Fury Page #14

GORDO:

What?

COON-ASS

I was ticked off we were leaving. Don't

seem so bad now. German's can flatten

this town for all I care.

Blinding smoke washes around the tank obscuring everything.

Norman flattens himself against the cobblestones...

A61 EXT. GERMAN TOWN - CENTRAL SQUARE - DAY A61

MOMENTS LATER:
The men slide out from under the Fury...

WHAT THEY SEE -- Though brief, the shelling has transformed

the little village. Buildings burn. Others have collapsed.

The APARTMENT BUILDING is heavily damaged.

A SOLDIER crawls along the street crying for his mama, his

legs are missing, just two stumps trailing blood.

Norman runs to the apartment building -- It is now a smoking

rubble pile. He stops in his tracks and looks up...

WHAT NORMAN SEES -- Irma's shattered body hanging from a

splintered mass of wood floorboards...

Next Norman SEES Emma is crushed and mixed into the rubble.

She's gasping her last breath...

Norman shakes off the blow and starts to dig out Emma,

desperate, frantic -- Coon-Ass grabs him and drags him away.

COON-ASS

You think you're Jesus Christ? You gonna

raise her up? She's done. She is done.

Norman starts throwing punches. Coon-Ass lets him vent,

easily blocking them.

COON-ASS (CONT’D)

There you go. Get mad. Get mad.

NORMAN:

What the f*** is wrong with you!? What

the f*** is wrong with everyone? Nobody

cares about anything. What the f*** is

happening?

(CONTINUED)

Pink Revision - 30th Oct 58.

A61 CONTINUED:
A61

Bored with being punched, Coon-Ass throws Norman to the

ground. Kicks him in the ass.

COON-ASS

It's called war. Quit your cussin' and

fightin' and get your spindly ass in that

tank, boy.

ON WARDADDY --Perched atop the Fury watching all this. He

makes the "crank it" gesture and tank engines ROAR to life...

62 OMITTED 62

63 OMITTED 63

64 OMITTED 64

65 EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - DAY 65

Open flat farm country. The tank column --The Four Horsemen

of the Apocalypse --moves fast. Wardaddy keys the intercom.

WARDADDY:

Norman. Get up here.

Norman looks at Wardaddy. Who waves for him to join him.

Norman carefully climbs out of his hatch. And picks his way

across the moving tank. Wardaddy pats the big .50 Cal

machine gun.

WARDADDY (CONT’D)

Why don't you sit up here for a bit and

run this baby.

Norman grabs the spade grips and stands behind the turret.

His face is angry stone. Wardaddy seems relaxed. Almost

enjoying the beautiful country. He looks at Norman.

WARDADDY (CONT’D)

I know how you feel.

NORMAN:

You have no idea how I feel.

WARDADDY:

Today... Look, what happened back there.

Is every day. It's every day.

NORMAN:

Today's the worst day of life.

WARDADDY:

Like I said, that's every day. If you

think it can't get worse, it can. And it

will. I started this war killing Germans

in Africa. Then France. Then Belgium.

Now I'm killing Germans in Germany.

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

Pink Revision - 30th Oct 59.

65 CONTINUED:
65

WARDADDY (CONT'D)

It will end. Soon too. But before it

does a lot more people gotta die.

Wardaddy points out a massive column of black smoke in the

distance. The herald of destruction on an unbelievable

level. It is the death of a city...

WARDADDY (CONT’D)

See that? That's a whole city on fire.

I bet that's where those bombers were

heading. The dying ain't done. The

killing ain't done.

Norman tries to understand the enormity of what he is

witnessing. He can't. They ride in silence for a beat.

THEN:

WARDADDY (CONT’D)

My mother was born near here. I think

right there in that city burning to the

ground. I got no problem killing my kin.

NORMAN:

How'd you get all burnt up?

WARDADDY:

My back?

NORMAN:

Germans did it? That why you hate them

so much?

WARDADDY:

No. I did it. Before the war. Before

the Army. I had a beautiful girl I was

gonna marry. Rose. She made me feel

like a f***ing king. Pretty like one of

those old paintings. She was good. A

good person. She had a good heart.

Wardaddy looks at Norman. Not sure if he should continue.

He does...

WARDADDY (CONT’D)

I drank then. I'd get a**hole drunk and

Rose hated it. There was a dance in

town. With a band from Wichita. I had

her old man's truck. My little brother

came with us. He was sixteen. And

looked just like you. With the same "I'm

smarter than everyone else around me"

expression you got. And he was. Book

smart and people smart. A good kid.

Well I drank two bottles of nickel whisky

and got in a punch-up at the dance with

this big Indian. K.O.ed him with a

bottle.

NORMAN:

I'm not your bartender and I'm not your

pastor. You don't need to tell me this.

(CONTINUED)

Pink Revision - 30th Oct 60.

65 CONTINUED:
(2) 65

WARDADDY:

And I ain't your friend. You're

listening 'cause you gotta hear it. The

sheriff got called so I shoved Rose and

my brother in the truck and drove off

like my hair was on fire. Yep, like a

real shithead. Pedal to the mat. Hit an

ice patch and flipped it. I got thrown

and ended up under it. The engine right

on my back, cooked me like Sunday's beef

roast. Rose and my brother got their

necks broken. Whole county hated me for

it. I got the chain gang. I laid

roadbeds. Worked cotton. Mule teams.

War started and the Judge told me to die

for my country. Best advice I ever got.

Norman looks out on the German countryside. Then at

Wardaddy. Despite his age, Norman has a strong, quiet

wisdom.

NORMAN:

Does it matter now? Does it matter here?

WARDADDY:

Does to me.

NORMAN:

You killed them.

WARDADDY:

I know what I did.

NORMAN:

You're already dead.

WARDADDY:

I don't disagree.

(then)

Been with these fine gentlemen since

nineteen forty two. And they don't know

none of this. Not a word of it. Keep it

that way.

Norman will keep his secret.

NORMAN:

I was born in the caul.

WARDADDY:

Where's that?

NORMAN:

A caul. A birth shroud around my head.

So I see things. Sometimes I know things

are going to happen. And people tell me

things. Since I was little. Bad things.

Confessions. I'm used to it. Don't

worry, you'll get your wish. When I said

you were already dead it didn't mean

anything but what it means. You're going

in the ground soon.

(CONTINUED)

Pink Revision - 30th Oct 61.

65 CONTINUED:
(3) 65

Wardaddy likes hearing that. He looks at Norman.

WARDADDY:

You're a strange one, Norman.

(then)

My brother's name was Norman.

Norman REACTS -- Not to Wardaddy -- But to the terribly thin

corpses filling the ditches on either side of the road. They

wear the infamous striped pajamas of the camp system. They

were shot after collapsing during a forced march.

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