The Thing Page #22

MACREADY:

(almost a whisper)

Blair...

EXT. COMPOUND - NIGHT

The wind rumbles. The storm is at its peak. MacReady,

Childs and Nauls, guided by their flares, pull themselves

along the steadying rope, headed, for Blair's shack.

BLAIR'S SHACK

The door is wide open. They pause by the entrance, trying

to balance against the wind. They enter.

INT. BLAIR'S SHACK

Empty. A few of the floorboards are loosened. They pull

them up. They stare down into a large hole beneath the

planking. Something is down there. They pull up more

boards.

The hole is some fifteen feet deep. Its dimensions are

the same as the shack. Its space is almost completely

taken up by some strange metallic object.

Crudely fashioned, a patchwork job, but streamlined.

Sheets of corrugated steel are visible; but cut apart and

welded into the desired shapes. The object appears to be

unfinished.

NAULS:

What is it?

MACREADY:

Everything that's been missing.

CHILDS:

Spaceship of some kind.

MACREADY:

Smart S.O.B. He put it together

piece by piece.

NAULS:

Where was he trying to go?

MACREADY:

Anyplace but here.

MacReady pulls out a dozen tightly wrapped sticks of

dynamite.

MACREADY:

But he ain't going to make it.

Far off, amidst the howling gale -- the screeching. The

men jump. MacReady lights the fuse, as they make it to

the exit. He tosses it in.

EXT. COMPOUND ALONG THE ROPE

The explosion echoes behind them. The men pull along.

Their heads jerk in circles, searching into the blackness.

Some twenty yards to their rear something swooshes down,

severing the line. The wind sends the men tumbling along

the ice. Childs loosens the line and is blown away,

rolling out of sight.

MacReady and Nauls have lost their torches. They pull

feverishly along the ground trying to make it to the

compound.

The screeching closes in behind them. MacReady loses his

grip on the rope and is blown toward the main building.

He crawls along looking for an opening.

Nauls slides near the outside entrance to the dog kennel.

He climbs down through the open stairwell.

INT. PLANT ROOM

MacReady has found the broken window. He rolls through

it, landing on the frozen plants below. Something smashes

at the glass above his head, trying to get in. He sprints

for the door. Fuchs' frozen body is still pinned to it

with the ax. MacReady grapples with the stiff torso which

blocks the knob.

He finally gets it open and lets himself out, slamming and

locking the door from the hall. Fuchs' body swings

eerily, back and forth.

INT. HALLWAY

MacReady charges up the stairs from the plant room. He

zooms down the twisting corridors, opening and closing

doors. He rounds a bend and crashes into Nauls coming the

other way.

CUT TO:

INT. REC ROOM - CLOSE ON SANCHEZ

pouring gasoline into empty bottles, preparing Molotov

cocktails.

Garry is connecting an electrical device: wires attached

to two portable generators. MacReady appears to be

injecting something into empty contact capsules. The men

work feverishly.

Nauls rushes in with another box of dynamite.

NAULS:

What about Childs?

MACREADY:

Forget about Childs. He's over.

Nauls begins cutting the wicks off the dynamite.

GARRY:

Make 'em short. They'll go off

quicker if we need to use them.

The wind belts into the roofing overhead. Garry sets the

wiring to the main doorway. MacReady begins blocking off

one of the other entrances with a large computer.

SANCHEZ:

What if it doesn't come?

MACREADY:

It'll come. It needs us. We're the

only thing left to imitate...

(to Sanchez)

Give me a hand.

They block off a door with two heavy electrical games.

MACREADY:

(to Sanchez)

You and Nauls got to block off the

west side bunks, the mess hall and

the kitchen.

NAULS:

(protest)

You crazy? He might be inside

already?

MACREADY:

Chance we got to take. We got to

force him to come down the east side

to the door we got rigged.

Nauls starts lacing his skates.

SANCHEZ:

He might just wait us out.

MACREADY:

I'm going to blow the generator when

you get back. He'll have to come

for us -- or freeze.

MacReady further barricades the door with small couch.

MACREADY:

We've got portable heaters -- we'll

last longer.

Sanchez and Nauls start to leave.

MACREADY:

... Hold it.

He dispenses the capsules.

MACREADY:

Sodium cyanide. We place them

between our cheeks and gums... This

Thing can't imitate anything that's

dead.

A grim silence.

MACREADY:

If it gets a hold of you -- bite

down... They're supposed to be fast

and painless... Now move.

CUT TO:

INT. CORRIDOR

Sanchez and Nauls inch their way through.

INT. REC ROOM

MacReady rips linen, soaks the strips in gas, and stuffs

them in the Molotov bottles. Garry tests the current on

the door. Popping, sparks, smoke.

MACREADY:

Looks good.

GARRY:

One thousand volts. Should be

enough.

INT. KITCHEN

Nauls pushes a stove, reinforcing a locked door. Five

yards away, Sanchez maneuvers the refrigerator in front of

another outlet.

Sanchez hears a quiet purring, bubbling sound. He turns

to Nauls.

SANCHEZ:

You hear that?

NAULS:

Hear what?

A blaring. They whip their attention to stereo speakers

on either side of the kitchen. Rock music screams out.

Top volume.

INT. REC ROOM

The same loud music. MacReady and Garry look to the three

speakers attached to the walls. MacReady yells his

incomprehension to Garry. Garry tries to respond. Their

voices drowned out.

INT. HALLWAY

Empty. Another of the stereo speakers that line the

walls, thunders.

INT. KITCHEN

Nauls, in sudden realization, screams over the din and

points back in the direction they came.

NAULS:

It's got into the pub! It's turned

on the stereo!

SANCHEZ:

What?!

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