Billy lets out a deep sigh as he gets up and starts to walk out. Once he's outside the station, he sees the mob that are gathered there, their numbers rapidly growing as they become angrier and angrier. He just looks ahead, not wanting to look too obviously at the crowd, as he starts to make his way towards Stu's house. He wonders what kind of reception he will be given when he shows up and tells Stu about Leslie.
The Macher house is dark when Billy arrives. He looks towards the window in Stu's bedroom, knowing he is the only person at home. Stu's parents have not been in Woodsboro since the summer.
Billy knocks lightly on Stu's window, in an attempt to get his attention. As far as he knows, Stu is inside the house doing whatever, unaware of what's happened with Leslie. He just wants to see his friend, and he knows Stu will want to know what happened to his sister as well. He looks around at the darkened house, wondering what to do next.
A moment later, Billy hears footsteps going down the stairs and Stu opens the door, he looks disheveled, his hair a mess.
"Billy?" he asks with a frown. "Man, don't tell me you don't have electricity either. I was about to go to your house, I'm dying of boredom" he laughs.
Billy nods slightly, as he doesn't know how to tell Stu about Leslie just yet. He's just hoping he'll be able to get him to listen to him when he mentions what Leslie told him.
"Stu... Look you probably know that the entire town has lost electricity by now… and there's no phone service. But that's not why I'm here." he shakes his head. " I came here because…" Billy's voice trails off slightly, but he forces himself to continue. "Look, Stu, there's a big problem. I need to tell you this… it's serious."
"The entire town?" Stu scoffs. He looks outside for a moment, checking on the other houses in the neighborhood. "What am I supposed to do, man? I rented five movies, Billy. FIVE" he says, showing his open hand.
Billy nods his head slightly at Stu's reaction, but then continues, his voice sounding much more serious than before.
" I know, Stu, I know, but that's not what matters right now. What I need to tell you is important. Do you remember Leslie?"
Stu looks at him as if Billy had grown a second nose.
"What do you mean if I remember her?" he laughs, his eyes wandering from one side to the other. "She might not be around, but I know I have a sister," he jokes. "Billy, come in. I suppose it's gonna be less boring with you around." He walks towards the couch. "To be honest, if I don't see her in a few months I might start to forget her face," he jokes.
Billy follows Stu into the living room and plops himself slowly down onto the nearby couch, not sure how to continue.
" Well, I… look, I need you to listen to what I am going to tell you, okay? If everyone else thinks this is a lie, then that's their problem, but I saw your sister today…"
Stu stares at him for a long moment, holding a smirk.
"Have you been drinking?" he asks, putting his feet over the table. "My sister is in Atlanta, Billy." He scratches his hair laughing. "I don't know who you mistook for my sister, but that's not her. We Macher have a fine ass" he laughs at his own joke.
Billy swallows back a deep sigh of annoyance and frustration as he looks up at Stu.
#No, I'm not drunk. Look, Stu, I swear to you that your sister was there, and I saw her… she was dying, and she was talking about something really awful. There was an explosion, a nuclear explosion. I wasn't drinking or seeing things, Stu, I saw this with my own eyes."
Stu's smile falters.
"Dying?" he asks in a small voice.
Billy nods, looking Stu right in the eyes, hoping he will believe him.
"Stu, I promise you that your sister was there, and she told me something really messed up was going on and that there was a nuclear explosion in the woods. I didn't know what to do, Stu … I tried to tell the police, but…"
"Billy, where is my sister?" Stu asks, ignoring everything else Billy's saying. "Is she in the hospital?"
He frowns and stands up, looking for his coat in the dark.
"You should have called me..." he mutters.
Billy slowly and cautiously nods his head, looking at Stu as he thinks about how to approach this situation.
"Stu, about that … look, I know how this is going to sound, but I swear to you that I found Leslie at the edge of the woods and she was… she was hurt, bleeding." He takes a deep breath and continues. " She told me about the explosion, and the phone did not work… and I drove her to the police station, but… then her bleeding got worse…"
"The police station?" Stu asks confusedly, as he puts on his coat. "Why not the hospital, Billy?"
Billy looks down at the ground for a few moments, trying to come up with the most rational explanation he can think of. He knows it's probably useless, but he can at least try.
"Stu, look, I know how this sounds, but uh… at that moment, I just wasn't thinking straight. I couldn't believe what Leslie had told me. I mean, come on, she was talking about a friggin' nuclear explosion, how… How was I supposed to deal with that? I just wanted to get her help as fast as possible…"
"You told me she was dying, Billy" Stu says, still frowning. "Where is she now?"
Billy just looks at Stu with a slightly guilty expression.
"Stu, I'm gonna be honest: I don't know where she is now. I know the police took her to the hospital of another city because ours doesn't have power.." He puts his head down and swallows back a nervous gulp. "I'm sure she's already… I'm sorry, I just,... I'm not making sense, I know…"
"You don't know?" Stu asks in disbelief. He walks closer to Billy, an angry expression on his face. "You found my sister, took her to the police instead of a fucking hospital, and now you don't fucking know where she is?" Stu shouts in his face.
Billy jumps back in a bit of shock, although he's not too surprised by Stu's angry reaction. This was bound to happen, after all. He quickly tries to explain why he didn't just take Leslie to the hospital.
"Stu . Look man, I'm sorry. I should've thought this through more clearly, okay? I… I just panicked. She told me about the explosion, and I got scared and I, uh, I don't know. I thought that the cops, ya know, could handle it better."
Stu bites his lip, looking away, clearly angry about the situation. He steps back and breathes deeply, trying to calm down.
"Where did the police take her then?" he asks, his voice still angry. "Where?" he shouts when Billy doesn't answer quickly.
Billy slowly looks up at Stu. He wants to help him find Leslie, he just isn't sure how best to do that right now. He sighs and shakes his head.
"I don't know, Stu. That's the thing, I don't know. Listen, I did the best I could, okay?" Stu looks away, clearly upset and frustrated with the entire situation. Billy realizes that he might be getting nowhere here. Then a thought pops into his head. "Hey, how do you think Leslie ended up out on the outskirts of town, by the highway? Do you think she…"
"How the hell would I know? She was supposed to be in Atlanta..." Stu mutters, walking towards the door. "I'll go to the police station to ask where she was taken... " Stu looks at Billy for a moment, but then shakes his head and gets out. "Go to your home, Billy."
Billy just stands there, staring after Stu as he leaves. He's not sure where this will get him now...Then another thought pops into his brain.
"Stu, hold on! I'll drive you! I'll take you to the police station, it'll be quicker! I want to help look for Leslie too, okay?"
Stu looks back at him for a moment, holding the door open, and then he nods once, without saying anything else.
Billy lets out a small sigh of relief, as he knows that Stu is allowing him to come along. He quickly runs out the door behind him.
" I'm coming." He hurries after Stu and catches him just outside the door. "Okay, look, let's just go get my car, and then we'll be on our way."
Stu nods silently. He walks towards Billy's car without saying a word, his hands in the pocket of his coat. He avoids Billy's eyes all the time.
Billy quickly moves towards his own car and unlocks the door. He hops inside before starting the engine, waiting a moment for Stu to get in. When Stu eventually does, Billy gives a small sigh of relief.
"There, we'll be at the police station in no time." As Billy starts to pull out of the driveway, he turns to Stu and glances at him. "Hey, um, are you still mad at me?"
Stu looks at him with a serious face.
"You don't want to hear the answer to that, Billy. Drive faster."
Billy sighs and nods reluctantly, before turning his attention back towards the road. He begins to drive quite fast, as Stu had asked of him. They arrive at the police station only minutes later. When they step out of the car, however, it's immediately clear that there's still a huge crowd of people in front of the station. People are standing outside, some of them even pounding on the doors and windows.
"The hell is happening?" Stu mumbles, walking out the car. He looks at Billy, a questioning look on his face.
Billy sighs deeply, trying to explain what's possibly happening.
" I think what could be happening is that everyone might be trying to figure out why there's no power. They don't know what Leslie told me about the explosion."
"How am I supposed to talk to the police..." Stu looks around for someone with a uniform but it is useless. It's a chaos outside the station and no one is getting out of it to talk to the crowd.
Billy looks around, and something eventually catches his eye. He leans in closer to Stu, and starts to whisper in his ear.
"Look, if you want to go inside, I think there might be another way of doing it…"
Stu looks at him, leaning closer to listen better, since the crowd shouting makes it impossible to hear clearly.
Billy points at the back of the police station, which Stu follows the direction of his finger. He then looks at Stu and says, in a quiet voice that doesn't carry over to the crowd.
"See that door right there? I'm pretty sure that's a service door used for the cops. The main front entrance might be mobbed and not accessible, but this should be. And once we're in, they'll at least have to listen to us, right?"
Stu nods, not sure that's gonna work but he follows Billy anyways. Billy leads Stu around to the back of the police station, where there really is a service door exactly where he said it would be. He takes a moment, and then tries to open it.
"There we go. Come on, it should be unlocked." Billy pushes on the door, and the door slowly swings open, revealing a dimly lit corridor on the other side.
They walk outside the service room. There's no light in the station, so after mistaking some doors, they make it to the place where officers are gathered. Sheriff Burke is talking to the officers reunited around a desk, when he sees Billy and frowns.
"You again?"
Billy remembers the discussion he had with the sheriff before going to Stu's home, and wonders if Dewey is back. Billy smiles nervously, although he honestly isn't sure if it's a good idea to be talking with the sheriff right now. Nonetheless, he pushes forward anyway, as Stu remains quiet.
"Sir, we'd really like to… well, talk to you about something, if that's alright…"
Sheriff Burke stares at Billy and then atStu for a moment, completely confused.
"Son, why am I not surprised to see you here? What do you want now?"
"Sir, I'm Leslie Macher's brother." Stu says, stepping closer to the officers with a determined expression. "She was taken to the hospital by an officer. I want to know where she is to visit her."
The sheriff looks at him confused.
"I don't know what you're talking about, son. All the officers are here, we're trying to ease the people outside...Leslie Macher isn't anywhere around here. Now, I think you guys should get out of here, before I arrest you both for disturbing the peace."
Billy quickly jumps in, trying to explain himself once again.
"Sir, please, just hear me out. Leslie…"
Sheriff Burke looks completely confused, and it's clear that he's not going to listen to another word Billy or Stu have to say.
"But... I just want to know where she was taken" Stu insists, starting to sound a bit desperate. "She was bleeding... " he looks back at Billy, thinking about something. "Do you remember the officer's name or what he looked like?"
Billy thinks for a moment, trying to recall.
"He was wearing a police uniform, and he had this weird tattoo on his hand… And he was pretty big, like, really muscular. But he never introduced himself."
"Oh, for Christ's sake!" the sheriff puts his head in his hands.
Stu looks at him, a hint of fear in his eyes.
"What is it?"
Sheriff Burke just glares back at Stu, visibly annoyed. He then takes a deep breath, before speaking.
"Okay, look, son. There wasn't any police officer who took Leslie to the hospital tonight, okay? Like I said, all of the officers are here right now. Only two have left, and they don't match that description or went to a hospital to take your sister there."
Stu is startled by the sheriff's words. He shakes his head, and insists.
"But there was an official that took her, right Billy?" he looks back at Billy.
Billy nods his head and says in a small voice.
"Yes, Stu. There really was. Okay, look: he had this tattoo on his hand. He was pretty tall, maybe six feet or so, and he was kinda muscular, too."
"Son, this ain't helping your case. Look, if you two really saw someone with a police uniform on and…"
Billy interrupts him, and he seems a little more stern this time.
"Sir, we're telling you the truth! Why don't you…"
"That's enough," Sheriff Burke shouts tiredly. He calls a couple of officers to come closer. "Take them to the cell. We have serious problems here, kids. You're going to stay the night detained, maybe that will teach you to not play around in the police station in the middle of chaos" he mutters and walks away without giving them a chance to protest.
The officers look at Stu and Billy with an expression of annoyance. They nod their heads and grab the two of them by their wrists, moving to take them away as the sheriff walks off in the distance.
"Billy, what are we gonna do? We can't just be arrested!" Stu says.
"Oh great. This is just absolutely perfect" Billy thinks He looks at Stu, trying to come up with a solution to this mess, but nothing really comes to mind quickly.
"My sister could be dying in some random car out there and you're going to put me into a cell to teach me a lesson?" Stu shouts annoyed,struggling, not allowing the cops to take a hold of him.
One of the officers grabs Stu's arm and forces it upwards behind him, causing him to groan in pain. The other does the same to Billy and starts to pull them towards the cells. He struggles, but there's really not much he can do right now. After a moment, Stu looks back at Billy, as if expecting him to say something.
"I'm trying to think, okay? Just give me a second…" Billy says.
"Fuck you, man! This is all your fault!" Stu spits angry at Billy.
Billy is shocked by Stu's sudden outburst.
"Dude, what are you talking about? I literally just…"
But before he can continue, the officers manage to pull them away and into a cell. They slam the metal doors shut in front of them, and turn the key, locking the door for good.
" Stu, calm down, alright? Just let me think for a minute, okay?"
"Like you thought when you handed my sister to some random person?" Stu shouts, kicking the cell wall with his fist.
Billy looks surprised.
"Wait, what are you talking about, "some random?" I didn't…" Suddenly, it hits him with a loud crash that Stu was right. He really had just handed Leslie over to some random dude, not knowing anything about him. "Okay, that's… that's…" He kicks the cell door as Stu did, trying to contain his growing frustration. It doesn't really work, though.
Stu starts to walk from one corner of the cell to the other, scratching his head, a furious expression in his face.
"How bad was she injured?"
Billy sits down on the cot, and then covers his eyes with his hands.
"Really bad, Stu. I just thought they were going to…" He sighs, trying to control himself. He was supposed to be helping Leslie, but instead, she was kidnapped... by some random guy. At this point, he's just angry at himself for not knowing. "I just thought he was taking her to the hospital."
He pauses, unsure what exactly she could have been taken to.
"This is a nightmare, '' Stu says, sitting on the hard cot. He drops his head lower, looking defeated.
Billy looks over at Stu and nods with a sigh.
" I know, right? I mean, I really thought I was doing the right thing, but now I'm not so sure... I should've just driven her myself, and then she'd have been safe, and not kidnapped by some stranger…"He pauses, his voice becoming quiet. He looks back towards his feet, before speaking again in a small voice. "I just hope he didn't hurt her."
Stu scoffs irritated, gripping at Billy's t-shirt by the collar and leaning his face closer to him.
"Keep saying shit like that, Billy, and the next explosion is going to be your head by the punch I'm going to give you" he says through gritted teeth. "Shut the fuck up."
Billy is taken aback by Stu's sudden outburst. He tries to pull away from Stu, but Stu doesn't let him. A tense few moments of silence pass between the two of them, as they stare at each other intently, with Stu clearly not willing to back down.
"Stu, for fuck's sake! Let me go!"
Stu holds Billy in place and doesn't let go. Instead, he pulls Billy closer to his face.
"What did I tell you, Billy? Did I say you could talk? No, right? So shut up, you stupid idiot!"
Billy's eyes go wide, and he tries to speak, but Stu quickly puts a hand over his mouth to stop him. He then looks over at the cell's metal door, before looking back at Billy.
"You don't understand how mad I am at you right now." He removes his hand from Billy's mouth, but now he's just staring him down intensely, as if he wants to make him feel as uncomfortable and intimidated as possible. "Keep your mouth shut" Stu snarls, letting go of Billy's t-shirt. He sits back against the wall, his hands resting on his knees, as he looks ahead with a blank expression.
Stu's words are met with a moment of silence by Billy, as he stares back at Stu with a nervous expression. Stu's face remains unchanged, and the two of them just look at each other for a moment. Eventually, Billy looks away and slumps down, leaning against the cell's metal wall. He lets out a frustrated sigh.
" Okay, I'm sorry, alright? I shouldn't have just let Leslie leave with that man."