ARCTIC BLUE
FADE IN:
1 EXT. BOREAL FOREST - ALASKA - (AERIAL SHOT) - DAY
Flying. Not at the intangible height of a jet, but at
spitting distance from the treetops. We're in central
Alaska, the Big Lonely, just north of the Arctic Circle.
A thick forest follows the contours of mountain foothills
like a deep-pile carpet. Up at treeline the forest thins to
tundra, a grassy scruff turning red and yellow with the
coming of autumn.
On the horizon, the hills rise to meet the Endicott
Mountains, a great fortress wall of granite so sharp and
jagged that snow cannot stick to its face. This is how all
North America once looked -- raw, indomitable.
Then, abruptly coming into the SCENE is a colossal etching
across the landscape too deliberate to be of natural origin.
Bisecting this country like a metallic ribbon -- or a scar,
depending on your point of view -- is the 800-mile-long
Trans-Alaskan Pipeline.
Even the immensity of the pipeline is rendered insignificant
by the vastness of the land. It goes on, and on, and on...
DISSOLVE TO:
A lone MAN walks along the Haul Road, a one-lane gravel
trail running parallel to the pipeline. The weather turns
sour -- rough wind and stinging snow cut across the man's
path.
DISSOLVE TO:
The man is ERIC DESMOND, twenty-four, clean-shaven,
determined. He's clearly out of place here, dressed in a
business suit and a light, camel-hair topcoat.
Eric is trying to follow some footprints in the snow -- a
predator's tracks, those of a wolf or coyote. But the
footprints ahead have faded, covered by the snow and wind.
DISSOLVE TO:
The weather becomes more oppressive. Heavy snow, gale winds
and sub-zero temperatures make his progress tortuous. Eric
strives stubbornly forward.
(CONTINUED)
1 CONTINUED:
DISSOLVE TO:
Eric has gathered some branches. He tries to make a fire.
Moisture from his breath has frozen in the upturned collar
of his insufficient coat, and his skin is split raw from the
cold.
His hands are too numb to hold the matches. After several
attempts at striking one, he slumps down next to the pile of
wood, exhausted and frustrated.
DISSOLVE TO:
The snow has covered the pile of branches. Eric still sits
next to it, partially covered in snow himself.
ERIC
His face is a death mask: eyes half-open and dull, lips a
purplish blue, bloodless skin crystallizing as it ices over.
The wind HOWLS around him. The snow sticks to his eyelashes
and hair without melting.
END DREAM
2 INT. DARK BEDROOM - NIGHT
Eric bolts up in bed. Next to him, ANNE MARIE GAUVIN sits
up and hugs him. All that can be seen of her in the dark is
a lovely silhouette and a cascade of dark hair. After a
moment, Eric kisses her. He shakes off the dream and lies
back down.
3 EXT. HAUL ROAD AND PIPELINE - CLOSE - DAY
A metal sign, peppered with shotgun holes, is posted near a
pipeline support piling:
PIPELINE UTILITY CORRIDOR
PRIVATE PROPERTY
NO TRESPASSING
NO HUNTING
NO TRAPPING
NO SHOOTING
WIDER
Eric walks quietly past the sign, intent on something ahead
of him. Although still somewhat boyish in appearance, he's
confident and resolute in attitude. His clothes have a
distinctly western feel: Lucchese boots, Levis 501's, Mahan
cotton shirt. His down parka is unzipped in the sunny,
windless, forty-degree afternoon.
(CONTINUED)
3 CONTINUED:
He pauses, then brings to his shoulder a rifle with a
four-power scope mounted atop it. He peers through the
scope.
HIS POV - THROUGH SCOPE
He puts the crosshairs on the shoulder flank of a big,
ivory-white timber wolf, fifty yards away.
BACK TO SCENE
Anne Marie stands beside Eric, a Nikon with a telephoto lens
in her hand, holding her breath in anticipation. She's
twenty-three, pretty, with soft features and piercing blue
eyes. She wears Eddie Bauer woman's gear like she was born
in it.
Eric expertly fixes his aim and slowly squeezes the trigger.
But instead of a loud retort, there is only the dull POP of
a CO2-powered dart gun.
NEW ANGLE
The tranquilizer dart finds its mark in the wolf's fleshy
shoulder. The wolf takes off running, but almost
immediately slows, sits, then lies down.
Eric and Anne Marie hurry over to the wolf, who is breathing
deeply. Eric kneels next to him and strokes his thick fur.
ERIC
What a beauty.
(to Anne Marie)
Hand me the transmitter.
Anne Marie passes to Eric a tiny, weatherproof homing device
attached to a steel collar band. Eric puts the collar
loosely around the wolf's neck and crimps it in place, all
the while TALKING soothingly to the semi-conscious animal.
Anne Marie smiles at Eric's tenderness and snaps some
photos.
With the collar in place and transmitter activated, Eric
backs away while the wolf tries to rouse itself from its
narcosis.
ERIC
(continuing)
He's coming around fine.
ANNE MARIE
Be right back. I left my
camcorder in the car.
(CONTINUED)
3 CONTINUED: (2)
FOLLOW ANNE MARIE
as she hurries back to their International Scout. On the
door of the Scout is a stylized logo of an oil derrick,
under which are the words:
NORTHLAND PETROLEUM CORP.
Anne Marie opens the hatchback and grabs a video camera.
ANGLE ON ERIC AND THE WOLF
Eric smiles as the wolf wobbles tentatively to his feet and
trots unsteadily away. Near the treeline the wolf turns,
glances back at Eric and then disappears into the forest.
NEW ANGLE
Anne Marie is taping the wolf's retreat. Looking through
the viewfinder, she crosses a gully between a pipeline
piling and a rock formation. Eric turns toward her and a
glint of light in the debris at her feet catches his eye.
ERIC
Anne Marie! Stop!
She glances down. Something metal is half-buried in the
dead leaves and gravel.
ERIC
(continuing)
Don't move.
Eric runs over. He pokes at the object with a stick. With
a SNAP, a steel leg trap chomps the stick in half. Anne
Marie jumps back. Eric brushes the dead leaves on the
ground behind her and she carefully backtracks out of the
gully.
ERIC
(continuing)
Goddamn trappers!
He angrily rips the trap out of the ground, unearthing
several others attached to one another by a long chain.
ERIC
(continuing)
Takes nerve, laying traplines on
restricted land.
Eric slips the scope off the dart rifle and climbs up the
pipeline on foot pegs to the top of an anchoring poINT.
(CONTINUED)
3 CONTINUED: (3)
Using the scope as a telescope, he scans up and down the
Haul Road.
ANNE MARIE
What are you doing?
ERIC
He still might be around. I saw
fresh tire tracks coming in.
HIS POV - THROUGH SCOPE
The road and the pipeline stretch toward either horizon,
north and south. In the distance, a jeep is parked on the
Haul Road. Near it, a Man climbs down into another shallow
ravine.
BACK TO SCENE
Eric hurries down the footpegs.
ERIC
Man and a jeep, about a mile and
a half down.
He jumps into the Scout. Anne Marie stuffs her cameras into
the hatchback. As soon as she climbs in, Eric tears out.
4 INT. SCOUT - (MOVING SHOT)
It races along the dusty gravel road at 60 MPH.
5 EXT. HAUL ROAD
Startled at the APPROACH of the Scout, the Trapper uproots
his traps and runs out of the ravine. He WHISTLES and
another Trapper appears nearby.
6 INT. TRAPPERS' JEEP
They pile into their dilapidated, all-terrain jeep. It's
oddly well-equipped, however. Bolted to the dashboard is an
expensive tape player and a beat-up radio beacon receiver
with a round locating screen. They zoom off.
7 INT. SCOUT - (MOVING SHOT)
Eric stomps on the gas. The dust from the jeep obscures his
view but he's gaining on them anyway. Anne Marie hangs on
and squints her eyes against the choking dust.
8 INT. TRAPPERS' JEEP - (MOVING SHOT)
The driver is LEMALLE (35), a tall, ugly, rawboned Canadian.
His entire outfit is made of animal hide. He has long red
hair, and a reptilian face usually twisted into a sadistic
sneer. While driving, he scans along the pipeline.
LEMALLE
Where the fuck did you drop
Corbett off?
In the passenger seat, MITCHELL (38), chews tobacco and
looks grim. He's a squat, flat-faced Okie, with curly
matted hair and tired grey eyes. He's dressed in a brown
long coat and has a Colt .45 Peacemaker in a quick-draw
holster strapped to his leg. Despite his intimidating air,
confrontation is not his style.
He spots a figure up ahead, where the road crosses a muddy
creek.
MITCHELL
He's over there.
9 EXT. HAUL ROAD
Turning sharply, the trappers' jeep splashes through the
creek bed without slowing. Bouncing, it comes down hard
against the axle-deep bank at the creek's high water mark.
LeMalle tries to back out, but can't find traction in the
mud.
Eric stops the Scout thirty yards behind them.
10 INT. SCOUT
Eric opens his door. To Anne Marie:
ERIC
Stay here.
ANNE MARIE
Be careful -- there're two of
them.
Eric reaches in the back seat and hands something to Anne
Marie.
ERIC
If I unzip my parka, stick this
out the window.
11 EXT. HAUL ROAD
Eric confidently approaches the jeep.
(CONTINUED)
11 CONTINUED:
Then, a third trapper climbs from the creek. He's got a
line of traps slung around his neck and a world of
experience on his face. He's BEN CORBETT, a life-long
huntsman, somewhere past forty, weathered beyond his years.
He has a feral nose, thick beard and dark, smart, hunter's
eyes. He wears a hooded cotton sweat shirt, cotton
coveralls and vapor-barrier mountain boots. On his belt is
a holster rig cradling a .44 magnum revolver.
Eric slows down. He didn't expect to face anyone as
formidable as Corbett.
12 INT. / EXT. JEEP
Emboldened by Corbett's presence, LeMalle reaches into the
back seat and grabs his 6.5 by 55 Swedish military carbine.
CORBETT
(to LeMalle)
No shooting. Let's see who's so
interested in us.
Corbett has an incongruously affable voice. He throws his
traps into the jeep, then strides closer toward Eric.
MITCHELL
(to Corbett)
Ain't worth it, Ben...
13 EXT. HAUL ROAD - CREEK CROSSING - LONG SHOT
As Corbett comes closer, Eric realizes this might not've
been a great idea. Corbett squints his eyes and sniffs the
air, as if by this he can gauge his opponent's mettle.
ERIC
You got two counts against you --
trapping out of season and
poaching on restricted land.
CORBETT
Can't be much of a crime, if all
they got minding the area is a
cocky kid.
ERIC
I got your plate number, asshole.
Maybe you feel like spending a
few months in jail.
Corbett just smiles.
(CONTINUED)
13 CONTINUED:
But LeMalle, rankled, sticks the carbine out the jeep
window.
Seeing the rifle pointed at him, Eric freezes, then slowly
unzips his parka.
LEMALLE
Ben? Sure you don't want me to
drop the fucker?
Corbett doesn't answer. Then, his eyes narrow and he looks
past Eric at the Scout.
CORBETT'S POV
The passenger in the Scout sticks what looks like another
rifle out the window.
BACK TO SCENE
Eric quickly glances over his shoulder to make sure Anne
Marie's backing him up.
ERIC
You leave and don't come back,
that's the end of it.
After a long moment, Corbett smiles again, then turns away
from Eric. He motions LeMalle to the front of the jeep.
Frustrated, LeMalle slams back the safety on the carbine and
throws it in the back seat.
ANGLE ON TRAPPERS
Mitchell climbs into the jeep and starts the engine.
LeMalle and Corbett rock the jeep back and forth in the rut.
While pushing, Corbett rips the sole of his boot on a sharp
piece of granite. He cusses and pushes harder.
14 EXT. HAUL ROAD - CREEK CROSSING
Eric walks back to the Scout. He feels the trappers' eyes
on his back, but forces himself not to hurry.
The trappers free their vehicle. Corbett gets in the
driver's seat, and they take off.
15 INT. SCOUT
Anne Marie's hands are shaking as she pulls the plastic
tranquilizer rifle back in the window.
(CONTINUED)
15 CONTINUED:
ANNE MARIE
(unnerved)
Great idea -- pointing a lousy
dart gun at some nut with a
high-powered hunting rifle.
ERIC
Bastards took off, though, didn't
they?
16 EXT. BOREAL FOREST - LATER THAT DAY
The trappers have left the flatlands of the Haul Road area.
Now their jeep climbs a pathway over the rolling foothills.
17 INT. TRAPPERS' JEEP - (MOVING SHOT)
Corbett broods while driving. Mitchell looks out the
window. The silence makes LeMalle uncomfortable.
LEMALLE
All this fuckin' land, and we're
locked out. Makes me puke.
CORBETT
Jawing about it won't change it.
LEMALLE
Three hundred seventy-five
million acres in this state. I'm
real tired of runnin' into
people.
MITCHELL
Then don't look to your left.
18 EXT. SPORTSMEN'S CAMP
A brand-new Land Rover is parked on an alluvial fan in a
bend in a small river. Scattered about is an assortment of
expensive camping gear, beer cans, spent shells and other
garbage.
Three toy-macho, vacationing SPORTSMEN are guzzling beer and
BLASTING fish in the shallow river with 12-gauge shotguns.
They look up and glower suspiciously as the jeep slows and
stops.
19 INT. TRAPPERS' JEEP
LeMalle grabs his carbine.
CORBETT
Leave it here.
(CONTINUED)
19 CONTINUED:
MITCHELL
Let's keep going. We're only an
hour from Devil's Cauldron.
CORBETT
(pats Mitchell's shoulder)
Relax. I just want to ask them
how the hunting is.
20 EXT. SPORTSMEN'S CAMP
Corbett gets out of the jeep. He regards the Sportsmen,
their shotguns and their mess with ill-concealed contempt.
The Sportsmen clutch their weapons and watch Corbett. He
walks around the camp, spotting a rubber-lined rucksack
stuffed with dead ermine. After a long, tense moment,
Corbett smiles.
CORBETT
Looks like you've had some luck.
Where's your guide?
SPORTSMAN #1
We're on our own, if it's any of
your damn business.
CORBETT
(re ermine)
You did real good.
He crouches next to the dead animals and strokes the fur.
LEMALLE
(to Corbett)
No swinging shit. They're over
their goddamned limit.
CORBETT
(to Sportsmen)
My friend is right. Supposed to
have a licensed guide when you're
on this land, too.
SPORTSMAN #1
Hey, we paid our fuckin' permit
fees.
LeMalle amuses himself by pissing in their campfire. No one
notices that in the b.g., quiet Sportsman #3 unzips his
parka, exposing a .45 Peacemaker in a belt holster.
(CONTINUED)
20 CONTINUED:
SPORTSMAN #2
I were you, I'd drive right on
outta here again. Now.
CORBETT
(calmly)
This was my roaming land, 'til
the government took it over.
Only Innuit can hunt here now,
and tourists, like you.
Corbett swings the rucksack of carcasses onto the hood of
the Land Rover. Pissed, Sportsmen #1 and #2 step closer to
him.
CORBETT
(continuing)
According to tribal law, hunters
passing through the land of
another tribe can only take game
to survive. They can eat the
meat, but have to surrender the
hides.
LeMalle pulls a hunting knife and holds up one of the
ermine.
LEMALLE
Want the meat?
SPORTSMAN #1
Fuck you, dirtball.
Corbett chuckles and Mitchell spits.
WIDER
LeMalle digs through the camping goodies in the back of the
Land Rover, many still in their packages. He helps himself
to some sandwiches and a 12-pack of beer.
LEMALLE
I say shoot 'em, bury 'em with
their shiny new car.
MITCHELL
(to LeMalle)
If you're gonna take something,
take it and let's go.
Corbett looks down to fasten the top of the rucksack.
(CONTINUED)
20 CONTINUED: (2)
NEW ANGLE
Suddenly, Sportsman #3 reaches inside his parka and pulls
the pistol. He swings it toward LeMalle.
LeMalle looks up when he hears the HAMMER cock.
There is a deafeningly loud SHOT.
Sportsman #3 falls down dead at LeMalle's feet.
Off to one side, Corbett holds a huge, smoking .44 magnum
six-shooter in his hand.
Shotgun in hand, Sportsman #1 gauges his chances of blasting
Corbett. Nil. When Corbett turns to him, he lies the
weapon down. Sportsman #2 rushes to his friend.
Looking bleak, Mitchell spits again. Corbett crosses to
LeMalle and knocks from his hands the things he wanted to
steal. Chastised, LeMalle smolders. After a moment:
CORBETT
(to Sportsmen)
Put him in your truck. Smell of
blood will attract the bears.
(to trappers)
Let's go.
As Corbett walks to the jeep, he's too angry to notice that
he's stepped in a patch of mud under the Land Rover.
Near the jeep, LeMalle stops and pulls them into a huddle.
LEMALLE
I don't believe in leavin'
witnesses behind, Ben.
MITCHELL
It was self defense. Leave it at
that.
LEMALLE
You think those fucks will tell
it that way?
CORBETT
(ending the argument)
We'll get a head start before
they go crying to the law.
Corbett turns and FIRES two rounds from his .44 into the
engine of the Land Rover. The Sportsmen stare and sputter.
(CONTINUED)
20 CONTINUED: (3)
CORBETT
(continuing; to Sportsmen)
You can pack out of here -- two,
three days' hike along this river
at most. Weather should hold
this early in the season.
Corbett and Mitchell get in their jeep.
LEMALLE
isn't yet satisfied. He walks back over to the Sportsmen,
kneeling beside their fallen friend, and crouches right
beside them. Intimidated, Sportsman #2 looks away, but
LeMalle grabs his chin and turns his face back toward him.
LEMALLE
Think I'm pretty? You better
forget how we look, 'cause next
time they won't keep me from
killing you. This land ain't
quite civilized, you know...
He unsheathes his buck knife. BELOW FRAME, he slices across
the forehead of the dead Sportsman, peels back his scalp and
cuts it loose, Indian-style. The Sportsmen are stunned and
sickened.
ANGLE ON TRAPPERS' JEEP
Corbett looks at Mitchell and wearily shakes his head.
MITCHELL
At least he scalped the dead one.
21 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - DUSK
Devil's Cauldron Hot Springs is a cluster of twenty tiny
dwellings connected by an unpainted boardwalk. The town
squats, ugly and temporary-looking, in a dirt clearing fifty
miles north of the Arctic Circle. Thirty miles east of the
Pipeline, it's almost dead center of interior Alaska.
At the edge of town is a gravel airstrip. Mixed with the
prospector-era sod-roof cabins are a few prefabricated
houses. The boon brought by men building the pipeline is
long gone. Now only a few itinerant loggers, natives and
bush dwellers remain to fight boredom, each other and the
depression of the oncoming winter.
Enough steam escapes from the hot springs to perpetually
blanket the valley with fog. The spa is log-walled and
horseshoe- shaped, with partitioned baths inside. Facing it
(CONTINUED)
21 CONTINUED:
are a mud-walled fire bath, a wooden steam bath called a
Maqi, six one-room cabins for let, and an unused dance hall.
LEO MEYERLING opens the tailgate of a Dodge truck with the
Northland Petroleum logo and "District Supervisor" on the
door. Meyerling is short and bald with a completely
disreputable face. He staples a poster on a wall. It has a
picture of him on it, and:
LEO MEYERLING
for
State Legislature
VOTE FOR THE PEOPLE'S FRIEND!
22 EXT. KENAI'S GENERAL STORE
Corbett and the other trappers drive past Meyerling and park
their jeep as the sun disappears behind the foothills.
23 INT. KENAI'S GENERAL STORE
A handwritten public notice next to a schedule of church
meetings reads: "Live each day so you can look every damn
man in the eye and tell him to go to hell." There is a post
office in the corner with some combination boxes and a
wicketless window.
The trappers come in. Corbett sits in a chair and pulls his
boots off. One of his wool socks is wet. He nods to the
man sitting in the other chair, SAM WILDER. Wilder is short
and tough, with a full head of crewcut grey hair and
weather- ravaged face that makes him look older than his
sixty years.
CORBETT
Hullo, Sam. Slow day?
WILDER
(wary)
Ben...boys. Yeah, real slow, and
I'd like to keep it that way.
CORBETT
(conciliatory)
Just passing through.
A chubby Inupiat (interior Eskimo), wearing thick glasses,
several heavy sweaters and battery-heated socks, fusses
behind the counter. He's EARL KENAI, owner of the hot
springs spa and the general store.
LeMalle chews on a handful of bear jerky. Kenai stares at
LeMalle until he begrudgingly pays for the jerky. Corbett
pulls on some sneakers and hands his boots to Kenai.
(CONTINUED)
23 CONTINUED:
CORBETT
(continuing; re boot)
Needs patching.
KENAI
Twenty-five dollar.
CORBETT
(smiles)
Sure have learned to worship the
white man's god.
Kenai nods agreeably and holds his hand out. Corbett pays
him. Meyerling comes in and posts some fliers on the
corkboard.
MEYERLING
I hope I can count on you
gentlemen to vote for The
People's Friend this November.
CORBETT
Share some of that oil company
money in your pocket and you can.
Meyerling smiles like a toad, then slaps another poster on
the wall. LeMalle throws his knife and it STICKS in the
poster between Meyerling's spread fingers. Meyerling jumps
back and the trappers laugh. Meyerling looks to Wilder for
support.
WILDER
(to Meyerling)
One flier comes loose and I shoot
you for littering.
MEYERLING
(exiting; grudgeless)
Have your fun... just remember
The People's Friend come election
day.
WILDER
(shakes his head)
Oil Company candidate running on
that slogan makes about as much
sense as a rat fucking a
grapefruit.
CORBETT
Hard to work up an interest in
politics, way we live. You're
the first people we've seen in
two weeks.
(CONTINUED)
23 CONTINUED: (2)
LEMALLE
(to Kenai)
How about a quart of Jack
Daniel's?
KENAI
How about it is right. Back in
the primary this town was voted
dry.
LEMALLE
(to Corbett)
Aw, shit. Let's go. Leave a
note for Viking Bob, tell him to
meet us in Cache.
CORBETT
Relax. One more day without
drink won't kill you. Right,
Sam?
WILDER
I'm living proof of that sad
fact.
CORBETT
Can we buy the Marshal some
dinner?
WILDER
No, I better stay at my post.
Even without the hootch riling
'em up, you know how
mean-spirited folks get when they
smell winter coming.
24 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON VALLEY - LONG SHOT - NIGHT
An early STORM has blown in from the north, bringing
whipping winds and freezing rain.
25 INT. RENTAL CABIN
Corbett peers out the tiny window, frowning. LeMalle cleans
his carbine while eating beans and bacon. Mitchell hunches
over a table. He's making a scrimshaw -- delicately
engraving, using homemade tools, on a palm-sized piece of
whale bone. He rubs his eyes and looks up at Corbett.
MITCHELL
So much for the walking weather
you predicted.
(CONTINUED)
25 CONTINUED:
CORBETT
Had no choice...
(pointedly, at LeMalle)
...Given the situation.
MITCHELL
I know. Least you didn't shoot
all of them.
LEMALLE
Fuck you, Mitchell. Woulda been
my ass if Ben didn't waste that
prick.
CORBETT
(after a beat)
Mitchell, look, it don't take
three of us to wait for Viking
Bob.
Mitchell glances at LeMalle, then at Corbett.
CORBETT
(continuing)
Go ahead. Take the jeep. I'll
come to Cache with Bob when he
gets here.
MITCHELL
Okay by me. You're the one likes
these hot springs so much.
CORBETT
Leave my traps. We'll tag up,
couple days.
26 EXT. HAUL ROAD - "THE TURTLE" - DAY
The winds have died down. The rain has turned to a light
snow.
A mobile arctic dwelling sits on a rise next to the Haul
Road. It's a double-unit weathertight cocoon of fiberglass
and aluminum, pulled by a diesel rig on oversized tires.
The front module is 12 by 24, the rear 12 by 18.
An extended-cab pickup pulls up and Sam Wilder gets out.
The gravel-and-dirt Haul Road, paralleling the pipeline for
400 miles, is closed to the public. An arriving vehicle,
therefore, is news. The front door of the dwelling opens.
Eric and Anne Marie come outside, delighted to see Wilder.
(CONTINUED)
26 CONTINUED:
WILDER
I was making my rounds, saw your
hangar wide open, plane getting
rained on, so I closed it up.
ERIC
Thanks.
ANNE MARIE
(to Wilder)
I bet you haven't had lunch.
WILDER
(smiles)
Bet you're right. But I didn't
come by to wangle a meal --
ERIC
-- We appreciate the company.
Anne Marie's getting cabin fever
already.
Anne Marie shoots a look at Eric but doesn't disagree --
this is obviously an issue with them. Wilder looks with
amusement at the mobile dwelling.
WILDER
What'd you say they call these
spaceships?
ERIC
Mobile Arctic Dwelling -- MAD.
ANNE MARIE
I call it 'the Turtle,' as in
carrying your home on your back.
ERIC
Best thing is, Meyerling has to
chase around to find us.
ANNE MARIE
(laughs)
The little creep hates it that
Eric actually does what the
company hired him to do.
WILDER
Watch it with Meyerling. Man's
as mean and corrupt as they get.
Cut his mother's throat if it'd
get him a couple votes.
(CONTINUED)
26 CONTINUED: (2)
Looking past Wilder, Eric points out some smoke on the
horizon.
ERIC
Hey, Sam, look over there. Black
and white smoke.
WILDER
Damn. Likely that's an SOS.
Have to pass on that lunch.
ERIC
We'll go with you.
CUT TO:
27 EXT. SPORTSMEN'S CAMP - LATER THAT DAY
Everything seems peaceful enough. The SOS fire (made from
burning green branches for white smoke and rubber for black
smoke) has burnt down to embers.
Eric, Anne Marie and Wilder pull up in Wilder's pickup.
The two Sportsmen sit in the front seat of the Land Rover,
but they don't react to the arrival of the rescuers. In the
back seat, a reflective camping blanket covers a large mass.
Something is amiss. Eric shoots a look of trepidation at
Anne Marie as they get out of the pickup. Wilder pulls the
door of the Land Rover open.
A Sportsman slumps out onto the ground. His eyes are open
and his tongue pokes out between his lips. His skin is
blue-white. (He looks, in fact, much like Eric's nightmare.)
Startled, Eric steps back. Anne Marie gasps with horror.
Wilder unzips the Sportsman's light windbreaker and listens
for a heartbeat. Nothing.
WILDER
Stupid goddamn greenhorns! Froze
to death.
ANNE MARIE
It's not even winter!
WILDER
They got wet in the rain. Core
body temperature dropped, got
drowsy, probably didn't even know
what was happening.
Eric stares at the dead Sportsmen.
(CONTINUED)
27 CONTINUED:
WILDER
(continuing)
Question is why they sat here
when the storm moved in. Check
their stuff while I sniff around.
Wilder tries the ignition. The starter TURNS OVER, but the
engine makes a horrendous GRINDING. He walks to the front
of the vehicle. Noticing the bullet holes in the grille, he
bends down for a closer look.
NEW ANGLE
Eric opens the rear hatchback and digs through the plentiful
supplies. Still in their packages are some matchbox-sized
ELT locating beacons.
ERIC
They had Emergency Locater
Transmitters, but didn't use
them.
(opens one up; shakes his
head)
Maybe because they didn't bring
batteries.
CLOSE
Anne Marie opens the back door of the Land Rover. She pulls
back the camping blanket... and uncovers the third
Sportsman. The torn red flesh on his head and his
bugged-out eyes are a hideous sight.
Anne Marie SCREAMS and stumbles away.
28 EXT. SPORTSMEN'S CAMP - LAND ROVER
Eric runs over to her as she tries to catch her breath.
Wilder looks at the third Sportsman and angrily kicks the
side of the Land Rover.
WILDER
I'm too old for this shit.
ERIC
Any idea who could've done it?
Sourly, Wilder points to a patch of frozen mud under the
vehicle.
WILDER
A certain sonofabitch bastard
-more-
(CONTINUED)
28 CONTINUED:
WILDER (Cont'd)
wearing a damaged mountain boot.
Left a footprint clear as an
autograph.
Wilder examines the Sportsman, finding the bullet hole in
his chest.
WILDER
(continuing)
Even for Ben Corbett, this is
nasty. Man's got balls. He was
sitting in Devil's Cauldron when
I left, calm as can be.
ANNE MARIE
Thank God. You can arrest him.
WILDER
Not necessarily. Corbett's awful
hardbitten these days.
Wilder leans against the Land Rover, feeling tired.
WILDER
(continuing)
His old roaming area's all
private reserve now. Normally,
long as he stays civil in my
jurisdiction, I let him be.
(beat)
Won't be able to take him by my
lonesome, though. Nobody in
town'll lift a finger on this.
Eric looks hard at the dead Sportsmen.
ERIC
(quietly)
I'll go into town with you.
ANNE MARIE
Eric, leave it alone. It's not
your business.
ERIC
(shakes his head)
No way can he get away with this.
I'll be back by tonight.
29 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - AFTERNOON
The town is quiet.
30 INT. HOT SPRINGS SPA
Corbett soaks in one of the huge wooden tubs with a pudgy
Inupiat hooker, DIXIE.
He looks up as Eric comes into the spa. Eric holds
Corbett's boots, which have been repaired. Eric pauses when
he sees Corbett. There is a flash of recognition between
them.
ERIC
Ben Corbett?
CORBETT
Yep. Afraid you have me at a
disadvantage.
ERIC
Kenai at the general store asked
me to bring these. Didn't expect
we'd already met.
CORBETT
No big deal. We just got off on
the wrong foot. What's your
name?
Eric glances down at Corbett's duffel bag, which sits on the
floor next to Corbett's tub. Corbett's magnum rests on top
of it, well within reach. Corbett notices Eric's interest
in it. He leans back and smiles.
ERIC
Desmond.
CORBETT
New to the country, kid?
ERIC
Six months. Ecological study for
Northland Oil.
CORBETT
Ecology. Folks use that term for
everything but what it means:
who's eating who.
Putting his hand on Dixie's shoulder, Corbett stands and
gets out of the tub. His sinewy body, resembling a
scarecrow made of steel cable, is covered with scars. He
wraps a towel around his waist and crosses to Eric.
(CONTINUED)
30 CONTINUED:
CORBETT
(continuing)
Now, why don't you get around to
saying what you want.
Corbett grabs his boots from Eric and finds himself facing a
revolver, which Eric has been hiding inside one of the
boots.
CORBETT
(continuing; smiling)
You wouldn't shoot anyone...
WILDER (OS)
But I would.
NEW ANGLE
Wilder has come in the back way and stands behind Corbett
with a 12-gauge shotgun. He kicks Corbett's magnum out of
reach.
CORBETT
All this for laying traps on
private land?
WILDER
You left a footprint at the
Sportsmen's camp. Only pretty
sight there, Ben, 'cause the two
men you didn't shoot and mutilate
died of exposure.
Corbett shakes his head but remains implacable.
CORBETT
Christ if I shouldn't know better
than to step in soft earth. I've
seen footprints in the tundra a
hundred years old.
WILDER
(to Eric)
I got it from here. Thanks.
CORBETT
(to Wilder)
Sam, give Dixie here fifty bucks
out of my kit, will you?
31 EXT. HOT SPRINGS SPA
Eric comes outside. Earl Kenai, overdressed for the weather
in gloves, mukluks and a full-length sealskin coat, stands
(CONTINUED)
31 CONTINUED:
shivering by a woodshed near the hot springs, hacksawing a
piece of meat from a frozen moose carcass.
KENAI
Before white men came, my people
lived in sod houses underground
and laid our dead on the tundra.
Now we live above ground and bury
our dead, and we haven't been
warm since.
Wilder comes out of the spa with his shotgun and Corbett's
duffel bag cradled in his arm. Handcuffed, Corbett walks in
front of him.
Kenai looks down to avoid eye contact with Corbett as he
goes by. Corbett stops next to Eric and smiles.
CORBETT
Nice bluff the other day with the
tranquilizer gun out your jeep
window. See you again, maybe.
ERIC
(unintimidated)
Yeah. Maybe so.
32 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - FOLLOW WILDER
as he leads Corbett along the boardwalk to the other end of
town. They approach a prefab house perched on skids under a
tall antenna tower. Mounted above the shack, a DC wind
charger turbine spins lazily in the faint breeze. From
within the cabin comes an anomalous SOUND -- MTV. Wilder
KNOCKS on the door.
ARTHUR NEFF, a pasty-white, 45-year-old ex-Texan, pulls the
door open. His customary grin fades when he sees Corbett.
33 INT. NEFF'S HOUSE
Wilder pushes Corbett inside past Neff.
WILDER
I need to call Fairbanks.
Neff just stares at Corbett.
WILDER
(continuing)
Neff! Dial it up. State police.
With a "what can I do but oblige?" look to Corbett, Neff
sits in front of the RCA Alascom radio telephone and dials.
(CONTINUED)
33 CONTINUED:
NEFF
(on phone)
Fairbanks Alascom? Patch me
through to the State Police.
After a moment, he hands the receiver to Wilder. Wilder
takes it, keeping one eye and the shotgun on Corbett.
WILDER
(on phone)
This is Sam Wilder, Marshal in
Devil's Cauldron. Had some
killings here. I got a suspect;
be real nice if someone came and
took him off my hands.
STATE POLICEMAN (VO)
(thru phone)
On a good day I couldn't spare a
crosswalk guard. But now, no
way. Folks're batshit with the
weather turning sour. Bring him
in yourself.
WILDER
(on phone)
Next plane's not coming 'til next
Monday.
STATE POLICEMAN (VO)
(thru phone)
Sit your suspect out in the cold.
He'll keep.
WILDER
(on phone)
This man's friends ain't gonna
look favorably on his
incarceration.
STATE POLICEMAN (VO)
(thru phone; Mr. Glib)
So shoot him. Won't have to feed
him that way --
Angry, Wilder slams the receiver down.
34 INT. WILDER'S CABIN
In one room, there is a wood-burning cookstove and an Ashley
heat stove, a table, a bunk and a small window. Behind a
cloth partition is an eight by six holding cell. The frame
of an iron-bar door is securely cemented to the log walls.
Wilder comes in with Corbett and locks him in the cell.
(CONTINUED)
34 CONTINUED:
CORBETT
Mind if I get some stuff from my
kit?
Wilder does mind. He locks the duffel bag and Corbett's .44
in his desk drawer.
CORBETT
(continuing)
Sam, listen -- I shot to defend
my man. Other guy drew first.
WILDER
If that was all, fine. But
carving him up, stranding the
others, that's too fucking much.
Is everything that walks, crawls,
flies or swims fair game to you?
CORBETT
(softly)
I'll get loose before that plane
comes.
WILDER
Don't try me. I'll kill you if
it comes to it.
35 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - AFTERNOON
As Eric walks into Kenai's general store, Neff hurries over.
NEFF
Mr. Desmond!
(grins; sticks his hand
out)
Arthur Neff. Area rep for the
Federal Assistance Plan. Tell
the boys in DC to keep those
goodies coming.
ERIC
Sure.
NEFF
Snowplow, generator, TV dish...
hell, we get the goddamn Playboy
Channel! Here, this is for you.
He hands Eric a piece of styrofoam shaped like a commode
seat.
(CONTINUED)
35 CONTINUED:
NEFF
(continuing)
Warm to forty below. Remember,
anything you want, you ask Arthur
Neff.
36 EXT. HAUL ROAD - THE TURTLE - NIGHT
The storm has passed. A faint CHUGGING emanates from the
small orange generator trailer behind the Turtle. Eric
pulls up and parks the Scout.
37 INT. THE TURTLE
Nylon storage netting along the ceiling holds Eric's
research equipment and Anne Marie's photographic supplies.
In one corner of the Turtle are several of her black and
white prints. All are of man-made objects whose presence is
juxtaposed with the natural surroundings.
Relieved he's home in one piece, Anne Marie meets Eric at
the door and kisses him. Carrying a brown-paper-wrapped
package, Eric follows her into the kitchen, where she's
preparing dinner.
ANNE MARIE
Did you catch Corbett?
ERIC
Sure did. He was one of the
trappers we rousted from the Haul
Road.
ANNE MARIE
Was there any trouble?
ERIC
He was sitting in a hot tub with
a hooker.
ANNE MARIE
Going after killers isn't the
same as chasing poachers, Eric.
ERIC
(grins)
Can't help myself. Corbett's
type always pisses me off.
(hands her the package)
Oh, I found this at the post
office. Had your name on it.
(CONTINUED)
37 CONTINUED:
Perplexed, she looks at the return address --
Bloomingdale's. Delighted, she tears it open. Inside is a
pretty, elegant dress. Anne Marie kisses him.
ANNE MARIE
Oh, sweetheart. It's beautiful!
ERIC
You were looking at it in the
catalog. Don't know where you
can wear it...
ANNE MARIE
I'll wear it for you. And I can
wear it when we go home. We
won't be here forever.
ERIC
(frowning)
You make it sound like a prison
sentence.
ANNE MARIE
That's not what I meant.
ERIC
It's exactly what you meant.
ANNE MARIE
Look, why get into this again.
As long as it's working, let's
leave it alone. It's been nice
so far. We're together --
ERIC
-- Permanently?
ANNE MARIE
(sighs)
Do I want to be with you
permanently? Yes, I think I do.
But be with what you do and the
way you live? That I don't know.
C'mon, Eric, until I met you,
coming back to Alaska was totally
out of the question for me. But
I'm here. I'm getting great
pictures, and I'm having fun.
(slips her arms around him)
I love you.
(kisses him)
So shut up and let's eat.
38 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - NIGHT
An old primer-grey station wagon rattles into town and
parks. With an unlit cheroot stuck in his mouth, "VIKING"
BOB CORBETT gets out and stretches. He's 38, six-foot-six,
with sandy hair, beard, ruddy skin, and his brother's dark
eyes.
He looks around for some sign of life. He spots Neff
tending one of the windmills and walks over to him.
VIKING BOB
I'm looking for some trappers.
Ben Corbett, Mitchell, LeMalle.
Seen 'em?
NEFF
Yesterday. Said they were going
to Cache. They were thirsty, but
we were voted dry.
VIKING BOB
Shit.
As Viking Bob walks back to his station wagon, he notices
Kenai poking around in front of Wilder's cabin.
VIKING BOB'S POV
Illuminated by a bare bulb is Wilder's typical bush-country
front yard. Piled are five cords of wood, boxes, tarps,
stove parts, saw horses, 55-gallon drums, dismantled snow
machines, wash tubs, tires, etc.
Bunching his collar around his neck, Kenai shivers and sorts
through Corbett's traps.
NEW ANGLE
Viking Bob ambles over to Kenai.
VIKING BOB
These yours?
KENAI
Gonna make an offer. Man who
owns them won't need them where
he's going.
39 INT. WILDER'S CABIN
Wilder peers out the window and sees Viking Bob, then turns
to Corbett.
(CONTINUED)
39 CONTINUED:
WILDER
Back against the bars. Now.
Wilder handcuffs Corbett's hands to the cell door bars, then
quickly wraps a piece of duct tape across Corbett's face,
covering his mouth.
Stuffing a .357 magnum in his belt, Wilder, coatless, slips
outside.
As soon as he's out the door, Corbett cranes his neck and
painfully tries to pry the tape off his face with the corner
of the door hinge.
40 EXT. WILDER'S CABIN
The look on Wilder's face tells Kenai to shut up. Viking
Bob realizes something's up.
WILDER
Your brother and the boys left me
some traps to sell for them.
They're gone --
VIKING BOB
-- To Cache. So I heard. Ben
never said nothing to me about
selling his gear.
41 INT. WILDER'S CABIN
Corbett gets the tape partially off his mouth. He pries one
of his boots off and kicks it through a window.
CORBETT
Bob! They got me on a murder
charge!
42 EXT. WILDER'S CABIN
Wilder pulls his .357 out.
WILDER
Sorry, Bob. I'll have to keep
you here 'til I ship him south.
Viking Bob responds by flinging a heavy trap at Wilder, then
punching him in the gut. Wilder sprawls among the junk,
dropping his revolver. Kenai freezes, not about to take
sides.
Before Viking Bob can come at him again, Wilder grabs for
his .357. Viking Bob jumps back and bolts for his car.
(CONTINUED)
42 CONTINUED:
He dives into his station wagon and starts it up. As he
drives past, Wilder POPS off a few rounds, but Viking Bob
keeps going.
NEW ANGLE
Kenai helps Wilder up. Pissed, Wilder shoves him against
the cabin.
WILDER
(continuing)
You stupid, greedy, loudmouth
sonofabitch! He'll have the
others here in a few hours. You
fucked me up, now you're gonna
help me move him.
KENAI
(shakes head)
Forget it, Sam. I never work for
free.
43 INT. THE TURTLE - NIGHT
Anne Marie sits on the floor, editing one of her VIDEOTAPES.
On the monitor, it SHOWS footage of the traps under the
pipeline piling. Eric comes out of the back module holding
two ELT pendants. He glances over at the monitor and nods
approvingly.
ANNE MARIE
I still can't believe I'm being
financed by an oil company.
Especially when they get a look
at these pictures. Technology in
the wilderness; not too pretty.
(re ELTs)
What's that?
ERIC
I thought I should check our
emergency transmitters.
Eric activates the ELT's. They emit an SOS pattern of radio
waves -- three short, three long and three short. This is
visible as rhythmic INTERFERENCE on Anne Marie's video
MONITOR.
ERIC
(continuing)
Avalanche season is coming.
(CONTINUED)
43 CONTINUED:
ANNE MARIE
Winter. Two straight months of
night -- we may never get out of
bed.
(kisses him)
Which would suit me fine.
ERIC
Prolonged darkness makes people
crazy.
ANNE MARIE
Not me. I'm equipped.
She turns on a small S-VHS video camera and snaps off the
room lights.
ANNE MARIE
(continuing)
Allow me to give you a practical
demonstration of low-light
infrared photography...
She does so by seductively undressing for the camera. She's
SEEN on the MONITOR, illuminated by the "light" from the hot
stove. Eric appreciates the show. He crawls toward her.
ANNE MARIE
(continuing)
High-tech in the wilderness.
Gets me excited, too.
ERIC
Come here...
Laughing, he wrestles her to the rug.
44 EXT. HILLS ABOVE DEVIL'S CAULDRON - NIGHT
There is a full moon and a clear night sky. Viking Bob's
station wagon is parked out of sight. He sits inside,
waiting.
He hears an ENGINE starting in the distance. Sitting up, he
grabs some binoculars.
HIS POV
Wilder's extended cab truck pulls out, heading west.
45 EXT. FOOTHILLS - NIGHT
In the bright moonlight, two people are seen in Wilder's
truck as it speeds along a dirt road.
Viking Bob follows at a discreet distance, headlights off.
(CONTINUED)
45 CONTINUED:
NEW ANGLE
Viking Bob turns and takes the literal high road -- a narrow
trail above the roadway that Wilder's truck is on.
He zooms ahead and gets in front of his quarry, then drops
back down onto the road and waits in ambush.
As Wilder's truck approaches, Viking Bob turns on his bright
lights and crouches behind his car door with a shotgun.
Wilder's truck screeches to a stop.
CLOSER
Kenai gets out with his hands up.
Viking Bob slowly approaches Wilder's truck.
VIKING BOB
Ben?
No answer. Viking Bob looks in the cab. Kenai's passenger
is Dixie, the Inupiat hooker. Viking Bob grabs Kenai and
pushes the barrel of the shotgun hard against his cheek.
VIKING BOB
(continuing)
Where's Ben Corbett?
KENAI
I have no argument with you, Bob.
Wilder said I could keep his
truck if I drove it ten miles
away from town.
VIKING BOB
Where did they go?
KENAI
He didn't say, but I would guess
the opposite way from here.
Viking Bob shoves Kenai against the truck, then punches him
for good measure. Cussing, he runs back to his station
wagon and drives off.
CUT TO:
46 INT. THE TURTLE - REAR MODULE - NIGHT
Eric and Anne Marie are asleep. Eric starts awake at the OS
sound of a high-pitched vehicle HORN and an approaching
ENGINE.
47 EXT. HAUL ROAD - THE TURTLE
Eric pulls the door open. Wilder is untying Corbett from
the snowmobile.
WILDER
I got an emergency on my hands.
Corbett smiles at Eric as he walks inside.
48 INT. THE TURTLE
Eric, Wilder and Corbett sit in the front module. Anne
Marie, nervous, wearing a down robe, serves coffee. She
stares at Corbett, trying to reconcile his quiet demeanor
with what she saw that afternoon. Corbett smiles at Eric.
WILDER
(to Eric)
...You give us a ride in the
Cessna you got hangared at the
pumping station, we'll be in
Fairbanks in a few hours.
ERIC
That's what we should've done in
the first place.
WILDER
I could've sat tight for the
transport, 'til Bob came poking
around.
CORBETT
(to Wilder; re Anne Marie)
A lot to ask, dragging him away
from such a good-looking girl --
ERIC
(irritated)
-- To take you to jail? It'll be
my pleasure.
WILDER
(to Eric)
You better get some sleep.
CORBETT
Good idea. Flying over mountains
can give you some nasty
surprises. Go too low, one of
the clouds might have a big rock
inside it.
(CONTINUED)
48 CONTINUED:
ERIC
(hard)
I'll get you there all right.
Eric takes Anne Marie to the rear module, leaving Wilder
with his prisoner.
CUT TO:
49 INT. THE TURTLE - LATER THAT NIGHT
A bottle of Eric's Scotch sits almost empty on the table
beside Wilder. Wilder dozes in a chair facing Corbett.
Corbett is awake. He contorts his body to bring his
handcuff chain under his feet and get his hands in front of
him. He eyes Wilder's .357. It's in a lefty Sam Browne
holster. No way to take it without waking Wilder.
Corbett stands and inches toward the door. As he pulls it
open, the insulation makes enough NOISE to stir Wilder.
Wilder gets up and pushes Corbett back into his chair.
WILDER
Goddammit, I don't need this
aggravation. I'll shoot you,
Ben. Bank on it.
CORBETT
I don't want to hurt you, Sam.
WILDER
I'm not too old to knock the snot
out of you!
CORBETT
Nothing personal.
Wilder's mind clears enough to realize that Corbett's hands
are in front of him. He reaches for his .357. Corbett
butts into Wilder's midsection with his head. Amazingly,
Wilder stays on his feet.
Corbett hurries back to the door. Wilder lunges,
bull-determined to hold onto him. Corbett smashes Wilder
across the face with his clenched hands. Wilder goes down
hard, hitting his head on the table, and stays there.
Corbett instinctively kneels to see if Wilder is still
breathing. But then, hearing MOVEMENT in the rear module,
Corbett flees.
50 INT. THE TURTLE - REAR MODULE
Eric is pulling on his pants.
51 INT. THE TURTLE - FRONT MODULE
Eric rushes in. The outside door is open and Wilder lies on
the floor. His holster is empty. Anne Marie comes in and
crosses to Wilder.
Eric pulls a floor trap door open and digs through the
company-issue equipment, coming up with a huge Remington
bolt-action bear rifle. Unfamiliar with weapons, Eric tears
open a box of shells and fumbles to load the rifle.
52 EXT. THE TURTLE
Corbett is trying to start Eric's Scout.
Eric fires a loud warning SHOT from the Turtle doorway.
ERIC
You want to try that handgun
against this rifle, go ahead.
Corbett sits in the Scout for a long moment, weighing his
odds. He takes his hands off the steering wheel...
Eric SHOOTS again, this time SMASHING the side-view mirror
and window next to Corbett's head.
Still handcuffed, Corbett gets out of the Scout. Holding
the .357 gingerly by the butt, he puts it on the hood of the
Scout.
CORBETT
Some day you might have to face
me without a gun.
53 INT. THE TURTLE
Eric leads Corbett in. Anne Marie is cradling Wilder's
head. She's crying. Eric looks at Wilder. There is blood
coming from his ear and he's fading fast.
WILDER
(thickly)
Fetch him back?
(Eric nods)
Don't let him walk...
Eric nods again. Wilder holds his gaze on Eric, then simply
stops breathing.
(CONTINUED)
53 CONTINUED:
Eric is stunned. Quietly, Corbett sits down. Clutching the
rifle, Eric sits on the floor and glares at Corbett.
CORBETT
(softly)
Does he have people?
ERIC
(after a beat)
A daughter in Oregon.
CORBETT
Send him down to her. There's
money in my duffel bag, back at
his cabin.
Corbett's benign attitude is chilling.
ERIC
I better call in.
He turns the shortwave radio on. It SPARKS and burns out.
The remainder of the liquor has been poured inside it.
ERIC
(continuing)
Thought of everything, huh?
CORBETT
Surviving is what I know --
ERIC
-- Killing is what you know.
(to Anne Marie)
Pack some food while I prep for
the flight.
(off her look)
I'm sure not gonna let him go.
Covering Corbett with the rifle, Eric handcuffs him to the
sturdy metal bracket of a wall unit.
54 EXT. CACHE, ALASKA - (MOVING SHOT) - NIGHT
Viking Bob approaches in his station wagon on a narrow dirt
road. The huge night sky all but smothers the weak light
from the town up ahead.
Cache seems a mistake -- a jumble of unpainted buildings in
the middle of a big nothing, twenty miles north of the
Arctic Circle. Still, it's more animated than Devil's
Cauldron. There are a hundred permanent residents, several
taverns and a three-store, fly-in shopping center.
(CONTINUED)
54 CONTINUED:
Even though it's the middle of the night, people roam the
streets, drinking and socializing. With only a couple feet
of snow on the ground, this is still summertime. Under
storefront awnings, drunken INDIANS sleep on the concrete.
Viking Bob cruises the main drag, looking for the other
trappers. He spots their jeep in front of a
dangerous-looking saloon called the "Bear Sign Inn."
ANGLE WITH VIKING BOB
as he parks and gets out of his station wagon. He hears a
familiar VOICE around the side of the building.
LEMALLE (OS)
C'mon, girl, talk to me,
negotiate with me...
55 EXT. CACHE - ALLEY
Drunk, LeMalle stands in an alley with a bored, acne-scarred
Oriental PROSTITUTE. He weaves and leers, his hand stuck
inside her blouse.
VIKING BOB
LeMalle. We got a problem.
Where's Mitchell?
LEMALLE
Goddamn! Viking Bob! Mitchell's
inside, boring bastard...
Grumbling, Viking Bob separates LeMalle from the Prostitute
and drags him by the collar out of the alley.
CUT TO:
56 INT. BEAR SIGN INN - NIGHT
Meyerling's campaign posters cover the walls. Many have
been pulled down and muddied underfoot by the drunken crowd.
In a booth covered with grafitti, Mitchell squints and works
on his scrimshaw. LeMalle, somewhat sober, eats a plate of
muktuk -- whale blubber. Viking Bob pours him more coffee.
MITCHELL
(to Viking Bob)
...Ben never sent a signal.
VIKING BOB
Musta never got a chance to
-more-
(CONTINUED)
56 CONTINUED:
VIKING BOB (Cont'd)
activate. Wilder's aiming to
take him to Fairbanks, we can
count on that much.
MITCHELL
Meaning he'll need a plane.
VIKING BOB
Closest planes for hire are here
in Cache.
MITCHELL
Hang on...
(to LeMalle)
Remember that Cessna we saw at
the pumping station on the Haul
Road? Belongs to the guy they
got patrolling the pipeline.
LEMALLE
There you go. Wilder's always
chummy with the fuckin'
Bambi-lovers.
VIKING BOB
It's a long shot.
MITCHELL
You got a better idea?
57 EXT. HAUL ROAD - THE TURTLE - DAWN
Wisps of light cut across the cold blue sky.
Eric comes out of the Turtle, leaving the front door ajar.
He throws a knapsack of supplies into the back of the Scout.
58 INT. THE TURTLE
Corbett's right hand is still handcuffed to the wall unit.
Terrified about being alone with Corbett, Anne Marie
cautiously puts a cup of coffee in front of him.
CORBETT
How long have you been up north?
ANNE MARIE
(after a beat)
Six months.
CORBETT
Can't be. Too keen a sense of
this place in your pictures.
(CONTINUED)
58 CONTINUED:
ANNE MARIE
Six months this time. I was born
in the Aleutians.
CORBETT
Your people Alaskan?
Anne Marie doesn't want to talk to a killer, but Corbett is
so soft-spoken and charming that she answers despite
herself.
ANNE MARIE
My dad was a Navy doctor.
CORBETT
Knew you had no native blood,
even with your dark hair. Blue
eyes give you away. My wife had
blue eyes.
ANNE MARIE
Had?
CORBETT
She's dead.
ANNE MARIE
Oh.
CORBETT
Had some good years. Met her in
'66. She showed up one day in
Coldfoot. No one knew her. One
Sunday morning, she marched into
a bar and announced she was
available as a wife to the
highest bidder. Didn't work out
in three months, she'd return the
money and leave, no hard
feelings.
(off Anne Marie's amazed
look)
My bid was eight thousand
dollars. Beautiful girl.
ANNE MARIE
How did she..?
CORBETT
I was gone, in September, laying
traplines. She went to our cache
for some meat. Got mauled by a
bear. Tore open her skull.
-more-
(CONTINUED)
58 CONTINUED: (2)
CORBETT (Cont'd)
Might've lived if she got help,
but the exposed part of her brain
froze.
Anne Marie shudders. Smiling good-naturedly, Corbett looks
around, spotting the package Anne Marie's new dress came in.
CORBETT
(continuing)
What about you -- why come back?
Classy girl like you seems more
suited to the finer things.
ANNE MARIE
That's why I left, moved to
Washington. When I met Eric I
was doing day shoots -- products
and fashion, mostly. Pretty
dull. Eric was teaching college,
and then he got the job with
Northland Oil. We wanted to stay
together, so we talked them into
funding some wilderness
photography... and here I am.
As she's talking, the Turtle ROCKS slightly. She looks out
the tiny window.
HER POV - THROUGH WINDOW
Eric is putting Wilder's body inside an enclosed storage
compartment built flush into the side of the Turtle.
BACK TO SCENE
Horrified, Anne Marie turns away.
CORBETT
You should know something.
ANNE MARIE
I don't want to talk any more.
CORBETT
Wasn't my intention to hurt
Wilder. I'm telling you the
truth. I liked the man. I only
meant to get loose... to survive.
Your cheechako boyfriend better
understand that.
(beat)
Listen, I've got some money put
away --
(CONTINUED)
58 CONTINUED: (3)
ANNE MARIE
-- Don't ever think you can buy
Eric off, Mr. Corbett --
ERIC (OS)
-- Cheechako?
Eric comes in, none too thrilled about Anne Marie chatting
with Corbett.
ANNE MARIE
(translating)
Outsider.
He carefully stuffs Wilder's magnum in his belt and ignores
Anne Marie's disparaging look as he does.
ERIC
(to Corbett)
Let's go.
ANNE MARIE
Wait a second.
59 INT. THE TURTLE - REAR MODULE
Anne Marie leads Eric out of earshot from Corbett. Eric
keeps a cautious eye on him.
ANNE MARIE
Maybe you should drive him into
Devil's Cauldron, let them decide
what to do with him.
ERIC
(reassuringly)
Fairbanks is a three-hour flight.
I'll be back by dinnertime.
Realizing he's determined, she sighs and kisses him.
ERIC
(continuing)
Be careful, okay?
ANNE MARIE
That's my line.
CUT TO:
60 EXT. HAUL ROAD & FELDSPAR CREEK - DAWN
Eric and Corbett drive toward the deserted pumping station.
They cross over a prefabricated steel portal bridge spanning
a fast-running creek.
61 INT. SCOUT - (MOVING SHOT)
The wind whips through the shot-out wing window. Corbett's
handcuffs are lashed to the seat frame with sturdy nylon
rope.
62 EXT. PUMPING STATION
The pumping station consists of three corrugated steel
buildings. The largest is an airplane hangar.
Just beyond the hangar is a narrow blacktop landing strip
running parallel to the Haul Road.
63 INT. SCOUT - ANGLE THROUGH WINDOW - (MOVING SHOT)
Eric pulls up to the hangar. Suddenly, LeMalle steps out
from behind the building.
64 EXT. PUMPING STATION
LeMalle recognizes the International Scout. He swings his
rifle up to stop it.
Eric slams it in reverse and SCREECHES back around the
hangar.
MITCHELL (OS)
Aim for the tires!
LeMalle FIRES as the Scout rounds the corner. He hits a
fender, doing no damage. Angry, he runs after the vehicle.
65 INT. SCOUT - (MOVING SHOT)
Eric slams on the brakes and turns the Scout around.
CORBETT
Let me out and keep going. They
catch us, they'll kill you.
Eric doesn't need any convincing of that. He tears out.
66 EXT. PUMPING STATION
Mitchell runs out in front of them and BLASTS the front of
the Scout with his .45 Peacemaker. Steam HISSES out of the
radiator. Eric floors it and races past Mitchell, almost
hitting him.
(CONTINUED)
66 CONTINUED:
Mitchell and LeMalle SHOOT at the retreating vehicle. One
of the Scout's back tires gets blown out.
67 INT. SCOUT - (MOVING SHOT)
Eric slows, shifts into four-wheel drive and continues,
driving on the rim.
68 EXT. PUMPING STATION
Chewing an unlit cheroot, Viking Bob pulls up next to
Mitchell and LeMalle in the trappers' jeep. They pile in.
69 EXT. HAUL ROAD
Eric backtracks as fast as possible in the crippled vehicle.
70 INT. TRAPPERS' JEEP - THROUGH WINDSHIELD - (MOVING SHOT)
As the Scout heads for the Feldspar Creek bridge, it
disappears from sight over a hill.
71 EXT. HAUL ROAD & FELDSPAR CREEK
Viking Bob zooms over Feldspar Creek. They come over the
rise, but the Scout still can't be seen ahead of them.
REVERSE ANGLE
The Scout sits idling in a depression near the creek bed,
below the Haul Road. Above, the trappers speed past without
noticing.
After giving the trappers time to get around the next bend,
Eric drives the Scout up the embankment and crosses back
over the bridge.
72 INT. SCOUT
Eric stops the vehicle. He grabs a five-gallon gas can and
a piece of cloth from the back.
73 EXT. HAUL ROAD & FELDSPAR CREEK
The prefab bridge is the transportable type used by the Army
Corps of Engineers, left over from the building of the
pipeline. Eric stuffs the gas can between the abutment and
the honeycombed underside of the bridge. He puts the rag
inside the spout of the can, lights it with a match and runs
like hell back to the Scout.
74 EXT. HAUL ROAD
The trappers realize their quarry is missing. Viking Bob
slams on the brakes and looks around.
75 INT. SCOUT - (MOVING SHOT)
Eric speeds away.
CORBETT
They'll still catch us. All
you're doing is pissing them off.
76 EXT. HAUL ROAD & FELDSPAR CREEK
The gasoline can EXPLODES, tearing the bridge couplings away
from the concrete abutment.
77 EXT. HAUL ROAD
The trappers see the explosion behind them. They turn
around and head toward it.
78 EXT. PUMPING STATION - HANGAR
Eric parks the Scout sideways to block the way to the
airstrip.
With the magnum at the ready, Eric cuts Corbett's handcuffs
loose from the seat and hurries him toward the hangar.
The leeward side of the structure is a huge metal door on
rollers. Eric unlocks it and rolls it back. Inside is a
Cessna 182, dusted with snow and ice blown through the
cracks by crosswinds. Eric brushes the windshield with his
sleeve.
79 EXT. HAUL ROAD & FELDSPAR CREEK
The trappers pull up and find the far side of the bridge
burning and disconnected from the creek bank.
80 INT. HANGAR - CESSNA
Eric helps Corbett into the cockpit, then secures his
handcuffs to the frame of the seat with more nylon rope.
81 EXT. HAUL ROAD & FELDSPAR CREEK
Viking Bob assesses the damage to the bridge. Loose from
the abutments, it wobbles like a diving board. Below, the
water is too deep and fast-moving to be traversable.
82 INT. HANGAR - CESSNA
Eric tries to turn the ENGINE over. The starter is sluggish
from cold and lack of use.
83 EXT. HAUL ROAD & FELDSPAR CREEK
Viking Bob looks at the others, bursting with frustration.
He climbs into the driver's seat.
VIKING BOB
Get in. We can jump it.
They hop in. He SCREECHES backwards to get a running start,
REVS the engine, pops the clutch, and tears toward the
bridge.
As they reach the midpoint of the bridge it begins to buckle
under them. With a sickening WRENCHING, the crossbar
supports crumple.
The jeep flies through the still-burning gasoline, becomes
airborne, and SCRAPES to a rude stop on the edge of the
pavement on the other side, the back wheels dangling in
space.
LeMalle and Mitchell gingerly get out and push the ass end
of the jeep onto solid earth.
84 INT. HANGAR
Eric finally STARTS the plane and taxis out onto the landing
strip.
85 EXT. PUMPING STATION
The trappers drive up to where the Scout blocks their path.
They pile out of their jeep and run toward the landing
strip.
86 INT. CESSNA - (AERIAL SHOT)
It picks up speed and takes off.
ANGLE THROUGH WINDOW - (AERIAL SHOT)
Below, the trappers watch the plane zoom over their heads.
LeMalle points his carbine at it, but Viking Bob pushes the
rifle down.
87 INT. CESSNA - (AERIAL SHOT)
Corbett scowls as he sees the trappers helpless below him.
88 EXT. PUMPING STATION
Viking Bob watches, wide-eyed with fury. Mitchell spits.
LeMalle punches the wall. Then he turns and repeatedly
BLASTS the Scout, parked nearby, with his carbine.
89 INT. CESSNA - (AERIAL SHOT)
Eric's knapsack, an emergency kit and several five-gallon
cans of aviation fuel are tucked behind the seats.
ERIC
How the hell were they smart
enough to find us?
CORBETT
Smart? Sure. That's why I'm
sitting in this plane and they're
down there blowing me kisses.
Eric retracts the landing gear and banks toward the
southwest. Corbett notices that Eric seems a little unsure
of the controls.
CORBETT
(continuing)
Been driving long?
ERIC
I needed a pilot's license to
take the job here, so I got one
in six weeks.
CORBETT
That makes the flight more
interesting.
Eric ignores the jibe. He stays at 2,000 feet, making the
landscape all the more immediate.
Corbett stares out the window and broods. He spots an open,
snow-covered area where some dark blotches mar the
whiteness.
CORBETT
(continuing)
See the blood? Pack of wolves
took down a moose. Greedy,
gut-ripping sons of bitches. I'd
kill the last wolf on earth,
right in front of the President
of the U.S. Stinking, cowardly
predator, the wolf.
(CONTINUED)
89 CONTINUED:
ERIC
Sounds like professional
jealousy.
CORBETT
Hunting and trapping was a damn
fine life.
(beat)
Me and Mitchell, Bob and LeMalle,
we were teams. I'd always go
with Mitchell. Good man,
Mitchell. I'd let Bob worry
about goddamn LeMalle. We'd hire
a plane in October. On the way
to a dirt airstrip somewhere,
we'd drop supplies. We'd land,
tell the pilot to come back for
us a few days before Christmas.
ANOTHER ANGLE - (AERIAL SHOT)
While talking in an even tone, Corbett intently studies the
instrument panel and scans the landscape below.
CORBETT
The idea was to get to the
supplies before the bears did.
Along the route we'd set our
traps. Made our year's living in
three months.
Corbett spots a flat plateau farther in the mountains, above
the tree line.
CORBETT
(continuing)
Lot of times we didn't even have
a landing strip. We'd set down
on a plateau, like that one
there. Yeah, that one's easy;
you could glide right in...
Suddenly, he turns in the seat and pins Eric against the
door with his left foot.
The plane flies erratically. With his right foot, Corbett
kicks the fuel jettison lever on the instrument panel,
jamming it on.
90 EXT. CESSNA - (AERIAL SHOT)
The lever, used to empty the fuel tanks in case of
emergency, does so with great expediency. All the gas is
instantly discharged.
91 INT. CESSNA - (AERIAL SHOT)
Corbett releases Eric and calmly sits back up in his seat.
Eric rubs his neck, incredulous. Corbett's move was too
fast and too outrageous. In a moment, the engine SPUTTERS
to a stop. Eric struggles to hold the stick steady and
glide the plane down to the plateau Corbett pointed out.
CORBETT
Hope you got your money's worth
on those lessons.
92 EXT. CESSNA - (AERIAL SHOT)
There's an even chance of hitting a mountain instead of the
plateau. Eric pushes the Cessna's nose down. The plateau
comes up fast.
The plane drops lower and lower, pitching and yawing in the
wind.
It CRASH LANDS, its metal underbelly SCREECHING as it hits
the jagged granite under the snow. It stops suddenly,
flipping tail over nose.
93 INT. CESSNA
It rests upside down in the snow. The men are dazed.
Behind Eric, one of the extra fuel cans, now hanging upside
down, leaks gas. In front of him, the engine is ON FIRE.
Eric undoes his seat belt and rights himself, but his leg
gets caught in the tangled belt. He pulls out a Swiss Army
knife and cuts the rope binding Corbett's handcuffs to the
seat. Corbett pushes the passenger door open. Panicking,
Eric tries to pull loose of his seat belt, painfully
wrenching his ankle.
94 EXT. CESSNA
Corbett rolls out into the snow. With no time to grab his
supplies, Eric clambers from the wreckage. He and Corbett
crawl/roll down the incline of the plateau, away from the
plane.
A moment later the leaking gas reaches the burning engine
and the Cessna EXPLODES.
WIDER
Eric tries to stand. He cries out and falls into the
powdery snow, clutching at his ankle.
(CONTINUED)
94 CONTINUED:
Corbett realizes Eric is at a disadvantage. But before he
can bolt, Eric grabs for the .357 magnum under his coat. He
lies on the snow, gasping, pointing the gun at Corbett's
midsection.
ERIC
Stay put!
CORBETT
You got the belly to look me in
the eye and pull the trigger?
Eric cocks the gun's hammer with his thumb.
ERIC
Be no different than shooting a
rabid dog.
The men face off for a tense moment.
Corbett smiles and zips up his jacket, dispelling the
tension. Letting the hammer down, Eric looks back at the
burning plane.
ERIC
(continuing)
Next time you want to kill
yourself, don't include me.
CORBETT
I took the odds on getting down
in one piece, and I made it. Now
we're in my territory.
ERIC
With light clothing and no
supplies, this is nobody's
territory.
CORBETT
You sound like the tourists.
Know-it-alls who read about
survival in a magazine. Fuck
you. You won't make it off this
mountain.
Corbett drops his facade of conviviality. Eric is too angry
to be intimidated. He takes the scarf from around his neck
and wraps his ankle with it.
ERIC
Let's go.
(CONTINUED)
94 CONTINUED: (2)
CORBETT
(re Eric's ankle)
I'm not gonna carry you out of
here.
ERIC
That's right. You're not.
CORBETT
Look, take these cuffs off. We
need to work together.
ERIC
Forget it.
Eric holds his wristwatch up, points the hour hand at the
sun, counts forward to noon, and, accordingly, makes an
approximation of their direction.
ERIC
(continuing)
Last time I checked the flight
plan, we were forty miles
northeast of Devil's Cauldron.
Southwest is that way. No sense
waiting for a goddamn taxi.
Grimacing with pain, he gets up. Clutching the magnum, he
shoves Corbett in front of him and starts walking. Corbett
frowns -- it's tough to trudge through the snow with his
arms cuffed tightly behind his back.
Eric looks around and tries not to let his emotions register
on his face. They wouldn't be farther from the rest of
humanity on another planet. Smelling fear on Eric, Corbett
enjoys the view. And waits.
95 EXT. ENDICOTT MOUNTAINS - LATER THAT DAY
The Endicott range is full of jagged peaks, icy streams and
gnarled tundra valleys. Squinting in the glare of the snow,
Eric and Corbett trek through the grandiose Gates of the
Arctic area. The smoldering plane wreckage is a hard-won,
snow-covered mile behind them.
Intricate patterns of fragmented rock, strips of scruffy
tundra and bedrock outcrops produce lonely, foreboding
mosaics upon the landscape. The air is still. The silence
is itself a disconcerting presence. Ten miles ahead and two
thousand feet lower, the forest begins. But here, on the
rock face of the mountains, Eric and Corbett might as well
be in a desert.
(CONTINUED)
95 CONTINUED:
ERIC
It'll be interesting, trying to
build a fire without any wood.
CORBETT
Welcome to the environment, Mr.
Ecology. Out here, one mistake
is all you get.
Determined and dour, Eric pushes on.
CORBETT
(continuing)
Why in hell you care enough about
me to die taking me in?
ERIC
I don't plan on dying.
It's all academic. The sheer magnitude of the surroundings
makes them feel they're the only people in the world.
DISSOLVE TO:
96 EXT. ENDICOTT MOUNTAINS - DUSK
The sun drops behind the mountains. A wind whips up,
chilling the men through their clothing. Eric tries not to
shiver. He spies a small rock formation with a granite
elbow protruding from it, making an enclosed triangle of
solid rock.
ERIC
We'll stop here, dig out a snow
shelter.
CORBETT
Snow shelter. Okay. You dig.
I'll have a little sit-down.
Corbett sits on his haunches and smiles while Eric digs near
the rocks. Although he knows Corbett is testing his every
move, Eric refuses to let his patronizing air get to him.
CORBETT
(continuing)
Even in the drifts, this snow's
too powdery to make a shelter.
When you're done jerking around,
reach down the back of my coat.
Eric approaches him suspiciously. He puts his hand down
through Corbett's collar. Something is stowed inside a
homemade flap in the lining of his coat. Eric pulls out a
(CONTINUED)
96 CONTINUED:
folded nylon tarp with twine threaded through corner
eyeholes. He shakes the eight by eight orange tarp open...
CUT TO:
97 EXT. NYLON SHELTER - EVENING
Eric and Corbett have stretched the tarp out tent-style next
to the granite rock formation, making a minimal but
functional refuge from the cold night.
98 INT. NYLON SHELTER
The men huddle inside the tarp. Eric keeps a wary eye on
Corbett -- at all times he treats him like a rattlesnake.
Eric unwraps his ankle and rubs it. It's swollen to the
size of a softball.
CORBETT
Still quite a hike to Devil's
Cauldron.
(beat)
Days. A long stretch to go
without sleep, my friend. You
can hide behind that pistol for
now, but take your eyes off me
long enough to sneeze --
ERIC
-- Turn around.
While poking the .357 in Corbett's ribs, Eric one-handedly
unlocks Corbett's right manacle, pulls his arm through the
granite elbow, then locks it back up again. He's learning.
FADE TO:
99 EXT. HAUL ROAD - DREAM - (AS IN SCENE 3)
Eric is hurrying along the pipeline in his business suit,
following the predator's paw prints in the snow. He peers
ahead and his prey becomes visible. But it isn't a wolf,
it's Corbett. His hands and face are covered in blood.
END DREAM
100 EXT. ENDICOTT MOUNTAINS - DAWN
The sun peeks over the mountain tops, drenching them with
light and color.
101 INT. NYLON SHELTER
The light hits Eric's eyes. He bolts awake from a fitful
sleep. Corbett sits, already awake, looking like he'd
uproot the rock to which he's chained if he could. He waits
for an opportunity -- any opportunity -- with the patience
of a vulture.
CUT TO:
102 EXT. ENDICOTT MOUNTAINS - SMALL VALLEY - DAY
Eric and Corbett trudge up to the bank of a frozen stream
bisecting their path. It's simple -- to continue, they have
to cross it. Corbett takes in the scenery, in no particular
hurry. Frustrated, but making dead sure he's always got the
drop on Corbett, Eric puts a tentative foot on the ice.
CORBETT
Ice is too thin -- you can see
the water moving underneath.
ERIC
We're not sitting here 'til
November. There's a cargo plane
coming to Devil's Cauldron in
four days, and I'm putting you on
it.
CORBETT
We get wet, we freeze to death in
a couple hours.
ERIC
I've been on ice like this when I
was a kid, skating. Spread your
weight, keep moving. Go on.
Corbett is not about to be outdone in the guts department by
someone with a Master's Degree.
CORBETT
(gestures 'you first')
Be my guest.
ERIC
(points .357)
I'm right behind you.
Frowning, Corbett tentatively steps onto the ice and inches
across the fifteen feet to the other bank.
NEW ANGLE
He turns and, indeed, Eric is right behind him.
(CONTINUED)
102 CONTINUED:
CORBETT
Wait 'til I'm across!
Eric doesn't want to be too far from his prisoner. He keeps
coming. The ice GROANS and HISSES under their weight.
Corbett is three feet from solid ground. He drops to his
knees, then stomach, and rolls like a log the rest of the
way.
Eric splays out on the ice and crabwalks across. The ice
makes an ominous CRACKING and water begins to seep through
air holes.
Standing, Corbett weighs his chances of bolting from Eric.
Eric crawls doubletime. He makes it onto solid ground just
as the ice under him breaks off in a big, thin, clear plate.
CLOSER
Eric sits on some rocks. Corbett glares it him.
CORBETT
Most dangerous thing in the
world: A regular Joe, in over his
head. You trying to prove how
tough you are for me, or for
yourself?
ERIC
It wasn't my idea to crash the
plane.
CORBETT
Let's camp. There's grayling
under this ice. I'll snare some
for dinner.
ERIC
(standing)
We've got another two hours of
daylight.
CORBETT
Pushing it is flat wrong. All
you prove is your ignorance about
breaking trail.
Eric is not convinced. Grumbling, Corbett gets up and
takes the lead as they continue southward.
103 INT. THE TURTLE - DARKROOM - DAY
Trying to keep busy, Anne Marie develops some prints in the
darkroom she's made from the front bathroom. She glances at
her watch and sighs, her mind on Eric's overdue return.
104 INT. THE TURTLE - FRONT MODULE
Anne Marie comes out of the darkroom and hangs the prints up
to dry. Outside, (OS), a car HORN blares a couple of times.
Grinning, she runs to the door.
105 EXT. / INT. THE TURTLE
Meyerling's Dodge truck pulls up. Anne Marie comes outside.
Her smile wilts when she sees it's not Eric. As Meyerling
climbs the embankment to the Turtle, he glances at Wilder's
snowmobile parked alongside the Turtle.
MEYERLING
I've been trying to raise you on
the shortwave for two days.
He pushes past Anne Marie and goes into the Turtle.
ANNE MARIE
Have you talked to Eric?
MEYERLING
I have not, but I very much want
to. What do you know about the
trouble in Devil's Cauldron?
ANNE MARIE
I was hoping you had some news --
MEYERLING
-- Get this straight: I'm the
District Supervisor. Whatever
you do reflects on me. It wasn't
my idea to bring you people up
here, but I'm stuck with you.
You are absolutely not to involve
yourself in any local disputes.
Whichever side you take, you
alienate the other. Mr. Corbett
is quite well-known in this
region. People admire him --
ANNE MARIE
-- Corbett's a killer.
(CONTINUED)
105 CONTINUED:
MEYERLING
I don't care if Ben Corbett makes
meatloaf out of nuns and babies,
he's not your concern.
Understood?
Anne Marie just glares at him. Meyerling examines the
damaged shortwave.
MEYERLING
(continuing)
What happened here?
ANNE MARIE
The radio's on the fritz.
MEYERLING
Where'd you say Eric is?
ANNE MARIE
Somewhere along the pipeline.
MEYERLING
What about that hotheaded
marshal, Sam Wilder? I heard he
was in the middle of this mess.
ANNE MARIE
Sam? We haven't seen him.
MEYERLING
Really. I thought maybe that was
his snowmobile outside.
(beat)
By the way -- your truck also 'on
the fritz?'
ANNE MARIE
(blanching)
Why?
MEYERLING
It's out by the pumping station,
shot full of holes.
Noting Anne Marie's distressed reaction to this news, he
crosses to the door.
MEYERLING
(continuing)
Still nothing to tell me?
(no reply)
Suit yourself.
106 EXT. ENDICOTT MOUNTAINS - DAY
Eric limps further down from the mountains. Corbett keeps
pace in front of him and his magnum. As their altitude
decreases, there is ever thicker vegetation.
Their tracks in the snow stretch up behind them into the
distance. The magnificence and grandeur of the surroundings
cannot be overstated. Picture the most rustic, overwhelming
wilderness imaginable, and then make it ten times larger.
NEW ANGLE - LATER
The men's way is once again interrupted, this time by a
sheer granite drop. The steep decline would be tough to
negotiate with mountaineering equipment and proper footwear.
Corbett peers over the edge and shakes his head.
CORBETT
Have to backtrack, find another
way down.
ERIC
Forget it. It would take days.
CORBETT
(assessing the drop)
Going to be a bit of a challenge
with handcuffs on.
Eric realizes he's right. After some deliberation, Eric
cautiously approaches him. With the .357 cocked and ready,
he undoes one of the cuffs, leaving them hanging from
Corbett's wrist. He then unthreads the nylon twine from
Corbett's tarp.
ANGLE - GRANITE SHEER
Eric and Corbett are tied, belt to belt, with the nylon
rope. Corbett inches down first, feet spread for maximum
footing, gloveless hands grasping at anything.
Eric mimics Corbett's moves and follows the same path.
Unable to grasp the rocks effectively, he stops and takes
his gloves off. Continuing, he winces -- the rock is cold
and sharp. His hands are soon numb and bloody. Even in the
dry, below-freezing air, Eric is sweating.
He looks down and hangs on more tightly. Sliding to level
ground two hundred feet below would pummel him to hamburger.
Corbett pauses and rests his cheek against the rocks. Eric
is right above him.
(CONTINUED)
106 CONTINUED:
Suddenly, Corbett's foot slips. His right hand
instinctively goes for a hold. The dangling handcuffs snare
on a protuberance, knocking him off balance.
The fulcrum of Corbett's body leans out into the empty air.
Eric moves down a little, braces himself and extends his
leg, giving Corbett something to grab. Corbett takes hold
of Eric's shoe and tries to teeter back against the rock
wall. Adrenaline screams through Eric's system.
Corbett looks up at Eric. A careless move will send them
both tumbling. Eric clutches harder at the rocks and waits
for the worst.
After a long moment, Corbett regains his balance and lets go
of Eric's foot. He continues his descent. Eric lets out
his breath and tries to swallow. His mouth is as dry as the
granite.
CUT TO:
107 EXT. TREELINE - LATER THAT DAY
Handcuffed again, Corbett hikes in front of Eric along the
top of some foothills. Now and again he glances behind,
gauging Eric's weariness, waiting for a moment's
carelessness. Around them there is heavy vegetation now --
snow-covered sedge tussocks, knee-deep muskeg and twisted
thickets that are treacherous and slow to tramp through.
Above them, ominous clouds and sharp, cold winds are coming
down from the north.
But below, a mile ahead, the edge of the forest is like the
hem of a great green garment stretching endlessly southward.
The combination of altitude and latitude creates an
amazingly sharp topographical dividing line. Within a few
thousand yards, the landscape abruptly changes from scrub
brush to thick coniferous forest.
CORBETT
Better get into those trees
before that squall blows down.
Then, Corbett pauses as a walloping sound ECHOES across the
foothills.
Just ahead, two enormous bull moose are fighting. They ram
each other with six-foot-wide antlers.
Corbett stares, transfixed, admiring.
CORBETT
You talk about ecology -- there
it is.
(CONTINUED)
107 CONTINUED:
Eric turns, surprised at Corbett's unabashed awe.
Catching the men's smell the moose bound away, and the spell
is broken.
108 EXT. MINING SETTLEMENT - EVENING
Viking Bob, Mitchell and LeMalle head somberly back to
Cache. They drive along a hydraulic gold mining sluice on a
nearby river and come into town.
As the trappers park their jeep, some MINERS greet them,
shouting over the ROAR of the water.
MINER #1
Where's Ben at?
MITCHELL
You'll want to hear about it with
a drink in your mitt.
CUT TO:
109 INT. BEAR SIGN INN - CACHE - EVENING
Outside, a STORM rages. LeMalle is drunk, but still able to
stuff himself with a thick steak. Mitchell drums his
fingers and listens to everyone talk. With them at the bar
are the Miners, LOGGERS, CAT SKINNERS (bulldozer drivers)
and some leathery WOMEN.
MINER #1
...Figures, Corbett getting
hauled off by a Federal marshal.
God almighty, how I hate the U.S.
government.
LOGGER
We should pass a hat. Send
Corbett a few bucks. We owe him.
Someone's hat comes off. It quickly gets filled with bills.
MINER #1
Government and business. They
ruined this state.
(re Meyerling poster)
Like that little weasel, for
instance.
WOMAN CAT DRIVER
'People's Friend,' my lily-white
-more-
(CONTINUED)
109 CONTINUED:
WOMAN CAT DRIVER (Cont'd)
butt. I heard Northland got a
conservation program, up along
the pipeline.
LOGGER
Hold it. Meyerling told me that
stuff's nothing but P.R. for the
TV and papers down in Juneau.
LEMALLE
He's full of shit. We got run
out of there by some fuckhead
driving a Northland truck.
NEW ANGLE
Viking Bob hurries in and whispers something in Mitchell's
ear. Mitchell shoots LeMalle a look and gets up. The
threesome hastily exit, leaving behind the hat full of
money.
110 INT. BEAR SIGN INN
Viking Bob, Mitchell and LeMalle stand in a quiet corner
near the front door.
VIKING BOB
I called the cops in Fairbanks,
see when Ben is standing trial.
They don't know shit about Ben or
Wilder!
LEMALLE
Get the fuck out of here.
VIKING BOB
It's a three-hour flight. They
shoulda got there yesterday.
LEMALLE
Maybe they went back to Devil's
Cauldron.
MITCHELL
Naah, Wilder knows we got friends
in town.
VIKING BOB
That plane might've been to throw
us off the track. Remember the
bait-and-switch Wilder pulled
with the Eskimo and his truck?
(CONTINUED)
110 CONTINUED:
LEMALLE
Wilder still woulda made
Fairbanks by now. Fuck a duck!
Ben musta got loose.
VIKING BOB
Okay, let's backtrack, try to
pick up his trail. You know the
kid out on the pipeline that
Wilder's buddies with?
MITCHELL
(smiles)
We were just talking about him.
111 EXT. FOREST - CAMPSITE PREPARATION MONTAGE - EVENING
The STORM brings gusting winds and below-zero temperatures.
Eric and Corbett move through the storm in slow motion.
Both recognize the need for a truce in the face of a common
enemy. The snow and wind cut through their clothing like
razors. They poke around for dead wood with which to make a
fire. The trees are small and healthy; little is found.
CORBETT
(shouts over WIND)
Just gather birch. It'll smoke
like hell, but it'll burn green.
Awestruck by the intensity of the storm, Eric tears branches
from birch trees and piles them in Corbett's handcuffed
arms.
They hurry back to the nylon tarp, strung between two tree
trunks, FLAPPING violently in the storm. Hunching against
the wind, Eric pulls off his gloves and reaches in his
pocket for some precious matches. His fingers are so cold
he can't hold them, and he drops several in the wet snow.
Angry, he shoots a look at Corbett. Corbett is holding his
hands inside his coat. He pulls them out and quickly takes
the remaining matches from Eric.
Crouching down, back to the wind, Corbett grasps a match
between his numb fingers and awkwardly strikes it. He holds
the flame next to the kindling. It doesn't catch fire
immediately. Corbett lets the match burn out against his
fingers. He tries another match. This time, a flame takes
hold but could succumb to the wind at any moment.
On his knees and elbows, Corbett nurses along the tiny fire.
Eric can't control his shivering. He gets on his knees next
to Corbett and holds his coat open to further baffle the
wind. Corbett keeps his hands cupped around the flame, not
(CONTINUED)
111 CONTINUED:
caring that it's burning his skin. Finally the fire begins
to grow. Relieved, Eric and Corbett look at each other with
a glimmer of a grudging mutual respect.
The fire, now unattended, is smoky as Corbett predicted, but
burns along nicely.
END MONTAGE
112 EXT. / INT. NYLON SHELTER - NIGHT
Corbett and Eric sit under the nylon shelter. The STORM
rages outside. Eric empties his pockets of Eskimo potato,
reindeer lichens, bistsort sorrel and other plants for his
dinner.
Corbett has fashioned a snare from his boot laces and a tree
branch, and placed some crushed roots as aromatic bait next
to a small animal burrow outside the shelter. A squirrel
sticks his nose out of the burrow to investigate.
Corbett sits catlike, ready to pounce. Eric grimaces as
Corbett yanks on the snare and the squirrel's SQUEALS (OS)
abruptly cease.
113 INT. NYLON SHELTER
Corbett pulls his dead dinner inside.
CORBETT
I need your pocket knife.
(Eric hesitates)
I have to eat, too.
After a beat, Eric pulls open the small blade on his Swiss
Army knife and pushes it with his foot to Corbett. Smiling,
Corbett admires the fancy knife. Then, BELOW FRAME, he
skins and guts his catch.
CORBETT
(continuing)
Damn lucky this storm didn't blow
down when we were on those
baldheaded mountains. It
continues, we better stay put.
ERIC
It could blow over tomorrow, too.
CORBETT
I'm still figuring: You're either
real brave or real dumb.
(CONTINUED)
113 CONTINUED:
ERIC
I just want this over with.
CORBETT
(laughs)
Where in hell Meyerling dig you
up?
ERIC
You know Meyerling?
CORBETT
Sure. The People's Friend. Kiss
your ass with precision if
there's a vote in it.
Corbett eats the squirrel Eskimo-style. Raw. He uses the
knife like a native, too, holding the meat in his teeth,
then expertly cutting off a mouthful with a quick slice.
Eric stares, disgusted. Off his look:
CORBETT
(continuing)
Always eat your meat raw when the
weather's cold. Does you more
good, long as the entrails look
clean.
Corbett uses snow and the squirrel's fur to wipe the blood
from his face, then wipes the knife off and lays it, open,
next to his leg.
ERIC
I'll hold onto that.
With a wry smile, Corbett pushes it back over to Eric.
While Eric eats his dinner, Corbett listens to the STORM and
watches him eat.
CORBETT
Sure love to know where you fit
in up here.
ERIC
I'm here to do my job.
CORBETT
You want to fool yourself about
that bullshit job, fine. Damn
shame you have to drag your
girlfriend along. You think a
woman like that will be happy
making moose stew for a man
-more-
(CONTINUED)
113 CONTINUED: (2)
CORBETT (Cont'd)
making your salary? Look, I'll
give you five grand. Take the
money and go home where you both
belong.
ERIC
Don't fucking insult me.
Corbett smiles -- maybe he's beginning to understand Eric.
CORBETT
Folks come to Alaska for a real
short list of reasons: Money.
Adventure. Solitude. Those
cover most everyone. But
frontiers also draw another type
of man. One with a demon in his
gut. He comes to the edge of the
world to face that demon, and lay
it to rest.
ERIC
Yeah?
CORBETT
Yep. Sometimes they do, but
usually they end up crazy or
dead.
Eric ponders Corbett's words as he eats.
114 INT. THE TURTLE - NIGHT
Anne Marie is frantic with worry. She has the AM/FM RADIO
on for company.
RADIO (VO)
...This is "Tundra Topics" on
KFAR. Remember, as the nights
get longer, be sure to stay on a
regular sleep schedule. The
depression from the coming of
winter that doctors call
'Seasonal Affective Disorder' --
or 'Arctic Blue' to us lay folk
-- is preventable.
Anne Marie tunes the radio to "Pipeline of the North" on
KIAK.
(CONTINUED)
114 CONTINUED:
RADIO (VO)
(continuing)
...John Byers was hospitalized in
Fairbanks today for an infection
in an abscessed tooth. Mr. Byers
had a toothache and attempted to
remove the tooth himself with a
pair of pliers...
Suddenly, a BUMP rocks the Turtle. Someone is outside.
Startled, Anne Marie turns the lights off and looks out the
window.
No sign of a vehicle or a person. As she pulls on her
parka, she glances at the big rifle leaning against the
wall, but doesn't touch it.
115 EXT. THE TURTLE
Her visitor, whoever it is, is behind the Turtle. Anne
Marie cautiously rounds the corner and stops dead.
NEW ANGLE
A foraging GRIZZLY sniffs around, attracted by the smell of
fresh carrion -- Wilder. Eight feet tall and eleven-hundred
pounds, it's used to having its way. Right now, it's
hungry.
With a casual swipe of its paw, its massive claws puncture
the Turtle's aluminum skin, popping open the door of the
utility compartment. The bear pokes its head inside, and
Wilder's body slumps out into the snow. The bear pushes at
the corpse with its snout. Salivating, it prepares to dig
in.
Anne Marie looks around, wondering what the hell to do nEXT.
Wilder's snowmobile is a few yards behind her, parked
against the side of the Turtle. She inches toward it.
Testily, the bear looks up, SNIFFING loudly.
Keeping her eyes on the bear, Anne Marie feels for the
snowmobile ignition keys. They're not there. She feels
around inside the saddlebags and finds three emergency road
flares.
Anne Marie IGNITES the flares. They illuminate the area
with an eerie reddish glow. She YELLS at the bear, wields
the flares like Excalibur and moves forward.
The bear, reluctant to leave so hearty a pre-hibernation
meal, GROWLS and cocks its head back and forth to assess the
threat. As Anne Marie inches ahead, the bear stands on hind
legs to its full height to meet the challenge.
(CONTINUED)
115 CONTINUED:
Anne Marie tosses a flare toward the bear. It grunts when
the flare hits it, and shuffles backwards. Anne Marie
throws another flare. With a ROAR from hell, the bear
charges. Anne Marie falls back. Still holding the last
flare, she's forced into a crawl space under the Turtle.
ANGLE - UNDER THE TURTLE
Anne Marie tries to squeeze out the other side, but she's
pinned in by the unevenness of the hard ground. The bear
swipes at her, its huge paw inches away. Anne Marie jabs at
the paw with the flare, but that only makes the bear more
quarrelsome.
She twists around, looking for a defense. Above her is the
cabling from the generator to the circ