THE GORGE screenplay by Scott Nicholson Read Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Scott Nicholson
head.
ACE
Jesus Fucking Christ on a lollipop.
CLARA
I knew you’d be mad.
ACE
You ain’t keeping it.
Clara wraps her arms around her belly, protectively.
CLARA
God chose me for it.
Ace explodes in rage, slaps her. Bowie starts to respond but Ace threatens him with the gun.
ACE
(to Clara)
You ain’t good enough.
BOWIE
That make you feel good, Ace?
Ace turns his anger to Bowie.
ACE
If you hadn’t tried to play hero, we’d be to town by now.
BOWIE
Is it more fun to slap them than to blow them up?
Ace points the barrel of the pistol inches from Bowie’s face.
ACE
Don’t think I can’t get that raft down the river without you.
BOWIE
I’m dead either way. What does it matter to me?
Ace grins, face slick in the rain. He turns and jams the gun into Clara’s gut. She grunts in pain.
ACE
Suffer the children.
Bowie goes to the Muskrat and begins to untie it.
BOWIE
The water’s rising fast. We’d best get on with it.
CUT TO:
EXT.BABELTOWER. DUSK.
Farrengalli sits on the ledge beside Raintree and Dove. He peers over in the rain.
FARRENGALLI
You people are crazy.
RAINTREE
Where’s Castle?
FARRENGALLI
I went to get some firewood and he stole the raft. Can you believe it? A fucking federal agent.
DOVE
What, he pumped it up by himself? In that condition?
FARRENGALLI
He ordered me to. Wanted me to go with him.
RAINTREE
A wounded man without a gun?
FARRENGALLI
(shrugs)
He’s got a badge, man. Said he wanted to catch that bomber. Get revenge for his partner.
RAINTREE
He’s probably in shock.
DOVE
Or doped out of his mind.
Farrengalli and Dove look at Raintree, who touches his medicine bag. From upriver comes a distant SKEEEK .
RAINTREE
We don’t have much light left.
He stands and rolls up rope.
CUT TO:
EXT. CLEARING IN WOODS. DUSK.
Castle is groggy, fighting to stay awake. The fire has burned low. Rain ticks off the canopy. The woods are misty. The Muskrat is nearby.
CASTLE
(delirious)
Rook. Should I ride it out here or go for the glory?
Something moves in the misty trees behind him.
CASTLE (CONT’D)
Yeah, you’re right. Got a job to do.
Castle rolls over with a groan and drags himself toward the Muskrat. He crawls out from the canopy into the rain, mud covering his bandage.
CASTLE (CONT’D)
Partners are always there for each other.
Castle drags himself forward, the going is tough, the Muskrat is 20 feet away and he doesn’t know what he will do once he gets there.
The shadow moves and separates from the mist of the forest.
CASTLE (CONT’D)
Rook?
The Samford-thing skips and floats into the light from the campfire, showing its gray skin and ragged clothes and torn flesh. Its tongue flaps and it emits a hungry sigh.
SAMFORD-THING
Skeeee .
It moves in on Castle, whose scream echoes up the face of BabelTower—
CUT TO:
EXT.BABELTOWER. DUSK.
200 feet above the river, and the top of the tower is lost in mist and rain.
Raintree is suspended on a rope, looped over a projectile of rock above and tied off below. He’s trying to set an anchor for the safety line. He drives the pick-hammer against the piton but the rock is too tough. More pitons are stuck in his belt, as well as the cell phone.
Below him, Dove and Farrengalli wait expectantly on a ledge, Farrengalli squinting into the clouds. He flinches and ducks as—
SKEEEEK . A pair of the goregoyles explode out of the mist, swooping down the valley.
FARRENGALLI
Fuck!
DOVE
(whisper)
Robert! Don’t move!
(to Farrengalli)
Shut up. They’re blind, remember?
FARRENGALLI
Can they smell me shitting my pants?
Raintree freezes on the ropes, pressing flat against the slick stones. The creatures soar by and it looks as if they’re going to pass the group. The piton slips from Raintree’s grip and the metal spike pings off the rocks below.
In a flash, the goregoyles turn and soar toward the sound. One swings past the piton as it falls. The other
ACE
Jesus Fucking Christ on a lollipop.
CLARA
I knew you’d be mad.
ACE
You ain’t keeping it.
Clara wraps her arms around her belly, protectively.
CLARA
God chose me for it.
Ace explodes in rage, slaps her. Bowie starts to respond but Ace threatens him with the gun.
ACE
(to Clara)
You ain’t good enough.
BOWIE
That make you feel good, Ace?
Ace turns his anger to Bowie.
ACE
If you hadn’t tried to play hero, we’d be to town by now.
BOWIE
Is it more fun to slap them than to blow them up?
Ace points the barrel of the pistol inches from Bowie’s face.
ACE
Don’t think I can’t get that raft down the river without you.
BOWIE
I’m dead either way. What does it matter to me?
Ace grins, face slick in the rain. He turns and jams the gun into Clara’s gut. She grunts in pain.
ACE
Suffer the children.
Bowie goes to the Muskrat and begins to untie it.
BOWIE
The water’s rising fast. We’d best get on with it.
CUT TO:
EXT.BABELTOWER. DUSK.
Farrengalli sits on the ledge beside Raintree and Dove. He peers over in the rain.
FARRENGALLI
You people are crazy.
RAINTREE
Where’s Castle?
FARRENGALLI
I went to get some firewood and he stole the raft. Can you believe it? A fucking federal agent.
DOVE
What, he pumped it up by himself? In that condition?
FARRENGALLI
He ordered me to. Wanted me to go with him.
RAINTREE
A wounded man without a gun?
FARRENGALLI
(shrugs)
He’s got a badge, man. Said he wanted to catch that bomber. Get revenge for his partner.
RAINTREE
He’s probably in shock.
DOVE
Or doped out of his mind.
Farrengalli and Dove look at Raintree, who touches his medicine bag. From upriver comes a distant SKEEEK .
RAINTREE
We don’t have much light left.
He stands and rolls up rope.
CUT TO:
EXT. CLEARING IN WOODS. DUSK.
Castle is groggy, fighting to stay awake. The fire has burned low. Rain ticks off the canopy. The woods are misty. The Muskrat is nearby.
CASTLE
(delirious)
Rook. Should I ride it out here or go for the glory?
Something moves in the misty trees behind him.
CASTLE (CONT’D)
Yeah, you’re right. Got a job to do.
Castle rolls over with a groan and drags himself toward the Muskrat. He crawls out from the canopy into the rain, mud covering his bandage.
CASTLE (CONT’D)
Partners are always there for each other.
Castle drags himself forward, the going is tough, the Muskrat is 20 feet away and he doesn’t know what he will do once he gets there.
The shadow moves and separates from the mist of the forest.
CASTLE (CONT’D)
Rook?
The Samford-thing skips and floats into the light from the campfire, showing its gray skin and ragged clothes and torn flesh. Its tongue flaps and it emits a hungry sigh.
SAMFORD-THING
Skeeee .
It moves in on Castle, whose scream echoes up the face of BabelTower—
CUT TO:
EXT.BABELTOWER. DUSK.
200 feet above the river, and the top of the tower is lost in mist and rain.
Raintree is suspended on a rope, looped over a projectile of rock above and tied off below. He’s trying to set an anchor for the safety line. He drives the pick-hammer against the piton but the rock is too tough. More pitons are stuck in his belt, as well as the cell phone.
Below him, Dove and Farrengalli wait expectantly on a ledge, Farrengalli squinting into the clouds. He flinches and ducks as—
SKEEEEK . A pair of the goregoyles explode out of the mist, swooping down the valley.
FARRENGALLI
Fuck!
DOVE
(whisper)
Robert! Don’t move!
(to Farrengalli)
Shut up. They’re blind, remember?
FARRENGALLI
Can they smell me shitting my pants?
Raintree freezes on the ropes, pressing flat against the slick stones. The creatures soar by and it looks as if they’re going to pass the group. The piton slips from Raintree’s grip and the metal spike pings off the rocks below.
In a flash, the goregoyles turn and soar toward the sound. One swings past the piton as it falls. The other
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