The Dead Ed Project Day Five

September 5, 1:16 P.M.

[Rich Ramirez is at the Burkittsville Police Station. He walks up to the desk, where a receptionist sits idly. He’s equipped with a spy cam on his lapel.]

RR: Hi. I was called by a Detective Marvin?

Receptionist: Hold on … can you get Don?

[There’s a commotion, and then an African-American man of imposing stature walks in. He and Rich confer, and they go back into a conference room.]

RR: So you found this guy wailing in the woods and you think it’s one of the people missing?

Detective Marvin: Yeah. We’ve been looking for your friends all week, and today this psychopath hopped up on some serious mushrooms stumbled upon us. He’s in the drunk tank by himself right now, but he’s fairly incoherent.

RR: Who is it?

DM: We’re not sure. No ID, couldn’t restrain him good enough to get fingerprints. We decided to let him just throw up all the mushrooms in his stomach before interrogating him. He’s our prime suspect. He had the satellite uplink you said your friends were using. We have no idea about the house … We’ve taken the chopper up but we haven’t seen anything. We’ve got teams searching, but we haven’t found anything. The key to this whole puzzle is in that drunk tank, and we can’t get him to crack.

RR: Do you think he did it?

DM: I don’t know. We can’t get him to crack. As far as we know, he’s been stuck in the woods, subsisting solely on those mushrooms, and subsequently he’s been on a 3 or 4 day trip. He’s completely out of it. His hallucinations have become reality. He could have done it and have no idea.

RR: Can I see him?

DM: Well, he’s been a little out of control. If I let you see him, I’ll have to pretend I didn’t let you.

RR: I understand.

DM: If anything happens, you sneaked back there.

RR: I understand.

DM: Okay … let’s go. I need you to make him come back to reality.

[Detective Marvin takes Rich to the cells. There’s one cell with a large door at the end of the hall. There’s a bit of thrashing going on beyond the portal. Detective Marvin stops in front of this door.]

DM: Alright, I’ll be out here. Knock and tell me when you’re done.

RR: Thank you Detective.

[Rich backs off as the Detective turns the key and opens the door. Rich slips into the room as Marvin quickly closes the door. Before him is something so feral, so … non-human that he feels as if his eyes deceive him. It’s Mike, but it … it’s almost not … he’s squatting on the floor, surrounded by his own piss and shit and vomit. His clothes are in tatters, and he’s completely disheveled.]

RR: Mike … are you okay?

[Mike merely rocks back and forth from one foot to the other.]

RR: Mike … where are Chad and Melissa?

[Mike is still rocking.]

RR: Mike …

Mike: THEY LEFT ME!

[he springs up and grabs Rich by the lapels and tosses him onto the bed, which has been stained by vomit.]

Mike: They left me. I called and called but they didn’t come back.

RR: I’m sorry.

Mike: They left me.

RR: Do you know what happened to them?

Mike: ….

RR: They went into a house and disappeared … you found the uplink and sent out the final tape. They think you did it. They think you killed them. Did you do it, Mike?

Mike: They left me.

RR: Did you do it?

Mike: They left me.

RR: They can’t release you until they find out what happened. You’re the prime suspect.

Mike: …

RR: What happened?

Mike: …

RR: Dammit Mike, what happened?!

Mike: He was out to get us. He split us up.

RR: Who did?

Mike: …

RR: Mike, who split you up?

Mike: you need to talk to me. I’m not me anymore.

RR: What? Mike, I don’t understand.

Mike: I’m gone. I don’t know where I am.

RR: I need you to focus. Tell me what happened to Chad.

Mike: Chad’s bad. Melissa’s more. Melissa. Melissa. Melissa.

RR: Okay … simple question. Where did you find the uplink?

Mike: At the house!

RR: Where is the house?

Mike: In the woods.

RR: Where?

Mike: In the woods.

RR: We need to know where the house is so we can find Chad and Melissa.

Mike: Melissa Melissa Melissa!

RR: Okay … did you do it, Mike? Did you call to Chad and Melissa?

Mike: YES! They left me!

RR: Did you lure them into the house?

Mike: THEY LEFT ME!

RR: Did you hurt them?

Mike: They left me …

RR: Did you kill them?

Mike: They … they left me.

[with grim resignation, Rich knocks on the door. The question’s been answered.]

RR: Let me out Detective Marvin.

[the door creeps open, but Detective Marvin isn’t opening it. Rich peeks out, and he can’t find the detective.]

RR: Detective Marvin?

[Rich closes the door and discovers the detective, who is facing the corner …]

[THWUNK!]

[Rich hits the floor.]

[He’s being dragged away]

[The police station is empty. Rich’s spy cam can barely make out anything, but there is no movement, nobody around.]

[Rich is dragged all the way out the door and into the parking lot. Rich is picked up and shoved into the backseat of a police car. The only view is of the view from the window. His captor gets in the front and drives away.]

[The car is driving near the woods. It stops.]

[The door opens]

Voice #1: What does he know?

Voice #2: Nothing.

Voice #1: leave him here. I never want to see you again. Understood?

Voice #2: Understood.

[Rich is dragged out of the car and dropped. The car drives away.]

[the camera only sees the road and the woods beyond.]

[Rich begins to stir. He realizes he’s been left all alone on a dirt road … there are woods to either side. A car drives up. Rich waves them down and they stop …]

[It’s Chad and Melissa!]

Rich: CHAD! MELISSA! You guys are okay!

Chad: Rich! You have no idea what happened to us.


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