"Cut!!" the director yells.
Mariana stops mid-run. Breathing hard.
"You did good, dear," the director says, walking over. "You did very good. I'm impressed. There's one small thing I want you to do. We need that last line to be more vengeful. You know, Smirk. Add more grit and passion like you're so gonna skin them alive. Put in your emotions. Eat it up. You're a badass already, I need to see you come to life."
Mariana nods, still catching her breath.
"Okay?" He claps his hands. "Okay, we got it. We got it everyone. Get back into position. Get the cameras rolling. In three, two, one... action! Mariana let's go! Ready when you are."
Mariana starts again. She walks into the shadows, pulls out the earpod, puts it in.
"I told you he'd take the bait."
The voice crackles back. "Yeah, you did. So, what now?"
Mariana looks up at the sky and smirks this time. Real venom in it.
"It's only the beginning. The game is just—"
Her phone buzzes.
She stops and looks at it.
"Oh shit! I'm sorry," she calls out. "I gotta take this."
The director nods. Calm and professional.
"Take your time." He says as Mariana walks off set.
The second she's out of earshot, he, the director completely loses it.
He crumpled his script. Throws it on the ground like a toddler. Kicks it, kicks the air, almost loosing balance. He stomps on it. Pulls at his hair. Mutters under his breath. "Five breaks. Five! In What? Two hours. Two freaking HOURS."
The crew watches him throw a silent tantrum, trying not to laugh.
One of the camera guys walks over to another. "Yo! What's his deal?"
The other guy chuckles. "He's pissed Mariana keeps taking breaks. It's the fifth one today. But he can't say anything because he needs her so badly. The whole movie's built around her. So this?" He gestures at the director now lying face-down on the pavement. "This is the only way he can let it all out."
The director rolls onto his back, stares at the sky and groans dramatically.
The crew bites back another laughter.
***
EXT. ALLEY - CONTINUOUS
Mariana walks around the corner. Checks to make sure no one's watching. Then she runs.
She pulls out her phone, checks a map. On it was a blinking red dot and a timer counting down, (14:32).
She puts in her earbuds.
"Fourteen minutes and thirty two seconds. How close am I?"
A female voice comes through, warm and teasing. "Well, it's good to see you too Agent May. And I'm fine, thank you. How are you?"
Mariana rolls her eyes, still running. "I missed you too."
"C'mon, don't give me that attitude," the voice says, laughing.
"Alright, alright." Mariana checks the timer again. It read; 13:58.
"How close?"
"Less than fifteen minutes. You know, you could let us handle this."
"It's my fifth break in two hours."
Mariana slides under a construction barrier, clips a man's shoulder, nearly knocks over a woman. "Sorry!" she yells over her shoulder.
"Yeah, I know," the voice says. "What'd you tell the director?"
"That it's important. Manager stuff or something like that. In this line of work, you learn to lie a lot."
"You're a spy, May. What do you think spies do? Tell the freaking truth?"
Mariana laughed. "Well, we fight bad guys. It's not the same."
11:47
Mariana spots a motorcycle parked on the curb. She looks around. No one watching. She hops on. Hotwires it in seconds and revs the engine.
She checks the timer again. 10:22.
The moment she lifts her head, she sees him. Blonde hair, check. Expensive suit, check. Getting into a black SUV, okay, that's a new one.
"Shit." She muttered.
A different voice cuts in. Harsher and older. "You're late."
"Nice to meet you too," Mariana mutters again, following the SUV at a distance.
"This is the fifth time today you've left set. Do you have any idea how much money..."
"I know, I know. I'll handle it."
"...you're costing production? The director is...."
"I know."
"...about to have a heart attack and frankly so am I. You can't keep..."
"Shhh!!"
Silence.
Then: "Did you just tell your boss to shush?"
"I'm working."
"You're supposed to be on set! You have a contract, Mariana. A very expensive...."
Mariana rolls her eyes as the speaker kept going on and on. And on. She pulls out binoculars with one hand, keeps the other on the handlebars. The SUV turns into an industrial area and pulls up to a warehouse.
The blonde man steps out. Straightens his tie, looks around suspiciously and walks inside.
Mariana zooms in through the grimy windows. There she saw it. Women. At least a dozen of 'em: bruised, beaten and some even crying while some just stared....at nothing.
The man points at one. A young woman somewhere maybe in her twenties.
One of his guys grabs her by the hair and drags her.
"Well, I gotta go. Bye." Mariana says, to the voice still speaking. She clicks the earpod off mid-scolding.
Another voice comes on. "Tera. Talk to me."
"It's a trafficking hub," Tera says. "Drugs and people. He's moving a product tonight. Armed guards are everywhere. At least fifteen, maybe twenty."
"Initiate?" She asked.
"Not yet."
The man gets into his car. The woman is shoved into the trunk. She was screaming.
The SUV starts moving.
"Now?"
"Not yet."
The SUV is pulling onto the main road.
"Now?"
"Wait..." A beat. "Go!.
Mariana guns it. She pulls up alongside the fence. Pulls a small device from her jacket. Tosses it. It sticks to the inside of the wire.
"Tracker's live," Tera says.
Mariana accelerates. 5:47 reads on the timer.
The SUV is ahead. She pulls out her gun. Fires at the back window. The glass shatters.
She swerves to the other side, fires again. The front passenger window shatters.
Some of the men lean out with their weapons raised.
Mariana shoots a perfect headshot to one of the guy and he slumps. Immediately.
A second car appears. Full with bodyguards. They all open fire.
Mariana ducks, weaves to the side to get closer.
She leaps. Lands on the hood of the second car. Shoots through the windshield. The driver jerks as the car swerves.
She grabs the guy leaning out the window. Shoots him; belly, chest and head and tosses him off.
"Doing good Maria....look out!" Tera says.
Bullets punch through the roof from inside. She rolls to the side and dodges.
Pulls a tear gas canister from her belt. Yanks the pin. Drops it through the open window.
The was heavy screaming inside and lots of coughing.
Mariana pulls on a mask. Drops through the sunroof. Kick. Elbow. All Targeted one guy and he goes out the window. With a slamming kick offcourse.
The second tries to grab her. She breaks his nose, opens the door and kicks him out.
The driver's still trying to shoot with one hand on the wheel. Mariana grabs his wrist, twists and SNAP!
She breaks it. He screams.
She pulls a knife. Stabs. Stabs, opens the driver's door and kicks him out onto the road.
She takes the wheel and floors it.
The blonde man's SUV was just ahead.
2:14.
Mariana smiles.
"This is gonna be fun."