(laughing)
Ain't that just like Alton and Melinda Hatcher's daughter. Perfect.
(grows serious)
People know this one's bad, and if they hear the siren, they'll come. You needn't worry about that. Now you came to look at the emergency shelter setup, didn't you?
MIKE Thought it might not be a bad idea.
URSULA
(gets up)
We can handle three hundred for three days, a hundred and fifty for a week. And if what I'm hearing on the radio's right, we may have to. Come on, let's look.
They start out of the room, URSULA leading.
52 INTERIOR: ROBBIE BEALS, CLOSE- UP.
His face is HORRIFIED, UNBELIEVING.
ROBBIE Oh, my God.
WEATHER LADY (voice-over) So enough doom and gloom, already! Let's talk SUNSHINE!
THE CAMERA PULLS BACK and we see he is kneeling beside MARTHA in her hall, performing the useless ritual of trying to take her pulse. We can see her wrist and the bloodstained cuff of her dress, but that's all. ROBBIE looks around, unbelieving.
In the background, the WEATHER LADY is spieling on. LINOGE broke the TV, but she's there, just the same.
WEATHER LADY (voice-over)
The finest weather in the U.S. today? Well, there's no question about that; the Big Island of Hawaii! Temperatures in the high seventies to low eighties, plus an onshore breeze to cool things off. And things ain't too shabby in Florida, either. Last week's chill there is a thing of the past. In Miami temperatures are in the mid-seventies, and how about San-ibel Island and beautiful Captiva?
If you're down that way, you'll be picking up shells with plenty of sunshine to show you the way and temps in the high eighties.
41
ROBBIE Is anybody here?
He gets to his feet. He looks first at the walls, where some of MARTHA'S nice old pictures are now dotted with a fine spray of blood. Then he looks at the floor and sees more blood: the thin line drawn by LINOGE'S cane and those big, dark smacks that were left by DAVEY'S bouncing ball.
ROBBIE
Is anybody here?
He pauses, undecided, then starts down the hall.
53 BLACK.
A BANK OF OVERHEAD FLUORESCENTS SNAPS ON, revealing the spacious basement room of the town hall. This room is ordinarily used for dances, Bingo, and various town functions. Signs on the pine-paneled walls remind visitors of the volunteer fire department blood drive, which will be held right here. Now the room is filled with cots, each with a small pillow at its head and a folded blanket at its foot. At the far end are stacks of coolers, cartons of bottled water, and a big radio with its digital readout flashing.
URSULA and MIKE stand looking at this.
URSULA Good?
MIKE
You know it is.
(she smiles) How's the supply closet?
URSULA
Full, just like you wanted. Concentrates, mostly pour the water over the powder and then gag it down but nobody'll starve.
MIKE You did all this yourself?
URSULA
Me and Pete's sister, Tavia. Be discreet, you said. Don't panic anyone.
MIKE
42
Ayuh, that's what I said. How many people know we're stocked for World War III?
URSULA
(perfectly serene) Everyone.
MIKE winces but doesn't look too surprised.
MIKE No secrets on the island.
URSULA (a bit defensive)
I didn't talk, Mike Anderson, and neither did Tavia. Mostly it was Robbie Beals who spread the tattle. Madder than a wet hen about all this, he is. Claims you're costing the town money for no reason.
MIKE
Well . . . we'll see. (pause) Tell you one thing, his kid makes a hell of a good monkey.
URSULA What?
MIKE
Never mind.
URSULA Want to look in the storage?
MIKE I think I'll trust you. Let's go back up.
She reaches for the switch, then pauses. Her face is troubled.
URSULA How serious is this, Mike?
MIKE
I don't know. I hope Robbie Deals can kick my ass for being an alarmist, come town meeting next month. Come on. Let's go-
43
URSULA flicks the switch and the room GOES BLACK.
54 INTERIOR: MARTHA CLARENDON'S LIVING ROOM.
We're looking toward the hall door. The TV is louder. It's an ad for a litigation law firm. Have you been injured in an accident? Can't work? Lost your mind?
TV ANNOUNCER (voice-over)
You feel hopeless. You may even feel that the whole world is against you. But the firm of Macintosh and Redding will stand with you and see that you get your day in court. Don't make a bad situation worse! When life hands you a bag of lemons, we can help you make lemonade! Stick it to them before they can stick it to you! If you have been injured in an accident, you may have thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars waiting for you. So don't wait. Call now. Pick up the phone and dial 1-800-1- STIK-EM. That's 1 ... 800 ...
ROBBIE comes into the doorway. His arrogance and authority have gone. He looks rumpled, nauseated, and scared to death.
55 INTERIOR: THE LIVING ROOM, FROM ROBBIE'S POINT OF VIEW.
The TV is smashed to hell, smoking . . . but still the TV AD blares on.
TV ANNOUNCER (voice-over)
(continues)
One-STIK-EM. Get what's coming to you. Haven't you been through enough?
We can see the top of LINOGE'S head over the back of the chair. There is a SLURP as he sips tea.
56 INTERIOR: THE LIVING ROOM, A WIDER ANGLE.
We're mostly over ROBBIE'S shoulder, here, looking at the smashed but still talking TV and the top of LINOGE'S head.
ROBBIE
Who are you?
The TV falls silent. Outside, we hear the WIND OF THE RISING STORM. Slowly, slowly, the SNARLING SILVER WOLF rises above the back of the chair, pointed at ROBBIE like a sinister puppet.
Its eyes and muzzle seem to DRIP BLOOD. It wags slowly back and forth like a pendulum.
LINOGE (voice) Born in sin, come on in.
44
ROBBIE flinches, opens his mouth, then closes it again. What do you say to a remark like that?
