Mech tracks.
Armoury could be a trap.
Those weapons better be worth it.
It's about six hours old. That's when the rain stopped.
Those ones are empty.
Okay, who's got the ball?
HAL: Right here.
Think you can get it that far, old man?
$5 million says you can't hit the front steps.
(LAUGHS)
You make that a stick of gum, we got a bet.
All right, buddy, you ready? Ready for this?
(THUDDING)
(DOG BARKING)
Nemo, come back!
Go, go, go!
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)
Matty.
It's time to get up.
If I see him, I'll let you know. I'm sorry.
What was that?
Word's out I saw harnessed kids before we hit the shopsmart.
They want to know if I saw their kid.
Aw, man. Oatmeal again?
We passed a Denny's. Maybe you can get a grand slam.
Bite me.
Not much of a morning person, are you, Matthew?
Well, you go get in line.
I'll catch up to you. I have to go report in.
You gonna go look for Ben tonight?
That's the plan.
I found some sticks in the basement.
Want to play catch later?
After school?
TOM: No sign of any Skitters,
but wherever there's a Mech...
Weapons inside?
Didn't go in.
Didn't feel it was worth taking it on and attracting Skitters.
You were to be discreet.
Well, we had a little breakdown in discipline.
We drew fire.
-Who? -Jimmy.
He's a good fighter.
TOM: 13 years old.
Go back tonight. Find out for sure.
No, our agreement was that we would be going after Ben
once we scouted the armoury.
Which you haven't done.
You're right.
That said, just like the food stores
and the pharmacies that we've seen,
it's probably empty,
and the Skitters are just staking it out.
And you're probably right, but we need to know.
Hey, this isn't what we talked about.
You find a better place to make camp?
I scouted city hall.
Too many windows, buildings all around.
I saw a factory on the edge of town
might work, though.
I'm guessing you didn't see any harnessed kids.
You know how much I want to.
All right, let's go. Come show me on the map.
ANNE: Captain Weaver.
Dr Glass.
Couldn't help but notice
all your people are sleeping in houses
while the rest of us are in tents.
My fighters need the best sleep they can get,
and we need to be able to get the civilians
out of here fast in case of attack,
wouldn't be feasible if everyone was in houses.
Well, maybe we take a few houses
and rotate some people through.
What, are you their leader now?
There's no leader.
I'm a doctor, and doctors hear things.
Well, Doctor,
you tell your patients that if they're dissatisfied,
they're free to leave.
If they want the protection of my soldiers,
they can minimize the whining and be grateful for the oatmeal.
They're not just eaters.
They know that's what your soldiers say about
them sometimes, they're eaters.
They contribute to the fight.
They cook.
They fix clothing. They haul trash.
Dr Glass, a few years from now,
when the Skitters have been wiped out
or sent back to the undoubtedly hideous planet
that they call home,
the concerns of the civilians will be addressed.
Until then, there's no time for this.
Dear Lord.
I did not come here to get in an argument.
(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)
Uncle Scott wants a word with you.
He has some thoughts on the aliens
he thought might be useful.
Happy to talk to him after I get a little food.
Oh, what I wouldn't give for an egg...
...some bacon, a hash brown.
White or wheat?
English muffin, fork-split,
with enough butter that would make
a doctor such as yourself worry about my heart.
Ha!
You know, you never gave your opinion.
On?
The rights of the civilians.
I don't think I've ever been to Acton before.
It's a nice town.
Civilians versus the military, it's an age-old question.
What side do you come down on?
I think civilians are a liability and a hindrance.
And I also feel
that they're the best motivation we have to fight.
CHILD: No!
This way!
CHILD #2: Just kick it!
Kick it! Yeah!
Come on! Come on, guys!
(MAN LAUGHS)
Here you go.
(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)
SCOTT: Biology.
CHILDREN: Biology.
SCOTT: Biology, Biology,
it's from a Greek word meaning 'life discourse.'
That's from the dictionary. But you know what it is to me?
To me, it is the study of the most miraculous gift
that has ever been bestowed on us.
It is the study of the wonder and the beauty
and the mystery that is life itself,
and to study it is to...
Well, is to learn humility
and responsibility and gratitude, right?
Yeah, Matt?
We're not grateful for Skitters.
No. No, we are not grateful for Skitters, right?
And we're not grateful for parasites or cancer, either.
But they are part of life,
and we're grateful for the chance to study them, right?
And hopefully by studying them, we'll be able
to better figure out
how to kill them, right?
Right?
-BOY: Yep. -You bet.
SCOTT: I had a class of, uh... Of older kids,
and I had them brainstorming about the aliens.
And they came up with mostly, you know,
the stuff that we all talked about,
that the Skitters must come from a planet
similar to ours,
and that they have a wide range of temperature tolerance.
Anyway, this one girl came up
with something that made me think.
She said, you know, whenever we've dreamed up robots,
we've always imagined them to sort of be
basically like ourselves,
a head, two arms, two legs.
But the Skitters have six legs.
And yet, their robots, the Mechs, are bipedal.
Now, why wouldn't they build robots
that look like themselves, you know?
Well, chances are
they've been studying the Earth for a while.
Maybe they built Mechs that way
to have a bigger psychological impact on us.
Maybe, huh?
Hey, Hal.
Those harnessed kids you saw the other day,
they were headed west?
Yeah, but they may have changed direction after I saw them.
Hey, you, uh, never asked if I saw your son.
I figured you'd tell me if you had.
After I saw Ben, you know, I just...
I didn't see anything else.
We'll be going out tonight. I'll be looking for him.
Well, when you go, I'd like to go with you.
All right.
Hey, do you need a hand?
I got it, but thanks. Okay.
You could take mine.
Uh, oh. Okay.
-She's kidding. -I am?
You are. Right?
O-okay. Um...
Hey, I saw you walk in past the outpost sentries.
You looked tired.
What were you doing by the outpost?
I was in the church on the corner, praying.
It's Episcopalian, not Catholic, but it's close.
I wonder if the Skitters have a god.
I know a lot of people have lost their faith,
but mine is stronger than ever.
Good for you.
The next time you get on your knees and pray,
could you see if the big guy might get us
an operational B-2 bomber loaded with nukes?
I don't pray for God to give me things.
I don't think that's how it works.
Then what do you pray for?
I ask God to show me what I could do for him.
Wonder who she was, girl who lived here.
Well, maybe she's still alive.
She liked Harry Potter.
Dad used to read these to me.
I'd always fall asleep.
He read them all to Ben.
Lucky Ben.
Maybe Lourdes could read them to you.
Oh, for... She's just being nice.
She's just trying to get in your shorts.
-Karen. -Oh, don't play dumb.
I'm sure you had plenty of experience
with the female admirers back at school.
I played lacrosse.
Football players got the groupies.
Hey, you know there's no competition, right?
Hal, change of plans.
Whoa! (CHUCKLING)
Uh, get a room.
We got a room. Could you knock?
Just wanted to let you know
we're going back to the armoury tonight.
We're going to look for Ben.
Weaver wants us to make sure
that there's no weapons there.
There aren't any. They're using it as bait.
We're gonna go make sure.
We'll get Ben tomorrow night.
Well, I'll go with you when you do.
-ANTHONY: Me too! -DAI: Count me in!
Huh, thin walls.
I guess everybody hears everything.
We'll find him.
Yeah.
All right.
Jimmy, come here a second.
You're gonna sit this one out, all right?
Because I screwed up?
Tom needs someone bigger in case they find weapons.
-That'll be me. -Okay?
Good. Get some rest.
-All right. -We ready?
You're a good soldier, Jimmy.
-(BOW FIRES) -(GASPS)
(BOW FIRES)
(MACHINE-FUN FIRE)
Lights out!
What the hell? Is it Skitters?
(GROANS)
Not gonna die. Not gonna die, hear?
BILLY: Oh! Oh, Johnny, man, I've been hit, buddy.
-I've been hit, bro. -POPE: What the hell happened?
What do you think happened? I've been shot!
-'Cause you shot first! -No, I didn't. I didn't.
Shut up! We're supposed to do this on the quiet.
-I was quiet! -Shut up a second!
There's no way the robot didn't hear that gunfire.
What do you want?
Well, you and your guns.
(THUDDING)
Listen. You hear that?
Now, you start firing, robot comes in,
whereas you don't do what we say,
we will start picking you off without so much as a whisper.
So you have a choice.
Put down your guns and come with us.
TOM: Why don't you shine a light on yourself,
let me see who I'm talking to?
Why don't I shine a light on these two instead?
Put down your guns now,
or these two get skewered.
(WHIRRING)
Whitey, Cueball, get Billy. Let's go.
Come on.
(THUDDING)
-Okay, go, go, go! (GUNFIRE)
-BILLY: Aah! -POPE: Just take it easy.
We're taking the access tunnels to home base.
Aah! Just watch my leg!
(GROANING)
Easy!
Ugh! Get it off!
Come on, man, get it off. Come on.
Are you gonna dose me up? Come on, buddy.
-CUEBALL: Here it comes, Billy. -Come on, come on.
Come on, come on, come on, come on.
-Here it comes. -(GROANS)
You ready?
Yeah, yeah.
You got that? Atta boy.
POPE: How's he look, Whitey?
He's bleeding hard in the leg.
Probably nicked an artery.
Severed it, he'd have bled out already.
Use your belt. Bind it tight.
Any of you happen to be
a board-certified microsurgeon, fix my brother?
Then what good are you?
So, where you from?
TOM: Cambridge.
And how are things in Cambridge these days?
Worse than they are here.
What are you, family?
Well, obviously not all.
No. Just came together a couple months ago.
You part of some resistance?
No.
Just a group of people trying to survive.
Then where'd you get the weaponry?
Dead cops, National Guard.
So, what do we got?
Papa Smurf,
sexy freedom-fighter girl,
strapping young man,
black... Looks like a gangbanger,
and a... Oriental of some sort.
(CHUCKLES)
We'll take the girl and the boy.
The black?
-Hell no. -Hell no. Unh-unh.
What about the Chinaman?
MAN: Asians are good at fixing things.
That's true.
We're not gonna let you drive.
(LAUGHING)
Which brings us right back...
To Papa Smurf.
See, now, I'm figuring,
since you're the only one willing to speak up,
that you're their leader.
We need another leader, boys?
-Nah. -I didn't think so.
(GUN COCKS)
We can get you more guns.
Where?
I thought you were all just a bunch of strangers
thrown together by fate.
We're with the resistance.
We're part of the 2nd Massachusetts.
The what?
(LAUGHS The 2nd Massachusetts?
Well, how Revolutionary War.
So, what do you got,
fife and drums, tri-cornered hats?
No. We have guns.
Hey!
What you have, punk,
is a .50-cal mounted to the back of a GTO.
You got 111 fighters and 200 civilians
camped out in the Big Meadow.
I've been watching you...
...for two days.
That's why we were staking out the armoury.
Figured you'd be looking for guns.
I'm not gonna kill your old man.
Ugh!
Now, he is your old man, right?
I can't imagine you shouting out like that if he wasn't kin.
(GRUNTS)
You know what?
(GROANS)
We're not gonna kill anybody.
Not yet.
You're all way too valuable.
So, here's what we're gonna do.
We're gonna make a deal.
You lot for the .50-cal on the back of that car.
Maggie.
Darling, please escort young prince charming here
back into town
so that he can bring the terms of our deal
to the Supreme Allied Commander
of the 2nd Massachusetts.
So, what were you...
...you know, before?
I taught history, B.U.
History? What kind of...
Kind of history? The Sumerians on up, what?
-American. -American?
So, how's the resistance going?
Just getting started.
You honestly believe that?
I do.
History buff such as yourself ought to know better.
I taught the American Revolution.
You know how that turned out.
Yeah.
But is that the right, uh...
What do you call it, analogy?
Instead of us being the colonials
and the aliens being the redcoats,
isn't it more like we're the Indians
and they're the never-ending tide of humanity
coming in from Europe?
How'd that work out for the Indians?
Well, if you don't see any hope...
Why don't I just eat a gun?
Well, I'll tell you, Professor,
and this may come off as a little insensitive,
considering the 90% of mankind
that's already gone to the grave.
But the arrival of these evil creatures
is the best damn thing that's ever happened to me.
See, we've been on a bug hunt
the last six months, and we've been having a blast.
-Maggie. Is that your name? -No.
Huh.
I could have sworn
I heard him say that your name was Maggie.
You heard wrong.
I want you to consider something.
And I want you to shut up.
You should join us. We're fighting back.
Shut up, now.
Are you stupid?
I figured it was worth a shot.
You do anything like that again,
and I will use the gun.
-(GUN COCKS) -Get up.
(GROANS)
Turn around.
Bag.
Walk.
What do you call them,
spidery bastards?
-Skitters. -That's good.
We call them Cooties, you know,
like the, uh, kids' game.
Well, before the Cooties came,
I was always going up against cops
and, you know, people like me.
But you go around killing people today,
even the bad guys,
and people tend to get a bit uptight.
But Cooties, it's open season on them.
You killed any?
A few.
How?
Rifle.
-Shoot for the head? -It seems to do the trick.
Well, I hate to be the one to tell you, friend,
but you've been going about it all wrong!
(LAUGHING)
You don't shoot for the head.
You take out a couple of legs.
You slow them down. It weakens them.
Then you take the head shot.
You ever go one-on-one?
This one I did solo.
Thought I was gonna die,
but I didn't, it did.
You ever take down a ship?
The Cooties and their robot friends
respond to sound, right?
The ships, they go off heat. You know that?
Mm-hmm.
Well, we raided the armoury, right?
We got ourselves a genuine bazooka, right?
And we're like, 'All right.'
So we... We peel this engine block
out of an old Volkswagen, right, and we set it on fire.
It gets hot enough, magnesium just, you know,
ignites, like staring into the heart of the sun.
Having a few beers, lo and behold...
...in comes this airship, right?
Billy takes a bazooka,
gets a Cootie bird in its sights,
lets a shell fly.
It arcs.
I mean, it's going.
I don't know.
The ship must have sensed something, right?
It must have sensed it, 'cause it...
It just deked out of the way.
That would've been sweet.
(CLEARS THROAT)
Hey, you think I could have a beer?
Why the hell not?
Don't go anywhere.
(INSECTS CHIRPING)
You've got one hour.
ANNE: Do you know them?
No.
Wonder what happened to them.
As far as I heard, people from this area
were herded to the camp in Stockton.
Then nuked.
After the kids were taken.
What can I do for you, Doc?
I had some more thoughts on the housing.
Mm. You're still on that.
Actually, yes, 'cause it's still not fair.
You back already?
We have a problem.
Where's your father?
Don't do anything stupid.
Come on, I just want a beer.
(GROANS)
It's cold.
Yeah. Ain't we civilized?
Got ourselves and old, uh, fridge there
running off our genny.
Yeah.
So, he your only kid, the one I sent back to town?
No, I have two other boys.
They with you?
One is. The other one's harnessed.
Damn.
You know where he is?
Yeah, he was seen in a group
a couple days ago, headed this way.
Well, you know, Maggie saw some of them
down by the hospital.
Maybe he's with them.
You know, if I were you...
I would find him,
and I would put him out of his misery.
That's no way to live.
You have kids?
Boy and a girl.
They, uh... They're with their mother in Florida.
I suppose I should use the past tense now.
So, when you gonna do it? When you gonna make your move?
Excuse me?
You've been, uh, eyeballing Billy's sidearm
since you got here.
That obvious, huh?
I tend to notice little things like that.
You know...
...here, I'm thinking
we're having this good conversation,
yet you had ulterior motives.
What would you do?
(GUN COCKS)
So, you don't have
a lot of good conversation with your men, huh?
You kidding?
Last book any of them read had a dog named spot in it.
Maybe you should join us.
-Join who? -The resistance.
-(LAUGHS) You kidding? -Mnh-mnh.
And why would I do that?
I can guarantee good conversation.
And what do you get?
Apparently, you know how to kill Skitters.
You know what, Professor?
You kill me.
I don't know what kind of fairy tales
you've got going on in that head of yours about saving the Earth,
but the way I see it,
there ain't no place this is going but down.
HAL: One's bleeding out. Click shot him in the leg.
You mean before he died?
Is that supposed to make me feel better?
Mike, get in here.
Do you need me to leave?
No. You stay.
Tom and his team were taken hostage by a gang of outlaws.
Click's dead.
It wasn't my dad's fault, all right?
-It was a trap. -Yeah, they want to make a deal.
We give them the .50, they give us Tom and his team.
How do we make the trade?
We don't.
What?
You don't understand what's happening, do you?
We start negotiating with them, they will bleed us dry,
if they don't just hit us now, which they probably will.
Schlatter and O'neill, get in here!
You go wake up your civilians.
They need to be ready to move in ten.
Oh, oh, we're just gonna run?
You want to go fight them? Me too.
You have any idea where they are?
You had a bag on your head.
They were in an auditorium. It looked like a school.
Oh, do you have any idea how many schools there are in Acton?
Because I don't.
All right, we'll just go to this factory that you found.
It's gonna have to do.
The guy put a gun to my father's head.
He's gonna kill him.
If all I had were fighters,
we would go and we would find him,
but I have 200 civilians to worry about.
Now, after we get all of them safe,
we will go look for your father.
-I'm going now. -No, you're not.
Mike, take him next door.
Watch him till it's time to go.
Sound the alarm. We're moving out.
Civilians.
Please, Mike, you got to let me go.
It's a damn shame.
I know, but it doesn't have to be.
I meant... It's a damn shame
how you were able to overpower me and take my weapon.
Should I hit you, like, make it look good?
No. No, you should not hit me.
Just... Just block the door.
All right.
I'm gonna leave your rifle here.
No, take it.
That girl that brought me here,
if she saw me with a gun, I think she'd shoot me.
I may be able to help you.
Okay.
-Where is she? -I don't know.
Where's the .50?
I'm a doctor.
I understand one of your men is badly wounded.
I take you there, you may never leave.
It's all we've got.
(GROANS)
POPE: Is it bad or wicked bad?
Oh, it's wicked bad, bro.
Do you want me to load you up again?
Yeah, man, dose me up. Dose me up.
(DOOR OPENS, CLOSES)
Oh, this does not look like it's gonna make me very happy.
You tell me you have that GTO in the parking lot,
or I am gonna be very... Disappointed.
I'm a doctor.
I might be able to help your brother.
What kind of doctor?
The only one you've got. Is that him?
Hold on.
If I fix him, will you let us leave?
You fix him, I'll let you live.
(GASPS)
(GROANING)
-Whoa. -What... What happened?
Easy, easy. Dr Quinn, medicine woman, here
just stitched up your artery.
She stopped the bleeding.
You're gonna be okay, all right?
-You got the tube? -Yeah.
-How about the shells? -Yep.
BILLY: Where you going?
To rob the 2nd Massachusetts.
You sit this one out.
Yeah, you think?
I'm leaving you, Maggie and Cueball.
Anybody tries anything, pop them.
Hey, you know me, huh?
Yeah, that's why I'm leaving Maggie and Cueball,
so you don't do it just for laughs.
Well, that's no fun!
-Move, move! -Let me try to understand this.
I'm supposed to believe
that you let a 17-year-old get the better of you?
Is that what I'm supposed to believe?
When we get safe and settled, there will be consequences.
(EXPLOSION)
(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)
Defensive positions! Far tree line now!
(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)
You in charge?
I am.
You the one took my fighters?
I did.
You better tell your people
to put down the weapons and run.
Like hell.
If I give the signal,
my guys will open up on your civilians.
You give any kind of signal whatsoever,
it'll be the last thing that you do.
Listen, chief.
A patrol ship is gonna pick up on those flares,
and when they do,
they're not gonna fire nukes, but they will hit hard,
and anyone still left in this meadow...
will be killed.
I'm not asking for your rifles.
I got enough of that to last me the next 10 years.
All I'm asking for is the food you have right now,
the .50 cal, and that sweet little GTO.
In exchange,
I give you your friends back.
Leave the food.
Go!
MAN: Yes, sir.
(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)
I will get you.
Get up.
He's talking to you.
I said get up!
BILLY: That's it.
Now turn around. I want to see what we got.
Look at you.
You are a pretty one.
We're gonna have ourselves a good time, you know that?
Hey.
Is Billy gonna live?
What?
Yes, uh, if he doesn't get infected.
Hey, what are you asking her that... Ugh!
Ugh!
After they grabbed me three months ago,
Billy... Let's just say he deserved to die.
Cueball thought he was better 'cause he brought chocolate.
He wasn't.
Let's go, let's go! Come on!
Let's go! Ándale!
Just leave it! Let's go!
(MACHINE-GUN FIRE)
All right, what's that?
Who's firing those guns?
ANNE: It's Tom.
You have to get everyone to follow us.
Take them, Mike. Take them.
Let's go.
What the...
Take the .50 now!
All right, on the .50!
Go!
Cease fire, cease fire, cease fire!
Can you hear me, Pope?!
My ears are still ringing, but... Yeah!
Those my own guns you're firing at me?!
They are!
You better run, Professor!
Ships are gonna target the flares.
You're in the middle of the flares.
What are my options?
Join or die.
-Just like the revolution, huh? -Just like.
Well, tell you what, why don't we just sit tight?
We'll see how the, uh... See how the air strikes go.
If that's how you want to play it.
I drive, you follow close, okay?
They can't see you, they can't shoot you.
(AIRSHIP APPROACHING)
(ENGINE TURNS OVER)
Well, I guess you got me after all.
Get out.
One wrong move, I take your head off.
I believe you would.
Come on!
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)
Captain.
You get Click's body?
We did.
We'll bury him tomorrow.
This was no good today.
We almost lost you, your squad,
and Hal and Anne were reckless.
Hal's young.
He just did what he did to save his father.
Anne's a civilian,
and we don't want lose our doctor.
As for you, you got your team taken hostage.
We almost lost our best weapon and a lot of our food.
And we almost lost them to a bunch of criminals
with AKS and road flares.
This time, it worked out,
but there's a reason we have a chain of command,
and you better damn well make sure people follow it.
You can start when you get back.
Thanks.
I said you could go look for your son
after you checked out the armoury.
Do you have any idea where he is?
Uh, that woman that was with Pope, Margaret,
said she saw some harnessed kids out by a hospital.
I thought we'd start there.
I'll give you three days.
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
Well, good.
And there's something you can do before you leave.
There's your prisoner right here.
His cell should be ready by now.
Go ahead and escort him.
What are you gonna do with me?
Oh, that hasn't been decided yet.
What about Maggie?
She wants to earn her citizenship in the 2nd Mass
by being a fighter.
Should've taken me up on my offer.
And join your tattered remnants?
I'll take a rest for a little while.
Being the leader of a post-apocalyptic gang of outlaws
has been exhausting.
Hey.
Thanks for coming today with Hal.
You'd do it for me.
Yeah, I would.
Dad.
Got to go.
Good sticks?
Not bad.
Ready for that game of catch you promised?
There you go. Good throw.
(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)
Good catch.
That's it.
You got to work on your off hand.
My off hand's better than yours.
-I wasn't talking to you. -(LAUGHING)
Our old man, he's losing that form.
Pick this up when we get back.
Gonna go find Ben?
That's the plan. We're gonna bring him back, too.
So why don't you go inside and get a little rest?
Which way? t you go inside and get a little rest?