INT -- RED'S CELL -- NIGHT (1947)

Red unfolds the slip of paper. Penciled neatly on it is a single word: "Thanks."

INT -- PRISON LAUNDRY -- DAY (1947)

We are assaulted by the deafening noise of the laundry line. Andy is doing his job, getting good at it.

BOB

DUFRESNE! WE'RE LOW ON HEXLITE! HEAD ON BACK AND FETCH US UP SOME!

Andy nods. He leaves the line, weaving his way through the laundry room and into --

INT -- BACK ROOMS/STOCK AREA -- DAY (1947)

-- a dark, tangled maze of rooms and corridors, boilers and furnaces, sump pumps, old washing machines, pallets of cleaning supplies and detergents, you name it. Andy hefts a cardboard drum of Hexlite off the stack, turns around --

-- and finds Bogs Diamond in the aisle. blocking his way. Rooster looms from the shadows to his right, Pete Verness on the left. A frozen beat. Andy slams the Hexlite to the floor, rips off the top, and scoops out a double handful.

ANDY

You get this in your eyes, it blinds you.

BOGS

Honey, hush.

Andy backs up, holding them at bay, trying to maneuver through the maze. The Sisters keep coming, tense and guarded, eyes riveted and gauging his every move, trying to outflank him. Andy trips on some old gaint sugglies. That's all it takes. They're on him in an instant, kicking and stomping.

Andy gets yanked to his feet. Bogs applies a chokehold from behind. They propel him across the room and slam him against an old four-pocket machine, bending him over it. Rooster jams a rag into Andy's mouth and secures it with a steel pipe, like a horse bit. Andy kicks and struggles, but Rooster and Pete have his arms firmly pinned. Bogs whispers in Andy's ear:

BOGS

That's it, fight. Better that way.

Andy starts screaming, muffled by the rag. CAMERA PULLS BACK, SLOWLY WIDENING. The big Washex blocks our view. All we see is Andy's screaming face and the men holding him down…

…and CAMERA DRIFTS FROM THE ROOM, leaving the dark place and the dingy act behind…MOVING up empty corridors, past concrete walls and steel pipes…

RED (V.O.)

I wish I could tell you that Andy fought the good fight, and the Sisters let him be. I wish I could tell you that, but prison is no fairy-tale world.

WE EMERGE into the prison laundry past a guard, WIDENING for a final view of the line. The giant steel "mangler" is slapping down in brutal rhythm. The sound is deafening.

RED (V.O.)

He never said who did it…but we all knew.

PRISON MONTAGE: (1947 through 1949)

ANDY PLODS THROUGH HIS DAYS,

working, eating, chipping and shaping his rocks after lights-out…

RED (V.O.)

Things went on like that for a while. Prison life consists of routine, and then more routine.

ANDY WALKS THE YARD, FACE SWOLLEN AND BRUISED.

RED (V.O.)

Every so often, Andy would show up with fresh bruises.

ANDY EATS BREAKFAST. A FEW TABLES OVER, BOGS BLOWS HIM A KISS.