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Gold Page #8
THE CORE SHED:
Where a CIRCULAR SAW cuts a CORE. Wells watching Acosta
examine a section, then toss it in a ROCK CRUSHER... The
RUBBLE is then bagged in canvas sacks... which are closed and
sealed with HOT WAX... and finally stamped with a WASHOE LOGO.
THE CORE SAMPLES are carried in a long line through the valley
toward the river -- an Indonesian Salgado come to life.
Wells and Acosta watch, all hopes and dreams in that line.
39.
WELLS:
What do we do now?
CAMERA RISES UP from the workers carrying the core samples to
the limestone cliffs and endless sky.
ACOSTA (O.S.)
We wait. And we keep drilling.
DISSOLVE TO:
Wells sprays himself liberally in bug spray, making a cloud
under the light. Almost immediately a bug bites his shoulder.
WELLS:
These bugs don’t give a f*** about
this bug spray.
Wells, spatula in hand, watches mystery meat sizzle. He cooks
and talks over his shoulder to Acosta who is working.
WELLS (CONT’D)
The guy who invented the hamburger was
smart. But the guy who invented the
cheeseburger... Genius.
WELLS (CONT’D)
Don’t ask where this meat came from.
IT’S LATER
They’re both relaxing. Wells maybe a bit more relaxed.
WELLS (CONT’D)
Goddamn jungle. Nothing for 200 miles
and look at us. Not so bad.
Acosta takes in the night. Raises his cup in a salute to the
dark jungle all around. They both drink.
ACOSTA:
What’s the meaning of the tattoo?
WELLS:
It’s from a poem I read as a kid:
(Acosta waits)
The bird with no feet sleeps on the
wind.
39aA.
ACOSTA:
You’re full of mysteries, Wells. You
really are.
WELLS:
You got any tattoos, Mike?
ACOSTA:
Only on the inside.
Wells looks at him a beat, then looks out into the dark. The
sounds of drilling drift across the valley floor.
OMIT:
DISSOLVE TO:
And a LONE MESSENGER running up the trail...
Wells meets him halfway, takes the ASSAY REPORT and tears it
open, reading. Even from a distance we can tell it’s bad news.
A DRILL IS MOVED to a NEW POSITION. DRILL 2 IS MOVED. CORES
ARE CRUSHED and BAGGED. A CANOE LOADED WITH CORE SAMPLES
motors away down the rising river. The rain is torrential. The
MAIN TENT looks like it’s about to float away. Acosta meeting
Obb... Wells meeting him... Acosta...
INT. WASHOE SITE - MAIN TENT - CONTINUOUS
Acosta and Wells, back to back, working. Acosta thinking about
geology, Wells looking at financials. Realize neither one is
looking at an unopened report on the table. Finally Acosta
tears it open, reads it. Passes it to Wells: INDO-KARTA
LABORATORIES - ASSAY REPORT.
WELLS:
...These things look worse every time
we get one.
Acosta stares steadily at his map, which shows an increasingly
desperate spray of holes.
WELLS (CONT’D)
Thirty, 100 meter holes, Mike. Thirty.
And what do we got? We got sh*t.
ACOSTA:
Remember what I told you about
patience?
39aB.
WELLS:
Remember what I told you about money?
ACOSTA:
Yeah, it wasn’t a problem.
39A.
Looks at the numbers. They don’t lie.
WELLS:
It’s a problem now.
ACOSTA:
I’ll try something else. Move further
up the seam. Drop 80 meter holes. Move
faster.
40.
WELLS:
Do it.
Wells suddenly shudders with a chill. Acosta looks at him.
WELLS (CONT’D)
I’m fine.
ACOSTA:
You don’t look so good.
WELLS:
It’s ninety-eight degrees out and
pissing rain. And all we’re pulling up
is dinosaur sh*t. How am I supposed to
look?
(beat)
Jesus, I’m freezing.
Wells starts to shake. Acosta puts a hand to Wells's head.
ACOSTA:
You’re burning up.
WELLS:
I’m fine.
(off Acosta’s concern)
I said, I’m fine.
Wells forces himself to stand. He moves to Acosta's maps.
WELLS (CONT’D)
All right, where do we go next?
But Wells has to sit. Off Acosta's concerned look WE GO...
That f***ing rain. WORKERS, meager items held in plastic bags,
assemble in their tent. The FOREMAN speaks to his men.
WELLS (V.O)
We drilled our holes, assayed the
cores and got nothing. Zero. We were
nearly busted, out of money, out of
time. Workers quitting. But, no way I
was giving up, I was gonna find a way
to keep going if it killed me.
41.
One RIG IS SILENT. Wells struggles across the compound through
the downpour to stop the men from leaving. He falls. Picks
himself up. Waves his arms. Yells in a language they don’t
speak. Even the buffalo is leaving. He slips again --
WELLS (V.O) (CONT’D)
I picked up a bad case of malaria,
which takes out something like a
million people a year... And I was on
the list.
From the mud he sees the workers vanishing, a skeleton crew on
the remaining rig. He rolls on his back. And still the rain
comes down.
Acosta enters. Doesn’t realize Wells is slumped in a chair in
the gloom.
WELLS:
The workers are leaving, Mike.
ACOSTA:
I know. I’ve got the new assay
reports.
Acosta lights a lantern, sees Wells.
ACOSTA (CONT’D)
Jesus. Get your ass in bed already.
It’s an effort for Wells to speak, painful.
WELLS:
Talk to me.
ACOSTA:
There’s nothing to talk about. We’re
not finding anything.
Wells sags. The reality that he’s losing again sinking in.
Wells has another fit of chills. He’s half-delirious.
WELLS:
Maybe we’re pushing them too hard.
Maybe we should take it easy, enjoy it
a little bit.
ACOSTA:
Take it easy? Is that a Reno bumper
sticker? The losers’ credo.
42.
WELLS:
Nah, man, it’s just life. Sometimes
you just gotta take it easy... I’m
freezing.
Acosta helps him to his cot. Pulls the thin blanket over.
WELLS (CONT’D)
Maybe cut ‘em all in... offer
ownership, share in the upside...
The DISTANT WHINE of the last drill suddenly GOES QUIET. The
TIMELESS CACOPHONY of the jungle RISES.
WELLS (CONT’D)
I’m scared, Mike. Don’t let me die out
here for nothing...
Wells passes out into a feverish sleep. Acosta watches him a
long time before reaching a decision.
Acosta steps into the empty, silent camp. Rain curtaining off
his hat. He sets out alone.
EXT. LONGHOUSE VILLAGE - LATER
Acosta walking through the rainy jungle toward a village. See
natives in the limestone cliffs looking down. Acosta passes a
pond where people bathe and fill jugs with muddy water.
AT THE LONGHOUSE there are DAYAK WOMEN on the porch. Acosta
has a few quiet words. One slowly stands, disappears through
the DARK OPENING. Acosta cannot see inside. It’s too dark. The
remaining women look at him evenly. The “FOREMAN” appears,
obviously a LOCAL CHIEF.
ACOSTA:
(Dayak)
What can I do to get you to return to
work? We are running out of money,
it’s true. But we’re close. I know it.
A beat as the foreman considers Acosta. Then he gestures to
follow. The rising CRIES of a child can be heard.
Thrumming rain on the thatch and in half-gloom find a feverish
CHILD. Acosta watches as the mother tries to get him to take a
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"Gold" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 Sep. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/gold_1054>.
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