The X-Files Page #17

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SCULLY:

He didn't mention a park.

MULDER:

This is where he marked on the map,

Scully. Where he says those fossils

were unearthed.

SCULLY:

I don't see any evidence of an

archeological or any other kind of

digsite. Not even a sewer or a storm

drain.

Mulder scans the area, confounded. Shaking his head as

they walk.

MULDER:

You're sure the fossils you looked at

showed the same signs of deterioration

you saw in the fireman's body in the

morgue?

SCULLY:

(nodding)

The bone was porous, as if the virus

of the causative microbe were

digesting it.

MULDER:

And you've never seen anything like

that?

SCULLY:

No. It didn't show up on any of the

immunohistochemical tests --

Mulder is listening to all this while looking down at

his feet:

MULDER:

This looks like new grass to you?

SCULLY:

It looks pretty green for this

climate.

Mulder stops, kneels, touches the thick green carpet of

turf. He digs around, lifting up a corner of a new

square.

MULDER:

Ground's dry about an inch down.

Somebody just laid this down. Very

recently, I'd say.

SCULLY:

(looking off)

All the equipment is brand new.

MULDER:

No irrigation system. Somebody's

covering their tracks.

They both turn, looking at something that's caught their

attention on the street where their rental car is

parked. Three kids, all of whom we recognize from

earlier. Stevie's "friends".

Tooling down the street on new BMX bikes. Reacting to

Mulder's loud WHISTLE. This stops them, staring at

Mulder blankly across the distance.

MULDER:

Hey!

They don't answer. Just keep staring, squinting into the

sun. Mulder and Scully start walking toward them.

SCULLY:

Do you live around here?

2ND BOY

Yeah.

As the Agents approach.

MULDER:

You see anybody digging here?

The kids don't answer quickly.

2ND BOY

Not supposed to talk about it.

SCULLY:

You're not supposed to talk about it?

Who told you that?

3RD BOY

Nobody.

MULDER:

Nobody. Same nobody who put this park

in? That new equipment...

(off the boys guilty looks)

They buy you these bikes?

The kids shift uncomfortably.

SCULLY:

I think you better tell us.

2ND BOY

We don't even know you.

SCULLY:

Well, we're FBI agents.

2ND BOY

You're not FBI agents.

MULDER:

How do you know?

2ND BOY

Cause FBI agents wear like suits and

goofy ties. And dresses like my mom

wears to church. Like on that one

show.

Mulder and Scully pull their badges. The kids' mouths

drop.

MULDER:

Maybe you've been watching too much

TV.

3RD BOY

They all left twenty minutes ago.

4TH BOY

Going that way.

The kids all pointing in the same direction.

EXT. CENTRAL TEXAS HIGHWAY - LATE DAY

As Mulder and Scully's rental car RACES by at high

speed.

CUT TO:

INT. MULDER AND SCULLY'S RENTAL CAR - DAY - CONTINUOUS

Mulder at the wheel, foot to the floor. Scully's got a

map out. The mood is urgent, tense.

MULDER:

Unmarked tanker trucks... what are

archaeologists hauling out in tanker

trucks?

SCULLY:

I don't know, Mulder.

MULDER:

And where are they going with it?

SCULLY:

That's the first question to answer,

if we're going to find them.

CUT BACK TO:

EXT. CENTRAL HIGHWAY - LATE DAY

Mulder slows down to a stop. They've come to a three-way

intersection in the middle of absolutely nowhere that

offers them three choices. The car sits idling for

several beats.

RESUME INT. RENTAL CAR

Mulder's got his hand on his face rubbing his eyes.

MULDER:

What are my choices?

SCULLY:

About a hundred miles of nothing in

each direction.

MULDER:

Where would they be going?

SCULLY:

We've got two choices. One of them is

wrong.

They are both looking in different directions. The car

idling.

MULDER:

You think they went left?

SCULLY:

I don't know why I think they went

right.

A few moments of silence. Then Mulder steps on the gas

and goes straight. Heading out onto the only unpaved

road. Accelerating away.

Scully looks at him, wondering. As they bump along at

speed. Mulder won't look at her for a few moments. Then,

turning to her:

MULDER:

Five years together -- how many times

have I been wrong.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. TEXAS HIGHWAY - NIGHT

HEADLIGHTS appear in the distance on a long, dusty

stretch of road. GROWING as they approach, then coming

to a stop in a cloud of dust as they move into f.g.

Where a LINE OF FENCEPOSTS, BARBWIRE blocks their path.

As the car brakes, the passenger door opens and Scully

exits. A hot Texas wind blows. A dog is BARKING

somewhere. Scully walks into the headlight wash, looking

at a sign on the fence.

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