FLASHBACK:
Dirk recalls the scene where Kelly bumped her door against his Corolla and he watched THREE GIRLS WALK AWAY.
BACK TO SCENE:
DIRK
(to Lindsay and Kelly)
Where’s the other girl?
Lindsay and Kelly avoid eye contact.
KELLY
What other girl?
DIRK
Three of you got out of
that car this morning.
LINDSAY
She went to the gas station
to buy cigarettes. Before
you got here.
Dirk notices how Kelly keeps staring toward the back room area.
Dirk walks toward the-
WOMEN’S RESTROOM
He stops outside the door to listen. He hears THE EXHAUST FAN inside and the sound of RUNNING WATER. He looks back at Kelly and Lindsay, then he KICKS THE DOOR OPEN to discover-
AN EMPTY RESTROOM
The toilet’s running. No one’s hiding inside.
Dirk leaves the bathroom and enters the—
BACK STORAGE ROOM
He opens the walk-in freezer and finds food inside.
HILDA’S POV:
Hilda hides inside a FULL SIZE EMPLOYEE LOCKER. She sees Dirk through the air vents in the door. HER EYES ARE WIDE WITH FEAR.
BACK TO SCENE:
Dirk checks the deadbolt on the emergency exit door and puts his eye to the peephole.
CLOSE ON: PEEPHOLE
Dirk sees police cars gathered outside.
NATHAN (VO)
The cops are moving.
BACK TO SCENE:
Dirk runs out of the storage room and back to the—
DINING ROOM
Dirk peers through the blinds to see police cars leaving.
NATHAN
Are they leaving?
DIRK
No. They’re getting ready for
something else.
NATHAN
Like what?
Dirk shrugs.
DIRK
Why don’t you go out there
and ask them?
Mary approaches the two men.
MARY
You said you could get us
out of here. I have to get
home to my baby. If Rose
wakes up alone-
NATHAN
Shut up. Just, shut up
for one second and let me think.
EXT. PARKING LOT – DAY
An officer approaches Sheriff Thorton and taps him on the shoulder.
SHERIFF
The SWAT Commander needs you.
The sheriff turns to see a black panel van parked near the side of the lot. Several men with combat gear and automatic rifles gather around their SWAT Commander – a BIG BURLY MAN WITH A BALD HEAD AND A DEEP VOICE.
The Sheriff approaches the men.
SHERIFF
What’s our best option?
The SWAT Commander addresses Sheriff Thorton.
SWAT COMMANDER
We can’t get a clean shot with
the blinds closed.
SHERIFF
What about the roof?
SWAT COMMANDER
Too risky.
(beat)
How many suspects inside?
SHERIFF
Three confirmed. But there might
be more. They’re holding one of
my deputies hostage.
(beat)
Dispatch received a nine-one-one
call from a girl inside. We think
she’s alone. Maybe hiding somewhere
in the back.
SWAT COMMANDER
She tell us anything?
SHERIFF
They lost the signal.
SWAT COMMANDER
Can you get the suspects on
the phone?
SHERIFF
They’re not talking. And the
longer we sit here with our
dick in our hands, the more
dangerous these guys become.
They know they’re surrounded.
The sooner we end this thing,
the better.
SWAT COMMANDER
How many hostages?
SHERIFF
Ten or twelve.
SWAT COMMANDER
Contact the nine-one-one dispatcher.
See if she can get our caller
back on line. The more we know
going in, the better.
INT. DINER- DAY
Simon soaks his RED, SWOLLEN hand under running water.
Darlene sits on the floor and rests her back against the counter. She’s in pain, but not dying. She faces Nathan and Mary who pick at a plate of food.
DARLENE
Why rob this place?
Nathan chews a piece of bacon. He gulps a glass of milk.
NATHAN
Easy money.
DARLENE
A bank is easy money. We don’t
hold more than two hundred
dollars at a time.
NATHAN
That’s not what my friend told me.
DARLENE
Well your friend was wrong.
Mary shakes her head.
MARY
(to Nathan)
I told you this was a stupid idea.
NATHAN
Dirk will get us out of here.
MARY
How? Through an underground
tunnel?
(beat)
We should have stuck with the plan
we had. Two more semesters and
you’d be done with school. A full
time job with benefits.
NATHAN
The job’s not guaranteed. We need
the money now, not later.
DARLENE
(to Nathan)
What are you studying?
MARY
(to Darlene)
Engineering. He goes to night
school at the junior college.
NATHAN
(to Mary)
Shut up. The less she knows
about us the better.
MARY
What difference does it make?
NATHAN
(to Darlene)
You ever been on welfare?
DARLENE
No.
NATHAN
You ever spend six months
sleeping under a leaky roof?
DARLENE
No.
NATHAN
We saved two years to buy our
first house. Then hurricane
Sally blew the shingles off. I lost
my job. My girl got pregnant.
We lost the house.
(beat)
We were going to raise a family
in that house. Instead we spent
six months with a leaky roof
before the bank kicked us out.
Now we’re living in a single wide
trailer with no air and a toilet
that won’t flush all the way.
DARLENE
You can always find another job.
People do it all the time.
NATHAN
You mean rich people do it all
the time. I work too many hours for a
shitty paycheck that doesn’t add
up to nothing. I barely qualify
for student loans I can’t afford,
and for what? The almighty dollar
divides the rich who have it from
the poor who don’t. The middle class
is obsolete.
DARLENE
What about your education?
NATHAN
Education is a band aid on a
sucking chest wound.
DARLENE
So you think crime is the answer?
NATHAN
If I don’t work, we don’t eat.
I barely have time for school.
DARLENE
You’re not the only one who’s been
kicked in the face so many times your
brain is numb. That doesn’t give
you the right to come in here and do this.
NATHAN
Do I look like a fucking junky
to you? You see me roll up in a
new Benz or flash my bling-bling?
I’m trying to feed my family. To
pay for medication I can’t afford.
We sold our furniture, our belongings,
and the only car we ever had. Even
that was a kick in the balls. The
bank called us upside down. Said we
owed more than the car was worth.
Then they came and took it when we
couldn’t make the payments.
We were living in that car with
our baby. We lost the only shelter
we had left.
Long beat. Nathan and Mary stare at one other.
MARY
(to Darlene)
You got kids?
DARLENE
Not yet.
Long beat. She repositions herself.
DARLENE
You’re not entirely responsible
for what happened here. Your friend
killed the cop.
NATHAN
And I shot you, remember?
DARLENE
You weren’t trying to hurt me.
You were trying to scare me.
I got in the way by accident.
MARY
You mean that?
NATHAN
(to Mary)
Don’t listen to her reverse
psychology crap.
DARLENE
Your friend is going to get
you killed.
Long beat. Nathan contemplates Darlene’s conclusion.
NATHAN
Then maybe we’re better off dead.
MARY
Our baby needs us.
NATHAN
That baby is what got us into
this mess.
Mary starts crying. Nathan watches her, then gives in and puts his arms around her. DARLENE SEES HILDA PEEKING THROUGH THE RESTROOM DOOR. THEY MAKE EYE CONTACT.
NATHAN
(to Mary)
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.
DARLENE
How old is your baby?
MARY
Eight months. She was born
with a heart defect. Arrhy-arryth—
NATHAN
Arrhythmias. She needs daily
medication.
MARY
The drugs cost more than we
make some months.
HAROLD AND BETTY POV:
Harold eavesdrops on the conversation. He stands up and approaches Nathan and Mary. Betty clings to him, urges him to stay put.
HAROLD
What kind of medication does
your daughter take?
NATHAN
Who are you?
HAROLD
I work in sales for a large pharmaceutical
company.
BETTY
Harold…
NATHAN
(to Harold)
You trying to sell us something?
HAROLD
No, I’m just asking a question.
Your daughter’s arrhythmias
impairs her heart’s ability to
pump blood. Some people respond to
certain medications better than others.
Nathan looks at Mary. He scratches his head.
NATHAN
Are you some kind of doctor?
HAROLD
No, but I work with a lot of
doctors who treat heart rate
rhythm disorders.
Nathan checks his watch. He glances over at Dirk, who continues to visually monitor the police outside.
NATHAN
Propafenone. Our daughter
takes propafenone.
HAROLD
Does she get sick from it?
MARY
Sometimes.
HAROLD
Tell your doctor to give her
disopyramide. It might reduce
the side effects. If you let
us go, I could get your daughter
a lifetime supply for free.
NATHAN
Sure, and while you’re at it, I’ll
take a million dollars and a
house in Beverly Hills. One of
those with the clay tile roofs
that don’t leak – and a pool in
the back yard. The kind with the
little waterfall.
MARY
(to Nathan)
Stop it.
HAROLD
I’m serious. Just let my wife
and I leave.
NATHAN
No deal.
Mary tugs on Nathan’s arm. She whispers in his ear.
NATHAN
(to Mary)
Why should we trust him?
THE POWER GOES OUT IN THE DINER. THE AIR CONDITIONING STOPS.
DIRK
The power’s on across the street.
The cops are trying to sweat us
out.
A CELL PHONE RINGS.
Dirk and Nathan look around the room. Mary pats her pocket when she realizes the phone is hers. She answers.
MARY
Hello?
EXT. MARY’S TRAILER HOME – DAY
Mrs. Abbott paces while she smokes a cigarette. A ‘76 Plymouth Volare wagon with missing hubcaps, red interior, and a broken windshield pulls up. A white trash female sits behind the wheel.
MRS. ABBOTT
This is Debra. Where the hell
are you?
INT. DINER – DAY
MARY
Is Rose all right?
NATHAN
(whispering)
Who is it?
MARY
(to Nathan)
It’s Mrs. Abbott.
Mary turns away from Nathan.
MARY
(to Mrs. Abbott)
Did she take her bottle?
EXT. MARY’S TRAILER HOME – DAY
MRS. ABBOTT
She took most of it.
INT. DINER – DAY
MARY
Did you change her diaper?
She’s soaked when she gets up
from her nap.
EXT. MARY’S TRAILER HOME – DAY
Mrs. Abbott shrugs at the driver who HONKS the horn in defiance.
MRS. ABBOTT
Look, my ride’s here.
I have Bingo at the school
this morning and I need cigarettes.
I can’t hang around here all day.
INT. DINER – DAY
Mary grows more distraught.
MARY
We’ll be back soon. Just keep
our baby safe.
EXT. MARY’S TRAILER HOME – DAY
Mrs. Abbott hears the baby CRYING FROM THE TRAILER. The driver revs the engine.
MRS. ABBOTT
Hurry up.
INT. DINER – DAY
Nathan takes the phone from Mary and throws it against the floor.
MARY
What are you doing?
NATHAN
The cops can trace it.
EXT. DINER PARKING LOT – DAY
Dale approaches Sheriff Thorton who has one foot on the SWAT van bumper with his arm across his knee. The Sheriff’s cheek is puffed with chewing tobacco. He spits brown juice on the ground.
DALE
How much longer are we going
to wait?
SHERIFF
Not long.
DALE
Chuck’s still inside.
SHERIFF
SWAT has a plan.
DALE
I want in.
SHERIFF
Forget it. Let those boys do
their jobs. That’s what they
get paid for.
DALE
What about your brother?
The Sheriff spits again.
SHERIFF
Simon can take care of himself.
EXT. GAS STATION ROOF – DAY
A SWAT sniper in a prone position rests his eye against his rifle scope to check his target placement.
CLOSE ON: VIEW FROM RIFLE SCOPE
The diner’s window blinds are closed. Two SWAT team members circle around the back.
BACK TO SCENE:
SWAT COMMANDER (VO)
Bravo two, are you in place?
SNIPER
Roger that, team leader.
I’m in position.
INT. DINER – DAY
JON AND CARL POV:
Jon and Carl sit at a booth with sugar spilled across the table. The place is darker with the power out and the limited sunlight seeping through the closed blinds.
JON
How much longer?
CARL
Hard to say.
Jon looks at the robbers. He’s nervous, scared.
JON
What are they waiting for?
CARL
The right opportunity.
JON
To do what?
CARL
To end this thing.
JON
What if the cops start shooting?
Long beat. Carl concentrates on his answer.
CARL
Hug the floor.
JON
How can you just sit here
like this? Like nothing’s
happened?
CARL
What do you want me to do?
JON
Something. Anything. The
longer we sit here-
CARL
Keep your cool and do what
they tell you. No one else
is going to get hurt.
Jon fidgets with a sugar packet.
JON
I never got my coffee.
CARL
I never got my eggs.
Long beat.
JON
I should have got on that bus.
This morning, in the parking lot.
I couldn’t do it. I can’t go back.
I joined the Army out of high
school. My mom told me not to but
I enlisted anyway just to piss her off.
They sent me to Afghanistan right out of
basic. I did two years in that
shit hole. Now I’m AWOL.
CARL
You’re not AWOL. You just missed
the bus.
JON
Tell that to Uncle Sam. He’s the
one who’s got my balls in a twist.
I can’t go back. I can’t. I love my
country, but I’m not cut out for this.
Long beat. Jon looks at Carl intently. Carl remains expressionless.
JON
You think that makes me a coward?
CARL
It makes you human.
JON
I did two years. That otta
count for something.
A LOUD COMMOTION IN THE BACK ROOM PROMPTS JON AND CARL TO LOOK AWAY.