The Weirdings laugh.
The Weirdings laugh. Johnny looks sheepish.
Susie sticks her tongue out at Johnny. The parents try not to smile.
The Weirdings get a chuckle out of Arthur's story as he finishes with the meal.
EXT. AFTER DINNER THE SAME SPOT
Johnny and Susie tend to the pots and pans. Jack and Elizabeth lounge on a cot together looking up at the stars.
Arthur is propped up against the side of one of the Range Rovers reading a book with the aid of a battery operated book light. The two guards play cards.
There is the rustle of approaching footsteps and the guards snap to their rifles. They level them at the oncoming noise. Jack and Elizabeth sit up, concern written on their faces.
A lean African in a bloody uniform rushes into the campsite. He babbles away at Arthur. The two converse in Swahili. The new comer keeps gesticulating at the two Range Rovers. Arthur turns to Jack and Elizabeth.
Arthur points at the two guards.
Elizabeth looks at the kids and then at the blood stained uniform of the park ranger.
Arthur barks in Swahili at the two guards. They unload the Rovers. Arthur gets his rifle and several pouches of ammunition and hands them to Jack.
EXT. THE CAMPSITE - EARLY MORNING
Johnny is lying flat on his stomach watching a dung beetle roll its cargo through the grass. Susie plays with her Barbie near the campfire. She dressesit in a safari outfit.
Jack exits the tent. He looks out over the vast African plains. Its beauty is matched only by the perfect absence of civilizations noisy discourse. Jack begins to build a fire.
Jack looks over at Johnny and smiles.
Johnny gives a backhand wave.
Jack smiles and returns to building the fire. Elizabeth exits her tent and stretches with a big yawn. She looks out over the plains and heaves a sigh.
Elizabeth approaches Jack from behind and slips under his arms to give him a hug from behind.
Jack turns in her arms with a smile.
Jack sprinkles some lighter fluid over the collection of branches that are in the fireplace and tosses a match on it. There is a woosh as the fire roars to life. Jack has placed a worn tea kettle on the grill over the fire.
Elizabeth starts to say something to Johnny, but Jack grabs her hand.
Jack sets a folding table with the ingredients for making coffee and some packets of flavored oatmeal.
Johnny starts imitating the kill to Susie's horror. Elizabeth looks shocked and Jack is trying to hide his laughter.
The kettle starts to whistle and Jack pulls it off the fire with a stick. He grabs a hot pad and pours water in six mugs.
Susie giggles, Johnny laughs and Elizabeth looks shocked.
Jack and Johnny take their mugs over by the tree and lean up against it.
Jack pokes Johnny in the side and Johnny starts with a laugh.
Elizabeth and Susie sit near the fire. Barbie sits in between them.
EXT. CAMP - AN HOUR LATER
Elizabeth is stretched out on a cot reading a book in the shade of the huge old tree. Jack and Johnny pass a pair of binoculars back and forth. They watch a herd of gazelles frolic off in the distance.
Susie sits at the foot of her mother's cot staring off in the distance.
Elizabeth sits up and looks out along Susie's gaze. She obviously does not see anything.
Elizabeth looks at her funny and then feels her head to see if she is feverish. Susie points out over the horizon at an approaching dust cloud.
Elizabeth follows her gesture and sees the approaching cloud. Elizabeth gives Susie a funny look.
Jack springs up to join them under the tree and inspects the horizon with his binoculars.
Jack hands Johnny the binoculars and he watches the dust cloud for a while. Elizabeth goes back to her book and Jack stares back over his shoulder at the gazelles.
Jack takes the binoculars.
Jack runs like a maniac for the rifle that Arthur left him and starts throwing water on the fire.
Jack stomps on the fire.
Jack walks over to her and stares her in the eye.
Susie starts to cry, and Johnny pulls out a pocket knife and assumes a stance.
Jack looks at him in disbelief.
Elizabeth looks around and then at the oncoming dust cloud and then smiles
EXT. THE PLAINS NORTH OF THE WEIRDING'S POSITION
A rag tag platoon astride their Range Rovers, in a cloud of dust, heads toward the Weirding's position. Twenty men are stuffed in the six Range Rovers with the equipment necessary for a long hunting expedition.
Three of the Range Rovers haul trailers that are overflowing with animal skins, the bounty of illegal poaching.
All the men in the Rover are black Africans except the man behind the wheel of the lead vehicle. This man is a white blonde South African.
MILES VAN DER MEER is a large man. He stands six feet tall and weighs in at a muscular two hundred and twenty pounds.
All the men are wear side arms and some sport automatic weapons. The lead and trailing Rover each has a thirty caliber machine gun mounted on the reinforced roof.
The trucks pull up to the Weirding's position and fan out in a line to stop at the campsite. The men dismount their vehicles. Miles dusts himself off and stretches before he notices the Weirdings.
The Weirdings are standing with pasted on smiles like some twisted version of "African Gothic". Elizabeth has the tea kettle in her hand as though she can't wait to serve their bellicose guests. Miles looks on at the group and smiles.
Miles makes his way over to the fire and family. Two of his corporals join him.
Corporal Assad, one of Miles black African mercenaries, snickers. The Weirdings all laugh nervously. Elizabeth sets out a couple of mugs and begins to pour some coffee.
There's some more nervous laughter by the Weirdings.
Miles replies with a nod.
Miles offers up another nod.
Elizabeth hands miles a coffee mug.
Miles takes a sip and turns to his men. He barks some commands to them in Somali and then takes a spot on the cot. Miles' men start to tear apart the camp. The Weirdings huddle together looking on nervously.
Miles breaks out into laughter.
The Weirdings hesitantly move to the cot opposite Miles.
Corp. Assad turns to Miles and starts talking in Somali. After a few moments exchange Miles turns back to Jack. Corp. Assad returns to one of the Rovers and pulls out a military radio.
Miles looks at Johnny and Susie with a tinge of menace.
Jack soaks this up for a second and jumps up to go for Miles throat. Ten of Miles men who are close by snap their weapons to Jacks position and Jack freezes.
Miles pushes off Jack.
One of Miles men snatches at Elizabeth's purse that rests near her on the cot. Elizabeth grabs it and plays tug of war with the mercenary.
Elizabeth yanks the mercenary into her and palm heels him in the face. The mercenary goes over backward and down for the count. One of his fellows put's a rifle to her head.
Miles walks over to Elizabeth and runs a slimy hand through her hair. Jack is doing everything he can to restrain himself. Miles turns to Jack.
Miles laughs at Jack. Corp. Assad, finished with his communications, packs up the radio. He returns to Miles.
Miles turns to jack.
Jack returns to the cot with his family. The Weirdings are obviously terrified.
EXT. THE CAMPSITE - AN HOUR LATER
Corp. Assad is a few yards out from the campsite. He waves at a rickety DC3 that circles their position. With no small amount of trepidation the Weirdings watch the plane fly overhead.
The plane lands in a cloud of dust and grass just a few yards from the campsite. The engines shut down and a black African pilot climbs out of the plane with two armed guards.
Miles joins them and after a brief exchange in Somali, Miles motions his men to begin loading the plane.
EXT. THE CAMPSITE - TWENTY MINUTES LATER
Miles' men have loaded up the plane with everything from the campsite including the contents of their Rovers and the Weirding's possessions.
The only things the Weirdings have left are Susie's Barbie and Elizabeth's handbag. The engines to the DC3 start up again. Miles secures Jack's hands behind his back with a plastic cable tie and a painful yank.
The Weirdings are hustled onboard the plane at gunpoint.
Six of Miles' men stay behind to return in the Rovers. The Rovers take off to the North and the plane takes to the sky with a roar.
INT. INSIDE THE DC3 - TWENTY MINUTES LATER
The Weirdings have been placed in the back of the plane against a stack of hides and crates. Two of Miles' men sit across from them with AK47's cradled in their arms.
The two Africans are discussing Elizabeth's various physical attributes in Somali.
Jack gives Johnny a disgusted look.
One of Miles' guards kicks Elizabeth, obviously wanting her to silence herself. Jack makes a menacing move towards the attacker and has a gun muzzle shoved in his face. After a few seconds stare down Jack backs off.
One guard looks at the other and they start to laugh. One guard looks at Elizabeth with lust in his eyes and the other guard smiles.
The smiling guard motions to the other and he looks back at the other end of the plane where Miles and his men are.
Miles and the rest of his men are either asleep or otherwise occupied.
The lustful guard motions Elizabeth to the back of the plane with his rifle. The other guard keeps his rifle leveled on Jack's chest.
Jack looks frantic for a second and then relaxes.
Elizabeth looks at him apprehensively. The guard motions again and Elizabeth moves toward the back. The other guard chuckles. As Elizabeth crawls over the hides to the back of the plane the guard follows on his hands and knees.
Elizabeth rolls with a right leg crescent kicking knocking the rifle away from her and follows up with a left leg round kick to the guard's temple. He goes down like one of the animals he has shot.
Jack scoots in and knocks the other guards gun aside with the same crescent kick. He does a front snap kick under the guard's jaw. His head snaps back into a crate and falls forward onto his chest.
The guards look like they are sleeping.
Miles hears the thud and looks into the back of the plane. It is obvious he can't see much so he gets up to see what's going on. Jack scoots back to his seat.
Elizabeth crawls back to her family and straightens her hair.
Miles stretches and picks his way among the men and cargo to the back of the plane. When he reaches his prisoners he stares down at his two unconscious men in total disgust.
Oh, I don't know. About ten minutes. Wouldn't you say about ten minutes, Dear?
Miles screams at his men in Somali. Four of them come to the back of the plane. Miles has the attention of all of his men as he screams at them and gesticulates wildly at the two unconscious men.
Two of his men open up the door to the plane and the wind screams in. The four men Miles has called to the back pick up the two unconscious men, haul them to the door and toss them out.
The two men wake up just before they take their trip to the great beyond. They greet the afternoon air with a scream.
The Weirdings watch this entire operation in shock. Miles turns back to the Weirdings with a smile.
Miles lauhts and returns to the front of the plane. Two new guards return to the Weirdings. These two watch the Weirdings in silence.
EXT. BAMADU - AFTERNOON
Bamadu is a miserable mixture of rickety wooden structures and mud and stucco huts. The architecture looks like blisters raised in the dirt by the African sun.
A desert camouflaged, sheet metal warehouse is the biggest building. In the center of town is a large wooden structer that is also painted in desert colors.
A worn artillery piece, a relic from World War I, sits in the center square in stark contrast to the abundant new age weaponry being carried by the inhabitants.
Fifteen technicals (Toyota four by fours with gunmounts on the roofs) roam the streets or sit idle in whatever shade can be found. Most of the villagers are well armed black African men.
A few children run about while a handful of village elders watch from the shade. The village women go about their daily chores.
The DC3 roars over the town and the inhabitants look up into the bright sky with shielded eyes. The plane takes one turn around the dirt village and lands on a long strip behind the village.
Five of the technicals take off to the airstrip.
EXT. THE AIRSTRIP - SAME
The DC3's engines come to rest and one of Miles men pops the door open and leaps out of the plane. The technicals come to rest a few yards from the plane and disgorge the Somali mercenaries inside.
One of these mercenaries greets Corp. Assad and Miles with a smile and they begin conversing in Somali. CAPTAIN BAHADI is dressed in a neat, but dusty uniform. He is lean as are most of his fellows. He seems to be friendly.
Eventually the Weirdings exit the plane and the various mercenaries look on in curiosity. The second set of guards escort the Weirdings to Miles' position.
The Captain turns to miles.
Click here for PART III