ARCTIC BLUE

(CONTINUED)

95 CONTINUED:

ERIC

It'll be interesting, trying to

build a fire without any wood.

CORBETT

Welcome to the environment, Mr.

Ecology. Out here, one mistake

is all you get.

Determined and dour, Eric pushes on.

CORBETT

(continuing)

Why in hell you care enough about

me to die taking me in?

ERIC

I don't plan on dying.

It's all academic. The sheer magnitude of the surroundings

makes them feel they're the only people in the world.

DISSOLVE TO:

96 EXT. ENDICOTT MOUNTAINS - DUSK

The sun drops behind the mountains. A wind whips up,

chilling the men through their clothing. Eric tries not to

shiver. He spies a small rock formation with a granite

elbow protruding from it, making an enclosed triangle of

solid rock.

ERIC

We'll stop here, dig out a snow

shelter.

CORBETT

Snow shelter. Okay. You dig.

I'll have a little sit-down.

Corbett sits on his haunches and smiles while Eric digs near

the rocks. Although he knows Corbett is testing his every

move, Eric refuses to let his patronizing air get to him.

CORBETT

(continuing)

Even in the drifts, this snow's

too powdery to make a shelter.

When you're done jerking around,

reach down the back of my coat.

Eric approaches him suspiciously. He puts his hand down

through Corbett's collar. Something is stowed inside a

homemade flap in the lining of his coat. Eric pulls out a

(CONTINUED)

96 CONTINUED:

folded nylon tarp with twine threaded through corner

eyeholes. He shakes the eight by eight orange tarp open...

CUT TO:

97 EXT. NYLON SHELTER - EVENING

Eric and Corbett have stretched the tarp out tent-style next

to the granite rock formation, making a minimal but

functional refuge from the cold night.

98 INT. NYLON SHELTER

The men huddle inside the tarp. Eric keeps a wary eye on

Corbett -- at all times he treats him like a rattlesnake.

Eric unwraps his ankle and rubs it. It's swollen to the

size of a softball.

CORBETT

Still quite a hike to Devil's

Cauldron.

(beat)

Days. A long stretch to go

without sleep, my friend. You

can hide behind that pistol for

now, but take your eyes off me

long enough to sneeze --

ERIC

-- Turn around.

While poking the .357 in Corbett's ribs, Eric one-handedly

unlocks Corbett's right manacle, pulls his arm through the

granite elbow, then locks it back up again. He's learning.

FADE TO:

99 EXT. HAUL ROAD - DREAM - (AS IN SCENE 3)

Eric is hurrying along the pipeline in his business suit,

following the predator's paw prints in the snow. He peers

ahead and his prey becomes visible. But it isn't a wolf,

it's Corbett. His hands and face are covered in blood.

END DREAM

100 EXT. ENDICOTT MOUNTAINS - DAWN

The sun peeks over the mountain tops, drenching them with

light and color.

101 INT. NYLON SHELTER

The light hits Eric's eyes. He bolts awake from a fitful

sleep. Corbett sits, already awake, looking like he'd

uproot the rock to which he's chained if he could. He waits

for an opportunity -- any opportunity -- with the patience

of a vulture.

CUT TO:

102 EXT. ENDICOTT MOUNTAINS - SMALL VALLEY - DAY

Eric and Corbett trudge up to the bank of a frozen stream

bisecting their path. It's simple -- to continue, they have

to cross it. Corbett takes in the scenery, in no particular

hurry. Frustrated, but making dead sure he's always got the

drop on Corbett, Eric puts a tentative foot on the ice.

CORBETT

Ice is too thin -- you can see

the water moving underneath.

ERIC

We're not sitting here 'til

November. There's a cargo plane

coming to Devil's Cauldron in

four days, and I'm putting you on

it.

CORBETT

We get wet, we freeze to death in

a couple hours.

ERIC

I've been on ice like this when I

was a kid, skating. Spread your

weight, keep moving. Go on.

Corbett is not about to be outdone in the guts department by

someone with a Master's Degree.

CORBETT

(gestures 'you first')

Be my guest.

ERIC

(points .357)

I'm right behind you.

Frowning, Corbett tentatively steps onto the ice and inches

across the fifteen feet to the other bank.

NEW ANGLE

He turns and, indeed, Eric is right behind him.

(CONTINUED)

102 CONTINUED:

CORBETT

Wait 'til I'm across!

Eric doesn't want to be too far from his prisoner. He keeps

coming. The ice GROANS and HISSES under their weight.

Corbett is three feet from solid ground. He drops to his

knees, then stomach, and rolls like a log the rest of the

way.

Eric splays out on the ice and crabwalks across. The ice

makes an ominous CRACKING and water begins to seep through

air holes.

Standing, Corbett weighs his chances of bolting from Eric.

Eric crawls doubletime. He makes it onto solid ground just

as the ice under him breaks off in a big, thin, clear plate.

CLOSER

Eric sits on some rocks. Corbett glares it him.

CORBETT

Most dangerous thing in the

world: A regular Joe, in over his

head. You trying to prove how

tough you are for me, or for

yourself?

ERIC

It wasn't my idea to crash the

plane.

CORBETT

Let's camp. There's grayling

under this ice. I'll snare some

for dinner.

ERIC

(standing)

We've got another two hours of

daylight.

CORBETT

Pushing it is flat wrong. All

you prove is your ignorance about

breaking trail.

Eric is not convinced. Grumbling, Corbett gets up and

takes the lead as they continue southward.

103 INT. THE TURTLE - DARKROOM - DAY

Trying to keep busy, Anne Marie develops some prints in the

darkroom she's made from the front bathroom. She glances at

her watch and sighs, her mind on Eric's overdue return.

104 INT. THE TURTLE - FRONT MODULE

Anne Marie comes out of the darkroom and hangs the prints up

to dry. Outside, (OS), a car HORN blares a couple of times.

Grinning, she runs to the door.

105 EXT. / INT. THE TURTLE

Meyerling's Dodge truck pulls up. Anne Marie comes outside.

Her smile wilts when she sees it's not Eric. As Meyerling

climbs the embankment to the Turtle, he glances at Wilder's

snowmobile parked alongside the Turtle.

MEYERLING

I've been trying to raise you on

the shortwave for two days.

He pushes past Anne Marie and goes into the Turtle.

ANNE MARIE

Have you talked to Eric?

MEYERLING

I have not, but I very much want

to. What do you know about the

trouble in Devil's Cauldron?

ANNE MARIE

I was hoping you had some news --

MEYERLING

-- Get this straight: I'm the

District Supervisor. Whatever

you do reflects on me. It wasn't

my idea to bring you people up

here, but I'm stuck with you.

You are absolutely not to involve

yourself in any local disputes.

Whichever side you take, you

alienate the other. Mr. Corbett

is quite well-known in this

region. People admire him --

ANNE MARIE

-- Corbett's a killer.

(CONTINUED)

105 CONTINUED:

MEYERLING

I don't care if Ben Corbett makes

meatloaf out of nuns and babies,

he's not your concern.

Understood?

Anne Marie just glares at him. Meyerling examines the

damaged shortwave.

MEYERLING

(continuing)

What happened here?

ANNE MARIE

The radio's on the fritz.

MEYERLING

Where'd you say Eric is?

ANNE MARIE

Somewhere along the pipeline.

MEYERLING

What about that hotheaded

marshal, Sam Wilder? I heard he

was in the middle of this mess.

ANNE MARIE

Sam? We haven't seen him.

MEYERLING

Really. I thought maybe that was

his snowmobile outside.

(beat)

By the way -- your truck also 'on

the fritz?'

ANNE MARIE

(blanching)

Why?

MEYERLING

It's out by the pumping station,

shot full of holes.

Noting Anne Marie's distressed reaction to this news, he

crosses to the door.

MEYERLING

(continuing)

Still nothing to tell me?

(no reply)

Suit yourself.

106 EXT. ENDICOTT MOUNTAINS - DAY

Eric limps further down from the mountains. Corbett keeps

pace in front of him and his magnum. As their altitude

decreases, there is ever thicker vegetation.

Their tracks in the snow stretch up behind them into the

distance. The magnificence and grandeur of the surroundings

cannot be overstated. Picture the most rustic, overwhelming

wilderness imaginable, and then make it ten times larger.

NEW ANGLE - LATER

The men's way is once again interrupted, this time by a

sheer granite drop. The steep decline would be tough to

negotiate with mountaineering equipment and proper footwear.

Corbett peers over the edge and shakes his head.

CORBETT

Have to backtrack, find another

way down.

ERIC

Forget it. It would take days.

CORBETT

(assessing the drop)

Going to be a bit of a challenge

with handcuffs on.

Eric realizes he's right. After some deliberation, Eric

cautiously approaches him. With the .357 cocked and ready,

he undoes one of the cuffs, leaving them hanging from

Corbett's wrist. He then unthreads the nylon twine from

Corbett's tarp.

ANGLE - GRANITE SHEER

Eric and Corbett are tied, belt to belt, with the nylon

rope. Corbett inches down first, feet spread for maximum

footing, gloveless hands grasping at anything.