I am Legend

EXT. CITY STREET - DAY

The Land Rover speeds along. We vaguely recognize the road as one of streets of SAN FRANCISCO, but something's wrong. The road is in great disrepair and littered with debris. The trees are barren, the area deathly silent, and there is absolutely no other traffic.

INT. LAND ROVER - DAY

Neville continues to listen to Resurrection an the Rover's CD player. He spots a DRIVE-WAY and turns into it.

EXT. RADIO STATION - DAY

High on a hill sits an abandoned broadcasting facility and tower. This too is in utter disrepair. The Land Rover is parked outside, the dog an guard. A desolate wind whistles.

INT. RADIO STATION - BASEMENT - DAY

Very familiar with the equipment, Neville connects wires, throws switches, and powers up the EMERGENCY GENERATOR.

INT. RADIO STATION - DJ BOOTH / CONTROL ROOM - DAY

Neville adjusts the mixing panel and takes a seat behind a microphone. (Throughout this scene we will notice that the radio station looks like a tornado blew through it.)

NEVILLE

Good Morning San Francisco. Big Bob Neville

here with you this morning, as I am every morning.

Monday through Sunday, seven days a week, three

hundred and sixty five fucking days a year. Traffic?

There is none. Weather? Who cares. News? I'm still

alive. What about you, San Francisco? How 'bout

giving me a call? 1-800-F-U-C-K-Y-O-U.

He glances to his right. The Telephone switchboard panel is shattered, dead, covered with dust.

NEVILLE

Wow. The board's lit up like a Christmas tree.

Too bad our time is up. If you would like to see

me in the flesh, however, I'll be doing a personal

appearance this afternoon at Golden Gate Park.

Today and every day. 12 Noon. All you have to do

is show up. (dead air) Please (more silence, then

pops a tape cart into a player) I leave you today

with one of my favorites. I know you're sick of the

fact that I only play classical music, but frankly, I don't

care. I like it. And right now... that's all that matters.

An Eric Satie piano concerto. Melancholy and haunting.

EXT. DOWNTOWN STREETS- VARIOUS - DAY

MUSIC CONTINUES as the Land Rover cruises through the heart of the city. We don't spend much time here and it's frustrating, because we can't fully comprehend the visual make-up of downtown. The streets are deserted, litter and dust blow freely with the wind and the buildings look ravaged. Looted? Burned? Destroyed by earthquake?

EXT. PET STORE - DAY

Neville and the dog exit the Rover and for the first time we notice Neville wears a shoulder holster containing a .45 automatic. and carries an M-16 machine gun. A high-intensity flashlight is attached to the machine gun barrel and extra ammo clips taped to its handle.

INT. PET STORE - DAY

Merchandise is scattered on the floor--chew toys, plastic bones, etc.--and the dog is drawn to it. Neville whistles and the dog obeys, disappointed. Neville switches on the flashlight and heads for a STORAGE ROOM.

INT. PET STORE - STORAGE ROOM - DAY

Neville KICKS IN the door. The flashlight beam dances to all corners. Nothing but old supplies. The dog prances in and leads Neville to the bags of chow. He hefts them onto his shoulder. Whistles. The dog doesn't follow. His vision is locked on a thick piece of rawhide. He turns his sad eyes to Neville, who gives in, nods. The dog happily grabs it between his teeth.

EXT. GOLDEN GATE PARK - DAY

The monuments still remain, but the grass is scorched, tall, and dry. Neville eats a sandwich he made at home and the dog chews the rawhide. Neville checks his watch. 12:45. Scans the area. Absolutely no one in sight. Forlornly, he stares at the ground, the cracks in the pavement... Alone.

EXT. DOWNTOWN STREET - DAY

The streets are abandoned, buildings deserted. The Land Rover parked at an intersection, the dog on lookout. Neville stands beneath a lamp post, a coil of WIRE over his shoulder. He measures a length, tosses it over the arm of the post, and creates an old-fashioned SNAPE out of the cable. He adjusts, tightens, and pulls one of the vials of blood from his utility belt. He takes a rag, douses it with the blood, and positions it as "bait" in the snare. Satisfied with the trap, he whistles for the dog and returns to the Land Rover.

EXT. ANOTHER STREET - DAY

Neville sets another snare.

EXT. DEPARTMENT STORE - DAY

The Land Rover pulls to a stop in front of what used to be Nieman-Marcus. Right now, it looks like a ghetto tenement.

INT. LAND ROVER - DAY

Neville's eyes are glued to something across the street...

EXT. STREET - DAY

A BODY dangles from one of Neville's traps--one he must have set a previous day. It hangs limply, ankle ensnared by the cable, its head hanging a few feet above the ground.

EXT. LAND ROVER / STREET - DAY

With the dog at his heels, Neville chambers a round in the .45 and approaches the body.

ANOTHER ANGLE

Quite abruptly, we are watching Neville from across the street, HIGH ABOVE, from a sixth or seventh story window. We HEAR movement and labored breathing.

BACK ON THE STREET

Neville reaches the body and spins it around. As soon as he sees the face of a MANNEQUIN, he knows he's fucked.

THE HIGH ANGLE

We HEAR a bolt slide on a rifle and we realize we're watching Neville through a SNIPER'S SCOPE. Neville's chest dead in our sights. We FIRE.

BACK ON THE STREET

Neville hits the dirt. The first bullet EXPLODES in asphalt. Neville rolls. The second bullet just misses him. He DASHES behind an abandoned car, escaping yet another shot from the sniper. The dog stands in the middle of the street, BARKING at an upper story window in Nieman-Marcus. Neville shouts...

NEVILLE

GET OUT OF THE STREET!

The dog continues to , its eyes on a specific section of the building. Neville steals a glance and sees a RIFLE BARREL poking out of a shattered window frame. ANOTHER SHOT whistles past the dog's fur. The beast flinches, afraid.

NEVILLE

GET OVER HERE!

He waves his arm and the dog comes running to his side. He pulls the dog close to him, sheltering him from the gunfire.

NEVILLE

Dumbest goddamm dog I ever had.

BLAM! A bullet HITS the car. Neville is pinned down.

NEVILLE

Great, Bob, just great.

He looks at the pistol in his hand. It's useless against a rifle. And unfortunately, the machine gun is in the Land Rover. He can't make a move. Unless...

Along the curb, hidden from the sniper's view, is a storm drain. Neville inches his way toward it and slithers inside. The dog tries to follow, but Neville motions for him to stay and speak. The dog understands and BARKS at the sniper.

INT. STORM DRAIN TUNNEL - DAY

Crouching down, Neville is able to scurry to the other side of the street. He inches his way through a crevice.

INT. DEPARTMENT STORE - DAY

Neville crawls into a dilapidated BATHROOM in the store's first basement. The plumbing has been backed up for god knows how long and Neville can barely tolerate the stench.

INT. DEPARTMENT STORE - FIRST BASEMENT - DAY

What used to be "Housewares." Neville spies the no-longer-functioning escalators and strides upwards.

INT. DEPARTMENT STORE - ESCALATORS - VARIOUS - DAY

Neville reaches the fourth floor. We catch glimpses of BIZARRE GRAFFITI, but mostly we're taken aback by the sheer emptiness of the store.

INT. DEPARTMENT STORE - SEVENTH FLOOR - DAY

Neville creeps up the escalator. He HEARS the sniper, but it's difficult to see anything because the windows in this section have been covered with sheets of cardboard, blankets, and plywood. The only light is a tiny shaft coming through the cracked pane the shooter is using for his rifle.

The shooter himself is bundled in rags. Gloves cover his hands, a parka hood hides his head, and a scarf shields his face. We see no details, only a shape. in a corner is a sort of "tent' made from bedsheets and blankets.

The sniper watches the street. Faintly, we HEAR the dog BARKING. The sniper SHOOTS. A distant ping!--the bullet hits the abandoned car. Neville gauges his surroundings, his enemy. Thinks. Positions himself about twenty feet behind the sniper. Locks target with the .45.

NEVILLE

Hey.

The sniper jumps, turns around, and shakes in his shoes at the sight of Neville. He fumbles with the rifle.

NEVILLE

Ah-ah-ah.

The sniper stops. It's no use--he'd never be quick enough.

NEVILLE

Slide the gun over here.

The sniper has no choice. He sets the rifle on the floor and shoves it at Neville, who quickly examines it.

NEVILLE

A hunter's gun. Where'd you find it?

No reply. Neville points the .45, SHOOTS and blasts the window behind the shooter. Glass explodes and SUNLIGHT pours into the room. The sniper SCREAMS with fright and scurries for darkness. Neville aims his pistol at another window.

NEVILLE

(a threat)

Where?

SNIPER

(his voice a raspy hiss)

Up north. In the mountains, a cabin.

NEVILLE

You're not part of Cortman's bunch.

SNIPER

Who?

NEVILLE

Never mind. In the mountains...

Were there people? Like me?

SNIPER

If there were, we wouldn't have had to

come to the city, now, would we?

NEVILLE

You're a smart one.

SNIPER

Thank you.

NEVILLE

You said "we."

The sniper realizes his error. Goes tight-lipped.

NEVILLE

How many?

No answer. Neville flips back the top of the "tent" and sees three sleeping areas.

NEVILLE

Where are they?

The sniper refuses to respond. Neville BLASTS another window. More LIGHT. Like a snake escaping a predator, the sniper slithers away, but Neville pounces on him and jams the .45 into the center of his back. He pins one arm and extends the shooter's other arm into the path of the light.

SNIPER

No!

The sniper is in agony.

NEVILLE

Tell me.

Frustrated, Neville, pulls off the man's glove. First, we see that the flesh is pale white. So pale it's almost translucent. Second, we see the effect of sunlight--the skin blisters and blackens.

NEVILLE

WHERE ARE THEY?

The sniper SCREAMS. Neville releases him and he hides in the shadows, caressing his tortured limb. The sniper decides to pull off his hood and remove the scarf, revealing...

A demonic visage. Ghostly white flesh so devoid of pigment we can see the blue and purple veins beneath the surface. His eyes are an unearthly cold blue/grey and white. He is completely hairless--nothing on his pate, no brows, no facial hair. His lips a deep ruby red. This thing was once human, but now, now...

SNIPER

(somewhat awed)

You're him, aren't you? You're Neville.

Neville reaches into his belt and takes out a VIAL of blood. The sniper's eyes light up.

NEVILLE

Where are they?

The sniper is mesmerized by the blood.

SNIPER

(can't help himself)

The bay... The basement.

NEVILLE

I was in the basement.

SNIPER

Down... below... By the... subway.

NEVILLE

Do they have guns?

He won't answer. Neville pours a few drops of blood and steps back. Thirstily, the sniper laps it up with his tongue, like a cat to some spilled cream. Neville looks away. The sniper falls back onto a pile of rags and lets his "fix" kick in. His body spasms and his face contorts. The sniper's arm jerks and he lets out a satisfied breath. A junkie feeling the high.

SNIPER

We heard about you. Way up in the hills

we heard about you.

Miraculously, the sniper's charred hand begins to heal.

NEVILLE

Your friends. Guns?

SNIPER

No. We found only the rifle.

His hand forms a fist. A sinister, unearthly hiss emerges from his gullet. He looks at the vial in Neville's hand.

SNIPER

More.

NEVILLE

You'll get more if you tell me the truth.

SNIPER

More!

And something dark, something terrible fills the sniper's eyes. He LUNGES at Neville. BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! Neville pounds him with three bullets. Two in the stomach. One in the shoulder. Blood spatters. The sniper teeters, but does not fall. Neville aims at the heart and fires, but his weapon is empty. He mutters "shit," hastily loads a clip. The sniper clutches at his wounds, kneels and touches the floor with his finger. He takes a deep breath and enters into some kind of meditative trance. He summons...

The scattered drops of his blood heed his call. Like droplets of mercury drawn to a common source, the blood moves across the floor and flows up his finger into the open bullet wounds. And heals them.

NEVILLE

That was clever, the mannequin. That

took some thought. You nearly had me.

Click. Neville jams in the clip. The sniper moves. POW. POW. POW. POW- Only this time, Neville aims at the windows. GLASS SHATTERS and a wall of LIGHT pours in, hitting the sniper like a freight train.

SNIPER

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The skin on the sniper's face blisters. Smoke rises from beneath his protective clothes. he HOWLS. Neville, with intense calm, holsters his .45 and raises the RIFLE.

NEVILLE

You know, I can understand me. But why

shoot at the dog? What did that dog ever do

to you?

The sniper staggers toward Neville, one last attack. Neville SHOOTS, hits the sniper square in the chest. The force of the blast propels him backward, to the open windows. The sniper slips on the broken glass and falls...

... out the window. Seven stories to the street below.

Neville moves to the window, locks at the sniper's body on the concrete. The DOG emerges from behind the abandoned car, sniffs in the direction of the corpse, and looks up at Neville in the window. Neville shouts down...

NEVILLE

STAY AWAY FROM HIM! You stay away!

The dog sits.

NEVILLE

Good boy.

EXT. DEPARTMENT STORE - DAY

A bandana acting as a mask on his face, Neville pulls a spare gas can from the rear of the Land Rover and douses the sniper's corpse (blackening in the sun) with fuel. He ignites a book of matches, tosses them at the body, and whoosh--instant funeral pyre.

Neville reaches into a supply chest in the rear of the Land Rover. He pulls out a mean looking, more powerful MACHINE GUN, two ammo clips, a portable high-intensity halogen lamp, a COMBAT KNIFE, three small electronic devices, and a customized remote control. He hangs a pair of night-vision goggles around his neck and instructs the dog...

NEVILLE

Come.

INT. DEPARTMENT STORE - SUB-BASEMENT - DAY

Neville walks past rusting generators to a collapsed wall which connects the store to an old subway tunnel. The FLASHLIGHT on the barrel of the machine gun illuminates the path. The halogen lamp is strapped to his shoulder, but for now, it's switched off. Neville allows the dog to sniff a rag taken from the sniper's 'tent.' Having the scent, the dog proceeds into the tunnel. Prior to following, Neville fixes one of the SMALL ELECTRONIC DEVICES to the to the wall.