Rush Hour

Looking down, he notices he's got a dead leaf stuck to the bottom of his shoe.

Glancing in the living room, he sees the dead leaves on the floor below the three hanging plants. He looks at the plants: two are dead. The one in the middle is not. It's plastic.

We HEAR the jiggle of the front doorknob.

CARSON
NO! –

Too late... The front door opens....

Carson crouches behind the big, heavy refrigerator door...

As the middle flower pot EXPLODES. It's a shrapnel bomb: it spews thousands of tiny carpet tacks 360 degrees around room.

Sabatini is HIT full on – she falls backwards into the hall.

INT. MIMOSA APARTMENTS – #1058 – DAY

Miranda and the women in the darkened bedroom SCREAM as the tacks tear hundreds of HOLES through sections of the wall.

Tiny shafts of LIGHT appear in the wall, except where it is covered by furniture (keeping them from being shredded.)

INT. MIMOSA APARTMENTS – HALLWAY – DAY

SWAT Team #2 and Colonel Lee come running, as does Miranda.

Carson is kneeling next to Sabatini. She looks up at him and tries to say something, but a only long, mournful, final BREATH escapes her. Agonized, Carson looks around...

And sees Colonel Lee. He lunges for him.

CARSON

I said keep everyone back!!

He punches Colonel Lee in the jaw. Colonel Lee slams against the wall, then comes back at Carson, hitting him in the throat.

MIRANDA

Stop it!

Miranda and SWAT Team #2 pull them apart.

CARSON

(to Colonel Lee)

Get out of my sight.

He kneels next to Sabatini, and closes her eyes.

INT. NEWS COPTER – (AERIAL SHOT) – DAY

It's in between reports. The Cameraman listens to the Grateful Dead on a BOOM BOX. Bobbi answers her ringing CELL PHONE.

BOBBI
(into phone)

Marchfelder.

STATION MANAGER (V.O.)

(thru phone)

You dated the Mayor, right?

BOBBI

(sighs; into phone)

You need a traffic ticket fixed?

STATION MANAGER (V.O.)

(excited; thru phone)

Try to confirm something for us. There's an incredible buzz on the Internet – someone picked up a classified message on a U.S. Intelligence frequency. We think it's authentic!

EXT. STREETS OF LOS ANGELES – VARIOUS ANGLES – DAY

The streets of Hollywood are even more congested than before, as the festivities really start rockin'.

INT. GOVERNMENT HELICOPTER – (AERIAL SHOT) – DAY

Carson and Miranda sit together in the back and Colonel Lee sits next to the Pilot as they fly back to the Consulate.

Miranda looks at Carson, who's trying real hard not to let Sabatini's death slow him down.

CARSON

(into radio)

What's the status?

ROBBINS (V.O.)

(thru radio)

Wilshire and West PD Divisions had seven vehicles running with sirens at 9:32. They're getting the routes from the officers now.

CARSON

(into radio)

Hurry it the hell up.

He glances over at Miranda. After a beat:

CARSON

(continuing)

I should've known she'd come up.

MIRANDA

Pete –

CARSON

– "Should've." Shit, there's a familiar word.

(long beat)

That day... I was there soon enough. We should've rushed 'em, before they could finish setting up...

MIRANDA

The Bureau never would've let you. They want it by the book: talk them out.

Carson looks out the window, not hearing a word she says...

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. / EXT. BEVERLY THRIFT – (FLASHBACK) – DAY

Carson is in the FBI command truck, talking on the phone to:

A BANK ROBBER, barricaded inside the bank. Phone in hand, he holds a shotgun on a dozen hostages: BANK EMPLOYEES and CUSTOMERS – including a couple of YOUNG KIDS. One is holding a soccer-sized, rainbow-colored rubber ball.

The OTHER BANK ROBBER wires up a series of explosive charges.

Both Robbers rush inside the vault, and pull the door closed to protect themselves...

The front of the building, where the hostages are, EXPLODES.

Carson runs to the bank. He spots the kid's ball, rolling in the street... BURNING. He turns away, horrified, devastated...

 DISSOLVE TO:

INT. GOVERNMENT HELICOPTER – (AERIAL SHOT) – DAY

CARSON

Twelve bodies – only the hostages.

MIRANDA

You were a greenhorn. It wasn't your decision. You can't keep living as such a raw nerve, never sleeping –

CARSON

– Those kids were ten years old!

(sotto)

Same age as the Han boy...

He turns away. She takes his hand.

INT. BACHELOR APARTMENT – DAY

The family continues to call for HELP. As they do, we
 

CUT TO:

INT. HALLWAY JUST OUTSIDE APARTMENT – DAY

Their CRIES echo faintly through a deserted tangle of ladders, construction equipment, sheets of drywall, etc.

A warning sign taped to the wall near the elevator reads: "This Floor Has Been Temporarily Vacated For Minor Earthquake Retrofitting."

INT. NORTH KOREAN CONSULATE – SURVEILLANCE ROOM – DAY

The mood is glum. Carson looks at Robbins, Dave and Walther, then at the empty chair where Sabatini had been sitting.

CARSON

C'mon! Who's pulling Javal's bank records? What about cross-referencing possible aliases? We got 33 minutes!

Hearing Beach Boys MUSIC on the TV's and radios on the surveillance console, Carson angrily punches them all off.

Suddenly, Miranda looks at him:

MIRANDA

Camry! The billboard! Toyota Camry!

(reaches for phone)

Where are the numbers for the outdoor ad companies?

ROBBINS

Parker Center's making those calls.

INT. NEWS COPTER – (AERIAL SHOT) – DAY

Bobbi and the News Cameraman are arguing bitterly:

BOBBI

Turn the fuckin' camera on! DO IT!!

CAMERAMAN

Maybe it's true... probably is true. That's why they got a news blackout!

BOBBI

I'll rip your miserable eyeballs out! NEWS IS OUR FUCKIN' JOB!!

He sighs and turns the CAMERA on.

INT. BACHELOR APARTMENT – INCLUDE ANGLE ON TV – DAY

The Han family listens to Bobbi, amazed, horrified...

BOBBI

(on TV)

... A warning was radioed to U.S. Intelligence that a biological weapon, allegedly containing the deadly Pneumonic Plague, is approaching Los Angeles. While unconfirmed, the President and other leaders are all late in arriving...

INT. NORTH KOREAN CONSULATE – SURVEILLANCE ROOM – DAY

The TV's are off – so they see none of Bobbi's report.

Carson crosses to Dave. He's at his computer, looking at a long column of telephone numbers.

DAVE

Finally got the call list from Javal's phone. Most aren't his; they're from the legit user who didn't know his number was cloned.

CARSON

Go to the bottom of the list, work back through the last 12 hours.

Dave jumps to the bottom, points at a number.

DAVE

Here's the call to the Consulate – 965-5000.

(while scrolling)

The rest are dupes... all from the other guy...

CARSON

Wait... go back... the one at seven this morning...

Dave highlights a number: "213-965-5666"
 

WIDER

Carson glances over at the telephone on Colonel Lee's desk.

FLASHBACK – CLOSE ON PHONE

From when Carson took a call there, pushing the mute button.

FLASHBACK – EXTREME CLOSE UP

On the label showing the phone's extension number: "x666."

BACK TO SCENE

Across the room, Colonel Lee is watching Carson intently.

Carson turns to look at him. They make eye contact.

Time stands still.

Realization.

Feeling like he's moving in SLOW MOTION, Carson reaches for the Sig 9mm in his shoulder holster.

Colonel Lee grabs the AMD-74 machine gun on the desk.

CARSON

Get down!

Colonel Lee STRAFES the room and backs toward the door.

The BULLETS trace a line across the room. One of the North Korean Espionage Agents is HIT. He slams against the console.

Carson tackles Ambassador Han and shoves him onto the floor, while popping off several ROUNDS in Colonel Lee's direction.

Robbins also dives for cover, pushing Walther down first. Robbins takes a BULLET in the shoulder.

Miranda is HIT. The impact tumbles her over the desk.

CARSON
(continuing)

MIRANDA!

Colonel Lee, still FIRING, slips out the door.

Gunsmoke hangs in the air as Carson scrambles to Miranda. Several PHONES have begun ringing. No one notices them.

Dave never moved – he sits hunched over, clutching his notebook computer, muttering the HAIL MARY.

Carson rolls Miranda over. She's got a large, scorched bullet hole in the front of her blouse. Carson tears her blouse open. She's wearing a kelvar vest under it, and the slug is mushroomed against the vest.

She awakens, GASPS and starts swinging her fists at him. Carson is overwhelmed with relief.

Then he notices Robbins, bleeding profusely, propped against the wall next to Walther. Walther is dead – shot in the head.

OFF SCREEN, we hear several SPURTS of machine gun fire, and a car ENGINE roaring to life. Miranda looks at Carson...

MIRANDA
Go...!

EXT. WILSHIRE BLVD – DAY

The city's reaction to Bobbi's announcement is immediate and severe. It makes the panic during the '92 riots look like a drive in the country.

EXT. NORTH KOREAN CONSULATE – DAY

Carson bursts through the door just as the second armored Mercedes CRASHES through the wrought-iron entry gates. Carson fires several SHOTS, which ping harmlessly off the Mercedes.

Carson sprints for a car. Miranda's Volvo is the closest one.

INT. CARSON'S VOLVO – DAY

As Carson is starting it, the passenger door opens and Ambassador Han gets in.

CARSON

Get the fuck out of here!

Ambassador Han responds by putting on his seat belt. Carson sighs and tears out of the driveway.

EXT. FREMONT PLACE – DAY

Colonel Lee crashes through the Fremont Place guard gate, then hangs a right on Wilshire. He drives the center turn lane, zooming past the snarl of cars.

EXT. NORTH KOREAN CONSULATE – DAY

In the back of the Consulate, Miranda, sore as hell, climbs into the government copter. It WHINES to life and TAKES OFF.

INT. CARSON'S VOLVO – (MOVING SHOT) – DAY

Carson looks around at the chaos around them.

CARSON

Shit, it's like a Godzilla movie out here!

Then he HEARS, on a nearby car's FM RADIO:

FM NEWSCASTER (V.O.)

(thru car radio)

... These words, which have terrified the city:

RECORDING OF BOBBI (V.O.)

(thru car radio)

... A biological weapon, allegedly containing the deadly Pneumonic Plague, is approaching Los Angeles...

Stunned, Carson looks over at Ambassador Han, who buries his face in his hands.

CARSON

(into radio)

Miranda...!

MIRANDA (V.O.)

(thru radio)

I heard. I'm in the copter.

CARSON

(into radio)

I want you to get out of here...

INT. GOVERNMENT HELICOPTER – (AERIAL SHOT) – DAY

Miranda is flying just behind Carson's Volvo. The TRAFFIC is beyond nightmarish. She smiles at his concern for her.

MIRANDA
(into radio)

Shut up and keep your eyes on the road. That's my goddamn car.

(beat; into radio)

Dave? You staying on top of the research?

INT. NORTH KOREAN CONSULATE – SURVEILLANCE ROOM – DAY

Sweating, Dave is watching the ACTION outside on a TV while hurriedly bandaging Robbins' shoulder with some torn cloth. He grabs for the two-way and we realize he's panicking.

DAVE
(into radio)

I can't... My kids...

MIRANDA (V.O.)

(thru radio; calmly)

Listen: the best way to help them is to stay at your computer. If any information comes in, holler. Okay?

He squeezes his eyes shut... After a long beat:

DAVE

(into radio)

Okay...

EXT. SKY OVER LOS ANGELES – (AERIAL SHOT) – DAY

Several large military helicopters approach – troop contingents from Pendleton and Ft. Irwin.

The big CH-54 dual-rotor copters set down and offload MARINES and ARMY INFANTRY.

Others, like Apache Gunship combat copters and Hueys, begin to follow the pursuit. They join the police and TV copters, and it looks like the Ride of the Valkyries.

EXT. STREETS OF LOS ANGELES – VARIOUS ANGLES – DAY

People flee from the festivities in droves. Seeing the helicopters and TROOPS in bio suits only fuels the hysteria.

We hear news REPORTS coming from car radios, boom boxes, TV's. Reporters chatter urgently in English, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Farsi, their voices mixing with the shouts of pedestrians, the rumbling and horn-blowing of the traffic...

Everyone, everywhere is getting into their cars in a mad dash to get out of town or rendezvous with loved ones.

This is the mother of all rush hours.

EXT. WESTERN AVENUE – DAY

Colonel Lee's car turns right onto Western Avenue. He's in the heart of Koreatown – hardly any of the signs are in English.

He swerves through the panicked drivers jamming the roads – in the center lane, or into the oncoming traffic. The cars he HITS crumple against the Mercedes without slowing it down.