A Preemptive Strike - part 2

INT. CAR - EVENING

ANTON'S CAR

The following text fades in over black:

Five days later

Anton is driving on a dark highway. The snow has stopped
briefly, but the road is still slippery.

Anton's cell phone RINGS, he picks it up.

ANTON BRODY
You got it?

DAFINO'S CAR

WILLIAM DAFINO
Yeah, I got it. She's in there
now. "La Vida Yoga", it's on main
street here.

WILLIAM DAFINO is sitting in his car outside of the Yoga
Studio, watching as people go in and out. Dafino is a man
in his late 60s with thinning hair and a pot belly.

ANTON'S CAR

ANTON BRODY
Aw, sounds like a cute place.
Maybe you should pop in for a few,
work off some of that beer gut
you've been nurturing for so long.

DAFINO'S CAR

WILLIAM DAFINO
I drag my ass out to this podunk
town for you and you're gonna sass
me?

ANTON'S CAR

ANTON BRODY
Ha ha! You know I'm only kidding.
I'm pretty sure you used to have
a sense of humour.

DAFINO'S CAR

WILLIAM DAFINO
Must have left it back in
Pittsburgh. We good here?

ANTON'S CAR

ANTON BRODY
Yeah, we're good, you go home, get
some rest. Good work tonight.

DAFINO'S CAR

WILLIAM DAFINO
Good luck.

ANTON'S CAR

The call is disconnected. Anton puts his cell phone in the
cup holder and puts his focus back on the road. He
accelerates off the screen.


INT. LA VIDA YOGA - LATER

A group of about forty men and woman are all exercising in
unison to the tune of a slow, relaxing MELODY. We see
several people who look like they are about to pass out. One
man, overweight and in his 40s, isn't really trying. He's
checking his messages on his phone while doing as little
effort as possible to make it appear as though he's trying
to touch his toes.

We focus on Rachel Avery, who's clearly giving it her all.
She has a look of determination on her face as she
stretches. The MUSIC STOPS. She stops exercising in unison
with the rest of the class.

The YOGA INSTRUCTOR at the front of the room is an
intimidating broad-shouldered woman with frizzy grey hair.

YOGA INSTRUCTOR
I'm still seeing a few of you in
the back there not really
trying...if you're not going to
give it your all, you might as
well just go home. Everyone else
though, great effort! I like what
I'm seeing.

The lazy, overweight man rolls his eyes and his wife, who is
sitting beside him, gives him a hard nudge with her elbow.

YOGA INSTRUCTOR
Two minute break and then back at
it!

ANTON BRODY
Hell of a workout, isn't it?

Rachel looks to her left to find an attractive man with a
tan complexion and greying hair sitting beside her.

She smiles awkwardly.

RACHEL AVERY
I suppose so.

ANTON BRODY
She never tires out does she? Must
be fun being married to her.

RACHEL AVERY
Right..

ANTON BRODY
You a regular here?

RACHEL AVERY
(dismissively)
Once a week.

ANTON BRODY
This is my first time...thought it
might help with my back...I get
these cramps sometimes...

It's apparent that Rachel isn't listening.

ANTON BRODY
Hey, I'm sorry, I'm talking your
ear off, aren't I?

The Yoga Instructor is slamming back a purple energy drink,
spilling some of it onto her leotard.

ANTON BRODY
I'm Anton. Nice to meet you...?

Anton extends his hand, prying for Rachel's name.

RACHEL AVERY
Rachel. Nice to meet you, Anton.

She shakes his hand lightly.

ANTON BRODY
You've got great form, you're a
natural at this. Your
Downward-Facing Dog...it's very
refined.

RACHEL AVERY
Excuse me?

Anton smiles.

RACHEL AVERY
Wow, Anton, I don't know who told
you that'd be a good pick up line,
but you might want to rethink your
strategy. And next time, think
about who you're hitting on.

Rachel flashes her wedding band at Anton, gives him the
finger and then stands up.

She grabs her workout mat and moves it a few rows back.

Anton chuckles to himself and scratches his head.

YOGA INSTRUCTOR
OK everyone, back at it! We're
going to kick it up a notch.
Twenty more minutes and we'll call
it a day.

The MUSIC starts back up again.

Anton glances back at Rachel, who's already begun to stretch
again. He smiles to himself and goes back to stretching as
well. He winces in pain as he tries to touch his toes.

The overweight man is seen giving up. He stands up and
leaves the room. The Yoga Instructor shoots him a nasty
look as he passes by, shrugging his shoulders at her.


EXT. LA VIDA YOGA - LATER

The Yoga class is being let out and people are filing out of
the building. Rachel emerges and starts walking toward her
car, which is parked at the side of the street.

ANTON BRODY
Hey, I'm sorry about--Hey, hey!
Wait up!

Anton jogs to catch up, as Rachel starts to walk faster
after hearing his voice.

ANTON BRODY
Listen, I'm sorry about before, I
was out of line. I didn't know
you were married.

Rachel stops and turns around.

RACHEL AVERY
Would it have stopped you if you
knew I was?

ANTON BRODY
Probably not.

Anton grins.

RACHEL AVERY
I figured.

Rachel starts to walk away again.

ANTON BRODY
Can I buy you a coffee?

Rachel stops again.

RACHEL AVERY
You serious?

ANTON BRODY
As a peace offering, nothing more.

Rachel cracks a slight smile.

RACHEL AVERY
It's a little late for caffeine,
isn't it?

ANTON BRODY
A beer then?

RACHEL AVERY
You're really something, you know
that?

ANTON BRODY
I am definitely a handful.

RACHEL AVERY
Exactly. I'll see you next week,
Anton. MAYBE.

Anton smiles.

ANTON BRODY
Next week, then.

Rachel grins slightly.

RACHEL AVERY
Don't be so sure.

Anton turns around and walks away with his hands in his
jacket pockets.

Rachel shakes her head and walks towards her car.

CAR

Rachel slides into her car. She takes her phone out of her
purse and flips it open. There's one message from John.

JOHN AVERY
(text message)
We need to talk, Rachel. Enough
is enough.

Rachel SNAPS her phone shut and TOSSES it on the seat next
to her. She closes her eyes and lays her head back on the
headrest.

After several seconds, she takes her RING off and THROWS it
in the glove compartment.

Rachel starts the car and does a QUICK U-TURN.

She drives up next to Anton and rolls the window down.

RACHEL AVERY
One beer.

Anton gives her a big smile.


INT. CAR - LATER

John is sitting in his car in an empty mall parking lot.
He's rubbing his hands together and listening to the weather
report on the radio.

RADIO
Yeah, that's right Kelly, we're
calling for, you guessed it; snow,
snow, snow! No reprieve from the
white stuff this week, I'm afraid.
Time to pass it on over to Bill
now at the Sports Desk to get an
update on tonight's Penguins
game. How'd they do Bill?
(Bill speaking)
Oh, not too good I'm afraid, seems
they weren't really...

Headlights FLASH in John's rear-view mirror and a white
sedan pulls up next to his car.

John turns the radio off.

The driver looks over at John and frowns. He gets out of
his car.

Close-up on John as we hear the CRUNCHING of snow as the man
walks around John's car. John looks nervous. The man opens
the passenger door and gets in.

The man is FISCHER, a man in his mid-30s with short, curly
dark hair and a dark complexion.

FISCHER
Let's have it.

John nods and reaches into his back seat. He produces a
Manila envelope, similar to the one given to Anton
previously. He hands it to the man.

The man looks confused as he takes the envelope from John.

The man opens it and leafs through the money inside. He
gets to the end and leafs through the bills one more time.

FISCHER
The fuck is this?

JOHN AVERY
Now...I know that's not--

FISCHER
(yelling)
That's less than half!

JOHN AVERY
Listen, I'm trying to explain.
I've had some personal issues that
were...out of my control. I had
to--

FISCHER
Are you fucking kidding me, man? I
don't give a fuck about your
problems! Where's my money?

JOHN AVERY
Listen, I can have it for you next
week, plus inter--

The man PUNCHES John in the face and GRIPS him around the
throat with leather-gloved hands.

FISCHER
You little piece of shit. You're
telling ME how this is gonna go
down? We're going to an ATM right
now and you're givin' me the rest
of my money. Don't think for a
second you can get away with shit
like this. I let you in on that
game as a favor, you did this to
yourself by not knowing when to
quit.

The man RELEASES his grip on John's neck. John leans
forward, COUGHING and GASPING for air.

FISCHER
Let's go. Drive.

John, still COUGHING LOUDLY, glares at Fischer.

Fischer opens his jacket and shows John his pistol.

FISCHER
Drive.

John puts the car into drive.

From high overhead, we see the car leaving the parking lot,
leaving tire tracks in the newly fallen snow.

CUT TO BLACK


INT. HOTEL ROOM - LATER

A pitch-black room.

There's a COMMOTION in the hallway and the door suddenly
SWINGS open, illuminating the room. Anton and Rachel are
kissing passionately.

They move to the bedroom and begin undressing one another.

Anton playfully PUSHES Rachel down onto the bed. He reaches
into his jacket pocket and pulls out the CAMCORDER, which he
quickly sets up on the hotel room desk, hiding it behind the
coffee maker.

RACHEL AVERY
What are you doing? Get over
here!

ANTON BRODY
Just looking for a rubber babe,
one sec.

Anton goes into his wallet and pulls out a condom. He moves
onto the bed.

Rachel puts her hand behind Anton's neck and forces him down
on top of her.

The view of the action pulls back slowly into the viewpoint
of the video camera.

Anton is on top of Rachel, removing the rest of her clothes,
kissing her passionately.

Fade to black, but hold out on fading out the red "record"
symbol for several seconds and then...

FADE TO BLACK


INT. UNKNOWN - DAY

FLASH FORWARD TO AN UNKNOWN POINT IN TIME

A pane of glass is shown. It looks perfectly normal. It's
unclear what exactly is beyond the glass, but it looks like
an indoor environment can be seen beyond. After several
seconds, blood starts running down the glass in long, gooey
streaks.

CUT TO BLACK


EXT. UNKNOWN - EVENING

A garbage bag is floating in the water. It's unclear what
is in the bag, as it THRASHES against the violent activity
of the water. Suddenly, the bag is TOSSED violently against
a rock and an arm appears, jutting out from the side of the
newly torn bag.

CUT TO BLACK


EXT. UNKNOWN - EVENING

An icy pavement surface is shown. It appears to be part of
a parking lot, judging by the painted lines. Suddenly,
blood begins to TRICKLE and SPURT horizontally down the
surface of the ice. It's unknown why this is happening or
where it's coming from at this point. Exasperated GASPING
can be heard as the blood begins to pool on the ice.

THE FLASH FORWARD ENDS AT THIS POINT

CUT TO BLACK


INT. AVERY HOME - LATER

FRONT DOOR

The JINGLING of keys can be heard outside.

Rachel enters the house quietly and closes the door behind
her.

KITCHEN

She walks into the kitchen and pours herself a glass of
milk.

She glances in the den and sees John sleeping on the couch.
The TV is still on. She stares at him with a thoughtful
look.

An infomercial is playing in the background:

TV
(Ron Popeil)
For all the work it does, this
machine should sell for over four
hundred dollars. You know you're
not gonna spend four hundred on
it, you're not gonna spend three
seventy-five or three fifty, not
three twenty-five or even three
hundred. Not two seventy-five or
two fifty, not two twenty-five or
even two hundred dollars, like
you're already thinking.

Rachel suddenly notices that there's an ice pack on John's
face. He stirs in his sleep and the ice pack falls to the
floor.

DEN

Rachel sets the milk down on the counter and walks over to
the den and picks up the ice pack. She stares in confusion
at John's swelling face.

John opens his eyes.

RACHEL AVERY
(startled)
Jesus!

JOHN AVERY
Rachel...

RACHEL AVERY
What the hell happened to you?

John's face wells up with tears of pain as he slowly sits
up.

JOHN AVERY
Just...an argument with someone.
It's nothing.

RACHEL AVERY
For some reason I don't believe
you. What really happened?

John shakes his head and puts his face in his hands.

RACHEL AVERY
You know what...I don't want to
know.

Rachel starts to walk away.

KITCHEN

She stops, her back to John.

RACHEL AVERY
I want you out of here.

JOHN AVERY
I'm not going anywhere, this is my
house too, Rachel.

John slowly rises from the couch.

JOHN AVERY
Can we PLEASE talk about this?

RACHEL AVERY
I have nothing to say to you.

John moves into the kitchen.

JOHN AVERY
Rachel, I told you a thousand
times that what I did--

Rachel interrupts him by knocking over the glass of milk as
she runs upstairs. The glass SHATTERS on the floor.

John stares at the spilt milk. A door SLAMS upstairs.

John bends down and starts picking up the broken shards of
glass.

FADE TO BLACK


INT. AVERY HOME - AFTERNOON

FLARE TO WHITE

DEN

John wakes up with a splitting headache. The light is
blinding in the room, forcing him to squint. His right eye
is a deep purple and swollen and there's a slight red mark
around his neck.

John looks over at the alarm clock; it reads 3:55.

JOHN AVERY
Jesus...

John stands up and knocks over a few beer bottles that were
standing on the floor beside the couch. He stumbles and
almost loses his balance.

SHOWER

Angled shot of John in the shower, he's leaning against the
wall of the shower stall with his head in his hands.

KITCHEN

John is sitting alone at the dinner table eating Kraft
Dinner while pressing a bag of peas against his swollen
right eye. The sun is now starting to set, illuminating the
room in an orange glow. The time on the clock reads 5:46.


EXT. AVERY HOME - LATER

It's now dark outside and snowing heavily. John's
neighbour, ED, a talkative man in his 70s, is salting his
driveway.

John locks the front door of his home and heads to his car.

ED
Evenin' there, John.

JOHN AVERY
Hey, Ed.

ED
Storm's movin' in there, looks
like. Gonna be a big one.

JOHN AVERY
Yep.

ED
Oh, haven't really had a good
storm in a while. Back in '77,
that was a good one. Two feet O'
snow that one was, had us buried
in the stuff. This one's gonna be
a good one, you can bet.

JOHN AVERY
Yeah, real good Ed.

ED
I was down at the shop last
weekend, the fellas were sayin'
it'll pass over. Ol' Frank
Zimmerman, he was sayin' it'd pass
right by, no problem with this
one, he said. I tells em' though,
I tells 'em this one's gonna be a
big one. Bigger than most of 'em,
even. You remember that one from
'77 dontcha? Three feet O' snow I
think that one was, had us buried
up to our chins.

John gets into his car while Ed is still talking and
salting.

ED
Gotta get a head start on the
shovellin' though, it's gonna be a
big one. I keep tellin' 'em...you
gotta be prepared.

John pulls out of the driveway and drives off as Ed
continues talking and salting.