Cliffhanger Page #16

INT. THE SHACK

is just a small "point of interest" shed for hardy tourists

who have hiked up this far -- there is a corny photo stand,

where you stick your head through a hole, so your face is put

on top of a cartoon climber hacking up a mountain. Gabe rushes

past this to a glass display case on the wall.

THE GORDON DOUGLAS DISPLAY

has black and white photos of a square jawed 1930s climber

with his expedition -- more important is what's beneath it.

Douglas' original climbing equipment -- a coil of rope, some

pitons, a hat, a cloth backpack, small binoculars, other odds

and ends. Gabe prepares to smash the glass -- and hesitates.

Respect.

GABE:

(sighing)

Sorry, Gordon -- I promise I'll have

it back tomorrow.

Gabe SMASHES the glass as we move to --

EXT. THE TRAIL - DAY

Hal is leading Qualen, Travers and the others upward -- this

is a comparatively easy route, but still tiring. The sun goes

down beyond a facing, taller mountain. Ryan is huffing and

puffing -- the altitude and exertion are getting to him. Hal

allows himself a smile at his discomfort.

HAL:

Come on -- tourists take this trail.

Qualen pokes Hal with the gun -- he moves on ahead.

EXT. THE SUMMIT - DUSK

It's getting dark rapidly -- Gabe has scaled a rock formation

so he has a view of the rest of the summit --

GABE'S POV - SCANNING THE TREELINE

Gabe slowly looks along the trees of the summit -- looks

pretty ordinary to us, but something must have caught Gabe's

eye, because he swings back to look at one tree. With broken

branches on top.

GABE:

climbs down from his rock perch and rushes toward the tree.

EXT. SUMMIT TRAIL - NIGHT

This "expedition" reaches the top -- Hal is in the lead, with

Qualen just inches behind. Qualen shoves Hal forward.

TRAVERS:

Is this it?

HAL:

Yeah. This is it.

TRAVERS:

Good. Get out of the way.

Travers takes out the tracer and starts following the blip.

ELSEWHERE ON THE SUMMIT - GABE

frantically rushes around, looking for the case -- he spots a

crater of snow, rushes to it and starts digging. Even below

the snow, the tracer's blinking red light is glowing and

visible. Gabe laughs as he digs it out.

NEARBY ON THE SUMMIT - TRAVERS

has his eyes glued to the tracer monitor, which shows the case

is nearby.

TRAVERS:

(smiling)

This way.

Qualen shines a light -- all of them push their way through

the trees.

TRAVERS:

is excited now -- he can't even wait for Qualen's flashlight,

he intuitively races through the trees, dividing his attention

between his surroundings and

THE MONITOR:

which shows he's practically on top of the case -- finally

TRAVERS:

shoves his way through some small pines -- he can see the

blinking of the red tracer light ahead through the branches.

TRAVERS:

(calling behind)

It's over here!

Travers shoves his way through the branches, and heads for the

light -- but something's wrong -- Qualen comes up behind

Travers and shines the light on

A SNOWMAN:

cute, if hastily constructed, stands with a five-pebble smile,

as well as Douglas' cap, in a clearing. The still blinking,

still operable tracer is now the nose of the snowman. The case

is leaned up against it.

Travers runs over to the case, furious, and opens it. It's

empty -- except for a single $5000 bill. Travers picks it

up -- scrawled on the margin is "LET'S TRADE."

TRAVERS:

(incredulous)

He's still alive.

(furious)

He's still alive!

(to Qualen and the

others)

He can't be far away -- spread out!

Qualen, Kynette, Delmer and Krystel fan out into the woods,

each with a flashlight and a fun. Ryan, however, straps on

nightfinder goggles and runs out without a flashlight.

TRAVERS:

(to Hal, brandishing gun)

Put your hands on your head.

ELSEWHERE ON THE SUMMIT - GABE

watches the chaos with a grin from a slightly elevated vantage

point -- he can see the flashlight beams, all headed in the

wrong direction. But he doesn't see

RYAN - "NIGHTFINDER" POV

With these goggles, light is amplified a thousandfold -- this

isn't one of those infra-red, thermo-blob jobs -- it looks

more like day for night photography. Even starlight is enough

for Ryan to run easily through the thick woods -- and he's

going in the right direction.

GABE:

begins climbing down to level ground so he can circle closer

to where Travers is holding Hal -- before he can get far --

"NIGHTFINDER" POV - RYAN

looks up, and can clearly see Gabe climbing down the small

rock, twenty yards distant --

RYAN:

smiles, looking macabre under the goggles, and opens fire --

GABE:

is startled as the bullets impact inches over his head -- he

jumps the last ten feet to the ground and is running even as

he hits the ground -- more bullets hit where Gabe was a

split second ago --

RYAN:

chases Gabe, easily maneuvering through the trees --

GABE:

runs too, trying to dodge Ryan's continuing fusillades -- Gabe

knows this territory, but to him, it's still pitch dark -- he

stumbles, and rams against trees --

RYAN:

keeps coming up behind, closing the hap, Gabe's bright form

just ahead --

GABE:

comes out of the trees and finds he is on another part of the

summit. All that's beneath him is

GABE'S POV

-- a sudden, sloping plunge down a field of ice. No escape

route here -- anything that goes down this slide is going all

the way to the ground far below.

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