FADE IN:

​

EXT. BOLIVIAN RAIN FOREST - TWILIGHT

 

Only screeching insects animate the dense jungle quiet.

 

The last traces of an orange sun stream through tall, tropical trees.

 

SUPER: Chapare, Bolivia

 

Night closes in.

 

EXT. SMALL JAPANESE SEDAN - TWILIGHT

 

The bullet-riddled sedan with two flat tires sits in the middle of the muddy road.  Its headlights cast a bright beam on a jeep 20 yards down the hill.

 

ROLANDO BAUTISTA, a lean, athletic man in his late 30s and TWO YOUNGER MEN hide behind the small car.  Sweaty, grimy, nervous, they wait hunched down.

 

INT. JEEP - TWILIGHT

 

The windshield is cobwebbed by a bullet hole.  In the back seat, a MAN'S head lies collapsed onto his knees, dead with multiple wounds.

 

A SECOND MAN, in the passenger's seat, nearly unconscious, holds a hefty handgun but barely.

 

He's fading to his oblivion.

 

ZACK WARREN, mid-40s, sweat-soaked, sits in the driver's seat.  In a better situation, you'd find a man who'd inspire confidence, certainty but at this moment he knows his kingdom come is likely only seconds away.

 

He's scared.

 

His left hand nervously grips the steering wheel.  His right-hand holds a Glock 17 in his lap.

 

Moments pass with only the unrelenting insect screams.

It's a stand-off that's about to get even worse.

 

EXT. SMALL JAPANESE SEDAN - TWILIGHT

 

With defiant, near foolish bravado, Rolando stands, lets loose a well-aimed, single concussive gun explosion that instantly excites jungle animals.

 

INT. JEEP - TWILIGHT

 

The bullet, on a zip line, rips through the windshield, kills the front seat passenger.

 

EXT. SMALL JAPANESE SEDAN - TWILIGHT

Rolando sees his shot hit the mark.  He quickly releases two more greedy shots.

 

They miss.

​

INT. JEEP - TWILIGHT

 

This is Zack's defining moment: to remain is certain death.

Zack floors the gas, shoots mud chunks into the air, races directly into the headlights of the sedan.

 

He turns on his lights, blinds Rolando and his Men just as they too stand up.

 

EXT. SMALL JAPANESE SEDAN - MORNING

 

The three men send rapid, random volleys at Zack's racing jeep.

 

INT. JEEP

 

Zack swerves, dodges the sedan.  As he passes Rolando, they lock eyes.  They are that close.

 

Perhaps too close, perhaps too fast, Rolando fires a quick, awkward shot that grazes Zack's left hand.

 

Simultaneously, Zack releases a single shot at Rolando.

 

EXT. JEEP

 

Zack whizzes up the road, fishtails in the mud, races over a rise where it disappears.

 

FADE TO BLACK:

 

The insect racket once again defines the moment, fades to pure quiet.

 

SUPER: 9 Days Later

 

EXT. NEW MEXICO DESERT - DAY

 

The quiet continues...

 

A two-lane, blacktop road runs parallel to a decrepit, barbed wire fence.

 

The dreary, flat landscape is occasionally punctuated by distant mountains, only brightened by a few scrubby bushes and miniature, yellow flowers.

 

Finally, the quiet is fractured with the rush of white sound as a black SUV streams below at a ridiculous speed.

 

The SUV races over a rise where it disappears.

 

INT. BLACK SUV - DAY

 

The right-hand switches on the radio.  Static.

 

The hand touches the seek button...

 

                              RADIO VOICE 1

                        What integrity.  What a commendation

                        because he taught God's truth...

 

Again, the hand touches the seek button...

 

                              RADIO VOICE 2

                        ...Senoras y senores esta es el

                        nico mejor momento de...

 

Once more the hand quickly hits the button...

 

                              RADIO VOICE 3

                              (over static)

                        Boy, what a devoted man, what a

                        devoted man to perform and act

                        on all the words of the Bible...

 

Again a quick tap ...a Mexican tune with shrieking trumpets and the heavy umpah of a tuba.

 

The hand turns off the radio.

 

The dashboard clock reads 7:23.  The speedometer hits 87 as a green and white Border Patrol SUV speeds by.

 

Zack's bloody, bandaged hand rests on the steering wheel.

 

EXT. NEW MEXICO DESERT - DAY

 

The SUV rushes down the road past...

A weathered partially collapsed billboard with a caricature of a Mexican bandit in a sombrero and a bullet belt slung over his shoulder.  The caption reads: "Pancho Villa Curio Store.  Drop by, say hi".

 

A road sign appears: Magellan, New Mexico Elevation 4,068 Feet Population 1,134.  1,134 is crossed out, replaced by handwritten, "?".