EXT. SKULL ISLAND - JUNGLE - NIGHT
The jungles of Skull Island are like no other jungles in the world. Violent geological forces have, over millions of years, created a jagged, tortured terrain. The vegetation that grows on this ground is thick, forming a dense, dark jungle. Ancient, gnarled trees twist out of the ground, in all sorts of contorted and sinister shapes. This truly is the jungle from hell: a 'heart of darkness' that even Conrad could never have imagined.
Hayes leads Helstrom, Jack, and twenty-odd Sailors through this tangled, forbidding realm. All around them, the atmosphere seems tense.
As they enter a small CLEARING in the jungle, Hayes suddenly puts his hand up; the group stops.
A strange, low MOAN echoes from the surrounding jungle. The Sailors all stare into the darkness, watchful and on edge...
A sudden noise: BRANCHES CRACKING, and the THUD of heavy footsteps. The men raise their guns, holding them at the ready...
Suddenly, one of them panics, and FIRES – THE OTHERS FOLLOW SUIT! A CACOPHANY OF GUNFIRE.
HAYES
(shouts)
Stop! Stop! Cease-fire! Cease-fire!
SILENCE ... Smoke drifts away from the guns as the group listens for sounds...
AN ENORMOUS DEAD ANIMAL, 30 feet long, TOPPLES out of the jungle like a felled tree, and CRASHES TO THE GROUND in front of the startled Sailors!!
Before anyone can react ... a VIOLENT, THRASHING NOISE from the jungle: BRANCHES SPLINTERING, LEAVES SHAKING...
ANOTHER of the giant creatures CRASHES into the clearing! Blood streams from a bullet wound in its side.
It BELLOWS in pain, fear, and anger as it CHARGES at the men; everyone scrambles to get out of its path!
CHAOTIC FAST ACTION: The creature, 30 feet long and 14 feet tall, STUMBLES around in pain.
Sailors DODGE its huge thrashing TAIL, its elephant-like back legs, and the THUMB-SPIKES on its front legs.
Hayes FIRES his rifle ... THE BULLET HITS THE ANIMAL'S BRAINCASE. It staggers, then COLLAPSES, dead.
The men slowly approach the two dead animals. Both of them have massive scaly bodies, along with thick tails that make up over half of each creature's total length. Their heavily muscled, three-toed hind legs are noticeably longer than their slim front legs. Their heads, at the end of slim necks, are rectangular; at the end of each head is a horny beak, shaped like the halves of a coconut. Modern-day scientists would recognize these animals as what they are: IGUANODONT DINOSAURS.
HELSTROM
What are they?
JACK
Bugger'd if I know.
One of the Sailors, CHARLIE, sees a row of spiny scales running along the Iguanodonts' backs.
CHARLIE
(awed)
Dragons're what they are.
His friend COOPER snorts at this notion.
COOPER
(know-it-all voice)
Dragons? Hardly. Look.
He points to the mouth of the first creature they killed: a clump of leaves stick out of the animal's mouth.
COOPER (CONT'D)
It was samplin' the berries; not exactly dragon-like, now is that? More like a big ol' scaly cow.
CHARLIE
(not convinced)
Well, how do y'know that's not proper dragon behavior?
Jack looks bewildered – why is there always a pair like these two everywhere he goes?
COOPER
Don't be daft. Have you ever heard stories of any such dragon that ate leaves? No. Ergo, these two beasties cannot possibly be considered dragons.
CHARLIE
Alright, then. If they're not dragons, then what are they?
COOPER
(certainly)
Iguanas. An unusually large, previously undiscovered strain of iguanas.
Everyone stares at Cooper.
CHARLIE
(another possibility)
Or ... Maybe they're Behemoths, like the one in the Bible...
(frowns)
...'Cept that one was supposed t'be only one... 'Stead o'there bein' another one.
Hayes rolls his eyes, motions the men to move on.
Behind them, more dinosaurs – small, carnivorous Coelophysids – emerge from the jungle to feast on the dead Iguanodonts.
EXT. KILLING GROUND - NIGHT
Kong BARRELS THROUGH THE JUNGLE, trampling every bit of foliage in his path.
ANNE'S POV: FLASHES of the jungle SPINNING and ROLLING by, and of Kong himself. She tries bracing herself against his fingers, but is inevitably tossed around like a rag doll.
SUDDENLY, the wheeling glimpses of the jungle slow to a halt – Kong has reached his destination. Anne, clutched tightly in Kong's hand, is rigid with fear.
Kong stops and squats down. He looks closely at Anne.
ANNE'S POV: We see Kong clearly for the first time: a very old, brutish gorilla.
Just like his smaller African cousins, he is predominately quadrupedal, supporting the weight of his arms on his knuckles; and the silvery gray fur on his back identifies him as an adult male, or silverback. His face is quite wrinkled, by age and/or stress. His head, body, and limbs are heavily scarred – evidence of a violent life. One of his eyelids is mangled and his jaw is crooked, leaving a huge yellowed canine tooth jutting up.
His size cannot be stressed enough: his head alone is the size of a grown man, and he looks at Anne with eyes the size of cannonballs.
Anne doesn't move; only her rapid breathing betrays her inner terror.
Kong begins to slowly shake Anne; prodding her with his other hand, like a cat batting at a dangling rope. He starts to SNARL and ROAR.
Kong rises up to a standing position. NOW he starts SHAKING ANNE violently, SWINGING and FLAILING her every which way, as if he means to break every bone in her body! Anne CRIES OUT involuntarily with every jolt.
Kong ROARS and HOOTS feverishly, no longer even looking at Anne as he keeps shaking her, now in an almost automatic manner – this is all some ritual of his own.
Anne, now dangling upside down in her captor's hand, stares down in horror:
HUMAN REMAINS litter the ground below her ... ALL WEARING THE SAME CEREMONIAL NECKLACE AS HER.
She is in the grip of the Skull Islanders' deity, and he has taken her to his KILLING GROUND!
ANNE
(horrified)
No. No! NO!
Kong looks back down at Anne, as if finally remembering she's there. He lifts her upwards, and ROARS in her face furiously – HE'S ABOUT TO FINISH HER OFF!
Anne looks at him, aghast. Suddenly, all she has ever known and experienced – all of her civilized, wealthy upbringing – give way to something more deeply fundamental: self preservation!
She rips off her necklace...
AND STABS KONG'S HAND with it!
Kong CRIES OUT in surprise.
His fingers open in reflex, and Anne FALLS out of his hand.
She LANDS 12 feet below, rolls amongst the remains of Kong's previous victims, staggers to her feet, and RUNS!
Her actions have startled Kong. For a moment, he's confused – no one's ever done that to him before.
He rises up with a ROAR, but Anne is already disappearing into the jungle.
EXT. DENSE JUNGLE - NIGHT
Anne desperately powers through dense undergrowth...
...VEGETATION CRASHES DOWN AROUND HER – Kong SMASHES THROUGH THE UNDERBRUSH!
With surprising speed, he SWEEPS DOWN from above and SNATCHES HER UP!
Anne barely has time to CRY OUT before Kong carries her away, HURTLING deep into the jungle.
EXT. KILLING GROUND – DAWN
The rescue party has found Kong's killing grounds. They pick through the skeletons littering the place.
Hayes frowns; picks up one of the necklaces. There's a lock of blond hair caught in it – Anne's hair.
Behind him, Lumpy – by now Hayes' unofficial second-in-command – stares at the human remains, aghast.
LUMPY
Christ, it's a bleedin' boneyard. They've been ripped limb from limb!
Helstrom notices the necklace in Hayes' hands. He frowns, then looks away, his gaze drawn to...
HELSTROM'S POV: ...Ahead of the men, trees have been ripped from the earth where Kong has smashed a path through the jungle.
Hayes looks at the smashed path; his eyes narrow. He looks over his shoulder at Jack – someone hasn't told them everything they need to know about this creature.
Jack looks back at him casually – is there a problem?
The men press on, filing by Hayes; he makes sure everyone is accounted for.
One Sailor holding a rifle passes by, his hat pulled down over his face. Hayes frowns, then pulls off the hat, revealing...
JIM DRISCOLL
JIM
Just keep walking, Mr. Hayes. Pretend you didn't see me.
HAYES
Jesus, Jim!
Hayes snatches the rifle from Jim.
JIM
(defiant)
Hey, I need that!
HAYES
(no bullshit)
I'm not giving you a gun!
JIM
You were younger than me when you first used one!
HAYES
I had no choice then. I was a slave – I had to learn how to use one so I could be free! You're not in that position.
ANGLE ON: Away from Jim and Hayes, Jack looks on, interested.
Jim looks at Hayes pleadingly.
JIM
I want to help save her.
Hayes' expression gradually softens. He starts to hand the rifle back.
As Jim starts to take the gun, Hayes holds on to it. He gives Jim one more stern look.
HAYES
Don't make me regret it.
Jim doesn't answer; simply takes the rifle and heads onward.
Author's Note
While I certainly plan to continue this story to completion, I may not update it here for a while. I'm thinking of posting what I have so far on the new JournalFen community "Wankas Write," and getting feedback and suggestions from them there, maybe even finding someone interested in co-writing or acting as a beta for the story, before posting the final versions of each chapter over here. This way, I don't have to worry about unveiling a chapter to everyone here, only to then modify it later on, after putting up several more chapters.
As far as the part of the story that is on here so far, I give my most sincere thanks to Unitarian Jihadist and Rokhal for their reviews, and also thank them and everyone else that has added this story to their list of Favorites or Alerts. It truly is encouraging for someone to see that their story does have an eager audience. So once again, thank you all. :D