Tom: Ben's on the roof.
Hal: Looks like they're scavenging scrap metal.
Tom: That's exactly what they're doing.
Maggie: They flew here in spaceships and turned kids into slaves just to collect old toasters and copper wire?
Tom: Well, there must be some reason for it.
Hal: You think they know what's happening to them?
Tom: I hope not.
Anthony: How many kids are you trying to grab?
Tom: As many as we can.
A mech followed by a group of kids approches.
Anthony: Okay, let's see what we're up against.
He looks in the spectacles Okay, we got two mechs patrolling in front of the building.
Hal: And there's that one behind the back.
Karen: Skitter by the collection bin.
Hal: And another one inside the building.
Tom: Six of us, five of them. I like those odds.
Anthony: All right, we do this now... tired as we are, low on ammo, low on supplies... I mean, losing click was enough, wasn't it?
Tom: That's my son over there.
Anthony: I know. But we may only get one shot at this. Okay, Tom? They're gonna be here tomorrow and the day after that.
Tom: Okay. How about we do this?
Karen crawls on the roof to see the kids. She touchs a brick which falls on the ground. The mech starts firering at the resistants who flee.
Hal: Dad, come on. We'll be back. We'll get him, dad.
High school.
The group walks back inside the the school. Anne comes to meet them.
Anne: Welcome home.
Tom: Love what you've done with the place.
Anne: Did you find Ben?
Tom: Ben and about a dozen others, yeah.
Anne: Is he all right?
Tom: He's alive.
Anne: Look, there's some really good news.
Tom: What's that?
A man runs to Tom.
Man: Excuse me. Um, did you, uh, see my daughter?
Tom: No. No, no, I'm sorry.
A lot of parents start showing pictures of their children.
Tom: We didn't really get that close.
woman: Our son... he's been missing since the second week. Maybe you saw him.
Anthony: No, I'm sorry.
Man: Please.
Tom: No, I...
Mike: Okay, everybody, just... hey, hey, hey, hey. Come on. Break it up. Give them some space.
Woman: We've got the right to ask!
Mike: Hey, no one's saying you don't. But we all have missing kids, including Tom here.
Tom: And you.
Mike: That's right... my boy, Rick.
Tom: Okay, look, everybody, I know what you're going through. We all just want to get our kids back. And I promise that we're gonna do everything possible to make sure that that happens.
Anne: Wait, look. (She walks away)There's a... there's a school-announcement board here. Why don't you guys take your pictures and post your missing kids up here?
Tom: Yeah. Great idea.
Anthony: Yeah, and write their name, hair color, weight, height...
Tom: Last time that you saw them.
Dai: Yeah, anything that you guys can think of that'll help us identify them.
Tom: I promise that all the squads will check this board before each and every mission. Okay?
The parents start talking, putting the pictures on the board.
Tom: Thank you... both of you.
Mike: Porter's here.
Tom: He's not due back for another couple weeks.
Anne: You know that good news? He brought it.
Mike: He's delivering a briefing in the command post.
Tom, Anne and Mike walk away. They get into a classroom transformed in a meetingroom where a few people are waiting. Porter and Weaver are sitting on the front desk.
Weaver: Take a seat.
Everyone obeys.
Porter: The picture in this war is changing. One of the runners that we sent west ran into a contingent of resistance fighters just outside of Chicago.
The listeners start talking.
Porter: But they've made contact with other groups in Texas, Oklahoma, even California. What that means is... We're not in this alone anymore, people. That's the good news. The bad news... Is that alien structures like the one that's over Boston are going up over every city that we know about.
Weaver: Anybody figured out what they're for?
Porter: No, Weaver. So as of now... We're in a full-court press to gather intelligence on the enemy. I want to know about his plans. I want to know about his tactics. I want to know about his weapons and his technology... everything. Now that you people have a secure operating base, I want you to start collecting war material. That means motorcycles. That means weapons, explosives, camo gear... anything and everything that could be used to support a growing insurgency. Weaver, put 'em to work.
Weaver: All right, start breaking your units down into search-and-requisition teams of four to six fighters. I'll give you your assignments tomorrow. Dismissed.
They all leave the room loudly.
Porter: Hey, Tom. Got a report that you spotted a bunch of harnessed kids.
Tom: Yeah, we were tracking my son Ben. We found him. At night, they've got them in a hospital off route 9, and by day, the skitters have them salvaging scrap metal.
Porter: Yeah, we've gotten reports like that before. They seem to use them as some sort of slave labor.
Tom: Yeah.
Porter: Look, Tom, our science team is struggling with this harness thing. They were able to get it off of three kids, but they died a couple hours later.
Tom: I'm sorry to hear that.
Porter: Yeah, well... The chief surgeon thinks he's got an answer to the problem. But in order to test the theory, he needs a kid.
Tom: Ben?
Porter: Look, Tom... I'll understand if you want to say no. But this is probably the best... hell, it may be the only chance Ben and any of the other kids have got.
Tom: Yeah. Yeah. Um... I can't go back and just rescue one kid, even if it's my own son. We need to rescue them all.
Porter: We will, in time.
Tom: The time is now.
Weaver: If it were up to me, you wouldn't be going at all. Our priority has to be winning this war.
Tom: There are hundreds of people out there with missing kids. We rescue those kids, as many as we can, we keep their hope alive. We give up on those kids, those people are gonna give up hope, too.
Weaver: We save a few dozen kids and lose the war, they're no better off than they were in the harness.
Tom: Well, they'd die free.
Weaver: I think we're wasting time and resources, but it's not my call.
Porter: That's right. It's mine. Just Ben this time. That's it.
Weaver: Right.
Weaver leaves the room. Porter seems anxious.
Tom: You okay?
Porter: Did you know I was due to retire when all this happened? Nothing to look forward to but golf and travel and... A stack of spy novels on my nightstand. Listen, Tom... You go out there and get Ben. But, damn it, be careful.
Tom leaves the room.
In a class, children are having a science lecture. In the gym, kids are passing the time while parents work. Tom finds Matt sitting alone.
Tom: Hey, buddy.
Matt: Hey.
Tom: I'm back.
Matt: Did you bring Ben?
Tom: No, not this time, but we found him, and he's safe. We're gonna go back for him. What's the matter? Come on. I can take it.
Matt: At school today, some kid said that when you take those things off their backs, the kids die.
Tom: Yeah. Well... That was before.
Matt: Before?
Tom: Before a really smart doctor figured out how to take them off safely.
Matt: What doctor?
Tom: He came here today with colonel Porter. He's gonna teach Anne how to do it, too.
Matt: So Ben's gonna be okay?
They hug.
Pope's cell.
Pope is cleaning up when the doors opens.
Uncle Scott: Hey. Hungry?
Pope: You bet I am.
Scott: Here you go. Everybody's got a right to eat.
Pope: Thank you.
He takes big bites but spits it all out.
Scott: You got a problem?
Pope: What is this... skitter a la king?
Scott: Chicken and rice.
Pope: Are you sure?
Scott: Look, if it's not up to your usual high standards, you'll have to make allowances. We all take turns in the kitchen.
Pope: Let me guess... it was your turn. First of all, the chicken shouldn't bleed like this. It's way undercooked. That, and you got enough salt in here to give my kid a stroke. And what is that? What is that... paprika? Paprika? Nobody puts paprika on chicken. What are you... Hungarian?
Scott: You do realize you're a prisoner, right?
Pope: Before you grill it, fry it, put it on a barbecue, you poach the chicken first, preferably in some chicken stock with a little bit of herbs and spices. That way, it absorbs all the herbs and all the spices. And then you can drop it onto a barbecue, you can grill it, put it into a frying pan, and all that moisture and all that flavor's already cooked into it.
Scott: What are you... a cook?
Pope: Certified culinary arts. And it's "chef," not "cook."
In a class.
Weaver: How was the food?
Maggie: When I could stomach eating with a bunch of degenerate psychos... The food wasn't bad. Scott: And who prepared it?
Maggie: Pope.
Scott: He said he trained in prison. I say we just put him to the test.
Weaver: We already have people who can cook.
Scott: Yeah, they can cook... Oatmeal. He'll be under guard at all times.
Weaver: You three can go. Send him in!
Man: Yes, sir! So, you want to cook?
Pope: Oh, I'd love to... If you had anything to cook with. He (showing Anthony) showed me what you got, and what you've got... Are 50 cans of lima beans... 32 cans of tuna fish, some chicken... And rice. "Rots" and "rots" of rice.
He sits.
Pope: Don't you people know how to scrounge?
Weaver: You were here for weeks before we came along. What did you eat?
Pope: We hunted.
Anthony:There wasn't about a dozen of you. Okay? We've got 300! Maybe you can't hack it, Pope! Pope: Hey... I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for three entire cell blocks. That's 170 inmates. If they didn't like my food, I'd lose body parts.
Weaver: Here's the deal, Pope... the facilities are substandard, the provisions are meager, and until Scott rigs the burners for propane, you're gonna be cooking on camp stoves. Now, if you're not up to it, you just say the word, and we'll put you back in lockup.
Pope: I'll do it. But for the love of God, could somebody please find me some olive oil?
The infirmery.
Anne and Lourdes are emptying boxes to put in the cupboard.
Tom: Hey.
Anne: How'd it go?
Tom: Um, that good news that you mentioned, it was about the harnesses.
Anne: That's right.
Tom: Have you talked to Porter's guy yet?
Anne: Briefly.
Tom: And what do you think?
Anne: Oh, the procedure is simple, to the point of elegance.
Tom: What about the guy?
Anne: It's just my first impression, but he's very smart, very capable, and very sure he's the best man for the job.
Tom: I suppose he's good-looking, too?
Anne: I don't know. Lourdes, did you think he was good-looking?
Lourdes: Uh, yeah, for an older man.
Tom: Older?
Lourdes: He must be, like, 40.
Tom: Ohh!
Anne: Ouch.
Lourdes: Oh, no, I didn't mean that...
Tom: oh, no, that's quite all right. I think I kind of walked into that one. [ Laughs ] So Who is this medical genius?
Anne: Harris. Dr. Michael Harris.
Tom looks puzzled.
Anne: Do you know him?
Harris (appearing): Tom? Tom!
Tom: Michael. You're alive?
Harris: Yeah, so are you.
They hug.
Outside.
Harris: Rebecca and I foraged for a couple of hours, and... and... It looked like rain, so...We both figured it'd be more efficient to split up. And... and there hadn't been an a-attack for a while.
Tom: Yeah, I remember.
Harris: We weren't apart five minutes... these airships started pounding the area, and I-I-I-I tried to get to her, Tom. I really did, and, uh, I... and I got this. And, uh... And then the second wave of the attack started, and, uh... I hid in a collapsed house. I passed out. And a group of fighters found me the next day, and I became the medical officer for the resistance. I can't tell you how sorry I am about your wife, Tom.
Tom seems perplexed.
Tom: Thanks for telling me.
Harris: Sure. Where are your boys?
Tom: Hal and Matt are with me.
Harris: Ah.
Tom: Ben's a prisoner.
Harris: Is he harnessed?
Tom: Mm-hmm.
Harris: Is he nearby?
Tom: Yeah, yeah. We were gonna try to go get him tonight. You know... When we found Rebecca... We went to go look for you. But there were skitter patrols everywhere, and...
Harris: You don't owe me an apology. This is war, right?
Tom: Yeah.
Harris: Bring Ben to me. I couldn't save Rebecca, but maybe I can give you back your boy.
Night. In the corridor. The team gets prepared. They look at the board.
Tom: Okay, let's go.
Working site.
Kids are still working without any break. Tom and his team hide close to the children. Dai waits in the car, ready. Tom look through spectacles.
Tom: They didn't see the explosives in the car. That's good.
Mike: What's going on?
Tom: The first group's here.
Mike: Ben with them?
Tom: I don't see him. There's another group coming. I think I see him. No, it's not him.
Mike: It's Rick.
Tom: What?
Mike: It's my boy.
Tom: Where?
Mike: Right by the building.
Mike (shouting) Ricky!
Tom: No! No! No!
Mike (running towards his son) Cover me.
Tom: No! No! No!
Mike: Ricky! Ricky. Rick. Rick. It's dad. Dad. Come on.
Rick remains absent. A Mach sees them and target them. Tom his forced to react and activate the explosives.
Karen: They must have Ben.
Hal: Let's go.
Karen and Hal join the others. The trucks comes and they put Rick in the back.
Karen: There's the truck!
Tom; I'm going after Ben.
Everyone starts shooting. Tom is hurt unconcious. Dai takes him to the truck and leaves. Karen and Hal are taken. Tom wakes up in a dark place.
Tom: Where is hal? Karen?
Dai: We couldn't get them.
Tom: We were running for the truck.
Dai: Got hit by debris from the explosion. Tom, we got you this far.
Tom (shouting): Where'is Hal and Karen?!
Dai: There was a mech on our tail. Couldn't wait.
Tom: How far to the school?
Dai: A quarter-mile, maybe less.
Tom: You two go on.
Dai: What about you?
Tom: I'm going after them.
Dai: At least come with us for weapons and reinforcements.
Tom: No. There's no time. What were you thinking, Mike?
Mike (holding his son): I'm so sorry, Tom. He's the only family I got left.
Tom: Where are the rest of the weapons?
Dai: I had to leave them in the truck. Just got this.
Dai gives his a gun.
Tom: Let me have that rope, too, and your flashlight. Be careful.
Tom leaves. Alone, he hears some noise.
Tom: Who's there?
A skitter appears and attacks. He gets the upper hand on Tom until the professeur reaches his gun and shoots to of its legs. He then hits the aliens until it can't stand and sits to get his breath back.
School
Porter: It's only natural that you want to do that.
Anthony: Captain Weaver? Colonel Porter?
Weaver: What is it, Anthony?
Anthony: Dai and Mike are back with one of the harnessed kids.
Porter: Yeah... Ben, Tom's son.
Anthony: No, sir. Mike's. They're in the clinic.
People start getting agitated aroud.
Man: Guys, it's Tom... he's back!
Weaver: What is this? You... you go ahead. I'll see what this is.
Tom, bloody and tired gets in, pulling a weak but alive skitter.
Weaver: Tom!
Tom: Captain Weaver. I've brought you a prisoner of war.
Weaver: You beat this thing yourself?
Tom: Yes, sir.
Weaver: How?
Tom: You just got to get close enough. Can I trade this in for an automatic?
Weaver: Where you think you're going?
Tom: I still have two sons and a scout out there.
Weaver takes his empty weapon and gives him another one.
Weaver: Sentry, give me your weapon. I'll give you two fighters.
Tom: No. Thanks. It's safer if I do this alone.
On his way out, Tom finds his younger son.
Tom: Hey, buddy. How much did you hear?
Matt: Everything. Go get him.
They hug and Tom leaves.
Working place.
Hal wakes up. Karen, still unconcious is taken away by Ben and another harnessed kid.
Hal: Ben! Ben!
He tries to stop them by can't really stand up. A light appears, send by a mech but Hal can't protect himself, his weapon is broken into pieces. However the mach does not shoot Hal and waits for thr the arrival of five kids. They place themselves in front of Hal. A skitter comes, points his finger towards Hal then towards the kids. Hal understand and the children are executed.
Hal: No!! No!!
The infirmery.
Anne and Harris are operating on Rick.
Anne: The father says the patient has cystic fibrosis.
Harris: Really? I didn't hear anything. Well, he's on supplemental oxygen, so... As long as his airways are clear, shouldn't be a problem. Boy, I'll tell you... if we'd have had access to... Modern hospitals and labs, we could have this all figured out in a matter of hours. As it was, it's just educated guesses... And trial and error.
Weaver comes in.
Weaver: What can I do to help?
Harris: Uh, you can stay out of my way. Here you go. All right, get ready to lift the harness, please. The whole idea behind this is to expose as much needle as possible.
Weaver: Pulling those out kills them.
Harris: Yeah, well, that's why we've been cutting them instead. Learned that the hard way.
Weaver: So did a lot of people.
Harris: Wouldn't you rather be outside? I'd like to expose... At least an inch of needle. Start the drip, please.
Anne: How far?
Harris: All the way.
Anne prepares Rick, while Harris lights up the flamethrower.
Harris: Lift up the harness, please.
He starts cutting the harness.
Harris: Okay. You know, the first few times we cut the needles... We lost the patients.
Anne: Why?
Harris: Look at his eyes.
Anne: Pinpoints. He's drugged?
Harris: Yeah. My theory is that the harness... Synthesizes an opiate.
Anne: Didn't show up in the autopsy.
Harris: It's like nothing we've ever seen before. But I realized... If you cut the needles, you cut off the drug, the kid goes into shock... end of story.
Anne: Oh. The... the morphine drip is a bridge.
Harris: That's right. That's the idea, anyway. And all opiates basically affect the same brain receptors. So then I thought, pump the kid full of morphine... Before we cut off the harness. Then, once he's stable, you walk back the dosage, bring him in for a soft landing. Okay. Take it away.
Lourdes puts the harness on the table.
Harris: Okay. Blood pressure?
Anne ckecks with her stetoscope.
Anne: Still 110/70.
Harris: Okay. That's what I like to hear. Once the needles penetrate the spine, they soften and grow roots. They become part of the host's nervous system.
Anne: How is that possible?
Harris: Oh, you know, some sort of nano-engineering or something. I mean, they look like needles, but they behave more like living tissue. It's fascinating, actually.
Anne: And that means if they wear the harness long enough...
Harris: The kid and the harness become one.
Rick convulses.
Anne: Doctor!
Harris: I got it, I got it.
Mike: Come on! Do something!
Harris: Get him out of here, will you?
Dai (pushing him out): Come on, Mike.
Harris gives Rick some more morphine.
Harris: Okay. Okay. It's all right. I was actually expecting that.
Outside. Tom hears some noise and hides behind a car, his gun ready.
Tom: Who's there?!
Hal (stumblig) Dad.
Tom: Hal?
Hal: Dad.
Tom runs to his son who falls in his arms. He checks him.
Tom: Oh. I got you. I got you. What happened? Where's Karen?
Hal: You drove away. Then the mechs stunned us. Then, when I woke up... They were taking Karen to the skitters.
Tom: She's a prisoner?
Hal: You left.
Tom: No. No, no. No. One of those harnessed kids was Mike's son. He saw him, and he just... he just grabbed him. If I didn't hit the explosive, they both would've been killed. And I got knocked out. Otherwise, I wouldn't have left. I wouldn't have left. I'm so sorry.
Hal cries.
Hal: I'm just glad you came back.
Tom (hugging): I'm just glad that you're alive.
Hal: Dad... They killed those kids.
Tom: Wait a minute. What kids? Ben?!
Hal: No, no, not Ben.
Tom: What kids?
Hal: Not Ben. The other group.
Tom: The ones with Mike's son.
Hal: Yeah. I don't know why, but... The skitter made the mech kill them, and they let me go.
Tom: They let you go?
Hal: Yeah, it was like they wanted me to see it. And then... they killed them, and they let me go. Tom (standing up with Hal): The Nazis sometimes did that with allied prisoners of war. To send a message... take one, and we'll kill the rest. That's why they left you alive. You're the messenger. Hal: That means we can't just take one kid.
Tom: No, no. When we come back, we take them all.
School
Anthony welds the cage for the skitter.
Weaver: If it was up to me, we'd kill the damn thing now.
Anthony: Yeah, let's do that.
Porter (coming in): Nope. We've never had a live skitter before. Nobody's ever had one that I know of. And if we're gonna beat these things, Weaver, we damn sure need to understand them.
Weaver: Tom handled this one with a sawed-off shotgun and a flashlight. What more is there to understand?
Porter: That'll be Dr. Harris' call.
Weaver: Dr. Harris? I thought he was leaving with you tonight.
Porter: Nope. Change of plans. You're gonna have him for the next three weeks. I want somebody with a background in physiology and anatomy to study this damn thing. And we'll always have flashlights and shotguns.
In the Gym.
Everybody is gathered aroud the new cook/Pope. Uncle Scott, Anthony, Aunt Kate and Lourdes are tasting his receipe.
Pope: Well, don't everybody thank me at once.
Lourdes: Well, it's good. Isn't it?
Kate: It's not bad, considering...
Scott: Considering what?
Maggie: Who made it.
Scott: Well, line up, everybody!
Pope: Gonna have some?
Weaver: Serve them first. Looks like you might be of some use to the 2nd mass.
Pope: Yeah?
Weaver: We'll give it a week.
Pope: Does that mean I don't have to be, uh, locked up anymore?
Weaver: It does not. Lock him up.
Scott: All right. Come on, Pope.
Pope: You're not gonna regret it!
Weaver: I already regret it.
Pope (taken away): Yeah, yeah.
The infirmery.
Tom comes see Rick. Anne's asleep. He wakes her up.
Tom: How is he?
Anne: He's stable.
Tom: So it works.
Anne: It seems to. Are you okay?
Tom: Yeah.
Mike: Hey, Tom.
Tom: Looks like he's gonna be okay.
Mike: I'm praying. Keep an eye on him while I step out?
Anne: Of course. Why don't you sit down, let me take a look at you? How did it go?
Tom: Hal's okay. But they captured Karen.
Anne: Oh, no. Lord. How's he taking it?
Tom: He blames himself.
Anne: I'm so sorry.
Tom: Yeah. Now we know, right? I mean, now we know... That we can take these things off and it doesn't have to kill them, right? Harris knows what he's doing?
Anne: Yeah. He's great.
Tom: Got any idea where I can find him?
Harris drinks scotch in front of the Skitter. He hears Tom approching.
Harris: Ah. I... I got some scotch.
Tom: How's the prisoner?
Harris: Eh, too soon to tell. Uh, Porter wants me to stick around a little while longer and make a fuller study of our conquerors.
Tom: Is that what he called them?
Harris: No, that's my word.
Tom: We're not conquered. Unless we give up.
Harris: Uh, I got too much respect for your intelligence, Tom, to, uh, take that little display of human vanity seriously.
Tom: Well, maybe I'm not as intelligent as you think I am.
Harris: You know, there are people who actually believe that surviving the first wave of the invasion proves that they're the best of mankind.
Tom: Obviously you don't agree?
Harris: Well... Those people who ran away or found the deepest holes to hide in... they're the survivors. You find something ennobling in that, I-I'd love to hear about it.
Tom: Is that how you survived? Running away?
Harris: Hiding? What do you mean?
Tom: The morning of the attack, when you and Rebecca got caught outside, you ran away and you hid. And you left her to save yourself.
Harris: I mean, I... look. She was not with me the morning of the attack. I told you that.
Tom: I know what you told me. But when I found her, she was still holding onto the duffel bag full of provisions that you guys had collected, and it was much too heavy for her to carry by herself. And that's how I know you were with her when the attack started.
Harris: Look, Tom... Please. I-I-it wasn't premeditated. It was a split-second decision. And I-I guess I thought...
Tom: what? What?
Harris: Well, I guess I thought that my... t-the community needed my medical skills.
Tom hits him in the face.
Harris: Man. Well... I guess you had to do that, huh?
Tom: You guessed right.
Harris: Well, I understand how guilty you must feel 'cause of what happened to her.
Tom: What are you talking about?
Harris: Well, it was your morning, Tom. Wasn't it? Rebecca told me that you were supposed to go out there looking for food with me that morning. But she knew how exhausted you were, and she couldn't bring herself to wake you up. She really loved you, Tom. But it should have been you out there the morning of the attack and not Rebecca. You're as responsible for her death as I am... maybe more. And because I'm alive, you've got a chance to get that harness off your son. Rebecca's death may save Ben's life.
Tom: The skitters won't win.
Harris: Well, we'll see.
Tom: And no matter how each of us survived, maybe we owe it to those who didn't... To become the best of mankind.
Harris leaves. Tom goes to the board and puts a picture of Ben before going to a room where Matt sleeps in the arms of his older brother. The skitter wake up at the same time as Rick.
END.