Special Thanks to: Jean Pierre Magro, Lindsay Sanner, Ewan Jones Morris, Martha Appelt, Julie McDonald, Piotr Kaminski, Xuria Cristobal, HANDS-ON Glasgow, BBC-Props
SHOOTING DAYS: 4th of July - 9th of July '08, Red Roof Studios, Leith (Scotland)

Thursday 1 May 2008

1. INT. DINING ROOM - DAY (DAY 1)

We can hear SHOTS, SCREAMS and EXPLOSIONS in the distance. Sometimes the walls shake and a little bit of debris falls down from the ceiling. JOANNA (36) is sitting around the table with her children THOMAS (15), JULIE (16) and her husband STEVEN (38). They are looking at a little, plastic box standing behind them on a drawer. There is only one control-light shining on the box - GREEN... and suddenly it changes to RED. The family starts to cough and when Joanna sees that Thomas coughs some blood onto his little hand - she stands up and starts putting in a hurry a coat on herself and on her children. Steven grabs her arm.

STEVEN
You are fucking staying here!

He goes up to the children and starts taking their coats off.

JOANNA
Please!

The light on the machine changes back to GREEN.

STEVEN
Sit down! Do you hear me! SIT DOWN!

He pushes her onto the chair. We can see that it is a really poor family. Everyone has just a little bit of soup and a slice of bread lying in front of them. The walls are cracked and the windows are broken.

Suddenly we hear SOLDIERS COMING UP THE STAIRS, SHOTS AND CRYING. The sounds are coming closer...

JOANNA 
Let's get out of here!

STEVEN
We are staying here! Shut up!

He tries to take her coat off...

JOANNA
We'll make it! Please! Steven... listen to me!

Steven SLAPS her in the face.

STEVEN
Shut up! We are staying. There is no use in running away anymore... 
I'm sorry... don't you understand? It's full of them, they are everywhere and there are snipers behind every corner! What happened to our neighbors that run away yesterday!?

Steven sits down. Joanna doesn't answer... she just looks down at the table.

STEVEN (CONT'D)
Tell me? We are a family and we stay in our house. Would you rather die in a field somewhere...?

Steven grabs Thomas and Julie's hands and starts whispering a prayer:

JOANNA
(whispering)
But maybe...

STEVEN (CONT'D) 
(whispering)
Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by the name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven...

The DOOR SLAMS OPEN, SCREAMS, SHOUTING; the family squeezes its hands harder and a gun appears next to Stevens face... he's whispering the prayer faster now (we can only hear the prayer - every other sound is almost gone)

STEVEN (CONT'D)
(whispering)
... give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us...

One of the soldiers - SOLDIER #2 - grabs his head (we can hear everything normally again) and he puts it into the plate with the hot soup:

SOLDIER #1
STOP! Are you fucking nuts!?

We see Soldier #1 putting Soldier #3 onto the table - he's bleeding all over his head and we can see blood dripping out of his chest - he's almost unconscious. (ALL THE SOLDIERS HAVE GAS MASKS ON at the beginning, but they take them off after a while!)

SOLDIER #2
What?
(he's pointing a gun at Stevens head)

SOLDIER #1 
(to Joanna)
Some water... He's been hit a couple of times... fucking snipers.

She gets a glass of water and tries to pour it into Soldier #3 mouth.

SOLDIER #2
What?

Soldier #1 goes up to the window and takes a look outside. He draws the curtains a little bit and tells them to be quiet.

SOLDIER #1
Shhhh!

Suddenly we can hear a woman's voice shouting from the street outside the window:

Woman (V.O.)
Please... don't! Don't kill them! Please!

Her voice is accompanied by some children's crying and sobbing... We hear THREE SHOTS BEING FIRED. SILENCE.

/BEAT

SOLDIER #1 
I think they're gone... 
(he turns back to Soldier #2)
I haven't eaten for days asshole!

Soldier #1 takes a spoon and takes a sip of the soup. He takes another sip and sits down. The other soldier looks at him with disgrace.

SOLDIER #1 (CONT'D)
(to Joanna)
What do you call that?

SOLDIER #2
Fucking piss. Leave it... AHHH
(his arm hurts - we can see blood dripping from it)

SOLDIER #1
It's beyond good. You should get that fixed.
(to Joanna)
Have you made this?
(she nods that 'yes')
It even has a real sausage in it.

SOLDIER #2
Fucking thieves. We even haven't got meat in our regiment.
(still holding Steven)
Sit in that corner and behave.

He pushes Steven into the corner. Steven is standing in the corner - we can see that he's angry. Soldier #2 sits down in front of the plate and the head of Soldier #3.

SOLDIER #2 (CONT'D)
Now sit... common, be a good dog. This animals don't understand a fucking word we're saying.
(he turns to Joanna and points at his arm)

Joanna bows over his arm and Soldier #2 can see a a bit of her breasts.

SOLDIER #2 (CONT'D)
You have a lovely wife...
(he points at the chair inviting Joanna to sit down with them.)

Steven sits down on the floor. Soldier #2 turns his head to Julie while Joanna is trying to stop his bleeding - he gently touches Julie's hand, but she takes it quickly away.

SOLDIER #2 (CONT'D)
How old are you dear?

Julie puts her head down and keeps on looking into the plate. Soldier #2 tries the soup.

SOLDIER #2 (CONT'D)
Ohh my fucking sweet lord.

SOLDIER #1
Ohh yes. I told you.

Soldier #2 finishes his soup in seconds and grabs Julie's plate.

SOLDIER #2
May I?
(she doesn't answer)
You don't seem to be hungry dear?

He grabs her plate and starts eating it. When Soldier #1 finishes eating his Joanna pushes her plate to him. He grabs it and starts eating. He looks at Thomas who's looking at him.

SOLDIER #1
You have to eat to be strong so you can defend your family in the future.

SOLDIER #2
Yeah. Just like your dog of a father in the corner there. Common, bark! HAU, HAU!
(laughs)

Thomas grabs a spoon and starts eating. Soldier #1 blinks his eye to him and bursts out with laughter with the other soldier.

SOLDIER #1
(to Joanna)
Do you have some more?
(she doesn't understand)

SOLDIER #2
I guess not. Time to say goodbye then.
(he reloads the gun)

Joanna stands up, goes up to a drawer, tears a hidden wooden wall out and takes some bread, butter and marmalade out. She puts it on the table.

SOLDIER #2 (CONT'D)
Thieves, fucking thieves.

They start eating the marmalade.

SOLDIER #1
This is... heaven in my mouth.

Joanna points with her finger on her chest and on the marmalade.

[[The whole family and the soldiers are talking in different languages ant they do not understand each other, but for the audience - us - they speak English - we'll understand what they are saying - this will show that there are different languages, but they all express the same feelings, emotions and ideas]]

JOANNA
I made this myself.

SOLDIER #2
Either she tries to say that she's made this marmalade herself or she wants me to fuck her.

SOLDIER #1
I think she means the first thing.

SOLDIER #2
I wouldn't be so sure.

JOANNA
The soup also.
(she points at the empty plates)

SOLDIER #1
We have to stay in this town for four days...

SOLDIER #2
Don't tell me. Let's kill those fuckers and get out of here.

SOLDIER #1
Or we stay here?
(he points at Soldier #3 still lying on the table)
He's almost dead... We don't have to listen to him anymore and she... she'll cook for us?

He takes a piece of black chalk out of his pocket and draws for lines next to each other on the table. He points at them.

SOLDIER #1 (CONT'D)
We'll stay four days.
(he points at the lines)
Four. Do you understand? 
(he crosses one of those lines)
Today is the first day.

STEVEN
(to Joanna)
What is it?

SOLDIER #2
Silence! Shut the fuck up!

JOANNA
They'll kill us. They will kill one of us today.
(tears come to her eyes)

Soldier #1 is still trying to explain it to her. He makes a gesture with his hand as if holding a spoon in his hand and eating.

SOLDIER #2
How stupid can they be?

Soldier #1 looks at the lines and burst out with laughter.

SOLDIER #1
They thought we wanted to kill them.
(to Joanna)
No, NO, no. You cook and we won't kill you.

He reaches into his pocket and takes four eggs out. He puts them onto the table. Joanna nods.

JOANNA 
You just want scrambled eggs... you sick fuckers?

Soldier #2 reaches into his pocket and takes an onion out.

SOLDIER #1
You're a good one. Where do you have that from?

SOLDIER #2
The woman downstairs. She fell over, broke her neck, so I thought she won't need it anymore.

SOLDIER #1
You're a dumbass.

Soldier #1 looks at Joanna and smiles, she wipes the tears of her cheek and smiles too.

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