43.

  Eli stands, escorts her to the door and opens it.

  CLAUDIA

  Thank you. I enjoyed our

  conversation.

  ELI

  So did I.

  Eli closes the door, then sits back at the table.

  INT. PALLADIUM - CARNEGIE’S BEDROOM - NIGHT

  Carnegie washes, looking at himself in the old dressing-room mirror. He sees Claudia enter the room in its dim reflection.

  CARNEGIE

  You took your time in there. How long does it take to deliver a plate of food and some water?

  A subtly accusing tone. It makes Claudia nervous.

  CLAUDIA

  He wanted to talk.

  CARNEGIE

  Oh? What about?

  CLAUDIA

  Nothing really. He asked me what it was like to be blind.

  CARNEGIE

  He tell you anything about him?

  CLAUDIA

  No. I don’t think he likes to talk about himself much.

  CARNEGIE

  Yeah, I got that.

  Claudia moves to the bedside, begins to undress.

  CLAUDIA

  I don’t think he’s going to change his mind by morning. I don’t think he’s going to stay.

  CARNEGIE

  What makes you say that?

  44.

  CLAUDIA

  Just strikes me as the kind of man who’s of a mind, is all. Doesn’t seem like the type to go changing it once it’s set.

  CARNEGIE

  Well, we’ll just see about that.

  CLAUDIA

  You saw him. He’s not like the others. You won’t be able to smooth-talk him and wrap him around your finger like you usually do.

  CARNEGIE

  Who said anything about me?

  (beat)

  I’m sending Solara.

  Claudia reacts suddenly to this. Shocked and angry.

  CLAUDIA

  You’re doing what?

  CARNEGIE

  You know how often these walkers get laid? Never. Least not by anything living or willing. Girl like her can be very persuasive.

  CLAUDIA

  You can’t send her in there with him. He’s dangerous, he’s a killer!

  CARNEGIE

  You went in there readily enough.

  CLAUDIA

  That’s different. Solara’s just a child, she can’t-Carnegie sighs, tiring of this.

  CARNEGIE

  She’s a grown woman now, Claudia.

  Sooner or later you’re going to have to accept that. She has to earn her keep around here, same as the rest of us.

  CLAUDIA

  By working as a whore? That’s all you think she’s fit for?

  45.

  CARNEGIE

  We’ve each been given a talent to help us make our way in this world.

  Some people’s gift is more evident than others. Solara’s sure as hell is.

  Claudia looks at Carnegie in disgust.

  CLAUDIA

  What kind of a man are you?

  Now it’s Carnegie’s turn to get angry. He rounds on her menacingly. She backs off as he approaches.

  CARNEGIE

  I’m the kind of man who’d pull a helpless blind girl off the road, a girl who’d been beaten and raped, and give her a place where she can live without fear! Without me you’d be just another no-eye, lying dead in the outland, picked clean by the buzzards, or shoveling dirt down there with the others. That’s the kind of man I am!

  He has her against the wall, his face just inches from hers.

  CLAUDIA

  I don’t live without fear. I haven’t for a long time now.

  Carnegie calms himself, backs off. Claudia goes to leave.

  CARNEGIE

  Where are you going?

  CLAUDIA

  I’m not going to let you do this.

  Carnegie surges forward and pins Claudia to the wall.

  CARNEGIE

  You’re not going to let me?

  (beat)

  Nobody tells me what I can and can’t do in my own town. Nobody. I built this world, and I am God here! So don’t go thinking about screwing with my plans. You know how this works. Solara goes against me, you get hurt. You go against me, she gets hurt.

  46.

  He releases his grip on her.

  CARNEGIE

  So let’s not see anybody get hurt.

  Okay?

  He speaks more softly now. As he strokes his hand tenderly through Claudia’s hair, a tear runs down her cheek.

  INT. PALLADIUM - GUEST BEDROOM - NIGHT

  Dark outside, but the room is brightly lit by the glow of the oil lamp. Eli sits up on his bed, quietly reading the old leather-bound book from his backpack.

  Another KNOCK at the door. Eli jumps up and hurriedly hides the book inside his shirt.

  ELI

  Come in.

  The door opens to reveal Solara. Looking very different than she did before. Cleaned up and wearing a flowery summer dress, blonde hair let down over her shoulders. Stunning.

  Unlike everyone else we have met, she seems - physically, at least - totally unscarred by the horrors of the times. Far too beautiful a thing to belong in a world like this.

  SOLARA

  Hi. Can I come in?

  ELI

  Someone was already here with food and water. I got everything I need.

  SOLARA

  You sure about that?

  She glides into the room, closing the door. She’s good. Very seductive. Eli is totally disarmed in her presence.

  SOLARA

  It’s too bright in here. Mind if I turn it down a little?

  She doesn’t wait for an answer. Moves to the table and turns down the oil lamp. A darker, more seductive lighting scheme.

  SOLARA

  That’s better. I’m Solara. You’re Walker, right?

  47.

  ELI

  No. My name’s Eli.

  SOLARA

  That short for something? Elias?

  ELI

  Elijah.

  SOLARA

  Elijah. I never heard that one before. It’s kinda cute.

  She sits on the bed, kicks her legs playfully. Her light cotton dress revealing in all the right places. The silhouette of her body bathed in the seductive glow of the oil lamp. No red-blooded man on earth could resist her.

  ELI

  Look, I don’t mean to be rude. But I’m really not interested.

  SOLARA

  You sure about that? It gets mighty lonely out there on the road.

  She leans over on the bed, resting on her elbow. Her hair cascades down. God damn, she looks good.

  SOLARA

  If you’re worried about money, this is all paid for. The whole night.

  ELI

  It’s not that. You’re a very nice girl. But I’m not that kind of man.

  She slides off the bed, approaches him. Begins to work the buttons of his shirt.

  SOLARA

  They’re all that kind of man.

  He moves her hand away. Gently pushes her back a step.

  ELI

  I’m not.

  She is stunned. No man has ever turned her down before. And then she seems a little insulted.

  SOLARA

  They told me you were crazy. Maybe they were right.

  48.

  Eli opens the door for her.

  ELI

  I’m sorry. Good night.

  Suddenly all her other emotions give way to fear. She moves to the door and slams it shut again. Looks Eli in the eye.

  SOLARA

  Please don’t make me leave. I have to stay the night. If I don’t...

  ELI

  If you don’t, what?

  SOLARA

  He’ll hurt my mom.

  ELI

  Who will? Carnegie?

  She nods, fighting back a tear. This angers Eli.

  ELI

  Maybe he and I oughta have words.

  He goes for the door handle, but she stops him.

  SOLARA

  No! Please, don’t!

  ELI

  He’s hurting you. He’s hurting your mother. He’s-SOLARA

  He’s my dad.

  BEAT. Eli moves his hand away from the door.

  SOLARA

  Look, if you want to help me, just let me stay here tonight. We don’t have to do anything. I’ll sleep on the floor. Tomorrow you can tell my dad that we had a good time. I’ll be no trouble, I swear.

  She looks up at Eli imploringly. Transformed. No longer the teenage sex kitten. Now she’s just a frightened little girl.

  ELI

  You want to have a conversation?

  49.

  She smiles, wiping the tear from her cheek.

  LATER

  Eli and Solara sit together on the bed. A silent BEAT. At first, it appears as though they have nothing to say.

  ELI

  You know, you don’t have to be afraid of me. What happened down there in the bar...

  SOLARA

  I’m not afraid of you. I know you didn’t start that trouble. When I first saw you, I knew you weren’t the type to go looking for it.

  ELI

  How’d you know that?

  SOLARA

  My mom says I’m a good judge of character. She says I can read people. That I know a good man when I see one.

  She smiles. Eli is surprised to find himself smiling back.

  SOLARA

  So... you’re pretty old, right?

  Eli smiles, amused by the bluntness of the question.

  SOLARA

  I’m sorry. I just mean, I haven’t seen too many people your age. How old are you exactly?

  ELI

  You know, I don’t rightly remember.

  SOLARA

  But you’re old enough. I mean, you remember what it was like? In the world before?

  Eli nods.

  SOLARA

  What was it like?

  Eli thinks about this. Dredging through old, old memories.

  50.

  ELI

  Better than this.

  (beat)

  People lived longer back then.

  Longer than me. Some were more than a hundred years old.

  Solara smiles like she’s having her leg pulled.

  SOLARA

  Come on.

  ELI

  I swear, it’s true. Nowadays it’s not the same. If you’re sick or you’re weak or you’re old you won’t last long out on the road.

  SOLARA

  So how come you have?

  BEAT. Eli thinks. Should he or shouldn’t he?

  ELI

  Can I read you something?

  SOLARA

  Wait. You can read?

  Eli pulls the book from his shirt. Solara’s eyes widen.

  SOLARA

  And you have a book?

  ELI

  Not just any book.

  For the first time we see that it’s a KING JAMES BIBLE. An embossed GOLD CROSS on its old leather cover.

  Eli opens it up, scans the page with his finger until he finds the passage he’s looking for.

  ELI

  The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.

  He leads me in the paths of

  righteousness.

  ON SOLARA as she listens to Eli read. Transfixed.

  51.

  ELI

  Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

  SOLARA

  That’s beautiful. Did you write that?

  ELI

  (smiles)

  No.

  SOLARA

  What book is it from? Is it poetry?

  ELI

  I guess you could think of it that way. It’s from the Holy Bible.

  SOLARA

  I never heard of it. What’s it about?

  BEAT as Eli thinks. How on earth to answer that?

  ELI

  It’s about love, and forgiveness, and life and death, and mercy, and revenge, and the beginning and the end of the world. I guess it’s about a little bit of everything.

  SOLARA

  Can I see?

  She reaches out for the book but he snatches it away.

  SOLARA

  What? I’m not going to do anything.

  ELI

  I’m sorry. I’m charged to protect this book. I can’t trust it with anyone. Not even for a while.

  52.

  SOLARA

  What’s so special about that book?

  BEAT. Eli runs his fingers across the embossed gold cross on the beat-up leather cover.

  ELI

  It’s the last one. There are no other books like this. All the others are gone - destroyed by the war or in the burnings that came after. This is the only one that survived until now. The last one anywhere.

  SOLARA

  How can you know that?

  ELI

  I just know.

  (beat)

  For a long while after it happened, I just wandered on the road like most everybody else. There were still a lot of people around back then, in the beginning. I didn’t really know what I should do or where I was going. I was just moving from place to place, trying to stay alive. And then one day I heard this voice. I don’t know how to explain it, it’s like it was coming from inside me. But I could hear it, clear as day. Clear as I can hear you talking to me now.

  SOLARA

  What did it say?

  ELI

  It led me to this place, I don’t really know where. And I found this book buried deep under some rubble.

  No way no-one was ever going to find it if they didn’t know exactly where to look.

  SOLARA

  But you knew because the voice told you?

  ELI

  That’s right. And that voice told me to carry the book west.

  (MORE)

  53.

  ELI (cont'd)

  It told me that a path would be laid out before me, that I’d be led to a place where this book would be safe. It told me I’d be protected against anyone or anything that tried to stand in my way. If only I would have faith.

  (beat)

  That was twenty-five years ago. And I’ve been walking ever since.

  SOLARA

  (skeptical)

  Because a voice you heard in your head told you to.

  ELI

  I’m not crazy. I didn’t imagine it.

  I know what I heard.

  SOLARA

  So who was it? The voice?

  BEAT as Eli considers his answer.

  ELI

  A very important, very powerful man.

  SOLARA

  More powerful than my dad?

  ELI

  (smiles)

  I should say so, yes.

  BEAT. The two of them sit in silence for a moment.

  SOLARA

  Would you teach me to read?

  ELI

  What?

  SOLARA

  I never learned. No-one around here knows how. Only my dad, and he won’t teach me. I think he likes being the only one who can read. I think it makes him feel powerful.

  ELI

  I think you’re probably right.

  54.

  SOLARA

  So would you teach me?

  ELI

  I’m sorry. I’m leaving tomorrow.

  And I won’t be back this way, ever.

  She looks down, sad. She likes this guy. She doesn’t want him to leave. Eli can sense her sadness.

  ELI

  Are you hungry?

  SOLARA

  I guess a little.

  ELI

  There’s some food on the table over there. Let’s eat.

  She walks over to where the dinner tray is covered by a small cloth. She whips it away - to reveal ELI’S RAT nibbling on a piece of cheese. Solara SHRIEKS and backs away.

  The rat scurries down the table leg and leaps up onto Eli’s shoulder, just as afraid of her as she is of it.

  ELI

  It’s okay, it’s okay. He’s with me.

  (to the rat)

  Don’t be afraid, pal. This is Solara. She’s our friend.

  Solara approaches warily. Reaches out and strokes him. The rat scurries up her arm. She almost shrieks again.

  ELI

  It’s okay. It means he likes you.

  SOLARA

  It does?

  ELI

  Trust me, if he didn’t like you, you’d know about it.

  Solara pets the rat on her shoulder. Then: SOLARA

  Did you really mean that?

  ELI

  Mean what?

  55.

  SOLARA

  That I’m your friend.

  BEAT. Eli finds himself surprised that he admitted such a thing. When is the last time he had someone he could call a friend? He can’t even remember.

  ELI

  Sure.

  She smiles. Giggles as the rat’s whiskers tickle her ear.

  Eli breaks the cheese in two and gives half to Solara. She’s about to eat but stops as Eli clasp his hands in prayer.

  ELI

  Our father, we thank you for this meal which you have been so

  gracious to place before us.

  Unsure of what to do, Solara mimics Eli, putting her hands together and bowing her head.

  ELI

  We thank you for a warm bed and a roof over our heads on a cold night such as this.

  (beat)

  And we thank you for the gift of friendship in these hard times.

  Solara looks at him, touched by that.

  ELI

  Amen.

  (beat)

  You say that last part too.

  SOLARA

  Amen. And now we eat?

  ELI

  And now we eat.

  They sit and eat together, sharing the simple meal.

  PULL OUT from the window as they eat, away from the theater.

  Away from the town and its flickering points of torchlight.

  Moving farther and farther away until the entire town is consumed by the darkness of the world.

  EXT. DESERT TOWN - MAIN STREET - DAWN

  The pale sun rises over the town. To establish: 56.

  INT. PALLADIUM - DINING ROOM - MORNING

  What was once the theater’s COSTUME ROOM - OLD MANNEQUINS

  still stand around in the corners, creating an eerie feel.