Still Valley At 20,000 Feet - Mike Burns (good ebook reader .TXT) 📗

at their regimental number. That enough ‘point’ for you, Mister Doager?

PRIVATE DOAGER
I don’t care. Just don’t care anymore. I just got one big mission left, and that’s to stay alive! (watching Paradine getting ready to mount up) All right, I say we go down in that valley, an’ we wave a shirt, and thrown down our carbines.

Paradine, shocked, turns around and steps forward, backhanding Doager across the face, staring angrily at him.

SERGEANT PARADINE
Mister Doager, I extend my sympathy so long as your yellow eats away at YOUR insides. But when it crawls into my bivouac and tries to climb up on my horse, I withdraw my sympathy and give you the back o’ my hand.
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Paradine turns away, and mounts up. Doager remains standing there, watching him.

SERGEANT PARADINE
So far, you and me have pledged nothin’ to the Confederacy ‘cept a lack o’ sleep and empty bellies. But there’s a coupla hundred thousand others, who pledged a lot more. You’re makin’ it appear like they did it for nothin’.

Doager looks ashamed. Paradine looks down at him disdainfully.

SERGEANT PARADINE
Now, you stay here. If you hear a shot, you get back to the lieutenant at a fast gallop, 'cause that’ll mean they’re down there in force, an’ you tell him what happened. If y’ haven’t heard from me in fifteen minutes, you get back here anyway.

PRIVATE DOAGER (seizing reins)
Listen, you goin’ down there alone? (disbelief)

SERGEANT PARADINE
Yeah, just me an’ this brave horse--for want of anythin’ else. (exits to left, on horse)

NARRATOR (voiceover) This is Joseph Paradine, Confederate cavalry, as he heads down toward a small town in the middle of a valley.

NARRATOR appears, wearing contemporary coat and tie, standing next to bush.

NARRATOR (speaks to camera) But very shortly, Joseph Paradine will make contact with the enemy. And he will be faced, as men in war often are, with fateful choices to make...choices that may redound even unto...the Twilight Zone.

EXT. MIDDLE OF LAYSDELL, VIEW FROM UNDER PORCH OF A COLUMNED BUILDING, LOOKING INTO AREA BEHIND OTHER BUILDINGS, WHERE SERGEANT PARADINE IS SEEN RIDING HORSE AT A DISTANCE, COMING TOWARD CAMERA. AFTERNOON

EXT. DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE BETWEEN TWO BUILDINGS AS SERGEANT PARADINE IS SEEN MUCH CLOSER. AFTERNOON

Sergeant Paradine halts his horse next a large wagon, dismounts and pulls rifle from its holster on the horse’s back. Tethers his horse to wagon’s wheel. Makes his cautious way up this dirt sidestreet, next to a brick building, FOLLOWING BACKWARD-MOVING CAMERA. Stops at whitewashed porch post, looks around. Starts to dash to other side of sidestreet, hits the dirt when he hears a steeple-bell ringing. Looks up at it, and realizes the wind rang it. Pigeons fly out of belfry and overhead as bell rings. Paradine gets up, runs to side of wooden-frame building on other side of sidestreet.

Paradine rounds corner, walks a short distance up the covered board sidewalk, then looks up the town’s main street in disbelief. Comes out into the middle of the dirt street, with CAMERA STILL MOVING BACKWARD IN FRONT OF HIM. Stops.

PAN SLOWLY BACKWARD. We now see two Union soldiers in front of Paradine, standing in marching posture, with full backpacks and rifles a-port. Paradine glances from one to the other, incredulous. He walks between them. PAN SLOWLY BACKWARD FURTHER. We see more Union soldiers, lined up in formation behind the first ones.
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CAMERA ANGLE CHANGES, and we see Paradine from behind now, marching through the middle of the column of Union soldiers, staring at them. Waves hand in front of the eyes of one, with no response--they are like a column of manikins.

Paradine turns, walks over to a wagon, where one Union soldier is paused in mid-drink with a canteen lifted to his mouth. Another is leaning over, appears to be frozen in the middle of checking his rifle.

SERGEANT PARADINE
Hey! Hey Yank! Must be sleepin’! Or are you dead?

Leans over wagon wheel momentarily. Looks back at the column. Walks back into its midst.

SERGEANT PARADINE (walking back down column)
Plague, maybe? Some kinda sickness? But that would take hours. You wouldn’t all be like this. Not all at the same time. Must be asleep! No wounds. Not a sign o’ blood. Wake up! Wake up! (prods one Union soldier with rifle) Go on! Wake up, go ahead! You aren’t dead! None of y’ are dead! WAKE UP, YANKS! NONE OF Y’ ARE DEAD!

Sergeant Paradine exits the rear of the column, feeling emboldened by what he’s seeing.

SERGEANT PARADINE
All right, Yanks! You’re all my prisoners! Come on, Yanks! You’re all my prisoners!

Paradine COMES UP TO CAMERA, WITH CLOSEUP ON HIS FACE--an expression of wide-eyed disbelief. Sees a covered supply wagon off to the side of the street, with two Union soldiers frozen in the middle of unloading and securing it. Paradine stares a moment, walks over for a closer look.

SERGEANT PARADINE
Well, you come to the right place. You sure come to the right place, boys.

Walks to the rear of wagon to look inside.

SERGEANT PARADINE
Food...clothin’...

Walks back up to front of wagon, climbs up to peer at the driver’s seat, and a wooden box sitting behind it.

SERGEANT PARADINE
Ammunition! What you got is what we need! You hear me, Yank? You come to the right valley! (addressing frozen soldier on edge of seat) Nothin’ around here but hungry Confederates!

Paradine climbs down, grinning in his incredulity. Turns, looks around and walks over to a boyish Union soldier standing next to a gazebo, holding an American flag.

SERGEANT PARADINE
Don’t understand...(turns away) Don’t understand...(looking around, mystified) What’s happened to you? Why are you...why are you all quiet like this? None of you can speak. None of you can move.

Paradine walks back over to soldier that was unloading barrel from rear of covered wagon when frozen. Turns over a stacked box and barrel sitting on ground, peers into barrel. Discarding it, he opens up the box. Tearing into a small burlap sack within, he stands up and looks at its contents.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// SERGEANT PARADINE
First meat I’ve had in a coupla months, you hear? (bites into some beef jerky)

(CUT TO)

EXT. PORCH, WHERE A FLOWER-POT TOPPLES FROM AN OPEN WINDOW SILL, SHATTERS. AFTERNOON

(CUT TO)

EXT. PARADINE’S POSITION BY WAGON IN STREET AFTERNOON

Paradine lowers the jerky from his mouth, looks toward the window where flower-pot fell. Drops bag with jerky, seizes up his rifle. Heads toward window, warily. Walking past locomotive in middle of street, crossing front yard of house with the window. Change to closer