The Very Best of Tad Williams (38 page)

YOUNG ERIC

Topher, what exactly the hell are you talking about?

TOPHER slides from the couch onto the floor, takes a theatrical swig from the rum bottle, enjoying everyone’s attention. Just to piss them off, he takes an elaborate time lighting a cigarette, too.

YOUNG BRENT

Come on. Jesus!

YOUNG JANICE

Ooh, the mystery man.

TOPHER

Okay, you know the lab? The place my old man works?

YOUNG BRENT

Where you have a job pushing a broom on Saturday mornings?

TOPHER

(unfazed)

Yeah. That lab. Well, Castillo the fuckin’ head janitor had to go home because he got sick—he was, like, green—and he left me the keys to lock up. Man, normally he’d rather leave me alone with his fuckin’ daughter than even let me touch ’em, but he was in bad shape, pukin’ his lungs out all over the restroom...

YOUNG ERIC

You have a gift for storytelling, amigo.

TOPHER

I do, don’t I? So anyway, I thought it might be a good time to check out the drug refrigerator, the one that’s always locked with this big old fuckin’ lock? Just in case they had some like pharmaceutical quality coke lying around, or some shit like that.

KIMMY

Topher! You could go to jail.

TOPHER

Not unless I was stupid enough to get caught. So I’m checking it out, and they’ve got a little glass jar of these babies in the back, in some kind of a plastic envelope, with all these yellow warning stickers. The name was fucked up—Dee-oh-noxy-somefucking or other—but right there on the label it says, “hallucinogen.” You know what that means, right, Pierson? ’Cause you’re so smart and shit in English?

YOUNG ERIC

You stole some drugs you don’t know anything about, except they said “hallucinogen”? You’re crazy, Topher.

TOPHER

(suddenly angry)

Don’t fucking talk to me like you’re my dad or something, Pierson. I’m not stupid. I had the keys, remember, like to the files and stuff? I went and looked in the folders, checked it out. It’s an experimental drug they’re working on for some government project, and it’s basically just like acid, except cleaner, ’cause there’s a couple of different electrons or some chemistry shit like that.

YOUNG BRENT

Fuckin A. Experimental acid? For the government? What kind of shit is that?

YOUNG ERIC

And you just walked off with ’em? Like they’re not going to notice.

TOPHER

Cool out, man. I found some other pills that looked just like ’em—some kinda water-retention shit. So if they give ’em out to somebody for an experiment they won’t get high, they’ll just get...whatever. Bloated.

(cackles)

And the scientist guys’ll just say it’s like “a nonstandard reaction to the medication.” I hear my dad talk about this stuff.

(brightly)

So, whaddaya say? Let’s get high!

YOUNG JANICE

(incredulous)

Huh? You don’t think we’re going to take those, do you?

KIMMY

I think maybe I should go home.

YOUNG BRENT

No! No, don’t, Kimmy. It’s cool. We’re just going to take acid—Topher’s only playing around.

TOPHER

I ain’t fuckin’ playin’ around, Zenger. This is fuckin’ straight up. What, are you all pussies? No offense, ladies.

YOUNG ERIC

Just cool out, Topher. It was pretty amazing you did that, but we’re not going to take something no one’s ever heard about. What is this “Black Sunshine” shit, anyway? They give their drugs names like that?

TOPHER

I made it up. Pretty bitchin’, huh? I made a copy of Castillo’s key too. If this shit is half as good as I think it is, I’m gonna creep half the next batch and sell it for ten bucks a hit. Send some to Ozzy and the boys and get a backstage pass forever. Come on, Pierson—it’ll be far fucking out!

ERIC shakes his head grimly. BRENT has already begun giving out his WINDOWPANE ACID to the girls.

YOUNG BRENT

Just forget it, Holland. Come on, you’ll blow the mood. We’re just getting to the good part of this song.

BRENT puts his own portion on his tongue, then hands the rest to ERIC; as ERIC takes his, the girls look at each other.

YOUNG JANICE

We’re just going to take half.

They break one hit of acid in half and each take part, KIMMY having trouble swallowing. ERIC turns and offers the last squares of WINDOWPANE on his fingertip to TOPHER.

TOPHER

I can’t fuckin’ believe you guys. The last night of summer. Fuckin’ lightweights! What have you got to lose, Erky? You ain’t even staying around this asshole town.

He holds the five black pills in his hands and stares at them, then stares at ERIC’s proffered acid. BRENT has his eyes closed, swaying to the music— one hand is against KIMMY’s leg, which she’s trying to ignore. TOPHER looks them all over, then abruptly THROWS the five pills up in the air.

CLOSE ON: BLACK PILLS, TUMBLING

As they come down, TOPHER lets them fall into his mouth like candy. It’s hard to tell whether they all make it in—at least one bounces away—but from the way TOPHER holds his mouth closed, he’s clearly got some.

YOUNG ERIC

(genuinely startled)

Fuck, man, what are you doing...?

YOUNG JANICE

Topher? You’re joking, right? Spit them out!

TOPHER swallows elaborately, then grins.

TOPHER

Party time...!

DISSOLVE TO:

INT.—JANICE’S HOUSE—MIDNIGHT

ADULT ERIC and ADULT JANICE have fallen asleep on the couch, curled together. Shadows are moving across their faces—it’s windy outside. JANICE is twitching. ERIC is murmuring in his sleep, small, unintelligible sounds of fear.

INT.—BRENT’S HOUSE—SAME TIME

ADULT BRENT is lying face down on the rug with the bottle of rum tipped over beside him, wind moaning in the chimney. At first we think he might be dead, but as we move closer we see the sixth BULLET is still gripped in his fingertips.

INT.—CONVALESCENT HOSPITAL—SAME TIME TOPHER’S POV:

We are looking down a long hospital corridor, from TOPHER’S POV—it’s his odd SHADOW we see on the wall beside us. The wind is loud now, wailing. As the shadow passes across the open doors of the patients’ rooms, we hear some of them cry out loudly in nightmares. We see others flail in their beds. The shadow passes the nursing station where the DUTY NURSE is sleeping as though she’s been poleaxed; as the shadow crosses her she flinches and whimpers. A few more steps and our POV reaches the hospital’s front doors, which FLY OPEN so hard the glass shatters. The sound of the wind is a ROAR now. POV pauses for a moment, looking out on the dark and the trees.

We are now behind the dark humanoid SHAPE, which moves out the doors, out of our view. The doors swing back, as if the force that held them open has released them. A few more shards of glass tinkle. The winds are still fierce.

Our viewpoint turns, moving back down the hall much faster than we came the other way, past the sleeping nurse, past a few patients wandering in the hall, lost and weeping, to TOPHER’s room.

On the bed is the hardened shell of TOPHER’S DISCARDED SKIN, a horrible relic, clearly empty now, lying cracked open, broken into several pieces on the white sheets.

SLOW DISSOLVE TO:

INT.—JANICE’S HOUSE—MORNING CLOSE ON ADULT ERIC’S FACE:

He’s sleeping, still fully dressed on the couch. JANICE comes into the room in a bathrobe, toweling her hair. She stands over him, a look of troubled fondness on her face, then lays her hand on his cheek for a long moment before sliding it down to his shoulder and gently shaking him.

JANICE

Wake up, Rip Van Winkle. The power’s off. I used most of the not-very-hot water on a quick shower, so you have a choice—a cup of lukewarm water to wash with, or a cup of lukewarm water to make instant coffee with.

ERIC

(groaning)

An embarrassment of riches. Jesus, give me the coffee, please.

(a beat)

It was nice. Holding you last night.

JANICE

Oh, shit! It’s Saturday, isn’t it? I have to call the kids about when they’re coming in so I can pick
them up. Where’s my watch?

(she examines it)

After ten. Damn.

ERIC

When are they due back?

JANICE

Tomorrow. School starts on Monday.

(she picks up the phone)

Oh, damn, damn, damn, the phone’s out too. I knew I should have gotten a cell phone.

ERIC

Use mine. Shit, dead battery. Okay, we’ll drive into town. Maybe stop somewhere and get some actually hot coffee, hmmm?

JANICE

(a sudden thought)

Eric, how can I let them come back to...to this stuff? To their mother having some kind of breakdown, complete with screaming daytime nightmares?

ERIC

I think the parenting magazines always say, “Tell them the truth.”

(a beat)

But speaking as a journalist, I doubt the writers have ever had this particular problem to deal with.

JANICE

Speaking as non-journalist and parent...thanks a lot.

CUT TO:

INT./EXT.—DRIVING THROUGH TOWN—MORNING

The storm damage is pretty extensive—trees down in the road, some power poles and phone poles tipped over. Many stores have plywood or plastic sheeting in place of windows and people are sweeping up the sidewalks. There’s no power anywhere, including the traffic lights. ERIC stops at an intersection where a COP is directing traffic.

ERIC

Hey, officer, do you know if any of the pay phones are working?

COP

Not right around here. Besides the wind, we must have had a little electrical storm or something— there’s a lot of stuff on the fritz besides just phone lines. Screwing up our radios, too. And some of the power poles actually caught fire.

JANICE and ERIC for the first time look at each other, a dawning idea that something is not completely ordinary here. ERIC pulls out of the line of cars so he can continue talking to the officer.

ERIC

So...so where would the nearest working phones be?

COP

You’d practically have to get to the county line, I think, other side of the hills. PacBell’s got crews out though. They should have the service on in a couple of hours. Power might take a little longer...

CUT TO:

INT./EXT.—DRIVING—MINUTES LATER

There are repair crews out along the road. ERIC and JANICE are behind an ambulance and firetruck, which turn down a side road.

ERIC

(slowing car)

That’s...

JANICE

They’re going to the convalescent hospital. Have to be. It’s the only thing down there.

ERIC pulls the car around and follows the ambulance, as we

CUT TO:

EXT.—HOSPITAL—MINUTES LATER

The front grounds of Las Lomas Convalescent Hospital are a surreal sight. Many of the windows are broken out, and a tree has crashed down on the front of the building, smashing the roof and damaging one of the walls. Several of the patients are wandering around the grounds, many still in nightgowns. Police and fire people are trying to clear some of them out of the driveway so the firetruck and ambulance can get in.

ERIC and JANICE park the car and walk across the front lawn. Some of the patients are just wandering. Others seem frightened or dreamy, but all turn to STARE fixedly at ERIC and JANICE as they walk past.

The ADMINISTRATOR is standing next to the fallen tree, talking to one of the police officers while the ambulance paramedics roll a stretcher in through the ruined doors. The ADMINISTRATOR looks up in surprise as ERIC and JANICE approach.

ADMINISTRATOR

Mrs. Moorehead? Did someone...? I mean, how could anyone have called you when the phones are out...?

JANICE

Called me? Why would anyone call me?

ADMINISTRATOR

(flustered)

Oh. I just thought...because of your friend, Mr. Holland.

(her look grows sharper)

If no one called you, how did you know?

CUT TO:

INT.—HOSPITAL—MINUTES LATER

ERIC and JANICE are walking fast down the hallway, across leaves and other debris which have blown in through the broken doors and windows. The NURSE is walking with them, talking fast and nervously.

NURSE

He’s the only one...it’s a miracle more didn’t wander away—it was terrible! Some of them were so frightened they hid under the beds and we missed them when we did the count this morning.