FADE IN:

 

1. EXT. THE PARCHED, STONY DESERT - DAY.

 

CASH JOHNSON rides alone across the landscape. He is hot. He removes his hat to allow some air to his head, fans himself with the hat, then replaces it. He removes his canteen and takes a slug of water. He winces. It is warm and tastes of the tin of the canteen. He runs a hand down his horse’s neck and gives it a slap. He takes in what is around him, looks at the noon sky and decides to find some shade and rest. There is a rocky outcrop nearby, so he pulls up the horse.

 

CASH

(to Pie, his horse)

Take a break, Pie.

 

He dismounts

 

CASH

I’ll go find some shade where we can rest up awhile.

 

He leaves the horse to eat brush and goes towards the rocks. He goes behind them and stops with surprise. There is a young man, for all intents and purposes dead, laid up against some rocks. His hands rest across his stomach. There is black, sun-dried blood upon his hands. A dollar bill protrudes from his fingers. There is blood on his face from a head wound.

 

CASH

Damn!

 

CASH walks briskly towards the body and kneels down next to it. There is a smell of a rotten wound. He makes a cursory examination of the boy and concludes that he is dead. He puts a hand on his shoulder.

 

CASH

I’m sorry, kid.

 

The young man stirs and moans. Startled, CASH jumps.

 

CASH

Holy hell!

 

 

The young man’s eyes open. They roll tiredly towards CASH, but there is an alertness about them. CASH jumps up.

 

CASH

Hold on, kid. Hold on.

 

CASH goes out of scene.  The young man’s eyes follow CASH as he goes away. They show no emotion, no need. CASH reappears with his canteen in his hand.  He kneels next to the young man again, removes his kerchief and soaks it.

 

CASH

I’m not gonna let you take a long drink of this, boy.

 

He drip feeds the young man water from the kerchief.

 

CASH

One step at a time.

 

The boy holds his mouth open and allows the drips to roll across his tongue. He coughs a little as his parched mouth begins to unglue, then clutches at his gut as it sends a jolt of pain through him. CASH casts an eye towards the boy’s headwound and then at the abdominal wound. You can see in his eyes that he holds out little hope.

 

CASH

    What’s your name, son?

 

The boy clucks at his dry mouth as he tries to talk.

 

CHARLIE

Bucker. Charlie Bucker.

 

CASH

    Charlie Bucker? The Charlie Bucker?

 

CHARLIE nods.

 

CASH

I thought you were dead already.

 

CHARLIE

(a smile on his lips)

 Nearly there.

 

CASH

There are a lot of people that would like a slice of you, Mr Bucker. You are a most notorious man.

 

CHARLIE

Indeed I am.

 

CASH drips some more water into CHARLIE’S mouth.

 

CASH

What the hell happened to you?

 

With an effort, CHARLIE lifts his hands and reveals his wound.

 

CHARLIE

I got shot.

 

He wrinkles his nose

 

CHARLIE

Stinks don’t it.

 

2. EXT. A FIELD OUTSIDE A CABIN – EARLY MORNING

 

DREW SAWYER and TROY LASITER sit upon their horses and gaze upon the cabin. Smoke comes from the chimney and curls away into the still chilly air. Troy has a thin, grey face. His teeth are uneven and black and his eyes dance all over the place. He has a moustache that is impeded by a scar he had sustained in a fight when he was fourteen. It has healed unevenly. DREW has long black hair that flows from beneath his hat. He is dressed in black with a long overcoat. He is a big man, starting to run to fat. The door opens and out comes CHARLIE BUCKER, dressed untidily with his gun in his hand. DREW and TROY ride up to the porch of the house.

 

CHARLIE

Morning boys. You’ve been out here a while now, I’d say. Heard your horses’ footsteps on the ground. Noise like that echoes as night. Goes through the ground. Heard them whinny too. Heard the bridles, the bits as they chewed on them. Heard one of you strike a match and your whispering. God help you boys if you ever need a place to hide. Sheriff would find you in fifteen seconds flat.

 

DREW

Well, we weren’t hiding and you won’t ever hear about no sheriff ‘cause it won’t happen.

 

TROY

True. Never happen.

 

CHARLIE

What do you want boys? Not that you ain’t welcome here, but I got coffee and eggs waiting.

 

DREW

Quite a place. You living the soft life now? Still got that ripe young lady in tow? Making an honest living?

 

CHARLIE

Comes a time...

 

DREW

Can we come in? I can smell coffee. You can trust us, Charlie. Besides, you still got that big old Colt if you need it. What was it you used to say?

 

CHARLIE

If you have to cock it, you have to mean it.

 

DREW

That’s it! Once you pulled that hammer back...

 

CHARLIE lifts his gun to show the boys. The hammer is back. DREW and TROY look nervously at the weapon and at CHARLIE. A light smile crosses CHARLIE’S lips.

 

CHARLIE

Okay. Coffee. State your business and then be on your way. If you’re nice to me I might even give you a bag of coffee for the journey. It’s good stuff.

 

TROY

Got any sugar?

 

CHARLIE

You figure you need sugar, with teeth like that?

 

TROY

Damage is done. Lost two when I lost my lip.

 

CHARLIE turns and walks through the door. TROY and DREW dismount and follow.

 

 

3. INT. THE CABIN EARLY MORNING

 

The cabin has a couple of rooms, an oven a couple of chairs at a table and two chairs for sitting by the fire - early morning. It is a simple home.

 

A young woman, Mary, looks on suspiciously as TROY and DREW enter after CHARLIE. She is cooking eggs. Charlie gestures surreptitiously at Mary to leave. She leaves the eggs, picks up some washing and takes it wordlessly outside. TROY’S and DREW’S eyes look about the place. It is as if their gazes are following Mary out. The door is left open.

 

CHARLIE

Eyes on me, boys. That’s the last time I say it. All this...

 

he gestures towards Mary and around the room as she takes the washing outside

 

CHARLIE

...is nothing to do with you.

 

DREW takes one last lingering look, apparently at Mary.

 

DREW

It’s been a while, Charlie. We’ve been tramping. Long time since we saw anything this sweet.

 

CHARLIE invites them to sit. They sit at the table. CHARLIE puts coffee before each of them. TROY takes out a flask and puts a finger of the contents into his coffee. He offers it round and is declined.

 

CHARLIE

The last thing I saw of you two boys was your backs as you fled the carnage at Wombwell.

 

Flashback to Wombwell robbery. Gunshots. Smoke. Screams.

 

CHARLIE sits and lays his gun upon the table, within easy reach. He takes out a pouch of tobacco and some papers and starts to roll a cigarette.

 

DREW

And for that we apologise. We both thought you was dead. There didn’t seem to be much point sticking around.

 

CHARLIE

The point is I wasn’t dead, Drew.

 

DREW

We were not aware of that, were we, Troy.

 

TROY

Not aware.

 

CHARLIE grunts non-committally and finishes off rolling his cigarette.

 

CHARLIE

Troy, you have no voice of your own. You are a parrot, that is all. I never knew you to have a valid opinion of your own. Now, don’t get mad, Troy. There’s nothing essentially wrong with that, but it does kind of grate on me after a while, the way you have to sit there repeating what he says like some distant echo. (to DREW) State your business, Drew.

 

CHARLIE picks up his gun, goes and gets some eggs out of the pan, throws them upon a plate, sits back down with the gun back on the table and begins to eat with a spoon. TROY and DREW look greedily at the eggs.

 

DREW

You know Kendray?

 

CHARLIE

(eating)

Across the border? The Arizona Kendray?

 

DREW

That’s the one.

 

CHARLIE

Sure. Go on.

 

DREW reaches inside a pocket and brings out a roughly folded piece of paper. He opens it out and lays it on the table before CHARLIE. CHARLIE does not touch it; he barely regards it. He raises his eyes as a cue for DREW to explain.

 

DREW

That is an accurate representation of the bank at Kendray.

 

CHARLIE

How do you know?

 

DREW

What?

 

CHARLIE

How...do...you...know?

 

DREW

I have it on good authority...

 

CHARLIE

On whose good authority, Drew? On whose authority do you have it that this is a good enough representation of the bank in the town of Kendray, Arizona, that I might risk my life trying to empty its safe?

 

DREW

I know someone...

 

CHARLIE suddenly stands with such vigour that his chair falls to the floor behind him. He picks up his pistol, walks around to DREW and holds the gun to his head.

 

CHARLIE

(voice raised)

On whose authority, Drew? (he holds DREW’S head tightly so that he cannot turn away) On whose authority? Do you trust him as much as you trust me right now not to pull this trigger? The hammer’s back. You and I both know what that means. (pushes the gun into the side of DREW’S head) On whose authority, Drew?

 

MARY appears at the door. TROY stares at DREW and CHARLIE, transfixed by the situation.

 

MARY

Charlie!

 

She goes to stand next to CHARLIE. She is calm and authoritative

 

MARY

This is our home. If you have to shoot this man, take him outside.

 

CHARLIE

I will do it, Drew! I will take you outside and shoot you like an infected dog if I have to.

 

DREW’s and TROY’s eyes fall nervously upon the gun. There is a palpable tension in the air. It could go either way. TROY suddenly bursts into laughter.

 

TROY

Shit! I can’t believe that. I can’t believe he swapped a spoon for a gun so damn fast! He moved across here like a goddam ghost! Said he would take you outside like he just didn’t want your mess in here.

 

MARY wordlessly grabs another armful of damp laundry, steps outside and starts to put it out to dry. CHARLIE removes the gun from DREW’S head and releases the hammer. DREW lets out a silent sigh of relief. CHARLIE sits back down and returns to his coffee and lights his cigarette.

 

CHARLIE

On whose authority, Drew? I need to know. If I am to trust you, I need to know. If I am to put my wellbeing into the hands of a stranger, I need to know. (pause) Well?

 

DREW

(beat)

Okay. Fine. But I swore secrecy on this so there would be no comeback on the man. You have to keep this to yourself.

 

CHARLIE

(crossing his heart)

So long as it’s reliable...

 

DREW

Oh, it is. It came from my cousin, Barret Lacky…

 

CHARLIE

I know Barrett...

 

DREW

Well, he worked for that bank for the best part of five years. He got fired...

 

CHARLIE

What for?

 

DREW

What for?

 

CHARLIE

Yes, Drew. What for?

 

DREW

There was this stuck up old lady came in the bank one day. She was a regular, wealthy, thought she owned the place and all the souls in it. Anyways, she comes in with a bug up her ass, angry at something or someone of no consequence to anybody but her and accused Barrett of stealing from her. Barrett called her a lying fucking bitch and was fired on the spot. He never stole a damned thing. Turns out someone was stealing from her, but it wasn’t him.

 

CHARLIE

How long ago did this happen?

 

DREW

About a year. Maybe just over.

 

CHARLIE

What’s Barrett doing now?

 

DREW

Well, no one would employ him for a while, on account they thought he was a thief, but once they’d caught the son of a bitch who had been doing the stealing, he found himself a job in a store, serving that old bitch whenever she comes in and don’t have the decency to apologise. Bank manager comes in, same shit. I was out that way and dropped in on him and he told me this tale and how he’d like to shoot both of them and I put the idea to him that maybe there was another way to get his own back.

 

CHARLIE

So there’s some distance between his being fired and today?

 

DREW

Absolutely. He’s never said a thing out of place to either of them, never even gave them the beady eye.

 

CHARLIE

What does he want out of this?

 

DREW

Ten percent.

 

CHARLIE

Ten percent of what?

 

DREW

About forty-five thousand. Maybe more.

 

CHARLIE

Dollars?

 

DREW

No, pesos! Of course, dollars!

 

TROY

(laughing)

Pesos!

 

CHARLIE

That’s ridiculous!

 

DREW

Not so.

 

TROY

Not so.

 

CHARLIE

How is that possible? All that money in one place...?

 

DREW

By the grace of God, Charlie. By the grace of God. For wasn’t it Him that put all that copper in the ground and all that gold and all that silver? And wasn’t it Him that put Kendray right smack bang in the middle of that beautiful rich triangle so that Kendray’s bank just got bigger and bigger and fuller and fuller until it started sucking in money like a goddam tornado?

 

CHARLIE

And the law? That place has to be like a bees’ nest, all that honey.

 

DREW takes out another map and lays it in front of CHARLIE.

 

DREW

The Sheriff’s office is across the street. There are two sheriffs, one per shift, six am to six pm and so on. There are six deputies on duty at any one time. The whole street is lined with various businesses and is rarely empty during the day.

 

CHARLIE

And the bank?

 

DREW

The bank has two security guards. One of them is stationed in a small booth with a peep hole. The booth has a metal lining of some sort. Any trouble, he sticks his gun out and starts firing.

 

CHARLIE

That’s a trifle risky with members of the public passing through.

 

DREW

It would seem that they value their money more than they value their lives.

 

CHARLIE

Rich folk! They don’t know the value of any damned thing. And the safe?

 

DREW

The manager has the key. If for some reason he fails to produce it, Troy here will dismantle it with some strategically placed explosive.

 

CHARLIE

(to TROY)

I knew there was a reason you were here, Troy. I thought it might be because you figured I liked to look at your horse’s ass as you ran away.

 

TROY

Nope.

 

CHARLIE

Where’d you learn to use explosives?

 

TROY

I have worked some on the railroad.

 

CHARLIE

We’re not planning to build a tunnel, Troy. I’ve seen what that stuff can do. You underestimate it and you’re as likely to lose your head as you are to remove a safe door.

 

TROY

I know what I’m doing.

 

CHARLIE

Well, I hope so. I don’t want to see my limbs hit the ceiling the second before I meet eternity.

 

DREW

So, what do you say, Charlie? Are you in?

 

CHARLIE

I don’t know. It’s big money, but it’s also big risk. Why can’t you two do it alone? Or with someone else, come to that?

 

DREW

Can’t do it with two. Not with the guards and the public to watch.

 

CHARLIE

So, why me? After what happened last time, you took an awful risk coming to find me. Up to a couple of months ago I would gladly have shot you upon sight. I confess, I still feel somewhat tempted.

 

DREW

Your share would be anything from thirteen and a half thousand up. That would set you up for life; buy you a farm, some cattle or horses, whatever. I figured you weren’t too proud to turn that down…

 

CHARLIE

You could apply that reasoning to anyone, from the meanest to the highest. Answer the question. Why me?

 

TROY and DREW look sheepishly at each other. CHARLIE slams his hand down on the table.

 

CHARLIE

C’mon, boys! Speak up! Spit it out, dammit. You look at each other much longer you’re going to have to kiss, I swear.

 

DREW

Okay. I’ll tell you why. I’ll tell you what we discussed, so long as you give me your word that you don’t take offence at our reasoning.

 

CHARLIE

Christ Almighty! If I haven’t shot you both by now, I’d say you’re on pretty safe ground. Wouldn’t you?

 

DREW

I guess so.

 

CHARLIE

Then get on with it.

 

DREW

Well, Charlie, the truth is, you’re just plain mean.

 

TROY

Plain mean.

 

CHARLIE

Well, that’s a grand statement coming from two such as you. I would be inclined to say that shooting indiscriminately at a bunch of innocent people as you did in Wombwell,

 

Flashback to Wombwell robbery. Gunshots. Smoke. Screams.

 

CHARLIE

killing assorted people, including a lady, was in itself a pretty mean thing to do. Not to mention leaving town like fleas off a dying rat, regardless of who you left behind.

 

DREW

That’s just it, Charlie. We confess, we are sneaky mean...

 

TROY

That we are.

 

DREW

But we don’t have your cool head.

 

CHARLIE

No shit!

 

DREW

Uhuh. We need a leader.

 

CHARLIE

Well, you had a leader before I seem to recall and you left him staring at a dead woman with her left tit blown half off!

 

DREW

We were not overly aware of the damage left in our wake such was the haste of our withdrawal. We cannot deny that we left chaos behind us and we both feel ashamed.

 

TROY

We do. Deeply.

 

DREW

But you cannot deny you took your share that day. You are as much a widow-maker as either of us.

 

TROY

Indeed, you are.

 

CHARLIE regards them through narrowed eyes, gets up and goes to the window. He looks at MARY as she hangs out the clothes to dry. She looks beautiful, almost transparent, as the early sun falls upon her.

 

CHARLIE

Come back tomorrow.

 

TROY and DREW stare at him as if they haven’t heard correctly.

 

CHARLIE

Go on, now. Come back tomorrow. Early. I’ll have an answer for you then.

 

4. EXT. A FIELD - DAY

 

CHARLIE and MARY are in a field, the sun having crossed its zenith and now back on its way down. It is all shadows and gold. They have a blanket and some food and a couple of bottles of beer. CHARLIE has his head upon MARY’S lap. It is a peaceful, harmonious scene.

 

MARY

I don’t like them and I don’t trust them. Especially that Troy. He looks like a rat.

 

CHARLIE

I don’t trust them either, Mary. They have no kind of honesty about them. Never have.

 

MARY

Then you must say no. You must say no and send them on their way.

 

CHARLIE

Which thought was my first instinct. Tell me, Mary. What will we be in five years? In ten? In twenty? Can you tell me that? What do you...want from all this?

 

MARY

(laughs quizzically)

What do I want? I have what I want. We have a place built by our own two hands. I have food, a roof, a man I love, peace and quiet, a place of safety, away from temptation, away from the bruising of the world...

 

CHARLIE

Is that it? Is that the peak of your ambition, Mary? The smallness of your dreams?

 

MARY

I don’t see them as small, Charlie.

 

CHARLIE

And what happens when we grow old? When I can no longer make a stream and you are wrinkled, with hands of leather and a heart turned to wood by the constant fight to eke out a living on this earth? When we can no longer find the strength to even dream, let alone chop wood for the winter or scrape a living from the soil? What happens then? What happens when the loneliness finally falls like final night and all the one or other of us can do is wait for that final dawn? Just wait...

 

MARY

It won’t be like that...

 

CHARLIE

You know that for a fact? Isn’t that the way of things? A slow deterioration between now and then; a life less lived, topped off by a sad goodbye and a pine needle grave?

 

MARY

Where does this come from, Charlie. I thought you were happy...

 

CHARLIE

I don’t know what happy is, Mary. All I know is, there has to be something more than what there is and the only way to do that is to have money, to have experience, to try and take a little bit of the world with you when you go.

 

MARY

Is that what those two boys have done to you today? Have they turned you so inside out that you longer recognise who or what you are? Is everything we have so easily erased by ten minutes with two scum of the earth thieves?

 

CHARLIE

They are merely an awakening. I cannot go against my nature.

 

MARY

An awakening? What does that mean? That you have been lying all this time? That you never intended to stay? And as for your nature. I have seen nothing but a kind and gentle man this last year with you. And you have seemed, at the very least, content with me. I never had any sensation that you were so trapped, that this was no more than a period of hibernation before your awakening. Damn you, Charlie Bucker! Damn you for your hypocrisy and lies.

 

CHARLIE

I am damned, that is for sure. I always was. I have done things that have sealed my place in Hell. No. I have made up my mind. You must go, Mary.

 

MARY

Go? This is my home, Charlie.

 

CHARLIE

This is no home. This is a refuge, that is all; a place of sanctuary. You know true sanctuary lasted for only forty days? After that, you had to leave and, if you did not, those outside could come in to retrieve you. I think we have had out forty days, Mary. I am retrieved.

 

MARY

You talk as if you’ve made up your mind.

 

CHARLIE

I have to go.

 

MARY

But why?

 

CHARLIE

This...All this. It’s not me. In the end all I have to offer is harm. This is not what I am.

 

MARY

(tearfully)

You’re breaking my heart, Charlie.

 

CHARLIE

It’s not mine to break, Mary. Don’t you see that? People should never have that sort of power over each other. No one should have such a hold over the mind of another. Go. Find a peace that I can never propose. I have no more to offer you than this and it, we, will only diminish with the passing years.

 

MARY

It’s all I want, Charlie.

 

CHARLIE

Well, it’s not enough. Not for me.

 

MARY

So that’s it? I’ll just be...gone? And I can never come back?

 

CHARLIE

You will not be back.

 

5. INT. HOTEL ROOM IN KENDRAY – EVENING

 

DREW gazes out of the hotel room upon the busy Kendray streets. CHARLIE lays relaxed upon the bed while TROY sits in a bitten old armchair.

 

DREW

What do you think, Charlie?

 

CHARLIE

I think we can do it.

 

DREW

Think we need to take another look?

 

CHARLIE

I think three times is enough.

 

DREW

Tomorrow then.

 

CHARLIE

Tomorrow it is.

(to TROY)

Troy? You got your shit together?

 

TROY

Yes.

 

CHARLIE

You know not to use those explosives unless I say so, don’t you?

 

TROY

Yes.

 

CHARLIE

Then all we can do is wait.

(to himself)

 I don’t hear any birds. What kind of a man wants to live in a world without birds?

 

TROY

Say what?

 

CHARLIE

Nothing, Troy. Nothing at all.

 

6. INT. HOTEL ROOM IN KENDRAY, SOME HOURS LATER – NIGHT

 

DREW and TROY are trying to sleep, TROY in the armchair, DREW on the floor next to him. CHARLIE is pacing and has been for some hours, gesticulating at no one, arguing incoherently with himself.

 

CHARLIE

       (whispered, a rambling monologue)

I am you. You are me. Two into one or one into two, either way, it doesn’t fit. You can’t make something out of nothing then nothing comes of nothing. Once it’s gone it’s gone and you can’t hold onto something that isn’t there, not even in the wilderness and that’s a big place, big enough for dreams, for what once was, what might have been, to bring to life with the sharp edge of the mind or suffocate with the fracture of the heart...(he trails away)

 

DREW

Get some sleep can’t you, Charlie? We can’t rest for your constant pacing and murmuring.

 

TROY

You have to sleep, Charlie. You can’t murmur and pace all night.

 

FADE DOWN:

 

FADE UP:

 

CHARLIE is at last still and sits naked upon the window sill smoking. He is looking at the rising dawn as if it holds the answer to life itself and seems oblivious to anything outside of his own thoughts.

 

TROY

(to DREW)

Is he sane?

 

DREW

He is calm. I cannot vouch for his sanity. He is naked at the window, smoking a cigarette. More than this I cannot say.

 

CHARLIE

What are you boys whispering about?

 

DREW

Just wondering how you are is all. You didn’t seem to sleep much.

 

TROY

Not much at all.

 

CHARLIE

I’m fine. Are you fine, Drew? Troy? Are you both fine?

 

DREW

We are fine.

 

TROY

Fine indeed.

 

CHARLIE

Have you given any consideration to the events of the day ahead?

 

DREW

Not extra to yesterday, I confess. Should we have?

 

CHARLIE

No.

 

TROY

What were you thinking about, Charlie?

 

Flashback to Wombwell robbery. Gunshots. Smoke. Screams.

 

CHARLIE moves away from the window. He stands in the light of the window and appears as a shadow, a ghost, looming over TROY and DREW. He pulls a simple wooden chair up and sits astride it, opposite TROY and DREW. His face shows a man on the precipice of madness. There is a dangerous calm to CHARLIE. TROY and DREW look on in trepidation.

 

CHARLIE

I was thinking about how close to the animals we are. How our clothes and shaving and combing the hair are just a way to fool ourselves into thinking that we are better than them. How our reasoning sets us apart because it is more elevated, more discriminate, yet all it’s about is eating, fucking and death. That’s it. What does it all boil down to any more than those three things?

 

TROY

What about love?

 

DREW

Jesus, Troy!

 

CHARLIE

Why, Troy! An independent thought. I never saw you as one who would consider such a thing as love.

 

TROY

Well, why not? I need comfort as much as the next man.

 

CHARLIE

That’s my point, Troy. You need comfort. Each of us enters into a relationship not for the benefit of the other, but for the benefit of himself. Have you ever heard of a thing called altruism?

 

DREW

Altru what? Is this some sort of religion you caught, Charlie? Now is not the time to get religion. Not on the day you are to rob a bank.

 

CHARLIE

Have no fear, Drew, this is not about religion, although religion is all a part of it; all a part of the big lie. This is about truth and the truth is that there is no such thing as love, not in its purest sense anyhow. We fall in love why? Because we like the idea. Because it raises us above our base selves. To claim that there is more to us than there really is cuts us off from the animals. But the truth is that we pair up because it’s the safest thing to do. There’s safety in partnership. That’s why we’re together now, us three. Hell, I sure don’t love either of you, but it benefits me to have you by my side at this moment in time. Tomorrow, you may try to take my food and I will kill you, because that is what I need to do to survive. We have children to ensure our names live on. It’s about possession, about ownership, about power. We find comfort for ourselves, not for the other. In the end, it’s all about eating, fucking and death. It’s about me, me, me. All the rest is bullshit.

 

DREW

(uncertainly)

Okay.

 

CHARLIE

Now you take me and Mary. You take me and Mary. She fed me, she fucked me, she cleaned my clothes. She was pretty. Oh, my, she was pretty. You saw her. I saw you look at her. For a moment, just for the tiniest flash of time, you thought about how you could get her, take her away from me…

 

DREW

No, Charlie...

 

CHARLIE

It’s okay. It’s okay, Drew, because that’s what we do. And…and…and if you killed me, then you would take her and she would move on to you because you would then be the top dog and you could take care of her. Do you see what I’m saying, Drew? Do you? Self, self, self. That’s all it is. Animals, Drew. We’re all just animals. Eat, fuck, die. Eat, fuck and die.

 

7. INT. KENDRAY BANK – DAY

 

CHARLIE, TROY and DREW walk into the Kendray bank. DREW and TROY stay by the door. People mill about. It is quietly busy. CHARLIE goes to the booth with the guard hidden inside and without hesitation fires into the booth until his gun is empty. CHARLIE has killed the guard inside the protective booth. DREW and TROY’s weapons are drawn and they are panicked by Charlie’s unexpected assassination of the guard. The other guard goes for his gun and Troy shoots him. Now, both guards are dead. CHARLIE stands in the middle of the chaos, his arms raised in a triumphant pose.

 

CHARLIE

My name is Charlie Bucker. I am the sun.

 

8. EXT. OUTSIDE KENDRAY BANK – DAY

 

People run about in fear. The shots have been heard by lawmen and soon a crowd has gathered. DEPUTY SHERIFF MONROE is outside the bank and has taken charge of the situation. He has the other deputies around him, fanned out and aiming their weapons at the building. They are shouting at the crowd to move away. Women and children run away, some screaming. There is chaos.

 

MONROE

(shouting)

In the bank. This is Deputy Sheriff Monroe. Me and five other deputies have the building surrounded. I am asking you to give yourselves up. You cannot hope to get away. I can guarantee you a fair trial and protection until that time. C’mon now, boys...

 

9. INT. KENDRAY BANK – DAY

 

We can still hear the deputy trying to negotiate them out of the bank, but it is just background noise.

 

CHARLIE

Well, the cat is truly among the pigeons now.

 

He goes over to a large, late middle-aged bald man who is wearing a dark suit, looking decidedly uneasy and speaks to him. Charlie reloads his gun as he walks. TROY and DREW keep steady eyes on the other customers.

 

CHARLIE

I would not be hazarding too great a guess to assume that you are the manager of this bank, judging by your smart appearance and rather moist brow. Am I right?

 

The man does not answer. CHARLIE removes his hat and head-butts the man across the bridge of his nose. The man crumples to his knees. CHARLIE replaces his hat, goes down on his haunches next to the bent figure, cocks his gun and points it at the man. He talks into his ear.

 

CHARLIE

I ask again. Are you the manager?

 

The man nods.

 

CHARLIE

Progress. Give me the keys to the safe. Now.

 

The man does not move. CHARLIE shoots him in the elbow. The man screams and falls fully to the floor. Others within the bank scream in alarm. A man makes for the door. TROY shoots him. DREW panics as a woman goes towards the man and shoots her. Charlie waits for the noise to subside. There is some unintelligible shouting from outside, presumably the DEPUTY. CHARLIE looks daggers at TROY and DREW for losing control so easily.

 

CHARLIE

(to the manager)

Now, like most of us, I’m willing to bet that you are right-handed, which means that there is a fair-to-good chance that the keys are in your outside right jacket pocket. If they are not in your outside right jacket pocket, tell me now, for if I am forced to put my hand in that particular pocket and find nothing but lint and an aged mint, I will take a knee. And so it will go on. And on. Is the key in your outside right jacket pocket?

 

The man nods vigorously.

 

CHARLIE

Good.

 

CHARLIE fishes through the man’s pocket and finds the keys. He indicates to TROY and DREW to keep an eye out.

 

CUT TO:

 

CHARLIE jumps behind the counter and roots out some cloth bags. He empties the tills and then goes to open the safe.

 

CUT TO:

 

BLACK. Inside the safe. We hear keys in a lock. Light comes in as CHARLIE opens the safe door. We see CHARLIE inside the safe loading up the bags with cash. Once satisfied, he leaves. He shows no emotion.

 

CUT TO:

 

Main part of the bank. Once again, we hear keys and Charlie emerges from the door leading to the manager’s office, which in turn leads from the back of the counter. He has five full bags in his hands. He takes a ball of twine he has found and cuts some for himself. He then throws the twine to DREW along with a bag of money.

 

CHARLIE

Tie that to your belt, at the back, so it doesn’t get in the way. Troy,

 

He throws a bag of money to TROY

 

CHARLIE

you do the same. And ditch that dynamite. A bullet hits that it’ll blow us all to hell.  Hurry now. We don’t want to keep the deputy waiting.

 

They all tie the bags to their belts. CHARLIE surveys the damage. He shows no feelings, but there is perhaps a tinge of disgust about him, not for what they have done, but for the people to whom they have done it. They all finish tying, then reload their guns. CHARLIE picks up the guard’s gun, checks that it’s full, then crouches down and goes towards a window with a gun in each hand. He raises his head slowly and peeks out.

 

CHARLIE

On my word, boys...Get ready to spit some fire.

 

DREW and TROY exchange nervous glances. CHARLIE fires through the window.

 

CHARLIE’s POV:

 

We see a deputy fall. As the crowd realises what has happened, a panic ensues and the crowd runs haphazardly in an effort to get away. The deputies try to get through them and fire at the bank.

 

CHARLIE

Go!

 

 

10. EXT. OUTSIDE KENDRAY BANK – DAY

 

DEPUTY SHERIFF MONROE’s POV:

 

The bank doors are closed. People are still panicking, running in front of him and behind him in their efforts to get out of the way. He tries to brush them aside in order to have a clear field of view. Suddenly, the doors to the bank open. DREW, TROY and CHARLIE charge out firing. People fall dead and injured. The deputies fire back, but their shot is restricted by people. CHARLIE, TROY and DREW run behind the bank to where their horses are tethered. They fire blindly. More people fall. Shots reign down upon them to no effect. They disappear around the side of the bank.

 

 

CUT TO:

 

DREW, TROY and CHARLIE come to their horses, mount and ride like hell out of town, still firing at anybody who comes into their vision.

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