STEPHEN KING'S "THE STAND"

CUT TO:

INT. / EXT. HOMESTEAD - SHACK (NEBRASKA) - TWILIGHT

The ancient black woman who had been glimpsed in the
dreams of others, MOTHER ABIGAIL, sits in a rocking
chair gently swaying and humming: “How I love my
Jes -- ”. Sensing something, Abigail falls silent.

A PRESENCE -- FLASH INTERCUT --
steals through the gloaming corn stalks.

Abigail slowly rises, her wizened face etched with apprehension.

The Walkin' Dude's bootfalls alternate with clawfalls
and pawfalls, accompanied by YELPS and GROWLS.

Abigail totters to the window, when SQUAWKING
CROWS strike at it, begin to CRACK the GLASS with
their beaks. She manages to bar the inner shutters.

Her fear rises as she hears the TREAD of BOOTS and the
CLATTER of hundreds of animal CLAWS circling the porch.

CLAWS frantically SCRATCH at the boards. Feline
SNOUTS SNIFF excitedly at cracks between the boards.

Abigail is terrified by the gnashing of hundreds of teeth.
She turns toward the door, and teeth gleam as they tear
through the wood revealing the beasts outside -- wolves,
GROWLING crazed WOLVES, their eyes glinting like icepicks.

Abigail picks up her banjo. Wielding it as a weapon she shuffles --
in spite of the terror -- to the door and swings at the wolves' snouts.

At each footfall the Walkin' Dude's boot looks more like a claw. The silver
filagree in the leather shines ever brighter till it is a claw with huge talons.

The talons tear up the floorboards of the porch.
And weasels scramble in under the shack.

The FLOOR beneath Abigail starts to move, SPLINTERING,
the strident GNASHING of the WEASELS deafening.
The weasels, their eyes flashing red glints, clamber
up through the holes they're tearing open.

Abigail staggers back in a faint, falling into her rocking chair. And --

INT. HOMESTEAD - SHACK (NEBRASKA) - FIRST LIGHT

-- she wakes up in the rocking chair swinging wildly
back and forth. There's still the disquieting distortion
of dream, but Abigail nonetheless gets to her feet.

ABIGAIL
Damn, I must fear no evil. I will not fear evil.

There's a sudden GROWLING and ROARING, but Abigail is not at all afraid--

EXT. HOMESTEAD (CORNFIELD) - SHACK - FIRST LIGHT

-- and steps out.

Headlights flash and the new SOUNDS are those of ENGINES.

ABIGAIL
I've got company! Got people to feed!
The stand begins, Lord oh Lordy.

Vehicles are approaching. A beat-up pickup pulls up, and the
BEARDED MAN at the wheel stares, as does the WOMAN beside him.
In the back are Nick Andros and Tom Cullen; Tom jumps up and down.

TOM
O golly gee, it's her. It's her! It's her!

Abigail totters up to them.

ABIGAIL
Welcome! I'm Abigail ... Mother Abigail.
(to herself, re: Tom)
A bit touched ... but --
(to Tom)
-- You're a good soul.

She ruffles his hair fondly. Meanwhile, the
Bearded Man is speaking into the C.B. excitedly.

BEARDED MAN
Yeee -- eee -- haw! The old lady and the cornfield!
They're real, and just like in the dream. Over.

ABIGAIL
Hello, Nick.

Nick gestures, puzzled: how did you know my name?

ABIGAIL
We met in our dreams, remember?

Nick nods and grins.

ABIGAIL
To work! There are pies to be baked.
Chickens and a pig to be dressed out.

INT. SHACK - DAY

Tom stokes the huge stove -- it looks like a leftover from
the dream reality. Abigail and four WOMEN in a cloud
of flour knead dough and bake pies in high good humor.

More vehicles are coming: a semi without rig, scooters.
Nick pats the head of the pig five men are holding down.

ABIGAIL
Lord, we thank Thee for the gift we are about to recieve from
Thy bounty. Bless this pig that it might nourish us, amen.

MEN
Amen.

ABIGAIL
Stand ready, boys, she's gonna go a gusher.

The wizened black woman lifts a knife into view
and slits the pig's -- most of the men look away.

EXT. SHACK - EVENING

Abigail, with Nick and Tom at her feet, and about
thirty people are seated on the porch, on improvised
benches made of old planks and on chrome and plastic
garden chairs belonging to the trekkers. The people
are from all walks of life, of all ages, type and race.
They are digging into chops and fried chicken.

MAN #1
First home cooked meal since ...

He trails off. All understand.

BEARDED MAN
On my way here, I sensed people were
spying on me. I heard others travelling ...

WOMAN #1
Maybe they're going to ... to the ... the sexy cowboy?

ABIGAIL
Many will go to him.

TOM
Holy gee, they go to Boogeyman?

WOMAN #2
Is he real, Mother Abigail?

ABIGAIL
Y'all dreamt of me.   Ain't I real?

BEARDED MAN
Who is he? Is he ... ? ...

ABIGAIL
He ain't Satan ... but he wouldn't mind being Old Nick.
Him and Satan are ooold buddies ... Call him the Dude,
call him Beelzebub lord of the flies ... or jus the Boogeyman.

WOMAN #3
... And who are you?

ABIGAIL
I'm ... graced with the gift of the shiny lamp.

MAN #3
You got the shining?

ABIGAIL
Yes. And the Almighty spoke into me in a dream. Rally an
army of the righteous, He said, and make a stand against
him. Rally your people this side of the Great Mountains.

MAN #2
And he will wait in the West,
and his kind will join him there?

WOMAN #4
The Rockies will be between us?

WOMAN #3
Will that be enough protection?

ABIGAIL
No. Your heart must be strong. No more
questions. Eat up. The body must be strong too!

They eat, torn between fear and confusion;
and hope: Abigail's exuberance is infectious.

CUT TO:

EXT. DESERT (NEVADA) - NIGHT

His arm haphazardly bandaged, and much worse for
the wear, Trash is at the wheel of a Thunderbird, the
ENGINE REVVING furiously. The car doesn't move.

The Walkin' Dude is preaching over the RADIO:
“ -- the exalted shall be abased and the mighty shall
be brought down low; and you, the shafted, the
unlucky, blessed are you, for you shall inherit -- ”

The Thunderbird is stuck deep in the sand.
The WHEELS SPIN, the rubber smoking.

Trash keeps pumping the gas pedal. A tire --
the one beneath the gas cap-- catches fire.

TRASH
Morphine!

The passenger seat is full of syringes. He gives himself a shot.

The flames around the gas tank grow: Trash lurches
out with a fistful of syringes, and staggers away. Still
dangerously close he looks back. He watches, delirious.

TRASH
Fire! Gimme fire and I'll burn down the world. My life for you.

The car is going to blow: Trash reaches the top of
a dune nearby and his eyes go wide with wonder.

TRASH
The City of Lights!

He is gaping at Las Vegas, ablaze in a dark world.

EXT. STRIP (LAS VEGAS) - NIGHT

The Flamingo, the Dunes, the Sahara and all the palaces are
open. Cars in the street. People on the sidewalks. Business
as usual -- Trash staggers on. -- A cop holds up oncoming
cars so Trash doesn't have to stop -- it's like he is expected.

Trash hears MOANS and CRIES above the
din of excitement. He looks up and sees --

-- people hanging crucified from the lamp posts. Crows wheel around
the dying, alight on them.   A crow plucks out a victim's eyeball.

Trash passes a crew with a motorized ladder --
They are not changing a street lamp but stringing
up a new VICTIM who calls out: “Mother
Abigail... forgive me ... they tortured me.”

Trash stumbles on. Through the strange reality:
Law and Order meet Bosch and Brueghel. At the sound --

EXT. M.G.M. GRAND HOTEL - NIGHT

-- of water, Trash goes crazy. He leaps into the fountain.
He drinks, he cools off, he groans in ecstasy.

Hands fish him out. They belong to Lloyd Henreid in
paramilitary regalia. Lloyd handles Trash with great respect.

LLOYD
Welcome. The Boss has been expecting you, Trash, sir.

TRASH
My life for him. Take me to your master.

LLOYD
He'll call you when he's ready.
You're in bad shape, man.

He beckons to armed goons who are loitering.

LLOYD
Fellas, take the Boss's bombadier up to the
Firebird suite. Get him a doctor and a nurse.

The goons lift a grinning Trash onto a gurney and whisk him
into the plush lobby.   Lloyd chugs on a carton of chocolate milk.

Just then, Julie Lawry pulls up in a big flashy Caddy convertible.
Three men lie slumped in the back. She addresses Lloyd.

JULIE
Hey, Macho Man. I brung the Dude three gifts. These suckers dreamt of
that old nigger woman and they were headin' her way. I fucked them silly.

LLOYD
(calling to other goons)
Hang 'em high.

Goons drag away the dazed, suddenly panicked men.

LLOYD
You did good, girl.

JULIE
Wanna know how really good I am?

She's high on her exploit, and exudes sexual hunger.

CUT TO:

INT. SHACK (NEBRASKA) - DAY

Frannie Goldsmith peers in. The shack is empty. She
slowly enters, followed by Susan Stern and Dayna Jurgens.

FRANNIE
The place in our dreams ...

SUSAN
I dreamed of her last night, but in a different place.

FRANNIE
So did I.

SUSAN
She was on the steps of a building, and above her --

FRANNIE
-- mountain peaks.

SUSAN
Yes!

Stu Redman stops in the doorway.

STU
Harold's got something coming in over the C.B.

EXT. CORNFIELD AND HOMESTEAD - SHACK - DAY

In the cab of the Big Foot, Harold Lauder is signing off
on the C.B. as Frannie, Susan, Dayna, Stu approach.
A few others are gathered around. Harold is very excited.

HAROLD
People are converging on Boulder, Colorado, at the foothills
of the Rockies, where we'll prepare to do battle, “we few,
we happy few, we band of brothers!” -- Shakespeare.
Folks, let's move out!
(to Frannie)
It's all so medieval, Frannie! I'll wear your colors.

Stu notices that Frannie's hand rests on her belly.

STU
Frannie, can you travel some more today?

FRANNIE
Sure. I'm okay.

Stu goes to help newcomers add water to their radiator.

DAYNA
(to Frannie)
What male bullshit, “can you travel some
more”. But I like Stu. He's a good man.

Dayna heads for the pickup with Susan:
others climb into their vehicles.

ENGINES REV.   At the wheel of the Big Foot, Harold leads a small
convoy into the cornfield and west. CROWS suddenly rise up
before the Big Foot's passage through the field, SQUAWKING.

EXT. STREAM (DISTANT ROCKIES) - DUSK

Frannie picks her way through the trees and
comes out by a stream. Stu is sitting there,
staring off at the jagged horizon against a red sky.

FRANNIE
Do you mind?

STU
No.

She sits beside him.

FRANNIE
... I want to talk about my baby. I knew about it just before the
flu hit. i was going to have an abortion. My boyfriend, he'd go
along with whatever I wanted. I liked him, a lot I guess. But I
didn't love him ... not like ... But then everybody started to die.
So few of us are left now ... I feel ... it has to be born. I --

She's silenced by a sudden shocking kiss on her mouth.

A human point of view takes the path Frannie took.
It stops when it sees Stu and Frannie embracing.

It's Harold. He stares from hiding, anger and hurt rising in his face.

Stu and Frannie finally succumb to their pent-up passion.

HAROLD
(under breath)
Bitch. And you, Stu, are not a man of your word.

Brooding revenge and watching, he's getting excited.
Harold -- it is suggested -- masturbates angrily.

Stu and Frannie stare into each other's eyes, lost in each other.

LATER TWILIGHT

Harold still watches, when the Walkin' Dude crouches
down behind him, his face hidden by Harold's head.

HAROLD
Liars, cheats, filthy --

WALKIN' DUDE
Harold, every dog has his day!

Frightened by the voice right behind him, Harold spins around --

-- and wakes up. He had dozed off. He looks
to the couple who now lie side by side.

FRANNIE
Stu, can you really l --

STU
I loved you the minute I laid eyes on you ... and later, when I figured
out about the baby, well, it was like you were sent from heaven.

FRANNIE
But why ?!

STU
My wife and I never could have kids ...

EXT. CAMPSITE BY STREAM - NIGHT

Stu, Dayna, Susan, Frannie, Harold and a few
others are seated around a fire, eating from cans.
Harold breaks out laughing, his eyes shiny with tears.

FRANNIE
Harold, what's the matter?

HAROLD
I just think it's funny ... that “every dog will have its day”.

Frannie is uneasy. She doesn't dare glance at Stu, and Stu at her.

CUT TO:

EXT. ROCKIES - ROAD (UP TO BOULDER, COLORADO) - DAY

A smiling Lucy Swann clings to Larry Underwood as he ROARS
uphill on the HONDA. He slows to a stop, glances back.

LARRY
I think I'd better wait for Nadine.

LUCY
You still love her, don't you?

LARRY
Hey, I love Joey too.

LUCY
You know what I'm talking about.

LARRY
I love you, Lucy ... the best I can.

LUCY
I know. Nadine would like to love you. But she's scared.

LARRY
Scared ?!

LUCY
She comes on to you ... when I'm around. I bet
when she's alone with you she plays hard to get.

LARRY
... Yeah.

LUCY
She's decided to hate us ... I was there --
I felt it. A chill ran through me.

Nadine, with Joey behind, pulls up alongside.

NADINE
Joey and I made a pit stop.

She looks at Larry with brazen sexuality.

NADINE
Lead on. To my appointment with destiny.

Larry starts off. Nadine follows, torn between fear and hope.

EXT. COLLEGE CAMPUS - AUDITORIUM (BOULDER) - DAY

Mother Abigail is in her rocking chair. Nick Andros is seated within
reach of her hand, and staring off into space. Stu Redman paces.

STU
Ma'am ... there's got to be more people
drawn to you, than driftin' to him.

ABIGAIL
How do you figure that?

STU
Deep down, most people aren't bad.

ABIGAIL
In my day I've known so many folks ... sloppy
in their hearts, lazy in their heads. Nick.

Nick is not facing her, but as her hand is about
to touch his head, he turns to read her lips.

ABIGAIL
Nick, how many folks have been
real crummy with you? A lot?

Nick -- a mask of sadness -- nods. Frannie Goldsmith runs up.

FRANNIE
People are riding in.

Groaning, Abigail starts to rise, Nick helping her.
Stu stands, leaving a holstered pistol on the steps.

FRANNIE
Stu, strap your gun on, damn it.

Stu groans. About to say something --

FRANNIE
Stu Redman, you were voted sheriff by an overwhelming majority.

STU
I got voted sheriff on account of my Texas drawl.

Amused, Mother Abigail winks at him.

Larry and Lucy ride up followed by Nadine and Joey.
People guide the newcomers to the auditorium.
Folks come out of dorms and from victory gardens to
cheer. Tom Cullen, practicing wheelies, pedals closer.
Holding hands, Susan Stern and Dayna Jurgens
approach -- they are an item now.-- Harold Lauder
emerges from the library, squinting like a mole.

Larry finishes shaking hands with Abigail.
Just out of earshot, Nadine watches, apprehensive.

It's Lucy's turn next, and Abigail is her usual flamboyant
self. Joey is next. The old black woman tries to lift him.

ABIGAIL
You want to kill me, boy? What's your name?

Bracing herself, Nadine steps up.

NADINE
We call him Joey.

Abigail stares at the boy who stares back at her.

ABIGAIL
Your name's not Joey ... it's ... it's ...

JOEY
It's Leo? ... Leo Rockaway! Nadine-mom, I like her ...

NADINE
Run along, Joey, Leo ... don't tire the Mother.

Joey/LEO ROCKAWAY skips toward Larry and Lucy.

Abigail stares into Nadine's eyes and for once she's
without words. Nadine lets herself be stared at ... until:

NADINE
You see no hope ... for me?

Abigail is silent; and distressed.

NADINE
... How can there not be hope, isn't hope, change,
redemption, the root of what you believe in?

ABIGAIL
You confuse me, chile.

Silence.   Nadine starts to ease away, and anyhow the
MAN behind her introduces himself enthusiastically.

MAN
Hi! I'm Mark Zellman. I dreamt of you!

Abigail is only half listening, her eyes following Nadine.

EXT. AUDITORIUM AND DARKENED COLLEGE CAMPUS - NIGHT

Nick and Tom bang on gongs beneath the porch of the
auditorium. The new Boulderites, carrying flashlights
and candles, and brimming with expectation, converge.

Harold -- in suit and tie and with his hair slicked
back -- starts up a portable generator. A cable
snakes to the building, the lights within going on.

INT. AUDITORIUM - NIGHT

People pack the place, and they applaud Harold as he enters.
There's excitement in the air. Everybody's waiting for Mother Abigail.

The dais is empty. The people are impatient: where
is she? Mark Zellman rises to his feet and calls out:

ZELLMAN
I've got a suggestion. While we wait for Mother Abigail
to tell us what we should do next ... Let's sing our
national anthem! Let us praise what we cherish.

He starts to sing, alone. Off key. A few others join in.
The song doesn't get much better. A few more join in out
of a sense of duty.   Others are embarrassed or puzzled.
Harold grins. Nadine shakes her head -- Lucy elbows Larry.

LUCY
Come on, Larry.

Larry joins in, bringing key, rhythm and
enthusiasm together, when Nick rushes in.

The deaf-mute gestures wildly and expressively. The singing tapers off.

STU
You can't find Mother Abigail?

Nick lip-reads, then nods.

STU
Have you looked everywhere?

Nick motions that he has. He goes to a blackboard
and writes: SHE HAS GONE AWAY. Confusion ...
panic spreads among the congregation: “What are we
going to do?”, “Only she could tell us”, “What if she's
dead?”, “Then who will lead us?”, “Without her, we're
done for”, “He will crucify us, torture us ... Oh, God.”

STU
Quiet, everybody!

Frannie kisses Stu's hand to wish him luck.
Harold sees, and he smarts. Stu goes to the dais.
The crowd cheers now that someone is taking charge.

STU
There's got to be an
explanation. Anybody?

But anxious people start talking all at once,
to Stu and among themselves. Nadine waits,
tense. Harold stands up, motioning for the floor.

HAROLD
Hello! ... Hellooo !?

STU
Let's listen to what Harold has to say.

Harold preens and works up his confidence.

HAROLD
Ladies and gentlemen ... don't you know your
religion? Haven't you people read the Bible?

The question is rhetorical. He has the audience in his thrall.

HAROLD
In all religions there are figures ... call them prophets,
call them saints ... and isn't Mother Abigail such a figure ?!
Does not Mother Abigail sometimes speaketh the m --

About to misspeak, Harold stops for a deep breath.

NADINE
(to herself)
Mumbo jumbo.

HAROLD
The noble tongue of prophecy? I say that like a prophet of old
our Mother Abigail has retreated into the desert ... gone into the
wilderness ... to meditate. Nick, don't you think I could be right?

Nick nods with some hesitation.

HAROLD
Now ...

Applause breaks out. “Let's go”, “She must be out
there somewhere.” Folks are already leaving. Stu
SHOOTS in the air. Everybody falls silent, nobody moves.

STU
Well, folks, I finally got to use my gun. Harold, keep goin'.

A few laughs. Frannie smiles.

HAROLD
Now, should we go look for her ... or wait for her in return?

FRANNIE
(blurting)
But she's so old.   So frail.

HAROLD
Frannie, you're right! We search for her, I say.

Again there's the impulse to rush out.

STU
Easy, everybody. We're going to do this right. I want
all the four-wheel drives, dirt bikes, dune buggies
that you can find ready and gassed by first light.

HAROLD
We'll need walkie-talkies, binoculars, first-aid kits,
food, water ... And could I make a suggestion, Stu?

STU
Sure.

HAROLD
Stu, you should lead a search party that fans out
and circles around in one direction, and I --
(with false humility)
I am awfully young for this --

Applause breaks out.

HAROLD
Thank you, I will lead a second search party around in
the other direction, and you and I, Stu, we'll meet at the
Sunrise Ampitheatre above us in the hills. But let's pray that
we don't meet ... that we can find Mother Abigail before ...

More applause.   Stu gives Harold the thumbs
up.   Nadine watches Harold ... intrigued.

EXT. WILDERNESS SOUTH OF SUNRISE AMPITHEATRE - DAY

Wheels bite into the ground, kicking up dirt,
then connect. The dune buggy with Stu
at the wheel makes it to the top of a rise.

Stu dismounts, and searches the landscape with binoculars. He sees --

-- two other searchers in a Jeep.

EXT. WILDERNESS NORTH OF SUNRISE AMPITHEATRE - DAY

Harold rides a dirt bike along a gulch. He draws
a .38 and aims at an imaginary adversary.

HAROLD
Bang!

He spins around, aims.

HAROLD
Bang!

Harold is practically his draw. He's not searching.

EXT. WILDERNESS SOUTH OF SUNRISE AMPITHEATRE - LATE DAY

Closer to the summit. Stu is searching. He CUTS
the ENGINE. The roar of silence is broken when:

STU
Mother Abigail. Mother Abigail.

Cliffs kick back the ECHO.

EXT. WILDERNESS NORTH OF SUNRISE AMPITHEATRE - LATE DAY

Much closer to the summit. Harold ROARS
uphill, and he sees a stone perched on a boulder.

He whips out his pistol from his windbreaker, aims, squeezes
the trigger, and SHOOTS the stone off the boulder. He grins.

EXT. WILDERNESS SOUTH OF SUNRISE AMPITHEATRE - LATE DAY

Nearly at the summit. Stu hears the ECHOING
SHOT. He picks up the walkie-talkie.

STU
Is that you, Harold? What's --

EXT. WILDERNESS NORTH OF SUNRISE AMPITHEATRE - LATE DAY

Nearly at the summit. Harold speaks into his walkie-talkie.

HAROLD
Just a rattler, Stu.

EXT. SUNRISE AMPITHEATRE - SUNDOWN

Stu rides up onto the asphalt ... and a moment later
Harold pulls up. They both CUT their POWER. Silence,
but for the PINGING of the overheated ENGINES.

STU
Nothing at all, huh?

HAROLD
Nada.

Harold grins and slides his hand into his
windbreaker and reaches his weapon.

STU
We'll try again tomorrow. Harold, come and
have supper with us. Frannie would love it.

HAROLD
She would ?!

STU
You don't have to do it for me. But for Frannie. She
found this hundred-dollar bottle of Frenchie wine.
Only Harold will know if it's any good, she said.

HAROLD
She said that !?

STU
Yeah. Frannie and I ... things change, Harold ... Shake?

Stu offers his hand. Harold begins to withdraw his hand
from inside the windbreaker, but something seems to
catch ... the hand comes out. Harold and Stu shake.

STU
Harold, your talents are wasted out here. You should
be in town inventin' things. Damn, the way you
siphoned gas through the vent. That was genius.

Harold is overwhelmed by Stu's unwitting flattery.
They kick their ENGINES ALIVE and head downhill.

CUT TO:

Men and women tug on a rope. They are pulling --

EXT. AIRBASE (NEVADA) - TWILIGHT

-- a vintage Korean war trainer-fighter
jet from a hangar. Its metal gleams darkly.

CUT TO:

EXT. CAMPUS (BOULDER) - PARKING LOT- NIGHT

Lucy and Frannie are waiting.   Offroad vehicles
enter the lot. Stu coming from one direction,
pulls up in front of Frannie in his dune buggy;
Larry, from another direction, pulls in alongside.

LARRY
Mother Abigail has got to be dead after
two days ... and two freezing nights.

STU
Figure you're right, Larry.But these folks ...
they'll go crazy without ... without hope.

LARRY
You're right.

Stu and Frannie, and Larry and Lucy, kiss;
and the two couple set off in different directions.

EXT. PATH THROUGH CAMPUS - NIGHT

As they head along a walkway, Larry puts his arm around
Lucy, drawing her closer. They are suddenly startled.

Nadine steps out of the shadows, barring their
way.   She wears a shimmering blue velvet
dress that reveals more than it conceals.

NADINE
Larry, I must talk to you.

LUCY
Shit, Nadine ...

Nadine doesn't even notice her, her eyes riveted on Larry.

LARRY
What?   Now?

NADINE
Now. It has to be now.
(before he can talk)
Now or never.

He looks at Lucy ... and, resigned, she continues ahead.

LUCY
She's come to get you. Did you bring your
dog collar and your muzzle, Nadine?

To Nadine, Lucy doesn't exist.

LARRY
... I'll be home right away.

LUCY
Sure.

Lucy keeps on going, disappears around a corner.

NADINE
I want you now. And I'm afraid I'm too late. I want
to stay here ... here with these people, with you.

LARRY
Nadine --

NADINE
Let me finish. I want to stay here ... and if we're with
each other, I'll make it. You're my last chance, Larry.

LARRY
What are you --

NADINE
I need to be needed. Make love to me ... and --

She puts her arms around his neck and presses her body against his.

NADINE
And save me.

He wrenches himself free.

LARRY
Damn it, Nadine.

NADINE
And damn you too, Larry.

She turns and he watches her disappear
immediately into the dark, HEELS CLICKING.

INT. LARRY AND LUCY'S QUARTERS - DORM - NIGHT

Lucy is seated on the bed in her nightgown, face pinched
and eyes shiny. An oil lamp burns. Larry enters.

LUCY
That was the fastest quickie --

LARRY
Lucy. I had to listen to --

LUCY
Shut up. Blow out the light. And come to bed.

INT. NADINE'S QUARTERS - ANOTHER DORM - NIGHT

Her hands shaking, Nadine lights a lamp. She's distraight.

She goes to Leo's cot, where he's asleep.
She smoothes his hair, trying to calm
herself. Leo begins to toss and mumble.

Even more distraight she walks away and tears off her blue
dress. The faint light etches her naked body. Nadine slips
into what looks like a coat. She steps to the window --
she's wearing a fur coat inside out. The touch of fur on
flesh sends a sensual shudder through her, arousing
her. A BLOOD CURDLING SCREAM makes Nadine
leap ... and Leo stumbles in, waking from a nightmare.

LEO
The boogeyman ... the boogeyman was with you ...

NADINE
It's just a bad dream, Leo. Come to Nadine-mom.

He doesn't enter her embrace. Still in the daze of sleep:

LEO
Nadine-mom, I want to go sleepies with Lucy-mom and Larry.

NADINE
(lashing out)
You too will not betray me. Go to bed. Go back to sleep.

Frightened, Leo totters away. Nadine takes a deep breath.

EXT. UPHILL ROAD ABOVE BOULDER - NIGHT

Nadine exhales. Mounted on her HONDA,
wearing only the inside-out fur coat, she ROARS
up the hill. She's full of expectation and turned on.

EXT. SUNRISE AMPITHEATRE - NIGHT

Nadine sits on the asphalt in the lotus position,
staring west where the moon is setting. The breeze
whips at her, penetrating the coat, chilling her, moving
the fur, arousing her. Before her is the Ouija board.

NADINE
Come to me ... possess me ... and guide my
hand. Spell it out! Come to me ... poss --

She gasps.   And co-existing with ordinary reality,
an oversized raven flies into her body from below.

Nadine shudders as its eyes overlay with hers; and she/it
watches what her jerking hand begins to spell:   YOU WILL --

CUT TO:

As it flies backwards a raven becomes --

INT. MGM PENTHOUSE - VIEW OF LAS VEGAS - NIGHT

-- a pair of hands. The hands that had created the illusion
of the bird belong to the Walkin' Dude and partially
conceal his face. The Walkin' Dude is in the lotus position,
levitating in midair, facing east; the moon sets behind him.

CUT TO:

EXT. HOUSE BY CAMPUS (BOULDER) - DAY

Nadine, in romantic frills and a biker's jacket, is
seated on the stoop, waiting. Harold, coming up the
walkway with books under his arm, is surprised.

NADINE
Hi! ... I like your house.

HAROLD
(flustered)
You do? How come?

NADINE
The curtains are always drawn.
You're a man who cherishes his privacy.

HAROLD
Well, yes ...

Harold unlocks the door.

NADINE
And you lock your door. I hate living on campus.
Doors unlocked, curtains open. It's all so goodie-
goodie. And everybody is so damn friendly ...

HAROLD
(a dare)
Would you like to come in.

NADINE
Could be dangerous ...

HAROLD
... !?

NADINE
If I like it I may not leave.

He blushes, stutters, and motions for her to enter.

INT. HAROLD'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY

Gloomy, but old-fashioned comfortable.
There's a TV set and a tape player, and
a whole lot of cassettes lying around.

HAROLD
I got my own generator in the basement.

She sits on the sofa in front of the screen and picks up a cassette.

NADINE
“Puss in Boots”.   I don't think that's a fairy tale.

HAROLD
It isn't.

Harold is flustered and he walks funny. He has an
erection and is trying to hide it. She knows, and smiles.

NADINE
You have a lot of “naughty” tapes.

HAROLD
Technical tapes on chemistry, physics, too.

NADINE
While the others search in vain for Mother Abigail, you research ...

Harold wracks his brain for something to say.

HAROLD
... Coffee or tea?

NADINE
(husky)
Or me?

HAROLD
Me ... I mean you.

He doesn't move. She pats the place next to her.

NADINE
Sit. Relax.

He sits but doesn't relax. She waits, utterly available.
He hugs her, kisses clumsily.   She pushes him away.

NADINE
Harold, you must be a virgin.

He clenches his teeth, works up the nerve:

HAROLD
Yes, I am.

NADINE
Well, I am too.

Harold is stunned; even more stunned as she continues.

NADINE
I'm yours. Do with me what you want ... I'll do whatever you
want me to do to you. I'm a teenager's wet dream come true.
But there is one no-no, one thing you cannot, must not do.

HAROLD
What one thing?

NADINE
I'm saving myself for someone else.   Do you understand?

HAROLD
For who?

NADINE
You'll get me ready for him. You know who. Say it.

HAROLD
(tentative)
... him?

NADINE
Come on. Say it.

HAROLD
Boots, the Cowboy of the Dream.
The one who stomps on useless truths.

She runs her hand up his leg.   He slobbers
excitedly over her neck; she gasps; he moans,
coming. There's a knock at the door.

EXT. HAROLD'S HOUSE - DAY

The door opens a crack. Nadine glares out at Frannie.

FRANNIE
Leo doesn't want to come any closer.

Frannie glances back. She and Nadine can see that --

-- across the street Leo and Lucy are waiting. Leo bounces a ball.

NADINE
Obviously he doesn't want to see Harold or me.

FRANNIE
Lucy and Larry and I think that you
should spend some time with the kid.

NADINE
I'm busy right now.

She slams the door in Frannie's face.

FRANNIE
(under her breath)
Bitch.

She crosses the street back to Lucy and Leo.
Bouncing the ball, Leo is in a trance.

LEO
The bitch ...

Frannie is astonished. Leo and the ball. Up and down.

LEO
--- and the dog ... and every dog ... will have his day.

Frannie can't believe what she's hearing. Lucy senses
a strangeness. Leo continues to bounce the ball.

LEO
They're making ... nothing ... ?

Frannie and Lucy exchange knowing looks. Without
looking up Leo keeps on bouncing the ball:

LEO
No ... not making babies.

Frannie and Lucy glance at each other in astonishment.

LEO
They're making something ... I don't know.

Just then Dayna whizzes by on a ten-speed. The
distraction causes Leo to miss and the trance is broken.

LEO
Dayna! Do you have any gum?

Dayna puts on the brakes and Leo runs to her.

FRANNIE
Can he read minds?

Lucy doesn't have an answer.

INT. HAROLD'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY

Harold sits at a table that's cluttered with things
that can be picked up at any Radio Shack. He draws
a shoebox toward him, cautiously, ever so slowly.

NADINE
What's the big deal with a shoebox?

She slides onto his lap. Harold is panicked.

HAROLD
Jesus. Careful.

She soothes him with a caress and a kiss.

HAROLD
Tarahh! My Science Fair project!

He removes the lid of the shoebox and
lifts out a “sweating” stick of dynamite --
the box is half full of others like it.

HAROLD
Don't move, Nadine.   This is dangerous. Very dangerous. It's dynamite,
and it's old. When it's old it sweats pure nitroglycerine ... and pure
nitroglycerine is incredibly unstable. We could be blown sky high.

NADINE
Que sera sera ... if we're blown sky high,
what we're not doing is not meant to be.

He smiles nervously.   He picks up a rag
and begins to clean the “sweat” off the stick
of dynamite. She pouts seductively:

NADINE
I want my stick of dynamite too.

With one hand she reaches BELOW FRAME.

HAROLD
Nadine! For Chr --

NADINE
Careful ... Harold.

He cleans the stick of dynamite while she fondles him.
They are both tense and terribly excited. -- He runs his
finger along the stick and picks up a tiny bead of “sweat”.

HAROLD
Watch.

He flicks the bead away. It sails across the room.

Where it hits, it makes a tiny firecracker EXPLOSION.
And Harold -- it is suggested -- comes.

NADINE
You're unbelievable.

HAROLD
And insatiable.

Grinning, he picks up another stick to clean it.

INT. FRANNIE AND STU'S QUARTERS - NIGHT

Stu and Frannie are in bed, and she's beginning
to show. Stu presses his ear against her belly.

STU
I feel something.

Frannie's mind is elsewhere:

FRANNIE
Harold must be carrying a grudge against you; and Lucy
swears that Nadine is weird. And then there's Leo --

STU
Now wait a minute. Maybe Leo was just guessing ... maybe
the kid didn't know how to say that they were making whoopie.

Annoyed, Frannie yanks the covers up to her head, leaving Stu frustrated.

EXT. HAROLD'S HOUSE - DAY

Nadine kicks her HONDA alive. Harold
gets on behind Nadine. They ROAR away.
Watching from hiding are Frannie and Lucy.

They run up to the door, try it. Locked. They begin
circling the house, testing windows. Also locked.

Behind the house they find a low window that gives
into the cellar. Lucy tries to yank it open. Nothing.

Frannie -- frustrated -- kicks the frame. It starts to
give. Lucy kicks, and the window swings inward.

FRANNIE
God, if Stu catches us.

INT. HAROLD'S HOUSE - BASEMENT - DAY

Helped by Lucy, Frannie slides to the floor.
A small GENERATOR is PURRING away.

INT. STEPS UP FROM BASEMENT - DAY

Frannie and Lucy reach the top.
The door is latched on the other side.

EXT. MOTORBIKE DEALERSHIP - DAY

Harold kicks a TRIUMPH TO LIFE.

INT. STEPS UP FROM BASEMENT - DAY

With the tip of her shoe buckle slipped between door
and jamb, Frannie manages to push up the latch.

EXT. STREET - DAY

Harold erupts into view. He's testing the
motorbike. Nadine follows on her Honda.

INT. ENTRANCE - DAY

The girls step in. Lucy opens a closet.

LUCY
Nadine loves weird clothes.

EXT. STREET - DAY

Harold and Nadine ride slowly side by side.

NADINE
Race you home.

HAROLD
I still have to get used --

Nadine accelerates forward ... Harold does too.

INT. LIVING ROOM AND ENTRANCE - DAY

Frannie and Lucy look around not knowing what
to search for. Frannie stops by the table which is
cluttered with wires, transistors and tools -- no shoebox.

FRANNIE
He loves all this techie stuff.   He won the Science Fair project twice.

Lucy opens another closet. The shoebox is on the
floor. Mildly curious, she crouches by it, opens it.
There's a walkie-talkie lying on top of something.

FRANNIE
What have you found?

LUCY
Looks like a walkie-talkie and --

Lucy starts to lift it and reveal wired up dynamite, when
she and Frannie freeze at the ROAR of the MOTORBIKES.

EXT. HAROLD'S HOUSE - DAY

Harold and Nadine cut the engines, dismount.

INT. LIVING ROOM AND ENTRANCE - DAY

Panicked, Frannie and Lucy bolt to the basement door. Frannie trips.

EXT. HOUSE - DAY

Harold turns the lock once.

INT. LIVING ROOM AND ENTRANCE - DAY

Frannie makes it to the basement door. The lock
turns again. The basement door is pulled closed,
but remains unlatched. Harold and Nadine enter.

INT. STEPS TO BASEMENT - DAY

Lucy and Frannie tip-toe down.

INT. LIVING ROOM AND ENTRANCE - DAY

Harold notices the latch.

HAROLD
Nadine, who was in the cellar last?

He draws his .38, and about to open the door to the
basement he's struck by a frightening thought.

He runs to the closet in the living room, opens
it, and sees the shoebox apparently untouched.
He draws a sigh of relief ... and he hears a CRASH.

INT. BASEMENT - DAY

Lucy and Frannie juggle to stop old paint cans from falling to the floor.

INT. ENTRANCE - DAY

Harold bolts to the basement door.

INT. BASEMENT - DAY

Lucy boosts Frannie up to the window they forced open.

INT. STEPS TO BASEMENT - DAY

Harold, gun in hand, comes down the steps when
he hears a frantic BANGING ON GONGS some
way off. He stops to listen, continues down.

EXT. BEHIND HAROLD'S HOUSE - DAY

Frannie helps Lucy up.   Outside the GONGS are louder.

INT. HAROLD'S HOUSE - BASEMENT - DAY

Harold is about to see Lucy's feet, when
Nadine appears at the top of the steps.

NADINE
Something must have happened. There's a commotion.

EXT. BEHIND HAROLD'S HOUSE - DAY

Frannie pulls Lucy out, and they stumble away.

EXT. CAMPUS - AUDITORIUM - DAY

Nick and Tom strike the gongs.

TOM
She's back! Holy gee, she's back!

People -- women, old men and children --
are streaming in one direction; Frannie
and Lucy too. They can't believe their eyes.

Mother Abigail staggers through the campus holding
onto the tail of Kojack the dog! Dayna is the first to reach
the exhausted, weakened old lady and prop her up.

Frannie and Lucy rush to help. Harold and
Nadine appear and stare from a distance. He grins.

HAROLD
It's going to work better than anything we imagined.

EXT. CAMPUS PARKING LOT - AFTERNOON

Off-road and four wheel drive VEHICLES come
ROARING in. Stu dismounts and Kojack leaps on him.

STU
Kojack !?!

He holds the dog in his arms, and Kojack
licks his face. Frannie approaches excitedly.

STU
Is it true? Is she all right?

FRANNIE
Kojack led her here!

STU
What !? Kojack crossed half America ...

FRANNIE
To find you.

She kisses the dog and the man.

FRANNIE
Mother Abigail is in a bad way, dehydrated. But we can't
talk her out of it, she wants to speak to all of us tonight.

EXT. AUDITORIUM - BY SIDE ENTRANCE - LATE AFTERNOON

Nadine and Harold. He has the shoebox. On impulse:

NADINE
I'll do it.

She snatches the shoebox away.

NADINE
I want to feel committed ... I want to feel.

HAROLD
You know where to hide it?

NADINE
Harold. We've gone through it a hundred times.

She takes a deep breath and slips inside the building.

EXT. CAMPUS - AUDITORIUM - SUNSET

Once again Tom and Nick bang on the gongs.

EXT. HAROLD'S HOUSE - SUNSET

Nadine is on her Honda, the ENGINE IDLING. Harold
doesn't kick the starter, but fiddles with a walkie-talkie
that's strapped to the handle bars of his Triumph.

NADINE
Well?

HAROLD
Just thinking: we don't have to go through with this.

NADINE
Too late, Harold, too late.

HAROLD
... Yeah!

He kicks the TRIUMPH ALIVE.

INT. AUDITORIUM - EVENING

Frail, sunburnt and unsteady, Mother Abigail
stands on the dais, clinging to the lectern.
She motions her audience to stop applauding.

The hall is more crowded than last time. In the
front rows are Stu, Kojack and Frannie; Larry,
Lucy and Leo; Tom and Nick; Susan and Dayna.

ABIGAIL
Hello, old friends, and welcome to those who joined
us during my ... hiding out in the wilderness, hiding
in shame. I thought I could read the mind of God, and
that was pride. I went into the wilderness to atone.

They all listen, waiting for some revelation.

ABIGAIL
You have expected --

EXT. ROAD UP FROM BOULDER - EVENING

ABIGAIL'S VOICE
(over walkie-talkie)
-- much too much from me.

Harold and Nadine ROAR uphill. She shouts:

NADINE
What's she saying?

HAROLD
(shouting)
She's covering her ass ...

INT. AUDITORIUM - EVENING

ABIGAIL
Wasn't it enough for me to bring you together here?
To guide you in your dreams? No. You are like children
hanging onto my everyword.   Have you lazybones figured out
how to do battle with the Devil's Imp, the Man in the West?

Her audience is caught off guard.

EXT. SUNRISE AMPITHEATRE (ABOVE BOULDER) - EVENING

Nadine and Harold slow, CUT their
ENGINES. The sky in the west is blood red.

NADINE
Do it!

HAROLD
I do it of my own free will.

Harold presses a button on the walkie-talkie:
Three short pulses, three long, three short.

HAROLD
Done. In thirty seconds they'll be blown to kingdom come.

NADINE
Is killing the greatest sin of all?

HAROLD
I guess. I can do nothing to save them now ... but I could still repent.

Nadine glances at him quizzically. High on his words:

HAROLD
Instead I say: the Great Plague has
wiped clean the counter top of the world --

INT. AUDITORIUM - EVENING

ABIGAIL
I can pray for you.

Nick is suddenly alert. He senses something.

EXT. SUNRISE AMPITHEATRE - EVENING

HAROLD
And the world ain't seen nothin' yet. Our part in
this great adventure will change everything!

EXT. AUDITORIUM - EVENING

ABIGAIL
-- offer the wisdom of my many years.

Nick bolts up onto the dais and starts to wave,
to motion everybody out. Nobody understands.
Frenzied, Nick glances around as if searching.

Utterly desperate, Nick turns to the gaping audience
and he makes an inhuman attempt to speak.
Blood runs out of his ears, from his nose --

-- and his voice just starts coming out of Leo's
and Tom's mouths in near synchrony:

TOM AND LEO
There's a b ... b-bomb in here. Somewhere.
About to ... explode.   Everybody out.

Tom and Leo are just as surprised as everybody else;
Stu, Larry and the others let the information sink in.

EXT. SUNRISE AMPITHEATRE - EVENING

Harold is in ecstasy, Nadine radiant at his side.

HAROLD
Nine. Eight ... Seven ...

INT. AUDITORIUM - EVENING

Nick glances here, there, and then charges at
Mother Abigail knocking her off the dais to one side.

EXT. SUNRISE AMPITHEATRE - EVENING

HAROLD
... Three .. Twoooo ...

INT. AUDITORIUM - EVENING

Nick lunges in front of the dais -- not far from
where Frannie is to getting to her feet. He spreads
his body, hugging the edge of the proscenium.

Nick's body erupts into bloody shreds,
but it does deflect the explosion.

Frannie is violently slammed back
into her chair as the flash expands.

EXT. AUDITORIUM - EVENING

The EXPLOSION BLASTS out WINDOWS and doors.
And the din of the panicked and dying is heard.

People sit against the walls, heads bowed,
muttering a prayer, holding vigil. Frannie,
glum, and Stu, supporting her, slowly make
their way toward an open door. Kojack follows.

FRANNIE
She wants to talk to me?

STU
You, me, and only a few others.

A man with a stethescope, DOC, comes out of a door.

STU
How's she doing?

DOC
Fading fast ... I got others to tend to.

Stu and Frannie --

INT. LARRY'S AND LUCY'S QUARTERS - NIGHT

-- enter.   Mother Abigail is laid out in Larry's and
Lucy's bed. Her body and face are badly injured;
an IV needle feeds into her withered arm. Her
dying gaze meets Frannie's sad and angry eyes.

ABIGAIL
Come sit here, chile. You're in pain.

Frannie sits on the edge of the bed, unsmiling.
The mood is somber: Larry, Lucy, Leo, Dayna
are also in the room. Abigail's voice is weak:

ABIGAIL
Stu is strong within, Frannie, I want Stu to lead.
Lucy, Leo, listen up, Larry must go too 'cause Larry
can learn ... and if Stu can't lead, Larry will.

FRANNIE
(restrained anger)
Lead what? Lead where? What are you talking about, Mother?

ABIGAIL
Chile --

FRANNIE
I'm not a child --

Stu silences her with a glance.

ABIGAIL
My time is short.   Dayna --

DAYNA
They killed Susan. I'm going to catch
Harold and that bitch Nadine. I'll blow --

ABIGAIL
Easy, Dayna. Vengeance ain't for you but for the Lord. You're
a resourceful gal. You must go. Kojack nudges Abigail's arm.

ABIGAIL
Kojack too. Y'all go west, make a stand against the Master of Lies ...
and show him that you'll fear no evil, that you'll fear no evil!

FRANNIE
You're sending them to die!

STU
Frannie, please ...

FRANNIE
Millions, no billions, have already died, and it all has to do
with you somehow, and that dude. I'm carrying a child that
doesn't move anymore. Doc says it's very weak. And I hurt.

She can no longer hold in her despair, and pain.

FRANNIE
Damn you and your murdering God.

STU
Frannie!

Abigail jerks her hand forward, striking Frannie's belly.

STU
(to Abigail)
What the hell are you -- ?

Frannie gasps. She jumps to her feet and
her expression of violence gives way to a smile,
a big open smile. Her hands go to her belly.

FRANNIE
It moved. It's tickling me!

She giggles.   Stu's grimace of apprehension becomes a smile.
The others are amazed. But Frannie's face darkens.

FRANNIE
Is this a bribe from your God? Because if it is, you can take
your “miracle” back ... I want Stu in one piece, alive.

ABIGAIL
God don't bribe, chile. He jus' make a
sign and lets people take it as they will.

That quiets Frannie. Mother Abigail is utterly
exhausted -- with difficulty she pushes out words.

ABIGAIL
Every brave venture should have its happy fool, one of “God's chillun” ...
Tom. Go now, and go as you are, go ... and make your stand --

She dies quietly. Stu, Frannie, Larry, Lucy,
Leo and Tom stare at her stilled body.

END OF REEL THREE