Cast Away Page #8

He puts in his ear plugs and takes out his Valium. He

swallows one, then thinks, and swallows two more. Then he

turns on his Walkman to the Rolling Stones, puts the mask

over his eyes, and, as usual, goes to sleep.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. FEDEX PLANE - NIGHT

The plane is SHAKING badly. HEAR frantic, garbled radio

talk. Chuck stirs, struggles to his feet, drowsy and

drugged.

INT. FEDEX PLANE - CHUCK'S POV

Everything is hazy, out of focus, as it was in his earlier

drugged condition. But this is real haze. SMOKE. And the

cabin also TWISTS and TILTS.

Chuck tries to steady himself against the wall. This is

nightmarish. Is this really happening?

INT. FEDEX PLANE - CHUCK'S POV - COCKPIT

The pilots wrestle with the controls. They have their life

jackets on. John glances back at Chuck, his face floating in

a cloud of fear.

INT. FEDEX PLANE - MOMENTS LATER

Chuck struggles to put on his life jacket. The plane is

VIBRATING VIOLENTLY. He can't get the straps straight. He

is KNOCKED against one wall, then another, then to the floor.

Chuck tries to blow on the mouth tubes for his life jacket.

Can't do it! Puff. Puff. Sh*t! John motions frantically

for Chuck to pull on the automatic inflators on his jacket.

Chuck fumbles for them.

Huge palettes shift and groan, one BREAKS FREE, banging

violently against the side of the plane, spilling out its

boxes. Then it swings and KNOCKS Chuck on the head! He goes

down!

INT. GLOBAL OPERATIONS CENTER - MOMENTS LATER

A CONTROLLER mans the global operations desk. His SUPERVISOR

stands behind him, sipping some coffee. The mood is eerily

calm. An assistant moves Plane Locator Cards on a giant

board.

CONTROLLER:

Jumbo 14 is overdue in Sector K.

SUPERVISOR:

Where are they?

Another CONTROLLER tracks a giant computer screen.

CONTROLLER 2

Somewhere east of Port Moresby. Guam is

getting a signal but no location. Maybe

the GPS is out.

The signal flashes, but is strangely still compared to the

others, which are moving.

EXT. FEDEX PLANE - NIGHT

The giant plane PLUMMETS down from the sky.

INT. FEDEX PLANE - NIGHT

Chuck is semi-conscious and bleeding from the head. John

pulls the inflators on Chuck's life jacket, which fills with

a WHOOSH!, sending Chuck's arms out to the sides. Al

struggles with the LIFE RAFT. It's all blurred, frantic,

terrifying.

EXT. PACIFIC - NIGHT - MOMENTS LATER

The plane hits the ocean with a CRASH and a WAVE of water.

INT. GLOBAL OPERATIONS CENTER - MOMENTS LATER

The Controller is speaking mechanically into the microphone.

CONTROLLER:

Guam, I need a fix on Jumbo 14.

EXT. PACIFIC - NIGHT

Shrouded with fog and surrounded by debris, the tail of the

big plane slowly SINKS beneath the angry, storm-driven waves.

EXT. PACIFIC - DAY

A life raft is tossed on dark, storm-driven seas. Inside it,

semi-conscious, Chuck hangs on.

EXT. PACIFIC - NIGHT

We catch glimpses of the yellow lift raft in the dark as the

storm continues.

EXT. BEACH - EARLY MORNING

The storm has ended. Waves lap gently on a beach cut like a

scallop out of a rocky shore. On the beach we see scattered

FEDEX BOXES. And we see, face-down, half-buried in sand, a

MAN IN A SUIT and a life jacket.

Chuck.

The tide gently rocks him, laps at his face. He chokes.

Slowly he gets to his knees. Vomits seawater, big heaves.

He rolls over, sits down. Dazed. Still confused. Where am

I? What happened?

Chuck's first instinct is to check the time. He looks at his

watch, taps it in frustration.

Then he looks around, and we look with him.

CHUCK'S POV - BEACH

The fog has thinned. We can see palm groves and mangrove

thickets leading back into a thickly wooded valley climbing

up a steep, rocky hillside. The rocks on the opposite point

end in a barren ridge. Clouds hide the top of the hill.

ON CHUCK:

as he takes in his surroundings. He licks his lips. He's

thirsty. But something he sees is even more important. We

stay with him as he WALKS. He comes to a FEDEX PACKAGE in

the sand, picks it up, brushes off the sand, walks farther.

He picks up another package.

EXT. BEACH - WIDE

Chuck walks down the beach, picking up FedEx packages,

leaving a trail of footprints in the sand. Ahead of him we

notice a package decorated with ANGEL WINGS.

EXT. BEACH - LATER THAT MORNING

Chuck has made a neat stack of FedEx boxes under some palm

trees at the rim of the beach. He examines the Angel Wing

drawing with passing curiosity, then puts it on the stack.

Chuck takes off his life jacket, sits down in the shade,

makes himself comfortable, and waits.

EXT. BEACH - SUNSET

Chuck is still waiting. He's a systems man, and the system

isn't working.

CHUCK:

All right, guys. I'm here. Check the

GPS, get moving.

EXT. BEACH - NIGHT

The full moon shines a ghostly light on the beach. Trees

cast moon-shadows on the sand. Chuck seems very, very alone.

We HEAR from the dark thickets a STRANGE NOISE. Rustling in

the leaves. Something crashing in the trees, or is it a

wave? A jolt of adrenaline courses through Chuck's body. He

lurches to his feet.

We HEAR the noises again. Chuck edges toward the rocks at

the barb of the hook. Keeping his eye on the thicket, he

bends down and picks up a stone. His first weapon.

In the rocks he finds a piece of driftwood. He picks it up

in his other hand. He backs between two rocks and stands

facing the thicket, every sense alert. A cloud passes over

the moon. The shadow streaks across Chuck's anxious face.

EXT. BEACH - MORNING

The morning TIDE is coming in. We follow the tide as it laps

amidst the rocks and finds Chuck, staring out to sea. The

empty sea.

CHUCK:

Where the f*** are you?

But now he is really thirsty. We WALK with Chuck up the

beach.

Beneath the palms he sees a couple of coconuts. He picks one

of them up and studies it. It's heavy, almost the size of a

volleyball. How to get in it?

He throws it down on a rock. The coconut just bounces off.

He wedges the coconut between two rocks, then throws a rock

down on it. It bounces off. He throws down a bigger rock.

It smashes on the rocks and chips. Chuck picks up the rock.

OW! Where the rock had chipped the edge is sharp. It cuts

him.

CHUCK:

Sonofabitch.

The blood stains the rock a bright red. Chuck sucks on his

finger, then he gets an idea -- the same idea primitive man

first got when he discovered stone tools.

He picks up the rock, test the edge. Sharp -- really sharp.

He throws another rock down, but it doesn't break. He picks

up another rock and strikes the first one. Then again,

harder. And again. A large flake shoots off. This edge is

even sharper.

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