(6 years ago. Eric's Wedding)

Gail: Jerry, I know this has great artistic merit, but I'm taking these shoes off in ten minutes. So if you don't want to have to hide my toes, could you--?

April: Okay, make yourself comfortable. We can't really do this without the best man anyway.

Gail: Where is Jake?

Johnston: I don't see him.

Eric: Yeah, Grandpa seems to be missing too.

Johnston: Take a wild guess where they are.

Gail: Right.

Johnston: Not now, Jerry.

Gail: It's so nice to see you, dear.

(Present Day)

Gail: Charley. Hey, I need your help. We need to go over to the medical center.

(Jake enters on horseback)

Jake: Is everyone in there?

Eric: Yeah, we're just waiting for you.

Hawkins: How's it going out there?

Jake: They took Talbot's farm.

Hawkins: How many men?

Jake: I'd say 60, 70. That's probably just an advance team. I'd imagine they got more than that up the road in reserve.

Johnston: Constantino has us outnumbered and outgunned. If we split our force and try to defend each one of these farms, he's gonna overwhelm us.

Gray: So, what are you saying?

Johnston: I'm saying we don't split up. We choose a place to stand together. Deliver a good, hard counter-punch. Let them know if they intend to take from us, it's gonna cost them, dearly.

Bill: How?

Johnston: Well, right here. Stanley Richmond's farm. It's the last place before this road divides and they start taking ground faster than we can keep up. Plus which, it's the highest point in the whole area. There's where we make our stand.

New Bern Soldier: Check all equip.

New Bern Soldier 2: Deputy Perkins just radioed back. The Talbot farm is secured.

Constantino: Let's go get the rest of them.

New Bern Soldier 2: Let's go!

(Several New Bern Trucks pull out)

ASA Soldier 1: This one's alive.

(We see that it's Heather)

(6 years ago)

Jake: Grandpa, you're drunk.

Grandpa Green: Really?

Stanley: Goodie.

Grandpa Green: Thank you, darling.

Waitress: You're welcome.

Grandpa Green: Keep them coming. Keep them coming.

Emily: Gail is gonna get so mad at you for getting her boy drunk.

Grandpa Green: I got Gail wrapped around my little finger.

Jake: Yeah, says the guy who taught me to fly his crop-duster when I was 13, then told Mom I was lying when i mentioned it.

Stanley: Oh, I was so jealous. My mom knew that you let him fly, and she wouldn't let me go anywhere near you. Then, see, Jake would come and tell me all the stories you told him. I loved the one about the peanuts.

Grandpa Green: What the hell are you talking about?

Jake: (laughing) What?

Stanley; The peanuts. In World War II.

Jake: (still laughing) He means the nut story, Grandpa. Not peanuts. There were no peanuts involved.

Emily: So, what's the story? Tell me. The story, somebody. Please.

Jake: It's his story.

Grandpa Green: All right.

Grandpa Green: World War II. The winter of 1944. The Nazis penetrated the Allied lines, and surrounded a division of Americans in a little town called Bastogne. They were freezing, starving and running out of ammunition, but they knew that they had to hold that ground. Just before Christmas, the Nazis sent a note to the American commander telling him that he could surrender and save the rest of his men. Or they could stay and fight. The American commander sent a one-word reply to the Wehrmacht Commander. And it said...

Jake: Nuts.

Emily: Wait. But why did he say "nuts"?

Grandpa Green: Well, it means go to hell!

Emily: Why didn't he just say "go to hell"?

Grandpa Green: Because he said "Nuts."

Stanley: Nuts. Peanuts.

Grandpa Green: Gail, Gail, my sweetheart. You look beautiful.

Gail: Save it, Dad. Was it your idea to get my son drunk tonight?

(Grandpa Green points to Emily)

Emily: No.

Gail: Right. Okay, everybody back to the reception. Come on.

Stanley: But I'm hammered.

Gail: (to Jake) And I wanna talk to you. (to Stanley) Have a cup of coffee, Stanley.

Gail: Here.

Jake: Oh, what's this?

Gail: As your brother's best man , you are required to give a toast, so I wrote down a few thoughts and things that you might want to say.

Jake: Did you think I was going to wing it?

Gail: Let's go take some pictures, okay?

(Present Day)

Johnston: What's going on?

Hawkins: Mr. Green, I have access to a keyhole military satellite that I can use to track New Bern's movements in the field today.

Johnston: Beg pardon?

Jake: It's real.

Hawkins: The one restriction is that no one can know where you're getting this information. Tell them I'm scouting in the field. Tell them what you want, but this satellite must remain a secret.

Johnston: Sounds good.

Jake: Wait, that's it?

Johnston: What do you want me to say? I get it, man has a satellite. Doesn't want anyone to know.

Jake: Yeah, but--

Johnston: I am about to go to war with New Bern, Kansas, the home of the nearest Costco. Today is already just about as weird as I can handle. I'm not asking any more questions.

(Commentary)

(Gravestone:
George Richmond
1948 - 1983
Loving Father)

(Gravestone:)
J. Smith)

(Gravestone:
John W.
Illegible

Stanley: Mom, Dad, there's a chance we may have to leave here today, and we might not be able to make it back, so... I just wanted to... We just wanted to pay our respects. Remember I told you about that witch from the IRS? The one that wanted to take everything you ever worked for? Mom, Dad, this is Mimi.

Mimi: Hello. It's nice to finally meet you. I really love your son. And of course, Bonnie is... She's just wonderful. And I've really enjoyed living with them and...

Stanley: Great.

Mimi: What?

Stanley: I didn't say we were living together. We're not married.

Mimi: Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I certainly.. Is everything a joke to you?

Stanley; Hey. I figure one day, we're gonna be buried here ourselves, and I think it would be nice if our kids came and joked around with us.

Mimi: I hope that's not for a really long time.

(Bonnie, Mimi, and Stanley hug)

(Outside of Richmond Farm)

Johnston: How we doing?

Ranger: We got about 200 men. That includes Dale's crew.

Johnston: We got more coming, right?

Ranger: They're trickling in. It's taking a lot longer than we thought.

Johnston: Saying goodbye to their families. Jake, Eric, get on down to the pass, get everybody organized. We don't have a whole lot of time before their advance unit hits.

Johnston: (to Gray) Not you.

Gray: Well, why not?

Johnston: Because these people elected you their leader. We protect you at all costs. And besides, in a few minutes I'm gonna need your help.

Gray; Help with what?

Johnston: Arming our tank.

(Hawkins House)

(Computer:
Enter Coordinates:
39 0 38.36N
99.27)

Darcy: Our daughter's out there carrying a rifle, and I'm in here.

Hawkins: Sam needs you here. You know, Allie's safe. She's been assigned to Town Hall and the fighting is miles from there. Right now, there really isn't anything else you can be doing. Here we go.

Hawkins: (on the radio) Jake? Jake, you are about to have company.

Jake: Already?

Hawkins: New Bern is on its way. There are 70, maybe 80 men. Is that tank there yet?

Jake: They're trying to load it with that mortar round right now.

Hawkins: I think you're gonna need it.

Jake: All right, let's get ready. They're coming. Get some ammo down here.

Darcy: What is it?

Hawkins: I'm being tracked.

Darcy: Tracked? What do you mean?

Hawkins: Someone is trying to trace my location through the satellite.

Darcy: Well, can they?

Hawkins: If they have time, yes.

Darcy: Do you know who it is?

Hawkins: My guess is it's Valente.

Darcy: Him? From Homeland Security?

Hawkins: I don't know who he's working for now. But he told Sarah to get the bomb any way she could and to eliminate all witnesses. All the witness.

Darcy: Shut it down.

Hawkins: No, I can't. We just have to make sure we disconnect the feed before he finishes the trace.

(Camp Liberty
Southwest Nebraska)

(Beeping)

(Richmond Farm)

Jake: Okay.

Eric: I don't get it. Why are they just standing there?

Jake: I don't know.

Eric: Do we fire the first shot?

Ranger: New Bern's here.

Ranger 2: Get into position.

Eric: We're gonna need that tank.

(Shots are fired)

(6 years ago)

Eric: Having a good time?

Jake: Yeah. By the way, I think I saw April making out with Shep Cale.

Eric: All right, all right, you need to stop drinking.

Eric: Listen. Read this. It's a speech. Figure you should have something ready so you don't embarrass yourself.

Jake: You mean so I don't embarrass you, You don't have to worry. Is that how you spell 'venereal disease'?

Eric: Jake, this day is important to me, okay? Just because your life's a big joke, doesn't mean you have to treat mine that way.

Jake: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Why is my life a joke?

Eric: Just read the speech.

Jake: No, seriously, Eric. Why's my life a joke?

Eric: I'm not getting into this right now. All right. You think people don't wonder what you've been doing? You spend all that time in flight school getting your license. Instead of using it, you come back here and you hang out like it's the summer after high school. Hauling "stuff" for Emily's dad.

Jake: If I'm such a joke, then why'd you want me as your best man?

(Eric looks at his mom)

Jake: You didn't want me, did you?

Eric; No, not really.

(Present Day)

Eric: Where's that tank? We're not gonna last long against those trucks.

Jake: We have to hold out.

(More shots fired)

Jake: Damn.

(More shots fired)

Jake: We gotta keep drawing their fire, all right?

Eric: Got it.

Jake: Give me another mag.

Eric: Where are you going?

Jake: We'll never get a clean shot from here. I need to get up that hill, get a shot on the gunner.

Eric: All right, I got your back.

Jake: All right.

Eric: Cover him!

(Hawkins house)

Darcy: Rob, why eliminate witnesses? I mean, whoever's tracking you, they either wanna use the bomb for themselves or they're gonna keep you from using it, but either way, what difference do witnesses make? I mean, the bombs have fingerprints, don't they? Something that makes them traceable. I remember reading that.

(Richmond Farm)

(Jake continues going up the hill)

(Hawkins House)

Hawkins: *laughs* It's the uranium. It has a... It has a specific signature. It places the origins of the device, where it was made.

Darcy: So there were dozens of these things used in the attacks, right? And now you have the last one.

Hawkins: Yeah.

Darcy: Rob, I don't think these people are looking at this thing as a weapon. It's more than that. It's--

Hawkins: Evidence.

Darcy: It's the smoking gun behind the greatest crime in the history of the world. The bomb. It could expose the people who are responsible for the attacks. That's why they need it back.

Hawkins: Yeah.

(Richmond Farm)

(Jake shoots out the gunner)

(The tank shows up just in time)

New Bern Soldier: Fall back. Retreat.

(The tank fires, killing several New Bern soldiers)

(Cheers among the Jericho crowd)

Bill: Did you see what I just did?

Stanley: Holy crap.

Eric: That was...

Bill: Holy crap.

Jake: All right, that bought us some time. They'll be back and there'll be more of them. It won't be near as easy next time.

Bill: Easy? You thought that was easy?

Eric: Jake.

(Johnston has been shot)

Jake: Dad!

Eric: Dad. What's wrong?

(Richmond house)

Jake: Clear the table. Clear it.

Emily: I'm gonna go get Kenchy.

Jake: Get my mom!

Eric: We need towels. And some antiseptic. And alcohol. We need alcohol.

Jake: Get a towel.

Eric: Get me some alcohol.

Jake: Here we go. All right, get it out. Come on. Okay. All right.

Hawkins: (On the radio) Jake?

Jake: Keep the pressure on.

Eric: What?

Jake: Keep it on. Keep the pressure.

Hawkins: Hey, Jake. Come in.

Jake: Hawkins.

Hawkins: Hey, nice work out there. Tell your father that they're coming back around.

Jake: He's been shot.

Hawkins: I'm sorry. Okay, you know what to do, right? Keep pressure on the wound and there should be some morphine Syrettes in the supplies I gave you.

Jake: Yeah, we've got it.

Hawkins: Listen, Jake. People are gonna be looking to you now. You know what I mean?

Jake: Yeah.

Hawkins: Okay, the guys you beat back. They retreated to Talbot's farm. My guess is they're waiting for reinforcements, so you should have a little time to regroup out there. Just keep the radio close. And I'll update you. Out.

Jake: Out.

(Camp Liberty)

Heather: Um. Please. I need to talk to whoever s in charge.

ASA Soldier: Right over there.

Heather: Excuse me, sir?

Hoffman: Colonel Hoffman. You don't have to call me sir, not unless you plan to enlist.

Heather: There's a city called New Bern. It has a munitions factory. It's planning to overrun the town of Jericho. People are gonna get killed. They tried to kill me, but I got away. You've got to help these people.

Hoffman: Where is this?

Heather: Kansas. Not far from the Colorado border.

Hoffman: I wish I could help. My orders are to secure the roads in this area.

Heather: But, sir--

Hoffman: I don't get to make these decisions. I'm just a government employee.

Heather: Which government?

Hoffman: *laughs* United States. Are you all right, ma'am?

Heather: We heard there were six different people claiming the presidency.

Hoffman: There were. In fact, there's still a couple of holdouts. Texas, a bloc in the east. But the new federal government's been restored in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Heather: Colonel, this is an emergency. You have to go to Jericho. The fighting could be happening right now.

Hoffman: I am very sorry, Ma'am. Casper, you see she gets back to the medical unit.

Casper: Come on, ma'am.

(Richmond Farm)

Johnston: Get them out.

Eric: Why?

Johnston: Get them out.

Jake: Clear everyone out.

Johnston: You listen. This place is ready to survive. Make a stand here. Here.

Jake: We will.

Johnston: I'm sorry you have to see this. You've been through enough.

Eric: Dad. Dad, stop.

Johnston: You're stronger than you think you are, though. Always have been. I love you, son. I guess I zigged when I should have zagged out there, huh? I sure wish your mother was here.

Jake: She's coming. She'll be here.

Johnston: Tell your mother I love her. I was hard on you. I pushed you away. And I'm glad you came home. I'm proud of you.

(Eric breaks down crying. Jake shuts his father's eyes)

(Jake and Eric hug)

(Six years ago)

Jake: Okay. The big toast. Before I start, is there anyone who hasn't written me a speech? I mean, it really makes me wonder how screwed up you think I am that I can't be trusted to say a few things about my brother. And the thing is... Yeah, the thing is, these are all pretty lame. Not one of them mentions my brother's musical theater phase when we all thought he was gay. Seriously, you have not heard disturbing until you've heard him singing "One Hand, One Heart" in the shower every morning. I tease my brother a lot, but the truth is... the truth is I'm very proud of him. I'm proud of how kind he is. I'm proud of how giving he is. And he's a very lucky man. Really.

(Present Day)

Jake: My father's dead. We'll get through.

(Everyone looks sad. Dale, Skylar, Stanley...)

Jake: Get Gray back to town.

Gray: What? Wait a minute.

Jake: Come tomorrow, what's left of us will need a leader. I think we've lost enough in that department today.

Gray: We're gonna need every set of hands we can get. I'm not going anywhere.

Jake: You're too important now, Gray. It's not negotiable. Get him an escort. And start getting everyone into position. Who knows when they're gonna come back again.

(Emily and Gail walk in)

(Outside)

(Emily and Jake hug, as Jake cries)

Hawkins: (on the radio) Jake?

Jake: Go ahead.

Hawkins: So they got their reinforcements. It's a couple hundred men. And another six of those Deuce and a half's. They're mobilizing now, so I say you got about 15, maybe 20 minutes before they're on you.

Jake: All right. You get back here as soon as you can, all right?

Hawkins: Say, what do you know about a set of train tracks running alongside the river?

Jake: Why? What do you see? Hawkins, what's on the tracks?

Hawkins: I don't know. I can't see.

Jake: Hawkins?

Darcy: Robert.

Hawkins: Hang on.

Darcy: No, Robert, disconnect it.

Hawkins: Jake, you got a very large train coming from New Bern. They've got three cargo cars.

Jake: What's in them?

Hawkins: I think it's men and there's hundreds of them. It's a whole set of reinforcements.

(Darcy loses the laptop)

Jake: Hawkins, what's going on? Talk to me.

Hawkins: Jake, I'm on my way.

(Jake and Emily kiss)

(Hawkins house)

Hawkins: I've gotta go.

Darcy: Wait.

Hawkins: Look, they only had a few seconds. It wasn't enough time to get an exact location. We're fine for a little while.

Darcy: Where are you going?

Hawkins: I have to stop a train.

(Camp Liberty)

Hoffman: I-80 is secured from Cheyenne to Grand Island. We now control the area between Kearney and Hastings. I-70 is turning out to be a challenge. There are organized road gangs controlling much of the interstate. I've also been told by a patient in our medical unit to expect a significant skirmish between towns in northwest Kansas, New Bern and Jericho.

Valente: What is the location of those towns?

Hoffman: CZ-12, Quadrant 4.

Valente: We've tracked a terror suspect to within 200 miles of that area. Capture of this suspect is a top priority for President Tomarchio and the administration. Do you understand?

Hoffman: Should I re-prioritize, sir?

Valente: Immediately. Go to Jericho and crush the skirmish. Once the area is clear, we will begin our search for the terrorist.

(Hawkins is riding a horse)

(Richmond Farm)

Stanley: I'm gonna ask Mimi to marry me.

Jake: Yeah?

Stanley; Yeah. She can't cook. She's never seen nine innings of baseball in her life. She hates my clothes. But I love her. And I'm happy. Jake, I don't wanna die today.

Jake: You're gonna make it out of here. All right. I promise.

(Hawkins rides up)

Jake: Hawkins.

Hawkins: Hey. Constantino and those trucks are right on your doorstep. You don't have much time.

Jake: What about that train?

Hawkins: Twenty minutes, give or take.

Jake: Tell me you have a plan, a really good one.

Hawkins: Hey, I need to borrow your tank.

(Hawkins gets in the tank)

Jake: It won't fire. I told you that, right? There's not a single round of ammo in it.

Hawkins: I'm not planning on shooting anything.

Stanley: The throttle is there on your left. And to steer you're just gonna--

Hawkins: Hey, this is not my first time.

(Stanley lightly taps Jake)

Hawkins: Jake. Good luck out there.

Jake: Yeah. You too.

Emily: Any minute now, huh?

Jake: Yeah. I'm uh...

Emily: You know he's here. Watching. You know that, right?

(6 years ago)

Johnston: They still doing the bunny hop in there?

Jake: I think it's the Macarena.

Johnston: The what?

Jake: Yeah, they're still doing the bunny hop.

Johnston: Quite a speech you made in there. I had no idea you were such a sentimental fool.

Jake: Mom wrote it.

Johnston: You think?

Johnston: Listen, I know that you and Eric aren't close. Maybe you didn't feel like standing up in front of a bunch of people and acting like you were. Sometimes doing what you feel like doing, and doing what needs to be done are two different things.

Jake: You don't have to worry about me, Dad. I'm fine.

Johnston: I somehow get the feeling my worrying days are far from over. But they will be one day. One day, I know you're gonna become the man I know you can be. The man you were born to be. By god, that day's gonna be something to see.

Grandpa Green: Come on, Johnston. This scotch ain't gonna drink itself.

Johnston: Me and the old man are gonna head down to the lake to share some 30-year-old single malt. You wanna come?

Jake: Yeah, yeah. I'm just gonna wait for Emily, say good night. I'll meet you there.

Johnston: Save you a place.

Grandpa Green: Where's he going?

Johnston: He's waiting for Emily, gonna say good night.

Grandpa Green: Well. That's the last we'll see of him tonight.

Johnston: Dad.

Grandpa Green: Listen, if I had a girl who looked like that, I wouldn't keep her waiting. Hey, you hear that, boy? I'm gonna take that girl away from you.

Johnston: Yeah, you talk a good game.

Grandpa Green: You better watch out for yourself, too. Your wife is crazy about me.

Johnston: My wife wants to take a hickory switch to you three times a day.

(Present Day)

Jimmy: Jake, it's Constantino.

Jake: I'm here.

Constantino: My scouts just informed me. I am sorry about your father. Jake, you're outmanned and you're outgunned. There's too many of us and we are too desperate to give up. You cannot win this. I'm giving you one last chance to walk away. Put your guns down and return to town. And no one else will be harmed. Jake, I need an answer. What's it gonna be?

Jake: Nuts.

Constantino: Sorry, I didn't get that.

Jake: You can go straight to hell. About my father... you're the one I'm coming for.

(Camp Liberty)

Heather: I wanna go home.

Doctor: Our orders are to take people out of the conflict zone. You'll be safer in Cheyenne.

Heather: Colonel Hoffman? What is all this?

ASA Soldier: Sir, wheels up in five minutes.

Hoffman: Roger that. Jericho's been moved up to priority number one on the list.

Heather: Thank you. God, thank you.

Hoffman: This is all thanks to you. Don't worry. We're gonna get things back to normal again. All right, saddle up.

(Heather looks at the flag. There are only 21 stars on it)

(Richmond Farm)

Jake: My father expected us to make a stand here. To defend our home. And that's what we're gonna do.

(Hawkins has the tank near the train tracks)

(Richmond Farm)

Bill: Move out!

Ranger: Get in position!

Jake: Don't waste your rounds. Wait for a clean shot. Wait.

(five helicopters fly over Hawkins)

Jake: Wait. Wait. NOW! (gunshots)