12 Monkeys Page #14

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COLE:

You were going to run out off gas on

purpose, weren't you?

RAILLY:

No. I want you to turn yourself in, James --

It'll go much better for you if you do

-- but I'm not going to trick you.

COLE:

(sees the credit card)

That has your name on it. Give him cash.

RAILLY puts the card back into her wallet and pulls out cash as

the GAS STATION ATTENDANT slams the hood down.

RAILLY starts opening the door. Alarmed, COLE tries to stop her.

COLE:

Where are you going?

She looks him in the eye, then indicates the tiny Convenience

Store appended to the Gas Station.

RAILLY:

You can come with me. I have to get

some things. Scissors, bandages, some

alcohol or whiskey. ... I have to look

at your leg, James. I'm a doctor.

COLE looks helpless, hesitant. She's in charge...for the moment.

EXT. CLEARING/WOODS - AN HOUR LATER (AFTERNOON)

The sun dazzles through the canopy of leaves. We HEAR the CAR

RADIO but not the engine.

RADIO ANNOUNCER (v.o.)

Meanwhile in Fresno, where mining

engineers continue their desperate

attempt to sink a shaft parallel to the

ant in which nine year old...

COLE, in his underwear, leans back on a large rock beside the

Ford, his pants hanging on the car's open door. He's staring up

at the sun and the sky. RAILLY finishes bandaging his thigh.

RAILLY:

You shouldn't put your weight on it.

You need stitches and antibiotics.

Lucky for you it was near the surface.

RAILLY wraps the bullet in some gauze and sticks it in her pocket

while COLE continues staring up at the sky.

COLE:

I love seeing the sun.

A beat. COLE tries to stand up.

RAILLY:

Wait -- let me help you.

RAILLY puts an arm around him and helps him to his feet. A beat.

They're very close. They don't move. RAILLY looks like she can

barely breathe.

COLE:

(leans closer, shuts his eyes)

You smell so good.

RAILLY:

(trying to concentrate)

You have to give yourself up, you know.

A beat. The spell is broken. He reaches for his pants, then

turns back to her, suddenly grim.

COLE:

I have to do something now. Something

I don't want to do. I'm so sorry.

RAILLY reacts, sudden fear in her eyes. He looms over her. He's

cold now, steeled.

COLE:

I have a mission. It's important.

RAILLY steps back...horrified, realizing she's going to die.

EXT. MASON MANSION - NIGHT

A SECRET SERVICE AGENT ambles vigilantly among the rows of luxury

cars parked beside the brightly-lit rural mansion. Encountering

another AGENT, he pauses.

FIRST AGENT:

They find him?

SECOND AGENT:

Who??

FIRST AGENT:

That kid. The one in the pipe.

SECOND AGENT:

You believe this? They're dropping a monkey

down there with a miniature infra-red camera

strapped on him and a roast beef sandwich

wrapped in tinfoil.

FIRST AGENT:

You're making that up!

ANGLE UNDER A PARKED MERCEDES, where COLE is hiding, listening to

the receding VOICES of the AGENTS.

SECOND AGENT (o.s.)

I sh*t you not. ... Man, life is weird!

A monkey and a sandwich. Wonder who

thought that one up.

FIRST AGENT (o.s.)

Probly give the sonafabitch a Nobel

Prize!

Quickly, COLE rolls to the next car and under it. He doesn't

see...the pistol fell out of his pocket, under the Mercedes.

INT. MASON MANSION/DINING ROOM - NIGHT

A formal dinner for forty. Desert has been served. DR. MALCOLM

MASON rises to the enthusiastic applause of the GUESTS.

DR. MASON

Would that I could enjoy this opulent

dinner and this excellent and

stimulating company for itself, with no

sense of purpose. But alas, I am

"burdened" with the sense that with all

this excess of public attention and

this cacophony of praise, there comes

great responsibility. Indeed, I

practically feel a soapbox growing

under my feet whenever I stand for more

than a few seconds.

While GUESTS laugh at DR. MASON'S last remark, SECRET SERVICE

AGENT #3 enters the room, scowling, looking for someone.

DR. MASON (o.s.)

The dangers of science are a time worn

threat, from Prometheus stealing fire

from the Gods to the Cold War era of

the Dr. Strangelove Terror.

AGENT #3 spots who he's looking for. JEFFREY MASON!

DR. MASON (cont.)

But never before, not even at Los Alamos

when the scientists made bets on whether

their first atomic bomb test would wipe out

New Mexico, has science given us so much

reason to fear the power we have at hand.

ANGLE ON JEFFREY, as AGENT #3 whispers in his ear.

JEFFREY:

What are you talking about? What

friend? I'm not expecting anyone.

ANGLE ON DR. MASON, reacting with irritation to the disturbance.

DR. MASON

Current genetic engineering as well as

my own work with viruses has presented

us with powers as terrifying as any...

ANGLE ON JEFFREY, following the AGENT out of the dining room,

grumbling loudly enough to disturb his father's audience.

JEFFREY:

This is ridiculous. My father is

making a major address.

INT. HALLWAY/MASON MANSION

The conversation continues as JEFFREY and AGENT #3 enter the hall.

AGENT #3

Normally if we caught a guy sneaking

around like this with no I.D., we'd

bust his ass, excuse the French, but

this one said he knows you...

(smirk, smirk)

-- and, since you seem to have had

some...uh...unusual...uh..."associates",

we certainly didn't want to arrest one

of your, uh, closest...pals.

INT. LIBRARY/MASON MANSION

COLE, smudged with dirt and car grease, sitting in the shadows in

a wingback chair, looks up as JEFFREY and AGENT #3 enter the

room. A FOURTH AGENT looms beside the wingback chair.

JEFFREY:

(dismissing Cole casually)

Never saw him before in my life. Go

ahead and shoot him or torture him or

whatever it is you do.

COLE:

(rising)

You do know me. You helped me once.

JEFFREY:

(turning to leave)

That would be totally out of character.

Helping people is against my principles.

(to the Agents)

See, he definitely doesn't know me. Now,

I'm going to go back and listen to my

father's very eloquent discourse on the

perils of science WHILE YOU TORTURE THIS

INTRUDER TO DEATH.

COLE:

I'm here about some monkeys.

Halfway out the door, JEFFREY freezes. A beat.

JEFFREY:

Excuse me -- what did you say?

COLE:

Monkeys. Twelve of them.

JEFFREY frowns, turns, considers COLE. Then, suddenly, JEFFREY

rushes to COLE and embraces him.

JEFFREY:

Arnold...Arnold.

COLE is astonished. The AGENTS are, too.

JEFFREY:

(stepping back)

My God, Arnie, what's happened to you?

You look like sh*t

AGENT #3

(dubious)

You know this man?

JEFFREY:

Of course I know him. What do you

think -- I act like this to strangers?

Listen -- you fellas are terrific. I

thought you were pulling a number on

me. What a terrible thing if you'd

thrown old Arnie out. I owe you guys

the big apologia! Mea culpa, fellas.

(turning to Cole)

Christ, Arnie, it's black tie! I mean,

I said, "drop by," but, like, this is

Dad's big "do"...vips, senators, secret

service, and...and everything.

JEFFREY throws an arm around COLE'S shoulder and starts leading

him toward the door as the two AGENTS exchange narrow-eyed looks.

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