(FOOTSTEPS RUNNING)
(MAN BREATHING HEAVILY)
(PANTING)
You know I can't keep this, right?
Your grandfather made it for you.
To give to the man I love.
Come on, you won't miss me.
Practice at 6:00 every morning. Classes.
All those college guys.
Got to pack. Meeting my parents for breakfast before I hit the road.
What you got there?
I owe you for the necklace.
You know what it means to me.
- Do you have water? - I'm gonna hit Roland's on the way out.
I could always just load up a cooler, make you some sandwiches.
It's not that long of a drive.
Look, you know I...
Give me a safe arrival call, all right?
Better pick up. Don't want to hear the machine.
(ENGINE STARTS)
(PHONE RINGING)
(MACHINE BEEPS)
Ben, it's Joe.
Got a job here for you this morning. Guy wants to go out to the reach.
Let me know if you can't be here in an hour.
(BEEPS)
(PHONE RINGING)
WOMAN: How many times have I told you not to call me here?
(BEEPS)
BEN: Hey, it's me.
Look, I know I forgot to say that I love you.
Well, I guess I just wanted to hear your voice, so...
I'm sorry.
(RAILROAD WARNING BELL DINGING)
MAN: So you working through dinner?
- (DOOR CLOSES) - Uh...
(SIGHS)
Well, pick me a good fortune cookie, huh?
Yang's still doing the negotiations? All right, okay.
How many points you got left? Still six?
- (KNOCKS) - Morning, Sheriff.
Ready to earn?
Yeah, black-tail or bear?
- Bighorn. - Little early in the season, isn't it?
Seems he got himself a special exemption. Got connections, I reckon.
- Some kind of big shot. - Yeah.
He's paying a grand per day. Kind of makes you overlook the little things.
You got some crazy-ass dog problems around here, huh?
The problem is coyotes. They like the taste.
Yeah, yeah, no, we got the same thing in LA, you know.
One of them would come down from the hills,
starts flirting with some old lady's shih tzu, and...
lures it back up the hill and bye-bye, shih tzu.
- He's it? - He's it.
How old are you?
Old enough to be the best tracker in the county, if not the state.
- Not quite, but I can get 'er done. - Well, imagine that.
You know, I pull off 85 thinking I found a good place to take a dump. (LAUGHING)
Hey, John Madec.
Ben.
Ben. Okay.
Just Ben. Let's roll, huh?
Wait a second. I need to see a driver's license and harvest permit.
Uh, I took care of it.
He's good to go, Deputy.
Come on, we'll take my ride. Sheriff, thank you.
Only one in America.
500K. That's not including tax.
Uh-huh.
- Well, I guess it doesn't park itself. - (SCOFFS)
- Mind if I check your rifle? - No, no. Sure. Here.
Steyr Scout 308. Had it imported from Austria.
It's got a Leupold scope. Best glass you can get out of Sweden.
I've never seen one of these.
Most folks around here use Brownings, Winchesters, Remingtons.
(ENGINE STARTS)
Mind if I take a look?
- So what's her name? - Laina.
A real photograph. Not one of those iPhones. Old school.
She's lovely.
Boy, a girl like that staying with you in a place like this? You're a lucky guy.
Actually, she's in school up in Denver.
Oh, yeah? She's got some wits in her, too, huh?
Full ride. Swim team.
(SQUEAKING)
Well, it seems like WALL-E is definitely stuck here.
WALL-E.
- EVA. - (LAUGHS)
Yeah, I knew I'd get a smile out of you.
JOHN: Hey.
Beyond this point, there will be monsters.
Well, I suppose this is where you earn your money.
(PHONE RINGS)
There's no reception out here.
It's a sat-phone. Full terrestrial coverage.
(SPEAKING CHINESE)
No, that's right. 8:00 AM tomorrow. Midnight Beijing time.
We'll try to wrap it all up.
If they complain, just tell them Confucius says,
"Reset your fiscal year at one."
Some shit like that. I don't know.
(SPEAKS CHINESE)
Big deal?
Uh, yeah, you could say that, yeah.
So you in finance or something?
- Insurance. - What do you insure?
Finance.
300 million years ago, all this was underwater,
submerged in an inland sea.
Well, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to add to the erosion.
(CHUCKLES)
(URINATING, SIGHS)
(ZIPPER UNZIPS)
(URINATING)
(SHEEP BELLOWING)
(LOUD CLACKING)
BEN: There's your bighorn.
(CHUCKLES)
Establishing a dominance hierarchy.
It's weird. They don't usually go at it this late.
Women, they're good at getting your ire up when all you want to do is sleep.
Ah.
(COYOTES HOWLING)
(SIGHS)
A lot of smart guys in college, you know.
Smart guys who get turned on by smart girls.
- You're not worried about that? - Nope.
'Cause it's true love?
- We grew up together. - Oh, so there's no mystery.
Exactly.
(CHUCKLES) Exactly.
- (BEEPING) - What was that?
That is a civilized man's dinner.
Well, you know, I suppose you couldn't go with her.
But with all the glorious opportunities that you have in this fine place...
It's a family business.
My parents were guides. Search and Rescue for 20 years.
Yeah, until they came to their senses.
They died, right?
The sheriff called you deputy.
That makes the S&R paperwork easier.
Search and Rescue, huh? You get that much action out here?
There was a pileup on the highway.
So this old station wagon tried to find a way around.
When the thing stalled,
they just left it.
A family of four.
And the thing is, they weren't even a mile from the highway.
Of course they couldn't see it 'cause of the ridge
or hear it 'cause it was still clogged up. So they guessed.
Just headed out across the reach.
Well, they didn't get far.
It only takes a few hours exposed like that.
The dad was about a mile from the car.
The mom, she had...
she had smeared lipstick on her kids' faces to try to stop the burning.
Well, you know, at least they put up a fight.
They killed themselves.
They took a chance, they made their stand. I mean...
(OWL HOOTING)
Oh, my God.
Come with me, Ben.
(COFFEEMAKER HISSING)
You want a single or a double?
What?
Single or a double?
No.
(SIGHS)
Let's go, Ben.
(BIRD SCREECHING)
It's a local shooting gallery.
(COCKS GUN)
(GUNSHOTS ECHOING)
- What are you doing? - I'm just warming up.
When you fire your weapon, you frighten the game.
They're already frightened. That's why they're being hunted.
- You forgetting something? - Hmm?
Your brass.
That's your job.
You been hunting long?
Probably before you were wearing Huggies, kid.
Your Steyr looks brand-new.
Well, I take care of my equipment.
Sounds like you have other people do it.
I'm no amateur, okay, kid?
I mean, I've got the horns to prove it.
Rhino, elephant.
Trophies, huh? (SNIFFS)
So that's your thing?
Well, it sure isn't for the company or the frills.
There ain't no greater exercise in boredom.
But you're right. I, uh...
I bought this baby special when I landed my bighorn permit.
Been waiting to fill that last little space on the wall.
- You get a gender exemption? - Yeah, dulled male only.
You mind if I just double-check that permit?
You know what the odds are for landing a bighorn license?
I sure do.
10 years.
10 years I've been trying to get one.
That seemed to satisfy your sheriff.
No, no, right. You know, it's more time and...
you got your family business to maintain.
A tough economy.
All right, just Ben. Meter's running.
JOHN: You see anything?
Best tracker in the county, huh?
Well, the job is easier if you're quiet.
(ROCKS FALLING)
(GUNSHOT ECHOES)
This may have been the easiest money you ever made, buddy.
(FLIES BUZZING)
No! Oh, my God.
Jesus Christ, no! No.
- Charlie. - God damn it.
Where'd he come from? Jesus Christ.
God Almighty. Oh, Christ.
Is he dead?
Oh, God Almighty.
- Did you know him? - Yeah, my whole life.
Okay. Okay.
- We need to take him to town. - What?
- We need to take him to town, all right? - All right, here.
All right, I'll... I'll stay with him.
- Jesus. - All right.
- Stay there. - Oh, Jesus Christ.
Shit.
(DIALING)
Hey,
listen, I'm in a shitstorm here, all right? It might jeopardize the deal,
so listen up.
I pay you for options, all right? So give me one!
Look, just close the goddamn deal, all right?
Don't say anything about this...
and I'll fix it.
(GUNSHOT ECHOES)
(CLANGS)
What's going on?
Ben, the situation is, uh... more complicated than you think.
See, my competition, they'll destroy me if they find out about this.
I employ 862 people. This is not only about me.
This is about them and their families.
Well, are they still gonna keep their jobs if you sell the company to the Chinese?
Let me ask you a question.
What will the law think when they find two different bullets in the same body?
They might think whoever shot this man didn't do it accidentally.
'Cause you sure can't shoot a man accidentally twice.
What did you do?
Huh?
I mean, you can't frame me for this.
I mean, there'll be an investigation. You know that.
Nobody cares about this man. Nobody's gonna miss him.
But you bring this body back
and they put it on me,
they can put it on you.
50-50, Ben. Do you like those odds?
Let's, uh... let's look at this another way.
Suppose that I put a call in that university.
You know, grease the wheels and I get you admitted.
I could provide a full ride all four years.
- You could be with Laina. - Just stop. Come on, you're insane.
Let's just say you major in finance.
So maybe I got a position waiting for you.
Starting salary, $300,000.
Enough to buy a nice house,
pay for diapers.
You could start a life together.
At some point you might have to relocate to Beijing.
Ben, that's a future.
It's a future you can't even imagine right now,
especially with one of your bullets lodged in old Charlie.
So we got a deal?
That's a good choice, Ben.
Now your life, it's never going to be the same.
Should we say something?
I mean, you know, was he religious?
What?
Was he religious?
- Hmm? - No.
- I'm gonna get some more water. - Okay.
(COCKS GUN)
Step away from the car.
Get away from the goddamn car! God damn it, what is that?
Drop it.
Drop it!
Huh.
What, you push your button, huh,
the cavalry comes running? Is that the size of it?
We had a deal.
And where I come from, a deal is a deal. We shook hands, God damn it.
- You little shit. - Okay! Okay! Okay!
Boy, did you blow this.
What are you gonna do?
- Take off your clothes. - What?
Take your clothes off.
- You heard me all right. - Okay.
Come on, let's go.
Come on, you're not gonna kill me.
Okay! Okay! Okay! Okay!
Okay.
- Now, I suggest you do as I say. - All right!
Shoes and your socks. Shoes and socks! Let's go!
Come on, this is stupid. Just think about what you're doing.
Oh, I have. No, no, I have, Ben. I'm a fast thinker, you know?
Something was different about you when you and I woke up.
You know, you were kind of angry, upset,
couldn't stop talking about your little girlfriend.
- What? - How she left you, betrayed you.
- Let's go, shoes and socks. - All right, all right.
- Okay. - You were really nervous, Ben.
Really nervous.
- Then you shot Charlie. - What?
We fought a little bit, you took my rifle. I ran.
All right, now your pants.
You can keep your Jockeys on, you know. Keep that dignity.
You know, I got back to the truck,
hightailed it back to town.
How long is it to the highway, Ben? 40, 50 miles, you think?
And like you said, it's gonna be 120 by noon, isn't it?
Come on, all right?
You're right, it was an accident, all right? I saw that.
I saw it, all right? But this will be murder.
No, no, no, no. No, I'm not killing you, Ben.
I'm just gonna watch you kind of, you know, wander around for a while.
You think you can really do that?
You just watch me.
Let's go.
Oh, come on! This is stupid!
(PANTING)
242.
Okay.
Sure, Ben. Follow the power lines.
- It's only a hundred miles. - (FLIES BUZZING)
(MUMBLING) 277. 277.
- (SCREECHING) - 277.
27...
253.
(BIRDS SCREECHING)
(MUMBLING) 27... 277. 277.
That's 277. 277.
277. 277.
(PHONE RINGING)
(SPEAKS CHINESE)
Yeah, how you doing, Phillips? How are negotiations going?
You have dumplings with him tonight?
(PANTING)
All right, so what else?
That leaves us, uh...
Hang on.
(COUGHS)
Hey, let me call you back in 15 minutes.
(COUGHS)
Son of a bitch.
(ENGINE STARTS)
(ENGINE ROARING)
(GRUNTING)
(EXHALES) (ENGINE SHUTS OFF)
(BEN PANTING)
(COUGHING)
(DISTANT MUSIC PLAYING)
(MUSIC PLAYING LOUDER)
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
(COUGHING)
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
(COUGHING)
(PANTING)
(MUFFLED GROAN)
Charlie, I'm so sorry.
He won't get away with it.
(MUSIC STOPS)
I don't think Charlie was all there, Ben.
(THUDS)
Hope to see you on the other side, Ben.
(SCREAMING)
(COUGHING)
Okay, Ben. Congratulations.
You didn't bury yourself alive.
(LAUGHING)
What the hell are you laughing about?
You just screwed yourself. (COUGHING)
- You can't cover up an explosion. - I didn't do anything.
I ran, you shot Charlie twice. You destroyed everything he owned.
This is very disturbing behavior.
I don't think the sheriff is gonna understand this, Ben.
Empty your pockets.
No, no, no. You... you keep Charlie's pants on.
It's good for your psychotic profile.
But let's get rid of the size 10s.
Let's go, Ben.
Miles to go before you sleep.
(TRUCK APPROACHING)
Now, Ben, you know that's not fair.
You get your ass out of there
or I'm gonna come down there and shoot you.
(GUNSHOT ECHOES)
All right, Ben, I'm coming down.
You are one smart son of a bitch.
(PANTING)
(GUNSHOT)
(CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING)
(RATTLING)
(MUSIC STOPS) (FEEDBACK SQUEALS)
Look at that sun, Ben. It really likes you.
(MUSIC RESUMES)
(MUSIC STOPS)
- It loves you, Ben. - (MUSIC RESUMES)
(GASPING)
(CAR DOOR OPENS)
(GUNSHOT ECHOES)
LAINA: Ben.
I got something in the mail.
Thick or thin envelope?
I start in August.
You're coming with me, right?
(ENGINE STARTS)
JOHN: All right.
Uh-huh.
Yeah, the situation here is resolved. How is everything going at your end? Hmm?
That's excellent. Why don't you close that deal?
So when do we sign?
8:00 AM my time tomorrow.
Call me so I can talk to our new Chinese friends.
No, I'm gonna personally thank anyone, you know, who's willing to buy me out for...
$120 million.
Son of a bitch.
God damn you!
Why don't you just die? Jesus Christ.
Why don't you ever die? Jesus Christ.
(GUNSHOT ECHOES)
Just die, you piece of shit.
(GUNSHOT ECHOES)
(GROANS)
(GUNSHOT ECHOES)
(ENGINE STARTS)
No!
(GASPING)
Where's the water?
Where's the water?!
Come on, Ben. There's no way out.
You can't fool me this time.
(BEEPS)
(ECHOING) You getting cold yet, Ben?
(BEN SHIVERING)
(WATER DRIPPING)
(ROCKS FALLING)
(BEEPS)
(GUNSHOT)
(COYOTE HOWLING)
(ZIPPER UNZIPS)
(SIGHS, URINATING)
(ENGINE STARTS)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(ENGINE ROARS)
(ENGINE REVVING)
(ENGINE SHUTS OFF)
Fool me once...
shame on you.
Fool me twice...
I kill you!
Happy birthday, Ben.
You want to blow out the candle?
Run, Benny, run!
(LAUGHS) (COUGHS)
(LAUGHING)
(GUNSHOT)
(GROANS)
(HORN BLARING)
(FLY BUZZING)
(GROANS)
Your word against mine.
I wonder who they'll believe.
- Well, I guess we'll find out. - (PHONE RINGING)
- You know anyone in China? - (RINGING CONTINUES)
$1 million.
Cash.
PIN number is 1932...
(PHONE CONTINUES RINGING)
You little prick.
He shot Charlie.
I've got the body in the car.
I believe I have the right to one phone call.
Is there something you're not telling me, Ben?
Only about the money.
I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to hold you while I talk with him.
He's gonna lie.
I'm sure he's gonna say the same thing about you.
Yeah, but I can't pay you to believe me.
So how much did he offer you?
One million.
You're free to go.
How's it feel, Ben?
- How does what feel? - Winning. First time, hmm?
Could be your last.
(SCOFFS)
Keeping you from a hot date?
No, no, I'm just recording
how long your deputy's deprived me of my bathroom privileges.
So I can tell my lawyer.
Paul.
WOMAN: I just found a whole bunch of pictures.
JOE: "John Madec ships jobs to Asia."
JOHN'S VOICE: Look at that sun, Ben. It really likes you.
I'm not killing you, Ben. I'm just gonna watch you wander around for a while.
We had a deal. Where I come from, a deal is a deal.
We shook hands, God damn it!
That's a good choice, Ben. Now your life, it's never going to be the same.
(HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRRING)
BEN: Madec!
Madec!
Son of a bitch!
What about your roommates?
Let them listen.
You won't go back?
I love you.
(CRICKETS CHIRPING)
(DOG BARKING)
(BEEPING)
(LOCK CLATTERS)
(GUN COCKS)
(GASPS)
(PANTING)
JOHN: You thinking about me, Ben?
I've been thinking about you.
Sometimes you got to clean up your own mess.
You know, I, uh...
just hope that you enjoy your last victory.
(GUN COCKS)
(SCREAMS) (GUNSHOT)
(SHOTGUN FIRES)
(SCREAMS) (GUNSHOT)
(GROANS) (SHOTGUN FIRES)
(SHOTGUN CLATTERS)
(GUNSHOT)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
Improved By: Fidel33