"He's been after me for years." "Ever since I was a boy." "First he took Mom and Dad." "Then he took Jody." "Now he's after me." "Mike, that Tall Man of yours did not take Jody away." "Jody died in a car wreck." "Reggie told me that it was all a dream." "And I was beginning to think /that maybe he was right." "Boy!" "Reggie saved me that time." "And we've been on the run ever since." "But somehow, he keeps coming back." "And just when /we think we've destroyed him... /We must remember, /we can never trust the things that we see." "Because nothing is ever as it seems." "Reg!" "Reg?" "Hey!" "Oh, shit." "Ohh!" "Mike." "Come on, Mike, wake up." "Oh, shit." "Mike, come on, we gotta get outta here." "Come on." "God damn it!" "Come on, buddy." "Come on Mike, put your arms around me." "Come on, buddy." "Come on." "Eight seconds to hell, God damn you!" "I don't want him in pieces." "It's the only way you're gonna get him." "Then I'll wait." "Take good care of him." "Still no change." "Shh." "It's all right, it's natural." "Just relax." "You see the light now up ahead, don't you?" "Go to it." "Go to the warmth of the light." " Jody?" " Yeah." "It's me, little brother." "Don't be afraid." "I'm here to take care of you and show you the way." "Mike, I want you to go back." "You're not with these others." "Stay away from the light." "Come back, Mike." "Boy!" "Hi." "Everything OK?" "Urgh." "Aaah!" "Ohhh!" "Come on, buddy." "We gotta get the hell outta here." "All I know is, once you see one of those chrome brain drains, the Tall Man is not far behind." "Mike..." "Stop the car!" "It was Jody, I saw him." "Your brother's been dead for ten years, Mike." "Come on, Mike, we don't have time for this." "Come on, let's go." "We gotta get outta here." "God damn it!" "Be careful, they could be anywhere." "Come on, there's more gear in the house." "I'll go first." "Jody!" "Jody, what the hell are you doing here?" "You're dead!" "So, what else is new?" " No, you can't touch me." " Why not?" "I haven't got the juice to stay long and you've gotta get out." "What are you talking about?" "Why?" "I don't want you to wind up like me." "What the hell...?" "I'm sorry, Mike." "I knew he might lock onto me." "Shit." "It's one of those things." " /It's me, Mike." " Jody, what the hell happened to you?" " /I'm in here, Mike." " Get back, I can get a shot." " In where?" " Mike, who the hell are you talking to?" "Can't you hear?" "It's Jody, he's in the ball." "He's talking to me." "Yeah, right, Mike." "Little brother, /he's coming for you right now." "I can't stop him, /but maybe I can slow him down." "Mike, stay behind me." "It's time now, boy." "Aaah!" "Why?" "Why do you want me?" "Why?" "Well, Jody, I guess even you couldn't stop him." "Holtsville." "Holtsville?" "What did you say?" "Jody, did you say something?" "Hell, now I'm talking to this damned thing." "Sure fucked up my hallway." "What's up Highway 32 here?" "Holtsville?" " You don't wanna be going up there." " Why not?" "Toxic spill, a couple of years back." "That'll be 22 bucks." "Oh, yeah." "There you go." "Thanks a lot." "Yeah." "What are you doing here?" "Are you talking to me?" "Well, I don't see anybody else around here." "Well, I'm just helping myself." "These folks left all their stuff." "Can you believe that?" "Lord above!" "Why, look what I just found." " Do you think it's loaded?" " Hey!" "Ooh, that was fun." "Let me have it." "Give me the gun." "Give me the goddamn gun." "Thank you." "Ow." " What are we gonna do with him?" " Take him outta town." "Yeah, good." "Then what?" "Gut him and put him in the ground." "Got any gold teeth there, fella?" "Let's stick him in the back of that muscle car." "I'm driving." "Phew-ee!" "Boy, oh, boy." "Today is my lucky day." "Mmm." "I bet there's lots of good stuff in there." "You two go ahead to the front and I'll take the back." "Just a couple of old folks, that's all." "Must be deaf." "You're in trouble!" "You're in trouble!" "Rufus..." "Christ, it's just a kid." " Well, he ain't never gonna grow up." " I got me a little rug rat." " The boy's a little fighter." "I like that." " Don't hurt him yet, Henry." "Let's have a little fun with him first." "Stop, boy!" "No!" "Rufus, we gotta kiss it." "Come on." "Stop!" " Or I'll throw this." " You think we're playing games, kid?" "This is for real." "So is this." "God damn it, now you've done it, you little bastard." " Hold still, you little fuck." " OK." "Just you wait till I get up outta here, you son of a bitch." "What's going on out there?" "Hey!" "What's going on out there?" "Hey, hey, what's going on?" "Somebody let me outta here!" " Who are you?" " I own this car." "Come on, let me outta here." "How do I know you're not one of them?" "Cos I'm in here, God damn it." "Thanks." "I owe you one." "These others your family?" "No." "The Tall Man got my family." "These are just scavengers that tried to hurt me." "Sundown." "We'd better get inside." "What's the rush?" "You said the Tall Man had moved on." "Yeah." "But he left these... things." "I call them Lurkers." "They only come out at night." "Come on." "I've been on my own since my parents died." "Yeah, it must've been rough." "Yeah." "My father was the sheriff." "He was one of the first ones taken." "He'd gone to meet the new owners /of the cemetery." "They found him the next morning in a ditch." "Said it was a heart attack." "Then they didn't cover him up right away." "So I waited." "And I waited." "They forgot to cover him up." "It's just a mistake, honey." "I'm sure they'll do it tomorrow." "Come on." "My mom was too upset /to understand what was really going on." "I knew someone had murdered my father." "Then we came face to face with the truth." "Stay here, Timmy." "Don't move." "The town went quietly after that." "And I've been here ever since." "Alone?" "Yeah." "Wow." "I couldn't reach the pedals that first year but now I can." " I've been practising." " Practising what?" "Driving." "I'm getting pretty good." "Maybe I could take your Hemi for a spin." "No way." "I've been restoring that car for two years." "God damn it." "Where the hell is that pink hearse?" "Er, Reg?" "There's something else missing." "The Lurkers got 'em." "Shit!" "OK, I'm gonna be moving on now." "I can drop you at the next town." "Well, I was thinking maybe I could tag along for a while." "Tim, you don't wanna go where I'm going." "Hell, I don't wanna go there either." "Two's better than one." "I can help." " See?" " A little kid shouldn't be playing with guns." "I ain't a kid no more, Reg." "Hey, what's this?" "Uh, it's one of those balls I was telling you about." "It came over to our side and got cooked in the process somehow." "I gotta get some directions here." "Why don't you get out and stretch your legs?" "OK." " Hi." " Hi." " All these kids yours?" " Oh, no." "They're some of the orphans that straggled down here from Holtsville." "We're just trying to take care of them." "Aaah!" "Looks like we caught ourselves a fish, girlfriend." "What's his problem?" "We're in deep shit." "We gotta get outta here before..." "Oh, fuck." "What the hell...?" "Anita!" "Oh!" "Unlock these goddamn handcuffs." "Don't go near that thing!" "What the fuck was that?" "That's kinda hard to explain." "And who the hell are you two?" "I'm Reggie and this..." "This is Tim." "They call me Rocky." "What the hell are you doing here?" "Is this your home town?" "It was." "My whole family just vanished." "And the rest of the town 86'd." "This town's dead." "Nothing left here but those damned sentinels." "We're not hanging out here till another one turns up." "Come on, let's go." "You go on." "But I ain't letting no Christmas tree ornament back me up outta here before I do what I got to do." "Suit yourself." "Lots of luck, baby." "Thanks, kid." "I owe you one." "Two." " What?" " On my count, you owe me two." "OK." "OK, I owe you two." "Hey, you gonna dump me off at that lady's place again?" "Come on." "We've got things to do." "Watch the upholstery." "Yah!" "Yah!" "Yah!" "Yee-ha!" "Yee-ha!" "Hell, I don't have a clue which way to go." "Er, Reg?" "Watch what it does." "Which way should we go?" "Well, OK." "I hope that ball's got a better sense of direction than mine do." "What's up?" "Well, I guess you could say we're on a search-and-destroy mission." " You two?" " Yeah?" "We're searching for a friend, but first we gotta destroy the bastard who's got him." "Oh, by the way, he's the guy who wiped out your home town." "Wanna come along?" "Picture that." "The three of us facing down the forces of evil." "Yeah." "Have you got something better to do?" "Move over." "So, who's this guy we're chasing?" "He's a very tall man from..." "God knows where." "Maybe from another planet." "From another planet?" "He kills people, he ships their bodies back to... wherever." "You're pulling my leg." "I wish I was." "That explains why everyone's checked out." "I've been through four towns, all deserted." "Half this county's been wiped out and nobody's figured it out yet." "So, where are we headed?" "East." "From what I can tell, that's where he's headed." "You're pretty good with those things, aren't you?" "The army taught me to defend myself." "These just keep people from getting too close." "What's next on the map?" "Just another small town." ""Boulton, home of the spring apple festival" ""and the largest Gothic mausoleum in the western US."" "That might be worth visiting." "I need a room." "We got twin beds or single queens." "Er, give me that queen." "You pay 20 for that." "In advance." "How far is it up to that next town?" "What is it...?" "Boulton?" "What do you wanna go there for?" "It's a ghost town, everybody moved out." "I'm looking for a friend." "Anthrax plague a couple of years back, wiped out the sheep farms." "Gee, it was bad up there." "It got some of the families too." "I'd stay the hell outta there, if I were you." "Yeah, I get the picture." "Thanks." "Damn our luck." "All they had was a single room with a queen-size bed." "Would you mind sleeping in the car, Tim?" "Do you want the front or the back seat?" "Er..." "You can have the whole car to yourself." "You know, it's gonna get cold out here." "Why don't you come inside with us?" " Well..." " We can make room." "Well, it's better in here than on the floor in there." "See the floor?" "You're bunking there tonight." "Come on, the bed's big enough for both of us." " Ah, come on!" " All right." "But, Reg, don't fuck with me." "Hey, you know, I was just thinking." " Maybe we could..." " Get some sleep?" "Oh, come on, Rocky, loosen up a little." "Ever try vanilla?" "Didn't I tell you?" "Dairy products give me gas!" "Come on, Rocky." " Come on." " All right!" "But we do this... my way." "Whatever you say." "Dominate me, baby." "Oh, baby, I'm ready." "Sweet dreams." "Shit." "He said Boulton was right up the road." "I told you you shouldn't have taken that right turn." "Are we lost?" "Something tells me we're on the right track." "Damn." "Where did they go?" "From the look of this place, they're around here somewhere." "There!" "There must be a dozen." "Why did they leave them there?" "I don't know." "But we gotta be careful." "No!" " Tim, are you all right?" " Yeah, I'm OK." "Goddamn grave diggers." "Somebody should stand watch." "Don't worry, I circled back around." "I'm sure we gave 'em the slip." "Gonna be a cold night." "Yeah." "They say the best way to keep warm is to pack two bodies to a bag." "Dream on, Reg." "Oh, baby, I like that." "I like it like that." "Oh." "Oh, yeah." "Oh, right there." "Right there." "Take me, take me!" "Hey, Jody." "How's it going?" "Reg, I need to talk to you about a couple of things." "I'm kinda busy right now, Jody." "Oh, yeah." "Oh, don't stop." "I don't wanna let the lady down." "Yeah, Reg, I kinda need you to get behind me." "I mean, I need you to get behind what I'm saying." "Like, right now." "Oh, Reggie, oh, you're the best." "Oh, you're so big." "Oh, yes." "Ooh." "Jody?" "Don't move." " What's going on, Jody?" " Reg, we gotta get Mike now." " How the hell are we gonna do that?" " Over here." "I'm gonna take you to him." "Hey, hey, wait." "Where the hell are we?" "I don't know, man." "Somewhere in your mind." "A dry lake bed..." "I was here as a boy." "Tell me something - how does he get you in that ball?" "I'll explain everything." "But we've gotta go now." "Wow." "Just step on through." "Oh, Jody, I'm afraid of these things." "Think of it as a doorway." "We gotta make this quick." "Let me outta here!" " You know the way out." " I don't know what you mean." "Use your brain, boy." "Come on, brother, we gotta get outta here." "Come on, let's go." "Wake up, wake up." "Whoa, Mike!" " Hey, shut that thing down before..." " He's locked onto me." "He's controlling me through the gate." "Do it, Reg, you've done it before." "Get outta here." "He's coming through now." "What the hell's that?" "I'm too old for this shit." " Reggie." " Thanks." " Are you all right?" " I think so." "Where did his hands go?" " What is it?" " I think it's one of his hands." "Be careful." "Reggie!" "Over there." "Shit, there's the other one." "Reggie, watch out!" "No, no, no, I can handle this." "I can handle..." "Oh, shit!" "Damn, that was close." "Close to what?" "It's no use, Reg." "One way or another, he's gonna get me." "You're better off leaving me behind." "We're not leaving anybody behind." "There's somebody back there." " Oh, shit." " Friends of yours?" "God damn it." "Load this up." "Let's get those dead assholes back in the ground where they belong." "Hold on." "Shoot her!" "Shoot that bitch!" "Damn, who were those guys?" "Well, I can tell you this, they work for the Tall Man." " That means he's on our tail." " It looks like we're on foot." "Both front tyres are blown." "Where are we gonna go?" "Into town." "I say we find that big mortuary you told me about and hole up there." " Why the hell would we do that?" " It's the last place he'd look." "I don't know about this, Mike." "Our butts could be hanging out in the wind here." "Man, I sure hope you know what you're doing." " This'll do." " It's perfect." " The mausoleum's empty." " Nothing in the basement." " It's clean." " Hey, look at this." " Cold." " What was that, Mike?" "Just a memory about the Tall Man." " Yeah?" " Cold." "He doesn't like it when it gets cold." "Why the hell didn't you ever tell me that?" " We could've done something." " Shit." "What the hell are those?" "Cryogenics." "All the mortuaries are into it now." "These guys figure they'll wake up in a couple of hundred years with new bodies." "Some folks never know when to give it up." "Now, look who's talking." "We gotta get somebody up on the roof." "Right, I'll take the first shift." "You guys better barricade these doors." "Jody, teach me about him." "I need to know why." "What's he doing?" " He's massing an army" "to conquer dimensions, worlds unknown." "The dwarf creatures /are the by-product of the process," "left with only a vestigial part /of the cerebral cortex." "They act on instinct and impulse." "He compacts the corpse," "amputates the mind" "and encases it." "He then turns their bodies into drones /and their minds into killers." " He's still laying in there." " Let's save some for the boys." "There's a refrigerator next door." "Oh." "Rocky." "I thought you were asleep." "Oh, baby." "You are hot tonight." "Smells like something's burning." "It's just me, baby." "Just wanted a taste before I eat." "Whoa!" "Aah!" " Mike, leave." "Now." "Down." "Much better." "Welcome home, boy." "You've found your way back to where you started." "Your journey is now complete." "Damn, you ugly..." "Let me go!" "Let me go!" "Let me go!" "You have lived in this flesh constraint long enough." "Now it is time for you to come back." "To me." "Don't buy it, Mike." "He's a liar and a killer." "Tim, listen to me, there are thousands of them!" "Tell Reggie..." "I have plans for you." "Later." "Yo, bitch!" "Hands off my boy." "He's mine." "They got the kid." "Come on, let's go." "Aah!" "Let go of me!" "Let me release you from this imperfect flesh that ties you to time and space." "All that is unknown be known to you once more." "Let go of me." "Hey, catch this." "Huh?" "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs..." "Come on." "Hey, wait a minute." "Where's Mike?" "Your tall friend's here." "He's got him in the embalming room." "Let's go." "Hey, let go of him!" "Yeah." "Where's Mike?" "Check it out, guys!" "Get down!" "Yah!" "Come on." "Oh, shit!" "Right." "Yeah." "Reggie!" "Ugh." "It's cold." "Mike, wait up." "Mike!" "Mike, wait." "Stay away from me." "Mike." "Jody." "Jody, hey, wait." "What the hell's happening here?" "Reg, don't believe everything you see." "What the hell's that supposed to mean?" "Seeing is easy." "Understanding?" "Well, it takes a little more time." "Be patient, Reg." "We'll be in touch." "Relax, it's just me." " Sorry about your friends." " Yeah." "It's not over yet." "I say we go back inside and search this place and find out..." "Look, I've had enough." "It was nice knowing you boys, but this kickin' zombie ass just ain't my gig." "I'm outta here, now." "Rocks, I'm gonna miss you." "Enough of that." "Hey, you know, we made a pretty good team." "Yeah, I know." "Well, keep the balls in the air, Reg." "So, what do we do now, Reg?" "We gotta find out what happened to Mike." "There's gotta be a clue inside." "Come on, let's take a look around." "Oh, yeah." "Mike told me to tell you something." "Mike told you to tell me something about what?" "Er..." " That there were thousands of them." " There it is." "Thousands." "Thousands of what?" "Beats me." "Reggie?" "Reggie!" "Reggie?" "Get outta here." "God damn it!" "It's all over." "It's never over."