SLiTHER





                         written by
                         James Gunn









                                          September 10, 2004
  
  
  FADE IN:
  
  INT. HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOM -- DAY
  
  CLOSEUP: A slender woman's hand writes on a chalkboard,
  in teacherly cursive.
  
  We PULL BACK to REVEAL STARLA GRANT, a stunningly beautiful
  Southern woman in her twenties, as she finishes writing
  out, "SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST"
  
  Starla glances at the classroom of high school students. 
  She is a demure woman, somewhat awkward in her speaking,
  but she has the rapt attention of all the boys in the
  class.
  
                      STARLA
            When Darwin said 'fittest,' he
            didn't necessarily mean the
            strongest or the most intelligent,
            or any one trait -- he merely meant
            those organisms most well--suited
            to their environment.
  
  The boys in the class look her up and down as she speaks. 
  KYLIE STRUTEMYER, a pretty student, notices a BOY beside
  her drawing Starla, only without her clothes. She hits
  him. He CHUCKLES.
  
                      STARLA
            We humans think we're more fit,
            more evolved, because we're smarter. 
            But we're neophytes. We've been
            around two million years, give or
            take. The cockroach has been here
            for 350 million. You tell me who's
            the more successful species.
  
  A BOY raises his hand.
  
                      STARLA
            Will.
  
                      WILL
            How's all this go with how the
            Bible says there ain't no dinosaurs?
  
  Some of the kids LAUGH at the boy. Starla pauses, about
  to answer, when the BELL RINGS.
  
                      STARLA
            We'll tackle that tomorrow...
            Everyone bring your boxing gloves.
  
  The kids start to leave.
  
  EXT. MAIN STREET -- DAY
  
  Celebratory banners are strung over this street, including
  one that reads: "DEER SEASON STARTS TODAY!" We're in the
  center of Wheelsy, South Carolina, a moderately depressed
  small town. Today's a big day, as HUNTERS from far and
  near crowd the streets in their massive pickups.
  
  MEN spill in and out of a gun store buying loads of
  ammunition. OLD HUNTERS with faces like prunes stand
  outside Angell's Tavern getting drunk. A MAN WITH FEW
  TEETH has a dead deer strung out across the back of his
  truck, skinning the carcass, its innards spilling loose.
  
  JACK, an older, uptight man in fancy clothes, is driving
  through town in his big old Cadillac. He comes upon a
  hunter's truck, double--parked, jamming up traffic. Jack
  jams on his HORN.
  
                      JACK
            Get the fuck out of the way,
            cocksucker!
  
  Jack turns to see a MOTHER and her two CHILDREN on the
  sidewalk, listening and staring in shock.
  
                      MOTHER
            Mornin', Mayor.
  
  Jack smiles, a bit embarrassed. Jack notices a group of
  HUNTERS on the sidewalk, looking and pointing at something
  up in the sky.
  
  He looks up to see a small meteor plummeting toward earth.
  
  EXT. HIGH SCHOOL -- DAY
  
  Students file out of the open door for the day. Kylie,
  Starla's pretty student, is among them. She and her FRIEND
  are looking up at the falling meteor.
  
                      KYLIE
            Prolly go find it later, sell it
            on eBay.
  
  EXT. HORSE RANCH -- DAY
  
  A RANCHER with a cleft palate turns his head to see the
  meteor, much closer to him. It's rushing down toward the
  treetops of a nearby forest.
  
  INT. GRANT'S OFFICE -- DAY
  
  A framed wedding photograph of a very young Starla and a
  large man is sitting on a desk. The photo TREMBLES
  LIGHTLY, with the impact of the meteor hitting the earth.
  
  GRANT GRANT, a large, indelicate man in his mid forties,
  notices the photos on his desk moving. He looks up from
  his desk and out his door, where there's a GLASS WORKSHOP. 
  Two WORKERS are carrying a large pane of glass, looking
  relieved they didn't drop it.
  
                      GRANT
            Just a tremor, boys.
  
  Grant goes back to filling out the tags of file folders
  with a Sharpie.
  
  EXT. POLICE STATION -- DAY
  
  Four cops -- BILL PARDY, the town's young, relaxed, and
  handsome Chief of Police, WALLY, an older, toad--like cop,
  TREVOR, a younger, somewhat goofy cop, and MARGARET, a
  mannish cop -- are standing stock--still in the station
  parking lot. They CHUCKLE.
  
                      TREVOR
            Did ya' feel that?!
  
  They enter the station.
  
  INT. POLICE STATION -- DAY
  
  The four cops start to remove their holsters and so forth,
  finished for the day.
  
                      TREVOR
            I always get afraid when that
            happens, 'cause what if the ground
            cracks open and you fall inside? 
            It's so hot in there you get all
            burnt to nothin' like that --
                  (snaps)
            Happened to my uncle Barry.
  
  Wally and Bill LAUGH at him.
  
                      WALLY
            Who told you that story, Trevor?
  
                      TREVOR
            My aunt.
  
                      BILL
            Your uncle Barry left her for a
            stripper up in Winnsboro.
  
  Trevor looks shocked, sad.
  
  SHELBY, a slightly dim dispatcher, on his headset at the
  police operator's unit, swirls toward them, alarmed.
  
                      SHELBY
            Chief! We got a 'mergency over at
            the diner!
  
  INT. DINER -- LATER 
  The four cops move in. There's a COMMOTION. Most of the 
  patrons are standing. 
  
                      WAITRESS 
            Back there, Bill!
  
  The Waitress nods back through the service window, into
  the kitchen, where a large DOE is hopping around. A
  DISHWASHER stands on the counter, YELPING with fear.
  
  INT. DINER KITCHEN -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Bill, Wally, Trevor, Margaret, and the Waitress enter. 
  The doe skips around.
  
                      WAITRESS
            She slipped in, was eating trash. 
            We seen it on TV, how they kill
            ya'--
  
                      BILL
            Right.
  
                      WAITRESS
            So we thought we best call in.
  
  Bill spots the open rear door, and tries to herd the deer
  toward it.
  
                      BILL
            Come on now, honey, door's this
            way.
  
                      MARGARET
            It's open season. Let's shoot
            her.
  
                      BILL
            She's just scared, Margaret.
  
                      WALLY
            Also, Bill likes to take a female
            through the back door any chance
            he gets.
  
  Wally and Margaret LAUGH. Trevor snatches a dish--towel
  and rushes the doe, using it like a cape. The scared doe
  leaps away from him, jumping onto the kitchen counter.
  
                      BILL
            She ain't a bull, Trevor!
  
  The animal kicks off a pot, which hits Margaret.
  
                      MARGARET
            Goddamn bambi--rat!
  
  As the doe jumps to the floor, she gets her hoof wrapped
  in a telephone cord.
  
  The cord is plugged into the wall, trapping the doe in
  place. Wally, Margaret, and Trevor attempt to dive for
  the cord, but can't avoid the doe's crazy, flying hooves.
  
                      BILL
            Get back.
  
  The other cops step away. Bill steps slowly toward the
  doe, speaking calmly.
  
                      BILL
            It's okay, sweetheart. Nobody's
            gonna hurt you.
  
  The doe looks at him, settling a bit. His voice seems to
  be soothing her. Bill gets closer.
  
                      BILL
            That's right. Just gonna pull
            this cord out. It's gonna be all
            right.
  
  The cops and restaurant folk look on in awe as the doe,
  breathing heavily, becomes still. Bill scoops close past
  her, and yanks the telephone cord out of the wall.
  
  Bill smiles. Then the doe runs forward, almost knocking
  Bill over, and streaks out the back door.
  
  Bill, Wally, Margaret, and Trevor move up to the doorway
  and watch the deer skitter off into the woods beyond,
  dragging the telephone, tied to her leg.
  
                      BILL
            Hell, she took a phone. Now them
            forest critters are gonna be calling
            us all hours of the night.
  
  Everyone LAUGHS. Wally pretends to be on the phone.
  
                      WALLY
            Chief of police there? This a
            squirrel. Bring me a bag of
            peanuts, motherfucker!
  
  Everyone LAUGHS some more.
  
  INT. GLASS WORKSHOP -- EVENING
  
  Grant locks his office for the day. His SECRETARY sees
  him going.
  
                      SECRETARY
            'Night, Mr. Grant.
  
                      GRANT
            See ya', Ashley.
  
  Grant walks across the workshop toward the door. He sees
  a crowd of WORKERS lounging around a glass--cutting table,
  LAUGHING at something.
  
  Some of them nod at Grant, and he nods back. But he's
  completely outside their circle.
  
  EXT. GRANT HOUSE -- NIGHT
  
  A sizable two--story suburban home. All the lights are
  off but one.
  
                      GRANT (O.S.)
            So I get home today, phone's
            ringing. It's Hank Wilcox.
  
  INT. GRANT DINING ROOM -- NIGHT
  
  Starla and Grant eat dinner in this well--decorated room. 
  As Grant chatters, Starla occasionally smiles politely at
  him.
  
                      GRANT
            Callin' for you. What the hell? 
            I said, 'Hank, that's a little bit
            outta line don't'cha think, a single
            man callin' someone's wife?' At
            night, nonetheless.
  
  Starla is quiet, almost afraid:
  
                      STARLA
            He's teaching environmental science,
            Grant. Probably wants to borrow
            my lesson plans from last semester.
  
                      GRANT
            Oh yeah, that's what he wants to
            borrow, this guy.
  
                      STARLA
            It's just a work thing.
  
                      GRANT
            Work thing hell, Starla. He just
            wants to get in your pussy. Him
            and most these other ones around
            here. That's where their minds is
            at, them sick fucks.
  
  Grant takes a big bite of food, stuffing his mouth.
  
                      GRANT
            I'll tell you, sugarplum, you're
            lucky you got me. You're too damn
            trusting. Without me to protect
            you, you'd get kilt one of these
            days.
  
  Starla nods.
  
  INT. GRANT MASTER BATHROOM -- LATER
  
  Starla stares at herself in the mirror as she brushes her
  hair. She uses long, slow strokes, as if stalling.
  
                      GRANT (O.S.)
            Sugarplum, you coming into bed?
  
  Starla turns toward the door. She doesn't say anything
  for a moment.
  
                      STARLA
            Just a second.
  
  Starla sets her brush down on the counter. She arranges
  it neatly beside the others. And walks into the bedroom.
  
  INT. GRANT BEDROOM -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Grant turns off the TV as Starla gets into bed with him. 
  It's almost completely dark in here.
  
  Grant crawls on top of Starla. He kisses her and grabs
  her in a way not meant to be rough, but is utterly without
  grace.
  
  After doing this for a few moments, Starla starts to push
  him off her.
                      STARLA
            Grant, no -- I'm sorry, I'm just --
            I'm not in the mood.
  Grant is on top of her, breathing a little too heavy.
                      GRANT
            Come on, baby, it's --
  
                      STARLA
            I'm sorry. I don't just have some 
            switch. 
  
                      GRANT 
            Sure you do.
  
  Through Starla's nightgown, Grant pretends to flick one
  of her nipples.
  
                      GRANT
            Flip.
  
            Then the other.
  
                      GRANT
            Flip.
  
                      STARLA
            That's disrespectful.
  
  Grant, peeved, gets off of her. He sits on the edge of
  the bed for a moment, in silence. Starla looks afraid.
  
                      GRANT
            When are you in the mood, exactly? 
            Seems to me that mood's as rare as
            winnin' the Goddamn lotto.
  
  Grant grabs his slacks off the valet and starts putting
  them on.
  
                      STARLA
            Where are you going?
  
                      GRANT
            I'm just some big clown to you,
            ain't I?
  
                      STARLA
            That's not true -- Where are you--?
  
                      GRANT
            Out.
  
  INT. HENENLOTTER'S SPORTS BAR -- LATER
  
  Grant sits at the bar, knocking back a shot of tequila. 
  He's getting drunk. He taps his glass.
  
                      GRANT
            Hit me again there, killer.
  
  The BARKEEP fills his drink.
  
                      BARKEEP
            Hey, Grant, how's it you come to
            have the same last name as first?
  
                      GRANT
            Parents thought it sounded pleasant,
            I s'pose. Joke on me, ain't it?
  
  Grant notices a woman with a lot of makeup -- BRENDA
  GUTIERREZ -- staring at him from across the bar, smoking
  a cigarette. Grant stares at her, trying to figure out
  who she is. She slides off her stool.
  
  She sashays toward him. She props herself on the stool
  beside him, leans drunkenly in toward him.
  
                      BRENDA
            Megan Halesy' little sister.
  
                      GRANT
            Shit. You're kidding me. 
            Nope. 
                      BRENDA 
            Brenda! 
                      GRANT 
            Hell, you were --
  
  Grant holds his hand only so high.
  
                      BRENDA
            I was! And I'll tell you somethin',
            Grant Grant. I's in love with
            you.
  
  Grant stares at her.
  
                      BRENDA
            My sister Megan, she's a big fat
            cow. Was then, even more so now. 
            I'd be thinking, what'd you see in
            her ain't in me?
  
                      GRANT
            Shit, girl, you couldn't'a been
            eleven.
  
                      BRENDA
            Hell, I was game!
  
  She LAUGHS. So does Grant. He stares at her,
  contemplating sinful things. He nods at her wedding ring.
  
                      GRANT
            Who's the lucky fella?
  
                      BRENDA
            Fuck lucky. Never marry a damn
            half--Mexican.
  
                      GRANT
            Already ain't. Married a gal named --
  
                      BRENDA
            Starla Covington. Don't be
            ignorant. Everyone knows that. 
            Fucking prom queen.
  
  Grant thinks.
  
                      GRANT
            Yeah.
  
  Grant finishes his drink, and gets up to go.
  
                      BRENDA
            Where you goin'?
  
  Grant speaks more loudly than need be:
  
                      GRANT
            Starla, she gets real worried 'bout
            me I stay out too late. Loves me
            too much, that one.
  
  He glances around to see if people have heard, and stumbles
  out.
  
  EXT. SHADED CREEK -- LATER
  
  Grant sits on a boulder beside a creek, looking miserable,
  downing a six pack.
  
  He throws an empty can into the creek, when he glances
  down and sees particles flowing down the river.
  
  Grant slides off the boulder. He kneels and examines the
  particles. They shimmer in the moonbeams coming down
  between the trees.
  
  Grant peers up the creek from where the particles are
  coming.
  
  He sees a gap on the edge of the creek, where water
  splashes and is diverted in streamlets down the hill.
  
  He approaches the spot, and comes upon a small crater on
  the side of the creek. The meteorite is inside the crater,
  but it's cracked into pieces. The rock seems almost
  organic, like a shell. The shimmery specks are part of
  the shell itself, flecking off into the creek and rushing
  downstream.
  
  Grant crouches. He touches the meteorite, and feels some
  sort of goo inside it. It's sticky.
  
  He notices a strip of the same slime leading out of the
  crater itself and into the woods.
  
  Grant, curiously, slowly, follows the slimy trail.
  
  He comes to a flurry of colorful wild flowers. Something
  is rustling the flowers ever so slightly. He moves in
  closer.
  
  A gelatinous yellow organism slithers sluggishly between
  the flowers. The organism is a mound a few inches high,
  gross and veiny, yet as colorful as the flowers around
  it. A small cavity on the apex of the organism constricts
  and expands lightly. I guess it's not worth keeping secret
  that this thing looks a tad like a bright yellow vagina.
  
                      GRANT
            What the…?
  
  Grant is a little freaked--out by this thing, even
  frightened. He looks around for someone else.
  
                      GRANT
            Hey, anybody 'round here? 'Lo?
  
  No one answers. Grant looks down at the organism, unsure. 
  He picks up a tree branch.
  
  Grant softly prods the organism with the pointy end of
  the branch.
  
  Nothing happens.
  
  He does it again. The thing pulses a little, and surges
  toward Grant.
  
  Grand pokes it again.
  
  A small, thin quill -- a SPORE -- emerges from the cavity
  in the center of the organism. The spore is quivering
  and, as it trembles upward, little bulbed spurs pop up as
  well.
  
  Grant slowly bends down to look at it when --
  
  The SPORE suddenly SHOOTS OUT. It strikes Grant in the
  stomach.
  
                      GRANT
            Ow! Fuck!
  
  Grant yanks up his shirt, looking at a wound on his
  abdomen. He watches as the spore quivers and disappears
  inside him.
  
  He clutches his stomach, SCREAMS in agony. He falls back
  into the colorful flowers. His body convulses.
  
  MATCH CUT TO:
  
  CAT SCAN SHOT -- INT. GRANT'S BODY
  
  We see the insides of Grant's body, as if sliced in half. 
  We ZOOM IN on the little spore, which is jittering up
  through his body, and into his neck.
  
  The spore keys into the base of Grant's cerebellum, and
  his entire brain crackles with a WHITE ELECTRICAL ENERGY.
  
  BACK TO SCENE
  
  Grant freezes in place, his fingers contorted up in front
  of him, silent. He's utterly still, a wax corpse.
  
  A hippie CAMPING COUPLE run into the area, looking for
  the source of the screams. The man looks down at the
  frozen Grant.
  
                      CAMPER
            Over here!
  
  The Camper crouches down beside him.
  
                      CAMPER
            Hey, man. You all right?...
            Dude?... Oh shit.
  
  The Camper turns from Grant to his girlfriend.
  
                      CAMPER
            I think he's d --
  
  Grant GASPS suddenly, sitting up and grabbing the man,
  like a drowning man popping up above water. The Camper
  YELPS and jumps back. Grant sweats and heaves, trying to
  speak, but hardly can --
  
                      GRANT
            It's taking... my... brain.
  
                      CAMPER
            Buddy?
  
  Grant's eyes glaze over, and he eases off. He heaves
  there, momentarily confused. His eyes dart around, as if
  seeing his surroundings for the first time. Grant stands.
  
                      CAMPER
            You all right, man?
  
  Grant looks down curiously at the camper. Then he turns
  and stumbles away from them, out of the forest.
  
                      CAMPER
            That might of been a stroke, buddy. 
            You better take it easy.
  
  INT. GRANT'S PICKUP -- DAWN
  
  Grant drives down the road in his luxury pickup truck,
  sweating and blinking rapidly.
  
  EXT. GRANT HOUSE -- MORNING
  
  Grant steps out of the truck in his driveway, when he
  hears --
  
                      NEIGHBOR (O.S.)
            Hey ya', Grant.
  
  Grant swings his head toward his NEIGHBOR, who is taking
  a happy BEAGLE for a morning walk.
  
                      NEIGHBOR
            What were ya', night--fishing again? 
            You catch anything?
  
                      GRANT
            I caught a little somethin', yeah.
  
  Grant walks inside his house.
  
  INT. GRANT FOYER -- MORNING
  
  Grant looks around the foyer.
  
  INT. GRANT BEDROOM -- MORNING
  
  Grant creeps into the bedroom, looking around. We can
  hear the SHOWER RUNNING.
  
  Grant spots his face in a mirror above the dresser. He
  moves in close to the mirror, and stares at his own image.
  
  He pulls on his face a little, his eyes brimming with
  excitement. He smiles at himself.
  
  Grant looks toward the open bathroom door, where he hears
  the running shower. He creeps toward it.
  
  Grant peeks around the doorway. Starla is in the shower,
  soaping herself. She looks beautiful there. Grant tilts
  his head to the side like a dog. He watches her,
  mesmerized, even moved.
  
  INT. GRANT BATHROOM -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Starla is wearing a white towel and brushing her wet hair
  in the foggy bathroom mirror when she hears Air Supply's
  EVERY WOMAN IN THE WORLD coming from the bedroom. She's
  struck by it.
  
  She moves toward the door. Opens it.
  
  INT. GRANT BEDROOM -- MORNING
  
  The shades are drawn, darkening the room. A few candles
  have been lit. Grant is standing there, mostly in
  silhouette. He's silent, and he doesn't move.
  
                      GRANT
            Hey there, sugarplum.
  
  Starla looks at him, stirred.
  
                      STARLA
            Haven't heard this for a while.
  
  Grant walks toward her. He takes her hand in his own,
  lifting it beside him. He wraps his other arm around her
  waist. And he slow dances with her. Starla dances too,
  a bit hesitantly, a bit shy.
  
                      STARLA
            I never danced in a towel before.
  
                      GRANT
            Wearing white, just like on our...
            wedding day. I remember it.
  
  Starla nods.
  
                      GRANT
            I'm sorry about last night. I get
  
            a little insecure sometimes, want
  
            to hold on too tight. It's just
  
            'cause you're precious to me,
  
            Starla.
  
                  (MORE)
  
                      GRANT (CONT'D)
            But I swear to God, baby, I'm
            turning over a new Goddamn leaf. 
            Okay?
  
  Starla nods, touched. Grant's eyes are teary.
  
                      GRANT
            I love you, sugarplum.
  
  Starla and Grant kiss, tenderly.
  
  Grant falls to his knees in front of her. He runs his
  hand over the curve of her hip, her thigh, her buttock,
  with as much fascination as lust. He pushes Starla back
  onto the bed.
  
  He lifts her leg, and kisses it, nibbles on it a little,
  scrapes his teeth on it. Starla is surprised by this,
  but enjoys it too: it's probably the most foreplay she's
  had in years.
  
  Grant crawls on top of her, runs his hands over her
  breasts, her face. Starla's hand moves over Grant's back,
  and to his stomach. When she stops, startled.
  
                      STARLA
            Grant, what's that?
  
  She gazes down at the wound between them, on Grant's bare
  abdomen, where the spore entered him. The wound is
  yellowish, and surrounded by veins.
  
  Grant, embarrassed, pulls his shirt down.
  
                      GRANT
            Just a little bug bite is all.
  
  Grant kisses and munches on Starla as she lies back on
  the bed, enjoying it.
  
  O.S. HUMMING.
  FADE TO:
  
  INT. TEACHER'S LOUNGE -- DAY
  
  Starla is HUMMING Every Woman in the World as she drops
  coins into a soda machine and chooses Tab. JANENE, a
  a heavyset black teacher, notices this.
  
                      JANENE
            What are you so smiley about, girl?
  
                      STARLA
            Oh, nothin'
  
  Starla grabs her soda and sits down with Janene. 
  just stares. 
  Janene 
                      STARLA 
            Just, Grant and I had a nice 
            morning. It's been a while. 
                      JANENE 
            Oh! You got that fresh--fucked 
            glow, don't you? 
            Janene. 
                      STARLA 
            You slut. 
                      JANENE 
            Hush. 
                      STARLA 
            No shame. 
                      JANENE 
            You're a married woman. 
                      STARLA 
            He was... considerate. Maybe this 
            is the start of a real change in 
            Grant. 
  
  INT. GRANT BATHROOM -- DAY
  
  Grant is holding up his shirt, and looking at his torso. 
  The wound on his side is blackened and gangrenous, and is
  starting to puff up into a veiny little spout. A fuzzy
  bluish moss is growing in the crevices around the spout. 
  A pus oozes out.
  
  Grant looks concerned. He squirts some Neosporin onto
  his fingers. He massages it slowly into the wound.
  
  INT. GRANT KITCHEN -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Grant opens the refrigerator door and rummages around
  inside. He pulls out some bread. Some cheese.
  
  He opens the meat drawer. It's replete with cold cuts. 
  He pulls out some Oscar Mayer baloney. Turkey. Pastrami
  and salami. He grabs every type of meat there is.
  
  MOMENTS LATER
  
  Grant assembles a sandwich at the table. Two pieces of
  bread and some cheese. He starts putting the meat on. 
  But he can't stop, piling more and more on until he has 
  a little sandwich tower.
  
  He looks at it. Something seems off about it. He removes
  the cheese. Better. And then the bread. Even better. 
  He stares at what is now simply a tower of cold cuts.
  
                      GRANT
            Meat.
  
  After contemplating it for a moment, Grant stands and
  carries off the pile of meat.
  
  INT. GRANT GARAGE -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Grant enters the garage through a door from the FOYER. 
  He flips the lights on with his shoulder. He looks around.
  
  Grant spots an old file cabinet. He sets the tower of
  meat down on the oily floor and opens a drawer. It's
  filled with files. He closes that drawer, and opens
  another. It has manila file folders, but no files.
  
  Grant takes out the folders. He uses a Sharpie to write
  out "BALONEY" on a folder. Then he stuffs all the baloney
  into the folder and files it away.
  
  He starts writing out "PASTRAMI"
  
  LATER
  
  Grant flips through his alphabetically--filed meat: from
  BALONEY through "TURKEY." But he doesn't look satisfied.
  
  INT. SUPERMARKET -- LATER
  
  Grant stands beside the butcher's counter with a shopping
  cart. He peers dreamily in through the glass at the rows
  of steaks, pork chops, and so on.
  
                      GRANT
            Meat.
  
                      BUTCHER
            Howdy, Mr. Grant. You goin' to
            the Deer Cheer this weekend?
  
  Grant snaps out of his reverie.
  
                      GRANT
            Sure thing, killer.
  
                      BUTCHER
            What can I do you for?
  
                      GRANT
            Thinkin' 'bout getting me a couple
            of these big ol' rib eyes.
  
                      BUTCHER
            How many you need?
  
  Grant stares at the steaks.
  
                      GRANT
            Well... having us a little dinner
            party... I'd say... eight. No,
            no... fourteen...
  
  The Butcher nods, starts to grab steaks. Grant CHUCKLES.
  
                      GRANT
            Hell, what am I holding back for? 
            Why don't you just give me
            everything you got here?
  
                      BUTCHER
            All the rib eyes?
  
                      GRANT
            Yep. And while you're at it, get
            me a few of them chicken wings...
            some pork loins... and, ooo, what's
            this here? Osso buco?...
  
  EXT. GRANT HOME -- LATER
  
  Grant backs his pickup toward the garage. Meat is piled
  into the bed. Wrapped packages of meat fill the seats
  around him.
  
  INT. GRANT GARAGE -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Grant stands in the garage, tearing open the packing, and
  letting the loose meat slide into piles onto the floor,
  muttering:
  
                      GRANT
            Meat.
  
  MOMENTS LATER
  
  Grant rolls slabs of beef over the dirty floor and into 
  a pile.
  
  SOMETHING skitters across the garage and around the pile. 
  Grant peers around the pile and sees a RAT nibbling on
  some ribs. He realizes something.
  
                      GRANT
            You're meat.
  
  The rat moves away from Grant. But Grant snaps out his
  arm with alarming speed, snatching the rat. It SQUEAKS
  and wriggles in his grip, tearing and biting at him, trying
  to get free.
  
  Grant snaps its neck, and tosses the dead rat onto the
  pile of meat. Continues on.
  
  EXT. GRANT GARAGE -- NIGHT
  
  Starla pulls into the driveway. She presses the button
  on her garage door opener.
  
  The door SHUDDERS but stays closed. Starla's confused.
  
  She gets out of the car and examines the door. She looks
  down and sees a new padlock, locking the door to the cement
  driveway with bolts on both sides.
  
  INT. GRANT FOYER -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Starla enters the house. She heads toward a door along
  the wall that leads to the garage. There's a shiny new
  lock on that door as well. She touches it, baffled.
  
  She turns to see Grant standing at the end of the foyer. 
  He's in shadows, a little spooky in the darkness.
  
                      GRANT
            Welcome home.
  
                      STARLA
            Grant? Why are there -- did you
            put locks on the garage?
  
  Pause. No answer.
  
                      STARLA
            You drilled into the driveway.
  
  Grant walks into the light.
  
                      GRANT
            Yeahhhh. I'm sorry. I just got
            so excited about... your present.
  
                      STARLA
            My present?
  
                      GRANT
            You're my princess, aren't you?
  
                      STARLA
            Okay.
  
                      GRANT
            I got a super--special birthday
            present for you this year. I
            couldn't risk you finding it, so I
            had to put them locks on the doors.
  
  Pause.
  
                      STARLA
            All right... I have to clean up
            before dinner.
  
  Grant smiles at her. Starla confused, tries to smile
  back, then turns and heads up the stairs. Grant watches
  Starla's fine form from behind, somewhat lustily. But
  his leering gaze gradually turns into something darker,
  and he has a realization.
  
                      GRANT
            You're meat.
  
  Starla turns.
  
                      STARLA
            What?
  
  Grant snaps himself out of it.
  
                      GRANT
            Oh, nothin'. Nothin'. See you in
            a sec.
  
  Starla smiles uneasily, and heads on upstairs.
  
  EXT. GRANT HOME -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Grant steps onto the front porch to get some air. He's
  blinking and seems a little dizzy. He gazes around the
  neighborhood:
  
  Down the way, a BOY in a little league uniform and his
  MOTHER get out of their car and walk toward the front
  door.
  
  Across the street, THROUGH A KITCHEN WINDOW, a PLUMP MAN
  and his WIFE are eating dinner.
  
  At another home, a SHORT MAN steps on a stepladder,
  changing the dome light on his porch.
  
  Grant stares at these individuals, looking like an animal
  ready to lunge at its prey, fighting the urge.
  
                      GRANT
            Meat.
  
  He HEARS a BARKING. Grant turns to see the beagle next
  door, tied to the tree, YAPPING at him.
  
  Grant looks around to make sure no one's watching.
  
  EXT. GRANT HOME -- MORNING
  
  Starla walks to get the paper in her robe, and she sees  a
  BOY, aged thirteen or so, stapling a LOST: REWARD flyer
  to a telephone pole, with a picture of the beagle.
  
                      STARLA
            Roscoe's gone?
  
  The Boy's face is streaked from a long night of crying.
  
                      BOY
            You haven't seen him, have you?
  
  Starla shakes her head.
  
                      STARLA
            I'm sure he'll show up, Tim.
  
  The Boy nods, and walks to the next telephone pole to put
  up another flyer.
  
  EXT. SHADED FOREST -- DAY
  
  Grant moves up a hill, between trees, looking around for
  something. He comes to a stop, trying to remember which
  way to go. He does, and moves on.
  
  EXT. OLD BARN -- LATER
  
  Grant comes upon an old wooden barn. The structure is
  maybe a hundred years old, and long abandoned. It's
  spattered with graffiti. Grant stares at it.
  
  MOMENTS LATER
  
  Grant gathers large fronds and other foliage in his arms.
  
  INT. OLD BARN -- LATER
  
  Grant spreads the plant life over the floor of the barn. 
  He arranges it, fluffs it there. His actions are very
  animal--like when no one's around. He seems to be making
  a nest. He sits back, looks at it.
  
  He's happy.
  
  FADE TO:
  
  INT. GRANT BEDROOM -- NIGHT
  
  Starla, dressed in her weekend finery, is looking in the
  mirror above her dresser, and putting on earrings. 
  
                      STARLA
            Grant, are you almost ready?
  
  INT. GRANT MASTER BATHROOM -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Grant looks ill. He is leaning over the sink, sweating,
  clutching his stomach.
  
                      GRANT
            Yeah, hon, I'll be right there!
  
  Grant turns and pushes open his door.
  
  INT. GRANT BEDROOM -- NIGHT
  
  Grant sees Starla sitting on the edge of the bed, her
  back to him, as she puts on her nylons. She doesn't know
  he's there.
  
  Grant stares at her, demented, and moves slowly toward
  her, stalking her.
  
  Something starts to push Grant's shirt up at his stomach,
  like a bellybutton erection. The thing slips out of his
  shirt -- a writhing, pointy tubule, aiming toward Starla's
  back.
  
  Grant looks at the nape of Starla's neck. Her delicate
  ear. He becomes confused; he softens.
  
  Starla turns to see Grant, his body now turned away from
  her. He's trying to push the tubule back down.
  
                      STARLA
            What are you doing?
  
                      GRANT
            You're pretty.
  
  Starla nods, confused by his behavior.
  
  EXT. WHEELSY SADDLE LODGE -- LATER
  
  A banner hangs across the front of the lodge, "DEER CHEER
  05" -- the first Friday of deer season in Wheelsy. 
  Inflatable deer totems decorate the front of the wooden
  lodge. RAMBUNCTIOUS MUSIC comes from inside. Partyers
  enter.
  
  Grant and Starla step out of his truck. As they do, one
  of Starla's students, Will, sees her and waves. Starla
  waves back.
  
  Grant notices this and grabs Starla's arm, a bit too hard,
  pulling her back.
  
                      GRANT
            Who's that?
  
                      STARLA
            It's just one of my students, Grant.
  
  Grant stares at the boy with distrust, and ushers Starla
  towards the lodge.
  
  Bill, Trevor and Margaret are hanging out on a large rock
  outside the entranceway, drinking beer. Bill watches
  Grant and Starla cross the lot. Trevor sees this.
  
                      TREVOR
            What's she see in that douchebag?
  
                      BILL
            That's the mystery of the ages
            there, Trev. Starla was seventeen
            when they got engaged. He was,
            like, in his thirties. No one
            even knew they were goin' out till
            she had that ring on her finger.
  
                      MARGARET
            Ain't no mystery to it. She's
            raised in them shanties off St.
            Luc. Dirt--poor.
  
                      TREVOR
            Gold--digger, huh?
  
                      BILL
            Hell, you don't know that, Margaret.
  
  Margaret shrugs, BELCHES. Jack, the mayor, with his WIFE,
  stops beside them after she does, staring at her.
  
                      JACK
            Bill, you're Chief of police now.
                  (MORE)
  
                      JACK (CONT'D)
            Comes with some Goddamn
            responsibility, like keeping your
            people in line.
  
                      BILL
            You're right, Jack. Margaret,
            you're fired.
  
  Margaret and Trevor LAUGH. Jack shakes his head with
  disdain, and enters the party.
  
  INT. WHEELSY SADDLE LODGE -- NIGHT
  
  Wheelsy citizens celebrate. A country--western band PLAYS. 
  Couples two--step.
  
  Starla and Grant move through the party. Grant looks
  around at the dancing and laughing bodies. Starla sees
  her friend from school.
  
                      STARLA
            Janene!
  
  Janene LAUGHS heartily and the two embrace
  
                      JANENE
            Hey, Grant.
  
                      GRANT
            Why don't you two catch up? I'll
            go see what the boys are doing.
  
  Starla nods. She and Janene watch as Grant moves off
  through the crowd.
  
                      STARLA
            He's been strange the past couple
            days.
  
  EXT. WHEELSY SADDLE LODGE -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Grant steps outside, and looks around.
  
  Across the parking lot is a playground. Two YOUNG CHILDREN
  are spinning on a little carousel there.
  
  Grant starts toward them.
  
  EXT. SADDLE LODGE PLAYGROUND -- NIGHT
  
  The Children GIGGLE, unaware of Grant inching up on them. 
  Grant gets closer, excited, when he hears:
  
                      BRENDA (O.S.)
            Hey there, handsome.
  
  Grant turns and see Brenda Gutierrez standing there. 
  Once again, she's very drunk.
  
                      BRENDA
            Must be fate, us meeting again
            like this.
  
  Grant smiles.
  
                      GRANT
            Well, you might be right...
  
  Grant sees if anyone's watching. He circles around her.
  
                      GRANT
            You're lookin' awful pretty.
  
                      BRENDA
            Shut up.
  
  Brenda SNICKERS.
  
                      GRANT
            Where's the old half--Mexican?
  
                      BRENDA
            Took the kids to his Mom's for the
            weekend.
  
  Grant smiles.
  
  EXT. FOREST -- NIGHT
  
  Grant holds Brenda's hand, and he pulls her between the
  trees. She GIGGLES.
  
                      BRENDA
            Where you takin' me, you bad boy!
  
  Grant stops in a secluded place, beside the creek, looking
  around. No one's there. He turns toward her, smiles.
  
                      GRANT
            Take off your shirt, doll.
  
  Brenda looks at him, confused.
  
                      GRANT
            Guess it's hard to explain how
            amazin' a human brain is to someone
            who that's all they know.
  
                      BRENDA
            What?
  
                      GRANT
            Stuff you can never imagine. 
            Feelings. Big thoughts. And love. 
            Yeah. I'm inclined to parlay it
            into somethin' more. So, go ahead
            there, beautiful, and take off
            your shirt.
  
  Brenda, though startled, leans back on a boulder and starts
  unbuttoning her blouse. After a moment, she looks at
  Grant, trying to be sexy while she does it. Grant looks
  at her in her bra.
  
                      GRANT
            Nice.
  
  Grant unbuttons his shirt as well. As he removes it
  completely, he turns toward her.
  
  Brenda sees the wound on his stomach has blossomed into a
  veiny, blue--moss--encrusted yellow spout, huge and pulsing.
  
                      BRENDA
            Grant!? What -- ?!
  
  Grant grabs her. She tries to push his arms away.
  
                      BRENDA
            No, no, we --
  
  Brenda gets up, trying to run away. But Grant grabs her
  necklace, yanking her back. The necklace snaps and falls
  into the creek beside them.
  
  Grant pins Brenda's wrists against the rock. She struggles
  to get free.
  
  Brenda's eyes widen as she looks down to see the writhing,
  tentacle--like tubule emerge from Grant's wound. She
  SCREAMS.
  
  Grant shoves his hand over her mouth, shutting her up. 
  He's extremely strong. She watches as the tubule twitches,
  feeling its way like a blind snake.
  
  The tubule comes to rest on her abdomen. Tears stream
  down from Brenda's eyes. It pushes into her flesh.
  
  Brenda goes into convulsions. Something -- a fluid --
  pumps through the tubule and into Brenda.
  
  Grant watches Brenda without emotion as her body spasms
  there beside him.
  
  Then she falls back, unconscious. The tubule retracts
  into Grant's torso.
  
  EXT. WHEELSY SADDLE LODGE BACK PORCH -- NIGHT
  
  Starla is leaning over a wooden rail, looking at the lights
  of the town below. She turns to see Bill lean on the
  rail beside her. She looks genuinely happy.
  
                      STARLA
            Hey, Bill!
  
  Starla catches herself, and looks around to see if Grant
  is watching.
  
                      BILL
            Don't worry. The lurker ain't
            around. I checked.
  
                      STARLA
            That's not funny.
  
                      BILL
            Sorry.
  
                      STARLA
            Whatcha' doin'?
  
                      BILL
            Tryin' to get a buzz on. But I'm
            too buff. Too much muscle mass.
  
  Starla LAUGHS.
  
                      BILL
            What you up to?
  
                      STARLA
            Just checking out the lights.
  
  Bill and Starla look out over the city together.
  
                      BILL
            Pretty, ain't they?
  
                      STARLA
            I don't know. I've seen them so
            many times before. I guess any
            spot gets boring after awhile.
  
                      BILL
            Well that's only if you're in the
            wrong spot.
  
  Starla looks at him.
  
                      BILL
            There's a place over there on the
            bluffs. When the fog is just right,
            like tonight, the lights of Main
            look like a kaleidoscope.
  
                      STARLA
            Oh, yeah?
  
                      BILL
            Mm hm. But only a few folks know
            how to get there. Wally. Rollo
            Linkski coulda taken you, but
            'course he got hit by that train. 
            Me.
  
                      STARLA
            I'll get Wally to show me sometime
            then.
  
  Starla LAUGHS out loud. So does Bill.
  
                      BILL
            Oh, will you now?
  
                      STARLA GRANT (O.S.)
            Or Rollo's ghost. Starla.
  
  They turn to see Grant approaching. He's a mess. His
  pants are streaked with mud.
  
                      STARLA
            Grant, where'd you go?
  
                      BILL
            Hey, Grant.
  
  Grant eyes Bill with suspicion. He grabs Starla.
  
                      GRANT
            You ready, sugarplum?
  
  Starla nods. She looks at Bill and mouths:
  
                      STARLA
            Bye.
  
  Bill watches Grant and Starla head off, as he downs the
  rest of his beer. Wally walks up beside him.
  
                      WALLY
            Surprised you're able to lift a
            mug after carrying that torch for
            so long.
  
                      BILL
            Hey, Wally. Glad you're here. 
            There was something I wanted to
            tell you...
  
  Bill SNAPS his fingers, trying to remember.
  
                      WALLY
            What?
  
                      BILL
            Oh yeah. Fuck you, fat ass.
  
  They both LAUGH.
  
  INT. GRANT BEDROOM -- LATER
  
  Starla lies on her side, awake. She's staring at the
  dirt on Grant's pants, which are hung over a valet. Grant
  holds her from behind, sleeping peacefully.
  
  FADE TO:
  
  INT. WHEELSY POLICE STATION -- DAY
  
  The front door of the precinct opens, and a confused
  Mexican MAN walks inside. He is trying to keep from
  crying. Three half--naked children follow him, clutching
  onto his clothes. The man walks slowly through the office,
  looking around for help.
  
  Margaret sees him from her desk.
  
                      MARGARET
            Sir, may I help -- ?
  
                      BRENDA'S HUSBAND
            My wife, Brenda. I think something
            has happened to her!
  
  EXT. STOP SIGN -- DAY
  
  Starla, in her car with groceries, comes to a stop sign. 
  She looks at the telephone pole beside it and sees that
  it's covered with flyers for missing pets.
  
  INT. GRANT FOYER -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Starla enters with a shopping bag. The lights are off. 
  CREEPY MUSIC plays.
  
                      STARLA
            Grant?
  
  No answer. Starla tries to turn on the lights, but nothing 
  happens. 
                      STARLA 
            Damn fuse.
  
  She passes the door to the garage, noticing the lock.
  
  INT. GRANT KITCHEN -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Starla sets down the bags on the counter, looks around.
  
                      STARLA
            Grant?
  
  Again, no one's here. She sees a potted flower on the
  counter. A green INCHWORM is crawling up the stem, little
  by little. She stares at it, as if it's a portent.
  
  She hears a MOAN, coming from upstairs.
  
  INT. GRANT BEDROOM -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Starla moves slowly into this dark room, looking for her
  husband. It seems no one is here.
  
                      STARLA
            Grant, where are y -- ?
  
  Starla turns, when Grant POPS INTO FRAME. Starla,
  startled, SCREAMS. Grant is sick and trembling. But,
  worse, he's been transforming. There are small pustules
  all over his face.
  
                      STARLA
            Grant. Oh my God. What happened
            to your -- ?
  
                      GRANT
            Heh. It ain't as bad as it looks,
            sugarplum. Dr. Carl was just here. 
            I had a reaction to a bee sting. 
            He gave me a prescription. Said I
            should be fine, in a couple days.
  
  Starla stares at him, mute and horrified.
  
                      GRANT
            Don't look at me like that, baby. 
            Please? I'm gonna go get my...
            prescription filled.
  
  Grant grabs his keys off the dresser, puts them in his
  pocket, trying to pretend he doesn't hurt.
  
                      STARLA
            I'll get if for you.
  
                      GRANT
            No! No. Heh. I'll be right back.
  
  He moves outside the door, leaving Starla, shell--shocked.
  
  INT. GRANT GARAGE -- DAY
  
  It's too dark to see much in here, but we do see Grant
  putting meat into a garbage bag.
  
  EXT. GRANT HOUSE -- DAY
  
  Grant looks around to make sure no one's looking, as he
  places the garbage bag full of meat into his trunk, closes
  it.
  
  EXT. OLD BARN -- EVENING
  
  Grant moves through the forest, in massive pain, dragging
  the garbage bag.
  
  Grant comes upon the old wooden barn.
  
  INT. OLD BARN -- NIGHT
  
  Grant enters. It is almost completely dark. He hears
  WEEPING. CHAINS RATTLE.
  
  Grant peers over at Brenda, mostly in silhouette, sitting
  on the nest he has made. She's chained up and MOANS
  through a mouth gag. Grant walks to her. Her body is
  horribly pear--shaped and misshapen, like some tumorous
  pregnancy. Grant pulls her gag away.
  
                      BRENDA
            Grant? Grant, I'm hungry. I'm so
            fuckin' hungry I think I'm gonna
            die.
  
                      GRANT
            Brought you munchies.
  
  Grant pours the garbage bagful of rotting meat and dead
  animals out in front of her.
  
                      GRANT
            Been saving for a rainy day.
  
  CLOSEUP: Brenda's face, still mostly in darkness. She
  stares at the meat, simultaneously excited and repulsed.
  
  She looks up at Grant.
  
                      BRENDA
            Grant, I'm sorry if I did something
            wrong! I think I gotta -- I think
            I should go to a hospital!
  
  Grant doesn't respond. Brenda's eyes trail back down to
  the meat.
  
  Brenda's hand reaches out, and grabs a maggot--infested
  pork chop, pulling it toward her.
  
  We HEAR, but can barely see, Brenda CHOWING DOWN on the
  raw pork in the nearly pitch black barn.
  
  INT. GRANT'S TRUCK -- LATER
  
  Grant gets into his pickup; he trembles and YELPS as his
  body is wracked with pain and his body starts to transform
  even more.
  
  INT. GRANT FOYER -- NIGHT
  
  There's a HARD KNOCKING on Starla's door. She swings it
  open to see Bill and Wally standing there, worried.
  
  Wally tries to see inside.
  
                      WALLY
            Grant around?
  
                      STARLA
            No. He went to the pharmacy.
  
                      WALLY
            Pharmacy?
  
                      STARLA
            He's got a... rash.
  
  Bill and Wally exchange a glance -- maybe this means
  something. Starla can see Trevor and Margaret, across
  the street, talking to another neighbor.
  
                      BILL
            Starla, you know Brenda Gutierrez?
  
  Starla shakes her head.
  
                      BILL
            Maybe she's ever called the house,
            or -- ?
  
                      STARLA
            No. What…?
  
                      BILL
            She disappeared Friday night. We
            got reason to believe foul play
            might be involved.
  
                      WALLY
            Some kids found her necklace near
            Tipper Creek, as well as what might
            be her blood on a rock.
  
                      BILL
            The problem, Starla, is, the last
            person anyone saw her talking to
            was Grant.
  
  Starla looks at him, surprised.
  
                      BILL
            The Deer Cheer. And Wally and me,
            we also saw him that night, with
            mud all over his slacks.
  
  Bill hands her his card.
  
                      BILL
            Have him call me right away, okay?
  
  Starla nods, distraught. Bill tries to smile kindly before
  he and Wally move out and off to canvas other neighbors'
  homes.
  
  Starla closes the door behind her, distraught, panicked.
  
  She looks at the foyer door, leading into the garage. 
  Her eyes fall down to the floor, where she sees what
  appears to be blood drop stains near the door.
  
  She gains courage, and moves off toward --
  
  INT. GRANT CLOSET -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Starla throws open this door. She looks at old, unused
  sports equipment. She grabs an aluminum baseball bat.
  
  INT. GRANT FOYER -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Starla holds the aluminum bat, standing in front of the
  door to the garage. She hesitates a moment. But then
  she swings the bat at the lock on the door.
  
  She swings it again, GRUNTING.
  
  And again.
  
  Finally, the lock is knocked off the wooden door.
  
  Starla pushes away the useless lock, letting it fall to
  the floor.
  
  Starla steels herself, and slowly pushes open the door
  into the dark garage. As she does, the horrendous stench
  hits her. Terrified, she covers her face with her hand,
  and enters.
  
  INT. GRANT GARAGE -- NIGHT
  
  Starla sees what's there: not only a huge stockpile of
  rotten meat, but a dozen dead pets. They are neatly
  divided into various categories, and labeled: Pork, Ground
  Beef, Cats, Dogs. The walls and doorway have been heavily
  insulated so the smell doesn't sink into the home. She
  looks on the floor and sees poor, dead Roscoe the beagle,
  his tongue dangling out.
  
  Starla starts to CRY.
  
  She moves quickly back inside.
  
  INT. GRANT LIVING ROOM -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Starla runs to the front picture window, and looks out
  onto the street. She can't see any of the cops.
  
  She turns from the window and picks up a cordless phone. 
  She looks at the card Bill gave her, and dials the number. 
  The phone RINGS, and:
  
                      SHERRY (O.S.)
            You've reached Chief Pardy at the
            Wheelsy Police Department. Please
            leave a message and your call will
            be returned as soon as possible.
  
  There's a BEEP. Starla tries to speak through her SOBS, 
  pacing: 
                      STARLA 
            Bill, it's Starla!
  
  As Starla passes the large picture window, she doesn't
  see Grant staring in at her, his face now that of some
  diseased cephalopod.
  
                      STARLA
            It's -- I think you better come
            over right away -- I think Grant's
            sick, he --
  
  Starla turns to see the monstrous Grant through the window.
  She just stops. They stare at each other for a moment.
  And then Grant lets out a FURIOUS WAIL.
  Starla turns and dashes toward the back of the house.
  Grant disappears from the window.
  INT. GRANT FOYER -- NIGHT
  
  As Starla runs through here, she looks behind her at the
  front door to make sure Grant isn't following.
  
  INT. GRANT HALL -- NIGHT
  She runs past a wall of family photos.
  
  INT. GRANT FAMILY ROOM -- NIGHT
  
  Starla sees the door on the rear of the house, leading to
  the backyard.
  
  She arrives at it, and flings it open --
  
  Grant is there.
  
  He lunges onto her. Starla SCREAMS and drops the cordless
  phone, just as it starts RINGING. Grant crawls on top of
  her body. Starla reaches for the ringing phone, but he
  pins her hands above her head. He looks into her eyes. 
  He's CRYING. His voice and breath are sick and raspy.
  
                      GRANT
            Why'd you betray me, sugarplum?!
  
                      STARLA
            Grant, no!
  
                      GRANT
            I loved you. I loved --
  
                      STARLA
            Grant, you're sick!
  
  Grant is about to cry.
  
                      GRANT
            I wanted you by my side, but you --
            I can't trust you now!
  
  Starla's WEEPING, confused. Grant rips his shirt open. 
  Starla looks down to see the tubule protruding from the
  
  now enormous yellow spore on Grant's chest. The tubule
  feels over Starla's blouse, and then slips beneath it. 
  It starts to poke into her skin.
  
                      STARLA
            Noooo!
  
  Starla grabs the leg of a coffee table beside her. She
  SLAMS the table into Grant's head. This hurts and
  surprises him sufficiently to let Starla get out from
  under him.
  
  Starla grabs the cordless phone, which is no longer
  ringing, and scurries behind the couch. She dials 9--1--1.
  
  Grant thrusts the couch aside.
  
  Starla crawls away again, when Grant attacks her from
  behind. He wraps his arm around her neck, pulling her
  back. He looks down at her with his sick, angry eyes, as
  his arm -- now apparently jointless -- curls around her
  like a snake.
  
  Starla gasps for air. Her face turns purple. She hears
  a SLAMMING on the door.
  
                      BILL (O.S.)
            Starla?!! Starla, are you in
            there?!
  
  Starla tries to speak but she cannot. Suddenly, we HEAR
  the FRONT DOOR OPEN.
  
                      BILL (O.S.)
            Starla?!
  
  Starla, with barely an ounce of life left in her, sees
  Bill, Wally, Trevor and Margaret burst into the living
  room.
  
  They are surprised, to say the least, to see this diseased
  humanoid strangling Starla from behind.
  
                      TREVOR
            Fuck!
  
  The cops, freaked out, pull their guns. Grant makes a
  SCREECHING SOUND at them. They SHOOT at Grant, nicking
  him.
  
  Grant jumps away from Starla, back into the shadows,
  SCREECHING in anger and pain. Starla falls to the floor.
  
  Grant slips out the back door and away.
  
  The cops stare, gape--jawed and frozen with shock; what
  the hell was THAT?!
  
  Starla rubs her neck, COUGHING.
  
  Bill Pardy runs toward the back door.
  
  EXT. GRANT HOME -- NIGHT
  
  Bill runs out into the backyard. Wally runs up behind
  him. They look around at the trees surrounding the area. 
  Grant is nowhere to be seen.
  
  We CRANE UP and AWAY from them as we...
  
  FADE TO BLACK.
  
  O.S. SNIFFLING.
                      PASTOR (O.S.)
            Jesus, these past few days have
            been a trying time for us.
  
  INT. CHURCH -- DAY
  
  We PAN OVER an altar where family members have placed 
  little items that remind them of Brenda -- photographs,
  mementos, "Come home, Mommy" cards, etc.
  
                      PASTOR (O.S.)
            We ask you now for the safe return
            of our beloved Brenda.
  
  Everyone in this modest little church has their heads
  bowed as the PASTOR leads the prayer service.
  
                      PASTOR
            Our sister. Our daughter. Our
            mother. Our wife.
  
  Brenda's husband, in the front pew, loses it, CRYING. 
  His little children, beside him, fiddle in their seats.
  
                      PASTOR
            And we ask that you keep your light
            alive in her heart, wherever she
            may be. We ask all this in your
            name, Lord. Amen
  
  Bill Pardy is here, in full uniform, hat in hands.
  
                      BILL CONGREGATION
            Amen. Amen.
  
  Bill looks around the church. He spots Starla, in the
  very back of church, head down, distraught, guilty.
  
  He also sees a group of OLD CRONES nearby, pointing at
  Starla, and whispering about her.
  
  EXT. CHURCH PARKING LOT -- MOMENTS LATER
  Starla's high heels CLACK on the pavement as she moves
  quickly to her car.
  
                      BILL (O.S.)
            Starla.
  
  Starla turns to see Bill coming after her. She stops.
  
                      BILL
            I talked to the CDC. They didn't
            have nothin' on file consistent
            with Grant's... symptoms.
  
  Starla nods.
  
                      STARLA
            How about Brenda?
  
                      BILL
            New? No. We're hoping we find
            Grant, he'll lead us to her.
  
  Starla nods. The wind is strong. Her hair is flying
  over her face. Tears come to her eyes.
  
                      BILL
            You all right?
  
  Starla nods.
  
                      STARLA
            Yeah.
  
  She moves away from him.
  Bill watches her go.
  
  INT. POLICE STATION -- DAY
  
  Bill enters. A few COPS and SECRETARIES are bustling,
  making phone calls, etc. They all look tired, as if they
  haven't slept. Jack, the mayor, sees Bill.
  
                      JACK
            Bill!
  
  Bill spots him, moving quickly toward him.
  
                      BILL
            Shit.
  
                      JACK
            Bill, we need to talk!
  
                      BILL
            'Mornin', Jack.
  
  Bill crosses the station. Jack follows.
  
                      JACK
            Bill, this Brenda's Randy Flagg's
            niece. We need to find Grant
            yesterday! The town council has
            lit a Roman candle and stuck it up
            my ass!
  
                      BILL
            Hell, Jack, your leisure activities 
            ain't my business.
  
                      JACK
            Don't fuck with me, Bill. Your
            post here as Chief is in dire
            straits you don't work this shit
            out.
  
  They come to a desk with Wally and Trevor working away.
  
                      BILL
            Don't worry, we'll find him.
                  (to Trevor)
            Anything new?
  
  Trevor shakes his head.
  
                      JACK
            How are you going to find him?
  
                      BILL
            Dude's a half--squid. Ain't many
            places he can hide. Sea World,
            maybe.
  
  Jack sees a SECRETARY making copies nearby. He speaks in
  hushed tones:
  
                      JACK
            That young lady heard you say
            'squid.' She's gonna go out and
            create a Goddamn hysteria!
  
                      BILL
            Sherry, you gonna create a hysteria?
  
                      SHERRY
            Not today, Bill.
  
                      JACK
            Still, quit that talk! You yourself
            said it was dark in there! You
            don't know what you saw!
  
                      TREVOR
            We saw his arm was all bendy.
  
                      JACK
            Bastard obviously got lyme disease!
  
                      BILL
            What?
  
                      JACK
            Touch some deer feces out in the
            forest. Eat a sandwich without
            washing your hands. Then you got
            lyme disease.
  
                      BILL
            And that makes you look like 
            a squid?
  
                      JACK
            I'll tell you what, no one with
            lyme disease gonna win any damn
            handsome contests!
  
  Bill, Wally, and Trevor can't help but SNICKER.
  
                      JACK
            Well, screw you all for laughin'
  
                      SHELBY (O.S.)
            Bill!
  
  Bill looks over at Shelby, on his headset at the dispatch
  unit.
  
                      SHELBY
            Another ranch attack! Up at the
            Castavets'
  
  Bill nods for Trevor and Margaret to get up from their
  desks. They do, and start to move out with Bill and Wally.
  
                      JACK
            Ranch a --'? What 'ranch attacks'?
  
  EXT. CATTLE RANCH -- LATER
  
  POV: A dead rottweiler is lying on its back in the long
  grass, its gut split open and intestines spilling out,
  almost perfectly symmetrical.
  
                      WALLY (O.S.)
            It looks like one of them psyche
            tests. What do they call it?
  
  Bill and Wally are staring at the dog from above.
  
                      BILL
            Rorschach.
  
                      WALLY
            What do you see? I see a butterfly.
  
  Bill moves on through the windswept weeds.
  
                      BILL
            I see we're fucked. Three ranches
            in three days.
  
  Margaret is taking measurements and writing in a note
  pad; she sees Bill.
  
                      MARGARET
            So, I think I got it part--way
            figured. You want to hear it?
  
  Bill nods.
  
                      MARGARET
            So Grant -- I mean, we're saying
            this is Grant, right?
  
  Bill nods.
  
                      MARGARET
            Grant kills a cow right about here. 
            See there's the blood, musta slit
            its neck.
  
  Margaret walks backward, showing the trail of blood in
  the crushed grass.
  
                      MARGARET
            So he drags the cow backwards here. 
            Only he prolly didn't know 'bout
            the Castavets had them dogs.
  
                      TREVOR (O.S.)
            Hey, look!
  
  Bill looks over at Trevor, standing up between the tall
  weeds, holding a dog's head in his hand.
  
                      TREVOR
            He knocked this'n's head clear
            over here!
  
                      WALLY
            Put that down, numbnuts!
  
  Bill peers at the various slaughtered dogs around them.
  
                      MARGARET
            So the dogs attacked, somehow he
            slew 'em all, and he stole off
            with the cow into the forest.
  
  Trevor heads toward them. Bill looks off into the dark
  forest on the edge of the ranch.
  
                      BILL
            He's gotta be in the forest. All
            three ranches run alongside it.
  
                      TREVOR
            Think we should get up a search
            party, head in there?
  
                      WALLY
            It's a hundred thousand acres. Be
            finding a needle in a fuckstack.
  
  Bill has a realization. He moves quickly for his car.
  
                      BILL
            Wally, come on. Trevor and
            Margaret, get some folks together. 
            I think I know where he's gonna
            hit next.
  
  INT. POLICE STATION -- LATER
  
  CLOSEUP: A property map of Wheelsy is tacked to a bulletin
  board. Red Magic Marker circles are around various ranch
  properties on the edge of the city, next to an enormous
  forest. A finger points to one of the red circles.
  
                      BILL
            So the night after Grant ran off,
            a calf went missing from here, the
            Raglans' ranch.
  
  REVEAL Bill, standing beside the bulletin board. A posse
  has gathered, listening intently: Wally and the usual
  cops; Jack; an OLDER COP, probably pulled out of
  retirement; and a couple of recruits -- a REDNECK and 
  a GOOD OL' BOY. Bill points to the next red circle.
  
                      BILL
            Two nights ago, a mare was stolen
            from this property, run by
            Fitzgibbon, that old rancher with
            the cleft palate.
  
  Wally whispers to Margaret, amused:
  
                      WALLY
            Looks like a chipmunk.
  
                      BILL
            Your momma wasn't too proud when
            you came out neither, Wally.
  
  Bill points to the next circle.
  
                      BILL
            And then we get here, the
            Castavets', where last night's
            shit--storm took place.
  
                      TREVOR
            I see. It's like as if he's going
            in a pattern. Is that what you're
            saying, Bill?
  
  Bill nods and points to the next red circle.
  
                      BILL
            And if he sticks to that pattern
            he'll be here next. Belongs to a
            family, the Strutemyers'. Now I
  
            know y'all are tired and you've
            barely seen your families. But
            we're gonna have to go there
            tonight, lie low and wait.
  
  The posse nod, agreeing.
  
                      REDNECK
            Let's get that son--of--a--bitch,
            Chief.
  
                      BILL
            Just remember, we don't know what
            we're up against here. So let's
            be careful.
  
  INT. POLICE STATION/ARMORY -- DAY
  
  Beside a small armory, Trevor loads a Benelli M--1 super
  semiautomatic shotgun. Margaret checks the site on a
  Remington 700 PSS rifle. Bill takes a Springfield M--1A
  pump--action for himself, while Wally stuffs numerous
  pistols and ammo into a leather satchel. Trevor notices
  a dusty grenade on a shelf.
  
                      TREVOR
            Hey, Bill, we got that grenade we
            confiscated from them jokers wanted
            to use it fish for trout?
  
  Bill looks at Trevor, considering.
  
                      BILL
            Can't hurt.
  
  As Trevor puts the grenade into a side--pocket on the
  satchel, Bill sees Jack and the Older Cop, watching.
  
                      JACK
            I didn't know the Russkies were
            invading there, folks.
  
                      MARGARET
            You seen this guy, you'd wished
            they was.
  
  EXT. POLICE STATION -- LATER
  
  The posse loads up their vehicles, and start taking off
  out of the parking lot.
  
  Bill and Wally walk out to their police car. Bill tosses
  the leather satchel into the trunk. 
  
  They get in the car, Bill starts the engine, when --
  
  Starla Grant pulls quickly into the parking lot. Bill
  rolls down the window as she gets out of her car and runs
  toward them.
  
                      STARLA
            Bill, I heard what you're doing. 
            I think I should go along.
  
                      BILL
            Why? Listen, it doesn't matter. 
            I gotta go.
  
  Bill starts to roll away, but Starla holds on to the car,
  following.
  
                      STARLA
            Wait! Dammit, Bill, if that girl's
            still out there, how will you find
            her? How, unless you bring Grant
            in alive? Your best chance of
            doing that is with me. I can talk
            to him --
  
                      BILL
            He tried to kill you, Starla.
  
                      STARLA
            He did. I know. But I got him
            angry 'cause I wasn't calm. This
            time I could --
  
  Starla's on the verge of tears.
  
                      STARLA
            Please, Bill. What happened, it's
            my fault, I know it.
  
                      BILL
            Starla, it ain't --
  
                      STARLA
            It is. He'd been acting strange. 
            And the physical changes. I should
            have told someone right away...
            But I was just blind. I wanted to
            pretend it wasn't happening... If
            I don't do what I can to help now,
            I just couldn't live with it.
  
  Bill looks at her. He looks at Wally. Wally shrugs.
  
  Bill nods for Starla to get in.
  
  INT. STRUTEMYER KITCHEN -- EVENING
  
  Kylie is blowing on a cup of coffee. Her MOM, DAD, and
  two younger SISTERS, aged 9 and 11, are relaxing after
  dinner. As Kylie's Mom picks up plates --
  
                      KYLIE'S MOM
            Kylie! What'd you do to your
            fingers?
  
  Kylie's Mom grabs her hand, looking at her very long
  fingernails. They're painted sky blue and spotted with
  minute teddy bear and bumblebee decals.
  
                      KYLIE
            Kiri Goshima done 'em. She's
            Japanese.
  
                      KYLIE'S DAD
            Looks like Pokemons done 'em to
            me!
  
  Kylie's sisters LAUGH out loud.
  
                      KYLIE
            Foreign stuff is classy if you
            knew something.
  
  Kylie's family sees, OUT THE WINDOW, police cars pulling
  up by a gravel road.
  
                      KYLIE'S DAD
            Oh. There's Jack. I want y'all
            to stay inside tonight. All right?
  
  Kylie's sisters nod. Kylie too.
  
  EXT. STRUTEMYER FARMHOUSE -- EVENING
  
  Kylie's Dad steps onto the front porch of this quaint
  family farmhouse. He sees Jack heading toward the ranch,
  and waves. Jack gives a little salute, while muttering
  to the Older Cop.
  
                      JACK
            This turns out to be a mountain
            lion we're gonna look like a damn
            bunch of idiots.
  
  The Redneck and Good Ol' Boy make their way to the ranch
  as well. They see Bill with Starla.
  
                      REDNECK
            Didn't know it was date night.
  
  The Good Ol' Boy LAUGHS.
  
                      REDNECK
            I'll be expecting you toss my salad
            at the end of all this then,
            Charlie.
  
                      GOOD OL' BOY
            Shut up.
  
  EXT. STRUTEMYER RANCH -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  The posse fans out over this grassy land where the cattle
  graze, finding places to hide. The sun sets behind them.
  
  FADE TO:
  
  EXT. STRUTEMYER RANCH -- NIGHT
  
  Darkness has crept over the ranch, and the beautiful,
  pastoral scene has become distinctly more sinister.
  
  The wind blows hard, WHISTLING through the long weeds.
  
  A rusty rooster windmill atop the old barn twists and
  CLINKS on its half--bent perch.
  
  A piece of tarp hangs down from the barn roof, FLAPPING
  incessantly against the wooden wall.
  
  Trevor and Jack; the Redneck and the Good Ol' Boy; and
  Margaret and the Older Cop are hidden around the ranch,
  waiting, watching or dozing.
  
  INT. STRUTEMYER BARN -- NIGHT
  
  Inside the barn, the wind is only slightly quieter, and
  it's darker. Bill, Starla, and Wally are here. Bill
  peers out through the doorway at cattle drinking from the
  trough. He looks at Starla; her head tilts to the side
  as she nods off. When her head falls all the way, she
  snaps back up, and catches Bill gazing at her.
  
  Bill nods and smiles. She doesn't smile back; she's
  embarrassed and miserable and this is the last place she
  wants to be.
  
  They sit there for a moment in the dark.
  
                      BILL
            Hey, Starla, remember that time
            when you were a kid and you came
            knocking on my window in the middle
            of the night?
  
  Wally looks at them.
  
                      BILL
            Starla here's twelve. Guess I was
            fourteen. I said, 'Starla, what
            the hell you doing out there?'
            She tells me she's running away to
            Hollywood to become a big star. 
            She said she knew I was in ROTC,
            and she was gonna need a bodyguard. 
            Invited me along.
  
  Wally LAUGHS. Bill smiles. Starla is embarrassed, but
  grudgingly enjoys the story.
  
                      BILL
            I said, 'Starla, if there's anybody
  
            can take care of herself, I think
            it's you. I'm gonna have to 
            decline.' 
                      WALLY 
                  (to Starla)
            How far'd you get?
                      STARLA
            About the bus stop. Ranger Rick
            here called my dad.
  
                      WALLY
            Ha! A cop from the get--go! You
            son--of--a--bitch!
  
                      STARLA
            You fucked up our fame and fortune,
            Bill Pardy.
  
                      BILL
            Yeah, maybe I did.
  
  EXT. STRUTEMYER RANCH -- NIGHT
  
  Jack smokes a cigarette as he keeps an eye out for the
  cow killer. The burning ember of the cigarette is blown
  off by the wind. Jack searches for it in the dry grass,
  trying to catch it before it starts a fire. He crawls
  forward, slapping the ground, when he glances up and
  sees...
  
  A large, shadowy shape hulking through the trees on the
  edge of the forest.
  
  INT. STRUTEMYER BARN -- NIGHT
  
  Bill, Starla, and Wally see Grant Grant emerging from the
  forest. He has transformed into something much more
  monstrous: a giant, gangrenous, slug--like beast, a clump
  of cells and tumor--like protuberances. He has various
  tentacle--like--arms growing out of him, like overgrown
  eyes on a potato. As opposed to just having the disease,
  he now seems to BE the disease itself.
  
                      STARLA
            Grant?
  
  EXT. STRUTEMYER RANCH -- NIGHT
  
  Jack and Trevor watch in amazement as Grant slithers across
  the field, his large, dark, watery eyes searching out
  prey. Jack turns to Trevor, pissed, and whispers:
  
                      JACK
            You said 'squid'!
  
                      TREVOR
            It got worse.
  
  The Redneck and the Good Ol' Boy watch too, mouths dropped.
  
  The diseased Grant slithers through the grass just a few
  feet beside Margaret and the Older Cop. They duck below
  the grass, looking as if they're going to have heart
  attacks.
  
  Grant approaches a cow. The cow makes a little MOO of
  protest when he gets too close, and steps back.
  
  The Grant--creature stabs one of his tentacle growths into
  the cow's neck, piercing it. The cow stumbles, choking. 
  Blood spurts from her neck. And she topples over.
  
  INT. STRUTEMYER BARN -- NIGHT
  
  Bill and Wally stare out the window, motionless.
  
                      WALLY
            What we gonna do now, Bill? Cuffs
            won't even fit on 'im.
  
  Starla musters courage. She stands, and moves out of the
  barn.
  
                      BILL
            Starla, where you…?
  
  EXT. STRUTEMYER RANCH -- NIGHT
  
  Grant wraps a feeler around the cow's horns, and starts
  dragging it back in the direction of the forest.
  
  INT. STRUTEMYER BARN -- NIGHT
  
  Bill motions through the barn window to Margaret.
  
  EXT. STRUTEMYER RANCH -- NIGHT
  
  Margaret motions to Trevor.
  
  Trevor motions to the recruits.
  
  And Starla moves slowly in toward Grant.
  
                      STARLA
            Grant?
  
  Grant turns and looks at her with his half--human eyes. 
  His breathing is loud, raspy, and sick. He sees, in a
  wide circle around him, the nervous posse standing up,
  their guns at the ready.
  
  Starla moves even closer. Bill and Wally are coming in
  close behind her.
  
                      STARLA
            Grant? It's okay.
  
  As Starla and the posse get closer, Grant looks almost
  scared. His eyes dart around from cop to cop.
  
                      STARLA
            You're just sick is all. But we'll
            take you to get help right now. 
            I'll stay by your side, Grant,
            just like I swore I would. For
            better or worse. Remember?
  
  Grant's huge milky eyes betray that he does.
  
                      STARLA
            Okay?
  
  The posse inch in closer, tightening the circle.
  
  Grant lets out a PIERCING SCREECH of protest. All of the
  posse stop, terrified.
  
  Everything is quiet and still except for Grant's gross
  breathing. Deep: In, out.
  
                      STARLA
            Okay, Grant? It's gonna be all
            right.
  
  Grant SCREECHES again: a warning. He looks from Starla
  to Bill, with hurt, jealous eyes, and GROWLS.
  
  Then Grant's eyes close to half--mast, and he turns away. 
  His tentacle tightens around the cow's horns, and he again
  drags it toward the forest.
  
  While Bill tries to decide what to do, the Good Ol' Boy
  nervously blocks Grant's path. He aims his pistol at
  him.
  
                      GOOD OL' BOY
            You stop right there, you son of a
            bitch. I don't care what kinda
            leprosy you got. We need to find
            that girl. Now you can make this
            peaceful, or you can make it hard.
  
  Pause. Grant and the Good Ol' Boy stare at each other.
  
  And then Grant SNAPS out a tentacle--arm, whipping it up
  the front of the man's body, and back.
  
  The front of the Good Ol' Boy's whole body is split neatly
  in half. For a split second, he remains alive: the two
  different sides of his split head look down in disbelief
  as his organs spill out from inside him. And then he
  topples over.
  
                      BILL
            Fire! Fire!
  
  The posse SHOOT at Grant. Starla covers her head.
  
  Grant is struck; he SCREECHES in pain. He lets go of the
  cow. He slithers with incredible speed off toward the
  forest.
  
  Bill and the other posse members take off after him like
  hounds on the heel of their prey. They SHOOT madly.
  
  Starla watches as the posse follows Grant into the woods.
  
  Starla stands alone and worried a moment, and then she
  darts off after them.
  
  INT. KYLIE'S BATHROOM -- NIGHT
  
  Kylie is running a bath. She hears GUNSHOTS ECHO in the
  distance.
  
  She peers out a little window above the tub, trying to
  see where the shots are coming from.
  
  EXT. FOREST -- NIGHT
  
  The posse run through this very dark forest after Grant,
  leaping over brush and rocks. They're nervous, but also
  excited, as the primordial hunting urge takes over. Their
  eyes are filled with anger and bloodlust.
  
  They're able to follow Grant only by catching glimpses --
  a flash of flesh between trees, a tentacle disappearing
  around brush.
  
                      WALLY
            There he is! Over there!
  
  They FIRE at the creature, taking chunks out of trees,
  but missing. He's too fast.
  
  EXT. CREEK -- NIGHT
  
  Grant slips around a boulder and splashes through a creek,
  and into the plentiful trees beyond. He rustles thick
  fronds as he moves up alongside the creek.
  
  The posse run up the creek itself, splashing, trying to
  peer through the leaves to get a shot at Grant.
  
  Jack, carrying his revolver, trips and falls in the creek. 
  He cuts his knee on a sharp rock. He stands, and keeps
  going.
  
  They come to --
  
  EXT. FOREST CLEARING -- NIGHT
  
  The posse come up out of the creek. They've completely
  lost track of the diseased man--beast.
  
  They stop, out--of--breath and looking around. They whisper:
  
                      TREVOR
            Where'd he go?
  
                      MARGARET
            We ain't never gonna find that
            girl now.
  
  The Redneck is WEEPING with rage.
  
                      REDNECK
            I'll kill that asshole what he did
            to Charlie.
  
  Bill sees Starla run up behind them. He waves her back.
  
                      BILL
            Starla, get the hell out of here!
  
  Starla takes a couple steps back, but doesn't leave. She
  watches there, half in shadows as the posse creep around,
  searching for some trail of Grant.
  
  Margaret looks down into the bubbling creek. She sees
  it's turning red. She looks up the trail of red, which
  is rippling downhill in the water. The red flow starts
  somewhere near a boulder.
  
  Bill and Wally are searching in front of the boulder. 
  Margaret SEES, but they don't, Grant pulling himself up
  on a tree branch and RISING behind them. Blood from a
  shotgun wound is dripping into the creek. Grant, pissed,
  lifts a tentacle.
  
                      MARGARET
            Bill!!
  
  Bill turns as the tentacle swings down toward him. He
  falls back; the tentacle slashes inches from his face.
  
  Bill BLASTS his shotgun up at Grant, but Grant is already
  slithering swiftly back into the thick brush.
  
  The posse squeeze themselves though the brush, following.
  
  EXT. OLD BARN -- NIGHT
  
  The posse emerge on the other side of the brush, only to
  be confronted by a terrible odor. They cover their noses
  and mouths as their faces shrivel in disgust.
  
                      TREVOR
            What the hell's that smell?
  
                      WALLY
            It's something dead.
  
  The posse gaze up at the old ramshackle barn where Grant
  had brought Brenda.
  
                      JACK
            It's coming from in there, ain't
            it?
  
  Margaret looks at Bill.
  
                      MARGARET
            Think he's inside?
  
  Bill takes the lead, carefully approaching the barn.
  
  The posse follows, their weapons drawn. The closer they
  get to the barn, the more unbearable the smell becomes. 
  Only Bill, intent on the task in front of him, doesn't
  react to the stench at all.
  
  Bill leans his ear in close to the front door, and listens. 
  Through the door he can HEAR a QUIET SOBBING. Bill and
  Wally exchange a look.
  
  Bill steps back. He and Wally aim their shotguns at the
  door. Bill nods to Margaret, and gestures for her to
  open it. Starla watches all this from the rear.
  
  Margaret swings open the door.
  
  INT. OLD BARN -- NIGHT
  
  Bill and Wally move cautiously but quickly inside. But
  they stop suddenly, in disgust and horror.
  
                      BILL
            Oh...
  
  It's Brenda. And she doesn't look good. Her weepy little
  head is stuck to the front of a huge fleshy orb, which is
  what her body has become. This enormous ball of flesh is
  nine or ten feet tall. Vestigial fingers protrude from
  the sides. She is utterly immobile. Her flesh sloshes,
  slightly and constantly; a thousand snakes seem to be
  slithering beneath her thin, tight, bruised skin. The
  woman is in great pain. She SOBS. Her mouth and chin
  are stained with blood.
  
  The posse and Starla enter behind Bill and Wally and are
  equally astounded.
  
                      OLDER COP
            Oh, shit!
  
  They see the source of the awful stench:
  
  Brenda is encircled by the rotting carcasses of cows and
  horses and forest critters. They are mostly skeletal, as
  they have been largely devoured. They're swarming with
  flies. The stench is so bad the posse cover their faces
  with the bottom of their shirts.
  
  The SOBBING Brenda looks desperately at Bill and Wally.
  
                      BRENDA
            Something's wrong with me.
  
                      WALLY
            Uh, yeah.
  
  Bill and Wally get in a little closer.
  
                      BILL
            Brenda, um...
  
                      BRENDA
            I didn't want no one to be seeing
            me like this.
  
  As the posse inch closer, Brenda's whole body suddenly
  LURCHES FORWARD a bit -- like whatever's inside her is
  trying to get out and to the posse. Brenda SCREAMS in
  agony.
  
  The posse jump back. They stare as she recomposes herself.
  
                      BRENDA
            How are my boys, Bill? Are they 
            all right? 
                      BILL 
            Boys are fine, Brenda. Uh, what's --
  
            what's happening here, exactly?
  
                      BRENDA
            I'm so fucking hungry, Bill. I'm
            so hungry. I just never knew
            anybody could be so hungry.
  
  Brenda tries to smile in a way she might charm her Daddy
  into giving her candy. This is creepy as hell.
  
                      BRENDA
            Would you mind handing me a piece
            of that possum there at your feet? 
            Little bit?
  
  Trevor gags and runs out of the barn.
  
  EXT. OLD BARN -- NIGHT
  
  Trevor vomits into some bushes.
  
  INT. OLD BARN -- NIGHT
  
  Bill eyes poor Brenda.
  
                      BILL
            I think we best get you to a
            hospital right quick.
  
                      WALLY
            What the fuck they gonna do with
            her in a hospital, Bill?
  
  Again, Brenda SCREAMS. Her body LURCHES FORWARD.
  
                      OLDER COP
            Why's she doing that?!
  
                      REDNECK
            Her tumors is moving.
  
                      JACK
            Bill, get her to stop that shit!
  
                      BRENDA
            It hurts!
  
  Her body lurches forward AGAIN. She sobs.
  
                      BRENDA
            Help me!! Help!!
  
  And then AGAIN. Starla notices that Brenda's skin is
  starting to SPLIT AND TEAR on her side.
  
                      STARLA
            Bill!
  
                      BRENDA
            Little fuckers are tearing me
            aparrrr-- !
  
  Brenda SCREAMS like a woman giving a thousand evil births
  at once and her body RIPS OPEN in one part; and then, in
  quick succession, ANOTHER, and ANOTHER. Bill looks out
  one of the windows. Grant is peering in at them, smiling.
  
                      BILL
            He led us here.
  
  And then Brenda's body BURSTS OPEN COMPLETELY, like a
  water balloon hitting cement, and thousands of little
  SLITHERING EYELESS PARASITES with slippery black--red skin
  like slugs spill forth. The horrid creatures, eight inches
  long and a few inches thick, swarm over the posse,
  completely covering them before they can react.
  
  EXT. OLD BARN -- NIGHT
  
  Trevor sees the things flooding over the posse in the
  barn. The parasites are especially drawn to the posse's
  heads. Because there are so many, the weight of the beasts
  knocks most of them down.
  
  Trevor runs, but the things make it out the doorway,
  covering him like lava in One Million B.C., and he buckles.
  
  INT. OLD BARN -- NIGHT
  
  A parasite slithers quickly and fluidly into Wally's mouth. 
  He gags on it. His eyes flip back up into his head, and
  his body starts to spasm.
  
  Jack tries to pull one away from his face, but it's too
  slippery and it disappears inside his mouth. His body,
  too, convulses, and he spits up blood.
  
  Bill notices the parasites slithering into the mouths of
  the Redneck and the Older Cop as well; whites of their
  eyes, bodies convulsing, spewing blood. Bill sees the
  things oozing up Margaret's neck.
  
                      BILL
            Margaret, cover your mouth!
  
  Bill sees Trevor outside the door in the dirt, trying to
  slap the parasites off. Bill yells to everyone:
  
                      BILL
            Don't let 'em in your mouths!
  
  One starts to get in Bill's mouth as he speaks, but he
  slaps it aside. Margaret pulls her shirt over her face.
  
  Starla SHRIEKS. She puts her hand over her mouth as the
  parasites rush up her. She's knocked over, and falls
  back onto the floor.
  
  A parasite slithers between Starla's lips -- when,
  suddenly, a KNIFE thrusts down, pinning the creature to
  the dirt, stopping it from oozing further into Starla.
  
  Bill is holding the knife in one hand, his other hand
  firmly over his mouth. Bill swats more incoming parasites
  away from Starla's mouth. He covers her mouth with his
  free hand. He lies on top of her, mushing their bodies
  and faces as closely together as possible so the things
  don't get into them. The parasites swarm all over them,
  flapping their slimy little tails as they try to fight
  their way inside their mouths. But Bill holds tight to
  himself and Starla.
  
  Eventually, the parasites give up on Bill and Starla, and
  begin to slither away. Bill watches as they crawl off
  the posse and filter out of the barn in a squirmy mound.
  
  Eventually, they're gone. Bill takes his hand from
  Starla's mouth. Starla looks around.
  
  She sees Margaret lift her face from the ground, shivering,
  holding her shirt over her mouth. They gaze out the front
  door of the barn.
  
  EXT. OLD BARN -- NIGHT
  
  Trevor pulls his face from the dirt and stands. He spits
  violently and wipes the dirt off his tongue with his wrist.
  
                      TREVOR
            They wanted us to eat 'em! Why
            would they want that!?
  
  INT. OLD BARN -- NIGHT
  
  Bill is trying to make sense of it all. He gazes down at
  Brenda's body, her bloody skin and misshapen skeleton
  spread out over the floor, split open like an enormous
  bloody tiger rug.
  
  He looks around at the posse lying on the floor in mangled
  positions, their mouths and lips covered in blood, still
  lightly convulsing.
  
  He gazes out INTO THE FOREST to see the parasites rushing
  away like an ugly wormy army, shaking the brush as they
  head off in different directions.
  
  CUT TO:
  
  EXT. STRUTEMYERS' RANCH -- NIGHT
  
  Parasites crawl over rocks and out of the forest and onto
  the ranch. The Strutemyer farmhouse looms nearby.
  
  INT. KYLIE'S BATHROOM -- NIGHT
  
  Kylie is taking a steamy bubble bath. Her head is back,
  her eyes shut; she's enjoying the warm water. The tub
  faucet drips lightly in an uneven rhythm.
  
  EXT. STRUTEMYERS' FARMHOUSE -- NIGHT
  
  The parasites squirm up the side of the house, sticking
  to the wood siding.
  
  INT. KYLIE'S BATHROOM -- NIGHT
  
  Kylie glances out the window beside the tub, at the starry
  sky and crescent moon, beautiful and still.
  
  There's a KNOCK on the bathroom door. Kylie turns toward
  the door -- as she does, a parasite crawls across the
  window behind her, streaking a moist slimy trail.
  
                      KYLIE'S MOM
            Kylie! You're gonna turn into a
            plum in there!
  
                      KYLIE
            Prune, Mom. Plums turn into prunes.
  
  INT. STRUTEMYERS' HALLWAY -- NIGHT
  
  Kylie's Mom is at the bathroom door.
  
                      KYLIE'S MOM
            I know what turns into what. You
  
            got school tomorrow. Finish up in
  
            there and get to bed.
  
  O.S. Kylie GRUNTS in vague agreement.
  Kylie's Mom trots down the hall, to another door.
  She KNOCKS once, then opens the door to --
  INT. STRUTEMYER GIRLS' BEDROOM -- NIGHT
  
  Kylie's younger sisters lie in single beds, reading
  
  Goosebumps by bed--lamps clipped to the headboards.
  
                      KYLIE'S MOM
            Time to turn in, ladies.
  
                      KYLIE'S SISTER 
            Just a couple more pages, Mom?
  
                      KYLIE'S MOM
            Come on now.
  
  The girls SIGH in lazy protest, but still turn off their
  reading lamps.
  
                      KYLIE'S MOM
            G'night.
  
                      KYLIE'S SISTER 1 KYLIE'S SISTER 
            Night, Mom. Night.
  
  EXT. STRUTEMYERS' FARMHOUSE -- NIGHT
  
  THROUGH THE WINDOW we see Kylie's Mom start to close the
  door.
  
                      KYLIE'S MOM
            Sleep tight. Don't let the bed
            bugs bite.
  
  Numerous parasites slither INTO FRAME, up the side of the
  house, approaching the girls' bedroom window, which is
  open a few inches for air.
  
  INT. STRUTEMYER GIRLS' BEDROOM -- NIGHT
  
  Kylie's Mom shuts their door completely. The girls turn
  on their sides and close their eyes to sleep.
  
  And the parasites pour in through the cracked window. 
  They slither over the walls. Their slimy black--red bodies
  contrast sharply with the pretty flowered wallpaper.
  
  INT. KYLIE'S BATHROOM -- NIGHT
  
  The door cracks open, and a parasite enters. It slithers
  silently over the linoleum tiles.
  
  It arrives at the base of the tub, and crawls up the side.
  
  Kylie continues relaxing, her eyes closed. She doesn't
  see the parasite enter the soapy bath water at her feet.
  
  Kylie hears a SOFT SPLASHING and peers down. She spots
  the creature swimming toward her between her knees.
  
  Kylie SHRIEKS and scrambles up to get out of the tub. As
  she clamors out, she slips and falls to the floor.
  
  The parasite squirms up Kylie's wet naked back. Kylie
  SHRIEKS again, jumping up as she tries to slap the thing
  off.
  
                      KYLIE
            Mom!!
  
  The parasite winds toward her lips. Kylie goes to grab
  it with both hands, but it slips through them. The thing
  slides into Kylie's mouth as she looks down at it.
  
  Kylie snatches the very end of the parasite's tail. Her
  long, teddy--bear--spotted fingernails pinch it there,
  digging into the parasite's flesh, barely stopping it
  from sliding completely into her mouth. It wildly flaps
  its tail like a docked trout, desperate to enter her.
  
  Kylie falls to her knees. Her eyes roll back in her head,
  and her body spasms while she holds tenuously onto the
  very tip of the parasite's tail.
  
  We TRACK IN to a CLOSEUP of Kylie's face: a slight white
  electrical--telepathic charge can be seen SPARKING inside
  her mouth.
  
   FLASH TO:
  
  KYLIE'S VISION
  
  We are RUSHING through some amoebic landscape, PAST
  microbes and cytoplasm and cells, and to:
  
  KYLIE'S VISION -- SERIES OF IMAGES -- CREATURE'S POV
  
  Perhaps the memories of some creature not of earth. Its
  eyesight is not like our own; it's in grainy black and
  white and amber outlines. Various images FLASH in quick
  succession, including the following:
  
  --We are on top of an alien ANIMAL, pinning it down. it
  HOWLS beneath us as we tear into its flesh, feasting.
  
  --All around us, diseased monstrous BEASTS feed on more
  alien animals. They lunge toward them and pin them down,
  ripping them apart, like some National Geographic
  documentary shot in Hell.
  
  --In FAST MOTION, unfamiliar plant life around us grows
  sick and withers, dying out.
  
  --A group of diseased monstrous BEASTS CRY OUT In uniform
  pain. They buckle to their knees; now they're dying.
  
  --The diseased BEASTS feed on their own appendages.
  
  BACK TO SCENE
  
  Kylie tries to regain control of her mind. Her eyes fight
  against flipping back in her head. Tears pour down her
  face. She pulls the parasite out just a bit.
  
  But then it SLAMS back into her and there are more SPARKS
  inside her mouth --
  
  KYLIE'S VISION -- SERIES OF IMAGES -- MANGLED INSECT POV
  
  --We are CLIMBING UP through A creamy, gelatinous yellow.
  An opening slit widens in front of us, and we see Grant
  slowly bending to look at us, the forest behind him.
  
  KYLIE'S VISION -- SERIES OF IMAGES -- GRANT'S POV
  --We watch Starla soaping herself In The shower.
  --We make love to Starla, our hands on her face.
  --We sit over A convulsing Brenda, impregnating her with
  
            our tubule.
  --We see The posse members coming In toward us.
  
  BACK TO SCENE
  
  With a last, desperate effort, Kylie yanks at the exhausted
  worm, pulling it fully from her mouth. It flaps in her
  fingers. Kylie spits up blood.
  
  Kylie tosses the parasite away from her. Though slightly
  crippled, the little bastard writhes back toward her.
  
  Kylie spots her curling iron on the counter; it's plugged
  in, the red light is on. She grabs it, and swings it
  into the wormy thing.
  
  The parasite SQUEAKS and trembles with pain. Smoke rises
  from it as Kylie digs the curling iron in deeper, burning
  it, and, finally, killing it.
  
  Kylie lifts the iron in front of her and looks at it. 
  The dead parasite is stuck to it, dangling from the metal.
  
                      KYLIE
            Mom!!
  
  Kylie drops the iron. She quickly steps into her clothes
  lying on the floor. She runs out of the bathroom and
  into --
  
  INT. STRUTEMYERS' HALLWAY -- NIGHT
  
  Kylie runs to the stairway.
                      KYLIE
            Mom!! Mom!!
  
  Kylie stops. Dozens of the things are slithering up the
  stairs and up the handrail towards her.
  
  O.S. Kylie hears her SISTERS' SCREAMS. She looks in their
  direction, running toward their room.
                      KYLIE
            Emily!! Jenna!!
  
  Kylie tosses open her sisters' door.
  
  INT. STRUTEMYER GIRLS' BEDROOM -- NIGHT
  
  Kylie's youngest sister is on her knees on the bed, a
  parasite sticking out of her mouth. Her eyes are rolled
  back. Her arms flail spastically. The slithering beast
  wags its tail as it disappears down her throat.
  
  Kylie's other sister is backing into a corner, with
  parasites crawling up her body. She's SCREAMING bloody
  hell, trying to slap them off.
  
  Kylie runs toward her to help. Kylie slaps the parasites
  off her sister. But there's too many and they're too
  fast. They slide into her sister's mouth.
  
                      KYLIE
            No!! Nooo!!
  
  Her sister's eyes flip back in her skull as the thing
  disappears completely, and she starts spitting up blood.
  
  Kylie sees the parasites around the room coming at her. 
  There's a clear path toward a window. Kylie runs to the
  window, and shoves it open. As the things approach her,
  she crawls out --
  
  EXT. STRUTEMYERS' FARMHOUSE AWNING -- NIGHT
  
  Kylie steps onto this shingled, angled canopy over the
  front porch. She turns to see the parasites slithering
  out towards her. She looks down. It's probably too far
  to jump, but she has no choice.
  
  So she jumps down onto --
  
  EXT. STRUTEMYERS' FRONT LAWN -- NIGHT
  
  Kylie lands, hard, tumbling over.
  
  She glances back at the front of the house.
  
  THROUGH THE KITCHEN WINDOW she sees her Mom and Dad, eyes
  rolled back, convulsing, spitting up blood.
  
  More parasites are crawling towards Kylie through the
  grass.
  
  She spots her family's old Luv pickup truck on the driveway
  in front of her. She breaks for it.
  
  She throws open the front door, and jumps inside.
  
  The things approach, crawling in after her. Kylie tries
  to slam the door shut, but it won't; many things are stuck
  in the door jamb.
  
  They SQUEAK in a chorus of pain, trying to wriggle toward
  her.
  
  So she SLAMS the door AGAIN, and AGAIN, and she slices
  the little bastards in half.
  
  INT. PICKUP TRUCK -- NIGHT
  
  Kylie makes sure none are inside.
  She feels for the keys in the ignition. There aren't
            any.
  
  The creatures crawl up and over all the pickup's windows,
  trying to get in. Slithery shadows cover over Kylie,
  leaving her in almost complete darkness.
  Kylie crouches down in on herself, and WAILS.
  
  INT. OLD BARN -- NIGHT
  
  Starla, Trevor, and Margaret stand, wide--eyed and shaken. 
  All three seem to be in some mild state of shock.
  
  Bill, suppressing his desperation, is trying to make
  contact on his police radio.
  
                      BILL
            11--41. We're gonna need paramedics
            out here right away. We got four
            men down.
  
  Bill listens for a response, but there's only STATIC. He
  presses the button again.
  
                      BILL
            Shelby, you there?
  
  Still, only STATIC. Bill tries another frequency.
  
                      BILL
            Shelby, this is Bill. We got an
            emergency here.
  
  STATIC.
  
                      BILL
            Goddammit.
  
  Bill steps outside the doorway, to see if he can get
  reception. Trailing off:
  
                      BILL
            Shelby?
  
  Starla sees Wally's body on the floor. His skin is white
  and corpse--like. His mouth is streaked with blood. Starla
  crouches beside him, and takes his pulse. Her hands are
  visibly shaking.
  
                      MARGARET
            Is he alive?
  
  Starla looks at Margaret, and nods.
  
                      MARGARET
            Praise Jesus.
  
                      TREVOR
            'Praise Jesus?' That's fucking
            pushing it, Margaret.
  
  Trevor looks about to cry.
  
                      TREVOR
            What the hell were those things?!
            You ever seen anything like that? 
            You ever heard of anything like
            that?
  
  Margaret shakes her head. Trevor looks at Starla, who
  also shakes her head.
  
                      TREVOR
            Me neither. And I watch 'Animal
            Planet' all the fuckin' time!
  
  Bill re--enters.
  
                      BILL
            No reception out here.
  
                      STARLA
            Bill, I'll run out to your car,
            call for paramedics from there.
  
                      MARGARET
            That's a long ways. Them worms
            are out there.
  
                      STARLA
            I'll keep my mouth covered.
  
                      BILL
            No. I'll go. The three of you,
            you wait here. Get these folks,
            out of the barn. The stench and
            rot can't be any good for 'em.
  
  Margaret and Trevor nod. As Bill starts to leave, Starla
  grabs him.
  
                      STARLA
            Be careful, Bill.
  
  Bill nods. Makes a feeble attempt at a smile. He jogs
  off into the forest.
  
  EXT. FOREST CLEARING -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Bill runs into the small glade, and looks around, trying
  to remember which way he came from.
  
  He gazes between some greenery, some distance away, and
  spies a long--lashed deer munching on foliage. A couple
  more deer and a fawn are eating as well. Bill looks at
  them a moment, peaceful, perhaps a sign of some hope...
  
  And then a parasite crawls up the deer's neck and slithers
  into its mouth. Parasites crawl up the bodies and necks
  of the deer behind it. The deer buck and flounce and
  scratch trying to get the things off of them.
  
  Bill runs away as fast as he can.
  
  EXT. OLD BARN -- NIGHT
  
  Trevor and Margaret carry Jack out of the barn. He's
  bloated, corpse--like and covered in varicose veins. 
  Margaret is wearing a gag--like swatch of clothing tied
  around her mouths, to protect themselves. Trevor's gag
  is down around his chin so he can chatter.
  
                      TREVOR
            It's got to be some Goddamn
            biological weapons. Government's
            testin' 'em out on us! 'Cause who
            gives a shit if Wheelsy disappears,
            right?!
  
  They set down Jack and head back toward the barn.
  
                      TREVOR
            I hope it ain't contagious. I'll
            be pissed as hell I turn into a
            big mollusk. I'll fuckin' sue, I
            swear to God.
  
  Starla, also wearing a gag, is kneeling beside Wally, who
  is similarly sick and bloated. His lips are parched and
  cracking.
  
  Starla squeezes a wet cloth, dripping all the water onto
  Wally's lips. Then she stands, and heads toward the creek.
  
  She doesn't see Wally open his eyes behind her. He sits
  up, and stares over at Starla with milky eyes as she kneels
  down beside the water.
  
  Starla dips the swatch of clothing into the creek, re--
  wetting it.
  
  She stands, and turns, only to see Wally directly in front
  of her, standing between trees, almost completely covered
  in darkness.
  
                      WALLY
            Hey, sugarplum.
  
  Pause. Starla pulls the gag from her mouth.
  
                      STARLA
            What?
  
  Wally speaks with Grant's cadence.
  
                      WALLY
            Marriage. It's a sacred bond. 
            Just like you said.
  
  Starla stares at him. Wally almost looks weepy.
  
                      WALLY
            I'm sorry 'bout trying to strangle
            you and all. I lost -- Lost my
            head. I didn't want to do none of
            the things I done. Not kill them
            pets. Not make Brenda a womb. 
            But it's my nature, ain't it? How
            can you blame a one for actin'
            according to his nature?
  
  Starla, too freaked to speak, takes a step back from him.
  
                      WALLY
            I wanted to tell you what was going
            on. But I didn't -- didn't think
            you'd love me no more. I never
            knew... love, Starla, I --
  
  Trevor and Margaret are setting down the Older Cop. They
  see Wally standing. Margaret pulls down her gag.
  
                      MARGARET
            Wally?
  
  Wally turns and stares at her like some angry animal.
  
                      MARGARET
            You all right?
  
  Wally doesn't answer.
  
                      MARGARET
            Maybe you better sit back down. 
            You don't look so good.
  
                      TREVOR
            Margaret.
  
  Trevor's staring at something. Margaret follows his eye
  line. Jack and the Older Cop are sitting up, staring at
  her, just like Wally.
  
  The Redneck stumbles into the barn doorway, also staring
  at them.
  
  EXT. STRUTEMYERS' FARMHOUSE/INT. PICKUP TRUCK -- NIGHT
  
  Kylie is still alone in the Luv truck. The windows are
  clear; the parasites have abandoned their quest, just as
  they did with the posse in the barn. But Kylie stays in
  the car, trembling, afraid to leave.
  
  She HEARS a DOOR OPEN. She sees her parents and her
  sisters come stumbling out the front door of her home. 
  They're also bloated and diseased. Their chins and shirts
  are stained with the blood they spit up.
  
                      KYLIE'S DAD
            Kylie, honey, you okay? Come on
            out.
  
  Her family lumbers up to the truck. They peer in with
  their milky eyes. Her youngest sister pushes her face up
  close to the window.
  
                      KYLIE'S SISTER 
            Hi, Kylie. It's me.
  
  Her family tries the door handles, but they're locked.
  
                      KYLIE'S MOM
            Open the door, sweetie. I know we
            don't look so good, but your mommy
            and daddy love you.
  
                      KYLIE
            Get away!!
  
                      KYLIE'S MOM
            Now, Kylie, there's no excuse why
            not to be with your family. This
            is family fun day, isn't it?
  
  They continue RATTLING the door handles, over and over. 
  They SLAP the windows.
  
  Kylie SOBS. Her sister speaks in a singsongy voice:
  
                      KYLIE'S SISTER 
            Kyyy--leee, this is your last cha--
            ance.
  
  Her Dad leans over and picks up a large rock. He carries
  it toward the truck. He holds it up over the windshield.
  
  Kylie SCREAMS as he SMASHES it down. The windshield
  CRACKS, but doesn't shatter. He holds it up again.
  
  EXT. FOREST NEAR STRUTEMYER'S -- NIGHT
  Bill, out of breath, runs out of the forest --
  
  EXT. STRUTEMYERS' RANCH -- NIGHT
  
  Bill emerges on the edge of the ranch, stretching five or
  six acres out in front of him. On the other side of the
  field is the gravel road, where his police car is parked. 
  Beside the field is the Strutemyer's farmhouse.
  
  Bill HEARS a CRASH. He turns to see the diseased
  Strutemyers in their driveway, all holding rocks now,
  smashing the pickup's windows.
  
                      BILL
            Hey!
  
  The Strutemyers stop, mid--swing. They turn toward him.
  
  Kylie sees Bill through the rear windshield. She unlocks
  the door, and jumps out of the car.
  
                      BILL
            What's -- ?
  
  Kylie runs past her family and up to Bill. She grabs
  onto him, and hides behind him, WEEPING.
  
                      BILL
            What's going on here?
  
  Kylie's Dad's cadence is also like Grant's:
  
                      KYLIE'S DAD
            Well, hello there, Pardy.
  
                      BILL
            What happened to you, Dwight?
  
  Kylie's Dad looks down at his own bloated arm.
  
                      KYLIE'S DAD
            Poison ivy out back, maybe?
  
                      KYLIE'S SISTERS
            We're itchy!
  
  Kylie is obviously in shock.
  
                      KYLIE
            They're not my... They killed...
  
                      BILL
            Okay. Y'all just wait in this
            spot. I'm gonna call the paramedics
            for you. Kylie can come with --
  
                      RANCHER (O.S.)
            Hey there, killer.
  
  Bill turns to see the RANCHER with the cleft palate, now
  diseased, holding a shovel. He swings it into Bill,
  knocking him down.
  
  Kylie SCREAMS. Her family runs in toward them. She looks
  around to see a couple more DISEASED RANCHERS rushing
  toward them through the fields.
  
  The Cleft Palate Rancher stands over Bill and raises the
  shovel to bring it down again.
  
  Bill feels for his shotgun, which has fallen into the
  dirt beside him. He yanks the trigger.
  
  The BLAST hits the Rancher in the foot. He buckles.
  
  Bill stands, pulling Kylie with him as the other diseased
  folks rush toward them through the fields.
  
                      BILL
            Come on.
  
  Bill and Kylie dash toward the cluster of cars as the
  diseased chase them.
  
  EXT. OLD BARN -- NIGHT
  
  The infected posse -- Wally, Jack, the Older Cop, and the
  Redneck recruit -- are all coming in towards Trevor and
  Margaret.
  
                      MARGARET
            Now, what'd I say?! Y'all just
            sit down! You need to get some
            Goddamn rest! You're sick!
  
  Starla watches this, by herself, next to the creek. She
  eyes a rifle in the dirt.
  
  Jack grabs a fistful of Trevor's hair and restrains his
  arms. Wally pulls his pistols from their holsters and
  tosses them into the dirt.
  
                      TREVOR
            Let go!!
  
  Margaret goes to grab her pistol, when the Redneck opens
  his mouth wide and --
  
  GLEEKS; that is, he sends a yellowish globby--stream
  shooting out of the back of his throat. The glob SPLASHES
  on Margaret's hand. Margaret SCREAMS, drops the pistol.
  
                      MARGARET
            It burns!!
  
  Margaret looks at her hand as the gleek--liquid sinks into
  her skin. The hand is swelling monstrously. It's soft. 
  Parts of it are nearly dripping off the bone.
  
                      MARGARET
            What'd you do to my fuckin' hand?!
  
  Jack opens his mouth and GLEEKS too -- shooting the stream--
  glob forward and onto her neck. Margaret SCREAMS again,
  grabbing onto her neck.
  
  Margaret tries to speak, but she struggles just to breathe,
  as her neck puffs up, impeding her thorax.
  
                      OLDER COP
            Meat.
  
  The Older Cop buries his fingers into her neck. The puffy
  flesh comes off easily; it's soft, almost creamy. He
  stuffs the flesh into his mouth, eating it.
  
  As Margaret topples over, dying, the other posse members
  turn to look at a very freaked--out Trevor. The Redneck
  opens his mouth at him, when --
  
                      STARLA (O.S.)
            Let him go!
  
  The posse turn and see Starla, who has made her way over
  to where the rifle was on the ground, and is now pointing
  the rifle at the posse, trembling.
  
                      STARLA
            Trevor, come on.
  
  Surprised, they release Trevor.
  
                      STARLA
            What'd you do to her?!
  
  Jack stares at Starla. He too speaks with Grant's cadence.
  
                      JACK
            There you go, sugarplum! Why you
            choosing camps 'fore you hear --
  
                      JACK REDNECK
  Both sides of the story!? Both sides of the story!?
  
                      STARLA
            Why are you talking like Grant?!
  
  The posse moves toward her. Starla is CRYING. The posse
  makes a COLLECTIVE SCREECHING sound, then speaks again:
  
                      WALLY
            'Cause I am Grant!
  
                      WALLY REDNECK 
            I'm you husband --I'm 
            you husband, Goddammit --JACK 
  
            You swore to honor and obey --
  
                      OLDER COP REDNECK
            Obey me --Obey me, so put that Goddamn
            gun down.
  
                      STARLA
            Don't come any closer. I'll...
            shoot.
  
                      WALLY
            You ain't gonna shoot me! You
            always needed me to protect you! 
            You for damn sure ain't got the
            balls to --
  
  Starla BLASTS Wally, blowing open a big crater into his
  face.
  
  Wally falls to his knees. Starla and Trevor look on in
  shock, as they see...
  
  A slithering parasite squirming out of the crater on his
  face -- out of the Wally's brain.
  
  The little thing squirms down Wally's body and slithers
  off quickly into the woods. Wally falls over, dead.
  
  The sick posse look at Starla, surprised, infuriated.
  
  And then they leap at her.
  
  Starla tries to shoot them. But she's out of ammo.
  
  She and Trevor turn and dash away as quickly as their
  legs can take them.
  
  EXT. TREE--THICK FOREST -- NIGHT
  
  Trevor and Starla run in a zigzag pattern through trees
  rooted closely together, panicked, breathing heavy.
  
                      TREVOR
            Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit!
  
  EXT. STRUTEMYERS' RANCH -- NIGHT
  
  Bill and Kylie arrive at his police car. Bill throws the
  door open, and shoves Kylie inside. As he starts to get
  in, he turns to see the two little girls closing in.
  
  One opens her mouth and GLEEKS -- it shoots out and lands
  on the car right beside Bill's hand.
  
  The other little girl opens her mouth to GLEEK as Bill
  jumps into the driver's seat. He slams the door shut
  just as the oozy liquid splashes on the window beside
  him.
  
  Bill is grossed--out by this, but he doesn't have much
  time. He goes to reload his shotgun, when he remembers.
  
                      BILL
            Shit. Ammo's in the trunk.
  
  He grabs the police radio.
  
                      BILL
            Trevor! Margaret!
  
  EXT. TREE--THICK FOREST -- NIGHT
  
  Trevor turns and sees Jack, the Redneck, and the Older
  Cop leap powerfully over the brush behind them, coming in
  fast. But he's able to grab onto his radio.
  
                      TREVOR
            They killed Margaret!
  
  EXT. STRUTEMYERS' RANCH -- NIGHT
  
  Kylie's two sisters jump onto the hood, SCREECHING. They
  SLAM rocks on the windshield. Kylie SCREAMS.
  
                      BILL
                  (into radio)
            Where are you?!
  
                      TREVOR (O.S.)
            We're coming your way, man!
  
  Bill JAMS the car forward, knocking the sisters off the
  hood. Then he slams on the brakes.
  
  He looks back and sees the two little girls running toward
  the car again.
  
  And he sees the mass of diseased ranch families also
  running toward the car. Kylie is SCREAMING and CRYING.
  
                      KYLIE
            Go! Go! Please!
  
  But, instead, of pulling forward on the gravel road, Bill
  turns up and onto the ranch itself -- back towards the
  running diseased.
  
                      BILL
            My friends are still in the forest.
  
  Bill speeds the police car over the dirt field, trying to
  avoid approaching ranchers. Some leap at the car, holding
  on and getting tossed aside. Bill zooms back toward the
  trees.
  
  Just as Bill gets a little headway on the diseased, the
  car gets stuck in some mud. The wheels spin, spraying
  mud, as the infected approach.
  
  INT. TREE--THICK FOREST -- NIGHT
  
  Starla looks back to see Jack right behind her.
  
  EXT. STRUTEMYERS' RANCH -- NIGHT
  
  The infected arrive at the car. Bill just lets his foot
  off the gas, and sits there, letting the ranchers leap
  onto the car. Kylie looks at Bill, panicked by his choice
  to do nothing.
  
                      BILL
            We need their weight.
  
  Bill slams down the gas again, and the car zooms forward. 
  The diseased get knocked off.
  
                      BILL
            Dumbshits.
  
  Bill rushes toward the trees of the forest.
  
  INT. FOREST -- NIGHT
  
  Starla keeps running, when she trips and falls. She looks
  down to see she stumbled over old barbed wire fencing,
  now long fallen and curling on the forest floor. Starla
  forces herself up, as Jack closes in.
  
  Jack grabs onto her blouse, SCREECHING furiously. When
  he HEARS something and looks over to see:
  
  Bill's police car, cruising over the forest floor, directly
  toward him. Jack, frightened, lets go of Starla. He's
  about to get hit when --
  
  The police car suddenly stops, jammed between two trees,
  inches from Jack.
  
  Jack smiles, and moves toward Bill -- but Starla rises
  behind him, holding a sharp rusty stake from the barbed--
  wire fence. 
  
  She thrusts it forward, hard; and it pops out the front
  of Jack's neck.
  
  Jack turns to look at Starla, and topples over into the
  leaves.
  
  Bill backs the car out from between the trees. He sees
  the Older Cop and Redneck coming in toward them.
  
                      BILL
            Come on!
  
  Trevor and Starla get into the car. The Older Cop watches
  them back away and yells:
  
                      OLDER COP
            Starla!!
  
  EXT. ROAD AWAY FROM FOREST -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  The police car pulls up and out of the forest. The car
  is in bad shape. Steam rises from the smashed grill.
  
  Bill looks to his side; he's down a bit from the
  Strutemyers' ranch. He pulls away, heading back toward
  town.
  
  The foursome sit in a stupefied daze. Starla's beside
  Bill. Trevor and Kylie are in the back. Bill grabs the
  police radio.
  
                      BILL
            Shelby?
  
  Nothing. STATIC. Everyone notes this, worried. Bill 
  tries again: 
                      BILL 
            Shelby, you there?
  
  For a moment, there's nothing. And then:
  
                      SHELBY (O.S.)
            Yo, Chief. How y'all doin'?
  
  Bill and Starla look at each other, relieved.
  
  INT. POLICE STATION -- NIGHT
  
  Shelby sits at the police operator's unit, peppy.
  
                      SHELBY
            You dig that rat out of the hole?
  
  INTERCUT POLICE CAR AND STATION
  
                      BILL
            Listen, you got any reports of...
            I don't know what you call 'em. 
            They look like big slugs, only
            fast.
  
                      SHELBY
            Slugs? No. 'Less you talkin'
            about that new waitress down at
            Sloan's! Ha ha!
  
                      BILL
            Shelby --
  
                      SHELBY
            Oh, shit! I hope she ain't a police
            radio aficionado. If so, I apolog 
  
                      BILL
            Shelby, shut up. Keep an eye out
            for these things. If you see 'em,
            keep your mouth covered. Otherwise
            they'll go straight down it. All
            right?
  
  Shelby looks confused, and nods.
  
                      BILL
            Are you nodding?
  
                      SHELBY
            Yeah.
  
                      BILL
            I can't hear when you're nodding.
  
                      SHELBY
            Sorry.
  
                      BILL
            We'll be there in ten minutes.
  
  Bill hangs up. Kylie is clutching onto herself, hollow--
  eyed, in deep shock. She mutters, almost unintelligibly:
  
                      KYLIE
            The worms are in their brains.
  
  Starla, Bill, and Trevor look at her.
  
  INSERT -- FOREST
  
  The CAMERA TRACKS QUICKLY FORWARD, through the forest,
  and to a CLOSEUP on the Redneck, who is hunched over
  Margaret's body, eating her flesh.
  
  MATCH CUT TO a CAT SCAN of the REDNECK'S HEAD: a parasite
  is imbedded into his brain; its tail hangs down his spine,
  wagging just a bit.
  
                      KYLIE (O.S.)
            Drivin' 'em around...
  
  BACK TO THE POLICE CAR
  
  Bill stares at Kylie like she's insane.
  
                      STARLA
            She's right. We saw one -- one
            came out of Wally's head.
  
                      TREVOR
            Yeah. Sort of his eye, it came
            out there --
  
                      STARLA
            Kylie, how do you --
  
  Kylie is rocking back and forth.
  
                      STARLA
            Kylie, how do you know that?
  
  Kylie shakes her head. She doesn't want to answer.
  
                      BILL
            Kylie, honey. Please.
                  (MORE)
  
                      BILL (CONT'D)
            A lot of bad things have happened
            to you today, we know. But we
            need your help to find out what's
            going on.
  
  Kylie CRIES.
  
                      KYLIE
            I was in the bath. It tried to go
            inside me and I -- for a minute I
            became it.
  
                      BILL
            The worm?
  
                      KYLIE
            I got it out.
  
                      TREVOR
            What are they?
  
                      KYLIE
            Part of him.
  
                      BILL
            Who?
                  (pause)
            Who?
  
                      KYLIE
            Mrs. Grant's husband.
  
  Starla stares at her.
  
                      KYLIE
            But not always. I was -- He was...
            other stuff too.
  
                      STARLA
            What other stuff?
  
  Kylie kind of points at the sky.
  
                      TREVOR
            He's a fucking Martian?!
  
                      BILL
            A Martian is from Mars, Trevor.
  
  Kylie tries to think.
  
                      KYLIE
            For real it looks like a needle. 
            Its real face. But it always gots
            another.
  
                  (MORE)
  
                      KYLIE (CONT'D)
            He goes from place to place,
            worlds... planets... killing 'em. 
            He takes over half of what's alive
            and eats the other half. Till
            they're gone.
  
  They stare at her, freaked out.
  
                      KYLIE
            Now he's here. He went in Mr.
            Grant.
  
                      STARLA
            Through a wound on his stomach?
  
  Kylie nods.
  
                      KYLIE
            He took him over. His body. His --
            his brain, everything what he knew. 
            He's only been dumb stuff before 
            amoeba--things, and rhino--things. 
            He liked being human. Didn't want
            to change.
  
                      STARLA
            And you said the worms are part of
            him. They're all linked, like one
            creature?
  
                      KYLIE
            When one sees you they all see
            you.
  
                      STARLA
            An animal that doesn't procreate. 
            It spreads, grows. A living
            disease.
  
                      BILL
                  (to Kylie)
            So the way to stop this thing is
            to stop Grant?
  
  Kylie shrugs. The police car starts CHUGGING.
  
                      BILL
            Shit.
  
  The car slows, and comes to a stop.
  
  EXT. ROAD TOWARD WHEELSY -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Bill, Starla, Kylie, and Trevor step slowly out of the
  car. They look around the deserted road.
  
  The wide--open night is shrouded in darkness. Quiet. 
  They can see the lights of Wheelsy down the road in front
  of them.
  
  Bill speaks into the radio again, as he gets his leather
  satchel of weaponry out of the trunk. Trevor grabs ammo
  from the satchel to reload his pistol.
  
                      BILL
            Shelby, we broke down on 22, a
            mile outside town. Come pick us
            up.
  
                      SHELBY (O.S.)
            I got to leave my post.
  
                      BILL
            Do it.
  
  MOMENTS LATER
  
  The foursome walks down the road, toward the city. Starla
  and Bill are in the lead.
  
                      BILL
            Hey, Starla.
  
  She looks at him.
  
                      BILL
            Was always curious why you...
            married Grant in the first place...
            Just never seemed outta love.
  
                      STARLA
            I know what people say, Bill. 
            I... Remember, back in high school
            I worked at my father's gas station?
  
  Bill nods.
  
                      STARLA
            Grant used to get filled up every
            day. I knew it was just to see
            me. He was too old -- But he was
            handsome. And he had that big ol'
            Lincoln then. I flirted with him.
  
                      BILL
            Well, big ol' Lincoln, sure. Guess
            I would have flirted with him too.
  
  Starla smiles, thinks.
  
                      STARLA
            My father, he was -- he was real
            close to evil. People didn't know. 
            Still don't. From the time I was
            a toddler he'd beat the hell out
            of me. I don't mean just like a
            smack for smart--mouthing... he
            took a real enjoyment in it. And
            when I turned eleven or twelve,
            things... well, they got worse.
  Starla looks at Bill, who seems struck.
  
                      BILL
            When you wanted to run away, I
            called your dad.
  
                      STARLA
            That wasn't a good night, no.
  
                      BILL
            I'm sorry.
  
  Starla shrugs it off.
  
                      STARLA
            Anyway, Grant rolls in one day. I
            fill his tank with like an eighth--
            a--gallon as usual. And he notices
            my lip's all swollen up, and starts
            asking me how it happened. I don't
            know why I chose then, why Grant --
            I guess I saw an opportunity. And
            I told him everything, first time
            I told anyone. Grant was furious. 
            He picked up a tire iron, walked
            straightaway into the garage, and
            beat my father half to death. You
            say it's not about love, Bill. 
            But that was the closest thing to
            it I ever knew.
  
  Pause.
  
                      STARLA
            Grant asked me to marry him a few
            weeks later. I felt... safe with
            him.
  
  Bill nods. Starla looks at him, smiles.
  
                      STARLA
            After all this shit tonight, I
            know for sure now you regret not
            running off with me to Hollywood!
  
                      BILL
            Hell, Starla. I always regretted
            that.
  
  Starla looks at him, moved.
  
  Trevor looks at Kylie, shivering and terrified.
  
                      TREVOR
            Don't worry, kid. Pretty soon,
            we'll be in town, everything'll be
            fine.
  
  EXT. WHEELSY CITY LIMIT -- NIGHT
  
  A slithering parasite squirms over a paint--chipped sign
  that reads "WELCOME TO WHEELSY, SOUTH CAROLINA, THE WHEELS
  OF THE FUTURE," featuring early--'sixties graphics of a
  utopian future.
  
  THE CAMERA MOVES DOWN to the road, where hundreds of
  slithering parasites squirm into the city. They divide
  off in thin lines heading toward the various homes.
  
  We MOVE UP TO a WINDOW on a SMALL HOUSE, through which we
  can see an OVERWEIGHT WOMAN in spasms with a slithering
  thing in her mouth.
  
  We PAN TO the WINDOW of the HOME NEXT DOOR, where we can
  see a FAMILY gathered around a CORPSE, feasting on his
  goopy flesh.
  
  EXT. ROAD TOWARD WHEELSY -- NIGHT
  
                      STARLA
            What's that?
  
  Our foursome look up to see a Buick Century parked at a
  haphazard angle in the middle of the road. The driver's
  side door is open. The headlights are still on.
  
  They look at each other. Bill takes his flashlight off
  his belt and aims it in front of him. They all slowly
  approach the car, in the darkness.
  
  Bill aims his flashlight into the Buick. The keys are
  still there, but no one's inside.
  
  Trevor looks at the grill of the car. It's dented.
  
                      TREVOR
            They musta hit a deer. Probably
            got out to see if it's okay.
  
  Bill and the others look around.
  
  Bill hears a LAPPING sound behind him. He turns, aiming
  the flashlight downward.
  
  A DISEASED DEER is lapping a thick purple tongue on the
  wound of a dead man. The sick creature is mostly hairless
  and pink and covered in veins. Bulbous black eyes hang
  on the sides of its head like a goldfish's.
  
  The diseased deer glances up at Bill and GROWLS a low
  growl.
  
                      BILL
            Fuck me.
  
  The deer springs upward, bringing his hoofs into Bill's
  chest. Bill is knocked violently to the gravel, dropping
  his shotgun and satchel. The deer rears back and brings
  his hoofs down into Bill again. They CRACK Bill's head
  against the hard road.
  
  Kylie, Trevor, and Starla see diseased deer coming in at
  them from different directions. The deer SCREECH like
  dying rabbits.
  
                      TREVOR
            Bambi--rats!
  
  Trevor aims his pistol at a DEER jumping toward him. He
  SHOOTS, misses. The deer knocks him down. The deer stomps
  his feet, rearing up and down on Trevor's ribs, almost
  like a little dance. The deer tears at Trevor's sleeve
  with decidedly carnivorous teeth, forcing him into letting
  go of his gun.
  
  Kylie SCREAMS. She dives into a small space beneath a
  rock overhang on the side of the road. She watches what's
  going on from there.
  
  Starla sees the Buick a few yards away. She glances beside
  her to see the largest diseased deer of all, a HORNED
  BUCK, careening toward her.
  
  She dashes toward the Buick as fast as she can.
  
  A TUMOROUS DOE leaps onto Bill, biting into his shoulder
  and tearing at his flesh, so now he has two deer on him. 
  Bill is bleeding, dizzy, and disoriented, but he's able
  to turn, just a bit, to see the barrel of his shotgun
  above him. He tries to scoot himself back as he's being
  battered. He reaches up for the shotgun; but the tips of
  his fingers barely graze the muzzle.
  
  Starla arrives at the Buick, and starts to crawl into the
  front seat.
  
  But the horned buck is upon her. He bites into Starla's
  ankle. She SCREAMS.
  
  He yanks back on her, half pulling her onto the road. 
  But Starla grabs onto the steering wheel with all her
  might, and pulls against the horned buck's massive power.
  
  The deer on Trevor starts pulling him off, dragging him
  down the road as he HOLLERS.
  
  Kylie, underneath the rock overhang, watches Bill try to
  scoot himself back and reach for the shotgun. It's just
  a little too far away. She works up her nerve and slowly
  starts to crawl out toward him.
  
  As Starla is stretched between the horned buck pulling on
  her ankle, and her hand on the steering wheel, she's able
  to flip on her side and turn the keys in the ignition;
  the ENGINE STARTS. She reaches one hand down to the
  floorboard, pressing on the gas.
  
  The Buick lurches forward, wrenching her away from the
  horned buck's mouth.
  
  Bill reaches again for the barrel of his rifle. It's too
  far away. But then he sees Kylie, at the butt of the
  rifle. She reaches out and pushes it just a little, into
  Bill's hand. Bill grips the muzzle like a baseball bat,
  and swings it into the face of the deer jumping on him,
  knocking the beast back.
  
  The deer tries to stumble forward again, but its whole
  head and neck have been knocked askew. It topples over,
  dead.
  
  Bill flips the shotgun forward into his hands. He stuffs
  the muzzle into the tumorous doe biting into his leg. 
  The deer looks at him. Blood is running down Bill's face
  and he looks half--crazed. Bill glances down and sees the
  telephone wire wrapped around her ankle.
  
  Bill pulls the trigger, destroying her.
  
  He stands, looking around for the deer with Trevor. It
  has dragged him a fair distance down the street. Bill
  SHOOTS once, missing it, and again, hitting it straight
  on.
  
  Kylie looks around to see more diseased deer running
  through the fields toward them.
  
  Starla pulls herself into the driver's seat and backs up
  
  alongside her friends. Throws open the passenger door. 
                      STARLA 
            Get in! 
  
  INT. BUICK CENTURY -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Bill fumbles for the radio controls.
  
                      BILL
            Shelby!
  
  Trevor looks out the window, watching the deer fade away
  behind them.
  
                      TREVOR
            When I buy my zoo, I'm leaving
            them things the hell out!
  
                      BILL
            Shelby!
  
                      SHELBY (O.S.)
            Hey there, Chief.
  
                      BILL
            Shelby! We need people out here
            at Cosgrove and McCammon right
            away!
  
                      SHELBY (O.S.)
            Don't worry, Chief.
  
  EXT. MAIN STREET -- NIGHT
  
  Shelby, sick and bloated, speaks into his radio, as he
  moves down the street with a hoard of the infected.
  
                      SHELBY
            Already on our way.
  
  BACK TO BUICK
  
  Kylie turns her head, and glances out the window. And
  SCREAMS. Starla, Bill, and Trevor turn to see --
  
  An SUV barreling straight towards them.
  
  It SLAMS hard into the side of the Buick.
  
  And SMASHES the car back, across a short lot, and through
  the glass storefront of a flower store.
  
  INT. FLOWER STORE -- NIGHT
  
  The Buick and SUV are destroyed, amidst the ruins of this
  store. Shattered vases and flowers surround them. Glass
  fragments dangle from the window frame. Some fall and
  CLINK to the floor.
  
  Starla lifts her battered head from the wheel. She looks
  beside her to see Bill and Trevor, seemingly unconscious.
  
  She looks back at Kylie. The impact has killed her. Her
  neck is bent at an ungodly angle. Bone juts up out of
  her skin.
  
  Starla looks out her rear window and sees the SUV door
  open, and the DISEASED DRIVER stumble out. His body is
  battered and broken, but, still, he lumbers toward her. 
  He tries to speak, but his jaw is broken, and only a MUMBLY
  MOAN comes out.
  
  Starla struggles to get out of the car. Eventually, she
  does, and she falls to the floor, amidst the broken glass
  from the shattered window, and the water all over the
  floor from the broken vases.
  
  She sees the moaning driver limping toward her. He's
  still trying to speak, but he's unintelligible.
  
  The driver gets close, ready to grab her. Starla sees a
  metal bar. She grabs it. And SLAMS it into the diseased
  man's shin.
  
  He topples over.
  
  She crawls onto the fallen driver and brings the metal
  bar down into his head, again and again, SHOUTING and
  CRYING with fury.
  
  Starla looks down at the man, who is very dead. 
  
  Starla looks up to see dozens of DISEASED TOWNSFOLK coming
  at her, from down the street, between buildings. They
  see Starla there.
  
                      DISEASED TOWNSFOLK
            Starrrrrlaaaaaa!!
  
  Bill and Trevor limp up behind Starla, pulling her toward
  a door on the back wall.
  
                      BILL
            Come on.
  
  INT. FLOWER STORE STORAGE AREA -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Bill closes and locks the door behind them.
  
  EXT. FLOWER STORE -- NIGHT
  
  The diseased townsfolk surround the little store on all
  sides. They SCREECH.
  
  INT. FLOWER STORE STORAGE AREA -- NIGHT
  
                      TREVOR
            What the hell are we going to do?!
  
                      BILL
            Just block the doors, any way you
            can.
  
  Bill grabs hammers and nails off a hardware bench.
  
  Trevor knocks things off shelves and yanks up the metal
  shelving.
  
  Starla looks doubtful of this whole activity. But still,
  she helps.
  
  The storeroom has two doors. They start nailing anything
  over them they can.
  
  Trevor sees some slithering parasites coming in through a
  crack in the upper corner of the room.
  
                      TREVOR
            Goddamn snakes!!
  
  Trevor aims his pistol at the things and starts shooting
  wildly at them, BLASTING up the whole room.
  
  Bill and Starla see slithering parasites coming in from
  other cracks in the room as well. They also BLAST at
  them. Dust is all around; they can hardly see.
  
  Bill runs out of ammo. He grabs a hand--held Black and
  Decker electric circular saw and turns it on. He starts
  jamming it into the parasites, cutting them up, and putting
  big slices in the floor. They SQUEAK with pain.
  
  EXT. FLOWER STORE -- NIGHT
  
  The diseased townsfolk WAIL and SLAP their hands on the
  walls, almost rhythmically, like some tribal ritual. 
  Some push on the doors.
  
  INT. FLOWER STORE STORAGE AREA -- NIGHT
  
  Bill hears something POP behind him. He turns to see a
  little hole in one of the doors. Three diseased fingers
  slip inside, trying to pull away more.
  
  Bill uses the circular saw to cut off the fingers.
  
  An arm pops through the door. Bill slams the circular
  saw into that. Blood spurts. Bone grinds.
  
  A man's eye peeks through another crack. Bill jams the
  circular saw through the crack and into the man's face.
  
  EXT. FLOWER STORE -- NIGHT
  
  The FACE--SAWED MAN backs away from the hole, clutching
  his bleeding eye.
  
  INT. FLOWER STORE STORAGE AREA -- NIGHT
  
  Bill spots a wide piece of shelving falling off the door
  across from him. He runs over to the space, when the
  circular saw stops turning. Bill turns to see he's
  accidentally unplugged it.
  
  EXT. FLOWER STORE -- NIGHT
  
  The diseased townsfolk have all gathered on one side of
  the building now, putting all their efforts into tearing
  down one door. Some have even climbed onto the roof above
  it, curling off the gutter and roofing overhead.
  
  INT. FLOWER STORE STORAGE AREA -- NIGHT
  
  Bill grabs his leather satchel, and starts to reload his
  shotgun. Starla sees that the diseased townsfolk have
  almost torn down one of the doors.
  
                      STARLA
            This is stupid.
  
  Starla goes to the other door, and starts tearing away
  the planks they nailed there.
  
                      BILL
            What are you doing?!
  
                      STARLA
            We can't make it. Just get away,
            when you get the chance.
  
                      BILL
            What?
  
                      STARLA
            He wants me, Bill! I'm going to
            get him to take me to him! See if
            you can follow me, and kill him!
  
                      BILL
            No, Starla! No!
  
  Another full metal plate is pushed off the door. 
  A DISEASED MAN'S face peeks through. Trevor swirls to see
  it. The Man GLEEKS, hitting Trevor on his chest. Trevor
  looks down, in shock.
  
  And the whole door and part of the wall bursts open. The
  Diseased pour inside and around Trevor, GLEEKING all over
  him, splattering his body with the burning liquid. Trevor
  starts to puff up, swelling, becoming soft. They grab
  him.
  
                      BILL
            Nooo!
  
  Bill grabs Trevor by the wrist, and tries to pull him
  away from them. But Trevor SCREAMS in agony; the liquid
  has made his flesh too soft. His entire body splits apart
  like wet tissue, his organs spilling out in front of them.
  
  Bill stares down in shock, still holding Trevor's arm.
  
  Starla has pulled away enough boards of the other door. 
  She throws it open. None of the diseased are on this
  side of the building anymore. She moves outside.
  
  EXT. FLOWER STORE -- NIGHT
  
  Bill follows her. Two DISEASED PEOPLE appear, SCREECHING
  and running toward them. Bill SHOOTS them both. And he
  makes a break for it, running as fast as he can across
  the street.
  
  He turns, expecting to see Starla right behind him. But
  she has stayed behind, staring quietly at the ground. 
  Starla has tears in her eyes. She motions with her head
  for Bill to go. Bill is confused.
  
  The diseased townsfolk come up around Starla from the
  sides of the flower store, no one paying attention to
  Bill. They encircle her, slowly. Some SCREECH angrily
  at her. She's too disgusted or fearful to even look in
  their eyes. They BREATHE with SICK, RASPY breath.
  
        DISEASED WOMAN                DISEASED KID
Starlaaaaaaa!                 Starlaaaa!
  
  And they WAIL, in a cacophony of simultaneous voices, all
  the deep angers, fears, frustrations, and jealousies they
  inherited from Grant Grant, such as:
  
                      SMASHED--FACE MAN
            You said for better or worse! You
            lied!
  
        NO LONGER PRETTY              BRENDA'S HUSBAND
I gave you everything!        I. Loved. You!
  
        SHELBY FAT                    SICK GUY
It's not just about lesson    I wanted you by my side,
plans! Hank Wilcox wants      sugarplum. But I'm too
your pussy!                   ugly now, huh!!?
  
        MR. INAPPROPRIATE             WAITRESS
  Your daddy'd still be       You always thought I was 
  a fucking your every hole   joke, ain't you?
  weren't it for me!!
  
                      BRENDA'S HUSBAND
            You like Pardy better'n me? That's
            who you want to screw now?!
  
                      STARLA
            Grant... Please...
  
  They surround her. They touch her body, her ass, her
  breasts. Pull on her clothes. She trembles.
  
                      STARLA
            I'm sorry... I know I haven't
            behaved how you -- how you want. 
            I know. Don't... hurt... me.
  
  Starla glances down to see a diseased dog licking her
  calf, tasting her.
  
                      STARLA
            We need... to... talk.
  
  A DISEASED MAN grabs the side of her neck and face.
  
        DISEASED MAN                  BRENDA'S HUSBAND
Then talk.                    Then talk.
  
                      STARLA
            Not here, though, okay? Not all
            of you. I'm not used to -- I want
            to talk to your face, Grant. Your
            more real face. Your --
  
  The diseased townsfolk grab Starla, enveloping her, and
  start dragging her away.
  
  A few townsfolk remain behind. They look around for Bill.
  
                      SMASHED--FACE MAN
            Pardy?!! Where are you, Pardy!!
  
  But he's nowhere to be seen. They SCREECH angrily.
  
  EXT. MAIN STREET -- NIGHT
  
  Bill runs as fast as he can across the street here -- the
  same direction the hoard took Starla, but down a block.
  
  EXT. SIDE OF MOVIE THEATER -- NIGHT
  
  Bill falls against the side of this building, hiding in a
  dark crevice. Down the way, he can see numerous dead
  bodies, and a WOMAN chased down and tackled by some
  infected townsfolk.
  
  Some diseased townsfolk wander by Bill, looking for him. 
  Bill crouches down so he isn't seen.
  
        DISEASED WOMAN                SHELBY
Pardy. Pardy. Pardy.          Come on out, Pardy.
  
                      PASTOR
            We've surrounded the town, you
            prick! Ain't no way outta here!
  
  Bill waits for them to pass. When they're gone, Bill
  looks up toward the next street -- he can see the hoard
  moving Starla across that street.
  
  He makes sure no one's looking, and follows her.
  
  EXT. GRANT STREET -- LATER
  
  One of the diseased pushes Starla too hard, and she falls
  to her hands and knees. They keep pushing her. She
  stumbles back to her feet and moves on. She's almost
  hyperventilating.
  
  EXT. GRANT HOME -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Here, the Diseased Townsfolk around Starla stop. She
  looks up to see that they've led her onto her own front
  yard. Starla gazes up at her home:
  
  The diseased have done a little remodeling. Part of the
  front wall has been torn away, replaced with some primitive
  thatched woodwork. The front doorway has also been
  partially destroyed. Because of the sloppy reconstruction,
  the roof is caved--in and sloping.
  
  Diseased people sit in meerkat--like poses on all sides of
  the Grants' home, watching out for trouble.
  
  EXT. HOUSE ACROSS FROM THE GRANT HOME -- NIGHT
  
  Bill, out of breath, arrives across the street. He can
  see Starla standing with the diseased. He hides behind
  some shrubs.
  
  EXT. GRANT HOME -- NIGHT
  
  The diseased push Starla up between them, violently, to
  the front door.
  
  Starla stops at the dark hole on the front of the house. 
  It's pitch black inside. She looks back at the rotting
  faces behind her. And then slowly enters.
  
  INT. GRANT FOYER -- NIGHT
  
  Starla balks at the smell. She looks beside her at the
  garage; the wall has been torn out, and this has become
  Grant's feeding area, with rotten meat, including some
  bodies, in a pile.
  
  Starla steps slowly forward, looking around.
  
                      STARLA
            Grant?
  
  Starla can see into the shambles of a kitchen from here.
  
  EXT. HOUSE ACROSS FROM THE GRANT HOME -- NIGHT
  
  Bill looks at the diseased surrounding the Grant home. 
  They seem impossible to get through.
  
  Bill eyes the house next door, maybe twenty--five feet
  from the Grants'. He makes sure no one's paying attention
  for a moment, and he darts across the street to a parked
  car. The diseased don't see him. Bill gazes down the
  street beside him.
  
  The sun is just barely beginning to rise. They don't
  have much time to move in the darkness.
  
  Bill makes a break for the house next door.
  
  INT. GRANT KITCHEN -- NIGHT
  
  Starla walks into the kitchen. Cooking supplies and
  condiments are scattered over the floor. She spots a
  meat thermometer on the floor amongst other utensils.
  
  She glances out the rear window. Diseased people are
  guarding the backyard, looking away from the home.
  
  She grabs the meat thermometer. She snaps the thermometer
  part off the top, discards it, and shoves the long metal
  spike into the seam of her skirt.
  
  Suddenly, Starla hears EVERY WOMAN IN THE WORLD, the song
  she and Grant danced to earlier, starting to play through
  tinny speakers.
  
  Starla looks up through a missing section of ceiling; she
  can see a tiny piece of Grant in the bedroom above her.
  
                      STARLA
            Grant? We should talk.
  
  EXT. NEIGHBOR'S BACKYARD -- NIGHT
  
  Bill has made his way into the backyard. He looks over
  at the Grant home. Some diseased townsfolk in the backyard
  could conceivably see or hear him. He tries the back
  door, but it's locked.
  
  Bill notices a window slightly open. He starts to push
  it up. It SQUEAKS LOUDLY.
  
  He peers over at the diseased. They don't hear. He throws
  the window up further, and crawls inside the home.
  
  INT. GRANT FOYER -- NIGHT
  
  Starla stands at the base of the stairwell. The SONG is
  louder.
  
                      STARLA
            Grant?
  
  She starts to ascend the stairs. They CREAK beneath her
  feet.
  
  INT. NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE -- NIGHT
  
  Bill peeks out the window, careful not to be seen by the
  diseased humans around Grant's. Bill can see Starla in
  the home next door, walking up the stairs.
  
  Bill runs toward the stairwell here.
  
  INT. GRANT UPSTAIRS HALLWAY -- NIGHT
  
  Starla looks down the hall. Most of the walls have been
  torn away.
  
  Between wooden beams, Starla can see Grant's cumbersome
  mass, his back to her, in what was once the bedroom.
  
  In front of him, the SONG ENDS on the CD player. It starts
  into the NEXT SONG on the album. Grant uses one of his
  crusty tentacles to push the back button.
  
  EVERY WOMAN IN THE WORLD starts over.
  
  Starla walks toward him.
  
  INT. GRANT BEDROOM -- NIGHT
  
  Grant keeps his back to her. Starla takes in the room. 
  Photographs from their scrapbooks are all over the walls:
  photos from their wedding, and vacations, and family
  parties.
  
                      STARLA
            Hey, Grant.
  
  Starla walks around Grant, giving him a decent berth.
  
                      STARLA
            You did some real interesting
            decorating here.
  
  Grant watches her from the corner of his sad, purulent
  eye.
  
                      STARLA
            Hey.
  
  Starla walks by a window.
  
                      STARLA
            Look, the sun's starting to come
            up.
  
  Starla starts to open the drapes.
  
  INT. NEIGHBOR'S UPSTAIRS HALL -- NIGHT
  
  Bill happens to look through the neighbors' kid's bedroom
  and to the home across the way where Starla is pulling
  the drapes away from the window. She sees Bill there.
  
  INT. GRANT BEDROOM -- NIGHT
  
  Grant SCREECHES angrily at Starla. She quickly closes
  the drapes, not letting on she saw Bill.
  
                      STARLA
            Sorry. I didn't -- I didn't know
            you wanted it dark.
  
  INT. KID'S BEDROOM -- NIGHT
  
  Bill walks into this young boy's bedroom, filled with
  airplanes and sports memorabilia.
  
  He peeks around the window frame at the Grant bedroom
  window, now closed to him. He makes sure his shotgun is
  loaded.
  
  INT. GRANT BEDROOM -- NIGHT
  
  Starla tries to change the subject by walking to a wall
  with the photos.
  
                      STARLA
            You like these memories, huh, Grant?
  
  Grant looks away from her. Starla moves toward him, almost
  seductively.
  
                      STARLA
            You like being called Grant, don't
            you?
  
  Grant is silent. She gets closer.
  
                      STARLA
            I think you do. You really do. 
            You like being Grant. Like when
            we danced. And when you... made
            love to me here on the bed. 
            Remember that?
  
  Grant looks embarrassed. Starla becomes more brazen.
  
                      STARLA
            I know you've been alone, Grant. 
            Almost forever. From here to there
            to there to here, there's never
            been another one for you.
  
  Starla almost looks as if she's about to cry, out of
  compassion for him.
  
                      STARLA
            Grant. Grant, I could help you. 
            Be with you the way you want. 
            See, I want to live. I've never
            had much use for this world, not
            really. You and I, together, we --
  
  She touches his tentacle with her fingers. He moves it
  back, and GROWLS a little.
  
  Starla moves her trembling fingers toward him again. She
  sets them on his tentacle once more. He glares at her
  distrustfully, breathing his deep, sick breath.
  
                      STARLA
            You don't trust me, I know. That's
            why I brought you someone, Grant.
  
  Starla looks into his eyes.
  
                      STARLA
            It's Bill. He's in the house next
            door. Just look.
  
  INT. KID'S BEDROOM -- NIGHT
  
  Bill glances down to see a diseased man looking up at
  him. In fact, they're all looking up at him. Bill is
  confused.
  
  INT. GRANT BEDROOM -- NIGHT
  
  Grant looks at Starla with sad eyes, perhaps touched. 
  Starla smiles nervously, expectantly.
  
                      STARLA
            See? I brought him here for you! 
            As an offering! To prove I love
            you more than him!
  
  Grant wraps his tentacle around Starla. Starla, though
  obviously disgusted, touches his face with her hand.
  
  INT. NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE -- NIGHT
  
  The diseased townsfolk break down the door, moving into
  the downstairs below Bill.
  
  INT. KID'S BEDROOM -- NIGHT
  
  Bill hears them approaching. He SHATTERS the window, and
  crawls onto a small mock--balcony outside.
  
  INT. GRANT BEDROOM -- NIGHT
  
  Starla moves slowly in toward Grant, as if to kiss him. 
  Grant looks, well, joyful.
  
  And then she yanks the metal spike from her skirt and
  JABS it into Grant's eye.
  
  Grant SCREECHES, blind and bucking. Starla SLAMS the
  spike into his other eye.
  
  And she STABS him again, shoving the spike into his
  forehead, where it stays.
  
  Starla leaps to the window. She throws open the drapes.
  
                      STARLA
            Now, Bill!! Kill the motherfucker!!
  
  EXT. NEIGHBOR'S MOCK BALCONY -- NIGHT
  
  Bill raises his shotgun and BLASTS as Starla jumps away
  from the window.
  
  INT. GRANT BEDROOM -- NIGHT
  
  The WINDOW SHATTERS and the shot strikes Grant. He
  SCREECHES, swinging his tentacles aimlessly around the
  room in fury.
  
  One tentacle SLAMS Starla against the wall, probably
  breaking a rib or two. Another tentacle SMASHES the CD
  player, squelching the song.
  
  EXT. NEIGHBOR'S MOCK BALCONY -- NIGHT
  
  The diseased townsfolk enter the kid's bedroom, rushing
  toward Bill on the balcony. But Bill won't stop. He
  BLASTS the shotgun again.
  
  INT. GRANT BEDROOM -- NIGHT
  
  Grant is struck in the head. He starts slithering out of
  the bedroom, feeling his way out.
  
  EXT. NEIGHBOR'S MOCK BALCONY -- NIGHT
  
  Bill is out of shells. He drops his shotgun. He grabs
  the grenade out of the pocket on the black leather bag.
  
  INT. GRANT BATHROOM -- NIGHT
  
  Starla, clutching her ribs and barely able to move, pulls
  herself up on the window.
  
  Bill tosses her the grenade. She tries to catch it, but
  misses it. It lands on the carpet. She see Grant's
  tentacles slipping away. She tries to move but she's
  hurt bad, bleeding.
  
  EXT. NEIGHBOR'S MOCK BALCONY -- NIGHT
  
  The diseased GLEEK at Bill, but Bill throws himself
  forward, letting himself fall through the flimsy balustrade --
  
  EXT. GRANT HOME -- NIGHT
  
  Bill lands hard on the lawn between the two homes. He
  grabs a .38, and stands beside the window on Grant's house.
  Through the window he sees Grant barreling down the stairs.
  Bill SHOOTS Grant with the .38, SHATTERING the glass.
  He UNLOADS the clip into him.
  The diseased townsfolk surround Bill, grabbing him. Grant,
  
  using the others' eyes to see, snaps his tentacle forward,
  wrapping it around Bill's neck, raising him up. Grant
  SCREECHES.
  
  INT. GRANT FOYER -- NIGHT
  
  Starla appears at the top of the stairs, clutching her
  bloody side. She has the pin in one hand and the grenade
  in the other.
  
  With all her remaining effort, she lobs the grenade behind
  Grant.
  
                      GRANT
            Er…?
  
  It EXPLODES.
  
  EXT. GRANT HOME -- NIGHT
  Grant's exploding flesh sends Bill flying backwards.
  
  INT. GRANT HALLWAY -- NIGHT
  Starla is thrown back.
  
  EXT. GRANT HOME -- NIGHT
  Around the house, the diseased's eyes gaze lifelessly
  upward as they each plummet to the grass.
  FADE TO:
  
  EXT. GRANT HOME -- MORNING
  
  Bill unwraps what's left of the tentacle from his bruised
  neck, and looks around at the dead diseased. Grant's
  splattered flesh is around him.
  
  Bill hears a quiet RATTLING sound. He looks around him. 
  And then sees, down at his feet, what is actually a
  distorted piece of Grant's cerebellum. Sticking out of a
  new organic slit in the cerebellum is the quill--like spore. 
  It quivers and trembles upward, its little bulbed spurs
  popping out.
  
  INT. GRANT HALLWAY -- MORNING
  
  Starla crawls forward to look down through the smoke:
  most of the second floor has been blown away. Her mutated
  husband is just a mass of flesh and alien organs.
  
  EXT. GRANT HOME -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Starla comes around the side of the house, holding a paper
  towel roll to the slice on her ribs. She sees Bill
  standing there. She smiles.
  
                      STARLA
            Hey.
  
  Bill smiles too.
  
                      BILL
            Hey.
  
  EXT. MAIN STREET -- DAY
  
  Bill and Starla hobble down the town center. The leather
  bag is slung over Bill's shoulder. Everything around
  them is dead: the victims who were being feasted on, as
  well as the various diseased. The torture is over, but
  no life remains.
  
  EXT. MAIN STREET -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Bill finds an abandoned Nissan Maxima in the middle of
  the street, with the keys still in it.
  
                      BILL
            Starla, over here.
  
  EXT. WHEELSY EXIT -- LATER
  
  In the Maxima now, Bill and Starla pull around a toppled
  ambulance and through a spouting fire hydrant, and out
  onto --
  
  EXT. ROAD BEYOND WHEELSY -- DAY
  
  The sun is bright and beautiful, glistening on the car. 
  Bill and Starla breathe more easily and smile a little as
  they head up this long, barren road outside the city.
  
  EXT. CLUSTER OF STORES -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Bill and Starla pass through a small block of stores.
  
  Starla gazes out the window to see people -- real, actual,
  HEALTHY HUMAN BEINGS: men and women and children -- going
  about their daily chores. Tears come to her eyes.
  
  Bill grabs Starla's hand. She clenches his tightly.
  
                      STARLA
            We can probably get some first aid
            and food at this gas station up
            here.
  
                      BILL
            Yeah. Good.
  
  EXT. GAS STATION -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  The Maxima pulls into the station, and stops.
  
  INT. GAS STATION MART -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Starla and Bill pile stuff up on the cashier's counter --
  Band--Aids, gauze, alcohol; Power Bars and Gatorade. The
  CASHIER rings it up, staring at them because of their
  wounds.
  
                      CASHIER
            Comes to 32.87.
  
  Bill pulls money out of his pants pocket. As he does,
  Starla glances down. His arm pulls up his shirt, and
  Starla can see the black and yellow wound there on his
  stomach. She turns away, looking around, confused.
  
  Bill pays, smiles at the cashier.
  
                      BILL
            There you go.
  
  EXT. GAS STATION -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  A stunned Starla steps with Bill out of the station, moving
  toward the car.
  
  Starla stops.
  
                      STARLA
            Shit. I-- I forgot... I wanted to
            get aspirin.
  
  She starts to move back inside. Bill stops her.
  
                      BILL
            I'll get it for you. Ibuprofen or
            aspirin?
  
                      STARLA
            Aspirin.
  
  Bill smiles, and goes back inside. Starla moves quickly
  with the bag of stuff toward the car.
  
  INT. GAS STATION MART -- MOMENTS LATER
  
  Bill pays for the aspirin, and walks out with it.
  
  EXT. GAS STATION -- DAY
  
  Bill walks out; the Maxima is still there.
  
  INT. MAXIMA -- DAY
  
  Bill gets in the driver's seat, puts his keys into the
  engine.
  
                      BILL
            We'll just head up here into
            Bishopville, get checked up in the
            hospital. Then maybe we'll head
            off to Hollywood after all, huh?
  
                      STARLA
            Okay.
  
  Bill turns to smile at Starla. She's aiming the .38 at
  his face. Tears are streaming down her cheeks.
  
                      BILL
            Please, Starla. I'm gonna do my
            best not to hurt anybody --
  
                      STARLA
            You took Bill.
  
                      BILL
            It's my nature.
  
                      STARLA
            And this is mine.
  
  Starla pulls the trigger, the GUNSHOT CRACKS OUT.
  
  EXT. GAS STATION -- DAY
  
  As the Maxima sits in the lot, ANOTHER GUNSHOT CRACKS
  OUT. Then we hear the HORN BLARING.
  
  INT. MAXIMA -- DAY
  
  Bill's dead body is slumped over the steering wheel. 
  Starla really can't bring herself to look at it, as she
  reaches across it and toward the door handle.
  
  EXT. GAS STATION -- DAY
  The car door flips open. The horn stops blaring.
  And Bill's body is kicked out of the car, sliding onto
  the pavement.
  
  INSERT TITLE, FULL SCREEN:
  
  SLiTHER
  
  INT. MAXIMA -- DAY
  Starla WIPES the tears away from her face. She glances
  out the window to see the cashier peeking out of the
  cashier's station.
  Starla scoots over into the driver's seat. She shoves
  the car into drive.
  
  And she takes off down the road, not looking back. 
  
  Starla's blanched and numb but the tears still keep coming.
  
  CUT TO BLACK.
  
  END