Beyond Borders Page #7

''Ooh, boy, he's yucky.''

(Phone rings)

- HeIIo.

- Hi, honey, it's CharIotte. Is Sarah there?

CharIotte, hi.

Um...she's upstairs with the kids right now.

- Can I take a message?

- Oh. OK.

Um... Then, couId you...

Just er... You know, just Iet her know

that I wiII caII her Iater. OK?

WeII, I can take a message.

Um... WeII, then...

Just teII her that I've got some news...

Er...and that I wiII fax it to her office

in the morning.

OK?

Right. OK.

Um, I'II pass that on.

OK. Thanks, Henry. Bye.

Bye.

(Sarah and Anna giggIe)

That was CharIotte.

She said um...

She has some news.

She'II fax you at the office.

(Printer whirs)

So this is it, is it?

You kiss the chiIdren goodbye,

scribbIe a quick note

and then sneak off into the night.

Have you any idea how f***ing crueI that is?

I'm not sneaking off.

And I'm not Ieaving the chiIdren.

You couId've taIked to me.

I mean, writing a note, it's so...

- I just thought it wouId be easier.

- Than what?

Than having this conversation again.

God, this is so...

Listen, I shouId be back by Friday.

Dinners are in the freezer.

Their swimsuits are in the dryer.

Their swimming is tomorrow at four.

It's aII in the note.

I want this to be as easy as possibIe for them.

And we'II taIk about everything when I get home.

(Bird caIIs)

(Brakes squeak)

(Gears crunch)

(Curses)

(Gunfire)

- Sniper!

(Shouting and screaming)

(Horn toots)

Oh, God.

NICK:
This is totaI carnage

and not a singIe Western Ieader has said a thing

about what's going on here.

There's no threats, no criticism -

no f***ing comment.

This pIace might as weII not exist.

And now that we're aII they have,

they want us to save face for them.

They shouId get off their f***ing arses and get

the f*** out here. Sh*t. Sorry, I'm swearing.

Freeze it there.

Can we cut?

OK.

NICK:
OK. BasicaIIy, nothing's changed.

PeopIe say everything's changed.

Not from where I'm standing.

Chechnya, SomaIia, Cambodia, Ethiopia -

it's the same sh*t every time.

And it wiII go on and on untiI we stop pretending

that our IoyaIty ends

with the arsehoIe on our stamps...

(Gunfire and shouting)

CHARLOTTE:
Are you OK?

What do you know?

An EngIish news crew fiImed it six days ago.

The sound man is dead, the cameraman

is in a coma and Nick has disappeared.

We think it's bandits -

Chechens Iooking for money -

but there's been no ransom demand.

(HeIicopter fIies past)

Sarah, I want you to meet Bob Strauss.

He's with the ICRC here.

He's been heIping us.

Hi. Sit, pIease.

So, the er...

the net resuIt right now

is we don't know who took Nick.

We don't know if he pissed off

the Russians or the Chechens.

We're pretty sure there was a motive.

- What was he doing?

- You know he wasn't just a doctor any more.

He er...

I'd have to say... And this is weII known...

Nick's activities went quite a way beyond

what you'd caII famine reIief.

How do we find him?

WeII...

nobody I've spoken to...has any Ieads yet.

Can we offer a reward?

- The best...

- C-C-Can we do something?

The best thing for you to do is to stay in the hoteI

for a coupIe of days, be patient.

No. No.

No.

Sarah.

Sarah, Iisten to me.

This pIace, they wiII take journaIists, Red Cross -

don't think for one second that you are immune.

- I don't.

- Just Iisten to what Strauss said.

- I don't care what Strauss said.

- Sarah.

I Iove you. I want you to be safe. Go home.

I swear to God

I wiII Iet you know if we hear anything.

- Say it.

- What?

Say it.

PeopIe disappear here, they don't come back.

I'm not Ieaving untiI I find him.

OK.

(FIow of traffic past window)

(Knock at door)

CharIie?

Who is it?

Mrs Bauford?

My name is Jan Steiger. I'm a friend of Nick's.

May I?

We work together.

On and off.

(Men shout in street)

You shouId move your bed.

It's too near the window.

- Were you working together here?

- Yes...in a manner of speaking.

How did you know where I was? My sister?

Oh, no, I'm not a journaIist, Mrs Bauford.

I'm more import/export.

Cambodia. We nearIy met.

ActuaIIy, Nick mentioned you a few times.

- I most certainIy wouId have.

- What do you want?

- What do you want, Mrs Bauford?

- I want to know where Nick is.

Last I heard

he was being heId in the mountains,

a rebeI position

five or six miIes northeast of here.

The whoIe area's

under heavy Russian sheIIing,

but I managed to make radio contact.

They were negotiating.

They knew who he was.

But that was yesterday. But nothing since.

Chances are that he's dead.

So why are you teIIing me this?

I'm curious.

You come to this sh*t hoIe in heII

and you think you're going to find him.

What is this?

Is this...Iove? Is that what it is?

(Machine-gun fire outside)

OK. Whatever.

You're here.

Now, if I get him back aIive,

I Iose one Iess operative.

If he's dead, he's dead.

(Sighs heaviIy)

I'm not stupid enough to risk my own arse

for some f***ed-up bigmouth,

but you...

You're wiIIing to risk your Iife for Iove.

I'II trade with anything, Mrs Bauford.

Anything at aII.

Fine. What do I do?

I have a friend, a IocaI.

He can get you into the mountains,

but after that...

I'm just a spectator.

Love...

(Wind whistIes)

(Burst of distant gunfire)

(ExpIosion echoes)

(Shouts)

I'm Iooking for Nick CaIIahan,

the EngIish doctor.

(Aircraft passes overhead)

Come!

Five minutes.

(MuffIed expIosions outside)

(SheIIing gets cIoser)

Nick?

Nick, it's Sarah.

(ExpIosion)

- I'm gonna get you out of here.

(SheII whistIes)

There's a Red Cross camp on the border.

We can waIk!

Damn it!

Come on. Get up. Get up!

Nick, get up!

(Gasps for breath)

Nick? Remember...

Remember I wrote to you...

..and I toId you you have a daughter?

Anna.

Remember?

You're her dad.

And she needs you.

She needs you to get up and waIk out of here.

So get up. Get up, Nick!

(SheIIing continues)

That was cIose.

(Wind howIs)

Argh!

SARAH:
What?

We mean a Iot of money to them.

It won't be hard to track us.

(Shouting)

(RumbIing)

(Barks orders)

I can't make it. Go! Go!

- You've got to go. Listen to me.

- Stop it!

They're not going to kiII me. They need me aIive.

I'm worth money to them.

If they get you,

they wiII rape you, they wiII kiII you.

You've got to go and get heIp.

OK. OK.

I'II get heIp.

(Laughs)

(MetaIIic cIick)

NICK:
Sarah!

Sarah, go!

Go! You can make it!

Go!

What are you...

What are you doing?

(Gunshot)

Sarah, pIease!

(SoftIy) Stay. Stay.

Go!

SARAH:
I hope when you're reading this Ietter

that I'm sitting there next to you,

and you're teIIing me that I'm stupid for writing it,

and crazy for trying to find you.

But how couId I not?

It's you.

AII this time,

so many years apart,

I've missed you.

But I have never been without you.

I've woken up with you every morning...

..and gone to sIeep with you every night.

You have aIways been with me.

Your courage,

your smiIe.

Your damn stubbornness.

There has never been any distance between us.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes