"You got money for that?" "I just need a little." "Now, get out of here, you little pest." "You can't make me." "It's a free country." "Wow!" "Look who's back." "How are you doing, Jack?" "Not bad." "Not bad's good enough." "Hey, mister, need your windows cleaned?" "How many times do I have to tell you to get out of here, you little creep?" "Sure, kid, go ahead." "Do it." "How about taking some pictures of me this time while you're here?" "I'm sorry, Linda." "I don't do people." "Hey, Linda!" "Come here and give me a hand, will you?" "Maybe you could make me famous, and I could get out of this dump." "Yeah, well, I don't think that would make me very popular with your daddy." "So?" "He doesn't like you anyway." "Hey, there!" "Stranger!" "How you doing'?" "Hey, bud!" "Hey!" "Oh, good to see you." "What brings you back here?" "Well, I just want one of Kathy's chili steak sandwiches." "Well, come on in." "How long you here for?" "I don't know, a couple of weeks, a month maybe, I don't know." "I got a present for you." "If you come up to my place, I might even give it to you." "Well, you got a couple of cold ones, I might just do that." "Can do." "So, is the desert treating you pretty good?" "Always." "Hey, hon, look who's here." "Hey!" "Hey!" "Jack!" "Oh, I miss your cooking." "Good to see you again." "Yeah." "Chance." "How have things been going around here?" "Oh, more people have moved on." "Yeah?" "Yeah." "If they don't start something new at the base, it's going to turn into a ghost town." "Of course, I hear" "Boeing's thinking of painting airplanes or something, but who knows." "Boeing, huh?" "Well, listen, I got to run along, but I'll be around." "Good to see you." "So I'll see you later, okay?" "All right." "Welcome back." "Take it easy." "Hey, Ben." "Hey, I come to pick up my caps." "You got them for me?" "You got that permit?" "Well, I got it down at the hut." "Well, now, damn it, Ben, it doesn't do me any good there." "All right, I'll bring it on in to you." "Well, you've been saying that for months now." "I bet you haven't even sent in those forms I got for you." "Hell, Pax, how long I've been buying dynamite, huh?" "Long before you was ever here even." "That doesn't matter." "They got rules." "Rules?" "Yeah." "Pretty soon we'll be needing a permit to pee." "Shut up and quit complaining, you half-dead old coot." "Oh, that'll be two bucks." "Okay, make it fifty cents." "Hi, hon." "What you been up to?" "Like you." "Been working." "Oh, yeah?" "Yeah." "For who?" "For him." "Hey, kid." "You forgot your money." "Thanks." "Come on." "Give me a hand with these groceries." "Your forgot to water the plants again today." "Hey!" "Come on!" "Come on, get out of here." "If you don't want sand in it, why bring it out here?" "Look, just do me a favor." "Get out of here." "Can I look?" "No." "So, you get paid to take pictures of stuff like this?" "My mom says you do." "She says you're a big-shot photographer from somewhere." "And she wishes you wouldn't come back here anymore." "Oh, yeah?" "It's better down that way." "You think so, huh?" "Yeah, there's a whole lot more broken stuff over there." "Well, I like the broken windows." "I find it interesting." "Is that all?" "Broken windows are easy." "Maybe I should help you." "Look, why don't you just go play with your friends?" "What friends?" "They don't live here anymore." "Let me just show you this one place." "It's awesome." "Well, I don't know, I'm..." "What, you don't trust me?" "If you like beautiful stuff, you'll love this." "Well?" "Not bad." "You should see it from up on the ridge." "Can you handle that?" "I'm fine." "I carried a lot more than this when I used to go camping with my dad." "At least it seemed like more." "I was littler then." "It was before the base closed." "Sometimes I think my dad was the smart one in our family." "I mean, when people stopped coming to the motel, he just took off." "That's what I'm gonna do as soon as I'm old enough." "Come on." "What about your mother?" "Oh, she'll do okay." "I figure it'll be easier for her if she doesn't have me around to worry about." "You know, some mothers like to worry." "Yeah, maybe." "You were right, this is a lot better." "Here, try this." "Are you kidding?" "No, go ahead, take it." "Before I change my mind." "Here." "All you gotta do is just turn this outer ring until that red needle goes between the lines." "Cool." "Don't hold your finger down." "It's a motor drive." "You mean it's got a motor?" "Yeah." "Awesome." "Hey, Stevie, come on." "Let's get out of here." "Grab some stuff and come on." "Come on!" "Let's go!" "Come on, get inside!" "Here!" "Hey, where you going?" "Stevie!" "Hey!" "Stevie!" "Stevie!" "Stevie!" "Stevie!" "Stevie!" "Stevie, you okay?" "Yeah!" "Did you see that?" "Well, come on down." "No, I'm gonna go see." "Well..." "Stevie?" "Stevie." "You okay?" "Yeah." "Do you think it was a meteor or something?" "No, it was just some weird kind of storm." "Let's get out of here." "Look at this cool rock." "Maybe it's a part of it." "It's just some kind of quartz." "Come on, I'm getting you home." "Well, whatever it was," "I got this really cool picture of it just as it went over." "When can we see them?" "Well, we can develop it as soon as we get back." "But did you see that flash of light?" "It's like it smashed up against that wall of rocks." "Oh, no, I think it was just a freak storm or something." "Let's get out of here." "No, I want to go back and look around." "No, come on." "I don't like it here." "I better get you home." "Shoot!" "Must have got wet." "Yeah, we'll pick it up tomorrow." "Come on, I'll give you a ride back." "Wow, a hunk of it busted your window." "Guess what happened to me this afternoon." "I don't know, honey." "What happened this afternoon?" "It was absolutely the most awesome thing I ever saw." "Yeah?" "There was this meteor-like thing from space." "Oh, yeah?" "Yeah." "And it exploded and everything." "And I found this rock that might be part of it." "Honey, I'm sorry." "I'm really tired." "Yeah, sure." "But I'm not too tired for a hug." "You think you're such a tough guy, huh?" "Stop it." "So you want to go out there with me tomorrow?" "I could show you where it happened." "Oh, honey, I'd really like to, but I have to work tomorrow." "On Sunday?" "All you ever do is work." "You'd rather do that than be with me?" "Oh, no, honey." "I'd much rather be with you." "But we need the money." "Yeah, right." "Hey, city man." "Hey, man, how you doing?" "God, it's good to see you." "I'm glad you came by." "Look, you want a beer?" "Wouldn't refuse one." "Okay." "Boy, I am telling you, I am glad to be back." "Yes, sir." "Yeah, that's why we're out here." "The peace and quiet of the desert." "No one to tell you what to do." "Yeah, or when to do it." "Yes, sir." "When you gonna get smart and move out here for good?" "Yeah, some day, maybe." "I don't know." "I guess I'm not as content with myself as you are." "Yeah, a man's downfall." "Got to prove something to himself." "Oh, don't give me that." "You were there." "That's how you got your leg shot up." "God knows, you told me that story enough times." "Here." "What's this?" "Well, look." "Well, let's see here." "How cool!" "Check it out." "Jerry Garcia designer necktie." "World keeps twisting on, don't it?" "Yeah, you'd be surprised what's going on out there." "Oh, look, I want you to take a look at something here." "Tell me, what do you think of this?" "Well, what is it I'm supposed to be looking at?" "Well, I wish I could tell you." "I'm..." "Yesterday afternoon, I was out at Diamond Back Ridge, and suddenly this, what I thought was a storm, went over." "And when I developed the pictures..." "Look at this, huh." "Here, yeah, look at this one." "See the way the tail is curving up like that?" "It's..." "It's kind of like it was flying." "So, are you telling me it's a plane?" "No, it wasn't a plane." "At first, I thought it was lightning exploding rocks, or something." "I don't know, maybe it's a meteor or something." "Not likely." "Unless it left a crater out there the size of Las Vegas." "Well, I'm going out there again tomorrow to take a look." "Nature." "A lot we don't know." "Oh, they're so beautiful." "Aren't they, though?" "Let me tell you, you are not going to..." "Well, Carol, it's real human hair." "Can you just show me that?" "It's about time." "Where's dinner?" "We're almost out of time." "There's only 20 left." "You were supposed to be here a long time ago." "What did you send away for today?" "Nothing." "There wasn't anything good on." "We'll fix that." "Why can't you ever get a nice movie?" "Why?" "I know how much this stuff turns you on." "Oh, stop it!" "What was that?" "I don't know." "What the hell?" "Did you hit him?" "Pretty sure I winged him." "But I want to make sure he got the message." "What's that?" "What the..." "No!" "Roy, you scared the hell out of me." "Roy!" "Hey, Roy!" "Hey, boy!" "Boy, what do you think you're doing?" "Oh, just blowing up some stuff." "Cut it out!" "You're gonna blow your fingers off." "Oh, Mrs. Otis, I can handle this, thanks." "Oh, sure, she can handle this." "Wrecking the pool isn't going to help us sell this place." "Oh, yeah." "Like somebody might be stupid enough to buy this dump." "Where did you get that camera?" "It's on loan." "Did you steal it?" "No." "Stevie!" "I want you to tell me the truth." "Where did this camera come from?" "Okay, hang on." "Hang on a minute." "I'm coming." "Oh, hi." "Hello." "I'm sorry to bother you." "Did you know that my son had this?" "Yeah." "I'm letting him use it." "He doesn't know anything about cameras." "Well, maybe he didn't before yesterday, but he's learning'." "He's got quite an eye for it, too." "No, really." "Come on, I'll show you." "Look." "Stevie took these?" "Well, yeah, some of them." "I mean..." "Here, this shot's his." "Yeah, here's another." "What is that?" "Oh, that's what I was telling you about, Mom." "You know, these came out really good." "Yeah." "Look at this one." "Wow." "What'd you do, blow it up?" "Yeah." "Look, I think I can get even more detail out of that." "Oh." "Cool." "You got an award for this one." "Yeah." "You know what it got Grant?" "The EPA saw it." "He got hit with a big fine." "You nearly put the man out of business." "Yeah, well, I didn't mean for that to happen." "Oh, didn't you?" "Look, what I do isn't about those images, it's about what they represent." "You think I don't see what they've done to this town?" "They abandoned you." "None of you deserved that." "Look." "Oh, yeah." "No, this is a great one because look, you can see where the contrail goes off like that." "It looks like it's sort of pulling up right before it hits the rock." "I don't understand." "Don't you get it, Mom?" "It was flying." "And we saw it crash." "We've got to go back out there." "Yeah." "Can I talk to you for a minute?" "Yeah." "Here." "Stevie, look through these and these." "I'm gonna fix your mom some iced tea." "Look, you better look through that thing." "What's with the water?" "You don't have to bother." "I'm really running late." "Okay, what's the problem?" "Look," "I appreciate you taking an interest in my son." "I know he's hungry for attention, and it's hard for a boy his age not having a father." "What I'm trying to say is," "I don't want to see him disappointed, okay?" "You get tired of being here, you get into your fancy car and you go away again, but he's stuck here." "Look," "I know you don't like me... I didn't say I didn't like you." "Okay, but I don't care what you think about me." "I'm just here to tell you that I think that Stevie is a cool kid." "We, better, you know, get going." "I gotta to get ready for work." "Kath, hi." "Hot, huh?" "Yeah, isn't it?" "Listen, have you seen Roy today?" "What?" "Say that again." "Oh!" "Damn thing!" "Will you turn the water back on, please?" "I didn't do nothing with the water." "Can you hear me?" "Yeah, but just barely." "Yeah." "Well, if you do see him, would you tell him I'm worried about him, and tell him to come home?" "Hey, it's C.L." "Roy didn't come home again last night." "You seen him?" "No, I don't know where he is." "No, he ain't been around here." "Thanks." "Okay." "What the hell is the matter with the damn water?" "When are you gonna be back from work?" "I don't know." "Hey, I won't be too late, okay?" "Promise?" "I promise." "Smile." "You sure you don't want to follow me home?" "Nah." "I'll mess around a while." "Be careful." "Don't worry about me, Mom." "I can take care of myself." "Yeah, tough guy." "Hey, kid!" "What you looking for?" "Hi, Mr. Culley." "Nothing." "Just stuff." "Must be something to come all the way up here for." "Well, I found this really neat rock yesterday." "It might be part of a meteor or something." "You got it on you?" "No." "Got it at home." "I could tell you what it is." "Might be worth something." "Maybe I could even buy it from you." "Of course, I'd have to see it first." "You really think it's worth something?" "Well..." "Cool." "I'll go home and get it." "Hey." "What's the hurry?" "I got to go." "Mr. Culley's gonna buy my meteor." "He says it's worth a lot of money." "I made you a sandwich." "It's in the refrigerator." "Don't forget to water the plants today." "It's a hot one today." "Bring it here, boy." "It's different than before." "Yeah." "And bigger, too." "Yeah, well, let's take a little look-see, huh?" "Look, it's warm." "Yeah." "You think it's a meteor?" "Can't say for sure." "But I tell you what," "I'll give you a buck for every one of these you find." "You're kidding." "All right." "Ben." "What the hell was that?" "I don't know, but it came from old Ben's place." "I'm gonna go take a look." "You want to ride along?" "No, I got to find Roy." "I've been all over the desert looking for him." "I saw Roy this morning, out by Diamond Back Ridge around daybreak, and I yelled at him, and he just kept walking." "That's not like Roy." "Diamond Back Ridge?" "I'll see you later." "Ben?" "Ben?" "Ben?" "Ben?" "I don't think I've ever seen it this hot." "What about this heat, Jack?" "We were just saying we've never seen it like this." "Yeah, it's really something, all right." "Listen, Pax, I got to show you something." "I tell you, it was a sonic boom." "You know, if they're flying F-22s out here, maybe they'll open up the base again, huh?" "Lord, I hope you're right." "I think so." "That'd be great!" "Will you give it up?" "They're not gonna reopen Bradbury unless we go to war." "Oh, what does he know?" "You could be right, Kathy." "Listen, that wasn't a sonic blast you heard." "I went out." "I saw some smoke coming from over by Ben's place." "I went to check it out, and there is a huge hole in front of Ben's house." "Is Ben all right?" "Well, I don't know." "I couldn't find him." "Oh, that damn fool." "I warned him about that dynamite." "No, see, it couldn't have been dynamite." "Everything was intact." "The house, the mine, everything." "There was no pieces, no debris, no nothing." "All there was, was a small crater." "Just a big hole, with sort of bubbling mud in it." "And at the bottom, I found that." "Wow." "I've never seen anything like it." "It's warm." "Yeah." "Maybe it was a meteor." "See, that's what I thought at first." "And it kind of looks like the rock that Stevie found yesterday." "A meteor shower." "Yeah." "I really think we ought to have somebody take a look at it." "The college at Victorville." "I got a name for you." "Anything show up on those pictures?" "Yeah, no, the blow-ups weren't very clear." "But, I mean, there's definitely something there." "You know, when you were in the Air Force..." "I mean, you must've heard stories at least about UFOs and..." "What are you suggesting?" "Well, I'm not suggesting anything." "Good." "Did you ever actually get out to Diamond Back and see what was out there?" "Yeah, I went out there this morning." "I was shooting some pictures." "What the hell is that stuff?" "That white..." "Looks like some kind of mineral deposit." "I don't know what you're talking about." "What do you mean?" "It's all over the place." "Then there's that mound or something that..." "I'd swear didn't used to be there." "Mound?" "What do you mean?" "I'll bring back the pictures when I come back." "Well, here." "Here's Dr. Henderson." "I'll give him a call." "Let him know you're on your way." "Back in a few hours." "Hey, I can't get through." "The phone's dead." "It's okay." "You okay?" "What happened?" "I don't know." "It's like a furnace out here." "It's like we drove into a damn furnace." "Come on, let's get out of here." "Roy!" "Roy!" "Okay." "Roy, okay..." "Roy?" "Roy!" "Roy!" "Help me!" "Oh, God!" "Roy!" "There you go." "Easy." "Easy, Okay..." "Is that a little better?" "Here you go." "Here." "I just gotta catch my breath." "Okay, well, we..." "We gotta get outta here." "Not to appear overly dramatic, but I think you just saved my life." "Yeah, well..." "You're welcome." "What are you doing?" "Let go!" "Stop it!" "Let me go!" "Let me go!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Do you see Stevie anywhere?" "Probably back at the motel." "He said something about selling something to Ben Culley." "Maybe he's out there." "When was that?" "Right before I left for work." "Why, is something wrong?" "Nah." "Let's see if he's back in the motel." "I don't see his bike." "Stevie?" "Stevie?" "He's not here." "I'm going to call Paxson's." "Oh, great." "Phone's dead." "Can you drive me over to Ben's?" "Look, he's probably just out at Diamond Back Ridge where we were taking pictures yesterday." "I'll drive out and see if I can find him." "Why don't you just stay here and wait?" "And put some of this on the sore spots." "It works like magic." "Damn." "I ain't never been down this far before." "Do you think it's the heat?" "No." "That'll only dry it up on the surface." "Ain't no way it's gonna lower the water table like this." "Well, then what the hell's happening to the water?" "Hey, look, I just drill them." "Your guess is as good as mine what's going on down under there." "Alan, come back to the store." "The power just went off." "Have any of you guys seen Stevie?" "What are you doing here?" "I thought you were on your way to Victorville." "I don't know what the hell's going on." "I couldn't get through the pass." "I am really getting worried about that kid." "What do you mean, you couldn't get through?" "Well, it's damn near 150 degrees up there!" "Look, nobody can get through." "Stevie!" "Hey, Stevie!" "Stevie, are you all right?" "Easy does it!" "Hey, easy, easy, easy, easy." "Come on." "Come on, easy." "Be careful." "I'll help you down." "You scared me." "What are you doing up there?" "I'm gonna put your bike in the car and take you home." "Your mom's worried about you." "Roy!" "Roy, what are you doing?" "Hey, Roy, what are you looking for?" "Roy?" "What's going on?" "Stevie." "Stevie!" "Come on." "Where are you going?" "I gotta get you home." "Boy, the heat's getting to everybody, huh?" "You all right?" "Your mom says you took that rock you found yesterday over to old Ben's." "That true?" "I mean, 'cause I found one that was kind of like it, down at the bottom of a big hole over at his place." "I got it right here in the back." "What the..." "Son of a..." "Hey, Stevie." "Stevie!" "Hey!" "Where you going?" "Come back here!" "Hey..." "You're pretty fast." "What's wrong, man?" "You okay?" "Don't worry." "You're safe now, okay?" "Just take it easy." "You know, your mom's waiting for you." "Hey, hey!" "Come on!" "Come on." "Easy, now." "Easy does it." "Easy does it." "Take it easy." "Come on." "Hey, what the hell's going on here?" "Well, I'm just taking Stevie home." "Yeah, well, it seems he don't want to go with you, so take your hands off him." "Oh, look!" "Grant, this has nothing to do with you, so why don't you just back off..." "I said, take your hands off him!" "Hey, hey, hey!" "Cut it!" "Damn it, Grant!" "God, this heat is making everybody crazy." "Mother, take Stevie home." "Come on, honey." "Something's going on around here." "Yeah, and you seem to be right in the middle of it." "What is wrong with you?" "What is wrong with all of you?" "Don't you realize this is not normal?" "It's damn near 140 degrees out, and it's even hotter out on the highway." "I mean, a car can't even get over that pass." "Oh, yeah?" "So what do you suggest we do about it, hotshot?" "I just think that we ought to figure out another way out while we still have a chance." "And how the hell you gonna do that?" "You can't just take these people out across the desert in this heat with no water." "It could kill them." "It'll kill them if they stay here!" "Look, we don't need no city boy telling us what to do!" "Come on, partner, let's go." "It ain't worth it." "You stay out of our business." "I'm telling you." "Something strange is going on around here." "Look, I can't prove it, but I know something did crash out there, and because of it we are all in danger here." "Oh, now, slow down, Jack." "You're leaping' here, man." "I feel like I'm going crazy." "Well, man, you sound like you're going crazy." "Well then, you explain to me why was Roy walking around in the desert looking like a zombie the other day." "Oh..." "And, he was messing around in the back of my truck, and I swear to God he took that blue rock out of there." "And those blue flashes I keep seeing, and that explosion over at Ben's, what was that?" "And this damn heat!" "I tell you, Pax, it is all connected!" "Now, take it easy." "We're all on the same side here." "I know they won't listen to me, but they'll listen to you." "Not a chance in hell." "That's why people live out here, so they don't have to listen to people." "Besides, I don't know what you're talking about!" "Well then, go out and take a look at the damn thing, will you, please?" "Just..." "Just take a look at it, will you?" "And tell me that I'm not going out of my mind." "Please!" "Okay." "Okay." "Okay." "Pax, we're going for water." "We've got horses about to go down." "We just stopped to see if you and Kath wanted to go with us." "I'm telling you guys, you can't get through the pass." "You're gonna have to try the back way." "Look who all of a sudden is an authority." "Yeah, he's right." "Now, you might be able to get through by crossing the dry lake and picking up that road that leads past Superior Salt." "All right?" "Let's do it." "Good luck." "Good luck." "Well, that's two down and what, 20 or so more to go." "Sweetie," "I was worried about you." "Are you okay?" "You want to tell me about it?" "Maybe later, okay?" "Hey, you want a sandwich?" "Huh?" "Some juice?" "Hi." "Hi." "You okay?" "Your face looks better." "How's your hand?" "Yeah." "I feel fine, thanks." "Good." "Look..." "I just wanted to talk to you about what happened with Stevie this afternoon." "It's okay." "You don't have to explain." "No, but I want you to know that I didn't hurt Stevie." "I mean, I don't know what happened, but he just spooked somehow." "Thank you, you know, for going out to find him." "Oh." "Yeah, okay." "Well, I'm glad that everything worked out." "I didn't want to scare you, but..." "I'm, you know..." "I'm really grateful, you know, for everything you've done." "I'm sorry." "Okay, okay." "Oh, God." "I was really scared." "I thought I was going to die." "You're okay now." "What's going on?" "I don't know." "But somehow, I think it's all connected to what Stevie and I saw out on the desert yesterday afternoon." "Maybe, it's just a coincidence." "Did something happen to Stevie?" "I don't know what's wrong with him." "He's acting like he doesn't even know me." "Yeah, he was acting the same way with me." "I don't know, but I'm gonna drive back out there again before it gets dark." "I'll come back here later, okay?" "You know, maybe you ought to throw a few things together, just in case we have to get out of here in a hurry." "Stevie?" "Stevie?" "Oh, God!" "Oh, my God!" "Stevie, Stevie." "Help me." "Oh, my dear God." "Help me." "What are you?" "Mrs. Otis!" "Mrs. Otis!" "Open the door, please, Mrs. Otis!" "It's an emergency!" "Yeah?" "What do you want?" "Mrs. Otis, I need to borrow your car keys." "Please." "Hey, Pax!" "I was hoping you'd be here." "You wouldn't happen to have a cold beer on you, would you?" "Don't you wish." "How far is it?" "Took me a half hour to get this far." "I got my climbing foot on." "Just over that ridge." "Don't worry." "If this heat doesn't let up, we're gonna start losing some good people around here." "Oh, you okay, man?" "Horny old mountain goat." "Easy there." "You okay, man?" "Yeah." "I'm okay." "Yeah, just testing my reflexes." "Yeah." "This reminds me of that time when I crashed that tester over at China Lake." "Took me four hours to walk out." "But, hell, it wasn't this hot." "We're almost there." "Hold it." "There's something I want to tell you." "About 20 years ago," "I was making a test run over the flats, and I saw something." "Something I couldn't identify." "Did you report it?" "Yeah, I reported it." "And it was leaked, and I was made to look like a fool." "So no leaks, Jack." "Right over there." "What is that?" "I swear that thing is twice as big as it was this morning." "I think it's growing." "I think we gotta get everybody out of here." "Yeah." "Yeah." "I'll go back to town, see what I can do." "We gotta evacuate." "Yeah." "I'll meet you back there." "I gotta pick up some stuff." "Damn." "Easy, W!" "..." "Go on, get out of here." "Hah!" "Go on!" "What the..." "What the hell?" "Hey, get out of here!" "Can anybody tell me how come it's not cooling down?" "I mean, the sun's down." "It should be cooling off!" "Feels like it's getting hotter out there to me!" "Okay, listen up." "Will you all quiet down?" "All right, all right." "Quiet, please!" "Please, everyone, quiet!" "Everybody!" "All right, now, is everybody here?" "Where's Jubby?" "I think they left already." "All right, now listen, I know..." "I know there's been a lot of rumors about the phones and the heat, and all the crap that's going on around here." "I was just up at Diamond Back Ridge..." "I've been up on Diamond Back Ridge a hundred times!" "I never seen anything!" "Now, something's out there!" "Something like I've never seen before." "It's this thing." "And it's big." "Wait, wait." "What do you mean, a thing?" "What are you talking about?" "Well, like a mountain or a hill coming up out of the sand." "Yeah, well, what's, whatever that is, got to do with anything, huh?" "How's it making it hotter?" "Well, who knows?" "I don't!" "I just know if we sit around here and wait, it could be too late." "Too late for what?" "I think we are all in danger here!" "Now, I'm gonna take my family, and we're gonna pack up and we're gonna clear out till this thing blows over." "Okay, now exactly what kind of danger are you talking about?" "You want to know anything more, you go out and see it for yourself." "If the good Lord wants to take me, he can just come and take me right here." "...and most of all, don't panic!" "Hey, folks, we're not going anywhere." "I found these guys out there, half dead." "Yeah, we found them out in the dry lake bed, passed out." "What happened?" "Heat." "Too hot." "Can't get through." "We were trying to make it out the back side." "I guess they had the same idea." "It was like we hit this wall, this wall of heat." "It's hotter than hell out there." "Must be 140." "All right!" "All right." "All right." "Let's not panic." "We're trapped." "We're all gonna die." "Come on, honey." "Let's go home!" "We can't go home!" "We can't get out of here." "What are we gonna do?" "There's gotta be a way out of here." "I'm gonna find it." "Anybody want to go with me, I got room for two more." "Oh, no, no, no, no, no!" "Wait!" "Wait a minute!" "I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I say if that mound out there is the problem, then we ought to go out there and blow it the hell up." "You with me?" "You're damned right!" "You're damned right!" "Let's go!" "You can't do that." "It's too dangerous." "I don't care what you think." "Now, get the dynamite." "Forget it, Grant." "I'm not giving it to you." "Well, you don't have a choice." "Now, I know you keep it locked up back there." "Get it!" "I'm not giving you the dynamite, Grant." "Now, let's think this over." "Give me the keys..." "Grant!" "Come on, Paxson." "It's gone too far!" "Leave him alone!" "You can't do this!" "Yeah, you guys have known me a long time!" "Now, maybe blowing this up is the right thing to do, but don't go off half-cocked!" "I got the rolls, I got the..." "You got the fuses?" "Hughy, you come back here right now!" "That damn fool!" "Pax." "You're not gonna believe this." "I found what broke my window." "It was a piece of that thing that crashed out in the desert." "And, Pax," "it's alive." "Alive?" "What are you talking about?" "That thing, that strange storm, that hit Stevie and I, out in the hills, it's some kind of a creature and it's sucking all the water out of the earth." "That's why it's so dry." "That's why it's so damn hot." "That's why that mound swelled up the way it did." "Creature?" "No, slow down." "No, look, what I'm telling you is that, that thing out there, that mound that you and I saw, is alive." "This is a piece of it." "And somehow, it has the ability to transform itself into inanimate objects." "You're telling me that this is alive?" "Yeah." "Listen." "No, wait a minute." "Because it's a coyote, so it isn't just inanimate objects." "This thing's able to duplicate living things, too." "Oh, God." "Stevie." "Jack!" "Ellen?" "Ellen?" "Stevie?" "After you drop them off, I want you to go home, pack up some things, and wait for me there." "I don't know what we're gonna do, but we'll do it together." "Excuse me." "Hughy has taken our truck." "Now what am I supposed to do?" "You'll come with us." "Now, every/thing's gonna be fine." "Oh, I hope you're right." "Roy!" "Roy, are you drunk?" "Hey, stop it!" "Have you seen Ellen?" "No, not since I dropped Stevie off." "I don't see anybody." "Where is everyone?" "Didn't Pax tell you?" "Grant and some of the others went out to dynamite that mound you've been talking about." "Oh, no!" "They can't do that!" "Roy?" "Oh, God." "Ellen." "Where's Stevie?" "ls Stevie safe?" "Roy killed Paxson." "And Grant and the other guys are gonna blow up the mound." "We've gotta stop them." "No!" "He's an alien." "I knew it." "They're alien duplicates of us." "Come on, we've gotta stop them." "Come on." "Look, there is nothing you can do for him!" "This one was a mistake." "What are you talking about?" "We didn't know that humans could be so violent." "Ellen?" "No." "No, no, no." "Not you." "We came for the last piece." "That's all we're missing." "We only want to take what is ours, so we can leave." "What about Ellen and Stevie?" "Where are they?" "Did you kill them, too?" "They're safe." "You will all be safe if you help us." "Did you have to kill Pax?" "No, that was never our intention." "Somehow we replicated more than the physical, and human emotions are difficult for us to control." "We're running out of time." "Please help me get back." "Please." "Hurry up!" "All right, now don't get too close to that thing!" "We need more on the hill there for the initial blast!" "Hey, Chance, we need some more sticks!" "Get down here!" "The charges are almost set." "I'm running two lines in parallel." "Hughy, the initial run is red positive!" "Got it!" "Come on." "Let's go." "Come on." "Come on!" "I don't think I can make it." "Please help me." "What happens if we don't get back?" "Nothing will survive of us." "This place is killing us." "But Ellen." "What about Ellen?" "If you get me back before we're destroyed," "Ellen will survive." "They all will." "Just yesterday, I barely knew her well enough to even say hello, and now..." "She has feelings like that, too." "Come on." "Easy." "Easy." "Come on!" "Let's go!" "Get this thing hot!" "All right, now, get back everybody!" "Take cover!" "I'm gonna blow this thing sky high!" "Hey, get away!" "Jack, get away!" "Go back!" "Hold on, Grant." "That's Jack out there and he's got Ellen with him." "Jack!" "Jack, damn it!" "Put her down!" "Grant!" "I've got to get her back!" "Put her down, damn it!" "Or I swear to God, I'll blow a hole in you!" "Grant, come on." "Get off." "Grant, you're not gonna shoot." "You're not gonna risk killing Ellen." "I'm not gonna ask you again!" "You do it, or I'll blow your head off!" "Stop, damn it!" "You can't do this!" "All right, you got five seconds to take cover!" "Five!" "Four!" "Three!" "Two!" "One!"