRETCHYN You... uh... you have a phone call. It's urgent... FAST CUT TO: INT. DAWN'S VOLVO--MOMENTS LATER Dawn's Volvo is going 90 miles an hour passing everyone in sight. Her face is stone cold with terror. EXT. HIGHWAY--SAME TIME Like a thunderbolt, Dawn's Volvo zigzags in and out of highway traffic. INT. HELICOPTER--DAY LIEUTENANT SANDERS, a black, fifty year old super-cop, is raging, talking into a radio mic and looking at the disaster site below. (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: LIEUTENANT SANDERS Whatever sonofabitch did this has to be here, somewhere! We've got the town blocked off now I want every Godamned major thruway from here to Jerusalem shut down--check trunks, hub caps, everything, and I mean on the double! I want the outer- townships to do the same! I'M GONNA TRAP THESE PIGS AND FRY THEIR MISERABLE BUTTS!!! (to himself) Jesus H... I can't believe this happened here... FROM THE SKY AND THROUGH THE HELICOPTER WINDOW WE PAN OUT to see the police roadblocks, the entire area closed off, police checking every car, and back-ups for a mile--there isn't anywhere to go. Just ahead WE SEE the DISASTER SITE IN FULL VIEW: THE PIER is halfway under water, shops are flattened, a Trolley Car is split in two, the cable having been broken landing it at the foot of a long, high hill, people of every nationality are looking on in horror and disbelief, fire engines are there and more are coming, the site is blocked off by police cars and smoke fills the air. WE SEE Police and Emergency vehicles coming from every direction, their sirens screaming. We descend now and finally the chopper lands near the middle of the chaos and Lieutenant Sanders jumps out. INT. WHITEHEAD'S OFFICE--SAME TIME ON WHITEHEAD'S HUGE TV SCREEN WE SEE TODD GAINES FLASH ON INTERRUPTING AN INTELLECTUAL TALK SHOW. HE IS IN THE WNCN TV STUDIO AT HIS ANCHOR-STATION. TODD IS A YOUNG, GOOD LOOKING BLACK MAN WITH A HUGE, FALSE SMILE THAT EVERYONE LOVES. TODD GAINES (ON TV) We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you this special news bulletin. Just a few moments ago, one of the piers in San Francisco exploded into a shattering fireball. It's still too early to know the extent of damage, casualties and fatalities or who is responsible. Police and workers are rushing to the scene as we speak. INT. DOUG BARNES OFFICE--DAY Doug Barnes is watching the WNCN News coverage. He looks angry. PAM POWERS, a pretty red-headed Irish-American news reporter, as (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: aggressive and cut-throat as a hit-man, is broadcasting live at the disaster site in San Francisco, the disaster clearly seen behind her. She has to yell to be heard over the noise. PAM POWERS (ON TV) As you can see Todd, there's bedlam here in San Francisco... Once the home of Trolley Cars, and moonlit walks along the pier, we instead have another bombing... This time one of the most historic, beautiful and traveled spots in the World. The San Francisco Pier. The CAMERA PANS and we witness the disaster site--a raging, violent mess. TV Crews and newspaper reporters are swarming the area, many just arriving. Police have the site taped off. We see a red, tile roof laying over rubble--it's the museum. COMMERCIAL: Tampons. EXT. DISASTER SITE--SAME TIME Two emergency workers pull out of the heap, the body of a little girl. They put her in a line with two other children. We see the first, a small boy mangled and bleeding. His body is twisted and he's still wearing his red baseball cap, now blackened with soot. Then we see the second child, a tiny black girl with braided hair, her face is bleeding, her arm in a twisted position. There is a third girl. She has blonde hair in pigtails and her clothes are filthy, some burnt off. Her body is a mangled mess and she looks familiar--it's VICTORIA--DR. DAWN and LOU MATTHEWS daughter. They put her in a body bag, zipper it up and carry her off. Others do the same with the other children and adult corpses. Some survivors lay bleeding on stretchers, sitting up with paramedics treating them while others are carried off to awaiting ambulances. NOW WE SEE a school bus immersed in water, bodies and body parts floating in the water and the sounds of Jackhammers, Cement saws, and flashing lights surrounding the once beautiful tourist site in this charming, historic part of the city. People watch from the extremities in complete horror and disbelief, more people coming by the second to gaze upon the slaughter. INT. VOLVO--SAME TIME Dawn is speeding towards the disaster site. Her face is stone dead. She pulls off a ramp and WE SEE the disaster site ahead as she rushes straight into the chaos. PINT. LOU MATTHEWS CHEROKEE CHIEF JEEP--SAME TIME Lou is speeding towards the disaster site, terrified. RADIO DJ (V.O.) The scene here is unbelievable... bodies are everywhere... Lou winces in pain. INT. WNCN NEWSROOM--SAME TIME On TEN IDENTICAL TV'S lining the newsroom wall WE SEE Dawn's car rushing into the madness of the disaster site behind Pam Powers. There is clatter of a television NEWSROOM in full swing. People moving in chaotic patterns, computer screens scrolling fast as journalists type their stories, others are on the phone-- everything's moving at supersonic speed. INTERCUT: Between Todd Gaines in the New York City Studio and Pam Powers on site. TODD GAINES (ON ALL 10 TVS) How bad is it, Pam? PAM POWERS (ON ALL 10 TVS) Not since the Denver bombing six months ago which left two hundred and ten people dead has there been such bloodshed. The killers spared no one. Children have been crushed under the rubble, some trapped under water which asphyxiated them mercilessly--tourists from all over the world have suffered violent, horrifying dismemberment's, injuries and painful deaths. INT. DOUG BARNES OFFICE--SAME TIME Doug Barnes watches PAM with mixture of disgust, horror and disbelief. PAM POWERS (ON TV) It's just an unbelievable sight, Todd. Just unreal. A Sylvester Stalone film realized and worse! Pam Powers, WNCN news, San Francisco. (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: Doug snaps the TV off and paces. INT. WNCN NEWSROOM--SAME TIME CU: One TV. TODD GAINES (ON TV) Thank you, Pam. We'll be back with more live coverage of this tragedy, after a word from our sponsors. On TEN identical TV'S: COMMERCIAL: STACKEM UP PLAY TOYS. Child-like jingle full of fun. INT. WHITEHEAD'S OFFICE--SAME TIME On his 12-foot TV: COMMERCIAL--STACK EM UP PLAY TOYS ends. Whitehead is watching the huge TV--the images transmitted are from a hand-held camera taking shots of mass confusion. Behind Pam Powers on the screen, WE SEE Dawn struggling to free herself from police who hold her back from going to the disaster site--the camera holds on her. Pam Powers sees this and points her out to her crew who move to her instantly. Lou sees her, and calls to her--we can't hear anything, there's too much noise. Dawn breaks free and grabs a policeman near the crushed Museum violently. Lou comes up from behind and takes her into his arms. Pam Powers and her crew are filming it close up... DAWN (ON TV) (to Lou) WHERE IS SHE? WHERE IS SHE?! They fall apart in each others arms. Pam Powers moves in on them. PAM POWERS (ON TV) (to the Matthews) Are you parents of a child that was in the Museum? Lou waves them off. PAM POWERS (ON TV) Was your child one of the victims crushed? LOU GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE! (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: PAM POWERS (ON TV) We've been told there are no survivors. Do you have any hope that your... With that Lou grabs the camera and throws it to the ground. WE SEE WHITEHEAD'S huge TV screen and the images on it fall as the camera falls, someone trips over it spinning the camera fast until it stops--we're dizzy from it. WHITEHEAD PICK IT UP! PICK IT UP! The camera is picked up--we rise clumsily with it as it swings around in a dizzying pattern of wild, hand-held movement. The camera catches Lou who is running after Dawn who is running toward the crushed Museum. EXT. DISASTER SCENE--SAME TIME As Lou chases Dawn another WNCN Cameraman is filming them being filmed by Pam Powers Crew. INT. WHITEHEAD'S OFFICE--SAME TIME ON WHITEHEAD'S HUGE TV: WE SEE the scene through the SECOND CAMERAMAN'S POV now: He is shooting Pam Powers and the Matthews who are again being filmed by the FIRST CAMERAMAN who has picked up the camera Lou threw to the ground. Whitehead is frantic. Hits buzzer and BARB enters. BARB Yes sir? WHITEHEAD Popcorn. Coke. Big. She exits. WHITEHEAD And my Tums! On TV, we still see the Matthews being filmed as Lou catches Dawn and they hold onto each other. Dawn frantically crying "NO NO NO" beating on her devastated husband's chest. Suddenly, she breaks from her husband's arms and through the wall of policemen and heads straight to the Museum which is just a heap of red broken roof-tile over rubble. The first camera crew follows her with Pam Powers (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: DIRECTOR who is directing the cameraman to film Dawn for the broadcast. Dawn begins to pull the tiles and brick off in a last- ditch attempt to find Victoria. Lou stops her, and she falls over and onto the tile roof sobbing, helplessly grasping, clawing at the tile. EXT. DISASTER SITE BY CRUSHED MUSEUM--SAME TIME WE SEE the director and Pam Powers film crew, filming Dawn clawing at the tile. DIRECTOR ON SITE (to CAMERAMAN filming Dawn) Cut. That's enough footage. Let's go! And they're off to the awaiting white CAR with the WNCN NEWS Logo and name clearly printed on it. Another cameraman stays on Lou picking Dawn up. INT. SUBURBAN HOUSE--SAME TIME Two kids around ten years old and their mother are watching this on TV live. It's the best show they've seen in years. The kids watch as Lou picks Dawn up in his arms and carries her off, out of the TV frame. HERMAN This is better than TRUE LIES, Mom! COMMERCIAL: Extra extra soft bathroom tissue. A mother holding a baby and rubbing bathroom tissue on its soft skin. EXT. DIRT ROAD--DAY Car tires peel out, dust flies up. INT. TIM WATERS CAR--DAY Two boys, both about nineteen, are driving fast through a deserted dirt road. TIM WATERS has rings in his nose and ear, and no hair on his head. There is a tattoo on his forehead of a small, but visible eagle. RON SMITH wears a white sleeveless tee shirt, pony tail, earrings in both ears, a grubby beard, and a tattoo of "SueAnn" on his arm. He loads shot guns. PEXT. DEAD CORN FIELD, SAN FRANCISCO--DAY A white 1973 Ford convertible with a black top up tears through a corn field with a path cut through it. INT. WHITEHEAD'S OFFICE--DAY All the executives and senior administrators are there making a lot of noise. BEN Okay, please calm down we can't waste any time. Room quiets as they take their seats around the conference table. BEN We will cancel any regularly scheduled programs that are currently on. I want full news coverage of this event 'round the clock. Now this is the deal: We have to tell the truth! Show it like it is! And that's what we're gonna do. No more sugar-coated news reporting like we used to do. Like the majors do. No beatin' around the bush. Starting today, we'll show it all. That's the center of our broadcasting philosophy--if they're dead an' their eyes are wide open, if they're decapitated, if a child's arm has been cut off, we let the people see it like it is in full livin' color. Maybe if they do see what this is really all about, this kinda thing will stop! An' we all want it to stop. But whether it does or not we must remember that WNCN is about Tellin' The Truth! Doug Barnes grunts in disgust. BEN Mary-Beth, fill us in... (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: MARY-BETH (rapid fire in one breath to them all) I've already contacted all of our major sponsors and we're faxing to almost every business in the Fortune Five and any statistically sound companies on the Dow Jones and when they see the listenership we had on the last bombing plus the statistics of going round-the- clock they'll come crawling on their knees with their checkbooks. (breathes in) WHITEHEAD (frowning) That's my girl. MARY-BETH I want to raise the prices on the hour and divide that by the minute so it's not as conspicuous, is that okay by you sir? BEN I never say no to more. It's bad business. Mr. Whitehead? WHITEHEAD Fine. BEN Any questions? Mary-Beth smiles, and in one motion turns on her heels and exits. Doug is ready to barf. BEN Like m' daddy used to say... SIG em'. The room empties. Whitehead hits the intercom. Ben exits. WHITEHEAD Barb? BARB (V.O.) Let me guess... lunch? WHITEHEAD You're terrific. (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: BARB (V.O.) I know. EXT. DISASTER SCENE--DAY Pam Powers is talking to a camera. A crew is standing behind the cameraman--WE SEE her being filmed right in front of the horror. INTERCUT: Between TV ANCHOR-STATION and DISASTER SITE. PAM POWERS Forty-five bodies have been excavated from the huge heap of entombing rubble in just two hours. Most of the victims were pre-school children on a field trip... INT. WHITEHEAD'S OFFICE--SAME TIME PAM POWERS (ON TV) ...One can only imagine what must go on when a bomb capable of bringing down an entire shopping area goes off. INT. WNCN CONTROL BOOTH--SAME TIME FRANK (into intercom) AND... GO! Frank hits a button on the control panel. INT. WHITEHEAD'S OFFICE--SAME TIME On the huge 12-foot TV screen there is a violent explosion! The insane smashing, crumbling and blasting that takes place in an actual bombing, only now, we're inside of it. Body parts fly, heads are decapitated, blood splatters everywhere, horrified screams are stopped short as the bodies are instantly crushed by huge chunks of concrete. It is a horribly bloody, vile, stomach-turning clip. It ends abruptly. INT. MAIN TV STUDIO WNCN--SAME TIME We watch Todd Gaines being filmed at his anchor-station, the crew in front of him. (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: TODD GAINES (slight, proud smile) That was a clip created from several popular films and television shows to demonstrate what really happens when something of this proportion actually occurs in real life... INT. DOUG BARNES OFFICE--SAME TIME TODD GAINES ...Two suspects have been identified. Two photos of the suspects are full blown behind him. They are of TIM WATERS and RON SMITH. Doug Barnes and Ben Shepard are watching this and Doug clicks his remote control and mutes the sound on the TV. Now Pam Powers is talking to us with the disaster behind her, but there's no sound. DOUG How the hell can that be? BEN Luck? DOUG Not possible. There's something very strange goin' down here, Ben. I've been at this for twenty five years an' I never heard of suspects bein' picked up two hours after a major fuckin' catastrophe like this? BEN Maybe they were part of some group the FBI was watchin' all along. What are you thinkin'? DOUG I'm afraid to tell ya what I think... (clicks his remote, sound comes on) PAM POWERS (ON TV) Tim Waters and Ron Smith, both members of the same terrorist organization, a domestic militia group believed responsible for the last bombing in Denver, have been (MORE) (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: PAM POWERS (ON TV) (CONT'D) targeted through two eye witnesses that placed them at the scene. INT. TIM WATERS CAR--SAME TIME The radio is on; the boys listen intently as their car tears through the dead corn field with a semi-cut road in it. FEMALE RADIO DJ (V.O.) Other eye witnesses said the two boys were blowing up old farm machinery behind their homes. RON Told ya we shouldn't fuck around with bombs! TIM Fuck you. Don't gimme that shit, it was you're idea. RON Bullshit. Bull... shit! Don't you hang this one on me, Tim. INT. TIM WATER'S HOUSE--SAME TIME The home is small and poverty is evident, but it's obviously cared for by a loving hand. MRS. WATERS, TIM'S MOTHER, an overweight woman with a pretty face is watching several detectives tearing apart the house rapidly, carefully looking through everything and anything for evidence. MRS. WATERS Be careful, please? ONE DETECTIVE I'm sorry, Mrs. Waters. But we have to check everything. She nods, tears are in her eyes and she is terrified. INT. WHITEHEAD'S OFFICE--DAY Mr. Whitehead is eating a gourmet meal watching his huge TV. Ben and Red Hawk are with him. (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: WHITEHEAD You pulled us out of the last financial... situation. I'm grateful but we're just in so much deep... Mary-Beth enters. WHITEHEAD ...Go... MARY-BETH ...They want to buy ten minutes for five hundred thousand prime-time. Yes or no? BEN We can get double that if we sell the time separately. MARY-BETH (cute) If my uncle had tits he'd be my aunt, sir--we should do it. Whitehead looks at Mary-Beth. MARY-BETH Give me a bottom line. Ben and Whitehead look at one another. WHITEHEAD Six? BEN Seven. Don't be nice... not now. Whitehead nods, she smiles, spins on her heels, and exits. Ben turns on the ratings monitor. BEN We're here and rising by the minute. We're back in the ol' ball game again. Trust us. Red Hawk will make your books look like a Mozart Sonata. When it comes to money and investments, he's a stallion in a mule race, sir. And I have plans, (MORE) (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: BEN (CONT'D) that will end this station's financial problems once and for all. Please know that we have your very best intentions in mind. WHITEHEAD I do, Ben. I do. And I believe in the news. I want you to know that. Just like my father did. BEN Yes, sir. I do, too. WHITEHEAD Well thank you for the encouraging words. I'll keep my eye on that new gadget. We have a staff meeting at three. BEN We'll be there, sir. And congratulations. WHITEHEAD For what? BEN Winning, sir. Whitehead's eyebrows raise up incredulously. Ben and Red Hawk exit. Whitehead digs in and eats. EXT. DIRT ROAD LEADING TO AN OLD FARMHOUSE--DAY A car door slamming shut. Tim and Ron are looking around a farm that is largely barren. An old, very worn sign says "CRANSTON'S MILK". The wind makes it rattle. They sneak up to the barn. EXT. ROAD NEAR CRANSTON'S FARM--SAME TIME WE SEE A MAN in a black car parked alongside the dead corn field Tim and Ron just passed through. INT. BLACK CAR--SAME TIME THE MAN is watching a radar-type device and on the screen is a blinking red light. The light stands still. He picks up his phone. PINT. HOTEL CONFERENCE ROOM--NIGHT STU KETTERING, a large, FBI agent with white hair and a worn out round face, is sitting at a conference table with several other agents. There is a large TV monitor that is hooked up to his laptop computer that displays a widespread layout of the area. KETTERING The two boys are somewhere in this vicinity here. We know this because they were at their friends house, here, at two pm, and couldn't have escaped the road blocks here. With his laptop, he circles a large area in red which we see on the large TV. KETTERING No one is to move in until I say so. Meet me downstairs. Let's go to work. The men move out quickly. Kettering snatches up his belt-phone and dials. INTERCUT: between Kettering in the CONFERENCE ROOM and Ben in his huge, art-decco LOFT. BEN Shepard? KETTERING Kettering. How are ya, Ben? BEN Great Stu. Thanks for keepin' your word ol' buddy. KETTERING I always do. Like you. BEN I need to go over the deal so there are no misunderstandings. KETTERING Sure. (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: BEN You will go in on my say so. We want first hand coverage of the arrest for our news program. Let me know when you find 'em and you're staked out. And for that, we pay you a whole lotta money, as a retirement gift, and, make the FBI look real good. You can use it after the fuck-up in Ohio last month. Are you happy with that? KETTERING Let's just do it for old times sake and the money. (laughs) Let's catch those fuckers. BEN I hear ya ol' buddy. It's good to work with you again. KETTERING Same here. I'll let you know when we've got them surrounded. BEN (smiles) Go to work. Kettering hangs up and exits. INT. DAWN'S HOME--NIGHT Dawn, who is completely devastated, is being comforted by Lou and her family. Victoria's dress is hanging on the open, front door. DISSOLVE TO: PANORAMIC VIEW and in the distance WE SEE the disaster lit in the night with high-powered lights, the red flashing lights of the police and fire departments and the round-the-clock sounds of jackhammers. The night turns into morning and the activity is intense and constant. INT. WHITEHEAD'S OFFICE--NEXT MORNING Light drenches the office through the high windows. Whitehead is eating his morning cinnamon bun with coffee and watching his TV. Mary-Beth, Whitehead, and Red Hawk are sitting at a conference table. A soaring graph is on another television monitor which Mary- (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: Beth is discussing. On TV the disaster site rests behind Pam Powers. PAM POWERS Day two. One hundred and seventy three dead, and more are being carried out by the hour... COMMERCIAL: Two-Minute Toe Nails. Whitehead mutes the screen with his remote. BEN Okay Mary-Beth, where are we? MARY-BETH We've booked out the entire air slot until tomorrow night eleven p.m. for top dollar, sir. WHITEHEAD Good. That's... inspiring. Isn't that inspiring, Ben? BEN I think so. As long as we keep the news coverage fresh, exciting, and interesting, it will be like this... indefinitely, sir. WHITEHEAD Well, we will then. We'll do just that! (to Mary-Beth) Keep up the good work, Mary-Beth, there's a raise in it for you. MARY-BETH Thank you, Mr. Whitehead. WHITEHEAD The thanks are all mine young lady, all mine. She smiles proudly, spins and exits. BEN Mr. Whitehead, we are providing a very rare service. On the scene coverage like it's never been done (MORE) (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: BEN (CONT'D) before--as it happens and fully graphic! And that's what the people want. To know the truth. Let them see it as it is and as it's happening. That's what we'll be providing. Word of mouth will bring in millions of new subscribers, our sponsors will see our growth, our commercial prices will soar and we make a bundle. Now... are you feeling better, sir? WHITEHEAD Ben, I feel like a grand piano has been lifted off my old back! They share a laugh. BEN And the best is yet to happen. WHITEHEAD What do you mean? BEN We're going to capture the raid and arrest of the suspects--no other station will have that coverage. That means we can sell it internationally for mega-money, honey! (laughs) WHITEHEAD Come on. How can you do that? BEN Magician's never tell their secrets. WHITEHEAD I don't believe you. INT. FUNERAL HOME--AFTERNOON The quiet is difficult to take. We walk toward a very small, bronze closed coffin at the far end of the room with a photo of little Victoria near it. The silence is deafening. Dawn is draped over the closed coffin of her child, sobbing. Lou and family members are by her side. PEXT. OUTER WOODS THAT SURROUND THE CRANSTON FARM--MORNING A SWARM OF FBI MEN IN SUITS along with a swat-team sit with binoculars, rifles, and other high-tech equipment in the woods. Several WNCN NEWS CAMERAMAN and none other than Pam Powers are with them. They wait silently and patiently. INT. BEN'S OFFICE--MORNING Whitehead watches patiently. BEN (to editors in studio control room) Are you ready to receive transmission? FRANK (V.O.) (on Ben's intercom) We're ready. BEN Okay. Hold on Mr. Whitehead, you're about to make a fortune... (dials his cellular phone) KETTERING (V.O.) Kettering? BEN (INTO PHONE) We're ready. KETTERING (V.O.) So are we. BEN (to Whitehead) We've patched through the live coverage on my television. Take a peek. Points to his television mounted on his office wall and we see Kettering's stake-out. BEN That's what everyone, around the world will be seeing all day today. And no one else will know where it is soon enough. It's all ours. (to Kettering and Pam Powers over walkie-talkie) ...Ready, set... go! (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: EXT. CRANSTON'S HOUSE--MORNING A swarm of men burst out from the woods and surround the small house and barn, then throw in tear-gas pellets. FBI AGENT (over loudspeaker) You're surrounded by police and the FBI. Come out with your hands above your heads. I repeat: ABOVE YOUR HEADS! The boys come out choking and several agents apprehend them. WNCN NEWS TEAM IS THERE IMMEDIATELY, and Pam Powers is in front of a camera. INT. BEN'S OFFICE--SAME TIME On Ben's TV, he, Red Hawk and Mr. Whitehead watch the raid and OLD MAN CRANSTON being escorted out of his house bewildered and frightened. Ben smiles at Red Hawk and Whitehead. Mr. Whitehead is shocked. WHITEHEAD How did you do that? BEN Technology, sir. WHITEHEAD No... I mean... how did you know they would be there? BEN Inside contacts--special favors that sort of thing... simple, really. WHITEHEAD Is that legal? BEN As legal as Lobbying. We're helpin' them and simultaneously we let the world know the authorities did a good job... they can see it for themselves. See how that works, sir? Now just sit back and enjoy the show. (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: WHITEHEAD I can't enjoy this, Ben. (torn between smiling and crying) BEN (playing along) I understand... I was speaking facetiously, of course, sir. INT. CONTROL ROOM--SAME TIME Frank hits a button and a graphic for the San Francisco Bombing comes on his monitor. TOM, the designer, smiles. Frank hits another button. INT. BEN SHEPARD'S OFFICE--SAME TIME Whitehead, Ben and Red Hawk are watching the TV. The Graphic of the San Francisco Bombing is splashed across the screen accompanied by theme music, like a popular TV show. INT. MRS. WATERS HOME--SAME TIME The graphic of the San Francisco Bombing is ending. MRS. WATERS is with a friend watching TV. TODD GAINES (ON TV) (at anchor-station, very excited) Right now FBI agents have apprehended the fugitives believed to be responsible for the San Francisco bombing. Let's go there live. MRS. WATERS is crying, held by a woman friend as she watches the news story unfold. PAM POWERS (ON TV) Tim Waters and Ronald Smith have been found in what appears to be a ransacked old barn right there... MRS. WATERS My God! NO! PEXT. CRANSTON'S HOUSE--SAME TIME CRANSTON is up against a dark FBI car, hand-cuffed. The two boys exit followed by armed FBI agents. INT. MRS. WATERS HOME--SAME TIME Mrs. Waters is watching in shock, devastated. PAM POWERS (ON TV) What an incredible arrest. Here they come right now. There's Tim Waters and behind him, Ron Smith, the suspected underground terrorists and mass murders responsible for the deaths of over four hundred people, many of them innocent children. MRS. WATERS My God. Oh my God! The boys are escorted by a million police, guns pointed at them, an arsenal of police await them. The camera crew of WNCN are filming this as it happens. INT. WHITEHEAD'S OFFICE--SAME TIME The door bursts open and Mr. Whitehead enters quickly followed by a nervous Mary-Beth with her small army of assistants, Mr. Red Hawk, Frank (the Control Booth Director), Tom (the computer- graphic artist)and a smiling, calm Ben trailed by Doug slumbering in disgust. Behind them on Whitehead's 12-foot TV is the disaster and constant WNCN TV live coverage. WHITEHEAD (entering, excited) All right, Mary-Beth. We've beat everyone to the raid. BEN (taking over) Here's what I want you all to do... They take their seats, all very excited. BEN (fast) ...Dupe the video footage and sell it to every fuckin' TV station across (MORE) (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: BEN (CONT'D) this globe--be expensive and have photos made in color and black and white from the tape--sell those to papers everywhere and don't be picky who you sell to--no one else will have them. Sell the live news coverage to other television stations internationally, audio dupes to radios. Hit the Internet and open a home page, advertise the address on every broadcast and keep updating it every half hour, and let's get someone on a documentary of this thing on the double. Doug, you do that. I want panel discussions, debates and put together a series of talk shows to keep the story interesting as it develops--we'll be on this for a long time all over the world! WHITEHEAD This is going international? BEN It's already GONE international. Round-the-clock, sir. WHITEHEAD Who paid for it? BEN We did with Mary-Beth's advanced sales, sir. WHITEHEAD Turn on that damned ratings monitor and leave it on. Mary-Beth turns on the ratings monitor. BEN One hundred thousand homes via the Internet. Latest rating technology, makes the Neilsons look like Neanderthal's--I love that baby. WHITEHEAD I'll be able to watch that thing without taking a TUMS? (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: BEN You bet. Now I wanna say I know we all are feeling heavy pain for the loss of life in this catastrophe. But we have a job to do. And we must do it responsibly. The monitor is rising. More people by the second. WHITEHEAD (watching the ratings monitor) I agree completely. (mesmerized by the monitor) Willya look at that. Now that's refreshing. My God Ben, this is absolutely amazing stuff. The kinda stuff that only happens in the movies. Just look at that, we're part of the team that caught those two maniacs! The news isn't all bad, after all! My father would be proud. Very, very proud! (laughs heartily) MARY-BETH I love making money for you, sir. (winks at Whitehead) She spins and exits. DOUG Who's gonna do the story on who framed those two boys? They all look at him in sudden silence and bewilderment. Doug leaves. INT. DOUG BARNES OFFICE--MOMENTS LATER Doug is watching the news coverage intensely. He is angry. TODD GAINES (ON TV) The FBI has enough evidence in their possession to press charges on these two obviously deranged youths for the San Francisco Bombing. We'll be right back. Doug slams his fist down hard on the table. Then rubs his head in a tense disbelief. He is sweating and seems tormented. (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: COMMERCIAL: Panty Hose. INT. THE MATTHEWS PORCH--NIGHT Dawn and Lou are sitting on their porch in a love seat rocking. She falls into his arms. They both cry silently looking into the night. EXT. GRAVEYARD--NIGHT We see the freshly covered grave of Victoria, five years old, with a pile of flowers on top, withering away. The Moonlight shines it's beam of light washing over the grave. It is still, and lonely, and out of place. EXT. POLICE BUILDING--MORNING There are swarms of reporters, microphones, TV cameras and spectators. WNCN NEWS and a large, angry crowd of people are there. The noise is deafening. The two boys are surrounded by a swarm of police and detectives as they quickly move from the building into a white CAR. People are accusatory, and WE HEAR many calling them: "the worst criminals since Hitler, disgusting pigs, they should be killed, hung"... ONE WOMAN YOU KILLED MY HUSBAND! YOU'LL HANG FOR THIS! The white CAR pulls away. INT. WNCN TV STUDIO--DAY TODD is at his anchor-station. TODD GAINES Lawyers are declining representing Tim Waters and Ron Smith. Many knew someone killed in the bombing and feel there would be a conflict of interest. In addition, authorities have stated they are being extremely careful with this case... INT. MAIN JAIL IN SAN FRANCISCO--DAY Dawn is walking with a prison guard down a long, brick hallway. It is dreary, and dungeon-like. WE HEAR their footsteps echo clearly. (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: TODD GAINES (V.O.) ...they fear that someone might seek retaliation as they did in the Denver Bombing killing two suspects before arraignment. Now this. They're outside Tim and Ron's jail cell. He opens the cell door and they enter. GUARD Boys. This here's Doctor Matthews. She's a criminal psychologist and wants to ask you a few questions. The boys nod and look like terrified puppies in a cage. They are obviously uncomfortable. There is a long, awkward, tense moment as Dawn and the two boys just look at one another. DAWN Did you do this? RON No, mam, we've been framed. DAWN Why were you blowing up old farm machinery? TIM We found a recipe for a bomb on the Internet. RON Some guy kept prompting us, and we talked about it. He got us interested. Said it was easy and it was. TIM So we tried it for fun. DAWN Fun? RON We blew up junk like on the Fourth! No one never got hurt. DAWN Are you angry at a particular group of people? (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: RON No, mam. DAWN Do you hate your government? TIM I ain't crazy about it, but that don't mean I'd wanna kill anyone. Hundreds of people were... DAWN I know! GUARD (to Dawn ) Easy. Pause. DAWN Why did you run and have guns? TIM We saw it on the news at a friends house where we hang out. And our photos are splashin' across the TV there. What would you do? We took his father's shotguns. Huntin' gear, mam. DAWN They have transcripts of those files on the Internet. Every word was saved on disk. TIM Some man kept asking us what we thought of stuff, especially the government... RON Real weird questions. We agreed with 'im sometimes, that's all... TIM ...He even told us that if we joined the group, you know, the fraternity... (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: DAWN The militia? RON What? No, it's a fraternity, mam. That's what they called it. TIM He said it would be a good thing for us to join. So we checked it out and signed up--for fun. They're a nice bunch of guys. Shit, there ain't nothin' else to do. DAWN The "fraternity" you joined is charged for being affiliated with the Denver bombings. It's a militia with political inclinations toward changing America back to fundamentalist values. Are you telling me that you knew nothing about that? RON (confused) Is that true, Timmy? TIM Funda... I don't know what she's talkin' about, Ronny--they never told us nothin' about that. We paid dues, that's all I know. (pause, sincerely) What's a militia? Dead silence as they look at each other. The GUARD watches concerned. DAWN I will work around the clock to see to it that whoever is responsible will get the death penalty. I want to watch them die... and I won't rest until I do. GUARD Times up. Let's call it a day Dr. Matthews. (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: She steams, trying to take control of herself. GUARD (unlocking the cell) ...Okay Dr. Matthews. Please? She exits slowly. He is escorting her down the hallway. Tim sticks his head out of the bars and watches. Dawn stops and looks back. They make eye contact, then she turns and leaves. INT. DAWN'S HOUSE--LATE AFTERNOON Dawn is pacing, very nervously, Lou is watching her and rubbing his forehead. DAWN (angry and crying) I'm trying to deal with... I'm trying to deal with this.. Do you understand, do you under... Lou..?! LOU ...Commere. DAWN I need to move or I'm going to explode and kill someone. I have to express these feelings of rage or I'll go insane. LOU What do you want to do? DAWN Those boys do not have the background to psychologically fit a mass murder unless everything I've studied, everything EVER written is wrong. Maybe it is, maybe we're all just grasping at straws! LOU What would be a profile for a mass murderer? DAWN I'll cut to the chase, they don't. They might bust a few jaws in a bar room brawl but this? No way--not alone anyway. (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: LOU Well in my work I've seen little old ladies cut off their sons testicles and big ugly men cry when they hit a squirrel on the highway. Let's go for a drive or something, I can't stay in this house anymore. DAWN (ignoring him) I'm not convinced those boys are the killers, even though I want to. Everyone wants a scapegoat because the size of this crime is so huge that it's unthinkable not to have someone in custody--it makes people feel at ease and God forbid anyone should feel uncomfortable in America--they rather go blind. Maybe those boys did it. Maybe they didn't. I want to find out who did and whoever it is, see to it they die. That's my life now. That's all I want in this world. Do you get this? Pause. They look at each other, pained. LOU I love you, baby. Commere. She moves into his arms. DAWN Don't ever leave me. Even when I kill those bastards with my bare hands. LOU Maybe it was a woman? DAWN Then I'll cut her tits off... Hold me. LOU That's not like you. You're frightening me. (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: DAWN Vicky... (she bursts into tears) He holds her. She holds him. INT. WHITEHEAD'S OFFICE--TWILIGHT Doug bursts into Whitehead's office startling him. DOUG You lied to me you son-of-a-bitch! WHITEHEAD Calm down... DOUG No! It's ridiculous. Ben's gone overboard and you're just eating it all up. WHITEHEAD Doug. I'm stuck. I'm sorry, but your vision, my vision isn't theirs. (points out the window) DOUG Don't hand me that crap again... WHITEHEAD ...We're in the middle of a battle to stay alive, and Ben and Red Hawk are good at making things happen. I know it's grit and grime--don't you think I know that? But I promise you, Doug, as soon as we get our foundation back, you'll be steering the ship again--complete freedom-- tell it like it is! Great programs on whatever you want, just like old times. Please, help us. DOUG Okay. Sell your house, your two Mercedes, your yacht, your Summer home and all your possessions, and move into a suburban middle-class home... and I will. If you don't, you might never see me here again. (MORE) (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: DOUG (CONT'D) I don't need to contribute to the world's mental, emotional and spiritual death! Let me know when you're comfy in your new home, Thurston. He exits. Whitehead is deeply frustrated. INT. BARNES OFFICE--NIGHT A TV monitor is behind Doug and Ben. There is continuous coverage of the disaster. Doug is rubbing his forehead watching the news. BEN Why don't you go home. It's late... DOUG ...It's like milking a dead cow. It's bullshit journalism. BEN It's a whale of a story, Doug. DOUG We used to sit around the camp fire and listen to tales that raised us up somehow, moved us to know something about ourselves and life... Now, we sit around a TV and bond through some poor bastard's disaster... look at that! (pointing to the TV) All the worst elements in humanity that we can find in the bloodshed graphically manipulated on that... thing... and for what? To sell some asinine product... it's fucked up. That's the bottom line, Ben... BEN ...Well, I agree. And I don't like it anymore than you do. But if ya wanna make money, that's what we have to do, Doug. I'm well aware that you don't like it. DOUG BARNES Look at this. Barnes pops a tape into a VCR, and hits the play button. (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: PAM POWERS (ON TAPE) ...Large chunks of concrete entrapped the children. Many died of asphyxiation--trapped, entombed, buried alive. TODD GAINES (ON TAPE) Any details of their painful and terrifying suffering? PAM POWERS (ON TAPE) They must have cried for their mothers and fathers as they slowly gasped for the precious little air that was left, until one by one... Doug hits the stop button, disgusted. DOUG Those two are right out of a Godamned Yuppie farm programmed on MOI. BEN Top of their class from what I hear. And it's the truth, Barnes. It's what happened. DOUG Children and adults were murdered is what happened. I want her fired after this story is over--I never liked her. BEN Woo--eeeee! Man, I think you should scadattle your butt on over to some nice fishing hole, take in a little sun and get your mind off this case. I'll handle it for a couple of... DOUG ...You want me to leave because I'm pissed off? Typical around here... "Shut up, Barnes. Lighten' up, Dougy boy..." You gotta be fuckin' kiddin' mister. I've walked the cement jungle for thirty years before signing on here--I'm a Pulitzer (MORE) (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: DOUG (CONT'D) Prize winning journalist and I don't run away. I dive in head first and that's what I'm gonna do here until I uncover what the fuck is really goin' down. You hear me, Ben? BEN What are you yelling at me for? I was hired to help the old man get out of debt... I'm a corporate doctor-- that's what I do! So chill out. DOUG This WAS a cable company that cared. That man, that stupid old man, cared once and now it's all cheesecake, giv'em whatever they want. BEN You're not bein' realistic... DOUG (angry and fast) ...The Denver bombings. A supermarket in a mall for Chrissakes. Two hundred people dead with chop meat in their hands. Whitehead pulled the same stunt: Round-the-clock coverage and Jell-O commercials for Chrissakes. Profits skyrocketed, then he blew those profits too because his debt was so high--the man can't hold onto a buck and he lives in a castle with that ding-bat thing he calls a wife with a "blonde in a bottle mentality". BEN If you want to do high-level journalism why'd you sign on here for? He's got no choice, Dougy... he's tryin' to compete with the big- boys and he's gotta sign the checks, not you! DOUG We all have a choice. (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: Doug just looks down, shaking his head. BEN Don't tell me you're upset because he's seeking out disaster stories to capitalize on advertising? Something unusual for television news programming..? DOUG ...I wish it were that simple. Pause. BEN What is it for Chrissakes? DOUG I think... he's creating them! For profit! Pause. Ben, shocked, cracks up right in Doug's face. BEN Now I know I was right about that vacation, Dougy-boy. You think Mr. Whitehead staged a bombing like that to sell ADVERTISEMENT? (cracks up) You gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me... (cracks up louder) DOUG ...He could hire someone. BEN Oh come on now, Doug? What do ya think this is, a Hollywood movie? (cracks up) DOUG (looking Ben in the eye) Hire someone let's say that was retired from the CIA, or FBI, who knew how to set up despicable crimes. Who was ruthless. Had the right underground and top-level connections. There are people who could set something like that up. Aren't there, Ben? (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: BEN Oh I bet there's a whole section in the Yellow Pages--Terrorists For Hire! DOUG This isn't funny! BEN No, but that idea of yours sure is! Look, think about what ya sayin'; how many people are really capable of having that kind of bloodshed on their hands? DOUG Germany had a lot of people in it, didn't it? One guy, Ben. One sick motherfucker. That's all it takes to create hell. BEN No argument about that. But Mr. Whitehead, Doug?! He inherited the station from Da Da years ago... (whispers) ...the man can't wipe his ass without a maid! Doug just paces, rubs his neck. BEN (normal voice) Come on. Are you gonna waste everyone's time investigating this insane idea? (laughs) DOUG Twenty years ago it was an insane idea. Today, it's probably happening right now on that fuckin' screen with that... (really angry) ...yupped-out, mindless, wonderbra programmed on stupid-look-at-me-I- wanna-be-famous--annnnnnd I think it's going to happen again if we don't do somethin' about it! (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: Pause. Ben just incredulously shakes his head. BEN Doug... when you get past this conspiracy mentality, what you'll see is a whole lotta scared individuals jus' tryin' to get by in a huge system of people knockin' their heads together accidentally. But whatever you're thinkin', an accusation like that without substantial proof can get you a permanent vacation. Maybe even a hefty lawsuit. DOUG What if I did have proof? Pause. BEN (smiles) I'd wanna know about that. Do you? DOUG (pause) I gotta take a break. Thanks for listening'. BEN (pause, smiles) What are colleagues for, Dougy? (Smiles) DOUG (sarcastic and mean, with a fake smile) Today? I don't know, Benny? To cut each others throats ear to ear for a buck? Maybe blow up a pier with a bunch of innocent kids looking at a Christopher Columbus exhibit or maybe having sex with the wife of someone you envy to get a power- high... (mimicking Ben's accent) ...Jus' "knockin' our little ol' heads together tryin' to get by in the big, bad world"... (his own New York accent) Shit like that! (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: Ben smiles understandingly, but is covering something and exits. Barnes watches him suspiciously out his office door window. He dials his phone. DOUG Detective Wilks, please. Hello Pete, Doug Barnes. We have to talk. No, not on the phone. INT. KETTERING'S HIGH-TECH CAR--SAME TIME Stu Kettering is listening to this conversation on high-tech equipment in his car. DOUG (V.O.) Tomorrow morning. I think I have something that'll keep you busy. Like old times. KETTERING (dials a phone) Sir, he's moving on this. Got the cops on the line right now. Yes, sir. (nods) Hangs up. Shakes his head. INT. WHITEHEAD'S OFFICE--NEXT MORNING Whitehead is extremely nervous. Ben enters. BEN Sorry, I'm late. I had an important... WHITEHEAD ...Barnes didn't show up for work. His wife said he didn't come home last night. She's frantic. It's not like him. BEN (deeply concerned) He seems really interested in this case, Mr. Whitehead. (pause) When was the last time you saw him. WHITEHEAD At the meeting yesterday morning. (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: BEN You didn't meet with him alone after that? WHITEHEAD No, why? BEN I thought I saw him come here around two yesterday. WHITEHEAD He's the finest journalist that's ever worked at WNCN. Maybe anywhere. I admired his writing, his courage. We need him. BEN Oh, I know that. He's the top of the line. Well, sir, maybe he took off for a couple of days... Finally took that vacation. WHITEHEAD Barnes wouldn't do that. Jesus, I'm worried. It's not like him. Just not like him. BEN Well... he's a big boy sir... I'm sure there's a good reason. I'll take over his responsibilities until we hear from him. Pause. Awkward silence. WHITEHEAD (suddenly angry) We've lost our vision. It's a TV, not a God. A way to communicate and that's what Doug wanted to do with it. So did I. This is becoming a Circus already. I lost sight of myself. Ben, I want to turn it around. It's not too late. BEN Mr. Whitehead... if you want to go that route, that's your privilege. But I know what the results would be and I'd have to resign. (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: Whitehead looks at him befuddled. BEN What's it going to be? What works, or what's failed? WHITEHEAD No... uh... maybe I'm jumping the gun prematurely. This won't be forever, will it? BEN Not forever, but for some time. WHITEHEAD Okay... we'll, uh, we'll keep it as is under your direction. BEN You're making the right decision, sir. Thank you. Barnes'll be back. WHITEHEAD I hope so. Ben exits. Whitehead is deeply frustrated. INT. MOTEL ROOM--THAT NIGHT It's a clean, average hotel room in Las Vegas. WE HEAR a TV, then WE SEE the news, WNCN TV in full swing. Todd Gaines and Pam Powers are still reporting the disaster. A woman (MARY) about fifty-two years old, not pretty, but very earthy, is sitting and watching the TV sipping a large 7-Eleven coffee. She is extremely nervous and seems disoriented, keeps checking out her motel window, wipes a tear, and watches the news intensely. ON TV: Pam Powers is interviewing Dawn and Lou Matthews in their home. PAM POWERS Mr. and Mrs. Matthews we're all so very sorry for your... Dawn sparing no time. DAWN (ON TV) ...I want whoever did this to know that we are going to find you, and see that justice is served with your miserable lives... (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: PAM POWERS (ON TV) (to audience) ...But Doctor Matthews, they've apprehended two suspects... DAWN (ON TV) ...We want justice... and the truth... I know those two boys didn't act alone... LOU (ON TV) (holding Dawn) ...We want anyone out there who has any clues, any witnesses, any information at all, to please call us. Mary sits up, then quickly looks for paper and a pen. LOU (ON TV) I'm Detective Lou Matthews and I work for the San Francisco Police Department, and can be contacted there. All calls will be kept confidential. PAM POWERS (ON TV) We're all so very sorry for your loss. DAWN (to camera) Please help us. Don't be afraid to come forward. Your children could be next! PAM POWERS (to audience) Thank you. We all want the truth and justice. (smiles) Pam Powers, WNCN News, San Francisco. CUT TO: TODD GAINS (ON TV) We'll be right back with more interviews with families of the murdered children, and bombing coverage in just a moment. (smiles) (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: COMMERCIAL: BREAKFAST TARTS: Two children eating a breakfast tart. Mary Barnes nervously writes down "DETECTIVE LOU MATTHEWS", Her hand shaking as she continues writing, "SAN FRANCISCO POLICE DEPT." She dials her phone for information. MARY BARNES San Francisco Police Department... INT. LOU MATTHEWS OFFICE--NIGHT A phone ringing. The office is old and worn down with green metal desks, papers everywhere and a large reel-to-reel tape recorder. Lou is getting some coffee and rubbing the back of his neck. BILL COOPER, his partner, a small, wiry guy with red curly hair and glasses, is sitting with his legs up on his desk. Bill wearily picks up mid- ring. BILL Hello, Detec... Slow down... Yes, he's here. Lou? LOU Yeah? BILL (covering phone) Another one. Lou rushes over and hits the tape recorder. Picks up. LOU Lou Matthews. INTERCUT between the motel room and the DETECTIVE'S OFFICE: MARY Is this the detective who was interviewed by WNCN News? LOU Yes. (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: MARY There's a conspiracy so unbelievable I can't... my husband was killed. He worked for WNCN and he's missing. I believe I know what's going on. LOU Uh huh. Where are you? MARY My husband told me that if anything happened to him, to run, and that's what I've done. I'm alone. LOU Where are you? MARY Las Vegas. Meet me in The Grande Casino by the slot machines on the first floor. I'll find you. Tomorrow night at eight o'clock. Can you be there? LOU I received twenty calls in the past two hou... MARY ...I know who the killers of your child are. There is a brief pause. Lou is stunned but still skeptical. She hangs up and we hear a click. He puts the phone down bewildered and turns off the tape recorder. LOU What's that now, Bill, fifty wackos in three hours? INT. MR. WHITEHEAD'S HOME--NIGHT A wealthy Larchmont Home on the water with antiques, gorgeous paintings--everything that spells "old money". MILDRED WHITEHEAD is a very sexy, bleached blonde 32 year old woman. Mr. and Mrs. Whitehead sit at a large table and are being served by their live- in housekeeper and cook, MELVIN, a tall, gangly, sullen looking man of 60 who smiles graciously. He exits. (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: WHITEHEAD They seem to have everyone working over-time and on-the-button. Names Ben Shepard and a Mr. Red Hawk, he's a genuine American Indian, Chesapeake I think, and they're good at what they do. We're there before the events happen it seems. (nervous chuckle) MILDRED That's odd. Mr. Whitehead looks up for the first time. WHITEHEAD Yes it is. But it's working. They know television journalism in a way I never could. I wasn't cut out for this type of work, Mildred. I should have been a farmer. Outdoors with nature, growing things. That's what I would have loved. Our Summer home garden is the only thing that gives me any joy--besides you, of course. MILDRED (emotionless) How sweet. WHITEHEAD It's the only place I feel alive. I hate selling this disaster stuff. I sometimes can't believe what comes out of my mouth when I'm talking to my staff. I'm a different person. MILDRED You're helping people in your own little way. WHITEHEAD (he looks at her realizing she's not listening) Little? Nothing little about what I'm doing... (disturbed) MILDRED Can we rest, now? All the bills paid finally? (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: WHITEHEAD I'll never rest again. Damn it, Mildred, I feel so Godamned guilty about this story we're covering and the way I'm allowing it to be covered... Barnes quit on me... I don't blame him, he can't be much use if we're moving in this direction. MILDRED Doug Barnes quit? WHITEHEAD (nods) But... we're out of the hole, and then some because of this shift! Seems impossible, I thought I was a ruined man. Strange how these duality's work- -something horrible makes money, something important can't survive financially--no support. What was I supposed to do, just let everything my father worked for, what I worked for, go under? I'm such an idiot... I've made foolish mistakes. MILDRED Now stop that! WHITEHEAD This new satellite business--cable subscribers dropped like the A-bomb. MILDRED You're a wonderful, loving man. Your children think you're a God! WHITEHEAD I did the only thing I could to keep us... here. In this house. And I was desperate. You see? I had no choice... except let the station die, and become an average man... A man working for someone else. I couldn't do that. I hate myself for it. Oh, I don't know what I'm saying anymore. They look at one another. Mildred, not sure what he's talking about, but deeply concerned. He is almost crying. (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: MILDRED What... did you do, exactly? WHITEHEAD Hm? MILDRED What are you talking about? You said you did something... What, dear? Pause. WHITEHEAD I'm sorry... Nothing... I just meant... what I'm involved in. That's all... I'm just not my father's son. Oh, I'm being overly dramatic... I haven't committed a crime for Chrissakes. MILDRED A crime? You don't create these horrible things. You just report them. WHITEHEAD In business sometimes you can't make human mistakes and if you do you're backed up into this... corner... punished... and you have to fight back because there's no safety net. I always had a safety net. My father's huge bank and it allowed me to have this moral ideology--I was living in a delusion. But that's gone now. And I have to fend for myself in this world of cruel, and slick businessmen who'll smile and stab you right in the soloplexis at the same time. It makes me feel... dirty, filthy, Mildred. It's not who I am. MILDRED We should never have sold the farm, even if it was to just get away once a year. You were so at peace there. Let's buy another one. (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: WHITHEAD The world's getting too big and too separate for me. Everyone's moving away from one another. I've forgotten what it feels like to be touched, Mildred. She looks at him, her face goes blank with guilt. WHITEHEAD Seems the whole world wants blood. Maybe it's because they're not being touched. They're angry and want revenge, any kind of revenge or retaliation and they don't even know it. I hate giving it to them. MILDRED Things will brighten up. They always do. Soon, there will be a light at the end of that dark tunnel. Trust me. (a cute smile) Silent tension. He looks at her. WHITEHEAD Why'd you marry a man forty years your senior? MILDRED Because I fell in love with you. WHITEHEAD I'm old. I can't... (pause) MILDRED You're the only man I ever loved. Don't listen to your friends at the country club, dear, they're only stereotyping me because in their marriages they're all dependent on one another--we're co-independent. WHITEHEAD We are all dependent on each other, Mildred, whether we like to believe it or not--our actions affect other people... (MORE) (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: WHITEHEAD (CONT'D) (sudden rage) ...This is a race; a brother and sisterhood! What's wrong with everyone, why can't we help each other--we're not living in the jungle anymore?! (realizing he's yelling) MILDRED (shocked at his anger) I... don't know. Things... get in the way? WHITEHEAD (he looks at her) Yes. Our desires for more. Our insensitivity. Our desperation... We're all so lost. (he looks out, lost) Good-night, Mildred. MILDRED Good-night and sweet dreams. WHITEHEAD I'm not innocent enough to have sweet dreams. They're more like cynical nightmares. Maybe I'll get lucky and dream about the farm... (he smells it) ...the fresh smell of clean earth. He tries to smile, turns and walks out of the dining room deeply upset and confused. Mrs. Whitehead sighs deeply and worried. EXT. AIRPORT RUNWAY--NIGHT WE SEE the lit city of Las Vegas through the cock-pit window as the plane veers off to the right preparing to land. INT. GRAND CASINO--NIGHT Dawn and Lou enter the casino cautiously. We follow them. The chatter of casino mumble fills the air. Chandeliers hang overhead in the expansive, elegant room. Women pass by in hot, very sexy clothes. Smoke rings puff out of people's mouths as they gather around the colorful tables, their eyes squeezing as they beg for a win. Roulette wheels spin, dice are thrown, cheers are heard as often as the moans of defeat. The bartender is right out of THE STING and works meticulously. Dawn looks around nervously, but very intent on finding Mary. Lou walks with all the suspicion and (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: calm of a skilled detective. They carry light bags and Lou grips his green duffel-bag tightly. Dawn and Lou walk up to the slot machines. Mary, sees them from across the room and moves in quickly. MARY (whispers) Follow me. She leads them to a stairwell and nervously, suspiciously, climbs up to the first floor. She exits and opens her room door and they enter. INT. MARY'S HOTEL ROOM--NIGHT Before they even sit: DAWN What's your name? MARY Mary. Please, I'm frightened. We're dealing with a person that's insanely cruel, and has no conscience. Who doesn't waste time. LOU Who's that? MARY I... don't know... exactly... LOU You don't know?! Then why'd ya bring us h... MARY ...My husband is, was, a journalist. Won numerous awards--the Pulitzer. He was a courageous, but sometimes stupid man; he talked too openly. The station he worked at, WNCN in New York City, was going under. The supermarket in that mall in Denver blew up and all of a sudden things are working--money was pouring in. But things settled down, the debt was too great and there were serious financial problems again. Then this (MORE) (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: MARY (CONT'D) bombing. Doug told me he believes, believed, someone at the station, or perhaps someone outside of the station hired by Whitehead, were the ones creating the bombings... LOU ...Huh..? MARY ...They need international news interest so they can raise advertising prices selling the news coverage around the world and... DAWN ...Please... Wait... hold on a second... LOU ...Am I hearing things, Dawn..? DAWN (to Mary) ...You believe that someone, staged these horrible bombings, killing... (almost crying, holding it in) ...to... to sell advertising? Oh for Chrissakes, Lou... MARY ...Please? I know you're still grieving, I lost a child, years ago, but you must listen to me... INT. KETTERING'S CAR--LATE NIGHT Kettering is listening to The Matthews and Mary's conversation via a bug in their room. MARY (V.O.) ...I'm not crazy and I know how this must sound. But they pay millions for ads every day... and they run constantly. It's very big business. Doug said they framed those two boys, that's how they (MORE) (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: MARY (V.O. CONT'D) caught them so fast... He said something about them wanting to win over subscribers from other cable and major networks and this was a way to do that. Well my husband didn't come home two nights ago. He just... disappeared. He's... (breaking down into tears) ...dead... oh my God... Kettering winces in pain, his face ridden with concern for Mary. INT. MARY'S HOTEL ROOM--NIGHT MARY (she fights her tears) ...I ran. I ran for my life. When I saw you on TV I thought you could help me and I could help you. LOU Your other children? MARY No more. I'm all alone now. THERE IS A LONG SILENCE. THEY LOOK AT EACH OTHER. DAWN You have to understand, Mary... this is very... far out. It's hard to believe... I'm a criminal psychologist and it's very hard to take in. LOU Well, we're here. I have my laptop and I can que into R7, see if there's any truth to some of those allegations. He walks out of the room disgusted. Dawn follows. INT. JAIL SHOWER--DAY We're in a jail bathroom; we hear water running and see steam everywhere. Tim cries out for help as he grunts in pain. Ron, naked, is being held up against a tile wall by two men--one has (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: his hand over Ron's mouth, the other holds his arms behind him. Ron struggles to escape, his eyes bulging in terror as he hears Tim cry out to him for help. We PAN through the steam to see a large, overpowering man holding Tim in the shower and another man holding him by his hair laughing with delight. Tim is bent over a toilet being raped. He screams again, his head is violently pulled back by his hair and a rag is stuffed in his mouth--the screaming stops-- but his eyes keep crying out desperately for help that never comes. ----------------------------------------------------- TO READ THE REST OF THIS PLAY CONTACT THE PLAYWRIGHT CONTACT INFORMATION IS AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE. I used to have the full text on the site but too many people used them without paying fair royalties etc. MS Word Fully Formatted version of this play is available for production after payment for scripts and royalties are made. Student Productions can purchase the script.