The Atom - Opening Scene

After a cataclysmic explosion destroys a great city, an elite force is sent into the ruins to investigate, but what they find is the nightmare from the minds of two brothers.

                                       "THE ATOM"

               FADE IN:

               EXT. ROCKY CLIFFS - DAY

               We make our way over the large, dominating cliffs as the sun

               in the sky beams down on the evergreens. 

               Then there's a noise. Growing to a peak as it gets louder. We

               come to hear that the noise is traffic. Muffled voices can be

               heard until --

               A large city comes into view. Two skyscrapers stand tall in

               the centre, towering over everything. This is the great city

               of ROYALRICH.

               EXT. ROYALRICH CITY STREET - CONTINUOUS

               Rush hour. Thousands of people walking down the street every

               minute -- talking on their phones, bumping into each other

               and the occasional argument breaks out. 

               Daylight suddenly turns into moonlight and the people from

               the streets vanish. It's like a ghost town. 

               An engine roars through the street as a BLACK VAN pulls up at

               the side of the road. The back doors open, THREE MEN exit. 

               The men all wear BALACLAVA'S with SILENCED MACHINE GUNS at

               arms length. 

               They run up a flight of concrete stairs, towards two large

               wooden doors. Writing engraved into the wood: ROYALRICH CITY

               BANK. 

               Before reaching the doors, they immediately turn right and

               rush around to the back of the building -- then up a flight

               of metal stairs.

               EXT. ROYALRICH CITY BANK, ROOFTOP - CONTINUOUS

               The leader, WILSON, rushes towards a SKYLIGHT while the other

               two, SMITH and REV, take care of the cameras. 

               The skylight opens and Wilson drops rope down to the floor

               below.

                                    WILSON

                         Time?

                                    REV

                         Five minutes.

                                    SMITH

                         Let's do this. 

               The three of them fast rope through the skylight. We are now

               inside --

               INT. ROYALRICH CITY BANK - CONTINUOUS

               Automatic lights switch on, filling the screen with life. REV

               and SMITH move to take care of the cameras inside. 

               WILSON heads to the doors of the bank, goes into his rucksack

               and removes two devices -- carefully handling them -- and

               places them on either side of the door. 

               ON DEVICE, red lines shoot across each other, soon turning

               invisible. 

               He turns, picks up his bag and heads to meet REV and SMITH.

                                    WILSON

                         The devices are in place, let's hit

                         the vault.

                                    REV

                               (alarmed)

                         Sh, do you hear that?

               There's silence in the air... then there's a faint sound

               which accelerates rapidly into beeping until there is an

               EXPLOSION.

               A set of doors at the far end of the bank blow open and THREE

               MEN in HEAVY BODY-ARMOR rush into the room.

               These are THE SHADOWS.

                                    GHOST

                         Stay where you are, we have this

                         place completely surrounded!

               There's a lot of tension, and a small pause. 

               Wilson draws his gun, opens fire and The Shadows duck for

               cover. 

               CUT TO:

               EXT. ROYALRICH CITY STREET - NIGHT

               POLICE CARS, ANIMAL PATROL and SWAT VANS surround the bank.

               Their weapons all pointed at the bank.

               A HELICOPTER flies overhead followed by a NEWS HELICOPTER.

               CUT BACK TO:

               INT. ROYALRICH CITY BANK - NIGHT

               The Shadows hide behind the counters, readying their weapons.

               GHOST -- the captain -- goes to his comms unit.

                                    GHOST

                               (into comms unit)

                         HQ, this is Ghost. Hostiles are

                         armed and dangerous, I repeat, they

                         are armed and dangerous. Do we have

                         the green light to shoot? 

                                    HQ (O.S.)

                               (through comms unit)

                         Negative, Ghost. Hostiles are in

                         possession of the information we

                         require. They are to be captured

                         alive, HQ out.

               Ghost removes his comms unit, his face full of anger.

                                    GHOST

                         S**t!

               His team member -- SHADE -- turns to him.

                                    SHADE

                         It's three of them against the

                         entire RoyalRich police force, they

                         aren't getting away.

                                    GHOST

                         Yeah, you're right.

               The third team member -- SOUL -- approaches.

                                    SOUL

                         Let's take these a******s down.

                                    GHOST

                               (to Shade)

                         Partner, you flank right.

                               (to Soul)

                         You flank left.

                               (pause)

                         I'll get their attention. Once you

                         have reached their position,

                         release the flashbomb and let's end

                         this, tonight!

               The team nod their heads as they follow the orders. Shade

               heads to the right, staying as low as possible and Soul heads

               to the left, doing exactly the same. 

               Ghost stands up, fires a couple of shots and then ducks back

               for cover.

                                    GHOST (CONT'D)

                         Wilson, give yourself up. This is

                         over!

               Wilson pauses, he panics before removing his balaclava.

                                    GHOST (CONT'D)

                         Come in with us, tell us who you

                         sold the Atom to. You don't want to

                         be responsible for the death of

                         thousands of innocent people!

                                    WILSON

                         If there is one thing that I've

                         learned in my line of work,

                         captain, is that there are no

                         innocent people.

                                    GHOST

                         Tell me who has the weapon, tell me

                         what their target is!

               Wilson open fires at Ghost, just missing his head with the

               bullets. 

               Shade moves forward, he grips his gun and aims but a piece of

               debris smashes against the ground.

               Wilson, Rev and Smith hear. They turn to Shade.

               Time pauses. Everything goes silent as heavy heartbeats can

               be heard.

               Before Shade has a chance to react, Wilson and his team open

               fire. The body armor blocks most of the bullets but one

               bullet shoots through his neck.

               Shade drops to the floor, dead.

               Soul watches in horror, his eyes widen. He grips his gun,

               jumps from behind cover...

                                    SOUL

                         No!

               ... And open fires at the three men, shooting Smith through

               the head and Rev through his shoulder.

               Wilson ducks behind cover but then jumps out and fires one

               bullet which hits the body armor, pierces it and hits Soul in

               the heart. 

               Ghost watches in horror as his team is killed before his

               eyes.

                                    GHOST

                               (into comms unit)

                         All units, converge on the bank, we

                         have officers down!

               CUT TO:

               EXT. ROYALRICH CITY STREET - NIGHT

               All of the officers head towards the bank in perfect

               formation, their guns ready.

               Two officers approaches the bank door carrying a BATTERING

               RAM. They swing it and the doors smash open. 

               One of the officers goes to fire but a hand slams the gun

               down.

                                    OFFICER

                               (whispering)

                         They are to be captured alive,

                         officer.

               That officer walks through the set of doors. The red lines

               appear brightly and the officer is cut into tiny pieces.

               The rest of the officers shoot through the archway but the

               bullets are disintegrated by the lasers. 

                                    SWAT OFFICER

                         Bank is booby trapped, everybody

                         around to the back!

               The officers make their way around the back entrance.

               CUT TO:

               INT. ROYALRICH CITY BANK - NIGHT

               Debris smashes against Ghosts face, bullets just missing him.

                                    HQ (O.S.)

                               (through comms unit)

                         HQ to Ghost. The bank is booby

                         trapped, exit the building and meet

                         SWAT.

               Ghost watches his fallen teammates, he shakes his head.

                                    GHOST

                         Like hell.

               He points his gun around the corner, closes one eye and aims.

               He takes a deep breath and FIRES. The bullet clips Revs leg.

               Rev falls to the floor, screaming in agony.

               Ghost then swings right, keeping out of sight of Wilson. He

               reaches Shades body.

               He searches his body until he removes a GRENADE. He pulls the

               pin an throws it at Wilson and the wounded man.

               BOOM! They are both blinded by a FLASH GRENADE. Wilson

               stumbles back, disorientated. 

               Ghost rushes towards Wilson, smacks him in the face and kicks

               him to the floor. He turns to the wounded man.

               He handcuffs his hands together but Wilson approaches behind.

               He throws a punch which is missed, then another. And another,

               then another. All of which are missed.

               Ghost swings a punch, connects hard and pushes Wilson against

               the wall.

               He throws a five-punch combination and deals one kick which

               knocks Wilson back against the device, cutting him into tiny

               pieces.

                                    GHOST (CONT'D)

                         Yeah... rest in pieces you son of a

                         b***h.

               Ghost approaches the wounded man.

                                    GHOST (CONT'D)

                               (into comms unit)

                         HQ, this is Ghost. Wilson is down,

                         I repeat, Wilson is down. We have

                         one survivor, I am bringing him in

                         for interrogation.

                                    HQ (O.S.)

                               (through comms unit)

                         Copy that, Ghost. ETA for

                         helicopter is --

               There's static -- silence. The comms are offline, as is all

               electricity. 

                                    GHOST

                         What the hell is going on?

               CUT TO:

               EXT. ROYALRICH CITY - NIGHT

               The entire city goes dark. Nothing can be seen apart from the

               odd flashlight as people make their way onto the streets.

               CUT BACK TO:

               ROYALRICH CITY BANK - NIGHT

               There's a rumbling noise. Ghost approaches the window and

               looks towards a huge skyscraper in the distance.

               Ghost POV, there's an object falling towards it. It's a

               MISSILE. It hits the skyscraper and --

               -- BOOM!

               A point of light fires into a NUCLEAR BLAST. Wind, dust and

               light passes through the city, destroying everything in its

               path as the mushroom cloud rises. 

               The cloud of smoke reaches the bank, filling the screen with

               BLACKNESS.

               CUT TO BLACK.