"(children singing )" "¶ When our weeping's over ¶" "¶ He will bid us welcome ¶" "¶ We shall come rejoicing ¶" "¶ Bringing in the sheaves ¶" "¶ Bringing in the sheaves ¶" "¶ Bringing in the sheaves ¶" " ¶ We shall come rejoicing ¶ - ( pig snorting )" "¶ Bringing in the sheaves ¶" " ¶ Bringing in the sheaves ¶ - ( pig squealing )" "¶ Bringing in the sheaves ¶" "¶ We shall come rejoicing ¶" " ( squealing stops ) - ¶ Bringing in the sheaves ¶" "Now you've got drought here." "You've got drought right here in Gatlin, Nebraska." "And there's not gonna be no harvest this year-- not in this Lord's year of 1963, there ain't." " And say why." " All:" "Sin." "Say that louder." "Sin!" "Oh, we drown in sin here," " and there's no rain for our corn." " ( snorting softly )" " And why is that?" " ( children murmur )" "Preacher:" "Because of all of the adults in this world." "God has spoken to me in a dream." "And in that dream" "He said that all adults are sinners!" "He said there's not a soul here in Gatlin over the age of 19 who isn't wallowing in sin, loving it, even as they drown" " like pigs in a mire." " ( groaning softly )" "It says in the Good Book," ""Suffer the children to come unto me."" "And if this town has any hope, it's in you young people." "And so I want you to shout it out!" "All:" "Sin!" "But, brothers and sisters, we know the old ways of God, isn't it so?" "We know there's a God of the Old Testament, as well as the New-- the God of sacrifice, the God who walked on the face of the earth," "He Who Walks Behind The Rows." "All:" "He Who Walks Behind The Rows." "He Who Walks Behind The Rows." "God does speak to me in my dreams, and God has told me that it is now our time-- time to make sacrifice, time to kill!" "( squeals )" "( snorting softly )" "Now the Good Book does say that a child shall lead them." "So do what God tells me in my dreams to tell to you, and never go without water or be hungry again!" "All:" "Praise God." "Praise the Lord." "Praise God." "Praise the Lord." "Praise God!" "( radio static )" "( man speaking on radio )" "Man:" "Hail Mary, full of grace," " help me win this stock car race." " ( rock music playing )" "All right." "Boogie." "¶ Riding on the road to nowhere ¶" " ¶ Trying to keep love alive... ¶" " Woman:" "Turn it down!" "Do you want to break my eardrums?" "Yes, Vicky." "Whatever you say." "Man on radio:...who was cited for reckless driving." "¶ Be happy if you'll just stay with me ¶" "( vocalizes )" "¶ I know everything will be all right ¶" "¶ We'll laugh and we'll sing all through the night... ¶" " Vicky:" "Too loud, Burt!" " What's that?" " ( music stops )" " You play it like that" " just to get under my skin." " Oh, come on." "Your paranoia is showing again, Vicky." "Sometimes, I wonder how I ended up married to you." "By saying two little words." "Shut up." "( Burt sighs )" "( sighs )" "Nebraska." "I'm hungry." "Where are we?" "Nebraska." "Yes, I know that." "But where in the hell are we?" "Where's the lunch stop?" "You've got the road atlas." "You should look it up." "You still remember how to read, don't you?" "Such a comedian." "Is that why we got off the interstate, to look at 60 miles of corn and listen to the wit and wisdom of Burt?" "Just get off it, Vicky!" "Will you just get off it?" "!" "( rock music playing )" "¶ Oh, well, they call me ¶" " ¶ Sergeant Evil... ¶ - ( music gets louder )" "¶ But I just played a part ¶" "¶ They think my eyes are tearing ¶" "¶ But they don't know me at all, yeah!" "¶" "( sighs )" " ( music stops )" " I'm sorry." "It's all right." "It's fine." "It's just that I've driven so far on the interstate-- 1500 miles-  and since you won't drive, l" " You know I get migraines" " when I drive for a long time." " I know you do." "I know, okay?" "That's why I asked you to navigate for me on these secondary roads, and you said you would." "( sighs )" " Well?" " Where did we get off the interstate?" "Back in Grand Island." "The next town is..." "Gatlin." "It's about 10 miles." "( boy wheezing )" "( groans )" "A wide space in the road." "Do you suppose we can go there and get something to eat?" "Or does the almighty schedule say we have to go on until 2:00 like we did yesterday?" "All right." "You know what?" "I have about had it with you." "( choking )" "As far as I am concerned, we can call it quits right now." "We can just turn around and see that lawyer you wanted to see" " because I have had it" " Watch out!" " No!" " ( tires screeching )" "( Vicky screams, gasps )" "( panting )" "Burt!" "A dog-- tell me it was a dog." "It was a boy." "It was a little boy." "He ran out of the corn." "He's dead." "He's dead, isn't he?" "Oh, yeah." "Congratulations, tiger." "It's manslaughter!" "That's what they call it!" "You took your eyes off the road!" "Well, don't you wanna come see so you can tell all your NRA buddies what you bagged in Nebraska, huh?" "!" "Don't you wanna come and see?" "What are you gonna do?" "!" "What are you going to do?" "Answer me!" "Answer me, you-- ( panting )" "Answer me when I talk to you!" "Look at me!" "Look at me!" "How'd you handle it over in Nam, huh?" "How'd you handle it in the hooches?" "What do you use?" "Grease guns, right?" "Grease guns and Zippos!" "Settle down." "You're hysterical." "( chuckles ) Oh, tell me." "You crapped out." "Big Vietnam War hero, huh?" "Purple Heart and all that, huh?" "Come on, John Wayne!" "What are you gonna do?" "!" "It's no time to go Section 8!" "You ran that little boy down." "He was just a little boy, you ran him down and you can't" "( sobs )" "You're going to jail." " You're going to jail." " Yeah?" " Yeah." " You're rabid." "Okay." "It's taken me all this time to figure it out." "You've got a terminal case of rabies." "Shut up." "( Vicky pants )" " What are you doing?" " Turning him over." " No." "You're not supposed to touch" " I wanna see what I did." " I'm sorry about this, fella." " I don't wanna look." "( sighs )" "( panting )" "His carotid artery and jugular vein have been severed." "His throat's been cut." "Somebody scragged this kid-- bayonet, maybe a kitchen knife, a cleaver" " I don't know." "It sure wasn't a two-dollar buck." "You don't go to any more Kiwanis meetings after your throat's been cut." "I sure learned that in the jungle." "You get 20, maybe 30 seconds, before you" " That little boy is dead." " Yeah." " You ran him down." " Yeah." " And you killed him!" " Sure, I ran him down, but I didn't kill him." "Look." "Go on, look at him." "I haven't gone crazy." "His throat's been cut." "Why would anybody cut a little boy's throat?" "Huh, why?" "You like the idea that I killed him too much to let it go?" " No." "Of course not." " Just look!" " Please look." " ( whimpers )" "( gasps, pants )" " Hey hey hey." " Oh!" " Don't faint." "Look at me." " Okay." "Don't look around." "Don't look around." " There's so much blood." " His throat's been cut, and that corn over there is all bent and twisted." " Where?" " Don't look around." "Ow!" "Don't act suspicious." "( pants ) Okay." " Okay?" " Yeah." "Now we're gonna cover this boy up" " and we're gonna put him in the trunk." " ( whimpering )" " I'm sorry about this, Vicky..." " Okay." "...but we've gotta do this." " Okay." "( sobbing )" "Sure." "Yeah." "That didn't cut his throat-- not all ragged and jagged like this." "No army sergeant ever showed the finer points of hand-to-hand combat to this poor boy's murderer." "No, he was as good as dead when I hit him." " ( crackles ) - ( grunts )" "Okay." "Get in." "No." "Driver's side." " You want me to drive?" " No." "I want you to start the car and wait for me." "I'm gonna go take a look." "I can see blood on the corn where the boy came out." "I think I saw something else." "It's hard to tell from the road, but you can hide an army in there." "The Vietcong sure did." "In the paddies of course, not the corn-- like jungles." "Scragged, right?" " Someone scragged him?" " Yeah." "Sometimes, I think you'd sell your soul to the devil for it never to have ended." "That way you could go on doing sweeps and smoking dope for the rest of your life 'cause that was the high point of your life, wasn't it, Burt?" "Good old Vietnam, right?" "This isn't one of your damn consciousness-raising groups, Vicky." "Now get in the car." "That's an order." "Screw your orders." "Vicky, would you just do it?" "!" "( sighs )" "What's up with the gun?" "His throat was cut, right?" "They're probably gone, but I don't wanna take any chances." "Now get in the car, keep the engine running and you'd better bug out should anyone come out of there, no matter how innocent he, she or they may look, okay?" "Do you understand?" "I don't wanna sit in the car all by myself." "At this point, I don't really care what you want." "How did I end up married to a son of a bitch like you in the first place, huh?" "I wonder about that." "I wonder about that a lot." "So do I, babe." "I'm scared." "Is that all right, sir?" "Is it all right for me to be scared, sir?" "That's fine by me." "( car engine starts )" "( panting softly )" "( flies buzzing )" "( continues panting )" "( car honking )" "( honking stops )" "( leaves rustle )" "( rustles )" "( honking )" "( quivering )" "( leaves rustling )" "( wood creaking )" " Oh, God." " ( engine stops )" "( keys jingle )" "Hey!" "Mr. Comedian!" "Where are you?" "It's not funny!" "Burt!" "I told you to stay in the car." "I thought somebody was watching me." "I looked behind me" " and I couldn't see you." " Get in." "I should've tied a string around the antenna." "I got lost in there for awhile." "It's a good thing you called when you did." "Push over." "Here, grab this." "What is it?" "Is that-- is that blood?" "Is that his blood?" " Yeah, I guess so." "Grab it." " No!" "( thunder crashing )" "I was scared." "Uh-huh." "Afraid" " I was afraid." "You went into the corn and it felt like somebody was watching me." "Well, maybe someone was." "You know what I'm talking about." "Someone was there, all right?" "I could feel it too." "I remember that feeling from Do Luc." "You don't forget that." " ( thunder crashing )" " What did you say the next town is?" "Gatlin." "Does it look big enough to have a police station?" "No, it's just a dot." "That little boy was on foot, right?" "Gatlin is the only town for 80 miles." " He must have come from there." " If you say so." "( thunder crashing )" "Why?" "Why would anybody wanna do that to a little kid?" "I don't know." "( sighs ) We might get a better idea" " if we look inside that." " Hmm?" "Do you really think so?" "Probably not." "It's worth a shot." "Do you wanna open it?" "Okay." "Hey... thanks." "( radio static )" "Didn't we cross a barn or something back there?" "No." "It was deserted-- no power feeds from the road... no good." " I think you see everything." " Huh." "It freaks me out sometimes." "It really does." "I just feel as if this is my responsibility, Vicky." "I hit him, even if he was bleeding to death when I did." " You see, I don't see everything." " ( static continues )" "I sure didn't see him." "I took my eyes off the road." "We haven't seen a car or a truck in like an hour." "It's weird." "Maybe Nebraska's playing a home game." "( static )" "Why don't you tell that to your American Studies class when we get back home?" ""ln Nebraska, radio hasn't been invented yet."" " There's nothing at all?" " Zilch." "The other knot is coming now." "( boy shouts on radio ) Atonement!" "Only by the blood of the lamb are we saved!" ""Atonement" is the word, brothers and sisters." "There are some that think..." "No wonder we're coming in five-by." "We're right on top of the radio tower." "Boy preacher: "...wilt thou be besmirched by the world."" "Now is that what the word of God teaches us?" "Holy Jesus!" "When are they gonna know" " that way is dead?" " Hmm." "When are they gonna know that the wages of the world are paid on the other side, that there's no room for the fornicator?" "!" " Children:" "No!" " No room for the defiler of the corn!" " No vacancy!" " Vicky:" "Wha" "No room for the homosexual!" "No vacancy." " This drivel makes me sick." " ( radio turns off )" "What did he say about the corn?" " I wasn't paying attention." " He said something about the corn." "I know he did-- something weird." "Hey hey!" "There is life in Nebraska." "Are you sure anyone is here?" "It doesn't matter." "I just wanna use the pay phone." "I have to report this... murder." "Are you all right?" "Yeah." "Yeah, I will be... as soon as we're 1,000 miles away from here." "Sunny and sinful California." "The Rocky Mountains between us and Nebraska." "You got any change?" "Nope." "I'll just dial the emergency operator." "We'll be in town in a few minutes." "Looks like folks in Gatlin got religion." "I thought all folks in Nebraska had religion." "It sure sounds that way from the radio." "Mm-hmm." "Have you been reading the signs?" ""A cloud by day, a pillar of fire by night."" "When they called it the Bible Belt, they sure weren't kidding." ""Take this... and eat... saith the Lord," "God of hosts."" "It's what they say when they give you communion." "Yeah?" "I bet they use cornbread for holy wafer around these parts." " Got it." " Attagirl." "A shirt... a belt..." "What is this?" "That's a real golden oldie." "Huh." "Anything strikes you as funny about that radio sermon?" "You were obviously never the son of a preacher-- dragged from tent to tent, going to meetings, hearing every kind of evangelist preying on the uneducated, the lonely and the weak instead of praying for them." "I had enough of that religious crap to last me forever." "I told you about it." "Yeah, but didn't this preacher sound young?" "A teenager, maybe, but that's what's so monstrous about their whole trip." "They like to get them while their minds are still rubber, and all the emotional checks and balances to put in." "You should've seen some of the ones I got saved by." "Let's see, there was..." "Baby Hortense, the singing marvel." "She was eight." "She'd come on singing "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms"" "while her daddy passed the plate, telling everybody to" "( deep voice ) "Dig deep now, brothers and sisters." "Let's not let this blessed child down." "She does the work of our Lord, the son of God."" "Jesus." " Oh my God!" " ( tires screech )" "It's just-- ( whimpering )" "Wow." "It's a fantastic piece of workmanship." "Real American primitive." "It's hideous." " It's a blasphemy." "Throw it out." " No, the police will want to see this." " Why?" " I don't know." "Evidence, maybe." "Just throw it out!" "Will you do that for me?" "Just throw it out." "I don't want it in the car." "All right." "I'll tell you what-- we'll put it all in the back for now." "As soon as we see the cops, we give 'em everything-- the body, the whole works." "And we'll be done with it, all right?" "Do what you want, okay?" "You will, anyway." "Boy preacher:" "Behold... a dream that come to me in the night." "And in my dream the Lord was a shadow that walked behind the rows." "And God spoke to me as he has spoken to our older brothers since we children started making sacrifice." "Praise God." "Praise the Lord." "And God told me all that has happened since." "God said to me," ""Joseph will take his things and flee this happy place because the fear of me is no more upon him." "So take of his life in punishment, not sacrifice." "Let not his flesh pollute the corn, but cast his body upon the road." "So thus evermore will Joseph, the betrayer of the corn, be known as Ahaz, cursed of God."" "Yea, so it is, Joseph, the unbeliever." "Yea, Ahaz be cursed." "And the Lord did say," ""l will send outlanders among you-- a man and a woman-- and these unbelievers will be profaners and defilers of the corn." "Then shall your faith be tested as it was in the days of the blue man."" "All:" "The blue man." "Yea, the blue man." "He Who Walks Behind The Rows has protected us from the outside world and provided for us since the oldest amongst us were little." "But a time of tribulation has come." "A test is at hand!" "We welcome the test." "You should not show pride, Malachai." "For does not the Bible say that the Lord will not lift up his countenance upon the prideful man?" "What did God say we must do?" "God told me, "Be not like Ahaz's fate to desert him, for My name is strong here, My power is great." "I'm the Lord of lords, so now you must make sacrifices to me and behold the unbelievers who've come to fulfill this purpose."" "Make sacrifice." "Yea!" "Thus shall it be with the outlanders." "This is the word of He Who Walks Behind The Rows." "We do his work from shine to shadow." "It is well we do this." " Yea, verily." " Amen." "( girl laughs )" " Vicky:" "Do you smell that?" " Yeah." "What stinks?" "You were obviously never a farmer's daughter." "It's fertilizer." "It's the stuff that makes corn grow green." " ( fly buzzing )" " Vicky:" "Just stop right here." "Stop." "( whimpers )" "Let's turn around, Burt." "Let's just take the body back to Grand Island." "No." "Grand Island is 70 miles away in the wrong direction." "It would look funny if we brought him there." "I don't care." " What's wrong?" " What do you mean, "What's wrong?"" "This town is empty." "There's nobody here but us." "Yeah, it sure seems that way." "It's a one-stoplight town, I agree with you, but everybody's probably down at the town square having a bake sale or something." "There's no one here." " Do you remember that gas station?" " Yeah, what about it?" "When was the last time you paid 35.9¢ for gas in this country?" "The '60s, maybe." "We're in the middle of town and I haven't seen one car moving-- not one car!" "Where are you-- where are you going?" "I'm gonna go pull that hair out of your ass." "I'm gonna go see where everybody is." "The sign says "Open." I'm going in." "And you're just gonna leave me alone in the car again, huh?" "You said you wanted an early lunch stop." "Congratulations." "You've got it." "And no talking about what happened to the boy, all right?" "Huh." "If you think so." "I do." "So... join me?" "You've got a busted headlight, mister." "Blood on it, too." "Maybe you hit a dog or something." "( whimpers )" "Hmm?" "( whispers ) Look," " do you hear it?" " Hear what?" "The nothing." "There are no cars." "There are no people." "There are no fertilizer spreaders." "There's nothing here." "( distant children playing )" "I hear kids, don't you?" "( creaks )" "( whimpers )" "( flies buzzing )" "( buzzing continues )" "Pardon me, sir." "Can I try some of your 25¢ sweet potato pie?" "I've been at that bake sale or football game for 12 years now." "I can't make sense of this." "I'm sure there's people here." "You know what?" "That's what's wrong with you." "You're always sure." "You spent your whole life being sure." "Why do you have to be so stubborn?" "Why can't you just admit that there's something wrong here?" "The whole place stinks of it." "( Vicky panting )" "( softly ) I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "Um" "Why don't we just go find some local authorities and report this accident?" "Okay?" "No." " What?" " No." "There, I said it." "No!" "And in a nutshell, why our entire marriage is falling apart, Burt." "I said, "No!" No, sir!" " Just give it a rest." " I'll give it a rest when we're going the other way, okay?" "Now turn this car around." "Turn it around right now." " Let's go and see that lawyer." " We have a dead child in the trunk of our car." "If you wanna go back to l-80 and walk, that's fine." "I'll pick you up later." "But do not tell me to drive 70 miles backwards and act like we have nothing but a bag of garbage in our trunk." "This kid was some mother's son, Vicky!" "So, I'm gonna find whatever local justice they have around here and report it before whoever killed him is over the hills and far away!" " Is that fine by you?" " Yes, sir." "Yes, captain, sir." "I forgot we were back at Lon Dong or Dung Ho, wherever it was that you won the war." "It must have been the Cong, sir." "Why don't we go back in there, burn a few hooches" " and rape a few grandmothers, huh?" " Why don't you stop talking for awhile?" "And put that down." " Put it down!" " Tsk." "You play your games, and I'll play mine, huh?" "Oh, of course." "That's always the way you play it." "Let's remember we've got a prom queen to take care of here." "( woofs )" "David." "Get Mark and meet me at the church." "Do not let the outlanders escape." "I'll get us some bailing wire then." "Ben:" "People gotta come to Gatlin all the time." "There must be people who have friends and relatives here and delivery trucks that come from the outside." "Not to mention the people just passing through, like you and me." "I mean, some of them have to have noticed something." "Certain things can't happen-- not in the '70s." "Whole towns don't just shut down." "What about the state patrol?" "They must cruise through from time to time." "The power company, huh?" "Don't you think the power company would've noticed the electricity had been shut off for 12 long years?" "The stoplight is dead." "You see that sermon board?" "That's last Sunday." "Something's happened in this town... something wrong." "In a crisis, they all collect at the church." " "He Who Walks Behind The Rows"?" " Yeah." "Just one of 9,000 different names for God in Nebraska, I guess." "I'm gonna go take a look." "Join me?" "I'm not going in there with you." "Fine." "Do whatever you want." "I haven't been in a church since I was a kid." "I don't wanna be in this church, I don't wanna be in this town and can we just go?" "!" "I'm just gonna go in for 10 minutes tops." "I'll be right back out." "Okay." "That's the deal-- 10 minutes." "I've got my keys." "If you're not back out here, I'm gonna drive away." "All right." "No more games." "I'm gonna tell you that once-- no more games." "No games." "10 minutes, and then little old Vicky Jean is gonna put on her boogie shoes." "I don't think so." "What are you gonna do?" "Hmm?" " Are you gonna assault me?" "Hmm?" " No." "Is that what you're gonna do?" "Just mug me, take my keys?" " No, but you think that I would." " Yeah." "I think you're just about capable of that." " Yeah?" " Yeah." " Give me the bag." "Give me the bag!" " Give it to me, you son of a bitch!" "Give me my purse!" "Give it to-  my-- give me my purse!" " Give me-- give me the bag!" "( sobs )" "Oh, look who has all the coins in Nebraska." "You did not have to do that." "Is that what your sarge taught you out in the jungle... along with how to cut gook tits off and make moccasins out of them in 20 seconds?" " Just give them back to me." " No." "No." "You'd wait two minutes and decide that that's long enough." "No." " No, I wouldn't." " Yeah!" "Yeah, you would." "Then, you'd drive off laughing, saying," ""That'll teach that SOB Burt to mess with the ex-prom queen when she wants something." That's been your whole thesis as a wife, hasn't it, Vicky?" ""That'll teach Burt to mess with me."" "It's a second honeymoon, huh?" "That's a laugh." "That I still feel something for you-- if it means anything" " I think." "It's okay." "You can say it-- that you hate my guts." "You hate my guts, and you've-- you've hated them for years." "No." "There's no hate." "I don't hate." "I" "I feel responsibility." "I don't even know what you're talking about." "No." "I don't think that you do." "I'm gonna go in now." "Lock all the doors and roll up the windows." "Look, let's just get out of town and find a phone booth, okay?" " I've got change." " I'm sick and tired of your tantrums." "This is not a tantrum." "There is something wrong here." "( softly ) I can feel it." "Please." "Please." "Please." " No, not this time." " Please." "I'm not letting you push my buttons anymore." "Please." "( sobs ) Burt, don't leave me in here." "Burt!" "Burt, come back here!" "Burt, please!" "Son of a bitch!" "Burt, please!" "We've gotta get out of here!" "We've gotta get out of here!" "Burt!" "Come on, we've gotta get outta here." "We've gotta get outta here." "Please!" "( creaks )" "( loudly ) Hello?" "Anyone here?" "Why are the adults sinners, Malachai?" "'Cause God said so." "Does God speak to you and tell you this, Malachai?" "No." "He only speaks to Isaac." "But on this matter he has spoken." "We must sacrifice the adult sinners to protect ourselves from the outside world." "This is our test." "All:" "The will of God be done." "Amen." "( change clinking )" "( sighs )" "Tsk." "Damn you, Burt." "Who's there?" "I know there's" "I know there's somebody there." "I can hear you." "( faint whispering )" "Stop playing games." "Stop playing games!" "( whispering grows louder )" "( whimpers ) Who are you?" "We are your destiny." "Malachai, what about the man?" "God has provided the woman first." "Burt." "Burt!" "( honking )" "( honking continues )" "Burt!" " Burt!" " ( honking continues )" ""Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said," "'Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?"'" "And please pass the corn." "( pants )" "( pants )" "What do you want?" "Do you want the body so you can cover it up?" "It's in the trunk, okay?" "Just take it." "Take it!" "We don't want his body, sister." "( sobs )" "I'm not your sister!" "We've come to give you peace." "No." "No." "Burt!" "Burt!" " ( shrieks ) Burt!" " ( children clamor )" "( Vicky screaming ) Burt!" " ( honking )" " Help me!" " Help me!" " ( clamoring )" "Help me." "Help me." "Help me." "Help me." "Burt." "Ah-hh." "( sobs )" "( gasps )" "( clamoring continues )" " Burt!" " ( screeching )" "( gasps )" "Burt!" "Ah!" "Look at me!" " ( sobs )" " Would you like to pray?" "Pray?" "The time for forgiveness has come to an end for you, woman." "The time of judgment is now at hand." " ( panting )" " Hell yawns beneath you!" " Say your own prayers, brother!" " ( grunts )" "( gunshot )" " ( children screaming ) - ( Vicky screams )" "( groans )" "Help me, Burt." "Help me, help me." "( sobbing )" " ( screams ) - ( knife zings )" "Hey!" "Stop!" "Vicky!" "( pants )" "Don't." "My wife's in there." "No more, brother." "No!" "( children scream )" "Where is she?" "Where have you taken her?" "So you've killed her?" "The time of sacrifice is at hand." "Sacrifice?" "Sacrifice?" "( children chanting ) Kill kill kill" " kill kill kill kill." " Kill him!" "Kill kill kill kill kill!" "Kill kill." " No!" " ( grunts )" "My name is Isaac, chosen by He Who Walks Behinds The Rows, seer and prophet, guardian of the corn!" "Let my aim be true if it is thy will!" "( grunts )" "You little bastard." "You little bastard!" "You are a sinner." "You are a defiler of the corn." "It will do you no good to curse me." "Bow to God's will." "What have you done with my wife?" "Is she dead?" "So it was that the will of God be done." "Oh, so you enjoyed it." "The Lord loveth a cheerful heart and a glad countenance." "Watch, all of you!" "( groans softly )" "( gasps )" "( knife clatters )" "You better have more than kitchen knives and screwdrivers, kiddies." "You'd better find a flamethrower." "This is my game." "I've played it before on better courts than yours." "The Lord is not mocked." "Neither am I, sonny." "Neither am I." "( chuckles )" "I'm leaving now." "I'm gonna go find some people and tell them about what's happening here in Gatlin." "I don't think they'll believe me at first" "I don't think I believe it myself-- but they will, eventually." "You guys all belong in an asylum somewhere-- a loony bin." "Where are your parents?" "I asked you a question!" "Where are your parents?" "!" "In the corn." "What does that even mean?" "What have you done?" "What's happened here?" "Remand your soul to God, for you will stand before His throne momentarily." " ( murmuring )" " I can take you, boy." "Don't make me prove it." "God is my strength." "That's what they told us in the Marines." "Kill him!" "Kill him!" "( grunts )" "( choking )" "How do you like it?" "It's unwise to mess with a guy who spent three years" " on jungle patrol." " ( murmuring )" "Why don't you put that in your god and smoke it?" "I'm gonna blow the whistle so hard when I get back." " Malachai:" "Kill the outlander!" " ( children yelling )" "Kill him!" " Kill the outlander!" " Kill him!" "Kill kill kill kill kill!" "( children shouting )" "( shouting continues )" "All:" "Ah!" "Whoa." "( panting )" " What do we do now?" " I'm not going in there." " Not without Malachai and Isaac." " Me neither." " I can't..." " ( murmuring )" " The Lord is displeased with us." " Why?" "First Ahaz, his blood was spilled in the corn." "Then the man and the woman came." "They both killed." " The man still runs free." " They will catch him." "It doesn't matter if they do or not." "The Lord guided my aim-- and not into his heart, only into his arm." "And he took the knife and broke it-- broken in two." "It was a sign." "A sign from a sinner?" "The clay knows not the potter's work." "All things do the work of God-- even the sinners, though they not know it." "The outlander broke our knives." "We broke our covenant with God when you spilled Ahaz's blood in the corn." "But he" " Joseph was-- Ahaz was running away." "Your faith weakened." "You've led the biggest boys for three years now." "Perhaps you've gotten prideful... and this is your punishment." "He Who Walks Behind The Rows is a jealous God." "He was old when Jesus was unborn." "He is a god of favor, but he's a god of sacrifice as well." " But, lsaac" " But he's a god of sacrifice as well!" "For what other reason has he allowed us to survive unseen and unnoticed all these years while the world outside grows more wicked?" "You are old enough to remember the time of the drought before He Who Walks Behind The Rows." "But now there's rain and corn, and everything is good." "When God speaks to me, Malachai, will you accept his will?" "Yes, Isaac." "Praise God!" "Praise the Lord!" "Then let us pray." "The outlander is in God's hands." "You must give chase until his time." "Like the blue man?" "Yes, like the blue man." "( children murmuring )" "There's an outlander in the corn-- an unbeliever, like the blue man." "Children:" "The blue man, yea." "The outlander must be chased to the clearing of the blue man." "There he'll be taken in sacrifice." "Only then will the covenant be restored." "This is the word of God." "First, we'll sing our praise to the Lord." " Will you lead us in hymn?" " Yes, Isaac." " Hallelujah!" " Children:" "Hallelujah!" "¶ Sowing in the morning ¶" "¶ Sowing seeds of kindness ¶" "¶ Sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve ¶" "¶ Waiting for the harvest and the time of reaping ¶" "¶ We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves ¶" "¶ Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves... ¶" " Sing on, you little bastards." " ¶¶ We shall come rejoicing ¶¶" " ¶¶ Bringing in the sheaves. ¶¶" " There he is!" "Over there!" " ( gasps )" " Boys:" "What?" " Go get him!" " ( shouting )" "( shouting continues )" "( panting )" "( pants )" "( pants )" "Boy:" "I hear him!" "Boy #2:" "Go go go go!" " Go go!" " Run run run run run!" "Boy:" "I want to be the one who... ( Burt panting )" "( creaks )" "( boys talking indistinctly )" "Boy:" "Let me do it." "Let me do it." "Let me do it!" "Boy #2:" "No." "( talking continues )" "( steps approaching )" "Naham." " Naham!" " I saw his shadow." "I saw it." "The man?" "Where?" "Not him, He Who Walks Behind The Rows." " That's blasphemy." " But, Malachai, I did." "I saw His shadow." "I was back there, walking up the row," "looking for the sinner or more of his footprints." "Only I didn't see any footprints because the ground was all hard and powdery." " I know." " And all of a sudden it got darker on my one side and I looked over and it was like the sun was out on that side." "I could hear something walking, breathing, and the shadow came up on the corn." "I couldn't catch my breath." "I thought he was coming for me because Joseph-- I mean, Ahaz-- was my friend." "It was He Who Walks Behind the Rows." "He passed right by me." "You had a vision, Naham." "You're very lucky, if it's true." "I swear it." "I swear it is." "You may be the next prophet once Isaac reaches the age of favor." " I don't wanna be a prophet." " Do not blaspheme, Naham!" "by the sun." "Yes, it is." "We won't stay in the corn after dark if we don't find the man," " will we?" " We will find him." " But if we don't?" " We never stay in the corn after dark." "You know it's not wise." "Because of... him?" " Yes, because of him." " He's very old, isn't he?" "Yes, very old, and the night is his time." " You go that way." "I'll go that way." " Wait, I hear him." "( panting )" "( men speaking Vietnamese )" "( shouting in Vietnamese )" "Hey, this is my row." "No, Peter and I were here first." "He's right, Amos." "( speaking Vietnamese )" "( speaks Vietnamese )" "( guns firing )" "( firing continues )" "( gasps )" "I see him!" "I see him!" "It's the sinner!" " He's here!" "He's here!" "He's here!" " Shh." " ( muffled shouting ) - ( shouting )" "( grunts )" " ( neck cracks ) - ( Burt groans )" "( children speaking loudly )" "( rocket roars )" "Okay." "( firing continues )" "( rockets roars, explodes )" "( panting )" "( blood sloshing )" "Come on!" " Come on!" "( echoes ) - ( bell ringing )" "They're back!" "( murmuring )" "Take these to the others." "It's Amos." "( coos )" "( murmuring continues )" " ( rips ) - ( groans )" "( murmuring )" "( bangs )" "Let us pray." "( laughing softly )" "( whispers ) Shut up." "( giggles softly )" "( crickets chirping )" " ( coos ) - Isaac: "Be fruitful and multiply as the corn multiplies, that my favor be shewn you and be upon you." "Dear God, we beg thy blessing on the crop." "In the name of He Who Walks Behind The Rows."" "All:" "Amen." "The time of fertilization has come." "( rustling )" "( gasps, pants )" "Oh shit." "( moaning )" "Dead!" "( shouting )" "Ah!" "God!" "( moaning )" "God!" "Ah!" "( shouting continues )" "( screaming )" "( shouting )" "( static screeching )" "He's here!" "It's the sinner!" "It's the sinner!" "God is my strength." "It was He Who Walks Behind The Rows." "Children:" "The blue man." "Yea, the blue man." "( Vicky screams )" "( panting )" "It's due west back to the highway, right?" "Right." "I'll hitch a ride." "I'll make some phone calls." "( rustles )" "Which way is it back to the road?" "Okay, I can go west by the stars." "I went on 61 patrols." " ( rustles, creaks )" " I came back from every one of them." "( rustles )" "( sniffs )" "'Cause I've got a compass in my head." "I'm gonna get out." "I'm gonna get out of here." "( rustles )" " Stop talking to yourself." " ( rustles )" "Stop talking to yourself." "( swishes )" "( panting )" " ( crackles ) - ( grunts )" "( creaking )" "( crackling )" "( crackling continues )" "( groans )" "( groans )" " ( rustles ) - ( knife clangs )" "( sighs )" "( whispers ) Oh my God." "Oh my God!" "( wheezes ) Oh my God." "Vicky." "Vicky." "( crackling )" "Who's there?" " Who's there?" "!" " ( crackling continues )" "Come out where I can see you, you black pajama'd bastards!" "( rustling, crackling )" "Come out here!" "Come out here and look at me!" "( louder, faster rustling )" "Hey, Burt." "Come on, it's not so bad." "Being sacrificed by devil pagan children in the corn-  it's not so bad." " ( static screeching )" "Having your eyes ripped out of your skull," " according to the laws of Moses-- - ( grunts ) it's not so bad." " ( man screams )" " It's all right." " Join me?" " ( thunders )" "( shouts )" "( knife clangs )" "( buzzes )" "Last night, He Who Walks Behind The Rows spoke to me in a dream, and I did fall down upon my knees in fright and hide my eyes lest the terror of his face strike me dead." "He is much displeased with this sacrifice." "And the Lord did say, "Have I not given you this place of killing so that you might make sacrifice here?" "Have I not shewn you favor?" "But I did give you a test." "Two outlanders did come-- a man and a woman." "But this man has made a blasphemy within me and did cause confusion among you." "This man was strong in his evil." "And so then I've completed this sacrifice myself" "like the blue man who tried to escape many years ago."" "The blue man." "Yea, the blue man." ""And so now the age of favor is lowered from 19 planting harvests to 18." "Each and every one of you will walk into the corn at dusk upon your 18th birthday and He Who Walks Behind The Rows will find you, and you will walk with him."" "So the Lord told me." "I obey the word of God." " Praise God!" " All:" "Praise God." "May the favor of He Who Walks Behind The Rows be shewn" " and be upon you." " Amen." "Scarecrow!" "( steps approaching )" "Never mind." "If it is God's will, the children will continue on as always, Ruth." "If it's God's will, yes." "Then why do you fear?" " I fear nothing." " Please, Malachai." "I obey the will of God." "My birthday will come in October after the harvest." "I barely lose one month." "Amos is losing almost his entire 18th year." "If this is the will of God, I wish there were no God!" "Do not blaspheme!" "Have a fine son, Ruth, and raise him to love religion and to hate the world." "Promise me." "I" " I can't." "Amos:" "It's night now." "His time." "I know, Amos." "( sobs ) Goodbye, Malachai."