A GUST OVER THE LAKE By Matthew Flanagan

SHAKY VIEWS OF TREES FALLING AND SLAMMING INTO SOAKED LAND UNDERNEATH, VIOLENT SOUNDS OF OBJECTS SLAMMING AND WOMEN SCREAMING, GENERAL PANIC. INT. DETACHED HOUSE, LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA - NIGHT - 2013 CAMERA pans to a dimly lit bedroom with a young girl (aged 9) screaming and crying, we see her window open with curtains flailing violently and lighting and thunder apparent in the background. She is tucked into her covers. Mother (aged 35) runs into the room, panicked and still in her pajamas. CAROLINE Its okay baby, quickly come to me! Close your eyes. Caroline grabs her daughter in her arms as the camera follows the two into the next room. CAROLINE Jake? JAKE?!Jake where the hell are you. Both mother and daughter quickly rush down the stairs, tripping on various toys and boxes in the way. The lights in the house start flickering and then completely cut off.A vase on a nearby windowsill falls and smashes onto the ground due to the force of the wind. BETHANY (CRYING) Mummy Im scared. The mother continues to look around in search for her son, she grabs a torch from the overhead cabinet and the two head towards the back room of the house where we see the boys head poking over the sofa. He is stood with his father. CAROLINE (SHOUTING) Why the hell did you bring him down here Mark?! Are you out of your mind? MARK The safest point of the house is the most central area, Ive been through this a thousand times! Now look, time is limited here. We need to get the Holdens bunker across the street. Beth, Jake... dont let go of me and your mother at any point. This is extremely dangerous, do you understand? (CONTINUED)

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2.

BETHANY What about Dex?! MARK (SIGHS) Ill get the dog, honey get the kids under the table until Im back. Mark heads back up the stairs. As he does he looks out of a window that views of the back garden. EXT - GARDEN We see a bike fly through the air and crash into the childrens playhouse, hitting the base of the wood and bringing the entire thing crashing down onto the ground. INT - HOUSE Suddenly we see Mark react to the event as he become a lot more panicked and rushed as he runs through the house from room to room throwing objects in search for the dog. All the while we are constantly hearing thunder and seeing flashes of light coming through all nearby windows. MARK DEX!... DEX! As he heads towards the far most room of the hallway we hear a faint whimpering sound coming from behind the door. Mark opens the door to see the dog, a dark haired labradoodle shaking violently as he jumps out of the room and down the hallway. Mark heads back down the stairs with the dog to rejoin the other three members of the family who are currently reciting under the dinner table, with the mother in the middle with her arms wrapped around the two children on either side of her. MARK (PANTING) Okay, everyone ready? Beth, keep hold of Dex and keep hold of Mummy. Jake, come here. The family head towards the front door, huddled closely. They open the door to witness a nearby lamppost shaking violently EXT - FRONT OF HOUSE - WIND AND RAIN TEARING TROUGH ALL IN SIGHT.

(CONTINUED)

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The family rush over the road, the wind is battering them from all angles. The parents grab their children in their arms as the wind is too strong for them to stand on their own feet. We see the dog who is currently in Bethanys arms took his head into his body. We are shown Marks point of view as he swiftly turns his view back to his own house, door still flinging around, roof panels fly detach away as quickly as a flash which leads to an increased pace to the point where they are practically sprinting. The group reaches a neighboring houses back garden where we see a stone built shelter, approx 5 meters wide and 2 meters high. CAROLINE There! A Flash of lighting hits a house in the distance creating a deafening sound overpowering all other sound. There is completely silence for 2 seconds followed by the sound fading back in along with a ringing hum as we see hand held camera movement of the family picking themselves back up from the ground and running towards the shelter door. Sound is regained. Both Mark and Caroline start banging on the door with all their physical power. MARK Open! Please for the love of god! The door is opened by a man in his 40s. Behind him we see a teenage boy and a Woman also in her 40s. The family are helped inside and the door is sealed. INT - CONCRETE SHELTER The crashing and chaotic sounds of thunder and lighting completely come to a standstill. There is a moment of completely silence bar the panting of the family members. As seconds pass there is and airy silence, no-one is speaking but all are making eye contact with each other with scared looks on their faces. MALE NEIGHBOR Are any of you injured? MARK No... No were okay.

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MALE NEIGHBOUR I cant believe this, Ive never seen weather so destructive in my entire life, I... I dont even know what to do. Mark gives a slight nod whilst staring into space. We see the female neighbour in the corner of the crammed room on her knees praying. All of sudden a two large bangs, 3 seconds in between each other are heard from outside. Everyone inside the bunker react to the noise and instinctively look towards the door. CAROLINE What was that? FEMALE NEIGHBOUR Maybe its more people CAROLINE We should check, we cant just leave people out there in that MALE NEIGHBOUR Not a chance. Its far too dangerous and far too crowded in here FEMALE NEIGHBOUR DAVID! We are not letting people stay out there to die. You built this shelter for a reason so open the fucking door! Mark grabs the childrens hands and brings them towards the back out the shelter. With a look of anger and unwillingness David starts to open the shelter door. The wind is blasted in and the sound quickly become overpowering, he struggles to open the door further than just a few inches without it blasting open. As we see him look around the outside of the door into his back garden there is no-one in sight. Before he has time to close the door lighting strikes nearby causing him to fall back in shock. The door is still fully open. The sound of the strike causes a reaction in the dog and leads to it leaping out of Bethanys arms as it proceeds to run out of the shelter. BETHANY DEXTER!!

(CONTINUED)

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The girl runs through and out of the shelter after the dog. Both Mark and Caroline show looks of shock as they swiftly run after their daughter into the ferocious wind and rain. EXT - OUTSIDE NEIGHBOURS GARDEN/NEIGHBOURHOOD MARK Beth! Stop!! As Bethany reaches the far corner of the garden we see both the dog in the distance and her heading towards it. Suddenly a nearby large tree starts the make a squeaking noise. The tree falls straight down onto the girl, crushing her. All we see after that is the reaction of both parents, a look of despair. CUT TO BLACK.