The Real Flash Gordon

Chapter 1 – Flash Gordon Rick “Flash” Gordon grows up idolizing spacefaring icons and develops an obsession with exploration and frontier science. His natural talent and relentless drive push him into NASA’s elite astronaut track, where he stands out not only for his courage but his intuitive problem-solving. When billionaire moguls begin competing with national space agencies, Rick becomes a symbol of old-school astronaut grit meeting new-tech ambition. Behind the scenes, the CIA quietly targets him for a mission too secret for NASA to ever acknowledge.

Chapter 2 – The Offer CIA operatives approach Rick with a covert proposal: infiltrate Blue Coyote’s private Mars flight as a “routine crew specialist,” but secretly evaluate the mission’s real objective. Rick is torn between loyalty to NASA and the excitement of breaking barriers. Ultimately, he agrees, becoming the first astronaut assigned to a dual mission — one patriotic, one clandestine, and both built on half-truths.

Chapter 3 – Training Begins Rick trains alongside the Blue Coyote crew, quickly noticing oddities in mission design, classified compartments, and veiled power struggles between the mogul Stone Munn and government liaisons. As trust fractures, Rick forms a tentative alliance with Trujillo and Hatch, knowing they may become the only allies he can count on once the ship leaves Earth.

Chapter 4 – Launch Day Tensions explode as the crew executes a flawless, globally televised launch. Rick’s stomach churns — not from fear of space, but from the gnawing truth that he is lying to every person watching. As the ship clears orbit, CIA channels come alive, feeding Rick secret updates, confirming this will not be a simple science mission. Something far more valuable awaits them on Mars.

Chapter 5 – The Long Journey Out The long transit to Mars pushes the crew to emotional and physical limits. Rick experiences strange dreams tied to ancient landscapes and alien voices. His intuition sharpens unnaturally, hinting that his connection to Mars began long before touchdown.

Chapter 6 – Marsfall Landing is chaos: shifting storms, electromagnetic interference, and equipment malfunctions. They touch down miles off-target, right above something the instruments cannot explain. Rick’s visions spike — the landscape feels familiar, as though he’s being welcomed.

Chapter 7 – Off the Map The crew goes off-script to explore anomalies. Rick finds an inner chamber with carvings and symbols that tug at his consciousness. The CIA orders silence, but Rick cannot ignore the sense that something alive is watching them from below.

Chapter 8 – The First Discovery Rick descends into the first Vault entrance, discovering remnants of a memory-based alien network. Fossils, structures, symbols — all shockingly complex. When he touches a shard embedded in the wall, something ancient awakens.

Chapter 9 – The Silence from Earth Earth’s communication windows grow shorter. Messages become interrupted, distorted, delayed — or suspiciously censored. Rick realizes someone on Earth already knows more than they’re revealing… and is intentionally keeping him in the dark.

Chapter 10 – The Mind in the Dust Rick’s first true psychic encounter with the Vault mind nearly overloads his brain. He sees Mars’ past, its thriving oceans, and the meteor impact that destroyed it. The Vault calls Rick “Carrier,” marking him as a chosen vessel for its knowledge.

Chapter 11 – The Memory Vault Rick explores deeper chambers filled with crystalline memory matrices — a complete record of a lost civilization. He sees their final days, their attempt to preserve knowledge, and their desperate hope that someone someday would awaken it.

Chapter 12 – What Wakes Beneath

The Vault mind begins shaping the environment around Rick — unlocking doors, manipulating gravity, guiding him toward a central node. Rick discovers that the Vault can animate matter and even interact with biological forms.

Chapter 13 – Stone Makes His Move CIA directives push Commander Stone to seize the shard and end Rick’s exploration by force. A violent confrontation nearly kills them all when the Vault reacts defensively, throwing Stone and Hatch across the chamber.

Chapter 14 – First Contact (Human vs. Human) The first true conflict isn’t with aliens — it’s within the crew. Rick pushes for truth; Stone pushes for control. The Vault watches silently, judging.

Chapter 15 – The Shard Reacts The shard fully bonds with Rick, granting him predictive flashes and deeper communication with the Vault. Stone attacks him, leading to a brutal fight in the tunnels. The Vault intervenes, choosing Rick as its envoy.

Chapter 16 – Command Decision The crew narrowly escapes collapsing tunnels. Stone grudgingly agrees to follow Rick — but only until they return home. The Vault warns Rick: unity is fragile.

Chapter 17 – The Storm and the Signal A deadly Martian storm separates the crew as they reach the lander. A disturbing figure waits: a preserved astronaut from an earlier mission — reanimated by the Vault as “The Returned.” It speaks with a voice layered and alien, calling Rick “Carrier.”

Chapter 18 – The Returned The Returned informs the crew that the Vault is ready to judge humanity’s worth. Rick undergoes psychic trials that test his memory, integrity, and future potential.

Chapter 19 – The Test Rick faces moral and psychological trials inside the Vault’s mind. He chooses unity over secrecy, earning partial access to its intelligence. But the Vault warns: the hardest decision is still coming — what he will tell Earth.

Chapter 20 – The Broadcast Rick transmits a global, unrestricted message revealing the existence of ancient Martian intelligence and the Memory Vault. Earth panics. Agencies mobilize. Nations scramble. The truth is out — and so is the chaos.

Chapter 21 – The World Reacts On Earth, riots, worship movements, global alliances, and hostile responses erupt simultaneously. NASA tries to contain fallout; the CIA and world militaries prepare contingency plans — including seizing Rick upon return.

Chapter 22 – The Betrayal at Red Horizon Stone receives secret orders: secure Rick, secure the shard, suppress the truth. But faced with the enormity of what they’ve uncovered, Stone agonizes between duty and conscience.

Chapter 23 – Earth Answers Back A chilling live transmission reaches the crew: Earth demands immediate asset containment. Rick realizes humanity is as dangerous as any alien threat.

Chapter 24 – The Line in the Dust Rick draws a literal line outside the lander. The crew chooses sides — truth vs. obedience — and Stone unexpectedly joins Rick.

Chapter 25 – The Return of The Returned The alien entity reveals its final condition: Rick must carry the shard home as ambassador… or the Vault will choose someone else — possibly someone darker.

Chapter 26 – Ascent The crew launches from Mars under increasing storm activity and psychic interference. The Vault manipulates the spacecraft’s systems, guiding and testing them one last time.

Chapter 27 – Earthfall Approaching Earth, multiple nations scramble missiles, interceptors, and corporate fleets to intercept the Blue Coyote craft. Rick realizes the war for alien knowledge has begun.

Chapter 28 – Seizure Upon atmospheric entry, global forces attempt to seize the ship. A rogue faction (CIA or foreign power) boards mid-flight. The shard responds violently.

Chapter 29 – The Last Decision The shard reveals its final truth: the Vault can uplift humanity — or quarantine it. Rick must choose whether to bond fully with the shard, becoming a conduit that unites minds… …or destroy it to prevent civilization-ending conflict.

Chapter 30 – The Landing Rick makes a choice that reshapes humanity’s future. The book ends on a massive revelation or cliffhanger — depending on whether this becomes a trilogy.

BOOK TWO — THE CARRIER Humanity grapples with the alien intelligence now active on Earth. Nations clash as Rick becomes a symbol of unity — or threat. Secret factions seek to harness or eliminate the shard’s power. The Vault awakens a second site (Europa, Antarctica, Sahara, or the Moon), forcing humanity to confront a far older cosmic story.

Now and Dead

NOW AND DEAD Logline: While College sweethearts drive down a rural road they’re distracted by paranormal creatures hanging from trees and crash. Doctors replace broken limbs with cadavor parts from a deceased college professor that studied supernatural phenomenon. Paranormal creatures distract a young couple during a midnight ride through Northern Michigan. Synopsis: Bruce Davis, a recent graduate of Michigan State University and his young girlfriend Dana drive down a rural eastern Michigan road in an older two door pick up truck. Their two year old German Shepherd is sitting quietly in the short bed.

The weather is cool and we see the two having an intense conversation from the side windows. Their conversation becomes very animated. They are not paying attention to the road. While they travel at a high rate of speed we see Bruce making an exaggerated point while looking at Dana, his companion.

Dana appears to be preoccupied texting. They've driven through a roadblock that posts "Dangerous Cliff Ahead." Road Closed." They have no idea what lies ahead. Bruce is still focused arguing with Dana, he notices something peculiar outside of her window, unworldly creatures hanging from a trees. As the truck moves faster down the road, more of these creatures are hanging from trees.

They resemble, half human, wolf looking, vampires, flashing fangs and claws of lycanthropic beasts. Daylight turns to darkness. The wind begins to howl. Basko, their German Shepherd, begins making strange noises. Rain begins to pour, hail pelts the pickup truck. Visibility is close to zero. As the truck keeps moving forward, the creatures multiply. Bruce motions Dana to look outside. Dana sees the unbelievable, she's shocked.

2. Fog is settling in, rain begins to pour, some of the vampire like creatures are morphing their appearance. Their eye sockets are filling with ocular fluids and the creatures muscles and cartilage can be heard adjusting and forming into whole vampires. Basko is howling, Bruce tries to slow down, but too late. The rain is blinding, and Bruce cannot slow the truck down, the pedal is stuck. The truck catapults off a 100 foot cliff.

Basko manages to leap out before the truck hits large trees. As the truck slams into large branches breaking it's fall, we see the young couple bouncing around the inside of the cab. As each branch breaks the trucks fall, the couple moan and groan with pain. Blood is everywhere. The pickup finally slams into the side of a large tree. A small fire starts up under the hood. We hear screaming and moaning.

Two young hikers witness the crash, they call 911 and rush to the scene of the crash. The couple is moved by helicopter to a local Michigan Hospital. We see the two laying in hospital beds in life threatening condition. The doctors have operated on both using the latest life saving techniques that include transplanting cadaver bones, marrow and fluids from the local Medical University's cadaver bank. Dana dies on the operating table after losing too much blood. Six months after the operation his personality has changed and now Bruce day dreams about Dana, the 3. crash and the creatures that rushed past them before the horrible event.

He acquires the records from the accident and researches the donor of the bone transplants. Bruce discovers the cadaver bones belonged to a professor at the Sandusky's Medical repository. They donor a Professor Irving Shamsky. He died two months before Bruce and Dana's accident, under strange circumstances. The professor, was in his late 50's, was born in Eastern Europe, he studied Vampirology and received a PHD at Bucharest's University of Medicine in Romania. His studies in Bucharest were in researching ancient Rumanian burial caves that were allegedly inhabited by Vampires.

Bruce is now sure that he and Dana were received Shamsky's cadaver bones and body fluids. Months of sleepless nights and visits by strange creatures hanging from the ceiling dripping blood would haunt Bruce's dreams. The dreams turned into nightmares. Bruce, must get to the bottom of his nightmares and find out if there is a connection between Professor Shamsky and his accident. Bruce travels to Eastern Europe.

When he arrives in Bucharest he investigates Professor Shamsky's past. He finds two students that graduated from Shamsky's classes. Ivanna, a young attractive, former student and now a producer for a local TV station, and Koman, who now teaches Vampirology and Folklore at another local 4. university in Romania. Bruce is intent on finding out why his nightmarish visions tie into Professor Shamsky's cadaver transplants. Before Shamsky left Romania he was researching sightings of locals residents rising from the dead. They took on traits that resembled Vampires, they were walking among the living.

Bruce discovers that many of the murders of suspected men and women that rose from the dead were mysteriously killed during Professor Shamsky's tenure at the University. Bruce learns that Shamsky was a professor by day, and butcher by night. Local Rumanian police investigating local murders were tracking Shamsky to the dead and missing. A few days before he would be charged, Shamsky left Romania. He revised his resume applied for and was admitted as a full professor at the Medical Hospital in Sandusky, Michigan.

Bruce together with Ivanna and Koman begin to search grave sites of Shamsky's alleged victims. Most of the missing or murdered were residents that lived while Shamsky was a professor at the University. Bruce, and Ivanna, would wait till midnight to visit the cemeteries where the Shamsky's alleged victims were buried. The dead people they found were in excellent condition.

Their skin was fresh, their lips were vibrant, their eyeballs were black, and their teeth were coated with blood. When the bodies were touched they would hiss, and bare fanged teeth. Bruce, Ivanna and Koman discovered underground tunnels where the dead bodies were buried. Bruce, had crawled through many of these tunnels, finding bones and other human remains. DNA and pictures were used to identity of the dead. 5. One night, while secretly digging Bruce, Ivanna and Koman observed Vampire like creatures, floating around the cemetery, hanging from trees, morphing from skin to bones, howling...., their black webbed wings fluttering.

Interviews with family members of the dead revealed many of their loved ones were students at the University's Medical Center. And Shamsky was one of their professors. All fingers pointed to Shamsky's as the butcher responsible for their death. Further investigation of Shamsky revealed DVD's of interviews he filmed of himself. He discussed his need for human blood, described the taste and aroma, and how he chose his victims.

After each kill, he would tape the event, describe how he lured his victims and then buried them alive. Bruce and Ivanna watched hours and hours of Shamsky's DVD's each interview described the horrific details of each death and burial. The DVD's would map out where each body was buried. At night Bruce and Ivanna would dig up grave sites they found dead bodies that appeared recently buried.

They bodies seemed to still have the ability to be brought back to life. Through it all, Bruce and Ivanna became close friends. The end of their investigation shocked Ivanna and Bruce. During their grave digging they discover Shamsky's body in perfect condition. Breathing! The End

Bum

THE KHE SANH BROS by Mike Colonna Synopsis: The Battle of Khe Sanh was a 77-day siege in 1968 during the Vietnam War where U.S. Marines and their allies defended the Khe Sanh Combat Base from a massive North Vietnamese Army offensive. The battle involved intense artillery bombardment, air power, and a disrupted supply line, eventually leading to the relief of the base in April 1968 and the later abandonment of the base. The strategic significance of the battle remains a topic of debate, with some believing it was intended to distract from the Tet Offensive, while others see it as an attempt to seize a strategic area. Five Marines led bThe 5 Marines served out their time, retired were considered heroes, but as time would have it all became homeless, and reconnected on the Pacific Coast Highway, 7th Street and Bellflower. Each manned a traffic light panhandling and sharing their “wealth” at the corner Jack N The Box on Bellflower Blvd. Their lives would change after witnessing a road rage accident and a murder that resulted.

FADE IN: EXT. LONG BEACH — SEVENTH & PCH — DAY Heat halos vibrate off asphalt. TRAFFIC chokes the intersection. A MILK CRATE. A cardboard sign: ARMY VET — ANYTHING HELPS. BOB PURNELL (60s), lean, sun-cut, eyes like rangefinders, posts up beneath a lamppost. He scans lanes the way a sniper scans tree lines. A BLACK DODGE CHARGER weaves, bass THUNDERING. The windows rattle. In the adjacent lane: a SILVER SEDAN, pristine, ribbon on the rearview. JOSEPH PARKIN (58), Marine posture, suit, boutonniere, white knuckles on the wheel. ON BOB — head tilts, listening. BOB (V.O.) Hear the jungle before you see it. Always.

The light turns RED. The Charger skids. TIRES SCREAM. JAMES GONZALES (24) explodes out, ink up his neck, a TIRE IRON in hand. INTERSECTION — CONTINUOUS Gonzales SLAMS the sedan hood — BOOM. PARKIN steps out, palms raised. PARKIN Take it easy, son— WHACK! The tire iron arcs. Parkin STAGGERS. WHACK-WHACK! Ugly, wet impacts. Screams. A BABY cries. A PHONE lifts, filming. BOB half-steps forward... stops. He locks on the plate. INSERT — LICENSE PLATE: “7XR-L92” (OR SIMILAR) Bob MOUTHS the plate, rhythm like a radio check. WHACK! Parkin crumples. Gonzales breathes hard, eyes VACANT. He jumps back into the Charger. PEELS OUT. A crown STICKER flashes on the rear glass. ROAR of ENGINE fading EAST. Bob’s jaw sets.

BOB (semi-salute at Parkin) Hold fast. SIRENS swell. EXT. INTERSECTION — MOMENTS LATER OFFICER STEVE FOLGER checks Parkin’s pulse — grim. OFFICER STANLEY CHAVEZ pushes the crowd. BOB I got the plate! OFFICER CHAVEZ Back up, sir— BOB (precise, firm, calls it out) Seven. X-Ray. Romeo. Lincoln. Niner. Two. The officer FREEZES, keys mic. OFFICER CHAVEZ (INTO RADIO) Broadcast: 7XR-L92, black Dodge Charger, eastbound Seventh. EXT. INTERSECTION — LATER Crime scene tape. YELLOW. Humming. DETECTIVE LARRY AMBROSE (40s), suit defeating the heat, studies Bob. AMBROSE You read it or you kept it? BOB Both. AMBROSE You drinking? BOB Not yet. AMBROSE almost smirks. Noted. AMBROSE Anything else? Bob’s gaze tracks the lane where the Charger fled.

BOB Passenger. Small shape. Long hair. And a sticker — white crown. Back glass. Driver wore a silver lion ring. Index finger. AMBROSE clocks every word. AMBROSE You just gave me a second camera angle. He tears a card, presses it into Bob’s hand. AMBROSE You sleep where? BOB Under PCH. Sea turtle mural. AMBROSE Stay close, Mr. Purnell. Local TV Station Van’s arrive on the scene. One reporter approaches BOB. RUSSEL PORTER I’m RUSSEL PORTER KNBC can you tell me what happened? BOB That detective over there told me not to discuss this with anyone. RUSSEL PORTER Did you tell the officers what you saw. BOB Absolutely, everything! After the live interview Bobs face was all over the news. Detective AMBROSE was Police Headquarters Downtown piecing all the details of his conversation with BOB, and looks up from his desk at the TV. RUSSEL PORTER This is a KNBC News Bulletin. A Homeless Viet Nam Vet has witnessed an alleged murder cause by road rage in Long Beach. Bob what did you see? BOB I saw it all, gave Police all the information they requested, hope they catch these guys. RUSSEL PORTER Sending it back to you at the Studio. DETECTIVE AMBROSE Dammit, I told BOB not to talk to anyone. Now we’ve got a problem. Officer Chavez walks into the room half way through the TV interview and hears AMBROSE talking to himself. OFFICER CHAVEZ This guy just signed his death warrant. DETECTIVE AMBROSE Come with me CHAVEZ. I’ve go an idea. EXT. UNDER PCH — NIGHT TENTS, palle fires. The hum of freeway like distant rotors. WALT PURNELL (50s) — Bob’s younger brother, charming wreck — drops onto the curb, new backpack still wearing its SPIDER SECURITY TAG.

WALT Heard you went siren on ‘em. Bum Alarm, baby. Bob stares at the darkness. BOB A man died. Walt’s grin falters. He nudges Bob’s shoulder. WALT Got a line on a door gig. A guy with a big watch needs statues. Two hours. Cash, sandwich. You and me. Bob listens past Walt. Beyond the freeway hum... a SCOOTER with a rattly chain passes above. BOB Chain’s off pitch. WALT That a yes? Bob doesn’t answer. EXT. BOB’S CORNER — DAY AMBROSE arrives with COFFEE. Hands it over. AMBROSE We popped your plate. James Gonzales. Debt to a local set. Word is, he’s been doing hits dressed as “rage.” There’s a name behind him — TÍO. We’ve never seen his face clean. Bob sips, watching traffic.

BOB You want ears. AMBROSE And a mouth no one notices. You in? A beat. A light turns green, the whole block exhales. BOB I’m in. AMBROSE slides over a beater flip phone. AMBROSE One number. Me. You feel heat, hang up. I’ll hear it anyway. EXT. LONG BEACH — VARIOUS — LISTENING MONTAGE — Bob on his crate. CROWN STICKERS on beaters glide by. — A kid in a DODGERS CAP whistles the same bar every day. — A HONDA CIVIC with a blown speaker taps 3-2 bass knocks at the donut shop. — A HAND with a LION RING raps change: ting-ting-ting... pause... ting. — Bob’s thumb brushes the PHONE. He DIALS. Short intel drops. AMBROSE’s WALL fills with map pins and strings. EXT. UNDER PCH — NIGHT Walt bounces on his heels, wired. WALT Door gig’s tonight. Warehouse by the river. Dude called “Tío.” You coming or what? Bob’s eyes narrow. He turns away, dials. BOB (INTO PHONE) Warehouse. River. “Tío.” Tonight. AMBROSE (V.O., FILTERED) Be a witness and live. Bob pockets the phone. Faces Walt.

BOB I’m coming. EXT. RIVER WAREHOUSE ROW — NIGHT A slit of moon. Sodium lights buzz. A corrugated door half-open like a jaw. Inside: STRING LIGHTS sag. A dead forklift. Spray-painted CROWN, six feet tall. Men haul UNMARKED BOXES. A boy flips a KNIFE open-shut-open, CLICK-CLACK metronome. TÍO (50s?) emerges from shadow. Tie too formal, watch too heavy, face forgettable by design. On his INDEX: LION RING. He measures Bob and Walt. TÍO You stand. You see. You say if anything wrong comes. (to Walt) Face the street. (to Bob) Face me. Bob’s eyes catalog exits, head height, tool racks, footfalls. Vietnam muscle memory lights up. The BLACK CHARGER slides in. Engine idles low, like a growl swallowed. GONZALES climbs out. The PASSENGER door eases — a GIRL (19), bruised eye, hair curtaining shame. TÍO Where you been?

GONZALES Here. TÍO You made music. Now uniforms know my song. Gonzales swallows. The girl stares at the floor. TÍO (to the girl) Go home. Not his. Yours. She slips past Bob. For a breath, their eyes meet. She’s counting exits too. TÍO (to Gonzales) You will fix what you broke. By dawn. Gonzales nods like a boy promised detention. He starts to go, cranks the stereo reflexively — BASS SWELLS — catches Tío’s look, kills it. The Charger ghosts out. Tío turns to Bob and Walt. Soft voice, harder message. TÍO Come.

INT. WAREHOUSE OFFICE — NIGHT Peeling calendar of a beach. Metal desk scarred with cigarette burns. Tío sits. Bob remains standing. TÍO If uniforms come because of you, you disappear. No song. Understand? BOB I hear you. Tío’s eyes flick to Walt — the leverage. Back to Bob — the fulcrum. TÍO Good listener. He gestures — dismissed. EXT. WAREHOUSE — DAWN First birds. River breath. Walt trembles as adrenaline drains. WALT We can’t— BOB We can. We will. Bob dials. Low, quick: BOB (INTO PHONE) Cars. Boxes. Crown. Lion. Gonzales out hunting witnesses by dawn. Office southwest corner. Loader bay chained. Third window painted shut. AMBROSE (V.O., FILTERED) Copy. Sit tight. Don’t be a hero. Bob kills the call. Looks at Walt. BOB Be alive.

EXT. SEVENTH & PCH — PRE-DAWN Gonzales’ Charger creeps along the curb — predatory. The corner is empty. He frowns. Floors it. INT. GONZALES’ CHARGER — MOVING — DAWN Phone BUZZ. Unknown text: a CROWN EMOJI + a CLOCK. He grimaces, U-TURNS. EXT. WAREHOUSE ROW — NIGHT LATER. Unmarked units black out. BOOTS hit gravel. A RAM pops the office door — CRACK! LAPD SWAT floods in. FLASH-BANG — BANG—WHUMP! Light devours darkness. Men cough, hands up. AMBROSE threads through chaos, eyes on targets. AMBROSE Hands! Hands! Don’t be brave! A RUNNER bolts down an aisle. AMBROSE plants, BODY-SHOTS him into a crate — CRASH! Another suspect reaches for a drawer — TASER POP. Down. Office safe yawns open — CASH, LEDGERS, a PHONE with contacts labeled in emojis only. AMBROSE Bag it. All of it. No Tío. EXT. ALLEY — SAME A SHADOW — Tío — slips into a sedan and dissolves into city glow. EXT. UNDER PCH — DAWN Bob and Walt wait under concrete ribs. Sirens far away now, like thunder on a different shore. WALT We good?

BOB We’re breathing. Walt pulls out a CARBURETOR he’s been tinkering with, proud boy again. WALT Shop on Anaheim’ll teach if you show up twice in a row. Boss says I’m good with jets. Bob eyes the part, its fluted precision. Nods. BOB Make it sing. EXT. SEVENTH & PCH — MORNING The corner wakes: coffee steam, bus brakes, dog walkers. A WOMAN in a green cardigan hands Bob a BAG and a NOTE. WOMAN He taught my son to parallel park. Thank you for hearing him. She goes. Bob opens the bag — sandwich. The note in a child’s scrawl: Thank you for hearing my grandpa. He tucks it next to the flip phone. The talisman beats the tech. AMBROSE appears, bone-tired, jacket off. AMBROSE Gonzales is in a box. He sang some, choked more. We crippled Tío’s arm, not the body. But the boys running errands? They’re gonna need jobs that don’t pay in funerals. He studies Bob — really sees him.

AMBROSE I can get you a bed. Counselor’s good. No pressure. BOB Sheets are loud. AMBROSE smirks, tips an invisible cap. AMBROSE You ever want quieter loud, call me. He moves on. EXT. SEVENTH & PCH — LATER Midday shimmer. A BUS idles. A KID leans out a window. KID Bum Alarm! Bob SALUTES. The bus driver HONKS twice, friendly. A PICKUP with a dust-dulled CROWN STICKER rolls by. Bob clocks it, files it, lets it go. BOB (V.O.) Not every crown wears a king. A FATHER and SON in tuxes glide through the green, arguing cufflinks. The radio hums a wedding standard. No shouts. No iron. Bob exhales. The corner breathes with him. EXT. SHORELINE — SUNSET Bob and Walt stand ankle-deep. The Pacific chews orange into silver. WALT They’re naming that corner after Parkin. Little sign. Still.

BOB Good. WALT You okay? Bob watches a wave break, rebuild, return. BOB Not where I was. Walt nods, kicks surf. For once, they let the silence be a bridge, not a wall. EXT. LONG BEACH — NIGHT City lights blink awake. Somewhere: a door closes on a warehouse. Somewhere else: a badge clicks onto a hook. The freeway hum is almost a lullaby. Back at the corner, Bob settles in. He adjusts the crate, squares the sign, sets his feet like a sentry. He listens. — A SCOOTER chain now true. — A HONDA’s 3-2 bass knocks shift to 2-2 — new code, new day. — Somewhere a PHONE goes up to film, then down to help. Bob’s eyes lift to the light. BOB (V.O.) Take the first thing. Hear it. Say it. Live. FADE OUT. TITLE CARD: THE BUM ALARM OVER BLACK: SUPER: “In memory of Joseph Parkin — Marine, father, neighbor.” CUT TO BLACK. THE END

“The Bum Alarm” Logline: A former Army Vietnam Veteran now homeless help police solve a petty crime that accelerates into a murder for hire investigation. A homeless man panhandling on a busy intersection in Long Beach, California helped police solve the fatal beating by a group of gangbangers over a road rage incident. Synopsis: Bob Purnell was a fixture on the corner of Seventh Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach. After his release from the Army after two stints in Viet Nam, Bob’s mental condition was questionable.

His brother, also homeless, stood Bob Purnell, a homeless man, watched James Gonzales beat 58 year old retired Marine Joseph Parkin to death. Parkin a long time Long Beach resident tried to fight back but Gonzales used a blunt instrument to beat Parking to death. Gonzales got back in his car and sped off. Purnell memorized the assailants license plate and gave the tag number to police when they arrived at the scene. Police are searching for James Gonzales 24, for first-degree mur der. The road rage that day started when Parkin, who lives in East Long Beach, was traveling to his son's wedding and pulled into a speeding car driven by Gonzales going east on Seventh street past Recreation Park Golf Course. Purnell could hear loud rap music coming from Gonzales car the music got his attention. He witnessed the entire incident from his corner location.