Original subtitles

Uh, Charlie-Fox, Charlie-Fox-6,

Uh, Roger, be advised...

...4-7-4, we'll have re-supplies down by chopper. Over.

Strong shit, man.

Where the fuck are the God damn gooks already?

I don't think them fucking dinks are even out there.

Jesus, this shit's something else.

Hey, Professor, how many times can you shit in an hour?

Professor got beaucoup shits, man.

Why do you even bother pulling them up?

You jerking off again, huh, Jake?

Come over here and jerk on this. Come choke my black roots.

Please?

- He's asking politely. - Ain't got a fucking tweezer, man.

Shit! We got movement in the tree line.

- Shit! - Movement in the tree line!

1, 3, 2, 0!

- Fuck, something's wrong. - What the fuck's wrong with you?

Motherfuck!

It's my head!

My head!

Help me! Somebody help me!

Get up! Get up!

- Paul, help me, man. - Get up!

Help me!

What the fuck is wrong with you? Come on, get up!

Medic!

- What's wrong with me? - Medic!

Stop it!

- Medic, we need you here! - Come on, man!

Stop it!

Medic!

1, 2, 3, 0! Go flow! Fire!

My arm! My arm!

Aw, fuck! Shit!

Oh, God! Fucking shit!

Excuse me.

Do you know if we've passed Bergen Street yet?

Bergen...

Um... I fell asleep.

Um, all right. OK.

Fuck.

Shit.

Hi, Chester.

Go back to sleep.

Get insomnia again?

Jake, is that you?

What the hell did you do? Move all the furniture?

I just moved the chair, that's all.

That help?

Yeah, thanks.

- So what do you think? - About what?

The room.

- Oh, ask me tomorrow. - It is tomorrow.

How come you're so late?

Bud Nash didn't show up again. Called in sick. He's always sick.

So I worked. Got some overtime.

What happened to your pants?

Uh... don't ask.

- You look terrible. - Thanks.

Help me.

Help me.

Oh, fuck.

- You're up? - Oh, fuck.

- What's that? - Your kid dropped it off.

- Who, Jed? - No, the little one.

Eli. Why can't you remember their names?

They're weird names.

They're biblical names.

They were prophets.

Well, personally, I never went for church names.

What?

Where do you think Jezebel came from?

Nobody calls me that.

You're such a heathen, Jezzie.

How'd I ever get involved with such a fucking ninny?

You sold your soul, remember? That's what you told me.

- Yeah? For what? - A good lay.

Look what I got...

The best.

- So what's in the bag? - Pictures.

Oh, yeah?

Your wife was gonna toss 'em, so...

...what's-his-name dropped it over on the way to school.

Eli. Eli. E-Ii.

These are great.

My father.

Yeah? Look at this baby.

Aw, who's that?

Isn't that the cutest baby you've ever seen?

Little fat little thing.

- That's me. - That's you? Let me see.

No, that's... that's all right. This fat little thing...

You don't have to look. You don't have to look.

Who's this?

Sarah.

Sarah.

I can see what you mean.

- What? - Why you left.

- What do you mean? - Jake, she looks like a real bitch.

Well, she looked good then.

- Not to me. - You didn't marry her.

Hello, baby.

How you doing?

What's wrong?

Is this the one who died before you went to Vietnam?

Yeah, it's Gabe.

Oh, God. Sorry.

Took me by surprise. I didn't expect to see him today.

What are you doing? Stop it!

I don't like things that make you cry.

I didn't cry.

♪ When there are grey skies ♪

♪ I don't mind the grey skies ♪

♪ You'll make them blue... ♪

♪ Sonny boy

Hey, Donald.

In to get your cheque? You one greedy motherfucker, man.

Don't you know that?

Hi.

- How's it going? - Better now.

- Yeah? - Mm-hm.

- I'm gonna go home. - What's wrong?

Oh, just one of those days.

My back is killing me. I'll go see Louis.

Oh, no, not again. Your boss is gonna Kill you.

What can you do?

Well... I'll miss riding home with you.

- Yeah? - I was looking forward to it.

- Yeah? Easy. My back.

- Come on, Jake, that didn't hurt. - How do you know?

I know you.

- How come you're so tense today? - I don't know. What can I tell you?

- I saw Sarah the other day. - Oh, yeah?

- Mm-hm. - Her knee acting up?

A bit.

So what did she have to say?

Turn on your right side.

How about the other right?

I don't understand you philosophers. You got the whole world figured out,

but you can't remember the difference

between right and left.

- So what did she say? - Well, not much.

She's like you that way. Two clams. No wonder your marriage didn't last.

Put your hand on your hip.

Take a deep breath.

And let it out slowly, slowly...

That's good.

Now turn to your left.

Did she talk about the boys?

She said you're a son of a bitch

and she regrets the day she set eyes on you.

I thought she didn't say much.

She didn't. That's all she said.

Put your hand on your hip. Take a breath.

Easy...

On your back.

I think she still loves you.

I don't think so.

She doesn't stop talking about you.

That's love, Jake.

- I think you should go back to her. - She threw me out, remember?

Your problem is you spent six years getting a PhD

and then went to work for the post office.

Yeah. Well, what can I tell you?

After 'Nam, I didn't wanna think any more.

Any other brain but yours, I'd agree.

Now relax.

And relax. This is gonna be a little strong.

Atta boy. Atta boy.

I found one. I think he's still alive.

Oh... What did you... What did you do to me?

I had to get in there. It's a deep adjustment.

Rest a moment. Let it set a bit.

- I had a weird flash just now. - What?

I don't know. I've been having them recently.

You know, you look like an angel, Louis.

Like an overgrown cherub.

- Anyone ever tell you that? - Yeah.

You. Every time I see you.

- You're a life-saver, Louis. - I know.

- Mr Postman! - Mr Postman!

Where's your letters, baby?

Where's your bag?

- Shake your thing! - You should sing it, OK? Wait!

♪ Oh, yes, wait a minute Mr Postman... ♪

♪ Wait! Wait Mr Postman ♪

♪ Please Mr Postman, look and see ♪

♪ Please, please, Postman ♪

♪ Have you got any letter ♪

Where you going? Where you going?

Come back. We don't remember the words. I'm sorry. We just...

Look out!

Singer. Please, Elizabeth, sit down.

- I need to see Dr Carlson, please. - Carlson? Uh, is he new here?

New? No. He's been here for years.

Not according to my charts. Do you have an appointment?

Uh, no. Listen, I need to see him.

I know where his room is. Just give me a pass.

I won't be long. Ten minutes.

Our doctors are seen by appointment only.

Damn. I was in the veterans outpatient programme. He knows me.

- What was your name? - S... Singer. Jacob Singer.

I've got a lot of work here. Haven't even had my lunch yet.

I'm sorry, but... there's no record of a Jacob Singer in our files.

- What do you mean, no record? - Do I have to spell it out for you?

- There is nothing there. - That's ridiculous.

I've been coming here for years.

Listen to me. I'm... I'm...

I, uh... I need to see Dr Carlson.

If it's an emergency,

we have a staff of psychiatric social workers.

There's about an hour's wait.

Would you just fill out this form, please?

I don't want any social worker!

I want Dr... Dr Carlson. He knows me.

Hey! Come back here!

Hey! Hey, come back here!

Hey!

Look out! Get out of here! Move! Move!

- Hey, come on! - Hold him.

He made it!

Can I help you?

Where's Dr Carlson? Isn't this his office?

Be just a minute.

Why don't we step out in the hall?

It... It's OK.

I'm so sorry.

Dr Carlson died.

Died?

- It was a car accident. - Oh, Jesus.

Oh, Jesus.

When?

Uh, about a month ago. Just before Thanksgiving.

How'd it happen?

No-one really knows. They say it blew up.

Blew up?

What do you mean, blew up?

I really don't know.

Is there anything I can do for you?

Do you... Do you want me to get... get you someone?

No.

I'm OK.

Maybe it's the pressure, Jake.

You know, the money. Things like that.

Or your wife.

Why do you bring her up?

She's always on your mind.

I never talk about her.

It has nothing to do with talking.

Maybe it's the war.

You can't spend two years in Vietnam and expect...

Aw, Jezzie, come on.

How does that explain barricaded subway stations?

How does that explain these fucking creatures?

Creatures? Jake, New York is filled with creatures.

And lots of stations are closed.

They're like... demons, Jezz.

Demons?

Jake, honey... they're winos and bag ladies. Lowlife.

That's all they are. The streets are crawling with them.

Don't make them into something they're not, hmm?

These guys were trying to kill me. They were aiming straight up.

Kids on a joy ride. It happens all the time.

They were inhuman.

Oh, come on.

What were they, Jake?

You still love me?

- What? - Do you love me?

Yeah.

Hey, where are you going?

- Come with me. Come on. - Easy. Easy.

Do you have a girlfriend? Do you like her an awful lot?

Do you want a new girlfriend? Because you know what,

I live very close to here. And I'm very lonely.

Hey.

- Let me look at your hand. - No, thanks.

Go ahead, Jake. Let her do it. She's real good.

Come on.

- It's fun. - You left-handed or right-handed?

Uh, um, right, um...

- Give it to me. - OK.

Mm-hm. Married man. Tsk. Please...

Oh, no.

Oh, divorce.

I like that. You see this here, that split?

- Where? - Right here.

It's a paper cut.

Oh, and a sense of humour too.

I love it. Let's see.

Hey, Jake. Jake!

Come on, baby, come on, dance with me just one. Huh?

- What, are you flirting? - Hi.

Let's see, uh...

This is your heart line.

And your head line... Huh?

And your life line.

You have a very strange line, hon.

No, it's not funny.

See, according to this, you're already dead.

- You're out of here, baby. - Well, what can you do?

J.. Just give me your blue eyes before you go, OK?

Wait, wait. Jake, come here. Come on.

- Come on. Come on, you can dance. - I don't want to.

Shake it. Come on, baby, shake it.

Come on, man, move those legs! Brother, move them size 13s!

Those are some big fucking feet! Shit!

Come on!

Jesus, look at that. His guts are hanging out.

You'll have to push them back in.

I have never... I have never been so mortified in my whole life.

Screaming like that...

I don't understand what's gotten into you, Jake.

You're not acting normal.

There's been too many crazies in my life.

I don't want it any more.

I'm tired of men flipping out on me.

If you go crazy, Jake,

you're going crazy by yourself, you understand?

What's it say?

Oh, my God, I'm calling the doctor.

- What's it say? - It's gone to the top.

Great.

Um, Dr Forrest, I'm so sorry to bother you.

This is, um, Jezzie Pipkin up on 14-G.

I just took Jake's temperature and it... it says a 106.

Could that be right?

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

- Get out of bed! - I can't. I'm freezing.

Jake, for Pete's sake, get out of bed!

What did the doctor say?

That you'd die on the way to the hospital. Now, come on.

Come on, up, up.

Hold on, hold on. You're gonna be OK, Jake.

What are you doing?

Get in there! I gotta get more ice!

I'm freezing!

What's happening?

I need some ice right away. He's running a 106 fever.

- What? - It's an emergency. Ice.

- Thank you. - What are you doing, Sam?

Come on, Sam.

Oh, my God. Oh, Jake. Oh, Jake, don't you die on me.

Come on. Sam, help me! Sam!

- I'll help. - Come on, baby. Come on.

Don't you be...

- Be careful with him. - Got him.

Come on. It's for your own good. That's right. That's right.

Come on, Jake. Come on, get him in there.

- Fuck! - Easy.

Hold him! Hold him! It's gonna be OK. It's gonna be OK.

- Is he all right? - He doesn't like this.

- Help me!

- Stop it! - Don't die on me, Jake!

Stop it! You're killing me!

I shut the windows.

- What was that? - I'm freezing.

I'm not cold.

Of course you're not cold. You have all the covers.

Must be ten degrees in here.

I'm telling you, Sarah...

...if you want fresh air, you can sleep on the fire escape.

- From now on, that window's closed. - It's not healthy when it's closed.

Healthy? You call this healthy?

I'm dying of pneumonia. This is healthy?

- What a dream I was having.

I was living with another woman.

Yeah. You know who it was?

- I don't wanna know. - Jezebel from the post office.

You remember her? You met her at the Christmas Party that time.

I was living with her.

God, what a nightmare.

There were all these demons and I was... on fire.

I was burning from ice.

Guilty thoughts.

See what happens when you cheat on me, even in your mind?

She was really good in bed.

Go to sleep.

- She had these great thighs.

I thought you said it was a nightmare.

It was. It was a nightmare.

It was a terrible, terrible nightmare.

- Daddy, what was that noise?

What are you doing up?

It's cold.

- Well, tell your mother. - Go back to bed, darling.

Will you tuck me in?

Who, her?

No. Daddy.

- Shit... - Good night, sweetheart.

Oh, God. Come on.

Good night, darling.

Good.

OK. Close your eyes.

♪ I don't mind the grey skies ♪

♪ You'll make the moon... ♪

Blue?

♪ Sonny boy

♪ When I'm old and grey dear Promise, you won't stray dear ♪

♪ I love you so, my sonny...

Boy?

- Dad? - Yeah, Jed?

You forgot my allowance.

Your allowance? It's five o'clock in the morning.

- We'll talk about it at breakfast. - All right, but don't forget.

I love you, Dad.

What is this, a convention? I love you too, Pickles.

Now, go back to sleep.

Wait. Don't go.

I'm not going anywhere.

I'm right here.

Close your eyes.

See you in the morning.

Don't shut it.

Open it a bit more.

- There? - A little bit more.

- There? - Good.

I love you, Sarah.

- Watch the head. - How long's it been?

Move it, for fuck's sake.

Don't think we got a fucking chance down here.

Declare an emergency. Over.

You're a lucky guy, Jake.

You must have friends in high places.

You wanna get something for Christmas?

Hey, there, Gash. Let's get down to Orson.

I was going to vote for three all the way through

and I switched over to two with some trepidation

because she said one over one,

which means number one of an addition of one.

And I think only an artist would know that.

Jake?

You're gonna be all right, Jake.

Oh, you're gonna be fine.

Am...

- Am I home? - Yeah.

You're right here. Home.

Doctor says you're lucky your brains didn't boil.

What a night, Jake, huh?

You were screaming and Kicking...

You kept saying, "Sarah, close the window."

Over and over.

And talking to your kids.

Even the dead one.

Weird, huh?

You know you melted 50 lbs of ice in eight hours.

Am I dead?

Oh, no.

No. You're right here.

Doctor says you got to rest. You see, he says you have a virus.

That's what they always say when they don't know what it is.

Now, you just lie here, OK?

You know, you really oughtta get out today.

You can't just sit around like this all the time, Jake.

It's not healthy. It's not good for your mind.

Go take a walk or something.

Do something. Go to a movie.

Go enjoy yourself.

One of us should be having a good time.

Anybody in there? Anybody home?

Who are you?

Fuck you!

Two weeks of this shit! I've had enough!

Go ahead and rot if you want!

Have a good fucking day.

Hello.

- Jake? - Yeah?

- It's Paul. Paul Gruniger. - Paul Gruniger...

Paul. Paul Gruniger. Jesus, how are you? God...

It's been like five, six years.

Yeah. A long time.

So, what's up?

- Nothing much. - Yeah. Well, same here.

- I need to see you, Jake. - I'd love to see you, man,

but I... I've been kind of laid up. I've been sick.

I need to see you.

All right.

Something's wrong, Jake.

I don't know what it is...

...but I can't talk to anybody about it.

I mean, I figured I could talk to you.

You always used to listen, you know.

I'm going to hell.

That's as straight as I can put it.

And don't tell me that I'm crazy cos I know I'm not.

They're coming after me.

Who is?

They've been following me.

They're coming out of the walls.

I can't trust anybody.

But I gotta talk to somebody.

I gotta talk to somebody

or I'm gonna fly out of my fucking mind!

Mind your business.

I don't know who they are or what they are,

but they're gonna get me and I'm scared, Jake.

I'm so scared. I-I can't do anything.

I-l can't go to my sister's.

I can't even...

I can't even go home.

- I don't know what to do. - Paul... Shit.

Paul, I know what you're talking about.

What do you mean?

I've seen them too.

You've seen them?

I've seen them, too.

Everywhere, like a plague.

My God, I thought I was the only one.

Yeah, me too.

I thought I was going out of my fucking mind.

I know! I know!

Look... Look, I carry these around everywhere with me.

But they don't... But they don't help.

Nothing helps.

What happened? What happened that night?

- What... What have they done to us? - I don't know.

Profile.

Great. That's it. That's it. Go give it to him.

My lucky day.

Mayday, mayday, mayday...

Five minutes to Da Nang.

No, no, no, no, no.

You have to be strong for your children.

Listen to what she's saying.

Did anybody see the police report? Sounds like a bomb to me.

The paper said it was electrical. It was an accident.

That's bullshit. Someone's covering something up.

That was no accident. It was set, man.

Why? Paul wasn't hated by anybody in the world.

So, what did he say when you went out?

Did he say anything?

Well, he was upset.

He thought people were following him.

- Yeah? Who? - He didn't know.

Demons.

Demons? What the fuck you talking about, demons?

He thought he was going to hell.

Oh, why did he say that for?

I mean, what would make him say that?

I mean, that's strange.

- What else did he say, Jake? - He was scared.

He was seeing things coming out of the woodwork.

"They're trying to get me", he said.

Uh, uh, did he say what they looked like?

Excuse me.

In one end and out the other, huh, George?

Still a fucking spaz.

Hope he can hold his dick better than he can his bottle.

What?

Something weird is going on here.

You know, Paul isn't the first one who's died.

Remember Dr Carlson over at Bellevue?

- Yeah. - His car blew up, too.

Dr Carlson is dead?

Yeah. An explosion just like Paul's.

Oh, shit...

We got six guys here going fucking crazy.

- Yeah, well, not me, buddy. - All right, not you, Rod,

but the rest of us are going out of our minds.

You think this has got something to do with that night?

I think it's got something to do with something.

I think we have to go see the Army.

They're not telling us something. We have to find out what it is.

Oh, come on, Professor, what makes you think the Army's

gonna give you any answers, huh?

I mean, you're gonna be butting your head up against a brick wall.

We'll just have to get ourselves a lawyer.

Yeah, you should find yourself a shrink.

You're all fucking paranoid. It was bad grass.

That's all it was, man!

I mean, there's no such things as fucking demons! Come on!

Carol, I'm gonna need you with your pad in about 15 minutes.

Well...

I'm sorry, Mr Singer, but you know how many people come to me

with the injustices of the world? It would break your heart.

Listen, Mr Geary, this is very important to us.

The Army did something to us and we've gotta find out what.

The Army? The Army... Jeez, what is with you guys?

This is not a walk to the library we're talking about.

This is the US government for Christ's sakes.

This is red tape coming out of your ass.

You know what I mean?

Yeah, I know what you mean. That's why we're here.

We think you can help us.

What am I, Perry Mason?

All right. I'll look into it.

You think we have a chance?

I need sworn depositions from all of you and I need a list

of every other member of the platoon or their survivors.

This is great.

Yeah. Well, I'll tell you one thing, if we do find that the military

is implicated into this, you all stand to make quite a bit of money.

Not that I can predict anything, but class action suits of this kind

have been awarded fairly generous judgements.

That wouldn't be so bad, would it, Mr Singer?

- We're not in it for the money. - That's right.

All right, gentlemen...

...who wants to go first?

Jake, I put a Hungry-Man in the oven.

- It will be ready at a quarter of. - OK.

I also made you a tossed salad. It's in the fridge.

- OK, sweetie. - And I got you some apple juice.

- No, not Red Cheek... - Red Cheek.

Oh, shit...

- Don't drink it all. - All right.

- Oh, your lawyer called. - When?

- When you were in the shower. - Why didn't you call me?

He didn't give me a chance. He hung up on me.

Look, Jake, don't be upset, OK?

- He's not taking your case. - What? What do you mean?

- He said you didn't have one. - What's he talking about?

I don't know. He was very rude.

He said that your friends backed out.

Oh, I don't believe this.

Oh, baby, I feel terrible.

I'd stay, but I'm so late.

- We'll talk when I get home, OK? - Yeah. Yeah.

Are you all right?

Yeah, I'm fine.

- You sure?

Come here, give me a kiss.

- I'll see you later. - Bye, sweetheart.

- Hello? - Frank, hi. It's Jake.

Listen, um, I just got a strange call from Geary.

He said the guys backed down. What's he talking about?

Yeah, that's right, Jake, we did.

Why?

I don't know. It's hard to explain.

We... Well... Well, try.

You know, Jake, um...

...war's war. Things happen, man.

Things happen?

What does that mean?

I thought we were gonna do something, Frank.

There's nothing to do, Jake.

Who's been talking to you?

What's going on, Frank?

OK.

- I'll call the other guys. - They're not interested, Jake.

What do you mean, they're not interested?

They're not interested.

We all talked about this.

We're all suffering the same symptoms, man.

Listen, the Army's hiding something from us.

- We gotta find out what it is. - Uh, Jake, man, I gotta go.

No, no, no, wait. Hold on. No, wait. Don't hang up.

Jake, don't call back any more, OK?

Wait!

I can't do this by myself. Frank...

Frank?

We'll get them. We'll get them this afternoon.

Have a good lunch.

- Geary. Mr Geary. - Excuse me.

- Who's been talking to you? Huh? - Excuse me.

- The Army? - Excuse me.

- Have they been talking to you? - Nobody's talking to nobody.

All right? You don't have a case.

- Hey! Hey! - Don't...

Keep your hands off me. Leave me alone.

Listen, you can't do this. You can't walk away like this.

We need your help.

- You need a doctor. - I don't need a doctor.

The Army did something to me. I gotta prove it. You gotta help me.

There's nothing I can do, all right? Just leave me alone.

Something's going on here. You're not telling me something.

What's wrong with you?

I'll tell you what's wrong with me. I don't know you from Adam, right?

You walk into my office with some bizarre-o story

and demand that I check it out. All right, fine, I did.

Now, I don't know what kind of a fool you take me for,

but you have used and abused me, Sir. I don't like it.

Used you?

That's right. I checked with the Army's Bureau of Information.

- You never even went to Vietnam. - What's that supposed to mean?

It means you and your friends are wacko!

You were all discharged on psychological grounds

after some war games in Thailand.

War games in Thailand? Don't you see what they're doing?

That's a lie. We were in Da Nang for God's sake.

- You gotta believe me. - Go fuck yourself, Singer!

Hey! Hey!

Hey!

What is this? What is this? Help! Help!

Get in there, you cocksucker.

Get off of me!

Get the fuck off of me!

- You little fuck! - No!

Mr Singer. What an appropriate name

for a man who can't keep his mouth shut.

Who are you? What do you want?

We've been watching you for a long time,

you and your friends.

Frightening people with foolish talk about the Army and experiments.

You're in over your head, Mr Singer. Men drown that way.

The Army was part of another life. Let it lie.

I hope we've made our point, Mr Singer.

Kill this motherfucker! Fuck!

Help! Help!

Fuckin' cocksucker!

Please give a little something to help the poor families.

You poor, poor man.

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry, merry Christmas!

This guy's real hurt. You better get something in him.

Hi, I'm Dr Stewart. Can you tell me what happened?

My back. I... I can't move.

- Get my chiropractor. - Your back? Well, did you fall?

He said he slipped on the pavement. He may have hit his head.

- Does he have any identification? - No wallet, nothing.

He stole it.

- Who did? - Santa Claus.

I gotta get the bastard.

It had my son's picture in it. Gabe's picture.

It's the only one I had.

Better get an orthopaedic man in here. Is Dr Davis on call?

I'll page him.

- Call my chiropractor. - We're doing everything we can.

Louis Denardo, Nostend avenue.

I'm gonna have to move you a little bit,

- just to check for injuries. - No, don't.

- This may hurt a little. - No, no...

I don't have to ask if you could feel that.

- God... God damn it. I need Louis. - Who's Louis?

He's out of it. Let's take him down to X-ray.

Gabe?

Jezzie...

Get me out of here.

- Where do you want to go? - Home.

Home? This is your home. You're dead.

Dead? No.

No, I jus... just hurt my back. I'm not dead.

- What are you, then? - I'm alive!

- Then what are you doing here? - I don't know.

- This isn't happening. - What is happening?

- Get me out of here. - There is no out of here.

You've been killed. Don't you remember?

- Careful. Shit! - Move it, guys.

- We're losing him! - Watch it. Careful.

Yeah, shit! Move it for fuck's sake!

He's still pretty doped up.

I don't think he'll be able to talk yet.

And I doubt he'll recognise you.

- I just wanna see him. - I'll be outside if you need me.

Dad? Hi.

It's us.

- You OK? - Jake...

It's me.

We heard what happened.

- I'm not dead. - What?

I'm alive.

I'm not dead.

Oh, no. Of course, you're not.

You just hurt your back, that's all. It'll be fine.

- It just takes some time. - A month, they said.

Just hang in there, Dad.

Now stop it. It is not funny.

God...

What a mess, huh?

Jacob, I still love you.

For whatever that's worth.

Dream on.

Oh, God, no.

What? What?

What?

Oh, God, what? Tell me, what can I do?

Help me.

Hold on.

Starting tomorrow, they'll be changing his medication.

Jacob? Jacob Singer!

- Shh... - Jacob!

Sir, you're gonna have to keep your voice down.

Where's Jacob Singer?

Louis, I'm in here!

Jake! Where are you, Jake?

- You can't go in there. - Sir, Can I help you, sir?

Jacob! Good god, Jake, what have they done?

- Sir, can I help you, sir? - You can't go in there!

- What is this, the Middle Ages? - Don't touch him!

And they call this modern medicine? This is barbaric! Barbaric!

All right, just calm down.

Why don't you just burn him at the stake

and put him out of his misery?

- Sir, you gonna have to leave! - Stay back! Don't come near me!

- Call the security. - Stay back!

Take one step and I'll wrap this around your neck.

- Come on! Back! Back! - All right, calm down.

Calm down.

Come on, Jake. Come on.

You can't do that!

All right, make sure that security's alerted.

- Sir, you can't do this! - Out of the way!

I'm upset. I'm really upset.

That's a crazy man.

They'll nail him at the door downstairs.

What does he think?

Watch your toes, Jake.

Well, you've done it to yourself this time, haven't you?

Am I dying, Louis?

From a slipped disc? That would be a first.

I was in hell.

I don't wanna die, Louis.

Well, I'll see what I can do about it.

It's all pain.

Straighten out your head.

Relax.

You ever read Meister Eckhart?

No.

How did you get your doctorate without reading Eckhart? Relax.

OK, good. Now turn over gently. Right side.

The other right, OK?

You're a regular basket case, you know that?

Eckhart saw hell, too.

You know what he said?

He said, "The only thing that burns in hell

is the part of you that won't let go of your life.

Your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away.

But they're not punishing you", he said.

"They're freeing your soul."

Relax.

Good.

So the way he sees it...

if you're frightened of dying and... and you're holding on,

you'll see devils tearing your life away.

But if you've made your peace...

then the devils are really angels freeing you from the earth.

It's just a matter of how you look at it, that's all.

So don't worry, OK?

OK?

Good. Relax. Relax.

Relax.

And wiggle your toes.

Come on, wiggle your toes.

Perfect. We got it.

- We got it. - Get on your back. Come on.

Easy. OK?

Now let's just give it a little try. I wanna see if you can stand.

By myself?

You can do it.

Come on.

Come on. Just give it a try, Jacob. Come on.

Come on.

Atta boy.

Go ahead. Go ahead.

Go ahead.

Hallelujah.

Jake?

What's wrong?

It's me.

Are you OK?

Jesus Christ, where have you been? I've been worried sick!

I mean, it's two days and you don't call me?

I was in the hospital.

Oh, Jesus. In the hospital?

Jake, honey, what hospital?

I-I called every hospital in the city.

No, don't.

- What's going on? - I'm not here. You haven't seen me.

Hello?

Hello, is Jacob Singer there, please?

- No. I haven't seen him all night. - When do you expect him?

- I-I don't know. - Well, could you...

Could you please tell him something for me?

Could you tell him that I was in Vietnam in '69.

- Vietnam? - That there was

- a secret experiment... - What experiment?

I need to see him as soon as possible.

Hello. This is Jacob Singer.

Jacob, I was in-country in 68.

I was part of a chemical warfare unit out of Saigon.

We conducted secret experiments for the government.

- My God. - We need to see you.

- Are you there? - Yeah.

- Do you wanna know more? - Yeah. Where can I meet you?

On 128th and Westside highway in front of a coffee truck.

- OK. Well, how will I know you? - You already know me, Jacob.

- I do? - Yes.

Just listen, make sure you're not followed OK?

- All right. - Bye.

I knew it.

Who was that?

A chemist.

Part of a chemical warfare unit out of Saigon.

- I knew something was going on. - Jake... please don't go.

I'm sorry.

Jacob?

Hi. I'm Michael Newman.

Yeah.

I told you you'd know me.

I've been tracking you for a long time.

I just wish I'd spoken to you before tonight.

Why are you following me?

You're one of the survivors, Jacob.

Come on. We can't talk here. It's not safe. Come on.

So, first I'm arrested, right?

Best LSD I ever made right down the drain.

I figured, "This is it, man 20 years in the can if I'm lucky."

That was 1968.

- Long time ago. - Really.

Next thing I know, I'm on Riker's Island.

You ever been there, man?

Well, suddenly, they take me from my cell, OK?

They throw me in a waiting room

with like, you know, bank teller windows.

Four army colonels with medals

up their asses are standing on the other side.

They say to me, if I come to Vietnam for two years,

no action, mind you, just work in a lab,

they'll drop all the charges and wipe the record clean.

And I'd only been in jail for like 13 hours.

- I knew 'Nam couldn't be any worse. - Shows how little you knew.

Yeah, really. They had me by the balls.

The next thing I know, I'm in Saigon.

I'm working in a top-secret lab synthesising mind-altering drugs.

Not the street stuff.

They had us isolating special properties.

The dark side, OK?

They wanted a drug that increased aggressive tendencies.

They were scared, you know. They were worried.

They figured you guys were too soft, not fighting up to your potential.

They wanted something to stir you up, make you mad.

You know, tap into your anger.

And we did it.

Most powerful thing I ever saw.

Even a bad trip, and believe me, I've had my share

do not compare to the fury of the "Ladder."

- The "Ladder"? - Yeah. That's what they called it.

A fast trip straight down the Ladder.

Right to the primal fear, right to the base anger.

I'm telling you, man, it was powerful.

You know, I don't need to tell you. You already know.

We did experiments on jungle monkeys. It worked.

They bashed each other's heads in, gouged out their eyes,

chewed off their tails. The brass loved it.

Then they made us try it on Charlie.

We, uh...

...took these POWs, you know?

Just kids, really. And...

...we put them in this courtyard...

...and we fed them huge doses of the stuff, man.

I mean, they were worse than the monkeys, you know.

I didn't know men could do those things.

Anyway, there was... this big offensive coming up, right?

Everyone knew it. Time Magazine, Huntley-Brinkley.

And the brass were scared, man because they knew we couldn't win.

Morale was down, it was getting ugly in the States.

- Ah, you remember? - Yeah.

So, a couple days later, they decide to use the Ladder...

on one test battalion...

...yours.

Just an infinitesimal dose in the food supply, they said.

Just... Just to prove its effectiveness in the field.

They were sure your unit would have the highest kill ratio of any

in the whole goddamn offensive, and they were right. You did.

Except not the way they thought.

No-one can remember that night.

I get flashes, but they don't make sense.

What happened? Was there an offensive?

Yeah. A couple days later. It was fierce.

- But you guys never saw it. - But there was an attack?

- It was a fight, right? - Yeah, but not with the Cong.

With who?

You killed each other.

- What? - It was brother against brother.

No discrimination.

- You tore each other to pieces. - God...

I knew it would happen.

I warned them. I fucking warned them!

Oh, fuck...

Who was I? I was just some hippie chemist, right?

What did I know?

Fuck.

I talked to the guys who bagged the bodies.

They were in worse shape than you, believe me.

They saw what was left.

I needed to find you, you know?

I felt responsible.

The Ladder was my baby.

- I'm going to Brooklyn. - Not with me, you're not.

I get lost in Brooklyn.

I know the way. Listen...

This is all the money I have.

- Take me home, please. - Where's your home?

Dr Singer. Well... it's been a long time.

- Hello, Sam. - Are you all right?

Yeah, I'm OK.

Do you want some help? I can call upstairs.

No, no. That's OK.

Thanks, Sam.

Sarah?

Jed? Eli?

If you're frightened of dying and you're holding on,

you'll see devils tearing your life away.

If you've made your peace,

then the devils are really angels freeing you from the Earth.

Gabe?

Gabe?

Hi, Dad.

It's OK.

Come on. Let's go up.

Come on.

He's gone.

He looks kind of peaceful, the guy.

Put up a hell of a fight, though.

What's the guy's name?

Singer, Jacob Singer.