Calamity EP6 Bullet Train Part 2

Location: EXT. FOREST - DAY

JANE (V.O.): This ‘Lightfoot’ fella & his boys lived up to his name. Trek back to their campsite was a walk in the park...for them.

Sound: Footsteps of a large priosner procession.

DANTE: Jane, pssst. Hey!

JANE: Simmer down, boss. Be patient.

DANTE: What’s the plan? I’m not losing people to this guy.

JANE: Plan’s to keep your head attached to your shoulders. Think we can do that?

DANTE: Your hands are untied, can’t you grab the guy up front? Do your thing. Fight and get us out of here.

ELICK: Us two plus the secret service against 20 armed men? Not liking those odds.

DANTE: We have the numbers.

VIOLET: Dante, you’re going to get us killed.

DANTE: Do they sound like they’ll let us live? We need to wait until they fall asleep.

JANE: Too risky. They’ll sleep in shifts and wake the others if we try anything funny.

SPENCE: For once I agree with your gunslinger there. Better to hang tight and wait for that cavalry you mentioned.

JANE (suspicious): That’s right.

SPENCE: But I gotta admit, you sold em’ quite the line back there.

MILLS: Mmmhmm. I never been rescued by a cavalry in my tenure.

JANE (amused): I can see why. Who’d wanna stick their necks out for the tax man?

MILLS: We are NOT tax men. Agents of the secret service carry a duty to this country to make sure men like your boss don’t destroy our currency.

DANTE: For the last time, I don’t know how that counterfeit money got there.

ELICK: Aye, settle down. The lot of ya.

ELICK (whispers): Jane, how long you reckon before Faith’s back?

SHERIFF (V.O.): How would she even find you?

JANE (V.O.): Sheriff you’re looking at the best tracker this side of Dakota. You don’t think I taught my girlfriend a few tricks?

SHERIFF (V.O.): Spare me the details.

JANE: I left a trail for her to follow.

DANTE (pained): Please tell me that’s not my expensive brandy.

JANE: Sorry boss, but Dutch will pickup the scent. Faith will lead them here.
The clouds grumble above.

ELICK: Let’s hope she’s faster than the rain.

JANE: Hey, Violet you okay?

VIOLET: We are at her mercy.

JANE: Faith hasn’t let us down before.

VIOLET: No. I mean the goddess, I can feel her.

JANE: Feel her? Is she here right now?

VIOLET: Yes...no, I...I just feel her.

SHERIFF (V.O.): You believe this oracle of yours?

JANE (V.O.): Like I said, I didn't know what to believe, Sheriff. Goddess or not, we arrived at a longhouse cabin compound perched on a cliffside.

JANE (V.O. CONT'D): Some of his men were already cutting down nearby trees.

LIGHTFOOT: Ah, Jane. You don’t have to sit here with the cravens. Join us in the cabin.

JANE: Actually, I prefer to stay close. My boss here’s scared of bears.

LIGHTFOOT: Bears can smell the weak. But are otherwise harmless.

JANE: So what’s on the agenda? I remember you telling me you're letting the goddess decide the fate of my friends?

LIGHTFOOT: Indeed. But we’re rather early.

JANE: Where is this goddess?

LIGHTFOOT: Can you hear her?

JANE: The lightning?

LIGHTFOOT: And thunder...my, my, it will be an incredible judgement tonight. She's brought her sister Bronte.

JANE (V.O.): That's the point I figured he lost it.

SHERIFF (V.O.): You think?

LIGHTFOOT: We must prep now. In the meantime, say your goodbye's to your friends. I suspect many will not make it.

MILLS: You've gone mad. Stop this nonsense, let us go and you'll have no trouble from the secret service. We got more important business than your gang here.

LIGHTFOOT: Ah gentlemen...devoted counters of the coin. Do you not see how you directly enable our world to be defiled by greed? You will pay for your sins just as those before you.
As they’re talking, Jane is prodded by Violet.

VIOLET (whispers): Jane, look!

JANE (V.O.): That's when I finally saw it. His men erected a 10 foot post.

SHERIFF (V.O.): Same as in Yankton...

JANE (V.O.): Heck, even the secret service boys put it together.

MILLS: It was you...you massacred an entire town and for what? because you felt their existence was an affront to your god?

LIGHTFOOT: Goddess!... (euphoric) of the lands.

LIGHTFOOT (CONT’D): Now, one-by-one she too will decide your fate! (to Nomads) Line them up!

JANE (V.O.): I knew I had to act fast. But outgunned and out numbered, odds weren’t in my favor. I only had one option.

SHERIFF (V.O.): Let me guess, you decided to finally use your words?

JANE: Wait!

The struggles stop as Lightfoot regards his guest-of-honor.

LIGHTFOOT: What are we waiting for?

JANE: Your...goddess, just got here right? Maybe give her some time to settle in.

LIGHTFOOT: The goddess waits for no one.

JANE: I...know that. But maybe we should wait for her to...ramp up?

Sound: distant thunder.

LIGHTFOOT (ponders): Hmm, she does sound weary.

JANE: Yeah, I'd be too after all that travelling. Heck maybe we all gotta eat first? No good judgement on an empty stomach.

JANE (CONT'D): Don't think your goddess would be much too pleased if you messed up from hunger.

JANE (V.O.): I could see the gears turning. More importantly, his boys stopped dragging my friends to the lone posts atop the cliffside.

Sound: Lightfoot laughs.

LIGHTFOOT: She was right about you. The practical one.

JANE: Goddess, talks about me?

LIGHTFOOT: No. Until recently we had a friend guide us through the harshest planes. Incredible frontiers-woman, mentioned her friend Calamity more than a few times.

JANE (V.O.): When I pressed, he described Keema. Everything from her wide-brim hat that's seen more days than nights. Her deep laugh and dead-eye marksmanship.

SHERIFF (V.O.): She was with the Nomads?

LIGHTFOOT: She left us a few days back. Said she had something important to deliver.

JANE: She say what or to who?

LIGHTFOOT: I don't tangle with the affairs of my brother's and sisters. I only light the way to salvation.

JANE (V.O.): That night I spoke to the Nomads and learned they tie people up to posts during a rainstorm, waiting for the perfect bolt to strike em dead. Sometimes they help it along if you know what I mean.

SHERIFF (V.O.): And your friend Keema was alright with that?

JANE (V.O.): Doubt it, otherwise why'd she run off?

Sound: Lightfoot claps.

LIGHTFOOT: Come now! let's feast as we await downpour.

JANE (V.O.): I needed to know what he knew. If Keema crossed his path, then it's likely she was still in the area. So I joined the gang at the cabin.

SHERIFF (V.O.): Much to the disappointment of your companions, I'm sure.

ELICK: Don’t go in there, Janie.

VIOLET: No, she must. Can’t you see the questions in her eyes?

ELICK: Some answers ain't worth it.

JANE: I’ll be right back, hang tight.

Location: INT. LONG-HOUSE CABIN -DAY

Sound: banjo’s playing somewhere from within.

JANE (V.O.): This lightfoot fella scolded us for moving horses. But he and his boys had a big hog roasting on the spitfire. Even offered me a whiskey...which I refused of course.

SHERIFF (V.O.)(not buying it): Of course.

LIGHTFOOT: This is hard stuff. Sip wisely.

JANE: I'm no stranger to a bit of bite.

JANE (CONT’D): Tell me something, Lightfoot. You boys got yourself some good whiskey, clearly enough food. So what's keeping you on the roads attacking traincars?

LIGHTFOOT: There's more to life than a full belly and friends. We must rise up against the unjust lest we become them. You'd know all about that, wouldn't you? Calamity Jane.

JANE: Sure. But I'm also learning to pick & choose my battles.

JANE (CONT'D): Fight too many and you start to forget who's friend and foe.

LIGHTFOOT: Indeed. That is why I trust the goddess to illuminate my path. If she spares the lives I've deemed craven, then I will respect her wishes, always.

JANE: Just that simple?

LIGHTFOOT: Life is not as complex as it seems.

JANE: Keema used to say that all the time. 'Life ain't hard'... till we found ourselves in enemy territory & things got tough.

LIGHTFOOT: Yet here you are among us. All because you surrendered your will to the goddess.

JANE: There was no surrender. Unfortunately.

LIGHTFOOT: When I saw you free the horses, I knew you'd surrendered to a greater instinct. Protecting the animals from harm when our victory was imminent. It shows you have compassion.

LIGHTFOOT (CONT'D): Keema told us many stories of your exploits. At first we naturally believed them to be larger than life. But here, witnessing the good deed with my own eyes, I see she was not just singing your praises.

JANE: Is that all Keema told you about me?

JANE (CONT’D): Thanks but I ain't hungry.

LIGHTFOOT: Of course, not while your friends starve outside yes?

JANE: Something like that.

LIGHTFOOT: Our guest of honor will not feast unless we also feed the cravens. Take portions outside, they may enjoy a last meal before their judgment.

NOMAD #1: That don't seem right, boss. They’re cravens.

LIGHTFOOT: They're on-trial. We will see what craven are among them after.

NOMAD #1: Hmph. It's wet out there.

LIGHTFOOT: Then you must hurry, lest you join them for the rudeness you're showing our guest.

NOMAD #1: I'm on it...no disrespect, boss.

Sound: Closing door as the nomad exits.

JANE: How did she come to ride with you & the Nomads?

LIGHTFOOT: Ah, it was meerly fate. We found her clinging to life among the reeds.

JANE: What happened?

LIGHTFOOT: She never confided in us. However, we administered the test. Offered her up to the goddess and...she lived.

JANE: Lightning didn't strike her down?

LIGHTFOOT: No. She survived all two-days of the raging storm. When we cut her down we knew she was one of us. It took some days for her to heal, but she saw the light and joined us.

JANE: What'd she seem like to ya?

LIGHTFOOT: Joyous. She was good at the banjo, crack-shot too. I was sad to see her go, but I understood her path was dark.

JANE: What do you mean dark?

LIGHTFOOT: There was a weight on her shoulders. She tried to play it off & be merry but I could see it on her mind’s eye. She had work to do.

JANE: She say where she was headed?

LIGHTFOOT: You're mighty determined to catch up with her.

JANE: It's just...been a long time. In this world you oughtta keep an eye on your friends.

LIGHTFOOT: So I see. No she didn't say anything about her travels, but she’s left us with a parting gift.

JANE: What's that?

LIGHTFOOT: Here, our bread & butter.

JANE (V.O.): He handed me a coin minting plate. I hadn't seen one up close in...well never.

SHERIFF (V.O.): So how'd you know it was real?

JANE (V.O.): The imprint of lady liberty smiling up at me.

JANE: Keema left this for you?

LIGHTFOOT: Even taught us how to use it, make our own coin. In the off chance we were in a city too big to take.

JANE: I'll be dammed. She tell you how she got this?

LIGHTFOOT: You ask a lot of questions, miss Jane.

SHERIFF (V.O.): How many minting plates were there?

JANE (V.O.): Just the one. Why?

SHERIFF (V.O.): They come in pairs, one for each side. Though I'm sure your secret service friends already knew that.

LIGHTFOOT: Why you won't abandon the cravens and join my cause?

JANE: Thanks but I got enough adventure as is.

LIGHTFOOT: The offer shall remain.

WILD BILL (whispers): Till you decide to bury the hatchet and run...

JANE (startled): What?

LIGHTFOOT: I said the offer still stands...

SHERIFF (V.O.): Not drinking, huh?

JANE (V.O.): I know what I heard, Sheriff.

SHERIFF (V.O.): Wild Bill's dead.

JANE (V.O.): I know that.

SHERIFF (V.O.): Then there's no way you could’ve heard his voice.

JANE (V.O.): Bill or no Bill, wish I listened.

Location: EXT. LONG-HOUSE CABIN -NIGHT

Sounds: Heavy rain & gusting winds.

LIGHTFOOT (to henchmen): Bring him. Let us begin the ritual.

JANE: Hold on there, we can’t do this.

LIGHTFOOT: That would be the goddess' sister, Bronte. She is ready and so are we.

JANE: Stop! he's a war hero who's done nothing wrong. He fought to protect you! to protect all of us!

LIGHTFOOT: We all pick and choose our battles for our own gains, Calamity Jane.

JANE: Leave him out of this. There’s still time.

LIGHTFOOT: Sit back and watch the divine beings who rule our planes!

JANE (V.O.): Lightfoot was in complete bliss. His cronies started pulling everyone to their feet and lining em up, one-by-one. Elick was pushed up towards the cliff. He fought.

SPENCE (O.S): Get off me! We are agetns of the secret service!

ELICK: Whoa there, come on!

LIGHTFOOT: Go with grace, Lieutenant. I won’t miss a second time.

JANE (V.O.): I was close, close enough to wrestle the pistol away but still outgunned.

Sound: Violent thunder & lightning.

JANE (V.O.): They tied Elick to the post. Then all eyes were back on Lightfoot.

LIGHTFOOT: Friends, let us turn to our goddess of nature, aided by her daughters Astrape & Bronte to deliver judgment on the craven.

LIGHTFOOT (CONT’D): Their crimes extend to the defilement of our land by the train behemoth & containing animals that were meant to roam free as nature intended.

JANE (V.O.): My fingers curled around the whip, ready to disarm and take Lightfoot, hostage until I heard the low growl.

Sound: low growl of a lion nearby.

JANE (V.O.): The lion pounced on our captors. It didn't spare em' the same courtesy Lightfoot did.

SPENCE (yells): Shoot it!

DANTE: No, no, no! he's with us!

JANE (V.O.): Dante was right, Lion was ours. Only had a taste for Lightfoot's gang.

LIGHTFOOT (in awe): Ah...Artemis...you've brought the spirit of a mighty king to our trial today.

JANE (V.O.): I took my chance. Disarmed our great pretender.

JANE (V.O.): Then I shot right at Elick. Freed him from the ropes.

Sound: Gunshot.

ELICK: Could you aim any closer?

LIGHTFOOT: What have you done?

JANE: Sorry, Lightfoot. But I got a duty to these people.

LIGHTFOOT: Seize the cravens! We must not give up.

SHERIFF (V.O.): So you fought the Nomads.

JANE (V.O.): That’s just it. I didn’t have to.

Sound: Several gunshots ring out in the air, accompanied by horses.

VERNON: Lay down your arms, Nomads! You are outnumbered.

DANTE: Don't shoot! Please don't shoot the Lion!

FAITH: Wouldn't dream of it, Boss.

JANE (relieved): You made it.

Sound: scuffle.

LIGHTFOOT: Retreat!

JANE (V.O.) Lightfoot broke free of my grip and took off into the night. His Nomads followed.