CUT
TO:
INT.
HIGH-TECH BIO LAB -
CORRIDORS - EMERGENCY LIGHTS
Stu Redman picks
his way among the
bodies of the
Spacemen, their helmets off or cracked -- all dead.
He
sees the rotting faces of Hap, Vic, Hank
and others pressed against the
glass of an
observation window. He looks away, when --
-- in the
darkness nearby, a hand
aims a pistol on Stu.
The shaky hand
keeps a wavering aim
on Stu, as he is moving closer, when --
-- a FLARE
ERUPTS from the nozzle
and a GUNSHOT
rips the silence. Stu jumps in fright and faces a
dying
Len Creighton. Stu snatches the pistol from him.
CREIGHTON
I had to, had to
...
STU
Why?
Creighton coughs
up phlegm.
Doubles
over in pain. Stu jabs him with the pistol.
STU
I want answers
or I shoot.
CREIGHTON
... The virus is
eating me
up. It's
got into
the nerves ... the pain ...
Creighton fights
it, his eyes light
up with hope.
CREIGHTON
I'll make you a
deal.
STU
A deal?
What deal?
EXT. OLD
BUILDING (TOWN
IN VERMONT) - NIGHT
The building is
a Veteran's
Administration Hospital.
Side doors swing open, and Stu, propping
up
Creighton,
exits -- nothing outside suggests the hi-tech lab within.
Stu lowers
Creighton to the tarmac
and finds himself in a
picture postcard New England town now lit up by fires
out of control; and there are bodies in the street and
inside
stalled cars. Stu hardly notices. He jabs Creighton.
STU
Tell me about
that secret lab in the California
desert.
Creighton talks
with difficulty.
CREIGHTON
A virological
warfare lab ... and we changed
a simple flu virus ... into a
smart virus.
STU
Smart?
CREIGHTON
A smart virus
... because it has the ability to mutate
against any agent, natural or
manmade ...
STU
Go on.
CREIGHTON
An accident ...
a stupid good
happened in
the lab. The man in the
Chevy ... he was
contaminated. He panicked
and broke
all protocol.
He drove
through the
gate ... went home ... picked up his wife
and baby ... so far we were lucky. Nobody
else had been
infected.
The
search began ... and a Chevy, the same model, year,
was ...
STU
(wry)
Nuked?
CREIGHTON
Not quite.
Napalm.
STU
Jesus ... the
wrong car.
CREIGHTON
We wasted
precious hours before we realized ...
STU
And the Chevy
came crashing into Hap's pumps ...
and --
CREIGHTON
-- the contagion
started ... America, then
the world. It was my duty to
kill you ...
STU
To cover
up. Because I could've found out.
CREIGHTON
... and if there
were other
survivors in
the world they
would know ... it would be our ...
America's fault
...
STU
Why have I made
it?
CREIGHTON
Don't
know. We analyzed your
blood and we
just can't figure
it. We
even infected you directly with the
smart virus --
STU
You what ?!
CREIGHTON
Yes.
And you're immune
... scientifically
impossible ... Your side of the
bargain, Mr.
Redman.
Creighton is in
agony.
STU
Go to hell.
CREIGHTON
(panic)
But you swore
... on the Bible.
Shoot
me. Put me out of my
misery.
Stu ignores the
plea and walks away.
CUT TO:
INT. PLUSH
APARTMENT / EXT.
BALCONY (MANHATTAN) - DAWN
An agitated Rita
Blakemoor is in
Spandex and low heels. Larry
Underwood scans the sickly yellow
skyline through binoculars.
LARRY
Looks like Wall
Street and
Harlem are on Fire.
Rita grabs a
prescription bottle
from a cluster of them, takes
out a pill, pours herself a glass of
champagne, chases it down.
LARRY
More pills,
dammit?
RITA
I'm anxious,
Larry ... I
can't stand the awful stench ...
Frantic, she
mists the air with
Chanel No. 5.
RITA
-- of disease
and death.
There are bodies
everywhere.
Above
us. Below us.
Everywhere.
Millions of bodies.
Bodies
stewing in their broiling
apartments.
And there
are bodies
rotting in
the street. I can't go out there
--
LARRY
And you can't
stay here.
Just then --
beyond the glass doors
-- a body plunges from
above, splatters on the balcony rail, and
slides from view.
Rita
shrieks. She sees a
yellow steam wafting up
from remnants of flesh. She turns away,
throws up.
LARRY
Some poor
bastard couldn't take the
pain.
His words just
hang there.
Rita gets it together.
RITA
You're the
man. You
take charge.
CUT TO:
INT.
PRISON - HOLDING
CAGES (PHOENIX, ARIZONA) - DAY
Lloyd Henreid
paces, a caged animal.
LLOYD
Someone
somewhere ... bring me the key ...
Hear me ... Bring-me-the-KEEYYY!
The echo of his
voice joins the
moaning of the dying.
Exhausted, Lloyd
slides to his
knees; clasps the bars and begins to
rock, banging his head against the
lock. He lapses into a crazy hum:
LLOYD
Someone
somewhere ... bring me doo-dah ...
doo-dah the key
... doo-dah-day.
CUT TO:
EXT.
STREET (MANHATTAN) - DAY
Cats cautiously
inspect a dead dog
on the sidewalk.
The cats take
off. Larry
Underwood
and Rita Blakemoor
approach. Larry carries a rifle and a satchel
on his
back. Rita holds a handkerchief in front of her nose.
They pick their
way over rotting
bodies and pass people mould-
ering inside cars. And a yellowish
steam
rises off the decaying
flesh. It's tough on Rita, but she
soldiers on,
her Spandex
legs scissoring, her open-toed shoes with heels clicking.
Her feet are
bleeding.
She knows it, and says nothing.
EXT.
ENTRANCE TO LINCOLN
TUNNEL - DAY
Larry and Rita
slow to a halt in
front of the
unlit opening. Stalled traffic funnels down to
two lanes
of cars which disappear into the dark.
Rita hesitates
to enter.
Larry too. He notices her bleeding feet.
LARRY
Fuck!
What kind of dumb
shoes are those
to be
wearing. Fuck,
where's your head?
RITA
Larry ... don't
swear. Please.
LARRY
And you didn't
tell me ?!
RITA
I didn't want
you to get angry.
LARRY
So now I'm real
pissed. Fuck. Think of all the
shoe stores we passed. We're
not going back.
RITA
I
understand. I'm sorry
--
LARRY
Sorry !?
You're fucking sorry? That ain't good
enough.
RITA
Don't let me
slow you down.
LARRY
I won't. I
don't need this
shit.
RITA
... And I don't
need you ... considering the way
you treat me.
LARRY
(a sigh)
Come on if you
want.
RITA
No. You
don't need me.
LARRY
Yeah, you're
right.
He hesitates,
steels himself and
goes in.
INSIDE TUNNEL
(NEAR ENTRANCE)
The figure of
Rita recedes as Larry
makes
his way into the increasing darkness.
LARRY
Fuck her.
I gave her her
chance.
FURTHER ALONG -
NEAR DARKNESS
Larry gropes
forward between
stalled cars. Faint
light comes from a few dying
headlights. The
yellow-
hued darkness is steamy hot and crawling with decay.
Larry steps on
someone's face, the
ECHOING CRUNCH brings him up
short. He sees the damage he's done,
and
disgusted he lurches onward.
Only to come
face to face with a
standing body ...
which gasps for breath, its rotting face sliding
off
its skull. Sickened, Larry scrambles on.
He stops to
catch his breath,
steady his nerves.
He holds onto the window frame of a
car. He looks
down when he hears a hideous, rattling voice:
ROTTING FACE
I like fried
chicken.
The rotting face
grins and bites
into Larry's hand.
Larry yanks it away, sending teeth and tissue
flying.
Larry bolts
onward.
He stops.
He's shaking, and
he struggles to
get a grip on himself. Finally, a mutter:
LARRY
Got to go back
and get a flashlight
... and the bitch.
He starts back
toward the entrance.
Every nerve
bristling, he's going
fast when --
behind him -- he hears a haunting WHIMPER.
He freezes and
slowly turns.
He
glimpses a
human shape climp up over a car. He backs away
unslinging
the rifle. Unnerved, he calls out:
LARRY
Who's there?
His WORDS
RICOCHET off the walls,
and in his echo
Larry hears an ECHOING SHRIEK -- In panic, Larry SHOOTS
where he sees winking red smudges of light and faint
flitting shadows
suggesting something flailing about.
He SHOOTS ONCE, TWICE and
the
SHRIEKING becomes:
UNCLEAR VOICE
Larry!
For God's sake --
Larry
SHOOTS a third time, and in
the
flashbulb image of the rifle's flare, he sees --
-- Rita sobbing.
LARRY
Rita !?
He hastens to
her, she to
him.
They embrace; and as they part
the emotional moment is over, and they
are stiff with each other.
RITA
... Were you
coming back for me?
LARRY
... I knew you'd
catch up.
That's why I was
taking it slow.
RITA
You were right
about the
shoes. Look.
She lifts a
foot. She's
wearing sneakers.
LARRY
... !?
RITA
I stole them
from a body ...
God, Larry,
let's keep going
before I change my
mind.
He takes her
hand and leads on into
the dark.
EXT.
CONCRETE SLOPE - DAY
Sunlight on her
smiling face, the
wind in her hair, Rita is
helped up and onto her feet by Larry.
They now stand before --
EXT.
MANHATTAN SEEN FROM NEW
JERSEY - DAY
-- the city that
rises up across
the river. Towers glint, a yellow
heat warp rises toward
the sky.
And looking west they are offered --
-- a panorama of
the New Jersey
industrial wasteland.
LARRY
New Jersey never
smelled so good.
Rita laughs.
RITA
Go easy on me,
Larry.
He's annoyed by
the implied demand.
CUT TO:
INT.
PRISON - HOLDING CELLS
(PHOENIX, ARIZONA) - DUSK
Lloyd Henreid
still rocks, his face
hitting the lock. Blood trickles down
his face. In a trance
and to
the tune of “Camptown Races”, he invokes:
LLOYD
... key, doo-dah
doo-dah day.
Someone
somewhere ... bring me, doo-dah
doo-dah, the
key, doo-dah doo-dah day ... Camptown
ladies sing dis --
A CLANG of METAL
ON METAL somewhere
in the prison
is followed by ECHOING FOOTSTEPS. Lloyd is
jolted
from
trance. He hears a teasing male voice some way off:
MALE
(o.s.)
Hooo-hooooo!
Anybody
home?
Lloyd cocks his
head, not sure he
has heard right.
MALE
(O.S.)
Going once ...
going twice ... Okay, I'm on my way
...
LLOYD
No!
Don't go!
Lloyd strains to
listen, and he
hears nothing. He panics.
LLOYD
Come
back! I'll do
anything you
want ... if you have the key ...
Lloyd begins
furiously banging his
head.
LLOYD
Anything you
want ...
ANYTHING ...
Anything ...
doo-dah doo-dah ...
His eyes
roll back as he rocks ...
but they flash
into position, shining with hope as the CLOCKING
OF
BOOTS grows LOUDER and LOUDER.
Lloyd doesn't
dare to look
up. The
boots appear. Cowboy
boots whose silver filigree design
suggest a
claw -- like in Stu's
dream -- stop in front of the cage. Lloyd
slowly
lifts his eyes.
He sees above
the boots tight faded
jeans, a suggestive
crotch, a belt studded with astrological signs, a
denim
jacket. And Lloyd will see the face, but we won't.
WALKIN' DUDE
Boo!
Lloyd gasps in
fright.
WALKIN' DUDE
Hey, Lloyd,
everything's purely all
right.
LLOYD
... You know my
name ?!
WALKIN' DUDE
You must've said
it when you was moanin' and
groanin'.
The Walkin' Dude
opens a motel
Bible which hides his face;
his eyes -- in the dark slit between the
top of the Bible
and the brim of his badass Stetson -- gleam
seductively.
WALKIN' DUDE
Listen up,
Lloyd, I'm gonna read from the good
book: “The
mighty
shall be brought
low and the stiff-necked shall be
broken.” You
know
who the high and
mighty and the stiff-necked
are. They've
been on
your case since
you could walk, right? Listen
to what it says
about
poor people like
you: “Blessed are the poor in spirit”
-- that's them
who don't have
too much smarts -- “for they shall
inherit the Earth”.
LLOYD
... You make me
feel good. But, mister,
I'm hungry. You do have the key?
Gloam and
Stetson conceal his
face. A twilight beam
from above brushes his lips, etching a
snarl of
allure.
The Walkin' Dude begins to flip the pages of his Bible.
Lloyd sees a
tumbling key appear in
the margin, like in
a Tijuana Bible. He grabs the key, but grasps
nothing.
LLOYD
It's just a
trick. A
fuckin' trick.
WALKIN' DUDE
You want it to
be real, it'll be
real.
Again the
Walkin' Dude flips the
pages. Again the key appears. Lloyd
reaches for it and
grabs a soft
ethereal key that melts away in his hand.
WALKIN' DUDE
You don't want
it enough. When you said, “I'll
do anything you want”, you didn't
mean it.
LLOYD
I did. I
did.
Lloyd
concentrates, becoming
lustful. Again the pages
flip and Lloyd grabs a glinting silver
key.
The Walkin'
Dude snaps the Bible closed. Lloyd stares at the key
in
awe.
WALKIN' DUDE
The keys to the
kingdom!
EXT.
CORNFIELD - TWILIGHT
Running, Stu
Redman looks back and
catches a fuzzy
glimpse of a large feline form catching up with
him.
He pushes through the stalks faster, stumbling out --
EXT. SMALL
HOMESTEAD - SHACK
- STRANGE TWILIGHT
-- of the
cornfield and into the
open.
Among aging
barns Stu sees a shack
where a light shines
dimly. From within a Negro woman's VOICE
SINGS a
spiritual to the PLUCKING of a BANJO while FOOTFALLS
GROW LOUDER behind
him. Stu bolts toward the shack.
He runs and
runs, and -- like in a
dream -- he
never gets there, yet the buoyant music gives him
the strength to keep going. Stu renews his effort
and
reaches the porch of the shack. He's too out of breath
to call when
through a dusty window he sees --
-- an ancient
black woman playing
the banjo and singing
joyously. A LOW EERIE GROWL, and Stu starts
for the door.
Stu is about to
open it when a huge
animal snout
goes for his ear. It's tongue flickers out --
EXT.
COUNTRYSIDE (NEW
HAMPSHIRE) - DAWN
-- and Stu,
who's lying on his
stomach in a sleeping bag,
wakes up with a fright and reaches for a
hunting rifle.
Shaking off the
dream, Stu sees
that it's an Irish setter standing
over him eager to lick his
face.
He looks at the dog's nametag.
STU
Kojack ... you
must be the
last dog on Earth.
KOJACK BARKS and
wags his
tail. Stu likes him.
CUT TO:
EXT.
COUNTRYSIDE - ROAD
(PENNSYLVANIA) - DAY
Larry Underwood
rides a brand-new
1200 cc HARLEY.
He zig-zags to avoid stalled traffic. Rita
Blakemoor
rides pillion,
and desperately hangs onto Larry. They shout over
the
ROAR.
LARRY
Too fast for you?
RITA
... Nope.
She is
lying. The Harley
sails up
over a rise, when Larry sees beyond it
cars stalled sideways across the
road and too close to avoid. Rita shrieks.
Larry swerves,
foot to the
blacktop, but the Harley topples,
and Rita and Larry fall and slide,
while the BIKE SKIDS away.
Larry picks
himself up and looks
over at Rita,
who's getting to her feet much more slowly.
LARRY
You okay?
RITA
... I think I am.
When he looks
toward the Harley,
she grimaces fiercely, and:
RITA
How about you?
Larry flexes his
body.
LARRY
I'll be okay.
He goes to the
bike. While
he's not looking,
Rita holds her hip -- she could scream.
CUT TO:
EXT. SMALL
TOWN - ROAD
(ARIZONA) - BEFORE SUNSET
Slurping through
a straw, Lloyd
Henreid finishes a
carton of chocolate milk. He quickens his pace
to
catch
up with the Walkin' Dude who heads west into the setting sun.
The Walkin'
Dude's boots clock on
the asphalt. His face is
against the glare. Lloyd tags
alongside, a
quarter of a step behind.
LLOYD
Master, tell me
more.
WALKIN' DUDE
I rode shotgun
on Charles Manson's dunebuggy!
LLOYD
Wow!
WALKIN' DUDE
Then I went into
politics, to stir up trouble ... I
could even pass for
black. But
something weird
would happen.
When I spoke at
rallies,
the microphones
screamed with wild feedback,
circuits would blow
...
LLOYD
That's real
weird.
WALKIN' DUDE
It's a weird
place ... here.
But things
are changing. Hey,
Lloyd,
can't you taste
it? There's
magic in
the air. The magic of
once, of
a time before
history, returns to Earth. All this
sudden dying
--
They pass bodies
in the street and
inside stalled cars.
WALKIN' DUDE
-- it's labor
pains ... and I'm
being reborn!
Now I can really come into
my
own. Now I will
be everyone's dream come true, or their
worst nightmare.
The clocking of
the boots has
changed into a disquieting
SQUISH. Lloyd looks down. He
can't believe his eyes.
The Walkin' Dude
is stepping on
air, his boots an inch
off the ground, the raking sunlight shining
under them.
WALKIN' DUDE
Lloyd, my
friend, do you believe me?
Lloyd swallows
hard.
CUT TO:
EXT. MT.
RUSHMORE - TWILIGHT
The stern faces
of the nation's
patriarchs. Their
sightless eyes stare off into the
distance: a
prodigious
ZOOM ACROSS ridges and rivers, THROUGH towns
and PAST roads
empty of people, to the cornfield --
EXT. SMALL
HOMESTEAD - SHACK
- STRANGE TWILIGHT
-- and a figure
running in slo-mo
toward the shack. It's Stu
Redman's dream again, except the
figure is Larry Underwood.
Larry reaches
the door and opens it
and sees the old black
woman singing and strumming the banjo. He's
about to step
inside, when a huge paw clamps down on his
shoulder. And
--
-- Larry turns
to face the Walkin'
Dude. The dreamlight and the
Stetson make it impossible to see
his
face ... but for a leer on his lips.
WALKIN' DUDE
Don't you want
to be a rock star more than
anything?
LARRY
Yee --
INT. SMALL
TENT - FIRST LIGHT
LARRY
-- eesss!
Screaming, Larry
jolts awake.
His
naked body is entwined with
Rita's. Larry breaks away from her
strong
embrace, and shakes
off the dream. He looks Rita over, turned
on.
Jokey sing-song:
LARRY
Baby, can you
dig your man?
He shakes
her. She doesn't
budge.
LARRY
Rita?
No
response. He's worried.
LARRY
Rita, are you
all right? Wake up, Rita.
He sees the
half-closed eyelids,
the cloudy eyes.
He's aghast. His gaze falls on her open
handbag
full
of medicine bottles. He grabs the bag, and--
EXT. VILLAGE
GREEN - CHURCH (OHIO)
- FIRST LIGHT
-- bursts from
the tent which is
set up by the Harley.
Larry pulls out two empty containers and
reads the labels.
LARRY
Darvon ...
Percodan.
He shakes the
other containers --
they still have pills in them.
LARRY
Jesus. She
took all her pain killers ... hurt
herself bad in the spill ... and
I didn't even notice. 'Cause
she was afraid to say ... What a
bastard I am.
Furious at
himself, he cries to
heaven:
LARRY
God, hear me. I am an asshole. A fucking asshole!
CUT TO:
EXT.
SUBURBIA (NEW YORK
STATE) - DAY
Stu Redman,
rifle cradled in his
arms, and Kojack cross
a lawn when they both see a rabbit. Stu
starts
to aim but
Kojack takes off after the rabbit, and they both disappear.
STU
Kojack!
Come back, boy!
It's a familiar
landscape of fresh
ruins; the silence
is otherwordly. Stu passes through a garden.
STU
Kojack!
No Kojack.
Stu arrives at a
street
intersection which is jammed with vehicles.
A RUMBLE grows
fast -- something is
getting closer, and Stu sees a
monster, a mechanical monster, climb up
and over the stalled cars.
Stu, rifle in
hand, walks toward
the big four-
wheel drive pickup truck with oversize tires.
HAROLD LAUDER, a
large
seventeen-year-old nerd,
drives the Big Foot. FRANNIE GOLDSMITH,
a
very
attractive twenty-one-year-old, is Harold's passenger.
They
see
Stu, and Frannie hands Harold a rifle.
Stu stops.
The Big Foot
stops.
Stu holds his rifle dangling and
raises an empty hand. He smiles
while
his heart beats in his throat.
STU
Hi.
The rifle level
on Stu, Harold eyes
him nervously.
STU
Great idea to
ride a Big Foot with
all the
stalled traffic ...
but, sonny,
do you
have to point that gun at me?
Harold smarts at
being called
“sonny”. Frannie looks Stu over.
FRANNIE
I think he's all
right, Harold.
Harold is tense,
not buying.
He
gets out without the
gun, but a pistol is holstered low on his hips,
like a
gunslinger of old. Frannie also gets out, leggy in
her
cut-offs. Stu glances at her, and Harold catches the look.
FRANNIE
Harold. I
really think he's
okay.
HAROLD
How are we
supposed to know that?
STU
Well, I'm glad
to see you, if that makes any
difference.
Harold's still
not buying.
Frannie smiles.
EXT.
POOLSIDE - BY STREET -
LATE DAY
The Big Foot is
pulled up on a
lawn. Stu, Harold and
Frannie are resting uneasily on garden
furniture.
HAROLD
Frannie, I don't
buy Mr. Redman's story about waiting
for a dog.
FRANNIE
Why would Stu
lie to us?
HAROLD
How do I know
what he's really got
on
his mind?
It could be murder
and rape.
FRANNIE
Harold!
That's awful.
STU
Frannie, Harold
is only trying
to protect you.
Stu's cool bugs
Harold who was
devouring
Frannie with his eyes. Frannie leaps to her feet.
FRANNIE
Can I trust you
two not
to shoot it out?
She disappears
behind the
vehicle.
Harold turns on Stu, anxious and angry.
HAROLD
Stay away from
her, buddy. She's my girl.
I love her.
Stu nods slowly.
STU
Harold, I don't
want to cut in.
HAROLD
Promise?
STU
Yeah. I
promise.
LATER - EVENING
Frannie cooks on
the
barbeque. Stu -- Harold's eyes follow him --
steps up for a
second helping. She speaks under her breath.
FRANNIE
Whatever you
think of Harold,
I owe
him. He has looked
after me.
STU
(softly)
Got it.
He's young and he's
gotta learn
a girl isn't a cookie jar.
She smiles a
little smile.
Harold calls out.
HAROLD
What's he saying?
FRANNIE
Stu was saying
he likes my cooking.
Frannie gives
Stu a wry look, and
Stu returns to his seat. Harold smarts.
LATER - NIGHT
The EMBERS in
the barbeque COLLAPSE
shaking the three from their private broodings.
STU
When we met we
were both
doing the same thing.
HAROLD
What was that?
STU
Looking for
other people ... I'd
like
to tag along
with you if you'd have
me.
HAROLD
No.
FRANNIE
Harold, don't I
get a vote?
Stu chuckles,
and Harold's and
Frannie's eyes turn to him.
STU
Is it gonna
start all over again?
Harold and
Frannie don't understand.
STU
Two people and
you have an argument. Three people, and
we're already
voting.
Four, and we'll
be building a
monument to
someone. Five, and one of
us will
be
different. Six, and we'll
hate him. Seven,
and it'll be World War Three
...
HAROLD
I think we can
do better than that,
Mr.
Redman ... if
there's an inspired
leader.
Stu and
Frannie know who aspires to
inspired leadership.
HAROLD
Frannie, you've
had a long day. Time to tuck
in. Here.
He goes to
Frannie and gives her a
pill, taking one for himself.
FRANNIE
Maybe you should
offer Stu one.
STU
One what?
HAROLD
A Veronal.
FRANNIE
It stops the bad
dreams.
STU
Dreams of a
cornfield?
FRANNIE
Yes! And
...
STU
A boogeyman ?!
FRANNIE
Yes. And a
woman in a shack?
STU
A black woman
picking banjo --
FRANNIE
Harold, Stu's
had the same dream as you and I
have had.
HAROLD
I heard.
STU
We've survived
and we have the same dream ... maybe
that's why --
HAROLD
I had already
deduced that, Mr.
Redman.
FRANNIE
Harold and I
believe the cornfield
is a
real place ...
Harold thinks it's
in Nebraska.
HAROLD
A Veronal for
you, Mr. Redman?
You'll be spared
the bad dreams.
FRANNIE
Harold knows
what he's talking
about.
Harold swills
down his pill, offers
the bottle of juice
to Frannie, who palms the pill before drinking.
Stu notices that
when she thinks
nobody's watching, she flicks it away.
CUT TO:
EXT. TOP
OF OIL STORAGE
TANK (INDIANA) - NIGHT
Jerking feet,
THUNDERING
ECHOES. Trash flails
about happily on the huge steel drum.
He stops dancing.
TRASH
Hey, Trash, lit
any good fires lately? Have I
ever!
... Oh!
Trash remembers
something: a
rag is on fire and it leads
up to an open portal of the tank. He
takes off, and --
EXT. OIL
TANK - WINDING
STAIRS - NIGHT
-- comes
stumbling two, three, many
steps at a time.
INTERCUT:
the fire reaches
the opening into the tank.
EXT.
PETROLEUM REFINERY -
NIGHT
Trash reaches
the bottom of the
steps.
INTERCUT:
flames spill down
into the great cavity.
Trash runs, but
he's still damn
close to the oil tank.
KA-WHAAMMM.
An enormous
EXPLOSION.
Trash is lifted off his feet and sent flying.
He lands,
skidding on the
ground.
Trash's eyes burn with
fervor. He starts to rise when other TANKS
EXPLODE.
The whole refinery and the sky lights up. Trash
steadies himself against the blasts. He's in ecstasy:
TRASH
Hey, Trash,
wanna burn the world down?
... Yeah!
Fire rains from
above. It ignites Trash's
sleeve. He stares at
the flames, mesmerized.
TRASH
Wow, does it
hurt! Loony pyro, put it
out.
Overwhelmed by
the pain, he slaps
at the flames, and he swoons.
EXT.
CORNFIELD AND HOMESTEAD
- TWILIGHT
Trash falls
backward as an
unnaturally large wolf leaps upon
him. His scream becomes a gasp
of
relief. The wolf licks the
charred flesh on Trash's arm, salving
it
with silvery saliva.
Trash can't
believe it. He
closes his eyes,
and when he opens them again, he sees --
-- the Walkin'
Dude squatting
beside him,
his face covered by the brim of the Stetson.
WALKIN' DUDE
Go west, young
man.
The Walkin' Dude
starts off through
the high
cornstalks. Trash scrambles in pursuit.
TRASH
Why ?!
The Walkin' Dude
doesn't stop and
only half-turns.
WALKIN' DUDE
To be my fireman.
TRASH
(disgusted)
Fireman?!
Trash stops,
giving up the
chase.
He hears the black woman SINGING
some way off; and through an opening
in the corn Trash sees --
-- the
shack. He starts for
it, when suddenly, shockingly
close, the Walkin' Dude whispers in
Trash's ear.
WALKIN' DUDE
My
fireman: he makes fires. I need a top
bombadier in my army.
TRASH
Bombadier?
-- Napalm?
Frag bombs ?!
WALKIN' DUDE
Yes, someone in
charge of ordinance. Follow your heart's
desire ...
and
in the City
of Lights, I will welcome
you. You hear?
The Walkin' Dude
takes off into the
field.
Trash follows, cornstalks slapping at him. And --
EXT. ROAD
- SOME DISTANCE
FROM REFINERY - DAY
-- now awake he
staggers away, a
huge plume of smoke rising up behind
him. His scorched arm is
salved
with Vaseline which he scoops from a jar.
TRASH
You want the
Great Fire? You bet. My
life for you!
He continues
westward, his resolve
strengthened.
CUT TO:
INT. SHACK
TWILIGHT
Larry Underwood
steps slowly,
sluggishly toward the black woman,
but with the logic of dreams, she
recedes from him ... when:
Claws -- no,
hands -- women's hands
grab Larry from behind.
EXT. SHACK
- HOMESTEAD -
CORNFIELD - STRANGER TWILIGHT
Four women drag
Larry from the
shack.
The girl who
Larry kicked out of
the Malibu house, the
young woman who rode with him when he escaped the
house, his mother and Rita Blakemoor screech in succession:
“You're
not a nice guy, Larry,” “You're an asshole,” “You haven't
borrowed
money?” “Don't let me slow you down.” As each woman
vents her
disapproval, like furies of the old they tear his limbs off.
Larry
screams. That is, his
head
does. He is a bloody mess,
his legs and arms separated from his
head
and torso. But a
leg jerks toward the hip socket from which it
was
wrenched,
and a snaking hand starts to push the leg back into place --
-- when the
Walkin' Dude's boots
stomp down on the leg
and the hand, pinning them. Larry looks up
in panic.
WALKIN' DUDE
Only I can put
you back together, Larry.
Only I
can make you the rock star you should
have been.
He kneels by
Larry, his face
concealed by his Stetson -- yet
beneath the brim one eye gleams
seductively, and he intones:
WALKIN' DUDE
Repeat after
me: “Sella
rebu Natas!”
LARRY
(reacting in
horror)
Leave me --
INT. OLD
FARMHOUSE - PARLOR
(KENTUCKY) - NIGHT
LARRY
-- alone.
Larry wakes up
in a
sweat. It
takes a long moment to
realize that a woman is staring at him.
She is
NADINE
CROSS, thirty-seven, striking with a luxuriant black hair shot
through with strands of white and pinned up school-marm style.
NADINE
You dream of
him, too.
LARRY
... Who do I
dream of?
NADINE
The mysterious
cowboy coming
through the corn?
LARRY
... And the old
black woman
inside the shack?
NADINE
I must find her.
LARRY
... Why?
NADINE
I want her to
look into my heart.
LARRY
... What?
I don't get it ...
NADINE
She looked up at
me when I peered
into
her shack ...
and I knew she
could ... see,
really see, see through ...
LARRY
This is in the
dream?
NADINE
Of course ...
Mr.?
Larry rises and
offers his hand.
LARRY
Larry Underwood.
NADINE
Nadine Cross.
Larry and Nadine
shake hands.
She is college educated.
NADINE
Then there's
Joey ... Joey
?! ... Joey, no!
A seven-year-old
boy, JOEY, charges
at Larry with a carving knife lifted high.
Larry pushes
himself up. Joey
drives the blade into the sofa inches below
Larry's crotch. If
Larry
hadn't moved he would have been impaled.
NADINE
Joey.
Don't you ever do anything like that
again. Ever!
Larry shifts
gingerly from the
awkward position. Joey yanks out the knife.
The boy has
huge
sensitive eyes and is feral, dressed only in dirty underpants.
NADINE
Joey, this is
Larry.
The boy snarls
at Larry. She
smiles with affection:
NADINE
Please, Joey, go
and play. Larry and I have to
talk.
Joey raises the
knife. She
glares at him.
NADINE
Didn't you hear
me !?
Joey saunters
off. Larry
tries to get his bearings.
LARRY
He's not yours?
NADINE
Not only is he
not mine ... I've never allowed myself
to be in
a situation that
could lead up to the conception of
a child.
Larry's not sure
he's understood
right.
LARRY
You're ... ?
NADINE
I've kept myself
... for the
man of my dreams.
LARRY
Are you talking
about the man in
your
dreams or
the man of your dreams?
NADINE
Years ago I
played the Ouija board,
and
it
told me to wait ... I thought it
was you.
LARRY
What ?!
NADINE
Yes. Joey
-- I don't know his
real name -- and we fell in
together a
few days
ago. Yesterday
I saw you walking through
the countryside
...
and I was overcome
by a feeling
... “maybe you're the Ouija
board
man.”
Joe and I watched you
break in here ...and while you slept
we sneaked
in. I lit the fire and put on this
beautiful old
dress ...
Larry
stares. Nadine unpins
her hair and it
falls to her waist. The fire casts a warm glow.
Larry notices --
the ominous SQUEAK
announces it --
that Joey is cruising in a PEDAL CAR in a
passageway.
Larry turns back to the strange ravishing aloof
presence that is
Nadine. He screws up his courage.
LARRY
So am I the man
of your dreams?
NADINE
I really doubt
it ... but I don't
see why
we can't be
friends ... and Joey needs a mother
and a father.
Larry has
nothing to add.
Then he does.
LARRY
“Sella rebu
natas”? I
knew what it meant in the dream,
but not now. What do you make of “Sella rebu natas?”
Nadine thinks on
it ... and then
smiles darkly.
NADINE
Write it down.
Larry does, in
caps.
NADINE
Hold it up to
the mirror.
He does.
It spells and he
reads:
LARRY
Satan uber alles.
Disturbed, he
feigns nonchalance
... badly.
CUT TO:
EXT. TOWN
- MAIN STREET
(KANSAS) - DAY
Two young men on
bikes. A
twenty-two-year-old with a
pained but expressive face, NICK ANDROS,
pedals a ten-
speed. The other, a happy-go-lucky idiot, TOM
CULLEN,
rides an old-fashioned boy's Schwinn, with a horn.
Tom, who is
catching up with Nick, HONKS the HORN.
Nick doesn't
appear to hear
it. Tom pulls along-
side, and gestures to help himself explain.
TOM
Tom's tummy
hurts.
Nick gives him
the thumb and
forefinger circle, and motions for Tom to follow.
INT. LARGE
DEPARTMENT STORE -
DAY
Tom takes a swig
of Pepto-Bismol,
and Nick motions that it's enough.
TOM
Holy gee,
tummy's better.
In the women's
beauty section, they
pass a thicket of
mannequins and Nick smells something. He stops
and
turns to
a mannequin holding an open bottle of perfume. Tom
stares at
her.
She
blinks: a sexy
seventeen-year-old, gussied up and
accessorized, JULIE LAWRY, steps
from the pedestal.
JULIE
Hi boys!
I'm Julie.
Tom jumps in
fright.
TOM
Holy gee, a girl!
JULIE
A woman, if you
don't mind.
Who are you?
TOM
I'm Tom, can't
read, can't write --
Nick is staring
at Julie, taken and
afraid; she at him, brazenly.
TOM
--and he's dumb
'n' deaf.
JULIE
Just my fucking
luck, a
deaf-mute and a retard.
Nick points to
his eyes and then to
her lips.
She holds onto his hand, coming onto him.
JULIE
You can read
lips?
Nick nods ...
apprehensive.
JULIE
I was so spooked
all alone, with everybody
dead ...
I don't care what you are.
Really.
(to Nick)
And you're sort
of cute.
She draws Nick
against her
body. Nick
can't believe it. He gesticulates to protest.
JULIE
Easy, boy, don't
worry ...
I got a ton of
condoms in here.
She shakes her
large shoulder bag.
TOM
Holy gee ...
Tom emphathizes
with Nick's
excitement and anxiety.
He watches a seductive Julie lead a
confused Nick away.
EXT. /
INT. DEPARTMENT STORE
- DAY
A point of view
closes in on Nick
and Julie asleep in each
other's arms behind the glass of a bedroom
suite window display.
EXT.
CORNFIELD &
HOMESTEAD - TWILIGHT
Julie wakes up
and blows in Nick's
ear, waking him.
NICK
What are you
doing?
JULIE
Time to go at it
again?
NICK
But I can
speak! And I can
hear!
Nick is
astonished ... ecstatic;
then terrified. The Walkin'
Dude's gleaming eye peers out at him
over
her shoulder
and beneath the rim of the Stetson. Julie smiles.
WALKIN' DUDE
Do my bidding
and I'll give you
what --
what G -- ...
what you weren't
given.
NICK
You're
e-evil. It'd-d be wro-o-o ...
Nick can't
finish the word.
He can no longer speak.
He looks away and strains to see through
the cornstalks --
-- the shack
beyond the field.
Nick crawls
toward it, away from
Julie's embrace.
The Walkin' Dude
-- concealed by
the Stetson --
touches Julie's neck with his lips. She shudders.
WALKIN' DUDE
Bring me tokens
of your devotion.
I wait for you
in the City of
Lights.
INT. /
EXT. DEPARTMENT STORE
- BEDROOM SUITE WINDOW - DAY
Nick wakes up --
he wrenches
himself free from Julie's arms.
Apprehensive,
shaking off the
dream, Nick hastily
dresses. Julie slips into a clinging pink
sweater,
not
bothering with the rest of her clothes. She draws
a revolver
from
her bag and points it at Nick.
JULIE
You're gonna be
one of my gifts ... tokens ... I want the
retard, too.
(she calls)
Tom! Come
here, boy.
Nick grins
mysteriously -- and
seconds later Tom speeds
toward them on his bike, surprising Julie but
not Nick.
Tom careens past
Julie, knocking
the hand with the
revolver -- Nick bolts away. Tom swerves behind
an aisle.
EXT.
DEPARTMENT STORE -
STREET DAY
Nick comes
running out, reaches his
ten-speed
where Tom is waiting. They start to ride off.
Julie charges
after them, shoots as
they pedal away;
each time the revolver's kick unsteadies her.
She's furious.
CUT TO:
EXT. MAIN
STREET - SMALL TOWN
(INDIANA) - DAY
Nadine Cross,
Larry Underwood and
Joey trek past stalled cars. Wary,
Larry keeps an eye on Joey who
whacks at everything in his path with a stick.
NADINE
... cars
everywhere ...
LARRY
I guess people
thought they could
escape ...
NADINE
I figure it
differently. A
lot of people
didn't want to die
where they lived.
They wanted to go home. To their folks;
to their kids; who knows where
... Darn,
if it weren't
for all the
cars blocking the roads, we could drive there.
LARRY
We'll get
bicycles.
NADINE
... Too slow.
She stops, her
mind made up.
Larry sighs.
NADINE
Joey, break that
window.
Joey SMASHES the
PLATE GLASS of a
motorbike dealership.
NADINE
I'm going to
learn how to ride.
Nadine steps
inside, Larry grabs
her arm.
LARRY
Nadine, it's not
that easy.
NADINE
What's your
problem? And do you have to
hurt me?
She glares at
him. He
sees that his fingers are buried in her soft flesh.
LARRY
... I'm sorry.
EXT. MAIN
STREET - TOWN - DAY
The ENGINE of a
HONDA 360 is
REVVING. Nadine, her
antique dress hiked high, is in the
seat.
Larry's behind her,
his hands on hers. There's an implicit
intimacy in
their
posture. At least that's what Larry believes Joey sees.
Joey -- looking
straight at Larry
-- cracks open a melon with a big
stick. Larry swallows hard
and returns his
attention to Nadine.
LARRY
Once again,
Nadine. Your right foot brakes the
rear
wheel, your
right hand the front
wheel. Got it?
She glances back
with a disarming
smile.
NADINE
Larry, you got
some kind of a hang up with
motorbikes?
LARRY
(lying)
No ...
NADINE
You're sure?
Larry flies off
the handle.
LARRY
Sure, of course
I'm sure!
He gets a grip
on himself ... and
as he dismounts:
LARRY
I'll try to go
easier on you.
NADINE
You should ...
see you later.
She takes
off. There's a
GRINDING noise as
Nadine shifts gears, and she glances back guiltily.
Larry hasn't
noticed -- he has
entered a store.
Larry comes out
of a music store
with a guitar.
He sits on the curb and starts strumming “Baby,
Can You
Dig Your Man?”, calming himself. Joey
approaches casually, but
he's
wielding a stick.
Larry is wary
but he keeps on
playing. Joey is fascinated by Larry's
fingering, and he turns
the
stick. Larry flinches -- so it becomes
a make-believe guitar; and
the
boy begins duplicating the fingering.
Now Larry is
fascinated. He
hands the guitar to Joey.
LARRY
Go on ...
Joey takes the
guitar and begins
playing “Baby, Can
You Dig Your Man?” It's obviously the first
time
he's
played. His fingering is awkward, but he's quick to
correct himself. Then he makes a big mistake.
LARRY
Let me show you.
He reaches for
the guitar.
Joey
hisses. He's hell bent
on getting it right all by himself.
All along
Nadine's
HONDA can be heard WEAVING through the side streets.
There's a sudden CRASH and a SHRIEK. Larry bolts.
EXT. SIDE
STREET - DAY
Larry runs up to
Nadine who is
sitting
on the tarmac and smiling sheepishly.
NADINE
I guess I got
too ambitious.
He pulls her up
holding her in his
arms.
LARRY
Damn it,
Nadine. It's
dangerous.
NADINE
This is
dangerous too.
She breaks the
moment, wrenching
herself free.
EXT. MAIN
STREET - NIGHT
A barbeque set
up in front of the
motorbike store
casts a warm glow. The rest of the town is
dark.
Larry, Nadine, and Joey finish eating. Nadine gets up.
NADINE
God, my tailbone
sure hurts.
LARRY
Nadine, Joey and
I have a little
surprise.
Larry begins
strumming his guitar,
and Joey begins playing on
another. They start “Baby, Can You Dig
Your
Man?”, Larry doing
the accompaniment; and Joey -- grinning at Nadine --
plays the tune.
Nadine stares in
disbelief.
While they play:
LARRY
You didn't know?
NADINE
No.
LARRY
He just started
imitating me ... I'm sure he's never
played before.
NADINE
... He's a
prodigy.
Joey finishes
with a special flurry
for Nadine.
NADINE
Oh, Joey, thank
you.
JOEY
... Wekome.
Larry and Nadine
are
astonished. She rushes to him, hugs him.
NADINE
Joey, you can
speak!
Nadine kisses
Joey, and Larry
kisses Joey;
and their eyes meet as they kiss the boy.
CUT TO:
EXT.
CORNFIELD AND HOMESTEAD
- TWILIGHT
Frannie
Goldsmith runs from a
horror she dares
not look back at. Stalks slap at her face and
body.
Ahead she sees the clearing with the shack when
the Walkin' Dude grabs
her, hurls her to the ground.
His studded jacket is slung over
his
shoulder on a coat
hanger. He removes the cheap wire hanger and
holding
it like a back-alley abortionist's tool, he crouches over her.
WALKIN' DUDE
Open your legs,
sweetie.
Frannie
shrieks. The Walkin'
Dude
-- his face still
concealed from us -- forces her legs open, rips off
her panties and begins to slide the hanger into her --
EXT.
FACTORY PARKING LOT
(OHIO) - NIGHT
-- when Frannie
wakes up screaming
and kicking. She is
lying on a flatbed of the Big Foot, and her
kicking on the metal
resounds loudly. Harold, asleep over the
cab,
jerks awake.
Stu -- asleep
nearby -- yanks open
his sleeping bag
and hurries to Frannie. Harold is already there,
the
light of his miner's helmet on her face.
HAROLD
Oh, Frannie,
more bad dreams?
FRANNIE
... I don't want
to talk about it.
HAROLD
You should take
two Veronal each night. I
do.
I can't let dreams mess with my
thinking.
Her eyes
desperately seek out
Stu's, but Stu looks away.
EXT. GAS
STATION &
NOVELTY STORE (OHIO) - DAY
Harold finishes
rigging a clever
piece of machinery
to manually pump gas out of the underground
tank through the air vent and into the Big Foot.
STU
Harold, I bet
you were number one in your science
class.
HAROLD
Number one in
everything, Stu. Start gassing her up.
(winks at Stu)
I'll be right
back.
Harold heads for
the store.
Stu works the manual pump;
and without stopping he talks to Frannie,
softly.
STU
Frannie, you've
been leaving a trail of Veronals
across America.
He takes a
fistful of pills out of
his pocket.
Frannie stares at Stu, amazed and nervous.
STU
One way I can
figure it is you're
pregnant ...
you don't want
to hurt the baby.
FRANNIE
It wasnt
Harold. It happened
before ...
STU
I guessed as
much.
FRANNIE
Don't tell
Harold ... or he'll kill me with
kindness.
STU
It'll be our
secret.
She keeps
pumping. Frannie
watches him full of yearning.
She's about to say something when
Harold approaches.
HAROLD
For you, Frannie.
He hands her a
heart-shaped box of
chocolates, a sexy
nightie and a stuffed bear. She casts a
despairing
look at
Stu. Stu answers with a stern glance. She bites the
bullet.
FRANNIE
Thank you,
Harold.
(hugging bear)
I love him.
HAROLD
I love you, too.
The words tumble
out of him.
He realizes.
HAROLD
Stu, let's move
out. I want
to get Frannie
to the old black
lady of her dreams.
EXT. ROAD
(ILLINOIS) - DAY
In the cab of
the Big Foot, Frannie
is between Stu and
Harold who is driving. Harold's teenage
lust-crush
for
Frannie, Frannie's repressed yearning for Stu, and
Stu's effort to
stay aloof: the tension is palpable.
Ahead there is a
pile-up of
cars.
Harold slows down,
looking for a way around or over. He eases
toward a
pickup which lies at an askew angle in the ditch, as
if it had been
trying to get around the traffic jam.
Suddenly one
woman, SUSAN STERN,
appears at
Harold's window, and another, DAYNA JURGENS, at
Stu's.
They
both hold pistols leveled at the men's heads.
SUSAN
Which is
it? The old woman or that swaggering
dude?
FRANNIE
You've dreamed
of the old black lady too? We
think she's for
real.
DAYNA
Hot damn.
(calling)
Girls, come on
out.
Two other women
edge out of hiding.
STU
Would you mind
getting
those irons out
of our faces.
Susan, young,
sensitive, and Dayna,
handsome and tougher, lower their pistols.
DAYNA
We thought we
were going crazy
having the
same dream. Like girls
in a dorm, all getting their
period at the
same time. But if you guys
had the same dream
too -- it's
an honest to God psychic
experience.
(to the
other women)
Hey, there's an
extra guy here.
Frannie
stiffens. Dayna
points to the pickup.
DAYNA
That's our
wheels down there.
Are you
going to pull or
push? I'm
Dayna Jurgens.
CUT TO:
EXT. TOWN
- PARK (OHIO) -
EARLY DAY
Where two Honda
motorbikes are
parked, Larry, Nadine and
Joey have camped overnight. Joey
strums on
his guitar.
Larry sits by Nadine, and like proud parents they watch the
prodigy. Larry puts his arm around her, but she stiffens.
NADINE
(a whisper)
I wish you
wouldn't.
LARRY
You don't want
me to?
NADINE
No. I
don't.
Larry draws his
arm back. But
he's baffled.
LARRY
I don't know if
I can believe you, Nadine. I
feel vibes ...
She turns her
face away, her eyes
shiny with tears --Joey,
without turning around, jerks his thumb back
over his shoulder.
JOEY
L-lady.
A young woman, a
pretty no-nonsense
Midwesterner,
LUCY SWANN, approaches at a run.
LUCY
Thank
heaven! People!
Lucy stares at
the three as if
making sure she's not hallucinating.
LUCY
I was going
crazy. I thought people were heading
west. I could
hear these engines ... And then there are
these nightmares
--
JOEY
Monster man and
lady with,
with, funny guitar?
Larry and Nadine
are surprised by
Joey's gush of words.
Nadine hugs
Joey. Larry
watches them, a flux of
emotions showing on his face. Lucy
observes the three.
LATER - DAY
Larry and Joey
are packing the
Hondas to hit the road.
Lucy sees the chance to speak with Nadine
alone.
LUCY
Nadine, tell me
something.
NADINE
Yes, Lucy.
LUCY
Are you and
Larry ... together?
NADINE
We're friends.
LUCY
You know what I
mean.
NADINE
... He desires
me.
LUCY
Do you want
him? Yes or no.
Nadine glances
at Larry, then off
into the distance, then at
Lucy but she avoids her waiting gaze.
Her
mind racing, agitated,
Nadine runs her hand through her hair -- you
could believe
that it gets a bit whiter right in front of your
eyes.
Finally:
NADINE
No. You
ride with Larry.
She's exhausted
by the
decision. Lucy glances at her
hair not knowing what she's
noticing, but she shudders.
END OF REEL TWO
FIND A LIST OF THE
TOP ONLINE CASINOS
INCLUDING BEST BONUSES!
THE
SUBTERRANEAN COLLECTION
BACK TO:
SUBTERRANEAN
CINEMA
