Dawn Of The Dead

34 TV Man 2: THE BODIES OF THE DEAD WILL BE DELIVERED OVER
TO SPECIALLY EQUIPPED SQUADS OF THE NATIONAL
GUARD FOR ORGANISED DISPOSITION…

35 Suddenly a man darts out of the bustling crowd and comes up
quickly behind Fran.

Steve: FRANNIE…AT NINE O’CLOCK MEET ME ON THE ROOF.
WE’RE GETTING OUT.

Fran: (letting the camera slip slightly)
STEPHEN…I DON’T BELIEVE THIS…WHAT…

Steve: WE’RE GETTING OUT. IN THE CHOPPER.

Another technician steps over to take the camera from Fran.
Stephen talks more quietly in the other man’s presence.

Steve: NINE P.M. ALRIGHT?

Fran: STEVE…WE CAN’T…WE’VE GOT TO…

Steve: WE’VE GOT TO NOTHING, FRAN. WE’VE GOT TO
SURVIVE. SOMEBODY’S GOT TO SURVIVE. NOW YOU
COULD BE UP THERE AT NINE. DON’T MAKE ME COME
LOOKIN’ FOR YA.

Stephen is gone in a flash. Fran nervously looks back at the
cameraman. The argument still rages between Foster and Berman.
The cameraman, without taking his eye from the viewfinder,
speaks to Francine quietly and slowly.

Cameraman: GO AHEAD. WE’LL BE OFF THE AIR BY MIDNIGHT
ANYWAY. EMERGENCY NETWORKS ARE TAKING OVER.
OUR RESPONSIBILITY… IS FINISHED, I’M AFRAID.

36 It is dusk, and the city of Philadelphia is surprisingly quiet.
We see several large buildings. They are part of a low-income
housing project, and their lack of grace is evident. They stand
like tombstones as the first stars appear in the navy blue sky.

37 Under cover of the growing darkness, activities of the S.W.A.T.
Unit go unnoticed. Grappling hooks grab against the lip around
the roof and silent figures climb to the top of the building.
Men in armour vests, clutching the latest in special weapons,
take position here and there about the development.

Other men strategically place their cars and trucks in the court
below.

38 On the roof, at an entrance to one of the building’s fire
stairs, Roger squats silently alongside three other team
members. The men check their weapons. Roger looks at his watch.
The sweep hand reaches the 12…

Roger: (to himself) LIGHTS.

39 In an instant, large searchlights bathe the side of the
building. The troop commander, shielded with other Officers
behind a large truck, shouts through an electric bullhorn.

Commander: MARTINEZ…YOU’VE BEEN WATCHING…YOU KNOW WE
HAVE THE BUILDING SURROUNDED…

The electronically amplified voice echoes through the concrete
caverns between the buildings of the project. There are only a
few windows which glow with lights from inside. At the sound of
the bullhorn, the lights all blink out one at a time.

Commander: (not over the bullhorn)
LITTLE BASTARD’S GOT ‘EM ALL MOVED INTO ONE
BUILDING…DUMB LITTLE BASTARD!

Sergeant: LOOKS LIKE THEY’RE GONNA TRY TO FIGHT US.

Commander: (on the bullhorn again)
MARTINEZ…THE PEOPLE IN THIS PROJECT ARE YOUR
RESPONSIBILITY…WE DON’T WANT ANY OF THEM HURT
AND NEITHER DO YOU!

42 There is no sign of life in the building. The great concrete
slab is silhouetted silently against the darkening sky.

43 Roger, and his team mates, crouch in readiness. The sound of the
bullhorn rises to them easily and clearly.

Roger: I’M GIVIN’ YOU THREE MINUTES, MARTINEZ…

Commander: (Bullhorn)
I’M GIVIN’ YOU THREE MINUTES, MARTINEZ…
TURN OVER YOUR WEAPONS AND SURRENDER…

Roger: THERE ARE NO CHARGES AGAINST YOU…

Commander: THERE ARE NO CHARGES AGAINST YOU OR ANY OF YOUR
PEOPLE…

Roger: YET.

Commander: THREE MINUTES, MARTINEZ.

Roger: AND COUNTING.
(he looks at his watch)

There is a long silence.

Roger: COME ON, MARTINEZ!

One of the other S.W.A.T. team members is a big man, with a
rough and vicious looking face. He is WOOLEY, a hardened
veteran, and a red neck of the first order.

Wooley: YEAH, COME ON, MARTINEZ…SHOW YOUR GREASY
LITTLE PUERTO RICAN ASS…SO I CAN BLOW IT OFF…

Roger looks over at the big man. He is distressed at the pent up
violence in Wooley.

Wooley: I’LL BLOW ALL THEIR ASSES OFF…LOW LIFE BASTARDS..
BLOW ALL THEIR LITTLE LOW LIFE PUERTO RICAN AND
NIGGER ASSES RIGHT OFF…

Roger is greatly concerned. He looks at one of the other men, a
young, smoothed faced rookie. The boy doesn’t know now to react.
He is obviously nervous.

Roger: KEEP COOL. JUST DON’T POP OFF IN THERE WHEN WE
GO IN.

The boy nods, grateful for a more human contact.

Wooley: HOW THE HELL COME WE STICK THESE LOW LIFES
IN THESE BIG ASS FANCY HOTELS ANYWAY? SHIT
MAN. THIS’ BETTER THAN I GOT. YOU AIN’T
GONNA TALK ‘EM OUTA HERE. YOU GOTTA BLOW
‘EM OUT. BLOW THEIR ASSES!

Roger: (to the boy)
YOU GONNA BE ALRIGHT?

The boy nods in the affirmative.

Wooley: LET’S GET ON WITH IT. THIS IS A WASTE OF
MY TIME!

44 CRASH! Without warning, the metal door to the fire stair bursts
open and several figures rush out of the darkness. Shots are
fired from hand guns. A bullet smashes through the skull of the
young boy next to Roger. He falls against Roger with a pleading
expression on his face.

Figures charge this way and that. More gunfire. The other
S.W.A.T. men dodge and dive for cover. Wooley opens fire with
his automatic weapon.

45 On the street, the Commander, hearing the gunfire, barks into
the bullhorn:

Commander: MOVE IN…MOVE IN…
GODDAMMIT!

Sergeant: (into walkie talkie)
ALL UNITS… FULL OPERATION!

46 On the roof, Roger struggles under the dead weight of the young
man. He tries to free himself and his weapons. Shots ring out.

A handful of Black and Puerto Rican youngsters charge about the
rooftop. Another S.W.A.T. patrol appears from behind a large
elevator housing. The young civilians retreat. Several are mowed
down.

Another bullet smashes against the dead S.W.A.T. man’s back.
Just as Roger frees himself, a bullet catches him squarely in
the chest, but his armour takes the impact. He is thrown back
off balance, and he struggles to catch his wind as he scrambles
over to recover his weapon which skitters away across the roof
top.

Before he reaches the gun, he is cut off by the looming figure
of one of the Black youths, pistol in hand. Roger freezes. The
young man aims his hand gun, but hesitates. A sudden barrage of
bullets rips through the young Black and he falls in a pool of
blood. It was Wooley’s gun that killed him.

Wooley: COME ON YOU DUMB BASTARDS…
COME AND GET ‘EM…

He fires again and again, even though the skirmish is winding
down.

Roger charges for his weapon, snatches it up, and runs for the
cover of an incinerator housing. He startles a young civilian
who was hiding there, trying to load his gun. The boy makes a
break…

Roger: HOLD IT…

The boy freezes for a moment, then, thinking, breaks into a run
across the roof.

Roger: HOLD IT, KID…DON’T RUN OUT THERE!

The boy is mowed down in a crossfire.

47 Inside the building, other S.W.A.T. teams along with units of
the National Guard are crashing through hallways and breaking
into apartment units. People are herded into the halls where
they are held at gun point.

Some men, although armed, surrender willingly. Others retaliate
against the invading force, and little skirmishes develop on
every floor of the complex structure.

48 On the ground, the Commander barks into the bullhorn:

Commander: MASKS…

Sergeant: (into walkie talkie)
MASKS FOR GAS…MASKS FOR GAS.

49 Tear gas canisters crash through windows and the halls are
filled with clouds of gas. Civilians trying to escape, are
choked as they attempt to shoot their way out.

50 The teams on the roof charge down the fire stairs into the
building.

S.W.A.T. 1: WORK YOUR WAY DOWN. A FLOOR AT A TIME.
HOLD ‘EM IN THE HALLS ‘TIL WE CAN WORK ‘EM
DOWN THE STAIRS.

Roger and Wooley and the men in their unit, snap on their
bizarre looking gas masks.

51 The troopers break into an apartment on the floor. An old couple
kneels in prayer at a small alter, while their children and
their children’s children huddle in a corner. The young husband
surrenders his gun to a trooper, and Roger watches as the group
is led into the hallway.

Suddenly, a young Black man charges out of one of the
apartments. A woman appears at the door, screaming for him to
stop. He breaks through a cloud of gas and Wooley fires his
automatic. The black man crashes to the floor. Wooley is crazed.
He kicks in the door of another apartment and fires randomly
into the room.

The flurry of action causes panic among the civilians in the
hall. The younger ones try to escape while the older people
kneel or fall against the walls praying.

S.W.A.T. 2: WOOLEY’S GONE APE SHIT, MAN…

Roger: WOOLEY! (shouting)

Wooley kicks in the door of another apartment. Roger charges at
him and grabs him around the shoulders. The big man resists. His
gun fires and bullets fly wildly. He struggles against Roger,
but Roger manages to hold on.

Roger: GIMME A HAND…SOMEBODY…

Another S.W.A.T. Trooper steps up out of the cloud of gas. He is
very tall and he looks mysterious in the fog as he speaks in a
deep voice.

Trooper: STEP AWAY FROM HIM.

Roger: GIMME A HAND.

Wooley throws his body around and slams Roger against the wall,
but Roger grabs him again just as the crazed man is levelling
off his gun at the open apartment door.

Roger: GODDAMMIT…HELP ME…HE’S CRAZY!

Trooper: STEP AWAY FROM HIM!

Just then, Wooley wrenches free and pushes Roger across the
hallway. The Trooper carefully aims his weapon and fires one
shot through Wooley’s head. The big man falls back violently.

The mysterious Trooper turns and hurries away down the hall.
Other S.W.A.T. Officers face him threateningly. He stares at
them through his mask. They let him pass. He disappears through
the smoke as other officers begin to restore order among the
civilians.

Women scream and cry over their dead-loved ones. Roger is helped
to his feet by another Officer. Roger’s eyes are wide and
staring through the insect-like lenses of his mask. They are
locked on the sight he sees through the door of the apartment
which Wooley kicked open. The other Trooper looks and his eyes
widen as well.

53 In the apartment, lying in a pool of blood, are the partial
remains of what was a human body. It has been ripped to shreds.

Roger staggers against the door frame. The other trooper moves
inside. Another corpse, also mutilated, one leg missing, one arm
badly mangled. It is trying to move. To reach the Troopers.

54 A sudden loud scream. Roger startles and spins around. A woman
in the hall has seen the grisly sight, and she runs screaming
down the corridor. More confusion, as civilians push through the
Troopers who try to hold them back.

55 The Trooper in the apartment is revulsed…

Trooper: JESUS…HOLY JESUS…

A third officer enters the apartment. He speaks to the Trooper
which is closest to the writhing corpse on the floor.

Trooper 2: SHOOT IT…SHOOT IT THROUGH THE HEAD.

The young officer is too dumb struck to respond so the third
Officer pulls out his pistol. Then suddenly, from out of the
shadows, a spectre-like figure lunges at the third Officer,
flailing and biting at his arms. It is a wild-haired woman.
There are several bleeding wounds over her body. She is one of
the walking dead.

The Trooper struggles to free himself, and Roger darts into the
room. Although the Zombie is weak, she manages to hold on to the
Trooper.

Another creature suddenly appears in the bedroom doorway. A
male, it staggers out into the room. The young Trooper struggles
with his holster trying to free his hand gun. Suddenly, he feels
something on his leg. The dismembered corpse is clutching his
ankle, pulling itself closer, it’s mouth open. The boy tries to
pull away, but falls onto the floor, crashing over a table and
lamp. He tries to crawl away, but the frail corpse keeps its
hold and drags along behind the young Trooper, who still cannot
free his pistol.

Roger and the third Officer fling all their weight against the
woman Zombie. She flies against a wall, but bounces back
immediately, and attacks again. The third Trooper’s rifle fires.
A slug tears through the woman’s chest but it doesn’t stop her
onslaught. Another shot rips through her neck. Still she comes.