Avatar Page #22

Elsewhere in the smoky Hell, Grace slumps unconscious. The

crying kids pull at her. Mo'at, leading a group of

Omaticaya, comes upon the scene.

111.

She grabs the kids and pulls them away, leaving Grace's

avatar helpless in the path of the flames. She hesitates,

then --

MO'AT

(SUBTITLED)

Bring her.

INT. LINK ROOM

BLACKNESS. Then the top clamshell of Jake's unit is yanked

upward, and troopers grab him, zip-tie his wrists as we --

CUT TO:

EXT. RAINFOREST - DUSK

ON A HILLSIDE -- a grieving Neytiri stands with Mo'at and the

Omaticaya refugees. Two hunters pull Grace's avatar on a

travois.

They watch as the flames burn like a funeral pyre below. A

great pall of smoke darkens the landscape.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. LOCK-UP - NIGHT

Jake, Grace, and Norm are in a common holding cell. They

sit, staring in silence. Too wired to sleep, too emotionally

drained to move.

GRACE:

They never wanted us to succeed.

AT THE DESK OUTSIDE, the lone TROOPER looks up as --

TRUDY approaches along the corridor, pushing a stainless

steel trolley.

TRUDY:

Personally I think steak's too good for

these traitors.

GUARD:

They get steak? That's bullshit. Let me

see that --

The guard bends to look into the hot cart and --

THE MUZZLE of Trudy's pistol presses behind his ear.

112.

TRUDY:

Oops.

(shoving him down)

All the way down, pendejo.

She WHISTLES and MAX trots around the corner.

Trudy binds the guard with one of his own zip-ties as Max

grabs his KEY CARD and runs to the cell. Swipes the card.

The door is rolling open when --

ANOTHER TROOPER rounds the corner. Trudy takes him down with

a sharp BLOW to the windpipe and a THAI KNEE to the ribs.

Meanwhile the first TROOPER is getting up, but Max CLOCKS him

heartily with a coffee urn. He goes down and stays down.

MAX:

That was unexpectedly satisfying.

Trudy plants a kiss on Norm as he runs out of the cell.

NORM:

Baby, you rock.

Jake wheels out, grabbing the sidearm from the fallen trooper

as Trudy binds his wrists.

JAKE:

(to Max and Trudy)

Thanks.

Jake faces his motley group, chambering a round.

JAKE:

So what do you say? Time for a

revolution?

GRACE:

I'm free.

Trudy grins and taps his fist.

JAKE:

Come on.

CUT TO:

INT. UTILIDOR

In the utility corridor under the base, Jake pumps the chair

furiously, as the others jog. They reach an AIRLOCK and start

donning EXOPACKS.

113.

JAKE:

(to Trudy)

Get your ship fired up.

Trudy nods. She grabs Norm and enters the airlock. Jake

turns to Max.

JAKE:

Stay here. I need somebody on the inside

I can trust.

Max nods. Jake grips his hand tightly.

CUT TO:

EXT. AIRFIELD - NIGHT

IN THE SAMSON, Norm is helping Trudy race through the

preflight checks as the turbines spool up. A LIGHT hits

them.

An armored TROOPER approaches, aiming his AR at them.

TROOPER:

I need you to shut down and step out of

the vehicle! Now!

JAKE rolls up behind him, aiming his pistol.

JAKE:

Take it nice and easy, troop.

The trooper turns, sees the gun.

JAKE:

On the ground, face down. Hands behind

your head.

The trooper hesitates.

GRACE:

Do what he goddamn says!

He does. Norm jumps down and grabs the trooper's rifle and

side-arm, covering him, while Grace helps Jake from chair to

the back bay of the chopper. She throws his chair in, and

jumps in herself.

JAKE:

Go! Go! Go!

114.

INT. OPS CENTER - NIGHT

QUARITCH, watching a monitor, sees what's happening down at

the airfield. He slams his palm down on an ALARM BUTTON.

He draws his PISTOL. Strides toward the EMERGENCY DOOR. He

undogs it.

EXT. OPS CENTER/AIRFIELD - NIGHT

HOLDING HIS BREATH Quaritch yanks the hatch open and strides

onto the outer landing. Inside people scramble for MASKS.

THE SAMSON lifts off in a blast of rotor-wash just as --

QUARITCH OPENS FIRE and --

ROUNDS rake the ship. Trudy banks hard, using the bottom to

shield them. Bullets WHACK into the ship as she climbs-out

over the tree-line.

Jake's fist pumps the air exultantly.

JAKE:

Oh yeah, baby!

GRACE:

Aaahh, crap. Not again.

He looks over at Grace and freezes. She is looking down at a

BLOODY HAND. She clutches her abdomen, covering the

spreading stain. Looks at Jake, wide-eyed.

GRACE:

This is gonna ruin my whole day.

JAKE:

Hang on, Grace.

CUT TO:

EXT. SHACK / SITE 26 - NIGHT

NORM'S AVATAR, with an AR slung over his shoulder, stands on

the roof of the LINK MODULE. He gives a thumbs up signal.

The lift cable goes taut and --

The shack LIFTS OFF THE GROUND.

Trudy's Samson beats the grass of the mountain meadow,

straining to lift the module on a long-line sling. The shack

sways as Trudy banks across forested slopes and heads deeper

into the HALLELUJAH MOUNTAINS.

115.

INT. SAMSON CABIN - NIGHT

Outside the windows, clouds and cliffs pass by, lit by

Polyphemus.

Jake is yanking stuff out of the Samson's trauma bag, while

Grace lies curled across two back seats, hugging her blood-

soaked abdomen. She is pale and shocky.

Trudy is flying on visual only, by the light of Polyphemus.

Her instruments are showing gibberish.

TRUDY:

Well, at least they won't be able to

track us up here. Not this deep in the

vortex.

JAKE:

It's strongest at the Well of Souls,

right?

TRUDY:

Yeah.

JAKE:

Good, `cause that's where we're going.

TRUDY:

Copy.

He gives Grace an ampule of morphine for the pain.

JAKE:

I'm gonna get you some help, Grace.

GRACE:

Forget it, it doesn't matter.

Jake grabs her shoulders.

JAKE:

No! The People can help you. I know it.

CUT TO:

EXT. WELL OF SOULS - AERIAL - DAWN

Dawn light paints the massive ARCHES of magnetic rock above

the Well of Souls.

Tiny as an insect, the SAMSON passes.

116.

JAKE (V.O.)

The Well of Souls. The heart of the

forest. I knew the People would go

there.

EXT. WELL OF SOULS - DAWN

The WELL OF SOULS is a deep caldera 100 meters across. It is

ringed with enormous WILLOWS whose roots seem to pour down

the sheer rock walls like candle wax.

AT THE BOTTOM, in a natural amphitheater, the Omaticaya

refugees are clustered around a central rock outcropping

which forms a kind of dais and altar.

Shafts of dawn light reach to the bottom of the grotto,

lighting a single willow -- the MOTHER TREE. Ancient and

gnarled, it grows in the center of the rock.

Its ROOTS spread down to the grotto floor, where they merge

with the roots of the willows ringing the Well -- forming a

braided mat resembling the surface of a brain.

Mo'at stands on the dais, leading them in a CHANT.

MO'AT

(SUBTITLED)

Wise ancestors who live within Eywa,

guide us. Give us a sign.

CUT TO:

EXT. FOREST CLEARING - DAWN

The shack descends from the sky like a gift from the gods.

It bumps to the ground.

CUT TO:

INT. SHACK -- DAY

Grace lies, comatose, in her open link. Trudy gives Jake a

look that says "not much time." Jake feels Grace's cold

forehead, then crosses to his own link.

As Trudy helps him in, Norm rapidly preps the system.

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