Two Winters Past

EXT. ROAD. AFTERNOON.

We are in the driveway of the house where BLYTHE hid the motorcycle. It can be seen obscured on the right side of the frame.

Enter BLYTHE. He pulls aside the brush and withdraws the motorcycle. He takes a moment to walk around and admire the bike.

INTERCUT closeups of the motorcycle as BLYTHE circles.

BLYTHE jumpstarts the motorcycle and rides off.

Riding montage down long country roads.

Trees are still bare from winter, but blossoms are forming, but grass and underbrush have started to grow back.

We pass wide properties with ancient farmhouses or rusty trailers.

We pass only a few cars on the road, stopped where they drove when the power went away. Most are parked in the driveways of abandoned houses.

Two men are chopping logs at a clearing ahead.

Closeup to reveal TIM and CODY. They wear the black uniform of the Castle. They have stopped to watch the bike approach.

INSERT: Axe with CODY’s hand clenched tightly on the handle.

BLYTHE waves his axe in the air.

BLYTHE stops at TIM and CODY.

CODY: My fucking God, John, where the fuck did you get that?

BLYTHE: Couple Triangles don’t need to be riding for a while.

TIM: Turner seen it?

BLYTHE: Not yet, but I told him.

TIM: Turner is going to shit! I’d like to see his face!

BLYTHE: Listen, man, you seen Conner? Or Vince Heller?

CODY: I ain’t seen Conner since he left this morning.

BLYTHE: You see him, you tell him to get back to the Castle. Finish up here and get inside too. You got me?

TIM: Something happen?

BLYTHE: Cooleys been attacked by rippers. Vince Heller went up there yesterday and ain’t come back. Conner is looking for him.

CODY: (laughs) Attacked by they own soldiers? Stupid fucking rednecks.

TIM: Think they comin’ this way?

BLYTHE: Probably in a day or two we’ll see some of them. We got to decide what we going to do about the Cooleys. Finish up and get back to Turner.

BLYTHE starts the motorcycle and rides off.

MUSIC: WARREN ZEVON: Lawyers, Guns, and Money (explicit)

Riding montage: BLYTHE travels through the forest until he comes to a gas station. Beyond is a highway overpass with entrance and exit ramps.

BLYTHE stops the motorcycle in the parking lot of the gas station.

BLYTHE gets off the motorcycle and walks around.

MUSIC: “The shit has hit the fan.”

BLYTHE: Conner! Conner, you out there? Conner, it’s Blythe! Fucking answer me, dick!

BLYTHE waits. There is no answer.

BLYTHE: How ‘bout you, Tip? You out there, you dumb fucking shit?

BLYTHE waits.

BLYTHE: Go fuck yourself, Tip!

BLYTHE walks back to the bike.

SLOW ZOOM out past the edge of the parking lot, past the highway. Continue zoom as BLYTHE gets on bike and starts it. Zoom past the roads until BLYTHE is very small in the frame, riding away on the motorcycle. Zoom up onto the hill overlooking the entire valley, and the river running through it.

FADE TO BLACK

Continued tomorrow