OPERATION FREEDOM Written by James Zeman
OVER BLACK You ready? I... I don t know. We don t have time for indecision here. (indecisive) Right. So? (reluctant, fear) I m ready. You don t sound ready. You ll have to take my word for it, then. EXT. HOUSE - NIGHT A typical suburban neighborhood lined with cookie cutter houses. (34) and (32) stand huddled at the bottom of the steps of a house carefully out of the line of sight from the houses. The light from the house gives us a view of their faces; Andrew stern and steady, Joel nervous and twitchey with a glistening of sweat that is out of place for such a breezy night. Joel struggles to stay focused. Hey. Hey! Look at me. He grabs Joel s face forcefully. I m here, I m here. He let s go of Joel s face.
2. Alright. You understand this needs to be done, right? Joel gives an unsure nod Payback. That s right. It s a lot, man. Remember what was done to us over there? Joel drifts off in thought of this. Hey! I m here. (CONT D) What s going through your head right now. I need you sharp. As sharp as you can be anyway. It s dangerous. Doing this without the ring. The ring can t help us now. I ve seen what was done to you. Shit, you can t even go out in public anymore. You want the cure? You want you re life back? You re about to stare your answer in the face and you cannot-- you will not blink first. Joel looks at his shaky hands. (CONT D) Don t worry, they will even out when you need em. You got the package?
3. You already asked me. Okay, okay. Andrew gives Joel a confident nod. Mickey needs me ya know. All he s got is his big brother. And you know damn well he believes in our cause just as much as anyone. Joel s face straights out and for the first time a hint of confidence shines through. (CONT D) (a slight smirk) It s going to be messy. I hope you know that. Silence for a beat. The two men stare at each other until Joel finally breaks off... I like it messy. Joel turns and head for the door but turns back suddenly. (CONT D) In case something happens, tell Mickey... (stern) Whatever you need to tell Mickey, you tell him yourself. Joel nods, Andrew returns it. Joel turns to the door, stares. Sweat drips from his brow as he swallows, takes a deep breath and marches to the door swinging it open... INT. HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS It s an old ladies birthday party and the living room is filled with guest. NANA sits in the center of the living room with a cheesy birthday hat on.
4. POP sits in the corner outside the circle of people with a stiff drink in his hand. NANA s daughter, sits next to her and is in the mists of helping her open the present, she can barley rip the wrapping paper with her frail little fingers. SLOW MOTION The partiers faces morph to shock and fear as Joel b-lines it towards Amy. Nana stares at Joel with utter disgust as she rips her present open with a sudden bout of strength, snapping the tape like a twig. Joel walks past POP and snatches his drink from his hand as he goes for a swig, downing the drink and throwing it against the wall. He reaches in his coat pocket as approaches Amy, a few people duck. He takes out a manila envelope and hands it to Amy. END SLOW MOTION Shocked, Amy takes the envelope in a manner that seems more like a reflex when someone hands you something. I know. It s over. Amy glances at Joel s hand, no ring. (CONT D) (to Nana, facetious) Happy birthday, Nana. Pop, cheap whiskey. Nana looks like she is about to tear Joel to shreds. Pop shrugs quietly and sips the new drink that has somehow formed in his hand. Joel doesn t bother to let Amy speak. He turns and heads back for the door and for the first time he has no shakes, no sweat, nothing but the smile of a free man. Do you really think I would let you off that easily? Joel stops in his tracks. Click-click. Amy holds an Uzi. The rest of the room pull out weapons. Nana has a 12 gauge shotgun, Pops holds a grenade launcher, carefully balanced against his hip so he can have his drink in his free hand. Nope.
5. Lights out. The room goes black and red beams instantaneously shine in from the windows, one for each member of the party. BAM! Like it was one shot they all fire and everyone goes down. We hear chatter from a radio on Joel that sounds like, clear. The lights go one and Amy and Joel are left standing. (calm) You killed my Nana. You fucked my boss-- On my couch. I liked that couch. It made the room. It didn t work. (defensive) It went with everything. I was talking about us. Still. It could ve been handled it differently. We were too far gone, Joel. I was talking about the couch. With that, Joel heads for the door, stepping over a dead Pop s as he goes. (desperate) I m going to make this messy. You should know that. Joel glances around the room as he chuckles to himself. He takes one more look at Amy and exits, leaving her were she stands. END.
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