Arctic Blue Page #4

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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, sh*t. 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:

F*** 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 sh*t.

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.

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