Predator

## S.1 E.1 "Predator": Summary

Atari Twilight takes place in a version of the 80s that never was. In the 50s and 60s the world developed robots and Magnetrine technology that allowed vehicles to float above the ground. Garrett, Maryland is situated in the Appalachian Mountains outside of a science facility known as "The Loop." Despite the changes to technology, everything we know of the 80s in terms of pop culture is the same.

### Friday, June 12, 1987

#### The Streets of Garrett

* We open at Tradewinds trailer park as Ben McKenzie exits his home, and stops by Mitch's (Casey Mitchell) trailer. They leave the trailer park and (still on the "wrong side of the ACME Market") they approach the home of Jerry Baker and he joins them. As they cross the Market, they enter the middle-class side of town and pick up Robert Ott at his home who is already waiting for them. But Rob's forgot his Autobots helmet, and runs back into the house to get it before joining up.
* In the background of Garrett are seen four windmills that, instead of appearing like the windmills of the real 80s, are instead gigantic robots who turn their windmill faces to orient toward the winds. In the distance are several mag ships held aloft by the power of magnets and float on the magnetic field of the earth.
* The four boys orient themselves toward the heart of Garret, The Maplehurst Mall, their destination is the AMC 6 Theater. It is the opening night of "Predator", and they intend to sneak into the theater to watch it as they boys are ~12-years old. On the way they pass The Paperback Exchange and exchange words with Gary Meyers.
* As they continue to the mall, they approach the last residential house on the block (the only one that didn't sell out to the mall company) with a flag pole in the front yard. It is the home of Sargent Herbert J Saville (Sarge), a WW2 veteran who served with Ben's grandfather (who is deceased). They stop while Ben helps lower the flag.

* Veronica Kirkshaw is driving her sister, Sam in a cream convertible VW Rabbit. They pull in front of a very nice house in an upscale neighborhood and pick up George Butts. On the way to the AMC theater, they pass the hobby shop, Washington Elementary, Edgar Allen Poe Middle School, and Braddock High School. Veronica drops Sam and George off at the AMC 6 Theaters.

#### The Maplehurst Mall: AMC 6 Theater: Ticket Booth

* Four kids from the 8th, 9th, and 10th grade are leaning against the blind side of the mall by dumpsters: Barney "Knee" (15-years old), Chris (14-years old), Dutch (13-years old), and Shannon (16-years old). They're all kids from "the wrong side of the market" and they're best to be avoided. Sam and George avoid them.
* The ticket booth is manned by Paul and Mary (both kids who go to Braddock High School.) George approaches Mary and charms her into believing that he is 16. They grab popcorn and head into the Predator theater.

* Jerry agrees to buy the tickets for the other three boys as long as they buy him a popcorn. He heads off to the ticket counter.
* When Jerry walks away, Knee, Chris, Dutch and Shannon engage Rob, Mitch and Ben.
	+ D: "Hey, dick-face, nice helmet!"
	+ R: "Th-th-th-thank you."
	+ D: "What kind of helmet is that? Is that like a fucking robot or something?"
	+ R" "Y-y-y-y- Uh-huh."
	+ D: "Why you wearin a fuckin robot helmet?"
	+ R: "W-w-why aren't you wearing any headgear?"
	+ D: "You fuckin getting smart? The fuckin kid with the fuckin robot helmet is getting smart."
	+ R drops the mouth visor and in Optimus Prime's voice: "I've always been smart. You are talking to the leader of the Autobots."
	+ D: "It's a fuckin Tranformer helmet!"
	+ D: "Hey say fuck, say fuck, hey you with the helmet, say fuck!"
	+ R says it 3 or 4 times: "fuck."
	+ D: "Hey say it again. Say dick!"
	+ R: "I don't believe those are words that should be coming out of Optimus Prime's mouth."
	+ D: "Why don't you give me the helmet."
	+ R: "No. Negative."
* Jerry notices that the older kids are closing in on his friends and comes to the rescue, coming in cool and asking to buy a cigarette. Jerry successfully charms Dutch, buys a cigarette, and they're able to get away.
* Back at the counter, Jerry successfully obtains the tickets by using his fake ID.

#### The Maplehurst Mall: AMC 6 Theater: Theater #6

* Sam and George sit in the left back of the theater - not as far back as the kids making out, but still in the dark.
* The four other boys enter the theater and Mitch leads them to sit behind George (who he knows), "Hey Butts!" He says.
* After the movie start, an usher with a flashlight approaches leading someone to their seat. The four boys try to shrink down so that they're not seen. Sam and George, in front of them, try to look like an older couple. The usher notices the age of Sam and George and turns around, clearly going to get someone else.
* Two ushers enter the theater and come the way of Sam and George. Sam recognizes a pair of grown ups, and asks if she and George can sit next to them. Sam successfully charms them, and they recognize George as the son of their sex-therapist. They agree to let them sit down and to vouch for them. The ushers don't find Sam and George but are heard saying as they leave the theater "Corporate is here and we don't want to get written up."
* Ben points out to Mitch that the ushers are returning. This time there are four ushers in total closing in.
* The two adults, Joe and Joanne (who have been bickering this entire time) decide leave the theater early, leaving Sam and George unprotected.
* The boys decide they need a distraction, and they tell Ben to throw his cup of water. He does so and it splashes the uniform of the oldest usher. The flashlights of all four ushers are now shined across the entire left side of the theater. A beam of one of the flashlights shines on Butts and then bounces off the chrome of Rob's helmet. The other kids are all able to evade the flashlight.
* George and Rob are ushered out of the theater and into the office. While there, George successfully convinces them that he was sitting with some adults and they had just left. He's allowed to leave, while Rob is left in the locked office.
* Back in the theater, Ben stands up and holds up his hands and then put them behind his head, "It was me! It was me! I threw the water!" surrendering himself so that his friends won't get caught. He gets taken back to the office.
* The other kids assemble and head out of the theater to await the release of Rob and Ben. George takes the time to charm Mary and gets her digits.
* In the office, the usher takes a polaroid of their faces and asks for their names. Rob give his name "Jerry Baker." while Ben admits he's "Ben McKenzie". The names are written on the polaroid and posted in the booth. They're banned from the theater for the rest of the summer.

#### Maplehurst Mall: Parking Lott

* Sam mentions that her sister is going to pick her up, and Jerry asks her to tell her that he said, "hey."
* Their bikes are gone and the VW Rabbit is sitting in a parking spot but Veronica is not in it. They notice her key fob is hanging from the ignition. Wedged by the front wheel is Veronica's shoe. Sam begins to scream out her sister's name, calling for her. Mitch looks the car over and sees drops of blood across the dashboard, seats and the steering wheel.
* Mitch returns to the booth to ask if they saw anything. Mary tells them that they saw the boys run off with their bikes. They didn't see anyone with the VW Rabbit.
* Meanwhile the others begin to look for Veronica. At the edge of the parking lot is a guard rail and the ground drops rapidly beyond it. On the rail is a large drop of blood. George Butts borrows a flashlight from Mary, and looks down the hill. Every 15 yards is another drop of blood. Someone has taken someone bleeding down the trail. The scrap yard is just below and a switchback from the parking lot leads there.
* Mitch borrows lipstick from Sam and writes a note on scrap paper "Went to find Veronica" and puts it on the windshield. He directs George to ask Mary to call the cops. Mary agrees to call Mall Security instead. Then the kids take Ben's compass and the Usher flashlight and they head down the trail.

#### The Scrap Yard

* They arrive at the Scrap Yard and recognize the voices and Dutch and Veronica ahead. They are upset and shouting. Ben hides behind a door, and Rob picks up a bat-sized piece of metal, then hides with Ben.
* The others move forward. The bikes are all set on a compressor press. Chris, Knee, and Dutch are standing around. Veronica, shoe-less has a split lip and is slumped across a piece of metal, awake but only just collecting herself. She's wobbly so she was likely carried down here, possibly unconscious. She's just woken up and cussing at the boys: pissed and confused.
* Mitch and Jerry arrive and know that the boys have been up to no good. They charge Chris, Knee and Dutch. Mitch charges forward and knocks Knee over, breaking two front teeth in the process. Dutch punches Jerry in the jaw and Jerry responds with a strong upper-cut, lifting him off the ground and dropping him on his ass. Veronica looks up and sees Jerry utterly destroy the boy that was yelling at her. Chris runs. George yells, "Yeah, you better run." Sam runs to Veronica to see if she's ok. Veronica has some swelling on her face where she was injured. Dutch and Knee run off.
* Chris stumbles back into the area. His has vomit down the front of his shirt and his jeans are wet from pissing himself. He's got dead eyes, and walks toward them. Half of his face is crimson with blood. He looks traumatized. He begins to walk in the direction of the mall. They let Chris go, and focus on Veronica. They all decide to get Veronica back.
* Mitch is the last to go and looks to see what might be in the Scrap Yard. For a moment on top one of the scrap piles, he sees a flash of red eyes and hears in his mind, "It's using the tree."

## Characters

* Gary Meyers
* Sargent Herbert J Saville (Sarge)
* Veronica Kirkshaw
* Barney "Knee"
* Chris DeWitt
* Dutch
* Shannon Locke

## Locations

* Tradewinds
* The Maplehurst Mall
* The Paperback Exchange
* Edgar Allen Poe Middle School
* Braddock High School
* Scrap Yard