StarWatcher's Stories

World Cup Snippet

2026-06-22T23:53:10Z

“I just wish we had time to go see it in person. Vancouver is close enough to travel.”

“Sandburg, be grateful we can get it on the tube. And there’s something to be said for watching in the comfort of our own home -- without the noise and press of the crowd.

“Yeah, you’re right. And we’re not paying ten bucks a beer.” Blair glanced at the ice-filled cooler sitting beside the couch, loaded with a dozen bottles of beer. “But we could have left the beer in the fridge.”

“Hell, no. As soon as one of us stands and heads toward the kitchen, that’s when one of the players makes an amazing move and we miss it. Replay just isn’t the same.”

Blair snorted. “Man, if we look up ‘anal’ in the dictionary, your picture is right there. Be nice to know if it’s a ‘sentinel’ thing or a ‘Jim’ thing.”

“It’s a sensible thing. Is the popcorn ready? Two minutes till the match starts.”

“Yep.” Blair plopped onto the couch and set the giant bowl of popcorn, liberally laced with butter and parmesan cheese, between him and Jim. “Who’s up today?”

“Canada versus Switzerland.”

“Cool; both great teams. Hey, Jim? Another advantage to watching at home; we don’t have to stand for the anthems.”

“You got it, Chief.” Both men leaned back into the cushions, kicked off their shoes, and rested their feet on the coffee table. Jim handed Blair a beer, then each grabbed a handful of popcorn as they settled in to catcall -- and enjoy -- the match.

The End

Author's Notes

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World Cup Snippet author's notes

2026-06-22T23:47:49Z

During a recent chat, participants were invited to do 20-minute ‘creative sprints’. If we had no ideas, our moderator suggested ‘World Cup’ as a prompt.

I have absolutely no interest in team-ball sports. European football (soccer), American football, baseball, basketball, volleyball, tennis... I completely ignore all of them. Thus, my knowledge of the World Cup is minimal. I know what kind of ball they use and that they play a ‘match’ instead of a ‘game’. I know you have to get the ball into the net to score. That’s it; not much to build a story on, LOL! I was planning to just ignore the ‘creative’ time, but Blair started talking... Then for the second sprint, my brain demanded cover art. <shrug> Apparently I can occasionally rise to a challenge.

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Sentinel Author-Lists: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H

2025-04-06T23:29:17Z

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Ami: Site-search at AO3 for Ami, and Ami at Squidge. Also: I have 2 that are not at AO3. I don't have the URLs; comment or email to ask for “Forbidden Pleasures” or “Keeping in Shape.”

Amphigorym at AO3

Amy: Site search at AO3, Amy in ‘any field’, My_Mongoose_archivist in ‘Creator’.

Amy Delaina (Crimson Idealist) (Dragon Singer): via Wayback: http://dragonsinger.ink-and-quill.com/ (May 2013)

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Andi C (Andi Charleville) (Andrea Charleville) (LarabeeLady): Site-search at AO3 for Andi C. “LarabeeLady” links to TS x HL crosses. One fic, “Comeuppance”: via Wayback: http://tslibrary.skeeter63.org/stories/andicharleville5.htm (Feb ‘09)

Androgene: via Wayback: http://www.angelfire.com/space/noir13/index_files/nonanime.htm (Feb 08)

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AngieinStL at AO3

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Anne Murdoch at FFN, and via Wayback: http://trickster.org/hargrove/ (Apr ‘04)

Anne Myrtech (Tobyfan) at AO3

Anne Roquemore: via Wayback: http://www.wolfpanther.com/ (2020)

AnneAck: via Wayback: http://fandom.ljsmith.ca/AnneACK/sentinel.shtml (Dec ‘03)

AnneZo: One at AO3 http://archiveofourown.org/works/1514225 One via Wayback: http://annezo.net/fiction/QUIXOTE.html (2009), and two via Wayback: http://trickster.org/annezo/other.html (June ‘03)

AnnieB (Annie) (Annie Booker) at AO3 and Annie at Squidge

AnObviousFact at AO3

Anomally: via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/5307/archive/Anomally1.htm (May ’03) Find other stories by changing Anomally1 to Anomally2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Anonymeek: via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Stage/1999/ (June ‘04)

Antimony Hayes (Mollyamory) (Meredith Lynne) at AO3 Two: via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com:80/SoHo/Cafe/4807/Overflow/ethereal.htm (Mar ‘00), and http://trickster.org:80/hargrove/whistling.htm (Mar ‘00)

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Arduinna Finn at AO3

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Arianna at AO3

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Arnaa at AO3

Arnie (Dimity Blue) at AO3 (uses both pseuds), and via Wayback: http://www.susans-stories.co.uk/stories_by_arnie.htm (2009), and http://www.wolfpanther.com (2020)

Arrow (Esteefee) (Molo) at AO3 (uses 3 pseuds), and at LJ.

Artos (Wyvern) : via Wayback: http://www.wyvern-fic.co.uk/index.html (Dec ‘08; scroll down to Sentinel)

Ashlee (Norcumi): via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com/aislinn0325/fan.html (Oct ‘09 Norcumi)

Ashtareth at AO3

AsteropeWrites (Elizabeth Clarke): Site-search at AO3 for Elizabeth Clarke, and via Wayback: http://www.angelfire.com/me3/rivendell/index.html (2012), and http://www.geocities.com/meclarke_99/ (Sep ‘09)

Astolat (Lady of Shallot) (Shallot) at AO3 (uses ladyofshallot and astolat pseuds)

Athena (Dana): Site-search at AO3 for Athena, and via Wayback: http://fateordestiny.com/ (2007)

AthenaAstrea at AO3

Atsuyuri Sama at AO3

Aubrey Robin: via Wayback: http://www.aithine.org/feral/ (Oct ‘05; name-search on gen page)

Audra Rose at AO3

Audrey Lynne: via Wayback: http://wolfpupsden.skeeter63.org/audreylynne.shtml (2020)

Auntie Hill: via Wayback: http://www.skeeter63.org/tslibrary/authors/auth-auntiehill.htm (Feb ‘03), and http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/5307/archive/auntie.htm (2003; change to /auntie2 and /auntie3 for other stories)

Autumn Skies (NiteLight): via Wayback: http://members.aol.com/Autumnskies1/ (May ‘08)

AwlenRose at AO3

Axianna: via Wayback: permanentpsycosis.iwarp.com (Jun 07)

Axiom_of_Stripe (Duplication_of_Stripe) (CMShaw) at AO3 (uses ‘axiom’ and ‘duplication’ pseuds)

Azar (Julie Jekel) at AO3

-B- -B- -B-

B A W (Bruce Allen Wilson): Site-search at AO3 for BAW, and via Wayback: http://www.susans-stories.co.uk/contents.htm (2012, slash) and http://www.sentinel2000.cwc.net/contents.htm (Oct ‘01)

B C W: Site-search at AO3 for BCW and via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/3393/BCW_Home_Page.html (Jan ‘09) or http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/3393/The_Sentinel_Universe.html (Jan ‘09)

B L: Site-search at AO3 for BL

B L Tomlinson: Site-search at AO3 for B.L. Tomlinson

BA4ever100 at Squidge

Banbury at AO3

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BarbG (TroutKitty) at AO3

Barbara Nice-Miller (AgtSpooky) at AO3

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Basingstoke at AO3

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Batagur (E Batagur) (SoulSistah) at AO3 and via Wayback: http://www.soulsistahslash.com (Dec ‘18)

Batty (Helen) via Wayback at: http://batty.tvheaven.com/batgen.htm (Mar ’05) and http://batty.tvheaven.com/batslash.htm (Mar ’05)

Bayleaf (Alanna) at AO3

BeachKid (Binz) at AO3, and “Silence Under Sound” at LJ

Beap-Beap: via Wayback: http://www.852prospect.org/archive/index/authorsB.html (Oct ‘08)

Becky (and Robyn): via Wayback: http://www.kelesa.net/fanfic.htm (2024)

Beez: via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Balcony/4737/senfic.html (Oct ‘02)

Beledibabe (Shihaya Black) at AO3

Bella (Stella) at AO3 (Uses Stella pseud)

Bellaromanza at AO3 is also Belladonna at Squidge

Belle Shadow: Site-search at AO3 for belle shadow

Beltane: Site-search at AO3 for Beltane

Belynda: Site-search at AO3 for Belynda

Besterette: via Wayback: http://www.skeeter63.org/thebrowsery/besterette/ (May ‘05)

Beth Green: via Wayback: http://jenr.net/ASP/ (2003) (Note: this site is very cranky. I have 5 saved fics; comment or email if you can’t get them.)

Beth Manz: contact tsarchived at yahoo.com for the fics

Beth Lang at AO3

Betsanne at AO3

Bette Bourgeois: Site-search at AO3 for Bette Bourgeois

Betty Plotnick (Hth): via Wayback: https://waxjism.org/betty/ts.html (2022)

Blair Kennedy: via Wayback: http://members.tripod.com/blair_k/ (Oct ‘10) or http://members.tripod.com/~Blair_K/gen.htm (May ‘05) or http://members.tripod.com/~Blair_K/cascade.htm (Apr ‘05)

BlairBear: Site-search at AO3 for blairbear

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Blankety Blank (Doll Revolution) at AO3

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Blaze (Jagwolf): Site-search at AO3 for Blaze, and for Jagwolf, and via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com/jagwolfs_den/ficindex2.html (Dec ‘02)

Blixa: via Wayback: http://wolfpupsden.skeeter63.org/blixa.shtml (Sep ‘11)

Blue Champagne: Site-search at AO3 for Blue Champagne

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Bluerose (Grovehove) at AO3. And Site-search at AO3 for Bluerose

Bluesky: Site-search at AO3 for Bluesky, and Bluesky at Squidge, and via Wayback: http://slashnexus.com (June ‘09; search multiple pages) and http://usa.internations.net/contents/sentinel/slasha.html (Aug ‘16)

Bluebrocade at AO3

Blue Moon: via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com:80/eveverfrost/bluemoon.html (Feb ‘08)

Bluewolf458 at AO3

Bone: Site-search at AO3 for Bone (with 852_Prospect_Archivist in ‘Creator’ field), and via Wayback: http://mrks.org/~bone/sentinel/index.html (2010)

Bonnie: via Wayback: http://www.wolfpanther.com/ (2020)

Bookyvo (Voracity) at AO3, and via Wayback: http://voracity.tripod.com/senindex.html (Dec ‘01)

Boyd: Site-search at AO3 for Boyd

Brak: Site-search at AO3 for Brak

Brandi aka The Panther at Squidge. One unfinished story via Wayback: https://www.squidge.org/~peja/sentinel/canyouhearme.htm (Aug ‘16)

Brandy: Site-search at AO3 for Brandy

Brate at AO3, and via Wayback: http://stade.homestead.com/brate.html (Jun ‘15)

Bratwoman_40 at Squidge

Brenda Antrim (Glacis) (Emily Brunson) at AO3, and via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Atrium/1628/sentinel.html (Feb ‘02) and http://www.castleskeep.net/Sentinel_fiction.htm (Jun ‘16)

Brenda Bailey: via Wayback: http://www.katspace.net/works/brenda_b/ (June ‘03)

Brenda Knodle: via Wayback at http://www.wolfpanther.com/ (2020)

Brianna (Suze777) (Shamaness) at AO3, and via Wayback: http://members.aol.com/planethl/fanfic.html (2004)

Brighid at AO3

Broken Promise Productions at Squidge

Brook Henson: via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com/brooks_basement/ (Mar ‘06), and http://www.geocities.com/brooks_basement/index2.html (Jan ‘04)

Brumeier at AO3

BrynnH87 at AO3, and BrynnH87 at FFN

Bubbleslayer (was Rowan) at AO3, and 1 story http://www.lasgalen.net/sen10th/fiction.htm (Dec ‘08)

Buffy: Site-search at AO3 for Buffy

BuffyAngel68 at AO3, and Site-search at Squidge for author BuffyAngel68

Bumpkin (Marnie) at AO3

Bylinda: via Wayback: https://www.squidge.org/~peja/sentinel/slasha.htm (2008, search down page)

Byme (Saka1) at AO3

Byrdie (MadByrd) at AO3

-C- -C- -C-

C D Stewart: via Wayback: http://www.cd.stewart.btinternet.co.uk/The_Sentinel_Fiction.htm (Apr ‘08), (Stories open in Word)

C B Treks at AO3

C J Hayes (CJHayes) (Jinx) (jinx37kat) at AO3 (uses all 3 pseuds)

C L Carne: Site-search at AO3 for clcarne

C L Finn: Site-search at AO3 for C.L. Finn

C M Shaw (Axiom_of_Stripe) (Duplication_of_Stripe) at AO3 (uses ‘axiom’ and ‘duplication’ pseuds)

C M sprite79 at AO3

C R Chancy (Vathara) at AO3, and via Wayback: http://www.skeeter63.org:80/tslibrary/authors/auth-crchancy.htm (Feb ‘03), and Vathara at FFN

C W Post: Site-search at AO3 for C. W. Post

Caillech: via Wayback: http://www.arkwolf.com/caillechsite/index.html (2010)

Caliadragon at AO3

Calic0cat at AO3, and via Wayback: http://www.calic0cat.net/ (Apr ‘10; Click on ‘Categories’)

Calico: One fic at AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/792307 and one fic: via Wayback: http://yearningvoid.net/julad/wrongend.html (Feb ‘20)

Calicofold (Olwyn) at AO3

Calie: via Wayback: http://calie.freeservers.com/ (Feb ‘08)

Calileane at AO3

CalistaEcho at AO3, and via Wayback: http://www.susans-stories.co.uk:80/calista_echo_page.htm (Aug ‘09), or http://www.susans-stories.co.uk/slashcontents.htm (2008)

Callisto at AO3, and Site-search at AO3 for Callisto (use fhsa_archivist in ‘Creator field)

Candied Yam: via Wayback: http://www.templeofthesentinels.com/ (Sep ‘06)

Candy_A (Candy Apple) at AO3, and on her original site https://www.squidge.org/~candy_a/

Caorann at AO3

Cara Chapel: via Wayback: http://www.squidge.org/~pumpkin/cara/caraindex.html (Aug ‘02), and http://caralil.slashdom.com/caraindex.html (Apr ’04)

CariKube: via Wayback: http://members.optusnet.com.au/~carikube/tsfiction.htm (Feb ‘04)

Carlito: Site-search at AO3 for Carlito

Caro Dee at AO3, and via Wayback: http://wolfpupsden.skeeter63.org/carole.shtml (2021)

CaroleJ126 (Carole) at AO3

Carolina Moon: via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com/eveverfrost/indexcm.html (Feb ‘08)

CarolROI at AO3

Carolyn: Site-search at AO3 for Carolyn, and via Wayback: http://wolfpupsden.skeeter63.org/carolyn.shtml (2021)

CarolynClaire: via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com/cc_carolynclaire/ (Jan ‘07)

Cassandra Alvarez: via Wayback:
http://cassialvarez.tripod.com/ (’04) and http://cassialvarez.tripod.com/id52.htm (’04)

Cassie Morgan at Squidge

Castalie (Alex) (Mouse) at AO3, and Site-search at AO3 for Castalie (use fhsa_archivist in ‘Creator’ field), and via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com/de_solaris/TheSentinel.html (Jul ‘09)

Catclaw at AO3, and Catclaw at Squidge

CatMoran (Cat) at AO3 and Site-search at AO3 for CatMoran, and Catmoran at Squidge

CatsAreCool (TrekCat) (Rachel500) at AO3 (uses all pseuds)

Cattraine at AO3 (TS fusion with H50)

Ceares at AO3

Ceci: via Wayback: http://zytor.com/~ceci/sentinel/tsff.htm (Oct ‘10)

Celestial C Site-search at AO3 for Celestial Cat, and via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/4778/SentinelFanFicCorner.htm (June ‘04)

Celli at AO3

Celticmuse5 at AO3

Cereta (Lucy Gillam) at AO3, and via Wayback: http://trickster.org/radiofree/lucy/lucy.htm (Nov ‘04), and http://trickster.org/anyroad/lucy/lucy.htm (Mar ‘05)

Ceridwin at FFN

Cerise: Site-search at AO3 for Cerise

Cernicalo at AO3

Ceryndip: via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com/ceryndip/cerynsnt.htm (Feb ‘09)

Changingmyusername (Squidgie) (Walter H) at Squidge (uses Changing and Squidgie pseuds)

Chaomath: Site-search at AO3 for Chaomath

Chapin: Site search at AO3 for Chapin, (put My_Mongoose_archivist in ‘Creator’ field)

Charlemagne: Site-search at AO3 for Charlemagne

Charli / Charli C: via Wayback: http://www.skeeter63.org/tslibrary/authors/auth-charli.htm (Feb ‘03)

Charlotte Frost (Southy) at AO3 and : via Wayback at http://charlottefrostfanfic.com/tssouthy.htm (Sep ‘16), and http://charlottefrostfanfic.com/tscharlottefrost.htm (Mar ‘17)

Charon: via Wayback: http://www.wolfpanther.com/ (2002)

Chasca: Site-search at AO3 for Chasca

Chaz: Site-search at AO3 for Chaz, and via Wayback: http://hoosiergirl.homepage.com/ (Feb ‘01)

Cherokee Girl: via Wayback: https://www.squidge.org/~peja/sentinel/slasha.htm (Mar ‘16)

Cheryl R: via Wayback: http://webs.lanset.com/jlseils068/cherylpage.htm (May ‘09)

Cheyenne: via Wayback: http://www.idol-pursuits.tv/chey.html (Nov ‘11)

Chopec Dar (Dar Scally): Site-search at Squidge for author Dar Hutson Scally, and via Wayback: http://www.homestead.com/chopecdar/ (Aug ‘07)

Chopec2248 aka Wolf at Squidge

Christina: via Wayback: http://geocities.com/prospectave/stories.html (Oct ‘09)

Chrys / Chryssalis at AO3, and via Wayback: http://chryssalys.tvheaven.com/ (Dec ‘11)

CiceroC via Wayback: http://www.sentinel2000.cwc.net/contents.htm (Oct ‘01) I have three more stories in Word; comment or email if you want “Making of a Guide,” “Making of a Sentinel,” or “Wash Me Clean.”

Cindy Combs: via Wayback: http://wolfpupsden.skeeter63.org/cindycombs.shtml (Mar ‘20)

Cinel Durant: Site-search at AO3 for Cinel Durant

Claire Dobbin: via Wayback: http://claired.populli.net/Sentinel%20page.htm (Apr ‘04)

Clairshadows at AO3, and 1 via Wayback: http://area52hkh.net/asc/cshadows/dwasb.php (Jun ‘10)

Claudel: Site-search at AO3 for Claudel

Clavally at AO3

Clea Saal: via Wayback: http://booksandtales.com/fanfiction/tsindex.php (2020)

CleaSugar at AO3

CLGfanfic at AO3

Cloudlb at AO3

Corbeau: Site-search at AO3 for Corbeau

Cori Lannam at AO3

Corinne: Site-search at AO3 for Corinne (with My_Mongoose_archivist in ‘Creator’ field)

Cougar’s Catnip (Aislinn) at AO3 (uses both pseuds). Also: via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com/aislinn0325/fan.html (Oct ‘03)

Creed Cascade at AO3

Crimson Idealist (Dragon Singer) (Amy Delaina): via Wayback: http://dragonsinger.ink-and-quill.com/ (2013)

Cross-Stitchery (Elaine) at AO3, and via Wayback: http://www.slashzone.org/sentinel.htm (Mar ‘03)

Crowswork: via Wayback: http://wolfpupsden.skeeter63.org/crowswork.shtml (2020)

Crystal Phoenix (Mystra99): via Wayback: http://www.susans-stories.co.uk/crystal_pheonix_page.htm (Mar ‘12), and Mystra99 at FFN

CutsyCat at AO3

Cybel at AO3

Cynara at AO3

Cynthia Selene: Site-search at AO3 for Cynthia Selene Also, I have two saved pages without source URLs. Email or comment if you want “A Taxing Time” and/or “Who Am I?”

-D- -D- -D-

D B W (Deb Wright) at AO3, and via Wayback: http://enchantedvilla.com/ff/index.php (Apr ‘12) or http://www.wingedmonkeys.com/sentinel/senfic.html (Apr ‘04)

D C Black: via Wayback: http://www.idol-pursuits.tv:80/dc.html (Sep ‘10)

D C Streets (Hellesgift) at AO3, and via Wayback: http://www.wolfpanther.com/ (2020)

D J Fraser: via Wayback: http://www.wolfpanther.com/ (2020)

D K Williams (Diana) at AO3

D L Witherspoon: via Wayback: http://www.skeeter63.org/tvlit101/senttab.htm (Apr ‘03)

Daenea: via Wayback: http://trickster.org/hargrove/ (‘Dec 04)

Dana (Athena): Site-search at AO3 for Athena, and via Wayback: http://fateordestiny.com/ (Sep ‘07)

Daenea: via Wayback: http://trickster.org/hargrove/ (Dec ‘04)

Dangermouse: Site-search at AO3 for Dangermouse. Also, Site-search at Squidge for author dangermouse. Also via Wayback: http://www.pandemonium.me.uk/dangermouse/dm.htm (2019)

DannyD: Site-search at AO3 for DannyD. Also via Wayback: http://www.dextersworld.de/genfic.htm (Feb ‘05)

Dante: Site-search at AO3 for Dante

Daphna: Site-search at AO3 for Daphna

Dar Hutson Scally (Chopec Dar): Site-search at Squidge for author Dar Hutson Scally, and via Wayback: http://www.homestead.com/chopecdar/ (Aug ‘07)

DarkAngel (Michka): Site-search at AO3 for DarkAngel, and via Wayback: http://www.angelfire.com/wa2/cascadePD/SenFic.html (Jan ’15 or ‘18)

Darklady at AO3, and Site-search at AO3 for Darklady.

Darwin’s DAMeS via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/boulevard/3992/

Dasha (Dasha_mte) at AO3 (uses both pseuds) and via Wayback: http://www.skeeter63.org/tslibrary/authors/auth-dasha.htm (Feb ‘03)

Datalore via Wayback: http://wolfpupsden.skeeter63.org/datalore.shtml (2020)

Dawn C (Cunningham) at AO3, and via Wayback: http://sentangst.tripod.com/ (July ‘19)

Dawn Pares (Pares) (Kormantic) at AO3, and via Wayback: http://www.kormantic.com/ts/sugar.html (Jul ‘11)

Dawn_twilight (Twilight) at AO3, and Twilight at Squidge, and via Wayback: http://www.skeeter63.org/tslibrary/authors/auth-twilight.htm (Feb ‘03), and via Wayback: http://www.wolfpanther.com/ (2020)

Daydreamer at Squidge, and site-search at AO3 for Daydreamer, and via Wayback: https://www.squidge.org/daydreamer/ (Mar ‘15)

Dayspring at AO3

Dazzer (Roxanne) (Julie Fortune): Site-search at AO3 for Roxanne, and via Wayback: http://www.angelfire.com/ga4/garett/senslash.htm (Dazzer and Roxanne are sisters, seem to write together. Julie Fortune is a sometime pseud for Roxanne.)

De Engi: via Wayback: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/rapterred111/DeSentinelPage.htm (Aug ‘07), and http://www.susans-stories.co.uk/de_engi_page.htm (Apr ‘09)

Deana Jamroz (Akablonded) at AO3, and via Wayback: http://www.skeeter63.org:80/tslibrary/authors/auth-deanajamroz.htm (Dec ‘02)

Deanangst at AO3

Deanna Jordan: via Wayback: http://wolfpupsden.skeeter63.org/deannajordon.shtml (2020)

Deannie at AO3

Deb: Site-search at AO3 for Deb

Debbie Bailey (Sugar) (AlleyCat) via Wayback: http://home.hiwaay.net/~alleycat/cathouse.html (June ‘00), and http://www.synomneity.net/fanfiction/index.htm (Jul ‘02), and http://www.lasgalen.net/sen10th/fiction.htm (Jul ‘07) check sentinel secrets apr 06

Debbie (Debbie T) at Squidge, and http://brothersinarmsfiction.com/debbie/tsgen.html (2020), and http://brothersinarmsfiction.com/debbie/debbietsslash.html (2020), and http://www.lasgalen.net/sen10th/fiction.htm (Jul ‘07). Links are current at LJ: https://debsfic.livejournal.com/ and at FFN: https://www.fanfiction.net/u/617474/Wildnight

Debby: via Wayback: http://www.skeeter63.org:80/tslibrary/authors/auth-debby.htm (Feb ‘03)

DebbyG: via Wayback: http://geocities.com/sable_cain/thesentinel.html (Oct ‘09)

Deborah: via Wayback: http://ronneem.tripod.com/ (Apr ’16)

Deborah Wright (DBW) at AO3, and via Wayback: http://enchantedvilla.com/ff/index.php (Apr ‘12) or http://www.wingedmonkeys.com/sentinel/senfic.html (Apr ‘04)

Debra Baschal via Wayback: http://wolfpupsden.skeeter63.org/debrabaschal.shtml (2020)

Debra Fran Baker (Mama Deb) at AO3, and via Wayback: http://www.nightroadsassoc.com/Sentinel.html (Jun ‘09)

Debra N (Nollert) at FFN

Dede via Wayback: http://www.skeeter63.org/tslibrary/authors/auth-dede.htm (Feb ‘03)

Deirdre: Site-search at AO3 for Deirdre

Delilah: via Wayback: http://brothersinarms.tvheaven.com/delilah/delilahslash.html (May ‘07) and http://www.skeeter63.org:80/tslibrary/authors/auth-delilah.htm (Feb ‘03)

Demeter: via Wayback: http://brothersinarmsfiction.com/demeter/tsgen.html (2020) and http://brothersinarmsfiction.com:80/demeter/demetertsslash.html (Apr ‘20)

Demi-X: Site-search at AO3 for Demi-X

DenimNLace: via Wayback: http://destiniesentwined.skeeter63.org/DenimNLaceGen.html (Oct ‘20)

Denise James: via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Boulevard/3992/fiction1.html (Mar ‘09)

Derora at AO3

Destina at AO3

Diana DeShaun at Squidge, and site-search at AO3 for Diana DeShaun

Diana (DK) Williams at AO3

Dianne Force: via Wayback: http://members.aol.com/dforce6786/ (Oct ‘03)

Dilanne Thomas (Gateflicka): via Wayback: http://www.jenr.net/ASP/ts/Dilanne.html (2003) This site is very cranky, but I have the stories saved from pre-Wayback days. Comment or email if you can’t get them.

Dimity Blue (Arnie) at AO3 (uses both pseuds)

DoggyJ: via Wayback: http://brothersinarmsfiction.com/DoggyJ/doggyj.html (2020). Also, I have 7 extra stories in Word. Comment or email for copies.

Dolimir (Rimilod) at AO3 (uses both pseuds)

Doll Revolution (Blankety Blank) at AO3

Dolly Llama: Site-search at AO3 for Dolly Llama

Donna Gentry (Ysone): via Wayback: http://ysone.com/ (2008)

Donna Kirking: via Wayback: http://www.skeeter63.org/tslibrary/authors/auth-donnakirking.htm (Feb ‘03)

Donna Smith: via Wayback: http://members.tripod.com/DonnaSmith_2/thesentinelmain.htm (2019)

DonnaR: Site-search at AO3 for DonnaR

DontRainOnMyBarricade at AO3

Dotty: via Wayback: http://destiniesentwined.skeeter63.org/DottyGen.html (May ‘19) and http://www.sentinel.franzis-world.net/otherfic.htm (Oct ‘02)

Dragon Singer (Amy Delaina) (Crimson Idealist): via Wayback: http://dragonsinger.ink-and-quill.com/ (May 2013)

Dragonsteamfan (Steamfan) at AO3, and at FFN

Dreamweaver (Evergreen Dreamweaver): via Wayback: http://www.ladyimmortal.org/sentinel/sentinelfanfiction.htm (2012), and at FFN

Drifter: via Wayback: http://www.skeeter63.org:80/tslibrary/authors/auth-drifter.htm (Feb ‘03)

Duointherain at AO3

Duranee: via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Coffeehouse/8590/DuraSlash.htm (Apr ‘03)

Duplication_of_Stripe (CMShaw) (Axiom_of_Stripe) at AO3 (uses ‘axiom’ and ‘duplication’ pseuds)

DustyP at AO3

-E- -E- -E-

E Batagur (Batagur) (SoulSistah) at AO3 and via Wayback: http://www.soulsistahslash.com (Dec ‘18)

E E (Elmyraemilie) at AO3

E J Katz at AO3, and via Wayback: http://members.shaw.ca/ejkatz/TSFiction.htm (Dec ‘11)

E T: Site-search at AO3 for ET

Eagle Eye: Site-search at AO3 and via Wayback: http://wolfpupsden.skeeter63.org/eagleeye.shtml (2020)

Eaglefeather: Site-search at AO3 and via Wayback: http://www.annies-world.de/eagle01.htm (Dec ‘04)

Earth2skye at AO3

Echosrevenge at AO3

Eggscentric (Sharilyn): Sharilyn at Squidge and via Wayback: http://brothersinarmsfiction.com:80/Sharilyn/sharilyntsslash.html and http://brothersinarmsfiction.com:80/Sharilyn/sharilyntsgen.html

Eighty_Sixed at AO3

Elaine (Cross-Stitchery) at AO3, and via Wayback: http://www.slashzone.org/sentinel.htm (Mar ‘03)

Elaine H: via Wayback: http://www.skeeter63.org:80/tslibrary/authors/auth-elaineh.htm (Feb ‘03)

Elaine P: via Wayback: http://www.susans-stories.co.uk/contents.htm (2008)

Elementalv at AO3

Eli Hayes: via Wayback: http://www.skeeter63.org:80/tslibrary/authors/auth-elihayes.htm (Feb ‘03)

Eliade (Anna S) at AO3

Elixia13 at AO3

Eliza Shaw at AO3

Elizabeth Bach: via Wayback: http://tigger.simplenet.com/tv-shows/sentinel/ts-fanfics/Bach-Elizabeth/ (Jan ‘99)

Elizabeth Clarke (AsteropeWrites): Site-search at AO3 for Elizabeth Clarke and via Wayback: http://www.angelfire.com/me3/rivendell/index.html (2012) and http://www.geocities.com/meclarke_99/ (Sep ‘09)

Elli (McGrath?) at FFN

Ellywinkle at her site

Elmyraemilie (EE) at AO3

Emerald (Emerald1) at AO3 and via Wayback: http://wolfpupsden.skeeter63.org/emerald.shtml (2020)

Emerald Starburst (Greenupstreet) at Squidge and site-search at AO3 for Greenupstreet, and site-search at AO3 for Emerald Starburst

Emily Brunson (Brenda Antrim) (Glacis) at AO3 and via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Atrium/1628/sentinel.html (Feb ‘02) and http://www.castleskeep.net/Sentinel_fiction.htm (Jun ‘16)

Emma Woodhouse: Site-search at AO3 for Emma Woodhouse

EnbyClark33 at AO3

Englishrose2011 (Susan Foster) at AO3

EnigmaticBlue at AO3

Enola Jones (Jenny Tork) at AO3 and via Wayback: http://www.angelfire.com:80/de/ejones/senfic.html (Feb ‘20)

Epistrophia at AO3

Eriker: Site-search at AO3 for Eriker and via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Coffeehouse/8590/ErikerSlash.html (Apr ‘01)

Erin Rose (Amarin_Rose) at AO3 and Amarin-Rose at FFN

Erin_Riwen at AO3

Erynn: Site-search at AO3 for Erynn

Escargoat: Site-search at AO3 for Escargoat

Esteefee (Arrow) (Molo) at AO3 (uses 3 pseuds) and at LJ.

Eugenie Chua: Site-search at AO3 for Eugenie Chua

Evergreen Dreamweaver (Dreamweaver): via Wayback: http://www.ladyimmortal.org/sentinel/sentinelfanfiction.htm (2012) and at FFN

Excellency at AO3

Exclamation at AO3

-F- -F- -F-

FannishLiss at AO3

Faradheia at AO3

Felicia: via Wayback: http://www.ameritech.net/users/geofelicia/sentinelinverse.html

FelineFeral at AO3

Fern (Sarren) at AO3

Fidus Amicus: via Wayback: http://wolfpupsden.skeeter63.org/fidusamicus.shtml

Fingers: via Wayback: http://susans-stories.co.uk/fingers.htm

Fire Frog: Site search at AO3 for Fire Frog, with My_Mongoose_archivist as ‘Creator’ and via Wayback: http://www.wn.com.au/firefrog/SentinelSlash.htm

FirefliesInLove (MagickFaye) at AO3

Firefly (KandaceK) at AO3

Firefox: via Wayback: http://www.skeeter63.org:80/tslibrary/authors/auth-firefox.htm (Feb ’03)

FireHorse: Site search at AO3 for FireHorse

Firestorm67 at Squidge

FlitterFlutterfly at AO3

FluffNutter at Squidge

Fluffy Rabbit: via Wayback: http://www.moodyblusr.us/schmidt/ (Feb ‘05)

Fluterbev (Weggsley) at AO3

FoodMoon at AO3

Fortuita James: Site search at AO3 for Fortuita James

Fox at Squidge

Fran Cross: via Wayback: http://www.skeeter63.org:80/tslibrary/authors/auth-francross.htm (Dec ’02)

Francesca (Speranza) at AO3

Franscats at AO3

Franzi: via Wayback: http://www.sentinel.franzis-world.net/fanfiction.htm (Aug ’10)

Freak99usa: Site search at AO3 for freak99usa

Freya-Kendra and via Wayback: http://www.thewhyofme.netherweb.com/shaman-sense/index.htm (Dec ’04)

FyreByrd at AO3 and Site search at AO3 for Fyrebyrd

Fyresong (Fyre) at FFN and via Wayback: http://www.skeeter63.org:80/tslibrary/authors/auth-fyresong.htm (Feb ’03)

-G- -G- -G-

Gabielle Bessey (Spice): via Wayback: http://home.hiwaay.net/~gdbessey/ (Aug ’00) and Site search at AO3 for Gabrielle Bessey

Gadfly: via Wayback: http://tslibrary.skeeter63.org/authors/auth-gadfly.htm (2010 or 2018)

Galina: Site search at AO3 for Galina and via Wayback: http://www.ravenswing.com/~sky/Galina/galina.htm

Gardnerhill (Jane Mailander) at AO3

Garrideb at AO3

Gateflicka (Dilanne Thomas): via Wayback: http://www.jenr.net/ASP/ts/Dilanne.html (2003) This site is very cranky, but I have the stories saved from pre-Wayback days. Comment or email if you can’t get them.

Gayeld (Gayle Smith) at AO3 and one story via Wayback: http://members.tripod.com/~Gayeld/Random.html

Gayle Cox-Moffett: via Wayback at: http://www.slashnexus.com/TheSentinel/index.html There are 8 pages to check, so for your convenience, the direct URLs for Gayle are: http://slashnexus.com/TheSentinel/20001220_CasualFriday.html and http://slashnexus.com/TheSentinel/20000705_JustASnippet.html and http://slashnexus.com/TheSentinel/20000628_Proposition22.html and
http://www.slashnexus.com/TheSentinel/20000819_RookieSix-shooter.html and http://www.slashnexus.com/TheSentinel/20001130_Tease.html

Geli at AO3

Gemini: via Wayback: http://stade.homestead.com/gemini.html

Gena F (GenaGirl) at AO3

Geoffrey at AO3

GeoFin: Site search at AO3 for GeoFin

Gil Hale: via Wayback: http://www.skeeter63.org/thebrowsery/gilhale/ts-toc.html

Gillian Middleton: Site search at AO3 for Gillian Middleton, and via Wayback: http://www.lexicon.net/gillianm/ (Mar ‘18) and http://www.squidge.org/~righ/middleton/index.html (Dec ‘02) and BJ Sandburg series: http://www.corplink.com.au/~gillianm/Slash_Page.html (July ‘18)

GillyP (Panik) at AO3

Gina Jones: Site search at Squidge for Gina Jones

GinaLin: Site search at AO3 for GinaLin and via Wayback: http://www.psinergy.com/dryerspace/foundtreasures/gina/gina.html (Mar ‘05 - 2 stories)

Glacis (Brenda Antrim) (Emily Brunson) at AO3, and via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Atrium/1628/sentinel.html (Feb ‘02) and http://www.castleskeep.net/Sentinel_fiction.htm (Jun ‘16)

GlasD at AO3

Glo: via Wayback: http://tslibrary.skeeter63.org/authors/auth-glo.htm (Jan ’08)

Gloria Lancaster: Site search at AO3 for Gloria Lancaster

Gnine at AO3

GothPhyle at AO3

GoWestGirl: site search at AO3 for gowestgirl

Grace Scott: via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com/gracescot/ (Oct ’09)

Graywulf: via Wayback: http://fandom.ljsmith.ca/catseye/graywulf/graywulf.shtml (June ’24)

Green Woman at AO3

Greenupstreet (Emerald Starburst) at Squidge and site-search at AO3 for Greenupstreet, and site-search at AO3 for Emerald Starburst

Greer: Site search at AO3 for Greer

Gremlin at AO3

Grey (Grey 853) at AO3 (uses both pseuds)

Grey Bard: via Wayback: http://www.wolfpanther.com/ (2010)

Greymowser

Griffin / Gryphon at AO3 (Yes, I’ve confirmed that they’re the same.)

GritKitty at AO3 and via Wayback: http://bifictionalbedlam.net/guests/gritkitty.htm (2005)

Grits inMisery at AO3

Grovehove Bluerose) at AO3. And Site-search at AO3 for Bluerose

Gryphon / Griffin at AO3 or via Wayback at: https://www.squidge.org/~griffin/fiction.html (2009) (Yes, I’ve confirmed that they’re the same.)

-H- -H- -H-

H G Doghouse at AO3

H H Consortium: Site search at AO3 for HH Consortium

Hawk Soaring at AO3, or via Wayback at: http://brothersinarmsfiction.com/hawk/tsslash.html (June ’20)

Hazel via Wayback at: http://www.btinternet.com/~hazel69/index.html (Feb ’03)

Heather Thomburg: Site search at AO3 for Heather Thornburg

Heeroluva at AO3

Heidi: Site search at AO3 for Heidi, and one story via Wayback: http://www.geocities.com:80/wolfshy2/Wolfshy/Heidi/Tdbcy.html

Helen (Batty) via Wayback at: http://batty.tvheaven.com/batgen.htm (Mar ’05) and http://batty.tvheaven.com/batslash.htm (Mar ’05)

Helena Handbasket at AO3 and one under the pseud TheSheriff: https://archiveofourown.org/works/792640

Helenish at AO3

HelenW (Wneleh) at AO3

Hellblazer: site search at AO3 for Hellblazer

Hellesgift (DC Streets) at AO3 and via Wayback: http://www.wolfpanther.com/ (2020)

Helmboy: site search at AO3 for Helmboy s

Hephaistos via Wayback at: http://skeeter63.org/thebrowsery/hephaistos/ts-toc.html (June ’02)

Hergerbabe via Wayback at: http://members.tripod.com/parlourofwonders/id30.htm (July ’05) or http://www.geocities.com/hergerbabe/ficindexslashsen.html (May ’03)

Heuradys at AO3 and via Wayback at: http://heuradys.tvheaven.com/index.html (Oct ’04)

HiddenLongings at AO3

HiddenViolet at AO3

Holly Ilex: Holly wrote Sentinel usually crossed with HL, NCIS, SG-1, or SGA. Wayback no longer recognizes the URLs. But I have all her stories save from back in the day. Comment or email to request a zipped folder of Holly’s works.

HollyLyn at AO3 and via Wayback at: http://home.earthlink.net/~wynnel/genfic/index.htm (May ’16) and http://home.earthlink.net/~wynnel/slashfic/slashfic.htm (Feb ’09)

Hth (Betty Plotnick): via Wayback: https://waxjism.org/betty/ts.html (2022)

HoniGlippe at AO3

HutchynStarsk at AO3

HYPERfocused at AO3

comments

Finding Old Fic via the Wayback Machine

2025-03-07T02:15:21Z

Finding Old Fic via the Wayback Machine

I’m sure you’ve seen folks say, “I found it in the Wayback Machine.” For a long time my reaction was -- as yours may be -- “But how?!?!?” Well, I’ve been on an old-fic treasure-hunt for several months now, and I’ve learned / taught myself some tips and tricks. Now, in my inimitable, long-winded way, I’ll try to demystify the process. (I’m a retired teacher. “Start at the bottom and proceed step by step” is baked into my genes.)

If my instructions are too simplistic -- as in, you already know the basics -- check out this tutorial at Dreamwidth by Runpunkrun. Punk has more detailed information about how to make stubborn links give up their fic, as well as several posts at Tumbler with in-depth explanations. Also, Charles Rockafellor gives us some useful info about searching for AO3 pages on Wayback, partway down this tutorial; scroll down to ‘Wayback Machine’.

EDIT: Claire Houck is another great resource. Her post gives in-depth suggestions for how to find URLs for old fics.

(By the way -- yes, you may share this post wherever you want; I intend it for the benefit of fans everywhere.)

First and foremost -- this guide is NOT about finding deleted fic from AO3. (The tutorials from Punk and Charles tackle that.) It’s about finding the fic that hasn’t been moved to AO3 or Squidgeworld, the old fic that’s tucked away in multiple small, scattered archives that were so common in the early 2000’s. Those archives disappeared when the owners were no longer able to keep them up, or when the platforms shut down -- Geocities, anyone? But many of them are still accessible via the Wayback Machine, and it is often possible to find copies of that long-lost fic.

Before tackling the Wayback Machine, check to see if the fic is available in current archives -- Archive of Our Own, or Squidgeworld, or Fanfiction.net. Many authors have moved their fic to the larger archives, and AO3, in particular, has imported fic from older, specific-fandom archives, so the stories may already be available at one of these sites. Note that authors’ names may not be linked if they haven’t ‘claimed’ their imported works, or authors may have changed their pseudonym. I have found it more effective to search by fic-title and fandom, rather than fic-title and author.

But if you’ve searched the archives and not found the fic, it’s time to put on your treasure-hunter’s cap and venture into the wilds of pre-central-archive fandom sites.

First thing you need is the Wayback Machine, more formally called the Internet Archive, open in a browser window -- https://web.archive.org/

(Your layout may be different, with the search bar in the middle of the page. I use smaller windows, which moves things around.)

Notice “Enter a URL or words related to a site’s home page.” I have never managed with ‘words related’, but if you remember a uniquely-named site, it might work.

Second, you have a fic-URL, possibly from an old rec list, or from another fan. The fan says, “Oh, that’s An Irish Blessing, by Hazel. Here’s the addy.” They give you a plain URL -- http://www.btinternet.com:80/~hazel69/fiction/blessing.html If you put that URL into a regular search engine, you get some kind of error message. When that happens, copy/paste the URL into the Wayback search bar and go from there. (Details later.)

BUT! Maybe the other fan says, “Here’s the addy for Rogue’s Sentinel Corps,” and they give you the Wayback URL that worked for them a few years ago --
http://web.archive.org/web/20030712014018/http://moodyblusr.us/rogue/sencorp.html Unfortunately, it doesn’t work when you click on it because it references only one save-point, and that point seems to have disappeared. Neither does it work if you put the whole thing in the Wayback Machine; WB doesn’t recognize its own URLs. In this case, don’t use the whole URL! Go to the second ‘http’ and delete everything to the left, so that you get -- http://moodyblusr.us/rogue/sencorp.html

Put that basic fic-URL into the Wayback search bar. You get something like this --

If you’re searching for a single story, the easiest thing is to click on the first link that reads, ‘September 10, 2004’; the story should come up. If it doesn’t, or if you’re searching for a site, or a series page, you need to dig a little.

‘Digging’ is not difficult, but can be a bit tedious. Short version -- click on a year that has one or more vertical lines in it, as above; the yellow highlight indicates that that year’s calendar view is live. Then scan down the calendar, as below, to find a workable link.

Long version -- as you scan down the calendar, there are color-coded dots. Blue means a ‘live’ link. Teal means you’ll be redirected; it sometimes (not often) works with a green time-stamp, but it’s worth trying them if there are no blue dots. Orange means dead link. Pink means ‘server error’ -- basically a dead link.

Hover your cursor over your chosen blue spot. Then click on the timestamp to open the story or site.

Here’s where you may hit tedium -- ‘live’ saves and ‘dead’ saves are not logically distributed. (I always expect live links to be in older years, and dead links to be in newer years.) You may have ‘dead’ saves in 2007 and 2008, then a ‘live’ save in 2011. The same year may show a dead link in March but a live link in November. So if you hit a ‘dead’ link, scan down every calendar in every year that has a vertical bar to find a blue -- live -- link. If you find what you want, save it! You don’t know how long that link will be good.

If you’re searching for a single story, start in earlier years. Those links seem more stable, and the story (if completed) probably didn’t change. But if you’re searching for a site or series-page, start in later years, so that you can grab all the stories possible. (We don’t know how complete the site was when WB started saving it.) However, if blue spots in a later year give you error messages, go back a year or two -- say from 2009 to 2007 -- and try again.

I’ve discovered an advantage to saving a fic-page from Wayback -- it often saves with a visible reference URL. This very convenient for sharing in fic-finder communities; you can provide the URL and let the folks who want the fic download their own copies, instead of fielding a dozen requests for an emailed copy.

There seem to be three types of saved pages. One shows the original URL at the upper left, just under the browser’s addy bar, as in the white page below. Another shows the complete Wayback URL stretched across the top of the page, as in the brown page below.

The third type of saved page doesn’t show the source; I suspect the difference is in the original site’s setup. But it’s kind of disappointing. Now that I know how useful it is to have an original URL, I make a doc for that author’s folder, then copy/paste the URLs if they don’t show in the saved pages, so I’ll always have the necessary info.

Troubleshooting Tips

NOTE: If you haven’t already read it, check out this tutorial at Dreamwidth by Runpunkrun. Punk has more detailed information about how to make stubborn links give up their fic, as well as several posts at Tumbler with in-depth explanations. Or take a look at Charles Rockafellor’s tutorial about links for AO3 addresses; scroll down to ‘Wayback Machine’.

EDIT: Claire Houck is another great resource. Her post gives in-depth suggestions for how to find URLs for old fics.

As marvelous as the Wayback Machine is, it’s kind of kludgy; somewhat frequently, the page you’re waiting for opens with an error message. Short version -- copy the URL that didn’t open, then paste it into a fresh version of Wayback (first illustration, up at the top) and take it from there. This doesn’t always work, but the success rate is high enough -- about 60% for me -- that it’s worth the attempt.

EXAMPES --

[1] At the bottom of the fic, there’s a link for ‘Return to Home Page’, which useful for finding the original site and grabbing other stories by that author. BUT! It opens to ‘Page Not Found’ or similar. Copy the URL from your browser’s address bar, paste that into a fresh version of Wayback. The Home Page often opens from the fresh input.

[2] The story has several chapters, with a link to the next at the bottom of each... but Chapter 3 gives you an error message. Examine the URLs of the chapters that opened; they’re often sequential, as in the “First Contact” illustration above. Chapter 1 URL ends in ‘/sc-1’. Chapter 2 URL ends in ‘/sc-2’. So copy Chapter 2’s URL, paste it in a fresh Wayback window, change ‘/sc-2’ to ‘/sc-3’, hit enter and see if the Chapter 3 opens.. If it doesn’t, try to grab Chapter 4 the same way. You might not get Chapter 3, but you may get the rest of the story.

[3] Sometimes you get a ‘Loading / Redirecting’ page that will take you to an error page with a useless URL for the error page --

Before the error page opens (the system takes a few seconds to grind through the process), copy the first part of the top URL shown (underlined in red). Then paste that URL into a fresh Wayback page.

I repeat: pasting a grabbed URL into a fresh version of Wayback doesn’t always work, but it’s definitely worth a try. I’ve also discovered that sometimes it works on a different day! I recently grabbed several fics that didn’t open for me two weeks ago, but opened promptly and easily when I tried again. (Except for one. There’s always one, right?) So keep a list of URLs for fics that won’t open, then try them again in a week or two.

Locating the Original Site for more Stories

Fans are dedicated. When we find one “lost story” by an author, we may want to grab all of their stories. But suppose, as sometimes happens, the only available URL is for a single story, and that page has no link to the home-page, or other site ID.

Sometimes it’s possible to reach the main site by shortening the original single-story URL.

EXAMPLE 1: I had this link to Crossed Swords by Anne, which came up easily in the Wayback Machine --
http://www.slashnexus.com/TheSentinel/20010506_CrossedSwords.html

Then I shortened the URL in hopes of finding the main Sentinel page --
http://www.slashnexus.com/TheSentinel/

That didn’t work, so I tried it without the final slash --
http://www.slashnexus.com/TheSentinel

That didn’t work, so I shortened the URL again --
http://www.slashnexus.com

Success! I reached the site, with only one story by Anne, but a nice selection of other stories by other authors.

At this point, the astute reader will notice that “http://www.SlashNexus.com” is right there at the top left of the story. *facepalm* Yeah, sometimes StarWatcher is very dense. I think I assumed it was the provider’s URL, rather than a site-link. In this case, no harm done. But learn from my mistake -- check all over the page if you’re searching for a site-link!

EXAMPLE 2: Depending on the site, such a search may not reach an author page or home page. Instead, the system reports that Wayback has not archived the addy, BUT it tells us that “This page is available on the web!” (Makes no sense to me, either. Just roll with it.) In the illustration below, I tried to get a page for AliCat’s stories at the Stargate archive, Area 52. Note the bottom red arrow, where the page offers, “Click here to search...” (Depending on how wide your browser window is, that may be above the center box instead of below.) Click that link.

With a little luck, a page opens with a list of story-links in the left column, as below. Be patient; it takes a little while to populate. Consequently, it’s more efficient to right-click on each link and open the story-page in a new window. A direct click does open the story page -- but when you go back for the next link, you have to wait for the links-list to repopulate.

Each link will (should) open to the standard Wayback grid. Since the goal is to grab a single story, clicking on the first linked date is the most efficient way to open the story page.

In this case, each story-page opened easily. BUT! Remember, if it opens to ‘Page not found’ or a similar message, copy the URL in your browser bar, then paste it into a fresh version of Wayback.

This example is a best-case scenario; all 22 linked URLs applied directly to the search -- fanfic for a specific author on a specific site. But depending on the search-string used, there may be several hundred results. Yikes! Punk has an explanation of how to handle that situation for AO3 searches, but I can’t quite figure out how to apply it to other sites. If I do, I’ll add that information. Until then, it’s either back away, or accept the tedium of scanning down each column for the fic-URLs we want.

Okay -- second verse of “That’s all I have for now.” As I said above, feel free to share wherever you think it might be useful.

Also, if you have any tips that you think I should include, add a comment and let me know. Or if I’m not clear anywhere, let me know and I’ll try to make it plainer.

Finally -- Yes, I fully intend to share all my “research” -- links to old sites in general, and links to specific stories as necessary. But that is literally hundreds of entries on the list; it’s not yet ready to be posted. When it’s ready, the list (or lists) will be accessible through this master post. I’ll add an announcement to the end of this post when the list goes live, or you can bookmark the Master Post link below and check back occasionally.

https://starwatcher-fic.dreamwidth.org/36338.html

comments

Master Post for Old Fanfic Links

2025-03-07T01:19:17Z

Authors are listed in alphabetical order; scroll down or use Ctrl-F to find a specific name. If authors use two or more pseuds, alternates are in parentheses.

If authors are current on AO3, names are linked to the site. If there are more stories else-web, that URL is plain, for ease of copy/paste to the Wayback Machine. (This is my tutorial on using Wayback.) When multiple user-names appear, with the notation (uses both pseuds), different stories may be posted under the separate pseuds; be sure to check both.

If authors have not “claimed” their user-name at AO3 or Squidgeworld, use a site-search to find their stories. Put given name in “Any Field” and ‘The Sentinel (TV)’ in “Fandom”. My notation is, “Site-search (which) for (specific name).”

I have saved every non-AO3 story I could find for all authors on this list. If you know a specific story or author you are unable to access/download, feel free to leave a comment under this post with your email, or email me directly: rusty.lilly -at- gmail.com. Please include fandom, author, and title with your request; this offer will (eventually!) go out to fandoms other than Sentinel.

These lists include authors who write crossovers -- characters in other fandoms are sentinel and guide, but Jim and Blair are part of the story. I have NOT included authors who write only fusions -- characters in other fandoms are sentinel and guide, but Jim and Blair are NOT part of the story. You can find those stories via the other fandoms.

Finally -- this is a work in progress. I will as add as many authors as I can find. But if you know of any I’ve missed, please tell me, with the relevant URLs, so I can add them to the list.

= = =

Lists have been moved to a separate page.

Sentinel Author List A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H

comments

Old Guard script: bold black names, blue descriptions Part 2

2021-08-23T03:26:44Z

[Interior of une pharmacie. Andy carries a shopping hand-basket, walks by a selection of nail-care items, indicated by the manicure advertisement over the shelf. She scans the shelves as she walks, then stops as she reaches the first-aid section. The clerk, a dark-haired woman, looks up, watches.]

[Andy bends to examine items she’s never had to use. She looks back and forth across the many possibilities, then straightens to eye the clerk with a slight frown. The clerk looks down, away from Andy.]

[Andy starts putting items in her basket almost at random, sliding three different tubes of cream or salve from the top of a shelf, a package of this, a plastic bag of that, a box of bandaids. She finishes by grabbing several chocolate bars and tossing them into the basket.]

[Andy plops the basket on the checkout counter without speaking. The clerk looks up at her (Andy is several inches taller) with a flick of her eyes, also without speaking, then opens a plastic bag to load the items as she scans them. Andy hears a police siren and turns, but it fades in the distance and she turns back toward the clerk.]

Andy: [with low-key intensity] Do you have a bathroom?

Clerk: [stares a moment] No.
[Andy looks down, mouth tightens, looks up as checkout continues]
[clerk notices Andy’s reaction, considers what she sees]
But we have a storeroom. [pauses] Do you need help?

[Andy just looks at her, seems lost and confused.]

[Storeroom. Andy has slipped her coat and shirt off her right shoulder; the wound is about two inches (5cm) long and gaping open a quarter-inch (.5cm) wide; it looks ragged and raw, and is red and inflamed.]

[Andy breathes deeply and clenches her jaw while she clutches her right coat-sleeve with her left hand as the clerk dabs the wound with a cotton ball; the medicine obviously stings. As the clerk finishes the cleaning, Andy turns to look at the wound, then quickly turns away.]

Clerk: [opens a package of steri-strips]
Stitches would be better, but... this will help.
[carefully pulls the wound closed with steri-strips]

Andy: [quietly, with tiny head-shake] You haven’t asked.

Clerk: [meets Andy’s eyes, equally quiet]
Your business is yours. You need help. What does it matter why? Today, I put this on your wound. Tomorrow... you help someone up when they fall.
[Andy closes eyes, bows head slightly]
We’re not meant to be alone.
[Andy watches her face, considering her words]
There.
[Andy looks at shoulder; strips are covered by a pad, held on by a broad adhesive patch]
This should do.

Andy: [shrugs into shirt and coat, whispers] Thank you.

[The clerk looks up, gives her a twitch of a smile, closes the medicine bottle.]

[Street scene. Andy walks slowly to the car, looking warily around as she goes. She unlocks it and gets in, then sits, remembering.]

Quynh: Andromache, help me!
[hands press down on gaping, bloody wound low on Lykon’s stomach]
Why won’t it stop?
[flash of Lykon’s face, strained, Quynh’s face, frantic]

Andromache: [face streaked with blood and dirt, panting]
This can’t be happening.

Quynh: [Quynh’s face, blood-spattered, gazing down fearfully]
Lykon! No...

Lykon: [muttering, blood slides from corner of mouth, shakes with pain]
It’s time.

Andromache: It’s impossible. [shakes head, breathes deeply]

Lykon: It... it’s time.

[Andromache stares at his face as Quynh sobs frantically and Lykon’s eyes glaze over.]

[Andy sits motionless in the car, gazing through the windshield into the darkness.]

1:13:27 minutes

[Monitor beeping. Camera pans up a blue hospital drape, over a man’s bare chest with smears of blood and cardiac sensors attached, to Joe’s face. He seems unconscious or dead.]

[Copley and Merrick are in some kind of supply and/or storage room -- shelving units, banks of drawers, etc.]

Copley: How long will the testing take?

Merrick: Until we have results we can replicate.

[Nicky is securely strapped -- arms, legs, and midsection -- to a lab bed/examination table, so that he cannot move or escape. He has smears of blood on his chest and the side of his neck, a blood--pressure cuff on his right arm, an oximeter on his right index finger, and cardiac sensors on his chest. Kozak is pushing a long thin probe into the right side of his abdomen. He grits his teeth and grunts in pain, neck tense as he strains against the straps, but he doesn’t cry out. The speed of the beeping increases.]

Kozak: [dispassionately] Do you feel the wound trying to close?

[Camera pans past medical tray with chunks of bloody tissue laying on sterile cloths, as well as capped pill-bottle-sized containers with other samples surrounded by liquid.]

Copley: [arms crossed as he watches Merrick across the room]
You don’t need them for that. You’ve got the samples, blood, tissue, DNA.

Merrick: [strolls toward Copley, unconcerned]
Well you know the concept of proprietary data -- and they’re the product.
[Copley stares, frowning]
They go in the vault, they stay there under lock and key.

Copley: For... ever? [shakes head as frown increases]

Merrick: [firmly, sure of his rightness]
We can’t have them strolling back out into the world, into my competitors’ laps. If this takes years -- maybe decades --
[intensely, more fervently]
what does it matter to them? If we can unlock their genetic code, the world will be begging us for the key.

Kozak: [pulls probe from Nicky with chunk of tissue at the end, watches hole close up, runs hand over his skin]
Huh! Remarkable.

Nicky: [breathes heavily, opens eyes to look at her; voice quiet, slightly hoarse]
You will not be able to give him what he wants.

Kozak: You think I go too far?
[picks up syringe]
That I am unethical?
[uses it to push chunk of Nicky’s liver (?) off probe, into empty vial]

Nicky: I would say immoral.

Kozak: [closes vial, looks at him]
I believe this can change the world.

Nicky: [quietly] A fine justification. I’ve heard it so many times before.

[Nicky stares levelly at her as she studies him. She huffs with a small, self-satisfied smile, turns and walks away.]

[Joe revives with an indrawn gasp; Nicky turns his head to him as Joe tries and fails to dislodge his restraints; he grunts and groans with the effort. Joe subsides, breathing heavily, turns his head to his right, to see Nicky on the bed next to his. As soon as he does, his eyes widen as he registers the doctor standing near Nicky, but she’s already moving. Joe lifts his head to watch her walk past them out of the room, then drops his head on the pillow with a sigh.]

Nicky: [watches Joe, smiling] As much as I like watching you sleep, I’m glad you’re awake.

Joe: [turns to Nicky, purses lips in thought] Bedhead?

Nicky: [laughs] Nicely tousled.

[Joe tries to shift position, but the restraints don’t allow even that easement. He sighs.]

Nicky: [staring at the ceiling] Do you know, I was thinking about Malta.

Joe: [turns to Nicky] What time in Malta?
[Nicky turns to Joe, simply gazes with a small smile. a beat, then Joe grins.]
Oh, that time in Malta.
[grin widens as he laughs, shaking head]

Nicky: [smile fades, stares upward, speaks quietly]
Dovremmo ritornarci. (We should go back there.)

Joe: [softly, watching Nicky as his smile also fades]
Sarebbe bello. (That would be nice.)

[Kozak walks back into the room.]

1:15:37 minutes

[In the mine, the fire is burning low; Booker and Nile are asleep on opposite sides of the fire. Nile twitches. Flash of the Afghani man Nile shot crying out and falling. Nile startles awake, breathing heavily; she sits halfway up and looks around to see Booker still asleep. Nile sits all the way up, deliberately breathes deeply and slowly, trying to calm herself.]

[Outside, very early, shortly after dawn. Andy is propped (sitting/leaning) against the hood of the car, very relaxed, one ankle crossed over the other. She’s eating one of the chocolate bars and looking at something in her right hand. She looks up as she hears a rustle of brush; Nile comes out of the mine, breathing deeply. Nile has put on her jacket, and she exits quickly. Her stance suggests that she wants to run, but Nile stops when she sees Andy, sighs, and turns to her.]

Andy: [looks down at hand, turns it to show Nile cellphone with picture on it]
Your mom and brother?

Nile: You have my phone!
[hurries forward to grab it, but stops, uncertain of Andy’s response]

[Andy holds out the phone. Nile takes it quickly, then sits/leans on the hood to Andy’s left, staring at the picture. Her mom is leaning into her brother’s right shoulder, apparently half a head shorter than her son. Both are wearing glasses and smiling widely. The time shows ‘06:31 Sunday, April 21’.]

Andy: Where’s your father?

Nile: [turns to her, speaks quietly]
Killed in action when I was eleven.
[Andy nods. Nile unlocks phone, scrolls through pictures, stops]
Here...
[moves closer, shows Andy a handsome man posing in Marine dress blues]
My mom, she was drowning after he died. South Side of Chicago, a million different ways we coulda went left. [nods gently] She fought for us. Never backed down.
[Andy raises her eyes to watch Nile’s face]
[Nile has a small smile as she glances at Andy]
Never let us back down either.

Andy: [quietly approving] You come from warriors.

Nile: [looks at her, accepting] Yeah. I do.

Andy: [nods, looks away, gazes outward]
I can’t remember what my mother looked like. Or my sisters.
[small headshake, slight huff]
None of them.

Nile: [has watched Andy, sympathetic, now looks away]
Time steals it all away, I guess.

Andy: [small huff as she bows head, thoughtful]
It’s not what time steals...
[Nile turns to stare]
it’s what it leaves behind.
[Andy gazes outward]
Things you can’t forget. I gave up searching for her.
[eyes close in pain]
I made Quynh a promise and I broke it.
[slight head-shake as mouth firms, nods slightly]
I’m getting Joe and Nicky back.
[deep breath]
Whatever it takes.

Nile: ‘Whatever it takes’? [turns head to watch Andy]

Andy: [looks at Nile directly, quietly resolute] Yes.

Booker: [out of sight] Guys, I found something.
[rustle of brush as he appears from mine]
An address just outside of London.

[Andy stands, picks up the chocolate bar wrapper from the hood, holds out her hand to Nile, who clings to her phone, staring at the picture of her mother and brother.]

Andy: We gotta go.

[After a moment, not looking at her, Nile puts the phone in Andy’s hand. Andy puts it in her right coat pocket and strides away.]

1:18:27 minutes

[Aerial view -- fields, lots of trees, a few isolated large houses, small town in the distance, small hills toward the horizon, cloudy sky overhead.]

SURREY ENGLAND appears on screen

[Rear view of silver Audi (license YY56 TVX), driving fast over a narrow, grassy track. It turns, pulls up and stops under some trees, near a metal farm-gate, with a large two-story house beyond.]

[Booker exits from the right rear as Nile exits from the front passenger seat (left side). Booker opens the boot as Andy exits from the driver’s seat (right side). Andy scans the territory as Booker reaches into a carry-bag, pulls out a pistol, checks it. As Andy comes around, he hands it to her; she puts it in her back waistband. Booker picks up another pistol, checks it.]

Andy: Go scout the back.

[Booker puts the pistol in his back waistband, heads out as Nile watches.]

[Andy reaches into the boot, pulls out a rifle, checks it, hands it to Nile. Nile takes it and stares down as if it’s unfamiliar. She shakes her head minutely, takes a breath, holds the rifle out to Andy, who is evaluating the terrain rather than looking at Nile.]

Nile: I can’t do this.

Andy: [flicks eyes to her] Yes, you can.

Nile: [pushes rifle closer to Andy, voice firm, determined]
I mean, I’m not doing this.

[Andy looks down at the rifle, looks at Nile with stunned disbelief. She takes the rifle and Nile turns away from her.]

Andy: [steps closer, speaks softly but firmly]
You’re one of us now.
[Nile shakes head minutely, but turns toward her]
[speaks more urgently]
We would do the same for you.

Nile: [louder, angry] I never even had a choice!

Andy: None of us had a choice.
[Nile turns away. Andy slams boot closed]
There isn’t a choice.

Nile: The day I died,
[turns, facing Andy down, deep breath, intense]
I killed the guy that killed me.
[Andy gives Nile her full attention, listening and watching closely]
They try to condition us, you know? Thousands of hours of training. Two shots, quick kill.
[another deep breath, lips tighten]
But they can’t teach you how to live with it.

Andy: [quickly, reaches for Nile, hand on left shoulder, speaks urgently. moves closer, face-to-face]
You’ve gotta feel it, Nile.
[Nile turns head away, while Andy focuses on her, voice sharper]
Every one.

Nile: [shaking head] I saw what you did in that church.
[Andy retreats slightly, drops hand, mouth firms]
All those bodies.
[voice sounds desperate]
Is that supposed to be me? Is that what we’re supposed to do, and we don’t even know why?

Andy: [moves closer again, speaks urgently]
You think knowing is gonna make you sleep better at night?

Nile: [shakes head slowly, speaks softly]
I can’t be that.
[Andy drops head, sighs]
My family...
[pauses, looks down, breathes in, faces Andy again]
they’re gonna get old and I won’t, but it’ll be years before they realize that.
[Andy watches her, carefully emotionless. links, looks aside]
[Nile’s voice is pleading]
I still have time with them.

Andy: [flicks eyes up to Nile, tiny nod, reaches for pistol in belt, holds it out]
Here.
[Nile takes it]
Take the car,
[Nile looks at Andy directly]
and when you ditch it, ditch the weapons.

Nile: [looks down, deep breath, faces Andy again]
You gonna be okay?

Andy: [direct gaze] Always.

[Andy carries the rifle as she walks past Nile, who turns to watch as she opens the gate and slips through. Nile opens her mouth as if she might change her mind, call to Andy, then sighs, looks down, lets the impulse die.]

[Booker moves past a tall green hedge, sees Andy coming. He gestures her forward; she comes to meet him.]

[Sound of car engine accelerating away; Andy turns her head to look back, then faces Booker.]

Booker: [quietly] Where’s Nile?

Andy: [sharp, short headshake] You and me, Book. Now and always.

[Andy moves past Booker and takes the lead. Pauses in the cover of a large tree-trunk.]

[Nile drives the car. GPS voice says, “Guildford station in one mile.” She sees a sign for a security checkpoint, pulls the car over and stops at the side of the road; the area seems relatively isolated. Nile unbuckles her seatbelt, grabs the pistol from the passenger (left) seat, exits the car, goes to the rear, opens the boot. She starts shoving bits and pieces into the carry-bag. She looks around for observers as she removes the magazine from the pistol to put them separately in the bag, then stops and stares at the magazine.]

Nile: Empty?
[stares at pistol, mentally replays Booker handing it to Andy, Andy putting it in belt]
Shit.
[stares again at pistol and empty magazine, voice shows realization]
Andy.

[View of Copley’s house; ground floor is red brick, with part of the visible wall made of glass panels. Through them we see a spiral staircase to the upper floor, which also has large glass panels, as well as a wide expanse of multiple windows.]

[Booker, handgun extended, glides silently across the floor, followed by Andy, with her rifle extended. Booker stops at the foot of the stairs, continues covering the ground floor as Andy starts up the stairs beside him, then he follows. They climb silently, cautiously, alert for any threat.]

[The room is large, well-lighted, with windows on the two visible walls. The area includes a piano, a set of glass shelves with a few artifacts displayed, several padded chairs, and a table with keyboard and monitor. Copley is standing with his back to the door and staircase. He is perusing a wall-sized, standing bulletin board in two large sections; the boards are completely covered with papers and pictures, some outlined in red.]

[Andy reaches top of stairs, takes cover behind the closed half of a pair of double doors; the other door is standing open. A head gesture tells Booker -- a few steps down with his pistol at the ready -- to head ‘that’ direction. He looks that way, then back to Andy; her chin-lift says, ‘now’. Booker finishes climbing the stairs and heads in that direction as Andy slips around the door. She checks both sides of the room, then focuses on / aims at Copley.]

Andy: Where are they?

Copley: [turns slowly, casually to face her. hands in pockets of sweater, obviously no threat, he takes a few steps toward her, speaks softly]
Andromache the Scythian. The eternal warrior.

Andy: Book?

Booker: [in doorway behind; takes a few steps forward]
I’m right here.

[Andy glances at the bulletin board; easily visible is a copy of an ID card from Ceska Republika Obcansky Prokaz. The photo is an earlier Andy, with chin-length hair. Her gun-hand relaxes for a moment, but she shakes off her shock/surprise, lifts the rifle and aims directly at Copley.]

Andy: [steps forward, quiet threat] Where are Joe and Nicky?

[Sound of a shot; Andy cries out as her body jerks and blood appears on her shirt, low on her left side. Booker lowers his handgun, quickly tucks it in the front of his belt, pulls out a zip-tie. As Andy staggers from the impact of the shot and drops her rifle, Booker comes up behind her, grabs her arms and pulls them back.]

Andy: [struggling] What are you doing?!
[continues to struggle, but Booker drags/forces her to her knees...]
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!

Booker: Andy, calm down! [...and zip-ties her hands behind her.]

Andy: [shrieks] NOOOOOOOOOO!!!

[Copley watches dispassionately, hands still in pockets]

[Booker kneels behind Andy as he holds her on the floor, right arm around her neck as his left holds her left arm. She exclaims in wordless anger as he brings his face close to her left ear, tries to calm her with a quiet, “Shh.”]

Andy: [raging, groaning as she breathes heavily, trying to struggle away]
You set us up!

Booker: [quietly, in her ear] Listen. Please listen.

[Copley walks closer, speaks calmly.]

Copley: When my wife died, I devoted myself to your work.
[Andy glares at him as she jerks out of Booker’s hold]
[Booker lets her go, pushes hair out of face, starts to rise]
I learned your secret history,
[Andy stares, stunned and appalled]
written in the margins,
[view of bulletin board. label: GREECE. picture of mosaic art, of woman with double-bladed war-ax on horseback, swinging at armored soldier on horseback, with shield]
[front of a theatre playbill reads: ANDROMAQVE, TRAGEDIE]
[a xerox-enlarged copy of an ancient coin (?) --a bordered circle with woman’s head inside and ‘ANDROMACHA’ along the circle’s border, with ‘HETC.VX’ below it, marked with red star]
passed on like legend.
[list of changes in spelling of Andromache’s name through time and place -- Latin, Greek, Russian, Armenian, Farsi, Arabic]
What was dismissed as a myth, was in fact,
[Andy breathes deep, exhales loudly as she takes it in]
immortality. You could help end... needless suffering.

[Andy looks up, then closes her eyes as her breath catches in pain. Her head sinks; she looks weary. Slowly her body starts to fold -- she tries to catch it and hold herself upright -- then gives in and curls downward until her head rests on the carpet, beside her right knee; she gasps. Booker stands behind Andy, watching her. He looks a little concerned, raises his eyes to Copley, who has a slight frown, but ignores the issue.]

Copley: Humanity needs you to share your gifts.

Andy: [raises head long enough to speak with tight, pained voice]
Humanity can screw itself.

[She groans, shifts her body, and lets herself roll to the left. She’s now sitting on the floor, leaning against the seat of one of the padded chairs. She continues to gasp heavily, with occasional groans, from the pain of the unhealing wound.]

Booker: [flicks eyes to Copley, looks uneasy as he steps toward her, starts to bend down]
Andy...

Andy: [raises head, speaks sharply as she kicks out at him]
Don’t! you fucking coward.
[Booker steps back from her anger, takes a deep breath]
[Copley flicks eyes to Booker, down to Andy, stays detached, uninvolved]
[Andy breathes heavily, shakes head, whispers,]
Why? Why, Book?

Booker: [steps forward, speaks placatingly] Andy, listen --

Andy: [kicks out again, shouts] WHY?

Booker: [goes to a knee beside/in front of her, speaks with quiet force]
If Merrick can discover how we keep living, he might find a way how to end it.
[Andy looks at him sorrowfully, takes deep breath, finds nothing to say]
[he leans closer, intense]
Hey. That’s what you wanted.

Andy: [shakes head slowly, speaks softly, barely more than a whisper]
Oh, Book. What have you done?
[deep breath, sharp gasp, another deep breath, tears in eyes]
Not like this, Book.

Booker: [drops head, sniffles a deep breath, notices. flings Andy’s jacket aside, reaches out to growing bloodstain on her shirt]
What’s going on? You’re still bleeding.
[Andy looks aside, still breathing heavily, seems less concerned about her wound than his betrayal. voice shakes as he repeats,]
You’re still bleeding.
[worried]
What? Shit.
[louder, looks up at Copley]
She’s not healing.

Copley: What? [comes to them, looks down]

[Andy has slumped more, closed her eyes, as if she’s distancing herself from the whole situation. Booker pushes her jacket farther aside, lifts his bloodstained hands.]

Booker: Look at this. She’s not healing. Go get something. Go on. Go on!
[Copley hurries away. Booker comes closer, hands and knees in front of her, face-to-face.]
Andy, look at me. [her eyes stay closed] Look at me.
[Andy raises eyes to him, face closed off, eyes remote]
Why didn’t you tell me?

Andy: [shakes head, small shrug of left shoulder; voice quiet, calm, resigned]
Wouldn’t have changed anything.

Booker: [raises head, shouts] Hurry up!

[Copley comes with a small towel, kneels next to Booker, presses it over the wound. Andy groans.]

Booker: Careful. Have to get her out of here.

[Booker and Copley grab Andy’s arms, start to lift her.]

[The other door slams open; Booker and Copley turn at the noise as Keane and several armed soldiers walk in, followed by Merrick. Booker stands as they walk closer.]

Keane: [points at Booker] Secure him. Nice work, Copley.

[Two soldiers grab Booker, pull his arms behind him, zip-tie his hands; he doesn’t struggle.]

Merrick: [walks to Andy, looks down at her] Look at you.

Copley: [looks up, keeping pressure on Andy’s wound]
She’s wounded. Gunshot.

Merrick: [sharply] Why isn’t she healing?

Copley: [raises eyes to Andy’s face] I don’t know.

[Andy glares up at Merrick, breathing deeply, doesn’t speak.]

Booker: [held tightly between two soldiers] She’s not immortal.

Merrick: What do you mean, ‘not immortal’?

Booker: I mean it’s gone.

[Entire room seems to pause. Merrick stares at him, calculating. Andy’s head is turned away from everyone in the room, still distancing herself. Copley continues to apply pressure on the wound, but makes no movement. Merrick turns, bends to look at Andy’s wound.]

Merrick: You’re a bloody mess.
[slowly squats in front of Andy. she deliberately doesn’t look at him]
Now, how old are you?

Andy: [breathes deeply, gasps, looks at him -- danger in her eyes, despite her circumstances. chin-lift, speaks quietly]
Come closer and I’ll tell you.

Merrick: [face falls, taken aback. stands] Let’s get them home.

Booker: Let her go.

Keane: Cover me. [opens jacket, reaches inside as he starts toward Andy]

Andy: [immediately defensive, yanks away from Copley, watches Keane approaching, pushes herself back]
No. No.

Booker: [struggles to go help her, the soldiers hold him.]
Let her go!
[soldier punches him in stomach; he grunts and folds over]

Andy: No!

[Andy struggles violently, kicking and thrashing, interspersing shouts of ‘No!’ with roars that sound like an enraged animal as Keane tries to hold her still, subdue her. She continues to twist and kick, roaring her fury, but can’t escape. She shakes her head violently as Keane reaches toward her. As he holds her head (relatively) still with a hand under her chin, an injector hisses at the left side of her neck. Her eyes close and body goes limp as she loses consciousness.]

Booker: [trying to reach her but held by soldiers, speaks in strained voice]
I’m sorry, Andy. I’m sorry.

Soldier: Hold him still.

[Booker grunts as injector hisses at the left side of his neck.]

Copley: [crosses quickly to Merrick, speaks urgently]
Mr. Merrick, look. If it’s true and she’s somehow not immortal anymore, then she might not survive the testing. This will be murder.

[Two soldiers lift Andy.]

Merrick: As if the CIA never disappeared anyone. As if they never conducted covert research.

Copley: No. [shakes head, firmer] No, this is not what we agreed.

Merrick: [looks over Copley’s shoulder, tiny nod]
We don’t stop.
[he turns away]

[Keane steps behind Copley, coldcocks him with a pistol-butt to his neck. Copley drops face-down, unconscious. Merrick walks out, followed by the remaining soldiers.]

1:26:45 minutes

[Street level, people walking past Merrick Pharmaceuticals.]

[Kozak is sitting at a table with a keyboard and monitor, entering data. A door bursts open behind her. She turns her head to watch as a guard enters, then Andy held by a guard on each side, with Booker immediately behind her, also held by two guards. Another guard, Keane, and Merrick follow.]

[Joe and Nicky -- now with the bloodstains cleaned from their skin -- raise their heads to see what’s happening.]

Nicky: Andy!

Joe: What happened?

[The guards sit Andy down forcibly on the bed to Nicky’s right. She grunts/groans at the impact, grimaces and partly curls into the pain, but the guards hold her up.]

Booker: She’s not healing.
[grunts as he is forcibly deposited on the to Andy’s right]
[guards are strapping Andy to bed; Kozak watches, pulling on surgical gloves]
[Merrick stands a short distance away, hands behind back, watching]
[Booker stares upward as guards strap him to bed; voice indicates self-disgust]
I killed her.

[Kozak raises her shirt to examine the wound. Andy lifts her head to look at it, breathing heavily. Nicky and Joe stare in dismay, then slowly lower their heads to their beds.]

Kozak: I need to get a line in her and stop the bleeding.

Merrick: Keep her alive at all costs.

[Guards finish strapping Andy and Booker, nod to the guards who have been covering them with rifles aimed; they lower their weapons and step back.]

Merrick: Don’t you see? Between Sudan and now, something’s changed. Find out what.

[Andy stares at him, coldly, still not actively responding to what’s happening.]

Kozak: This will stabilize her,
[hangs I.V bag above left side of bed]
but I have to stitch her and give her antibiotics.
[walks away for more supplies]

Merrick: Good.

Nicky: [watching Andy] All things die.

Merrick: [looks surprised that one of his lab animals has spoken]
What was that?

Nicky: [shifts gaze to Merrick]
Everything has to die, Mr. Merrick.
[speaks softly, gently, as Merrick steps closer]
The only reason we haven’t...
[slight smile]
is that it’s not our time yet.
[Andy breathes heavily, unresponsive as Kozak inserts IV / treats her wound]
If it’s now Andromache’s, nothing you can do will stop it.

Merrick: You’d be surprised by what my products can do.
[Joe watches, evaluating, judging]
I will carve slices off you for years to get what I want.
[Nicky is calm, merely blinks]
Your time is coming.

Nicky: As is yours.

Merrick: [rattled, blustering] I expect results!
[storms out, followed by most of the guards]

Booker: [turns head toward her, pleading] Andy...

[Andy stares upward, refusing to respond.]

1:28:07 minutes

[Outside view of Copley’s house.]

[Inside, Copley sits bowed over in a chair, elbows on knees, holding a towel to the left side of his head and neck.]

[Nile comes through the open door, pistol pointed. She cocks the pistol, which alerts Copley. He looks up, lunges for a rifle left behind on the floor, but Nile quickly steps forward and kicks it out of his reach.]

Nile: Uh-uh.

[Copley, on his knees, raises his hands as Nile aims her pistol at him, pushes himself up and into a chair as she advances.]

Nile: Are you Copley?

Copley: [breathlessly, with raised hands] He sent you to finish me off.

Nile: Who?
[looks down, notices blood on the carpet]
Where’s Andy? And Booker?
[shifts pistol for emphasis]

Copley: Who are you?

[Nile takes a breath, firms her mouth, shoots down into her own left foot.]

Nile: Ahh!
[Copley flinches]
[Nile folds over herself, holds foot off the floor as it heals]
Son of a bitch!

Copley: [amazed, pointing at her foot] You’re another one.

Nile: Yeah.
[aims pistol at him again as she breathes heavily]
I’m new.
[deep breath, advances on Copley, voice determined]
Where are they?

Copley: They’re in a lab... being tested.
[Nile’s mouth opens, shocked; she gasps ]
Tortured.
[Nile lifts pistol higher, ready to -- she’s not sure what]
Merrick... he only cares about her immortality... not what she’s done with it.

Nile: ‘What she’s done with it’?

[Copley is showing Nile his bulletin board and explaining his research. Nile keeps her gun on him, frowning, apparently not trusting him.]

Copley: Montenegro. Nineteen-sixteen. She saved a family of refugees, whose daughter would discover the technique for the early detection of diabetes.
[Nile keeps pistol on him, intently ready for any misstep]
[he points to another area]
This one; her grandson would save three hundred and seventeen people from the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
[voice becomes ever more passionate as he continues]
[Nile relaxes slightly, starts to absorb what he’s saying]
This guy -- this man prevented an accidental nuclear exchange in nineteen seventy-eight, and likely saved civilization as a result.
[Nile takes eyes off him, gazes across the mass of visible information]
[she slowly lowers pistol, stunned and amazed]
The famous... and... the unknown names.
[Nile approaches board, scanning across clippings and pictures]
She saves a life -- two or three generations later, we reap the benefits.

Nile: [huffs, moves along board, checks more of the information. voice is awed]
She’s in it. She can’t see it.
[turns to Copley]
But you could!
[voice is accusing]
You could and you gave them up!

Copley: I thought it could be the end of disease.
[Nile jerks head, negating the poor excuse]
I thought it could be the end of suffering.
[hesitates, words come out painfully, distressed]
She couldn’t talk... at the end... my wife. She couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t do... anything. It was supposed to be a gift... to the world.

Nile: [quietly angry] It wasn’t your gift to give.

Copley: [sighs, shakes head] Why would the immortality end?

Nile: [audible breath] What?

Copley: [turns to look at blood on carpet] She wouldn’t stop bleeding.

Nile: [follows his gaze, voice urgent] Is she alive?

Copley: I know where they are.

1:30:43 minutes

[Aerial view of London, past high-rise buildings toward lower buildings with turrets.]

[Silver Audi drive up, parks at curb. Copley exits driver’s side (right), Nile from passenger side. Each opens the rear door on their side. Copley grabs a khaki carry-bag, heads toward the building. Nile grabs Andy’s labrys in its carry-case, slings it over her right shoulder. She pauses a second, looks up at the many stories above, while Copley uses a key-card in the outer door. He opens the door and walks in; Nile quickly follows.]

[In a security complex, two men sit in front of multiple monitors with views of hallways and rooms, using switches to change views from one place to another as they continually check for threats.]

[Nile and Copley are in a custodial/storage area -- mop bucket nearby, metal cases piled on a wheeled platform, two doors for elevators. Andy’s labrys leans against the wall to Niles’s left, next to an elevator door. Nile squats by the carry-bag, but looks for security before she opens it.]

Copley: [quietly] There’s no cameras here. That’s how he gets people in and out unseen.

Nile: [unzips carry-bag, pulls out pistol] How many shooters on site?

Copley: At least thirty.
[Nile checks pistol, puts it on floor, pulls out rifle]
Their boss, Keane, is ex Special Forces.

Nile: [unfolds rifle stock] What kind of CEO rolls around with his own personal army?

Copley: These days?
[bends down, takes pistol from floor, checks magazine]
Most of them.

Nile: [stands, confronts him] What are you doing?

Copley: I’m gonna make this right.

Nile: [firmly] Your dying won’t do that.

Copley: [raises eyebrows]
But I’m supposed to let you walk in there by yourself?
[starts to walk around her]

Nile: [stands in his way, faces him directly]
Out of the two of us, I’m the one who will walk out of there again, one way or another.
[holds rifle in left hand, extends right, waiting for pistol]
[he doesn’t respond. she looks down at empty hand, up to him, speaks firmly.]
You got me here.
[he hesitates, then hands pistol to her. she tucks it in back waistband]

Copley: There’s a private lab on the fifteenth floor. It’s empty.
[uses key-card; card-reader beeps]
This will get you access.
[gives her the card]

[Elevator door opens. Nile grabs labrys, slings it over her left shoulder.]

Nile: [pauses in doorway, speaks over right shoulder]
You should get out of here before the noise starts.
[steps into elevator, presses button for 15]

Copley: [quietly, as Nile takes stance in center of car, adjusts labrys-strap on shoulder]
Good luck, Ms. Freeman.

“Going Down Fighting” by Andrea Wasse X Phlotilla plays in background:
If it’s the end of the world,
I’m going down fighting.
With my finger on the trigger,
You’ll know I gave it a shot.

If it’s the end of it all,
God knows I’m trying.
‘Cause this world
Is all that we got.
‘Cause this world
Is all that we got.

[Door closes, elevator starts up. Nile twists her neck side to side, shrugs her shoulders, breathes deeply, drops her head back then raises it again -- preparing for battle. She stares straight ahead as she waits.]

[Door opens. Nile steps out cautiously, looking around. She walks forward casually, turns a corner, sees three armed guards standing, chatting in a hallway. Her right hand holds the rifle behind her back.]

Guard: Floor’s closed. How’d you get up here?

Nile: [casually looks to side] Sorry, I was just looking --

Guard: [barks, all three guards take aim] Hands! Let me see your hands.

[Nile takes a breath, slowly brings her right hand into view. Two shots. Nile falls on her back.]

Guard: Zero, this is Alpha Two-two.

Monitor-watcher: Sir. [monitor shows Nile on floor, guards beyond her]

Keane: [walks forward, grabs radio from console, speaks into it]
Zero send.

Guard: We’ve had an intruder. Target is down.

Keane: See if you can get an I.D off the body.

[Guard kicks Nile’s gun-hand, starts patting down her body. Nile brings her right leg up, kicks him in the chest, shoots him as he staggers back, rises to her knees and shoots the other two -- all headshots.]

Keane: Shit! [into radio] TAC teams, find Merrick now!

[Nile -- now with two midline, bloodstained holes in her shirt -- grabs her pistol, slings the labrys over her left shoulder and moves to shelter of a wall. She checks the pistol, then peers around the corner.]

[In the lab, Andy is ignoring everything, staring at nothing, Nicky is lying quietly. Joe has lifted his upper body as far as he can, shouting across the other two to Booker.]

Joe: You selfish piece of shit!

Nicky: [speaks over him, strongly, but not shouting]
Joe, leave it. Please!

Booker: What would you know of the weight of all these years alone?

[Andy still doesn’t react to anything as she stares into nothing.]

Joe: [laughs without humor] You’re a very pathetic man, Booker.

Nicky: Joe, stop.

Booker: You and Nicky always had each other, right?
[Andy blinks and swallows]
And all we had... was our grief.

Joe: Well, now you have even more.

[Kozak is behind Andy’s bed, adjusting the IV, ignoring the argument as if nothing’s happening.]

[Nile proceeds down a hallway, pistol extended. She turns a corner and goes through a doorway; Merrick is there. It’s some kind of lab -- long counters with beakers, jars, and bottles on top, boxes/containers for various items. Nile aims at him.]

Merrick: Who the hell are you?

Nile: [loudly] Where’s the lab?

[Three guards burst through the door across the room and start firing. Nile ducks and fires back, drops the labrys as she runs.]

[In the med-lab, Andy hears the gunfire. She reacts, turning her head toward the sound. Kozak, in front of her computer, also notices and turns toward the sound. Joe, Nicky, and Booker don’t react. (Sleeping? Unconscious/dead from something Kozak did? How much time has passed since Joe was shouting at Booker?)]

[Nile runs, firing behind her as the guards follow, shooting. She’s heading toward metal doors with a ‘Restricted Access’ sign. Keane runs in and fires, hitting her just as she reaches the doors. She stumbles through and falls to the floor as the doors swing shut behind her.]

Keane: Shit! [together with Merrick] There’s another one!

[Nile’s still holding the pistol; she groans as she pushes herself up.]

Keane: She’s going for the rest of them. Doctor’s lab, now!
[guards head out]
[grabs Merrick’s arm, starts to pull him toward door]
I’m locking you down in the penthouse until this is over.

[Merrick stops him for a moment, staring avidly at the labrys case. He goes to pick it up, smiles widely, tucks it under his right arm and follows Keane out.]

[Nile finds nothing important -- the people she’s looking for -- in the room. She runs to a door across the room that has a card-reader beside it, uses the key-card, pulls door open outward, then runs through an inward door into the med-lab. The doctor turns as the team all raise their heads. Nile pauses, surprised and relieved to see them. Andy's expression is disbelief.]

Booker: Nile. [sees guard aiming through open door] Behind you!

[Nile grunts as she is hit, sags, fires back, pushes the door closed. She now has a third bloodstained hole in the front of her shirt, one on the back of her left shoulder, and one on the front of her left thigh.]

[Kozak, alarmed, rises. She looks frantically for a weapon, grabs a syringe from a nearby tray and starts forward.]

Nicky: [shouts] Nile!

[Kozak closes on Nile, syringe raised. Nile blocks her raised right arm with her left hand, knocks her down and out with a strong right punch.]

Nile: [runs to Andy, starts unbuckling restraints]
There’s four shooters at the door and more coming.
[Andy closes eyes, makes no move to rise. shirt is askew; Nile sees dressing on wound]
[she flips pistol, offers it to Andy, who turns her head away]
Andy.
[the men’s heads are raised, watching. Andy keeps eyes closed]
[frowns, lifts Andy’s right hand, pushes pistol into it. voice is soft, but firmly intense]
Immortal or not, you made a promise. Whatever it takes.
[Andy opens eyes, looks at Nile, remains passive]
I’ve seen it, Andy.
[pulls another pistol from back waistband, cocks it]
I know all the good you’ve done.
[Andy stares at her, weighing, evaluating]

[The door bursts open, four guards rushing forward. Nile turns beside Andy. Together they raise their pistols, two shots each, all four go down. Andy keeps her eyes on them while she reaches over to unbuckle her left arm. Nile unbuckles the restraints over her legs.]

Andy: [eying her] You came back.

Nile: [a level look, flicks eyes to the others] Yeah.

[Nile goes to release Booker as Andy goes to Nicky and unbuckles the strap over his right arm. Nicky reaches to unbuckle the other straps while Andy tucks the pistol in her back waistband and heads toward Joe.]

Booker: [as Nile is releasing strap that holds chest and left arm]
No, just leave me here.

Nile: [turns on him, irritated] No man left behind.
[leaves him to take care of other straps, goes to guard the door]

[Nicky throws off the blue hospital drape, sits up to unbuckle his leg restraints.]

Joe: [loudly -- not quite shouting -- as Andy unbuckles strap on right arm]
Well there’s always a first time. He’s nothing but a traitor. That’s --

Andy: Stop!
[firm voice, leans over to unbuckle left arm, looks directly in his face]
This is not the time for it. We don’t get a say in when it ends.
[Nile is on guard at the door, but watching Andy and the men.]
We never have.
[Nicky has put on shirt, heads toward Nile, stoops, takes pistol from dead guard, checks it]
[Andy unbuckles Joe’s legs as he pulls off cardiac sensors]
But we can control how we live.
[Joe leaves bed while Andy pulls pistol from waistband, crosses to Booker, lying passive, hasn’t unbuckled restraints]
And to be honest, Book, you and I --
[looks at him directly, making a point]
we been doing a shit job of it.
[checks pistol, cocks it]
Now get up.
[Joe crosses behind her, now wearing his shirt]
Let’s go.
[Booker turns head toward her]
We stop Merrick here and now,
[Joe is by the door with Nile and Nicky, has also grabbed a pistol from a guard. all three watch the confrontation]
or he never stops coming after us.

[Booker lifts his head, thinks a moment, then quickly reaches to unbuckle his straps.]

[Andy squats, pulls open a guard’s pocket to look for ammunition, but finds nothing. She stands, breathing heavily, and lifts her shirt-hem to check the dressing.]

Nicky: Andy...
[quietly, concerned, eyes flick to the dressing]
Are you sure?

Andy: This changes nothing.
[chin-lift]
We walk out of here like always.
[deep breath]
Together.

[All four are watching, grouped near the door, concern in their eyes. She starts toward them.]

Andy: Let’s get this motherfucker.

[They head out, moving purposefully, Nile in the lead, then Nicky, Joe, Booker, and Andy.]

1:36:45 minutes

[Merrick is in his penthouse, with two guards across the room. He slowly, almost reverently, picks up Andy’s labrys, gazing lovingly at it as he holds it high.]

[Nile enters a darkened room, carrying a rifle, followed by Nicky and Joe, each with a pistol, Booker with a rifle, Andy with a pistol. They take up positions to either side of metal double doors -- Nicky, Joe, Andy to the left, Nile and Booker to the right.]

Joe: [quietly] Cover Andy.

[Nile uses her shoulder to burst open the right door and charges into the next room; it looks like the lab where she confronted Merrick. She’s followed by Nicky, Booker -- who kicks open the left door -- Joe, and Andy. Nile breaks left, Nicky breaks right, Booker left, Joe right, Andy straight down the center.]

[As Nile remains on guard, Booker crosses behind her -- letting her know with a quick hand to her shoulder so she moves farther into the room -- heading toward the doors across the room. Nicky takes a low stance, guarding their left, Joe covers their right but keeps an eye on Andy as she crosses behind Booker and heads for the doors.]

[Andy and Booker exit the open doors -- which are set back in a short alcove -- together. Andy waits at the corner against the wall on her left; two guards are walking down the hall toward their position, rifles raised. As the nearest comes opposite her, she grabs his right arm with her left, twists her body to throw him off-balance to her left. Booker shoots him as he stumbles past, while Andy steps past the corner and shoots the other guard.]

[Joe is next out of the alcove, followed by Nile and Nicky together. Joe aims hall-right, Nile guards hall-left. Nicky aims hall-right beside Joe, they shoot two guards who come running around the next corner. Andy puts another magazine in her pistol as she moves hall-left past Nile, followed by Nile and Booker.]

[As another guard comes from a door-alcove to her left with his left gun-hand extended, Andy grabs his wrist with her left hand, raises it high to spin under it, clubs him across the back with her pistol, holds onto him to keep him off-balance, shoots the next guard coming down the hall, drops the first guard’s arm, turns and shoots him, then heads down hall-(original)-left.]

[Nicky and Joe are following Andy and Nile from hall-right while Booker remains on guard that direction. Another guard comes from the left door-alcove. Nicky grabs his gun-hand, lifts it high, spins under the raised arm while Joe shoots him, goes to a knee to grab the rifle of the guard Andy shot, lifts it above his shoulder for Joe. Joe takes it, turns to cover their rear (original hall-right) as Booker sprints past following Andy and Nile; Nicky rises to follow him.]

[Nile has taken position behind a stack of crates, shoots an approaching guard, runs forward while Nicky and Joe guard their rear and Booker takes out a guard that comes from a door-alcove to Nile’s left. Two guards appear from cross-alcoves ahead, and Andy is in front of her with no cover.]

Nile: [shouts] Andy!

[Nile grabs Andy’s right shoulder and spins herself in front of Andy, cries out as the bullets hit her back, falls against the wall with a grimace, recovers, pulls a pistol with her left hand and shoots one of the guards as Andy shoots the other. Andy looks back; Joe and Nicky are under fire at the rear. Nicky looks over his shoulder to check on her, jerks as he takes a bullet. He and Joe shoot two guards, then retreat toward Andy’s position, Joe and Booker guarding the rear while Nicky dashes forward in front of Andy and Nile. Nicky goes to a knee just beyond a set of lab doors to his left, guarding the hall, as Booker, Joe, Nile, and Andy head through the doors. As soon as Andy has passed, Nicky backs up and follows them.]

[It’s another lab. They spread out as they move through the lab, then converge on the opposite doors. Joe pulls the door inward, and Booker leads out with Nile and Andy behind him. Booker turns, clubs a guard to his right with his rifle-butt, shoots a guard in front of him. Nile confronts a guard, knocks aside his aiming pistol with her rifle, shoots him on the back-swing, lunges past his right side, uses her right hand to grab the back of his neck and shove him away. He runs forward off-balance; Nicky ducks, lifts, and flips him over his right shoulder, continues moving forward; Joe, in the doorway behind Nicky, shoots the guard as he lands on the floor, continues into the lab.]

[Andy, moving along the wall (to the right of the most recent door), shoots a guard point-blank, grabs his vest, lifts her right knee into his chest as she drops onto her back and flips him over her head. Booker shoots the guard’s partner as Andy rolls and rises to her feet, while Nicky runs to support Joe, who’s beyond them. Andy releases the empty magazine, lets it fall; Booker goes to a knee to check a dead guard’s vest pockets, hands her a fresh magazine. As Andy moves past him, he stands and follows.]

[Nile barely pauses as she reaches down to grab a fresh magazine from another guard’s pocket. Nicky takes a rifle from another guard, hands it to Joe. Nile slams the fresh magazine into her rifle, stands against a wall, peers around the edge. (It looks free-standing, with boxes visible in the room beyond, with another end/edge 15-20 feet behind Nile for a second entry point into the next room.) Behind her, Andy squats, leaning against the wall and breathing deeply; Joe, Nicky, then Booker deploy farther along the wall. Booker and Nicky are watching the rear, with Booker closest to the second edge, and Joe and Nicky at mid-point of the wall. Next to Andy, Joe looks down, concerned. She looks up, nods her readiness, stands; they start to move out just as the wall explodes between Joe and Nicky.]

[All are thrown aside/down by the blast. Joe, Nicky and Andy are tossed through the air; we lose sight of Joe and Nicky. Andy lands hard, bounces to a face-down position on her arms, pushes herself to her right side, gasping as she tries to recover enough to rise.]

[Keane is on the other side of the wall, holding a rifle, with a gas mask on his forehead. Other guards flank him as he peers through the hole, into the billowing smoke/dust from the explosion.]

[Nile and Booker, farthest from the blast were not knocked completely off their feet, but they are bent over and coughing from the smoke and dust. They force themselves upright, unable to see through the increasing smoke.]

Booker: Man! Andy!

[Booker heads through the smoke to where he thinks Andy might be; Keane fires through the hole, although the smoke is too thick for good aim. Booker finds Andy just as Nile reaches her from the other side; they grab her under the arms -- Booker on her right, Nile on her left -- help her up, and start moving away.]

Booker: [shouts] Joe, Nicky, we’re moving out!

[Joe and Nicky, barely visible through the smoke, are both lying stunned / unconscious / dead.]

Keane: Assault team, move! You two, flank.

[Five guards head out another door for Andy, Nile, and Booker, while Keane steps through the blast-hole, pulling his gas mask over his face as he moves slowly forward. He sees Joe lying face down, unmoving. Keane puts his gun in left shoulder-holster and pulls something (zip-tie?) from the top right of his vest.]

[Nicky, lying on his back near Joe’s feet, coughs and rolls to his right side to get his hands under him and rise. Keane steps forward, viciously kicks him in the head, throwing him onto his back. Nicky coughs as Keane steps back, Nicky tries to rise again, Keane steps forward and kicks him violently in the stomach.]

[Joe, behind Keane, is beginning to move. He starts to push himself up, sees Keane kick a third time. Nicky has risen to his knees and leans aside; Keane’s foot hits a stack of boxed supplies on a wheeled platform. Nicky lunges at Keane, grabs him at shoulder and waste and pulls him down, rolling to throw Keane to the floor, then Nicky continues his roll to his knees, punches Keane with a hard right cross. Nicky pulls his arm back and comes around with another punch, but Keane uses his left arm to knock Nicky’s arm aside, draws his right knee up and kicks Nicky in the chest; Nicky flies backward through the air and slams against the stack of boxes of supplies.]

[Joe is pushing himself up as Nicky goes flying. As Keane starts to rise, Joe attacks, grabs Keane’s head with his left hand and throws him to the floor. As Keane rebounds and lifts up, Joe rips off his gas mask and sends it flying. Keane and Joe are both thrown off balance by the strength of the action, but Keane recovers to throw a hard left punch to Joe’s face, followed by a right punch into Joe’s throat; Joe recoils, falling backward. Nicky staggers to his feet, throws himself at Keane, grabs his right arm and thigh to pull him down. Keane twists out of the hold, knocking Nicky to the floor, continues the twist to straddle Nicky’s body, stomps on Nicky’s stomach with his left knee. Nicky cries out and curls upward, gasping. Keane shoves his pistol into Nicky’s open mouth and fires.]

[Joe is on his back, pushing himself up just in time to see what happened. Keane is coughing, struggling to breathe; he staggers away through the hole in the wall.]

[Booker, Andy, and Nile stumble into another lab, coughing, close-grouped to support Andy. Nile moves forward, rifle ready; Booker holds Andy’s arm as they follow. Three guards appear at the door behind them. Booker looks back just in time to see the guards; he moves between them and Andy as they fire, staggers as he’s hit. Andy ducks through nearby door, Booker follows, staggers inside as he is hit again.]

[Andy ducks and crouches behind a fat metal cylinder of liquid nitrogen. Nile is on a knee beside the door, firing out at the guards as Booker scrambles past on hands and knees. Andy has no gun after the explosion; she evaluates the situation, looks around, sees a fire ax on the wall. She stands and crosses to it, grabs it from its box and hefts it, evaluating. Nile turns her head to say something (?) but is under too heavy fire; she turns back to shooting.]

[Andy walks past Booker, who is leaning against a cylinder, still recovering from his wounds, toward the door across the room -- just in time to meet a guard advancing into the room from that side. Andy swings the ax and cuts him down, then heads toward the door.]

Andy: Enough of this shit.

[As Andy approaches the door, another guard comes in; she hits him once, lets the momentum spin her, hits him low, then high; he’s down. She flips her hair out of her eyes as she heads out the door, now with blood-spatter on her face.]

[In the other lab, Nicky is still dead. Joe, on hands and knees, goes to him, reaches out toward Nicky’s face, hesitates, afraid to touch, turns his head aside. Nicky revives with a gasp, and coughs; Joe sighs his relief. Joe clasps Nicky’s arm while Nicky grips Joe’s arms for a moment, where they bracket his head, then --]

Nicky: Let’s go. Andy.

[Nicky rolls to his side, grabs a nearby pistol. Joe turns and grabs a rifle from the floor, then stagger-runs past Nicky, who is up but also moving erratically; both men are feeling the effects of the fight.]

Joe: Com’on, com’on. Come on.

[Joe leads out the door, with Nicky close behind, the back of his head shiny-wet with blood.]

[In the other lab, Nile is still holding off the guards from her door. She pulls back and checks her rifle.]

Nile: Shit! Jammed!

[She scrambles away from the door as Booker grabs a rifle from one of the downed guards and takes her position. Nile crouches next to an array of cylinders to clear her rifle, turns to Booker.]

Nile: Where’s Andy?

[Andy is striding purposefully down a hall, ax in hand. She pauses at a corner as she hears a radio.]

Guard on radio: Hold at the bridge.

[Andy looks around the corner, quickly pulls back. A lone guard is coming her way down a long hall -- a walkway-bridge with glass sides and top.]

Guard: Roger that.

Andy: [whispers] Fuck.

[Andy takes two deep breaths, firms her mouth, sets herself, and dashes around the corner, sprinting toward the guard. As he fires, she raises her ax sideways; we hear the bullet hit the metal head. Andy closes on the guard and uses the ax to knock his rifle out of his hand. As she swings back, the guard kicks; Andy cries out as it impacts her hand and the ax goes flying. The guard pulls a knife. As he swings at her, Andy, twists, grabs his right arm with her left, clamps it between her elbow and body, pulls him off-balance and uses the momentum of her twist to drag the guard into her strong right cross, then uses both hands to force his right hand down and slice the inside of his own thigh. Andy twists, lifts his arm over her head as she turns under it then keeps lifting the arm high behind his back, forcing him to bend forward into her right kick to his face. His helmet flies off, but he catches himself with his hands on the floor, then pushes upward, swinging his knife. The guard raises the knife high across his body and slashes downward to the right.]

[Andy evades to the left. As his arm comes around, her left arm knocks his right arm aside, punch-punch, then knife hand to his throat. He staggers back, goes to a fighting crouch with his knife raised. She waits as he comes in, coils her body, snaps out her left arm to knock his right aside, holds his right arm, twists it downward. A spring-loaded baton slides out to the left from his gear, he grabs it with left hand. Andy spins in with her back to his chest, strikes her right elbow to his chest, keeps moving to pull his right arm across her right shoulder, her two hands holding his sleeve, steps forward, comes back with a high left elbow to his face. With her back to him, Andy lifts his right arm high, brings it down, twists right to bring him forward with her left arm, grabs the baton. Andy turns in to him, both hands twist his right arm up and back. Andy goes to a knee as the pressure forces him down, jams the baton into his left knee.]

[Guard comes up, tries to grab baton with his left hand, Andy steps away and hits him twice across the face, leans back with a left kick to the chest as he staggers back. Andy runs forward, leaps high, plants her arms on his shoulders as she swings around, keeps going down, drops to floor on her back and uses the momentum to flip him over her head. He lands hard as she quickly rolls to her feet, stands gasping, holding her wound with her left hand. The guard seems unwilling or unable to continue the fight.]

[As Andy walks to look down at dazed guard, Booker and Nile join her from ‘her’ side of the bridge (screen right), while Joe and Nicky come from the other side.]

Andy: Where’s Merrick?

[The guard looks up. Five people stand directly over him, four of them armed; all look pissed-off and dangerous.]

Guard: Penthouse.

[The team all look upward, planning their next move.]

Joe: What d’you think, Oslo, ‘sixty seven?

Andy: [small head-shake] São Paulo, ‘thirty-four.
[Andy extends hand to Nile, who gives her pistol she carries in right hand]
[Nile holds another in her left.]
Nile’s with me.

Nile: What happened in São Paulo in nineteen thirty-four?

Andy: Eighteen thirty-four. [small grin, checks weapon] You’ll see.

[Andy and Nile head away (screen left) from ‘Andy’s corner’ at a medium trot; Joe, Nicky and Booker head toward ‘Andy’s corner’ (screen right).]

1:41:35 minutes

[Aerial view of top levels of Merrick building, with city skyline behind. We hear muffled weapons’ fire.]

[Two guards face the door of the penthouse, rifles aimed.]

[Merrick stands at the top of a short flight of stairs to a higher level; he grips the labrys in both hands, waiting for the attack. Keane descends in front of him.]

Keane: [into radio] First team, hold the hall.

[Keane makes a circling motion with his hand as he reaches the bottom of the stairs, then joins several guards in an open hall / balcony just inside the penthouse doors; it overlooks a lower level, with a plexiglass barrier along the edge. We see six armed guards, plus Keane.]

Keane: [into radio, quietly] First team.

[Andy -- breathing heavily and holding her hand over her wound -- and Nile walk past bullet-marked walls and dead guards’ bodies; Andy’s face is considerably more blood-stained than earlier, and Nile’s face is streaked with plaster dust. They take up position against a wall beside a floor-to-ceiling window, about six feet down from the door, Andy to the right of the window, with Nile to her right. Andy pulls her hand away to look at the amount of blood. Nile looks, too, and frowns, but neither comments.]

[Andy and Nile pull fresh magazines out of rear pockets, reload their pistols.]

Andy: [quietly] Wait for the signal. [looks toward door]

Nile: [follows her gaze] This gonna be like the last signal?

Andy: [turns toward Nile, smiles] Go big or go home. [looks back toward door]

[In the penthouse, guards are still ranged in front of the door, rifles up and ready.]

Merrick: [stands at top of interior stairs, holding labrys like he’s hoping to swing it]
Keane. Keane, how many more do we have coming?

Keane: This is it. [takes center position, aims directly at door] Dig in.

[Nile looks down, notices that Andy’s right hand has fresh blood where she’s been holding it against her wound, and the blood-stain on her shirt is increasing. She quickly crouches, starts pulling velcro with swift movements to remove the nearest guard’s kevlar.]

Nile: I’ll make the entry. Stay tight to me, okay? I’ll protect you.

[Andy crouches beside her, moving almost casually, stops Nile’s actions with a hand on the guard’s vest. Nile looks into her face.]

Andy: [small head-shake; gaze is direct, but calm and compassionate. speaks quietly]
I go through first.
[Nile huffs, rolls her head]
I always go first.

Nile: [through gritted teeth]
Andy, put on the damn armor.

Andy: It’s like Nicky said. If it’s my time, it’s my time.
[takes spare magazine from guard’s pocket]
If this doesn’t work out, next time, [chin-lift] you go first.

[Nile glowers, but recognizes she won’t sway Andy. She stands and checks both directions of the hallway. Andy remains crouched, but also watching.]

Keane: [whispering, watching the door] What the hell are they waiting for?

[Gunfire breaks one of the plate glass windows that overlooks the city, just before Joe swings into the room on the end of a line. He tucks as he lands, rolls, and comes up aiming his rifle.]

Keane: Shit!

[Joe shoots one of the guards, then takes cover behind a wooden horizontal file cabinet. The guards turn to fire at him just as the door explodes inward.]

[The blast knocks several guards to the floor, but Keane heads immediately toward Joe. As soon as he’s in range, Joe -- still on the floor -- sweeps Keene’s legs with his right leg and kicks him violently as he falls forward.]

[Guards are running through the penthouse, smoke from the explosion billowing around. Andy appears around the doorframe, shoots one, ducks back to avoid return fire. Nile appears, shoots another, ducks back.]

[Guards are shooting, shouting, falling. Nile shoots a guard ducking for cover, then dashes forward with pistol extended, Andy behind her. Nile jumps over a downed guard; they advance to positions against the wall on either side of a short hallway. A guard is shooting at them from cover beyond, but can’t get a good angle.]

[Meanwhile, Joe is beating Keane to a pulp. He lands a hard right under the ribs, a left cross to the face. Another left to the face; Joe’s teeth are bared in a snarl, and Keane is flailing. He throws a wild left punch that Joe easily ducks, then comes up with another right cross to Keane’s face.]

[The guard shooting at Andy and Nile has a jammed rifle. As he drops it and reaches for another weapon, Andy rises, steps around the corner and shoots him left-handed; her right is clutching her wound. Nile follows, covering her right flank, but there’s no one left to shoot. Andy looks up and Nile turns to watch Joe beating up on Keane.]

[Joe throws a hard right punch to Keane’s face. Keane is dazed, head wobbling, barely able to stay on his feet. Joe steps up right in front of him, holds him in place with his left hand at the top of Keane’s vest, speaks in a calm, reasonable voice.]

Joe: You shot Nicky. You shouldn’t have done that.

[In one sudden movement Joe twists, digs his right shoulder into Keane’s chest, grabs his right arm, drops to his right knee while lifting/pulling Keane over his shoulder, throws him down so that his head hits the floor first. The snap of his neck breaking is audible. Joe finishes on both knees, left hand on the floor for support, panting heavily.]

[Booker enters another part of the penthouse, rifle aimed, clearing the hall. Nicky follows, carrying a pistol in each hand, arms crossed to fire in either direction. Booker walks farther, covering a staircase, then the hall again.]

[The effects of the battle hit Andy suddenly; she lets her pistol fall from her left hand, holds her right hand over her wound, staggers forward to clutch for support at the plexiglass barrier at the edge of the balcony over the lower level. Nile follows, stoops to discard her pistol and take another from one of the guards.]

Nicky: [shouts from lower level] The elevator is going down! Merrick is getting away!

[Joe rises in response, starts forward.]

Nile: Go! Go!
[Joe grabs a rifle from the floor, heads out]
I’ll stay with Andy.

[Andy looks down at Booker, on guard on the lower level. It seems that he’d rather stay to protect her, but accepts her silent command with a short nod, turns to follow Nicky and Joe.]

[Andy pushes away from the plexiglass, crosses the room to look down at the street through the giant emptiness where the window used to be. She supports herself against one of the vertical frames with her left hand, while her right still covers her wound. She’s breathing heavily as she looks down into the street below.]

[Nile has a small frown, concerned]
Nile: You okay?

Andy: [blows out a breath]
Yeah, I’m fine.
[sniffs, licks her lips]
It just hurts.
[raises head, breathes out, twists neck left and right with audible cracking, raises left hand behind head, drops it]
[turns toward Nile with small smile]
Actually, everything hurts.
[relaxes, leans left shoulder against window frame, still holding hand against wound]

Nile: Well, wait until tomorrow.

[Nile rolls her eyes as she walks forward, pistol hanging casually from her hand, to stand near the vertical frame at the right side of the window. She faces Andy directly with a small smile.]

Andy: [smiles, chuckles softly] Can’t wait.

[Nile smiles a little wider, then frowns as she looks Andy over, the large and small damages to her body that will now heal slowly, with after-effects that may linger.]

Andy: [watches Nile’s reaction, chin-lift, speaks quietly]
I think you showed up when I lost my immortality.
[licks lips]
So I could see what it was like.
[looks away, out window]
So I could remember.

Nile: Remember?

Andy: Remember what it...
[licks lips, considers]
what it was like to feel unbreakable.
[smiles, laughs gently as she shakes her head]
[turns to face Nile directly]
Remarkable.
[gives Nile a long, level -- compassionate -- gaze]
You reminded me there are people... still worth fighting for.
[Nile takes deep breath. Andy gazes up and out, shakes head, huffs a gentle laugh]
I know how I wanna spend the time I’ve got left.

Nile: [quietly, gently but firmly] You’re gonna spend it with us, Andy.

[Andy smiles at her, just as gently.]

Merrick: You selfish little bitch!
[Nile spins, brings weapon to bear in solid, two-handed grip as soon as they hear Merrick’s voice, but he has pistol aimed at Andy, finger poised on trigger]
I will kill her!
[he slowly advances into room from stairs above, pistol in right hand aimed at Andy, her labrys dangling in left]
[Andy’s face is focused and calculating as she watches him.]
[he walks closer, ignores Nile as he walks past her, focused only on Andy]
All the lives you could save.
[Nile watches Andy from corner of eye, waits for signal, keeps pistol aimed at Merrick]
Don’t you see what we could do here? You are priceless.

Andy: [quietly, calmly] Hey, Nile.
[Nile turns head fraction of inch toward Andy, back to Merrick, keeps aim on him, waits for a chance]
[Andy has glint in her eye, hint of a smile on her lips]
Do you think he speaks Russian?

[Nile flicks her eyes to Andy, back to Merrick, evaluates, then whips around and shoots in Andy’s direction. Andy drops as Merrick turns and shoots Nile, who grunts as she falls against the window frame. Andy rolls toward Merrick, grabs her labrys from his hand, spins as she rises, lifting the labrys high, then sinks it into his Merrick’s left shoulder beside his neck.]

[Merrick cries out and starts to bring his gun to bear on Andy. Nile gasps as she desperately pushes herself up from the floor, flings herself between Merrick and Andy just as he fires, slaps his gun hand down and launches herself at him, arms around his body. The momentum carries them out the broken window, both screaming as they hurtle toward the ground, 20(?) stories below.]

Nile: SHIIIIIIIIIIIIT!

[Just before they hit, Nile curls her body, trying to use Merrick to absorb the impact. They land on the roof of a car, which collapses under the impact, and disappear inside.]

Andy: [quietly, looking down] Play dead, motherfucker. [turns to leave]

[Interior of car, view of the rear seat. One of Nile’s boots is propped against the backrest; the leg inside is obviously broken and misaligned. Air hisses from the exploded airbag.]

[Nicky runs from the nearby door, followed by Booker. Nicky stops beside the car and looks down. Nile’s body is lying on her left side on the back seat, broken and twisted, and blood is spattered across the backrest. Her extended left hand rests on Merrick’s body in the foot-well, the fingers twisted and bent at impossible angles.]

Nicky: Nile?
[looks at her through side window ]
[Booker -- and Joe behind him -- also look in. Booker turns to look up the height of the building, back in the window.]
[Nicky smiles gently]
Hey.
[Nile begins breathing, then groans, eyes closing in pain, as bones audibly crackle, her body starts twisting back into alignment.]
She’s okay.

[Nile brings left hand forward, stares as fingers visibly reposition themselves.]

[Joe stands behind Nicky and Booker, also watching Nile’s reintegration. Booker grabs the handle, tries to pull the car door open, but the displacement of the frame has wedged it into place; Nicky grabs the doorframe to help pull, and the door finally opens.]

Booker: Come on. [leans in to the car]

Joe: [gazes up the height of the building] Faster than the elevator.

[Nile grunts, groans, and gasps as she starts maneuvering herself out of the car. She keeps her left hand raised to avoid hitting it against anything as it continues to heal.]

Nicky: It’s okay, Nile.

Nile: [pauses, sits at edge of seat next to open door, jerks head in emphasis. speaks softly but fervently] Ow!

Booker: Give me your hand.

[Nile reaches out with her now-healed left hand, grabs the handle of Andy’s labrys, starts to slide out.]

[Andy has exited the building, walks calmly toward the group. Her jacket is zipped closed (to hide her bloody shirt?). As Nile steps from the car, Joe heads past Andy toward the back end. Booker pulls Nile’s right arm over his shoulders to help her stand; Nicky also helps with his hand under her left arm. Nile winces as she takes a limping step, then straightens as all three wait. Andy stops in front of them, looks Nile over, seems proud as she gives a slight smile and tiny nod.]

[Despite the blood on her face, Nile seems calm, composed. She huffs and stands straighter as Booker and Nicky let go her arms. Left hand strong around the handle, she holds the labrys out to Andy, who takes it. Andy’s eyes relax as she continues to watch Nile. Her smile grows broad as she extends her right hand to clasp Nile at the nape of her neck, then claps her on the shoulder and puts her arm around Nile's back as they walk. Nicky reaches out to touch Andy’s back before he turns toward their Audi, waiting directly behind the car that Nile fell into.]

Booker: Let’s go.

“Silence” by Marshmello ft. Khalid begins playing
Yeah, I’d rather be a lover than a fighter, fighter,
‘Cause all my life, I’ve been fighting.
Never felt a feeling of comfort, oh
And all this time, I’ve been hiding, hiding.
And I never had someone to call my own, oh no,
I’m so used to sharing, sharing.
Love only left me alone,
But I’m at one with the silence.

I found peace in your violence
Can’t show me there's no point in trying
I'm at one, and I’ve been silent for so long.
I’ve been quiet for so long.
I’ve been quiet for so long.
I’m at one, and I've been quiet for so long.

[Booker opens the boot as Nicky opens the right rear door and slides in. Joe slides into the front passenger (left) seat as Andy puts her labrys in the boot and Nile continues around the rear of the car, then comes forward. Andy gets into the driver’s seat (right) as Booker gets in the back seat behind her. Nile opens the rear left door then pauses, gazing up at the height from which she fell. Her mouth firms as her eyes drop to the ruined car in front of the Audi. She takes a visible breath, then slides into the car.]

[Andy drives the car away, with Joe in the seat beside her. Behind them a crowd gathers around the ruined car as police cars speed to the scene, sirens wailing. The crowd grows larger, with people using their cellphones to take pictures.]

1:48:10 minutes

[Looking over the Thames, a view of older buildings along the water-front, with newer, high-rise buildings behind. Camera pans in to a very old, very small (compared to the building next to it), white-painted, three-story building with ground-floor and first-floor balconies overlooking the water. Booker leans on the railing of the ground-floor balcony, looking out toward the river.]

[The building is a pub. The sign inside reads:]
The flagstone floor of this
bar has been trodden by the
widest variety of patrons
over 500 years.

Pewter-top bars were
commonplace in the 19th Century,
but this is one of the few that
has survived 20th Century
‘modernisation’ and is thought
to be the longest in
Great Britain.

[Nile and Joe on one side, Andy and Nicky on the other, sit at a table in a corner against the wall, next to a window. Booker is visible through the window, looking out over the water, holding a glass of whiskey. Nicky leans into the discussion as Joe gestures vehemently and Andy looks thoughtful. Joe turns away from the discussion as Nicky turns to Andy. Nile looks out at Booker’s bowed head, watches as he lifts his glass to drink.]

Booker: [turns head as Nile approaches] How’s it going?

Nile: [stands beside him, back to river, looking into pub]
They’re still deciding.
[leans back against the railing]

Booker: [looks at her, turns his back to river, leans against railing next to her]
There’s not much to decide. It’s not like they can kill me.
[lifts his glass, drinks again]

[View into pub window; Joe has turned his head, watching them, resting his chin on his hand, a moderate scowl on his face. Andy’s hands are clasped in front of her, gaze unfocused.]

Booker: [holds Joe’s gaze for a moment, then looks down]
[Nile is turning her phone in her hands]
Oh, she gave it back?

Nile: Yeah.
[takes a breath]
Talked to Copley.
[turns to Booker]
Said he could fix it. Make it look like I was killed in action.
[nods gently to herself]
My family will mourn, but, uh...
[huffs an exhale, tiny shrug, head-shake]
...they’ll be able to move on.
[tiny nod]
It’s just like what we did with my dad.
[sighs, turns to look out over the water. voice wavers]
I just really want to hear my mom’s voice one more time.

Booker: [looks down, pauses, turns to lean next to Nile]
You’re a good kid, Nile.
[looks at her, speaks earnestly]
You’re gonna be great for the team.

[Nile looks at him, then back over the river.]

[View in pub window. Andy is watching them, face calm, but with a tiny frown-wrinkle between her eyes. Beside her, Nicky’s head is bowed.]

[Camera pans out. Booker is on the riverbank, looking out over the water. Andy comes down the steps from the pub. She walks over, stands to his left, speaks without looking at him.]

Andy: There’s gotta be a price.
[Booker nods, very slightly]
[Andy closes her eyes; she looks like it hurts]
One hundred years from today, they’ll meet you here.
[nods slightly, turns head to look at him]
Till then you’re alone.

Booker: [pauses, blinks, takes a breath]
I hoped for less, but...
[swallows, nods, flicks eyes in her direction]
I expected more.

Andy: Nile was gonna let you off with an apology.

[Booker snorts a laugh as he smiles. Andy smiles and chuckles.]

Booker: [fond head-shake, still smiling] Just give her some time.

Andy: [looks out over water, her face sad, turns to him]
I’m gonna miss you.

[Booker glances at her, away, nods slightly, glances back, turns and draws her into a desperate hug. Andy clings tightly as he lays his chin on her shoulder and she leans into the side of his neck, check-to-cheek. His right hand comes up to stroke the back of her head, then slides down to the nape of her neck before he lets her go.]

Booker: [breathes, looks into her eyes, tiny head-shake, eyes shift away, back to her]
Um... I won’t see you again.

Andy: [inhales, tiny chin-lift, reaches out, grabs his upper left arm, shakes it gently]
Have a little faith, Book.

[Booker watches Andy walk away. Nile, Joe, and Nicky are waiting for her on the pub’s stairs. As she reaches the stairs they turn and start up, Nicky first, then Nile. Joe puts a gentle hand to her back as he lets Andy go after Nile, then follows. As he walks, Joe turns to look over his shoulder. Booker is watching them go. He nods to Joe’s look, takes a deep breath and turns away.]

“Cruel World” by Active Child begins playing
I dedicate my life
To something richer
And all the things that come
‘Cause that’s no price at all
And I know you’ll be there
And I want you to know I care because
Keep your head up Hold your head up
Even though it’s a cruel world
Count your blessings
You won’t need them when you’re gone
It’s a cruel world
You can’t see it
You can’t see it
Even though it’s a cruel world...

1:52:03 minutes

[Nicky, with hands clasped behind him, Andy, with arms crossed, and Joe, with arms hanging loose, are ranged in front of Copley’s bulletin board-wall, examining all the information, often with parts circled or underlined in red, many with Post-it Notes attached, with comments hand-written in red. Nile sits/leans against the back of a chair behind them. Copley stands farther back, arms crossed, allowing them space.]

[Photo of Joe and Nicky in plaid shirts, rescuing a young man; Post-it with red ink reads: ‘Joe & Nicky 1968’.]
[A college I.D card, 1992-93, with Nicky’s face; ID# 62773884?, Birth 4/8/197?, signed N. Smith.]
[Nicky gazes at these artifacts, expressionless.]

[Below the label of TURKEY, a photo of five men in local clothing; a slightly enlarged section shows only two of the men, with their heads circled in red. Post-it reads: ‘Crimean War 1953 Joe & Nicky?’]
[Beside the label of CUBA, a photo of five men resting, all holding rifles. Post-it reads: ‘Cuba Revolution 1956-1957 Booker, Nicky & Joe’’.]
[Copy of I.D card with Joe’s face, with the name Joseph Jones, Deutsch, from Frankfurt and/or Hamburg. Dates are 02.01.1956 and 01.09.2014 and 31.08.2024.]
[Joe looks stunned at the amount of information collected.]

Copley: [quietly] This is only what I’ve found going back the last hundred and fifty years or so.

[Photo of one of Martin Luther King’s speeches; the enlarged view of a woman with sunglasses and long blonde hair looks like Andy; the two men nearby could be Nicky and Joe.]
[Under a headline ‘Taste of Freedom’, photo of Andy, circled in red, reaching down to help someone up. Post-it reads: ‘Andy Berlin ‘89’.]
[Photo of woman squatting with very young child on her knee, offering food to the child, connected with red string to news-clip picture of woman aviator pioneer. Post-it reads: ‘Saved by Andy 1918’. Headline reads: ‘RECOGNITION FOR PIONEER AVIATRIX’, sub-title is ‘A Legion of Honour is Awarded to the French Hero for Her Valiant Efforts during World War II’.]
[Andy quietly views the displayed information.]

Copley: When you think about how old you are,
[Andy blinks, bows head slightly]
the good you’ve done for humanity becomes... exponential.

Nile: [softly] Maybe this is the why, Andy.

[Andy looks toward Nicky, who gives her a tiny smile, and Joe, who drops his eyes and bows his head.]

Andy: [speaks softly, without looking at Copley]
It’s nearly impossible to disappear in the world we live in today.
[flicks eyes up toward the gathered information]
There are too many people like you
[quick glance toward him; Copley’s eyes flick down]
who can bend it to your will. Too many with bad intentions.
[takes measured breath as she shifts,]
We don’t have all the answers, but we do have purpose.
[turns and looks directly at him]
And you’re going to help us.
[Nile quietly stands]
[Andy prowls toward Copley, one deliberate step after another]
[voice remains soft, but firm and commanding]
When we leave a footprint in the sand, in the snow, in the ether,
[drops her arms to her side]
you’re going to sweep it.
[Nile, Nicky, and Joe move forward at Andy’s pace]
You’re going to protect us from those who want to put us in cages, and you’re gonna help us find those jobs...
[they range behind Andy, presenting a united front]
that are best suited to us.
[Copley swallows]

Joe: [flatly, warning] She’s not asking.

Copley: [recognizes warning, nods slightly, eyes steady]
I’d be honored.

Andy: [nods] Then let’s go to work.

[She turns to gaze over her team, smiling. Turns back to Copley, still smiling, but with an unswerving assurance.]

1:53:45 minutes

THE OLD GUARD shows on screen, white letters on black.

SIX MONTHS LATER shows on screen, over the sound of sirens wailing. Aerial view of apartment (?) buildings, with Eifel Tower in the distance.

PARIS shows on screen

[View of Booker’s back as he approaches a door; an almost-empty bottle of whiskey dangles loosely from his right hand. As he steps inside the door, the bottle drops and shatters. He curses in French and kicks/sweeps the glass aside with his foot. He walks a few steps forward to a staircase, turns and sits on the third step, his head bowed as he sighs. He pauses, takes a deep breath, uses his hands on bannister and wall to pull himself up, then turns to a door at his left, keys in hand.]

[The door isn’t latched, and gives at the pressure of the key; Booker pushes it open and steps into the space, pistol extended and aimed.]

[A female figure in a red coat is pouring water from a glass bottle into a drinking glass. She doesn’t flinch or react at Booker’s sudden entrance. When the glass is half-full, she pauses.]

Woman: Booker.
[sets bottle aside as he continues into room, keeping pistol aimed]
It’s nice to finally meet you.

[As she raises her glass to drink, we see that it’s Quynh. She lowers her glass and watches Booker calmly, highlighted by the sun coming through the window behind her, while he maintains a steady aim at her from across the room.]

1:54:50 minutes

End credits roll over views of Copley’s bulletin board and the collected information. (Listed below lyrics.)

“Baby Outlaw” by Elle King begins playing

I’ve been runnin’ since the day I was born
I’m the definition of worn
Shed a tear for each soul set free
But that’s what happens when you dance with me
Pity the man that stands in my way
I’m a nightmare, even in the day
I’d be wise with which words you say
‘Cause they could be the last breath you take
Go ahead, baby, tell me

Well I ain’t nobody’s baby
Baby, I’m an outlaw
Call me a criminal maybe
Baby, I’m an outlaw
You know I ain’t evil but I ain’t a saint
Can’t help it, I was born this way
Oh baby, outlaw
Ooh baby, I’m an outlaw

I was cornered in the desert by a man
He took the pistol right from my hand
As he put it to my temple, I asked
“Do you think it’s gonna be that simple?
See, I got a bullet for a tooth and
I’m gonna use it to shoot you.”
Even though you got a gun to my head
You’ll be the one that ends up dead
Go ahead, baby, tell me

Well I ain’t nobody’s baby
Baby, I’m an outlaw
Call me a criminal maybe
Baby, I’m an outlaw
You know I ain’t evil but I ain’t a saint
Can’t help it, I was born this way
Yeah, baby, outlaw
Ooh baby, I’m an outlaw

You know I ain’t evil but I ain’t a saint
Can’t help it, I was born this way
Yeah, baby, outlaw
Little baby, outlaw

Identifiable Photos / Pictures / Headlines Across Copley’s Boards

Note: #1 I have zero knowledge of art history, or historical illustrations. If someone can identify any of these, and/or give context, I’ll include the information in this list.

Note: #2 Either Copley or Props department isn’t as organized as they should be. Same headline (Man Sacrifices Himself) appears in two places on the board, in the same shot. The fingerprints appear twice -- once with Nicky’s pictures, once without; same scene, but different shot.

COUNTRIES LISTED ACROSS THE BOARD:
America, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Cambodia, Cuba, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Mexico, Montenegro, Nepal, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Sudan, Vietnam

WHILE COPLEY EXPLAINS TO NILE

Label: MONTENEGRO. Three articles underneath with red tape around them. Headlines: ‘MYSTERY HEROES SAVE FAMILY’ and ‘REFUGEE FAMILY SAFE’ and ‘Montenegro Refugee’s Saved by Woman’s Actions. Over 200 Women And Children Diverted to Safety in Act of Heroism’. Red strings lead to photo of a woman (hairstyle, shirt style suggests 1940's or 50's?), captioned: “HIGHLY RESPECTED AND TRUSTED”. It’s paired with a news-clip headline -- DAUGHTER OF MIGRANT FAMILY NAMED HEAD OF MEDICINE. (highlighted) Subheadline: Eleanor Hamble, a physician-??? noted for her commitment in the field, has been named the new head of medicine.

Small picture of Nicky, face-on, with short, spiky hair.

Small picture of Joe, face-on, with beard and shorter hair than current.

Red label: VIETNAM. Photo of three soldiers attached -- two in background wearing gear and helmets, one in foreground, shirtless, bandage around chest. It’s below a headline: HUNDREDS SAVED FROM KHMER ROUGE DEATH CAMP. Illustration on article is a mass of human skulls.

Headline: (partially obscured) -ing Dismantled Following Gang War.

Two enlarged fingerprints on yellow notecard.

Very small pictures -- 4 angles of same occasion -- of a woman who might be Andy. She’s wearing a dark tank-top shirt, a ballcap pull low on her forehead, and large sunglasses. Her hair is lighter, hangs halfway down her neck.

Photo of the painting Nile saw in the mine -- a woman in clothes from an earlier time -- Andy -- with long hair, standing with a black man behind her, holding her with his arm around her waist.

Photo of Nicky, profile, longer hair, above the blowups of two fingerprints.

Photo of Nicky, full face, short spiky hair, beside blowups of two fingerprints.

Headline: MADRID CONQUEST

Label: SPAIN. Headline: Case of The Death Defying Couple Remains Unsolved.

Label: AUSTRALIA. Headline: How the War is Waging in Far-away Gallipoli. Picture is a group of 12-15 men in old-time soldier gear. Connected by red string to larger picture of Andy with short hair and flat hat carrying a man over her shoulder. Post-it reads in red: Saved by Andy in 1915.

Label: POLAND. Headline: Man Sacrifices His Life to Save Bus Full of Children. (Same headline is placed near another label: ITALY.)

Label: GERMANY. Headline: Mystery of "Death Cheat" (highlighted) Woman. No article attached.

Headline: Cambodian Rescue. Reports Of 4 Mask-. From Khmer Rouge D-.

SCROLLING ACROSS BOARDS DURING END CREDITS

Picture of mosaic art, of woman with double-bladed war-ax on horseback, swinging at armored soldier on horseback, with shield.

Front of a theatre playbill reads: ANDROMAQVE (circled in red) TRAGEDIE.

A xerox-enlarged copy of an ancient coin (?) --a bordered circle with woman’s head inside and ‘ANDROMACHA’ along the circle’s border, with ‘HETC.VX’ below it, marked with red star.

List of changes in spelling of Andromache’s name through time and place -- Latin, Greek, Russian, Armenian, Farsi, Arabic.

Section of ancient map, mountain ranges drawn, with an open area between them labeled Scythia (circled in red).

Photo of a bronze, double-bladed war-ax, etched/incised with decorative designs.

Aerial view of ancient walled city, with an article mounted below it: July 15, 2019. Headline: ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER EVIDENCE OF CRUSADER SIEGE OF 1099 (circled in red). Caption reads: Almost a thousand years ago, Crusaders breached Jerusalem and conquered the walled city of Fatimid. Now archaeologists have found a chronicled moat that to many scholars had seemed a myth. It is the first archaeological proof of a historically chronicled Crusader siege conducted by Raymond of Saint-Gilles on the Fatimid-controlled city, which ended on July 15th, 1099. by Artefacts News. Post-it reads in red: Nicky & Joe

A picture of a painting of two differently-armored men fighting with swords and shields on horseback, with a female figure floating in the air above/in front of them.

A picture of a stylized illustration of a Crusader on a white horse, using a lance to kill a Muslim on a brown horse. The article mounted below reads: THE FIRST CRUSADE CHRISTIANS VS. MUSLIMS The Accounts of Eye-Witnesses and Participants 1099 is hand-written in red.

Picture of a painting of two men on horseback, face-to-face. The lighter-skinned man on the white horse is gazing directly at the darker-skinned man, who seems to return his gaze. Printed label reads: The 6th Crusade - 1228

Picture of a light-on-dark illustration (originally a woodcut ?) of a figure on horseback, carrying a lance, with a figure on foot behind, holding high a banner with the Crusader cross on it. Title of illustration is ‘HEROINES OF THE CRUSADES’.

Headline: A STASH OF NAPOLEON-ERA GOLD COINS Found by Metal Detectors. ‘Forgery?’ is scrawled in red under headline.

Headline: Medal is Memento of Napoleon’s March on Moscow. It partially covers a picture of two soldiers on horseback in Napoleonic uniforms, and two other non-uniformed figures on horseback.

Picture of a painting several soldiers in Napoleonic uniforms standing/sitting around outside a building with the door torn off; their postures suggest they’re drunk. One man standing and drinking from a bottle is labeled ‘Booker?’ in red. Attached News-clip reads: THE NAPOLEONIC WARS - 1812 MOSCOW BURNS DURING THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN

Note: Those 3 Napoleon articles are grouped together, with (a copy of?) one of the gold coins hanging at the juncture.

Post-it to left of that group reads: Booker? 1812. Attached to unidentifiable map, but may refer to the forgery group.

Photo of a woman in clothing that looks like northern Civil War uniform on top, full skirt on bottom, with a sword at her left hip.

Photo of 6 soldiers, 3 sitting, 3 standing, holding long rifles. One bearded man standing could be Joe. Printed label reads: The Crimean War, 1853.

Headline: THE HAITIAN REVOLUTION CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 1804 - 1904 (circled in red) A Century of Freedom. Red string connects to a fuzzy picture with a figure in a street circled and ‘?’ next to it. Post-it reads in red: Prevented a Coup d’État in 1904?

Copy of cover of AMERICAN CIVIL WAR DIGEST. Headline of article: Newly Discovered Photographs Reveal The Horrors Of The Civil War. Subheading: The photos bring new insight into the lives of civil war soldiers and officers. Caption reads: An album of photographs dating back to the 1860s recently found in the attic of an old demolished house illustrates one of the bloodiest pages in the history of the United States. It’s attached to a photo of six people in front of a tent -- Nicky, Joe, Andy are recognizable. Three men + Andy are in Union uniform; Nicky and Joe are not, and look rougher -- maybe scouts?

Printed label: WORLD WAR I (1914 - 1918 (circled in red))

Photo of a group of WWI soldiers. (The bearded man in front might be Joe, but the man next to him is definitely not Nicky or Booker.)

Photo of a bearded soldier (Joe?) (WWI? Earlier?) holding the hands of 2 little girls; the youngest is circled in red. The circle is connected to a picture and news-clip headline: Youngest Laureate for Nobel Prize in Medicine. Article begins: PARIS, FRANCE -- Marie-Helene Varte last Friday said the Nobel Prize for Medicine will inspire her to “continue my efforts in the great cause of ending the pain and suffering that diseases such as polio cause in children.” Announcement of the award to Dr. Varte, a French doctor and medical scientist, was announced in Oslo, (rest is cut off.)

Photo with printed label: ‘Irun, 1936 (The Spanish War)’ shows a group of 9 men (5 facing camera) next to a wall of sandbags. A man at edge of picture, with face circled in red, could be Nicky.

Photo of 2 men & 1 woman (+ 4 men grouped to the side) standing in a street, with a poster pinned to it -- the Arc de Triomph, titled: FRENCH RESISTANCE, 1944. The woman might be Andy.

Photo of a long line of WWII soldiers marching. Printed label reads: WORLD WAR II (1939-1945). The 5th man from the front of the line is circled in red, with ‘Nicky’ written beside it.

Photo of bearded man (maybe Joe?, maybe Booker?) in miner’s (?) clothing, carrying a rescued man over his shoulder.

Photo of Nicky on his knee, Red Cross patch on his sleeve, tending to/helping a little boy. Red circle around the boy and a line leads to cover of magazine, ‘The World of Science Today’, with heading: DNA PROFILING. Subheading: French Scientist to get Institut Pasteur Medal For Pioneering Work With DNA -- pg 30.

Photo of Joe with a group of children. Headline of news-clip below reads: Mystery Saviors in the Democratic Republic of Congo. One child circled in red leads to article titled: Young Hip Hop Activist is Changing the DRC. Posted 8 July, 2018.

Photos of atom-bomb blast-columns, with hand-written labels in red: ‘Hiroshima Aug 6’. ‘Nagasaki Aug 9’. ‘What was next???’ String leads to copy of letter: TOP SECRET MEMORANDUM TO: Chief of Staff. The next bomb of the implosion ty- (cut off) scheduled to be ready for delivery on the t- (cut off) Red letters scrawled above ‘the next bomb’ -- ‘DID THEY STOP IT?’

White-on-black poster (?) bumper sticker (?): PEACE!!! Below are news-clip headlines layered on top of each other -- ‘THIS IS DER TAG’ and ‘GERMANY WAKES OUT OF DREAM OF EMPIRE’ and ‘GREATEST WAR IN HISTORY OF THE -’ and ‘PEACE’ and ‘SIGN TREATY’ and ‘GERMANS AFFIX SIGNATURES TO COMPACT IN PRESENCE OF ENVOYS FROM 20 NATIONS’. Clipped article at bottom starts: ‘PRESIDENT WILSON’S CABLED MESSAGE TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE:’ “The treaty of peace has been signed. If it is ratified and acted upon in full and sincere execution of its terms it will furnish the charter for a new order of affairs in the world. It is a severe treaty in the duties and penalties it imposes upon Germany, but it is severe only because great wrongs done by Germany are to be righted and repaired; it imposes nothing that Germany cannot do, and she can regain her rightful standing in the world by the prompt and honorable fulfillment of its terms. And it is much more than a treaty -” (cut off).

Photo of civil rights protests, next to a photo of Martin Luther King, Jr. Various signs read: ‘End Segregated Rules in Public Schools’ and ‘We Demand Voting Rights Now’ and ‘Jobs for All Now!’, Man’s face in the middle of the crowd is circled in red, with NICKY! written below.

Photo labeled: Operation Babylift 1975 (archival print). Blonde woman in foreground is carrying a toddler. Behind her, Andy (circled in red) is helping a little boy, circled in red. Circle is connected to headline: ANGEL INVESTOR HELPS AMPUTEE CHILDREN IN ASIA.

Printed label: BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA. Photo of 6 - 8 men in military fatigues and helmets; 2 have Red Cross emblems on their arms. The man at the head of the stretcher might be Joe. Caption under picture reads: UN TO HOLD EMERGENCY MEETING ON SARAJEVO SIEGE.

Photo of Andy’s labrys.

Computer monitor shows scenes from Merrick’s lab facilities, including Nile dead in hall and Nile coming around a corner with a rifle and the labrys case. The cursor clicks on that one, which enlarges. The ticky-box asks: Permanently Erase This Item? Cursor clicks Erase.

1:57:25 minutes

The End

Netflix Disclaimer: This transcript is for educational use only. Not to be sold or auctioned.

NOTE: Over on Tumblr, user Yumekuimono has gleaned every scrap of information from Copley’s board to produce A Timeline of The Old Guard’s Involvement in World History -- “AKA: Every Bit of Text on Copley’s Sociogram That Was Ever In-Focus Enough for Me to Decipher (With Supplemental Googling to Confirm Some Dates), Arranged in Vaguely Chronological Order”

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I’m still obsessed by The Old Guard movie; I want to remember All The Words, as well as facial expressions, actions, reactions, and be able to refer back to them. My reading memory is better than my visual memory, so I looked for a transcript. Netflix very helpfully provided a transcript, (which seems to be no longer available), but it included only dialogue and time-stamps -- none of the information I really want. No problem; I’m an honorary daughter of ‘The Little Red Hen’; I decided to do it myself. finished, I decided to share it with fandom. Maybe someone else will find it useful for writing fic, or just to satisfy their inner obsessive fan-girl. (Yes, guilty!)

As I watched the movie and added descriptions around the Netflix-provided dialogue which I had pasted into Word, I drew heavily on my theater background -- one of my two college minors, plus several years on stage and behind the scenes at our local community theater -- which tells me that every movement and facial expression is important. I tried to describe those accurately, but [a] I’m shit at facial expressions and [b] I know little of fighting, and had difficulty following the action. If you see something that I missed, or if you think I interpreted a movement or action inaccurately -- please let me know. Honest; I’m serious about this! I don’t bite, and I really, really want this transcript to be as accurate as possible; I appreciate any help you care to offer. Even if it’s just a typo, or a mistake in formatting, sing out! Hell, during my first beta, I found two places where I called Booker, ‘Nile’. I don’t even know.

comments

Old Guard script: bold red names, blue descriptions Part 2

2021-08-23T03:15:20Z

The End

Old Guard script: regular red names, blue descriptions Part 2

2021-08-23T03:04:21Z

[Interior of une pharmacie. Andy carries a shopping hand-basket, walks by a selection of nail-care items, indicated by the manicure advertisement over the shelf. She scans the shelves as she walks, then stops as she reaches the first-aid section. The clerk, a dark-haired woman, looks up, watches.]

[Andy bends to examine items she’s never had to use. She looks back and forth across the many possibilities, then straightens to eye the clerk with a slight frown. The clerk looks down, away from Andy.]

[Andy starts putting items in her basket almost at random, sliding three different tubes of cream or salve from the top of a shelf, a package of this, a plastic bag of that, a box of bandaids. She finishes by grabbing several chocolate bars and tossing them into the basket.]

[Andy plops the basket on the checkout counter without speaking. The clerk looks up at her (Andy is several inches taller) with a flick of her eyes, also without speaking, then opens a plastic bag to load the items as she scans them. Andy hears a police siren and turns, but it fades in the distance and she turns back toward the clerk.]

Andy: [with low-key intensity] Do you have a bathroom?

Clerk: [stares a moment] No.
[Andy looks down, mouth tightens, looks up as checkout continues]
[clerk notices Andy’s reaction, considers what she sees]
But we have a storeroom. [pauses] Do you need help?

[Andy just looks at her, seems lost and confused.]

[Storeroom. Andy has slipped her coat and shirt off her right shoulder; the wound is about two inches (5cm) long and gaping open a quarter-inch (.5cm) wide; it looks ragged and raw, and is red and inflamed.]

[Andy breathes deeply and clenches her jaw while she clutches her right coat-sleeve with her left hand as the clerk dabs the wound with a cotton ball; the medicine obviously stings. As the clerk finishes the cleaning, Andy turns to look at the wound, then quickly turns away.]

Clerk: [opens a package of steri-strips]
Stitches would be better, but... this will help.
[carefully pulls the wound closed with steri-strips]

Andy: [quietly, with tiny head-shake] You haven’t asked.

Clerk: [meets Andy’s eyes, equally quiet]
Your business is yours. You need help. What does it matter why? Today, I put this on your wound. Tomorrow... you help someone up when they fall.
[Andy closes eyes, bows head slightly]
We’re not meant to be alone.
[Andy watches her face, considering her words]
There.
[Andy looks at shoulder; strips are covered by a pad, held on by a broad adhesive patch]
This should do.

Andy: [shrugs into shirt and coat, whispers] Thank you.

[The clerk looks up, gives her a twitch of a smile, closes the medicine bottle.]

[Street scene. Andy walks slowly to the car, looking warily around as she goes. She unlocks it and gets in, then sits, remembering.]

Quynh: Andromache, help me!
[hands press down on gaping, bloody wound low on Lykon’s stomach]
Why won’t it stop?
[flash of Lykon’s face, strained, Quynh’s face, frantic]

Andromache: [face streaked with blood and dirt, panting]
This can’t be happening.

Quynh: [Quynh’s face, blood-spattered, gazing down fearfully]
Lykon! No...

Lykon: [muttering, blood slides from corner of mouth, shakes with pain]
It’s time.

Andromache: It’s impossible. [shakes head, breathes deeply]

Lykon: It... it’s time.

[Andromache stares at his face as Quynh sobs frantically and Lykon’s eyes glaze over.]

[Andy sits motionless in the car, gazing through the windshield into the darkness.]

1:13:27 minutes

[Monitor beeping. Camera pans up a blue hospital drape, over a man’s bare chest with smears of blood and cardiac sensors attached, to Joe’s face. He seems unconscious or dead.]

[Copley and Merrick are in some kind of supply and/or storage room -- shelving units, banks of drawers, etc.]

Copley: How long will the testing take?

Merrick: Until we have results we can replicate.

[Nicky is securely strapped -- arms, legs, and midsection -- to a lab bed/examination table, so that he cannot move or escape. He has smears of blood on his chest and the side of his neck, a blood--pressure cuff on his right arm, an oximeter on his right index finger, and cardiac sensors on his chest. Kozak is pushing a long thin probe into the right side of his abdomen. He grits his teeth and grunts in pain, neck tense as he strains against the straps, but he doesn’t cry out. The speed of the beeping increases.]

Kozak: [dispassionately] Do you feel the wound trying to close?

[Camera pans past medical tray with chunks of bloody tissue laying on sterile cloths, as well as capped pill-bottle-sized containers with other samples surrounded by liquid.]

Copley: [arms crossed as he watches Merrick across the room]
You don’t need them for that. You’ve got the samples, blood, tissue, DNA.

Merrick: [strolls toward Copley, unconcerned]
Well you know the concept of proprietary data -- and they’re the product.
[Copley stares, frowning]
They go in the vault, they stay there under lock and key.

Copley: For... ever? [shakes head as frown increases]

Merrick: [firmly, sure of his rightness]
We can’t have them strolling back out into the world, into my competitors’ laps. If this takes years -- maybe decades --
[intensely, more fervently]
what does it matter to them? If we can unlock their genetic code, the world will be begging us for the key.

Kozak: [pulls probe from Nicky with chunk of tissue at the end, watches hole close up, runs hand over his skin]
Huh! Remarkable.

Nicky: [breathes heavily, opens eyes to look at her; voice quiet, slightly hoarse]
You will not be able to give him what he wants.

Kozak: You think I go too far?
[picks up syringe]
That I am unethical?
[uses it to push chunk of Nicky’s liver (?) off probe, into empty vial]

Nicky: I would say immoral.

Kozak: [closes vial, looks at him]
I believe this can change the world.

Nicky: [quietly] A fine justification. I’ve heard it so many times before.

[Nicky stares levelly at her as she studies him. She huffs with a small, self-satisfied smile, turns and walks away.]

[Joe revives with an indrawn gasp; Nicky turns his head to him as Joe tries and fails to dislodge his restraints; he grunts and groans with the effort. Joe subsides, breathing heavily, turns his head to his right, to see Nicky on the bed next to his. As soon as he does, his eyes widen as he registers the doctor standing near Nicky, but she’s already moving. Joe lifts his head to watch her walk past them out of the room, then drops his head on the pillow with a sigh.]

Nicky: [watches Joe, smiling] As much as I like watching you sleep, I’m glad you’re awake.

Joe: [turns to Nicky, purses lips in thought] Bedhead?

Nicky: [laughs] Nicely tousled.

[Joe tries to shift position, but the restraints don’t allow even that easement. He sighs.]

Nicky: [staring at the ceiling] Do you know, I was thinking about Malta.

Joe: [turns to Nicky] What time in Malta?
[Nicky turns to Joe, simply gazes with a small smile. a beat, then Joe grins.]
Oh, that time in Malta.
[grin widens as he laughs, shaking head]

Nicky: [smile fades, stares upward, speaks quietly]
Dovremmo ritornarci. (We should go back there.)

Joe: [softly, watching Nicky as his smile also fades]
Sarebbe bello. (That would be nice.)

[Kozak walks back into the room.]

1:15:37 minutes

[In the mine, the fire is burning low; Booker and Nile are asleep on opposite sides of the fire. Nile twitches. Flash of the Afghani man Nile shot crying out and falling. Nile startles awake, breathing heavily; she sits halfway up and looks around to see Booker still asleep. Nile sits all the way up, deliberately breathes deeply and slowly, trying to calm herself.]

[Outside, very early, shortly after dawn. Andy is propped (sitting/leaning) against the hood of the car, very relaxed, one ankle crossed over the other. She’s eating one of the chocolate bars and looking at something in her right hand. She looks up as she hears a rustle of brush; Nile comes out of the mine, breathing deeply. Nile has put on her jacket, and she exits quickly. Her stance suggests that she wants to run, but Nile stops when she sees Andy, sighs, and turns to her.]

Andy: [looks down at hand, turns it to show Nile cellphone with picture on it]
Your mom and brother?

Nile: You have my phone!
[hurries forward to grab it, but stops, uncertain of Andy’s response]

[Andy holds out the phone. Nile takes it quickly, then sits/leans on the hood to Andy’s left, staring at the picture. Her mom is leaning into her brother’s right shoulder, apparently half a head shorter than her son. Both are wearing glasses and smiling widely. The time shows ‘06:31 Sunday, April 21’.]

Andy: Where’s your father?

Nile: [turns to her, speaks quietly]
Killed in action when I was eleven.
[Andy nods. Nile unlocks phone, scrolls through pictures, stops]
Here...
[moves closer, shows Andy a handsome man posing in Marine dress blues]
My mom, she was drowning after he died. South Side of Chicago, a million different ways we coulda went left. [nods gently] She fought for us. Never backed down.
[Andy raises her eyes to watch Nile’s face]
[Nile has a small smile as she glances at Andy]
Never let us back down either.

Andy: [quietly approving] You come from warriors.

Nile: [looks at her, accepting] Yeah. I do.

Andy: [nods, looks away, gazes outward]
I can’t remember what my mother looked like. Or my sisters.
[small headshake, slight huff]
None of them.

Nile: [has watched Andy, sympathetic, now looks away]
Time steals it all away, I guess.

Andy: [small huff as she bows head, thoughtful]
It’s not what time steals...
[Nile turns to stare]
it’s what it leaves behind.
[Andy gazes outward]
Things you can’t forget. I gave up searching for her.
[eyes close in pain]
I made Quynh a promise and I broke it.
[slight head-shake as mouth firms, nods slightly]
I’m getting Joe and Nicky back.
[deep breath]
Whatever it takes.

Nile: ‘Whatever it takes’? [turns head to watch Andy]

Andy: [looks at Nile directly, quietly resolute] Yes.

Booker: [out of sight] Guys, I found something.
[rustle of brush as he appears from mine]
An address just outside of London.

[Andy stands, picks up the chocolate bar wrapper from the hood, holds out her hand to Nile, who clings to her phone, staring at the picture of her mother and brother.]

Andy: We gotta go.

[After a moment, not looking at her, Nile puts the phone in Andy’s hand. Andy puts it in her right coat pocket and strides away.]

1:18:27 minutes

[Aerial view -- fields, lots of trees, a few isolated large houses, small town in the distance, small hills toward the horizon, cloudy sky overhead.]

SURREY ENGLAND appears on screen

[Rear view of silver Audi (license YY56 TVX), driving fast over a narrow, grassy track. It turns, pulls up and stops under some trees, near a metal farm-gate, with a large two-story house beyond.]

[Booker exits from the right rear as Nile exits from the front passenger seat (left side). Booker opens the boot as Andy exits from the driver’s seat (right side). Andy scans the territory as Booker reaches into a carry-bag, pulls out a pistol, checks it. As Andy comes around, he hands it to her; she puts it in her back waistband. Booker picks up another pistol, checks it.]

Andy: Go scout the back.

[Booker puts the pistol in his back waistband, heads out as Nile watches.]

[Andy reaches into the boot, pulls out a rifle, checks it, hands it to Nile. Nile takes it and stares down as if it’s unfamiliar. She shakes her head minutely, takes a breath, holds the rifle out to Andy, who is evaluating the terrain rather than looking at Nile.]

Nile: I can’t do this.

Andy: [flicks eyes to her] Yes, you can.

Nile: [pushes rifle closer to Andy, voice firm, determined]
I mean, I’m not doing this.

[Andy looks down at the rifle, looks at Nile with stunned disbelief. She takes the rifle and Nile turns away from her.]

Andy: [steps closer, speaks softly but firmly]
You’re one of us now.
[Nile shakes head minutely, but turns toward her]
[speaks more urgently]
We would do the same for you.

Nile: [louder, angry] I never even had a choice!

Andy: None of us had a choice.
[Nile turns away. Andy slams boot closed]
There isn’t a choice.

Nile: The day I died,
[turns, facing Andy down, deep breath, intense]
I killed the guy that killed me.
[Andy gives Nile her full attention, listening and watching closely]
They try to condition us, you know? Thousands of hours of training. Two shots, quick kill.
[another deep breath, lips tighten]
But they can’t teach you how to live with it.

Andy: [quickly, reaches for Nile, hand on left shoulder, speaks urgently. moves closer, face-to-face]
You’ve gotta feel it, Nile.
[Nile turns head away, while Andy focuses on her, voice sharper]
Every one.

Nile: [shaking head] I saw what you did in that church.
[Andy retreats slightly, drops hand, mouth firms]
All those bodies.
[voice sounds desperate]
Is that supposed to be me? Is that what we’re supposed to do, and we don’t even know why?

Andy: [moves closer again, speaks urgently]
You think knowing is gonna make you sleep better at night?

Nile: [shakes head slowly, speaks softly]
I can’t be that.
[Andy drops head, sighs]
My family...
[pauses, looks down, breathes in, faces Andy again]
they’re gonna get old and I won’t, but it’ll be years before they realize that.
[Andy watches her, carefully emotionless. links, looks aside]
[Nile’s voice is pleading]
I still have time with them.

Andy: [flicks eyes up to Nile, tiny nod, reaches for pistol in belt, holds it out]
Here.
[Nile takes it]
Take the car,
[Nile looks at Andy directly]
and when you ditch it, ditch the weapons.

Nile: [looks down, deep breath, faces Andy again]
You gonna be okay?

Andy: [direct gaze] Always.

[Andy carries the rifle as she walks past Nile, who turns to watch as she opens the gate and slips through. Nile opens her mouth as if she might change her mind, call to Andy, then sighs, looks down, lets the impulse die.]

[Booker moves past a tall green hedge, sees Andy coming. He gestures her forward; she comes to meet him.]

[Sound of car engine accelerating away; Andy turns her head to look back, then faces Booker.]

Booker: [quietly] Where’s Nile?

Andy: [sharp, short headshake] You and me, Book. Now and always.

[Andy moves past Booker and takes the lead. Pauses in the cover of a large tree-trunk.]

[Nile drives the car. GPS voice says, “Guildford station in one mile.” She sees a sign for a security checkpoint, pulls the car over and stops at the side of the road; the area seems relatively isolated. Nile unbuckles her seatbelt, grabs the pistol from the passenger (left) seat, exits the car, goes to the rear, opens the boot. She starts shoving bits and pieces into the carry-bag. She looks around for observers as she removes the magazine from the pistol to put them separately in the bag, then stops and stares at the magazine.]

Nile: Empty?
[stares at pistol, mentally replays Booker handing it to Andy, Andy putting it in belt]
Shit.
[stares again at pistol and empty magazine, voice shows realization]
Andy.

[View of Copley’s house; ground floor is red brick, with part of the visible wall made of glass panels. Through them we see a spiral staircase to the upper floor, which also has large glass panels, as well as a wide expanse of multiple windows.]

[Booker, handgun extended, glides silently across the floor, followed by Andy, with her rifle extended. Booker stops at the foot of the stairs, continues covering the ground floor as Andy starts up the stairs beside him, then he follows. They climb silently, cautiously, alert for any threat.]

[The room is large, well-lighted, with windows on the two visible walls. The area includes a piano, a set of glass shelves with a few artifacts displayed, several padded chairs, and a table with keyboard and monitor. Copley is standing with his back to the door and staircase. He is perusing a wall-sized, standing bulletin board in two large sections; the boards are completely covered with papers and pictures, some outlined in red.]

[Andy reaches top of stairs, takes cover behind the closed half of a pair of double doors; the other door is standing open. A head gesture tells Booker -- a few steps down with his pistol at the ready -- to head ‘that’ direction. He looks that way, then back to Andy; her chin-lift says, ‘now’. Booker finishes climbing the stairs and heads in that direction as Andy slips around the door. She checks both sides of the room, then focuses on / aims at Copley.]

Andy: Where are they?

Copley: [turns slowly, casually to face her. hands in pockets of sweater, obviously no threat, he takes a few steps toward her, speaks softly]
Andromache the Scythian. The eternal warrior.

Andy: Book?

Booker: [in doorway behind; takes a few steps forward]
I’m right here.

[Andy glances at the bulletin board; easily visible is a copy of an ID card from Ceska Republika Obcansky Prokaz. The photo is an earlier Andy, with chin-length hair. Her gun-hand relaxes for a moment, but she shakes off her shock/surprise, lifts the rifle and aims directly at Copley.]

Andy: [steps forward, quiet threat] Where are Joe and Nicky?

[Sound of a shot; Andy cries out as her body jerks and blood appears on her shirt, low on her left side. Booker lowers his handgun, quickly tucks it in the front of his belt, pulls out a zip-tie. As Andy staggers from the impact of the shot and drops her rifle, Booker comes up behind her, grabs her arms and pulls them back.]

Andy: [struggling] What are you doing?!
[continues to struggle, but Booker drags/forces her to her knees...]
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!

Booker: Andy, calm down! [...and zip-ties her hands behind her.]

Andy: [shrieks] NOOOOOOOOOO!!!

[Copley watches dispassionately, hands still in pockets]

[Booker kneels behind Andy as he holds her on the floor, right arm around her neck as his left holds her left arm. She exclaims in wordless anger as he brings his face close to her left ear, tries to calm her with a quiet, “Shh.”]

Andy: [raging, groaning as she breathes heavily, trying to struggle away]
You set us up!

Booker: [quietly, in her ear] Listen. Please listen.

[Copley walks closer, speaks calmly.]

Copley: When my wife died, I devoted myself to your work.
[Andy glares at him as she jerks out of Booker’s hold]
[Booker lets her go, pushes hair out of face, starts to rise]
I learned your secret history,
[Andy stares, stunned and appalled]
written in the margins,
[view of bulletin board. label: GREECE. picture of mosaic art, of woman with double-bladed war-ax on horseback, swinging at armored soldier on horseback, with shield]
[front of a theatre playbill reads: ANDROMAQVE, TRAGEDIE]
[a xerox-enlarged copy of an ancient coin (?) --a bordered circle with woman’s head inside and ‘ANDROMACHA’ along the circle’s border, with ‘HETC.VX’ below it, marked with red star]
passed on like legend.
[list of changes in spelling of Andromache’s name through time and place -- Latin, Greek, Russian, Armenian, Farsi, Arabic]
What was dismissed as a myth, was in fact,
[Andy breathes deep, exhales loudly as she takes it in]
immortality. You could help end... needless suffering.

[Andy looks up, then closes her eyes as her breath catches in pain. Her head sinks; she looks weary. Slowly her body starts to fold -- she tries to catch it and hold herself upright -- then gives in and curls downward until her head rests on the carpet, beside her right knee; she gasps. Booker stands behind Andy, watching her. He looks a little concerned, raises his eyes to Copley, who has a slight frown, but ignores the issue.]

Copley: Humanity needs you to share your gifts.

Andy: [raises head long enough to speak with tight, pained voice]
Humanity can screw itself.

[She groans, shifts her body, and lets herself roll to the left. She’s now sitting on the floor, leaning against the seat of one of the padded chairs. She continues to gasp heavily, with occasional groans, from the pain of the unhealing wound.]

Booker: [flicks eyes to Copley, looks uneasy as he steps toward her, starts to bend down]
Andy...

Andy: [raises head, speaks sharply as she kicks out at him]
Don’t! you fucking coward.
[Booker steps back from her anger, takes a deep breath]
[Copley flicks eyes to Booker, down to Andy, stays detached, uninvolved]
[Andy breathes heavily, shakes head, whispers,]
Why? Why, Book?

Booker: [steps forward, speaks placatingly] Andy, listen --

Andy: [kicks out again, shouts] WHY?

Booker: [goes to a knee beside/in front of her, speaks with quiet force]
If Merrick can discover how we keep living, he might find a way how to end it.
[Andy looks at him sorrowfully, takes deep breath, finds nothing to say]
[he leans closer, intense]
Hey. That’s what you wanted.

Andy: [shakes head slowly, speaks softly, barely more than a whisper]
Oh, Book. What have you done?
[deep breath, sharp gasp, another deep breath, tears in eyes]
Not like this, Book.

Booker: [drops head, sniffles a deep breath, notices. flings Andy’s jacket aside, reaches out to growing bloodstain on her shirt]
What’s going on? You’re still bleeding.
[Andy looks aside, still breathing heavily, seems less concerned about her wound than his betrayal. voice shakes as he repeats,]
You’re still bleeding.
[worried]
What? Shit.
[louder, looks up at Copley]
She’s not healing.

Copley: What? [comes to them, looks down]

[Andy has slumped more, closed her eyes, as if she’s distancing herself from the whole situation. Booker pushes her jacket farther aside, lifts his bloodstained hands.]

Booker: Look at this. She’s not healing. Go get something. Go on. Go on!
[Copley hurries away. Booker comes closer, hands and knees in front of her, face-to-face.]
Andy, look at me. [her eyes stay closed] Look at me.
[Andy raises eyes to him, face closed off, eyes remote]
Why didn’t you tell me?

Andy: [shakes head, small shrug of left shoulder; voice quiet, calm, resigned]
Wouldn’t have changed anything.

Booker: [raises head, shouts] Hurry up!

[Copley comes with a small towel, kneels next to Booker, presses it over the wound. Andy groans.]

Booker: Careful. Have to get her out of here.

[Booker and Copley grab Andy’s arms, start to lift her.]

[The other door slams open; Booker and Copley turn at the noise as Keane and several armed soldiers walk in, followed by Merrick. Booker stands as they walk closer.]

Keane: [points at Booker] Secure him. Nice work, Copley.

[Two soldiers grab Booker, pull his arms behind him, zip-tie his hands; he doesn’t struggle.]

Merrick: [walks to Andy, looks down at her] Look at you.

Copley: [looks up, keeping pressure on Andy’s wound]
She’s wounded. Gunshot.

Merrick: [sharply] Why isn’t she healing?

Copley: [raises eyes to Andy’s face] I don’t know.

[Andy glares up at Merrick, breathing deeply, doesn’t speak.]

Booker: [held tightly between two soldiers] She’s not immortal.

Merrick: What do you mean, ‘not immortal’?

Booker: I mean it’s gone.

[Entire room seems to pause. Merrick stares at him, calculating. Andy’s head is turned away from everyone in the room, still distancing herself. Copley continues to apply pressure on the wound, but makes no movement. Merrick turns, bends to look at Andy’s wound.]

Merrick: You’re a bloody mess.
[slowly squats in front of Andy. she deliberately doesn’t look at him]
Now, how old are you?

Andy: [breathes deeply, gasps, looks at him -- danger in her eyes, despite her circumstances. chin-lift, speaks quietly]
Come closer and I’ll tell you.

Merrick: [face falls, taken aback. stands] Let’s get them home.

Booker: Let her go.

Keane: Cover me. [opens jacket, reaches inside as he starts toward Andy]

Andy: [immediately defensive, yanks away from Copley, watches Keane approaching, pushes herself back]
No. No.

Booker: [struggles to go help her, the soldiers hold him.]
Let her go!
[soldier punches him in stomach; he grunts and folds over]

Andy: No!

[Andy struggles violently, kicking and thrashing, interspersing shouts of ‘No!’ with roars that sound like an enraged animal as Keane tries to hold her still, subdue her. She continues to twist and kick, roaring her fury, but can’t escape. She shakes her head violently as Keane reaches toward her. As he holds her head (relatively) still with a hand under her chin, an injector hisses at the left side of her neck. Her eyes close and body goes limp as she loses consciousness.]

Booker: [trying to reach her but held by soldiers, speaks in strained voice]
I’m sorry, Andy. I’m sorry.

Soldier: Hold him still.

[Booker grunts as injector hisses at the left side of his neck.]

Copley: [crosses quickly to Merrick, speaks urgently]
Mr. Merrick, look. If it’s true and she’s somehow not immortal anymore, then she might not survive the testing. This will be murder.

[Two soldiers lift Andy.]

Merrick: As if the CIA never disappeared anyone. As if they never conducted covert research.

Copley: No. [shakes head, firmer] No, this is not what we agreed.

Merrick: [looks over Copley’s shoulder, tiny nod]
We don’t stop.
[he turns away]

[Keane steps behind Copley, coldcocks him with a pistol-butt to his neck. Copley drops face-down, unconscious. Merrick walks out, followed by the remaining soldiers.]

1:26:45 minutes

[Street level, people walking past Merrick Pharmaceuticals.]

[Kozak is sitting at a table with a keyboard and monitor, entering data. A door bursts open behind her. She turns her head to watch as a guard enters, then Andy held by a guard on each side, with Booker immediately behind her, also held by two guards. Another guard, Keane, and Merrick follow.]

[Joe and Nicky -- now with the bloodstains cleaned from their skin -- raise their heads to see what’s happening.]

Nicky: Andy!

Joe: What happened?

[The guards sit Andy down forcibly on the bed to Nicky’s right. She grunts/groans at the impact, grimaces and partly curls into the pain, but the guards hold her up.]

Booker: She’s not healing.
[grunts as he is forcibly deposited on the to Andy’s right]
[guards are strapping Andy to bed; Kozak watches, pulling on surgical gloves]
[Merrick stands a short distance away, hands behind back, watching]
[Booker stares upward as guards strap him to bed; voice indicates self-disgust]
I killed her.

[Kozak raises her shirt to examine the wound. Andy lifts her head to look at it, breathing heavily. Nicky and Joe stare in dismay, then slowly lower their heads to their beds.]

Kozak: I need to get a line in her and stop the bleeding.

Merrick: Keep her alive at all costs.

[Guards finish strapping Andy and Booker, nod to the guards who have been covering them with rifles aimed; they lower their weapons and step back.]

Merrick: Don’t you see? Between Sudan and now, something’s changed. Find out what.

[Andy stares at him, coldly, still not actively responding to what’s happening.]

Kozak: This will stabilize her,
[hangs I.V bag above left side of bed]
but I have to stitch her and give her antibiotics.
[walks away for more supplies]

Merrick: Good.

Nicky: [watching Andy] All things die.

Merrick: [looks surprised that one of his lab animals has spoken]
What was that?

Nicky: [shifts gaze to Merrick]
Everything has to die, Mr. Merrick.
[speaks softly, gently, as Merrick steps closer]
The only reason we haven’t...
[slight smile]
is that it’s not our time yet.
[Andy breathes heavily, unresponsive as Kozak inserts IV / treats her wound]
If it’s now Andromache’s, nothing you can do will stop it.

Merrick: You’d be surprised by what my products can do.
[Joe watches, evaluating, judging]
I will carve slices off you for years to get what I want.
[Nicky is calm, merely blinks]
Your time is coming.

Nicky: As is yours.

Merrick: [rattled, blustering] I expect results!
[storms out, followed by most of the guards]

Booker: [turns head toward her, pleading] Andy...

[Andy stares upward, refusing to respond.]

1:28:07 minutes

[Outside view of Copley’s house.]

[Inside, Copley sits bowed over in a chair, elbows on knees, holding a towel to the left side of his head and neck.]

[Nile comes through the open door, pistol pointed. She cocks the pistol, which alerts Copley. He looks up, lunges for a rifle left behind on the floor, but Nile quickly steps forward and kicks it out of his reach.]

Nile: Uh-uh.

[Copley, on his knees, raises his hands as Nile aims her pistol at him, pushes himself up and into a chair as she advances.]

Nile: Are you Copley?

Copley: [breathlessly, with raised hands] He sent you to finish me off.

Nile: Who?
[looks down, notices blood on the carpet]
Where’s Andy? And Booker?
[shifts pistol for emphasis]

Copley: Who are you?

[Nile takes a breath, firms her mouth, shoots down into her own left foot.]

Nile: Ahh!
[Copley flinches]
[Nile folds over herself, holds foot off the floor as it heals]
Son of a bitch!

Copley: [amazed, pointing at her foot] You’re another one.

Nile: Yeah.
[aims pistol at him again as she breathes heavily]
I’m new.
[deep breath, advances on Copley, voice determined]
Where are they?

Copley: They’re in a lab... being tested.
[Nile’s mouth opens, shocked; she gasps ]
Tortured.
[Nile lifts pistol higher, ready to -- she’s not sure what]
Merrick... he only cares about her immortality... not what she’s done with it.

Nile: ‘What she’s done with it’?

[Copley is showing Nile his bulletin board and explaining his research. Nile keeps her gun on him, frowning, apparently not trusting him.]

Copley: Montenegro. Nineteen-sixteen. She saved a family of refugees, whose daughter would discover the technique for the early detection of diabetes.
[Nile keeps pistol on him, intently ready for any misstep]
[he points to another area]
This one; her grandson would save three hundred and seventeen people from the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
[voice becomes ever more passionate as he continues]
[Nile relaxes slightly, starts to absorb what he’s saying]
This guy -- this man prevented an accidental nuclear exchange in nineteen seventy-eight, and likely saved civilization as a result.
[Nile takes eyes off him, gazes across the mass of visible information]
[she slowly lowers pistol, stunned and amazed]
The famous... and... the unknown names.
[Nile approaches board, scanning across clippings and pictures]
She saves a life -- two or three generations later, we reap the benefits.

Nile: [huffs, moves along board, checks more of the information. voice is awed]
She’s in it. She can’t see it.
[turns to Copley]
But you could!
[voice is accusing]
You could and you gave them up!

Copley: I thought it could be the end of disease.
[Nile jerks head, negating the poor excuse]
I thought it could be the end of suffering.
[hesitates, words come out painfully, distressed]
She couldn’t talk... at the end... my wife. She couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t do... anything. It was supposed to be a gift... to the world.

Nile: [quietly angry] It wasn’t your gift to give.

Copley: [sighs, shakes head] Why would the immortality end?

Nile: [audible breath] What?

Copley: [turns to look at blood on carpet] She wouldn’t stop bleeding.

Nile: [follows his gaze, voice urgent] Is she alive?

Copley: I know where they are.

1:30:43 minutes

[Aerial view of London, past high-rise buildings toward lower buildings with turrets.]

[Silver Audi drive up, parks at curb. Copley exits driver’s side (right), Nile from passenger side. Each opens the rear door on their side. Copley grabs a khaki carry-bag, heads toward the building. Nile grabs Andy’s labrys in its carry-case, slings it over her right shoulder. She pauses a second, looks up at the many stories above, while Copley uses a key-card in the outer door. He opens the door and walks in; Nile quickly follows.]

[In a security complex, two men sit in front of multiple monitors with views of hallways and rooms, using switches to change views from one place to another as they continually check for threats.]

[Nile and Copley are in a custodial/storage area -- mop bucket nearby, metal cases piled on a wheeled platform, two doors for elevators. Andy’s labrys leans against the wall to Niles’s left, next to an elevator door. Nile squats by the carry-bag, but looks for security before she opens it.]

Copley: [quietly] There’s no cameras here. That’s how he gets people in and out unseen.

Nile: [unzips carry-bag, pulls out pistol] How many shooters on site?

Copley: At least thirty.
[Nile checks pistol, puts it on floor, pulls out rifle]
Their boss, Keane, is ex Special Forces.

Nile: [unfolds rifle stock] What kind of CEO rolls around with his own personal army?

Copley: These days?
[bends down, takes pistol from floor, checks magazine]
Most of them.

Nile: [stands, confronts him] What are you doing?

Copley: I’m gonna make this right.

Nile: [firmly] Your dying won’t do that.

Copley: [raises eyebrows]
But I’m supposed to let you walk in there by yourself?
[starts to walk around her]

Nile: [stands in his way, faces him directly]
Out of the two of us, I’m the one who will walk out of there again, one way or another.
[holds rifle in left hand, extends right, waiting for pistol]
[he doesn’t respond. she looks down at empty hand, up to him, speaks firmly.]
You got me here.
[he hesitates, then hands pistol to her. she tucks it in back waistband]

Copley: There’s a private lab on the fifteenth floor. It’s empty.
[uses key-card; card-reader beeps]
This will get you access.
[gives her the card]

[Elevator door opens. Nile grabs labrys, slings it over her left shoulder.]

Nile: [pauses in doorway, speaks over right shoulder]
You should get out of here before the noise starts.
[steps into elevator, presses button for 15]

Copley: [quietly, as Nile takes stance in center of car, adjusts labrys-strap on shoulder]
Good luck, Ms. Freeman.

“Going Down Fighting” by Andrea Wasse X Phlotilla plays in background:
If it’s the end of the world,
I’m going down fighting.
With my finger on the trigger,
You’ll know I gave it a shot.

If it’s the end of it all,
God knows I’m trying.
‘Cause this world
Is all that we got.
‘Cause this world
Is all that we got.

[Door closes, elevator starts up. Nile twists her neck side to side, shrugs her shoulders, breathes deeply, drops her head back then raises it again -- preparing for battle. She stares straight ahead as she waits.]

[Door opens. Nile steps out cautiously, looking around. She walks forward casually, turns a corner, sees three armed guards standing, chatting in a hallway. Her right hand holds the rifle behind her back.]

Guard: Floor’s closed. How’d you get up here?

Nile: [casually looks to side] Sorry, I was just looking --

Guard: [barks, all three guards take aim] Hands! Let me see your hands.

[Nile takes a breath, slowly brings her right hand into view. Two shots. Nile falls on her back.]

Guard: Zero, this is Alpha Two-two.

Monitor-watcher: Sir. [monitor shows Nile on floor, guards beyond her]

Keane: [walks forward, grabs radio from console, speaks into it]
Zero send.

Guard: We’ve had an intruder. Target is down.

Keane: See if you can get an I.D off the body.

[Guard kicks Nile’s gun-hand, starts patting down her body. Nile brings her right leg up, kicks him in the chest, shoots him as he staggers back, rises to her knees and shoots the other two -- all headshots.]

Keane: Shit! [into radio] TAC teams, find Merrick now!

[Nile -- now with two midline, bloodstained holes in her shirt -- grabs her pistol, slings the labrys over her left shoulder and moves to shelter of a wall. She checks the pistol, then peers around the corner.]

[In the lab, Andy is ignoring everything, staring at nothing, Nicky is lying quietly. Joe has lifted his upper body as far as he can, shouting across the other two to Booker.]

Joe: You selfish piece of shit!

Nicky: [speaks over him, strongly, but not shouting]
Joe, leave it. Please!

Booker: What would you know of the weight of all these years alone?

[Andy still doesn’t react to anything as she stares into nothing.]

Joe: [laughs without humor] You’re a very pathetic man, Booker.

Nicky: Joe, stop.

Booker: You and Nicky always had each other, right?
[Andy blinks and swallows]
And all we had... was our grief.

Joe: Well, now you have even more.

[Kozak is behind Andy’s bed, adjusting the IV, ignoring the argument as if nothing’s happening.]

[Nile proceeds down a hallway, pistol extended. She turns a corner and goes through a doorway; Merrick is there. It’s some kind of lab -- long counters with beakers, jars, and bottles on top, boxes/containers for various items. Nile aims at him.]

Merrick: Who the hell are you?

Nile: [loudly] Where’s the lab?

[Three guards burst through the door across the room and start firing. Nile ducks and fires back, drops the labrys as she runs.]

[In the med-lab, Andy hears the gunfire. She reacts, turning her head toward the sound. Kozak, in front of her computer, also notices and turns toward the sound. Joe, Nicky, and Booker don’t react. (Sleeping? Unconscious/dead from something Kozak did? How much time has passed since Joe was shouting at Booker?)]

[Nile runs, firing behind her as the guards follow, shooting. She’s heading toward metal doors with a ‘Restricted Access’ sign. Keane runs in and fires, hitting her just as she reaches the doors. She stumbles through and falls to the floor as the doors swing shut behind her.]

Keane: Shit! [together with Merrick] There’s another one!

[Nile’s still holding the pistol; she groans as she pushes herself up.]

Keane: She’s going for the rest of them. Doctor’s lab, now!
[guards head out]
[grabs Merrick’s arm, starts to pull him toward door]
I’m locking you down in the penthouse until this is over.

[Merrick stops him for a moment, staring avidly at the labrys case. He goes to pick it up, smiles widely, tucks it under his right arm and follows Keane out.]

[Nile finds nothing important -- the people she’s looking for -- in the room. She runs to a door across the room that has a card-reader beside it, uses the key-card, pulls door open outward, then runs through an inward door into the med-lab. The doctor turns as the team all raise their heads. Nile pauses, surprised and relieved to see them. Andy's expression is disbelief.]

Booker: Nile. [sees guard aiming through open door] Behind you!

[Nile grunts as she is hit, sags, fires back, pushes the door closed. She now has a third bloodstained hole in the front of her shirt, one on the back of her left shoulder, and one on the front of her left thigh.]

[Kozak, alarmed, rises. She looks frantically for a weapon, grabs a syringe from a nearby tray and starts forward.]

Nicky: [shouts] Nile!

[Kozak closes on Nile, syringe raised. Nile blocks her raised right arm with her left hand, knocks her down and out with a strong right punch.]

Nile: [runs to Andy, starts unbuckling restraints]
There’s four shooters at the door and more coming.
[Andy closes eyes, makes no move to rise. shirt is askew; Nile sees dressing on wound]
[she flips pistol, offers it to Andy, who turns her head away]
Andy.
[the men’s heads are raised, watching. Andy keeps eyes closed]
[frowns, lifts Andy’s right hand, pushes pistol into it. voice is soft, but firmly intense]
Immortal or not, you made a promise. Whatever it takes.
[Andy opens eyes, looks at Nile, remains passive]
I’ve seen it, Andy.
[pulls another pistol from back waistband, cocks it]
I know all the good you’ve done.
[Andy stares at her, weighing, evaluating]

[The door bursts open, four guards rushing forward. Nile turns beside Andy. Together they raise their pistols, two shots each, all four go down. Andy keeps her eyes on them while she reaches over to unbuckle her left arm. Nile unbuckles the restraints over her legs.]

Andy: [eying her] You came back.

Nile: [a level look, flicks eyes to the others] Yeah.

[Nile goes to release Booker as Andy goes to Nicky and unbuckles the strap over his right arm. Nicky reaches to unbuckle the other straps while Andy tucks the pistol in her back waistband and heads toward Joe.]

Booker: [as Nile is releasing strap that holds chest and left arm]
No, just leave me here.

Nile: [turns on him, irritated] No man left behind.
[leaves him to take care of other straps, goes to guard the door]

[Nicky throws off the blue hospital drape, sits up to unbuckle his leg restraints.]

Joe: [loudly -- not quite shouting -- as Andy unbuckles strap on right arm]
Well there’s always a first time. He’s nothing but a traitor. That’s --

Andy: Stop!
[firm voice, leans over to unbuckle left arm, looks directly in his face]
This is not the time for it. We don’t get a say in when it ends.
[Nile is on guard at the door, but watching Andy and the men.]
We never have.
[Nicky has put on shirt, heads toward Nile, stoops, takes pistol from dead guard, checks it]
[Andy unbuckles Joe’s legs as he pulls off cardiac sensors]
But we can control how we live.
[Joe leaves bed while Andy pulls pistol from waistband, crosses to Booker, lying passive, hasn’t unbuckled restraints]
And to be honest, Book, you and I --
[looks at him directly, making a point]
we been doing a shit job of it.
[checks pistol, cocks it]
Now get up.
[Joe crosses behind her, now wearing his shirt]
Let’s go.
[Booker turns head toward her]
We stop Merrick here and now,
[Joe is by the door with Nile and Nicky, has also grabbed a pistol from a guard. all three watch the confrontation]
or he never stops coming after us.

[Booker lifts his head, thinks a moment, then quickly reaches to unbuckle his straps.]

[Andy squats, pulls open a guard’s pocket to look for ammunition, but finds nothing. She stands, breathing heavily, and lifts her shirt-hem to check the dressing.]

Nicky: Andy...
[quietly, concerned, eyes flick to the dressing]
Are you sure?

Andy: This changes nothing.
[chin-lift]
We walk out of here like always.
[deep breath]
Together.

[All four are watching, grouped near the door, concern in their eyes. She starts toward them.]

Andy: Let’s get this motherfucker.

[They head out, moving purposefully, Nile in the lead, then Nicky, Joe, Booker, and Andy.]

1:36:45 minutes

[Merrick is in his penthouse, with two guards across the room. He slowly, almost reverently, picks up Andy’s labrys, gazing lovingly at it as he holds it high.]

[Nile enters a darkened room, carrying a rifle, followed by Nicky and Joe, each with a pistol, Booker with a rifle, Andy with a pistol. They take up positions to either side of metal double doors -- Nicky, Joe, Andy to the left, Nile and Booker to the right.]

Joe: [quietly] Cover Andy.

[Nile uses her shoulder to burst open the right door and charges into the next room; it looks like the lab where she confronted Merrick. She’s followed by Nicky, Booker -- who kicks open the left door -- Joe, and Andy. Nile breaks left, Nicky breaks right, Booker left, Joe right, Andy straight down the center.]

[As Nile remains on guard, Booker crosses behind her -- letting her know with a quick hand to her shoulder so she moves farther into the room -- heading toward the doors across the room. Nicky takes a low stance, guarding their left, Joe covers their right but keeps an eye on Andy as she crosses behind Booker and heads for the doors.]

[Andy and Booker exit the open doors -- which are set back in a short alcove -- together. Andy waits at the corner against the wall on her left; two guards are walking down the hall toward their position, rifles raised. As the nearest comes opposite her, she grabs his right arm with her left, twists her body to throw him off-balance to her left. Booker shoots him as he stumbles past, while Andy steps past the corner and shoots the other guard.]

[Joe is next out of the alcove, followed by Nile and Nicky together. Joe aims hall-right, Nile guards hall-left. Nicky aims hall-right beside Joe, they shoot two guards who come running around the next corner. Andy puts another magazine in her pistol as she moves hall-left past Nile, followed by Nile and Booker.]

[As another guard comes from a door-alcove to her left with his left gun-hand extended, Andy grabs his wrist with her left hand, raises it high to spin under it, clubs him across the back with her pistol, holds onto him to keep him off-balance, shoots the next guard coming down the hall, drops the first guard’s arm, turns and shoots him, then heads down hall-(original)-left.]

[Nicky and Joe are following Andy and Nile from hall-right while Booker remains on guard that direction. Another guard comes from the left door-alcove. Nicky grabs his gun-hand, lifts it high, spins under the raised arm while Joe shoots him, goes to a knee to grab the rifle of the guard Andy shot, lifts it above his shoulder for Joe. Joe takes it, turns to cover their rear (original hall-right) as Booker sprints past following Andy and Nile; Nicky rises to follow him.]

[Nile has taken position behind a stack of crates, shoots an approaching guard, runs forward while Nicky and Joe guard their rear and Booker takes out a guard that comes from a door-alcove to Nile’s left. Two guards appear from cross-alcoves ahead, and Andy is in front of her with no cover.]

Nile: [shouts] Andy!

[Nile grabs Andy’s right shoulder and spins herself in front of Andy, cries out as the bullets hit her back, falls against the wall with a grimace, recovers, pulls a pistol with her left hand and shoots one of the guards as Andy shoots the other. Andy looks back; Joe and Nicky are under fire at the rear. Nicky looks over his shoulder to check on her, jerks as he takes a bullet. He and Joe shoot two guards, then retreat toward Andy’s position, Joe and Booker guarding the rear while Nicky dashes forward in front of Andy and Nile. Nicky goes to a knee just beyond a set of lab doors to his left, guarding the hall, as Booker, Joe, Nile, and Andy head through the doors. As soon as Andy has passed, Nicky backs up and follows them.]

[It’s another lab. They spread out as they move through the lab, then converge on the opposite doors. Joe pulls the door inward, and Booker leads out with Nile and Andy behind him. Booker turns, clubs a guard to his right with his rifle-butt, shoots a guard in front of him. Nile confronts a guard, knocks aside his aiming pistol with her rifle, shoots him on the back-swing, lunges past his right side, uses her right hand to grab the back of his neck and shove him away. He runs forward off-balance; Nicky ducks, lifts, and flips him over his right shoulder, continues moving forward; Joe, in the doorway behind Nicky, shoots the guard as he lands on the floor, continues into the lab.]

[Andy, moving along the wall (to the right of the most recent door), shoots a guard point-blank, grabs his vest, lifts her right knee into his chest as she drops onto her back and flips him over her head. Booker shoots the guard’s partner as Andy rolls and rises to her feet, while Nicky runs to support Joe, who’s beyond them. Andy releases the empty magazine, lets it fall; Booker goes to a knee to check a dead guard’s vest pockets, hands her a fresh magazine. As Andy moves past him, he stands and follows.]

[Nile barely pauses as she reaches down to grab a fresh magazine from another guard’s pocket. Nicky takes a rifle from another guard, hands it to Joe. Nile slams the fresh magazine into her rifle, stands against a wall, peers around the edge. (It looks free-standing, with boxes visible in the room beyond, with another end/edge 15-20 feet behind Nile for a second entry point into the next room.) Behind her, Andy squats, leaning against the wall and breathing deeply; Joe, Nicky, then Booker deploy farther along the wall. Booker and Nicky are watching the rear, with Booker closest to the second edge, and Joe and Nicky at mid-point of the wall. Next to Andy, Joe looks down, concerned. She looks up, nods her readiness, stands; they start to move out just as the wall explodes between Joe and Nicky.]

[All are thrown aside/down by the blast. Joe, Nicky and Andy are tossed through the air; we lose sight of Joe and Nicky. Andy lands hard, bounces to a face-down position on her arms, pushes herself to her right side, gasping as she tries to recover enough to rise.]

[Keane is on the other side of the wall, holding a rifle, with a gas mask on his forehead. Other guards flank him as he peers through the hole, into the billowing smoke/dust from the explosion.]

[Nile and Booker, farthest from the blast were not knocked completely off their feet, but they are bent over and coughing from the smoke and dust. They force themselves upright, unable to see through the increasing smoke.]

Booker: Man! Andy!

[Booker heads through the smoke to where he thinks Andy might be; Keane fires through the hole, although the smoke is too thick for good aim. Booker finds Andy just as Nile reaches her from the other side; they grab her under the arms -- Booker on her right, Nile on her left -- help her up, and start moving away.]

Booker: [shouts] Joe, Nicky, we’re moving out!

[Joe and Nicky, barely visible through the smoke, are both lying stunned / unconscious / dead.]

Keane: Assault team, move! You two, flank.

[Five guards head out another door for Andy, Nile, and Booker, while Keane steps through the blast-hole, pulling his gas mask over his face as he moves slowly forward. He sees Joe lying face down, unmoving. Keane puts his gun in left shoulder-holster and pulls something (zip-tie?) from the top right of his vest.]

[Nicky, lying on his back near Joe’s feet, coughs and rolls to his right side to get his hands under him and rise. Keane steps forward, viciously kicks him in the head, throwing him onto his back. Nicky coughs as Keane steps back, Nicky tries to rise again, Keane steps forward and kicks him violently in the stomach.]

[Joe, behind Keane, is beginning to move. He starts to push himself up, sees Keane kick a third time. Nicky has risen to his knees and leans aside; Keane’s foot hits a stack of boxed supplies on a wheeled platform. Nicky lunges at Keane, grabs him at shoulder and waste and pulls him down, rolling to throw Keane to the floor, then Nicky continues his roll to his knees, punches Keane with a hard right cross. Nicky pulls his arm back and comes around with another punch, but Keane uses his left arm to knock Nicky’s arm aside, draws his right knee up and kicks Nicky in the chest; Nicky flies backward through the air and slams against the stack of boxes of supplies.]

[Joe is pushing himself up as Nicky goes flying. As Keane starts to rise, Joe attacks, grabs Keane’s head with his left hand and throws him to the floor. As Keane rebounds and lifts up, Joe rips off his gas mask and sends it flying. Keane and Joe are both thrown off balance by the strength of the action, but Keane recovers to throw a hard left punch to Joe’s face, followed by a right punch into Joe’s throat; Joe recoils, falling backward. Nicky staggers to his feet, throws himself at Keane, grabs his right arm and thigh to pull him down. Keane twists out of the hold, knocking Nicky to the floor, continues the twist to straddle Nicky’s body, stomps on Nicky’s stomach with his left knee. Nicky cries out and curls upward, gasping. Keane shoves his pistol into Nicky’s open mouth and fires.]

[Joe is on his back, pushing himself up just in time to see what happened. Keane is coughing, struggling to breathe; he staggers away through the hole in the wall.]

[Booker, Andy, and Nile stumble into another lab, coughing, close-grouped to support Andy. Nile moves forward, rifle ready; Booker holds Andy’s arm as they follow. Three guards appear at the door behind them. Booker looks back just in time to see the guards; he moves between them and Andy as they fire, staggers as he’s hit. Andy ducks through nearby door, Booker follows, staggers inside as he is hit again.]

[Andy ducks and crouches behind a fat metal cylinder of liquid nitrogen. Nile is on a knee beside the door, firing out at the guards as Booker scrambles past on hands and knees. Andy has no gun after the explosion; she evaluates the situation, looks around, sees a fire ax on the wall. She stands and crosses to it, grabs it from its box and hefts it, evaluating. Nile turns her head to say something (?) but is under too heavy fire; she turns back to shooting.]

[Andy walks past Booker, who is leaning against a cylinder, still recovering from his wounds, toward the door across the room -- just in time to meet a guard advancing into the room from that side. Andy swings the ax and cuts him down, then heads toward the door.]

Andy: Enough of this shit.

[As Andy approaches the door, another guard comes in; she hits him once, lets the momentum spin her, hits him low, then high; he’s down. She flips her hair out of her eyes as she heads out the door, now with blood-spatter on her face.]

[In the other lab, Nicky is still dead. Joe, on hands and knees, goes to him, reaches out toward Nicky’s face, hesitates, afraid to touch, turns his head aside. Nicky revives with a gasp, and coughs; Joe sighs his relief. Joe clasps Nicky’s arm while Nicky grips Joe’s arms for a moment, where they bracket his head, then --]

Nicky: Let’s go. Andy.

[Nicky rolls to his side, grabs a nearby pistol. Joe turns and grabs a rifle from the floor, then stagger-runs past Nicky, who is up but also moving erratically; both men are feeling the effects of the fight.]

Joe: Com’on, com’on. Come on.

[Joe leads out the door, with Nicky close behind, the back of his head shiny-wet with blood.]

[In the other lab, Nile is still holding off the guards from her door. She pulls back and checks her rifle.]

Nile: Shit! Jammed!

[She scrambles away from the door as Booker grabs a rifle from one of the downed guards and takes her position. Nile crouches next to an array of cylinders to clear her rifle, turns to Booker.]

Nile: Where’s Andy?

[Andy is striding purposefully down a hall, ax in hand. She pauses at a corner as she hears a radio.]

Guard on radio: Hold at the bridge.

[Andy looks around the corner, quickly pulls back. A lone guard is coming her way down a long hall -- a walkway-bridge with glass sides and top.]

Guard: Roger that.

Andy: [whispers] Fuck.

[Andy takes two deep breaths, firms her mouth, sets herself, and dashes around the corner, sprinting toward the guard. As he fires, she raises her ax sideways; we hear the bullet hit the metal head. Andy closes on the guard and uses the ax to knock his rifle out of his hand. As she swings back, the guard kicks; Andy cries out as it impacts her hand and the ax goes flying. The guard pulls a knife. As he swings at her, Andy, twists, grabs his right arm with her left, clamps it between her elbow and body, pulls him off-balance and uses the momentum of her twist to drag the guard into her strong right cross, then uses both hands to force his right hand down and slice the inside of his own thigh. Andy twists, lifts his arm over her head as she turns under it then keeps lifting the arm high behind his back, forcing him to bend forward into her right kick to his face. His helmet flies off, but he catches himself with his hands on the floor, then pushes upward, swinging his knife. The guard raises the knife high across his body and slashes downward to the right.]

[Andy evades to the left. As his arm comes around, her left arm knocks his right arm aside, punch-punch, then knife hand to his throat. He staggers back, goes to a fighting crouch with his knife raised. She waits as he comes in, coils her body, snaps out her left arm to knock his right aside, holds his right arm, twists it downward. A spring-loaded baton slides out to the left from his gear, he grabs it with left hand. Andy spins in with her back to his chest, strikes her right elbow to his chest, keeps moving to pull his right arm across her right shoulder, her two hands holding his sleeve, steps forward, comes back with a high left elbow to his face. With her back to him, Andy lifts his right arm high, brings it down, twists right to bring him forward with her left arm, grabs the baton. Andy turns in to him, both hands twist his right arm up and back. Andy goes to a knee as the pressure forces him down, jams the baton into his left knee.]

[Guard comes up, tries to grab baton with his left hand, Andy steps away and hits him twice across the face, leans back with a left kick to the chest as he staggers back. Andy runs forward, leaps high, plants her arms on his shoulders as she swings around, keeps going down, drops to floor on her back and uses the momentum to flip him over her head. He lands hard as she quickly rolls to her feet, stands gasping, holding her wound with her left hand. The guard seems unwilling or unable to continue the fight.]

[As Andy walks to look down at dazed guard, Booker and Nile join her from ‘her’ side of the bridge (screen right), while Joe and Nicky come from the other side.]

Andy: Where’s Merrick?

[The guard looks up. Five people stand directly over him, four of them armed; all look pissed-off and dangerous.]

Guard: Penthouse.

[The team all look upward, planning their next move.]

Joe: What d’you think, Oslo, ‘sixty seven?

Andy: [small head-shake] São Paulo, ‘thirty-four.
[Andy extends hand to Nile, who gives her pistol she carries in right hand]
[Nile holds another in her left.]
Nile’s with me.

Nile: What happened in São Paulo in nineteen thirty-four?

Andy: Eighteen thirty-four. [small grin, checks weapon] You’ll see.

[Andy and Nile head away (screen left) from ‘Andy’s corner’ at a medium trot; Joe, Nicky and Booker head toward ‘Andy’s corner’ (screen right).]

1:41:35 minutes

[Aerial view of top levels of Merrick building, with city skyline behind. We hear muffled weapons’ fire.]

[Two guards face the door of the penthouse, rifles aimed.]

[Merrick stands at the top of a short flight of stairs to a higher level; he grips the labrys in both hands, waiting for the attack. Keane descends in front of him.]

Keane: [into radio] First team, hold the hall.

[Keane makes a circling motion with his hand as he reaches the bottom of the stairs, then joins several guards in an open hall / balcony just inside the penthouse doors; it overlooks a lower level, with a plexiglass barrier along the edge. We see six armed guards, plus Keane.]

Keane: [into radio, quietly] First team.

[Andy -- breathing heavily and holding her hand over her wound -- and Nile walk past bullet-marked walls and dead guards’ bodies; Andy’s face is considerably more blood-stained than earlier, and Nile’s face is streaked with plaster dust. They take up position against a wall beside a floor-to-ceiling window, about six feet down from the door, Andy to the right of the window, with Nile to her right. Andy pulls her hand away to look at the amount of blood. Nile looks, too, and frowns, but neither comments.]

[Andy and Nile pull fresh magazines out of rear pockets, reload their pistols.]

Andy: [quietly] Wait for the signal. [looks toward door]

Nile: [follows her gaze] This gonna be like the last signal?

Andy: [turns toward Nile, smiles] Go big or go home. [looks back toward door]

[In the penthouse, guards are still ranged in front of the door, rifles up and ready.]

Merrick: [stands at top of interior stairs, holding labrys like he’s hoping to swing it]
Keane. Keane, how many more do we have coming?

Keane: This is it. [takes center position, aims directly at door] Dig in.

[Nile looks down, notices that Andy’s right hand has fresh blood where she’s been holding it against her wound, and the blood-stain on her shirt is increasing. She quickly crouches, starts pulling velcro with swift movements to remove the nearest guard’s kevlar.]

Nile: I’ll make the entry. Stay tight to me, okay? I’ll protect you.

[Andy crouches beside her, moving almost casually, stops Nile’s actions with a hand on the guard’s vest. Nile looks into her face.]

Andy: [small head-shake; gaze is direct, but calm and compassionate. speaks quietly]
I go through first.
[Nile huffs, rolls her head]
I always go first.

Nile: [through gritted teeth]
Andy, put on the damn armor.

Andy: It’s like Nicky said. If it’s my time, it’s my time.
[takes spare magazine from guard’s pocket]
If this doesn’t work out, next time, [chin-lift] you go first.

[Nile glowers, but recognizes she won’t sway Andy. She stands and checks both directions of the hallway. Andy remains crouched, but also watching.]

Keane: [whispering, watching the door] What the hell are they waiting for?

[Gunfire breaks one of the plate glass windows that overlooks the city, just before Joe swings into the room on the end of a line. He tucks as he lands, rolls, and comes up aiming his rifle.]

Keane: Shit!

[Joe shoots one of the guards, then takes cover behind a wooden horizontal file cabinet. The guards turn to fire at him just as the door explodes inward.]

[The blast knocks several guards to the floor, but Keane heads immediately toward Joe. As soon as he’s in range, Joe -- still on the floor -- sweeps Keene’s legs with his right leg and kicks him violently as he falls forward.]

[Guards are running through the penthouse, smoke from the explosion billowing around. Andy appears around the doorframe, shoots one, ducks back to avoid return fire. Nile appears, shoots another, ducks back.]

[Guards are shooting, shouting, falling. Nile shoots a guard ducking for cover, then dashes forward with pistol extended, Andy behind her. Nile jumps over a downed guard; they advance to positions against the wall on either side of a short hallway. A guard is shooting at them from cover beyond, but can’t get a good angle.]

[Meanwhile, Joe is beating Keane to a pulp. He lands a hard right under the ribs, a left cross to the face. Another left to the face; Joe’s teeth are bared in a snarl, and Keane is flailing. He throws a wild left punch that Joe easily ducks, then comes up with another right cross to Keane’s face.]

[The guard shooting at Andy and Nile has a jammed rifle. As he drops it and reaches for another weapon, Andy rises, steps around the corner and shoots him left-handed; her right is clutching her wound. Nile follows, covering her right flank, but there’s no one left to shoot. Andy looks up and Nile turns to watch Joe beating up on Keane.]

[Joe throws a hard right punch to Keane’s face. Keane is dazed, head wobbling, barely able to stay on his feet. Joe steps up right in front of him, holds him in place with his left hand at the top of Keane’s vest, speaks in a calm, reasonable voice.]

Joe: You shot Nicky. You shouldn’t have done that.

[In one sudden movement Joe twists, digs his right shoulder into Keane’s chest, grabs his right arm, drops to his right knee while lifting/pulling Keane over his shoulder, throws him down so that his head hits the floor first. The snap of his neck breaking is audible. Joe finishes on both knees, left hand on the floor for support, panting heavily.]

[Booker enters another part of the penthouse, rifle aimed, clearing the hall. Nicky follows, carrying a pistol in each hand, arms crossed to fire in either direction. Booker walks farther, covering a staircase, then the hall again.]

[The effects of the battle hit Andy suddenly; she lets her pistol fall from her left hand, holds her right hand over her wound, staggers forward to clutch for support at the plexiglass barrier at the edge of the balcony over the lower level. Nile follows, stoops to discard her pistol and take another from one of the guards.]

Nicky: [shouts from lower level] The elevator is going down! Merrick is getting away!

[Joe rises in response, starts forward.]

Nile: Go! Go!
[Joe grabs a rifle from the floor, heads out]
I’ll stay with Andy.

[Andy looks down at Booker, on guard on the lower level. It seems that he’d rather stay to protect her, but accepts her silent command with a short nod, turns to follow Nicky and Joe.]

[Andy pushes away from the plexiglass, crosses the room to look down at the street through the giant emptiness where the window used to be. She supports herself against one of the vertical frames with her left hand, while her right still covers her wound. She’s breathing heavily as she looks down into the street below.]

[Nile has a small frown, concerned]
Nile: You okay?

Andy: [blows out a breath]
Yeah, I’m fine.
[sniffs, licks her lips]
It just hurts.
[raises head, breathes out, twists neck left and right with audible cracking, raises left hand behind head, drops it]
[turns toward Nile with small smile]
Actually, everything hurts.
[relaxes, leans left shoulder against window frame, still holding hand against wound]

Nile: Well, wait until tomorrow.

[Nile rolls her eyes as she walks forward, pistol hanging casually from her hand, to stand near the vertical frame at the right side of the window. She faces Andy directly with a small smile.]

Andy: [smiles, chuckles softly] Can’t wait.

[Nile smiles a little wider, then frowns as she looks Andy over, the large and small damages to her body that will now heal slowly, with after-effects that may linger.]

Andy: [watches Nile’s reaction, chin-lift, speaks quietly]
I think you showed up when I lost my immortality.
[licks lips]
So I could see what it was like.
[looks away, out window]
So I could remember.

Nile: Remember?

Andy: Remember what it...
[licks lips, considers]
what it was like to feel unbreakable.
[smiles, laughs gently as she shakes her head]
[turns to face Nile directly]
Remarkable.
[gives Nile a long, level -- compassionate -- gaze]
You reminded me there are people... still worth fighting for.
[Nile takes deep breath. Andy gazes up and out, shakes head, huffs a gentle laugh]
I know how I wanna spend the time I’ve got left.

Nile: [quietly, gently but firmly] You’re gonna spend it with us, Andy.

[Andy smiles at her, just as gently.]

Merrick: You selfish little bitch!
[Nile spins, brings weapon to bear in solid, two-handed grip as soon as they hear Merrick’s voice, but he has pistol aimed at Andy, finger poised on trigger]
I will kill her!
[he slowly advances into room from stairs above, pistol in right hand aimed at Andy, her labrys dangling in left]
[Andy’s face is focused and calculating as she watches him.]
[he walks closer, ignores Nile as he walks past her, focused only on Andy]
All the lives you could save.
[Nile watches Andy from corner of eye, waits for signal, keeps pistol aimed at Merrick]
Don’t you see what we could do here? You are priceless.

Andy: [quietly, calmly] Hey, Nile.
[Nile turns head fraction of inch toward Andy, back to Merrick, keeps aim on him, waits for a chance]
[Andy has glint in her eye, hint of a smile on her lips]
Do you think he speaks Russian?

[Nile flicks her eyes to Andy, back to Merrick, evaluates, then whips around and shoots in Andy’s direction. Andy drops as Merrick turns and shoots Nile, who grunts as she falls against the window frame. Andy rolls toward Merrick, grabs her labrys from his hand, spins as she rises, lifting the labrys high, then sinks it into his Merrick’s left shoulder beside his neck.]

[Merrick cries out and starts to bring his gun to bear on Andy. Nile gasps as she desperately pushes herself up from the floor, flings herself between Merrick and Andy just as he fires, slaps his gun hand down and launches herself at him, arms around his body. The momentum carries them out the broken window, both screaming as they hurtle toward the ground, 20(?) stories below.]

Nile: SHIIIIIIIIIIIIT!

[Just before they hit, Nile curls her body, trying to use Merrick to absorb the impact. They land on the roof of a car, which collapses under the impact, and disappear inside.]

Andy: [quietly, looking down] Play dead, motherfucker. [turns to leave]

[Interior of car, view of the rear seat. One of Nile’s boots is propped against the backrest; the leg inside is obviously broken and misaligned. Air hisses from the exploded airbag.]

[Nicky runs from the nearby door, followed by Booker. Nicky stops beside the car and looks down. Nile’s body is lying on her left side on the back seat, broken and twisted, and blood is spattered across the backrest. Her extended left hand rests on Merrick’s body in the foot-well, the fingers twisted and bent at impossible angles.]

Nicky: Nile?
[looks at her through side window ]
[Booker -- and Joe behind him -- also look in. Booker turns to look up the height of the building, back in the window.]
[Nicky smiles gently]
Hey.
[Nile begins breathing, then groans, eyes closing in pain, as bones audibly crackle, her body starts twisting back into alignment.]
She’s okay.

[Nile brings left hand forward, stares as fingers visibly reposition themselves.]

[Joe stands behind Nicky and Booker, also watching Nile’s reintegration. Booker grabs the handle, tries to pull the car door open, but the displacement of the frame has wedged it into place; Nicky grabs the doorframe to help pull, and the door finally opens.]

Booker: Come on. [leans in to the car]

Joe: [gazes up the height of the building] Faster than the elevator.

[Nile grunts, groans, and gasps as she starts maneuvering herself out of the car. She keeps her left hand raised to avoid hitting it against anything as it continues to heal.]

Nicky: It’s okay, Nile.

Nile: [pauses, sits at edge of seat next to open door, jerks head in emphasis. speaks softly but fervently] Ow!

Booker: Give me your hand.

[Nile reaches out with her now-healed left hand, grabs the handle of Andy’s labrys, starts to slide out.]

[Andy has exited the building, walks calmly toward the group. Her jacket is zipped closed (to hide her bloody shirt?). As Nile steps from the car, Joe heads past Andy toward the back end. Booker pulls Nile’s right arm over his shoulders to help her stand; Nicky also helps with his hand under her left arm. Nile winces as she takes a limping step, then straightens as all three wait. Andy stops in front of them, looks Nile over, seems proud as she gives a slight smile and tiny nod.]

[Despite the blood on her face, Nile seems calm, composed. She huffs and stands straighter as Booker and Nicky let go her arms. Left hand strong around the handle, she holds the labrys out to Andy, who takes it. Andy’s eyes relax as she continues to watch Nile. Her smile grows broad as she extends her right hand to clasp Nile at the nape of her neck, then claps her on the shoulder and puts her arm around Nile's back as they walk. Nicky reaches out to touch Andy’s back before he turns toward their Audi, waiting directly behind the car that Nile fell into.]

Booker: Let’s go.

“Silence” by Marshmello ft. Khalid begins playing
Yeah, I’d rather be a lover than a fighter, fighter,
‘Cause all my life, I’ve been fighting.
Never felt a feeling of comfort, oh
And all this time, I’ve been hiding, hiding.
And I never had someone to call my own, oh no,
I’m so used to sharing, sharing.
Love only left me alone,
But I’m at one with the silence.

I found peace in your violence
Can’t show me there's no point in trying
I'm at one, and I’ve been silent for so long.
I’ve been quiet for so long.
I’ve been quiet for so long.
I’m at one, and I've been quiet for so long.

[Booker opens the boot as Nicky opens the right rear door and slides in. Joe slides into the front passenger (left) seat as Andy puts her labrys in the boot and Nile continues around the rear of the car, then comes forward. Andy gets into the driver’s seat (right) as Booker gets in the back seat behind her. Nile opens the rear left door then pauses, gazing up at the height from which she fell. Her mouth firms as her eyes drop to the ruined car in front of the Audi. She takes a visible breath, then slides into the car.]

[Andy drives the car away, with Joe in the seat beside her. Behind them a crowd gathers around the ruined car as police cars speed to the scene, sirens wailing. The crowd grows larger, with people using their cellphones to take pictures.]

1:48:10 minutes

[Looking over the Thames, a view of older buildings along the water-front, with newer, high-rise buildings behind. Camera pans in to a very old, very small (compared to the building next to it), white-painted, three-story building with ground-floor and first-floor balconies overlooking the water. Booker leans on the railing of the ground-floor balcony, looking out toward the river.]

[The building is a pub. The sign inside reads:]
The flagstone floor of this
bar has been trodden by the
widest variety of patrons
over 500 years.

Pewter-top bars were
commonplace in the 19th Century,
but this is one of the few that
has survived 20th Century
‘modernisation’ and is thought
to be the longest in
Great Britain.

[Nile and Joe on one side, Andy and Nicky on the other, sit at a table in a corner against the wall, next to a window. Booker is visible through the window, looking out over the water, holding a glass of whiskey. Nicky leans into the discussion as Joe gestures vehemently and Andy looks thoughtful. Joe turns away from the discussion as Nicky turns to Andy. Nile looks out at Booker’s bowed head, watches as he lifts his glass to drink.]

Booker: [turns head as Nile approaches] How’s it going?

Nile: [stands beside him, back to river, looking into pub]
They’re still deciding.
[leans back against the railing]

Booker: [looks at her, turns his back to river, leans against railing next to her]
There’s not much to decide. It’s not like they can kill me.
[lifts his glass, drinks again]

[View into pub window; Joe has turned his head, watching them, resting his chin on his hand, a moderate scowl on his face. Andy’s hands are clasped in front of her, gaze unfocused.]

Booker: [holds Joe’s gaze for a moment, then looks down]
[Nile is turning her phone in her hands]
Oh, she gave it back?

Nile: Yeah.
[takes a breath]
Talked to Copley.
[turns to Booker]
Said he could fix it. Make it look like I was killed in action.
[nods gently to herself]
My family will mourn, but, uh...
[huffs an exhale, tiny shrug, head-shake]
...they’ll be able to move on.
[tiny nod]
It’s just like what we did with my dad.
[sighs, turns to look out over the water. voice wavers]
I just really want to hear my mom’s voice one more time.

Booker: [looks down, pauses, turns to lean next to Nile]
You’re a good kid, Nile.
[looks at her, speaks earnestly]
You’re gonna be great for the team.

[Nile looks at him, then back over the river.]

[View in pub window. Andy is watching them, face calm, but with a tiny frown-wrinkle between her eyes. Beside her, Nicky’s head is bowed.]

[Camera pans out. Booker is on the riverbank, looking out over the water. Andy comes down the steps from the pub. She walks over, stands to his left, speaks without looking at him.]

Andy: There’s gotta be a price.
[Booker nods, very slightly]
[Andy closes her eyes; she looks like it hurts]
One hundred years from today, they’ll meet you here.
[nods slightly, turns head to look at him]
Till then you’re alone.

Booker: [pauses, blinks, takes a breath]
I hoped for less, but...
[swallows, nods, flicks eyes in her direction]
I expected more.

Andy: Nile was gonna let you off with an apology.

[Booker snorts a laugh as he smiles. Andy smiles and chuckles.]

Booker: [fond head-shake, still smiling] Just give her some time.

Andy: [looks out over water, her face sad, turns to him]
I’m gonna miss you.

[Booker glances at her, away, nods slightly, glances back, turns and draws her into a desperate hug. Andy clings tightly as he lays his chin on her shoulder and she leans into the side of his neck, check-to-cheek. His right hand comes up to stroke the back of her head, then slides down to the nape of her neck before he lets her go.]

Booker: [breathes, looks into her eyes, tiny head-shake, eyes shift away, back to her]
Um... I won’t see you again.

Andy: [inhales, tiny chin-lift, reaches out, grabs his upper left arm, shakes it gently]
Have a little faith, Book.

[Booker watches Andy walk away. Nile, Joe, and Nicky are waiting for her on the pub’s stairs. As she reaches the stairs they turn and start up, Nicky first, then Nile. Joe puts a gentle hand to her back as he lets Andy go after Nile, then follows. As he walks, Joe turns to look over his shoulder. Booker is watching them go. He nods to Joe’s look, takes a deep breath and turns away.]

“Cruel World” by Active Child begins playing
I dedicate my life
To something richer
And all the things that come
‘Cause that’s no price at all
And I know you’ll be there
And I want you to know I care because
Keep your head up Hold your head up
Even though it’s a cruel world
Count your blessings
You won’t need them when you’re gone
It’s a cruel world
You can’t see it
You can’t see it
Even though it’s a cruel world...

1:52:03 minutes

[Nicky, with hands clasped behind him, Andy, with arms crossed, and Joe, with arms hanging loose, are ranged in front of Copley’s bulletin board-wall, examining all the information, often with parts circled or underlined in red, many with Post-it Notes attached, with comments hand-written in red. Nile sits/leans against the back of a chair behind them. Copley stands farther back, arms crossed, allowing them space.]

[Photo of Joe and Nicky in plaid shirts, rescuing a young man; Post-it with red ink reads: ‘Joe & Nicky 1968’.]
[A college I.D card, 1992-93, with Nicky’s face; ID# 62773884?, Birth 4/8/197?, signed N. Smith.]
[Nicky gazes at these artifacts, expressionless.]

[Below the label of TURKEY, a photo of five men in local clothing; a slightly enlarged section shows only two of the men, with their heads circled in red. Post-it reads: ‘Crimean War 1953 Joe & Nicky?’]
[Beside the label of CUBA, a photo of five men resting, all holding rifles. Post-it reads: ‘Cuba Revolution 1956-1957 Booker, Nicky & Joe’’.]
[Copy of I.D card with Joe’s face, with the name Joseph Jones, Deutsch, from Frankfurt and/or Hamburg. Dates are 02.01.1956 and 01.09.2014 and 31.08.2024.]
[Joe looks stunned at the amount of information collected.]

Copley: [quietly] This is only what I’ve found going back the last hundred and fifty years or so.

[Photo of one of Martin Luther King’s speeches; the enlarged view of a woman with sunglasses and long blonde hair looks like Andy; the two men nearby could be Nicky and Joe.]
[Under a headline ‘Taste of Freedom’, photo of Andy, circled in red, reaching down to help someone up. Post-it reads: ‘Andy Berlin ‘89’.]
[Photo of woman squatting with very young child on her knee, offering food to the child, connected with red string to news-clip picture of woman aviator pioneer. Post-it reads: ‘Saved by Andy 1918’. Headline reads: ‘RECOGNITION FOR PIONEER AVIATRIX’, sub-title is ‘A Legion of Honour is Awarded to the French Hero for Her Valiant Efforts during World War II’.]
[Andy quietly views the displayed information.]

Copley: When you think about how old you are,
[Andy blinks, bows head slightly]
the good you’ve done for humanity becomes... exponential.

Nile: [softly] Maybe this is the why, Andy.

[Andy looks toward Nicky, who gives her a tiny smile, and Joe, who drops his eyes and bows his head.]

Andy: [speaks softly, without looking at Copley]
It’s nearly impossible to disappear in the world we live in today.
[flicks eyes up toward the gathered information]
There are too many people like you
[quick glance toward him; Copley’s eyes flick down]
who can bend it to your will. Too many with bad intentions.
[takes measured breath as she shifts,]
We don’t have all the answers, but we do have purpose.
[turns and looks directly at him]
And you’re going to help us.
[Nile quietly stands]
[Andy prowls toward Copley, one deliberate step after another]
[voice remains soft, but firm and commanding]
When we leave a footprint in the sand, in the snow, in the ether,
[drops her arms to her side]
you’re going to sweep it.
[Nile, Nicky, and Joe move forward at Andy’s pace]
You’re going to protect us from those who want to put us in cages, and you’re gonna help us find those jobs...
[they range behind Andy, presenting a united front]
that are best suited to us.
[Copley swallows]

Joe: [flatly, warning] She’s not asking.

Copley: [recognizes warning, nods slightly, eyes steady]
I’d be honored.

Andy: [nods] Then let’s go to work.

[She turns to gaze over her team, smiling. Turns back to Copley, still smiling, but with an unswerving assurance.]

1:53:45 minutes

THE OLD GUARD shows on screen, white letters on black.

SIX MONTHS LATER shows on screen, over the sound of sirens wailing. Aerial view of apartment (?) buildings, with Eifel Tower in the distance.

PARIS shows on screen

[View of Booker’s back as he approaches a door; an almost-empty bottle of whiskey dangles loosely from his right hand. As he steps inside the door, the bottle drops and shatters. He curses in French and kicks/sweeps the glass aside with his foot. He walks a few steps forward to a staircase, turns and sits on the third step, his head bowed as he sighs. He pauses, takes a deep breath, uses his hands on bannister and wall to pull himself up, then turns to a door at his left, keys in hand.]

[The door isn’t latched, and gives at the pressure of the key; Booker pushes it open and steps into the space, pistol extended and aimed.]

[A female figure in a red coat is pouring water from a glass bottle into a drinking glass. She doesn’t flinch or react at Booker’s sudden entrance. When the glass is half-full, she pauses.]

Woman: Booker.
[sets bottle aside as he continues into room, keeping pistol aimed]
It’s nice to finally meet you.

[As she raises her glass to drink, we see that it’s Quynh. She lowers her glass and watches Booker calmly, highlighted by the sun coming through the window behind her, while he maintains a steady aim at her from across the room.]

1:54:50 minutes

End credits roll over views of Copley’s bulletin board and the collected information. (Listed below lyrics.)

“Baby Outlaw” by Elle King begins playing

I’ve been runnin’ since the day I was born
I’m the definition of worn
Shed a tear for each soul set free
But that’s what happens when you dance with me
Pity the man that stands in my way
I’m a nightmare, even in the day
I’d be wise with which words you say
‘Cause they could be the last breath you take
Go ahead, baby, tell me

Well I ain’t nobody’s baby
Baby, I’m an outlaw
Call me a criminal maybe
Baby, I’m an outlaw
You know I ain’t evil but I ain’t a saint
Can’t help it, I was born this way
Oh baby, outlaw
Ooh baby, I’m an outlaw

I was cornered in the desert by a man
He took the pistol right from my hand
As he put it to my temple, I asked
“Do you think it’s gonna be that simple?
See, I got a bullet for a tooth and
I’m gonna use it to shoot you.”
Even though you got a gun to my head
You’ll be the one that ends up dead
Go ahead, baby, tell me

Well I ain’t nobody’s baby
Baby, I’m an outlaw
Call me a criminal maybe
Baby, I’m an outlaw
You know I ain’t evil but I ain’t a saint
Can’t help it, I was born this way
Yeah, baby, outlaw
Ooh baby, I’m an outlaw

You know I ain’t evil but I ain’t a saint
Can’t help it, I was born this way
Yeah, baby, outlaw
Little baby, outlaw

Identifiable Photos / Pictures / Headlines Across Copley’s Boards

Note: #1 I have zero knowledge of art history, or historical illustrations. If someone can identify any of these, and/or give context, I’ll include the information in this list.

Note: #2 Either Copley or Props department isn’t as organized as they should be. Same headline (Man Sacrifices Himself) appears in two places on the board, in the same shot. The fingerprints appear twice -- once with Nicky’s pictures, once without; same scene, but different shot.

COUNTRIES LISTED ACROSS THE BOARD:
America, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Cambodia, Cuba, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Mexico, Montenegro, Nepal, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Sudan, Vietnam

WHILE COPLEY EXPLAINS TO NILE

Label: MONTENEGRO. Three articles underneath with red tape around them. Headlines: ‘MYSTERY HEROES SAVE FAMILY’ and ‘REFUGEE FAMILY SAFE’ and ‘Montenegro Refugee’s Saved by Woman’s Actions. Over 200 Women And Children Diverted to Safety in Act of Heroism’. Red strings lead to photo of a woman (hairstyle, shirt style suggests 1940's or 50's?), captioned: “HIGHLY RESPECTED AND TRUSTED”. It’s paired with a news-clip headline -- DAUGHTER OF MIGRANT FAMILY NAMED HEAD OF MEDICINE. (highlighted) Subheadline: Eleanor Hamble, a physician-??? noted for her commitment in the field, has been named the new head of medicine.

Small picture of Nicky, face-on, with short, spiky hair.

Small picture of Joe, face-on, with beard and shorter hair than current.

Red label: VIETNAM. Photo of three soldiers attached -- two in background wearing gear and helmets, one in foreground, shirtless, bandage around chest. It’s below a headline: HUNDREDS SAVED FROM KHMER ROUGE DEATH CAMP. Illustration on article is a mass of human skulls.

Headline: (partially obscured) -ing Dismantled Following Gang War.

Two enlarged fingerprints on yellow notecard.

Very small pictures -- 4 angles of same occasion -- of a woman who might be Andy. She’s wearing a dark tank-top shirt, a ballcap pull low on her forehead, and large sunglasses. Her hair is lighter, hangs halfway down her neck.

Photo of the painting Nile saw in the mine -- a woman in clothes from an earlier time -- Andy -- with long hair, standing with a black man behind her, holding her with his arm around her waist.

Photo of Nicky, profile, longer hair, above the blowups of two fingerprints.

Photo of Nicky, full face, short spiky hair, beside blowups of two fingerprints.

Headline: MADRID CONQUEST

Label: SPAIN. Headline: Case of The Death Defying Couple Remains Unsolved.

Label: AUSTRALIA. Headline: How the War is Waging in Far-away Gallipoli. Picture is a group of 12-15 men in old-time soldier gear. Connected by red string to larger picture of Andy with short hair and flat hat carrying a man over her shoulder. Post-it reads in red: Saved by Andy in 1915.

Label: POLAND. Headline: Man Sacrifices His Life to Save Bus Full of Children. (Same headline is placed near another label: ITALY.)

Label: GERMANY. Headline: Mystery of "Death Cheat" (highlighted) Woman. No article attached.

Headline: Cambodian Rescue. Reports Of 4 Mask-. From Khmer Rouge D-.

SCROLLING ACROSS BOARDS DURING END CREDITS

Picture of mosaic art, of woman with double-bladed war-ax on horseback, swinging at armored soldier on horseback, with shield.

Front of a theatre playbill reads: ANDROMAQVE (circled in red) TRAGEDIE.

A xerox-enlarged copy of an ancient coin (?) --a bordered circle with woman’s head inside and ‘ANDROMACHA’ along the circle’s border, with ‘HETC.VX’ below it, marked with red star.

List of changes in spelling of Andromache’s name through time and place -- Latin, Greek, Russian, Armenian, Farsi, Arabic.

Section of ancient map, mountain ranges drawn, with an open area between them labeled Scythia (circled in red).

Photo of a bronze, double-bladed war-ax, etched/incised with decorative designs.

Aerial view of ancient walled city, with an article mounted below it: July 15, 2019. Headline: ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER EVIDENCE OF CRUSADER SIEGE OF 1099 (circled in red). Caption reads: Almost a thousand years ago, Crusaders breached Jerusalem and conquered the walled city of Fatimid. Now archaeologists have found a chronicled moat that to many scholars had seemed a myth. It is the first archaeological proof of a historically chronicled Crusader siege conducted by Raymond of Saint-Gilles on the Fatimid-controlled city, which ended on July 15th, 1099. by Artefacts News. Post-it reads in red: Nicky & Joe

A picture of a painting of two differently-armored men fighting with swords and shields on horseback, with a female figure floating in the air above/in front of them.

A picture of a stylized illustration of a Crusader on a white horse, using a lance to kill a Muslim on a brown horse. The article mounted below reads: THE FIRST CRUSADE CHRISTIANS VS. MUSLIMS The Accounts of Eye-Witnesses and Participants 1099 is hand-written in red.

Picture of a painting of two men on horseback, face-to-face. The lighter-skinned man on the white horse is gazing directly at the darker-skinned man, who seems to return his gaze. Printed label reads: The 6th Crusade - 1228

Picture of a light-on-dark illustration (originally a woodcut ?) of a figure on horseback, carrying a lance, with a figure on foot behind, holding high a banner with the Crusader cross on it. Title of illustration is ‘HEROINES OF THE CRUSADES’.

Headline: A STASH OF NAPOLEON-ERA GOLD COINS Found by Metal Detectors. ‘Forgery?’ is scrawled in red under headline.

Headline: Medal is Memento of Napoleon’s March on Moscow. It partially covers a picture of two soldiers on horseback in Napoleonic uniforms, and two other non-uniformed figures on horseback.

Picture of a painting several soldiers in Napoleonic uniforms standing/sitting around outside a building with the door torn off; their postures suggest they’re drunk. One man standing and drinking from a bottle is labeled ‘Booker?’ in red. Attached News-clip reads: THE NAPOLEONIC WARS - 1812 MOSCOW BURNS DURING THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN

Note: Those 3 Napoleon articles are grouped together, with (a copy of?) one of the gold coins hanging at the juncture.

Post-it to left of that group reads: Booker? 1812. Attached to unidentifiable map, but may refer to the forgery group.

Photo of a woman in clothing that looks like northern Civil War uniform on top, full skirt on bottom, with a sword at her left hip.

Photo of 6 soldiers, 3 sitting, 3 standing, holding long rifles. One bearded man standing could be Joe. Printed label reads: The Crimean War, 1853.

Headline: THE HAITIAN REVOLUTION CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 1804 - 1904 (circled in red) A Century of Freedom. Red string connects to a fuzzy picture with a figure in a street circled and ‘?’ next to it. Post-it reads in red: Prevented a Coup d’État in 1904?

Copy of cover of AMERICAN CIVIL WAR DIGEST. Headline of article: Newly Discovered Photographs Reveal The Horrors Of The Civil War. Subheading: The photos bring new insight into the lives of civil war soldiers and officers. Caption reads: An album of photographs dating back to the 1860s recently found in the attic of an old demolished house illustrates one of the bloodiest pages in the history of the United States. It’s attached to a photo of six people in front of a tent -- Nicky, Joe, Andy are recognizable. Three men + Andy are in Union uniform; Nicky and Joe are not, and look rougher -- maybe scouts?

Printed label: WORLD WAR I (1914 - 1918 (circled in red))

Photo of a group of WWI soldiers. (The bearded man in front might be Joe, but the man next to him is definitely not Nicky or Booker.)

Photo of a bearded soldier (Joe?) (WWI? Earlier?) holding the hands of 2 little girls; the youngest is circled in red. The circle is connected to a picture and news-clip headline: Youngest Laureate for Nobel Prize in Medicine. Article begins: PARIS, FRANCE -- Marie-Helene Varte last Friday said the Nobel Prize for Medicine will inspire her to “continue my efforts in the great cause of ending the pain and suffering that diseases such as polio cause in children.” Announcement of the award to Dr. Varte, a French doctor and medical scientist, was announced in Oslo, (rest is cut off.)

Photo with printed label: ‘Irun, 1936 (The Spanish War)’ shows a group of 9 men (5 facing camera) next to a wall of sandbags. A man at edge of picture, with face circled in red, could be Nicky.

Photo of 2 men & 1 woman (+ 4 men grouped to the side) standing in a street, with a poster pinned to it -- the Arc de Triomph, titled: FRENCH RESISTANCE, 1944. The woman might be Andy.

Photo of a long line of WWII soldiers marching. Printed label reads: WORLD WAR II (1939-1945). The 5th man from the front of the line is circled in red, with ‘Nicky’ written beside it.

Photo of bearded man (maybe Joe?, maybe Booker?) in miner’s (?) clothing, carrying a rescued man over his shoulder.

Photo of Nicky on his knee, Red Cross patch on his sleeve, tending to/helping a little boy. Red circle around the boy and a line leads to cover of magazine, ‘The World of Science Today’, with heading: DNA PROFILING. Subheading: French Scientist to get Institut Pasteur Medal For Pioneering Work With DNA -- pg 30.

Photo of Joe with a group of children. Headline of news-clip below reads: Mystery Saviors in the Democratic Republic of Congo. One child circled in red leads to article titled: Young Hip Hop Activist is Changing the DRC. Posted 8 July, 2018.

Photos of atom-bomb blast-columns, with hand-written labels in red: ‘Hiroshima Aug 6’. ‘Nagasaki Aug 9’. ‘What was next???’ String leads to copy of letter: TOP SECRET MEMORANDUM TO: Chief of Staff. The next bomb of the implosion ty- (cut off) scheduled to be ready for delivery on the t- (cut off) Red letters scrawled above ‘the next bomb’ -- ‘DID THEY STOP IT?’

White-on-black poster (?) bumper sticker (?): PEACE!!! Below are news-clip headlines layered on top of each other -- ‘THIS IS DER TAG’ and ‘GERMANY WAKES OUT OF DREAM OF EMPIRE’ and ‘GREATEST WAR IN HISTORY OF THE -’ and ‘PEACE’ and ‘SIGN TREATY’ and ‘GERMANS AFFIX SIGNATURES TO COMPACT IN PRESENCE OF ENVOYS FROM 20 NATIONS’. Clipped article at bottom starts: ‘PRESIDENT WILSON’S CABLED MESSAGE TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE:’ “The treaty of peace has been signed. If it is ratified and acted upon in full and sincere execution of its terms it will furnish the charter for a new order of affairs in the world. It is a severe treaty in the duties and penalties it imposes upon Germany, but it is severe only because great wrongs done by Germany are to be righted and repaired; it imposes nothing that Germany cannot do, and she can regain her rightful standing in the world by the prompt and honorable fulfillment of its terms. And it is much more than a treaty -” (cut off).

Photo of civil rights protests, next to a photo of Martin Luther King, Jr. Various signs read: ‘End Segregated Rules in Public Schools’ and ‘We Demand Voting Rights Now’ and ‘Jobs for All Now!’, Man’s face in the middle of the crowd is circled in red, with NICKY! written below.

Photo labeled: Operation Babylift 1975 (archival print). Blonde woman in foreground is carrying a toddler. Behind her, Andy (circled in red) is helping a little boy, circled in red. Circle is connected to headline: ANGEL INVESTOR HELPS AMPUTEE CHILDREN IN ASIA.

Printed label: BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA. Photo of 6 - 8 men in military fatigues and helmets; 2 have Red Cross emblems on their arms. The man at the head of the stretcher might be Joe. Caption under picture reads: UN TO HOLD EMERGENCY MEETING ON SARAJEVO SIEGE.

Photo of Andy’s labrys.

Computer monitor shows scenes from Merrick’s lab facilities, including Nile dead in hall and Nile coming around a corner with a rifle and the labrys case. The cursor clicks on that one, which enlarges. The ticky-box asks: Permanently Erase This Item? Cursor clicks Erase.

1:57:25 minutes

The End

Old Guard script: bold black names, small descriptions Part 2

2021-08-23T00:35:16Z

THE OLD GUARD shows on screen, white letters on black.

SIX MONTHS LATER shows on screen, over the sound of sirens wailing. Aerial view of apartment (?) buildings, with Eifel Tower in the distance.

PARIS shows on screen

[View of Booker’s back as he approaches a door; an almost-empty bottle of whiskey dangles loosely from his right hand. As he steps inside the door, the bottle drops and shatters. He curses in French and kicks/sweeps the glass aside with his foot. He walks a few steps forward to a staircase, turns and sits on the third step, his head bowed as he sighs. He pauses, takes a deep breath, uses his hands on bannister and wall to pull himself up, then turns to a door at his left, keys in hand.]

[The door isn’t latched, and gives at the pressure of the key; Booker pushes it open and steps into the space, pistol extended and aimed.]

[A female figure in a red coat is pouring water from a glass bottle into a drinking glass. She doesn’t flinch or react at Booker’s sudden entrance. When the glass is half-full, she pauses.]

Woman: Booker.
[sets bottle aside as he continues into room, keeping pistol aimed]
It’s nice to finally meet you.

[As she raises her glass to drink, we see that it’s Quynh. She lowers her glass and watches Booker calmly, highlighted by the sun coming through the window behind her, while he maintains a steady aim at her from across the room.]

1:54:50 minutes

The End

Old Guard script: bold red names, small descriptions Part 2

2021-08-23T00:25:39Z

The End

Old Guard script: bold red names, italics descriptions Part 2

2021-08-22T23:31:10Z

Continued from Part 1

[Nile sits on a thick flat rock in front of the campfire, elbows on knees, poking at the fire with a stick.]

[Booker’s laptop screen with open browser shows Copley’s visa.]

Andy: [pacing, impatient] Come on, Book. You’ve been working on that for hours.
[winces, puts left hand on right shoulder]

Booker: He’s a security expert... leaves no footprints. It’s gonna take time.

Nile: [looking up] You got a satellite link?

[Andy puts her left hand under her jacket and shirt, to check out her right shoulder.]

Booker: Yeah.

[Andy freezes momentarily as she feels wetness.]

Nile: Follow the money.
[Andy slowly brings hand out...]
Whoever he’s working for, maybe?
[...stares at the blood on her fingers in disbelief]
That’s how we track militants.
[Andy looks toward the others; they’re not noticing her]
[flash-memory, soldier stabbing her shoulder in church]
[Andy goes to a trunk (footlocker), pulls out different coat]
[Nile is casual, disinterested]
Sure you already tried that.

Booker: Yeah, won’t hurt to try again.

Andy: [putting on the longer, heavier coat]
You know how it works, Nile. Get some sleep while you can.

Booker: [points to carry-bag] I brought you a change of clothes.

[Nile shifts her eyes to Andy. The little expression on her face indicates that she’s not sure this woman is safe to -- or worth -- associating with.]

[Camera pans back. Booker is sitting on a metal box/footlocker across the fire from Nile, twisted to his left to work on the laptop. Andy has been beyond them, farther away from the firelight.]

Andy: [walking past the fire and them] I’m going out for a bit.

Booker: [turns to watch her go] Are you all right, Boss?

Andy: Yeah. [exits under an arch, down tunnel toward entrance]

[Booker sighs, turns back, flicks his eyes to Nile, then back to his laptop, resumes his search.]

[Nile looks almost hypnotized. She slowly puts down the stick, then carefully extends her right hand into the flames. Booker watches as she holds it there for several seconds; we hear a slight ‘sizzle’ before she gasps sharply and yanks it back, grunts at the pain; she cradles it in her other hand, blows out air.]

Booker: [slightly amused] Just because we keep living doesn’t mean we stop hurting.

Nile: [watches as hand heals, burns and blisters fade to normal smooth skin]
[frowns, flexes fingers as she looks up at Booker]
Why us?

Booker: [raises and drops hands, sighs] Yeah.
[reaches to left for flask, starts unscrewing cap. sighs again]
That way madness lies.

Nile: I thought you were the brains of this outfit. [tilts head]

Booker: [chuckles heartily. Nile smiles in response]
Tell you what I do wonder...
[pauses, scratches forehead]
is why you?
[raises eyes to look directly at her]
And why now?

Nile: How old is Andy?

Booker: Well, she says she... she doesn’t remember.
[tiny smile]
And she may not. I don’t know. But what I do know is she was alone for a long time before she found anyone like her. A very long time.
[gestures to her with flask]
What about you? You have someone?
[lifts flask to drink]

Nile: [looks into fire, sighs] Just my family.

Booker: [lowers eyes, seems to consider. takes breath to speak, stops, reconsiders]
[finally speaks, with difficulty, pausing as he remembers the pain]
I had three sons. And the youngest one, Jean Pierre... was the last one to die. He was forty-two when, uh... cancer took him.
[Nile watches him intently; Booker looks directly at her.]
The only way is forward now.

Nile: [slight frown] What do you mean?

Booker: [softly, explaining gently]
...You’ll always and forever be the young woman right there... but everyone around you, everyone you love... is gonna grow old...
[deep breath, exhaled in a sigh]
...is gonna... is gonna suffer and is gonna die.
[continues to tell story with many pauses, struggling as he remembers the pain]
[closeup on fire flashes to statue of Christ, large open hallway, nursing sisters passing]
And if you try to... if you try to touch their lives... well, they will get to learn your secret.
[Booker’s son -- curly hair, loose white shirt -- bent over on bed, coughing painfully]
They will beg you to share it with them, and you won’t be able to.
[Booker sits beside bed, holding glass of water. His son rolls over, shouts, strikes out, hits Booker’s hand so that water flies out.]
And they won’t believe you, of course.
[deep, painful breath]
And they will tell you... that you don’t love them.
[Booker’s son turns away from him, mouth open wide as he cries or shouts.]
That your love is weak...
[Booker walks away from the hospital ward, shoulders slumped.]
[Nile stares up at him, absorbing every word.]
or selfish. And you will never forget... the hate... and despair in their eyes. And you will know what it is to lose...
[deep breath, deep pain in eyes; he can hardly force out the words]
everyone you’ve ever loved.

[Nile continues to watch closely, contemplating his story.]

[Booker takes a deep breath, lifts his flask and drinks.]

[Interior of une pharmacie. Andy carries a shopping hand-basket, walks by a selection of nail-care items, indicated by the manicure advertisement over the shelf. She scans the shelves as she walks, then stops as she reaches the first-aid section. The clerk, a dark-haired woman, looks up, watches.]

[Andy bends to examine items she’s never had to use. She looks back and forth across the many possibilities, then straightens to eye the clerk with a slight frown. The clerk looks down, away from Andy.]

[Andy starts putting items in her basket almost at random, sliding three different tubes of cream or salve from the top of a shelf, a package of this, a plastic bag of that, a box of bandaids. She finishes by grabbing several chocolate bars and tossing them into the basket.]

[Andy plops the basket on the checkout counter without speaking. The clerk looks up at her (Andy is several inches taller) with a flick of her eyes, also without speaking, then opens a plastic bag to load the items as she scans them. Andy hears a police siren and turns, but it fades in the distance and she turns back toward the clerk.]

Andy: [with low-key intensity] Do you have a bathroom?

Clerk: [stares a moment] No.
[Andy looks down, mouth tightens, looks up as checkout continues]
[clerk notices Andy’s reaction, considers what she sees]
But we have a storeroom. [pauses] Do you need help?

[Andy just looks at her, seems lost and confused.]

[Storeroom. Andy has slipped her coat and shirt off her right shoulder; the wound is about two inches (5cm) long and gaping open a quarter-inch (.5cm) wide; it looks ragged and raw, and is red and inflamed.]

[Andy breathes deeply and clenches her jaw while she clutches her right coat-sleeve with her left hand as the clerk dabs the wound with a cotton ball; the medicine obviously stings. As the clerk finishes the cleaning, Andy turns to look at the wound, then quickly turns away.]

Clerk: [opens a package of steri-strips]
Stitches would be better, but... this will help.
[carefully pulls the wound closed with steri-strips]

Andy: [quietly, with tiny head-shake] You haven’t asked.

Clerk: [meets Andy’s eyes, equally quiet]
Your business is yours. You need help. What does it matter why? Today, I put this on your wound. Tomorrow... you help someone up when they fall.
[Andy closes eyes, bows head slightly]
We’re not meant to be alone.
[Andy watches her face, considering her words]
There.
[Andy looks at shoulder; strips are covered by a pad, held on by a broad adhesive patch]
This should do.

Andy: [shrugs into shirt and coat, whispers] Thank you.

[The clerk looks up, gives her a twitch of a smile, closes the medicine bottle.]

[Street scene. Andy walks slowly to the car, looking warily around as she goes. She unlocks it and gets in, then sits, remembering.]

Quynh: Andromache, help me!
[Andromache's hands press down on gaping, bloody wound low on Lykon’s stomach]
Why won’t it stop?
[flash of Lykon’s face, strained, Quynh’s face, frantic]

Andromache: [face streaked with blood and dirt, panting]
This can’t be happening.

Quynh: [Quynh’s face, blood-spattered, gazing down fearfully]
Lykon! No...

Lykon: [muttering, blood slides from corner of mouth, shakes with pain]
It’s time.

Andromache: It’s impossible. [shakes head, breathes deeply]

Lykon: It... it’s time.

[Andromache stares at his face as Quynh sobs frantically and Lykon’s eyes glaze over.]

[Andy sits motionless in the car, gazing through the windshield into the darkness.]

1:13:27 minutes

[Monitor beeping. Camera pans up a blue hospital drape, over a man’s bare chest with smears of blood and cardiac sensors attached, to Joe’s face. He seems unconscious or dead.]

[Copley and Merrick are in some kind of supply and/or storage room -- shelving units, banks of drawers, etc.]

Copley: How long will the testing take?

Merrick: Until we have results we can replicate.

[Nicky is securely strapped -- arms, legs, and midsection -- to a lab bed/examination table, so that he cannot move or escape. He has smears of blood on his chest and the side of his neck, a blood--pressure cuff on his right arm, an oximeter on his right index finger, and cardiac sensors on his chest. Kozak is pushing a long thin probe into the right side of his abdomen. He grits his teeth and grunts in pain, neck tense as he strains against the straps, but he doesn’t cry out. The speed of the beeping increases.]

Kozak: [dispassionately] Do you feel the wound trying to close?

[Camera pans past medical tray with chunks of bloody tissue laying on sterile cloths, as well as capped pill-bottle-sized containers with other samples surrounded by liquid.]

Copley: [arms crossed as he watches Merrick across the room]
You don’t need them for that. You’ve got the samples, blood, tissue, DNA.

Merrick: [strolls toward Copley, unconcerned]
Well you know the concept of proprietary data -- and they’re the product.
[Copley stares, frowning]
They go in the vault, they stay there under lock and key.

Copley: For... ever? [shakes head as frown increases]

Merrick: [firmly, sure of his rightness]
We can’t have them strolling back out into the world, into my competitors’ laps. If this takes years -- maybe decades --
[intensely, more fervently]
what does it matter to them? If we can unlock their genetic code, the world will be begging us for the key.

Kozak: [pulls probe from Nicky with chunk of tissue at the end, watches hole close up, runs hand over his skin]
Huh! Remarkable.

Nicky: [breathes heavily, opens eyes to look at her; voice quiet, slightly hoarse]
You will not be able to give him what he wants.

Kozak: You think I go too far?
[picks up syringe]
That I am unethical?
[uses it to push chunk of Nicky’s liver (?) off probe, into empty vial]

Nicky: I would say immoral.

Kozak: [closes vial, looks at him]
I believe this can change the world.

Nicky: [quietly] A fine justification. I’ve heard it so many times before.

[Nicky stares levelly at her as she studies him. She huffs with a small, self-satisfied smile, turns and walks away.]

[Joe revives with an indrawn gasp; Nicky turns his head to him as Joe tries and fails to dislodge his restraints; he grunts and groans with the effort. Joe subsides, breathing heavily, turns his head to his right, to see Nicky on the bed next to his. As soon as he does, his eyes widen as he registers the doctor standing near Nicky, but she’s already moving. Joe lifts his head to watch her walk past them out of the room, then drops his head on the pillow with a sigh.]

Nicky: [watches Joe, smiling] As much as I like watching you sleep, I’m glad you’re awake.

Joe: [turns to Nicky, purses lips in thought] Bedhead?

Nicky: [laughs] Nicely tousled.

[Joe tries to shift position, but the restraints don’t allow even that easement. He sighs.]

Nicky: [staring at the ceiling] Do you know, I was thinking about Malta.

Joe: [turns to Nicky] What time in Malta?
[Nicky turns to Joe, simply gazes with a small smile. a beat, then Joe grins.]
Oh, that time in Malta.
[grin widens as he laughs, shaking head]

Nicky: [smile fades, stares upward, speaks quietly]
Dovremmo ritornarci. (We should go back there.)

Joe: [softly, watching Nicky as his smile also fades]
Sarebbe bello. (That would be nice.)

[Kozak walks back into the room.]

1:15:37 minutes

[In the mine, the fire is burning low; Booker and Nile are asleep on opposite sides of the fire. Nile twitches. Flash of the Afghani man Nile shot crying out and falling. Nile startles awake, breathing heavily; she sits halfway up and looks around to see Booker still asleep. Nile sits all the way up, deliberately breathes deeply and slowly, trying to calm herself.]

[Outside, very early, shortly after dawn. Andy is propped (sitting/leaning) against the hood of the car, very relaxed, one ankle crossed over the other. She’s eating one of the chocolate bars and looking at something in her right hand. She looks up as she hears a rustle of brush; Nile comes out of the mine, breathing deeply. Nile has put on her jacket, and she exits quickly. Her stance suggests that she wants to run, but Nile stops when she sees Andy, sighs, and turns to her.]

Andy: [looks down at hand, turns it to show Nile cellphone with picture on it]
Your mom and brother?

Nile: You have my phone!
[hurries forward to grab it, but stops, uncertain of Andy’s response]

[Andy holds out the phone. Nile takes it quickly, then sits/leans on the hood to Andy’s left, staring at the picture. Her mom is leaning into her brother’s right shoulder, apparently half a head shorter than her son. Both are wearing glasses and smiling widely. The time shows ‘06:31 Sunday, April 21’.]

Andy: Where’s your father?

Nile: [turns to her, speaks quietly]
Killed in action when I was eleven.
[Andy nods. Nile unlocks phone, scrolls through pictures, stops]
Here...
[moves closer, shows Andy a handsome man posing in Marine dress blues]
My mom, she was drowning after he died. South Side of Chicago, a million different ways we coulda went left. [nods gently] She fought for us. Never backed down.
[Andy raises her eyes to watch Nile’s face]
[Nile has a small smile as she glances at Andy]
Never let us back down either.

Andy: [quietly approving] You come from warriors.

Nile: [looks at her, accepting] Yeah. I do.

Andy: [nods, looks away, gazes outward]
I can’t remember what my mother looked like. Or my sisters.
[small headshake, slight huff]
None of them.

Nile: [has watched Andy, sympathetic, now looks away]
Time steals it all away, I guess.

Andy: [small huff as she bows head, thoughtful]
It’s not what time steals...
[Nile turns to stare]
it’s what it leaves behind.
[Andy gazes outward]
Things you can’t forget. I gave up searching for her.
[eyes close in pain]
I made Quynh a promise and I broke it.
[slight head-shake as mouth firms, nods slightly]
I’m getting Joe and Nicky back.
[deep breath]
Whatever it takes.

Nile: ‘Whatever it takes’? [turns head to watch Andy]

Andy: [looks at Nile directly, quietly resolute] Yes.

Booker: [out of sight] Guys, I found something.
[rustle of brush as he appears from mine]
An address just outside of London.

[Andy stands, picks up the chocolate bar wrapper from the hood, holds out her hand to Nile, who clings to her phone, staring at the picture of her mother and brother.]

Andy: We gotta go.

[After a moment, not looking at her, Nile puts the phone in Andy’s hand. Andy puts it in her right coat pocket and strides away.]

1:18:27 minutes

[Aerial view -- fields, lots of trees, a few isolated large houses, small town in the distance, small hills toward the horizon, cloudy sky overhead.]

SURREY ENGLAND appears on screen

[Rear view of silver Audi (license YY56 TVX), driving fast over a narrow, grassy track. It turns, pulls up and stops under some trees, near a metal farm-gate, with a large two-story house beyond.]

[Booker exits from the right rear as Nile exits from the front passenger seat (left side). Booker opens the boot as Andy exits from the driver’s seat (right side). Andy scans the territory as Booker reaches into a carry-bag, pulls out a pistol, checks it. As Andy comes around, he hands it to her; she puts it in her back waistband. Booker picks up another pistol, checks it.]

Andy: Go scout the back.

[Booker puts the pistol in his back waistband, heads out as Nile watches.]

[Andy reaches into the boot, pulls out a rifle, checks it, hands it to Nile. Nile takes it and stares down as if it’s unfamiliar. She shakes her head minutely, takes a breath, holds the rifle out to Andy, who is evaluating the terrain rather than looking at Nile.]

Nile: I can’t do this.

Andy: [flicks eyes to her] Yes, you can.

Nile: [pushes rifle closer to Andy, voice firm, determined]
I mean, I’m not doing this.

[Andy looks down at the rifle, looks at Nile with stunned disbelief. She takes the rifle and Nile turns away from her.]

Andy: [steps closer, speaks softly but firmly]
You’re one of us now.
[Nile shakes head minutely, but turns toward her]
[speaks more urgently]
We would do the same for you.

Nile: [louder, angry] I never even had a choice!

Andy: None of us had a choice.
[Nile turns away. Andy slams boot closed]
There isn’t a choice.

Nile: The day I died,
[turns, facing Andy down, deep breath, intense]
I killed the guy that killed me.
[Andy gives Nile her full attention, listening and watching closely]
They try to condition us, you know? Thousands of hours of training. Two shots, quick kill.
[another deep breath, lips tighten]
But they can’t teach you how to live with it.

Andy: [quickly, reaches for Nile, hand on left shoulder, speaks urgently. moves closer, face-to-face]
You’ve gotta feel it, Nile.
[Nile turns head away, while Andy focuses on her, voice sharper]
Every one.

Nile: [shaking head] I saw what you did in that church.
[Andy retreats slightly, drops hand, mouth firms]
All those bodies.
[voice sounds desperate]
Is that supposed to be me? Is that what we’re supposed to do, and we don’t even know why?

Andy: [moves closer again, speaks urgently]
You think knowing is gonna make you sleep better at night?

Nile: [shakes head slowly, speaks softly]
I can’t be that.
[Andy drops head, sighs]
My family...
[pauses, looks down, breathes in, faces Andy again]
they’re gonna get old and I won’t, but it’ll be years before they realize that.
[Andy watches her, carefully emotionless. links, looks aside]
[Nile’s voice is pleading]
I still have time with them.

Andy: [flicks eyes up to Nile, tiny nod, reaches for pistol in belt, holds it out]
Here.
[Nile takes it]
Take the car,
[Nile looks at Andy directly]
and when you ditch it, ditch the weapons.

Nile: [looks down, deep breath, faces Andy again]
You gonna be okay?

Andy: [direct gaze] Always.

[Andy carries the rifle as she walks past Nile, who turns to watch as she opens the gate and slips through. Nile opens her mouth as if she might change her mind, call to Andy, then sighs, looks down, lets the impulse die.]

[Booker moves past a tall green hedge, sees Andy coming. He gestures her forward; she comes to meet him.]

[Sound of car engine accelerating away; Andy turns her head to look back, then faces Booker.]

Booker: [quietly] Where’s Nile?

Andy: [sharp, short headshake] You and me, Book. Now and always.

[Andy moves past Booker and takes the lead. Pauses in the cover of a large tree-trunk.]

[Nile drives the car. GPS voice says, "Guildford station in one mile." She sees a sign for a security checkpoint, pulls the car over and stops at the side of the road; the area seems relatively isolated. Nile unbuckles her seatbelt, grabs the pistol from the passenger (left) seat, exits the car, goes to the rear, opens the boot. She starts shoving bits and pieces into the carry-bag. She looks around for observers as she removes the magazine from the pistol to put them separately in the bag, then stops and stares at the magazine.]

Nile: Empty?
[stares at pistol, mentally replays Booker handing it to Andy, Andy putting it in belt]
Shit.
[stares again at pistol and empty magazine, voice shows realization]
Andy.

[View of Copley’s house; ground floor is red brick, with part of the visible wall made of glass panels. Through them we see a spiral staircase to the upper floor, which also has large glass panels, as well as a wide expanse of multiple windows.]

[Booker, handgun extended, glides silently across the floor, followed by Andy, with her rifle extended. Booker stops at the foot of the stairs, continues covering the ground floor as Andy starts up the stairs beside him, then he follows. They climb silently, cautiously, alert for any threat.]

[The room is large, well-lighted, with windows on the two visible walls. The area includes a piano, a set of glass shelves with a few artifacts displayed, several padded chairs, and a table with keyboard and monitor. Copley is standing with his back to the door and staircase. He is perusing a wall-sized, standing bulletin board in two large sections; the boards are completely covered with papers and pictures, some outlined in red.]

[Andy reaches top of stairs, takes cover behind the closed half of a pair of double doors; the other door is standing open. A head gesture tells Booker -- a few steps down with his pistol at the ready -- to head ‘that’ direction. He looks that way, then back to Andy; her chin-lift says, ‘now’. Booker finishes climbing the stairs and heads in that direction as Andy slips around the door. She checks both sides of the room, then focuses on / aims at Copley.]

Andy: Where are they?

Copley: [turns slowly, casually to face her. hands in pockets of sweater, obviously no threat, he takes a few steps toward her, speaks softly]
Andromache the Scythian. The eternal warrior.

Andy: Book?

Booker: [in doorway behind; takes a few steps forward]
I’m right here.

[Andy glances at the bulletin board; easily visible is a copy of an ID card from Ceska Republika Obcansky Prokaz. The photo is an earlier Andy, with chin-length hair. Her gun-hand relaxes for a moment, but she shakes off her shock/surprise, lifts the rifle and aims directly at Copley.]

Andy: [steps forward, quiet threat] Where are Joe and Nicky?

[Sound of a shot; Andy cries out as her body jerks and blood appears on her shirt, low on her left side. Booker lowers his handgun, quickly tucks it in the front of his belt, pulls out a zip-tie. As Andy staggers from the impact of the shot and drops her rifle, Booker comes up behind her, grabs her arms and pulls them back.]

Andy: [struggling] What are you doing?!
[continues to struggle, but Booker drags/forces her to her knees...]
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!

Booker: Andy, calm down! [...and zip-ties her hands behind her.]

Andy: [shrieks] NOOOOOOOOOO!!!

[Copley watches dispassionately, hands still in pockets]

[Booker kneels behind Andy as he holds her on the floor, right arm around her neck as his left holds her left arm. She exclaims in wordless anger as he brings his face close to her left ear, tries to calm her with a quiet, "Shh."]

Andy: [raging, groaning as she breathes heavily, trying to struggle away]
You set us up!

Booker: [quietly, in her ear] Listen. Please listen.

[Copley walks closer, speaks calmly.]

Copley: When my wife died, I devoted myself to your work.
[Andy glares at him as she jerks out of Booker’s hold]
[Booker lets her go, pushes hair out of face, starts to rise]
I learned your secret history,
[Andy stares, stunned and appalled]
written in the margins,
[view of bulletin board. label: GREECE. picture of mosaic art, of woman with double-bladed war-ax on horseback, swinging at armored soldier on horseback, with shield]
[front of a theatre playbill reads: ANDROMAQVE, TRAGEDIE]
[a xerox-enlarged copy of an ancient coin (?) --a bordered circle with woman’s head inside and ‘ANDROMACHA’ along the circle’s border, with ‘HETC.VX’ below it, marked with red star]
passed on like legend.
[list of changes in spelling of Andromache’s name through time and place -- Latin, Greek, Russian, Armenian, Farsi, Arabic]
What was dismissed as a myth, was in fact,
[Andy breathes deep, exhales loudly as she takes it in]
immortality. You could help end... needless suffering.

[Andy looks up, then closes her eyes as her breath catches in pain. Her head sinks; she looks weary. Slowly her body starts to fold -- she tries to catch it and hold herself upright -- then gives in and curls downward until her head rests on the carpet, beside her right knee; she gasps. Booker stands behind Andy, watching her. He looks a little concerned, raises his eyes to Copley, who has a slight frown, but ignores the issue.]

Copley: Humanity needs you to share your gifts.

Andy: [raises head long enough to speak with tight, pained voice]
Humanity can screw itself.

[She groans, shifts her body, and lets herself roll to the left. She’s now sitting on the floor, leaning against the seat of one of the padded chairs. She continues to gasp heavily, with occasional groans, from the pain of the unhealing wound.]

Booker: [flicks eyes to Copley, looks uneasy as he steps toward her, starts to bend down]
Andy...

Andy: [raises head, speaks sharply as she kicks out at him]
Don’t! you fucking coward.
[Booker steps back from her anger, takes a deep breath]
[Copley flicks eyes to Booker, down to Andy, stays detached, uninvolved]
[Andy breathes heavily, shakes head, whispers,]
Why? Why, Book?

Booker: [steps forward, speaks placatingly] Andy, listen --

Andy: [kicks out again, shouts] WHY?

Booker: [goes to a knee beside/in front of her, speaks with quiet force]
If Merrick can discover how we keep living, he might find a way how to end it.
[Andy looks at him sorrowfully, takes deep breath, finds nothing to say]
[he leans closer, intense]
Hey. That’s what you wanted.

Andy: [shakes head slowly, speaks softly, barely more than a whisper]
Oh, Book. What have you done?
[deep breath, sharp gasp, another deep breath, tears in eyes]
Not like this, Book.

Booker: [drops head, sniffles a deep breath, notices. flings Andy’s jacket aside, reaches out to growing bloodstain on her shirt]
What’s going on? You’re still bleeding.
[Andy looks aside, still breathing heavily, seems less concerned about her wound than his betrayal. voice shakes as he repeats,]
You’re still bleeding.
[worried]
What? Shit.
[louder, looks up at Copley]
She’s not healing.

Copley: What? [comes to them, looks down]

[Andy has slumped more, closed her eyes, as if she’s distancing herself from the whole situation. Booker pushes her jacket farther aside, lifts his bloodstained hands.]

Booker: Look at this. She’s not healing. Go get something. Go on. Go on!
[Copley hurries away. Booker comes closer, hands and knees in front of her, face-to-face.]
Andy, look at me. [her eyes stay closed] Look at me.
[Andy raises eyes to him, face closed off, eyes remote]
Why didn’t you tell me?

Andy: [shakes head, small shrug of left shoulder; voice quiet, calm, resigned]
Wouldn’t have changed anything.

Booker: [raises head, shouts] Hurry up!

[Copley comes with a small towel, kneels next to Booker, presses it over the wound. Andy groans.]

Booker: Careful. Have to get her out of here.

[Booker and Copley grab Andy’s arms, start to lift her.]

[The other door slams open; Booker and Copley turn at the noise as Keane and several armed soldiers walk in, followed by Merrick. Booker stands as they walk closer.]

Keane: [points at Booker] Secure him. Nice work, Copley.

[Two soldiers grab Booker, pull his arms behind him, zip-tie his hands; he doesn’t struggle.]

Merrick: [walks to Andy, looks down at her] Look at you.

Copley: [looks up, keeping pressure on Andy’s wound]
She’s wounded. Gunshot.

Merrick: [sharply] Why isn’t she healing?

Copley: [raises eyes to Andy’s face] I don’t know.

[Andy glares up at Merrick, breathing deeply, doesn’t speak.]

Booker: [held tightly between two soldiers] She’s not immortal.

Merrick: What do you mean, ‘not immortal’?

Booker: I mean it’s gone.

[Entire room seems to pause. Merrick stares at him, calculating. Andy’s head is turned away from everyone in the room, still distancing herself. Copley continues to apply pressure on the wound, but makes no movement. Merrick turns, bends to look at Andy’s wound.]

Merrick: You’re a bloody mess.
[slowly squats in front of Andy. she deliberately doesn’t look at him]
Now, how old are you?

Andy: [breathes deeply, gasps, looks at him -- danger in her eyes, despite her circumstances. chin-lift, speaks quietly]
Come closer and I’ll tell you.

Merrick: [face falls, taken aback. stands] Let’s get them home.

Booker: Let her go.

Keane: Cover me. [opens jacket, reaches inside as he starts toward Andy]

Andy: [immediately defensive, yanks away from Copley, watches Keane approaching, pushes herself back]
No. No.

Booker: [struggles to go help her, the soldiers hold him.]
Let her go!
[soldier punches him in stomach; he grunts and folds over]

Andy: No!

[Andy struggles violently, kicking and thrashing, interspersing shouts of ‘No!’ with roars that sound like an enraged animal as Keane tries to hold her still, subdue her. She continues to twist and kick, roaring her fury, but can’t escape. She shakes her head violently as Keane reaches toward her. As he holds her head (relatively) still with a hand under her chin, an injector hisses at the left side of her neck. Her eyes close and body goes limp as she loses consciousness.]

Booker: [trying to reach her but held by soldiers, speaks in strained voice]
I’m sorry, Andy. I’m sorry.

Soldier: Hold him still.

[Booker grunts as injector hisses at the left side of his neck.]

Copley: [crosses quickly to Merrick, speaks urgently]
Mr. Merrick, look. If it’s true and she’s somehow not immortal anymore, then she might not survive the testing. This will be murder.

[Two soldiers lift Andy.]

Merrick: As if the CIA never disappeared anyone. As if they never conducted covert research.

Copley: No. [shakes head, firmer] No, this is not what we agreed.

Merrick: [looks over Copley’s shoulder, tiny nod]
We don’t stop.
[he turns away]

[Keane steps behind Copley, coldcocks him with a pistol-butt to his neck. Copley drops face-down, unconscious. Merrick walks out, followed by the remaining soldiers.]

1:26:45 minutes

[Street level, people walking past Merrick Pharmaceuticals.]

[Kozak is sitting at a table with a keyboard and monitor, entering data. A door bursts open behind her. She turns her head to watch as a guard enters, then Andy held by a guard on each side, with Booker immediately behind her, also held by two guards. Another guard, Keane, and Merrick follow.]

[Joe and Nicky -- now with the bloodstains cleaned from their skin -- raise their heads to see what’s happening.]

Nicky: Andy!

Joe: What happened?

[The guards sit Andy down forcibly on the bed to Nicky’s right. She grunts/groans at the impact, grimaces and partly curls into the pain, but the guards hold her up.]

Booker: She’s not healing.
[grunts as he is forcibly deposited on the to Andy’s right]
[guards are strapping Andy to bed; Kozak watches, pulling on surgical gloves]
[Merrick stands a short distance away, hands behind back, watching]
[Booker stares upward as guards strap him to bed; voice indicates self-disgust]
I killed her.

[Kozak raises her shirt to examine the wound. Andy lifts her head to look at it, breathing heavily. Nicky and Joe stare in dismay, then slowly lower their heads to their beds.]

Kozak: I need to get a line in her and stop the bleeding.

Merrick: Keep her alive at all costs.

[Guards finish strapping Andy and Booker, nod to the guards who have been covering them with rifles aimed; they lower their weapons and step back.]

Merrick: Don’t you see? Between Sudan and now, something’s changed. Find out what.

[Andy stares at him, coldly, still not actively responding to what’s happening.]

Kozak: This will stabilize her,
[hangs I.V bag above left side of bed]
but I have to stitch her and give her antibiotics.
[walks away for more supplies]

Merrick: Good.

Nicky: [watching Andy] All things die.

Merrick: [looks surprised that one of his lab animals has spoken]
What was that?

Nicky: [shifts gaze to Merrick]
Everything has to die, Mr. Merrick.
[speaks softly, gently, as Merrick steps closer]
The only reason we haven’t...
[slight smile]
is that it’s not our time yet.
[Andy breathes heavily, unresponsive as Kozak inserts IV / treats her wound]
If it’s now Andromache’s, nothing you can do will stop it.

Merrick: You’d be surprised by what my products can do.
[Joe watches, evaluating, judging]
I will carve slices off you for years to get what I want.
[Nicky is calm, merely blinks]
Your time is coming.

Nicky: As is yours.

Merrick: [rattled, blustering] I expect results!
[storms out, followed by most of the guards]

Booker: [turns head toward her, pleading] Andy...

[Andy stares upward, refusing to respond.]

1:28:07 minutes

[Outside view of Copley’s house.]

[Inside, Copley sits bowed over in a chair, elbows on knees, holding a towel to the left side of his head and neck.]

[Nile comes through the open door, pistol pointed. She cocks the pistol, which alerts Copley. He looks up, lunges for a rifle left behind on the floor, but Nile quickly steps forward and kicks it out of his reach.]

Nile: Uh-uh.

[Copley, on his knees, raises his hands as Nile aims her pistol at him, pushes himself up and into a chair as she advances.]

Nile: Are you Copley?

Copley: [breathlessly, with raised hands] He sent you to finish me off.

Nile: Who?
[looks down, notices blood on the carpet]
Where’s Andy? And Booker?
[shifts pistol for emphasis]

Copley: Who are you?

[Nile takes a breath, firms her mouth, shoots down into her own left foot.]

Nile: Ahh!
[Copley flinches]
[Nile folds over herself, holds foot off the floor as it heals]
Son of a bitch!

Copley: [amazed, pointing at her foot] You’re another one.

Nile: Yeah.
[aims pistol at him again as she breathes heavily]
I’m new.
[deep breath, advances on Copley, voice determined]
Where are they?

Copley: They’re in a lab... being tested.
[Nile’s mouth opens, shocked; she gasps ]
Tortured.
[Nile lifts pistol higher, ready to -- she’s not sure what]
Merrick... he only cares about her immortality... not what she’s done with it.

Nile: ‘What she’s done with it’?

[Copley is showing Nile his bulletin board and explaining his research. Nile keeps her gun on him, frowning, apparently not trusting him.]

Copley: Montenegro. Nineteen-sixteen. She saved a family of refugees, whose daughter would discover the technique for the early detection of diabetes.
[Nile keeps pistol on him, intently ready for any misstep]
[he points to another area]
This one; her grandson would save three hundred and seventeen people from the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
[voice becomes ever more passionate as he continues]
[Nile relaxes slightly, starts to absorb what he’s saying]
This guy -- this man prevented an accidental nuclear exchange in nineteen seventy-eight, and likely saved civilization as a result.
[Nile takes eyes off him, gazes across the mass of visible information]
[she slowly lowers pistol, stunned and amazed]
The famous... and... the unknown names.
[Nile approaches board, scanning across clippings and pictures]
She saves a life -- two or three generations later, we reap the benefits.

Nile: [huffs, moves along board, checks more of the information. voice is awed]
She’s in it. She can’t see it.
[turns to Copley]
But you could!
[voice is accusing]
You could and you gave them up!

Copley: I thought it could be the end of disease.
[Nile jerks head, negating the poor excuse]
I thought it could be the end of suffering.
[hesitates, words come out painfully, distressed]
She couldn’t talk... at the end... my wife. She couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t do... anything. It was supposed to be a gift... to the world.

Nile: [quietly angry] It wasn’t your gift to give.

Copley: [sighs, shakes head] Why would the immortality end?

Nile: [audible breath] What?

Copley: [turns to look at blood on carpet] She wouldn’t stop bleeding.

Nile: [follows his gaze, voice urgent] Is she alive?

Copley: I know where they are.

1:30:43 minutes

[Aerial view of London, past high-rise buildings toward lower buildings with turrets.]

[Silver Audi drive up, parks at curb. Copley exits driver’s side (right), Nile from passenger side. Each opens the rear door on their side. Copley grabs a khaki carry-bag, heads toward the building. Nile grabs Andy’s labrys in its carry-case, slings it over her right shoulder. She pauses a second, looks up at the many stories above, while Copley uses a key-card in the outer door. He opens the door and walks in; Nile quickly follows.]

[In a security complex, two men sit in front of multiple monitors with views of hallways and rooms, using switches to change views from one place to another as they continually check for threats.]

[Nile and Copley are in a custodial/storage area -- mop bucket nearby, metal cases piled on a wheeled platform, two doors for elevators. Andy’s labrys leans against the wall to Niles’s left, next to an elevator door. Nile squats by the carry-bag, but looks for security before she opens it.]

Copley: [quietly] There’s no cameras here. That’s how he gets people in and out unseen.

Nile: [unzips carry-bag, pulls out pistol] How many shooters on site?

Copley: At least thirty.
[Nile checks pistol, puts it on floor, pulls out rifle]
Their boss, Keane, is ex Special Forces.

Nile: [unfolds rifle stock] What kind of CEO rolls around with his own personal army?

Copley: These days?
[bends down, takes pistol from floor, checks magazine]
Most of them.

Nile: [stands, confronts him] What are you doing?

Copley: I’m gonna make this right.

Nile: [firmly] Your dying won’t do that.

Copley: [raises eyebrows]
But I’m supposed to let you walk in there by yourself?
[starts to walk around her]

Nile: [stands in his way, faces him directly]
Out of the two of us, I’m the one who will walk out of there again, one way or another.
[holds rifle in left hand, extends right, waiting for pistol]
[he doesn’t respond. she looks down at empty hand, up to him, speaks firmly.]
You got me here.
[he hesitates, then hands pistol to her. she tucks it in back waistband]

Copley: There’s a private lab on the fifteenth floor. It’s empty.
[uses key-card; card-reader beeps]
This will get you access.
[gives her the card]

[Elevator door opens. Nile grabs labrys, slings it over her left shoulder.]

Nile: [pauses in doorway, speaks over right shoulder]
You should get out of here before the noise starts.
[steps into elevator, presses button for 15]

Copley: [quietly, as Nile takes stance in center of car, adjusts labrys-strap on shoulder]
Good luck, Ms. Freeman.

"Going Down Fighting" by Andrea Wasse X Phlotilla plays in background:
If it’s the end of the world,
I’m going down fighting.
With my finger on the trigger,
You’ll know I gave it a shot.

If it’s the end of it all,
God knows I’m trying.
‘Cause this world
Is all that we got.
‘Cause this world
Is all that we got.

[Door closes, elevator starts up. Nile twists her neck side to side, shrugs her shoulders, breathes deeply, drops her head back then raises it again -- preparing for battle. She stares straight ahead as she waits.]

[Door opens. Nile steps out cautiously, looking around. She walks forward casually, turns a corner, sees three armed guards standing, chatting in a hallway. Her right hand holds the rifle behind her back.]

Guard: Floor’s closed. How’d you get up here?

Nile: [casually looks to side] Sorry, I was just looking --

Guard: [barks, all three guards take aim] Hands! Let me see your hands.

[Nile takes a breath, slowly brings her right hand into view. Two shots. Nile falls on her back.]

Guard: Zero, this is Alpha Two-two.

Monitor-watcher: Sir. [monitor shows Nile on floor, guards beyond her]

Keane: [walks forward, grabs radio from console, speaks into it]
Zero send.

Guard: We’ve had an intruder. Target is down.

Keane: See if you can get an I.D off the body.

[Guard kicks Nile’s gun-hand, starts patting down her body. Nile brings her right leg up, kicks him in the chest, shoots him as he staggers back, rises to her knees and shoots the other two -- all headshots.]

Keane: Shit! [into radio] TAC teams, find Merrick now!

[Nile -- now with two midline, bloodstained holes in her shirt -- grabs her pistol, slings the labrys over her left shoulder and moves to shelter of a wall. She checks the pistol, then peers around the corner.]

[In the lab, Andy is ignoring everything, staring at nothing, Nicky is lying quietly. Joe has lifted his upper body as far as he can, shouting across the other two to Booker.]

Joe: You selfish piece of shit!

Nicky: [speaks over him, strongly, but not shouting]
Joe, leave it. Please!

Booker: What would you know of the weight of all these years alone?

[Andy still doesn’t react to anything as she stares into nothing.]

Joe: [laughs without humor] You’re a very pathetic man, Booker.

Nicky: Joe, stop.

Booker: You and Nicky always had each other, right?
[Andy blinks and swallows]
And all we had... was our grief.

Joe: Well, now you have even more.

[Kozak is behind Andy’s bed, adjusting the IV, ignoring the argument as if nothing’s happening.]

[Nile proceeds down a hallway, pistol extended. She turns a corner and goes through a doorway; Merrick is there. It’s some kind of lab -- long counters with beakers, jars, and bottles on top, boxes/containers for various items. Nile aims at him.]

Merrick: Who the hell are you?

Nile: [loudly] Where’s the lab?

[Three guards burst through the door across the room and start firing. Nile ducks and fires back, drops the labrys as she runs.]

[In the med-lab, Andy hears the gunfire. She reacts, turning her head toward the sound. Kozak, in front of her computer, also notices and turns toward the sound. Joe, Nicky, and Booker don’t react. (Sleeping? Unconscious/dead from something Kozak did? How much time has passed since Joe was shouting at Booker?)]

[Nile runs, firing behind her as the guards follow, shooting. She’s heading toward metal doors with a ‘Restricted Access’ sign. Keane runs in and fires, hitting her just as she reaches the doors. She stumbles through and falls to the floor as the doors swing shut behind her.]

Keane: Shit! [together with Merrick] There’s another one!

[Nile’s still holding the pistol; she groans as she pushes herself up.]

Keane: She’s going for the rest of them. Doctor’s lab, now!
[guards head out]
[grabs Merrick’s arm, starts to pull him toward door]
I’m locking you down in the penthouse until this is over.

[Merrick stops him for a moment, staring avidly at the labrys case. He goes to pick it up, smiles widely, tucks it under his right arm and follows Keane out.]

[Nile finds nothing important -- the people she’s looking for -- in the room. She runs to a door across the room that has a card-reader beside it, uses the key-card, pulls door open outward, then runs through an inward door into the med-lab. The doctor turns as the team all raise their heads. Nile pauses, surprised and relieved to see them. Andy's expression is disbelief.]

Booker: Nile. [sees guard aiming through open door] Behind you!

[Nile grunts as she is hit, sags, fires back, pushes the door closed. She now has a third bloodstained hole in the front of her shirt, one on the back of her left shoulder, and one on the front of her left thigh.]

[Kozak, alarmed, rises. She looks frantically for a weapon, grabs a syringe from a nearby tray and starts forward.]

Nicky: [shouts] Nile!

[Kozak closes on Nile, syringe raised. Nile blocks her raised right arm with her left hand, knocks her down and out with a strong right punch.]

Nile: [runs to Andy, starts unbuckling restraints]
There’s four shooters at the door and more coming.
[Andy closes eyes, makes no move to rise. shirt is askew; Nile sees dressing on wound]
[she flips pistol, offers it to Andy, who turns her head away]
Andy.
[the men’s heads are raised, watching. Andy keeps eyes closed]
[frowns, lifts Andy’s right hand, pushes pistol into it. voice is soft, but firmly intense]
Immortal or not, you made a promise. Whatever it takes.
[Andy opens eyes, looks at Nile, remains passive]
I’ve seen it, Andy.
[pulls another pistol from back waistband, cocks it]
I know all the good you’ve done.
[Andy stares at her, weighing, evaluating]

[The door bursts open, four guards rushing forward. Nile turns beside Andy. Together they raise their pistols, two shots each, all four go down. Andy keeps her eyes on them while she reaches over to unbuckle her left arm. Nile unbuckles the restraints over her legs.]

Andy: [eying her] You came back.

Nile: [a level look, flicks eyes to the others] Yeah.

[Nile goes to release Booker as Andy goes to Nicky and unbuckles the strap over his right arm. Nicky reaches to unbuckle the other straps while Andy tucks the pistol in her back waistband and heads toward Joe.]

Booker: [as Nile is releasing strap that holds chest and left arm]
No, just leave me here.

Nile: [turns on him, irritated] No man left behind.
[leaves him to take care of other straps, goes to guard the door]

[Nicky throws off the blue hospital drape, sits up to unbuckle his leg restraints.]

Joe: [loudly -- not quite shouting -- as Andy unbuckles strap on right arm]
Well there’s always a first time. He’s nothing but a traitor. That’s --

Andy: Stop!
[firm voice, leans over to unbuckle left arm, looks directly in his face]
This is not the time for it. We don’t get a say in when it ends.
[Nile is on guard at the door, but watching Andy and the men.]
We never have.
[Nicky has put on shirt, heads toward Nile, stoops, takes pistol from dead guard, checks it]
[Andy unbuckles Joe’s legs as he pulls off cardiac sensors]
But we can control how we live.
[Joe leaves bed while Andy pulls pistol from waistband, crosses to Booker, lying passive, hasn’t unbuckled restraints]
And to be honest, Book, you and I --
[looks at him directly, making a point]
we been doing a shit job of it.
[checks pistol, cocks it]
Now get up.
[Joe crosses behind her, now wearing his shirt]
Let’s go.
[Booker turns head toward her]
We stop Merrick here and now,
[Joe is by the door with Nile and Nicky, has also grabbed a pistol from a guard. all three watch the confrontation]
or he never stops coming after us.

[Booker lifts his head, thinks a moment, then quickly reaches to unbuckle his straps.]

[Andy squats, pulls open a guard’s pocket to look for ammunition, but finds nothing. She stands, breathing heavily, and lifts her shirt-hem to check the dressing.]

Nicky: Andy...
[quietly, concerned, eyes flick to the dressing]
Are you sure?

Andy: This changes nothing.
[chin-lift]
We walk out of here like always.
[deep breath]
Together.

[All four are watching, grouped near the door, concern in their eyes. She starts toward them.]

Andy: Let’s get this motherfucker.

[They head out, moving purposefully, Nile in the lead, then Nicky, Joe, Booker, and Andy.]

1:36:45 minutes

[Merrick is in his penthouse, with two guards across the room. He slowly, almost reverently, picks up Andy’s labrys, gazing lovingly at it as he holds it high.]

[Nile enters a darkened room, carrying a rifle, followed by Nicky and Joe, each with a pistol, Booker with a rifle, Andy with a pistol. They take up positions to either side of metal double doors -- Nicky, Joe, Andy to the left, Nile and Booker to the right.]

Joe: [quietly] Cover Andy.

[Nile uses her shoulder to burst open the right door and charges into the next room; it looks like the lab where she confronted Merrick. She’s followed by Nicky, Booker -- who kicks open the left door -- Joe, and Andy. Nile breaks left, Nicky breaks right, Booker left, Joe right, Andy straight down the center.]

[As Nile remains on guard, Booker crosses behind her -- letting her know with a quick hand to her shoulder so she moves farther into the room -- heading toward the doors across the room. Nicky takes a low stance, guarding their left, Joe covers their right but keeps an eye on Andy as she crosses behind Booker and heads for the doors.]

[Andy and Booker exit the open doors -- which are set back in a short alcove -- together. Andy waits at the corner against the wall on her left; two guards are walking down the hall toward their position, rifles raised. As the nearest comes opposite her, she grabs his right arm with her left, twists her body to throw him off-balance to her left. Booker shoots him as he stumbles past, while Andy steps past the corner and shoots the other guard.]

[Joe is next out of the alcove, followed by Nile and Nicky together. Joe aims hall-right, Nile guards hall-left. Nicky aims hall-right beside Joe, they shoot two guards who come running around the next corner. Andy puts another magazine in her pistol as she moves hall-left past Nile, followed by Nile and Booker.]

[As another guard comes from a door-alcove to her left with his left gun-hand extended, Andy grabs his wrist with her left hand, raises it high to spin under it, clubs him across the back with her pistol, holds onto him to keep him off-balance, shoots the next guard coming down the hall, drops the first guard’s arm, turns and shoots him, then heads down hall-(original)-left.]

[Nicky and Joe are following Andy and Nile from hall-right while Booker remains on guard that direction. Another guard comes from the left door-alcove. Nicky grabs his gun-hand, lifts it high, spins under the raised arm while Joe shoots him, goes to a knee to grab the rifle of the guard Andy shot, lifts it above his shoulder for Joe. Joe takes it, turns to cover their rear (original hall-right) as Booker sprints past following Andy and Nile; Nicky rises to follow him.]

[Nile has taken position behind a stack of crates, shoots an approaching guard, runs forward while Nicky and Joe guard their rear and Booker takes out a guard that comes from a door-alcove to Nile’s left. Two guards appear from cross-alcoves ahead, and Andy is in front of her with no cover.]

Nile: [shouts] Andy!

[Nile grabs Andy’s right shoulder and spins herself in front of Andy, cries out as the bullets hit her back, falls against the wall with a grimace, recovers, pulls a pistol with her left hand and shoots one of the guards as Andy shoots the other. Andy looks back; Joe and Nicky are under fire at the rear. Nicky looks over his shoulder to check on her, jerks as he takes a bullet. He and Joe shoot two guards, then retreat toward Andy’s position, Joe and Booker guarding the rear while Nicky dashes forward in front of Andy and Nile. Nicky goes to a knee just beyond a set of lab doors to his left, guarding the hall, as Booker, Joe, Nile, and Andy head through the doors. As soon as Andy has passed, Nicky backs up and follows them.]

[It’s another lab. They spread out as they move through the lab, then converge on the opposite doors. Joe pulls the door inward, and Booker leads out with Nile and Andy behind him. Booker turns, clubs a guard to his right with his rifle-butt, shoots a guard in front of him. Nile confronts a guard, knocks aside his aiming pistol with her rifle, shoots him on the back-swing, lunges past his right side, uses her right hand to grab the back of his neck and shove him away. He runs forward off-balance; Nicky ducks, lifts, and flips him over his right shoulder, continues moving forward; Joe, in the doorway behind Nicky, shoots the guard as he lands on the floor, continues into the lab.]

[Andy, moving along the wall (to the right of the most recent door), shoots a guard point-blank, grabs his vest, lifts her right knee into his chest as she drops onto her back and flips him over her head. Booker shoots the guard’s partner as Andy rolls and rises to her feet, while Nicky runs to support Joe, who’s beyond them. Andy releases the empty magazine, lets it fall; Booker goes to a knee to check a dead guard’s vest pockets, hands her a fresh magazine. As Andy moves past him, he stands and follows.]

[Nile barely pauses as she reaches down to grab a fresh magazine from another guard’s pocket. Nicky takes a rifle from another guard, hands it to Joe. Nile slams the fresh magazine into her rifle, stands against a wall, peers around the edge. (It looks free-standing, with boxes visible in the room beyond, with another end/edge 15-20 feet behind Nile for a second entry point into the next room.) Behind her, Andy squats, leaning against the wall and breathing deeply; Joe, Nicky, then Booker deploy farther along the wall. Booker and Nicky are watching the rear, with Booker closest to the second edge, and Joe and Nicky at mid-point of the wall. Next to Andy, Joe looks down, concerned. She looks up, nods her readiness, stands; they start to move out just as the wall explodes between Joe and Nicky.]

[All are thrown aside/down by the blast. Joe, Nicky and Andy are tossed through the air; we lose sight of Joe and Nicky. Andy lands hard, bounces to a face-down position on her arms, pushes herself to her right side, gasping as she tries to recover enough to rise.]

[Keane is on the other side of the wall, holding a rifle, with a gas mask on his forehead. Other guards flank him as he peers through the hole, into the billowing smoke/dust from the explosion.]

[Nile and Booker, farthest from the blast were not knocked completely off their feet, but they are bent over and coughing from the smoke and dust. They force themselves upright, unable to see through the increasing smoke.]

Booker: Man! Andy!

[Booker heads through the smoke to where he thinks Andy might be; Keane fires through the hole, although the smoke is too thick for good aim. Booker finds Andy just as Nile reaches her from the other side; they grab her under the arms -- Booker on her right, Nile on her left -- help her up, and start moving away.]

Booker: [shouts] Joe, Nicky, we’re moving out!

[Joe and Nicky, barely visible through the smoke, are both lying stunned / unconscious / dead.]

Keane: Assault team, move! You two, flank.

[Five guards head out another door for Andy, Nile, and Booker, while Keane steps through the blast-hole, pulling his gas mask over his face as he moves slowly forward. He sees Joe lying face down, unmoving. Keane puts his gun in left shoulder-holster and pulls something (zip-tie?) from the top right of his vest.]

[Nicky, lying on his back near Joe’s feet, coughs and rolls to his right side to get his hands under him and rise. Keane steps forward, viciously kicks him in the head, throwing him onto his back. Nicky coughs as Keane steps back, Nicky tries to rise again, Keane steps forward and kicks him violently in the stomach.]

[Joe, behind Keane, is beginning to move. He starts to push himself up, sees Keane kick a third time. Nicky has risen to his knees and leans aside; Keane’s foot hits a stack of boxed supplies on a wheeled platform. Nicky lunges at Keane, grabs him at shoulder and waste and pulls him down, rolling to throw Keane to the floor, then Nicky continues his roll to his knees, punches Keane with a hard right cross. Nicky pulls his arm back and comes around with another punch, but Keane uses his left arm to knock Nicky’s arm aside, draws his right knee up and kicks Nicky in the chest; Nicky flies backward through the air and slams against the stack of boxes of supplies.]

[Joe is pushing himself up as Nicky goes flying. As Keane starts to rise, Joe attacks, grabs Keane’s head with his left hand and throws him to the floor. As Keane rebounds and lifts up, Joe rips off his gas mask and sends it flying. Keane and Joe are both thrown off balance by the strength of the action, but Keane recovers to throw a hard left punch to Joe’s face, followed by a right punch into Joe’s throat; Joe recoils, falling backward. Nicky staggers to his feet, throws himself at Keane, grabs his right arm and thigh to pull him down. Keane twists out of the hold, knocking Nicky to the floor, continues the twist to straddle Nicky’s body, stomps on Nicky’s stomach with his left knee. Nicky cries out and curls upward, gasping. Keane shoves his pistol into Nicky’s open mouth and fires.]

[Joe is on his back, pushing himself up just in time to see what happened. Keane is coughing, struggling to breathe; he staggers away through the hole in the wall.]

[Booker, Andy, and Nile stumble into another lab, coughing, close-grouped to support Andy. Nile moves forward, rifle ready; Booker holds Andy’s arm as they follow. Three guards appear at the door behind them. Booker looks back just in time to see the guards; he moves between them and Andy as they fire, staggers as he’s hit. Andy ducks through nearby door, Booker follows, staggers inside as he is hit again.]

[Andy ducks and crouches behind a fat metal cylinder of liquid nitrogen. Nile is on a knee beside the door, firing out at the guards as Booker scrambles past on hands and knees. Andy has no gun after the explosion; she evaluates the situation, looks around, sees a fire ax on the wall. She stands and crosses to it, grabs it from its box and hefts it, evaluating. Nile turns her head to say something (?) but is under too heavy fire; she turns back to shooting.]

[Andy walks past Booker, who is leaning against a cylinder, still recovering from his wounds, toward the door across the room -- just in time to meet a guard advancing into the room from that side. Andy swings the ax and cuts him down, then heads toward the door.]

Andy: Enough of this shit.

[As Andy approaches the door, another guard comes in; she hits him once, lets the momentum spin her, hits him low, then high; he’s down. She flips her hair out of her eyes as she heads out the door, now with blood-spatter on her face.]

[In the other lab, Nicky is still dead. Joe, on hands and knees, goes to him, reaches out toward Nicky’s face, hesitates, afraid to touch, turns his head aside. Nicky revives with a gasp, and coughs; Joe sighs his relief. Joe clasps Nicky’s arm while Nicky grips Joe’s arms for a moment, where they bracket his head, then --]

Nicky: Let’s go. Andy.

[Nicky rolls to his side, grabs a nearby pistol. Joe turns and grabs a rifle from the floor, then stagger-runs past Nicky, who is up but also moving erratically; both men are feeling the effects of the fight.]

Joe: Com’on, com’on. Come on.

[Joe leads out the door, with Nicky close behind, the back of his head shiny-wet with blood.]

[In the other lab, Nile is still holding off the guards from her door. She pulls back and checks her rifle.]

Nile: Shit! Jammed!

[She scrambles away from the door as Booker grabs a rifle from one of the downed guards and takes her position. Nile crouches next to an array of cylinders to clear her rifle, turns to Booker.]

Nile: Where’s Andy?

[Andy is striding purposefully down a hall, ax in hand. She pauses at a corner as she hears a radio.]

Guard on radio: Hold at the bridge.

[Andy looks around the corner, quickly pulls back. A lone guard is coming her way down a long hall -- a walkway-bridge with glass sides and top.]

Guard: Roger that.

Andy: [whispers] Fuck.

[Andy takes two deep breaths, firms her mouth, sets herself, and dashes around the corner, sprinting toward the guard. As he fires, she raises her ax sideways; we hear the bullet hit the metal head. Andy closes on the guard and uses the ax to knock his rifle out of his hand. As she swings back, the guard kicks; Andy cries out as it impacts her hand and the ax goes flying. The guard pulls a knife. As he swings at her, Andy, twists, grabs his right arm with her left, clamps it between her elbow and body, pulls him off-balance and uses the momentum of her twist to drag the guard into her strong right cross, then uses both hands to force his right hand down and slice the inside of his own thigh. Andy twists, lifts his arm over her head as she turns under it then keeps lifting the arm high behind his back, forcing him to bend forward into her right kick to his face. His helmet flies off, but he catches himself with his hands on the floor, then pushes upward, swinging his knife. The guard raises the knife high across his body and slashes downward to the right.]

[Andy evades to the left. As his arm comes around, her left arm knocks his right arm aside, punch-punch, then knife hand to his throat. He staggers back, goes to a fighting crouch with his knife raised. She waits as he comes in, coils her body, snaps out her left arm to knock his right aside, holds his right arm, twists it downward. A spring-loaded baton slides out to the left from his gear, he grabs it with left hand. Andy spins in with her back to his chest, strikes her right elbow to his chest, keeps moving to pull his right arm across her right shoulder, her two hands holding his sleeve, steps forward, comes back with a high left elbow to his face. With her back to him, Andy lifts his right arm high, brings it down, twists right to bring him forward with her left arm, grabs the baton. Andy turns in to him, both hands twist his right arm up and back. Andy goes to a knee as the pressure forces him down, jams the baton into his left knee.]

[Guard comes up, tries to grab baton with his left hand, Andy steps away and hits him twice across the face, leans back with a left kick to the chest as he staggers back. Andy runs forward, leaps high, plants her arms on his shoulders as she swings around, keeps going down, drops to floor on her back and uses the momentum to flip him over her head. He lands hard as she quickly rolls to her feet, stands gasping, holding her wound with her left hand. The guard seems unwilling or unable to continue the fight.]

[As Andy walks to look down at dazed guard, Booker and Nile join her from ‘her’ side of the bridge (screen right), while Joe and Nicky come from the other side.]

Andy: Where’s Merrick?

[The guard looks up. Five people stand directly over him, four of them armed; all look pissed-off and dangerous.]

Guard: Penthouse.

[The team all look upward, planning their next move.]

Joe: What d’you think, Oslo, ‘sixty seven?

Andy: [small head-shake] São Paulo, ‘thirty-four.
[Andy extends hand to Nile, who gives her pistol she carries in right hand]
[Nile holds another in her left.]
Nile’s with me.

Nile: What happened in São Paulo in nineteen thirty-four?

Andy: Eighteen thirty-four. [small grin, checks weapon] You’ll see.

[Andy and Nile head away (screen left) from ‘Andy’s corner’ at a medium trot; Joe, Nicky and Booker head toward ‘Andy’s corner’ (screen right).]

1:41:35 minutes

[Aerial view of top levels of Merrick building, with city skyline behind. We hear muffled weapons’ fire.]

[Two guards face the door of the penthouse, rifles aimed.]

[Merrick stands at the top of a short flight of stairs to a higher level; he grips the labrys in both hands, waiting for the attack. Keane descends in front of him.]

Keane: [into radio] First team, hold the hall.

[Keane makes a circling motion with his hand as he reaches the bottom of the stairs, then joins several guards in an open hall / balcony just inside the penthouse doors; it overlooks a lower level, with a plexiglass barrier along the edge. We see six armed guards, plus Keane.]

Keane: [into radio, quietly] First team.

[Andy -- breathing heavily and holding her hand over her wound -- and Nile walk past bullet-marked walls and dead guards’ bodies; Andy’s face is considerably more blood-stained than earlier, and Nile’s face is streaked with plaster dust. They take up position against a wall beside a floor-to-ceiling window, about six feet down from the door, Andy to the right of the window, with Nile to her right. Andy pulls her hand away to look at the amount of blood. Nile looks, too, and frowns, but neither comments.]

[Andy and Nile pull fresh magazines out of rear pockets, reload their pistols.]

Andy: [quietly] Wait for the signal. [looks toward door]

Nile: [follows her gaze] This gonna be like the last signal?

Andy: [turns toward Nile, smiles] Go big or go home. [looks back toward door]

[In the penthouse, guards are still ranged in front of the door, rifles up and ready.]

Merrick: [stands at top of interior stairs, holding labrys like he’s hoping to swing it]
Keane. Keane, how many more do we have coming?

Keane: This is it. [takes center position, aims directly at door] Dig in.

[Nile looks down, notices that Andy’s right hand has fresh blood where she’s been holding it against her wound, and the blood-stain on her shirt is increasing. She quickly crouches, starts pulling velcro with swift movements to remove the nearest guard’s kevlar.]

Nile: I’ll make the entry. Stay tight to me, okay? I’ll protect you.

[Andy crouches beside her, moving almost casually, stops Nile’s actions with a hand on the guard’s vest. Nile looks into her face.]

Andy: [small head-shake; gaze is direct, but calm and compassionate. speaks quietly]
I go through first.
[Nile huffs, rolls her head]
I always go first.

Nile: [through gritted teeth]
Andy, put on the damn armor.

Andy: It’s like Nicky said. If it’s my time, it’s my time.
[takes spare magazine from guard’s pocket]
If this doesn’t work out, next time, [chin-lift] you go first.

[Nile glowers, but recognizes she won’t sway Andy. She stands and checks both directions of the hallway. Andy remains crouched, but also watching.]

Keane: [whispering, watching the door] What the hell are they waiting for?

[Gunfire breaks one of the plate glass windows that overlooks the city, just before Joe swings into the room on the end of a line. He tucks as he lands, rolls, and comes up aiming his rifle.]

Keane: Shit!

[Joe shoots one of the guards, then takes cover behind a wooden horizontal file cabinet. The guards turn to fire at him just as the door explodes inward.]

[The blast knocks several guards to the floor, but Keane heads immediately toward Joe. As soon as he’s in range, Joe -- still on the floor -- sweeps Keene’s legs with his right leg and kicks him violently as he falls forward.]

[Guards are running through the penthouse, smoke from the explosion billowing around. Andy appears around the doorframe, shoots one, ducks back to avoid return fire. Nile appears, shoots another, ducks back.]

[Guards are shooting, shouting, falling. Nile shoots a guard ducking for cover, then dashes forward with pistol extended, Andy behind her. Nile jumps over a downed guard; they advance to positions against the wall on either side of a short hallway. A guard is shooting at them from cover beyond, but can’t get a good angle.]

[Meanwhile, Joe is beating Keane to a pulp. He lands a hard right under the ribs, a left cross to the face. Another left to the face; Joe’s teeth are bared in a snarl, and Keane is flailing. He throws a wild left punch that Joe easily ducks, then comes up with another right cross to Keane’s face.]

[The guard shooting at Andy and Nile has a jammed rifle. As he drops it and reaches for another weapon, Andy rises, steps around the corner and shoots him left-handed; her right is clutching her wound. Nile follows, covering her right flank, but there’s no one left to shoot. Andy looks up and Nile turns to watch Joe beating up on Keane.]

[Joe throws a hard right punch to Keane’s face. Keane is dazed, head wobbling, barely able to stay on his feet. Joe steps up right in front of him, holds him in place with his left hand at the top of Keane’s vest, speaks in a calm, reasonable voice.]

Joe: You shot Nicky. You shouldn’t have done that.

[In one sudden movement Joe twists, digs his right shoulder into Keane’s chest, grabs his right arm, drops to his right knee while lifting/pulling Keane over his shoulder, throws him down so that his head hits the floor first. The snap of his neck breaking is audible. Joe finishes on both knees, left hand on the floor for support, panting heavily.]

[Booker enters another part of the penthouse, rifle aimed, clearing the hall. Nicky follows, carrying a pistol in each hand, arms crossed to fire in either direction. Booker walks farther, covering a staircase, then the hall again.]

[The effects of the battle hit Andy suddenly; she lets her pistol fall from her left hand, holds her right hand over her wound, staggers forward to clutch for support at the plexiglass barrier at the edge of the balcony over the lower level. Nile follows, stoops to discard her pistol and take another from one of the guards.]

Nicky: [shouts from lower level] The elevator is going down! Merrick is getting away!

[Joe rises in response, starts forward.]

Nile: Go! Go!
[Joe grabs a rifle from the floor, heads out]
I’ll stay with Andy.

[Andy looks down at Booker, on guard on the lower level. It seems that he’d rather stay to protect her, but accepts her silent command with a short nod, turns to follow Nicky and Joe.]

[Andy pushes away from the plexiglass, crosses the room to look down at the street through the giant emptiness where the window used to be. She supports herself against one of the vertical frames with her left hand, while her right still covers her wound. She’s breathing heavily as she looks down into the street below.]

[Nile has a small frown, concerned]
Nile: You okay?

Andy: [blows out a breath]
Yeah, I’m fine.
[sniffs, licks her lips]
It just hurts.
[raises head, breathes out, twists neck left and right with audible cracking, raises left hand behind head, drops it]
[turns toward Nile with small smile]
Actually, everything hurts.
[relaxes, leans left shoulder against window frame, still holding hand against wound]

Nile: Well, wait until tomorrow.

[Nile rolls her eyes as she walks forward, pistol hanging casually from her hand, to stand near the vertical frame at the right side of the window. She faces Andy directly with a small smile.]

Andy: [smiles, chuckles softly] Can’t wait.

[Nile smiles a little wider, then frowns as she looks Andy over, the large and small damages to her body that will now heal slowly, with after-effects that may linger.]

Andy: [watches Nile’s reaction, chin-lift, speaks quietly]
I think you showed up when I lost my immortality.
[licks lips]
So I could see what it was like.
[looks away, out window]
So I could remember.

Nile: Remember?

Andy: Remember what it...
[licks lips, considers]
what it was like to feel unbreakable.
[smiles, laughs gently as she shakes her head]
[turns to face Nile directly]
Remarkable.
[gives Nile a long, level -- compassionate -- gaze]
You reminded me there are people... still worth fighting for.
[Nile takes deep breath. Andy gazes up and out, shakes head, huffs a gentle laugh]
I know how I wanna spend the time I’ve got left.

Nile: [quietly, gently but firmly] You’re gonna spend it with us, Andy.

[Andy smiles at her, just as gently.]

Merrick: You selfish little bitch!
[Nile spins, brings weapon to bear in solid, two-handed grip as soon as they hear Merrick’s voice, but he has pistol aimed at Andy, finger poised on trigger]
I will kill her!
[he slowly advances into room from stairs above, pistol in right hand aimed at Andy, her labrys dangling in left]
[Andy’s face is focused and calculating as she watches him.]
[he walks closer, ignores Nile as he walks past her, focused only on Andy]
All the lives you could save.
[Nile watches Andy from corner of eye, waits for signal, keeps pistol aimed at Merrick]
Don’t you see what we could do here? You are priceless.

Andy: [quietly, calmly] Hey, Nile.
[Nile turns head fraction of inch toward Andy, back to Merrick, keeps aim on him, waits for a chance]
[Andy has glint in her eye, hint of a smile on her lips]
Do you think he speaks Russian?

[Nile flicks her eyes to Andy, back to Merrick, evaluates, then whips around and shoots in Andy’s direction. Andy drops as Merrick turns and shoots Nile, who grunts as she falls against the window frame. Andy rolls toward Merrick, grabs her labrys from his hand, spins as she rises, lifting the labrys high, then sinks it into his Merrick’s left shoulder beside his neck.]

[Merrick cries out and starts to bring his gun to bear on Andy. Nile gasps as she desperately pushes herself up from the floor, flings herself between Merrick and Andy just as he fires, slaps his gun hand down and launches herself at him, arms around his body. The momentum carries them out the broken window, both screaming as they hurtle toward the ground, 20(?) stories below.]

Nile: SHIIIIIIIIIIIIT!

[Just before they hit, Nile curls her body, trying to use Merrick to absorb the impact. They land on the roof of a car, which collapses under the impact, and disappear inside.]

Andy: [quietly, looking down] Play dead, motherfucker. [turns to leave]

[Interior of car, view of the rear seat. One of Nile’s boots is propped against the backrest; the leg inside is obviously broken and misaligned. Air hisses from the exploded airbag.]

[Nicky runs from the nearby door, followed by Booker. Nicky stops beside the car and looks down. Nile’s body is lying on her left side on the back seat, broken and twisted, and blood is spattered across the backrest. Her extended left hand rests on Merrick’s body in the foot-well, the fingers twisted and bent at impossible angles.]

Nicky: Nile?
[looks at her through side window ]
[Booker -- and Joe behind him -- also look in. Booker turns to look up the height of the building, back in the window.]
[Nicky smiles gently]
Hey.
[Nile begins breathing, then groans, eyes closing in pain, as bones audibly crackle, her body starts twisting back into alignment.]
She’s okay.

[Nile brings left hand forward, stares as fingers visibly reposition themselves.]

[Joe stands behind Nicky and Booker, also watching Nile’s reintegration. Booker grabs the handle, tries to pull the car door open, but the displacement of the frame has wedged it into place; Nicky grabs the doorframe to help pull, and the door finally opens.]

Booker: Come on. [leans in to the car]

Joe: [gazes up the height of the building] Faster than the elevator.

[Nile grunts, groans, and gasps as she starts maneuvering herself out of the car. She keeps her left hand raised to avoid hitting it against anything as it continues to heal.]

Nicky: It’s okay, Nile.

Nile: [pauses, sits at edge of seat next to open door, jerks head in emphasis. speaks softly but fervently] Ow!

Booker: Give me your hand.

[Nile reaches out with her now-healed left hand, grabs the handle of Andy’s labrys, starts to slide out.]

[Andy has exited the building, walks calmly toward the group. Her jacket is zipped closed (to hide her bloody shirt?). As Nile steps from the car, Joe heads past Andy toward the back end. Booker pulls Nile’s right arm over his shoulders to help her stand; Nicky also helps with his hand under her left arm. Nile winces as she takes a limping step, then straightens as all three wait. Andy stops in front of them, looks Nile over, seems proud as she gives a slight smile and tiny nod.]

[Despite the blood on her face, Nile seems calm, composed. She huffs and stands straighter as Booker and Nicky let go her arms. Left hand strong around the handle, she holds the labrys out to Andy, who takes it. Andy’s eyes relax as she continues to watch Nile. Her smile grows broad as she extends her right hand to clasp Nile at the nape of her neck, then claps her on the shoulder and puts her arm around Nile's back as they walk. Nicky reaches out to touch Andy’s back before he turns toward their Audi, waiting directly behind the car that Nile fell into.]

Booker: Let’s go.

"Silence" by Marshmello ft. Khalid begins playing
Yeah, I’d rather be a lover than a fighter, fighter,
‘Cause all my life, I’ve been fighting.
Never felt a feeling of comfort, oh
And all this time, I’ve been hiding, hiding.
And I never had someone to call my own, oh no,
I’m so used to sharing, sharing.
Love only left me alone,
But I’m at one with the silence.

I found peace in your violence
Can’t show me there's no point in trying
I'm at one, and I’ve been silent for so long.
I’ve been quiet for so long.
I’ve been quiet for so long.
I’m at one, and I've been quiet for so long.

[Booker opens the boot as Nicky opens the right rear door and slides in. Joe slides into the front passenger (left) seat as Andy puts her labrys in the boot and Nile continues around the rear of the car, then comes forward. Andy gets into the driver’s seat (right) as Booker gets in the back seat behind her. Nile opens the rear left door then pauses, gazing up at the height from which she fell. Her mouth firms as her eyes drop to the ruined car in front of the Audi. She takes a visible breath, then slides into the car.]

[Andy drives the car away, with Joe in the seat beside her. Behind them a crowd gathers around the ruined car as police cars speed to the scene, sirens wailing. The crowd grows larger, with people using their cellphones to take pictures.]

1:48:10 minutes

[Looking over the Thames, a view of older buildings along the water-front, with newer, high-rise buildings behind. Camera pans in to a very old, very small (compared to the building next to it), white-painted, three-story building with ground-floor and first-floor balconies overlooking the water. Booker leans on the railing of the ground-floor balcony, looking out toward the river.]

[The building is a pub. The sign inside reads:]
The flagstone floor of this
bar has been trodden by the
widest variety of patrons
over 500 years.

Pewter-top bars were
commonplace in the 19th Century,
but this is one of the few that
has survived 20th Century
‘modernisation’ and is thought
to be the longest in
Great Britain.

[Nile and Joe on one side, Andy and Nicky on the other, sit at a table in a corner against the wall, next to a window. Booker is visible through the window, looking out over the water, holding a glass of whiskey. Nicky leans into the discussion as Joe gestures vehemently and Andy looks thoughtful. Joe turns away from the discussion as Nicky turns to Andy. Nile looks out at Booker’s bowed head, watches as he lifts his glass to drink.]

Booker: [turns head as Nile approaches] How’s it going?

Nile: [stands beside him, back to river, looking into pub]
They’re still deciding.
[leans back against the railing]

Booker: [looks at her, turns his back to river, leans against railing next to her]
There’s not much to decide. It’s not like they can kill me.
[lifts his glass, drinks again]

[View into pub window; Joe has turned his head, watching them, resting his chin on his hand, a moderate scowl on his face. Andy’s hands are clasped in front of her, gaze unfocused.]

Booker: [holds Joe’s gaze for a moment, then looks down]
[Nile is turning her phone in her hands]
Oh, she gave it back?

Nile: Yeah.
[takes a breath]
Talked to Copley.
[turns to Booker]
Said he could fix it. Make it look like I was killed in action.
[nods gently to herself]
My family will mourn, but, uh...
[huffs an exhale, tiny shrug, head-shake]
...they’ll be able to move on.
[tiny nod]
It’s just like what we did with my dad.
[sighs, turns to look out over the water. voice wavers]
I just really want to hear my mom’s voice one more time.

Booker: [looks down, pauses, turns to lean next to Nile]
You’re a good kid, Nile.
[looks at her, speaks earnestly]
You’re gonna be great for the team.

[Nile looks at him, then back over the river.]

[View in pub window. Andy is watching them, face calm, but with a tiny frown-wrinkle between her eyes. Beside her, Nicky’s head is bowed.]

[Camera pans out. Booker is on the riverbank, looking out over the water. Andy comes down the steps from the pub. She walks over, stands to his left, speaks without looking at him.]

Andy: There’s gotta be a price.
[Booker nods, very slightly]
[Andy closes her eyes; she looks like it hurts]
One hundred years from today, they’ll meet you here.
[nods slightly, turns head to look at him]
Till then you’re alone.

Booker: [pauses, blinks, takes a breath]
I hoped for less, but...
[swallows, nods, flicks eyes in her direction]
I expected more.

Andy: Nile was gonna let you off with an apology.

[Booker snorts a laugh as he smiles. Andy smiles and chuckles.]

Booker: [fond head-shake, still smiling] Just give her some time.

Andy: [looks out over water, her face sad, turns to him]
I’m gonna miss you.

[Booker glances at her, away, nods slightly, glances back, turns and draws her into a desperate hug. Andy clings tightly as he lays his chin on her shoulder and she leans into the side of his neck, check-to-cheek. His right hand comes up to stroke the back of her head, then slides down to the nape of her neck before he lets her go.]

Booker: [breathes, looks into her eyes, tiny head-shake, eyes shift away, back to her]
Um... I won’t see you again.

Andy: [inhales, tiny chin-lift, reaches out, grabs his upper left arm, shakes it gently]
Have a little faith, Book.

[Booker watches Andy walk away. Nile, Joe, and Nicky are waiting for her on the pub’s stairs. As she reaches the stairs they turn and start up, Nicky first, then Nile. Joe puts a gentle hand to her back as he lets Andy go after Nile, then follows. As he walks, Joe turns to look over his shoulder. Booker is watching them go. He nods to Joe’s look, takes a deep breath and turns away.]

"Cruel World" by Active Child begins playing
I dedicate my life
To something richer
And all the things that come
‘Cause that’s no price at all
And I know you’ll be there
And I want you to know I care because
Keep your head up Hold your head up
Even though it’s a cruel world
Count your blessings
You won’t need them when you’re gone
It’s a cruel world
You can’t see it
You can’t see it
Even though it’s a cruel world...

[Nicky, with hands clasped behind him, Andy, with arms crossed, and Joe, with arms hanging loose, are ranged in front of Copley’s bulletin board-wall, examining all the information, often with parts circled or underlined in red, many with Post-it Notes attached, with comments hand-written in red. Nile sits/leans against the back of a chair behind them. Copley stands farther back, arms crossed, allowing them space.]

[Photo of Joe and Nicky in plaid shirts, rescuing a young man; Post-it with red ink reads: ‘Joe & Nicky 1968’.]
[A college I.D card, 1992-93, with Nicky’s face; ID# 62773884?, Birth 4/8/197?, signed N. Smith.]
[Nicky gazes at these artifacts, expressionless.]

[Below the label of TURKEY, a photo of five men in local clothing; a slightly enlarged section shows only two of the men, with their heads circled in red. Post-it reads: ‘Crimean War 1953 Joe & Nicky?’]
[Beside the label of CUBA, a photo of five men resting, all holding rifles. Post-it reads: ‘Cuba Revolution 1956-1957 Booker, Nicky & Joe’’.]
[Copy of I.D card with Joe’s face, with the name Joseph Jones, Deutsch, from Frankfurt and/or Hamburg. Dates are 02.01.1956 and 01.09.2014 and 31.08.2024.]
[Joe looks stunned at the amount of information collected.]

Copley: [quietly] This is only what I’ve found going back the last hundred and fifty years or so.

[Photo of one of Martin Luther King’s speeches; the enlarged view of a woman with sunglasses and long blonde hair looks like Andy; the two men nearby could be Nicky and Joe.]
[Under a headline ‘Taste of Freedom’, photo of Andy, circled in red, reaching down to help someone up. Post-it reads: ‘Andy Berlin ‘89’.]
[Photo of woman squatting with very young child on her knee, offering food to the child, connected with red string to news-clip picture of woman aviator pioneer. Post-it reads: ‘Saved by Andy 1918’. Headline reads: ‘RECOGNITION FOR PIONEER AVIATRIX’, sub-title is ‘A Legion of Honour is Awarded to the French Hero for Her Valiant Efforts during World War II’.]
[Andy quietly views the displayed information.]

Copley: When you think about how old you are,
[Andy blinks, bows head slightly]
the good you’ve done for humanity becomes... exponential.

Nile: [softly] Maybe this is the why, Andy.

[Andy looks toward Nicky, who gives her a tiny smile, and Joe, who drops his eyes and bows his head.]

Andy: [speaks softly, without looking at Copley]
It’s nearly impossible to disappear in the world we live in today.
[flicks eyes up toward the gathered information]
There are too many people like you
[quick glance toward him; Copley’s eyes flick down]
who can bend it to your will. Too many with bad intentions.
[takes measured breath as she shifts,]
We don’t have all the answers, but we do have purpose.
[turns and looks directly at him]
And you’re going to help us.
[Nile quietly stands]
[Andy prowls toward Copley, one deliberate step after another]
[voice remains soft, but firm and commanding]
When we leave a footprint in the sand, in the snow, in the ether,
[drops her arms to her side]
you’re going to sweep it.
[Nile, Nicky, and Joe move forward at Andy’s pace]
You’re going to protect us from those who want to put us in cages, and you’re gonna help us find those jobs...
[they range behind Andy, presenting a united front]
that are best suited to us.
[Copley swallows]

Joe: [flatly, warning] She’s not asking.

Copley: [recognizes warning, nods slightly, eyes steady]
I’d be honored.

Andy: [nods] Then let’s go to work.

[She turns to gaze over her team, smiling. Turns back to Copley, still smiling, but with an unswerving assurance.]

1:53:45 minutes

THE OLD GUARD shows on screen, white letters on black.

SIX MONTHS LATER shows on screen, over the sound of sirens wailing. Aerial view of apartment (?) buildings, with Eifel Tower in the distance.

PARIS shows on screen

[View of Booker’s back as he approaches a door; an almost-empty bottle of whiskey dangles loosely from his right hand. As he steps inside the door, the bottle drops and shatters. He curses in French and kicks/sweeps the glass aside with his foot. He walks a few steps forward to a staircase, turns and sits on the third step, his head bowed as he sighs. He pauses, takes a deep breath, uses his hands on bannister and wall to pull himself up, then turns to a door at his left, keys in hand.]

[The door isn’t latched, and gives at the pressure of the key; Booker pushes it open and steps into the space, pistol extended and aimed.]

[A female figure in a red coat is pouring water from a glass bottle into a drinking glass. She doesn’t flinch or react at Booker’s sudden entrance. When the glass is half-full, she pauses.]

Woman: Booker.
[sets bottle aside as he continues into room, keeping pistol aimed]
It’s nice to finally meet you.

[As she raises her glass to drink, we see that it’s Quynh. She lowers her glass and watches Booker calmly, highlighted by the sun coming through the window behind her, while he maintains a steady aim at her from across the room.]

1:54:50 minutes

End credits roll over views of Copley’s bulletin board and the collected information. (Listed below lyrics.)

"Baby Outlaw" by Elle King begins playing

I’ve been runnin’ since the day I was born
I’m the definition of worn
Shed a tear for each soul set free
But that’s what happens when you dance with me
Pity the man that stands in my way
I’m a nightmare, even in the day
I’d be wise with which words you say
‘Cause they could be the last breath you take
Go ahead, baby, tell me

Well I ain’t nobody’s baby
Baby, I’m an outlaw
Call me a criminal maybe
Baby, I’m an outlaw
You know I ain’t evil but I ain’t a saint
Can’t help it, I was born this way
Oh baby, outlaw
Ooh baby, I’m an outlaw

I was cornered in the desert by a man
He took the pistol right from my hand
As he put it to my temple, I asked
"Do you think it’s gonna be that simple?
See, I got a bullet for a tooth and
I’m gonna use it to shoot you."
Even though you got a gun to my head
You’ll be the one that ends up dead
Go ahead, baby, tell me

Well I ain’t nobody’s baby
Baby, I’m an outlaw
Call me a criminal maybe
Baby, I’m an outlaw
You know I ain’t evil but I ain’t a saint
Can’t help it, I was born this way
Yeah, baby, outlaw
Ooh baby, I’m an outlaw

You know I ain’t evil but I ain’t a saint
Can’t help it, I was born this way
Yeah, baby, outlaw
Little baby, outlaw

Identifiable Photos / Pictures / Headlines Across Copley’s Boards

Note: #1 I have zero knowledge of art history, or historical illustrations. If someone can identify any of these, and/or give context, I’ll include the information in this list.

Note: #2 Either Copley or Props department isn’t as organized as they should be. Same headline (Man Sacrifices Himself) appears in two places on the board, in the same shot. The fingerprints appear twice -- once with Nicky’s pictures, once without; same scene, but different shot.

COUNTRIES LISTED ACROSS THE BOARD:
America, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Cambodia, Cuba, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Mexico, Montenegro, Nepal, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Sudan, Vietnam

WHILE COPLEY EXPLAINS TO NILE

Label: MONTENEGRO. Three articles underneath with red tape around them. Headlines: ‘MYSTERY HEROES SAVE FAMILY’ and ‘REFUGEE FAMILY SAFE’ and ‘Montenegro Refugee’s Saved by Woman’s Actions. Over 200 Women And Children Diverted to Safety in Act of Heroism’. Red strings lead to photo of a woman (hairstyle, shirt style suggests 1940's or 50's?), captioned: "HIGHLY RESPECTED AND TRUSTED". It’s paired with a news-clip headline -- DAUGHTER OF MIGRANT FAMILY NAMED HEAD OF MEDICINE. (highlighted) Subheadline: Eleanor Hamble, a physician-??? noted for her commitment in the field, has been named the new head of medicine.

Small picture of Nicky, face-on, with short, spiky hair.

Small picture of Joe, face-on, with beard and shorter hair than current.

Red label: VIETNAM. Photo of three soldiers attached -- two in background wearing gear and helmets, one in foreground, shirtless, bandage around chest. It’s below a headline: HUNDREDS SAVED FROM KHMER ROUGE DEATH CAMP. Illustration on article is a mass of human skulls.

Headline: (partially obscured) -ing Dismantled Following Gang War.

Two enlarged fingerprints on yellow notecard.

Very small pictures -- 4 angles of same occasion -- of a woman who might be Andy. She’s wearing a dark tank-top shirt, a ballcap pull low on her forehead, and large sunglasses. Her hair is lighter, hangs halfway down her neck.

Photo of the painting Nile saw in the mine -- a woman in clothes from an earlier time -- Andy -- with long hair, standing with a black man behind her, holding her with his arm around her waist.

Photo of Nicky, profile, longer hair, above the blowups of two fingerprints.

Photo of Nicky, full face, short spiky hair, beside blowups of two fingerprints.

Headline: MADRID CONQUEST

Label: SPAIN. Headline: Case of The Death Defying Couple Remains Unsolved.

Label: AUSTRALIA. Headline: How the War is Waging in Far-away Gallipoli. Picture is a group of 12-15 men in old-time soldier gear. Connected by red string to larger picture of Andy with short hair and flat hat carrying a man over her shoulder. Post-it reads in red: Saved by Andy in 1915.

Label: POLAND. Headline: Man Sacrifices His Life to Save Bus Full of Children. (Same headline is placed near another label: ITALY.)

Label: GERMANY. Headline: Mystery of "Death Cheat" (highlighted) Woman. No article attached.

Headline: Cambodian Rescue. Reports Of 4 Mask-. From Khmer Rouge D-.

SCROLLING ACROSS BOARDS DURING END CREDITS

Picture of mosaic art, of woman with double-bladed war-ax on horseback, swinging at armored soldier on horseback, with shield.

Front of a theatre playbill reads: ANDROMAQVE (circled in red) TRAGEDIE.

A xerox-enlarged copy of an ancient coin (?) --a bordered circle with woman’s head inside and ‘ANDROMACHA’ along the circle’s border, with ‘HETC.VX’ below it, marked with red star.

List of changes in spelling of Andromache’s name through time and place -- Latin, Greek, Russian, Armenian, Farsi, Arabic.

Section of ancient map, mountain ranges drawn, with an open area between them labeled Scythia (circled in red).

Photo of a bronze, double-bladed war-ax, etched/incised with decorative designs.

Aerial view of ancient walled city, with an article mounted below it: July 15, 2019. Headline: ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER EVIDENCE OF CRUSADER SIEGE OF 1099 (circled in red). Caption reads: Almost a thousand years ago, Crusaders breached Jerusalem and conquered the walled city of Fatimid. Now archaeologists have found a chronicled moat that to many scholars had seemed a myth. It is the first archaeological proof of a historically chronicled Crusader siege conducted by Raymond of Saint-Gilles on the Fatimid-controlled city, which ended on July 15th, 1099. by Artefacts News. Post-it reads in red: Nicky & Joe

A picture of a painting of two differently-armored men fighting with swords and shields on horseback, with a female figure floating in the air above/in front of them.

A picture of a stylized illustration of a Crusader on a white horse, using a lance to kill a Muslim on a brown horse. The article mounted below reads: THE FIRST CRUSADE CHRISTIANS VS. MUSLIMS The Accounts of Eye-Witnesses and Participants 1099 is hand-written in red.

Picture of a painting of two men on horseback, face-to-face. The lighter-skinned man on the white horse is gazing directly at the darker-skinned man, who seems to return his gaze. Printed label reads: The 6th Crusade - 1228

Picture of a light-on-dark illustration (originally a woodcut ?) of a figure on horseback, carrying a lance, with a figure on foot behind, holding high a banner with the Crusader cross on it. Title of illustration is ‘HEROINES OF THE CRUSADES’.

Headline: A STASH OF NAPOLEON-ERA GOLD COINS Found by Metal Detectors. ‘Forgery?’ is scrawled in red under headline.

Headline: Medal is Memento of Napoleon’s March on Moscow. It partially covers a picture of two soldiers on horseback in Napoleonic uniforms, and two other non-uniformed figures on horseback.

Picture of a painting several soldiers in Napoleonic uniforms standing/sitting around outside a building with the door torn off; their postures suggest they’re drunk. One man standing and drinking from a bottle is labeled ‘Booker?’ in red. Attached News-clip reads: THE NAPOLEONIC WARS - 1812 MOSCOW BURNS DURING THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN

Note: Those 3 Napoleon articles are grouped together, with (a copy of?) one of the gold coins hanging at the juncture.

Post-it to left of that group reads: Booker? 1812. Attached to unidentifiable map, but may refer to the forgery group.

Photo of a woman in clothing that looks like northern Civil War uniform on top, full skirt on bottom, with a sword at her left hip.

Photo of 6 soldiers, 3 sitting, 3 standing, holding long rifles. One bearded man standing could be Joe. Printed label reads: The Crimean War, 1853.

Headline: THE HAITIAN REVOLUTION CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 1804 - 1904 (circled in red) A Century of Freedom. Red string connects to a fuzzy picture with a figure in a street circled and ‘?’ next to it. Post-it reads in red: Prevented a Coup d’État in 1904?

Copy of cover of AMERICAN CIVIL WAR DIGEST. Headline of article: Newly Discovered Photographs Reveal The Horrors Of The Civil War. Subheading: The photos bring new insight into the lives of civil war soldiers and officers. Caption reads: An album of photographs dating back to the 1860s recently found in the attic of an old demolished house illustrates one of the bloodiest pages in the history of the United States. It’s attached to a photo of six people in front of a tent -- Nicky, Joe, Andy are recognizable. Three men + Andy are in Union uniform; Nicky and Joe are not, and look rougher -- maybe scouts?

Printed label: WORLD WAR I (1914 - 1918 (circled in red))

Photo of a group of WWI soldiers. (The bearded man in front might be Joe, but the man next to him is definitely not Nicky or Booker.)

Photo of a bearded soldier (Joe?) (WWI? Earlier?) holding the hands of 2 little girls; the youngest is circled in red. The circle is connected to a picture and news-clip headline: Youngest Laureate for Nobel Prize in Medicine. Article begins: PARIS, FRANCE -- Marie-Helene Varte last Friday said the Nobel Prize for Medicine will inspire her to "continue my efforts in the great cause of ending the pain and suffering that diseases such as polio cause in children." Announcement of the award to Dr. Varte, a French doctor and medical scientist, was announced in Oslo, (rest is cut off.)

Photo with printed label: ‘Irun, 1936 (The Spanish War)’ shows a group of 9 men (5 facing camera) next to a wall of sandbags. A man at edge of picture, with face circled in red, could be Nicky.

Photo of 2 men & 1 woman (+ 4 men grouped to the side) standing in a street, with a poster pinned to it -- the Arc de Triomph, titled: FRENCH RESISTANCE, 1944. The woman might be Andy.

Photo of a long line of WWII soldiers marching. Printed label reads: WORLD WAR II (1939-1945). The 5th man from the front of the line is circled in red, with ‘Nicky’ written beside it.

Photo of bearded man (maybe Joe?, maybe Booker?) in miner’s (?) clothing, carrying a rescued man over his shoulder.

Photo of Nicky on his knee, Red Cross patch on his sleeve, tending to/helping a little boy. Red circle around the boy and a line leads to cover of magazine, ‘The World of Science Today’, with heading: DNA PROFILING. Subheading: French Scientist to get Institut Pasteur Medal For Pioneering Work With DNA -- pg 30.

Photo of Joe with a group of children. Headline of news-clip below reads: Mystery Saviors in the Democratic Republic of Congo. One child circled in red leads to article titled: Young Hip Hop Activist is Changing the DRC. Posted 8 July, 2018.

Photos of atom-bomb blast-columns, with hand-written labels in red: ‘Hiroshima Aug 6’. ‘Nagasaki Aug 9’. ‘What was next???’ String leads to copy of letter: TOP SECRET MEMORANDUM TO: Chief of Staff. The next bomb of the implosion ty- (cut off) scheduled to be ready for delivery on the t- (cut off) Red letters scrawled above ‘the next bomb’ -- ‘DID THEY STOP IT?’

White-on-black poster (?) bumper sticker (?): PEACE!!! Below are news-clip headlines layered on top of each other -- ‘THIS IS DER TAG’ and ‘GERMANY WAKES OUT OF DREAM OF EMPIRE’ and ‘GREATEST WAR IN HISTORY OF THE -’ and ‘PEACE’ and ‘SIGN TREATY’ and ‘GERMANS AFFIX SIGNATURES TO COMPACT IN PRESENCE OF ENVOYS FROM 20 NATIONS’. Clipped article at bottom starts: ‘PRESIDENT WILSON’S CABLED MESSAGE TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE:’ "The treaty of peace has been signed. If it is ratified and acted upon in full and sincere execution of its terms it will furnish the charter for a new order of affairs in the world. It is a severe treaty in the duties and penalties it imposes upon Germany, but it is severe only because great wrongs done by Germany are to be righted and repaired; it imposes nothing that Germany cannot do, and she can regain her rightful standing in the world by the prompt and honorable fulfillment of its terms. And it is much more than a treaty -" (cut off).

Photo of civil rights protests, next to a photo of Martin Luther King, Jr. Various signs read: ‘End Segregated Rules in Public Schools’ and ‘We Demand Voting Rights Now’ and ‘Jobs for All Now!’, Man’s face in the middle of the crowd is circled in red, with NICKY! written below.

Photo labeled: Operation Babylift 1975 (archival print). Blonde woman in foreground is carrying a toddler. Behind her, Andy (circled in red) is helping a little boy, circled in red. Circle is connected to headline: ANGEL INVESTOR HELPS AMPUTEE CHILDREN IN ASIA.

Printed label: BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA. Photo of 6 - 8 men in military fatigues and helmets; 2 have Red Cross emblems on their arms. The man at the head of the stretcher might be Joe. Caption under picture reads: UN TO HOLD EMERGENCY MEETING ON SARAJEVO SIEGE.

Photo of Andy’s labrys.

Computer monitor shows scenes from Merrick’s lab facilities, including Nile dead in hall and Nile coming around a corner with a rifle and the labrys case. The cursor clicks on that one, which enlarges. The ticky-box asks: Permanently Erase This Item? Cursor clicks Erase.

1:57:25 minutes

The End

Netflix Disclaimer: This transcript is for educational use only. Not to be sold or auctioned.

NOTE: Over on Tumblr, user Yumekuimono has gleaned every scrap of information from Copley’s board to produce A Timeline of The Old Guard’s Involvement in World History -- "AKA: Every Bit of Text on Copley’s Sociogram That Was Ever In-Focus Enough for Me to Decipher (With Supplemental Googling to Confirm Some Dates), Arranged in Vaguely Chronological Order"

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I’m still obsessed by The Old Guard movie; I want to remember All The Words, as well as facial expressions, actions, reactions, and be able to refer back to them. My reading memory is better than my visual memory, so I looked for a transcript. Netflix very helpfully provided a transcript, (which seems to be no longer available), but it included only dialogue and time-stamps -- none of the information I really want. No problem; I’m an honorary daughter of ‘The Little Red Hen’; I decided to do it myself. finished, I decided to share it with fandom. Maybe someone else will find it useful for writing fic, or just to satisfy their inner obsessive fan-girl. (Yes, guilty!)

As I watched the movie and added descriptions around the Netflix-provided dialogue which I had pasted into Word, I drew heavily on my theater background -- one of my two college minors, plus several years on stage and behind the scenes at our local community theater -- which tells me that every movement and facial expression is important. I tried to describe those accurately, but [a] I’m shit at facial expressions and [b] I know little of fighting, and had difficulty following the action. If you see something that I missed, or if you think I interpreted a movement or action inaccurately -- please let me know. Honest; I’m serious about this! I don’t bite, and I really, really want this transcript to be as accurate as possible; I appreciate any help you care to offer. Even if it’s just a typo, or a mistake in formatting, sing out! Hell, during my first beta, I found two places where I called Booker, ‘Nile’. I don’t even know.

comments

Old Guard script, bold black names, bold black dialogue, regular descriptions Part 2

2021-08-22T22:40:20Z

Continued from Part 1

[Nile sits on a thick flat rock in front of the campfire, elbows on knees, poking at the fire with a stick.]

[Booker’s laptop screen with open browser shows Copley’s visa.]

Andy: [pacing, impatient] Come on, Book. You’ve been working on that for hours.
[winces, puts left hand on right shoulder]

Booker: He’s a security expert... leaves no footprints. It’s gonna take time.

Nile: [looking up] You got a satellite link?

[Andy puts her left hand under her jacket and shirt, to check out her right shoulder.]

Booker: Yeah.

[Andy freezes momentarily as she feels wetness.]

Nile: Follow the money.
[Andy slowly brings hand out...]
Whoever he’s working for, maybe?
[...stares at the blood on her fingers in disbelief]
That’s how we track militants.
[Andy looks toward the others; they’re not noticing her]
[flash-memory, soldier stabbing her shoulder in church]
[Andy goes to a trunk (footlocker), pulls out different coat]
[Nile is casual, disinterested]
Sure you already tried that.

Booker: Yeah, won’t hurt to try again.

Andy: [putting on the longer, heavier coat]
You know how it works, Nile. Get some sleep while you can.

Booker: [points to carry-bag] I brought you a change of clothes.

[Nile shifts her eyes to Andy. The little expression on her face indicates that she’s not sure this woman is safe to -- or worth -- associating with.]

[Camera pans back. Booker is sitting on a metal box/footlocker across the fire from Nile, twisted to his left to work on the laptop. Andy has been beyond them, farther away from the firelight.]

Andy: [walking past the fire and them] I’m going out for a bit.

Booker: [turns to watch her go] Are you all right, Boss?

Andy: Yeah. [exits under an arch, down tunnel toward entrance]

[Booker sighs, turns back, flicks his eyes to Nile, then back to his laptop, resumes his search.]

[Nile looks almost hypnotized. She slowly puts down the stick, then carefully extends her right hand into the flames. Booker watches as she holds it there for several seconds; we hear a slight ‘sizzle’ before she gasps sharply and yanks it back, grunts at the pain; she cradles it in her other hand, blows out air.]

Booker: [slightly amused] Just because we keep living doesn’t mean we stop hurting.

Nile: [watches as hand heals, burns and blisters fade to normal smooth skin]
[frowns, flexes fingers as she looks up at Booker]
Why us?

Booker: [raises and drops hands, sighs] Yeah.
[reaches to left for flask, starts unscrewing cap. sighs again]
That way madness lies.

Nile: I thought you were the brains of this outfit. [tilts head]

Booker: [chuckles heartily. Nile smiles in response]
Tell you what I do wonder...
[pauses, scratches forehead]
is why you?
[raises eyes to look directly at her]
And why now?

Nile: How old is Andy?

Booker: Well, she says she... she doesn’t remember.
[tiny smile]
And she may not. I don’t know. But what I do know is she was alone for a long time before she found anyone like her. A very long time.
[gestures to her with flask]
What about you? You have someone?
[lifts flask to drink]

Nile: [looks into fire, sighs] Just my family.

Booker: [lowers eyes, seems to consider. takes breath to speak, stops, reconsiders]
[finally speaks, with difficulty, pausing as he remembers the pain]
I had three sons. And the youngest one, Jean Pierre... was the last one to die. He was forty-two when, uh... cancer took him.
[Nile watches him intently; Booker looks directly at her.]
The only way is forward now.

Nile: [slight frown] What do you mean?

Booker: [softly, explaining gently]
...You’ll always and forever be the young woman right there... but everyone around you, everyone you love... is gonna grow old...
[deep breath, exhaled in a sigh]
...is gonna... is gonna suffer and is gonna die.
[continues to tell story with many pauses, struggling as he remembers the pain]
[closeup on fire flashes to statue of Christ, large open hallway, nursing sisters passing]
And if you try to... if you try to touch their lives... well, they will get to learn your secret.
[Booker’s son -- curly hair, loose white shirt -- bent over on bed, coughing painfully]
They will beg you to share it with them, and you won’t be able to.
[Booker sits beside bed, holding glass of water. His son rolls over, shouts, strikes out, hits Booker’s hand so that water flies out.]
And they won’t believe you, of course.
[deep, painful breath]
And they will tell you... that you don’t love them.
[Booker’s son turns away from him, mouth open wide as he cries or shouts.]
That your love is weak...
[Booker walks away from the hospital ward, shoulders slumped.]
[Nile stares up at him, absorbing every word.]
or selfish. And you will never forget... the hate... and despair in their eyes. And you will know what it is to lose...
[deep breath, deep pain in eyes; he can hardly force out the words]
everyone you’ve ever loved.

[Nile continues to watch closely, contemplating his story.]

[Booker takes a deep breath, lifts his flask and drinks.]

[Interior of une pharmacie. Andy carries a shopping hand-basket, walks by a selection of nail-care items, indicated by the manicure advertisement over the shelf. She scans the shelves as she walks, then stops as she reaches the first-aid section. The clerk, a dark-haired woman, looks up, watches.]

[Andy bends to examine items she’s never had to use. She looks back and forth across the many possibilities, then straightens to eye the clerk with a slight frown. The clerk looks down, away from Andy.]

[Andy starts putting items in her basket almost at random, sliding three different tubes of cream or salve from the top of a shelf, a package of this, a plastic bag of that, a box of bandaids. She finishes by grabbing several chocolate bars and tossing them into the basket.]

[Andy plops the basket on the checkout counter without speaking. The clerk looks up at her (Andy is several inches taller) with a flick of her eyes, also without speaking, then opens a plastic bag to load the items as she scans them. Andy hears a police siren and turns, but it fades in the distance and she turns back toward the clerk.]

Andy: [with low-key intensity] Do you have a bathroom?

Clerk: [stares a moment] No.
[Andy looks down, mouth tightens, looks up as checkout continues]
[clerk notices Andy’s reaction, considers what she sees]
But we have a storeroom. [pauses] Do you need help?

[Andy just looks at her, seems lost and confused.]

[Storeroom. Andy has slipped her coat and shirt off her right shoulder; the wound is about two inches (5cm) long and gaping open a quarter-inch (.5cm) wide; it looks ragged and raw, and is red and inflamed.]

[Andy breathes deeply and clenches her jaw while she clutches her right coat-sleeve with her left hand as the clerk dabs the wound with a cotton ball; the medicine obviously stings. As the clerk finishes the cleaning, Andy turns to look at the wound, then quickly turns away.]

Clerk: [opens a package of steri-strips]
Stitches would be better, but... this will help.
[carefully pulls the wound closed with steri-strips]

Andy: [quietly, with tiny head-shake] You haven’t asked.

Clerk: [meets Andy’s eyes, equally quiet]
Your business is yours. You need help. What does it matter why? Today, I put this on your wound. Tomorrow... you help someone up when they fall.
[Andy closes eyes, bows head slightly]
We’re not meant to be alone.
[Andy watches her face, considering her words]
There.
[Andy looks at shoulder; strips are covered by a pad, held on by a broad adhesive patch]
This should do.

Andy: [shrugs into shirt and coat, whispers] Thank you.

[The clerk looks up, gives her a twitch of a smile, closes the medicine bottle.]

[Street scene. Andy walks slowly to the car, looking warily around as she goes. She unlocks it and gets in, then sits, remembering.]

Quynh: Andromache, help me!
[Andromache's hands press down on gaping, bloody wound low on Lykon’s stomach]
Why won’t it stop?
[flash of Lykon’s face, strained, Quynh’s face, frantic]

Andromache: [face streaked with blood and dirt, panting]
This can’t be happening.

Quynh: [Quynh’s face, blood-spattered, gazing down fearfully]
Lykon! No...

Lykon: [muttering, blood slides from corner of mouth, shakes with pain]
It’s time.

Andromache: It’s impossible. [shakes head, breathes deeply]

Lykon: It... it’s time.

[Andromache stares at his face as Quynh sobs frantically and Lykon’s eyes glaze over.]

[Andy sits motionless in the car, gazing through the windshield into the darkness.]

1:13:27 minutes

[Monitor beeping. Camera pans up a blue hospital drape, over a man’s bare chest with smears of blood and cardiac sensors attached, to Joe’s face. He seems unconscious or dead.]

[Copley and Merrick are in some kind of supply and/or storage room -- shelving units, banks of drawers, etc.]

Copley: How long will the testing take?

Merrick: Until we have results we can replicate.

[Nicky is securely strapped -- arms, legs, and midsection -- to a lab bed/examination table, so that he cannot move or escape. He has smears of blood on his chest and the side of his neck, a blood--pressure cuff on his right arm, an oximeter on his right index finger, and cardiac sensors on his chest. Kozak is pushing a long thin probe into the right side of his abdomen. He grits his teeth and grunts in pain, neck tense as he strains against the straps, but he doesn’t cry out. The speed of the beeping increases.]

Kozak: [dispassionately] Do you feel the wound trying to close?

[Camera pans past medical tray with chunks of bloody tissue laying on sterile cloths, as well as capped pill-bottle-sized containers with other samples surrounded by liquid.]

Copley: [arms crossed as he watches Merrick across the room]
You don’t need them for that. You’ve got the samples, blood, tissue, DNA.

Merrick: [strolls toward Copley, unconcerned]
Well you know the concept of proprietary data -- and they’re the product.
[Copley stares, frowning]
They go in the vault, they stay there under lock and key.

Copley: For... ever? [shakes head as frown increases]

Merrick: [firmly, sure of his rightness]
We can’t have them strolling back out into the world, into my competitors’ laps. If this takes years -- maybe decades --
[intensely, more fervently]
what does it matter to them? If we can unlock their genetic code, the world will be begging us for the key.

Kozak: [pulls probe from Nicky with chunk of tissue at the end, watches hole close up, runs hand over his skin]
Huh! Remarkable.

Nicky: [breathes heavily, opens eyes to look at her; voice quiet, slightly hoarse]
You will not be able to give him what he wants.

Kozak: You think I go too far?
[picks up syringe]
That I am unethical?
[uses it to push chunk of Nicky’s liver (?) off probe, into empty vial]

Nicky: I would say immoral.

Kozak: [closes vial, looks at him]
I believe this can change the world.

Nicky: [quietly] A fine justification. I’ve heard it so many times before.

[Nicky stares levelly at her as she studies him. She huffs with a small, self-satisfied smile, turns and walks away.]

[Joe revives with an indrawn gasp; Nicky turns his head to him as Joe tries and fails to dislodge his restraints; he grunts and groans with the effort. Joe subsides, breathing heavily, turns his head to his right, to see Nicky on the bed next to his. As soon as he does, his eyes widen as he registers the doctor standing near Nicky, but she’s already moving. Joe lifts his head to watch her walk past them out of the room, then drops his head on the pillow with a sigh.]

Nicky: [watches Joe, smiling] As much as I like watching you sleep, I’m glad you’re awake.

Joe: [turns to Nicky, purses lips in thought] Bedhead?

Nicky: [laughs] Nicely tousled.

[Joe tries to shift position, but the restraints don’t allow even that easement. He sighs.]

Nicky: [staring at the ceiling] Do you know, I was thinking about Malta.

Joe: [turns to Nicky] What time in Malta?
[Nicky turns to Joe, simply gazes with a small smile. a beat, then Joe grins.]
Oh, that time in Malta.
[grin widens as he laughs, shaking head]

Nicky: [smile fades, stares upward, speaks quietly]
Dovremmo ritornarci. (We should go back there.)

Joe: [softly, watching Nicky as his smile also fades]
Sarebbe bello. (That would be nice.)

[Kozak walks back into the room.]

1:15:37 minutes

[In the mine, the fire is burning low; Booker and Nile are asleep on opposite sides of the fire. Nile twitches. Flash of the Afghani man Nile shot crying out and falling. Nile startles awake, breathing heavily; she sits halfway up and looks around to see Booker still asleep. Nile sits all the way up, deliberately breathes deeply and slowly, trying to calm herself.]

[Outside, very early, shortly after dawn. Andy is propped (sitting/leaning) against the hood of the car, very relaxed, one ankle crossed over the other. She’s eating one of the chocolate bars and looking at something in her right hand. She looks up as she hears a rustle of brush; Nile comes out of the mine, breathing deeply. Nile has put on her jacket, and she exits quickly. Her stance suggests that she wants to run, but Nile stops when she sees Andy, sighs, and turns to her.]

Andy: [looks down at hand, turns it to show Nile cellphone with picture on it]
Your mom and brother?

Nile: You have my phone!
[hurries forward to grab it, but stops, uncertain of Andy’s response]

[Andy holds out the phone. Nile takes it quickly, then sits/leans on the hood to Andy’s left, staring at the picture. Her mom is leaning into her brother’s right shoulder, apparently half a head shorter than her son. Both are wearing glasses and smiling widely. The time shows ‘06:31 Sunday, April 21’.]

Andy: Where’s your father?

Nile: [turns to her, speaks quietly]
Killed in action when I was eleven.
[Andy nods. Nile unlocks phone, scrolls through pictures, stops]
Here...
[moves closer, shows Andy a handsome man posing in Marine dress blues]
My mom, she was drowning after he died. South Side of Chicago, a million different ways we coulda went left. [nods gently] She fought for us. Never backed down.
[Andy raises her eyes to watch Nile’s face]
[Nile has a small smile as she glances at Andy]
Never let us back down either.

Andy: [quietly approving] You come from warriors.

Nile: [looks at her, accepting] Yeah. I do.

Andy: [nods, looks away, gazes outward]
I can’t remember what my mother looked like. Or my sisters.
[small headshake, slight huff]
None of them.

Nile: [has watched Andy, sympathetic, now looks away]
Time steals it all away, I guess.

Andy: [small huff as she bows head, thoughtful]
It’s not what time steals...
[Nile turns to stare]
it’s what it leaves behind.
[Andy gazes outward]
Things you can’t forget. I gave up searching for her.
[eyes close in pain]
I made Quynh a promise and I broke it.
[slight head-shake as mouth firms, nods slightly]
I’m getting Joe and Nicky back.
[deep breath]
Whatever it takes.

Nile: ‘Whatever it takes’? [turns head to watch Andy]

Andy: [looks at Nile directly, quietly resolute] Yes.

Booker: [out of sight] Guys, I found something.
[rustle of brush as he appears from mine]
An address just outside of London.

[Andy stands, picks up the chocolate bar wrapper from the hood, holds out her hand to Nile, who clings to her phone, staring at the picture of her mother and brother.]

Andy: We gotta go.

[After a moment, not looking at her, Nile puts the phone in Andy’s hand. Andy puts it in her right coat pocket and strides away.]

1:18:27 minutes

[Aerial view -- fields, lots of trees, a few isolated large houses, small town in the distance, small hills toward the horizon, cloudy sky overhead.]

SURREY ENGLAND appears on screen

[Rear view of silver Audi (license YY56 TVX), driving fast over a narrow, grassy track. It turns, pulls up and stops under some trees, near a metal farm-gate, with a large two-story house beyond.]

[Booker exits from the right rear as Nile exits from the front passenger seat (left side). Booker opens the boot as Andy exits from the driver’s seat (right side). Andy scans the territory as Booker reaches into a carry-bag, pulls out a pistol, checks it. As Andy comes around, he hands it to her; she puts it in her back waistband. Booker picks up another pistol, checks it.]

Andy: Go scout the back.

[Booker puts the pistol in his back waistband, heads out as Nile watches.]

[Andy reaches into the boot, pulls out a rifle, checks it, hands it to Nile. Nile takes it and stares down as if it’s unfamiliar. She shakes her head minutely, takes a breath, holds the rifle out to Andy, who is evaluating the terrain rather than looking at Nile.]

Nile: I can’t do this.

Andy: [flicks eyes to her] Yes, you can.

Nile: [pushes rifle closer to Andy, voice firm, determined]
I mean, I’m not doing this.

[Andy looks down at the rifle, looks at Nile with stunned disbelief. She takes the rifle and Nile turns away from her.]

Andy: [steps closer, speaks softly but firmly]
You’re one of us now.
[Nile shakes head minutely, but turns toward her]
[speaks more urgently]
We would do the same for you.

Nile: [louder, angry] I never even had a choice!

Andy: None of us had a choice.
[Nile turns away. Andy slams boot closed]
There isn’t a choice.

Nile: The day I died,
[turns, facing Andy down, deep breath, intense]
I killed the guy that killed me.
[Andy gives Nile her full attention, listening and watching closely]
They try to condition us, you know? Thousands of hours of training. Two shots, quick kill.
[another deep breath, lips tighten]
But they can’t teach you how to live with it.

Andy: [quickly, reaches for Nile, hand on left shoulder, speaks urgently. moves closer, face-to-face]
You’ve gotta feel it, Nile.
[Nile turns head away, while Andy focuses on her, voice sharper]
Every one.

Nile: [shaking head] I saw what you did in that church.
[Andy retreats slightly, drops hand, mouth firms]
All those bodies.
[voice sounds desperate]
Is that supposed to be me? Is that what we’re supposed to do, and we don’t even know why?

Andy: [moves closer again, speaks urgently]
You think knowing is gonna make you sleep better at night?

Nile: [shakes head slowly, speaks softly]
I can’t be that.
[Andy drops head, sighs]
My family...
[pauses, looks down, breathes in, faces Andy again]
they’re gonna get old and I won’t, but it’ll be years before they realize that.
[Andy watches her, carefully emotionless. links, looks aside]
[Nile’s voice is pleading]
I still have time with them.

Andy: [flicks eyes up to Nile, tiny nod, reaches for pistol in belt, holds it out]
Here.
[Nile takes it]
Take the car,
[Nile looks at Andy directly]
and when you ditch it, ditch the weapons.

Nile: [looks down, deep breath, faces Andy again]
You gonna be okay?

Andy: [direct gaze] Always.

[Andy carries the rifle as she walks past Nile, who turns to watch as she opens the gate and slips through. Nile opens her mouth as if she might change her mind, call to Andy, then sighs, looks down, lets the impulse die.]

[Booker moves past a tall green hedge, sees Andy coming. He gestures her forward; she comes to meet him.]

[Sound of car engine accelerating away; Andy turns her head to look back, then faces Booker.]

Booker: [quietly] Where’s Nile?

Andy: [sharp, short headshake] You and me, Book. Now and always.

[Andy moves past Booker and takes the lead. Pauses in the cover of a large tree-trunk.]

[Nile drives the car. GPS voice says, “Guildford station in one mile.” She sees a sign for a security checkpoint, pulls the car over and stops at the side of the road; the area seems relatively isolated. Nile unbuckles her seatbelt, grabs the pistol from the passenger (left) seat, exits the car, goes to the rear, opens the boot. She starts shoving bits and pieces into the carry-bag. She looks around for observers as she removes the magazine from the pistol to put them separately in the bag, then stops and stares at the magazine.]

Nile: Empty?
[stares at pistol, mentally replays Booker handing it to Andy, Andy putting it in belt]
Shit.
[stares again at pistol and empty magazine, voice shows realization]
Andy.

[View of Copley’s house; ground floor is red brick, with part of the visible wall made of glass panels. Through them we see a spiral staircase to the upper floor, which also has large glass panels, as well as a wide expanse of multiple windows.]

[Booker, handgun extended, glides silently across the floor, followed by Andy, with her rifle extended. Booker stops at the foot of the stairs, continues covering the ground floor as Andy starts up the stairs beside him, then he follows. They climb silently, cautiously, alert for any threat.]

[The room is large, well-lighted, with windows on the two visible walls. The area includes a piano, a set of glass shelves with a few artifacts displayed, several padded chairs, and a table with keyboard and monitor. Copley is standing with his back to the door and staircase. He is perusing a wall-sized, standing bulletin board in two large sections; the boards are completely covered with papers and pictures, some outlined in red.]

[Andy reaches top of stairs, takes cover behind the closed half of a pair of double doors; the other door is standing open. A head gesture tells Booker -- a few steps down with his pistol at the ready -- to head ‘that’ direction. He looks that way, then back to Andy; her chin-lift says, ‘now’. Booker finishes climbing the stairs and heads in that direction as Andy slips around the door. She checks both sides of the room, then focuses on / aims at Copley.]

Andy: Where are they?

Copley: [turns slowly, casually to face her. hands in pockets of sweater, obviously no threat, he takes a few steps toward her, speaks softly]
Andromache the Scythian. The eternal warrior.

Andy: Book?

Booker: [in doorway behind; takes a few steps forward]
I’m right here.

[Andy glances at the bulletin board; easily visible is a copy of an ID card from Ceska Republika Obcansky Prokaz. The photo is an earlier Andy, with chin-length hair. Her gun-hand relaxes for a moment, but she shakes off her shock/surprise, lifts the rifle and aims directly at Copley.]

Andy: [steps forward, quiet threat] Where are Joe and Nicky?

[Sound of a shot; Andy cries out as her body jerks and blood appears on her shirt, low on her left side. Booker lowers his handgun, quickly tucks it in the front of his belt, pulls out a zip-tie. As Andy staggers from the impact of the shot and drops her rifle, Booker comes up behind her, grabs her arms and pulls them back.]

Andy: [struggling] What are you doing?!
[continues to struggle, but Booker drags/forces her to her knees...]
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!

Booker: Andy, calm down! [...and zip-ties her hands behind her.]

Andy: [shrieks] NOOOOOOOOOO!!!

[Copley watches dispassionately, hands still in pockets]

[Booker kneels behind Andy as he holds her on the floor, right arm around her neck as his left holds her left arm. She exclaims in wordless anger as he brings his face close to her left ear, tries to calm her with a quiet, “Shh.”]

Andy: [raging, groaning as she breathes heavily, trying to struggle away]
You set us up!

Booker: [quietly, in her ear] Listen. Please listen.

[Copley walks closer, speaks calmly.]

Copley: When my wife died, I devoted myself to your work.
[Andy glares at him as she jerks out of Booker’s hold]
[Booker lets her go, pushes hair out of face, starts to rise]
I learned your secret history,
[Andy stares, stunned and appalled]
written in the margins,
[view of bulletin board. label: GREECE. picture of mosaic art, of woman with double-bladed war-ax on horseback, swinging at armored soldier on horseback, with shield]
[front of a theatre playbill reads: ANDROMAQVE, TRAGEDIE]
[a xerox-enlarged copy of an ancient coin (?) --a bordered circle with woman’s head inside and ‘ANDROMACHA’ along the circle’s border, with ‘HETC.VX’ below it, marked with red star]
passed on like legend.
[list of changes in spelling of Andromache’s name through time and place -- Latin, Greek, Russian, Armenian, Farsi, Arabic]
What was dismissed as a myth, was in fact,
[Andy breathes deep, exhales loudly as she takes it in]
immortality. You could help end... needless suffering.

[Andy looks up, then closes her eyes as her breath catches in pain. Her head sinks; she looks weary. Slowly her body starts to fold -- she tries to catch it and hold herself upright -- then gives in and curls downward until her head rests on the carpet, beside her right knee; she gasps. Booker stands behind Andy, watching her. He looks a little concerned, raises his eyes to Copley, who has a slight frown, but ignores the issue.]

Copley: Humanity needs you to share your gifts.

Andy: [raises head long enough to speak with tight, pained voice]
Humanity can screw itself.

[She groans, shifts her body, and lets herself roll to the left. She’s now sitting on the floor, leaning against the seat of one of the padded chairs. She continues to gasp heavily, with occasional groans, from the pain of the unhealing wound.]

Booker: [flicks eyes to Copley, looks uneasy as he steps toward her, starts to bend down]
Andy...

Andy: [raises head, speaks sharply as she kicks out at him]
Don’t! you fucking coward.
[Booker steps back from her anger, takes a deep breath]
[Copley flicks eyes to Booker, down to Andy, stays detached, uninvolved]
[Andy breathes heavily, shakes head, whispers,]
Why? Why, Book?

Booker: [steps forward, speaks placatingly] Andy, listen --

Andy: [kicks out again, shouts] WHY?

Booker: [goes to a knee beside/in front of her, speaks with quiet force]
If Merrick can discover how we keep living, he might find a way how to end it.
[Andy looks at him sorrowfully, takes deep breath, finds nothing to say]
[he leans closer, intense]
Hey. That’s what you wanted.

Andy: [shakes head slowly, speaks softly, barely more than a whisper]
Oh, Book. What have you done?
[deep breath, sharp gasp, another deep breath, tears in eyes]
Not like this, Book.

Booker: [drops head, sniffles a deep breath, notices. flings Andy’s jacket aside, reaches out to growing bloodstain on her shirt]
What’s going on? You’re still bleeding.
[Andy looks aside, still breathing heavily, seems less concerned about her wound than his betrayal. voice shakes as he repeats,]
You’re still bleeding.
[worried]
What? Shit.
[louder, looks up at Copley]
She’s not healing.

Copley: What? [comes to them, looks down]

[Andy has slumped more, closed her eyes, as if she’s distancing herself from the whole situation. Booker pushes her jacket farther aside, lifts his bloodstained hands.]

Booker: Look at this. She’s not healing. Go get something. Go on. Go on!
[Copley hurries away. Booker comes closer, hands and knees in front of her, face-to-face.]
Andy, look at me. [her eyes stay closed] Look at me.
[Andy raises eyes to him, face closed off, eyes remote]
Why didn’t you tell me?

Andy: [shakes head, small shrug of left shoulder; voice quiet, calm, resigned]
Wouldn’t have changed anything.

Booker: [raises head, shouts] Hurry up!

[Copley comes with a small towel, kneels next to Booker, presses it over the wound. Andy groans.]

Booker: Careful. Have to get her out of here.

[Booker and Copley grab Andy’s arms, start to lift her.]

[The other door slams open; Booker and Copley turn at the noise as Keane and several armed soldiers walk in, followed by Merrick. Booker stands as they walk closer.]

Keane: [points at Booker] Secure him. Nice work, Copley.

[Two soldiers grab Booker, pull his arms behind him, zip-tie his hands; he doesn’t struggle.]

Merrick: [walks to Andy, looks down at her] Look at you.

Copley: [looks up, keeping pressure on Andy’s wound]
She’s wounded. Gunshot.

Merrick: [sharply] Why isn’t she healing?

Copley: [raises eyes to Andy’s face] I don’t know.

[Andy glares up at Merrick, breathing deeply, doesn’t speak.]

Booker: [held tightly between two soldiers] She’s not immortal.

Merrick: What do you mean, ‘not immortal’?

Booker: I mean it’s gone.

[Entire room seems to pause. Merrick stares at him, calculating. Andy’s head is turned away from everyone in the room, still distancing herself. Copley continues to apply pressure on the wound, but makes no movement. Merrick turns, bends to look at Andy’s wound.]

Merrick: You’re a bloody mess.
[slowly squats in front of Andy. she deliberately doesn’t look at him]
Now, how old are you?

Andy: [breathes deeply, gasps, looks at him -- danger in her eyes, despite her circumstances. chin-lift, speaks quietly]
Come closer and I’ll tell you.

Merrick: [face falls, taken aback. stands] Let’s get them home.

Booker: Let her go.

Keane: Cover me. [opens jacket, reaches inside as he starts toward Andy]

Andy: [immediately defensive, yanks away from Copley, watches Keane approaching, pushes herself back]
No. No.

Booker: [struggles to go help her, the soldiers hold him.]
Let her go!
[soldier punches him in stomach; he grunts and folds over]

Andy: No!

[Andy struggles violently, kicking and thrashing, interspersing shouts of ‘No!’ with roars that sound like an enraged animal as Keane tries to hold her still, subdue her. She continues to twist and kick, roaring her fury, but can’t escape. She shakes her head violently as Keane reaches toward her. As he holds her head (relatively) still with a hand under her chin, an injector hisses at the left side of her neck. Her eyes close and body goes limp as she loses consciousness.]

Booker: [trying to reach her but held by soldiers, speaks in strained voice]
I’m sorry, Andy. I’m sorry.

Soldier: Hold him still.

[Booker grunts as injector hisses at the left side of his neck.]

Copley: [crosses quickly to Merrick, speaks urgently]
Mr. Merrick, look. If it’s true and she’s somehow not immortal anymore, then she might not survive the testing. This will be murder.

[Two soldiers lift Andy.]

Merrick: As if the CIA never disappeared anyone. As if they never conducted covert research.

Copley: No. [shakes head, firmer] No, this is not what we agreed.

Merrick: [looks over Copley’s shoulder, tiny nod]
We don’t stop.
[he turns away]

[Keane steps behind Copley, coldcocks him with a pistol-butt to his neck. Copley drops face-down, unconscious. Merrick walks out, followed by the remaining soldiers.]

1:26:45 minutes

[Street level, people walking past Merrick Pharmaceuticals.]

[Kozak is sitting at a table with a keyboard and monitor, entering data. A door bursts open behind her. She turns her head to watch as a guard enters, then Andy held by a guard on each side, with Booker immediately behind her, also held by two guards. Another guard, Keane, and Merrick follow.]

[Joe and Nicky -- now with the bloodstains cleaned from their skin -- raise their heads to see what’s happening.]

Nicky: Andy!

Joe: What happened?

[The guards sit Andy down forcibly on the bed to Nicky’s right. She grunts/groans at the impact, grimaces and partly curls into the pain, but the guards hold her up.]

Booker: She’s not healing.
[grunts as he is forcibly deposited on the to Andy’s right]
[guards are strapping Andy to bed; Kozak watches, pulling on surgical gloves]
[Merrick stands a short distance away, hands behind back, watching]
[Booker stares upward as guards strap him to bed; voice indicates self-disgust]
I killed her.

[Kozak raises her shirt to examine the wound. Andy lifts her head to look at it, breathing heavily. Nicky and Joe stare in dismay, then slowly lower their heads to their beds.]

Kozak: I need to get a line in her and stop the bleeding.

Merrick: Keep her alive at all costs.

[Guards finish strapping Andy and Booker, nod to the guards who have been covering them with rifles aimed; they lower their weapons and step back.]

Merrick: Don’t you see? Between Sudan and now, something’s changed. Find out what.

[Andy stares at him, coldly, still not actively responding to what’s happening.]

Kozak: This will stabilize her,
[hangs I.V bag above left side of bed]
but I have to stitch her and give her antibiotics.
[walks away for more supplies]

Merrick: Good.

Nicky: [watching Andy] All things die.

Merrick: [looks surprised that one of his lab animals has spoken]
What was that?

Nicky: [shifts gaze to Merrick]
Everything has to die, Mr. Merrick.
[speaks softly, gently, as Merrick steps closer]
The only reason we haven’t...
[slight smile]
is that it’s not our time yet.
[Andy breathes heavily, unresponsive as Kozak inserts IV / treats her wound]
If it’s now Andromache’s, nothing you can do will stop it.

Merrick: You’d be surprised by what my products can do.
[Joe watches, evaluating, judging]
I will carve slices off you for years to get what I want.
[Nicky is calm, merely blinks]
Your time is coming.

Nicky: As is yours.

Merrick: [rattled, blustering] I expect results!
[storms out, followed by most of the guards]

Booker: [turns head toward her, pleading] Andy...

[Andy stares upward, refusing to respond.]

1:28:07 minutes

[Outside view of Copley’s house.]

[Inside, Copley sits bowed over in a chair, elbows on knees, holding a towel to the left side of his head and neck.]

[Nile comes through the open door, pistol pointed. She cocks the pistol, which alerts Copley. He looks up, lunges for a rifle left behind on the floor, but Nile quickly steps forward and kicks it out of his reach.]

Nile: Uh-uh.

[Copley, on his knees, raises his hands as Nile aims her pistol at him, pushes himself up and into a chair as she advances.]

Nile: Are you Copley?

Copley: [breathlessly, with raised hands] He sent you to finish me off.

Nile: Who?
[looks down, notices blood on the carpet]
Where’s Andy? And Booker?
[shifts pistol for emphasis]

Copley: Who are you?

[Nile takes a breath, firms her mouth, shoots down into her own left foot.]

Nile: Ahh!
[Copley flinches]
[Nile folds over herself, holds foot off the floor as it heals]
Son of a bitch!

Copley: [amazed, pointing at her foot] You’re another one.

Nile: Yeah.
[aims pistol at him again as she breathes heavily]
I’m new.
[deep breath, advances on Copley, voice determined]
Where are they?

Copley: They’re in a lab... being tested.
[Nile’s mouth opens, shocked; she gasps ]
Tortured.
[Nile lifts pistol higher, ready to -- she’s not sure what]
Merrick... he only cares about her immortality... not what she’s done with it.

Nile: ‘What she’s done with it’?

[Copley is showing Nile his bulletin board and explaining his research. Nile keeps her gun on him, frowning, apparently not trusting him.]

Copley: Montenegro. Nineteen-sixteen. She saved a family of refugees, whose daughter would discover the technique for the early detection of diabetes.
[Nile keeps pistol on him, intently ready for any misstep]
[he points to another area]
This one; her grandson would save three hundred and seventeen people from the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
[voice becomes ever more passionate as he continues]
[Nile relaxes slightly, starts to absorb what he’s saying]
This guy -- this man prevented an accidental nuclear exchange in nineteen seventy-eight, and likely saved civilization as a result.
[Nile takes eyes off him, gazes across the mass of visible information]
[she slowly lowers pistol, stunned and amazed]
The famous... and... the unknown names.
[Nile approaches board, scanning across clippings and pictures]
She saves a life -- two or three generations later, we reap the benefits.

Nile: [huffs, moves along board, checks more of the information. voice is awed]
She’s in it. She can’t see it.
[turns to Copley]
But you could!
[voice is accusing]
You could and you gave them up!

Copley: I thought it could be the end of disease.
[Nile jerks head, negating the poor excuse]
I thought it could be the end of suffering.
[hesitates, words come out painfully, distressed]
She couldn’t talk... at the end... my wife. She couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t do... anything. It was supposed to be a gift... to the world.

Nile: [quietly angry] It wasn’t your gift to give.

Copley: [sighs, shakes head] Why would the immortality end?

Nile: [audible breath] What?

Copley: [turns to look at blood on carpet] She wouldn’t stop bleeding.

Nile: [follows his gaze, voice urgent] Is she alive?

Copley: I know where they are.

1:30:43 minutes

[Aerial view of London, past high-rise buildings toward lower buildings with turrets.]

[Silver Audi drive up, parks at curb. Copley exits driver’s side (right), Nile from passenger side. Each opens the rear door on their side. Copley grabs a khaki carry-bag, heads toward the building. Nile grabs Andy’s labrys in its carry-case, slings it over her right shoulder. She pauses a second, looks up at the many stories above, while Copley uses a key-card in the outer door. He opens the door and walks in; Nile quickly follows.]

[In a security complex, two men sit in front of multiple monitors with views of hallways and rooms, using switches to change views from one place to another as they continually check for threats.]

[Nile and Copley are in a custodial/storage area -- mop bucket nearby, metal cases piled on a wheeled platform, two doors for elevators. Andy’s labrys leans against the wall to Niles’s left, next to an elevator door. Nile squats by the carry-bag, but looks for security before she opens it.]

Copley: [quietly] There’s no cameras here. That’s how he gets people in and out unseen.

Nile: [unzips carry-bag, pulls out pistol] How many shooters on site?

Copley: At least thirty.
[Nile checks pistol, puts it on floor, pulls out rifle]
Their boss, Keane, is ex Special Forces.

Nile: [unfolds rifle stock] What kind of CEO rolls around with his own personal army?

Copley: These days?
[bends down, takes pistol from floor, checks magazine]
Most of them.

Nile: [stands, confronts him] What are you doing?

Copley: I’m gonna make this right.

Nile: [firmly] Your dying won’t do that.

Copley: [raises eyebrows]
But I’m supposed to let you walk in there by yourself?
[starts to walk around her]

Nile: [stands in his way, faces him directly]
Out of the two of us, I’m the one who will walk out of there again, one way or another.
[holds rifle in left hand, extends right, waiting for pistol]
[he doesn’t respond. she looks down at empty hand, up to him, speaks firmly.]
You got me here.
[he hesitates, then hands pistol to her. she tucks it in back waistband]

Copley: There’s a private lab on the fifteenth floor. It’s empty.
[uses key-card; card-reader beeps]
This will get you access.
[gives her the card]

[Elevator door opens. Nile grabs labrys, slings it over her left shoulder.]

Nile: [pauses in doorway, speaks over right shoulder]
You should get out of here before the noise starts.
[steps into elevator, presses button for 15]

Copley: [quietly, as Nile takes stance in center of car, adjusts labrys-strap on shoulder]
Good luck, Ms. Freeman.

“Going Down Fighting” by Andrea Wasse X Phlotilla plays in background:
If it’s the end of the world,
I’m going down fighting.
With my finger on the trigger,
You’ll know I gave it a shot.

If it’s the end of it all,
God knows I’m trying.
‘Cause this world
Is all that we got.
‘Cause this world
Is all that we got.

[Door closes, elevator starts up. Nile twists her neck side to side, shrugs her shoulders, breathes deeply, drops her head back then raises it again -- preparing for battle. She stares straight ahead as she waits.]

[Door opens. Nile steps out cautiously, looking around. She walks forward casually, turns a corner, sees three armed guards standing, chatting in a hallway. Her right hand holds the rifle behind her back.]

Guard: Floor’s closed. How’d you get up here?

Nile: [casually looks to side] Sorry, I was just looking --

Guard: [barks, all three guards take aim] Hands! Let me see your hands.

[Nile takes a breath, slowly brings her right hand into view. Two shots. Nile falls on her back.]

Guard: Zero, this is Alpha Two-two.

Monitor-watcher: Sir. [monitor shows Nile on floor, guards beyond her]

Keane: [walks forward, grabs radio from console, speaks into it]
Zero send.

Guard: We’ve had an intruder. Target is down.

Keane: See if you can get an I.D off the body.

[Guard kicks Nile’s gun-hand, starts patting down her body. Nile brings her right leg up, kicks him in the chest, shoots him as he staggers back, rises to her knees and shoots the other two -- all headshots.]

Keane: Shit! [into radio] TAC teams, find Merrick now!

[Nile -- now with two midline, bloodstained holes in her shirt -- grabs her pistol, slings the labrys over her left shoulder and moves to shelter of a wall. She checks the pistol, then peers around the corner.]

[In the lab, Andy is ignoring everything, staring at nothing, Nicky is lying quietly. Joe has lifted his upper body as far as he can, shouting across the other two to Booker.]

Joe: You selfish piece of shit!

Nicky: [speaks over him, strongly, but not shouting]
Joe, leave it. Please!

Booker: What would you know of the weight of all these years alone?

[Andy still doesn’t react to anything as she stares into nothing.]

Joe: [laughs without humor] You’re a very pathetic man, Booker.

Nicky: Joe, stop.

Booker: You and Nicky always had each other, right?
[Andy blinks and swallows]
And all we had... was our grief.

Joe: Well, now you have even more.

[Kozak is behind Andy’s bed, adjusting the IV, ignoring the argument as if nothing’s happening.]

[Nile proceeds down a hallway, pistol extended. She turns a corner and goes through a doorway; Merrick is there. It’s some kind of lab -- long counters with beakers, jars, and bottles on top, boxes/containers for various items. Nile aims at him.]

Merrick: Who the hell are you?

Nile: [loudly] Where’s the lab?

[Three guards burst through the door across the room and start firing. Nile ducks and fires back, drops the labrys as she runs.]

[In the med-lab, Andy hears the gunfire. She reacts, turning her head toward the sound. Kozak, in front of her computer, also notices and turns toward the sound. Joe, Nicky, and Booker don’t react. (Sleeping? Unconscious/dead from something Kozak did? How much time has passed since Joe was shouting at Booker?)]

[Nile runs, firing behind her as the guards follow, shooting. She’s heading toward metal doors with a ‘Restricted Access’ sign. Keane runs in and fires, hitting her just as she reaches the doors. She stumbles through and falls to the floor as the doors swing shut behind her.]

Keane: Shit! [together with Merrick] There’s another one!

[Nile’s still holding the pistol; she groans as she pushes herself up.]

Keane: She’s going for the rest of them. Doctor’s lab, now!
[guards head out]
[grabs Merrick’s arm, starts to pull him toward door]
I’m locking you down in the penthouse until this is over.

[Merrick stops him for a moment, staring avidly at the labrys case. He goes to pick it up, smiles widely, tucks it under his right arm and follows Keane out.]

[Nile finds nothing important -- the people she’s looking for -- in the room. She runs to a door across the room that has a card-reader beside it, uses the key-card, pulls door open outward, then runs through an inward door into the med-lab. The doctor turns as the team all raise their heads. Nile pauses, surprised and relieved to see them. Andy's expression is disbelief.]

Booker: Nile. [sees guard aiming through open door] Behind you!

[Nile grunts as she is hit, sags, fires back, pushes the door closed. She now has a third bloodstained hole in the front of her shirt, one on the back of her left shoulder, and one on the front of her left thigh.]

[Kozak, alarmed, rises. She looks frantically for a weapon, grabs a syringe from a nearby tray and starts forward.]

Nicky: [shouts] Nile!

[Kozak closes on Nile, syringe raised. Nile blocks her raised right arm with her left hand, knocks her down and out with a strong right punch.]

Nile: [runs to Andy, starts unbuckling restraints]
There’s four shooters at the door and more coming.
[Andy closes eyes, makes no move to rise. shirt is askew; Nile sees dressing on wound]
[she flips pistol, offers it to Andy, who turns her head away]
Andy.
[the men’s heads are raised, watching. Andy keeps eyes closed]
[frowns, lifts Andy’s right hand, pushes pistol into it. voice is soft, but firmly intense]
Immortal or not, you made a promise. Whatever it takes.
[Andy opens eyes, looks at Nile, remains passive]
I’ve seen it, Andy.
[pulls another pistol from back waistband, cocks it]
I know all the good you’ve done.
[Andy stares at her, weighing, evaluating]

[The door bursts open, four guards rushing forward. Nile turns beside Andy. Together they raise their pistols, two shots each, all four go down. Andy keeps her eyes on them while she reaches over to unbuckle her left arm. Nile unbuckles the restraints over her legs.]

Andy: [eying her] You came back.

Nile: [a level look, flicks eyes to the others] Yeah.

[Nile goes to release Booker as Andy goes to Nicky and unbuckles the strap over his right arm. Nicky reaches to unbuckle the other straps while Andy tucks the pistol in her back waistband and heads toward Joe.]

Booker: [as Nile is releasing strap that holds chest and left arm]
No, just leave me here.

Nile: [turns on him, irritated] No man left behind.
[leaves him to take care of other straps, goes to guard the door]

[Nicky throws off the blue hospital drape, sits up to unbuckle his leg restraints.]

Joe: [loudly -- not quite shouting -- as Andy unbuckles strap on right arm]
Well there’s always a first time. He’s nothing but a traitor. That’s --

Andy: Stop!
[firm voice, leans over to unbuckle left arm, looks directly in his face]
This is not the time for it. We don’t get a say in when it ends.
[Nile is on guard at the door, but watching Andy and the men.]
We never have.
[Nicky has put on shirt, heads toward Nile, stoops, takes pistol from dead guard, checks it]
[Andy unbuckles Joe’s legs as he pulls off cardiac sensors]
But we can control how we live.
[Joe leaves bed while Andy pulls pistol from waistband, crosses to Booker, lying passive, hasn’t unbuckled restraints]
And to be honest, Book, you and I --
[looks at him directly, making a point]
we been doing a shit job of it.
[checks pistol, cocks it]
Now get up.
[Joe crosses behind her, now wearing his shirt]
Let’s go.
[Booker turns head toward her]
We stop Merrick here and now,
[Joe is by the door with Nile and Nicky, has also grabbed a pistol from a guard. all three watch the confrontation]
or he never stops coming after us.

[Booker lifts his head, thinks a moment, then quickly reaches to unbuckle his straps.]

[Andy squats, pulls open a guard’s pocket to look for ammunition, but finds nothing. She stands, breathing heavily, and lifts her shirt-hem to check the dressing.]

Nicky: Andy...
[quietly, concerned, eyes flick to the dressing]
Are you sure?

Andy: This changes nothing.
[chin-lift]
We walk out of here like always.
[deep breath]
Together.

[All four are watching, grouped near the door, concern in their eyes. She starts toward them.]

Andy: Let’s get this motherfucker.

[They head out, moving purposefully, Nile in the lead, then Nicky, Joe, Booker, and Andy.]

1:36:45 minutes

[Merrick is in his penthouse, with two guards across the room. He slowly, almost reverently, picks up Andy’s labrys, gazing lovingly at it as he holds it high.]

[Nile enters a darkened room, carrying a rifle, followed by Nicky and Joe, each with a pistol, Booker with a rifle, Andy with a pistol. They take up positions to either side of metal double doors -- Nicky, Joe, Andy to the left, Nile and Booker to the right.]

Joe: [quietly] Cover Andy.

[Nile uses her shoulder to burst open the right door and charges into the next room; it looks like the lab where she confronted Merrick. She’s followed by Nicky, Booker -- who kicks open the left door -- Joe, and Andy. Nile breaks left, Nicky breaks right, Booker left, Joe right, Andy straight down the center.]

[As Nile remains on guard, Booker crosses behind her -- letting her know with a quick hand to her shoulder so she moves farther into the room -- heading toward the doors across the room. Nicky takes a low stance, guarding their left, Joe covers their right but keeps an eye on Andy as she crosses behind Booker and heads for the doors.]

[Andy and Booker exit the open doors -- which are set back in a short alcove -- together. Andy waits at the corner against the wall on her left; two guards are walking down the hall toward their position, rifles raised. As the nearest comes opposite her, she grabs his right arm with her left, twists her body to throw him off-balance to her left. Booker shoots him as he stumbles past, while Andy steps past the corner and shoots the other guard.]

[Joe is next out of the alcove, followed by Nile and Nicky together. Joe aims hall-right, Nile guards hall-left. Nicky aims hall-right beside Joe, they shoot two guards who come running around the next corner. Andy puts another magazine in her pistol as she moves hall-left past Nile, followed by Nile and Booker.]

[As another guard comes from a door-alcove to her left with his left gun-hand extended, Andy grabs his wrist with her left hand, raises it high to spin under it, clubs him across the back with her pistol, holds onto him to keep him off-balance, shoots the next guard coming down the hall, drops the first guard’s arm, turns and shoots him, then heads down hall-(original)-left.]

[Nicky and Joe are following Andy and Nile from hall-right while Booker remains on guard that direction. Another guard comes from the left door-alcove. Nicky grabs his gun-hand, lifts it high, spins under the raised arm while Joe shoots him, goes to a knee to grab the rifle of the guard Andy shot, lifts it above his shoulder for Joe. Joe takes it, turns to cover their rear (original hall-right) as Booker sprints past following Andy and Nile; Nicky rises to follow him.]

[Nile has taken position behind a stack of crates, shoots an approaching guard, runs forward while Nicky and Joe guard their rear and Booker takes out a guard that comes from a door-alcove to Nile’s left. Two guards appear from cross-alcoves ahead, and Andy is in front of her with no cover.]

Nile: [shouts] Andy!

[Nile grabs Andy’s right shoulder and spins herself in front of Andy, cries out as the bullets hit her back, falls against the wall with a grimace, recovers, pulls a pistol with her left hand and shoots one of the guards as Andy shoots the other. Andy looks back; Joe and Nicky are under fire at the rear. Nicky looks over his shoulder to check on her, jerks as he takes a bullet. He and Joe shoot two guards, then retreat toward Andy’s position, Joe and Booker guarding the rear while Nicky dashes forward in front of Andy and Nile. Nicky goes to a knee just beyond a set of lab doors to his left, guarding the hall, as Booker, Joe, Nile, and Andy head through the doors. As soon as Andy has passed, Nicky backs up and follows them.]

[It’s another lab. They spread out as they move through the lab, then converge on the opposite doors. Joe pulls the door inward, and Booker leads out with Nile and Andy behind him. Booker turns, clubs a guard to his right with his rifle-butt, shoots a guard in front of him. Nile confronts a guard, knocks aside his aiming pistol with her rifle, shoots him on the back-swing, lunges past his right side, uses her right hand to grab the back of his neck and shove him away. He runs forward off-balance; Nicky ducks, lifts, and flips him over his right shoulder, continues moving forward; Joe, in the doorway behind Nicky, shoots the guard as he lands on the floor, continues into the lab.]

[Andy, moving along the wall (to the right of the most recent door), shoots a guard point-blank, grabs his vest, lifts her right knee into his chest as she drops onto her back and flips him over her head. Booker shoots the guard’s partner as Andy rolls and rises to her feet, while Nicky runs to support Joe, who’s beyond them. Andy releases the empty magazine, lets it fall; Booker goes to a knee to check a dead guard’s vest pockets, hands her a fresh magazine. As Andy moves past him, he stands and follows.]

[Nile barely pauses as she reaches down to grab a fresh magazine from another guard’s pocket. Nicky takes a rifle from another guard, hands it to Joe. Nile slams the fresh magazine into her rifle, stands against a wall, peers around the edge. (It looks free-standing, with boxes visible in the room beyond, with another end/edge 15-20 feet behind Nile for a second entry point into the next room.) Behind her, Andy squats, leaning against the wall and breathing deeply; Joe, Nicky, then Booker deploy farther along the wall. Booker and Nicky are watching the rear, with Booker closest to the second edge, and Joe and Nicky at mid-point of the wall. Next to Andy, Joe looks down, concerned. She looks up, nods her readiness, stands; they start to move out just as the wall explodes between Joe and Nicky.]

[All are thrown aside/down by the blast. Joe, Nicky and Andy are tossed through the air; we lose sight of Joe and Nicky. Andy lands hard, bounces to a face-down position on her arms, pushes herself to her right side, gasping as she tries to recover enough to rise.]

[Keane is on the other side of the wall, holding a rifle, with a gas mask on his forehead. Other guards flank him as he peers through the hole, into the billowing smoke/dust from the explosion.]

[Nile and Booker, farthest from the blast were not knocked completely off their feet, but they are bent over and coughing from the smoke and dust. They force themselves upright, unable to see through the increasing smoke.]

Booker: Man! Andy!

[Booker heads through the smoke to where he thinks Andy might be; Keane fires through the hole, although the smoke is too thick for good aim. Booker finds Andy just as Nile reaches her from the other side; they grab her under the arms -- Booker on her right, Nile on her left -- help her up, and start moving away.]

Booker: [shouts] Joe, Nicky, we’re moving out!

[Joe and Nicky, barely visible through the smoke, are both lying stunned / unconscious / dead.]

Keane: Assault team, move! You two, flank.

[Five guards head out another door for Andy, Nile, and Booker, while Keane steps through the blast-hole, pulling his gas mask over his face as he moves slowly forward. He sees Joe lying face down, unmoving. Keane puts his gun in left shoulder-holster and pulls something (zip-tie?) from the top right of his vest.]

[Nicky, lying on his back near Joe’s feet, coughs and rolls to his right side to get his hands under him and rise. Keane steps forward, viciously kicks him in the head, throwing him onto his back. Nicky coughs as Keane steps back, Nicky tries to rise again, Keane steps forward and kicks him violently in the stomach.]

[Joe, behind Keane, is beginning to move. He starts to push himself up, sees Keane kick a third time. Nicky has risen to his knees and leans aside; Keane’s foot hits a stack of boxed supplies on a wheeled platform. Nicky lunges at Keane, grabs him at shoulder and waste and pulls him down, rolling to throw Keane to the floor, then Nicky continues his roll to his knees, punches Keane with a hard right cross. Nicky pulls his arm back and comes around with another punch, but Keane uses his left arm to knock Nicky’s arm aside, draws his right knee up and kicks Nicky in the chest; Nicky flies backward through the air and slams against the stack of boxes of supplies.]

[Joe is pushing himself up as Nicky goes flying. As Keane starts to rise, Joe attacks, grabs Keane’s head with his left hand and throws him to the floor. As Keane rebounds and lifts up, Joe rips off his gas mask and sends it flying. Keane and Joe are both thrown off balance by the strength of the action, but Keane recovers to throw a hard left punch to Joe’s face, followed by a right punch into Joe’s throat; Joe recoils, falling backward. Nicky staggers to his feet, throws himself at Keane, grabs his right arm and thigh to pull him down. Keane twists out of the hold, knocking Nicky to the floor, continues the twist to straddle Nicky’s body, stomps on Nicky’s stomach with his left knee. Nicky cries out and curls upward, gasping. Keane shoves his pistol into Nicky’s open mouth and fires.]

[Joe is on his back, pushing himself up just in time to see what happened. Keane is coughing, struggling to breathe; he staggers away through the hole in the wall.]

[Booker, Andy, and Nile stumble into another lab, coughing, close-grouped to support Andy. Nile moves forward, rifle ready; Booker holds Andy’s arm as they follow. Three guards appear at the door behind them. Booker looks back just in time to see the guards; he moves between them and Andy as they fire, staggers as he’s hit. Andy ducks through nearby door, Booker follows, staggers inside as he is hit again.]

[Andy ducks and crouches behind a fat metal cylinder of liquid nitrogen. Nile is on a knee beside the door, firing out at the guards as Booker scrambles past on hands and knees. Andy has no gun after the explosion; she evaluates the situation, looks around, sees a fire ax on the wall. She stands and crosses to it, grabs it from its box and hefts it, evaluating. Nile turns her head to say something (?) but is under too heavy fire; she turns back to shooting.]

[Andy walks past Booker, who is leaning against a cylinder, still recovering from his wounds, toward the door across the room -- just in time to meet a guard advancing into the room from that side. Andy swings the ax and cuts him down, then heads toward the door.]

Andy: Enough of this shit.

[As Andy approaches the door, another guard comes in; she hits him once, lets the momentum spin her, hits him low, then high; he’s down. She flips her hair out of her eyes as she heads out the door, now with blood-spatter on her face.]

[In the other lab, Nicky is still dead. Joe, on hands and knees, goes to him, reaches out toward Nicky’s face, hesitates, afraid to touch, turns his head aside. Nicky revives with a gasp, and coughs; Joe sighs his relief. Joe clasps Nicky’s arm while Nicky grips Joe’s arms for a moment, where they bracket his head, then --]

Nicky: Let’s go. Andy.

[Nicky rolls to his side, grabs a nearby pistol. Joe turns and grabs a rifle from the floor, then stagger-runs past Nicky, who is up but also moving erratically; both men are feeling the effects of the fight.]

Joe: Com’on, com’on. Come on.

[Joe leads out the door, with Nicky close behind, the back of his head shiny-wet with blood.]

[In the other lab, Nile is still holding off the guards from her door. She pulls back and checks her rifle.]

Nile: Shit! Jammed!

[She scrambles away from the door as Booker grabs a rifle from one of the downed guards and takes her position. Nile crouches next to an array of cylinders to clear her rifle, turns to Booker.]

Nile: Where’s Andy?

[Andy is striding purposefully down a hall, ax in hand. She pauses at a corner as she hears a radio.]

Guard on radio: Hold at the bridge.

[Andy looks around the corner, quickly pulls back. A lone guard is coming her way down a long hall -- a walkway-bridge with glass sides and top.]

Guard: Roger that.

Andy: [whispers] Fuck.

[Andy takes two deep breaths, firms her mouth, sets herself, and dashes around the corner, sprinting toward the guard. As he fires, she raises her ax sideways; we hear the bullet hit the metal head. Andy closes on the guard and uses the ax to knock his rifle out of his hand. As she swings back, the guard kicks; Andy cries out as it impacts her hand and the ax goes flying. The guard pulls a knife. As he swings at her, Andy, twists, grabs his right arm with her left, clamps it between her elbow and body, pulls him off-balance and uses the momentum of her twist to drag the guard into her strong right cross, then uses both hands to force his right hand down and slice the inside of his own thigh. Andy twists, lifts his arm over her head as she turns under it then keeps lifting the arm high behind his back, forcing him to bend forward into her right kick to his face. His helmet flies off, but he catches himself with his hands on the floor, then pushes upward, swinging his knife. The guard raises the knife high across his body and slashes downward to the right.]

[Andy evades to the left. As his arm comes around, her left arm knocks his right arm aside, punch-punch, then knife hand to his throat. He staggers back, goes to a fighting crouch with his knife raised. She waits as he comes in, coils her body, snaps out her left arm to knock his right aside, holds his right arm, twists it downward. A spring-loaded baton slides out to the left from his gear, he grabs it with left hand. Andy spins in with her back to his chest, strikes her right elbow to his chest, keeps moving to pull his right arm across her right shoulder, her two hands holding his sleeve, steps forward, comes back with a high left elbow to his face. With her back to him, Andy lifts his right arm high, brings it down, twists right to bring him forward with her left arm, grabs the baton. Andy turns in to him, both hands twist his right arm up and back. Andy goes to a knee as the pressure forces him down, jams the baton into his left knee.]

[Guard comes up, tries to grab baton with his left hand, Andy steps away and hits him twice across the face, leans back with a left kick to the chest as he staggers back. Andy runs forward, leaps high, plants her arms on his shoulders as she swings around, keeps going down, drops to floor on her back and uses the momentum to flip him over her head. He lands hard as she quickly rolls to her feet, stands gasping, holding her wound with her left hand. The guard seems unwilling or unable to continue the fight.]

[As Andy walks to look down at dazed guard, Booker and Nile join her from ‘her’ side of the bridge (screen right), while Joe and Nicky come from the other side.]

Andy: Where’s Merrick?

[The guard looks up. Five people stand directly over him, four of them armed; all look pissed-off and dangerous.]

Guard: Penthouse.

[The team all look upward, planning their next move.]

Joe: What d’you think, Oslo, ‘sixty seven?

Andy: [small head-shake] São Paulo, ‘thirty-four.
[Andy extends hand to Nile, who gives her pistol she carries in right hand]
[Nile holds another in her left.]
Nile’s with me.

Nile: What happened in São Paulo in nineteen thirty-four?

Andy: Eighteen thirty-four. [small grin, checks weapon] You’ll see.

[Andy and Nile head away (screen left) from ‘Andy’s corner’ at a medium trot; Joe, Nicky and Booker head toward ‘Andy’s corner’ (screen right).]

1:41:35 minutes

[Aerial view of top levels of Merrick building, with city skyline behind. We hear muffled weapons’ fire.]

[Two guards face the door of the penthouse, rifles aimed.]

[Merrick stands at the top of a short flight of stairs to a higher level; he grips the labrys in both hands, waiting for the attack. Keane descends in front of him.]

Keane: [into radio] First team, hold the hall.

[Keane makes a circling motion with his hand as he reaches the bottom of the stairs, then joins several guards in an open hall / balcony just inside the penthouse doors; it overlooks a lower level, with a plexiglass barrier along the edge. We see six armed guards, plus Keane.]

Keane: [into radio, quietly] First team.

[Andy -- breathing heavily and holding her hand over her wound -- and Nile walk past bullet-marked walls and dead guards’ bodies; Andy’s face is considerably more blood-stained than earlier, and Nile’s face is streaked with plaster dust. They take up position against a wall beside a floor-to-ceiling window, about six feet down from the door, Andy to the right of the window, with Nile to her right. Andy pulls her hand away to look at the amount of blood. Nile looks, too, and frowns, but neither comments.]

[Andy and Nile pull fresh magazines out of rear pockets, reload their pistols.]

Andy: [quietly] Wait for the signal. [looks toward door]

Nile: [follows her gaze] This gonna be like the last signal?

Andy: [turns toward Nile, smiles] Go big or go home. [looks back toward door]

[In the penthouse, guards are still ranged in front of the door, rifles up and ready.]

Merrick: [stands at top of interior stairs, holding labrys like he’s hoping to swing it]
Keane. Keane, how many more do we have coming?

Keane: This is it. [takes center position, aims directly at door] Dig in.

[Nile looks down, notices that Andy’s right hand has fresh blood where she’s been holding it against her wound, and the blood-stain on her shirt is increasing. She quickly crouches, starts pulling velcro with swift movements to remove the nearest guard’s kevlar.]

Nile: I’ll make the entry. Stay tight to me, okay? I’ll protect you.

[Andy crouches beside her, moving almost casually, stops Nile’s actions with a hand on the guard’s vest. Nile looks into her face.]

Andy: [small head-shake; gaze is direct, but calm and compassionate. speaks quietly]
I go through first.
[Nile huffs, rolls her head]
I always go first.

Nile: [through gritted teeth]
Andy, put on the damn armor.

Andy: It’s like Nicky said. If it’s my time, it’s my time.
[takes spare magazine from guard’s pocket]
If this doesn’t work out, next time, [chin-lift] you go first.

[Nile glowers, but recognizes she won’t sway Andy. She stands and checks both directions of the hallway. Andy remains crouched, but also watching.]

Keane: [whispering, watching the door] What the hell are they waiting for?

[Gunfire breaks one of the plate glass windows that overlooks the city, just before Joe swings into the room on the end of a line. He tucks as he lands, rolls, and comes up aiming his rifle.]

Keane: Shit!

[Joe shoots one of the guards, then takes cover behind a wooden horizontal file cabinet. The guards turn to fire at him just as the door explodes inward.]

[The blast knocks several guards to the floor, but Keane heads immediately toward Joe. As soon as he’s in range, Joe -- still on the floor -- sweeps Keene’s legs with his right leg and kicks him violently as he falls forward.]

[Guards are running through the penthouse, smoke from the explosion billowing around. Andy appears around the doorframe, shoots one, ducks back to avoid return fire. Nile appears, shoots another, ducks back.]

[Guards are shooting, shouting, falling. Nile shoots a guard ducking for cover, then dashes forward with pistol extended, Andy behind her. Nile jumps over a downed guard; they advance to positions against the wall on either side of a short hallway. A guard is shooting at them from cover beyond, but can’t get a good angle.]

[Meanwhile, Joe is beating Keane to a pulp. He lands a hard right under the ribs, a left cross to the face. Another left to the face; Joe’s teeth are bared in a snarl, and Keane is flailing. He throws a wild left punch that Joe easily ducks, then comes up with another right cross to Keane’s face.]

[The guard shooting at Andy and Nile has a jammed rifle. As he drops it and reaches for another weapon, Andy rises, steps around the corner and shoots him left-handed; her right is clutching her wound. Nile follows, covering her right flank, but there’s no one left to shoot. Andy looks up and Nile turns to watch Joe beating up on Keane.]

[Joe throws a hard right punch to Keane’s face. Keane is dazed, head wobbling, barely able to stay on his feet. Joe steps up right in front of him, holds him in place with his left hand at the top of Keane’s vest, speaks in a calm, reasonable voice.]

Joe: You shot Nicky. You shouldn’t have done that.

[In one sudden movement Joe twists, digs his right shoulder into Keane’s chest, grabs his right arm, drops to his right knee while lifting/pulling Keane over his shoulder, throws him down so that his head hits the floor first. The snap of his neck breaking is audible. Joe finishes on both knees, left hand on the floor for support, panting heavily.]

[Booker enters another part of the penthouse, rifle aimed, clearing the hall. Nicky follows, carrying a pistol in each hand, arms crossed to fire in either direction. Booker walks farther, covering a staircase, then the hall again.]

[The effects of the battle hit Andy suddenly; she lets her pistol fall from her left hand, holds her right hand over her wound, staggers forward to clutch for support at the plexiglass barrier at the edge of the balcony over the lower level. Nile follows, stoops to discard her pistol and take another from one of the guards.]

Nicky: [shouts from lower level] The elevator is going down! Merrick is getting away!

[Joe rises in response, starts forward.]

Nile: Go! Go!
[Joe grabs a rifle from the floor, heads out]
I’ll stay with Andy.

[Andy looks down at Booker, on guard on the lower level. It seems that he’d rather stay to protect her, but accepts her silent command with a short nod, turns to follow Nicky and Joe.]

[Andy pushes away from the plexiglass, crosses the room to look down at the street through the giant emptiness where the window used to be. She supports herself against one of the vertical frames with her left hand, while her right still covers her wound. She’s breathing heavily as she looks down into the street below.]

[Nile has a small frown, concerned]
Nile: You okay?

Andy: [blows out a breath]
Yeah, I’m fine.
[sniffs, licks her lips]
It just hurts.
[raises head, breathes out, twists neck left and right with audible cracking, raises left hand behind head, drops it]
[turns toward Nile with small smile]
Actually, everything hurts.
[relaxes, leans left shoulder against window frame, still holding hand against wound]

Nile: Well, wait until tomorrow.

[Nile rolls her eyes as she walks forward, pistol hanging casually from her hand, to stand near the vertical frame at the right side of the window. She faces Andy directly with a small smile.]

Andy: [smiles, chuckles softly] Can’t wait.

[Nile smiles a little wider, then frowns as she looks Andy over, the large and small damages to her body that will now heal slowly, with after-effects that may linger.]

Andy: [watches Nile’s reaction, chin-lift, speaks quietly]
I think you showed up when I lost my immortality.
[licks lips]
So I could see what it was like.
[looks away, out window]
So I could remember.

Nile: Remember?

Andy: Remember what it...
[licks lips, considers]
what it was like to feel unbreakable.
[smiles, laughs gently as she shakes her head]
[turns to face Nile directly]
Remarkable.
[gives Nile a long, level -- compassionate -- gaze]
You reminded me there are people... still worth fighting for.
[Nile takes deep breath. Andy gazes up and out, shakes head, huffs a gentle laugh]
I know how I wanna spend the time I’ve got left.

Nile: [quietly, gently but firmly] You’re gonna spend it with us, Andy.

[Andy smiles at her, just as gently.]

Merrick: You selfish little bitch!
[Nile spins, brings weapon to bear in solid, two-handed grip as soon as they hear Merrick’s voice, but he has pistol aimed at Andy, finger poised on trigger]
I will kill her!
[he slowly advances into room from stairs above, pistol in right hand aimed at Andy, her labrys dangling in left]
[Andy’s face is focused and calculating as she watches him.]
[he walks closer, ignores Nile as he walks past her, focused only on Andy]
All the lives you could save.
[Nile watches Andy from corner of eye, waits for signal, keeps pistol aimed at Merrick]
Don’t you see what we could do here? You are priceless.

Andy: [quietly, calmly] Hey, Nile.
[Nile turns head fraction of inch toward Andy, back to Merrick, keeps aim on him, waits for a chance]
[Andy has glint in her eye, hint of a smile on her lips]
Do you think he speaks Russian?

[Nile flicks her eyes to Andy, back to Merrick, evaluates, then whips around and shoots in Andy’s direction. Andy drops as Merrick turns and shoots Nile, who grunts as she falls against the window frame. Andy rolls toward Merrick, grabs her labrys from his hand, spins as she rises, lifting the labrys high, then sinks it into his Merrick’s left shoulder beside his neck.]

[Merrick cries out and starts to bring his gun to bear on Andy. Nile gasps as she desperately pushes herself up from the floor, flings herself between Merrick and Andy just as he fires, slaps his gun hand down and launches herself at him, arms around his body. The momentum carries them out the broken window, both screaming as they hurtle toward the ground, 20(?) stories below.]

Nile: SHIIIIIIIIIIIIT!

[Just before they hit, Nile curls her body, trying to use Merrick to absorb the impact. They land on the roof of a car, which collapses under the impact, and disappear inside.]

Andy: [quietly, looking down] Play dead, motherfucker. [turns to leave]

[Interior of car, view of the rear seat. One of Nile’s boots is propped against the backrest; the leg inside is obviously broken and misaligned. Air hisses from the exploded airbag.]

[Nicky runs from the nearby door, followed by Booker. Nicky stops beside the car and looks down. Nile’s body is lying on her left side on the back seat, broken and twisted, and blood is spattered across the backrest. Her extended left hand rests on Merrick’s body in the foot-well, the fingers twisted and bent at impossible angles.]

Nicky: Nile?
[looks at her through side window ]
[Booker -- and Joe behind him -- also look in. Booker turns to look up the height of the building, back in the window.]
[Nicky smiles gently]
Hey.
[Nile begins breathing, then groans, eyes closing in pain, as bones audibly crackle, her body starts twisting back into alignment.]
She’s okay.

[Nile brings left hand forward, stares as fingers visibly reposition themselves.]

[Joe stands behind Nicky and Booker, also watching Nile’s reintegration. Booker grabs the handle, tries to pull the car door open, but the displacement of the frame has wedged it into place; Nicky grabs the doorframe to help pull, and the door finally opens.]

Booker: Come on. [leans in to the car]

Joe: [gazes up the height of the building] Faster than the elevator.

[Nile grunts, groans, and gasps as she starts maneuvering herself out of the car. She keeps her left hand raised to avoid hitting it against anything as it continues to heal.]

Nicky: It’s okay, Nile.

Nile: [pauses, sits at edge of seat next to open door, jerks head in emphasis. speaks softly but fervently] Ow!

Booker: Give me your hand.

[Nile reaches out with her now-healed left hand, grabs the handle of Andy’s labrys, starts to slide out.]

[Andy has exited the building, walks calmly toward the group. Her jacket is zipped closed (to hide her bloody shirt?). As Nile steps from the car, Joe heads past Andy toward the back end. Booker pulls Nile’s right arm over his shoulders to help her stand; Nicky also helps with his hand under her left arm. Nile winces as she takes a limping step, then straightens as all three wait. Andy stops in front of them, looks Nile over, seems proud as she gives a slight smile and tiny nod.]

[Despite the blood on her face, Nile seems calm, composed. She huffs and stands straighter as Booker and Nicky let go her arms. Left hand strong around the handle, she holds the labrys out to Andy, who takes it. Andy’s eyes relax as she continues to watch Nile. Her smile grows broad as she extends her right hand to clasp Nile at the nape of her neck, then claps her on the shoulder and puts her arm around Nile's back as they walk. Nicky reaches out to touch Andy’s back before he turns toward their Audi, waiting directly behind the car that Nile fell into.]

Booker: Let’s go.

“Silence” by Marshmello ft. Khalid begins playing
Yeah, I’d rather be a lover than a fighter, fighter,
‘Cause all my life, I’ve been fighting.
Never felt a feeling of comfort, oh
And all this time, I’ve been hiding, hiding.
And I never had someone to call my own, oh no,
I’m so used to sharing, sharing.
Love only left me alone,
But I’m at one with the silence.

I found peace in your violence
Can’t show me there's no point in trying
I'm at one, and I’ve been silent for so long.
I’ve been quiet for so long.
I’ve been quiet for so long.
I’m at one, and I've been quiet for so long.

[Booker opens the boot as Nicky opens the right rear door and slides in. Joe slides into the front passenger (left) seat as Andy puts her labrys in the boot and Nile continues around the rear of the car, then comes forward. Andy gets into the driver’s seat (right) as Booker gets in the back seat behind her. Nile opens the rear left door then pauses, gazing up at the height from which she fell. Her mouth firms as her eyes drop to the ruined car in front of the Audi. She takes a visible breath, then slides into the car.]

[Andy drives the car away, with Joe in the seat beside her. Behind them a crowd gathers around the ruined car as police cars speed to the scene, sirens wailing. The crowd grows larger, with people using their cellphones to take pictures.]

1:48:10 minutes

[Looking over the Thames, a view of older buildings along the water-front, with newer, high-rise buildings behind. Camera pans in to a very old, very small (compared to the building next to it), white-painted, three-story building with ground-floor and first-floor balconies overlooking the water. Booker leans on the railing of the ground-floor balcony, looking out toward the river.]

[The building is a pub. The sign inside reads:]
The flagstone floor of this
bar has been trodden by the
widest variety of patrons
over 500 years.

Pewter-top bars were
commonplace in the 19th Century,
but this is one of the few that
has survived 20th Century
‘modernisation’ and is thought
to be the longest in
Great Britain.

[Nile and Joe on one side, Andy and Nicky on the other, sit at a table in a corner against the wall, next to a window. Booker is visible through the window, looking out over the water, holding a glass of whiskey. Nicky leans into the discussion as Joe gestures vehemently and Andy looks thoughtful. Joe turns away from the discussion as Nicky turns to Andy. Nile looks out at Booker’s bowed head, watches as he lifts his glass to drink.]

Booker: [turns head as Nile approaches] How’s it going?

Nile: [stands beside him, back to river, looking into pub]
They’re still deciding.
[leans back against the railing]

Booker: [looks at her, turns his back to river, leans against railing next to her]
There’s not much to decide. It’s not like they can kill me.
[lifts his glass, drinks again]

[View into pub window; Joe has turned his head, watching them, resting his chin on his hand, a moderate scowl on his face. Andy’s hands are clasped in front of her, gaze unfocused.]

Booker: [holds Joe’s gaze for a moment, then looks down]
[Nile is turning her phone in her hands]
Oh, she gave it back?

Nile: Yeah.
[takes a breath]
Talked to Copley.
[turns to Booker]
Said he could fix it. Make it look like I was killed in action.
[nods gently to herself]
My family will mourn, but, uh...
[huffs an exhale, tiny shrug, head-shake]
...they’ll be able to move on.
[tiny nod]
It’s just like what we did with my dad.
[sighs, turns to look out over the water. voice wavers]
I just really want to hear my mom’s voice one more time.

Booker: [looks down, pauses, turns to lean next to Nile]
You’re a good kid, Nile.
[looks at her, speaks earnestly]
You’re gonna be great for the team.

[Nile looks at him, then back over the river.]

[View in pub window. Andy is watching them, face calm, but with a tiny frown-wrinkle between her eyes. Beside her, Nicky’s head is bowed.]

[Camera pans out. Booker is on the riverbank, looking out over the water. Andy comes down the steps from the pub. She walks over, stands to his left, speaks without looking at him.]

Andy: There’s gotta be a price.
[Booker nods, very slightly]
[Andy closes her eyes; she looks like it hurts]
One hundred years from today, they’ll meet you here.
[nods slightly, turns head to look at him]
Till then you’re alone.

Booker: [pauses, blinks, takes a breath]
I hoped for less, but...
[swallows, nods, flicks eyes in her direction]
I expected more.

Andy: Nile was gonna let you off with an apology.

[Booker snorts a laugh as he smiles. Andy smiles and chuckles.]

Booker: [fond head-shake, still smiling] Just give her some time.

Andy: [looks out over water, her face sad, turns to him]
I’m gonna miss you.

[Booker glances at her, away, nods slightly, glances back, turns and draws her into a desperate hug. Andy clings tightly as he lays his chin on her shoulder and she leans into the side of his neck, check-to-cheek. His right hand comes up to stroke the back of her head, then slides down to the nape of her neck before he lets her go.]

Booker: [breathes, looks into her eyes, tiny head-shake, eyes shift away, back to her]
Um... I won’t see you again.

Andy: [inhales, tiny chin-lift, reaches out, grabs his upper left arm, shakes it gently]
Have a little faith, Book.

[Booker watches Andy walk away. Nile, Joe, and Nicky are waiting for her on the pub’s stairs. As she reaches the stairs they turn and start up, Nicky first, then Nile. Joe puts a gentle hand to her back as he lets Andy go after Nile, then follows. As he walks, Joe turns to look over his shoulder. Booker is watching them go. He nods to Joe’s look, takes a deep breath and turns away.]

“Cruel World” by Active Child begins playing
I dedicate my life
To something richer
And all the things that come
‘Cause that’s no price at all
And I know you’ll be there
And I want you to know I care because
Keep your head up Hold your head up
Even though it’s a cruel world
Count your blessings
You won’t need them when you’re gone
It’s a cruel world
You can’t see it
You can’t see it
Even though it’s a cruel world...

1:52:03 minutes

[Nicky, with hands clasped behind him, Andy, with arms crossed, and Joe, with arms hanging loose, are ranged in front of Copley’s bulletin board-wall, examining all the information, often with parts circled or underlined in red, many with Post-it Notes attached, with comments hand-written in red. Nile sits/leans against the back of a chair behind them. Copley stands farther back, arms crossed, allowing them space.]

[Photo of Joe and Nicky in plaid shirts, rescuing a young man; Post-it with red ink reads: ‘Joe & Nicky 1968’.]
[A college I.D card, 1992-93, with Nicky’s face; ID# 62773884?, Birth 4/8/197?, signed N. Smith.]
[Nicky gazes at these artifacts, expressionless.]

[Below the label of TURKEY, a photo of five men in local clothing; a slightly enlarged section shows only two of the men, with their heads circled in red. Post-it reads: ‘Crimean War 1953 Joe & Nicky?’]
[Beside the label of CUBA, a photo of five men resting, all holding rifles. Post-it reads: ‘Cuba Revolution 1956-1957 Booker, Nicky & Joe’’.]
[Copy of I.D card with Joe’s face, with the name Joseph Jones, Deutsch, from Frankfurt and/or Hamburg. Dates are 02.01.1956 and 01.09.2014 and 31.08.2024.]
[Joe looks stunned at the amount of information collected.]

Copley: [quietly] This is only what I’ve found going back the last hundred and fifty years or so.

[Photo of one of Martin Luther King’s speeches; the enlarged view of a woman with sunglasses and long blonde hair looks like Andy; the two men nearby could be Nicky and Joe.]
[Under a headline ‘Taste of Freedom’, photo of Andy, circled in red, reaching down to help someone up. Post-it reads: ‘Andy Berlin ‘89’.]
[Photo of woman squatting with very young child on her knee, offering food to the child, connected with red string to news-clip picture of woman aviator pioneer. Post-it reads: ‘Saved by Andy 1918’. Headline reads: ‘RECOGNITION FOR PIONEER AVIATRIX’, sub-title is ‘A Legion of Honour is Awarded to the French Hero for Her Valiant Efforts during World War II’.]
[Andy quietly views the displayed information.]

Copley: When you think about how old you are,
[Andy blinks, bows head slightly]
the good you’ve done for humanity becomes... exponential.

Nile: [softly] Maybe this is the why, Andy.

[Andy looks toward Nicky, who gives her a tiny smile, and Joe, who drops his eyes and bows his head.]

Andy: [speaks softly, without looking at Copley]
It’s nearly impossible to disappear in the world we live in today.
[flicks eyes up toward the gathered information]
There are too many people like you
[quick glance toward him; Copley’s eyes flick down]
who can bend it to your will. Too many with bad intentions.
[takes measured breath as she shifts,]
We don’t have all the answers, but we do have purpose.
[turns and looks directly at him]
And you’re going to help us.
[Nile quietly stands]
[Andy prowls toward Copley, one deliberate step after another]
[voice remains soft, but firm and commanding]
When we leave a footprint in the sand, in the snow, in the ether,
[drops her arms to her side]
you’re going to sweep it.
[Nile, Nicky, and Joe move forward at Andy’s pace]
You’re going to protect us from those who want to put us in cages, and you’re gonna help us find those jobs...
[they range behind Andy, presenting a united front]
that are best suited to us.
[Copley swallows]

Joe: [flatly, warning] She’s not asking.

Copley: [recognizes warning, nods slightly, eyes steady]
I’d be honored.

Andy: [nods] Then let’s go to work.

[She turns to gaze over her team, smiling. Turns back to Copley, still smiling, but with an unswerving assurance.]

1:53:45 minutes

THE OLD GUARD shows on screen, white letters on black.

SIX MONTHS LATER shows on screen, over the sound of sirens wailing. Aerial view of apartment (?) buildings, with Eifel Tower in the distance.

PARIS shows on screen

[View of Booker’s back as he approaches a door; an almost-empty bottle of whiskey dangles loosely from his right hand. As he steps inside the door, the bottle drops and shatters. He curses in French and kicks/sweeps the glass aside with his foot. He walks a few steps forward to a staircase, turns and sits on the third step, his head bowed as he sighs. He pauses, takes a deep breath, uses his hands on bannister and wall to pull himself up, then turns to a door at his left, keys in hand.]

[The door isn’t latched, and gives at the pressure of the key; Booker pushes it open and steps into the space, pistol extended and aimed.]

[A female figure in a red coat is pouring water from a glass bottle into a drinking glass. She doesn’t flinch or react at Booker’s sudden entrance. When the glass is half-full, she pauses.]

Woman: Booker.
[sets bottle aside as he continues into room, keeping pistol aimed]
It’s nice to finally meet you.

[As she raises her glass to drink, we see that it’s Quynh. She lowers her glass and watches Booker calmly, highlighted by the sun coming through the window behind her, while he maintains a steady aim at her from across the room.]

1:54:50 minutes

Old Guard script: bold red names, bold black dislogue, regular black descriptions Part 2

2021-08-22T22:28:25Z

Continued from Part 1

[Nile sits on a thick flat rock in front of the campfire, elbows on knees, poking at the fire with a stick.]

[Booker’s laptop screen with open browser shows Copley’s visa.]

Andy: [pacing, impatient] Come on, Book. You’ve been working on that for hours.
[winces, puts left hand on right shoulder]

Booker: He’s a security expert... leaves no footprints. It’s gonna take time.

Nile: [looking up] You got a satellite link?

[Andy puts her left hand under her jacket and shirt, to check out her right shoulder.]

Booker: Yeah.

[Andy freezes momentarily as she feels wetness.]

Nile: Follow the money.
[Andy slowly brings hand out...]
Whoever he’s working for, maybe?
[...stares at the blood on her fingers in disbelief]
That’s how we track militants.
[Andy looks toward the others; they’re not noticing her]
[flash-memory, soldier stabbing her shoulder in church]
[Andy goes to a trunk (footlocker), pulls out different coat]
[Nile is casual, disinterested]
Sure you already tried that.

Booker: Yeah, won’t hurt to try again.

Andy: [putting on the longer, heavier coat]
You know how it works, Nile. Get some sleep while you can.

Booker: [points to carry-bag] I brought you a change of clothes.

[Nile shifts her eyes to Andy. The little expression on her face indicates that she’s not sure this woman is safe to -- or worth -- associating with.]

[Camera pans back. Booker is sitting on a metal box/footlocker across the fire from Nile, twisted to his left to work on the laptop. Andy has been beyond them, farther away from the firelight.]

Andy: [walking past the fire and them] I’m going out for a bit.

Booker: [turns to watch her go] Are you all right, Boss?

Andy: Yeah. [exits under an arch, down tunnel toward entrance]

[Booker sighs, turns back, flicks his eyes to Nile, then back to his laptop, resumes his search.]

[Nile looks almost hypnotized. She slowly puts down the stick, then carefully extends her right hand into the flames. Booker watches as she holds it there for several seconds; we hear a slight ‘sizzle’ before she gasps sharply and yanks it back, grunts at the pain; she cradles it in her other hand, blows out air.]

Booker: [slightly amused] Just because we keep living doesn’t mean we stop hurting.

Nile: [watches as hand heals, burns and blisters fade to normal smooth skin]
[frowns, flexes fingers as she looks up at Booker]
Why us?

Booker: [raises and drops hands, sighs] Yeah.
[reaches to left for flask, starts unscrewing cap. sighs again]
That way madness lies.

Nile: I thought you were the brains of this outfit. [tilts head]

Booker: [chuckles heartily. Nile smiles in response]
Tell you what I do wonder...
[pauses, scratches forehead]
is why you?
[raises eyes to look directly at her]
And why now?

Nile: How old is Andy?

Booker: Well, she says she... she doesn’t remember.
[tiny smile]
And she may not. I don’t know. But what I do know is she was alone for a long time before she found anyone like her. A very long time.
[gestures to her with flask]
What about you? You have someone?
[lifts flask to drink]

Nile: [looks into fire, sighs] Just my family.

Booker: [lowers eyes, seems to consider. takes breath to speak, stops, reconsiders]
[finally speaks, with difficulty, pausing as he remembers the pain]
I had three sons. And the youngest one, Jean Pierre... was the last one to die. He was forty-two when, uh... cancer took him.
[Nile watches him intently; Booker looks directly at her.]
The only way is forward now.

Nile: [slight frown] What do you mean?

Booker: [softly, explaining gently]
...You’ll always and forever be the young woman right there... but everyone around you, everyone you love... is gonna grow old...
[deep breath, exhaled in a sigh]
...is gonna... is gonna suffer and is gonna die.
[continues to tell story with many pauses, struggling as he remembers the pain]
[closeup on fire flashes to statue of Christ, large open hallway, nursing sisters passing]
And if you try to... if you try to touch their lives... well, they will get to learn your secret.
[Booker’s son -- curly hair, loose white shirt -- bent over on bed, coughing painfully]
They will beg you to share it with them, and you won’t be able to.
[Booker sits beside bed, holding glass of water. His son rolls over, shouts, strikes out, hits Booker’s hand so that water flies out.]
And they won’t believe you, of course.
[deep, painful breath]
And they will tell you... that you don’t love them.
[Booker’s son turns away from him, mouth open wide as he cries or shouts.]
That your love is weak...
[Booker walks away from the hospital ward, shoulders slumped.]
[Nile stares up at him, absorbing every word.]
or selfish. And you will never forget... the hate... and despair in their eyes. And you will know what it is to lose...
[deep breath, deep pain in eyes; he can hardly force out the words]
everyone you’ve ever loved.

[Nile continues to watch closely, contemplating his story.]

[Booker takes a deep breath, lifts his flask and drinks.]

[Interior of une pharmacie. Andy carries a shopping hand-basket, walks by a selection of nail-care items, indicated by the manicure advertisement over the shelf. She scans the shelves as she walks, then stops as she reaches the first-aid section. The clerk, a dark-haired woman, looks up, watches.]

[Andy bends to examine items she’s never had to use. She looks back and forth across the many possibilities, then straightens to eye the clerk with a slight frown. The clerk looks down, away from Andy.]

[Andy starts putting items in her basket almost at random, sliding three different tubes of cream or salve from the top of a shelf, a package of this, a plastic bag of that, a box of bandaids. She finishes by grabbing several chocolate bars and tossing them into the basket.]

[Andy plops the basket on the checkout counter without speaking. The clerk looks up at her (Andy is several inches taller) with a flick of her eyes, also without speaking, then opens a plastic bag to load the items as she scans them. Andy hears a police siren and turns, but it fades in the distance and she turns back toward the clerk.]

Andy: [with low-key intensity] Do you have a bathroom?

Clerk: [stares a moment] No.
[Andy looks down, mouth tightens, looks up as checkout continues]
[clerk notices Andy’s reaction, considers what she sees]
But we have a storeroom. [pauses] Do you need help?

[Andy just looks at her, seems lost and confused.]

[Storeroom. Andy has slipped her coat and shirt off her right shoulder; the wound is about two inches (5cm) long and gaping open a quarter-inch (.5cm) wide; it looks ragged and raw, and is red and inflamed.]

[Andy breathes deeply and clenches her jaw while she clutches her right coat-sleeve with her left hand as the clerk dabs the wound with a cotton ball; the medicine obviously stings. As the clerk finishes the cleaning, Andy turns to look at the wound, then quickly turns away.]

Clerk: [opens a package of steri-strips]
Stitches would be better, but... this will help.
[carefully pulls the wound closed with steri-strips]

Andy: [quietly, with tiny head-shake] You haven’t asked.

Clerk: [meets Andy’s eyes, equally quiet]
Your business is yours. You need help. What does it matter why? Today, I put this on your wound. Tomorrow... you help someone up when they fall.
[Andy closes eyes, bows head slightly]
We’re not meant to be alone.
[Andy watches her face, considering her words]
There.
[Andy looks at shoulder; strips are covered by a pad, held on by a broad adhesive patch]
This should do.

Andy: [shrugs into shirt and coat, whispers] Thank you.

[The clerk looks up, gives her a twitch of a smile, closes the medicine bottle.]

[Street scene. Andy walks slowly to the car, looking warily around as she goes. She unlocks it and gets in, then sits, remembering.]

Quynh: Andromache, help me!
[Andromache's hands press down on gaping, bloody wound low on Lykon’s stomach]
Why won’t it stop?
[flash of Lykon’s face, strained, Quynh’s face, frantic]

Andromache: [face streaked with blood and dirt, panting]
This can’t be happening.

Quynh: [Quynh’s face, blood-spattered, gazing down fearfully]
Lykon! No...

Lykon: [muttering, blood slides from corner of mouth, shakes with pain]
It’s time.

Andromache: It’s impossible. [shakes head, breathes deeply]

Lykon: It... it’s time.

[Andromache stares at his face as Quynh sobs frantically and Lykon’s eyes glaze over.]

[Andy sits motionless in the car, gazing through the windshield into the darkness.]

1:13:27 minutes

[Monitor beeping. Camera pans up a blue hospital drape, over a man’s bare chest with smears of blood and cardiac sensors attached, to Joe’s face. He seems unconscious or dead.]

[Copley and Merrick are in some kind of supply and/or storage room -- shelving units, banks of drawers, etc.]

Copley: How long will the testing take?

Merrick: Until we have results we can replicate.

[Nicky is securely strapped -- arms, legs, and midsection -- to a lab bed/examination table, so that he cannot move or escape. He has smears of blood on his chest and the side of his neck, a blood--pressure cuff on his right arm, an oximeter on his right index finger, and cardiac sensors on his chest. Kozak is pushing a long thin probe into the right side of his abdomen. He grits his teeth and grunts in pain, neck tense as he strains against the straps, but he doesn’t cry out. The speed of the beeping increases.]

Kozak: [dispassionately] Do you feel the wound trying to close?

[Camera pans past medical tray with chunks of bloody tissue laying on sterile cloths, as well as capped pill-bottle-sized containers with other samples surrounded by liquid.]

Copley: [arms crossed as he watches Merrick across the room]
You don’t need them for that. You’ve got the samples, blood, tissue, DNA.

Merrick: [strolls toward Copley, unconcerned]
Well you know the concept of proprietary data -- and they’re the product.
[Copley stares, frowning]
They go in the vault, they stay there under lock and key.

Copley: For... ever? [shakes head as frown increases]

Merrick: [firmly, sure of his rightness]
We can’t have them strolling back out into the world, into my competitors’ laps. If this takes years -- maybe decades --
[intensely, more fervently]
what does it matter to them? If we can unlock their genetic code, the world will be begging us for the key.

Kozak: [pulls probe from Nicky with chunk of tissue at the end, watches hole close up, runs hand over his skin]
Huh! Remarkable.

Nicky: [breathes heavily, opens eyes to look at her; voice quiet, slightly hoarse]
You will not be able to give him what he wants.

Kozak: You think I go too far?
[picks up syringe]
That I am unethical?
[uses it to push chunk of Nicky’s liver (?) off probe, into empty vial]

Nicky: I would say immoral.

Kozak: [closes vial, looks at him]
I believe this can change the world.

Nicky: [quietly] A fine justification. I’ve heard it so many times before.

[Nicky stares levelly at her as she studies him. She huffs with a small, self-satisfied smile, turns and walks away.]

[Joe revives with an indrawn gasp; Nicky turns his head to him as Joe tries and fails to dislodge his restraints; he grunts and groans with the effort. Joe subsides, breathing heavily, turns his head to his right, to see Nicky on the bed next to his. As soon as he does, his eyes widen as he registers the doctor standing near Nicky, but she’s already moving. Joe lifts his head to watch her walk past them out of the room, then drops his head on the pillow with a sigh.]

Nicky: [watches Joe, smiling] As much as I like watching you sleep, I’m glad you’re awake.

Joe: [turns to Nicky, purses lips in thought] Bedhead?

Nicky: [laughs] Nicely tousled.

[Joe tries to shift position, but the restraints don’t allow even that easement. He sighs.]

Nicky: [staring at the ceiling] Do you know, I was thinking about Malta.

Joe: [turns to Nicky] What time in Malta?
[Nicky turns to Joe, simply gazes with a small smile. a beat, then Joe grins.]
Oh, that time in Malta.
[grin widens as he laughs, shaking head]

Nicky: [smile fades, stares upward, speaks quietly]
Dovremmo ritornarci. (We should go back there.)

Joe: [softly, watching Nicky as his smile also fades]
Sarebbe bello. (That would be nice.)

[Kozak walks back into the room.]

1:15:37 minutes

[In the mine, the fire is burning low; Booker and Nile are asleep on opposite sides of the fire. Nile twitches. Flash of the Afghani man Nile shot crying out and falling. Nile startles awake, breathing heavily; she sits halfway up and looks around to see Booker still asleep. Nile sits all the way up, deliberately breathes deeply and slowly, trying to calm herself.]

[Outside, very early, shortly after dawn. Andy is propped (sitting/leaning) against the hood of the car, very relaxed, one ankle crossed over the other. She’s eating one of the chocolate bars and looking at something in her right hand. She looks up as she hears a rustle of brush; Nile comes out of the mine, breathing deeply. Nile has put on her jacket, and she exits quickly. Her stance suggests that she wants to run, but Nile stops when she sees Andy, sighs, and turns to her.]

Andy: [looks down at hand, turns it to show Nile cellphone with picture on it]
Your mom and brother?

Nile: You have my phone!
[hurries forward to grab it, but stops, uncertain of Andy’s response]

[Andy holds out the phone. Nile takes it quickly, then sits/leans on the hood to Andy’s left, staring at the picture. Her mom is leaning into her brother’s right shoulder, apparently half a head shorter than her son. Both are wearing glasses and smiling widely. The time shows ‘06:31 Sunday, April 21’.]

Andy: Where’s your father?

Nile: [turns to her, speaks quietly]
Killed in action when I was eleven.
[Andy nods. Nile unlocks phone, scrolls through pictures, stops]
Here...
[moves closer, shows Andy a handsome man posing in Marine dress blues]
My mom, she was drowning after he died. South Side of Chicago, a million different ways we coulda went left. [nods gently] She fought for us. Never backed down.
[Andy raises her eyes to watch Nile’s face]
[Nile has a small smile as she glances at Andy]
Never let us back down either.

Andy: [quietly approving] You come from warriors.

Nile: [looks at her, accepting] Yeah. I do.

Andy: [nods, looks away, gazes outward]
I can’t remember what my mother looked like. Or my sisters.
[small headshake, slight huff]
None of them.

Nile: [has watched Andy, sympathetic, now looks away]
Time steals it all away, I guess.

Andy: [small huff as she bows head, thoughtful]
It’s not what time steals...
[Nile turns to stare]
it’s what it leaves behind.
[Andy gazes outward]
Things you can’t forget. I gave up searching for her.
[eyes close in pain]
I made Quynh a promise and I broke it.
[slight head-shake as mouth firms, nods slightly]
I’m getting Joe and Nicky back.
[deep breath]
Whatever it takes.

Nile: ‘Whatever it takes’? [turns head to watch Andy]

Andy: [looks at Nile directly, quietly resolute] Yes.

Booker: [out of sight] Guys, I found something.
[rustle of brush as he appears from mine]
An address just outside of London.

[Andy stands, picks up the chocolate bar wrapper from the hood, holds out her hand to Nile, who clings to her phone, staring at the picture of her mother and brother.]

Andy: We gotta go.

[After a moment, not looking at her, Nile puts the phone in Andy’s hand. Andy puts it in her right coat pocket and strides away.]

1:18:27 minutes

[Aerial view -- fields, lots of trees, a few isolated large houses, small town in the distance, small hills toward the horizon, cloudy sky overhead.]

SURREY ENGLAND appears on screen

[Rear view of silver Audi (license YY56 TVX), driving fast over a narrow, grassy track. It turns, pulls up and stops under some trees, near a metal farm-gate, with a large two-story house beyond.]

[Booker exits from the right rear as Nile exits from the front passenger seat (left side). Booker opens the boot as Andy exits from the driver’s seat (right side). Andy scans the territory as Booker reaches into a carry-bag, pulls out a pistol, checks it. As Andy comes around, he hands it to her; she puts it in her back waistband. Booker picks up another pistol, checks it.]

Andy: Go scout the back.

[Booker puts the pistol in his back waistband, heads out as Nile watches.]

[Andy reaches into the boot, pulls out a rifle, checks it, hands it to Nile. Nile takes it and stares down as if it’s unfamiliar. She shakes her head minutely, takes a breath, holds the rifle out to Andy, who is evaluating the terrain rather than looking at Nile.]

Nile: I can’t do this.

Andy: [flicks eyes to her] Yes, you can.

Nile: [pushes rifle closer to Andy, voice firm, determined]
I mean, I’m not doing this.

[Andy looks down at the rifle, looks at Nile with stunned disbelief. She takes the rifle and Nile turns away from her.]

Andy: [steps closer, speaks softly but firmly]
You’re one of us now.
[Nile shakes head minutely, but turns toward her]
[speaks more urgently]
We would do the same for you.

Nile: [louder, angry] I never even had a choice!

Andy: None of us had a choice.
[Nile turns away. Andy slams boot closed]
There isn’t a choice.

Nile: The day I died,
[turns, facing Andy down, deep breath, intense]
I killed the guy that killed me.
[Andy gives Nile her full attention, listening and watching closely]
They try to condition us, you know? Thousands of hours of training. Two shots, quick kill.
[another deep breath, lips tighten]
But they can’t teach you how to live with it.

Andy: [quickly, reaches for Nile, hand on left shoulder, speaks urgently. moves closer, face-to-face]
You’ve gotta feel it, Nile.
[Nile turns head away, while Andy focuses on her, voice sharper]
Every one.

Nile: [shaking head] I saw what you did in that church.
[Andy retreats slightly, drops hand, mouth firms]
All those bodies.
[voice sounds desperate]
Is that supposed to be me? Is that what we’re supposed to do, and we don’t even know why?

Andy: [moves closer again, speaks urgently]
You think knowing is gonna make you sleep better at night?

Nile: [shakes head slowly, speaks softly]
I can’t be that.
[Andy drops head, sighs]
My family...
[pauses, looks down, breathes in, faces Andy again]
they’re gonna get old and I won’t, but it’ll be years before they realize that.
[Andy watches her, carefully emotionless. links, looks aside]
[Nile’s voice is pleading]
I still have time with them.

Andy: [flicks eyes up to Nile, tiny nod, reaches for pistol in belt, holds it out]
Here.
[Nile takes it]
Take the car,
[Nile looks at Andy directly]
and when you ditch it, ditch the weapons.

Nile: [looks down, deep breath, faces Andy again]
You gonna be okay?

Andy: [direct gaze] Always.

[Andy carries the rifle as she walks past Nile, who turns to watch as she opens the gate and slips through. Nile opens her mouth as if she might change her mind, call to Andy, then sighs, looks down, lets the impulse die.]

[Booker moves past a tall green hedge, sees Andy coming. He gestures her forward; she comes to meet him.]

[Sound of car engine accelerating away; Andy turns her head to look back, then faces Booker.]

Booker: [quietly] Where’s Nile?

Andy: [sharp, short headshake] You and me, Book. Now and always.

[Andy moves past Booker and takes the lead. Pauses in the cover of a large tree-trunk.]

[Nile drives the car. GPS voice says, “Guildford station in one mile.” She sees a sign for a security checkpoint, pulls the car over and stops at the side of the road; the area seems relatively isolated. Nile unbuckles her seatbelt, grabs the pistol from the passenger (left) seat, exits the car, goes to the rear, opens the boot. She starts shoving bits and pieces into the carry-bag. She looks around for observers as she removes the magazine from the pistol to put them separately in the bag, then stops and stares at the magazine.]

Nile: Empty?
[stares at pistol, mentally replays Booker handing it to Andy, Andy putting it in belt]
Shit.
[stares again at pistol and empty magazine, voice shows realization]
Andy.

[View of Copley’s house; ground floor is red brick, with part of the visible wall made of glass panels. Through them we see a spiral staircase to the upper floor, which also has large glass panels, as well as a wide expanse of multiple windows.]

[Booker, handgun extended, glides silently across the floor, followed by Andy, with her rifle extended. Booker stops at the foot of the stairs, continues covering the ground floor as Andy starts up the stairs beside him, then he follows. They climb silently, cautiously, alert for any threat.]

[The room is large, well-lighted, with windows on the two visible walls. The area includes a piano, a set of glass shelves with a few artifacts displayed, several padded chairs, and a table with keyboard and monitor. Copley is standing with his back to the door and staircase. He is perusing a wall-sized, standing bulletin board in two large sections; the boards are completely covered with papers and pictures, some outlined in red.]

[Andy reaches top of stairs, takes cover behind the closed half of a pair of double doors; the other door is standing open. A head gesture tells Booker -- a few steps down with his pistol at the ready -- to head ‘that’ direction. He looks that way, then back to Andy; her chin-lift says, ‘now’. Booker finishes climbing the stairs and heads in that direction as Andy slips around the door. She checks both sides of the room, then focuses on / aims at Copley.]

Andy: Where are they?

Copley: [turns slowly, casually to face her. hands in pockets of sweater, obviously no threat, he takes a few steps toward her, speaks softly]
Andromache the Scythian. The eternal warrior.

Andy: Book?

Booker: [in doorway behind; takes a few steps forward]
I’m right here.

[Andy glances at the bulletin board; easily visible is a copy of an ID card from Ceska Republika Obcansky Prokaz. The photo is an earlier Andy, with chin-length hair. Her gun-hand relaxes for a moment, but she shakes off her shock/surprise, lifts the rifle and aims directly at Copley.]

Andy: [steps forward, quiet threat] Where are Joe and Nicky?

[Sound of a shot; Andy cries out as her body jerks and blood appears on her shirt, low on her left side. Booker lowers his handgun, quickly tucks it in the front of his belt, pulls out a zip-tie. As Andy staggers from the impact of the shot and drops her rifle, Booker comes up behind her, grabs her arms and pulls them back.]

Andy: [struggling] What are you doing?!
[continues to struggle, but Booker drags/forces her to her knees...]
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!

Booker: Andy, calm down! [...and zip-ties her hands behind her.]

Andy: [shrieks] NOOOOOOOOOO!!!

[Copley watches dispassionately, hands still in pockets]

[Booker kneels behind Andy as he holds her on the floor, right arm around her neck as his left holds her left arm. She exclaims in wordless anger as he brings his face close to her left ear, tries to calm her with a quiet, “Shh.”]

Andy: [raging, groaning as she breathes heavily, trying to struggle away]
You set us up!

Booker: [quietly, in her ear] Listen. Please listen.

[Copley walks closer, speaks calmly.]

Copley: When my wife died, I devoted myself to your work.
[Andy glares at him as she jerks out of Booker’s hold]
[Booker lets her go, pushes hair out of face, starts to rise]
I learned your secret history,
[Andy stares, stunned and appalled]
written in the margins,
[view of bulletin board. label: GREECE. picture of mosaic art, of woman with double-bladed war-ax on horseback, swinging at armored soldier on horseback, with shield]
[front of a theatre playbill reads: ANDROMAQVE, TRAGEDIE]
[a xerox-enlarged copy of an ancient coin (?) --a bordered circle with woman’s head inside and ‘ANDROMACHA’ along the circle’s border, with ‘HETC.VX’ below it, marked with red star]
passed on like legend.
[list of changes in spelling of Andromache’s name through time and place -- Latin, Greek, Russian, Armenian, Farsi, Arabic]
What was dismissed as a myth, was in fact,
[Andy breathes deep, exhales loudly as she takes it in]
immortality. You could help end... needless suffering.

[Andy looks up, then closes her eyes as her breath catches in pain. Her head sinks; she looks weary. Slowly her body starts to fold -- she tries to catch it and hold herself upright -- then gives in and curls downward until her head rests on the carpet, beside her right knee; she gasps. Booker stands behind Andy, watching her. He looks a little concerned, raises his eyes to Copley, who has a slight frown, but ignores the issue.]

Copley: Humanity needs you to share your gifts.

Andy: [raises head long enough to speak with tight, pained voice]
Humanity can screw itself.

[She groans, shifts her body, and lets herself roll to the left. She’s now sitting on the floor, leaning against the seat of one of the padded chairs. She continues to gasp heavily, with occasional groans, from the pain of the unhealing wound.]

Booker: [flicks eyes to Copley, looks uneasy as he steps toward her, starts to bend down]
Andy...

Andy: [raises head, speaks sharply as she kicks out at him]
Don’t! you fucking coward.
[Booker steps back from her anger, takes a deep breath]
[Copley flicks eyes to Booker, down to Andy, stays detached, uninvolved]
[Andy breathes heavily, shakes head, whispers,]
Why? Why, Book?

Booker: [steps forward, speaks placatingly] Andy, listen --

Andy: [kicks out again, shouts] WHY?

Booker: [goes to a knee beside/in front of her, speaks with quiet force]
If Merrick can discover how we keep living, he might find a way how to end it.
[Andy looks at him sorrowfully, takes deep breath, finds nothing to say]
[he leans closer, intense]
Hey. That’s what you wanted.

Andy: [shakes head slowly, speaks softly, barely more than a whisper]
Oh, Book. What have you done?
[deep breath, sharp gasp, another deep breath, tears in eyes]
Not like this, Book.

Booker: [drops head, sniffles a deep breath, notices. flings Andy’s jacket aside, reaches out to growing bloodstain on her shirt]
What’s going on? You’re still bleeding.
[Andy looks aside, still breathing heavily, seems less concerned about her wound than his betrayal. voice shakes as he repeats,]
You’re still bleeding.
[worried]
What? Shit.
[louder, looks up at Copley]
She’s not healing.

Copley: What? [comes to them, looks down]

[Andy has slumped more, closed her eyes, as if she’s distancing herself from the whole situation. Booker pushes her jacket farther aside, lifts his bloodstained hands.]

Booker: Look at this. She’s not healing. Go get something. Go on. Go on!
[Copley hurries away. Booker comes closer, hands and knees in front of her, face-to-face.]
Andy, look at me. [her eyes stay closed] Look at me.
[Andy raises eyes to him, face closed off, eyes remote]
Why didn’t you tell me?

Andy: [shakes head, small shrug of left shoulder; voice quiet, calm, resigned]
Wouldn’t have changed anything.

Booker: [raises head, shouts] Hurry up!

[Copley comes with a small towel, kneels next to Booker, presses it over the wound. Andy groans.]

Booker: Careful. Have to get her out of here.

[Booker and Copley grab Andy’s arms, start to lift her.]

[The other door slams open; Booker and Copley turn at the noise as Keane and several armed soldiers walk in, followed by Merrick. Booker stands as they walk closer.]

Keane: [points at Booker] Secure him. Nice work, Copley.

[Two soldiers grab Booker, pull his arms behind him, zip-tie his hands; he doesn’t struggle.]

Merrick: [walks to Andy, looks down at her] Look at you.

Copley: [looks up, keeping pressure on Andy’s wound]
She’s wounded. Gunshot.

Merrick: [sharply] Why isn’t she healing?

Copley: [raises eyes to Andy’s face] I don’t know.

[Andy glares up at Merrick, breathing deeply, doesn’t speak.]

Booker: [held tightly between two soldiers] She’s not immortal.

Merrick: What do you mean, ‘not immortal’?

Booker: I mean it’s gone.

[Entire room seems to pause. Merrick stares at him, calculating. Andy’s head is turned away from everyone in the room, still distancing herself. Copley continues to apply pressure on the wound, but makes no movement. Merrick turns, bends to look at Andy’s wound.]

Merrick: You’re a bloody mess.
[slowly squats in front of Andy. she deliberately doesn’t look at him]
Now, how old are you?

Andy: [breathes deeply, gasps, looks at him -- danger in her eyes, despite her circumstances. chin-lift, speaks quietly]
Come closer and I’ll tell you.

Merrick: [face falls, taken aback. stands] Let’s get them home.

Booker: Let her go.

Keane: Cover me. [opens jacket, reaches inside as he starts toward Andy]

Andy: [immediately defensive, yanks away from Copley, watches Keane approaching, pushes herself back]
No. No.

Booker: [struggles to go help her, the soldiers hold him.]
Let her go!
[soldier punches him in stomach; he grunts and folds over]

Andy: No!

[Andy struggles violently, kicking and thrashing, interspersing shouts of ‘No!’ with roars that sound like an enraged animal as Keane tries to hold her still, subdue her. She continues to twist and kick, roaring her fury, but can’t escape. She shakes her head violently as Keane reaches toward her. As he holds her head (relatively) still with a hand under her chin, an injector hisses at the left side of her neck. Her eyes close and body goes limp as she loses consciousness.]

Booker: [trying to reach her but held by soldiers, speaks in strained voice]
I’m sorry, Andy. I’m sorry.

Soldier: Hold him still.

[Booker grunts as injector hisses at the left side of his neck.]

Copley: [crosses quickly to Merrick, speaks urgently]
Mr. Merrick, look. If it’s true and she’s somehow not immortal anymore, then she might not survive the testing. This will be murder.

[Two soldiers lift Andy.]

Merrick: As if the CIA never disappeared anyone. As if they never conducted covert research.

Copley: No. [shakes head, firmer] No, this is not what we agreed.

Merrick: [looks over Copley’s shoulder, tiny nod]
We don’t stop.
[he turns away]

[Keane steps behind Copley, coldcocks him with a pistol-butt to his neck. Copley drops face-down, unconscious. Merrick walks out, followed by the remaining soldiers.]

1:26:45 minutes

[Street level, people walking past Merrick Pharmaceuticals.]

[Kozak is sitting at a table with a keyboard and monitor, entering data. A door bursts open behind her. She turns her head to watch as a guard enters, then Andy held by a guard on each side, with Booker immediately behind her, also held by two guards. Another guard, Keane, and Merrick follow.]

[Joe and Nicky -- now with the bloodstains cleaned from their skin -- raise their heads to see what’s happening.]

Nicky: Andy!

Joe: What happened?

[The guards sit Andy down forcibly on the bed to Nicky’s right. She grunts/groans at the impact, grimaces and partly curls into the pain, but the guards hold her up.]

Booker: She’s not healing.
[grunts as he is forcibly deposited on the to Andy’s right]
[guards are strapping Andy to bed; Kozak watches, pulling on surgical gloves]
[Merrick stands a short distance away, hands behind back, watching]
[Booker stares upward as guards strap him to bed; voice indicates self-disgust]
I killed her.

[Kozak raises her shirt to examine the wound. Andy lifts her head to look at it, breathing heavily. Nicky and Joe stare in dismay, then slowly lower their heads to their beds.]

Kozak: I need to get a line in her and stop the bleeding.

Merrick: Keep her alive at all costs.

[Guards finish strapping Andy and Booker, nod to the guards who have been covering them with rifles aimed; they lower their weapons and step back.]

Merrick: Don’t you see? Between Sudan and now, something’s changed. Find out what.

[Andy stares at him, coldly, still not actively responding to what’s happening.]

Kozak: This will stabilize her,
[hangs I.V bag above left side of bed]
but I have to stitch her and give her antibiotics.
[walks away for more supplies]

Merrick: Good.

Nicky: [watching Andy] All things die.

Merrick: [looks surprised that one of his lab animals has spoken]
What was that?

Nicky: [shifts gaze to Merrick]
Everything has to die, Mr. Merrick.
[speaks softly, gently, as Merrick steps closer]
The only reason we haven’t...
[slight smile]
is that it’s not our time yet.
[Andy breathes heavily, unresponsive as Kozak inserts IV / treats her wound]
If it’s now Andromache’s, nothing you can do will stop it.

Merrick: You’d be surprised by what my products can do.
[Joe watches, evaluating, judging]
I will carve slices off you for years to get what I want.
[Nicky is calm, merely blinks]
Your time is coming.

Nicky: As is yours.

Merrick: [rattled, blustering] I expect results!
[storms out, followed by most of the guards]

Booker: [turns head toward her, pleading] Andy...

[Andy stares upward, refusing to respond.]

1:28:07 minutes

[Outside view of Copley’s house.]

[Inside, Copley sits bowed over in a chair, elbows on knees, holding a towel to the left side of his head and neck.]

[Nile comes through the open door, pistol pointed. She cocks the pistol, which alerts Copley. He looks up, lunges for a rifle left behind on the floor, but Nile quickly steps forward and kicks it out of his reach.]

Nile: Uh-uh.

[Copley, on his knees, raises his hands as Nile aims her pistol at him, pushes himself up and into a chair as she advances.]

Nile: Are you Copley?

Copley: [breathlessly, with raised hands] He sent you to finish me off.

Nile: Who?
[looks down, notices blood on the carpet]
Where’s Andy? And Booker?
[shifts pistol for emphasis]

Copley: Who are you?

[Nile takes a breath, firms her mouth, shoots down into her own left foot.]

Nile: Ahh!
[Copley flinches]
[Nile folds over herself, holds foot off the floor as it heals]
Son of a bitch!

Copley: [amazed, pointing at her foot] You’re another one.

Nile: Yeah.
[aims pistol at him again as she breathes heavily]
I’m new.
[deep breath, advances on Copley, voice determined]
Where are they?

Copley: They’re in a lab... being tested.
[Nile’s mouth opens, shocked; she gasps ]
Tortured.
[Nile lifts pistol higher, ready to -- she’s not sure what]
Merrick... he only cares about her immortality... not what she’s done with it.

Nile: ‘What she’s done with it’?

[Copley is showing Nile his bulletin board and explaining his research. Nile keeps her gun on him, frowning, apparently not trusting him.]

Copley: Montenegro. Nineteen-sixteen. She saved a family of refugees, whose daughter would discover the technique for the early detection of diabetes.
[Nile keeps pistol on him, intently ready for any misstep]
[he points to another area]
This one; her grandson would save three hundred and seventeen people from the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
[voice becomes ever more passionate as he continues]
[Nile relaxes slightly, starts to absorb what he’s saying]
This guy -- this man prevented an accidental nuclear exchange in nineteen seventy-eight, and likely saved civilization as a result.
[Nile takes eyes off him, gazes across the mass of visible information]
[she slowly lowers pistol, stunned and amazed]
The famous... and... the unknown names.
[Nile approaches board, scanning across clippings and pictures]
She saves a life -- two or three generations later, we reap the benefits.

Nile: [huffs, moves along board, checks more of the information. voice is awed]
She’s in it. She can’t see it.
[turns to Copley]
But you could!
[voice is accusing]
You could and you gave them up!

Copley: I thought it could be the end of disease.
[Nile jerks head, negating the poor excuse]
I thought it could be the end of suffering.
[hesitates, words come out painfully, distressed]
She couldn’t talk... at the end... my wife. She couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t do... anything. It was supposed to be a gift... to the world.

Nile: [quietly angry] It wasn’t your gift to give.

Copley: [sighs, shakes head] Why would the immortality end?

Nile: [audible breath] What?

Copley: [turns to look at blood on carpet] She wouldn’t stop bleeding.

Nile: [follows his gaze, voice urgent] Is she alive?

Copley: I know where they are.

1:30:43 minutes

[Aerial view of London, past high-rise buildings toward lower buildings with turrets.]

[Silver Audi drive up, parks at curb. Copley exits driver’s side (right), Nile from passenger side. Each opens the rear door on their side. Copley grabs a khaki carry-bag, heads toward the building. Nile grabs Andy’s labrys in its carry-case, slings it over her right shoulder. She pauses a second, looks up at the many stories above, while Copley uses a key-card in the outer door. He opens the door and walks in; Nile quickly follows.]

[In a security complex, two men sit in front of multiple monitors with views of hallways and rooms, using switches to change views from one place to another as they continually check for threats.]

[Nile and Copley are in a custodial/storage area -- mop bucket nearby, metal cases piled on a wheeled platform, two doors for elevators. Andy’s labrys leans against the wall to Niles’s left, next to an elevator door. Nile squats by the carry-bag, but looks for security before she opens it.]

Copley: [quietly] There’s no cameras here. That’s how he gets people in and out unseen.

Nile: [unzips carry-bag, pulls out pistol] How many shooters on site?

Copley: At least thirty.
[Nile checks pistol, puts it on floor, pulls out rifle]
Their boss, Keane, is ex Special Forces.

Nile: [unfolds rifle stock] What kind of CEO rolls around with his own personal army?

Copley: These days?
[bends down, takes pistol from floor, checks magazine]
Most of them.

Nile: [stands, confronts him] What are you doing?

Copley: I’m gonna make this right.

Nile: [firmly] Your dying won’t do that.

Copley: [raises eyebrows]
But I’m supposed to let you walk in there by yourself?
[starts to walk around her]

Nile: [stands in his way, faces him directly]
Out of the two of us, I’m the one who will walk out of there again, one way or another.
[holds rifle in left hand, extends right, waiting for pistol]
[he doesn’t respond. she looks down at empty hand, up to him, speaks firmly.]
You got me here.
[he hesitates, then hands pistol to her. she tucks it in back waistband]

Copley: There’s a private lab on the fifteenth floor. It’s empty.
[uses key-card; card-reader beeps]
This will get you access.
[gives her the card]

[Elevator door opens. Nile grabs labrys, slings it over her left shoulder.]

Nile: [pauses in doorway, speaks over right shoulder]
You should get out of here before the noise starts.
[steps into elevator, presses button for 15]

Copley: [quietly, as Nile takes stance in center of car, adjusts labrys-strap on shoulder]
Good luck, Ms. Freeman.

“Going Down Fighting” by Andrea Wasse X Phlotilla plays in background:
If it’s the end of the world,
I’m going down fighting.
With my finger on the trigger,
You’ll know I gave it a shot.

If it’s the end of it all,
God knows I’m trying.
‘Cause this world
Is all that we got.
‘Cause this world
Is all that we got.

[Door closes, elevator starts up. Nile twists her neck side to side, shrugs her shoulders, breathes deeply, drops her head back then raises it again -- preparing for battle. She stares straight ahead as she waits.]

[Door opens. Nile steps out cautiously, looking around. She walks forward casually, turns a corner, sees three armed guards standing, chatting in a hallway. Her right hand holds the rifle behind her back.]

Guard: Floor’s closed. How’d you get up here?

Nile: [casually looks to side] Sorry, I was just looking --

Guard: [barks, all three guards take aim] Hands! Let me see your hands.

[Nile takes a breath, slowly brings her right hand into view. Two shots. Nile falls on her back.]

Guard: Zero, this is Alpha Two-two.

Monitor-watcher: Sir. [monitor shows Nile on floor, guards beyond her]

Keane: [walks forward, grabs radio from console, speaks into it]
Zero send.

Guard: We’ve had an intruder. Target is down.

Keane: See if you can get an I.D off the body.

[Guard kicks Nile’s gun-hand, starts patting down her body. Nile brings her right leg up, kicks him in the chest, shoots him as he staggers back, rises to her knees and shoots the other two -- all headshots.]

Keane: Shit! [into radio] TAC teams, find Merrick now!

[Nile -- now with two midline, bloodstained holes in her shirt -- grabs her pistol, slings the labrys over her left shoulder and moves to shelter of a wall. She checks the pistol, then peers around the corner.]

[In the lab, Andy is ignoring everything, staring at nothing, Nicky is lying quietly. Joe has lifted his upper body as far as he can, shouting across the other two to Booker.]

Joe: You selfish piece of shit!

Nicky: [speaks over him, strongly, but not shouting]
Joe, leave it. Please!

Booker: What would you know of the weight of all these years alone?

[Andy still doesn’t react to anything as she stares into nothing.]

Joe: [laughs without humor] You’re a very pathetic man, Booker.

Nicky: Joe, stop.

Booker: You and Nicky always had each other, right?
[Andy blinks and swallows]
And all we had... was our grief.

Joe: Well, now you have even more.

[Kozak is behind Andy’s bed, adjusting the IV, ignoring the argument as if nothing’s happening.]

[Nile proceeds down a hallway, pistol extended. She turns a corner and goes through a doorway; Merrick is there. It’s some kind of lab -- long counters with beakers, jars, and bottles on top, boxes/containers for various items. Nile aims at him.]

Merrick: Who the hell are you?

Nile: [loudly] Where’s the lab?

[Three guards burst through the door across the room and start firing. Nile ducks and fires back, drops the labrys as she runs.]

[In the med-lab, Andy hears the gunfire. She reacts, turning her head toward the sound. Kozak, in front of her computer, also notices and turns toward the sound. Joe, Nicky, and Booker don’t react. (Sleeping? Unconscious/dead from something Kozak did? How much time has passed since Joe was shouting at Booker?)]

[Nile runs, firing behind her as the guards follow, shooting. She’s heading toward metal doors with a ‘Restricted Access’ sign. Keane runs in and fires, hitting her just as she reaches the doors. She stumbles through and falls to the floor as the doors swing shut behind her.]

Keane: Shit! [together with Merrick] There’s another one!

[Nile’s still holding the pistol; she groans as she pushes herself up.]

Keane: She’s going for the rest of them. Doctor’s lab, now!
[guards head out]
[grabs Merrick’s arm, starts to pull him toward door]
I’m locking you down in the penthouse until this is over.

[Merrick stops him for a moment, staring avidly at the labrys case. He goes to pick it up, smiles widely, tucks it under his right arm and follows Keane out.]

[Nile finds nothing important -- the people she’s looking for -- in the room. She runs to a door across the room that has a card-reader beside it, uses the key-card, pulls door open outward, then runs through an inward door into the med-lab. The doctor turns as the team all raise their heads. Nile pauses, surprised and relieved to see them. Andy's expression is disbelief.]

Booker: Nile. [sees guard aiming through open door] Behind you!

[Nile grunts as she is hit, sags, fires back, pushes the door closed. She now has a third bloodstained hole in the front of her shirt, one on the back of her left shoulder, and one on the front of her left thigh.]

[Kozak, alarmed, rises. She looks frantically for a weapon, grabs a syringe from a nearby tray and starts forward.]

Nicky: [shouts] Nile!

[Kozak closes on Nile, syringe raised. Nile blocks her raised right arm with her left hand, knocks her down and out with a strong right punch.]

Nile: [runs to Andy, starts unbuckling restraints]
There’s four shooters at the door and more coming.
[Andy closes eyes, makes no move to rise. shirt is askew; Nile sees dressing on wound]
[she flips pistol, offers it to Andy, who turns her head away]
Andy.
[the men’s heads are raised, watching. Andy keeps eyes closed]
[frowns, lifts Andy’s right hand, pushes pistol into it. voice is soft, but firmly intense]
Immortal or not, you made a promise. Whatever it takes.
[Andy opens eyes, looks at Nile, remains passive]
I’ve seen it, Andy.
[pulls another pistol from back waistband, cocks it]
I know all the good you’ve done.
[Andy stares at her, weighing, evaluating]

[The door bursts open, four guards rushing forward. Nile turns beside Andy. Together they raise their pistols, two shots each, all four go down. Andy keeps her eyes on them while she reaches over to unbuckle her left arm. Nile unbuckles the restraints over her legs.]

Andy: [eying her] You came back.

Nile: [a level look, flicks eyes to the others] Yeah.

[Nile goes to release Booker as Andy goes to Nicky and unbuckles the strap over his right arm. Nicky reaches to unbuckle the other straps while Andy tucks the pistol in her back waistband and heads toward Joe.]

Booker: [as Nile is releasing strap that holds chest and left arm]
No, just leave me here.

Nile: [turns on him, irritated] No man left behind.
[leaves him to take care of other straps, goes to guard the door]

[Nicky throws off the blue hospital drape, sits up to unbuckle his leg restraints.]

Joe: [loudly -- not quite shouting -- as Andy unbuckles strap on right arm]
Well there’s always a first time. He’s nothing but a traitor. That’s --

Andy: Stop!
[firm voice, leans over to unbuckle left arm, looks directly in his face]
This is not the time for it. We don’t get a say in when it ends.
[Nile is on guard at the door, but watching Andy and the men.]
We never have.
[Nicky has put on shirt, heads toward Nile, stoops, takes pistol from dead guard, checks it]
[Andy unbuckles Joe’s legs as he pulls off cardiac sensors]
But we can control how we live.
[Joe leaves bed while Andy pulls pistol from waistband, crosses to Booker, lying passive, hasn’t unbuckled restraints]
And to be honest, Book, you and I --
[looks at him directly, making a point]
we been doing a shit job of it.
[checks pistol, cocks it]
Now get up.
[Joe crosses behind her, now wearing his shirt]
Let’s go.
[Booker turns head toward her]
We stop Merrick here and now,
[Joe is by the door with Nile and Nicky, has also grabbed a pistol from a guard. all three watch the confrontation]
or he never stops coming after us.

[Booker lifts his head, thinks a moment, then quickly reaches to unbuckle his straps.]

[Andy squats, pulls open a guard’s pocket to look for ammunition, but finds nothing. She stands, breathing heavily, and lifts her shirt-hem to check the dressing.]

Nicky: Andy...
[quietly, concerned, eyes flick to the dressing]
Are you sure?

Andy: This changes nothing.
[chin-lift]
We walk out of here like always.
[deep breath]
Together.

[All four are watching, grouped near the door, concern in their eyes. She starts toward them.]

Andy: Let’s get this motherfucker.

[They head out, moving purposefully, Nile in the lead, then Nicky, Joe, Booker, and Andy.]

1:36:45 minutes

[Merrick is in his penthouse, with two guards across the room. He slowly, almost reverently, picks up Andy’s labrys, gazing lovingly at it as he holds it high.]

[Nile enters a darkened room, carrying a rifle, followed by Nicky and Joe, each with a pistol, Booker with a rifle, Andy with a pistol. They take up positions to either side of metal double doors -- Nicky, Joe, Andy to the left, Nile and Booker to the right.]

Joe: [quietly] Cover Andy.

[Nile uses her shoulder to burst open the right door and charges into the next room; it looks like the lab where she confronted Merrick. She’s followed by Nicky, Booker -- who kicks open the left door -- Joe, and Andy. Nile breaks left, Nicky breaks right, Booker left, Joe right, Andy straight down the center.]

[As Nile remains on guard, Booker crosses behind her -- letting her know with a quick hand to her shoulder so she moves farther into the room -- heading toward the doors across the room. Nicky takes a low stance, guarding their left, Joe covers their right but keeps an eye on Andy as she crosses behind Booker and heads for the doors.]

[Andy and Booker exit the open doors -- which are set back in a short alcove -- together. Andy waits at the corner against the wall on her left; two guards are walking down the hall toward their position, rifles raised. As the nearest comes opposite her, she grabs his right arm with her left, twists her body to throw him off-balance to her left. Booker shoots him as he stumbles past, while Andy steps past the corner and shoots the other guard.]

[Joe is next out of the alcove, followed by Nile and Nicky together. Joe aims hall-right, Nile guards hall-left. Nicky aims hall-right beside Joe, they shoot two guards who come running around the next corner. Andy puts another magazine in her pistol as she moves hall-left past Nile, followed by Nile and Booker.]

[As another guard comes from a door-alcove to her left with his left gun-hand extended, Andy grabs his wrist with her left hand, raises it high to spin under it, clubs him across the back with her pistol, holds onto him to keep him off-balance, shoots the next guard coming down the hall, drops the first guard’s arm, turns and shoots him, then heads down hall-(original)-left.]

[Nicky and Joe are following Andy and Nile from hall-right while Booker remains on guard that direction. Another guard comes from the left door-alcove. Nicky grabs his gun-hand, lifts it high, spins under the raised arm while Joe shoots him, goes to a knee to grab the rifle of the guard Andy shot, lifts it above his shoulder for Joe. Joe takes it, turns to cover their rear (original hall-right) as Booker sprints past following Andy and Nile; Nicky rises to follow him.]

[Nile has taken position behind a stack of crates, shoots an approaching guard, runs forward while Nicky and Joe guard their rear and Booker takes out a guard that comes from a door-alcove to Nile’s left. Two guards appear from cross-alcoves ahead, and Andy is in front of her with no cover.]

Nile: [shouts] Andy!

[Nile grabs Andy’s right shoulder and spins herself in front of Andy, cries out as the bullets hit her back, falls against the wall with a grimace, recovers, pulls a pistol with her left hand and shoots one of the guards as Andy shoots the other. Andy looks back; Joe and Nicky are under fire at the rear. Nicky looks over his shoulder to check on her, jerks as he takes a bullet. He and Joe shoot two guards, then retreat toward Andy’s position, Joe and Booker guarding the rear while Nicky dashes forward in front of Andy and Nile. Nicky goes to a knee just beyond a set of lab doors to his left, guarding the hall, as Booker, Joe, Nile, and Andy head through the doors. As soon as Andy has passed, Nicky backs up and follows them.]

[It’s another lab. They spread out as they move through the lab, then converge on the opposite doors. Joe pulls the door inward, and Booker leads out with Nile and Andy behind him. Booker turns, clubs a guard to his right with his rifle-butt, shoots a guard in front of him. Nile confronts a guard, knocks aside his aiming pistol with her rifle, shoots him on the back-swing, lunges past his right side, uses her right hand to grab the back of his neck and shove him away. He runs forward off-balance; Nicky ducks, lifts, and flips him over his right shoulder, continues moving forward; Joe, in the doorway behind Nicky, shoots the guard as he lands on the floor, continues into the lab.]

[Andy, moving along the wall (to the right of the most recent door), shoots a guard point-blank, grabs his vest, lifts her right knee into his chest as she drops onto her back and flips him over her head. Booker shoots the guard’s partner as Andy rolls and rises to her feet, while Nicky runs to support Joe, who’s beyond them. Andy releases the empty magazine, lets it fall; Booker goes to a knee to check a dead guard’s vest pockets, hands her a fresh magazine. As Andy moves past him, he stands and follows.]

[Nile barely pauses as she reaches down to grab a fresh magazine from another guard’s pocket. Nicky takes a rifle from another guard, hands it to Joe. Nile slams the fresh magazine into her rifle, stands against a wall, peers around the edge. (It looks free-standing, with boxes visible in the room beyond, with another end/edge 15-20 feet behind Nile for a second entry point into the next room.) Behind her, Andy squats, leaning against the wall and breathing deeply; Joe, Nicky, then Booker deploy farther along the wall. Booker and Nicky are watching the rear, with Booker closest to the second edge, and Joe and Nicky at mid-point of the wall. Next to Andy, Joe looks down, concerned. She looks up, nods her readiness, stands; they start to move out just as the wall explodes between Joe and Nicky.]

[All are thrown aside/down by the blast. Joe, Nicky and Andy are tossed through the air; we lose sight of Joe and Nicky. Andy lands hard, bounces to a face-down position on her arms, pushes herself to her right side, gasping as she tries to recover enough to rise.]

[Keane is on the other side of the wall, holding a rifle, with a gas mask on his forehead. Other guards flank him as he peers through the hole, into the billowing smoke/dust from the explosion.]

[Nile and Booker, farthest from the blast were not knocked completely off their feet, but they are bent over and coughing from the smoke and dust. They force themselves upright, unable to see through the increasing smoke.]

Booker: Man! Andy!

[Booker heads through the smoke to where he thinks Andy might be; Keane fires through the hole, although the smoke is too thick for good aim. Booker finds Andy just as Nile reaches her from the other side; they grab her under the arms -- Booker on her right, Nile on her left -- help her up, and start moving away.]

Booker: [shouts] Joe, Nicky, we’re moving out!

[Joe and Nicky, barely visible through the smoke, are both lying stunned / unconscious / dead.]

Keane: Assault team, move! You two, flank.

[Five guards head out another door for Andy, Nile, and Booker, while Keane steps through the blast-hole, pulling his gas mask over his face as he moves slowly forward. He sees Joe lying face down, unmoving. Keane puts his gun in left shoulder-holster and pulls something (zip-tie?) from the top right of his vest.]

[Nicky, lying on his back near Joe’s feet, coughs and rolls to his right side to get his hands under him and rise. Keane steps forward, viciously kicks him in the head, throwing him onto his back. Nicky coughs as Keane steps back, Nicky tries to rise again, Keane steps forward and kicks him violently in the stomach.]

[Joe, behind Keane, is beginning to move. He starts to push himself up, sees Keane kick a third time. Nicky has risen to his knees and leans aside; Keane’s foot hits a stack of boxed supplies on a wheeled platform. Nicky lunges at Keane, grabs him at shoulder and waste and pulls him down, rolling to throw Keane to the floor, then Nicky continues his roll to his knees, punches Keane with a hard right cross. Nicky pulls his arm back and comes around with another punch, but Keane uses his left arm to knock Nicky’s arm aside, draws his right knee up and kicks Nicky in the chest; Nicky flies backward through the air and slams against the stack of boxes of supplies.]

[Joe is pushing himself up as Nicky goes flying. As Keane starts to rise, Joe attacks, grabs Keane’s head with his left hand and throws him to the floor. As Keane rebounds and lifts up, Joe rips off his gas mask and sends it flying. Keane and Joe are both thrown off balance by the strength of the action, but Keane recovers to throw a hard left punch to Joe’s face, followed by a right punch into Joe’s throat; Joe recoils, falling backward. Nicky staggers to his feet, throws himself at Keane, grabs his right arm and thigh to pull him down. Keane twists out of the hold, knocking Nicky to the floor, continues the twist to straddle Nicky’s body, stomps on Nicky’s stomach with his left knee. Nicky cries out and curls upward, gasping. Keane shoves his pistol into Nicky’s open mouth and fires.]

[Joe is on his back, pushing himself up just in time to see what happened. Keane is coughing, struggling to breathe; he staggers away through the hole in the wall.]

[Booker, Andy, and Nile stumble into another lab, coughing, close-grouped to support Andy. Nile moves forward, rifle ready; Booker holds Andy’s arm as they follow. Three guards appear at the door behind them. Booker looks back just in time to see the guards; he moves between them and Andy as they fire, staggers as he’s hit. Andy ducks through nearby door, Booker follows, staggers inside as he is hit again.]

[Andy ducks and crouches behind a fat metal cylinder of liquid nitrogen. Nile is on a knee beside the door, firing out at the guards as Booker scrambles past on hands and knees. Andy has no gun after the explosion; she evaluates the situation, looks around, sees a fire ax on the wall. She stands and crosses to it, grabs it from its box and hefts it, evaluating. Nile turns her head to say something (?) but is under too heavy fire; she turns back to shooting.]

[Andy walks past Booker, who is leaning against a cylinder, still recovering from his wounds, toward the door across the room -- just in time to meet a guard advancing into the room from that side. Andy swings the ax and cuts him down, then heads toward the door.]

Andy: Enough of this shit.

[As Andy approaches the door, another guard comes in; she hits him once, lets the momentum spin her, hits him low, then high; he’s down. She flips her hair out of her eyes as she heads out the door, now with blood-spatter on her face.]

[In the other lab, Nicky is still dead. Joe, on hands and knees, goes to him, reaches out toward Nicky’s face, hesitates, afraid to touch, turns his head aside. Nicky revives with a gasp, and coughs; Joe sighs his relief. Joe clasps Nicky’s arm while Nicky grips Joe’s arms for a moment, where they bracket his head, then --]

Nicky: Let’s go. Andy.

[Nicky rolls to his side, grabs a nearby pistol. Joe turns and grabs a rifle from the floor, then stagger-runs past Nicky, who is up but also moving erratically; both men are feeling the effects of the fight.]

Joe: Com’on, com’on. Come on.

[Joe leads out the door, with Nicky close behind, the back of his head shiny-wet with blood.]

[In the other lab, Nile is still holding off the guards from her door. She pulls back and checks her rifle.]

Nile: Shit! Jammed!

[She scrambles away from the door as Booker grabs a rifle from one of the downed guards and takes her position. Nile crouches next to an array of cylinders to clear her rifle, turns to Booker.]

Nile: Where’s Andy?

[Andy is striding purposefully down a hall, ax in hand. She pauses at a corner as she hears a radio.]

Guard on radio: Hold at the bridge.

[Andy looks around the corner, quickly pulls back. A lone guard is coming her way down a long hall -- a walkway-bridge with glass sides and top.]

Guard: Roger that.

Andy: [whispers] Fuck.

[Andy takes two deep breaths, firms her mouth, sets herself, and dashes around the corner, sprinting toward the guard. As he fires, she raises her ax sideways; we hear the bullet hit the metal head. Andy closes on the guard and uses the ax to knock his rifle out of his hand. As she swings back, the guard kicks; Andy cries out as it impacts her hand and the ax goes flying. The guard pulls a knife. As he swings at her, Andy, twists, grabs his right arm with her left, clamps it between her elbow and body, pulls him off-balance and uses the momentum of her twist to drag the guard into her strong right cross, then uses both hands to force his right hand down and slice the inside of his own thigh. Andy twists, lifts his arm over her head as she turns under it then keeps lifting the arm high behind his back, forcing him to bend forward into her right kick to his face. His helmet flies off, but he catches himself with his hands on the floor, then pushes upward, swinging his knife. The guard raises the knife high across his body and slashes downward to the right.]

[Andy evades to the left. As his arm comes around, her left arm knocks his right arm aside, punch-punch, then knife hand to his throat. He staggers back, goes to a fighting crouch with his knife raised. She waits as he comes in, coils her body, snaps out her left arm to knock his right aside, holds his right arm, twists it downward. A spring-loaded baton slides out to the left from his gear, he grabs it with left hand. Andy spins in with her back to his chest, strikes her right elbow to his chest, keeps moving to pull his right arm across her right shoulder, her two hands holding his sleeve, steps forward, comes back with a high left elbow to his face. With her back to him, Andy lifts his right arm high, brings it down, twists right to bring him forward with her left arm, grabs the baton. Andy turns in to him, both hands twist his right arm up and back. Andy goes to a knee as the pressure forces him down, jams the baton into his left knee.]

[Guard comes up, tries to grab baton with his left hand, Andy steps away and hits him twice across the face, leans back with a left kick to the chest as he staggers back. Andy runs forward, leaps high, plants her arms on his shoulders as she swings around, keeps going down, drops to floor on her back and uses the momentum to flip him over her head. He lands hard as she quickly rolls to her feet, stands gasping, holding her wound with her left hand. The guard seems unwilling or unable to continue the fight.]

[As Andy walks to look down at dazed guard, Booker and Nile join her from ‘her’ side of the bridge (screen right), while Joe and Nicky come from the other side.]

Andy: Where’s Merrick?

[The guard looks up. Five people stand directly over him, four of them armed; all look pissed-off and dangerous.]

Guard: Penthouse.

[The team all look upward, planning their next move.]

Joe: What d’you think, Oslo, ‘sixty seven?

Andy: [small head-shake] São Paulo, ‘thirty-four.
[Andy extends hand to Nile, who gives her pistol she carries in right hand]
[Nile holds another in her left.]
Nile’s with me.

Nile: What happened in São Paulo in nineteen thirty-four?

Andy: Eighteen thirty-four. [small grin, checks weapon] You’ll see.

[Andy and Nile head away (screen left) from ‘Andy’s corner’ at a medium trot; Joe, Nicky and Booker head toward ‘Andy’s corner’ (screen right).]

1:41:35 minutes

[Aerial view of top levels of Merrick building, with city skyline behind. We hear muffled weapons’ fire.]

[Two guards face the door of the penthouse, rifles aimed.]

[Merrick stands at the top of a short flight of stairs to a higher level; he grips the labrys in both hands, waiting for the attack. Keane descends in front of him.]

Keane: [into radio] First team, hold the hall.

[Keane makes a circling motion with his hand as he reaches the bottom of the stairs, then joins several guards in an open hall / balcony just inside the penthouse doors; it overlooks a lower level, with a plexiglass barrier along the edge. We see six armed guards, plus Keane.]

Keane: [into radio, quietly] First team.

[Andy -- breathing heavily and holding her hand over her wound -- and Nile walk past bullet-marked walls and dead guards’ bodies; Andy’s face is considerably more blood-stained than earlier, and Nile’s face is streaked with plaster dust. They take up position against a wall beside a floor-to-ceiling window, about six feet down from the door, Andy to the right of the window, with Nile to her right. Andy pulls her hand away to look at the amount of blood. Nile looks, too, and frowns, but neither comments.]

[Andy and Nile pull fresh magazines out of rear pockets, reload their pistols.]

Andy: [quietly] Wait for the signal. [looks toward door]

Nile: [follows her gaze] This gonna be like the last signal?

Andy: [turns toward Nile, smiles] Go big or go home. [looks back toward door]

[In the penthouse, guards are still ranged in front of the door, rifles up and ready.]

Merrick: [stands at top of interior stairs, holding labrys like he’s hoping to swing it]
Keane. Keane, how many more do we have coming?

Keane: This is it. [takes center position, aims directly at door] Dig in.

[Nile looks down, notices that Andy’s right hand has fresh blood where she’s been holding it against her wound, and the blood-stain on her shirt is increasing. She quickly crouches, starts pulling velcro with swift movements to remove the nearest guard’s kevlar.]

Nile: I’ll make the entry. Stay tight to me, okay? I’ll protect you.

[Andy crouches beside her, moving almost casually, stops Nile’s actions with a hand on the guard’s vest. Nile looks into her face.]

Andy: [small head-shake; gaze is direct, but calm and compassionate. speaks quietly]
I go through first.
[Nile huffs, rolls her head]
I always go first.

Nile: [through gritted teeth]
Andy, put on the damn armor.

Andy: It’s like Nicky said. If it’s my time, it’s my time.
[takes spare magazine from guard’s pocket]
If this doesn’t work out, next time, [chin-lift] you go first.

[Nile glowers, but recognizes she won’t sway Andy. She stands and checks both directions of the hallway. Andy remains crouched, but also watching.]

Keane: [whispering, watching the door] What the hell are they waiting for?

[Gunfire breaks one of the plate glass windows that overlooks the city, just before Joe swings into the room on the end of a line. He tucks as he lands, rolls, and comes up aiming his rifle.]

Keane: Shit!

[Joe shoots one of the guards, then takes cover behind a wooden horizontal file cabinet. The guards turn to fire at him just as the door explodes inward.]

[The blast knocks several guards to the floor, but Keane heads immediately toward Joe. As soon as he’s in range, Joe -- still on the floor -- sweeps Keene’s legs with his right leg and kicks him violently as he falls forward.]

[Guards are running through the penthouse, smoke from the explosion billowing around. Andy appears around the doorframe, shoots one, ducks back to avoid return fire. Nile appears, shoots another, ducks back.]

[Guards are shooting, shouting, falling. Nile shoots a guard ducking for cover, then dashes forward with pistol extended, Andy behind her. Nile jumps over a downed guard; they advance to positions against the wall on either side of a short hallway. A guard is shooting at them from cover beyond, but can’t get a good angle.]

[Meanwhile, Joe is beating Keane to a pulp. He lands a hard right under the ribs, a left cross to the face. Another left to the face; Joe’s teeth are bared in a snarl, and Keane is flailing. He throws a wild left punch that Joe easily ducks, then comes up with another right cross to Keane’s face.]

[The guard shooting at Andy and Nile has a jammed rifle. As he drops it and reaches for another weapon, Andy rises, steps around the corner and shoots him left-handed; her right is clutching her wound. Nile follows, covering her right flank, but there’s no one left to shoot. Andy looks up and Nile turns to watch Joe beating up on Keane.]

[Joe throws a hard right punch to Keane’s face. Keane is dazed, head wobbling, barely able to stay on his feet. Joe steps up right in front of him, holds him in place with his left hand at the top of Keane’s vest, speaks in a calm, reasonable voice.]

Joe: You shot Nicky. You shouldn’t have done that.

[In one sudden movement Joe twists, digs his right shoulder into Keane’s chest, grabs his right arm, drops to his right knee while lifting/pulling Keane over his shoulder, throws him down so that his head hits the floor first. The snap of his neck breaking is audible. Joe finishes on both knees, left hand on the floor for support, panting heavily.]

[Booker enters another part of the penthouse, rifle aimed, clearing the hall. Nicky follows, carrying a pistol in each hand, arms crossed to fire in either direction. Booker walks farther, covering a staircase, then the hall again.]

[The effects of the battle hit Andy suddenly; she lets her pistol fall from her left hand, holds her right hand over her wound, staggers forward to clutch for support at the plexiglass barrier at the edge of the balcony over the lower level. Nile follows, stoops to discard her pistol and take another from one of the guards.]

Nicky: [shouts from lower level] The elevator is going down! Merrick is getting away!

[Joe rises in response, starts forward.]

Nile: Go! Go!
[Joe grabs a rifle from the floor, heads out]
I’ll stay with Andy.

[Andy looks down at Booker, on guard on the lower level. It seems that he’d rather stay to protect her, but accepts her silent command with a short nod, turns to follow Nicky and Joe.]

[Andy pushes away from the plexiglass, crosses the room to look down at the street through the giant emptiness where the window used to be. She supports herself against one of the vertical frames with her left hand, while her right still covers her wound. She’s breathing heavily as she looks down into the street below.]

[Nile has a small frown, concerned]
Nile: You okay?

Andy: [blows out a breath]
Yeah, I’m fine.
[sniffs, licks her lips]
It just hurts.
[raises head, breathes out, twists neck left and right with audible cracking, raises left hand behind head, drops it]
[turns toward Nile with small smile]
Actually, everything hurts.
[relaxes, leans left shoulder against window frame, still holding hand against wound]

Nile: Well, wait until tomorrow.

[Nile rolls her eyes as she walks forward, pistol hanging casually from her hand, to stand near the vertical frame at the right side of the window. She faces Andy directly with a small smile.]

Andy: [smiles, chuckles softly] Can’t wait.

[Nile smiles a little wider, then frowns as she looks Andy over, the large and small damages to her body that will now heal slowly, with after-effects that may linger.]

Andy: [watches Nile’s reaction, chin-lift, speaks quietly]
I think you showed up when I lost my immortality.
[licks lips]
So I could see what it was like.
[looks away, out window]
So I could remember.

Nile: Remember?

Andy: Remember what it...
[licks lips, considers]
what it was like to feel unbreakable.
[smiles, laughs gently as she shakes her head]
[turns to face Nile directly]
Remarkable.
[gives Nile a long, level -- compassionate -- gaze]
You reminded me there are people... still worth fighting for.
[Nile takes deep breath. Andy gazes up and out, shakes head, huffs a gentle laugh]
I know how I wanna spend the time I’ve got left.

Nile: [quietly, gently but firmly] You’re gonna spend it with us, Andy.

[Andy smiles at her, just as gently.]

Merrick: You selfish little bitch!
[Nile spins, brings weapon to bear in solid, two-handed grip as soon as they hear Merrick’s voice, but he has pistol aimed at Andy, finger poised on trigger]
I will kill her!
[he slowly advances into room from stairs above, pistol in right hand aimed at Andy, her labrys dangling in left]
[Andy’s face is focused and calculating as she watches him.]
[he walks closer, ignores Nile as he walks past her, focused only on Andy]
All the lives you could save.
[Nile watches Andy from corner of eye, waits for signal, keeps pistol aimed at Merrick]
Don’t you see what we could do here? You are priceless.

Andy: [quietly, calmly] Hey, Nile.
[Nile turns head fraction of inch toward Andy, back to Merrick, keeps aim on him, waits for a chance]
[Andy has glint in her eye, hint of a smile on her lips]
Do you think he speaks Russian?

[Nile flicks her eyes to Andy, back to Merrick, evaluates, then whips around and shoots in Andy’s direction. Andy drops as Merrick turns and shoots Nile, who grunts as she falls against the window frame. Andy rolls toward Merrick, grabs her labrys from his hand, spins as she rises, lifting the labrys high, then sinks it into his Merrick’s left shoulder beside his neck.]

[Merrick cries out and starts to bring his gun to bear on Andy. Nile gasps as she desperately pushes herself up from the floor, flings herself between Merrick and Andy just as he fires, slaps his gun hand down and launches herself at him, arms around his body. The momentum carries them out the broken window, both screaming as they hurtle toward the ground, 20(?) stories below.]

Nile: SHIIIIIIIIIIIIT!

[Just before they hit, Nile curls her body, trying to use Merrick to absorb the impact. They land on the roof of a car, which collapses under the impact, and disappear inside.]

Andy: [quietly, looking down] Play dead, motherfucker. [turns to leave]

[Interior of car, view of the rear seat. One of Nile’s boots is propped against the backrest; the leg inside is obviously broken and misaligned. Air hisses from the exploded airbag.]

[Nicky runs from the nearby door, followed by Booker. Nicky stops beside the car and looks down. Nile’s body is lying on her left side on the back seat, broken and twisted, and blood is spattered across the backrest. Her extended left hand rests on Merrick’s body in the foot-well, the fingers twisted and bent at impossible angles.]

Nicky: Nile?
[looks at her through side window ]
[Booker -- and Joe behind him -- also look in. Booker turns to look up the height of the building, back in the window.]
[Nicky smiles gently]
Hey.
[Nile begins breathing, then groans, eyes closing in pain, as bones audibly crackle, her body starts twisting back into alignment.]
She’s okay.

[Nile brings left hand forward, stares as fingers visibly reposition themselves.]

[Joe stands behind Nicky and Booker, also watching Nile’s reintegration. Booker grabs the handle, tries to pull the car door open, but the displacement of the frame has wedged it into place; Nicky grabs the doorframe to help pull, and the door finally opens.]

Booker: Come on. [leans in to the car]

Joe: [gazes up the height of the building] Faster than the elevator.

[Nile grunts, groans, and gasps as she starts maneuvering herself out of the car. She keeps her left hand raised to avoid hitting it against anything as it continues to heal.]

Nicky: It’s okay, Nile.

Nile: [pauses, sits at edge of seat next to open door, jerks head in emphasis. speaks softly but fervently] Ow!

Booker: Give me your hand.

[Nile reaches out with her now-healed left hand, grabs the handle of Andy’s labrys, starts to slide out.]

[Andy has exited the building, walks calmly toward the group. Her jacket is zipped closed (to hide her bloody shirt?). As Nile steps from the car, Joe heads past Andy toward the back end. Booker pulls Nile’s right arm over his shoulders to help her stand; Nicky also helps with his hand under her left arm. Nile winces as she takes a limping step, then straightens as all three wait. Andy stops in front of them, looks Nile over, seems proud as she gives a slight smile and tiny nod.]

[Despite the blood on her face, Nile seems calm, composed. She huffs and stands straighter as Booker and Nicky let go her arms. Left hand strong around the handle, she holds the labrys out to Andy, who takes it. Andy’s eyes relax as she continues to watch Nile. Her smile grows broad as she extends her right hand to clasp Nile at the nape of her neck, then claps her on the shoulder and puts her arm around Nile's back as they walk. Nicky reaches out to touch Andy’s back before he turns toward their Audi, waiting directly behind the car that Nile fell into.]

Booker: Let’s go.

“Silence” by Marshmello ft. Khalid begins playing
Yeah, I’d rather be a lover than a fighter, fighter,
‘Cause all my life, I’ve been fighting.
Never felt a feeling of comfort, oh
And all this time, I’ve been hiding, hiding.
And I never had someone to call my own, oh no,
I’m so used to sharing, sharing.
Love only left me alone,
But I’m at one with the silence.

I found peace in your violence
Can’t show me there's no point in trying
I'm at one, and I’ve been silent for so long.
I’ve been quiet for so long.
I’ve been quiet for so long.
I’m at one, and I've been quiet for so long.

[Booker opens the boot as Nicky opens the right rear door and slides in. Joe slides into the front passenger (left) seat as Andy puts her labrys in the boot and Nile continues around the rear of the car, then comes forward. Andy gets into the driver’s seat (right) as Booker gets in the back seat behind her. Nile opens the rear left door then pauses, gazing up at the height from which she fell. Her mouth firms as her eyes drop to the ruined car in front of the Audi. She takes a visible breath, then slides into the car.]

[Andy drives the car away, with Joe in the seat beside her. Behind them a crowd gathers around the ruined car as police cars speed to the scene, sirens wailing. The crowd grows larger, with people using their cellphones to take pictures.]

1:48:10 minutes

[Looking over the Thames, a view of older buildings along the water-front, with newer, high-rise buildings behind. Camera pans in to a very old, very small (compared to the building next to it), white-painted, three-story building with ground-floor and first-floor balconies overlooking the water. Booker leans on the railing of the ground-floor balcony, looking out toward the river.]

[The building is a pub. The sign inside reads:]
The flagstone floor of this
bar has been trodden by the
widest variety of patrons
over 500 years.

Pewter-top bars were
commonplace in the 19th Century,
but this is one of the few that
has survived 20th Century
‘modernisation’ and is thought
to be the longest in
Great Britain.

[Nile and Joe on one side, Andy and Nicky on the other, sit at a table in a corner against the wall, next to a window. Booker is visible through the window, looking out over the water, holding a glass of whiskey. Nicky leans into the discussion as Joe gestures vehemently and Andy looks thoughtful. Joe turns away from the discussion as Nicky turns to Andy. Nile looks out at Booker’s bowed head, watches as he lifts his glass to drink.]

Booker: [turns head as Nile approaches] How’s it going?

Nile: [stands beside him, back to river, looking into pub]
They’re still deciding.
[leans back against the railing]

Booker: [looks at her, turns his back to river, leans against railing next to her]
There’s not much to decide. It’s not like they can kill me.
[lifts his glass, drinks again]

[View into pub window; Joe has turned his head, watching them, resting his chin on his hand, a moderate scowl on his face. Andy’s hands are clasped in front of her, gaze unfocused.]

Booker: [holds Joe’s gaze for a moment, then looks down]
[Nile is turning her phone in her hands]
Oh, she gave it back?

Nile: Yeah.
[takes a breath]
Talked to Copley.
[turns to Booker]
Said he could fix it. Make it look like I was killed in action.
[nods gently to herself]
My family will mourn, but, uh...
[huffs an exhale, tiny shrug, head-shake]
...they’ll be able to move on.
[tiny nod]
It’s just like what we did with my dad.
[sighs, turns to look out over the water. voice wavers]
I just really want to hear my mom’s voice one more time.

Booker: [looks down, pauses, turns to lean next to Nile]
You’re a good kid, Nile.
[looks at her, speaks earnestly]
You’re gonna be great for the team.

[Nile looks at him, then back over the river.]

[View in pub window. Andy is watching them, face calm, but with a tiny frown-wrinkle between her eyes. Beside her, Nicky’s head is bowed.]

[Camera pans out. Booker is on the riverbank, looking out over the water. Andy comes down the steps from the pub. She walks over, stands to his left, speaks without looking at him.]

Andy: There’s gotta be a price.
[Booker nods, very slightly]
[Andy closes her eyes; she looks like it hurts]
One hundred years from today, they’ll meet you here.
[nods slightly, turns head to look at him]
Till then you’re alone.

Booker: [pauses, blinks, takes a breath]
I hoped for less, but...
[swallows, nods, flicks eyes in her direction]
I expected more.

Andy: Nile was gonna let you off with an apology.

[Booker snorts a laugh as he smiles. Andy smiles and chuckles.]

Booker: [fond head-shake, still smiling] Just give her some time.

Andy: [looks out over water, her face sad, turns to him]
I’m gonna miss you.

[Booker glances at her, away, nods slightly, glances back, turns and draws her into a desperate hug. Andy clings tightly as he lays his chin on her shoulder and she leans into the side of his neck, check-to-cheek. His right hand comes up to stroke the back of her head, then slides down to the nape of her neck before he lets her go.]

Booker: [breathes, looks into her eyes, tiny head-shake, eyes shift away, back to her]
Um... I won’t see you again.

Andy: [inhales, tiny chin-lift, reaches out, grabs his upper left arm, shakes it gently]
Have a little faith, Book.

[Booker watches Andy walk away. Nile, Joe, and Nicky are waiting for her on the pub’s stairs. As she reaches the stairs they turn and start up, Nicky first, then Nile. Joe puts a gentle hand to her back as he lets Andy go after Nile, then follows. As he walks, Joe turns to look over his shoulder. Booker is watching them go. He nods to Joe’s look, takes a deep breath and turns away.]

“Cruel World” by Active Child begins playing
I dedicate my life
To something richer
And all the things that come
‘Cause that’s no price at all
And I know you’ll be there
And I want you to know I care because
Keep your head up Hold your head up
Even though it’s a cruel world
Count your blessings
You won’t need them when you’re gone
It’s a cruel world
You can’t see it
You can’t see it
Even though it’s a cruel world...

1:52:03 minutes

[Nicky, with hands clasped behind him, Andy, with arms crossed, and Joe, with arms hanging loose, are ranged in front of Copley’s bulletin board-wall, examining all the information, often with parts circled or underlined in red, many with Post-it Notes attached, with comments hand-written in red. Nile sits/leans against the back of a chair behind them. Copley stands farther back, arms crossed, allowing them space.]

[Photo of Joe and Nicky in plaid shirts, rescuing a young man; Post-it with red ink reads: ‘Joe & Nicky 1968’.]
[A college I.D card, 1992-93, with Nicky’s face; ID# 62773884?, Birth 4/8/197?, signed N. Smith.]
[Nicky gazes at these artifacts, expressionless.]

[Below the label of TURKEY, a photo of five men in local clothing; a slightly enlarged section shows only two of the men, with their heads circled in red. Post-it reads: ‘Crimean War 1953 Joe & Nicky?’]
[Beside the label of CUBA, a photo of five men resting, all holding rifles. Post-it reads: ‘Cuba Revolution 1956-1957 Booker, Nicky & Joe’’.]
[Copy of I.D card with Joe’s face, with the name Joseph Jones, Deutsch, from Frankfurt and/or Hamburg. Dates are 02.01.1956 and 01.09.2014 and 31.08.2024.]
[Joe looks stunned at the amount of information collected.]

Copley: [quietly] This is only what I’ve found going back the last hundred and fifty years or so.

[Photo of one of Martin Luther King’s speeches; the enlarged view of a woman with sunglasses and long blonde hair looks like Andy; the two men nearby could be Nicky and Joe.]
[Under a headline ‘Taste of Freedom’, photo of Andy, circled in red, reaching down to help someone up. Post-it reads: ‘Andy Berlin ‘89’.]
[Photo of woman squatting with very young child on her knee, offering food to the child, connected with red string to news-clip picture of woman aviator pioneer. Post-it reads: ‘Saved by Andy 1918’. Headline reads: ‘RECOGNITION FOR PIONEER AVIATRIX’, sub-title is ‘A Legion of Honour is Awarded to the French Hero for Her Valiant Efforts during World War II’.]
[Andy quietly views the displayed information.]

Copley: When you think about how old you are,
[Andy blinks, bows head slightly]
the good you’ve done for humanity becomes... exponential.

Nile: [softly] Maybe this is the why, Andy.

[Andy looks toward Nicky, who gives her a tiny smile, and Joe, who drops his eyes and bows his head.]

Andy: [speaks softly, without looking at Copley]
It’s nearly impossible to disappear in the world we live in today.
[flicks eyes up toward the gathered information]
There are too many people like you
[quick glance toward him; Copley’s eyes flick down]
who can bend it to your will. Too many with bad intentions.
[takes measured breath as she shifts,]
We don’t have all the answers, but we do have purpose.
[turns and looks directly at him]
And you’re going to help us.
[Nile quietly stands]
[Andy prowls toward Copley, one deliberate step after another]
[voice remains soft, but firm and commanding]
When we leave a footprint in the sand, in the snow, in the ether,
[drops her arms to her side]
you’re going to sweep it.
[Nile, Nicky, and Joe move forward at Andy’s pace]
You’re going to protect us from those who want to put us in cages, and you’re gonna help us find those jobs...
[they range behind Andy, presenting a united front]
that are best suited to us.
[Copley swallows]

Joe: [flatly, warning] She’s not asking.

Copley: [recognizes warning, nods slightly, eyes steady]
I’d be honored.

Andy: [nods] Then let’s go to work.

[She turns to gaze over her team, smiling. Turns back to Copley, still smiling, but with an unswerving assurance.]

1:53:45 minutes

THE OLD GUARD shows on screen, white letters on black.

SIX MONTHS LATER shows on screen, over the sound of sirens wailing. Aerial view of apartment (?) buildings, with Eifel Tower in the distance.

PARIS shows on screen

[View of Booker’s back as he approaches a door; an almost-empty bottle of whiskey dangles loosely from his right hand. As he steps inside the door, the bottle drops and shatters. He curses in French and kicks/sweeps the glass aside with his foot. He walks a few steps forward to a staircase, turns and sits on the third step, his head bowed as he sighs. He pauses, takes a deep breath, uses his hands on bannister and wall to pull himself up, then turns to a door at his left, keys in hand.]

[The door isn’t latched, and gives at the pressure of the key; Booker pushes it open and steps into the space, pistol extended and aimed.]

[A female figure in a red coat is pouring water from a glass bottle into a drinking glass. She doesn’t flinch or react at Booker’s sudden entrance. When the glass is half-full, she pauses.]

Woman: Booker.
[sets bottle aside as he continues into room, keeping pistol aimed]
It’s nice to finally meet you.

[As she raises her glass to drink, we see that it’s Quynh. She lowers her glass and watches Booker calmly, highlighted by the sun coming through the window behind her, while he maintains a steady aim at her from across the room.]

1:54:50 minutes

#56 Close Your Eyes

2021-03-04T19:16:57Z

Title: Close Your Eyes
Fandom: The Old Guard
Summary: Nile helps the team get ready for a night out.
Style: Gen
Size: 2,880 words, about 5 pages
Warnings: None
Notes: Inspired by Gryzdolnik’s lovely art; the muse insisted.
Email: If you prefer not to post a comment that everybody can see, you can reach me at starwatcher -at- dreamwidth.org

“Not when we’ll be at the club tonight!” The grin was poorly hidden under the feigned protest.

“Too bad, so sad; you lost the bet, Joe!” Nile caroled with a singsong lilt. “You chose the terms, so you’ll flaunt it proudly. Hang on, I’ll go get my kit.”

“You did lose the bet, Joe,” Nicky confirmed quietly. “And I will like it, I think. It is too long since I have seen your beautiful eyes enhanced with cosmetics.”

Joe winked. “And it’s a good excuse to shine while we’re dancing.”

Nicky cocked his head. “Yusuf! Did you --”

“Throw the bet? Of course I did, habibi. Nile will need to do a lot more studying to learn all the history we’ve lived through.”

“I heard that!” Nile announced as she entered the room. “If you wanted to wear makeup for the shindig tonight, you could’ve just said that, you know.”

Joe gave her a sly grin. “But what would be the fun of that? This way, we both enjoyed the mental challenge, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. Just wait; next time I’ll win honestly. After all, you can’t know everything about history.” She glanced at the ditty bag in her hand, which she used to store and carry her makeup. “Do you really want me to put it on for you? I don’t mind letting you use my stuff if you prefer to do it yourself.”

Joe shrugged. “I haven’t used cosmetics since...” he glanced at Nicky, “...was it the late seventeen-hundreds?”

“A little later; into the early eighteen-hundreds.” Nicky turned to Nile. “Cosmetics fell out of favor because Victoria considered it vulgar, but its use has varied over the centuries.”

“And we actually never used them very often; only when we needed to infiltrate some Lord’s or Lady’s fancy party -- which is basically what we’re doing tonight. What little skill I had is long gone,” Joe finished with a shrug.

“Okay.” Nile scanned the furniture in the room. “I think we should move to the dining area; those big windows will give better light, and I can move around you easier when you’re not on the sofa.”

She led the way into the other room and spread her makeup out on the table while Joe pulled a chair far enough from the table that she’d be able to move around him. Nicky moved his chair out of the way, but well-positioned to watch the procedure.

Nile turned toward Joe and studied his face with -- he recognized the look -- an artist’s eye. “So, what do you want? Heavy glam, or just subtle highlights?”

“You won the bet, sorellina, so you decide. Just... not like a clown, I hope. I don’t want to shame Nicky while we’re dancing.”

“You could never shame me, Yusuf,” Nicky insisted softly. “But maybe...” he glanced at Nile, “is the cat-eye still fashionable? He always looks good in that. With a bit of silver highlight to match his rings?”

“Hmm...” Nile pulled out her phone, typed in a search, and started scrolling through images. Finally she stopped on one, enlarged it, and showed it to Nicky. “Something like this?”

Nicky smiled gently. “Yes, that would be very nice.”

Nile nodded as she checked her supplies. “Okay. Concealer? Foundation?” She glanced at Joe, who merely shrugged. But a slight headshake caught her eye, and she turned to Nicky. “No?”

“If you think it best,” he said carefully. “It is just... when we kiss, the taste is not so good.”

Joe chuckled. “Definitely a valid point. Just the eyes, then, if you would.”

“Yeah; TMI, but it makes sense. Beautiful glam-eyes only, coming up.” With an eyeliner pencil in hand, Nile moved to stand at Joe’s right side. She extended the pencil toward his eye, then hesitated. “Um...”

“No ‘um’. You’re the artist, Nile, and I’m the canvas. Do as you will.”

“It’s just... I’ve only ever put makeup on myself, and I don’t think I can do this from the side. To get the right angle, I’d have to stand directly in front of you -- and pretty close -- but...” She bit her lip. None of her new teammates seemed to have any hangups about levels of physical closeness that she’d seldom encountered, but the suggestion felt like it was... skirting the edges of ‘okay’.

Joe lifted an eyebrow. “Should I declare that I never mind a beautiful woman in such a position, or that I’m sure my virtue is safe with you?” He grinned wickedly at her confusion.

“It’s unkind to tease her, Joe.” Nicky’s protest was gentle, but firm. “Nile is providing a great service so that you will shine even more brightly this evening. She cannot do her best work if you cause her to feel... agitata?”

“Nervous, unsettled,” Joe translated absently. “And he’s right, Nile. My apologies; I’ll be good.” He spread his legs a little more so that Nile could move close, tilted his head back and closed his eyes, obviously ready to submit to her artistry.

“Thanks, Nicky. I think the word you’re looking for is ‘flustered’... which has become a fairly significant part of my life now that I have to deal with you guys. I’ll manage; just pretend he’s my little sister.”

“I thought your younger sibling is a brother,” Joe commented without opening his eyes. “Do you have another you haven’t mentioned?”

“That’s part of the pretend.” Nile stepped to the front edge of his chair, braced her legs against it for support, and rested the heel of her hand on Joe’s cheek for stability. “Don’t move now; here it comes.”

With Nicky watching, Nile started on Joe’s left eye, carefully outlining his lower and upper eyelids and drawing the lines outward to meet in a dramatic upward ‘swoop’. But when she tried to duplicate it on his right eye, she faltered. The angle was wrong even when Joe obligingly turned his head, she’d have to squash his nose to support the heel of her hand... it just didn’t work. After a few minutes of trying to find a workaround, Nile sighed deeply and stepped back.

“So, how broad is this brother-sister thing you guys claim we all have going on?”

Joe opened the outlined eye to focus on her. “What do you mean?”

“I mean I need something to rest my elbow on so I can control my hand better.” Nile sternly refused to allow herself to wimp out. “I think the best way would be if you were lying on the bed and I kind of kneel across your chest, but...” She shrugged.

Joe chuckled. “You’re a product of your times, Nile. Hundreds of years ago, it was understood that physical closeness -- even on a bed -- doesn’t need to equate to sexual activity. Neither Nicky nor I will feel uncomfortable, if you won’t,” he assured her.

Nile turned toward Nicky; he wasn’t as likely to be pulling her leg.

“It is true,” he confirmed. “If that is the easiest way for you to color Joe’s eyes, it is acceptable, and there will be no bad thoughts among us.”

Nile began to shove all the makeup back into her ditty bag. “Okay. Go lie on the bed, with your head and shoulders propped up so your head is raised a bit.” She shook her head as she followed Joe and Nicky out of the kitchen; sooner or later she’d get used to this new -- or rather, old -- mental outlook.

As she entered their bedroom she saw Joe already lying comfortably, head and shoulders propped on a fat pillow, hands resting loosely on his chest; he looked like he could doze off at any moment. Nicky was sitting on the footstool that matched the chair in the corner; he’d pulled it next to the head of the bed, patiently watchful, as always.

Nile snickered as she climbed onto the bed, settling one knee on either side of Joe’s chest. “I can’t decide if my mother would be scandalized to see me like this, or laughing her head off at the things I get into.”

“Is it so ‘scandalous’ to help out a friend?” Nicky asked.

“A ‘friend’, no. A hunky guy who’d have dozens of women throwing themselves at him if he wasn’t already married to you,” she flashed him a quick grin, “would likely cause at least a twinge of concern. She’s pretty open-minded, but still...” Nile supported her elbow on Joe’s shoulder as she wielded the eyeliner pencil on his right eye. Yes, this was much easier.

“But in this case, the two are the same, so perhaps your mother would not say anything,” Nicky suggested.

Nile upended her bag onto the bed and scanned the jumble for her case of eyeshadows. “Oh, she’d say a lot of things, but she wouldn’t mean anything by it. Like I said, pretty open-minded... shit!” For the third time, Nile hooked her braids behind her ears; her bent-over position allowed them to keep falling around her face and getting in her way.

Nicky stretched out his arm to grab Joe’s red ball-cap from the bedpost and offered it to her. “Perhaps this will help.”

“Thanks.” Nile gathered most of her braids into a loose bunch and pulled the cap over them. Yes, the cap would keep them contained, but not like this; the brim might bonk Joe in the face as she bent over him. It took just a second to turn it so the brim faced backwards, then she flipped open the eyeshadow case and picked up a brush. “Okay, Joe, keep your eyes closed. I’m going with green; I have a nice shimmery shade that’ll really make your eyes pop.”

Now that she had the direct, easy access to her ‘working area’ that she needed -- however inelegant it might look to an outside view -- it took just a few minutes for Nile to brush on the shadow, blend it out to the edge of the eyeliner, add a highlight of shimmering silver under his brows, and apply some mascara to his lashes. She climbed off Joe’s chest and handed him a mirror. “What do you think?”

Joe sat up to look at his reflection, giving her work the careful consideration due from one artist to another. “I like it very much; thank you, Nile.” He turned to grin at his husband, and received a radiant smile in return.

“You are beautiful, Joe.”

“I know.” Joe gave him a wink, then turned back to Nile. “Now, can you work such magic on my darling Nicolò? He should shine, too.”

“Sure,” Nile agreed easily. “The more the merrier. Nicky, trade places with Joe.”

Nicky’s expression became slightly alarmed. “I... do not need such... it is too much.”

Joe’s bright smile grew tender. “My Nicky is very shy,” he murmured to Nile, as if imparting a great secret. “Perhaps you could provide him with more subtle colors?”

“Easy-peasy,” Nile declared. “No eyeliner, just little golden-brown shadow -- matte instead of shimmery -- to bring out his eye-color, and a teeny bit of brown mascara, not black. That okay with you, Nicky?”

Nicky nodded. “If Joe wishes it. But you will make sure... just a little?”

“I promise; just a little.” Nile waved toward the pillows. “So, lie down.”

Joe watched as Nile applied the color, then, just as she finished, cleared his throat. “My Nicky has such beautiful lips. Do you have something for them...? But not too much,” he added with a fond glance at his husband.

Nile shrugged. “What do you think, Nicky? I have a very light lip-gloss, hardly any color -- just enough to make your lips shimmer -- and strawberry-flavored, so it doesn’t taste bad.”

“I like strawberries; it would be no hardship to kiss you if you choose to wear it,” Joe assured him.

Nicky turned his head to stare at Joe for a moment, then back to Nile. “Yes, please.”

“Still TMI, guys, but you got it.” She opened the lip-gloss. “Hold still.”

“We’re back! Where is everyone?” Booker’s voice called from the living room.

“In here!” Joe called back.

Andy, Quynh, and Booker crowded into the room; their arms were full of the elegant clothing they’d all chosen earlier, carefully protected by plastic bags.

“Did you get it all?” Joe asked as Nile climbed off Nicky and handed him the mirror.

“Everything.” Andy cast a dark look at her partner as she laid her armful over the back of a chair. “Quynh even made me get that red ruffled blouse she was so excited about.”

“It will look very good on you, and complement my red skirt,” Quynh replied serenely. “You can still wear black trousers and boots, so don’t complain.”

“The pant-legs are so wide they might as well be a skirt, and they’re covered with sequins! And the boots are flimsy fashion!” Andy’s voice dripped disgust.

Quynh was unmoved. “You are fortunate to not wear a dress like Nile and me.”

“Joe? What’s with...?” Booker waved at the scattered makeup on the bed, then at Joe’s face.

“Ah, yes; by the time you joined us, cosmetics for men was falling out of fashion. But in some eras before that, men of wealth often shone as brightly at the balls and parties as the ladies did. I think the gala tonight is a good excuse to add a little extra flair. Nile was kind enough to lend us her expertise. She did well, don’t you think?”

“If you’re trying to emulate a peacock,” Andy muttered.

Joe grinned widely. “But of course I am! The peacock dances for his mate, as I will dance with Nicky tonight, so I must look my finest.” He fluttered his eyelashes at Nicky, who chuckled softly at the display.

Booker cocked his head as he glanced from Joe to Nicky and back again. He nodded decisively as he turned to Nile. “Well, it seems like I should join in if I don’t want to be outshone. Would you be so kind? Maybe something between what you’ve done for Nicky and Joe.”

“I can do that.” Nile waved at the bed. “Assume the position.” As Booker settled onto the pillow, she added, “Although if we do much of this, I’ll have to give you all lessons.”

“Of course you will. I would enjoy learning at your hands.”

“Save the flirting for later and close your eyes,” Nile groused without heat. She made short work of applying a shimmery golden-brown eyeshadow above the eyeliner, added a thin highlight of gold under his brows, and finished with medium-brown mascara. She winked as she handed him the mirror. “Now you can flirt much more effectively.”

“I would not have thought something so small could make such a difference,” Booker said slowly. He looked up and smiled at her. “Thank you; it’s beautiful.”

Nile shrugged. “It’s no secret; why else would women continue to use it through thousands of years? Speaking of...” she turned to Andy and Quynh, “would you like some help, or do you prefer to do your own?”

Andy shrugged. “Why bother?”

“I will apply mine and Andromache’s.” Quynh calmly overruled Andy. “But perhaps you could advise me on modern styles in our room?”

“Happy to.” Nile shoved everything into her ditty bag and followed them.

“I feel like a princess,” Nile admitted as they all gathered in the living room. The front desk would call when the limo Copley had ordered arrived. “I’ve never even dreamed of wearing anything this elegant.”

“The feeling is valid, Votre Altesse,” Booker assured her with a soft smile. “You look like a princess.”

In truth, they all looked like royalty -- or at least Hollywood celebrities; they’d selected their outfits specifically so they’d blend in with the wealthy ‘movers and shakers’ they’d be infiltrating. As she smoothed her hands over the lace-covered gold fabric, Nile hoped their evening of gathering intel wouldn’t devolve into anything more strenuous than dancing; none of their clothing would survive the team’s usual type of action.

Joe answered when the phone rang. “Thank you; we’ll be right down.” Andy and Quynh moved toward the door, with Nicky and Joe following them.

Booker bowed slightly as he offered Nile his arm. “May I have the honor of escorting you this evening, Mademoiselle Freeman?”

Nile felt like curtsying, but doubted she could pull it off. She simply smiled as she rested her hand on his arm. “You are too kind, Monsieur le Livre; merci!” They followed their friends out the door.

They had just joined the others waiting for the elevator when they heard a shout from around the corner. “You can’t catch me!” A pint-sized figure appeared, looking over his shoulder as he ran, and narrowly avoided crashing into the group. Joe reached out to steady him as he swerved and stumbled. “Careful, little man! You don’t want to hurt anybody -- or yourself!”

“Thanks, mister,” the boy replied automatically. Then he actually focused on Joe, seemingly awestruck, as the elevator doors slid open beside them. “Wow! You look real pretty, mister.”

Nicky smiled down at the boy as he clasped Joe’s hand. “Yes. He always does.” His smile grew broader as he turned his gaze to Joe, then he tugged Joe’s hand gently as they followed the others into the elevator.

~The End~

sorellina - little sister
Votre Altesse - Your Highness

Author's Notes

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comments

Old Guard script: bold black names, blue descriptions

2020-09-05T20:04:16Z

I didn't produce this transcript alone. My most heartfelt thanks to the people who helped me with the technical aspects, and/or subjects of which I have insufficient knowledge. Especially:
Castalie gave me the French and Italian phrases (and translations) where the transcript said only, ‘Booker speaks French’, or ‘Nicky speaks Italian’. Bah!
Raine gave me invaluable information about weapons, the plane, and the training Nile has as a U.S Marine.
Lyssie cleared up a not-really-very-tricky plot point that completely eluded me. I felt so dumb, and appreciate her graciously answering such an obvious question.
Garonne gave me the words and translation of the song that plays as Andy and Booker go to meet Copley.
Tenderly_wicked provided the Russian phrase Andy told the pilot.
Purpleperdi pointed out where I was wrong about Nicky’s sniper scene. That’s fixed, now.
Sheafrotherdon identified the shape of the bedroom windows for me; I appreciate having accurate names.

Note well: I intend this work as a fandom resource. You may use it however you wish -- saved as reference, or written as quoted passages in your own works. (Or other methods that I'm not aware of; have fun.) Attribution is nice -- although I may be a bit flustered -- but not necessary.

Update: Aug 22, 2021 -- I’ve made major revisions. Added extensively to descriptions -- approximately 4,700 more words of action-description, about 1,300 more words of Copley’s-board descriptions. Changed some dialogue from what was in the provided transcript to what the characters actually said, and a couple of places where I originally attributed a line to the wrong character. (How did I make such a goof? No idea.) I also changed the formatting to put (most) descriptions on separate lines from dialogue. I find it easier to follow, but other people are not me. If you find it more difficult, feel free to copy to a document and format as you like -- or try one of the alternate formats in my Dreamwidth account. (Link in end notes.)

The Old Guard Transcript
Dialogue provided by Netflix
Descriptions provided by StarWatcher

[Shell casings clatter to the floor, followed by an empty magazine, land around a pair of booted feet.]
[Camera pans to bodies prone on floor, eyes staring and faces spattered with blood.]

[Booker in knitted cap, face partially concealed by the rifle in his left fist.]
Andy voiceover:
I’ve been here before...
[Joe’s face, wearing a backwards ball-cap.]
over and over again,
[Nicky’s face, hoodie covering hair.]
and each time the same question.
[Andy’s face.]
[Sound of footsteps approaching.]
Is this it? Will this time be the one?
[Booted foot stops next to her body.]
And each time the same answer. And I’m just so tired of it.

THE OLD GUARD appears on screen as music plays

Lyrics: We were born alone, And we die, Alone.
On our way, To call, Now I’m on my own
But I’m not safe... No, no, no...

[Andy, wearing sunglasses against the bright light, with a backpack over her right shoulder, strides through a narrow passageway, walking into diffuse sunlight where it opens out.]

MOROCCO appears on screen

[A motorbike engine revs and tires squeal as Booker rides away from the viewer, unbuttoned over-shirt loose and flapping in the airstream. As he guides the bike into a narrow passageway, a particularly high-flying flap reveals a pistol tucked in the back of his waistband.]

[Camera cuts back and forth between scenes of Andy continuing through several turns, in and out of covered passages and sunlight again, and scenes of Booker twisting and turning through narrow, dark passages, then around corners into sunlight. Booker bends over the handlebars as he revs the engine again; he passes two women walking, who move closer to a wall to give him room, then roars out of a shadowed, narrow passageway into sunlight. Andy is walking down the road in front of him.]

[Booker approaches Andy from the rear; he speeds past her, makes a sharp u-turn. Brakes screech as he stops the bike facing her. She stops walking and stares at him without expression. Booker looks back through his sunglasses, equally without expression.]

[His mouth twitches at left corner in a tiny smile; she shakes her head slightly as her mouth twitches in a slightly bigger smile, then she looks over her right shoulder to the empty street behind. Andy faces Booker again and approaches him with her smile growing... but still not wide, by any definition.]

Booker: You good?

Andy: Yeah.

Booker: Yeah?
[moves bike against wall, pulls duffel-bag from perch on handlebars, slings it over head to hang from right shoulder, moves to walk beside her]
You travel?

Andy: I did.
[unslings backpack, looks toward Booker with a smile. zips it open, reaches inside, pulls out a thick book, holds it in front of Booker without looking at him]
And I got you something.

[They continue conversation as they walk side-by-side down the street.]

Booker: What’s that?
[Andy shoulders backpack again as Booker takes book, turns it to read the spine]
Ooh, first edition Don Quixote.

Andy: Mm-hm.

Booker: That couldn’t have been cheap.

Andy: It wasn’t. [turns her head, smiles]
So why am I here, Booker?
[turns, looks over left shoulder to check street behind them]

Booker: You remember Surabaya eight years ago, right?

Andy: CIA.

Booker: Yeah. The guy who hired us, James Copley, reached out. He’s freelance now. He has a hostage situation in South Sudan.

[Their walking slows and stops. Andy turns to face Booker directly.]

Andy: [shakes head as she speaks] No, Booker. We don’t do repeats. You know that. It’s too risky.

Booker: [tilts head, raises eyebrows, stares calmly at her] Andy.

[Andy sighs, turns partly away, then back to Booker.]

Andy: Joe and Nicky?

Booker: At the hotel.

[Andy shakes her head slightly, turns and leads the way down the street. Booker gives her a beat, then follows.]

[Back view: Booker leads, Andy follows, as they walk past columns of a portico into a combination courtyard/hotel lobby. Booker heads toward the front desk as Andy continues farther.]

Clerk: Come back again.

Guest leaving: Thank you very much.

[Booker stops in front of desk.]

Clerk: Welcome to El Fenn, sir.

Booker: Bonjour. (Hello.)

Clerk: Checking in?

Booker: Oui, s’il-vous-plaît. (Yes, please.)

Clerk: Qu’est-ce qui vous amène à Marrakech? (What brings you to Marrakesh?)

Booker: La famille. [smiles tightly, insincerely] (The family.)

[Andy’s attention is drawn to a large screen on the wall showing “Breaking News”. She watches scenes of ‘Ongoing Crisis in Syria - 20 children killed, 100s injured’ and ‘Unrest in Haiti, 1 dead, 35 injured in second day of protests’. She hears a woman’s voice behind her.]

Tourist: Everyone say, “Marrakesh!”

[Camera pans out as Andy turns; to her left and slightly behind she sees a group of four women closely hugging and posing. One holds a smartphone for a selfie; its angle will catch Andy’s image.]

Tourists: Marrakesh!

[Andy turns her face away, but too late; the camera shutter clicks. She walks toward the group and extends her hand toward the phone.]

Andy: Would you like me to take one for you?

Tourist: [gives Andy phone] Oh, thank you so much. I just really suck at taking selfies.

[Andy takes phone, quickly scrolls to see that the most recent picture does show her face. She deletes it, then raises the phone and takes the group picture.]

Andy: There you go. [returns phone with a slight smile]

Tourists: Thank you!

[Andy and Booker walk through a courtyard -- Andy slightly behind and to Booker’s right -- toward a pair of wooden double doors with different sizes of colored and clear glass panes inset. The doors begin to open.]

Booker: Allora.

[Nicky opens the door inward and holds it as he looks out with a question on his face; Joe is some distance behind, looking over his shoulder. As soon as Nicky sees Andy, a smile lights his face. Andy steps forward as his arms open; they share a close, heartfelt hug.]

Andy: Mmm.

[As the hug ends and they separate, Andy chuckles while stroking her hand down the back of Nicky’s head and nape of his neck, then claps him on the shoulder.]

[She turns to Joe, standing a short distance into the room, waiting his turn. He steps forward into her open arms. Nicky stands close, smiling at the reunion. As Andy hugs Joe, he grabs her around the waist, lifts her and spins with her in his arms while growling playfully. She laughs happily.]

[Booker closes the doors, with his back to the happy reunion. His head is bowed, his face expressionless; he doesn’t join in the reunion.]

Joe: [puts her down, continues to hold her as he smiles; her hands remain on his shoulders]
You look great.

Andy: You look okay.

Joe: [laughs, turns to escort her into room] Thank you! Thank you!

[We see a small, low table in the lounge area/living room. Nicky’s hands pour coffee/tea from an orange teapot, as Andy’s hand lays her passport and sunglasses on the table and Booker’s hand adds a dollop from his silver hip flask to one of the cups. Nicky’s hand sets down the teapot and picks up a small, paper-wrapped package from the tea tray, then moves out of frame.]

[Camera pans out. A couch with decorative cushions is against the wall to screen left; Joe relaxes on it, leaning back with his hands behind his head. A second couch is at right angles to the first, against the back wall. After pouring, Booker sits on that couch, behind him, and drinks from his flask. Andy sits to his left, elbows on her knees, as she watches Nicky walk around the table and head toward her.]

Nicky: [stands in front of her] I have something for you.
[holds out the small package]

Andy: Nicky!
[takes it as she looks up at him with a smile and a small chuckle. holds it to her nose; eyes close as she sniffs deeply]
Mmm!
[Booker chuckles, Nicky smiles at her reaction]
Baklava.

Nicky: [casually, without looking at him] Five hundred, Booker.
[starts separating / counting bills from a folded stack in his hand]

Andy: [looks up at him, speaks flatly] No.

[Joe watches from his seat, hands still behind his head, smiling and chuckling.]

Booker: All right. [pulls wad of folded money from right front pocket]
All in. Here it is.

Andy: Really?

Nicky: All in!

Joe: All in! [two groups of folded bills thrown onto table, one on top of other.]

[Booker clears his throat as Andy unwraps the paper and pulls out a flaky pastry. A look of bliss crosses her face as she takes a bite, then smiles up at Nicky.]

Andy: Mmm! Mm!
[Nicky watches closely. Joe leans back, relaxed, watches with easy amusement.]
Hazelnut, not walnut.
[Nicky nods in confirmation. behind Andy’s right shoulder, Booker’s raised left hand lifts thumb as he counts points]
Black Sea.
[Booker adds index finger to count]
[Nicky blinks, dips head, shifts body]
Rosewater.
[Booker drops thumb to hold pinkie, three fingers up, blows air in amazement.]
[Andy leans back, closes eyes to savor taste. Joe gives a long whistle]
Pomegranate.
[throws head back, over back of couch, reveling in the flavor]
Mmm!
[raises head, gives Nicky triumphant smile, speaks softly]
Eastern Turkey.

Booker: [on a howling note as he sits forward, pumps fist gleefully] Ow!

[Nicky turns away with a delighted smile. Joe bends forward with uproarious laughter.]

Booker: [reaches for money as he speaks through laughter]
Grazie mille, Nicky, veramente. Sei molto gentile. (A thousand thanks, Nicky, truly. You’re very kind.)

Joe: Santa Maria, Madre di Dio. (Holy Mary, Mother of God.)
[leans back, crosses hands behind head again]

Nicky: [waves away the words] Prego, prego, prego. (Don’t mention it.)

Joe: No, no, no. Don’t worry.

[Andy laughs with delight, licks crumbs from her thumb as Booker leans back, left arm on the back of the couch behind Andy, left leg crossed with ankle on right knee. Nicky plops into a cushioned chair on the other side of the table and swipes his hands over his face.]

Joe: [points finger] Admit it, Boss. You missed us.

Andy: [nods as she looks at Joe and Nicky] I did.

Booker: [takes a deep breath] It’s a job, guys.

[Andy is leaning forward, elbows on her knees, hands clasped. She’s looking down, doesn’t respond to Booker’s statement.]

Nicky: [observes Andy calmly] We can do some good.

Andy: [still looking down, face shows tension]
Have you been watching the news lately?
[looks up, shakes head slightly, looks down again]
Some good means nothing.
[stands, glances at them, turns away]
I don’t know about this, guys. We’re not helping.
[crosses to open window, rests left arm against side frame, looks out]

Joe: [calmly] I know you needed a break, but it’s been over a year, Boss.

Nicky: [quietly confident] This is what we do, Andy.

[Andy fidgets with her fingers, turns to look at them. Booker gives her a subdued nod; he agrees with the others.]

Andy: [turns back to the window, pauses as face firms] I’ll hear him out.

6:00 minutes

[Aerial view of city. Buildings are shades of tan or grey, some with courtyards or arched openings visible. Most seem low, three stories or less. A tall, square minaret (?) rises in the center. Thunder rumbles. Music plays. Ground view of crowded streets, cars and people, awnings and umbrellas are raised over vending stalls and tables for shade.]

“Keep This Between Us” by Krtas Nssa begins playing
Ça marche, bizarre, toujours, fidèle
Ça passe, tequila, toujours, fidèle
Ça marche mais bizarre
T'inquiètes je suis bourrée
Aime moi aime moi, aime moi t’es pour moi

It's okay, weird, always, faithful
It fits, tequila, always, faithful
It's okay, but weird
Don't worry, I'm drunk
Love me, love me, love me, you're for me.

[Booker strides through the crowds, Andy follows. Both wear sunglasses to help hide the careful observations they make of the people around them. Camera pans back to show a variety of vending stalls under canopies, forming several rows. The spaces between and around are so crowded with people it would seem difficult to make any headway.]

[They approach a black man sitting at an outdoor table, under an umbrella. He smiles as he sees them near, stands as they reach him.]

Booker: Mr. Copley. [extends hand]

Copley: [shakes Booker’s hand, speaks with slight British accent]
Mr. Booker, bonjour.
[shakes Andy’s hand]
It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.

Andy: [tilts head in mild challenge] Last time I checked, you had to be American to be in the CIA.

Copley: [laughs as they all sit] I was born in Boston. Moved to London when I was three.

Andy: So why did you leave the agency, Mr. Copley?

Copley: My wife got sick. ALS. She died two years ago. Just haven’t found my way back yet.

Andy: Sorry for your loss.

Copley: Thank you. [tilts head, raises hand] You haven’t aged a day, Booker.

Booker: Trust me, I have.

Copley: [laughs] Yeah.

[Booker slouches in his seat through the conversation, watching while Copley makes his case and Andy remains carefully noncommittal.]

Copley: [folded newspaper on table; he pushes it toward Booker. tablet with active screen visible under paper]
Yesterday afternoon local, a school southwest of Juba was attacked by a militia. They murdered the teachers and abducted seventeen of the students at gunpoint.
[Booker turns paper toward Andy. Headline reads: ‘U.N. Condemns Child Abductions in South Sudan’. Sub-headline reads: ‘17 Schoolgirls Abducted From the M(something) Region’.]
The youngest was eight... oldest, thirteen.
[Andy turns head slightly to stare at paper, then looks up and out]
[we’re looking at the group through crosshairs of rifle scope]
South Sudanese asked the U.S for help, but current administration’s policy is to deny aid to any nonstrategic allies.
[Camera pans up rifle barrel to show Nicky keeping steady aim on Copley, then into room. Nicky sits hunched on tapestry-covered square object (footstool?) to aim out window. Joe listens to headphones, adjusts volume on equipment]
[turns to Andy, speaks earnestly, trying to convince her]
Some of my ex colleagues at the CIA feel differently.
[Andy glances around as she picks up tablet]
They reached out to me, and I’m reaching out to you.
[Andy is scrolling through the information]
The last overfly confirmed the personnel on site.
[final picture is group of smiling, very young black girls, wearing uniform dresses, in front of a school]
No food or water being brought in.

Andy: [drops newspaper over tablet] That means they’re moving them soon.

Copley: [nods several times]
And when they do, most likely they’ll be separated, and odds are...
[shakes head slightly]
we’ll never find them again. Has to be done quickly... by the best, and your team’s the best I’ve ever seen. You can name your price.

[Andy pushes her chair back and stands, stares at Copley, then Booker. Booker looks up at her, seems about to speak, waits. Andy pauses, turns away, hesitates, turns back.]

Andy: We’ll invoice you when it’s done.
[strides away. Booker rises, grabs paper and tablet, follows Andy]

[View through rifle scope. Copley watches them go, looks around, then focuses right at the window. He tilts his head with a smile and waves with left hand. Nicky huffs a soft laugh.]

8:27 minutes

[View of helicopter flying against a sun-seared sky, flying over barren landscape.]

[Andy’s in the right seat, wearing sunglasses, pack in her lap, handle of labrys rising above her right shoulder from behind. She looks out the window to a brown, rocky land with occasional, sparsely-leafed, green trees. She turns her head to watch Booker to her left. He wears a dark, knitted cap pulled down to his ears. He has a kitchen cutting-board (?) in his lap, which holds a large brick of plastic explosive; he’s cut off smaller pieces that he’s forming to different sizes.]

[Camera pans up past a sheathed sword. As the hilt comes into view, it is strapped to someone’s left hip. The hilt is positioned next to a black-clad arm and gloved hand. Camera pans up to show the hand holding the back part of some large shotgun or rifle (?) silhouetted against the window. Camera rises more to reveal Nicky, with Joe to his right. Nicky wears a dark hoodie pulled over his head and hanging low over his face; his head is bowed, eyes closed. Joe wears sunglasses and a dark ball-cap turned backwards. He seems calm, chewing gum.]

[View of helicopter from above, flying over a terrain of broken hills and gullies, dotted by widely-spaced trees.]

[Behind Booker, the pilot looks back and raises three fingers. Booker and Andy are seated with their backs to the pilot, traveling backward, with Joe and Nicky across from them, traveling forward. Joe raises three fingers in confirmation, looks to check that Andy saw him; she nods. Nicky looks to Joe, who nods and smiles, then Nicky turns to look out the window. In preparation for landing, Andy reaches up to hold something solid as she looks out the window toward the ground.]

[The helicopter lands. Nicky is visible through the window as he slides the door open. Andy jumps out, followed by Booker, Joe -- with the hilt of his scimitar rising above his right shoulder -- and Nicky. All are now wearing sunglasses, and all carry equipment packs of some sort -- Booker’s and Nicky’s on their backs, Joe’s slung over his left shoulder, Andy’s slung over her right shoulder They wait for the helicopter to lift off (with door still open), then turn and start walking away from the camera. Nicky has pulled part of the hoodie (?) over his mouth and nose; he carries the large rifle slung over his right shoulder on a strap and hanging beside/behind him. Booker carries a rifle in his arms across his chest. The men fall in behind Andy -- Booker, Joe, Nicky -- as they walk over dry, sandy ground toward a smudge of greenery with low, barren hills rising beyond.]

SOUTH SUDAN appears on screen

[The walk seems long. We see them walking on a hilltop against the sky, still in single-file, then a similar view, more distant. They continue walking through a gulley, still single-file.]

[People come into view -- a woman in a print dress, walking with a tall, square container balanced on her head, her daughter beside her, holding her hand, then another woman with a similar container, yellow, on her head. Behind them is a man in a knit cap.]

[Andy comes into view, turns to look behind, keeps walking. Booker follows, still carrying the rifle in his arms. Joe is behind him, also with a rifle in his arms. Nicky is last, also with a rifle in his arms, his hoodie pushed back to leave his head bare. He speaks as the first woman and girl pass him.]

Nicky: A mal teh-ke jee.
(from script online. ‘Peace be with you’ in Nuer.)

[As the two groups pass each other, the little girl turns to look back at these strange foreigners. The local group is larger than we first saw -- three men are behind the women, one urging along a small herd of goats, plus the women and girl. One man carries a large, tannish cloth bag, hanging in front of him from a strap over his shoulder and across his back; he uses a walking-stick.]

[Night, with a full moon high in the sky, and crickets chirping nearby. A cluster of buildings is crowded close together, with security lights rising above them. A fire flickers in front of one of the buildings, screen-right.]

[A bright spotlight shines into the night, with a guard beside it to the left, staring out into the dark. Camera pans back to show a raised walkway with the spotlight screen-right; a second guard stands center-screen, to the right of the light, watching into the night with binoculars. He scans a chain-link fence with coils of barbed wire on top, a pickup truck on the other side of the fence, the empty terrain beyond. The other guard approaches, walking slowly, carrying a rifle. As he passes behind binoculars-guard, there is a bright muzzle-flash beyond the fence; a high-powered bullet goes through both heads, snick-snick, one after the other. They drop instantly.]

[Nicky is prone on the ground, peering through the scope of his sniper rifle; he cocks the rifle, catches the shell as it’s ejected. Joe is crouched, watching through night-glasses. He turns his head sharply, nods that Nicky’s shot went true, turns back to the night-glasses. Andy nods, rises from her crouch and moves out.]

[The four of them slightly spread out, silhouetted against the compound as they walk toward it. When they reach the fence, Booker crouches and grabs the wire. Nicky, with hoodie in place, moves past him to the right, rifle aimed along the fence-line. Joe takes guard at the left side of the group, also aiming along the fence. Booker uses wire-snips to cut the fence as Andy stands beside him with a pistol in her hands, watching into the dark behind them.]

[Booker holds back the cut fence. Andy steps through the gap and moves forward, handgun extended, to the corner of a building. Joe steps through the fence, then Nicky, then Booker. Joe and Nicky head right, Booker follows Andy. Nicky follows Joe as they slip past a small fire in a metal barrel, then around the corner of a building, rifles constantly extended, ready to fire. Andy and Booker slip between a building and parked truck, weapons extended and ready.]

[Nicky waits with weapon raised, back against a wall, next to the corner at his right. He’s concealed from two men who are walking along the other wall of the building, silhouetted by security lights behind them. Joe drops from the roof, lands between them, uses his scimitar to stab the first man, then spins; we hear the blade as it slashes into the second man, cutting off his muffled cry. Joe holds the body against the wall with a hand on his chin, takes a second to wipe the blood from the blade on the man's pants, then lets him fall. Nicky comes around the corner, tosses handgun (sawed-off shotgun?) to Joe. They move quickly between the buildings, Joe jogging easily with the shotgun (?) in his left hand, scimitar in his right. Nicky follows slightly behind him weapon extended.]

[Andy comes out of the darkness between two buildings, shoots two men in the open space beyond. She continues forward, turns right around the corner of the building. Booker follows, watching her flank. Joe and Nicky approach from beyond them, turning left to follow Andy and Booker.]

[They all move toward their target, Andy slightly in the lead, pistol extended. Joe (with scimitar hilt showing behind his head) is to her left, Nicky to her right, Booker to his right, all with rifles extended. They pass a pile of children’s shoes in the dirt as they approach a large, apparently thick, wooden door, recessed into the wall, with a light on the wall above it. Andy stands to the right of the door, back against the wall, pistol aimed into the darkness. Joe stands to the left of the door, rifle safely pointing downward but ready to fire if it opens. Nicky is farther left, against the wall behind Joe, covering that sector. Booker places the explosive at various points on the door. As he waits, Joe stares at the pile of shoes at his feet. Andy checks the magazine in her handgun. Booker nods to Joe, all step away and turn their faces. A rather quiet blast destroys the door and they all run in, Andy in the lead.]

[They move cautiously down a flight of dark, steep, stone stairs, Andy still leading, flashlights on their weapons pointing the way.]

Andy: [reaches bottom, shines light on empty floor with no marks or debris, barren walls]
What the...

[All move forward a few steps into the room, spreading out beside each other, flash their lights around to reveal a large, completely empty room.]

Nicky: [to her right, rifle ready to fire at any threat] Are we too late?

[Suddenly a bank of bright lights flash on to reveal Nicky, Andy, Joe, Booker standing in a line, exposed in a barren, wide-open space with no possible cover, although there are several empty doorways on each side.]

Andy: [lowers her handgun as realization hits] Motherfuck-

[They’re hit with multiple rounds of machine-gun fire as a dozen mercenaries (?) step out of the shadowed doorways. The mercenaries continue firing until their weapons are empty. The immortals jerk repeatedly as the bullets hit; they fall to the ground. The mercenaries -- shadowy, amorphous figures backlit by the spotlights -- wait a moment, machine-guns still aimed, to ensure that their targets are truly dead.]

[Shell casings clatter to the floor; opening scene is reprised.]

Mercenary: [approaches, stares down at unmoving bodies] Room clear!

[The mercenaries lower their weapons and gather at the far end of the room, chatting among themselves and ignoring the bodies.]

[Focus on Andy’s face, lit by a fallen flashlight; we see her pupils contract and hear a soft crackling as flesh heals, then she takes a soft breath as her eyes flicker and blink. She gasps a few more breaths.]

[Nicky gasps quietly, takes a deep breath.]

[Booker shifts his head, blinks; a bullet extrudes from the skin below his left eye and clinks on the floor. He groans quietly.]

[Joe’s hand, resting a bare inch away from his rifle, twitches, then grabs the stock tightly. He groans quietly, winces; a bullet falls out of his forehead. He shifts his eyes upward to assess their enemies silhouetted against the lights.]

[Andy brings a hand under her, raises her head, begins to push herself upward. The others do the same.]

[As he raises himself, Joe immediately turns his head to find Nicky, sees him looking back. Nicky nods at him.]

[Booker grunts softly as he raises himself. Maybe it’s heard, maybe one of the mercenaries notices a flicker of movement, but a couple turn to see the ‘bodies’ rising.]

Merc1: Oh, my God!

Merc2: Shit!

[As Andy rises, she grabs her pistol from her holster as she sprints forward. The men keep pace, spreading out to engage.]

Merc3: Look out! Reload!

Merc4: What the hell?

[The mercenaries are in disarray, shouting warnings to each other and trying to reload. The immortals charge into the group; they need to take out their enemies as quickly as possible.]

[Sound of gunfire; impossible to tell from which group.]

[Andy closes on a merc before he can bring his rifle to bear. She uses her gun-arm to knock the rifle aside, then rebounds to smack him in the face with her pistol, left to right and reverse right to left, then uses a two-handed grip to push the pistol into his chest and shoot. She grabs the merc’s long gun, tosses it into the air.]

[Joe snatches the tumbling long gun (with a light on it) from the air. Nicky, at his left with hoodie down, shoots left-handed at the merc in front of them; Joe semi-crouches as the merc goes down and shoots him again, then drops the long gun, turns sharply to right to engage another enemy as Nicky draws his sword and slices a merc behind them.]

[Booker fires two shots into a merc, ducks under the swinging rifle of another, lunges up to slam his rifle stock into the merc's head, right-left.]

[Andy whirls, karate-chops a merc's neck and across his chest (?) punches her pistol forward into his chest, knocks him back and fires.]

[Nicky slices a merc on an upswing, whirls while raising the sword, and brings it down across his neck.]

[Joe grabs a merc’s right arm with his left, pulls him forward and knees him in the chest, impales him with his scimitar as the merc falls away. He raises his scimitar high and brings it down across another merc to his right.]

[Nicky shoots a merc left-handed, impales him with his sword as he falls.]

[Andy shoots a merc twice, reverses the pistol to club him in the head with the butt.]

[Booker clubs a merc with the butt of his rifle, then shoots him as he stumbles backward, turns and knocks aside the rifle of another merc approaching from behind, knocks the merc's head with his head. The merc falls, his finger on the trigger reflexively firing into the ceiling. Booker drops back and rolls, rises to shoot the merc from one knee.]

[Andy draws her labrys, stalks forward while spinning it in her hand to build momentum, whirls and steps forward to slash across a merc's midsection, 1-2, then slams the butt of the labrys into his chest. As he goes down, she raises the labrys high, whirls again as she moves forward to slash another merc, pulls him forward as he falls, hangs on to him as she turns to lift the labrys high and slice down across the merc approaching from behind. She flings the merc she was holding away from her, and Booker shoots him. Andy turns and slashes another merc behind her, then spins and thrusts the labrys like a sword into the chest of another merc, raises it above her shoulder and brings it down to chop into his neck. She spins 1-1/2 times, labrys at shoulder level, strikes a merc approaching from behind, raises the labrys high and brings it down again to deliver the killing blow. Andy breathes heavily as she looks around for more targets, the labrys dripping blood from its blade.]

[It’s over; all the mercs are down, unmoving, only the immortals left standing. Joe and Nicky are bent forward, panting after such a violent effort, although they turn their heads to scan for missed targets. Booker stands at a doorway in the far wall, also looking for other enemies.]

[They gradually relax, stand straight, take a deep breath, but remain alert, looking for more trouble.]

Andy: Everyone still with me?

Booker: Yeah.

Nicky: Sì. Tutto bene. (Yes. All’s well.)

Andy: Joe?

Joe: [spits out a bullet] Very pissed off.

Nicky: So where are the girls?

Andy: [looks around, notices camera mounted on ceiling. scans room, evaluates information, speaks grimly]
There never were any girls.
[As she walks toward camera; Nicky follows her gaze; he looks alarmed, but the men remain spread out on guard as she stares angrily into it.]
We’ve been set up.

[Copley sits, watching the laptop. He runs a hand over his face with a worried frown.]

[On the screen, Andy’s mouth tightens, then she slowly, deliberately -- letting the watcher see her intent -- raises her labrys high to take a vicious swing that destroys the camera. The screen goes dark.]

[Copley blinks at the screen, taps a few keys to run a playback. He sees the immortals fall under the first assault, then reaches for his cellphone, scrolls through the screen.]

Copley: [assuring himself] Yeah, I got it.
[camera pans to desk, shows Andy glowering from laptop screen. larger monitor to right shows picture of civil war Union soldiers posed in front of tent, labeled at bottom, ‘Nicky, Joe, Andy, Booker?’]
Yeah.

[Daytime, outdoors. The team’s legs are around a hole in the ground as ruined clothing is thrown into it. Booker’s hands use a small collapsible shovel to throw dirt over the lot. Camera pulls back to show Nicky use a cloth to wipe the sweat/dirt from the back of his neck; he tosses the cloth into the hole. Joe, to Nicky’s left, wipes his face on the sleeve of his T-shirt. Camera pulls back farther; they are in a desolate area among the hills, wearing ordinary clothes -- Joe and Nicky in T-shirt and jeans, Booker also in jeans, with a long-sleeved shirt rolled to the elbows over his T-shirt, Andy with a light denim jacket over her tank top. Joe and Nicky stand as they watch Booker cover the clothing.]

[As Booker continues covering the clothes, Andy sits down on a large, flat rock, elbows on knees, head bowed into her hand. She looks the picture of despair. Andy raises her head as Booker finishes, brushes her hair back from her face, shakes her head to herself. Booker jams the shovel to stand in the ground and takes a deep breath as he stands upright, still looking down at the buried clothing.]

Joe: [turns slightly toward Nicky, then back to address whole group]
One has to admire Mr. Copley’s attention to detail. Those shoes were a particularly [slight laugh on the word] grotesque touch.

Andy: [defeated voice] I knew this was gonna happen. I said it.

Nicky: [quietly, calmly] We did it right, Andy. For the right reasons.

Andy: [raises head to him, angry]
And what did it get us, Nicky? What?
[Nicky and Joe stare at her; they have no good answer.]
Nothing. We’ve done nothing. The world isn’t getting any better. It’s getting worse.

Booker: [crouching by filled hole]
I checked him completely, and... everything seemed legit.
[stands, sounds dejected]
I’m sorry, guys.

Andy: [anger has left; she’s despondent again]
They know who we are. They know what we are.
[Nicky, checking their weapons, turns his head to her, concerned.]
We have to find Copley.
[mouth firms, nods to herself]
We have to tie this thing off.

Booker: And then what?

Andy: [turns to him, voice hard]
And then nothing.
[looks down, shakes head. quietly, almost speaking to herself,]
The world can burn for all I care.
[stands, kicks a few rocks into the dirt-filled hole. reaches down, grabs labrys and backpack]
I’m done.

[She strides away. The men pick up their weapons and packs and follow.]

17:23 minutes

[Aerial view, flying over tan, barren landscape, rocky and hilly, broken by gullies and cliffs.]

AFGHANISTAN appears on screen

[Viewpoint crosses a ridge and pans down toward a small town, with buildings the same color as the landscape. A military vehicle drives down a road, past groups of local people in the streets and children watching. A number of armed US military are patrolling, wearing desert camo.]

[Several soldiers are showing a picture to groups of men, women, and children. The local people consistently shake their heads; they haven’t seen that person.]

[One soldier squats down, offers candy to a group of children; they snatch it from the soldier’s hands.]

[One boy is on the outskirts of the group, not joining in. The soldier -- a young black woman with a cheerful smile -- stands, motions him forward. The boy goes to her and takes the candy she offers.]

Soldier: [smiles] Hm?

Boy: [in Pashto] Thank you.

Soldier: [in Pashto, still smiling] You’re welcome.

[A nearby woman -- Nile’s interpreter, dressed according to local custom, with added bulletproof vest -- watches with a smile.]

[A short distance away, two soldiers are speaking with a pair of older local men. One turns and calls out.]

Sergeant: Freeman, where you at?

Nile: Here, Sergeant.

[She stands and turns, repositioning her rifle, which is now at eye-level to boy; he stops smiling and looks up at her warily. Nile goes to the sergeant, followed by the interpreter.]

Sergeant: The women are holed up in the house with the arches.
[turns, points down street, past line of laundry blowing in breeze]
Take a right at the building with the red carpet. Get me some information.

Nile: [nods firmly] Roger that.

[She turns toward another female soldier across the road speaking with a pair of young boys, slaps the top of her helmet twice, sharply. Other soldier leaves the boys and joins Nile.]

[Nile waves over a third female soldier, who leaves the other soldier and two young boys they were speaking with and joins the group. The four women stride down the street, the soldiers watching for danger as they walk, then cautiously approach the designated house.]

Nile: Keep it respectful.

Jay: Don’t we always?

Nile: [calmly] Never hurts to repeat it.

[They walk past an outer courtyard (?) with laundry hanging from lines, toward an inner courtyard (?) with several small groups of women sitting and chatting.]

[As they are seen, one woman jumps up in apparent alarm, seems to urge the other women up. They gather in one large group and wait tensely as the soldiers approach.]

[Nile lowers her rifle, removes her helmet, places her right hand on her chest, and bows respectfully. She speaks in calm tones.]

Nile: As-Salaam-Alaikum. [continues in memorized(?) Pashto]
My name is Nile. I am an American Marine.

[Nile continues to speak in English, while the interpreter translates to Pashto.]

Nile: [displays the picture]
We are looking for this man. [translation]
He has killed many of our people, and many of yours. [translation]
[as she speaks, other two soldiers peer around a few corners, while keeping Nile and group of women in view]
Have any of you seen him? [translation]
[women listen with faces turned to side or downward, but no overt reaction; some avoid looking at picture, and all are silent]
[one older woman raises eyes to look at Nile. Nile holds picture directly in front of her, speaks gently]
You do not disrespect your family by telling us where he is. [translation]

[The older woman raises her head and speaks quietly.]

Interpreter: There are no men here. To use women as shields is to be no man at all.

[Nile tucks the picture into her vest pack. As she looks up, the older woman catches her gaze, deliberately shifts her eyes to a faded red, tapestry-covered doorway to Nile's left, then carefully catches Nile’s eyes again.]

Nile: [takes deep breath, bows head] Thank you for allowing us into your home.

[As the interpreter speaks, Nile puts on her helmet and buckles the chin-strap. She gives sharp hand-gestures to her fellow-soldiers, directing them to the doorway. They lift their rifles and approach. She joins the lineup to the left of the tapestry -- first Dizzy (dark hair in bun) with rifle aimed forward, Nile, then Jay (very short hair, goggles), both with rifles pointed up.]

Interpreter: [in Pashto] We will leave you in peace.

[Dizzy crosses to the right side of the tapestry, keeping her rifle aimed toward it. Nile steps forward, rifle at the ready, while Jay turns back-to-back with Nile, covering their rear.]

[Interpreter silently motions all the women to follow her, to leave the potential battle zone. As the women begin to leave, and Nile’s team maintains their positions and attention, a short burst of gunfire comes from within the building, out through the tapestry, which falls to the ground. The women scream, duck, and run.]

Nile: Breach!

[Jay steps forward and kicks the door open as Nile and Dizzy cover the door. Jay steps out of the line of fire and Nile leads her team in, rifle ready. The man inside cocks his weapon.]

Nile: Stop!

[The man starts to raise his weapon. Nile fires two shots. The man goes down. Nile continues inside then pauses, stares at the blood spreading on his shirt as he gasps on the floor.]

Nile: Clear! Covering!

Jay: Clear!

[Nile picks up the man’s rifle, unloads it, drops it. She kneels next to man’s left side while Jay stands close and aims her rifle at him. Behind them, Dizzy prowls the back wall, scanning shelves of bomb-making materials. Nile frisks the man for more weapons as she speaks on the radio.]

Nile: Lima three, this is India five. Contact, over. [looks up] Jay, go check on the women.

Jay: On it. [points rifle up, turns and leaves]

Dizzy: [stares at rolls of wiring, a jar of metal bits] Look at all this shit. It’s a jackpot.

Nile: [turns, speaks fiercely] Not if he bleeds out. They wanted him alive, remember?

[She reaches into a pocket, pulls out a package of gauze while keeping pressure on the wound, tears it open with her teeth.]

Man: Do not... Do not touch me.

Nile: I’m trying to save you, man. [turns head, speaks urgently] Dizzy, a little help, please?

[While Nile’s head is turned, the man pulls a knife from under his body, slices a deep cut into her neck, from left side to center. Blood pours out of the wound as Nile chokes, collapses backward.]

Dizzy:
[turns, eyes go wide and horror-stricken as she sees the damage]
Nile! [shouts] Medic! Man down!
[drops to knees beside Nile, who is choking, reaching toward her neck]
[view of man, apparently dead, head to the side]
Nile! Jesus! [shouts again] Medic!
[removes Nile’s helmet, tries to apply pressure to wound. Nile continues gasping, choking as pool of blood grows on floor]
[softly] Nile. [louder, frantic] Stay with me! Oh, my... God! Jesus, Nile. Com’ere. Stay with me. Look at me. Look at me. You’re gonna be okay.
[Nile's left hand reflexively grasps Dizzy’s arm, begging for help]
Nile! Nile!
[Nile’s eyes lose focus, head sags to side]
You’re okay. It’s okay. Stay with me. Just look at me. Look at me.
[Dizzy frantically pumps Nile’s hand, trying to keep her aware]
Medics on their way. Medics on their way.
[a tear drops from corner of Nile’s left eye, rolls down side of her face]
No, no. It’s okay.
[Dizzy’s voice grows fainter, until barely audible]
It’s okay. Medic’s coming!
[Nile can no longer hear or see Dizzy; everything fades into a bright haze.]

21:47 minutes

[Daytime, flat, scrubby landscape. Train crosses in the distance, sounds its horn.]

[Interior of boxcar, mostly empty. The team is at the back half of the car. Andy sits against the left wall, arms crossed, trying to keep watch, (?) but her eyelids keep drooping.]

[Across from her, Joe and Nicky are sleeping on their sides, Nicky wrapped in Joe’s arms, Joe’s face tucked into the back of Nicky’s neck.]

[Booker is slumped into a corner farther along Andy’s wall, sleeping half sitting up, head and neck at an uncomfortable angle.]

[Andy loses her battle to stay awake; her eyes close and her head drops forward.]

[Fuzzy view of helmet lying on a striped rug.]
[Fuzzy view of Nile’s desperate face.]
[Nicky and Joe breathe heavily, twitch in their sleep.]
[Fuzzy view of smiling Afghani boy, sound of laughing.]
[Fuzzy view of Afghani woman, scarf covers her lower face.]
[Fuzzy view of helicopter.]
[Joe’s fingers twitch and spasm on Nicky’s arm.]
[Fuzzy view of nametag on uniform -- Marine emblem center, CPL upper left corner, FREEMAN, N lower left corner, USMC lower right corner. O POS upper right corner.]
[Fuzzy view of Nile’s hand reaching upward, variegated striped rug behind.]
[Booker flinches in his sleep.]
[Fuzzy view of doorway in a stone wall, fades into bright light.]
[Fuzzy view of knife on a rug.]
[Fuzzy view of Nile’s neck being cut, blood falling, Nile beginning to collapse.]
[Andy jerks awake with a gasp.]
[Nicky, Joe, and Booker jolt awake at the same time. All sit up sharply under the impetus of the visions.]

[Fuzzy view of the train passing, Booker drinking from flask, Nicky and Joe sleeping, Andy’s face, burst of water bubbles.]

[Nile jolts awake, panting. She has a large white bandage on her neck, wearing a white hospital gown. She looks around suspiciously, sees that she’s on a hospital bed, alone in a medical tent. She raises her hand to her neck as she hears a helicopter overhead. She takes a few deep calming breaths and starts to relax back onto her bed.]

Andy: [leans forward, runs hands through hair] What the...
[face shows confusion, disbelief. shakes head]

[Booker uncaps his flask and takes a drink.]
[Nicky brings right hand to his mouth, then stares at it; there is no blood.]
[Joe turns to right to grab a small book from his backpack against the wall.]

Andy: No. No, not another one. [shakes head] Not now.

[Joe has his book open, pencil poised.]

Nicky: It was a woman. [Joe turns to him] A black woman.

Joe: [sketching in book] I saw an older woman in a hijab.
[glances at Andy; she’s breathing heavily, seems blank as she looks at him]
[turns to Booker, eyes urgent; he needs every scrap of information]
What did you see?

Booker: I saw... [gestures with spread fingers to show size] I saw part of a nametag.

Joe: Uh, yeah.
[closes eyes tightly to check memory, points to Booker]
Free... free something.
[turns back to book]

Booker: Yeah. [leans head against wall, seems disturbed]

Nicky: [intense] Dirt floor, clay walls.

Booker: And a medevac. [drops head, sighs]

Joe: Yeah, so maybe a, uh...
[covers face with right hand as he tries to hold on to images/ideas]
[Andy leans head back against wall, stares upward -- possibly into infinity]
a coalition... a... medical team.
[adds to sketch in book]

Nicky: The knife was a pesh kabz. Pashtun.

Booker: [groans, rubs left side of neck] I felt her die.

Andy: [stares at nothing straight ahead, voice is remote, detached]
She’s a Marine.
[Joe and Nicky look up together.]
Combat. Or near-combat duty. Afghanistan.
[closes eyes, shakes head slowly, wearily]
It’s been over two hundred years.
[whispers, anguished]
Why now?
[buries head in hands]

Nicky: [with calm certainty] Everything happens for a reason, Boss.

[Andy stares at him, huffs, gives a disbelieving half-smile as she turns her head away.]

Joe: [raises head from drawing, speaks firmly] We have to find her.

Booker: [adamant] No, we stick to the plan. We find Copley.

Joe: [challenging] So we just leave her out in the open?

Booker: [almost angry] No, we’re in the open. We’re the ones who are exposed now.

Nicky: Not like her, Booker.

Booker: Nicky...

Nicky: [quietly] Not like her.
[head bows, eyes close, brows twitch together]
You can’t tell me you don’t remember what it was like.
[looks at Joe, then Booker, speaks intensely]
Whoever she is, she’s confused, and she’s scared, and she’s more alone than she has ever been in her entire life.
[Andy stares at him, expression a mix of blankness and pain]
We all remember what it was like.
[Andy bows head, shaking it slowly, wearily. Booker turns head and sighs]
[Joe continues sketching, producing a recognizable image of Nile.]
She needs us.

Andy: [kicks floor in anger, lunges to feet] I’ll handle the retrieval.

Booker: Hey, Boss, come on.

Andy: [grabs backpack, pulls it onto right shoulder; voice is hard, almost angry]
If we’re dreaming about her, she’s dreaming about us. That makes her a beacon straight to us.

Booker: What do we do in the meantime?

Andy: Get to France. Use the Charlie safehouse. I’ll meet you there.
[Joe examines sketch, blows off pencil-dust. she stares at Booker]
Find Copley.
[Joe tears out page, gives her the sketch. she stares at it, almost whispers,]
Jesus. She’s just a baby.

[Andy crosses to the door and slides it open. She looks around at the terrain, then jumps out. The train passes. Andy, a very small silhouette in the vast landscape, strides forward.]

25:10 minutes

[Aerial view. Helicopter flies over a military base: a few buildings, many tents, all beige-sand colored like the terrain. A military light utility vehicle (LUV) drives down the wider, center road; pairs and small groups of soldiers casually walk around. Camera moves to ground level to show groups of soldiers coming and going, then focuses on two female soldiers walking and talking.]

Dizzy: [intensely] I know I saw her die.

Jay: A little blood can look like a lot. Adrenaline flying, everyone was seeing shit they didn’t.

Dizzy: I was holding her neck together in my hands.

Jay: [stops, faces Dizzy directly, speaks firmly]
You’d rather we sent her home in a body bag?

Dizzy: [taken aback, blinks, tiny head-shake] No. Course not.

Jay: [stares directly into Dizzy’s eyes] So come on.

[Jay moves more purposefully, heads toward the medical tent. Dizzy follows. As they enter, each removes her hat.]

[Nile sits on the side of the bed, in uniform, but hunched over herself, elbows on knees, fingering her cross necklace, a frown on her face.]

Jay: Hey, look who’s up!

[Nile doesn’t react.]

Dizzy: [cautiously] Nile?

Nile: [straightens slowly, huffs a breath, gives them a hesitant smile]
What’s up, Jay? What’s up, Dizzy?

Jay: [a little swagger, trying to make light of it] So let’s see the trophy.
[sits casually on the bed across from Nile]

[Nile turns her head, avoiding Jay’s gaze. Dizzy walks slightly closer and stares, disbelieving. Nile fingers her cross necklace and rubs her neck, still avoiding their gaze.]

Dizzy: [softly, awed] Fuck me.

Jay: [amazed] Nile, there’s not even a scratch.

Nile: Yeah. [huffs] They, uh... [flips hand dismissively]
They used this new skin graft or something.
[bends down to tie her boots]

[Nurse, sitting at a desk about 10 feet away -- easily within hearing distance -- flicks her eyes upward, but makes no other response to that statement.]

Dizzy: [suspiciously] That what the doctor said?
[Jay casts her a sideways glance.]

Nile: Yeah. [breathes heavily, looks up at Dizzy] That’s what they said.
[Nile gives her a challenging look, then stands.]

[Dizzy takes a couple of steps back, still staring. Nile notes that reaction; her gaze shifts away. Nile gives a tiny head-bob to Jay, moves past them toward the doorway. Jay and Dizzy follow.]

[Camera pans across floor level as their booted feet exit. Against the wall is a large cardboard box of supplies (?) with ‘MERRICK’ stamped on it.]

[Aerial view of Thames River and London Bridge.]

LONDON ENGLAND appears on screen

[bombastic voice speaking]
Merrick: Our average lifespan is seventy-eight in developed nations.
[Copley sits, watches]
Actually, two more years if you’re lucky enough to be born a female. What can I say, ladies?
[chuckles; audience laughs]
Now, all of this is because of everyone’s favorite love to hate... Big Pharma.
[Merrick stands on stage in front of blue screen which displays name, company, subject of speech. he wears bluetooth mic, gestures as he speaks]
At my company, our research on telomere extension has reversed the chromosomal clock of human stem cells. Dr. Kozak’s manipulation of the klotho hormone
[points to her; she nods with small, but smug, smile]
will in time, completely arrest common cognitive decline. Yes, we can all wave goodbye to dementia.
[waves theatrically to applause]
Now... Wait, wait! Our work will add years of life to the collective world population. Years! Decades!
[applause. Copley watches closely]
But it’s not cheap. We need investment. Investment drives my enthusiasm to take risks. These risks improve countless lives.
[applause]

[View of hands holding a tablet. Screen shows the immortals as they rise after they died.]

Merrick: My God.

Copley: You’ve seen my research. Now you know they’re for real.

[Camera pans out. They’re riding in the back of a limo. Merrick lowers the tablet, looks at Copley -- to his right -- then huffs a soft little laugh. He passes the tablet to Dr. Kozak in the seat across from Copley. Merrick’s security head, Keane, sits next to her; he cranes his neck and leans over to see the screen. Kozak raises her eyes to look at Copley.]

Merrick: What about the hard proof? Blood, tissue, bone, DNA.

Copley: Recovering an uncontaminated sample of the site proved impossible.

Merrick: But you promised me hard proof.

Copley: There was an unanticipated amount of carnage. But the footage...

Merrick: No. The footage is a two-million-dollar snuff film.
[gestures to Kozak, who watches placidly]
It doesn’t give her the how. I need all of them, Copley.

Copley: [scoffs, leans back, lifts hand dismissively as he shakes his head]
I think I can get you one.

Merrick: No. No, not one. All.

Copley: [intensely] These are extraordinary individuals. They are extremely resistant to capture.

Merrick: Well, consult with Keane, make a plan, make it happen.
[Keane blinks to acknowledge his orders]
And quickly, before my competitors get wind of this.

[Aerial view of limo proceeding down the avenue. Camera pans up the side of a large, impressive, modern building, with the logo MERRICK at the top.]

29:03 minutes

[Closeup on Nile’s face. She’s frowning slightly, and breathing heavily. Camera pans out. She’s in an outdoor exercise area, protected against the sun by shade-cloth on poles; soldiers are using barbells and exercise machines. Nile is on a thin floor mat, dressed in olive drab T-shirt and her camo trousers. Her head shifts as she seems to consider an idea, then she closes her eyes and resumes doing vigorous sit-ups. At the ‘up’ part of each one, she throws strong air-punches, sometimes one-two, sometimes a single left or right. Two male soldiers at a nearby exercise machine look at her, turn back to a quiet discussion with each other.]

Sergeant: Corporal Freeman!

Nile: [scrambles to feet, comes to attention] Aye, Sergeant.

Sergeant: Orders just came through. They’re sending you to Landstuhl, Germany for more tests.

Nile: [hesitant smile, slight head-shake] But I’m fine.

Sergeant: Plane’s fueling. Pack your bags.

Nile: [blinks] Sergeant...

Sergeant: [pulls dog-tags from pocket] We took these off you when it happened. Didn’t think you were coming back.

[He hands them to her. Camera pans to Nile’s face, tight and closed-off. She accepts the tags, stares down at them in her hand as the sergeant strides off.]

[Nile strides into her barracks tent, now wearing her camo jacket. Soldiers are relaxing, chatting together. As they notice Nile, the chatter quiets and stops. Jay and Dizzy are sitting next to each other on a bed, talking and laughing. As Nile passes them toward her bed, they stop talking, stop smiling, stare at her. Nile looks around. All her fellow soldiers are quiet, watching her warily, as if she’s dangerous, foreign.]

[Nile looks around at the careful, universal non-reaction before she turns to her bed. Her gear, already packed in a backpack and duffle, lays on top. She turns, stares accusingly at Dizzy and Jay. Dizzy draws back; Jay remains stoic, with no expression. Nile turns back to her things, notices her photo of the three of them in a group hug, mugging and smiling at the camera. She recoils, grabs her phone with earbuds wrapped around it, ignores all her other possessions, and strides out of the tent, putting on her cap as she exits.]

[She passes groups of soldiers as she walks quickly down the ‘road’, hears someone say, “That’s her.”]

[Nile finds an isolated bench between buildings, with no one else in sight, shielded from prying eyes on her left side by three large metal air-conditioning units (?), on her right by a parked LUV. She sits, tense, nervous, rocking slightly, eyes darting side to side. Fingers trembling, she unwraps and inserts the earbuds, then taps through her phone to access her music. “Godspeed” by Frank Ocean begins playing. Nile leans back against the wall, takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, tries to calm herself as she listens to the music.]

[Andy moves stealthily beside the wall just around the corner to the right, pauses to observe Nile.]

Soldier: Corporal Freeman.
[two MPs, walking together, approach from left.]
[Andy pulls back, waits. Nile pulls out earbuds, stands]
Been looking for you. Wheels up on your ride.

[Andy slides around the corner, right hand karate-chops one soldier on the side of his neck; he goes down. As her arm rebounds, she grabs the gun-hand of the other soldier with her right hand, yanks him across her body, grabs him by the neck with left hand, spins him around and cracks his head on the edge of the air-conditioning unit. Nile grabs the soldier’s dropped pistol, aims at Andy. Andy brings both hands up, right-slaps the pistol from Nile's hand while her left hand grabs it, and aims at Nile’s face with her finger on the trigger. Nile stares, stunned.]

Nile: Who are you?

Andy: Andromache the Scythian.
[uses pistol to club Nile on side of neck; Nile drops, unconscious]
[Andy looks around; they’re still unobserved. chin-lift as she speaks]
But you can call me Andy.

[Aerial view over dry, barren landscape -- sand and rock, no greenery anywhere. Camera pans forward to show the LUV traveling fast, dust kicked up by the tires spewing behind. Camera closes in to see Andy driving, apparently relaxed -- left elbow on the open window frame, right hand on the steering wheel. Andy brings her left hand forward to hold the steering wheel, reaches with her right hand to grab a piece of baklava from an open package resting on the dashboard. She takes a big bite.]

[Nile is lying in the back of the vehicle, where Andy apparently dropped her, still unconscious. A jolt as the vehicle hits a rough spot awakens her. Nile looks around, sees Andy’s head above the driver’s seat. She turns over carefully to avoid Andy’s attention, then two swift kicks at the latches of the tailgate force it open. Nile rolls sideways, allowing herself to drop to the ground behind the vehicle. She grunts at the impact, but keeps rolling. The movement dislodges her braids from their bun.]

[Andy must have heard the tailgate forced open. She turns casually, still chewing a bite of baklava, and watches through the open tailgate as Nile is still rolling. She stops the vehicle.]

[Nile stops rolling with a grunt and lies on her back for a moment; it was a rough landing.]

[Andy steps out of the vehicle, evaluates the situation, tosses her sunglasses on the driver’s seat, casually walks toward Nile. Nile scrambles to her feet and starts running. She’s barely taken the third step when Andy pulls her pistol from her back waistband, calmly shoots her, then tucks the pistol behind her back again. Andy looks around as she approaches Nile, evaluating the terrain, then looks down at Nile -- lying on her side, open eyes staring, bloody hole in her forehead.]

Andy: [sighs, shakes head] Why does it have to be so goddamn slow the first couple of times?

[While Andy waits, she stretches her neck side to side, loosening tight muscles with an audible crackle.]

[Nile awakens with an indrawn gasp; the hole in her forehead starts to knit together. She groans and rolls onto her back, then raises her head and feels the back of her skull. As she sees Andy standing in front of her, Nile half sits up and scoots backward on her butt. Andy stands still, calmly watching her.]

Nile: You shot me.

Andy: [casually matter-of-fact] I did. I need you to get back in the car, please.
[takes a few steps toward Nile]

Nile: [panting] This isn’t real.
[combined disbelief and fear]
No. None of this is real.

Andy: [walks forward, bends toward her]
You haven’t figured this out yet?
[grabs Nile by shirt-front and left arm]
You can’t die.
[hoists her to her feet]
Get up.

[Nile comes up with a knife, stabs it into the soft tissue between the right shoulder and chest.]

Andy: Argh!
[grabs Nile’s knife hand]
Fuck!
[throws the hand violently aside, forcing Nile back a step]
[Andy stares at knife, sighs deeply, looks at Nile]
[Nile recovers balance, stares that Andy is hardly reacting to knife in her]
Can you please
[grabs knife with left hand, yanks it out]
not do that again?
[throws it on ground]

[Nile seems overwhelmed; she turns away and bends over, retching and coughing, and spews on the ground. Andy simply waits for it to finish.]

Nile: [stands, panting, half-turned away, regards Andy suspiciously from sides of eyes]
Who are you?

Andy: [calm, softly] I lead a group of immortals. An army, I guess. Soldiers. Fighters like you. Look...
[steps toward her; Nile steps back, turns to face her more directly]
[Andy breathes in with chin-lift]
You’ve got questions, kid. I get it.
[tiny smile, small nod]
You want answers?
[motions with head as she starts to turn]
Get back in the car.

[Andy walks back toward the vehicle. Nile stares after for a second, then turns and evaluates the utterly barren landscape, miles from who-knows-where. She looks at the blood on the left shoulder of her uniform, takes a beat to consider, then turns and strides firmly toward the LUV where Andy is already climbing into the driver’s seat.]

34:17 minutes

[The LUV approaches an old Russian cargo plane. It stops near two pickup trucks a short distance from the plane, each of which has a couple of armed Afghani men standing in the bed of the pickup, keeping guard, with two more armed men standing on the ground. Andy and Nile exit the vehicle, Andy with her pack over her right shoulder and jacket in her hand.]

[A man comes out of a tiny, rock-walled building, so old and decrepit that part of the roof has been replaced with plywood and tarp, held down with an old tire. He lifts a hand in reassurance as he speaks Russian to the men on the ground; they relax their wariness about the strangers. As Nile hesitates, Andy waves to the man, who waves back. Nile casts suspicious glances at Andy and the Russian-speaking man, then heads toward the plane while evaluating the armed guards. Andy takes off her sunglasses, turns to look around the territory, then follows. As she walks, she folds the sunglasses and puts them in a pocket of her backpack.]

[Niles goes first up the metal stairs into the plane, with Andy close behind. Inside, she sees two large metal trunks or boxes strapped in against the back bulkhead, a larger, broader box on the bottom, with a smaller, narrower box on top. A couple of pillows (or bedrolls) are stuffed between the boxes and the wall, screen left -- one blue, one pink; probably not bags of drugs or money. As Nile continues her cautious explorations and observations farther inside the plane, Andy drops her jacket on top of the smaller trunk and her backpack on the ‘shelf’ formed by the larger trunk extending in front of the smaller trunk. She unzips the pack, pulls out a rolled bundle of clothing, then steps forward to toss the bundle next to Nile, onto a large metal box against the wall halfway down the cabin.]

Andy: Put those on.

Nile: Where you taking me?

Andy: Paris.
[takes bottle of water from backpack, tosses it to Nile, who easily catches it]
You got blood in your hair.

Nile: [sarcastic voice, head-tilt] Wonder why?

[Andy turns and regards her levelly as she pulls a pistol from the backpack and tucks it into the back of her waistband. Nile continues looking around the plane. There are various straps hanging from the ceiling, a duffle bag against one wall, a couple of large, white, plastic (?) containers against the same wall -- and opposite them are two pallets stacked high with plastic bags, netted and strapped for security.]

Nile: This guy’s a drug runner. This the shit you into?

Andy: Well, sometimes you gotta work with people you don’t wanna eat with.
[reaches into backpack, pulls out cellphone]

Nile: Is this even safe?

Andy: Does it really matter?
[steps out of plane, leaving Nile staring after her]

[Andy holds a flip-phone to her ear as she walks away from the plane and men so she can speak without being overheard. It rings only a couple of times before it’s answered.

Booker: Hey, Boss.

[Booker is also using a flip-phone. He’s standing in a very small room; high windows behind him are crossed with leaded bars to form a diamond pattern, and green branches are visible outside. A tall bookcase stands to his right (screen left), with thick bound books and binders (?) showing through the glass doors. On his left (screen right) is a recessed wooden door with a metal sign-plate -- PRIVÉ.]

Andy: You found Copley?

Booker: Nothing but dead ends. He knows we’re hunting him.

Andy: Keep looking. He’s doing the same to us. [pauses] I have the new one.

Booker: And?

Andy: Well, [tiny head-tilt-shrug] she stabbed me, so I think she has potential.

Booker: [small snort, chuckle] I’ll see you soon.

[Andy shuts off the cellphone, drops it on the ground and stomps it several times with her heel while a male voice calls out in another language.]

[Inside the plane, Nile has changed into civilian clothing; she sits on a bench and folds her uniform neatly on her lap. As she looks around the plane, she notices a pistol in a holster, hanging from the back of the pilot’s seat. She looks up as Andy and the Russian-speaking man enter. The man heads toward the front of the plane. Andy slides the door shut and secures the latches while, outside, a couple of men wheel the metal staircase away from the plane. The man sits in the pilot’s seat, puts on his headphones, starts the engines.]

[Andy pauses to kick a cardboard box as she walks through the plane. Glass clinks; she reaches inside and pulls out a bottle of vodka. Nile sets her folded uniform on the floor to her left and grabs her seatbelt. She pauses as she notices another belt hanging from the bulkhead to her left. It has a keyhole, with a key hanging beside it; apparently it can be locked. Nile’s face is blank as she straightens up; Andy is unscrewing the vodka cap as she watches Nile. Nile turns her head to watch Andy, who keeps watching Nile as she lifts the bottle to her mouth. As Nile buckles her seatbelt, Andy ignores the plane beginning to move and tips the bottle up to take a healthy drink.]

[As the plane’s movement becomes more unstable, Andy casually lifts her left arm to grab an overhead strap (?) while tipping the bottle higher and drinking deeply. The plane taxis and lifts off. Andy comes toward Nile, drops something (?) next to a pile of bulging duffle bags against the wall, which form a sort of ‘chair’ to Nile’s right. Andy sits on the bags, casually comfortable with elbows resting on her knees. Nile turns to her.]

Nile: So why is this happening to me?

Andy: [closes bottle, doesn’t look at Nile] I wish I knew.

Nile: You said you had answers.

Andy: [puts bottle beside her, turns head toward Nile, elbows on knees, speaks flatly]
I didn’t say you’d like them.
[Nile sighs, leans forward, elbows on knees, hands clasping and unclasping while Andy watches.]
Are you praying?
[smiles, huffs a soft chuckle]
God doesn’t exist.

Nile: [looks toward her, speaks firmly] My God does.

Andy: [smiles broadly as she looks at Nile]
You know, there was a time when I was worshiped as a god.
[plane jolts with turbulence; Nile straightens, prepared for trouble]
[Andy stays relaxed, watches Nile, then deliberately looks upward]
Was that Him?
[Nile stares at her, wide-eyed]
[turns back to Nile]
Don’t worry, I can’t do shit like that.
[stands, pistol visible in back waistband, walks toward backpack, speaks over shoulder]
None of it means anything anyway.

Nile: [rolls her eyes, but continues] You said there were others. How many?

Andy: Four. [sound of a zipper]

Nile: [voice shows disbelief]
You’re an army of four? So that’s why you took me? So I could join your army?

Andy: [returns with backpack and jacket]
Yeah.
[sits, tucks pistol between two duffle-bags on right, away from Nile]

Nile: No. This is some bullshit. [huffs] You must... [huffs again] ...must have hypnotized me, or... or, uh, drugged me or something.
[Andy has leaned back against the filled duffel-bag behind her, watches Nile search for answers to refute her new reality.]
And that was a blank
[turns to Andy, secure with reasoning]
that you shot me with.

Andy: [lightly, without looking at Nile]
And I was the one who cut your throat.
[turns, faces Nile directly]
Right?
[stares at Nile, who stares back, then looks away; she has no answer]
Listen, kid. You already believe in...
[points upward, follows it with her eye, gives dismissive flip of hand]
You should just keep following that illogic.
[pulls jacket over shoulders as a blanket, turns on right side, back to Nile, lies on duffel-bags like a reclining chair]
You’re already on board with the supernatural.
[speaks with eyes already closed; it makes no difference to her]
If I were you, I’d get some sleep.

[Nile leans forward and starts praying again.]

[Andy is asleep on her left side now, jacket pulled higher so her nose and chin are tucked into the collar. The plane jolts. She starts to turn over in her sleep, but her left arm doesn’t follow -- it’s held by the locking belt that Nile noticed earlier. She wakens fully, jerks again to test the restraint, looks at her arm to see what’s happening.]

[Andy looks toward the cockpit; Nile is pointing the pilot’s own pistol at him. Reference here.]

Nile: [glances half-back toward Andy] We’re not going to Paris.

[Nile turns her attention back to the pilot. He turns to look at the pistol pointing toward him, turns back to fly.]

Andy: Andrei. [calm, with chin-lift] Come here. [raises tied arm]

[Andrei starts to rise; gets halfway up when Nile faces him more fully, points the pistol more directly, speaks sharply.]

Nile: Sit your ass down!

[Andrei looks to Andy as he starts to sit.]

Andy: [half shouts, not looking at them] Stand up!

[Andrei gets halfway up again.]

Nile: [firmly] You do not listen to her. You listen to me. Land this plane.

[Andrei sits fully, turns back to the controls.]

Andy: [calm, with slightly-raised voice.] Trust me. She’s not gonna shoot you.
[Andrei and Nile turn to look at her in disbelief]
I am. [slowly and distinctly] Prikinsya myortvym. (Pretend you’re dead.)
[pulls pistol from between duffel-bags and fires. Andrei collapses over controls]

[At the shot, Nile whips around to hold her pistol on Andy, who remains calm; she watches Nile, but does not match gun-aim for gun-aim. Nile glances back toward Andrei, sees him slumped and unmoving.]

Nile: [gasps, whirls back to Andy; voice shows rising panic]
Who’s gonna fly the plane?

Andy: [calmly] We don’t need a pilot. We can jump and survive.
[lies back, closes eyes]

[The plane is plunging. Nile grabs hanging, swaying straps for stability as she moves toward Andy.]

Nile: I am not jumping from a plane!

[She looks out the window; they’re definitely headed down.]

[The ride grows more turbulent, jolting them around.]

Andy: [opens eyes, looks up] Whoa! Shit! Maybe we do need a pilot.
[turns to Nile, raises strapped arm]
I can fly a plane.

[Nile thinks for a second, then hurries toward Andy, reaching into her hip pocket for the key. As Nile quickly starts to unlock the strap, Andy speaks calmly.]

Andy: You don’t speak Russian, do you?

Nile: Why?

[As soon as the strap is off Andy tosses her jacket aside and stands, still calm.]

Andy: Because I told the pilot to play dead.

[Nile turns toward the cockpit. Andrei is sitting up and taking control of the plane. Nile whirls to hold the pistol on Andy, but Andy is right there. Andy grabs Nile’s gun-hand as it comes around, uses the momentum to flip/throw Nile to the floor. Andy stands looking down at her, waiting for her reaction.]

[Nile lies on her back for a moment, groans softly, turns to pick herself up. She rises to a crouch on hands and feet and glares at Andy, evaluating the enemy. Andy continues to wait calmly.]

[Nile grunts as she charges forward, keeping low, driving her shoulder into Andy’s stomach/chest. Andy easily grabs Nile by the shoulders and throws her aside, where she hits a tall metal container to her right -- against her ribs, under her armpit -- bounces off, lands against the wall. Andy casually flips her head to toss her hair out of her eyes.]

[Andrei turns to see what’s happening, looks worried, hesitates, but he needs to fly. He turns back to the controls.]

[Nile stands slowly, glaring at Andy, sets her body as she prepares to continue the fight.]

Andy: You really wanna do this, kid?
[Her eyes are bright, expression relaxed but anticipating; she looks like she thinks this will be fun.]

[Nile throws a hard right punch; Andy leans away from it. Nile swings her left arm into a punch; Andy blocks the elbow with her left, brings her right around and under Nile’s arm, uses the momentum to spin Nile away from her. Nile turns back to face Andy again; both are panting with the exertion -- Nile more than Andy.]

[Andy gives a little chin-lift that says, ‘bring it on’. Her face has a half-smile, which we see whenever she’s still enough for us to notice. Nile clenches her jaw, raises her fists, throws another right punch. Andy blocks, grabs the arm, pulls it high with her left, throwing Nile off-balance, then forces it down while her right grabs Nile by the back of her neck, forcing her to bend sharply forward, even more off balance. She releases her hold before Nile’s arm breaks.]

[Nile rises, teeth bared, fist clenched. She throws a left punch which Andy blocks upward, which allows Nile to slip under her arm and grapple Andy around the waist. The momentum allows Nile to spin Andy around and force her into the wall. Nile tries to hold her there, with her head forcing Andy’s chin upward to deprive her of leverage, but Andy grabs Nile’s shoulder with her left hand, hindering a possible counter-move, while her right fist comes up and across to punch Nile in the side of the neck, followed immediately by a sharp downward strike to Nile’s left arm. She quickly grabs the arm and uses the momentum to throw Nile into the wall, then catch the rebound and spin/throw her across the cabin. Nile turns back quickly, left punch, right punch; Andy blocks them easily still smiling. Nile moves in to grapple, which Andy allows -- so she can knee Nile in the gut and force her away. Now Nile is open, arms out of position; Andy moves in, body-checks, shoves Nile sharply; Nile staggers back into the pallet of drugs. Packages start spilling from the stack.]

[Nile is angry; she comes toward Andy, throws a furious right-left punch. Andy easily evades both. Andrei has turned to watch; things are getting out of control. He turns to the controls and banks the plane sharply left, throwing both combatants across the cabin, into the wall. They are unfazed. Nile lunges forward immediately; she lands a punch to the face hard enough to force Andy back two or three steps. Andy pauses to regroup. She nods slightly, smiling wider; she seems to approve of Nile’s tactics. As Nile stalks forward, Andy steps back a couple of paces, spits, and waits for the next maneuver.]

[Nile feints a punch, then tries to sweep Andy’s legs from under her. Andy lifts her leg to evade; Nile’s momentum causes her to spin completely around. Nile rebalances herself and throws a punch that lands in Andy’s face. Andy turns away, then back just as Nile throw another right punch. Andy evades, moves in and grabs Nile’s right shoulder with her right hand, then rotates her arm under Nile’s and comes up to clamp her left hand under Nile’s chin, forcing her head up and back. Nile’s left hand is holding Andy’s wrist, trying to keep that hand from pushing higher. Andy’s right hand holds Nile’s right arm close to Andy’s body, so Nile doesn’t have the leverage to escape. Andy holds Nile there for a moment, looking directly into her eyes, expression calm. Then she raises her hand higher, making enough pressure on Nile’s neck to cause pain. Nile gasps, releases her hold on Andy’s wrist, raises her left arm high, and brings it down on the arm that holds her chin. Andy lets the force turn her away and rebound as she turns into Nile, bringing her right elbow toward Nile’s face. Nile’s right hand catches Andy’s elbow; as she pushes it away, she’s out of position to bring her arms up for protection, half-turned away. Andy moves forward with a left punch-right elbow strike, which hits Nile low on the right side. Nile cries out and flinches into a crouch, fists clenched and arms in front of her chest. Andy steps back and waits for the next move, eyes calculating.]

[Nile lunges forward with a right-left punch. Andy evades the right, then grabs Nile’s left arm with her left hand, which forces her sideways to Andy’s body. Andy’s right hand grabs Nile’s neck; she turns as she pulls Nile’s left arm while pushing her neck, forcing her into the wall. Nile gets her bent right arm up to absorb some of the force of hitting the wall, but for a moment she is pinned, her head mashed between Andy’s right hand and the wall, her left arm held immobile in Andy’s left hand. Nile uses her right hand to slowly force herself away from the wall, against the continuous pressure that Andy maintains against her head. Suddenly Andy releases the pressure so that Nile’s effort moves her quickly toward Andy, but severely off balance. Andy grabs Nile’s right shoulder with her left hand, her forearm across Nile’s throat. Andy uses Nile’s body as an anchor post as she leaps into the air, plants her feet against the bulkhead behind Nile, uses the flying momentum to carry her half around and push off the wall to come down with her body close to Nile’s right flank. Andy’s hands grab Nile’s shoulders as her downward/forward momentum continues. As Andy’s feet hit the floor, she drops back and down to the floor. Andy’s grip on Nile’s shoulders pulls Nile down and flips her into the air. Nile flies over Andy’s position on the floor and lands hard. Andy continues her rolling momentum and quickly rises, but Nile is slow to push herself up. Nile’s movements are jerky instead of smooth, and she grunts with pain. Andy steps forward.]

Andy: [calmly, slight head-shake] We’re done.

[Nile rises to her feet, pauses for a moment, then explodes forward with a right punch. Andy grabs Nile’s arm and twists it violently backward; Nile screams in pain as her shoulder is dislocated; we hear torn tissues crackling and tearing. But Nile’s momentum carries her forward. Andy keeps hold of the arm, steps to the side, and grabs Nile’s raised elbow. Nile yells again in pain, and Andy uses her hold on that arm to throw Nile against the trunks at the rear bulkhead. Nile rebounds and lands in a crouch, her right arm hanging useless beside her while Andy stands quietly, watching her.]

Andy: [more firmly] I said we’re done.

[Nile looks up at Andy, angry and defiant, looks at her useless right arm, then uses her left arm to help push her upward and forward. She aims a sweeping right kick toward Andy’s legs. Andy simply raises her left leg to block it; Nile yells as her lower leg breaks when it hits Andy’s. She falls to the floor, landing on her bad right shoulder, and cries out. She groans and slowly rolls onto her back.]

Andy: [steps forward to stand over Nile.]
You’re very good.
[Nile tries to ignore her, breathing deeply into the pain. Andy squats beside her.]
What’s your name?

Nile: [pauses a beat, defiant; eyes flick sideways to Andy, away] Nile.

Andy: [small nod of acknowledgement, looks over Nile’s body]
You see? You’re already healing faster.

[Nile raises her head, watches in frowning disbelief as the bloody, open wound on her outer lower arm visibly knits and heals, then sits up to see her bent and broken lower right leg straighten. She rests her hand against the leg to feel what shouldn’t be happening as the healing bone repositions itself. Andy watches her reaction.]

Nile: [whispering] Is this real?
[tiny head-shake]
I got people that love me.
[bows her head]
People that are gonna worry.
[raises head firmly, takes deep breath]
I’m a Marine.
[turns to face Andy]
They think I went A-WOL.

Andy: [speaks over Nile’s last words]
You’re not a Marine anymore.
[Nile shakes her head]
They’re going to lock you up.

[Nile hitches a breath, seems to hold in tears. She turns her head away from Andy and rocks back and forth.]

[Andy’s expression softens toward sympathy as she watches for a moment, then she stands and extends a hand. Nile regards it -- and Andy -- dubiously, then takes the hand firmly. Andy helps her to her feet in one smooth movement. They stand looking at each other. Nile still seems slightly defiant as she stares at Andy, but Andy disengages and turns away. Nile watches Andy walk toward their seats, then slowly follows.]

43:30 minutes

NOTE: Castalie tells me that Goussainville is A Ghost Town on the Fringes of Paris.

[View of old church (peaked windows with leaded separations between panes of glass) with gray walls and roof, trees growing opposite, across the driveway(?). A jetliner passes overhead with a roar of engines.]

GOUSSAINVILLE FRANCE appears on screen

[Nile comes into view; she carries her uniform-bundle under her right arm as she follows Andy through an opening between trees across an overgrown cemetery (green grass and weeds, crosses and headstones) toward the church, which we now see has a square bell-tower(?) at one end. Andy has her backpack properly settled over both shoulders, which suggests that they’ve walked/hiked some distance. Andy seems cautious as she walks, occasionally turning to observe their surroundings. Tall trees grow fairly close to the church on all sides; the whole place seems isolated and deserted.]

Nile: I thought you said we were going to Paris.

Andy: We’re just outside of Paris. This is Goussainville. This place has been abandoned for fifty years.

Nile: Why?

[Andy looks up, toward the sound of another plane passing overhead; she turns and grins at Nile. Nile also gazes upward, looks down with mild surprise at a weathered statue of a saint to her right, then turns and continues to follow Andy.]

( I made a floorplan.)

[We see a good-sized room. An arched alcove to the left contains a stovetop with oven below and a narrow counter/cabinet on each side. Two red cooking pots sit on the stove. Above the stove is a small, dark wooden shelf, with three copper pans hanging below. Two small lights hang from the top of the arch to shine on the work-area, with another pair of lights on the wall outside the arch. A round table with mismatched chairs is in the center, with a hanging lamp over it.]

[A stone archway extends across the back of the room, with a large communal bedroom on the other side. The rooms are separated by a wall of dark wooden panels; the upper half of each is a lancet window with a trefoil-shaped top. A pair of doors open inward to the bedroom.]

[A tall secretary desk and a cabinet/counter unit stand against the right wall. Both are cluttered with a jumble of unidentifiable items. A small tube-light hangs from an upper shelf of the secretary desk, and a small table lamp sits on the writing-surface. Despite the number of lights, the whole area is somewhat dim.]

[Nile and the men are eating. Joe is to the left, sideways to the viewer. Nile is to his right, with her back to the viewer. Booker is to her right, turned three-quarters from the viewer. Nicky is seated to the right, sideways to the viewer.]

[As she eats, Nile keeps an eye on the men. They’re also eating without speaking, watching her watch them. Andy is in the bedroom; she puts her backpack against the right wall as she watches the team through the windows.]

[Nile takes a bite of food and looks at Booker. He takes a bite and looks at her, then drops his eyes. Nicky watches Nile with a slight smile, then looks down at his food. Joe drinks a swallow of wine, watches Nile as he sets the glass on the table.]

Nile: [looks around the table]
So you good guys or bad guys?

Joe: [crossed arms, flicks eyes to Nicky, back to Nile]
Depends on the century.

Nicky: [leans back, rests left arm on back of chair]
We fight for what we think is right.

[Nile looks skeptical. She lifts her eyes to see Andy enter the room and cross to the stove.]

Nile: How are you all in my dreams?

[Andy is dishing some food at the stove.]

Joe: We dream of each other. They stop when we meet.

Nile: Why?

[Joe closes his eyes, twists his face, opens his mouth, takes a breath to answer -- apparently prepared for a detailed exposition -- but Nicky speaks first.]

Nicky: [watching Joe meaningfully]
I believe it’s because we... we’re meant to find each other.
[Joe gives him a quick wink. Nicky smiles briefly, turns back to Nile]
It’s like destiny.

Booker: [shifts in his seat, waves a dismissive hand]
No, more like, uh... misery loves company.

[Joe smiles and huffs a short laugh. Nile looks toward Andy, who’s eating from a bowl while standing/leaning against the counter beside the stove.]

Andy: [looks up, points toward Booker] What he said.

Nicky: It used to take years to track a new one. Booker was the last. Eighteen-twelve.

Nile: [stares at Booker, who is drinking from a glass] No way.

Booker: [nods, glances at her] Yeah, I died fighting with Napoleon.

Nile: So... [looks to Nicky] you’re even older than him.

[Andy brings a cup and a bottle of vodka to the table, sits across from Nile between Joe and Nicky, takes off the bottle cap.]

Joe: Mm... [speaking with a mouthful of food] Nicky and I met in the Crusades.

Nile: [awe, disbelief] The Crusades?

Nicky: [gestures toward Joe]
The love of my life was of the people I’ve been taught to hate.

Joe: [laughs] We... [gestures between them] We killed each other.

Nicky: Many times. [another quick smile for Joe] Yeah.

[Note: the script says that Joe says, ‘Yeah’. But it sounds -- and looks -- to me that Nicky was finishing his comment.]

[Booker laughs around his drink. Andy smiles slightly as she picks up the cup to drink. She watches Nile over the rim.]

Nile: [quietly, watching Andy] You’re the oldest.

Andy: [nods as she puts cup on table, lifts eyes to Nile, nods again] Yeah.

Nile: So how old are you?

[Joe crosses his arms and waits.]

Andy: Old.

Nile: [slight eye-roll, then insistent] How old?

Andy: [pauses, glances down, quietly] Too old.

Nile: [huffs, slight frown as she looks around others at table; quiet, awed surprise]
So we really never die.

Andy: [takes a breath, small head-shake] Nothing that lives, lives forever.

Nile: But... you said that we were immortal.

Andy: [gazing down]
I know what I said. And we mostly are,
[raises eyes to Nile]
but we can die.
[tiny head-nod]
And one of us did.
[glances left as she remembers]
[view of man’s body with bloody stomach-wound, Andromache’s hand over it]
He... he was a warrior, just like us.
[Andromache, wearing ancient headdress, looks down, concerned]
[Lykon, lying on back, looks up, eyes glazed]
A long time ago.
[Andy shakes head. Booker watches, listens quietly]
One day your wounds just don’t heal up anymore, and...
[Nicky and Joe watch Nile's reaction]
we don’t know when or why.

Nile: [looks down, considers carefully]
So if we can die,
[raises eyes to Andy, slight eyebrow-clench]
then why would you shoot me? You could have killed me.

Andy: [flicks eyes to Nile, quietly] You’re too new.

[A plane rumbles overhead. For a moment, no one speaks. Nile looks at the others around the table; she seems disturbed/scared/overwhelmed as she absorbs this new information. Her shoulders hunch as she folds slightly in her chair and stares down.]

Nicky: [gently, watching Nile closely]
It is a lot to understand. I think you should get some rest.
[Nile turns slightly toward his voice]
Come with me. I’ll show you.

[Nicky rises, followed by Nile. He waits as she comes around the table, then escorts her through the double doors at the back of the room. They turn to the right.]

[Joe watches them leave, then sighs deeply.]

Andy: She wants to talk to her family.

[Joe and Andy exchange a look.]

Booker: That’s not gonna help her.

Andy: [grabs bottle of vodka, uncaps it, pours into cup]
You tell her that.

[Nicky returns and sits down again.]

47:05 minutes

[It’s dark; an indistinct rumbling gradually intensifies. On the kitchen table, cups and glasses clink and rattle. View of darkened household -- Nile’s uniform and jacked folded on credenza in living room, several swords and axes in umbrella stand by the door, small bronze statue by the wall, next to a table lamp. In the bedroom, Booker sleeps on his back. Joe and Nicky are spooned together. Nile lies on her left side, moving uneasily in her sleep, breathing heavily. Rumbling fades to silence.]

[We see more of the living room, separated by a stone arch, two steps down from the kitchen. A dark wooden credenza stands to the left of the arch, parallel to the steps. A table-lamp stands on the corner; stacks of books surround the lamp, and lie on the floor below and up the steps. A large antique wooden credenza stands against the left wall, perpendicular to the steps. A big flat-screen TV sits on it, with stacks of books to each side, Nile’s uniform and jacket on the left stack. A mismatched pair of comfortable easy chairs sit to the right, facing the TV. A small wooden crate stands between the chairs, holding a bottle of liquor, a candle in a brass candlestick, and a book, and a small round table is beside the left chair. A writing desk stands against the wall to the right of the arch, parallel to the steps; it holds the bronze statue and a table-lamp. A wooden crate is on the floor to the left of the desk, filled with various odds and ends.]

[The kitchen is dark, but the two lamps in the living room are on. Andy is deeply slouched in the chair closest to the kitchen, resting her head on her raised left hand, but not asleep. She lifts her right hand, stares at it intently in the dim light, front, then back, makes a fist, studies that.]

[Nile gasps violently, bolts upright in bed, breathing heavily. Andy looks to her right, toward the sound, as the others startle awake. Nicky grabs a pistol from under his pillow and raises it. Joe, behind him, looks fuzzy and less alert as he raises his head. Booker grabs the pistol in his belt, but doesn’t pull it out. They all look toward Nile.]

[Nicky turns on a bedside lamp. Nicky & Joe have the bed to the left, against the wall. Booker is in the middle, in what seems to be a simple cot, pushed against a closed bookshelf against the back wall. Nile is to the right, in a slightly more substantial bed, also pushed against the bookshelf.]

Booker: What’s going on?

[Nile is panting, each breath almost a gasp; her eyes are wide and staring. From the living room, Andy focuses intently on her.]

Nicky: What happened, Nile?

Nile: [hunches forward, gulps, tries to control her reaction]
Um, it was just a... a bad dream.
[Joe relaxes, lies down again behind Nicky]
I’m sorry.
[breathes heavily, unable to get calm; glances toward others, wary of their reaction]

Nicky: [reclines on elbow, props head on hand] Tell us.

Nile: I saw flashes of it before... when I first dreamt of all of you.
[shakes head, eyes haunted]
But now... it’s clearer.
[deep breath]
I dreamed about a woman locked in an iron coffin...
[Andy freezes, eyes on Nile]
under the sea. She kept... drowning
[Andy stands, devastated]
and then coming back to life.
[Nicky looks back to Joe, who has leaned up behind him, then to Nile, concerned]
[she rocks back and forth as she speaks]
She was hammering her bloody fists and knees against the iron.
[Andy walks as if being forced, eyes unfocused, toward the bedroom]
She felt like something insane, something furious. But she kept fighting... and she kept drowning.
[bows head, chokes back a sob]

[Andy goes to the window behind the kitchen table, stares into the bedroom. Booker is leaning against the doors of the bookcase behind his cot; he shakes his head slowly, wincing, looks to the other men. Joe sits up against the wall, eyes serious, watching Nile. Nicky sits on the side of the bed, shoulders hunched, head down.]

Nicky: [raises head to look at Nile; both women deserve that honest respect]
Her name was Quynh.
[Vietnamese woman looks over right shoulder, long hair blowing, worn, ragged, unutterably weary]

Joe: She was one of us.
[woman walks across barren valley surrounded by low hills, head and shoulders shrouded with draped cloth, battle-axe in right hand]
The first immortal Andy found.
[Quynh lies on ground, barely conscious, face rough and blistered, lips chapped; eyelids flutter slightly as shadow falls across face]
They had been alone so long, when she found her...
[Andromache silhouetted against sun-seared sky as she looks down at Quynh]
Quynh had given up.
[Nile stares intently at Joe and Nicky, turns on bed to face them directly, sits cross-legged]
Way back it was her and Andy.
[Joe and Nicky watch Nile with sad compassion]
[Andy turns away, sits in closest kitchen chair, rubs eyes and face]
Before me and Nicky, it was just the two of them.
[Quynh and Andromache sit shoulder to shoulder, leaning against cave wall, a campfire in front of them, laughing together]
They ran through the world together,
[ancient battle scene, men running, shouting, horsemen charging]
[Andromache and Quynh are protecting a wagon transporting goods from raiders]
[Andromache rides a dark horse, slashes other horsemen with battle-ax as they pass]
[Quynh leaps up onto a wagon, turns to observe Andromache]
fought thousands of battles side by side.
[Andromache gallops toward two raiders. slashes mounted man on right as she drops to hang at horse’s left side, out of reach of his sword-strike, then swings ax backhand at man standing with upraised sword to left; he somersaults forward as first warrior falls from horse]
[Quynh shoots arrow to knock another raider from saddle, then turns to right. Andromache gallops next to wagon, extends left arm. Quynh grabs with left hand, Andromache pulls as Quynh jumps. Quynh lands on horse behind Andromache; they gallop away]
[Joe laughs slightly]
She was a pit viper in a fight.
[battle on ground. Andromache slashes man with axe as Quynh spins and shoots arrow into man with upraised sword. Quynh continues spin as she draws sword while Andromache raises axe, strikes down another raider. They spin toward each other as another enemy charges, hit him from each side -- Andromache with axe, Quynh with sword]

[Andy stares down, lost in memories, but looks toward bedroom window as story continues]

Nicky: They were in England, freeing so-called heretics from the witch trials.
[Nile stares at Joe and Nicky, riveted]
[Andy’s face through the window, sitting in dark, watching and listening]
But then Andy and Quynh,
[Andy turns away, looks down]
they were accused of witchcraft themselves,
[woman’s body hanging, hands bound behind with rope, crowd watching below]
and they were trapped and caught.
[crowd shouting, “Killers!” Andromache and Quynh hanging from nooses, limp. young girl watches, tugs man’s sleeve. woman shouts, “Some will rot in hell!”]

[man pushes girl behind him as Andromache and Quynh revive]

Joe: When they didn’t die, it proved their case,
[Andromache and Quynh choke and struggle in nooses while watching crowd]
and they got sentenced again and again.

[Dark cell, small fire for light. Andromache and Quynh, hair bedraggled, faces dirty, are manacled at wrists and ankles, chained to wall, sitting shoulder to shoulder.]

Quynh: I’ve never been burned alive before.
[turns to Andromache, at her right]
What do you think it’s gonna be like?

Andromache: Excruciating.

[Turns toward Quynh. Quynh smiles at her; Andromache smiles with small laugh.]

Quynh: Just you and me.

Andromache: Until the end.

[They gaze into each other’s eyes.]

[Cell door opens. A man comes in with a flaming torch, followed by a friar holding a plain wooden cross and two more men, larger, who head toward the women. The women draw back as keys jangle, watching warily.]

[Quynh’s manacles are unlocked. As the two large men grab and force her to her feet and away from Andromache, the big main door opens wide -- to reveal an iron maiden waiting outside.]

Quynh: [screams] No! [desperately] No! No, not this!

Andromache: [surges to her feet] Where are you taking her?

[Quynh continues screaming, shouting, “No!” and “Please!” as she is dragged from the cell]

Friar: [holds cross between him and Andromache]
You are too powerful together. For creatures such as you, there is no salvation.

Andromache: [shouting desperately] Quynh!

[As she watches, Quynh is forced toward the iron maiden. Quynh struggles and screams the entire time, but she is held too securely to fight, carried by a strong man holding each arm and each leg. Quynh is forced into the iron maiden as Andromache struggles against her manacles.]

Andromache: Quyyynnnh! [voice is frantic, raw scream] Quyyynnnh!

Quynh: [screams desperately as iron maiden is wrapped with rope and chains, then locked]
Andromache! Andromache!

[As the iron maiden is carried away on a wooden cart, the friar following with cross held high between the iron maiden and the people, Quynh continues to scream Andromache’s name.]

Andromache: Noooo! [screams tear at her throat] Quyyynnnh! Noooo!

[As the closing door shuts off sight of Quynh, Andromache falls to her knees, straining against her manacles until blood drips from her torn wrists, but she cannot get out. She sobs hopelessly.]

[View upward along the side of a wooden sailing ship. Several men lift the iron maiden over the rail and throw it into the ocean.]

Nicky: After Andy escaped, we spent decades searching for her or anyone on that ship who could tell us where she was cast off.

[Andy’s frozen expression begins to shatter; she closes her eyes and bows her head.]

Joe: She’s lived with that guilt ever since, but she blames herself for Quynh’s fate.

[Nile’s eyes lose focus as she considers what she’s learned.]

[Andy walks to the doorway of the bedroom, looks in without meeting anyone’s gaze. They all look up toward her.]

Nile: Why do you blame yourself?

Andy: [direct] I lost a soldier.

Nile: I feel her pain. Her rage.
[Andy closes her eyes, turns her head away]
She feels crazy.

[Nicky looks up, disturbed.]

Joe: [quietly solemn] Five hundred years in a box...
[Quynh’s face behind the iron maiden, bubbles burst upward as she screams]
at the bottom of the ocean... would make anyone insane.

[iron maiden is quiet and blank, Quynh dead inside]
Nicky: That’s the reason why we dread capture. Spend eternity in a cage.
[Quynh surges upward in her coffin, screams into void with burst of bubbles]

[Nile looks sick, takes a deep breath as she contemplates such a fate. Andy watches closely; this will be difficult.]

[Nile pushes herself up from the bed and stalks out of the room, brushing by Andy in the doorway. Andy sighs as she passes.]

[Andy and the men look at each other; there’s nothing to say. Andy takes a half-step in Nile’s direction, turns back to give one long look at the men. Joe’s eyes flick down, Nicky drops his head, Booker maintains an unwavering, stoic gaze. After a final look, Andy turns and follows Nile.]

[On her way through the living room, Nile grabs her jacket from the credenza, then storms past the TV and out the door. Andy grabs her pistol from the box between the easy chairs, tucks it in her back waistband, and follows.]

[As she leaves, Nicky enters the kitchen behind her.]

[Nile walks around the side of the church and some distance out into the grounds, then slows down and stops, swinging her arms as she looks around, but there’s nowhere to go.]

[On the other side of the church, a group of men approach; they’re dressed in black, wearing helmets and body-armor, carrying rifles. A large, black, square vehicle is parked behind them. The group -- a dozen or more -- proceed along the wall of the church.]

[A plane roars overhead, filling the night with sound; the lights sweep across Nile. She looks up, then turns, startled, when Andy speaks.]

Andy: [softly] Nile.

Nile: [fiercely] I don’t want this.
[voice grows angry as Andy comes closer]
I don’t want any of it.

Andy: I know. I know.

Nile: There isn’t one good thing in any of this.

Andy: I know this is hard.
[Nile stares at Andy, stone-faced and defiant. Andy is calm, reasonable]
It’s happening whether you want it or not.
[Nile looks away; that truth is too hard.]
[on other side, intruders proceed along wall of church, approach door to living quarters]
I know you’re scared, Nile.
[Nile isn’t watching Andy, but still listening]
Me and those three men in there will keep you safe.

Nile: [huffs a soft snort, faces Andy with disbelieving look, cocks head, speaks lightly]
Like Quynh?

[Andy lowers her eyes for a moment, acknowledges her point with a short nod, then raises her eyes to Nile, takes a breath, answers steadily.]

Andy: We’re all you’ve got.

[Andy watches her calmly; Nile drops her eyes and turns her head, thinking.]

[Gunshot in distance. Both women crouch, alert; Andy draws her pistol. Second shot. They move behind some tallish flowering plants -- precious little concealment -- shoulder to shoulder, peering into the darkness toward the sound. Third shot.]

Nile: [quietly] What’s happening?

Andy: [whispers] They found us.

53:50 minutes

[Open doorway, backlit by moonlight. Andy appears, pistol raised. The closest easy chair in the living room, along with the small round side table, are on their sides on the floor.]

[Andy enters, face intent, clearing the room like the professional she is, pistol ready to use. Nile follows. Booker is slumped in the other easy chair, not moving, blood on his face. The TV shows a football (soccer) match playing. The lamp on the credenza next to the kitchen-arch is knocked sideways, and some of the books and papers have fallen to litter the floor.]

Andy: [calls] Joe? Nicky?

[Booker is obviously dead; his stomach and chest are a mass of gaping wounds and blood, and there are bloody holes in his face. Glass shards from the liquor bottle cover the top of the wooden crate between the chairs.]

Nile: [stares at Booker, quietly appalled] Shit.

Andy: [keeps pistol ready, moves close]
Booker.
[kicks his foot]
You still with me?
[goes to one knee in front of him. reverses pistol, holds it out to Nile]
Clear the back room. Find Joe and Nicky.
[Nile takes pistol, checks it, quickly heads that way]
Hey. Hey.
[Andy cradles Booker’s face in her hands]
Book.
[looks down at the terrible, gaping holes in his body, voice drops to a whisper as she leans close enough to feel his breath on her face -- if he were breathing]
Come on. Come back to me.
[clenches her teeth, angry; shakes him a little]
You’re still in this shitty game with me.
[whispering, desperate]
You hear me?
[holds his limp head firmly]
You wake up.
[pauses a beat, waits for him... then slaps his head as she shouts,]
Wake up!

[Booker revives with a pained but muffled cry. He groans as he curls over his torn belly, leaning so far that Andy has to keep him from falling; they’re forehead to forehead as she holds his shoulders. Andy breathes deeply with relief, almost gasping, then pushes him back so he’s leaning against the chair’s back.]

Nile: They’re not here. [stares at Booker’s revival process]

[Booker grunts painfully and inhales sharply.]

Andy: Welcome back, asshole. Thanks for taking your time.

Booker: [groans as he looks down at self, throws head against back of chair as body tenses with pain, speaks through clenched teeth]
Aahh! It hurts everywhere. How bad is it?

[Nile continues to stare, shaken that anyone can be conscious and lucid with such bodily damage, that she can see them healing.]

Andy: [deep breath as she rises] It’s an improvement.

[Booker laughs, then coughs from the pain.]

Andy: [scans damage in room] How many?

Booker: [looks up] I don’t know.

Andy: Where are Nicky and Joe?

Booker: I don’t know! [groans] I... I turned on the game.

[Quick flash: Booker and Joe in the easy chairs, watching the football match; Booker gestures wildly with left arm, leans forward to expound about the play. Nicky sits at kitchen table reading a book, leaning on his left arm, resting his head on his right hand. Sudden reactions: Nicky turns his head quickly to the left, starts to push up. Joe turns his head to the left while pushing up from his chair, eyes wide. Booker also turns and pushes up, seemingly a half-second behind Joe. Joe is half-standing when...]

[Door bursts inward. A dark, helmeted figure appears in the doorway, a grenade bounces on the floor, loud explosion, smoke fills the room, shadow figures move through it.]

Booker: A grenade hit me. Lost the plot after that.

[A dark courtyard shows a red-brick house to each side of a paved area. The left house has graffiti-covered plywood over the windows and doors, with vines hanging from the roof, partly blocking them. The right house has a roof-high hedge growing next to the wall. An old, junked car with a missing rear door sits in the grass next to the graffiti-covered house, with a large, dark panel van in front of it. Through a vine-covered stone archway behind the van, the rear of an even larger van is seen; a shadowy figure in combat gear is moving next to it.]

[One of the vans has been turned into a surveillance hub. A large monitor shows a split-screen with 4 different views. Top left shows interior of a van with soldiers sitting on the side benches. Joe is on the floor in the middle, hunched over, head bowed, elbows on knees, legs stretched out in front of him. Behind Joe, Nicky is lying still. Top right view shows a figure in combat gear walking between two vehicles. Bottom left view shows six figures in combat gear crouched outside the walls of the church, with a 7th figure coming into view from the right, rifle pointing forward. Bottom right view shows the rear of a van, with a guard in combat gear a short distance away on each side.]

Soldier on radio: Two in transport.

[Camera pans back. Keane and Copley sit in front of the monitor. Copley is holding a radio in his hand. Keane, to his right, is wearing headphone, intently watching the monitor.]

Copley: [into radio] No, no. We need the woman.

Soldier: Wasn’t there, and the other guy’s in pieces.

[Keane flips switches to bring up different views on monitor.]

Copley: [clenches jaw, quietly to Keane] She’s there.

Andy: [understanding hits; whispers] Copley.

Nile: Copley?

Andy: They’re coming back. They want all of us.
[‘warrior mode’ engaged; speaks as she strides toward door]
You stay here. Wait for my signal.
[grabs a sword from umbrella stand and hurries out]

Nile: [to empty doorway] What signal?
[turns to Booker]
What does that even mean?

Booker: [laughs raggedly, still in pain]
You’ll know it when it comes.
[gasps, looks down at his body, looks up to reassure Nile]
Oh by the way,
[gestures with right hand, finger raised]
it’s not always like this now. Big wounds take longer to heal.

Nile: [skeptical sideways head-bob] Sure.

[Surveillance van interior, monitor shows soldiers going forward. Copley and Keane watch.]

Soldier: [on radio] Bravo Team approaching church.

[Group of soldiers gather in entrance hall of church, just outside an archway that leads to the congregation area. Pause.]

Soldier: [quietly] Go, go, go.

“The World We Made” by Ruelle begins playing
Secrets follow us,
Visions, we can't forget.
The animal inside got ahold of us,
But we don't feel regret.
There's no resisting,
It's in our blood,
In our blood, in our veins.
This is the world we made.
This is the world we made.
This is the world we made.

[Soldiers spread out among the pews, searching. Andy is above in the loft, half hidden behind a large statue (saint? angel?) as she evaluates their pattern and movements.]

[Andy jumps down into the middle of a cluster of men, moving into the attack as soon as her feet hit the floor, using a sword in her right hand and a pistol in her left.]

[Her sword stabs the man in front of her, sweeps in a wide backward arc to slice a second man, shoots a third, slices a fourth, shoots a fifth, stabs a sixth, shoots a seventh. She is constantly twisting, turning, lunging, dropping low to slash legs, standing to slash necks, firing the pistol, moving so fast the soldiers’ reactions are too slow to hit her as they try to shoot.]

[Andy cries out as eight stabs her right shoulder from behind. She grabs eight’s arm, ducks under it as she slashes his body, aims over the crumpling man to shoot nine, grabs eight around neck with her left arm and throws him to the floor, coils her body, drops into a half-crouch, extends her arms to each side to slash ten and shoot eleven simultaneously. Rises to shoot twelve, grabs thirteen’s arm and slices off his hand, yanks him against her back to use as a cushion as she drops and rolls over three shallow steps down, uses the rolling momentum to carry her upright for a straight lunge to thrust the sword into fourteen.]

[Stillness. Andy pants heavily as she stares at the man, then pulls out her sword and stands. Waits.]

[In the entrance hall, one soldier looks around uneasily, then stands and moves toward the entrance arch, with the others following.]

Soldier: Come on! Move! Move!

Nile: [urgently, watching the door] We’ve gotta get out there!
[turns, looks toward Booker]
We need to help her!

Booker: [calmly, unworried] No, that’s not the signal. [starts to rise]

[Exterior view of church. Gunfire sounds, with flashes of light through the windows. Soldiers are shouting inside. More soldiers creep along outside the wall of the church. A soldier turns a corner, raises a fist in signal -- just as Andy steps out of a side door and shoots him. She walks forward, turns the corner, shoots the next soldier.]

[The monitor in the surveillance van -- screen now set to a single view -- shows scene after scene of death and destruction, black-clad bodies lying sprawled, and no one alive. Keane slowly removes his headphones, mouth agape, as he stares.]

Copley: Mr. Keane.
[breathes deeply, voice quiet but intense]
I strongly recommend that we leave right now.
[they scramble from chairs, hurry away]

[Andy is crouched over an open carry-bag in the grass, pulling out extra magazines. She raises her pistol and moves forward.]

[Booker is in the bedroom, buttoning the sleeves of a fresh shirt that’s hanging open in front. His chest and stomach are mostly healed, just one thin line of bloody scar tissue showing. He begins to shove clothing into a carry-bag.]

Nile: [strides to doorway from other room, speaks urgently]
Come on! Let’s move!

Booker: [firmly] Wait for the signal.
[turns, reaches to grab more stuff]

Nile: [angry, voice raised as she strides into kitchen toward outer door]
How the hell can you even tell?
[flinches back as explosion blast breaks windows in living room]
[stares, says quietly,]
Oh.

Booker: [commanding] Let’s go!

[Booker slings the carry-bag over his left shoulder, picks up Andy’s labrys in its carry-case and slings that on top, walks through the bedroom door, buttoning his shirt as he goes. His shirt closes over smooth, unmarked skin.]

[Nile enters the church first, pistol drawn and extended. As she registers what she’s seeing, her pistol lowers; she pauses, staring at all the sprawled bodies. Booker hurries past.]

Nile: [quiet disbelief] Andy did all this herself?

Booker: Yeah. That woman has forgotten more ways to kill than entire armies will ever learn.
[walks quickly, checking (loading?) his rifle]

Nile: [following slowly]
Who are they? How’d they find you?
[lags behind, still staring at the carnage]

Booker: [at outer door] I don’t know. [commanding] Let’s go!

[Booker moves quickly outside. Nile runs to catch up.]

[Outside, a vehicle is in flames. Booker runs past it, Nile following... then Nile looks ahead and pauses, watching, face expressionless. Andy stands beside the driver’s side of a car, face and clothing streaked with blood-spatter, door open. She gazes at Nile, equally expressionless, then gestures slightly with her arm toward the car before she folds herself into the driver’s seat. The car speeds into the night, its headlights illuminating the empty road ahead.]

58:45 minutes

[Large, square van driving down the road. Inside, soldiers sit on side benches. Joe sits in the middle of the floor, elbows on raised knees, coughing violently. His hands are zip-tied in front of him, ankles are bound with a length of chain between them, and the front of his shirt has a bloody bullet-hole just above his heart. Nicky lies to Joe’s left and slightly behind, crumpled on his left side; a trail of blood leads from his right temple down the side of his face.]

Joe: [reaches out to touch Nicky’s shoulder, speaks quietly] Nicolò.

Soldier: [kicks Joe’s boot] Quiet.

Joe: Nicolò, destati. Destati! (wake up)
[pushes harder on his shoulder, leans over Nicky]

Soldier: [louder] I said --

[Another solder pulls Joe upright, away from Nicky.]

Joe: [looks up at speaker, voice firm]
I know what you said. What are you gonna do? Kill me?
[curls over Nicky, voice urgent]
Nicolò, destati.
[ignores another kick to his boot, attempt to pull him back]
Destati!

Nicky: [quietly, barely conscious] Sono qui. Sono qui. (I’m here. I’m here.)
[breathes heavily, groans slightly, starts to pick himself up awkwardly, hands also zip-tied]
Ovunque qui sia. (Wherever here is.)

Joe: [glances around the space] In un blindato. Hanno usato del gas.
(In an armored van. They used gas.)

Soldier: I told you, shut up!

Joe: [calmly but intently] I need to know he’s okay.

[Nicky makes it to a seated position, leans against an unoccupied section of the bench. His shirt has a bloody bullet-hole on the left shoulder.]

Soldier: [sneering] That’s sweet. What is he? Your boyfriend?

[Nicky sighs deeply as the soldiers laugh, rolls his head to the side; he and Joe have heard such things so many times before.]

Joe: [intensely, vibrantly]
You’re a child. An infant. Your mocking is thus infantile. He’s not my boyfriend. This man is more to me than you can dream.
[As Nicky watches Joe speak, his eyes visibly widen, and love shines in his face.]
He’s the moon when I’m lost in darkness and warmth when I shiver in cold. And his kiss still thrills me, even after a millennia. His heart overflows with the kindness of which this world is not worthy of. I love this man beyond measure and reason. He’s not my boyfriend.
[pauses, deep breath, gazes at Nicky, deeply heart-felt]
[Nicky gazes back, equally heart-felt, jaw clenching with emotion]
He’s all and he’s more.

Nicky: [softly] You’re an incurable romantic.

[He leans forward, smiling; Joe meets him halfway with a matching smile. They kiss, deeply... until the soldiers, uncomfortable with this display, pounce on them and drag them apart.]

[A private plane stands on the tarmac, the logo G-MRCK on its side. Keane, Copley, a group of soldiers stand near the lowered stairs. The van drives up and parks near it. Keane opens the back door; one of the soldiers rolls out, falls to the pavement, dead. The outside soldiers cock their pistols and point into the van. All the soldiers inside are sprawled, dead. Joe sits relaxed on one of the benches, elbows on knees; Nicky sits on the floor next to his legs, equally relaxed. Both smile at their captors.]

Nicky: I don’t suppose it would be possible to get these chains off of us?
[lifts his bound hands, grins up at Joe]

Keane: [angry] Get ‘em out, get ‘em out! Get ‘em on the plane now!

Joe: [philosophically] I guess not.

[Copley watches, frowning, as they are ‘escorted’ out of the van at gunpoint. As he walks by, Nicky gives him a level look.]

Nicky: We are usually a better judge of character.
[looks at plane, starts up stairs; guard pushes his back and points pistol at him]
I suppose you are taking us to the person who paid for your betrayal.

Joe: [looks at plane, turns to Copley as he passes; sounds a little surprised, a little approving]
It’s a nice plane.
[Joe also climbs stairs with guard pushing and pointing a pistol]

Nicky: [calling from inside] There’s a TV, Joe.

Joe: [also inside] Champagne?

[Copley looks at Keane, hesitates, then follows them up the stairs.]

1:00:50 minutes

[Aerial view, dawn breaking over a green landscape.]

VAL D’ARGENT FRANCE appears on screen

[Rear view of a car -- small, blue BMW, license NJSW 68R -- driving on a narrow road, kicking up dust behind. Nile is in the back seat, right side; Andy is driving. Nile is quiet, stoic, occasionally watches Andy’s profile; she’s equally stoic. Andy stops in front of what appears to be a large wall of corrugated metal, with low trees/high bushes growing close on each side. It’s marked with graffiti and a large sign that reads: ATTENTION. DEFENSE D’ENTRAR. Booker gets out and goes to the right side. A chain rattles, then Booker opens what is actually a large gate and swings it to the left side. Andy drives past, and Booker closes the gate behind them.]

[The car drives farther, stops in a flat area with a low bluff to the left and trees around and ahead; it seems very secluded. Everyone gets out. Andy crosses the front of the car, glances around to get her bearings, heads for some young trees with low-hanging branches. She stoops a little to push through them, Booker and Nile behind her.]

[We hear a bolt or latch move; from the inside darkness, light appears as a pair of doors open. Andy and Booker are silhouetted against the light, with tree branches against the sky behind them. Nile follows them into darkness. We hear a ‘thunk’ as Andy throws a generator switch, and a few lights come on, mounted on the walls. It’s not bright, but enough to move around without falling over things, and to see what you’re doing. They’re in a large cave, with rough-hewn walls and various items scattered around, unidentifiable in the shadows.]

[Andy moves farther inside, familiar with the layout, with Booker right behind. Nile follows more slowly, looking around.]

Nile: What is this place?

Andy: An abandoned mine.
[lights a long match, holds it to wick of hurricane lantern]
We stumbled on it during the Baussenque Wars. Eleven-fifties, maybe?
[Nile, looking around, quickly shifts gaze to Andy, reminded again of her age]
[Andy picks up lantern and stands]
I used to keep my stuff here.

[Andy gives the lantern to Nile. Nile raises her eyes as she accepts it; apparently she has permission to look around. Andy and Booker walk to a side area that holds a large pile of cut wood.]

Andy: Here...

[Nile slowly wanders, using the lantern to examine what she finds. A strange metal helmet that would cover the head. A painting half hidden under a cloth. She lifts the cloth to see a woman in clothes from an earlier time -- Andy -- with a black man standing behind her, holding her with his arm around her waist.]

[Andy squats in the middle of the floor, breaking kindling; she looks to see what Nile is doing, but doesn’t say anything.]

[Nile continues, checks out a box with a mining tools (handle of a shovel), plus a couple of crossbows and some bolts for them. Next to the box is a statue half-covered with a cloth; she lifts the cloth to see a bronze nude woman. Nile drops the cloth completely as she stares in surprise.]

Nile: [breathless] Is this a Rodin?

Andy: [crouches next to Booker, helping to build a fire. looks up, nods briefly]
Yeah.

Nile: [voice shows amazement] This is an -- honest to God -- Rodin.
[holds lantern closer for a better look, pauses]
Wait... did you know him?

Booker: [stirs the fire] Probably biblically.

[Andy gives him an affectionate punch on the left shoulder; he laughs as she smiles. Nile continues her exploration.]

Andy: Get to work finding Copley. He’s got Nicky and Joe.

[Booker brushes off his hands, goes to get his laptop. Andy stares into the fire.]

1:03:27 minutes

[MERRICK in big letters on the side of a fancy, modern, high-rise building.]

Merrick: [on cellphone] It can hardly be unique if they can make another copy.
[looks up, sees Keane walking down hall, followed by Joe, Nicky, soldiers, Copley]
I’ve gotta go.
[Tucks phone into jacket inner breast pocket. He enters an outer office from the right, with Dr. Kozak several paces behind.]

[Joe and Nicky are brought into the room from the left, still zip-tied and hobbled, with a man holding each arm, and armed guards following, weapons aimed. The guards stop them; they’re standing next to each other in the middle of the room, Joe to Nicky’s right. Copley walks past everyone and takes a position to the side, out of the way.]

Merrick: Ah! Gentlemen, welcome. I am truly honored to meet you. [pompously] Together, we shall do such things. What they are yet, I know not, but they shall be the terrors of the Earth.
[Joe and Nicky regard him with skepticism and disbelief]
Or, um, rather the saviors.
[Copley shifts eyes from Joe and Nicky to stare at Merrick]
Lear... Shakespeare.
[Nicky and Joe look at each other]
[Merrick gestures to zip-ties, turns to Keane]
Um, can we take the cuffs off?

Keane: [meaningfully] No, sir.
[glances at the guards aiming weapons at Joe and Nicky from behind]
We can’t.

[Kozak, several steps behind Merrick, cranes her head to stare avidly at Joe and Nicky.]

Merrick: My apologies. Let’s get off on the right foot, shall we? I’m Steven Merrick, youngest CEO in pharma.
[Nicky is not impressed]
Our work here is all about balance.
[moves directly in front of Joe, who frowns, watching and calculating]
How do we push the scientific frontiers whilst also turning a little profit?
[Joe slams forehead into Merrick’s face -- hard]

[Merrick cries out and stumbles back, catches himself on a desk. Keane hurries to Joe, uses left hand to grab him around the throat while right hand holds a pistol inches from his face. ]

Joe: [through gritted teeth, ignoring Keane]
There’s your balance, asshole.

[Keane disengages, but the guard behind Joe clubs him across the back of the neck. Joe grunts and folds over, but another guard holds him up so he can’t fall. Nicky tries to move closer to Joe; the guards hold him in place.]

Keane: [going to him] Mr. Merrick?

Merrick: Yes, yes, yes.

Keane: Watch it.

Merrick: Mr. Copley provided me with footage of your unique talent,
[picks up metal letter-opener from desk]
but I prefer my evidence to be indisputable.
[crosses to Joe, still bent over; stabs him viciously and repeatedly on upper back and neck]
[Joe goes to his knees under the attack.]

Nicky: [struggles to pull free from guards holding him] No!

[A guard hits him in the stomach; he folds over on his knees, next to Joe. Both are bent with faces close to the floor, tightly held by several guards each, Nicky watching Joe.]

Copley: [in protest] Mr. Merrick!

Joe: [groans, grimaces, speaks through gritted teeth] God damn it! Ugh! Shit!

[Kozak moves closer to Joe, watches as the wounds start to heal.]

Merrick: What do you see?

Kozak: [breathing heavily] The Nobel Prize.

[Copley glances at her, then back to Joe, frowning.]

Merrick: And a fair few quid to boot. [chuckles]
[guards drag Joe upward, but keep him on his knees. Nicky watches, concerned; he straightens on his knees next to Joe]
We brought a cancer drug to the market last quarter.
[Joe turns to look at Nicky, tips his head forward. Nicky answers with his own head-tip; their foreheads touch for a moment before the guards pull them apart.]
It’s already saved hundreds of thousands of lives.
[Joe and Nicky turn their attention to him]
Yet, in development, it killed a quarter of a million lab mice. Now, I didn’t ask for their little permissions. I’m not gonna ask for yours.

Joe: [watches Merrick intently as Nicky glares up at the man]
He thinks you’re a mouse, Nicky.
[Nicky looks to Joe, then back to Merrick]

[Copley watches, still frowning.]

Merrick: There’s genetic code inside you which could help every human being on Earth. We’re morally obliged to take it.

Joe: What?

[Kozak comes forward with two cylindrical somethings in her hands.]

Joe: What is that? Wait!

Nicky: Hey!

[Tasers crackle against their backs; they groan as they collapse to the floor, Nicky behind Joe. Nicky can see the doctor’s hand use an injector against Joe’s neck, and the other hand with an injector coming toward him.]

Nicky: [strained] No!

[Kozak plunges the injector into Nicky’s neck, then stands back. The guards haul them up -- either unconscious or temporarily paralyzed -- and drag them from the room.]

Kozak: [to Merrick] I’ll keep you informed of my progress.

Merrick: Yes. Yes, you do that.

[Kozak follows the guards and their captives out.]

[Merrick heads through another door. Copley follows.]

Copley: Mr. Merrick... [Merrick turns] this is about science, not profits... or sadism.

Merrick: You owe me two more. [climbs stairs out of sight]

1:06:00 minutes

Continued in Part 2

comments

Old Guard script: bold red names, blue descriptions

2020-09-01T20:33:29Z

Continued in Part 2

comments

Old Guard script: regular red names, blue descriptions

2020-09-01T20:26:44Z

I didn't produce this transcript alone. My most heartfelt thanks to the people who helped me with the technical aspects, and/or subjects of which I have insufficient knowledge. Especially:
Castalie gave me the French and Italian phrases (and translations) where the transcript said only, ‘Booker speaks French’, or ‘Nicky speaks Italian’. Bah!
Raine gave me invaluable information about weapons, the plane, and the training Nile has as a U.S Marine.
Lyssie cleared up a not-really-very-tricky plot point that completely eluded me. I felt so dumb, and appreciate her graciously answering such an obvious question.
Garonne gave me the words and translation of the song that plays as Andy and Booker go to meet Copley.
Tenderly_wicked provided the Russian phrase Andy told the pilot.
Purpleperdi pointed out where I was wrong about Nicky’s sniper scene. That’s fixed, now.
Sheafrotherdon identified the shape of the bedroom windows for me; I appreciate having accurate names.

Note well: I intend this work as a fandom resource. You may use it however you wish -- saved as reference, or written as quoted passages in your own works. (Or other methods that I'm not aware of; have fun.) Attribution is nice -- although I may be a bit flustered -- but not necessary.

Update: Aug 22, 2021 -- I’ve made major revisions. Added extensively to descriptions -- approximately 4,700 more words of action-description, about 1,300 more words of Copley’s-board descriptions. Changed some dialogue from what was in the provided transcript to what the characters actually said, and a couple of places where I originally attributed a line to the wrong character. (How did I make such a goof? No idea.) I also changed the formatting to put (most) descriptions on separate lines from dialogue. I find it easier to follow, but other people are not me. If you find it more difficult, feel free to copy to a document and format as you like -- or try one of the alternate formats in my Dreamwidth account. (Link in end notes.)

The Old Guard Transcript
Dialogue provided by Netflix
Descriptions provided by StarWatcher

[Shell casings clatter to the floor, followed by an empty magazine, land around a pair of booted feet.]
[Camera pans to bodies prone on floor, eyes staring and faces spattered with blood.]

[Booker in knitted cap, face partially concealed by the rifle in his left fist.]
Andy voiceover:
I’ve been here before...
[Joe’s face, wearing a backwards ball-cap.]
over and over again,
[Nicky’s face, hoodie covering hair.]
and each time the same question.
[Andy’s face.]
[Sound of footsteps approaching.]
Is this it? Will this time be the one?
[Booted foot stops next to her body.]
And each time the same answer. And I’m just so tired of it.

THE OLD GUARD appears on screen as music plays

Lyrics: We were born alone, And we die, Alone.
On our way, To call, Now I’m on my own
But I’m not safe... No, no, no...

[Andy, wearing sunglasses against the bright light, with a backpack over her right shoulder, strides through a narrow passageway, walking into diffuse sunlight where it opens out.]

MOROCCO appears on screen

[A motorbike engine revs and tires squeal as Booker rides away from the viewer, unbuttoned over-shirt loose and flapping in the airstream. As he guides the bike into a narrow passageway, a particularly high-flying flap reveals a pistol tucked in the back of his waistband.]

[Camera cuts back and forth between scenes of Andy continuing through several turns, in and out of covered passages and sunlight again, and scenes of Booker twisting and turning through narrow, dark passages, then around corners into sunlight. Booker bends over the handlebars as he revs the engine again; he passes two women walking, who move closer to a wall to give him room, then roars out of a shadowed, narrow passageway into sunlight. Andy is walking down the road in front of him.]

[Booker approaches Andy from the rear; he speeds past her, makes a sharp u-turn. Brakes screech as he stops the bike facing her. She stops walking and stares at him without expression. Booker looks back through his sunglasses, equally without expression.]

[His mouth twitches at left corner in a tiny smile; she shakes her head slightly as her mouth twitches in a slightly bigger smile, then she looks over her right shoulder to the empty street behind. Andy faces Booker again and approaches him with her smile growing... but still not wide, by any definition.]

Booker: You good?

Andy: Yeah.

Booker: Yeah?
[moves bike against wall, pulls duffel-bag from perch on handlebars, slings it over head to hang from right shoulder, moves to walk beside her]
You travel?

Andy: I did.
[unslings backpack, looks toward Booker with a smile. zips it open, reaches inside, pulls out a thick book, holds it in front of Booker without looking at him]
And I got you something.

[They continue conversation as they walk side-by-side down the street.]

Booker: What’s that?
[Andy shoulders backpack again as Booker takes book, turns it to read the spine]
Ooh, first edition Don Quixote.

Andy: Mm-hm.

Booker: That couldn’t have been cheap.

Andy: It wasn’t. [turns her head, smiles]
So why am I here, Booker?
[turns, looks over left shoulder to check street behind them]

Booker: You remember Surabaya eight years ago, right?

Andy: CIA.

Booker: Yeah. The guy who hired us, James Copley, reached out. He’s freelance now. He has a hostage situation in South Sudan.

[Their walking slows and stops. Andy turns to face Booker directly.]

Andy: [shakes head as she speaks] No, Booker. We don’t do repeats. You know that. It’s too risky.

Booker: [tilts head, raises eyebrows, stares calmly at her] Andy.

[Andy sighs, turns partly away, then back to Booker.]

Andy: Joe and Nicky?

Booker: At the hotel.

[Andy shakes her head slightly, turns and leads the way down the street. Booker gives her a beat, then follows.]

[Back view: Booker leads, Andy follows, as they walk past columns of a portico into a combination courtyard/hotel lobby. Booker heads toward the front desk as Andy continues farther.]

Clerk: Come back again.

Guest leaving: Thank you very much.

[Booker stops in front of desk.]

Clerk: Welcome to El Fenn, sir.

Booker: Bonjour. (Hello.)

Clerk: Checking in?

Booker: Oui, s’il-vous-plaît. (Yes, please.)

Clerk: Qu’est-ce qui vous amène à Marrakech? (What brings you to Marrakesh?)

Booker: La famille. [smiles tightly, insincerely] (The family.)

[Andy’s attention is drawn to a large screen on the wall showing “Breaking News”. She watches scenes of ‘Ongoing Crisis in Syria - 20 children killed, 100s injured’ and ‘Unrest in Haiti, 1 dead, 35 injured in second day of protests’. She hears a woman’s voice behind her.]

Tourist: Everyone say, “Marrakesh!”

[Camera pans out as Andy turns; to her left and slightly behind she sees a group of four women closely hugging and posing. One holds a smartphone for a selfie; its angle will catch Andy’s image.]

Tourists: Marrakesh!

[Andy turns her face away, but too late; the camera shutter clicks. She walks toward the group and extends her hand toward the phone.]

Andy: Would you like me to take one for you?

Tourist: [gives Andy phone] Oh, thank you so much. I just really suck at taking selfies.

[Andy takes phone, quickly scrolls to see that the most recent picture does show her face. She deletes it, then raises the phone and takes the group picture.]

Andy: There you go. [returns phone with a slight smile]

Tourists: Thank you!

[Andy and Booker walk through a courtyard -- Andy slightly behind and to Booker’s right -- toward a pair of wooden double doors with different sizes of colored and clear glass panes inset. The doors begin to open.]

Booker: Allora.

[Nicky opens the door inward and holds it as he looks out with a question on his face; Joe is some distance behind, looking over his shoulder. As soon as Nicky sees Andy, a smile lights his face. Andy steps forward as his arms open; they share a close, heartfelt hug.]

Andy: Mmm.

[As the hug ends and they separate, Andy chuckles while stroking her hand down the back of Nicky’s head and nape of his neck, then claps him on the shoulder.]

[She turns to Joe, standing a short distance into the room, waiting his turn. He steps forward into her open arms. Nicky stands close, smiling at the reunion. As Andy hugs Joe, he grabs her around the waist, lifts her and spins with her in his arms while growling playfully. She laughs happily.]

[Booker closes the doors, with his back to the happy reunion. His head is bowed, his face expressionless; he doesn’t join in the reunion.]

Joe: [puts her down, continues to hold her as he smiles; her hands remain on his shoulders]
You look great.

Andy: You look okay.

Joe: [laughs, turns to escort her into room] Thank you! Thank you!

[We see a small, low table in the lounge area/living room. Nicky’s hands pour coffee/tea from an orange teapot, as Andy’s hand lays her passport and sunglasses on the table and Booker’s hand adds a dollop from his silver hip flask to one of the cups. Nicky’s hand sets down the teapot and picks up a small, paper-wrapped package from the tea tray, then moves out of frame.]

[Camera pans out. A couch with decorative cushions is against the wall to screen left; Joe relaxes on it, leaning back with his hands behind his head. A second couch is at right angles to the first, against the back wall. After pouring, Booker sits on that couch, behind him, and drinks from his flask. Andy sits to his left, elbows on her knees, as she watches Nicky walk around the table and head toward her.]

Nicky: [stands in front of her] I have something for you.
[holds out the small package]

Andy: Nicky!
[takes it as she looks up at him with a smile and a small chuckle. holds it to her nose; eyes close as she sniffs deeply]
Mmm!
[Booker chuckles, Nicky smiles at her reaction]
Baklava.

Nicky: [casually, without looking at him] Five hundred, Booker.
[starts separating / counting bills from a folded stack in his hand]

Andy: [looks up at him, speaks flatly] No.

[Joe watches from his seat, hands still behind his head, smiling and chuckling.]

Booker: All right. [pulls wad of folded money from right front pocket]
All in. Here it is.

Andy: Really?

Nicky: All in!

Joe: All in! [two groups of folded bills thrown onto table, one on top of other.]

[Booker clears his throat as Andy unwraps the paper and pulls out a flaky pastry. A look of bliss crosses her face as she takes a bite, then smiles up at Nicky.]

Andy: Mmm! Mm!
[Nicky watches closely. Joe leans back, relaxed, watches with easy amusement.]
Hazelnut, not walnut.
[Nicky nods in confirmation. behind Andy’s right shoulder, Booker’s raised left hand lifts thumb as he counts points]
Black Sea.
[Booker adds index finger to count]
[Nicky blinks, dips head, shifts body]
Rosewater.
[Booker drops thumb to hold pinkie, three fingers up, blows air in amazement.]
[Andy leans back, closes eyes to savor taste. Joe gives a long whistle]
Pomegranate.
[throws head back, over back of couch, reveling in the flavor]
Mmm!
[raises head, gives Nicky triumphant smile, speaks softly]
Eastern Turkey.

Booker: [on a howling note as he sits forward, pumps fist gleefully] Ow!

[Nicky turns away with a delighted smile. Joe bends forward with uproarious laughter.]

Booker: [reaches for money as he speaks through laughter]
Grazie mille, Nicky, veramente. Sei molto gentile. (A thousand thanks, Nicky, truly. You’re very kind.)

Joe: Santa Maria, Madre di Dio. (Holy Mary, Mother of God.)
[leans back, crosses hands behind head again]

Nicky: [waves away the words] Prego, prego, prego. (Don’t mention it.)

Joe: No, no, no. Don’t worry.

[Andy laughs with delight, licks crumbs from her thumb as Booker leans back, left arm on the back of the couch behind Andy, left leg crossed with ankle on right knee. Nicky plops into a cushioned chair on the other side of the table and swipes his hands over his face.]

Joe: [points finger] Admit it, Boss. You missed us.

Andy: [nods as she looks at Joe and Nicky] I did.

Booker: [takes a deep breath] It’s a job, guys.

[Andy is leaning forward, elbows on her knees, hands clasped. She’s looking down, doesn’t respond to Booker’s statement.]

Nicky: [observes Andy calmly] We can do some good.

Andy: [still looking down, face shows tension]
Have you been watching the news lately?
[looks up, shakes head slightly, looks down again]
Some good means nothing.
[stands, glances at them, turns away]
I don’t know about this, guys. We’re not helping.
[crosses to open window, rests left arm against side frame, looks out]

Joe: [calmly] I know you needed a break, but it’s been over a year, Boss.

Nicky: [quietly confident] This is what we do, Andy.

[Andy fidgets with her fingers, turns to look at them. Booker gives her a subdued nod; he agrees with the others.]

Andy: [turns back to the window, pauses as face firms] I’ll hear him out.

6:00 minutes

[Aerial view of city. Buildings are shades of tan or grey, some with courtyards or arched openings visible. Most seem low, three stories or less. A tall, square minaret (?) rises in the center. Thunder rumbles. Music plays. Ground view of crowded streets, cars and people, awnings and umbrellas are raised over vending stalls and tables for shade.]

“Keep This Between Us” by Krtas Nssa begins playing
Ça marche, bizarre, toujours, fidèle
Ça passe, tequila, toujours, fidèle
Ça marche mais bizarre
T'inquiètes je suis bourrée
Aime moi aime moi, aime moi t’es pour moi

It's okay, weird, always, faithful
It fits, tequila, always, faithful
It's okay, but weird
Don't worry, I'm drunk
Love me, love me, love me, you're for me.

[Booker strides through the crowds, Andy follows. Both wear sunglasses to help hide the careful observations they make of the people around them. Camera pans back to show a variety of vending stalls under canopies, forming several rows. The spaces between and around are so crowded with people it would seem difficult to make any headway.]

[They approach a black man sitting at an outdoor table, under an umbrella. He smiles as he sees them near, stands as they reach him.]

Booker: Mr. Copley. [extends hand]

Copley: [shakes Booker’s hand, speaks with slight British accent]
Mr. Booker, bonjour.
[shakes Andy’s hand]
It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.

Andy: [tilts head in mild challenge] Last time I checked, you had to be American to be in the CIA.

Copley: [laughs as they all sit] I was born in Boston. Moved to London when I was three.

Andy: So why did you leave the agency, Mr. Copley?

Copley: My wife got sick. ALS. She died two years ago. Just haven’t found my way back yet.

Andy: Sorry for your loss.

Copley: Thank you. [tilts head, raises hand] You haven’t aged a day, Booker.

Booker: Trust me, I have.

Copley: [laughs] Yeah.

[Booker slouches in his seat through the conversation, watching while Copley makes his case and Andy remains carefully noncommittal.]

Copley: [folded newspaper on table; he pushes it toward Booker. tablet with active screen visible under paper]
Yesterday afternoon local, a school southwest of Juba was attacked by a militia. They murdered the teachers and abducted seventeen of the students at gunpoint.
[Booker turns paper toward Andy. Headline reads: ‘U.N. Condemns Child Abductions in South Sudan’. Sub-headline reads: ‘17 Schoolgirls Abducted From the M(something) Region’.]
The youngest was eight... oldest, thirteen.
[Andy turns head slightly to stare at paper, then looks up and out]
[we’re looking at the group through crosshairs of rifle scope]
South Sudanese asked the U.S for help, but current administration’s policy is to deny aid to any nonstrategic allies.
[Camera pans up rifle barrel to show Nicky keeping steady aim on Copley, then into room. Nicky sits hunched on tapestry-covered square object (footstool?) to aim out window. Joe listens to headphones, adjusts volume on equipment]
[turns to Andy, speaks earnestly, trying to convince her]
Some of my ex colleagues at the CIA feel differently.
[Andy glances around as she picks up tablet]
They reached out to me, and I’m reaching out to you.
[Andy is scrolling through the information]
The last overfly confirmed the personnel on site.
[final picture is group of smiling, very young black girls, wearing uniform dresses, in front of a school]
No food or water being brought in.

Andy: [drops newspaper over tablet] That means they’re moving them soon.

Copley: [nods several times]
And when they do, most likely they’ll be separated, and odds are...
[shakes head slightly]
we’ll never find them again. Has to be done quickly... by the best, and your team’s the best I’ve ever seen. You can name your price.

[Andy pushes her chair back and stands, stares at Copley, then Booker. Booker looks up at her, seems about to speak, waits. Andy pauses, turns away, hesitates, turns back.]

Andy: We’ll invoice you when it’s done.
[strides away. Booker rises, grabs paper and tablet, follows Andy]

[View through rifle scope. Copley watches them go, looks around, then focuses right at the window. He tilts his head with a smile and waves with left hand. Nicky huffs a soft laugh.]

8:27 minutes

[View of helicopter flying against a sun-seared sky, flying over barren landscape.]

[Andy’s in the right seat, wearing sunglasses, pack in her lap, handle of labrys rising above her right shoulder from behind. She looks out the window to a brown, rocky land with occasional, sparsely-leafed, green trees. She turns her head to watch Booker to her left. He wears a dark, knitted cap pulled down to his ears. He has a kitchen cutting-board (?) in his lap, which holds a large brick of plastic explosive; he’s cut off smaller pieces that he’s forming to different sizes.]

[Camera pans up past a sheathed sword. As the hilt comes into view, it is strapped to someone’s left hip. The hilt is positioned next to a black-clad arm and gloved hand. Camera pans up to show the hand holding the back part of some large shotgun or rifle (?) silhouetted against the window. Camera rises more to reveal Nicky, with Joe to his right. Nicky wears a dark hoodie pulled over his head and hanging low over his face; his head is bowed, eyes closed. Joe wears sunglasses and a dark ball-cap turned backwards. He seems calm, chewing gum.]

[View of helicopter from above, flying over a terrain of broken hills and gullies, dotted by widely-spaced trees.]

[Behind Booker, the pilot looks back and raises three fingers. Booker and Andy are seated with their backs to the pilot, traveling backward, with Joe and Nicky across from them, traveling forward. Joe raises three fingers in confirmation, looks to check that Andy saw him; she nods. Nicky looks to Joe, who nods and smiles, then Nicky turns to look out the window. In preparation for landing, Andy reaches up to hold something solid as she looks out the window toward the ground.]

[The helicopter lands. Nicky is visible through the window as he slides the door open. Andy jumps out, followed by Booker, Joe -- with the hilt of his scimitar rising above his right shoulder -- and Nicky. All are now wearing sunglasses, and all carry equipment packs of some sort -- Booker’s and Nicky’s on their backs, Joe’s slung over his left shoulder, Andy’s slung over her right shoulder They wait for the helicopter to lift off (with door still open), then turn and start walking away from the camera. Nicky has pulled part of the hoodie (?) over his mouth and nose; he carries the large rifle slung over his right shoulder on a strap and hanging beside/behind him. Booker carries a rifle in his arms across his chest. The men fall in behind Andy -- Booker, Joe, Nicky -- as they walk over dry, sandy ground toward a smudge of greenery with low, barren hills rising beyond.]

SOUTH SUDAN appears on screen

[The walk seems long. We see them walking on a hilltop against the sky, still in single-file, then a similar view, more distant. They continue walking through a gulley, still single-file.]

[People come into view -- a woman in a print dress, walking with a tall, square container balanced on her head, her daughter beside her, holding her hand, then another woman with a similar container, yellow, on her head. Behind them is a man in a knit cap.]

[Andy comes into view, turns to look behind, keeps walking. Booker follows, still carrying the rifle in his arms. Joe is behind him, also with a rifle in his arms. Nicky is last, also with a rifle in his arms, his hoodie pushed back to leave his head bare. He speaks as the first woman and girl pass him.]

Nicky: A mal teh-ke jee.
(from script online. ‘Peace be with you’ in Nuer.)

[As the two groups pass each other, the little girl turns to look back at these strange foreigners. The local group is larger than we first saw -- three men are behind the women, one urging along a small herd of goats, plus the women and girl. One man carries a large, tannish cloth bag, hanging in front of him from a strap over his shoulder and across his back; he uses a walking-stick.]

[Night, with a full moon high in the sky, and crickets chirping nearby. A cluster of buildings is crowded close together, with security lights rising above them. A fire flickers in front of one of the buildings, screen-right.]

[A bright spotlight shines into the night, with a guard beside it to the left, staring out into the dark. Camera pans back to show a raised walkway with the spotlight screen-right; a second guard stands center-screen, to the right of the light, watching into the night with binoculars. He scans a chain-link fence with coils of barbed wire on top, a pickup truck on the other side of the fence, the empty terrain beyond. The other guard approaches, walking slowly, carrying a rifle. As he passes behind binoculars-guard, there is a bright muzzle-flash beyond the fence; a high-powered bullet goes through both heads, snick-snick, one after the other. They drop instantly.]

[Nicky is prone on the ground, peering through the scope of his sniper rifle; he cocks the rifle, catches the shell as it’s ejected. Joe is crouched, watching through night-glasses. He turns his head sharply, nods that Nicky’s shot went true, turns back to the night-glasses. Andy nods, rises from her crouch and moves out.]

[The four of them slightly spread out, silhouetted against the compound as they walk toward it. When they reach the fence, Booker crouches and grabs the wire. Nicky, with hoodie in place, moves past him to the right, rifle aimed along the fence-line. Joe takes guard at the left side of the group, also aiming along the fence. Booker uses wire-snips to cut the fence as Andy stands beside him with a pistol in her hands, watching into the dark behind them.]

[Booker holds back the cut fence. Andy steps through the gap and moves forward, handgun extended, to the corner of a building. Joe steps through the fence, then Nicky, then Booker. Joe and Nicky head right, Booker follows Andy. Nicky follows Joe as they slip past a small fire in a metal barrel, then around the corner of a building, rifles constantly extended, ready to fire. Andy and Booker slip between a building and parked truck, weapons extended and ready.]

[Nicky waits with weapon raised, back against a wall, next to the corner at his right. He’s concealed from two men who are walking along the other wall of the building, silhouetted by security lights behind them. Joe drops from the roof, lands between them, uses his scimitar to stab the first man, then spins; we hear the blade as it slashes into the second man, cutting off his muffled cry. Joe holds the body against the wall with a hand on his chin, takes a second to wipe the blood from the blade on the man's pants, then lets him fall. Nicky comes around the corner, tosses handgun (sawed-off shotgun?) to Joe. They move quickly between the buildings, Joe jogging easily with the shotgun (?) in his left hand, scimitar in his right. Nicky follows slightly behind him weapon extended.]

[Andy comes out of the darkness between two buildings, shoots two men in the open space beyond. She continues forward, turns right around the corner of the building. Booker follows, watching her flank. Joe and Nicky approach from beyond them, turning left to follow Andy and Booker.]

[They all move toward their target, Andy slightly in the lead, pistol extended. Joe (with scimitar hilt showing behind his head) is to her left, Nicky to her right, Booker to his right, all with rifles extended. They pass a pile of children’s shoes in the dirt as they approach a large, apparently thick, wooden door, recessed into the wall, with a light on the wall above it. Andy stands to the right of the door, back against the wall, pistol aimed into the darkness. Joe stands to the left of the door, rifle safely pointing downward but ready to fire if it opens. Nicky is farther left, against the wall behind Joe, covering that sector. Booker places the explosive at various points on the door. As he waits, Joe stares at the pile of shoes at his feet. Andy checks the magazine in her handgun. Booker nods to Joe, all step away and turn their faces. A rather quiet blast destroys the door and they all run in, Andy in the lead.]

[They move cautiously down a flight of dark, steep, stone stairs, Andy still leading, flashlights on their weapons pointing the way.]

Andy: [reaches bottom, shines light on empty floor with no marks or debris, barren walls]
What the...

[All move forward a few steps into the room, spreading out beside each other, flash their lights around to reveal a large, completely empty room.]

Nicky: [to her right, rifle ready to fire at any threat] Are we too late?

[Suddenly a bank of bright lights flash on to reveal Nicky, Andy, Joe, Booker standing in a line, exposed in a barren, wide-open space with no possible cover, although there are several empty doorways on each side.]

Andy: [lowers her handgun as realization hits] Motherfuck-

[They’re hit with multiple rounds of machine-gun fire as a dozen mercenaries (?) step out of the shadowed doorways. The mercenaries continue firing until their weapons are empty. The immortals jerk repeatedly as the bullets hit; they fall to the ground. The mercenaries -- shadowy, amorphous figures backlit by the spotlights -- wait a moment, machine-guns still aimed, to ensure that their targets are truly dead.]

[Shell casings clatter to the floor; opening scene is reprised.]

Mercenary: [approaches, stares down at unmoving bodies] Room clear!

[The mercenaries lower their weapons and gather at the far end of the room, chatting among themselves and ignoring the bodies.]

[Focus on Andy’s face, lit by a fallen flashlight; we see her pupils contract and hear a soft crackling as flesh heals, then she takes a soft breath as her eyes flicker and blink. She gasps a few more breaths.]

[Nicky gasps quietly, takes a deep breath.]

[Booker shifts his head, blinks; a bullet extrudes from the skin below his left eye and clinks on the floor. He groans quietly.]

[Joe’s hand, resting a bare inch away from his rifle, twitches, then grabs the stock tightly. He groans quietly, winces; a bullet falls out of his forehead. He shifts his eyes upward to assess their enemies silhouetted against the lights.]

[Andy brings a hand under her, raises her head, begins to push herself upward. The others do the same.]

[As he raises himself, Joe immediately turns his head to find Nicky, sees him looking back. Nicky nods at him.]

[Booker grunts softly as he raises himself. Maybe it’s heard, maybe one of the mercenaries notices a flicker of movement, but a couple turn to see the ‘bodies’ rising.]

Merc1: Oh, my God!

Merc2: Shit!

[As Andy rises, she grabs her pistol from her holster as she sprints forward. The men keep pace, spreading out to engage.]

Merc3: Look out! Reload!

Merc4: What the hell?

[The mercenaries are in disarray, shouting warnings to each other and trying to reload. The immortals charge into the group; they need to take out their enemies as quickly as possible.]

[Sound of gunfire; impossible to tell from which group.]

[Andy closes on a merc before he can bring his rifle to bear. She uses her gun-arm to knock the rifle aside, then rebounds to smack him in the face with her pistol, left to right and reverse right to left, then uses a two-handed grip to push the pistol into his chest and shoot. She grabs the merc’s long gun, tosses it into the air.]

[Joe snatches the tumbling long gun (with a light on it) from the air. Nicky, at his left with hoodie down, shoots left-handed at the merc in front of them; Joe semi-crouches as the merc goes down and shoots him again, then drops the long gun, turns sharply to right to engage another enemy as Nicky draws his sword and slices a merc behind them.]

[Booker fires two shots into a merc, ducks under the swinging rifle of another, lunges up to slam his rifle stock into the merc's head, right-left.]

[Andy whirls, karate-chops a merc's neck and across his chest (?) punches her pistol forward into his chest, knocks him back and fires.]

[Nicky slices a merc on an upswing, whirls while raising the sword, and brings it down across his neck.]

[Joe grabs a merc’s right arm with his left, pulls him forward and knees him in the chest, impales him with his scimitar as the merc falls away. He raises his scimitar high and brings it down across another merc to his right.]

[Nicky shoots a merc left-handed, impales him with his sword as he falls.]

[Andy shoots a merc twice, reverses the pistol to club him in the head with the butt.]

[Booker clubs a merc with the butt of his rifle, then shoots him as he stumbles backward, turns and knocks aside the rifle of another merc approaching from behind, knocks the merc's head with his head. The merc falls, his finger on the trigger reflexively firing into the ceiling. Booker drops back and rolls, rises to shoot the merc from one knee.]

[Andy draws her labrys, stalks forward while spinning it in her hand to build momentum, whirls and steps forward to slash across a merc's midsection, 1-2, then slams the butt of the labrys into his chest. As he goes down, she raises the labrys high, whirls again as she moves forward to slash another merc, pulls him forward as he falls, hangs on to him as she turns to lift the labrys high and slice down across the merc approaching from behind. She flings the merc she was holding away from her, and Booker shoots him. Andy turns and slashes another merc behind her, then spins and thrusts the labrys like a sword into the chest of another merc, raises it above her shoulder and brings it down to chop into his neck. She spins 1-1/2 times, labrys at shoulder level, strikes a merc approaching from behind, raises the labrys high and brings it down again to deliver the killing blow. Andy breathes heavily as she looks around for more targets, the labrys dripping blood from its blade.]

[It’s over; all the mercs are down, unmoving, only the immortals left standing. Joe and Nicky are bent forward, panting after such a violent effort, although they turn their heads to scan for missed targets. Booker stands at a doorway in the far wall, also looking for other enemies.]

[They gradually relax, stand straight, take a deep breath, but remain alert, looking for more trouble.]

Andy: Everyone still with me?

Booker: Yeah.

Nicky: Sì. Tutto bene. (Yes. All’s well.)

Andy: Joe?

Joe: [spits out a bullet] Very pissed off.

Nicky: So where are the girls?

Andy: [looks around, notices camera mounted on ceiling. scans room, evaluates information, speaks grimly]
There never were any girls.
[As she walks toward camera; Nicky follows her gaze; he looks alarmed, but the men remain spread out on guard as she stares angrily into it.]
We’ve been set up.

[Copley sits, watching the laptop. He runs a hand over his face with a worried frown.]

[On the screen, Andy’s mouth tightens, then she slowly, deliberately -- letting the watcher see her intent -- raises her labrys high to take a vicious swing that destroys the camera. The screen goes dark.]

[Copley blinks at the screen, taps a few keys to run a playback. He sees the immortals fall under the first assault, then reaches for his cellphone, scrolls through the screen.]

Copley: [assuring himself] Yeah, I got it.
[camera pans to desk, shows Andy glowering from laptop screen. larger monitor to right shows picture of civil war Union soldiers posed in front of tent, labeled at bottom, ‘Nicky, Joe, Andy, Booker?’]
Yeah.

[Daytime, outdoors. The team’s legs are around a hole in the ground as ruined clothing is thrown into it. Booker’s hands use a small collapsible shovel to throw dirt over the lot. Camera pulls back to show Nicky use a cloth to wipe the sweat/dirt from the back of his neck; he tosses the cloth into the hole. Joe, to Nicky’s left, wipes his face on the sleeve of his T-shirt. Camera pulls back farther; they are in a desolate area among the hills, wearing ordinary clothes -- Joe and Nicky in T-shirt and jeans, Booker also in jeans, with a long-sleeved shirt rolled to the elbows over his T-shirt, Andy with a light denim jacket over her tank top. Joe and Nicky stand as they watch Booker cover the clothing.]

[As Booker continues covering the clothes, Andy sits down on a large, flat rock, elbows on knees, head bowed into her hand. She looks the picture of despair. Andy raises her head as Booker finishes, brushes her hair back from her face, shakes her head to herself. Booker jams the shovel to stand in the ground and takes a deep breath as he stands upright, still looking down at the buried clothing.]

Joe: [turns slightly toward Nicky, then back to address whole group]
One has to admire Mr. Copley’s attention to detail. Those shoes were a particularly [slight laugh on the word] grotesque touch.

Andy: [defeated voice] I knew this was gonna happen. I said it.

Nicky: [quietly, calmly] We did it right, Andy. For the right reasons.

Andy: [raises head to him, angry]
And what did it get us, Nicky? What?
[Nicky and Joe stare at her; they have no good answer.]
Nothing. We’ve done nothing. The world isn’t getting any better. It’s getting worse.

Booker: [crouching by filled hole]
I checked him completely, and... everything seemed legit.
[stands, sounds dejected]
I’m sorry, guys.

Andy: [anger has left; she’s despondent again]
They know who we are. They know what we are.
[Nicky, checking their weapons, turns his head to her, concerned.]
We have to find Copley.
[mouth firms, nods to herself]
We have to tie this thing off.

Booker: And then what?

Andy: [turns to him, voice hard]
And then nothing.
[looks down, shakes head. quietly, almost speaking to herself,]
The world can burn for all I care.
[stands, kicks a few rocks into the dirt-filled hole. reaches down, grabs labrys and backpack]
I’m done.

[She strides away. The men pick up their weapons and packs and follow.]

17:23 minutes

[Aerial view, flying over tan, barren landscape, rocky and hilly, broken by gullies and cliffs.]

AFGHANISTAN appears on screen

[Viewpoint crosses a ridge and pans down toward a small town, with buildings the same color as the landscape. A military vehicle drives down a road, past groups of local people in the streets and children watching. A number of armed US military are patrolling, wearing desert camo.]

[Several soldiers are showing a picture to groups of men, women, and children. The local people consistently shake their heads; they haven’t seen that person.]

[One soldier squats down, offers candy to a group of children; they snatch it from the soldier’s hands.]

[One boy is on the outskirts of the group, not joining in. The soldier -- a young black woman with a cheerful smile -- stands, motions him forward. The boy goes to her and takes the candy she offers.]

Soldier: [smiles] Hm?

Boy: [in Pashto] Thank you.

Soldier: [in Pashto, still smiling] You’re welcome.

[A nearby woman -- Nile’s interpreter, dressed according to local custom, with added bulletproof vest -- watches with a smile.]

[A short distance away, two soldiers are speaking with a pair of older local men. One turns and calls out.]

Sergeant: Freeman, where you at?

Nile: Here, Sergeant.

[She stands and turns, repositioning her rifle, which is now at eye-level to boy; he stops smiling and looks up at her warily. Nile goes to the sergeant, followed by the interpreter.]

Sergeant: The women are holed up in the house with the arches.
[turns, points down street, past line of laundry blowing in breeze]
Take a right at the building with the red carpet. Get me some information.

Nile: [nods firmly] Roger that.

[She turns toward another female soldier across the road speaking with a pair of young boys, slaps the top of her helmet twice, sharply. Other soldier leaves the boys and joins Nile.]

[Nile waves over a third female soldier, who leaves the other soldier and two young boys they were speaking with and joins the group. The four women stride down the street, the soldiers watching for danger as they walk, then cautiously approach the designated house.]

Nile: Keep it respectful.

Jay: Don’t we always?

Nile: [calmly] Never hurts to repeat it.

[They walk past an outer courtyard (?) with laundry hanging from lines, toward an inner courtyard (?) with several small groups of women sitting and chatting.]

[As they are seen, one woman jumps up in apparent alarm, seems to urge the other women up. They gather in one large group and wait tensely as the soldiers approach.]

[Nile lowers her rifle, removes her helmet, places her right hand on her chest, and bows respectfully. She speaks in calm tones.]

Nile: As-Salaam-Alaikum. [continues in memorized(?) Pashto]
My name is Nile. I am an American Marine.

[Nile continues to speak in English, while the interpreter translates to Pashto.]

Nile: [displays the picture]
We are looking for this man. [translation]
He has killed many of our people, and many of yours. [translation]
[as she speaks, other two soldiers peer around a few corners, while keeping Nile and group of women in view]
Have any of you seen him? [translation]
[women listen with faces turned to side or downward, but no overt reaction; some avoid looking at picture, and all are silent]
[one older woman raises eyes to look at Nile. Nile holds picture directly in front of her, speaks gently]
You do not disrespect your family by telling us where he is. [translation]

[The older woman raises her head and speaks quietly.]

Interpreter: There are no men here. To use women as shields is to be no man at all.

[Nile tucks the picture into her vest pack. As she looks up, the older woman catches her gaze, deliberately shifts her eyes to a faded red, tapestry-covered doorway to Nile's left, then carefully catches Nile’s eyes again.]

Nile: [takes deep breath, bows head] Thank you for allowing us into your home.

[As the interpreter speaks, Nile puts on her helmet and buckles the chin-strap. She gives sharp hand-gestures to her fellow-soldiers, directing them to the doorway. They lift their rifles and approach. She joins the lineup to the left of the tapestry -- first Dizzy (dark hair in bun) with rifle aimed forward, Nile, then Jay (very short hair, goggles), both with rifles pointed up.]

Interpreter: [in Pashto] We will leave you in peace.

[Dizzy crosses to the right side of the tapestry, keeping her rifle aimed toward it. Nile steps forward, rifle at the ready, while Jay turns back-to-back with Nile, covering their rear.]

[Interpreter silently motions all the women to follow her, to leave the potential battle zone. As the women begin to leave, and Nile’s team maintains their positions and attention, a short burst of gunfire comes from within the building, out through the tapestry, which falls to the ground. The women scream, duck, and run.]

Nile: Breach!

[Jay steps forward and kicks the door open as Nile and Dizzy cover the door. Jay steps out of the line of fire and Nile leads her team in, rifle ready. The man inside cocks his weapon.]

Nile: Stop!

[The man starts to raise his weapon. Nile fires two shots. The man goes down. Nile continues inside then pauses, stares at the blood spreading on his shirt as he gasps on the floor.]

Nile: Clear! Covering!

Jay: Clear!

[Nile picks up the man’s rifle, unloads it, drops it. She kneels next to man’s left side while Jay stands close and aims her rifle at him. Behind them, Dizzy prowls the back wall, scanning shelves of bomb-making materials. Nile frisks the man for more weapons as she speaks on the radio.]

Nile: Lima three, this is India five. Contact, over. [looks up] Jay, go check on the women.

Jay: On it. [points rifle up, turns and leaves]

Dizzy: [stares at rolls of wiring, a jar of metal bits] Look at all this shit. It’s a jackpot.

Nile: [turns, speaks fiercely] Not if he bleeds out. They wanted him alive, remember?

[She reaches into a pocket, pulls out a package of gauze while keeping pressure on the wound, tears it open with her teeth.]

Man: Do not... Do not touch me.

Nile: I’m trying to save you, man. [turns head, speaks urgently] Dizzy, a little help, please?

[While Nile’s head is turned, the man pulls a knife from under his body, slices a deep cut into her neck, from left side to center. Blood pours out of the wound as Nile chokes, collapses backward.]

Dizzy:
[turns, eyes go wide and horror-stricken as she sees the damage]
Nile! [shouts] Medic! Man down!
[drops to knees beside Nile, who is choking, reaching toward her neck]
[view of man, apparently dead, head to the side]
Nile! Jesus! [shouts again] Medic!
[removes Nile’s helmet, tries to apply pressure to wound. Nile continues gasping, choking as pool of blood grows on floor]
[softly] Nile. [louder, frantic] Stay with me! Oh, my... God! Jesus, Nile. Com’ere. Stay with me. Look at me. Look at me. You’re gonna be okay.
[Nile's left hand reflexively grasps Dizzy’s arm, begging for help]
Nile! Nile!
[Nile’s eyes lose focus, head sags to side]
You’re okay. It’s okay. Stay with me. Just look at me. Look at me.
[Dizzy frantically pumps Nile’s hand, trying to keep her aware]
Medics on their way. Medics on their way.
[a tear drops from corner of Nile’s left eye, rolls down side of her face]
No, no. It’s okay.
[Dizzy’s voice grows fainter, until barely audible]
It’s okay. Medic’s coming!
[Nile can no longer hear or see Dizzy; everything fades into a bright haze.]

21:47 minutes

Andy: [leans forward, runs hands through hair] What the...
[face shows confusion, disbelief. shakes head]

[Booker uncaps his flask and takes a drink.]
[Nicky brings right hand to his mouth, then stares at it; there is no blood.]
[Joe turns to right to grab a small book from his backpack against the wall.]

Andy: No. No, not another one. [shakes head] Not now.

[Joe has his book open, pencil poised.]

Nicky: It was a woman. [Joe turns to him] A black woman.

Joe: [sketching in book] I saw an older woman in a hijab.
[glances at Andy; she’s breathing heavily, seems blank as she looks at him]
[turns to Booker, eyes urgent; he needs every scrap of information]
What did you see?

Booker: I saw... [gestures with spread fingers to show size] I saw part of a nametag.

Joe: Uh, yeah.
[closes eyes tightly to check memory, points to Booker]
Free... free something.
[turns back to book]

Booker: Yeah. [leans head against wall, seems disturbed]

Nicky: [intense] Dirt floor, clay walls.

Booker: And a medevac. [drops head, sighs]

Joe: Yeah, so maybe a, uh...
[covers face with right hand as he tries to hold on to images/ideas]
[Andy leans head back against wall, stares upward -- possibly into infinity]
a coalition... a... medical team.
[adds to sketch in book]

Nicky: The knife was a pesh kabz. Pashtun.

Booker: [groans, rubs left side of neck] I felt her die.

Andy: [stares at nothing straight ahead, voice is remote, detached]
She’s a Marine.
[Joe and Nicky look up together.]
Combat. Or near-combat duty. Afghanistan.
[closes eyes, shakes head slowly, wearily]
It’s been over two hundred years.
[whispers, anguished]
Why now?
[buries head in hands]

Nicky: [with calm certainty] Everything happens for a reason, Boss.

[Andy stares at him, huffs, gives a disbelieving half-smile as she turns her head away.]

Joe: [raises head from drawing, speaks firmly] We have to find her.

Booker: [adamant] No, we stick to the plan. We find Copley.

Joe: [challenging] So we just leave her out in the open?

Booker: [almost angry] No, we’re in the open. We’re the ones who are exposed now.

Nicky: Not like her, Booker.

Booker: Nicky...

Nicky: [quietly] Not like her.
[head bows, eyes close, brows twitch together]
You can’t tell me you don’t remember what it was like.
[looks at Joe, then Booker, speaks intensely]
Whoever she is, she’s confused, and she’s scared, and she’s more alone than she has ever been in her entire life.
[Andy stares at him, expression a mix of blankness and pain]
We all remember what it was like.
[Andy bows head, shaking it slowly, wearily. Booker turns head and sighs]
[Joe continues sketching, producing a recognizable image of Nile.]
She needs us.

Andy: [kicks floor in anger, lunges to feet] I’ll handle the retrieval.

Booker: Hey, Boss, come on.

Andy: [grabs backpack, pulls it onto right shoulder; voice is hard, almost angry]
If we’re dreaming about her, she’s dreaming about us. That makes her a beacon straight to us.

Booker: What do we do in the meantime?

Andy: Get to France. Use the Charlie safehouse. I’ll meet you there.
[Joe examines sketch, blows off pencil-dust. she stares at Booker]
Find Copley.
[Joe tears out page, gives her the sketch. she stares at it, almost whispers,]
Jesus. She’s just a baby.

[Andy crosses to the door and slides it open. She looks around at the terrain, then jumps out. The train passes. Andy, a very small silhouette in the vast landscape, strides forward.]

25:10 minutes

[Aerial view. Helicopter flies over a military base: a few buildings, many tents, all beige-sand colored like the terrain. A military light utility vehicle (LUV) drives down the wider, center road; pairs and small groups of soldiers casually walk around. Camera moves to ground level to show groups of soldiers coming and going, then focuses on two female soldiers walking and talking.]

Dizzy: [intensely] I know I saw her die.

Jay: A little blood can look like a lot. Adrenaline flying, everyone was seeing shit they didn’t.

Dizzy: I was holding her neck together in my hands.

Jay: [stops, faces Dizzy directly, speaks firmly]
You’d rather we sent her home in a body bag?

Dizzy: [taken aback, blinks, tiny head-shake] No. Course not.

Jay: [stares directly into Dizzy’s eyes] So come on.

[Jay moves more purposefully, heads toward the medical tent. Dizzy follows. As they enter, each removes her hat.]

[Nile sits on the side of the bed, in uniform, but hunched over herself, elbows on knees, fingering her cross necklace, a frown on her face.]

Jay: Hey, look who’s up!

[Nile doesn’t react.]

Dizzy: [cautiously] Nile?

Nile: [straightens slowly, huffs a breath, gives them a hesitant smile]
What’s up, Jay? What’s up, Dizzy?

Jay: [a little swagger, trying to make light of it] So let’s see the trophy.
[sits casually on the bed across from Nile]

[Nile turns her head, avoiding Jay’s gaze. Dizzy walks slightly closer and stares, disbelieving. Nile fingers her cross necklace and rubs her neck, still avoiding their gaze.]

Dizzy: [softly, awed] Fuck me.

Jay: [amazed] Nile, there’s not even a scratch.

Nile: Yeah. [huffs] They, uh... [flips hand dismissively]
They used this new skin graft or something.
[bends down to tie her boots]

[Nurse, sitting at a desk about 10 feet away -- easily within hearing distance -- flicks her eyes upward, but makes no other response to that statement.]

Dizzy: [suspiciously] That what the doctor said?
[Jay casts her a sideways glance.]

Nile: Yeah. [breathes heavily, looks up at Dizzy] That’s what they said.
[Nile gives her a challenging look, then stands.]

[Dizzy takes a couple of steps back, still staring. Nile notes that reaction; her gaze shifts away. Nile gives a tiny head-bob to Jay, moves past them toward the doorway. Jay and Dizzy follow.]

[Camera pans across floor level as their booted feet exit. Against the wall is a large cardboard box of supplies (?) with ‘MERRICK’ stamped on it.]

[Aerial view of Thames River and London Bridge.]

LONDON ENGLAND appears on screen

[bombastic voice speaking]
Merrick: Our average lifespan is seventy-eight in developed nations.
[Copley sits, watches]
Actually, two more years if you’re lucky enough to be born a female. What can I say, ladies?
[chuckles; audience laughs]
Now, all of this is because of everyone’s favorite love to hate... Big Pharma.
[Merrick stands on stage in front of blue screen which displays name, company, subject of speech. he wears bluetooth mic, gestures as he speaks]
At my company, our research on telomere extension has reversed the chromosomal clock of human stem cells. Dr. Kozak’s manipulation of the klotho hormone
[points to her; she nods with small, but smug, smile]
will in time, completely arrest common cognitive decline. Yes, we can all wave goodbye to dementia.
[waves theatrically to applause]
Now... Wait, wait! Our work will add years of life to the collective world population. Years! Decades!
[applause. Copley watches closely]
But it’s not cheap. We need investment. Investment drives my enthusiasm to take risks. These risks improve countless lives.
[applause]

[View of hands holding a tablet. Screen shows the immortals as they rise after they died.]

Merrick: My God.

Copley: You’ve seen my research. Now you know they’re for real.

[Camera pans out. They’re riding in the back of a limo. Merrick lowers the tablet, looks at Copley -- to his right -- then huffs a soft little laugh. He passes the tablet to Dr. Kozak in the seat across from Copley. Merrick’s security head, Keane, sits next to her; he cranes his neck and leans over to see the screen. Kozak raises her eyes to look at Copley.]

Merrick: What about the hard proof? Blood, tissue, bone, DNA.

Copley: Recovering an uncontaminated sample of the site proved impossible.

Merrick: But you promised me hard proof.

Copley: There was an unanticipated amount of carnage. But the footage...

Merrick: No. The footage is a two-million-dollar snuff film.
[gestures to Kozak, who watches placidly]
It doesn’t give her the how. I need all of them, Copley.

Copley: [scoffs, leans back, lifts hand dismissively as he shakes his head]
I think I can get you one.

Merrick: No. No, not one. All.

Copley: [intensely] These are extraordinary individuals. They are extremely resistant to capture.

Merrick: Well, consult with Keane, make a plan, make it happen.
[Keane blinks to acknowledge his orders]
And quickly, before my competitors get wind of this.

[Aerial view of limo proceeding down the avenue. Camera pans up the side of a large, impressive, modern building, with the logo MERRICK at the top.]

29:03 minutes

[Closeup on Nile’s face. She’s frowning slightly, and breathing heavily. Camera pans out. She’s in an outdoor exercise area, protected against the sun by shade-cloth on poles; soldiers are using barbells and exercise machines. Nile is on a thin floor mat, dressed in olive drab T-shirt and her camo trousers. Her head shifts as she seems to consider an idea, then she closes her eyes and resumes doing vigorous sit-ups. At the ‘up’ part of each one, she throws strong air-punches, sometimes one-two, sometimes a single left or right. Two male soldiers at a nearby exercise machine look at her, turn back to a quiet discussion with each other.]

Sergeant: Corporal Freeman!

Nile: [scrambles to feet, comes to attention] Aye, Sergeant.

Sergeant: Orders just came through. They’re sending you to Landstuhl, Germany for more tests.

Nile: [hesitant smile, slight head-shake] But I’m fine.

Sergeant: Plane’s fueling. Pack your bags.

Nile: [blinks] Sergeant...

Sergeant: [pulls dog-tags from pocket] We took these off you when it happened. Didn’t think you were coming back.

[He hands them to her. Camera pans to Nile’s face, tight and closed-off. She accepts the tags, stares down at them in her hand as the sergeant strides off.]

[Nile strides into her barracks tent, now wearing her camo jacket. Soldiers are relaxing, chatting together. As they notice Nile, the chatter quiets and stops. Jay and Dizzy are sitting next to each other on a bed, talking and laughing. As Nile passes them toward her bed, they stop talking, stop smiling, stare at her. Nile looks around. All her fellow soldiers are quiet, watching her warily, as if she’s dangerous, foreign.]

[Nile looks around at the careful, universal non-reaction before she turns to her bed. Her gear, already packed in a backpack and duffle, lays on top. She turns, stares accusingly at Dizzy and Jay. Dizzy draws back; Jay remains stoic, with no expression. Nile turns back to her things, notices her photo of the three of them in a group hug, mugging and smiling at the camera. She recoils, grabs her phone with earbuds wrapped around it, ignores all her other possessions, and strides out of the tent, putting on her cap as she exits.]

[She passes groups of soldiers as she walks quickly down the ‘road’, hears someone say, “That’s her.”]

[Nile finds an isolated bench between buildings, with no one else in sight, shielded from prying eyes on her left side by three large metal air-conditioning units (?), on her right by a parked LUV. She sits, tense, nervous, rocking slightly, eyes darting side to side. Fingers trembling, she unwraps and inserts the earbuds, then taps through her phone to access her music. “Godspeed” by Frank Ocean begins playing. Nile leans back against the wall, takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, tries to calm herself as she listens to the music.]

[Andy moves stealthily beside the wall just around the corner to the right, pauses to observe Nile.]

Soldier: Corporal Freeman.
[two MPs, walking together, approach from left.]
[Andy pulls back, waits. Nile pulls out earbuds, stands]
Been looking for you. Wheels up on your ride.

[Andy slides around the corner, right hand karate-chops one soldier on the side of his neck; he goes down. As her arm rebounds, she grabs the gun-hand of the other soldier with her right hand, yanks him across her body, grabs him by the neck with left hand, spins him around and cracks his head on the edge of the air-conditioning unit. Nile grabs the soldier’s dropped pistol, aims at Andy. Andy brings both hands up, right-slaps the pistol from Nile's hand while her left hand grabs it, and aims at Nile’s face with her finger on the trigger. Nile stares, stunned.]

Nile: Who are you?

Andy: Andromache the Scythian.
[uses pistol to club Nile on side of neck; Nile drops, unconscious]
[Andy looks around; they’re still unobserved. chin-lift as she speaks]
But you can call me Andy.

[Aerial view over dry, barren landscape -- sand and rock, no greenery anywhere. Camera pans forward to show the LUV traveling fast, dust kicked up by the tires spewing behind. Camera closes in to see Andy driving, apparently relaxed -- left elbow on the open window frame, right hand on the steering wheel. Andy brings her left hand forward to hold the steering wheel, reaches with her right hand to grab a piece of baklava from an open package resting on the dashboard. She takes a big bite.]

[Nile is lying in the back of the vehicle, where Andy apparently dropped her, still unconscious. A jolt as the vehicle hits a rough spot awakens her. Nile looks around, sees Andy’s head above the driver’s seat. She turns over carefully to avoid Andy’s attention, then two swift kicks at the latches of the tailgate force it open. Nile rolls sideways, allowing herself to drop to the ground behind the vehicle. She grunts at the impact, but keeps rolling. The movement dislodges her braids from their bun.]

[Andy must have heard the tailgate forced open. She turns casually, still chewing a bite of baklava, and watches through the open tailgate as Nile is still rolling. She stops the vehicle.]

[Nile stops rolling with a grunt and lies on her back for a moment; it was a rough landing.]

[Andy steps out of the vehicle, evaluates the situation, tosses her sunglasses on the driver’s seat, casually walks toward Nile. Nile scrambles to her feet and starts running. She’s barely taken the third step when Andy pulls her pistol from her back waistband, calmly shoots her, then tucks the pistol behind her back again. Andy looks around as she approaches Nile, evaluating the terrain, then looks down at Nile -- lying on her side, open eyes staring, bloody hole in her forehead.]

Andy: [sighs, shakes head] Why does it have to be so goddamn slow the first couple of times?

[While Andy waits, she stretches her neck side to side, loosening tight muscles with an audible crackle.]

[Nile awakens with an indrawn gasp; the hole in her forehead starts to knit together. She groans and rolls onto her back, then raises her head and feels the back of her skull. As she sees Andy standing in front of her, Nile half sits up and scoots backward on her butt. Andy stands still, calmly watching her.]

Nile: You shot me.

Andy: [casually matter-of-fact] I did. I need you to get back in the car, please.
[takes a few steps toward Nile]

Nile: [panting] This isn’t real.
[combined disbelief and fear]
No. None of this is real.

Andy: [walks forward, bends toward her]
You haven’t figured this out yet?
[grabs Nile by shirt-front and left arm]
You can’t die.
[hoists her to her feet]
Get up.

[Nile comes up with a knife, stabs it into the soft tissue between the right shoulder and chest.]

Andy: Argh!
[grabs Nile’s knife hand]
Fuck!
[throws the hand violently aside, forcing Nile back a step]
[Andy stares at knife, sighs deeply, looks at Nile]
[Nile recovers balance, stares that Andy is hardly reacting to knife in her]
Can you please
[grabs knife with left hand, yanks it out]
not do that again?
[throws it on ground]

[Nile seems overwhelmed; she turns away and bends over, retching and coughing, and spews on the ground. Andy simply waits for it to finish.]

Nile: [stands, panting, half-turned away, regards Andy suspiciously from sides of eyes]
Who are you?

Andy: [calm, softly] I lead a group of immortals. An army, I guess. Soldiers. Fighters like you. Look...
[steps toward her; Nile steps back, turns to face her more directly]
[Andy breathes in with chin-lift]
You’ve got questions, kid. I get it.
[tiny smile, small nod]
You want answers?
[motions with head as she starts to turn]
Get back in the car.

[Andy walks back toward the vehicle. Nile stares after for a second, then turns and evaluates the utterly barren landscape, miles from who-knows-where. She looks at the blood on the left shoulder of her uniform, takes a beat to consider, then turns and strides firmly toward the LUV where Andy is already climbing into the driver’s seat.]

34:17 minutes

[The LUV approaches an old Russian cargo plane. It stops near two pickup trucks a short distance from the plane, each of which has a couple of armed Afghani men standing in the bed of the pickup, keeping guard, with two more armed men standing on the ground. Andy and Nile exit the vehicle, Andy with her pack over her right shoulder and jacket in her hand.]

[A man comes out of a tiny, rock-walled building, so old and decrepit that part of the roof has been replaced with plywood and tarp, held down with an old tire. He lifts a hand in reassurance as he speaks Russian to the men on the ground; they relax their wariness about the strangers. As Nile hesitates, Andy waves to the man, who waves back. Nile casts suspicious glances at Andy and the Russian-speaking man, then heads toward the plane while evaluating the armed guards. Andy takes off her sunglasses, turns to look around the territory, then follows. As she walks, she folds the sunglasses and puts them in a pocket of her backpack.]

[Niles goes first up the metal stairs into the plane, with Andy close behind. Inside, she sees two large metal trunks or boxes strapped in against the back bulkhead, a larger, broader box on the bottom, with a smaller, narrower box on top. A couple of pillows (or bedrolls) are stuffed between the boxes and the wall, screen left -- one blue, one pink; probably not bags of drugs or money. As Nile continues her cautious explorations and observations farther inside the plane, Andy drops her jacket on top of the smaller trunk and her backpack on the ‘shelf’ formed by the larger trunk extending in front of the smaller trunk. She unzips the pack, pulls out a rolled bundle of clothing, then steps forward to toss the bundle next to Nile, onto a large metal box against the wall halfway down the cabin.]

Andy: Put those on.

Nile: Where you taking me?

Andy: Paris.
[takes bottle of water from backpack, tosses it to Nile, who easily catches it]
You got blood in your hair.

Nile: [sarcastic voice, head-tilt] Wonder why?

[Andy turns and regards her levelly as she pulls a pistol from the backpack and tucks it into the back of her waistband. Nile continues looking around the plane. There are various straps hanging from the ceiling, a duffle bag against one wall, a couple of large, white, plastic (?) containers against the same wall -- and opposite them are two pallets stacked high with plastic bags, netted and strapped for security.]

Nile: This guy’s a drug runner. This the shit you into?

Andy: Well, sometimes you gotta work with people you don’t wanna eat with.
[reaches into backpack, pulls out cellphone]

Nile: Is this even safe?

Andy: Does it really matter?
[steps out of plane, leaving Nile staring after her]

[Andy holds a flip-phone to her ear as she walks away from the plane and men so she can speak without being overheard. It rings only a couple of times before it’s answered.

Booker: Hey, Boss.

[Booker is also using a flip-phone. He’s standing in a very small room; high windows behind him are crossed with leaded bars to form a diamond pattern, and green branches are visible outside. A tall bookcase stands to his right (screen left), with thick bound books and binders (?) showing through the glass doors. On his left (screen right) is a recessed wooden door with a metal sign-plate -- PRIVÉ.]

Andy: You found Copley?

Booker: Nothing but dead ends. He knows we’re hunting him.

Andy: Keep looking. He’s doing the same to us. [pauses] I have the new one.

Booker: And?

Andy: Well, [tiny head-tilt-shrug] she stabbed me, so I think she has potential.

Booker: [small snort, chuckle] I’ll see you soon.

[Andy shuts off the cellphone, drops it on the ground and stomps it several times with her heel while a male voice calls out in another language.]

[Inside the plane, Nile has changed into civilian clothing; she sits on a bench and folds her uniform neatly on her lap. As she looks around the plane, she notices a pistol in a holster, hanging from the back of the pilot’s seat. She looks up as Andy and the Russian-speaking man enter. The man heads toward the front of the plane. Andy slides the door shut and secures the latches while, outside, a couple of men wheel the metal staircase away from the plane. The man sits in the pilot’s seat, puts on his headphones, starts the engines.]

[Andy pauses to kick a cardboard box as she walks through the plane. Glass clinks; she reaches inside and pulls out a bottle of vodka. Nile sets her folded uniform on the floor to her left and grabs her seatbelt. She pauses as she notices another belt hanging from the bulkhead to her left. It has a keyhole, with a key hanging beside it; apparently it can be locked. Nile’s face is blank as she straightens up; Andy is unscrewing the vodka cap as she watches Nile. Nile turns her head to watch Andy, who keeps watching Nile as she lifts the bottle to her mouth. As Nile buckles her seatbelt, Andy ignores the plane beginning to move and tips the bottle up to take a healthy drink.]

[As the plane’s movement becomes more unstable, Andy casually lifts her left arm to grab an overhead strap (?) while tipping the bottle higher and drinking deeply. The plane taxis and lifts off. Andy comes toward Nile, drops something (?) next to a pile of bulging duffle bags against the wall, which form a sort of ‘chair’ to Nile’s right. Andy sits on the bags, casually comfortable with elbows resting on her knees. Nile turns to her.]

Nile: So why is this happening to me?

Andy: [closes bottle, doesn’t look at Nile] I wish I knew.

Nile: You said you had answers.

Andy: [puts bottle beside her, turns head toward Nile, elbows on knees, speaks flatly]
I didn’t say you’d like them.
[Nile sighs, leans forward, elbows on knees, hands clasping and unclasping while Andy watches.]
Are you praying?
[smiles, huffs a soft chuckle]
God doesn’t exist.

Nile: [looks toward her, speaks firmly] My God does.

Andy: [smiles broadly as she looks at Nile]
You know, there was a time when I was worshiped as a god.
[plane jolts with turbulence; Nile straightens, prepared for trouble]
[Andy stays relaxed, watches Nile, then deliberately looks upward]
Was that Him?
[Nile stares at her, wide-eyed]
[turns back to Nile]
Don’t worry, I can’t do shit like that.
[stands, pistol visible in back waistband, walks toward backpack, speaks over shoulder]
None of it means anything anyway.

Nile: [rolls her eyes, but continues] You said there were others. How many?

Andy: Four. [sound of a zipper]

Nile: [voice shows disbelief]
You’re an army of four? So that’s why you took me? So I could join your army?

Andy: [returns with backpack and jacket]
Yeah.
[sits, tucks pistol between two duffle-bags on right, away from Nile]

Nile: No. This is some bullshit. [huffs] You must... [huffs again] ...must have hypnotized me, or... or, uh, drugged me or something.
[Andy has leaned back against the filled duffel-bag behind her, watches Nile search for answers to refute her new reality.]
And that was a blank
[turns to Andy, secure with reasoning]
that you shot me with.

Andy: [lightly, without looking at Nile]
And I was the one who cut your throat.
[turns, faces Nile directly]
Right?
[stares at Nile, who stares back, then looks away; she has no answer]
Listen, kid. You already believe in...
[points upward, follows it with her eye, gives dismissive flip of hand]
You should just keep following that illogic.
[pulls jacket over shoulders as a blanket, turns on right side, back to Nile, lies on duffel-bags like a reclining chair]
You’re already on board with the supernatural.
[speaks with eyes already closed; it makes no difference to her]
If I were you, I’d get some sleep.

[Nile leans forward and starts praying again.]

[Andy is asleep on her left side now, jacket pulled higher so her nose and chin are tucked into the collar. The plane jolts. She starts to turn over in her sleep, but her left arm doesn’t follow -- it’s held by the locking belt that Nile noticed earlier. She wakens fully, jerks again to test the restraint, looks at her arm to see what’s happening.]

[Andy looks toward the cockpit; Nile is pointing the pilot’s own pistol at him. Reference here.]

Nile: [glances half-back toward Andy] We’re not going to Paris.

[Nile turns her attention back to the pilot. He turns to look at the pistol pointing toward him, turns back to fly.]

Andy: Andrei. [calm, with chin-lift] Come here. [raises tied arm]

[Andrei starts to rise; gets halfway up when Nile faces him more fully, points the pistol more directly, speaks sharply.]

Nile: Sit your ass down!

[Andrei looks to Andy as he starts to sit.]

Andy: [half shouts, not looking at them] Stand up!

[Andrei gets halfway up again.]

Nile: [firmly] You do not listen to her. You listen to me. Land this plane.

[Andrei sits fully, turns back to the controls.]

Andy: [calm, with slightly-raised voice.] Trust me. She’s not gonna shoot you.
[Andrei and Nile turn to look at her in disbelief]
I am. [slowly and distinctly] Prikinsya myortvym. (Pretend you’re dead.)
[pulls pistol from between duffel-bags and fires. Andrei collapses over controls]

[At the shot, Nile whips around to hold her pistol on Andy, who remains calm; she watches Nile, but does not match gun-aim for gun-aim. Nile glances back toward Andrei, sees him slumped and unmoving.]

Nile: [gasps, whirls back to Andy; voice shows rising panic]
Who’s gonna fly the plane?

Andy: [calmly] We don’t need a pilot. We can jump and survive.
[lies back, closes eyes]

[The plane is plunging. Nile grabs hanging, swaying straps for stability as she moves toward Andy.]

Nile: I am not jumping from a plane!

[She looks out the window; they’re definitely headed down.]

[The ride grows more turbulent, jolting them around.]

Andy: [opens eyes, looks up] Whoa! Shit! Maybe we do need a pilot.
[turns to Nile, raises strapped arm]
I can fly a plane.

[Nile thinks for a second, then hurries toward Andy, reaching into her hip pocket for the key. As Nile quickly starts to unlock the strap, Andy speaks calmly.]

Andy: You don’t speak Russian, do you?

Nile: Why?

[As soon as the strap is off Andy tosses her jacket aside and stands, still calm.]

Andy: Because I told the pilot to play dead.

[Nile turns toward the cockpit. Andrei is sitting up and taking control of the plane. Nile whirls to hold the pistol on Andy, but Andy is right there. Andy grabs Nile’s gun-hand as it comes around, uses the momentum to flip/throw Nile to the floor. Andy stands looking down at her, waiting for her reaction.]

[Nile lies on her back for a moment, groans softly, turns to pick herself up. She rises to a crouch on hands and feet and glares at Andy, evaluating the enemy. Andy continues to wait calmly.]

[Nile grunts as she charges forward, keeping low, driving her shoulder into Andy’s stomach/chest. Andy easily grabs Nile by the shoulders and throws her aside, where she hits a tall metal container to her right -- against her ribs, under her armpit -- bounces off, lands against the wall. Andy casually flips her head to toss her hair out of her eyes.]

[Andrei turns to see what’s happening, looks worried, hesitates, but he needs to fly. He turns back to the controls.]

[Nile stands slowly, glaring at Andy, sets her body as she prepares to continue the fight.]

Andy: You really wanna do this, kid?
[Her eyes are bright, expression relaxed but anticipating; she looks like she thinks this will be fun.]

[Nile throws a hard right punch; Andy leans away from it. Nile swings her left arm into a punch; Andy blocks the elbow with her left, brings her right around and under Nile’s arm, uses the momentum to spin Nile away from her. Nile turns back to face Andy again; both are panting with the exertion -- Nile more than Andy.]

[Andy gives a little chin-lift that says, ‘bring it on’. Her face has a half-smile, which we see whenever she’s still enough for us to notice. Nile clenches her jaw, raises her fists, throws another right punch. Andy blocks, grabs the arm, pulls it high with her left, throwing Nile off-balance, then forces it down while her right grabs Nile by the back of her neck, forcing her to bend sharply forward, even more off balance. She releases her hold before Nile’s arm breaks.]

[Nile rises, teeth bared, fist clenched. She throws a left punch which Andy blocks upward, which allows Nile to slip under her arm and grapple Andy around the waist. The momentum allows Nile to spin Andy around and force her into the wall. Nile tries to hold her there, with her head forcing Andy’s chin upward to deprive her of leverage, but Andy grabs Nile’s shoulder with her left hand, hindering a possible counter-move, while her right fist comes up and across to punch Nile in the side of the neck, followed immediately by a sharp downward strike to Nile’s left arm. She quickly grabs the arm and uses the momentum to throw Nile into the wall, then catch the rebound and spin/throw her across the cabin. Nile turns back quickly, left punch, right punch; Andy blocks them easily still smiling. Nile moves in to grapple, which Andy allows -- so she can knee Nile in the gut and force her away. Now Nile is open, arms out of position; Andy moves in, body-checks, shoves Nile sharply; Nile staggers back into the pallet of drugs. Packages start spilling from the stack.]

[Nile is angry; she comes toward Andy, throws a furious right-left punch. Andy easily evades both. Andrei has turned to watch; things are getting out of control. He turns to the controls and banks the plane sharply left, throwing both combatants across the cabin, into the wall. They are unfazed. Nile lunges forward immediately; she lands a punch to the face hard enough to force Andy back two or three steps. Andy pauses to regroup. She nods slightly, smiling wider; she seems to approve of Nile’s tactics. As Nile stalks forward, Andy steps back a couple of paces, spits, and waits for the next maneuver.]

[Nile feints a punch, then tries to sweep Andy’s legs from under her. Andy lifts her leg to evade; Nile’s momentum causes her to spin completely around. Nile rebalances herself and throws a punch that lands in Andy’s face. Andy turns away, then back just as Nile throw another right punch. Andy evades, moves in and grabs Nile’s right shoulder with her right hand, then rotates her arm under Nile’s and comes up to clamp her left hand under Nile’s chin, forcing her head up and back. Nile’s left hand is holding Andy’s wrist, trying to keep that hand from pushing higher. Andy’s right hand holds Nile’s right arm close to Andy’s body, so Nile doesn’t have the leverage to escape. Andy holds Nile there for a moment, looking directly into her eyes, expression calm. Then she raises her hand higher, making enough pressure on Nile’s neck to cause pain. Nile gasps, releases her hold on Andy’s wrist, raises her left arm high, and brings it down on the arm that holds her chin. Andy lets the force turn her away and rebound as she turns into Nile, bringing her right elbow toward Nile’s face. Nile’s right hand catches Andy’s elbow; as she pushes it away, she’s out of position to bring her arms up for protection, half-turned away. Andy moves forward with a left punch-right elbow strike, which hits Nile low on the right side. Nile cries out and flinches into a crouch, fists clenched and arms in front of her chest. Andy steps back and waits for the next move, eyes calculating.]

[Nile lunges forward with a right-left punch. Andy evades the right, then grabs Nile’s left arm with her left hand, which forces her sideways to Andy’s body. Andy’s right hand grabs Nile’s neck; she turns as she pulls Nile’s left arm while pushing her neck, forcing her into the wall. Nile gets her bent right arm up to absorb some of the force of hitting the wall, but for a moment she is pinned, her head mashed between Andy’s right hand and the wall, her left arm held immobile in Andy’s left hand. Nile uses her right hand to slowly force herself away from the wall, against the continuous pressure that Andy maintains against her head. Suddenly Andy releases the pressure so that Nile’s effort moves her quickly toward Andy, but severely off balance. Andy grabs Nile’s right shoulder with her left hand, her forearm across Nile’s throat. Andy uses Nile’s body as an anchor post as she leaps into the air, plants her feet against the bulkhead behind Nile, uses the flying momentum to carry her half around and push off the wall to come down with her body close to Nile’s right flank. Andy’s hands grab Nile’s shoulders as her downward/forward momentum continues. As Andy’s feet hit the floor, she drops back and down to the floor. Andy’s grip on Nile’s shoulders pulls Nile down and flips her into the air. Nile flies over Andy’s position on the floor and lands hard. Andy continues her rolling momentum and quickly rises, but Nile is slow to push herself up. Nile’s movements are jerky instead of smooth, and she grunts with pain. Andy steps forward.]

Andy: [calmly, slight head-shake] We’re done.

[Nile rises to her feet, pauses for a moment, then explodes forward with a right punch. Andy grabs Nile’s arm and twists it violently backward; Nile screams in pain as her shoulder is dislocated; we hear torn tissues crackling and tearing. But Nile’s momentum carries her forward. Andy keeps hold of the arm, steps to the side, and grabs Nile’s raised elbow. Nile yells again in pain, and Andy uses her hold on that arm to throw Nile against the trunks at the rear bulkhead. Nile rebounds and lands in a crouch, her right arm hanging useless beside her while Andy stands quietly, watching her.]

Andy: [more firmly] I said we’re done.

[Nile looks up at Andy, angry and defiant, looks at her useless right arm, then uses her left arm to help push her upward and forward. She aims a sweeping right kick toward Andy’s legs. Andy simply raises her left leg to block it; Nile yells as her lower leg breaks when it hits Andy’s. She falls to the floor, landing on her bad right shoulder, and cries out. She groans and slowly rolls onto her back.]

Andy: [steps forward to stand over Nile.]
You’re very good.
[Nile tries to ignore her, breathing deeply into the pain. Andy squats beside her.]
What’s your name?

Nile: [pauses a beat, defiant; eyes flick sideways to Andy, away] Nile.

Andy: [small nod of acknowledgement, looks over Nile’s body]
You see? You’re already healing faster.

[Nile raises her head, watches in frowning disbelief as the bloody, open wound on her outer lower arm visibly knits and heals, then sits up to see her bent and broken lower right leg straighten. She rests her hand against the leg to feel what shouldn’t be happening as the healing bone repositions itself. Andy watches her reaction.]

Nile: [whispering] Is this real?
[tiny head-shake]
I got people that love me.
[bows her head]
People that are gonna worry.
[raises head firmly, takes deep breath]
I’m a Marine.
[turns to face Andy]
They think I went A-WOL.

Andy: [speaks over Nile’s last words]
You’re not a Marine anymore.
[Nile shakes her head]
They’re going to lock you up.

[Nile hitches a breath, seems to hold in tears. She turns her head away from Andy and rocks back and forth.]

[Andy’s expression softens toward sympathy as she watches for a moment, then she stands and extends a hand. Nile regards it -- and Andy -- dubiously, then takes the hand firmly. Andy helps her to her feet in one smooth movement. They stand looking at each other. Nile still seems slightly defiant as she stares at Andy, but Andy disengages and turns away. Nile watches Andy walk toward their seats, then slowly follows.]

43:30 minutes

NOTE: Castalie tells me that Goussainville is A Ghost Town on the Fringes of Paris.

[View of old church (peaked windows with leaded separations between panes of glass) with gray walls and roof, trees growing opposite, across the driveway(?). A jetliner passes overhead with a roar of engines.]

GOUSSAINVILLE FRANCE appears on screen

[Nile comes into view; she carries her uniform-bundle under her right arm as she follows Andy through an opening between trees across an overgrown cemetery (green grass and weeds, crosses and headstones) toward the church, which we now see has a square bell-tower(?) at one end. Andy has her backpack properly settled over both shoulders, which suggests that they’ve walked/hiked some distance. Andy seems cautious as she walks, occasionally turning to observe their surroundings. Tall trees grow fairly close to the church on all sides; the whole place seems isolated and deserted.]

Nile: I thought you said we were going to Paris.

Andy: We’re just outside of Paris. This is Goussainville. This place has been abandoned for fifty years.

Nile: Why?

[Andy looks up, toward the sound of another plane passing overhead; she turns and grins at Nile. Nile also gazes upward, looks down with mild surprise at a weathered statue of a saint to her right, then turns and continues to follow Andy.]

( I made a floorplan.)

[We see a good-sized room. An arched alcove to the left contains a stovetop with oven below and a narrow counter/cabinet on each side. Two red cooking pots sit on the stove. Above the stove is a small, dark wooden shelf, with three copper pans hanging below. Two small lights hang from the top of the arch to shine on the work-area, with another pair of lights on the wall outside the arch. A round table with mismatched chairs is in the center, with a hanging lamp over it.]

[A stone archway extends across the back of the room, with a large communal bedroom on the other side. The rooms are separated by a wall of dark wooden panels; the upper half of each is a lancet window with a trefoil-shaped top. A pair of doors open inward to the bedroom.]

[A tall secretary desk and a cabinet/counter unit stand against the right wall. Both are cluttered with a jumble of unidentifiable items. A small tube-light hangs from an upper shelf of the secretary desk, and a small table lamp sits on the writing-surface. Despite the number of lights, the whole area is somewhat dim.]

[Nile and the men are eating. Joe is to the left, sideways to the viewer. Nile is to his right, with her back to the viewer. Booker is to her right, turned three-quarters from the viewer. Nicky is seated to the right, sideways to the viewer.]

[As she eats, Nile keeps an eye on the men. They’re also eating without speaking, watching her watch them. Andy is in the bedroom; she puts her backpack against the right wall as she watches the team through the windows.]

[Nile takes a bite of food and looks at Booker. He takes a bite and looks at her, then drops his eyes. Nicky watches Nile with a slight smile, then looks down at his food. Joe drinks a swallow of wine, watches Nile as he sets the glass on the table.]

Nile: [looks around the table]
So you good guys or bad guys?

Joe: [crossed arms, flicks eyes to Nicky, back to Nile]
Depends on the century.

Nicky: [leans back, rests left arm on back of chair]
We fight for what we think is right.

[Nile looks skeptical. She lifts her eyes to see Andy enter the room and cross to the stove.]

Nile: How are you all in my dreams?

[Andy is dishing some food at the stove.]

Joe: We dream of each other. They stop when we meet.

Nile: Why?

[Joe closes his eyes, twists his face, opens his mouth, takes a breath to answer -- apparently prepared for a detailed exposition -- but Nicky speaks first.]

Nicky: [watching Joe meaningfully]
I believe it’s because we... we’re meant to find each other.
[Joe gives him a quick wink. Nicky smiles briefly, turns back to Nile]
It’s like destiny.

Booker: [shifts in his seat, waves a dismissive hand]
No, more like, uh... misery loves company.

[Joe smiles and huffs a short laugh. Nile looks toward Andy, who’s eating from a bowl while standing/leaning against the counter beside the stove.]

Andy: [looks up, points toward Booker] What he said.

Nicky: It used to take years to track a new one. Booker was the last. Eighteen-twelve.

Nile: [stares at Booker, who is drinking from a glass] No way.

Booker: [nods, glances at her] Yeah, I died fighting with Napoleon.

Nile: So... [looks to Nicky] you’re even older than him.

[Andy brings a cup and a bottle of vodka to the table, sits across from Nile between Joe and Nicky, takes off the bottle cap.]

Joe: Mm... [speaking with a mouthful of food] Nicky and I met in the Crusades.

Nile: [awe, disbelief] The Crusades?

Nicky: [gestures toward Joe]
The love of my life was of the people I’ve been taught to hate.

Joe: [laughs] We... [gestures between them] We killed each other.

Nicky: Many times. [another quick smile for Joe] Yeah.

[Note: the script says that Joe says, ‘Yeah’. But it sounds -- and looks -- to me that Nicky was finishing his comment.]

[Booker laughs around his drink. Andy smiles slightly as she picks up the cup to drink. She watches Nile over the rim.]

Nile: [quietly, watching Andy] You’re the oldest.

Andy: [nods as she puts cup on table, lifts eyes to Nile, nods again] Yeah.

Nile: So how old are you?

[Joe crosses his arms and waits.]

Andy: Old.

Nile: [slight eye-roll, then insistent] How old?

Andy: [pauses, glances down, quietly] Too old.

Nile: [huffs, slight frown as she looks around others at table; quiet, awed surprise]
So we really never die.

Andy: [takes a breath, small head-shake] Nothing that lives, lives forever.

Nile: But... you said that we were immortal.

Andy: [gazing down]
I know what I said. And we mostly are,
[raises eyes to Nile]
but we can die.
[tiny head-nod]
And one of us did.
[glances left as she remembers]
[view of man’s body with bloody stomach-wound, Andromache’s hand over it]
He... he was a warrior, just like us.
[Andromache, wearing ancient headdress, looks down, concerned]
[Lykon, lying on back, looks up, eyes glazed]
A long time ago.
[Andy shakes head. Booker watches, listens quietly]
One day your wounds just don’t heal up anymore, and...
[Nicky and Joe watch Nile's reaction]
we don’t know when or why.

Nile: [looks down, considers carefully]
So if we can die,
[raises eyes to Andy, slight eyebrow-clench]
then why would you shoot me? You could have killed me.

Andy: [flicks eyes to Nile, quietly] You’re too new.

[A plane rumbles overhead. For a moment, no one speaks. Nile looks at the others around the table; she seems disturbed/scared/overwhelmed as she absorbs this new information. Her shoulders hunch as she folds slightly in her chair and stares down.]

Nicky: [gently, watching Nile closely]
It is a lot to understand. I think you should get some rest.
[Nile turns slightly toward his voice]
Come with me. I’ll show you.

[Nicky rises, followed by Nile. He waits as she comes around the table, then escorts her through the double doors at the back of the room. They turn to the right.]

[Joe watches them leave, then sighs deeply.]

Andy: She wants to talk to her family.

[Joe and Andy exchange a look.]

Booker: That’s not gonna help her.

Andy: [grabs bottle of vodka, uncaps it, pours into cup]
You tell her that.

[Nicky returns and sits down again.]

47:05 minutes

[It’s dark; an indistinct rumbling gradually intensifies. On the kitchen table, cups and glasses clink and rattle. View of darkened household -- Nile’s uniform and jacked folded on credenza in living room, several swords and axes in umbrella stand by the door, small bronze statue by the wall, next to a table lamp. In the bedroom, Booker sleeps on his back. Joe and Nicky are spooned together. Nile lies on her left side, moving uneasily in her sleep, breathing heavily. Rumbling fades to silence.]

[We see more of the living room, separated by a stone arch, two steps down from the kitchen. A dark wooden credenza stands to the left of the arch, parallel to the steps. A table-lamp stands on the corner; stacks of books surround the lamp, and lie on the floor below and up the steps. A large antique wooden credenza stands against the left wall, perpendicular to the steps. A big flat-screen TV sits on it, with stacks of books to each side, Nile’s uniform and jacket on the left stack. A mismatched pair of comfortable easy chairs sit to the right, facing the TV. A small wooden crate stands between the chairs, holding a bottle of liquor, a candle in a brass candlestick, and a book, and a small round table is beside the left chair. A writing desk stands against the wall to the right of the arch, parallel to the steps; it holds the bronze statue and a table-lamp. A wooden crate is on the floor to the left of the desk, filled with various odds and ends.]

[The kitchen is dark, but the two lamps in the living room are on. Andy is deeply slouched in the chair closest to the kitchen, resting her head on her raised left hand, but not asleep. She lifts her right hand, stares at it intently in the dim light, front, then back, makes a fist, studies that.]

[Nile gasps violently, bolts upright in bed, breathing heavily. Andy looks to her right, toward the sound, as the others startle awake. Nicky grabs a pistol from under his pillow and raises it. Joe, behind him, looks fuzzy and less alert as he raises his head. Booker grabs the pistol in his belt, but doesn’t pull it out. They all look toward Nile.]

[Nicky turns on a bedside lamp. Nicky & Joe have the bed to the left, against the wall. Booker is in the middle, in what seems to be a simple cot, pushed against a closed bookshelf against the back wall. Nile is to the right, in a slightly more substantial bed, also pushed against the bookshelf.]

Booker: What’s going on?

[Nile is panting, each breath almost a gasp; her eyes are wide and staring. From the living room, Andy focuses intently on her.]

Nicky: What happened, Nile?

Nile: [hunches forward, gulps, tries to control her reaction]
Um, it was just a... a bad dream.
[Joe relaxes, lies down again behind Nicky]
I’m sorry.
[breathes heavily, unable to get calm; glances toward others, wary of their reaction]

Nicky: [reclines on elbow, props head on hand] Tell us.

Nile: I saw flashes of it before... when I first dreamt of all of you.
[shakes head, eyes haunted]
But now... it’s clearer.
[deep breath]
I dreamed about a woman locked in an iron coffin...
[Andy freezes, eyes on Nile]
under the sea. She kept... drowning
[Andy stands, devastated]
and then coming back to life.
[Nicky looks back to Joe, who has leaned up behind him, then to Nile, concerned]
[she rocks back and forth as she speaks]
She was hammering her bloody fists and knees against the iron.
[Andy walks as if being forced, eyes unfocused, toward the bedroom]
She felt like something insane, something furious. But she kept fighting... and she kept drowning.
[bows head, chokes back a sob]

[Andy goes to the window behind the kitchen table, stares into the bedroom. Booker is leaning against the doors of the bookcase behind his cot; he shakes his head slowly, wincing, looks to the other men. Joe sits up against the wall, eyes serious, watching Nile. Nicky sits on the side of the bed, shoulders hunched, head down.]

Nicky: [raises head to look at Nile; both women deserve that honest respect]
Her name was Quynh.
[Vietnamese woman looks over right shoulder, long hair blowing, worn, ragged, unutterably weary]

Joe: She was one of us.
[woman walks across barren valley surrounded by low hills, head and shoulders shrouded with draped cloth, battle-axe in right hand]
The first immortal Andy found.
[Quynh lies on ground, barely conscious, face rough and blistered, lips chapped; eyelids flutter slightly as shadow falls across face]
They had been alone so long, when she found her...
[Andromache silhouetted against sun-seared sky as she looks down at Quynh]
Quynh had given up.
[Nile stares intently at Joe and Nicky, turns on bed to face them directly, sits cross-legged]
Way back it was her and Andy.
[Joe and Nicky watch Nile with sad compassion]
[Andy turns away, sits in closest kitchen chair, rubs eyes and face]
Before me and Nicky, it was just the two of them.
[Quynh and Andromache sit shoulder to shoulder, leaning against cave wall, a campfire in front of them, laughing together]
They ran through the world together,
[ancient battle scene, men running, shouting, horsemen charging]
[Andromache and Quynh are protecting a wagon transporting goods from raiders]
[Andromache rides a dark horse, slashes other horsemen with battle-ax as they pass]
[Quynh leaps up onto a wagon, turns to observe Andromache]
fought thousands of battles side by side.
[Andromache gallops toward two raiders. slashes mounted man on right as she drops to hang at horse’s left side, out of reach of his sword-strike, then swings ax backhand at man standing with upraised sword to left; he somersaults forward as first warrior falls from horse]
[Quynh shoots arrow to knock another raider from saddle, then turns to right. Andromache gallops next to wagon, extends left arm. Quynh grabs with left hand, Andromache pulls as Quynh jumps. Quynh lands on horse behind Andromache; they gallop away]
[Joe laughs slightly]
She was a pit viper in a fight.
[battle on ground. Andromache slashes man with axe as Quynh spins and shoots arrow into man with upraised sword. Quynh continues spin as she draws sword while Andromache raises axe, strikes down another raider. They spin toward each other as another enemy charges, hit him from each side -- Andromache with axe, Quynh with sword]

[Andy stares down, lost in memories, but looks toward bedroom window as story continues]

Nicky: They were in England, freeing so-called heretics from the witch trials.
[Nile stares at Joe and Nicky, riveted]
[Andy’s face through the window, sitting in dark, watching and listening]
But then Andy and Quynh,
[Andy turns away, looks down]
they were accused of witchcraft themselves,
[woman’s body hanging, hands bound behind with rope, crowd watching below]
and they were trapped and caught.
[crowd shouting, “Killers!” Andromache and Quynh hanging from nooses, limp. young girl watches, tugs man’s sleeve. woman shouts, “Some will rot in hell!”]

[man pushes girl behind him as Andromache and Quynh revive]

Joe: When they didn’t die, it proved their case,
[Andromache and Quynh choke and struggle in nooses while watching crowd]
and they got sentenced again and again.

[Dark cell, small fire for light. Andromache and Quynh, hair bedraggled, faces dirty, are manacled at wrists and ankles, chained to wall, sitting shoulder to shoulder.]

Quynh: I’ve never been burned alive before.
[turns to Andromache, at her right]
What do you think it’s gonna be like?

Andromache: Excruciating.

[Turns toward Quynh. Quynh smiles at her; Andromache smiles with small laugh.]

Quynh: Just you and me.

Andromache: Until the end.

[They gaze into each other’s eyes.]

[Cell door opens. A man comes in with a flaming torch, followed by a friar holding a plain wooden cross and two more men, larger, who head toward the women. The women draw back as keys jangle, watching warily.]

[Quynh’s manacles are unlocked. As the two large men grab and force her to her feet and away from Andromache, the big main door opens wide -- to reveal an iron maiden waiting outside.]

Quynh: [screams] No! [desperately] No! No, not this!

Andromache: [surges to her feet] Where are you taking her?

[Quynh continues screaming, shouting, “No!” and “Please!” as she is dragged from the cell]

Friar: [holds cross between him and Andromache]
You are too powerful together. For creatures such as you, there is no salvation.

Andromache: [shouting desperately] Quynh!

[As she watches, Quynh is forced toward the iron maiden. Quynh struggles and screams the entire time, but she is held too securely to fight, carried by a strong man holding each arm and each leg. Quynh is forced into the iron maiden as Andromache struggles against her manacles.]

Andromache: Quyyynnnh! [voice is frantic, raw scream] Quyyynnnh!

Quynh: [screams desperately as iron maiden is wrapped with rope and chains, then locked]
Andromache! Andromache!

[As the iron maiden is carried away on a wooden cart, the friar following with cross held high between the iron maiden and the people, Quynh continues to scream Andromache’s name.]

Andromache: Noooo! [screams tear at her throat] Quyyynnnh! Noooo!

[As the closing door shuts off sight of Quynh, Andromache falls to her knees, straining against her manacles until blood drips from her torn wrists, but she cannot get out. She sobs hopelessly.]

[View upward along the side of a wooden sailing ship. Several men lift the iron maiden over the rail and throw it into the ocean.]

Nicky: After Andy escaped, we spent decades searching for her or anyone on that ship who could tell us where she was cast off.

[Andy’s frozen expression begins to shatter; she closes her eyes and bows her head.]

Joe: She’s lived with that guilt ever since, but she blames herself for Quynh’s fate.

[Nile’s eyes lose focus as she considers what she’s learned.]

[Andy walks to the doorway of the bedroom, looks in without meeting anyone’s gaze. They all look up toward her.]

Nile: Why do you blame yourself?

Andy: [direct] I lost a soldier.

Nile: I feel her pain. Her rage.
[Andy closes her eyes, turns her head away]
She feels crazy.

[Nicky looks up, disturbed.]

Joe: [quietly solemn] Five hundred years in a box...
[Quynh’s face behind the iron maiden, bubbles burst upward as she screams]
at the bottom of the ocean... would make anyone insane.

[iron maiden is quiet and blank, Quynh dead inside]
Nicky: That’s the reason why we dread capture. Spend eternity in a cage.
[Quynh surges upward in her coffin, screams into void with burst of bubbles]

[Nile looks sick, takes a deep breath as she contemplates such a fate. Andy watches closely; this will be difficult.]

[Nile pushes herself up from the bed and stalks out of the room, brushing by Andy in the doorway. Andy sighs as she passes.]

[Andy and the men look at each other; there’s nothing to say. Andy takes a half-step in Nile’s direction, turns back to give one long look at the men. Joe’s eyes flick down, Nicky drops his head, Booker maintains an unwavering, stoic gaze. After a final look, Andy turns and follows Nile.]

[On her way through the living room, Nile grabs her jacket from the credenza, then storms past the TV and out the door. Andy grabs her pistol from the box between the easy chairs, tucks it in her back waistband, and follows.]

[As she leaves, Nicky enters the kitchen behind her.]

[Nile walks around the side of the church and some distance out into the grounds, then slows down and stops, swinging her arms as she looks around, but there’s nowhere to go.]

[On the other side of the church, a group of men approach; they’re dressed in black, wearing helmets and body-armor, carrying rifles. A large, black, square vehicle is parked behind them. The group -- a dozen or more -- proceed along the wall of the church.]

[A plane roars overhead, filling the night with sound; the lights sweep across Nile. She looks up, then turns, startled, when Andy speaks.]

Andy: [softly] Nile.

Nile: [fiercely] I don’t want this.
[voice grows angry as Andy comes closer]
I don’t want any of it.

Andy: I know. I know.

Nile: There isn’t one good thing in any of this.

Andy: I know this is hard.
[Nile stares at Andy, stone-faced and defiant. Andy is calm, reasonable]
It’s happening whether you want it or not.
[Nile looks away; that truth is too hard.]
[on other side, intruders proceed along wall of church, approach door to living quarters]
I know you’re scared, Nile.
[Nile isn’t watching Andy, but still listening]
Me and those three men in there will keep you safe.

Nile: [huffs a soft snort, faces Andy with disbelieving look, cocks head, speaks lightly]
Like Quynh?

[Andy lowers her eyes for a moment, acknowledges her point with a short nod, then raises her eyes to Nile, takes a breath, answers steadily.]

Andy: We’re all you’ve got.

[Andy watches her calmly; Nile drops her eyes and turns her head, thinking.]

[Gunshot in distance. Both women crouch, alert; Andy draws her pistol. Second shot. They move behind some tallish flowering plants -- precious little concealment -- shoulder to shoulder, peering into the darkness toward the sound. Third shot.]

Nile: [quietly] What’s happening?

Andy: [whispers] They found us.

53:50 minutes

[Open doorway, backlit by moonlight. Andy appears, pistol raised. The closest easy chair in the living room, along with the small round side table, are on their sides on the floor.]

[Andy enters, face intent, clearing the room like the professional she is, pistol ready to use. Nile follows. Booker is slumped in the other easy chair, not moving, blood on his face. The TV shows a football (soccer) match playing. The lamp on the credenza next to the kitchen-arch is knocked sideways, and some of the books and papers have fallen to litter the floor.]

Andy: [calls] Joe? Nicky?

[Booker is obviously dead; his stomach and chest are a mass of gaping wounds and blood, and there are bloody holes in his face. Glass shards from the liquor bottle cover the top of the wooden crate between the chairs.]

Nile: [stares at Booker, quietly appalled] Shit.

Andy: [keeps pistol ready, moves close]
Booker.
[kicks his foot]
You still with me?
[goes to one knee in front of him. reverses pistol, holds it out to Nile]
Clear the back room. Find Joe and Nicky.
[Nile takes pistol, checks it, quickly heads that way]
Hey. Hey.
[Andy cradles Booker’s face in her hands]
Book.
[looks down at the terrible, gaping holes in his body, voice drops to a whisper as she leans close enough to feel his breath on her face -- if he were breathing]
Come on. Come back to me.
[clenches her teeth, angry; shakes him a little]
You’re still in this shitty game with me.
[whispering, desperate]
You hear me?
[holds his limp head firmly]
You wake up.
[pauses a beat, waits for him... then slaps his head as she shouts,]
Wake up!

[Booker revives with a pained but muffled cry. He groans as he curls over his torn belly, leaning so far that Andy has to keep him from falling; they’re forehead to forehead as she holds his shoulders. Andy breathes deeply with relief, almost gasping, then pushes him back so he’s leaning against the chair’s back.]

Nile: They’re not here. [stares at Booker’s revival process]

[Booker grunts painfully and inhales sharply.]

Andy: Welcome back, asshole. Thanks for taking your time.

Booker: [groans as he looks down at self, throws head against back of chair as body tenses with pain, speaks through clenched teeth]
Aahh! It hurts everywhere. How bad is it?

[Nile continues to stare, shaken that anyone can be conscious and lucid with such bodily damage, that she can see them healing.]

Andy: [deep breath as she rises] It’s an improvement.

[Booker laughs, then coughs from the pain.]

Andy: [scans damage in room] How many?

Booker: [looks up] I don’t know.

Andy: Where are Nicky and Joe?

Booker: I don’t know! [groans] I... I turned on the game.

[Quick flash: Booker and Joe in the easy chairs, watching the football match; Booker gestures wildly with left arm, leans forward to expound about the play. Nicky sits at kitchen table reading a book, leaning on his left arm, resting his head on his right hand. Sudden reactions: Nicky turns his head quickly to the left, starts to push up. Joe turns his head to the left while pushing up from his chair, eyes wide. Booker also turns and pushes up, seemingly a half-second behind Joe. Joe is half-standing when...]

[Door bursts inward. A dark, helmeted figure appears in the doorway, a grenade bounces on the floor, loud explosion, smoke fills the room, shadow figures move through it.]

Booker: A grenade hit me. Lost the plot after that.

[A dark courtyard shows a red-brick house to each side of a paved area. The left house has graffiti-covered plywood over the windows and doors, with vines hanging from the roof, partly blocking them. The right house has a roof-high hedge growing next to the wall. An old, junked car with a missing rear door sits in the grass next to the graffiti-covered house, with a large, dark panel van in front of it. Through a vine-covered stone archway behind the van, the rear of an even larger van is seen; a shadowy figure in combat gear is moving next to it.]

[One of the vans has been turned into a surveillance hub. A large monitor shows a split-screen with 4 different views. Top left shows interior of a van with soldiers sitting on the side benches. Joe is on the floor in the middle, hunched over, head bowed, elbows on knees, legs stretched out in front of him. Behind Joe, Nicky is lying still. Top right view shows a figure in combat gear walking between two vehicles. Bottom left view shows six figures in combat gear crouched outside the walls of the church, with a 7th figure coming into view from the right, rifle pointing forward. Bottom right view shows the rear of a van, with a guard in combat gear a short distance away on each side.]

Soldier on radio: Two in transport.

[Camera pans back. Keane and Copley sit in front of the monitor. Copley is holding a radio in his hand. Keane, to his right, is wearing headphone, intently watching the monitor.]

Copley: [into radio] No, no. We need the woman.

Soldier: Wasn’t there, and the other guy’s in pieces.

[Keane flips switches to bring up different views on monitor.]

Copley: [clenches jaw, quietly to Keane] She’s there.

Andy: [understanding hits; whispers] Copley.

Nile: Copley?

Andy: They’re coming back. They want all of us.
[‘warrior mode’ engaged; speaks as she strides toward door]
You stay here. Wait for my signal.
[grabs a sword from umbrella stand and hurries out]

Nile: [to empty doorway] What signal?
[turns to Booker]
What does that even mean?

Booker: [laughs raggedly, still in pain]
You’ll know it when it comes.
[gasps, looks down at his body, looks up to reassure Nile]
Oh by the way,
[gestures with right hand, finger raised]
it’s not always like this now. Big wounds take longer to heal.

Nile: [skeptical sideways head-bob] Sure.

[Surveillance van interior, monitor shows soldiers going forward. Copley and Keane watch.]

Soldier: [on radio] Bravo Team approaching church.

[Group of soldiers gather in entrance hall of church, just outside an archway that leads to the congregation area. Pause.]

Soldier: [quietly] Go, go, go.

“The World We Made” by Ruelle begins playing
Secrets follow us,
Visions, we can't forget.
The animal inside got ahold of us,
But we don't feel regret.
There's no resisting,
It's in our blood,
In our blood, in our veins.
This is the world we made.
This is the world we made.
This is the world we made.

[Soldiers spread out among the pews, searching. Andy is above in the loft, half hidden behind a large statue (saint? angel?) as she evaluates their pattern and movements.]

[Andy jumps down into the middle of a cluster of men, moving into the attack as soon as her feet hit the floor, using a sword in her right hand and a pistol in her left.]

[Her sword stabs the man in front of her, sweeps in a wide backward arc to slice a second man, shoots a third, slices a fourth, shoots a fifth, stabs a sixth, shoots a seventh. She is constantly twisting, turning, lunging, dropping low to slash legs, standing to slash necks, firing the pistol, moving so fast the soldiers’ reactions are too slow to hit her as they try to shoot.]

[Andy cries out as eight stabs her right shoulder from behind. She grabs eight’s arm, ducks under it as she slashes his body, aims over the crumpling man to shoot nine, grabs eight around neck with her left arm and throws him to the floor, coils her body, drops into a half-crouch, extends her arms to each side to slash ten and shoot eleven simultaneously. Rises to shoot twelve, grabs thirteen’s arm and slices off his hand, yanks him against her back to use as a cushion as she drops and rolls over three shallow steps down, uses the rolling momentum to carry her upright for a straight lunge to thrust the sword into fourteen.]

[Stillness. Andy pants heavily as she stares at the man, then pulls out her sword and stands. Waits.]

[In the entrance hall, one soldier looks around uneasily, then stands and moves toward the entrance arch, with the others following.]

Soldier: Come on! Move! Move!

Nile: [urgently, watching the door] We’ve gotta get out there!
[turns, looks toward Booker]
We need to help her!

Booker: [calmly, unworried] No, that’s not the signal. [starts to rise]

[Exterior view of church. Gunfire sounds, with flashes of light through the windows. Soldiers are shouting inside. More soldiers creep along outside the wall of the church. A soldier turns a corner, raises a fist in signal -- just as Andy steps out of a side door and shoots him. She walks forward, turns the corner, shoots the next soldier.]

[The monitor in the surveillance van -- screen now set to a single view -- shows scene after scene of death and destruction, black-clad bodies lying sprawled, and no one alive. Keane slowly removes his headphones, mouth agape, as he stares.]

Copley: Mr. Keane.
[breathes deeply, voice quiet but intense]
I strongly recommend that we leave right now.
[they scramble from chairs, hurry away]

[Andy is crouched over an open carry-bag in the grass, pulling out extra magazines. She raises her pistol and moves forward.]

[Booker is in the bedroom, buttoning the sleeves of a fresh shirt that’s hanging open in front. His chest and stomach are mostly healed, just one thin line of bloody scar tissue showing. He begins to shove clothing into a carry-bag.]

Nile: [strides to doorway from other room, speaks urgently]
Come on! Let’s move!

Booker: [firmly] Wait for the signal.
[turns, reaches to grab more stuff]

Nile: [angry, voice raised as she strides into kitchen toward outer door]
How the hell can you even tell?
[flinches back as explosion blast breaks windows in living room]
[stares, says quietly,]
Oh.

Booker: [commanding] Let’s go!

[Booker slings the carry-bag over his left shoulder, picks up Andy’s labrys in its carry-case and slings that on top, walks through the bedroom door, buttoning his shirt as he goes. His shirt closes over smooth, unmarked skin.]

[Nile enters the church first, pistol drawn and extended. As she registers what she’s seeing, her pistol lowers; she pauses, staring at all the sprawled bodies. Booker hurries past.]

Nile: [quiet disbelief] Andy did all this herself?

Booker: Yeah. That woman has forgotten more ways to kill than entire armies will ever learn.
[walks quickly, checking (loading?) his rifle]

Nile: [following slowly]
Who are they? How’d they find you?
[lags behind, still staring at the carnage]

Booker: [at outer door] I don’t know. [commanding] Let’s go!

[Booker moves quickly outside. Nile runs to catch up.]

[Outside, a vehicle is in flames. Booker runs past it, Nile following... then Nile looks ahead and pauses, watching, face expressionless. Andy stands beside the driver’s side of a car, face and clothing streaked with blood-spatter, door open. She gazes at Nile, equally expressionless, then gestures slightly with her arm toward the car before she folds herself into the driver’s seat. The car speeds into the night, its headlights illuminating the empty road ahead.]

58:45 minutes

[Large, square van driving down the road. Inside, soldiers sit on side benches. Joe sits in the middle of the floor, elbows on raised knees, coughing violently. His hands are zip-tied in front of him, ankles are bound with a length of chain between them, and the front of his shirt has a bloody bullet-hole just above his heart. Nicky lies to Joe’s left and slightly behind, crumpled on his left side; a trail of blood leads from his right temple down the side of his face.]

Joe: [reaches out to touch Nicky’s shoulder, speaks quietly] Nicolò.

Soldier: [kicks Joe’s boot] Quiet.

Joe: Nicolò, destati. Destati! (wake up)
[pushes harder on his shoulder, leans over Nicky]

Soldier: [louder] I said --

[Another solder pulls Joe upright, away from Nicky.]

Joe: [looks up at speaker, voice firm]
I know what you said. What are you gonna do? Kill me?
[curls over Nicky, voice urgent]
Nicolò, destati.
[ignores another kick to his boot, attempt to pull him back]
Destati!

Nicky: [quietly, barely conscious] Sono qui. Sono qui. (I’m here. I’m here.)
[breathes heavily, groans slightly, starts to pick himself up awkwardly, hands also zip-tied]
Ovunque qui sia. (Wherever here is.)

Joe: [glances around the space] In un blindato. Hanno usato del gas.
(In an armored van. They used gas.)

Soldier: I told you, shut up!

Joe: [calmly but intently] I need to know he’s okay.

[Nicky makes it to a seated position, leans against an unoccupied section of the bench. His shirt has a bloody bullet-hole on the left shoulder.]

Soldier: [sneering] That’s sweet. What is he? Your boyfriend?

[Nicky sighs deeply as the soldiers laugh, rolls his head to the side; he and Joe have heard such things so many times before.]

Joe: [intensely, vibrantly]
You’re a child. An infant. Your mocking is thus infantile. He’s not my boyfriend. This man is more to me than you can dream.
[As Nicky watches Joe speak, his eyes visibly widen, and love shines in his face.]
He’s the moon when I’m lost in darkness and warmth when I shiver in cold. And his kiss still thrills me, even after a millennia. His heart overflows with the kindness of which this world is not worthy of. I love this man beyond measure and reason. He’s not my boyfriend.
[pauses, deep breath, gazes at Nicky, deeply heart-felt]
[Nicky gazes back, equally heart-felt, jaw clenching with emotion]
He’s all and he’s more.

Nicky: [softly] You’re an incurable romantic.

[He leans forward, smiling; Joe meets him halfway with a matching smile. They kiss, deeply... until the soldiers, uncomfortable with this display, pounce on them and drag them apart.]

[A private plane stands on the tarmac, the logo G-MRCK on its side. Keane, Copley, a group of soldiers stand near the lowered stairs. The van drives up and parks near it. Keane opens the back door; one of the soldiers rolls out, falls to the pavement, dead. The outside soldiers cock their pistols and point into the van. All the soldiers inside are sprawled, dead. Joe sits relaxed on one of the benches, elbows on knees; Nicky sits on the floor next to his legs, equally relaxed. Both smile at their captors.]

Nicky: I don’t suppose it would be possible to get these chains off of us?
[lifts his bound hands, grins up at Joe]

Keane: [angry] Get ‘em out, get ‘em out! Get ‘em on the plane now!

Joe: [philosophically] I guess not.

[Copley watches, frowning, as they are ‘escorted’ out of the van at gunpoint. As he walks by, Nicky gives him a level look.]

Nicky: We are usually a better judge of character.
[looks at plane, starts up stairs; guard pushes his back and points pistol at him]
I suppose you are taking us to the person who paid for your betrayal.

Joe: [looks at plane, turns to Copley as he passes; sounds a little surprised, a little approving]
It’s a nice plane.
[Joe also climbs stairs with guard pushing and pointing a pistol]

Nicky: [calling from inside] There’s a TV, Joe.

Joe: [also inside] Champagne?

[Copley looks at Keane, hesitates, then follows them up the stairs.]

1:00:50 minutes

[Aerial view, dawn breaking over a green landscape.]

VAL D’ARGENT FRANCE appears on screen

[Rear view of a car -- small, blue BMW, license NJSW 68R -- driving on a narrow road, kicking up dust behind. Nile is in the back seat, right side; Andy is driving. Nile is quiet, stoic, occasionally watches Andy’s profile; she’s equally stoic. Andy stops in front of what appears to be a large wall of corrugated metal, with low trees/high bushes growing close on each side. It’s marked with graffiti and a large sign that reads: ATTENTION. DEFENSE D’ENTRAR. Booker gets out and goes to the right side. A chain rattles, then Booker opens what is actually a large gate and swings it to the left side. Andy drives past, and Booker closes the gate behind them.]

[The car drives farther, stops in a flat area with a low bluff to the left and trees around and ahead; it seems very secluded. Everyone gets out. Andy crosses the front of the car, glances around to get her bearings, heads for some young trees with low-hanging branches. She stoops a little to push through them, Booker and Nile behind her.]

[We hear a bolt or latch move; from the inside darkness, light appears as a pair of doors open. Andy and Booker are silhouetted against the light, with tree branches against the sky behind them. Nile follows them into darkness. We hear a ‘thunk’ as Andy throws a generator switch, and a few lights come on, mounted on the walls. It’s not bright, but enough to move around without falling over things, and to see what you’re doing. They’re in a large cave, with rough-hewn walls and various items scattered around, unidentifiable in the shadows.]

[Andy moves farther inside, familiar with the layout, with Booker right behind. Nile follows more slowly, looking around.]

Nile: What is this place?

Andy: An abandoned mine.
[lights a long match, holds it to wick of hurricane lantern]
We stumbled on it during the Baussenque Wars. Eleven-fifties, maybe?
[Nile, looking around, quickly shifts gaze to Andy, reminded again of her age]
[Andy picks up lantern and stands]
I used to keep my stuff here.

[Andy gives the lantern to Nile. Nile raises her eyes as she accepts it; apparently she has permission to look around. Andy and Booker walk to a side area that holds a large pile of cut wood.]

Andy: Here...

[Nile slowly wanders, using the lantern to examine what she finds. A strange metal helmet that would cover the head. A painting half hidden under a cloth. She lifts the cloth to see a woman in clothes from an earlier time -- Andy -- with a black man standing behind her, holding her with his arm around her waist.]

[Andy squats in the middle of the floor, breaking kindling; she looks to see what Nile is doing, but doesn’t say anything.]

[Nile continues, checks out a box with a mining tools (handle of a shovel), plus a couple of crossbows and some bolts for them. Next to the box is a statue half-covered with a cloth; she lifts the cloth to see a bronze nude woman. Nile drops the cloth completely as she stares in surprise.]

Nile: [breathless] Is this a Rodin?

Andy: [crouches next to Booker, helping to build a fire. looks up, nods briefly]
Yeah.

Nile: [voice shows amazement] This is an -- honest to God -- Rodin.
[holds lantern closer for a better look, pauses]
Wait... did you know him?

Booker: [stirs the fire] Probably biblically.

[Andy gives him an affectionate punch on the left shoulder; he laughs as she smiles. Nile continues her exploration.]

Andy: Get to work finding Copley. He’s got Nicky and Joe.

[Booker brushes off his hands, goes to get his laptop. Andy stares into the fire.]

1:03:27 minutes

[MERRICK in big letters on the side of a fancy, modern, high-rise building.]

Merrick: [on cellphone] It can hardly be unique if they can make another copy.
[looks up, sees Keane walking down hall, followed by Joe, Nicky, soldiers, Copley]
I’ve gotta go.
[Tucks phone into jacket inner breast pocket. He enters an outer office from the right, with Dr. Kozak several paces behind.]

[Joe and Nicky are brought into the room from the left, still zip-tied and hobbled, with a man holding each arm, and armed guards following, weapons aimed. The guards stop them; they’re standing next to each other in the middle of the room, Joe to Nicky’s right. Copley walks past everyone and takes a position to the side, out of the way.]

Merrick: Ah! Gentlemen, welcome. I am truly honored to meet you. [pompously] Together, we shall do such things. What they are yet, I know not, but they shall be the terrors of the Earth.
[Joe and Nicky regard him with skepticism and disbelief]
Or, um, rather the saviors.
[Copley shifts eyes from Joe and Nicky to stare at Merrick]
Lear... Shakespeare.
[Nicky and Joe look at each other]
[Merrick gestures to zip-ties, turns to Keane]
Um, can we take the cuffs off?

Keane: [meaningfully] No, sir.
[glances at the guards aiming weapons at Joe and Nicky from behind]
We can’t.

[Kozak, several steps behind Merrick, cranes her head to stare avidly at Joe and Nicky.]

Merrick: My apologies. Let’s get off on the right foot, shall we? I’m Steven Merrick, youngest CEO in pharma.
[Nicky is not impressed]
Our work here is all about balance.
[moves directly in front of Joe, who frowns, watching and calculating]
How do we push the scientific frontiers whilst also turning a little profit?
[Joe slams forehead into Merrick’s face -- hard]

[Merrick cries out and stumbles back, catches himself on a desk. Keane hurries to Joe, uses left hand to grab him around the throat while right hand holds a pistol inches from his face. ]

Joe: [through gritted teeth, ignoring Keane]
There’s your balance, asshole.

[Keane disengages, but the guard behind Joe clubs him across the back of the neck. Joe grunts and folds over, but another guard holds him up so he can’t fall. Nicky tries to move closer to Joe; the guards hold him in place.]

Keane: [going to him] Mr. Merrick?

Merrick: Yes, yes, yes.

Keane: Watch it.

Merrick: Mr. Copley provided me with footage of your unique talent,
[picks up metal letter-opener from desk]
but I prefer my evidence to be indisputable.
[crosses to Joe, still bent over; stabs him viciously and repeatedly on upper back and neck]
[Joe goes to his knees under the attack.]

Nicky: [struggles to pull free from guards holding him] No!

[A guard hits him in the stomach; he folds over on his knees, next to Joe. Both are bent with faces close to the floor, tightly held by several guards each, Nicky watching Joe.]

Copley: [in protest] Mr. Merrick!

Joe: [groans, grimaces, speaks through gritted teeth] God damn it! Ugh! Shit!

[Kozak moves closer to Joe, watches as the wounds start to heal.]

Merrick: What do you see?

Kozak: [breathing heavily] The Nobel Prize.

[Copley glances at her, then back to Joe, frowning.]

Merrick: And a fair few quid to boot. [chuckles]
[guards drag Joe upward, but keep him on his knees. Nicky watches, concerned; he straightens on his knees next to Joe]
We brought a cancer drug to the market last quarter.
[Joe turns to look at Nicky, tips his head forward. Nicky answers with his own head-tip; their foreheads touch for a moment before the guards pull them apart.]
It’s already saved hundreds of thousands of lives.
[Joe and Nicky turn their attention to him]
Yet, in development, it killed a quarter of a million lab mice. Now, I didn’t ask for their little permissions. I’m not gonna ask for yours.

Joe: [watches Merrick intently as Nicky glares up at the man]
He thinks you’re a mouse, Nicky.
[Nicky looks to Joe, then back to Merrick]

[Copley watches, still frowning.]

Merrick: There’s genetic code inside you which could help every human being on Earth. We’re morally obliged to take it.

Joe: What?

[Kozak comes forward with two cylindrical somethings in her hands.]

Joe: What is that? Wait!

Nicky: Hey!

[Tasers crackle against their backs; they groan as they collapse to the floor, Nicky behind Joe. Nicky can see the doctor’s hand use an injector against Joe’s neck, and the other hand with an injector coming toward him.]

Nicky: [strained] No!

[Kozak plunges the injector into Nicky’s neck, then stands back. The guards haul them up -- either unconscious or temporarily paralyzed -- and drag them from the room.]

Kozak: [to Merrick] I’ll keep you informed of my progress.

Merrick: Yes. Yes, you do that.

[Kozak follows the guards and their captives out.]

[Merrick heads through another door. Copley follows.]

Copley: Mr. Merrick... [Merrick turns] this is about science, not profits... or sadism.

Merrick: You owe me two more. [climbs stairs out of sight]

1:06:00 minutes

Continued in Part 2

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Old Guard transcript master post

2020-08-30T15:53:48Z

Looking for StarWatcher's Old Guard movie transcript that you've heard about? It's here. I've decided to put links to all the different font-versions in one post, so that the link will be easier to share around. Below are links to posts that have the SAME CONTENT, but are reproduced in variations of font-styles for dialogue and descriptions that may make it easier to tell the difference.

Producing the transcript was -- quite literally -- a labor of love, and now I've posted it as my gift to The Old Guard's corner of fandom.

Note well: I intend this work as a fandom resource. You may use it however you wish -- saved as reference, or written as quoted passages in your own works. (Or other methods that I'm not aware of; have fun.) Attribution is nice -- although I may be a bit flustered -- but not necessary. Feel free to share the link(s) anywhere you think people may be interested. And if none of the "versions" below are comfortable for you to read, I don't mind -- I even encourage it -- if you copy one of the versions, paste into whatever word processor you use, and format it to your specifications. Feel free to save copies, whether HTML or word processed, on your own hard drive.

Latest Edits posted: Sunday, Aug 22, 2021

This update includes: major revisions. I added extensively to descriptions -- approximately 4,700 more words of action-description, about 1,300 more words of Copley’s-board descriptions. Changed some dialogue from what was in the provided transcript to what the characters actually said, and a couple of places where I originally attributed a line to the wrong character. (How did I make such a goof? No idea.) I also changed the formatting to put (most) descriptions on separate lines from dialogue.

The Old Guard Transcript: In ~~four~~ ~~eight~~ ~~ten~~ eleven "styles" --

Bold red names, bold black dialogue, descriptions in regular black font.

Bold black names, bold black dialogue, descriptions in regular black font.

Bold red names, regular black dialogue, descriptions in black italics font.

Bold black names, regular black dialogue, descriptions in black italics font.

Bold red names, regular black dialogue, descriptions in black small font.

Bold black names, regular black dialogue, descriptions in black small font.

Bold red names, regular black dialogue, regular black descriptions.

Bold black names, regular black dialogue, regular black descriptions.

Regular red names, regular black dialogue, regular blue descriptions.

Bold red names, regular black dialogue, regular blue descriptions.

Bold black names, regular black dialogue, regular blue descriptions.

(For my personal reading, I've found that red names, blue descriptions, and black dialogue show up quite nicely in my iPad, so I put a version up here, too. If you'd like different colors, just ask [and specify the colors you'd like to see]. Depending on real life, it may take a couple of days to get it out, but won't be difficult to produce and post.)

.

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Old Guard script: bold black names, small descriptions

2020-08-30T04:17:30Z

NOTE: Castalie tells me that Goussainville is A Ghost Town on the Fringes of Paris.

[View of old church (peaked windows with leaded separations between panes of glass) with gray walls and roof, trees growing opposite, across the driveway(?). A jetliner passes overhead with a roar of engines.]

GOUSSAINVILLE FRANCE appears on screen

[Nile comes into view; she carries her uniform-bundle under her right arm as she follows Andy through an opening between trees across an overgrown cemetery (green grass and weeds, crosses and headstones) toward the church, which we now see has a square bell-tower(?) at one end. Andy has her backpack properly settled over both shoulders, which suggests that they’ve walked/hiked some distance. Andy seems cautious as she walks, occasionally turning to observe their surroundings. Tall trees grow fairly close to the church on all sides; the whole place seems isolated and deserted.]

Nile: I thought you said we were going to Paris.

Andy: We’re just outside of Paris. This is Goussainville. This place has been abandoned for fifty years.

Nile: Why?

[Andy looks up, toward the sound of another plane passing overhead; she turns and grins at Nile. Nile also gazes upward, looks down with mild surprise at a weathered statue of a saint to her right, then turns and continues to follow Andy.]

( I made a floorplan.)

[We see a good-sized room. An arched alcove to the left contains a stovetop with oven below and a narrow counter/cabinet on each side. Two red cooking pots sit on the stove. Above the stove is a small, dark wooden shelf, with three copper pans hanging below. Two small lights hang from the top of the arch to shine on the work-area, with another pair of lights on the wall outside the arch. A round table with mismatched chairs is in the center, with a hanging lamp over it.]

[A stone archway extends across the back of the room, with a large communal bedroom on the other side. The rooms are separated by a wall of dark wooden panels; the upper half of each is a lancet window with a trefoil-shaped top. A pair of doors open inward to the bedroom.]

[A tall secretary desk and a cabinet/counter unit stand against the right wall. Both are cluttered with a jumble of unidentifiable items. A small tube-light hangs from an upper shelf of the secretary desk, and a small table lamp sits on the writing-surface. Despite the number of lights, the whole area is somewhat dim.]

[Nile and the men are eating. Joe is to the left, sideways to the viewer. Nile is to his right, with her back to the viewer. Booker is to her right, turned three-quarters from the viewer. Nicky is seated to the right, sideways to the viewer.]

[As she eats, Nile keeps an eye on the men. They’re also eating without speaking, watching her watch them. Andy is in the bedroom; she puts her backpack against the right wall as she watches the team through the windows.]

[Nile takes a bite of food and looks at Booker. He takes a bite and looks at her, then drops his eyes. Nicky watches Nile with a slight smile, then looks down at his food. Joe drinks a swallow of wine, watches Nile as he sets the glass on the table.]

Nile: [looks around the table]
So you good guys or bad guys?

Joe: [crossed arms, flicks eyes to Nicky, back to Nile]
Depends on the century.

Nicky: [leans back, rests left arm on back of chair]
We fight for what we think is right.

[Nile looks skeptical. She lifts her eyes to see Andy enter the room and cross to the stove.]

Nile: How are you all in my dreams?

[Andy is dishing some food at the stove.]

Joe: We dream of each other. They stop when we meet.

Nile: Why?

[Joe closes his eyes, twists his face, opens his mouth, takes a breath to answer -- apparently prepared for a detailed exposition -- but Nicky speaks first.]

Nicky: [watching Joe meaningfully]
I believe it’s because we... we’re meant to find each other.
[Joe gives him a quick wink. Nicky smiles briefly, turns back to Nile]
It’s like destiny.

Booker: [shifts in his seat, waves a dismissive hand]
No, more like, uh... misery loves company.

[Joe smiles and huffs a short laugh. Nile looks toward Andy, who’s eating from a bowl while standing/leaning against the counter beside the stove.]

Andy: [looks up, points toward Booker] What he said.

Nicky: It used to take years to track a new one. Booker was the last. Eighteen-twelve.

Nile: [stares at Booker, who is drinking from a glass] No way.

Booker: [nods, glances at her] Yeah, I died fighting with Napoleon.

Nile: So... [looks to Nicky] you’re even older than him.

[Andy brings a cup and a bottle of vodka to the table, sits across from Nile between Joe and Nicky, takes off the bottle cap.]

Joe: Mm... [speaking with a mouthful of food] Nicky and I met in the Crusades.

Nile: [awe, disbelief] The Crusades?

Nicky: [gestures toward Joe]
The love of my life was of the people I’ve been taught to hate.

Joe: [laughs] We... [gestures between them] We killed each other.

Nicky: Many times. [another quick smile for Joe] Yeah.

[Note: the script says that Joe says, ‘Yeah’. But it sounds -- and looks -- to me that Nicky was finishing his comment.]

[Booker laughs around his drink. Andy smiles slightly as she picks up the cup to drink. She watches Nile over the rim.]

Nile: [quietly, watching Andy] You’re the oldest.

Andy: [nods as she puts cup on table, lifts eyes to Nile, nods again] Yeah.

Nile: So how old are you?

[Joe crosses his arms and waits.]

Andy: Old.

Nile: [slight eye-roll, then insistent] How old?

Andy: [pauses, glances down, quietly] Too old.

Nile: [huffs, slight frown as she looks around others at table; quiet, awed surprise]
So we really never die.

Andy: [takes a breath, small head-shake] Nothing that lives, lives forever.

Nile: But... you said that we were immortal.

Andy: [gazing down]
I know what I said. And we mostly are,
[raises eyes to Nile]
but we can die.
[tiny head-nod]
And one of us did.
[glances left as she remembers]
[view of man’s body with bloody stomach-wound, Andromache’s hand over it]
He... he was a warrior, just like us.
[Andromache, wearing ancient headdress, looks down, concerned]
[Lykon, lying on back, looks up, eyes glazed]
A long time ago.
[Andy shakes head. Booker watches, listens quietly]
One day your wounds just don’t heal up anymore, and...
[Nicky and Joe watch Nile's reaction]
we don’t know when or why.

Nile: [looks down, considers carefully]
So if we can die,
[raises eyes to Andy, slight eyebrow-clench]
then why would you shoot me? You could have killed me.

Andy: [flicks eyes to Nile, quietly] You’re too new.

[A plane rumbles overhead. For a moment, no one speaks. Nile looks at the others around the table; she seems disturbed/scared/overwhelmed as she absorbs this new information. Her shoulders hunch as she folds slightly in her chair and stares down.]

Nicky: [gently, watching Nile closely]
It is a lot to understand. I think you should get some rest.
[Nile turns slightly toward his voice]
Come with me. I’ll show you.

[Nicky rises, followed by Nile. He waits as she comes around the table, then escorts her through the double doors at the back of the room. They turn to the right.]

[Joe watches them leave, then sighs deeply.]

Andy: She wants to talk to her family.

[Joe and Andy exchange a look.]

Booker: That’s not gonna help her.

Andy: [grabs bottle of vodka, uncaps it, pours into cup]
You tell her that.

[Nicky returns and sits down again.]

47:05 minutes

Continued in Part 2

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