Alien: Resurrection

ELGYN

All right.

They turn left, entering

INT. CHAMBER – CONTINUOUS

It leads to the holding cells. The room is big, a railing at one end looking over another chamber two flights down.

A shut door separates the chamber from the cells.

ELGYN

Can you get that one open?

It comes from the rafters, dropping down on Elgyn in a heartbeat. He barely has time to scream before it shoots its tongue through the back of his skull.

Hillard has time. She SCREAMS as her lover's brains come out his mouth.

The beast leaps at the group, scattering them like bowling pins as it claws into one of the guards. Everybody else is scrambling for cover.

St Just tries to escape by running past the beast – its tail lashes out, tangling his feet and tripping him up, his head smashing against a pipe.

Another guard hits it with the burner – it shrieks and lands on him. Johner shoots at it, but is far too panicked to hit it.

Call has backed to the far wall – she desperately works the controls to open the door.

It starts to rise.

CALL

Christie! Hillard! Come on!

The door rises fully. Ripley stands behind it.

Call starts back, not sure what the woman will do.

Ripley surveys the scene.

The Alien, burrowing its head into the belly of the guard, stops. Looks up.

Everyone watches as the two creatures sense each other. The alien hisses, rears back.

Ripley looks away, contemplative. We see a gamut of emotions cross her face, but her posture passive, sacrificial. She does not move.

Everyone watches, too afraid to breathe.

The alien LUNGES at her, leaping across the room in two bounds. It's on her – and she SPINS, GPABBING IT, and HURLS IT AWAY.

It lands in a tangle but is up again in a microsecond, jumps at her, knocks her back into the room, on her, its claws digging into her skin, piston tongue at her face, inches away.

She locks an arm around its slick, long head and pulls back we hear its tendons strain, snap.

CALL

(to a guard)

Shoot it! Shoot them both!

She grabs his gun and BURNS them both. Two less-than-human SCREAMS fill the room as they briefly disentangle, thrown apart.

The beast recovers first, dodging the next blast and going for Ripley again.

Ripley, on her back, reaches behind her, grabs a table leg and with inhuman strength brings the table down on the monster's head.

She dives at it as it comes out from under...

Call shoots as Ripley hits the alien, they're both fried as Ripley's momentum sends them over a railing and they FALL TWENTY FEET – the Alien lands with a spine snapping crunch, Ripley only slightly better.

A few crew members rush to look over the railing. Christie starts down the spiral staircase to that level.

JOHNER

Where are you going?

The creature rolls back onto Ripley, grabbing her with its dying strength. Her face is rigid with pain and anger as she holds it off... its jaws open, dripping shaking...

The tongue SHOOTS OUT and Ripley GRABS IT. HOLDS IT.

A scream wells up in her throat. A totally animal killshriek that she SCREAMS, victorious, as she RIPS THE ALIEN'S TONGUE OUT OF ITS FACE.

She stands, bellows another warrior cry. The crew has gathered near. They watch her, awed, wary. Ripley walks slowly up to them – up to Call. Ripley looks a tad pissed.

Call tenses, maybe wishing she hadn't shot Ripley as well.

Ripley takes Call's hand, puts the tongue in it, walks on.

Call looks at the dripping souvenir. The pincers at the end still twitching.

CHRISTIE

What the FUCK is going on here?

RANE

What was that thing? Are there more of that thing?

JOHNER

(to Call)

Make a hell of a necklace...

ANGLE: HILLARD

On the upper level, kneeling by Elgyn's body. No tears, but terribly quiet.

HILLARD

What do we do?

CHRISTIE

Same thing we were doing. We get the fuck.

RANE

What if there's more? Let's stay here and let the army guys deal. Someone will come... I mean, where are the fucking army guys?

St Just is very calmly looking up at the rafters, guns drawn

CHRISTIE

Doctor. You know what that thing is?

WREN

I do.

CHRISTIE

And there's others. How many?

The doctor looks around, almost guiltily.

WREN

Thirty.

JOHNER

Thirty! We are fucked in our pink bottoms if there's thirty of those things.

RIPLEY

There'll be more.

Everyone looks around at her. She is squatting in the corner facing away from them.

RIPLEY

They'll breed. In a few hours there'll be twice that number.

(she stands, approaches them)

So who do I have to fuck to get off this boat?

CHRISTIE

You bought your ticket when you killed that thing. Welcome aboard.

CALL

Are you fucking crazy? She doesn't care if we...

CHRISTIE

(fiercely)

You got no authority here, Call! Now secure it!

It's the first time Christie has raised his voice, and it has the desired effect.

After a silent moment, Call starts again softly.

CALL

Christie, she's not human. Wren cloned her because she was carrying an alien in her. She could turn –

JOHNER

Nobody cares about your opinion, you bitch, you fucking mole –

CALL

She'll turn on us! Just like that!

CHRISTIE

I don't give a syphilitic fuck whether you people can get along or not. If we've got a wish to live then we work together, and that includes bug-lady.

CALL

You can't trust her.

CHRISTIE

I don't trust anyone.

CUT TO:

INT. CHAMBER / CELLBLOCK – A BIT LATER

The group is still in the adjoining chamber, but looking here into the cellblock where Ripley had been.

DiStephano and St Just come first, guns ready, looking about them.

They are followed by Christie and Wren.

WREN

There's a console in the guards, station. We can punch up a diagnostic of the ship and plan a route. To your ship.

CHRISTIE

That likes me fine.

He signals for the others to follow, everyone moving cautiously.

ANGLE: HILLARD

Gently lays her coat over Elgyn's face. Johner looks down a moment.

JOHNER

Via con Dios, man.

Hillard stands. Call puts a hand on her shoulder but Hillard moves away, a distrustful look on her face.

Ripley, bringing up the rear, watches the whole group with a sort of fascinated detachment.

Call looks back at her. Ripley smiles, coldly.

ANGLE: IN THE CELLBLOCK

The group makes their way slowly, quietly. They approach a bank of elevators, but Wren points down an adjoining doorway. They are about to go there when the elevator door lights up, indicating arrival.

The group backs up, spreads out. Those who can find cover take it, guns drawn.

The elevator doors open. It is too dark inside to see:

Suddenly sparks fly from the broken overhead in the elevator and a figure appears in the light.

Everyone jolts, about to fire, before they realize it is Vriess, who sits in his chair, a shotgun in each hand, eyes wide, twitchier than they.

JOHNER

Oh, fuck...

CALL

Vriess!

VRIESS

(mock casual)

Hey, whatcha guys doing? Hey, Annalee.

CHRISTIE

Thought you were toast for certain.

VRIESS

You've seen that fucking thing?

WREN

(suspiciously)

Where were you?

VRIESS

I was down by – what do you mean? I was in maintenance, checking out your oxidation systems.

JOHNER

Doc's got a bug up his ass 'cause Call's a mole and he thinks we're a conspiracy.

VRIESS

(looking at Call)

She's a what?

JOHNER

A mole. A fucking spy.

Vriess looks hit harder by that information than anyone.

CHRISTIE

We got'a mission here, people. Let's keep moving.

They do.

CUT TO:

INT. GUARDS, STATION – MOMENTS LATER

ANGLE: THE CONSOLE

A hologram of the ship appears above the screen. It looks a solid as the ship itself, except that parts of it occasional break themselves down to show interiors.

The group looks it over. Parts of the ship are simply not there, the sections around those holes red. Wren points them out.

WREN

We've had hull breach by the lifeboats, here on level five, and down – Jesus, right by the engine room. We're very lucky.

ST JUST

(sarcastically)

Lucky we.

CHRISTIE

What about the Betty? Our ship.

WREN

The dock seems to be intact.

CHRISTIE

Then we head for it.

JOHNER

Can we track those fucking things?

WREN

No.

JOHNER

We could get to the Betty and they could be all over it!

RANE

Are you toting a better fucking idea?

WREN

All of the activity seems'to have been in the aft-sector, by the barracks.

There's no reason to suppose they'd move

RIPLEY

They won't.

Everybody looks at her.

RIPLEY

They're breeding. They've got new bodies to work on. They'll stay close. If they send anybody out, it'll be here. Where the... meat is.

CALL

'The meat'. Jesus.

ST JUST

They're breeding. How long does that take?

RIPLEY

Hours.

WREN

Or less. The process has accelerated, something to do with the cloned cells.

CHRISTIE

Faster we get from here to there, the better.

ST JUST

With all the devils of hell in between.

JOHNER

Well, if we want to make decent time I say we ditch the cripple.

(to Vriess)

No offense.

VRIESS

(giving him the finger)

None taken.

HILLARD

Nobody's left behind, Johner. Not even you.

Her voice is quiet, mourning still thick in it. Nobody backtalks her.

CHRISTIE

So what's our route?

WREN

I'm trying to figure it. We can cut through the labs, but we're blocked on both sides here, I'm not sure.

DISTEPHMO

Sir? There is the lift.

WREN

Show me.

DiStephano works the console and the hologram splits, the route he's indicating revealed.

DISTEPHMO

The lifts. They run straight from the top of the ship down to engineering. No stops, but if we can get in the shaft, there's a maintenance access tunnel here...

(points to the center of the shaft)

... that runs above level one deck. Take us right to the dock.

CHRISTIE

Sounds reasonable.

DISTEPHANO

I don't have the code for the access tunnel door.

WREN

I can override.

DISTEPHMO

(indicating the route)

Then we head through the labs, then down to the kitchen. To the bottom of the shaft. Up, through the tunnel, and onto the ship. Home free.

ANGLE: VRIESS

Is unloading additional ammo from inside his chair. He toss one of his shotguns to Hillard.

VRIESS

They never check the chair...

He pulls out a grenade launcher. It's so compact it's almost cute, cradled one handed like an Uzi.

VRIESS

Call.

She looks around and he tosses it to her. The gesture is not accompanied by any show of warmth.

VRIESS

Try not to shoot your foot off.

WREN

You people should know –

ST JUST

We won't shoot at the windows, Doc.

WREN

No. The aliens, they bleed molecular acid.

CHRISTIE

That's right, I saw that.

VRIESS

So did I.

JOHNER

We can't shoot them? Fuck that, I'm shooting them.

WREN

This is a big vessel, and for the most part we should be okay. But if we get anywhere near the outer hull and start strafing them...

He indicates the hologram, the sections of the ship missing. Everyone gets it.

CHISTIE

If we're clear then let's get on it. We'll go by twos –

RIPLEY

We're moving.

CHRISTIE

What?

RIPLEY

The ship is moving. 1 can feel it.

RANE

I don't feel shit – what, do you mean they're piloting this fucking thing?

VRIESS

This ship has stealthrun, even if we were moving there's no way she could feel it .

CALL

She's right.

Call is working the computer now.

CALL

The ship's been going since the attack.

WREN

It's uh, it's standard, I think.

DISTEPHANO

That's right. If the ship takes on any serious damage it autopilots back to homebase.

CALL

(to Wren, pissed)

You were planning to let us know this?

WREN

I forgot.

HILLARD

What is homebase?

WREN

Earth.

CALL

Oh, God. Oh, you bastard...

JOHNER

Earth? I'm not going to that fucking slum.

CALL

If those things get to Earth, it'll be...

RIPLEY

(not very concerned)

The end.

ST JUST

That's not our problem.

CALL

We've got to blow the ship.

CHRISTIE

We don't have to do anything till we get off it. How long till we get there?

CALL

Three hours. Almost.

CHRISTIE

Then that's what we got. Let's move.

CALL

Don't you understand what this means?

CHRISTIE

I understand my hide. And I like it on me. Let's go.

(to Ripley)

What are you called, Ripley? You mind taking point?

She moves to the head of the line, and they start.

CUT TO:

INT. LABS – LATER

As they progress. Everyone with a gun has it at the ready. Ripley is a few yards in front.

She stops, sniffs. Listens.

RIPLEY

Clear.

Johner moves up next to her.

JOHNER

You've come up against these things before?