I have jury duty this week. It started Friday but the jury didn't get picked yet so I won't know until this afternoon whether or not I'm on it. I'm number 50 out of 55 so I'll be doing a lot of sitting around today listening to people telling boring stories. But as a writer I am committed to memorizing anything interesting, and should I be chosen I will file it all away for future stories of crime and punishment.
In the meantime, it's time again for Red Right Hand's one page challenge.
Apparently people have been bitching about the structure of the challenge because they're afraid that showing one page of their genius material will endanger their project because we are all out to steal from one another in our conniving ways.
I say if you want to steal my shit, go ahead. I'm still going to do it better than you. You get one page. I've got the whole thing. Good luck, punk.
So because of the whiners, RRH has issued a declaration that we all write one page specifically for this.
I like what I'm working on so I'm going to break the new rule and post a page from my current script. That's still material in my own voice, which is in the spirit of the challenge.
Bare with me, I still can't figure out clever formatting stuff so I'll just post it as is.
Without further ado, here is a page from Zombie Script:
(We are in medias res)
EXT. FARMHOUSE - DAY
As a zombie reaches out to grab Josh by the shoulder its head splinters and it falls, writhing on the ground.
Kate kneels on the stoop of the farmhouse, gun out. It was her shot that took the zombie down.
KATE
Watch your back!
Josh fires another shot, missing Gaunt Zombie but hitting one of his followers.
JOSH
I don't have eyes in the back of my head, Mom!
Kate grunts as she shoots another zombie down. Grandma tries to push around her to get out the door but Kate is taking up all the space.
GRANDMA
Move, Kate!
KATE
I'm kind of busy, mom.
A zombie gets very close to Josh while he's taking aim in another direction. Grandma grabs a huge kitchen knife and throws it, slicing right into the zombie's forehead where it sticks, dropping the zombie to the ground.
Gaunt Zombie continues to move forward. Josh can't back up enough to shoot it with the rifle.
JOSH
Shit.
Gaunt Zombie reaches out to grab Josh, but the boy turns the rifle around and slams the butt into Gaunt Zombie's skull.
It doesn't immediately kill him. Josh keeps pounding with his weapon as Gaunt Zombie tries to bare his teeth and reach in for the kill, flinching each time his head is hit with the gun. Other zombies continue to advance on both sides while Kate shoots them from her perch in the doorway.
Grandma leaps over her daughter and grabs a baseball bat that has been leaning against the outside of the doorway. In one motion she is over to her grandson, whacking at zombie heads with the bat and bringing them down. Side by side they swing their weapons as the blood flies.
As Grandma takes on one zombie with a wide swing of her bat, the zombie grabs her arm but she doesn't bat an eye. Before it can lock its teeth onto her flesh she pushes the thing off and takes a deadly crack at its skull.
Gaunt Zombie falls to the ground, twitching. The rest of the zombies are permanently dead in the grass.
Silence.
Three generations look around the front yard for more enemies. There are none.
NPR says your district can't quite figure out what to pay you guys. Everything ok in your corner of the world?
ReplyDeleteJust curious.
I've been lucky so far. I haven't had that many payroll issues, and the ones I've had have been fixed in a timely fashion. Most of my coworkers have been screwed big time.
ReplyDeleteAwesome showing and thanks for breaking the guideleines (their not so much rules). It doesn't matter if it's specially written or not,...in fact I think excerpts are much better.
ReplyDelete