FADE IN:

EXT.WASTELAND.DAY

A POST-APOCALYPTIC, DESERT WASTELAND of sand dunes and broken, rusted machinery. A harsh, fiery SUN burns in a cloudless sky.

Several ESTABLISHING SHOTS of the post-apocalyptic world. Empty highways, abandoned storefronts, crumbling factories, radioactive wastes, vacant towns. Piles of rusty junk and debris scatter the land.

All is silent but the wind.

EXT.CAMPSITE.DAY

A polluted RIVER divides the world in half.

At the edge of the marshy river, a small CAMPFIRE is burning inside of an OLD TIRE. Three poles are fastened together with twine to suspend a rusty and dented METAL POT over the fire. Alongside the fire sits a PILE OF EQUIPMENT: two BACKPACKS, a TENT, and two SLEEPING BAGS.

Not far from the campsite a HOLE has been dug in the ground. It is about a foot wide and just as deep. A few feet away is another hole. And another, and another...

Standing amidst the holes are TWO MEN. They appear to be arguing.

EXT.CLIFF.DAY

A high outcropping of white rocks. CLIFFS overlooking the polluted river below.

A DESERT ROGUE crouches at the edge of the cliff, peering down through a pair of BINOCULARS, spying on the campsite below. It is dressed in ragged furs and a leather pilot's hat, rebreather, and goggles. A RIFLE is strapped to his back.

Far off in the distance we can see the TWO FIGURES near their campsite by the river. It is impossible to make out their features or hear what they are saying, but it is obvious that they are still arguing. One is fat and one is skinny.

The DESERT ROGUE watches them for a moment. Then it lowers the binoculars and begins the long climb down the cliff and into the wasteland.

EXT.CAMPSITE.DAY

The two men--DUKE and ZEPH--are standing near the river's edge. They are brothers. Both are dressed in rags and various articles of scavenged clothing.

DUKE is the older of the two. He is a tremendous man--overweight and overbearing. He has a grizzled beard and a wild mop of greasy, unkempt hair. He is holding a rusty SHOTGUN in his hands and pointing it at ZEPH.

ZEPH is cowering and trying to duck away from the barrel of the gun, which DUKE keeps trained on him. He is younger than his brother, smaller, and (in stark contrast to Duke's enormous girth) he is quite lanky. His face is dirty and covered in beardy scruff. His eyes betray a youthful longing and at the same time a cowed fear of his brother.

ZEPH has a SHOVEL in one hand, which he holds defensively in front of him like a shield--though it is obvious that he is too cowardly to actually wield it as a weapon. In his other hand he holds a METAL DETECTOR--an ancient, rusty piece of equipment. It's a miracle that the thing actually works.

ZEPH   Aw, c'mon now Duke. C'mon! Don't point it at me...C'mon, now!

DUKE  Then start diggin', then. We ain't got all day! And I'm hungry!

ZEPH   I'm tired of diggin', Duke. I been diggin' all morning. And all yesterday, too. Shit, I been diggin' for as long as I can remember...

DUKE  (Waving the gun) Dig!

ZEPH throws the shovel to the ground in stubborn defiance.

ZEPH   I'm not diggin' no more, Duke. It's your turn.

DUKE lunges forward, raises the shotgun high above his head, and brings it down hard across Zeph's shoulders.

ZEPH falls to the ground, dropping the metal detector, and scampering backwards on his hands and butt

DUKE  Don't MAKE me waste a bullet, Zeph!
Now DIG!

ZEPH   Okay, okay... sheesh!

Zeph gets to his feet and brushes the dust from his filthy pants. Then he picks up the metal detector and begins sweeping it back and forth over the ground. It beeps slowly and intermittently.

ZEPH   Jeez, Duke. Ya didn't have to hit me, I wasn't serious...

The metal detector begins to beep slightly more rapidly. As if to indicate that there might be something here--probably not, but there just might be.

Zeph tosses the metal detector aside. Then he picks up the shovel and reluctantly plunges it into the hard earth. He hammers the blade deeper with his foot (we can see his toes through the sole of his boot), and then scoops up a small mound of sandy soil.

Duke rests his weighty haunches on a nearby rock and settles back into a relaxed position. He lays the shotgun across his lap, keeping one hand near the trigger. He begins to whistle a happy tune.

He removes a small tattered book from his pocket. He begins to thumb through the pages, pausing on certain pictures and grinning--not actually reading, so much as going through the ritual of perusing a book he's read countless times. The title is "HELLO MOON." The cover depicts a children's watercolor of a smiling moon watching over the Earth.

DUKE  (Looking up at the sky) Moon's gonna be full in a couple'a nights--a week at most. Then it'll start to get thin again... To wane...

Zeph says nothing. He only pouts as he continues to dig.

DUKE  They say there's men up there...

Zeph stops digging and looks at his brother.

ZEPH   Up where?

DUKE  (Nodding towards the sky)
Up there.

ZEPH   Oh yeah, I heard about that. The Man In the Moon...
Duke shakes his head, annoyed. Zeph goes back to his digging.

DUKE  Not MAN, MEN... They say that there's men up there on the Moon. Stuck up there since 'afore-the-war'.

CUT TO:

INT. MOON BASE TRANQUILUTY TWO. NIGHT

An ASTRONAUT sits, sullenly staring out the window. Her chin rests upon her folded hands; her expression is one of forlorn despair and longing.

Through the window we can see the LUNAR LANDSCAPE and the planet EARTH in the black sky.

DUKE  (V.O.)
Up there, watching us down here on Earth, but unable to come down themselves. They say they're trapped up there...

EXT.CAMPSITE.DAY

DUKE  If ya ask me, though--that don't sound so bad--bein' up there on the Moon...

Zeph shovels a few more scoops of earth and then drops the shovel and falls to his knees. He excitedly begins digging in the soil with his hands.

ZEPH   Holy shit, Duke! Holy shit! I think I found something! Aw, jeez-I think I found the father-crappin' motherload!

Zeph victoriously takes off his hat and throws it up into the air.

Duke gets up, walks over, and looks down into the hole.

DUKE  (Whistling)
Hoo-leeee...

Zeph reaches down into the hole and removes not one, not two, but THREE Campbell's soup-sized cans. He looks up at Duke with a wide, rapturous, and toothless smile.

ZEPH   (Grinning and holding up a can)
I think this one's beans.

Continued...

"The NUKE Brothers" - Copyright (2004, Scott C. Carr)

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