FIVE FOR SOLOMON (adv, wetsern, sci-fi)
SYNOPSIS: NEW WEST (1880-1910) Solomon was a rifleman for the U.S. Army until his wife was killed in an accident while he was away. He fell into a deep depression and was rescued from suicide by General Clark Wilkins, head of the newly formed and top secret government organization known as The Branch. Solomon is trained and turned into a merciless killer. But, he soon gets tipped off that his wife’s death may have been murder. His priorities start to shift and he finds more and more conflicts in his job as he searches for his wife’s killer.CHARACTER BIOS:
AGENT SOLOMON – Assassin for a secret U.S. government organization at the turn of the century, just as the real Old West is coming to an end. His senses, reflexes and strength have been enhanced by an unknown procedure. Expert in hand-to-hand combat and use of firearms, especially a modified German Walther G43 Sniper rifle that he has named Rose, after his dead wife. How and why she was killed is at the heart of story; it is the reason Solomon went from the regular army to a super secret organization known as The Branch. He is haunted by the memory of Rose and is always gathering information to discover who killed her.
GENERAL CLARKE WILKINS – Solomon’s superior at The Branch and veteran of the Civil War. He may know something about Rose’s death, but he also knows that this memory makes Solomon a better assassin.
CHAPTER 1 – Circle of Blood
INTRO - 1/2 PAGE PANEL
We see, through a riflescope, a baby in its mother’s arms. The crosshairs are sitting over the baby’s head as it sleeps.
Night. Solomon is riding a train headed to Sacramento, California. He is sitting in an aisle seat in a half-full train car. He is cleaning his rifle.
A woman pushes a cart down the aisle, selling peanuts and dried fruit.
She stops at Solomon’s seat.
WOMAN
Oh my, what a frightening thing.
SOLOMON
It won’t bite.
Solomon returns the rifle to its case.
WOMAN
Peanuts, sir? Dried fruit?
SOLOMON
No thanks.
The woman offers Solomon a small, brown bag.
WOMAN
These apricots are imported. Very hard to find.
SOLOMON
No, really.
WOMAN
Well, I have something even more exotic. I haven’t been turned down yet.
The woman reaches under the cart and pulls out a large scythe. She slashes it across the seats, shearing them off at the top. Solomon has ducked, just in time. Unfortunately, the man sitting behind him wasn’t as lucky and sits headless, still holding his bag of peanuts.
Solomon grabs his rifle case just in time to parry a return swing of the scythe. While the blade cuts through the leather cover, it halts with a CLANG on the metal case.
Solomon blocks the scythe downward and thrusts the case into the woman’s chest, knocking her into the opposite seat and on top of a frightened woman.
This gives Solomon just enough time to extract his rifle, load it with blinding speed and fire a shot at the woman.
She is inhumanly fast and darts out of the way. The bullet hits the woman holding the baby, killing her. Solomon doesn’t react and simply follows the other woman as she speeds to the end of the train car. Solomon fires off another shot, hitting her in the leg, just as she leaps out of the window, disappearing from sight.
Solomon looks at the dead woman and has a flashback…
Solomon is in a New York hotel. He is staring at himself in the bathroom mirror. He has a pistol to his head.
Solomon returns to the present and leaps out of the same window as the woman.
SPLASH PANEL w/ TITLE
Solomon is kneeling on the dirt next to the train tracks as the train fades away. He is staring at a blood trail leading off into the scrub brush of a desert plain.
posted by jon @ 1:26 AM
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