The Thing Page #12

SANCHEZ:

I'll see what I can do. But they

didn't teach me much about fixing

these things.

Norris smiles and pats him comfortingly.

NORRIS:

They didn't teach you much about

working them either.

INT. MESS HALL - MORNING

CLOSE ON A BUFFET OF EGGS, BACON, TOAST, ETC.

Pull back. The men help themselves. It is a cramped,

elongated room.

Dr. Copper approaches Nauls and hands him a capsule.

DR. COPPER

Put this in Blair's juice before you

take him his tray.

Clark comes running into the room, pallid, out of breath.

The men turn to look.

CLARK:

The dogs...

CUT TO:

INT. THE KENNEL

Empty. Clark and Garry examine the latch of the kennel

door.

GARRY:

Doesn't look broken.

CLARK:

No. Door was wide open. I know I

latched it.

EXT. COMPOUND ABOVE THE UNDERGROUND KENNEL

CLOSE ON THE DOGS' TRACKS in the snow. They lead from the

kennel's open stairwell and out onto the ice. All the men

have gathered.

CLARK:

All three of them took off.

MacReady is writing down what appears to be a list on a

pad.

DR. COPPER

How long do you suppose they've been

gone?

CLARK:

I haven't seen them since their last

feeding. Could be as much as

twenty-four hours.

MACREADY:

They couldn't have gotten that far

in this weather.

Garry and several others turn to MacReady quizzically.

GARRY:

You're not thinking of going after

them, are you?

MACREADY:

I am going after them.

NORRIS:

What in the hell for? Even if

Blair's right -- they'll just die

out there. No food. They're over a

thousand miles from anything.

PALMER:

Chopper aren't going to be ready for

days.

MacReady hands his list to Bennings.

MACREADY:

Get these things out of supply and

meet me over by the snowmobiles.

GARRY:

You're not going to catch them in

one of those with the start they

got.

MACREADY:

Palmer, how long would it take you

to strap those big four-cylinder

carburetors on?

PALMER:

(grins)

Oh, I got you. Not too long.

MACREADY:

Then get a move on. Childs, come

with me.

He puts his arm around Childs and pulls him along. The

others watch them walk off, a little bewildered.

GARRY:

(shouting after

them)

Besides, what are you going to do

when you catch up to them?

Bennings is reading MacReady's list.

BENNINGS:

Holy sh*t.

(hands list to Garry)

Whatever he's going to do, he ain't

f***ing around.

EXT. OUTDOOR WORK AREA - CLOSE ON THE BARREL

of the large torch. A fierce stream of flame bursts from

its nozzle.

Pull back. The stream has shot out some fifteen feet.

Childs has been modifying it.

CHILDS:

I can get maybe another five or six

feet out of it.

MACREADY:

That's good enough.

CLOSE ON PALMER:

as he works on the snowmobiles. Into frame rolls a

wheelbarrow on sleds. A box marked DYNAMITE is its most

prominent article. Pull back. Bennings reads off the

list of supplies.

BENNINGS:

All right... Box of dynamite... box

of thermite... three shotguns... box

of flares... two flare guns...

thirty cans gasoline... and a case

of alcohol.

MACREADY:

Let's load 'em.

EXT. ANTARCTICA - ICESCAPE

The two vehicles rip across the hard, flat ice, bolstered

by the added horsepower. They follow the still visible

dog tracks in the snow.

CUT TO:

THE SUN:

sliding across the horizon, signaling midday. The

snowmobiles whoosh past. Bennings drives the one loaded

with supplies. MacReady and Childs double up on the

other.

CUT TO:

MACREADY:

steadying his binoculars, while Childs drives, spots

something up ahead. The vehicles slow down and come to a

halt. Something lies just ahead of them in the whiteness,

in the middle of the dog tracks.

THE MEN:

kneel down by the "something." It is the half-eaten

remains of a dog. Its hind legs and lower stomach picked

clean. Its ripped hide, flapping in the wind. Its top

half missing.

CHILDS:

What is it?

MacReady follows the line of continuing dog tracks.

MACREADY:

Maybe dinner.

BENNINGS:

Dogs don't eat each other.

MACREADY:

(beat)

I know.

CHILDS:

Where's the other half?

MACREADY:

Probably the next meal.

MacReady moves to the snowmobile and grabs a two-gallon

can of gasoline. He turns to Bennings.

MACREADY:

Where these tracks headed?

BENNINGS:

Nowhere... Just straight to the

ocean.

A beat as MacReady takes this in. He pours the gas over

the remains and sets it aflame.

MACREADY:

Let's move.

Childs and Bennings are not that anxious to continue.

CHILDS:

They could be hours ahead of us,

Mac.

BENNINGS:

Gonna get dark soon, too. Supposed

to be fifty below tonight.

MacReady gets on and revs up the engine.

MACREADY:

Turn back if you want.

Childs and Bennings return shrugs.

CUT TO:

THE SUN:

making its last pass, rolling off the horizon. Only a

slight orange hue left.

CUT TO:

THE SNOWMOBILES:

move slower, positioned on either side of the tracks. The

tracks abruptly change direction. The men come to a stop.

It is much colder now. Their beards, a mask of white

powder.

MacReady surveys the new direction. They are headed

toward a far-off ridge of bluffs. Large, windswept mounds

of ice.

CUT TO:

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes