COWBOYS & ALIENS
Written by
Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci & Damon Lindelof
Aug 4th, 2009
FADE UP ON:
SPACE. Infinite stars. A TITLE:
1870. THE ARIZONA TERRITORY.
We descend past DARK CLOUDS. Violent FLASHES ripple within.
Thunder blends with DRUMS as we reach a BOX CANYON...
A BONFIRE -- SILHOUETTED BODIES -- APACHE WARRIORS
Whirling around the fire -- war paint -- masks and headdresses --
a RELIGIOUS RITE or CELEBRATION. On the periphery, we FIND...
A BEAUTIFUL APACHE WOMAN. Softly singing to the even more
beautiful BABY in her arms as we FOLLOW THEM INTO --
A TEEPEE. The simple melody of the woman's song as she lays the
baby on a blanket, gently swaddling it, LOVE in her eyes.
But.
The wind starts to HOWL. QRAJ. And then... a BURST OF
LIGHT through the opening of the teepee -- intense ULTRAVIOLET:
FWHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSHHss!!!
THE E IRE TENT IS RIPPED UP INTO THE SKY, LEAVING THE WOMAN AND
HER BABY-EXPOSED!!!! She SCREAMS -- grabs her child and starts
to RUN -- CHAOS EVERYWHERE as the tribe scatters in TERROR --
Suddenly -- Apaches are getting YANKED INTO THE AIR by some
superior force -- PLUCKED savagely into the light, GONE -- as we
WHIP AROUND the horror show of SCREAMING, DISAPPEARING INDIANS --
And now -- A DEAFENING SHRIEK AS STRANGE DOMED OBJECTS HURTLE
DOWN, CRASHING LIKE COMETS TO THE CANYON FLOOR AND CRUSHING
FLEEING PEOPLE.
Impossibly, the objects are STEEL MACHINES. BELLY VENTS snap
open and DRILL CONES drop out -- jagged teeth CHURN TO LIFE --
faster -- FASTER -- as the drills begin CHEWING INTO THE GROUND.
THE WOMAN -- staggering back in SHOCK and AWE -- clings to her
baby for one final SCREAM and -- BLACK. Over which we read:
C--() ... .-4�_ s A N D A
EXT. ARIZONA DESERT - DAY
burning sun FLARES LENS, beating down on... A MAN.
Lying in the barren DESERT. Out cold. Handsome... but HARD.
We'll call him THE MAN IN BLACK, the color of his dirty clothes.
2.
A PINK TONGUE LICKS HIM. The man STARTS AWAKE -- to find a
MONGREL DOG over him. Mangy. But sweet.
COUGHING, the man stumbles up. How'd he get here? And where
the hell i.: here? And -- OWWW. A GASH in his side...
.. part of the wound oddly SEARED. He winces. Trying to solve
this painful puzzle. Something GLINTS on his wrist:
A STEEL BRACELET. No clasp to pull it off. He touches the
surface -- TSSS -- SHIT -- It's HOT!
And there's a BLACK STETSON on the ground. The Man grabs it to
shield his eyes... but STOFS:
A WORN PHOTOGRAPH in the inner brim. A WOMAN. Young,
beautiful. SMILING.
The Man stares: does he KNOW this woman? is this even HIS hat?
The dog BARKS ALERT. The man turns -- QUICK -- his hand reaches
toward his hip on INSTINCT but there's no holster. NO GUNS.
THREE RIDERS ON HORSEBACK ARE COMING OVER THE RISE:
THE CLAIBORNE BROTHERS -- WES, MOSE and LUKE. Dusty and tough.
Wes gallops right up to our Man, gives him the once over --
WES CLAIBORNE
Howdy.
(NO RESPONSE)
We're riding towards Absolution. You
know how far west we are?
The Man's got NO IDEA what he's talking about.
LUKE CLAIBORNE
Maybe he's a dummy.
Wes hops off his horse, right in The Man's face now --
WES CLAIBORNE
There a reason you don't wanna answer my
question, friend?
And now, Mose nods to the BRACELET on The Man's wrist --
MOSE CLAIBORNE
Wes, he's got iron on his wrist... and
he's been shot.
LUKE CLAIBORNE
Bet he's a chain jumper.
Luke spurs his horse behind him -- The Man's SURROUNDED.
3.
LUKE
If he escaped, there'll be a bounty.
Let's bring him with us.
Wes nods as he slides a SAWED-OFF DOUBLE-BARREL from his back
scabbard. COCKS both barrels. The dog GROWLS --
WES CLAIBORNE
Not your lucky day, Stranger -- turn
round and start walking.
But The Man doesn't move. The Claibornes share glances. Wes
steps forward -- RAISING HIS RIFLE --
WES CLAIBORNE (CONT'D)
Dead or alive, no difference. I said
WALK OR--
THE MAN MOVES, A MECHANISM OF BRUTAL VIOLENCE -- YANKS the rifle
forward as BLAMI -- shot goes WILD -- suddenly the gun's in THE
MAN'S HANDS -- BLAXI Wes is BLOWN backwards, HOLE IN HIS CHEST!
As Hose draws his Enfield, The Man FLIPS the rifle again --
SLAM! MOSE FLIES OFF HIS SADDLE as The Man rolls -- UNDER
Luke's horse -- GRABBING Luke's ankle -- suddenly Luke's FLAT on
his back -- BREATHLESS, staring UP at the double-barrel:
LUKE CLAIBORNE
-- P-please, God -- d-don't --
-- The Man PULLS the trigger but CLICK! The rifle's EMPTY.
Luke's RELIEF is short as The Man SLAMS the gun-butt down,
knocking him out cold. And ALL of this took about ten seconds.
This man is a cold-blooded KILLER. But somehow... he didn't
seem to KNOW that. CONFUSION. Drops the rifle, looks down at
his hands... covered in BLOOD. And the BODIES in his wake.
The WIND loosens a piece of PAPER from Wes's jacket. It DANCES
on the breeze -- flattens against The Stranger's foot. He picks
it up, BLOODY FINGERPRINTS on what we now see is a TELEGRAM --
"TO FORT STANTON -- STOP -- ABSOLUTION TOWNSHIP BESIEGED BY
OUTLAWS -- STOP -- FIFTY DOLLARS FOR ANY MAN WITH A GUN -- STOP
-- ABSOLUTION AWAITS -- STOP"
THE MAN IN BLACK
(a hoarse whisper)
Absolution...
SLAM TO MOMENTS LATER:
With a HYA! The Man sends two horses GALLOPING, mounts the
third, wincing at that gash in his side. Starts to trot off...
sees the dog following...
4.
THE MAN IN BLACK (CONT'D)
Get outta here. Leave me alone.
But the dog keeps following. Like they're FRIENDS now. The man
turns away dismissively as we BOOM UP to reveal the WIDE OPEN
VALLEY below... and a SPECK within it that is:
EXT. TOWN - MAIN STREET - DAY
A CROOKED SIGN: "ABSOLUTION." The town is dismal and forgotten.
Crumbling buildings blistered by sun. The Man rides in --
dehydrated, the wound DRAINING him.
His eyes fall on the first building he sees... A CHURCH.
INT. CHURCH - DAY
BAM! The door flies open and VOTIVE CANDLES FLICKER. The Man
looks at the dog and says --
THE MAN IN BLACK
Stay.
The dog sits by the door as The Man enters -- EMPTY -- he's
moving -- into a small kitchen area -- bottle of whiskey --
uncorks it with his teeth -- drinks -- pours some on the wound --
then A PISTOL COCKS behind him --
Meet MEACHAM, town preacher, a tough, wash-foot Baptist:
MEACHAM
Palms to heaven, Friend.
The Man freezes. Turns up his hands.
THE MAN IN BLACK
Been shot.
MEACHAM
Only two kinds of men get shot --
criminals and victims.
(steps forward; hard)
Which one're you?
THE MAN IN BLACK
don't know.
Meacham hears the HONESTY in his voice. Knows a lost soul when
he sees one. Lowers his gun, softening...
MEACHAM
Got a name, son?
THE MAN IN BLACK
Don't know that either.
5.
MEACHAM
What do you know?
THE MAN IN BLACK
(a beat; then)
... English.
Off Meacham, INTRIGUED -- we CUT TO:
INT. CHURCH RECTORY - LATER
A CANDLE FLAME -- a NEEDLE passing through it -- it's LATER and
Meacham's studying The Man's wound:
MEACHAM
Odd wound. Looks... cauterized.
(off The Man's look)
Means somethin' burned it half closed.
The Man just stares. News to him. And now, as Meacham leans
over the wound, the METAL CROSS around his neck begins to
twitch... lifting ever so SLIGHTLX off his chest -- towards the
strange BRACELET on the Man's wrist. Meacham reacts --
MEACHAM (CONT'D)
Nice trick. That some kinds... magnet?
The Man looks at him -- "What the hell is a 'magnet'?!?"
Meacham shrugs it off, readies the needle --
MEACHAM (CONT'D)
Try'n hold still.
He pokes the hot needle through the wound -- The Man winces
slightly, but bears the pain.
MEACHAM (CONT'D)
Where'd you ride in from?
THE MAN IN BLACK
West. Woke up in the desert.
Looking up at the sun like I'd been
dropped outta the sky.
MEACHAM
Seems I remember a story about that
happening once... fella by the name of
Lucifer.
(GRINS)
How 'bout I just call you "Luke," for
short.
But TheMan's distracted by his REFLECTION in a cracked mirror:
his own face unfamiliar. Meacham nods towards The Man's HANDS --
6.
MEACHAM (CONT'D)
That blood yours or somebody else's?
THE MAN IN BLACK
Three men rode up. Drew on me.
(STILL CONFUSED)
My hands... moved on their own.
MEACHAM
(A BEAT)
Anything else you wanna confess to while
you got my attention?
And The Man senses somehow that, ygg, there is... but:
THE MAN IN BLACK
Everything that happened before I woke
up...
(shakes his head)
It's gone.
MEACHAM
Well. Too bad. Can't absolve you for
your sins if you don't recall 'em. That
bein' said...
Meacham looks up, eyes twinkling. This is not a fire n'
brimstone preacher. This is a guy who GETS IT --
MEACHAM (CONT'D)
I seen bad men do good things and good
men do bad things. Whether you end up in
heaven or hell... it's not God's plan...
it's yours.
(BEAT)
You just got to remember what it was.
The Man considers. Darkly --
THE MAN IN BLACK
What if I don't want to remember?
MEACHAM
(BEAT; GRINS)
Then you're probl'y goin' to hell.
On cue -- SMASH!!! The stained glass window EXPLODES as a
MOLOTOV COCKTAIL hurtles into the church. FIRE spreads around
the pews -- MEACHAM ACTIVATES -- tears curtains off the
confessional and uses them to STAMP OUT the fire --
MEACHAM (CONT'D)
Dammit -- it's Dolarhyde's men!
WHOOPS and HOLLERS and GUNSHOTS outside! The Man whirls to see
A DOZEN MEN ON HORSEBACK, marauding through town --
7.
EXT. ABSOLUTION - MAIN STREET - CONTINUOUS
Their leader is PERCY DOLARHYDE, a cocky, hot-tempered bastard --
he ignites another Molotov, hurls it at the CLAIMS OFFICE --
PERCY
THIS IS A MESSAGE FROM MY FATHER! ONLY
CLAIM TO LAND AROUND HERE'S THE ONE WITH
HiS NAME ON IT!
The gang rides down Main Street, HOOTING -- Percy cocks another
Molotov, aiming for the SALOON --
But one of his men, half-Apache NAT COLORADO, shouts:
NAT COLORADO
Percy! N2t the saloon!
PERCY
Why the goddamn hell not?!
NAT COLORADO
Cause your dady said so.
Something LOADED in the way he emphasizes "daddy." Percy GLARES
-- strange RESENTMENT between them. With a growl, Percy GALLOPS
OFF, chucks the flaming bottle onto the CHURCH STEPS:
INT. MEACHAN'S CHURCH - CONTINUOUS
Meacham finishes putting out the fire, grabbing a couple
blankets as he moves past The Man --
MEACHAM
You wanna help or are you just gonna
stand there and burn?!
EXT. CHURCH - PORCH - CONTINUOUS
FRIGHTENED TOWNSPEOPLE run for the sanctuary of the church,
Meacham SWATS OUT the fire on the steps --
MEACHAM
All right, folks -- don't panic! Get
inside and you'll be fine... C'mon...
Meacham tosses The Man one of the blankets, nods across the
street to the GENERAL STORE which is just STARTING to burn --
MEACHAM (CONT'D)
Put it out before it gets goin'!
ON THE MAN, not sure how he suddenly became the damn fire
brigade, but HUSTLING across the street to --
THE GENERAL STORE
8.
WHIPS open the blanket, beats at the flames advancing toward the
roof -- PUTS THE FIRE OUT as the door FLIES OPEN and out steps:
A KID. 11. Rough n' tumble. And right now, mouth full of
LICORICE. Two FULL JARS of CANDY in his hands. OOPS:
KID
Just tryin' to save the candy.
(SWALLOWS, worried now)
You one of my Pa's hired guns?
Before he can answer, HOOFBEATS behind them -- and here's PERCY.
He yanks the reins, pulls his REVOLVER on our Man --
PERCY
Who the hell're yam?
Whatever the opposite of Love At First Sight is, THIS is it:
THE MAN
Nobody.
PERCY
Nobody is right. You think you can just
collect your fifty dollars and ride off?
You signed up for the wrong side, boy.
The kid's scared. The Man ISN'T, despite the gun in his face:
PERCY (CONT'D)
Tell you what. You get down on your
knees and kiss my boot.
The Man's eyes narrow --
PERCY (CONT'D)
You do that and I'll let you run back to
wherever the hell you came from so you
can tell whoever you see...
(cocks his gun)
Absolution belongs -tg..th-e- 1Dolar es.
THE MAN
You want me to kiss your boot?
Percy extends his boot just INCHES from The Man's face:
PERCY
Tongue's just fine if you're feelin'
amorous. Don't hold ba --
THWIP! The Man YANKS Percy's boot off his foot in one quick
move and KWHAM!!!1 WINGS IT RIGHT INTO PERCY'S FACE!
Percy FLIES off the HORSE -- The Man grabbing his rifle -- the
moment Percy lands, it's STICKING into his NECK:
9.
THE MAN
Kiss this, you sonofa --
NAT COLORADO (O.S.)
-- PUT IT DOWN !
-- Nat Colorado gallops around the corner, SHOTGUN RAISED.
PERCY
Goddamnit, Nat -- SHOOT HIM!!!
-- but The Man yanks Percy up by his collar, using him as a
SHIELD between himself and Colorado. Eerily calm --
THE MAN
Wherever you came from? Go back.
Colorado knows he's dealing with a PROFESSIONAL. MORE GANG
MEMBERS ride up, surprised -- a dirty outlaw, GREAVEY, barks:
GREAVEY
Sheriff's right behind us, Nat!
PERCY
You goddamned shitheels! Don't you even
THINK about leavin' me!!!!
Colorado -- DECISION -- doesn't take long -- glares at The Man --
NAT COLORADO
Be seeing you.
THE MAN
Look forward to it.
With that, Nat spurs his horse -- YA! The others follow him as
he RIDES HARD out of town. Percy growls at The Man --
PERCY
You are a dead man. You hear me? So
help me God I will kill you my--
DM! The Man's SMASHES Percy's skull with the gun, knocking him
OUT COLD, as LAWMEN approach on horseback --
KID
FA! He caught Percy Dolarhyde!
SHERIFF KYLE TAGGART rears up on his horse. Tall, dark and
handsome despite a SADNESS in his eyes, already dismounting:
SHERIFF TAGGART
Emmett -- you all right?
The Kid (now EMMETT) strides towards his father excitedly:
10.
EMMETT
YOU-SHOULDA-SEEN-IT-HE-TOSSED-PERCY-L IKE-
a-f lap jack- then-stared-down-Nat-Colorado-
like-he-wasn't-even-scared!!!!
Taggart turns to The Man now, cautious, but grateful --
SHERIFF TAGGART
Pardon my boy, mister. He can be
excitable.
(puts out his hand)
Kyle Taggart.
The Man shakes Taggart's hand. A beat. Then --
THE MAN IN BLACK
. Luke.
SHERIFF TAGGART
Well I'm in your debt, Luke. Tune of
fifty dollars, actually.
(off The Man's look)
Our advert? The telegram?
The Man NODS -- Oh, RIGHT.
SHERIFF TAGGART (CONT'D)
Could use a man like you in case any of
'em come back...
THE MAN IN BLACK
-- I'm just passing through.
SHERIFF TAGGART
Fair enough. You don't mind spending the
night, bank opens in the morning... I'll
get you your money then.
(nods down the street)
Saloon's got rooms. You just tell Maria
I sent you.
The Man tips his hat, nods to Emmett (still STARSTRUCK), turns
to go. Taggart furrows his brow as the DOG scampers after him.
SHERIFF TAGGART (CONT'D)
You here with the prospector woman?
The Man stops. Intrigued. Turns back --
THE MAN IN BLACK
woman?
SHERIFF TAGGART
Yup. Real looker. Came into town
yesterday with that there dog. She a
friend of yours?
11.
ON THE MAN. His first real LEAD.
THE MAN IN BLACK
Maybe.
And as The Man heads off, we HOLD ON TAGGART, his spidey-sense
tingling that all is not RIGHT with this...
DEPUTY WADE
Somethin' wrong, Kyle?
SHERIFF TAGGART
What's that French sayin' where you swear
you seen someone before?
DEPUTY WADE
Don't speak French.
SHERIFF TAGGART
No... you sure's hell don't.
Taggart takes one last look at The Man departing as we CUT TO:
EXT. CATTLE RANGE - MAGIC HOUR
300 head of CATTLE under a blood red sky -- BOOM DOWN to THREE
RANCH HANDS by a fire. One's drinking liberally from a BOTTLE;
call him ROY CLANTON. The other two trade glances, nervous:
RANCH HAND #1
Should take it easy there, Pal --
RANCH HAND #2
Mr. Dolarhyde don't like it when we drink
on the job.
ROY CLANTON
I don't give a damn what he don't like --
gotta sit here and babysit a damn herd of
cattle. Dolarhyde ain't gonna do squat.
(rises; grabs his
CROTCH)
Gotta see a man about a buffalo...
He lets out a big BURP and stumbles off behind a ridge. More
THUNDER. Something doesn't feel right. A sudden WHOOSH and --
A COW'S PULLED INTO THE AIR BEHIND THEM BY SOME INVISIBLE FORCE,
JUST LIKE THE APACHES IN OUR OPENING! Flies STRAIGHT UP, out of
FRAME. Its PLAINTIVE MOO blending into all the others:
RANCH HAND #1
You hear that?
RANCH HAND #2
Hear what?
12.
ANOTHER COW zips up from the herd behind them. And ANOTHER.
MANY OF THE SWSSHS. The men slowly turn toward the sound as --
ALL AT ONCE, HUNDREDS OF COWS FLY OFF INTO THE SKY!
RANCH HAND #1
SWEET JESUS!!!
THE DARKNESS EXPLODES WITH EERILY BRILLIANT BLUE LIGHT! THE MEN
SCREAM AS THEY'RE ENGULFED IN IT AND --
ROY CLANTON -- comes RUNNING back up the hill, pulling up his
pants as the light DISAPPEARS -- to find the men GONE. So are
the COWS. PULL BACK... he's ALL THAT'S LEFT in the open range.
INT. GOLD LEAF SALOON - NIGHT
THE BATWING DOORS SWING OPEN: The Man In Black enters with the
dog, tips his hat to a couple WHORES. They GRIN, liking what
they see. RANCH HANDS drink their pay. Behind the bar, a MAN
and WOMAN argue. DOC and MARIA; she's a buxom Mexican beauty;
he's 300 roly-poly pounds of ANXIOUS CASTILIAN JEALOUSY:
DOC
-- I know you are, don't lie to me!
MARIA
How many times do we have to do this,
Arturo? J. love you.
DOC
Really? Do you?!?
(holds up a POCKETWATCH)
I found this in our bed! And I don't
k3 Vg. a watch, Maria. I can't AfjQrd a
watch because y insisted we buy this
saloon!
She looks at him SQUARELY -- yes, some SECRET withheld. As The
Man In Black reaches the bar, he's Maria's EXCUSE to end this:
MARIA
We have customers.
And MOVES off. Doc stomps toward the exit -- sees EMMETT at the
back of the bar stealing sips of BEER from left-behind glasses:
DOC
AFUERA! ADULTS ONLY!!!
Emmett RUNS OUT. The Man sits beside an old cuss named ATTICUS.
The dog heels at The Man's feet, eyes a STEAK on Atticus' plate:
ATTICUS
That mutt makes a move for my steak, I'll
drill him down.
13.
MARIA
Shut up, Atticus. This is the man who
took out Percy Dolarhyde.
Atticus grumbles and goes back to eating, but not before
sweeping his duster aside to show the GUN in his holster. Maria
rolls her eyes, sets a GLASS in front of The Man, who nods:
THE MAN IN BLACK
I'm looking for a woman.
She gestures to the WHORES --
MARIA
What kind?
THE MAN IN BLACK
This kind.
He removes the PHOTO from inside his hat. The one of the WOMAN.
MARIA
Never seen her before. But she is
beautiful.
(pours him whiskey; then
one for herself)
Here's to you finding her, Senor.
ON THE MAN. Not exactly sure he WANTS to. But they CLINK
glasses, knock 'em back. Maria pours him another:
MARIA (CONT'D)
You have any idea what kind of mess you
just stepped into?
THE MAN IN BLACK
No. But I figured I'd be safe in here
seein' as how that boy I tossed off his
horse didn't wanna burn your saloon.
Maria's eyes go down. Somehow GUILTY. But then:
- -
MARIA
It's not the boy you should worry about.
(OMINOUS)
It's his papa.
EXT. RANCH - NIGHT
POV: UPSIDE DOWN, A MAN, surrounded by his RANCH HANDS -- his
FACE just out of the light, hat brim lowered under an oil lamp:
DOLARHYDE
Name's Woodrow Dolarhyde. I'm what you
might call, the Tall Hog at the trough.
14.
His face comes INTO light: 50's, tailored finery, patent leather
Wellington boots that bespeak wealth. HARD. Exudes POWER:
DOLARHYDE (CONT'D)
You're Roy, right? Clanton, is it? Been
working for me two weeks now, and I
haven't had the pleasure.
Our POV belongs to ROY CLANTON, the ranch hand from the cow
abductions. TERRIFIED -- his arms and legs TIED TO THE SADDLES
OF TWO HORSES, kicking dirt in front of Dolarhyde's RANCH HOUSE:
CLANTON
Mr. Dolarhyde, I... I swear I didn't
STEAL YOUR--
-- a VIOLENT "SSST" from Dolarhyde JOSTLES the horses --
STRETCHING Roy tight enough to SNAP -- he SCREAMS --
DOLARHYDE
Best not to interrupt me, Roy, makes the
horses skittish.
(THEN)
You partial to history? Here's a primer,
LISTEN CLOSE:
He pulls out a WHIP, gripping it by its STERLING SILVER HANDLE.
Starts CIRCLING the horses as he lets the whip UNFURL:
DOLARHYDE (CONT'D)
Following the War Of Northern Aggression
-- what some ironically refer to as the
"Civil" War -- came a prodigious nation-
wide market for beef. Cowtowns sprang up
all along these prairies, Roy; populated
by enterprising young drovers -- among
'em, my daddy, Jeremiah Dolarhyde. Sold
six of his gold teeth and a sword gifted
to him by Robert E. Lee for twenty of the
scrawniest Longhorns you ever saw -- then
turned 'em into the fattest herd West of
the Chisholm Trail.
(stops: the WHIP)
Watched him work this lash, driving those
steer til his fingers bled... but what
good's a whip without a herd, Roy?
And slowly, torturously, SWEEPS the whip tip in the dirt...
ROY CLANTON
Mr. Dolarhyde, Sir, you gotta believe me
-- I went to take a piss and and -- saw a
light in the sky -- blue -- and when I
ran back the cows and fellas were gone!
15.
DOLARHYDE
The sky. Opened up. And took my cows.
Incoming HOOFBEATS -- Dolarhyde looks up to see COLORADO and the
rest of the GANG returning from Absolution.
A WOMAN emerges from the servant's quarters. APACHE. 50's.
Beautiful. As the men REAR, Nat Colorado MEETS EYES with her.
A relationship we don't understand yet as Dolar strides up --
DOLARHYDE (CONT'D)
Where's Percy?
NAT COLORADO
Jail. Sheriff locked him up.
Dolar darkens. Unsheathes a KNIFE. Looks down at Roy:
DOLARHYDE
When're these people gonna lgarn?
He STABS the knife down... SLICING the rope tethered to Roy's
FEET. His lower body SLUMPS to the ground, he breathes a SIGH:
ROY CLANTON
THANK Y--
Dolar SLAPS the horse's rump, to which Roy's UPPER TORSO is
tied; it GALLOPS off, dragging a SCREAMING ROY into the night.
DOLARHYDE
Everyone saddle up. Got us a sheriff to
kill.
As he MOVES OFF, Dolarhyde's eyes go to the Apache Woman.
Something passes between them. She seems CONCERNED.
NAT COLORADO
Wasn't the sheriff, got him caught. It
was a stranger.
That STOPS Dolarhyde. He turns back, face dark:
DOLARHYDE
... What stranger?
NAT COLORADO
Usually a man gives off a scent. Where
he's been. What he's done.
(STILL SPOOKED)
He didn't have one.
OFF DOLARHYDE, EYES BURNING --
16.
INT. SHERIFF TAGGART'S OFFICE - NIGHT
A BULLET, in close up, twirling between the thumb and forefinger
of SHERIFF TAGGART. Boots up on his desk, TROUBLED.
Deputy Wade pours himself a cup from a TIN POT OF COFFEE:
DEPUTY CHARLIE WADE
Percy wouldn't've come in shooting
without his daddy's say-so, Kyle. You
best get ready for a war 'cause that's
what's comin'.
SHERIFF TAGGART
Tomorrow we ride the little shit up
Phoenix way, turn him over. Dolarhyde's
got a beef, he can take it up with the
6th cavalry.
Taggart's on his feet, grabs his JACKET off the door --
SHERIFF TAGGART (CONT'D)
Goddamn tired of this... fatass rancher
scaring good people off their lan--
He STOPS. Something catches his eye on the posting board.
YANKS a piece of paper off, a mixture of CONFUSION and CONCERN
SHERIFF TAGGART (CONT'D)
Sonofabitch.
WHAT DOES HE SEE? Before we get a chance to KNOW --
EXT. SALOON - NIGHT
EMMETT'S FACE rises into frame, peering into the saloon from
below a windowsill. Sees THE MAN IN BLACK at the bar as ---
INT. SALOON - NIGHT
-- he SLUGS back a shot, the dog at his feet, still eyeing that
steak on Atticus' plate. The Man points to his GLASS:
THE MAN IN BLACK
Another.
MARIA
You drink like a man who wants to forget.
THE MAN IN BLACK
(haunted; the irony)
Other way round.
The dog WHINES AGAIN for the steak. Atticus SLAMS down his
silverware. Draws his GUN --
17.
ATTICUS
You got three seconds to get your dog
outta here or I blow his balls off.
THE MAN IN BLACK
(without a blink)
Not my dog.
ATTICUS
Q=... two...
-- and just before "three"... CA-CLICK. Atticus FREEZES,
because there's a RIFLE BARREL at the back of h,iS head now:
VOICE (O.S.)
Give you odds you don't get to 'three.'
RACK TO FIND the person holding the rifle is A WOMAN.
Beautiful. EXOTIC. Dressed in leather. Meet ELLA SWENSON.
ON THE MAN IN BLACK. Can't help himself. immediate and
undeniable CHEMISTRY. But she pays him no mind -- makes a PSST
sound and the dog snaps to her side. Atticus uncocks his gun,
slowly slides it back in the holster --
ATTICUS
I was just havin' some fun, Miss --
ELLA
Give- him, the steak.
Atticus HESITATES, angry at the humiliation. Ella PRESSES THE
GUN HARDER against his neck, lowering him -- and his plate -- to
the floor. Right in front of the dog, who GROWLS --
ELLA (CONT'D)
Now say you're sorry.
ATTICUS
(biting his tongue)
I'm-- sorry.
ELLA
His name's 'Happy.'
HappyBARES HIS TEETH. INCHES from Atticus' face
ATTICUS
I'm sorry... 'Happy.'
ELLA
Alright then.
(lowers her rifle)
You're right. That was fun.
18.
-- Atticus scrambles back to his feet and OUT the door, as Ella
looks at the Man In Black:
ELLA (CONT'D)
What're you doing with my dog?
THE MAN IN BLACK
I was hoping you could tell me.
ELLA
The hell're you talking ab--?
WRIST BRACELET. Surprise and REVELATION:
ELLA (CONT'D)
Where... did you get that?
Before he can answer, SHERIFF TAGGART enters, along with DEPUTY
WADE (carrying a SHOTGUN), and 5 other deputies. They move
cautiously to THE MAN, like he's a powder keg about to go off...
SHERIFF TAGGART
Hey there, "Luke." Mind following me
down to the office so we can have us a
chat...?
THE MAN IN BLACK
(CONFUSED; ALERT)
What for?
SHERIFF TAGGART
All due respect, I'm the law, mister.
That's what for.
The men LOCK EYES:
THE MAN IN BLACK
Tell you what, Sheriff. How about you
keep the fifty dollars you owe me and I
just walk outta here like we. never met?
SHERIFF TAGGART
Because we did meet.
ON ELLA. For reasons we're not sure of, the idea of The Man
leaving ALARMS her. All the Gunslingers' hands are POISED by
holsters. The Man stays preternaturally COOL:
THE MAN IN BLACK
L can't be accountable for what happens
if they draw on me.
SHERIFF TAGGART
And what's gonna happen?
19.
THE MAN IN BLACK
Best you don't find out.
SHERIFF TAGGART
Now why'd you have to go and say that?
Taggart gives a nod and the men start to CONVERGE --
THE MAN IN BLACK
(low; genuine plea)
Don't.
But Charlie makes a MOVE and The Man SLAMS his head into a pole
-- the NEXT GUNMAN reaches for his pistol -- The Man PUNCHES his
THROAT -- SLAMS the third into a bench -- The FOURTH straight
down on the Faro table --
TAGGART levels his REPEATER -- but The Man just GRABS the barrel
as Taggart FIRES a ROUND into the ceiling -- now the rifle's in
THE MAN'S HANDS and just before he PULLS THE TRIGGER on Taggart:
HE SEES EMMETT AT THE WINDOW. About to watch his father's
MURDER... and The Man LOWERS the gun:
THE MAN IN BLACK (CONT'D)
I told you, I don't wanna hurt anyb--
CRACK! The butt of a PISTOL WHIPS the side of his SKULL! The
Man DROPS as we REVEAL who just knocked his ass OUT:
ELLA! Taggart draws a gun and pins The Man, whipping out that
piece of paper he pulled from his office...
SHERIFF TAGGART
Yup -- looks just like him.
NOW WE IT'S A WANTED POSTER WITH THE MAN'S FACE ON IT:
SHERIFF TAGGART (CONT'D)
"Jake Lonergan. Scourge a' The
Territories. Wanted Dead or Alive."
And The Man... now forever known as JAKE... stares WOOZILY into
his OVERTURNED HAT... the photo tucked inside of the BEAUTIFUL
WOMAN... her image goes BLURRY... then mil{:
AND WHAM:
MEMORY FLASHCUTS1 STROBELIXE IMAGES --
1.) A tilted, handmade trail sign: "SAGUARO PASS."
2.) We're in a CABIN somewhere. BLINDING ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT
EXPLODES INTO THE CABIN, against which a DEMONIC SILHOUETTE
appears -- it looks like an INDIAN IN FULL-FEATHER HEADDRESS --
20.
3.) A WOMAN'S FACE -- THE WOMAN FROM JAKE'S PHOTOGRAPH -- she
looks at us and SCREAMS --
4.) Now we're someplace VERY DARK -- a cave? As some kind of
TERRIFYING OCULAR PROBE lowers right in front of our eyes --
5.) Now we're RUNNING through the cave -- ESCAPE -- BREATHING
HARD -- a LIGHT at the end of the tunnel -- BLINDING SUN hits us
as we emerge -- our eyes ADJUST to see:
6.) A STRANGE ROCK FORMATION on the rim of a canyon -- like a
STONE TOWER pointing to heaven as the SUN WHITEWASHES US TO:
INT. JAIL CELL - PRE-DAWN
JAKE'S EYES OPEN and he GASPS AIR! His POV: a FACE comes into
FOCUS -- PERCY DOLARHYDE. GRINNING at him from the next cell:
PERCY
You're a dead.
Jake sits up. Woozy. Blinking back to reality.
PERCY (CONT'D)
My daddy's comin' for me, Boy. You're
gonna end up another dead shitheel under
his spurs. I am gonna watch you suffer
for a long, long --
Jake moves LIGHTNING QUICK -- reaching through the bars,
GRABBING PERCY'S COLLAR, YANKING FORWARDS -- SLAMMING Percy's
head into the bars, KNOCKING hIM OUT COLD AGAIN. Percy DROPS.
JAKE
Shut up.
Jake sits back on his cot, rubbing his still-throbbing head.
EXT. SHERIFF'S OFFICE - JAIL - CONTINUOUS
A PRISON WAGON pulls up in front of the Sheriff's office, along
with Taggart's GUNMEN on horseback. ELLA takes frame as the men
dismount and head into the office -- she pursues DEPUTY WADE
with a real sense of PURPOSE:
ELLA
I need to see Lonergan. It's important.
DEPUTY WADE
'Fraid not, Miss -- we're preppin' him
for transport.
And pushes PAST her, into the office with the men. HOLD on Ella
-- dammit, she NEEDS to find a way in there.
21.
INT. SHERIFF'S OFFICE - JAIL CELL - CONTINUOUS
A KEY in the LOCK as the cell door OPENS: Sheriff Taggart, Wade,
the gunmen. GLARING at Jake, then noticing Percy --
SHERIFF TAGGART
What happened to him?
JAKE
(DEADPAN)
Man walked into a bar.
Taggart shakes his head as Charlie and a deputy unlock Percy's
cell, CUFF HIM, drag him out. Taggart points to Jake:
SHERIFF TAGGART
Step back against the wall there. Move
and I shoot you dead.
JAKE
(as he does)
You should've let me go.
SHERIFF TAGGART
Yeah, I should've shot you in your knee.
You put down six of my deputies.
JAKE
Six was all you had.
SHERIFF TAGGART
Hell, they're gonna love you in Phoenix.
JAKE
Yeah? What's in Phoenix?
SHERIFF TAGGART
What you got comin', Jake Lonergan.
Taggart reaches into his shirt, pulls out a pair of GLASSES.
Slips them on his nose. Takes out that WANTED poster and reads:
SHERIFF TAGGART (CONT'D)
Aggravated banditry, 17 counts, Forgery,
Blackmail, Hijacking, injurious use of a
cattle prod, Arson, Incitement of
Whorehouse Riot, and Trespassing with
intent to deflower. You're also leader
of a gang of outlaws includin' Creek
Johnson and Bull McCade, which makes you
accessory to every law they broke too.
JAKE
(after a long BEAT:)
That it?
22.
SHERIFF TAGGART
Saved the best for last... 'Murder.'
That LANDS on Jake. Wondering if this is TRUE. Evenly --
JAKE
It say who I killed?
SHERIFF TAGGART
Prostitute outta Mojave, name of Alice
Wills.
Taggart rises, removes Jake's BLACK STETSON from a hook on the
wall, pulls that PHOTOGRAPH OF THE WOMAN from the inner brim:
SHERIFF TAGGART (CONT'D)
If I were a bettin' man, I'd say this
would be Ms. Wills, would it not?
Jake just stares, CONFUSED. SHAKEN.
SHERIFF TAGGART (CONT'D)
They found her dead in a cabin round
Saguaro Pass, twenty miles west of here.
With that, a CLUE falls into place: SAGUARO PASS.
SHERIFF TAGGART (CONT'D)
Deed was in your name.
He slips the photo back in the brim, tosses the hat to Jake:
SHERIFF TAGGART (CONT'D)
Dead hooker with a hole in her chest, in
your cabin, plus your sterling reputation
equals guilty as goddamned sin.
(draws his GUN)
And you're gonna hang for it.
At gunpoint, Taggart PUSHES Jake out the door --
EXT. DESERT PLAINS - DAWN
Against the RISING SUN, Dolarhyde and 15 GUNMEN ride hard, armed
to the teems. They REAR in the hills above Absolution. Dolar
looks down through BINOCULARS as NAT COLORADO turns to...
an incoming WIND. Across the valley, a massive BLACK CLOUD
is starting to SWIRL. Violent BLUE FLASHES within. Eerie.
GREAVEY
blue light... Clanton said he saw
blue light before the cows disappeared...
DOLARHYDE
Just a storm.
23.
COLORADO
No storm I've ever seen... I say we wait
'til it passes.
But Dolar isn't listening. THROUGH HIS BINOCULARS: he sees
PERCY being carried into the prison wagon. Followed by Jake.
DOLARHYDE
No time, they put him in an iron coach.
With a HYA! he's OFF, the others FOLLOWING with reluctant looks
-- still SPOOKED by that incoming STORM:
EXT. ABSOLUTION - MAIN STREET - CONTINUOUS
As Jake's loaded into the prison wagon after the still-
unconscious Percy, he SEES MEACHAM through the barred window.
The preacher flashes SYMPATHY as Wade takes out the cuff key:
DEPUTY WADE
Gimme your wrist.
Jake holds out his hands. Wade unlocks one wrist, freeing a
cuff... then takes that cuff and LOCKS IT to Percy's wrist.
JAKE
What're you --?
CHARLIE
Best way to make a man stay put: chain
him to his enemy.
(A GRIN)
You lovebirds have a nice trip now.
SLAM: the door CLOSES and LOCKS. Jake SIGHS and tries to sit
back, but it's hard tethered to Percy's slumped form. Shit.
Then QWW -- something starts to STING and he looks down:
HIS BRACELET. Has started PULSING RED. And it's getting WARM.
Jake stares -- ON EDGE -- what the hell's happening? As --
OUTSIDE, Taggart mounts the buckboard. EMMETT feeds the horses:
EMMETT
You sure he's a bad guy, Pa? He did give
Percy a lickin'.
SHERIFF TAGGART
He's bad enough.
EMMETT
(not so sure, but --)
. can I come with you?
SHERIFF TAGGART
Too dangerous.
24.
EMMETT
Dangerous to drive a damn coach? Why
can't Charlie just take him?
SHERIFF TAGGART
Because it's my job, Emmett. That's what
these people pay me to do. And your
mother would kill me if I brought you.
Emmett looks off, half sad, half angry --
EMMETT
Good thing she's already dead then.
And turns without a goodbye. Taggart watches him leave, wishing
he could connect. Takes the reins and looks up -- REACTS:
THAT MASSIVE. FRIGHTENING CLOUD IN THE SKY -- roiling faster
toward town. The scary BLUE FLASHES within grow more INTENSE.
IN THE COACH -- WITH JAKE, looking at the BRACELET, the pulsing
growing MORE FREQUENT -- and then, a VOICE:
ELLA (0.S. )
HEY!
Jake turns to see ELLA, pushed up against the coach window:
ELLA (CONT'D)
Tell me where you got that bracelet...
JAKE
Maybe you should'a asked before you
knocked me out..
ELLA
Please... I need to know. Just tell me
where you got it.
JAKE
Y dOli' .xBmbgX - - I don' t remember my
name or where I've been or any of the
things they said I done, so leave me the
hell alone.
And sits back as the coach starts to MOVE, leaving Ella in the
dust. Some of the gunmen ride atop it; others on horseback
cover the coach in a protective ring.
Wade sees something incoming from the NORTH:
DEPUTY WADE
KYLE!!!
Taggart looks up: Dolarhyde's gang racing down the mountain --
25.
SHERIFF TAGGART
DAMNIT --
He unslings his SHOTGUN as his men ready their weapons --
ON DOLARHYDE'S GANG, riding hard, guns ready too --
This is about to get UGLY. BUT... from the OTHER end of town,
the WIND picks up --
As the massive storm cloud seems shockingly to have STORED AT A
H -- its EYE churning, ROARING and... TWO BOLTS OF BLUE
LIGHTNING CRACK DOWN FROM IT! Happy starts BARKING MADLY. Ella
sees the lightning and starts to BACK AWAY in fear:
ELLA
NonoNO -- GET TO YOUR CELLARS! EVERYONE
UNDERGROUND NAT!
But her cries are LOST as -- RRRRRRRR!!!!!
A LONG, NARROW FUNNEL SHOOTS FROM THE CHURNING CLOUD: A TORNADO!
BREAKING THE MOMENTUM OF THE SHOWDOWN --
The stagecoach UPENDS, FLIPPING SIDEWAYS as the animals try to
break free -- Taggart and his men are THROWN --
Inside, Jake and Percy TUMBLE end-over-end -- SLAMMING into
walls, LOCKED TOGETHER -- JARRING Percy back to consciousness --
Dolarhyde's men are THROWN from their horses too as the animals
STAMPEDE OFF in different directions --
THE 1Q8k=O ENGULFS THE TOWN! THE CONCUSSIVE BLAST BUCKLES
BUILDINGS, PULLING WHOLE SECTIONS OF THEM INTO THE SKY!
THE TELEGRAPH OFFICE. SHERIFF'S STATION. BROTHEL. WOOD
STRIPPED RIGHT OFF THEIR FALSE FRONTS LIKE PIANO KEYS!
Okay, wait. Just wait. Take a breath. 'Cause it's
about ... . to get... . MORE insane...
TEN MANTA RAY-SHAPED HOVER-SPEEDERS BURST FROM THE CYCLONE!
ROARING into the town, FLYING just above ground --
TOWNSPEOPLE'S FACES -- GOING DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE -- 19TH
CENTURY BRAINS TRYING TO PROCESS THE IMPOSSIBLE --
MEACHAM
Jesus God!!
STRANGE STEEL RINGS fire from the speeders and mushroom out --
KA-CHING! -- SNAP OPEN and CLAMP around necks, arms, legs -- and
from these steel collars, CABLES LASH OUT, whip-snapping back to
the speeders and TETHERING MAGNETICALLY to them --
26.
Yeah-these are HIGH-TECH LASSOS:
HELPLESS VICTIMS ARE YANKED OFF THE GROUND AND PULLED BEHIND THE
SPEEDERS LIKE ROPED STEER! Two of TAGGART'S GUNMEN. Now some
of DOLARYHYDE' S. Screaming, just gone. THIS IS A...Qlp lam.
EMMETT -- stunned -- as SHERIFF TAGGART runs for him --
SHERIFF TAGGART
EMMETT !
Emmett runs into his dad's embrace --
EMMETT SHERIFF TAGGART
What's happening?! -- Stay _by-mvside!
A_LIVERY_STABLE -- the HORSES stamp in their stalls as Taggart
tears the door open and rushes Emmett inside; as he's about to
follow... am c1:t lU 01 If
EMMETT
PA!!
-- a STEEL CABLE fires from the collar, SNAPS TAUT as it
connects to a speeder and WHOOSH! Taggart's RIPPED off his
feet, dragged away -- ELLA tackles the boy as ANOTHER RING zooms
overhead, locks around a FLEEING WOMAN -- she's TAKEN --
EMMETT (CONT'D)
THEY TOOK HIM! LEMME 9Q11!!
ELLA
HE'S GONE!
EMMETT
NO HE'S N--
ELLA
LISTEN TO ME! YOU WANNA LIVE?!! WHERE'S
THERE A CELLAR?! TAKE ME TO IT!
-- HE'S COMING INTO FOCUS -- TEARS IN HIS EYES --
EMMETT
BIRDCAGE THEATER!
With a "C'MON!!!" she rushes him through the FRENZIED CROWD --
INT. PRISON WAGON - CONTINUOUS
JAKE AND !MERCY -- TRAPPED IN THE UPSIDE-DOWN COACH -- Jake sees
DEPUTY WADE on the ground just a few feet away, head bleeding --
JAKE
HEY!! LET US OUT!!!
27.
-- but WHOOSH! A METAL COLLAR CLAMPS AROUND WADE AND YANKS HIM
AWAY! Percy STRUGGLES wildly against Jake in a TUG-O'-WAR:
JAKE (CONT'D)
STOP PULLING AND GIMME YOUR HAND--!
PERCY JAKE
-- THE HELL FOR-- ?! -- I CAN GET US FREE! GIMME
YOUR DAMN HAND!!!
Percy RELENTS. Offers up his hand. Jake grabs all of Percy's
FINGERS, TIGHTENS HIS FIST AROUND THEM -- CRRRRAAACKI
SNAPS THEM BACKWARDS!!!!! Percy SHRIEKS as Jake KICKS him back
against the wall, FORCING Percy's hand out of the cuff -- and
now Jake's UNTETHERED too!
THROUGH THE CROWD -- DOLARHYDE hears his son SCREAM. SEES the
overturned coach and TWO-FINGER WHISTLES to:
DOLARHYDE
Colorado!
Nat Colorado RACES IN as Dolar draws his .45 -- BANG! --
shatters the coach lock -- they PULL Percy out:
PERCY
MY FINGERS!! HZ BE= MY FINGERS!!!
DOLARHYDE
QUIT WHININ' AND FIND A HORSE!
As Dolar runs for his horse, Percy sees a PISTOL left on the
ground -- grabs it with his good hand and FIRES at Jake who
JUKES behind the coach for cover, Percy SHOOTING in a FURY but:
-- KLINK! A collar CLAMPS around Percy's neck and he's YANKED
OFF TOO! Dolarhyde turns and SEES HIS SON DISAPPEAR:
INT. MEACHAM' S CHURCH - CONTINUOUS
Meacham ushers people into the church as WALLS SHAKE, PEWS JUMP:
INT. BLACKSMITH'S SHOP - CONTINUOUS
DOC AND MARIA burst in, huddle under a window. Across the room,
a YOUNG MAN clamps a hand over his TERRIFIED WIFE's mouth --
CRAAASFI! MORE RINGS SMASH THROUGH THE WALL, YANKING THE YOUNG
COUPLE THROUGH IT! ANOTHER RING CLAMPS AROUND MARIA'S NECK!
MARIA
AYUDAMEEEEEEE!
Doc LEAPS after her but her collar's LASSO CABLE whips out,
TETHERING to a passing Speeder and she's RIPPED OUT THE DOOR --
28.
DOC
MARIA!!!
EXT. BIRDCAGE THEATER - CELLAR - CONTINUOUS
ELLA -- hurrying Emmett toward the theater's CELLAR DOOR, but a
SPEEDER circles around and ROARS toward them --
ON JAKE. He SEES this -- and suddenly, to HIS surprise as much
as OURS... HIS BRACELET ACTIVATES! METAL COMING TO LIFE,
coiling up around his arm -- WHAT? HOW? -- as it becomes...
A SMART GUN BLASTER WE PON! A HOLOGRAPHIC SCOPE MATERIALIZES,
tracking that speeder as it DESCENDS on Ella and the mother and:
BALLLLAMMMI THE BLASTER FIRES A PULSE, VAPORIZING THE SPEEDER
MID-AIR! THE RECOIL HURTLES JAKE BACK 15 FEET, INTO A WALL.
Ella reaches the CELLAR DOOR with Emmett. LOCKED. Sees a
HATCHET in a stump -- rips it out and HAMMERS the lock to bits:
ELLA
Everyone inside! GO GO GO!!
Ushering Emmett and TOWNSFOLK underground, PULLS the door SHUT --
EXT. ABSOLUTION - MAIN STREET - CONTINUOUS
JAKE stumbles up... as a speeder FIRES A RING AT HIM. But
reflexively, his WRIST WEAPON FIRES ANOTHER BLAST, vaporizing
it! He looks down at the blaster: "Hell y ."
Another speeder circles around -- KABOOM! The blaster's
incredible firepower SPIRALS THE SPEEDER OUT OF CONTROL, it
CRASHES INTO:
INT. MEACHAM'S CHURCH - CONTINUOUS
The speeder PLOWS through, parishioners flee -- the CHURCH BELL
breaks from the BELL TOWER -- CRASHES DOWN ON THE SPEEDER --
EXT. TOWN STREETS - CONTINUOUS
As Jake keeps FIRING, the last speeders turn tail and RETREAT --
disappearing back INTO THE TORNADO as the cloud overhead OPENS
UP and INHALES the swirling mass, which spirals to the heavens.
... GONE. The massive cloud seems to VAPORIZE and the DESERT
SUN returns... debris flutters... smoke clears...
And all... is... STILL.
As our CAMERA RISES to reveal... HALF THE BUILDINGS HAVE BEEN
SUCKED INTO THE SKY.
29.
From the rubble, SURVIVORS EMERGE: EMMETT and ELLA from the
cellar with inhabitants. DOLARHYDE. DOC. Al in SHOCK:
DOC
Maria -- oh God-- they t-took her-- What
just...?
MOANS, WAILS... desperate cries as people search for loved ones.
JAKE'S BLASTER -- RETRACTS, folding in on itself -- shrinks down
to size, reverting back into a BRACELET. He's stunned. So are
the remaining townsfolk. DOLARHYDE is first to speak:
DOLARHYDE
Who the hell're ?
NAT COLORADO
He's the one who caged Percy.
Dolarhyde starts MOVING toward Jake -- wild killer eyes --
DOLARHYDE
Whatwere__tho_se__thinae?
JAKE
-- why're you asking m&?!
Dolarhyde GRIPS Jake's arm -- THE BRACELET:
DOLARHYDE
This! Where'd you get this?! It was
shooting the same light beams they were --
JAKE
Let go of my wrist.
DOLARHYDE
-- I'm not lettin' go of nothin' til you
tell me what the he--
KA-LLLANG!! Suddenly that CHURCH BELL comes HURTLING out of the
church wreckage, PLOWS through debris. People scatter. And out
of the church stumbles...
AN ALIEN. 8 FT. TALL. Standing upright, limbs inverted --
limbs that DRAG, wounded, as people SCREAM and RUN and Jake and
Dolarhyde can only stare, jaws dropped, and the monster LUNGES:
WHUPWHUP -- something SPINNING through the air -- A HATCHET ---
SCHLUCK!!!! -- EMBEDDING IN THE ALIEN'S HEAD! WHIP TO --
ELLA, hang iust hurled it. The alien lets out a DEATH RATTLE
then FALLS FORWARD, the hatchet embedding deeper as it HITS THE
DIRT. Holy SHIT.
30.
Ella's adrenaline dynamo starts to die down, replaced now by
SHOCK. And for what seems like the first time, FEAR. She
EXHALES a crazy breath, stumbles back... as slowly... people
converge around the corpse:
EMMETT
Is it... dead?
Jake KICKS the alien. It doesn't move. Happy BARKS --
DOLARHYDE
. The hell j,,a it?
MEACHAM (O.S.)
A demon.
They all turn to see MEACHAM. TERRIFIED.
MEACHAM (CONT'D)
Revelations 16:14: "For there are
spirits of demons, showing signs."
(points to the alien)
Escaped from hell itself.
EMMETT
Lookit its wrist! It's got one'a those
bracelet things too!
Indeed, there on the creature's wrist is an IDENTICAL BRACELET.
ON JAKE. Mind tumbling. He meets eyes with ELLA. Her face as
EAGER as his to understand this and now... BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
What's that SOUND? Everyone looks at each other. Colorado
bends closer to the corpse... SCARED...
NAT COLORADO
I think... it's comin' from somewhere
inside it.
People look at each other: WHAT NOW? Trying to control the near-
hysteria they all feel. Finally, Dolarhyde takes a BREATH --
more BRAVADO than actual courage:
DOLARHYDE
Only one way to find out. We need to cut
it open.
(TO DOC)
You're a doctor. Got a bone saw?
DOC snaps out of his stupor, looks up, FREAKED --
DOC
. Are you... serious?
(looks to them all)
WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!?
31.
DOLARHYDE
Wake u Those things took your wife --
DOC
I KNOW THAT!!
DOLARHYDE
Well this one here's our only chance of
findin' where they went.
That LANDS on all of them. A long beat. Doc looks down at the
thing, ORANGE GOO dribbling around the AXE in its head...
DOLLARHYDE
So you got a bone saw or don't you?
INT. GOLD LBAP SALOON - DAY
THUD! The alien corpse is DROPPED onto the bar by Doc and
Meacham. As Dolarhyde and Colorado follow through the batwings
-- Doc WHIPS a SHOTGUN from under the bar:
DOC
Stay outside. You're not welcome in
here!
Dolar brings up his COLT -- so does COLORADO --
DOLARRYDE
I own more of this town than any man in
it so I'll go wherever the hell I damn
please. And for the record? You ain't
welcome in my country, Mexican.
Ella steps between them, BAD ASS --
ELLA
Whatever troubles you had don't mean a
damn thing against the ones we got now.
We wanna see our way through 'em, your
guns better start pointing in the same
direction, Goddammit.
Doc and Dolar never take eyes off each other. or their GUNS.
Finally... Dolar LOWERS his. So does Doc. People BREATHE.
Meacham slips on a pair of GLASSES, studying eerie veins and
muscles through the creature's viscous outer layers. Doc turns
his focus to the alien too. Picks up his PUMP-OPERATED BONE
SAW. Presses his boot on the bellows, it turns with a WHIR...
SHAKING as he brings the SPINNING BLADE to the alien's CHEST.
Looks at Meacham, AFRAID --
DOC
If it 'mss a demon, and I cut it open... am
I going to burn for it?
32.
Meacham hesitates a beat, then CROSSES the air in front of Doc --
MEACHAM
That should cover ya.
ON DOC. Little relief. BROW SWEATING, he brings the spinning
blade down toward the disgusting ALIEN -- VRRRRZZ -- HESITATES --
DOC
Excuse me.
B GH! He PUKES on the ground.
EMMETT
Jesus, Doc!!!
Doc wipes his mouth with a handkerchief, slightly DEFIANT --
DOC
This is not normal. I'm entitled to
vomit. We should XU be vomiting.
DOLARHYDE
Just cut, Lardass.
Doc GLARES... with a still-shakitig hand, gets back to business --
VRRRRZ -- CUTS THROUGH THE STERNUM -- ORANGE BLOOD SPRAYING --
and... SHUNK! Doc looks up at Jake, gestures to the carcass:
DOC
Senor? A hand?
(TO DOLARHYDE)
You too, maricon.
The men all grip the chest plate and PULL -- A DISGUSTING CRACK.
Everyone turns away, scowling, Emmett wafting the air:
EMMETT
Damn! Smells like a dead dog's ass.
MEACHAM
Emmett.
EMMETT
Sorry, Father.
Doc covers his face with his handkerchief as he explores...
DOC
Chet wall's partially collapsed... no
familiar organs of any kind...
DOLARHYDE
'course they're not familiar. Just look
at this th--
33.
SUDDENLY THE ALIEN'S ARM LASHES OUT -- claws SNAP OPEN and PIN
Dolarhyde against the wall! Everyone tries to PRY the claws
from his neck -- but the second Doc withdraws his hands from the
alien's chest, its arm goes LIMP. Dolarhyde drops, GASPING...
DOC
Spinal reflex.
And GRINS at Dolar's pain. But Meacham NOTICES something around
Dolar's neck where the alien pinned him, like a ring of DUST:
MEACHAM
Something on your neck. Hold still.
Meacham sweeps a little off Dolar's neck, rubs it between thumb
and forefinger. The dust GLINTS under the kerosene lamp:
MEACHAM (CONT'D)
I'll be damned... gold.
They check the creature's hand talons: GOLD FLAKES underneath
'em, and Lots of it. Colorado checks its taloned feet:
NAT COLORADO
Down here too.
(looks to Dolar)
This much ore... could only have come
from a digging in a mine.
That LANDS on everyone. but most especially ELLA. Who looks up
to see Jake READING her in this moment.
EMMETT
In the ALIEN'S EYE is a SMALL FLASHING LIGHT. On/Off/On/Off in
time with that BEEP BEEP BEEP.
DOC
Gimme my scalpel.
In MACRO CU, DOC CUTS INTO THE EYE, WET SQUISHY SOUNDS as he
pulls it from its socket, attached to a STRINGY OPTIC NERVE
dripping with juice. Clamped to the nerve is a METALLIC ORB:
-- he takes hold of the blinking orb. It FLARES to life, the
light coalescing into a 3-D ARROW-LIKE HOLOGRAM. Confusion.
Doc REMOVES it from the optic nerve and the hologram DISAPPEARS:
DOLARHYDE
Where'd it go? The hell'd you do?
DOC
Nothing, just pulled it off --
He reconnects it to the optic nerve, the hologram REAPPEARS:
34.
DOC (CONT'D)
Only works when it's touching the
creature.
Colorado moves closer... rainbow light flickering across his
face...
NAT COLORADO
I think... it's a compass. Look:
(fiddles with tweezers)
No matter how you move it, it points in
the same direction.
EMMETT
Compasses point north. That's west.
MEACHAM
(realizing; to Jake)
West's where 141 came from.
ON JAKE. Another puzzle piece falling into place.
EMMETT
If you're right, what's it pointing to?
ELLA
The rest of 'em.
(THEN)
Be my guess.
DOLARHYDE
Then that's where I'm goin'.
He SNAPS his PISTOL open, loading bullets:
DOLARHYDE (CONT'D)
One of my ranchers said my herd
disappeared into the sky. 'Til about ten
minutes ago, I figured him for a liar.
(SNAPS barrel closed)
Nobody takes my cattle.
MEACHAM
Your b was taken too.
A FLASH of something from Dolarhyde -- could that be EMOTION?
But just as fast, it's GONE. Almost a THROWAWAY:
DOLARHYDE
I noticed.
NAT COLORADO
What if they're already dead?
EMMETT
They're not dead.
35.
ELLA
Kid's right. If all they wanted was to
kill us, they would've.
DOLARHYDE
Looked to me like... they were ropin'
people.
(THEN)
Means they need 'em for something.
Whatever it is, we can either stand here
guessin'... or go find out.
His eyes flash to Nat: "C'mon." And they EXIT. Everyone looks
at each other, working up the courage to face what they know
they must. Doc grabs his SHOTGUN, starts gathering shells:
DOC
If she's alive -- if there's even a
CHANCE --
MEACHAM
Lord hates a coward... but our bullets
were useless against those things. Other
than his wrist gizmo, we're outgunned and
outnumbered.
As one by one, they turn... to JAKE. Who until this point has
been mostly SILENT. Observing. But now -- he's gone from enemy
to potential savior in a heartbeat.
JAKE
Whoa, I got nothing to do with this --
ELLA
You got everything to do with it. If you
can remember where you got that thing --
JAKE
I remember you all wantin' me on the end
of a damned rope. Whatever's happenin'
here's got nothin' to do with me.
ELLA
You sure. about that?
He LOOKS at her. No, he isn't. But he sure as hell won't stay
to debate it -- turns to go --
EMMETT
Mr. Lonergan? Sir?
The EMOTION in the boy's voice STOPS Jake at the door.
EMMETT (CONT'D)
My mother died last year. My Paw... he's
all I got.
36.
And despite a fleeting moment of SYMPATHY, Jake darkens --
JAKE
Kid, I'm the last man you want anywhere
near you, your Pa... or anyone else in
this goddamned town.
OUT the door. Everyone trades looks, then Ella FOLLOWS:
EXT. SALOON - NIGHT
Jake moves FAST past blown-out STOREFRONTS as Ella PURSUES:
ELLA
That's it? You're just gonna run away?
JAKE
No, Sister. I'm walking away.
ELLA
Well s w.
As he keeps on walking, Ella picks up a ROCK, wings it at the
back of his HEAD -- WHAMI Jake stumbles forward, TURNS AROUND --
JAKE ELLA
SONOVA-- -- I told you to gyp.
Ella strides forward, picking up another rock on the move --
JAKE
What's your damn problem?!
ELLA
You're comin' with us.
JAKE
I'm not coming anywhere. And you throw
that rock I swear I'll--
WHAM! The rock glances off his shoulder --
ELLA
If you're walkin' away from here, what
the hell're you walking tsQ?
That PENETRATES as Jake realizes he doesn't really KNOW. And
that's the last thing he's gonna admit --
JAKE
What the hell are you walkin' to, Lady?
'Cause if I heard right, it sounds like
suicide to me.
-- now it's her turn to pause. Cryptically:
37.
ELLA
I... just wanna help these people.
JAKE
Bullshit. You wanna help yourself. Saw
your face light up the minute you knew
that thing might lead you to gold.
And the fact that he's BUSTED her gets Ella's hackles up --
ELLA
It's not gold I want, you dumb
sonofabitch, it's what it'll buy me.
JAKE
And what's that?
ELLA
Remange.
Whatever that means, it's a deep, painful LONGING in her. She
stares at him, DEAD ON:
ELLA (CONT'D)
And lookin' at you? I'd bet a silver
dollar... its what you want, too.
With that, Ella turns and STRIDES OFF as we HOLD ON JAKE, face
knotted in conflict. As her words RESONATE.
MEACHAM (V.0.)
Was the Devil come to Absolution... come
to drag our town down to hell...
SERIES OF SHOTS - AS DUSK TAI .t $. TQ .NIGItT:
Though BURNING EMBERS, Emmett helps a LITTLE GIRL pull her half-
burnt DOLL from the rubble...
MEACHAM (V.0.) (CONT'D)
but our town's not just a buncha
buildings, Brothers and Sisters --
Nossir. Our town is fie. Good, God-
fearing souls. Pure and hopeful. And
the devil can't never take that away...
Ella and Doc tend to WOUNDED PEOPLE in a triage area as...
Meacham finds his overturned PULPIT. Determination in his eyes,
he pushes it UPRIGHT:
AND NOW WE CATCH UP TO WHERE MEACHANL'S VOICE 1S_CQMING FRUM:
He's standing on the pulpit in the rubble, his words a
sermon/call-to-arms -- every survivor GATHERED AROUND:
38.
MEACHAM (CONT'D)
In times of darkness, God asks that we
come together so we may stand and fight.
So we're goin' after our kin. Any of you
aren't able or prepared, no shame in it.
Head up to Fort Huachuca, join up with
the garrison there and pray... Rest of us
ride out at sun-up to recover that which
we have lost.
SUNRISE: Pistol chambers SPINNNN -- rifles are COCKED --
MEACHAM (V.0.) (CONT'D)
Thy will be done, Lord, and there's an
amen behind it.
Lo and behold, most of the town survivors are just too damn
scared. They form an EXODUS LINE, heading off toward the fort.
Dolarhyde, Colorado and his REMAINING MEN (6) load the ALIEN
CORPSE onto the back of a WAGON. Some of them trade glances --
DAMN WORRIED about staying. Dolarhyde sees it:
DOLARHYDE
Somebody got something to say?
His withering GLARE keeps them from speaking up. Doc and
Meacham climb onto the wagon:
MEACHAM
(THE ALIEN)
Sure we need to bring that thing along?
Doc nods as he TWISTS the forceps in the Alien's eye, the
COMPASS HOLOGRAM flickering to life before them:
DOC
If this arrow points me back to Maria?
Yeah -- J'm sure.
Emmett appears leading a PONY, a BOW and quiver of ARROWS slung
around his back:
MEACHAM
Can't come, Emmett, too dangerous.
EMMETT
I can protect myself -- shoot, I'm the
only master bowman in my archery club.
Won the county tournament by shootin' a
flipped nickel at 50 paces.
MEACHAM
Somethin' tells me these things don't
carry nickels, son. Answers's no.
39.
EMMETT
You want me to ride off with the
chickenshits, then double back, be happy
to. But let's just skip that part and
get to it, Padre.
And that's the truth. Meacham sighs, no choice... finally:
MEACHAM
Go fill your canteen, dammit.
He SLAPS the reins and the wagon rides off. Emmett GRINS and
mounts the pony, then sees... JAKE riding past. ANGRY EYES from
Ella as she heels her horse and TROTS OFF angrily:
ELLA
C'mon, Happy.
But HAPPY remains, torn between them, tail wagging and looking
up at Jake as if to say: PLEASE COME?
JAKE
Oh shut up.
Suppressing GUILT, he rides on toward the hills -- as Dolarhyde
VEERS his horse in front of Jake, cutting him off:
DOLARHYDE
I was ridin' into town to kill you for
what you done to my son. You owe me your
life, Boy.
(BEAT)
Ride with us, we'll call it square.
His hand rests on his nickel-plated .38. Eyes gleaming cruelly.
JAKE
You that fast?
DOLARHYDE
FAST ENOU--
-- WHOOSH: Jake's hand is already UP with his own PISTOL, having
drawn before Dolarhyde can finish his sentence:
JAKE
Now you owe me y.Q= life. We're square.
In a DAZZLING TWIRL, Jake slaps it back in his holster. Point
made, he RIDES ON. Dolarhyde, burning mad at having been out-
drawn, turns to CULOBAI)U -- speaks LOW:
DOLARHYDE
Follow him. Soon as he's got his back
turned... kill him.
40.
Shit. Colorado hesitates. Dolar GLARES: "Do it." Finally
Colorado NODS acquiescence, moves off...
JAKE -- on the OUTSKIRTS of town now -- riding past Meacham and
Doc on the WAGON:
MEACHAM
Figure out which way you're headed yet?
JAKE
West. Saguaro Pass.
MEACHAM
That's not what I meant.
The inference LANDS on Jake. But he's in no mood. GALLOPS off.
Meacham watches Jake go... MUSIC RISES AS WE DISSOLVE THROUGH:
EXT. DESERT PLAINS
JAKE -- RIDING HARD THROUGH THE DESERT:
A man running from his demons, or maybe toward them... through
plains and pasturage... until he sees the tilted ROAD SIGN:
"SAGUARO PASS." Up ahead, he sees DEBRIS...
Part of a ROOF, lying broken on the ground. Pieces of a STONE
CHIMNEY. Jake comes over a rise... to REVEAL:
EXT. ABANDONED CABIN - DAY
A DESTROYED LOG CABIN. Walls partially TORN AWAY. Something in
Jake is DEEPLY STIRRED. Dismounts, tentatively... walks up to
the PORCH. Boots CRUNCH over broken window glass as they ENTER:
INT. ABANDONED CABIN - CONTINUOUS
LIGHT BEAMS stream in. Eerie quiet.
Jake takes it in, HAUNTED. Something CRUNCHES under his boot --
DRIED FLOWERS. Sticking out from an OVERTURNED CRACKED VASE.
Jake BLINKS, affected -- Bends over, TOUCHES the VASE AS:
MEMORY FLASECUT! FRESH FLOWERS in a woman's hand... THE W B&
FROM JAKE'S PICTURE. She smiles at him --
THE WOMAN
You shouldn't have.
She turns, drops the flowers into the vase as we see she's
talking to JAKE.
JAKE
Got you somethin' else.
41.
CLINK -- He drops a LEATHER POUCH on the table next to the vase.
A FEW GOLD COINS clink out. The woman turns to him, WORRIED:
THE WOMAN
Where'd you get this?
JAKE
Where do you think?
The woman looks to the pouch -- Picks up one of the coins.
TORN. Jake moves behind her. Close. An INTIMACY here.
THE WOMAN
Your boys '11 come after you.
ON JAKE. Dark. But DETERMINED:
JAKE
Let 'em come.
She turns to him, their eyes HOLD... and they KISS. Soft.
Tender. Soulful.
But then -- a THUNDERCRACK turns their attention to the window:
A STORM CLOUD on the horizon. Same kind that consumed the town.
The cabin starts to VIBRATE like a tuning fork. The pouch
slides off the table... THE GOLD COINS SPILL OUT and --
BACK TO PRESENT - JAKE
REELING. What is this memory? Who the hell is the woman?
Something GLINTS in the far wall where the chimney used to be:
ONE OF THE GOLD COINS
EMBEDDED in the wood. Jake pulls it out of the wall, a thousand
questions in his eyes. Sunlight SHIMMERS off it and --
MEMORY FLASHCUT! The spilled coins start SLIDING across the
floor all by themselves, as if magnetically drawn to THE CHIMNEY
-- WHOOSH! -- SUCKED right up into it by some VACUUM FORCE!
THE WOMAN
What's happening?!!!
WINDOWS EXPLODE! THE ROOF'S RIPPED AWAY BY SOME NSANE VACUUM
FORCE AS ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT CRASHES IN! The Woman SCREAMS and --
KA-CHINNNG! A STEEL COLLAR SHOOTS DOWN FROM THE LIGHT, CLAMPING
AROUND HER NECK! A CABLE SNAPS OUT FROM IT AND WHIPS UPWARD,
PULLING HER INTO THE LIGHT --
She manages to GRAB a doorknob and DANGLES UPWARD, CHOKING as --
42.
A DEMONIC SILHOUETTE drops in front of them!
JESUS!! Jake draws his pistol and FIRES!
The demon SHRIEKS IN RAGE as SPIKED PLUMES fan out from its
huge, elongated skull... making it look like a SILHOUETTED
It QIA�1.-L 2 A T EI! R HEADDRESS!
Its HIDEOUS FACE comes into the light -- AN AIJIE -- as it
raises its arm, wearing a WRIST BRACELET that reshapes into a
BLASTER --
JAKE DIVES AWAY but a searing pulse RIPS A WICKED GASH in his
side (now we know how he woke up with it in the desert) --
THE PULSE PASSES THROUGH JAKE AND HITS THE WOMAN SQUARE IN THE
C-Mr-M. She 's HURLED backward into the wall, Jake. CRIES OUT:
JAKE
Alice!
As he RUSHES to her, her collar UNLOCKS... and FLIES AT JAKE,
clamping HE'S PULLED INTO THE LIGHT, CHOKING, SCREAMING --
BACK TO PRESENT - JAKE
As he STUMBLES back -- GASPING -- touching his neck --
Catches his breath. ROCKED. Sees "Alice's" BLOOD STAIN on the
wall. His shaking hand reaches out, brushes over it...
JAKE (CONT'D)
(trying out the name)
"Alice"...
Whoever she was to him, he feels sledgehammered with GRIEF. All
he knows is, it was THEM. The creatures killed her. And this
revelation... well, it galvanizes him with RAGE.
Rage that gives him NEW PURPOSE... then--
SUDDENLY -- INSTINCT -- JAKE SENSING SOMETHING IS HERE -- GRABS
A CHIMNEY STONE AND SPINS, HURLS IT...
AT COLORADO, IN THE DOORWAY BEHIND HIM AIMING A GUN:
The stone HITS Colorado as he FIRES, the bullet tears PAST Jake
-- as Colorado recovers, Jake BODYSLAMS HIM -- the GUN goes
flying, they go hurling THROUGH THE WALL -- LANDING HARD on the
other side -- aaballs-out. messy. close-quarter death match --
Jake takes a PUNCH -- Colorado LOOPS an arm around his throat,
YANKS -- they TUMBLE/SLAM to the floor, Jake LANDING on top of
Colorado who holds the arm lock, CHOKING THE LIFE OUT OF HIM --
43.
Jake -- EYES POPPING -- SEES THE GUN just out of reach --
fingers GRASP for it -- seconds before he PASSES OUT
He GRABS the gun and swings it back -- BLAMMII!Colorado ROLLS
aside as the WALL where his head just was BLOWSOPEN--and
Jake's ON HIM, PISTOL WHIPPING HIM MERCILESSLYuntilheSPINS
the gun back around and POINTS IT between Colorado's eyes:
ON JAKE -- quaking with rage -- he wants to kill this guy so bad
he can taste it... but something's HOLDING HIM BACK -- GRITS his
teeth, COCKS the trigger and:
EXT. ABANDONED CABIN - DAY
-- we CUT WIDE on the cabin as a GUNSHOT CRACKS. A flock of
BIRDS screech into the sky from the overgrown corn field...
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. DESERT PLAINS - DAY
The rest of our people RIDE along, following the ever-tilting
HOLOGRAPHIC ARROW, their COMPASS, floating from the dead alien's
eye in the back of the wagon.
Greavey, Dolar's ranch hand, heels up to ELLA. COCKY SWAGGER:
GREAVEY
So... what's a pretty lady like y--
ELLA
-- you finish that sentence, I shoot you
in your beef whistle.
Doc, sipping from his canteen, does a SPIT TAKE. Ella's eyes
DRILL Greavey. Cut down a peg, he tips his hat, red-faced:
GREAVEY
Ma'am.
And rides past her, taking us to EMMETT and DOLARHYDE:
DOLARHYDE
Tell me somethin', Kid... why didn't your
father just take my money?
EMMETT
(CONFUSED)
What money?
UOLARHY DE
offered him a thousand dollars to leave
town. He could's taken you outta harm's
way, relocated... found you a new momma.
And this just BURNS Emmett. A beat; then:
44.
EMMETT
Is it true Percy's momma died givin'
birth to him, Mister Dolarhyde?
Something FLASHES in Dolarhyde. But he's contained:
DOLARHYDE
Yeah.
EMMETT
Then maybe you should use that thousand
dollars to buy yourself a new wife.
Emmett HOLDS his look against Dolarhyde's. Brave and
UNFLINCHING. Doc can't help but grin at the kid's moxie... but
it's short-lived as his face suddenly falls:
DOC
Madre Dios...
And we PAN AROUND, dropping over his shoulder to see what he's
reacting to --
AN ENORMOUS CRATER. ACRES WIDE... TWENTY FEET DEEP. Even
Dolarhyde looks nervous now:
DOLARYHYDE
What the... hell is it?
MEACHAM
It was Winfield's Landing.
They turn to see Meacham, brushing the DUST off a WOODEN SIGN:
Holds it UP. " Winfield's Landing... Population 133."
ON GREAVEY AND THE MEN. Shit. He doesn't mean...?
GREAVEY
You tryin' to tell me those... things
pulled the whole damn town into the sky?
And suddenly a weird CRACK shakes the canyon -- like the SOUND
BARRIER BREAKING -- everyone's look goes UP where:
SWIRLING, DARK CLOUDS LOOM. The same clouds that dropped the
tornado on Absolution. And that appeared in Jake's MEMORIES at
the cabin. But this time, something's SHOT OUT from them --
MEACHAM
That can't be good.
The plummeting object HITS a distant dune, kicking up a SAND
PLUME -- ROLLING TOWARD THEM --
DOLARHYDE
Scatter.
45.
-- everyone runs their horses aside as the object BOUNCES over
rocks -- then SLOWS... to a STOP.
They STARE. Finally Dolarhyde kicks his horse forward slowly...
DISMOUNTS, draws his GUN. What he sees is SHOCKING:
It's an OVAL CAPSULE OF BLUE GOO, the outer layer some kind of
TRANSLUCENT COCOON. Suspended within the murky Jell-o is a
GE, DEC SHAPE. Motionless. UH-OH.
The others draw guns too, converging around it in equal SHOCK
and FEAR. But the thing doesn't MOVE.
DOC
Should we... open it?
DOLARHYDE
Should we open it? Hell NO we shouldn--
EMMETT
-- oops --
-- and now we find Emmett's already POKING it with a stick, a
Small TEAR in the cocoon's outer embryonic layer -- GOO leaks --
then it RUPTURES, EXPLODING as the horses REAR away, WHINNYING
the goo spreads across the desert floor, thinning out.
BEAT. Everyone wipes blue shit off their clothes as they come
FACE-TO-FACE with the object inside, lying there on the ground:
A COW. YES, A COW.
Motionless. DEAD, in fact. A METAL TUBE jammed in its mouth,
connected to a VALVE in the now-flaccid bubble's outer shell.
Greavey notices a BRANDING on the cow's rump -- the letter "D":
GREAVEY
Boss... it's one'a yours.
Dolarhyde's eyes NARROW. Emmett looks at Doc, SCARED:
EMMETT
Is-- is this what happened to my Pa?
Doc dismounts. Moves to the cow's mouth and PULLS OUT THAT TUBE
with a wet SQUISHING sound. Thinking it through:
DOC
This was stuck down its throat... to help
it breathe. That means they wanted to
keep it alive, Emmett.
(forces a small smile)
I'm sure your father is fine.
But Doc's eyes aren't sure. Meacham looks back to the sky:
46.
MEACHAM
Why'd they dump it?
ELLA
Whatever they needed from it, they
must've got.
(THEN)
Gonna get dark soon, need to keep moving.
She does. The others FOLLOW in a chilled daze. The last is
DOLARHYDE, glancing back at his dead cow with angry eyes...
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. RIDGE ABOVE VALLEY - DUSK
Now our people APPEAR riding up a ridge... Dolarhyde shoots up a
HAND, bringing the caravan to a STOP. Once again, SHOCK:
EMMETT
Ho-ly shit.
BOOM UP to reveal a SURREAL SIGHT in the valley below:
AGAMBLING RIVERBOAT. Nose buried in the sand, paddlewheels
facing the sky, as if it'd been dropped from the clouds into the
desert. Just like that cow. Off their LOOKS --
EXT. DESERT - THE PADDLEBOAT - MINUTES LATER
TRACKING alongside of the TILTED PADDLEBOAT, our team rides
around it. Trying to make SENSE. STENCILED on the stern is...
DOC
"Colorado Queen."
(THEN)
The river's two hundred miles from here.
But Ella doesn't seem as impressed as the rest of them. In
fact, her attention is drawn BEHIND them, to something coming up
over the DUNES... the barest flicker of a smile --
ELLA
Son of a bitch.
IT'S JAKE ON HORSEBACK. Followed by another horse, with
COLORADO in the saddle. Wrists tied but ALIVE. As Jake rides
to a stop, he PUSHES Colorado off the horse -- the indian HITS
the ground with a THUD as Jake levels Dolarhyde with HARD EYES:
JAKE
Your man got it in his head that he was
s'posed to kill me. I'm holding onto his
ear 'til he says sorry.
47.
As Colorado stumbles to his feet angrily, humiliated, Dolar
notices his BLOODY EAR. The LOBE has been SHOT OFF. He looks
up at Jake, half-angry, half-EMBARRASSED --
DOLARHYDE
Why'd you let him live?
Jake's hard-as-nails. DRIVEN now --
JAKE
Gonna need him.
He rides past Dolar to Ella. Stops. Says, simply:
JAKE (CONT'D)
Nice boat.
(then... SNIFFS)
What's that smell?
ELLA
That'd be me.
He realizes her shirt's caked in the BLUE GOO from the cow.
JAKE
Why're you blue?
ELLA
(DRYLY)
Cause I missed ya.
Their look HOLDS. A MOMENT. Something REAL between them.
DOLARHYDE
We better keep movin'.
A THUNDERCRACK. On the horizon, sheets of RAIN.
JAKE
Storm's comin'. I say we dig in here til
it passes.
(to Colorado; fucking
WITH HIM)
How's that sound, Nat?
Nat BURNS. Dolar feels his AUTHORITY being undermined:
DOLARHYDE
Storm or no storm, I say we keep movin'.
Colorado finally turns to Uolarhyde. DEFIANT:
NAT COLORADO
Too hard tracking anything in the rain.
48.
Dolarhyde GLARES at Colorado, who GLARES BACK: his loyalty now
in QUESTION. The tide IS turning against the rancher.
EXT. UPENDED RIVERBOAT - NIGHT - LATER
RAIN POURS on the overturned boat. Horses tethered. The ALIEN
CORPSE has been moved onto a slanted deck, covered by a TARP...
WE TILT TO THE ALIEN'S HAND. Poking out. Motionless. HOLD on
it, longer than we're comfortable.
INT. UPENDED RIVERBOAT - LATER THAT NIGHT
A RATTLESNAKE is coiled around a CHANDELIER... except the
chandelier is on the floor and the floor is the CEILING.
Upended gambling tables. WOODRATS scurry over FOOD. Every
window's SMASHED... as if something just TOOK everyone.
Dolar sits by a FIRE made from furniture parts, drinking from a
WHISKEY FLASK. Colorado opposite, rubbing his MANGLED EAR.
DOLARHYDE
You okay?
COLORADO
(low, eyes averted)
Yeah.
Dolar pours some whiskey on a BANDANA, leans towards Colorado --
DOLARHYDE COLORADO
Lemme clean it for you or
it'll get -- -- I'm fine.
Dolarhyde backs away. Colorado GLARES.
DOLARHYDE
Say it.
COLORADO
(after a beat)
Is Percy worth dyin' for?
Dolar's eyes flash. A mixture of anger and PAIN. Then --
DOLARHYDE
He's my son.
(POINTED)
I take care of my kin, Nat.
ON COLORADO as that lands. Clearly, there's something here...
a bond that seems to go deeper than just boss and employee. But
WHAT? Finally Nat just gets up and LEAVES.
Dolar watches him go, takes a healthy SWIG. Hears a WHIMPER.
Looks over and sees... EMMETT, huddled in a corner. CRYING.
49.
ON DOLARHYDE. The kid's naked emotion AFFECTING him, but the
fact Dolar might have a conscience makes him ANGRY too. Low:
DOLARHYDE (CONT'D)
Hey. Kid.
Emmett looks up, SNIFFLES. Dolar tosses him the WHISKEY FLASK:
DOLARHYDE (CONT'D)
Take a drink and shut p.
He gets up, walks off. Leaving the kid with the flask. As
Emmett looks at it confusedly, stuffs it in his POCKET --
INT. UPENDED RIVERBOAT - KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS
Meacham has set out TIN PANS under holes to collect RAIN WATER.
Dumps a pan into his CANTEEN as Doc enters with COFFEE for him:
DOC
(re: the tin plates)
We brought enough water.
MEACHAM
Not for drinkin', it's for blessin'.
Doc nods: ah. Turns to go... STOPS. Turns back. Intense eyes:
DOC
Padre... Maria came to see you in
confession every Sunday. It seemed...
she had a lot to talk about.
(beat, this is hard)
Was she having an affair?
Meacham removes his spectacles. Looks at Doc --
MEACHAM
You know I can't say.
And Doc DOES know. But there's a quiet DESPERATION here --
DOC
The last thing I said to her... I...
(shakes his head; then)
Please. If I'm wrong about my wife... I
don't want to die angry.
Meacham sees the PAIN in his friend's eyes.
MEACHAM
You can ask Maria if she was cheatin' on
you once we get her back. 'Til then?
(bit of a grin)
Don't die.
50.
And OFF DOC, thunder CRACKS --
INT. RIVERBOAT - COMMODORE'S QUARTERS - NIGHT
RAIN pours down through an open gash in the roof, splashing the
floor. Ella enters, glances back toward the door to make sure
she's alone, then pulls off her shirt and folds it over a stool.
Upper body NAKED in the moonlight. We catch only a FLASH of
this, and for a moment it's PURE HOTNESS...
. until she turns and something ELSE is revealed: criss-
crossed LASH MARKS on her back.
She turns away and starts to SPLASH herself with water, erasing
the blue goo and dirt from her skin and face... then: A MATCH
ignites behind her. She WHIRLS, startled, covering her breasts
with her arms -- JAKE is sitting in a chair at the Commodore's
desk, casually lighting a cheroot in his mouth:
JAKE
You missed a spot.
ELLA
The hell,-re- you doing here?
JAKE
Mindin' my own business.
(snaps out the match)
Then you decided to take a shower.
ELLA
Why didn't you say anything?
JAKE
Givin' you privacy.
She throws her shirt on, but her skin's wet and the shirt glues
to her, celebrating her shape in a way that can't be ignored.
Jake tosses her his jacket. As she slips it on, she notices a
bottle of WHISKEY on the table... and the PHOTOGRAPH OF ALICE.
ELLA
. she's pretty.
(Jake says NOTHING)
Who was she?
Jake's quiet. DARK. Intense emotion, intensely suppressed:
JAKE
only thing I know's her name was Alice...
(THEN; DISTANT)
And she's dead.
Ella looks up at him. INTO him --
51.
ELLA
Maybe you loved her.
Jake shakes his head, sort of mumble/chuckles in RESISTANCE:
JAKE
All you women are the same -- Always
wanna make it about Goddamn "love."
ELLA
(A BEAT)
Trust me, Lonergan. I'm not the same.
There is a force -- a strength about this woman -- that he
connects with. But remains, true to character, ALOOF:
JAKE
Don't matter.
She takes a step closer. Soft. Intimate.
ELLA
So what dj= matter?
Jake just looks at her. Then, lifts the cheroot to his lips,
the FLARE of its tip casting him in a demonic light...
JAKE
What matters is I find the thing that
killed her.
(dark as hell)
And make it pay.
And now, he leans forward with a focused LOOK... holds up his
BRACELET:
JAKE (CONT'D)
Where'd you see this before?
A beat. Ella -- somehow CONTAINED -- opens her mouth to lie.
But he cuts her off --
JAKE (CONT'D)
-- and don't lie to me. You wouldn't've
asked me if you didn't recognize it.
Ella tightens. PAIN in her eyes. And Jake REALIZES:
JAKE (CONT'D)
Those things... they the ones who put
those marks on your back?
She swallows: a mixture of SHAME that he's found her out... and
ANGER at what was done to her.
52.
ELLA
They took my people. Destroyed where I'm
from.
JAKE
Where's that?
ELLA
North of here. Been trackin' 'em ever
since, town to town. Best I figure,
they're hidin' in a mine.
Jake CONSIDERS all this. Softens a little:
JAKE
Maybe if you'd told me the truth instead
of throwin' rocks at me --
ELLA
-- what, you would've stuck around?
Bullshit. I couldn't've turned you away
from what you had to do, any more than I
could've stopped these people from going
after their kin.
(BEAT)
Truth ain't worth a damn, Jake... and
we're gonna need all the guns we can get.
Their look HOLDS... until Jake SMIRKS. Likes her style:
JAKE
So that's the only reason you wanted me
to come with you? Cause of my gun?
There's a pause... then Ella SMIRKS back:
ELLA
No, not your gun.
(BEAT)
What you do with it.
Among the many things these two ate feeling -- both separately
and together -- the one that pops right now is ATTRACTION.
Confusing as it is for him. The pregnant moment LINGERS...
Until Happy suddenly starts to GROWWWWL, sensing something
outside. ANOTHER CRACK OF THUNDER as:
INT. STATEROOM - CONTINUOUS
The horses STAMP NERVOUSLY out the window as Greavey and the
rest of Dolarhyde's men (COBBETT and 4 others) HUDDLE in secret
conference -- whispers that sound a lot like MUTINY --
53.
GREAVEY
What the hell're we doin' here? We
should be ridin' in the opposite
direction of those things --
COBBETT
We do that, the old man's likely to shoot
us himself. Only way outta this is --
And suddenly. Greavey SNIFFS the air, FROWNS:
GREAVEY
. what's that smell?
-- as they TURN to the deck where the creature lays... ALL THEY
FIND IS AN EMPTY TARP FLAPPING AIMLESSLY:
COBBETT
AW SH--
LIGHTNING FLASHES, illuminating the ship -- and als4THE ALIEN
behind them. a coiled mass clinging spiderlike to the ceiling!!!
Its arm WHIPS out, noosing around Cobbett -- LIFTS HIM off his
feet -- SLAMS HIM into the ceiling -- TOSSES HIM like a ragdoll:
The men SHOUT -- a PAIR OF RAZOR SHARP CANINES extrude from the
alien then it SPRINGS -- SLICING THROUGH TWO MEN AT ONCE --
GREAVEY and 2 others manage to SCRAMBLE AWAY:
INT. RIVERBOAT - VARIOUS - CONTINUOUS
JAKE AND ELLA
HEAR the SCREAMS -- Happy takes off -- they RACE after him --
DOC AND MEACHAM
Hear them too -- grabs their PISTOLS -- and Doc, his CANTEEN --
DQIRHXPE_. 9oWQ n
Colorado snatches up a WINCHESTER, LOADS IT, throws another one
to Dolar -- who's suddenly, surprisingly, PROTECTIVE of Emmett:
DOLARHYDE
Get behind me, Boy --
THE ALIEN SPRINGS INTO THE ROOM -- landing upside down on the
ceiling. Dolar FIRES at it --
DOLARHYDE (CONT'D)
RUN, KID! GIT!
Emmett SCRAMBLES down a FLOOR HATCH, disappears as Dolar keeps
FIRING -- but the alien BATS the gun away and LIFTS Dolar UP --
54.
Paralyzed with FEAR, he EXHALES a terrified GASP and --
THE CREATURE RECOILS FROM HIS BREATH! HURLS Dolar aside --
THROUGH THE FIRE -- embers catch CURTAINS and FLAMES SPREAD --
COLORADO races in, throws a TOMAHAWK -- it PINS the alien's claw
to the wall, the monster SHRIEKS as Nat draws a PISTOL but --
The alien SPITS A STICKY RESIN GOB -- it HARDENS, pinning NAT'S
hand with the pistol to the wall in return. He STRUGGLES as the
alien ADVANCES --
BOOM! The Alien's shoulder EXPLODES ORANGE FLUORESCENT BLOOD as
a GUNSHOT rings out -- it's Dolarhyde, back on his feet aid
FIRING -- the monster SCREECHES and leaps down, DISAPPEARING
through the hatch where Emmett fled --
DOLARHYDE (CONT'D)
GODDAMMITT!!!
And the fire's GROWING around the boat --
INT. CRAWLSPACE - CONTINUOUS
EMMETT moves FAST on hands-and-knees through a narrow CRAWLSPACE
-- around a corner here -- another there -- a MAZE --
SOMEWHERE BEHIND HIM -- THE ALIEN -- CRAWLING FAST --
EMMETT -- reaches another HATCH -- pushes through and OUT:
INT. RIVERBOAT BALLROOM - CONTINUOUS
-- DROPPING onto the floor -- as we WHIP TO Jake racing in from
around a corner -- but suddenly: THE ALIEN BURSTS FROM THE HATCH
BEHIND EMMETT, SWEEPING HIM UP IN ITS CLUTCHES:
Jake's bracelet OPENS UP into that BLASTER and it's AIMED at The
Alien but the creature CUPS a hand around Emmett and LIFTS HIM
off the floor, a TALONED FINGER pressed to the boy's THROAT:
STANDOFF. ELLA rushes in. The creature sees her -- HISSES --
JAKE
Don't know if you understand me... but
you hurt that boy and I hurt you.
CLOSE, EMMETT -- MUFFLED, TEARS LEAKING FROM HIS TERRIFIED EYES:
MEACHAM (O.S.)
I=.
RACK FOCUS TO REVEALMEACHAM BEHIND THE ALIEN:
55.
MEACHAM (CONT'D)
BY THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD, GO BACK TO
HELL, DEMON!
Meacham brings his CANTEEN down like a HATCHET, SPRAYING the
alien with HOLY WATER... but NOTHING happens! And then --
The Alien STRIKES -- SLAMMING MEACHAM BACK INTO A JUTTING PIECE
OF IRON, IMPALING HIM --
MEACHAM (CONT'D)
! ! !
The Alien SPRINGS through a doorway, TAKING EMMETT WITH IT.
Ella RUSHES after it as Jake RUNS to Meacham, hanging impaled:
JAKE
Easy, now... Don't move, dammit --
(TURNS; SHOUTING)
DOC -- GET IN HERE NOW!
MEACHAM
Go after the boy... then you get our
people back...
JAKE
Stop talking. DQW! GET YOUR ASS--
But Meacham GRABS Jake, EYE TO EYE. GASPING:
MEACHAM
Listen up... 'cause I'm not gonna be able
to say it again --
(pulls Jake CLOSE)
God don't care who you were, Son... only
who you Mg.
ON JAKE. AFFECTED. With a last RASP, Meacham DIES just as DOC
races through the growing FLAMES -- REACTS -- no time to mourn --
DOC
JAKE -- WE GOTTA GO M!
But Jake can't let go -- FURY -- HEARTBREAK -- Doc PULLS HIM
away -- Jake SNAGS THE CRUCIFIX off Meacham's neck as he's
forced OUT, leaving Meacham's body to be CONSUMED BY FLAMES --
EXT. UPENDED RIVERBOAT - DESERT - NIGHT
The boat is a BALL OF FIRE in the pouring rain, as what remains
of our heroes stumble out, COUGHING, devastated... Jake, Doc,
Dolarhyde, Colorado, Greavey, 2 GUNMEN... and Ella and Happy
atop a DUNE, following a TRAIL OF FLUORESCENT ORANGE BLOOD
streaking into the desert. Happy BARKING MADLY. Ella drops to
a knee, touches the orange blood as it WASHES AWAY in the rain:
56.
ELLA
RAIN'S GONNA COVER ITS TRACKS!
NAT COLORADO
That thing... was dead... it was d-ead...
DOLARHYDE, RAIN pouring down his face... VULNERABLE and GUILTY:
DOLARHYDE
I couldn't stop it -- It just... grabbed
the kid.
ON JAKE. Rage-filled against the flames... Meacham's CRUCIFIX
in his hared, as his FIST closes around it. Looks up, HARDCORE:
JAKE
Then we'd better get him back.
SMASH TO:
INT. STALACTITE CAVERN - NIGHT
STALACTITES loom from the ceiling -- BAM! EMMETT is DROPPED on
the floor of a sinister cave -- scrambles back from THE ALIEN:
EMMETT
Damn. You are one ugly bastar--
PSST! The alien spits a RESIN GOB on Emmett's mouth -- PSST
PSST! More gobs PIN his limbs to the wall. Emmett can't move --
can't speak -- eyes WIDE and TERRIFIED --
The creature looks down at an ARMOR PLATE on its bicep. Touches
a series of keys and the armor spits out what looks like...
.. a small RUBIK'S CUBE made of some alien alloy.
The creature casually TOSSES IT in the air where it FLOATS and
starts to SPIN -- as it does, its sides FLIP AND TURN (like a
Rubik's Cube) -- emitting HIGH-PITCHED SONAR BEEPS:
This thing's some kind of HOMING BEACON.
Off Emmett's WIDE, GAPING EYES...
EXT. DESERT PLAINS - SUNRISE
Our people RIDE FAST against the rising sun, on the hunt for
Emmett. Colorado REARS his horse, kneels by a trace of ORANGE
BLOOD on some rocks.
NAT COLORADO
(looks off --)
West.
Greavey and the others share a LOOK. E o Turn to Dolar --
57.
GREAVEY
Boss, only took one of them things to
kill four of us. We got no chance here.
Dolarhyde BURNS -- knowing he's being ABANDONED --
DOLARHYDE
You're a goddamn coward.
(to the others)
You work for me, dammit. You're my
m e 1 1 Qyees.
And Greavey, finally FREE to speak his mind, says SPITEFULLY:
GREAVEY
Fine line between a coward and a fool.
The men turn tail and RIDE AWAY. Dolarhyde SHOUTS after them --
DOLARHYDE
You're all FIRED!
Doc takes the opportunity to TWIST the knife:
DOC
Looks like they finally found something
to be more scared of than you.
Dolarhyde feels his world CRUMBLING away man by man...
Ella trots alongside Jake, who's staring at that DARK CLOUD MASS
overhead with a bad feeling:
JAKE
Clouds've been moving east since sun-
up... 'cept that one.
ON ELLA. We SENSE she knows something, something more she isn't
saying. SNAPS her reins and they RIDE OFF:
INT. BOX CANYON - CONTINUOUS
As the group gallops into a BOX CANYON, Happy starts BARKING
MADLY -- the horses SLOW --
ELLA
SOMETHING'S WRON--
BLAMBLAN1111 GUNSHOTS from above suddenly PEPPER the ground --
the horses REAR and KICK UP, startled --
A DOZEN FIGURES ON THE CLIFFS ALL AROUND THEM. Badass OUTLAWS
with RIFLES aimed at our heroes. One of them CALLS DOWN:
58.
OUTLAW GUNMAN
EVERYBODY DRAW YOUR GUNS SLOW AND TOSS
'EM ON THE GODDAMNED GROUNDI
SHIT.
SLOWLY, Jake draws his gun... tosses it. Now the rest of them.
As they SEE -- TWO RIDERS -- incoming -- from the other end of
the canyon. Rifles aimed and ready. Happy GROWLS...
One of the outlaws knocks back the hammer on his rifle --
OUTLAW
I say we just shoot 'em and take their--
But the words catch in his throat as his EYES WIDEN:
OUTLAW (CONT'D)
. Boss?
Sure enough, they're looking right at (BRONC
-JAKE. Both outlaws
and HUNT) lower their guns, hostility replaced by SURPRISE:
HUNT
What the hell you doin' back here,
Lonergan?
Oh, Christ. This is JAKE'S gang. ON DOLARHYDE. ELLA.
COLORADO. All registering it. And JAKE, of course, doesn't
REMEMBER these men as Bronc dismounts, NERVOUS:
BRONC
Jesus, Boss... Creek's gonna shit when he
sees you.
(then; re: the others)
And who the hell're they?
ON JAKE. Now does he handle this? Ht:nt rides up next to him,
SUSPICIOUS, and for reasons yet to be known, UNFRIENDLY --
HUNT
What's the matter, Jake. Cat got your--?
SMACKI Jake moves LIGHTNING FAST, SLAPS Hunt across the face,
stopping the question on his tongue -- CATCHES the gun as it
drops and presses the barrel into Hunt's NECK:
JAKE
Since when're Qy the one asking the
goddamned questions!?!
Ella and our people REACT as Jake plays it up, beat defense a
good OFFENSE. The outlaws are SCARED: this is the Lonergan they
know. Hunt holds his BLOODY MOUTH:
59.
HUNT
Christ, Jake... You broke my tooth
JAKE
Quit whining. Now bring me to the rest
of the boys, if that meets with your
goddamn approval.
Bronc and Hunt nod, mounting up, SHOUTING to the OUTLAWS above:
BRONC
LONERGAN'S BACK. MEET US AT THE CAMP!
As they RIDE OFF, Dolarhyde looks to Jake and mutters:
DOLARHYDE
Nice company you keep.
ELLA
What the hell're you doing? If we don't
catch up to that kid, we're never gonna--
JAKE
They called me "Boss." You wanna go
after these things with five or fifty?
(off her look)
Like you said: we can use every gun we
can get.
Qh. That actually makes SENSE. But --
ELLA
What exactly're you gonna say to 'em?
JAKE
(A BEAT)
Tell you when I figure it out.
And he SPURS onward, leaving her to follow uneasily --
INT. STALACTITE CAVERN - DAY
CLOSE -- RUBIK'S CUBE -- STILL SPINNING MID-AIR AS:
OUR ALIEN HANGS UPSIDE DOWN from stalactites by four spindly
limbs. Mid sleep cycle. And inches below its head...
EMMETT, still webbed to the wall. Unable to move or speak,
TERRIFIED. As suddenly... the cube DEACTIVATES. And DROPS --
THE CREATURE'S EYES SNAP OPEN. It SPRINGS from the ceiling as
FOUR DARK SHAPES blot out light, GLIDING IN...
MANTRA RAY HOVER SPEEDERS
60.
A gang of FOUR MORE ALIENS dismounts. The biggest and STRONGEST
-- their LEADER -- barks GUTTURAL CLICKS at the alien who
kidnapped Emmett. Kidnapper explaining as it removes another
STRANGE DEVICE. The device beams a HOLO-PROJECTION...
OF ELLA'S FACE! The aliens HISS in furious RECOGNITION.
JESUS... is this some kind of otherworldly WANTED POSTER?
PLUMES fan out angrily from the Leader's HUGE, ELONGATED SKULL --
like an indian headdress! The creature TURNS to Emmett --
It's the alien who killed Jake's woman! We'll come to know it
as... THE SLAVER.
It MOVES OMINOUSLY for Emmett, grasping the HANDLE of something
that UNCOILS with fluid, frightening speed:
A WHITE-HOT LASER WHIP. This will be The Slaver's SIGNATURE
WEAPON. It spirals to its full length, FLASHING out at --
EMMETT -- MUFFLED SCREAM! But... the whip DOESN'T cut him,
instead it SLICES THROUGH THE WEBBING that pins the boy to the
wall. As Emmett FALLS, The Slaver SWEEPS HIM UP -- Emmett
FLAILS, punching, kicking to no avail -- but then:
DOLARHYDE'S FLASK
Tumbles from Emmett's pocket and SPLASHES WHISKEY on The Slaver
-- IT.. S[iRIEM WILDLI-Aa THE BOOZE CONTACTS FLESH, SKIN SMOKING!
EMMETT -- tumbles away. Terror turns to REVELATION as he PULLS
the webbing from his mouth:
EMMETT
Holy SHIT.
Another alien LUNGES for the kid but Emmett SPLASHES him with
the flask -- the alien RECOILS, flesh BUBBLING --
Emmett whirls -- sees the HOVERBIKES -- JUMPS onto one, twisting
desperately at the controls --- IiON-DO , �'T THIS TURNS,__
WO ?!! Another Alien SCUTTLES in FAST -- Emmett's scrambling
boots slide into the foot supports, which automatically WHIR
CLOSED as the bike THROTTLES FORWARD... DECAPITATING THE ALIEN!
The bike SPINS UNCONTROLLABLY, plasma thrusters SCORCHING WALLS
and setting two more aliens ABLAZE! The speeder KAMIKAZE
BOUNCES out of the cavern at 90 MPH, Emmett screaming!
The Slaver SCREECHES FURIOUSLY as the remaining creatures LEAP
back on their speeders and GIVE CHASE!
EXT. GANG ENCAMPMENT - DAY
A TARANTULA
61.
Climbing onto an old desert stump -- BLAM! It's SHOT OFF by a
couple DRUNK OUTLAWS, swigging booze from STOLEN WHISKEY CRATES
piled on a WAGON. We're in an OUTLAW CAMP: roughly 40 fast guns
and saddle tramps. Tents. Horses. Ample weapons. And right
now, most of them are GEARING UP to ride out for some reason...
One of them, CREEK JOHNSON, with a chewed up face like swiss
cheese, slides a RIFLE into his saddle and shouts to the drunks:
CREEK JOHNSON
Hey --- �s 4 Lay off that whiskey and
saddle up. Flyer's on its way and we
best damn be sober for it.
HUNT (O.S.)
Creek turns; sees HUNT and BRONC crest the hill with the other
OUTLAWS from the cliffs. ANGRILY:
CREEK JOHNSON
'Bout time you got back.
(re: Hunt's bloody nose)
What the hell happened to you?!?
Hunt nods over his shoulder --
HUNT
He did.
The outlaws part to reveal JAKE, riding in with Ella and the
rest of our people. Creek's eyes NARROW, NOT happy to see him:
CREEK JOHNSON
well, shit.
It gets very, VERY QUIET. Our people tread warily, knowing
whatever reaction Jake's eliciting, it AIN'T GOOD. He runs the
gaunt of ACCUSING GLARES. Smart enough to know that CREEK is
the man in charge. Dismounts:
JAKE
You don't look happy to see me, Creek.
Creek eyes him. TOUGH. Clearly, HISTORY here:
CREEK JOHNSON
We're fixin' to rob us a train in about
twenty minutes and you come ridin' in
like nothin' ever happened?
(FUCK YOU)
No. Lonergan. I ain't happy to see you.
ON JAKE. How to navigate bad blood that he doesn't REMEMBER?
62.
JAKE
Well I'm sure you'll get over it.
Then, pretty much DISMISSING Creek, Jake turns, addresses the
rest of the men. If he's their boss? H� _gQDn&. CT LIR .�T•
JAKE (CONT'D)
Nice to see you, Boys, but we're not
going after a train -- We're going after
something else.
The men seem... . CONFUSED. Not sure what the hell is GOING ON.
BRONC
But Jake... you-- you said you didn't
wanna be in charge no more.
And this is a REVELATION. Jake glances at ELLA -- has to keep
IMPROVISING to hold his ground:
JAKE
Well, I-- changed my mind. So saddle the
hell up.
CREEK JOHNSON
They're not going anywhere with you.
Creek's heard enough. Strides forward, a direct CHALLENGE:
CREEK JOHNSON (CONT'D)
You got some balls on you -- walkin'
outta here a week ago sayin' what you
said and doin' what you did and then
ridin' back in here and givin orders.
Just who the hell do you think you are?
The IRONY of the question isn't lost on Jake, as Creek walks
right up to Ella. CLOSE. Violates her space: studies her with
a mixture of curiosity and CONTEMPT.
CREEK JOHNSON (CONT'D)
So. Are you her?
ELLA
Am I who?
CREEK JOHNSON
The whore Jake quit this gang for.
OH. Another piece of the puzzle falls into place -- Jake's eyes
SNAP to Ella as they both REALIZE... the men think she's
" e." Jake does his best to stay cool, meets Creek's stare:
JAKE
Watch your mouth, Creek.
63.
CREEK JOHNSON
Or what? These boys are with = now.
jID in charge. You may be fast, but you
are goddamned outgunned.
ON JAKE. OUR HEROES. Shit. Jake turns to the men --
JAKE
That a fact, Boys?
But Creek doesn't wait for them to respond:
CREEK JOHNSON
Put your guns on the whore. He so much
as twitches, blow her brains out her ear.
AT ONCE, 10 GUNS ARE LEVELED AT ELLA'S HEAD. No doubt as to who
the men are LOYAL to. But Jake locks into Creek, UNFLINCHING:
JAKE
Call her a whore again, that'll be the
last word you ever say.
CREEK JOHNSON
You ain't in no position to make threats,
asshole. Hunt: take his gun.
Hunt reluctantly scrambles over to Jake, oh-so-carefully pulls
the PISTOL from Jake's holster:
HUNT
Sorry, Boss... nothin' personal.
Creek now turns to BULL MCCADE, roughly the size of a BARN.
CREEK JOHNSON
Put him down, Bull.
And Jake barely has time to react as Bull lets fly with a
JAWBREAKING HAYMAKER that about knocks Jake out of his BOOTSI
Dolarhyde and Colorado WINCE as Jake hits the dirt with a THUD --
Creek striding over, cock of the walk, LEANS over him:
CREEK JOHNSON (CONT'D)
Where the hell's our gold. Jake?
"Gold?" Jake SPITS BLOOD, defiant:
JAKE
Don't remember.
Creek NODS to Bull: SMASH! Another devastating BLOW. ON ELLA --
at GUNPOINT. Wishing she could intervene. DOC too.
64.
CREEK JOHNSON
Well I _dg remember you tellin' us you was
leavin' us high and dry because you were
in love... You just left out the part
about taking half our goddamned haul from
the Yuma Bank. So I'm gonna ask you one
last time -- Where. Is. Our. Gold?
-- WHAM! Bull PUNCHES Jake so hard he FLIES OFF HIS FEET:
CREEK JOHNSON (CONT'D)
Man can't run away from who he ja,
Lonergan... you really think you could go
straight just cause you were fool enough
to fall in love with some woman?
WHAM! Bull PUNCHES Jake back into oblivion, and on the HIT we:
MEMORY FLASECUTi PEACEFUL SILENCE -- two FACES staring at each
other across a pillow -- Jake and ALICE, naked, in a WHOREHOUSE
BEDROOM SOMEWHERE:
ALICE
You sure you wanna give it all up?
ON JAKE. Clearly TORN. But just as clearly, in LOVE.
JAKE
What about you? Once we're gone, you
ain't ever comin' back.
She touches his face so gently. And whispers:
ALICE
You're the first person ever believed I
was better than this place... so I gotta
believe in y=.
(and she KISSES him)
You're a good man, Jake Lonergan.
PRESENT: as the words "Good Man" ECHO back to Jake. Stir=g_
]1„1n as Creek GRABS Jake's hair and YANKS BACK, rears up a fist:
CREEK JOHNSON
You figgered you could steal from us?
All that gold was yours to take co you
could go off and start a new life?
Creek's next PUNCH takes us to another:
TORY FLASECUTI REPLAY -- Jake and Alice in the cabin -- he
drops the SADDLEBAG -- it CLINKS to the floor. She's worried:
ALICE
Your boys'ii come after you.
65.
JAKE
(dark, determined)
Let 'em come.
BACK TO PRESENT -- as now Jake UNDERSTANDS the context of this
moment -- what they were saying to each other -- He looks up at
Creek, BEATEN AND BUSTED UP:
JAKE (CONT'D)
Okay... okay, I remember now...
("fuck you" grin)
Demons stole your gold, Creek. But when
you get to hell, you can ask for it back.
CREEK JOHNSON
(TSK'S)
Okay then. That's the way you wanna do
this...
(TURNS)
Kill the whore.
ON THE GANG. As they all cock their guns -- Aimed at Ella --
This is IT --
JAKE -- slowly lifts his head, suddenly RAGE-FILLED as --
HIS WRIST BRACELET ACTIVATES! BLAMMMM11! A SEARING PULSE BLAST
FIRES, VAPORIZING CREEK JUST BEFORE HE PULLS THE TRIGGER!
EVERYONE'S FACES. Holy shit. Jake spits on the around between
the SMOKING BOOTS that formerly belonged to Creek:
JAKE
Told you not to call her that.
ON JAKE. Pure KILLER. As he turns his weapon on the rest of
the (awestruck) gang -- through BLOODY TEETH:
JAKE (CONT'D)
You're all riding with me. Any one of
you decides otherwise? So help me God,
I'll kill you where you stand.
(AND THEN)
I'm j2acj& and I'M in goddamne.d
The gang quickly flips: "Absolutely, Jake/ Whatever you say,
Boss..." Jake turns to the speechless Bull McCade and KICKS HIM
IN THE BALLS as hard as he can, doubling him over.
Now he meets eyes with ELLA. She can't help SMIRKING, grateful.
DOC. Is the only one NOT looking at Jake. His attention drawn
toward a SOUND coming from the distant DUNES --
DOC
Dios mio.
66.
A SPEEDER IS ROARING TOWARD THEM BOUNCING OVER DESERT:
DOLARHYDE
(squints, realizing...)
Jesus... it's the kid.
As Emmett ROARS IN, the shocked outlaws SCATTER:
EMMETT
THEY'RE COMING!!!! THEY'RE COMING!!!
The kid TUMBLES off the speeder as it PLOWS RIGHT THROUGH CAMP,
kicking up DIRT and UPENDING SUPPLIES. As Emmett scrambles up --
VROOOM! FOUR MORE SPEEDERS ROAR OVER THE CREST IN PURSUIT OF
EMMETT! THE ALIENS FROM THE CAVE!
JAKE
EVERYBODY MOOOOVE!!!
STEEL COLLARS START FLYING, ATTACHED TO ROPING CABLES -- BEFORE
THE GANG KNOWS WHAT'S HAPPENING, THEY'RE BEING GRABBED AND
DRAGGED AWAY!
Those who have their wits about them FIRE BACK, trying to hit
the flying machines. CROSSFIRE. CONFUSION.
THE SLAVER
His speeder GROWLS to a halt. Dismounting like a killer biker.
ON JAKE. As he SEES that horrible alien face across the crowd:
QUICK BIT: Alice dying in his arms. And this same damn THING is
the one responsible for it. And we're:
BACK TO PRESENT. Jake's eyes LOCKED on the SLAVER as he says:
JAKE (CONT'D)
You.
BUT THE ACTION COMES ROARING BACK AS:
Outlaws start FIRING at the Slaver, who REACTS in mere
annoyance. Flicks open a POUCH on his bandolier for what look
like THUMB TACKS -- throws them and they tan out, PIERCING THE
NECKS of the outlaws, activating "Blue":
!NTLY E ZE. TUR an
The Slaver draws a ROL) that TELESCOPES into a SIX FOOT LANCE --
KA-TCHING! BARBED ENDS snap out and the alien runs on two
limbs, then FOUR -- LEOPARD-LIKE for speed -- rises back up and
SMASH! SHATTERS each man into a million Pieces. Now he uses
the bladed-ends to SKEWER five more outlaws and turns --
67.
MEETING JAKE'S EYES IN MUTUAL RECOGNITION -- SCREECHES:
JAKE (CONT'D)
(TO DOLARHYDE)
Find cover!!!
Jake FIRES his pulse blaster, providing cover as DOLAR, DOC,
EMMETT, and ELLA rush to hide behind the WAGON. The Aliens FIRE
BACK as LASER CROSSFIRE shreds the camp -- EXPLOSIONS and CHAOS:
THREE OUTLAWS scramble to form a GATLING CREW. It SPINS to
life, MOWING DOWN tents as they try to hit the aliens --
ANOTHER ALIEN
Hurls a boomerang-like "SMART WEAPON." It circles past the
GATLING COWBOYS, BACK into the alien's hand as:
THE TOP HALVES OFTHE_COWBOYS SLIDE OFF, SEVERED AT THE WAIST,'.
An EXPLOSION blows one of whiskey crates open on the wagon:
EMMETT
USE THE WHISKEY! IT BURNS EM!
ELLA
-- WHAT?!
EMMETT
LIKE ACID ON THEIR SKIN!!!
Ella REACTS -- WHAT? As an alien SKITTERS toward her, she grabs
a bottle and HURLS IT -- it EXPLODES all over the creature! A
HORRIBLE SCREECH as its skin smokes, thrashing epileptically --
ELLA
(REVELATION)
Oh my GOD --
DOLARHYDE
LET'S GO!!!
Our people ESCAPE for the horses. Doc climbs up on the WAGON
buckboard and pulls EMMETT in the seat beside him --
As ELLA leaps on a horse --
THE SLAVER
Climbs back on his speeder and GUNS FOR HER, firing a STEEL
COLLAR -- Jake turns -- SEES THIS. Starts RUNNING MADLY:
JAKE
ELLA!!
68.
Too late: KA-CHANK! The collar CLAMPS her neck, RIPPING ELLA
OFF HER HORSE! The CABLE snaps back and attaches to the
hovercraft as it ZIPS by, DRAGGING ELLA BACKWARD LIKE A WATER
SKIER BEHIND A SPEEDBOAT!
ON JAKE -- FURY -- HIS BRACELET ACTIVATES! And there's a LOGIC
here we'll come to realize, as he KICKS his horse into a gallop:
JAKE (CONT'D)
HYAA!
EXT. DESERT - CONTINUOUS
ELLA'S DRAGGED BEHIND THE SPEEDER. Hands GRASPING at the
magnetic collar as it HALF-CHOKES HER, yet keeps her upper body
SUSPENDED just oft the ground while her heels BOUNCE HARSHLY --
JAKE ON THE HORSE
Riding hard -- aims his BLASTER, trying to get a TARGET on the
CABLE linking Ella's collar to the speeder -- fires -- MISSES!
The Slaver TILTS VERTICAL to fly through a narrow CANYON
ENTRANCE as Ella's fingers reach wildly for THE BOWIE KNIFE on
her belt. She starts CUTTING THE CABLE, trying to FREE HERSELF:
WHOOSH! The speeder BLASTS out the other side of the canyon,
Jake still in pursuit but suddenly...
THE UNION PACIFIC LOCOMOTIVE IS CURVING AROUND A CORNER, RACING
RIGHT FOR THEM! This is the train Jake's gang was gonna rob!
INT. UNION PACIFIC EXPRESS CAR - CONTINUOUS
Two PINKERTONS sit by a SAFE. LOOK UP at an unidentified ROAR --
PINKERTON #1
You hear.that?
PINKERTON #2
How many times I gotta tell you, Leonard.
No one'd be stupid enough to rob this tr--
SWWWWWM. IN THE WINDOW BEHIND THEM... THE SPEEDER BLASTS BY.
GOING AGAINST THE TRAIN, ELLA BOUNCING BEHIND IT.
When the Pinkertons SNAP around, Ella's GONE... but now they SEE
JAKE -- ON HORSEBACK -- FLASHING PAST in pursuit!
PINKERTON #2 (CONT'D)
1 stand corrected.
They DRAW GUNS, running to see what's happening and --
69.
EXT. UNION PACIFIC TRAIN - KID AIR AT 80 MPH - CONTINUOUS
As the speeder SKIMS alongside the train, ELLA keeps struggling
painfully to CUT HER COLLAR CABLE. Jake FIRES again, MISSES the
cable but DETONATES THE SIDE OF A TRAIN CAR:
INT. UNION PACIFIC - TRAIN CAR - CONTINUOUS
The wall EXPLODES INWARD on the Pinkertons -- hurt, but ALIVE --
EXT. UNION PACIFIC TRAIN - CONTINUOUS
The speeder's SHAKEN. The Slaver GROWLS as he fights for
balance. Reaches the TRAIN'S END, skims past the caboose and --
DAMNIT. THE SLAVER ARCS BACK AROUND IN A WIDE U-TURN, SLOTTING
IN FOR COVER BEHIND THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TMIN•,=_`T1.2AVF.LLING,.J
THE SAME DIRECTION NOW!
ELLA'S FLUNG WILDLY BY THE HAIRPIN TURN! SHE DROPS THE KNIFE,
IT CLATTERS AWAY! HER ONLY MEANS OF ESCAPE GONE!
JAKE'S POV:
Through a slot between boxcars, the speeder BLURS in the
opposite direction. Up ahead comes the CABOOSE. No more TRAIN:
Thinking FAST, Jake LEAPS off his horse -- CATCHES A LADDER RUNG
ON THE CABOOSE'. Teeth gritted, starts to CLIMB up onto:
EXT. TOP OF UNION PACIFIC TRAIN CAR - CONTINUOUS
Jake JUMPS from car to car -- over LOGS in a TENDER CAR --
BLAM BLAM!!! The PINKERTONS are climbing to the roof, WEAPONS
FIRING -- Jake loses footing, ROLLING off the side --
EXT. SIDE OF TRAIN - CONTINUOUS
-- but CATCHES another ladder rung and he DANGLES, looks DOWN:
ELLA IS RIGHT UNDER HIM, DRAGGING BEHIND THE SPEEDER! HE
REACHES OUT --
JAKE
TAKE MY HAND!
She GRUNTS WITH EXERTION as their fingers GRAZE each other and
The Slaver SNAPS AROUND. Hurls a SMART DISC at Jake -- no
choice, he LETS GO of the LADDER -- HITS the ground PAINFULLY
THE PINKERTONS RUSH TO THE ROOF EDGE
-- SXLSKLISH! The disc VIVISECTS THEM THEN CIRCLES BACK AROUND,
cutting the IRON STRAPS that secure the logs in the tender car --
70.
THE LOGS START ROLLING OFF THE TOP. CRASHING DOWN ON THE
SPEEDER. It SPIRALS end-over-end, CRASHING into the desert!
ON JAKE. He picks himself up, WINCING. Sees the SMOKING WRECK
in the distance. Starts to limp, then RUN --
EXT. CRASHED SPEEDER - CONTINUOUS
Jake APPEARS through the smoke. No sign of The Slaver. Then --
FALLING ROCKS turns his look upward. Though WOUNDED, the alien
is SCALING a rock-face. Turns... a look that says "Next time."
Then in a BLUR, it's GONE. Jake's blaster REVERTS into a
bracelet. When the smoke clears:
ELLA is revealed on the ground, thrown from the speeder. Jake
REACTS -- EQ -- takes her in his arms.
She desperately tries to SAY SOMETHING... but goes LIMP.
JAKE
Ella...?
Her head just falls back. Yeah. Hard to swallow, but it's
true. ELLA'S DEAD. And if this moment ECHOES Jake holding his
dead wife, well that's just fine. He stares beseechingly as...
HOOFBEATS. The rest of our people gallop in: Colorado,
Dolarhyde, Doc and Emmett in the wagon:
EMMETT
Aw no... is she --?
Jake looks up -- unhinged --
NAT COLORADO
We need to get out of here NOT.
JAKE NAT COLORADO
Not gonna leave her here -- L4Re.Xam --
-- I'M NOT LEAVIN' HER! -- This is Apache territory!
They catch us, they'll kill u--
THHHHHHHUNKI The air SCREAMS as an ARROW pierces the ground
inches from Jake's hand! Suddenly THIRTY MORE -- ALL AROUND
THEM -- forming an instant circle perimeter as --
APACHE WARRIORS FLASH DOWNHILL. Dolar dismounts, swings Emmett
to the ground --
NAT COLORADO (CONT'D)
Nobody move.
Jake and Emmett freeze. The Apaches are ALL AROUND THEM.
Fierce. BOWS and TOMAHAWKS drawn -- OFF THIS:
71.
EXT. ARIZONA MOUNTAINS - TWILIGHT
The sun DIPS behind the mountains... NIGHT FALLS...
INT. TEEPEE - NIGHT
CLOSE ON ELLA'S DEAD FACE. Still. Beautiful. FIND JAKE, on
his knees beside her, hands bound in front of him. An INDIAN
WOMAN finishes wrapping the body in a shroud and LEAVES.
Jake is alone. Overwhelmed. Raw. Something rising in him.
Something he COULDN'T FACE... until this moment:.
JAKE
I remember now.
(THEN; SOFTLY)
I-- I did love her.
And just saying it, saying those words, brings a swell of
EMOTION to the surface... but he FIGHTS it. A losing battle, as
his eyes WELL:
JAKE (CONT'D)
She was like you. Seemed to think I was
a good man.
(finally, voice almost
CRACKS)
But I couldn't save either of you.
A beat... his bound hands gently touch her face...
JAKE (CONT' D )
Where's the good in that?
His eyes CLOSE. Too much.
JAKE (CONT'D)
I'm sorry, Ella.
And that sits... then suddenly -- JARRINGLY -- THREE MORE BRAVES
roughly enter, pull Jake up, FORCE HIM out:
EXT. APACHE ENCAMPMENT - NIGHT
BAN! Our people are THROWN TO THEIR KNEES in a large CIRCLE OF
APACHES. GUARDED by warriors with tomahawks and -- WHOOSH! A
PYRE is ignited and if we ever had any doubt about Ella being
dead, the BRAVES carry her roughly past --
JAKE
HEY! GODDAMMIT DON'T YOU TOUCH--
-- he's YANKED BACK and held in place as... ELLAIg BODY IS
THROWN RIGHT INTO THE FLAMES. Jake helplessly watches her BURN.
72.
EMMETT
Wasn't your fault, Mr. Lonergan.
Those things... were lookin' for her.
Had a picture and everything.
That breaks the spell. Jake looks over --
JAKE
What d'you mean... 'a picture'?
EMMETT
Floatin', like that arrow thing we found
in its eye.
Before Jake can makes sense of this, a teepee smoke flap OPENS
and out steps the tribe's SACHEM. This is GREY WOLF -- dark,
wrinkled face enhanced by TATTOOS. He takes one look at his
prisoners and SPEAKS A FEW WORDS OF APACHE.
DOC
What'd he say?
COLORADO
"Kill them. And make it quick."
Doc is amply freaked. Turns to Jake as FIVE OF THE BRAVES move
for them, MENACING --
DOC
Now'd be a good time to use your gun
bracelet, my friend.
But Jake is VACANT. BROKEN. All the fight seems GONE from him.
His bracelet DOESN'T MOVE.
Dolarhyde's grabbed first... PULLED FORWARD by one of the
braves, raising his TOMAHAWK -- they're really gonna KILL HIM --
DOLARRYDE
(SUBTITLED)
SOP. DON'T DO THIS.
SURPRISED looks from just about everyone in the camp (besides
Colorado) as we realize Dolarhyde just spoke APA
ON GREY WOLF -- INTRIGUED as he approaches Dolarhyde:
GREY WOLF (SUBTITLE)
How is it that you speak our language?
UOLARHYUE (SUBTITLE)
Because I'm a damn genius.
Grey Wolf's fascinated this man has the audacity to be a WISEASS
given his circumstances. Turns to the Brave with the tomahawk --
73.
GREY WOLF (SUBTITLE)
Forget about quick. Make him feel it.
The Brave NODS, RAISES the Tomahawk again, but Dolar interrupts:
DOLARHYDE (SUBTITLE)
Two hundred head of cattle!
Grey Wolf holds up his hand, halting the Brave's death blow --
DOLARHYDE (SUBTITLE) (CONT'D)
I'll have two hundred head of cattle u_a
here in a day's time if you let me go.
ON GREY WOLF. Considering this.
GREY WOLF (SUBTITLE)
And how do I know you'll come back?
Dolarhyde nods to Colorado --
DOLARHYDE (SUBTITLE)
You can keep my associate here. if I
don ' t come back, you can kill him.
Colorado REACTS. He's the only one here who knows what the hell
these two are saying to each other as Grey Wolf approaches
Dolar, looks right INTO HIM --
GREY WOLF (SUBTITLE)
Why should I believe that you even care
about this man?
Dolarhyde's eyes flash EMOTION. Quickly bottled. Then:
DOLARHYDE (SUBTITLE)
Because he's my son.
Wow. Didn't see that one coming. Grey Wolf levels Colorado
with those unyielding eyes --
GREY WOLF (SUBTITLE)
Is this true?
And Colorado answers in ENGLISH, for the benefit of the others:
COLORADO
Yeah... he's my father.
REACTIONS. JAKE. EMMETT. DOC. Stunned silence. And so:
GREY WOLF (SUBTITLE)
Three hundred head.
Dolar looks to Colorado, who won't meet his eyes. His FATHER's
eyes. Turns back to Grey Wolf, HARD --
74.
DOLARHYDE (SUBTITLE)
Two fifty.
HOLD ON GREY WOLF for a beat. Then --
GREY WOLF (SUBTITLE)
Cut him loose.
The Brave does exactly that. Dolar's FREE to go...
EMMETT
Hey! What about =?!?
ON DOLAR. A FLASH of regret. But it's gone fast.
DOLARHYDE
What about you, kid?
And he just walks out of the camp, leaving his son behind...
GONE. And now, it's back to business --
GREY WOLF (SUBTITLE)
Kill all of them except the half-breed.
Our people are GRABBED. Jake's yanked forward, PINNED DOWN -- a
Brave raises a HATCHET to kill Jake, who glares back with
lunatic eyes. Ready to die. Almost wanting it:
JAKE
What're you waiting for, asshole? DO IT.
And as Jake's about to MEET HIS DEATH:
FWOOM! THE PYRE SUDDENLY BILLOWS, TURNING FROM ORANGE TO GREEN
TO WHITE -- EVERYONE BACKS AWAY AS --
ELLA EMERGES FROM THE PYRE. WRAPPED IN A CAUL OF FIRE AND LIGHTI
Except she isn't exactly Ella. She's a HUMANOID, incredibly
close to us in physical appearance, her features acutely
feminine, yet... ALJM.
PANDEMONIUM. The Apache kneel in prostration, DROPPING weapons
as flames DISSIPATE off Ella's backlit form. Her skin RETURNS
to human flesh-tone. Hair too. When she finally STOPS, she
looks like the ELLA we've come to know and love. STANDS there:
ELLA
. what... happened?
ON JAKE. Holy. SHIT. Everyone else equally STUNNED.
EMMETT
You... died.
75.
Ella looks around. Fifty dumbstruck faces staring at her.
ELLA
(QUIETLY; CAUGHT)
. oh.
OFF ELLA, who's got a helluva lot to explain --
INT. TEEPEE - NIGHT
A deerskin shirt slips down over Ella's naked body.' A dark
breechcloth is tied. She TURNS to us.: beautiful as ever.
EXT. TEEPEE - NIGHT
Ella emerges to find... JAKE. Standing outside.the teepee.
HARD. And for a long moment, nothing is said. Until she takes
a step TOWARD him:
ELLA
If I'd told you on the boat, you never
would'a trusted me --
-- but he takes a step BACK. If he's relieved she's alive, he
isn't showing it:
JAKE
Did you hear what I said?
ELLA
.. What?
JAKE
When you were playin' possum. Did you
hear what I mid?
He's angry. Yes, even embarrassed. And because of it,
something has SHUT DOWN in him again. That killer look is back.
ELLA
No. I was mendin'.
(BEAT)
It's like sleep.
His eyes narrow, trying to understand:
JAKE
How's it you look like one of us?
ELLA
I can look like whatever I want to.
JAKE
So you can't die?
76.
ELLA
Sure I can. If my heart stops beating...
just like you.
.JAKE
You're nothin' like me, Ella. You're
one'a them.
we can see that hurt her. But she deserved it, too. So
desperately wants to reach him...
ELLA
I'm not, Jake. I'm from a different
place.
He isn't sure what that means. Can he even trust her? Either
way, she has ANSWER;. Darkly:
JAKE
The one that took you.
(BEAT)
It killed her.
That LANDS on her. Knowing and painful.
ELLA
They call him The Slaver. He's the one,
gave me the scars. Broke me. And made
me watch... while he killed my family
too.
Even with his guard up... Jake can't help but be STRUCK. As the
sound of HOWLING WIND takes us to:
EXT. BOX CANYON - RIM - NIGHT
A SANDSTORM... through which a GHOSTLY FIGURE materializes...
THE SLAVER. Moving with angry purpose toward the CANYON BLUFF.
As he looks down into it, we hear the SOUNDS of MACHINERY below.
But we DO__QT.YET_ REVEAL what it_ is__ he sees.
He stalks down, LEAVING FRAME -- as we HOLD on the field of
TWINKLING STARS ---
ELLA (V.0.)
For every drop of light in the sky,
there's another world. Filled with
life...
EXT. APACHE CAMP - MINUTES LATER - NIGHT
Ella's in front of the campfire, surrounded by EVERYONE
77.
ELLA
Our race was first to map the stars...
that's why they came for us. Took our
planet, piece by piece. Slaughtered
anyone who fought hack. Ones who
survived were turned into slaves.
Trackers.
She says this meeting the eyes of GREY WOLF. There's immediate
SIMPATICO here: a story the Indians could be telling.
ELLA (CONT'D)
They brought me aboard one of their scout
ships -- a ship with only one purpose: to
find other planets like mine. Planets
they can take... people they can enslave.
As the terrible gravity of all this HITS everyone, JAKE is first
to understand...
JAKE
X lead 'em here.
Ella swallows. Wracked with GUILT.
EMMETT
Well damn, lady, thanks a 1.
ELLA
I never wanted this.
(an EMOTIONAL beat)
But they got... ways. Of making you do
things.
Her eyes are HAUNTED with memory. The inference is some kind of
TORTURE. She pushes it away -- staying strong:
ELLA (CONT'D)
Been tryin' to make it right... tried to
blow the ship to hell by burnin' up all
their fuel, then escaped down here.
(BEAT)
'Cept it didn't work... damn thing
survived.
JAKE
Where is it.
Jake's determined -- he's got his OWN agenda. Ella looks up to
that OMINOUS CLOUD. Those BLUE LIGHT FLASHES ripple within:
ELLA
Hiding in that cloud. Way I figure,
they'll find enough fuel to leave by
tomorrow, midday. Then they'll bring
back the others.
78.
DOC
"others"?
ELLA
The whole fleet. They'll take what they
need. Everyone on this planet. Anything
too weak to survive... they'll toss.
Like that cow.
Tomorrow. Midday. Hi noon. This is bad, bad news.
NAT COLORADO
What'd you mean, they're looking for
"fuel"...?
And before Ella can answer, Jake already GETS IT:
JAKE
Gold. That's why they're in a mine.
ELLA
(NODS, solemn)
. wherever it is, that's where you
escaped from -- and it's the only way
back up to the ship.
(STEPS CLOSER)
Even with your memory wiped, your
instincts kicked in --
(HIS BRACELET:)
That's how it works, Jake, the bracelet
reads your impulse -- you wanna fight, it
reacts. Somehow you took it off one of
'em... don't you remember any of it?
ON JAKE. Deeply STIRRED. As he looks down at the BRACELET and:
MEMORY FLASBCUTSI REPLAY POV as we're HELD DOWN in that CAVE
the TERRIFYING OCULAR PROBE lowers right in front of our eyes
One of the ALIENS starts to activate the probe -- it begins to
FLASH STEADILY -- HYPNOTICALLY -- PUvTNG OUR MIND --
But our arm manages to BREAK FREE -- a BLADE hidden in our
sleeve -- WE SLASH OFF THE. ALIEN'S HAND -- GRAB THE BRACELET off
its severed limb -- it COILS around our wrist and ACTIVATES:
BLAM SLAM! We BLAST the creature to oblivion -- we're FREE!
JAKE IN PRESENT -- Eyes ALIVE with MEMORY:
JAKE
I-- I blasted my way out...
MEMORY FLASHCUTI REPLAY POV as we RUN through the cavern --
ESCAPE -- a LIGHT at the end of the tunnel -- BLINDING SUN hits
us as we emerge -- our eyes ADJUST to see:
79.
That STRANGE ROCK FORMATION HIGH ABOVE on the edge of a CANYON --
the STONE TOWER pointing to heaven --
JAKE IN PRESENT: The sequencing is COMPLETE for him now:
JAKE (CONT'D)
I remember seeing a tower... made of
stone... on the rim of a canyon...
Upon hearing that, Grey Wolf suddenly speaks in animated
gestures, pointing North. Colorado REACTS:
ELLA
What? What's he sayin'?!?
Colorado turns to Jake, a flicker of HOPE:
COLORADO
That rock you're talkin' about... he-
knows where it is.
INT. UNDERGROUND TUNNELS - NIGHT
The Slaver ENTERS the gloom of an UNDERGROUND CAVERN. Two
ALIENS melt from the dark to greet him with frightening HISSES.
SENTRIES. We HOLD on the walls as something GLITTERS: GOLD.
INT. UNDERGROUND CAVERN - SOMEWHERE
CLOSE ON SHERIFF TAGGART'S REFLECTION IN MURKY WATER. As we
TILT UP to reveal him hanging UPSIDE DOWN. Eyes flutter open.
He's seen better days. Dazed. Turns his head slightly...
SHERIFF TAGGART
You... all right...?
DRIFTING over to see MARIA. Gravity PULLING her hair downward.
Groggy. Mostly SCARED:
MARIA
(BRAVE FACE)
. Fantastic. You?
CAMERA SLOWLY TURNS, ROTATING 180 DEGREES, TO REVEAL THEY'RE
STUCK TO THE CEILING OVER A WATER GROTTO. The whole town of
Absolution is here... a hundred others from the now-cratered
town of Winfield's Landing, feet embedded in the ORANGE RESIN.
Suddenly, PERCY DOLARHYDE sees a TERRIFYING SHADOW spread across
the wall -- what looks like a HUGE, COILING SNAKE:
PERCY DOLARHYDE
H-- HEY!!! THE HELL'S THA--?!
-- but what comes around the corner is a LONG METAL TENTACLE:
80.
A SCANNING MECHANISM on its tip shoots out a blue triangular
beam -- itemizing specimens -- SELECTING ONE: SHERIFF TAGGART.
Mechanized TALONS open up -- Taggart SCREAMS as he's PLUCKED
from the ceiling like an apple from a TREE:
DEPUTY CHARLIE WADE
KYLE!!!!
ANOTHER METAL TENTACLE slithers in and GRABS WADE -- swinging
our men across the cavern where we reveal...
. the tentacles are attached to a TERRIFYING ALIEN MACHINE.
Taggart and Wade are PINNED DOWN on what looks like an operating
table. As they thrash, RESTRAINING CLAMPS enfold their skulls.
An OCULAR PROBE looms _Q.Xpr. them, This is the image _ e.'_A_beM1_
seeing! This is what haRpened to him before he escaRe !
WORKER-BEE ALIENS adjusts the device over their eyes -- INSTANT
X-RAYS read their retinas -- HYPNOTIC -- as the men grow DOCILE
and LIMP despite their fight and -- FLASHFLASHTLASHI
The probe has ERASED THEIR MINDS. Catatonic stares.
Now the machine arms slip the men into separate TRANSLUCENT
CAPSULES. METAL BREATHING TUBES are implanted down their
throats as the capsules begin to fill with a THICK, BLUE LIQUID.
This is the same blue goo -- a protective gel -- that housed the
COW in that jettisoned cocoon in the desert.
More Worker Bees load the cocoons into TRANSPORT SHUTTLECRAFTS.
We see containment holds filled with BLEATING COWS and REARING
HORSES... all going through a similar cocooning process.
All of this is overseen by THE SLAVER, who stalks up a ramp
behind the cocoons. The craft HUMS to life, undergear
retracting as it ROARS OFF down the tunnel...
EXT. CANYON RIM - DANN
Our people ride up a rocky slope with a few Apaches. Grey Wolf
looks around and SPEAKS, Colorado translates:
NAT COLORADO
This is Kiowa land, their sister tribe.
As they near the bluff, Jake sees the STONE TOWER. Dismounts:
JAKE
That's it.
As they near the bluff, they hear the growing sound of that
MACHINERY. Everyone dips low, peering over to see...
81.
What looks a whole lot like a CAVALRY FORT in the canyon below,
amid a network of trenches and underground tunnels. Except this
fortress is made of some kind of ALIEN ALLOY, glowing impossibly
bright as its steel surface reflects the rising sun.
DRILLING MACHINES are chewing deep into the earth, mining for
GOLD -- THESE ARE THE SAME DRILLS THAT LANDED IN OUR OPENING.
Massive receptacles are FILLED with HUGE CHUNKS.
ALIENS move in and out, working, as if from an ant hive.
DOC
Holy Jesus. Like a damn fort.
Grey Wolf looks to his men, GRAVE, CRESTFALLEN as he realizes:
GREY WOLF (SUBTITLE)
The Kiowa... they were taken too.
Suddenly, the ROOF of the steel structure blossoms open like a
CHROME LOTUS... and WHOOSH! The SHUTTLE TRANSPORT flies out of
the canyon, RISING into the dawn sky...
ELLA
Transports. Way they get people and gold
back and forth to the ship.
DOC
Place is crawling with those things.
We'll never even get close.
Grey Wolf SPEAKS --
NAT COLORADO
He says there's a back way in... The Twin
Rivers run underneath this whole canyon.
Limestone tunnels up by the falls, couple
miles East. Lead right down there.
Jake looks to the SKY. DARK. DETERMINED.
JAKE
The Slaver... he's up in that big cloud?
Ella nods, HARD. Off their SHARED DETERMINATION, our SCORE
rises. A DRUM CADENCE that suggests a MISSION starting to form:
EXT. APACHE CAMP - DAY
DOC. Skeptical, eyes narrow -- staring at Jake and Ella --
surrounded by our team and the Apaches back at the APACHE CAMP:
82.
DOC
Just so I got this straight... three of
those things just kicked the shit out of
your entire gang, took our whole town,
and now you two're gonna ride right into
that fort, try to hijack one'a those--
He pauses on the word --
ELLA
"Transports."
DOC
-- ride it up to that space boat --
ELLA
Spaceshp.
DOC
Then bring it down here and get everybody
off alive? That's your big plan?
Jake and Ella share a LOOK. Simply:
JAKE
Yup.
DOC
And just how do you figure on getting in
there in the first place?
JAKE
Poke a hornet's nest... they swarm
at'cha.
ELLA
You gotta draw 'em out. Buy us a
distraction.
A long beat of incredulous, do-you-believe-this-shit STARES:
DOC
You want us to storm that fort? Against
those things? With less than fifty men?
It's suicide.
EMMETT
It ain't, it's been done! I read at
school how Ethan Allen and his Green
Mountain Boys took Fort Ticonderoga, they
weren't but a small garrison and they
were outgunned --
ELLA
We need all of you to make a stand.
Together. It's the only way.
83.
NAT COLORADO
Make a stand with what?
Jake turns to the WAGON they rode from Jake's gang camp -- the
WHISKEY CRATES. Sweeps up a bottle:
JAKE
This.
An impossible mission. Sure death. Yet for the first time...
they have an ADVANTAGE. Emmett cuts the moment with a BIG GRIN:
EMMETT
Hell, yeah. Let's squish some bugs.
Grey Wolf CHUCKLES, murmurs. Jake looks to Nat for translation:
JAKE
Somethin' funny?
NAT COLORADO
Yeah... that you whites finally know what
it feels like to face extinction. Now
that we're on the same side, he says we
can all die together.
(THEN)
They're with us.
The LOOK holds between them --
JAKE
Guess that means you're not waitin' for
your dad to come back.
Colorado's face CLOUDS. Years of ANGER and RESENTMENT:
NAT COLORADO
Been Woodrow Dolarhyde's son my whole
life... first time he ever copped to it
was to save his own ass.
(not without emotion)
He's not comin' back.
And as Colorado TURNS away, the PERCUSSION finds another GEAR --
MONTAGE -- OUR CLAN PREPARES FOR BATTLE:
Pieces of CLOTH are RIPPED, stuffed inside the WHISKEY BOTTLES.
MOLOTOV COCKTAILS...
Emmett works with Apaches and their KIDS, roping WOOD together
to build LADDERS and CATAPULTS...
WAR PAINT is applied to faces in DARK STREAKS...
84.
Jake slips on his coat. Sees Emmett lead a horse to mount up
with his BOW and ARROW QUIVER:
JAKE
Not you, Kid.
EMMETT
Aw, hell, we been through this. Ya can't
stop me.
Jake draws his gun, SPINS it in his palm, aims at Emmett's FOOT:
JAKE
I can shoot you in the foot.
EMMETT
Bu111i11SHIT.
Jake SIGHS -- bluff called. Holsters the gun and takes a
knee... but just when we think this is gonna be a tender moment,
he GRABS Emmett by the collar, pulls him CLOSE:
JAKE
You told me your daddy's all you got
left. Want me to save his ass?
Then park yours right there on the
ground, you little shit. Got me?
Emmett's nailed. ANGRY, but knows he's gotta stay.
EMMETT
Yeah. I gotcha.
Jake releases him. Happy moves to Ella but she TSKS:
ELLA
Stay with the kid, Happy.
The dog WHINES but complies, moving next to Emmett. Jake climbs
on his horse. Looks back to the boy -- now he Ia tender:
JAKE
I'll get your father back. Bastard still
owes me fifty dollars.
The hint of a SMIRK... long enough for Emmett to SMIRK BACK.
Ella, Doc, and Colorado mount »p too, along with a 10-MAN APACHE
WAR PARTY. Jake meets eyes with GREY WOLF:
JAKE (CONT'D)
You'll be ready?
Grey Wolf NODS. Some part of the PLAN we have yet to learn.
And now Jake starts to trot off, Ella beside him. This plays
just between the two of them:
85.
ELLA
That's a nice thing... what you said to
the boy. I didn't know better, I'd say
you got yourself a sweet side.
She smiles. But Jake turns to her -- deadly serious:
JAKE
There's nothin' sweet about me. I told
that kid what he needed to hear so he
wouldn't get in my damn way. All I care
about is killin' that thing.
And Ella reacts to the DARKNESS in his voice. Shakes her head:
ELLA
I don't believe that.
JAKE
Well believe it. I was playing a part.
(straight at her)
Just like you were.
He CRACKS the reins, riding ahead. HOLD ON ELLA... who finally
follows as they all ride out and MUSIC SOARS:
EXT. DESERT PLAINS - CONTINUOUS
JAKE, ELLA, COLORADO, DOC AND THE APACHE WARRIORS RIDE LIKE HELL
TOWARD THEIR FATE, SLAMMING RIGHT INTO LENS -- AND WE MATCH TO:
EXT. DOLARHYDE'S RANCH - DAY
THUNDERING HOOVES -- but it's DOLARHYDE on his horse. REARS
near the SERVANTS QUARTERS -- moving FAST toward a small hut:
A HATCHET is embedded in a wood pile. Dolarhyde YANKS it out.
INT. SERVANTS' QUARTERS - DAY
The APACHE WOMAN we saw in the drawn-and-quartered scene earlier
is washing clothes on a basin board. She turns as --
Dolarhyde ENTERS. A menacing figure with a blade in the
doorway. She stands, ALERT -- in SUBTITLED APACHE:
THE WOMAN (SUBTITLE)
What are you doing?
Without response, he levels the axe and SLAMS it down on the
FLOORBOARDS. Wood chips SPRAY until a GASH is opened. Dolar
REACHES in... pulling out a CANVAS BAG. A few COINS spill
out... COLD. He picks them up -- looks at the woman:
DOLARHYDE (SUBTITLE)
Need it to save Nat.
86.
And now her worry becomes FEAR; English now:
THE WOMAN
Is he okay?
DOLARHYDE
He's gonna be.
A storm of mixed emotions in his eyes. That stoic Dolarhyde
veneer starts to CRACK... just a hint... as the woman MOVES to
him... and TOUCHES his face.
And he lets her. WHOA. We realize: this woman is COLORADO'S
MOTHER. Dolarhyde, for all his wicked bluster, LOVES AN APACHE.
DOLARHYDE (CONT'D)
I won't let anything happen to him,
Jenny.
THE WOMAN
(SOFTLY)
Come back to me.
With that, he's GONE with the gold. Leaving her full of DREAD.
EXT. TWIN RIVER FALLS - CAVERN ENTRANCE - DAY
A CASCADING WATERFALL flows over rock face into the TWIN RIVERS.
The water curtain covers a CAVERN ENTRANCE. The back way in.
Jake, Ella, Doc, Colorado and the Apaches cross slippery rocks
and push through the water...
INT. LIMESTONE CAVERN - CONTINUOUS
Behind the curtain, they shake off the wet and remove TORCHES
from waterproof buffalo-hide pouches. FIRELIGHT as our team
creeps along in a column. TENSE. Jake glances at Colorado:
JAKE
You and Percy're brothers, huh?
NAT COLORADO
... half.
JAKE
So... your momma and Dolarhyde---
NAT COLORADO
We friends now? Last I checked, you shot
my ear off.
JAKE
(a beat; then)
Want it back?
87.
Colorado GRUMBLES, pushes ahead of Jake...
EXT. FORT HUACHUCA - MORNING
A BUZZARD picks at the EAR of a DEAD GANG MEMBER. More birds
scavenge the dismembered remains of JAKE'S CREW as the rest of
its LIVING MEMBERS -- roughly 30 -- tend wounds and get ready to
move on. One of them looks up...
.. and sees an INCOMING RIDER on the horizon:
OUTLAW
BRONC!
BRONC and HUNT look up. Draws their GUNS. So does the rest of
the gang... until they see the rider's waving a WHITE FLAG. As
he comes closer -- they realize it's DOLARHYDE:
HUNT
One of them fellas Jake was ridin' with!
Dolarhyde rides into camp, REARING in front of 30 guns
BRONC
The hell you want?
DOLARHYDE
It's about what you want.
He reaches into his pocket and tosses Bronc a GOLD COIN:
DOLARHYDE (CONT'D)
Lonergan stole your gold. That's a taste
of what I got -- more'n you've ever seen.
It's all yours if you help me get my boy
back.
The men trade LOOKS. Bronc eyes the coin. Alight with greed:
BRONC
Who's got your boy?
DOLARHYDE
Well, there's the rub.
(BEAT)
I got two.
Off that --
INT. DEEPER IN THE LIMESTONE CAVERN - CONTINUOUS
Our team has travelled far into the bowels of the cavern. Jake
STOPS, torchlight reflecting the GOLD in the cavern walls.
Doc cracks off a piece. POCKETS it. Shrugs:
88.
DOC
In case we live through this.
They SNEAK on down the narrow shaft til they're funneled into...
THE WATER GROTTO
Where our TOWNSPEOPLE were hanging. Now, GONE. Around the
corner, the sound of ENGINES POWERING UP...
A TRANSPORT. A dozen WORKER-BEE ALIENS try to corral the HORSES
from the pen -- cruelly jabbing the animals with ALIEN CATTLE
PRODS. The mares REAR and WHINNY.
JAKE
We're never gonna get close to that ship.
Silently. a DRIPPING. GLISTENING SHAPE rises un from the WATER
behind them. Swaying like a COBRA ready to strike:
Our people TURN... the TUBE ALIEN snatches one of the Apaches,
SWALLOWING HIM in its thorny snout! The indian SCREAMS --
JAKE
Lights a WHISKEY MOLOTOV, hurls it at the CREATURE: BOOM! It
KEENS, BURNING, SPITTING OUT the Apache. ALERTED, the dozen
aliens by the transport SWARM at our heroes!
NAT COLORADO
C g_that shuttle.
Colorado readies his TOMAHAWK -- Jake meets his eyes:
JAKE
Knew there was a good reason I didn't
kill you.
NAT COLORADO
Just thinkin' the same thing.
The men trade FATEFUL LOOKS... then the Indians HURL MOLOTOVS at
the charging horde: KAAA-BOOM! Aliens TWIST and SCREAM --
The Apaches STRIKE FEARLESSLY -- but the aliens quickly RECOVER
and SHAKE THEM OFF, tearing most of them to SHREDS.
The horses BREAK FREE and crash madly through the cavern --
And this is the DISTRACTION Jake and Ella need to make their run,
for the transport -- up the loading ramp:
INT. TRANSPORT SHUTTLE - MINI CARGO BAY - CONTINUOUS
Ella SLAMS a switch and the ramp DRAWS UP. Jake FREEZES:
COCOONS hang all around, filled with motionless HUMAN BEINGS.
89.
ELLA
Jake - -
(he can only stare)
JAKE.
She slaps open an ENGINEERING HATCH, drops down a LADDER. He
takes a last awful look and SLIDES down after her --
INT. TRANSPORT SHUTTLE COCKPIT - CONTINUOUS
-- the ladder funnels into the COCKPIT. Ella starts TAPPING the
console and HOLO-DISPLAYS appear, Alien text, rotating
graphics. She slides into a SEAT --
ELLA
Strap in. dammit!!!
JAKE
Into what?!?
Ella JAMS a lever forward and the shuttle RISES. JAKE grabs
WEBBING that must be some type of SEATBELT, feeling the
sensation of ELLQU as:
INT. CAVERN TUNNELS - CONTINUOUS
Ella pilots the ship UPWARD, thrusters belching a WAKE OF FIRE
that SCORCHES cavern walls and INCINERATES 6 ALIENS!
As a HORSE streaks by, Colorado grabs a hunk of mane, LEAPS ON --
NAT COLORADO (SUBTITLE)
LET'S GO!!!
DOC comes RUNNING frantically:
DOC
DON'T LEAVE ME!!!
Colorado PULLS Doc up onto the horse's bare back -- no easy task
with Doc's 300 POUNDS. The remaining Apaches (5) commandeer
horses and GALLOP HARD down the tunnel --
Two aliens jump on MANTA-SPEEDERS in pursuit!
INT. UNDERGROUND TUNNELS - DAY
THE TRANSPORT SHUTTLE KAMIKAZES THROUGH BI-SECTING TUNNELS:
Jake has NEVER moved this fast, BARELY avoiding walls as Ella
expertly pilots the ship. LEFT -- RIGHT -- SIDEWAYS -- up
ahead, DIM LIGHT spills from a FISSURE leading above ground:
ELLA
Hold on.
90.
She cranks back and the ship PITCHES upward --
INT. TRANSPORT SHUTTLE - OVER THE CANYON - CONTINUOUS
The shuttle BURSTS OUT into the canyon and skates the rim. Jake
fights the G-FORCES and teeth-rattling TURBULENCE as --
The craft keeps spiralling UP UP toward... THE OMINOUS CLOUD.
As we come closer, an IMPOSSIBLY BLUE GLOW blinds us:
EXT. UPPER CLOUD LAYER - CONTINUOUS
The shuttle BLASTS through the upper cloud layer, to reveal...
THE ALIEN SCOUT
-SHIP. ENORMOUS AND THREATENING, like a BLACK METAL CLAW. Cloud banks encircle the ship as if it were the eye
of a hurricane.
ON ELLA. Like ice down her spine... as we drift back to JAKE.
Trying to find a word to DESCRIBE this thing. Finally:
JAKE
Sheee-it.
INT. UNDERGROUND TUNNELS - CONTINUOUS
The rest of our heroes GALLOP FAST out the criss-crossing
tunnels -- KA-CHINNNG! Apaches are CLAMPED WITH STEEL COLLARS
and YANKED off their horses as the SPEEDERS roar in from behind!
Colorado VEERS toward a LIGHT as Doc ignites a molotov and they:
INT. ALIEN FORT - CANYON - CONTINUOUS
GALLOP Out into daylight, rigb-t_through the CENTER of the fort --
Doc THROWS his molotov and BOOM!!! Aliens go FLYING, on fire!
Doc throws another MOLOTOV, clearing a path for Colorado to RIDE
HARD for the fort's 30 FT. STEEL ENTRY GATES... which start
SWINGING CLOSED to trap them!
But at the LAST SECOND, the horse SLIPS THROUGH the narrow
opening as it THUNDERS CLOSED. Now the aliens are pissed off:
EXT. ALIEN FORT - CONTINUOUS
They start spilling over the fort walls in pursuit. A few mount
SPEEDERS and launch as our guys ride DOWN THE CANYON TRENCH:
,INT. CANYON TRENCH - CONTINUOUS
Colorado and Doc ZIG-ZAG around CURVES -- like mice navigatinga
maze, so the speeders can't get a clear shot:
DOC
They're gaining on us!
91.
NAT COLORADO
That's the point!
And just when it looks like Doc and Colorado are GONERS...
BOOM! An EXPLOSION rocks the canyon as something HURTLES DOWN
from above -- WHISKEY MOLOTOVS fired from the handmade
CATAPULTS. BOOM! BOOM! Aliens are VAPORIZED, SHRIEKING!
A cloudburst of FLAMING ARROWS brightens the sky as 20 APACHES
RISE UP along the canyon rims: A AMBUSH!
An ASSEMBLY LINE OF SQUAWS works like a drill team, soaking
WHISKEY RAGS and wrapping arrows. Among them, EMMETT and HAPPY!
The kid pocks an arrow like a damn EXPERT -- IGNITES it -- lets
it FLY -- WHOOSH! It SKEWERS a speeder pilot who BURSTS INTO
FLAMES, the speeder CORKSCREWS into another one, both EXPLODING:
EMMETT
YEAHHHHH!!!
THE ALIENS
Caught OFF-GUARD with NO WM TO TURN AROUND as from the OPPOSITE
END of the canyon, a BELLOWING WAR WHOOP:
GREY WOLF AND HIS 40 APACHES CHARGE IN. A MOVING HUMAN WALL
CRASH! The Apaches HURTLE into the flank of aliens. LASERS are
met with the CRACK of RIFLES and hatchets --
GREY WOLF (SUBTITLE)
TAKE THE FORT! ! !
The Apache leader spurs his horse onward, leading men toward the
alien bunker. An EXPLOSION CONSUMES FRAME, becoming the:
EXT. ALIEN SCOUT SHIP - ABOVE THE CLOUDS - CONTINUOUS
-- PLASMA FIRE of the shuttle's burners as it ROARS toward the
ALIEN SHIP... a SPECK against the BEHEMOTH:
INT. ALIEN SCOUT SHIP - COMMAND CENTER - CONTINUOUS
The shuttle sweeps past the command center's polarized window,
where... THE SLAVER watches with EVIL EYES.
He's on the UPPER LEVEL of a TWO-TIER COMMAND CENTER. A DOZEN
ALIENS operate holo-consoles. Readying the ship to leave.
INT. TRANSPORT SHUTTLE - SAME
Ella settles down on a GLOWING DOCKING COLLAR. With the two
ships CONNECTED, the DISPLAY flashes a DEPARTURE ALERT:
92.
ELLA JAKE
-- Dammit --- -- what--?
-- WHAT'S WRQNG?
-- she's CLIMBING back up the ladder, he FOLLOWS:
INT. SHUTTLE - LADDER TUBE - CONTINUOUS
They quickly CLIMB up the LADDER TUBE --
ELLA
Engines are warming up -- got eight
minutes til the ship leaves, and about
one til automated retrieval --
JAKE
-- autojamated what --?
INT. SHUTTLE - LOADING BAY - CONTINUOUS
As they spill into the LOADING BAY, a CLANG reverberates:
THE AIRLOCK DOOR -- AT THEIRFEyT
The first EXPLOSIVE BOLT shoots off. Ella jams her SHOTGUN into
a sheath on her back, presses herself flat:
ELLA
Hug the wall.
Jake does that beside her as the next bolt PINGS out --
ELLA (CONT'D)
When they come at us, aim for their
heads. Only way to kill 'em for sure.
He looks at his bracelet, adrenaline SURGING -- it ACTIVATES:
JAKE
I'll aim just fine.
THE LAST BOLT FIRES and the airlock door SHOOTS OFF:
A MULTI- D HYDRAULIC "GRABBER" RISES INTO THE MECHANICAL
LIMBS SWINGING AROUND INCHES FROM THEIR FACES!
JAKE (CONT'D)
SonofaBITCH!
The manipulator arms SCOOP UP COCOONS, pulling them DOWN the
AIRLOCK:
ELLA
C'MON!
She JUMPS through the airlock -- Jake has no time to think:
93.
JAKE
DAMMIT --
And JUMPS after her --
INT. SCOUT SHIP - "THE FARM" - CONTINUOUS
-- LANDING beside Ella. Starts to pick himself up... but what
he sees ASSAULTS HIS MIND. We RISE UP UP UP, Ella and Jake
growing SMALLER in what we now reveal is a MASSIVE HANGAR where:
AUTOMATED -ARMS PLANT RECENT ARRIVALS INTO A VERITABLE FOREST of
PEOPLE AND ANIMALS. Level after level, THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS
OF COCOONS are suspended from branch-like limbs.
Jake picks himself up, looking around the massive hangar in AWE.
ELLA
Ͽ�CIDYAPLQLWJJ
-- she PULLS HIM into an alcove as a machine arm SWINGS
overhead, flashing a WIDE CONICAL LASER that inventories cocoons
like the machine in the underground cave. As they CROUCH:
ELLA (CONT'D)
We can't let that thing see us or they'll
know we're here.
She turns -- hits buttons on a console -- a door SLIDES UP
leading to a series of CORRIDORS. She starts to MOVE --
ELLA (CONT'D)
This'll take us to the bridge --
But Jake doesn't follow. STARES at her --
JAKE
Slaver's up there--?
ELLA
I sure as hell hope not.
JAKE
Then I'm not goin' with you.
And now she HARDENS --
ELLA
You got any idea how big this ship is?
No ray you'll ever find him alone. Be
like findin' a needle in a--
-- SLAM!! Jake interrupts her by aiming at the LASER SCANNER
and FIRING HIS BLASTER, blowing it apart. The scanner eye
CRASHES to the floor, flaming. A KLAXON rings --
94.
JAKE
I ain't gonna find him. He's gonna find
me.
ELLA'S FURIOUS:
ELLA
Thanks for the head start.
She turns and RUNS. Jake moves to that scanner eye on the
floor, walks right up to it and STARES into the shattered IRIS:
JAKE
Alright, you sonofabitch... come and get
me.
INT. ALIEN SCOUT SHIP - COMMAND CENTER - CONTINUOUS
JAKE'S FACE APPEARS AS A THERMAL HEAT SOURCE -- fritzing as he
stares into the scanner. ALARMS scream.
THE SLAVER fills with RAGE. And RECOGNITION.
Aliens begin grabbing WEAPONS but The Slaver SHRIEKS for them to
STOP. We don't need to speak alien to understand:
"He's mine. "
INT. SCOUT SHIP - CORRIDORS - CONTINUOUS
Jake has moved out into the corridors -- blaster ready -- eyes
darting -- suddenly -- WHAM:
A STEEL BARRICADE SLAMS DOWN BEHIND HIM. WHAM! Another in
front -- WHAM! He's TRAPPED, shut off from the passageways...
.. except ONE. A long, dark tunnel. A DOOR at the far end
HISSES open: THE TURBOLIFT ELEVATOR.
ON JAKE. Understanding... his call is bging answe
JAKE
(QUIETLY; HARD)
Okay.
And starts walking to the elevator... as a SCREAM takes us to:
INT. CANYON - DAY
Handmade LADDERS are SWUNG FORWARD onto the fort as Apaches try
to SCALE the wall, but are BLOWN BACK by ALIEN PARAPET SENTRIES.
ON DOC -- running TRIAGE on wounded warriors:
95.
DOC
I need more bandages now!/ You: lint and
splint that leg!
GREY WOLF (SUBTITLE)
We're losing ranks ! ! !
And then, out of nowhere... the BANG BANG BANG of 30 pistols
fills the air as --
DOLARHYDE RIDES IN WITH JAKE'S GANG! A renewed SURGE of energy
as cowboys join Indians to fortify their ranks:
NAT COLORADO
You came back!
DOLARHYDE
Told you: I take care of my kin.
Colorado knows that's as close to "I love you" as he'll ever
get. But the UPSWING is short-lived as:
A speeder WHIZZES past, dropping a METALLIC BUNDLE. It splits
open right in front of the fort's STEEL GATES -- pieces
hydraulically ASSEMBLING THEMSELVES in seconds, becoming:
THE MOTHERFUCKING SUPERGUN_OF DEATH. TWO LETHAL BARRELS spin to
life, firing STRANGE STEEL BALL BEARINGS in every direction.
CLAW HOOKS snap out of the balls, EMBEDDING in soldiers! One
LODGES in a GANG MEMBER beside DOC -- he FLAILS:
GANG MEMBER
HELP ME!!! GET IT OFF!
A RED SPRING-LOADED PIN depresses in the ball's center: KA-BOOM!
SEARING WHITE LIGHT TURNS THE OFFICER TOAASH -- AN ALIEN
GRENADE! Doc goes FLYING from the kickback, landing near:
GREY WOLF -- FWWWWTWHCK!!! Another claw-ball CLAMPS into the
Apache's SHOULDER -- he SHOUTS, struggles to pull it out --
DOC
DON'T. STOP, DAMMIT!!!!
The RED PIN starts to depress -- pOC LUNGES, JAMS HIS FINGER
RETJff&H_THE PIN AND BLASTING CAP. Now he's stopped it from
exploding, but if he pulls his finger out... HE DIES TOO.
DOC and GREY WOLF lock eyes. Their fates suddenly ENTWINED as --
INT. SCOUT SHIP - TURBOLIFT - MOVING - CONTINUOUS
Bars of light move rhythmically across Jake's face -- BURNING
with determination -- as he travels up in the turbolift. It
slows to a STOP. The door cycles open and --
96.
-- the STRANGEST THING happens. DESERT SAND billows in a gust
of ventilated air. SAND?! Jake emerges, blocking his eyes:
INT. SCOUT SHIP - JUNKPILE CARGO HANGAR - CONTINUOUS
-- the sand swirls and eddies. Visibility reduced to ZERO. As
Jake pushes through, the air clears a little...
His eyes WIDEN. Trying to make SENSE of what he sees:
Remember all those BUILDINGS that were pulled up into the
tornado when Absolution was attacked? And that CRATER they
found that used to be "Winfield's Landing"? It-'-s all-HE
in a junkwle hangar. Building pieces. False front
facades. Debris piled on top of each other, TILTED AND TWISTED
AT FUNHOUSE ANGLES. And the desert sand that was sucked up
along with it all.
A GLOWING REACTOR casts hellish light on the dormant wreckage.
Weapon ready, Jake moves past part of A BROTHEL. Jutting
fragments of a HORSE CORRAL. A CREAKING SALOON SIGN swings like
a pendulum, CLANKS EERILY.
A STEAM PIPE EXPLODES STEAM. Jake WHIRLS -- and like demons...
5 ALIENS emerge. Slowly. Fanning out, taking positions as...
THE SLAVER steps out of the smoke, squarely facing Jake. aAd_h@--
is holding ELLA hostage. WRIST BLASTER pressed to her throat.
Jake and Ella LOCK EYES. She's terrified, but staying STRONG.
His hand LINGERS at his hip, blaster ready.
JAKE
Drop the woman. We both know this ain't
about her.
But The Slaver only presses his blaster HARDER into Ella's neck.
Almost GRINNING. And Jake MEETS the look --
JAKE (CONT'D)
She says you're as bad as they come.
Jake curls back the fingers on both hands, CRACKING knuckles:
JAKE (CONT'D)
Well, you ugly sonofabitch... they say
the same about me.
A pipe SPEWS STEAM -- UNNERVINGLY LOUD. Then STOPS.
JAKE (CONT'D)
Could'a had your boys kill me five times
over, instead you rolled out the red
carpet... so let's get it over with.
97.
The Slaver HISSES ANGRILY at the challenge. PUSHES Ella roughly
off to one of his GANG, who keeps a blaster pressed to her side.
Vow ' O right the a ter of the "town" junkpile.
THE SLAVER -- his hand at his side, twitching.
JAKE -- his hand is still.
A PIPE SPRAYS STEAM AGAIN, SCREAMINGLY LOUD AND --
Everyone DRAWS! But Jake's INSANELY FAST as he drops to a knee
and FIRES gunsmoke-style -- BLAM SLAM! The Slaver's HIT and --
ELLA -- WRENCHES her captor's arm backward and he fires USELESS
ROUNDS into the air -- she takes a HIT in the leg as Jake SHOOTS
the captor with a SHOT to the temple --
Jake GRABS and PULLS Ella to safety behind a SHREDDED STORE
FRONT, taking cover -- lasers PUNCHING through the building
walls -- Ella spots an ALIEN lunging around a corner:
ELLA
BEHIND YOU!!!
Jake WHIRLS, SLAM!!! The creature FLIES off its feet.
JAKE
Stay down.
Ella does, and here come the rest of the aliens as Jake GUNS
THEM ALL DOWN WITH PERFECT AIM.
The REACTOR is hit in the crossfire and the ship RESPONDS with a
turbine HOWL.
Corpses litter the floor... all except for The Slaver. A trail
of FLUORESCENT BLOOD leads around the corner...
Jake WHIRLS to Ella -- her leg wounded --
JAKE (CONT'D)
-- you alright?
In PAIN, she snatches one of those SMART DISCS off a dead alien:
ELLA
Reactor's hit. if I don't get this ship
on the ground soon, we're all dead...
(tries to STAND, WINCES)
Get me over to that turbolift.
He slings an arm around her shoulder and LIFTS her, helping her
to the elevator --
98.
ELLA (CONT'D)
Put me inside.
He does. She sees his eyes go back to The Slaver's BLOOD TRAIL:
ELLA (CONT'D)
I can manage the rest without you.
(tough... but with
COMPASSION)
Go do what you came up here to do.
He looks at her. At the blood. At the unstable REACTOR.
And Jake Lonergan makes a CHOICE:
JAKE
Goddamnit.
-- he gets INTO THE ELEVATOR with her. She SLAMS the control
pad, doors CLOSE -- they start rocketing upward. She half-grins
as her eyes hold on him. And within them... trust. AND FAITH.
JAKE (CONT'D)
Stop smiling.
EXT. THE BATTLEFIELD - OUTSIDE ALIEN FORT - CONTINUOUS
As the FORT SIEGE continues, DOLARHYDE and COLORADO gallop back
and forth between their men:
DOLARHYDE
DON'T BREAK RANKS! HOLD YOUR LINES
GODDAMIT! WE CAN TAKE THIS FOR--
-- KATHWAM! An EXPLOSION throws them off their horses.
Colorado picks up his father and they start RUNNING LOW under
stray beams of PLASMA FIRE, reaching Doc and Grey Wolf:
THE FOUR MEN -- PINNED BEHIND THE ROCK EMBANKMENT:
Doc's finger is still STUCK in that ALIEN GRENADE, clamped to
the bleeding Apache's shoulder:
DOL.ARHYDE (CONT'D)
The hell iz that?
Grey Wolf MOANS in pain. Doc SHOUTS to Dolar:
DOC
Tell him to hold still! If I have this
thing figured right, long as t keep my
finger under the red pin we won't blow
up!
GREY WOLF (SUBTITLE)
What's he saying?:
99.
DOLARHYDE (SUBTITLE)
He says we're all gonna die.
COLORADO
We need to pull it out of his shoulder!
DOLARHYDE
I'm not pullin' anything!
(RE: DOC)
He's the damn doctor!
ZZZZZZAM! MORE people are CUT DOWN by the Alien GRENADE CANNON
-- the BLOWBACK nearly KNOCKS the grenade out of Doe's hand --
DOC
SHIT!
Dolarhyde gets an IDEA. HARDENS. Looks Doc right in the eye:
DOLARHYDE
Alright, listen -- you slide your finger
from under that pin, I'll slip mine in
and hold it in place. Then you pull it
out and I'll throw it.
Doc NODS fearfully. Dolar carefully SLIPS his finger under the
pin as Doc SLIPS it out. PHEW. Now Doc takes hold of the
grenade itself, nods "ready" to pull it out. Grey Wolf braces
FOR PAIN:
DOC
On three...
(DOLAR NODS)
One... t --
DOLARHYDE
-- Wait.
Everyone LURCHES from the tension interrupt:
DOLARHYDE (CONT'D)
Tell your wife we're clear.
DOC
What?
DOLARHYDE
-- your wife. Maria. We had an
arrangement. I left your saloon alone
and she paid me off.
ON DOC. Reeling, now REALLY confused --
DOC
We're broke. Paid you off with what?
100.
DOLARHYDE
She stole from the people in your morgue.
Gold teeth, trinkets, pocket watches --
It LANDS on Doc: that's why he fond the watch under their bed.
DOC
I thought she was cheating!
DOLARHYDE
Just robbin' corpses.
DOC
Thank God!
(and then -- )
Wait. You hate me. Why're you telling
me this?
With GENUINE REMORSE:
DOLARHYDE
May not get another chance --
(THEN)
-- and I still hate ya.
A MOMENT. Forgiveness and atonement.
GREY WOLF (SUBTITLE)
WILL YOU GET ON WITH IT?111
DOC AND DOLARHYDE
One... two... three!
And Doc RIPS the grenade from Grey Wolf's shoulder -- he HOWLS,
CLAMPS tearing out of his flesh. But they did it!
As more EXPLOSIONS decimate men, Dolarhyde PULLS the grenade out
of Doc's hands, still holding his finger under the FIRING PIN --
DOC
WHAT'RE YOU--
Dolarhyde looks at Colorado:
DOLARHYDE
Tell your mother I love her.
With that, he CHARGES into the swirling chaos
NAT COLORADO
WAIT!
-- but BOOM! Colorado's FORCED BACK by an explosion -- through
the debris, he sees his father running toward...
THE SUPERCANNON
101.
Dolarhyde HURLS the grenade -- BOOM!!! IT DETONATES IN A
MILLION PIECES! DOLARHYDE DISAPPEARS IN THE BLAST!
COLORADO
NO!!!!!
But his sacrifice 7M S THE TIDE! THE EXPLOSION BLOWS THE
FORT'S FRONT GATES OFF! THEY TOPPLE ON A WHOLE BUNCH OF ALIENS!
A CRY OF VICTORY as the humans STORM THROUGH! Aliens hurtle
back in DISORDER --
INT. SCOUT SHIP - COMMAND CENTER - CONTINUOUS
The small ALIEN BRIDGE CREW scrambles to control the damaged
ship. The WHIR of the lift arriving, doors OPEN and --
WHOOSH! The SMART WEAPON blurs out of the elevator, SLICING
HALF A DOZEN ALIENS IN HALF -- circles back around to ELLA, who
skillfully catches it as she RUN/LIMPS from the lift with JAKE --
LASER FIRE IGNITES THE BRIDGE as he makes QUICK WORK of the rest
and Ella mans a console, getting to work --
ELLA
We're going down fast.
She calls up telemetry on a HOLO-WINDOW: EARTH TERRAIN -- The
BATTLEFIELD. Sets coordinates, vectoring the ship that way:
A WHIR as a SECOND TURBOLIFT arrives... AND THE SLAVER STEPS
QQT. Wounded, and very PISSED OFF. Jake says to Ella:
JAKE
No matter what.
Jake and The Slaver HURTLE into each other, TUMBLE off a
catwalk, CRASHING into conduits and GUNKY WATER below.
Jake staggers up but The Slaver is HUGE -- SLAMS Jake back into
the water. PINS A FOOT on his blaster arm -- CRUSHING IT.
Jake HOWLS as The Slaver presses a series of those HIEROGLYPH
MARKINGS on Jake's BRACELET -- the symbols LIGHT UP in an UNLOCK
CODE -- and KA-CHING! The bracelet POPS OF.E.
The Slaver TOSSES IT into the gunky water. Draws his LASER WHIP
-- WHUP-SNAP! The white-hot tip LASHES JAKE'S BACK, ripping his
shirt and BURN-SCARRING HIS BACK!
Jake SCREAMS in agony as The Slaver WHIPS HIM MERCILESSLY --
EXT. SKIES ABOVE DESERT - CONTINUOUS
The Scout Ship SCREAMS down out of the cloud, toward the CANYON:
102.
EXT. CANYON BATTLEFIELD - CONTINUOUS
Outlaws and Apaches finish off the wounded, TOMAHAWKS RIPPING
AWAY TENTACLED SCALPS! Carnage and joy -- but then:
A MONSTROUS SHADOW spreads over the battlefield. Everyone looks
up to see the SCOUT SHIP PLUMMETING DOWN --
GREY WOLF (SUBTITLE)
Fall back!!! NOW!! NOW!!
INT. SCOUT SHIP - COMMAND CENTER - LOWER LEVEL - CONTINUOUS
Another LASER WHIP SNAP and Jake seems DONE. Now The Slaver
LIFTS Jake from the water, CRUSHING his wind-pipe.
Jake FLAILS, REACHING for something BELOW FRAME... finally GRABS
and STABS it into The Slaver's side. The Alien ROARS in pain
and looks down to see --
ONE OF HIS OWN "ICE TACKS" FROM HIS BANDOLIER EMBEDDED IN HIS
SIDE. IT STARTS TO GLOW BLUE WITH A HIGH-PITCH WHINE:
JAKE
Go to hell.
THE SLAVER'S ROAR OF DEFEAT IS CUT SHORT AS THE MOTHERFUCKER
FREEZES TO GREY STONE. EXPLODING IN A MILLION PIECES!!!
Jake DROPS, GASPING. Revenge fulfilled. Painfully starts
CLIMBING a ladder back to the upper deck --
EXT. CANYON - BATTLEFIELD - CONTINUOUS
As the humans FLEE from the fort, the remaining aliens RETREAT
to the last shuttles for ESCAPE... start to LIFT OFF...
But find themselves SMASHING into the ENORMOUS HULL of the ship
as_it crashe _down!
INT. SCOUT SHIP - COMMAND CENTER - CONTINUOUS
Jake FALLS into the seat beside Ella, straps in. Fighting the
controls, she SEES THE WHIP MARKS on his back. It TEARS her
heart open. And because this might be the end... she ADMITS:
ELLA
I lied.
JAKE
... I know.
ELLA
No, I heard what you said when I was
layin' there...
103.
JAKE. Taken aback. LAID BARE. As she says:
ELLA (CONT'D)
You are a good man. At least... to me.
The ground GROWS BIGGER out the window. Her HAND reaches over
for his. JAKE'S HAND clasps hers and --
EXT. BADLANDS - THE BATTLEFIELD - CONTINUOUS
THE SHIP PLUNGES INTO THE CANYON AND CLEAR THROUGH THE ALIEN
FORT, RIPPING IT INTO TIDAL-WAVE MOUNDS OF SHRAPNEL... CHEWS UP
A HALF-MILE BEFORE SLOWLY COMING TO A FINAL, WRENCHING... STOP.
The frame is WHITE with dust and SUNSHINE. As from the ether
comes...
EMMETT, HAPPY, and DOC, with GREY WOLF's arm slung over his
shoulder. Among other faces, White and Apache... all of them
PROUD WARRIORS. Staring in awe at:
THE CRASHED ALIEN SHIP. DUG DEEP INTO THE CANYON FLOOR.
Something starts to rain down. Looks at first like glitter...
until we realize it's GOLD DUST.
From an OPENING in the Scout Ship, the sound of THUNDERING
HOOVES as... ALL THE ANIMALS STAMPEDE OUT. Then, slowly...
HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE emerge, dazed -- their minds slowly WAKING
UP. White and Kiowa-Apache ABDUCTEES.
DOC RUSHES IN, searching faces -- no -- no -- no -- n--
THERE she is, his BELOVED MARIA, stumbling weakly toward him as
tears runs down her cheek. He EMBRACES her madly, kissing every
inch of her face as...
EMMETT pushes through the crowd, sees SHERIFF TAGGART --
EMMETT
PAW!!!! PAW!!!!
The kid GRABS his father and holds him for dear life, as Taggart
stares back in a daze --
EMMETT (CONT'D)
It's me -- it's Emmett.
And somewhere in there, RECOGNITION comes to the Sheriff's
eyes... Emmett SMILES and throws his arms around his father
again as --
THE TOWNSFOLK OF ABSOLUTION AND THE APACHES FIND EACH OTHER.
Families, lovers, friends... reunited.
104.
COLORADO
Moving through the FALLEN BODIES toward the lifeless form of
Dolarhyde, his FATHER. Eyes welling, he drops to his knees...
A VOICE (O.S.)
Nat?
Colorado turns -- it's PERCY. Confused. Like waking from a
dream. Sees his father on the ground...
PERCY
What... happened?
And all Colorado can say is...
NAT COLORADO
He's dead.
That HANGS there. Percy blinks. And then --
PERCY
Who's gettin' the ranch?
ON COLORADO. At first, words that don't compute. Then PURE
BLIND RAGE takes hold and his FISTS FLY, PUNCHING PERCY:
NAT COLORADO PERCY
YOU SONOFABITCH! HE JUST STOP! NAT, STOP!!!
SAVED YOUR WORTHLESS LITTLE
LIFE!
DOLARHYDE (O.S.)
HEY!
Colorado WHIRLS -- DOLARHYDE IS STAGGERING TO HIS FEET, ALIVE!
DOLARHYDE (CONT'D)
No one's gettin' my ranch.
Stunned, Colorado GRINS. Percy spits blood, points accusingly --
PERCY
Paw, he--
Dolarhyde SMACKS Percy across the face:
PERCY (CONT'D)
OW!!! What'd you do that for?
UOLARHYUE
For being an ungrateful little bastard.
Now shake your brother's hand and thank
him for saving your ass, cause it's more
than you ever would'a done bjM.
105.
Chastened, Percy glowers at Colorado. Grudgingly reaches out a
hand. So does Nat. As they SHAKE --
DOLARHYDE (CONT'D)
That's better.
JAKE
Staggers through the crowd. And sees ELLA. Thgy did it. But
she still looks TROUBLED. Staring out at the vast desert...
JAKE
. what is it?
ELLA
We didn't get all of 'em. Some ran oft.
That LANDS on Jake, as he too looks toward the endless horizon.
HOLD on them, together, a VICTORIOUS but UNRESOLVED note...
We RISE UP over the sea of bodies and the CRASHED SHIP, until
Jake and Ella are just two small figures in the crowd...
FADE TO:
EXT. TOWN OF ABSOLUTION - DAY
A glorious sight: Absolution in REBIRTH -- FLUSH from all that
GOLD. Storefronts brightly painted, the streets ALIVE.
We PICK UP EMMETT running through the hustle and bustle with two
APACHE KIDS. Suddenly, DOLARHYDE, COLORADO and their gang ride
in. SHERIFF TAGGART emerges from his office with DEPUTY WADE:
SHERIFF TAGGART
EMMETT! GET OVER HERE!!!
EMMETT
-- what? What'd I dQ?
SHERIFF TAGGART EMMETT
Get outta the road before
you're run down! If your (overlapping)
momma saw y-- -- "saw me playin' in the
street she'd roll over in her
grave and shoot lightnin'
bolts outta her eyes," I know,
I know!
He runs off. Taggart SMIRKS:
SHERIFF TAGGART
Kid's got a mouth on him.
106.
DEPUTY WADE
Well, Kyle, considering he saved your
life, guess you'll just have to grin'n
bear it.
Dolar moves up to Taggart, tough as ever. The men HOLD looks:
SHERIFF TAGGART
Woodrow.
DOLARHYDE
Kyle.
Percy STEWS about something. Dolar WHACKS him upside the head:
DOLARHYDE (CONT'D)
Go_ _on.
Grudgingly, Percy hands Taggart a SHEAF OF PAPER --
SHERIFF TAGGART
What's this?
DOLARHYDE
Claims to the land 50 miles west of here.
I've signed it over to the township of
Absolution.
(off Taggart's LOOK)
Considering I'm a businessman, I figure
expansion's in both our interests. Needs
the Sheriff's signature to be official.
SHERIFF TAGGART
Fifty miles west of here is where the
goldmine is, Woodrow.
DOLARHYDE
(A BEAT)
That so.
With surprise, Taggart studies the paper. SMILES:
SHERIFF TAGGART
What's this about twenty percent going to
the Apaches?
Dolarhyde glances at Colorado. A moment. But the hardened
rancher maintains his rock-solid facade:
DOLARHYDE
Figure the only way not to piss 'em off
is to buy 'em.
SHERIFF TAGGART
Since when'd you worry about pissin'
anyone off?
107.
DOLARHYDE
Just sign it, Goddamnit.
With a grin, Taggart gestures for Deputy Wade to turn around and
flattens the paper on his BACK, using it as a surface to SIGN:
SHERIFF TAGGART
I'd say you were being generous, Woodrow,
but I know you'd just be insulted.
DOLARHYDE
Damn right.
Dolar gives his hat a TIP, then mounts up to go -- and we RISE
UP to the UPPER FLOOR of the GOLD LEAF SALOON, in the process of
being rebuilt in grand style -- and MOVE IN on a WINDOW where:
INT. BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
DOC AND MARIA burst through a door, tearing passionately at each
other's CLOTHES -- Maria MOANS as Doc kisses her neck:
DOC MARIA
SHH! The workers will hear
us!!! Let them hear!
As they TUMBLE back onto the bed, Doc LURCHES. Reaches under
his back to find... a GOLD POCKETWATCH.
DOC
What is this?
MARIA
Look at the inscription.
He flips it open to find an ENGRAVING: "MI CORAZON... POR
SIEMPRE." Doc looks up at her, MOVED. Then -- PLAYFULLY:
DOC
This looks like Aldo Mayberry's watch...
MARIA
Shut up and kiss me.
She pulls him down, OUT OF FRAME --
EXT. EDGE OF TOWN - DAY
A hand unties a HORSE from its tether bar -- it's JAKE. Saddle
bags packed. A BARK turns him around... HAPPY. Yipping for
Jake to FOLLOW. He GRINS. As MUSIC begins to RISE -- HOPEFUL:
EXT. ARIZONA DESERT - DAY
In a LONG SHOT -- the distant SILHOUETTES of Happy BOUNDING
through the shallow TWIN RIVERS, Jake following on horseback...
108.
EXT. RIM OF CANYON - DAY
As Jake approaches, APACHE SENTRIES emerge from rocks to keep
outsiders away. Jake TIPS his hat and they nod, let him pass.
He nears the bluff where ELLA, GREY WOLF, and the rest of the
Apaches finish laying DYNAMITE DET CORD that trails down into
the canyon. Ella hears Happy BARKING -- turns to see her dog
with Jake. She smiles as he rides up, dismounts:
ELLA
Second damn time that dog ran off on me.
JAKE
Second time he brought me to you.
Happy's tail wags. The look between Jake and Ella HOLDS. And
it seems freighted with everything. Finally, he breaks it --
glancing at the Apaches finishing their work with the dynamite,
and the remnants of the ALIEN SHIP and FORTRESS below.
JAKE (CONT'D)
Looks like you got everything set.
Ella eyes Jake's horse, loaded with GEAR. Looks up, clearly
DISAPPOINTED:
ELLA
Where you headed?
JAKE
(A BEAT)
Got some messes to clean up.
But she looks at him. fEADI.NG liim. wryly:
ELLA
Messes.
JAKE
... Yep.
(then; off her look)
What.
She walks right up to his horse. Right up to HIM:
ELLA
I think you're ridin' off cause you're
just scared of what'll happen if you
stay.
An INFERENCE here. Ella's going BOLD. Jake swings off his
horse, lands beside her. Now. Almost CURIOUS:
JAKE
And what's gonna happen?
109.
She steps CLOSER to him... INTIMATE:
ELLA
You know.
A CHARGE between them. All they wanna do is KISS...
But that'd be too easy. And those wounds of his, they haven't
quite healed. He drops his eyes; SOFTLY NOW:
JAKE
If I stay... it's not gonna be good for
anybody, Ella.
A beat. She looks off. Nods. They say nothing. And now he
slowly climbs back on his horse. Ella TOUGHENS:
ELLA
Heard some rumors outta Abilene. Weird
noises at night. Cattle mutilations.
Weather phenomena. Figured I'd ride down
there. Give it a look-see.
JAKE
(his eyes narrow)
What's 'phenomena'?
ELLA
Big storms in places that don't get big
storms.
ON JAKE. Every fighting instinct in him suddenly IGNITED,
though he plays it down:
JAKE
You goin' down there yourself?
ELLA
Why? You worried about me?
You bet your ass he is. But, he shakes his head--
JAKE
No, ma'am. You can take care of yourself
just fine.
(then; tips his hat)
Be seein' you around.
ELLA
goodbye, Jake.
He gets back on his horse. Starts to ride off. Happy BARKS and
trots alongside him. BARK BARK BARK. In dog that means "Don't
be an idiot." Jake glances over --
110.
JAKE
Get the hell away from me, you damn mutt.
(BARK, BARK)
Go on, GET.
He heels his horse, leaving Happy behind to WHINE.
Jake rides off into the sunset. But his heart's KICKING in his
chest. And this is pretty much where things usually end...
But. Jake pulls the REINS as he SIGHS. Turns the horse around.
TROTS back to Ella, whose smile WIDENS as he closes the gap
between them.
Finally STOPS right in front of her. And despite his best
effort to stay TOUGH... he just plain likes her:
JAKE (CONT'D)
Abilene happens to be on my way.
He reaches out a hand... she takes it... as he PULLS HER UP INTO
THE SADDLE. Ella grinning ear-to-ear as she folds her arms
around his waist. Jake -- ever the outlaw -- grumbles:
JAKE (CONT'D)
Stop smiling, Goddammit.
He KICKS the horse and Happy follows. Ella shoots a goodbye
look to Grey Wolf, who NODS. Signals his men and FUSES ARE LIT:
The DYNAMITE FUSES ssssssnake down the mountain -- reaching the
canyon floor -- INTO those limestone tunnels where CLUSTERS OF
DYNAMITE have been placed... and as FUSE MEETS EXPLOSIVE:
ANGLE - JAKE AND ELLA CRESTING A HILL -- B000000000000MI The
THUNDER of EXPLOSIONS makes them rear. They turn back to see...
THE TWIN RIVERS GEYSERING UP INTO THE CANYON. COVERING ALL
EVIDENCE OF THE ALIEN SHIP AND 'Q T.
Ella folds her arms TIGHTER around Jake, her heart full. With a
nod of private affirmation, he spurs the horse with a HYAI
As the canyon behind them fills with rushing water, Jake and
Ella ride hard into the fiery sunset...
Away from the past, toward a future full of promise.
FADE OUT.
Aliens - by James Cameron
"ALIENS"
by
James Cameron
FIRST DRAFT
May 28, 1985
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ALIENS
FADE IN
SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE - SPACE 1
Silent and endless. The stars shine like the love of
God...cold and remote. Against them drifts a tiny chip
of technology.
CLOSER SHOT It is the NARCISSUS, lifeboat of the
ill-fated star-freighter Nostromo. Without interior
or running lights it seems devoid of life. The PING
of a RANGING RADAR grows louder, closer. A shadow
engulfs the Narcissus. Searchlights flash on, playing
over the tiny ship, as a MASSIVE DARK HULL descends
toward it.
INT. NARCISSUS 2
Dark and dormant as a crypt. The searchlights stream
in the dusty windows. Outside, massive metal forms can
BE SEEN descending around the shuttle. Like the tolling
of a bell, a BASSO PROFUNDO CLANG reverberates through
the hull.
CLOSE ON THE AIRLOCK DOOR Light glares as a cutting
torch bursts through the metal. Sparks shower into the
room.
A second torch cuts through. They move with machine
precision, cutting a rectangular path, converging. The
torches meet. Cut off. The door falls inward REVEALING
a bizarre multi-armed figure. A ROBOT WELDER.
FIGURES ENTER, backlit and ominous. THREE MEN in
bio-isolation suits, carrying lights and equipment. They
approach a sarcophaguslike HYPERSLEEP CAPSULE, f.g.
LEADER
(filtered)
Internal pressure positive. Assume
nominal hull integrity. Hypersleep
capsules, style circa late twenties...
His gloved hand wipes at on opaque layer of dust on the
canopy.
ANGLE INSIDE CAPSULE as light stabs in where the dust is
wiped away, illuminating a WOMAN, her face in peaceful
repose.
WARRANT OFFICER RIPLEY, sole survivor of the Nostromo.
Nestled next to her is JONES, the ship's wayward cat.
LEADER
(voice over; filtered)
Lights are green. She's alive.
Well, there goes out salvage, guys.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - TIGHT ON RIPLEY - GATEWAY STATION 3
She's lying in a bed, looking wan, as a female MED-TECH
raises the backrest. She is surrounded by arcane white
MEDICAL EQUIPMENT. The Med-Tech exudes practiced
cheeriness.
MED-TECH
Why don't I open the viewport?
Watch your eyes.
Harsh light floods in as a motorized shield slides into
the ceiling, REVEALING a breathtaking vista. Beyond the
sprawling complex of modular habitats, collectively
called GATEWAY STATION, is the curve of EARTH as seen
from high orbit. Blue and serene.
MED-TECH
And how are we today?
RIPLEY
(weakly)
Terrible.
MED-TECH
Just terrible? That's better
than yesterday at least.
RIPLEY
How long have I been on
Gateway station?
MED-TECH
Just a couple of days. Do you
feel up to a visitor?
Ripley shrugs, not caring. The door opens and a MAN
enters, although Ripley sees only what he is carrying.
A familiar large, orange TOMCAT.
RIPLEY
Jones!
She grabs the cat like a life preserver.
RIPLEY
(cooing baby-cat talk)
Come here Jonesy you ugly old
moose...you ugly thing.
Jones patiently endures Ripley's embarrassing display,
seeming none the worse for wear. The visitor sits
beside the bed and Ripley finally notices him. He is
thirtyish and handsome, in a suit that looks executive
or legal, the tie loosened with studied casualness. A
smile referred to as "winning."
MAN
Nice room. I'm Burke. Carter Burke.
I work for the company, but other
than that I'm an okay guy. Glad to
see you're feeling better. I'm told
the weakness and disorientation
should pass soon. Side effects of
the unusually long hypersleep, or
something like that.
RIPLEY
How long was I out there? They
won't tell me anything.
BURKE
(soothing)
Well, maybe you shouldn't worry
about that just yet.
Ripley grabs his arm, surprising him.
RIPLEY
How long?
Burke gazes at her, thoughtful.
BURKE
All right. My instinct says
you're strong enough to handle
this...Fifty-seven years.
Ripley is stunned. She seems to deflate, her expression
passing through amazement and shock to realization of
all she has lost. Friends. Family. Her world.
RIPLEY
Fifty-seven...oh, Christ...
BURKE
You'd drifted right through the
core systems. It's blind luck that
deep-salvage team caught you when
they...are you all right?
Ripley coughs suddenly as if choking and her expression
becomes one of dawning horror. Burke hands her a glass
of water from the nightstand. She slaps it away. It
shatters with a SMASH. Jones dives, yowling. Ripley
grabs her chest, struggling as if she is strangling.
The Med-Tech hits a console button.
MED-TECH
(shouting)
Code Blue! 415. Code Blue!
4-1-5!
Burke and the Med-Tech are holding Ripley's shoulders as
she goes into convulsions. A DOCTOR and TWO TECHS run
in. Ripley's back arches in agony.
RIPLEY
No...noooo!
They try to restrain her as she thrashes, knocking over
equipment. Her EKG races like mad. Jones, under a
cabinet, hisses wide-eyed.
DOCTOR
Hold her...Get me an airway, stat!
And fifteen cc's of...Jesus!
AN EXPLOSION OF BLOOD beneath the sheet covering her
chest! Ripley stares at the SHAPE RISING UNDER THE
SHEET. Tearing itself out of her.
HER P.O.V. as the sheet rises. A GLIMPSE OF the
CHITTERING HORROR...IT SCREECHES.
TIGHT ON RIPLEY screaming, snapping up INTO FRAME.
Alone in the darkened hospital room. She gasps for
breath, clutching pathetically at her chest. There is
no demented horror rigging itself out of her. Her eyes
snap about wildly, slowly focusing on the reality of
her safety. Shuddering, bathed in sweat, she kneads her
breastbone with the heel of her hand and sobs.
A VIDEO MONITOR beside the bed snaps on. A MED-TECH's
face.
MED-TECH
Bad dreams again? Do you want
something to help you sleep?
RIPLEY
(faint)
No.. I've slept enough.
The Med-Tech shrugs and switches off. Touching a button
on the nightstand she opens the viewport, REVEALING
Gateway and the turquoise Earth. She hugs Jones to her
and rocks with him like a child, still shattered by the
nightmare. Shivering. Sleep is far off.
RIPLEY
We made it, Jones. We made it.
But at what price?
CUT TO:
EXT. PARK 4
Sunlight streams in shafts through a stand of poplars,
beyond which a verdant meadow is VISIBLE.
EXTREME F.G. Jones stalks toward a bird hopping among
fallen leaves. He leaps. And smack into A WALL.
RIPLEY
(voice over)
Dumbshit.
WIDER ANGLE as Jones steps back confused from the
HIGH-RESOLUTION ENVIRONMENTAL WALL SCREEN, a sort of
cinerama video-loop. Ripley sits on a bench in what we
now SEE is an ATRIUM off the medical center, still
somewhere in the bowels of Gateway Station. Benches.
Some unenthusiastic potted trees. The sterile corridors
VISIBLE beyond glass doors b.g.
Burke ENTERS in his usual mode, casual haste.
BURKE
Sorry...I've been running behind
all morning.
Ripley seems healthier now, but still a bit brittle.
RIPLEY
Have they located my daughter
yet?
BURKE
Well, I was going to wait
until after the inquest...
He opens his briefcase, removing a sheet of printer
hard copy, including a telestat photo.
RIPLEY
Is she...?
BURKE
(scanning)
Amanda Ripley-McClaren. Married
name, I guess. Age: sixty-six
...at time of death. Two years
ago.
(looks at her)
I'm sorry.
Ripley studies the PHOTOGRAPH, stunned.
The face of a woman in her mid-sixties. It could be
anybody. She tries to reconcile the face with the
little girl she once knew.
RIPLEY
Amy.
BURKE
(reading)
Cancer. Hmmmm. They still haven't
licked that one. Cremated. Interred
Parkside Repository, Little Chute,
Wisconsin. No children.
Ripley gazes off, into the pseudo-landscape, into the
past.
RIPLEY
I promised her I'd be home for
her birthday. Her eleventh
birthday. I sure missed that
one.
(pause)
Well...she has already learned
to take my promises with a grain
of salt. When it came to flight
schedules, anyway.
Burke nods, a simpatico presence.
RIPLEY
You always think you can make it
up to somebody...later, you know.
But now I never can. I never
can.
Let's get one thing straight...Ripley can be one tough
lady. But the terror, the loss, the emptiness are, in
this moment, overwhelming. She cries silently.
Burke puts a reassuring hand on her arm.
BURKE
(gently)
The hearing convenes at 0930. You
don't want to be late.
INT. CORRIDOR - GATEWAY 5
Elevator doors part and Ripley emerges, in mid-conversation
with Burke. DOLLYING AHEAD OF THEM as they move rapidly
down the corridor.
RIPLEY
You read my deposition...it's
complete and accurate.
BURKE
Look, I believe you, but there are
going to be some heavyweights in
there. You got Feds, you got
interstellar commerce commission,
you got colonial administration,
insurance company guys...
RIPLEY
I get the picture.
BURKE
Just tell them what happened. The
important thing is to stay cool
and unemotional.
INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - ON RIPLEY - GATEWAY 6
She's not cool. Not unemotional.
RIPLEY
Do you people have earwax, of
what? We have been here three
hours. How many different ways
do you want me to tell the same
story?
She faces the EIGHT MEMBERS of the board of inquiry at a
long conference table. Gray suits and grim faces. They
aren't buying. Behind Ripley on a large VIDEO SCREEN,
PARKER grins like a goon from his personnel mugshot. His
file prints out next to it. BRETT's face and dossier
replace it, and then the others as the SCENE continues...
KANE, LAMBERT, ASH the android traitor, DALLAS.
VAN LEUWEN, the ICC representative, steeples his fingers
and frowns.
VAN LEUWEN
Look at it from our perspective.
You freely admit to detonating the
engines of, and thereby destroying,
an M-Class star-freighter. A
rather expensive piece of hardware...
INSURANCE INVESTIGATOR
(dryly)
Forty-two million in adjusted dollars.
That's minus payload, of course.
VAN LEUWEN
The shuttle's flight recorder
corroborates some elements of
your account. That the Nostromo
set down on LV-426, an unsurveyed
planet, at that time. That
repairs were made. That it resumed
its course and was subsequently set
for self-destruct. By you. For
reasons unknown.
RIPLEY
Look, I told you...
VAN LEUWEN
It did not, however, contain any
entries concerning the hostile
life form you allegedly picked up.
Ripley sense the noose tightening.
RIPLEY
Then somebody's gotten to it...
doctored the recorder. Who had
access to it?
The ECA (Extrasolar Colonization Administration)
Representative (ECA REP) just shakes his head.
ECA REP
Would you just listen to yourself
for one minute.
Ripley glares at the ECA Rep, a woman on the ungenerous
side of fifty. Van Leuwen sighs with exasperation.
VAN LEUWEN
The analysis team which went over
your shuttle centimeter by
centimeter found no physical
evidence of the creature you
describe...
RIPLEY
(losing it)
That's because I blew it out the
Goddamn airlock!
(pause)
Like I said.
INSURANCE MAN
(to ECA Rep)
Are there any species like this
'hostile organism' on LV-426?
ECA REP
No. It's a rock. No indigenous
life larger than a simple virus.
Ripley grits her teeth in frustration.
RIPLEY
I told you, it wasn't indigenous.
There was an alien spacecraft there.
A derelict ship. We homed on its
beacon...
ECA REP
To be perfectly frank, we've surveyed
over three hundred worlds and no one's
ever reported a creature which, using
your words...
(read from Ripley's
statement)
...'gestates in a living human host'
and has 'concentrated molecular acid
for blood.'
Ripley glances at Burke, silent at the far end of the
table. His expression is grim. Her mouth hardens as
a bit of the old nail-eating Ripley surfaces.
RIPLEY
Look, I can see where this is
going. But I'm telling you those
things exist. Back on that planetoid
is an alien ship and on that ship
are thousands of eggs. Thousands.
Do you understand? I suggest you
find it, using the flight recorder's
data. Find it and deal with it --
before one of your survey teams
comes back with a little surprise...
VAN LEUWEN
Thank you, Officer Ripley. That
will be...
RIPLEY
(louder, stepping
on him)
...because just one of those
things managed to kill my entire
crew, within twelve hours of
hatching...
Van Leuwen stands, out of patience.
VAN LEUWEN
Thank you, that will be all.
Ripley stares him down, glowering at the board.
RIPLEY
That's not all, Goddamnit! If
those things get back here, that
will be all. Then you can just
kiss it good-bye, Jack! Just kiss
it goodbye.
Ripley turns sharply away, trembling with frustration
and anger. Dallas looks back at her from the video
screen, his eyes burning from the photograph, as we:
CUT TO:
INT. CORRIDOR 7
Ripley kicks the wall next to Burke who is getting coffee
and donuts at a vending machine.
BURKE
You had them eating out of your
hand, kiddo.
RIPLEY
They had their minds made up
before I even went in there.
They think I'm a head case.
BURKE
(cheerfully)
You are a head case. Have a donut.
INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - TIGHT ON RIPLEY - LATER 8
Van Leuwen clears his throat.
VAN LEUWEN
It is the finding of this board of
inquiry that Warrent Officer Ellen Ripley,
NOC-14672. has acted with questionable
judgment and is unfit to hold an
ICC license as a commercial flight
officer.
Burke watches Ripley taking it on the chin, white-lipped
but subdued.
VAN LEUWEN
Said license is hereby suspended
indefinitely. No criminal charges
will be filed at this time and you
are released on own recognizance
for a six month period of
psychometric probation, to include
monthly review by an ICC psychiatric
tech...
INT. CORRIDOR 9
DOLLY BACK as the conference room door bangs open and
Ripley strides through. She shrugs off Burke's
restraining arm and catches up to Van Leuwen walking
down the corridor.
RIPLEY
(insistent)
Why won't you check out LV-426?
VAN LEUWEN
(condescendingly)
Because I don't have to. The
people who live there checked it
out years ago and they never
reported and 'hostile organism'
or alien ship. And by the way,
they call it Acheron now.
RIPLEY
What are you talking about.
What people?
Van Leuwen steps into an elevator with some others, but
Ripley holds the door from closing.
VAN LEUWEN
Terraformers...planet engineers.
It's what we call a shake 'n' bake
colony. They set up atmosphere
processors to make the air
breathable...big job. Takes
decades. They've already been
there over twenty years. Peacefully.
The door tries to close. Ripley slams it back. People
are getting annoyed.
RIPLEY
How many colonists?
VAN LEUWEN
Sixty, maybe seventy families.
RIPLEY
(low)
Sweet Jesus.
ELEVATOR PASSENGER
Do you mind?
Ripley's hand slides off the door, strengthless.
TIGHT ON HER FROM INSIDE the elevator as the doors close
like fate on her lost expression.
EXT. ALIEN LANDSCAPE - DAY 10
A hideous, storm-blasted vista. Tortured rock forms.
Bleak twilight at midday.
PAN SLOWLY ONTO a CORRODED METAL SIGN set in concrete
pylons, which reads:
HADLEY'S HOPE - POP. 159
"WELCOME TO ACHERON"
Some local has added below in spray-can graffiti
"Have a nice day." Gale-force wind SCREECHES around
the steel sign, driving a freezing rain.
The COLONY, b.g., is a squat complex with lots of
floodlights.
EXT. COLONY COMPLEX 11
The town is a cluster of bunkerlike metal and concrete
buildings connected by conduits. Neon signs throw garish
colors across the vaultlike walls, advertising bars and
other businesses. It looks like a sodden cross between
the Krupps munitions works and a truckstop casino in
the Nevada boondocks.
Huge-wheeled tractors crawl toadlike in the rutted
"street" and vanish down rampways to underground garages.
ANGLE ON THE CONTROL BLOCK the largest structure. It
resembles vaguely the superstructure of an aircraft
carrier...a flying bridge.
VISIBLE across a half kilometer of barren heath, b.g.,
is the massive complex of the nearest ATMOSPHERE
PROCESSOR, looking like a power plant bred with an active
volcano. Its fiery glow pulses in the low cloud cover
like a steel mill.
INT. MAIN CONCOURSE - NEAR CONTROL BLOCK 12
A central space, laid out like a scaled-down shopping
mall with no styling flourishes. We SEE a cross section
of the types of people who have come to live on
Godforsaken Acheron. Tough. Pragmatic. "Grapes of
Wrath" faces. Calloused hands. Not too many interior
decorators. Some children race in the corridor on things
that look suspiciously like "Big Wheels."
INT. OPERATIONS ROOM - CONTROL BLOCK 13
Jammed with computer terminals, technicians, displays...
most of the business of running the colony flows through
here. It's high tech but used and scrungy. Papers
piled up. Coffee cup rings.
DOLLY AHEAD OF LYDECKER, the Assistant Operations Manager,
as he catches up to the harried Operating Manager,
SIMPSON.
LYDECKER
You remember you sent some
wildcatters out to that
plateau, out past the Ilium
range, a couple days ago?
SIMPSON
Yeah. What?
LYDECKER
There's a guy on the horn,
mom-and-pop survey team. Says
he's homing on something and
wants to know if his claim will
be honored.
SIMPSON
Christ. Some honch in a cushy
office on Earth says go look at
a grid reference in the middle
of nowhere, we look. They don't
say why, and I don't ask. I
don't ask because it takes two
weeks to get an answer out here
and the answer's always 'don't
ask.'
LYDECKER
So what do I tell this guy?
SIMPSON
Tell him, as far as I'm concerned,
he finds something it's his.
EXT. ACHERON - THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE - A SIX-WHEELED 14
TRACTOR - DAY
It roars across corrugated rock, blasting through soggy
drifts of volcanic ash.
INT. TRACTOR 15
At the controls, intent on a PINGING scope, is RUSS JORDEN,
independent prospector. Beside him is his wife/partner
ANNE and in the back their two kids are playing among the
heavy sampling equipment.
JORDEN
(gloating cackle)
Look at this fat, juicy magnetic
profile. And it's mine, mine,
mine.
ANNE
Half mine, dear.
NEWT, their six-year-old daughter, yells from the back...
NEWT
And half mine!
JORDEN
I got too many partners.
NEWT
Daddy, when are we going back
to town?
JORDEN
When we get rich, Newt.
NEWT
You always say that. I wanna go
back. I wanna play 'Monster Maze.'
Her older brother TIM sticks his jeering face close to
hers.
TIM
You cheat too much.
NEWT
Do not. I'm just the best.
TIM
Do too! You go in places we
can't fit.
NEWT
So! That's why I'm the best.
ANNE
Knock it off! I catch either of
you playing in the air ducts again
I'll tan your hides.
NEWT
Mom. All the kids play it...
JORDEN
(reverently)
Holy shiiit!
ANGLE THROUGH FRONT CANOPY ON a bizarre shape looming
ahead. An enormous bonelike mass projecting upward from
the bed of ash. The tractor slows.
Canted on its side and buckles against a rock outcropping
by the lava flow, it is still recognizable as an
EXTRATERRESTRIAL SHIP. Bio-mechanoid. Nonhuman design.
JORDEN
Folks, we have scored big this
time.
EXT. TRACTOR 16
Jorden and Anne step down, wearing ENVIRONMENT SUITS.
Carrying LIGHTS, PACKS, CAMERAS, TEST GEAR. Their
breath clouds in the chill air.
ANNE
You kids stay inside. I mean
it! We'll be right back.
They trudge toward the alien derelict.
ANNE
Shouldn't we call in?
JORDEN
Let's wait till we know what to
call it in as.
ANNE
(nervous)
How about 'big weird thing'?
They pause at a twisted gash in the hull. Blackness
inside.
INT./EXT. TRACTOR 17
Newt has her face pressed to the glass, steaming it.
Watching her parents enter the strange ship. Tim GRABS
HER from behind. She SHRIEKS.
TIM
Cheater!
EXT. LANDSCAPE - NIGHT 18
The tractor and the derelict are dark and motionless.
The wind HOWLS around them.
Tim is curled up in the driver's seat. Newt shakes him
awake, trying hard not to cry.
NEWT
Timmy...they've been gone a
long time.
Tim considers the night. The wind. The vast landscape.
He bites his lip.
TIM
(quavering)
It'll be okay, Newt. Dad knows
what he's doing.
CRASH! Newt SCREAMS as the door beside her is RIPPED
OPEN. A dark shape lunges inside!
Anne, panting and terrified, grabs the dash mike.
ANNE
Mayday! Mayday! This is
Alpha Kilo Two Four Niner
calling Hadley Control.
Repeat. This is...
As Anne shouts the mayday Newt looks past her, to the
ground. Russ Jorden lies there inert, dragged somehow
by Anne from inside the ship. There is SOMETHING ON
HIS FACE. An appalling MULTILEGGED CREATURE, pulsing
with obscene life. Newt begins to SCREAM hysterically,
competing with the shrieking wind which rises to a
crescendo as we:
CUT TO:
INT. RIPLEY'S APARTMENT - GATEWAY - DAY 20
Silence. Ripley, looking haggard, sits at a table in
the dining alcove contemplating the smoke rising from
her cigarette. The place is modest, to be charitable,
and there are few personal touches. Though it's late
in the day Ripley is still wearing a robe. The bed is
unmade. Dishes in the sink. Jones prowls across the
counter. The WALLSCREEN is on, blaring vapidly.
VOICE FROM VIDEO
(o.s.)
Hey, Bob! I heard you and the
family are heading off for the
colonies!
BON
(o.s.)
Best decision I ever made, Bill.
We'll be starting a new life
from scratch, in a clean world.
No crime. No unemployment...
The door BUZZES. Ripley jumps like a cat. Jones doesn't.
INT. CORRIDOR 21
Carter Burke stands in the narrow, dingy corridor with
LIEUTENANT GORMAN, Colonial Marine Corps. Young and
severe in his officer's dress-black. The door opens
slightly.
BURKE
Hi, Ripley. This is
Lieutenant Gorman of the...
SLAM. Burke buzzes again. Talks to the door...
BURKE
Ripley we have to talk.
(pause)
They've lost contact with the
colony on Acheron.
The door opens. Ripley considers the ramifications of
that. She motions them inside.
INT. RIPLEY'S APARTMENT - A LITTLE LATER 22
Burke and Gorman are seated, nursing coffee. Ripley
paces, very tense.
RIPLEY
No. There's no way!
BURKE
Hear me out...
RIPLEY
I was reamed, steamed and
dry-cleaned by you guys...and
now you want me to go back out
there? Forget it.
We SEE that she's gut scared, covering it with anger.
Burke sees it.
BURKE
Look, we don't know what's going
on out there. It may just be a
down transmitter. But if it's
not, I want you there...as an
advisor. That's all.
GORMAN
You wouldn't be going in with the
troops. I can guarantee your
safety.
BURKE
These Colonial Marines are
some tough hombres, and they're
packing state-of-the-art firepower.
Nothing they can't handle...right,
Lieutenant?
GORMAN
(cool)
We're trained to deal with these
kinds of situations.
RIPLEY
(to Burke)
What about you? What's your
interest in this?
BURKE
Well, the corporation co-financed
that colony with the Colonial
Administration, against mineral
rights. We're getting into a lot
of terraforming...'Building Better
Worlds.'
Burke is revealing his early days in sales.
RIPLEY
Yeah, yeah. I saw the commercial.
BURKE
I heard you were working in the
cargo docks.
RIPLEY
(defensive)
That's right.
BURKE
Running loaders, forklifts, that
sort of thing?
RIPLEY
(shrugging)
It's all I could get. Anyway,
it keeps my mind off of...
everything. Days off are worse.
BURKE
What if I said I could get you
reinstated as a flight officer?
And that the company has agreed
to pick up your contract?
RIPLEY
If I go.
BURKE
If you go.
(pause)
It's a second chance, kiddo. And
it'll be the best thing in the
world for you to face this fear
and beat it. You gotta get back
on the horse...
RIPLEY
(frosty)
Spare me, Burke. I've had my
psych evaluation this month.
Burke leans close, a let's-cut-the-crap intimacy.
BURKE
Yes, and I've read it. You
wake up every night, sheets
soaking, the same nightmare
over and over...
RIPLEY
(shouting)
No! The answer is no. Now
please go. I'm sorry. Just
go, would you.
Burke nods to Gorman who rises with him. He slips a
TRANSLUCENT CARD onto the table, heads for the door.
BURKE
Think about it.
EXT. ACHERON LANDSCAPE - NIGHT 23
As the wind HOWLS through tormented rock, BUILDING IN
PITCH until we:
CUT TO:
INT. APARTMENT 24
Ripley lunges INTO FRAME with an animal outcry. She
clutches her chest, breathing hard. Bathed in sweat
she lights a cigarette with trembling hands. Do we
hear a faint, desolate wind?
TIGHT ON PHONE CONSOLE as Ripley's hand inserts Burke's
card into a slot. "STAND BY" prints out on the screen
and is replaced by Burke's face, bleary with sleep.
BURKE
(on video phone)
Yello? Oh, Ripley. Hi...
RIPLEY
Burke, just tell me one thing.
That you're going out there to
kill them. Not study. Not bring
back. Just burn them out...clean
...forever.
BURKE
That's the plan. My word on it.
CLOSEUP - RIPLEY taking a deep slow breath. It's time
to look the demon in the eye.
RIPLEY
All right. I'm in.
She punches off before Burke replies, before she can
change her mind. She turns to Jones sitting on the
bed and her tone becomes admonishing...
RIPLEY
And you my dear, are staying
right here.
Jones blinks, cynical cat eyes..."count me right
out."
CUT TO:
EXT. DEEP SPACE - THREE WEEKS LATER 25
An empty starfield. Metal spires slice ACROSS FRAME.
A mountain of steel following. A massive military
transport ship, the SULACO. Ugly, battered...
functional.
INT. CORRIDOR TO CARGO LOCK 26
An empty corridor, seemingly miles long. No movement.
The THRUMMING of hyperdrive engines.
INT. CARGO LOCK 27
An enormous chamber, cavernous and dark. Squatting
in the shadows are two orbit-to-surface shuttles.
DROP-SHIPS. Heavy machinery all around them...
cranes, loading equipment.
INT. BRIDGE 28
Dark electronic womb. CAMERA DOLLIES SLOWLY among
murmuring instrumentation. A sudden high-pitched
TRILLING accompanies a sequence of lights. An alarm.
INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT 29
Blackness, until a bank of indicators lights up.
Hydraulics lift a grid of equipment from a row of
horizontal HYPERSLEEP CYLINDERS. It reaches the
ceiling. Locks.
CLOSE ON RIPLEY'S CAPSULE as trickles of water run
down the frosted canopy.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT 30
Lit up, white and sterile.
The canopies of the row of capsules are raised. Ripley
sits up. Rubs her arms briskly. Next to her Gorman
and Burke are stirring and beyond them the troopers,
wearing shorts and dog tags. They are:
MASTER SERGEANT APONE UNIT LEADER
CORPORAL HICKS B-TEAM LEADER
CORPORAL DIETRICH (female) MED-TECH
PFC HUDSON COM-TECH
PFC VASQUEZ (female) 'SMART-GUN' OPERATOR
PRIVATE DRAKE 'SMART-GUN' OPERATOR
PRIVATE FROST TROOPER
PRIVATE CROWE TROOPER
PRIVATE WIERZBOWSKI TROOPER
CORPORAL FERRO (female) DROP-SHIP PILOT
PFC SPUNKMEYER DROP-SHIP CREW CHIEF
The ship is fully automated in interstellar flight so
there is no crew, except for EXECUTIVE OFFICER (ECA) Bishop,
who supervises planetary maneuvering.
GROANS echo across the chamber.
SPUNKMEYER
Arrgh. I'm getting too old for
this shit.
SPUNKMEYER says this sincerely, though he must have
enlisted underage not long ago. Looking surly, DRAKE
sits up. He's young as well but street-tough. Nasty
scar curling his lip into a sneer.
DRAKE
They ain't payin' us enough
for this.
DIETRICH
Not enough to have to wake up
to your face, Drake.
DRAKE
Suck air. Hey, Hicks...you look
like I feel.
HICKS, an older lifer-type who keeps his own counsel,
just snorts good-naturedly.
Ripley scans the group as they shuffle past her to a
bank of lockers. Though not supermen they are lean and
hardened...tough, capable, jaded. They combine the
specialized techno-combat training of the twenty-first
century fighting man with those qualities universal to
"grunts" through the ages. SERGEANT APONE moves down the
row of freezers.
HUDSON
This floor's freezing.
APONE
Christ. I never saw such a
buncha old women. You want me
to fetch your slippers, Hudson?
HUDSON
Would you, Sir?
Ripley steps back as the troopers shuffle past nodding
cursory hellos. She feels isolated by the camaraderie
of this tightknit group.
VASQUEZ eyes her coldly as she passes. Like Drake,
Vasquez is younger then the rest and her combat-primer
was the street in a Los Angeles barrio. She is tough
even by the standards of this group. Hard-muscled.
Eyes cunning and mean.
HUDSON
Hey, Vasquez...you ever been
mistaken for a man?
VASQUEZ
No. Have you?
She slaps Drake's open palm and it clenches into a
greeting which is part contest. It gets rougher.
Painful. Until she cuffs him hard and they break with
vicious laughter. Dobermans playing. Conscripted from
juvenile prison, the two of them were trained to
operate the formidable "SMART-GUNS." That is part
of their bond.
BISHOP is helping everyone like a valet. As he passes
close to her Ripley notices a strange TATTOO across
the back of his left hand...an ALPHA-NUMERIC CODE.
FROST
Hey, hand job, you take my
towel?
SPUNKMEYER
(overlapping)
I need some slack, man. How
come they send us straight back
out like this? We got some slack
comin', man.
HICKS
You just got three weeks.
SPUNKMEYER
I mean breathing, not this frozen
shit.
DIETRICH
Yeah, 'Top'...what about it?
APONE
You know it ain't up to me.
(louder)
Awright! Let's knock off the
grabass. First assembly's in
fifteen...let's shag it.
INT. SHOWERS 31
High pressure water jets and a blast of hot air when
you step out...a drive through car wash for people.
Through the swirling steam Hudson, Vasquez and FERRO
are watching Ripley dry off.
VASQUEZ
Who's the fresh meat again?
FERRO
She's supposed to be some kinda
consultant...
(exaggerated)
...She was an alien once.
HUDSON
Whoooah! No shit? I'm impressed.
APONE
Let's go...let's go. Cycle through!
INT. MESS HALL 32
An unconscious segregation takes place at the troopers
assemble at one long table while Gorman, Burke, Bishop
and Ripley sit at another. Everybody is nursing a
coffee, waiting for eggs from the AUTOCHEF. Among the
troopers dress discipline is lax...fatigues customized
and emblazoned with patches. Drake's tunic is cut off
to a vest and has "Eat the apple and fuck the Corps"
stenciled on back. "Peace Through Superior Firepower,"
"Pray for War" and "I've Served My Time in Hell: Cetti
Epsilon NC-104" are some others.
HUDSON
Hey, 'Top.' What's the op?
APONE
Rescue mission. There's some
juicy colonists' daughters we
gotta rescue from virginity.
Apone is stocky, grizzled, with peregrine eyes. He runs
it loose and fair, but only because he knows his people
are the best.
SPUNKMEYER
Shee-it. Dumbass colonists.
What's this crap supposed to be?
WIERZBOWSKI
Cornbread, I think. Hey, I wouldn't
mind getting me some more a
that Arcturan poontang. Remember
that time?
HICKS
(low)
Looks like that new Lieutenant's
too good to eat with us grunts.
WIERZBOWSKI
(glancing
over shoulder)
Yeah. Got a corn cob up his ass,
definitely.
Across the room, at the other table, Gorman sits with
his creases perfect...the consummate strack NCO. Bishop
takes a seat beside Ripley, who pointedly gets up and
moves to the far side of the table. He looks wounded.
BISHOP
I'm sorry you feel that way
about Synthetics, Ripley.
Ripley spins on Burke, her tone accusing.
RIPLEY
You never said anything about an
android being here! Why not?
BURKE
Well, it didn't occur to me. It's
been policy for years to have a
synthetic on board.
BISHOP
I prefer the term 'artificial person'
myself. Is there a problem?
BURKE
A synthetic malfunctioned on her
last trip out. Some deaths were
involved.
BISHOP
I'm shocked. Was it an older model?
BURKE
Cyberdyne Systems 120-A/2.
Bishop turns to Ripley, very conciliatory.
BISHOP
Well, that explains it. The
A/2's were always a bit twitchy.
That could never happen now with
out behavioral inhibitors. Impossible
for me to harm or, by omission of
action, allow to be harmed a
human being.
(smiling)
More cornbread?
WHAM! Ripley knocks the plate out of his hand, halfway
across the room.
RIPLEY
Just stay away from me, Bishop!
You got that straight?
Burke and Gorman exchange glances.
Wierzbowski, at the next table, shrugs and turns back
to the other troopers.
WIERZBOWSKI
She don't like the cornbread
either.
INT. READY ROOM - TIGHT ON APONE - ARMORY 33
bellowing.
APONE
Tench-hut!
WIDER ANGLE as the troops snap to from their lounging
among the racks of high-tech weaponry. Gorman enters
with Burke and Ripley.
GORMAN
At ease. I'm sorry we didn't
have time to brief before we
left Gateway but...
HUDSON
Sir?
GORMAN
(annoyed)
Yes, Hicks?
HUDSON
Hudson, Sir. He's Hicks.
GORMAN
What's the question?
HUDSON
Is this going to be a stand-up
fight, Sir, on another bug-hunt?
GORMAN
All we know is that there's
still no contact with the colony
and that a xenomorph may be
involved.
WIERZBOWSKI
A what?
HICKS
(to Wierzbowski;
low)
It's a bug-hunt.
(louder)
So what are these things?
Gorman nods to Ripley, who stands before the troops.
She sets some RECORDING DISKETTES on the table.
RIPLEY
I've dictated what I know on
these.
APONE
Tease us a bit.
SPUNKMEYER
Yeah...previews.
RIPLEY
Okay. It's important to understand
this organism's life cycle. It's
actually two creatures. The first
form hatches from a spore...a sort
of large egg, and attaches itself
to its victim. Then it injects
an embryo, detaches and dies.
It's essentially a walking sex organ.
The --
HUDSON
Sounds like you, Hicks.
RIPLEY
(controlled)
The embryo, the second form, hosts
in the victim's body for several
hours. Gestating. Then it...
(with difficulty)
...then it...emerges. Moults.
Grows rapidly --
VASQUEZ
I only need to know one thing.
RIPLEY
Yes?
VASQUEZ
Where they are.
Vasquez coolly points her finger, cocks her thumbs, and
blows away an imaginary alien.
DRAKE
Yo! Vasquez. Kick ass!
VASQUEZ
Anytime. Anywhere.
HUDSON
Somebody said alien...she
thought they said illegal alien
and signed up.
VASQUEZ
Fuck you.
HUDSON
Anytime. Anywhere.
RIPLEY
(icy)
Am I disturbing you conversation
Mr. Hudson?
Hudson settles down, smirking. Ripley locks eyes with
Vasquez.
RIPLEY
I hope you're right. I really
do.
BURKE
(to all)
I suggest you study the disks
Ripley has been kind enough to
prepare for you.
GORMAN
Are there any questions? Hudson?
HUDSON
How do I get out of this
chicken-shit outfit?
Gorman scowls then, thanking Ripley with a nod, takes
over the predrop briefing.
GORMAN
All right. I want this to go
smooth and by the numbers. I
want DCS and tactical database
assimilation by 0830.
(some groans)
Ordnance loading, weapons strip and
drop-ship prep details will have
seven hours...
EXT. SPACE - ACHERON 34
They have arrived. From orbit the planet looks serene
...Pearlescent cloud cover masking the environmental
torment beneath. The SULACO floats, its MANEUVERING
JETS FIRING. A bluish glow. Then twice more, rapidly.
INT. BRIDGE 35
Bishop is installed in his command seat, hemmed in by
instrumentation.
BISHOP
(into mike)
Attention. This concluded final
maneuvering operations. Thank
you for your cooperation. You
may resume work.
INT. LOADING BAY - TIGHT ON MASSIVE FORKS - CARGO LOCK 34
sliding into a heavy ordnance rack with an echoing
CLANG. PULL BACK as the rack of tactical missiles is
lifted, REVEALING two powerful hydraulic arms.
Spunkmeyer, seated inside a POWER LOADER, swings the
ordnance up into a belly nacelle of the DROP-SHIP where
it locks into place. As he exerts pressure with his
hands against the servo-controls the hydraulic arms
move correspondingly...but with a thousandfold increase
in power. The forklift-style CLAWS on each arm can
crush with tons of pressure. The loader has an open
ROLL CAGE to protect the operator, and is supported
by squat HYDRAULIC LEGS which also move correspondingly
with the driver's movements.
You have never seen anything like this before.
Advanced as it is to us, it's only an old forklift
to them...battered and well used. Covered with grease.
Repainted many times. Across the back is stencilled
"CATERPILLAR."
Spunkmeyer's machine swings out from under the drop-ship
and we become aware of the intense activity throughout
the cavernous loading bay. Troopers on foot or driving
TOW-MOWERS, OVERHEAD LOADING ARMS...all in motion.
Hicks checks off items on an electronic manifest.
INT. READY ROOM - ARMORY 37
Wierzbowski, Drake and Vasquez are fieldstripping
light weapons with precise movements. Around them,
in racks, is an arsenal of advanced personal
artillery.
Vasquez likes the feel of the guns, the weight...the
authority. Her hands move without hesitation. CLACK.
CLACK. CLACK. She swings one of the SMART-GUNS out
on a work stand. Using a body brace and GYRO-STABILIZED
SUPPORT ARM, it is a computer-aimed, video targeted
automatic weapon. The futuristic equivalent of a .30
caliber light machine gun. Sort of a steadicam that
kills.
INT. LOADING BAY - ANGLE ON BURKE AND GORMAN 38
with pre-flight activity b.g.
BURKE
Still nothing from the colony?
GORMAN
Dead on all channels.
Ripley watches the drop-ship being loaded. A cross
between a Huey Aircobra gunship and the space shuttle
might describe it. An orbit-to-surface troop carrier,
heavily armed for the close support of ground missions.
She watches a six-wheeled APC, ARMORED PERSONNEL
CARRIER, being raised hydraulically into the ship's
belly. Ripley looks around as Frost wheels a rack of
incomprehensible equipment toward her.
FROST
Clear, please.
Ripley jumps aside, nodding apologetically. She turns.
Steps hastily back. Hudson cruises by with a laden
forklift.
HUDSON
Excuse me.
ANGLE ON APONE standing with Hicks, as Ripley approaches
him
RIPLEY
I feel like a fifth wheel
here. Is there anything I can
do?
APONE
I don't know. Is there anything
you can do?
RIPLEY
(pointing)
I can drive that loader. I've
got a Class Two rating. My
latest career move.
Apone turns. A SECOND POWER LOADER sits unused in
an equipment bay.
TWO SHOT APONE AND HICKS skeptical. Considering.
TIGHT ON POWER SWITCH as Ripley's finger punches it on.
A RISING WHINE of power.
TIGHT ON THE HYDRAULICS as the massive machine stirs
to life.
FULL, as the loader starts. Ripley is strapped into
the safety cage, her arms and legs inserted in the
servo-sensor assemblies. She takes a step. BOOM!
Two tons of hardened steel takes a step.
Ripley spins the wrist servos. The huge claws swing,
open...slide smoothly into lifting brackets on a
cargo module, nearby. She raises it deftly.
RIPLEY
Where you want it?
Hicks looks at Apone, cocks an eyebrow appreciatively.
INT. READY ROOM - ARMORY 39
The troopers are suiting up for the drop. Strapping on
their bulky COMBAT-ARMOR...interlocking plates like
football padding. They tape their wrists. Draw on
segmented boots. The sole cleats CLACK like hooves
on the deck plates. Lockers SLAM.
WEB BELTS. PACKS. HARNESSES. HELMETS. COM-SETS.
Their fingers move methodically over the fastenings.
It has its own rhythm...CLICK. CLICK. CLICK.
APONE
Let's move it, girls! On
the ready line. Let's go,
let's go.
INT. DROP-SHIP - APC 40
Ripley, wearing a flight jacket and headset, files into
the ship with the hulking troopers. Inside they pass
directly into the APC we saw loaded earlier and take
seats facing each other across a narrow aisle. They will
drop already strapped into their ground vehicle for
rapid deployment. A KLAXON SOUNDS, signalling
depressurization of the cargo lock.
Hudson prowls the aisle, his movements predatory and
exaggerated. Ripley watches him working his way toward
her.
HUDSON
I am ready, man. Ready to get
it on. Check-it-out. I am the
ultimate badass...state of the
badass art. You do not want to
fuck with me. Hey, Ripley, don't
worry. Me and my squad of
ultimate badasses will protect you.
Check-it-out...
He slaps the SERVO-CANNON controls in the GUN BAY
above them.
HUDSON
Independently targetting
particle-beam phalanx. VWAP!
Fry half a city with this puppy.
We got tactical smart-missles,
phased-plasma pulse-rifles,
RPG's. We got sonic eeelectronic
ballbreakers, we got nukes, we
got knives...sharp sticks --
Hicks grabs Hudson by his battle harness and pulls him
into a seat. His voice is low, but it carries.
HICKS
Save it.
HUDSON
Sure, Hicks.
Ripley nods her thanks to Hicks. MOTORS WHINE and the
craft lurches. Burke, next to Ripley, grins eagerly
like this is a sport fishing trip.
BURKE
Here we go.
She looks like she's in a gas chamber waiting for the
pellet to drop.
EXT. SULACO 41
The drop-ship lowers from the cargo-lock on a massive
launch rig. The night side of Acheron yawns below...
enigmatic.
INT. COCKPIT 42
Ferro and Spunkmeyer run rapidly through the switches.
FERRO
Initiate release sequencer on my
mark. Three. Two. One. Mark!
EXT. SULACO - DROP-SHIP 43
Hydraulic WHINE. Clamps SLAM BACK. The ship drops.
INT. DROP-SHIP - APC 44
Apone, stalking the aisle, snatches for a handhold.
Bishop, Burke and Gorman groan at the sudden gees.
Ripley closes her eyes...the point of no return.
EXT. DROP-SHIP 45
It screams down through the stratosphere, plunging
into dark turbulence.
INT. COCKPIT 46
Beyond the canopy is gray limbo. The craft shudders
and lurches.
FERRO
(icy calm)
Switching to DCS ranging.
SPUNKMEYER
Two-four-o. Nominal to profile.
Picking up some hull ionization.
FERRO
Got it. Rough air ahead.
INT. HOLD - APC 47
TIGHT ON HICKS asleep in his harness.
FERRO
(voice over;
filtered)
Stand by for some chop.
TIGHT ON GORMAN as the ship begins to buck, his eyes
closed. Pale. Sweating. He rubs his hands on his
knees repeatedly.
RIPLEY
How may drops is this for you,
Lieutenant?
GORMAN
Thirty-eight...simulated.
VASQUEZ
How many combat drops?
GORMAN
Well...two. Three, including
this one.
Vasquez and Drake exchange do-you-believe-this-shit
expressions. Ripley looks accusingly at Burke.
INT. COCKPIT 48
FERRO
Turning on final. Coming around to
a seven-zero-niner. Terminal
guidance locked in. Where's
the damn beacon?
EXT. DROP-SHIP 49
It emerges from the low cloud ceiling. From the twilight
haze ahead the distant colony LANDING BEACONS become
visible.
INT. HOLD - APC 50
Stumbling as the ship pitches, Ripley makes her way
forward to the MOBILE TACTICAL OPERATIONS BAY (MTOB),
a control console lined with monitor screens. She
joins Burke watching over Gorman's shoulder as the
Lieutenant plays the board like a video director.
TIGHT ON MONITOR CONSOLE REVEALING screens labelled with
the names of the troopers. Two for each soldier. The
upper screens show images from the IMAGE-INTENSIFIED
VIDEO CAMERAS in their helmets. The lower screens are
BIO-MONITORS: EEG, EKG, and other graphic life-function
readouts. Other screens show EXTERIOR VIEWS.
GORMAN
Let's see. Everybody on line.
Drake, check you camera. There
seems to be a...
CLOSE ON DRAKE as he whacks himself on the head with
an ammo case. A familiar malfunction.
GORMAN
(o.s)
...that's better. Pan it around
a bit.
APONE
Awright. Fire-team A. Gear up.
Let's move. Two minutes.
Somebody wake up Hicks.
A clatter of activity as they don backpacks and weapons.
Vasquez and Drake buckle on their smart-gun body
harnesses.
Ripley watches the AP station loom on the exterior
screens.
RIPLEY
That the atmosphere processor?
BURKE
Uh-hunh. One of thirty or so,
all over the planet. They're
completely automated. We
manufacture them, by the way.
EXT. SHIP - AP STATION 51
The tiny ship circles the roaring tower. A metal
volcano thundering like the engines on God's Lear jet.
INT. HOLD - APC 52
Gorman plays with the controls, zooming the image of
the colony.
GORMAN
(to Ferro via mike)
Hold at forty. Slow circle of
the complex.
RIPLEY
The structure seems intact. They
have power.
On the screen the colony buildings loom in and the low
visibility like wrecks of freighters on the sea floor.
GORMAN
(to Apone)
Okay, let's do it.
APONE
Awright! I want a nice clean
dispersal this time.
Ripley turns as Vasquez squeezes past her.
VASQUEZ
You staying in here?
RIPLEY
You bet.
VASQUEZ
(turning away)
Figures.
GORMAN
(to Ferro via mike)
Set down sixty meters this side
of the telemetry mast. Immediate
dust off on my 'clear,' then stay
on station.
APONE
Ten seconds, people. Look sharp!
EXT. COLONY COMPLEX 53
Landing beacons sweep harsh light across the wet Tarmac.
The ship roars down, extending the loading ramp. Slams
down on hydraulic LANDING LEGS. The APC hits the ground
a moment later, pulling away from the ship as it leaps
up in a cloud of spray and peels off, circling.
The APC pulls to the edge of the complex. The CREW DOOR
opens. Troopers hit the ground running. Spread out.
They drop behind immediate cover. Apone scans with
him image intensifier visor lowered.
APONE'S P.O.V. through the starlight-scope visor.
Bright as a sunny day, though contrasty and lurid, we
SEE the colony buildings. Trash blows in the street.
No other movement.
GORMAN
(voice over;
filtered)
First squad up, on line. Hicks,
get yours in a cordon. Watch the
rear.
APONE
Vasquez, take point. Let's move.
Sprinting in a skirmish line, Apone's team advances on
the colony main entry-lock. Parked tightly across the
doors are two heavy-duty tractors. Vasquez reaches one
of the tractors, looks inside. The controls are ripped
out, as if by a crowbar or axe. She moves on.
EXT. COLONY BUILDING 54
Vasquez reaches the main doors, Drake flanking on the
right. Apone tries the door controls. Nothing.
APONE
Sealed. Hudson, run a bypass.
Hudson, all business now, moves up and studies the
door control panel. He pries off the facing and starts
clipping on the bypass wires.
APONE
First squad, assemble on me at
the main lock.
The wind roars around the bleak structures. A neon sign
creaks overhead. Hudson makes a connection. The door
shrieks in its tracks and rumbles aside. It jams
partway open. Apone motions Vasquez inside. She
eases over the wrecked tractor, through the doors.
The others follow.
GORMAN
(voice over;
filtered)
Second team, move up.
Flanking positions.
INT. COLONY - MAIN CONCOURSE 55
DOLLYING SLOWLY FORWARD, following Vasquez and Apone as
they move into the broad corridor. A few emergency
lights are still on. Wind moans along the concourse.
Pools of water cover the floor. Farther down, rain drips
through blast holes in the ceiling. Evidence of a
fire fight with pulse-rifles.
ON VASQUEZ moving forward. Taut. Alert. Her smart-gun
cannon swinging slowly in an arc. She studies the
video aiming monitor, looking down rather than ahead.
Their footsteps echo.
INT. APC 56
Ripley watches as the bobbing images reveal the empty
colony building.
GORMAN
Quarter and search by twos. Second
team move inside. Hicks, take the
upper level. Use your motion
trackers.
INT. MAIN CONCOURSE - SECOND LEVEL 57
Hicks leads his squad up the stairwell to second level.
They emerge cautiously. An empty corridor recedes into
the dim distance. Hicks unslings a rugged piece of
equipment. Aims it down the hall. He adjusts the
"gain." It remains silent.
HICKS
Nothing. No movement.
They pass rooms and offices. Through doors they see
increasing signs of struggle. Furniture overturned.
Papers scattered...floating sodden in the puddles.
INT. APC 58
Ripley et al watching.
BURKE
Looks like my room in college.
Nobody laughs.
INT. SECOND LEVEL 59
Hicks' group passes several burnt-out rooms. There are
no bodies. In several offices the exterior windows are
blown out, admitting wind and rain. Hicks picks up a
half-eaten donut beside a coffee cup overflowing with
rainwater.
INT. LOWER LEVEL - QUARTERS 60
Apone's men are searching systematically in pairs. They
pass through the colonists' modest apartments, little
more than cubicles. Hudson, on tracker, flanks Vasquez
as they move forward. Hudson touches a splash of color
on the wall. Dried blood. His tracker BEEPS.
Vasquez whirls, cannon aimed. The BEEPING grows more
frequent as Hudson advances toward a half open door. The
door is splintered partway out of its frame. Holes
caused by pulse-rifle rounds pepper the walls. Vasquez
eases up to the door. Kicks it in. Tenses to fire.
Inside, dangling from a piece of flex conduit, a
junction-box swings like a pendulum in the wind from a
broken window. It clanks against the rails of a child's
bunkbed as it swings.
INT. DROP-SHIP - APC 61
Ripley watches Hicks' monitor.
RIPLEY
Wait! Tell him to...
(plugs in
headset jack)
...Hicks. Back up. Pan left.
There!
TIGHT ON MONITOR as the image shifts, revealing a
section of wall corroded almost through in an irregular
pattern.
TIGHT ON RIPLEY knowing what it is.
HICKS
(voice over;
filtered)
You seeing this okay? Looks
melted.
Burke raises an eyebrow at Ripley.
BURKE
Hmm. Acid for blood.
HICKS
(voice over;
filtered)
Looks like somebody bagged them
one of Ripley's bad guys here.
INT. FIRST LEVEL 62
Hudson is looking at something.
HUDSON
Hey, if you like that, you're gonna
love this...
WIDER ANGLE showing the trooper standing beneath a
gaping hole. Another hole, directly beneath, is at his
feet. The acid has melted right down through two levels
into the maintenance level. Revealing pipes, conduit,
equipment...eaten away by the ferocious substance.
APONE
Second squad? What's your status?
HICKS
(voice over;
filtered)
Just finished our sweep.
Nobody home.
APONE
(to Gorman)
The place is dead, Sir. Whatever
happened, we missed it.
INT. APC 63
Gorman turns to the others.
GORMAN
All right, the area's secured.
Let's go in and see what their
computer can tell us.
(into mike)
First team head for operations.
Hudson, see if you can get their
CPU on line. Hicks, meet me at
the south lock by the up-link
tower...
INT. FIRST LEVEL 64
GORMAN
(voice over)
...We're coming in.
HUDSON
(cupping his mike)
He's coming in. I feel safer
already.
VASQUEZ
(sotto voice)
Pendejo jerkoff.
EXT. COLONY COMPLEX 65
Lights arc across the dormant buildings as the APC turns
onto the "main drag." It trundles down the rutted
street, throwing up sheets of filthy water as the
massive wheels hit pondlike potholes. Windblown rain
lashes across the headlights.
Hicks emerges from the south lock just as the APC rolls
up close to the entrance. The crew-door slides back.
Gorman emerges, followed by Burke, Bishop, and
Wierzbowski. Burke looks back to see Ripley stop in the
APC doorway, eyeing the ominous colony structure. She
meets his eyes. Shakes her head "no." Not ready.
HUDSON
(voice over;
filtered)
Sir, the CPU is on-line.
GORMAN
Okay, stand by in operations.
(to those present)
Let's go.
INT. APC 66
The crew-door cycles home with a clang. Ripley sits in
the dark interior, lit by the tactical displays. The
wind howls outside, an incredibly desolate sound. She
hugs herself. Alone. Unarmed. She knows she's in a
tank, but remembers the acid. Leaps up. Hits the door
switch.
EXT. APC - SOUTH LOCK 67
The crew-door opens and Ripley emerges. In time to see
the lock doors rumbling closed.
RIPLEY
(shouting)
Burke!
The wind snatches her words away. The crew door whines
shut behind her. She walks to the exterior lock
door-controls and studies them. She punches some
unfamiliar buttons. Nothing happens. She looks really
nervous, alone in the howling wind. She hits another
button. The door-motors come to life and she relaxes
a little. Glances behind her. AND SCREAMS! There's
a face right there! Right at her shoulder. She jumps
back, gasping for breath.
WIERZBOWSKI
Scare you?
RIPLEY
Christ, Wierzbowski!
WIERZBOWSKI
Sorry. Hicks said to keep an
eye on you.
He gestures for her to precede him inside.
INT. CONTROL BLOCK CORRIDOR 68
Ripley catches up with the others as they move into the
bowels of the complex.
GORMAN
(to Burke)
Looks like you company can write
off its share of this colony.
BURKE
(unconcerned)
It's insured.
ON RIPLEY as they move along the corridor...reacting to
the fact that she is back in alien country. She sees
the ravaged administration complex. Fire-gutted offices.
Hicks notices her looking around nervously. He motions
to big Wierzbowski with his eyes and the trooper casually
falls in beside her on the other side, rifle at ready.
a two-man protective cordon. She glances at Hicks. He
winks, but so fast maybe it's something in his eye.
Trooper Frost emerges from a side corridor ahead.
FRONT
Sir, you should check this out...
He leads the way into the corridor.
INT. CORRIDOR 69
This wing is completely without power. The troopers
switch on their pack lights and the beams illuminate
a scene of devastation worse than they have seen. Her
expression reveals that Ripley is about to turn and flee.
FROST
Right ahead here...
They approach a barricade blocking the corridor, a
hastily welded wall of pipes, steel-plate, outer-door
panels. Acid holes have slashed through the floor and
walls in several places. The metal is scratched and
twisted by hideously powerful forces, peeled back like
a soup can on one side. They squeeze through the
opening.
INT. MEDICAL WING 70
They pack-lights play over the devastation of the
colonists' last ditch battle. The equipment of the med
labs has been uprooted to add to the barrier. The walls
are perforated by pulse-rifle fire and acid. Scorched
by untended fires to bare metal. A few instruments glow
with emergency power.
WIERZBOWSKI
Last stand.
GORMAN
No bodies?
FROST
No, Sir. Looks like it was a
helluva fight.
TIGHT ON RIPLEY transfixed by something.
RIPLEY
(low)
Over there.
The others turn and approach, seeing what she sees. She
has entered a second room, part of the med lab area. In
a storage alcove at near eye level stand seven
transparent cylinders. STASIS TUBES. They glow faintly
with an eerie violet light given off by the field which
preserves the specimens inside.
They look like jars containing SEVERED ARTHRITIC HANDS,
the palsied fingers curled in a death-rictus.
Structurally they are more like spiders with sickening
translucent skin, a flacid scrotal body, gill-like
organs underneath drifting in the suspension fluid.
Something you definitely do not want on your face, for
example.
BURKE
Are these the same...?
Ripley nods, unable to speak. Burke leans closer in
fascination. His face almost touching one cylinder, is
lit by its glow.
RIPLEY
Watch it, Burke...
The creature inside lunges suddenly, slamming against
the glass. Burke jumps back. From the palm of the
thing's handlike body emerges a pearl-escent TUBULE.
like a tapered piece of intestine, which slithers
tonguelike over the inside of the glass. Then it
retracts into a sheath between the "gills."
HICKS
(to Burke)
It likes you.
Only two of the creatures seem to pulse with life.
Burke taps the other stasis cylinders but the
hand-things remain inertly clenched.
BURKE
These are dead. There's just
the two alive.
On top of each cylinder is a file folder. Ripley takes
a folder from above one of the live specimens. Inside
is a medical chart printout with handwritten entries.
RIPLEY
(reading)
Removed surgically before embryo
implantation. Subject: Marachuk,
John L. Died during procedure.
(looking up)
They killed him getting it off.
HICKS
Poor bastard.
They are startled by a LOUD BEEP. They turn. Hicks
is intent on his motion tracker, aimed back toward the
shattered barricade. BEEP. BEEP.
HICKS
Behind us.
He gestures at the corridor they just passed through.
RIPLEY
One of us?
GORMAN
(into headset)
Apone...where are your people?
Anybody in D-Block?
APONE
(voice over; filtered)
Negative. We're all in Operations.
Vasquez swings the smart-gun to ready position on
its support arm, locking it with an authoritative
CLICK. She and Hicks head toward the source of the
signal, the others following.
INT. CORRIDOR 71
Hicks' tracker is reading out more rapidly. They
turn into the kitchens, a stainless steel labyrinth.
Ripley hangs back. Then realizes there is nothing
behind her but darkness. She catches up to the group.
INT. KITCHENS 72
The troopers enter, their lights bouncing around the
stainless steel surfaces.
HICKS
It's moving.
Vasquez is scanning, gaze intense. The other troops
grip their weapons tightly.
VASQUEZ
Which way?
Hicks nods toward a complicated array of food
processing equipment. They move forward, weapons
leveled.
Ripley shuffles forward in the dark. Wierzbowski
trips over a metal cannister, sending it CLANGING.
Ripley half climbs the wall.
Hicks' tracker beeps steadily. The beeps merge.
Become a solid tone. CRASH. Something moves in the
dark, toppling a rack of stockpots.
ON VASQUEZ pivoting smoothly to fire. In the same
instant Hicks' rifle slashes INTO FRAME. Slams
Vasquez' barrel upward. A STREAM OF TRACER FIRE rips
into the ceiling, the rounds SEARING LIKE LIGHTNING.
VASQUEZ
You fuck!
Hicks ignores her, moving past and aiming his light
under a row of steel cabinets. He gestures to Ripley,
who steps forward. Trusting his judgment. She
crouches beside him.
RIPLEY'S P.O.V. lit by Hicks' pack-light...a tiny
cowering figure. A very dirty, very terrified
NEWT JORDEN. She clutches a plastic food packet in
one hand, its top gnawed partway through. In the other
hand she grips the HEAD OF A LARGE DOLL, holding it by
the hair. Just the head. Eyes staring. Newt is
pathetically emaciated...fragile-looking as Dresden
china, her hair tangled and matted.
RIPLEY
(soothingly)
Come on out. It's all right...
Ripley moves toward her, reaching slowly under the
cabinet. Newt backs away, trembling visibly, her
vision fixated like a rabbit blinded by headlights.
Ripley's hand almost reaches her.
The kid bolts like a shot, scuttling along beneath the
cabinetry. Ripley scrambles to follow...to keep her
in sight. Crabbing frantically sideways. Hicks makes
a grab, catching one tiny ankle. He snaps his hand
out a moment later.
HICKS
Ow! Shit. Watchit, she bites.
The girl reaches a ventilation duct set in the
baseboard, its grille kicked out. She scrambles
inside, her tiny body barely fitting, wriggling like
a fish.
In his bulky armor Hicks knows he'll never make it
into the tiny duct. Ripley dives. She squirms into
the duct without thinking. Just ahead she sees Newt
enter a dark space and slam a steel hatch. Ripley
pushes the hatch open before the child can latch it,
and crawls in after her.
Newt is backed into a cul-de-sac in the tiny steel
chamber. Ripley shines her light around in amazement.
It is a NEST. A nest built by a child. Wadded up
blankets and pillows line the space, mixed up with a
haphazard array of TOYS, STUFFED ANIMALS, DOLLS, CHEAP
JEWELRY, COMIC BOOKS, EMPTY FOOD PACKETS, even a
battery operated TAPE PLAYER. All foraged from the
wrecked colony. Ripley marvels at the child's
incredible adaptability, the ability to functions even
in this nightmarish environment.
Newt edges along the far wall and dives for the hatch.
Ripley grabs her, controlling her in a bear hug. The
kid struggles wildly, like a cat at the vets. Eyes
wide, hands lashing out in a frenzy...but silent. No
scream.
RIPLEY
It's okay, it's okay. It's over...
you're going to be all right now...
it's okay...you're safe...
Newt goes limp, almost catatonic.
CLOSE ON NEWT'S TRAUMATIZED, VACANT STARE her lips
are white and trembling, her eyes track wildly and
she flinches from unseen terrors. We READ a dark
nightmare world in her eyes.
Ripley's light falls on something amidst the debris...
a FRAMED PHOTOGRAPH of Newt, dressed up and smiling,
a ribbon in her hair. In embossed gold letters
underneath it says:
FIRST GRADE CITIZENSHIP AWARD
REBECCA JORDEN
INT. OPERATIONS - ON NEWT - MANAGER'S OFFICE 73
sitting huddles in a chair, arms around her knees.
Looking at a point in space.
GORMAN
(o.s.)
What's her name again?
DIETRICH
(o.s.)
Rebecca.
WIDER ANGLE REVEALING Gorman sitting in front of her
while Dietrich watches the readouts from a
BIO-MONITORING CUFF wrapped around Newt's tiny arm.
GORMAN
Now think, Rebecca.
Concentrate. Just start at
the beginning...
No response. Ripley enters, carrying a coffee mug.
GORMAN
Where are your parents? You
have to try...
RIPLEY
(sharply)
Gorman! Give it a rest would
you.
Gorman stands with a sigh of dismissal.
GORMAN
Total brain-lock.
DIETRICH
(shrugs)
Physically she's okay.
Borderline malnutrition, but
I don't think any permanent
damage.
She unsnaps the bio-monitoring cuff.
GORMAN
Come on, we're wasting our
time.
Gorman and the others exit, leaving only Ripley with
Newt. Through the window of the office, out on the
main floor of the operations room, we SEE Gorman
join Burke and Bishop at a computer terminal.
Ripley kneels beside Newt, brushing the girl's unkempt
hair out of her eyes in a gentle, maternal fashion.
RIPLEY
Here, try this. A little
instant hot chocolate.
She wraps the child's hands around the cup. Raises
it to her lips for her. The girl drinks mechanically,
spilling down her chin.
RIPLEY
(soothing)
Poor thing. You don't talk
much do you? That's okay by
me. Most people do a lot of
talking and they wind up not
saying very much.
She sets the cup down and wipes the child's chin clean.
RIPLEY
Uh oh. I made a clean spot
here. Now I've done it. Guess
I'll just have to do the whole
thing.
She pours water from a squeeze bottle onto a small
cloth and gently washes the little girl's face.
Newt's eyes seem to focus on her for the first time.
RIPLEY
Hard to believe...there's a
little girl under all this.
And a pretty one at that.
Newt gazes at her. Ripley smiles.
INT. OPERATIONS 74
The ground teams are gathered around a terminal in
the computer center. Hudson has the CPU main computer
on-line and reading out.
TIGHT ON MONITOR SCREEN as an abstract of the main
colony ground plan drifts across the screen.
Searching.
Hudson bashes at the keyboard, his fingers dancing
expertly.
BURKE
(to Gorman)
What's he scanning for?
GORMAN
PDT'S. Personal-Data Transmitters.
Every adult colonist had one
surgically implanted.
HUDSON
If they're within twenty
klicks we'll read it out here,
but so far...zip.
INT. OFFICE 75
Ripley is washing Newt's tiny hands with a cloth,
pink skin emerging from black grime.
RIPLEY
I don't know how you managed
to stay alive but you're one
brave kid, Rebecca.
Newt's voice is almost inaudible.
NEWT
N-newt.
Ripley leans closer. Feels like she's breathing
on coals. The sound was incomprehensible.
RIPLEY
What did you say?
NEWT
Newt. My n-name's Newt.
Nobody calls me Rebecca except
my dork brother.
Ripley grins inanely, not wanting to move or speak...
or break the spell.
RIPLEY
Well, Newt it is then. My
name's Ripley...and people
call me Ripley.
Ripley picks up her tiny limp hand, shaking it
formally.
RIPLEY
Pleased to meet you. And who
is this? Does she have a
name?
Newt glances at the disembodied doll, still clutched
in one filthy hand.
NEWT
Casey. She's my only friend.
RIPLEY
What about me?
Newt's reply is flat, neutral.
NEWT
I don't want you for a friend.
RIPLEY
Why not?
NEWT
Because you'll be gone soon,
like the others. Like
everybody. You'll be dead
and you'll leave me alone.
Ripley gazes at her, chilled both by the ominous
statement and by the situation which could have
produced this outlook in a child.
RIPLEY
Oh, Newt. You mom and dad
went away like that, didn't
they?
Newt nods, staring at her knees.
RIPLEY
(soothingly)
They'd be here if they could,
honey. I know they would.
NEWT
(with cold certainty)
They're dead.
RIPLEY
Newt. Look at me...Newt. I
won't leave you. I promise.
NEWT
You promise?
RIPLEY
Cross my heart.
NEWT
And hope to die?
Ripley smiles grimly at the inadvertently macabre
expression.
RIPLEY
(quietly)
And hope to die.
And because she's a child, the darkest terrors, even
the ones seen and not imagined, can still be banished
by a smile and a single promise.
Newt's eyes brim as she gazes at Ripley. Her lower
lip starts to tremble, and her face slowly deforms
into an abject mask. She sobs as she clamps her arms
around Ripley's neck. The sobs come in waves as
Ripley rocks her, tears of suppresses terror and
grief and hurt rolling down her face. It is a
breakthrough.
Ripley closes her eyes, hoping that this promise
can be kept.
INT. OPERATIONS 76
Everyone jumps as Hudson cries out triumphantly.
HUDSON
Hah! Stop your grinnin' and
drop your linen! Found 'em.
GORMAN
Alive?
HUDSON
Unknown. But, it looks like
all of them. Over at the
processing station...sublevel
'C' under the south tower.
TIGHT ON SCREEN showing an amoebalike cluster of
flashing blue dots clumped tightly in one area.
HICKS
Looks like a Goddamn town
meeting.
GORMAN
Let's saddle up.
APONE
Awright, let's go girls, they
ain't payin' us by the hour.
EXT. ACHERON - TWILIGHT 77
The APC roars across the stygian landscape, traversing
the causeway which connects the colony to the
ATMOSPHERE STATION a kilometer away. Behind it the
drop-ship settles to the ground at the colony landing
field.
PAN WITH THE APC TO REVEAL the massive structure.
Like a vast foundry the conical exhaust tower
flickers with spectral light.
INT. APC 78
The troopers sit, more subdued now, swaying and
bouncing in the heavily sprung vehicle. Wierzbowski
is in the saddle. Ripley and Newt sit side by side
just aft of the driver's cockpit.
NEWT
I was the best at the game.
I knew the whole maze.
RIPLEY
The 'maze'? You mean the
air ducts?
NEWT
Yeah, you know. In the walls,
under the floor. I was the
ace. I could hide better
than anybody.
RIPLEY
You're really something, ace.
Ripley's gaze shifts out the windshield as the
processing station looms ahead.
EXT. APC/STATION 79
The vast structure towers above the parked personnel
carrier. Deploying in front of the APC, backlit by
its lights, the troopers cast long shadows. They
look ominous. Hulking techno-samurai.
The base of the station is a depthless maze of
conduits and pressure vessels, like an oil refinery.
Or a Dantean version of one. The THRUM of
functioning machine systems echoes through the
labyrinth.
GORMAN
(voice over; static)
Forty meters in. Ramp on
axial two-two. Access to
sublevels.
The troopers start down the open rampway. Light
filters down through several levels of steel mesh
floor, catwalks and pipes. Below that is darkness.
GORMAN
(voice over; static)
B-Level. Next one down.
The thrumming of machines grows louder as they
descend.
INT. APC 80
Huddles around the screens are Ripley, Burke and
Gorman. Newt squeezes in from behind. Gorman is
doing his video wizard bit, dancing on the buttons.
GORMAN
(to team)
We're not making that out too
well. What is it?
HUDSON
(voice over; static)
You tell me. I only work
here.
INT. COMPLEX 81
The group stands before a bizarre tableau. Among
the refinerylike lattice of pipes and conduits
something new and not of human design had been
added.
It is a structure of some sort, extending from and
crudely imitating the complex of plumbing, but made
of some strange encrusted substance. It vaguely
resembles the chambered nests of swallows on a much
larger scale, and it attenuates so gradually into
the original hardware that it is hard to see where
one ends and the other begins.
The alien structure seems to extend far back into
the complex of machinery. The plant thrums loudly,
its functioning seemingly not impaired.
INT. APC 82
Ripley stares at the scene in dread fascination.
GORMAN
What is it?
RIPLEY
I don't know.
GORMAN
(to team)
Proceed inside.
INT. ALIEN STRUCTURE 83
They enter the organic labyrinth, playing their
lights over the walls. Revealing a BIO-MECHANICAL
LATTICE, like the marrow of some vast bone. The air
is thick with STEAM. Trickling water. The place
seems almost alive.
INT. APC 84
They watch in various helmet-camera P.O.V.'s of the
wall detail.
RIPLEY
(low)
Oh God...
CLOSE ON VIDEO as it PAN SLOWLY...REVEALING a
bas-relief of detritus from the colony: furniture,
wiring, human bones, skulls...Fused together with a
translucent, epoxylike substance.
DIETRICH
(voice over; static)
Looks like some sort of secreted
resin.
GORMAN
They ripped apart the colony
for building materials.
RIPLEY
And the colonists...When they
were done with them.
(turning)
Newt, you better go sit up
front. Go on.
INT. ALIEN STRUCTURE 85
Steam swirls around them as the troopers move deeper
inside.
FROST
Hotter'n hell in here.
HUDSON
Yeah...but it's a dry
heat.
INT. APC 86
Ripley leans forward suddenly, studying the graphic
readout of the STATION GROUND PLAN.
RIPLEY
They're right under the
primary heat exchangers.
BURKE
Yeah? Maybe the organisms like
the heat, that's why they built...
RIPLEY
That's not what I mean. Gorman,
if your men have to use their
weapons in there, they'll rupture
the cooling system.
BURKE
(realizing)
She's right.
GORMAN
So.
RIPLEY
So...then the fusion
containment shuts down.
GORMAN
(impatient)
So? So?
BURKE
We're talking thermonuclear
explosion.
GORMAN
Shit.
(into
mike)
Apone, collect magazines
from everybody. We can't
have any firing in there.
INT. ALIEN STRUCTURE 87
The troopers look at each other in dismay.
WIERZBOWSKI
Is he fucking crazy?
HUDSON
What're we supposed to use,
man? Harsh language?
GORMAN
(voice over; static)
Flame-units only. I want
rifles slung.
APONE
Let's go. Pull 'em out.
He walks among the troopers, collecting the magazines
from each one's weapon.
Vasquez turns hers over reluctantly.
The three who are carrying them get out small
incinerator units. When Apone moves on, Vasquez
slips a spare magazine from concealment and inserts
it in her weapon. Drake does the same. Hicks hangs
back in the shadows. He opens a cylindrical sheath
attached to his battle-harness. Slides out an
old style PUMP TWELVE-GAUGE with a sawed-off butt
stock. Chambers a round.
HICKS
(low,
to Hudson)
I always keep this handy.
For close encounter.
APONE
(o.s.)
Let's move. Hicks, back
us up.
INT. LARGER CHAMBER 88
The air is thick. Lights flare.
GORMAN
(voice over;
very faint)
Any movement?
Hudson watches his tracker, scanning.
HUDSON
Nothing. Zip.
Apone stops, his expression changing. They face a
wall of living horror. The colonists have been
brought here and entombed alive...
COCOONS protrude from the niches and interstices
of the structure. The cocoon material is the same
translucent epoxy. The bodies are frozen in
carelessly twisted positions. Macabre image of
frozen agony. Many are disiccated. Skeletal.
Rip-cages burst outward, as if exploded from within.
Paralyzed, brought here, entombed in living death
as hosts for the embryos growing within then.
Dietrich moves close to examine one of the figures,
perhaps the most "recent." A WOMAN, ghost-white
and drained. The WOMAN'S EYES SNAP OPEN...They
seem to plead.
DIETRICH
Sir!
The woman's lips move feebly.
WOMAN
Please...God...kill me.
INT. APC 89
Ripley watches the woman, white knuckled. The
sound of RETCHING comes over the general frequency.
INT. COCOON CHAMBER 90
The woman begins to convulse. She SCREAMS, a
sawing shriek of mindless agony.
APONE
Flame thrower! Move!
Frost hands it to him. Suddenly, the woman's chest
EXPLODES in a gout of blood. A SMALL FANGED HEAD
EMERGES, HISSING VICIOUSLY.
Apone pulls the trigger. Then the other troopers
carrying flame throwers open fire. An orgy of
purging fire. The cocoons vanish in the shimmering
heat.
A SHRILL SCREECHING begins, like a siren made from
fingernails on blackboards.
ANGLE ON WALL as something begins to emerge. Dimly
glimpsed, a glistening bio-mechanoid creature larger
then a man. Lying dormant, it had blended perfectly
with the convoluted surface of fused bone. The
troopers don't see it. Smoke from the burning cocoons
quickly fills the confined space. Visibility drops
to zero.
HUDSON
Movement!
APONE
Position?
HUDSON
Can't lock up...
APONE
(with an edge)
Talk to me, Hudson.
HUDSON
Uh, seems to be in front
and behind.
INT. APC 91
Gorman is plating with the gain controls on the
monitors.
GORMAN
We can't see anything back
here, Apone. What's going on?
Ripley senses it coming, like a wave at night. Dark,
terrifying and inevitable.
RIPLEY
(low)
Pull you team out, Gorman.
INT. COCOON CHAMBER - TIGHT ON SEVERAL WALLS AND 92
CEILING NICHES
as they come alive. Bonelike, tubelike shapes shift,
becoming emerging ALIENS. Dimly glimpsed...glints
of slime. Silhouettes.
APONE
Go to infrared. Looks sharp
people!
The squad members snap down their image-intersifier
visors.
HUDSON
Multiple signals. All round.
Closing.
Dietrich turns to retreat, her flamethrower held
tightly. A nightmarish silhouette materializes out
of the smoke behind her! It strikes like lightning.
SEIZES HER. She fires reflexively, wild. The jet
of flame engulfs Frost nearby.
Apone spins as the double SCREAM. Can't see anything
in the think smoke.
INT. APC 93
Ripley watches Frost's monitor go black. His
bio-readouts flatten. The other screens show glimpses
of shimmering infrared silhouettes of the aliens, the
images bobbing and panning confusedly.
INT. COCOON CHAMBER 94
Vasquez nods to Drake with grim satisfaction.
VASQUEZ
Let's rock.
They OPEN UP simultaneously, lighting up the smoke
like welders' arcs.
GORMAN
(voice over; static)
Who's firing? I ordered a
hold fire, dammit!
Vasquez rips off her headset. She is riveted to the
targetting screen, moving ferret-quick in a pivoting
dance. Thunder and lightning. Better than sex for
her. FLASH-CRACK! An alien SCREECH from the darkness.
INT. APC 95
The battle of phantoms unfolds on the video screens.
Ripley flinches as another scream comes over the
open frequency. Wierzbowski's monitor breaks up.
His life signs plummet. Voices blend and overlap.
HUDSON
(voice over)
Let's get the fuck out of
here!
HICKS
(voice over)
Not that tunnel, the other
one!
CROWE
(voice over)
You sure? Watch it...behind
you. Fucking move, will you!
Gorman is ashen. Confused. Gulping for air like a
grouper. How could the situation have unravelled
so fast?
RIPLEY
(to Gorman)
GET THEM OUT OF THERE! DO
IT NOW!
GORMAN
Shut up. Just shut up!
CRASH! Crowe's telemetry cuts off like the plug was
pulled. Flat line.
GORMAN
Uh,...Apone, I want you to
lay down a suppressing fire
with the incinerators and
fall back by squads to the
APC, over.
APONE
(voice over;
heavy static)
Say again? All after
incinerators?
Ripley watches it fall apart.
GORMAN
I said...
INT. COCOON CHAMBER 96
Apone adjusts his headset.
GORMAN
(voice over;
static)
...lay down (garbled) ...by
squads to...(garbled)
Gorman's voice breaks up completely. A SCREAM.
Apone whirls, uncertain.
APONE
Dietrich? Crowe? Sound
off! Wierzbowski?
Nothing. He spins. Almost blows Hudson's head
off.
HUDSON
(freaked)
We're getting juked! We're
gonna die in here!
Apone hands him a magazine. Hudson slaps it home,
looking truly terrified.
APONE
Yeah. Right. Right! Fuck
the heat exchanger!
He FIRES. Vasquez, nearby, is laying down a
horrendous field of fire. Strobe-bright flashes
sear the darkness. She pivots, firing mechanically
in controlled bursts. Scoring points in her own
private video game.
She SPINS as Hicks approached laterally. WHAM! She
fires "at" him. Hicks whirls...to see a nightmarish
figure right behind him, catapulted backwards by
Vasquez' blast.
INT. APC 97
Apone's monitor SPINS CRAZILY AND GOES DARK.
GORMAN
(distantly)
I told them to fall back...
RIPLEY
(viciously)
They're but off! Do something!
But he's gone. Total brain-lock.
TIGHT ON RIPLEY as she struggles with a decision.
She's terrified...of what she knows she's about to
do. But more than that, she's furious. Shouldering
past a paralyzed Gorman she runs up the aisle of the
APC.
RIPLEY
(in passing)
Newt, put your seatbelt on!
Ripley jumps into the driver's seat of the APC. Takes
a deep breath. Starts slapping switches.
GORMAN
Ripley, what the hell...?
She slams the tractor into gear.
EXT. APC 98
as the drive-wheels spin on the wet ground. The
massive machine leaps forward.
INT. APC 99
Ripley sees smoke pouring out of the complex ahead
as she slides sideways onto the descending rampway.
She slams the left and right drive-wheel actuators
viciously, spinning the machine in a roaring pivot.
Gorman lunges forward along the aisle, abandoning
his command center.
GORMAN
(shrill)
What are you doing? Turn
around! That's an order!
He claws at her, hysterical. Burke pulls him off.
INT. ALIEN STRUCTURE 100
The APC roars down into the smoky structure, tearing
away outcroppings of alien-encrustation. Ripley hits
the floodlights. Strobe-beacon. Siren. She homes
on the flash of weapons fire ahead.
INT. COCOON CHAMBER 101
The APC crashes inside, showering debris. Hicks,
supporting a limping Hudson, appears out of the smoke.
The APC pulls up broadside and Burke gets the crew-door
open.
Drake and Vasquez back out of the dense mist, firing as
they fall back.
Drake goes empty, slams the buckles cutting loose his
smart-gun harness, and unslings a flame thrower.
Hicks pushes Hudson inside, leaps in after him and
drags Vasquez inside, massive gear and all. She sees
a DARK SHAPE lunge toward Drake. She fires one burst,
prone. Clean body hit.
The flash lights up the hideous inhuman grin, blowing
open the thing's thorax. A spray of BRIGHT YELLOW
ACID slashes across Drake's face and chest, eating
into him like a hot knife through butter. He drops
in boiling smoke, reflexively triggering his flame
thrower.
The jet of liquid fire arcs around as he falls,
engulfing the back half of the APC.
INT. APC 102
Vasquez rolls aside as a gout of napalm shoots
through the crew-door, setting the interior on fire.
Hicks is rolling the door closed when Vasquez lunges,
clawing out the opening. He stops her, dragging her
inside.
VASQUEZ
Drake! He's down!
Hicks screams right in her face.
HICKS
He's gone! Forget it, he's
gone!
VASQUEZ
(irrational)
No.. No, he's not. He's --
Burke and Hudson help him drag her from the door.
HICKS
(to Ripley)
Let's go!
Ripley jams reverse. Nails the throttle. The APC
bellows backward up the ramp. Hudson disappears
under a pile of equipment as a storage rack breaks
free. Hicks gets the door almost closed. Suddenly
CLAWS appear at the edge. Newt screams. Against
the combined efforts of Hicks, Burke and Vasquez
the door is being SLOWLY WRENCHED OPEN FROM OUTSIDE.
Hicks yells at a paralyzed Gorman.
HICKS
Get on the Goddamn door!
Gorman backs away, eyes wide. Hicks jams his shoulder
against the latching lever and frees one hand to raise
his 12-gauge. An alien head wedges through the opening,
its hideous mouth opening. And Hicks jams his SHOTGUN
MUZZLE between its jaws and pulls the trigger! BLAM!
The creature is flung backward, its shattered head
fountaining acid blood. The spray eats into the door,
the deck, hits Hudson on the arm. He shrieks. They
slide the door home and dog it tight.
EXT. APC 103
The armored vehicle roars backward up the ramp. Slams
into a mass of conduit. Tears free. Ripley works the
shifters, pivoting the massive machine. Everybody's
shouting, trying to put out the fire. Pandemonium.
INT./EXT. APC 104-
105
Something lands on the roof with a metallic clang.
Gorman has plastered himself against a wall, as far
from the door as possible. A latch lever behind his
head turns. The small hatch against which he was
leaning is ripped away and SOMETHING snatches him out
the opening He disappears to the waist with a shriek,
legs kicking. The alien clings to the roof, pulling
him out. Its tail whips over, scorpionlike, and
buries a four inch stinger in Gorman's shoulder.
Hicks grabs a joy stick at the FIRE-CONTROL CONSOLE
and turns it rapidly. On the roof the alien looks up
as servo-motors whir. A remote control turret cannon,
a 20mm chain-gun, swivels toward it in a curt arc.
VOOM. The creature is blasted off the vehicle's
armored back and tumbles away. Gorman, slumped
unconscious, is dragged back inside.
The APC rips away a section of catwalk and heads for
clear air, its flank trailing fire like a comet.
Ripley fights the controls as the big machine slews,
broadsiding a control-room out-building. Office
furniture and splintered wall sections are strewn in
the APC's wake.
Suddenly, an alien arm arcs down, right in front of
Ripley's face. It smashes the windshield. Glistening,
hideous jaws lunge inside...
Ripley recoils. Face to face once again with the same
mind-numbing horror. She reacts instinctively. Slams
both sets of brakes with all her strength. The huge
wheels lock. The creature flips off, landing in the
headlights. Ripley hits full throttle. The APC roars
forward, smashing over the abomination. Its skeletal
body is crushed under the massive wheels. It rolls,
tumbling...lost in the darkness behind as the machine
thunders onto the causeway and away from the station.
A sound like bolts dropped in a meat grinder is coming
from the APC's rear end. Hicks eases Ripley's hand
back on the throttle lever. Her grip is white knuckled.
HICKS
It's okay...we're clear. We're
clear. Ease up.
The grinding clatter becomes deafening even as she
slows the machine.
HICKS
Sounds like a blown transaxle.
You're just grinding metal.
EXT. APC 106
The tractor limps to a halt. A HALF-KILOMETER from the
atmosphere processing station. The APC is a smoking,
acid-scarred mess.
INT. APC 107
Ripley, still running on the adrenalin dynamo, spins
out of her seat into the aisle.
RIPLEY
Newt? Where's Newt?
Feeling a tug at her pants leg she looks down. Newt
is wedged into a tiny space between the driver's seat
and a bulkhead. She is trembling, and looks terrified,
but it's not the basket case catatonia of before.
RIPLEY
You okay?
Newt gives her a THUMBS-UP, wan but stoic. Ripley goes
back to the others. Hudson is holding his arm and
staring in stunned dismay at nothing, playing it all
back in his mind.
HUDSON
Jesus...Jesus...I don't believe
it.
Burke tries to have a look at Hudson's arm.
HUDSON
(jerking away)
I'm all right, leave it!
Ripley joins Hicks who is bent over Gorman, checking
for a pulse.
HICKS
He's alive. I think he's paralyzed.
VASQUEZ
He's fucking dead!
She grabs Gorman by the collar, hauling him up roughly,
ready to pulp him with her other fist.
VASQUEZ
(to Gorman)
Wake up pendejo! I'm gonna kill
you, you useless fuck!
Hicks pushes her back. Right in her face.
HICKS
Hold it. Hold it. Back off, right
now.
Vasquez releases Gorman. His head smacks the deck.
Ripley opens Gorman's tunic, revealing a bloodless
purple puncture wound.
RIPLEY
Looks like it stung him.
HUDSON
Hey...hey! Look, Crowe and
Dietrich aren't dead, man.
They turn to see Hudson at the MTOB monitors, pointing
at the bio-function screens.
HUDSON
They must be like Gorman. Their
signs are real low but they ain't
dead!
Hudson is pale, panicky, and his voice echoes around
the tiny metallic space and comes back to all of them
as the near hysteria they all feel, fluttering just
at the edges of their minds.
RIPLEY
You can't help them. Right now
they're being cocooned just like
the others.
HUDSON
(sagging)
Oh, God. Jesus. This ain't
happening.
Ripley and Vasquez lock eyes. Ripley doesn't want
it to be "I told you so" but Vasquez reads it that
way. She turns away with a snap.
INT. MED LAB 108
Bishop is hunched over an occular probe doing a
dissection of one of the dead parasites. Spunkmeyer
enters with some electronics gear on a hand truck
and parks it near Bishop's work table.
SPUNKMEYER
Need anything else?
Bishop waves "no" without looking up.
EXT. COLONY - DROP-SHIP 109
Spunkmeyer emerges, crossing the Tarmac to the loading
ramp of the ship. As he nears the top of the ramp,
his boot slips...skidding on something wet. Kneeling,
he touches a small puddle of thick slime. He shrugs,
and hits the controls to retract the ramp and close
the doors.
INT. APC 110
ON VASQUEZ wired and intense.
VASQUEZ
All right, we can't blow the fuck
out of them...why not roll some
canisters of CN-20 down there.
Nerve gas the whole nest?
HUDSON
Look, man, let's just bug out and
call it even, okay?
RIPLEY
(to Vasquez)
No good. How do we know it'll
effect their biochemistry? I say
we take off and nuke the entire
site from orbit. It's the only
way to be sure.
BURKE
Now hold on a second. I'm not
authorizing that action.
RIPLEY
Why not?
Burke senses the challenge in her tone and backpedals
flawlessly into conciliatory mode.
BURKE
Well, I mean...I know this is an
emotional moment, but let's not
make snap judgments. Let's move
cautiously. First, this physical
installation had a substantial
dollar value attached to it --
RIPLEY
They can bill me. I got a tab
running. What's second?
BURKE
This is clearly an important
species we're dealing with here.
We can't just arbitrarily
exterminate them --
RIPLEY
Bullshit!
VASQUEZ
Yeah, bullshit. Watch us.
HUDSON
Maybe you haven't been keeping up
on current events, but we just got
out asses kicked, pal!
Ripley faces Burke squarely and she's not pleased.
RIPLEY
Look, Burke. We had an agreement.
Burke moves in, lowering his voice. He takes her aside
from the others.
BURKE
I know, I know, but we're dealing
with changing scenarios here. This
thing is major, Ripley. I mean
really major. You gotta go with
its energy. Since you are the
representative of the company who
discovered this species your
percentage will naturally be
some serious, serious money.
Ripley stares at his like he's a particularly
disagreeable fungus.
RIPLEY
You son of a bitch.
BURKE
(hardening)
Don't make me pull rank, Ripley.
RIPLEY
What rank? I believe Corporal Hicks
has authority here.
BURKE
Corporal Hicks!?
RIPLEY
This operation is under military
jurisdiction and Hicks is next in
chain of command. Right?
HICKS
Looks that way.
Burke starts to lose it and it's not a pretty sight.
BURKE
Look, this is a multimillion
dollar operation. He can't make
that kind of decision. He's just
a grunt!
(glances at Hicks)
No offense.
HICKS
(coolly)
None taken.
(into mike)
Ferro, you copying?
FERRO
(voice over; static)
Standing by.
HICKS
Prep for dust-off. We're gonna
need an immediate evac.
(to Burke)
I think we'll take off and nuke
the site from orbit. It's the
only way to be sure.
He winks. Burke looks like a kid whose toy has been
snatched.
BURKE
This is absurd! You don't have
the authority to --
CLACK! The sound of a rifle bolt snapping home
truncates his rant. Vasquez has a pulse-rifle cradled,
not exactly aimed at Burke but not exactly aimed away
either. Her expression is masklike. End of discussion.
Ripley sits behind Newt, putting her arm around her.
RIPLEY
We're going home, honey.
EXT. DROP-SHIP 111
The ship rises through the spray thrown up by the
downblast of the VTOL jets, hovering above the complex
like a huge insect, its searchlights blazing.
EXT. APC 112
The group is filing out of the personnel carrier, which
is clearly a write off. Hicks and Hudson have Gorman
between them, and the others emerge into the wind.
They watch the ship roar in on its final approach.
INT. DROP-SHOP COCKPIT 113
Ferro flicks the intercom switch several times. Thumps
her headset mike.
FERRO
Spunkmeyer? Goddammit.
The compartment door behind her slides slowly back.
FERRO
(turning)
Where the fu --
Her eyes widen. It's not Spunkmeyer.
Am impression of leering jaws which blur forward, then
a whirl of motion and a truncated scream. The throttle
levers are slammed forward in the melee.
EXT. APC - LANDSCAPE - STATION 114
They watch in dismay as the approaching ship dips and
VEERS WILDLY. Its main engines ROAR FULL ON and the
craft accelerates toward them even as it loses altitude.
It skims the ground. Clips a rock formation. The
ship slews, sideslipping. It hits a ridge. Tumbles,
bursting into flame, breaking up. It arcs into the
air, end over end, a Catherine wheel juggernaut.
RIPLEY
Run!
She grabs Newt and sprints for cover as a tumbling
section of the ship's massive engine module slams
into the APC and it explodes into twisted wreckage.
The drop-ship skips again, like a stone, engulfed in
flames...AND CRASHES INTO THE STATION. A TREMENDOUS
FIREBALL.
The remainder of the ground team watches their hopes
of getting off the planet, and most of their superior
fire power, reduced to flaming debris.
There is a moment of stunned silence, then...
HUDSON
(hysterical)
Well that's great! That's just
fucking great, man. Now what the
fuck are we supposed to do, man?
We're in some real pretty shit now!
HICKS
Are you finished?
(to Ripley)
You okay?
She nods. She can't disguise her stricken expression
when she looks at Newt, but the little girl seems
relatively calm. She shrugs with fatalistic acceptance.
NEWT
I guess we're not leaving, right?
RIPLEY
I'm sorry, Newt.
NEWT
You don't have to be sorry. It
wasn't your fault.
HUDSON
(kicking rocks)
Just tell me what the fuck we're
supposed to do now. What're we
gonna do now?
BURKE
(annoyed)
May be could build a fire and
sing songs.
NEWT
We should get back, 'cause it'll
be dark soon. They come mostly
at night. Mostly.
Ripley follows Newt's look to the AP station looming
in the twilight, the burning drop-ship wreckage jammed
into its basal structure.
EXT. CONTROL BLOCK - NIGHT 115
The wind howls mournfully around the metal buildings,
dry and cold.
INT. OPERATIONS 116
The weary and demoralized group is gathered to take
stock of their grim options. Vasquez and Hudson are
just setting down a scorched and dented packing case,
one of several culled from the APC wreckage.
Hicks indicates their remaining inventory of weapons,
lying on a table.
HICKS
This is all we could salvage. We've
got four pulse-rifles with about
fifty rounds each. Not so good.
About fifteen M-40 grenades and
two flame throwers less than
half full...one damaged. And
We've got four of these
robot-sentry units with scanners
and display intact.
He opens one of the scorched cases, revealing a
high-tech servo-actuated machine gun with optical
sensing equipment, packed in foam.
RIPLEY
How long after we're declared
overdue can we expect a rescue?
HICKS
About seventeen days.
HUDSON
Man, we're not going to make it
seventeen hours! Those things
are going to come in here, just
like they did before, man...
they're going to come in here
and get us, man, long before...
RIPLEY
She survived longer than that
with no weapons and no training.
Ripley indicates Newt, who salutes Hudson smartly.
RIPLEY
So you better just start dealing
with it. Just deal with it,
Hudson...because we need you and
I'm tired of your bullshit. Now
get on a terminal and call up some
kind of floor plan file.
Construction blueprints,
maintenance schematics, anything
that shows the layout of this
place. I want to see air ducts,
electrical access tunnels,
subbasements. Every possible way
into this wing.
Hudson gathers himself, thankful for the direction.
Hicks nods approval of her handling of it.
HUDSON
Aye-firmative. I'm on it.
BISHOP
I'll be in medical. I'd like to
continue my analysis.
RIPLEY
Fine. You do that.
INT. OPERATIONS 117
Burke, Ripley, Hudson and Hicks are bent over a large
HORIZONTAL VIDEOSCREEN, like an illuminated chart table.
Newt hops from one foot to the other to see.
RIPLEY
This service tunnel is how they're
moving back and forth.
HUDSON
Yeah, right, it runs from the
processing station right into
the sublevel here.
He traces a finger along the abstract ground plan.
RIPLEY
All right. There's a fire door
at this end. The first thing we
do is put a remote sentry in the
tunnel and seal that door.
HICKS
We gotta figure on them getting
into the complex.
RIPLEY
That's right. So we put up
welded barricades at these
intersections...
(pointing)
...and seal these ducts here
and here. Then they can only
come at us from these two
corridors and we create a free
field of fire for the other
two sentry units, here.
Hicks contemplates her game plan and raises his hand,
satisfied.
HICKS
Outstanding. Then all we need's
a deck of cards. All right, let's
move like we got a purpose.
HUDSON
Aye-firmative.
NEWT
(imitating Hudson)
Aye-firmative!
INT. SERVICE TUNNEL - SUBLEVEL 118
A long straight service tunnel, lined with conduit,
seems to go on forever. Vasquez and Hudson have
finished setting up two of the robot sentry guns on
tripods in the tunnel.
VASQUEZ
(shouting)
Testing!
She hurls a wastebasket down the tunnel, into the
automatic field of fire. The sentry guns swivel
smoothly, the wastebasket bounces once...and is riddled
by two quick bursts of EXPLODING 10MM ROUNDS into
dime-sized shrapnel. They retreat behind a heavy steel
FIRE DOOR which they roll closed on its track. Vasquez,
using a PORTABLE WELDING TORCH, begins sealing the door
to its frame, as Hudson paces nervously.
HUDSON
Hudson here. A and B
sentries are in place and
keyed. We're sealing the
tunnel.
INT. SECOND LEVEL CORRIDOR 119
Hicks pauses in his work.
HICKS
(into mike)
Roger.
He and Ripley are covering an air duct opening with
a metal plate, welding it in place, showering sparks
in the dark corridor. Behind them Burke and Newt
are moving back and forth with cartons of food on a
hand truck, stacking it inside the operations center.
Hicks sets down his welder and pulls a small object
out of a belt pouch. A braceletlike EMERGENCY
LOCATING BEEPER.
HICKS
Here, put this on. Then
I can locate you anywhere
in the complex on this --
He indicates a tiny TRACKER hooked to his battle
harness. He shrugs, a little self-consciously.
HICKS
Just a...precaution. You
know.
Ripley pauses for a moment, regarding him
quizzically.
RIPLEY
(strapping
it on)
Thanks.
HUDSON
Uh, what's next?
She consults a printout of the floor plan.
EXT. CONTROL BLOCK 120
The wind has died utterly and in the even more eerie
stillness a diffuse mist has rolled into shroud
the complex. Visibility is low in the fog.
Everything looks underwater. There is no movement.
INT. CORRIDOR 121
In the barricaded corridor sentry-gun "C" sits waiting,
its "ARMED" light flashing green. Through a hole
torn in the ceiling at the far end of the corridor
the fog swirls in. Water drips. An expectant hush.
INT. MED LAB ANNEX - OPERATING ROOM 122
Ripley carries an exhausted Newt through the inner
connecting rooms of the medical wing. She reaches
an OPERATING ROOM which is small but very high-tech
...vaultlike metal walls, strange equipment.
Several metal cots have been set up, displacing O.R.
equipment which is pushed into one corner.
Newt is resting her head on Ripley's shoulder, barely
awake...out of steam. Ripley sets her on one of
the cots and Newt lies down.
RIPLEY
Now you just lie here and
have a nap. You're exhausted.
NEWT
I don't want to...I have
scary dreams.
This obviously strikes a chord with Ripley, but she
feigns cheerfulness.
RIPLEY
I'll bet Casey doesn't have
bad dreams.
Ripley lifts the doll's head from Newt's tiny fingers
and looks inside. It is, of course, empty.
RIPLEY
Nothing bad in here. Maybe
you could just try to be like
her.
Ripley closes the doll's eyes and hands her back.
Newt rolls her eyes as if to say "don't pull that
five-year-old shit on me, lady. I'm six."
NEWT
Ripley...she doesn't have
bad dreams because she's just
a piece of plastic.
RIPLEY
Oh. Sorry, Newt.
NEWT
My mommy always said there
were no monsters. No real
ones. But there are.
Ripley's expression becomes sober. She brushes damp
hair back from the child's pale forehead.
RIPLEY
(quietly)
Yes, there are, aren't there.
NEWT
Why do they tell little kids
that?
Newt's voice reveals her deep sense of betrayal.
She's seen that the world can be just as terrifying
as her most primal child's nightmare if not more
so, and that's a lot worse than finding out there is
no Santa.
RIPLEY
Well, some kids can't handle
it like you can.
NEWT
Did one of those things grow
inside her?
Ripley begins pulling blankets up an tucking them in
around her tiny body.
RIPLEY
I don't know, Newt. That's
the truth.
NEWT
Isn't that how babies come?
I mean people babies...they
grow inside you?
RIPLEY
No, it's different, honey.
NEWT
Did you ever have a baby?
RIPLEY
Yes. A little girl.
NEWT
Where is she?
RIPLEY
(quietly)
Gone.
NEWT
You mean dead.
It's more statement than question. Ripley nods slowly.
She turns, reaching for a PORTABLE SPACE HEATER
sitting nearby, and slides it closer to the bed. She
switches it on. It HUMS and emits a cozy orange
glow.
NEWT
Ripley, I was just thinking...
Maybe I could do you a favor and
fill in for her. Just for a
while. You can try it and if
you don't like it, it's okay.
I'll understand. No big deal.
Whattya think?
Ripley gazes at her a long time before answering...
a conflict between the urge to crush the child to her
in a forever hug and the knowledge that neither of them
may see another dawn.
RIPLEY
I think it's not the worst idea
I've heard all day. Let's talk
about it later.
She switches off the light and starts to rise. Newt
grabs her arm. A plaintive voice in the dark.
NEWT
Don't go! Please.
RIPLEY
I'll be right in the other
room, Newt. And look...I can
see you on that camera right
up there.
Newt looks at the VIDEO SECURITY CAMERA above the door.
Ripley unsnaps the TRACKER BRACELET given to her by
Hicks and puts it on Newt's tiny wrist, cinching it
down.
RIPLEY
Here. Take is for luck. Now
go to sleep...and don't dream.
Ripley walks away and Newt rolls on her side, hugging
Casey and gazing at the hypnotically pulsing function
light on the bracelet. The space heater hums
comfortingly.
INT. MED LAB 123
ECU Gorman, his eyelids slitted open like those of a
corpse, but with the eyes tracking erratically. The
only sign of life.
RIPLEY
(voice over)
How is he?
Ripley stands over the Lieutenant, who is lying
motionless on an examining table. Bishop looks up
from his instruments nearby, the light of a single
gooseneck lamp giving his features a macabre cast.
BISHOP
I've isolated a neuro-muscular
toxin responsible for the
paralysis. It seems to be
metabolizing. He should wake
up soon.
RIPLEY
Now let me get this straight.
The aliens paralyzed the colonists,
carried them over there,
cocooned them to be hosts for
more of those...
Ripley points at the stasis cylinders containing the
face-hugger specimens.
RIPLEY
Which would mean lots of
those parasites, right? One
for each person...over a hundred
at least.
BISHOP
Yes. That follows.
RIPLEY
But these things come from
eggs...so where are all the
eggs coming from.
BISHOP
That is the question of the
hour. We could assume a parallel
to certain insect forms who
have hivelike organization.
An ant of termite colony, for
example, is ruled by a single
female, a queen, which is the
source of new eggs.
RIPLEY
You're saying one of those things
lays all the eggs?
BISHOP
Well, the queen is always physically
larger then the others. A
termite queen's abdomen is so
bloated with eggs that it can't
move at all. It is fed and tended
by drone workers, defended by
the warriors. She is the center
of their lives, quite literally
the mother of their society.
RIPLEY
Could it be intelligent?
BISHOP
Hard to say. It may have been
blind instinct...attraction to
the heat of whatever...but she
did choose to incubate her eggs
in the one spot where we couldn't
destroy her without destroying
ourselves. That's if she exists,
of course.
Ripley ponders the ramifications of Bishop's analysis.
RIPLEY
(rising)
I want those specimens destroyed
as soon as you're done with them.
You understand?
Bishop glances at the creatures, pulsing malevolently
in their cylinders.
BISHOP
Mr. Burke have instructions
that they were to be kept alive
in stasis for return to the
company labs. He was very specific.
Ripley feels the fabric of her self-restraint tearing.
She slaps the intercom switch.
RIPLEY
Burke!
INT. MED LAB ANNEX 124
In a small observation chamber separated from the med
lab by a glass partition, Ripley and Burke have
squared off.
BURKE
Those specimens are worth
millions to the bio-weapons
division. Now, if you're smart
we can both come out of this
heroes. Set up for life.
RIPLEY
You just try getting a dangerous
organism past ICC quarantine.
Section 22350 of the Commerce Code.
BURKE
You've been doing your homework.
Look, they can't impound it if
they don't know about it.
RIPLEY
But they will know about it, Burke.
From me. Just like they'll know
how you were responsible for the
deaths of one hundred and fifty-seven
colonists here --
BURKE
Now, wait a second --
RIPLEY
(stepping on him)
You sent them to that ship. I
just checked the colony log...
directive dates six-twelve-seventy-nine.
Signed Burke, Carter J.
Ripley's fury is peaking, now that the frustration and
rage finally have a target to focus on.
RIPLEY
You sent them out there and you
didn't even warn them, Burke.
Why didn't you warn them?
BURKE
Look, maybe the thing didn't even
exist, right? And if I'd made it
a major security situation, the
Administration would've stepped
in. Then no exclusive rights,
nothing.
He shrugs, his manner blase, dismissive.
BURKE
It was a bad call, that's all.
Ripley snaps. She slams him against the wall, surprising
herself and him, her hands gripping his collar.
RIPLEY
Bad call? These people are fucking
dead, Burke! Well, they're going
to nail your hide to the shed...
and I'll be there when they do.
She steps back, shaking, and looks at him with utter
loathing, as if the depths of human greed are a far
more horrific revelation than any alien.
BURKE
(sadly)
I expected more of you, Ripley.
I thought you would be smarter
than this.
RIPLEY
Sorry to disappoint you.
She turns away and strides out. The door closes.
Burke stares after her, his mind a whirl of options.
INT. CORRIDOR 125
Ripley is walking toward operations when a STRIDENT
ALARM begins to sound. She breaks into a run.
INT. OPERATIONS 126
Ripley double-times it to Hicks' TACTICAL CONSOLE
where Hudson and Vasquez have already gathered. Hicks
slaps a switch, killing the alarm.
HICKS
They're coming. They're in
the tunnel.
The TRILLING of the motion sensor remains, speeding up.
TWO RED LIGHTS on the tactical display light up
simultaneously with an echoing crash of gunfire which
vibrates the floor.
HICKS
Guns A and B. Tracking and firing
on multiple targets.
The RSS guns pound away, echoing through the complex.
Their separate bursts overlap in an irregular rhythm.
A counter on the display counts down the number of
rounds fired.
HUDSON
They must be wall to wall in
there. Look at those ammo counters
go. It's a shooting gallery down
there.
INT. SERVICE TUNNEL - TIGHT ON RSS GUNS 127
blasting stroboscopically in the tunnels. Their barrels
are overheating, glowing cherry red. One CLICKS empty
and sits smoking, still swiveling to track targets it
can't fire upon.
INT. OPERATIONS 128
The digital counter on B gun reads zero.
HICKS
B gun's dry. Twenty on A.
Ten. Five. That's it.
SILENCE. Then a GONGLIKE BOOMING echoes eerily up from
sublevel.
RIPLEY
They're at the fire door.
The BOOMING INCREASES in volume and ferocity.
HUDSON
Man, listen to that.
Mixed with the echoing crash-clang is a nerve-wrecking
SCREECH of claws on steel. The intercom buzzes,
startling them.
BISHOP
(voice over)
Bishop here. I'm afraid I have
some bad news.
HUDSON
Well, that's a switch.
INT. OPERATIONS - MINUTES LATER 129
Everyone, including Bishop, is crowded at the window,
intently watching the AP station which is a dim
silhouette in the mist. Suddenly a column of flame,
like an acetylene torch, jets upward from the complex
at the base of the cone.
BISHOP
That's it. See it? Emergency
venting.
RIPLEY
How long until it blows?
BISHOP
I'm projecting total systems
failure in a little under four
hours. The blast radius will be
about thirty kilometers. About
equal to ten megatons.
HICKS
We got problems.
HUDSON
I don't fucking believe this.
Do you believe this?
RIPLEY
And it's too late to shut it down?
BISHOP
I'm afraid so. The crash did too
much damage. The overload is
inevitable, at this point.
HUDSON
Oh, man. And I was gettin' short,
too! Four more weeks and out.
Now I'm gonna buy it on this fuckin'
rock. It ain't half fair, man!
VASQUEZ
Hudson, give us a break.
They watch as another gas jet lights up the fog-shrouded
landscape.
RIPLEY
(to Hicks)
We need the other drop-ship. The
on one the Sulaco. We have to
bring it down on remote, somehow.
HUDSON
How? The transmitter was on the
APC. It's wasted.
RIPLEY
(pacing)
I don't care how! Think of a
way. Think of something.
HUDSON
Think of what? We're fucked.
RIPLEY
What about the colony transmitter?
That up-link tower down at the
other end. Why can't we use that?
BISHOP
I checked. The hard wiring
between here and there was severed
in the fighting.
Ripley is wound up like a dynamo, her mind spinning out
options, grim solutions.
RIPLEY
Well then somebody's just going
to have to go out there. Take a
portable terminal and go out there
and plug in manually.
HUDSON
Oh, right! Right! With those
things running around. No way.
BISHOP
(quietly)
I'll go.
RIPLEY
What?
BISHOP
I'm really the only one qualified
to remote-pilot the ship anyway.
Believe me, I'd prefer not to. I
may be synthetic but I'm not stupid.
RIPLEY
All right. Let's get on it. What'll
you need?
VASQUEZ
Listen. It's stopped.
They listen. Nothing. An instant later comes the
HIGH-PITCHED TRILLING of a motion-sensor alarm. Hicks
looks at the tactical board.
HICKS
Well, they're into the complex.
INT. MED LAB 130
One of the acid holes from the colonists' siege has
yielded access to subfloor conduits. Bishop lying in
the opening, reaches up to graph the portable terminal
as Ripley hands it down to him. He pushes it into
the constricted shaft ahead of him. She then hands him
a small satchel containing tools and assorted patch
cables, a service pistol and a small cutting torch.
BISHOP
This duct runs almost to the
up-link assembly. One hundred
eighty meters. Say, forty minutes
to crawl down there. One hour
to patch in and align the antenna.
Thirty minutes to prep the ship,
then about fifty minutes flight time.
Ripley looks at her watch.
RIPLEY
It's going to be closer. You
better get going.
BISHOP
(cheerfully)
See you soon.
She squirms into the shaft, pushing the equipment along
ahead of him with a scraping rhythm. The diameter of
the conduit is barely larger than the width of his
shoulders. Vasquez slides a metal plate over the hole
and begins spot welding it in place.
INT. CONDUIT 131
Bishop looks back as the welder seals him in. He sighs
fatalistically and squirms forward. Ahead of him the
conduit dwindles straight to seeming infinity. Like
being in the bore of a very long Howitzer.
INT. MED LAB 132
Ripley jumps as an ALARM suddenly blares through the
complex.
HICKS
(voice over)
They're in the approach corridor.
RIPLEY
(into mike)
On my way.
Ripley jumps up, unslinging a FLAMETHROWER from her
shoulder in one motion, and sprints for Operations with
Vasquez. The sound of SENTRY GUNS opening up in
staccato bursts echoes from close by.
INT. OPERATIONS 133
Ripley runs to the tactical console where Hicks is
mesmerized by the images from the surveillance cameras.
The flashes of the sentry guns flare out the sensitive
video, but impressions of figures moving in the smoky
corridor are occasionally visible. The robot sentries
hammer away, driving streamers of tracer fire into
the swirling mist.
HICKS
Twenty meters and closing.
Fifteen. C and D guns down
about fifty percent.
The digital readout whirl through descending numbers.
An inhuman SHRILL SCREECHING is audible between bursts
of fire.
RIPLEY
Now many?
HICKS
Can't tell. Lots. D gun's
down to twenty. Ten. It's out.
Then the firing from the remaining guns stop abruptly.
The video image is a swirling wall of smoke. Small fires
burn, dim glows in the mist. There are black and
twisted shapes, and pieces of twisted shapes, scattered
at the edge of visibility. However, nothing emerges
from the wall of smoke. The motion sensor TONE shuts off.
RIPLEY
They retreated. The guns stopped
them.
The moment stretches. Everyone exhales slowly.
HICKS
Yeah. But look...
The digital counters for the two sentry guns read "0"
and "10" respectively. Less than a second's worth of
firing.
HICKS
Newt time then can walk right
up and knock.
RIPLEY
But they don't know that. They're
probably looking for other ways
to get in. That'll take them awhile.
HUDSON
Maybe we got 'em demoralized.
HICKS
(to Vasquez
and Hudson)
I want you two walking the perimeter.
I know we're all in strung out
shape but stay frosty and alert.
We've got to stop any entries before
they get out of hand.
The two troopers nod and head for the corridor. Ripley
sighs and picks up a cup of cold coffee, draining it in
one gulp.
HICKS
How long since you slept?
Twenty-four hours?
Ripley shrugs. She seems soul weary, drained by the
nerve-wracking tension. When she answers, her voice
seems distant, detached.
RIPLEY
(grimly)
They'll get us.
HICKS
Maybe. Maybe not.
RIPLEY
Hicks, I'm not going to wind up like
those others. You'll take care of
it won't you, it if comes to that?
HICKS
If it comes to that, I'll do us
both. Let's see that it doesn't
Here, I'd like to introduce you to
a close personal friend of mine.
He picks up his pulse-rifle and with the casually precise
movements of long practice he snaps open the bolt, drops
out the magazine and hands it to her.
HICKS
M-41A 10mm pulse-rifle, over and
under with a 30mm pump-action
grenade launcher.
Ripley hefts the weapon. It is heavy and awkward. But
there is an irrational promise of security in its lethal
cold steel lines, to at least the sense that she will
be in some greater measure the master of her own fate.
She raises it clumsily.
RIPLEY
What do I do?
INT. CONDUIT 134
Bishop is in claustrophobic limbo between two echoing
infinities. The pipe rings with his scraping advance.
He approaches an irregular hole which admits a tiny
shaft of light. He puts his eyes up to the acid-etched
opening.
HIS P.O.V. as drooling jaws flash toward us, SLAMMING
against the steel with a vicious scraping SNAP.
Bishop flattens himself away from the opening and
inches along, looking pale and strained. He glances at
his watch.
INT. OPERATIONS 135
Ripley has the stock of the M-41A snugged up to her cheek
and is awkwardly trying to keep up with Hicks'
instructions. The Corporal is standing close behind her,
positioning her arms. It's intimate but that's the
last thing on their minds.
HICKS
Just pull it in real right. It
will kick some. When the counter
here heads zero, hit this...
He thumbs a button and the magazine drops out, clattering
on the floor.
HICKS
Just let it drop right out. Get
the other one in quick. Just
slap it in hard, it likes abuse.
Now, pull the bolt.
CLACK.
HICKS
You're ready again.
Ripley repeats the action, not very smoothly. Her hands
are trembling. She indicates a stout TUBE underneath
the slender pulse-rifle barrel.
RIPLEY
What's this?
HICKS
Well, that's the grenade launcher
...you probably don't want to
mess with that.
RIPLEY
Look, you started this. Now show
me everything. I can handle myself.
HICKS
Yeah. I've noticed.
INT. CORRIDOR 136
DOLLYING WITH Ripley walking down the corridor, now
carrying the newfound friend, the M-41A. Gorman steps
out of the door to the med lab, looking weak but sound.
Burke is right behind him.
RIPLEY
How do you feel?
GORMAN
All right, I guess. One hell
of a hangover. Look, Ripley...
I...
RIPLEY
Forget it.
She shoulders by him into the med lab. Gorman turns to
see Vasquez staring at him with cold, slitted eyes.
GORMAN
You still want to kill me?
VASQUEZ
(turning away)
It won't be necessary.
INT. MED LAB - ANNEX 137
Ripley crosses the deserted lab, passing through the
annex to the small O.R. where she left Newt.
INT. MED LAB - O.R. 138
Entering the darkened chamber, Ripley looks around.
Newt is nowhere to be seen. On a hunch she kneels down
and peers under the bed. Newt is curled up there,
jammed as far back as she can get, fast asleep. Still
clutching "Casey."
Ripley stares at Newt's tiny face, so angelic despite
the demons that have chased her through her dreams and
the reality between dreams. Ripley lays the rifle on
top of the cot and crawls carefully underneath. Without
waking the little girl, she slips her arms around her.
Ripley becomes merely the larger of two children huddling
together in the darkness under their bed.
Newt's face contorts with the externalization of some
tormented dreamscape. She cries out, a vague inarticulate
plea. Ripley rocks her gently.
RIPLEY
There, there. Sssshh. It's all
right.
EXT. Up-LINK TOWER - VIEW OF AP STATION 139
A VIEW OF the processing station from the colony landing
platform. A rising wind is clearing out the low fog and
the silhouette of the station grows sharper. Several
systems of high pressure conduits at the base of the
conical tower are actually glowing dull red with heat in
the darkness. High voltage discharges arc around the
upper latticework, lighting the blighted landscape
with irregular glaring flashes.
PAN ONTO BISHOP, F.G. hunched against the wind at the
base of the telemetry tower. He has a TEST-BAY PANEL
open and the portable terminal patched in. His jacket
is draped over the keyboard and monitor unit to protect
it from the elements and he is typing frenetically.
BISHOP
(to himself)
Now, if I did it right...
He punches a key marked "ENABLE."
INT. SULACO CARGO LOCK - IN ORBIT 140
The drop bay is empty and silent, with the remaining
ship brooding in the shadows. A KLAXON sounds and
rotating clearance lights come on. Hydraulics whine
to life. Drop-ship two moves out on its overhead track
and is lowered into the drop bay fro launch-prep.
Service booms and fueling couplers move in automatically
around the hull. A recorded announcement echoes across
the huge chamber.
FEMALE VOICE
Attention. Attention. Automatic
fueling operations have begun.
Please extinguish all smoking
materials.
INT. OPERATING ROOM - TIGHT ON RIPLEY - MED LAB 141
as she awakens with a start. She checks her watch...
an hour has passed. She gently disengages herself from
Newt and is about to crawl out from beneath the cot
when she sees something and FREEZES.
Across the room, just inside the door to the med lab,
are two innocuous but nonetheless chilling objects.
TWO STASIS CYLINDERS. Their tops are hinged open, and
the suspension fields are switched off. They are both
EMPTY. Ripley feels a slow upwelling wave of terror
rise through her in that silent frozen moment...the
inescapable certainty of a lethal presence. Unable to
move or breathe, she looks around frantically, assessing
the situation.
RIPLEY
(whispers)
Newt. Newt, wake up.
NEWT
Wah...? Where are...?
RIPLEY
(whispers)
Sssh. Don't move. We're in
trouble.
Newt nods, now wide awake. They listen in the darkness
for the slightest betrayal of movement. The scrabble
of multiple legs across the polished floor, for example.
There is only the droning HUM of the little space heater.
Ripley reaches up and, clutching the springs of the
underside of the cot, begins to inch it away from the
wall.
The SQUEAL OF METAL as the legs scrape across the floor
is jarringly loud in the stillness.
When the space is wide enough she cautiously slides
herself up between the wall and the edge of the cot,
reaching for the rifle she left lying on top of the
mattress. Here yes clear the edge of the bed. The rifle
is GONE.
She snaps her head around. A SCUTTLING SHAPE LEAPS
TOWARD HER from the foot of the bed! She ducks with
a startled cry. The obscene thing hits the wall above
her, legs moving lightning fast. Reflexively she slams
the bed against the wall, pinning the creature inches
above her face. Its legs and tail writhe with
incredible ferocity and it emits a demented, piercing
SQUEAL.
Ripley heaves Newt across the polished floor and in a
frenzied scramble rolls from beneath the cot. She
flips it over, trapping the creature underneath.
They back away, gasping. Ripley's eyes flash around
the shadowed room where every corner of space
between equipment holds lethal promise. The creature
scuttles from beneath the bed and disappears under a
back of cabinets in a blur. Ripley hugs Newt close
and heads toward the door, moving as if every object in
the room had a million volts running through it. She
reaches the door. Hits the wall switch. Nothing
happens. Disabled from outside. She tries the lights.
Nothing. She pounds on the door. The acoustically
dampened door panel thunks dully. She moves to the
observation window, glancing frantically over her
shoulder. The bare floor behind her is like a screaming
threat.
RIPLEY
(shouting)
Hey...hey!
She pounds on the window. Through the double
thickness window we can SEE that the lab is dark and
empty. Ripley whirls, hearing a loathsome scrabbling
behind her. Newt starts to whimper, feeding off her
fear. She steps in front of the video surveillance
camera and waves her arms in a circle.
RIPLEY
Hicks! Hicks!
INT. OPERATIONS - TIGHT ON VIDEO MONITOR 142
showing Ripley waving her arms. There is no sound,
a surreal pantomime.
A hand ENTERS FRAME and switches off the monitor.
Ripley's image vanishes.
WIDER ANGLE as Burke straightens casually from
the console. Hicks is talking via headset with
Bishop and hasn't noticed Ripley's plight or
Burke's action.
HICKS
(into mike)
Roger. Check back when you've
activated the ship.
(turning)
He's at the up-link tower.
BURKE
(calmly)
Excellent.
INT. OPERATING ROOM 143
Ripley picks up a steel chair and slams it against
the observation window. It bounces back from the
high-impact material. She tries again.
REVERSE ANGLE from the med lab side, showing her
futile efforts, the chair hitting with a dull THWACK
barely audible through the double thickness pressure
port.
Ripley turns, studying the room. She fumbles through
a clutter of equipment on a counter next to her and
finds a SMALL EXAMINATION LIGHT. Snapping it on she
plays the beam over the walls. Tall assemblies of
surgical and anaethesiology equipment loom in the
dark. She hears, ot thinks she hears, movements. The
light spins across the room, swiveling and bobbing
frantically. Like an indicator of her growing panic.
Newt starts a thin, high wailing.
NEWT
Mommy...mommmyyyyy...
Ripley steadies herself, realizing Newt's terror and
the child's dependence on her. She plays the beam
across the ceiling. Holds on something. Gets an idea.
She removes her lighter from a jacket pocket and picks
up some papers from the counter. Moving cautiously
she boosts Newt up onto the SURGICAL TABLE in the center
of the room and clambers up after her.
NEWT
Mommy...I mean, Ripley...I'm
scared.
RIPLEY
I know, honey. Me too.
Ripley lights the papers and holds the flaming mass
under the temperature sensor of a fire control system
SPRINKLER HEAD. It triggers, spraying the room from
several sources with water. An ALARM sounds throughout
the complex.
INT. OPERATIONS 144
Hicks jumps at the sound of the alarm, finally
identifying its source among the lights flashing on
his board. He bolts for the door, yelling into his
headset as he moves.
HICKS
Vasquez, Hudson, meet me in
medical! We got a fire!
INT. OPERATING ROOM 145
Ripley and Newt are drenched as the sprinklers
continue to drizzle in the darkness. The SIREN
hoots maniacally, masking all other sound. Ripley
scans the room with her light, her hair plastered
to her face, wiping water out of her eyes. She is
eye level with a complex surgical MULTILIGHT. She
looks into its tangle of arms and cables, inches away.
Looks away. Her eyes snap back. SOMETHING LEAPS AT
HER FACE. She SCREAMS and topples off the table,
splashing to the floor. Newt shrieks and scrambles
away as Ripley hurls the CHITTERING creature off of
her. It slams against a wall of cabinets, clings
for a moment, then leaps back as if driven by a
steel spring. Ripley scrambles desperately, pulling
equipment over on top of herself, clawing across the
floor in a frenzy of motion. In a blurr of
multijointed legs the creature scuttles up her body.
She tears at it, but it is incredibly powerful for
its size. It moves like lightning toward her head,
avoiding her fumbling hands. Newt screams abjectly,
backing away, until she is pressed up against a
desk in one corner.
Ripley has both hands up, forcing the pulsing body
back from her face. The thing's tail whips around
her throat and begins to tighten, forcing the underside
of its body close to her. Ripley thrashes about,
knocking over equipment, sending instruments CLATTERING.
Water streams over her, into her eyes, blinding her
and making it impossible to get a grip on the creature's
body.
ANGLE ON NEWT as crablike legs appear from behind the
desk, right behind her. She sees it and, thinking
fast, jams the desk against the wall, pinning the
writhing thing. The desk jumps and shudders against
all the pressure her tiny body can bring to bear on it.
She wails between gritted teeth as the second creature
gets one leg free, then another and another. Squeezing
itself inexorably onto the desk top...toward her.
The legs of the chittering thing claw at Ripley's
head, getting a surer grip even as she whips her head
from side to side. The obscene TUBULE extrudes wetly
from the sheath on the creature's underside, forcing
itself between the arms she has crossed tightly over
her face.
A figure appears at the observation window, a silhouette
behind the misted-over glass. A hand wipes a clear spot.
Hick's eyes appear. He steps back. WHAM! A burst of
pulse-rifle fire shatters the tempered glass. Hicks
dives into the crazed spider web pattern and explodes
into the room in a shower of fragments. He hits
rolling, his armor grinding through the shards, and
slides across to Ripley. He gets his fingers around the
thrashing legs of the vicious beast and pulls. Between
the two of them they force is away from her face,
though Ripley is losing strength as the tail tightens
sickeningly around her throat. Hudson leaps into the
room, flings Newt away from the desk to go skidding
across the wet floor, and blasts the second creature
against the wall. Point-blank. Acid and smoke.
Gorman appears at Ripley's side and grabs the tail,
unwinding its writhing length like a boa constrictor
coil from her throat. All of them grip the struggling,
SHRIEKING creature.
HICKS
The corner! Ready?
HUDSON
Do it!
Hicks hurls the thing into the corner. It scrabbles
upright in an instant and leaps back toward them.
WHAM! Hudson gets it clean.
Ripley collapses, gagging. The alarm and sprinklers
shut off automatically. Hicks sees the stasis
cylinders.
RIPLEY
(coughing)
Burke...it was Burke.
INT. OPERATIONS - ANGLE ON HUDSON 146
looking decidedly stressed-out. He grips his rifle
tightly, AIMED RIGHT AT CAMERA.
HUDSON
(intense)
I say we grease this rat-fuck
son of a bitch right now!
THE GROUP is gathered around Burke who sits in a
chair, maintaining an icy calm although beads of
sweat betray intense concealed tension. Only a few
minutes have passes and everyone is still buzzed on
adrenaline, as if the whole group is charged with
high voltage.
HICKS
(pacing)
I don't get it. It doesn't
make any Goddamn sense.
Ripley stands in front of Burke, every fiber of
her being accusing him with absolute outrage. Burke
tries to break Ripley's stare, which is like a
diamond drill. He can't.
RIPLEY
He wanted an alien, only he
couldn't get it back through
quarantine. But if we were impregnated
...whatever you call it...and then
frozen for the trip back at just
the right time...then nobody would
know about the embryos we were carrying.
We and Newt.
Ripley glances at the little girl, a frail figure
sitting nearby, hugging her knees and watching the
proceedings with somber eyes. She is all but lost in
an adult jacket someone has found for her, and her still
damp hair is plastered to her forehead and cheeks.
HICKS
Wait a minute. We'd know about it.
RIPLEY
The only way it would work is if
he sabotaged certain freezers
on the trip back. Then he could
jettison the bodies and make up
any story he liked.
HUDSON
Fuuuck! He's dead.
(to Burke)
You're dogmeat, pal.
BURKE
This is total paranoid delusion.
It's pitiful.
RIPLEY
(wearily)
You know, Burke, I don't know
which species is worse. You don't
see them screwing each other over
for a fucking percentage.
HICKS
(serious)
Let's waste him.
(to Burke)
No offense.
Ripley shakes her head, the rage giving way to a
sickened emptiness.
RIPLEY
Just find someplace to lock him
up until it's time to --
THE LIGHTS GO OUT. Everyone stops in the sudden darkness,
realizing instinctively it is a new escalation in the
struggle. Hicks looks at the board. Everything is out.
Doors. Video screens.
RIPLEY
They cut the power.
HUDSON
What do you mean, they cut the
power? How could they cut the
power, man? They're animals.
Ripley picks up her rifle and thumbs off the safety.
RIPLEY
Newt! Stay close.
(to the others)
Let's get some trackers going.
Come on, get moving. Gorman, watch
Burke.
Hudson and Vasquez pick up their scanners and move to
the door. Vasquez has to slide it open manually on its
track.
INT. CORRIDOR 147
The two troopers separate and move rapidly to the
barriers at opposite ends of the control block.
DOLLYING WITH VASQUEZ as she moves forward with feral
steps in the darkness.
ON HUDSON scanning the med lab and the nearby barrier.
RIPLEY
(voice over)
Anything?
BEEP. Hudson's tracker lights up, a faint signal.
HUDSON
There's something.
He pans it around. Back down the corridor. It beep
again, louder.
HUDSON
It's inside the complex.
VASQUEZ
(voice over)
You're just reading me.
HUDSON
No. No! It ain't you. They're
inside. Inside the perimeter.
They're in here.
RIPLEY
Hudson, stay cool. Vasquez?
ANGLE ON VASQUEZ swinging her tracker and rifle together.
She aims it behind her. BEEP.
VASQUEZ
(cool)
Hudson may be right.
INT. OPERATIONS 148
Ripley and Hicks share a look..."here we go."
HICKS
(low)
It's game time.
RIPLEY
Get back here, both of you. Fall
back to Operations.
INT. CORRIDOR 149
Hudson backtracks nervously, peering all around. He
looks stretched to the limit.
HUDSON
This signal's weird...must be
some interference or something.
There's movement all over the
place...
RIPLEY
(voice over)
Just get back here!
Hudson reaches the door to operations at a run, a
moment before Vasquez. They pull the door shut and
lock it.
INT. OPERATIONS 150
Hudson joins Ripley and Hicks, who are laying out their
armament. Flamethrowers. Grenades. M-41A magazines.
Hudson's tracker beeps. Then again. The tone continues
through the SCENE, its rhythm increasing.
HUDSON
Movement! Signal's clean.
He pans the scanner. Stops. The range display reads
out, counting down.
HUDSON
Range twenty meters.
RIPLEY
(to Vasquez)
Seal the door.
Vasquez picks up a hand-welder and moves to comply.
HUDSON
Seventeen meters.
HICKS
Let's get these things lit.
He hands one flamethrower to RIpley and begins priming
the other himself. It lights with a muffled POP.
Ripley's lights a moment later. Sparks shower around
Vasquez as she begins welding the door. Hudson's tracker
is beeping like mad now, as fast as their hearts.
RIPLEY
They learned. They cut the power
and avoided the guns. They must
have found another way in, something
we missed.
HICKS
We didn't miss anything.
HUDSON
Fifteen meters.
RIPLEY
I don't know, an acid hole in
a duct. Something under the
floors, not on the plans.
I don't know!
She picks up Vasquez' scanner and aims it the same
direction as Hudson's.
HUDSON
Twelve meters. Man, this is a big
fucking signal. Ten meters.
RIPLEY
They're right on us. Vasquez,
how you doing?
Vasquez is heedlessly showering herself with molten metal
as she welds the door shut. Working like a demon.
HUDSON
Nine meters. Eight.
RIPLEY
Can't be. That's inside the room!
HUDSON
It's readin' right. Look!
Ripley fiddles with her tracker, adjusting the tuning.
HICKS
Well you're not reading it right!
HUDSON
Six meters. Five. What the fu --
He looks at Ripley. It dawns on both of them at the same
time. She feels a cold premonitory dread as she angles
her tracker upward to the ceiling, almost overhead. The
tone gets louder.
Hicks climbs onto a file cabinet and raises a panel of
acoustic drop-ceiling. He shines his light inside.
HICKS' P.O.V. 151
A soul-wrenching nightmare image. Moving in the beam of
light are aliens. Lots of aliens. They are crawling
like bats, upside down, clinging to the pipes and beams
of the structural ceiling, not touching the flimsy
acoustic panels. They glisten hideously as they claw
their way forward in silence. They cover the ceiling
of the operations room. The inner sanctum is utterly
violated.
ON HICKS 152
blasted by fear.
Something moves...he snaps the light around. It's a
meter behind him. IT LUNGES! He drops reflexively,
the claws raking across his armor.
Hicks falls into the room just as the creatures detach
en masse from the handholds. THE CEILING EXPLODES,
raining debris. Nightmare shapes drop into the room.
Newt screams. Hudson opens fire. Vasquez grabs Hicks,
pulls him up, firing one handed with her flamethrower.
Ripley scoops up Newt and staggers back. Gorman turns
to fire and Burke bolts for the only remaining exit,
the corridor connecting to the med lab. In the
strobelike glare of the pulse-rifles we SEE flashes
of aliens, moving forward in the smoke from the
flamethrower fires. They move like nothing human...
leaping quick as insects at times or gliding with
powerful, balletic grace.
RIPLEY
Medical! Get to medical!
She dashes for the corridor.
INT. MED LAB CORRIDOR 153
DOLLYING BEHIND HER as she sprints, the walls becoming
a frenzied blur. Ahead of her Burke clears the door to
the med lab. HE SLIDES IT CLOSED. Ripley slams into
the door. Tries the latch. Hears it LOCK from the far
side.
RIPLEY
Burke! Open the door!
NEWT
Look!
Behind her an alien is moving down the corridor like a
locomotive, a graceful skeleton shape as lethal and
inhuman as you can imagine. Strobe flashes backlight
the demented silhouette. Shaking, Ripley raises her
rifle. She squeezes the trigger. NOTHING HAPPENS.
The creature HISSES, baring its teeth as it advances.
Ripley checks the SAFETY. The safety is off. The
DIGITAL COUNTER. The magazine is full. Newt begins to
wail. Ripley's hands, slick with sweat, are trembling
so much she almost drops the rifle. Panic screams in
her brain. The thing is almost on her, filling the
corridor, when she remembers. She snaps the bolt back,
chambering a round. Whips the stock to her shoulder.
FIRES. FLASH-CRACK! A FLASHBULB GLIMPSE OF shrieking
jaws as the silhouette is hurled back, screeching
insanely.
Ripley is slammed against the door by the recoil,
blinded by the flash and deafened by the concussion.
INT. OPERATIONS 154
Hicks looks up. Fires POINT-BLANK at a leaping
silhouette. SCREEEECH! The fire-control system has
tripped, with sprinklers spraying the room and a
mindless SIREN wailing. Total pandemonium.
HUDSON
(hysterical)
Let's go! Let's go!
HICKS
Fuckin' A!
Hudson screams as floor panels lift under him, and clawed
arms seize him lightning fast, dragging him down.
Another skeletal shape leaps on him from above. He
disappears into the subfloor crawlway. Hicks, Vasquez
and Gorman make it to the med lab access corridor.
INT. CORRIDOR
Stunned, Ripley sees through dissipating smoke the
creature rising to advance again. Flinching against
blast and glare she drills it POINT-BLANK with a
BLINDING BURST that carries the M-41A's muzzle right
up toward the ceiling. Newt covers her ears against
the CONCUSSION.
HICKS
(o.s.)
Hold you fire!
The troopers seem to materialize out of the smoke.
RIPLEY
(indicating door)
Locked.
HICKS
Stand back.
Hicks snaps the torch off his belt and cuts into the
lock. Inhuman shapes enter the far end of the corridor.
Vasquez hands her flamethrower to Gorman and unslings
her rifle. She starts loading 30mm grenades into the
launcher, like oversize 12-guage shells.
GORMAN
You can't use those in here!
VASQUEZ
Right. Fire in the hole!
She pumps a round up and fires. The grenade EXPLODES and
the blast almost knocks them down. Hicks kicks the door
open, molten droplets flying.
HICKS
(shouting at Vasquez)
Thanks a lot! Now I can't hear shit.
VASQUEZ
(shouting)
What?
INT. MED LAB ANNEX 156
Vasquez slides the door almost closed, then fires three
grenades rapid-fire through the gap. She slams the door
home as the grenades detonate, the explosion sounding
gonglike through the metal.
Ripley sprints across the room, trying the far door.
Burke has locked it as well. Hicks switches his
hand-torch from CUT to WELD and starts sealing the door
they just passed through.
INT. MED LAB 157
Burke, hyperventilating with terror, backs across the
dark chamber. Gasping, almost paralyzed with fear, he
crosses the chamber to the door leading to the main
concourse. His fingers reach for the latch. It moves
by itself. The door opens slowly.
ON BURKE his eyes wide, transfixed by his fate. We
hear the BULLWHIP CRACK of a tail-stinger striking as we:
CUT TO:
INT. MED LAB ANNEX 158
The door dimples with a clanging impact, separating
slightly from its frame. Another crash, the squeal of
tortured steel. Newt grabs Ripley by the hand and
tugs her across the room.
NEWT
Come on! This way.
She leads Ripley to an air vent set low in the wall and
expertly unlatches the grille, swinging it open. Newt
starts inside but Ripley pulls her back.
RIPLEY
Stay behind me.
Ripley trades her rifle for Gorman's flamethrower before
he can protest and enters the air shaft, which is a
tight fit. Newt scrambles in behind, followed by Hicks,
Gorman and Vasquez on rearguard. Glancing back
fearfully Newt pushes on Ripley's butt as they crawl
rapidly through the shaft.
NEWT
Come on. Crawl faster.
RIPLEY
DO you know how to get to the
landing field from here?
NEWT
Sure. Go left.
Ripley turns into a larger MAIN DUCT where there is
enough room to crab-walk in a low crouch. She runs,
scraping her back on the ceiling. The troopers' armor
clatters in the confined space. They approach an
intersection. She fires the flamethrower around the
corner, the looks. Clear.
NEWT
Go right.
They sprint into the narrow connecting duct, the maze
becoming a blur. Ripley fires the flamethrower
periodically, as they pass side ducts covered by
louvered grilles or vertical shafts going to higher or
lower levels.
HICKS
(into headset)
Bishop, you read me? Come in, over.
There is a long pause then Bishop's VOICE, almost
unintelligible with interference, comes over the radio.
BISHOP
(voice over;
static)
Yes, I read you. Not very well...
EXT. UP-LINK RELAY - LANDING FIELD 159
Bishop is huddled against the base of the telemetry
mast, out of the wind which is now gusting viciously.
BISHOP
(yelling;
over enunciating)
The ship is on its way. ETA
about sixteen minutes. I've
got my hands full flying...
the weather's come up a bit.
Bishop's fingers are blurring over the terminal keys and
he squints, watching the screen as the flight telemetry
updates rapidly.
In the b.g. the AP station has become a raging demon,
wreathed in boiling steam and electrical discharges.
INT. AIR DUCT 160
HICKS
All right, stand by there. We're
on out way. Over.
The beam of Ripley's light wavers hypnotically in the
tunnel ahead. She blinks, seeing something...not sure.
A GLINTING OBSCENE FORM MOVING TOWARD THEM, filling the
tunnel at the absolute limit of the light's power.
RIPLEY
Back. Go back!
They try to crawl back, jamming together. Behind them,
the way they have come, a GRATING is battered in with a
FEROCIOUS CLANG and the deadly silhouette of a warrior
flows into the duct. They are trapped. Vasquez uses
her flamethrower, bathing the tunnel in fire. Hicks
snaps out his hand-welder and cuts into the wall of the
duct. Molten metal spatters him, as sparks fill the
tunnel with lurid light. Vasquez' flamethrower sputters.
VASQUEZ
(icy)
Losing fuel.
Between eye-searing bursts of flame Ripley sees the
glistening apparitions closing in. Hicks' torch feathers
out. Empty. Bracing his back he kicks hard at the
cherry-hot metal. It bends aside.
Beyond is a narrow SERVICE WAY, lined with pipes and
conduit. Hicks slides through the searing hole,
lifting Newt safely through as Ripley hands her out.
Ripley follows and turns to help Gorman. Vasquez'
flamethrower goes dry. She draws her SERVICE PISTOL.
Suddenly she looks up as a WARRIOR SCREECHES DOWN FROM
A VERTICAL SHAFT, right above her.
She fires with incredible rapidity...BAM! BAM! BAM!
Rolls aside. It lands on her legs and she snaps her head
to one side just as its TAIL STINGER buries into the
metal wall beside her cheek. She fires again, emptying
the pistol, kicking the thrashing shape away.
Acid cuts through her chickenplate armor, searing into
her thigh. She cries out, gritting her teeth against
the white-hot pain. Gorman sees Vasquez hit, unable to
move. Sees the creatures coming the other way...and
turns away from the escape hole. He crawls back to her,
grabs her battle harness and starts dragging her towards
safety. Too late. The approaching alien warriors have
reached and passed the opening. Vasquez sees him,
barely conscious.
VASQUEZ
(hoarse whisper)
You always were an asshole, Gorman.
She seizes his hand in a deadly drip, but we RECOGNIZE
it as the "power greeting" she shared with Drake...
something for the chosen few. Gorman returns the grip.
He hands her two grenades and arms two himself as the
creatures are upon them.
INT. SERVICE WAY 161
RUSHING WITH Ripley, Newt and Hicks as a full tilt run.
The service way lights up with a POWERFUL BLAST behind
them and they stumble with the shock wave. Newt breaks
out ahead and it's all Ripley and Hicks can do to keep
up.
NEWT
This way. Come on, we're almost
there!
RIPLEY
Newt, wait!
The kid moves like lightning, diving and dodging around
obstacles. If it wasn't clear before it's clear now
that we are on her turf, and she's the ace. Running on
and on, their breathing loud and echoing...the walls
a directionless blur. Newt never hesitates.
They reach a junction with a narrow ANGLED CHUTE which
runs upward at a steep 45 degrees.
NEWT
Here! Go up.
INT. CHUTE 162
Ripley looks up the angles shaft, seeing light at the
top...an exterior vent hood. The sound of wind booms
down from above. Like blowing across a bottle top
vastly amplified.
Ripley enters, bracing her feet on perilously narrow
side ribs in the shaft. She looks down. The chute
descends far into the depths, lost in shadow. She
starts to climb with Next behind/below her, and Hicks,
just emerging from the side duct.
NEWT
Just up there --
Newt slips, a rusted rib collapsing under her foot. She
slides...catches herself with one hand. Ripley reaches
for her, dropping her light. The hand-light goes
skittering and bumping down the chute, around a bend,
and disappears.
Ripley strains, reaching, her hand groping for Newt's.
They miss, inches apart.
NEWT
Riiiiipppleee --
She slips. Hicks lunges, grabbing her oversized jacket.
AND SHE SLIPS OUT OF IT. With an echoing scream Newt
plummets, sliding down the chute into darkness.
MOVING WITH HER, the walls racing by in a dizzy blur like
a bobsled ride. THe shaft pitches left. Newt bounces,
sliding halfway up the wall. The chute forks ahead.
Newt tumbles into the right shaft, which drops at a
steeper angle into the depths. Just disappearing down
the LEFT SHAFT we SEE Ripley's light.
Ripley looks Hicks in the eye. And kicks free...sliding
down the chute after Newt. Ripley slams her feet into
the side-ribs, bracing herself in a controlled descent.
Ripley reaches the "V." Sees the glow of the light in
the left fork. She goes left.
RIPLEY
Newt!
She hears a plaintive reply, so echoey and distorted it
has no direction.
NEWT
(o.s.)
Mommy...where are you?
Ripley reaches the bottom of the chute where it
intersects with a HORIZONTAL SERVICE TUNNEL. The light
is lying there, but no Newt. The echoing wail comes
again.
NEWT
(o.s.)
Moooommeeee...
Ripley starts down the tunnel, answering. Newt's call
comes again. Fainter? She can't tell. She spins in
a growing panic, starts the other way.
RIPLEY
(to her headset)
Hicks, get down here. I need
that locator.
INT. SUBBASEMENT 163
Newt is in a low grottolike chamber, filled with pipes
and machines. It is flooded, almost up to Newt's waist.
She looks up, seeing light streaming through a grating.
Ripley's voice seems to come from there.
RIPLEY
(o.s.)
Newt! Star wherever you are!
Newt climbs some pipes, straining to reach the grating.
INT. SERVICE TUNNEL 164
Hicks joins Ripley, unsnapping the emergency-locator
from his belt. They follow the signal into a lighted
area where the power apparently was not cut.
HICKS
This way. We're close...
Following the signal they come to a grating set in the
floor.
NEWT
Here! I'm here. I'm here.
Ripley runs to the grating. Looking down she sees Newt's
tearstreaked face. Newt reaches up. Her tiny fingers
wriggle up through the bars of the grate. Ripley
squeezes the child's precious fingertips.
RIPLEY
Climb down, honey. We have to
cut through this grate.
Newt backs away, climbing down the pipe as Hicks cuts
into the bars with his hand-torch.
INT. SUBBASEMENT 165
Newt, standing waist deep in the water, watches sparks
shower blindingly as Hicks cuts. She bites her lip,
trembling. Cold and terrified. Silently a glistening
shape rises in one graceful motion from the water behind
her. It stands, dripping, dwarfing her tiny form. Newt
turns, sensing the movement...She SCREAMS as the
shadow engulfs her.
INT. SERVICE TUNNEL 166
Ripley panics, hearing screaming below, then splashing.
She and Hicks kick desperately at the grating, smashing
it down. Heedless of the cherry-hot edges Ripley
lunges into the hole with her light.
RIPLEY
Newt! Newt!
The surface of the water reflects the beam placidly.
Newt is gone. Bobbing in the water, eyes staring, is
"Casey" the doll head. In sinks slowly, distorting,
vanishing in darkness.
Hicks pulls Ripley away from the hole. She struggles
furiously, trying to tear out of his grip.
RIPLEY
No! Noooo!
He drags her back. It takes all of his strength.
HICKS
(intense)
She's gone! Let's go!
He sees something moving toward them through a lattice
of pipes. Ripley is irrational. Hysterical.
RIPLEY
No! No! She's alive! We
have to --
HICKS
All right! She's alive. I
believe it. But we gotta get
moving! Now!
He drags her toward an ELEVATOR not far away at the
end of the tunnel. Gets her inside, slamming her against
the back wall. Hits the button to go to surface level.
An alien warrior leaps into the tunnel, starts
toward them. The doors are closing. Not fast enough.
The creature gets one arm through, the doors closing on
it. THEY OPEN AGAIN, an automatic safety feature. THE
WARRIOR HISSES, LUNGING. Hicks FIRES, POINT-BLANK. It
spins away, SCREECHING. Acid sluices between the closing
doors, across Hicks' armored chest plate, as he shields
Ripley with his body. The lift starts upward. Hicks'
fingers race with the clasps as the stuff eats its way
toward his skin. Galvanized out of her hysteria, Ripley
claws at his armor, helping him as much as she can. He
screams as the acid contacts his chest and arm. He
shucks out of the combat armor like a madman, dropping
the smoking pieces to the floor. Acrid fumes fill the
air, searing eyes and lungs. The elevator stops. The
doors part and they stumble out, Ripley supporting Hicks
who is doubled over in agony.
RIPLEY
Come on, you can make it.
Almost there.
EXT. LANDING FIELD 167
Drop-ship two descends toward the landing grid,
side-slipping in hurricane gusts. Bishop stands, guiding
it with the portable terminal. The ship sets down hard.
Slides sideways. Stops. Bishop turns as Ripley and
Hicks stumble out of a doorway in the colony building
behind him. He goes to them, helping to support Hicks
and they run toward the ship, buffeted by the gale.
Ripley shouts, her words barely audible over the wind.
RIPLEY
HOW MUCH TIME?
BISHOP
PLENTY! TWENTY-SIX MINUTES!
RIPLEY
WE'RE NOT LEAVING!
The loading ramp deploys and they run into the ship.
EXT. PROCESSING STATION 168
An infernal engine, roaring out of control. Steam blasts
and swirls, lightning zaps around the superstructure and
columns of incandescent gas thunder hundreds of feet into
the air.
We APPROACH, hypnotically. The drop-ship ENTERS FRAME,
moving toward the station. It pivots, hovering in the
blasting turbulence, and settles onto a NARROW LANDING
PLATFORM ten levels above the ground, or about a third
of the way up the enormous structure.
INT. DROP-SHIP 169
Ripley finishes winding tape around a bulky object and
drops the roll. She has crudely fastened a M-41A
assault rifle together, side by side, with a flamethrower.
A massive, unwieldy package of absolute firepower. Her
movements are curt, precise...determined. She works
rapidly, snatching magazines, grenades, belts and other
gear from the fully stocked ordnance racks of the
drop-ship.
Bishop comes aft from the pilot's compartment to help
Hicks dress his injuries. Hicks is sprawled in a flight
seat, the contents of a FIELD MEDICAL KEY strewn around
him. He's out of the game...contorted with pain.
BISHOP
Ripley...
RIPLEY
She's alive. They brought her
here and you know it.
BISHOP
In seventeen minutes this place
will be a cloud of vapor the
size of Nebraska.
Ripley is stuffing gear rapidly into a satchel, her hands
flying.
RIPLEY
Hicks, don't let him leave.
HICKS
(grimacing with
pain)
We ain't going anywhere.
She hefts the hybrid weapon, grabs the satchel and spins
to the door controls. The door opens. Wind and
machine-thunder blast in.
RIPLEY
See you, Hicks.
Hicks is holding a wad of gauze plastered over his face.
HICKS
Dwayne. It's Dwayne.
Ripley grabs his hand. They share a moment, albeit
brief. Mutual respect in the valley of death.
RIPLEY
Ellen.
HICKS
(nods with
satisfaction)
Don't be long, Ellen.
Ripley runs down the ramp, crossing the platform to the
open doors of a LARGE FREIGHT ELEVATOR. The doors close.
INT. FREIGHT ELEVATOR 170
The elevator descends. Bars of light move rhythmically
across her as Ripley stands facing the doors, watching
the landings go by. The heat grows more intense. Pipes
glowing cherry-red pass by. Steam hisses and billows.
The lift clatters in a steady beat. Hypnotic.
Ripley removes her jacket and dons a battle harness
directly over her T-shirt. Her hair is matted, and
she glistens with sweat. Her eyes burn with a
determination that holds the gut-panic in check.
The elevator descends. She checks her weapon. Attaches
a BANDOLIER OF GRENADES to her harness. Primes the
flamethrower. Checks the rifle's magazine. Racks the
bolt, chambering the first round. She checks the
MARKING FLARES jammed in the thigh pockets of her
jump pants. She drops an unprimed grenade, trembling,
forcing herself to be strong. We SEE she doesn't
know doodley about grenades.
This is the most terrifying thing she has ever done. She
begins to hyperventilate, soaking with sweat. Her fingers
slick and slippery on the rifle. The elevator descends.
The lift motors whine, slowing. It hits bottom with a
bump. The safety cage retracts. Slowly, expectantly,
the doors open.
HER P.O.V. THROUGH the parting doors...an empty
corridor. Dark, swirling with steam, a ruddy glow
VISIBLE here and there. It seems to have been a descent
into Dantean Hell. The air itself vibrates with heat
distortion. Couplings groan. Machinery whines and
throbs. Like the beating of a vast heart the pounding
of massive pumps echoes through the station.
INT. CORRIDOR 171
Ripley moves out of the lift, knuckles white on the
rifle. Her eyes dart, straining to penetrate the lethal
gloom. Behind her we SEE a SECOND ELEVATOR next to
hers, its lift cage somewhere on a higher floor. Ahead
the corridor is encrusted with the alien excressence
and not far down the bio-mechanoid catacomb begins.
She enters the maze, darting glances at Hick's LOCATOR,
taped to the top of her kludge weapon.
A VOICE echoes down the tunnels, calm and mechanical.
VOICE
Attention. Emergency. All
personnel must evacuate
immediately. You now have
fourteen minutes to reach
minimum safe distance.
INT. CATACOMB 172
Range and direction read out in rapid-fire alpha-numerics
on the locator display.
Ripley blinks sweat out of her eyes, moving through the
swirling steam of the alien maze. She approaches an
intersecting tunnel. Flashing emergency lights
illuminate the insane fresco of the walls. She spins,
firing the flamethrower. Nothing there. She whirls
back. Moves forward, trembling and adrenalized.
Skeletal figures drown in the walls, frozen in macabre
tormented positions like human insects in amber.
Steam blasts, blinding her. The locator signal
strengthens an she turns, crouches through a low
passage, turns again. At each intersection she quickly
lights a FIFTEEN-MINUTE MARKING FLARE and drops it.
For the way back. She has to turn sideways, inching
through a fissure between two walls of death...cocoon
niches, human bas-relief sealed in resin.
SUDDENLY SOMETHING SHOOTS OUT, GRABBING HER! A hand.
She recovers , then recognizes the face sealed in
the wall. Carter Burke.
BURKE
Ripley...help me. I can feel
it...inside. Oh, God...it's
moving! Oh gooood...
She looks at him. No one deserves this.
RIPLEY
Here.
She hands him a grenade, wrapping his fingers around
the spoon, and pulls the primer. She moves on.
VOICE
You now have eleven minutes to
reach minimum safe distance.
Ripley moves ahead. The locator signals shows she is
almost there. A CONCUSSION rocks the place, like an
earthquake, jarring her almost off her feet. Then
another. The whole station seems to shudder. A SIREN
begins to wail a demented rhythm. Following the tracker
she turns a corner and stops. The RANGE INDICATOR READS
ZERO. She looks down, horrified to see Newt's tracer
bracelet lying on the floor of the tunnel. All hope
recedes, disintegrating into mindless chaos.
INT. EGG CHAMBER 173
Newt is cocooned in a pillarlike structure at the
edge of a cluster of upright OVOID SHAPES...alien
eggs. Her eyelids flutter open and she becomes
aware of her surroundings. The egg nearest her
begins to move...opening like an obscene flower at
its top to reveal something stirring within. Newt
stares, transfixed by terror, as the jointed legs
appear over the lip of the ovoid one by one. She
SCREAMS.
INT. CATACOMBS 174
Ripley hears the scream and breaks into a run.
INT. EGG CHAMBER 175
Newt watches the face-hugger emerge and turn toward
her. Ripley runs in just as it is tensing to leap,
and FIRES, blasting it with a burst from the assault
rifle. The flash illuminates the figure of an
adult warrior, nearby. It spins, moving straight
for Ripley. Firing from the hip she drills it with
two controlled bursts which catapult it back. She
steps toward it, FIRING AGAIN. Her expression is
murderous. AND AGAIN. It spins onto its back.
She unleashes the flamethrower and it vanishes in
a fireball. Ripley runs to Newt and begins tearing
at the fresh resinous cocoon material, freeing the
child. She swings her up onto her back.
NEWT
(weakly)
I knew you'd come.
RIPLEY
Newt, I want you to hang on,
now. Hang on tight.
Groggily Newt hooks her arms and legs through the belts
of Ripley's battle harness as Ripley picks up her
weapon. More warriors are moving toward her among
the eggs. She fires the flamethrower. The eggs are
engulfed. One of the warriors lunges forward, a
living fireball. She blasts it in half with two
bursts from the M-41A. Ripley retreats, ducking under
a glistening cylindrical mass. A PIERCING SHRIEK
fill the chamber. She turns. And there it is.
A massive silhouette in the mist, the ALIEN QUEEN
glowers over her eggs like a great, glistening black
insect-Buddha. What's bigger and meaner than the
Alien? His momma. Her fanged head is an unimaginable
horror. Her six limbs, the four arms and two
powerful legs, are folded grotesquely over her
distended abdomen. The egg-filled abdomen swells
and swells into a great pulsing tubular sac, suspended
from a lattice of pipes and conduits by a weblike
membrane as if some vast coil of intestine were draped
carelessly among the machinery. Ripley realizes
she ducked under part of it a moment before. Inside
the abdominal sac can be SEEN the forms of countless
eggs, churning their way toward the pulsating ovipositor
where they emerge glistening, to be picked up by
DRONES. The drones are tiny scuttling albino versions
of the "warrior" aliens we have already seen.
Ripley pumps the slide on her grenade launcher. She
fires. Pumps and fires again. Four times. The
grenades punch deep into the egg sac and EXPLODE,
ripping it open from within. Eggs are tons of gelatinous
matter pour across the chamber floor. The Queen goes
berserk, SCREECHING like some psychotic steam whistle.
Ripley lays about her with the flamethrower, igniting
everything in sight with an insane fury. Eggs shrivel
in the inferno, and figures of warriors and drones
vanish in frenzied thrashing. Over all is the Queen's
shrieking as she struggles in the flames. Two
warriors emerge from the boiling smoke, closing on
her. She pulls the trigger...an empty click. DIGITAL
COUNTER flashing crimson zeroes. She drops the
magazine, grabs another from her belt, rams it home
and OPENS UP.
The creatures vanish in rapid-fire flashes. Ripley
backs away, venting her terror in a sustained orgy
of fire as she blasts everything that moves in one
long eye-searing expenditure of energy. Then she
dashes into the catacombs, navigating by sheer primal
instinct.
INT. CATACOMBS 176
Ripley runs, blindly, with panting intensity verging
on hysteria. Impressions crash upon her...the maze
blurring by, sirens howling, the station rocking with
explosions, emergency lights flashing, steam blasting,
red-hot steel hissing. Reality itself is reduced to
a concussive series of strobelike instants of
relentless forward motion.
She sees one of the flares she dropped and turns.
Sees another, sprinting toward it as the foundations
of the world shake.
INT. EGG CHAMBER 177
Lashing in a frenzy, the QUEEN DETACHES FROM THE EGG
SAC, ripping away and dragging torn cartilage and
tissue behind it. SEEN DIMLY THROUGH swirling smoke,
it rises on its powerful legs and steps forward.
INT. CATACOMBS - CORRIDOR 178-
179
Ripley uses the flamethrower ahead of her, firing
bursts of pulse-rifle fire down side corridors at
indistinct shapes and shadows. The weapon is empty
when she reaches the freight elevators. A mass of
debris, falling down the shaft from a higher level,
has demolished the life cage she descended in. She
slams the control for the other cage and hears the
sound of the LIFT MOTOR'S WHINE as it begins its
slow descent from several levels up. AN ENRAGED
SCREECH ECHOES in the corridor. Ripley sees a
silhouette moving in the smoke...a glistening black
shape which FILLS THE CORRIDOR TO THE CEILING...THE
QUEEN. Her last cartridge is reading zeroes. The
flamethrower sputters uselessly when she tries that.
The grenades are gone. Ripley drops the weapon and
looks up the shaft to the descending lift...then at
the approaching FIGURE. The elevator won't be in time.
She runs to a ladder set in the wall as a horrendous
screech beats in her ears. She scrambles up the
rungs.
INT. SECOND LEVEL 180
Ripley struggles up through a narrow hatch, Newt
clinging to her. She dives aside as a POWERFUL
BLACK ARM shoots up through the opening, its
razor claws slamming into the grille-floor inches
from her. Looking down through the grille she
sees the great horrifying jaws directly below her,
wet and leering. She scrambles up, running, as
the grille-floor lifts and buckles behind her
with the titanic force of the creature below.
It hurls itself with insane ferocity against the
metal, pacing her from below as she runs.
INT. STAIRWELL 181
Ripley reaches an open-grid emergency stairwell and
sprints upward. It rocks and shudders with the
station's death throes.
VOICE
You now have two minutes
to reach minimum safe
distance.
INT. CORRIDOR - ELEVATORS 182-
183
The lift reaches bottom, the doors rolling open.
The Queen turns and freezes, as if contemplating
the open lift cage.
INT. STAIRWELL 184
Ripley stumbles, smashing her knees against the
metals stairs. As she rises she hears the LIFT
MOTORS start up. Looking down through the lattice
work of the station she sees the life cage start
ominously upward. She knows there is only one
explanation for that. She runs on, the stairwell
becoming a crazy whirl around her.
EXT. LANDING PLATFORM 185
Ripley, with Newt still clinging to her, slams
through the door opening onto the platform.
Through wind-whipped streamers of smoke she
sees...THE SHIP IS GONE.
RIPLEY
BISHOP!
Her shouts become inarticulate screams of hatred,
outrage at the final betrayal. She scans the sky.
Nothing.
RIPLEY
(hysterical)
BISHOP!
Newt is sobbing.
The lift rises ponderously INTO VIEW. Ripley turns,
backing away from the doors toward the railing. There
is no place to run to on the platform. EXPLOSIONS
detonate in the complex far below and huge fireballs
swell upward through the machinery. The platform bucks
wildly. Nearby a cooling tower collapses with a
THUNDEROUS ROAR and the SHRIEK OF RENDING STEEL. More
EXPLOSIONS, one after another, rocketing up from below.
Ripley stares transfixed as the lift stops. The
safety cage parts.
RIPLEY
(to Newt; low)
Close your eyes, baby.
The lift doors begin to open. A glimpse of the
apparition within.
ANGLE ON RIPLEY AND NEWT as the drop-ship RISES RIGHT
BEHIND THEM, its hovering jets roaring.
VOICE
You now have thirty seconds to
reach...
Ripley leaps for the loading boom projecting down from
the cargo bay and it raises them into the ship. A
TREMENDOUS EXPLOSION RIPS THROUGH THE COMPLEX nearby,
slamming the ship sideways. Its extended landing legs
foul in a tangle of conduit, grinding with a hideous
squeal of metal on metal.
INT./EXT. DROP-SHIP - STATION 186-
187
Ripley leaps into a seat with Newt, cradling her. Begins
strapping in. Bishop wrestles with the controls. The
landing legs retract, ripping free. Ripley slams her
seat harness latches home.
RIPLEY
Punch it, Bishop!
The entire lower level of the station disappears in a
fireball. The air vibrates with intense heat waves and
concussion. The drop-ship engines fire. Ripley is
slammed back in her seat. The ship vaults out and up,
Bishop standing it on its tail, pouring on the gees.
Ripley and Newt see everything shake into a blur.
EXT. STRATOSPHERE 188
The drop-ship lunges up and out of the cloud layer into
the clear high night. Below, the clouds light up from
beneath from horizon to horizon.
A SUN HOT DOME OF ENERGY bursts up through the cloud
layer, WHITING OUT THE FRAME. The tiny ship is slammed
by the shockwave, tossed forward...and climbs, scorched
but functioning, toward the stars.
INT. DROP-SHIP 189
Ripley and Newt watch the blinding glare fade away and
they sit, wide-eyed, trembling, realizing they are
finally and truly safe. Newt starts to cry quietly,
and Ripley strokes her hair.
RIPLEY
It's okay, baby. We made it. It's
over.
INT. SULACO CARGO LOCK - IN ORBIT - LATER 190
The scorched and battered ship once again sits in its
drop-bay, steam blasting from cooling vents beside the
engine. Rotating clearance lights sweep the dark chamber
hypnotically.
INT. DROP-SHIP 191
Bishop stands behind Ripley as she kneels beside a
comatose Hicks.
BISHOP
I gave him a shot, for the pain.
We'll need to get a stretcher to
cart him up to medical.
Ripley nods and, picking up Newt, precedes Bishop down
the aisle to the loading ramp.
BISHOP
I'm sorry if I gave you a scare
but that platform was just becoming
too unstable...
INT. CARGO LOCK - DROP-SHIP 192
Bishop continues as they move down the ramp.
BISHOP
I had to circle and hope things
didn't get too rough to take you
off.
Ripley turns to him, stopping partway down the ramp.
She puts her hand on his shoulder.
RIPLEY
You did okay, Bishop.
BISHOP
Well, thanks, I --
He notices a tiny innocuous drop of liquid splash onto the
ramp next to his shoe. SSSSSS. Acid. SOMETHING BURSTS
FROM HIS CHEST, spraying Ripley with milklike android blood.
It is the razor-sharp scorpion TAIL of the alien QUEEN.
Driven right through him from behind. Bishop thrashes,
seizing the protruding section of tail in his hands, as is
slowly lifts him off the deck. Above them the Queen
glowers from its place of concealment among the hydraulic
mechanisms inside one landing-leg bay. It blends perfectly
with the machinery until it begins to emerge. Seizing
Bishop in two great hands it rips him apart and flings him
aside, shredded, like a doll. It descends slowly to the
deck, the rotating lights glistening across its shiny black
limbs, dripping acid and rage. Still smoking where Ripley
half-fried it. The Queen is huge, powerful...and very
pissed off. It descends slowly, its six limbs unfolding in
inhuman geometries.
Ripley moves with nightmarish slowness herself, staring
hypnotized...terrified to break and run. She lowers Newt
to the deck, never taking her eyes off the creature.
RIPLEY
(to Newt)
Go!
Newt runs for cover. The Alien drops to the deck, pivoting
toward the motion. Ripley waves her arms, decoying.
RIPLEY
Here!
Without warning it moves like lightning, straight at her.
Ripley spins, sprinting, as the creature leaps for her.
Its feet slam, echoing, on the deck behind her. She clears
a door. Hits the switch. It WHIRRS closed. BOOM. The
Alien hits a moment later.
INT. DARK CHAMBER 193
Ripley moves ferret-quick among dark, unrecognizable
machines.
VARIOUS ANGLES VERY TIGHT ON what she is doing...her feet
going into stirruplike mechanisms. Velcro straps
fastened over them. Fingers stabbing buttons in a sequence.
Her hand closing on a complex grip-control. The HUM of
powerful motors. The WHINE of hydraulics.
INT. CARGO LOCK 194
The Queen turns its attention from the doors to Newt as
the little girl crawls into a system of trenchlike
service channels which cross the deck. The channels are
covered by steel grillework and barely big enough for her
to crawl through.
INT. CHANNEL 195
Newt scurries like a rabbit as the looming figure of the
Alien appears above, seen through the bars. A section of
grille is ripped away behind her. She scrambles
desperately. Another section is ripped away right at her
heels. Light pouring in. The next will be right above
her.
INT. CARGO LOCK 196
The Queen spins at the sound of door motors behind her.
The parting doors REVEAL an inhuman silhouette standing
there.
Ripley steps out, WEARING TWO TONS OF HARDENED STEEL.
THE POWER LOADER. Like medieval armor with the power of
a bulldozer. She takes a step...the massive foot
CRASH-CLANGS to the deck. She takes another, advancing.
Ripley's expression is one you hope you'll never see...
Hell hath no fury like that of a mother protecting her
child and that primal, murderous rage surges through her
now, banishing all fear.
RIPLEY
Get away from her, you bitch!
The Queen SCREECHES pure lethality and leaps.
WALLOP! A roundhouse from one great hydraulic arm catches
it on its hideous skull and slams it into a wall. It
rebounds into a massive backhand. CRASH! It goes
backward into heavy loading equipment.
RIPLEY
(screaming)
Come on!
The Queen emerges as a blur of rage, lashing with
unbelievable fury. The battle is joined.
Claws swipe, tail lashes. Ripley parries with radical
swipes of the steel forks. They circle in a whirling
blur, demolishing everything in their path. The cavernous
chamber echoes with nightmarish sounds...WHINE, CRASH,
CLANG, SCREECH.
They lock in a death embrace. Ripley closes the forks,
crushing two of the creature's limbs. It lashes and
writhes with incredible fury, coming within inches of her
exposed body. She lifts it off the ground. The hind
legs rip at her, slamming against the safety cage, denting
it in. The striking teeth extend almost a meter from
inside its fanged maw, shooting between the crash-bars.
She ducks and the teeth slam into the seat cushion
behind her dead in a spray of drool. Yellow acid foams
down the hydraulic arms toward her. The creature rips
at high-pressure hoses. Purple hydraulic fluid sprays
...machine blood mixing with alien blood. They topple,
off balance. The Queen pins her. Ripley hits a switch.
The power loader's CUTTING TORCH flares on, directly in
the thing's face. They roll together, over the lip of
a RECTANGULAR PIT, A VERTICAL LOADING AIRLOCK.
INT. LOADING LOCK 197
They crash together four meters below, twisted in the
loader's wreckage. The Alien shrieks, pinned.
Ripley pulls her arm out of the controls of the loader
and claws toward a panel of airlock actuating buttons.
She slaps the red "INNER DOOR OVERRIDE" and latches the
"HOLD" locking-key down. A KLAXON begins to sound. She
hits "OUTER DOOR OPEN" and there is a hurricane shriek of
air as the doors on which they are lying separate,
REVEALING the infinite pit of stars, below.
All this time the Alien has been lashing at her in a
frenzy and she has been parrying desperately in the
confined space. The airlock becomes a wind tunnel,
blasting and buffetting her as she struggles to unstrap
from the loader. The air of the vast ship howls past her
into space as she claws her way up a service ladder.
INT. CARGO BAY 198
Newt screams as the hurricane airstream sucks her across
the floor toward the airlock. Bishop, torn virtually in
two, his pastalike internal organs whipped by the wind,
grips a stanchion and reaches desperately for Newt as she
slides past him. He catches her arm and hangs on as she
dangles, doll-like, in the airblast.
INT. LOADING LOCK 199
The Alien seizes Ripley's ankle. She locks her arms
around a ladder rung, feels them almost torn out of
their shoulder sockets.
The door opens farther, all of space yawning below. The
loader tumbles clear, falling away. It drags the Alien,
still clutching one of Ripley's lucky hi-tops, into the
depths of space. Its SHRIEK fades, it gone.
With all her strength Ripley fights the blasting air,
crawling over the lip of the inner doorway. She releases
the OVERRIDE from a second panel. The inner doors close.
The turbulent air eddies and settles.
She lies on her back, drained of all strength. Gasping
for breath. Weakly she turns her head, seeing Bishop
still holding Newt by the arm. Encrusted with his own
vanilla milkshake blood. Bishop gives her a small, grim
smile.
BISHOP
Not bad for a human.
He winks.
Ripley crosses to Newt.
NEWT
(weakly)
Mommy...Mommy?
RIPLEY
Right here, baby. Right here.
Ripley hugs her desperately.
INT. CORRIDOR 200
Ripley limps along the corridor, carrying Newt on her hip.
The ship's systems hum comfortingly. Newt's head rests
on her shoulder.
NEWT
Are we going to sleep now?
RIPLEY
That's right.
NEWT
Can we dream?
RIPLEY
Yes, honey. I think we both can.
HOLD ON THEM AS they recede down the long straight
corridor.
FADE OUT
THE END
