Part I by Stephen King First Draft - 7/7/92

S onely desert WIND, and the steady but no- CK-TICK-TICK of METAL ON METAL. by cone, these lines form, white on black: This is the wav the world ends This is the wavy the world ends This is the wav the world ends Not with a han whim T [&] UT EZPIGRAPH AND FADE IN ON: A SIGN, EC 1 It's old and weatherbeaten, the letters faded. It jitters back and forth against its post in the desert wind, creating that metallic TICKXING sound. Dust blows past in gritty clouds. In spite of these problems, we can read the sign quite well. The first three lines are in faded white paint, the last in red. THIS IS A U.S. GOVERNMENT RESERVATION ABSOLUTELY NO TRESPASSING HIGH-VOLTAGE WIRES DANGCER OF DEATH! SOUND: A crow's LOUD CAW. And then the crow itself, almost obscenely large, flutters down onto the sign. Its tailfeathers riffle in the dry desert wind. It looks toward: 2 PROJECT BLUE COMPOUND 2 We see a huddle of Quonset huts and large barnlike structures with corrugated metal sides. Dirt streets run between these. Tu eweeds blow. On the sides of the big structures are signs reading AGRICULTURAL TESTING CENTER #1, AGRICULTURAL TESTING CENTER #2, HYDROPONICS LABORATORY, and COMPUTER CENTER. It all feels weirdly deserted. On the far side of a large open space, we see a large rusty gate standing open on a rusty metal track. Beyond it, a two-lane blacktop road leads away into the desert. To one side of the larger buildings are ramshackle wooden boxes that be offices or "civilian housing."” And that's all there is...or at least all that meets the eye. There must be a thousand little ass military and/or government outposts like this tucked away in America's empty places, involved in God knows what. CONTINUES

3 2 [ [ 3] o CONTINUES TITL CARD: SOMEWHERE IN THE MOJAVE JUNE 12 MOVES IN on one the non ® ) ;;» ty or n , paint-peeling ks that passes for housing e. Standing in ed old Chevrolet, idling raggedly, rusty tailpipe lue smoke. It's the only sign of life we've seen so ¢ O o ® O 0 3 O S o CHARLES CAMPION (voice) Hurry up! Get the baby! SALLY CAMPION (voice) Charlie, wrong? CHARLES (vcice) They're dead down there, that's what's wrong--all of them, it looks like on the monitors, and it happened like that! SOUND: CHARLES snaps his fingers. SALLY (voice) Dead? killed them? INT. LIVING ROOM OF CAMPION QUARTERS 3 It's dark, lower-middle-income, grim. Beer cans on top of the TV, Cheez Dcodles between the cushions of the lumpy couch. Jesus on one wall and Elvis on the other, looking remarkably like brothers. There's an open door at the back of the living room, giving on a2 short hallway. CHARLES CAMPION, a man of about thirty in khaki pants and unbuttoned Army shirt, comes out of the baby's bedroom and into the hall. He's got the crying BABY LAVON (she's about two) in the crock of one arm; a box of Pampers and a carry- all bag stuffed with baby clothes in the other. A teddy-bear also peeks out, like an unnoticed hitchhiker. CHARLES One of the bugs they were playing with, I suppose. It doesn't matter. We're getting out before it seeps topside-- that's what matters. Hurry up, Sally. EXT. OUTSIDE THE CAMPION HOUSE They hurry down the walk toward the idling Chevrolet through the blowing grit. As they approach the car, SALLY suddenly realizes the only ones out and moving around. SALLY Charlie...gvervone? CONTINUES

@® [ 3 [ 2 ot (@] O Z =] CHARLES (coughing) I'm pretty sure, yeah. [He looks around nervously] Now for God's sake, get in the car. She does as says. CHARLES throws the luggage helter-skelter into the back, COUGHING DRYLY as he does so. BABY LAVON'S teddy which was precariously tucked in%to the carryall to begin with, to the ground. CHARLES doesn't notice; he around the car and gets behind the wheel, leaving “Feddy in the dust. It stares up into the bright desert sky as the Chevy heads through the blowing sand toward the open gate. SOUND: A WARNING GOES OFF, sending bright pulses cf soun: into the desert sky 5 INT. THEE CHIVY, WITH THE CAMPION FAMILY 5 CHARLES Damn! SALLY (alarmed) What's that? [ EXT. THE GATE & It starts to slide closed. The HOOTER BLATS STEADILY. 7 INT. THE CaAR 7 We can see the gate sliding across through the windshield. SALLY Stop, Charlie. Stop! You can't-- But he can try. CHARLES floors the gas-pedal. The old Chevy lurches forward. SALLY (screams) s . o 13 . 1 ified wi N ¥ CHARLES Don't you get it? If we're still here when the pumps vent whatever got loose down there...never mind. Just hold onto the baby. She does, shutting her g eyes. The sliding gate looms ahead.

[ 1 n 3 " " ¥ 8 EXT. THE GATE AND THE CHEVY 8 It slides through the narrowing gap at the last and as it speeds 0ff down the empty road, already appearing ghostlike through the blowing veils of dust, the gate SLAMS SHUT S THE CROW ON THE NO-TRESPASSING SIGN 5 Can crows lock pleased? If so, this one does. It CAWS and shifts its position on the sign, shiny black feathers £l ttering. 10 INT THEZ CAMPION CAR SALLY They told us nothing could happen! Ever! CHARLES They also told us we won in Vietnam. SALLY gives him a stricken look. CHARLES starts to give her a8 reassuring smile, then has another COUGHING FIT. This time she really hears it and gives him a frightened look. SALLY That cough, Charlie-- CHARLES (grins) Just dust, darlin. Nothin two or three beers won't cure. 11 EXT. TWO-LANE BLACKTOP AND CHEVROLET, LONG 11 It's rolling along fast, putting Project Blue behind the Campion family as fast as possible. 12 EXT. IN FRONT OF THE CAMPION HOUSE 12 With a TRIUMPHANT CAW, the crow lands on BABY LAVON'S forgotten It stands there a moment, flexing its scaly talons, fluffing its feathers in the desert wind. Then it leans forward and one of Teddy's glass eyes out with its beak. THE CHEMERA BEGINS TO SINK DOWN, actually into the ground. As we lose the dusty surface of the compound (and the crow), we heag MUFFLED MUSIC. There is a sense of downward movement, of passing through strata of dirt and rocks...and then we come out through the roof of an underground room. This is where the real project is (or was). No dust here, just bright banks of lights over a big laboratory room full of beakers and chemistry equipment and electronics readouts. . The MUSIC is clearer now, although still distorted by echo and faint with distance; it is Blue Oyster Cult, singing "Don't Fear the TONTINUES

12 CONTINUES As THE CAMERA TO DOWN, we see there are threes o four people in this room...but they are no longer alive. Dress " the e 1 in white labcratory ccats, y lie crumpled on the On lies over a work-table, near a Bunsen burner which is still f ing a blue tongue of flame. His eyes are wide open, locoking at - th an expression of terminal surprise that perhaps reminds us ABY LAVON'S Teddy. Twin trickles of blood have run from his a 1 i wi cf nd pooled on the table. His cheeks are discclored. His s swollen. BEZGIN CREDITS as we DISSCLVE TO: 13 INT. PROJECT BLUE bt The CREDITS RUN in a series of SLOW DISSOLVES that give us an overview of a project which has gone disastrously wrong. With each DISSOLVE, "Don't Fear the Reaper” grows louder, closer, les echoey and distorted. a.) A HALLWAY, STRETCHING AWAY TO A POINT IN THE DISTANCE Bodies litter it like dead fish after a red tide. In the £.g., scme sort of supply-cart has been overturned and a number of beakers have shattered. Blue, green, and yellow gluck runs together. RECORDED FEMALE VOICE Go to the nearest clean room now, Walk, do not run. Go to the nearest-- b.) A SECRETARIAL POOL/RECORDS AREA There are rows and rows cof computers, all on. Twenty or thirty clerical personnel sit at them, men and women, but nothing's getting done, because they are all dead. RECORDED FEMALE VOICE --clean room pnow, Walk, do not run. c.) i;rv LOUNGE Four of five off-duty personnel dressed in coveralls sit in hard plastic contour chairs. All are dead; all have bled fro: the nose; all have soot-colored cheeks and swelled necks; al apparantly died looking up at the TV bolted to the wall, where a game-show is cackling away. RECORDED FEMALE VOICE Go to the nearest clean room ' CONTINUES

13 C 14 15 A forty dead people either er the long tables, crumpled on the floor, or lyin erving line by the One woman, e food- service uniform, is face-down in a big tray ian RECORDED F new, Walk, do not-- MALE VQICE e.) A REC ROOM RECORDED FEMALE VOICE --run. Go to the nearest clean rcom Two men have died playing ping-pong; one is sprawled across the table with his paddle clutched in one hand and his ball in the other. Others have died eating snacks and playing video-games. One man and woman have apparantly died while kissing. Whatever it was, it happened fast. In the corner is a juke-box; this is where the music is coming from. Suddenly the main power goes out. It is replaced by the creepy flat yellow of battery-powered emergency lights mounted high up on the walls. "Don't Fear the doesn’ so much end as unwind. THE CAMERA MOVES AMONG THE DEAD, their faces lit by that ghastly ocher light, their eyes as blank and glazed as those in the heads of stuffed animals. EXT. THE COMPOUND AND THE CROW 14 CREDITS CONTINUE. With a rusty CAW, the CROW takes wing--places to go and things to do, don't you know. Now the CAMERA is looking at BABY LAVON'S teddy-bear, lying in the dust and looking up wikh an eye as glazed as those of the corpses lying beloW it. EXT. A DESERT HIGHWAY, FROM ABOVE NEAR SUNSET 15 As the FINAL CREDITS ROLL, we see the CAMPIONS' battered Chev- rolet busting along at high speed. It is little more than a . black silhouette against the furnace of the setting sun, and if it looks like the silhouette of a hearse, that's fitting; it is carrying an unseen load of death which will soon spread across the country and the world. We TRACK WITH THE CAR, then DISSOLVE TO:

¥ (23 n rt 18 EXT. HAPSCCMB'S SERVICE STATION, LONG JUST PAST SUNSET This gas s:a:ic" is only building visible along < stretches away on either Williams: "My Yvonne...swaetes: one... JUNE 17 ZXT. THZ GAS STATION, MUCH CLOSER 17 THE CAMERA is on the far side of the tarmac, with the between us and the office. CRICKETS CHIRRUP in the oncoming dusk and moths flutter around the lights on the gas islands. The SOUND of Hank Williams singing "Jambalaya® is louder. The gas staticon is an island of light in the country dark It's a warm night, and the door has been chocked open to let in some Inside, we can see five men sitting around in thcse we're-shooting-the-shit postures that are unmistakable pure-d country. The man at the desk is BILL HAPSCOMB, the owner. He's about 45. The other four are NORM BRUETT and TOMMY WANNAMAKER (both about 30), HENRY CARMICHAEL (about 60), and VIC PALFREY (about 70). Standing apart from them, by the open door and listening as he looks out into the night, is a sizth man--STU REDMAN. He's thirtyish, and good- looking in a rugged, unpretentious way. THE CAMERA MOVES ACROSS THE TARMAC and TOWARD THE STATION. We pick up on what HAP'S saying as it does. HAP Now what I say is this. They just gotta say screw this inflation shit-- RADIO *This is Q-106, Houston's home of - country music. That was the immortal Hank Williams--* VIC PALFREY turns the radio off. VIC Immortal, my fanny. He's as dead as John the Baptist. HAP looks annoyed to have his sermon interrupted. STU, standing by the door, looks quietly amused. He continues to look out the door at U.S. 93. HAP Will you listen to me, old man? CONTINUES

¥ n it w ] o o [ " ot vIiC to you for twenty years - I?7 All that wisdom and it e Tre others laugh. STU, arm up and leaning on the doorja smiles to himself HAP frowns at VIC. NORM BRUE*T gets over to the soda : .chine, and gives it a boot. Pepper drops down. The feeling we get is that these men teen here, doing these same things, for a good many ye - o ot et 1t O - n @ w3 o HAP All I can say is if they'd get more money into circulation, the problem'd take care of itself. It's simple economics. TOMMY There ain't nothin simple about it. If there was twice as much money in circulation. STU has been half-listening to all this, letting it flow over him--just another night with the boys at Hap's gas station, and nothing being said they haven't all heard before. Then his gaze sharpens as he spots something of interest coming along the road toward the station. 18 EXT. ONCOMING CAR, STU'S POV 1 o In the gathering gloom we really can't see much but the head- lights, but it's CHARLES CAMPION'S Chevy, of course, and it{'s all over the road, pitching and yawing from side to side as it approaches the gas station. 19 EXT. THE GAS STATION, FEATURING STU 19 From this angle we can see the oncoming Chevy, but S?U‘rgmains the only one aware of the developing situation. His initial intersst has evolved into sharp concern. STU Hap. HAP takes no notice. TOMMY and VIC are getting into it, is always amusing. He and the others are watching the face-off. vViC You don't know nothing, Tommy Wannamaker! I guess lickin the glue on the back of all ' those food-stamps must have finally done something to your brain. CONTINUES

[S] 21 22 23 HAP wWhat--7 He suddenly realizes that, outside the dirty plate glass, neadlights are boring right at him. HAP Hev ! The others look around. S8TU moves to his left, fast, opens switch-box there, and turns them all off at once with the heel cf his hand. EXT. THE PUMPS, CU 20 The digital read-outs go dark as the power cuts out. EXT. CAMPION'S CHEVY 21 CHARLES'S voice 1s so thick with phlegm he's almost gargling his words. CHARLES (voice) Hold on, darlin...and heold Baby Lavon. We're goin in. THE CAMERA FOLLOWS as the old Chevy veers off the rcad and acres the service station tarmac, headed straight for the pumps. INT. HAP'S SERVICE STATION 22 STU stands in the doorway, looking out. Behind him, the other men seatter like quail, TOMMY STU (mostly to himself) I don't think so. EXT. THE TARMAC OF THE SERVICE STATION The Chevy swerves at the last moment, taking out all the pu on one island before coming to a stop. The driver’s side dc pops open. CHARLES CAMPION flies out and hits the cement 1 rag doll. He raises his awful, swelled face toward the li and starts to crawl toward it.

v The Stand, Part I 10 24 INT. THE STATION 24 The men are stunned and horrified. TOMMY Holy moly! Will she blow, Hap? HAP I£ it was gonna, it already woulda. (to Leookit that fella! Did he do that to his face when he fell outta the car? STU I doubt it. He starts out. The others look dubious, then they go, toco. HAP leads this second wave; after all, it's his station. EXT. AT THEZ WRECKED CAR 25 by wn STU kneels over CHARLES, who is still trying to crawl, and take him gently in his arms. VIC, HENRY, and HAP stand behind them i a semi-circle. NORM and TOMMY go to investigate the car. CHARLES struggles in STU'S arms. STU restrains him gently. STU Steady, fella--I got you. [To HAP] Phone Rescue Services. Braintree., Now. HAP Right. He turns and runs back toward the office. STU (to CHARLES) Stand down, fella. Just stand down. 26 NORM BRUETT AND TOMMY WANNAMAKER, AT THE CAR 26 TOMMY puts his hands over his mouth, runs to the edge of ghe tarmac, and vomits into the weeds. NORM just goes on staring into the car, his face frozen with amazed horror. SOUND: BUZZING FLIES. NORM (low) Lord God in heaven.

53 INT. THE CHEVY, NORM'S POV 27 We've got a better view the car than before--probably better than scme of us would have wanted. Its full of crumpled taco ani “=”Hurge' wrappers, soda cans, used diapers, baby bottles, and all the asscrted et ceteras that accrete during long, hard hours cn the road. The luggage is still piled in the back. In the corner of the front seat, SALLY clutches BABY LAVON on hs: lap. The fact that CHARLES was talking to SALLY only underlin nis delirium; these two have been dead for guite awhile. Dz maybe. Several squadrons of flies are practicing landings and takecffs on their faces. EXT. NORM 25 He staggers back, utterly overcome. EXT. STU AND CHARLES CAMPICON 23 HAP hurries back, pushing between VIC and HENRY. HAP Ambulance'll be here in ten minutes. CHARLES claws up at STU. CHARLES Sally...the baby...sick...need help... STU looks around at the car just as NORM joins the jroup. NORM ooks like a man who hopes he's having a bad dream. STU looks =z cuestlon at him. NORM slowly shakes his head. Any other ques- tions are answered by his green face, and by TOMMY, who's still being sick over in the high toolies. ) CHARLES Please help...wife...Baby Lavon... HAP (with a sick grin) They're fine, mister. Both of em. Now you just want to take it easy...the ambulance is on the way... CHARLES We didn't...get out in time...after all... STU You better be quiet, friend. Rest yourself. CHARLES (persists) Gate malfunctioned...only reason we got out at all...me...Sally...Baby Lavon. CONTINUES

The Stand, Part I 12 23 CONTINUES ing turns to thick choking scunds. a few steps, grossed out. He starts to cough. The cou HINRY, HAP, and NORM o Git his head over to the side, Stu--he's goan choke on it. STU does as VIC advises, and CHARLES'S coughing eases. CHARLES Sally and the baby...sick since Salt Lake City. I was ckay until... this morning. The other men exchange sudden, frightened looks and back off another step. CHARLES reaches up and grabs STU'S shoulder. CHARLES Sally and Baby Lavon? Are they all right? Mister? Are they-- He starts to COUGH and CHOKE again. STU Take it easy, friend. You just settle down and take it easy. CHARLES'S eyes roll madly in their puffy sockets. CHARLES (raving now) Did you bring in the dog? I ain't got time to run the neighborhood lookin to throw a line over that dog's head! You mind me now! You just-- He COUGHS, CHOKES. 30 EXT. THE OTHER MEN 30 HAP (to HENRY) What's he got? Any idea? HENRY Food-poisoning, maybe--car's got a California plate. They coulda got some bad chow at a roadside stand-- I hope you're right, because I seen cholera back in 1958, down near Nogales, and this is what it looks like. CONTINUES

~ Y [ w CONTINUE They all take ancther step back. ZXT. STU AND CHARLES CAMPICN CHARLES I knew it was trouble when I saw the crow. Damn bad-luck pird. STU Be quiet, friend. The ambulance will be along pretty quick. CHARLES We coulédn't...outrun it. He dies in STU'S arms. STU holds him a moment longer before realizing, then lowers him to the tarmac, takes off his outer shirt, and covers CHARLES'S face with it. Then he stands up. TOMMY (joins them) There's two more in the car. A woman and a little girl. Both dead. HAP (nervous) There's some of his blood on your neck, Stu. You better go on in the bathroom and wash it off. In case he's...you know... STU Contagious. . HAP Uh...yeah. STU starts for the station. The men draw back from him as he approaches them--they look ashamed, but they do it. In the disténgs we hear the FAINT SOUND OF AN AMBULANCE SIREN. Stu? Did he say what happened? STU turns back, looks at them gravely. The smear of CAMPION:S blood above the round collar of his undershirt is very prominent STU He said they couldn't outrun it. He starts for the staticn again. The other men stand in a little knot, looking at each other uneasily, with CAMPION and the crashed Chevy behind them.

. 35 EXT. U.S. HIGH AND LONG NIGHT Far below us are pulsing r o the Braintres Rescue Servic d sparks that are the flashers cf re e HCOLD ON THIS, then slowly s ambulance. The SIREN WAILS. we DISSCLVE TO: e ¥ ZXT. THE BREAXWATER DAY 33 This i1s a leng finger of rock that sticks bravely out into the Atlantic Sitting out at the end of it, and chunking rocks into the water as he waits for his lady-love, is JESS RIDER. ROMANTIC SOUNDS: and CRYING GULLS. ROMANTIC TITLE CARD: OGUNQUIT, MAINE JUNE 18 EXT. THE OGUNQUIT BEACH PARKING LOT w We can see the breakwater in the b.g. A subcompact car pull into a space near the parking lot attendant's shack. FRAN GOLDSMITH gets out. She's a good-looking young woman of twenty-one, now wearing an attractive shift-dress (perhaps over a swimsuit). Her good looks aren't forbidding; this is a lassie who likes to laugh. GUS, the parking lot attendant, ambles out to meet her. GUS Your fella's out at the end of the pier, Miss Goldsmith. FRAN Thanks, Gus. She walks toward the breakwater. On the way, she passes a bike- rack with one bike in it, a nifty ten-speed. Pasted on the carry frame behind the seat is a bumper-sticker which savs SPLIT WOOD, NOT ARXOMS. FRAN touches it, then looks out toward the breakwater is waiting for her. The expression on her face is a compiicated mixture of amusement and exasperation. Slowly, she walks on. EXT. THE END OF THE BREAKWATER 35 JESS, a highly romantic young man of twenty-one or -two, sits in the £.g., with a highly romantic--and slightly sappy--expression on his face. Here's lonely Lord Byron, tossing pebbles into the Atlantic and thinking up his next poem. CONTINUES

v w O O P n (81 s back his hand to toss another stone (with the proper ancholy expression on his face, of course), and FRAN grabs i- and, Part I 15 Lord Byron doesn't see FRAN tiptoeing up behind him; she arrives within striking distance unnoticed. JESS--alias Lord Byron-- draw mela FRAN (gleeful) EQflfla*HflQflg' JZSS SCRIAMS and leaps to his transformed from Leord Byren into cne of the Three Stooges in wink of an eye. He whirls. TRAN, startled by his surprise, takes a step backward and falls cn her fanny. Hard. FRAN Quwi Then she starts to giggle, even though there are tears of pain in her eyes. She reacts like this a lot of the time. In the word cf that o0ld Little Richard tune, the girl can't help it. JESS, instantly contrite, kneels beside her. He's sympathetic, but something in his voice says he believes she got about what she deserved for scarlng a fellow out of his romantic that way. JESS Fran? Are you okay? FRAN (laughing and crying) I don't know. Can a person fracture her ass, do you know? JESS I think that's actually called "an insult to the lower spine.” You scared the hell out of me. He her to her feet. E: FRAN I know. I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. JESS The same thing that always comes over you. FRAN stops laughing and looks at him curiously, solemnly. CONTINUES

(1rr~tably) , Frannie; it's just that you're a pain in-- [He points at what she fell on.] on; let's see 1f you can walk okay. They pack down the Dreakwater. FRAN'S walking and soon JESS stops looking for possible injuries and her form in a less detached fashion. The wav the gulls scar, and when he stops to take her in his a sure no one would blame him a bit. FRAN Sure you're not mad? JESS I couldn't stay mad at you for more than five minutes if they gave a prize for it Their lips move cleoser and closer together during this exchange. FRAN I think we're going to test that. He misses the sense of this entirely; he's off in his own romantic world again. They kiss. It's a long one. At last: JESS Nice? FRAN Very nice. They begin to walk along the breakwater toward the parking lot again, arms around each other. JESS I saw Flip Thompson in Portland. He's still cooking in that little dive on Forest Avenue. You know the one I mean...The Hungry Bear? FRAN speaks casually, but she's watching JESSIE yery closely. FRAN Uh-huh. Guess what? I'm pregnant. JESS Really? That's good. I asked him if he meant to spend the rest of his life flippin burgers and he said-- CONTINUES

The Stand, Part I 17 25 CONTINUES It hits him at last, and his face freezes. He comes to a dead stop. His arm pulls away frem her. She looks at him with that same pleasant expression, but the light has gone out of it. TRAN Caught you by surprise again, didn't I keep forgetting I'm not supposed to do that. Silly me. CESS (uncertain) Big joke, Frannie. Not this time, Jess. On this particular subject I seem to be all out of jokes. JESS (slow, but getting it) You really are... FRAN (big eyes; does Shirley Temple) Yes! I really . JESS Well, there's no need to get mad about it. I mean...hey! ¥You really surprised me, and... She wheels angrily away from him and starts walking fast along the breakwater, toward the parking lot. JESS stands where he is for a moment, nonplussed, then hurries to catch up. 36 EXT. FRAN AND JESS, FROM THE PARKING LOT 38 They approach THE CAMERA as they talk. Nearby is the bike-rack with JESS'S ten-speed in it. FRAN I needed to catch you by surprise because I had to say what I came to say before I lost my nerve. I came to tell you I'm pregnant with your child. Okay, mission accomplished. I alsoc came to tell you that I want to spend the next month or so thinking about what comes next. What I didn't come for was to be blamed, fixed, or scolded. JESS Fran, I want us to be together. CONTINUES

They reach bike-rack, FRAN a little ahead of JESS. She takes a deep breath and starts to gain control again. She pats seat his bike. FRAN I want you to get on this and ride back to Portland. Call me the week after the Fourth c¢f July. Maybe we'll have dinner, and maybe then we can talk. JESS But...I reserved a motel room for and tomorrow night! FRAN (dangerously sweet) And at summer rates, too! Well, maybe they'll refund your deposit, Jess-- what do you think? I mean, it is still pretty early in the She stretches toward him and gives him a kiss--the merest peck. JESS (completely lost) Jess...I don't know what you... FRAN I know you don't...but that's okay. Just remember the rules: no calls until at least July 10th. I need time to think. About the baby, about us. And if you don't call, I'll know some- thing else, won't I? He tries to sweep her into his arms--Lord Byron forging past all petty human concerns in the name of love-~but she pushes him back so hard he almost falls over his bike. She smiles, but there are now tears in her eyes as well. FRAN - That's not the solution, Jess--that's - the problem. Call me next month. After the 10th. She turns abruptly and starts toward her car. JESS looks after her, stunned and suddenly very young. Very bewildered. JESS I vou,

37 ZXT. THE PARKING LOT, A NEW ANGLE WITH FRAN 37 er cheeks, but there's ro sign out her car-keys. FRAN (without looking back) n! If vou still to! ouz of his little shack. He's concerned. FRAN (crying) Fine, Gus. I just fell down. Bruised my tailbone. She gets into her car, crying harder, starts it up with a ROAR. GUS stands looking after her, puzzled and w ZXT. J SS, AT THE FOOT OF THE BREAKWATER o s also looking after her, stunned and bewildered, with zll breaking waves and socaring gulls--all that romance--now Ty ne - ve much in the background. DISSOLVE TO: 33 ZXT. A SMALL GOVERNMENT COMPOUND ON THE PACIFIC DAY 33 Two or three concrete buildings--squat and windowless houses--crouch on a rocky promontory overlooking the Pacific. Wire surrounds the place. Armed guards are in evidence at the single checkpoint. Off to the left, a row of microwave radar dishes point their bland, blind faces at the sKky. TITLE CARD: BLUE BASE BAJA, CALIFORNIA JUNE 18 40 INT. A COMMAND CENTER 40 It logks like the NASA control roem at Cape Canaveral. Thirty forty men and women sit at computer work-stations, cross to othe work-stations, or confer with each other urgently. Urgency is, in fact, the overriding feeling of the place. These people are playing catch-up. One wall of the room is dominated by a huge map of the continen- tal U.S., with the states outlined. The map is aqua, except for one small blinking red light that marks the Project Blue instal- lation in the Mojave from which CHARLES CAMPION fled. An inset map of California may help make this clearer, if it matters. CONTINUES

N CARSLEIIGH enters the rocom frem the far end. He is spruce ared away in his military uniform; he'd be a walki ng ing pester...if they put ful cc-c"e‘s on them, that i1s. Hes has a2 briefcase in cne hand and his hat tucked under the cther arm. As he strides up the aisle toward THE Ca head up, eyes Iront, back so straight you could hang a “lumblzne it, he cccasicnally approached by harried techs who want computer print-outs or graphics. CARSLEIGH (we can read nis name on his lapel name-tag) waves them all away. INT. A GLASS, ECU 42 A bottle hits the rim. Two inches of amber liquid pour into the glass. Probably not iced tea. THE CAMERA PULLS BACK, showing us a conference room--the real neart of Blue Base--and its current sole inhabitant, GINERAL WILLIAM STARXEY. STARKEY is the antithesis of his spruce, squared-away second-in-command. His shirt--suntan, not dress-- rangs wrinkled on the chair behind him. He's in his undershirt. His cheeks are rough with stubble, his eyes bloodshot. He is sitting at the head of the long conference table. It's li: tered with sheaves and crumpled balls of paper; looks like some- cne had one hell of a board meeting. Fax machines--at least thre --are ranged along one wall, along with several computer termi- nals. Along another wall is a row of five TV monitors, now turns off. STARKEY reaches behind him, fumbles in one of the pockets of the suntan shirt hung on the back of his chair, and pulls out a blue pill. Anyone who's ever taken a Valium will recognize it at once. The rest of us will probably guess. He swallows it with booze, then gets up and walks slowly over to the bank of monitors. A at the door. STARKEY (doesn't look around) Come. He begins turning on the monitors. Each shows a different image of the dead folks under the Mojave--the hallway with the over- turned supply cart; the dead clerical personnel; the dead Ping- Pong player; the kissing couple. The fifth monitor shows the cafeteria, and features the woman face-down in the Hungarian goulash. At the bottom of each screen the words FATAL INCURSION flash on and off like neon from hell. CARSLEIGH steps in. CONTINUES

Y W 3 o "y o STARKEY continues to study the monitors. He's fascinated by He c¢loses the to STARKEY. H (salutes) U} 4 General Starke; Y Close the doo nd drop the bull, Len. CARSLEZIGH Yes, sir. door, spins his hat onto the table, and walks ove TARKE This is a mess, Len. CARSLEIGH Billy, I have what may be-- STARKEY (overrides him) Shifting antigen flu--probably the most deadly virus ever created. Mor- tality and communicability believed to be over 59%. We have 248 known casualties, but the real problem is our one known survivor, Campion. Know what he was doing? Replacing cable in the video system. The whole world is at risk because of one glorified TV repairman who happened to be in the right place at the wrong time. He saw what happened...and took it on the run. He's the problem. CARSLEIGH is bursting with barely suppressed triumph. CARSLEIGH That's why I'm here, Billy! We've located Campion! At f¥rst STARKEY can barely believe it. Then his face lights up. He wheels from the monitors and grabs CARSLEIGH by the shoulders. Holds himself under control with an effort. CONTINUES STARKEY Tell me. CARSLEIGH He crash-landed at a gas station on the outskirts of a little East Texas town.

41 CONTINUES (2) He shrugs. STARKEY (terrified all over again) So far! My God, so far! He made it almost all the wav agross the country? How could he do that, Len? How? How the hell did he get out in the first place, for that matter? CARSLEIGH That isn't the important thing--not right now. Investigaticns can come later; the important thing right now is containment. TARKEY (still slumping) $9% communicability-~-do you understand what that means? Do you get it? Do you have any idea how many people that idiot and his wife must have talked to on their way across the country? How many faces their idiot child must have sneezed in? CARSLEIGH We can't think that way, Billy. If we do-~- If we do, that shrug says, all this is useless. If we do, maybe we have to admit our responsibility in killing the world. Slowly, STARKEY nods. CONTINUES STARKEY Yes--you're right. Of course you are. [Gradually becomes more brisk] What about the Campions? Dead or alive? CARSLEIGH Dead. Their contact with the townspeople was minimal. STARKEY That doesn't matter! That town's got to be locked up, shut down! We've got to dig a moat around it! CARSLEIGH (soothing) That operation's already underway. And if we're lucky--very lucky-- containment is still a possibility. STARKEY When do we go in?

Stand, Part I 23 41 CONTINUES (3) CARSLEIGH Scon. The next couple of hours. The story is anthrax. A new strain. STARKEY (looks at the monitors) Oh, new, all right. Very new. And very virulent. 42 INT. THEE MAP IN THE BIG COMMAND CENTER 42 THE CAMERA MOVES IN SLOWLY. A cocl agqua, except for that one flashing red point in the Mojave. CARSLEIGH (voice) It's bad...but it could be a hell cf a lot worse. STARKEY (voice) What's the name of this town? But we already know. A tiny point of red light starts to flash near the place where Texas borders Arkansas and Louisiana. CARSLEIGH (voice) Arnette. Arnette, Texas. We hold, CU, on that ominous flashing red dot. FADE TO BLACK. THIS ENDS ACT 1.

139 44 nd, Part I 24 ACT 2 ZXT. A BUSINESSMAN IN NEW YORK DAY 43 cn the curb, waiting to cross the street in a driving down- pour. A passing cab douses him with water. The BUSINESSMAN starts to cough and hack. Cold got you down? Chills, fever? Sounds like you need a buddy! Flu-Buddy! An animated bottle of Flu-Buddy over to the coughing BUSINISSMAN, who looks delighted to see it. THE CAMERA FULLS BACK, first showing us a TV screen and then ths world around it: Hapscomb's Service Station near the end of a lazy summer afternoon. VIC PALFREY is sitting at the desk, watch- ing the little portable. His nose is running and his eyes are watery. He has a cold. Or something like it. The SOUND of BANGIN TOOLS COMES from the garage-bay. On the TV, the animated bottle of Flu-Buddy is now dancing with the BUSINESSMAN. VIC grabs a handful of tissues from the box on HAP'S desk and sneezes. Outside, a Texas State Patrol car pulls up at the pumps. VIC cranes around to look at it. VIC (calls) State Patrol, Hap! Looks like your cousin Joe Bob! Then he sneezes again into his wad of tissues. HAP (calls) Okay! EXT. ¥ HAP'S SERVICE STATION 44 HAP comes out of the garage bay, wiping his hands on a ball of waste, and approaches the cruiser. JOE BOB, a trooper of perhaps thirty-five, is just starting to pump himself some gas. Off to one side, stacked like dead soldiers, are the pumps CHARLES CAMPION took out. HAP Hey, Joe-Bob, I°'11 do that, you want. JOE BOB Naw--I'm just toppin the tank, Hap. I come by for somethin else. CONTINUES

44 CONTINUE JOE BOB sees VIC, standing in the door and blowing his nose. JOE old geezer here last ni That ight when the guy took cut your pumps? HAP Vic? He's here most every night. hearing his name, joins them. JCE BOB Then maybe he ocught to hear, too. Hear what? JOE BOB There's strangers crawlin all over Braintree. S'posed to be U.S. Health Service guys, but they came in a C-5A transport, and they look like regular army to me. And there's three more big transport planes landed over at Starland in Arkansas since noon. VIC It was cholera! I knew it was! JOE BOB I don't know nothing about that. As he speaks, he finishes pumping gas, hangs up the nozzle, and roots in his pocket for cash. JOE BOB I think maybe the Feds have decided they got somethin nasty here. If they're thinkin about a quarentine-- and they could be--you might have a little more to worry about than just cholera. HAP and VIC look at each other, frightened. JOE BOB Just thought you ought to know what's stirrin in the weeds, Hap. And if you see any of the other fellas who were here last night, you might want to pass it along. Just don't mention my name. CONTINUES

44 CONTINUES (2) CCE BOB ccmes up with a five-dollar bill. As HAP takes it, VIC starts sneezing again. JOE BOB locks at him with some s he takes the dollar's change HAP is holding ocut to him and ockets JOE BCB You want to take care of that, old- timer. Them summer colds are the worst. He gets into his cruiser and pulls out in a harsh puff of dust. VIC looks at HAP, frightened. VIC What if it ain't just a cold? What if I got whatever he had? That guy last night? HAP Naw; you just got a cold. But he's uneasy...and now HAP's the one who sneezes. They stare at each other, both suddenly very worried campers. HAP Maybe I'll close the station for the rest ¢f the day. Call some of the other guys. See how they’'re feelin. Might not be such a bad idea. They start toward the station together. 45 EXT. A STRETCH OF TEXAS TURNPIKE LATE DAY 45 Here comes a State Patrol cruiser-~-JOE BOB'S--heading east. Coming the other way is a whole convoy of vehicles. 46 INT. THE CRUISER, WITH JOE BOB 46 He's surprised, into the westbound lanes. They're Army trucks, and they're headed for Arnette--dozens og them, maybe hundreds: big brown hulks with their lights on in the daytime. JOE BOB God-dang! He COUGHS NERVOUSLY and grabs his mike. During the trucks continue to stream by on his left, looking like something left over from Maximum Qverdrive, CONTINUES

13 (9] o W 81 46 CON 48 49 50 (99 ~INUES JOE BOB This is Unit 16, Base. I got the granddaddy of all conveys headed west on I-17, toward Arnette--do you know anything about that? Bye? w v +3 g O 6 +—+ ) O s n [0} Q €4 47 i w ®© blonde woman in an S.P. uniform, is surrounded th guns. She locks nervous. The man in charge mpatient nod and cranks his hand for her to go o~ O D 1 1 D0 ) < BASE Please advise if you've been anywhere near Arnette tocday? Bye? INT. THE CRUISER, WITH JOE BOB 48 His face says in large letters. He lets go of the mike's transmit button to COUGH, then pushes it down again. JOE BOB Negative, base. I been over by the Arkansas line all day. Bye. BASE That's fine, then. Suggest you let the Army mind its business and you and you mind yours, Unit 16. Bye. JOE BOB It's like that, huh? Okay; unit 16, over and out. He racks the mike. COUGHS NERVOUSLY--harder, this time--into his closed fist. JOE BOB - THE TURNPIKE, HIGH AND LONG 49 JOE BOB'S cruiser passes the tail end of the army convoy. DISSOLVE TO: EXT. A STATE ROAD LEADING INTO ARNETTE 50 More Army trucks go rolling down this road, past a sign which reads ARNETTE, 2. The last one in line pulls over. Soldiers in combat dress jump out. They gquickly unroll a wire barricade and put up signs which read QUARENTINE ZONE KEEP OUT!

51 EXT DOWNTOWN ARNETTE 51 In the f£.g. c¢f this shot is the roof of a high building. Frem this vantage-point we see Army trucks converging on the Center cf town f:c; avery directicn. People scurry to avoid being run cver, and civilian drivers are forced to sidewalk their cars. AMPLIFIED voIC: YOU ARE IN NO DANGER, AND YOU WILL BE BRIEFEZD AS SOON AS ATTEN- A plump crow lands on the edge of the roof like a professional mourner eager to get a ringside seat at a funeral. It watches. 52 EXT. STU'S HOUSE '50s ranch job, not handsome but servicable and neat. An rmy panel truck pulls up. The DRIVER gets out, along with an lder guy carrying a clipboard. The guy with the clipboard is DR. DENNINGER. Both men are wearing NASAL FILTERS. The slide panel opens, and six armed men exit the truck's body. o4 DRIVER (toc DENNINGER) Stuart Richard Redman, sir. DENNINGER puts a check-mark on his 1list, then starts up the walk. The soldiers flank, three on a side, spreading out acress the lawn. Behind them, at the intersection of this tial street and the more heavily travelled boulevard which crosses it, there's heavy traffic. All of it is military. As they approach the door, it opens. The DRIVER, walking beside DENNINGER, hastily unstraps the flap across his sidearm. There is the SNAX!SNAK! SOUND of the other soldiers chambering rounds. DENNINGER exhibits no fear, but neither is it bravery we feel surrounding him; this is a pompous little bureaucrat who cannot, at bottom, imagine anyone doing anything which runs counter to the things on his list. stops at the foot of the steps as STU comes out onto the g§toop. He's holding a small not much bigger than ® gym-bag, in one hand. In the other is a light jacket with a Houston Oilers logo. STU doesn't seem a bit surprised to see heavily armed, nose-filtered soldiers on his lawn. He imme- diately picks out DENNINGER as the head honcho. STU Havin a busy day, from the sound. DENNINGER mounts the steps and takes STU'S arm. DENNINGER Lieutenant Herbert Denninger, Mr. Redman. Will you come with us? CONTINUES

<z CONTINUES STU looks dcwn at DINNINGER'S cth m - up at DENNINGER. H voice and his face are b is eyes BURN WITH R: STU You got about three seconds to get your hand off my arm, Lieutenant. Then I'm gonna rip it off you and stick it wrere the sun don't shine. For the first time DENNINGER looks really unsettled, and he takes his hand off STU'S arm in a hurry. DENNINGER I hardly think, Mr. Redman, there's any reason to be STU surveys the SOLDIERS, then looks at DENNINGER with gquiet contempt. STU Then you're even dumber than you look, my friend. DENNINGER (turns to his troops) He was one of the men who had direct contact with Campion. Put him in the back of the truck. If he resists-- STU I'm not gonna resist. Rude don't mean stupid, Lieutenant. He starts down the walk toward the panel truck; the SOLDIERS move with him. Coming out of the house next door are NORM BRUETT and his wife, LILA. They are being herded by another pair of SOLDIERS. LILA is hysterical, pleading with them to be told what's going on. The SOLDIERS ignore her. LILA (hysterical) I ain't going! I gin't} And she probably thinks Ghandi is a brand of pork- rind made in Fayetteville, she understands passive resistance well enough to collapse to her knees on the BRUETT walk. In the f.g., STU has stopped on his walk. He, DENNINGER, and STU'S personal COMPLIMENT OF SOLDIERS watch the action next door, where one of the SOLDIERS now reaches down and grabs LILA by the hair. NORM Hey! Get your hands off'n her! CONTINUES

w o [ , Part I (s} <> 52 CONTINUES (2) He reaches for the SOLDIER pulling LILA'S hair. The SECOND SOLDIER rams him in the side of the head with the of his rifle. NORM staggers two steps onto the lawn, one hand rressed to his bleeding, swelling cheekbone, and then col- lapses to his knees, dazed. Similar scenes are being enacted all up and down this suburban street...but STU has seen enough of this one. He runs across to the BRUETT lawn. The SOLDIERS who have been flanking him immediately raise their rifles. DENNINGER Redman! Get back here! STU takes no notice of him. 53 EXT. ON THE BRUETT LAWN, FEATURING STU AND LILA 53 LILA's still on her knees, with her hands laced protectively over the back of her head, trying to protect her hair from being pulled again. She is sobbing hysterically. STU squats beside her, and she looks at him with a kind of panicky relief. LILA Stu, what's happening? They want us to go to Vermont! I ain't pever been to Vermont! I ain't never been further north than Delaware! And they hit Norm! STU Norm's all right, Lila. [To NORM] Come over here, Norm, show her you're all right. NORM staggers over. He looks like Foreman after his match with Holyfield. i} NORM I'm all right, darlin. STU (to LILA) Best you go with them. LILA Bute- SOUND: DISTANT GUNFIRE and FAINT SCREAMS. CONTINUES

3 o] W 2l o = + U, NORM, LILA, and SOLDIERS all 100k toward the SOQUND, ard NNINGER joins them, accompanied by the SOLDIERS who were anking STU. DENNINGER (annoyed) ., I insist you get in the ht now. QOr-- STU (utter contempt) Or what? You'll shoot me? That don't scare me much, Lieutenant Denninger; if we got what that guy Campion had, we're dead already. Right? NORM (frightened) tu? wWhat do you mean? STU Never mind. [He helps LILA up] Just take care of her. NORM puts his arm around LILA. She puts her head on his shoulder and touches his bleeding cheek. STU cuts across the lawns toward the panel truck. DENNINGER, looking bewildered (it ne. :r went this way in the training exercises, his face says), trails after him. The SOLDIERS bracket STU. He pauses to grab his gym-bag and jacket, then goes on to the curb, where he stops to look at DENNINGER. STU There's going to be a bill for all this, you know. DENNINGER Come along, Mr. Redman. STU starts to step into the van via the slide door, then stops to look back. STU You want to remember what I said. Bills have a way of comin due. He steps inside the van. The SOLDIERS get in behind him. The truck pulls away.