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FADE IN:
EXT. DESERT HIGHWAY - DUSK
TITLE CARD: “NEAR THE TEXAS-MEXICO BORDER”

The desert is a vast, seemingly endless entity. It stretches as far in any direction as the eye can see, trailing off into the horizon where the dying sun seems to be melting it.

SERIES OF SHOTS:

At first glance it appears quite barren, but the sandy expanse thrums and pulsates with life. Tiny creatures, insects and rodents and reptiles of various kinds, emerge from the homes they have made for themselves within the earth in anticipation of the activities they will undertake during the night. Sparse bits of vegetation sprout up in various places, and a gentle breeze stirs them into motion. Unlike the road running through it, with vehicles unforgiving towards any unfortunate being who ventures into their path as they rumble up and down its multiple lanes at all hours of the day, the desert is a place of life at night.

EXT. DESERT HIGHWAY SHOULDER

A GIRL, no older than sixteen with a Hispanic complexion and a face obscured by the bill of the old ball cap pulled low over her eyes, walks along the shoulder of the highway with a backpack slung by a single strap over one shoulder and a thumb stuck out towards oncoming traffic. Rush hour is more or less over, and there are only a few cars left on the road. They all thunder past her at blurring speed, either not noticing she’s there or simply not caring. She continues on.

CUT TO:

INT. TRUCK CAB - DUSK

On or approaching this same stretch of highway a MAN, in his forties with some facial hair and a receding hairline, motors along in his pickup truck. An old rock song on the radio provides some background noise as he drives, but he isn’t really listening to it. His focus is on the road.

Out the front windshield, the desert expands seemingly endlessly on either side of the asphalt and the highway stretches onwards towards the distant horizon. The truck passes beneath a low bridge, and once it’s through the space under the overpass the girl appears in the top-right corner of his vision, continuing her trek along the shoulder of the road. His rapid approach brings her closer and closer to the bottom-right until she disappears from view entirely. His eyes fall to the steering wheel in thought shortly afterward.

EXT. DESERT HIGHWAY

The girl is still walking when she looks up and sees a truck in the far-right lane slowing down before turning on its right turn signal and pulling over onto the shoulder of the road, rolling to a gradual halt. She stops, looking at the now-motionless vehicle and takes off towards it in a jog after a honk of the horn and the driver waving at her with one hand out of his own window let her know that he stopped for her. Once she reaches the truck she slows her pace, walking around to the passenger-side door as the window is rolled down in anticipation of her arrival and stands leaning against the exterior with her forearms dangling inside the cab.

The driver is the man. He shuts off the radio and leans across the console so she can hear him better, and they spend a moment sizing each other up before he addresses her, in Spanish.

MAN

Inglés?

The girl nods in affirmation.

MAN

Just checking. Need a ride?

She nods again.

MAN

Where to?

GIRL

Anywhere.

MAN (PUZZLED)

Anywhere?

GIRL (DEFINITIVELY)

Anywhere.

MAN

That ain’t very specific.

GIRL

I know.

His eyes return contemplatively to the steering wheel before he looks back up at her.

MAN

How ‘bout the next town?

GIRL

Okay.

His eyes move away from her to his door, his fingers sliding up the armrest to where several buttons are clustered together and pressing one. The passenger-side door unlocks and she opens it and climbs inside the truck and shuts it again behind her. She sets her bag in the floor and quickly throws on her seatbelt, and once she’s situated the man shifts the gear shifter into drive, then turns on his left turn signal and slowly begins to accelerate before pulling back out onto the road.

INT. TRUCK CAB

As he drives the girl removes her hat, taking care not to pull the tight ponytail of her own jet-black hair threaded through the gap at the back, and undoes the hair tie holding it together, allowing it to cascade and flow freely over her shoulders and down her chest and back. She remains silent while doing this and afterwards leans her head back against the seat’s headrest with her eyes closed wordlessly, clearly not in a talking mood. There is a tension about the air inside of the truck that the stillness creates, and after a decent interval spent traveling in it the man again speaks in the hopes of breaking it.

MAN

(clears throat) Y’know, it’s, uh...It’s a good thing I stopped to pick you up.

GIRL

(without opening her eyes) ...For me, or for you?

MAN

What’s that supposed to mean?

GIRL

I think you know.

MAN (DEFENSIVELY)

Hey now, it ain’t like that. It’s dangerous walkin’ down that road, alone and vulnerable. ‘Specially after dark. There was a girl a month or two back, just walkin’ along like you was, and she got pancaked by a semi driver who fell asleep at the wheel. And that’s about the least of your worries, out among the creatures of the night.

GIRL

(smirking, opening one eye) So that makes you a Good Samaritan of some sort, then? Defending all the helpless little runaways?

MAN

(stumbling over his words) No, I--well, it’s just that...Look, we’re getting off on the wrong foot here. Let’s try something else, anything else.

GIRL

(closing it again) Like?

MAN

Hell, I don’t know...What’s your name?

GIRL

I don’t know.

MAN

Well...How old are you?

GIRL

I’m not sure.

MAN (FRUSTRATED AND AMUSED)

Where are you from?

GIRL

I don’t remember.

MAN

(chuckling) Stubborn one, ain’t ya?

GIRL

I’m still deciding what I think you should and shouldn’t know.

MAN

(shrugs) I guess that’s fair. But like I said, I’m just trying to help.

GIRL

So you’ve said.

The silence returns quickly. To ward it off the man reaches over to the radio dial, an old James Gang song squawking through the speakers as he cranks up the volume. As he does so the girl’s eyes open, and she shifts in her seat to be able to look at him.

GIRL (SOFTLY)

Listen...I don’t mean to be rude. You stopped when you didn’t have to, and I appreciate that. But watching out for my own neck is my number one priority...Even above expressing gratitude.

MAN

(looking away) You don’t have to explain yourself. I get it, I do.

Nodding, the girl pulls her backpack up out of the floor and shifts back to her original position, placing the satchel between her head and the window as a pillow, and shuts her eyes again.

GIRL (SOFTLY)

I’d like to try and get some rest, so can you wake me up when we’re at the next town?

MAN

(nodding) ...Yes, I can. I most certainly can.

GIRL (SOFTLY)

Thank you... (nods to radio) And if you would, please keep the volume on that down.

The girl closes her eyes, and within a few moments the only motion of her body is the gentle rise and fall of her chest. Reaching for the knob, he turns the radio volume down before returning his eyes to the road.

FADE TO BLACK: