|
Sands of the Kalahari (1965)
From where can I make a long
distance telephone call, please? Can you ask over here? To all passengers to Johannesburg! A technical fault has delayed this flight until 9:00 hour tomorrow morning. Oh, God... Will all passengers in transit and those waiting to board SA flight 407 to Johannesburg come forward to the desk at the exit marked B. Yes, they're announcing it now. Can you hear? For the convenience of passengers arrangements for hotel accomodation have been made. Miss Monckton, please! Is it possible to speak with you? Sorry to disturb you, Miss Monckton. I am Dr. Bondarahkai. Perhaps you remember me from the plane? This is Mr. Grimmelman. We met downstairs in the lobby. And he has a contact with a private plane service. We are asking a few of the other passengers to help divide the cost, you understand? It is a very good two engine Beechcraft. It can take just four, in addition to its cargo. A very good pilot, he uses his own airstrip where the old airport was. If there are enough persons, the cost will not be great. With just two more people we'd make it practical, financially that is. You're on! When do we leave? Johannesburg, big city. Who wants to stay in this morgue? Right, Miss Monckton? Is it all right, or should I look for another? All right, I'll be ready in a few minutes. Hey! Are you The Southwest Airways? Yes, that's us, man. You want something? I heard back at the hotel you were taking off. You got room for one more? Yeah, climb on. I can manage one more easy. Here, I'll give you a hand. All right, Mr. O'Brien. Here, you sit here. We're a touch heavy, you know that. All that extra fuel and now this new geezer. Don't make a big case out of it. We've gone a lot heavier than this. Now stand your take-off course. What? That's a piece of woman there, I tell you man. These are beautiful rifles you possess, Mr. O'Brien Such workmanship, the mechanism, the balance, even the carving on the stock, beautiful, beautiful. Gentlemen, coffee? Very kind. Very kind. Mr. Grimmelman? Ja, that would be nice. Thank you. Mr. Bain, coffee? I think perhaps Mr. Bain has had sufficient liquid intake for the day. Mr. Bain will be the judge of that. Hey, man! Man, take a look at that. We're running into something. How long has that been on? She looks like one hell of a storm. It's covering the whole front. Yeah, without a cloud in the sky. I've been watching, I tell you, man. It just come on, up out of nowhere. Just climb a bit, it shouldn't be too much trouble. Man, look at that! That ain't dust. What is it? It's...I don't know... Yeah, it must be. Locusts, flying locusts. Miles of them. Pull it up man, pull up! Well what do you think I'm doing! Them bastards got the wrong ideas about where they're going. Hang on, man! We're gonna hit it. We're not gonna make it, man. Well try the filthers! You try them. There's 10.000 dead bugs in them. You find us a place to come down man because we're coming down. There, look. Over there. There's a flatland, there. Fasten in, we're coming down. Get out! Get out! My leg! Get it out! My leg! Get it out! My leg is... Help! No! It's gonna explode! - Yes. - Get out! O'Brien! O'Brien! C'mon, O'Brien! C'mon, man, it's going up... Hurry, Mr. Bain! Hurry! Mr.O'Brien, will you hold it! May the Lord have mercy on his soul. Amen. How far would you say? 50 miles? It's a hell of a walk, I can tell you that. Well this is about it. We gotta get moving now. Don't you think we ought to wait until nightfall before we start walking? Yes, perhaps by then our friend Mr. Bain would be a little bit more mobile also. Man, we got no shade here. 10 o'clock. It's primetime. - But, Mr. Bain... Look, it doesn't make any difference whether you're standing or walking. You're evaporating water so fast you can't even have time to see the sweat. What are you gonna replace it with? This? Maybe one man's ration for half a day. No, we go! No. I was gonna buy a new pack before I left but then I didn't. You take charge of this now. Come on! C'mon, Bain. On your feet! - What's wrong with him now? He can't seem to face life without knowing where his next cigarette is coming from. Yeah, I know this guy. He's been up in Congo building bridges. Kicked him out for boozing. He's burning up. His heart's going about 100 miles an hour. Must be sun stroke, sure. His leg looks pretty bad too. Frankly man, I don't know what to do. - I guess we're gonna have to carry him. Can we? Don't cry, Miss Monckton. It is a waist of good body moisture and precious salt. I've never heard it put so practically before. Are we going to die? - Well, I... I don't know. Perhaps we should go and look for them. Maybe I'll have another try. Baboon! What a terrible sound they make. Are they dangerous? - For us no, they are a good sign. If there are baboons on this mountain there's water too. But are they dangerous? - These? Chances are they've never even seen people before. So we would look very big and dangerous to them. And we have this. But if we didn't? Well, if a leopard goes for a full grown male baboon sometimes the leopard loses and if there's more than one usually he won't try. Well I hope they stay up there. Look! Hello! Hello! Get the water! Is it not possible for you to rest? I think the cold is killing him. Yeah, we can expect for temperature to drop 50, or even more degrees at night. I'm so afraid. I think he'll die. Put this over him. But you? I can sleep by the fire. Come on! Come on! Give me the knife, please. Tsamma melons. Oh, they're marvelous. Some Bushmen never drink, only from these melons. It's marvelous. I've never tasted anything so good. Not much of a food, I'm afraid but they have kept many creatures alive in the desert when there was nothing else. Beggars can't be choosers. C'mon! Get the benefit of it. The water is fine. Converted to water, Mr. Bain? All I want now is one cigarette and one dry martini. Make it two and I'll join you. You think they have used this cave recently? No no, the last humans in this cave lived hundreds of years ago. Actually I knew a Bushman when I was young Wonderful tiny men, under 5 foot, the best hunters in the world. Fantastic, when you think of it. Stone age humans living in a world that is already exploring space with rockets. If there are Bushmen about maybe we could make contact. Get them to lead us out. You're more likely to get a poisoned dart in your backside. Man, they're deadly. No no, they would avoid us. The only reason they live in the desert is because our kind, big people, black and white, drove them there. Oh, we did terrible things to the Bushmen and the Hottentots. Hunted them like vermin, used hunting dogs, poison, all of it just because they couldn't comprehend cattle and sheeps. They killed the stock, you see. Yeah look, first thing we got to do is lay in the food supply. Old man, you said there were more of them tsamma melons. Ja? Well, why don't you and him go and get some? Perhaps we bring back tuber roots. They are good to eat. I know many species. - Oh, good. Oh first thing, get our friend Bain in here. -Ja, ja. I saw some bird and animal tracks down by the waterhole. Let's see if I can bang some meat. Some real meat with real proteins. Oh man, you're talking! I saw those tracks. I reckon they're bustard bird. They taste like roast turkey. - I can't stand the thought of it! Miss Monckton, we're all hungry. So long! All right. Why don't you take this water can and bring some water up here. Who knows? You may be cooking soup later on. You think you can handle that, my dear? I've done some hard work in my time, Mr. Sturdevant. I think I can manage. You gave me a fright. You walk very silently. Yeah. I've done quite a few things already. It's just that I couldn't stand the feeling of sand on my scalp. It's a very pretty sight to watch a woman like you doing her hair. Yeah well... I have to get up and put this over the fire. Now, honey. Mr. Sturdevant, I really have to go. We don't know whether we're gonna live or gonna die. So I'm not gonna bandy words. You're a hell of a woman anywhere. And we are here and I want you. I'm the leader of this group. You all depend on me! And I'm claiming you for mine. I want you, you hear me? But I don't want you, Mr. Sturdevant. That's too bad. Because maybe you can use the "push'em off" technique back home, but not here your ladyship, not here. Mr. Bain! Mr. Bain! Scream. It's not gonna help you. You know what they say: relax and enjoy! No! No! Get off! You bad animal! No, don't hurt me. You can do anything you want, anything... That's more like it. You're just one of these hot little icebergs, aren't you. You just need a bit of a rough handling at first. Oh, you're going cold on me. What are you crying for? Don't tell me you don't feel anything. Oh, you little... - No! Don't hurt me. You can do anything you want, anything... Not that way. I don't want you that way. You fought me and loved me, but don't come on all crying and throbbing like that. I'm sorry. You cold bitch, you disgust me. You're up and around, huh? You've been standing there for a while? I think maybe you ought to get off your feet again, you don't look all that good. I've made up my mind. I think one good man ought to walk out of here and get help. And who would that be? I'm the only one who's got the strength and knowledge for it. If I take two water tins I could go ten days with that much water. If I head west toward the coast I think maybe I ought to hit a railway line, a main watercourse or maybe a village...Something. Otherwise I tell you, man none of us are ever gonna get out of here. Yeah, you could be right. Excuse me. Now: walk at night, follow the riverbeds and if you can lit fire at some high spots. Have you got plenty matches? - Stop worrying now, I'll make it. You're a brave man, Mr. Sturdevant. Very brave. Here you are. No, I can't take the shirt off a man's back. You'll need it at night. And at daytime it will save evaporation. So long, Dutchman. Good luck. And I'll hand you back your rifle in person. Clean. Now don't you worry about it. Just shoot straight. Perhaps this is what people did before television. They stared at fires. One advantage of the cave life and the stone age: no commercials. But does it outweigh the disadvantages? We're not quite living in the stone age, do we. I keep getting hallucinations of big juicy steaks sizzling and smoking. Like I said, no commercials. Look at us. All of us. Victims of civilization. I wonder are we only lost now here in the desert or were we already lost in a different way in our own lives? Well I admit I've been a little confused in these last few years. What about the baboons? - What about them? - Are they edible? Eat a baboon? Of course, you could eat monkeys. But these are too humanlike. That would make me feel like a cannibal. What do they eat? - Anything and everything. Vegetation, insects, even scorpions. Do they eat those melons and cucumbers and tubers you showed us. Yes, all of these. And many things we can't. They are better adapted than we are. - The hell they are! We're smarter and tougher. - In what way tougher? I've got a gun and they haven't. They don't need guns. - They do now. Baboons with guns. That's a picture. That's not so funny, because I'm gonna wipe them all out. You would eat the meat from baboons? - No, but I'm gonna shoot them all. If they eat what we eat, they are our competitors. You don't wanna die here because some baboon ate what you could've eaten, do you? The baboons would probably agree with your attitude, Mr O'Brien. In this article I read it says the baboons are very warlike, they kill any rival without mercy. And they have a system of complete totalitarianism. There is a leader, the king, an absolute monarch. He gets the first choice of all the food and the females. And he can only be deposed if he is defeated by a younger and stronger challeneger. Come to think of it, human beings are perhaps also not too much different sometimes. Anyhow, you can't wipe them out, they are too intelligent, too fast. Once they see you can shoot them at long distance they will keep out of range. You will only exhaust yourself. There is a German farmwoman out here who uses one for a shepherd. Their intelligence is almost human. One of the Gods of the Egyptians was a baboon. You wouldn't want to kill a God, would you, O'Brien? I suggest we save our energy and our ammunition. It's not our ammunition, it's my ammunition. Oh hell, I'm going to sleep. He's obsessed. I have never seen anyone with such a hunting instinct. I think he's the only one of us who really belongs here. You are attracted to him? Forgive me, but you are the only woman here and I would not like to see difficulties start. Difficulties? Miss Monckton, I am an old man who appreciates how strong human desire can be. I am only thinking what might happen among the others. You can divide a melon or a lizard but let me play the role of the wise king Solomon: I must say it's impossible to divide a woman four ways. You understand? Bain! Bain! Bain! Mr. Bain, are you asleep? Are you all right? No, I'm not asleep. I'm sorry to disturb you but something wonderful has just happened. Look! You caught a lizard? - Yes! Yes, my first. My first contribution to the food supply. It was a trap. I made a trap. It was just an experiment, an idea I had from an article: the deadfall principle. And it worked. Sorry, Mr. Bain. I thought you might be interested in what I have done. Doctor. No, I'm sorry. I haven't been feeling too good. I think what you did was great. - No, no. It was thoughtless of me. I realize your problem, Mr. Bain. It must be difficult. One should never have to depend on other people too much. I know. Well I better tell Mr. Grimmelman about it. He must always be kept informed so that he can pull our resources, you know? We had a great dane on the farm. He used to come out of the water the same way as you do. Any luck? - No. I killed one of those apes but they're getting too damn smart. Mike Bain found an upper cave with some skeletons and things in it. Don't go. I'm sorry. Oh... Is there a reason for that? Accomodation, Miss Monckton. You wanted me to. I suppose I did in a way. I haven't been kissed by a man with a three day's growth before. O'Brien. Do you want me? I'm touching you. I mean, do you like me? I think I'm in love with you. You want me more than you want anything? - Yes. The truth. Do you love me? No. A little bit? Don't be silly, Miss Monckton. O'Brien. Please, I want you to understand. You know something, you talk too much. You don't want just anyone, is it? It's me. Tell me you want me. Not anymore, Miss Monckton. You want what I haven't got and I've already got you. With these ostrich shells we can create water stations like the Bushmen used to do. Let us say that Dr. Bondarahkai here and Bain walk with as many water-filled shells as they can carry. They walk all night. Bain buries his hold, marking it of course. Next night they move on and do the same with the remaining water. They return here, having left two water stations. They rest a few days and set off again with more shells of water. But this time they walk without using any of the supply they carry. They drink from the stations they have already created. Eventually we could have a whole line of stations and we could walk for days, finding shells with water and even food at the end of each night's march. We might come upon a village or a road. But even if we did not find our way out we could extend our range for hunting. Once we get beyond this sand country, it will change. It may seem just as dry but there will be trees, grass or waterhole perhaps for game. There they are. You two move over that way. I'll try to move around right in front of them. And stay hidden up wind. If they move out too soon stand up and show yourselves. Try to drive them on towards me. That's all I want, is one good shot. Do you hear? Just one good shot! Hey, hey... I wonder... - Sssshhh! I think they got our scent. C'mon. Dammit. Damn you. What happened? What do you mean, what happened? It jammed. Damn sand in the mechanism... It must have been you when you carried it. Not true, I never set it down. Why you dirty lying buzzard. You told me you knew about guns. I shouldn't have given it to you. No, I didn't mean it. It was an accident. Leave him alone, O'Brien. Be sensible. How could you have missed? I don't know. We probably moved too soon and they took off like jets. No. They picked up your scent. You got that one shot you asked for and you missed. I don't know how I could have missed him. I had him dead under my sight. Wait, wait. Look. I think he's wounded. He's wounded! I knew I couldn't have missed him. I did wound him! Can you get the gun working? - No. We haven't got time. Look at there, blood. I knew I hit him. What are we gonna do? - We're gonna kill it. I'm gonna kill it with this. C'mon, let's go. And for God's sake, don't let him get away. Watch out for the horns, they're sharp as swords. I see he's wounded but holding up. All right surround him! Spread out, go on. Move, spread out! All right, now! - Now! I feel absolutely sick... It's wonderful. I know what you mean. If you ask me, it was like a blood transfusion. Ja. That's it. Exactly! I'm sorry. I behaved like a schoolgirl the other day. I accept your apology, Miss Monckton. I do want you, but I don't like those cat and mouse games. Won't happen again. It better not. Hello there, man! Where did you come from? You want a drink? I'm gonna fill my old pal up with with water, Bushman style. Have a drink. C'mon. C'mon, don't just stand there. You're a good sign, aren't you. I must be near something. Or are you lost too? Hey, you come a couple of days sooner man, you could've had some turtle soup. Oh God! What's happening to me? Now I'm wondering what donkey soup tastes like. No, forget it. You forget it, man. We'll talk about it later. I think you and me are going to be very useful to each other, old donkey. C'mon, man. Man, am I glad to see you! - Take it easy now! I can't believe it! I can't believe it! Hey, what is this? - What did you do with them? Did you hide them? Bury them somewhere? I don't know what you're talking about. Oh, the gun? No, we're not talking about the gun, fella. Diamonds! Diamonds...What you... I see, you don't want to rescue me, you want to arrest me. Arrest me! - I don't want to arrest you! I just want to have a little chat with you. Regular police can arrest you. What I want to know is who you're working with? How you contact them. What you picked up. That's it if you've picked up anything. Listen to this, man, because I can't say it twice. I didn't know this was a diamond area. My name is Sturdevant. I come from Windhoek. My plane come down inland. Oh, hundreds of miles I guess, but I walked anyway. Now listen! There are five people back there, on a black mountain in a pure sand desert. They're starving to death. I walked all the way across the desert. All the way! All the way? He walked all the way from the interior. Yes! I walked! Man, you're talking to somebody who knows this desert. You should have thought of a better story than that. Then you tell me how did I get here. Like this! You tell us. We've had them dropping by plane. By gliders. They've been even swimming under the water. Maybe your fellas didn't pick you up on time. Maybe you lost contact with them. Whatever the reason, that's your bad luck. There are five people back there! They're starving to death. Maybe they're dead now. My plane come down! My plane... - Oh, down with you, you lying dog! If you don't tell me I'll work it out of you. You hear me? Well, have you had your fill? I feel strong once more. All right, let's go. Say, would you do me a favor? I've strained my right shoulder. Would you carry my shells? Pleasure. I feel fine. I think I can manage that easily. All right, up we go. O'Brien... - You got all the water shells now. You're on your own. -I don't underst... Oh, your shoulder! - My shoulder's all right. No, you're gonna be a brave man like Sturdevant was. You're gonna cross that desert, find some help and send them back for us. You're not serious. Oh, I am serious. I can't do that. When these shells are empty I'm done for. I've heard what Grimmelman said about the desert. It boils your brains out. I won't do it. Don't take off that pack or I'll put a hole through you and leave you for the buzzards. I don't think you will. Well don't you try me. But this is pointless. There is enough water for both of us to go on together. Listen, doctor. You're a big man in the UN, a social worker. You know what overpopulation is, don't you? Well that's what we've got back there. Overpopulation. Too many people. There's not enough food and it's running short. Now somebody's gotta go for help. - But we discussed this. We decided that nobody should try it alone. I can't send Bain, he's got a bad leg. Grimmelman is too damn old and I can't go, I'm the provider. You don't think I could send a girl, do you? No. You've been elected. Don't do this to me, O'Brien. How will I eat? What can I kill with my bare hands? You'll do just what you've been doing around here. Look for melons and kill some lizards. All right now. I've set my teeth. Are you too stupid to understand me or do you want to do it my way? Who gives you the right to decide? The gun? - That's right. And the ability to kill with it. You're sending me to my death, it's murder! It's murder if you don't make it. If you do, you're gonna be a big hero. If I come back it will be with my own gun. You will see what it means to be forced against your will. That's right, you get mad. You keep walking and thinking how you're gonna come back here and get me. You survive and come back and get revenge. Now pick up that sack and go! Go on! O'Brien. I didn't want to wake you. I wasn't asleep. I don't think I ever really sleep when you go. I've got some bad news. The doctor didn't come back with me. What? I said the doctor didn't come back with me. He started shouting that he was gonna find a way out of here. That he wanted to save us all. I tried to hold him back but he went completely mad. He picked up a rock to bash me in the head with and started fighting with me. Couldn't you do anything? I tried to stop him but he went out of his head. No. I can't sleep now, I'm all churned up inside. O'Brien, stay with me. No, I want to be alone. I gotta walk it off. Wake up, I'm here! I'm gonna get you! So that's where you've been. - Why should I have been somewhere else? You happen to have a spare hand? Where are they going? The plane. They must be leaving early. The plane? Oh, you weren't there. They decided to go this morning. What for? O'Brien said they didn't search it properly. Maybe they'll find some tools or something useful. They said they might even go on a bit to see if they could find any signs of Sturdevant. Two down and three to go. What? Well Sturdevant and Bondarahkai, they've gone, haven't they. That leaves the three of us. Isn't it always the same, only one left in the end? This isn't a competition. We're not competing for survival. I think we make a marvelous team. - You really think so? You thought out the situation completely? What if those two people never came back? That would just leave you and me. Would you like it that way? What a horrible thing to say! - Not at all. It's a matter of life and death, isn't it? When you down the case, it's live or not live. I don't know what Bondarahkai had in mind but he wasn't the kind of person to go off into the desert alone. He wasn't that brave. Something happened to him. He cracked up. He was the sanest of the lot. And why the hell didn't O'Brien stop him? He tried. What could he do? Knock him out and bring him back over his shoulders? - Yeah, why not? And what's the point of visiting a burned out wreck in the middle of the desert? Sturdevant already went that way and nobody has seen him since. What the hell is the point? - What do you mean? I don't understand what you're trying to say. All I'm saying is I'm gonna find out what's going on around here. I'm sick of being the only stupid... I'm dead sick! Where are you going? What are you gonna do? You never know. They might find some gold bricks in the cockpit of the plane. They'll want some help to bring them back, won't they. What do you think? I've seen it look worse then this and disperse. You pray for it to come and then it goes away. Anyhow, I think we find what we can and then get back. I thought you were tired and wanted to stay over. At my age I never feel any other way. But perhaps you are right. The walk was very strenuous. Sometimes I think it is terrible to get old. Grimmelman, do you ever think about the horizont? How do we know that just beyond our line of vision we might come across that help we've been looking for? Maybe no more than another day's march from here. Sturdevant walked back this way. He would've let us know if there was something out there. He went due west. How about southwest or northwest? I'd say it's worth a try. At least he knew the desert, at least he stood a chance. But the doctor! Hopeless. Even you. I don't think you should even consider trying it. No I wasn't thinking about me. You were thinking of sending somebody else? That's right. I wondered about Dr. Bondarahkai. Did he really decide to go himself or did you also send him. No I asked him to go. With this? You asked him to go with this pointing at his belly? Is that why he went? No we discussed it. I'm sure that helped convince him. You discussed it? Like you were discussing it with me? That's right. - O'Brien! Once under the command of the superior officer in the German army I took three Russian prisoners of war tied their hands behind their back, put them on the ground and shot them through their heads. Supplies were short, you see, so why try to keep the enemy alive? All my life I and many more of my people took orders from your kind commiting sins for them, murders for them. So I know just how your mind works. I was useful to you in the beginning, when you needed my knowledge. But now what does the old man do? He eats more than he brings in. I had a feeling, when you did not bring Bondarahkai back. I've seen your kind in action too many times, O'Brien. The survivalist. Your survival above everybody else's. That's right and why not. Now can I have my rifle. - You will only get one part of this rifle. The bullet. If I'm everything you say I am, do you think I'd let a worn out old goat like you disarm me? What makes you think there's a bullet in there or that it's loaded? You are a liar! I saw you load it. If you would've watched more carefully, you would have seen me unload. No. I thought that if I gave you a chance at that rifle you would take it. And you did. - Stand back! I will kill you, with pleasure. I've heard too many high and mighty lectures from your kind but I've always wondered what you'd do if you had a weapon in your hand. And now I know. You'd do the same thing as me. You'd shoot. In self-defense only. - That's the same thing! Every man has his own ideas on what defending himself is. It's like two countries going to war. No, if you were half the saint that you pretend to be and you didn't use that rifle then I might have reconsider sending you off. Now it's too late. Astonishing! Underneath all of that there is a conscience. Not all that much. Not enough to save you. Now are you gonna give me my rifle, or do I have to take it from you? It's not loaded. Open the breech and take a look. I'm not falling for such obvious tricks. All right then, pull the trigger. Go on, pull it! You did, huh? You're just like your kind! Murderers! Come on down, Bain! Don't be so unfriendly. Please stop. Please. Come back! Thank you. Thank you. No. No please. No, wait. Stop! Stop! Stop. I'm lost. I want you to help me please. Take me with you to help. Please, take me with you to help. What do you want? Hold me. Crawl in. I'm frightened, O'Brien. I don't want to die out here all alone. Like the others. I don't believe you. - You think I made it up? Because I'm jealous, because I'm cracking up? That's the truth of it. I'm telling you that your man O'Brien has about as much respect for human life when his own is at stake as a two-tailed scorpion. Even if that's true what do you expect me to do? Well first, your own safety could be at stake. And second I believe that you care. I mean, what's right makes a difference to you. What about Grimmelman? What? - Grimmelman! Why didn't Grimmelman come back here? He collapsed. Had a heart attack. And then I appeared and volunteered to go out looking for help just like Dr. Bondarahkai was supposed to have done. No, you never came at all. Oh, that's even better. Well my dear lady you put love before truth. Don't speak like that to me. Should I take you out to that plane dig out Grimmelman's rotting corpse and show you? That would do it for the coroner and the jury. It may have been a heart attack but it was helped by a savage brutal attack by human fists. Your lover's not only a murderer, he's an expert. I can't go against him. I don't believe that. I may be the ubiquitous sucker, but I believe that when you Grace Monckton know the truth, really know the truth then you'll also know what to do. Like what? Help me get that rifle from him. Or just let me get it. Stay out of it until then. So you can kill him? Oh my.. I'm tryin to show you the difference between an O'Brien and me. Maybe I'd want to kill him if I had that rifle. But I'm not a self-appointed executioner. You understand me? I put out some traps down at the pit. It's not much, but at least I saved ammunition. That's something. We'll be all right. Today I was thinking if the rain comes we'd be better off if we had more firewood in the shelter. I tell you what, I'll take you out this afternoon and we'll gather some. How would you like that? O'Brien. - Yes? I can't help thinking about Grimmelman. He was such a marvelous old man. Are you sure you told me everything about the way he died? - Yes! Mike Bain's in there. Bain! Do yourself a favor and come out of there. You're gonna force me to come and shoot. Why don't you tell her the truth, O'Brien? He said you abandoned him in the desert, threatened to shoot him if he came back. A man in his condition is dangerous. I've gotta stop him. But O'Brien, you don't have to shoot. I can't afford and let him hurt me. Not under the conditions like that. I've gotta protect the both of us. What are you doing, O'Brien? Making out excuses to kill me? Just tell her the truth. You've been in the sun too long Bain, you're out of your head. Now come out of there! - O'Brien! O'Brien, you're trying to kill him! Bain, be careful with my rifle. If anything happens to that we'll all starve. That's a new tune. You're suddenly concerned for all of us. This is your war. Bain, put that rifle down. What makes you think you can give me orders? There, I'm clean. Are you satisfied? Oh man, you certainly got a love affair with this gun. Grace! There's some cartridges in the shelf. Load this and protect yourself. I don't need a rifle to get you, Bain. I told you not to come back here, didn't I? Give me that rifle. I see. A gun makes the king, and the king gets the girl, huh? You've got a one-track mind, O'Brien. Thank God the whole human race doesn't think like you. Or don't they? You know Bain, this pit is not gonna hold me. I think it will. I haven't even seen a lizard get out of here. Oh, so you're the judge and jury all rolled in one, are you? Hey, Bain! Hey, Bain! I wanna make a deal. Too late. It's cash. None of us expect to stay here forever, now do we? And I can pay a lot of money for something I want. Well I wanna buy that ladder. I don't trust you. And that's your last word, huh? That's right. Fair warning then, because I'm gonna get out of this hole, Bain and come nighttime. I'm gonna come looking for you. You hear? - Yeah, I expect you to try. I'm getting out of here, Bain! I'm getting out Bain and I'm gonna come looking for you. Do you hear, Bain? I'm gonna come looking for you. I'm getting out, Bain! And I'm gonna come and get you! Are there any more of these? Does he keep a supply anywhere else? I don't know. Grace! Grace! Grace! Grace, come here! You don't understand. Has he taken my place now? Is he your lover? No, I swear. Well then, why? Why? What can I do? That's easy. Get the ladder and pass it down to me. Go on! That's my girl. Now lower it down. I'll protect you. Don't worry. We'll find a way out of here. You believe me, don't you. You killed him. Lower down the ladder. That old man, you battered him to death. - I told you it was an accident. He came at me with a gun. No. You kill everything. You just kill. Kill! - Grace! Grace, don't go! Grace, come back! Grace, Bain, help! Grace! Grace, get me out of here! Grace, Bain, help! Mike! He's calling, he needs help! The pit could be filling, he could drown. All right. But keep me covered with this rifle. And shoot him if necessary, you understand that? - Yes, yes! Oh, God! We just left him there. A man like O'Brien doesn't drown that easily. O'Brien! O'Brien! If he comes back he'll kill us both, you know that, don't you? O'Brien! I'm going up there after him. This is a war of nerves. And he's winning. He must be using that old baboon den to live in. That's what he wants. You to go up there after him. He might just get his way. Grace! Grace! Grace! O'Brien! O'Brien! O'Brien! You have half an hour. They can't wait longer. O'Brien! O'Brien! So there you are. You're the big one, huh? Okay, boss. Come and try. Come! Go on! |
|