ALEX AMBROSIO BIKER_1 BIKER_2 DESERIE ELLY GUILLERMO JIM JOSE JUAN MARY MIGUEL MOM TOMAS ELLY Mimulus bigelovii. MOM Hey, just checkin’ in on you. Your email mentioned a new project. Just-- just want to know where you're at. I-- I found something really sweet yesterday in her room. It was this book of pressed flowers you'd given her. “Little flowers for a little sister,” you wrote on it. MOM Anyway, we-- we just want you to know that we love you and we miss you. I'd love to talk when you get a chance. Okay, we'll talk to you soon, Elly. JUAN Did you fix your mess? GUILLERMO It’s done. We need a new pilot. ? There’s a ghost I talk to ? ALEX Are you okay? I saw your foot tracks. I didn't know if you broke down or something. ELLY Oh yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for checking. ALEX There are better places to hike out here than this. ELLY I'm actually working. I'm doing a plant survey. ALEX Oh, my dad was talking about that. Something about a plant that's been spreading. ELLY Yeah, pretty much. Um, okay, well, thanks again for checking. ALEX Uh, do you need any help with your work? ELLY No, no. I'm okay. ALEX I'm not supposed to be out here. Kind of skipping school. ELLY Yeah, I've done my fair share of that, too. Oh, you actually could help me out, though. I-- I'm here at Eagle Head Canyon, right? ALEX Yeah, it's about a half a mile that way, uh, where the big dip is. ELLY Awesome. Thanks. Well, I mean, you're already out here. You can-- you can help me if you want. ALEX Yeah, sure. Thanks. ELLY Cool. Just go down here. So that-- that's it. ALEX Mmhmm. ELLY Pretty ugly. ALEX Yeah, for sure. ELLY You see the different colors? ALEX Yeah. ELLY See? ALEX Oh yeah. Mmhmm. ELLY Pretty cool, right? ALEX Pretty cool, yep. Yeah, you take very good pictures. ELLY And we'll get this to the county. ALEX Yeah, I know you do an amazing job with all of this. ELLY That white shoot over there. ALEX All right. Yeah. ELLY Yeah, that’s- ALEX 8-5-5-6. ELLY Mmhmm. ALEX Yup. ALEX What kind of flower is that? ELLY Oh, um... it's a buttercup. ALEX My mum had tattoos. ELLY All right, well, we should get you back before you get into trouble. But we can-- we can come out here sometime, on a weekend, if you want. ALEX Cool. ELLY Cool. All right, well, I'll be a couple of hours behind you. I still have some work to do. ALEX Okay. ELLY I'll see you later. ELLY Oh my God. Oh my God. ELLY Come on. Come on! Shit. Oh fuck. Hey! Are you okay? No, no! TOMAS Stop! Stop! ELLY No! TOMAS Stop! ELLY Okay! Okay, okay, okay. No, no! Please, no! No, no! Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. What do you need? What do you need? Wait. Wait. Okay. Do you know where you are? Do you know what direction you're facing? Do you understand me? We are hours from the nearest road. And the sun is down. We're-- we're in the middle of the desert. You need-- TOMAS Shut up! ELLY Okay! Um... Do you have a GPS? A GPS? Anything you had is burned up over there, okay? I know where we are. I know this desert. I can take you wherever you need to go. Okay? Just tell-- tell me wherever you need to go. TOMAS Salton Sea. ELLY The Salton Sea. Okay, um… That's a-- that’s a big area. Do you know what part? Here. Hold on. North, south, east, west. Where? ELLY Southwest? Okay, I can take you there! Okay. TOMAS Get the drugs. ELLY Okay. TOMAS Get the drugs! Move! ELLY Okay. TOMAS Get it. Get it! ELLY Okay. Okay, that's all of it. TOMAS More. ELLY No. No, that's all there was there. I mean, there might have been more, but it's all burnt up. TOMAS Move, move. Salton Sea. ELLY That way. ELLY That way. JUAN Why the fuck are you calling me? Did something go wrong? GUILLERMO So you sent the plane? JUAN Yeah, with the Central American. The fuck is going on? GUILLERMO I've been waiting here a long time and nothing has arrived. JUAN What the fuck? We sent the plane. Now it's your problem, Guillermo. GUILLERMO The motherfucker must've gotten lost. But well, don't worry. Give me until tomorrow and I'll take care of it. JUAN You know what happens if you don't. GUILLERMO O ya. ELLY What happens once we get to the Salton Sea? Look, I have-- Uh, I have two bags in my trunk and I think that they will fit all of the drugs. Uh, and I will leave you with the drugs once we get to the Salton Sea, and you can walk the r-- the rest of the way with them, and I will leave. I won't see anyone. I won't talk to anyone. I won't say anything. And you'll be gone by the time I'm back to town. TOMAS Shut up! ELLY No, I need to know or I'm not gonna take you there! Wait, watch out! TOMAS Whoa! ELLY Stop! TOMAS Don't move. We go. Move. Get out. ELLY Wait. Wait, you wanna walk to the Salton Sea? That-- that's like 50 miles. Okay, that will take a couple of days. Let's-- look, let's just try to fix the car. Will you let me try? TOMAS The truck is stuck. The wheels are destroyed. ELLY I don't have enough water. TOMAS And you have two bags. Just like you say, we'll carry on the drugs. Load them. TOMAS Come on. Come on. ELLY We can't-- we can't do this. We're not gonna make it. TOMAS Okay, Salton Sea. GUILLERMO Motherfucker! JOSE Hi, Jim. JIM Hi there, Jose. How are you? JOSE Oh, you know, livin' the dream. JIM Hmm. JOSE How's Imperial County treatin' you? JIM Well, uh, some dirt bikers just found a buried body out here on the border of Imperial and San Diego County. JOSE Oh man. JIM Yeah. I think the coyotes got to it and dug it up. Otherwise, it was pretty well-buried, but it's a mess. The body was all beaten and bloodied. Male, Latino, 40s. JOSE What, you say it's in my county or yours? JIM Well, that's I'm callin' you. The gravesite has technically crossed the line of both counties. I had to check the GPS. It's in the middle of the desert. I don't know how you wanna handle this. JOSE Now, listen, I appreciate you reachin' out, Jim. I'm personally really short-staffed right now. It's just me out here this week. Ed's on vacation. Mary's down to three days a week in the office. JIM Yup. JOSE You know, I could get the corners out there, but-- JIM Mmhmm. JOSE It'd still be a half day's drive out of San Diego. JIM Yeah, I know. I get it, I get it. We got a team in El Centro that can come out. I just wanted to make sure you guys have the chance if you wanted it, you know. JOSE No, I appreciate it, Jim. JIM You bet, buddy. JOSE You've been seein' uh, much drug stuff lately in your area? JIM Not for a long while. It's brutal like that shit from a few years back, though. Well, I'll email you our report in a few hours so you have it. You say safe out there, Jose. JOSE All right. Yeah, thanks. Thanks, I appreciate that, Jim. JIM My pleasure. ELLY I need a break. TOMAS No. ELLY Please. Please, just a few minutes. I need some water. TOMAS Okay. TOMAS Hey! Hey! Hey! ELLY No. No! No, no, no. No! JOSE Stay off Highway 86. Take S22 over the mountains instead. Just watch your speed. AMBROSIO Thank you very much, sir. MIGUEL Thank you very much, sir. JOSE No problem. Oh, Jesus. What the hell, Alex. What are you doing without a helmet, Alex? What did I tell you about that? ALEX I couldn't find it. JOSE It was on the patio. I saw it this morning. If you can't find it, you ask me for a ride or someone else. Now get off, I'll put it in the back, We'll take you to school. ALEX I'm two minutes from school. JOSE I don't want you riding 5 feet without a helmet. Now, come on. Let's go. ALEX I'll just push it there. JOSE Alex. Drop by the house on my lunch and bring it to your classroom. What do you got? Ms. Marlin, fourth period? ALEX Just leave it in the front office. JOSE Hey. MARY Jose, it's Mary. Jose, you there? JOSE Yeah, Mary. What is it? MARY Where's your pretty face at? JOSE I'm out here handing out speeding tickets. I'll be back in the office soon. What's up? MARY Carl from the county is here, askin' if you've seen our new botanist, Elly? JOSE Not today, no. MARY I guess she and Carl were supposed to meet this mornin'. He can't get a hold of her. Drove in from San Diego for it. JOSE I'm sure she just forgot. Is probably still out in the field. MARY I told him. He's pissed, though. If you see her, have her give Carl a ring, will you? He's in a mood. JOSE I know that mood. Thanks, Mary. ALEX Dad, I was in the desert with Elly yesterday. JOSE What do you mean? ALEX I skipped school to ride and I ran into her. JOSE Jesus, Alex. ALEX I learned a lot. It was really cool. JOSE Well, did you come back with her? ALEX No. She said she was gonna stay out there a few more hours and then drive back. JOSE Where was she exactly? ALEX At the bottom of the Eagle Head Canyon or something. In the plains, right around there. What if her car broke down? Maybe she needs help. JOSE I'm sure she's probably fine. ALEX Did he check her motel? I'm goin' to go check. JOSE No, you're gonna go to school. ALEX No, I'm goin' to find Elly. JOSE God damn it, Alex. Real quick, and you're goin' directly to school. Open the gate. DESERIE I haven't seen her uh, since she checked in. JOSE See her car come back last night? DESERIE No. I was workin'. Not sittin' there starin' out the window. We close up the office at about 8:00. JOSE Oh, you haven't cleaned her room today, yeah? DESERIE What time is it? 10:16. No. No, maids don't arrive until after 11:00 durin' the weekdays. Is there anything else I can do for you? JOSE No, we're good. Thank you. DESERIE Okay, that's good. Dr. Phil's waiting for me. JOSE All right, we'll lock up. Thank you. DESERIE Okay. JOSE All her stuff's still here. ALEX I don't think she came back at all yesterday, dad. JOSE She didn't sleep in that bed either. ALEX And she doesn't know the area at all. JOSE All right, I'm gonna drive out there. ALEX I'll come with you. JOSE Nice try. You're goin' to class. Look, if she turns up, have Mary try to reach me on the radio. ALEX Dad. JOSE Alex. Don't worry, okay? I'm sure she's fine. See you tonight for dinner. ALEX Okay. TOMAS Let's take a break. ELLY We need to get out of the sun. We need shade. We're both burning up. We need to head to those canyons. TOMAS That's not the way. ELLY We're not gonna make it to the Salton Sea. It's straight desert with no shade. Okay, we need to get back to Borrego Springs. TOMAS No. We need to get there. ELLY If we keep walking this way, we are gonna die. Okay, that's the only way. We get back to Borrego Springs, I will find you a car, you can call whoever you need to call. And we can go into town at night. No one's gonna see you. I don't know. It-- it will take a day, but it will be shaded canyon most of the way and we can do the rest at night. TOMAS No. We stay here. ELLY No, we'll die here! TOMAS He'll come. ELLY Who? TOMAS For the drugs. Guillermo. ELLY Do you see anyone here? We are alone. No one is ever gonna find us here, all right? We're in the middle of the fucking desert! You really need to wrap your leg. Put compression on it. Tie it up with your jacket. You have to tie it tight. We're goin' to the canyon. GUILLERMO What the fuck is that? BIKER 1 Everything all right? Speak English? GUILLERMO Oh yes, yes. BIKER 2 What the hell is that? GUILLERMO Uh, an abandoned truck. Just found it. BIKER 1 No one in there, right? GUILLERMO No, no. I think it's been there for a while. You've seen anyone out there? BIKER 1 No there's never anyone out here. BIKER 2 We had a bet to see how far from camp we could get before one of us pussed out from the heat. GUILLERMO It's hot. BIKER 1 Saw your truck drivin' in the distance. I thought maybe you were border patrol or somethin'. But you're the opposite of that. BIKER 2 Anything good left in there? GUILLERMO Nah. BIKER 1 We should probably call this in, huh? BIKER 2 No! BIKER 1 No, no, no! ELLY Thank you. How did your plane crash? TOMAS Engine stopped. No good plane. Small plane. No radar on the border. ELLY What is this stuff? TOMAS Hmm? ELLY This stuff, what is it? TOMAS Mm, fentanilo. ELLY I need to pee. TOMAS Go. ELLY I can't do this by myself. TOMAS Go! Move. ELLY Thanks. TOMAS We go. JOSE Mary, you there? I need help! Does anyone read me? I have an emergency. Does anyone read this? This is Deputy Sheriff Jose Gomez. I got a homicide scene with two bodies and a third missing person. Do you copy? Hello? God damn it! Does anybody read me? I need help. I have an emergency. Anyone? Hello, does anybody read me? This is San Diego County Deputy Sheriff Jose Gomez in need of immediate assistance. Fuck me. ALEX Pick up. Pick up, pick up, pick up. JOSE Hi, you've reached Jose Gomez… ALEX Where is he? ELLY Oh my God, it's growing out here. TOMAS The path ends. Where we go? ELLY Up that, I think. We're at the end of the slot. We need rest. We can climb this in the morning. TOMAS Still light. We can continue. How far Borrego Springs? ELLY I don't know. Uh... We have to climb to the top, and then walk through the canyon on the other side, and it's still a long way back to town. A really long time. TOMAS We climb, then rest. Sleep, finish in morning. ELLY Yeah, we can try. TOMAS Go. ELLY You need to untie me. If I fall and I die, who's gonna carry your drugs for you? TOMAS These aren’t my drugs. ALEX Dad, are you there? Dad, it's Alex. Come on. Is someone there? I'm looking for Deputy Sheriff Gomez. Please help. TOMAS Whoa! ELLY No! No! TOMAS Tomas. ELLY I'm Elly. TOMAS Why you were out... in the desert? ELLY I'm a botanist. A plant scientist. I'm doing a survey on that plant we saw earlier in the canyon. Something that isn't supposed to be here. TOMAS Like us. I was a teacher. ELLY Who knows how to fly? TOMAS My father. TOMAS He was a pilot. As kid, we fly a lot. He taught me. I don't like fly. ELLY Okay, so why do you do it? TOMAS I lost my job. No work. My cousin got me a job in a fishing boat. Moving gasoline. I didn’t know that the gasoline was for the cartel. My father is sick. And the... ...medicine is... ...expensive. Sometimes, when the monster comes... you have to say “yes”. Yours. What is buttercup? ELLY It's my favorite wild flower. Um... That's it. It was my nickname that my sister gave me when she was little. She gave me that a few years ago. She was younger than me. She was my half-sister. And she wanted to be just like me. She... Wanted to grow up really fast. TOMAS She... She's not here? ELLY No. She was so funny and so smart. And I wasn't. I was... ...awkward and anxious, and I never felt comfortable. So I started taking stuff... for depression and anxiety. Stuff to go to sleep, stuff to stay awake, stuff just to... Just to help me forget. Then one morning, she asked me to drive her to school, and I... I had been up for like three days. But I couldn't tell her “no”. Then I ran a red light. And I watched her die. And after that I just-- I couldn't be in that town, and drive down that road, and see her room. So I ran. I ran from everything and everyone. And I have to keep running. We can keep running. TOMAS My grandfather was a farmer. He told me that sometimes wolves would come to eat the lambs. And the lambs would run... with no purpose. Some would even run off the cliff. to escape danger. They run without knowing why they were running. And then they would die. Father of my father told him, and he told me, “Never run like a lamb. Run like a wolf.” We sleep. ALEX Come on. Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! JOSE Alex? Alex? ALEX Dad! JOSE Alex! ALEX Dad, where are you? Dad! JOSE Alex, be careful! ALEX I can't see you. JOSE It's not safe. You gotta go now, honey. ALEX Are you okay? JOSE Alex, get out of here! ALEX Tell me you're okay. JOSE I'm fine, honey. Okay? I-- I'm a little banged up, but you gotta go now. ALEX What's going on? JOSE I don't know. Bad things. I found Elly's car and two dead bodies. I chased a man up here who shot at me. Listen to me. I need you to take my truck and drive as fast as you can till you get reception, and then let ‘em know what's goin’ on. ALEX Your radio's destroyed. Your truck's out in the desert. JOSE Okay, listen to me. Then you just drive back as fast as you can and tell em what's going on, okay? ALEX The town is hours away. Then they're hours away, even when I get back to call. They don't care about us. You've said that. It's just you and me. I need to get you out of here and we're goin’ to find Elly. JOSE Listen to me. We can't!, okay? It's dangerous here. I don't know if he's coming back. I need you to get back as fast as you can. Try to drive without the headlights. ALEX I'm not going to leave you. I'm goin’ to get you out. JOSE No, we can't! Listen to me! Get out of here now! ALEX No, I am goin’ to get you out! You're the sheriff and I'm your daughter! It's just the two of us and you know it! There's no one else to help! Do you have any rope in your truck? JOSE Come on, come on, come on. Okay, this is the number for the deputy in the next county. As soon as your phone starts getting reception, call him and tell him where I'm heading. ALEX What are you gonna do? I'm gonna follow that guy's car tracks into the canyon and see if I can find Elly. ALEX Be safe. JOSE You, too. Ride fast. Don't stop for anything. I love you. TOMAS Guillermo? I’m your pilot, Tomas. GUILLERMO Where is the girl? TOMAS She got away this morning. She’s no one. GUILLERMO This isn’t everything! Where’s the rest? Hey! TOMAS Some burned. The plane crashed. but we have most of them. GUILLERMO Someone needs to pay for the drugs. She must be on the other side. Let’s go, we can’t leave any witnesses. TOMAS Guillermo. Leave her alone. No more blood. I came here to help my family. GUILLERMO I also got into this to help my family. I’ve been trying to get home for 15 years. And I’m still trapped in this shit. Let’s finish this. ELLY Alex? ALEX Elly? GUILLERMO ALEX No! Come on. Let's go. JOSE Alex. ALEX Come on. ELLY Come on. ALEX Hang on. ELLY He's coming! ALEX No! Elly! Elly! Come on. Come on. Come on. No! No, no! No! GUILLERMO Shut up! ALEX No! No! GUILLERMO Don’t move! I said don’t move! ELLY Hey! GUILLERMO No, no. No, no, no. No, no, no. No, no, no. No. No! No! ALEX Elly. JOSE Alex!