"Nice breads." "Baked fresh daily." "Well, every Tuesday, anyway." "Listen, do you mind if I ask you something?" "Hey, make an offer." "I'm not proud." "No, I mean, the goods you take in trade, do you have to share a portion of them with Theo?" "Look, you want some bread, cool, but if not, then you better move on." "I got a better idea." "We got a few questions of our own first," "So if you two wouldn't mind..." "Now!" "Under normal circumstances, we wouldn't be asking you to go back into the field without a little decompression time." "Man, forget decompression." "How about debriefing?" "We haven't even reviewed the information that we've picked up over the last 2 weeks." "I'm sure you both remember your last trip to clarefield." "Yeah, dodging' live ammunition." "We barely made it out of that town alive when Simon bled to death." "You could still smell the evil where we buried him." "Believe me, it still weighs on all of us." "If you're lookin' to send us into Theo country, you better have one hell of a reason, 'cause I'll bet you" "Theo has got at least a couple of bullets left, and they got our names on 'em." "About a week ago, we sent a 2-person team into clarefield to investigate rumors that Theo was on her way out." "Couldn't happen to a nicer person." "We're hoping that a new regime might afford us the opportunity for a strategic alliance." "Problem is, we lost contact with them 48 hours ago." "You're afraid Theo's got her claws into them?" "Or worse." "May be my keen appreciation of the obvious, but a question comes to mind." "Yeah, like why would you send in the 2 guys whose faces are known all over clarefield?" "The 2 guys Theo would most like to gut with a church key?" "You know one of the, uh, members we sent in." "Not Elizabeth?" "Simon was her lover." "She felt she had a personal score to settle with Theo." "You had no business sending her into a situation with that level of danger." "Please, just bring her home." "Thunder Mountain to clarefield." "Co... come in, clarefield." "Do you read?" "Over." "ThunderMountain, thisisclarefield." "You're coming in good." "Over." "Be on the lookout, clarefield." "A 2nd team has been dispatched from the Mountain." "They're heading your way." "Over." "Copy that." "I'llbewatchingfor them." "Do you have any names, descriptions?" "Over." "Lean white guy named Jeremiah, and a big black man with dreadlocks, name's kurdy." "Dear dad, it's been 15 years since the big death wipedouteveryone overtheageofinnocence..." "The end of your world, the beginning of mine." "Nobody said anything about guests." "I would've rolled out the red carpet." "Only you don't wanna know why it's red." "Caught 'em snooping in the market, boss." "They wanted to know all about Theo this and Theo that." "We're new to the area, Theo." "Your reputation obviously precedes you." "We're just curious, that's all." "Well, you must have heard I like bullshit, 'cause you're using that old shovel like you do it for a livin'." "We're just passing through." "If we ran aground any local customs, you have our apologies." "Well, I will have a lot more than that before I'm through." "Now, look, Liz, that's your name, right?" "Look, Elizabeth, honey, now, I'm gonna save me some time and you some embarrassment, and I'm gonna tell you exactly what I know, and then you gonna tell me what I don't." "Now, my brain boys were scanning the airwaves, and what do they come across?" "Damned if it's not a team from the end of the world." "Now, another minute, and they might have found out where everybody was, but it did let us know you were comin'." "You have no idea who I am, do you?" "I used your name, didn't I?" "Elizabeth, don't." "Why the hell not?" "A few months back, you and your people killed a man named Simon." "Simon?" "Oh, no, that's not ringing any bells." "Simon was a good man." "He was a decent man." "Oh, wait." "Now it's comin' back to me." "Simon." "Oh, well, I'm sorry, girl, but that man just would not cooperate." "He didn't deserve to die." "Oh." "That is just so touching." "Aren't you moved, Sam?" "Because I'm just about to emote." "Oh, false alarm." "Must've been somethin' in my eye." "Uh, excuse me, Theo?" "Whatever it is, ras, your timing sucks." "Come back later." "Actually, later doesn't work for my schedule." "Now, since when do I give a high-flying fuck about your schedule?" "I don't know." "Now might be a good time." "Boys, would you please get this bean counter out of here, and throw in an etiquette lesson or 2 while you're at it?" "Is there something wrong with the acoustics in here?" "You gotta be shittin' me." "I wouldn't do that." "You know what?" "Oh, I heard folks talking trash about making a move, but I never thought it would be you." "Yeah, life's full of surprises." "Look, I don't know what this clown told y'all, but if you think turning on me is gonna get y'all anything but..." "Shut the fuck up!" "God, that feels good." "It's your last chance." "Shoot this mother now." "It's game over, Theo." "I'm in, you're out." "Changing of the guard." "Does that work for you?" "You work for me, asshole!" "I don't work for you anymore, sweetheart." "None of us do." "You pushed a little too hard for a little too long." "You actually expect me to believe my peeps are gonna take this lying' down?" "No, it's called profit sharing." "Everyone gets a little taste." "You'd be amazed how much loyalty that breeds." "What you gonna do, braveheart?" "You gonna kill me?" "This'll be a bloodless coup." "We're gonna do things a little differently, now that I'm in charge." "Besides, the last thing I want to do is create a martyr." "So here's the deal." "You, Sam, Keith, and anyone else brain-dead enough to stick with you, have all got 24 hours to get as far from clarefield as you can." "What about them?" "Take 'em to the rec building." "I'll deal with them later." "As far as clarefield is concerned, Theo, baby, you are nothing but a bad dream." "Get her out of my sight." "There's been a serious security breach." "Every indication is that it's how Theo found out about Elizabeth's team." "What kind of breach are we talking about, Lee?" "Over the past 4 weeks, there've been a number of unauthorized communications between here and clarefield." "You're sure about this?" "For security purposes, there's a digital footprint to all our transmissions." "Now, there was a fairly skillful attempt to erase the trail, but an embedded system caught it." "You take it to mean what?" "We may have a traitor in our midst." "Somewhere around here is the last place that Elizabeth and Gabriel transmitted from." "This is a big-ass waste of time." "We're not gonna find anything out here." "If she's still alive, she's in clarefield, man." "Well, orders were to check here first." "This is the back road to clarefield." "Maybe we ought to just cover this truck up and hoof it." "Man, somebody in charge up there has got it in for my ass." "What, you mean at the Mountain?" "No, I mean somebody up there." "Listen, man, I don't know much about psychology stuff, but it sounds to me like you're nibbling at the edges of paranoia." "Man, the first woman who's ever really felt special to me, no sooner did I meet her than I get sucker punched by fate." ""Sorry, kurdy, you gotta go right back to being alone."" "You're not exactly alone, man." "I'm here." "Yeah, like I said, somebody's got it in for my ass." "This guy needs to recognize..." "I mean, they need to be having his wake right now." "I bet you even the cockroaches wouldn't show up." "I mean, if he thinks that he can just shove me out of the way, then that man is in for a very rude awakening." "Lookee here," "I say we lay low, we give him a couple of days to drop his guard, then we come back with some big honkin' guns, and then we hit him ugly." "I mean, way I'm looking at it, this guy is committing suicide by proxy, and who are we to disappoint him?" "I don't think so, Theo." "What're you talking about?" "Why the hell not?" "Because we have different orders." "Look, Sam, that's not even remotely funny." "You see me laughin', Theo?" "You mean to tell me rasmussen bought you out?" "Is that it?" "Let's just say I had to make a difficult choice." "Keith, you... you're not goin' let him get away with this, are you?" "I'm sorry, Theo." "It's all about survival." "You're all scrawny-assed cowards, all of you!" "And rasmussen!" "Motherfucker didn't even have the guts to do it himself." "Yeah, well, this way, no one in clarefield will ever know what really happened." "I'll always remember the good times, Theo." "Fucker!" "Fuck." "What?" "Where's Keith?" "You let that little traitor get away?" "Oh, you ought to be grateful." "We just saved your life." "Yeah, and that was for the 2nd time." "Oh, yeah, right, right, the marketplace." "Yeah." "Kurdy, are we starting to pick up a bad habit?" "It would seem so." "Yeah." "Oh, shit." "Come here." "Your jacket looks like it'd fit me." "You wanna trade?" "Ok, look, I appreciate what you done, but how about we just leave it at no questions asked?" "Do you really think that we put our lives on the line just to save your sorry ass?" "Ok." "I got a whole load of stuff I can give you." "Well, it better be better than the load of stuff" "You're givin' me right now." "Well, what y'all want?" "We had a couple of friends went to clarefield." "We lost contact with 'em." "Oh, come on, man." "A lo... a lot of folks come through clarefield." "You got another bullet in that clip, kurdy?" "Oh, yeah, I got enough to blow out all her headlights." "You wouldn't." "Isn't that what you said to the last guy?" "Now, you get us into clarefield and you get us to our friends, you can go back to that cesspool you call home and start strutting your stuff again." "And what if I say no?" "What if I say we found 2 bodies in the woods outside of clarefield?" "Thunder Mountain to clarefield." "Do you read?" "Over." "Thunder Mountain to clarefield." "Oh, we read, all right." "Looks like we found our traitor." "You know why Theo's bird is on this plate and not on that perch?" "Because I asked it to stop squawking, and it wouldn't listen." "You son of a bitch!" "I gave you orders." "And we tried, but these 2 guys came out of nowhere." "They... they took Sam down." "I barely got out with my life." "You make it sound as if that were worth something." "They're those two, I recognized 'em." "The-they're the ones from the end of the world." "You remember from a few months back?" "The ones who escaped with the rover?" "They got a hell of a lot of nerve coming back here." "Yeah, exactly what I thought." "But then, so did you." "Well, I..." "You know, I figured, you know, if I ran and... and you found out," "I..." "I wouldn't stand a chance." "I..." "I..." "My only hope was to come back and... and, you know, face the music." "Well, you're probably right." "I knew you'd understand." "Yeah." "The only reason you're still alive right now is because I want her dead more than I want you dead." "Look, just... just tell me what you want me to do." "Uh..." "We could go in with a dozen guys and smoke 'em all." "No, no, no." "I'm not gonna start my regime by losing men in a damn shoot-out." "I want you to find those guys and tell them I have a proposal for them, ok?" "So you got those handcuffs?" "Now, I know we've been on the road a long time, man, but ew." "Funny." "Think about it." "We could probably use her to buy Elizabeth's freedom." "Right now what we need is information." "What we got over here is the ultimate insider." "That team we talked about, where are they?" "You kiddin', right?" "You don't really expect me to help you." "Let's just say I'm an optimist." "If I tell you, you gonna let me go?" "No." "But I'll kill you if you don't." "Aw, yeah, you just saved my life, now I'm supposed to believe that you're just gonna cap me?" "Be ironic, wouldn't it?" "All right." "But the only reason I'm telling you is because I wanna see the guy that's got 'em fry." "So where are they?" "Rec building at the school." "I'm sure you remember the hospitality suite." "Thank you, Theo." "Now, can I see you return the favor?" "Sure." "Open your mouth." "Ooh!" "You are optimistic." "So what kind of security can we expect?" "Without any incentive, that's as far as I go!" "That's ok." "We're patient men." "Speak for yourself." "I'm not goin' stand around and watch you play 20 questions with this murderer and liar here." "Look, we go charging into hostile territory without information, we're not just putting ourselves at risk, man, we'd get Elizabeth killed." "Now, I can wear her down." "I know that." "Fine, you knock yourself out trying to get more honey out of queen bee, here." "I'm takin' the rover, and I'm gonna stake out this rec building, make sure they're not moved, but dig, I'm not waiting forever." "I'll meet you there first thing in the morning." "And if I see that Elizabeth is in any immediate danger," "I'm going in with or without you." "Understood." "We know you were in regular communications with person or persons at clarefield." "The question is, who and why?" "We may have lost a trusted team of operatives because someone at clarefield got a heads-up about the mission." "You think this is some game?" "Is that what you think?" "'Cause I have half a mind to report that you grabbed my weapon and turned it on yourself, and don't think that I wouldn't." "Now, I'll ask you again." "Who were you talking to in that vipers' nest?" "It's not what you think." "I never would've passed on information like that." "I was just talking to my sister." "Greetings, my friends." "It's a glorious day out there, crisp, cold, just the way I like it." "The kind of day you like to curl up with a good book, sip Brandy, maybe torture a prisoner or 2." "You're as sick as Theo." "I'm not even in the same league as Theo, but I appreciate the attempt at flattery." "Why don't you let her go?" "You don't need the both of us." "Actually, you do have a point." "Why don't you tell me the exact location of the people who sent you on this fool's errand, and, uh," "I'll let, uh, one of you go." "You can even decide who." "Sound fair?" "Go to hell!" "You go to hell." "I was hoping I could avoid the ordeal of breaking you." "It's so labor-intensive." "Come on, come on." "Let it go." "That's a waste of perfectly good dirt." "You know, some people might say now's a good time for an attitude adjustment." "Yeah, I was gonna mention that myself, but I thought you might be offended." "What are the chances of Elizabeth and her partner still being alive?" "You believe in miracles?" "I believe most people act out of self-interest." "There you go." "If rasmussen thinks he can get something from your friends, then odds are they're still alive." "Don't shoot!" "I'm here in the spirit of cooperation, I swear." "Well, good." "Be a gentleman, get on your knees, and let this man blow your brains out." "Why'd you come back?" "I've come with an offer." "What kind of offer?" "You can't be serious." "You not gonna listen to this weasel?" "It's from rasmussen." "Real simple." "He's willing to make a trade." "You give him Theo, he'll give you those 2 spies." "That's it." "Ball's in your court." "They sure ain't nowhere else." "I'm, uh..." "I..." "I'm gonna go now." "Hang on." "Tell rasmussen he's got a deal." "Do you have any idea what he is gonna do to me?" "Frankly, my dear..." "Well, you know the rest." "What're you..." "What're you doing?" "And one for you." "See, now, that, that makes me mad." "Oh, and what am I, a portrait of serenity?" "Shit." "Problem?" "Oh, hell." "Kurdy's still got the key." "You knew that, didn't you?" "Moi?" "Jacob Rutledge, 26." "Electronics specialist." "Been at the Mountain since he was recruited 6 years ago." "Commendable record." "No sign of disloyalty." "That's what makes it so scary." "That's ridiculous, Lee." "The man was trying to reach his sister in the only way he knew how." "How do we know he didn't invent this sister for plausible deniability?" "Come on, you've never heard of the law of parsimony?" "All things being equal, the simplest explanation is usually what's true." "For all we know, our location might already be in the hands of the enemy." "Is there any way to corroborate his story?" "Even if we accept it at face value, that still doesn't get him off the hook." "Somebody at the clarefield end used those communications to identify Elizabeth's team." "But he never intended to betray the Mountain." "Look, Marcus, we've laid out the case." "It's time for you to make a decision." "I'm not ready." "I need someone who can reach out to this man." "Get him to open up more." "If necessary, I need someone who can even act as an advocate on his behalf." "Do you really think that's necessary?" "Erin, I want you to talk to him." "If this is nothing more than recklessness or lack of judgment, we need to know that." "I know what you're doing." "You're trying to make me feel guilty." "Screw that." "It's not gonna work." "You kill innocent people all the time, whenever it's convenient for you." "You know what this is?" "It's poetic justice." "What goes around comes around." "Look, get your ass in gear, all right?" "Look, if I have to drag 150 pounds of dead weight, I will... 150 pounds?" "You should've thought about the consequences before you shot Matthew in cold blood or sent those guys to gun down Simon." "What do you want?" "You want me to apologize?" "You want me to get all weepy, start bowin' and scraping'?" "A little remorse would be a start." "Ow!" "You let me tell you something, my pasty friend." "If I had to do it all over again," "I would, in a New York second." "That's right." "I would kill a... a hundred Matthews, a thousand Simons, if it meant protecting my people." "Yeah, well, they're not your people now, are they?" "Why, 'cause some shit-for-brains waves a big gun and greased some palms?" "You know, I think I liked it better when you were quiet." "Backstabbing, self-serving prick." "I'll tell you what, I'll meet you halfway." "I'll plug my ears." "All you've got to do is shut your mouth." "How about I ram my foot so far up your ass your kidneys give me a shoe shine?" "I'm here for only one reason, to get your side of the story." "What for?" "Everybody's made up their minds that I've committed treason." "Is that the way you want it?" "Give me a break." "I'm trying to, Jacob." "Help me understand why you did what you did." "You said you wanted to help your sister." "We grew up on a farm in Montana." "My father was an..." "An amateur ham operator, taught me everything there was to know about electronics." "And Deborah, my sister, she was amazing at making things grow." "After the death, it was just the two of us." "So when I was recruited by Marcus 6 years ago," "I tried to bring Deborah with me." "They said no." "That was when I promised her that one day we'd be together again." "When you told your sister about the team from thunder Mountain, did you think you might have been putting them in danger?" "No, of course not." "Is that what really happened?" "Right now, we don't know if Elizabeth and Gabriel are even alive." "I'll accept whatever they want to do to me, but you gotta tell them it wasn't Deborah's idea, and if there's any way of bringing her to thunder Mountain..." "I'll be lucky if I can keep you here." "We'll arrange the sticks in a little teepee like this here." "Now..." "Hey, I know how to build a damn fire." "Really?" "You don't strike me as much of the outdoor type." "What outdoors?" "That's just basic techniques of arson." "Oh, nice." "I hope you got something decent to eat in that bag over there of yours." "What, you assume that I'd share it with you if I did?" "Even the condemned get a last meal." "Well, I don't stand on ceremony much." "I got a problem." "Just one?" "See, 'cause I could make a long list." "I gotta pee." "What do you want me to do about it?" "At least look the other way." "Try not to put the fire out, will you?" "The last time I camped out in the woods," "I was running for my life." "What'd you do?" "What makes you so sure I did something?" "I just got the feeling if you were runnin', somebody was chasin' you." "Shot a man in the face." "He was mad about that?" "Oh, no." "Actually, he was dead." "His posse came after me." "Why'd you do it?" "Why do you care?" "Let's just say I'm a captive audience." "Forced himself on me." "Asshole left his gun on the nightstand." "It's hard for me to imagine a man could force you to do anything." "Yeah." "I was 13 at the time." "You know, I've been slashed by a broken bottle," "I've been shot through the leg," "I've been beaten up and left for dead, but that's the only scar I can't hide." "I'm sorry." "Don't be." "It's always been easy for you, hasn't it?" "You kiddin' me?" "I grew up in the same world you did." "I had to survive." "I don't mean survival." "I mean making judgments, who's right, who's wrong, who's the good guy, who's the bad guy." "It's always been cut and dried, huh?" "Pretty much." "Yeah." "That's just it, cowboy." "It shows." "Didn't the big death teach you anything?" "It taught me that life is precious." "That's funny." "It taught me life is cheap." "That explains a lot." "It sure does." "You think we're a lot different, you and me?" "And you don't?" "Hell, no." "I mean, think about it." "You ready to sacrifice my life for another." "Me having Simon killed, that was the same thing, but you strutting' around up there on your Mountain, clucking your tongue at all of us chumps down here below." "Who the hell are you to judge?" "If you can't tell the difference between what's right and what's wrong, what's the point?" "The point, Jeremiah, is that it's all in the eye of the beholder." "You like grapes?" "Yeah, sure." "Here." "Thanks." "You're kurdy, right?" "Excuse me?" "Big black guy, dreads." "Gotta be kurdy." "No, name's Willy, free Willy." "I don't think so." "Listen, I know why you're here." "You've come to get Elizabeth and Gabriel, and I can help you." "Is that right?" "But you gotta promise me something." "I don't even know who you are." "My name's Deborah." "My brother Jacob's been at thunder Mountain for over 6 years." "That's when we got separated." "All I ask is when this is over, you bring me back with you, so Jacob and I can be together." "You said you could help me." "Do we have a deal?" "Yeah, sure." "If you wanna get them out, your best bet is early tomorrow morning when they rotate the patrols." "There's a small window above the entrance to the rec room." "I'll click my flashlight 3 times." "That'll mean move." "You really gonna do it?" "Trade you for Elizabeth?" "My mission is to save her and her partner." "I don't have a lot of choice." "And you depending on rasmussen to keep his word?" "Honor among thieves." "Is that her?" "Uh, what's up with the handcuffs?" "It's a long story." "You got the key?" "What keys?" "Oh, come on, man." "Kurdy?" "I'm just fuckin' with you." "There you go." "She give you any attitude?" "Just a little." "Well, good move bringing her here." "A prisoner swap, right?" "Look, I was thinking about that, man." "What?" "We turn her over to rasmussen, we're no better than he is." "There's got to be another way." "What?" "There's gotta be another way." "Well, fortunately, there just might be." "That inside information we were talking about?" "I think I got it." "So does that mean I'm free?" "What that means is I am letting you go, but with all the baggage you're carrying around," "I doubt you'll ever be free." "No!" "What if it was your brother?" "Wouldn't you show some mercy?" "Don't give me that mercy crap." "The man betrayed us, pure and simple." "Stop!" "Look at us." "This is tearing us apart." "Marcus, you heard Jacob." "His actions might have been ill-advised, but he never knew they could constitute a threat." "Whether he knew it or not is very much beside the point." "We can't punish Jacob for treason when his biggest crime was loyalty to family." "Will you say the same thing if his indiscretion winds up killing every person here?" "Lee's right." "If the laws we worked to establish are subject to interpretation by every individual within these walls, then one day, maybe not now, but one day, all this will come crashing down." "So we should go forward with the penalty phase?" "No, I'm not saying that." "Is there anyone here who doesn't know someone on the outside they secretly wish they could bring into the fold?" "We need to acknowledge that there was an underlying innocence to his actions." "We let those actions go unpunished, it'll send a message to every resident of the Mountain:" "Good intentions are enough, to heck with the consequences." "On the other hand, if we hold him accountable for something he couldn't have foreseen, what kind of message is that?" "So then you're saying we should drop the charges." "No, I'm not saying that, either." "What are you saying, Marcus?" "This isn't working anymore." "What's not working?" "Carrying the scales of justice around as if I owned them, being the final arbiter." "More than that, it's holding this man's fate in my hands as if I had the right to decide it." "But you do have that right." "No." "It's gotta stop." "I don't have the will." "I can't play God anymore." "I just can't do it." "You don't wanna decide what happens to Jacob Rutledge." "From now on, when there's a significant crime, a contentious dispute, an irreconcilable conflict, the council is judge and jury." "How's that going to work?" "That's my point." "You figure it out." "Kurdy!" "Kurdy!" "Kurdy, thank God." "Come on, man." "Hurry." "Give me a key." "I need a key." "Hurry." "Come on, man." "Open that fucker." "Let's go." "What the hell's going on?" "Hold it right there." "Hey, boys, whatcha got?" "Theo?" "I thought you..." "You thought what?" "Come on, you didn't really think that that was going to last, did you?" "You want to talk to rasmussen, you'll find him in the cafeteria on a slab, with an apple in his mouth." "I'll take that, thank you." "You're a doll." "You did good, boys." "Chocolate or cheerleaders?" "You take your pick." "Now help me get these animals back into their cage." "Then that one, too." "Flag on the play, guys." "What the..." "Put 'em in the cage!" "Let's get the fuck outta here." "Listen, Theo, what you did back there..." "What?" "Made you think maybe I wasn't the devil incarnate after all?" "I wouldn't go that far, but, um, I appreciate it." "Hey, are you sure you don't wanna... bring me home to meet the parents?" "You know, if I had some, I would consider it." "Yeah, well," "I don't think I'd really fit in where you guys are goin', anyway." "Yeah, probably not." "Besides, I got business." "What, rasmussen?" "Oh, yeah." "The thought of him with that apple in his mouth got my juices goin'." "I'd be a liar if I told you I could ever forgive you for what you did to Simon." "I don't want it." "Didn't ask for it." "Now, you can go on believin' whatever you want to about me." "I know who I am, and that's all that matters." "Anyway..." "It's been real." "It's still hard for me to believe you're really here." "If I had known the risk you were taking in contacting me, I'd..." "I'd do it all over again." "Let's just hope they let you stay." "Well, Jeremiah and kurdy put in a good word." "It's gotta help." "Come on." "I want to show you the hydroponics area." "You're not gonna believe it." "Goin' after Theo..." "I was in over my head." "Well, I'm proud of you, you know that?" "I got caught." "Yeah, but you never caved." "I think the council's decision to bar Jacob from all communications was a good one." "Although rescinding it in one year, it's barely a slap on the wrist." "I'm not sure what we would've done if Elizabeth and Gabriel hadn't come back safely." "Oh, I have a pretty good idea." "The important thing is it was the council that decided." "It gives us a foundation we can build on." "You still haven't told me how you got our team out of there." "I thought I'd wait until we were both a little drunk." "And if I can't wait 20 minutes?"