The Hunt

Written By
Camillio Tellez

44 Tamarisk Circle
325-455-5016

FADE IN:
EXT: FOREST - MORNING
A hawk is seen flying overhead. It looks down and sees a
rabbit. The hawk fleshes out its claws and makes a descent.
Mid-way through the descent, a bullet shoots the hawk. It
begins to fall straight down, spiraling as it goes. It lands
on the ground next to two hunters.
One hunter is wearing a hat with "ARMY" on the front in bold
letters. The other has a badge on his bicep with three
yellow lines (sergeant) on it. They both wear similar
camouflage clothing with backpacks. The man wearing the army
hat lowers a pair of binoculars. The other lowers a rifle.
DEREK
Good shot serg!
ROSS
You don't have to call me that
anymore. It's Ross now Derek.
DEREK
Sure thing se...Ross.
They both put up their gear. They walk towards the hawk. The
hawk has a hole blown in it's side. It lies motionless. Ross
looks down at the hawk.
DEREK
First kill of the day!
ROSS
It's not good enough. If we don't
bag a deer by the end of the day,
this hunt will be all for nothing.
Ross shrugs the straps of his backpack on his shoulders. He
begins walking away. Derek follows quickly behind. They walk
for around an hour without stopping. Ross stops walking.
ROSS
Let's take a break.
Derek stops in front of Ross. They sit down on the ground.
They take out canteens full of water and take a drink.
Afterwards they take out granola bars and eat.
DEREK
Well, it's not looking good so far.
Maybe we should call it a day.

ROSS
Derek, have i ever told you the
secret to picking up women.
DEREK
Um... is it to be assertive?
ROSS
Let me tell you. The secret is
persistence.
Ross breaks his granola bar in half. He holds up one piece
in front of Derek.
ROSS
Once you set your eyes on a woman,
you pursue her with everything you
got. Do not ever waiver until you
have her in your hands.
Ross holds up the other piece.
ROSS
Hunting is the same thing. Once you
set your mind on the prize, you
never give up until it's...
Ross looks to his right and sees rustling in the distance.
Eventually they are both able to hear the sound. A deer
slowly trots in the distance in front of large bushes. Ross
slowly takes out his gun. He walks quietly forward with
Derek trailing behind.
Derek crouches down and takes out his binoculars. Ross stops
about fifty yards away. The deer chews on grass. Ross slowly
raises his gun. He looks down the scope. He shoots. The
bullet whistles by the deer into the bushes. They hear the
sound of blood splatter as the deer sprints off out of
sight.
DEREK
Ross, I think you hit something.
Ross puts up his rifle and they begin to run towards the
bushes. Once they arrive at the bushes, they go around to
the other side. A dead hunter is seen lying on the ground
wearing a guile suit. The bullet pierced his head. Blood has
spilled near the entrance wound.

DEREK
We killed someone...
They stare at the body. Both remain silent for a couple of
seconds.
ROSS
Do you have the wrapping in your
bag.
DEREK
Yeah, I believe so.
ROSS
Take it out. We are going to wrap
the body.
DEREK
What? Are you crazy? That's for
animals! Not a human corpse!
ROSS
We are going to wrap it up and take
it to the truck. Once we get there,
we can decide the next step.
Derek hesitantly places his backpack down. He begins looking
for it.
DEREK
I don't know about this. I think we
should report this to someone.
Derek finds it and takes it out of the bag. Before doing
anything with it, Ross grabs it while Derek doesn't let go.
ROSS
Trust me. We will fix this,
together.
Derek sighs and lets go of the wrapping. Ross and Derek work
together to wrap up the dead body. Once they wrap it, they
pick up the body, one person on each end, and begin walking.
EXT. FOREST - DAY
After walking for a couple of hours, they both set the body
down. They both show signs of exhaustion.
DEREK
Hey Ross, let's take a break.

ROSS
Sure. But only for ten minutes.
They sit down and catch their breath.
DEREK
How much longer?
Ross pulls up his sleeve and looks at his watch. After
taking a look, he rolls his sleeve back up.
ROSS
At the rate we're going, about
three hours.
They stay quiet for a little bit. To break the silence, Ross
talks to Derek.
ROSS
I didn't tell you this last time
but, there are actually three
secrets to picking up women Derek.
DEREK
I don't think picking up women
should be that complicated.
ROSS
Well it is private. Women are
complicated creatures and should
not be taken lightly.
Ross takes a drink of water from his canteen. He closes it
and sees a spider walking his direction.
ROSS
The second rule of picking up
women, don't let anyone stand in
your way. If they don't like her,
that's their problem. Don't let
other people sway your mind.
Ross crushes the spider with the bottom of his canteen. He
twists it into the dirt. He then lifts it and puts it back
in his backpack. Nearby, a man wearing green and a badge
suddenly appears.
RANGER
Hello men.
Derek abruptly turns around, taken by surprise. Ross
casually turns to look at the man.

RANGER
What are you guys doing in the
middle of the forest?
DEREK
Uh, we...
ROSS
(Interrupts)
Were just returning back to our
truck. We have been hunting all
day and need to head back to base.
RANGER
So you guys are military.
The ranger looks at the bag.
RANGER
What's in the bag?
ROSS
The buck we shot. Pretty good sized
one too. It weighs more than it
looks.
They both get quiet,
begins to stroke his
He then looks at the
Derek. He walks over
him.

waiting for his response. The ranger

beard. He scans the bag with his eyes.
two men, who both seem tense but mostly
to Ross and reaches his hand out to

RANGER
The name's Billy Jack.
Ross was half shocked by his response but accepted it.
ROSS
Nice to meet you.
Billy Jack walks over to Derek and shakes his hand.
BILLY JACK
Well, shall we head out?
ROSS
We?
BILLY JACK
You don't mind that I tag along
right?
Derek and Ross look at each other. They both turn to look at

Billy Jack. Ross is about to speak but Derek talks first.

DEREK
Yes!
BILLY JACK
Perfect! Let's get moving!
Ross stares at Derek as they get up. Derek glances at him
and smiles. Billy Jack grabs one end of the bag and waits
for someone else to grab the other end. Ross walks over to
the other end and helps him pick it up. They begin walking
through the forest.
EXT. FOREST - EVENING
After several hours of walking, Derek and Ross are carrying
the back because they have rotated positions. Ross stops
walking and gently sets down the bag.
ROSS
Ok Billy Jack, you're up.
BILLY JACK
No problem.
Ross steps away from the bag and Billy Jack walks over and
picks it up. They continue walking.
DEREK
So Billy Jack, what's it like being
a forest ranger?
BILLY JACK
Well, I'm not actually a forest
ranger, full time at least. You
see, during the weekdays, I work as
the local county sheriff. During
the weekends, I work as a forest
ranger. I believe, that humans have
a innate desire to be proactive.
Whenever I sit at home and do
nothing, I hate myself. I could be
saving lives or helping out another
person in need, such as yourselves.
Time is a valuable thing son, don't
waste it.
Ross looks at Derek. Derek stares at the bag, like a child
watching tv. His movements appear robotic rather than
focused. He then looks at Billy Jack who is also staring at
the bag, though his stare seems more intentional.

ROSS
Hey Derek, I never told you the
last secret to picking up women.
DEREK
What is it?
ROSS
The third secret to picking up
women, don't let anyone else take
her. You can't pick up a woman who
is taken. That's why you need to
get rid of him quickly. Especially
before he realizes something is
going on.
He looks at Derek to get his eye contact. He then looks
quickly at Billy Jack, then back and him. Derek looks at
Billy Jack and sees him staring at the bag. Derek's
expression appears tense and stops walking. Billy Jack
suddenly looks up.
BILLY JACK
What's wrong?
DEREK
Nothing, I just need a little
break.
They gently set down the bag. Billy Jack looks back down at
the bag again, staring at it while stroking his beard again.
Ross sees him doing this.
ROSS
Maybe we should just keep going. We
are almost to the truck.
BILLY JACK
You guys said you killed a buck
right?
ROSS
(Pause)
Right.
Ross takes a step forward. Derek takes a step back.
BILLY JACK
Then why are there not any antlers
extruding out of this bag? Also
this bag is oddly shaped for a
deer.

ROSS
Well, you see...
BILLY JACK
(Interrupts)
I think I'm going to take a look
inside, if you don't mind.
DEREK
It's fine really.
Billy Jack bends down on his knees. He takes a piece of the
wrapping. He slowly peels it off. Ross discretely takes his
rifle out. While Billy Jack begins to peel the wrapping,
Ross hits him from behind with the back of his rifle. Billy
Jack falls to the ground unconscious. Derek sees this and
starts to pull his hair.
DEREK
Why did you do that?
ROSS
Because if he opened that bag, we
would be screwed.
DEREK
But now we're even more screwed!
Ross puts up his rifle. He walks over to the bag and picks
up his end.
ROSS
It's ok Derek, we'll fix it later.
DEREK
But...
ROSS
(Interrupts)
Pick...up...the...bag.
Tapping his foot rapidly, Derek stares at Billy Jack. He
then looks at the bag. Derek sighs as he picks up the other
side of the bag. They cover enough distance to be fairly far
out of site of Billy Jack. Derek suddenly drops the bag.
DEREK
I'm done with this. I'm turning
myself in.
Following this, Ross immediately drops his side of the bag.
He walks over to Derek and grabs his clothes with his hands.

ROSS
Private, you are going to pick up
the bag NOW!
DEREK
No sir.
He makes Ross let go of him and he takes a few steps back.
DEREK
I'm sorry sir, not everything can
be fixed later. Some things can't
even be fixed at all.
ROSS
PRIVATE!
A bullet comes from behind Ross and hits him in the leg.
Ross falls to the ground. The sound of reloading is heard in
the distance. They both scramble to get behind cover. As the
hide, another bullet whistles by Derek and hits the edge of
the tree, sending bark around the area. They hear Billy Jack
yelling.
BILLY JACK
This is your last chance! Give up
now or face the consequences!
Derek comes out of the trees with his hands. He sees Ross
wrapping a white wrap around his leg. Billy Jack comes from
behind the tree. Keeping his rifle pointed at him.
BILLY JACK
Don't make any sudden moves.
Billy Jack gets in front of Derek when Ross quickly comes
out from the side. He goes behind Derek and points his rifle
forward.
ROSS
Derek! Move out of my way so I can
kill him!
BILLY JACK
Derek! Think about this before you
do anything hasty.
ROSS
Who is more important? A man you
just met, or your partner?
Derek sways back and forth, slightly shaking. He must choose
between his close-friend, or go with his morals. Before

10

Derek acts, Billy Jack reaches his rifle over Derek's

shoulder.
BILLY JACK
Hurry! Run!
As Billy Jack fires, a bullet passes through Derek's
shoulder and hits Billy Jack's heart. Simultaneously, a
bullet hits Ross' head. Billy Jack and Ross both fall dead
at the same time. Derek falls to his knees and coughs up
blood. His eyes become blurred.
DEREK
(Panic)
What just happened? What's going
on?
Derek slowly falls completely to the ground. He tries his
hardest to stay up but ultimately fails. He glances quickly
at Billy Jack and Ross before hitting the ground. He looks
up and watches the forest trees blow in the wind. Leaves
fall in the sky. As his eyes close, one leaf falls on his
face, covering his eyes.