Ares Page #3

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EVAN:

No stars to the south yet. Sky mustbe brighter that way...

(grasping for hope)

Somewhere -- that way -- is a city.

He gazes at the now-buried capsule. Eyes filling with guilt.

12.

EVAN:

I’ll come back. And the whole f***ing

world is coming with me.

An oath.

He picks up the coolant and treks into the desert. Every stepa struggle. The HYENA, sitting on the rocks, watches him go.

EXT. DAWN IN THE DESERT

Evan's LIPS and TONGUE GLOW in the dark from the dibutylphthalate in the coolant.

His eyes are horrifically dilated. He mutters to himself. Asif trying to prove he’s alive.

EVAN:

A day has 24 hours and 39 minutes. Ayear... has twenty-four months. 687days.... Today is 547 Mina, year 32.

His breathing becomes so labored he can’t speak.

INTERCUT:
Evan having sex with Chloe. 15 years earlier. Theirlabored breathing mixing with

His gasps for air as he stumbles in the desert.

Near death. A distant look in his eye.

The distant look in Chloe's eye before orgasm -

Evan passes out. Collapsing onto the sand. AND SUDDENLY -

He’s in his bed in Houston. Chloe’s on top of him. She slips afinger in his open mouth. She keeps pulling it out just beforehe can bite down on it. That’s the game. Both are giggling.

CHLOE:

What’d I tell you? I’m fast, huh?

Here. Try me.

She opens her mouth. He sticks a finger in it. An intense lookbetween them -- each trying to read the other’s speed -- then-

She snaps down on his finger before he can fully pull it out.

CHLOE:

(laughing)

I thought astronauts had greatreflexes.

13.

He grins. Pulls her closer.

EVAN:

Do it again but harder.

BACK TO EVAN -- PASSED OUT IN THE DESERT

His eyes are open but frozen in place. He becomes part of thegreat stillness of the desert.

FLASH TO:
DUSK. The HYENA eating Evan’s body. Crunching and

chewing and tearing flesh from bone.

CUT TO:

THE FACE OF A DEAD ANTELOPE. A fly walks across the surface ofits eye.

REVEAL:
We’re seeing the world through Evan’s POV. His

bloodshot eyes are swollen to mere slits. Lips cracking.

Evan realizes he’s TIED UP. Lashed to TWO ANTELOPE CORPSES.

All bound back-to-back. A MASSIVE COW is dragging them acrossthe desert, guided by -

AFRICAN TRIBESMEN. Each nearly-naked body is covered with mudpaint. Patterns abstracting the bodies so they look alien.

They wear bullet-casings in their hair. Bottle caps in holesin their lips. All of them are armed with KALASHNIKOVS.

EVAN:

Where are you taking me?

He attempts to get up. Can barely move with 200 lbs ofantelope strapped to him. The TRIBESMEN see him strainingagainst his ropes and push him back down with the barrels oftheir guns... Fingers tense on their triggers.

Evan, terrified, stops trying to break free. As the tribesmenpull him onward, he looks around. Mutters to himself:

EVAN:

Sh*t. Where is it?

A wave of relief as he spots the MESA in the distance where he

buried the capsule.

EXT. TRIBE’S CAMP - DESERT - TWILIGHT

Dust fills the air -- kicked up by hundreds of 1500-poundAnkole cattle -- as Evan is pulled into the camp.

14.

Through the dust, he glimpses more PAINTED TRIBESMEN. They’reghostly. Alien.

Among the crowd, Evan catches a glimpse of a WHITE BOY whose

body is SMOLDERING and covered with ash. It’s DANNY. Smoke

pouring out of his hair.

Evan stares at him. Whispers, barely audible -

EVAN:

I’m sorry.

But the ash-covered boy disintegrates in the clouds of dust.

The tribe’s CATTLE, with 5-foot horns twisting into the air,

are monumental. Unearthly. Menacing.

As TRIBESMEN cut the ropes around Evan and the antelopes, thetribe’s children begin stealing from Evan’s pockets.

HOLD ON:
A GIRL pulling what looks like seashells from them.

She stares as she realizes they're human fingernails. Why doesthis man have someone’s fingernails in his pockets?

BAULU, a 12-year-old BOY with a staff, snatches Evan’s LEAD

BOX from another pocket and takes off.

EVAN:

(voice cracking withthirst)

STOP! STOP!

Evan TACKLES Baulu. Tries desperately to grab the BOX back.

BANG!

A bullet hits the ground near Evan. He turns. Sees all theTRIBESMEN are training their guns on him.

EVAN:

No -- no -- don’t shoot me!

They GRAB EVAN. Drag him violently toward a BONFIRE in thecamp’s center. The dead antelope are being skinned. Evan’s

terrified it’s his turn next.

EVAN:

Let go! Give me the box back! Itcould be dangerous -

EVAN’S POV:
His vision is cutting in and out from exhaustionand thirst. Blood thumps in his ears like drums or chopper

rotors.

15.

FLASH IMAGE:
Chloe breast-feeding their infant son. Evan putshis head on the baby’s side and hears its heart POUNDING.

The tribesmen force Evan to his knees in front of THREE

SILENT, STONE-FACED FIGURES. Painted head to toe with white

cheetah-spots.

They are so tall and thin that it takes Evan a while torealize they are WOMEN. One around eighteen, another in herthirties, the oldest in her late fifties. Three generations.

EVAN:

Please -- let me go! I just need toget to Addis -- Addis Ababa -

Evan fights to break free but the tribesmen are too strong.

The THREE WOMEN unwrap a long gleaming SABER from a blanket.

EVAN:

WAIT! PLEASE.

The YOUNGEST WOMAN picks up the SABER. Turns toward Evan.

EVAN:

Someone’s looking for me -- they

might hurt my family -- I need to getto Addis to see my family -

The women look at him with a cement gaze. Evan realizes theydon’t understand his pleas.

The Youngest Woman pricks a COW’S BACK with the knife. BLOODsquirts out. The OLDEST WOMAN collects it in a gourd.

EVAN:

(still struggling)

I need to see my family. They need to

know what I've done -

The women force the gourd to Evan's parched lips, spillingBLOOD into his mouth. Evan gasps. Spits it out in disgust.

FLASH TO INSIDE A SPACE SHUTTLE: Another ASTRONAUT vomits

BLOOD. In zero gravity, it floats as globules.

As the women push the blood to his lips again, Evan swallowsit down. He’s so thirsty that he can’t help himself.

Evan blinks his eyes and --

16.

IT’S DAY. NOT NIGHT.

He wakes to find himself lying on the sand in the tribe’s

camp. Dried blood on his lips.

He takes in the tribesmen. Some wear sneakers and ragged T-

shirts. But they have few possessions other than Kalashnikovs.

The THREE STONE-FACED WOMEN sit nearby. They blast the latestKaty Perry hit from a cell phone. The Youngest clutches anRPG, which she thumps to the beat of the music.

Evan is surprised to see his lead box sitting next to him. Hepicks it up. The lock is still intact. He shakes it. SomethingRATTLES inside. Still there.

EVAN:

(dazed)

How long was I out?

The Youngest Woman points to the horizon with her RPG.

YOUNGEST WOMAN:

Addis Ababa.

She mimes driving. Then points to the sun. Makes a rotationmotion with her hands.

EVAN:

Tomorrow? A car tomorrow?

(he frowns; forcinghimself to his feet)

Tomorrow’s too late. I walk.

He’s staggering off in the direction the woman pointed, when --

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