The Way Back Page #4

Damn it!

Janusz, we're dying.

We're already dying.

Stop.

It's a mirage!

It's just a mirage.

Mirages don't have birds.

Mirages don't have birds!

It's a well!

Don't fill yourselves.|You'll get sick.

At least we have water here.

You'll wake her.

Yeah, but no food.

Maybe nomads will come|to water their flocks.

When?

Next week, next month?

We should stay here|at least a few more days.

Look, without food,|we'll only get weaker.

And then maybe|too weak to travel.

I don't know.|After these last days...

I don't know if|I can go through that again.

It was a miracle|finding this.

Can we count on another?

Janusz?

Okay, give me your best.

Wait, wait, wait!

Go, Tomasz!

Hat, please.

Lower.

Run! Run!

Get back, get back!|Take cover!

Behind that dune!

Irena! Get down!

Don't be afraid!

Irena.

Irena.

Sun-dried fish.

Thank you.

Here.

Can you find our way|back to the well?

It was way off course.

Remember?|I mean, way east.

There's no...

There's no features|in this wasteland.

I could never find it.

When I helped my father|in the fields

during the hot summers,

we used to suck on|small stones like these.

Made us feel less thirsty.

Janusz!

Sunstroke?

I'm becoming a nuisance.

No, no, no.

Do they hurt you?

No, not at all.

They must be swelling|because I've walked so far.

Don't you think, Mister?

Yes.

You lie back down now.

I'm gonna cover|your legs up for you.

Irena, we can stop|for a while.

No.

just suck on this.

No! Please, no! No!

Come on.|We've got to keep going.

My name is Irena Zieilnska.

My name is Irena Zieilnska.

Put me on the ground, Andrejs.

just lay me on the ground.

It's okay.

Command thine angels|to receive her

and to take her to heaven...

her country.

Amen.

I really like this one.

When did you do that?

Second night in the Gulag.

Poor Kazik, always|in trouble with his feet.

Who is this?

You.

Looks like my father.

Is that how I look now?

No.

Now, you look worse.

You caught her smile.

Look.

This is... just a sketch.

But I'll work on it.

I'll do it.

That's really fine work.

You're a great artist, Tomasz.

It's almost|like a photography.

It's the shadow.

It's really nice.

We have to|get to those hills.

Water may be trapped there.

Come on.|Come on, get up. Get up.

Mister.

Come on.

Go on without me.

I'm done.

Go.

Zoran...

you go to the hills|and look for water.

And you wait for us there.

No.

Yes.

We'll catch up.

Did you find water?

No.

Show me.

Please show me.

Where...

Where are you?

There's...

water!

Zoran.

Around here.

Look at that?

What if... if it's poisonous?|How can we eat it?

No, no, no,|we cut off its head.

Here. Give me the knife.

Ah, look at that.

Tastes like chicken.

Yeah.

A big, black, poisonous|chicken with no legs.

Well, it's not bad.

You know, Valka talked|of eating each other

when we were in Siberia.

He did?

Yes.

And?|Would you have eaten me?

Yeah.

Yeah, of course.

I would never have eaten you.

Well, why not?

Too stringy and bitter.

I'd rather eat snake.

Here's some water.

It can kill you, remember?

What?

Kindness.

How long can you survive|on mud and snakes?

Just leave me here.

You can't, can you?

Look, Mister...

What?

You know, I may not even|know your first name,

but I...

I know your son's name.

Irena told you?

Yes.

Can I say his name?

David.

Saying his name|won't bring him back.

What are you trying to do,

give me the will to live?

Is that it?

Stop me from giving up?

And are you giving up?

In the camps,|some saw death as freedom.

Then why didn't you|just kill yourseif?

Survival was a kind of protest.

Being alive was my punishment.

Punishment for what?

I brought David to Russia.

And now no one|can forgive you.

And you can't|forgive yourself.

Irena told me...

that they|tortured your wife...

and she informed on you.

Yes.

They did the same thing|to my boy.

Then they shot him|in the head.

My wife is alive.

She lived...

and was released.|That much I know.

But she'll never be able|to forgive herseif

for what she's done.

You see, only I can do that.

She will be torturing herself,|just like you.

So you see,|I have to get back.

I-have-to-get-back.

Janusz.

Pack your things, quick.

Janusz!

Do you hear that?

What is that?

Tibet.

Lhasa.

And where is India?

India.

India. Yes.

There is the track to Sikkim,|over the mountains.

Many people go there.

Are there villages|on the way?

Small villages, yes.

They give you food.

Fuel for fire.

But you can't go now.

Why?

If big snow comes,|very difficult.

You wait until spring.

This family keep you.

Well, we can't cross|the mountains in winter.

He said it was difficult|but not impossible.

Janusz, it's only|three months.

Look, we can't let go.

What do you mean?

If we stop now, then we'll|give in to exhaustion.

No, it's not giving in.

We are exhausted.

I will sleep till spring|like a bear in a cave.

You can study Buddhism|and become a monk.

But first you must learn|how to like their tea.

I already like the tea.

Good night.

What about you, Mister?

What are you going to do|for three or four months?

I'm going to Lhasa.

Our friend has a contact.

He thinks he can|get me out through China.

There's a U.S. military|mission there.

Looking out for number one.

Isn't that what|you Americans say?

Zoran...

Zoran.

What?

We escaped.

We made it.

You're right.

He's right.

Apart from a few mountains,|we are there.

We made it.

Not all of us.

No, not all of us.

What are you|going to do, Mister?

When you go back home.

Home?

Build Metros?

Might drift a while.

I will fight.

First Germans, then Russians.

And then?

Re-build your church?

No.

I will die fighting.

I'm going to get Tomasz'|pictures to a newspaper

or get them|published somehow.

And then I'm going to cook|his chicken

but with extra salt,|just... just to annoy him.

And you, Janusz?

As long as the communists|are in Poland,

you cannot go back.

They'll shoot you, Janusz.

I'll just... keep going, you know,|until it's over.

I'll just keep walking.

He's gone.

Janusz!

Janusz!

Namaste.

Namaste.

Welcome to India.

Paper passport, please.

Passport.

We... we... we don't have.

Never mind. Come with me.

Where have you come from?

Siberia.

Siberia?

And how did you come, sir?

We walked.

Walked?

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