"TRINITY" - PART 14
Things heat up…
EXT. TRAIL -DAY
The Buffalo Soldiers follow the SOUND OF THE SHEEP.
EXT. MEADOW - HOGAN - DAY
Grazing sheep scatter as the Buffalo Soldiers ride through the flock toward the Hogan.
Ray sees the horse.
RAY
Weapons at the ready. Spread out.
They spread wide and approach the hogan slowly..
EXT. WOODS - DAY
Emmerer looks back at the meadow and SEES their pursuers rein in, surrounding the hogan.
EMMERER
Erich!
EXT. HOGAN - DAY
The old Navajo steps out to meet them.
WILLIAMS (IN NAVAJO)
Good day, Grandfather.
NAVAJO
Good day, Buffalo Soldier.
WILLIAMS
Where did you get such a fine horse?
NAVAJO
From white men who do not speak the White Man's tongue.
EXT. THE WOODS
Concealed in the rocks, Erich studies the events at the hogan through his binoculars. Moelders fingers the rifle.
EXT. THE HOGAN
Williams turns to Ray.
WILLIAMS
They're alive, and on foot.
RAY
Ask him where they went and how much head start they’ve got.
Williams turns back to the old Navajo as....
BLAM! The single shot ECHOES as the old man crumples - dead!
PUNSKI - shocked, turns and sees Moelders with the rifle!
PUNSKI
You fool! He couldn’t tell them anything!
WILLIAMS - Rises from where he threw himself down, checks the old Navajo. He looks to the others and shakes his head.
ROBERTS AND SCOTT - sit their mounts, rifles ready, as Ray stands in his stirrups and scans the area...
HIS POV - THE HILLSIDE - LIGHT GLINTS off binocular lenses.
RAY
Up there!
Ray spurs forward, followed by Roberts and Scott. Williams leaps onto his mount and catches up.
THE GERMANS - break and run through the trees...
THE BUFFALO SOLDIERS - gallop across the meadow, fire into the trees...
THE GERMANS - disappear into the woods as they run uphill.
COUNT PUNSKI runs a little behind the others...
Suddenly, THE EARTH SEEMS TO OPEN AND SWALLOW HIM! His MUFFLED YELP stops Heyer, who turns back.
HEYER
Punski!
The others come back.
HEYER
He just vanished.
STAHLBERG
Punski, damn you, where are you?
PUNSKI (O.S.)
Erich, down here. Quick!
Moelders breaks a bush as he almost falls in the same hole.
EMMERER
What do we do now?
THE BUFFALO SOLDIERS - reach the tree line. Hooves pounding, their horses crash through the brush...
STAHLBERG - looks toward the tree line.
STAHLBERG
Down there! Now!
Emmerer, Stahlberg, Moelders quickly jump down the hole.
Heyer crosses himself before he follows.
THE BUFFALO SOLDIERS - maneuver up the hillside.
A HAND - reaches up and pulls the broken bush over the hole.
INT. CAVED-IN MINE - DAY
Stahlberg looks around at the broken wooden braces of the old mine - up at the tiny patch of blue sky and foliage.
The ground SHUDDERS FROM GALLOPING HOOVES ABOVE. A dark shape blots out the sky...
EXT. CAVED -IN MINE - DAY
RAY lands his horse on the far side of the concealing bush.
SCOTT
Where are they?
WILLIAMS
Quiet!
They listen - nothing but their horses’ breathing. They look up in the trees - nothing but dappled sunlight. Williams frowns down at the ground, churned up by their own horses.
RAY
Okay, back the way we came. Keep your eyes open.
Frustration and anger etch Ray’s and Williams’ faces. Scott spins at a noise, but it’s a ground squirrel.
Roberts suddenly gets a puzzled expression, then nods in satisfaction and points.
ROBERTS
Captain, over there.
Ray nods as he sees the upside-down bush. They all dismount, cautiously approach the bush. Williams pulls the bush aside. Fresh marks in the dirt tell the tale. Ray shouts down the hole...
RAY
The game’s over, Stahlberg.
BELOW- Heyer looks over at Erich, who motions him silent.
ABOVE - Williams regards the hole.
WILLIAMS
(whispers to Ray)
Now what, sir? I’m not a mole.
RAY
(whispers back)
Nobody’s going down there.
BELOW - A GROUND SQUIRREL scurries along an underground passageway and stumbles upon the Germans.
The others don’t notice when Heyer spots it and follows.
ABOVE - Indecision reigns for a moment.
WILLIAMS
We can’t just wait here forever for them to come up, Captain.
Ray looks around a moment as he tries to come up with an idea.
RAY
(raises his voice)
Okay Sergeant Major, if they won’t come out, we let them stay - permanently. Corporal Scott, bring me a brick of that plastic explosive.
BELOW - Stahlberg hears that and pales.
ABOVE - Scott gingerly carries the plastic explosive to Ray, who sees the uneasy look on Williams’ face.
RAY
We’ve got no choice.
WILLIAMS
What’re we going to do for detonators, Captain?
BELOW - Heyer returns and motions them to follow him.
ABOVE - Ray punctures two rifle cartridges with his knife and sets them on a square of oil paper. He pulls the bullet from a third and pours the powder over the other two, then wraps the packet tightly around an unlit cigarette and molds the plastic explosive around this detonator.
RAY
Take cover.
A HAND - pokes through dirt on the other side of the rise.
MOELDERS - is wedged in a near vertical passage in the mine.
THE OTHERS BELOW HIM - watch as he exerts brute strength against rocks and dirt to widen the hole to the surface.
RAY - pulls out the cigarette, lights it, goes to the hole.
RAY (in German)
This is your last chance. You have done your duty and can surrender with honor.
No response. Ray gets the cigarette glowing brightly, then breaks it shorter and sticks this fuse back in the detonator and drops the bomb down the hole.
RAY
Fire in the hole!
Ray runs for cover. He throws himself behind a tree...
KABOOM! - The hole erupts like a blown volcano!
THE BUFFALO SOLDIERS - watch the dust and debris settle.
DUST AND SMOKE - blasts skyward as if the hole Moelders was widening on the other side of the rise were a cannon!
A TREE - falls into the crater.
Ray and Williams stare down the hole at the impenetrable pile of earth and rock.
WILLIAMS
That for damn sure is that.
RAY
Well done, men. Mount up.
They mount up and ride off.
EXT. MOUNTAINS - COUNTRY ROAD - LATER
A 1939 Chevy Suburban “Woody” sits by the side of the road, door open, hood up.
DR. WILLIAM VAN AKEN, D.V.M., 60ish, head inside the hood, works on the engine. He SWEARS as the wrench slips and he bangs his knuckles. He continues his work.
STAHLBERG(O.S.)
You need any help, Mister?
DR. VAN AKEN
Nah, nah, think I got it.
(makes a final adjustment)
There! Tell you what you could do though, get in and give ‘er a start, see if she works now.
STAHLBERG(O.S.)
Sure thing.
The car dips from the weight of a man getting in. The STARTER GRINDS. Dr. Van Aken thumps it with the wrench.
DR. VAN AKEN
Try ‘er again, she’s stubborn sometimes, like an ol’ mule.
The STARTER GRINDS...and CATCHES.
DR. VAN AKEN
God-damn! I knew she still had it in ‘er!
Dr. Van Aken grabs his tools and closes the hood.
DR. VAN AKEN
Thanks buddy. Name’s Doc Van Aken. Can I give you a lift?
Dr. Van Aken looks in the door to face Stahlberg’s revolver.
STAHLBERG
You already have, doctor.
THE HAMMER - slowly draws back on the revolver...
IN THE WOODS - Emmerer, Punski and Heyer are surprised as the SHOT ECHOES.
STAHLBERG (O.S.)
Kommen sie! Macht schnell!
They follow Moelders onto the road. At the car, Heyer pulls back when he sees the body by the side of the road. Stahlberg shoves him in the back.
EXT. SILVER CITY - LATER
Ray and the others ride up the street and stop in front of the Sheriff’s Office. Ray dismounts and goes inside.
INT. CHEVY SUBURBAN - MOVING - SAME
Stahlberg drives, Moelders beside him. Both happy.
IN BACK - Punski, Emmerer and Heyer exchange worried looks.
EXT. SHERIFF’S OFFICE - SILVER CITY - LATER
Kelly is alone with Ray and Williams. A map covers the table.
KELLY
...naturally we would’ve preferred to question them, but excellent work, Captain Cline.
The PHONE RINGS. Kelly picks it up.
KELLY
Yes.
(voice Buzz)
Who? What?? Just a minute.
(holds receiver)
Sheriff Burke!
(Burke comes in)
This man insists on talking to you, sir.
BURKE
(takes the phone)
Yup... Now slow down a minute Roy! Start from the beginning.
A long moment. Burke finally hangs up, scratches his head.
BURKE
Mighty peculiar...that was Roy Campbell, out to the gas station. Five men in Doc Van Aken’s ol’ Woody just bought a tankful of gas from him. Had the ration coupons ‘n everything, ‘cept not the doc.
KELLY
Which way did they go?
BURKE
Asked the way to Las Cruces.
KELLY
It’s them!
RAY
It’s impossible.
KELLY
Get your soldiers, Cline, and finish it!
BURKE
Hang on a tick there, Captain.
(grins)
Roy didn’t like the look of ‘em. He sent ‘em out to the ol’ road, washed out back in ‘38. You cut cross-country, you’ll likely get there ‘bout the same time they run out of pavement.
EXT. THE OLD ROAD - LATER
Ray and Williams charge down the rutted pavement...
AROUND THE CURVE - Ray reins in, as do the others.
The Chevy Suburban sits on its side where the washout cut the road.
RAY AND WILLIAMS - leap off their mounts and approach the car with guns drawn. The others dismount and cover them.
Ray looks inside - empty. He stares at the countryside.
RAY
Damn you, Stahlberg!
EXT. SILVER CITY - NIGHT
TOWNSPEOPLE watch as two halftracks and an Army truck with a radio trailer rumble into town behind two jeeps. Kelly meets the CAPTAIN in the lead jeep.
EXT. THE OLD ROAD - NIGHT
Etched in flickering torchlight, the Buffalo Soldiers, on foot, search the area for the Germans’ tracks.
WILLIAMS
Over here, Captain.
Ray joins Williams, looks at the footprints he points out.
RAY
(to the others)
Okay, men, mount up.
WILLIAMS
We could lose this in the dark.
RAY
Take it easy as you think best, Sergeant Major.
They all mount up. Bates leads the way - slowly. Torch held high, he leans low to one side of his saddle...
EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - NIGHT
The Germans stumble through the darkness.
Moelders trips over a root, and goes down in a torrent of CURSES.
EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - ANOTHER LOCATION - LATER
Ray slumps in his saddle, bone-tired, as Scott holds a torch for Williams and Bates, who study the rocky ground.
Williams turns to Ray, who shakes his head to keep awake.
WILLIAMS
Hard to tell. Best we can do is head on.
Williams drags himself back onto his saddle.
They ride off into the darkness.
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