The X-Files s05e04 Episode Script

All right, let's shoot this, Marty.
Hold it still.
Hold it still, Sloan.
I'd like to see you hold it still.
The sooner they pave over this swamp, the better.
It's not a swamp.
You're standing in a forest with indigenous plant and animal species You're obviously too ignorant to appreciate.
Mark it.
Give me another position.
Let's shoot this one carefully.
This is where they're gonna put the blockbuster.
You're a real moron, Sloan.
You know that? Tree hugger.
You should be sad to see the demise of an ecosystem that's lasted a thousand years.
We all should be.
Give me four feet to your left.
I can't.
What do you mean, you can't? I mean I can't because it's stuck.
Then unstick it.
This is weird.
Sloan? Sloan? Louis, let Bo do the work.
How's he gonna find a possum? Shh.
Animals sense things that we can't.
That's how they survive.
Is that how Bo knows how to hunt? Yep.
Our ancestors were hunters too, but most of us have lost those instincts.
That's why we need a little help.
Dad, what's that? Surveyor's equipment.
Someone left his stuff out here.
Stay close, Louis.
What is it, dad? Dad? Bo.
Come here, Bo.
What- Quiet! Listen to me.
I want you to take Bo and run straight home.
What's the matter? I want you to run straight home, And I don't want you to stop for anything.
- Louis, you understand? - I just- All right, go.
Come on, Bo, come on! Bo, no, no! Come on, Bo, come on! Come on! Come on! last year was something of a personal revelation.
We were doing an exercise called "team builders," Where we were given two minutes to build a tower Out of ordinary office furniture.
When I stood on mike's shoulders and I put that electric pencil sharpener On top of the pile, we both knew- We could never have done it alone.
Kill me now.
You ever been to one of these team seminars, agent Scully? Um, I think I went to a constructive problem-Solving course When I first joined the bureau.
Did you play that game where you can't use any negative words? I couldn't believe how hard it was not to use the word "but.
" I'm having that same problem right now! Have you ever been to a team seminar, agent Mulder? No.
Unfortunately around this time of year I always develop a severe hemorrhoidal condition.
Well, it builds muscles you didn't even know you had.
Communication.
That's the key.
Sorry, folks.
It'll be a few minutes.
- What's going on, officer? - Got a little situation, is all.
Thank you, Jesus.
Where's he going? Oh, excuse me! Are you from search and rescue? No, I'm sorry.
I'm just stretching my legs.
They said they'd have word what happened to my husband.
I need somebody to tell me what's going on.
Just slow down.
I don't know what you're talking about.
My husband, Michael, he was teaching our son to shoot.
He said the dog got spooked, and then he heard gunshots.
Now they've found a jacket with blood on it, but they won't tell me about my husband.
I'll try to find out who's in charge, all right? Thank you.
Now where's he going? Hey, stonecypher, take a look at this.
This tree was here 20 years before Ponce De Leon landed.
We're gonna be late for the wine and cheese reception.
officer Fazekas? Yes? - Can I help you? - My name is Fox Mulder.
I'm an agent with the F.
B.
I.
F.
B.
I.
? Who called you guys out? Nobody.
We got stopped at your roadblock.
Sounds like you have a shooting.
Shots were reported, but we have no evidence of anyone being shot.
What do you have evidence of? A survey team working these woods didn't report in last night.
We found one man's bloody jacket, pretty torn up.
And this morning, a boy got separated from his father.
Separated by what? It looks maybe Like some kind of animal attack.
What kind of animal? I'm not sure yet.
I followed good tracks for the two surveyors, But the trails became confused as they moved into the brush.
There was a third set of tracks leading away I couldn't identify.
Couldn't identify as the surveyors'? As man or animal.
- Mulder? - Just, uh- H- Hold on a second.
What about the boy's father? I tracked him all the way down to where he fired the shot.
The ground's rocky, but from the depressions in the underlying soil, I can tell you that he entered the bushes from over there Where I pick up another set of tracks, Two distinctly different set of tracks that from the way The ground's upset, is probably where the man was attacked.
But no other sign of him? You have panther in these woods? There's panther, bear.
But these tracks look like neither of those.
No, sir.
You know of a good motel in the area? Excuse me.
I think we can handle this very well on our own.
Thanks.
Mulder? We've got this conference.
They're waiting.
Yeah.
How do I say this without using any negative words, Scully? You want me to tell them that you're not gonna make it to this year's teamwork seminar.
See? We don't need that conference.
We have communication like that unspoken.
You know what I'm thinking.
Look! He's all eaten away.
How do you like that, eh? He's not coming back, is he? Now, why would you say that? Dad's a good shot.
If he hit what he was aiming at, he'd be home by now.
You gotta be brave, Louis.
We both gotta be brave.
We'll find out more about it in the morning.
Get some sleep now.
It's open.
Who cut the cheese? Since you won't be making it to the conference.
Mmm! Par-Tay! However, I must remind you, this goes against the bureau's policy Of male and female agents consorting in the same motel room while on assignment.
Try any of that "tailhook" crap on me, Scully, I'll kick your ass.
It's a pop quiz.
What animal will attack the strongest, leaving the weakest to escape? The answer is "none.
" Not one of the over 4,000 species native to north America Will attack the strongest when the weak is vulnerable.
And what does that have to do with anything? It makes me think that what we're dealing with here is no ordinary predator.
I thought this was a ploy to get out of the conference.
I think what we've stumbled upon here is something more than local authorities realize.
The scenario described by that boy sounds to me like a primitive culling technique.
We're in Western Florida.
The closest thing to primitive down here Is living in a beachfront retirement condo.
Those woods are as old as anything in the south.
There's 800 square miles of it.
There's no telling what's alive out there.
Where are you going? I've gotta check something out.
Sometimes I think some work on your communication skills wouldn't be such a bad idea.
I'll be back soon, and we can build a tower of furniture.
Okay? What is it, Bo? Mom? It's all right, Louis.
You go back to sleep now.
Bo? Bo, where'd you get to? Bo, is that you? Come home, boy.
Let's go back in.
All right, all right.
Stay there the night.
Louis? Louis? Louis! Louis! Louis! Mom! what is it, Louis? It's in the house.
How's it going? He's still freaked out.
I might have some insight into this invisible creature he said was chasing him.
The invisible man was invisible.
Right.
He said he was chased by a creature with glowing red eyes.
Let me show you something.
Mrs.
Asekoff said she went outside with the dog.
When she came back, the door was locked from the inside.
And? Look at this.
We got some tracks here.
Where? Here and here.
Dried mud against the tile, Tracked in from the outside.
It could've been brought in by the dog.
No, no.
You see the ball of the foot here? A large foot.
- And I count five toes.
- Wait, I thought you said it wasn't human.
I'm not saying it is.
The weight distribution is all wrong.
People walk heel to toe.
Whatever this thing is, walks on the ball of its foot.
You're putting me on.
No.
My dad and I were Indian guides.
I know these things.
So if it's not man and it's not animal, what the hell is it? Guess I'm a little late to this dance.
I found some tracks right here.
Same as I saw before.
Where was that? In the woods.
Weight distribution's strange.
They appear to be human, But whoever left these uses the balls of his feet more like an animal.
Whatever it is, it's attacked three grown men presumably in broad daylight, Disposing of its prey without detection.
And it wasn't shy last night about coming out of the woods to try again.
What we've got is a predator with low visibility and a high degree of motivation.
It's got one advantage we don't have- The entire Apalachicola national forest.
Then how do you stop it? By identifying it.
Finding it before it finds somebody else.
It's called a "flir" for forward looking infrared.
It was developed for chopper pilots in Vietnam.
Detects body heat at 300 yards.
That's pretty sophisticated for government issue.
I see you two have met.
Jeff's our local tech-Head.
Some people prefer searching with dogs.
I prefer an extra pair of hands if I get in trouble.
Are we ready to go? Once we start in, you can put away your cell phones.
The only communication in these woods is with shortwave radios.
So, stay close, maintain visual contact.
If you get lost, initiate oral contact.
That means holler.
If nobody responds, sit down, don't move.
I will find you.
Don't go looking for me.
I know it sounds obvious, but folks still get lost.
Okay.
I gotcha.
Thank you.
All right.
Local P.
D.
Has all their resources looking out for a transient, A drifter who's wanted for a double homicide in Gasden, Alabama.
They were amused when I told them what we were doing.
I don't think it's a drifter.
We may be looking for two individuals.
Why do you say that? That thing lured that woman out of the house To separate her from her son.
For what purpose? Divide and conquer.
If your enemy has greater numbers than you You divide and conquer to diminish those numbers.
What enemy would that be? Encroaching development.
That's what I suspected when I went to check on Louis and his mother.
This is about a housing tract? That survey team was staking out a new 100,000 acre plot.
Civilization's pushing very hard into these woods.
Maybe something in these woods is pushing back.
Anything? No.
Nothing at all, not even wildlife.
Isn't that a little strange? Yeah.
This forest is usually alive with sound.
I'm not an expert, but I've never seen it like this before.
Sure is beautiful, though.
That's what happens.
People get to looking around, next thing they know something eats them.
What do you think killed those men? Nature is populated by creatures either trying to kill something they need to survive, Or trying to avoid being killed by something that needs them to survive.
If we become blinded by the beauty of nature, we may fail to see Its cruelty and violence.
Walt Whitman? No.
When animals attack on the Fox network.
Wait, I've got something.
It's about 20 yards ahead.
Where? I don't see it.
It's just sitting there.
It's on the move! It's moving fast! It's-It's going to the right! Wait! There's two of them now.
They're moving in opposite directions.
There and there.
Where is it? About 40 yards ahead of you.
I don't see it.
Now it's gone.
I don't know where it went.
What is it? I don't know.
They're trying to separate us, pull us away from the others.
Let's go back.
Michelle? Michelle? Mulder, I need help! Mulder! Scully! Over here! Scully? Over here.
What happened? I don't know.
Where's Fazekas? She was walking ahead of me.
She was right here, and then she was just gone.
I'm getting no reading.
- What the hell's happening here? - They separated us.
That was on purpose.
They divided us so they could go after her.
She was in the lead, and presumably the strongest.
They take the strongest first.
Take them where? You can't just disappear out here.
You're right.
We gotta find her.
How are we gonna do that? I don't know! Form a line and beat the bushes.
Maybe you'll pick up a signal.
No, we need help.
We need manpower.
That's not gonna work out here.
We need to get outta here! Listen to me.
The longer we wait, the less chance we have of finding her.
This is nuts.
This is looney tune, man.
We gotta go back out of these woods before it gets dark.
Okay, you're right.
You go back.
You leave me the flir, and you go back.
We gotta go together.
We have to find her.
Yeah, well, if we stay here, they may not find any of us.
Mulder, he's right.
We weren't prepared for this.
We have no way of telling them where we are.
We don't have any food.
Michelle had our only water.
I'd like to find her too, but I think the risks of that are way too foolish.
All right, we all go then.
You lead the way.
I don't have much faith that this device will do us any good.
So far, all it's done is split us up.
Whatever it is we're chasing, did show up on the screen at first.
What does that tell you? Nothing, except we're going in the right direction.
Maybe it can regulate its temperature.
You don't know of any animal that can? Ticks.
I've heard they can halt their metabolism For up to 18 years, essentially going into suspended animation Until something warm-Blooded comes along.
That's interesting.
Why is that interesting? Thirty years ago, the town of point pleasant, west Virginia, Was terrorized for over a year by something.
Killing livestock, terrorizing the people.
Witnesses described them as primitive-Looking men with red-Piercing eyes.
Became known as the "moth men.
" I've got an X - File dating back to 1952 on it.
What would that be filed next to? "The cockroach that ate Cincinnati"? The cockroach that ate Cincinnati is in the "c's.
" Moth men's over in the "m's.
" This isn't the way.
What do you mean? Michelle always marks her route with little white stones.
This is the same path.
This is the way we came.
I haven't seen one of her stones for 20 minutes.
That's because you've had your nose glued to that screen the whole time.
I'm telling you, we're on the wrong trail.
Somehow we got off track.
Oh, man, this is not happening.
This is not happening.
Everybody stand still.
There's something out there.
Where? About 40 or 50 yards out.
Jeff? Nothing.
I saw it.
The woods have gone silent again.
I got it! I got it on my screen.
Where? Where! About 30 yards ahead.
It's just sitting there.
What is he doing? talk to him.
This is not a good idea.
Talk to him, Jeff! Go to your right.
It just disappeared.
Mulder, it's not on the screen.
Scully, I lost it.
I got it! - Did you hit it? - I don't know.
It just stopped.
Where's Glaser? - How many shots did you fire? - Six, maybe seven.
That your only clip? Yep.
Don't fire again unless you're sure you're gonna hit it.
It may be trying to spend our advantage.
What the hell is it, Mulder? I don't know.
But whatever it is, it's smarter than us.
At least out here.
Mulder? Mulder! Scully! Scully! Mulder? Scully! You okay? You were an Indian guide.
Help me out here.
Indian guide says maybe you should run to the store and get some matches.
I would, but I left my wallet in the car.
What are you doing? Trying to open my gun.
If I can separate the shell from the casing, maybe I can get the powder to ignite.
And maybe it'll start raining weenies and marshmallows.
Do I detect a hint of negativity? No! Yes, actually.
Yeah.
Mulder, you need to keep warm.
Your body's still in shock.
I was told once that the best way to regenerate body heat Is to crawl naked into a sleeping bag with somebody else who was already naked.
Maybe if it rained sleeping bags, you'll get lucky.
You ever thought seriously about dying? Once when I was at the ice capades.
When I was fighting my cancer, I was angry at the injustice of it And its meaninglessness.
Then I realized that that was a struggle- To give it meaning To make sense of it.
It's like life.
I think nature is supremely indifferent to whether we live or die.
I mean, if you're lucky you get 75 years, if you're really lucky you get 80.
If you're extraordinarily lucky, you get 50 of those years with a decent head of hair.
I guess it is like Las Vegas.
The house always wins.
Oh! ? Ta-Da? Go, girl.
hey, who did you identify with when you were a kid- Wilma or Betty? I identified with betty's bustline.
Yes! I did too.
I could never have been married to Barney, though.
The kids were cute.
Yeah, but where are they today? "Moth men"? Really? Yeah.
But there seem to be only two of 'em.
I don't wanna wrestle.
Get over here.
I'm gonna try and keep you warm.
Sorry.
One of us has got to stay awake, Scully.
You sleep, Mulder.
If you get tired, you wake me.
I'm not gonna get tired.
Why don't you sing something? No, Mulder.
If you sing something, I'll know you're awake.
You don't want me to sing.
I can't carry a tune.
It doesn't matter.
Just sing anything.
? Jeremiah was a bullfrog? ? Was a good friend of mine? ? Never understood a single word he said? ? But I helped him drink his wine? Chorus.
? Joy to the world? ? All the boys and girls? ?? Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea? ? Joy to you and me? Scully? Here.
Over here! What are you doing? Looking for food.
I found some wild berries.
I wouldn't go far.
Mulder, you never left my sight.
Scully? Scully? Scully! Down here! Where? I fell down a hole.
You all right? Yeah.
I landed on soft dirt.
Kind of.
What's down there? I don't know.
It's pretty dark.
Scully, what's going on? You okay? - I found Michelle.
- Is she alive? Not for much longer.
Mulder, we have to get her out of here.
- Is there a way out? - I don't know.
I- I'm in some kind of a chamber.
There's- It's like Some kind of network.
- Mulder? - Yeah? I'm not alone.
I don't have my weapon! Mulder! Hold on.
I'm gonna drop my gun down.
- Ow! - Jesus! - Mulder, are you okay? - Don't mind me.
Scully! Mulder, look.
There has to be a scientific explanation for this.
Too bad we don't have any office furniture.
If they could see us now.
Go, team.
A hundred more bodies and we'll win the honey baked ham.
agent Mulder! We're down here! We're down here! What are you doing down there? We've got injured people down here.
We need a ladder.
Right away.
Hey, over here.
Dad's gonna be okay.
It's gonna be okay.
It's gonna be fine.
I'm just gonna say good- Bye.
Well, we just got all the thanks when you did all the work.
On the contrary, agent Kinsley.
We would've never gotten involved in this if not for you.
Really? Yeah.
You see this? Yeah, I pointed that out to agent stonecypher on the drive down.
There was something in the cave that Scully fell into, an inscription.
"Ad noctum.
" That's Latin.
Yeah.
It means, "into darkness.
" The Spanish conquistadors used to carve it on the post That they would lash the natives to as a warning.
So, who are you saying wrote this? Ponce De Leon came here 450 years ago looking for the fountain of youth.
You mean, you think that that body, The one that agent Scully shot- No.
After 400 years in the woods, Don't you think they might have adapted perfectly to their environment? You're making this up.
Why do you say that? 'Cause you work on the x-Files and you just want to write off your motel.
Search and rescue are still unable to find Jeff Glaser Or the second predator that you reported.
I wouldn't be surprised if they couldn't find either one of them.
Agent Mulder, I'm confused.
Why would they come after the boy in the house that night? These predators have been in these woods for a long, long time.
They would've perceived any encroachment on their territory as an enemy, Even a little kid like that.
But that would mean that they'd come after any one of us That had gone into the woods, wouldn't it? Where's agent Scully? She got a lift back to the motel to pack up both your things.
She did? Excuse me.
My jacket's in that car.
Scully! Scully! Mulder, what's going on? Let's get outta here.
Okay.
You pack everything? Yeah.
I made this!