9

DAWN

Big red sun over the freeway. Cars are already starting to jam the lanes.

Jack is still in the concrete tunnel. He opens his eyes. Looks like shit. Blood caked on his face. He moves his head. Ouch! Looks over. Two teenage runaways are huddled in another tunnel a few feet away. They both stare at Jack.

The same appliance store from the beginning of all of this, with TV sets on the other side of the glass window all tuned to Cable 54. This time the sound is turned down, but Jack's picture flashes on all the screens during a news broadcast. It's an older photo. He has really short hair.

Here comes Jack. appliance store. Out of an alley. Moving past the Not seeing himself on TV.

He checks the intersection for signs of police . Crosses the street.

John is at the construction site. Working. Wiping his brow. Putting down his tools and disappearing behind a half-completed wall. John stops for a drink of water . . . And Jack emerges from behind a pile of cinderblocks. "John."

John drops his cup of water "Don't let nobody see you."

"I've had a rough couple of days" Jack croaks out.

John backs away from him "I don't want nothing' with you."

Jack stares at him.

"How many people did you kill?" John demands

"Not people." Jack corrects him calmly.

John shakes his head "Crazy son of a bitch."

"I gotta show you something" Jack says with inspiration hitting.

"No, man. You ain't showing' me nothing. I got a wife and kids. So leave me alone. Get outta here." And John moves off.

Jack watches him for a beat, then slowly creeps away behind the cinderblock wall.

John walks back over to where he was working. Picks up his tools. Then looks back over where Jack was. His face softens for a moment. Then tightens back into anger.

Jack enters the alley from the street. Looking around for cops ... Moves to the cul de sac. Past the trash dumpster, up to the trash can where he left those boxes of sunglasses ... and the can is empty! No! Jack turns, comes out of the cul de sac.

At the other end of the alley is a trash truck. A sanitation worker dumps trash into the compacter in the rear ... Jack goes for the trash truck ... Down the alley ... the Sanitation Worker hasn't seen him. He puts the cans back, circles around to the cab.

Jack moves faster .. . Reaches the truck .. . Leans in the rear .. . Mountains of trash inside. Jack grabs on to the truck. Pulls himself up. Crawls in the compacter ... As the truck starts up, moving forward ..

Jack searches through garbage, digging down ... KACHUNK! The compacter starts up! Now the garbage is moving, pushed by the giant shovel.

Desperately Jack digs ... ... and finds that box of sunglasses!

There are only four glasses left inside .. . And Jack half-stumbles, half- jumps out of the back of the truck, just as the compacter crushes the garbage inside.

Jack moves against the wall-of the alley, as the trash truck pulls out into the street beyond . . . Now Jack starts back down the alley in the other direction, taking out a pair of sunglasses.

John steps out from behind a trash dumpster ... Jack stops. Looks at him ... John stares. Hard. Then pulls a folded stack of bills from his pocket and tosses it toward Jack.

The money plops on the pavement "One week's pay. Best I can do."

John turns away to leave ... Jack puts on the sunglasses ... there's John - human. "Wait."

John turns back to Jack. John calls over his shoulder "Find yourself some place to hide. Keep praying no one ever finds you."

Jack moves toward John, taking out a second pair of sunglasses from the box "Put these on."

John splutters "you crazy mother..."

Jack roars at him, cutting him off "Put 'em on!"

Jack moves for John.

"Hey, get away from me"

But Jack grabs a hold of John and pushes him up against the wall "I'm telling' you, you dumb son of a bitch - try 'em on!"

John responds. RIGHT to Jack's chin! He hauls off and delivers a HARD Jack's knocked back a foot or two.

Jack Just looks at John as sunglasses fly "I'm trying' to save you and your family's life."

"You couldn't even save your own"

Jack strikes! SMASHES a fast right into John ... Sending John to the pavement ... John sits up, looks at Jack.

"I'm giving you a choice . Either put on these glasses, or start eating that trash can over there." Jack yells.

John gets to his feet "Not this year"

They begin to fight in the alley, as Jack and John go at each other.

Finally, after Jack and John have beaten each other all over the alley ... Jack barely manages to get the best of John ... Finished off with a side suplex, as Jack lifts John up and SLAMS him down hard on the pavement .

Both men are exhausted. Beaten. But Jack keeps John pinned, puts those sunglasses on him! Then he picks John up, drags him to the end of the alley.

John looks around. Goes nuts! Sees the world as it really is. Sees everything.

Jack pulls John back into the alley. Holds him against the wall, "You were asleep. You thought you were what you watched on TV. Now look over there"

A lawyer Alien walks past on the street "Look at 'em. They're everywhere."

John starts to bolt. Jack holds on to him "Hold on. You're not the first son of a bitch to wake up out of their dream."

But now John's looking up "What's that?"

Jack grabs a pair of sunglasses, puts them on. Another spider robot surveillance probe crawls across the roof of one building to another. It's too far away to have seen them. Jack pulls John out of the alley, into the shelter of the cul de sac. He grabs John's wad of bills on the way. John takes off the sunglasses, fights the headache, and stares at Jack in complete bewilderment.

"Life's a bitch." Jack says with a maniacal grin "And she's back in heat."