DIRK’S POV:
Dirk paces back and forth. Fed up with all the talking. He marches toward Betty and Harold.
DIRK
Shut up! No more talking.
BACK TO SCENE:
A PHONE RINGS. It’s the restaurant phone on the wall by the cash register. The phone rings and rings and rings until Nathan finally answers.
NATHAN
Hello?
EXT. DINER – DAY
Sheriff Thorton stands behind a patrol car with a cell phone. Yellow crime scene tape blocks off a swarm of curious onlookers from the gas station parking lot. A news helicopter circles above.
SHERIFF THORTON
This is Sheriff Thorton.
Who am I speaking with?
INT. DINER – DAY
NATHAN
Ummm.
DIRK
(to Nathan)
Shut up!
Dirk grabs the phone from Nathan and slams it down.
DIRK
Don’t be talking to the cops.
He kicks at Jon’s journal notebook on the floor beneath the counter. Curious, he picks it up and opens it.
CLOSE ON: JOURNAL ENTRIES
Dirk skims through Jon’s hand written notes. He reads from the journal out loud.
DIRK
I thought I almost died
yesterday when the car
bomb exploded outside our
camp. The sound was deafening.
The explosion rocked the tent
and filled the air with smoke.
Dirk skips ahead several pages.
DIRK
(mocking tone)
Most nights the slightest
noise makes me wet the bed.
I’m so scared, I just want to
go home to my family.
Dirk skips ahead.
DIRK
I cried for the third time
this afternoon. No reason.
I wasn’t hurt. I just couldn’t
take it anymore. The men think
I’m a pussy. They’re afraid
to go on patrol with me. I’m not
a fucking coward, I just need
some time away from all this mess.
CARL’S POV:
Carl stands up.
CARL
(to Dirk)
That’s enough.
Dirk puts the journal down and moves toward Carl. He aims the .357 at Carl’s chest.
DIRK
Sit down.
Carl stands his ground for several seconds, staring into Dirk’s eyes. Then he quietly complies. Dirk walks away and throws the journal in a trash can.
INT. WOMEN’S RESTROOM – DAY
Hilda walks in small circles talking to herself.
FLASHBACK:
Hilda sees her cell phone in the back seat of Lindsay’s car. Lindsay locks the car with a keyless remote.
HILDA
I left my phone.
LINDSAY
You won’t need it.
BACK TO SCENE:
Hilda tries to open the window. It opens but it’s too narrow to climb out. She can see the patrol cars and all the police nearby. She sticks her arm out the window and tries to gain attention.
EXT. DINER – DAY
Hilda waves her arm back and forth, but no one sees it.
INT. WOMEN’S RESTROOM – DAY
Hilda pulls her arm back in. She cups her hand to her mouth, fighting the urge to vomit. OUTSIDE THE BATHROOM, THE PHONE RINGS AGAIN.
INT. DINER – DAY
The diner’s phone keeps ringing. Dirk and Nathan look at one another.
NATHAN
We should answer that.
Dirk shakes his head. The phone keeps ringing.
SIMON’S POV:
SIMON
Pick up the phone.
NATHAN
Shut up.
BACK TO SCENE:
The phone keeps ringing. Nathan reaches for the phone. He sees Dirk raise his .357 at him.
NATHAN
Just to make them go away.
I won’t fuck it up this time.
I promise.
Dirk slowly lowers his gun. Nathan takes the phone.
NATHAN
Hello?
EXT. DINER – DAY
SHERIFF
Son, this is Sheriff Thorton.
Don’t hang up on me again.
INT. DINER – DAY
NATHAN
I’m listening.
EXT. DINER – DAY
SHERIFF
Is everyone all right in there?
NATHAN (VO)
We’re fine.
SHERIFF
I believe you have someone
that belongs to me. I need
to speak with him.
INT. DINER – DAY
Nathan cups the phone to his chest to mute his voice. He glances at Chuck’s dead body in the back room.
NATHAN
He can’t talk right now.
SHERIFF (VO)
How come?
NATHAN
Because we got him tied up
in the other room.
SHERIFF (VO)
How do I know he’s not hurt?
EXT. DINER – DAY
Sheriff Thorton stares at THE BLOOD SPATTER ON THE RESTAURANT WINDOW. He knows someone’s hurt. Bad.
SHERIFF THORTON
You still there?
NATHAN (VO)
I said, no one’s hurt.
SHERIFF THORTON
Son don’t lie to me. That’s
only going to make things worse.
The line goes dead. Sheriff Thorton wipes the sweat off his brow. It’s going to be a long day.
Officer Dale approaches with his notepad open.
SHERIFF
(to Dale)
Where the hell is my SWAT team?
DALE
They’re on their way.
The Sheriff takes off his hat and throws it at the chopper. The wind throws it back.
SHERIFF
Get that fucking chopper out
of here.
DALE
How?
SHERIFF THORTON
I don’t care. Call the station.
Radio the pilot. Shoot the damn
thing down if you have to. Just
get it out of here.
DALE
What about Chuck?
SHERIFF THORTON
Nothing yet.
Dale glances at his notepad again.
DALE
We ran the plates. Two hits
came back.
Dale points to the Toyota Corolla.
DALE
The Corolla’s registered to a
twenty-one year old Timothy Rivera.
He’s got a rap sheet for domestic
violence, armed robbery, and
assault with a deadly weapon.
SHERIFF THORTON
What else?
DALE
We popped the trunk and found
a 12-gauge shotgun with a box
of shells. Crime scene’s
dusting the car for prints.
SHERIFF THORTON
What about the other plate?
Dale points to Carl’s Mack truck parked away from the diner.
DALE
The tractor trailer’s registered
to Carl Davenport. Owner-operator.
Burglary conviction in ’87 got him
three years in Tallahassee. His
record’s clean since then.
(beat)
You think he’s involved in this?
SHERIFF THORTON
Maybe. Burglary to armed robbery
is a short jump.
DALE
But why would he drive his rig here?
SHERIFF THORTON
Don’t know.
(beat)
What about my brother?
DALE
We called his house again.
No answer. A patrol car’s on
its way.
(beat)
Maybe we should call the Feds?
SHERIFF THORTON
Fuck the feds. I’ll handle this myself.
INT. DINER – DAY
ABBY AND CHERYL POV:
Abby and Cheryl look about the room nervously, desperate for some heroic measure to save them. Abby lights another cigarette and inhales sharply.
CHERYL
I’ve got biology lab this afternoon.
ABBY
You’re worried about class?
CHERYL
I’m worried about my GPA.
ABBY
The hell with that. We’ll be
lucky to leave here alive.
CHERYL
Don’t say that. They’ll let
us go when they have to.
ABBY
Like them Worton kids in Jacksonville?
They thought they were home free
until their father shot them up.
CHERYL
That’s different.
ABBY
How’s that?
CHERYL
Those kids were young. They didn’t
know any better. If we keep our
cool, we’ll walk away from this.
Long beat. Abby takes a long drag. The nicotine kicks in.
ABBY
I should have stayed home.
None of this shit would have
happened if I just let the phone
ring.
CHERYL
I should have quit when I had
the chance.
ABBY
You and me both.
Abby smokes. She’s lost in thought. Trying to keep it together.
ABBY
How much longer you got in school?
CHERYL
Two semesters at the junior college.
Then I go on for my bachelor
degree. Then four more years
after that.
ABBY
Four more years? For what?
You studying to be some kind of
astronaut?
CHERYL
A veterinarian.
Abby takes a final drag and crushes out her cigarette.
ABBY
I’m not married to this place
or the lousy tips. I’m
saving my pennies for cosmetology
school. I plan to open my own shop.
I got a cousin in Charleston who
says she’ll help me run it. She works
for a small shop in the mall.
Mostly kids’ haircuts, but she’s good.
CHERYL
Amen to that.
NATHAN AND MARY POV:
Nathan comforts Mary in the corner away from Dirk and the hostages. He rubs her shoulders. She cries softly behind her mask. THEY WHISPER BACK AND FORTH.
MARY
Why did this have to happen?
NATHAN
We’ll find a way out.
MARY
How?
NATHAN
Dirk has a plan.
MARY
My mother had a plan. My
father had a plan. The God
damn president had a plan.
Look where we are. The same
place we started. Nowhere.
We’re worse off now than we were
when we woke up this morning.
Nothing’s changed except our future.
NATHAN
Dirk will find a way out of this.
He always does.
MARY
I wish we never met him. He’s the
reason we’re in this mess.
NATHAN
He’s on our side.
MARY
What about Rose? What happens
to her when I’m in jail?
NATHAN
You’re not going to jail.
None of us are. No one’s seen
our faces.
MARY
What about the cop he killed?
NATHAN
That’s on Dirk. Not us.
MARY
I should have stayed in the car.
None of this would have happened
if I’d stayed in the car.
Nathan shakes his head.
NATHAN
No. You did the right thing.
KELLY AND LINDSAY’S POV:
They face away from the masked robbers. Leslie slides her cell phone out of her pocket.
LINDSAY
(whispering)
We have to get this to Hilda.
Kelly shakes her head slowly.
KELLY
And do what? Call the police?
LINDSAY
It’s better than sitting around
here doing nothing.
KELLY
They’ll kill you if they find that.
LINDSAY
They’ll kill us if they don’t.
DIRK’S POV:
Dirk sees the sorority sisters whisper back and forth.
DIRK
HEY!
LINDSAY’S POV:
Lindsay sees Dirk approaching. She raises her hand.
LINDSAY
I have to use the bathroom.
DIRK
Then pee.
Lindsay starts to walk away. DIRK PUTS THE GUN TO HER HEAD. Lindsay stops abruptly.
DIRK
Where the fuck are you going?
LINDSAY
To the bathroom.
DIRK
Sit down!
Lindsay puts her hands on her legs and bends her knees slightly to pretend she’s suffering with a full bladder.
LINDSAY
I’m going to piss my pants.
NATHAN
Let her go. This place stinks
enough already.
Dirk lowers his gun and lets Lindsay pass. She makes her way to the women’s restroom.