Silver Bullet Page #10

HALLER makes no reply. He looks down at his feet.

HERB:

No. I thought not.

(to the others)

You folks stay here if you want. I wouldn't

ask anyone to do anything that runs counter

to his conscience. As for me... I'm going out

and hunt up a little private justice.

ANDY FAIRTON has swelled up again. He grins poisonously at

the slumped HALLER. He pushes off after HERB KINCAID. Other

men start to follow.

EXT. OWEN'S PUB

Men are streaming out, getting into station wagons and

pickup trucks. Engines roar into life. They begin backing

out even as more men come out of the pub. We even hear some

high-spirited yells; they are on their way and their blood

is up.

INT. OWEN'S PUB

LESTER LOWE, looking more distressed than ever, pushes his

way through the men toward the door, and THE CAMERA FOLLOWS.

He grabs BILLY McCLAREN.

LOWE:

Billy... Billy, this is a bad idea. Joe can...

BILLY (not looking at LOWE)

Joe's had his chance, Father. Leave me be.

He pushes outside. LOWE looks around wildly; his face says

he can't believe this is happening. He grabs PORTER

ZINNEMAN, then, as PORTER shoves by him, at a couple of

others with mounting desperation.

HALLER makes his way to LOWE through the thinning crowd and

draws him aside.

HALLER:

Let them go.

LOWE:

But-

HALLER:

This is that spirit of community you were

talking about. Grand, ain't it? Maybe they'll

shoot a hitchhiker or something and Andy can

mount the head and raffle it off. To benefit

the Medcu van, of course.

HALLER laughs.

LOWE:

But can't we do anything?

OWEN KNOPFLER hurries past them; he has a rifle over one

shoulder in a sling. In his left hand he carries the

peacemaker bat.

HALLER:

Sure. We can pray to Christ that none of them

get killed.

EXT. OUTSIDE OWEN'S

More cars and trucks pull away. There's a big old Ford

"woody" wagon still there, with ANDY FAIRTON standing

impatiently by the driver's side door. BILLY McCLAREN and

BOBBY ROBERTSON are with him, and a big, solid-looking woman

named MAGGIE ANDREWS.

OWEN comes out and crosses to the woody.

ANDY:

Well, it's about frigging time! They'll

have his hide tacked to somebody's barn

door before we get out there!

They pile into the car, ANDY behind the wheel. He throws it

into gear and backs out onto Main Street.

EXT. MAIN STREET, A NEW ANGLE

We see a parade of cars and pickup trucks headed out of

town.

EXT. FATHER LESTER LOWE

He's standing on the curb and watching them leave town in

procession, some honking their horns, others yelling

cheerfully. The expression on his face is dark and brooding.

EXT. THE FULL MOON, CU NIGHT

EXT. ELMER AND PORTER ZINNEMAN NIGHT

ELMER is lying on his belly, stuck halfway under a

barbed-wire fence. The seat of his pants is badly snagged.

The brothers are on the verge of a wooded area. We can see

ground mist creeping around the bottoms of the trees.

ELMER:

Help me Porter, goddammit!

PORTER grabs ELMER'S right arm and pulls. There's a RIPPING

SOUND. ELMER screams.

ELMER:

Don't pull me! You want to rip the right

cheek of my ass right off?

PORTER:

Well, Elmer, there are folks that'd say

you've been half-assed most of your-

ELMER:

Are you going to unhook me or be a wise guy?

PORTER begins to pick the barbed wire out of ELMER'S pants.

EXT. IN THE WOODS, WITH REV. O'BANION AND VIRGIL CUTTS

NIGHT:

O'BANION looks rather amusing in his hunting gear- like that

priest from "The Exorcist" on safari.

SOUND:
A HOWL, FAIRLY LOUD

VIRGIL:

Jesus, that was close. Uh, pardon me, Rev'runt.

O'BANION

Come on. Be careful.

They move slowly ahead, O'BANION still a bit in the lead.

THE CAMERA FOLLOWS as the reverend pushes into some

knee-high brush.

SOUND:
A RUSTY METALLIC CLANG, followed by a FLESHY CHOMP.

O'BANION begins to scream and struggle.

VIRGIL:

Rev'runt! What is it?

O'BANION (screaming)

My foot! My foot!

VIRGIL lunges to him and looks down.

EXT. O'BANION'S FOOT, VIRGIL'S POV

A medium-sized trap- something in which one might reasonably

catch a wild cat or a coydog, let us say- has its rusty

teeth sunk deeply into the reverend's ankle.

EXT. O'BANION AND VIRGIL

O'BANION (SCREAMING)

Get it off me! Get it off me!

VIRGIL (flustered)

Sure...okay...

He kneels down.

EXT. VIRGIL

He muscles the trap open, a little at a time.

EXT. O'BANION

Relaxing.

SOUND:
THE WOLF HOWLING CLOSE.

EXT. VIRGIL

Startled and unnerved by the HOWL, the trap slips out of his

hands and snaps shut on O'BANION'S mangled ankle again.

EXT. REVEREND O'BANION

He screams.

EXT. THE MOON, CU

It slides behind a cloud.

SOUND:
THE WOLF HOWLING.

EXT. ANDY FAIRTON'S GROUP

ANDY, BILLY McCLAREN, BOBBY ROBERTSON, OWEN KNOPFLER, and

MAGGIE ANDREWS have been joined by two other men- MR.

ASPINALL and EDGAR ROUNDS.

They have drawn close together, listening as the HOWL FADES.

We can tell by their uneasy faces that some of the joy has

gone out of the evening.

They are standing on one side of a ravine. The bottom is

filled with a still ground mist. A few bushes poke out of

it. There are woods on the far side.

ANDY (pointing across)

It came from over there.

BOBBY ROBERTSON:

As far as I could tell, it could have come

from anywhere.

ANDY:

We'll spread out in a skirmish line. If the

bastard tries to go around us, we'll hear him.

BOBBY:

I dunno-

MAGGIE:

I think Bobby Robertson here's making lemonade

in his pants. That lemonade got ice cubes in

it, Bobby?

ANDY FAIRTON and EDGAR ROUNDS laugh. ASPINALL and BILLY

McCLAREN smile a little.

OWEN (quietly)

Let off him, Maggie. I'm scared, too.

BOBBY (stoutly)

I ain't scared! Let's go!

ANDY:

Okay. Spread out on me. Five feet apart.

EXT. ANDY'S GROUP, FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE RAVINE

Reading from right to left: OWEN KNOPFLER (his gun is still

over his shoulder; it is the peacemaker baseball bat he is

holding), BOBBY ROBERTSON, ASPINALL, ANDY FAIRTON, BILLY

McCLAREN, EDGAR ROUNDS and MAGGIE ANDREWS.

They come slowly down toward THE CAMERA, alert and ready for

anything- at least, they think so.

EXT. ANDY'S GROUP, ANGLE SHOT

They reach the bottom of the ravine and begin to make their

way across it. The mist is waist to chest deep. They push

toward the other side. Now they are about halfway.

SOUND:
A STEADY, LOW GROWLING, CLOSE.

They all stop, scared.

BILLY McCLAREN

Where's it coming from? Other side?

BOBBY:

No- it's behind us. I told you you couldn't

trust-

ASPINALL:

It isn't on either side.

ANDY:

What are you-

ASPINALL is looking around, his eyes widening with fear.

ASPINALL:

It's under the fog. It's right in with us.

The GROWLING STOPS. There's a beat of silence. Then:

SOUND:
SNARLING...AND A RIPPING CHOMP as dinner is served.

SOUND:
A SCREAM.

EXT. EDGAR ROUNDS, CLOSE

He's the one screaming, and if he reminds us of O'BANION,

that's okay, because ROUNDS has also been caught in a trap.

He tries to run, stumbles, falls into the ground fog. He

goes on screaming. We can see his back for a moment, and

then it disappears.

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