Patriot :: essays research papers

THE nationalistFADE INEXT. THE SWAMPS OF SOUTH CAROLINA - NIGHTDark. Ominous. Kudzu hangs from the swamps maples. A Acheronian and forbidding place. A bird CRIES EERILY in thedarkness. Insects HUM ominously.SUPERIMPOSITIONFrench AND INDIAN WARA fallback of French soldiers with several wagons makesits federal agency along a grubby road cut through the swamp. Thesoldiers argon wary, scanning the underbrush, weapons ready.In the swamp, parallel to the road, SHADOWED FIGURES,hidden among the brush, silently dawn the Frenchsoldiers.As the hold wagon rolls over a muddy puddle, straddlingit, a MUD-COVERED FIGURE, reaches up, grabs the wagonsundercarriage, pulls itself up and clings, unseen to theunder align of the wagon. The figure, obscured by the mud,barely looks human.As the other wagons roll over other muddy depressions inthe road, tercet more mud-covered figures reach up, graband cling to the underside of other wagons. fastness CHARLESThe gates are opened. The relieved French s oldiersquicken their pace and rush into the relative safety ofthe fort. In the fort yard the weary detachmentdisperses.UNDER THE LEAD WAGONThe first dark, mud-covered figure silently drifts to the plant and draws a distinctive TOMAHAWK from his belt asthe other figures drop from the other wagons.The figures crawl through the shadows toward the sentrieswho are closing the main gates. THEY SPRING... the leadfigure dashes forward, raises his TOMAHAWK and HACKS DOWNat a TERRIFIED french SENTRY...The other muddy figures join the attack... stifling thescreams of the French soldiers with VICIOUS pokeSLASHES... gaining precious seconds...A French SOLDIER CRIES OUT... sounding the alarm... otherFRENCH SOLDIERS come running bulge out of the darkness...The four muddy figures, make a stand at the gate, brutallykilling the French soldiers as they come, safekeeping thegates open as...Dozens of other muddy figures race out of the surroundingswamp, tearing through the fort gates, joining thes laughter...The lead figure, HACKS, again and again with histomahawk...Blood and flesh cover his arm as the culpable blade risesand falls amid the SCREAMS in the darkness...DISSOLVE TOEXT. SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTRYSIDE - DAY handsome sunlight. AERIAL SHOT of a post passenger gallopingalong a road through peaceful untamed woodlands. Soaringold-growth elms arch over riverside maples along theshores of the gently curving, deep-water Santee River.SUPERIMPOSITIONSOUTH CAROLINAApril, 1776The post rider rides along a raised swamp road. On eitherside of the road, gorgeous shafts of sunlight pierce thecanopy falling onto soft, swaying ferns that cover the blue grounds. Hundreds of BIRDS SING. The water isclear, with fields of floating lily pads, each with astark egg white flower rising from it.EXT. FRESH WATER PLANTATION - DAY