"THE INFIDEL" by Robert Carl Johnson Robert Carl Johnson FADE IN: MONTAGE - NIGHT -- A small light flickers and grows brighter -- a candle reflecting on a small American Flag held by a girl -- surrounded by people holding candles and Flags at -- a PARK memorial. Multitudes of flowers and stuffed animals lay under a huge sign: "GOD BLESS TERRORIST'S VICTIMS." DAY -- A distant Muezzin's prayer chant echoes off MIDDLE EAST CITY ROOF TOPS and merges with -- - a mobs' angry shouts and rifle fire in a HUGE SQUARE. ABDUL RASHAB, holds an effigy on a stick shrouded with an American Flag. A noose secures a sign: PRESIDENT PHILLIPS. TARA RASHAB (30), looks Latin, AFTAR, IMA, MENUE and GHAR, hold automatic rifles. This terrorist cell's "jihad" makes "JAWS" look like "FLIPPER." TARA Thousands more infidels could have died if others had not failed their missions. ABDUL (Mid-East accent) Take pleasure in their deaths and the destruction inflicted, my sister. Pray and Allah will provide us greater accomplishments. Tara lights the effigy. Flames consume the Flag. Abdul and Tara laugh. AFTAR, IMA, MENUE and GHAR shoot rifles skyward. AFTAR - IMA - MENUE - GHAR (shout simultaneously) Death to all infidels! -- Muted pistol shots. Uniformed and plain-clothes officers come and go at the LAPD ACADEMY's STONE ENTRANCE. - The American Flag flies at one end of the ATHLETIC FIELD. DAVE TOWER (45) jogs on the TRACK and leads his "squad:" MIKE, CAL, BOB, African American, TONY, SANTANA, Latin, VIC, TOM, ED, SAM and BRAD. They have athletic builds and wear blue shorts and white tee-shirts: "LAPD SWAT" printed on the front. -- Tower and BRIAN (7) fish the OCEAN from an 18 foot bass boat. A sheath combat knife's strapped to Tower's left calf. Brian excitedly reels in a fish and wears leg braces. -- Tower hugs Brian and exchange waves as a flight attendant wheelchairs Brian to an AIRPORT DEPARTURE door. -- Abdul, Tara, Aftar, Ima, Menue and Ghar fire rocket launchers from a DESERT MOUNTAIN. Rockets and automatic rifles are next to them. They wear desert camouflage. - Rocket's fall on a DESERT U.S. AIR BASE. Death. Chaos. Destruction. -- Ropes drop from both sides of a LAPD JET HELICOPTER. A sergeant, sheath knife on left calf, and ten men repel onto a BUSINESS DISTRICT STREET. They wear dark blue jumpsuits, LAPD SWAT printed on back, full combat gear, goggles, Kevlar helmets and .45 automatics in holsters. The sergeant and eight men carry MP-10 machine guns. Two men carry scope sniper rifles. The sergeant gives hand signals. The squad spreads out, advance to and surround a TWO-STORY BUILDING. The front door's kicked open. The sergeant rolls in a concussion grenade. Grenades smash through glass windows and explode. The sergeant and four men rush inside, others leap through the windows. - Inside the MOVIE SET, the sergeant removes his helmet and goggles. Tower looks grim. INT. TOWER'S KITCHEN - NIGHT Tower's at a table staring numbly at a half eaten piece of pizza, then at an apron on a hook. He enters the -- LIVING ROOM and turns on a cd player. Light symphonic music. Two photos are on the fireplace mantel: Photo one - Mira (45), photo two - Carl and Kate (24) and Brian (4), legs in braces. Tower takes Mira's photo, sits, smiles sadly, kisses the photo, clutches it to his heart and puts a .45 semi- automatic's barrel against his temple. TOWER (sob) Mira. Mira. EXT. NEW YORK SKYLINE - DAY SUPER: EIGHT MONTHS LATER Muted traffic noise -- siren. EXT. BRONX STREET / APARTMENT HOUSE - SAME An ambulance weaves through traffic - flashing lights / siren. Tara strolls among the throngs, carries a grocery sack, goes up an apartment house stoop and sneeks a glance around. INT. APARTMENT - SAME Abdul, Aftar, Menue, Ima and Ghar smoke cigarettes and watch a tv soap opera. A key rattles in a lock. The front doorknob turns. The men dive for cover and point Uzzis at Tara, entering with the grocery sack. ABDUL You forgot the signal knock! TARA Then kill me. Glory be to Allah. Everyone laughs. She sets the sack on the kitchen table next to plastic C-4 bombs with timers. EXT. STATUE OF LIBERTY - ANOTHER DAY Tourists enter. Groups of school children have adult supervision. Some wear school uniforms, escorted by nuns wearing habits. INT. STATUE OF LIBERTY - SAME A nun and a priest, faces not shown, approach an uniformed guard by a door with a sign: "NO ADMITTANCE." GUARD May I help you, sister? The nun glances over her shoulder. Tara smiles, turns to the guard. TARA Yes. I was wondering if -- A combat knife concealed in her habit sleeve plunges and twists upward into the guard's belly. The guard's open mouth holds a silent scream -- pain-filled eyes wide with fright. The guard slumps forward and Abdul holds him against the wall. Tara removes a key ring from his belt, opens the door, spreads the habit's cloak and blocks tourist's view. Abdul pulls the guard into a -- ROOM giving access to a staircase and various doors. Aftar, Ema, Menue and Ghar enter, dress like tourists. Tara removes bombs from bags hidden under her habit. INT. STATUE OF LIBERTY - SAME Abdul, Menue, Aftar, Ima and Ghar go to various locations and set bomb's timers. EXT. STATUE OF LIBERTY - LATER Tourist and school children fill the crowned head's viewpoint. Tara sits on a bench, removes a lunch sack from under the habit, reaches into the -- SACK and sets a bomb's timer to 30:00. The seconds click off - 29:59 - 29:58 - 29:57. TARA puts the sack under the bench. A GIRL (7) holds a lunch sack. GIRL Can I sit here, please? TARA Yes, my child. Stay as long as you want. The girl sits, eats a sandwich and swinging feet brush the sack under the bench. EXT. TOUR BOAT - LATER Menue, Ghar, Ima and Aftar mingle with tourists. Tara and Abdul take pictures of the city and the Statue of Liberty. EXT. STATUE OF LIBERTY CROWN - SAME A nun and two children eat sandwiches and sit on a bench. Tara's sack's behind their feet. SACK The bomb's timer clicks off the seconds: :9, :8, :7, :6. TARA (V.O.) Death to all infidels... EXT. TOUR BOAT - SAME Tara grins and looks at her watch. Abdul takes pictures of the Statue of Liberty. TARA ...Glory be to Allah. EXT. LIBERTY ISLAND - SAME The Statue of Liberty explodes and flings the crowned head -- the arm holding the torch -- the arm holding the Bible. The Statue's body implodes and crumples to the ground. CAMARA'S shudder clicks STOP / GO as debris photos plung into the water's murky depths -- onto the island -- panicked tourists -- stubbed arm and hand with the torch stick out of the water. EXT. TIMES SQUARE - LATER A man buys a newspaper from a vender. NEWSPAPER HEADLINE: "STATUE OF LIBERTY BOMBED - 468 PEOPLE KILLED - SCORES INJURED." EXT. ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI SKYLINE - NIGHT SUPER: "SIX MONTHS LATER." The steel arched monument near the Mississippi River. EXT. U.S. ARMY RESERVE'S COMPOUND - SAME Chain link fence sign: "U.S. ARMY RESERVE ARMORY." Six figures hide in shadows near a concrete block building's lit door. Five wear black clothes, the sixth, army fatigues. A man strides to the door, holding a key ring. He wears army fatigues. A hand covers his mouth -- a flash of light on a combat knife -- key ring falls to ground. INT. ARMORY BUILDING - SAME Abdul glances around, looks out the door, gives a hand signal, and wears army fatigues. Menue and Ghar drag the dead man into a hallway alcove, followed by Tara, Aftar and Ima. They carry Uzis and wear black clothes. They blend into shadows and follow Abdul down the hallway. He stops at a door sign: "WEAPON STORAGE," tries several keys and opens the door. WEAPON'S ROOM A man at a desk wears fatigues and looks confused at Abdul. Abdul grins, strides to the man and slits his throat with a combat knife. Tara, Ima, Aftar, Menue and Ghar rush inside. Abdul throws Tara the key ring. She opens a chain-link fence storage area door. On racks: shoulder rocket launchers, rockets, rifles and AMMUNITION boxes. INT. COMMERCIAL JET - FIRST CLASS - DAY A nun, face not shown, reads the newspaper headline: "TWO TERRORIST'S CELLS ATTACKED ON THE HOMEFRONT." She wears a habit. AMY (7) holds a coloring book and a crayon box. AMY Hi. I'm Amy. What's your name? TARA Nice to meet you Amy. I'm Sister Theresa. Are you flying alone? EXT. LAPD ACADEMY STONE ENTRANCE - SAME Uniformed and plain-clothes officers come and go. AMY (V.O.) Mom and Dad are over there. INT. ACADEMY CLASSROOM - SAME Tower's at a podium: dark blue jumpsuit, sergeant's badge and strips, name tag: "TOWER." Rows of cadet officers at tables wear light blue uniforms. TOWER This concludes your SWAT orientation. There are several important things I want devuldge... FLASHBACK ONE - DAY Two-lane U.S. Highway One. A SUV passes a sign: "CARMEL 20." A turnout's on the right. On the left, a two hundred foot cliff plunges to the angry sea. TOWER (V.O.) ...As police officers you have chosen service to mankind. AMY (V.O.) Do you like being a nun? Cd / radio symphonic music. Tower, numb expression, parks the SUV in the turnout. On the seat's a red rose bouquet in festive paper, tied with ribbon. TARA (V.O.) Yes, my child. INT. COMMERCIAL JET - FIRST CLASS - SAME Tara and Amy share smiles. AMY Why? Tara touches Amy's hand. TARA There are many reasons, but mostly because... FLASHBACK ONE - DAY Tower labors out of the SUV, bouquet in hand, -- TARA (V.O.) ...I live for God and do his work. goes to the cliff, gazes sadly out to sea, methodically slides a rose from the bouquet, throws it underhand and watches it fall on the rocks and angry surf. FLASHBACK TWO - DAY A terrified MIRA (45) looks looks up and silently screams "Help!" TOWER (V.O.) You will face many unexpected challenges which you must confront without hesitation. Her right arm reaches upward, fingers spread. A camera's thin strap appears, inches from her fingers. AMY (V.O.) What do you do? TARA (V.O.) I help people in need. BACK TO SCENE Tara watches Amy draw in the coloring book. AMY You're real nice. Maybe someday I can be a nun and help people. TOWER (V.O.) Failure to properly react will probably result... FLASHBACK ONE Tower methodically slides a rose from the bouquet, throws it underhand and watches it fall on the rocks and angry surf. TOWER ...in serious injury or death of the... A stone angel statue's by his feet. The angel holds a cross with the etched name: "MIRA." TOWER (V.O.) ...innocent, the guilty,... Tower goes to his knees, empty festive paper and ribbon clutched in his fist, rests his forehead on the cross and sobs. TOWER (V.O.) ...or yourself. To fulfill your oath you must succeed beyond your preconceived capabilities. I have one last thought that might help you survive... INT. ACADEMY CLASSROOM - SAME Tower's at a podium. Cadet officers fill the room. TOWER ... Always remember, the worst way to live is to fear life,... INT. COMMERICAL JET - FIRST CLASS - SAME Amy shows a smiling Tara a drawing of a nun and angel feeding stick people. Tara looks out the window. Her reflected smile turns sinister. TOWER (V.O.) ...and the worst way to die is to fear death.