Serpent

1

[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]

[SOFT RUSTLING]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[PHONE RINGS]

[RUSTLING CONTINUES]

[ELEVATOR DINGS]

[ELEVATOR DOORS SLIDE OPEN]

[MECHANICAL GRINDING]

[PHONE CONTINUES RINGING]

[ELEVATOR CHIMES]

[RUSTLING CONTINUES]

[ELEVATOR BEEPS]

[ELEVATOR CHIMES]

[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]

[SOFT RUSTLING]

WOMAN [OVER RECORDING]:

You have four new messages.

First message...

MAN:
I'm in our usual room,

504, so...

[PHONE BEEPS]

WOMAN:

Message deleted.

Next message...

MAN:

Don't do this.

- [BEEPS]

- WOMAN:
Message deleted.

- Next message.

- MAN:
Voice mail again.

I can do this all weekend.

You know I...

- [PHONE BEEPS]

- WOMAN:
Message deleted.

Next message.

MAN 2:

Hey, uh, it's me.

Um, yeah, dinner's on the go.

Uh, look forward

to seeing you at home.

Okay. Love you. Bye.

[BEEPS]

[PHONE RINGS]

[BEEPS]

[SOFT RUSTLING]

[SOFT MUSIC PLAYING ON STEREO]

MAN:

Hello, you.

Can't decide what to wear.

That's just the fallout.

WOMAN:
It'll be like

you never left.

How's the real world?

Mm. Just want

to shower it all off.

- Guess what.

- What?

We got the grant.

- Really?

- Mm-hmm.

Dr. Kealey.

It will mean

more time away.

[PHONE CHIMES]

God, we had this ridiculous

team-building exercise today,

- but I...

- [SIZZLING]

What are you burning?

Oh, sh*t.

Okay.

WOMAN:
I thought this was

a recipe book.

You should see

this place, hmm?

Full of all

the creepy-crawly nature stuff?

No, thank you.

No phone reception,

for a start.

That sounds awful.

How long till we eat?

Mm...

Oh, Adam, gross.

Not by the food.

Lookit...

I know that this

has been hard on us.

Yeah, but...

we're almost out

on the other side, 'kay?

I am proud of you.

What you do matters.

It's real.

No, you do not leave

that stove.

I'm starving.

[PHONE RINGS]

Hello.

MAN:
So I have to call

from another number

- just to get to...

- [PHONE BEEPS]

[CLOSES DOOR]

[PANTING]

[PHONE CHIMES]

[PHONE CHIMES]

- [SIZZLING]

- [UTENSIL CLATTERS]

Take me with you...

just you and me.

What's going on?

Pete and I have been

working on this for months.

It's a big deal.

When I get back,

you know, we'll...

We'll...

We'll go away.

Please. Come on.

This isn't the kind of trip

- you can just...

- Don't!

Take me.

Take me to this world

you've been hiding.

ADAM:

Pete.

You know I'd never...

Ah, sh*t.

Need to talk

about this trip.

Something's come up.

You bet. Are you driving?

No, you better come down.

- [PHONE RINGS]

- Yeah, now's good.

Sorry. Sorry.

Hang on a second, Pete.

- [PHONE RINGS]

- Shannon.

Look, I don't

really think that...

One second.

Sorry.

Where were we?

- Hi, Shan.

- SHANNON:
Hi.

We're on for Saturday,

right?

[SIGHS]

Have you forgotten?

The dress.

Hey, if Adam's going

in the morning,

why don't you stay

with me for the weekend?

Forget it. You seem...

Shannon, sorry.

I'm going with Adam.

You know, I'll call you later.

Promise.

[PHONE BEEPS]

Why have you never

given them to me?

I don't know.

Won't the firm

fall apart without you?

It's quite a leap...

this...

going from boycotting

anything to do

with shoes like these to...

Well, to where

we're headed.

It's isolated.

WOMAN:

And I know.

I want to be

part of this.

Well, that's our lead,

Scarabaeoidea Coleoptera.

Some locals

stumbled across it,

and if it is

a whole new species,

then we're gonna have

to move fast to protect it.

[DOORBELL RINGS]

Hello.

It's Pete.

I'm gonna need to deal

with this face to face.

- You wait for me.

- Yeah.

We'll eat together.

ADAM:
Last chance

to go girly on me.

No going back from here.

WOMAN:

He says in reverse.

Here.

- What's this?

- Watertight and shockproof

- for the urban addict.

- Aw, he loves me.

Yeah, he knows you.

- It's cute. I like it.

- In nature,

that color is an alarm,

means, "Leave me the f*** alone.

I'm poisonous."

So, do we, like, have a matching

pair or something?

No.

No, I've, uh,

got a spare phone in my bag.

You know, if it wasn't for

this tiny, little stag beetle,

we wouldn't even

be allowed in there.

Come on!

There's a lot

riding on this, you know?

But they are there.

I'm sure of it.

I like that,

something flourishing,

despite us.

[CAR HORNS HONKING]

Not feeling well?

Roll the window down.

Get yourself some air.

[OVERLAPPING CHATTER,

TRAFFIC NOISE INCREASES]

Hey, babe, I just really suck

at being a passenger.

Do you mind

if I drive?

I'll get the med bag

for you,

see if we got

anything in there, eh?

I'll be fine if...

If you're

not behind the wheel.

Thanks.

[CAR HORN HONKS]

You might be in luck.

That looks serious.

Yeah. Pete's brother

brought her back from Baghdad.

She comes on every trip.

It's our lucky bag.

She?

Matilda.

[CHUCKLES]

Right.

Tape, bandages,

sterile, atropine.

What's that?

Huh?

That is our comedown

in case of chemical warfare,

but we keep it

in case of a snakebite.

Or we could take it

and watch the stars.

I'll be keeping that

away from you, then.

Anyway, there's only

enough for one of us.

Mm, doesn't look

like we've got anything.

So who would get

to take it, then?

Oh, me of course.

See the sign

for Suicide Gorge?

- Yeah.

- Follow that sign.

Are you serious?

ADAM:
It's only gonna be found

here in the gorge.

Their ecosystem

is that small.

[TURNS OFF ENGINE]

[INSECTS DRONING]

[SIGHS]

Thank you.

I don't like

what I did to Pete.

I like

what you did for us.

[EXHALES]

Thanks.

It's already so hot.

Yeah.

ADAM:

All right...

shouldn't take any longer than

a couple of hours

to hike

up to the summit.

We descend

from there.

Don't we need more stuff?

There's a research hut

on the other side of the gorge.

It's got supplies in it.

You got Nemo?

- Huh?

- Your phone.

He hasn't got long left,

just patches

of reception.

He's not the only fish

out of water.

Okay.

You gonna walk

this slowly the whole way?

Couldn't you find a bug

in, like, the Bahamas?

ADAM:

'Cause of the heat,

they spend

most of their lives underground,

come up

for three weeks a year.

You know,

when I find it,

I'm gonna name it

after you.

Who?

Scarabaeoidea.

The whole reason

that we're...

Never mind.

It all kinda looks

the same.

I find it frightening.

Right.

The smaller stone...

in the direction of home...

and there you go.

[PHONE CHIMES]

You can always

turn it off.

[WATER RUNNING]

All right.

Here we are.

Ah, we'll climb

straight down from here.

[GRUNTS]

Okay.

Gwynn.

Look.

It's a baboon spider.

GWYNN:

It's creepy beautiful.

- Does he bite?

- No.

- Okay.

- This one's got tiny jaws.

Hold him?

This one actually looks like

he's been stung by a wasp.

That's why

he's so docile.

A wasp will probably be digging

around here somewhere.

She'll bury him alive.

Why?

Mm, keep him fresh

for her eggs,

which she's already

laid inside of him.

Isn't there

anything we can do?

It's already done.

No, let me go first.

ADAM:

Just watch your step.

The snakes are out

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