The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is the property of its respective owners whomever they maybe but I am inclined to give the most credit to Tobe Hooper cause he did create it. This is a rewriting of Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III to fit in to a series I am working on. As well as exercise in the power of convenient continuity or an attempt to create some continuity.
"I thought there was a town around here?" Michele stares out in to the encroaching darkness, the moon not easing the task.
"That's what he told me. Will you just slow down?!" Ryan screeches trying to take hold of his senses.
The radio static keeps fluctuating. "I'm not stopping until we find somebody."
"Well we're going to find somebody." She keeps focusing on the road ahead. "Michele we're far away from that guy he's not going to get us."
Finally the noise gets to her. "Turn it off!" He turns it off as they drive over a pothole. "Oh shit!" She checks the mirror.
"Will you calm down it's just the tire tread!" "Will you stop yelling at me?!" "Look if you would just listen to me-!"
"Shh! Listen." Ryan turns back looking through the shattered window as the rumbling sound grows. "You hear that?"
"Yeah." He continues to swerve in his seat searching for the sound, "Where's it coming from?"
"I don't know." Suddenly, the lights of the truck blind him. "Oh my God!"
"It's coming from behind us!" The truck speeds up gaining on them.
"FUCK!" Michele tries to stay calm maintaining control of the wheel.
"He's gaining on us!" "Who is it?!" "I don't know!"
The truck slams in to the back before pulling along the passenger side. "Oh my God, what do they want from us?!" Ryan frantically asks." The truck begins to speed up, then the body of a coyote lands on the hood cracking the windshield. Michele slams the brakes in instinct trying to keep the vehicle from fishtailing. Finally the car skids to a halt. They both step out of the car. "We hit another one."
"No IT hit us. He threw it at us." She corrects him unnerved.
"Where the fuck are there?!" Ryan screams out in to the night.
Michele crouches near the car. "We blew a tire!"
"Why-why are they doing this to us?!" Ryan begins to panic.
"Ryan!" She tries to calm him down.
"This is not happening."
She clutches his shoulder turning him to face her, "This is happening! It's happening to us! Now we're going to change this tire and get out of here. Now!"
"Ok." Ryan starts to calm down but still panicky looks around once more. "Slow and easy. Because I'm about to fucking lose my mind!" He yells in to the dark. "Get out the jack please." He starts to snivel as she walks to the end of the car. "I'll take care of everything." He pulls the coyote from the hood.
About 10 miles ahead a van stops at the edge of the tree line. The lights go dark.
Ryan pulls the tire out of the trunk rolling it towards Michele, hurrying him. "Get the light."
She crouches noticing his head shake, "Let me help you we got to move it."
"I'm just putting in a couple of lug nuts."
A faint squeaking begins. "Did you hear that?" Ryan looks up. "Hurry up I think that truck is coming back." Michele takes the lantern waking towards the tree line.
Ryan begins tightening the nut, "Does it sound like a truck to you?"
"No…it doesn't." The sound is like that of a rusted screw turning.
Ryan feels for the bolt, "I could use the light over here!"
Michele runs back, "Finish it Ryan finish it now!" The squeaking returns, Michele runs back trying to see.
"Michele I need the light!" She hesitates but returns as he hits the last nut. "That's going to have to do let's hit it." They stand and turn face to face with Him. He raises his chainsaw over his head, shaking around, then advances. Michele drops the light heading for the car. "Run Ryan, get in!"
"It's locked." He yells as she jumps in the car. Ryan tries to run around the car, sliding over the trunk just as the saw crashes through what's left of the window. Ryan gets in to the back seat as Leatherface begins taking the trunk apart. The car stalls as he finishes with the trunk. She gets it in to reverse, the car falls off the jack slamming in to the behemoth.
"We hit him! We hit him!" Ryan yells but once more the car stalls. "Ah he's coming up the back, go!" Leatherface garbs hold of the trunk shaking them with all he's worth. She gets the car in to gear speeding away leaving the trunk in his hands. "Yes!" Ryan rejoices.
"What happened did we lose him?"
"He got our trunk." Ryan half laughs in amazement.
"Oh Jesus."
Up the road, a surplus jeep drives down the road blasting Jazz fusion. At the wheel is a middle aged black man, on his windshield a Jolly Rodger sticker with the text "Worth your life?"
"We have to pull over so I can finish tightening the nuts." Ryan says from the back seat.
"I'm not stopping!" Michele shakes her head, her curls whipping her face.
Ryan steadies his breathing going in to doctor mode, "If I don't finish tightening them we'll lose the tire, you have to pull over so I can fix it."
"I'm not stopping!" The car continues towards the jeep.
"Listen to me! We're not taking any more chances. Now you pull the car over so I can fix the goddamn tire!"
Her resolve weakens as she inhales, "Alright!" she turns back to the road as the bloody body of Tex jumps in front of the car. She screams swerving in to the oncoming lane just as the jeep rounds the corner; he too swerves, driving up the hill turning over as the car flips down an embankment.
"Damn it." The man groans as he crawls out of his jeep, he pulls off his camo jacket tossing it in the wreck. "Totaled." He sighs before searching for his flashlight. "Jesus wept."
Ryan still conscious, pulls himself out, back peddling he runs in to the man startled. "Take it easy, take it easy." He assures him. "You're going to be ok. Take it easy."
"You've got to get her out. Please help me get her out." Ryan pleads disoriented.
"I'll get her out you just get away from the car." He examines her through the broken window He forces the door open before checking her pulse. "Thank Christ." Gently he pulls her from the wreck, carrying her to some nearby trees. He props her against them as Ryan staggers towards them.
Ryan drops to his knees, "We got to keep moving we can't stick around here."
The man begins digging in to his emergency kit, "Hey you can't even stand right now so you just take care."
"There are some people after us…a guy with a chainsaw." Ryan tries to focus.
"You saw what?" Benny continues to dig through the kit.
"A chainsaw." Benny stops turning to him.
"Uhuh listen, I don't want you to move right now, sounds like you're a few quarts shy of a full tank." He applies anti-bacterial to the cuts on Ryan's face.
"There's a bunch of guys and they have guns too." Ryan's voice becoming stronger.
"Yeah I know and chainsaws, militant lumberjacks, I see them all the time." He tosses the used cotton ball away; he picks up a bottle of pills. "Here I want you to take a couple of these." He puts the pill in his hand and gives him the canteen. "I can't believe this, I've been going up in the hills every weekend for two years, I've never even seen another car on that road." He puts the pills away before treating Michelles wounds, "I got a survival camp with a few buddies of mine, trying to keep training for the big blow up, know what I mean?"
"Do you know what I'm saying man? We're being hunted!" Ryan, in all his daze, tries to put the as much urgency in his face as possible. This doesn't go unnoticed.
"Hunted? Ye-Yeah I hear you man." Just then Michele wakes up mumbling, he turn to her. "Take it easy, you're alright. Just sit up, there you go. Here I want you to take one of these." He hands her the pills and the water.
She downs the pills, "Tex…he's still up there!"
"Who?"The man asks taking the canteen back.
Her eyes begin to clear as she realizes where she is. "Who are you?"
"My name is Benny." He begins to wipe away the blood, "I'm the sorry ass bastard you almost hit."
"We've got to move…they might find us." She clutches his hand.
Benny stops looking back to Ryan. "You people are serious."
"Mister, do you see this?" Benny and Michele stand joining Ryan where the trunk once was.
Benny shines his light on the gouges, "How many?"
"We don't know, two maybe more." She says. "One's on foot and he's got…that."
Benny examines it closer, "An awfully big saw."
"Tex! Did you see him up there?"
"Naw, I couldn't see nothing except your headlights."
"He could still be up there. We got to go check on him." She starts to move away but wobbles.
Ryan catches her. "Wait a minute, what did you give us!"
Benny walks back towards them, "Pain killers, it might make you a little sleepy."
"What?! Are you nuts?! We have got to move!" Michele berates him.
"Now just hold it, I can handle this, I'm prepared for this sort of thing. Now you guys just relax and I'll go find your friend." He hands them the light.
"No man their up there!" Ryan falters himself.
"Look pal, it doesn't make it any different from anywhere else. Now I'll go gets some goodies from out of my jeep and find your buddy. Stay put, ok?" He starts back up the embankment.
"Wait," Michele tries to stop him but Ryan stops her. She almost buckles.
"Sit down before you fall down." He lowers himself down.
As Benny reaches the top he notices the road flares leading from his wreck, at the end of the trail is a hooked man in a mechanics work shirt clouded in smoke. "Looks like you had a little mishap." He speaks in a noticeable drawl rather rhythmically.
"Hey mister, I'm glad you came a long my jeep and this car we-"
"Had a little mishap," he scratches his head with his hook. "I already know that." He turns walking back to his truck.
Michele starts to go under; Ryan crawls over to her, "Michele." He starts to shake her, "Michele come on…we got to get out of here. We've got to…" He falls over.
The hooked man lights another flare swirling it around in his hook, "So beautiful the glow." Benny stands running next to him, "Technology's your friend you know." He said it dawn out like it was a catchphrase.
"Yeah right, listen mister, I've got some people hurt down there I need your help."
He seems amused by this, "We've got the means, we've got the machine."
Benny starts to become exacerbated. "Look buddy, I need you to help me turn my jeep up."
"You mean upright?" The man turns his hook.
"Yeah. Right. Side. Up." Benny begins gesturing and slowing his words.
"Well what do you think all these fucking flares are for, stupid?" He stomps back to his truck.
Benny follows him, "Thanks a lot, buddy." As he gets closer he notices the hood is covered in animal hides, the hooked man climbs in the cab and Benny starts to climb into the bed but stops when he sees the chainsaw. He jumps back down, "Just a second I got to get something." He takes off running.
"Well rocket, brotha." The hooked man says taking a drag.
Benny gets to his jeep pulling out a rolled up rag, he unwraps revealing an AR-18. He unfolds the stock, gathering the spare magazines and bullets from a coffee can.
The hooked man sticks his head out the window, "You ready to roll, young yeoman?"
He loads the bullets in to the magazine, "Just 15 seconds!" He goes back to his loading, "We're almost home, Lucille." He whispers.
"Push comes to shove." The hooked man hits the lights putting the truck into gear. He hits the gas as Benny tries to gather up the remaining bullets. He drops the bullets dodging the truck as it rams his jeep. He rolls down the rocky embankment as the hooked man watches laughing. He finally comes to a stop. Then he hears the saw. Benny reaches for his AR using the receiver to block the saw but the vibrations cause him to drop it. He dodges Leatherface's next attack; kicks the saw from his hand then tackles him to the ground. A few yards away the brunette watches on in tense amazement. Benny chokes his attacker trying to push his head in to the running saw. Leatherface reaches into his pocket, a small rotary saw, jams it into Benny's calf causing enough of a distraction to let Leatherface push him off. He gets back to his saw lifting it in to the air. "Hey scumbag, here! You want me not him!" He turns back to Benny kicking him in the stomach before going after her.
Ryan sits up hearing the saw. "Michele, I can hear him, we've got to get out of here."
"How long have we been out?" She cups her forehead.
"I don't know but we have to metabolize this shit out of our system or we will be down for the rest of the night." He pulls himself up on his knees.
"We've got to find the road or a house." She pulls herself up.
"Any place is better than here; we're sitting ducks out here." He crouches preparing to stand.
"Where's the goddamn sunrise?" She whimpers.
Ryan picks up the flashlight, "This'll have to do, come on."
Michele stands up, brushing her curls out of her hair, "I can't hear him anymore."
The brunette out runs the impaired cannibal, stopping for a moment of giggling before doubling back. She's getting good as this. Benny get's to his feet cocking his rifle as the girl jumps out. She has her finger in front of her mouth telling him to be quiet. "Damn it, who the hell are you?" She walks off; he sighs and follows her while Ryan and Michele start wondering through the woods making as much noise as scared greenhorns could.
Benny sits down to catch his breath and assess his injuries. "What the hell is going on?" The girl just keeps frantically looking around, "What's going on!" He tosses aside his rifle putting his hands on her arms, "Listen girl, I need some questions answered and I need them answered right now! Do you understand me?! Hey!" he starts to shake her but stops when he sees the cuts on her hand. "Oh God! I'm sorry; I didn't know you were hurt that bad." He takes a rag from his back pocket to wrap her hand but she walks away.
"The fire is still cooking, they're still out there." She stops turning back to him, "You some kind of soldier or what?"
"Just on the weekends," he gives a fake laugh and sits back down.
"Wrong weapon, wrong war. They got us a week ago…I'm the only one left."
"Me and my sister, sisters. We go together. A week maybe 5 days ago."She sing-songs hurried but almost unconsciously as she drops to a crouch.
"A week? What the hell are you still doing here?"
"Keep your voice down!" She grabs her hair, then stands walking around him, "They watch the road. They hunt people! They really hunt them, they trap them and then they kill them." She stands by a tree looking in to the dark. "I haven't been able to get out of the woods."
"We just stopped to help this guy we thought he had been run over. He was all bloody and dirty but so handsome. He said his home was just up the road. We had no signal and didn't know the area so we believed him. They separated us they like to play with their food; my sister was prettier than me. I'm small I scurry like a rat, squirrely my daddy would say." She starts laughing, "Just yesterday I had to eat a fucking rat raw and some berries that tasted like they've been thrown up once already." She begins to mumble, Benny stands up setting her down.
"Thanks, for what you did." He nods. "Thanks."
"Where's the road?" Ryan asks, as they walk the woods become more twisted and surreal or maybe that's just the meds.
"I don't know I heard some noises maybe it's that guy, Benny."
"He took off a long time ago, who knows how long we were out."
"Benny!"
"Shh." Ryan tries to stop her as the squeaking starts.
Benny pulls out a cigarette searching his vest for a lighter, she hands him one. "Thanks." He hands her one.
"Benny!" Michele yells again. Leatherface and Benny look around.
Benny tosses the cigarette away, "I've got to go."
"They'll be dead soon." The girl says scanning the woods for threats.
"Maybe I can bring the bad guys out in the light." He turns to her, "You coming?" She shakes her head. "Alright you stay here, don't move, I'll be right back." He grabs his rifle and walks away.
"Hold up." She throws the lighter to him, "Keep it."
"Thanks." Benny walks away leaving her smoking nervously. The coyotes howl and she hears the snapping of twigs, and runs off.
Benny keeps trekking through the woods finding himself in a swamp, he stops, noticing trip wires. Carefully he uses the barrel and this pike trap snaps next to his chest. "Nice neighborhood."
The girl continues walking keeping an eye out for her tormentors. She stops. It's a chainsaw tied to a tree. She turns to leave bumping in to Leatherface's chest he grabs her by the neck slamming her in to a tree. He runs his hands along her face, he starts up the saw. Just then a shadow jumps from the tree kicking the behemoth away from her; he swings his weapon at Leatherface. Driving him back, "Grab her and go Alex!" The man yells, from behind a tree a second comes out grabbing the girl's hand and running away, adjusting the bag hanging over his shoulder. The man grabs the blade pulling down using the cross guard to parry the saw, he swings back cracking the pommel in his face then jumps in to the air booting him. The man laughs, "Leatherface, huh? Been look for you. Let's go Bubba!" He raises the sword.
…I know what you're thinking,…don't think that. Trust me I've thought long and hard about this, years, there is logic to this.