Valley of Bones

1

(ENGINE STOPS)

(CAR DOOR SLAMS SHUT)

(MAN SPEAKING SPANISH)

(GRUNTS)

(GUNSHOT)

(BREATHING HEAVILY)

(BOTH GRUNTING)

(THUDDING)

(KNIFE SCRAPING)

(KNIFE SLASHES)

(GROANS)

(PANTING)

(GRUNTS)

Cal.

You remember that

rancher guy you had

working for you, back when?

(MUFFLED SHOUTING)

That's him.

Look, I gotta get in touch

with his brother.

He was some kind of

a dinosaur hunter, right?

Him and his wife?

Brothers said that.

Now, about the wife...

(GASPS)

TERRY:
Hey, John.

You in there?

Come on, Dr. Olson.

Got something

we gotta discuss.

Not Olson anymore, Terry.

All right, Doc.

Old habits.

So, you wanting something

or you just come by

to shitheel me?

The oil company's

moving in.

All right.

Signed off on the land,

yesterday, so...

(SCOFFS)

You flirt.

The Bakken don't

extend this far South.

Hey, hold off, now, doll.

As long as

you've been out here,

how much have we seen

from all your fossil hunting?

All right, well,

think it's time

for you to move on.

You're right.

(PHONE BUZZING)

(VIDEO GAME BEEPING)

Hey.

You want me to make you

something to eat?

Want to know

how the dig went?

(SIGHS)

It was a total disaster.

Thanks for asking.

ANNA:
Can I come in?

So, whatcha working on?

Aquarius?

Yeah, the spacing's good.

You gonna make a wish on one?

That's stuff for kids.

(SIGHS)

Granddad didn't get you

too far in this book, huh?

Hmm. He tried.

Hey, Ezekiel.

Wanna see something?

What is it?

Check it out.

Another one of

your dinosaur things?

Yeah. Yeah, kind of.

It's from the dig.

I was hoping to find...

I got homework.

Okay.

Do you wanna at least know

what species they are?

Mom...

I'm not gonna know for sure

until I extract

the entire embryo.

That's cool, Mom,

but I really have

homework, okay?

I have a strong theory

they are triceratops cubs.

Isn't that cool?

You wanna hold

a triceratops cub?

Maybe later.

Ezekiel. Come on, this is

your chance

to hold a piece of...

Mom! I don't want to

hold your stupid thing.

ANNA:
Ezekiel!

What's happening?

What the hell

did you just do?

When did you get home?

ANNA:
It's the best

goddamn piece

I found today.

GRANDPA:
Hey...

I wasn't interested.

I said no!

What, uh...

Well, welcome home, Anna.

I'll put the little

bruiser to bed.

(PHONE BUZZING)

I guess that didn't

go so well, huh?

Well, Dad,

you're the one who's always

telling me I oughta try

and get closer to the boy.

Well, yeah, by asking

Eze what sort of

things he likes.

Not by forcing on him

the stuff that you do.

I have no idea what he likes.

I think that's

what I mean.

Look... It's getting

a little late.

Why don't you go

tuck your son in

and I'll finish up.

Okay.

You know, a nice thing

about the past,

it will still be there

when you wake up.

Yup.

Worst thing, too.

ANNA:
Hey, Ezekiel.

I'm...

I know it was

an accident, okay?

Hey.

Let's get to bed, okay?

Is that...

It's my watch.

Well, it's broken.

Don't you want

another one?

It's Dad's.

Yes, I know it was.

Where did you get that?

ANNA:
Hey.

We're not open.

Nate, it's me.

We're not open.

You got my voice mail.

What?

You get my voice mail?

No, I... Look.

I don't want you

hanging out with...

I don't want you

giving stuff to my kid.

The watch? Jesus Christ!

This couldn't wait a bit.

That could have waited

till tomorrow morning, huh?

No, Nate. Because I

distinctly remember already

having this conversation.

I don't want you hanging out

with Ezekiel

when I'm out of town.

When you're out of town.

I'm the boy's uncle.

Someone oughta be

spending time with him

when you're out

for months on end,

digging around in

boneshit nowhere.

Mmm-hmm. Okay, great.

Thank you very much.

Nate, I realize Ezekiel's

the only family you got left,

but I don't need parent...

I don't need

parenting advice from you.

Okay, so,

you called me, twice.

I'm here.

What the hell

did you want?

NATE:
Well, if you

had listened to

my voice mail,

we could have done it

over the phone.

Jesus.

You wouldn't have

to bother

coming down here.

(SIGHS)

But since you're here,

have a beer.

Thanks.

This that ranch

you used to work on?

Napping around on?

Uh-huh.

Okay, and?

Well,

I told you all about it

in the voice mail.

We could go over it

again if you'd like.

(PHONE BEEPS)

NATE:
(ON VOICEMAIL)

Hey, you. It's me.

You got me on your phone

as "Son of a b*tch"?

Would you be quiet?

I'm trying to listen to you.

Well, you're not

answering, obviously,

which means you're probably

still, I don't know, mad,

but my old boss

got a call from

one of them oil rig guys,

Wes McCoy.

Thinks he might have

stumbled on something.

He found a tooth.

(LAUGHS)

Big one...

You hung up on me.

A tooth, Nate?

You've got to be kidding me.

Yeah. Pretty cool, huh?

No. Because a therapod

tooth means sh*t.

If it's even what they

think it is, carnivores shed

them suckers like mad.

It's probably nothing.

Yeah, well, it

could be something.

Great. Yeah,

it's great science

there, genius.

You know,

for somebody

who doesn't like

bringing up Ethan,

you sure sound

a heck of a lot like him.

Yeah, maybe

I'm no scientific genius.

If I was, I wouldn't

have to bring

you in on this deal.

Jesus, Nate, what

do you want from me?

I'm just suppose to

drop everything

and rush up there?

Dude, you got

nothing to drop.

I mean, what's the worst

that could happen?

Go up there,

you don't find anything.

I'm still a son of a b*tch.

(LAUGHING)

(SIGHS)

What the hell.

God damn it, Nate.

Is that a yeah?

Yeah.

You're coming with me, though.

Sure.

Somebody's gotta

introduce you

to the ranch owner.

No. Because

when it turns out

to be nothing,

I'm gonna need someone

within swatting distance.

I'll pick you up

tomorrow morning, then.

Tomorrow.

(LAUGHING)

Well, come on.

This is ridiculous.

You just got back.

Dad.

Dad, it's probably

just for the weekend.

Three days, tops.

Well, maybe that's good, then.

'Cause this way,

you'll be back

on Monday, right?

Please, Dad.

I know what

you're gonna say.

That he should come with...

Yeah, that he

should come with...

Of course

I'm gonna say that.

Why the hell not?

ANNA:
You know exactly

why the hell not, Dad.

Because it's the Badlands,

not a playground.

Jesus. There's wild animals,

crap weather.

The list goes on.

This ain't funny, Anna.

You're telling me.

It's a long list.

Anna!

Hey.

Susanna!

Hey.

Morning, Bill.

What do you want from me, Dad?

It ain't what I want.

Now, I went to the trouble

of packing him a little bag.

What about school?

I went to the trouble

of notifying his principal.

Well, you went to quite

a lot of trouble, seems like.

Listen, kiddo,

you're gonna have

to deal

with this sometime.

You can't go running off

with your rocks and bones,

and pretend that

you're raising a son.

Guilt ain't the

same as protection.

(SIGHS)

MAN 1:
Right. But that

doesn't have anything

to do with the cartel.

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