PILE UP

BY
Nicholas Bond

[email protected]

1
EXT. STREET- AFTERNOON

A well dressed man walks alone down a quiet city street.

Written in gold on his briefcase is the name BRAD
PICKERELL. He checks his watch importantly as he makes
his way down the street. We follow Pickerell from the
side.

IN BACKGROUND:
There are very few people about. At a small café, a young
woman speaks with an older man. Both are wearing business
suits. The man looks over various pages which the woman
hands to him.

A man helps his injured wife into a car. He shuts her

door before making his way around to the driver’s side to
get in.

A woman sits on her front porch on the phone. The

conversation is clearly upsetting her as she sobs into
the receiver.

A large man loads boxes into his truck. He leans on his

truck and briefly glances at Pickerell as he passes.

PICKERELL reaches the entrance to a dark alley beside a

television store. He continues to walk while a shadowy
figure emerges from the darkness. He is wearing a large
black jumper with the HOOD up over his head and a
cigarette in his mouth. As PICKERELL passes...

HOOD
Hey buddy! Can ya help me out?

Pickerell slows down and turns to walk backwards while

looking at the man. He pats his pockets.

PICKERELL
Sorry, I’m out of change.

HOOD (urgent)
No... it’s not that. It’s my girlfriend,
She took some pills and shes in a
real bad way. I just need some help
gettin’ her to the car. c’mon
man... please.

2
Pickerell is nervous and unsure. He looks up and down the
street as the hood watches him anxiously. He tries to see
down the alley before deciding...

PICKERELL
Yeah. Alright, where is she?

He starts down the alley as the hood follows.

HOOD
She’s just around the corner here.

Hood walks behind Pickerell. He reaches into his back

pocket and pulls out a knife. Pickerell glances around a
large pile of boxes, before turning to the hood. The hood
lunges fast and sticks the knife deep into Pickerell’s
stomach while he covers his mouth with his free hand.
Pickerell tries to scream as the hood pulls the knife out
and plunges it back in. Pickerell grabs at the boxes. He
slumps down onto the ground pulling the boxes down on
them. He stops moving. The hood pushes the boxes off and
begins to search Pickerell’s pockets. He pulls out his
wallet from which he takes the money before discarding.
He then removes the watch off of Pickerell’s hand And
puts it in his pocket. Voices from out on the street
startle the hood. He grabs the suitcase and runs down the
alley into the darkness.

As the hood disappears we move back out of the alley. In

the television shop window one television turns on. It’s
broadcasting a news report. We move in towards the
screen.

REPORTER (on television)

This just in; moments ago on THE
PICKERELL HIGHWAY, several cars and a
truck were involved in a disastrous
accident. We cross live to our eye in
the sky for this devastating story.

The image on the television screen switches from the news

studio to an eagle eye view of a horrific car accident.
Reporter’s voice fades out as we reach the television
screen and enter.

3
EXT. PICKERELL HIGHWAY- AFTERNOON

We continue from the crash back over the vast span of

road now filled with cars. The accident has caused a
massive traffic jam that stretches right back around the
bend and into the distance.

Inside a car on the side of the road next to the

accident, DENISE sits; her legs out of the open door with
her head in her hands.
FLASH TO:

FLASHBACK: A busy highway with two roads separated by a

medium strip. Cars travel away from us on the road in
front of us and towards us on the road to the right. In
the distance a grey car approaches fast on the right. All
of a sudden the tyre on the front right of the car
explodes. The car veers quickly over towards the left
road. The car spins across the medium strip coming to a
stop on the right lane of the road directly in front of
us. Silence. A truck skids O.S. and slams into the car
directly under the camera.

The truck begins to turn. Metal pipes are tied onto the
trailer of the truck. The trailer swings out blocking the
entire road. A car veers off the road skidding to a stop
on the side of the road while another car slams into the
side of the trailer breaking the chain that holds the
pipes. Pipes begin to roll back down over the car and
start to bounce on the road. Another car hits the pipes
spinning one in the air and sending it long ways through
the windshield of the car driving alongside. The pipe
breaks through the windshield in front of where the
driver’s head would be.
FLASH TO:

PRESENT: A police officer slowly walks up to Denise. He

leans against the car looking at her sympathetically.

POLICE OFFICER
How you holding up?.. You want me to
get a medic to take a look at you?

She continues to sit with her head down.

FLASH TO:

FLASHBACK: On the side of the road a woman sits in her

car, watching, horrified. In the distance a final car

4
hits the truck on an angle, it rolls a few times before
landing on its wheels on the medium strip. A small fire
had started in the car. The woman struggles to get out of
her car quickly, as she sees a man inside the burning
vehicle. The man is banging on the window, trying to get
out but the crash has jammed the door. The woman gets out
and begins to run over the road towards him, as she
reaches the road the burning car explodes. The woman
falls to the ground from the shockwave.
FLASH TO:

DENISE looks up. Her face is emotionless.

DENISE
I don’t know. It’s just so horrible,
you know? And yet I don’t feel
anything.

POLICE OFFICER
You’re still in shock, it’s normal
after something like this. I’ll send
someone over to have a chat.

The police officer takes a final concerned look at her

before turning and walking away.

Around the corner in a black car ANDREW sits. He is well

dressed and talking angrily into his hands free mobile
phone receiver.

ANDREW
No, I’m not gonna be there on time. I
know this was the only available time
but I’m stuck in friggin’ traffic...
I’m aware of that... I don’t know
probably just some idiot smashed into
the back of someone else. Yeah... just
try and keep them there as long as you
can. You’re not a retard, think of
something.

He presses a button on the receiver and

leans back into his seat, closing his eyes
and running his hand through his hair,
tired and irritated. He bangs his hands on
the steering wheel.

5
 ANDREW (angrily)
Shit!

A few cars back from the accident BARRY runs between the
two lanes of banked up cars towards the accident, sweat
dripping off his face. He reaches the barrier where the
traffic has been stopped for the accident. A police
officer steps forward, stopping Barry with an
outstretched hand.

POLICE OFFICER
Sorry you can’t come past this point.

BARRY
I need you to let me through. See my
wife, she was in an accident. My kid’s
in the car I just-

POLICE OFFICER
I’m sorry sir but I can’t do that. We
have a very unstable wreckage. A lotta
leaking fuel. We can’t let anyone
through.

BARRY
No you don’t understand, they say she
won’t last the night, I’ll do anything,
just let me go around or something.

POLICE OFFICER
If I let you go around, I’ll have to
let everyone else go around, which I’m
not doing. I’m sure there’s a hundred
other people sitting in their cars with
just as many problems as you. Not to
mention my orders are to not let anyone
through... I’m sorry, just go back to
your car and take car of your child,
I’m sure it’ll be cleaned up in no
time.

Barry begins to walk away, hesitates turning back but

decides against it and continues to make his way back to
his car. As he walks he looks up and says a quiet prayer.

BARRY
Please, I’ll give anything to see her
one more time.

6
Barry walks past a car where DEBORAH sits alone, staring
blankly out at the wreckage. She runs her hands through
her hair and rubs her eyes. A brown handbag sits next to
her on the passenger seat. She looks down and opens it,
pulling out a photo of two young girls. They have their
arms around each other and are smiling happily. From
beneath the photo she then pulls out a small card. She
opens it.

DEAR DEBORAH

WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN US IN CELEBRATING

THE LIFE OF:

HARRIET GREGOR

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE.

MR. AND MRS. GREGOR.

Deborah puts both items back in her handbag, zipping it

up and leaning her head back into the headrest, closing
her eyes and sighing deeply.

ACKLEY sits in his truck around the bend from the

accident. He is nonplussed by the traffic jam. He laughs
as he looks down at the car in front, where a well
dressed man is yelling into his hands-free mobile phone
set. He takes a cassette tape out of its case and pushes
it into the player. The case reads

A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO PSYCHOLOGY:

THE GRIEVING PROCESS

ACKLEY leans back and listens to the tape; completely

relaxed.

VOICE on cassette
In this section we will be discussing
different theoretical models of the
dying process, of which Kubler-Ross is
probably the most familiar. Often
times, people feel uncomfortable
talking to and interacting with a...
CUT TO:

7
EXT. DARK ALLEY- NIGHT

VOICE
...person who is dying.

Pickerell sits, blood oozing out of his stomach. He tries

to stand up but cannot. The voice on cassette is still
speaking...

VOICE
This is at least partly because we have
no way to understand their perspective,
and what they are experiencing
mentally...

EXT. HIGHWAY- EVENING

VOICE
...emotionally, and spiritually.

The sun is beginning to set and the long line of banked

up traffic still remains unmoving. Flashlights can be
seen moving around near the wreckage and various lights
are turned on inside cars. The voice continues.

Studying the Kubler-Ross theory and

other approaches to the dying process
can help us become more comfortable by
increasing our understanding and adding
insight into the perspective of the
dying person.

Kubler-Ross, through much study and

research, saw a pattern emerging within
all patients faced with imminent death
that she expressed in the way of
stages. These stages are:
CUT TO:

VOICE
DENIAL...

Denise lies down in the back of an ambulance. She stares

at the ceiling, her face completely emotionless.
CUT TO:

8
 VOICE
ANGER...

Andrew sits alone in his car. He reclines his car seat

and lies down. After a few seconds he reaches back
angrily and grabs his jacket which he punches hard to try
and get it in a nice shape for a pillow.
CUT TO:

VOICE
DEPRESSION...

Deborah lies sleeping peacefully across the back seat of

her car. Her face stained from tears.
CUT TO:

VOICE
BARGAINING...

Barry sits in the back of his car looking thoughtfully

out the window. His son is fast asleep in his father’s
arms. Barry strokes his sons hair gently.
CUT TO:

VOICE
And ACCEPTANCE.

ACKLEY reaches forward, pressing stop on the cassette

tape player. He lies back into his chair, closing his
eyes, completely relaxed.
FADE TO BLACK:

EXT. HIGHWAY- NIGHT

Darkness has set in and many of the people have turned

off their car lights and gone to sleep. The only light is
coming from a small area around the wreckage. Police
officers and several workers are still trying to clear
away what they can of the crash. The wreckage however
seems to be exactly the same size as it was hours
earlier.

Lying alone in the ambulance, sleeping, Denise lies with

a small hospital blanket over her. A light behind her in
the front cab, a light gives off a weak ambient glow.
This light illuminates a small area around the van. From
out of the darkness someone approaches the ambulance.
They hold a metallic object which glints in the light.

9
They move towards the van, they are wearing a black
jumper with the hood pulled down, throwing a shadow
across the person’s face. Grasped in his hands is a
sickle. He moves up close to the window and looks in.

The highway is silent except for the men working. A

blood-curdling, woman’s scream echoes throughout the
highway. Lights turn on inside several cars, small
children start crying. Several people get out of their
cars, looking around for the origin of the scream.

FLASH: Pickerell’s face is contorted in pain as the woman

screams.

Andrew sits up in his car slowly, rubbing his eyes.

ANDREW (angrily)
I’m stuck out here, in the middle of
nowhere for half the night and can’t
even get a few hours of sleep.

He sighs and steps out of his car. He follows the crowd

and walks up towards the wreckage.

The back doors are wide open. The ambulance is empty. A

crowd begins to accumulate behind the ambulance. A low
buzz emanates from the crowd as they begin to talk
excitedly. At this a police officer runs over to see what
all the commotion is about. He looks to the crowd before
following their gaze to the van.

POLICE OFFICER
Where’d she-?.. Everyone back, go back
to your vehicles. We’ll sort this out.

WOMAN
What the happened here?

POLICE OFFICER
(False cheerful)
Nothing... I mean nothing we can’t
handle. Don’t you worry about it now,
we’ll clear everything up and you’ll be
on your way in no time.

People started to move away. Andrew moves to the front of

the crowd and approaches the officer, who is now locking
up the ambulance.

10
 ANDREW
(Attempted politeness)
Excuse me officer, how long until the
road will be cleared.

POLICE OFFICER
I’m sorry sir but I have no idea how
long it will take. We’re hoping it
won’t be any later than tomorrow
afternoon.

ANDREW
Tomorrow afternoon? I was meant to be
in a meeting five hours ago!

Andrew steps forward, face to face with the police

officer. He speaks softly, but menacingly.

ANDREW
And what the hell is going on? And
don’t tell me you have it all under
control, ‘cos that’s bullshit. I-

The police officer, even though intimidated, stands his

ground...

POLICE OFFICER
Sir, I need you to step back.

...his hand floats briefly over his gun. Andrew sees this
and slowly begins to back away, his hands raised
defensively.

ANDREW
Hey we’re all stuck out here, I just
wanna be sure we’re safe.

POLICE OFFICER
Just return to your vehicle, sir.

Andrew turns his back and begins to walk back to his car.
The police officer watches him shrink into the distance
with contempt.

Andrew walks past a car, in which Barry sits looking out

into the night. He spots Andrew and hastily winds down
the window.

11
 BARRY
Hey, would you be able to tell me
what’s going on up there? I heard
someone screaming.

Andrew does not stop walking, as he passes by Barry’s

window...

ANDREW
Pfft, wouldn’t have the slightest,
buddy.

Barry stares after Andrew, shocked. Not long after,

Deborah walks past, away from the wreckage, Barry tries
again with her.

BARRY
Um... excuse me... miss? Could you
possibly tell me what happened up
there. I heard someone scream.

DEBORAH (distant)
Oh, um I’m not really sure. There
was just an ambulance, with the
back doors wide open...

Deborah glances at Barry’s daughter, making sure she’s

asleep before lowering her voice to a whisper.

DEBORAH
...i heard there was blood
splattered all around the inside.
I didn’t get a good look ‘cos the
cop was locking it up when I got
there, but I also heard that a
woman who survived the crash was
in there earlier.

BARRY
My God.

Barry instinctively looks down at his daughter,

concerned.

12
 BARRY
What are the police doing about it? Do
they have any ideas on where the girl
is?

DEBORAH
I really don’t know. I just hope
that poor girl is alright, her
friends would be devastated.

A tear rolls down Deborah’s cheek. She looks away quickly

to wipe it. Barry, sensing her sadness hastily changes
the subject.

BARRY
I’m so sorry, my name’s Barry.

He holds his hand out. Deborah, taken off guard, takes

his hand and shakes it.

DEBORAH
I’m Deborah.

She smiles briefly. Barry tries to lighten the

conversation.

BARRY
So what brings you out here?

DEBORAH
My best friend, she had cancer since
she was twelve and passed away last
week. Her funeral is tomorrow.

She tries to hide her tears. Barry is shocked. In trying

to make her feel better he had just said the one thing to
make it worse.

BARRY
Oh... I am so sorry... I-

13
 DEBORAH
No... it’s ok. Um... I have to go.

Deborah walks slowly away from the car. Her head down.

Andrew reaches his car. The wreckage and the light from
it are blocked from the view of Andrew’s car due to the
bend in the road. It is very dark. Andrew steps up to his
door, hand on the handle. The image of a gaunt face
flashes across the back driver side window. Andrew,
anxious, steps back as far as he can while still able to
see in the back window. He is against the adjacent car.
He leans in, looking carefully, before quickly opening
the back door of his car. The car is empty. He leans back
against the other car with relief. In a flash, the front
door of the adjacent car opens, a dirty arm reaches out
grabbing Andrew violently and dragging him into the car.
The door slams behind them as the car begins to shake
from the struggle taking place inside. Through the
windshield we see the silhouette of a sickle rising and
falling quickly and brutally.

One car back a middle aged man now sits, having been
woken up by the slam of the car door. Putting on his
glasses, he sees the car rocking. He shakes his head,
half smiling and flashes his headlights to tell the
“young couple” to be quiet. The lights illuminate the car
for a split second. The car stops shaking immediately.
But also in that second the man noticed something odd. He
turns the headlights back on, lighting up the back
windshield which throws and eerie red glow into the car.

Without turning off his headlights the man gets out of

his car and starts running down the road towards the
wreckage and police. He knocks Deborah off balance as he
passes her. He hardly notices. Shocked, she turns to see
what it is he’s running from. Looking back, now
terrified, she sees a car, with the driver side door
open, the windshield covered in blood and Andrew’s face
against the passenger window, blood dripping out of his
mouth.
CUT TO:

EXT. DARK ALLEY- NIGHT

Pickerell still slumped against the crates. A stream of

blood starts to slowly flow from his mouth.

14
FLASH: The Hood stands, he is intimidating. His face
darkened as always by his hood. He holds a blood-stained
sickle at his side.

FLASH: CLOSE UP of the Hood’s dark face. All that can be

seen is a menacing smile, creeping across his face. He
slashes at us with the sickle.

Pickerell moves slightly, he tries in vain to stand up,

before falling back into the crates, again losing
consciousness.
CUT TO:

EXT. PICKERELL HIGHWAY- NIGHT

A police officer approaches a car illuminated by

another’s headlights, the interior splattered with blood.
The officer is flanked by a middle aged man and Deborah.
They walk cautiously towards the car, the officer’s gun
drawn and aimed at the car door. He stops the man and
Deborah.

POLICE OFFICER
Just stand back here.

He steps up to the door and reaches out slowly, grabbing

the handle and pulling the door open and standing back in
one motion.

Andrew’s body falls out of the car, covered in blood and

brutally hacked up.

POLICE OFFICER
Jesus!

DEBORAH
Who could do something like that?

MIDDLE AGED MAN

Who ever it was must have been pretty
angry.

People were starting to get out of their cars to come

over and see what was going on, a few of them could see
the body and were whispering to others and pointing as
they made their way over.

15
The officer gets up quickly, moving to Andrew’s car which
is empty. He opens the back door, and rummages in
Andrew’s things until he finds a blanket under the seat.
He brings it over and covers the body with it before
anyone else sees it. He stands up moving towards the
people, arms out, stopping them before they reach the
car.

POLICE OFFICER (commanding)

Everybody... back to your vehicles. No
one needs to see this.

WOMAN
What’s happened now? What are you-?

POLICE OFFICER
No! Everybody... back to your vehicles,
now!

After this demand everybody started to move away. The

whispering and chatter continues, now louder and more
excited.

POLICE OFFICER
I think that should include you two as
well. You don’t need to be here, I’m
gonna get a couple of men down here and
we’ll find whoever did this.

Deborah nods; taking a final look at the covered body she

turns and walks away. The middle aged man briefly talks
to the police officer about where he should go.

MIDDLE AGED MAN

My family are still asleep in our car.
Shouldn’t I take them somewhere else?

POLICE OFFICER (fading out)

Yeah, don’t worry we’ll set you up down
near our station.

Deborah gets into her car tiredly. She reclines the seat
back and lies down. Somebody suddenly knocks on her
window. She jumps at the sound, sitting up quickly to see
Barry at her window. She puts her seat forward and winds
down her window.

16
 BARRY
Hey, sorry I didn’t mean to scare you.
I just wanted to come down here and
apologise about before. I just-

DEBORAH
No it’s fine. I shouldn’t have just
walked off like that, it’s just to
painful to talk about.

BARRY
I know exactly how you feel. My wife
was away on business last week and was
in an accident. She’s in hospital not
far from here, but the doctors don’t
think she’ll make it through the night.

DEBORAH
Oh I’m so sorry.

Barry pulls his wallet out of his pocket and takes out a
photo of his wife. He hands it to Deborah.

BARRY
That’s her. I just wanted to see her
one last time. You know how you feel
when you want something so much that
you’d give anything just to get it?

DEBORAH
I can’t really feel anything anymore. I
just feel like I’ll never be happy
again. I can’t see any way out.

BARRY
I know it seems pretty bleak for both
of us right now, but I like to believe
there’s always a way out.

DEBORAH
I wish I could be as positive as you
are. But I just don’t know wot to do.

She looks down miserably. Barry watches her with sympathy

and understanding.

BARRY
Well you look very tired so I’ll leave
you to get some sleep.

17
He turns from Deborah’s car and walks away slowly.
Deborah looks down at the photo of the two girls before
reclining her seat back once again. She puts her head
back and sobs softly, the photo of Barry’s wife still in
her hand.

Barry walks away from the car. After passing many cars he
stops in the middle of the road, pulling out his wallet.
He looks for the photo of his wife but cannot find it. He
turns back and walks towards Deborah’s car. He reaches
the car and looks in through the still open window.

BARRY
Sorry, I just left my-

He sees Deborah’s body lying limp in the car seat, blood

dripping from her arms where her wrists were slashed.
Barry just stares in at her in shock. He had sensed her
suicidal thoughts but never thought they were this
severe. He stops staring at her, resting his head on his
arms.

Ackley sits in his truck sleeping. He is jolted awake by

a knock on his window. He opens it and looks down to see
a police officer.

POLICE OFFICER
Sorry to disturb you sir but we’ve just
had a couple of incidents occur and
just wondered whether you’d seen
anything out of the ordinary tonight?

ACKLEY
Um... nah sorry, I’ve been sleeping
most of the night.

POLICE OFFICER
That’s fine. But if you do see anything
suspicious, be sure to let us know.

ACKLEY
I’ll do that. What kind of incidents
are talking about here officer?

POLICE OFFICER

18
 Oh nothing overly serious, just a few
people have been mugged. But all the
same just keep an eye out, ok?

ACKLEY
Yeah for sure, thanks officer.

The police officer turns and makes his way to the next
car. Ackley puts his head back, about to go back to
sleep. He looks down into his rear vision mirror and sees
a hooded figure running into the bushes. Ackley stares at
the spot, where he saw the figure, for a short time
before grabbing a large spanner from the rear cab. He
gets out of his car, briefly looks around for the police
officer, before another rustle in the bushes draws his
attention. He makes his way over to the trees and pushes
his way through into the woods.

The rustle of Ackley in the bushes, past Deborah’s car,

draws Barry’s gaze. He sees nothing in the bushes, but
does notice on the passenger seat of Deborah’s car,
beside a photo of two young girls, a sickle, covered in
blood. He reaches through the car and picks it up. He
stands up and steps away from the car holding the sickle,
staring at it.

POLICE OFFICER
FREEZE!!! Put the weapon down and get
on your stomach!

The police officer that was walking from car to car was
now walking slowly towards Barry. His gun is drawn and
aimed directly at Barry.

Barry looks from the officer, to the sickle and back to

the officer again. He shakes the sickle at the police
officer.

BARRY (scared)
No! I didn’t- it’s not mine I swear. It
wasn’t me. I found her like this!

Barry points at Deborah’s body, still brandishing the

sickle. The police officer moves in his finger
dangerously lingering over the trigger.

19
 POLICE OFFICER
Sir, please place the weapon on the
ground and get down on your stomach.

Barry moves towards the police officer, trying to reason

with him.

BARRY
Please, you gotta believe me... this
isn’t mine. I didn’t kill her.

At these words, Ackley walks to the edge of the bushes

and watches Barry plead against the police officer.

Not far from Ackley, The Hood stands in the bushes

looking out at the situation unfolding before him. He
watches excitedly as Barry moves still closer to the
police officer.

POLICE OFFICER
Don’t come any closer! Stay where you
are or I will fire!

BARRY
You don’t understand, I-

Barry takes another step towards the police officer. A

gunshot rings out as the officer reluctantly opens fire.
Barry is hit in the chest and lifelessly drops to the
ground.

Ackley stops pushing through the bushes and turns to look

out at Barry, falling to the ground.
The Hood stands back watching from the bushes, a
victorious smile spreads across his face. Movement is
heard behind him and The Hood looks around for the origin
of the sound. Seeing nothing he flees into the woods.

EXT. DARK ALLEY- NIGHT

Pickerell awakes with a jolt. Someone walks past the

entrance to the alley. Pickerell reaches out towards
them, trying to get their attention. He tries to speak
but no words come out. Pickerell’s arm drops as the
person walks out of view. He leans back against the
crates, staring out at the opposite wall of the alley.

20
Despite his great pain, Pickerell now looks relaxed, as
his eyes close, slipping back out of consciousness.

EXT. PICKERELL HIGHWAY WOODS- EARLY MORNING

Over the wreckage the sky is beginning to turn dark blue

as the sun begins to rise. A large crowd has formed part
way down the road from the wreckage, where Barry was
shot. Not far from the crowd, Ackley makes his way
through the woods; beating low braches out of the way
with is large spanner. Following phantom noises that he
can hear every now and then.

Not far ahead of Ackley, The Hood darts easily between

the trees. He knows the path well as he has planned this
chase all along. After a short time he reaches a small
clearing. He sprints across the clearing, towards a thick
tree. He stops at the tree. Turning around, he stands
watching a spot between the trees across the clearing
from him.

A moment later Ackley bursts through the shrubbery,

panting and holding his spanner high. He stops at the
site of The Hood.

THE HOOD
You made it. I’ve been waiting for you.

ACKLEY
Who are you? What are you doing out
here?

The Hood reaches back behind the tree and pulls out a
long scythe. He stands up straight, holding the scythe
vertically at his side. The dark blue lighting of the sky
at dawn, gives an eerie mood to this meeting. The Hood’s
scythe, coupled with his hood covering his face presents
The Hood with an unmistakeable resemblance to the Grim
Reaper. Ackley notices this resemblance.

ACKLEY
You did this didn’t you? You killed
some girl to frame that guy.

THE HOOD (angrily)

No! I didn’t just kill some girl to
frame some other guy. I had this whole

21
 night planned out, everyone played
their part, and everyone was specially
chosen, just as I have chosen you.

ACKLEY
All those incidents that cop was
talking about, you were behind them
all?

THE HOOD
Incidents? Not just incidents. I think
they count as more than mere incidents.

ACKLEY
What did you do?

THE HOOD
I merely helped the process along...
which reminds me, there is still one
more step to be taken.

The Hood holds the scythe in both hand and swiftly swings
it at Ackley. Ackley jumps back as the scythe misses him
by inches. He runs around to The Hood’s other side. The
Hood uses the blunt side of the scythe to trip Ackley
over. Ackley’s foot connects with the scythe; he falls
and drops his spanner which bounces across the ground to
the far side of the clearing. Ackley lets out a painful
yell.

Back on the highway, in the middle of a crowd of people,

the Police officer hears someone yell and looks into the
woods for whoever made the sound. He puts his hands in
the air to call for silence. The crowd stops talking,
listening carefully for another sound. Another small yell
emanates from the woods. The police officer draws his
gun.

POLICE OFFICER (commanding)

Everybody stay here.

He motions for one of the men from the crowd to come

towards him.

POLICE OFFICER
I want you to go down to the wreckage
station and get another one of the

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 officer’s down here. Tell him
everything that’s happened.

The man takes off towards the wreckage. The police

officer makes his way into the woods towards the sounds.

Ackley is on his feet, eyeing his spanner, which lies a

couple of feet from him. He makes a dash for it but is
pulled up short when The Hood raises his scythe between
Ackley and the spanner. Ackley stares into The Hood’s
darkened face. A voice sounds from behind The Hood, as
the police officer steps into the clearing.

POLICE OFFICER (yelling)

This is the police! Whoever you are, I
want you to drop you weapon and get on
your knees, now!

The Hood turns instinctively to see who it is, Ackley

takes this opportunity dive at his spanner. The Hood
swings his scythe at Ackley, he misses and Ackley sprints
deeper into the woods. The Police officer fires at The
Hood, who ducks, avoiding the bullet. The Hood stands up
and swings the scythe at the police officer. The blade
pierces the officer’s stomach. The Hood looks into the
officer’s eyes and twists the scythe. The officer aims
carelessly and fires another shot. The bullet hits The
Hood’s arm. The Hood pulls his scythe out of the
officer’s stomach, who falls to the ground; dead. The
Hood looks around for Ackley, holding his wounded arm.
Hearing a noise deeper in the woods, The Hood takes off
after Ackley.

Ackley runs through the woods, dodging the trees before

he hears footsteps behind him. He quickly darts left
behind a tree, standing very still; not making a sound.
The footsteps get louder and closer. The footsteps stop,
just feet from Ackley. Ackley doesn’t move. The Hood
looks ahead, trying to see around the trees to where
Ackley is hiding. He spots around a tree to the left
something that looks like a protruding arm. He slowly
walks towards it. He stops just behind the tree, his
scythe raised. He strikes quickly, hacking into a bent
branch sticking out at shoulder height from the tree.

Ackley sees The Hood make this fatal mistake from the
adjacent tree. He takes The Hood off guard and swings his
heavy spanner down into the back of The Hood’s neck. The
Hood grunts with pain, and falls to the ground, dropping

23
his scythe. He rolls over, reaching for it but Ackley
beats him, picking up the scythe, raising it
threateningly above The Hood.

FLASH: Pickerell’s face. His eyes open and relaxed as if

about to fall asleep.

ACKLEY
It’s over!

Ackley drives the blade down through The Hood’s chest.

Blood oozes from his mouth as he splutters, before his
head drops back lifelessly.
FADE OUT:

EXT. PICKERELL HIGHWAY- MORNING

Ackley walks out of the woods with the scythe, he hands

it to a police officer.

POLICE OFFICER 2
Oh man, are you ok?

ACKLEY
I’m fine... I did what I had to do.

POLICE OFFICER 2
Ok... well we’ll need a statement, and
there’s a couple of questions we’ll
need you to answer as soon as we clean
this mess up.

ACKLEY
Yeah ok, I’ll just be in my truck when
you need me.

Ackley walks over to his truck and climbs into the front
seat. He turns on the radio and pushes his psychology
tape back into the cassette deck. He sits back listening
to the voice on the tape.

VOICE
Finally, we have acceptance. Acceptance
is the emotion in which the person will
accept completely, the fact that they
are going to die.

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FLASH: Ackley driving the scythe through The Hood’s
chest.

VOICE
With this emotion, the prospect of
death does not psychologically harm the
person anymore.

CUT TO:

EXT. DARK ALLEY- MORNING

Pickerel still lies, dying, against the crates. Moving

out we see that across the alley, high on the opposite
wall a poster advertising for a holiday shows the picture
of a long highway, with woods on either side of a long
winding road.

VOICE
This emotion puts them at ease with
their situation and allows them to slip
comfortably into unconsciousness, never
to wake up again.

At these words, Pickerell stops breathing and slowly

closes his eyes.
FADE TO BLACK:

THE END

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