67. EXT. THE WRECK - SAME TIME

Bellanger approaches Ratchett. Gabriel is running towards the wreck, Abigale leading. He stops Gabriel.

BELLANGER: How is he?

Gabriel glances to Ratchett. His hands are bloodstained.

GABRIEL: Uh, h-he’s better than he was this morning. The vomiting's stopped. Headache’s gone, or at least the, throbbing in his head is gone.

ABIGALE: Come on.

Gabriel heads off.

BELLANGER: Good.

He approaches Ratchett, who’s watching him with his back against the tree.

BELLANGER: I have a proposition for you.

Ratchett SCOFFS.

RATCHETT: What?

Bellanger crouches down.

BELLANGER: Claude’s standing around when we should be doing something to get rescued. If we take two parties, we have a good chance to get out of here.

Ratchett looks stunned.

RATCHETT: I wouldn’t have thought you’d say something like that. I was thinking...something like...

RATCHETT (In an atrocious French accent): "We need help in salvaging teacups from the wreck."

Bellanger SIGHS.

BELLANGER (Enunciating): I came over here to see if you were on board with this idea. Are you?

Ratchett’s eyes dart to the Simplon train behind Bellanger.

RATCHETT: Only if I can get my briefcase from the lounge car.

BELLANGER: What is with you and your fucking briefcase?

Bellanger stands and SIGHS.

Jasper SCREAMS briefly O.S.

BELLANGER: What’s in there? Money? Organs?

Ratchett doesn’t answer. Purposefully.

BELLANGER (Enunciating): Do you support this idea?

RATCHETT: Only if you accept my condition.

BELLANGER: Fine.

Ratchett pushes himself up with the tree. His legs wobble as he takes the first few steps.

RATCHETT: I’m going to go get my briefcase.

BELLANGER: I’ll go with you.

Ratchett begins to speak.

BELLANGER: Just to make sure you don’t cause any further trouble.

The two head towards the car.

68. EXT. THE WRECK - SAME TIME

GABRIEL (Irritated): No, but the chance of it being shattered is possible. I’m not saying it’s the...definitive answer, though.

JASPER: But my right leg isn’t trapped. So there’s a chance I could just be pulled free?

GABRIEL (Irritated): That doesn’t work; we’ve tried that and it just causes you more pain.

Gabriel’s fists tighten.

GABRIEL: We’re cutting you out whether you like it or not.

Jasper sits up. He’s shaking.

JASPER (Stuttering): Is there another way?

ABIGALE: Unless you have something that can melt metal fast, we can’t do that.

She stands and lifts Jasper’s right leg over his head.

Gabriel steps off the wreck and licks his finger, touching the reddened metal held by three men, including Claude; it HISSES. He turns away.

GABRIEL (Muttering): Please, for the love of God, let it cauterize the wound.

He leaves.

Three men, one being Claude, swing a large piece of heated metal over Jasper’s trapped leg.

INSPECTOR CLAUDE: Cela va faire mal. Êtes-vous prêt, monsieur?

He GULPS. He nods his head, despite shaking.

JASPER (Stuttering): Okay. Go ahead.

Claude turns to the other men.

INSPECTOR CLAUDE: Un, deux, trois!

SIMPLON PASSENGER #2: What?

The men, minus the Simplon Passenger, drop the hot metal onto Jasper’s leg, which THUDS loudly against the metal floor of the car.

Jasper SCREAMS.

They pick it up again.

INSPECTOR CLAUDE: Encore.

They drop the metal again, making Jasper SCREAM louder.

Abigale is looking away, a pained look on her face.

JASPER (Crying): Stop, please!

They raise the metal again.

Abigale closes her eyes again.

INSPECTOR CLAUDE: Encore.

The metal drops again.

WIDE: THE FOREST. JASPER SCREAM OUT. AFTER A MOMENT, A WOLF HOWLS.

69. EXT. THE WRECK - THREE MINUTES LATER

CLOSE UP: JASPER’S BEING CARRIED TOWARDS GABRIEL.

Jasper is on a sagging mattress, being carried by two men back towards the medical area. His whole being is shaking as he MUMBLES to himself; he’s BREATHING heavily. His eyes are closed and he’s dripping with sweat.

Abigale is at his side.

ABIGALE (Calling): Gabriel, I need bandages.

Jasper WHIMPERS. He’s placed down by Michael, and we finally see his wound.

Everything below his knee is gone. His kneecap is hanging out of the wound, slightly cracked and pieces missing. His femur is showing. A bit of tendon drapes down from the hole. The cut is crude.

Gabriel comes over, piles of fabric in his hands. He drops it all beside Abigale and kneels down.

GABRIEL (Quickly): He’s going into shock.

ABIGALE: What?

GABRIEL: He’s losing too much blood.

Gabriel hands a thick piece of cloth to Abigale. His hand is shaking.

GABRIEL: He needs to bite something.

She puts the cloth in his mouth.

GABRIEL (Whispering): Shit.

Gabriel begins tending to the leg, which is now sitting in a pool of blood. There are rings under his eyes, and he’s still shaking.

70. EXT. THE WRECK - SAME TIME

Claude steps away from the wreck, his shoes spotted with blood and flecked bone.

BELLANGER: Claude.

Claude looks up and sees Bellanger and Ratchett coming towards him. Ratchett has his briefcase in his arms.

They stop in front of him.

RATCHETT: Okay. Tell the frog about our plan.

BELLANGER: I would appreciate it if you stoped saying that word, sir.

Bellanger turns to Claude.

BELLANGER: Monsieur, nous avons une idée pour accélérer notre sauvetage. L’Américain et moi avons décidé d’envoyer un groupe de deux dans les deux sens pour aider les sauveteurs vers l’épave.

Claude looks around.

INSPECTOR CLAUDE: No.

Bellanger looks to Ratchett, then back to Claude.

BELLANGER: Quoi?

Claude straightens up.

INSPECTOR CLAUDE: Vous avez besoin de vous ici.

BELLANGER: Je ne suis pas, cependant. Et, et je pense que le plan que Ratchett et moi avons élaboré est logique. Nous avons besoin d'aide immédiatement.

INSPECTOR CLAUDE: Vous avez besoin de vous ici.

Bellanger fumes.

BELLANGER: Et qu'est-ce que je suis censé faire? Maintenir l'ordre?

RATCHETT (Slightly worried): Conductor?

INSPECTOR CLAUDE (Cooly): Non, c’est ma profession actuellement.

BELLANGER: Then what am I supposed to do?

Claude slowly turns, a blank stare on his face.

INSPECTOR CLAUDE (Cooly): Assurez-vous que tout le monde est à l'aise?

Bellanger grits his teeth.

BELLANGER: I have a wife and children! What do you have?

INSPECTOR CLAUDE: Ici, c’est plus de survie jusqu’au sauvetage.

BELLANGER: What the hell is wrong with you? You’re not leading us. The boy takes care of the sick, I keep everyone calm, and what are you doing?

Claude SIGHS.

INSPECTOR CLAUDE (Slightly irritated): Je ne suis pas un chef Nous sommes tous dans le même bateau. Je veux que tu restes parce que ton aide est… bénéfique pour moi. Regarde autour de toi, Bellanger. Il n’ya pas beaucoup d’hommes valides ici qui peuvent faire ce que vous pouvez faire.

Subtitle: "I am not a leader. We’re all in the same boat. I want you to stay because your help is... beneficial to me. Look around you, Bellanger. There aren’t that many able-bodied men here that can do what you can do."

BELLANGER: I need to get help. I have to do this.

INSPECTOR CLAUDE (Irritated): Then go. I can’t make you stay. If you have to go, then go. I want you to stay because you can help. But if you have to do this, then do it.

Ratchett and Bellanger watch him.

RATCHETT: You can speak English?

Claude SIGHS again.

A beat.

INSPECTOR CLAUDE: Je reste parce que je sais que je peux aider ces personnes. Même si c’est juste un semblant d’ordre. Ils en ont besoin. Je veux que tu restes pour m'aider. Mais si vous devez y aller, alors partez.

Subtitle: "I’m staying because I know I can help these people. Even if it’s just a seamblance of order. They need it. I want you to stay to help me. But if you have to go, then go."

INSPECTOR CLAUDE: Dis-moi juste quand, pour que je puisse te donner un bon départ.

Claude turns and leaves.

RATCHETT: What did he say?

BELLANGER: Let’s go round up people.

Bellanger is still watching Claude walk away.

Ratchett turns.

RATCHETT: Are you coming with? I can’t speak German, or whatever these people are saying.

BELLANGER: Y-yes. Sorry.

The two turn and walks towards a group of passengers.

71. EXT. THE WRECK - ONE IN THE AFTERNOON

Abigale dabs Jasper’s forehead while he still winces in pain from the amputation. His breath is labored, he’s sweating, and his bandages are darker than Michael’s. Flies BUZZ, circling the amputation.

Michael’s chest still rises and falls at a constant rate.

Nearby, a man and woman are dropping bodies in a row for preparation for burial.

Something shines in Abigale’s eyes. She gets up to move the arm away, but freezes.

Abigale physically convulses and withholds a SCREAM.

David Benjamin stares blankly up at the sky, his head turned slightly and his face covered in cuts and glass. The man’s clothes are slightly torn and beaten. A bruise spans his forehead; the remains of blood lie over his eye.

The wristwatch still shines into her eyes.

She kneels beside him and, hand shaking, closes his eyes. She covers her mouth to stop herself from SOBBING.

After a moment, Abigale looks around and slips the watch from his wrist.

GABRIEL (Calling): Abigale!

Abigale jumps to her feet and runs to Gabriel. Jasper’s suffering from a panic attack. Michael is convulsing.

The rings under Gabriel’s eyes are more prominent.

ABIGALE: What happened?

GABRIEL: I don’t know. They just started.

Just as she sits between them, Gabriel departs.

ABIGALE (Softly): Jasper, I’m here, I’m right here. There’s nothing to worry about. I’m right here.

She grabs both Michael and Jasper’s shoulders and squeezes them gently.

ABIGALE (Softly): I’m so sorry. I wish I could do more to help you.

Abigale pulls back.

ABIGALE: Listen to me. We’re going to make it out of here. All of us. Mum...Father. All of us are going to get out of here.

Jasper’s calmed down, but Michael is still convulsing.

ABIGALE (Softly): I’ll be right back. I’m getting some fresh water.

She walks over to Gabriel. He’s wringing out a cloth.

GABRIEL: How’s your wound? Need more bandages?

ABIGALE: No. Do you -

GABRIEL: No.

A beat.

ABIGALE: But you don’t even -

GABRIEL (Angry): Yes I do. You were going to ask if I could do something to help your brothers. I can’t even do anything to help a headache, let alone someone dying.

ABIGALE: He’s not dying!

GABRIEL: Just face the facts, you bitch! Your brother is a dead man walking!

Gabriel glances around her towards her brothers. He stands and dumps the water. He heads over to the pots of water taken from the train.

GABRIEL: Well, lying down. The only difference between then and now is that he has a pulse.

Abigale SLAPS him. Hard.

Gabriel swings his jaw around lightly. A quiet POP sounds out from his jaw.

GABRIEL: I needed that, thanks. Let me revise my statement.

ABIGALE (Angry): Go ahead.

Gabriel frowns and puts down the cloth and bowl. He looks back to her brothers.

GABRIEL: All we really have to do is dig his grave underneath him -

Abigale slaps him again, and stomps on his foot.

ABIGALE: Do something!

Gabriel’s about to say something, but stops himself. He inhales.

GABRIEL (Low): Miss Benjamin, there’s nothing I can do. If we had actual medicine, or, or qualified physicians...

Gabriel rubs his eyes. He drops his hand from his face and SIGHS. Gabriel’s HYPERVENTILATING.

GABRIEL (Exhausted): I have been awake for the past fourteen hours trying to help these people. Forty-nine of them have been under my care since the beginning.

He gestures to the mass grave.

GABRIEL (Exhausted): Twelve of them are already dead.

Gabriel SIGHS again, and picks up the bowl and cloth.

GABRIEL (Exhausted): I’m not a doctor. Not yet, you know this. I am doing the best I can. You can’t ask me to go above and beyond when I can barely go above.

Gabriel SWALLOWS hard and dips the bowl into the water.

ABIGALE (O.S.): If...when my brother does go, he gets his own grave. Marked and everything.

He turns back.

GABRIEL: That’s unrealistic.

ABIGALE: So is you treating all these people at once. He gets his own, marked grave.

Gabriel nods slowly.

Abigale returns to Michael and Jasper.