"What's happening?" "Why are you taking a bath?" "I'm not." "...this way out!" "...everyone where are you!" "?" "Papa!" "It's okay." "It's just another earthquake." "I'm right here." "Right here." "The Road" "The clocks stopped at 1:17." "There was a long shear of bright light, then a series of low concussions." "I think it's October." "But I can't be sure." "I haven't kept a calendar for years." "Each day is more gray than the one before." "It is cold, and growing colder, as the world slowly dies." "No animals have survived." "All the crops have long gone." "Soon all the trees in the world will fall." "The roads are peopled by refugees towing carts and gangs carrying weapons," "looking for fuel and food." "Within a year there were fires on the ridges, and deranged chanting." ""Behold the Valley of Slaughter"" " Jeremiah 19:6" "There has been cannibalism." "Cannibalism is the great fear." "Mostly I worry about food." "Always food." "Food." "And the cold." "And our shoes." "Sometimes I tell the boy old stories of courage and justice, difficult as they are to remember." "All I know is the child is my warrant." "And if he is not the word of God, then God never spoke." ""...you could land on Lady Liberty's torch."" ""If you flicked your tongue like a chameleon,"" ""you could whip the food off your plate without using your hands!"" ""But what would your mother say?"" ""If you craned your neck like a crane,"" ""you'd have to stretch your arm way up to scratch your head."" "Let's take a look." "Could be something here." "Corn or something." "Nah." "They ran out of food." "Maybe there's some hayseeds in the hayloft." "Doubt it." "It's not what you think." "They committed suicide." "Why?" "You know why." "Two left." "One for you, one for me." "You put it in your mouth, and point it up." "Just like I showed you." "Okay." "Like this." "Then just pull the trigger." "You got it?" "Is that okay?" "Okay." "Hungry?" "Thanks." "Thirsty." "Thirsty?" "Water?" "You're pretty." "Oh no." "We don't have to do this." "I don't want to do this." "I think we do." "No, I don't want to do this!" "What kind of a life is this!" "?" "You have to push." "Come on." "Push." "Quick!" "Get up!" "Get around." "Stay low." "Go, go." "Check those cars over there." "...watch your head..." "Don't look at them!" "Look at me." "You call out you're dead." "Where are you from?" "Does it matter?" "Where you from?" "You got ammunition for those rifles?" "I told you not to look over there!" "What are you eating?" "Whatever we can find." "Whatever you can find?" "Yeah." "You ain't gonna shoot that thing." "You ain't got but two shells." "Maybe one." "And they'll hear the shot." "Maybe." "But you won't." "'Cause it'll go through your skull inside your brain before you can hear it." "To hear it you'll need a frontal lobe and things with names like colliculus and temporal gyrus." "And you wont have them anymore." "They'll just be soup." "You a doctor?" "I'm not anything." "We got a hurt man." "It'll be worth your while." "You look at him again I'll shoot you in the head." "That boy looks hungry." "Why don't ya'll come on up to the truck?" "Get yourself something to eat." "You ain't need to be such a hard-ass." "You don't have anything to eat." "Come on." "Let's go." "I ain't going nowhere." "You think I won't kill you?" "You're wrong." "You know what I think?" "I think you're chickenshit." "You never killed a man in your life." "Where'd that come from?" "Whose shoot?" "...he's gone..." "Let's go." "Come on." "At the treeline." "Come on!" "...over there...!" "You're okay?" "I'm right here." "Let's go." "I try to look like any common traveling killer, but my heart is hammering." "When it comes to the boy," "I have only one question:" "Can you do it... when the time comes?" "Nothing happened to you." "I'll take care of you." "I'll kill anyone who touches you." "Because that's my job." "You got to stop crying." "We got to go now." "We got to go find the cart." "Come on." "Take the gun." "That's all we have left." "I should have done it a long time ago." "I should have done it when we had more bullets." "Why did I listen to you?" "They're gonna catch up with us and they're going to kill us." "They are going to rape me, and then they will rape your son." "And then they're gonna kill us, and eat us." "Whatever it takes" "Stop it!" "I told you-- Stop it!" "I will do anything!" "Anything..." "Like what?" "I don't even know why I even ask you." "I should just go ahead and empty every goddamn bullet into my brain and leave you with nothing!" "That's what I should do." "Shh." "Please don't talk like that." "You're right." "There's nothing left to talk about." "My heart was ripped out of me the night he was born." "We have to--we will survive this!" "We are not going to quit!" "Not going to quit." "You want to just survive?" "Don't you get it?" "I don't wanna." "I want you to let me take him with me." "Don't touch it." "I would take him with me if it weren't for you." "You know that." "Listen to yourself." "You sound... crazy." "Other families are doing it." "Let's take a bath." "Listen." "We have to talk." "That man back there..." "They're not many good guys left." "That's all." "Gotta watch out for the bad guys." "We have to just..." "keep carrying the fire." "What fire?" "Fire inside you." "Are we still the good guys?" "Yes, we're still the good guys." "Of course we are." "And we always will be, no matter what happends?" "Always will be." "What is it?" "It's a treat for you." "Go ahead." "It's really good." "You should have some." "No, you drink it." "I want you to have some." "It's bubbly." "It's for you." "Come on." "I'm coming." "I'm hungry." "I know." "So am I." "Are we still heading south?" "Of course." "There might be food there." "Everything depends on reaching the coast." "Okay?" "Okay." "I wish I was with my mom." "You mean you wish that you were dead." "Yeah." "You musn't say that." "It's a bad thing to say." "I can't help it." "You've got to stop thinking about her." "Aren't you at least going to say goodbye to him?" "No." "No?" "No." "Why not?" "I can't." "Why can't--why can't you stay until morning?" "Because I can't." "Won't you spend one more night with me?" "I have to go." "Why?" "Why do you have to go?" "Why...!" "?" "What am I going to tell him?" "What am I going to tell him?" "Go south." "Keep him warm, and you go south." "You won't survive another winter here." "Why won't you help me?" "Where are you going?" "You can't even see out there!" "I don't need to." "I don't need to see." "I'm begging you!" "Don't." "Please!" "No." "Don't." "She was gone." "And the coldness of it was her final gift." "But she died somewhere in the dark." "There is no other tale to tell." "Look!" "There are colors." "Want to go in?" "Come on." "Papa!" "There's a reason this is locked." "Nothing's gonna happen." "It's okay." "What's that?" "My God..." "Help us, please!" "Help us!" "Let's go!" "Get away from me!" "Wait, wait! Go, go, go!" "Wait!" "No!" "Look! Bad guys." "Bad men." "Bad men." "Who left this window open?" "I leave it open for the smell." "What smell." "You don't smell it anymore?" "Who wants a drink?" "It's rained all day." "I'm going up to change." "They're bad men." "No, no..." "Take it!" "Don't be afraid." "When they get ahold of you, you're going to have to do just like anybody else." "You have to be brave." "You have to!" "You know how to do it." "You know how." "I guess." "What are you doing?" "I'm so sorry." "Will I see you again?" "When will I see you?" "What's going on?" "What the hell was that!" "?" "What's happening over there?" "The cellar hatch is open." "Goddamn it." "Come on!" "Keep a hold of it...!" "Got it." "Son of a bitch!" "Wake up." "We have to get out of here." "We gotta go now." "Come on." "There's one." "We would never eat anybody, would we?" "No, of course not." "No matter how hungry we were?" "Even if we were starving?" "We're starving now." "Because we're the good guys." "Yes." "And we're carrying the fire." "Yes." "This way." "What is this place, Papa?" "The house where I grow up." "That's me." "This is where we used to have the Christmas tree, when I was a boy." "Here is where we would hang our stockings." "I don't think we should be doing this." "You want to wait outside?" "No, wait!" "Hey!" "Wait!" "Wait." "Come on." "I'm not going to hurt you." "What are you doing?" "What are you doing?" "What?" "There's a little boy, Papa!" "What little boy?" "I saw a little boy!" "What the hell are you doing?" "I saw a little boy!" "There's no boy." "Let off!" "There is." "Just like me." "Come on." "No!" "Stop it!" "You scared the hell out of me." " No!" "I have to see him!" "Stop it." "What the hell happened?" "What the hell are you doing?" "I need to." "Why?" "I just do." "He's right there." "I understand." "I understand." "It's okay.." "It's going to be all right." "He imagines how things will be at the coast." "And that there will be other children there." "He asked what happend to my friends;" "when I tell him they died and that I miss them." "When I have nothing else, I try to dream the dreams of a child's imaginings." "Are we going to die now?" "What do you think is going to happen?" "Think we're just going to suddenly keel over and die?" "It takes a long time to die of starvation." "Every day is a lie." "But I'm slowly dying." "That is not a lie." "I'm trying to prepare him for the day when I'm gone." "Nothing new we haven't seen before." "Papa!" "Papa!" "What?" "What's wrong?" "Look!" "We look skinny." "We are skinny." "Come on, let's get out of here." "Your mother played really well." "I don't remember." "In our house...before." "It's okay." "Please Papa." "Please." "It's okay." "My God!" "Come down here." "Come down." "What did you find?" "Everything." "I found everything." "What is all this stuff?" "Food." "It's food." "Here." "Read the label." "Pears." "Yes." "Pears." "What do you want for breakfast?" "What?" "Nothing." "Is it okay for us to take all this?" "Yeah." "They want us to." "Shouldn't we thank them?" "Yeah." "Go ahead." "Like this?" "Thank you for... soup and... cheetos." "Cheetos." "And..." "All the stuff, people." "That's good." "Your turn." "Thank you, people." "You like that?" "We did good, didn't we Papa?" "Yeah." "Go to sleep." "Now I'll give you a treat." "What?" "Keep your eyes closed." "How's that feel?" "Shampoo." "Shampoo." "How do I look?" "What do you think?" "Can I try some?" "Why?" "You won't like it." "Makes you feel funny." "You okay?" "You think I come from another world, don't you?" "So are the..." "What was that?" "Sounded like a dog." "It's not a dog." "It is." "It is a dog!" "If it's a dog it'll be with someone." "Who?" "I don't know." "And I'm not waiting to find out." "No, I don't wanna go!" "It's not safe here anymore." "But..." "We're going." "What are we going to do with all this stuff?" "We'll just have to take what we can." "You always think bad things are going to happen." "But we found this place!" "I see him." "I don't have anything for you." "You can look if you want." "I've got nothing." "We're not robbers!" "I said, we're not robbers." "What are you?" "Just like you." "Then Why're you following me?" "We're not following you!" "We've got food we can give..." "He's not getting anything." "He's scared." "Everybody is scared." "Please, Papa." "All right." "Just one." "Here." "Take it." "Got a spoon?" "He's not getting a spoon." "Pull it." "You got to eat it." "It's good." "He's hungry." "I see him." "I know what you're going to ask me." "And the answer is "No"." "What's the question?" "We can't keep him." "You wanna have dinner with us?" "I don't know." "What do I have to do?" "You don't have to do anything." "You walk okay?" "Help him." "You help him." "I can walk." "How old are you?" "90." "90 my ass." "Is that what you tell people so they won't hurt you?" "Uh-huh." "Does it work?" "Nope." "What's your name?" "Eli." "Eli?" "What's wrong with Eli?" "Don't hold his hand." "That little boy." "Is he your little boy?" "Your son?" "What's it look like?" "I don't know." "I can't see real good." "Is that right?" "Yeah." "Can you see me?" "No...well, I can tell somebody's there." "Looks like a good little boy." "Now it's time for you to go to sleep." "No." "Yes" "Good night." "G'night." "Good night." "Go to sleep." "G'night son." "See that, can't you?" "There." "When I saw that boy," "I thought I'd died and he was an angel." "I had a boy one time--of my own." "I never thought I'd see a child again." "Never thought that would..." "happen to me." "He is an angel." "To me he's a god." "I hope that's not true." "To be on the road with the last god like that," "Would be nothing but a..." "dangerous situation." "What happened to your son?" "I can't talk about it." "Not with you, or anyone." "I knew this was coming." "This or something like it." "There were warnings." "Some people thought it was a con." "I always believed in it." "Did you try to get ready for it?" "What would you do?" "Even if you knew what to do you wouldn't know what to do." "Supposing," "you were the last man left alive?" "How would you know that?" "That you're the last man alive?" "I guess you'll know it." "You'd just be it." "Maybe God would know." "God would know what?" "God would know what?" "What does he know?" "If there's a god up there, he would have turned his back on us by now." "Whoever made humanity, will find no humanity here, no sir." "No sir." "So beware." "Beware." "Do you ever wish you would die?" "No." "It's foolish to ask for luxuries in times like these." "He's going to die and you don't care." "I care enough." "Maybe When we run out of food you'll have more time to think about it." "Yeah, well...you always say watch out for bad guys." "That old man wasn't a bad guy." "You can't even tell anymore." "That'll keep it safe." "Do you know where we are?" "About a hundred miles from the coast." "As the crow flies." "As the crow flies?" "It means going in a straight line." "Which we can't." "They're not any crows are there?" "Just in books." "Yes." "Just in books." "Do you think there could be crows somewhere?" "It's unlikely." "They fly to Mars or someplace?" "You know what?" "Let's go back." "What is it?" "Let's go." "Come on." "...no, no...!" "...NOOO!" "Hey, hey, hold on!" "Stop!" "It's okay, its okay." "It's okay, its okay." "It's gone now." "I had a bad dream." "Stop." "Stop." "I tell him when you dream about bad things hapening, it shows you're still fighting, that you're still alive." "It's When you start to dream about good things, you should start to worry." "Here?" "No." "Closer than we think." "That's us." "And this is all sea." "This..." "Is it blue?" "The sea?" "I don't know." "Used to be." "I'm sorry it's not blue." "We'll be all right." "Just keep heading south." "What's on the other side?" "Nothing." "There has to be something." "Maybe there's a father and his little boy, and they're sitting on the beach too." "You all right?" "What is it?" "I don't feel too..." "Jesus." "You're burning up." "Sorry." "It's okay." "You didn't do anything wrong." "Can I ask you a question?" "Of course." "What would you do if I died?" "If you died?" "I'd want to die too." "So you could be with me?" "So I could be with you." "What are you doing?" "Going out to that boat." "What are you gonna do?" "See what can I find for us." "Here." "And keep a good lookout, okay?" "Okay." "Be warm." "Hey!" "What the hell happened!" "?" "I'm sorry." "They took everything!" "Our food!" "My shoes!" "Son of a bitch!" "Okay..." "listen." "I'm sorry!" "Didn't mean to." "It's okay." "I fell asleep..." "Don't lose heart." "We're going to get it back." "Get away from the cart!" "Put the knife down." "Fuck you, I ain't putting down shit!" "Goddamn you..." "Papa, please don't kill the man!" "Please." "All right." "All right, I done what you said." "Please, Papa." "Listen to the boy." "How long have you following us?" "How long!" "?" "I'm not fucking following you!" "I saw the cart in the sand and I just took it, that's all." "I didn't touch the boy!" "Take your clothes off." "No!" "Take them off!" "Every goddamned stitch." "You don't wanna do this." "Do it!" "All right." "Just take it easy." "I'll kill you!" "Right where you stand." "I don't want no trouble." "Please mister." "You ain't have to do this!" "And the shoes." "Throw them into cart with me." "Throw them in the cart!" "Do it!" "You ain't gotta do this to me, man." "You've gotta learn" "I don't want to learn!" "I'm not going to be around forever!" "Sooner or later you're going to have to look after yourself!" "Help me with the goddamn cart!" "Would you stop sulking?" "He's gone." "He is not gone." "What do you want me to do?" "Just help him, Papa." "Just help him." "He's just hungry." "He's going to die." "He's going to die anyway." "He's so scared." "I'm scared!" "Do you understand?" "I'm scared!" "You're not the one who has to worry about everything." ""... ... ..."" "What?" "What you say?" "Yes I am!" "I am the one!" "Okay!" "?" "Okay." "Help me push." "Hello!" "Hello!" "Papa." "What?" "What have you got?" "What is it?" "It's a beetle." "Get down!" "Papa!" "Son of a bitch!" "No, no!" "Papa!" "...no, no, NOOO...!" "Cocksucking motherfucker!" "Who else is here?" "You piece of shit!" "Why are you following us?" "We're not following anybody!" "You're following us." "Right there." "Fuck." "No." "We have to leave it." "I can't do it anymore." "If I were God, I would have made the world just so, and no different." "And so I have you..." "I have you." "Okay." "You're okay?" "Don't get too comfortable here." "You need to keep going." "You don't know what might be down the road." "No." "You're going to be okay, Papa." "You have to." "This has been a long time coming." "Just keep..." "just keep going south." "Do everything the way we did it." "Keep the gun with you always." "Don't let anyone take it from you." "You need to find the good guys but you can't take any chances." "You hear me?" "But I want to be with you." "I want to be with you, too." "But I can't." "You have to-- you have to let me go." "No." "Just... just take me with you." "Please!" "I thought I could." "Please Papa." "I can't." "What should I do?" "Just hold my hand." "You said you wouldn't leave me." "I know." "I'm sorry." "You have my whole heart." "You always did." "Papa." "Papa." "Papa." "Where's that man you were with?" "He's your father?" "Yes." "He was my papa." "Maybe you should come with me." "Are you one of the good guys?" "Yeah, I'm one of the good guys." "Why dont you put that pistol away?" "I'm not supposed to let anyone take it from me." "No matter what." "I don't want your pistol." "I just dont want you pointing it at me." "You see, you've got two choices here." "You can stay here with your papa, or you can go with me." "If you stay here, you need to keep off the road." "How do I know you're one of the good guys?" "You dont." "You'll just have to take a shot." "Do you have any kids?" "Yes, we do." "Do you have a little boy?" "We have a little boy and a little girl." "How old is he?" "About your age." "Maybe a little older." "And you didn't eat them?" "No." "So, you dont eat people?" "No, we dont eat people." "And-- are you carrying the fire?" "Am I what?" "Carrying the fire." "You're kind of weirded out, aren't you kid?" "Well, are you?" "Yeah, I'm carrying the fire." "And I can come with you?" "Yes, you can." "I'll talk to you every day." "And I won't forget, no matter what." "No matter what, Papa." "I'm so glad to see you." "We were following you, did you know that?" "We saw you with your papa." "You're so lucky." "We were so worried about you." "Now we don't have to worry about a thing." "How's that sound?" "Is that okay?" "Okay."