ZERO DARK THIRTY
Written by
Mark Boal
October 3rd, 2011
FROM BLACK, VOICES EMERGE--
We hear the actual recorded emergency calls made by World
Trade Center office workers to police and fire departments
after the planes struck on 9/11, just before the buildings
collapsed.
TITLE OVER: SEPTEMBER 11, 2001
We listen to fragments from a number of these calls...starting
with pleas for help, building to a panic, ending with the
caller's grim acceptance that help will not arrive, that the
situation is hopeless, that they are about to die.
CUT TO:
TITLE OVER: TWO YEARS LATER
INT. BLACK SITE - INTERROGATION ROOM
DANIEL
I own you, Ammar. You belong to me.
Look at me.
This is DANIEL STANTON, the CIA's man in Islamabad - a big
American, late 30's, with a long, anarchical beard snaking
down to his tattooed neck. He looks like a paramilitary
hipster, a punk rocker with a Glock.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
(explaining the rules)
If you don't look at me when I talk
to you, I hurt you. If you step off
this mat, I hurt you. If you lie to
me, I'm gonna hurt you. Now, Look
at me.
His prisoner, AMMAR, stands on a decaying gym mat, surrounded
by four GUARDS whose faces are covered in ski masks.
Ammar looks down. Instantly: the guards rush Ammar, punching
and kicking.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
Look at me, Ammar.
Notably, one of the GUARDS wearing a ski mask does not take
part in the beating.
2.
EXT. BLACK SITE - LATER
Daniel and the masked figures emerge from the interrogation
room into the light of day. They remove their masks and we
see that one is a beautiful young woman in her mid-twenties.
She has a pale, milky innocence and bright blue eyes, thin
and somewhat frail looking, yet possessing a steely core
that we will come to realize is off-the-charts. This is
MAYA, a CIA targeter and subject-matter expert on her first
overseas assignment.
DANIEL
(to the guard)
Are we gonna board up these windows
or what?
(TO MAYA)
Just off the plane from Washington,
you're rocking your best suit for
your first interrogation, and then
you get this guy. It's not always
this intense.
MAYA
I'm fine.
She's not.
DANIEL
Just so you know, it's going to take
awhile. He has to learn how helpless
he is. Let's get a coffee.
MAYA
No, we should go back in.
Something about the strange intensity of her expression makes
Daniel reconsider and he turns back to the interrogation
room.
DANIEL
You know, there's no shame if you
wanna watch from the monitor.
She shakes her head.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
Alright.
At the door, Daniel hands the ski mask back to Maya.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
You might want to put this on.
3.
MAYA
You're not wearing one. Is he ever
getting out?
DANIEL
Never.
CUT TO:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - LATER
SUPERIMPOSE: CIA BLACK SITE - UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
Ammar, bruised from the beating, is restrained with ropes.
Maya stands a few feet behind Daniel, attentive, wary of
what is to come. This is her first interrogation and she is
on the verge of vomiting from the stench in the room. She
looks around at the sound-proofed walls, the puddles of water
on the floor.
DANIEL
Right now, this is about you coming
to terms with your situation. It's
you and me, bro. I want you to
understand that I know you, that
I've been studying you for a very
long time. I could have had you
killed Karachi. But I let you live
so you and I could talk.
AMMAR
(RESISTANT)
You beat me when my hands are tied.
I won't talk to you.
DANIEL
Life isn't always fair, my friend.
Did you really think that when we
got you, I'd be a nice fucking guy?
AMMAR
You're a mid-level guy. You're a
garbage man in a corporation. Why
should I respect you?
DANIEL
And you're a money man. A paperboy!
Daniel paces around Ammar, anger rising.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
A disgrace to humanity!
(MORE)
4.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
You and your uncle murdered three
thousand innocent people. I have
your name on a five-thousand dollar
transfer via Western Union to a 9/11
hijacker.
He leans into Ammar's ear. Uncomfortably close.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
And you got popped with 150 kilograms
of high explosives in your house!
AND THEN YOU DARE QUESTION ME?!
And then Daniel smiles, laughs. Mercurial.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
I'm just fucking with you.
Beat. He laughs again.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
I don't want to talk about 9/11.
What I want to focus on is the Saudi
group.
Daniel shows him a photo.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
That there is Hazem al-Kashmiri.
And I know this dude is up to some
serious shit, and what I want from
you is his Saudi email.
(PAUSE)
Feel free to jump in.
(PAUSE)
Ammar, bro, I know that you know
this dude, just give me his
email...and I will give you a blanket.
I will give you a blanket and some
solid food.
No response from Ammar. Daniel starts putting on his gloves.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
I know that you know him.
AMMAR
I told you before, I won't talk to
you.
DANIEL
Have it your way.
(MORE)
5.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
(to the masks)
Let's go.
It all happens in a flash: in one swift motion, Daniel pushes
Ammar to the floor, the guards pin his limbs, and Daniel
smothers Ammar's face with a towel.
Ammar thrashes. Daniel considers his next move.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
(TO MAYA)
Grab the bucket.
Maya follows Daniel's gesture to the corner of the room,
where there's an ICE CHEST filled with WATER and a PLASTIC
PITCHER.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
Put some water in it.
She dips the pitcher in the water, hands shaking.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
C'mon, let's go.
The stress and strain on her face is enormous as she brings
the bucket back to Daniel.
Daniel starts pouring the water on Ammar's face, which is
now covered by a towel. Ammar thrashes with rising panic.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
Hazem was a friend of Ramzi Yousef,
you guys met in Tunisia back in the
70s.
AMMAR
(gasping for breath)
I don't know, you asshole.
Maya shakes her head "no."
MAYA
That's not credible.
AMMAR
(SCREAMING)
Why are you doing this to me?
DANIEL
You're a terrorist, that's why I'm
doing it to you.
6.
AMMAR
Fuck you.
Daniel pours water over the towel so it hits Ammar's nose.
DANIEL
I want emails of the rest of the
Saudi group. Give me emails of the
rest of the Saudi group! Give me
one email, and I will stop this!
Ammar doesn't speak. He can't.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
Who's in the Saudi group, and what's
the target? Where was the last time
you saw bin Laden? WHERE WAS THE
LAST TIME YOU SAW BIN LADEN?
Daniel throws the pitcher, rips the rag off Ammar's mouth:
and water spurts out - Ammar nearly drowned. He gasps for
air.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
This is what defeat looks like, bro.
Your jihad is over.
Daniel stands.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
Get him up.
The guards bring Ammar to his feet.
Daniel, shifting his persona yet again, touches Ammar's face
and speaks to him with the comforting tenor of a therapist.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
Try to understand the concept here.
I have time, you don't. I have other
things to do, you don't.
(BEAT)
It's cool that you're strong. I
respect it, I do. But in the end,
everybody breaks, bro. It's biology.
Dan and Maya exit.
They've learned nothing.
CUT TO:
EXT. ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - MORNING
SUPERIMPOSE: ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN
7.
A colorful, dusty city. Busy markets. Poor children. Dense
traffic.
Meanwhile, across town:
EXT. DIPLOMATIC QUARTER - ISLAMABAD - DAY
National flags. Imposing buildings. Armed guards. The
outpost of a superpower.
Maya drives through the checkpoint and up to the main gate.
SUPERIMPOSE: UNITED STATES EMBASSY, ISLAMABAD
CUT TO:
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY CIA SECTION - STAIRCASE - ISLAMABAD
Descending the lobby staircase with Daniel is JOSEPH BRADLEY,
Chief of Station, Pakistan, a smooth, vain, sophisticated
former case officer who hasn't quite buffed all the blood
out of his fingernails.
BRADLEY
How did it go the other night?
DANIEL
It was good. The local cops need
tactical help. But he's Tier fucking
One, baby. There's your money maker.
BRADLEY
This is the guy that's KSM's nephew?
What's his issue?
DANIEL
He's being a dick.
BRADLEY
If he's trying to outsmart you, tell
him about your PhD.
DANIEL
I am going to have to turn up the
heat. He needs to give us the Saudi
group now.
They reach the lobby, where they can see Maya sitting in the
holding area. They walk towards her as Bradley considers
what Daniel is asking for.
8.
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY CIA SECTION - STAIRCASE/LOBBY
BRADLEY
He's gotta have that - given the
family ties.
Permission granted, Daniel reassures his boss.
DANIEL
Tight with his uncle, prints all
over the 9/11 money.
Daniel knocks on the glass for Maya to come in.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
(to Bradley, clocking
her good looks)
Was I lying or what?
The guard opens the door and Maya comes through - not many
females come through that door.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
(TO MAYA)
Maya, this is Joseph Bradley, our
illustrious station chief.
(as they shake hands)
Joe and I did Iraq together.
BRADLEY
And we continue our Christian mission
here. Nice to meet you.
MAYA
You too, Sir.
BRADLEY
How was your flight?
They walk down the lobby towards the Secure Wing.
MAYA
Fine.
DANIEL
She's been having a great time ever
since she got in, isn't that right?
BRADLEY
How do you like Pakistan so far?
MAYA
It's kinda fucked up.
9.
BRADLEY
You volunteered for this didn't you?
MAYA
No.
Bradley smiles. He knew she didn't volunteer.
They reach a secure area and Bradley checks Maya through an
electronic door.
BRADLEY
(TO MAYA)
Third floor, northeast corner.
She goes through and Daniel and Bradley watch her walk away.
DANIEL
Don't you think she's a little young
for the hard stuff?
BRADLEY
Washington says she's a killer.
DANIEL
The children's crusade.
BRADLEY
They want the next generation on the
field. Listen, I have a meeting
with ISI in twenty minutes.
DANIEL
They're slow rolling us in Lahore -
you might want to bitch about that.
BRADLEY
Did you see the cable from London?
DANIEL
Dude, I've been in a dark room with
another man for the last two days.
CUT TO:
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY CIA SECTION - MAYA'S CUBICLE
Maya finds her desk. It's covered with grime. She tries to
clean it as best she can, then sits and looks at the blank
log-in screen of her computer.
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY CIA SECTION - CONFERENCE ROOM
A group of thirty-somethings filing in for a meeting,
chatting, comradery, taking seats around a conference table.
10.
We will get to know:
JACK, mid-40s, a scruffy teddy bear, the liaison from the
National Security Agency (NSA).
JESSICA, 30s, an experienced targeter, and the only woman in
the station who wears a skirt.
JACK
Some dude tells the Malaysian station
that his nephew works with a guy who
knows a guy--
JESSICA
Here we go.
JACK
Hold on - He goes to a big feast in
Bangkok about a year ago. The guest
of honor? Usama bin Laden.
Laughter in the room.
JACK (CONT'D)
So I say, was Tupac there too?
JESSICA
Right, but you forgot - you forgot
Mullah Omar.
J.J. and JEREMY, two case officers, continue the banter:
JEREMY
(SARCASTICALLY)
This is worth 5 million bucks.
J.J.
You know we're going to have to chase
it down.
JEREMY
That's me, man. No job too small.
JACK
That's why I have a gift for you, my
friend.
Jack hands Jeremy a piece of paper. Daniel and Maya enter,
a little late.
DANIEL
Everyone, this is Maya. Maya,
everyone.
(MORE)
11.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
Please don't ask how it's going with
Ammar because she's not going to
fucking tell you.
JESSICA
Ammar is withholding?
Daniel nods.
JESSICA (CONT'D)
(reading from her
FILE)
Washington assesses that Abu Faraj
is officially our new number three -
JESSICA moves to a wall chart of AQ leadership and repositions
Abu Faraj's mugshot to number three in the line, two down
from Usama bin Laden. Meanwhile, in the background, the
riffs continue -
DANIEL
- Best man for it.
JACK (O.S.)
London station is already asking if
we think he's in contact with anyone
in the U.K.
JEREMY
Like we're just keeping it from them.
Jessica sits back down and gets down to business.
JESSICA
The Jordanians are being really
helpful with Ammar's transit papers.
Jessica passes Daniel a file.
DANIEL
Any imminent threats in here?
JESSICA
They want the Consulate, the Marriott,
it's low security. And they've got
Majid Kahn talking about gas stations
in the US.
DANIEL
And that's a conversation?
Jessica shrugs. At this point, she believes that it is merely
a conversation - not a fully realized plot.
12.
JESSICA
Honestly? There are six hundred
questions in there. I'd concentrate
on Heathrow. The Saudis. Does it
matter what Faraj thinks about
Heathrow? How much latitude does he
get to pick targets?
DANIEL
I think he'll give up the Saudis.
But Heathrow is gonna be tough.
Anyway. Anything from last night?
J.J.
Quetta base thinks they have a bead
on the Arabs that escaped, and they're
going to meet with the ISI this
afternoon, hopefully to set up a
raid down there.
DANIEL
Great.
JEREMY
And Lahore reporting ISI down there
was painfully slow last night. Again.
I'm beginning to think it's not
incompetence.
DANIEL
I agree, I spoke to the Chief about
that. Anything on bin Laden?
JESSICA
(reading from a cable)
A farmer on the Afghan border near
Tora Bora reports: a diamond shaped
pattern in the hills, tall male in
the center of the diamond, flanked
by four guards. It's consistent
with UBL's movements.
JEREMY
That's supposed to be his royal guard?
MAYA
That's pre-9/11 behavior.
Jessica doesn't appreciate the challenge.
JESSICA
(CHILLY)
We don't have reason to believe he's
changed security tactics.
13.
MAYA
We invaded Afghanistan. That's a
reason.
And so the rivalry begins.
J.J.
Hey, boss, I got a guy for five
thousand bucks, he can set up a taxi
stand and snoop around a bit.
DANIEL
No, don't need him, the diamond
sighting is bullshit. See if the
Paks will send someone to talk to
the farmer. Anything else? We need
to be putting runs on the board
against Faraj. Speak to the case
officers who didn't see fit to make
it today. And thank them.
INT. MAYA'S APARTMENT - ISLAMABAD
The loud WAILING of the early morning call to prayer from
the loudspeakers of a nearby mosque wakes Maya on the couch.
CUT TO:
INT. BLACK SITE - AFTERNOON
Daniel and the guards enter Ammar's cell with Maya. Daniel
switches on a floodlight, awakening Ammar.
DANIEL
Let's take it easy today, huh?
Daniel hands Ammar a bottle of orange juice and a bag of
falafel.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
Hungry? The food in here sucks so I
got you some of this.
Ammar grabs the lunch sack and scarfs down the falafels.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
Richard Reid, wow. I was thinking
about him. The guy gets a bomb in
his shoe on a plane. Unbelievable.
You know him, don't you?
Slowly, Ammar nods.
14.
AMMAR
Yes.
DANIEL
I'm glad you said that. I have an
email from you to him. I've had all
your coms for years, bro. Who else
is in your Saudi group?
AMMAR
I just handed out some cash for them.
I didn't know who the guys were.
DANIEL
When you lie to me, I hurt you.
AMMAR
Please.
DANIEL
I believe you. I do, I believe you.
Beat.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
Do you want the water again, or do
you want something else?
AMMAR
Please.
DANIEL
Just give me a name.
AMMAR
I DON'T--
Daniel jumps up.
AMMAR (CONT'D)
I don't know.
Daniel kicks out the chair from under Ammar. The masked
guards walk to the rope pulleys.
DANIEL
You see how this works? You don't
mind if my female colleague sees
your junk, do you?
Daniel pulls down Ammar's pants. Maya flinches at the bare
nakedness.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
Dude, you shit your pants.
15.
Daniel turns to Maya -
DANIEL (CONT'D)
You stay here, I'll be back.
Daniel goes out, leaving Maya standing alone in front of the
naked, chained man.
Ammar looks at her imploringly and she struggles to meet his
eyes.
AMMAR
Your friend is an animal. Please,
help me. Please.
A long beat.
MAYA
You can help yourself by being
truthful.
The door handle turns. It occurs to Maya that perhaps Daniel
was testing her resilience, too, as Daniel re-enters with a
DOG COLLAR in his hand.
DANIEL
This is a dog collar.
Daniel unhooks Ammar, snaps the collar and leash around his
neck, as Ammar cries out against the humiliation.
Maya flinches. Daniel is relentless:
DANIEL (CONT'D)
You determine how I treat you.
Now Daniel drags Ammar on all fours, pulling him by the leash.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
I'm going to walk you.
Maya watches in horror as Daniel walks Ammar to a far corner
of the room, then leans down to address his victim:
DANIEL (CONT'D)
What the fuck do you think is going
on, Ammar? Wahleed has already told
me that you know.
At last, Daniel reaches an area of the room where there is a
large wooden box resting on a platform.
16.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
This box sucks. I'm going to put
you in it.
Ammar tries to speak but can't get a word out.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
When is the attack?
AMMAR
(VERY SOFTLY)
Sunday.
DANIEL
Sunday? Sunday where? This Sunday
or next Sunday?
Ammar mumbles, almost inaudibly.
AMMAR
Monday.
DANIEL
Is it Sunday or Monday?
Ammar doesn't answer. The masked men approach.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
Which day is it? Partial information
is treated as a lie.
AMMAR
Saturday.
Beat. The masked men open the box.
AMMAR (CONT'D)
Sunday!
The guards grab Ammar and carry him to his wooden tomb. He
shouts with his last reserve of energy:
AMMAR (CONT'D)
Monday!
DANIEL
Ammar, which day?
AMMAR
(MUMBLING)
Monday, Tuesday,
Beat.
17.
AMMAR (CONT'D)
Thursday.
Beat.
AMMAR (CONT'D)
Friday.
Daniel slams the box shut. Once again, he's learned nothing.
CUT TO:
EXT. KHOBAR TOWERS - SAUDI ARABIA - DAY
ECU: a magazine CLICKS into the receiver of a black assault
rifle.
The weapon, carried by a BEARDED ARAB MAN dressed in street
clothes, rises to shoulder height.
INT. KHOBAR TOWERS - DAY
- The man enters the hallway of the KHOBAR RESIDENTIAL TOWERS
- And immediately opens fire on TWO WESTERN MEN he happens
to find inside, killing them both.
TITLE OVER: MAY 29, 2004
- The CRACK of the shots sends the rest of the residents
into a panicky, screaming dash for cover
- As he strides quickly down the hall, he finds three other
RESIDENTS scrambling for safety, and shoots and kills them
all.
CUT TO:
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY CIA SECTION - CONFERENCE ROOM
CU TV: news footage of the massacre.
Daniel, Jessica, and Maya look on in defeat. The "Saudi"
attack they tried to prevent by pressuring Ammar has occurred.
JESSICA
(TO DANIEL)
Don't worry about the Saudis, they'll
take care of business.
DANIEL
Yeah, now.
18.
JESSICA
You warned them - they didn't take
you seriously - this is what happens.
It's not on you.
DANIEL
Who said that? Zied? Fuck him.
This is on me. Ammar is on me!!
And it's on her!!
(pointing to Maya)
We can't let this be a win-win for
AQ.
JESSICA
No, no, no. You had - what - days -
brief custody - and an unresponsive
ally. The way you do this is you
look ahead. London. Heathrow. Mass
casualties. That plan is still
active.
MAYA
Ammar doesn't have a clue about what
happened.
JESSICA
He knows.
MAYA
How?
JESSICA
You have to be really careful with
people in KSM's circle - they're
devious.
MAYA
He's not going to talk about attacks
on the homeland. He's going to
withhold operational details on the
KSM network and probably on bin Laden.
(flipping her argument)
But he's been in complete isolation,
he doesn't know we failed. We can
tell him anything.
DANIEL
Bluff him?
MAYA
He hasn't slept, Dan. He's clueless.
CUT TO:
19.
EXT. BLACK SITE - AFTERNOON
DANIEL (PRE-LAP)
You don't remember, do you? You -
me: same same. Bad memory.
While GUARDS move in the deep b.g., Daniel and Maya are seated
at a picnic table with an appetizing spread of Arabic food.
DANIEL (PRE-LAP) (CONT'D)
Short term memory loss is a side
effect of sleep deprivation. It
should come back to you.
The Guards bring a prisoner to the table and remove his hood:
Ammar. He stares weakly at the table.
AMMAR
(CAREFULLY)
I don't know. How can I remember?
MAYA
After we kept you awake for 96 hours,
you gave us names of some of your
brothers and saved the lives of a
lot of innocent people.
DANIEL
Which is the smart thing to do, you're
starting to think for yourself.
Ammar is lost. But the food is tempting.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
Eat up! You earned it.
Ammar eats.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
So you flew via Amman to Kabul to
hang out with your uncle? Mukhtar.
AMMAR
How did you know that?
DANIEL
I told you man, I know you. Alright,
you got me - flight manifests. It
must've been pretty fucked up for
you guys after 9/11. What did you
do after the invasion and before you
went back to Pesh?
20.
AMMAR
After 9/11 I had to choose: fight,
to protect our turf - or run.
DANIEL
(SYMPATHETIC)
You chose to fight.
Ammar looks Daniel right in the eyes.
AMMAR
I wanted to kill Americans. We tried
to get into Tora Bora but the bombing
was too high. We couldn't cross.
MAYA
Sorry, who is the "we" in that
sentence?
AMMAR
Me and some guys who were hanging
around at that time.
DANIEL
(CASUALLY)
I can eat with some other dude and
hook you back up to the ceiling?
AMMAR
Hamza Rabia, Khabab al-Masri, and
Abu Ahmed.
Maya makes notes on her pad.
MAYA
Who's Abu Ahmed? I've heard of the
other guys.
AMMAR
He was a computer guy with us at the
time. After Tora Bora, I went back
to Pesh - as you know - and he went
North, I think, to Kunar.
MAYA
What's his family name?
AMMAR
Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti.
MAYA
Abu Ahmed means "father of Ahmed",
it's a kunya.
(MORE)
21.
MAYA (CONT'D)
Ammar, I know the difference between
a war name and an Arabic name.
DANIEL
She got you there, dude.
AMMAR
I swear to you both: I don't know
his family name. I would have never
asked him something like that. It's
not how my uncle worked. My uncle
told me he worked for bin Laden. I
did see him, once, about a year ago,
in Karachi. He read us all a letter
from the Sheikh.
MAYA
A letter?
DANIEL
What did it say?
Daniel offers Ammar a smoke.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
Cigarette?
Ammar accepts. Daniel's lights it.
AMMAR
It said "Continue the jihad. The
work will go on for a hundred years."
CUT TO:
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY - RESEARCH ROOM
We fade into a dimly lit research room, where Maya is alone
watching interrogation video recordings on an array of
monitors. Some of the videos are rough; but most simply
depict two people talking. The video she's watching now shows
a hooded prisoner sitting in a filthy room, the walls smeared
with red stains.
CU SCREEN:
SOLDIER INTERROGATOR
You and I are gonna talk about some
of the guys in the training camps,
yeah?
The prisoner sits in a chair. He's hooded, but relaxed.
22.
PRISONER
Ok.
SOLDIER INTERROGATOR
Some of these brothers have done
some bad things, and what I want to
do is I want to separate them from
the people like you.
PRISONER
Definitely, yeah.
SOLDIER INTERROGATOR
There was a guy called Abu Ahmed
from Kuwait.
PRISONER
Yes, I remember him. A nice guy.
SOLDIER INTERROGATOR
How close was he? What was his
relationship to the leadership?
PRISONER
I don't know.
SOLDIER INTERROGATOR
Did he eat with you guys - did he
eat with the good guys - or did he
eat with the leadership?
PRISONER
I don't know, sir. I have no idea
about things like that.
SOLDIER INTERROGATOR
Yes you do, you don't need an idea
ABOUT THINGS-
Maya hits pause and we see that her desk is filled with open
windows of interrogations: she is analyzing ten videos
simultaneously, comparing them to each other.
INT. RESEARCH ROOM - MOMENTS LATER
She plays another video showing a Turkish prison.
TURKISH INTERROGATOR
When you met with Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed, was this one of the
facilitators?
The Interrogator flashes a picture. The prisoner moans.
23.
TURKISH INTERROGATOR (CONT'D)
Is this Abu Ahmed?
PRISONER
Yes.
CUT TO
INT. RESEARCH ROOM - LATER
She fast forwards a video - shot in a Polish facility. The
prisoner appears to be cold.
INTERROGATOR
KSM, your boss.
PRISONER
Mukhtar?
INTERROGATOR
Mukhtar,'potato', you say 'potahto'.
I say 'fucking KSM', but yeah,
'Mukhtar.' After Mukhtar was
captured, what did Abu Ahmed do?
PRISONER
Abu Ahmed, I believe he went to work
for The Sheikh.
INT. RESEARCH ROOM - LATER
Maya is still in the research room. She's been going at
this for hours and looks fatigued.
CU SCREEN: a different INTERROGATOR from the previous video;
PRISONER is an older man chained to a desk. The exchange is
in Arabic with an English subtitle on the screen:
PRISONER
In Karachi, in 2003 or 2004.
INTERROGATOR
He was carrying a letter from bin
Laden?
CUT TO:
INT. RESEARCH ROOM - LATER
Still going, looking exhausted now, Maya manipulates the
controls of yet another video clip with a different
INTERROGATOR and PRISONER. We're now in a Moroccan facility.
The interrogator shows him a photograph of a bearded man.
Henceforth, The Photograph.
24.
INTERROGATOR
Is that him?
PRISONER
(NODS)
Abu Ahmed.
The interrogator holds The Photograph right in front of the
prisoner's face, allowing us to see it as well.
INTERROGATOR
Say again?
PRISONER
Abu Ahmed. Abu Ahmed. Abu Ahmed.
Freeze frame.
CUT TO:
INT. RESEARCH ROOM - LATER
A Yemeni prison - the dialogue is a mix of French and English:
INTERROGATOR
Abu Ahmed - is he the courier for
bin Laden?
PRISONER
Who knows who works directly for bin
Laden? Let's say he's part of the
mix.
INTERROGATOR
Were there other people who carried
messages from bin Laden?
PRISONER
Sure.
INTERROGATOR
How many other people?
PRISONER
(THINKING)
Four or five.
INTERROGATOR
Let's talk about them--
The image freezes.
Maya stares at the screen.
25.
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY - KITCHEN
Maya is in the kitchen grabbing something to eat.
Jessica, the only other person working this late, walks in,
pours herself some coffee.
JESSICA
How's the needle in the haystack?
MAYA
Fine.
JESSICA
Facilitators come and go, but one
thing you can count on in life is
that everyone wants money.
The rivalry is in full bloom. Sometimes it's friendly.
Sometimes it's not so friendly.
MAYA
(SMILING)
You're assuming that Al Qaeda members
are motivated by financial rewards.
They're radicals.
JESSICA
(BIGGER SMILE)
Correct. You're assuming that greed
won't override ideology in some of
the weaker members.
MAYA
Money for walk-ins worked great in
the cold war, I'll give you that.
JESSICA
Thank you.
MAYA
Just not sure those tactics are
applicable to the Middle East.
CUT TO:
INT. MAYA'S APARTMENT
Maya hastily throws her clothes and a wig into a suitcase -
the world's fastest packing job -
CUT TO:
26.
EXT. WARSAW SHIPYARD - POLAND - DAY
SUPERIMPOSE: CIA BLACK SITE - WARSAW, POLAND
A sprawling shipyard in an industrial area.
A large MILITARY FRIGATE sits in the harbor. A dark haired
WOMAN and a MAN board the ship.
CUT TO:
INT. FRIGATE - BLACK SITE - POLAND - DAY
At first we don't recognize the woman with heavy makeup
walking down the narrow corridor, and then we realize it's
Maya in disguise.
She enters a vast cavernous hold accompanied by a middle
aged Afghan man, thick shouldered with years of hard
experience in his kind, somewhat sad eyes.
This fatherly man is HAKIM, a former political prisoner in
Afghanistan and one of the CIA's most important assets.
In the galley, a PRISONER is chained to a table. Hakim slides
him The Photograph. The prisoner speaks in Arabic.
HAKIM
(TRANSLATING)
He says he looks like Abu Ahmed.
MAYA
Who did he work for?
Hakim translates. Then the prisoner speaks.
HAKIM
(TRANSLATING)
It was mostly with Abu Faraj - they
were always together.
MAYA
What did he do for Faraj?
HAKIM
(TRANSLATING)
He carried messages from Faraj to
bin Laden and from bin Laden back to
Faraj.
Maya leans into Hakim -
27.
MAYA
We need to ask him something to see
if he's telling the truth. We don't
know if he really knew Faraj.
Hakim speaks to the prisoner.
HAKIM
He just told me the names of all of
Faraj's children. I think he's
telling the truth.
CUT TO:
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY - CIA SECTION
Maya is pitching Bradley in his office. Bradley sits with
his feet up on his desk, holding The Photograph.
Daniel is slouched on the couch in back.
Jessica is perched on the arm of the couch, bare legs crossed.
Bradley notices.
Maya stands.
MAYA
Twenty detainees recognize that photo
of Abu Ahmed. They say he's part of
the inner circle of guys who were
hanging out in Afghanistan pre-9/11.
(BEAT)
A lot of them say that after 9/11,
he went to work for KSM.
(BEAT)
When KSM got captured, he went to
work for Abu Faraj, primarily as a
courier from Faraj to bin Laden.
BRADLEY
Well, that's good. You still-
MAYA
Yeah, we don't know if Abu is on the
outside of the network - part of a
series of cutouts and dead drops -
or if he has a direct connection to
bin Laden. Does bin Laden invite
him into the living room and hand
him a letter directly? Or is Abu
just the last guy in a long line of
couriers, so that's why everybody
knows him?
28.
BRADLEY
That's not all you don't know. You
don't have his true name, and you
don't have a clue of where he is.
MAYA
We know that he's important. The
fact that everybody's heard of Abu
Ahmed but nobody will tell me where
he is suggests that.
BRADLEY
Maybe. Detainees could withhold his
location for any number of reasons.
Perhaps they don't know; perhaps
this Abu is just a cover story and
he's really a fucking unicorn. The
withholding doesn't reveal what you
want it to - does it?
MAYA
No.
BRADLEY
And if you did find him, you don't
know that he'd be with bin Laden.
DANIEL
We don't know what we don't know.
BRADLEY
(TO DANIEL)
What the fuck is that supposed to
mean?
DANIEL
It's a tautology.
BRADLEY
(back to Maya)
Listen, not one single detainee has
said that he's located with the big
guy, just that he delivers messages.
Am I wrong?
MAYA
No.
BRADLEY
No. It's still good work.
(MORE)
29.
BRADLEY (CONT'D)
Let me know when you've got some
actionable intelligence, preferably
something that leads to a strike.
CUT TO:
EXT. TAVISTOCK SQUARE - LONDON - EARLY MORNING
The city is in full swing on this bright mid-summer morning.
CARS and BUSES roll through the crowded streets.
INT./EXT. DOUBLE DECKER BUS
TITLE OVER: LONDON - JULY 7, 2005
Passengers inside the bus read newspapers, listen to music...
another ordinary day.
Then, the bus explodes!
CUT TO:
CU: TV SCREEN
File footage of the aftermath:
REPORTER (O.S.)
This is what remains of the #10 bus,
which was traveling through Tavistock
Square...
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY CIA SECTION - STATION CHIEF'S OFFICE -
NIGHT
Joseph Bradley sits at his desk. The weight of the world on
his shoulders.
On the television in the background, the news report
continues, showing disaster footage of PEOPLE bloodied,
screaming.
CUT TO:
EXT. BLACK SITE - AFGHANISTAN
The war on terror is growing and spreading, like an octopus,
throughout the base. We trace the new tentacles of the CIA
facility - more hangars, vehicles, PEOPLE moving to and fro.
REPORTER (O.S.)
All around, groups of Londoners are
standing on corners asking themselves
(MORE)
30.
REPORTER (O.S.) (CONT'D)
what has happened here, and who could
possibly have done this?
We find Daniel trying to catch a moment of solitude...eating
an ice cream cone and standing in front of a makeshift cage
filled with wild MONKEYS.
The monkeys are watching Daniel intently, their hands gripping
the wire cage. Daniel playfully feeds them some of his ice
cream.
A CIA GUARD approaches Daniel
CIA GUARD
(re: the monkeys)
You Agency guys are twisted. The
detainee is ready.
Daniel nods, weary. Then a monkey reaches through the bars
and steals the remainder of Daniel's ice cream cone.
He looks at the monkey and laughs.
CUT TO:
EXT. ISLAMABAD TRAFFIC - YEARS LATER
Rain pelts the brown city, turning the gutter water black.
MAYA (PRE-LAP)
I want you to understand that I know
you. I have been following you and
studying you for a long time. I
chased you in Lahore.
We find Maya entering the gates of a Pakistani prison. The
weather makes the place seem especially bleak.
SUPERIMPOSE: MILITARY DETENTION CENTER - ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN
INT. PAKISTANI DETENTION AREA - CONTINUOUS
HASSAN GHUL, Al Qaeda financier, sits manacled to a desk.
MAYA
I had you picked up instead of killing
you because you're not a violent man
and you don't deserve to die.
GHUL
Thank you.
31.
MAYA
But you do have deep ties to Al Qaeda
that I want to ask you about before
you get sent to your next location,
which might be Israel.
Ghul looks ashen.
MAYA (CONT'D)
However, depending on how candid you
are today, I may be able to keep you
in Pakistan.
GHUL
What do you want to know?
MAYA
I'm going to ask you a series of
questions based on your knowledge of
Al Qaeda and your position as key
financier for the organization.
GHUL
I have dealt with the mukhabarat, I
have no wish to be tortured again.
Ask me a question, I can answer it.
MAYA
What can you tell me about Atiyah
Abd al-Rahman.
GHUL
He works for Zawahiri. He's in charge
of military tactics.
MAYA
In what context have you ever heard
the name Abu Ahmed?
GHUL
He works for Faraj and bin Laden.
He is his most trusted courier.
Maya works hard to hide how pleased she is to have this
confirmation. She's not entirely successful.
MAYA
What makes you say that?
GHUL
He brought me many messages from the
Sheikh.
32.
MAYA
Where did you last see him, and where
is he now?
GHUL
You will never find him.
MAYA
Why is that?
GHUL
Even I couldn't find him. He always
contacted me out of the blue. He is
one of the disappeared ones.
CUT TO:
EXT. GARDEN COMPLEX - PAKISTAN - DAY
Pakistani families enjoy a fine summer day.
INT. GARDEN VILLA
A BOMB is being strapped to a MAN'S leg by a PAKISTANI
POLICEMAN.
PAKISTANI POLICEMAN
(IN URDU)
You know how this works?
The man is terrified.
PAKISTANI POLICEMAN (CONT'D)
Just act naturally.
The Policeman finishes securing the bomb, and sends the man
out the door (who we will later deduce is Abu Faraj's
courier).
CUT TO:
EXT. GARDEN COMPLEX - DAY
Faraj's Courier walks past playing children... while from a
nearby tower, Daniel observes.
After a moment, ABU FARAJ, who we recognize from his
photograph, appears at the south end of the park. Faraj
walks in the direction of his courier, noting his
SURROUNDINGS:
CHILDREN playing.
Several people in BLACK BURKHAS.
33.
BRIGHT SUN.
At last Faraj reaches an open area where he can see his
courier face to face.
They exchange a nervous glance that conveys the danger: It's
a trap. Faraj spins to flee, but it's too late.
The black BURKHAS descend on him. It turns out they are
heavily armed Pakistani agents. From on high, Daniel watches
his captured prey.
CUT TO:
EXT. BLACK SITE - AFGHANISTAN - DAY
Daniel and an armed guard escort a hooded and handcuffed
Faraj to his cell.
DANIEL
What do you like? Bob Marley?
Reggae? Egyptian music? Just let me
know, if there's music you like, I
can make a call.
INT. INTERROGATION AREA - CONTINUOUS
Daniel and the guards take Faraj to a cell laced with barbed
wire and lock him inside.
DANIEL
Can I be honest with you? I'm bad
news. I'm not your friend. I'm not
gonna help you. I'm gonna break
you.
Beat.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
I've done it before.
(Faraj dozes, weak)
Hey, wake up. You haven't eaten in
18 hours, we've got to keep your
energy up. You hungry?
CUT TO:
INT. CELL
Guards force feed Faraj through a feeding tube.
CUT TO:
34.
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY CIA SECTION - MAYA'S CUBICLE - DAY
Bradley approaches Maya at her cubicle.
BRADLEY
You're in luck, I got you a one-on-
one with Faraj.
MAYA
Seriously? Thank you.
BRADLEY
Don't thank me until you hear what I
want for it.
He drops a folder on her desk.
BRADLEY (CONT'D)
I want you to take care of all of
this before your favorite subject.
MAYA
Deal.
BRADLEY
Don't you want to see what's in the
folder?
MAYA
You want family ties, financial
networks, media sources, disgruntled
employees, imminent threats, homeland
plots,
BRADLEY
(WALKING AWAY)
Thank you.
MAYA
Foreign cells, health status, trade
craft, recruiting tactics -- anything
else?
CUT TO:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - MORNING
Both Maya and Faraj look tired. This has been going on for
hours.
MAYA
A lot of brothers told us Abu Ahmed
was bin Laden's courier and that he
worked very closely with you.
35.
FARAJ
You're thinking of Abu Khalid.
MAYA
Who?
FARAJ
Al Buluchi. My courier for the
Sheikh.
MAYA
Okay, so you're telling me that all
the other brothers are wrong, and
there's some famous Buluchi guy that
is working for you and bin Laden
that I've never even heard of?
FARAJ
Why should you have heard of him?
MAYA
What does this Buluchi guy look like?
FARAJ
Tall, long white beard, thin. He
uses a cane.
MAYA
Kind of like Gandolf?
FARAJ
Who?
MAYA
When was the last time you saw him?
FARAJ
A month ago, in Karachi, but I don't
know where he is now. Sometimes I
wouldn't even see him, he would just
tell me where to leave the messages.
MAYA
I don't believe you.
The GUARD in the room with them leans forward and SLAPS Faraj
across the face.
Faraj's expression doesn't change and Maya herself remains
flat and steady, unmoved by the violence.
She's not quite the same young lady she was a few years ago.
36.
MAYA (CONT'D)
You're not being fulsome in your
replies.
FARAJ
You can't force me to tell you
something I don't know.
MAYA
You do realize this is not a normal
prison. You determine how you are
treated, and your life will be very
uncomfortable until you give me
information I need.
The guard slaps Faraj again. Faraj is impassive.
CUT TO:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - LATER
Maya looks on impassively as Faraj is subjected to harsh
treatment.
CUT TO:
INT. BLACK SITE - BATHROOM
Maya is retching in the stall.
CUT TO:
EXT. BLACK SITE - PRE-DAWN
Maya walks around the facility, quiet at this hour, and finds
another insomniac, Daniel, by the monkey cage. The cage is
empty.
MAYA
Faraj is completely denying knowing
Abu Ahmed, and that's using every
measure we have.
DANIEL
He's either going to withhold or die
from the pressure you're putting on
him.
MAYA
Do you want to take a run at him?
DANIEL
No.
37.
MAYA
No? Since when?
DANIEL
You know, I've been meaning to tell
you: I'm getting outta here.
MAYA
What? You okay?
DANIEL
I'm fine. I've just seen too many
guys naked. It's gotta be over a
hundred at this point. I need to go
do something normal for awhile.
MAYA
Like what?
DANIEL
Go to Washington, do the dance, see
how that environment works.
(BEAT)
You should come with me. Be my number
two. You're looking a little strung
out yourself.
Maya looks at Dan. No longer the man he once was. She
doesn't hide her disappointment.
MAYA
I'm not going to find Abu Ahmed from
D.C.
They both look at the empty cage, clocking the irony.
DANIEL
They killed my monkeys.
Something about an escape. Can you
fucking believe that?
MAYA
Sorry, Dan.
DANIEL
Look, Maya, you gotta be really
careful with detainees now. The
politics are changing and you don't
want to be the last one holding a
dog collar when the oversight
committee comes.
MAYA
I know.
38.
DANIEL
And watch your back when you get
back to Pakistan. Everyone knows
you there now.
CUT TO:
EXT. ISLAMABAD - NIGHT
Back in Pakistan, the country has indeed changed to a more
militarized police state, and as we establish the new
environment, we find Maya's grey sedan...
EXT. ISLAMABAD - NEAR THE MARRIOTT HOTEL - NIGHT
The car pulls up to a checkpoint manned by PAKISTANI POLICE.
The Policeman look at the car - look at the plate - the plate
is diplomatic - they walk around the car and stop at the
window - shine their bright light right into Maya's eyes.
A POLICEMAN motions for her to roll down her window.
POLICEMAN
Where are you going?
MAYA
To the Marriott. I assume you noticed
the dip plates.
POLICEMAN
But you have a bag -
The policeman motions to a DUFFEL BAG resting on the rear
seat.
MAYA
It's a gym bag.
Maya does not get out of the car. She stares at him
defiantly. He advances forward a bit. She rolls up her
window, flicks the door lock, and starts dialing her cell
phone.
The policeman walks away to rejoin his group. The police
confer. The original policeman returns, this time with
several other cops. They knock on the glass. Hard.
Maya stares straight ahead.
CUT TO:
INT. MARRIOTT HOTEL RESTAURANT - NIGHT
Jessica is waiting at the table in a beautifully appointed
room.
39.
SUPERIMPOSE: MARRIOTT HOTEL - ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - SEPTEMBER
20, 2008
Maya walks in, flustered.
MAYA
Fucking checkpoints.
Maya sits down, absorbed in her Blackberry.
JESSICA
Maya?
MAYA
Yeah.
JESSICA
We're socializing. Be social.
Maya puts away her blackberry.
MAYA
(HALFHEARTEDLY)
Okay.
JESSICA
Look, I know Abu Ahmed is your baby,
but it's time to cut the umbilical
cord.
MAYA
No, it's not.
JESSICA
So Faraj went south on you - it
happens. There are still cells in
London and Spain planning the next
round of attacks.
MAYA
I can work on it at the same time -
plus I think it's a good thing that
he lied.
JESSICA
No, not at the expense of protecting
the homeland, you can't. Wait a
minute, why is it a good thing?
MAYA
You sound just like Bradley. He
doesn't believe in my lead either.
(MORE)
40.
MAYA (CONT'D)
(BEAT)
It's a good thing because the fact
that Faraj withheld on Abu Ahmed is
revealing. The only other thing he
lied about was the location of bin
Laden himself. That means Faraj
thinks Abu Ahmed in as important to
protect as bin Laden. That confirms
my lead.
JESSICA
Or it's confirmation bias.
(BEAT)
We're all just worried about you,
okay? Is that okay to say?
Maya rubs her eyes, not liking where the conversation is
going. She forces a smile.
JESSICA (CONT'D)
Where's Jack?
MAYA
He's probably stuck in some check-
point somewhere.
JESSICA
You two hooked up yet?
MAYA
Hello, I work with him. I'm not
that girl, that fucks. It's
unbecoming.
JESSICA
So? A little foolin' around wouldn't
hurt you.
(BEAT)
So no boyfriend. Do you have any
friends at all?
She doesn't. Jessica's phone rings -
JESSICA (CONT'D)
It's Jack.
(INTO PHONE)
Hey - that's okay -
SUDDENLY, AN EXPLOSION RIPS THROUGH THE RESTAURANT.
-- SHATTERS THE WINDOWS
-- DESTROYS TABLES AND LIGHTS
41.
-- MAYA, JESSICA, AND OTHERS TOSSED TO THE GROUND, SOME
FATALLY.
--SMOKE FILLS THE ROOM
As alarms wail, Maya struggles to her feet, grabs Jessica by
the arm, and they stumble to safety.
INT. MARRIOTT - DINING ROOM
Toward the destroyed kitchen, helping each other over
obstacles, twisted metal, gaps in the concrete, etc, past
injured workers and burning flames.
INT. MARRIOTT HOTEL - KITCHEN - LATER
They continue moving through the debris as the smoke
intensifies.
They find each other's hands and grab tightly.
CUT TO:
C.U.: TV SCREEN
The destroyed Marriott.
REPORTER (O.S.)
The blast left a crater 10 meters
wide in front of the hotel. The
Marriott, one of the most popular
destinations for locals and
Westerners...
FADE TO BLACK
EXT. MOUNTAINOUS TRIBAL AREA - PAKISTAN - DAY
We're high above the wild hinterlands of the Hindu Kush,
gliding over the rocky slopes and the pine forests.
SUPERIMPOSE: TRIBAL TERRITORIES, NORTHERN PAKISTAN
We move from peak to peak until we find a remote valley, and
we zoom down... and nestled in the valley we can just make
out the barest outlines of a tiny village of mud huts.
INT. TRIBAL VILLAGE HUT
Now we are inside a hut and we've shifted to the perspective
of a hand held camera, as if someone inside this stone age
interior is filming on our behalf, and we see a hard floor,
thin gaps in the walls, and FIVE TRIBAL ELDERS talking
casually, eating and drinking tea.
42.
We pan across the weathered faces, long beards, and see a
video recorder resting on a ledge.
CUT TO:
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY CIA SECTION - ISLAMABAD - DAY
Jessica strides excitedly, almost breaking into a run, through
the warren of cubicles that lead to Maya's desk.
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY CIA SECTION - MAYA'S CUBICLE - DAY
Jessica beaming as she approaches Maya.
JESSICA
The Jords have a mole!
MAYA
What?
Jessica pops a CD into Maya's computer, loads a file that
plays the same video clip we have just seen.
JESSICA
He made this video to prove his bona
fides.
MAYA
Shut the fuck up!
The camera stops on one man, BALAWI.
JESSICA
(POINTING)
Humam Khalil al-Balawi, he's a
Jordanian doctor. He's really
motivated.
Maya practically bolts out of her chair. Together, they
start walking towards Bradley's office -
MAYA
This could be it!
JESSICA
This is it.
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY CIA SECTION - STATION CHIEF'S OFFICE -
CONTINUOUS
Bradley has just finished watching the video. Maya and
Jessica are in his office waiting for his verdict.
43.
JESSICA
He's right there in the inner circle.
BRADLEY
I don't buy it. Didn't you tell me
yourself nobody turns on Al Qaeda?
JESSICA
The Jords worked him for a year.
Dinners, money. They've convinced
him that it's his patriotic duty to
turn on Al Qaeda and get rich doing
it.
BRADLEY
Yeah, so the Jords say.
MAYA
(TO BRADLEY)
You're right. We can't rely on the
Jords. We have to evaluate him face
to face.
JESSICA
(CATCHING ON)
He may not be that smart. He may be
full of shit - but we have to talk
to him to find out.
MAYA
The key is to meet him so we can
figure out for ourselves what he can
actually do.
BRADLEY
He really asked for a dialysis
machine? You can fill the damn thing
with poison.
CUT TO:
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY ISLAMABAD - BRIEFING ROOM - NIGHT
Maya and a few analysts are watching TV - President-elect
Obama is being interviewed on 60 Minutes when Jessica comes
into the room with disappointing news -
JESSICA
The meeting with Balawi is off. He
can't come here to Islamabad.
MAYA
Can't or won't?
44.
JESSICA
He's not going to travel - security
RISK -
The TV interview with Obama reaches the subject of enhanced
interrogation, and the women pause to listen to the President-
elect declare, "America does not torture."
Then they continue:
JESSICA (CONT'D)
He wants us to go to him. He'll
meet in Miram Sha or the tribals.
MAYA
He knows we're white. You'll get
kidnapped up there.
DAVID, an analyst, adds his two cents to the conversation -
DAVID
We could do it somewhere else -
Germany, or the UK? He's got a clean
passport.
JESSICA
He's not going to travel out of Al
Qaeda territory.
DAVID
And you're not going to him.
JESSICA
I'm not. Believe me.
(PAUSE)
We're stuck.
DAVID
What about Camp Chapman? Afghanistan.
That could be safe territory.
CUT TO:
EXT. CAMP CHAPMAN CIA COMPOUND - KHOST, AFGHANISTAN - DAY
We survey the sprawling base from above.
SUPERIMPOSE: CAMP CHAPMAN - KHOST, AFGHANISTAN
Helicopters and Humvees traverse the base.
INT. CAMP CHAPMAN - KITCHEN - MORNING
Jessica applies icing to a birthday cake as she cradles a
SATELLITE PHONE.
45.
JESSICA
(INTO PHONE)
This may be going overboard, but I
baked him a cake!
MAYA O.S.
Muslim's don't celebrate with cake.
JESSICA
Don't be so literal. Everyone likes
cake. It's not too late for you to
come, you know. It will be fun.
CUT TO:
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY - PREDATOR BAY
Maya sits in front of a series of monitors. She watches a
live Predator feed.
MAYA
I don't want to be a straphangar.
It's your show. You were the first
to see the potential in this.
JESSICA (O.S.)
Come on! We've got lots of wine!
The target on Maya's monitor disappears in a puff of smoke.
MAYA
Cool. Bring me back a bottle.
JESSICA (O.S.)
I will.
CUT TO:
INT. DINING AREA
Jessica pours two glasses of wine and raises a toast to her
colleague, JOHN.
JESSICA
Not to get technical, but this guy
is actually the first big break we've
had since 9/11. To big breaks and
the little people that make them
happen.
Clink.
46.
JESSICA (CONT'D)
So far, everything he's said we've
cross checked and it's proved legit...
and I think the money is persuasive.
25 million dollars?! That buys a
new life.
JOHN
Do you think he might be exaggerating
his access?
JESSICA
Possibly. But Al Qaeda needs doctors
and they are short staffed and that
could explain his rise. In six months
to a year, if he doesn't fuck up, he
could be called in to treat bin Laden.
And at that moment, with 25 mil on
the table, I think he gives up the
Big Man. And if he doesn't, we kill
him.
CUT TO:
EXT. CAMP CHAPMAN CIA COMPOUND - AFTERNOON
The same gathering as the day before, waiting under the
merciless sun.
SUPERIMPOSE: DECEMBER 30, 2009
Jessica turns to her crew, which includes LAUREN, a young
operative, ZIED, a Jordanian intelligence agent, and the
base's CIA SECURITY GUARD, among others. They rehearse the
impending meeting.
JESSICA
So John?
(John turns to her)
When he arrives, I'll set the tone,
and then I'll flip it to you - and
you'll talk about asset protection.
JOHN
Roger that.
JESSICA
Then Lauren, I know you want to get
some questions in there - but give
Balawi time after John speaks. We'll
cover the basics and have his birthday
cake, then we'll get to the nitty
gritty.
47.
Jessica turns to Zied.
JESSICA (CONT'D)
Is that order okay, or do you want
to introduce everyone?
ZIED
I'll introduce you, and you introduce
your team. He knows this is a high
level meeting.
SECURTY GUARD
Quick question: all is taking place
inside our main building?
JESSICA
Right. And Lauren? Washington will
want real time updates so please
stay on top of that. Be concise.
The Director is in the loop. And I
wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't
update the President.
LAUREN
Yeah, I'm on it.
They take in the possibilities.
JESSICA
Now, I just need to get Balawi's ass
down here.
LATER -
Waiting and waiting. No cars approach. The sun beats down.
CUT TO:
EXT. CAMP CHAPMAN - ROAD TO SOUTH GATE
Several hundred yards before the Camp entrance is a beat-up
SEDAN. The car pulls up to the checkpoint but doesn't
proceed.
JESSICA
(to the Security Gyard)
Why are there gate guards there? We
talked about this, no one is supposed
to be there when my source arrives.
You might have spooked him already!
SECURTY GUARD
Procedures only work if we follow
them every time.
48.
JESSICA
This time is different - I'm sorry I
can't explain, but it's for a good
cause.
SECURTY GUARD
Look, I'm responsible for everyone's
safety, okay? It's not just about
you.
JESSICA
I just need them to go away for a
minute. You can search him as soon
as he gets here.
The Security Guard pauses, then into his radio:
SECURTY GUARD
(INTO RADIO)
All stations, go ahead and stand
down.
CHECKPOINT GUARD
(OVER RADIO)
Roger.
EXT. CAMP CHAPMAN - GUARD POST
The guards move away from their post. The sedan drives past
the gate into a maze of barriers. We follow the car as it
navigates the maze of HESCO barriers, kicking up a cloud of
dust.
EXT. CAMP CHAPMAN - CIA COMPOUND
Jessica runs back to her team and flashes a thumbs up.
She smiles and pulls out her phone, sending a text.
ECU: PHONE TEXT:
He's here. Brb
MAYA:
Cool!
The car navigates the second set of barriers.
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY - MAYA'S CUBICLE - SECONDS LATER
Maya types on her computer:
Wassup you talking yet
49.
?
EXT. CAMP CHAPMAN - CIA COMPOUND
Jessica looks up to see the car approaching and puts the
phone back in her pocket. The sedan is now 50 yards away.
SECURTY GUARD
Okay, he's coming. We're gonna search
him when he gets here.
Everyone prepares. The car gets closer and closer, a driver
in front and a passenger in back.
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY - MAYA'S CUBICLE
Maya texts again:
?
Answer when you can.
EXT. CAMP CHAPMAN - CIA COMPOUND
The sedan pulls to a stop. A BLACKWATER GUARD taps on the
backseat window. Balawi exits on the passenger side. His
free hand is in his pocket.
BLACKWATER GUARD
(to the other guard)
Is he supposed to limp like that?
SECURTY GUARD
Take your hand out of your pocket!
Hey!
BALAWI
Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar
BLACKWATER GUARD
(raising his M4)
Get you hand out of your pocket!
BALAWI
Allahu Akbar.
Jessica's smile fades
And Balawi detonates a suicide vest hidden under this jacket
and the resulting shrapnel storm pulps the crowd, massacring
them all -
CUT TO:
50.
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY ISLAMABAD, CIA SECTION - CONTINUOUS
Maya looks at her computer screen. She sees her last instant
message..And waits for a response.
Beat.
Maya looks up, concern on her face.
CUT TO:
EXT. CAMP CHAPMAN - DAY
The explosion smoke still hovers over Camp Chapman. News
reporting of the attack plays over the horrific image.
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY CIA SECTION - MAYA'S CUBICLE - LATER
Maya huddles on the floor under the corner of her desk.
INT. MAYA'S CUBICLE - LATER
The office has thinned out, and most people have gone home
for the day. Maya is crouched in the corner. A wounded
animal. Jeremy, the case officer from the conference room,
approaches and gives Maya a computer disc.
JEREMY
You okay?
No response.
JEREMY (CONT'D)
I didn't think this day could get
any worse, but bad news from Saudi
intelligence. The courier guy, Abu
Ahmed, is dead. It's a detainee
video.
Maya still fighting to contain her grief, takes the file as
an almost welcome distraction. She puts the disc into her
computer and hits play.
CU COMPUTER SCREEN: A PRISONER being interviewed by a CIA
CASE OFFICER holds the photo of Abu Ahmed we've seen so many
times.
PRISONER
He's dead, in Afghanistan, 2001. I
buried him with my own hands.
INTERROGATOR
Where?
51.
PRISONER
Kabul.
Maya stares at the screen.
MAYA
I don't believe this.
JEREMY
Sorry, Maya, I always liked this
lead.
Jeremy leaves Maya at her computer.
She continues to stare at the screen.
INT. MAYA'S CUBICLE - NIGHT
Maya is still by herself.
Her friend Jack approaches -
JACK
(CONSOLING)
Hey. Sorry, I just got here. What
are you gonna do?
MAYA
I'm going to smoke everybody involved
in this op, and then I'm going to
kill bin Laden.
Off the darkness in her eyes we -
FADE TO BLACK
CUT TO:
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY ISLAMABAD - CIA SECTION - A YEAR LATER
The staff has gathered to hear a word from the boss in a
large conference room; it's packed shoulder to shoulder with
dozens of people, including Maya, Jim, Jack, Hakim, and
Bradley at the front.
GEORGE WRIGHT, Chief of the Afghanistan Pakistan Department,
has just flown in from D.C. A big man, striding quickly into
the room with the street roll of the Bronx projects he grew
up in, George looks ready for a brawl.
GEORGE
I want to make something absolutely
clear.
(MORE)
52.
GEORGE (CONT'D)
If you thought there was some secret
cell somewhere working Al Qaeda, I
want you to know that you're wrong.
This is it. There's no working group
coming to the rescue.
He stares at his staff.
GEORGE (CONT'D)
There's nobody else, hidden away on
some other floor. There is just us.
And we are failing. We're spending
billions of dollars. People are
dying. We're still no closer to
defeating our enemy.
PACING NOW:
GEORGE (CONT'D)
They attacked us on land in 98, by
sea in 2000, and from the air in
2001. They murdered three thousand
of our citizens in cold blood, and
they've slaughtered our forward
deployed. And what the fuck have we
done about it?
(YELLING NOW)
What have we done?
(PAUSE)
We have twenty leadership names and
we've only eliminated four of them.
Beat.
GEORGE (CONT'D)
I want targets! Do your fucking
jobs, bring me people to kill!
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY CIA SECTION - LATER
The office has grown bigger and busier and the cubicle maze
is filled with many new faces of young agents excited to be
in Pakistan.
Sitting alone at her desk we find Maya just as she's finishing
a report. She gets up, crosses the room and goes to the
desk of a young woman who reminds us in her idealistic
enthusiasm of the way Maya was six years ago. This is DEBBIE.
DEBBIE
Hi. I painstakingly combed through
everything in the system and found
this.
53.
She hands Maya a file.
DEBBIE (CONT'D)
It's him. He was one of ten names
on a watch list sent to us by the
Moroccans after 9/11: Ibrahim Sayeed.
They told us to watch out for him,
apparently they think his whole family
and extended family is bad and has
ties to KSM.
(BEAT)
He was picked up for fake papers and
a doctored exit visa leaving
Afghanistan, traveling through Morocco
en route to Kuwait. Abu Ahmed al-
Kuwaiti. This must be Abu Ahmed.
MAYA
Doesn't matter, but I wish I had
that five years ago. How come I
never saw it before?
DEBBIE
Nobody saw it, most likely. There
was a lot of white noise after 9/11,
countries wanting to help out, we
got millions of tips and...
(SHRUGS)
Things got lost in the shuffle.
Human error.
Maya turns her attention back to the WHITE BOARD and as Debbie
keeps talking we follow Maya's gaze across the row of MUG
SHOTS of Al Qaeda personnel. While a few of the men are
African or are distinctive looking for other reasons, most
of them look fairly similar in that they're all wearing the
same type of clothes and have the same trademark long gnarly
beards.
DEBBIE (CONT'D)
(PRESSING ON)
Anyway I thought you should know
about it.
(PLUS)
I just want to say I've heard a lot
about you. You inspired me to come
to Pakistan.
Maya's eyes narrow. She keeps looking at the WHITE BOARD
DEBBIE (CONT'D)
Maybe you'll let me buy you a kabob
sometime?
54.
MAYA
(DISTRACTEDLY)
Don't eat out. It's too dangerous.
Maya stares at the Al Quaeda mugshots - a thought crosses
her mind.
CUT TO:
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY CIA SECTION - BRIEFING ROOM - NIGHT
Maya on the speaker phone to Daniel. We intercut. Daniel
is now a suit in Langley.
MAYA
(OVER SPEAKER)
Dan, Debbie found Abu Ahmed!
DANIEL
Fuck. Really?
MAYA
(OVER SPEAKER)
He was in the files this whole time.
The family name is Sayeed.
DANIEL
Ok, but he's dead. So doesn't that
make him a little less interesting
to you?
MAYA O.S.
He may not be. We now know that Abu
Ahmed is one of eight brothers. All
the brothers in the family look alike.
Three of them went to Afghanistan.
Isn't it possible that when the three
eldest brothers grew beards in
Afghanistan, they started to look
alike? I think the one calling
himself Abu Ahmed is still alive.
The picture we've been using is wrong.
It's of his older brother, Habeeb.
He's the one that's is dead.
DANIEL
Okay, what are you basing this on?
INT. BRIEFING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
MAYA
We have no intercepts about Abu Ahmed
dying.
(MORE)
55.
MAYA (CONT'D)
We just have a detainee who buried
somebody who looked like Abu Ahmed.
But if somebody as important as Abu
Ahmed had died, they'd be talking
about it online in chat rooms all
over the place. Plus, the detainee
said that Habeeb died in 2001. We
know that Abu Ahmed was alive then,
trying to get into Tora Bora with
Ammar. That means it's probably one
of the other brothers that's dead.
DANIEL O.S.
In other words, you want it to be
true.
MAYA
Yes, I fucking want it to be true.
Maya slams the desk.
DANIEL O.S.
Calm down.
Beat.
MAYA
I am calm.
DANIEL O.S.
State your request.
MAYA
Move heaven and earth and bring me
this fucking Sayeed family's phone
number.
CUT TO:
INT. CIA HEADQUARTERS, COUNTER TERRORISM CENTER DIRECTOR -
LANGLEY, VA. - DAY
A dark (window shades down) executive office, where in the
shadows a white American man in a nice suit is kneeling on a
prayer rug and saying the Islamic daily prayers.
Daniel waits as the man recites the prayers and presses his
pale forehead to the carpet. This is WOLF. He is the head
of the agency's COUNTER TERRORISM CENTER (George's boss).
DANIEL
As-Salamu alaykum.
56.
WOLF
Alaykum salam.
DANIEL
I need a couple hundred thousand.
Four max.
WOLF
Where you gonna get that?
DANIEL
From you.
WOLF
You think so?
DANIEL
This could crack open the facilitator
Maya's been looking for by giving us
a phone number.
(BEAT)
She's your killer, Wolf. You put
her on the field.
(reciting a phrase
from the KORAN, in
Arabic, then loosely
TRANSLATING)
Allah rewards those who strive and
fight over those that sit behind a
desk.
WOLF nods. If the blatant attempt to play on his Muslim
belief bothers him, he doesn't show it at all.
WOLF
As you know, Abu Ghraib and Gitmo
fucked us. The detainee program is
now fly paper. We got senators
jumping out of our asses, and the
Director is very concerned. They
will not stop until they have a body.
There it is. The quid pro quo. There's a reason he's called
The Wolf.
Daniel considers all that he'll go through if he volunteers
to be the fall guy for the controversial program.
DANIEL
I ran it. I'll defend it.
CUT TO:
57.
INT. KUWAITI UNDERGROUND HOOKER BAR - NIGHT
SUPERIMPOSE: KUWAIT CITY, KUWAIT
Daniel and a KUWAITI BUSINESS MAN in a suit are drinking and
ogling the RUSSIAN GIRLS prowling the place.
After a few sips of his drink.
DANIEL
It's good to be back in Kuwait.
It's good to see you again, it's
been awhile.
The businessman doesn't answer.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
I need a favor.
KUWAITI BUSINESSMAN
Why should I help you?
DANIEL
Because we're friends.
KUWAITI BUSINESSMAN
You say we are friends. How come
you only call me when you need help?
But when I need something - you are
too busy to pick up the phone. I
don't think we are friends.
DANIEL
Fair enough. How about a V10
Lamborghini? How's that for
friendship?
EXT. LAMBORGHINI DEALERSHIP - KUWAIT CITY - NIGHT
They wait while a Lamborghini SALESMAN, disheveled, clearly
just awakened, unlocks the door of the dealership.
DANIEL
(to the Kuwaiti
BUSINESSMAN)
The poor fucker had to get out of
bed.
(to the Salesman)
As-salamu alaykum. Thanks my friend.
INT. LAMBORGHINI DEALERSHIP
They step inside and the salesman flicks on the lights
revealing shiny cars displayed like jewels on rotating
58.
platforms. While the Kuwaiti businessman peers inside a
silver model, Daniel confers with the salesman like he's
bought twenty of these cars.
DANIEL
Is this a Balboni? Fuck me. This
is nice. What are you thinking?
KUWAITI BUSINESSMAN
I think I'll choose this one.
The salesman retreats to a back office.
DANIEL
That's a nice choice, my friend.
Daniel gives the Kuwaiti a slip of paper.
KUWAITI MAN
Who is it?
DANIEL
Who do you think? The guy's a
terrorist. His mother lives here.
I just need her phone number.
KUWAITI MAN
There will be no repercussions in
Kuwait?
DANIEL
Somebody might die at some point in
Pakistan.
They shake hands.
CUT TO:
INT. SERVER ROOM - DAY
SUPERIMPOSE: TRADECRAFT
Sound graphs of phone calls fill the screen. We cruise
through rows upon rows of server facilities, a single monitor
in front traces a call to Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
CUT TO:
EXT. ISLAMABAD EMBASSY - THIRD STORY BALCONY - DAY
Maya chews on a peanut butter & jelly sandwich. Jack calls
her on her cell.
MAYA
Hey, Jack.
59.
JACK
You're not gonna like this, he's on
the phone, but there's no team to
deploy right now.
MAYA
Fuck.
She dashes out runs down the hall to an Exit sign - bursts
through the door to a staircase -
INT. EMBASSY STAIRCASE
- Flies down the staircase - down to another floor, barges
through the door -
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY CIA SECTION - SECURITY BAY - DAY
The station's surveillance team leader, LARRY, unstraps his
flack vest. He looks like the kind of guy you don't mess
with....so of course Maya barges into his space like a
locomotive.
MAYA
How come you haven't deployed a team
to stay in Rawalpindi?
LARRY
For one thing, it's dangerous. For
another, the area is too congested
for us to be effective without some
predictive intelligence.
MAYA
That's why you should forward deploy -
so you can shorten your response
time.
LARRY
Still, it wouldn't work.
MAYA
Why?
LARRY
The guy never stays on the phone
long enough.
MAYA
You haven't tried.
LARRY
Look, I don't have the personnel.
60.
MAYA
That's bullshit.
LARRY
As it is, my guys don't get any sleep
tracking the threats within Pakistan.
Larry pushes past her to leave, and she follows him.
MAYA
Right, I understand. But I don't
really care if your guys get sleep
or not.
Maya looks at Larry's team sleeping on the couch.
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY AMERICAN BAR - LATER
The conversation continues in the bar, for Maya has not
relented, although the tone is softer now. She offers Larry
a beer. He takes it.
LARRY
This guy you're obsessed with, what's
his name again?
MAYA
Abu Ahmed al Kuwaiti is the nom de
guerre. His true name, we think, is
Ibraheem Sayeed. His family lives
in Kuwait.
LARRY
Wasn't it, like, eight brothers -
and a million cousins - that we know
about - anyone could be calling home -
MAYA
I know -
LARRY
- It's not like he's saying, "Hey
mom, it's me, the terrorist."
MAYA
Over the course of two months, he's
called home from six different pay
phones, from two different cities,
never using the same phone twice.
And when his mother asked him where
he was, he lied. He said that he
was in a place in the country with
bad cell reception -- implying he
was in the Tribals -- but he was in
(MORE)
61.
MAYA (CONT'D)
a market in Peshawar. I'm sorry,
but that's not normal guy behavior.
That's tradecraft.
LARRY
Maybe he just doesn't like his mom?
(PAUSE)
Look, if he talks about an operation,
or refers to anything remotely fishy,
I'll get on him. Okay?
MAYA
No. Not okay. Look, Abu Ahmed is
too smart to tip his hand by talking
about ops on the phone: he works for
bin Laden. The guys that talk about
ops on the phone don't get that job.
Larry looks away.
MAYA (CONT'D)
A lot of my friends have died trying
to do this.
(PAUSE)
I believe I was spared so I could
finish the job.
The girl is a true believer - as pure as they come.
Larry looks at her. Her sincerity is persuasive. And just
like that, he decides to help her.
CUT TO:
INT. KOTLI CALL CENTER - RAWALPINDI, PAKISTAN
Hakim walks through a crowded call center. Larry joins him
from a back entrance. They look around: nothing.
EXT. RAWAL CALL CENTER - PAKISTAN
Hakim parks in front of the Rawal Call Center.
INT. RAWAL CALL CENTER - PAKISTAN - ANOTHER DAY
The call center is arranged into two rows of cubby-holes,
each separated by a privacy wall. Hakim searches the place,
finds nothing.
CUT TO:
CU TV SCREEN: News reports of the attemped NYC bombing.
62.
REPORTER (O.S.)
It is in surveillance video and
pictures like this of the explosive-
laden vehicle just moments before it
was parked, that police hope to find
the man who wanted so badly last
night to leave a body count in Times
Square.
CUT TO:
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY CIA SECTION CUBICLE HALLWAY
The TV news report continues playing in the bg.
Bradley is moving as fast down a hallway. Coming towards
him like a shark from the other end of the hallway: Maya.
Bradley looks determined not to deal with her right now, and
lowers his head, but she spreads her arms slightly and
basically blocks his passage through the hallway
MAYA
I really need to talk to you about
beefing up our surveillance operation
on the caller.
BRADLEY
We don't have a surveillance operation
on the caller.
(turning to Maya)
Someone just tried to blow up Times
Square and you're talking to me about
some facilitator who some detainee
seven years ago said might have been
working with Al Qaeda?
Maya is practically shaking with zealous rage at her inability
to bend Bradley to her will.
MAYA
He's the key to bin Laden.
BRADLEY
I don't fucking care about bin Laden.
I care about the next attack. You're
going to start working on American
Al Qaeda cells. Protect the homeland.
MAYA
bin Laden is the one who keeps telling
them to attack the homeland.
(MORE)
63.
MAYA (CONT'D)
If it wasn't for him, Al Qaeda would
still be focused on overseas targets.
If you really want to protect the
homeland, you need to get bin Laden.
BRADLEY
(ANGRY)
This guy never met bin Laden.
This guy is a free lancer working
off the fucking internet. No one
has even talked to bin Laden in four
years: he's out of the game, he may
well even be dead but you know what
you're doing? You're chasing a ghost
while the whole fucking network grows
all around you!
For a moment she is silenced by Bradley's reprimand but then
Maya's obsession speaks for her - and like a woman possessed
she recklessly goes at him:
MAYA
You just want me to nail some low
level Mullah-crack-a-dulla so that
you can check that box on your resume
that says while you were in Pakistan
you got a real terrorist. But the
truth is you don't understand
Pakistan, and you don't know Al Qaeda.
Either give me the team I need to
follow this lead, or the other thing
you're gonna have on your resume is
being the first Station Chief to be
called before a congressional
committee for subverting the efforts
to capture or kill bin Laden.
BRADLEY
You're fucking out of your mind.
MAYA
I need four techs in a safe house in
Rawalpindi and four techs in a safe
house in Peshawar. Either send them
out or send me back to DC and explain
to the Director why you did it.
CUT TO:
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY AMERICAN BAR - NIGHT
Maya, despondent, sits at the bar, drinking a beer.
64.
Jack approaches.
JACK
Fuck the mom, we got the man himself.
Jack puts a cell phone down on the counter.
JACK (CONT'D)
Yesterday your caller bought himself
a cell phone. And every time his
phone rings -
(he taps the cell
PHONE)
- This phone will ring. Did I hook
you up?
Maya throws her arms around him.
MAYA
I love you!
CUT TO:
EXT. RAWALPINDI - ROAD - DAY
Larry drives his team around the narrow streets of Rawalpindi.
In the backseat, the COMPUTER TECH studies his laptop-like
tracking device.
MAYA O.S.
My guess is that he lives close to
where he's making the calls, and it
makes sense he'd be living in
Rawalpindi because there's an Al
Jezerra office there.
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY CIA SECTION - BRIEFING ROOM
We focus on a MAP of Pakistan on the wall. Maya is indicating
neighborhoods in Rawalpindi. She's briefing Bradley, Hakim,
Larry and a few other people.
MAYA
It would be convenient for him to
drop tapes off if he's sending either
from bin Laden or from an
intermediary. When he wants to make
a call, he leaves the house, walks a
few blocks, then switches on the
phone. We need to keep canvassing
the neighborhood until we find him.
65.
EXT. STREETS OF RAWALPINDI / MINIVAN - CONTINUOUS
Larry is at the wheel, moving slowly through a dangerous
part of town. The streets narrow.
Two motorcycles suddenly pull around in front of Larry's van
and stop. The riders pull out guns.
INT. MINIVAN - CONTINUOUS
LARRY
We got a shooter!
Larry tries reversing but a compact car wheels in right behind
them, and Larry slams on the brakes. The TECH raises an M4.
TECH
We're blocked.
HAKIM
Let me talk to them.
EXT. STREETS OF RAWALPINDI
Hakim gets out of the car and walks toward the men. We can't
hear what they're saying. At last, Hakim comes back to the
car.
INT. MINIVAN
HAKIM
They said white faces don't belong
here. If they don't move, shoot
them.
A tense beat while the men stare, then finally leave.
INT. U.S. EMBASSY - ISLAMABAD - CUBICLE MAZE - DAY
On a large wall map, Maya circles "Peshawar" in red.
CUT TO:
EXT. ROADS/HIGHWAY - PAKISTAN
Larry's SUV speeds onto a highway, weaving in and out of
dense traffic.
SUPERIMPOSE: PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN
INT. SUV
In the backseat, the Computer Tech is getting tossed around,
trying to hang onto the Geo Locating device in his lap. The
Geo Locator starts to BEEP - a blinking red light.
66.
COMPUTER TECH
He's east of us. Try the market.
EXT./INT. MINIVAN
The congestion thickens. They slow to a crawl.
The SUV, stuck in traffic. Can't move.
Larry leaps out of the car and heads into an open air market -
EXT. OPEN AIR MARKET - PESHAWAR - CONTINUOUS
It's packed. All MEN - most with traditional beards worn by
Al Qaeda members - many talking on cell phones.
Impossible to tell who is who. Impossible to find this needle
in a haystack.
CUT TO:
EXT. MARKET - LATE AFTERNOON - ANOTHER DAY
The search continues... Hakim prowls a back alley. Then
goes up on a rooftop to survey the activity below.
EXT. STREETS - TIPU ROAD - LATER
Hakim is on a street corner conducting surveillance. We
follow him into a crowd and then lose sight...
We find him again, another street, another fruitless search.
As Hakim goes from street to street, we hear:
JACK O.S.
We got a signal on Tipu Road for ten
minutes. Then he went to Umar Road
for five minutes. Nogaza Road.
Darya Abad. That's in the Umar Road
area. In Rawalpindi: Haider Road,
Roomi Road. He went to the Convoy
Road, which is near the hospital.
So that's Haider, Roomi Road, Said,
No Gaza, Taimur. He made a call
from Haifa Street, that's the spice
district.
CUT TO:
INT. U.S. EMBASSY - ISLAMABAD - MAYA'S DESK
Jack and Maya click through the tracking maps on her computer
screen.
67.
JACK
Lahore street, which is also in Pesh,
thirty minutes. Wazir Bag Road,
five. Nishterabad, five. Phandu
Road, five minutes, the Grand Trunk
Road, forty five seconds. There's
no pattern. Sometimes he calls every
two weeks - sometimes every three -
there's no consistency - I can't
predict when he's gonna make another
call because the guy's erratic.
MAYA
Do you think its intentional?
JACK
It might be. Maybe it just looks
erratic to us. I just can't tell.
INT. MAYA'S APARTMENT - ISLAMABAD
Wearing a black burkha, Maya walks into her house and sinks
into the couch. She pulls off the head covering but doesn't
bother to remove the burkha. She switches on the TV. If
you didn't know her better, you'd think she'd gone native.
EXT. AMERICAN EMBASSY STREET - ISLAMABAD
Find Maya driving up to a check point mobbed with PROTESTERS
carrying signs - Joseph Bradley IS A CIA SPY! KILL THE SPY!
Bradley is CIA, etc.
REPORTER (O.S.)
Meanwhile, our chief foreign
correspondent, Richard Engel, confirms
the CIA's top spy in Pakistan has
been pulled out of there.
INT. MAYA'S CAR
The PROTESTERS have blocked the embassy check point. It's
going to take a long time to get through.
REPORTER (O.S.)
He's been receiving death threats
after being named publicly in a
lawsuit by the family of a victim of
a U.S. drone attack.
68.
EXT. MAYA'S CAR
Several protesters notice her - they move to her car and
start banging on it.
CUT TO:
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY CIA SECTION - STATION CHIEF'S OFFICE -
LATER
Maya and Bradley and several other STAFFERS watch the protest
through a window -
EXT. AMERICAN EMBASSY STREET
The CROWD grows larger and more unruly.
INT. STATION CHIEF'S OFFICE
MAYA
ISI fucked you. I'm so sorry Joseph.
It's the first time she's addressed him by his first name.
Startling, to hear kindness in her voice.
Joseph turns to reply then thinks better of it and walks
away.
CUT TO:
INT./ EXT LARRY'S MINIVAN - STREETS OF PESHAWAR - MORNING
Larry's minivan chugs through the crowded markets.
TECH
Still on tower three! Five. Signal
getting stronger. Ten!
Larry continues driving straight down the main road.
TECH (CONT'D)
Fifteen. Ten. Signal's getting
weaker.
(PAUSE)
We lost him - no signal.
LARRY
Heading South.
The van passes horse-drawn carts, men on cell phones, fruit
stands. The Tech studies his screen.
69.
TECH
He's up at five again. Fifteen.
Twenty.
(PAUSE)
Weaker now, he's shifted. We're
back to five. I don't get it.
LARRY
He's driving in circles.
Larry now drives very fast back to the main road.
LARRY (CONT'D)
No change?
TECH
No.
MAIN ROAD
And now Larry stops in the middle of the market.
LARRY
Let's hope he comes back around.
Beat.
TECH
Twenty. Thirty. Forty! Fifty -
we're within ten meters of him.
Larry scans the street - sees a half dozen guys on cell
phones.
TECH (CONT'D)
He's really close.
LARRY
Look at the cars. He's in a vehicle.
Larry spots something:
LARRY (CONT'D)
The guy with the phone in the white
SUV.
They snap a photograph of a WHITE POTAHAR SUV.
LARRY (CONT'D)
Is that him?
TECH
Could be.
70.
LARRY
You got him?
TECH
I got him.
LARRY
I'm breaking off -
The grey minivan pulls away.
CUT TO:
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY CIA SECTION - MAYA'S CUBICLE - DAY
Larry's photograph of the WHITE POTAHAR SUV plops on Maya's
desk.
MAYA
Is this what I think it is?
LARRY
The guy you've been looking for, geo-
located on his cell phone in his
white car.
MAYA
Thank you!
LARRY
If you're right, the whole world's
gonna want in on this, so you gotta
stick to your guns now.
CUT TO:
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY CIA SECTION - STATION CHIEF'S OFFICE
The new Chief of Station, TIM ALEXANDER, barely looks up
from his desk as Maya enters.
ALEXANDER
(INTO PHONE)
I'm amazed that you're still here.
(looks at his watch,
INTO PHONE)
When can we grab lunch?
He sees that Maya, who hovers annoyingly over his desk, isn't
gonna wait.
MAYA
I need a picket line along the GT
highway and men spaced at intervals
along the road and at every exit.
71.
ALEXANDER
Maya, I know -
MAYA
So you agree with me now. This is
important?
ALEXANDER
No, I've just learned from my
predecessor that life is better when
I don't disagree with you.
CUT TO:
EXT. GRAND TRUNK ROAD - PAKISTAN - DAY
A two lane highway. Tucked on the side of the road is an
OLD MAN with a cart of mangoes.
MAYA (V.O.)
Our current hypothesis is that he
lives somewhere along the highway,
in one of the towns, or a medium
sized city called Abbottabod, or up
near Kashmir.
ECU: mango cart. Nestled among the fruit is a BLACK RADIO.
EXT. FARTHER DOWN GRAND TRUCK ROAD/HIGHWAY - CONTINUOUS
Squatting in the dirt near a bus stop is another OLD MAN,
watching passengers disembark from a bus.
MAYA (V.O.)
Kashmir is interesting because it's
a way station for the Tribals.
We stay with the old man for a while.
At last, the white POTAHAR SUV drives past. He makes a note
in his pad.
CUT TO:
EXT. HIGHWAY - MAJOR EXIT - DAY
A nut seller, another CIA look out, scoops a handful of nuts
into a bag for a CUSTOMER as he keeps an eye on CARS exiting
the highway.
He takes note as the white POTAHAR passes him.
72.
MAYA (V.O.)
Abbottabod is interesting because we
know from detainee reporting that
Faraj stayed there, briefly in 2003.
CUT TO:
EXT. PAKISTANI STREET - DAY
The street is filled with compact cars.
MAYA (V.O.)
The good news is he's driving a white
SUV. SUV's are actually pretty rare
in Pakistan. If he was driving a
sedan or a compact, we'd be fucked.
CUT TO:
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY CIA SECTION - MAYA'S CUBICLE - NIGHT
MAYA (V.O.)
Obviously this assumes he doesn't
change vehicles.
Maya at her desk working and we realize that she has been
typing all this in a cable she will email to Washington.
CUT TO:
EXT. MAYA'S APARTMENT BUILDING - ISLAMABAD - PRE DAWN
The building GUARD sees Maya heading out to her car.
GUARD
Good morning.
MAYA
Good morning, Amad.
Maya gets in her car. The gate opens. As she starts pulling
out onto the street, suddenly a car drives up in front of
her and THREE SHOOTERS come out and hammer Maya's Toyota.
INT. MAYA'S CAR - CONTINUOUS
- Bullets spider webbing the glass as Maya slams the car
into reverse -
EXT. MAYA'S CAR - CONTINUOUS
- Maya's guard starts returning fire, but his aim is terrible.
- SHOOTERS bear down on Maya, pumping bullets into her armored
car.
73.
The gate closes, saving her, at the last possible moment.
INT. MAYA'S CAR - CONTINUOUS
Maya shakes inside her vehicle.
MAYA (PRE-LAP)
(PROTESTING)
Any American in Pakistan is a target,
they don't necessarily know I'm CIA.
CUT TO
INT. AMERICAN EMBASSY STATION CHIEF'S OFFICE - ISLAMABAD -
MORNING
ALEXANDER
Doesn't matter. You're on a list.
Next time there might not be
bulletproof glass to save you.
MAYA
Yeah.
ALEXANDER
And you, of all people, should know
that once you are on their list, you
never get off.
(PAUSE)
We'll keep up on the surveillance,
as best we can.
CUT TO:
EXT. RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD - ABBOTTABAD, PAKISTAN - DAY
Hakim paces on a street as the POTAHAR we've been following
drives past him. Hakim watches the vehicle enter a gated
COMPOUND.
CUT TO:
INT. CIA HEADQUARTERS PREDATOR BAY - LANGLEY - EVENING
The Langley Predator Bay is an impressive sight, a command
center bristling with high-tech equipment. The room is filled
with TECHNICIANS. George is in the center, where he belongs,
directing traffic. People come up and give him new pieces
of information.
The big screen displays a single image:
The overhead satellite image of the compound in Abbottabod.
74.
SUPERIMPOSE: PREDATOR BAY - CIA HEADQUARTERS
From the back of the room, Maya enters, and watches the
activity unfold without her... without her input.
George notices her, gives a thumbs up and then turns back to
his troops.
STEVE, early 40s, a senior manager and one of George's top
deputies, joins Maya.
STEVE
Basically we had a guy who rolled
with Al Qaeda and did services for
them. We lost him for seven years
and now we found him again -- and
boy does he have a really nice house.
Is that it?
MAYA
Pretty much.
STEVE
Okay, let's go talk to the boss.
CUT TO:
INT. LANGLEY BRIEFING ROOM
Maya and Steve are the first to arrive in the wood panelled
conference room.
A detailed TABLE TOP MODEL of the compound sits in the center
of the conference table, right next to a poster-sized
satellite image of the compound.
She starts to sit in one of the chairs.
STEVE
(GENTLE)
You should sit back there...sorry.
Steve points her to the back of the room.
STEVE (CONT'D)
They're gonna ask: if bin Laden is
at the end of this rainbow - is the
Pak military with him?
MAYA
The question isn't are the Paks
protecting bin Laden?'
(MORE)
75.
MAYA (CONT'D)
The question is, 'would he allow
himself to be protected by the Paks?'
I mean, why would he trust them? He
tried to kill Musharaf.
Steve considers a reply, but the meeting principals are filing
in, including Daniel, and when Steve sees the CIA DIRECTOR
enter the room, he clears the head of the table.
CIA DIRECTOR
Go ahead.
STEVE
If you take a right out of Islamabad
and drive about forty-five minutes
North, you'll find yourself here in
Abbottabad. A middle class community -
some ex-military - not particularly
interesting to us. Except we did
find this compound, which is unique.
We got a sixteen foot wall around
the entire perimeter, the windows
are blacked out. It's a fortress.
CIA DIRECTOR
Can't you put a camera somewhere -
in the trees - to get a look into
the main house?
GEORGE
It will probably be discovered.
CIA DIRECTOR
We have to get a look into the house.
The Director moves to the satellite image.
CIA DIRECTOR (CONT'D)
Alright, what's this? This cluster
of buildings down here.
GEORGE
The PMA - The Pakistan Military
Academy. It's their West Point.
CIA DIRECTOR
And how close is that to the house?
GEORGE
About a mile.
A WOMAN'S voice from the back of the room.
76.
MAYA O.S.
4,221 feet. It's closer to eight-
tenths of a mile.
CIA DIRECTOR
Who are you?
MAYA
I'm the motherfucker that found this
place, Sir.
The boss studies her for a moment then turns back to the
model.
CIA DIRECTOR
I want to know more about who's inside
this house by the end of the week.
The brass files out, leaving Steve and Maya.
STEVE
"Motherfucker?" Really?
CUT TO:
INT. CIA HEADQUARTERS - AF/PAK DIVISION - DAY
Maya sits at her desk, frustrated, then walks down the aisle
of cubicles to the glass wall of George's office. She grabs
a red marker.
MAYA
(through the glass)
Morning, George.
In red magic marker, Maya writes the number 21 on the glass.
Then circles it.
George looks up.
MAYA (CONT'D)
Twenty-one days. It's been twenty-
one days since we found the house
and nothing's happened!
INT. CIA HEADQUARTERS - PREDATOR BAY - NIGHT
We see a drone-fed overhead IMAGE of the bin Laden house in
real time with a resolution of 100 feet. Maya stares at the
screen, trying to decipher the shapes moving beneath her,
thousands of miles away.
77.
The BLIPS move in increments, shadows lengthen.
CUT TO:
INT. CIA HEADQUARTERS - AF/PAK DIVISION - DAY
ECU - Maya erases the "51" on George's wall and replaces it
with "52."
George looks away.
INT. CIA HEADQUARTERS MAYA'S DESK - LATER
Maya sits at her desk. Her phone rings.
MAYA
(INTO PHONE)
Yeah?
INT. CIA HEADQUARTERS - PREDATOR BAY
STEVE stares at drone image of the COMPOUND, which is under
the joystick control of an IMAGERY TECHNICIAN.
STEVE
Swing by, I want to show you
something.
INT. CIA HEADQUARTERS MAYA'S DESK
Maya jumps up from her desk.
INT. CIA HEADQUARTERS - PREDATOR BAY - MOMENTS LATER
Maya walks in. Steve shows her images on the large monitor.
STEVE
This is from a few minutes ago.
We've got two males, two females,
and seven kids.
Maya points to one of the shapes in the courtyard.
MAYA
Who's that?
STEVE
I'm saying that's Bushra. The
brother's wife.
MAYA
How do you know the gender?
78.
STEVE
(points on screen, to
a thin line)
This is a clothes-line here, for
laundry. Men don't mess with the
wash.
We watch that shape move away from the clothes-line and back
to the house.
STEVE (CONT'D)
It takes her about four seconds to
move from there to the front door.
So she's on the older side.
MAYA
What's that up there?
(pointing to the other
SHAPES)
STEVE
Those are kids. They're shuffling
around, sword-fighting or something
with sticks.
(POINTING AGAIN)
You can see their height relative to
this - these are cows - so they're
probably between seven and nine.
Boys.
Another FIGURE comes out of the house and moves to the clothes-
line and grabs some laundry.
MAYA
Your female is moving fast.
STEVE
That's what I wanted to show you.
(to the Imagery
TECHNICIAN)
Can we pause this please?
(TO MAYA)
That's not the same lady. That's
female #3.
MAYA
So you found two males, three females?
STEVE
That's correct.
Maya suddenly gets it.
79.
MAYA
You're missing a male.
STEVE
Yes we are.
MAYA
Wow.
INT. WHITE HOUSE - NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL S.C.I.F. -
CONTINUOUS
George is on one side of a conference table, on the other
side is the DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR, THE SPECIAL
ASSISTANT TO THE DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR, and the
NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR.
GEORGE
If there are three females, there
ought to be three males. Observant
Muslim women either live with parents
or with their husbands. We think
there's a third family living in the
house.
SUPERIMPOSE: SITUATION ROOM - THE WHITE HOUSE
NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR
So this third male that you've
identified as possibly being bin
Laden, do I just give up all hope of
ever seeing a photograph of him?
GEORGE
Hope? Hope is not a targeting layer.
You give up your hope right now. We
scanned for heat signatures, but we
can't validate if it's a man or a
woman up there. We found a safe
house, but we can't get a vantage
point to fire a telescope over the
balcony wall.
EXT. COMPOUND - ABBOTTABAD - MORNING
A DOCTOR comes to the compound offering immunizations. One
of the women let's him in, and he offers polio vaccines to
the children.
GEORGE
We talked about burrowing a pin hole
camera but there's a high risk of
discovery.
(MORE)
80.
GEORGE (CONT'D)
We have explored the possibility of
digging tunnels, of sending hot air
balloons, of re-routing supply C-
130's to take a peek, but that might
be too alerting. We've looked for
ways of collecting available DNA
from his trash - you know, looking
for his toothbrush, but they burn
the trash. We started a vaccination
program, we sent a doctor to the
house, to see if he could pull blood.
A lady in a black burkha rushes out and angrily shoos the
doctor away.
GEORGE (CONT'D)
That didn't work out. We thought
about sending a guy with a bucket to
pull a sample from the sewer to
analyze his fecal matter.
SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE ADVISOR
What was wrong with that, exactly?
He looks up.
GEORGE
What was wrong with that? The sample
would be too diluted.
NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR
And it's asking too much to get a
voice confirmation with him on the
phone?
GEORGE
They don't make telephone calls from
the compound. We pulled the cell
tower nearby.
NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR
And I'm also going to give up hope
that he might ever get in that white
SUV and drive around a bit and we
could see him? Don't they get
groceries.
GEORGE
The unidentified third male does not
get groceries. He does not leave
the compound. He does not present
himself for photographs.
(MORE)
81.
GEORGE (CONT'D)
When he needs fresh air, he paces
around beneath a grape arbor, but
the leaves are so thick they obscure
our satellite views. This is a
professional attempt to avoid
detection - real tradecraft. The
only people we've seen behave this
way are other top level Al Qaeda
operatives.
The National Security Advisor nods to his Special Assistant
who slides a big folder across his desk to George.
NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR
We did a Red Team on your analysis.
According to them, this behavior
could belong to someone other than
Al Qaeda.
DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR
They did give a forty percent chance
that the unidentified third man is a
senior Al Qaeda operative. But they
also said there's a thirty-five
percent chance he's a Saudi drug
DEALER
(reading from the
BINDER)
A fifteen percent chance that he's a
Kuwaiti arms smuggler, a ten percent
chance that he's one of the relatives
of the brothers.
SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE ADVISOR
Basically, we agree with you, the
house screams security, it screams
someone who wants privacy, it even
screams 'bad guy', but it does not
scream bin Laden.
NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR
You get the point.
(BEAT)
If you can't prove it's bin Laden,
at least prove it's not somebody
else, like a drug dealer.
Beat.
The meeting is adjourned.
As they walk out --
82.
GEORGE
You know we lost our ability to prove
that when we lost the detainee
program.
(BEAT)
Who the hell am I supposed to ask?
Some guy in Gitmo who is all lawyered
up? He'll just tell his lawyer to
warn bin Laden.
NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR
You'll think of something.
CUT TO:
INT. CIA HEADQUARTERS - AF/PAK DIVISION - DAY
Maya is back at George's office, keeping track of time for
us by writing each passing day on the window of George's
office.
We watch as she erases the numbers in red and writes new
ones. 78.
Time passes.
98. 99. 100.
100 days. She underscores the numerals in thick magic marker.
CUT TO:
INT. WHITE HOUSE - NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL S.C.I.F. - DAY
The same group around the same conference table.
GEORGE
He'd be the first successful drug
dealer never to have dealt drugs.
He has no internet access to the
house. He makes no phone calls either
in or out. Who's he selling to,
who's he buying from, how's he making
his money? And if you're going to
say he's retired, I'd say where's
his swimming pool, where's the gold
cage with the falcons? And why does
he send his courier to the two cities
in Pakistan we most associate with
Al Qaeda, that have nothing
particularly to do with heroin
production?
The National Security Advisor taps his pencil impatiently.
83.
NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR
The President is a thoughtful,
analytical guy. He needs proof.
CUT TO:
INT. WHITE HOUSE HALLWAY
The National Security Advisor and his team file out. George
approaches.
GEORGE
I have to admit, I just don't get
the rhythms of politics.
NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR
You think this is political? If
this was political we'd be having
this conversation in October when
there's an election bump. This is
pure risk. Based on deductive
reasoning, inference, supposition
and the only human reporting you
have is six years old, from detainees
who are questioned under duress.
The political move here is to tell
you to go fuck yourself, and remind
you that I was in the room when your
old boss pitched WMD Iraq...at least
there you guys brought photographs.
GEORGE
You know, you're right, I agree with
everything you just said. What I
meant was, a man in your position,
how do you evaluate the risk of not
doing something, the risk of
potentially letting bin Laden slip
through your fingers?
George shakes his head with an "aww shucks" kind of shake.
GEORGE (CONT'D)
That is a fascinating question.
George walks away. After a beat, the National Security
advisor calls after him.
NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR
Hey.
George turns around. The National Security Advisor approaches
him.
84.
NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR (CONT'D)
(lowering his voice)
I'm not saying we're gonna do it.
But the President wants to know: if
we were going to act, how would we
do it? Give us options.
CUT TO:
EXT. AIR FORCE BASE - AIRPLANE HANGAR - DAY
SUPERIMPOSE: AREA 51 - SOUTHERN NEVADA
Doors of a HANGAR open in front of a large crowd that includes
several White House guys, a General, and a squadron of Navy
SEALs, including PATRICK, JUSTIN, JARED, SABER, TWO SOAR
PILOTS, and some members of the Af-Pak department, George,
Daniel, Hakim, and of course, Maya. The doors grind open to
reveal: TWO STEALTH BLACKHAWKS
GENERAL
I actually tried to kill this program
a couple of times. They've gone
through an initial round of testing,
and they have excellent radar defeat -
we just haven't tested them with
people in them yet.
The General continues his briefing..
GENERAL (CONT'D)
You'll notice these stealth panels
similar to what we use on the B2 -
(pointing to the rotors)
- The rotors have been muffled with
decibel killers - it's slower than a
Blackhawk and lacks the offense.
But it can hide.
JUSTIN
Excuse me. Can I ask a question?
What do we need this for in Libya?
Gaddafi's anti-air is virtually non-
existent.
Maya looks over, not sure what to say.
GEORGE
Gentlemen, can I have your attention?
My name is George. I run the Af-Pak
division at CTC, and I'm primary on
this for the agency. This is a title
fifty operation.
(MORE)
85.
GEORGE (CONT'D)
Some of us have worked together
before. This is a good one. Maya,
do you want to brief them?
Maya looks at the SEALs. Folds her arms. This isn't going
to be easy.
MAYA
There are two narratives about the
location of Osama bin Laden.
This registers on the SEALs.
MAYA (CONT'D)
The one that you're most familiar
with is that UBL is hiding in a cave
in the Tribal Areas, that he's
surrounded by a large contingent of
loyal fighters.
Beat.
MAYA (CONT'D)
But that narrative is pre- 9/11
understanding of UBL.
The second narrative is that he's
living in a city - living in a city
with multiple points of egress and
entries and with access to
communications so that he can keep
in touch with the organization. You
can't run a global network of inter-
connected cells from a cave.
Beat.
MAYA (CONT'D)
We've located an individual we believe
based on detainee reporting is bin
Laden's courier. He's living in a
house in Abbottabod, Pakistan. And
we assess that one of the other
occupants of the house is UBL.
JUSTIN
Excuse me. You got an intel source
on the ground?
MAYA
No.
86.
JUSTIN
No? Okay, so how do you know it's
bin Laden? We've been on this op
before, you know.
MAYA
Bin Laden uses a courier to interact
with the outside world. By locating
the courier, we've located bin Laden.
PATRICK
That's really the intel? That's it?
MAYA
Quite frankly, I didn't even want to
use you guys, with your dip and your
velcro and all your gear bullshit.
I wanted to drop a bomb but people
didn't believe in this lead enough
to drop a bomb, so they're using you
guys as canaries on the theory that
if bin Laden isn't there, you can
sneak away and no one will be the
wiser.
(BEAT)
But bin Laden is there - and you're
going to kill him for me.
PATRICK
(SOFTENING)
Bullets are cheap.
CUT TO:
INT. CIA HEADQUARTERS - GEORGE'S OFFICE - DAY
George is shaking his head as he talks to Wolf.
GEORGE
They are nervous downtown. I don't
think we'll get approval this decision
cycle.
They look up and notice that Maya is standing outside George's
office staring at them through the glass.
She angrily wipes the number 128 off the window and changes
it to 129.
Wolf nods.
WOLF
It's her against the world.
87.
GEORGE
Oh yeah.
CUT TO:
INT. CIA HEADQUARTERS - CAFETERIA - DAY
George is pulling his tray away from the food service court
when Maya ambushes him.
MAYA
We've spun up the SEALs - we've done
everything humanly possible to collect
on the compound, and the collection
is not going to get any better.
GEORGE
We have to keep working it.
MAYA
You're going to come into work one
day, and there's going to be a black
moving van and a 'for sale' sign in
front of that compound.
George drops his tray down.
GEORGE
Maya, you didn't prove it.
INT. CIA HEADQUARTERS - 7TH FLOOR - CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY
Sitting around the table are the CIA Director, JEREMY, Wolf,
the DEPUTY DIRECTOR, George, Daniel, Steve and a few other
people we don't know. At the far end of the table are back
benchers, including Maya.
CIA DIRECTOR
I'm about to go look the President
in the eye and what I'd like to know,
no fucking bullshit, is where everyone
stands on this thing. Now, very
simply. Is he there or is he not
fucking there?
He looks to the Deputy Director.
DEPUTY DIRECTOR
We all come at this through the filter
of our own past experiences. I
remember Iraq WMD very clearly, I
fronted that and I can tell you the
case for that was much stronger than
this case.
88.
CIA DIRECTOR
Yes or no.
DEPUTY DIRECTOR
We don't deal in certainty, we deal
in probability. I'd say there's a
sixty percent probability he's there.
The CIA Director points to Wolf.
WOLF
I concur. Sixty percent.
GEORGE
I'm at eighty percent. Their OPSEC
is what convinces me.
CIA DIRECTOR
You guys ever agree on anything?
DANIEL
Well, I agree with sixty, we're basing
this mostly on detainee reporting
and I spent a bunch of time in those
rooms - who knows?
Maya shoots Daniel a look. What a traitor.
DANIEL (CONT'D)
I'd say it's a soft sixty, sir. I'm
virtually certain there's some high
value target there, I'm just not
sure it's bin Laden.
The CIA Director leans back in his chair.
CIA DIRECTOR
This is a cluster-fuck, isn't it?
JEREMY
I'd like to know what Maya thinks.
DEPUTY DIRECTOR
We're all incorporating her assessment
into ours.
Maya can't take it anymore:
MAYA
One hundred percent, he's there -
okay, fine, ninety-five percent
because I know certainty freaks you
guys out - but it's a hundred!
89.
INT. CIA HEADQUARTERS - 7TH FLOOR - HALLWAY
The CIA Director walks with Jeremy towards the elevator.
CIA DIRECTOR
They're all cowed. What do you think
of the girl?
JEREMY
I think she's fucking smart.
As the door closes.
CIA DIRECTOR
We're all smart, Jeremy.
INT. LANGELY CAFETERIA
Maya is eating lunch by herself when she's startled to see
the CIA Director standing by her table.
CIA DIRECTOR
May I join you?
She nods, gulps.
CIA DIRECTOR (CONT'D)
(SITTING)
How long have you worked for the
CIA?
MAYA
Twelve years. I was recruited out
of high school.
CIA DIRECTOR
Do you know why we did that?
MAYA
I don't think I can answer that
question, sir. I don't think I'm
allowed to answer.
CIA DIRECTOR
What else have you done for us besides
bin Laden?
MAYA
Nothing. I've done nothing else.
He evaluates her... weighing her certainty against his decades
of Washington experience.
90.
CIA DIRECTOR
Well, you certainly have a flare for
it.
FADE TO BLACK:
SUPERIMPOSE: THE CANARIES
EXT. JALALABAD FORWARD OPERATING BASE - AFGHANISTAN - DAY
Jalalabad Airfield: nestled against the rugged mountains of
the Pakistan border.
SUPERIMPOSE: FORWARD OPERATING BASE - JALALABAD, AFGHANISTAN -
MAY 1, 2011
Everything in motion, SOLDIERS, CONTRACTORS, AVIATION ASSETS,
PATROLS coming and going.
EXT. JALALABAD FORWARD OPERATING BASE - AFTERNOON
Patrick and Justin are playing horseshoes. Maya, happy for
the first time since we've met her, watches them
JUSTIN
So, Patrick, be honest with me. You
really believe this story?
(TO MAYA)
No offense.
PATRICK
I do.
JUSTIN
What part convinced you?
Patrick motions to Maya.
PATRICK
Her confidence.
Maya smiles, laughs.
JUSTIN
Really? Okay. That's the kind of
concrete data point I'm looking for.
He shakes his head.
JUSTIN (CONT'D)
If her confidence is the one thing
that's keeping me from getting ass-
raped in a Pakistani prison...I don't
know. I'm gonna be honest with you
though, I guess I'm cool with it.
91.
They bump fists, laughing. Maya's cell phone rings. She
moves aside to answer it.
We INTERCUT with George in his Langley office.
GEORGE
Maya, I wanted you to hear it first.
You know that thing we talked about?
It's going to happen.
MAYA
When?
GEORGE
Tonight. Good luck.
She hangs up, turns back to the SEALs, who are still playing
horseshoes with the grace of young guys in their prime.
Their lives are in her hands.
CUT TO:
INT. ASSAULT COMMAND CENTER - JALALABAD FORWARD OPERATING
BASE - DAY
The small space is filled with personnel and
telecommunications gear. At the back of the room Maya sits
quietly, adjusting a headset and speaking calmly into a secure
line. From the corner Hakim watches her.
MAYA
Testing - testing 1 - 2 - 3 -
A SEAL with his com set on gives her the thumbs up. She
looks around at all the impressive technology in the makeshift
Command Center. She walks over to Hakim and they leave
together.
EXT. JALALABAD FORWARD OPERATING BASE - DUSK
MAYA
Thank you for coming with me.
HAKIM
Of course. I'll go with you where
ever you want.
A few hundred feet in front of them they can see SEALs
preparing their gear.
MAYA
Fuck Hakim, what if I'm wrong?
(MORE)
92.
MAYA (CONT'D)
I wish we could have just dropped a
bomb.
HAKIM
Please don't drop it while we're in
the house.
MAYA
I'm serious.
HAKIM
Me too. Don't drop anything while
I'm inside.
Off her anxious smile --
CUT TO:
EXT. FORWARD OPERATING BASE JALALABAD, AFGHANISTAN - OUTER
LZ - NIGHT
Blinding white lights - rigged to chain link fencing, like a
space shuttle launch -
Silhouetted shapes behind the lights and the thump-thump-
thump SOUND of high-dollar helicopters -
Now push through the glare and the fence into -
EXT. FORWARD OPERATING BASE JALALABAD, AFGHANISTAN - INNER
LZ
A top-secret LZ.
Where twenty-two SEALs in full battle rattle and an attack
DOG load into TWO STEALTH BLACKHAWK helicopters
Moving fast, wordlessly, loading weapons and gear - under
the intense bright white light, then -
- Doors slam, engines whine -
Fifty yards away, Maya stands alone, looking on.
- And the HELOS rise above the lights and disappear into the
night.
INT. STEALTH BLACKHAWK HELICOPTER - PRINCE 52 - PILOT'S CABIN
Hands feather the controls as the pilot -- one the famed
Nightstalker's from the Special Operations Aviation Regiment
(SOAR) 160th -- flies without lights, using only his NODs
for night vision.
93.
EXT. STEALTH BLACKHAWK HELICOPTERS PRINCE 51 AND PRINCE 52
Flying in formation, barely visible in the moonless sky, no
flying lights.
The helos near the Tora Bora mountain range: dimly visible
bulks rising in front of the helos.
INT. PRINCE 51 - CABIN
The SEALs gently bounce inside the bellies of the churning
beasts.
PRINCE 51 PILOT
Thirty seconds to first turn.
JARED
Hey Justin, what are you listening
to?
JUSTIN
Tony Robbins.
JARED
Tony Robbins?
JUSTIN
You should listen to it. I got plans
for after this. I want to talk to
you guys about it. It's not selling.
You become a representative.
Everyone chuckles.
PRINCE 51 CO-PILOT
Hard left.
EXT. PRINCE 51 AND PRINCE 52 - FLYING IN FORMATION
The stealths take a sharp turn. Skimming the mountain.
PATRICK
Who here's been in a helo crash
before?
Everyone raises their hands.
PATRICK (CONT'D)
Okay, so we're all good.
CUT TO:
94.
INT. ASSAULT COMMAND CENTER - JALALABAD FORWARD OPERATING
BASE - EVENING
Technicians track the helos on an array of computer screens.
PRINCE 52 PILOT
(OVER RADIO)
Now entering Pakistan.
Maya is here, too, working. She's always working.
MAYA
(INTO HEADSET)
Pakistani coms, no chatter.
EXT. TORA BORA MOUNTAINS - LATER
Find the HELICOPTERS navigating tight mountain passes. NOTE:
Throughout the flying sequence that follows the helicopters
fly very close to the ground, with a margin of error less
then twenty feet.
CUT TO:
PILOT POV:
The terrain zooms by as we travel through a twisty mountain
PASS -
- Looming straight ahead on a collision course is a GIANT
MOUNTAIN. They zoom closer. We can see individual rocks now -
INT. PRINCE 51
PRINCE 51 PILOT
(INTO RADIO)
Big left!
EXT. TORA BORA MOUNTAINS
Seconds before impact, the HELICOPTERS bank into a hard left
turn.
DUST blows off the mountain.
CUT TO:
INT. PRINCE 51 - LATER
The dog PANTS - sitting in its handler's lap in the dim cabin -
PILOT
Ten minutes.
CUT TO:
95.
INT. PRINCE 51 - LATER
PILOT
Three mikes to target. Standby for
doors open.
Inside the dim interior, illuminated by only blinking
instrumentation, the men are tense, quiet.
We pass slowly from face to face, noting each SEAL's
contemplation of the mission that lies ahead.
Some of them are anonymous soldiers. Many we've come to
know: Justin, joyfully bobbing his head, grooving to his
iPod... Saber's eyes fixed on a thousand-yard stare... Hakim
struggles to get comfortable and control his anxiety, wipes
away sweat... Patrick checks his gear for the hundredth time.
CO-PILOT
Two minutes.
EXT. STEALTH BLACKHAWKS - PRINCE 51 AND PRINCE 52 -
Outside: Darkness....just a THUMP THUMP THUMP...
And then we see them: flying in tight formation, the oddly
rectangular helos, with their black stealth panels and sharp
edges, like two alien spaceships advancing.
INT. EXT STEALTH BLACKHAWK - NIGHT
PILOT
(OVER INTERCOM)
Should be coming up just off our
nose, 3 o'clock.
Everyone grabs onto their gear, getting ready to fast rope.
DOOR
Patrick flings open the side door. Night wind rushes in -
EXT. ABBOTTABAD, PAKISTAN - NIGHT
Small cottages mixed in with larger suburban homes. Among
them, swimming pools. The water shimmering. Surreal. Then:
rows of green fields. A stand of trees.
It appears: AC 1. It is massive - six or seven times larger
than any other nearby structure - with sixteen foot high
walls and a gated interior. A fortress.
96.
INT. PRINCE 51 - CONTINUOUS
PILOT
Thirty seconds.
Patrick leans out for a visual as the wind rips his face -
EXT. PRINCE 51 AND PRINCE 52
The helos circle the COMPOUND, kicking up dust, and begin to
descend.
INT./EXT. STEALTH BLACKHAWK HELICOPTER PRINCE 51 - NIGHT
Cross cutting all that follows:
- At thirty feet above the ground the helicopter begins to
shudder and lose stability. Instead of descending in a
straight path, the bird drifts sideways
PATRICK
(shouting to pilot)
Hey! Slide right.
- Then lurches down, falling to within 15 feet of the swirling
ground, rotors churning the dust, creating near BROWNOUT
conditions, a dust hurricane
INT. PRINCE 51
CU: Pilot finessing the controls - not good enough
PRINCE 51 PILOT
Power!
EXT. COMPOUND - NIGHT
ECU: rear rotor blades edging closer to the wall, inch by
inch.
-- Engines straining LOUDLY in the thin, hot air
-- The bird loses control, SPINS to a hard landing
INT. PRINCE 51
ECU: Pilot thrusts stick
EXT. COMPOUND
-- TAIL crashes hard on the WALL, in a awful screech of
twisting metal and sheared concrete -
97.
INT. PRINCE 51
-- Tossing the men inside the helo around like rag dolls.
CUT TO:
INT. ASSAULT COMMAND CENTER - JALALABAD FORWARD OPERATING
BASE - EVENING
The command tent watches the helicopter crash.
PRINCE 52 PILOT (O.S.)
Prince 51 is down. Blackhawk down
in the animal pen.
Maya stands, crestfallen.
EXT. HELO CRASH
The dust settles to reveal...a twisted wreck.
PRINCE 51 has crash landed into a precarious position, with
the back half of the helicopter wedged into the top of the
wall and the front of it in the ground, leaving the passengers
inside suspended more then ten feet off the ground.
INT./EXT. PRINCE 51
Although he's wearing a heavy pack and carrying gear, Patrick
jumps down, landing with a knee-shattering combat roll.
Several SEALs follow him.
EXT. INNER COURTYARD
Patrick pulls out of his roll and turns around to face the
house, looming ominously ahead of him.
INT. ASSAULT COMMAND CENTER - JALALABAD FORWARD OPERATING
BASE - EVENING
PRINCE 52 PILOT
(OVER RADIO)
This mission is still a go.
Off Maya's relief -
INT./EXT. PRINCE 52 - CONTINUOUS
The second helo passes over but a storm of debris and garbage
from the rooftop creates another flight risk and the helo
banks away.
CUT TO:
98.
EXT. COMPOUND - FIRST GATE
Patrick, Justin and SIX other SEALs cluster near the First
Gate in the animal pen. One of the SEALs places a charge on
the gate, while others check the Prayer Room.
Boom! The charge partially blows open the metal swing doors
of the gate, leaving a very narrow gap. Not ideal. The
SEALs muscle and squeeze their way through the narrow opening
in the jagged metal as the SNIPER climbs up on the roof of
the prayer room.
EXT. GUEST HOUSE - NIGHT
Patrick and Jared arrive at the guest house but can't see
inside - the windows and doors are covered with sheets.
Patrick kneels down to place a charge at the front door handle
when the door erupts with gunfire
- Bullets fly out of the wooden door. One skims Patrick's
shoulder as he kneels lower. Patrick fires back at the house,
putting a dozen rounds inside.
A moment passes. They wait for a response. The door handle
unlocks. ABU AHMED'S WIFE appears at the doorway and walks
out.
JARED
Ir-fah ee-dek!
ABU AHMED'S WIFE
(IN ENGLISH)
You killed him.
INT. GUEST HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
The SEALs peer inside and see ABU AHMED lying dead in a
pool of blood. Patrick and Jared pump safety rounds into
the body.
FOUR KIDS are cowering in the corner. Jared moves them out
of the house.
EXT. COMPOUND - DIEGO CORRIDOR - CONTINUOUS
The rest of the P51 SEALS breach a gate to the courtyard of
the Main House. The gate flies open in a fiery ball.
CUT TO:
99.
EXT. COMPOUND WALLS OUTSIDE MAIN GATE - CONTINUOUS
SEALs jump out of P52, rush to the outer wall and set
breaching charges on a gate... While Hakim, the DOG HANDLER,
and another SEAL peel off down the block
Saber and his team stand by as BOOM!!!, The gate charges go
off...only to reveal a BRICK WALL behind the gate.
SABER
That's not a door.
SEAL
Failed breach.
They hustle to the next entry way and prepare another breach
CUT TO:
EXT. MAIN HOUSE - COURTYARD
The COMMANDING OFFICER hears that the SEALs outside are
preparing a charge. SEAL MIKE radios in
SEAL MIKE (O.S.)
(INTO RADIO)
This is Echo 11, we're going to breach
the main gate.
COMMANDING OFFICER
(INTO RADIO)
Negative. I'm internal, I'll let
you in.
The Commanding Officer opens the gate and the other SEALs
walk inside. As a group, they move towards the main house,
arriving at the South side front door. The door is open and
they enter -
INT. MAIN HOUSE FIRST FLOOR - CONTINUOUS
Piercing the first floor darkness with their infra red lights,
the SEALs advance slowly into the first floor hallway.
Piles of household clutter, stacked high in bizarre shapes,
greet them like the innards of a haunted house. One of the
SEAL's catches movement: A figure with an AK-47 scrambling
through clutter, then disappearing around a corner.
JUSTIN
Abrar!
The figure, Abu Ahmed's brother, ABRAR, re-appears at the
end of the hallway. He pokes his head out -
100.
- And is shot by Justin. He falls out of view, whimpering
in pain.
INT. MAIN HOUSE - FIRST FLOOR HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS
Justin walks quickly to Abrar.
INT. MAIN HOUSE - FIRST FLOOR SIDE ROOM - CONTINUOUS
ABRAR is down, bleeding.
- Justin fires another round into Abrar as ABRAR'S WIFE comes
flying in from the sleeping quarters and shields him with
her body.
- Justin shoots her. She falls...Abrar is underneath her -
he is still breathing, gasping and
- Justin shoots him again, silencing him
- Then looks to his wife and assesses her condition
- Badly wounded, faint breathing, life fading from her eyes...
- Justin turns away
INT. MAIN HOUSE - FIRST FLOOR HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS
Justin and a BREACHER proceed down the hall to the heavy
gate that blocks access to the stairway while another SEAL
stays behind. Somewhere, children are screaming.
JUSTIN
Shut those fucking kids up.
O.S. the kids quiet down.
JUSTIN (CONT'D)
Talk to me.
BREACHER
There's no fucking way we want to
blow this thing. The gate is solid.
MIKE (O.S.)
(OVER RADIO)
This is Echo 11 - we're at our primary
set point, prepping to breach.
JUSTIN
(INTO RADIO)
Wait, Echo 11 - we're internal on
the south side - this is a negative
breach.
101.
MIKE
(OVER RADIO)
Roger. We're ready to make our entry
out here.
JUSTIN
(INTO RADIO)
Roger that, we're coming to meet
you.
(to the Breacher)
Stay with these kids. Don't let
them in the back room.
CUT TO:
EXT. MAIN HOUSE - A MOMENT LATER
In the regrouping that occurs on the side of the main house,
Justin and Patrick find themselves side by side - and the
old friends take a moment to reconnect while the rest of the
team places charges and prepares for the next phase of the
assault.
PATRICK
(QUIETLY)
You good?
JUSTIN
Yeah. I forgot...were we supposed
to crash that helo?
Patrick allows himself a smile.
PATRICK
Ibrahim tried to shoot me through
the door. I popped him from the
outside.
JUSTIN
I fucking smoked Abrar and his wife.
(SHIFTING TONE)
(alt: I think she was
PREGNANT)
PATRICK
Still alive?
JUSTIN
She's gonna bleed out.
PATRICK
What a fuckin' mess -
The door blows - and they keep moving -
102.
INT. MAIN HOUSE - FIRST FLOOR HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS
The SEALs reach the staircase, which is sealed off by a
separate metal gate than the one inside the hallway.
SEAL
Breacher up.
A charge is prepared. Justin, who is now inside one of the
side rooms, sees Jared standing close to the door.
JUSTIN
Hey man, move!
Jared moves just as -
EXT. MAIN HOUSE FIRST FLOOR HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS
- Boooom!
-- The door FLIES like a missile right into where Jared had
been standing.
JARED
(TO JUSTIN)
Thanks.
JUSTIN
Yeah.
CUT TO:
INT. MAIN HOUSE - STAIRCASE TO SECOND FLOOR - CONTINUOUS
Saber goes up the staircase, Patrick following closely behind
him, climbing up to see -
INT. MAIN HOUSE - SECOND FLOOR - CONTINUOUS
A man ducks out of sight. Saber calls to him.
SABER
Khaled!
Saber waits with his carbine raised. Anxiety crosses his
face. He's vulnerable here, an easy target if Khaled were
to come out blasting.
SABER (CONT'D)
KHALED!
CUT TO:
103.
INT. SECOND FLOOR HALLWAY
Khaled hears his name being called from below. A few feet
away from him in the dimly lit hall is a loaded AK-47. He
goes to the gun and picks it up.
He hears his name again, "Khaled!" And the voice sounds
friendly, urgent.
Perhaps thinking that he can surrender peacefully, Khaled
puts the gun down, resting it against a wall, and turns and
heads back to the sound of his name.
Saber sees Khaled poke his head around the corner of the
stairway and fires - killing him instantly.
Saber pushes past the body, Patrick following, and they climb
the staircase leading to the third floor.
CUT TO:
EXT. COMPOUND - STREET
The neighborhood, awakened by the crash and gunfire, stirs
to life. Hakim and the SEALs notice LIGHTS flipping on.
And down the block, a group of several young men appear on a
roof.
SEAL
(raising his weapon)
This is Echo 05, I've got unknowns
gathering on the Southwest Rooftops.
Hakim, move those guys back.
HAKIM
(speaking in Pashto)
Go back brothers, this is official
government business, and there is
nothing to see here!!
SEAL
I'm going to start wasting them.
HAKIM
Please! They will kill you!
The onlookers pause. SEAL aiming lasers dance across their
chests.
HAKIM (CONT'D)
They will kill you!
They turn and go.
104.
INT. MAIN HOUSE - SECOND FLOOR - HALLWAY
- SEALs clear the SECOND floor as women and children flow
into the hallway... A SEAL grabs one of the wives and pulls
her out into the hallway, while another female disappears
behind a large REFRIGERATOR, and he grabs her too.
INT. MEDIA ROOM - SECOND FLOOR - CONTINUOUS
Justin opens a file cabinet, stuffed with documents.
INT. MAIN HOUSE SECOND TO THIRD FLOOR STAIRWAY
Saber is climbing the stairs, gun up, towards the third floor,
when he sees a flash of movement across the landing above
him. He stops climbing and -
SABER
(CALLING OUT)
Osama! Osama!?
Beat.
Beat.
Sweat on Saber's face
SABER (CONT'D)
Osama!?
A man appears at the end of the third floor hallway.
-- Ssssht ! a bullet strikes him in the head - knocking him
back into a bedroom
- Saber fires again, missing
- And proceeds down the hallway, going full speed now,
Patrick right behind him, sprinting into the bedroom
INT. MAIN HOUSE OSAMA'S LIVING QUARTERS
Two women stand at the entrance of the room. Saber rushes
them and with a football tackle, slams them into the wall.
Patrick enters the room and fires several rounds into the
man on the floor.
PATRICK
(INTO RADIO)
Possible jackpot.
The women Saber is restraining are wailing, struggling to
get to their husband, as a ten year-old boy rushes up to the
body.
105.
Patrick pushes him away and kneels down to get a better look
at the body.
PATRICK (CONT'D)
(TO SABER)
Dude, do you realize what you just
did?
CUT TO:
INT. MAIN HOUSE - THIRD FLOOR ROOM - HALLWAY
JARED questions the wives.
JARED
(IN ARABIC)
Who is he?
WOMAN
He is al Noori Hasan.
JARED
(shouting back to
PATRICK)
She says it's not him.
PATRICK
Talk to a kid.
Jared kneels down next to a nine year-old girl huddled in
the corner and snaps open a chem light. He gives her the
glowing green wand.
JARED
(IN ARABIC)
Daughter, what is his name?
The girl makes no reply.
CUT TO:
INT. ASSAULT COMMAND CENTER - JALALABAD FORWARD OPERATING
BASE - EVENING
COMMANDING OFFICER (O.S.)
(through the radio)
For God and Country, Geronimo.
Maya gasps.
EXT. DIEGO CORRIDOR - CONTINUOUS
The Commanding Officer issues orders.
106.
COMMANDING OFFICER
(INTO RADIO)
All Stations: target secure, target
secure.
INT. THIRD FLOOR - MASTER BEDROOM
PATRICK
(INTO RADIO)
Roger. Copy. Target Secure.
COMMANDING OFFICER (O.S.)
Target Secure - commence SSE.
INT. SECOND FLOOR - MEDIA ROOM
Justin flicks on the lights. Moving fast he picks up a
COMPUTER tower and throws it to the floor, cracking it open,
rips out the HARD DRIVE and tosses that into the bag.
As we pull back and realize the enormity of the task in front
of him -
The lights show an organized office, crammed with information,
stacks of files, disks, video equipment.
Twenty years of jihad.
JUSTIN
(to his team)
Do not leave a hard drive.
The SEALs gather everything they can.
INT. MAIN HOUSE - THIRD TO SECOND FLOOR STAIRWAY
Saber walks down the staircase in a daze. We stay with him
as he descends, noting the faraway look in his eyes -
INT. MAIN HOUSE - SECOND FLOOR - MEDIA ROOM
Saber walks into the office where the SSE (Sensitive Sight
Exploitation) is underway.
JUSTIN
(TO SABER)
What's up?
SABER
I shot the third floor guy.
JUSTIN
Good for you. You want to help?
107.
Justin tosses him an SSE bag.
CUT TO:
INT. ASSAULT COMMAND CENTER - JALALABAD FORWARD OPERATING
BASE - EVENING
The command team studies their monitors.
PRINCE 52 PILOT O.S.
(OVER RADIO)
QRF inbound.
CUT TO:
EXT. DIEGO CORRIDOR
The COMMANDING OFFICER is talking on two radios at once -
one to his men, the other to brass back at Jalalabad base.
COMMANDING OFFICER
(INTO RADIO)
Echo 05, this is Red 02, how long do
you need for SSE?
INT. SECOND FLOOR - MEDIA ROOM
JUSTIN
(INTO RADIO)
At least ten minutes.
EXT. DIEGO CORRIDOR
COMMANDING OFFICER
(INTO RADIO)
You have four.
INT. SECOND FLOOR - MEDIA ROOM
JUSTIN
(INTO RADIO)
This is a gold mine, I need more
time than that.
EXT. DIEGO CORRIDOR
COMMANDING OFFICER
(INTO RADIO)
If you're not at the LZ in four, I'm
going to leave your ass behind.
INT. SECOND FLOOR - MEDIA ROOM
Justin yells to his team.
108.
JUSTIN
Four minutes!
CUT TO:
EXT. HELO CRASH
Hakim arrives at the crashed helo. He crawls into the
interior and finds a BLACK BODY BAG. We follow this bag:
INT. MAIN HOUSE FIRST FLOOR
Hakim jogs into the main house with the BODY BAG, and through
his POV, we see slow down for the first time since the raid
began, noting the destruction:
- blood stains on the walls,
- Bodies pierced with bullets,
- Wailing children.
HAKIM
(INTO COMS)
Where do you need the bag?
SEAL (O.S.)
Third floor.
CUT TO:
INT. THIRD FLOOR - MASTER BEDROOM
SEALs roll the body into the BAG as Patrick and another SEAL
collect articles of interest. Two SEALs zip up the bag and
carry it out. Just as...
INT. MEDIA ROOM - SECOND FLOOR
Justin's team leaves the office.
EXT. MAIN COURTYARD - A MOMENT LATER
The body bag is laid in the courtyard.
EXT. HELO CRASH - CONTINUOUS
The EOD SEAL slides into the belly of Prince 51. While he
places charges, another SEAL climbs up to affix charges to
the roof and rotors ...and like a tight roper, he walks out
on the tail of the helicopter, when suddenly his foot slips,
piercing the tail's thin skin, and he nearly falls off.
He manages to place a last charge - but the remainder of the
tail piece will not be detonated.
109.
EXT. COMPOUND - POTATO FIELD
Back at the whirling helicopter, the SEALs shove the BODY
BAG into the interior compartment and jump in after it.
The helo rises into the night.
CUT TO:
EXT. HELO CRASH - CONTINUOUS
PRINCE 51 explodes, sending shrapnel and a fireball high
into the air
EXT./INT PRINCE 52 - CONTINUOUS
The SEALs watch the flames as the compound shrinks beneath
THEM
EXT. COMPOUND - ANIMAL PEN - CONTINUOUS
The fire of the exploded crashed helo blazes in the night.
INT. PRINCE 52 - A MOMENT LATER
The SEALs sit silent in the cabin, body bag at their feet.
CUT TO:
EXT. LANDING ZONE - JALALABAD FORWARD OPERATING BASE - LATER
Bathed in the bright white lights, Maya waits for the helo.
Concern on her face.
At last, she hears it.
A moment later, PRINCE 52 hovers into view and lands. Patrick
and several SEALs run out, carrying the bag...
INT. HANGAR
The place is swarming with SOLDIERS, SEALs, and FBI agents
with large bio-metric scanners - loud shouting everywhere:
"mark media, first floor, who has a pen, etc."
EXT. LANDING ZONE
Maya makes her way towards the hangar tent.
INT. HANGAR
She pushes through the busy SEALs.
Maya sees it now - way in the corner of the hangar.
110.
She walks and walks towards the bag.
She is alone with it now.
She unzips the BAG
CU: Maya.
Seven years telescoping to this moment. The end of a journey.
She stares at the body for a moment then turns to look across
the room where ADMIRAL MCRAVEN meets her eye.
She nods.
ADMIRAL MCRAVEN
(INTO PHONE)
Sir, the agency expert gave a visual
confirmation. Yes, Sir, the girl.
Hundred percent.
Maya gazes at the bloodied face, then turns away and zips
the bag...and leaves the tent.
Her eyes afire.
CUT TO:
EXT. JALALABAD AIRSTRIP - EARLY DAWN
Maya waits on the tarmac, alone.
A C-17, one of the largest most impressive planes in the
American fleet, rolls to a stop and the hatch opens.
She climbs the ladder -
INT. C-17 - CONTINUOUS
The cavernous cargo plane is empty of passengers. The pilot
motions to the seats.
PILOT
Are you Maya?
MAYA
Yeah.
PILOT
That's the only name they gave me.
(ODD)
You can sit wherever you want, you're
the only one on the manifest.
111.
Maya sits down, buckles in. The PILOT heads back to the
CABIN
PILOT (CONT'D)
You must be pretty important, you
got the whole plane to yourself!
Beat.
PILOT (CONT'D)
Where do you want to go?
She's speechless.
Overwhelmed.
Finally, she lets go.
Those luminous eyes become pools of relief and pain.
CUT TO: BLACK
| Zero Dark Thirty
Writers : Mark Boal
Genres : Drama Thriller
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