"SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO" (2018)

SOLDADO

Written by

TAYLOR SHERIDAN

OPEN ON:

Scrub brush and mesquite cover an arroyo overlooking the mud- colored water of the Rio Grande River.

CAMERA SHIFTS --

AND A BURLAP SACK fills the frame.

WIDEN TO REVEAL --

The burlap sack is duct-taped over a man’s head as he kneels in the dirt. His clothes are filthy. FEET bare and bloody.

The man on his knees doesn’t cry, doesn’t shake, just sits and waits for it ...

ANGLE ON --

A HALF DOZEN MEN mill about holding pistols. Smoking cigarettes. Shouting at the boy to pull the trigger. Taunting him. Threatening him. Four other boys ranging in age from 14 to 20 stand in a row, watching ...

A collection of pickups and SUVs sit idling in the desert. In the rear of a TAN FORD EXPEDITION is a TEENAGE GIRL. She presses her BURLAP-COVERED FACE against the glass ...

CAMERA PUSHES IN ON THE GIRL. Can’t hear her, but can see her body shake with fear ...

GALLO(35), thick round body and dull, uncaring eyes, walks * toward Jose.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 2.

Jose’s hand shakes. Skinny chest heaves with each breath. Tries to find the courage, or menace, or whatever it takes to make a boy a murderer ...

Jose sucks in a breath. His finger finds the trigger but not * the strength to pull it. Looks at Gallo with pleading eyes. *

Gallo sucks a drag from his cigarette, raises his own pistol and shoots Jose in the head. His body drops ... *

Gallo picks up the pistol and walks to the row of boys, hands it to ANOTHER BOY as the girl’s muffled screams pound against the Expedition’s windows.

THE BOY walks slowly toward the man on his knees. MIGUEL HERNANDEZ(14), has short, neat hair and a kind, almost feminine face. Miguel’s giant eyes fall on the masked man.

Miguel raises the pistol and whispers --

The burlap-covered head turns to face him.

THROUGH BURLAP --

Can just barely make out the muzzle of the pistol and the wide eyes of the boy.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 3.

BACK WITH MIGUEL --

The burlap-covered head turns back toward the river as Miguel pulls the trigger, sending the man face-first to the dirt. *

CAMERA STAYS WITH THE BODY as the sound of vehicle doors opening and closing violates the day. The rumble of engines fades until there is nothing on the arroyo but death and silence ...

FOLLOWING WORDS APPEAR OVER THE SCREEN AS CAMERA STARES DOWN AT A BLACK DESERT:

“THREE WEEKS EARLIER”

The THUMP of HELICOPTER ROTORS attack the night. Getting * closer. LOUDER. Until the thump shakes the earth. *

A HELICOPTER PILOT watches the desert floor on a THERMAL IMAGING SCREEN built into the console --

PEOPLE GLOW HOT WHITE ON THE SCREEN as they move across the * border in groups of 10 and 15. The sound of the chopper * reaches them -- some groups run start running single-file. * Some groups huddle together and hide. Some groups -- no order to them at all.

HELICOPTER PILOT takes it all in --

The helicopter drops altitude and flares, blasting a torrent of dust and debris up from the ground.

The pilot turns on a SPOTLIGHT, and illuminates a desert that is alive with people running in every direction.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 4.

The chopper swings back and forth, herding the scattering migrants ...

HEADLIGHTS AND FLASHLIGHTS pierce the night like swords. Move toward the terrified migrants. BORDER AGENTS yell and scream as the herd compresses. BORDER AGENTS SURROUND THEM. The migrants seem to accept defeat in unison -- they go from running to walking to stopping and sitting on the ground ...

The chopper rises and scans the night for stragglers ...

FINDS ONE -- A LONE MAN runs like hell through the desert.

Swords of light bounce toward the giant spotlight illuminating the running man who slows to a trot, then a walk, then to his knees as BORDER AGENTS APPROACH, rifles * raised ... *

The man’s back faces us. He ROCKS BACK AND FORTH ON HIS * KNEES, MUMBLING ...

The rocking man doesn’t answer, just keeps rocking.

ANGLE ON --

BORDER PATROL AGENTS HOLD FLASHLIGHTS ON DEFEATED FACES ...

Some are Mexican, some Honduran, no telling where TWO ARE THEM ARE FROM -- THEY LOOK ASIAN ...

They begin pleading their case IN BURMESE. The border agent deflates, speaks into his radio --

Looks at another agent.

Doesn’t have a clue.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 5.

BACK WITH -- *

The Border Patrol agent creeping toward the rocking man, rifle raised --

Man slowly stands. MORE AGENTS APPROACH. RIFLES RAISED. ALL YELLING --

The rocking man turns -- wild eyes stare back. He SCREAMS IN ARABIC and runs right toward them.

Every agent opens fire. Rounds punch into the rocking man, standing him upright ...

A round hits him in the stomach and THE MAN EXPLODES, disappearing in a violent, pink mist.

Border agents rub burning debris from their eyes and place hands over ruptured eardrums as the hovering chopper holds them in a circle of light, surrounded by a sea of darkness.

An army of HOMELAND SECURITY AGENTS now surrounds the scene. YELLOW EVIDENCE MARKERS sit beside every empty shell casing, every piece of bone and clothing ...

An AGENT walks a GERMAN SHEPHERD through mesquite trees, freezes when he sees --

A FOOT, still wearing it’s shoe, perched in a branch.

Beyond the trees is an arroyo. SOMETHING ON THE OTHER SIDE, catches the agent’s attention. He walks toward it ...

Stops. Looks down. All he can manage to say is --

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 6.

We see what he sees --

FOUR PRAYER BLANKETS SIDE-BY-SIDE, FACING WEST ...

CAMERA LOOKS ACROSS A PARKING LOT TOWARD A COSTCO. People filter in and out pushing shopping carts -- empty as they enter, overflowing as they depart ...

The parking lot echoes with the rattle of shopping carts, laughing children and car horns -- creating a symphony of suburban living ...

A VAN PULLS UP, PARKS. FOUR MEN GET OUT. They wear long jackets and long pants. Walk in unison toward the giant store.

CAMERA doesn’t move. Stays right where it is. Just watches as the men wade through the swarm of shoppers and disappear inside ...

Cars come and go. People filter in and out. Seems there is no end to the stream of people ...

The building seems to suck inward before bursting at its seams and disintegrating into a brown cloud of debris. There is a moment of pure silence before screams and car alarms attack the afternoon ...

A SOMALI MILITIAMAN kneels, AK 47 across his chest, and fills * a water bottle from a POT HOLE IN THE ROAD. Behind him is a CINDER BLOCK BUILDING and more men with rifles. Never bothers to look up at the carpet of stars above him. But we do... *

CAMERA LOOKS DOWN ON THE BLACK DESERT. Tiny bulbs of light make the earth look like its own galaxy ...

A DOZEN DELTA FORCE OPERATORS FREE-FALL THROUGH FRAME TOWARD THE EARTH 40,000 FEET BENEATH THEM.

HELMETS, GOGGLES AND OXYGEN MASKS COVER THEIR FACES.

They careen toward earth like comets ...

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 7.

The militia man has settled against the trunk of a tree, * fights boredom. Fights sleep ...

FAR IN THE DISTANCE --

Black images float toward the ground like phantoms ...

CAMERA PUSHES THROUGH SAW GRASS THAT STANDS EIGHT FEET TALL. FAST. DELIBERATE ...

ANGLE ON --

THE MILITIA MAN. Seconds from sleep. Hears something. Looks up as a rifle round punches through his face. No sound from the rifle or the man as he falls back ...

DELTA OPERATORS RUSH TOWARD THE BUILDING and the half-dozen * guards who mill about, no clue what is coming for them ...

SILENCERS EXTEND A FOOT FROM THE BARRELS OF THE OPERATORS’ * RIFLES. When they fire, the only sound is rifle bolts spitting shell casings as guards die without ever seeing their killers.

The operators reach the building. Lean against it as the sound of MEN TALKING leaks from open windows.

The operators throw FLASH-BANG GRENADES through the windows, duck as the grenades explode against the cinder block walls * sending shotgun blasts of white light through every orifice of the structure. The only sound now is MOANS OF AGONY...

The operators kick open the door --

Men are doubled over, bleeding from their ears and eyes, or slumped against the wall, vomiting. The operators pound rounds into all of them. ALL BUT ONE --

They rush A MAN who sits in the only chair in the room, zip tie his hands and feet, pull a black bag over his head, and * carry him out of the building like luggage.

The man sits in a room, black bag over his head. Hands and feet zip-tied to a chair.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 8.

A HAND reaches into frame, pulls off the bag, revealing the man’s face --

BASHIIR(38) looks around the room, sees a table with a LAPTOP COMPUTER --A DIRTY RAG BESIDE IT and TWO FIVE GALLON JUGS OF WATER on the floor, and --

MATT. Sitting across from him eating a Snickers bar ...

Bashiir looks at the water jugs then turns his eyes on Matt.

Matt smiles.

Matt walks to the computer, flips up the screen, and starts hitting keys.

Matt looks at him, smile gone.

Bashiir looks at him.

He steps back from the computer and SATELLITE FOOTAGE OF BASHIIR’S COMPOUND IS ON THE SCREEN ...

Bashiir’s unblinking eyes stare at the screen ...

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 9.

Matt plays SECURITY FOOTAGE OF THE MEN WALKING INTO COSTCO. *

Matt points east.

Bashiir stares at Matt, sweat pluming from him.

Matt leans forward.

Bashiir just stares at him and sweats.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 10.

Clicks back to the footage of Bashiir’s house -- *

CAMERA LOOKS DOWN ON SOMEONE WALKING AROUND THE POOL.

Bashiir looks at him with defiance.

Matt dials a number on a satellite phone.

A COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST answers Matt’s call, hands the comms to the ship’s CAPTAIN.

Bashiir stares at the screen, not fully believing Matt’s threat. Looks at Matt, then back at the screen. Watches his * house and whoever just jumped in the pool EVISCERATED.

Bashiir screams. Matt walks to the computer, hits a button...

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 11.

A PREDATOR DRONE FLIES 10,000 FEET ABOVE A HIGHWAY leading to a small, seaport town, its CAMERAS FOLLOWING A TOYOTA HIGHLANDER ...

FOOTAGE OF THE HIGHLANDER PLAYS ON THE COMPUTER ... *

Tears spill from Bashiir’s eyes. Matt looks right into them, says into his sat phone.

Bashiir turns his face away. Matt stands in an instant, twists Bashiir’s head back toward the screen.

Grainy footage from the nose of the missile moves down on the Toyota, collides with it, then nothing but black smoke. *

Matt sits back down and looks at Bashiir.

PUSH IN ON BASHIIR’S FACE --

Eyes filled with hatred. Panic. Pain. Matt’s eyes stare back * with no emotion whatsoever. Pulls up FOOTAGE of another * vehicle on the computer ...

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 12.

Matt sits across from COLONEL KENNETH WALTER. Looks like they all look: sun-stained skin, short hair, hard eyes. Other MEN * IN SUITS AND UNIFORMS sit in various chairs around the room.

A WOMAN’S VOICE COMES FROM A SPEAKER IN THE SHAPE OF A STARFISH ON COLONEL WALTER’S DESK.

VOICE Carlos Reyez’s company ...

Can hear a HEAVY SIGH come through the speaker.

VOICE We sent a bird. It’ll be there in * an hour. We’ll talk more about this tomorrow, Matt.

Green light on the speaker goes out. Matt stands.

Matt walks out.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 13.

SEVENTY FIVE METAL PICNIC TABLES SIT IN NEAT ROWS BENEATH A STEEL ROOF -- NO WALLS. Hot air blows off the Gulf of Aden. MILITARY JETS land on the tarmac a quarter mile to the left.

Attached to the ceiling are dozens of flat screen TVs. Soccer plays. The sound of cheers and announcers speaking some indeterminate language, the sound of JETS, WIND, and 100 MEN SPEAKING FOUR DIFFERENT LANGUAGES mixes into a soup of noise that defines the military ...

SPECIAL FORCES SOLDIERS from every country in NATO -- FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION, BRITISH S.A.S., GERMAN KSK operators and factions of US SEAL TEAM SIX, DELTA FORCE, CIA S.A.D. OPERATORS -- who dress in mostly in jeans and random t- shirts, sit at various tables. Some eat, some pore over maps, some check gear -- even with a hundred men under the steel structure, the area appears almost empty. Matt looks out past dirt the color of ash toward the cobalt blue water of the Indian Ocean ...

VOICE Hard to believe this is the birthplace of man.

Matt looks up at a SEAL TEAM SIX OPERATOR, built like a diesel engine. Long hair, but clean shaven.

Looks the SEAL over.

The SEAL chuckles.

The SEAL looks at a large BLACK DUFFLE BAG at Matt’s feet.

Matt just looks out over the ocean.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 14.

Matt watches as a C130 TRANSPORT PLANE lumbers toward the runway rumbling like thunder. Wheels touch down and it screams to a stop. Matt looks at the SEAL.

Matt winks, grabs his duffle and walks into the punishing sun toward the C130 ...

BOOKS LINE THE WALLS. BOOKS ARE STACKED ON THE FLOOR. BOOKS EVERYWHERE ... Scattered among them are TABLES AND CHAIRS. *

A BAR RUNS THE LENGTH OF ANOTHER WALL. WAITRESSES CARRY TRAYS OF APPETIZERS AND BEER -- this is how hipsters in Colombia spend a Friday night ...

TUCKED FAR IN THE CORNER is ALEJANDRO. Across from him is a * man that looks anything but hip -- SANTIAGO(28), head shaved. Wears an OAKLAND RAIDERS JERSEY, the LEGS OF SPIDER TATTOO crawl out beneath his shirt and up his neck. TEAR DROP TATTOOS run down his face. Santiago gulps a beer as Alejandro sips an espresso.

Santiago looks around the cafe, can’t take one more second surrounded by normal people. He speaks in English --

Santiago swallows his beer. Tosses a backpack to Alejandro. Alejandro looks inside -- stuffed with bundles of hundreds.

Alejandro finishes his espresso, stands.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 15.

Alejandro walks off, Santiago following behind ...

The city is alive with people. Clean. Shiny even. Nothing like the war zone of two decades ago ... Alejandro leads Santiago down the street, up an alley and comes to another street where war zone hasn’t quite been washed away.

Another alley and another street and there is no attempt to wash away the war at all ...

Alejandro reaches a door. Above it, a small NEON SIGN THAT READS -- LAS CHICAS. Alejandro swings open the door and walks inside.

IT IS DARK. AMERICAN POP MUSIC plays as a LONE WOMAN walks idly around a BRASS POLE ON A SMALL STAGE. When she notices actual customers, she begins to give rhythm to her walk ...

Alejandro looks back at him.

Santiago pulls a pistol from beneath his shirt, holds it to his side as he follows Alejandro down a long hall. *

Alejandro pushes through a bathroom door, holds it open for Santiago ...

Santiago’s bald head is covered in a sheen of sweat. Eyes * wild with adrenaline. Looks at Alejandro.

Alejandro nods. Seems to make Santiago feel a little better. A little ...

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 16.

Santiago sucks a deep breath, nods. Alejandro points to the tear drops.

Alejandro guides Santiago by the shoulders, faces him to the mirror. Santiago stares at Alejandro’s reflection, confused. Then realizes, and says in horror --

Alejandro drives Santiago’s face through the sink, sending both Santiago and chunks of porcelain to the filthy floor.

CAMERA BACKS AWAY as Alejandro kneels over the body ... *

The PENTAGON looms through the S.U.V.’s Window. Vehicle turns left and it’s in the rearview mirror ... Matt sits in the backseat beside CYNTHIA FOARD(50), DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE CIA. Her graying hair has been chopped into a series of hard angles that remove any illusion she achieved her position with her looks. Hers was the voice on the phone speaker ... Her hawk’s eyes look over Matt -- studying what appears to be a permanent sunburn etched into his skin.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 17.

Matt looks out the window as they pass over the POTOMAC RIVER. They ride in silence. Matt looks at her.

She nods.

Matt studies her silence. *

She just looks at him. The S.U.V. Exits the highway. Makes a left and a right, then turns onto PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE. Matt bores his eyes into her.

The S.U.V. turns toward a guard gate -- the WHITE HOUSE * looming behind it ...

Matt sits in a chair beside a closed door. Stares at the President’s staff fielding calls and pecking at computers like hungry chickens.

A door opens. A MAN looks down at Matt.

Matt stands and walks through the door.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 18.

CAMERA SLINKS CLOSER. WATCHES AS A DOZEN MEN AND WOMEN LOOK UP AT HIM FROM COUCHES. Some wear suits, others uniforms. Matt nods at them, then turns his focus to a group of men slipping out a side door of the Oval Office. Could swear he just saw THE PRESIDENT ... NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR JAMES * RIDLEY(55), points to a chair.

Matt sits.

HAMMOND * What do you think is the most * valuable commodity cartels move * across our borders? *

Matt thinks about that. *

MATT * Twenty years ago? Cocaine. Today? * I’d have to say people, sir. it’s * resource they don’t have to * cultivate or process. And if they * don’t make it across, they pay to * cross again. At three times the * price of a kilo. *

Ridley likes the answer.

CIA DIRECTOR DALE HAMMOND(62), heavy bags under his eyes from years of no sleep, leans forward. *

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 19.

Every eye is on Matt. He waits for more information. None comes. He knows this game well, takes the plunge.

Right answer again. Ridley looks at ARNO MCCULLOUGH(55), hard eyes set in a granite face. Nods. The general looks at Matt.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 20.

Matt fights a chuckle.

Matt tries to digest this.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 21.

Matt’s not sure he heard him right --

Silence.

Ridley leans forward.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 22.

Even a wine bar in Fairfax feels official. Patrons huddle close and discuss things that affect every region of this planet. Cautious glances from one group to the next. Looks like a roomful of people playing poker without cards as they gulp cabernet at 40 bucks a glass. Matt sits across from ANDY WHEELER(45), looks like what he is -- ex-special forces. The three thousand dollar suit makes him look it more-so.

Shakes his head.

Thick silence.

Matt leans close.

Wheeler shakes his head.

Wheeler sits back.

Wheeler almost falls out of his chair with worry.

Matt doesn’t disagree.

Offers his hand.

Matt stands.

Matt turns and walks out.

A MAN stands waist-deep in the surf with his back to CAMERA. The receding tide rushes over the man’s navy slacks to his shirt causing the cotton to wrap his frame like cellophane.

CAMERA FINDS THE MAN’S FACE AS HE RAISES IT TO THE SKY --

THE MAN IS ALEJANDRO. He closes his eyes and bathes his face in sunshine.

The muscles in Alejandro’s neck tighten. His lip curls. His eyes open. He looks down ...

We hear SPLASHING and the panicked gasps of a man trying not to drown. Only now do we see -- Alejandro is holding someone under the water.

He lets the drowning man catch his breath. Barely. Pushes him back under. Looks out, lost in though.

CAMERA WATCHES FROM THE BEACH --

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 25.

Alejandro stands in the ocean to his belly and returns his face to sun ...

A SEMI DRIVES ACROSS THE BRIDGE TO PORT, HAULING RAIL ROAD * CARS ON A 40 FOOT LONG FLAT BED -- pale, blue water sits * still as bath water. THE NOON PRAYER ECHOES OVER LOUD * SPEAKERS ... *

The semi reaches dry ground and stops at a guard shack. A * YEMENI NAVY SOLDIER approaches the driver-side window. *

YEMENIS SOLDIER * As-Salaam-Alaikam. *

TRUCK DRIVER * Wa-Alaikam-Salaam. *

The truck driver hands him paperwork. Soldier looks it over. * Looks up and mood grows very serious. *

The soldier walks to the rear of the railcar. Looks at the * INSPECTION STICKER. Which has been CUT OPEN. He climbs up and * peels it off ... *

The driver watches the soldier as returns to his guard shack, * then emerges with a NEW SECURITY STICKER, peels it, sticks it * to the door and bends it around the opening. *

Nods at the truck driver as he walks to the guard shack. The * driver pulls into the loading yard -- thousands of railcars * waiting for rides to parts unknown ... *

Back with Alejandro, holding a man under water. Face to the * sun, somehow able to focus fully on the task at hand while * escaping to someplace else. *

He lets the man up. Coughing, heaving up salt water, and * sobbing. He looks at Alejandro with the pleading eyes of a * man whose will has been broken. *

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 26.

MAN * Colonel Guteman ... He told them * you are here ...(Begs) Please. I * have children. *

ALEJANDRO * Who doesn’t. *

MAN * I’m the one who warned you!!! *

ALEJANDRO * You knew because the Colonel * trusted you. Because you drink from * their well too ... *

Alejandro lets the man up and pushes him toward the shore. We * now see the man wears a MILITARY UNIFORM. He walks ahead of * Alejandro, looking back. *

The man makes a half-hearted attempt to attack Alejandro, who * pushes and spins him like a defiant child. *

They walk a few steps and the man tries it again. Alejandro * appears only half-committed to the sloppy assault. Alejandro * slaps the man across the face, then pushes him forward, * slapping the back of his head as he does. *

They reach a stump where Alejandro’s linen coat rests. *

MAN * Why? *

ALEJANDRO * Can’t walk back like this. We need * to dry. *

They sit back and bathe in the sun. The man is uncomfortable, * kidnapper and captive lounging on the shore. He considers * running. Considers fighting him again. Settles on resting his * tired back against the stump. *

MAN * What will you do with me? *

ALEJANDRO * I’m not sure yet. *

Beat. *

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 27.

MAN * What will you do with the Colonel? *

ALEJANDRO * Nothing. I just wanted to know ... *

Miguel sits on his bed tying his shoes in a room that is * uniquely American -- J.J. WATT POSTER on one wall, AVENGERS poster on another. A PLAYSTATION is tethered to a small television. Clothes and toys and shoes make up the detritus that covers the floor.

Like his room, Miguel has given effort to look just as American -- Nice new jeans. Nikes. BEATS around his neck. *

Shoes tied, Miguel grabs his book bag and heads for the door.

He walks the hall to a simple kitchen/breakfast room. The * place is small and well kept. His mother, BLANDINA(35) crams * sandwiches in sacks as a small army of children funnel into * the room, Miguel being the oldest.

She hands a sack to Miguel, his 9 year old-brother, and his 7 * year-old sister. Blandina kisses the young ones. Looks at Miguel. Speaks in Spanish.

Kisses him too. Miguel walk out the door, his young siblings following behind like ducklings.

Neighborhood is working class -- just north of poor. But there is pride in the manner the houses are kept. Miguel walks his siblings down the street to an ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. The siblings dart for the front door, joining dozens more doing the same thing.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 28.

Miguel keeps walking to a BUS STOP filled with teenagers on * the precipice of adulthood. Miguel falls in with them -- talking. Laughing ...

SCHOOL BUS pulls up, obscuring the teens from view. Can HEAR them filter on the bus. HEAR THE BUS DOOR CLOSE. Then watch as the school bus coughs a cloud of smoke and drives off, * leaving Miguel alone on the bench ... *

A GREEN CAMARO pulls to a stop in front of Miguel. He stands * and gets in ...

He offers Miguel a cigarette. Miguel doesn’t smoke. He takes it anyway ...

The Camaro heads east, past Wal Marts and PETCOS. Then TRUCK * STOPS, then past nothing at all ...

Continues out into the scrub land, exits the highway to a two- lane road. From the two-lane road to a dirt road. Stops * beside an old HONDA. Hector hands Miguel a set of car keys. *

Miguel opens the door and gets out ...

Back on INTERSTATE 2. Miguel drives east, sitting on his BOOK BAG so he can see over the steering wheel. Exits the highway * and pulls to a stop in a SHOPPING CENTER PARKING LOT. Puts the keys under the seat. Walks to a STARBUCKS. Goes inside. *

Sees a young man wearing a SAN FRANCISCO ‘49ERS HAT. The man stands and walks to the bathroom. Goes inside.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 29.

Miguel waits outside the door until the young man walks out, then walks in the bathroom himself.

He walks to the sink, looks at a BROWN PAPER BAG in it. Opens * the bag -- must be a thousand dollars inside. Stuffs the * money in his pocket and walks out. Walks to the nearest * barista as he orders an UBER on his cellphone. Looks at the * BARISTA -- a lanky college kid.

Miguel pulls out a hundred, crams it in the tip jar.

The barista does as he’s told. Miguel watches him, feeling like a man. Like a gangster ...

Alejandro and the man walk along a two track road through a field of sugar cane.

Beat.

They come around a bend and we see --

A COLOMBIAN MILITARY BASE.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 30.

Structures built in rows. Humvees, one after the other, parked neatly in front. Soldiers move about. Colombia may be corrupt, but they are orderly about it. None of the filth and chaos of northern Mexico. They have been at it much longer, with battle lines very clearly drawn.

The man turns to Alejandro --

Alejandro nods.

Alejandro offers him a polite smile.

The man walks away, turning back occasionally to see if he is truly free.

Alejandro turns in another direction, spots THREE US MARINE HUMVEES, EIGHT MARINES BESIDE THEM. Matt stands in front. They walk toward each other.

Alejandro looks over the Marines.

Alejandro’s kind, hollow eyes almost show emotion.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 31.

Matt smiles.

Alejandro stands for a moment. Closes his eyes as the tiniest hint of a smile curls his lips.

ASPHALT FILLS THE FRAME. STRETCHES OUT FOR 7500 FEET UNDER A MOONLESS NIGHT. Surrounding the asphalt -- sagebrush.

In the black sky above, the faint lights of an approaching plane.

RUNWAY LIGHTS BLAST THE WORLD IN A WHITE LIGHT, ILLUMINATING A RUNWAY THAT COULD ACCOMMODATE A 747.

Plane gets closer. Closer. Jet engines scream toward us. Gets lower. Closer. Tires screech. Jet rolls right toward CAMERA until it comes to a stop, front wheels filling the frame ...

ANOTHER ANGLE --

Though nothing exists but sagebrush to the south, to the north is an almost endless series of AIRPLANE HANGARS AND WAREHOUSES.

Alejandro and Matt step from the Gulfstream. Alejandro looks to the sky -- stars look different this far north. He exhales, and perhaps for the first time in his life -- he can see his breath.

He exhales again and watches the condensation move like smoke into the night with almost childlike fascination.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 32.

The runway lights disappear and they are bathed in the dim hue of halogen bulbs. Alejandro sees a BOEING 707 at the far end of the runway. MEN walk around the plane, doing a pre- flight check. WHEELER walks toward them. *

Hands are shook, then Matt and Alejandro follow him into the * hangar.

CAMERA FOLLOWS RIGHT BEHIND ALEJANDRO. As he enters the hangar, he sees ROW AFTER ROW OF PICNIC TABLE COVERED IN GEAR. Notices at least fifty men rummaging through it, filling out paperwork, assembling weapons. Before long, they are all looking at him ...

He shifts his focus to the belly of the hangar, where PREDATOR DRONES, HUEY HELICOPTERS, AND APACHE HELICOPTERS SIT IN NEAT ROWS ...

Wheeler stops, turns to Matt and Alejandro.

Wheeler points to the far wall -- a BUFFET IS SET UP COMPLETE WITH MEN DRESSED IN CHEFS HATS. ONE CHEF STANDS BEHIND A CARVING STATION. FIFTY POUND PRIME RIB BEFORE HIM. Matt heads right for it.

Matt grabs a plate and stands before the carving station.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 33.

Chef plops a bloody mass of meat on Matt’s plate.

Wheeler points to a door. As Matt walks toward it, Wheeler shouts at the contractors. *

Contractors file toward the briefing room door. Wheeler heads for the hangar doors looking for stragglers, see Alejandro across the runway, looking down at a patch of snow. Walks to him, looks down and sees --

A RATTLESNAKE FROZEN IN THE SNOW ...

Alejandro just stares. *

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 34.

Alejandro presses his shoe into the snow, pulls it back. Looks at the print. Smiles at Wheeler with an almost child- like wonder, then walks back to the hangar, leaving Wheeler alone on the edge of the runway, frozen serpent at his feet.

THE HULL OF A MASSIVE SHIP SLICES THROUGH THE OPEN OCEAN ...

RAILCAR CONTAINERS are stacked FIFTY-HIGH on the bow. Red, blue, yellow -- they look like GIANT LEGOS snapped into a shapeless mass that stands so tall the ship seems to defy physics by merely staying afloat ...

THE SHIP SAILS RIGHT TOWARD CAMERA ...

CAMERA RISES. SAILS BETWEEN THE RAIL CARS. Stops INCHES from the door of a railcar stacked 300 feet in the air ...

A SOUND leaks from the door. Faint. Rhythmic. Sounds like ARABIC. Sounds like a prayer ...

A BLUE LION ON A WHITE FLAG whips in the breeze. Looks like the battle crest of Richard the First. Which it is ...

TEENAGERS SCREAM AND CHEER AS CAMERA PANS DOWN FROM THE FLAG TO A FIGHT ON THE PLAYGROUND.

TWO HUNDRED STUDENTS IN PRIVATE SCHOOL UNIFORMS STAND IN A CIRCLE AND CHEER AS TWO GIRLS HOLD EACH OTHER BY THE HAIR AND SLUG EACH OTHER SENSELESS. One is blonde, fair skinned. One * has hair the color of night and skin like caramel -- her name is ISABEL REYES (16). While the other girl slaps, Isabel * punches. Hard. The blonde girl quickly forgets why she’s fighting in the first place and pushes away. Isabel pulls her back with a handful of hair, right into a fist that sends the girl to her knees. Isabel looks down as sobs emit from the blonde girl.

Blonde girl just sobs and holds her nose.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 35.

TEACHERS PUSH THROUGH THE CROWD, WRAP ISABEL IN A BEAR HUG, AND PULL HER AWAY ...

Isabel and the Blonde Girl, let’s call her MIRANDA(17), sit across from ALAN DEATS(55), BRITISH. Oxford educated. And all that entails ...

He looks at Miranda, still half-sobbing. Nose broken. Eye swollen shut. Looks at Isabel -- scratches run the length of her face, but no tears. Not a chance. Eyes filled with indignation.

Miranda speaks with the accent of British royalty.

Isabel speaks with an accent that hints at her Mexican heritage.

Deats looks from Isabel’s furious eyes to Miranda’s battered face.

Deats sits back, exhales a heavy breath.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 36.

Deats studies them.

Isabel grabs a handful of hair. Deats stands.

Miranda stands and walks out. Isabel stands and walks toward the door as well.

She plops down in a chair. Crosses her arms.

Beat.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 37.

She looks him dead in the eye -- *

He looks at her and does nothing. Isabel shakes her head, stands and walks to the door.

She turns and walks out ...

ENORMOUS IRON GATES SLOWLY OPEN. A LONG LINE OF BLACK SUBURBANS, MERCEDES, AND SUVS, SLOWLY FILE IN ...

FROM A SATELLITE’S POV -- VEHICLES pull toward the school’s * front foyer. *

SATELLITE CAMERA ZOOMS CLOSER. CLOSER. UNTIL IT’S POSSIBLE TO SEE RIBBONS IN GIRLS’ HAIR ...

VOICE Students are coming out.

One by one, students climb in vehicles. The vehicle pulls * forward, and another vehicle pulls up ...

A BLACK FORD EXPEDITION PULLS PAST THE LOADING POINT, AND ANOTHER IDENTICAL EXPEDITION PULLS TO A STOP.

VOICE (CONT’D) This could be our prize.

ISABEL’S BLACK HAIR can be seen walking toward the second Expedition. A BLONDE HAIRED MAN exits the passenger vehicle and opens the back door for her.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 38.

VOICE (CONT’D) Alpha, can you confirm target?

A SPOTTING SCOPE ON A TRIPOD is just inside the balcony. Alejandro looks through the scope as Isabel climbs in the vehicle.

Matt sits on the sofa, satellite phone to his ear. TWO CONTRACTORS -- JESSIE(40) and TRAE(36) dressed in jeans and t- shirts sit beside him. There is a relaxed focus to both Jessie and Trae’s demeanor -- like they’ve been doing this very thing for years. Which they have ...

VOICE Roger that. Prize is in the trail vehicle.

Matt hangs up the phone then speaks into a HANDHELD RADIO.

Another contractor, JIMMY(35), LATIN AMERICAN, built like an NFL safety, starts breaking down the spotting scope and packing it away.

Alejandro stands and the men move toward the door.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 39.

TWO BLACK EXPEDITIONS race down the highway ...

Isabel sits in the back seat, fiddling on an IPAD. Riding shotgun is CARSON(38), curly, reddish-blonde hair that is cropped close. His eyes scan every inch of terrain out the window --

Though they have left the city behind, commerce is still * everywhere -- each intersection has someone sitting under a * cheap umbrella selling fruit. Selling vegetables. Selling something ...

A VEHICLE passes them on the right. Carson barks into his radio in pretty decent Spanish.

The lead vehicle accelerates. They crest a rise and below them is a giant lake. They come to an exit and take it. As they go right, all traffic keeps left. All but another SUV. *

FROM ABOVE --

The SUVS wind down an empty road. Mountains invade the * horizon. Looks more like Colorado than anyone’s idea of Mexico ...

Carson sees the SUV behind them. Looks at the driver. *

Speaks into a hand-held radio.

VOICE Nada, senor. *

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 40.

The road climbs in elevation, then levels off and the * mountains of southern Mexico come fully into view. Carson looks back at the vehicle following them, then at Isabel, who is immersed in her IPAD. Carlos forces a smile.

She looks up, smiles.

Carson looks at his cellphone -- no service here. Carson studies everything -- every instinct warning him something is * coming. Carson barks into his RADIO.

The Expeditions rush forward, leaving the SUV behind ... *

Carson looks ahead and sees the carcass of A DEAD GOAT on the * side of the road. Screams into his two-way radio -- *

As the lead vehicle passes the goat’s carcass, IT EXPLODES, blasting the vehicle onto its side.

The driver locks the brakes. Almost slams into the burning hull of the lead vehicle.

Driver slams it in reverse, jams the accelerator and sends the Expedition screaming and bouncing its way backward ... *

The SUV following them rushes forward and slams into the rear of the vehicle. Isabel is thrust to the floorboard. Carson’s face is hammered into the deployed AIRBAG AS IS THE DRIVER.

Carson shakes it off and thrusts open his door, then yanks open the rear door and pulls Isabel out by her arm.

MEN WEARING MASKS AND CARRYING ASSAULT RIFLES APPEAR FROM THE * FOREST, FROM THE SUV THAT SLAMMED INTO THEM, FROM EVERYWHERE.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 41.

THE MAN IN THE OVERTURNED VEHICLE STANDS THROUGH HIS SMASHED * SIDE WINDOW, RAISES A WEAPON TOWARD THE ONCOMING MEN.

A RIFLE ROUND pierces his forehead and he disappears back into the overturned vehicle in an instant.

Both vehicles are surrounded. Carson shields Isabel with his body, swinging a PISTOL from one assailant to the next ...

One masked man walks close. Speaks. We recognize the voice -- *

Carson doesn’t answer, just keeps swinging his pistol from one target to the next ...

The driver of Carson’s SUV slowly gets out, face battered by the air bag, hands held high -- takes one look at the rifles pointed at him and lays face-down on the pavement.

One of the ‘soldiers’ pulls the driver’s arms behind his body and ZIP-TIES them tight.

A CONTRACTOR looks in the overturned vehicle -- sees the crumpled body of the man he just shot, and that vehicle’s driver, dead from the crash.

Carson’s eyes dart to the masked man who just SPOKE IN PERFECT ENGLISH.

One of the contractors stares at Carson then walks to Matt, whispers in his ear.

Matt pulls off his mask, smiles.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 42.

Another mask is pulled off -- it’s Jimmy.

Carson looks into a face he’s known for years.

Alejandro -- still in full mask -- slips around the side of the vehicle. Carson feels it and tries to swing around, but Alejandro has a rifle to his temple before he can turn around.

Men descend on him, take his pistol, zip-tie his hands, and guide him to his knees then on his belly.

Isabel is hurried toward TWO SUBURBANS that pull onto the road from the forest.

Contractors back their way toward the Suburbans, climb in. Matt looks at Alejandro and points toward Carson and the other security guards.

Alejandro walks to them.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 43.

Alejandro walks to one of the Suburbans, climbs in the front passenger seat. Matt follows ... *

Matt looks back at Carson.

Matt climbs in the backseat of the Suburban beside a terrified Isabel. *

The Suburban accelerates. Matt looks at Isabel, smiles.

Matt digs in a gear bag and pulls out a water bottle. Offers it to her.

The offer seems to calm her a little -- she takes the bottle. * Alejandro turns and looks back at her.

Alejandro takes the water from her, drinks it himself.

Carson and the driver lay face down on the road. The driver looks at Carson with panic.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 44.

Carson was thinking the same thing. Draws his head back and slams himself face-first into the asphalt, shattering his nose and splitting his lip. Unsure that will convince his boss he put up a good enough fight, he does it again.

The driver watches him, then pounds his face into the pavement as well ...

The trio of SUVs pull toward the guard gate OF AN AIRFIELD. *

Two MEN IN SUITS step out of a LINCOLN. The SUVs stop as the men approach the driver-side window of the lead vehicle. ALBERTO(35), MEXICAN-AMERCAN, wears a suit and holds up his DEA BADGE as they reach the window. Window rolls down. *

Peers in and sees Isabel staring at him. Shakes his head.

Matt smiles.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 45.

Alberto walks back to his car. Climbs in. Alberto’s Lincoln pulls out. The SUVs follow. Past the guard gate and right onto the runway toward a waiting GULFSTREAM. *

Matt, Alejandro, Isabel and two dozen contractors pile out of vehicles and walk to the waiting plane, its engines already * screaming to get the hell out of here ...

GULFSTREAM skids to a stop on the runway. WATCH FROM A * DISTANCE as Matt, Alejandro and the rest of the team walk off the plane and are met by THE COMPANY COMMANDER.

Company Commander points toward a waiting US NAVY SH-60 SEAHAWK HELICOPTER.

Alejandro looks at Isabel.

She has absolutely no idea what he is talking about. Matt * ushers his team toward the helicopter. They climb on and the chopper rises ...

CAMERA looks down on the helicopter as it flies over a small taste of the US military’s might -- row after row of FIGHTER JETS give way to row after row of HELICOPTERS, then a shopping mall-sized parking lot of HUMVEES, ARMORED PERSONNEL CARRIERS, AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT VEHICLES ...

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 46.

Isabel looks down over this array of weaponry.

MATT * You’re doing really good. Once we land we’ll get you something to eat, how’s that sound?

Her eyes shift from Matt to Alejandro.

The Seahawk helicopter soars over AN ENDLESS EXPANSE OF CIRCULAR OIL TANKS THE SIZE OF BASEBALL STADIUMS. From this point of view it looks like God dropped thousands of giant, rusted coins from the heavens ...

The Chopper soars over CORPUS CHRISTIE BAY over BATTLESHIPS and DESTROYERS and OIL TANKER AFTER OIL TANKER ...

IN THE DISTANCE -- an empty ocean where only ONE SHIP FLOATS. *

THE USS NEW YORK is a SAN ANTONIO CLASS WARSHIP. Used for launching air assaults and landing troops. It is almost 700 feet long and looks much more like a sleek, floating city than an instrument of war ...

The chopper approaches and lands in a large red circle. Chopper doors open ...

As Isabel steps from the chopper, she takes in the swirling activity everywhere -- MARINES JOG BY IN PLATOONS IN FULL BATTLE GEAR, SAILORS MOVE TO AND FRO EVERYWHERE, all staring at her. She feels alarmingly exposed in the navy skirt and white blouse of her school uniform.

Willet’s eyes move over Isabel. Notices the welt under her cheek, a torn button on her blouse, and splatters of blood around the collar.

Matt actually looks at Isabel for the first time.

Willet isn’t buying it.

Beat.

Willet’s eyes shift back to Matt.

The contractors walk off. Willet shifts eyes back to Matt.

Willet steps close.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 48.

Matt looks over the bow of the ship.

Isabel looks back at Willet as Alejandro guides her toward the door that leads to the bowels of this vessel, Matt following behind ...

Matt stares at a LARGE TV MONITOR hooked to a SERIES OF COMPUTERS as he eats his dinner from a ‘to go box’.

Points to a YELLOW DOT ON THE MAP, forty miles south of Mexico City.

STEVE FORSING reclines in a chair, leans forward toward Matt. *

FORSING * Speculation is Reyes has a residence somewhere in the vicinity of Monterrey.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 49.

FORSING * (To JCU) No one’s going to call * from the home phone, satellite can’t pick up cell chatter? *

JCU SPECIALIST * (Shakes his head) We can lock coordinates to the cell and snag the phone number, but we can’t hear the call ... But once we have initial contact, we can track all calls in and out. Those calls will lead to the principal. Then all calls will revolve around that number. We’ll pin them on the map. They’ll swirl around the center. And the center is your target.

The JCU punches a button and SATELLITE FOOTAGE OF THE MANSION WEST OF MEXICO CITY FILLS THE FRAME ... POLICE VEHICLES FILL THE DRIVEWAY. OFFICERS MILL ABOUT EVERYWHERE ...

Matt looks at Jeff.

FORSING * Just staff we think. We have eyes on the mother in LA, she’s having dinner at La Scala with the oldest brother. We should pick up that piece of shit at some point ... *

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 50.

Matt studies the grainy satellite footage -- lots of black and blue uniforms standing around six women in white.

Hits another button and FOOTAGE OF EVEN MORE POLICE VEHICLES AND MEN SURROUND THE ABANDONED AND DEMOLISHED VEHICLES. A GROUP OF AMBULANCES SIT IN A ROW.

FOUR BODIES ARE LAID IN A ROW, COVERED WITH BLACK SHEETS ...

FORSING * You popped them all?

FORSING * Why’d you do that?

CAMERA ZOOMS.

CAMERA KEEPS MOVING OVER THE SCENE -- COMES TO A STATE POLICE OFFICER SURROUNDED BY MEN IN SUITS AND THE BLACK UNIFORMS OF FEDERAL POLICE.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 51.

Men walk to and from the State Police officer, then he walks back toward a STATE POLICE VEHICLE and pulls out a cellphone. *

Alejandro sits across from Isabel at an interrogation table. He stares at her as though he’s been doing it for hours. *

ISABEL * What do you want me to do ... Quit my family in protest and live on the street?? I’M SIXTEEN. THIS IS THE LIFE GOD GAVE ME. In two years it’s mine, and I’ll do with it what I want.

Alejandro flips open a file on the table. *

Doesn’t answer, just keeps reading. Reads something that surprises him slightly, looks up.

She looks at him with defiance.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 52.

Matt sticks his head in the door.

Alejandro stands.

Alejandro walks out the door.

Alejandro walks in, sits beside Matt. Matt points at the screen -- A YELLOW DOT BLINKS ALONG THE ROADWAY. A PINK LIGHT FLASHES IN THE CENTER OF MEXICO CITY ...

JCU Specialist shakes his head in disbelief.

Everyone stares at the screen like they’re watching the last two minutes of a football game. Both lights stop blinking, but still glow.

A call from the Mexico City number creates a purple throb west of Monterrey, Mexico. Everyone leans forward in their seats.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 53.

FORSING * First call’s never to target.

The throbbing lights glow solid.

And like that, the call location in Monterrey glows purple. Then starts blinking as a call to the center of Monterrey glows pink.

Starts flashing green. Beside each color is the PHONE NUMBER AND GPS COORDINATES IN A DIZZYING SERIES OF NUMBERS.

The colors stop throbbing. Then the green light starts throbbing again to a phone farther north on the map -- in the town of BUSTAMANTE.

The new location throbs blue then stops throbbing, then throbs again.

Then the green dot throbs as well.

FORSING * You’re running out of colors. *

Each call placed generates another call from the receiver, then another call. Then another. Calls spider-web their way toward the border, then begin working their way back toward the first call in Monterey. Then multiple throbs come from the location in Monterrey with multiple throbs surrounding it.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 54.

Matt walks toward the screen, which is throbbing with more and more lights as more and more calls come in and out. Matt points to the purple light all the other lights surround.

Alejandro walks out as the JCU talks into his mic.

ANGLE ON --

The monitor, which changes from a topographical map with roads highlighted in dull green to a black world -- lights from the house glow hot white, as do the men lurking in the bushes around it. Matt looks at Alejandro, then hands him a cellphone ...

Alejandro leans over the railing at the ship’s bow as he dials the cellphone. Looks down and watches DOLPHINS dive in * and out of the ship’s wake. *

VOICE (O.S.) They sure like to surf, don’t they?

Alejandro looks back at A U.S. MARINE, TIM(19), baby faced and corn-fed. Right off a farm in Nebraska. Now he walks his post, M-16 across his chest.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 55.

Alejandro turns from the young man and finishes dialing.

A MAN stands before a class of junior high students in a suit. He is latino, maybe 40. His name is JAVIER GUTIERREZ. He smiles at the students, then a very different smile for a * girl in the front row. For her -- proud smile of a father. *

A student raises his hand.

Children laugh. Miguel stares at the man with something between awe and envy. Looks at his own father -- work boots * and worn jeans -- and wishes he was father to someone else. *

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 56.

He smiles and walks off as students clap.

He waves him up. He grips his son’s knee with an affectionate squeeze, then walks to the podium. He looks out over the class -- all of them American. None of them white.

Laughter from the teacher and some students, but not Miguel. His face is full of anger. Full of shame. His POCKET VIBRATES. Sneaks his phone out of his pocket, glances at a text message. Sits up a little straighter. No more shame ...

RAFAEL walks past BANANA REPUBLIC, past THE LIMITED, past every retail testament to the American Dream. Comes to a FOOD * COURT in the center of the mall. It’s easy for him to spot the CONTRACTORS sitting casually at one table and leaning over the railing ... *

Sees Alejandro sitting alone. Sits across from him. Soon as * Rafael sits, MATT TURNS AROUND FROM THE TABLE BESIDE IT.

Rafael shakes his head.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 57.

RAFAEL * What’s the plan? *

Rafael sighs.

Matt smiles. Rafael shakes his head.

Rafael studies Matt’s face, then Alejandro’s.

ALEJANDRO * Tell me we don’t need it.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 58.

Rafael’s eyes burn into Matt.

MATT * I don’t draw lines, buddy. I’m a * soldier. I just hold them ... And * if we don’t, some fucking * politician’s going to build a wall * from sea to shining sea, my friend. * And no one wants that. *

RAFAEL * No ... *

MATT * We bring her across tomorrow. *

Matt walks off. Rafael looks at Alejandro.

Alejandro stands.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 59.

Alejandro turns and disappears into a sea of shoppers.

Alejandro walks to a parked SUV that sits idling. Climbs in. Jimmy, behind the wheel. He pulls out, driving down an * endless row of minivans and pickup trucks. *

A BOY walks out between two vehicles in front of them. Jimmy * jams the brakes so hard he almost puts Alejandro through the * windshield. *

MIGUEL stutter-steps back, looks at the SUV, eyes wide. *

Miguel stares at the men staring at him through the * windshield. Jimmy rolls his window down. *

Miguel looks from Jimmy to Alejandro, nods. *

Don’t have to tell him twice. He walks toward the Starbucks * at the end of the parking lot. *

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 60.

Alejandro watches Miguel walk into the Starbucks, then looks out over the parking lot -- everywhere is a brand new store selling something. And every parking space in front of every store is filled.

ALEJANDRO * He’s just a symptom. *

Alejandro looks over the shopping center. *

Jimmy looks around as though he’s looking for an assailant. *

He looks at Jimmy, who has no idea what he’s talking about. *

JIMMY * Yeah, well ... Welcome to America. *

The SUV drives through the parking lot and onto the street. *

Miguel sits beside Hector as he drives. Turns left toward the border. Miguel’s body tightens as he sees the sign announcing: LAST EXIT BEFORE THE BORDER.

Hector looks at him as he sucks his cigarette. Smiles.

Miguel nods without agreeing as they approach the border ... *

Miguel looks out the window at the town of REYNOSA, MEXICO. The streets are alive with people. Young men and women with BACKPACKS loiter on every corner.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 61.

Miguel studies DOZENS OF MEN AND WOMEN ALL standing before an * old school bus. A BOY no older than him waving them on ...

Hector stabs his cigarette stub against a new cigarette. Lights the new one, tosses the old one to the gutter.

Miguel forces himself to nod.

Hector turns left and heads for the edge of town, then continues on as cinder-block buildings give way to mesquite trees and cactus the size of Toyotas ...

The Camaro drives an empty road. No traffic in either * direction, as if it was reserved for Hector ... *

CAMERA RISES --

In the distance, BUSES CAN BE SEEN MOVING DOWN A DIRT ROAD * WHERE DOZENS OF MEN CAN BE SEEN WAITING ...

Hector turns on a GARMIN GPS, hands it to Miguel.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 62.

The Camaro pulls up beside the buses. PICKUP TRUCKS sit parked facing them, their headlights on -- cutting through the deep grey of dusk.

As the Camaro stops, Miguel watches as one hundred tired, terrified men and women file off the buses. Hector parks, shuts off the vehicle.

Hector climbs out of the vehicle. Miguel stares, horrified, at the men walking around the migrants. They divide them into groups. Force some groups to heft 50 POUND BALES OF MARIJUANA on their backs. Miguel pulls his cellphone from his pocket, ponders dialing his father, dialing 911, dialing anyone who can get him out of this when --

A FIST POUNDS ON THE CAMARO WINDOW.

Miguel looks at Hector who motions for him to get out ... *

Hector walks Miguel to a group of 8 MEN AND WOMEN. Hector * grabs Miguel by the back of his neck and jerks him to a stop.

Miguel manages a nod. Hector points at the GPS.

He guides Miguel toward Gallo. His emotionless eyes look Miguel up and down ... *

GALLO * At my house, I have a big pond with Koi fish. Know what those are?

Miguel doesn’t.

Gallo nods.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 63.

Gallo chuckles. So does Miguel.

Miguel tries to speak, but nothing comes. All he can manage is a nod. Gallo pulls him close, his dirty mouth inches from Miguel’s ear.

Gallo stands and points to a group of migrants. *

Miguel walks to the group -- all of them 10 years older than him or more. He sucks in a breath, then shouts --

Miguel looks at the GPS, starts walking on the illuminated path. The group of migrants follows as he leads them north. To salvation ...

Miguel stands at the bank of the river, the migrants behind * him. He walks into the river until it’s up to his waist. * Until the current fights his every step. Time to swim ... He holds the GPS high and kicks his way across the river, eight terrified souls treading water right behind him.

He kicks and swims, the bank on the US side getting closer. Sees something to his left --

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 64.

A WATER MOCCASIN slithers through the water in a collision course with the boy. He slows, treads water, and lets it pass inches from his face. Fights his panic and continues ...

Reaches the shore. Crawls up the steep bank, all eight still behind him. Waits for them to reach the shore then moves quietly through the brush ...

A HELICOPTER SOARS OVERHEAD. It’s searchlight piercing the night.

Everyone ducks into the brush until the light passes and the sound of the helicopter fades. Miguel stands and motions for them to follow ...

Miguel stares at the GPS, the end of the red line is close. In the distance, he sees TWO VANS parked in the mesquite. Walks toward them. As he gets closer, TWO YOUNG MEN WITH TATTOOS FROM HEAD TO TOE EMERGE FROM THE VANS, PISTOLS IN THEIR HANDS. One of them looks at Miguel, smiles.

Miguel keeps walking as the gangsters force the terrified * migrants into the vans -- their journey very far from over. Miguel sees a MINIVAN parked on the side of a road. Miguel * stops, stares at it. The window rolls down ...

A YOUNG BLONDE WOMAN looks out and smiles.

He walks to the minivan, climbs in the shotgun seat. In the seat behind him is AN INFANT SOUND ASLEEP IN A BABY SEAT. She * motions for him to be quiet. Hands him a brown paper bag. Miguel looks inside -- more money than he’s ever seen.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 65.

He looks at her, doesn’t trust her for a second.

She puts the minivan in drive and pulls onto the road ...

THREE MH-60 TRANSPORT HELICOPTERS climb from the deck are whirl toward shore ...

Isabel -- now dressed in NAVY WHITES two sizes too big, holds her school uniform in her lap and studies the contractors -- all dressed IN DESERT CAMOUFLAGE. Looks at Alejandro who stares out at nothing. Looks at Matt, who is staring right back.

Matt laughs.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 66.

She looks at Alejandro and his hollow eyes suck the defiance from her.

Alejandro moves beside her, leans close. Close enough to make * her look away.

She stares at the floor, eyes filled with a violated fury as the truth of his words burn through her.

Miguel sits at the breakfast table, but he doesn’t eat. Just * stares in the furious eyes of his father. On the table between them: 5,000 dollars.

Blandina stands in the corner, eyes wet from crying. Miguel’s brother and sisters peek around the corner like weary deer. Arturo stands up. Takes the money and a SAUCE PAN. Puts the * money in the pan and lights it on fire.

Looks at his other children who disappear behind the wall. * Then back at Miguel ... *

Arturo grabs Miguel by the collar and drags him to the front door and tosses Miguel outside with a strength we did not * credit him with having ...

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 67.

Arturo slams the door leaving Miguel alone in the front yard, looking very much the little boy again ...

A CRANE lifts railcars from the ship’s deck -- they sway back * and forth as the crane lowers them in neat rows ... *

A MEXICAN NAVY INSPECTOR walks past railcars, reading the SECURITY STICKERS that seal the doors. Stops at one, reads it, then unlocks the railcar and swings it open ...

Steps inside the dark. Walks a narrow alleyway past box after box until the inspector’s flashlight FINDS A FACE. *

THE MAN IS EARLY 20S. THICK BEARD. SHORT HAIR. He wears a t- shirt and jeans. Two duffel bags at his feet.

The young man nods.

Young man nods again.

He looks at the duffel bags.

The inspector picks up the blue duffel and walks out. Closes the door and covers it with a giant sticker that says --

INSPECTED AND CLEARED.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 68.

In a room the size of a school gymnasium, CONTRACTORS cram * RIFLE MAGAZINES IN ASSAULT VESTS. CHECK WEAPONS. SIFT THROUGH GEAR. Jimmy holds up a pair of NIGHT VISION GOGGLES to Matt.

D.E.A. AGENT ED RAMIREZ walks to Matt, phone in hand.

Hands the phone back. Looks at Ramirez.

Matt looks at Isabel sitting against the wall -- dressed in * head to toe in white. Shifts his eyes to Ramirez. *

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 69.

Ramirez walks off. Matt looks at Isabel as she sits, oblivious of her fate. If it possible for him to feel regret * he feels it now. Looks across the room at Alejandro as he checks the action of an M-4 ASSAULT RIFLE. No regret there. Not even a little ...

Miguel sits against the wall of the 7-11. Stands when he sees Hector’s Camaro pull up in front of him. He walks to the car and climbs in ...

CAMERA LOOKS DOWN ON THE DESERT FROM 10,000 FEET ON A CONVOY OF VEHICLES. A PREDATOR DRONE BLASTS THROUGH FRAME ...

PUSH IN ON THE CONVOY --

A MEXICAN MILITARY ARMORED PERSONNEL CARRIER leads the way. Behind it, a MEXICAN FEDERAL POLICE TRUCK, machine gun on a * tripod mounted to the bed. Behind it are 4 HUMVEES. Behind the Humvees is another Mexican Police truck ... *

Matt sits beside Alejandro, Isabel by his side. They sit shoulder-to-shoulder with contractors cradling assault rifles between their legs, barrels to the floorboard.

Matt turns and glances out the tiny window-slit -- MESQUITE TREES COVER THE LANDSCAPE. Looks back at TRAE.

Matt speaks into his radio mic.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 70.

VOICE Clear on both sides.

Alejandro looks through the window-slit.

VOICE Nothing but desert. You’re clear.

VOICE 10 mikes in every direction. Mexico * Fed said the road would be clear. * Looks like they’re keeping their word ...

Matt looks at Alejandro.

Matt looks out the window -- mesquites and broken country and nothing else for miles ... Isabel looks at Matt. *

Matt looks back at her.

Isabel is floored. Asks her second question --

Matt ignores her, looks at Alejandro.

Matt reaches for the roof latch, pushes it open and stands.

Matt looks out over the desert where mesquite trees have grown so thick the desert floor is not visible ...

He strains to see through the trees. Nothing ...

He looks at the Mexican officer in front, hands gripping the

doesn’t look where the barrel points. He looks at Matt. Matt shouts at him.

The officer shakes his head ‘no’.

VOICE Shit! Ground, incoming on your right --

Matt looks to his right.

Matt hears the faint sound of a whistle. Sees a thin trail of white smoke that races toward the armored personnel carrier that leads the way ...

The RPG PENETRATES THE ARMORED PERSONNEL CARRIER, rolling it off the road in a mass of black smoke. By the time Matt’s eyes have shifted back to the Mexican officer manning the machine gun in front of him, the machine gun IS POINTED AT HIM.

Matt drops down the hole and screams --

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 72.

The Humvee driver barrels off the road as rifle rounds pound * into the Humvee. In an instant, it seems the entire desert is attacking them ...

FROM ABOVE --

All Humvees peel off the road as trails of white smoke slam into one of the rear police vehicles. MEXICAN FEDERAL POLICE IN THE REAR OF THE CONVOY engage the muzzle flashes that spark from the desert.

THE TWO MEXICAN POLICE VEHICLES IN THE FRONT OF THE CONVOY turn sideways in the street and begin firing at both THE HUMVEES AND THE MEXICAN FEDERAL POLICE IN THE REAR.

IN AN INSTANT, EVERYONE IS FIRING AT EVERYONE.

It is utter madness ...

CONTRACTORS pile out of the Humvee, Alejandro looks at Isabel.

He disappears as well. Isabel tries to curl in a ball under the bench as rifle rounds puncture the vehicle. She sees A LATCH on the floor beside her, pulls it and THE FLOOR ESCAPE HATCH drops. She climbs out ...

The sound is deafening. All she sees is FEET. Running here. Running there. She looks to her left -- no feet there, just the gnarled trunks of mesquite trees. She crawls toward them.

ANGLE ON --

MATT, as he takes cover behind the giant tire of the humvee, spots muzzle flashes across the road, flickering then disappearing by the dozens. He shouts into his mic --

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 73.

VOICE Roger that. Heads down.

EXPLOSIONS ROCK THE FAR SIDE OF THE ROAD AS A PREDATOR DRONE WHIPS BY 50 feet off the ground ...

ANGLE ON --

ALEJANDRO, as he and A GROUP OF CONTRACTORS move on the MEXICAN FEDERAL POLICE VEHICLES BLOCKING THE ROAD --

Jogging forward, rifles to their shoulders, firing as they run. Alejandro and the contractors form a semi-circle that takes up the whole road, then close it into a circle surrounding the vehicles and punch rounds into Mexican Police who are no match for professional soldiers ...

ANGLE ON --

THE REAR OF THE CONVOY, WHERE A GROUP OF MEXICAN POLICE OFFICERS HOLD ANOTHER GROUP OF MEXICAN POLICE OFFICERS AT GUNPOINT WHO POINT GUNS BACK AT THEM.

MATT AND MORE CONTRACTORS HOLD WEAPONS ON BOTH GROUPS SCREAMING IN SPANISH FOR WEAPONS TO BE DROPPED.

Frantic men from every group swing rifles from one target to the next.

MEXICAN POLICE SHIFT THEIR SIGHTS FROM AMERICAN CONTRACTORS THEN BACK TO OTHER MEXICAN POLICE OFFICERS AS REASON AND ALLEGIANCE GIVES WAY TO PANIC AND SURVIVAL.

No one knows who anyone is. No one knows who’s on their side. * As American contractors shout for weapons to be dropped, Mexican police officers shout the same in return.

AS ALEJANDRO AND HIS GROUP OF CONTRACTORS RUSH FORWARD SCREAMING -- A SHOT IS FIRED -- AND AN AMERICAN CONTRACTOR FALLS TO HIS KNEES.

Unclear who fired the shot, but now it doesn’t matter -- Matt, Alejandro and the dozen contractors open fire until they’ve killed everyone who wears a Mexican police uniform. *

Matt looks over smoking vehicles and bodies littering the * road.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 74.

Shouts of ‘CLEAR’ echo out all around him. Contractors move through the scene toward him.

Matt looks at Alejandro.

Matt’s radio sparks to life. *

VOICE * Ground, you have police vehicles approaching from the south. 5 clicks out. *

Matt looks at Alejandro.

Matt and the contractors rush to their Humvees, Matt freezes when he looks inside and sees the EMPTY VEHICLE AND OPEN FLOOR HATCH.

Alejandro peers inside the Humvee, then out over the desert. *

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 75.

ALEJANDRO * No time for that. Get north. I’ll * find her. *

Matt hands him a GPS BEACON. *

MATT * Any chance you can get her * stateside? *

ALEJANDRO * It’s a big risk. *

Matt shakes his head, *

ALEJANDRO * I’ll take care of it. *

The look in Alejandro’s eyes says how he’ll do it. Alejandro * moves into the trees as Matt and his team pile into Humvees * and head north ...

Isabel crawls on hands and knees through the mesquite. Reaches an open pasture, then stand up and runs ...

Up ahead is a more mesquite. She ducks and claws her way * through the thorny branches. Comes to A ROAD ... Looks to her left. To her right. Nothing ... She’s not sure which way to go, sits against the tree while she figures it out ...

Alejandro moves silently through the mesquite, studying the ground. Has to duck low to avoid the thorns. Finds A HANDPRINT IN THE DIRT. Then another ...

All the men suck air. Check themselves for wounds. Jimmy looks at two bullet holes over his heart. PULLS OUT HIS * TRAUMA PLATE AND PICKS THE SLUGS FROM THE STEEL ...

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 76.

Yanks open his shirt and surveys the dinner plate-sized bruise forming over his chest.

Though the battle barely lasted three minutes -- from the * look of the men it lasted all day. Blood and dust and grime * cover every inch of them ... *

TRAE * Feeling pretty fucking under-paid * at the moment, Matt. *

MATT * Gotta play for the love of the * game, sport. *

All the men pant and suck water from CAMELBACK BLADDERS ON THEIR BACKS THROUGH TUBES THAT RUN BENEATH THEIR SHOULDERS.

One CONTRACTOR uses the tube like a garden hose, shooting water over his face.

Sprays Trae’s face as well, then notices THE BLOOD pooled on the bench between them.

Contractors begin pulling off Trae’s gear and clothes.

They find a hole just beneath his armpit.

The find the exit hole through the shoulder blade.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 77.

He does. No cough ... *

A CONTRACTOR PULLS A TRAUMA KIT FROM HIS PACK, SHOWERS BOTH HOLES WITH A WHITE POWDER, BEGINS DRESSING THE WOUNDS as Matt speaks into his mouthpiece --

VOICE Roger that ground. You have police * vehicles approaching your six in a code 3.

Matt reaches for the roof hatch as he shouts at the driver.

Looks at the other men who are already slamming fresh magazines into their rifles.

Matt looks back as STATE POLICE VEHICLE SCREAM TOWARD THEM, SIRENS BLAZING. Matt places a BELT MAGAZINE IN THE M-60 MACHINE GUN MOUNTED TO A TURRET, YANKS BACK THE BOLT AND SENDS A ROUND INTO THE CHAMBER.

The sound of the Humvee driver’s voice echoes out of LOUD SPEAKERS.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 78.

The driver repeats it IN SPANISH as Matt fires a dozen rounds into the street in front of the vehicles ... *

POLICE VEHICLES LOCK THEIR BRAKES. SKID AND SLIDE TO A STOP as the Humvees race past a sign that says:

INTERNATIONAL BORDER 1/2 MILE AHEAD.

Matt spins around and sees the border crossing and ducks back inside the Humvee.

IT IS A MUCH SMALLER CROSSING THAN JUAREZ. Barely more than GUARD SHACKS ON EITHER SIDE. As the Humvees approach, AGENTS FROM BOTH COUNTRIES stand and stare, stunned motionless by the bullet-riddled vehicles blasting past them while tourists * film the retreat on their IPHONES ... *

Isabel hides in the mesquite. HEARS the sound of A VEHICLE APPROACHING. Sneaks a peak -- An old CHEVY PICKUP drives toward her. She stares at it gets closer. Has to make a decision -- stands and walks into the road. The truck slows to a stop. She walks toward it as the driver’s door opens. A MIDDLE-AGED MAN, big belly, steps out of the truck. Nothing about him looks like a threat, until she steps closer and sees the falseness of his smile.

She freezes. Starts to walk backward. His smile fades as he reaches out and grabs her arm ...

A BULLET pierces his forehead. The man collapses to the street like a jacket slipping from a coat rack.

Alejandro steps from the mesquite, rifle still at his shoulder, Isabel in his sights. *

She turns and runs like hell out over the desert. Alejandro * takes off after her with a speed we did not credit him with having.

She looks back, SCREAMS IN TERROR at the ground he has gained. Isabel trips and hits the desert floor face-first. In an instant, Alejandro is on her ...

Isabel explodes -- biting, kicking, screaming. Alejandro puts a knee in her chest-- pushing the air from her lungs and * the fight from her spirit. She fights for air as she cries.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 79.

Alejandro pulls a pistol, presses it to her temple. She looks * him dead in the eye -- no fear. Wrestles against his hand. * Turns her face into it, bites into his palm. *

He stares at this little fighter, never quitting. No beg in * her. Pulls his bleeding hand from her mouth and stands over * her, pistol pointed at her face. *

ISABEL * If my father’s such a monsterWHAT * THE FUCK ARE YOU?!?! *

He looks at the little warrior at his feet staring death in * the eye with a dare, and lowers the pistol. *

ALEJANDRO * Good question. Now’s a good time to * ask questions too -- you need to * understand your new reality.

She sucks heavy breaths. Looks up at him. *

ISABEL * Okay. *

ALEJANDRO * Ask me another one. *

ALEJANDRO * Why do you think we did that? *

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 80.

ISABEL * I don’t know. *

ALEJANDRO * So your father will go to war with * the men who attacked us. *

ISABEL * How does that make things better? *

She looks at him with her giant eyes. The fighter is gone. * Only a little girl remains. *

ISABEL * Now you’re going to kill me and * make it look like they did it. *

He stares down at her. *

ALEJANDRO * No ... You, I think I’ll save. *

He yanks her to her feet. *

He looks at her with sad, kind eyes.

He starts walking into the mesquite, motions for her to follow. She does ...

COLD WATER RUNS INTO A DEEP, CROOKED GASH ON A MAN’S FOREARM. CAMERA PULLS BACK --

Matt stands in front of a sink, cleaning the wound. Dabs it dry with SURGICAL GAUZE. Dumps BETADINE SOLUTION into the wound, then starts pulling the gash closed with BUTTERFLY BANDAGES.

Bathroom door pushes open -- Forsing stands there. *

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 81.

FORSING * You need stitches.

FORSING * How’d that happen?

FORSING * J.C.U. just picked up the signal.

Matt forgets his wound and walks out the door.

A large room has been converted to a command center. Matt marches past JIMMY and other CONTRACTORS who are preparing both gear and themselves for the next operation.

He walks to a table where the J.C.U. SPECIALIST SITS BEFORE MONITORS AND COMPUTERS. The specialist points to a RED FLASHING LIGHT over a SATELLITE IMAGE OF THE GROUND.

The door flies open -- Cynthia and two CIA AIDES march in. * Matt watches her as she storms toward him. Her mood is * somewhere between irate and panic. Matt forces a smile --

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 82.

He walks off, she follows in a fury ...

Matt leans against a sink as Cynthia tears into him.

MATT * It was a green-on-blue, Cynthia. * There was no other option. You guys * wanted Afghanistan, now you got it. *

MATT * They attacked us. We had no choice. *

CYNTHIA * Wars are built on perception, Matt. * And the only perception the world * will have if someone besides us * finds her IS WHATEVER SHE TELLS * THEM -- *

MATT * We’ll find her first. *

CYNTHIA * You’d better. *

MATT * I have a source in the field. Just * a matter of time. *

CYNTHIA * We want the target eliminated. *

MATT * What if my source gets her back? *

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 83.

CYNTHIA * We don’t want her back. We want * this whole fucked up operation to * disappear. Eliminate the source as * well. Then shut this down. *

MATT * This was the mission. *

CYNTHIA * This was FAR from the mission. Not * my call. POTUS doesn’t have the * stomach for it. *

MATT * I did my job. Now you do yours.Sit * that fucking coward down and * explain to him: this is how we win. *

CYNTHIA * He’s not worried about winning. * He’s worried about getting FUCKING * IMPEACHED. I just watched Youtube * footage of YOUR SHOT TO SHIT * HUMVEES RACING ACROSS THE * BORDER!!!! *

MATT * SO SPIN IT!! All it does is * strengthen our position. *

CYNTHIA * We don’t have a position BECAUSE * WE’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO FUCKING BE * THERE ... Your objective was to * start a war with Mexican cartels, * not the Mexican Government. *

MATT * It’s the same thing. *

CYNTHIA * Don’t be simplistic ... They’re an * ally. Until they piece this fuck-up * together ... *

She shakes her head. *

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 84.

MATT * It took me fifteen years to build * him into what he is ... *

CYNTHIA * Is he the only grieving father in * Mexico, Matt? I could throw a * booomerang across the river and hit * fifty of them. Build another. *

Matt shakes his head in frustration. *

MATT * This is why nothing ever changes.

She walks out. *

Alejandro looks out over a field of corn. Sees A MAN pulling * weeds in the rows. Alejandro whispers to Isabel. *

Alejandro lays the rifle beneath the tree. Pulls off his tactical vest.

Alejandro walks into the field -- hands held out, Isabel in * his back pocket. The farmer spots them and stands perfectly still as they approach ... He studies the frail young woman and the hulking man beside her -- both dressed in military uniforms, and grips his rake a little tighter ...

The farmer’s name is ANGEL(40), kind face, trim body of a man who works for a living.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 85.

Angel’s eyes move over the girl -- a flicker of recognition * in Angel’s eyes, then a wave of realization as he looks at the gear on Alejandro’s chest. The pistol on his hip ...

Alejandro nods.

Angel turns and walks toward his tiny house, motions for them to follow ... *

Alejandro sips coffee as Isabel devours a meal of eggs and tortillas, nods his gratitude toward Angel and his wife * IDA(35), a baby boy in her lap.

Angel motions at the baby.

Angel rubs his thumb and forefinger together.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 86.

ALEJANDRO * It isn’t the right way if you get * punished for doing it. *

ANGEL * There is no right way. Not anymore. *

Alejandro looks out the window at the setting sun. Looks at * his watch. Reaches into his pack and pulls out a SATELLITE PHONE.

He walks outside as he dials ...

Alejandro stares out over goats and chickens as the dying sun paints the horizon a bloody orange.

Beat.

INTERCUT WITH -- *

Matt walks across the giant parking lot filed with SUV’s, * HUMVEES, and HELICOPTERS beneath a canopy of stars ... *

ALEJANDRO * She’s with me now. *

MATT * They want to cut ties. *

ALEJANDRO * Don’t think I can do that. *

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 87.

ALEJANDRO * I’m telling you not this one. *

Beat. *

MATT * Not sure this side is any safer. * She’s got a lot to say they don’t * want anyone to hear. *

ALEJANDRO * Yeah ... I think maybe that’s what * we need. It’s the only thing we * haven’t tried. *

MATT * That thought crossed my mind too. *

ALEJANDRO * If I get her back can you protect * her? *

Matt sucks in a breath. What he says when he exhales will * determine his future. *

MATT * Get her to me. I’ll do the rest. * Good luck. *

ALEJANDRO * Luck doesn’t live on this side of * the border. *

Alejandro hangs up and watches as the last rays of the day * dip to the horizon. Starts walking back to the little house. By the time reaches the front door, night has overtaken them.

Miguel looks out the window as they drive through Reynosa, * Mexico. Turn down a narrow road and come to A WAREHOUSE. * Parked in front IS A ROW OF OLD SCHOOL BUSES AND VANS ...

Exhausted MIGRANTS sleep against the warehouse wall using backpacks as pillows. Must be a hundred of them ... *

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 88.

Camaro stops. Hector and Miguel walk past the sleeping ‘sheep’ to the warehouse ...

Old couches and chairs sit in no particular order. TWO MEN * drink beer and play pool. TEENAGE BOYS AND YOUNG MEN sleep on every available piece of furniture. Cigarette smoke hovers over the warehouse in a hazy, blue cloud.

Miguel looks for a place to sleep but every available couch * is taken. He rests against the wall, knees to his chest, looking more the little boy than ever ...

Alejandro stands in a hole about 2 feet deep, shovel in hand. Tosses the shovel to the ground and drops to his knees. Begins scooping dirt with his hands.

He wears Angel’s clothes -- which are far too small. Beside the hole is all of Alejandro’s gear -- the M-16 completely disassembled, his tactical clothes and gear -- A RADIO * EARPIECE, SATELLITE PHONE, RIFLE MAGAZINES ... Beside all of that is Isabel, wearing more of Angel’s clothes -- all too * big. Her hair has been cut short, like a boy. She stands, arms crossed, face filled with worry.

His eyes burrow into her until she understands the implication.

Beat.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 89.

Alejandro stops what he’s doing. Looks at the terrified girl. *

ISABEL * Is it hard to cross? *

He looks at her.

Isabel barely breaths as she digests his words ...

Alejandro climbs out of the hole, tosses his gear in, drops to his knees and begins shoving dirt back in the hole.

Isabel drops to her knees beside him, starts shoving dirt ...

CAMERA WATCHES FROM A DISTANCE --

The black silhouettes of Alejandro and Isabel look like mourners lost in prayer as they fill a grave by hand ... *

Day breaks over the desert as the outskirts of Reynosa appear in the distance. Isabel’s eyes see a poverty that must be * witnessed to be fully understood -- crumbling cinder-block buildings, a wall of OLD TIRES that runs a city block. *

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 90.

Alejandro watches her as she absorbs the truth of the border. They pass group after group of MIGRANTS, huddled in parks. On empty lots. Sleeping on the sidewalk ...

She looks at him, too stunned to weep.

Alejandro watches the migrants as they pass.

Angel looks at Alejandro, face wrecked with worry.

Truck stops. Alejandro opens the door. They get out. Alejandro pulls a wad of money from his pocket, peels off hundred after hundred. Hands it to Angel.

Then Alejandro pulls his pistol from his knapsack and slides it under the seat.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 91.

Alejandro closes the door. Angel drives off as Alejandro leads Isabel toward a group of migrants just starting to wake up. He looks at Isabel who is visibly shaking.

The migrants look at them as they walk closer -- their faces wracked with hunger and worry.

Alejandro extends his hand to a man who shakes it. A small fire has been built. Some men huddle around it boiling water and pouring instant coffee in mugs. A cup is offered to Alejandro, who takes it and hands it to Isabel ...

She cradles the cup and looks over the faces around her. They * nod at her, smile even. There is an odd bond between them all as they await their initiation into a fraternity of fear and suffering ...

A BOY ABOUT ISABEL’S AGE walks up to her, digs in his backpack, pulls out a roll of duct tape, hands it to her.

‘BOY’ I can see them.

The ‘boy’s’ voice it that of a teenage girl. She nods in the direction of Isabel’s breasts.

‘BOY’ (CONT’D) You should tape them down.

The ‘boy’ hands her the duct tape. Alejandro watches as Isabel follows the ‘boy’ around the side of a building. He walks after them. Comes around the corner and sees a glimpse of the ‘boy’ wrapping Isabel’s breasts tight to her rib cage. He turns away and moves off, giving them the privacy an act of such delicacy deserves. *

Alejandro walks back to the men huddled around the fire. * Warms his hands over it. Isabel walks up, stands beside him. Does the same. He looks at her and gives a reassuring smile -- it is the closest thing to kindness we’ve ever seen from him.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 92.

Matt stares at the blinking light of the GPS BEACON on a * computer monitor. Forsing and Cynthia look over his shoulder. * CONTRACTORS pace about anxiously, geared from head-to-toe.

FORSING * We can’t get to him in town.

Matt looks at the contractors.

MATT * You want me cleaning a scene on * this side of the border? *

CYNTHIA * We can’t breach their airspace. *

MATT * It’s the least worst option. *

CYNTHIA * (Sighs) I’ll ask. *

Dials her cell, and steps away. Matt’s eyes never leave her. She hangs up and walks back.

Matt and his team walk out double doors to --

TWO BLACKHAWK HELICOPTERS AND A ‘LITTLE BIRD’ HUEY HELICOPTER (essentially a two-seater like news crew use to give traffic reports, except it has a GENERAL ELECTRIC 6 BARREL 20MM MACHINE mounted to it’s belly ...

Matt’s team divides in two and piles into the Blackhawks. Rotors whirl to life ...

PICKUP TRUCKS PULL INTO THE LOT WHERE DOZENS OF MIGRANTS STAND IN GROUPS. Cartel guides get out and walk to the migrants, smiling like salesmen. Alejandro studies them -- the Cartels’ middle-management don’t look like criminals at all -- they look like plumbers, like soccer coaches. They are fat and bald and altogether unremarkable.

A DOOR OPENS ON THE FAR END OF THE WAREHOUSE --

A group of men and women: ASIAN, MIDDLE EASTERN, RUSSIAN, are led to two SUBURBANS. Climb inside. The Suburbans drive off.

Isabel looks at the sheer volume of people being loaded in buses and vehicles, all headed to different areas of the border in preparation for this evening’s exodus.

Hector walks toward Alejandro and the group standing with him. Alejandro looks at Isabel.

She nods as Hector walks to them. He instantly singles out Alejandro who stands a foot taller than everyone else here.

He nods. Looks at Isabel.

Alejandro nods. Hector studies Isabel ...

Hector’s eyes narrow.

Alejandro pulls a thick wad of money from his pocket. Hands it to Hector.

Pulls another wad of money from another pocket.

Hector thumbs through the bills -- close to 15 thousand dollars.

He points to a WHITE PICKUP.

Alejandro guides Isabel to the pickup, they climb in the bed. Others do as well. Migrants fill the beds of pickups until the shocks sink under their weight. The pickups drive off. Some go north. Some go south. Alejandro’s truck drives up the road for a while then turns left down a narrow street and stops before a warehouse with buses waiting ...

Migrants load onto buses like school children. Hector points Alejandro and his crew to the bus farthest to the left. As Alejandro and Isabel wait to board, Alejandro looks across the parking lot and sees --

MIGUEL, leaning against the warehouse wall, smoking a cigarette. Alejandro turns his face away as he steps on the bus ...

Alejandro ushers Isabel to the back. The bus fills quickly. No one speaks.

Hector sits in the driver’s seat. Starts the engine. Miguel climbs on the bus -- and with no seats left, grabs a hand rail and looks back over the migrants. Freezes when he sees Alejandro ...

Alejandro holds his gaze as the bus starts moving, then casually glances out the window.

The bus pulls onto the street. Hector turns on the radio to something peppy. Something familiar. Something to keep the cattle calm ...

Alejandro glances in Miguel’s direction -- he hasn’t moved. Hasn’t blinked. Just stares at Alejandro ... Alejandro slides the GPS BEACON from his pocket, hands it to Isabel.

She shoves the beacon down her pants. Alejandro grabs her arm, says with sadness --

Alejandro looks back up the aisle where Miguel still stands frozen, incapable of removing his eyes from Alejandro.

Alejandro sees Miguel’s mouth move. Sees Hector’s eyes look in the rearview mirror. Watches Hector dial his cellphone ...

Alejandro closes his eyes, just for an instant. Opens them and looks at Isabel.

Isabel sucks in a breath. Finds her center.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 97.

Alejandro looks at her.

Alejandro steals a peek at Miguel, who now looks anywhere but Alejandro. Alejandro looks back at Isabel and gives a nod that says ‘it’s gonna be okay’, even though they both know it won’t be ...

Matt stares at an A.T.A.C.S.: a flip-down computer monitor strapped to his chest -- watches the red blip move over the map, ever-closer to the border. Matt speaks into his radio- mic --

Nothing.

Nothing.

Matt leans forward, taps the pilot. Circles his finger in the air.

Doesn’t sway the pilot. Matt begins moving into the cockpit.

The choppers levitate skyward, then arc south. Toward Mexico.

Alejandro looks out the window as mesquite gives way to cactus. Feels the bus slow. Looks forward --

Hard to see what’s ahead, but as the bus slows, it is impossible to miss the MEXICAN STATE POLICE VEHICLES BLOCKING THE ROAD.

SATELLITE FOOTAGE OF --

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 99.

THREE MEXICAN POLICE VEHICLES BLOCKING THE ROAD. Police officers standing beside the vehicles. Beyond the blockade, a number of vehicles sit parked in the road. Among them -- A NAVY CHEVY PICKUP AND A TAN EXPEDITION.

Matt’s radio crackles --

The bus stops and officers walk toward the bus.

Hector walks down the aisle, all smiles -- like this is just part of it. He looks at Alejandro as he walks to the end of the bus and the rear emergency door.

Hector pulls the emergency latch and the rear door of the bus flies open. STATE POLICE OFFICERS RUSH IN FROM THE REAR AS WELL AS THE FRONT. ALL POINTING GUNS. ALL OF THEM AT ALEJANDRO ...

A hand grabs him, jerks him out the emergency exit. He endures the three-foot fall with a thud. POLICEMEN SEARCH HIM. PULL OFF HIS SHOES. A POLICEMAN grabs a handful of his hair, and jerks his face skyward.

Gallo kneels down. Looks at him close.

Gallo shakes his head.

State police officers drag Isabel off the bus and drop her beside Alejandro. Gallo looks at her with vague recognition. Stands up and walks back to the Expedition. Returns with a WATER BOTTLE. Pulls off the lid and pours it over Isabel’s face, washing away the filth that covers her.

Gallo pulls the cap from her head and stares at her. Knows what he just found. Looks at Alejandro.

Without even looking at her, Gallo sends his boot into her sternum, knocking the air from her lungs. She doubles over in the dirt.

Gallo knocks the hat off Alejandro’s head, pours water over his face, tears open his shirt --

His chest is a road map of bullet holes and burns. Gallo just stares at him, then leans close and whispers in his ear --

A BURLAP SACK is pulled over Alejandro’s head. DUCT TAPE is wrapped around the sack so tight it takes effort to breath.

Alejandro is pushed to the ground, face first. His hands and are bound behind his back, ankles taped tight.

He is then carried like luggage and tossed in the back of the Expedition. Isabel is loaded in the backseat behind the driver. Gallo looks back at Hector.

Hector points to Miguel. Gallo walks to him ...

He places a hand to his neck, guides him to a pickup where five boys just like him sit on the edge of the bed.

Miguel climbs in, looks at the other boys -- all his age. Beside him sits JOSE, who looks terrified, the others look like they’ve done this a thousand times before -- hard faces and uncaring eyes, pistols in their waistbands. Cigarettes dangle from their lips ...

Miguel puts on his toughest face, nods in their direction. Teenagers pretending to be men suck cigarettes and hold up their chins in mistrust.

The oldest boy sucks his cigarette, exhales.

The truck engine starts and lunges forward ...

Gallo looks back at Isabel, evil eyes running the length of her body.

ANGLE ON --

Alejandro, forced in a fetal position on the floorboard of the Expedition. Tries to reach back and grab at the tape around his ankles.

A CARTEL SOLDIER sitting beside Isabel looks back, sees Alejandro struggling, grabs his pistol by the barrel and beats Alejandro until he stops moving ...

The violence is too much for Isabel, try though she might, emotion overcomes her. Gallo laughs.

He puts a burlap sack over her head, tapes it tight ...

Matt watches all of this from a SATELLITE FEED to his A.T.A.C.S. -- essentially a laptop computer that is strapped to an assault vest, it’s monitor flips down like a bib. Mtt shouts into his radio mic --

Beat.

The engines of the chopper whine, chopper tilts forward and vibrates everything aboard as it races faster.

The Expedition and the pickup pull to a stop. Alejandro is pulled out and drug across the desert. Forced to sit on his knees. Gallo leans close.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 103.

Gallo pulls a pistol from his waistband, walks to the teenage boys huddled around the pickup, and hands it to the first boy he reaches -- Jose.

Matt stares at the satellite feed on his A.T.A.C.S., screams into his mic --

ON THE A.T.A.C.S. MONITOR --

A bird’s-eye view of the MAN WITH A BURLAP SACK OVER HIS HEAD, Jose beside him, pistol raised.

ALEJANDRO’S OBSCURED FACE FILLS THE FRAME as Gallo shoots Jose. BLOOD SPLATTERS over the burlap sack.

WIDEN TO REVEAL --

Gallo scooping up the pistol. Looks at Alejandro as he rises.

Matt watches the satellite feed as Miguel walks to Alejandro, points the pistol to his face ...

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 104.

MIGUEL’S FACE FILLS THE FRAME. Breathing is short, rapid. Eyes blink at the recoil of the pistol. He stares down, closes his eyes, tries like hell to stop his body from shaking ...

WIDEN TO REVEAL --

Alejandro’s body pitched forward in the dirt ...

Matt stares at Alejandro’s body as Miguel and the others walk back toward their vehicles, shakes his head ...

VOICE Subject is backseat, left side, behind the driver.

Matt looks at the contractors.

JIMMY * R.O.E. Matt? *

JIMMY * Fuck that. Let me out here. I ain’t * killing no teenage girl. *

Matt looks at Jimmy. *

MATT * That’s not the mission. *

JIMMY * Sure sounded like the mission. *

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 105.

MATT * It’s not the mission now. *

Matt looks at the men. *

Men nod, pull bolts and rack rounds, then stare straight ahead, finding their focus ...

Gallo drives. Hears a DULL THUD. Turns back and looks out the rear windshield to find the source -- the distant images of HELICOPTERS MOVING TOWARD HIM. Everyone looks back, then at Isabel. Gallo yanks the sack from her head.

Too scared to speak. Gallo nods to the man beside her. He starts pulling at her shirt, her pants, she screams and kicks and yells --

He pulls off her shoe and finds the GPS BEACON. Gallo grabs it, shuts it off and tosses it out the window.

Gallo slams the gas pedal down as he looks back -- doesn’t see the choppers.

Gallo slams on the brakes as A BLACKHAWK HELICOPTER BLASTS OVERHEAD THEN HOVERS OVER THE ROAD IN FRONT OF HIM ...

The Expedition and pickup skid to a stop as the Blackhawk touches ground, depositing a dozen men who race toward the vehicle, rifles raised ...

ANGLE ON --

MIGUEL, WHO LEAPS FROM THE TRUCK BED BEFORE THE PICKUP HAS EVEN SLOWED DOWN. Lands in the bar ditch, is on his feet and running as fast as he can through the mesquite.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 106.

The pickup slams to a stop, the momentum hurling the remaining boys into the truck cab with a thud. By the time they have picked themselves up from the truck bed, RIFLE BARRELS STARE BACK AT THEM ...

Gallo reaches for his pistol as MATT AND THE CONTRACTORS RUSH FORWARD. Looks back a the man sitting beside Isabel --

The man grabs Isabel and pulls her close, puts his pistol to her temple ...

The man looks through the windshield at Matt, who looks him dead in the eye and shakes his head ‘no’.

Matt puts two rounds through the man’s head, then it all happens in an instant --

Gallo raises his pistol and fires wildly through the windshield as rounds punch into both him and the man sitting shotgun.

Gallo climbs into the backseat, his body shielding Isabel from Matt’s view --

Matt and the contractors surround the vehicle, standing not 10 feet from it. Gallo smothers Isabel with his body, forcing her face into the seat, cutting off her air.

Isabel fights against the big man’s weight as Gallo surveys the bullet holes that perforate him. Knows he’s running out of time ...

ANGLE ON --

Matt, looking through his scope, seeing nothing but fat man.

Looks at Jimmy who shakes his head. *

JIMMY * I HAVE HIM BUT DON’T SEE HER!!!!

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 107.

BACK WITH GALLO AND ISABEL --

His filthy face pressed against hers. His hand finds her neck and closes like a clamp.

Squeezes tighter. Her hands flail, scratch, reach for anything she can as Gallo squeezes the life from her ..

WITH MATT AND THE CONTRACTORS --

They see her arm flailing ...

‘NO SHOT’ is yelled by all the contractors, who twist and turn, attempting to see a clear shot that won’t kill them both ...

Gallo looks up as they approach, presses the muzzle of his pistol to Isabel’s forehead as he looks in Matt’s furious eyes and screams --

Isabel grabs Gallo’s hand with both of hers, and pushes with all her might, pressing the pistol under Gallo’s chin, closes her hands around his and depresses the trigger, blasting Gallo back in a heap.

Matt opens the rear door of the Expedition and watches Isabel try to fight Gallo’s dead weight off her. Matt grabs Gallo’s shirt and yanks. Isabel looks at Matt as she heaves traumatized breaths.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 108.

She climbs over Gallo’s body and out the vehicle. Contractors guide her toward the waiting chopper. Matt walks toward the pickup, anger rising with each step. Looks at the contractors surrounding it.

JIMMY * What do you want us to do?

Matt walks toward the truck cab, raises his rifle and puts a round through the driver and the man riding shotgun. Looks at the boys in the bed of the truck, then at the contractors.

Matt looks at the boys, speaks in Spanish --

They hesitate. He raises his rifle. They lift their shirts --

Pistols are tucked in every waistband. Matt looks at the contractor.

The boys seem to sense what’s coming. One reaches for his pistol -- he never even gets it out of his pants ...

Matt and the contractors punch rounds into the boys, collapsing them into the truck bed. One of the contractors looks at Matt.

JIMMY * Goddam, man ... Not the choice I wanted to make.

Matt turns and jogs back toward the choppers, the contractors following ...

CAMERA HOLDS ON THE PICKUP AS THE ROTORS SCREAM ...

Matt looks down on the road, stares at the dead bodies in the truck bed. Sits back against the chopper wall, looking straight ahead.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 109.

Can’t take it anymore, turns his eyes to Isabel -- who stares at him, the horror of the day carved into her face.

She doesn’t cry. Doesn’t scream or yell, just looks at him in a way that should force his eyes somewhere else ... But it doesn’t. He accepts the hate ...

She takes in the sincerity in which it was said. Says with as much sincerity as she received --

Tears run her face. Can’t call it crying. More like innocence bleeding out of her. There’s only so much guilt Matt can swallow in a day, and he just reached his quota -- he turns his gaze to the window ...

FEET SLAM EARTH. FAST. RACING OVER CACTUS. OVER MESQUITE STUMPS.

CAMERA PIVOTS UP AND --

MESQUITE BRANCHES SLAM INTO FRAME. DOESN’T SLOW US DOWN. Not one bit ...

ANGLE ON --

Miguel, running like his life depends on it, which it does. Up ahead is the arroyo and trail that leads to the river.

FEET RUSH PAST A POOL OF BLOOD. Then the feet stop.

ANGLE ON --

Miguel, staring at the spot where Alejandro used to be. He looks around, panicked. Freezes when he sees --

ALEJANDRO slumped beneath a mesquite tree, rubbing his wrists against the thorns of a branch in a futile attempt to remove the duct tape.

Alejandro stops moving as he senses a presence. Hears FOOTSTEPS APPROACH THEN STOP RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM ...

THROUGH THE BURLAP SACK --

Now caked with blood and dirt, Alejandro can barely make out the image of Miguel standing before him. Feels him kneel close. Feels the tension of a KNIFE BLADE cutting through the duct tape around his feet.

ANGLE ON --

Miguel, standing over Alejandro, knife in hand. Alejandro rolls to his stomach, exposing his bound wrists. Miguel kneels down, every muscle in his body tense ...

He stretches his arm out, attempting to keep as much distance between him and Alejandro as possible -- like feeding a wild animal -- and slices halfway through the duct tape, then turns and runs like hell toward the river ...

Alejandro pulls and twists and tears his arms free. Begins unravelling the tape around his neck and pulls the sack from his head ...

His fingers search for the bullet holes in his head -- finds the entrance wound just beneath his cheekbone. Finds the exit wound on the bottom of his other cheek ...

Alejandro stands, looks down on the river -- sees the ripples of boys swimming across it. Turns his back to the river and walks south ...

Alejandro walks down the road, sees in the distance -- the pickup truck and Expedition in the middle of the road, engines still idling. Looks down and sees THE GPS BEACON. Picks it up and walks to the pickup ...

Looks inside -- two dead men and not much else. Reaches in the cab and grabs the REARVIEW MIRROR, yanks it from the windshield.

Alejandro assesses his wounds. Opens his mouth and looks in -- not good. Scours the pickup for anything useful. Finds a WATER BOTTLE.

Rinses his mouth with half of it, then forces the bloody water out the entrance and exit holes in his cheeks, cleansing the wounds -- then leans against the truck with his mouth wide open, letting warm air ease the pain before repeating the process. Pulls off the driver’s shoes and puts them on. Notices the bodies in the bed of the pickup for the first time, stares at the dead boys for a moment then walks to the Expedition.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 111.

Opens the door. Takes Gallo’s pistol. Searches his body, finds TWO PISTOL MAGAZINES. Takes those as well then yanks Gallo’s body to the street ...

Walks around to the passenger side, finds a BOTTLE OF TEQUILA on the floorboard. Rinses his mouth with that -- the pain is so intense, he punches the vehicle hard enough to leave a dent ...

Keeps searching. He takes the passenger’s pistol as well. Opens the glove box and finds TWO HAND GRENADES. Puts them in his pocket then throws this body to the street ...

Alejandro gets behind the wheel, puts it in gear, and heads south ...

A STATE POLICE VEHICLE is racing toward him. THE DRIVER recognizes the Expedition, slows his vehicle and waves out the window for Alejandro to stop ...

Without slowing down, Alejandro pulls the pin of a grenade and hurls it like a baseball through the front windshield of the police vehicle as he passes.

Doesn’t bother looking back as it explodes ...

Cynthia marches across the tarmac toward the choppers as they * land. Matt steps and the other contractors file out, ducking * beneath the rotors. *

Cynthia is on Matt in an instant, face red with fury -- *

CYNTHIA * There’s a dozen FBI agents and * Marshals in the lobby all asking * for you. Care to explain -- *

Cynthia’s face goes from crimson to ash-white as she watches * Isabel led from the chopper. *

MATT * There’s a thousand people in DOD * who can do your job, Cynthia. There * aren’t five on the planet who do * mine. I ain’t going anywhere. *

He brushes past her. Cynthia stands frozen as Isabel is led * past her and into the staging center headquarters. *

Isabel sits on a couch watching CNN talk about everything but what happened in Mexico today. Door opens and Matt and US MARSHAL GERARD WILLIAMS(38), demeanor as stiff as his suit, walk in. Take seats around her.

She doesn’t waste a second -- is on her feet and to the door in an instant. Matt speaks with a kindness we don’t expect from him.

She stops.

Beat.

Isabel starts to shake.

She nods.

Fights emotion and shakes her head ‘no’.

She looks at Gerard, then at Matt, then at the floor.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 114.

And then the door opens. Jeff pops his head in.

Matt leans over the J.C.U. SPECIALIST and stares at the computer screen, sees the GPS BEACON’S blinking light on a MAP. MOVING ...

The specialist scratches his head, then speaks into his radio mic --

VOICE Code for access?

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 115.

Beat.

VOICE Code’s no longer authorized.

VOICE Can’t release satellite, three-nine- five, but give me coordinates, I’ll take the shot and send it to you.

VOICE Stand by three-nine-five ... Picture’s on it’s way.

A SATELLITE PHOTO OF THE HIGHWAY INTO MONTERREY APPEARS ON THE SCREEN. CARS FILL BOTH DIRECTIONS OF THE HIGHWAY.

The specialist zooms in tight -- the roof of the tan Expedition coming into view.

FORSING * What do you think?

FORSING * Can’t be him. I mean, we saw it.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 116.

FORSING * Could be a lot of explanations --

Forsing leans close. *

FORSING * If you’re right, that means your assassin is running around Northern Mexico -- on his own --wearing a GOVERNMENT ISSUE GPS LOCATOR ... * Buddy, we were ordered to shut him * down. I say we inform the State department and have Mexican police intercept before he does something that parks us in front of a goddam grand jury --

FORSING * If he hits the house it’s going to * start a war. *

Matt looks at Forsing. *

Matt pulls out his cellphone, walks off.

INTERCUT WITH --

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 117.

Rafael’s cellphone rings. He answers --

Beat.

Rafael walks down a hall, takes stairs to the roof -- the * Sierra Madre Mountains loom over a sleek, modern city that is the antithesis of Juarez.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 118.

RAFAEL * I’m surprised it was an extraction * at all. *

MATT * Yeah, well. I’m deviating from the * original plan. *

Rafael hangs up, walks back inside.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 119.

CAMERA MOVES OVER MONTERREY --

Miles off in the distance, a thin ribbon of asphalt weaves through the city. CAMERA SOARS TOWARD IT. Over buildings. Over streets. Toward the highway that dissects the financial heart of Northern Mexico.

CAMERA FLIES OVER THE HIGHWAY -- racing east over westbound traffic. FLIES RIGHT OVER THE ONCOMING TRAFFIC, VEHICLES WHIPPING PAST. IN THE DISTANCE, A GOLD EXPEDITION MOVING TOWARD US. CLOSER. CLOSER .. UNTIL IT APPEARS IT WILL SMASH THROUGH THE LENS ...

Alejandro’s face is covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Face is swollen. Cheeks look like they may explode. Breathing is labored as he fights pain. But his eyes, cold and resolute and fixed firmly on the mountains that tower over the city stretched out before him ...

TELEMUNDO plays on the television -- a SCHOOL PHOTO OF ISABEL DISPLAYED IN A CORNER OF THE SCREEN AS THE NEWS ANCHOR SPEAKS.

Isabel watches, then looks up at Matt.

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 120.

Matt looks at her as she shakes her head in disbelief.

Matt nods.

Matt smiles as he stands and walks to the door. *

Matt walks out and Isabel returns her focus to her yearbook photo on the tv screen.

PUSH IN ON THE SCREEN UNTIL IT FILLS THE FRAME --

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 121.

ISABEL’S FACE STILL FILLS THE FRAME BUT THE SOUND IS DIFFERENT. Better. Like we’re watching the news in a MOVIE THEATER.

ANOTHER ANGLE --

CARLOS REYES is almost 60. White hair is slicked back. His tailored suit hugs his frame. Looks much more the billionaire * than drug dealer ...

He sits in an office the size of a dance hall, staring at one of numerous TV MONITORS on the wall -- some show the stock * market in China and Europe. But he’s looking at the one with his daughter’s face pasted across the screen.

As he watches, there is no sadness in his eyes. He stands and * walks out of the room ...

On a steep hillside sits a man, rifle across his lap, wearing NIGHT VISION GOGGLES ...

THROUGH THE NV GOGGLES --

The field of view is narrow. No depth of field. MOVEMENT catches his attention -- THREE DEER lope up the hillside through thick brush ... He watches them as they stop and look back over their shoulder.

He looks where the deer look, sees nothing. Looks back to the deer -- takes a minute to find them in the goggles. When he does THEY ARE LOOKING RIGHT AT HIM ...

LEGS WRAP AROUND THE MAN’S TORSO AND CONSTRICT AS AN ARM COMES AROUND HIS NECK AND WRENCHES THE MAN BACK ...

The man frantically fights the choke. Reaches for the trigger of the rifle but A LARGE HAND GRABS HIS WRIST AND WRENCHES IT BACKWARD ...

The man’s arm is bent back into his face, then the arm around his neck readjusts to compress the bent arm against the man’s head -- using his forearm as a fulcrum and snapping the man’s neck ...

ALEJANDRO stands, grabs the goggles and rifle and moves silently up the steep hill ...

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 122.

Vehicles pull out of the compound, more pull in -- it is a hive of activity.

Carlos stands in the living room with the entire command structure of the Sonoran Cartel. Hands are shook, then the men are led up a wide staircase. Down a long hall. They come to double doors -- A BUTLER PUSHES THEM OPEN. Carlos and the * men filter in and walk to couches that face a fireplace so large a child could stand in it.

All the men stop in unison and stare in the direction of an * enormous MAHOGANY DESK --

Alejandro looks back at them. Dried blood is caked to his face. His shirt. To every part of him. As Alejandro exhales, the faintest whistle emits from his cheek as air passes over broken teeth.

The men seem too terrified to process what they are seeing -- it’s as though all the victims of every crime they committed * were compressed into one man ... *

No one moves. No one speaks. No one blinks. The only sound is the slow, constant in-and-out of Alejandro’s heavy, whistled breaths -- like a big, angry engine idling ... *

REYES * Let me guess ... The child killer. *

ALEJANDRO * Look who’s talking. This is where * you tell me it’s all business. And * if not you, someone else would do * the same. *

REYES * Mexico is the only nation on earth * where the poor who have fled this * nation provide the welfare for the * poor who remain. Mexico’s economy * depends on it. So does America. Why * do you think the United States * allows 400,000 people to sneak * across its border every year? *

ALEJANDRO * They don’t. *

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 123.

REYES * They pretend they don’t. Mexico * provides a work force they aren’t * responsible for. Don’t have to * educate. Don’t have to house. Don’t * have to treat when they’re sick ... * And when they’re too old to work, * they come back here to die. You’re * an attorney, I shouldn’t have to * explain this to you ... Mexico has * two cash crops and half the states * in America have legalized one of * them. So we send a few people * across the border to remind them * not to change the rules of the * game. It’s not business, Alejandro. * It’s a negotiation. It’s theater. *

Beat. *

ALEJANDRO * I think the world will be a better * place when men like you and I are * no longer in it. *

REYES * We aren’t the exception, Alejandro. * We’re the rule ... *

ALEJANDRO * I know. I’ve got a lot of work to * do ... You’re right, though. They * do want a war. But they don’t want * you to start it. They want it to * start with you ... *

Reyes looks in Alejandro’s lifeless eyes and knows what’s * coming next. No one in the room breaths ... *

A WOMAN DRESSED LIKE A MAID CARRIES A TRAY OF HOR D’OEUVRES * into the room. She screams and drops the tray at first sight of Alejandro, then everything happens in an instant --

Pistols are pulled from every jacket. Alejandro doesn’t even bother to stand, just tosses a grenade in their direction then flips the desk over ...

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 124.

THE SOUNDS OF SCREAMING ARE SWALLOWED BY THE ERUPTION OF THE GRENADE, SENDING PLUMES OF DIRTY SMOKE AND BROKEN GLASS A * HUNDRED FEET OUT THE WINDOW.

SECURITY ALARMS chirp in ear-piercing moans.

VOICES in the yard start moving toward the house as a GUNSHOT * illuminates the office windows, then disappears. *

Then another ... Then another window is illuminated by a muzzle flash and muffled pop.

MEN RUN INTO THE HOUSE AS ALL LIGHTS IN THE HOUSE GO OFF.

The shooting builds to a frenzied pace -- sending bursting light from every window.

Looks like someone dropped the house on a thunderstorm ... *

The shooting stops as quickly as it started. Now there’s only dark and silence ... Then another gunshot and another window illuminated -- this one downstairs.

CAMERA RETREATS FROM THIS HELL. Pulls back until there is no sound at all when muzzle flashes appear.

CAMERA PULLS BACK MORE --

Until the muzzle flashes are so small, they look fireflies on a moonless night ...

Isabel sits in a chair at the gate. A few seats away are TWO FEMALE FEDERAL MARSHALS. Isabel wears the uniform of an * American teenage girl -- jeans, tank top, hoodie. Headphones * cover her ears as she bangs keys on a laptop computer.

SOMETHING ON THE TV MONITOR ON THE WALL CATCHES HER EYE --

She can’t hear what the news reporter is saying, but she can read the HEADLINE that proclaims in bold letters --

SONORAN CARTEL LEADER MURDERED IN MONTERREY, MEXICO.

An OLDER PHOTO OF REYES with his family -- A jewelled and hair-sprayed mother, a teenage boy, and a SEVEN YEAR-OLD * ISABEL -- the only person in the photo smiling ...

She stares at a family that is no more, then closes her eyes. *

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 125.

A FLIGHT ATTENDANT speaks into a microphone.

ONE OF THE US MARSHALS taps Isabel on the shoulder.

Isabel opens her eyes, looks at the marshal.

Isabel stands, takes one last look at the photograph of the life she leaves behind, then walks toward the flight attendant checking tickets ...

Isabel hands her ticket to the flight attendant. She tears the stub, hands it back. Isabel disappears down the jetway. *

THE YOUNG MAN FROM THE RAILCAR KNEELS ON A PRAYER BLANKET AND CALLS TO ALLAH AS HE FACES THE LAST RAYS OF DAY ...

WIDEN TO REVEAL --

Miguel and TWO TEENAGE BOYS stand at an arroyo overlooking the Rio Grande. A GROUP OF MIGRANTS FROM EVERY CORNER OF THE EARTH prepare to swim the river. The teenage boys pass out GARBAGE BAGS, which the migrants fill with their belongings, then seal tight ... *

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 126.

The sun disappears as the praying man stands, rolls up his blanket, and walks back to the group. Miguel hands THE YOUNG * MAN a garbage bag. The young man looks across the river. *

The young man’s eyes look out. They are heavy. Determined.

Miguel looks in the young man’s eyes, sees something he’s become familiar with -- the eyes of a killer ... Miguel and * the other boys lead the group down the trail to the river. *

CAMERA RISES --

Across the river, TWO VANS AND A BORDER PATROL VEHICLE SIT PARKED BY THE RIVER BANK. The BORDER AGENT and COYOTES standing side-by-side. Casual ...

Garbage bags for belongings and a police escort -- in CARTEL * LAND, this is first class ...

A MINIVAN pulls to a stop across from STARBUCKS. Miguel * climbs out and it drives away ... *

Blue (mm/dd/yyyy) 127.

As Miguel reaches the patio he notices a man sitting at a table holding out a BROWN PAPER SACK. Miguel walks to him, grabs it. But the man doesn’t let go.

Alejandro raises his face to Miguel -- who almost faints with * fear.

Miguel sits ...

Alejandro turns his face to the night sky and ponders the stars above ...

Tears well in Miguel’s eyes as he shakes his head ‘no’.

Alejandro leans into the light and Miguel can see the scars. * One the size of a penny. One the size of a silver dollar -- * on each side of his face.

CAMERA WATCHES FROM ACROSS THE PARKING LOT --

Alejandro and Miguel sit at the table -- from this distance they look like father and son discussing baseball, or school, or girls. Anything but victim negotiating how to survive with his killer ...

CAMERA RETREATS --

Until Alejandro and Miguel are recognizable only as shapes, indistinguishable from other human shapes walking to and from cars and restaurants. At this distance, killer and victim look the same ...

(CONT’D)

(CONT’D)

(CONT’D)