Characters:
Max
Logan
Hobo
Storyline:
Max and Logan are in Logan's office looking up more information on Zack.
Max: Listen, I'm bored. Are you almost done? (Stretches in her computer chair)
Logan: I found something… (Peers through his glasses at the screen)
Max: (sits up quickly at looks at the screen too) Uhm. What do all those numbers mean?
(Logan and Max glance at each other for one second)
Logan: That's a document saved on a police computer. Sometimes they come up like this, all numbers and symbols. (Prints the sheets of numbers and puts them in his handy dandy wheelchair bag)
Max: (gets up and gets behind his wheelchair) Where are we going with that?
Logan: Not yet, I need to shut down my computer. (Turns back to the screen and types various codes)
(Max walks over to the wall and leans against it tiredly)
Logan: Almost done…
(Logan finishes shutting and securing the computer, while Max walks behind his wheelchair and spins it around)
Max: Got your coat on? You don't want to catch a cold. (Smirks)
Logan: (smiles) Yeah, I'm all right.
(Max and Logan walk out of Logan's apartment and go out onto the street, which is wet from heavy rains)
Logan: We're meeting a man in the subway. He memorized all of this code. Number by number, symbol by symbol.
(Max rolls her eyes)
Max: All the people with no lives always seem useful.
Logan: You're pretty useful. (Logan laughs and stops the chair)
Max: You too.
Logan: Stop here, we need to go down these steps.
(Max laughs then sees that he's serious and frowns)
Max: Nuh-uh. It's wet and steep and you're in a chair. No way.
Logan: Fine. I'll do it myself. (gulps as he looks down the steep dark stairs)
(Logan starts to wheel himself down the stairs, but Max grabs his chair just in time)
Max: No you won't. (starts walking down the stairs slowly in back of the wheelchair).
Max: What if someone hears us? (is nervous about the bang of the wheels on the cement stairs)
Logan: Well, you can run.
(Max jumps over the wheelchair and lands in front of it.)
Max: Look, just because I'm faster than you, I can walk, and I'm smarter, doesn't mean that I'm going to ditch my friends when they need help, alright?
(Logan smiles and nods)
Max: Good.
(They continue down the stairs until they come to the bottom. Max lets go.)
Logan: Max! This is on a slant! (rolls away)
Max: Damn! (runs after him)
Logan: My brakes are wet! Hurry! (hits a big crack and goes flying) MAX!
(Max runs faster, leaps over the chair and tries to catch Logan, but misses)
(Max hears a loud "oomph!" and walks over to where she heard the noise)
Max: Logan? Are you all right? (has tears in her eyes)
Logan: Yeah, I'm fine, but I landed on this poor hobo. (chuckles and gets off the hobo)
Max: See? Even when you don't mean to, you treat poor people like dirt. (holds back a laugh and wipes her eyes off in the darkness, happy that nobody can see)
(Max picks Logan up and carries him back to his chair. Logan puts on the emergency breaks.)
Logan: I'm fine. Now all we need to do is to find that code reading guy…
Hobo: I am the decoder. Lemme see your document.
(Logan hands over the paper hesitantly)
Hobo: All right, come with me. (walks into a dark passageway)
(Max pushes Logan after the Hobo)
Hobo: I just need to feed this in, I'll print out the real document, and you'll be set. (get everything set up)
(Max and Logan look around in amazement at all the computers and monitors and laptops scattered across the room)
Max: You must be a very good thief.
Hobo: Wha? No, I bought all theses off the black market. (prints out a five page document and hands it to Logan) Here you go, buddy. That'll be two hundred dollars.
Logan: I refuse to pay that! I could do this myself at home if I really wanted to! I could-
(Max slaps him on the back of the head and hands the hobo $200)
Logan: Ow!
Max: Thank you. (to the hobo)
(Max and Logan go back up to where the stairs are. The dim streetlights shine through the hole)
Max: Getting back up is the hard part…
(Logan leans back so the wheelchair is only on its back wheels)
Logan: That should help somewhat.
(Max nods and lifts the whole wheelchair with Logan in it a few inches above the stairs and begins walking up)
Max: I don't think I can do this much longer; these stairs are moldy.
(Logan leans back forward suddenly and Max loses her grip. The chair falls onto her and they tumble back down the stairs.)
Logan: Well, that wasn't so bad. We only fell ten steps. It's better than all 23.
(Max is silent)
Logan: Hello? Max?
(Logan hears footsteps behind him)
Hobo: Uh, you forgot one paper; the printer was jammed. (gasps) You killed that girl! How could you?
Logan: SHE'S DEAD? (tries to turn around in his chair)
Hobo: Well, she sure looks like it, and she's bleeding.
Logan: A LITTLE HELP HERE, THEN?
Hobo: Oh, ok. (lifts the chair off of Max and drags her out from under it. Logan thinks fast enough to put on the emergency brakes on he doesn't roll away again.)
Logan: Is she okay?
Hobo: Yeah, she's alive.
(Logan breathes out after holding his breath for so long)
Logan: Good, now how do we get home? I don't want her pushing my wheelchair when she's unconscious.
Hobo: I'll push you guys both home in the chair and you'll pay me twenty-five bucks.
(Logan is about to argue but then remembers there is no other way home)
Logan: Fine.
(The hobo puts Max in the chair and gets behind it. He walks backwards up the stairs and gets to the top.)
Logan: I can take it from here. Thanks.
Hobo: You're lucky I'm an honest man. I can only charge you 10 dollars for that.
(Logan takes 10 dollars from his wallet and hands it to the hobo)
Logan: Have fun. (wheels himself to his apartment and goes up the ramp, into the elevator, and up to his apartment door) Damn! I can't get the keys! (they are in his back pocket)
Max: What happened to you? (sees her blood on Logan's shirt and thinks it's his)
Logan: Nothing. It's you who got hurt. Can you stand?
Max: Of course! (tries to stand up and then falls on her butt) Or not.
Logan: (laughs) Good, now I can get my keys. Reaches into his pocket and pulls them out. He unlocks the door and wheels himself in. Max drags herself in after him)
Max: I wonder where all the blood came from… (lifts her shirt) I think I broke my side! I remember your handlebar jamming into it, but that's all.
Logan: I know I shouldn't have leaned forwards. Sorry. (goes over to his desk and takes out the document)
Max: (groans and gets up onto her knees) This shirt was expensive! I can't believe it's ruined.
Logan: (mutters) As if you bought it…
(Max throws her jacket at Logan's head)
Logan: (laughs) Well, we certainly learned a lesson.
Max: Yeah! Don't ever listen to Logan!
Logan: No, if everyone did that, I would be wasting expensive equipment on my show. The lesson is that we should never go on stairs in the dark, when it's wet, with a wheelchair.
Max: Very good. (crawls over to where Logan is)
(Max and Logan read the document together)
