Atlas Shrugged II: The Strike Page #6

has thrown his full support

behind Directive 10-289.

Rearden, inventor of Rearden Metal,

has signed Gift Certificates

transferring his patents

to the government

in the interest of fairness

and a rapid recovery

from the worst economic

recession on record.

Dagny.

Dagny?

Dagny!

What the hell you doing?

What's wrong?

Everything.

You did this.

Directive 10-289.

You and your government creeps.

It's what the country needs right now.

I'm part of the solution.

Tell me. How does it feel

to be the last one standing?

Better than crawling around on the

ground with the rest of the snakes.

I won't be a slave

and I won't be a slave driver.

I quit.

Tell that to your cronies.

Dagny, you can't quit.

It's against the directive.

- I'm going to my family cabin.

- Hold all your calls?

Hold everything, Eddie.

Don't contact me about the rail road.

I'm done.

- Rearden.

- It's me.

I don't know what they did to you, Hank.

I hate that they had the power to do it.

We're all facing difficult

choices these days.

Well, maybe you can live

with this directive. I can't.

It burns me.

Don't let it. I told you,

it's not gonna stop.

I want to see you.

Not right now.

Not for a while.

I need a break from everything.

OK.

I can understand now what would

make someone just check out.

That's what I'm doing.

Checking out.

Eddie will know where I am.

Look, I don't care what the grounds are,

I don't care how many judges

you've gotta buy,

I want Lillian out of my life.

Do you understand?

Get me a divorce. I have got to

be free of this... completely free.

This is ridiculous!

Mr. Taggart, who do I consult

with if there are any issues?

Just deal with it.

What kind of issues?

Well, I have some frozen trains.

I can't detour them because

of the split rails and repairs...

Look, I haven't found anyone to

replace Dagny yet. I don't know.

- How long have you been here?

- Almost eight months.

That's plenty of time.

You're promoted.

Congratulations.

Chief Operating Officer...

- What's your name?

- Mitchum.

Mitchum.

Carry on.

Me?

And for the record, there's

no pay increase due to 10-289.

Anybody know why Westbound 22

is behind schedule?

No.

Thank you.

Kip, why check your watch?

I don't even need a sundial

to tell you that we're as late

as yesterday's apologies.

Well, I can tell you this:

If I'm late for my campaign

stop in San Francisco, I swear,

I'll make it a priority

to nationalize this rail road.

History shows us it's the only way

to make them run on time.

Good goddamn.

Oh, my God.

Kip, are you OK?

Yeah, I'm fine.

OK, we've got a damaged

engine outside of Winston.

- Alert all local east-west traffic.

- Got it.

Taggart 22 Intermountain, this is

Taggart Command. Come in, over.

- What the hell happened?

- The engine's got a fractured bogie.

Has a what?

- It's the undercarriage, sir.

- How long before you fix it?

Well, the engine only weighs

about 560,000 pounds.

If you'd like to hold up one end,

I'll crawl underneath,

fix it myself, we'll be off in a jiff.

Little smart ass.

Taggart here.

Goddamn it, Jim. This is

a hell of a way to run a rail road.

I'm stuck out here in the middle

of frosty ass nowhere.

Now I've got an engagement

in San Francisco

and all I'm getting from

your people is double-talk.

And just so you know, your pay-offs

are not gonna buy you out of this one.

- Kip, take it easy now...

- Easy?

Easy for me to throw

you in the grease with Mouch

if I don't make my fund-raiser.

Now get this:

You get on the horn and you

get my ass out of here, pronto.

What the hell is happening, Mitchum?

I never got a call in the middle of the

night when Dagny was running things.

The 22 has a disabled locomotive

just outside the Taggart Tunnel.

Yeah, I know that.

What are you doing to get them moving?

Well, the station chief won't answer,

and nobody down the line

is willing to take responsibility.

And I'm certainly not,

I can tell you that.

Don't we have another

locomotive that we can use?

I don't have a diesel

within a hundred miles.

But there is an old coal-burner

about four miles out.

Can it pull the train?

It should.

They use it for rail-yard towing but...

...I mean, good luck finding a driver.

Do whatever you have to do to get

Kip Chalmers through that tunnel

and off that mountain.

Sir, they say that you can't run a

smoker through an eight mile passage.

I don't care how you do it.

Just get something done.

If you don't, tomorrow morning,

I'm not gonna have a rail road.

And you're not gonna have a job.

I found a retired engineer

that's willing to drive it.

Really? Thank God somebody

made a decision to do something.

All right, come on back.

Keep it coming!

Yep, yep... Come on now!

Come on!

All right, slow it down a little bit.

All right, that's good!

Ladies and gentlemen,

it is now safe to return to your seats.

Would you please re-board

the train at this time.

I repeat, it is now safe

to return to your seats.

Please re-board the train.

Thank you.

You see?

It pays to know people.

Obviously my demands have been met.

We'll get through the tunnel

and it'll be downhill from there.

To pull.

When you've got it, you've got it.

Eastbound Army Freight Special,

The 22 should be clear by the time

they reach the tunnel. Right?

You know what?

Hold the Army Special.

You can't hold it. That's a government

train. It's better hold off the 22.

I can't.

It's a smoker on a 15 percent grade.

He'll slide all the way back

to Kansas if I stop him now.

Well, there's always prayer.

We'll be out of this

tunnel in no time, I assure you.

- Ladies and gentlemen...

- What's happening?

- ...please remain seated.

- It's all right, Laura.

- Kip, I'm scared!

- It's all right. Just calm down.

I can't be calm,

I need to know what's going on!

Just calm... everybody calm down!

Laura, calm down!

Power will be restored shortly.

There is no need for concern.

It's important that you remain seated...

- Laura, come here!

- ...and remain calm.

Laura!

Laura!

Laura get back here!

Laura!

Switch the Army Special

to the roll out, now!

You got it!

Oh, my God.

Slug!

How did you know I was here?

Do you remember... when we

were children in these woods?

When we were exploring the world

and everything in it,

and you were always asking

"why this" and "how that" and...

- And you'd say, "Let's find out."

- Exactly.

And now, I've found you.

You never did grow up, did you?

Looks like neither of us did.

Can't tell you how

pleased I am that you walked away

from Taggart Transcontinental.

Look at you.

I haven't changed.

That's where you're wrong.

You've stopped playing into their hands.

How?

They were counting on you

to keep working.

Ignore it.

There's no future there.

There's no future for the rail road.

Why are you here, Francisco?

I thought you'd be off somewhere,

putting the pieces

of your business back together.

Why would I?

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