"TREMORS" (1990)

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* * * * * * * * * * * * .~. * * * *. * * * BENEATH PERFECTION *

* * * * * * * Written by * * * * s. s. Wilson, Brent Maddock * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * • * • * * * • ~

Representation----------------------> Nancy Roberts

The Roberts Company 427 N. Canon or. Suite 215 Beverly Hills, CA 90210 (213) 275-9384

c 1988 s. s. Wilson and Brent Maddock WD6 Registered: WGAW #379594 6/21/88

OUTLINE--> WD6 (June 21, 1988 printout)

STAJ.tTSECTIONl (l - 33) l START SECTION 3 (SJ - 95) 43 EDGARand FRED intro l Boulder field start 46 Mule grabbed 2 Pole vaulting start so VAL and EARL intro 3 Earl discuss Val w/Rhonda 52 Jeep trail - guys get stuck 5 Phams twnsfolk learn of Grs 53 RHO.NOAintro 7 Reveal phone maint truck 55 MELVINintro 10 creatures arrive in town! 57 PHAM, BURT, HEATHER intro 10 Val saves Rhonda 60 Car alarm set up 12 Staying quiet in Pham's 62 Bulldozer & trailer intro 12 Viola's trailer attacked 63 NESTORintro 12 Pham Van grabbed 65 Truck trailer setup 13 Everyone now on rooftops 68 VIOLA intro - cesspool pump 14 NANCY and MINDYintro 15 STAll'fSZCTIOII4 (95 - 152) 68 Guys leave Perfection! 17 Burt's basement attacked 70 ROAD CREW intro 17 Creatures start check bldgs 74 Dog chases truck 18 Nestor grabbed 76 OLD FRED'S place intro 18 Burt's truck destroyed 78 Edgar.found dead! 18 Val and Earl must save town 78 Jim does autopsy on Edgar 20 Val runs for bulldozer 84 Old Fred Grabbed 21 Rhonda does water noise 86 Dog that chases now missing 21 Melvin - shed roof gag 88 Old Fred found dead! 22

ST.ln.SBCTICll-5,(153 - 173) 89

START SBCTIOB 2 (33 - 52) 23 Bulldozer arrives at Burt'·• 89 Road crew grabbed 23 Bulldozer falls into pit 93 Pham Van's - phone's out 25 Rock outcrop begins, 97 Discover tentacle on truck 27 creatures fall off cliff 104 khonda almost grabbed 29 At Pham'a - discuss options 30 Jim and Megan grabbed 32 Val and Earl ride for Bixby 36 Jim and Megan's ear found 38 Guys meet a MONSTER! 39 Fence/ditch - monster dead 41

GRBS, (06/21/88) 1.

The high desert -- absolutely silent -- a vast, hard land~ scape stretching away to distant mountains. The silence is broken by hoof-beats.· PAN TO ESTABLISH:

It's a simple cabin dwarfed by a big, ramshackle barn. EDGAR DEEMS (60s), a weathered desert ra"'tofa hermit, is walking his donkey around in circles. ·

Now, rattling toward them down an endless dirt road, comes an old, sun-bleached Buick, It stops and out leans OLD FRED (70s) wearing a sweat-stained fedora. The two friends nod.

Old Fred climDs out with a bushel bas.ketof carrots.

Edgar takes the carrots and feeds one to the donkey.

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2 CONTINUED:

The men nod, and Old Fred drives off.

CLOSE-UPof the donkey's hooves thumping along as Edgar leads her to the barn.

He ushers her inside, shuts the door, then heads for a water trough, calling back:

But, suddenly, - hear the donkey restlessly stomping its hooves and braying. Edgar turns, concerned. Now - hear en odd sound. Distant .thunder? The wind? The donkey gets more and more frantic.

The barn shudders violently. Frightened birds explode from the eaves. Dust puffs from every old sea■ • Roof shingles rain down. Edgar stares in amazement.

Then another sound -- the donkey starts screeching in wild panic.

Edger races beck to the barn and flings open the doors.

oust swirls through the air. But -- the barn is empty. No donkey. Now Edger is hit by a ghastly stench. He staggers back, and covers his nose with a handkerchief. Then he sees, splattered across the walls -- blood!

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3 CONTINUED:

He raises his arms above the door frame. When he lowers them he's holding a 12 gauge shotgun. He races outside, ready to shoot, but there's nothing -- as far as the eye can see.

The sun lights up spectacular sheer cliffs which plunge 1000 feet from a ruggedly beautiful high-desert plateau. At the top of the cliffs, silhouetted again~t the dawn, a lone cow- boy seems to gaze in deep contemplation at the sunrise. As we MOVE IN, we realize he's actually peeing over the cliff.

This is VALENTINE McJCE:E(25). Smart and good looking, Val has nevertheless managed to underachieve brilliantly. He coasts through life, following the path of least resistance -- which has brought him to this dubious rustic existence on the edge of civilization. But lately he's beginning to wonder why he hasn't accomplished more in his 25 years.

As a few sleepy cows gaze at him, sleepy Val shuffles over to his battered old pickup truck. A hand-painted sign on the door reads: •v, E - All Type's of Job's.• Indeed, the. pick-up bed is jumbled with tools and supplies for every conceivable odd job -- and the noisily snoring form of his partner huddled in a dirty sleeping bag. Val raps on the side of the truck.

No response from the sleeping bag. Val stares at the cows chewing their cud -- and perks up as he gets an idea. He gently steps onto the truck's running board, th•n suddenly starts jumping up and down as hard as he can, rocking the truck violently.

The sleeping bag tries to get up and run for it. It tumbles out of the back of the pickup. While Val laughs uproar- iously, EARL BASSET (43) claws his way out of the bag, looks around wildly, and finds himself staring at three motionless cows.

CONTINUED .

(06/21/88) 4 •

Earl is a good-ol' boy who has livedhis lifejust likeVal, driftingfrom job to job. He knows why ~ hasn't accom- plished anything, and often tries to impart his hard-won wisdom to Val, but the last thing the younger man wants is advice.

Earl stretches. The men begin a silent ritual: Earl gropes throughhis pocketsfor a cigarette,but only finds a lighter. Meanwhile, Val digs in his pockets, coming up with cigarettes,but no lighter. Typical of these two, each guy al wayshas half of what.he needs. Eventually they sort it out, trading the necessary implements.

Earl reaches for a coffee-pot on a battered Coleman stove on the tailgate. But it's cold.

Earl raises his.fist. Thia is The Challenge,and it instantly triggersthe partners' conflict-resolution technique. They solve all disputes using the children'sgame of •scissors, rock, paper.• Earl raiaN his fiat in response. The game is played swiftly and silently-- one, two, three. on three, Val mimes •paper• (open hand)~ Earl mimes •scissors•(two extendedfingers)• Sciaaors cuts paper. Val has lost. He shrugsand .startspumping up the stove fuel tank.

Val and Earl are restringinga dilapidated, and seemingly endless,barbed wire fence. A few bored cows watch them.

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4A CONTINUED:

Earl's hand slips and the fence snags him right through his thick glove.

Val gestures to the vastness around the■ •

s EXT. JEEP TRAIL - DAY s

Val guides.the truck down a tortuous, rocky, almost impas• sable trail. It takes full concentration as he fights the steeringwheel, shifts, rides thebrake and leans out trying to pick a decent route. Earl braces his feet on the dash and munches breakfast, a raw hot dog right out of the package.

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5 CONTINUED:

Earl pulls a box of Hershey bars from under the seat. There's only one bar left. He sets the box down between them. Val glances at it -- and raises his fist: The Challenge. One, two, three. Val mimes "paper;• Earl mimes •rock." Earl· loses. Val takes the bar.

THWONKI The truck lurches to a stop, its frame caught on a big rock. Val glares at Earl.

The pick-up turns from a dirt road onto an old paved road.

Earl consults a crumpled list pulled fro■ inside his hat.

(squints dubiously at his schedule) It.!! Monday, right?

But Val is peering at the desert up ahead. Off the road a ways is a small Toyota pick-up truck and, beside it, a lone figure trying to flag them down.

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Earl braces himself, knowing what Val will do. Val swerves the truck wildly off the road, barreling across the desert.

Earl shakes his head, mildly bemused as they slide to a atop in a cloud of dust.

val looks out hopefully. The dust clears. He aeea her -- RHONDA Le&ECI, (25). Val's eyes do an expert vertical scan: short brown hair, •-11 brown eyes, ao-ao cheat, legs hidden in baggy dungarees.

Laden with a"port&ble computer, notebdoka, and ao- seiamograph printouts, she stares at hi■ through tilted glasses. Her little pick-up truck is loaded with geology field equipment. She shakes Val's hand firmly.

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a ·coNTINUED:

Rhonda smiles.

Rhonda unhappily turns back to her equipment as Val and Earl drive off.

Earl glances over at Val with a gleam in his eye.

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9 CONTINUED:

val flips down the truck's sunvisor. Taped to it are snap- shots of nearly identical blonde bimbos. vai points to one.

Val rolls his eyes -- •Give me a break.•

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lO EXT. PERFECTION- ESTABLISH- DAY lO

The pick-up rattles toward a tiny, utterly isolated high deserthamlet -- a few dozen houses and mobile homes fighting for shade in thevast landscape. Its most prominent feature is an agingwood-frame water tower, perhaps 25 feet high, near the center of town. A sign PANS.into view -- "PERFECTION-- Pop. 14.•

Val and Earl head past thewater tower for Pham Van's General Store, Perfection's maingossip stop and only business. The store's sign, in English andVietnamese, reads: •Groceries, Haircuts, PostOffice, TowHall, VIDEOs1• Val and Earl park next to a camouflage-painted, large-tiredBlazer.

Just then they spotMELVIN, the town's surly teen-aged pain- in-the-ass,coming toward them, mindlesslybouncing a basketball off thehoods of parked cars. As he nears their truck:

Oh, man, I'mreally ahaking.

But he steersclear of their truck.

Inside, theenergetic Vietnamese owner, PHAMVAN, preside• over his all-purpose estal:llishment:partgeneral store,part barber ahop,part saloon.

At thebar are BURT GUMMER andhis wife HEATHER, twono- nonsense survivalists who have settled inPerfection toawait thecoming apocalypse -- anice enough couple,but there'sa hint of paranoia around theedges. Burt is shovinga box of ·cartridges across to Pham.

When Val and Earl enter, Pham automatically pops the tops on two coldbeers and has them in placebefore thecowboys reach thebar. Everyone exchanges nods.

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12 CONTINUED:

Heather and Phu laugh. Burt smiles patiently, Just then the compressor in Pham'• ice creU1 freezer comes on. It's a loud chug-chug-chug sound ■ixed with a high-pitched squeal.

He st&rta toward the compressor, but Earl heads him off.

As they turn to go, Val does a take, amazed, as he spots a decorative bleached-out cattle skull displayed on the counter -- with a $29.95 price tag.

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12 CONTINUED: (2)

Suddenly a car alarm blares froai outside. Burt'•out the door in a flub. The others follow.

13 EX'l'.PHAM VAN'S STORE - DAY 13

Burt races out and shouts at Melvin who backsguiltily away

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from Burt's ca-aiouflageBlazer.

Burt angrily switches off the alarm. Val and Earl laugh u they cliaibinto their truck.

At one end of town, Earl maneuversa hugebulldozer with a scoop-104derblade through a choking cloud of dust, scouring out a shallow pit to serve u a wateringhole. Val sights down a row of stakes which mark one end of the pit. The job 1..-done. He signals Earl to cut his engine. Both men have kerchiefs covering their faces and are totally encrusted with dust.

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Nearby is an old battered truck trailer -- the masaive, solid steel kind used for heavy rock hauling. Tire ■flat, mired in dried mud and weeds, it hasn't been used in year ■• Now it provideswelcome shade as the men sit sipping some coffee.

NESTOR CONNINGHAM drives up, surveying the pit with approval.

Earl and Val start fishing in theirpocket ■ forpen and paper. Earl comes up withvarioua piece ■of paper,Val with threeor fourpens. It'sa moment before they realizeeach has the otherneeded implement. Earl write ■out the bill during:

Val and Earl exchange p&ined look ■•

They ambleover to their truck. Earl take ■thedriver'• aide -- and start■ f1ah1ng inhi• pocket■ f~r thekey.

Val realize ■11e·haa thekey and hand• it over.

CONTINOED

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lS CONTINUED:

,..... VAL

So? That car wash pays good, and they're always looking.

VAL • Yeah, sure. Go ahead and plan it ••• forayear or two.

CLOSEON a stencilled sign: PHAMVAN'S O-RENT -- CESSPOOL, SEPTICTANKS. POLL OOT to seeVal and Earl have rented a portable septicpump (perhaps trailer mounted). The aged machine reeks of and drips with its ignoble cargo. The intake hose has been repaired so often it looks.to be more tape than hose. Gri-cing Val threads the slimy hosedown through the Qpen top of Viola's cesspool.

Beside them is Viola'• well-kept mobile ho- on a lowhill ,-... not far from Pham Van's store. Well-kept flowergardens surround the place. VIOLA, a sweet littleold lady,watches the men work while straining to hold the leashof her tiny but ferocious dog. The dog yaps continuously, lungingat Val and Ear1.

Val gets up and starts the pump's gas engine.

CONTINUED·

(06/21/88) 15.

16 CONTINUED:

Earl angrily throws the pump valve and starts the pump mechanism. He and Val stand on •ither side of the intake hose as it gurgles happily.

POW! GOOOOSBl The gurgling intake hose ruptures, showering them with -- -11 you know. They react aa if they'd been shot; gagging, staggering, screaming obacenities_.

Val and Earl'• beat-up 110bileho- ia·juat down the street from Phu Van'• store. Val and Earl, now in cleaner clothes, march out resolutely. Val has a portable TV in one hand and a framed COORS beer sign in the other. Earl unhooks the clothes line and dumps it, clothes and all, into the back of their truck, on top of the rest of their belongings.

They stare at each other for a moment. Thia ia it. No going back. The leap into the truck. Aa they drive off, Val leans out and yanka their wooden nameplate 1•E.Basset -- v. Mc1tee•1 off the -ilbox. · ·

They haven't gone fifty yards when they spot NANCY STERNGOOD (40a)working in front of her house. The guys pull their hats low over their faces. Earl swerves to the far aide of the street.

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18 CONTINUED:

Nancy spots themand beckons excitedly.

They stop beside Nancy. While they talk, Nancy's daughter, MINDY(9), comes bouncing along on her pogo-stick, listening to her Walkman and slowly circling the truck.

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18 CONTINUED: (2)

Val andEarl glance ateach other -- five hundred dollars!

19 EXT, DESERT ROAD - PICK-UP TRUCK - OAl 19

The truckroars toward the •z.eavingPerfection•sign. Val and Earl are elated, downright giddy,

We did itl We faced temptation and we did not bend!

They zoom past the sign,

They laugh, then are thrown half out of their seats as Earl accidentally hits a big pothole,

As the truck streaks across the landscape. Val and Earl merrily continue their good-byes to whatever is visible,

On its way down from the high desert, the lonely road now winds through a twisting, narrow canyon. A county highway maintenance truck is parked to one side and two road workers, CARMINE and HOWARD, re~air a slide-da-ged section of the road, Carmine breaking up asphalt with a jackham-r. Val and Earl pull up, hand them each a beer, and speed away, shouting:

CONTINOED

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21 CONTrPJED:

The pick-up speeds past a small shack. Val and Earl automatically roll up their windows. In a moment we see why: a monster, ferocious dog comes galloping out to chase their truck. Earl gives the dog the finger,

Old Fred latches the gate on his corral filled with sheep. He looks up as Val and Earl's truck speeds past, Val and Earl honk their horn and wave happily, Old Fred waves back.

The pick-up zooms along, the road now paralleling a line of tall high-tension electrical towers.

The guys have calmed down,but each is still dreaming of a new life,

Val points up ahead -- a man is sitting near the top of a distant electrical tower.

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25 CONTINUED:

But as they pass the tower:

Earl pulls over. They climb out and peer up at the tower. Edgar is hard to see through the criss-crossing girders.

Edgar doesn't move. Val and Earl shift about uncomfortably. Val finally speaks for boths

They stare at each other. Someone's got to climb up. val raises his•fist in The Challenge. Their fingers fly. Rock breaks scissors. Val loses.

Valentine unhappily climbs the tall tower while Earl watch-• from below.

Higher and higher Val climbs. He tries not to look down.

Be's approaching Edgar from below and behind. As he gets nearer he begins to notice forboding details: one of Edgar's shoes is missing, half the trouser leg is torn ~ff. Edgar is

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26 CON7INUEO:

strapped to a girder by his belt, his shotgun gripped in his hands. A swarm of flies buzzes away.

He edges around to where he can see Edgar's face -- the eyes are wide open, staring. He's dead.

Old Fred is now hoeing his garden. He glances up as Val and Earl's pick-up roars back toward Perfection.

A big station wagon is parked bet-en a small mobile ho- and a half-finished house being built by JIM and MEGAN WALLACE, an out-going, energetic older couple. LWll:>er,cinderblocks, and tools are scattered around the yard.

Jim examines Edgar's body in the bed of Val and Earl's pick- up truck. Va~, Earl and Megan talk in subdued tones.

Jim climbs out of the pick-up.

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Jim shrugs. Everyone is mystified.

rred is still hoeing. In the nearby pen his sh-ep start acting restless. Be eyes th-. What's up? We hear a strange muffled sound. Onseen, behind hi■, at the far end of the garden, his scarecrow mysteriously tilts.

Old rred keeps hoeing. Be stops, his foot is caught in the dirt. Suddenly he is yanked knee-d-p into the groundl

Val and Earl's truck, again headed for Bixtiy,and going way too fast, zooms past the two workers still repairing the road. The workers glance up, annoyed.

Val and Earl, sobered and deep in thought, drive past the· shack where the ferocious dog lives. They auto..tically roll up their window• during:

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Val has no ans-r. It's too weird.

They are passing the aback. Earl suddenly realizes:

CLOSEON t;hepick-up's tires skidding to. atop. POLI,OOT to see we're back at Old Fred'••

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Eul is staring wide-eyed. Val follows Earl'• gaze and is aghast when he aees --

The sheep pen -- it's a ghastly, bloody mess. Scattered on the churned up ground a few dismembered sheep legsand heads are all that remain of the flock.

val and Earl leap out of the truck to investigate.

Eul dashes into Fred's house. Val checks around outside. Earl comes back out. ,-

Not here.

Then they spot so-thing lying in the aiddle of the garden - Old Fred's hat.

Still looking all around, Val squats distractedly to pick up the hat. Be and Barl stuable backward in shock.

OLD FUD IS STILL WEARING HIS HATII His -ngled face stares up at them, eyes and mouth frozen open in a death grimace.

Carmine and Boward continue repairing the road, Carmine still using the noisy jackhammer. Val and Earl drive up.

Carmine stops jackhammering to listen.

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33 CONTINUED:

Val and Earl speed away.

Yeah•••

But he edges over to the truck and takes out a heavy s~eel pry-bar tokeep within easy reach.

carmine goes back towork, pounding the asphalt with the jackh&111111er.Suddenlytheblade strikes something beneath the road, something soft. We hear a strange, unearthly shriek from underground. A weird.orange goo gushes up around the blade. Then the jackhAIIIJllertakesoff.byitself)ike a harpoon stuck ina whale! Carmine gets tangled in the jack- ·halllMr'sair-hoseand isdragged along, shouting for help.

Howard chases him down theembankment and into the acru»- brush. He hears Carmine screaming.

HOWARJ) Carmine! What thehell is it?I Where are you?

But now there ia only silence. Ho-rd crashes through the brush. All he finds iathe tornend of the.air-hose - whic~ sudden-lysucks down into the ground. H•'• 110..ntarily staggered by an awful s•ll, but forces himself tokeep looking. He letsthe pry-bar drag on theground. Then so..thing -- it looks likea mouth or a horrid beak -- shoot• out of the ·groundand grips thepry-bar with uncanny strength! Howard drops hia weapon and scramble• -dly away.

He clambers back onto theroad. But almost immediately cracks form in the pavement around him. Morebeak-things break throughthe asphalt between him and hia truck.

He dashes across the road, scramblingup the embankment. He clings precariously toa treeroot, looking down -- where'd theygo? Suddenly thedirt around himbegins to •bubble.• Several hungry beaks break through andgra.b him, yanking him head first into the embankment. Then the embankment gives way, crashing down onto the road, takingwith it a nearby telephonepole and snapping the lines.

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Pham van is talking to MIGUEL, a local rancher. They both jump as the doors burst open. Val and Earl race in, trailed by Nestor and Melvin. Val heads for the payphone during:

Val grabs the phone and digs in his pocket for change.

Earl comes up with change and hands it to Val, who dials.

EAllL He didn't have nothing else to steal. Neither did Edgar.

Val stares at the phone.

Val and Earl rush out.

JS EXT. PHAM VAN'S STORE - DAY JS

Trailed by the others Val and Earl march out and leap into their truck, Val driving now. He searches for the key.

Earl hands val the ke.y.

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Again the pick-up barrels through the canyon.

Earl points ahead and sere•-=

Val brings the truck to a squealing atop. Ahead: the collapsed embankment completely blocks the road. It's totally impassable. The cowboys are ~Ullbfounde~.

But Val is in no mood for pnilosophy. Be leaps out and peers into the highway maintenance truck which sits undisturbed, emergency lights still flashing. There's nobody in it. Be starts looking ar~und.

Val looks where he's pointing -- Howard's bloodstained hardhat lies at the edge of the landslide. Val gets the point. Looking around for the unknown assailant, be eases back into the.truck. Barl already bas a pistol in his lap and is digging through the glove compartment.

CONTINUED.

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·36 CONTINUED:

Val quickly jockeys the truck to turn it around on the narrow road, But as he backs into the hillside, we hear a strange grating clunk from underneath, When he tries to pull forward, the truck won't move, The engine stalls.

They both lean out. The rear tires are clear. Val restarts the truck and tries to pull forward, rocking the truck against some unseen pull, Smoke wells up from the clutch,

Val slams the truck into low-range four-wheel-drive and revs· it, .Thetires dig in, fighting for traction -- and suddenly the truck lurches free, We hear an Hrie shriek mingled with gear and engine noise as Val angrily roars away,

The word baa spread. Everybody in town ia gathered at Phu Van's. They.rush out to meet Val and Earl as they drive up.

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37 CONTINUED:

But he stops because they're all staring wide-eyed at the rear of the truck,

Val and Earl jump out and look where everyone else is looking, Their jaws drop, REVEAL: hanging from the rear axle of their truck and trailing out behind like a nightmare wedding decoration -- a six foot long, grotesque, fleshy, tentacle. The end gripping the axle.looks like a vicious, razor-sharp beak or hook. The trailing end is mutilated, oozing orange 900 - as though the creature was torn in half,

Looks like,••an eel.

Burt, more daring than the others, pries the thing off the axle with a shovel.

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37 CONTINUED: (2)

Pham Van leapsover tothem.

Val and Earl square their shoulders. This time they're ready for him.

Burt is deep in thought.

A cold chill spreads through the group. They stare out at the vast, forbidding desert. They suddenly feel alone -- very alone.

CLOSEon Rhonda'• hat lying on the ground. We think the worst. Then she reaches in, picks it up and puts it on, REVEAL she's in a lonely corner of the valley working with a seismograph. She pounds a marking stake into the dirt.

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The needle responds to each blow on the stake. We hear Rhonda stop pounding. The needle stops. All is silent but the needle starts moving again1•

40 BACK TO SCENE 40

LOWCAMERA is MOVING in Rhonda's general direction. She starts to pound another stake. CAMERA REACTS so it ia moving straight toward her. As it paaaea a burrow, a rabbit suddenly shoots out. CAMERA WHIP PANS to wa~ch the rabbit scamper into the distance, then TURNS BACK to move toward Rhonda, who still pounding her stake.

CAMERA passes Rhonda's seismograph. The machine tilts slightly aa the ground bulges up beneath it.

Rhonda finishes pounding. She heads for her truck, noisily tossing in her tools and sla-ing the tailgate. CAMERA CLOSES IN on her, faster and faster. It is right~!!!.£ heels as she climbs into the cabl

A beak-thing thrusts out of the ground, groping where Rhonda's boot just was. Rhonda drives off, unknowingly running right over the thing. We hear a shriek of pain aa the tentacle writhes and sucks back under the ground.

Mindy Sterngood poses cautioualy with the bizarre hook tentacle. A ca•ra l'LASBESand - REVEAL Ph- Van taking her photo beside a sign: •Photographs -- You and the Snake Monster -- $2.00.• Viola and Miguel, wait in line.

we now••• the store is crowded with concerned townsfolk debating what to do, and how to protect themselvea. Val and Earl sit on the aidelinea, sipping beer, gazing in awe at enterpriaing Pham Van:

Dominating the diacuasion are Burt and Heather now armed with scoped, magnum hunting rifles. Heather stand ■guard at a. window, peering out into the night.

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42 CONTINUED:

Burt steps over to a faded topographic map on the wall and points out details during,

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42 CONTINUED: (2)

All heads turn toward Pham van.

Allheads turn towardVal andEarl.

Inthe vast desert night a single floodlight illuminates Jim and Megan's partially finished house. Their station wagon is parked out front. A country and western tune-drifts to us from its radio.

As we MOVE CLOSEll,we see the floodlight is powered by a

Jim and Megan, both exhausted, unload a big stack of roofing shingles from their station wagon. Jim starts to lift a package of-shingles but gives up and sits on tbe tailgate.

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43 CONTINUED:

Just then the whirring of the generator becomes strangely muffled. The floodlight flickers. Now the generator dies. Darkness engulfs them. The ear radio music drones on incongruously.

Jim digs out a powerful flashlight and heads over toward the generator. Megan lies back, taking a -1co- breather. After a moment:

44 ANGLE- JIM 44

Baffled, he •-eps the whole area with the flashlight. Megan joins hi.II.

The severed electric cable stops at the edge of a cone-shaped depression in the dirt where the generator sat. He hands her the flashlight and kneels. We watch tensely as he probes the looseearth with his hands.

Megan grabs his shirt, trying to pull him back.

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44 CONTINUED:

Suddenly, about ten feet away·-- WHOOMPII The generator shoots up out of the ground! Jim and Megan dive for cover as it sails through the air, and crashes to earth. They stare, transfixed. The generator is dented and bent almost beyond recognition -- and covered with oozing slime.

But Megan is all action. She yanks him back.

We again hear thatmysterious rumbling sound•.~im stops, sweeping the flashlight around them.

She hustl•s him bodily toward the car during:

Suddenly he drops knee-deep into the ground! Megan is thrown off balance and·tumbles to one aide. The flashlight falls, lighting them at an eerie low angle.

We hear sickening CRUNCHES from below the earth. He SCREAMS in excruciating agony.

CONTINUED .

W/M wd6.2 GRBS. (06/21/88)

, 44 CONTINUED: ( 2)

He struggles wildly, but just sinks further down! Megan slides a 2x4 over to Jim. He grabs it like a drowning man, trying to keep himself from being pulled down. But he's pulled with such power the 2x4 snaps!

His head is going under. Megan desperately tries to dig the smothering earth away,but she's losing. Now only his arms are above ground. She pullswith all her might, but he sinks inexorablydown, down. She's pulled flat onto theground. He's gone.

-

The next instant,a vicious hook-tentacle erupts through the earth,missing Megan's faceby inches. She scrambles back frantically.

LOW CAMERA pursues Megan toward the car, justmissing her as she dives in through the open tailgate. She slams itafter her. The talons rake across the car, scratching theglass.

Megan tumbles into the front seat. Thank God the keys are in the ignition. She starts the engine. But outside the •snake things• attack the car in a frenzy, slashing blindly. A rear uire is totally shredded just as:

Megan floors it. The car lurchesforward but the mutilated tire falls apart. The wheel rim digs into the looseearth and the car is stuck. With no other recourse, Megan locks the doors,.rolls up the windows and cowers inthe middle of the car, panting, sobbing. The radio -isstill playing a happy cowboy tune. Sh~ peeks out. They gave up? She's safe? Nothing happens for a moment, then --

The car starts to shake and shudder! Oust wells up around the windows.

Outside we see a bizarre sight. The earth around the rear of the car is •boiling,• dirt flying in all directions -- and the car starts to~~ S!!!_groundll

Megan wildly honks the horn! The car looksjust likea ship going down by the stern, hood tilting up gracefully. The back windo- shatter, dirt pouring inl Megan smashes the windshield with a s-11 fire extinguisher and scrambles out on the hood. But there's no hope. The car keeps sinking, tilting now almost ninety degrees, forcing her onto a precarious perch on the grille -- sinking, sinking.

Out of her mind with terror, she keeps softly murmuring the same hopeless phrases:

GRBS. (06/21/88) 36.

:46 EXT.' DESERT- JIM ANOMEGAN'SHOUSE- VERYWIDE - NIGHT 46

The headlights are two ironic beacons sending their beams skyward through the roiling dust into the night sky. The sound of the radio becomes muffled. The headlights sink from view -- and then Megan's scream floats across the desert.

Out front of Pham Van's, nervous Val and Earl saddle up the horses while Pham loads their saddle bags with food. Every- one has gathered to see them off. Tbere's an air of t.ension.

Earl pulls their old Smith and Wesson revolver and battered Winchester rifle,out of the pick-up truck.

So does Earl. He raises his hand. They swiftly do a round of scissors-rock-paper. Earl loses. Be hands Val the rifle. Just then, Burt and Heather pull up in their ijlazer,climbing out with their hunting rifles.

W/1'1.Wd6.2 GRBS. (06/2l/88) 37.

47 CONTINUED:

Val and Earl mount up.

Earl takes the a-some-looking gun with a smug glance at Val.

Heather unhooks a box of cartridges from her belt and hands it to Earl. suddenly there's a blood-curdling SCl\EAMI The door to Phu Van's flies open. Out staggers Melvin, wrapped in Pham Van's hook-tentacle, writhing in apparent agony.

People scatter like sheep. Burt ~nd Heather have guns trained on him in an instant. Then everyone realizes it's a sick joke. Melvin collapses with laughter. Burt is livid. He almost shot Melvin. He charges over and yanks the kid to his feet, scre-ingr

Phu rushes over and grabs hi• precious tentacle. As people calm down, Val and Earl gaze nervously at the vast desert before them.

BUR'l' Well••• youfellas watch yourselves.

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47. CONTINUED: (2)

They ride out to an adlib chorus: •xeep your heads down;• •Go careful, boys;• •Keep a sharp lookout;• etc.

Val and Earl ride along, very tiny iR the vast, lonely landscape, and very on edge. Constantly looking all around,

Val doesn't want to hear that.

Faint Country and Western radio music drifts to them, They're nearing Jim and Megan'• house.

Val knock• on the door to the mobile home•

Hey, doctor, anybody here?

No answer. He opens the door and peers inside. Behind him Earl atepa out of the half-finished house and ahruga, Nobody around. Wind rustle• the plastic sheeting over the windows. Strangely they can still hear the muffled radio clearly,

They walk briskly to their horses. Earl snatches Heather's rifle from its saddle scabbard. Val pulls out the Winchester. Earl tries to reassure himself,

GRBS •. (06/21/88) 39.

49 CONTINUED:

They focus on the sound and walk gingerly toward it, keeping constant watch in every direction. The ground here is all torn up like the sheep pen -- and the music is coming from underneath! What the hell is going on?

Val serapes at the dirt with his boot -- and finds the headlight of Jim and Megan's station wagon, still on, glaring up at him. He drops down and wildly'sweeps away more dirt, revealing more of the ear's grille and hood -- and blood- soaked dirt which sticks to his hand. He leaps away, frantically rubbing the blood off on his pants.

Val and Earl are riding at full gallop. They race alongsid• a concrete-lined flood-control ditch and veer off to follow a barbed wire fence which crosses the ditch.

They ride &long the fence during:

Suddenly the horses stop short. In a frenzy they wheel around, rear up, refusing to go on. The cowboys fight to control them.

W/M wd6.2 'GRBS. (06/21/88) 40.

Sl CONTINUED:

But Earl's already drawing his rifle,

He draws his rifle, They look wildly in all directions at once -- but there's nothing, only empty desert.

They keep staring, The horses keep pacing nervously, Then -- Earl's horse rears wildly and falls! Earl goes flying, Val wheels around wildly, dismounts and runs to Earl, who's bruised and winded but basically unhurt, They think Earl's horse just tripped.

EAlll, reah,••yeah. (turning to the horse) What about the hor.;,? ·

Their eyes bulge. Several •snake things• have engulfed the horse's head, sucking, crushing, slurping. Val's horse goes berserk and gallops for the horizon.

Suddenly they realize what that means -- the things could come up under th-11 The cowboys scramble frantically away. But .nothing.puriiiiathem. They pause, glancing back nervously,

Val raises hia rifle and takes a -11-ai-d shot, hitting one of them. orange goo spurts out, We hear a deafening shriek as all the •snake things• instantly zip back underground.

W/M wd6,2 GRBS, (06/21/88) 41,

51 CONTINUED: (2)

Then -- A HUGEMOUND OF EARTHRISES UP UNDER VAL ANOEARL!! The cowboys tumble down its side, Val losinghis rifl•. They roll over and stare dumbfounded at the mound.

The mound of earth turns toward them. The ground splits open and out rises -- a huge head!

The monster is a horrendous thirty-foot long eating -chine! Its head is eyeless, utterly alien, covered with tough boney plates which close together to form a cork-screw point.

The cowboys stwable back toward the fence in speechless terror. The creature slides toward them, pushing through the earth like a whale through water. No,cit opens jts 1110uth-- but it's like a grotesque flower, boney plates spreading opeA like petals, revealing a huge, slimy, fleshy, oozing orifice! And inside the mouth, a ghastly mul_ti-t;entacledtongue! These are the •snake things,• not snakes at all but actually the horrid hook-tentacles that can shoot out six feet to snag their prey!

The monster snorts and snuffs, throwing up plumes of dust, sounding like a horrendous pig. It sinks into the earth and charges! We see the hump of earth move toward them faster and faster but then it disappears as the creature goes deeper.

Val and Earl leap sideways and run along the fence. Th• creature goes straight and sl•- into a fencepost from below. All we see is the fencepost knocked at a crazy angle.

The cowoys ~eep running. The creature regroups and charges after them, hitting each fencepost in turn, sending -ird sinuous shock waves along the barbed wire, -king almost musical twanging sounds. Val looks back.

And as if that -ren't enough, Earl points to more trouble ahead.

The fence runs straight to the edge of the ditch, an eight foot wide gap yawning dead ~head. The creature churns like

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52 CONTINUED:

a locomotive cehind, They'll have totry to jump! They strain desperately for every last fraction of speed.

They leap and -- they don't do it!! They smack into t.he opposite side of the ditch, clawing frantically at the lip, only to tumole to its sloping cottom. A split second later the charging creature slams like a wre~king call into the foot-thick concrete wall! The wall-CRACKS AND BULGES OUTI A hook-tentacle flops out through one of the cracks! Terrified Val and Earl scramcle away. But the wall holds together.

And then, strangely, all is quiet. The tentacle lays dead still. Eventually, the cowering cowcoys dare to creep cack a little closer, still panting, exhausted, jumpy,

And now orange slime cegina to ooze through the cracks in the concrete.

VAL

,-... Cold, my aaal It's dead!' We

killed the caatardl

He audde_nlyahalceiihisfiat at the dead ceaat.

They allow themselves a aull wheeze of nervous laughter, only to jump lilceraocita aa some pecclea rattle loudly down the concrete wall oehind the■ , They whirl to see Rhonda, up on the opposite aide of the ditch, staring down at the■, She's lugging a cunch of her equipment, including a sm&ll folding shovel.

Val and Earl look at each other, then curst out laughing. Rhonda spots the cracked wall.

W/M wd6.3 GRBS. (06/2l/88J 43.

The shattered concrete has been pulled away to fully reveal thecreature's horrendous head. Start CLOSE on it: oozing blood, slavering mouth plates hanging open, hook-tentacles lollingout. WIDEN tosee Earl and Rhonda, sweating,dusty and tired, staring in awe and cringing at the stench.

We can hear a shovel digging up above, and now Val shouts:

Earl and Rhonda climb up. CRANE OP with the• to REVEAL the . . whole aniaall Val, digging excitedly with Rhonda'• shovel, is just scraping away the last loo•• dirt fro■ the creature'• tail. The whole length of the i-ense thirty foot beast ia partially uncovered, in king-sized bas-relief.

l!!AaL (hushedI This is one big mother!

She nods, stepping down to study the creature. The body is stream-lined, cigar-shaped, maybe eight feet in diameter at its thickest. It's covered with hundreds of short, rear-

W/M wd6.3 GRBS. (06/21/88) 44.

53 CONTINUED:

pointing, retractable spikes. Rhonda gingerly jiggles one. It can be pushed in and out of its socket like a plunger.

A chilling thought stops her in mid-sentence. She springs down into the drainage ditch to get her backpack, pulling out her seismograph printouts. She studiea them frantically during:

The guys look at each other. One thought immediately apring• to their minds._

Elll, Pham Van don't get hi• mitt• on

While they·baak in their fame-to-be, Rhonda continues to study the print-outa, coming to a terrifying concluaion.

But Rhonda interrupts -- now really scared.

W/H ·wd6.3 GRBS. (06/21/88) 45.

53 CONTI~UED: (2)

Val and Earl shut right up. Earl edges up a fencepost. val sidles up onto a rock during:

Rhonda paws through her unwieldy printouts, pointing out jagged ink lines on the graphs, comparing different ones.

The men leap from their perches and hustle her in the direction she came from.

She indicates what to most of us would be a hill, dotted with huge boulders thrusting out of the sandy desert soil like big mushrooms. The trio jogs toward the hill.

En route to the truck, they pass near one of Rhonda's seismographs. Suddenly Earl atulllblesasone leg drops knee- deep into the ground! He screams. Val wheels and bodily yanks him up. They back away from the small hole in the ground, calming a little as they realize:

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54 CONTINUED:

Rhonda tenses as she hears a sound she knows well -- the soft scratching of the seismograph needle across its paper cylinder. She whacks Val on the shoulder and points speechlessly at it. •

The needle is going wild!!

56 BACI<TO SCENE 56

She doesn't have to explain. All three of them dash dash for:

The re-ins of an old rail fence lay beside one of the boulders. Val, Earl, and Rhonda scramble over the wood, up onto the rock and stand there tensely.

Ina moment, the creature gently rustles the eatth at the base of the rock. The monster'• slimy hook-tentacles slither out, searching therock base. Shuddering, the humans 110veas high as theycan, well out of reach. The tentacles slip back beneath the earth. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief.

Rhonda points. They can see the roof of her truck, maybe a hundredyards away through theboulders. Val and Earl think about it.

W/M wd6,3 GRBS, (06/21/88) . 47.

It's hours later. Stiff and uncomfortable, they have nothing to do but theorize.

There's• lonc;Jpause. Earl stares at the dirt around the rock.

EAltlr Well•••haven't seen• ■ ic;Jnfor hours. N&ybe it's long gone.

Val c;Jetsanid••• He c;JrG ■apost fro■ the dilapidated fence and cautiously slips down near the boulder's edc;Je.

Val nods. Dead silence as he reaches way out with the post and scrapes it on the c;Jround.Almost instantly the creature roars up, c;Jral:,J:,inc;Jthepostinaflurryofflyinc;Jdirtand lashing tentacles, nearly hookinc;JVal'shand. Val practically falls over himself scra■J:,linc;Jbacktosafety.

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58 CONTINUED:

Rhonda stares at Val, impressed.

They all settle back, having no idea what to do.next. Rhonda gazes out at the desert that surrounds the■ like an ocean.

SSA EXT, BOOLDEJtFIELD - NIGHT SSA

Our heroes are silhouetted against a huge, spectacular, desert night sky. After a very long pause:

E1JII, You know, I hate to be crude, but I' ■gonna have to take care of so■e business here. ·

The silhouettes shift, Val and Earl moving down one side of the rock, and Rhonda down the other. We can no longer see them. We just hear zippers zipping down -- then soft sighs of relief from Val and Earl. Then:

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SSA CONTINUED:

Rich orange sunlight creeps silently across the deathly still desert. Earl is already awake. Val is curled up without his jacket, shivering. He wakes with a start. Where the hell'• his jacket?

Rhonda wakes slowly. She's surprised to find herself wrap,-d in Val's jacket. Touched by his chivalry, she embarrassedly hands it to baffled Val.

Val glances at Bul, who looks away. Whoi -?

Earl gropes through his pockets, coming up with only cigarettes. Val fishes in his own pockets, finding only their lighter. They exchange items and light up during:.

Thia time he tosses a piece of wood out onto the sand. With soft rustling, a bulge forms in the earth, moves over to the wood, then subsides. Rhonda starts looking around during:

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59 CONTINUED: (2)

Rhonda gives up on them. She goes over and pull• a long cross rail from the fence during:

lllL Run for it? Rwming'a not a plan. Running ia what you do when the plan fails. You're not even trying to come up with a plan!

Theywatch in surprise aa she hefts her pole, check• the

she chargea..betweenthem, plants her pole and vault• smoothly over to the next boulder, may.befifteen feet away. The creature aurfaceawhere her pole touched down, .buttoo late -- a hook tentaclevainly •-eps the area, then disappear• into theground. val andEarl glance at each other, impressed.

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59 CONTINUED: (3)

Earl rushes to grab a couple more fence rails.

Val just stands staring across at Rhonda -- his horizons are broadening. Earl stuffs a fence rail into his hands.

Earl takes a deep breath and goes for it, vaulting across to Rhonda. Val follows.

Through the shi111111eringheatinthedistance - see the strange sight of the three figures vaulting from boulder to boulder.

Val, Earl and Rhonda pole-vault their way toward the truck. Finally they're at the nearest boulder, but the truck is still ten feet away.

EllL. And once - hit that truck - gotta go fast. I say we all jump together.

Rhonda and Val nod. Rhonda grips her car keys in her teeth.

They all vault in unison, landing in the truck bed. Rhonda scrUlbles up, slides open the cab's rear window, and begins wriggling through headfirst.

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61 CONTINUED:

oust explodes around the rear of the truck! Hook-tentacles snake up on all sides, narrowly missing Val. He and Earl grab whatever's handy, pounding at the tentacles with expensive instruments.

Rhonda's only half way through the cab window, still hanging headfirst into the cab, She frantically starts the truck, dives down _and punchesthe accelerator with her fist.

As the truck roars away, one tentacle manages to tear off the the muffler. The engine thunder• like a tank, Val and Earl sit back, sighing with relief, then react when they aee Rhonda is driving upside down and blind,

Rhonda skids her noisy truck to a halt in front of Phu van'••

Val leap• out and jumps into hia pick-up truck, He searches for the key.

Val holds out hia hand for the key. Earl tosaea it to hi■, Val drives off, We FOl,LOWRhonda and Earl aa they drive the other way, toward Viola'••

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62 CONTINUED:

Rhonda sees straight through Earl's clumsy attempt at match- making. She can't help but smile. -t:arlgrinssheepishly.

MOVE IN on Rhonda -- her and Val?

Nestor, Viola, Nancy, and Miquel nervously crowd around Val, Earl, and Rhonda. Viola holds her yappy dog which perio- dically snarls and snaps at people. Phaa van is on his CB radio trying to contact Burt and Heather.

Nancy rushes out.

- - - --

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63 CONTINOED:

Everybody atarea at her, then they smile, realizing she's pulling their lega.

w/M wd6.3 GRBS. (06/21/88) 55.

63 CONTINUED: (2)

we see the utility truck still parked near the landslide blocking the road. REVEAL, on the far side, a telephone maintenance truck is now parked, e-rgency lights flashing -- and nearby, aaid phoneworkers' climbing and rep,ir gear, two more hard hats lying on blood-soaked ground.

The crowd is still jabbering away. Rhonda speaks over them:

Val shakes his head, and marches over to the topographic map on the wall.

The spots he indicates describe a line leading along the valley straight toward town.

- -

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we hear an a eerie SHRIEK from outside. Something shoots in through the window, striking Earl in the chest!! Earl flails frantically at it -- but it's only Melvin's basketball. We glimpse Melvin outside, doubled over with laughter. Earl grabs the ball and hurls it viciously back, but Melvin easily dodges it.

Nancy rushes back toward Pham Van's, still looking.

l'i/M wd6.3 GRBS. (06/21/88) 57.

We're CLOSE on Melvin as he circles around the back of Pham van's, bouncing his basketball, mischief inhis eyes. we can hear the townsfolk inside.

Then, to Melvin's astonishment, the steady rhythm of his bouncing basketball suddenly 1tops. The ball ju1t goes flup and doesn't bounce back up to him. He looks down. No ball! Just swirling dust at his feet.

68 IN'l'.PHAM VAN'S S'l'ORE-OAY 68

Everyone jumps as we once more hear an ear-shattering SHRIEK from Melvin. ·Earl snarls and heads for the door, Val right behind him.

69 EX'l'.PHAM VAN'S S'l'ORE-OAY 69

Val and Earl are well ahead of the other townsfolk as they march around to the side of Pham Van's. But where's Melvin? Nothing out here but the oppressive, hot desert silence. 'l'hen theyheara soft shuddering whimper -- from above. There's terrified Melvin, halfway up a telephone pole, clinging to-it desperately.

Val and Earl freeze in their tracks and glance at each other, realizing instantly what's up. Without a word they leap desperately in opposite directions. Like a breaching whale, a creature roars up through the earth right where they were standing, great mouth gaping open, slimy tentacles lashingin all directions.

CON'l'INUEO

GRBS. (06/21/88) 58.

69 CONTINUED:

The townsfolk scatter, some heading for their homes, including Viola and Nestor. Others scramble over each other as they pile back into Pham Van's. The telephone pole shudders. Melvin falls and scampers for the nearest hiding place, a corrugated tin storage shed near Pham Van's.

Val, Earl, Rhonda, Miguel, and Pham Van rush in.

Miguel and Pham shut up. Then - hear somethini new -- the building itself creaking and groaning like a ship. Th• liquor bottles behind Pham van's bar vibrate and clink. The creature is moving beneath the building. Th• people freeze like mannequins. Now we can hear its pig-like snorting. Pham Van and Miguel react as the awful smell percolates up through the floorboards. Val signals them to keep quiet. Finally, the creaking stops.

Rhonda addresses the group in an intense whisper:

Everyone stands stock still -- and sweats. But, then, slowly we become aware of a faint, yet oddly familiar sound. Squeak, squeak, squeak -- Mindy on her pogo stick! They all scraml:lletothe windows.

There she is, alone in the vacant street, Walkman blaring in her ears, merrily bouncing along to a rock 'n-'roll beat.

Thoughts of personal safety vanish as the horrified people lean way out the doors and window.Jand shout with one voice:

GRBS. (06/21/88) 59.

72 CONTINUED:

She can't hear them over her Walkman. A tell-tale puff of dust spurts up not fifty feet from herl

Val sees Mindy has only seconds leftl He vault1 straight out the window and charge1 toward herl Right behind him come Earl and Rhonda•

As she round1 a corner at the opposite.end of town. She spots Mindy, then seesVal running. She starts running.

She's lazilybouncing in circles -- 1quealt,squeak, 1qu•aJt. She goe1 wide-eyed•• she rotates to SN Val coming at her like a m&dbull, aru outstretched. The asphalt under her pogo stick cracks and --

Val tackle• ber, both of tbe■ tumbling head over heel1. She scrambles up, rUbbing her skinned elbow and yelling:

Val claps bis hand over her mouth. She goes wide eyed as 1he sees: her pogo stick standing straight up in the cracked asphalt! Then it 11 IUCked down like so IIIUCb1paghettil

Nancy rushes into frame, bugging Mindy. Val signals her to be quiet. They sit uneasily. Where's the creature? Suddenly the pogo stick erupts out of the earth right in their midstl

Val runs oneway, Nancy and Mindy the other, heading up the street toward their house. Val scrambles up onto his pick-up

--- - - --·

GR.BS, (06/21/88) 60.

76 CONTINUED:

truck! The creature rams the truck, rupturing a tire. As it shakes the truck violently, Val spots Rhonda and Earl, now standing uncertainly halfway between him and Pham Van's.

Rhonda and Earl hesitate.

a little wall of cinder blocks framing Viola's driveway suddenly topples over.

CAMERA charges toward them. Earl swerves toward Pham Van's, but"Rhonda is cut off! She heads toward the next nearest, haven:

The storage shed where Melvin is hiding. It sits in a vacant, weed-choked lot. Crashing through the weeds, Rhonda has almost reached the shed when she is suddenly brought up short and slau face down in a cloud of dust!

She can't get upll Southing's got her! She's caught in an old rusted barbed wire fence, lying almost flat, hidden in the weeds. So• strands have come loose and are curled up like vicious concertina wire.

Barely has she taken this in when -- the ground caves in under her! She·rolls wildly to one side as hook-tentacles snake up, missing her by inches! She keep~ rolling-crawling- scra■bling - anything to get away fro■ the awful maw -- but gets her legs hopelessly tangled in the barbed wire. She freezes. The creature feels around where she was.

She calms herself, pulling gingerly at the wire, working tensely to free herself but --

The creature's mouth slams shut on the fence. Like a spider sensing something caught in its web, the monster knows it's on to something. Its hook-tentacles shoot forward to snare three feet of fence, then the creature lunges up and out,

CONTINUED.

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78 CONTINUED:

swallowing that three feet in a big "gulp" and yanking Rhonda violently toward it! She screams, pants ripped, legs slashed and bleeding! GULP! She's dragged even closer.

The truck shakes and shimmies as Val's creatur.etries to pul 1 it down. Val sees that Rhonda's in trouble. He searches frantically fora weapon -- and finds one --a CHAIN SAW! He leaps as far from the truck ashe C4flandhits the ground running,yanking furiouslyon the saw's starter cord.

Rhonda is in adead panic, thrashing helplessly in the barbed wire. The beast takesanother gulp of fence,wrenching her within inchesof a probing hook-tentacle! Suddenlywe hear a nasty ROAR as Val's chain saw swings in, slicing the squirm- ing tentacle inhalf, spraying gore everywhere!. The creature unleashes an unearthly shriek, and theother teQtacles recoil. The severed one writhes likea beheaded snake.

Val yanks off Rhonda's boots.

She frantically claws at her belt. But in-re seconds:

Tentacles snake out to regain theirgrip on the fence. Val gral)sthe saw and starts slashing wildly, but this ti- the hook-tentacles snag it and wrench itfro■ his grasp. It slams to the ground, motor dying. The ■onster readies itself for the lungethat will suck Rhonda in. Val gral)sher under thearms and pulls. Rhonda wriggles wildly to get out of her wire enmeshed pants.

The creature lunges! Rhonda pulls free! She and Val tumble backward. The creature gets only a mouthful of Rhonda's jeans.

The next instantthe second creature explodes up throughthe ground right next to fallen Val and Rhonda! They roll sideways, come up running, and sprint forPham Van's along an old wooden sidewalk.

(06/2l/88J 62.

Bl EXT. .PHAMVAN•'S STORE - OAY Bl

Earl flings open the front door. Val and Rhonda race toward theporch. Right on theirheels the creature ripples the boards like anocean wave I

They dive through the open door of Pham van's. The rippling boards zoom on past it. Earl quickly.eases the door shut.

Earl turns to breathless Rhonda.

OISSOLVE TOI

It's a tense, edgy group. Every movement -d• ia in alow motion, every ~rd ia a Whisper. They gaze grimly out the windows at the silent, deserted, heat-ahi1111eringmainstreet.

Val gingerly daba iodine onto the cuta on Rhonda's lega. She doesn't even wince.

She amilea at him.

She gazes at him. He looks away. Over at the bar, Pham holds up a new pair of pants for Rhonda.

W/M wd6.3 (06/21/88) 63.

83 CONTINUED:

Grateful for something to do, Val eases over to get the pants. Rhonda looks after him. Then she becomes aware of someone staring at her. It's Earl, giving her a big Cheshire cat grin that says Twliatdid I tell you?•

Pham hands the pants to Val. Then Pham and Miguel reach simultaneously for a soda bottle and -- knock it over! It rolls all the way down the bar as a flurry of desperate hands try to stop it. No good. It rolls off the end and -- CRASH!

Everyone freezes. Sure enough the building shudders. Floor boards creak and bend as searching tentacles thump and scrape along _underthe floor. People close their eyes, not even breathing. Finally the noise subsides. Everyone relaxes-~ a little. '

·EARL (shakes his head). . They got the patience of Job. They just sit and goddum wait til they hear something that sounds like lunch. we need a plan.

They all shut up when they hear Viola's dog yapping in the distance.

· 84 EXT. VIOLA'S TRAILER - DAY 84

Up the hill across from Pham van's, the old trailer looks perfectly peaceful. Except Viola's dog keeps yapping. Then we hear panicked Viola.

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84 CONTINUED:

Everyone gazes out the windows tensely.

we hear a loud whapl The dog's bark simply changes to piercing yelps. It would be funny except --

•

The trailer suddenly bucks upward, hit fro■ below as thougb by a pile driver! Again and again the unseen creature• .al- into the frail structure.

The trailer is finally knocked right off ita foundation! It tips over •nd tumbles all the way down the hill! Aa the dust clears, all is silent. A huge hole ia torn in the trailer's floor. Viola'• poaseasiona are scattered everywhere.

Everyone stares in shock.

Gotta do something. Gotta get the

GR.BS. (06/2l/88) 65.

86 CONTINUED:

Everyone turns away from the windows, gingerly sitting down, glumly pondering this possibility. There is a longsilence.

Then suddenly-- ROAR! The silence is shattered as Pham van's big freezer compressor suddenly comes on.

!ARI, Jesus! Shut it offl

Pham runs to the freezer. Its on/off switch is buried behind stacks of soft-drink eases. He tears at'them like a madman, toppling them this way and that. Earl and Val join him.

But right behind Pham, the floor BOCIL!!SOP, a monster's snout BURSTING THROUGH and engulfing one of his legal The creature starts.to back down into the jagged hole, dragging screaming Pham with it. Yal, Earl, Rhonda, and Miguel grab Pham's arms but are no match for the aonster. It shakes and spins hi■ like some gigantic dog, effortlessly throwing them off, relentlessly pulling Pham down. ·

The hole in the floor is too small for Pham to fit through! As one leg goes down, the other ~s bent7iicleoiislybaekward. Pham.screams and screams as jagged wood tears into him, bones snap, ribs crack. The others grab hi ■again but are utterly helpless. With vicious, po-rful jerks the creature yanks his u.ngled l)odydown. The last thing we s,e is his.foot, now folded back·past his head, and he's gone.

Val is wild with helpless anger.

The floor bulges up in another place! A seeond·ereaturel Then. third, coming RIGHT UP UNDER THEM! E.llrlsprawlsonto the bar. Rhonda springs onto the shelves in the middle of the store, knocking groceries everywhere. Val and Miguel climb up shelves which cover the rear wall of the store.

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86 CONTINUED: (2)

The whole building shakes and shudders, dust powdering down from the ceiling. Flailing tentacles are everywhere, slashing open food packages; clouds of flour fill the air!

Val spots a hatch in the ceiling.

Earl leaps from thebar to the rear shelves. Val and Miguel slide sideways till they'rebeneath·the hatch, then use the shelves as a ladder, climbing up to thehatch. Val pounds on it frantically.

In themiddle of the store,Rhonda leaps from shelf to shelf, trying toget closer towhere Val is. Soon she reaches the last one,balancing precariously. But a creature tips over the firstonet The shelves topple likedominoes, crashing ,- toward Rhonda. She ishalf catapulted, half jumps right throughan open window, ripping through the screen.

Val seeswhat's happened. With maniaeal atreng~hhe •-•hes open the batch and climbs out onto -

Val rushes to the edge of theroof shouting,

He looksdown where Rhonda fell. She's not there. He bears a whistle and isrelieved to see:

Rhonda isperched as high as sbe can get on thewater tower. near Phu Van's, It's-ybe twenty-five feet tall,a simple wood fr...holding a big galvanized tank. The wooden legs standon big concret~ anchors buried in theground.

Melvin peers terrifiedout the sheddoor, up at theguys on Pb&111van'sroof.

GR.BS. (06/21/88) 6 7.

89 CONTINUED:

It's too late. Wham! A cre•ture strikes. The little shed shudders, dust puffing from every old seam. In a split second Melvin has climbed to the shed roof.

Nancy and Mindy peer to the window, surprised to see the men on Pham Van's roof.

We hearVal shouting to the re-ining townsfolk.

The store shakes and shi-ies. We hear the110nster's thunderouscrashing frombelow.

EARl. C&Jl'tyou about a littlequieter?

Burt and Beathe.r'splace, about amile fro■ town, isno- nonsense, functional, ugly -- unpainted concretewalls, no yard, chain-link fence. Burt and Heather drive up in their big Blazer and park right beside thehouse. Bot and tired, theycl1m!> out,each carrying aheavy, scopedhunting rifle. Burt pears toward Perfection throughbinoculars during:

..,11woo•.3&4 (06/21/88) 68.

The town is a very strange sight. It's as though an invisible flood were in progress, driving people to high ground. We see: Rhonda perched on the water toweri Val, Earl and Miguel on the store roofi Nancy and Mindy on their roofi Melvin on the storage shed; Nestor on his roof.

Val, Earl and Miguel gaze out at th• town, trying to concoct a plan. Suddenly Earl perks up. The men speak softly.

Val stares at him, incredulous.

Suddenly, down in the store, Pham van's CB radio squawks loudl·y.

The buildin9 shudders as the creatures a9ain smash through the floor inside, lookin9 for the source of the noise. Val, Earl and Nivuel scrUlble to the edge of the roof.

The CB radio sits on a shelf near an open window. Tentacles are feelin9 alon9 the wall just below it. Val appears out- side the window -- upside-down. He snatches the radio and is hauled straight up out of fr•-•

W/M wd6.4 GRBS. (06/21/88) 6 9.

Miguel and Earl haul Val by the feet back up onto the roof. Val quickly turns down the CB volume.

A peculiar cross between bomb shelter and blue-collar den, Burt's wood-paneled basement haa all the comforts for post- Apocalypse living. Burt talk• on hia CB.

A few feet away Heather works at their ammunition reloading bench. She dumps a few hundred empty cartridge caaea into a ease cleaner and switches it on. It HOMSloudly as it · vibrates.

The groping tentacles swiftly auck back below the floor. TILT OP to aee out the window aoae distance away, a couple of old trash cans topple over aa the creature streaks paat beneath them, aa.kinga bee-line for Burt's.

Miguel points·frantically at the trash cans.

Val talks a little louder into the mic. INTERCOT as needed.

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100 CONTINUED:

lOl INT. BURT, HEATHER'S BOOSE - BASEMENT - DAY 101

Hearing thatwarning, Burt andHeather go intoa well-honed drill. They grab their hunting rifle ■and take position ■at basementwindows. Burt ■ can ■withthebinocular ■• He see ■ nothing. Heglances at Heather. She shrug ■•Nobody coming.

Val is frantic. How do you explain these things?

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101 CONTINUED:

Burt and Heather exchange looks. Has Val gone nuts? Then they hear a low RUMBLE, growing louder and louder. Tools hanging over the work bench start to shake; the decorative cow skulls on the wall rattle; the overhead lights sway and then -- everything stops. Dead silence, except for the humming of the ease cleaner.

THEN THE WALL MOVES! The wood paneling bulges slightly. Nails pop out. The wall is pushed again1 the paneling cracks. A cow skull falls. Burt aQd Heather level their rifles and --

A huge creature pushes right through the wall! Fully half its bulbous, spiked body writhes into t~e center of the room, great multi-part jawa drooling open, hook-tentacles lashing out.

The three men can hear the chaos over the CB.

The CB goes dead. The aienstare numbly. Then, drifting across the desert,·a soft popping sound. The -n perk up; they know what it is - distant gunfire.

The gunfire is DEAPENING as Burt and Heather blast away. Gloppy blood spurts from a dozen wounds, and the er·eature pulls back a little. The couple keeps firing until magazines are empty. The creature lunges forward again.

PAN with Burt and Heather to REVEAL a wall of the basementwe haven't seen until now - a wall covered with guns -- hand guns, long guns, riot guns, flare guns, antique guns, military guns, elephant guns.

Heather grabs an BJt-91assault rifle, slua in two magazines, bottoms taped end to end, and opens fire! A hook-tentacle snags her boot, yanking her right off her feet. Burt pumps out eight devastating blasts fro■ a twelve-gauge riot gun, severing the tentacle. Heather ia on her feet in an instant. She expertly flops her double magazine over, loading the full one taped upside-down to it, and opens fire again. Burt grabs an AR-15 semi-auto and joins her. They lay down -s•ive fire, virtu.lly disappearing in muzzle flash and smoke. Ejected shell cases clatter and clang all around the room.

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103 CONTINUED:

The guns are empty. THE CREATURE IS STILL COMING! They back down the wall, desperately grabbing weapons one after another: a lever-action, a magnum handgun, even a flare gun which Heather fires right into the creature's mouth. Shrieking in pain, the horrid thing thing KEEPS WRIGGLING TOWARD THEM!

Burt and Heather scramble up over a desk to keep something between them and it. Burt smashes open a fancy glass case holding a huge four-gauge elephant gun~ He slams in two gigantic cartridges nearly an inch tn diameter. He fires. The concussion literally shakes the building. The recoil slams Burt back against the wall.

-1

The monster bullets tear monster holes in the monster. Great gouts of curdled blood spew from it -- Burt hit an artery or something. The beast convulses grotesquely, then collapses, deflating like a beached whale. Burt and Heather stagger together and hug each other fervently. They stare dumbfounded at the massive dead horror. Burt suddenly shouts vehemently:

,-... 104 EXT. PHAM VAN'S STORE - ROOF - DAY 104

Val, Earl and Miguel listen to the silence hoping for some sign that their friends are alive. Suddenly:

It takes a 1110111entforthistosink in, then the men CHEER -- as quietly as possible.

Burt and Heather dash out onto the roof, laden with weapons, a1111110boxesandtheirCB\radio. They hit the deck, assorted rifles and the elephant gun the ready.

W/M wd6.4 GRBS. (06/2l/88) 7 3 •

l06 EXT. PHAM VAN'S STORE- ROOF - DAY 106

Val shouts toeveryone:

l07 EXT. STORAGESHED - ROOF~ DAY 107

Melvin pumps his fist inthe air.

l08 EXT. THE STERNGOOD HOUSE- ROOF- DAY 108

Nancy and Mindy hug each other.

l09 EXT. NESTOR'S HOUSE- ROOF - DAY g

•

Perched on his Spanish tile roof, Nestor pours coffee from his thermosand raises his cup ina toast.

ll0 EXT. WATER TOWER - DAY 110

Rhonda letsout a WHOOP.

lll EXT. PHAM VAN'S STORE - ROOF- PAY lll

The men sit, temporarily jw,ilant.

Val grabs the CB mic.

Burt and Heather peer from their fortress-likeroof. Burt spotsearth bulging up near the foundation of his house.

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112 CONTINUED:

He grabs the elephant gun and takes two well-aimed shots -- two deafening BOOMS which echo off the distant mountains. But the bullets bury themselves harmlessly in the dirt. The bulge in the dirt moves calmly away and sinks from view. Heather shakes her head.

The men are disappointed. That'• not what they wanted to hear from Burt. Then Earl perk• up and gral)atHe CB mic.

AIU. (into CBI Okay, Burt, listen. Forget shooting them. Tell me this: can you get to your truck?

But Rhonda interrupts, pointing urgently from the water to-r.

Val, Earl and Miguel rush to the edge of the roof and look down where she's pointing

A creature is running its tentacles along the building'& foundation. It's a &trange, more studied movement than -•ve seen before.

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llJ CONTINUED:

They all stare nervously down as t.betentacle& feel their way along the wall, moving toward a corner of the building. Suddenly Miguel spots something down the next wall.

Another set of tentacles is feeling along the adjacent wall, The two creatures meet at the corner, their tentacles touch- ing rather like ants' antennae. Then they submerge; tenta- cles zipping into the earth. Nothing happens for a moment.

Then the corner of the building suddenly heaves up a couple of feet. Clapboard siding splits. A warped window shatters. (We don'tsee the creatures, only the.effect of ,theirshoving from below). The -n nearly lose their balance. Then the corner sinks back down.

ll4 EXT. NANCY'S HOUSE- DAY 114

Nancy and Mindy are still huddled on the roof. They don't make a sound.· They're startled when the house suddenly groans and tilts as creatures.give it a tentative shove. Nancy and Mindy frantically cling to the peak of the smooth roof. The picture windows shatters. We hear beams POP and CRACK, dishes CRASHoff shelves. The front screen door swings open. At last the house slowly settles back down.

llS EXT. PHAM VAN'S STORE - ROOF - DAY llS

The men are watching Nancy's house tensely.

Rhonda chimes in from the water tower.

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llS CONTINUED:

ll6 EXT. NESTOR'S HOUSE- "ROOP- .DAY 116

Straddling the peak of his steeply sloping roof, Nestor grabs on in panic as the creatures lift the place up slowJyl The roof warps, Spanish tiles shatter and rain down on the ground.

This causes a flurry of activity. Tentacles snake around where the tiles fell. We hear creatures crash through inside, snorting and huffing. They attack the house in earnest, shaking it violently, pushing the front wall out till it falls flat. The roof collapses on that side! Nestor can't hang onl He slides all the way down, landing across a window on the flattened wall. The next instant he's grabbed and pulled through the window, right into the ground. He SCREAMS!

DOLLYalong the ground, heading towar~ the storage shed where Melvin is. All we can see is dirt, but we can can still hear Nestor screaming UNDERGROUND! His screams get more and more faint as DOLLY ENDS on:

CLOSE ON horrified Melvin as he rocks back and forth autistically.

-- ------

W/H wd6.4 GRBS. (06/21/88) 77.

Nancy comforts Mindy.

Rhonda turns away.

Val, Earl and Miguel stare in horror and.disbelief. Miguel crosses himself. They're in worse trouble than they thought.

Burt and Heather's truck is parked in.foregroun4. The couple is up on the roof in background. Burt prowls along the edge of the roof with the elephant gun. Heather mans the c.B•

• VAL (V.O.) llurtl Heather!

A hump of dirt rises near the base of the house. Burt jerk• the rifle to bis shoulder and squeezes off a shot. The hump moves away from the house.

Still moving away, the hump of dirt passes under the side- walk, rippling the flagstones gently.

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121 CONTINUED:

The hump of dirt passes under Burt and Heather's truck, rocking the vehicle slightly.

The truck's security alarm starts BOOPINGI Burt and Heather stare down helplessly as the noisy truck is furiously attacked by the frenzied creatures. Oust flies as metal ripe and tires shred.

Val, Earl and Miguel listen in disbelief to the distant truck alarm. It finally sputters and dies.

They've hit rock-bottom, They sit in helpless, deaperate silence.

over on the storage shed roof, Melvin is losing it:

Miguel nods in agreement, Val and Earl stare at him, incredulous.

-· - . - --

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122 CONTINUED:

Val just stares at her.

Then -- CRASH! The store shudders, creaks, and groans. The creatures are back. One corner of the store lifts up, beams splintering. Then another corner lifts up! The roof tilts like the deck of a storm-tossed ship. From now on the monsters shake and ram the building almost constantly. Hanging on tight, the men peer over the edge.

Meanwhile, Rhonda tries her desperate.best to.b~ logicals

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122 CONTINUED: (2)

ButVal iswarming to the idea.

EllL we got a plan!

They squintat thebulldozer - 'way in thedistance.

They star•grimly, momentarily stuck for an idea. Then:

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l22 CONTINUED: (3)

Miguel graDs Earl and points down at little garden tractor in a juml:)leofPham Van's equipment and tools near the side of the store.

The store takes aheavy hit. The front porch collapseswith a terrificcrash.

val scraml:,lestothehighest point of the sagging roof and shouts toNancy.

The house shuddering and shaking.

-- -- . --

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Earl grabs the CB mic.

(into CB) Burt, Heather, we got a little sort of a plan going here, maybe. Can you tell if you've still got any of those things out at your place? Come back.

Val and Earl have lowered Miguel down to awindow sill right above thegarden tractor. He has used his kerchief to tie the steering wheel to keep the frontwheels straight. He jams the throttle open and signals thumbs-up toVal and Earl above.

Val and Earl stride purposefully towardthe opposite end of theroof. Realizing they have thesame idea, each one tries to edge ahead of the other.

Like hell you are.

l.'..!!!bestatdrivingtheCat.

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127 CONTINUED:

Earl raises a fist: The Challenge, Theydo scissors-roek- paper. One, two, three. Val loses.

val glares athim. Earl's obviously determined,

Ear1 positions himself, nervous as hell, ready to leap at the right moment.

Miguel leansout precariously and pulls the tractor'• starter cord. Nothing. On the second try it starts. He slams it intogear and sends itout towardopen desert. The store shakesunder Miguel, almost knocking him off thewindow sill, as twohumps of dirt pursue thenoisy tractor,

A •spout•ot duat erupts near the foundationas thecreature beneath zoomsaway toward thenew sound, ·Nancywhispers:

TheCB radio squawks:

- - - . -- - -- .. -

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130 CONTINUED:

Earl is poised to leap, Val steps up and slaps him on the back..

EARL .• Don't worry about me, jerkoff.

Val instantly elbows Earl hard in the stom&ch. Al Earl doubles over, Val springs off the edge of the roof,

We see Val running for al 1he's worth . and theFe's the bulldozer at the edge of town a long way away,

131' EXT, DESERT~ DAY 131

LOW CAMERA pursues the garden tractor as it bounce, along,

Val charges acrosa the vaat open area that separates him from the bulldozer, We can hear the tractor droning along in the background.

The tractor auddenly take• a bad bounce and flip• over! The engine diea, Total ailence.

Earl, Rhonda and Miguel have aeen the tractor take a header.

W/M wd6.4 GRBS. (06/21/88) 85.

Val's crunching boots seem incredibly loud in the sudden silence. He hesitates, glancing over his shoulder. He's totally out in the open, halfway to the bulldozer. Should he run back or go forward? He decides to go for the bulldozer.

All four creatures are now heading for Val. INTERCOTfour slightly different LOWCAMERA ANGLES.speeding over the ground, racing after him. He strains to lhe limit, breaths coming in painful rasps -- but the creatures are closing in on him with chilling ease.

Everyone watches in horror.

Val hears her and stops dead. So do the creatures. Maybe twenty feet away, their giant snouts poke up out of the ground: one, two, three, four. Val stands trembling•. The creatures softly shuffle back and forth, searching blindly for him, hook-tentacles feeling everywhere. One tentacle sweep& toward Val's boot. He manages to lift his foot just in ti-, letting the tentacle pass beneath. He balance• precariously like a flamingo.

He starts jumping noisily up and down. Miguel joins in, cursing the monsters in Spanish.

W/M wd6,4 GRSS, (06/21/88) 86.

Rhonda kicks and shouts. aut it's obvious they need some- thing louder. She spots the aging oupet pipe coming from the water tank, Bracing herself, she kicks at it with both feet, It finally gives way at a rusted joint. A torrent of water blasts out, thundering into the dirt.

All the creatures wheel about in the.dirt and zoom off toward town. Val breathes a big sigh of relief and sprints t.othe bulldozer.

A mass of tentacles and snouta swirl through the big paddle where the water is falling. The creatur•• breathing throws up spouts of muddy water. Rhonda looks down nervously. Earl calls reassuringlyfrom Pham Van's:

143· INSERT- CONCRETE J.POOTING 143

The dirt begins to cave in around the to-r•• footing. The creatures are digg1ng-ai.-d1rt away!

144 SACK TO SCENE 144

The water tower tilts ever so slightly, creaking and groaning! Rhonda frantically grabs a handhold.

Val lands in the driver'sseat and turnsthe engine over --

--- -- ---

W/M wd6.4 (06/21/88) 87.

145 CONTINUED:

The old machine starts. Val slams it into r~verse and backs up toward the semi trailer.

The water tower is starting to tilt seriously. water spills over the top edge of the tank, drencbing Rhonda.

Val has used heavy-chains on the back of the bulldozer to jerry-rig a hitch to the semi trailer. Now he scrambles back into the driver's seat. He guns the engine, wrenching the old..semitrailer from years of dried mud and tumbleweeds. Ancient tires disintegrate. Rusted wheels screech and complain -- but it moves. Val lets out a whoop and heads full-tilt for town. He's suddenly shacked aa he,aeea:

Rhonda's in big trouble. She acraml>leato the high aide of the tower platform. The tower's going to tip over at any moment! It's roof slides off and crashes into the street!

On Pham Van's, Miguel and Earl are tearing apart the swamp cooler, throwing pieces of it off the roof, trying to distract the creatures, but they can't compete with the noise from the water.

In BG the bulldozer rUml>leatoward the tower at top speed -- an excruciatingly slow eight miles per hour.

The tremendously heavy water tank suddenly tears loose, sliding off its platform, nearly carrying Rhonda with it. She ends up hanging from a cross beam as the water tank splatters like an enormous egg below, sending a small tidal wave down the street.

The re-ins of the tower tilt crazily nearly forty-five degrees. The bulldozer grinds closer and closer. Rhonda tries to climb up, but the jostling and shuddering of the tower keeps her dangl;ng precariously. Suddenly she falls!

And lands in the dirt. The creatures zero in on her! She turns wildly and leaps for the blade of the approaching bulldozer. The blade is only inches off the ground but Val swiftly raises it, lifting Rhonda high into the air just above the grasping tentacles!

- .. -· ·-

W/M wd6.4 GRBS. (06/21/88) as.

As Rhonda climbs down into the cab, Val heads the bulldozer over to Pham van's and stops. Almost as soon he does, creatures attack, a frenzy of tentaclesgrabbing at all sides of the massive earth-moving machine, slithering into the treads. Val and Rhonda watch this nervously as Earl and Miguel quickly clamber from the roof down into theprotective steel belly of the semi trailer.

Val mentally crosses his fingers and sends the bulldozer roaring forward, It effortlessly tears loosefrom the tentacles, grinding one to pulp in.its treads, The creature shrieks in pain, The humans cheer! At last they've got the upper hand!

Melvin dances merrily, and noisily, on the metal rooftop.

The flimsy shed seems almost to explode as a furious creature roars up inside. The walls buckle out. The whole structure sags. Melvin scrambles to the peak of the roof.

Oh. shit! o~. God! Help!

As the unseen creature thrashes around inside the shed, the walls topple outward and the roof drops to the ground like a pancake. Melvin has lost all self control and just keeps screaming. Val pulls along side, jumps down onto the tread, and reaches out to Melvin. But just as they join hands, the creature hits the roof from beneath, dragging it several feet. Val is yanked off the bulldozer and landswith Melvin on the roof!

The creature slams into the roof repeatedly, but the corru41atedmetal is both light and resilient. It bends, but the frustrated monster can't get enou41h•bite• to tear throu41hit. Val and Melvin straddle the peak of the roof, tryin41desperately to hang on as it heaves up, bucking like a bronco.

Earl scrambles into the bulldozer driver's seat and heads after them at full throttle, the big diesel roaring.

Melvin and Val prepare to jump onto the bulldozer, but just before it reaches them the roof suddenly starts to slide like some mad flying carpet, carried from beneath by a creature! Val hangs on likea rodeo rider, struggling to keep fear- crazed Melvin from tumbling off. ·

W/M wd6.4&5 GRBS. (06/21/88) ·89.

lSl EXT. DIRT DITCH - DAY lSl

The roof zigsand zags, spins and twists. Melvin and Val won't be shaken loose. Earl does his best to head it off, but it's hard to predict which way theroof will scoot next.

The roof careens alongside the edge of a dirt-walled drainage ditch, then suddenly skitters sideways and plunges over the edge. Melvin and Val tumble to the bottom. As they jump to their feet:

Val sees, almost right above them, an exposed pipe which spans the ditch. He shoves Melvin toward it. They leap up and grab the pipe, pulling their legs up as high as they can. An instant later, the creature blasts through one wall of the ditch, roars past beneath them and burrows into the opposite wallI ,-

Earl brings the bulldozer to a thundering stop next to them.

1S2 EXT. NANCY'S HOOSE - DAY 152

Nancy and Mindy huddle together·on their roof. The upraised scoop blade of the bulldozer comes INTO SHOT with Val riding it. He helps them step across into it.

1S3 EXT. BDRT • HEATHER'S BOOSE - ROOF - DAY 153

Burt is using a hacksaw to cut lengths from a heavy vertical pipe to which his TV antenna was anchored. Heather works with the sections Burt has already cut off. She is filling them with gunpowder fro ■reloading cannisters and hammering . the ends shut -- they're making bombs.

Then they hear rumbling. What is it, more creatures? They're surprised by the odd sight of the strange contraption approaching.

Val climbs up on the bulldozer roll cage so he's about even with Heather and Burt. A creature occasionally slams into ~he underside of the bulldozer or the semi trailer, rocking them slightly, throwing up clouds of dust.

w;M Wd6.5 GRBS. (06/21/88) 90.

153 CONTINUED:

He grabs a coil of blackpowder cannon fuse. He cuts off a length and stuffs it in the end of one of the pipe bombs during:

Burt hefts the finished bomb.

Just then the bulldozer starts to tilt sideways, creatures digging dirt away beneath it. Earl guns it forward out of the depression they're -king.

Burt and Heather are impressed. They rush around the rooftop, gathering food, a11110,guns,the finished bombs, handing them to impatient Val who hands them down to people in the semi trailer during:

He holds up two rifles to Heather, the HJC91assault rifle and another elephant gun.

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153 CONTINUED: (2)

Burt nods. Everyone on the bulldozer and semi trailer shouts:

TOWNSFOLJt (adlib) come on! Who cares! Forget it! Let's go!

Oust flies up. The bulldozer tilts. Earl guns it forward again. Heather and Burt grab a few more things and leap down into t.hesemi trailer.

Earl pilots the strange looking contraption out into the desert. Burt and Heather watch their fortress-home recede.

Heather puts a consoling arm around him.

The bulldozer easily luBers along the really rough road we saw Val and Earl's truck struggle over the other morning.

As they co- closer - see Burt and Heather riding •shotgun,• he sitting out in the bulldozer's scoop, she on the rear of the semi trailer, elephant guns at the ready, Val, Earl and Rhonda are in the cab.

It's late afternoon, sun casting dra-tic shadows across the beautiful desert. We are WIDE on the bizarre vehicle,

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155 CONTINUED:

resolutely grinding along not far from the cliffs, nearing the mountains ahead.

As they scan the desert, the people are feeling like they may get out of this after all. Earl calls back to the people in the semi trailer.

As they top a gentle rise, Burt excitedly points ahead,

Everyone cheers. But then Heather points up ahead to one side.

157 P.o.v. - THE GROUP - DOST CLOUD - DAY. 157

Perhaps two hundred yards from them, a huge cloud of dust wells up from behindbig boulders.

158 BACg TO SCEHE 158

Everyone staresuneasily at thebillowing cloud.

W/M wd6.S GRJ3S. (06/il/88 J 9 3.

158 CONTINUED:

Earl shoves the throttle all the way. The engine screams.

we MOVE IN through the cloud of dust. Dirt is flying by the ton out of an eight foot diameter hole in the gr,ound. A huge mound of the tunneled-out dirt is already piled high. The creatures are digging a tunnel -- but why?

we watch the bulldozer rumbling along. It seems unstop- able. The mountains and safety are barely a mile away --

when the EARTH CAVES INII THE BOLLOOZER PLONGES NOSE FIRST INTO AN UNSEEN PIT DOGJOST BENEATH THE SORPACEI

The -chine ends up half-buried at a steep angle. The ae■1· trailer is right on the edge of the pit•. Everyone is shaken, bruised, bloodied. Val, Earl and Rhonda look frantically for Burt, who was riding out front in the scoop. They're relieved to see him clawing his way out of pit. Val hauls him up and all four of them now leap into the semi trailer. As they COH to rest, Val slowly realizes what's happened.

The idling bulldozer engine coughs and dies. There is a moment's crushing silence.

Then the dreaded digging begins. Oust boils up around the semi trailer -- creatures digging from below! The semi trailer shakes and shudders, slowly sinking. The people ,.,._ huddle together in sheer panic. Val and Earl grab the nearest of Burt and a~ather's guns and fire wildly, hope- lessly, down at the dirt. Ricochets whine into the distance.

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160 CONTINUED:

Burt grimly digs in an overloaded knapsack for one of his pipe bo111Ds.He leaps up between Val and Earl and lights the fuse, looking for a target.

He tosses the bomb at some churning earth and dives back into the semi trailer.

KABOOM!The explosion throws up a big plum• of dust and rocks. we hear a new, ve y strange sound of phik from the· creatures. The semi trai1er Instantly stopi s a ing. The creatures have stopped digging. All is quiet.

The people peer up over the edge of the semi trailer, looking all around. Then1

161 P.o.v. THE GROOP- DISTANT CREATURES 161

Numerous spurts of dust mark their paths as they race madly away, fanning out from the semi trailer.

162 BACK TO SCENE 162

MIGOEI, Hey, Burt ••• didyouget one•••!

Earl's already staring down at the bulldozer.

Val looks around.

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163 P.o.v. VAL - ROCK OUTCROP 163

Toward the cliffs he sees a big rock outcrop.

164 BACK TO SCENE 164

Rhonda points in the opposit• direction from where Val is looking.

Heather unexpectedly fires two deafening bla ■ t ■fromher elephant gun at the approaching creature ■,then shake ■her head, frustrated. They're still coming.

Wham! With a jolt the ■ emitrailer begins shaking and shuddering again -- sinking, sinking.

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164 CONTINUED:

Glances all around.

Val squats infront of tear-streaked Mindy.

As Burt readies.another bomb, he pauses to hand bug-eyed Melvin a huge Ruger Super Redhawk 44 magnum handgun.

Melvin's eyes bug out further. Burt lights his bomb.

He hurls the bomb. Wait. Wait. WHOOOMIAgain we hear the creatures• unearthly shriek of pain. Rhonda's on her feet before the rocks stop falling. She spots the creatures.

Earl lets out a wild war WHOOP. It's infectious. CRANE UP with them as everyone piles out of the semi trailer like soldiers out of a trench -- they charge acros~ no-man's-land.

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164 CONTINUED: (2)

Melvin runs like a demon. He tries toshoot at the first thing he sees but the gun just clicks over and over -- empty.

Enraged, he doubles his speed, trying to overtake Burt.

Mindy can't keep up. Nancy tries to pull her along. Val and Earl swoop in, grab Mindy under either arm, and carry her between them.

165 ANGLE- THE CREATURES 165

The ground heaves violently as the retreating monsters angrily wheel about and charge back after the hu-ns.

Big slabs jutting this way and that-~ a rock.iqeberg in a. sand ocean. The people scramble onto it amid whoops of joy and relief. Melvin charges up to Burt:

Burt's line gets a laugh from people, but then tentacles burst up on all aides of the rock, probing, feeling. The effect 1• instantly sobering. Burt swiftly grabs out his remaining bombs - six of th- -- and holds one ready. But they're in no immediate danger.

The hopelessness of the situation suddenly hits Val, Earl, and Rhonda. After a moment:

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166 CONTINUED:

As this sinks in, Burt loses his cool, igniting an argument.

Everyone stares in surprise at normally quiet Nancy.

There's a long, grim silence. Everyohe sits glumly. Finally, Burt picks up a bomb and contemplates it:

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166 CONTINUED: (2)

Heather puts a soothing hand on his shoulder.

But now Earl brightens a little.

The others react. IsEarl nut1?

COT TOI

In the open desert, a rock lands. Then another. Val and Rhonda are throwing them from the rock outcrop.

Val, Earl, Rhonda, and Burt have 110Vedaway from the 11&in group to another section of the rock outcrop where intervening boulder• will protect everyone from an explosion •

Earl has tied a bolllbtoaome nylon rope from one of Burt's knapsacks. Burt places the other bombs safely out of the way behind a ledge. Meanwhile, Val and Rhonda keep throwing rocks. soon, the ground shifts.

Burt has hia coil of fuse.

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167 CONTINUED:

Burt nods, expertly eyeballing a fifteen second length and snippingit off, As he stuffs it into the bomb:

The bomb is ready-- it'smoment of truth, Earl digs in his pocketfor the lighter-- but~Val haa it, Val nervously leansover to light the fuse,but then frown• u he seea how Earl is holding therope.

Val shakeshis head and light• the fuse. Earl whirls the bomb on theend of ita rope like a laaso, and leta it fly out as faras he can. Then he start• pulling it back in along theground likea fishing lure. Rhonda stare• at herwatch as theyall ainkdown behind the protective boulder.

Suddenlya snout aubtly surfaces and gulps down the bomb. A tenae two aeconda later -- IABOOOMI Bullaeyel It's a volcanoof gory creature parts. They aplatter all over! The remaining creature• shriekand race away again. The people cheerwildly.

Val, Earl, Rhonda, and Burt prepare to try again, This time Val has the rope and a new bomb, Rhonda stands by him, ready with the lighter. Earl lobs rocks out into the desert.

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168 CONTINUED:

Rhonda shakily lights the fuse. Val heaves the bomb out and starts trolling. The creature swallows it. Everyone drops down behind the boulder, Val impulsively grabbing a s•cond bomb. They tense with anticipatory glee -- but the creature suddenly spitsll! a2!!!2~ ~I It sails back right over their heads. It strikes the rocks above them, skittering down a crevice and landing in -- BURT'S PILE OF BOMBS! .

Val, Earl, and Rhonda scatter. Burt dives backward over a rock ledge.

BABABAMMM I IAll theboml:)sexplode, throwing rocks every- where. The creatures streak away. Val, Earl and Rhonda sprawl into thedirt, half stunned.

When the panic isover, Val and Earl realizewhere they are -- fiftyyards out in open desert! So is Rhonda, off at an angle from them! Only Burt is safe on the rock outcrop.

And thecreatures are coming back fastl

The stranded trio startsback for the outcrop, but the creatures burst up aheadof them - oneblocking_ Rhonda's path, the other twocutting Val andEarl off! The creatures roar toward theireasy prey!

Val and Earl freeze. The ground bulges as the creatures "skid"to a halt not ten feet fro■ them. Rhonda stands stock still some fifty feet away, eyeing her own creature.

Over on theoutcrop with themain group of people Heather sizesup the situation.

· HEATHER

Everyone startshopping up and down, yelling, screaming, and clapping. Burt even runs a f- feet out from the rocks, firinga pistol into thedirt.

The crowdkeeps up the ruckus. The creatures are distracted by thenoise, but ,!:h!!time they don't automatically 90 after

CONTINUED.

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168 CONTINUED: (2)

it. Their big snouts turn uncertainly this way and that. But they just stay where they are. Their hook-tentacles slide out, feeling all around. Earl whispers:

Heather takes careful aim with her elephant gun.

But before she can fire, the creatures mysteriously sink from view. Val, Rhonda, and Earl remain frozen. What the hell is going on? Nothing happens -- then - ·

A HUGEHOMP OF EARTH suddenly wells up near Rhonda. It sinks back down as fast as it appeared. It's like the creature suddenly lifted its whole body almost to the surface then submerged again. Another hump rises and falls right near val and Earl. There's a pause as the -n.whisper;

The creatures try another random •barrage• of humps, so- coming perilously close. They know they'll eventually topple their prey. One comes so close to Val and Earl that pebbles roll down its side• onto their bootsl

More hump• rise and fall. Val give• in. He signals Rhonda, gesturing with the bomb. She understands. He'll set it off, driving away the creatures, and they'll all run back to the outcrop.

CONTINOEi)

(06i21/88) lOJ.

168 CONTINUED: (3)

Val digs for the lighter. Doesn't have it. Earl digs for it, too. Buth.!,doesn't have it either! They 90 dead pale. How can that be? They look across fifty feet of deadly open ground -- t~embling Rhonda holds up the lighter!

over on the outcrop, Burt shouts:

Val signals to Rhonda to throw the lighter. She nods. But just before she does, A HUMP STARTS RISING DIRECTLYUNDER HER! She fights to keep her balance -- stru99lin9 to keep from taking that single step which will instantly tell the creatures where she is.

But there's no hope. The hump jerks higher. Her boots slip down the gravelly side! Instantly the creature twists toward her, its hungry mouth erupting out of the dirt. She screams and dashes for Val and Earl. They run to meet her. The other creatures surface. The trio is.cut off.f~o• the rock outcrop!

Val and Earl link up with Rhonda and they all run madly while Rhonda trie1 to light Val's bomb fuse. But suddenly Val yanks the bomb away.

He veers off in a new di~ection. Startled Earl and Rhonda. have no choice but to follow. As they desperately try to catch ~ to Val:

Earl looks up ahead. They're headed right for --

The massive cliffs. Earl's eyes bug out. In seconds they'll be right at the brink with nowhere to run.

CONTINUED·

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169 CONTINUED:

bomb fuse, leaving only one inch of it. He whirls to check the progress of the advancing creatures.

He holds the bomb out to Rhonda. She instantly tries to light it. He grabs her wrist so hard it hurts.

The charging creatures are almost underfoot. Finally Val pulls Rhonda's hand over to light the fuse. Instantly he hurls the boau,as far as he can, behind the creatures.

The ground opens under their feetl Tentacles snake toward Val and Earl. A horrid mouth clamps onto Rhonda's boot. She screams as it starts to pull her down.

WHOOOMll The boau,explodes! The creatures shriek in pain, instantly releasing their prey and racing away from the painful shock wave in the only direction they can -

Right out through the face of the cliffsll The huge, shriek!ni creaturei""iee■tonaiii"'inmid-air for a mo-nt, their grotesque bodies undulating in pain. And then they fall! And fall and fall - a thousand feet!

The creatures land on -ssive jagged rocks, exploding like immense, horrid watermelons. Multi-colored gore festoons the whole cliff face.

TILT OP to see three tiny figures standing at the top of the cliff.

Val peers down at the distant creatures for a long time. Then he notices ~arl and Rhonda are staring at him. Where the h!ll did he get an idea like that? After a moment:

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l72 CONTINUED:

They turn and head back toward the others. They laugh as they realize how stealthily tbey are walking. Val starts taking big, exaggerated stomping steps. Rhonda and Earl follow suit. The trio goes off arm in arm, stomping merrily, hopping like frogs, etc.

Val and Earl roll two scavenged truck wheels down the street toward their own truck, which is up on jacks, two wheels missing.

Mindy races past excitedly.

A highway maintenance truck is rolling into town followed by a police car. The townsfolk happily swarm around the MAINTENANCE MEN and POLICE OPFICER who gape at the destroyed town.

Val and Earl eagerly start bolting on one of their new wheels.

Sell the ■ovie rights. ·we're going straight from blue-collar to white- collar.

CONTINUED·

(06/21/88) 106.

173 CONTINUED:

Rhonda pulls up in her truck, leans out and snaps their picture with a top-of-the-line Nikon.

An awkward pause. Finally she extends her hand to the■• Val just gives it a quick shake.

She gazes at him, just a hint of so-thing in her eyes. Earl springs to attention. Is the boy blind? Then Rhonda snaps out of it.

They nod. She drives off. Earl stares at Val who starts putting the second wheel on the truck~

VAL

,,..... Civil? I'm civil.

CONTINUED-

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173 CONTINUED: (2)

Earl freezes as a bell goes off in his head.

Val glares atEarl for a moment.

Earl isduml)founded.

Val lower• the jack letting the truck down.

Earl atanda·there fuming, mind racing. A last ditch idea hits ho- - - see a devilish glint in his eye.

,,,,...

\\Jb/.l.li681 l08.

l 73 CONTINUED: (3)

Earl hops into the truck.

Earl starts to drive off. Val sprinCJainto the pasMn9er seat. Through the truck's rear window we see Val raiae his hand in The Challenge. They do a rowld of sciaaora-rock- paper -- but it's a tie. They go again. Another tie. They keep playing and tying as they drive off into the distance and - --

TU END