Suspect Zero

FADE IN:

...on a BLACK WAVE - vast, oceanic, and coming right at us.

BEGIN TITLES.

The wave is relentless, huge, menacing. We can't tell if this

is daytime or night because it simply obscures everything -

noisily. It sucks, it yawns, it roars.

Then we realize... this massive wave of darkness is actually

just a RUN-OFF of dirty black WATER alongside the edge of an

Interstate. We PULL OUT OF IT now...

...to find concrete, and garbage, and weeds. END TITLES.

1 EXT. DITCH - OFF THE INTERSTATE - 4:30 A.M. 1

Amongst the refuse is a discarded MILK CARTON, resting on its

back. The carton asks "Have You Seen Me?" above a photographed

face that's been obscured by grime.

Yellowing newspaper, old Coke cans, Twinkie wrappers... in

that bed of untended weeds. A hollow Texas wind blows through

it all. We stay with the carton...

Then that hollow wind gains speed... and a deep RUMBLE grows

in the distance, becoming a ROAR. The yellowed newspaper lifts

off and whips past us.

...as an 18-WHEEL MACK TRUCK blows by, just a blur in the

corner of our frame, doing 75 in the pre-dawn darkness.

Then, the truck is gone, and the rush of air dissipates. The

milk carton, the coke cans... they lie undisturbed.

A LIGHT RAIN begins to fall... and some of the grime washes

away from that milk carton, revealing a face. A child. "Have

You Seen Me?" It's heartbreaking.

TILT UP... to take in the vast flatness of Texas' I-35:

concrete forever. In the distance, gray highway yields to

black STORMCLOUDS gathering silently over endless prairie.

A vertical vein of LIGHTNING streaks through one of them.

CUT TO:

...a spoon, stirring a cup of coffee.

2 INT. "THE ALL-AMERICAN DINER" - GAINESVILLE TEXAS - CONTINUING 2

(4:
30 A.M.)

HAROLD SPECK sits: mid 40's, pleasant face. A family man.

Reads "Rod and Reel" magazine. Has a SALESMAN'S CASE by his

side. Around him is a TRUCK-STOP in twilight:

Truckers at the counter, Elvis on the wall, a "Drink Bud!"

mirror. The WORLD SERIES can be heard on a RADIO...

DOLLY (O.S.)

Top that off for ya, Hon?

That's DOLLY, a waitress, (50, been here too long.) Speck

looks up, smiles thinly, "No." Dolly heads off. Speck returns

to his article, underlining a particular passage.

...until a MAN seats himself, suddenly, in the seat opposite

Speck's. Speck reacts, startled.

SPECK:

Jesus...

The MAN's name is O'RYAN. We only see PIECES of him: his eyes,

his hands, a stain on his parka...

O'RYAN

What's in the case?

SPECK:

I'm sorry?

O'RYAN

You're always lugging that case around.

I'm curious.

Speck looks around: there are plenty of empty tables in here.

So why is this guy bothering me???

O'RYAN (CONT'D)

What do you sell?

SPECK:

I'm... in restaurant supplies. I didn't

get your name?

O'RYAN

Must travel a lot, huh?

Speck is looking for Dolly, a Manager, anyone...

O'RYAN (CONT'D)

Whole country, or just hereabouts?

SPECK:

I don't mean to be rude but--

O'RYAN

How's your wife feel about it?

That spun things a bit. Speck pauses.

SPECK:

What?

O'RYAN

She must get lonely, with you gone all

the time. Does she?

SPECK:

Look, I...

O'RYAN

Do you get lonely?

Speck's so thrown now he can't answer.

O'RYAN (CONT'D)

Ya miss f***ing her, Harold?

SPECK:

Listen, I don't know who you are but you

can't--

O'Ryan silences him... by holding up a piece of paper. On it

is a DRAWING. The image faces away from us. But Speck can see

it in rich detail. And his eyes go wide.

We catch GLIMPSES: The color of flesh. A body-part. Looks like

a rendering of a young, naked WOMAN.

And, just like that, Speck finds himself STARING. Glued.

O'RYAN (CONT'D)

Did it myself. It's sort of a hobby.

(no reply)

I've got more. Would you like to see

them?

O'Ryan lowers it and slides a SECOND DRAWING over... Speck is

speechless, transfixed. Can't look away.

O'RYAN (CONT'D)

Tell me:
those jokes about the traveling

salesman and the farmer's daughter - are

they true?

(Speck remains silent)

Here. This one's my favorite.

O'Ryan slides over DRAWING #3. Again, we don't get to see it.

And we still haven't seen all of O'Ryan's face.

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