Thirteen Days Page #28

EXT. O'DONNELL DRIVEWAY - NIGHT

Kenny's limo pulls away, leaving Kenny, coat in hand, at the

bottom of his driveway. He watches it go, silently urging it

to return for him with some call from the President telling

him he's desperately needed. But it doesn't.

He turns to his house. The lights are all out.

He notices he's CLUTCHING the handle of his briefcase. His

knuckles are white. With conscious effort, he unfolds his

hand, letting the briefcase drop on the driveway.

He stands alone, stripped of his friends, his family, his

job... and in that moment, mute, impotent in the shadow of

Armageddon, Kenny is our Everyman of the Nuclear Age.

INT. O'DONNELL KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS

Helen stands in the kitchen, a ghostly white figure in her

robe, the windows open and curtain flapping as she breathes

the air. Kenny enters. He stands in the doorway.

HELEN:

I saw you out there. You want him to

call you back, need you.

KENNY:

No. I'm glad I'm home.

And she knows the worst.

HELEN:

How long do we have?

Kenny's voice breaks.

KENNY:

If the sun rises in the morning, it is

only because of men of goodwill.

(beat)

And that's all there is between us and

the Devil.

They take each other in their arms, the wisdom of the atomic

age so simple, so tenuous, every human life hanging by such a

thread... yet a thread so powerful. The CAMERA RISES FROM

THEM, finding the OPEN WINDOW and the DARKNESS.

INT. O'DONNELL BEDROOM - DAWN

The RED DOME OF NUCLEAR FIRE rising over Washington. It

roils the air in its expanding, blood-red glory.

It is the sun. The dawn in the East.

PULL BACK THROUGH THE OPEN WINDOW.

SUPER:
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28TH. DAY 13

into Kenny and Helen's bedroom. And silence. Kenny and

Helen lie together on the bed. The light burns into Kenny's

half-shut eye. Kenny is only dimly conscious of the light's

meaning. Until the PHONE SHRILLS downstairs.

Kenny is instantly up, launched out of the room.

INT. O'DONNELL KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS

Kenny snatches the RED PHONE from its hook.

KENNY:

Yeah?

BOBBY (O.S.)

Kenny. It's over.

EXT. ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH - DAY

THE CHURCH BELLS TOLL in raucous celebration. Kenny, Helen

and the five O'DONNELL KIDS join the throng packing through

the doors to the church. They're all smiling except Kenny

who searches fro faces in the CROWD.

And then he spots Bobby with his FAMILY. Bobby grins at him.

That makes Kenny grin back.

RADIO MOSCOW (O.S.)

This is Radio Moscow. Moscow calling.

But Kenny keeps looking.

RADIO MOSCOW (O.S.) (CONT'D)

The following statement is the text of a

letter from General Secretary Khruschev

to President Kennedy.

Kenny spots him emerging from the Presidential limo,

surrounded by Secret Service Agents - John Kennedy. His

FAMILY also is with him.

RADIO MOSCOW (O.S.) (CONT'D)

...I regard with respect and trust the

statement you made in your message of 27

October 1962 that there would be no

attack, no invasion of Cuba, and not

only the part of the United States, but

also on the part of the Western

Hemisphere, as you said in your same

message. Then the motives which induced

us to render assistance of such a kind

to Cuba disappear...

Kennedy, greeting well-wishers, a brilliant smile on his

face, is carried through the crowd toward Kenny and the doors

of the church.

RADIO MOSCOW (O.S.) (CONT'D)

...it is for this reason that we have

instructed our officers - these

missiles, as I already informed you are

in the hands of Soviet officers to take

appropriate measures to discontinue

construction, dismantle them, and return

them to the Soviet Union.

EXT. MISSILE SITE - CUBA - DAY

the base has been half-dismantled over night. Fuel trucks

pull away, lumping down the makeshift dirt road. Across the

site missiles are lowered, their nose cones being removed.

A MISSILE on its transporter, Technicians crawling all over

it, COVERING IT with a tarp.

A massive Soviet Helicopter's rotors thunder as it lifts off,

cargo crates swaying under it, a CLOUD OF DUST FROM ITS WASH

FILLING THE SCREEN, WIPING US TO:

INT. CABINET ROOM - DAY

EXCOM laughing, celebrating, half-drunk already this Sunday

morning. The President shushes the group.

THE PRESIDENT:

Hey! Hey. Okay, that's enough.

The group quiets down. The Presidents stares at them, calm,

firm. They sober up quickly. Kenny listens, expectant.

THE PRESIDENT (CONT'D)

I don't want any gloating. This is not

a victory over the Soviets. It's a

victory with the Soviets.

(beat)

I want everyone to remember that.

INT. WEST WING HALLWAY - DAY

Kenny rounds a corner. McNamara, Bundy and McCone are

talking, excited, hushed, standing to one side, down the

hall. Kenny eyes them as he draws closer, and then they

notice he's approaching. Bundy nods him over, confidential.

BUNDY:

We've been talking. We can play this

big in '64. It's the foreign policy

trophy we've been waiting.

Kenny sickens. He tries to listen, but it all begins to

blur.

BUNDY (CONT'D)

I think we can ride it all the way home

next election. Bet you're way ahead of

us, eh?

Bundy slaps Kenny on the back. Kenny is pale. Is what

they're saying possible? But Bundy and McCone are too

wrapped up in their schemes to notice Kenny's distress.

MCCONE:

We've ordered crash reassessment of our

major geopolitical hotspots. We've got

a lot of new clout, and we can run the

table on the Soviets. Middle East,

Southeast Asia...

And Kenny, sad, moved beyond all pity and loathing, realizes

it is possible. They haven't gotten it. He is speechless,

helplessly shaking his head. Bundy finally sees something

isn't right with him.

MCNAMARA:

What's wrong, O'Donnell?

Kenny can't speak. Can't find the words. But tongue-tied

finally manages:

KENNY:

Don't you understand?

McNamara and Bundy look at him funny.

BUNDY:

Understand what?

Kenny just looks at them, eyes filled with sorrow. They

begin to feel uncomfortable.

KENNY:

The sun came up today.

BUNDY:

Yeah.

KENNY:

It shouldn't have. But it did.

MCCONE:

We were lucky we were able to keep it

under control.

Kenny looks away, unable to bear it.

KENNY:

Every day the sun comes up... says

something about us.

BUNDY:

Says what, Kenny?

Kenny looks back at them.

KENNY:

Something... amazing.

They just stare at him. And with secret smiles, superior

smiles, they nod.

MCNAMARA:

Sure, Ken. I understand. Feels good to

win, doesn't it?

But they don't understand, and together turn away.

BUNDY:

See you later, Kenny.

Kenny watches them, heads bowed in discussion, disappear into

the labyrinth of the West Wing. Kenny turns his back on

them.

INT. PRESIDENT'S BEDROOM - DAY

The President stands at his mirror, tying a bow tie to a tux

for some Sunday special event. Kenny gathers up his folder

from nearby breakfast table.

Kenny meets the President's gaze in the mirror, and the two

men know they have been to the same mountaintop.

THE PRESIDENT:

Kenny...

A beat. Kenny stands straight, ready for action, ready for

some necessary thing. Ready to go back into the game.

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