EXT. AVERY HOUSE - NIGHT

We hear the voices of Misty and Zack as they talk inside

MISTY (OFF-SCREEN)
Love, bee stings don't heal if you keep

scratching at them.

ZACK (OFF-SCREEN)
Misty, if we had gone to the lake I would

have twice as many of these by now, so

it's not like anything you said is coming

true.

MISTY (OFF-SCREEN)

Where you goin'?

ZACK (OFF-SCREEN)

I can't walk away without you asking where

I'm going? I'm going to Paris, France. I'm going

to Banff, Canada, alright? That's where I'm going.

The side-backish door of the house opens and Zack walks out with Cerulean on a leash.

MISTY (OFF-SCREEN)
Are you taking the dog?

ZACK

Yeah, yeah. I'm taking the dog for a walk.

They go around and start to go in the direction of the Martinezes (still making eerie-lab-noises). Zack stops and changes his mind

ZACK
Wait wait wait. Let's not go that way tonight.

They turn around and start to go in the other direction and... I dunno, end up in the Dawkinses' yard. I don't know which house theirs is.

ZACK

Here's a nice yard. 'S a good yard.

TOMMY (OFFSCREEN)
(puts on an old man voice)
Hey, you with the dog! Keep that mutt off

my lawn, will ya?

Zack looks around to see that Tommy and Brian are sitting on the porch. Both of them are now laughing stupidly. Zack kneels down and takes the dog's leash off.

ZACK
Alright, have a field day.

Cerulean runs off, takes down a random citizen walking down the street, and begins licking him mercilessly.

TOMMY
(stands up, whispers to Brian)
He comes over to smoke pipeweed, his wife won't

let him, he doesn't know I know that

(changes his tone and shouts happily)
Hey, Zack! How ya doin', bud!

Zack walks over.

BRIAN

Hey there Zack.

TOMMY
How are ya! Good to see ya!
Ah, it is a lovely night, isn't it?

BRIAN

Yeah, green sky tonight. Green sky at

morning: neighbour take warning.

ZACK

Green sky at night?

BRIAN

Neighbour take flight.

(looks thoughtful, turns around)

You know, did you ever see the movie

"The Sentinel", Zack? It's about the old

guy who owned the apartment, which is

kinda like the uh... gateway to hell.

ZACK
No, I didn't see that.

BRIAN
Well, I was doing some thinking. And, you

know, being that their last house burned down

and all, it's like maybe... somebody left the gate

open.

There's a rumbling/whirring sound from the Martinezes. Brian looks around.

TOMMY

It's them.

(gestures)
They're movin' around again. You know, it was a

night just like this that it happened.

BRIAN
What happened?

The three of them walk down the porch steps and take a walk down the sidewalk, talking as they go.

TOMMY

It was a long time ago. Crunksville was a lot smaller

then. Safer, too. You never had to lock your doors.

Everybody knew everybody. Musta been... maybe

two, three years ago?

BRIAN
Woah.

TOMMY

You know where the new mall is?

BRIAN
Yeah.

TOMMY
Well there used to be a big drugstore down on the

corner there. It had a big soda fountain, remember that?

The guy who ran it was a thin guy, had glasses. His name

was uh, Skip. Lived over on Elm, had a wife, couple kids.

You know, not too sharp. I mean, hey, the guy's 40 years

old, he's wearing a paper hat and making cherry Cokes.

It's a cinch he's not runnin' for governer, right?

BRIAN
(chuckles)

TOMMY
Anyway, it got hot that summer. It was real hot. It was

sweltering. You know that heat where your underwear

sweats and it crawls up the --

Anyway, it's hot, okay?
And they start smelling this really vile stench over on

Elm, and they figure, it's coming from Skip's place. And

no one wants to say anything. What do you do, go knock

on the guy's door and go, "Hi, your house stinks"? So... so

people are trying to ignore it, right? They're trying to pretend

it isn't happening, and you know those pine things?
They're trying to cover up with those pine things that you

put in cars. People are hanging those on their porches.

Brian laughs. Tommy stops and looks at him.

TOMMY
Oh you think that's funny, Brian?

BRIAN
Well, yeah.

TOMMY
Well yeah? Let me tell you what happened next.

The state health inspector shows up. They go over,

they talk to Skip. He says he's got a sump pump

problem. They leave. Hey, the guy's got a little

sewer problem, he says he'll look after it,

everything's okay, right?

BRIAN
Yeah.

TOMMY
Wrong.

A couple hours later, there's smoke pouring

out of the windows of Skip's house. The firemen

show up, they go into Skip's house. You know what

they find?

BRIAN
What?

TOMMY
Skip's family. Dead. Murdered, by Skip, weeks

earlier... with an ice pick. Yeah. The guy killed

his whole family... with an ice pick.

BRIAN

(gulps)

TOMMY

Yeah. Yeah, just put 'em in the cool basement,

covered 'em up with a sheet and went back to

makin' ice cream treats for the townsfolk.

Only thing, Skip didn't count on there being

a big heat wave that summer. You know

what that was that all those people were

smellin' over on Elm, Brian?

BRIAN

... what?

TOMMY
Skip's family's bodies, decomposing in

the summer heat.

BRIAN

(whistles)

TOMMY

Yeah, apparantly one day Skip just made

one-too-many lemon phosphates...

(snaps fingers)

El snappo.

ZACK
I remember that. I remember hearing about

that when I moved here. They tore down

the soda fountain that fall.

TOMMY

These towns are full of those kinda stories.

Sometimes they're happenin' right under

your nose.

BRIAN

You know, speaking of noses, ever since

this family has moved to this block, I've

been noticing a weird kinda odor. Kinda

like death.

Brian points ominously towards the Martinezes. Tommy and Zack look over, worried. Suddenly Brian shouts and smacks Zack on the back. Zack jumps and screams. Tommy and Brian laugh like morons.

TOMMY
Jump a little higher! Oh, slam dunk!

BRIAN

I'm sorry, Zack. It was a mistake - well,

it wasn't a mistake.

TOMMY

Don't apologize!

ZACK
I'm going home

TOMMY

Oh, come on, don't be a weenie. It was

a joke!

BRIAN
Sorry, Zack, it was a joke!

(laughs some more)

ZACK
I'm gonna go do something

productive. I'm gonna go watch

television.