Scene 2.14 - Escape
EST: EXT. Armory - Night.
(BOBBY and a few remaining soldiers are retreating from the armory, machine guns blazing. BOBBY lobs a grenade, which takes out a couple zombies, but does not stop the growing horde from advancing overall.)
BOBBY
We gotta get out of here!
(A truck, loaded with a couple of armed soldiers, screeches to a halt.)
DRIVER
Get in!
(BOBBY and soldiers jump in back, the truck races from the armory.)
BOBBY
Keep driving!
DRIVER
Man, what are those things?
BOBBY
Dead people.
DRIVER
They sure don’t look dead to me.
BOBBY
We’ve got to out-run them, find a defensible position. There’s some lights about a mile up this road, see?
DRIVER
I don’t believe it.
BOBBY
Turn right at the next corner. You don’t believe what?
DRIVER
Back there. I don’t believe that dead people can just get up and walk around. There ain’t no such thing as ghosts.
BOBBY
Yeah, that’s what I used to think.
DRIVER
What are those things?
BOBBY
I told you, they’re dead people.
DRIVER
Maybe, but I’ve never seen nothing like this, so I ain’t an expert. I got two of ‘em. Dead people or not, they can still take a bullet like the rest of us.
BOBBY
It seems that way. See those lights half-a-click up ahead?
DRIVER
Yeah.
BOBBY
Head to there. There’s gotta be some buildings. You gotta phone?
DRIVER
Nah, we’re sanitized for combat. No computers, cameras or phones. Our wives have got ‘em all back at home.
BOBBY
There might be a phone up there.
DRIVER
And what are we gonna tell them? A pack of zombies have taken over the armory?
BOBBY
Something like that. Don’t stop for that light.
DRIVER
(Guns engine, flashing brights:) I wasn’t planning on it. We can’t call, we’ll have to lie or they’ll just think we’re crazy. You know how crazy this is making me?
BOBBY
Yeah, I know how crazy it’s made me.
DRIVER
You don’t sound too crazy.
BOBBY
I’ve been crazy for much longer. I’ve dealt with something like this before.
DRIVER
No way. There ain’t nothing, nothing like this nowhere.
BOBBY
Maybe not, or maybe it’s everywhere.
DISSOLVE
FLASHBACK SCENE
EXT. Hafir-Al-Batin, Saudi Arabia, February 14, 1991
(BOBBY is walking down a long path to a large and expensive dwelling. A large family crest matching the ring hangs above the doorway. The crest is an elaborate, geometric hypercube encased in elaborate Arabic script.)
BOBBY
Hello, is this the home of-
WOMAN
(Covered from head to toe:) Come in, we’ve been waiting for you.
CUT TO: INT. Rich mansion.
(An indoor pool, sunlit terrace, long hallway and pillow-esque furniture suited for reclining adorn the estate. Camels can actually be seen and occassionally heard out back, tethered to the house. It is dark in places, intermittently lit from the open air above and the reflective pool illuminates the chamber, leading to many rooms. Seated at the end of the room, in the shadows, cross-legged, is FAISIL’S FATHER. FAISIL’S MOTHER is enclosed in a black shroud from head to toe, like all the other women in the room. They pull the veils across their faces and sit along the walls, making their identities unknown. The men are all bearded, quiet and are slowly eating from one, large plate with a skinned and cooked lamb lying a bed of raisins, dates and rice. They are drinking their chai tea, sitting on their soles and focused on the words of FAISIL’S FATHER, who abruptly stops his lecture upon seeing BOBBY. Faintly, the same flute-like sounds heard earlier fills the chamber, giving tempo to the scene.)
FAISIL’S FATHER
(Also plays FAISIL, and seems identical except his father has a beard, a lower voice, darker skin and a thicker accent:) Ah-saw-lahma-lay’-koom, Roberto Hades, dearest American friend of our son. Kevel hal? (Gestures for him to enter.) Come in. We’ve been expecting you. Sit. Eat.
BOBBY
(Sits, bows head, holds ring aloft.) A-lay’-koom-ah-sah-laam, honorable father. I am well, In-shah-lah’. Your son, Faisil, wanted me to give this to you.
FAISIL’S FATHER
No. (Touches under his right eye with his index finger, pulling the lower lid down slightly, denoting his seriousness.) Faisil wanted me to give that to you.
BOBBY
Something’s lost in translation. I don’t understand.
FAISIL’S FATHER
You are our son now; you are part of this family. Wear the ring. Please, put it on.
BOBBY
(Not noticing every man in the room also happens to be wearing an identical gold ring:) Honored sir, this belongs to Faisil, it is for you.
FAISIL’S FATHER
Faisil is gone. (Turns to a man holing a tea tray with little glasses.) Ali, shy! Shukran (Shoe"-cron'). Put the ring on. Yes. (Pulls off and offers the lamb’s tongue. BOBBY takes it and eats it.) You honor us, and you inherit his legacy, at his personal request.
BOBBY
Shu-kran. I don’t understand, what do you mean Faisil’s gone? He’s being sent to Kuwait. (Raises cup, the ring looks good on him.) He’ll return victorious, you’ll see.
(BOBBY drinks the tea.)
FAISIL’S FATHER
In this battle, he has already lost. He is on his way back to Paradise.
BOBBY
I saw him yesterday. He’s okay. He’ll be all right. You'll see. He’s a good man; smart.
FAISIL’S FATHER
(Palm up, gestures to the plate:) Do you have much time with us?
BOBBY
I can stay for an hour, then I must get back with my unit. This is... unprecedented.
(FAISIL’S FATHER knows what unprecedented means. His English is excellent.)
FAISIL’S FATHER
Yes. (Pause.) Yes. You must visit again when this war is over and you have more time.
BOBBY
If I can, I will, I promise. You worry too much about your son. He’ll be okay.
FAISIL’S FATHER
(Not looking up from the food, casually, off-hand:) Our son is already dead. His spirit is with Allah.
BOBBY
(Drinks and washes down a handful of rice and dates.) What? How can you say that?
FAISIL’S FATHER
You are our son now. You will have our family’s blessing. All you see here is yours.
(He claps his hands. Servants come and clear away everything, pulling curtains and bringing in a hookah. The men circle FAISIL’S FATHER.)
BOBBY
I am honored, but you should be more... (Can’t find a better word, has no clue if they comprehend its meaning:) optimistic. Saddam’s on the run. Your son will be okay.
FAISIL’S FATHER
Yes. He will return. He will be returned to us.
(As FAISIL’S FATHER tokes on the hookah and blows smoke, we dissolve to smoke from a fire pit near a perimeter of a U-S encampment in the desert. The music faintly continues and we’re unsure if this is a flashback or a concurrent event. We see FAISIL, not in uniform, standing before two U.S. soldiers, one who is at port-arms the other with a rifle leveled from a shoulder, three steps back from the pair, aimed at FAISIL. We see their backs and the barrels of their M-16s, but never their faces.)
SOLDIER 1
Speak English!
FAISIL
I said I am here to see Roberto Hades.
SOLDIER 2
Sorry. Without today’s password, you don’t get in.
FAISIL
I- I do not know your password.
SOLDIER 1
(Hands identification paperwork back to FAISIL. To SOLDIER 2:) He ain’t a bedouin. He’s a private with the Saudi Army. Dunno what’s up. Must have made a friend here.
SOLDIER 2
I’m sure he’s gone. You need to go back to your unit, soldier. We can’t let you in.
FAISIL
Can you give him a message? It’s about my family, my legacy.
SOLDIER 1
We’re not a messenger service. You need to start walking away or we’ll take you in for questioning. You want that?
FAISIL
(Deflated:) No.
SOLDIER 2
Get moving, soldier. Go back to your unit. This ain’t no place for you. While you’re walking, keep that rifle on your back.
(He does so. Dissolve to FAISIL walking over a sand dune, waving his hands. Sundown.)
FAISIL
Sami, it’s me, Faisil!
SOLDIER AT ARAB CAMP
Halt!
FAISIL
(Unshoulders rifle, holding it aloft:) Don’t shoot! It’s me!
(Runs toward them, thinking if they can see him closer, they will recognize him.)
SAMI
Halt! Or I will shoot! Stop!
(Fires a warning shot. Perhaps the man will hear that.)
FAISIL
(Stops, lowers weapon to waist.) Sami!
(Long pause. Thinking he’s been recognized, erroneously continues forward, reaching again to hold out his rifle aloft. Sami fires once, gunning him down. We never see the Arab soldiers’ faces, we only see their backs as they examine the body, shot in the heart and lungs. Ironically, the same actors who portray the soldiers at the U-S camp are the ones playing the Arab soldiers.)
SAMI
Oh, Faisil! You idiot! (Slaps FAISIL’S limp body as SAMI breaks into tears.) Why didn’t you stop? No. No. My brother! I didn’t know it was you! What have I done?
SOLDIER AT ARAB CAMP
He didn’t listen, Sami, he’s not wearing his uniform, how could you have known?
SAMI
(On the ground, wailing, hugging and rocking FAISIL’S dead body.) I’ve killed my friend! Allah! Forgive me!
SOLDIER AT ARAB CAMP
It was an accident. It was a mistake. He ran to us, he lowered his rifle-
SAMI
(Screaming to the heavens as other Arab soldiers who heard the shots are approaching.) Ah! Faisil! Faisil, I have killed you! Allah, help me! I cannot contain my sorrow! (Holds him close, stroking his hair:) I have brought death into this world! Forgive me, Allah! Forgive me! Faisil, my friend, Faisil...
ECU: FAISIL’S lifeless face, eyes open, bloody mouth.
DISSOLVE TO:
ECU: FAISIL’S FATHER’S face, in an identical posture, having just hit the hookah.
Incidentally, the lit cherry of the hookah is a perfect match to the light temperature of sundown and the previous scene. The light temperature quickly cools as FAISIL’S FATHER stops inhaling from the pipe stem; his age and experience reading on his face.
ZOOM OUT
(FAISIL’S FATHER briefly hits the hookah again and passes it to BOBBY.)
FAISIL’S FATHER
Welcome to our family, Roberto Hades.
BOBBY
(Takes stem from hookah from FAISIL’S father. The other men nod with approval.) I am honored, Father.
FAISIL’S FATHER
(Hearing whispers from his wife in his ear:) Lah, lah. My wife, Jenna, Faisil’s mother. Your mother. She wishes to touch you. May she touch you?
BOBBY
What? Sure.
FAISIL’S FATHER
Aiwa. (The woman goes to BOBBY, reveals her leathered face. She kneels.) She would like to hold your hand.
BOBBY
(Passes hookah pipe stem to another man, and offers his hand, not understanding:) Okay. Hello.
FAISIL’S MOTHER
Hello. (Takes hand.) Shu-kran.
(FAISIL’S MOTHER immediately reads BOBBY’S palm. She reads the palm of his other hand and goes back to the right one and begins a long, incomprehensible speech in an ancient language that isn’t Arabic or even Aramaic -- far, far, far more ancient -- gutteral and musical and full of inflection, a cross between something African and Asian with a little Australian Aboriginal thrown in the mix -- even a Tahitian exclamation slips in now and then. FAISIL’S father nods, responds and calls his wife back to him. She covers her head and takes the other women into another room.)
FAISIL’S FATHER
You have a long life ahead of you, Roberto Hades. You will receive many riches and adorations. When all of your battles are over, and you know more, you will return.
BOBBY
I don’t understand.
FAISIL’S FATHER
Keep the ring. Wear it. When you take a wife, come back to us, for another blessing.
BOBBY
When I take a wife? (Looks at his palm, an indulgence more out of courtesy than actual belief in the occult.) Is there a marriage in my future? It that what this squiggly-lookin’ line means?
FAISIL’S FATHER
My wife sees many things. Remember us, for we shall never forget you.
BOBBY
(Stands.) I should get back to my unit, sir. It was an honor to meet you. You’ll see. Faisil will return.
FAISIL’S FATHER
Yes, my son will return. And you, son, must return to us to tell us of your marriage.
BOBBY
I promise that if I ever do get married, which isn't too likely, I’ll come back and look you all up. That may be some time from now, you know...
FAISIL’S FATHER
(Chuckles.) It is. We’ll be waiting for you... nonetheless.
BOBBY
Good-bye, sir. Faisil is lucky to have such a wonderful family.
FAISIL’S FATHER
This is your family now. Good-bye, Roberto Hades. Until your return, may Allah keep you in his favor.
DISSOLVE TO: