Cast Away Page #4

CHUCK:

That's why you're a gambling man.

STAN:

That's why I'm running foreign and you're

not. That's why you're not married and I

am.

CHUCK:

For the third time.

STAN:

Take the plunge, admit your mistakes,

move on to tomorrow. That's FedEx,

that's women, that's life.

Stan is so outrageous, Chuck can't help but laugh.

CHUCK:

You are one sick f***er.

STAN:

I'm trying to help you here. There's

Warsaw, there's this --

CHUCK:

This was nothing like Warsaw. I held the

truck then minutes, it's not that big a

deal.

But apparently it is.

STAN:

Look, that kids' bike, that's a guy

who'll do what it takes to get there on

time. Live up to your legend, that's all

I'm saying.

Chuck reaches in his pocket, pulls out a bill.

CHUCK:

A hundred rubles St. Petersburg hits 95

percent in a month.

STAN:

Ninety five percent? Just give me the

money now.

CHUCK:

Talk is cheap. Are we on or not?

STAN:

We're on.

Chuck closes the PowerBook.

CHUCK:

Let's go off-line.

They both take out their Valium -- the price they pay for

being such road warriors.

CHUCK:

Two Valium...

Stan puts on his Walkman.

STAN:

And the Stones. Got to be.

It's their ritual. Chuck puts headphones from his Walkman

over his ears, puts a mask over his eyes and leans his head

back onto the headrest. We hear the Rolling Stones.

EXT. MEMPHIS AIRPORT - NIGHT - WIDE

The MD-11 arrives at its gate. The cargo doors open.

Forklifts and a gangway roll up to the side.

INT. MD-11 - NIGHT

Stan stands smiling over Chuck.

STAN:

Chuck. Wake up Chuck.

Chuck pulls off the mask, takes out the earplugs. He manages

a groggy grin.

STAN:

You gotta do your own delivery from here.

INT. SUPERHUB - NIGHT

Chuck walks through the extraordinary nexus of speeding

packages that intersect in intricate paths above and around

him. This is the beating center of the FedEx world, the

crossroads, the deep core where everything connects. In his

still-drugged state it all seems weirdly psychedelic. A

Christmas tree goes by, then a huge plastic Santa Claus, both

with shipping labels.

EXT. CHICKASAW GARDENS - MEMPHIS - NIGHT

Chuck's car pulls into the driveway of a small cottage in an

older Memphis neighborhood. The radio is playing the news.

INT. CHUCK'S HOUSE - MOMENTS LATER

Chuck drops his briefcase and his bag. The place is a jumble

of clothes, papers, books, etc. In the living room is a tank

of tropical fish. The water looks a little green. No

bubbles are coming from the filter.

Uh oh.

Chuck walks to the tank. He tightens a piece of tape that

holds the power cord onto the filter, taps the filter with

his finger, once, twice...the bubbles start again.

CHUCK:

Damn thing.

But for a couple of fish floating on top of the tank it's too

late.

Chuck gets out his scoop and slowly skims them off.

CHUCK:

Sorry, I'm really sorry.

EXT. CHUCK'S HOUSE - BACK YARD

Chuck digs a small hole in the back yard with a large kitchen

spoon.

Drops the dead fish in.

Fills the hole.

INT. CHUCK'S HOUSE - LATER

The CD is playing. Chuck lies in bed, switches on the TV.

This is no good. He doesn't care how late it is, he's going

to find Kelly.

EXT. MEMPHIS - NIGHT - LATER

Chuck drives in his car through the streets of Memphis.

EXT. UNIVERSITY - NIGHT

Chuck pulls up to a lab building at Memphis State.

INT. LAB - NIGHT

Two doctoral candidates are playing Doom on their computers

when Chuck walks in.

CHUCK:

You seen Kelly Frears?

One of them gestures toward a door.

GUY:

Xerox machine.

INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT

Chuck makes his way in the semi-darkness past rack after rack

of specimens in bottles.

Ahead of him we see the flashing green light of a Xerox

machine.

INT. XEROX ROOM

The light goes off. KELLY leans over the machine, bangs on

it.

KELLY:

Sonofabitch!

CHUCK:

Hey, be nice to it, it'll be nice to you.

Surprised, Kelly turns to greet Chuck.

KELLY:

Chuck! You're back!

She leaps into his arms.

KELLY:

Your eyes are puffy. Did you take Valium

again?

CHUCK:

You smell like formaldehyde.

Kelly looks over at the Xerox.

KELLY:

My last chapter's in there, and the damn

machine's jammed.

CHUCK:

Let's take a look.

He lifts up the cover.

KELLY:

How was Russia?

CHUCK:

Cold.

KELLY:

Don't overwhelm me with details, you know

how I hate that. Did you get it fixed?

CHUCK:

I thought I did.

He pries up one feeder, then another.

CHUCK:

Got to follow the paper path here.

KELLY:

Chuck, forget the Xerox. So Russia

didn't turn out well?

But Chuck doesn't want to talk. He's focused on the machine.

CHUCK:

Used to you could fix these yourself.

She pulls him out of the machine. He has toner on his

fingers.

KELLY:

Chuck.

CHUCK:

What do you want me to say? That I

thought I'd done a great job but it all

turned to sh*t? That I might as well

have gone sailing for all the good I did?

KELLY:

Yeah, tell me. Tell me all of it.

He suddenly looks really tired.

KELLY:

You don't even know what time it is.

What day it is.

He turns to the Xerox in frustration.

CHUCK:

And I can't fix this damn machine.

She looks at him.

KELLY:

Come on.

INT. KELLY'S OFFICE - MOMENTS LATER

A tiny cubicle with a door. She closes it, takes some paper

towels out of the desk, wipes his fingers.

KELLY:

We're on the deck of the ketch, the air's

soft, the water's clear as crystal...

She licks the last bit of toner off his fingers.

CHUCK:

That's carcinogenic.

She ignores that, stays with the fantasy.

Rate this script:4.5 / 2 votes