Chapter 13 (The White Shapes)

**Chapter 13** is the thirteenth chapter of The White Shapes. It was written by Donald Newton.

## Plot

Nicole's tragic past is revealed in the aftermath of the group's encounter with Wexler's gang.

## Full Chapter

INT. LOPEZ RESIDENCE - LIVING ROOM - DAY

Linda is sitting on the couch, holding a gun for protection, and is shaking with anticipation. She is in fear for her daughter's life. Not knowing what has happened or what will happen. Sierra and Andy are on the floor and playing another boardgame.

A vehicle is heard approaching. Linda jumps to the front door and checks the shaded curtain.

LINDA'S POV.

The van has arrived with Anthony and Nicole.

BACK TO SCENE

Linda quickly unlocks the door and runs out the door.

LINDA: NICOLE!!!

EXT. LOPEZ RESIDENCE - DAY

Anthony and Nicole get out of the van. Nicole sees her mother and runs towards.

NICOLE: MOM!

Linda and Nicole run into each others arms. They cry together with great relief.

LINDA: I'm so glad that you're okay. Did they hurt you?

Nicole gives her mom a look and starts crying. Linda realizes what has happened.

LINDA: Oh, God! They didn't?

NICOLE: He...he...

LINDA: Oh, honey.

Linda holds her daughter, who starts crying over what happened. The other van and another vehicle arrive with the rest of the group.

Clay, Sam, and Chris run over to Nicole and they all join her in a group hug in relief for her safety.

INT. LOPEZ RESIDENCE - GARAGE - DAY

Nicole is lying on the couch-bed, attempting to recover from her trauma. Tears stream down her face as she thinks about her ordeal.

There is a KNOCK on the door.

LINDA: (o.s.) Nicole?

Linda opens the door and peeks her head in.

LINDA: Are you okay, honey?

NICOLE: I'm fine, Mom.

We know this isn't true.

Linda steps in and approaches her daughter. She places a mug of hot chocolate on the tray next to the couch-bed. She takes a seat on the other side of the couch-bed.

LINDA: Honey, would you like to talk about it?

NICOLE: No. I just want to forget about it.

LINDA: It might be good to talk about it.

NICOLE: I don't want to, Mom. I just want to be left alone. Please.

LINDA: Okay. (pats Nicole's back) I'll leave you to peace.

Linda gets up and leaves the garage. Upon her depature...Nicole starts to sob again. Still extremely hurt by the events that took place.

INT. LOPEZ RESIDENCE - LIVING ROOM - DAY

The rest of the group are all hanging out in the living room as Linda returns to them.

SAM: How is she doing?

LINDA: Not so good. She claims that she's fine. But I know it. She's not doing good at all.

CLAY: Can you blame her? This is the second time that this has happened to her.

Dani is shocked by this.

DANI: She's been raped before?

SAM: Yeah. And it led to something else. Something that took her a long time to get over.

DANI: What happened?

Sam and Linda glance at each other. Should they tell them? Before they can, we CUT TO:

INT. LOPEZ RESIDENCE - GARAGE - DAY

Nicole is still lying on the couch-bed. She pulls out her wallet and opens it. She pulls out -- A PICTURE OF A NEWBORN BABY BOY. A picture taken by a nurse moments after the baby was born.

Nicole proceeds to sob again as her past continues to haunt her.

NICOLE: (to the picture) I'm so sorry. I'm sorry.

Nicole cries into the picture. Deeply hurt by her past.

INT. LOPEZ RESIDENCE - LIVING ROOM - DAY

Dani, Amanda, Gage, Jackson, Sierra (who is hearing this for the first time), and Andy are shocked by what they have just been told by Sam and Linda. Saddened by the nature of the story.

AMANDA: That's so sad.

DANI: So first she is traumatized by being raped as a child, which results in her getting pregnant, and then she has to give up her baby? I mean...I don't think I could go through with that even if I was raped.

SAM: She was just a child. She was only thirteen. I mean we considered keeping the baby and raising him ourselves. But we felt that he would have just been a tragic reminder to Nicole of what happened to her. We needed her to recover and move on. Having this baby would have caused her a lot of problems. So we did what we thought was best for both her and the baby.

Dani gets it and nods.

DANI: You were just trying to help your daughter.

SAM: Sometimes I think about it and have some remorse. What if we hadn't give him up? What could he have done for her? Could he have motivated her to be stronger? Could he have helped her recover? I wasn't sure. I just wanted things to get back to normal before the incident. And sometimes I feel that I did wrong by arranging for the agency to take the child. I don't know what became of his life. So a part of me wonders if I made the right choice for my grandson.

Sam is obviously haunted by his decision.

SAM: But I didn't think about it at the time. I just thought what I felt was best for my daughter. I figured maybe the agency would find him a good family to be with. But I never found out.

A tear forms around Sam's eye as he thinks about the uncertain fate of his long lost grandson.

SAM: It makes me wonder if he survived this. Did I lead him to his death by not keeping him? Would he still be alive if he was with us when the world fell? I don't know. And I'll never know.

Linda pats on her husband's shoulder.

ANTHONY: Sorry to change the subject. But I need to talk to you guys about what did happen today.

Everyone turns to him.

ANTHONY: I made a deal with Wexler. I told him that as long as he leaves us alone, I will no longer pursue him.

SAM: As much as I'd like to kill that bastard for what he did to my daughter...you did the right thing, Anthony.

ANTHONY: But the problem is...as we were leaving...he told me that if we ever meet again that one of us would die. And I've been thinking about his words ever since. I have a strong feeling that...Wexler won't be honoring his part of the deal. I have a feeling that we might be seeing him again.

This hits everyone hard.

JACKSON: So what we do?

ANTHONY: We go on like nothing is happening. But we prepare for whatever comes. If he and his gang does come for us...we fight back. And this time...no prisoners or no deals. We kill them all.

Everyone nods. They can live with killing Wexler and his gang...if means their own survival.

ANTHONY: I have a plan. It's going to take some work. But if we are prepared...we can protect ourselves.

Before we can hear his plan, we CUT TO:

EXT. WEXLER GANG CAMP - EVENING

The gang is chilling around their camp. Some are eating, some are drinking, some are playing games, and some are arguing over stupid bullshit. We go through the camp of different activities occurring until we stop outside a tent.

INT. WEXLER GANG CAMP - TENT - EVENING

Murph is sitting on a chair at a table. There are bandages all over his face from the beating that he received from Clay. There is a chair sitting on the opposite side of the table from him.

Wexler enters the tent.

WEXLER: Hey, Murph. How are feeling?

MURPH: Like I've been used as a punching bag.

WEXLER: You'll be alright.

Wexler takes a seat on the other chair.

WEXLER: Can you tell me what you learned from them? Like how many people were with them?

MURPH: I didn't see many people. They took me into their garage.

WEXLER: So they are staying at a house?

MURPH: Yes, sir. Just a regular house.

WEXLER: What can you tell me about the people that you did see?

MUPRH: Well, there was Sheriff Lopez, the girl's father, her brother, her boyfriend, and two other male cops. I believe there was a female cop. But I don't know. I'm pretty sure that the Sheriff's wife and the girl's mother was there. And...while I didn't see them...but I think there were at least two children. But I can't say for certain.

WEXLER: That's good. That helps us. At least we know what we're up against. Did they conceal your eyes before taking you there?

MURPH: HA! The boyfriend is a dumbass. He was so enraged over Ernie taking the girl that he didn't think to do that. I know exactly where they're at.

Wexler smiles. Jackpot.

WEXLER: Where are they?

MURPH: At a neighborhood called Eagle Point on 48th Drive Northeast.

Intense music plays as Wexler smiles. This isn't good for our group of survivors.

WEXLER: Thank you, Murph.

Wexler rises from his chair.

MURPH: Can I go lay down now? I'm beat.

WEXLER: Yeah...about that.

Wexler pulls out a pistol.

WEXLER: I appreciate the information. But you betrayed us. You know the rules. If you get caught...you don't talk. You talked. They found us. They know where we are. I can't afford to have anyone knowing where we are. And because you talked...I have to kill them all. But you will go before them.

Wexler points his gun at him. Murph doesn't have time to explain.

MURPH: Wait...NO!

BANG! A bullet is put into the middle of Murph's forehead and his head flops back. Murph is dead.

EXT. LOPEZ RESIDENCE - BACKYARD - NIGHT

Clay, Anthony, Dani, Sam, Linda, Amanda, Sierra, and Andy are sitting around the fire pit and eating their dinner. Gage and Jackson are standing guard by the fences. Nicole and Chris are not present.

SIERRA: I hope Aunt Nicole will be okay.

CLAY: She'll be okay, honey. She just needs time to get better.

ANDY: Uncle Anthony...is the bad man going to get us?

ANTHONY: I hope not, sweetie. I hope not.

CLAY: How would they even know where we're at.

Chris has a terrified look on face. He fucked up.

CHRIS: Murph. I was so upset that I didn't think to cover his eyes. He saw where we are. He could have told them.

This horrifies everyone. Anthony turns to the fence...feeling a dangerous vibe out there. As if he feels that Wexler is nearby and waiting to make his move on the group.

ANTHONY: If he does come...we're prepared. We set the house up just in case. We can do this.

We get a shot of the FIRE PIT. The smoke floats high up into the air. People would be able to see it from the distance.

EXT. EAGLE POINT NEIGHBORHOOD/MAIN STREET - NIGHT

The smoke from the fire pit can be seen on the main street right outside the neighborhood by the same sign that Murph saw as he was being taken to the Lopez house.

Approaching the sign is -- WEXLER. He sees the smoke and smiles upon realizing that he's tracked down the group.

Ernie approaches him.

ERNIE: So what next, boss?

WEXLER: They'd be expecting us to attack tonight. So we'll surprise them in the morning.

Wexler's creepy smile continues as ominous music plays in the background. The group is in serious trouble.

## Trivia

* Nicole's past will eventually become an important storyline in the future sequels.
* Final appearance of Murph.