SEASON THREE
EPISODE 8
“Flesh And Blood”
Writer: Harry Dunn
Director: Rodney Charters

Teacher’s Compound
Merril’s Crossing 
Appalachian Hills
(The compound is in a clearing in the forest.  There are a number of ramshackle buildings 
surrounding a cleared patch of earth.  Outside a store Nicholas, Sydney’s son, is talking on 
the phone with Sydney.  He is holding a pocket compass, designed like a fob watch.)
Sydney: It was your grandfather’s when he was in the ranks of the Belgium infantry.
Nicholas: It’s beautiful Sydney.
Sydney: He said it kept him from losing his way.  I’m glad to know that you have it now.
(A little boy runs up to Nicholas and tugs on his shirt tail.)
Boy: Nicholas, come on you promised you’d read to me.
Nicholas: I have to go.  Thanks for the gift Sydney.
Sydney:  Oh Nicholas don’t call me Sydney call me . . . (Nicholas disconnects as the little 
boy’s demands become more insistent.)  dad.
Boy: Come on read to me.  (The boy drags Nicholas by his hand over to a picnic table.  They 
sit down and Nicholas puts the compass on the table.)  Three Days in Ham, Sam I am.  (He 
notices the compass.)  What is that?
Nicholas: It’s a compass.  It helps you find your way when you’re lost.  Now where were we? 
(Nicholas open up “Green Eggs and Ham” at the place he has marked with a photograph of 
himself and his mother when he was a teenager.  Seth picks up the photograph.)
Boy: Is that your mama?
Nicholas: Yes.
Boy: Where’s your Daddy?
(Nicholas is prevented from answering by the arrival of a fast moving vehicle, a truck, 
carrying a number of armed men.  The men leap from the truck and start firing their weapons 
into the air.  Women scream and people start running for cover.  The leader of the group, 
Hailey, shouts instructions to his men.)
Hailey: Back inside.
(Nicholas swings the boy into his arms and runs over to where his young mother has rushed 
from inside.  He passes the boy over.)  
Nicholas: Stay with your mother.
(He then turns back towards the truck.  A young woman, wearing jeans and shirt, another 
teacher is being carried towards the truck.  She struggles in the guys arms but he holds onto 
her.  Nicholas runs towards her.)
Girl: Nicholas!
Nicholas: Leave them alone.  They’re teachers.
(Hailey hits Nicholas on the side of the head with his rifle butt and Nicholas drops to the 
ground.)
Hailey: Get this one in the truck.  (One of Hailey’s men drags Nicholas to his feet.)  Come on 
boy.  Get over there.
Bandit: (He pushes Nicholas over the side of the truck bed.) Come on boy.
Hailey: Let’s go.  Come on!  Get on in there.
(The men climb back into the truck with their four hostages and the truck speeds off.  
The boy watches them leave.)

Jarod’s Lair
Hotel
(It is night and it is raining.  A flashing neon sign, declares the building to be a hotel.  Inside 
a door opens into a room which is partially illuminated by the neon sign.  Jarod enters and 
turns on the light.  He is dressed in dirty work clothes and carries a hard hat.  The hard hat 
emblazoned with the logo of Binkley Oil, is placed on top of the television.  He drops the rest 
of his stuff on the bed, picks up the remote control for the television and turns it on.  He opens 
a newspaper and scans the headline.  “Binkley Oil Closed Down Worker Exposes Toxic 
Waste in Bay”.  Jarod smiles, another job well done, and then goes to the refrigerator.  He 
takes out some cold pizza and goes back to the bed and lies on it.  He focuses his attention on 
the television.)
Television: She was known for her successful sales career during the thirties and forties.  
Services will be held tomorrow at four o'clock.  The family has requested that all donations be 
given to cancer societies in the Galveston local area in lieu of flowers.  In other breaking news 
four volunteer teachers have been kidnapped in the hills of the Appalachia.  The educators 
were abducted by a group believed to be members of a violent militia group. (Photographs of 
the teachers are shown.) 
Jarod: Nicholas.
Television: The  Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are following all the leads they 
can at this point. They are gravely concerned for the safety of these hostages.

The Centre
Sim Lab
(Mr Lyle, Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots are standing at a table.  On the table is a Mail 
Express box.  Miss Parker is holding a large pair of tweezers which she uses to lift a black, 
sticky-looking object from the box.)
Mr Lyle: A bird saturated in crude oil.
Parker: I guess after Jarod killed and basted it he forgot to put it on the grill.
Sydney: Jarod doesn’t take life.  He’s making a statement.
Parker: Save the swallow?
Mr Lyle: Somebody call me when you figure out what it means.
(Mr Lyle turns and leaves.  In Sydney’s office the phone rings.  Sydney turns and runs up the 
stairs to answer it.)
Broots: I think it’s sad.
Parker: Devastating.  Flush it!  
(She turns and walks up the stairs towards Sydney’s office.)
Sydney: This is Sydney.
Michelle: Sydney.
Sydney: Michelle.  Michelle, what’s wrong?
(Miss Parker, who has now reached the level of Sydney’s office, stops to listen when she hears 
the tone of Sydney’s voice.)
Michelle: (She is crying.)  Oh Sydney.  They took Nicholas, they took him away.
Sydney: Who?  Who took our son?
(Broots joins Miss Parker outside Sydney’s office and looks in with concern.)
Michelle: They don’t know for sure.  They don’t . . . They don’t even know if he’s alive, 
Sydney.  (Sydney goes to sit down and notices Miss Parker and Broots watching.  He turns 
away from their inquisitive looks.)  What are we going to do Sydney?
Sydney: Michelle, we’ll get him back.
Michelle: Yes

ATF Rapid Response Team
Extraction Team
(A helicopter flies over a mist shrouded densely forested area.  A river glistens through the 
mist below them.)
Lieutenant: Put it down in the next clearing, buddy.
Pilot: Roger that.

On the Ground
(A man, obviously the leader of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms team, is issuing 
instructions to members of his team that stand around in an informal group.)
Lieutenant: Alright gentlemen, listen up.  We’re going to pick up the trail right here  (He 
indicates a place on the map which has been pinned to an easel.)  where they were abducted.  
And hope we all get lucky.  Now this country is a real throw back in time.  We really don’t 
know what to expect from the locals but I do not want another Ruby Ridge.  Which is why 
we’ve brought in special agent Jarod Miner.  (Jarod goes and stands beside the Lieutenant.)  
Miner’s a tracking expert in this region and well versed in the people.  He’s going to help us 
find the teachers.
Jarod: And bring them back, alive.
Lieutenant: Alright gentlemen, pick up your equipment and let’s move out.
(Jarod goes to the other easel where photographs of the four abductees have been pinned.)

OPENING CREDITS

The Centre
Sydney’s Office
(Sydney is typing at the computer on his desk.  Broots and Parker stand, looking on.)
Parker: What was Nicholas doing there?
Sydney: He’s a volunteer fighting illiteracy.  Broots will you cover for me while I’m gone?
Broots:  I’ll do anything I can Syd. 
Sydney: Lyle?  What about Lyle? (He stands to face them.)
Parker: Let me worry about  Eddie Haskell.  Sydney, don’t do anything crazy.
Sydney: Parker they took my son!

Teacher’s Compound
Merril’s Crossing 
Appalachian Hills
(The agents move around the compound questioning the people there.)
ATF 1: Hi.  I’m Agent Cory of the ATF.  Have you ladies seen anything?  
Ladies: Ah, ha, no.  (The ladies, looking extremely nervous, move away from him.)
(Another agent approaches a man who is working on the engine of a truck.)
ATF 2: Tell me what you saw.  
(Another agent approaches the young boy’s (Seth) mother.  She is standing by a chicken 
coop.)
ATF 3: Did you see anything?  You know, you must have seen something right?  Can you tell 
me anything?  (She walks away from him a look of fear on her face.  He walks over to Jarod 
who watches her walk across the compound.)  Was it something we said?
Jarod: They’re afraid to talk to us.  Something has them spooked.  (They walk towards the 
centre of the compound being joined by the Lieutenant on the way.)
Lieutenant: So un-spook them. 
(Seth’s mother looks back over her shoulder towards Jarod, catching his eye.  She indicates a 
spot in the centre of the compound with a nod of her head before continuing on her way.  
Jarod looks to where she has indicated and starts walking purposefully towards a tyre on a 
rope swing.  Draped over the tyre is a dead snake, blood from its severed body dripping onto 
the ground.)
AFT 3: What the hell is this? 
Jarod: It’s the trademark of the Appalachian Freedom Militia.
Lieutenant: We raided their compound two months ago.  Confiscated a stockpile of weapons.
Jarod:  The AFM’s leader is a man named Eldridge Hailey.  This abduction, it was a 
retaliatory gesture.
Lieutenant: Hailey is even more unstable than his followers.  We’re talking about bombings, 
church arson, attacking Federal officers.
ATF 3: You’d think the locals would bend over backwards to help us stop these guys.
Jarod: A rattle snake.  It uses it’s rattle to warn it’s victims when it’s going  to attack.
ATF 3: This is Hailey’s threat if they talk? (He takes a pen from his pocket and raises up the 
end of the snake where its rattle has been cut off.)
Jarod: They won’t put their families in danger.  Not for us.
(Jarod watches a young boy who runs across the compound.  The boy stops and looks at the 
group of men.)
Seth: Three days in hand, Sam I am.
(The boy runs on.)

Trailer
(Jarod and the group of agents have followed the little boy to his home.  They watch as the 
boy goes inside and sits just inside the doorway.  Jarod removes his weapon, passing it to one 
of the agents and silently indicates for them to wait there.  He goes up to the trailer, climbs 
the stairs and sits on an upturned bucket outside the door.)
Jarod: Hi.  You don’t have to be afraid.  My name is Jarod.
(Seth has the copy of Green Eggs and Ham in front of him.  He opens the book to where the 
photograph still marks the page.)
Seth: Nicholas gave it to me.
(Jarod picks up the photograph and looks at it.)
Jarod: Do you know who this is?
Boy: Nicholas Momma.
Jarod: Do you know where Nicholas is?
Boy: A man took him.  Took ‘em all.  (He points.)  Up in the hills.  (He holds out his hand 
revealing Nicholas’ compass.)  To help you find your way when you get lost.

ATF Field Office
Lexington Kentucky
(It is a busy city office.  An agent is pinning a picture of Nicholas on a noticeboard that also 
contains a map of the area in which the teachers were abducted.)
Sydney: There must be something we can do Agent Swaggert?
Agent: The search party is already in the field but there are hundreds of square miles of 
mountainous terrain where the AFM could be holding your son.
Sydney: I want to help with the search please?
Agent: I understand your concern, but until we can pinpoint the hostages exact location we 
have to be patient.  (He sits down beside Michelle.)  I’m sorry I wish I could do more for you.
Michelle: Sydney?  
Sydney: Don’t worry, Michelle.  We will find your son.

AFM Hideout
An Abandoned Mine
(Nicholas sits against a wall of the mine, armed guards standing idly around.  He looks over 
to the young woman who was also abducted.  He goes over and crouches in front of her.)
Hostage 1: Do you think they’ll . .  you know?
Nicholas: Don’t even think that.  Hey.  Have you ever been to Flanneries?
Hostage 1: The coffee shop near campus.
Hailey: Hey get back over there. 
Nicholas: When we get back on campus I’ll take you there.  I promise.
(Hailey crouches down beside Nicholas and points his hand gun at Nicholas’s chest.)
Hailey: Not every one is going to make it son and the ones who don’t listen go first.   So you 
get over there, you sit down and you shut up.

The Centre
Mr Lyle’s Office
(Mr Lyle is sitting at his desk, massaging his gloveless hand.  Broots, stands in front of the 
desk, watching in horror.)
Mr Lyle: You know, sometimes it feels like my thumb is still attached.  There is something 
very streamline about a four-fingered hand. The way the palm flows seemingly into the wrist, 
sleek.  Of course if you’re not thinking holding a cup of coffee can be hell.
Broots: Um, I found Jarod.  He’s working at an Oil Refinery near San Juan Capestrano.  It’s 
where the swallows migrate.  There was a foreman who ID’d his photo.
Mr Lyle: And Miss Parker?
Broots: Um she’s out of the . . . 
(A knock at the door prevents him from finishing the sentence.)
Mr Lyle: Yes!
Willie: Excuse me Mr Lyle, but it’s urgent.  (He comes into the office and hands Mr Lyle a 
piece of paper.)
Broots: She’s out of the office.
(Mr Lyle spends a long moment looking at the piece of paper before looking up at Broots 
again.  He stands.)
Mr Lyle: Well I’m going to Capistrano.  And I want you near your phone in case I need 
assistance, clear?
Broots: Oh, yes sir.
Mr Lyle: (He pats Broots on the cheek.)  Talk to you soon.  (He leaves his office, leaving 
Broots to stroke his cheek in horror.)

The Centre
Sim Lab
(Miss Parker enters the room.  Broots is sitting at his desk.)
Parker: What about Lyle?
Broots: He’s ah, gone to California.
Parker: (She is very pleased with this development.)  Dance, puppet dance.
Broots: Please Miss Parker, don’t make me lie like that again.  I think I’m getting an ulcer.
Parker: Try warm milk, shot of Bourbon.
Broots: Oh okay.  What happens when Lyle realises that we sent him on a boondoggle?
Parker: It doesn’t matter as long as Sydney brings his son home alive.

ATF Field Office
Lexington Kentucky
(It is raining.  Sydney stands at the window looking out at the evening sky.  Michelle sits on a 
table, her head in her hands.  A clap of thunder.  A phone rings and Sydney turns quickly and 
Michelle looks up.  The agent, sitting at a desk, answers it.)
Agent: Agent Swick.  (She listens, then shakes her head at Sydney and Michelle.  They both 
slump as the tension dissipates.)
Sydney: I should be out there looking for him myself.
Michelle: Where would you start?
Sydney: I have his picture.  Someone might have seen him.
(The phone rings . . .
Agent: Yeah?
. . . but once again there is a negative indication of news from Agent Swick)

Michelle: Sydney we have to be patient.
Sydney: I have never been able to help in his life Michelle.  Now when he needs me I’m just 
sitting here.  (He turns towards Agent Swick and raises his voice, the anger clear in his tone.)  
Patiently!
Michelle: Come on.  Take a walk with me.
(They move to a waiting area outside the office and sit down.)
Sydney: I’m sorry Michelle, it’s just this helplessness.
Michelle: I know the feeling, all too well.  When Nicholas was born the doctors  discovered a 
ventricular disorder.  They said that if it wasn’t repaired immediately that he was going to die.  
He was only few days old when he had the operation.  It was five and a half hour open heart 
surgery.  I sat in the waiting room all alone  trying to prepare myself for the possibility that 
my baby . . .  of my baby, leaving me.  And now it’s all coming back, that feeling of having to 
prepare myself all over again.
Sydney: You shouldn’t have gone through it alone.  You should have called me.
Michelle: Oh Sydney.  I disappeared from your life because The Centre threatened to kill you 
if I didn’t.  It was hard enough thinking of burying my child let alone the love of my life.
Sydney: I’m glad you called this time. (He kisses her hand which he has been holding, firmly 
grasped in both of his.)
Michelle: So am I.

In the Field
(It is night and a two vehicle procession moves slowly along a track through the forest.)
ATF 1: Sir, pull over.  We’re getting a satellite feed on the remote from Eldridge Hailey.
(The vehicles stop and the agents get out and move to the back of the four wheel drive vehicle 
that has been leading the way.  The back of the vehicle is opened revealing sophisticated 
electronic equipment.)
Lieutenant: Patch this through to ATF headquarters immediately.
ATF 1: The feed is going through to headquarters, sir.
(They all stand around the back peering at the video screen.)

ATF Field Office
Lexington Kentucky
(Agent Swick pokes her head from out of the office and calls to Sydney and Michelle who are 
still sitting in the waiting area.)
Agent: There’s a satellite feed coming in from the kidnappers.
(In the office there are agents gathered around a monitor.  Sydney and Michelle sit in front of 
it.  On the screen, the hostages can be seen as well as Hailey and a number of his men.)
Sydney: Nicholas is alive, Michelle.  He’s alive.
Michelle: Yeah!

Satellite Feed
Hailey: To whom it may concern.  If you want to see these so-called educators again you will 
wire one million dollars into an off-shore bank account.  Hold up the access number.  
(Someone holds up a piece of paper on which the access number has been hand printed in 
large script.)  Now these funds will be considered as reparations for your violation of my 
god-given right under the second, the first and the fourth amendments.  And if I do not receive 
word of this transaction by dawn further action will be taken.  As demonstrated.  (Hailey 
grabs Nicholas by the elbow and pulls him out of camera shot.  He raises his hand gun and 
fires in Nicholas’s direction.)  God bless America.  
Michelle: Ah.  No.  (She buries her face in Sydney’s shoulder.  Sydney looks grim.)

The Centre
Sim Lab
(Broots is sitting at his computer, a telephone headset providing him with the link to Sydney.)
Broots: Ah, I’m afraid it’s not good Sydney.  Ah Eldridge Hailey started the Appalachian 
Freedom Militia while serving ten years for voluntary manslaughter.  His first act after he was 
released was a bombing that killed twelve people.  He got off on a technicality.  Ever since 
it’s been extortion, murder, kidnapping . . . 
(Parker leans over the desk and activates the speaker phone.)
Parker: Sydney, what’s going on down there?
Sydney: We’re not even sure if he’s . . .
Parker: You listen to me Sydney, you have to believe he’s alive.  You do what ever it takes 
to bring your son home.
Sydney: Why are you doing this for me?
Parker: Because you’d do the same.

In the Field
(The vehicles are still stopped on the track.  Jarod is adjusting the electronic equipment.)
Jarod: We’ve got a partial triangulation on the FM satellite signal.  It’s about 12 miles 
southwest of here right in the heart of the National Forest.  I suggest that we get within a few 
miles on this fire road here and then proceed on foot to avoid being detected.
Lieutenant: We’ve got three hours until dawn.  Let’s get it done.

ATF Field Office
Lexington Kentucky
(Sydney watches as Agent Swick places a pin on the map.)
Sydney: Is that where they are?  It that where they are holding my son.
Agent: I’m not at liberty to discuss these type of specifics.  There are contingency plans . . . 
(A phone starts ringing on the desk beside them.)
Sydney: My son may have been shot, and you’re talking about contingency plans.  (He grabs 
the agent by the upper arms and shakes her.)  Why won’t you tell us where he is?
Agent: I’m doing everything I . . . 
Agent 1:  I’ve got the governor’s publicity aide on line 2.  (He indicates the ringing phone.)
Agent: Not now.
Agent 1: Yes, mam, but the Governor wants to make a statement.
Agent: Not now!
(Sydney picks up the ringing phone and bangs it down on the desk.  It stops ringing.)
Sydney: Get the message?  No more games.  No more.  (He rips the map off the notice 
board.)  Come Michelle.  (He grabs Michelle by the arm and storms out of the office.)
Agent: Doctor.  Doctor!  Where are you going?

The Centre
Sim Lab
(Miss Parker is now sitting at the desk talking to Sydney.  Broots stands behind her.  Sydney is 
at a public phone.)
Parker: How will you know where the kidnappers are Sydney?
Sydney: I took the coordinates from the ATF office.  It’s a start.  Parker I need you to do 
something for me.
Parker: What?
Sydney: Hailey is demanding a million dollar ransom.  Liquidate my assets and wire it into a 
designated bank account.  It probably won’t be enough but maybe he’ll take it.
Parker: No.   Syd, I’ve got a better idea.  Let The Centre pick up on the tab on this one.
Sydney: The Centre?
Parker: They’re responsible for you not knowing Nicholas.  The least they can pay to get him 
back.  Do you think Hailey will keep up his end of the deal.
Sydney: I’m going to find him and make sure he does.
Parker: Sydney, you don’t want to take this man on by yourself.
Sydney: I have spent my whole life standing by while other people did their jobs.  No matter 
who it hurt, without protecting those who needed my help.   Not this time Parker.  
(He disconnects.  Miss Parker turns to Broots.)
Parker: We need to go there.
Broots: Miss Parker.  Sydney asked us to stay out of it.
Parker: I understand a parents need’s to do whatever it takes to ensure their child’s safety.  
But how does Sydney getting himself killed accomplish that.
Broots: Well, maybe he’s not alone.  Maybe Sydney has help.
Parker: Jarod?  Why do you say that?
Broots: Well, before Sydney left he was at his keyboard.  E-mail to Jarod?
Parker: Find out.

Outside the Abandoned Mine
(The ATF team observe the opening of the abandoned mine from a concealed position.  Jarod 
looks at the entrance through binoculars before passing them to the Lieutenant.  Jarod sniffs 
the air.)
Jarod: Kerosene lamps burning in that mine.
Lieutenant: They could be anywhere around here.  Re-con the area and surround the mine 
head.  (The team start to spread out around the entrance.  Jarod and the Lieutenant move 
closer.)
Jarod: (He talks into his lapel microphone.)  If you see any of the militia hold your fire.  We 
can’t risk getting the hostages killed.
(A car approaches at speed, skids to a stop and a man gets out.)
Lieutenant:  Who the hell is this?
(It is Sydney.  He approaches the mine opening seemingly unconcerned for his own safety.  
He cups his hands in front of his mouth and shouts.)  
Sydney: Hailey.  Hailey, the money is being wired into your account. 
(Hailey emerges from the mine entrance and ducks down behind a toppled rock trolley.  Jarod 
dashes between covered positions to get around to Sydney without stepping into Hailey’s line 
of fire.)
ATF 1: I’ve got a shooter by the mine.
Sydney: Hailey, I just want the hostages.
Jarod: Get down! (He grabs Sydney by the arm and pulls him down behind a rock just as 
Hailey starts shooting.  The ATF return fire.)  Hold your fire the hostages could be behind 
them.
Lieutenant: Hold your fire.  (Hailey runs out from behind cover and runs off into the forest.)  
Martin, Jones.  Get him.
Sydney: (He stands up again.)  Nicholas!
Jarod: Stay down!  (He grabs Sydney and pulls him down again.)  Stay there.
(The Lieutenant, Jarod and the rest of the ATF team approach the mine entrance.)
Lieutenant:  You were told to stay out of sight.
Jarod: I couldn’t let him die.
(At the entrance, the Lieutenant stops and turns to Jarod.)
Lieutenant: Secure the area.   
(The ATF team burst into the mine shaft, one down, one up in the standard operating 
procedure.  There is no one to meet them but there are a number of bodies laid out neatly on 
the floor of the mine.  There is no movement.)
Lieutenant:  My God!  
(The Lieutenant emerges from the opening and turns to Jarod.)
Lieutenant: We got bodies.
(Sydney is standing there.  His shoulders slump in defeat.)

Outside the Mine Opening
(Jarod has been inside the mine and has come out to make a report to Sydney.)
Jarod: It doesn’t make sense.  Three of Hailey’s militia men.  Not one took less than half a 
dozen rounds.
Sydney: And the hostages?
(The other ATF team members emerge.  The Lieutenant stops to listen to Jarod’s report to 
Sydney.)
Jarod: Tracks indicate that they were led out before the blood bath.  Sydney, he’s alive, 
somewhere.
Lieutenant: You called him Sydney.  How did you know his name?
Jarod: I saw him on a news report.  He’s the father of one of the hostages.  His name just 
stuck in my mind.
ATF 1: Lieutenant.  We’ve got Hailey.
(They carry Hailey to a rocky slope and drop him.  Jarod crouches beside him and prepares 
to treat his wounds.) 
Hailey:  Don’t!  Don’t!  Don’t let him get me.  Don’t let him get me, doctor.  Don’t!  Don’t 
let him get me.  Please.  You gotta protect me, protect me.
Lieutenant: From who?
Sydney: Hailey, where is my son?
(Hailey slumps down.  Jarod checks his pulse and checks his eye.)
Jarod: He’s unconscious.
Lieutenant: Alright.  Get him stabilised.  Find out everything he knows.  Come on.
Jarod: We’ll find him.
Sydney: Jarod, thanks for responding so swiftly to my message.
Jarod: What message?

The Centre
Sim Lab
(Parker enters, looking around to see if they are alone.)
Broots: Sydney did e-mail Jarod.  (He reads a message off a piece of paper he is holding.)  
“Nicholas has been kidnapped in Appalachia.  Need your help.”  I can’t believe he’d send it 
from here.
Parker: Meaning?
Broots: Meaning that if someone put a tracer on it they could easily intercept it.
Parker: When was the last time we heard from Lyle?
Broots: Oh man!
Parker: What?
Broots: When I was at his office yesterday Willie brought him an urgent memo.
Parker: Did he say what it was?
Broots: No. 
Parker: Hmm.  (She starts to leave.) 
Broots: Lyle acted as if it was nothing, but he had that look in his eye you know, like he’d 
just eaten a raw steak.

Outside the Mine Opening
(The Lieutenant is talking on the radio, lap top in one hand.  Behind him, Jarod is crouched 
on one knee, hand on chin, examining the ground.)
Lieutenant: Immediate medivac extraction.  Three dead, one wounded, all AFM.  My guess 
is that some rival militia got them.  But the truth is I have no idea where the hell the other 
hostages are.  We’re trying to figure that out now.
(Sydney approaches Jarod and crouches in front of him as the Lieutenant wanders off.)
Sydney: I remember that look on your face when you were young, when you couldn’t find an 
answer.
Jarod: It doesn’t make any sense.  There are four sets of tracks which means an outside group 
came in and ambushed the AFM and took the hostages?  Then they killed the militia.
Sydney: Executed them.
Jarod: Except for Hailey.  Shot three times.  But in a pre-meditated way as if someone 
wanted him to survive.  So he could talk.  So he could talk to me.  (He runs over to where 
Hailey is lying, an armed guard standing close by.)  I’ve got him now.  (The guard leaves the 
area.  Jarod crouches beside him.  Sydney follows.)  Don’t try to move.  The medivac unit 
will be here soon.  Now tell me about the men who took the hostages.
Hailey:  I’ve never seen him before.  I don’t want to see him again.
Sydney: Speak to me about my son.  Did he get hurt?  Answer me Hailey did you hurt my 
son?
Hailey:  No.  No!  No I didn’t hurt any hostage.  But he will. 
Sydney: Who?
Hailey: The man who took him.  He made me watch what he did to the others.  Left me to 
die.  He’s crazy.
Sydney: Who is he?
(Hailey holds up his hands which have been bound, crossed at the wrist in front of him.  He 
spreads out his fingers and then drops the thumb of his left hand behind his palm so it can’t 
be seen.)
Jarod: Lyle.

The Centre
Main Concourse
(Broots gets a fright as he comes through the door just as Parker is going in.)
Broots: Oh.
Parker: What?
Broots: Lyle went to the Appalachians.
(She takes out her cell phone and dials.)
Parker: Oh.  This is Parker.  Get the jet ready.
Broots: What’s going to happen to Sydney and his son?
Parker: For a shot at bringing Jarod back I wouldn’t put anything past Lyle.
Broots: Yes but what do you intend to do?
Parker: Whatever it takes.

Outside the Mine Opening
Jarod: This man with the nine fingers.  Where did he take the hostages?
Hailey: He took them west.
(Jarod moves away from Hailey picks up his rifle, and backpack.)
Sydney: Why would Lyle do this?
Jarod: He’s using Nicholas as bait to capture me.
(The Lieutenant approaches him.)
Lieutenant: Jarod.  Talk to me.
Jarod: You were right.  Hailey said a rival militia group did this.  They’re holed up in a farm 
house in Pine Ridge.  It’s about five mile due east of here.
Lieutenant: Martin?
(Martin consults a map.)
Martin: We’ve got it sir.
Lieutenant: Wood, stay with the prisoner.  Jarod, you’re with me.
Jarod: Lieutenant, don’t you think I should stay with the prisoner?  I’m the only one here 
with medical training in case something happens.
Lieutenant: Alright.  But see what else you can get out of Hailey and stay in communication 
with me through base.  We’re outta here.
(They head off to the east.)
Sydney: Why did you lie about where the hostages are?
Jarod: I couldn’t put their lives at risk.  This is my fight.
Sydney: Lyle killed your brother I know but now he is putting my son’s life on the line which 
makes it my fight.
Jarod: Nicholas is caught in the middle.  You stay out of this.
Sydney: You’ll have to shoot me to keep me out of it.
(They start to move off to the west.)
Hailey: (He sits up.)  Hey!  Where are you going?  What about me?
(Jarod stops walking and turns back to Hailey.)
Jarod: Your wounds are stabilised.  The medivac chopper will be here shortly.
Hailey: You can’t leave me alone.  What kind of lawman are you?
Jarod: Oh, I’m not really ATF.  I was just . . . (He turns and looks at Sydney.)  Pretending.  
(He raises his eyebrows in that quirky way that he has, and Sydney and he walk off together.)

Approaching an Abandoned Building
(Willie leads the way.  He is followed by the hostages, Nicholas and Lyle as well as two other 
sweepers.  They walk up to the structure and enter.)
Nicholas: So what happened to Hailey and his men after you got us out of the mine?
Mr Lyle: Oh, nothing too dramatic. We just tied them up.  Radioed the ATF.  An extraction 
team will meet us here. 
Nicholas: So, what are you?   FBI?
Mr Lyle: Something like that.  Why don’t you all go up in the attic in case there’s more 
trouble, hmm?  Um, Nicholas, would you keep me company?
(The hostages go up a ladder to the attic.  Willie pulls the door closed after the last one has 
gone in.  Lyle and Nicholas move into a downstairs room.)

On the Trail
(Jarod crouches by a stream, studying a map and waiting for Sydney to catch him up.)
Sydney: Why would Lyle want you to track him this far out?
Jarod: This trail dead ends at an abandoned mine shanty.  No other access which means he 
wants me walking in without a way of walking out.
Sydney: Hah.
Jarod:  It’s been a long time coming, him and me.  (He stands up and starts walking again.)
Sydney: Jarod, do you think revenge will put an end to the pain in your life?
Jarod: He killed my brother.
(Sydney twists his ankle on the uneven ground.)
Sydney: It’s all right.
Jarod: Sit down here.  (Jarod indicates a boulder.  Sydney sits and Jarod crouches in front of 
him.  Sydney rubs his ankle.)
Sydney: How did I get to this?  A lifetime working for a corporation that takes my son away 
from me.  And then when my son is back in my life, they kidnap him.  What does that say 
about me?  Who am I?
(Jarod reaches around his back and pulls out the photograph of the young Nicholas with his 
mother.)
Jarod: There was a little boy that Nicholas was working with.  He asked me to give this to 
your son.  He looks just like you. I could see in that little boy’s eyes that Nicholas meant the 
world to him.   Your son is a good man.  (He reaches into the front pocket of his jeans and 
pulls out the compass.)  He also gave me this to give to him.  Was it your father’s?
Sydney: It was his grandfather’s.  I thought Nicholas might like a piece of his past.
Jarod: (Jarod’s tone changes from compassion to hardly contained anger.)  It’s important to 
know who your family is.  Who you are.  Give it back to him.
(Sydney sense Jarod’s change in mood.)
Sydney: I know Jarod.  I know how much you’ve missed in your life.
Jarod: Let’s go.

Pine Ridge
Farm House
(The ATF team sweep the abandoned building to which Jarod had misguided them.)
ATF 3: Clear!  Nothing.  Hailey must have lied to Jarod.
Lieutenant: Did he?  Or did Jarod lie to us?  Dammit!  We’re going back.

Mine Shanty
Outside
(Jarod uses his binoculars to examine the surrounds of the building.)
Jarod: Three sweepers.
Sydney: Only three?
Jarod: You saw what they were capable of.  
Sydney: Hmm.
Jarod: The hostages must be inside the structure.
Sydney: Jarod, I really appreciate everything you’ve done.  (He picks up the rifle and hits 
Jarod on the back of the head.  Jarod collapses face first onto the sandy ground.)  I can’t risk 
you getting killed for me.  Forgive me.  (Sydney gets up and runs towards the building.)

Inside the Mine Shanty
(Nicholas is sitting at a table and Lyle is pacing.)
Nicholas: Shouldn’t the extraction team be here by now?
Mr Lyle: There’s no accounting for punctuality.  But as the old cliché goes all good things 
come to those who wait.  (He takes out his hand gun and places it on the table.  He sits down 
beside Nicholas.)
Nicholas: How did you lose your thumb?
Mr Lyle: Huh!  I trusted the wrong people.  I paid the price.
Sydney: You haven’t even made a down payment in your debt.
Nicholas: Sydney? 
(Willie stands behind Sydney his hands spread in a request for instructions.  Lyle shakes his 
head and Willie withdraws outside.)
Sydney: Are you okay?
Nicholas: Thanks to Mr Lyle here.  If weren’t for him we’d be dead.
Mr Lyle: Oh Nicholas, you flatter me.
(Sydney looks at Lyle with pure hatred.)
Nicholas: Do you two know each other?

Outside the Mine Shanty
(Jarod regains consciousness.  He stands and grabs his lapel microphone.)
Jarod: Arghh!  Base one?  This is Jarod.  Come in.  
(One of the sweepers is hiding out inside a structure.  He peers outside through a glassless 
window.  A fist comes through it and knocks him out.  Jarod briefly observes his handy work 
before moving on.   Willie is making rounds at the base of the building when Jarod appears 
on a metal ladder above him.  Jarod jumps on Willie from a great height and knocks him out.  
He gathers up the three sweepers, binds their hands with ATF issue restraints and leaves 
them in the undergrowth.)  Sleep tight!

Local Airport
(Miss Parker, followed by Broots, steps down from the jet.  The helicopter pilot is sitting on 
the skid of the helicopter reading a newspaper.  He looks up to see Miss Parker bearing down 
on him at great haste.)
Roy: Miss Parker.  What are you doing here?
Parker: Hello Roy.  Take us to Lyle.  Now!
Roy: Yes Miss Parker.

The Mine Shanty
Attic
(Jarod has accessed the attic by using the ladder that is propped up against the roof over the 
front porch.)
Jarod: (He holds his hand up in front of his mouth in the universally recognised sign for 
silence and whispers to the hostages in hushed tones.)  Shh!  It’s okay.  You’re safe now.  
Come on.  Up the creek bed.  Stay low and be quiet.  Move.  Move.
(He escorts them down the ladder.)

The Mine Shanty
Inside
Mr Lyle: You seem angry, Sydney.
Sydney: You’re using Nicholas as a bait to capture Jarod.
Mr Lyle: Hell yes.  Two birds one stone.  Victory from the jaws of defeat.  Lemonade from 
lemons. 
Sydney: You’ve endangered my son’s life.
Mr Lyle: Endangered.  You’re not listening.  (He stands and puts a protective hand on 
Nicholas’s shoulder.)  I saved him from the bad people.
Nicholas: Sydney Mr Lyle is the reason I’m safe, that we’re all safe.  He’s a good man.
Jarod: Except for the fact that he’s a murderer.  (Jarod steps out of the shadows at the far end 
of the room.)  If you’re looking for Willie and the others they’re a little tied up right now.  
Revenge, it’s a great equaliser.  (Lyle looks to his gun on the table.  Jarod notices.)  Go ahead.
Mr Lyle: I won’t give you another reason to kill me Jarod.
Jarod: Oh, you think I need another reason.  Sydney, take Nicholas and go upstream.  Find 
the others.  They may need some help.
Nicholas: I don’t understand.
Jarod: Your father will explain everything to you.  Now go.
Sydney: He’s right Nicholas.  Come on.
Nicholas: Who the hell is he?
Sydney: Someone we need to listen to.  (Nicholas leaves.  Sydney stops in the doorway and 
turns back to Jarod.)  Jarod, are you sure this is how it has to be?
Jarod: (Jarod is still and calm, his tone emotionless.)  I’m sure.

On the Trail
(The ATF team are marching through the brush.  The radio beeps.)
ATF 3: This is Martin.  Yeah.  Lieutenant.  Base camp’s got a message for you from Jarod.  
(He hands the receiver to the Lieutenant.)
Lieutenant: Yeah.

The Mine Shanty
Inside
(Throughout this conversation Jarod’s voice is quiet but deliberate.  The sheer coldness of 
tone is meant to instil fear.)
Jarod: I’m a little curious how did you know where the militia was holding them.
Mr Lyle: The Centre has strange bedfellows even among our inbred brethren.  Needless to 
say this, this is not how I had things planned.
Jarod: Well this is exactly how I planned it . . . in my mind . . .  every day since you killed 
my brother.
Mr Lyle: I never meant to hurt Kyle.
Jarod: No.  You wanted to kill me.  Kyle just got in the way.
Mr Lyle: I told you once, we could do great things together.  That offer’s still on the table.
Jarod: You think you can bribe me?
Mr Lyle: Jarod it’s not a bribe.
Jarod: Mr Lyle do you want your last breath on this planet to be a lie?  Now step to the 
centre of the room.  Now turn around.  Turn . . . around.  (Lyle goes to speak, shaking his 
head.   He is reluctant to take his eyes of Jarod’s trigger finger.)  Drop to your knees.
Mr Lyle: Please Jarod! (He is now pleading.)
Jarod: (He pushes him in the back, causing him to fall forward.)  On your knees!
Mr Lyle: So, this is how it’s going to be?  An execution without a trial.
Jarod: You didn’t give my brother a trial.
Mr Lyle: I didn’t . . .   It was self defence.  (He swallows nervously.)
Jarod: So is this.
Mr Lyle: Jarod, I know things.  (In an attempt to deflect Jarod he tries some fast talking.)  
There are things I can tell you, about your family, about who you are, things no one else 
knows.  (This appears to make Jarod angrier, his jaw clenched.)  If I die all those answers die 
with me.  Just let me walk out of here.  (There is the sound of an approaching helicopter.)  A 
Centre chopper.  How’s that for Karma?
Jarod: (He cocks the weapon.)  Bad.  Ready. . .  (He pushes the muzzle of the weapon into the 
nape of Lyle’s neck.)  Aim . . . 
Mr Lyle: Jarod?
Jarod: Fire!
(The sound of the helicopter landing drowns out the sound of the shot.  Miss Parker and 
Broots approach the shanty.  Once inside they find Lyle lying face down on the floor, his hand 
over his head.)
Parker: Lyle?
Mr Lyle: (He raises himself up onto his hands.)  Miss Parker?
Parker: You been talking to Jarod?
Mr Lyle: He’s here.  He went out that door.
(He grabs Broots and pushes him in the direction of the back door.  Broots stumbles his way 
to it, pushes it open but doesn’t risk sticking his head through the doorway.)
Broots: What?  Well here’s not here now.  (He runs back into the room past Lyle and Miss 
Parker towards the other door and safety.)
Mr Lyle: Well, find him.
Parker: Another day.  
Mr Lyle: What?
Parker: Broots picked up a transmission from an ATF unit flying in. (Broots holds up the 
receiver. He and Miss Parker turn to leave.)
Mr Lyle: But he was right here!
(Broots and Parker turn back to look at Lyle, recognising the angry outburst for what it truly 
is . . .  fear.)
Parker: What did he do to you?
Mr Lyle: Nothing.  I had him, and those idiots outside let him escape.
Parker: Whatever you say Lyle, but now it’s time to go.
Mr Lyle: (Lyle runs past Miss Parker and stands in her path.)  We just can’t just go.
Parker: Listen to me.  (She steps up closer to him.)  When the ATF walks in we don’t have 
an explanation for anything that has happened in the last two days.  We don’t go now the trail 
leads back to The Centre and you know what that would mean.
Broots: Can we go already?
(Broots leaves, followed closely by Lyle.  Parker takes one last look around the room.)  
Parker: Where’s your sense of Justice Jarod?

The Mine Shanty
Outside
(Sydney and Nicholas meet up with the other teachers on the creek bed.)
Hostage: I can’t believe you found us.

Helicopter
(Sydney and Nicholas watch Miss Parker get into the helicopter from a rise.  Jarod watches 
from behind a clump of trees.)
Parker: Get in!  Let’s get out of here Roy.
(The ATF team come running up behind Sydney and the others just as the helicopter takes off.  
Jarod smiles but stays behind cover.)

Teacher’s Compound
Merril’s Crossing 
Appalachian Hills
(Michelle and Nicholas sit at the picnic table opposite Seth who is reading to them.)
Seth:  I would be (?)
Nicholas: Go!
Seth:  Go!  That’s silly.
(Sydney arrives at the compound and Nicholas and Michelle get up to greet him.)
Nicholas: You made it.
Sydney: Nicholas.  (They shake hands.)  Michelle.  (They exchange a greeting.)  I’ve been 
meaning to return this.  (He hands him the compass.)
Seth:  Nicholas.  Nicholas.  Let’s read.
Nicholas: Not so fast.  There’s someone that I would like you to meet Seth.  This is . . . 
Sydney: Sydney.  Nicholas’s friend.
Nicholas: No Seth.  He’s not my friend.  He’s my father.
(They go back to the table.  Sydney and Michelle sit opposite Seth and Nicholas.)  
Nicholas: Okay here we go.  And I will . . .
Seth: And I will . . . 
Nicholas: eat them in the rain . . . 
Seth: eat them in the rain . . . 
Nicholas: and in the dark
Seth: and in the dark . . . 
Nicholas: and on a train
Seth: and on a train.
Nicholas: And in a car . . . 
Seth: and in a car . . . 
Nicholas: and in a tree
Seth: and in a tree 
Nicholas: They are so good so good you see.
Seth: They are so good, I see.
Nicholas: That’s very good Seth.
(Sydney and Michelle look on with pride.)

Jarod’s Lair
(Jarod is talking on his cell phone and packing at the same time.)
Jarod: Sorry I couldn’t stick around to say goodbye.
Sydney: Jarod.  I don’t know how to thank you for everything you did.  And I’m sorry I hit 
you.
Jarod: It’s okay.   Maybe it knocked a little sense into me.  Where’s Nicholas now?
Sydney: Back with his students.  He’s invited his mother and me to come down to visit him 
again.
Jarod: That’s nice.  That will be really . . . nice for your family.
Sydney: We’re hardly a family.  The boy barely knows me.
Jarod: He knows . . . he knows you love him.  (He disconnects.)  You love . . . him.  
(Speaking to the empty room, there is great sadness in his voice.  He picks up his gear, opens 
the door and steps out into the night.)

CLOSING CREDITS