Early, early early WIP. Please don't kill me or maim me for it. Script created with Final Draft by Final Draft, Inc. [ bottom ] NOIR TEASER EXT. INTERSTATE 10, NIGHT A Maricopa County Sheriff's van flashes past us, traveling more than somewhat above the 65 mph speed limit. INT. MCSO VAN The van is typical of an inmate transport vehicle -- the driver's cabin is seperated from the inmate holding cabin by reinforced glass and steel grate. A holding cell, to go. The deputies forward are silent, for the moment, but their cargo is far from it. CUT TO: INT. INMATE HOLDING CABIN A monkey cage, lacking only in flying shit to complete the image. Twin benches run the length of the space, eight men shackled by wrists and ankles to each, shoulder to shoulder and cheek to sweaty, orange-clad cheek. The close confinement coupled with the occasional shimmy of the overburdened vehicle translates to an unfriendly and unappreciated intimacy. Near the fore end of the cabin, three unwashed souls shout their way through an unwashed dialogue. VASQUEZ Yo, I telling you -- RICHARDS So I told the bitch, I says, 'Look here' -- VASQUEZ Man, shut up, vato, I'm -- CARSON Shut it, you little -- VASQUEZ What?! CARSON Let the man speak! VASQUEZ (simultaneously) I fuckin' bust your head, motherfucker! You -- Pandemonium. Only words, for now, thanks to the shackles -- but if these men had their way, blood would fly. Only two men among them are silent, and you'd better believe each has noticed the other, though neither gives any sign of this. The first -- Rainey is his name -- takes in the shouting match between Vasquez, Carson and Richards as it draws in new, angry voices. He observes this phenomenon with a mixture of boredom and irritation. His face is craggy under a stringy mop of greying hair, the great dome of his forehead a leathery landscape of craters complimented by the scars of a handful of knife fights. His eyes, though, shine with the ferocity of a wild animal. A smirk touches the corner of his mouth as Vasquez lurches -- shoulders and torso only -- toward Carson like a chained dog, furious but impotent to do anything about it. Rainey turns his gaze to the other silent one, MacLeod. RAINEY Yes. MACLEOD I'm sorry? What? RAINEY (nods) 'Is it always like this?' The answer is... yes. It is. MacLeod nods, then looks away. Far away. He's barely there. RAINEY (CONT'D) New meat. MacLeod only gives Rainey an irritated look. RAINEY (CONT'D) I can always spot the new meat. Shell-shock, that's what you got. You ain't even been in it three days yet. Bet you ain't. MacLeod sighs. Stares at the wall again, trying to lose himself. Trying to lose time. The van jostles as it shifts invisible lanes. Nothing else for this man MacLeod to do. Nothing to lose, as long as he's careful. Maybe a lot to lose if he doesn't make himself part of the crowd. MACLEOD Yeah. They nicked me day before yesterday. So you're right -- not three days yet. RAINEY (leans toward MacLeod) Ain't gonna be three days, neither. MacLeod almost pulls away from what sounds like a threat, until his training catches him, holds him in place. MACLEOD What do you mean by that? RAINEY (grinning) You'll see, brother. You'll find out. RAINEY closes his eyes, still smiling, tilts his head back. From our POV, the image begins to blur; slowly, at first, focus disappears at a quickening pace, then FADES TO BLACK. CUT TO: INT. DRIVER'S CABIN The driver, Deputy Andy Garrity, reaches for the coffee in the dashboard cupholder. His hand falls, limp, inches from it. His shotgun, Deputy Chuck Wheeler, turns to see what's wrong. His eyes widen -- and then droop closed as he, too, nods off. CUT TO: EXT. MCSO VAN -- TRACKING As the van charts its own course. For the first second, it's smooth sailing as the van drifts like a sleep-walker toward an off-ramp, swaying dangerously. CUT TO: INT. INMATE HOLDING CABIN The inmates heads roll on their shoulders. All of them appear to be in deep, deep sleep. All, that is, but Rainey, whose posture is electrified; head thrown back, eyes and jaw clenched in concentration. CUT TO: A rapid-fire sequence of images: The sleeping driver. The unattended steering wheel. Rainey in concentration under the harsh lights of the inmate holding cabin. Rainey's hands. Rainey's hands moving the steering wheel. The steering wheel moving without Rainey's hands. CUT TO: EXT. MCSO VAN -- TRACKING The van sways down into the off-ramp, glancing off the outer barrier. Sparks and broken glass fountain from the driver's side. CUT TO: INT. INMATE HOLDING CABIN The orange ranks remain oblivious as the floodlights in the corners of their pen snap to black, then to life, then out again for good. If our eyes are quick, we may just catch sight of Rainey sweating profusely, his face etched in a rictus of fear and concentration, just before the image disappears and we hear a CRASH. FADE IN: EXT. CITY STREET -- NIGHT We hear footsteps. Our eyes are drawn to a pair of black leather shoes -- plain, utilitarian. They could be the shoes of a police officer. We can't tell for sure until we PAN UP To see that it's MACLEOD, dressed very differently than he was only a minute ago. A briefcase hangs in his fingers. A modest suit hangs from his lanky frame. Atop his head lounges a crisp grey fedora. His gait is lazy, dreamlike. His face is devoid of expression. Headlights illuminate the sidewalk, the thin, weedy grass between sidewalk and street, show MACLEOD'S suit to be a deep blue rather than the black we might previously have suspected. We hear an electronic chirp, and a low, filtered voice. We can also see, as the vehicle comes closer, that there's a light bar perched on the roof -- it's a police cruiser. COP #1 (O.S.) Sir! Want you to come talk to us for a minute! MACLEOD'S pace remains that of a lost man; he's completely unresponsive. CUT TO: INT. POLICE CRUISER COP #1 (watching MACLEOD, into radio) Dispatch, this is Adam 21 Sam, Code 6 with a possible 5150. COP #2 Oh, fun. DISPATCHER (O.S.) 10-4, Adam 21 Sam, show you Code 6. COP #2 (to COP #1) Flash him? COP #1 nods, and COP #2 slips out of his safety harness, cracks his door open. COP #2 (CONT'D) Let's do it. CUT TO: EXT. CITY STREET -- NIGHT Red and blue strobes crackle through the trees and across picket fence and walking figure alike. A shrill "WHOOOOP!" snaps MACLEOD out of his trance. He stops and rubbernecks at his surroundings, completely bewildered. A pair of flashlight beams slap him in the face. COP #1 Good morning, sir! Want you to set down the briefcase, raise your hands and step over here for us, please! [ top ] Script created with Final Draft by Final Draft, Inc.
Actually had quite a bit more than that, yeah, but with a few reformats ( ) I lost a bit of it. S'Okay, rewrites make things bettah.