A rock or a grain of
sand, in water they sink the same
46 & 2 Issue 12:
By
Zachary Smith
PAGE 1. PANEL 1.
A 15 year old Chinese boy, Chris Jong wakes up to a
gunshot. He sleeps on the floor, with a
pillow and blanket. His father sleeps on
the couch. It is a small apartment. A couch, is the only furniture present, and
they also have a small T.V. that sits upon the kitchen counter. Next to the T.V. is a bottle of whiskey and
some left over Chinese food. Clothes lay
about the messy apartment, on the couch, on the floor. School books are propped next to a back pack
next to Chris’ make shift bed.
The alarm clock is blank.
PAGE 1. PANEL 2.
Chris leans over the couch to wake up his father. We see a closer shot of his father, who looks
aged, with stubble, and stains upon his shirt.
Chris: “Dad, its time
to wake up. The power’s been cut off
again.”
PAGE 1. PANEL 3.
Chris’ dad, Ah Jong, begins to wake up.
Ah: “It’s too early.”
Chris: “No, it’s
6:45. I need to get to school, and you
need to wake up and open the store.”
Ah: “It’s not time.”
PAGE 1. PANEL 4.
Chris changes into one of the shirts from the floor.
Chris: “It is, but
you’re too hung over to wake up.”
Ah: “I’m not…”
Chris: “Sober, I
know.”
PAGE 1. PANEL 5.
Ah sits up right, arms at his side, looking down at the
floor. Chris is putting his books that
were on the floor.
Ah: “Chris…I’m so-“
Chris: “Sorry. I know.”
PAGE 2. PANEL 1.
The burning man walks out of the back of his van. It is night in a parking garage.
PAGE 2. PANEL 2.
The burning man cocks a gun that is in his hand, he carries
a sniper rifle on his back.
PAGE 2. PANEL 3.
He has closed his door, and begins to walk away from the
van, while fitting a silencer to the barrel of his gun.
PAGE 2. PANEL 4.
Two Asian guards men stand outside of a warehouse. Both have pistols tucked into their jackets,
we can see them hanging out. The burning
man can be seen approaching out of the corner, from around the side. There is a dead man slumped against the
building where he is coming from. He is
tapping against the wall, getting the attention of the man on the right,
closest to him.
PAGE 2. PANEL 5.
The man walks over to him, the burning man has a gun with an
extremely long silencer on it.
PAGE 2. PANEL 6.
The man is shot in the head and topples over.
PAGE 2. PANEL 7.
The burning man makes a running shot at the other guard
while the first guard falls over.
PAGE 2. PANEL 8.
The burning man shoots the other guard in the head as he
looks over.
PAGE 3. PANEL 1.
Chris sees an attractive young Asian woman, Li, laughing and
touching a tough looking Asian boy, Wei.
They are seated far away from Chris.
The couple wear nice, fashionable clothes and are eating lunch from a
take out restaurant. Chris eats lunch
from the cafeteria. Chris clothes are
the same one from earlier in the book.
PAGE 3. PANEL 2.
Chris sits in class, he is watching the same boy from the
cafeteria texting under his desk. The
phone looks very nice, is a flat touch screen phone. The teacher is teaching as this is going on.
PAGE 3. PANEL 3.
The boy, with the young girl on his arm, bumps into Chris as
they are leaving school. Chris’ friend, Ang,
is talking to him.
Ang: “…going to the
mall, play at the arcade for a bit.”
Chris: “Sounds goo-“
Wei: “Watch it.”
Ang: “Hey!”
PAGE 3. PANEL 4.
Chris stops Ang, he is bowing.
Chris (under his breath so only Ang can hear him): “Shut up Ang.”
Chris (normal tone): “Wei Lang, I am sorry, I did not see
that you were behind me.”
Wei: “Heh. No problem.
Maybe see you later Jong.”
PAGE 3. PANEL 5.
Ang looks at Chris.
Ang: “What was that
about?”
Chris: “He’s in the
Jack Street Boys, did you want to get stabbed?”
Ang: “Sorry. I just reacted.”
Chris: “Think next time. It’s not worth dying because I got a little
bit of a shove. Come on, let’s go by my
dad’s store before.”
PAGE 4. PANEL 1.
The burning man enters the door covertly in the
background. In the foreground we see a group
of Asian men talking, they have hand guns, and are standing around a small
table. One of them is taking a bump of
white powder into his nose. This is a
heroin deal that the burning man has walked into.
There are four men standing around the table.
PAGE 4. PANEL 2.
The burning man takes a position from on top of a
crate. He hides behind two other crates,
where the muzzle can peak out without notice.
One of the men has gone to the side to smoke a cigarette.
PAGE 4. PANEL 3.
A red light appears on the back of the man’s head as he is
smoking the cigarette. He is walking
back towards his friends.
PAGE 4. PANEL 4.
We see from the perspective of the scope that the red light
has moved to the head of another man standing around the table. No one notices as they are too buys looking
at the drugs and the money.
PAGE 4. PANEL 5.
The burning man fires and kills the three men standing
around the table. The man smoking drops
to the floor in a panic.
PAGE 4. PANEL 6.
He has turned around to shoot at the burning man, but searches
around, trying to find where the shots have come from.
PAGE 4. PANEL 7.
The burning man shoots the gun out of his hand.
PAGE 4. PANEL 8.
The burning man stands over the man who was smoking. He holds the sniper rifle on him, the red
light beams down from the rifle.
PAGE 5. PANEL 1.
Chris and Ang are walking towards the entrance of a
convenience store that belongs to Chris’ father. A big man is beginning to walk out of the
store with his head turned back. He is
talking to Chris’ father.
Big man: “Next
week. If its not turned in by then I’m
kicking you out.”
PAGE 5. PANEL 2.
Chris is picking up a soda as Ang looks at the candy. Ah looks at Chris as he is picking up a soda.
Ah: “I…did you hear
what he said?”
Chris: “The important
parts.”
Ah: “Chris…”
PAGE 5. PANEL 3.
Chris slams down cash onto the counter top. He is holding his soda, and Ang is walking
out behind him.
Chris: “Here. Got some tips at the restaurant last
night. It should cover our stuff.”
PAGE 5. PANEL 4.
Chris and Ang walk out of the door and are talking to each
other. As they are walking out the door,
Ah is looking at the two twenty dollar bills that Chris gave him to pay for a
candy bar and soda.
Chris: “Let’s hit the
arcade. Time to for some Marvel vs.
Capcom.”
Ang: “I want to play
Tekken 5.”
PAGE 5. PANEL 5.
Wei stands outside his car with a the stereo blaring in
front of Ah’s store, Li sits inside the car, another young Asian girl sits in
back. Chris and Ang are stunned, they do
not know what to think or do.
Wei: “Let me give you
a ride. I was heading in that direction
anyway.”
PAGE 5. PANEL 6
Chris and Ang sit in the back seat with Li’s female
friend. Chris is closest to the other
female friend, because he is sitting in the middle. She looks at Chris.
Wei: “How’s your dad
doing?”
PAGE 6. PANEL 1.
The burning man has strapped and gagged the surviving member
of his raid into a chair that has been installed in the back of the van. We now see the interior of the van. It holds racks upon racks of hand guns,
rifles, shot guns, knives, and below the racks are cartons of ammunition and
grenades. The man has been pretty much
untouched. The burning man has yet to
hurt him. The burning man is removing
one of the knives from its sheath.
PAGE 6. PANEL 2.
The burning man is carving into the man’s skin. The man’s yells are stifled by his gag.
PAGE 6. PANEL 3.
The burning man gets out a map and points to it with a
finger. The man in the chair nods no.
PAGE 6. PANEL 4.
The burning man is now digging into the man’s leg, carving
away. Once again, screams are stifled by
the gag.
PAGE 6. PANEL 5.
The burning man points again to the spot, the man once again
nods no.
PAGE 6. PANEL 6.
The burning man smiles, he is slashing away at the man’s
chest and torso, but we do not see the man’s front, just his writhing pain and
tearing clothes from the back.
PAGE 6. PANEL 7.
The burning man once again points at the same spot on the
map.
PAGE 7. PANEL 1.
Chris and Wei are playing Marvel vs. Capcom, as Ang looks
on. Chris has just won the fight.
Chris: “Shit…”
Wei: “Haha, what are
you mad about, you won. I hope you
didn’t lose the last one on purpose.”
Chris: “Heh,
yeah. I figured you might get mad if you
lost.”
Wei: “I’d be more upset
if you were letting me win. Play like
you mean it.”
PAGE 7. PANEL 2.
Chris gives Wei a couple quarters so he can play again.
Wei: “Thank you.”
Chris: “No
problem. You gave us a ride all the way
here, it’s the least I can do.”
Wei: “That store you
were coming out of, it’s your dad’s store, right?”
Chris: “Yeah.”
Wei: “My uncle shops
there a lot. Likes your dad too.”
PAGE 7. PANEL 3.
Chris is looking over at the Li and her friends as they play
each other on a car racing game.
Chris: “Oh, um,
thanks. Tell him it won’t be there much
longer.”
Wei: “Why not?”
Chris: “Getting shut
down. Dad can’t make rent.”
Wei: “Oh, that’s too
bad.
PAGE 7. PANEL 4.
Wei gets a couple hits in on Chris character, and then his
character leaps off the screen.
Chris: “Shit, Gambit
glitch.”
Wei: “Heh, yeah. Just because I wanted you to be honest,
doesn’t mean I need to be. You know, my
uncle heard about your dad’s problems, maybe there is something we could do to
help him keep the store open.”
Chris: “Um, yeah, I
don’t think…”
Wei: “Don’t think,
hehe, it’s bad for you. Let your new
friend Wei do the thinking for you.”
PAGE 7. PANEL 5.
They walk away from the game station
Chris: “What about…”
Wei: “There’s nothing
you can do to win, remember, he won’t come down until the time has run
out. I win. I saw you looking at Min, Li’s friend. Would you like me to introduce you
formally? I could put in a good word for
you, tell her how respectful and responsible you are.”
Ang: “I’ll just be
here.”
Wei: “Go ahead, you
can have my game.”
PAGE 7. PANEL 6.
Ang is in the background on the game, far away from Chris,
Wei, Li and Min. He looks over at them,
but no one is paying attention. They are
wrapped up in Wei’s conversation. They
are all laughing, Min is resting her forearm on Chris’ shoulder.
Wei: “…and then the
cop had to let me go because I was a minor, and he couldn’t prove that I had
done anything wrong. You should have
seen the look on his face.”
PAGE 8. PANEL 1.
The burning man’s walks along the block, he is walking at a
brisk pace.
PAGE 8. PANEL 2.
The burning man places a tracking device underneath a nice,
high-end car.
PAGE 8. PANEL 3.
The burning man sits in the van behind the wheel, tapping
his finger against the wheel, he watches an Asian man get into the car with the
tracer.
PAGE 8. PANEL 4.
The burning man follows the Asian man down a street, far
enough behind so as not to cause suspicion.
PAGE 8. PANEL 5.
The Asian man in the car pulls into a high end
building. The van keeps going.
PAGE 8. PANEL 6.
The van makes a U-turn and parks a bit away from the
building.
PAGE 8. PANEL 7.
The burning man hold’s remote device for the explosive as he
watches the man enter the building. He
is tapping his finger against the wheel.
PAGE 8. PANEL 8.
The burning man taps his finger faster against the wheel.
PAGE 8. PANEL 9.
He pushes the button on the remote device.
PAGE 9. PANEL 1.
Chris is climaxing from a blowjob, but we only see the
reaction on his face, and the back of Min’s head in his lap. He is in a dark room, with a lot of posters,
a television, DVD player, gaming system, and stereo system adorned around the
room. He sits in a chair next to a desk
with a laptop on it.
PAGE 9. PANEL 2.
Min is gargling mouth wash in the back ground as Wei
interrupts Chris’ walk into the living room.
Wei is waiting around the corner and Chris is shocked.
Wei: “Told you you’d
like that computer chair, nice and smooth wasn’t it.”
Chris: “Um, yeah.”
Wei: “Nice piece Min
is, don’t you think?”
Chris: “…”
Wei: “It’s alright, I
know from experience.”
PAGE 9. PANEL 3.
Chris looks confused, as Wei leads him into the living
room. The living room is full of nice
couches, tables, electronic equipment. It
is very modern so not a lot of clutter.
Wei: “Your dad’s
place is in a tough spot huh?”
Chris: “Yeah, the
neighborhood has gotten a little higher end, and my dad’s store just doesn’t
fit the status quo. Not a lot of
shoppers, and its hitting him hard. He’s
drinking a lot more, and I don’t know what to do. We’ve had to sell…”
Wei: “Its okay. Like I was saying, I think my uncle would be
willing to make an investment in the store.”
PAGE 9. PANEL 4.
Chris looks delighted.
Chris continues to move into the living room, Li is sitting on the couch
playing a video game. Wei has moved into
the kitchen, he is grabbing a beer from the refrigerator. Ang stands by the door, watching the events.
Chris: “Really? Oh my god, what…why?”
Wei: “He’s a big fan
of your fathers. They’ve known each
other for a few years, and has been trying to help your dad out for a long
time. But your dad is proud and has been
refusing. He doesn’t want to seem
dependent.”
PAGE 9. PANEL 5.
Chris looks at Ang.
Wei is walking over with two beers.
Ang: “I was just
about to catch the bus home, it’s getting late.
Ready?”
Wei: “Don’t go Chris,
the party is just getting started.”
PAGE 9. PANEL 6.
Chris looks around at the apartment, with the beer in
hand. Min has walked up behind him.
PAGE 9. PANEL 7.
Min is taking a drink of Chris’ beer as she rubs his stomach
with other arm from behind.
Chris: “You go, I’m
fine.”
PAGE 10. PANEL 1.
Smaller panel, tight focus on The burning man’s finger
letting go of the trigger mechanism.
PAGE 10. PANEL 2.
Big panel, takes up most of the page. Big explosion from the car, and showing its
affects on the car and the building’s around it.
PAGE 10. PANEL 3.
The car if flaming and smoking. One man has come out to inspect what
happened. An Asian man in a fine suit.
PAGE 10. PANEL 4.
The burning man smiles.
PAGE 10. PANEL 5.
He slides the chamber into place.
PAGE 11. PANEL 1.
Wei’s car has pulled
up to a block of apartments. It is
becoming evening.
PAGE 11. PANEL 2.
Li and Min are exiting the car, the seat has been pulled up
so Min can exit, Chris is talking to her as she leaves and is cut off by the
next panel when the door shuts.
Chris: “…great
time. I’ll call…”
PAGE 11. PANEL 3.
The door shuts as Chris finishes his dialogue.
Chris: “…you.”
Wei: “Don’t bother
calling a ho. They get ideas in their
heads. One of the worst thing in the
world is a bitch with an idea.”
Wei: “Get up
here. I’m not your fucking
chauffer. Who do you think I am,
Alfred? Kato?”
PAGE 11. PANEL 4
Wei is driving. Chris
is looking outside the window.
Chris: “This isn’t
the way to my house.”
Wei: “And were not
going there. I got some shit to do, and
you’re coming with me. Then I’ll take
you home.”
PAGE 11. PANEL 5.
Wei is talking to some teenage Asian boys, one stands closer
to Wei. Chris stands near the car and
watches them.
PAGE 11. PANEL 6.
Wei is beating the lead Asian boy who was standing closest
to him.
PAGE 11. PANEL 7.
Chris looks on in terror, Wei continues to beat the boy.
PAGE 11. PANEL 8.
Wei is walking over to Chris, he has a fresh wad of bloody
bills in his hand.
Wei: “I always
thought we Asians were good at math, guess this motherfucker forgot that.”
Wei: “Get in the
car.”
PAGE 12. PANEL 1.
The finely dressed Asian man lies dead on the outside of the
building as the burning man walks into the wreckage.
PAGE 12. PANEL 2.
Two Asian bodyguards draw on the burning man, and
shoot. The burning man has a handgun in
each hand.
PAGE 12. PANEL 3.
The burning man moves downward to avoid the bullets and gets
off two shots, both men are hit through the head.
A man is behind the burning man.
PAGE 12. PANEL 4.
The burning man guns down the man behind him with a spray of
uzi bullets. A group of men look on at
the carnage.
PAGE 12. PANEL 5.
A bunch of cars pull up.
PAGE 13. PANEL 1.
Chris and Wei are walking through a club now, full of Asian
men and women. This is a high end club,
and Chris looks very out of place. The
other patrons look at him to make sure he knows this. Loud music blares, people drink and dance.
Chris: “I don’t think
I should be here.”
Wei: “Don’t worry
about it, this is my uncle’s club.”
PAGE 13. PANEL 2.
Wei is handed a drink by one of the waitresses. Chris bumps into someone as he is walking and
talking, causing this person to spill a drink.
Waitress: “Does your
friend want anything?”
Wei: “Nah, he’s
driving.”
Chris: “I’m wha—“
PAGE 13. PANEL 3.
The man turns around angry, giving Chris the death stare,
splashes of his former drink are on him.
Wei: “I wouldn’t
touch him if I were you, he’s with me.”
Wei: “Mei, get this
guy another drink.”
PAGE 13. PANEL 4.
The man looks at Wei and Chris as they walk away, he looks
angry and frustrated.
Wei: “This way, I’ll
introduce you to my uncle.”
PAGE 13. PANEL 5.
Wei places his finger on a scanner in the back of the club.
Chris: “A finger
scanner? Awesome.”
Wei: “You ain’t seen
nothing yet.”
PAGE 13. PANEL 6.
A group of Asian men are putting together an arsenal of
weapons. An older Asian man in a nice
suit sits at a desk slamming the phone onto the reciever in the middle of this
loading up. This is Wei’s uncle. He looks directly at Wei.
Uncle: “Grab your
piece too, boy. We’re heading out.”
Wei: “Where?”
PAGE 13. PANEL 7.
The uncle has a gun in his hand.
Uncle: “Someone has a
made a move against us, and now they are going to die.”
Wei: “Awesome.”
PAGE 14. PANEL 1.
Groups of men are shooting from behind and in front of the
burning man, from the street and in the office, he has ducked for cover, he has
taken cover in the corner, against the wall, using the smoke for cover. He holds a grenade in his hand.
PAGE 14. PANEL 2.
One of the men raises his hand for a cease fire, as some of
the men on each side begin to die from friendly fire.
PAGE 14. PANEL 3.
The burning man tosses the grenade in the confusion. It lands under a car.
Men from the outside are walking in, looking for the burning
man. He lays flat on the floor, one man
is pointing his finger at him, while another points his gun.
PAGE 14. PANEL 4.
A second car blows up, killing a lot of men that were coming
in from the outside.
PAGE 14. PANEL 5.
A smile has broken across his face as the men scramble in terror.
PAGE 15. PANEL 1.
Wei’s car is driving at a great speed, he is intense in the
driver’s seat and Chris looks nervous.
Chris: “I don’t think
I should be going.”
Wei: “You want to
help your dad? There’s no better way to
prove it to us.”
PAGE 15. PANEL 2.
The car pulls up along with many other cars to the carnage,
many being shot and dying in front of the cars.
Two smoking husks of vehicles and broken glass and debris
everywhere. One man catches a bullet to
the head.
Chris: “No.”
Wei: “Fuck him if he
can’t move.”
PAGE 15. PANEL 3.
Wei is firing his gun along with other Triad soldiers at the
smoky crater that was once there offices.
PAGE 15. PANEL 4.
Wei throws Chris a hand gun.
Others are dying around them as return fire is being shot from the
Burning man, but no one can see him.
Wei: “Get ready.”
Chris: “Shouldn’t the
cops be here?”
Wei: “People on the
inside having them hold off, let us take care of it.”
PAGE 15. PANEL 5.
As Wei is speaking to Chris, he has a red dot on the side of
his head.
Wei: “Fucking cops
couldn’t hang anyway.”
Chris: “Wei!?”
PAGE 15. PANEL 6.
Wei is shot through the head as he talks to Chris, blood and
brain matter splatter across Chris.
PAGE 15. PANEL 7.
Wei has fallen over and Chris looks into the smoke and fire
as a figure emerges, outlined in black.
PAGE 16. PANEL 1.
The burning man takes up most of the panel, huge and
intimidating outlined and lighted by the fire and concealed somewhat by the
smoke. He wears a gas mask, which hides
the horror of his face so Chris can look at him in the next panel at the bottom
of the page.
PAGE 16. PANEL 2.
Small panel, towards the top left corner of the page: tight
shot of Chris’ horrified eyes. He’s
scared to death.
PAGE 16. PANEL 3.
Small panel, towards the top right corner of the page, the
burning man looking through the gas mask lenses, calm as ever.
PAGE 16. PANEL 4.
Small panel, towards the bottom left, he has removed the
mask to reveal a tight shot of his burned face, and he is terrifying. The Red Skull, the Joker, Anton Chigur have
nothing on this man right now. He is the
epitome of nightmare with that face.
PAGE 16. PANEL 5.
Small panel, towards the bottom right corner, Chris’
terrified eyes are now soft and crying, afraid of what will come next.
PAGE 17. PANEL 1.
Chris looks down, and he grabs the gun.
Chris: “No…”
PAGE 17. PANEL 2.
Chris jumps into the car.
PAGE 17. PANEL 3.
Chris backs the car away, as fast as he can. The burning man shoots another man who is
crawling away with his right arm, and he looks at Chris’ car as speeds off,
while throwing a tracer with his left arm.
Make sure the tracer is obscured, so that it is a surprise when he comes
for him in two pages.
PAGE 17. PANEL 4.
The burning man is walking towards the car as Chris
continues to back away. The POV is from
Chris in the car.
Chris: “Fuck…”
Chris: “I don’t want
to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t
want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I
don’t want to die…”
PAGE 17. PANEL 5.
Chris has flipped the car around and is driving away, the
burning man is outlined in fire and smoke, far, far away in Chris rear view
mirror, which Chris is checking. The
burning man fires a shot.
Chris: “I don’t want
to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t
want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I
don’t want to die…”
PAGE 17. PANEL 6.
Chris grimaces in pain as the bullets glances off of his
arm, and has broken the windows.
PAGE 18. PANEL 1.
The burning man walks away from the cars and building,
smoking and on fire.
PAGE 18. PANEL 2.
The burning man is driving, he looks out of the window, the
Asian man that was bound earlier is dead in the back of the van, he has a
bullet hole in his head.
PAGE 18. PANEL 3.
The burning man has parked the van, and is looking at Wei’s
vehicle.
PAGE 18. PANEL 4.
The burning man looks to the ground, and sees tiny spots, he
is following those spots.
PAGE 18. PANEL
5.
The burning man enters the nearest apartment building.
PAGE 18. PANEL 6.
The burning man enters the elevator in the apartment
building.
PAGE 18. PANEL 7.
The burning man’s finger is about to push a button with
blood on it.
PAGE 19. PANEL 1.
Chris runs past his dad as he watches T.V. on the couch.
Ah: “Chris?”
PAGE 19. PANEL 2/3
Ah is knocking against the panel wall, which is also the
bathroom door.
Chris is tying off the wound with a towel
Ah: “Where have you
been? I was getting really worried.”
Chris: “Hanging out.”
Ah: “What’s this
stuff on the ground? Are you okay? Listen, I wanted to talk about what happened
earlier today, I know I haven’t been the greatest provider but when you gave me
that money today, it changed my priorities.
I’m not going to drink anymore, I’m going to quit moping and--”
PAGE 19. PANEL 4.
Chris looks at the ground and notices blood.
There is a crash.
Chris: “Dad?”
Ah (off panel): “What
the hell was that?”
Chris: “DAD!”
PAGE 19. PANEL 5.
There is an odd noise from outside the door.
Sound FX: Soonk.
Chris holds himself against the door, crying.
Chris: “I’m sorry.”
PAGE 19. PANEL 6.
Chris sinks to the floor, crying.
Chris: “I don’t want
to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t
want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die…”
PAGE 20. PANEL 1.
The burning man is kicking in the door, and Chris is falling
away from the door.
PAGE 20. PANEL 2.
Chris shields himself from the burning man, the burning man
holds his gun with the suppressor hovering over Chris’ head.
PAGE 20. PANEL 3.
Chris looks up, tears in his eyes.
PAGE 20. PANEL 4.
The burning man is pulling back on the lever of the
gun.
PAGE 20. PANEL 5.
The burning man’s gun is firing the bullet.
THE END
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