The Escape of Prisoner 614 Page #2

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at the Shandaken sheriff's

department is terminated.

I'm gonna need your badges

and your firearms.

[leather squeaking]

[Thurman] Easy.

There you go.

Someone from human

resources up in Albany

will contact you about

your pensions presently.

- [gun dropping in drawer]

- [drawer slamming]

You got till the end of the day

to clear out your

personal effects.

Now, if you'll excuse me,

I'm due in Kingston.

[door slamming]

What are you doing?

Packing up.

You just wanna quit?

We didn't quit, Thurman,

we got fired.

Let me ask you something, Jim.

If we're not deputies,

then what the hell are we?

We're nothing.

Wrong, we're worse

than nothing.

We're civilians.

[phone ringing]

Shandaken sheriff's department.

[Arthur] I need to

speak to the sheriff,

- post-haste.

- Who's calling?

This is Warden Arthur B. Cox,

Adirondack County Correctional.

Well, I'm sorry, Warden.

Sheriff's got a

deposition in Kingston.

If you wait a couple hours,

you're likely

to reach him

at the courthouse.

No, no, no.

Can't wait.

Is there a deputy on duty?

Yes, sir, two deputies

on duty.

[Arthur] Well then, deputy,

hold on to your johnson.

We're not deputies.

- Shh.

- This morning at O600,

head check came up

one short, prisoner 614.

Fine then.

COs discovered a tunnel,

hidden behind the

toilet in his cell,

spanned 400 feet.

Son of a b*tch must've

held it for months.

Anyhow,

we got word

that a hunting party

saw a fella in shackles,

matching his description,

up on Slide Mountain.

Now, if I'm not mistaken,

that sits square within the

middle of your jurisdiction.

Yes, sir, it does.

Good, any questions?

Uh, yes, sir.

What do you want us to do?

Well, for starters,

catch the son of a b*tch.

- He murdered a deputy in cold blood, back in '58.

- Jesus.

Left a widow and

three daughters.

So, if anything happens,

nobody's gonna lose sleep

over a dead cop-killer.

Godspeed, deputy.

I'm counting on you.

Yes, sir, and I just

wanna let you know,

on behalf of the...

- [dial tone humming]

- Hello?

Is he gone?

He's gone.

[phone hanging up]

[sighing]

I know what we're gonna do.

Nothing.

We ain't doing nothing.

You heard the sheriff

as same as I did.

We're gonna hike out

to Slide Mountain,

capture the prisoner,

return him to justice.

We'll be heroes.

Sheriff will have no choice,

but to give us our jobs back.

Thurman, we swore an oath

to uphold the law.

It seems awful

wrong to break it.

Tell me, Jim, what law

are we breaking?

Impersonating an officer.

We're not

impersonating anyone.

Badge or no badge,

we're deputies.

And you're right,

we did swear an oath

to the good people of Shandaken.

And I'll be damned if I leave

them in their time of need.

There's a cold-blooded

killer out there, Jim.

And goddamn it,

we're gonna find him.

Get your hat.

[door opening]

[rock smashing schackles]

We head out in the wilderness,

we capture the prisoner,

return him to justice,

at which point,

we will inevitably

be hailed as heroes

and the sheriff

will have no choice

but to give us our jobs back.

- That's a dynamite plan.

- [slamming table]

- See?

- And no one's disputing that.

What makes you think

that we can find him,

much less apprehend him?

The Slide Mountain

wilderness is 45,000 acres

of rugged beauty.

He could be anywhere.

Oh, I don't know.

Maybe the fact that

we're highly-trained

sheriff's deputies.

We've been training for

this our entire lives.

This whole, a culmination

of all of our experience.

- We don't even have our guns.

- It's just an apex of things that we've learned.

We don't have our guns.

What are we gonna do?

This man killed a

deputy in cold blood.

What makes you figure he's just

gonna give up to us willingly, huh?

Still have the

keys to the outpost.

Take munitions from there.

Your solution is to burgle?

No, my solution's not...

no one's gonna burgle.

Obviously return 'em once

this whole thing's over with.

- You see, legally, that's borrowing.

- [Thurman] Thank you.

How do you borrow bullets

that you took and shot?

That doesn't make sense.

- You can't...

- Sure, you can.

What are you gonna,

it's a used bullet.

Little IOUs, little IOUs.

We'll tally 'em out.

So then, it's not

a borrowing situation.

No, it's an IOU situation.

And you know what,

that's honorable.

People honor IOUs.

Our word is our bond

and I'm done arguing

about this with you.

Look at me.

Are you in or are you out?

Thurman, wait.

No, remind me one more time.

If we're not deputies,

then what the hell are we?

Oh, I hate to interject,

but that'll be $2.85

for the meatloaf and the shakes.

I beg your pardon?

$2 and 85 cents for the

meatloafs and the shakes,

plus a gratuity if you'd like.

Uh, Marla, it's always

been on the house.

Well, that was different.

You used to be deputies.

- I'm in.

- Uh-huh.

Marla, I'm gonna

have to owe you.

But we will pay.

[bell on door ringing]

[Thurman] All right,

here's the plan,

0800, begin pursuit of prisoner.

Yep.

1200, break for

lunch, which is?

- Sandwich platter.

- All right.

1300 hours, continue

pursuit of prisoner.

Now here's the part where

it gets a little bit fuzzy,

but I estimate that some time

between 1400 and 1600 hours,

we'll apprehend the prisoner,

set up camp for the night,

and head on back in the morning.

So, best guess, I'd say

everything'll be back to normal

by 1300 tomorrow,

which for my money,

can't come soon enough.

Now, what do we got for rations?

A lunch and dinner today,

breakfast tomorrow,

and assorted snacks

and refreshments.

All right, good.

Anything beyond that,

we'll just have to hunt

and kill ourselves.

Map.

Map. Map.

- Map.

- [Thurman] Yep.

The Slide Mountain wilderness

comprises 47,500 acres

and 16 peaks.

Marked foot trails provide

access to the remote interior,

traversing rocky summits

that are thick

with balsam forest,

home to a host of wildlife,

including black bears,

whitetail deer,

porcupine, and snowshoe hare.

The Burr-ohs Range,

made up of Slide, Cornell,

Wittenberg Mountains, is

named for famed naturalist,

John Burr-ohs.

- [Thurman] Burroughs.

- Burr-ohs.

Burroughs.

Burr-ohs.

Its imposing beauty

inspired him to write,

quote, "Here the works of

man dwindle," end quote.

A plaque commemorating

Burr-ohs, is permanently affixed

to the summit rock on the

Catskill's highest peak,

Slide Mountain.

We should visit that,

if we have time.

Which way then?

Up.

[Thurman] Up, up.

[Jim] Up.

Hey, how much you wanna

bet I can shoot this can

off that rock in one shot?

That one?

This can right here.

Depends how far away you are.

15 paces?

[throat clearing]

I got a buck says you can't.

- [gun dropping]

- Oh, dropped your gun.

Yep.

15 paces.

[gun cocking]

[gunshot]

That's $1, my friend.

- Double or nothing.

- [gun cocking]

[gunshot]

Double or nothing again.

[gun cocking]

[gunshot]

[laughing]

- Again.

- I like those odds.

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