MARY’S POV:
Mary ventures to the back room stocked with empty boxes, vegetable crates, napkins, paper towels, janitorial supplies, etc. She sees a first aid kit mounted to the wall beside a FIRE EXTINGUISHER and a SMALL FLOOR SAFE.
She winces at the dead cop and hears a QUIET VIBRATION LIKE A CELL PHONE VIBRATING BUT SHE CAN’T MAKE OUT WHERE IT’S COMING FROM.
SHE STEPS TOWARD THE WOMEN’S RESTROOM AND TOUCHES HER HAND ON THE DOOR WHEN SHE HEARS-
NATHAN (VO)
Hurry up!
Mary turns away from the bathroom and grabs the first aid kit. She joins Nathan in the DINING ROOM AREA. THE PHONE KEEPS RINGING.
BACK TO SCENE
Nathan opens the first aid kit and pulls out large packages of gauze. He tears them open and hands them to Darlene.
DARLENE
The bullet missed the bone.
Mary tapes a bandage to Darlene’s shoulder.
NATHAN
(to Darlene)
You’ll be all right.
Nathan grabs the diner phone.
NATHAN
WHAT?
EXT. PARKING LOT – DAY
Sheriff Thorton on the cell phone.
SHERIFF
(to phone)
What the hell is going on
in there?
NATHAN (VO)
Nothing.
SHERIFF
It doesn’t sound like nothing.
INT. DINER – DAY
NATHAN
(to phone)
Stop calling!
Nathan slams the phone down. He looks at Mary.
NATHAN
What’s a matter?
Mary points toward the back room.
MARY
(whispering)
There’s a safe back there.
Dirk walks toward Nathan and Mary.
DIRK
Where?
MARY
In the back room. By the freezer.
DIRK
(to Nathan)
Watch them.
Dirk walks to the—
STORAGE AREA
He finds the combination safe and tries the latch. It’s locked. He turns to the—
DINING ROOM
Dirk points the .357 at Darlene.
DIRK
Open it.
DARLENE
I don’t have the combination.
Dirk cocks the hammer.
DIRK
Open the safe.
He swings the gun at Simon.
DIRK
Or your friend dies first.
Darlene gets up wincing. Nathan hands his gun to Mary who reluctantly takes it.
NATHAN
(to Mary)
Stay here.
Nathan and Dirk escort Darlene to the-
STORAGE ROOM
Darlene works the combination lock and presses down on the latch. The safe opens. Dirk dives in and unzips a RED MONEY BAG with cash. He pulls out a large wad of mixed bills, mostly fives and tens.
DIRK
That all you got?
DARLENE
We don’t hold a lot of cash.
Nathan reaches inside and finds another RED MONEY BAG in a second compartment. He unzips the bag and finds more cash.
DIRK
Give it.
Dirk takes the second RED MONEY BAG and consolidates the money into one bag. He discards the second RED MONEY BAG on the floor.
Dirk and Nathan force Darlene back toward the-
DINING ROOM
Nathan takes his gun back from Mary. Dirk grabs the small diaper bag off the counter and stuffs the RED MONEY BAG inside. He turns his attention toward Kelly and Lindsay. He looks at them and their table. THE TABLE HAS THREE PLACE SETTINGS WITH SEPARATE ORANGE JUICE GLASSES.
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.