ALL AGAINST ALL
By
William Haskins
EXT. CITY STREET - DAY
SUPER: JULY 4, 2018
A crowd of protesters face down a line of police in riot
gear. Caught in the crush of bodies are DAVID JENKINS and
JAKE MILLER -- both in their 20s. Jake has a bandana covering
the lower half of his face.
PROTESTER 1
End the police state now!
PROTESTER 2
Hang the traitor fucks!
The crowd roars. Jake hurls a rock, which bounces off a
police shield. The crowd surges forward.
COP (O.C.)
Fire!
The CRACK of rifles and the spreading fog of tear gas. Anger
turns to panic. The protesters scatter.
David grabs Jake by his sleeve and drags him down the street
and into an alley. A handful of others sprint past them,
including a frightened YOUNG WOMAN.
A COP runs past the mouth of the alley, then takes a step
back, levels his rifle. POW!
The young woman shrieks and falls, clutching her leg, a nasty
red welt already rising from the impact of a rubber bullet.
Jake stops and kneels beside her. David runs a few more feet
then spins around.
DAVID
Jake!
Jake ignores him.
JAKE
(to young woman)
You okay?
The girl whimpers. The cop runs toward them.
DAVID
We gotta get outta here.
JAKE
She's hurt.
DAVID
Leave her! We gotta go!
JAKE
Then go!
He tries to help the girl up just as a truncheon smashes into
the back of his neck. He goes down face first and rolls over
just in time to see the cop pepper spraying the young woman.
She wails.
David shrinks into a recessed doorway as three other cops
enter the alley.
The cop swings the truncheon at Jake's head. He grabs it and
twists, wrestling the club away as he kicks the cop's legs
out from under him. The cop lands on his back and Jake
straddles him, prying up his mask.
Staggering, the young woman grabs the pepper spray cannister
and douses the cop's eyes at close range.
YOUNG WOMAN
How do you like it, motherfucker!
The cop cries out in agony. The other cops close in and beat
Jake and the young woman without mercy.
David peers from the doorway, breathing rapidly, eyes wild.
He bangs the back of his head against the door three times in
frustration.
INT. ARMORED BUS - DAY
SUPER: TWO YEARS LATER
David stares blankly through a window covered with a thick
steel mesh. Past street corners guarded by armed soldiers.
Past boarded-up buildings. Past violence.
Thirty other men and women are crowded onto the bus.
A FOREMAN (50s) stands at the front of the bus and reads from
a sheet of paper.
FOREMAN
By executive order, shifts for all
federally-licensed workers are
extended to 13 hours. Effective
immediately.
David turns his eyes slowly to the foreman.
FOREMAN
For the additional hour, workers
are to be compensated with a five
dollar food voucher.
A chunk of brick slams against the bus windshield, bouncing
off the mesh. The bus swerves and the foreman steadies
himself by grabbing the back of the driver's seat.
He rolls up the sheet of paper as the bus approaches a steel
gate, guarded by 4 armed men. Rocks continue to pelt the side
of the bus. The foreman speaks over the din.
FOREMAN
Be advised. You have one month to
increase productivity fifteen
percent. If you fail, your crew
will be replaced.
Just outside the gate, a crowd of desperate men lunge at the
bus, banging on the windows.
FOREMAN
And you can join them.
EXT. FACTORY ENTRANCE - CONTINUOUS
The gates open and the bus enters. The throng outside tries
to rush through the gates, only to be beaten back by the
guards.
EXT. FACTORY PARKING LOT - MOMENTS LATER
The workers file quietly off the bus. David emerges and comes
face to face with a hulking MAN, his face twisted into a
menacing grimace.
MAN
I'll tell you like I told everybody
else. You fuck up and cost me my
job, you're a dead man.
David weighs the statement then files into the factory. Above
the door, a sign: SOUTHWEST HOMELAND MUNITIONS.
INT. SUPERMARKET - NIGHT
David pushes a squeaky shopping cart down an aisle. The
floors are dirty and the fluorescent light is milky and dim.
An armed guard follows him with his eyes.
The shelves are nearly empty. He stops and picks up a can,
examines the label, and drops it in the cart. He grabs five
more and drops them in one by one.
CHECKOUT LINE - MOMENTS LATER
A vacant-eyed CASHIER scans the labels on David's can
collection.
He fishes two crumpled bills from his pocket: "U.S. FOOD
VOUCHER" and the number "5" printed on them.
A WOMAN (50s), wrestling with several bags of rice and beans,
steps into line behind him. After a moment, she leans forward
and looks at his face.
She gasps and lays a withered hand on his shoulder.
WOMAN
David?
David turns around.
DAVID
Mrs. Miller.
He takes the bags from her and places them on the conveyer.
She hugs him tightly; desperately. David stands frozen,
shoots an uneasy glance at the guard, then slowly wraps his
arms around her.
MRS. MILLER
My God.
When they separate, her eyes are filled with tears.
MRS. MILLER
Jake's home, David. He doesn't want
me to tell anyone, but I-
DAVID
How long?
She wipes her eyes and tries to compose herself.
MRS. MILLER
Two weeks.
The cashier clears her throat.
CASHIER
Eight-eighty.
David hands her two five dollar vouchers and a small machine
spits a one dollar voucher from a slot. Two dimes slide into
a tray below it.
Mrs. Miller watches as he removes his change. David starts to
slide the paper and coins into his pocket when he notices her
intent stare.
He gently places the bill and two dimes into her hand.
MRS. MILLER
Maybe you could come visit him.
DAVID
I don't think-
MRS. MILLER
Please, David.
Her eyes dart toward the guard.
MRS. MILLER
(almost whispering)
He sneaks out at night. I don't
know where he goes. You could talk
to him.
David bags his cans and forces a weak smile as he turns to
leave.
WOMAN
He needs friends right now.
David looks at the guard and back at Mrs. Miller, a silent
apology, then exits the store.
EXT. RUNDOWN NEIGHBORHOOD - NIGHT
Spotlights from patrol choppers sweep across the cramped, ill
tended lawns of neglected wood-frame houses.
INT. DAVID'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
David sits alone in the kitchen, eating a bowl of stew,
oblivious to the chaos outside.
He hears a CRASH and freezes with his spoon at his lips. A
flash of light sweeps past the window. A human shadow flashes
past. Another crash.
David rushes across the room and grabs a baseball bat leaned
against the refrigerator. He swings open the door and steps
out onto the back porch, brandishing the bat.
He walks to the corner of the house and sees a FRIGHTENED MAN
crouching in thicket of bushes, bleeding from his neck.
FRIGHTENED MAN
You gotta help me.
Loud voices from behind the fence. Flashlight beams cut
across the yard. David turns to the man.
DAVID
Stay there.
David walks back to the porch just as four SOLDIERS pour over
the fence and level their rifles at him.
SOLDIER
Drop the bat! Drop the bat or I'll
shoot you in the head.
David drops the bat and lifts his hands.
SOLDIER
Are you the resident?
David nods.
SOLDIER
Has anyone come through here?
The man in the bushes swallows hard and crouches lower. David
points to the back yard next door.
DAVID
Over the fence.
The soldiers look around the yard.
SOLDIER
Go back in the house and stay
there.
David watches as the soldiers cross climb the side fence.
His face is slick with sweat and his hands, still in the air,
shake visibly. He lowers them and walks back to the corner of
the house. He peers into the bushes. The man is gone.
In his place lies a crumpled newspaper, streaked with blood.
David picks it up.
On it, in large print: NEW AMERICAN VOICE. Below, a heroic
image of a freedom fighter and the passage: RESISTANCE TO
TYRANTS IS OBEDIENCE TO GOD. -THOMAS JEFFERSON
David looks up and watches the soldiers disappear into the
night.