Captain Fantastic Page #6

BEN:

You may.

Bo signals for the other children and takes Officer Hayes bythe hand.

All the children hold hands and begin singing the Christianhymnal, "One Day When Heaven Was Filled With His Praises."

As they sing, Officer Hayes - with every line - grows visiblyuncomfortable.

ALL THE KIDS SINGING

"Jesus came forth to be born of a

virgin! Dwelt among men, my exampleis He! Living, He loved me!"

OFFICER HAYES:

I should probably

ALL THE KIDS SINGING

"Dying, He saved me! Buried, Hecarried my sins far away! Rising, Hejustified freely forever! One day,

He's coming! O glorious day!"

Officer Hayes hands Ben his papers back.

(CONTINUED)

GREEN (9.2.2014) 32.

40 CONTINUED:
40

OFFICER HAYES:

Look, sorry - I got to get back towork here. Get that light replacedsoon as you can, okay?

BEN:

Sure thing officer. Sorry about that.

After Officer Hayes leaves, Bo looks at his dad.

BODEVAN:

Power to the people.

BEN:

Stick it to the man.

41 OMITTED 41

42 EXT. OREGON HIGHWAY. DAY. 42

On a hill, Kielyr moves silently through tall grass, a bowand arrow in her hand.

She peers over a ridge. Down below is a flock of sheep,

grazing.

Ben appears silently behind her.

KIELYR:

They're just standing there.

Now crawling, she moves closer to the grazing sheep andraises her bow.

She aims, holding a sheep in her sights. So long that herpull arm trembles.

Then she lowers her bow. She can't do it.

Nai runs up the ridge.

Dad! DAD!

NAI:

GREEN (9.2.2014) 33.

43 EXT. HILL. DAY. 43

Ben, followed by the other kids, runs down the hill to see:

Rellian, the flint still in his hand, has set a fire in the

brush.

Ben rushes over and stamps it out with his feet.

BEN:

Why would you do that?

Rellian glares at him.

BEN (CONT’D)

You could have set this whole hill

on fire.

Rellian says nothing. He turns, trudging down the hill andtowards the bus.

44 INT. STEVE - MOVING. DAY. 44

For a moment, they drive in silence. Then Kielyr bursts intotears. The kids all look distraught.

NAI:

I miss Mom.

VESPYR:

Mankas al mi Panjo.

KIELYR:

Mi deziras ke Panjo povus revenihejmen guste nun.

BEN:

No! No Esperanto. I am not joking.

KIELYR:

Domage.

BEN:

No foreign language unless thelanguage is spoken by all. You knowthe rule.

VESPYR:

Jes, domage.

(CONTINUED)

GREEN (9.2.2014) 33A.

44 CONTINUED:
44

BEN:

(in German)

You can speak German.

(CONTINUED)

GREEN (9.2.2014) 34.

44 CONTINUED:
44

KIELYR:

Ni rajtas paroli en kiu ajn lingvokiun ni volas.

BEN:

(in Mandarin)

Or Mandarin.

VESPYR:

Ne gravas.

BEN:

NO ESPERANTO!

VESPYR:

Ne estas nia kulpo ke vi ne povasparoli Esperanton.

The kids all look deeply unhappy.

NAI:

I'm hungry.

BEN:

Then maybe one of you should haveshot the f***ing sheep.

45 INT. HIGHWAY DINER. DAY. 45

They all sit at a table in a highway diner, examining menus.

The place is half-empty, but there are some ELDERLY PEOPLEand a couple of TRUCK DRIVERS.

BEN:

How many people in here?

The kids scan the diner.

VESPYR:

Dek.

BEN:

English.

Vespyr holds up both her hands: 10.

NAI:

No, 11.

BEN:

How many exits and where?

(CONTINUED)

GREEN (9.2.2014) 35.

45 CONTINUED:
45

KIELYR:

Versajne unu en la necesejo malantaula kuirejo.

ZAJA:

She forgot that one. 10 o'clock, leftof the bathroom.

BEN:

Tell me why this matters. In English.

Or no food.

Kielyr looks at Vespyr.

KIELYR:

Never be caught unaware.

BEN:

More specific.

VESPYR:

Have a plan for every situation. Andevery possible contingency. Beforeit's too late.

BEN:

Good.

The kids examine the menu.

BODEVAN:

They have hotdogs.

ZAJA:

What's a Coke?

BEN:

Poison water.

KIELYR:

Can I have the grilled-cheese?

BEN:

No.

NAI:

What's a... milk shake?

VESPYR:

Can I have a hamburger and fries?

(CONTINUED)

GREEN (9.2.2014) 36.

45 CONTINUED:
45

BEN:

I'm going to pretend that you never

asked that question.

ZAJA:

Can I have pancakes?

BEN:

Okay, everyone up. We're going.

BODEVAN:

What? No. Why?

Ben holds up the menu.

BEN:

Because there is no actual FOOD on

this menu!

He walks toward the exit and the kids follow him out.

46 INT. SUPERMARKET. DAY. 46

Ben pushes a shopping cart through a vast, crowded,

supermarket. He places an enormous cake in his cart.

He passes Bo. They don't acknowledge each other.

Ben turns the corner and passes Kielyr and Vespyr. Again,

they don't look at each other.

Ben now passes Rellian, pushing a shopping cart. Inside,

sitting around some food, is Zaja.

Ben spots a large display of soup cans, stacked high into amassive pyramid display. He examines the ingredients of oneof the cans.

BEN:

Oh, God.

He grabs his chest and careens around the supermarket aisle,

slamming into the shelves, knocking food onto the floor. Hefumbles with a bottle of medicine. He manages to open it, butis trembling so violently that he only ends up spilling thepills all over the floor.

A few PATRONS rush over to see what's happening.

BEN (CONT’D)

My pills! My....

(CONTINUED)

GREEN (9.2.2014) 37.

46 CONTINUED:
46

And then he collapses to the floor.

Someone yells, "Call 911!"

The patrons are now joined by THREE SUPERMARKET EMPLOYEES.

They try to help Ben, but he is flopping around on the floortoo violently for them to get a hold on him.

Nai runs up.

NAI:

He can choke!

Nai pushes his way in and shoves Ben onto his side,

manipulating him into a fetal position.

NAI (CONT’D)

Everyone get back! Just get back!

QUICK SERIES OF SHOTS:

-Bodevan, pushing a cart full of food, charges through thedoor of the supermarket and races through the parking lot.

-Kielyr and Vespyr, their backpacks stuffed with food, areled out of the opposite side of the market by an ELDERLYCOUPLE.

-Rellian and Zaja stop at the cash registers.

RELLIAN:

An old man is having a heart attack!

Call 911! CALL 911!

The last supermarket EMPLOYEE abandons his register and runs

toward the commotion.

Rellian and Zaja unfold some paper bags, load up theirgroceries, and walk slowly and calmly out into the parkinglot.

47 INT. SUPERMARKET. DAY. 47

A crowd of employees and patrons surround Ben and Nai. They

watch as Ben's fierce trembling subsides.

NAI:

He's okay now.

Slowly, Ben's eyes seem to focus. He sits up. Breathes in and

out.

(CONTINUED)

GREEN (9.2.2014) 38.

47 CONTINUED:
47

BEN:

Okay. Sorry. Okay. I'm okay.

As Ben leans back against an aisle, Nai gathers the spilledpills and puts them back into the bottle.

48 EXT. SUPERMARKET PARKING LOT. DAY.

Nai escorts Ben, wearing his backpack, through the parking

lot.

BEN:

Sorry about the fuss.

The SUPERMARKET MANAGER follows them, nodding.

MANAGER:

Sure we can't get you an ambulance oranything?

BEN:

No, no. Just forgot to take my pills.

I'm fine now. Really.

48

49 EXT./INT. STEVE - MOVING. SUPERMARKET PARKING LOT. DAY.

Ben pulls Steve out of the parking lot.

As soon as they're clear of the supermarket parking lot, heflips a switch and Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" -

here sung by Jimi Hendrix - BLASTS throughout the bus.

The kids bounce hard into each other, shouting and laughingand dancing.

49

50 EXT. HIGHWAY. DAY.

Now in Southern Oregon, Steve comes down the Siskiyou

Mountains.

50

51 EXT. ROADSIDE CAMP. DAY.

The bus is parked off the freeway. Ben and the kids sit onthe ground in front of a fire, eating food from the grocerybags.

BEN:

What else?

51

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