The Way Back Page #3

I had no food.

And then I saw you.

You can't swim, can you?

What?

You've never been near|the water in your life.

But I got across, didn't I?|And you followed.

And you said you lived|on a farm near Warsaw?

Yes.

Soviets didn't get that far.

That was German territory.

Your parents weren't murdered,|were they?

You made all that up.

We've all done|terrible things to survives.

But don't ever lie to me again.

We've had enough of lies.

We have to go around it.

Quicker through it.

No, they have dogs.

If they raise the alarm,|then we don't stand a chance.

We need food again, Pakhan.

Look, I know we need food,

but we can't go into|that town and risk arrest.

We're wasting time.

What is it?|What's wrong?

Where's Valka?

He was behind Zoran.

Zoran, weren't you|watching him?

I'm not his keeper.

Damn him.

He could turn us in|for the bounty.

And risk arrest?

He's a gambler.

Irena, do you think|he would do that?

He might.

We don't need his knife.

We can make one|out of deer bone.

It's an opportunity|to get rid of him.

All right, all right.

Come on, let's go.

Watch it funny man?

You want to get us|all killed?

Easy, cowboy.

You tear my coat.

Idiot.

Idlot?

Am I?

Let's see who is idiot.

What?

Did I kill?

Yes.

A dog.

Don't believe me,|then don't eat.

But you will, won't you,|because you want to survive.

I know about survive.

All my life.

And...

it's my birthday.

In Russia,|that means we drink.

She lived in the|streets, like me.

So the story you told us|wasn't true.

I thought that story|would be more sad

and you wouldn't|leave me behind.

My parents were|Polish Communists.

They took us to live in|Soviet Union, to Moscow.

They want to work|for the Revolution.

We lived in the Hotel Lux,

with lots of|foreign Communists.

But they|arrested them in 1937.

They said they were spies.

The police put me|in the orphanage.

And my brother,

he died.

I was ten years old.

They called me Rykov,

but I remembered our|Polish name... Zielinska.

I used to say it every night|before I went to sleep.

So you ran away.

They have no mosquitoes.

What can we do?

Steal a boat?

No, it's too risky.

People are going to get ill.

I know.

Isn't it strange?

After all we've faced,

these tiny insects|might bring us down.

There it is again.

No mosquitoes!

Zoran! Zoran!

What's he doing,|for God's sake?

Mosquito repellent.

So what you say to him?

Who?

The mosquito man.

I'm an escaped convict

who is plagued by mosquitoes.

Yeah, very funny.

No, really, what did you say?

Come on, man.

Clown.

Goodbye, Lake Baikal.

Well done.

Mister, did you know|Voss is a priest?

No, I didn't know that.

And Tomasz is a pastry chef,

but he wants to be an artist.

You don't say.

And Zoran was|on business in Moscow,

arrested in Red Square.

He said he was just|taking a photo of the Kremlin.

He's an accountant.

Well, I'll be damned.

I never knew a funny accountant.

Don't you talk to each other?

In the camps you learn to say|as little as possible.

Mr. Smith?

Working on the Moscow Metro?

He's an engineer.

His father was Finnish.

Grew up in America,|but he could speak Russian.

And why would an American|move to Russia, for God's sake?

The Depression.

His son came with him.

What happened to his son?

They shot him.

He was 17.

The Mongolian border

is on the other side|of those tracks...

maybe four, five days away.

Can we cross somewhere else?

Here, this is the main line.

It's going to be|like this everywhere.

He's right.|We wait till tonight.

What?

Nothing. Just looking.

Don't look.

Valka?

What?

Why do you have a**holes|tattooed on your chest?

I mean, they should be|on your ass

so you can sit on them|every time you take a sh*t.

You think it's funny?

They are great men.

Valka! Valka!

Don't you know what|"Stalin" means, funny man?

Means Man-of-Steel.

He takes from rich|and gives to poor.

Yes, of course he does.

Then he takes both of them

and puts them in a Gulag|for 25 years.

Watch your eyes, crow bait.

Thank you, Mother Russia,|for your hospitality,

but I will definitely|not be coming back.

You know, they'll...|they'll catch you.

Yeah. Prison is okay.

Debt is bad.

But there are many prisons,

they don't find me.

What about America?

It's not for me, freedom.

I wouldn't know what to do|with it, I swear to God.

So we must say goodbye,|my Wolf and me.

You don't need him anymore.

Good luck, Valka.

Goodbye, Janusz.

Look. See?

Do you think we'll get there|by tonight?

Yes, I think so.

What will we do?

We will eat.

Yes.

We will sleep.

We made it.

Mister!

They're communists.

So it's here too.

This changes everything.

There's nowhere to hide.

It's a Buddhist temple.

They might take us in.

They might also be|working with the regime.

It's a risk.

What happened here?

The same as happened in Russia.

Churches closed...

priests shot or taken to camps...

religion banned.

They came to my church,|in Latvia.

Destroyed everything,|much like this.

I went back later that night,

and there was a|lone... lone guard.

Just a boy.

And I strangled him

until his eyes|popped right out of his head.

Valka knew somehow.

He knew I'd killed|in cold blood.

How far is China?

I don't know.

Maybe five, six hundred|kilometers due south.

Is Chlna free?

They're fighting the Japs.

I know that much.

After China is Tibet.

We could go to Lhasa,|the capital.

What?|What are you talking about?

They say we could|go beyond Tibet,

over the mountains to India.

What mountains?

The Himalayas.

Join the British Army.

Fight Nazls,|then fight the Russians.

Go over the Himalayas?

How? On a magic carpet?

How?

We walk.

Careful.

Come on, wake up.

I was in the middle|of this beautiful dream.

I was about to eat some salt.

I almost taste it.

I just want to go back|to that dream.

It's a very simple recipe.

You just need|two sprigs of rosemary

and a pinch of nutmeg.

Nutmeg? What about the salt?

No, we'll...|we'll get to that. Now...

add the oil...

and you leave it to marinate

while you prepare the chicken.

This is where|the salt comes in.

Good.

You rub it into the skin|of the chicken

with a little bit|of the paprika.

But double the salt.

Look, you cannot|just double the salt.

It'll be too salty then.

I don't care,|just double the salt.

I'm not going to ruin it.

just double the salt, please.

No.

Tomasz...

No.

All right, all right.|Everybody keep calm.

Oh, my God!

No, no, no!|Don't run! Don't run.

Be calm and smile. B|e friendly.

Everybody smile.

Hello. Hello.

That's south.

Are we going to eat that?

It's either this or fish.

It looks like a bird's nest.

It will protect you|from the sun.

Irena, try this for your feet.

South.

Come on, we keep going.

No, it's another mirage.

We have no water.

There's trees there.

If there's trees,|there... there's water.

No, I don't care.

It's east.|We're going south.

But, Janusz,|we've got to give it a try.

No, no, no.|We must keep going south,

or you'll kill us all.

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