The Manchurian Candidate Page #2

8/18/03 6.

19

MARCO:

Shaw! Sniper with an RPG!

EXT. HUMMER - CONTINUOUS

DON’T STOP!

19

20

-- Marco is firing before his feet touch the ground.

NIGHT VISION GOGGLES: THE DESERT 20

21

Rocket Launcher man does a face-plant in the sand.

THE BRADLEY -- its rear door HEAVES OPEN and our guys spill

out, coughing, hacking, guns ready.

21

22 THE HUMMER - SAME TIME -- careens suddenly away, exposing a

surprised Marco -- Raymond has lost control, fishtails into

a deep trough -- the Hummer lurches onto its side, engineracing -- wheels spinning uselessly in air -- stalling --

MARCO:

Oh sh*t, Shaw --

22

23 ANOTHER ENEMY WITH A ROCKET LAUNCHER -- slides around an

overturned trailer and FIRES:

23

24 OMITTED 24

25 THE ROCKET hits the Bradley Fighting Vehicle at a slant into

its exposed belly, and the truck EXPLODES -- Marco’s team

scattering, pressing themselves into the sand, covering

their heads --

25

A BOY’S VOICE

(amplified)

Were you scared?

THICK DARK SMOKE momentarily blankets the road. Silence.

26 FLASH FORWARD: A YOUNG BOY SCOUT - DAY 26

waiting for an answer, stares earnestly upward at:

FLASH FORWARD:
MAJOR BEN MARCO - DAY

behind a podium, in his crisp dress uniform.

self:
older, tired. Lost for a moment.

His current

MARCO:

Scared?

(long beat)

You don’t really have time to be scared.

Uneasy rustling of an o.s. audience. Somebody coughs.

air-conditioner KICKS IN, rumbling, becoming --

An

8/18/03 7.

27 EXT. THE KUWAITI HIGHWAY - NIGHT - MARCO 27

raises his head. SEES:

-- the Bradley, in flames.

-- the Hummer, on its side in the ditch, headlights aglow --

-- shadows of enemy soldiers, retreating across the dunes.

-- MILITARY HELICOPTERS materializing out of the smoke and

darkness ... circling ... NO SOUND --

MARCO (V.O.)

I couldn’t hear anything, as I was

temporarily deaf from the explosion of

the Bradley ...

-- SOLDIERS WITH GAS MASKS lean out of the open doors of the

helicopters and drop GAS CANISTERS down on Marco’s team.

IN SLOWING MOTION:

28 MARCO’S SQUAD -- the effect of the gas is immediate: Mavole

collapses in his tracks. Melvin points a gun skyward and

FIRES a burst that goes harmlessly wide of a helicopter.

Then he falls on his back. HEAVY, LUMINOUS, YELLOW-ORANGE

VAPOR swirls across the battle --

28

WITH MARCO -- his shirt pulled up over his mouth and nose,

he wheels to get away from the drifting gas, feet unsteady.

Grabs a dazed Bobby Baker by the collar --

MARCO:

I got your back, Baker. I got ...

-- and tries to pull him to safety ... knees buckling ... he

looks up:

29 MARCO’S P.O.V. - THE HUMMER -- is no longer stalled on its

side in the ditch, but improbably is righted again, back on

four wheels and attacking. A vision of Raymond behind the

machine gun, firing at the advancing enemy --

29

WITH MARCO -- trying to process this. Coughing. Fading.

30 OMITTED 30

31 FLASH FORWARD: MAJOR BEN MARCO 31

Behind the podium. Takes a sip of water, then:

MARCO:

-- and with complete disregard for his

own life and safety, Sgt. Shaw single-

handedly engaged an entire company of the

enemy --

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