"Heard you shoot." "What was it?" "Somethin' small n' fast." "Rabbit?" "Maybe." "I don't know if it was even really there." "Once that gun goes off, everything' livin' is gone." "Why's it so hard when the only thing there's you and the rabbit?" "The wood is big and the rabbit's small." "Can I start?" "Yes, we all goin' to." "I was asking my sister." "No need to talk to Mad like that." "Don't you want to eat?" "I'm cold." "What?" "What is it?" "I saw 'em." "Saw who?" "Daddy and Nathaniel." "It's only a dream." "But I was right there." "Go back to sleep." "I can't stop hopin' they might come home." "Our father and brother ain't deserting' no duty." "It was like it was really happenin', they needed me." "What happens when you sleep ain't real." "Come here." "Come sleep next to me." "I look like her." "You do." "This dress feel so nice on my skin." "Almost fits me now." "You should take it off." "But I just put it on." "Louise, I best not see that dress moving' again." "Thought I told you to take that off?" "I didn't feel like it." "Louise, I'm asking you, please." " Why you care so much?" " Because you gonna ruin it." "Don't feel like hoein'." "Don't like her lookin' at me that way either!" "Go change and come back to work." "She's the nigger, she should do it." "Like I told you, Louise:" "We all niggers now." "Augusta!" "Louise!" "What happened?" " Louise, what happened?" " Raccoon." "She was suppose to be workin' with you!" "I can't keep eyes on her all the time." "There's work to do and sometimes she's gotta learn what's right." "We best get her inside." "One, two, three." "We need medcin'." "Maybe they got somethin' at the Weaver place." "Let me." "You should go." "Clara?" "Hello?" "Mary?" "Clara?" "Mary?" "Thank you, girl." " Augusta." " Caleb." "You shouldn't be here." "Have you seen anybody from out of the Weaver place?" "Have you seen Clara?" "Mary was the last one I saw." "Mary's dead." "No." " Drank herself some poison." " God forgive her." "She just sitting up there." "You come out here just to tell me that?" "No." "Louise." "Raccoon bit her." "You need to turn around and get yourself out of here." " Here." " What's this for?" "You'll know it soon enough." "Good girl." "I went to the Weaver place lookin' for medicine." "Came here hoping' for better luck." "There ain't been medcin' here in a long time." " You should go 'fore they sober up." " I can't go back with nothin'." "Wait here." " Thought you said there wasn't no..." " I wouldn't call that medcin'." "But it'll work?" "It might work." "Where you ridin' to?" "Due east." "Night's ride." " What you ridin'?" " A dead horse." "You're gettin' Captain." "He's a good horse." "Why are you bein' so nice to me?" "I knew your daddy." "He was a good man." "He was alright." "Hey, how much uh that you gonna..." "We're only saving' it for someone who needs it." " I see you found more liquor." " Sure thing." "Yeah." "Here you go." "Oh, what'd ya know?" "Eh, Moses." "This place is luckier than we thought." "I didn't think they still made them  pretty as this." "You comin' over?" "Maybe later." " This' half empty!" " Yes." "I have got some more, yeah." "Plenty more at... back." "Go upstairs." "You boys hungry for me?" "I bet you want some too?" "Hmm." "Hey, where you goin', honey?" "Ain't nothin' up there." "Better things to do with your mouth than talk." "Don't think the dog likes what you're doing." "From what I seen that dog don't like much 'uh anything." "Battle." "What?" "The dog." "His name is Battle." "He sure sounds like one." "That's a mighty big horse for a girl like you." "You go on now, Augusta." "Some place you got to be?" "I do." "All on your own?" "No." "She's got people." "You should go." "Go on now." "Go." "Go on." "Don't cry." "You should try 'n sleep." "Don't want to." "I can just keep talkin' til you do..." "I remember daddy telling' a story about a girl 'n her sister." "A girl was goin' to be killed by a king." "What king?" " I don't know, some king somewhere." " Why was he gonna kill her?" "I guess she musta done somethin' he didn't like." "Anyway." "The whole town shows up for the execution, includin' the girl's sister." "And the sister goes over to the girl, who's crying now, and she says," ""When the king asks you if you have any last words, you tell him that you want me to tell you a story."" "So the king asks and the girl says," ""I want my sister to tell me a story."" "And the king grants the request." "The sister gets up to the girl." "She starts telling' a story so good, the king can't help himself but listen." "And dawn has come and gone and now it's twilight." "And the whole town is still standin' there stock still, their hearts in their throats." "And all of a sudden, at just the most excitin' part, she stopped." " Why?" " She says to the king," ""You want to know the end?" "I'll tell you tomorrow." "If you give my sister one more day."" "Now the town's people know that mean old king is goin' to kill 'em both for sure, but the King, needing' to know the end, says yes." "What was the story she was tellin'?" "I only remember the part 'bout he tellin' it." "Did the king kill the girl after?" "But, the next day, just as soon as the sister finished telling that story, she starts another one, and she stops that one 'fore the best part." "and the same thing happens the next night and the next night and the next night" "for near a thousand nights." "What happens to the girl?" "Well." "As long as her sister kept tellin' stories, she never dies." "And her sister..." "I think after she told all those stories, the king married her." "Didn't know you needed your mouth to walk proper." "If you were the one bit, we'd still be sitting back at the whorehouse instead of moving." "I won't actually call what you're doing moving." " You sure we're going the right way?" " Road only goes one way." "You know as well as I do, you can go any way you want to on a..." "On a what?" "Road." "We're going the right way." " Maybe we should stop a minute?" " Uh, Henry?" "What's he got?" "Looks like we're going the right way after all." "Day's half over." "Didn't wanna wake you." "She up too?" "No." "Comin' back to life ain't easy." "She needs the rest." "We got anything to drink?" "Yeah." "Goat's milk." "That's not what I meant." "Gets easier the more you drink." "Gets real easier." "I like the way I feel." "Bill was the only one your Daddy let drink it." "He used to come back at night stinkin' and proud." "You was with him?" "Bill?" "I was." "You wanted to have his babies." "Oh, lord." "You miss him?" "I do." "Was he..." "Go on." "With this moonshine in me I'm fixed to answer any question you got." "What's it feel like?" "You'll know." "What If I don't?" "What if all the men kill all the other men?" "What if it's the end of the world and we're the last ones left?" "It aint the end of the world." "Think 'bout all the women sitting' in their houses." "Were supposed to be taken, but aint." "Learned to shoot a gun 'fore they learned to bed." "Learned to be men instead 'uh a wife." "I'm hungry." "Did she say hungry." " What did you say?" " I'm hungry." "Say it again." "I'm hungry." " She is hungry!" " She is hungry!" "Im gonna cook you somethin' so good, Louise." "Come-back-from-the-dead stew, that's what." "Come-back-from-the-dead stew!" "Best stew I ever made." "Fern." "Hey." " Mad." " What?" "Shhh." " Why you wake me just to be quiet?" " Listen, just-just listen." "Probably a ghost." "Come have a look with me?" "Who's firing?" "Show yourself!" "Get inside!" "Go, get inside now!" "Louise, wake up!" " Louise, wake up!" " What's goin' on?" "We got men here." "They are soldiers." "Yankees." "How you know that?" "You shot this dog!" "He was just a dog." "Same as you and me." "You went and shot him down." "Couldn't let him be." "And now there's no more drink." "And theres no more dog." "We only have this gun." "And Im through with my song." "We got any other guns?" "Downstairs." "In one of the drawers." "I'm goin' to go get it and come back." "Let's get to the Keepin' Room." "We aint leavin' this house." "Too many doors and windows and rooms." " We goin' to fight." "I don't wanna fight." "We can hide." "They don't know we here." "I just shot their dog, they gonna come lookin'." "How you know what dog belong to what Yankees?" "'Cause they followed me." "Don't leave us." "We ain't goin' to wait all night." "Augusta." " You want them here?" " No." "Then I gotta go down." "Girl." "Who else you got in there?" "You got men?" "Negros or cowards?" "Girl!" "Where are you?" "No!" "Moses!" "Moses!" "Help me!" "Moses!" " Sorry." " Here." "Shhhhh." "Why you naked?" "There was a fire." "I had to put it out." "What?" "Get over here." "This is your gun." "I gotta reload." "Watch me and do as I do." "Take the powder." "Take the powder, put it in." "Take the ball, put it in." "Push it down." "Pull this back." " You hold steady." " All right." "And you pull this." "Yeah." "All right." " You got it?" " Yeah, I got it." " You sure." " Yes." "Yes." "Girl!" "Girl!" "You got ten to come out or were coming in." "One!" "Two!" "Im gonna try n' draw 'em away from the house." "No, don't." "No." "You bar this door behind me." "If a man comes through, no matter what, you shoot." "Four!" "Five!" "Six!" "Seven!" "Eight!" "Nine!" "Ten!" "Shhh." "Shhhh." "You followed me?" "Yeah, I did." "Why didn't you kill me with Caleb and that woman?" "I wanted to keep you for a while." "Damp powder." "Must be as old as this gun." "Something about you makes me wanna.." "sit down." "Then why you come like you want a war?" "I dont know how to stop." "Why don't you come on out?" "I wanna see you." "Why dont we just put down the guns?" "We can get a lot closer without them." "Well." "Maybe it's just you and me now." "If you don't stand still, I just might have to shoot you." "Quiet!" "Don't make me hurt you." "Go on." "At my second farm, there was this one shed we wasn't allowed at." "All the other buildings had their jobs." "One for feed." "One for tools." "But there was this one shed we was told never to go in." "Not to play near it." "Not to get curious." "We made up all sorts of stories." "Gold." "Ghosts." "God." "Then, one day when I was 'bout ten the man told me to go to the shed." "I was goin' to the shed." "I would get to know." "I walked to the shed, my heart comin' out my dress." "I was gonna get to know." "I was gonna get to know." "I was gonna be the one to tell all the others." "I opened the door." "Only thing in there was a low cot and no windows." "I stood there a minute so unsure." "So sad." "Wonderin' why we wasnt supposed to know for so long." "And then the man come in." "And he had me." "He was so big and I was so small." "So small that I didnt even know what was happenin'." "That was the first time." "And there were many more." "Some times they cut the baby out." "Other times, they keeps them." "I don't know where they are now." "There are many kinds of monsters in this world, you never know which one goin' to be yours." "Dont know what happened to mine." "Probably died old and happy." "But yours..." "You killed him." " That right?" " Yes." "Your monster's dead." "You come back." "Yeah." "I just wanted to hear that old voice again." "It's over." " It's all over." " What you mean?" "You take shelter." "They comin'." "They..." "Where is Augusta?" "Mad?" "Whats goin' on?" "He come back." "I aint angry with you, Augusta." "I's angry 'cause I come close to killing' him myself." "But we wanted him dead." "He'd never forgiven me if I's the one done it." "When you gonna learn what dont happen dont matter?" "You just goes on." "Might be another man out there want us dead." "Aint no time to think on love." "There is another man out there." "We aint goin' to wait for him." "We goin' out there to hunt him." "And we aint come back 'til he ours." "This some fine moonshine." "Our daddy made it." "Your daddy made some fine moonshine." "I've been waiting for you." "I've been looking for you." "You found me." "I like this room." "I like it too." "What's your name?" "Moses." "Like the baby." "Yes, just like." "Why're you doin' this, Moses?" "Me an' him are bummers." "We..." "We're sent ahead to forage the land for food and deserters and survivors." "Whole army is behind us." "Already took Georgia." "Uncle Billy's coming." "Burning down every thing in his path." "Rest assured, it'll be cruel." "And the crueler it is the sooner itll be over." "We can hold 'em." "Girl, I believe you can." "You know how many battles I fought in?" "Dont seem like many, easy as you went down." "No." "It don't." "But it was." "And yet, here I sit." "Fuck." "You are beautiful." "I'd like to know your name." "Augusta." "Augusta." "Augusta and Moses." "Things could have be different." "But they ain't." "I know that it's over." "Truth be told," "Im heartened." "Don't think I know my way home from here." "I'd appreciate it if you'd show me the way." "You 'bout finished with your drink?" "Just about." "How strange he show up here lookin' like a Yankee." "Maybe he was free." "And he came back." "I didnt know people looked the same whether they was dead or alive." "He gone." "But he dont look so bad." "Like he's sleepin' maybe." "He look dead." "But he look good." "You sure you dont wanna dig him another hole?" "Ain't time." "Ain't strength." "Dont think he should go in the same place as them." "Dont worry." "They aint goin' to the same place." "Augusta!" "Looks like the sky's on fire." "Looks like the whole world's on fire." "They comin'." "This our home." "We gonna have to fight." "This our home." "We gonna defend it." "What if we didnt stay here?" "What if we went?" "Went?" "Out there." "No." "All 'em Yankees walkin' right for us we can't just walk right back." "They walking' here on the way." "I don't see what a few bullets is gonna do to keep them out." "We can keep it safe." "Keeping Room's just walls, Augusta." "Aint nothin' safe." "Three women comin' 'gainst the Union army dont mean nothin'." "What if we was men instead 'uh women?"