"That was real nice, what you did back there." "So you wanna go find this place Preacher's brother told me about?" "I'm going straight to DC." "End of discussion." "All right." "Damn." "Wait here!" "Brandon." "Wait here!" "It don't matter." "You got my shit, asshole." "Get the fuck out of here, man." "I want my fucking shit." "Break yourself, fool." "Break yourself." "All right!" "All right!" "Calm down." "Stay down!" "Okay, Hajis." "On your knees, hands behind your heads." "Now, I said!" "Do it!" "Hands behind your head." "You having fun, Haji?" "You having fun?" "Who wants to play "Let's start shooting people"?" "You're up." "You're fucking up!" "Right in the back of your head." "Oh, yeah, yeah." "You ain't dead yet?" "Just give him his shit!" "Come on now." "We're just getting started, here." "Your shit's over there, man." "It's over there." "Just go get it." "Oh, yeah?" "What?" "I can't hear you." "I can't hear you." "What'd you say?" "Who's next?" "You, you're next." "Y'all better start praying to Allah, son." "Man, please." "Please don't shoot me." "Brandon, don't shoot." "Oh, shit!" "Oh, my God." "I've got everything." "I've got all our stuff." "Okay?" "On your faces." "On your faces!" "That's enough." "Put the gun down." "Get away!" "Don't you hit me!" "Give me the gun." "Give me the gun." "Give me the gun, or I'm gonna leave you here right now." "On your face!" "l swear!" "On your face!" "l swear I ain't kidding!" "You're gonna need some stitches." "Here." "Let me help you." "l got it." "Let me help you." "Before Steve came home, they told us how a soldier could be a danger to himself or other people." "You think I'm a danger?" "I've been knowing you since third grade." "I think we've got both kinds of danger here." "I'm sorry." "What's going on?" "Same shit every night." "Drinking, fighting, hookers." "And I got babies in here." "Cops will be here soon." "Hey." "You laying low here?" "How'd you find this place?" "Brother of a guy in my squad." "Guy pushing a lawsuit in the lay low?" "Didn't tell you about our first case, did he?" "Army came down hard." "Locked the guy up, took everything." "Even his wife left him." "l ain't got no time for no lawsuit." "Good." "There ain't a judge in this country going up against the military while this war is on." "And let me tell you something about laying low." "Can't get a job." "Can't cash a cheque." "And they're probably tracing your calls." "Now go on in there and brush your teeth so we can leave, okay?" "My youngest boy, we can't even take him to the doctor." "You're on the run 24/7." "And God forbid you get pulled over for having a busted taillight." "You going to jail." "So where you headed now?" "North." "Canada." "I can't put my family through this no more." "Thanks." "What about you?" "DC Going to see a senator." "Why don't you write a letter to the editor while you at it?" "Listen, man, you should try to reach my guy, Ron Carlson, old peacenik lawyer, works out of New York, takes people north." "He'll help you get across the border." "Listen, man, I ain't interested in dealing with no shitbag coyote." "Suit yourself." "But we've been on the run 1 4 months, and I can't take it no more." "Here's the number." "Take it." "Keep it. I got it memorized." "Another way out of this, I would have done it." "Good luck." "Y'all hurry up, now." "You feeling all right?" "Yeah?" "Here, let me see about you." "Oh, fuck!" "You told him where we were." "He's come to take me home." "I'll leave you my car, okay?" "Thanks a lot." "Hey, baby." "Good morning." "Morning." "God damn, soldier." "What happened to you?" "What you gonna tell Boot?" "You walked into a fucking door?" "I ain't telling Boot shit." "Yeah, you are." "I'm here to take you back." "You ain't taking me anywhere." "Okay, tough guy." "Let me lay it out for you." "Boot said if I get you back on base in the next 1 4 hours, all charges are dropped, no stockade." "I don't need you making deals with Boot for me." "Hey!" "You don't know what I've been through to scrape the shit off of your shoes." "You ought to be thanking me." "You steal my Jeep and you run off with my girl." "That ain't how it happened." "You know that. I was trying to help him." "And that's what I'm trying to do." "This is a straight deal from Boot." "lt's what's best for him." "What's best for me?" "What's best for you, Steve?" "Showing up here in your Class A's." "What kind of deal did you make with Boot?" "Huh?" "You took him up on sniper school, didn't you?" "God damn!" "You re-enlisted?" "How could you do this?" "How could you run off with Brandon" "for three fucking days and not call me?" "We don't call you and you re-enlist?" "That's bullshit!" "And you know it." "How could I not?" "Michelle, it got real clear to me that this, this is safe." "It's safe?" "And when are we getting married, Steve?" "When I get back from my next tour." "When you get back?" "You've been saying that to me for five fucking years." "It's clear you've made your decision." "This is good for me." "I got a future in this." "This is something that I can be proud of." "Did you really see me selling cars for Rainey?" "Get out of here." "Look, I'm sorry." "Hold on." "Please?" "Don't." "Please come here." "Don't." "Please, just..." "Don't." "Get out of here!" "Fucker, get out." "I said get out!" "Fuck!" "Did that really just fucking happen?" "Fucking motherfucker!" "That was fucked up." "What did you expect?" "God damn it." "How did everything get so fucked up?" "You, Tommy, now Michelle?" "What's wrong with Tommy?" "He's too messed up, man." "I can't get through to him like you can." "He just won't listen to me." "Look, come on." "Come on." "We'll go and we'll knock out another tour, and we'll come home." "Another tour?" "You're always talking about how snakebit this war is, how they won't let us fight it the way we need to win it." "Now you want to go back?" "That makes no fucking sense." "Like this makes any fucking sense?" "This isn't who we are, man." "Man, look, we didn't get through all this shit together just for you to end up like one of these AWOL shitbags." "We ain't like these guys." "We're soldiers." "We stand for something, man." "We're from Texas." "All right." "Stow the Boot talk, man." "You let him talk you into going back?" "That's fine." "You got a right to be stupid." "Well, fuck you, man!" "I did what I had to do for the time I had to do it, and I ain't gonna do it any more." "You can take that back to Boot." "You're the only person who thinks you're getting out of this!" "Boot called the Senator." "He knows what you're up to." "You're AWOL, Brandon." "No senator is gonna help you." "You're done!" "Steve, you know what they're doing is wrong." "I'm not going back." "I'm fighting this thing." "Hey!" "Watch your six." "Sergeant King, I've told you several times already, the Senator cannot see you." "Ma'am, I'm a decorated soldier." "Now, a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star got to mean something." "I understand." "But you're a fugitive." "No US official, no government official is gonna help a soldier on the run." "Go back to your base before you get arrested." "Tequila." "You know, it's happy hour." "You can get two for one." "Well, lucky me." "Double, double." "Can I join you?" "The way I see it," "Steve's married to the Army." "It's everything to him." "I can't go another year without having him touch my face." "I can't be a military wife." "I just ain't that strong." "Well, Michelle, you know, life is very long, and..." "Brandon." "...you're very young." "Shut up and drink." "Yes, ma'am." "We're both fucked." "Same again." "All right, men." "You all straighten up and walk sober, all right?" "Yes, sir." "Sergeant Shriver, the man in charge." "What are you doing with a fucking bottle, man?" "You ain't even supposed to be drinking." "Come on, man." "What are you..." "Where are you going?" "Over to Jeanie's." "Jeanie don't want you, dummy." "That's what a restraining order means." "Come on, Tommy." "You can stay at my house, man." "I'm gonna make it better." "Swear to God." "Just propose again." "We'll get married again." "Only thing you proposing is to get locked up, man." "Let's get out of here." "All right." "Come on, man." "You know I ain't gonna let you go over there." "Let's go." "You talking about Jeanie?" "You can't even manage your own woman." "No, I didn't mean it like that, Steve." "Steve." "No, seriously." "No, come on." "Tommy." "Tommy!" "I'm sorry." "Steve, come on. I'm sorry." "I smell a woman, and it ain't a nurse." "Then who?" "Hola, Private Rodriguez." "Sergeant King!" "My first visitor." "You found me." "I did." "And who?" "Michelle." "Hey, Rico." "Sergeant Shriver's Michelle." "Sunny blonde hair, green eyes." "Steve showed us your picture a million times." "Sergeant King came to see me with his best friend's girl!" "lt's a long story." "Yes, sir, I bet it is." "Sit, man. I got time." "Good to see you." "lt's good to see you." "How's my mother?" "She's good." "She's missing you." "Yeah." "And my brothers?" "They're getting big." "Growing up." "They strong?" "Seem to be." "Taking after their brother." "Not as handsome." "Close." "I'll let you guys talk." "All right." "Thanks for coming to see me." "She sounds cute." "How're you feeling?" "Feeling good, sir." "Just as comfy as a Humvee." "You think?" "I wouldn't have thought, but..." "They taking good care of you?" "First-class treatment, Sarge." "Good." "So I don't have to talk to anybody?" "No, sir." "All right." "Nice break." "Thank you." "That's impressive." "Sloppy." "What can I say?" "You're in, though." "Come on." "l think she's a butter face." "Yeah?" "She's hot, but her face." "But does she give a good bath?" "She's got some soft hands." "Well, there you go." "That's what matters." "I haven't felt anything else, but that'll change." "Soon as I get the rest of this." "All right." "Man, I had this thing, like a dream, all right?" "You were at the bottom of a swimming pool, and I dove in to try to save you." "But I couldn't." "It's okay, man." "You did save me." "I'm right here." "And seeing stuff, man?" "Here, at night?" "Sounds like a fucking horror movie." "Guys screaming, nightmares..." "Sarge, we got out just in time." "I mean, Haji's new bombs..." "You don't want to survive, man." "Sounds crazy, but I feel lucky, you know?" "They want to send me back." "I hope you told them no fucking way." "I mean, I might go back." "'Cause if I got killed, my family would get green cards." "Sir." "Yeah?" "Could you move me out of the sun?" "Okay." "So, I'm sorry, but I got to ask." "What you doing with Sergeant Shriver's fiancee?" "They broke up." "She's just giving me a ride." "She was giving you a ride before or after they broke up?" "Not like that." "Michelle's close to my family." "She's just helping me out." "She's somebody..." "What?" "You should hear the way you sound, Sarge." "You a Jody." "It's time for you to go back to your room, Private Rodriguez." "Jody got your girl and gone" "Sing it." "I don't know the words." "You sing it." "Ain't no use in going home Jody got your girl and gone" "You watching this one?" "Nice shot." "Now we're even." "What you laughing at?" "You lost." "That's pretty funny." ""Give you a hand."" "Dumbass." "Help me push it." "Yeah." "Thank you." "lt's fucking strong." "ls it?" "I'll be in touch, Rico." "Tell the boys I said, "What's up?" -l will." "I signed up, thinking I was gonna go over there and protect my country." "My family." "We wanted payback for 9/1 1, and you get there, and you realise the war wasn't even about any of that." "The enemy ain't out in the desert." "They're in the hallways and rooftops, living rooms, kitchens." "Everybody's got a weapon." "Everybody." "Nobody knows who's who." "The only thing you can believe in is surviving." "Protecting the guy to your left and the guy to your right." "Side by side, willing to die for each other." "By the time you start seeing good friends' bodies held together by a belt after a car bomb," "you get a kill-or-be-killed mentality." "It's okay." "No, it ain't." "Michelle, I'm worried if I tell you these things, you're gonna think differently of me, and I... I couldn't stand that." "I ain't gonna think that." "Our last mission, in the alley, well, when Rico got hit, I looked in his face, and most of it was burnt off." "I had to go in to get Steve." "I knew he was in trouble." "I'm done with killing." "And I ain't leading any more men into a slaughter." "You have to call Carlson." "I know." "Mr Carlson." "My name is..." "No names." "All right." "What's the problem?" "I'm a Staff Sergeant, a squad leader, two tours, Afghanistan and Iraq, and I just got stop-lossed." "They're shipping me back at the end of the month." "There's so many of you guys out there." "I've heard it before. lt's the same story, and you eventually call me." "Do you understand what I do?" "I strip away who you are." "I set you down in a foreign place where you're gonna live the rest of your life pretending to be someone else." "Do you want that?" "I can't go home. I can't go back." "I got no other options." "I need your services." "I won't be able to discuss this further over the phone." "Do you have some money?" "Like a grand?" "I have a few bucks." "Well, when you get a grand, start driving north toward New York City." "700, 800, 900, 1000." "Not a bad price." "Thank you, sir." "Come on." "This is a good opportunity." "Rainey said that people will just line up to buy a Cadillac from a vet." "Yeah, not with a BCD." "It's not like you're gonna hang it on the showroom wall, Tommy." "What's a BCD?" "It's the big chicken dinner." "It's what we call it in the Army." "It's a Bad Conduct Discharge." "We gonna shoot this shit up, or what?" "That shotgun loaded?" "What's the first rule of weapon safety, Tommy?" "Always assume every weapon is loaded." "Yes, sir." "Sorry." "Where are you going?" "I'm going back to the bunkhouse, write a hit song." "Don't feel like shooting shit up today" "'Cause we'll put a boot in your ass lt's the American way" "Hey, Uncle Sam..." "Later, guys." "All right, man." "Later, Tommy." "Brought to you courtesy of the red, white and blue" "Of my red, white and blue" "I spotted you guys from a mile off." "Oh, well." "What happened?" "I just had a run-in with a couple guys." "Yeah." "That kind of shit happens when you're on the run." "All you guys get popped eventually." "is this a package deal?" "Just one for now." "You thought about this?" "Yes, sir." "'Cause one-way means one-way." "You go, you're going for good, unless you get fucked with extradition." "Pardon my French." "I don't want you calling me up crying how you can't go to grandma's funeral back in Tennessee." "Texas." "We're from Texas." "Whatever." "I just want it all laid out straight." "Canada's not that bad." "I just had a guy up there, got married to a real sweet local girl." "Loves Toronto." "Says it's a lot like New York." "I ain't so crazy about New York, so far." "You got any other options?" "Like, what about Mexico?" "Look, I don't know shit about Mexico." "Here's your new l.D." "They'll fix in the photos before you leave." "Day after tomorrow, somebody will meet you at this address in Buffalo." "Take you over." "You got the money?" "Here." "No refunds, right?" "Got it." "Half now and half across." "Go make your calls." "Say your goodbyes." "Hi, Mom?" "He did what?" "When?" "I don't..." "Let me call you back, Mom." "Tommy shot himself out at the ranch." "Left, face." "This flag is presented on behalf of a grateful nation" "and the United States Army as a token of appreciation for your loved one's" "honourable and faithful service." "Come on, lda." "Let's go." "Look who came home." "That's for fucking running out on us." "And that's for coming back too fucking late." "And that's on general principle." "Fuck you." "You're throwing everything in your life away." "You stupid..." "Y'all gonna get yourselves killed, you know that?" "Do you hear me?" "Shut the fuck up." "So you just go over there and you do your fucking duty." "You see this?" "You see this?" "This is you next." "Steve." "You don't fucking belong here!" "I don't..." "I don't even know you any more!" "Maybe you don't." "Bullshit!" "I've known every thought in your head since we were fucking stealing Playboys from the fucking bus station." "That was a long time ago." "Then, please." "Tell me." "Tell me what you've been thinking, because nothing in the last few days has made any fucking sense to me at all." "You know that box inside your head?" "That box inside your head where you..." "You put all the bad shit you can't deal with?" "Well, mine's full." "And it's spilling out." "Steve, it is full of all the people I got killed." "Preacher." "Randy." "Harvey." "Thomas." "All the rest I've lost in this fucked-up war." "Think how many people would have fucking died if you wouldn't have been there!" "including me!" "Steve, I didn't do what I was supposed to do!" "I fucked up!" "If you don't fall in beside us," "it all comes apart." "The ranch always felt so safe." "You'll find another place and make it safe." "Sir." "Damn." "You okay?" "Across that border, that ain't gonna be me coming up the other side, Mich." "It's gonna be the ghost of me." "Brandon, please." "And never the ranch." "Never you and Dad, never Brazos." "This war ain't never gonna be behind me." "I'm sorry, Mom." "Bruckner," "Rodriguez," "Naughton," "Stevens," "Williams..." "Bye-bye, sweetheart." "We love you, sweetie." "We love you, honey!" "Adios, Augustin." "Bye, sweetheart." "Take care of her." "Bye, sweetie." "Write to me." "I'll keep those e-mails coming." "We're proud of you." "We love you." "Better e-mail me, Shorty!" "Take care of each other." "All of you come back safe." "God bless you."