Dark Quests (Three Screenplays)
Page 16
CAMERA TIGHT on a military truck as it flips through the air. It crashes upside down on its crumpled roof. Black smoke billows everywhere. A second later, two if its wheels land near the vehicle, bounce like rubber balls, and then roll away.
EXT. NEXT TO THE TEMPLE ENTRANCE
Jack and Zahir, hidden behind a boulder, exchange high-fives. Next to them is the open box of crates, revealing more dynamite.
ZAHIR
That’s a hell of a distraction.
(a beat)
Let me try one.
JACK
No.
ZAHIR
Revenge for destroying my gas station.
Jack looks at him, clearly not liking the idea, but concedes.
JACK
Fine. Just be careful.
Zahir uses a lighter and lights the fuse of a stick of dynamite, a wicked gleam in his eyes.
WIDE CAMERA SHOT of the exterior of the temple carved into the mountain side. Men with rifles pour out into the morning sunshine to investigate the explosion, weapons at the ready. Jack looks over and sees Boris appear in the sunlight, too, blinking hard and shielding his eyes.
JACK
Good. We got his attention.
(a beat)
Er, throw it, Zahir.
The wicked gleam is till in Zahir’s eyes.
ZAHIR
Not yet...
Jack stares nervously at the burning fuse, which is rapidly diminishing—
JACK
Zahir...
The Iranian is holding the dynamite stick in such a way that the burning fuse actually singes his finger. Zahir yelps and drops the dynamite. It bounces and rolls among some boulders just beneath them. Jack grabs Zahir by the shoulders.
JACK
C’mon!
The dynamite explodes as they dive for cover. Boulders break loose from the hillside, rolling and gathering momentum, until a massive landslide buries many of Boris’s military vehicles parked at the base of the mountain temple.
ZAHIR
Now that’s a diversion.
JACK
C’mon! This way!
INT. THE GARDEN CHAMBER
Tess is holding her child, looking contemptuously at her husband. Two guards stand watch, but they’re distracted by the mayhem and explosions going on outside the temple.
MORRIE
How was I suppose to know he would
threaten Ricky?
TESS
It was careless and reckless to bring him here,
Morrie. Besides, you only did it to spite me.
Morrie steps forward, angry. Tess stands up to him defiantly.
MORRIE
I love that boy. I could not imagine my life
without him.
(a beat)
And my life was over in the States. You know that.
TESS
And so you kidnapped him and brought him
to this hellhole. Good move, asshole.
MORRIE
Look. We’re on the threshold of Eden, Tess.
I would hardly call this a hellhole.
INT. TEMPLE HALLWAY
Jack and Zahir carefully approach the Garden Chamber entrance. From inside, they hear heated voices arguing.
JACK
(whispering to Zahir)
Careful...
ZAHIR
Careful is my middle name.
Along with Rashid, Hakim, Ali...
Jack rolls his eyes and leads the way forward.
INT. THE GARDEN CHAMBER
One of the guards steps forward and points his automatic weapon at both Morrie and Tess.
GUARD
(in Russian, subtitles)
Quiet!
MORRIE
(translating)
He said to be quiet.
TESS
I know what he said.
A voice suddenly speaks to them from off camera. The voice belongs to Jack.
JACK (O.S.)
Well, you two aren’t doing a very good job of it.
Tess and Morrie both snap their heads around, and so do the guards, bringing their weapons around with them—
JACK
Drop them!
Standing at the entrance to the chamber are Jack and Zahir. Tess smiles broadly, in a look that says: I knew he’d save us!
EXT. AT THE BASE OF THE ‘MOUNTAIN OF GOD’
A WAR PARTY of Keepers, riding camels and horses, wends its way up a narrow mountain trail. They are led by a grim-looking Chief. Looking up, he sees a distant finger of black smoke rising up into the sky. The Chief smiles to himself, knowing full-well that Jack Rome is up there raising hell.
INT. THE GARDEN CHAMBER
Jack and Tess are carefully examining the intricate relief carving covering the wall of the chamber. Zahir, who’s on lookout at the chamber doorway, suddenly turns and reports:
ZAHIR
They’re coming back. And they look pissed.
Zahir looks down and sees little Ricky staring up at him, mouth open. Zahir quickly corrects himself.
ZAHIR
Er, I mean they appear perturbed.
BACK TO TESS, who is fully concentrating on the monstrous cherub statue before her. Jack motions to it.
JACK
There’s something about this statue,
isn’t there?
TESS
Perhaps...
Now she reaches up and takes hold of the statue’s sword arm. She tugs on it but nothing happens.
BACK TO ZAHIR as he watches the hallway. We see what he sees: Boris and his men rounding the corner. Zahir tries to duck back, but too late—they spot him.
ZAHIR
Guys, you’d better hurry...
BACK TO TESS as she continues to struggle with the statue’s arm.
TESS
Help me, Jack...
He reaches up and together they pull...The statue’s arm vibrates, and then finally gives, grinding slowly down as they pull together with all of their strength. As it moves down, a low, ominous rumbling fills the the chamber.
ZAHIR
This can’t be good.
The floor begins to shake. Dust sifts down from above. The sound of grinding stone reverberates everywhere. Jack reaches out for Tess and grabs her hand. She looks for her son, but Zahir is safely holding the boy. Morrie is on his own.
The Garden Chamber, like some ancient stone elevator, begins slowly sinking down. Zahir watches as Boris’s soldiers, who had just appeared at the chamber entrance, disappear from view. Zahir waves to them mockingly.
ZAHIR
Bye, assholes.
RICKY
(mimicking)
Bye, assholes.
ZAHIR
Don’t say that!
RICKY
Don’t say that!
The group continues down into the bowels of the mountain. With no way of knowing where they’re going, they simply hold onto to each other and ride it out. As the room continues its slow descent, a dark opening in the wall begins appearing, growing wider as the room drops, until finally the opening reveals itself to be a dark passageway into the unknown. Jack sees they have little other choice but to continue forward.
JACK
Shall we?
INT. THE TEMPLE
Boris, still standing at the entrance into the Garden chamber, watches in stunned silence as the entire chamber sinks down before his disbelieving eyes. The dropping room leaves behind a dark opening. Suddenly WAR CRIES erupt from everywhere. Boris and his soldiers turn and find themselves face-to-face with a horde of charging warriors. The Keepers of Eden. Boris’s men spring into action, turning their weapons on the charging Keepers, and opening fire—
INT. THE TUNNEL BELOW
The group exits the tunnel, stepping through a stone archway and into another tunnel. This tunnel, amazingly, is lit by torches mounted in the wall, interspersed as far as the eye could see. Zahir steps over to one of the gently flickering torches.
ZAHIR
Okay, this is weird.
EXT. OUTSIDE THE TEMPLE
The Chief and his men are engaged in a bloody battle with Boris’s soldiers and mercenaries. The Chief himself uses pistols that he cross-draws from shoulder holsters. He grimly blows away anything that isn’t a red-robed Keeper.
CUT TO: Boris Karakov and Abdullah work their way through the melee, clearly attempting to flee. Abdullah uses his semi-automatic weapon to blow away anyone who challenges them.
INT. UNDERGROUND TUNNEL
The gang, led by Jack Rome, makes their way through the narrow tunnel, which is lit periodically by flickering torches. Jack and Zahir walk side by side. Little Ricky, who has bonded with Zahir, holds the Persian’s hand.
JACK
So, who do you think lit these torches?
ZAHIR
I’m not sure I want to know.
The tunnel itself is hewed from dark volcanic rock. The floor is dusted with soft sand, muffling their footfalls. The tip of Jack’s cane sinks several inches into the sand.
ZAHIR
This doesn’t look like much of a Garden.
TESS
Wait and see.
ZAHIR
(to Ricky)
Wait and see, she says. Wait and see what?
More tunnels? I’m sick of tunnels.
RICKY
(giggling)
You talk a lot.
EXT. OUTSIDE THE TEMPLE
Boris and a handful of soldiers escape into his military chopper. The pilot flips some switches, adjusts the cyclic, and the helicopter is soon airborne.
EXT. AT THE TEMPLE ENTRANCE
Briefly distracted, a dirty and blood-stained Chief looks up at the quickly disappearing helicopter. He then turns and stabs his scimitar into the heart of a Russian mercenary, killing the man instantly.
INT. INSIDE THE CHOPPER
As the chopper circles away, flying low to the ground, the pilot looks over at Boris.
PILOT
Where to?
BORIS
We go back.
EXT. THE TEMPLE
With the last of the resistance gone, the Chief and his men stand victoriously at the temple entrance, exhausted. They raise their bloody weapons high and cheer loudly.
INT. UNDERGROUND TUNNEL
As the group continues through the tunnel, an exhausted Morrie finally stops and leans a shoulder against the tunnel wall. He digs in his shirt pocket and produces a cigarette and lighter.
MORRIE
How about a rest, Old Boy?
JACK
No resting. We have to keep moving.
MORRIE
So who died and put you in charge?
In one swift movement, Jack’s silver-tipped cane flashes through the air. Morrie’s legs are swept out from under him, and the American fugitive finds himself flat on his back. Jack presses the metal tip of his cane into Morrie’s exposed jugular.
JACK
Don’t forget, Old Boy, your greed
is the reason we’re all in this mess.
Little Ricky breaks away from Zahir, running to his dad’s rescue. The boy starts beating on Jack’s leg, screaming and wailing.
RICKY
Leave my daddy alone!
Jack steps away from Morrie, who carefully finds his feet again. Tess moves in and pulls little Ricky away, holding the distraught boy.
MORRIE
Easy, Old Boy. It was just a question.
(greasy grin)
Hey, now I’m clear. The angry man
with the cane is in charge.
DISSOLVE TO: The gang is still hiking doggedly through the seemingly endless tunnel. Zahir is once again holding the little boy’s hand. Morrie has worked his way toward the front and is now walking stride for stride with Jack.
MORRIE
You know, because of you, my wife
never truly loved me.
JACK
And why’s that?
MORRIE
She’s been in love with you her entire life.
Ever since you saved her. God help any man
who tries to live up to your image.
Jack quickens his pace, bum leg and all, and leaves Morrie behind.
EXT. THE MOUNTAIN TEMPLE
The Chief personally tends to the wounded, administering an unusual amber liquid, which he pours from a small vile straight onto their injuries. And as he does so, something strange begins to happen. Before our very eyes, the wounds miraculously heal. Broken legs mend, bullet holes repair themselves, etc.
In the near distance, comes the whump-whump-whump of an approaching chopper. The Chief, who had been administering the healing oil to a wounded warrior, steps away from the shade of the mountain temple’s portico, shielding his eyes against the afternoon sun.
WIDE SHOT of the sky as a tiny speck in the distance rapidly approaches. The speck quickly turns into a helicopter.
FROM THE POINT OF VIEW of the chopper pilot: We see through his headgear visor, which is crisscrossed with a complex Missile Guidance targeting system. The system locks onto the Chief and his men.
TIGHT SHOT of the pilot’s finger as he gently squeezes a red button on the control stick.
BENEATH THE CHOPPER: Twin Hellfire missiles blaze off the undercarriage launching pads. Briefly suspended in mid-air, they blast forward, quickly gathering tremendous speed as they race down toward the Temple facade.
EXT. AT THE BASE OF THE TEMPLE
Other Keepers stand stoically with the Chief. We see what they see: twin fires in the sky, rapidly approaching. There’s nothing the Keepers can do. Nowhere to run—
CHIEF
God help us.
WIDE SHOT of the Temple facade, as the Hellfire missiles slam home and detonate together in one massive explosion, sending a fireball high into the sky, obliterating anything and everything around it, including the Keepers.
INT. THE UNDERGROUND TUNNEL
Jack has slipped back and is now walking together with Tess and Ricky.
JACK
(to Ricky)
I’m sorry about your father, buddy.
RICKY
That’s okay. Mommy says he needed
to be taught a lesson.
Ricky runs off and walks with his new friend, Zahir, happily holding the Persian’s hand.
TESS
(quietly to Jack)
He really likes your friend.
JACK
Zahir’s all right once you get past all
the noise.
TESS
I overheard what Morrie said to you, Jack.
I hate to admit it, but he’s right. A childhood
crush on you, carried over into adulthood.
JACK
I’m flattered. Really, I am.
TESS
You must think I’m silly.
She smiles at him through tears. He reaches over and carefully wipes them away.
HARD CUT TO: At that moment, a fist cracks Zahir across the face. As the Iranian collapses, Morrie swipes Zahir’s assault rifle. He aims it at Jack’s chest.
MORRIE
Now say good-bye to your hero, Tess.
As he levels the weapon, Zahir scrabbles forward and lunges, tackling Morrie low. As Morrie topples, a single shot goes off. The sound is deafening in the confined tunnel. Little Ricky suddenly jerks and sinks to his knees, holding his stomach. Blood spills between his stubby fingers.
TESS
Ricky!
She lunges for her son, screaming hysterically...Meanwhile, Zahir and Morrie continue their struggle. Another shot goes off, and Morrie’s eyes widen with horror and surprise. Zahir, gasping, steps away. Blood pumps from a ghastly wound in Morrie’s throat. He struggles to breathe, grabbing Zahir...and then pitches forward into the soft dirt of the tunnel.
EXT. OUTSIDE THE TEMPLE
Boris, Abdullah and five other soldiers step out of the chopper. Boris surveys the damage. Dust is heavy in the air. Everything is charred and burned
, including human bodies. The temple itself is still relatively unharmed, although the portico and some massive stone blocks are now blocking the entrance.
BORIS
Clear the opening!
INT. UNDERGROUND TUNNEL
Jack and the gang can do nothing but continue on. A stricken Tess is holding her injured son, who is taking slow, ragged breaths. Zahir, who’s taking little Ricky’s injury hard, suddenly points forward, his face awash in a green light—as a green glow pulsates at the far end of the tunnel.
WIPE TO: The group warily approaches the tunnel’s end. Soon, everyone is bathed in a soft green light. Jack, leading the way, tentatively steps out onto a rock ledge. Huddled together on the ledge, the group is clearly thunderstruck. Jack seemingly tries to look everywhere at once. After a few moments of this, a slow smile spreads across his face.