Receptacle Infinity Part III


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INT. BELL - SAME

Eddy's underneath the control panel. He removes a plate, finds a button labeled 'circuit break' and pushes it.

Everything lights up again.

Olly takes a seat, the doorway now empty, the figure gone, and starts tapping the screen, but almost instantly...

THUNK

... everything blows, the lights in the corridor included.

Complete darkness.

EDDY

(exasperated)

What is going on?

Flashlight at hand, he slides back under the control panel, finding the button again.

THUNK

Nothing.

He presses it again.

Light...

FLASH

... the corridor...

... disgusting creature...

... figure of a shaved orangutan...

... no eyes in it's head...

... one huge eyeball for a torso...

... lights out.

Darkness.

Eddy continues to push the button...

THUNK

THUNK

THUNK

EDDY

Come on!

THUNK

THUNK

EDDY

Come on!

BAM

He drops the torch and punches the control panel...

BAM

... pressing the button again...

THUNK

FLASH

... the silhouette...

THUNK

FLASH

... the creature steps...

THUNK

FLASH

... closer...

THUNK

FLASH

... in the doorway...

THUNK

FLASH

... unmoving...

THUNK

FLASH

EDDY

Mother--

THUNK

THUNK

THUNK

EDDY

Fuck!

Frustrated, he stops and thinks a moment in the dark, all the while the sound of a slimy eyelid closing over an eyeball...

SQUELCH...

SQUELCH...

He hears it.

Eddy reaches for the torch, points it toward his feet, toward the door...

... nothing.

He keeps the light there though.

After a moment, his finger comes to the on/off switch...

CLICK

... darkness...

Eddy stays as calm as he can, controlling his breathing, the...

... inhale...

... exhale...

... inhale...

... exhale...

... silence.

He holds his breath, finger coming to the on/off switch...

CLICK

FLASH

... nothing.

Suppressing fear, he comes out from under the control panel, shining the light down the corridor, simply staring until he's comfortable enough to turn his back it.

Eddy picks up the screwdriver, turning to the top of control panel.

EDDY

(weak sigh)

This is not going to go well.

He holds the torch between his teeth, unscrewing parts of the control panel when...

THUNK

... he drops the torch, bouncing off the control panel...

FLASH

... the figure in the door way...

... he catches the torch before it falls...

... light on the figure...

... it's closing in...

... darkness.

The figure's lost in shadow as Eddy puts the torch back between his teeth, unscrewing the panel, however...

SQUELCH

... Eddy freezes.

He spins, the light screaming across the walls, flashing across the creature.

THUNK

Eddy yells, drops the torch, jumps backwards onto the panel, the torch circling on the floor, the creature closing in, but Eddy's trapped, pinned against the window.

The torch rolls under the control panel...

... darkness.

All that fills it is Eddy's shaken...

... inhale...

... exhale...

>FADE OUT

Three voices malevolently whisper:

VOICES

You want to go to sleep?

FADE IN:

THE SCREEN SPLITS INTO THREE

LEFT: Gary's POV: the figure atop the stairs, light shining through its body, slowly coming down...

THUNK...

THUNK...

THUNK...

MIDDLE: Olly's POV: a twisted green face slowly comes to the hole...

TING...

TING...

TING...

RIGHT: Eddy's POV: darkness.

SQUELCH...

SQUELCH...

SQUELCH...

Everything stops.

Silence...

They LUNGE...

LEFT: down the stairs.

BOOM

BOOM

BOOM

MIDDLE: the hole opens up, through it shoots the green creature.

BOOM

BOOM

BOOM

RIGHT: the creature charges, eye refusing to blink.

BOOM

BOOM

BOOM

LEFT: RIGHT: MIDDLE:

BAM

>CUT TO BLACK

Layered over one another, deep breathing...

Inhale...

Exhale...

Inhale...

Exhale...

... the...

Ting...

Ting...

Ting...

... and the slimy...

Squelch...

Squelch...

Squelch...

... but soon...

Silence...

FADE IN:

INT. BELL

Still in SPLIT SCREEN:

LEFT: Gary sleeping in bed.

MIDDLE: Olly drooling in silent slumber.

RIGHT: Eddy fidgeting, eyes closed tightly.

INT. GARY'S ROOM

He awakens, instantly in a state of melancholy, rubbing his eyes, looking at his bare wrist.

INT. OLLY'S ROOM

Olly open his eyes. He daren't move, dumbstruck, until hugging his pillow in disbelief.

INT. EDDY'S ROOM

He jolts awake in a cold sweat.

SPLIT SCREEN again:

Was it all a dream?

INT. CORRIDOR - LATER

Eddy is first to step out of his room, weary, searching all around with each timid step.

Gary comes out next, head hung, arms hanging low.

Their eyes meet, but they don't know what to say.

Eddy opens his mouth...

EDDY

I...

Olly bursts out of his door, terrified.

He looks to Gary then to Eddy.

Nothing...

Silence...

No one has anything to put forward.

Eddy's gaze wanders past Olly, through to the cockpit, to the black windows.

As if in a trance he walks to the cockpit, the opaque windscreen, and takes seat. Olly and Gary just watch.

INT. COCKPIT

Eddy runs his hand under the control panel to find the exposed button.

He presses it. The control panel comes to life.

Eddy taps the screen a few times, the window fades from opaque to translucent to transparent.

Bell's not in space.

A giant purple portal beams its light into the ship.

Bell is inside the other ship, in the cargo bay.

Olly and Gary enter.

Silence...

GARY

Get us out, now!

Eddy starts tapping his screen.

Out the window the particle crawlers begin to glow but...

THUNK

... everything blows.

The cockpit is lit by the dull luminescent glow of the portal.

Gary runs to the control panel and takes a seat, holding on to composure.

GARY

Again.

Eddy pushes the button. Nothing.

Gary tries the button....

THUNK

... nothing.

THUNK

THUNK

THUNK

GARY

How has the fu--how has this happened?

EDDY

I don't know, I was trying to fix it when--

Eddy is struck by an idea, he goes to the back wall and opens up a panel. Two grey boxes are stacked inside, he takes one.

He pushes past Olly and goes down the corridor. Olly follows.

INT. KITCHEN

Eddy opens a panel near the door and pulls out a small fuse from the wall.

Olly comes to the doorway.

Eddy replaces the fuse with the grey box with an extending wire.

Olly watches, holding back questions.

The lights turn on.

INT. COCKPIT

Gary scans his screen.

GARY

Take it out now!

Everything turns off again.

Eddy runs in.

EDDY

What the fuck?

GARY

(pointing at his screen)

There's point-zero-two-five percent power in the cell. Thirty seconds of function. Try--

EDDY

Fuck. Yeah, I'll try the other.

OLLY

Why does that work and not--

Eddy picks up the other cell and leaves the cockpit with a shrug.

GARY

I think it's an internal problem. An external source might...

(gives up)

... I don't know.

Olly takes a seat.

Silence.

OLLY

What happened to you?

Gary takes a moment, blankly staring at the floor.

GARY

I don't know. I fell and then had some kind of nightmare. Next thing I knew I was in bed and now here we are.

Olly shakes his head.

OLLY

What did you see?

GARY

I can't remember.

EDDY (O.S)

Nothing!

Olly and Gary share a concerned look before Eddy runs back in, panicked.

EDDY

How the fuck are we going to get out of here?

GARY

Just stay with us. Stay calm. The cells are rechargeable aren't they?

EDDY

There's no way to recharge them in here.

Olly stands, rubbing his face.

GARY

I was saying to Olly that it's probably an internal problem. Maybe if we can get--

OLLY

Hold on. I'm on the verge of a mental breakdown. I've got to come out and say it, I don't think we're alone. Out there, there was something after me.

They all stare at each other.

EDDY

There was something on the ship too. I don't know how to explain it, I thought it was a...

GARY

Nightmare?

Eddy doesn't disagree.

GARY

Nightmare or not we still have to get out.

OLLY

So we have to ignore the potential threat on this very ship? Eddy, what was it?

EDDY

I... it just felt like fear.

GARY

Fear was on the ship?

EDDY

No, it's like trying to remember a dream. I can't explain what I saw, I can only remember the feeling.

OLLY

Fuck off, look at you, you know what you saw.

Eddy shifts in his place, hands gesturing, no words.

EDDY

... it's gone.

Olly looks as Gary as if to say: 'can you believe this?'

Eddy takes a seat.

OLLY

How'd you know it's gone?

EDDY

What? This is a tiny ship. Where do you think it's hiding, the vents?

GARY

(to Olly)

What did you see?

OLLY

There was a tunnel, and a room, then it all closed down on me. My... my ear was bleeding.

He puts his hand to his ear and scratches at the dry blood.

Gary looks to Eddy concerned, but with doubt.

OLLY

Something was trying to break through the wall.

GARY

I don't know what's going on here, but maybe it's not what we think.

EDDY

Maybe there's fumes coming from the spaceship that act hallucinogenic. Hub gas?

OLLY

We're in the ship now! Listen to yourselves, it was real. There was something trying to get to me, there was a voice.

GARY

What did it say?

OLLY

A lot, I can't remember all of it.

Gary's about to dismiss him--

OLLY

But, in the end I remember it saying: 'you want to go to sleep?'

Silence...

EDDY

I heard that too.

OLLY

People can't share dreams.

GARY

Maybe that's what woke us all up.

OLLY

You must still be asleep. What are you wearing? Not a space suit. Are you telling me that we didn't go out--

GARY

All right.

Olly leaves the room.

Gary and Eddy look out at the portal in silence.

EDDY

(whispers)

What are you supposed to think?

GARY

(whispers)

I don't know.

Olly comes in and throws a helmet on the control panel.

THUNK

It's dented, cracked, splintered, squashed.

Gary can only sigh. Eddy gets up.

EDDY

Time to be pragmatic. What makes sense is that we get out.

Everyone shifts in their place, no one able to make eye contact.

EDDY

We can argue, maybe even kill each other over this, but after we are out. Agreed?

INT. BELL - LATER

Olly stands at the end of the corridor in his green space suit with a new helmet on and a grey box in hand.

The cord from his suit extends into the kitchen where Gary stands by the open panel, ready to plug the working grey box in.

Gary is also wearing a spacesuit, but not the helmet.

They speak quietly:

GARY

How you feeling?

Olly sighs.

GARY

I could go.

OLLY

No, no, no. You're too old, too slow, too fat.

GARY

Thanks.

EDDY (O.S)

How we doing?

GARY

Just a moment.

(to Olly)

No matter what, if you need the hatch open again, I'll get you in.

OLLY

Thanks.

GARY

Or... at least I'll try.

OLLY

That's more like it.

Half affectionately, they slap each others' shoulders.

EDDY (O.S)

How we doing?

Gary picks up Olly's cord as he positions himself by the hatch.

GARY

Ready.

OLLY

Ready.

EDDY (O.S)

Ok... in, three, two, one and go.

Gary plugs the box in.

INT. COCKPIT

Lights.

Eddy slams the emergency exit button.

INT. CORRIDOR

The hatch in the floor bursts open as do the two below:

CLUNK

CLUNK

CLUNK

Gary grips tight onto Olly's cord.

He jumps.

OLLY

Fuuuu!

The cord tautens.

Gary's almost dragged down with him but manages to stay on his feet.

Olly zips down the hatch and...

BAM

... lands hard on the floor below Bell.

OLLY

Go!

GARY

Now!

INT. COCKPIT

Eddy taps the screen.

INT. CORRIDOR

CLANK

CLANK

CLANK

All hatches snap shut.

Gary drops the cord.

He pulls the grey box.

Lights off.

Darkness.

INT. SHIP

Olly gets to his feet.

He detaches the cord from his belt, leaving it hanging from the ship.

Pulling the second cord from his belt, Olly looks over the couple dozen feet he has to walk to get to the portal.

He holds the end of the cord to Bell, about to attach himself...

OLLY

(sighs)

Pointless...

He crouches a little, hands held out to the side and scurries toward the portal, eyes closed, hoping, praying that nothing happens.

He opens one eye a crack, the portal, five feet away, four feet, three, two, one...

OLLY

Motherfuck...

Stood before the ominous purple swirl he presses the button on his helmet...

KSHHHH

... it fills with gas.

Olly's finger taps on his thigh:

1...

2...

3...

4...

INT. BELL

Eddy watches Olly through the windshield, a tiny figure belittle by the huge portal.

The dull luminescence from emergency lights lining the ship's interior now keeps the shadows around them from consuming.

INT. SHIP

Olly takes a breath and the gas in his suit is gone.

He throws the cord into the portal with a finger on the button, lets it hang for a moment then pulls:

THUNK

Line secure, heart in his mouth, Olly edges toward the portal.

He turns to Bell and signals an 'ok'.

He then takes a breath and...

OLLY

(sighs)

Shit.

... jumps.

INT. BELL

Gary and Eddy are sat watching the portal in silence.

A deep hoarse breath resonates throughout the cockpit.

Gary stands, eyes fixed on Eddy's, making sure he's not the only one who heard.

THUNK

Emergency lights off.

The corridor's plunged into near darkness, only partially lit by the subtle purple glow.

Another breath resonates all around.

Eddy stands, eyes searching around the room.

EDDY (O.S)

This fucking ship...

Gary walks through to...

INT. CORRIDOR

... fists balled at his side, feet treading slowly, eyes darting between doors.

INT. COCKPIT

Gary gets half way down the corridor before being consumed by the shroud.

His footsteps dissipate.

Silence...

EDDY

Hey?

No reply.

INT. CORRIDOR

EDDY (O.S)

Hey?

Gary spins around.

The cockpit is empty.

Another deep breath filters through the walls.

Gary takes a step toward the cockpit.

INT. COCKPIT

The corridor's still empty as Eddy stands in the doorway.

He starts forward...

INT. CORRIDOR

... tentatively pushing the doors, but none of them give. He tries the handles, all locked.

He continues down, reaching the living room door which is already open.

EXT. SPACE - SAME

Olly floats away from the portal.

He looks out into empty space, more trapped than ever.

With a tug of the cord he drifts toward the ship. As he floats he pushes the button on his helmet as to grip the underside of the spacecraft.

Olly starts pulling his way along it.

INT. COCKPIT - SAME

Gary's bewildered. Eddy has vanished.

GARY

Eddy?

He goes back out into:

INT. CORRIDOR

The living room door creaks open, Gary picks up his pace, approaching.

GARY

Ed?

He enters...

INT. LIVING ROOM

... nothing.

EXT. SPACE

Olly pulls himself towards the engines at the back of the ship.

As he gets closer a high pitched piercing sound fills his helmet, the sound vibrating from the ship into his suit.

From a pouch in the side of his suit he pulls the small grey box.

He reaches one of the many engines dotted around the circumference of the ship's back end, planting the box.

A red light flickers on as it begins to charge.

INT. KITCHEN

Eddy stands in the kitchen without a clue of what is going on.

He turns to leave--

A figure stands in the living room doorway.

--Eddy freezes.

EDDY

Is that you?

No reply.

The figure takes a step forward, the purple light better defining its build.

Instantly Eddy recognises it, the torso rounded, arms at its sides, limp and lifeless, head hung ominously.

The eye in the creature's chest blinks slowly...

SQUELCH

... the eyeball being moisturised with thick slime.

It takes another step into the light.

Eddy backs into the kitchen counter, petrified, reaching behind him, pulling the drawer open.

The creature's head snaps to attention.

Eddy freezes.

It analyses him, no features on this face apart from pursed lips and a flat nose.

Eddy stares back, keeping his gaze on the stretched, greasy flesh where the creature's eyes should be.

Silence...

With sudden jerky steps the creature aggressively approaches...

THUNK

THUNK

THUNK

... its movement unpredictable, jarring...

THUNK

THUNK

THUNK

Eddy panics, grabs a handful of cutlery from the drawer, eyes closed, mouth open, throws the whole load, and before they hit the ground he's back in the drawer...

C-C-C-C-CLANG

... after a bigger knife...

BANG

... a door's slammed shut.

Eddy brings out a carving knife, turning around to nothing but cutlery all over the floor.

EXT. SPACE

The light on the grey box flashes green.

Olly picks it up and starts pulling his cord to float back toward the portal at the other end of the ship.

INT. LIVING ROOM

Gary turns to leave the living room when...

C-C-C-C-CLANG

BANG

... the living room door is slammed shut.

Gary approaches.

GARY

(mumbling under his breath)

Fucking poltergeist shit... fucking ghosts... fucking... slam the door, of course, fucking... if it's Eddy I'm gonna wring his neck...

He edges closer, still...

GARY

... a fucking axe comes through the door next or an alien comes up through the hatch... I fucking dare...

He reaches the door, gripping the handle.

GARY

... still don't want to open the door though... shit...

He twists...

... further...

... further...

... click.

GARY

One... two... and...

He pulls.

Nothing.

Just knives and forks thrown all over the kitchen floor.

EXT. SPACE

Olly draws himself closer to the end of the ship then floats out and away from it, ready to pull the cord and go through the portal.

He takes a moment, a shaken...

... inhale...

... exhale...

... he pulls on the cord.

INT. SHIP

Olly falls through the portal...

BAM

... frozen, not daring to move...

... just listening to the silence...

Nothing.

He groans as he gets to his feet.

Pushing the button on his helmet he walks toward Bell, the cord coming through the swirl after him.

Hands out to the side, knees bent, shaken breath again...

... inhale...

... exhale...

... inhale...

... exhale...

... his footsteps resonate throughout the cavernous room...

THUNK

THUNK

THUNK

THUNK

... eyes closed, lips moving in silent prayer, he inches his way--

SNICK

--a flash of blue and he's gone.

The portal snaps shut.

INT. BELL

Gary walks backward down the corridor, away from the kitchen, just waiting for something to...

... but, nothing.

His hands then back reach the cockpit door. He turns and opens it.

Darkness.

KATHUNK

FLASH

The portal blares...

... gravity shifts...

... Gary's propelled toward the windshield.

INT. KITCHEN

Eddy puts the kitchen knife down on the counter, taking a moment to calm.

CREEEEEEEEEEEK

The fridge door opens off its own accord, darkness reaching out.

KATHUNK

FLASH

... the grimy light of the fridge reaches...

... gravity shifts...

... Eddy's propelled into the blinking darkness...

... disappearing...

... the knife slamming into the wall next to the fridge...

BAM

THE SCREEN SPLITS INTO THREE

LEFT: Gary's POV: The purple swirl, hurtling closer...

GARY

AAAAAAHH!!

... stretching away...

MIDDLE: Olly's POV: A blue skin, masking...

OLLY

AAAAAAHH!!

... stretching away...

RIGHT: Eddy's POV: Darkness, a distant white light...

EDDY

AAAAAAHH!!

... growing, coming closer...

LEFT: Gary's POV: From the distant cleft bursts through light, a molten ball of piercing white flames.

MIDDLE: Olly's POV: A sizzling ball spits, splutters, mere feet away.

RIGHT: Eddy's POV: The white light intensifies, gaining texture...

LEFT: MIDDLE: RIGHT: The lights grow, merging, consuming, blinding, brilliant...

WHITEWASH

FADE IN:

... the light softens, shrinking, transforming into a distant orb...

INT. GARY'S MIND

The star...

... millions of miles away in a vacuum of space.

Gary stares, lost.

INT. OLLY'S MIND

The star...

.... imbedded in a blue dome no more than 100 feet away, impossibly small, unthinkably weak.

Olly stares, mesmerised.

INT. EDDY'S MIND

The star...

... tiny, the size of a light bulb, spinning gently a few feet above.

Eddy stares, longing.

INT. GARY'S MIND

Gary looks down at his boots, shifting in the purple dust, grinding against the pale lilac rock below.

He stands alone on a sickly purple moon, no indications of a planet anywhere, just the sun, burning millions of miles away.

Gary breathes steady, no gloves, no helmet, peering toward the pulsating horizon...

... toward a miniscule figure of shadow approaching, a black speck against the blaring, florescent orange glow of the sun.

The figure grows quickly as Gary paces forward, the ground rotating underneath him like a treadmill, a blur of dust and rock, bringing him within 50 feet of the figure in a few steps.

Everything slows, stops.

The figure, feminine, lost in shadow, remains unmoving as Gary picks up his pace, trying to close the distance between them.

The figure raises her arms.

Gary stops.

The dust at his feet starts vibrating, jumping up at him, sizzling...

B-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

Hundreds of pillars explode upward, all dozens of feet thick, stretching towards space at phenomenal speed, the tops lost to darkness in no time...

KHSHHHHHHHHHHHHH

... they grind to a halt, Gary stood in a vast field of monstrous columns, himself and the figure alike reduced to specks.

Silence...

From above...

... movement...

... screeching...

... trampling...

... thousands of creatures stampeding down the columns.

Darkness falls with the army, descending, encasing the landscape, all features blackened apart from the indifferent star - its light kept to itself, unable to penetrate the surfaces, all of them washed in gloom.

FOOTSTEPS--

B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-BOOM

--hit the ground, thousands of them, merging into a thunderous, stampeding conglomerate, each and every one closing in on Gary...

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM

Surrounded by an army of silhouettes, all entrenched in gloom, the sun an image on the wall of space, Gary's frozen, utterly petrified.

Silence...

WOMAN (O.S)

Please!

GARY

Wha--

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM

The army parts, clearing a line between the silhouetted female figure and Gary.

She ushers.

He starts forward, his boots heavy...

THUNK

THUNK

THUNK

... the creatures around him snarling, hissing...

THUNK

THUNK

THUNK

... arms, fingers, claws...

THUNK

THUNK

... drenched in shadow, slicing at Gary...

THUNK

THUNK

... threatening to lacerate...

THUNK

THUNK

... he persists nonetheless, footsteps heavier, moving as fast as possible...

THUNK

THUNK

THUNK

The figure raises her arms...

KSHHHHHHHHHHHH

... a mound beneath her raising hundreds of feet into the air...

B-BOOOOM

... stopping when she's in the centre of the sun's weakening image.

Gary stops, staring up the immense hill, through the countless creatures, all amassed in an ocean of shadow, split apart, writhing, daring him to tread their path toward her.

DEEP BREATHER (V.O)

Why?

Gary's eyes scan the shadow...

... nothing, the figure nowhere to be found.

He starts up the hill.

THUNK

THUNK

THUNK

DEEP BREATHER (V.O)

Why? It's, just, a...

The ranks beside Gary close in, the rabble intensifying...

DEEP BREATHER (V.O)

... BANG...

Gary falls.

Creatures surge, closing in...

DEEP BREATHER (V.O)

... then your pathetic whimper. Not very original.

GARY

NO!

He scrambles to his feet, sprinting, the creatures drawing away, ranks still tight, closing behind him, stalking him up the hill.

DEEP BREATHER (V.O)

Why when it's all over? Why now? Why when she's gone?

Gary pushes on up the violent alleyway, fists, hands, fingers, bursting though the sable walls, eyes on the crescent of the hill.

A structure rises from it - an archway, the female figure stood central, the flat reflection of the sun bending around her figure.

She stands in wait.

INT. OLLY'S MIND

Olly stares up at the orb of light imbedded in the blue dome way above his head, transfixed.

He walks, hand gripping a tuft of brown hair.

He walks with a mouse the size of a horse. They circulate a concrete pit with hundreds of other mice, none as big as the creature Olly walks with.

Everything is stained blue, but resembles a zoo of sorts, the concrete pit an enclosure for a single silver back gorilla.

Olly walks beside his giant mouse, stupefied, not nearly aware of his surroundings.

FEMALE VOICE (O.S)

Look.

Olly comes to, unphased by the hundreds of giant mice around him, just trying to find the voice, trying to see past the colossal mouse at his side.

It turns toward the concrete pit, Olly going with it, still trying to find the woman on the other side.

In the pit the gorilla beats its chest, staring at its own reflection in the water, the small moat running around its enclosure, mice all around crowding to see.

FEMALE VOICE (O.S)

Can you see?

Olly lets go of the mouse's fur, wanting to walk around but--

SNAP

--it growls, turning to him.

Eddy grips its fur again, looking down into the pit to watch the gorilla.

FEMALE VOICE (O.S)

Can you see, Olly?

Olly presses against the barrier, leaning over, not trying to see into the enclosure, but across the mouse to the woman on the other side...

He sees her hands come to the rails.

He leans further, coming to his tiptoes, one foot coming off the ground...

BANG

... the mouse hits Olly back, onto the floor...

BLAM

OLLY

What the fuck!?

He kicks at the mouse, but it bares down on him, violently turning...

BAM

FEMALE VOICE (O.S)

AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!

SPLASH

Mice screech, panicking, the largest turning away from Olly, leaning over the rails, bellowing.

Olly scrambles to his feet, looking around, coming toward the rails, looking down...

... the gorilla looms over something.

It picks it up, holding it close to its chest.

The gorilla runs, gunning for the dark hole in the wall - its cage.

Olly's dumbstruck until he sees a hand fall flat - the woman's.

OLLY

NO!!

The gorilla disappears.

Olly mounts the fence--

BAM

--the mouse knocks him down again.

Undeterred, Olly runs, pushing through the crowd of fur, escaping, finding the fence again, hopping over onto the concrete ledge.

Mice back away.

The largest one bellows again, charging.

Olly jumps...

OLLY

AAAAAHHH!!

SPLASH

... he hits the water, instantly scrambling for the shore, pulling himself out, limping for the gorilla's cage.

The roar of the crowd above dies away, the blackened doorway stretching away from Olly as he clambers.

FIGURE (V.O)

I wouldn't.

OLLY

Mum!

He continues forward, ignoring all pain, the trail of blood behind him...

FIGURE (V.O)

I really wouldn't.

... the intense light above dimming.

INT. EDDY'S MIND

A light bulb swings, within, a tiny rotating star.

Eddy opens his eyes.

He scans the grimy walls around, all stained shades of red and brown, disgusting.

He's in a huge walk-in refrigerator, a cold room, on a metal slab, paralysed, naked.

All he can move is his head, blink, try to comprehend where he is.

Footsteps.

Hints of distant music.

KATHUNK

The metal door swings open.

The creature. Huge eyeball glaring. Stained apron around its waist. Headphones on. Meat cleaver in hand.

Eddy tries to make a sound.

Nothing. He just shakes his head, eyes screaming.

The creature waddles toward a metal gurney...

HEADPHONES

... can't forget this evening...

... wheeling it over to Eddy, slapping its greasy hands on his bare flesh, sliding him onto it.

Eddy can only keep his head turned away, eyes closed, lips pursed.

He's taken out of the cold room...

INT. EDDY'S MIND - CORRIDOR

... listening to the eyeball squelch, the wheels squeak, with the headphones underneath it all...

HEADPHONES

... can't forget tomorrow...

SQUELCH

HEADPHONES

... can't live...

THUNK

INT. EDDY'S MIND - ROOM

Eddy stares up at a new ceiling.

The greasy hands slap on metal and wipe...

KSHHHHH

THUNK

TH-TH-THUNK

... meat hitting the ground, Eddy squeezing his eyes shut, refusing to acknowledge his situation.

HEADPHONES

... can't give...

Eddy's slid onto a new table, the gurney wheeled away.

He opens his eyes, seeing blood, gristle, fat up his arms, on his back, on the table underneath him, on the floor, huge slabs of meat hung on hooks before a grimy window, a darkened street beyond.

HEADPHONES

... can't give anymore...

The creature grabs Eddy's ankles, sliding them away from one another, picking up his meat cleaver again, wiping it on his apron.

SQUELCH

The eye locks onto Eddy's pure terror.


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