Post by trm on Aug 27, 2006 2:17:09 GMT -5
This is the first part of a horror story I'm working on.
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Divided Highway
Page 1
1.1 A car travels toward us down a divided highway. It is a convertible, neither new nor classic, it's rusty in places and has mismatching hubcaps and body panels.
The driver is a man in his mid twenties, he is wearing a T-shirt and sunglasses. His hair is short and he is clean-shaven.
In the foreground of the panel-right we can see a sign someone has placed on the side of the road, but we can’t read it.
1.2 Looking across the car, from just outside the passenger door, we see the sign as the car passes it. I reads: "The End is Near! Pray for Salvation!"
The driver's face is turned away from us as he reads the sign.
1.3 The driver is smirking as he continues down the road.
Driver: Amen and Hallelujah!
Page 2
2.1 The Driver reaches down by the center console.
2.2 The Driver has a cell phone plugged into a charger.
2.3 He holds it to his ear.
2.4 He looks in surprise.
2.5 Close on the phone. It has no signal.
2.6 Close on the Driver’s hand as he ejects the tape from the tape deck.
2.7 The radio only gets static.
Driver (only his hand on-panel): What the hell?
2.8 The entire car is in profile in this panel as it passes through a highway junction.
The Driver fiddles with the knobs and isn’t really watching the road.
A bright detour sign is visible in the background.
Page 3
3.1 The Driver continues to mess with the radio. As the car passes a road sign that has been shot and defaced with spray paint. The name of the town is completely obliterated but the distance, 30 miles, is legible.
3.2 An overhead view as the driver gets his eyes back on the road. In the ditches to either side of the car are barricades of various types used to block off roads for construction, some are fine others are broken.
Driver: Well, this is the best detour ever.
3.3 Close on the Driver’s face, as if looking through the windshield.
He leans forward and squints to get a better look at what he sees in the distance.
Driver: What the hell!?
Page 4 & 5
Splash: A high angle view across a ruined Midwestern town. Some of the buildings are damaged by fire, some look as if they've simply been smashed by force. Wisps of smoke rise from some, though no flames are visible.
The divided highway runs past the town on panel left and up a slope the Driver has just started down.
A gas station is on the edge of town, across the highway, from the rest of it.
The shabby convertible is visible in upper panel left as just large enough to be recognizable, possibly only a silhouette, heading toward town.
Title “Divided Highway part 1: Fear and Loathing in the Middle of Nowhere” & Credits
Page 6
6.1 The driver pulls the convertible off the highway at the intersection near the gas station, his expression is one of confusion and concern.
6.2 Close on a pump at the station with a sign that reads: "Take what you need. May God have mercy on your soul."
6.3 The Driver cautiously gets out of the car.
In the background spray painted on the large window of the gas station is: "The Devil is coming Beware!"
6.4 A view from ground level of a pamphlet that lies on the ground next to the driver's canvas sneaker.
In the background is a silhouette that might be a person peering around the corner of a nearby building.
6.5 Close on the driver's hand as he holds the pamphlet. It reads: "7 Signs of the End Times." and has a crude picture of the Earth with a line of clouds beaming down sunshine above it (Heaven) and a line of flames below it (Hell). The author's name is on the front as well, but it is covered by the driver's hand, only "By Reverend" is visible.
6.5 A view of the street opposite the gas station. Most of the windows are cracked or smashed in, some have been covered with plywood, some with uneven rows of boards. Spray-painted slogans and crude signs are everywhere. They read: "SAVE YOUR SOUL" "ONLY GOD CAN SAVE YOU" "SATAN HAS TAKEN OVER" "HEAVEN IS THE ONLY REFUGE" "THE WAGES OF SIN ARE BEING PAID" "FAITH IS YOUR ONLY WEAPON" "REPENT AND SUFFER NO MORE"
6.6 The driver is leaning against the convertible as he reaches into the back seat for something in his bags.
A man of medium size in a mix of hiking and surplus army clothing/gear is sneaking up on the driver, he has a 9mm in a hip holster. Oddly, he wears a Vietnam era gas-mask, long black rubber glove that disappear under his shirt sleeves, and has a small plant-sprayer hanging from his belt.
Driver (mumbling to himself): I’ve got to get pictures of this.
Page 7
7.1 A Worm's-Eye-View of the sneaking man coming around the trunk of the car; he creeps slowly and low to the ground.
There is a sound effect of a single scrape of a bit of gravel against the asphalt.
7.2 The upper body of the driver (in the foreground) is in panel as he suddenly turns at the sound. He has his camera in hand now and sees the Sneaky Man who is coming in fast and low.
Driver: What the…
7.3 The sneaky man tackles the driver around the legs, both are off their feet and heading for the pavement.
Driver: …Ung.
7.4 The Sneaky Man is on top of the driver (one knee on the driver’s chest) with one hand over the driver’s mouth and the other holding one of his wrists.
The driver is struggling and trying to pry the sneaky man's hand away from his mouth.
Sneaky Man (voice quiet and distorted by the mask): Quiet; They'll hear you!
7.5 The Sneaky Man still has one hand against the driver's mouth and is spraying the driver with the plant-sprayer.
The driver is trying to push the Sneaky Man off of him.
[b[Page 8[/b]
8.1 Black
8.2 A distorted POV (black around the edges) of the driver looking down at a simple bed with restraining straps holding him loosely in place.
8.3 The same POV with no black and less distortion.
Driver (distorted lettering): Wha? Where am...
8.4 Driver is awake, shock on his face, as he struggles with his restraints.
The bed has an old-fashioned metal frame, clean white sheets & pillowcase, and a green wool army blanket. It sits with its head-board and one side against the wall. The room is small, lit by a single bulb hanging overhead, there is an army footlocker at the bed's foot, two stacked milk-crates for a night-stand, and a small table with two stools.
The walls are white-painted concrete blocks, the floor is concrete with simple rugs running along the floor next to the bed, in front of the footlocker, and under the table. Everything is clean and tidy.
Off-panel: Go ahead and yell if it'll make you feel better.
8.5 Sneaky Man is standing in the doorway to the room, smiling broadly. He is middle-aged with thinning blonde hair, he still wears the 9mm.
Sneaky Man: They won’t be able to hear you down here. You’re lucky I found you in time.
Page 9
9.1 The Driver in undoing the straps as he watches Sneaky Man.
Sneaky Man: Those straps are just so you wouldn’t thrash around and fall out of bed when the ether wore off.
Driver: The ether?
Sneaky Man: Sorry about the rough treatment, but there wasn’t time. I had to get you off the streets.
Driver: So They wouldn’t see me?
Sneaky Man: Worse than that; They’ve poisoned the air.
9.2 The driver sits on the bed, unrestrained, as the Sneaky Man walks closer.
Driver: They have?
Sneaky Man: I don’t think you got enough of a dose to be effected. If you’d drunk any of the water, then it would probably be too late.
Driver: What about you?
Sneaky Man: It’s a very complex compound that effects the brain, I seem to be immune.
Driver: Well,… that’s good.
9.3 The Driver is standing (in profile) in front of Sneaky Man who has just begun to walk (also in profile, facing away) has he gestures for the driver to follow him through the door.
Sneaky Man: Let me show you around.
Driver: … O.K.
9.4 Sneaky Man walks down the narrow hallway, made more so by metal utility shelves along the walls, with the Driver right behind him (visible over his shoulder).
Sneaky Man: This was built in the late 50s, and maintained until the early 70s. After that it was basically forgotten about, the air filters still work and the large water stores are uncompromised.
Page 10
10.1 Close on a pipe-wrench sitting on one of the metal shelves.
Off-panel: I’ve re-stocked the food as best I could, canned goods seemed the least likely to be contaminated.
10.2 A POV from the shelf looking past the wrench (in the foreground) up at the Driver reaching for the wrench.
Off-panel: There a few things I couldn’t get.
10.3
The Sneaky Man is in the foreground with the Driver visible behind him, arm reaching out to panel left for the wrench.
Sneaky Man: Hey!
10.4 The Driver has his arms folded, the wrench remains visible on the shelf, and looks away from it at nothing in particular. Sneaky Man looks pleasantly excited.
Sneaky Man: Do you have any caramels in your car?
10.5 Close on the Driver who looks surprised.
Driver: Oh… Uh, sure. I have some in my bags.
10.6
Sneaky Man looks back over his shoulder at the Driver as they ascend a steep concrete staircase. (The stairs run from low on Panel-Left to high on Panel-Right.)
Sneaky Man: I have a spare mask and gloves for you. I hid your car just a few blocks away, but we need to move quickly. Do you think you can keep up?
Driver: The sooner I get back to my car the better.
Page 11
11.1 The Sneaky Man is in a room with two large vault-like metal doors(at panel left and panel right). One of the doors is open (panel left), the Driver walks through it, the other is closed. On the wall are more utility shelves filled with gear, including two gas masks.
Sneaky Man: Don’t get to exited. You don’t have enough gas to get anywhere else, and there isn’t any uncontaminated fuel here.
Driver: Contaminated? Like the air?
11.2 Sneaky Man hands the Driver a gas mask, and heavy black rubber gloves.
Sneaky Man: They found a way to spread the toxin through car exhaust.
11.3 The Driver, in profile, is wearing the gloves and holds the gas mask. He looks at the Sneaky Man out of the corner of his eyes. The Sneaky Man is in the background opening the second door.
Driver: So, how do you know the gasoline is… contaminated?
Sneaky Man: I tested some samples, basic science. I’m not sure what it is; but I know it isn’t supposed to be there.
11.4 The Sneaky Man is at the controls of a system of hydraulics in the room beyond the bunker airlock. The Driver is cautiously stepping through the outer airlock door.
Sneaky Man: I’ll let you know when you need to put the mask on.
Driver: What’s that?
Sneaky Man: The hidden entrance, Winecky didn’t want everybody to know he had a fall-out shelter.
11.5 The hydraulics pull the large door in and then to the side. From the POV we can’t see the room beyond the opening.
Sneaky Man: You must have been away at college or something when we found out about it; it was in every newspaper in the state.
Page 12
12.1 Sneaky Man and the Driver enter the safety deposit box section of a bank vault from the background of the panel.
Driver: It’s a vault.
12.2 Close on The Sneaky Man’s face as he looks (off-panel) at the driver, he has an eyebrow raised.
Sneaky Man: Where else who he have built it? He practically lived here.
12.3 The Driver fiddles with the straps on the gas mask..
Driver: Man, I don’t know who Winecky is. Should I?
12.4 The POV is low looking past the Sneaky Man’s 9mm, his hand resting on it, at panel right. At panel left in the background the Driver is stepping back and raising his hands, palms out, up.
Sneaky Man: Everybody in this town knows who Winecky was.
12.5 Close on the Driver, his eyes are wide. He is holding his hands out in front of him, clutching the gas mask in one of them.
Driver: I’ve never even been here before! I came in on the highway, remember? I was going to try and get some gas before you… rescued me.
12.6 Close on the Sneaky Man, his arms are folded now.
Sneaky Man: Of course I remember; that was two hours ago!
Driver (off-panel): Then why…
Sneaky Man: The detour at the junction directs all the highway traffic away so they can hide what they’ve done here. Beyond the detour the roads are barricaded off.
Page 13
13.1 The Sneaky moves toward the Driver pointing a finger at him.
Sneaky Man: Why work so hard to get to a place you’ve never been?!
13.2 The Driver, braver than before, adopts an aggressive posture.
Driver: I didn’t see anything like that; I didn’t know anything was going here until I got to the top of the hill. I’m not even sure where I am right now!
13.3 Sneaky Man is smiling as if this is all resolved; a minor misunderstanding. He has one hand on the Driver’s shoulder. The Driver looks apprehensively at this.
Driver: I’m sorry. It makes sense, really. They must have cleared the highway so they could observe the effects of this environment on an outsider. The two of us fighting is exactly what they want.
13.3 The Driver looks off panel, his expression is a mix of confusion and frustration.
Sneaky Man (off-panel): Put your mask on; I’m opening the vault.
13.4 At Panel Left the Driver is squatting with his back to the wall while Sneaky Man at Panel Right is doing the same while peaking out the window at the front of the bank. Between them is the visible lower half of a painting hanging on the wall, its name-plate reads: Rupert L. Winecky. Founder.
Driver: What are we waiting for?
Sneaky Man: I’m making sure it’s clear.
Page 14
14.1 A high view of Sneaky Man and the Driver running across the street. Their path isn’t perpendicular to the street, a bit of an angle toward an alley on the other side of the street.
This part of town is every bit as ruined and covered with signs as it was near the highway.
14.2 Sneaky Man and the Driver are pressed flat against the side of the alley.
14.3 Sneaky Man gestures over his shoulder for the Driver to follow him.
14.4 The interior of an auto garage. At Panel Left a door is open with Sneaky Man and the Driver standing just inside it in the background. In the foreground from Panel Center to Panel Right is the Driver’s convertible in profile facing Panel Right.
Sneaky Man: There it is; safe and sound.
Page 15
15.1 The Driver reaches up to take off his gas mask but Sneaky Man grabs his hand.
Sneaky Man: The air isn’t safe here.
Driver: Sorry.
15.2 The Sneaky Man stands at the front of the convertible looking it over as the Driver gets the keys from the ignition.
Sneaky Man: Nothing wrong with it, but I always liked classic convertibles.
Driver: Could you tell me about the poison?
15.3 Bird's-eye-view of the driver walking to the trunk, while Sneaky Man explains. (The voice bubble that will cross over the rest of the panels along the bottom of this page starts here, but doesn't contain any dialogue.)
15.4 The Driver looks into the opened trunk of his car.
Sneaky Man: It's fascinating, from a neurochemical perspective. It induces a very specific type of delusion.
15.5 The interior of the trunk has a suitcase and three wrapped presents. One of them is a long rectangular box an has a greeting card card tucked under the stick-on-bow. The card reads: "So you've finally Retired...". Another is the size of typical garment box, the last one is roughly a square.
Sneaky Man(top of the panel overlapping with the others): A paranoia directed at groups, rather than individuals. Of course it can be focused on an individual, but only when the victim believes them to be an agent of the larger group.
15.6 The Driver has his hands in the trunk and a faint (either drawn semi-transparent or very small) "ripping" sound effect coming from the trunk.
Sneaky Man (top of the panel overlapping with the others): It also appears to create a drive to acquire allies against the imagined enemy. Those affected will project their beliefs onto others they meet.
Page 16
16.1 Sneaky Man starts to walk alongside the car, nothing about his body language suggests hostility or suspicion.
Sneaky Man: What are you doing?
16.2 Sneaky Man is standing near the trunk (the trunk at Panel Right) with his hands in the air, the driver (with his back to us at Panel Left) is in the foreground of the panel pointing a double barreled shotgun at Sneaky Man.
Driver (shouting): Drop the gun! NOW!
16.3 Sneaky Man pulls off the gas mask and holds his gun away from his body, his fingers away from the trigger.
Sneaky Man: Dropping a loaded weapon is dangerous. I'm going to set it on the ground for you; O.K.?
16.4 Close on Sneaky Man's eyes looking Panel Right.
16.5 The open box and torn wrapping paper in the trunk.
16.6 Sneaky Man is standing with a smile on his face.
Sneaky Man: So, do you always drive around with a loaded gift-wrapped shotgun in your trunk?
16.7 Close on the Driver's gas mask, the glare on his lenses keep us from seeing his eyes.
Driver: … Yes.
16.8 Close on Sneaky Man's face. He is amused, like someone dealing with a precocious child.
Sneaky Man: Why?
16.9 Close on the Driver's mask
Driver: So the cops don't find it.
16.10 Close on Sneaky Man's face, smirking with eyebrows raised.
Sneaky Man: Why would the Police look in your trunk?
16.11 Close on the Driver's face/mask.
Driver: I'm a drug dealer.
16.12 Close on Sneaky Man, shaking his head.
Sneaky Man: No, you're not.
Page 17
17.1 A low POV, not as extreme as a worm's-eye-view, but still sharply low to high. Sneaky Man is in the foreground with his back to us; he is crouching quickly to grab his pistol. The Driver is in the background raising his shotgun to strike Sneaky Man with the butt of it. For this panel their roles are the reverse of the gas station attack. Sneaky Man is the underdog protagonist, while the Driver is the faceless, towering antagonist.
17.2 Sneaky Man is knocked back, struck in the head with the butt of the shotgun.
17.3 POV from floor level of the driver kicking Sneaky Man's pistol across the room.
17.4 The Driver has opened the shotgun's breach and is holding it in the crook of his arm while he fumbles to tear open the wrapped box of shells.
17.5 The Driver has torn the paper and the box itself, shells fly out.
17.5 The Driver jams two shells into the shotgun.
17.6 The Driver snaps the breach shut as he looks up.
17.7 POV of the Driver. The Sneaky Man isn't where he was before.
Page 18
18.1 High POV over the car of the Driver turning, aiming the shotgun as he moves, over to where Sneaky Man is now. Sneaky Man is in the background of the panel picking up his pistol (the path of the pistol when the Driver kicked it is in a more-or-less straight line from the trunk of the car.
Sneaky Man: Wait.
18.2 Full profile frame of Sneaky Man. He holds his gun to his side and holds his left hand out in front of him palm out as he slowly walks forward.
Sneaky Man: You're confused and afraid. But, you're also skeptical and resourceful; I respect that. You bid your time until you could get to your car and a weapon.
18.3 A full forward frame of The Driver, still "faceless", points the shotgun directly at the reader. We are, in a sense, in Sneaky Man's place.
Driver: Stay Back!
18.4 Close on Sneaky Man at Panel Right, his voice bubble using the rest of the frame.
Sneaky Man: We're on the same side. You just don't know it yet.
18.5 Close on the Driver.
Driver: I'm not on any side! I'm getting the fuck out of here!
Sneaky Man: You can’t leave.
Page 19
19.1 Profile of the Driver (Panel Right) advancing on Sneaky Man (Panel Left). Sneaky Man's hands are at his sides, he makes no move to defend himself.
Driver: Stop threatening me!
Sneaky Man: I'm not.
19.2 Close on Sneaky Man.
Sneaky Man: The gasoline supply has been sabotaged, the roads are being watched, and the phones are down. I'm stuck here too.
19.3 A profile of the Driver at Panel Right (so we see his right side, emphasizing the shotgun) and Sneaky Man at Panel Left (so we see his left side, and not the pistol he holds in his right hand against his thigh.)
Sneaky Man leans forward slightly as he confides in the Driver. He gestures with his left had, but his right stays by his side.
Sneaky Man: It's all part of an experiment.
Driver: Whose?
Sneaky Man: Isn't it obvious? The Government.
Sneaky Man: They've this technology for a long time. I'd bet that the poison They used here was a new formula, but They've been using a form of it on the Middle East for a long time. How do you think we got the local support against the Soviets in Afghanistan?
19.4 Close on the Driver.
Driver: We offered aid against their oppressors.
Sneaky Man (this voice bubble overlaps with the gutter between this panel and 19.5): Don't be naive.
19.5 Close on Sneaky Man.
Sneaky Man: They wanted to be sure. They used it after that, all over the region, to keep things unstable and justify the money funneled into the Military/Industrial Complex.
Page 20
20.1 Sneaky Man has become more animated, the Driver has relaxed somewhat, he still has the shotgun ready, but not as directly aimed at Sneaky Man.
Driver: So, you're telling me that the government has deliberately poisoned the air with a drug that makes people believe that a conspiracy is out to get them; and, it drives them to recruit other people to fight it.
Sneaky Man: Exactly.
Driver: Why? Why here?
Sneaky Man: It's an experiment to discredit Religion.
Driver: What?
Sneaky Man: The people around here don't worry about The Government; they worry about "The Erosion of Family Values", "The Homosexual Agenda", and "The Satanic Conspiracy". If you dose them with this stuff they'll think it's the Apocalypse, yet another example of Religious Extremists hurting themselves and others.
Sneaky Man: It's genius, in a terrible way, what are the two things that everybody gets passionate about?
Sneaky Man: Religion and Politics; if they get rid of Religion all that's left is Politics.
Sneaky Man: They'll, pardon the expression, go from being Kings to God-Kings.
Driver: You want to know what I think?
20.2 A panel of the driver pointing his shotgun at the reader.
Driver: I think you're insane.
Driver: Something happened here, like a chemical spill or an industrial accident; so they evacuated this town and you wouldn't leave
Driver: I think you've been running around, all by yourself, turning this town into your own Insane-Conspiracy-Playground.
Sneaky Man (off-panel): I should have known…
Page 21
21.1 The Driver aims the shotgun, Sneaky Man aims his pistol. Both are a split second from firing.
Sneaky Man: …You’re one of Them!
21.2 Extreme close on the Shotgun, muzzle flash blazing. No Sound Effect.
21.3 Close on the Driver pulling off the gas mask.
21.4 Close on the Driver's face, mouth open and eyes wide.
21.5 The Driver turns clutching his stomach with one and and clamping a hand over his mouth with the other.
Page 22
22.1 In the background the Driver is doubled over, holding himself up by the corner of the trunk, vomiting.
In the midground is the shotgun, smoking on the floor.
In the foreground is the corpse of the Sneaky Man and a slowly widening pool of blood.
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Divided Highway
Page 1
1.1 A car travels toward us down a divided highway. It is a convertible, neither new nor classic, it's rusty in places and has mismatching hubcaps and body panels.
The driver is a man in his mid twenties, he is wearing a T-shirt and sunglasses. His hair is short and he is clean-shaven.
In the foreground of the panel-right we can see a sign someone has placed on the side of the road, but we can’t read it.
1.2 Looking across the car, from just outside the passenger door, we see the sign as the car passes it. I reads: "The End is Near! Pray for Salvation!"
The driver's face is turned away from us as he reads the sign.
1.3 The driver is smirking as he continues down the road.
Driver: Amen and Hallelujah!
Page 2
2.1 The Driver reaches down by the center console.
2.2 The Driver has a cell phone plugged into a charger.
2.3 He holds it to his ear.
2.4 He looks in surprise.
2.5 Close on the phone. It has no signal.
2.6 Close on the Driver’s hand as he ejects the tape from the tape deck.
2.7 The radio only gets static.
Driver (only his hand on-panel): What the hell?
2.8 The entire car is in profile in this panel as it passes through a highway junction.
The Driver fiddles with the knobs and isn’t really watching the road.
A bright detour sign is visible in the background.
Page 3
3.1 The Driver continues to mess with the radio. As the car passes a road sign that has been shot and defaced with spray paint. The name of the town is completely obliterated but the distance, 30 miles, is legible.
3.2 An overhead view as the driver gets his eyes back on the road. In the ditches to either side of the car are barricades of various types used to block off roads for construction, some are fine others are broken.
Driver: Well, this is the best detour ever.
3.3 Close on the Driver’s face, as if looking through the windshield.
He leans forward and squints to get a better look at what he sees in the distance.
Driver: What the hell!?
Page 4 & 5
Splash: A high angle view across a ruined Midwestern town. Some of the buildings are damaged by fire, some look as if they've simply been smashed by force. Wisps of smoke rise from some, though no flames are visible.
The divided highway runs past the town on panel left and up a slope the Driver has just started down.
A gas station is on the edge of town, across the highway, from the rest of it.
The shabby convertible is visible in upper panel left as just large enough to be recognizable, possibly only a silhouette, heading toward town.
Title “Divided Highway part 1: Fear and Loathing in the Middle of Nowhere” & Credits
Page 6
6.1 The driver pulls the convertible off the highway at the intersection near the gas station, his expression is one of confusion and concern.
6.2 Close on a pump at the station with a sign that reads: "Take what you need. May God have mercy on your soul."
6.3 The Driver cautiously gets out of the car.
In the background spray painted on the large window of the gas station is: "The Devil is coming Beware!"
6.4 A view from ground level of a pamphlet that lies on the ground next to the driver's canvas sneaker.
In the background is a silhouette that might be a person peering around the corner of a nearby building.
6.5 Close on the driver's hand as he holds the pamphlet. It reads: "7 Signs of the End Times." and has a crude picture of the Earth with a line of clouds beaming down sunshine above it (Heaven) and a line of flames below it (Hell). The author's name is on the front as well, but it is covered by the driver's hand, only "By Reverend" is visible.
6.5 A view of the street opposite the gas station. Most of the windows are cracked or smashed in, some have been covered with plywood, some with uneven rows of boards. Spray-painted slogans and crude signs are everywhere. They read: "SAVE YOUR SOUL" "ONLY GOD CAN SAVE YOU" "SATAN HAS TAKEN OVER" "HEAVEN IS THE ONLY REFUGE" "THE WAGES OF SIN ARE BEING PAID" "FAITH IS YOUR ONLY WEAPON" "REPENT AND SUFFER NO MORE"
6.6 The driver is leaning against the convertible as he reaches into the back seat for something in his bags.
A man of medium size in a mix of hiking and surplus army clothing/gear is sneaking up on the driver, he has a 9mm in a hip holster. Oddly, he wears a Vietnam era gas-mask, long black rubber glove that disappear under his shirt sleeves, and has a small plant-sprayer hanging from his belt.
Driver (mumbling to himself): I’ve got to get pictures of this.
Page 7
7.1 A Worm's-Eye-View of the sneaking man coming around the trunk of the car; he creeps slowly and low to the ground.
There is a sound effect of a single scrape of a bit of gravel against the asphalt.
7.2 The upper body of the driver (in the foreground) is in panel as he suddenly turns at the sound. He has his camera in hand now and sees the Sneaky Man who is coming in fast and low.
Driver: What the…
7.3 The sneaky man tackles the driver around the legs, both are off their feet and heading for the pavement.
Driver: …Ung.
7.4 The Sneaky Man is on top of the driver (one knee on the driver’s chest) with one hand over the driver’s mouth and the other holding one of his wrists.
The driver is struggling and trying to pry the sneaky man's hand away from his mouth.
Sneaky Man (voice quiet and distorted by the mask): Quiet; They'll hear you!
7.5 The Sneaky Man still has one hand against the driver's mouth and is spraying the driver with the plant-sprayer.
The driver is trying to push the Sneaky Man off of him.
[b[Page 8[/b]
8.1 Black
8.2 A distorted POV (black around the edges) of the driver looking down at a simple bed with restraining straps holding him loosely in place.
8.3 The same POV with no black and less distortion.
Driver (distorted lettering): Wha? Where am...
8.4 Driver is awake, shock on his face, as he struggles with his restraints.
The bed has an old-fashioned metal frame, clean white sheets & pillowcase, and a green wool army blanket. It sits with its head-board and one side against the wall. The room is small, lit by a single bulb hanging overhead, there is an army footlocker at the bed's foot, two stacked milk-crates for a night-stand, and a small table with two stools.
The walls are white-painted concrete blocks, the floor is concrete with simple rugs running along the floor next to the bed, in front of the footlocker, and under the table. Everything is clean and tidy.
Off-panel: Go ahead and yell if it'll make you feel better.
8.5 Sneaky Man is standing in the doorway to the room, smiling broadly. He is middle-aged with thinning blonde hair, he still wears the 9mm.
Sneaky Man: They won’t be able to hear you down here. You’re lucky I found you in time.
Page 9
9.1 The Driver in undoing the straps as he watches Sneaky Man.
Sneaky Man: Those straps are just so you wouldn’t thrash around and fall out of bed when the ether wore off.
Driver: The ether?
Sneaky Man: Sorry about the rough treatment, but there wasn’t time. I had to get you off the streets.
Driver: So They wouldn’t see me?
Sneaky Man: Worse than that; They’ve poisoned the air.
9.2 The driver sits on the bed, unrestrained, as the Sneaky Man walks closer.
Driver: They have?
Sneaky Man: I don’t think you got enough of a dose to be effected. If you’d drunk any of the water, then it would probably be too late.
Driver: What about you?
Sneaky Man: It’s a very complex compound that effects the brain, I seem to be immune.
Driver: Well,… that’s good.
9.3 The Driver is standing (in profile) in front of Sneaky Man who has just begun to walk (also in profile, facing away) has he gestures for the driver to follow him through the door.
Sneaky Man: Let me show you around.
Driver: … O.K.
9.4 Sneaky Man walks down the narrow hallway, made more so by metal utility shelves along the walls, with the Driver right behind him (visible over his shoulder).
Sneaky Man: This was built in the late 50s, and maintained until the early 70s. After that it was basically forgotten about, the air filters still work and the large water stores are uncompromised.
Page 10
10.1 Close on a pipe-wrench sitting on one of the metal shelves.
Off-panel: I’ve re-stocked the food as best I could, canned goods seemed the least likely to be contaminated.
10.2 A POV from the shelf looking past the wrench (in the foreground) up at the Driver reaching for the wrench.
Off-panel: There a few things I couldn’t get.
10.3
The Sneaky Man is in the foreground with the Driver visible behind him, arm reaching out to panel left for the wrench.
Sneaky Man: Hey!
10.4 The Driver has his arms folded, the wrench remains visible on the shelf, and looks away from it at nothing in particular. Sneaky Man looks pleasantly excited.
Sneaky Man: Do you have any caramels in your car?
10.5 Close on the Driver who looks surprised.
Driver: Oh… Uh, sure. I have some in my bags.
10.6
Sneaky Man looks back over his shoulder at the Driver as they ascend a steep concrete staircase. (The stairs run from low on Panel-Left to high on Panel-Right.)
Sneaky Man: I have a spare mask and gloves for you. I hid your car just a few blocks away, but we need to move quickly. Do you think you can keep up?
Driver: The sooner I get back to my car the better.
Page 11
11.1 The Sneaky Man is in a room with two large vault-like metal doors(at panel left and panel right). One of the doors is open (panel left), the Driver walks through it, the other is closed. On the wall are more utility shelves filled with gear, including two gas masks.
Sneaky Man: Don’t get to exited. You don’t have enough gas to get anywhere else, and there isn’t any uncontaminated fuel here.
Driver: Contaminated? Like the air?
11.2 Sneaky Man hands the Driver a gas mask, and heavy black rubber gloves.
Sneaky Man: They found a way to spread the toxin through car exhaust.
11.3 The Driver, in profile, is wearing the gloves and holds the gas mask. He looks at the Sneaky Man out of the corner of his eyes. The Sneaky Man is in the background opening the second door.
Driver: So, how do you know the gasoline is… contaminated?
Sneaky Man: I tested some samples, basic science. I’m not sure what it is; but I know it isn’t supposed to be there.
11.4 The Sneaky Man is at the controls of a system of hydraulics in the room beyond the bunker airlock. The Driver is cautiously stepping through the outer airlock door.
Sneaky Man: I’ll let you know when you need to put the mask on.
Driver: What’s that?
Sneaky Man: The hidden entrance, Winecky didn’t want everybody to know he had a fall-out shelter.
11.5 The hydraulics pull the large door in and then to the side. From the POV we can’t see the room beyond the opening.
Sneaky Man: You must have been away at college or something when we found out about it; it was in every newspaper in the state.
Page 12
12.1 Sneaky Man and the Driver enter the safety deposit box section of a bank vault from the background of the panel.
Driver: It’s a vault.
12.2 Close on The Sneaky Man’s face as he looks (off-panel) at the driver, he has an eyebrow raised.
Sneaky Man: Where else who he have built it? He practically lived here.
12.3 The Driver fiddles with the straps on the gas mask..
Driver: Man, I don’t know who Winecky is. Should I?
12.4 The POV is low looking past the Sneaky Man’s 9mm, his hand resting on it, at panel right. At panel left in the background the Driver is stepping back and raising his hands, palms out, up.
Sneaky Man: Everybody in this town knows who Winecky was.
12.5 Close on the Driver, his eyes are wide. He is holding his hands out in front of him, clutching the gas mask in one of them.
Driver: I’ve never even been here before! I came in on the highway, remember? I was going to try and get some gas before you… rescued me.
12.6 Close on the Sneaky Man, his arms are folded now.
Sneaky Man: Of course I remember; that was two hours ago!
Driver (off-panel): Then why…
Sneaky Man: The detour at the junction directs all the highway traffic away so they can hide what they’ve done here. Beyond the detour the roads are barricaded off.
Page 13
13.1 The Sneaky moves toward the Driver pointing a finger at him.
Sneaky Man: Why work so hard to get to a place you’ve never been?!
13.2 The Driver, braver than before, adopts an aggressive posture.
Driver: I didn’t see anything like that; I didn’t know anything was going here until I got to the top of the hill. I’m not even sure where I am right now!
13.3 Sneaky Man is smiling as if this is all resolved; a minor misunderstanding. He has one hand on the Driver’s shoulder. The Driver looks apprehensively at this.
Driver: I’m sorry. It makes sense, really. They must have cleared the highway so they could observe the effects of this environment on an outsider. The two of us fighting is exactly what they want.
13.3 The Driver looks off panel, his expression is a mix of confusion and frustration.
Sneaky Man (off-panel): Put your mask on; I’m opening the vault.
13.4 At Panel Left the Driver is squatting with his back to the wall while Sneaky Man at Panel Right is doing the same while peaking out the window at the front of the bank. Between them is the visible lower half of a painting hanging on the wall, its name-plate reads: Rupert L. Winecky. Founder.
Driver: What are we waiting for?
Sneaky Man: I’m making sure it’s clear.
Page 14
14.1 A high view of Sneaky Man and the Driver running across the street. Their path isn’t perpendicular to the street, a bit of an angle toward an alley on the other side of the street.
This part of town is every bit as ruined and covered with signs as it was near the highway.
14.2 Sneaky Man and the Driver are pressed flat against the side of the alley.
14.3 Sneaky Man gestures over his shoulder for the Driver to follow him.
14.4 The interior of an auto garage. At Panel Left a door is open with Sneaky Man and the Driver standing just inside it in the background. In the foreground from Panel Center to Panel Right is the Driver’s convertible in profile facing Panel Right.
Sneaky Man: There it is; safe and sound.
Page 15
15.1 The Driver reaches up to take off his gas mask but Sneaky Man grabs his hand.
Sneaky Man: The air isn’t safe here.
Driver: Sorry.
15.2 The Sneaky Man stands at the front of the convertible looking it over as the Driver gets the keys from the ignition.
Sneaky Man: Nothing wrong with it, but I always liked classic convertibles.
Driver: Could you tell me about the poison?
15.3 Bird's-eye-view of the driver walking to the trunk, while Sneaky Man explains. (The voice bubble that will cross over the rest of the panels along the bottom of this page starts here, but doesn't contain any dialogue.)
15.4 The Driver looks into the opened trunk of his car.
Sneaky Man: It's fascinating, from a neurochemical perspective. It induces a very specific type of delusion.
15.5 The interior of the trunk has a suitcase and three wrapped presents. One of them is a long rectangular box an has a greeting card card tucked under the stick-on-bow. The card reads: "So you've finally Retired...". Another is the size of typical garment box, the last one is roughly a square.
Sneaky Man(top of the panel overlapping with the others): A paranoia directed at groups, rather than individuals. Of course it can be focused on an individual, but only when the victim believes them to be an agent of the larger group.
15.6 The Driver has his hands in the trunk and a faint (either drawn semi-transparent or very small) "ripping" sound effect coming from the trunk.
Sneaky Man (top of the panel overlapping with the others): It also appears to create a drive to acquire allies against the imagined enemy. Those affected will project their beliefs onto others they meet.
Page 16
16.1 Sneaky Man starts to walk alongside the car, nothing about his body language suggests hostility or suspicion.
Sneaky Man: What are you doing?
16.2 Sneaky Man is standing near the trunk (the trunk at Panel Right) with his hands in the air, the driver (with his back to us at Panel Left) is in the foreground of the panel pointing a double barreled shotgun at Sneaky Man.
Driver (shouting): Drop the gun! NOW!
16.3 Sneaky Man pulls off the gas mask and holds his gun away from his body, his fingers away from the trigger.
Sneaky Man: Dropping a loaded weapon is dangerous. I'm going to set it on the ground for you; O.K.?
16.4 Close on Sneaky Man's eyes looking Panel Right.
16.5 The open box and torn wrapping paper in the trunk.
16.6 Sneaky Man is standing with a smile on his face.
Sneaky Man: So, do you always drive around with a loaded gift-wrapped shotgun in your trunk?
16.7 Close on the Driver's gas mask, the glare on his lenses keep us from seeing his eyes.
Driver: … Yes.
16.8 Close on Sneaky Man's face. He is amused, like someone dealing with a precocious child.
Sneaky Man: Why?
16.9 Close on the Driver's mask
Driver: So the cops don't find it.
16.10 Close on Sneaky Man's face, smirking with eyebrows raised.
Sneaky Man: Why would the Police look in your trunk?
16.11 Close on the Driver's face/mask.
Driver: I'm a drug dealer.
16.12 Close on Sneaky Man, shaking his head.
Sneaky Man: No, you're not.
Page 17
17.1 A low POV, not as extreme as a worm's-eye-view, but still sharply low to high. Sneaky Man is in the foreground with his back to us; he is crouching quickly to grab his pistol. The Driver is in the background raising his shotgun to strike Sneaky Man with the butt of it. For this panel their roles are the reverse of the gas station attack. Sneaky Man is the underdog protagonist, while the Driver is the faceless, towering antagonist.
17.2 Sneaky Man is knocked back, struck in the head with the butt of the shotgun.
17.3 POV from floor level of the driver kicking Sneaky Man's pistol across the room.
17.4 The Driver has opened the shotgun's breach and is holding it in the crook of his arm while he fumbles to tear open the wrapped box of shells.
17.5 The Driver has torn the paper and the box itself, shells fly out.
17.5 The Driver jams two shells into the shotgun.
17.6 The Driver snaps the breach shut as he looks up.
17.7 POV of the Driver. The Sneaky Man isn't where he was before.
Page 18
18.1 High POV over the car of the Driver turning, aiming the shotgun as he moves, over to where Sneaky Man is now. Sneaky Man is in the background of the panel picking up his pistol (the path of the pistol when the Driver kicked it is in a more-or-less straight line from the trunk of the car.
Sneaky Man: Wait.
18.2 Full profile frame of Sneaky Man. He holds his gun to his side and holds his left hand out in front of him palm out as he slowly walks forward.
Sneaky Man: You're confused and afraid. But, you're also skeptical and resourceful; I respect that. You bid your time until you could get to your car and a weapon.
18.3 A full forward frame of The Driver, still "faceless", points the shotgun directly at the reader. We are, in a sense, in Sneaky Man's place.
Driver: Stay Back!
18.4 Close on Sneaky Man at Panel Right, his voice bubble using the rest of the frame.
Sneaky Man: We're on the same side. You just don't know it yet.
18.5 Close on the Driver.
Driver: I'm not on any side! I'm getting the fuck out of here!
Sneaky Man: You can’t leave.
Page 19
19.1 Profile of the Driver (Panel Right) advancing on Sneaky Man (Panel Left). Sneaky Man's hands are at his sides, he makes no move to defend himself.
Driver: Stop threatening me!
Sneaky Man: I'm not.
19.2 Close on Sneaky Man.
Sneaky Man: The gasoline supply has been sabotaged, the roads are being watched, and the phones are down. I'm stuck here too.
19.3 A profile of the Driver at Panel Right (so we see his right side, emphasizing the shotgun) and Sneaky Man at Panel Left (so we see his left side, and not the pistol he holds in his right hand against his thigh.)
Sneaky Man leans forward slightly as he confides in the Driver. He gestures with his left had, but his right stays by his side.
Sneaky Man: It's all part of an experiment.
Driver: Whose?
Sneaky Man: Isn't it obvious? The Government.
Sneaky Man: They've this technology for a long time. I'd bet that the poison They used here was a new formula, but They've been using a form of it on the Middle East for a long time. How do you think we got the local support against the Soviets in Afghanistan?
19.4 Close on the Driver.
Driver: We offered aid against their oppressors.
Sneaky Man (this voice bubble overlaps with the gutter between this panel and 19.5): Don't be naive.
19.5 Close on Sneaky Man.
Sneaky Man: They wanted to be sure. They used it after that, all over the region, to keep things unstable and justify the money funneled into the Military/Industrial Complex.
Page 20
20.1 Sneaky Man has become more animated, the Driver has relaxed somewhat, he still has the shotgun ready, but not as directly aimed at Sneaky Man.
Driver: So, you're telling me that the government has deliberately poisoned the air with a drug that makes people believe that a conspiracy is out to get them; and, it drives them to recruit other people to fight it.
Sneaky Man: Exactly.
Driver: Why? Why here?
Sneaky Man: It's an experiment to discredit Religion.
Driver: What?
Sneaky Man: The people around here don't worry about The Government; they worry about "The Erosion of Family Values", "The Homosexual Agenda", and "The Satanic Conspiracy". If you dose them with this stuff they'll think it's the Apocalypse, yet another example of Religious Extremists hurting themselves and others.
Sneaky Man: It's genius, in a terrible way, what are the two things that everybody gets passionate about?
Sneaky Man: Religion and Politics; if they get rid of Religion all that's left is Politics.
Sneaky Man: They'll, pardon the expression, go from being Kings to God-Kings.
Driver: You want to know what I think?
20.2 A panel of the driver pointing his shotgun at the reader.
Driver: I think you're insane.
Driver: Something happened here, like a chemical spill or an industrial accident; so they evacuated this town and you wouldn't leave
Driver: I think you've been running around, all by yourself, turning this town into your own Insane-Conspiracy-Playground.
Sneaky Man (off-panel): I should have known…
Page 21
21.1 The Driver aims the shotgun, Sneaky Man aims his pistol. Both are a split second from firing.
Sneaky Man: …You’re one of Them!
21.2 Extreme close on the Shotgun, muzzle flash blazing. No Sound Effect.
21.3 Close on the Driver pulling off the gas mask.
21.4 Close on the Driver's face, mouth open and eyes wide.
21.5 The Driver turns clutching his stomach with one and and clamping a hand over his mouth with the other.
Page 22
22.1 In the background the Driver is doubled over, holding himself up by the corner of the trunk, vomiting.
In the midground is the shotgun, smoking on the floor.
In the foreground is the corpse of the Sneaky Man and a slowly widening pool of blood.