Children of the Corn Page #2

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Sometimes, I think you'd sell your soul

to the devil for it never to have ended.

That way you could go on

doing sweeps and smoking dope

for the rest of your life 'cause

that was the high point of your life,

wasn't it, Burt?

Good old Vietnam, right?

This isn't one of your damn

consciousness-raising groups, Vicky.

Now get in the car.

That's an order.

Screw your orders.

Vicky, would you just do it?!

What's up with the gun?

His throat was cut, right?

They're probably gone,

but I don't wanna take any chances.

Now get in the car,

keep the engine running

and you'd better bug out

should anyone come out of there,

no matter how innocent he,

she or they may look, okay?

Do you understand?

I don't wanna sit in the car

all by myself.

At this point,

I don't really care what you want.

How did I end up married

to a son of a b*tch like you

in the first place, huh?

I wonder about that.

I wonder about that a lot.

So do l, babe.

I'm scared.

Is that all right, sir?

Is it all right for me

to be scared, sir?

That's fine by me.

Oh, God.

Hey! Mr. Comedian!

Where are you?

It's not funny!

Burt!

I told you to stay in the car.

I thought somebody was watching me.

I looked behind me

- and I couldn't see you.

- Get in.

I should've tied a string

around the antenna.

I got lost in there for awhile.

It's a good thing you called

when you did. Push over.

Here, grab this.

What is it?

Is that-- is that blood?

Is that his blood?

- Yeah, I guess so. Grab it.

- No!

I was scared.

Uh-huh.

Afraid-- I was afraid.

You went into the corn and it felt

like somebody was watching me.

Well, maybe someone was.

You know what I'm talking about.

Someone was there, all right?

I could feel it too.

I remember that feeling

from Do Luc.

You don't forget that.

What did you say the next town is?

Gatlin.

Does it look big enough

to have a police station?

No, it's just a dot.

That little boy was on foot, right?

Gatlin is the only town for 80 miles.

- He must have come from there.

- If you say so.

Why? Why would anybody

wanna do that to a little kid?

I don't know.

We might get a better idea

- if we look inside that.

- Hmm?

Do you really think so?

Probably not.

It's worth a shot.

Do you wanna open it?

Okay.

Hey...

thanks.

Didn't we cross a barn

or something back there?

No. It was deserted--

no power feeds

from the road...

no good.

- I think you see everything.

- Huh.

It freaks me out sometimes.

It really does.

I just feel as if

this is my responsibility, Vicky.

I hit him, even if he was

bleeding to death when I did.

You see, I don't see everything.

I sure didn't see him.

I took my eyes off the road.

We haven't seen a car

or a truck in like an hour.

It's weird.

Maybe Nebraska's playing

a home game.

Why don't you tell that

to your American Studies class

when we get back home?

"ln Nebraska,

radio hasn't been invented yet."

- There's nothing at all?

- Zilch.

The other knot is coming now.

Atonement!

Only by the blood

of the lamb are we saved!

"Atonement" is the word,

brothers and sisters.

There are some that think...

No wonder

we're coming in five-by.

We're right on top

of the radio tower.

Boy preacher:
"...wilt thou be

besmirched by the world."

Now is that what

the word of God teaches us?

Holy Jesus!

When are they gonna know

- that way is dead?

- Hmm.

When are they gonna know

that the wages of the world

are paid on the other side, that there's

no room for the fornicator?!

- Children:
No!

- No room for the defiler of the corn!

- No vacancy!

- Vicky:
Wha--

No room for the homosexual!

No vacancy.

This drivel makes me sick.

What did he say about the corn?

- I wasn't paying attention.

- He said something about the corn.

I know he did--

something weird.

Hey hey!

There is life in Nebraska.

Are you sure anyone is here?

It doesn't matter.

I just wanna use the pay phone.

I have to report this... murder.

Are you all right?

Yeah. Yeah, I will be...

as soon as we're 1,000 miles

away from here.

Sunny and sinful California.

The Rocky Mountains

between us and Nebraska.

You got any change?

Nope.

I'll just dial the emergency operator.

We'll be in town

in a few minutes.

Looks like folks

in Gatlin got religion.

I thought all folks

in Nebraska had religion.

It sure sounds

that way from the radio.

Mm-hmm. Have you been

reading the signs?

"A cloud by day,

a pillar of fire by night."

When they called it the Bible Belt,

they sure weren't kidding.

"Take this...

and eat...

saith the Lord,

God of hosts."

It's what they say

when they give you communion.

Yeah? I bet they use cornbread

for holy wafer around these parts.

- Got it.

- Attagirl.

A shirt...

a belt...

What is this?

That's a real golden oldie.

Huh.

Anything strikes you as funny

about that radio sermon?

You were obviously never

the son of a preacher--

dragged from tent to tent,

going to meetings,

hearing every kind of evangelist

preying on the uneducated,

the lonely and the weak

instead of praying for them.

I had enough of that religious crap

to last me forever.

I told you about it.

Yeah, but didn't this preacher

sound young?

A teenager, maybe, but that's what's

so monstrous about their whole trip.

They like to get them

while their minds are still rubber,

and all the emotional checks

and balances to put in.

You should've seen

some of the ones I got saved by.

Let's see, there was...

Baby Hortense,

the singing marvel.

She was eight.

She'd come on singing

"Leaning on the Everlasting Arms"

while her daddy passed the plate,

telling everybody to

"Dig deep now, brothers and sisters.

Let's not let

this blessed child down.

She does the work of our Lord,

the son of God."

Jesus.

Oh my God!

It's just--

Wow. It's a fantastic piece

of workmanship.

Real American primitive.

It's hideous.

- It's a blasphemy. Throw it out.

- No, the police will want to see this.

- Why?

- I don't know. Evidence, maybe.

Just throw it out!

Will you do that for me?

Just throw it out.

I don't want it in the car.

All right. I'll tell you what--

we'll put it all in the back for now.

As soon as we see the cops,

we give 'em everything--

the body, the whole works.

And we'll be done with it, all right?

Do what you want, okay?

You will, anyway.

Boy preacher:

Behold...

a dream that come to me

in the night.

And in my dream

the Lord was a shadow

that walked behind the rows.

And God spoke to me as he has

spoken to our older brothers

since we children started

making sacrifice.

Praise God.

Praise the Lord.

And God told me all

that has happened since.

God said to me,

"Joseph will take his things

and flee this happy place

because the fear of me

is no more upon him.

So take of his life

in punishment, not sacrifice.

Let not his flesh pollute the corn,

but cast his body upon the road.

So thus evermore will Joseph,

the betrayer of the corn,

be known as Ahaz, cursed of God."

Yea, so it is, Joseph, the unbeliever.

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