DESOLATION a screenplay Connor Pierce

June 22, 2011 to

FADE IN: INT. ROOM 507 MORNING Fade in from darkness on a little girl looking out a window at the city and at the ocean beyond. The sky is overcast. Wind whips the water and the trees within sight about. Everything is in a state of chaos and there is order to it all. For the first time we see that the girl is in pajamas and we are in a hospital room bland, unexciting, like a womb. The little girl turns from the window and looks towards the interior of the room, as if she expects something to be there. She is alone. EXT. ALLEY MORNING A small group of people, probably police officers, are working beneath a blue tarp thats been stretched across the alley. Jack Carton, in the bottom of his twenties, is standing against a wall with a Styrofoam cup of coffee. At the head of the alley is a policeman in uniform; the alley itself has been cordoned off with tape. Two men argue with the policeman for a moment before being ducking under the tape and making their way back to the man drinking coffee. The men arrive at the tarp and step under it. There is a photographer behind another tape barrier closer to the scene with another man, Bill Cardawell (late 40s/early 50s). The two men rear up to Carton. DANIELS Excuse me, were looking for Captain Cardawell. CARTON What? DANIELS Cardawell? CARTON Im sorry, who are you?

DANIELS Im Eric Daniels with the FBI. This is Bill Cady, same. CARTON Oh! Jack Carton. (turns) Skipper! CARDAWELL Aye? CARTON These guys are FBI. Cady and Daniels, right? DANIELS Right. Cardawell crosses the tape and approaches the men. CARDAWELL Bill Cardawell, how can I help you? The men react amicably and shake hands. DANIELS So whats going on here? CARDAWELL Well, were still trying to get that figured out. Weve got the body under the tarp, but its the strangest damn thing. CADY Whats strange about it? CARTON Well, you ever put a cherry bomb in a jackolantern? CADY Cant say I have. DANIELS Not since 1980, uh, 1985? CARTON Well. CARDAWELL Jack, will you...?

CARTON Right, right. Carton leaves his the group. CARDAWELL Now, bear with me. The bodys male, somewhere between 30 and 35, hair color undetermined, eye color undetermined, about 511. DANIELS Undetermined? CARDAWELL Bit of a snag with those, yeah. Were not sure how long its been here, but from the way its gone and the smell, its been dead awhile, maybe two, three weeks. Since theres not... well, we think its been put here recently. A few hours, tops. CADY You done much with it? CARDAWELL Not yet. We got here an hour ago, and mostly weve been fighting the rain. Chris Petersons supposed to be here any minute, and I know how you guys operate, but were trying to keep it as-DANIELS You said two weeks? CARDAWELL What? DANIELS Dead for two weeks? CARDAWELL Yeah. DANIELS I dont mind waiting a few minutes. Bill? CADY Ive only had four cups of coffee this morning. A fifth would do me kindly.

EXT. STREETS MORNING It is raining heavily. Like a wave washing over everything, two speeding cars appear on our horizon, one chasing the other. The drivers seem to be attempting to kill each other. There is gunfire from one of the cars. INT. ADLER STATE HOSPITAL LOBBY MORNING Things proceed normally. There is a nurse at a station. A man is pacing back and forth underneath a television set. Somebody is at a vending machine. Horns and sirens echo about somewhere far off outside. On the street outside is steady foot traffic. McCARTHY (OC) You ever heard of the Wendigo? INT. McCARTHYS CAR/PARKING GARAGE MORNING Kyle McCarthy, a detective, about 35, is driving through a parking garage. Sam Remord, of similar age, is in the passenger seat. REMORD What? McCARTHY The Wendigo. Native American folklore. REMORD Sure, I guess. Whats it got to do with anything? McCARTHY What do you know? REMORD What? McCARTHY What do you know about the Wendigo?

REMORD I dont know. Look, theres actually a spot in this damn building, and youre driving right past it. McCarthy stops and checks his mirrors before putting the car in reverse. McCARTHY What floor is this? REMORD Three or four, I think. McCARTHY Okey-dokey. Anyhow, the Wendigo is something out of the, the northern tribes. The idea was, if you resort to cannibalism, youll get possessed by this kind of, uh, this spirit. So, youd end up corrupted and shit. So if you ate anybody, for any reason, youd usually have to commit suicide. Repent with your life. Now, thats the first type. There was another type, and this one could come for you in your dreams. McCarthy pulls into the empty spot and puts the car in park. REMORD Youre fine on this side. McCARTHY Right. Get out. Remord grins and exits the car. INT. PARKING GARAGE MORNING Remord and McCarthy are, of course, the only living souls on the entire level of the rather full garage. McCarthy locks the car and pockets his keys. They start walking towards the elevators. REMORD So. Where are we supposed to be going with this? McCARTHY With what?

REMORD The Wendigo bullshit. McCARTHY I had a nightmare last night I saw one. They reach the elevators. McCarthy punches the down button. REMORD That whats up? McCARTHY Its fine, its just... damn it. REMORD What? McCARTHY Forget it. REMORD Come on. McCARTHY Fuck it, its whatever. The elevator arrives. The two get in. REMORD Whered you say they were again? McCARTHY Well check at the front desk. REMORD Right. The doors close on them. INT. FIFTH FLOOR HALLWAY 1 MORNING An elevator arrives on the fifth floor and a man steps out. He goes into a hallway, where a woman with blonde hair, about 35, wearing blue scrubs jogs past him. She continues along the hallway and ends up at a closed door. She presses

a button and the doors open. We see the sign above the door as she goes through it: Operating/Intensive Care. INT. OPERATING/INTENSIVE CARE UNIT MORNING The woman stops at a desk. MARGOT Hey, Jack, which theatre is Jeremy in? JACK Hes in three. MARGOT Thanks. Margot continues on. INT. CLEAN ROOM MORNING Margot enter the clean room through a door and puts her proper gowns on. Through a window she can see people gathered around a small body. As soon as shes finished, she goes into the theatre. INT. OPERATING THEATRE 3 MORNING Margot enters. There are six or seven people in the room altogether. A doctor half-turns. CONDAN Margot? MARGOT Jeremy. Morning Joe, Rene. Ward and Evans acknowledge her. MARGOT (Contd) Pulmonologist, cardiothoracic surgeon, and a neurologist. Always love to see those three in the same room as a young girl. How old is she? CONDAN

Seven. Got hit by a car, no idea where she was going. Heart stopped in the ambulance, epinephrine and CPR to get it going again. I think shes bleeding internally, and theres a rattling in there that sounds too much like a punctured lung for my comfort. MARGOT God. Allergies? CONDAN We dont know. She hasnt been awake long enough for us to get anything out of her. Were trying to find a parent but were not getting any luck. MARGOT Fantastic. CONDAN Hell of a vacation day, isnt it? MARGOT No rest for us. CONDAN Right. Joe, you ready? WARD Waiting on Rene. CONDAN Rene? EVANS Yeah, lets get on with it. Margot steps over the body on the table and pauses a moment while activity continues around her to look at the child on the table strangely. Finally she reaches a hand out to the clean nurse. MARGOT Alright. Jane, suture? EXT. DESERT DAWN

The desert is wide open. There is nothing but rock and dirt for miles. The mountains, conceivably the Rockies, are far off shapes crowning against the blue cloudless sky. INT. M. PARKERS KITCHEN MORNING A man, maybe twenty-five, is standing at a stove and cooking eggs. Hes wearing a vest, tie, and button-down with the sleeves rolled up. An elderly woman, in her sixties or early seventies, sits at a table behind him, staring blankly off into space. She is smoking Pall Malls. There are two plates on the table, each with bacon and biscuits. It is raining outside. PARKER Sunny-side or scrambled? MADELINE Surprise me. PARKER How many cigarettes have you had this morning so far? MADELINE Dont worry about it, Ill be dead soon enough. PARKER Well. MADELINE Have you spoken to your sister since youve been back? PARKER Nope. MADELINE Does she even know youre here? PARKER I dont think Ive even talked to her since before Philadelphia. Why, something wrong? MADELINE No. No, Sylvies fine. PARKER

Jesus, Mom. MADELINE What? PARKER I dont know. Is Jim...? MADELINE Theyre separated right now. PARKER Really? MADELINE Yeah. PARKER Bullshit. MADELINE Dont curse. And its not bullshit. PARKER Well, good for her. Moment of truth, scrambled or what? MADELINE Es ist mir egal. Parker shrugs. PARKER Looks like scrambled for you. INT. R. REAGANS LIVING ROOM MORNING Rose Reagan lies on a couch in blue jeans and a cardigan with a cigarette (Pall Mall) smoking in an ashtray and staring at the ceiling. Shes 26 or 27. She lives in a modestly sized apartment. In the Still of the Night is playing on a CD player. It is raining outside. Theres a knock at the door. Rose looks up and waits for the second set of knocks before sighing and standing. She takes a drag off the cigarette before putting it out.

INT. R. REAGANS HALL MORNING Rose walks through the hallway and opens the door cautiously. Outside stands a man in a FedEx uniform. DELIVERY MAN Rose Reagan? Rose opens the door more widely. ROSE Yeah. DELIVERY MAN Ive got a box for you. ROSE Righty. Do I gotta sign something? DELIVERY MAN Yes maam. The man gives her a box. She shakes it once near her head and puts it on the floor. The man gets out a pen and pulls a clipboard from under his shoulder. Rose takes it and starts signing it. The delivery man stops and listens for a moment. DELIVERY MAN That the Five Satins? ROSE Sure. You know em? DELIVERY MAN Well, my dad always listened to doo-wop kinda stuff. ROSE You like it? She hands the clipboard back to the man. DELIVERY MAN I dont know. Mostly makes me feel sad. I guess I like it. ROSE

Im sorry. DELIVERY MAN Anyhow, have a good day. ROSE You too. The man walks off and Rose closes the door. She kneels down and picks up the package. INT. R. REAGANS LIVING ROOM MORNING Rose puts the package down on the coffee table before her. She uses a quarter to break the tape sealing it. Inside the box is a small letter with her initials monogrammed with a pen; she sets this aside. Beneath that is a thick manila envelope. Rose picks this up and opens it. Inside is a stack of yellowed papers with a title page on it reading The God Flower. ROSE What the hell? INT. KITCHEN MORNING Parker scoops the eggs on the skillet onto the plate in front of Madeline. The phone rings. Both look towards it. MADELINE Ive got it. Go on and make your eggs. Madeline stands and goes to the telephone and picks up the handset as Parker goes back to the stove and makes more eggs. MADELINE Yes, hello? Hello? There is crackling on the other side of the line. Madeline pales considerably as the crackling continues and does so until the crackling halts altogether, leaving silence in its wake. She hangs the phone up and stares strangely at the wall.

PARKER (not looking up) What was that about? Madeline turns her head to look at him, fear now wide on her face. As she does so, the phone begins to ring again and she nearly jumps out of her skin. EXT. STREETS MORNING Through the rain, the violent car pursuit continues through the crowded streets, blowing through red lights. A cop car is now tailing the two cars. A new element appears as gunfire enters the equation from the cops. This is met with fire from the first of the two vehicles back. The second car slaloms out of the way; the third or fourth shot manages to blow out a tire on the squad car, causing it to spin dangerously out in the street, crashing sideways into a parked car. INT. R. REAGANS KITCHEN MORNING Rose goes to the wall phone and dials. DAVE (VO) Dave Jaczniks office. ROSE Dave, its Rose. DAVE (VO) Hey. Whats up? I thought you were home today? ROSE I am. Have you given anyone my address? DAVE (VO) Uh... nope, not that I can think of. Why? You get a call or something? ROSE No, an unsolicited. DAVE (VO) You get those from time to time.

ROSE Did anybody send one over from the office? DAVE (VO) What, you got one in the mail? ROSE Yeah. DAVE (VO) Thats weird. I thought you werent in the phonebook. ROSE Im not. DAVE (VO) Well, then. Does it have a name on it? ROSE There was a, uh, a, uh... hold on a second, Ill be right back. INT. R. REAGANS LIVING ROOM MORNING Rose gets the letter off the table. INT. R. REAGANS KITCHEN MORNING Rose opens the envelope is a small folded card. She checks it. On one side is a phone number and on the other, in a fine script, is the sentence For the pinion. Rose picks the phone back up. ROSE No name. Theres a phone number. DAVE (VO) You know it? ROSE No. DAVE (VO) Want me to see if I know it?

ROSE No, itll be fine. Ill check it out. Sorry to bother you. DAVE (VO) Its fine. Call me back when you figure it out. ROSE Right. Bye. DAVE (VO) Bye. Rose waits for Dave to hang up before hanging up herself. She looks at the number on the card for a moment. EXT. DESERT DAY A wind whips the dust up. INT. ADLER STATE HOSPITAL LOBBY MORNING Things proceed normally. Sirens are approaching. McCarthy and Remord cross the street quickly and enter. They shake the water off themselves and wipe their feet before walking to the woman at the front desk. McCARTHY Scuse me, Im looking for Dr. McCarthy? CAROLYN Who? McCARTHY Dr. McCarthy, Orthopedics? CAROLYN Im sorry, shes in surgery on the fifth floor. McCARTHY Do you know when shell be out? Remord idles back a bit and looks over at the man pacing under the television without the slightest hint of genuine curiosity.

CAROLYN Im afraid not. Can I ask whos looking? McCARTHY Im her husband. Okay, then. Uh, would you happen to know where Olive is, in that case? CAROLYN Im sorry? McCARTHY Shes my daughter. Dark hair, blue eyes. Five years old, about three and a half feet tall? CAROLYN I think Marge got somebody in one of the departments upstairs to keep an eye on her. I can call around and find out, if youd like. McCARTHY Thatd be fine, thank you. McCarthy leaves the desk and goes to Remord. McCARTHY Itll take a minute. REMORD Thats fine. I think Im gonna sit down. McCARTHY Right. Remord and McCarthy go to seats and sit down. INT. ROOM 507 MORNING Something like a wind picks up through the room. Olive looks up at something as blue and green lights begin to flash across her. INT. ONCOLOGY DEPARTMENT MORNING

Track in on the closed door to Room 507, which is at the very end of a hallway blue and green lights begin to spill out, staccato, through the cracks. A sound like the rumble of thunder begins to insinuate itself under the sounds of the hospital. INT. M. PARKERS KITCHEN MORNING Madeline collects herself and answers the phone again. MADELINE Are you there this time? You dont have to say anything if you dont want to. I know you wont. I remember watching you the first time you had to do this. Im so sorry. Thank God you called. Ive been so tired. I was afraid I made it all up. Tell me its going to be okay. I love you. I love all of you. Thank-you for the call. Give him merry hell from me. She hangs the phone up and goes to her son at the table and kisses him on the forehead. PARKER Who was that? MADELINE An old friend. How about coffee? PARKER I forgot to make any. Im sorry, mom. Let me go Parker starts to stand but Madeline presses him back down to the table. MADELINE No, no. Ive got it. Parker nods and Madeline goes to the coffee machine and starts to prepare it. MADELINE Youre a lot like your father, you know. No, you dont know, do you. Parker looks up at her strangely. She wont meet his eyes.

PARKER Whats this about? MADELINE He was... your father always had this... sort of, I dont know, tenacity, this sort of tenacity. All his family was out of this town in New England, and theyd all been doctors since the Civil War. PARKER You said he was an engineer. MADELINE I know I did. Im so sorry. PARKER You lied? MADELINE I did. PARKER Then... Christ, mom, why? INT. R. REAGANS LIVING ROOM MORNING Rose looks out the window for a moment before going back to the table and picking the card up from it again. Roy Orbison is now playing. INT. M. PARKERS KITCHEN - MORNING Parker is between awe and crying. MADELINE He would be so proud of you. He... She stops, lost for a moment. PARKER Mom? The phone rings and the two are jarred. Madeline starts to stand. Parker leans forward.

PARKER Dont. Please. Madeline smiles strangely. MADELINE Its going to be okay. Ill tell you the rest after this. Watch the coffee a minute. I love you. INT. R. REAGANS KITCHEN MORNING Rose stands at the phone. It connects to the other side. MADELINE We for her. Rose screams and falls to the floor, clutching at her head. INT. M. PARKERS KITCHEN MORNING Madeline falls to the floor as well, convulsing for a moment before lying still, eyes wide, dead. Parker seems to jump to her. PARKER Mom? Mom? Shit, mom, come on, come on. He starts to perform CPR. EXT. ALLEY MORNING Cardawell leads the two Bureau agents and a new man to the tarp over the body. There are bricks holding the corners down. CARDAWELL Chris, gimme a hand with this, wouldja? The new man, Chris Peterson, stands on one side while Cardawell goes to the other and they take the bricks away as Daniels and Cady remove the bricks from the sides. PETERSON Well, lets get this damn thing up.

Peterson lifts the tarp. INT. ADLER STATE HOSPITAL LOBBY MORNING The sirens are loud now, as are the sounds of cars screaming along the street. Remord looks at the door. McCARTHY Ambulance, you think? REMORD Doesnt sound like it. Remord looks at the pacing man again. REMORD Ill be back. Remord stands and makes his way towards the pacing man. McCarthy yawns and stretches. EXT. ALLEY MORNING Peterson throws the tarp back. Cady and Daniels step around. PETERSON Now thats interesting. Daniels can barely refrain from being sick. CADY Oh. The body is in a suit. The face is burnt badly where it hasnt been completely blown away by some sort of explosion in the cranial cavity. The scalp is missing entirely and theres a white, powdery residue coating the parts inside of the head that we can see. All the hair has been scorched off. The hand has a ring on it that is too large.

INT.ADLER STATE HOSPITAL LOBBY MORNING At this moment, the screech of tires stops from one car with a loud crash. Remord and McCarthy are both jolted to look back at the doors. Carolyn at the desk stands and looks through the sliding glass doors and freezes. At this moment, there is more gunfire, and then a man bursts through the door firing a handgun sideways, wildly, in the direction of the two detectives. Remord dives to the floor and McCarthy rolls out of his chair. The pacing man is shot in the chest and falls sideways. Other parties in the room begin to scream. Another man runs through the doors with a gun, also firing. Chaos has overtaken everything. The two men end up through the lobby in a matter of seconds and then things are still for a short time before McCarthy and Remord jump up and start to chase them. Carolyn peeks over her counter in time to see them pass. CAROLYN What? REMORD Call the police. EXT. DESERT DAY There is a momentary crack and a roar, and in the coinciding closing thunders of each sound falls a woman from the sky. INT. M. PARKERS KITCHEN MORNING PARKER Goddamn it! Mom, please, come on! Youre gonna be fine! Youre gonna be fine! Parker continues. INT. FIRST FLOOR HALLWAY 1 MORNING McCarthy and Remord run down the hallway in the direction of the gunfire, which has since ceased. They pass three

dead people in the hall. McCarthy is just a bit faster than Remord. Somewhere, an elevator dings. Remord wheels around the corner in time to see the elevator doors closing. REMORD Shit. He hits the up button and watches as two elevators ascend. McCarthy arrives and hits the up button before a third elevator door opens. He gets inside. McCARTHY What floor? REMORD Hold on a second. McCARTHY What floor? REMORD I said hold it a second. One and then both elevators stop on 5. REMORD Five. Remord gets on the elevator and the doors close. INT. ELEVATOR CARRIAGE MORNING Remord and McCarthy stand in the elevator for a moment. McCARTHY Did you see how many? REMORD I think two. McCARTHY So do I. A momentary silence. McCARTHY

Surgery is on five. Margots up there. REMORD Shell be fine. McCARTHY What if Olive is REMORD Dont. Both men stand unnerved and apprehensive and wait for the ride to finish. INT. FIFTH FLOOR HALLWAY 1 MORNING The elevator arrives and the two exit the carriage. They burst into the hallway, looking in each direction. Gunfire occurs in the direction opposite Operating/Intensive Care. REMORD Its Oncology. The two take off towards the sound of the gunfire, sprinting at full speed. INT. R. REAGANS KITCHEN MORNING Rose contorts on the floor violently, phone hanging from the wall, foaming at the mouth, for a moment longer before stilling. She is still alive. INT. ONCOLOGY DEPARTMENT MORNING McCarthy opens the door crouching down, gun in hand. The lights above are flickering and there is a hellish rumbling in the hall. The emergency sprinklers have been activated and water is coming from the ceiling. There is smoke above and a small fire. People are scrambling from place to place. There is gunfire down the hallway. REMORD Hang back a bit.

Remord waits as McCarthy sneaks along to the nurses station and crouches beside it. Remord looks up at the signs indicating the locations of rooms. 507 would be located to the right. REMORD Anyone back there? Hey, anyone behind the desk? Theres a knocking on the boards. NURSE 1 Whos that? REMORD A detective. Did you see them? NURSE 1 They shot Wendy. They shot Wendy. REMORD Im sorry. Now Im sorry, but did you see which way they went? Gunfire resumes, close now, and a man runs out of the hallway on the far side of the station. McCarthy and Remord both stand almost simultaneously. REMORD Stop! Police! There is gunfire from the running man; McCarthy ducks instinctively. The man speeds past and Remord falls to his hands and knees. He is on his hands and knees. He screams once and rolls over; he has been shot in the chest. REMORD Fuck! Fuck! The other man runs past and McCarthy fires but misses. McCarthy moves forward and grabs Remord before pulling him back across the wet floor. REMORD Fucking goddamn fucking shot fuck McCARTHY Oh, come on, pussy, its not that bad.

REMORD Fuck you! You, you get shot, fuck, in the chest, and, and well see how you like it! McCARTHY Sure, but lets not try that now. Try not to die. Ill be back in a second. McCarthy stands up straight and starts down the hallway. Gunfire resumes in the hall. He peeks cautiously down the devastated corridor where the two men had been; there is no fire, but there are people cowering in the floor and at least one heart monitor is reporting a flatline. McCarthy, gun in hand, peeks around the corner at the situation down the hall, in the direction of 507 in time for a bullet to whiz over his head. He retracts slowly and curses silently. Gunfire ceases and there is a horrifyingly loud crash of some sort, like a jet engine, down the hall somewhere. McCarthy ducks down and waits a moment before spinning around the corner. He is just in time to see a man cross the hallway and throw himself full-on into the bright lights of room 507. The other man leaves the room next to 507 and sprints to follow the first. McCarthy fires at this man, but the man is already through the door, which slams shut. The lights and wind stop almost immediately. McCarthy, crouching for a moment still, stands slowly before sprinting down the hallway to 507. He stops in front of the door for a moment before he checks the door handle. Its unlocked. He twists it and kicks the door open. INT. ROOM 507 MORNING McCarthy, soaking wet, bursts through the door with his gun in front of his face, ready to fire but he halts. Something is wrong. Slowly, McCarthys hand falls to his side. INT. M. PARKERS KITCHEN MORNING

Wes continues to attempt resuscitating his mother to no avail. He begins to scream in desperation as his attempts fail. INT. ROOM 509 MORNING Finally, we know: McCarthy is the only person in the dry, immaculate room. He tries to holster his weapon, but it instead tumbles to the floor as he stares with a cresting horror washing over his face. Smoke begins to obscure McCarthy, eating away at him until all the screen is filled with fine billowing sheets of smoke glowing blue and green in slow alternation. TITLE: DESOLATION Black. Theres a knocking somewhere. Card: Two Years Following.