Chereads / Death's Bargain / Chapter 11 - Act 2: Part 5

Chapter 11 - Act 2: Part 5

FRANKLIN

What are you doing here?

Sumi walks up to the angel and kicks him in the shins. The

angel yelps in pain and hops around, clutching his leg.

SUMI

Come on. We need you right now.

Sumi walks over to Franklin and grabs his hand, pulling him

away from his dream.

FRANKLIN

Wait. Just let me say goodbye

first.

Franklin reaches out to Colette but Sumi tugs on his hand

harder.

SUMI

We have to leave now.

Colette smiles at Franklin and waves.

COLETTE

It's okay, they need you more than

I do.

CUT TO:

INT. CHURCH - DAY

Franklin is shaken awake by Sumi. He groans and stretches

before sliding open the box window to check on Bach. He's

missing.

FRANKLIN

Why'd you wake me up?

Sumi's face is stained with tears.

BACH

We missed out on quite an event

last night.

Franklin hears Bach's voice outside of the box. He opens the

door and steps out of the confession box into ashes beneath

his feet.

He looks around and notices that half the building is burnt.

Bach is standing by the organ that is badly damaged.

52.

FRANKLIN

Where's Goh?

Sumi shakes her head.

FRANKLIN (CONT'D)

Do you think he started this and

left us?

SUMI

No. They took him.

Franklin studies the area closer and notices bullet casings

on the ground.

FRANKLIN

How did we sleep through all of

this? Why didn't we burn with the

rest of this building?

BACH

We were both intoxicated. It

started raining half way through

the fire. God was watching over us.

FRANKLIN

Yeah well, not so much over Goh.

Sumi begins to cry again.

BACH

Oh... she must have witnessed the

event. She couldn't have slept

through it like we did.

Franklin approaches her and kneels down to comfort her.

FRANKLIN

Hey listen. We'll get find him; but

you need to tell us what happened.

SUMI

(between tears)

They came... they were shouting

once they found him. They kept

asking for you... I was too scared

to peak out of the box, I just

listened. After a while they

started the fire and left.

Franklin nods and looks around the environment again to study

any signs of clues.

53.

FRANKLIN

Well we didn't find him here. That

means he's still alive. They must

have taken him captive to try and

figure out where I am.

BACH

I don't understand. Didn't he

poison them all?

FRANKLIN

I'm sure there were still several

survivors. If this poison was

potent, the first batch of soldiers

that showed symptoms would have

scared off the rest from drinking.

We need to leave before they come

back.

CUT TO:

EXT. FOREST NEAR CHURCH - DAY

Bach, Sumi, and Franklin are hiding in a bush a distance away

from the burnt church. A dozen Soldiers now march around it,

surveying the area.

Sumi notices Goh among them, tied up and being dragged

around. Franklin has to calm her down to remain hidden in the

bushes.

FRANKLIN

Shhhh hey, hey! Listen... I have a

plan. We'll get Goh back but I need

you guys to stay quite and remain

hidden here.

Sumi takes a deep breath and nods. She holds up her pinkie

finger. Franklin wraps his pinkie around hers, sealing the

promise.

BACH

What will you do? We have no

weapons and they outnumber us.

FRANKLIN

Pray for a miracle.

Franklin turns to leave but looks back just as he is about to

exit the bush.

54.

FRANKLIN (CONT'D)

Oh, I hope you don't mind but...

I'll be borrowing your weed and

whiskey. I wouldn't expect to get

them back... It'll be for a good

cause though.

Bach mutters a prayer under his breath, not for Franklin's

success, but for his precious drugs.

Franklin slowly makes his way to the church. Scurrying from

bush to bush, until he is only several meters away.

Soldiers walk around the bush he is hiding in. They aim their

riffles at the woods as they survey the area.

COMMANDER

Where is he?! Find him!

SOLDIER

Sir, there's a trail leading into

the woods.

COMMANDER

Ah you useless bag of tomato cans

can't even tell that that is a

false trail. I know Franklin.

He has been trained to hide himself

well. That trail will only lead you

wandering in the forest for hours

before you find his real location.

The commander lights a cigar and deliberately puffs the smoke

into the face of the soldier.

SOLDIER

(coughing)

Sir, we'll keep looking. They can't

be far.

The commander shakes his head in disapproval.

COMMANDER

Has the captive given any

information yet?

SOLDIER

No sir. He seems to be a veteran. A

tough one to fold under our

methods. I'm not sure he will be of

much use to us.

55.

The commander flicks his cigar into the dirt and stomps on

it, twisting his heel to burry it deeper and extinguish it.

COMMANDER

Oh he will be. Bring him to me. Let

me have a go at him.

Franklin nervously shifts in the bushes as he hears this and

glances at one of the crates of supplies. A pair of soldiers

are designated to guard them. A brief case with a red marking

of a "classified" stamp on it is atop one of the crates.

Food, weapons and other goods are shown within the rest.

Franklin slowly sneaks his way near the crates and hides

himself inside one of them by carefully taking out a few of

its contents.

SOLDIER

Here he is sir. He's in rough

shape. We've already beat him

pretty badly.

Goh is dropped at the feet of the commander. His face is

swollen and bruised. His hands and feet are tied. But Goh

still manages to keep his composure and glares up at the

commander.

The commander grins and squats down to Goh's level. He

reaches to slap Goh's bruised cheek but Goh ducks it and

spits in the commanders face.

Franklin watches all of this from a slit in his crate. He

fidgets something out of his pocket. He holds a match and a

bottle of whiskey in his hands.

He pulls out his wife's picture in his breast pocket, rolls

it up, and tucks it into the bottle top.

COMMANDER

Bring me a shot gun.

The soldier obeys. The commander steps back, cocks the gun

and aims it at Goh's head.

COMMANDER (CONT'D)

Where are they?!

Goh laughs but gets interrupted by a blast to his left leg.

It blows apart in chunks, leaving it completely mangled and

detached from the knee down.

COMMANDER (CONT'D)

Tourniquet his leg.