CHINA RED

by Bruce W. Durbin

  Rachel looks up, meeting eyes with Tommy.

  Tommy, "Oh..."

  Rachel, "And, the desert was the Las Vegas Strip, where you met Doug, who was flying helicopters for some Grand Canyon tour company."

  Tommy, "Oh, yeah, but..."

  Rachel, smiling, "Tommy, darlin', if you want to impress a girl, don't put so much stuff up on your...social networking page, especially stuff that...won't impress a girl."

  Rachel closes the ZIPPO and picks up the camera, makes an adjustment, then brings the camera up.

  Rachel looks through the lens, seeing Tommy, fingers the ring.

  Rachel, "What's the story with the ring?"

  Rachel lowers the camera.

  Tommy, smiling, "Family heirloom."

  Rachel looks at Doug, giving him a smile, then looks back at Tommy, "Yeah, but whose family?"

  Doug, "That depends on the day. Two weeks ago, he was Bill Gates' son, but I think that's because he needed money."

  Tommy, to Doug, "Fuck you."

  Doug laughs.

  Tommy, to Rachel, "Know what's worse than not knowing who your family is?"

  Again, Doug tries to stop Rachel, but she can't stop herself.

  Rachel, "No, what's worse?"

  Tommy, "Knowing WHO your family is, because then you can't make a bad family into a good family."

  Doug, "Know what's worse than knowing who your family is?"

  Tommy and Doug start to stare at each other.

  Tommy, "No, tell me."

  Doug, "Knowing who your PARTNER is."

  They stare at each other, with Rachel looking at them. She raises her camera.

  Rachel, "Okay. Doug? Tommy? Say cheese."

  Rachel starts to snap the photograph.

  There's a loud noise and they all jerk their heads up, with Rachel accidently hitting the camera button, causing the FLASH to go off, just as a FLASH lights up the night sky and above them.

  They watch, as the cargo airplane passes overhead, then drops below a distant hill.

  There's a brief pause and then they see just a slight flash from behind the hill.

  CHAPTER 18

  In a remote area, at night, two males, Chung, in his 50's and Kung, in his 40's, both dressed in filthy clothing are standing next to an old, battered, militarysurplus type vehicle, look towards the hill. They're both wearing heavy, black, lace-up boots, that are muddy and heavily worn. They stare at the location, where the airplane just crashed.

  Kung, in Chinese, "What the hell you think it was?" Chung, in Chinese, "Maybe, one of those damn spy satellites. We could get a reward."

  Kung, in Chinese, "Idiot, it was an airplane, even I know..."

  In a flash, Chung backhands Kung, dropping him to the ground.

  Looking around, a pile of skinned animals, with the ground soaked with blood and guts come into view.

  The vehicle shows numerous spotlights on top of the cab, indicating that Chung and Kung have been night hunting. Kung wipes his face, as Chung stares towards the distant hill.

  Chung, in Chinese, "Plane...satellite....don't matter. There'll be something we can sell."

  CHAPTER 19

  At night and in a small, rural village, with simple houses, several CHINESE MEN, having the appearance of farmers, look towards some distant hills.

  They turn and talk with each other, then they scatter to different houses in the village.

  CHAPTER 20

  Doug, Rachel, and Tommy all stare towards the now dark, distant hill. Doug moves, opens up a sleeping bag, folds it out, and then starts to get into it.

  Rachel and Tommy quickly jerk their attention towards Doug, with questioning looks. Doug closes his eyes, as he snuggles in the sleeping bag.

  Doug, "We can't fly in the dark and that hill...where the plane went down, is close to twenty miles away."

  Rachael, "There has to be some, something we can do. What if..."

  Doug, "There's no cell phone service out here and..."

  Doug opens his eyes, looking at Rachel and Tommy.

  Doug, "The radio's broken in the copter."

  Rachel, shocked, "Broken?"

  Doug closes his eyes.

  Doug, "If anyone survived, we'll find them in the morning."

  Rachel turns and looks towards the distant hill.

  Rachel, softly, "If anyone survived."

  CHAPTER 21

  The Cargo Airplane has crashed and torn apart, scattering the cargo containers across the remote area, like a child's playing blocks.

  The containers reflect light from the full moon.

  CHAPTER 22

  At the helicopter, Tommy curls up into a sleeping bag and turns to the side, seeing that Rachael is also in a sleeping bag, with her eyes closed.

  Tommy turns and looks in the direction of the crash, then turns back.

  Tommy slightly raises his hand, looking at the ring.

  Tommy, softly, "Family heirloom."

  Tommy lays down and closes his eyes.

  CHAPTER 23

  It's a dream, with the scene in black-and-white.

  It's day and a small village comes into view.

  A lone Chinese man wearily walks down a trail, then stops, and looks up,

  with the warrior becoming recognized as Tommy. Tommy sees the village before him and smiles. He walks into the Village, with the people all suspiciously eying him.

  Everyone, including Tommy, is dressed in ancient, Chinese clothing.

  Tommy carries a Chinese sword, slung across his shoulder and his clothes are dirty. It appears that he's been traveling for some time. Tommy looks around and then sees what appears to be a restaurant.

  Tommy walks in that direction, periodically looking around and seeing that people are staring at him.

  Tommy enters the restaurant and looks around, with everyone turning and looking at him, with suspicion.

  Tommy moves and sits down at a table.

  There's a brief pause and then Su Lin, an attractive female, in her 20's, approaches Tommy.

  Su Lin, in Chinese, "You shouldn't have come. It's not safe."

  Tommy puts his hands on the table, with the ring becoming visible.

  Su Lin glances down at the ring and gasps. She takes a couple of steps backwards. She starts to turn around, when General Tong and his SOLDIERS burst into the restaurant, knocking Su Lin to the floor.

  The SOLDIERS look down at Su Lin and laugh.

  A couple of Village Men move towards the SOLDIERS, with the SOLDIERS quickly pushing them back, as they laugh.

  The SOLDIERS slowly turn around the room, looking at the frightened people.

  General Tong, in Chinese, "No one? No one dares to step forward? No one?"

  Tommy looks down at the table, then slowly looks up, seeing that Su Lin is looking at him with pleading eyes, as she still sits on the floor.

  Tommy puts the palms of his hands on the table, then slowly pushes himself up.

  Tommy, in Chinese, " I dare."

  CHAPTER 24

  In the restaurant, Tommy straightens up and slowly removes the sword from its case.

  General Tong and the SOLDIERS all look at Tommy and evilly smile.

  Suddenly, General Tong and the SOLDIERS charge Tommy, who expertly defends himself.

  A full-scale battle begins, with Tommy demonstrating superior fighting skills.

  Tommy is engaged in an intense sword fight, with multiple SOLDIERS.

  Seizing an opportunity, Tommy drives the sword into a SOLDIER, then jerks the sword out, continuing to fight with another SOLDIER.

  The SOLDIER drops to the floor, as blood seeps from his wound. His body jerks and then he goes still.

  There's a brief pause and then the SOLDIER's body moves. He then gets up, moving back into the fight.

  As Tommy spins around, he sees the SOLDIER that he just killed.

  Tommy is confused and hesitates, just for a moment, as General Tong laughs.

  Tommy's face contorts and he looks down, seeing the bloody end of
a sword, which has exited his chest.

  Tommy tries to reach for the end of the sword. Tommy slowly looks up, seeing brilliant, blinding light.

  CHAPTER 25

  Suddenly, brilliant light sweeps over the crashed cargo airplane, as the vehicle speeds down the hill.

  The vehicle swerves, then slides to a stop, as Kung and Chung get out.

  They look around at the scattered, shiny containers and they both begin to smile, revealing discolored teeth.

  Chung, in Chinese, "Get the pry bars."

  Kung is still looking at all of the scattered merchandise and the containers. Chung, louder and in Chinese, "Now. Get the fuckin' pry bars."

  Kung comes out of his daze and hurries to the vehicle, as Chung looks around the area. Chung moves a short distance, then stops, seeing the back of an airplane seat, which is sitting perfectly straight.

  Chung moves up to the seat and then walks around it, seeing the apparently dead Chin. His body is bloody and battered, but he's still belted into the seat, with his head bowed down. Chin's arms are at impossible angles, indicating that his arms have been broken.

  Chung slightly smiles, then moves forward. Chung tries to pry the gold wedding band from Chin's finger, but it won't budge.

  Chung pulls out a knife and starts to slice the finger.

  Chin's eyes jerk open and he screams, causing Chung to jump back, falling to the ground. Chung looks at Chin, who goes berserk, jerking around, trying to get out of the seat.

  Chung slowly gets to his feet, takes the knife, and drives it into Chin's chest.

  Chin stares at Chung, with confusion and pain, trying to grab Chung with his broken arms, with the arms just flapping.

  There's a brief pause and then Chin's body goes still.

  Chung pulls out the knife, then takes Chin's finger, slices the finger off, slipping the ring from the finger.

  Chung puts the ring in a pocket, sees the gold neck chain, and snaps it from Chin's neck, as Kung walks up, carrying some pry bars.

  Chung begins going through Chin's pockets, as Kung watches. Chung finds a wallet, takes out the money, stuffing it into a pocket. He looks up, seeing that Kung is staring at him.

  Chung, in Chinese, "We'll strip what we can and split everything...fiftyfifty."

  Kung isn't sure, but nods his head.

  Chung, in Chinese, "See if you can find the other pilot. Pilots always have money."

  Kung hesitates, then walks away.

  CHAPTER 26

  Inside a small office, Timothy is busy shredding documents. Looking around the office, discloses numerous empty folders and large bags of already shredded paper.

  The office is a complete disaster, looking as though Timothy is destroying everything. There is a cell phone on a cluttered desk, on top of some documents. A cell phone RINGS.

  Timothy shuts off the shredder.

  A cell phone RINGS.

  Timothy frowns, then answers the cell phone.

  As Timothy talks, he nervously looks around the room, seeing more files. Timothy, "Yes? Yes, this is Timothy Michaels."

  Timothy starts to pick up some more files, when his face starts to pale. He drops the files, which open, scattering papers to the floor.

  Timothy, "No, no..."

  CHAPTER 27

  In a small office, U.S. Marshall Jim Murray, in his 30's, sits at a desk, working on the computer in front of him.

  Looking around his desk, identifies various U.S. MARSHAL memorabilia. The other desk has numerous Chinese-type memorabilia.

  Agent Ming, in his 30's, hurries into the office. Ming is casually dressed.

  Ming, thick Chinese accent, "We have a problem."

  Ming takes a deep breath, as Jim gets up, revealing that he's wearing cowboy boots.

  Ming, "The plane...it went down."

  Jim, instantly upset, "How the fuck did that happen?"

  CHAPTER 28

  At the crash site, Kung and Chung are still going through the crash site, with doors of a couple of air containers having been open.

  The sun is also just starting to rise, behind a distant hill.

  Kung, as he works and in Chinese, "What the fuck do you think happened?"

  Chung, in Chinese, "Shit happens and..."

  Chung looks at the crashed airplane, in Chinese, as he smile, "Shit happened, but for us...it's a good thing."

  Chung and Kung walk up to a container, with Kung using the pry bar to open the container.

  Lee's voice, in Chinese and from inside the container, "Help, help me."

  Terrified, Chung and Kung jump back, then look at each other.

  Lee's voice, in Chinese, "Help, help me...please."

  They look back at the container.

  Kung, in Chinese and frightened, "Who, who are you? What, what are you?"

  Lee's voice, in Chinese, "My name is Lee...I was kidnapped. Please, please help me out of here."

  Chung looks at the container, then starts to walk away, but Kung grabs his arm.

  Chung stares hard down at Kung's hand, with Kung releasing his arm.

  Kung, in Chinese, "We, we should help him."

  Chung, in Chinese, "Why?"

  Lee's voice, in Chinese, "I can pay."

  CHAPTER 29

  Chung seems to think about it, then moves back to the container. He takes the pry bar and pops open the door.

  Inside the container, Lee, in his 40's, is sitting in a airplane seat, which has been bolted to the floor of the container. There is a series of oxygen tanks mounted on the walls.

  Chung and Kung look at the tanks and other equipment, then stop, seeing that Lee is handcuffed, with a belly chain and ankle chains. Lee has managed to raise an arm and remove the oxygen mask.

  Lee is also dressed in a bright ORANGE JUMPSUIT, but he's wearing very expensive, leather shoes.

  Chung and Kung are amazed. Chung then looks at Lee.

  Chung, in Chinese, "You said...you said you can pay?"

  Lee, in Chinese, "Yes, in another container, there is money, a lot of money...gold."

  Kung starts to smile, but Chung is apprehensive.

  Chung, in Chinese, "What container? Where?"

  Lee slightly smiles, in Chinese, "I tell you which container and then...you'll kill me."

  Chung slightly smiles, in Chinese, "I don't have to kill you...I can just leave you here."

  Kung stares at Lee's face, with recognition starting to come over his face.

  Chung starts to move away, in Chinese, "We will search the other containers. We will find the gold on our..."

  Kung grabs Chung and pulls him back. Chung spins around, looking at Kung, with anger on his face.

  Chung starts to raise his fist to hit Kung, when Kung points back at Lee.

  Lee watches as Kung whispers something to Chung. Chung shakes his head and starts to hit Kung, but then stops, and looks back at Lee. Chung stares at Lee, with recognition starting to come over his face. Chung says something to Kung, who hesitates.

  Chung slaps Kung, with Kung running away.

  Chung slowly moves up to Lee, in Chinese, "I am sorry. I did not know. We will get you out of there."

  Kung reappears with a bolt cutter. Chung moves into the container and begins cutting the handcuffs, as Lee smiles.

  CHAPTER 30

  Inside a strip club, bored Chinese Girls move around the stages and slowly slide up and down brass poles.

  There are just a few drunk customers, several with their heads down on the tables.

  PO, in his 50's, looking like a gangster, is on the telephone.

  Po, in Chinese, "When? Where? Find out."

  Po slams the telephone down and looks at the Girls. He turns, seeing several Chinese Gangsters, who are leaning against the bar.

  Po motions them over, with the Gangsters quickly moving up to him.

  Po starts to talk with them.

  CHAPTER 31

  Inside the cargo airplane, Chung and Kung see crates, with Chinese markings.

  Chung,
reading and in Chinese, "Wine. China White."

  Chung grabs the pry bar from Kung's hand and pries a crate open. He pushes around some packing material and then pulls out a bottle of wine. He tries opening it, but he can't get the top off. He takes the pry bar and smashes the end.

  A thin vapor flows from the bottle.

  Chung drops the pry bar and pours some wine into his hand, as Kung licks his lips, watching Chung.

  Chung raises his hand to his mouth and tastes the wine. He slightly smiles, as he puts the bottle to his mouth, taking a deep guzzle.

  Kung moves forward removes a bottle from the crate. He smashes the top of the bottle on the crate.

  A thin vapor flows from the bottle.

  Kung raises the bottle and takes a deep guzzle.

  They both look at each other and smiles, as they continue drinking.

  Lee appears, wearing a flight suit that don't fit and he's still very the expensive shoes. Chung quickly grabs a bottle and moves to Lee, offering it to him.

  Chung, in Chinese, "Mister Lee...sir?"

  Lee accepts the bottle and with a powerful twist, opens the bottle.

  Lee takes a drink and looks at Chung, who suddenly grabs his stomach, as his face contorts in pain, with Chung doubling over.

  There's a brief pause and then Kung does the same thing. Lee looks at the two men, then looks past them, seeing some crates.

  Lee drops the bottle, which breaks, with the liquid spilling outside of the container and seeping into the ground.

  Lee brushes by Chung and Kung, then looks at the crates.

  Chung and Kung's faces contort in pain, as they both drop the bottles. They grab their stomachs and start to stagger around.

  Kung screams in pain, as Chung looks down at the crates, believing that he's been tricked.

  Kung doubles over, vomiting. As he looks up, he sees Chung pick up the pry bar.

  Chung staggers, but begins smashing everything, like a wild man. Chung turns the inside of the container into a disaster area.