fate

‘Fate’ continued...

Written by Carla Kettern; Directed by Gary Nelson; (as "fanscribed" by earlydues)

[ Gary reads from the companion article in paper: STRUCTURAL COLLPASE KILLS MAN ]

Gary:
Gary Hobson, 32, died yesterday afternoon in a structural collapse at a vacant carpet store. The collapse was centered in the building's sub-basement.

[ Black and white view of story. ]

Reporter Woman:
It is not known why Hobson, a local restaurateur, was in the building, which has been vacant for the past two years. Hobson was pronounced dead on the scene at 5 o'clock this afternoon.

Cat:
Meow.

Gary:
Why do I go there? Why do I go there? It doesn’t say.

[ At carpet store. Gary looks around and leaves. ]

[ McGinty's. Gary is at bar writing something. Marissa enters for the day. ]

Marissa:
Gary, is that you?

Gary:
Yep.

Marissa:
I called earlier. There wasn't an answer.

Gary:
I was out. I had some things to do.

Marissa:
Well, listen, what I said last night. I didn't…

Gary:
That's okay. I, uh, I'm sorry, I was wrong.

Marissa:
I pushed you, and I shouldn't have done that. I know you're hurting.

Gary:
I'm not hurting now. Everything's going to be fine.

Marissa:
Are you sure?

Gary:
Losing someone is, uh, it's uh… heh. I just didn't know how to deal with it. But I'm going to be fine now, I'm going to move on and everything's going to be fine, Marissa.

Marissa:
I understand. Are you sure you're ready?

Gary:
Yep.

[ Gary finishes writing, tears off paper, folds it up and moves to the other bar to write some more. ]

Marissa:
Gary?

Gary:
Listen, I uh…

[ Puts paper between bottles behind bar. ]

Gary:
I gotta make a phone call and then, uh, I'll be right back, all right?

[ In office. Gary dials his parents' number. ]

Lois [answering machine]:
Hello…

Gary:
Mom

Lois:
This is Lois and Bernie Hobson. We're not home, but we would love to hear from you, so leave a message. [beeeeep]

Gary:
Hi, it's me. I, I was hoping to catch you in. But you're not in, so I'll leave a message I guess. I was just, I was just thinking about you... both. And I wanted to, uh, I wanted to tell you that I love you. And I miss you. That's all. Bye.

[ Out in bar, Erica enters. ]

Erica:
Where's Gary?

Marissa:
In the office?

Erica:
How is he?

Marissa:
Not good.

Erica:
What do you mean?

Marissa:
He was saying the right things, but he was saying them for me, you know? He was writing something.

Erica:
Writing what?

Marissa:
I have no idea. I don't know why, but I'm frightened, Erica.

Erica:
This thing he was writing - could you tell if he took it into the office with him?

Marissa:
He came over here. And, um, then his footsteps got quiet. He must have gone behind the bar, on the matting. Then I heard the pen again. Then glass. No, bottles. Bottles knocking together.

[ Erica finds paper stashed between bottles. ]

Erica:
It's an envelope with your name on it.

[ Erica looks at Marissa. Both look as if they should read the letter. ]

Erica:
Should we do this?

Marissa:
I think we have to.

Erica:
It's a letter to a Natalie Blake at Stevens, Rayner, and Blake.

Marissa:
That's our lawyer.

Erica:
It tells her that if anything happens to Gary, he wants you to have full ownership of McGinty's.

[ In office. ]

Marissa:
Gary.

Gary:
Yeah.

Marissa:
You have to talk to us. We're you're friends. And that word stops meaning much, if anything, if you don't let us help you. Whatever it is you're going through, I don't want you to go it alone.

Gary [after a pause]:
My obituary's in the paper. It says this afternoon at 5 o'clock I'm going to die in the basement of a carpet store.

Erica:
Oh, my God.

Gary:
I don't know why it happens. I went there this morning. It was all boarded up, there was nobody there.

Erica:
How could you have gone there?

Gary:
Well, I was curious, wasn't I?

Marissa:
Gary, you read about bad things happening in the paper every day. And you stop them - every day. Don't just sit there and sound like you're just accepting this.

Gary:
Oh, no, I tried. I called everyone from the city engineering office to the company that owns the building, but shoring up derelict buildings doesn't appear to be very high on anyone's 'to do' list. So I tried, but, uh, heh heh… there doesn't seem to be anything I can do to stop that building from collapsing.

Erica:
That doesn't mean you have to go there.

Gary:
No, no. But I may not have a choice either.

Marissa:
But Gary, if you're not there…

Gary:
There's a reason the paper sends me, isn't that what you always say, Marissa? So why change the rules now?

[ Gary flips through paper to his obituary. ]

Gary:
Maybe, uh, maybe it's what I've got coming, huh?

Erica:
You think the paper is punishing you for letting that man die.

Gary:
I was supposed to save him, but I didn't.

Marissa:
I understand what you're feeling, Gary, but you're wrong. That just can't be.

Gary:
The paper doesn't do anything without a reason. So what other reason could there be?

[ Gary starts to leave. ]

Erica:
Gary, promise me you're not gonna go there.

Gary:
No, no. I'm just going to go upstairs.

[ Gary leaves, but does not go upstairs. He heads out to look around Chicago instead, as if to say 'good bye' one last time. Stops at Sun Times area - the Fountain, etc. Gary walks aimlessly. Stops to wait for "walk" signal at light and sees Old Man across the street. Follows him.]

Gary:
Hey!

[ Old Man keeps one step ahead of Gary. He chases him until finally he ends up at carpet store again. Sees a young couple walking towards building.]

Rosalind:
I'm cold.

Matthew:
Well, we can't go back to my house. My mom's there now.

Rosalind:
You should take me home. I'm freezing.

Matthew:
Come on, it'll be warm enough in there.

[ Matthew and Rosalind enter building. ]

Gary:
Hey! Hey!

[ Gary starts to walk away, but sees headline in his mind: STRUCTURAL COLLAPSE KILLS TWO. Rosalind Owens, 16, and Matthew Stevens, 14. Gary runs into carpet store to get the kids out. ]

Gary:
Hey! Hey, you can't be in here, you hear me? Hey kid! Get outta here!

Matthew:
Who are you?

Gary:
Get outta here.

Matthew:
Hey, why you got to tell me what to do?

Gary:
Get outta here, take your girlfriend with you. Go on, Go! Go!

[ Stairs collapse as girl nears the top. She is hanging on by her hands. ]

Matthew:
Rosie, hold on.

Rosalind:
I can't.

Gary:
Yes you can. Come on now.

Rosalind:
Help me.

Matthew:
I can't hold her.

Gary:
All right, get your foot... All right, I got her. Come on, you can do it.

Matthew:
I got her.

Gary:
Go on now, get outta here. Go! Get outta here!

[ Kids leave. Gary steps back and is suddenly buried under falling debris. ]

[ Commercial. ]

[ At carpet store. Search/Rescue people and press outside. ]

Chief:
Get me a read on the ground floor integrity and the void spaces.

Search/Rescue1:
You got it, chief.

Search/Rescue2:
Set it up.

[ McGinty's. Television is on. ]

Reporter woman:
We're coming to you live from the corner of Maxwell and Halstad, where an unidentified male is trapped in a collapsed sub-basement. There is no indication whether the victim is dead or alive.

Marissa:
No.

Erica:
He went there.

Reporter woman:
We'll update you when further reports become available.

Erica:
Come on.

[ Basement of carpet store. See Gary's hand, which is not moving. ]

Chief:
You picking up sounds?

Search/Rescue3:
Not yet, chief.

Search/Rescue4:
We can bag under the beam, Chief, but I don't know if the structure's gonna hold.

Chief:
Search team. You got one shot at drilling a hole for that search cam. Any further structural movement, and I'm gonna pull you out.

Search/Rescue guys:
Right.

Search/Rescue4:
Whoever he is, I don't think he's got a chance in hell.

Marissa:
He's alive.

Armstrong:
Ladies, you're going to have to step away.

Marissa:
He's alive. I know he's alive.

Chief:
Who?

Marissa:
Gary Hobson. His name is Gary Hobson.

Armstrong:
I know the guy. Kind of a hero, or a crackpot. I don't know which.

Chief:
We got an ID. Hobson. Gary Hobson.

Search/Rescue Guy on Megaphone:
Mr. Hobson. This is the fire department. Can you hear us? Please respond.

Armstrong:
Come on.

[ Gary's hand moves. Structure makes noise. ]

Search/Rescue3:
Just structural sounds. It's not good.

Chief:
Search team - out.

Search/Rescue Guy:
Camera's almost in, Chief.

Chief:
We got movement on the structure. Get out!

Marissa:
Please. Please. Why can't you just go in and look for him?

Chief:
I know how you feel, ma'am. But given the situation, I can't risk my men unless I have some sign that he's alive.

Marissa:
Listen. I know there's no reason for you to believe me, but I can feel him. And he's alive. Please?

Chief:
Search team - give it another shot.

[ Gary begins to move. Crawls out from under debris. ]

Search/Rescue3:
It's going down, sir!

Chief:
Search team, stand away. I repeat. Stand away.

[ Building collapses some more. ]

Search Team1:
Everybody out?

Search Team2:
Yeah. All men accounted for, sir.

Chief:
Call in the coroner and the body recovery team. Secure the scene until they get here.

[ Basement. Light shines on Gary from somewhere. Old Man is standing in light beam ]

Old Man:
Lousy day to die. Sure you want to do this?

Gary:
You brought me here.

Old Man:
In my experience, we all get pretty much where we want to go. Having a problem with that paper, aren't you?

Gary:
I can't do this anymore.

Old Man:
Why is that?

Gary:
Because someone died.

Old Man:
And you decided that made it your turn. I've been there.

Gary:
No. No you haven't. No one's been there.

Old Man:
If you wanna go on, you have to accept the responsibility. And the loss.

Gary:
Why? I didn't ask for it. I don't want it. Do you know what it's like to wake up every morning and know what's going to happen? I don't want to know. I don't want to care. I just, I just want to wake up one morning and not know. Please, I just… just… I just… I just want to wake up.

Old Man:
The choice is yours. Always has been. Time to accept that.

Gary:
His name was Jeremiah, you know that. His name was Jeremiah, and I let him die. [ breaks down in tears ]

Old Man:
Count the living, not the dead, Gary. Count the living, Gary.

[ Gary flashes back to previous saves: Amanda from 'The Choice,' vet from 'The Medal,' girl from 'Walk, Don't Run,' Secretary from 'In Gary We Trust,' Rebekah from Just One of Those Things,' Sal from 'Blackout,' Paul Moreno from 'Return of Crumb,' Kevin from 'Jenny Sloan,' Harry from 'The Wrong Man.' ]

[ Gary seems to become aware of his surroundings again. Old Man is gone, but light is still there. Gary starts to get up from rubble. ]

Gary:
Hey. Hey. Hey! Hey, I'm down here!

Search/Rescue3:
I got him. I got him!

Chief:
Rescue team. Let's get him outta there!

Search/Rescue Team:
Watch out, down there. Stand clear. Give me your hand. There you go. Give me it. There, you okay? All right now, hold on buddy. Hold on.

[ Search/Rescue guys pull Gary up to safely. Headline in Gary's paper, which he left behind in the basement, changes to an advertisement for Auto Times. Gary is helped out by Search/Rescue workers. ]

Erica:
He's out.

Gary [ to Rescue worker ]:
Thank you.

Marissa:
Gary.

[ Gary hugs Marissa. ]

Erica:
I thought you were dead.

[ Gary hugs Erica. ]

Chief:
Mr. Hobson. We have to get in the ambulance.

Search/Rescue Guy [to Gary]:
Good job.

[ Gary walks through crowd of fire and police and press. Armstrong pats him on shoulder. Others give congratulatory signals and applause. ]

Reporter Woman:
Tonight, what we do know is that … almost mystical experience, this man is alive….

Reporter Man:
Excuse me, sir, are you okay?

[ Next day. Gary's room. He's looking at his copy of "Lost Chicago." ]

Radio:
Good morning Chicago. It's 6:30. It's a beautiful day outside and temperatures are warming up throughout the Windy City...

[ Meow. Thump. ]

Cat:
Meow. Meow.

[ Gary gently picks up cat and paper. ]

Gary:
How you doing, buddy?

Cat:
Meow.

Gary:
Oh, yeah? I missed you too. You want some milk? Huh? I tell you what, I got some tuna, you want some tuna?

Cat:
Meow.

Gary:
Here you go.

[ Show close up of picture in "Lost Chicago" of the Old Man -- Lucius Snow -- and a cat that looks suspiciously like Cat. ]

The end.

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