ARCTIC BLUE

He sits on the couch and lays his scrimshaw and engraving

tools out on the coffee table. LeMalle helps himself in the

well-stocked larder.

LEMALLE

I say we eat, torch this fuckin'

thing, and move on.

LeMalle digs through the cupboards and comes up with a fresh

bottle of Scotch.

VIKING BOB

Go easy.

LEMALLE

Cool out. I ain't about to get

blasted.

CUT TO:

132 EXT. THE TURTLE - LATER THAT NIGHT

Flashlight in hand, gloriously drunk, LeMalle stumbles

outside. He crosses to the jeep to grab a box of Twinkies

and, as long as he's at it, take a leak in a snowbank.

Bleary-eyed, he notices the damage to the utility

compartment inflicted by the bear.

He walks to it, stepping over the bear scat. He marvels at

the size and depth of the clawmarks.

(CONTINUED)

132 CONTINUED:

LEMALLE

Big mother musta wanted something

real bad in here...

LeMalle tries the door, but it's jammed shut. He tucks his

flashlight under his arm and gives another tug. This time

the door cracks open.

CLOSER - HIS POV

He peers through the opening and shines his flashlight in.

A pair of eyes stare back at him.

WIDER

LeMalle jumps back, startled, and pulls out his knife. He

tries the door again. It WRENCHES open...

...He's looking at his own face in one of Anne Marie's

mirrored photo reflector boards.

Letting his breath out, LeMalle pokes around the equipment

in the compartment. Ever larcenous, he pulls a few items

out, examines them, and, disinterested, leaves them in the

snow. Doing so, he comes close to uncovering Anne Marie,

who sits motionless and terrified in the back of the

compartment.

Nothing in the compartment catches LeMalle's fancy. Leaving

the door hanging open, he wanders away.

133 INT. UTILITY COMPARTMENT - THE TURTLE

After he's gone, Anne Marie reaches over and closes the

door. She can hear the trappers' (OS) CONVERSATION inside:

VIKING BOB (OS)

I know in my gut he was here.

First light, we try to get scent

of his trail.

Sighing, Anne Marie stuffs her hands inside her parka and

tries to get comfortable. It's going to be a long night.

FADE TO:

134 EXT. ENDICOTT FOOTHILLS - DAWN

Eric and Corbett wearily trudge through the woods. Corbett

has the tarp wrapped around him for extra warmth. As he

walks, he sniffs at one of Eric's Eskimo potato roots and

takes a tentative nibble.

(CONTINUED)

134 CONTINUED:

CORBETT

Used to see the natives eating

roots when I was a kid in Nome.

ERIC

Nome? I figure you'd be a

whaler, coming from there.

CORBETT

Told that's what our old man was.

Planned on going to sea, me and

Bob, 'til I read Jack London.

Started trapping when I was ten.

Mailed the furs to Sears. Eight

bucks for a skunk, three for a

muskrat.

(off Eric's look)

That was fine money.

ERIC

Killing wildlife not good enough

anymore, so you go on to bigger

and better things.

CORBETT

You got a knack for seeing things

the way you want to see them.

They walk in silence. Corbett tightens the tarp against the

cold air and looks at Eric.

CORBETT

(continuing)

Don't judge me. You're a joke,

coming here from a fucked-up

culture, telling us what to do!

ERIC

Yeah, it is fucked up -- but it's

not too late to keep that from

happening here.

CORBETT

(temper flaring)

All you do is keep folks from

working the land, living like

they're meant to. You don't

understand shit! Trappers,

hunters -- we're part of the

environment. Who's protecting

us?

(sourly)

I've seen plenty like you. So

-more-

(CONTINUED)

134 CONTINUED: (2)

CORBETT (Cont'd)

full of yourselves there's no

room for other people's way of

life.

ERIC

What do you know about people?

You live like an animal! A

savage goddamn throwback like you

belongs out here, as far away

from the rest of us as possible.

CORBETT

I'm real sad you don't approve of

me.

He shoves Eric with his handcuffed hands.

CORBETT

(continuing)

Tell me what I should do,

Professor. You got all the

answers. I shouldn't hunt?

Fine, I'll just phone up and have

a salad delivered.

Livid, Eric backs away and knocks Corbett's hands away from

him.

ERIC

Don't push me..!

CORBETT

Cowardly bastard. I'm in

handcuffs and I still scare the

piss out of you.

Eric smashes his fist into Corbett's face. Corbett reels

back, more surprised than hurt. Eric moves in, furiously

throwing punches. Corbett plows his clenched fists into

Eric's midsection, doubling him over. Gasping, Eric rams

his head into Corbett and they fall into the snow.

Despite the handcuffs, Corbett gets a few blows in. They

wrestle fiercely, and Eric ends up on top of Corbett. He's

about to throw another punch when Corbett looks up at him.

CORBETT

(continuing)

First you save my ass, now you

want to kill me. Make up your

goddamn mind.

(CONTINUED)

134 CONTINUED: (3)

Eric lowers his fist and climbs off of Corbett. Corbett

gets up and they continue on their way in sullen silence.

135 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - DAY

Sunday morning. Chimney smoke rises straight up in the

still morning air and mingles with the wisps of fog hanging

above the Devil's Cauldron valley.

A scratchy RECORDING of a HYMN ("We Will Gather at the

River") plays through a PA system, ECHOING forlornly off the

hills. The PEOPLE of Devil's Cauldron walk through the new

snow to the center of the settlement. Some, older Women

mostly, head for the dance hall, where the HYMN originates.

136 INT. DANCE HALL

The Women SING along with the HYMN. They face a shelf

holding the PA, a rusty TV and record player. And, in front

of the shelf, an unmanned pulpit.

137 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON

The Men, including Neff, split off from their mates and go

into the Maqi.

138 INT. MAQI

Neff joins some other Men sweating on benches in the

primitive steam bath. Kenai sits closest to the fire. His

thick glasses are steamed up, but he finally looks warm.

NEFF

Wilder's missing church services;

you believe it?

KENAI

I just as soon he stay gone.

Fool could've got us all killed,

arresting Ben Corbett here in

town.

139 EXT. FOOTHILLS ABOVE DEVIL'S CAULDRON - DAY

Exhausted, Corbett and Eric climb across the last set of

foothills before the Devil's Cauldron valley. The town

comes into view below them; faintly the MUSIC carries from

below. Corbett looks at Eric and breaks the silence:

CORBETT

What makes you so sure my boys

won't be waiting for us?

(CONTINUED)

139 CONTINUED:

ERIC

They think you're in Fairbanks.

If not, they still won't find you

before the plane comes tomorrow.

CORBETT

Don't bet on it.

ERIC

I already have.

CORBETT

You don't know how true that is.

Eric sweeps the snow from between two rocks and sits down.

ERIC

We'll wait here until nightfall.

No fire, no tarp.

Corbett sits next to him. After a long moment:

CORBETT

Didn't mean it, you being a

coward. You're a lot of things,

but chickenshit isn't one of

them.

ERIC

Maybe...maybe not. I'll tell you

what scares me -- stumbling

through life, like an ordinary

jerk. That's why I want to work

on the front lines, where what I

do means something.

(beat)

Soon as I got here, I realized my

job was bullshit. Oil company

propaganda. I was ready to

leave, then I thought screw it,

I'll outsmart them, do the work

anyway.

(beat)

I don't know anymore. Maybe I am

fooling myself. That's what I'm

afraid of most of all.

CORBETT

Hell, I still get a knot in my

gut every season, wondering how

much longer I can go on. No

'Home for Retired Trappers' that

-more-

(CONTINUED)

139 CONTINUED: (2)

CORBETT (Cont'd)

I ever saw. We're like Eskimos

-- get too old to be useful,

we're left on the ice to die.

The men listen to the faint MUSIC echoing through the silent

foothills.

CORBETT

(continuing; softly)

My wife used to go to chapel on

Sundays. See her friends, 'cause

I was away so much.

(beat)

Should've been home that day.

She'd be getting dressed right

about now...

Eric glances over as a look of utter desolation crosses

Corbett's face.

140 EXT. HAUL ROAD - THE TURTLE - DAY

The trappers file out the front door.

VIKING BOB

My guess is he's loose and

heading for Chukfoktulik. He'll

need supplies; that's the closest

settlement without a lawman.

LeMalle carries his booty with him. Viking Bob looks at him

disapprovingly as he puts the big Remington rifle in the

jeep.

LEMALLE

I ain't gonna leave a seven-

hundred-dollar Remington behind.

VIKING BOB

(exasperated)

What you gonna do with it? Large

bore's for shit on small game.

LEMALLE

Not in the right hands it ain't.

To demonstrate, he rapid-fires several SHOTS from the hip,

taking the radio antenna off the roof of the Turtle,

shattering panes of glass in an accurate succession, and

blasting the door latch off the utility compartment.

(CONTINUED)

140 CONTINUED:

Pleased, LeMalle slams back the bolt, ejecting a spent

shell. He glances curiously at the door of the utility

compartment and starts toward it.

LEMALLE

(continuing)

Thought that door was open last

night...

VIKING BOB

Quit fucking around. Get in.

LeMalle climbs into the back of the jeep. With Viking Bob

driving, they pull away.

141 EXT. TRAPPERS' JEEP - (MOVING SHOT)

Grinning maliciously, LeMalle hangs the Remington out the

window as they retreat. Taking careful aim, he SHOOTS.

142 EXT. THE TURTLE

LeMalle's bullet hits the metal fuel tank of the generator.

The kerosene fumes EXPLODE, splattering BURNING KEROSENE on

the rear module of the Turtle.

The trappers don't slow down to enjoy the show. Viking Bob

hurries on to more important business.

143 INT. UTILITY COMPARTMENT - THE TURTLE

As soon as the SOUND of the jeep fades away, Anne Marie

clambers out of the utility compartment. Haggard and numb

with cold, she helplessly watches as the fire ravenously

devours the rear module. Shielding her face from the

flames, Anne Marie reaches under the accordion cover between

the modules. With great effort, she unbolts the coupling

bracket.

144 INT. DIESEL RIG - THE TURTLE

Anne Marie STARTS the engine, SLAMS it into gear, and

lurches the front module away from the burning rear module.

She shuts the motor off and, trying to hold back the tears,

watches the rear module BURNING.

DISSOLVE TO:

145 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - NIGHT

Bone weary, Eric and Corbett walk toward town, staying on

the outskirts to avoid being seen. They look at one another

-- this moment seemed impossible not very long ago. No one

seems to notice as they limp into Wilder's cabin.

146 INT. WILDER'S CABIN

It's dark. Eric locks Corbett up in the holding cell, not

noticing that Corbett seems almost pleased to be there. He

blocks the windows, pumps up the pressure on the white gas

lantern and heads back outside again.

147 INT. NEFF'S HOUSE

Neff pries himself from his MTV to answer a KNOCK at the

door. Eric hobbles in. Neff notes Eric's weatherbeaten

condition.

NEFF

You don't mind me saying, Mr.

Desmond, you look like hell.

ERIC

Have you heard anything from the

girl staying with me, Anne Marie?

NEFF

Not a damn thing. What's going

on? Mr. Meyerling was here, all

steamed up, looking for you.

ERIC

Look, Neff, I've got Ben Corbett

with me --

NEFF

-- Here?! Where's Wilder?

ERIC

Back at my place... he, uh, broke

his leg.

NEFF

If Corbett's men find out --

ERIC

-- I'm putting him on the plane

to Fairbanks, eleven tomorrow.

NEFF