I love you, Daddy.
Frannie loves you.
Fran?
Mr. Goldsmith? Hello?
I'm here, Harold. Come in.
Here.
It's my father.
I'm going to bury him in his garden.
That's his favorite place. I think he'll be able to rest there.
I really do.
But I'm so hot and tired. Could you please help me?
Of course.
Here you go. It's a little warm, but it's not too bad.
That's okay. I like warm lemonade.
Harold, it's so strange.
It doesn't even seem like the place I grew up in.
It seems like a different planet.
Yeah, I know what you mean.
I've always hated it here.
All I ever wanted was to escape.
All those guys who used to give me wedgies in gym class...
all the girls who used to laugh at the way I walked...
they're all gone.
And I want them back.
Nuts.
For two people from the same town...
two people who know each other...
to both be immune to something this big:
It's like winning the Megabucks lottery.
- It has to mean something. - Well, there's gotta be other people.
We just gotta figure out how to find them, don't you think?
- We have to go to Stovington. - Where?
Stovington, Vermont.
There's a government communicable disease center there.
If anyone's still alive and trying to find a cure for the flu, that's where they'd be.
- lmmune cases as well. - Harold, you're a genius.
That's a great idea.
Of course, Stovington might be deserted, too.
Roads are jammed.
- Can you ride a motorcycle? - Yeah. Jess taught me.
Yeah, that's your boyfriend.
Well, not anymore.
Do you think that maybe...
- you know, maybe I could be... - Harold, we're always gonna be friends.
- Oh, I forgot. - What?
It's a surprise. Wait right here.
I found it in the garage when I was looking for canvas.
It runs on batteries. I thought maybe it would cheer me up.
Cheer us both up.
Okay, what do you want to hear?
Hello?
Is anybody here?
Giddyup, boy.
Hello?
Is anybody there?
Is anybody anywhere?
Over here!
Where?
Keep shouting.
I don't believe I need to.
- You're not gonna shoot me, are you? - Are you dangerous?
I don't know. No, I'm not dangerous.
I can smell your perfume.
I'm glad to see you, too.
Except for the birds, we may be the only living creatures in this entire city.
Don't you believe it...
'cause there are a lot of dangerous people out there.
Some of them are every bit as healthy as we are.
So my gun might not be such a bad idea?
No.
You know something?
I've seen this guy before...
in Times Square, just before everything went to hell.
Screaming about monsters.
Now he said they were coming.
He was right.
- How rare did you want it? - Just run it through a warm room.
You know, I was hoping you'd say that.
- Ta-da. - Thank you.
This one's barely breathing.
I think I lost my appetite.
- We gotta get out of here. - I beg your pardon?
I mean, we gotta get out of the city.
I mean, it's not just the odds of getting shot.
Do you have any idea what it's going to smell like in two weeks?
Five million people rotting in the July sun.
What is that?
Vitamin C.
Yeah, I'm sorry. It's none of my business.
Apology accepted.
Mostly because I think you're right. The Big Apple is baked.
Do you really want me to go with you, Larry?
Yeah. You betcha.
Good.
When?
I'd say the sooner the better.
Where?
We go west. Towards Nebraska.
There's a town called Hemingford Home.
Nebraska? Why Nebraska?
I've been having these dreams about it.
An old black woman who calls herself Mother Abagail.
The town's real enough. I checked the road atlas.
You mean, you're having visions of an old black woman?
You haven't had dreams like that?
No, I don't dream. I never dream.
Wait. Nadine.
We should get out of this graveyard.
How I love to love Nadine.
Hey, can anybody hear me?
Let me out!
Let me out of here!
You have to.
I'm gonna starve if you don't.
I don't want to starve to death.
Starve.
Just in case.
Emergency supplies.
Anybody!
Bombs away!
Hey, Trash! What'd old lady Semple say when you torched her pension check?
- Who's there? - People who play with fire wet the bed.
Gonna stick you in the nuthatch up in Terre Haute, Trash.
Stick you in the nuthatch and give you a few thousand shock treatments.
Shut up!
Keep him away from me!
Hey, Trash, why didn't you burn up the school?
No one's there, Trash.
They're all dead. They can't hurt you anymore.
Can't hurt me?
- Can't tease you anymore. - Can't tease me.
Not anymore.
My life for you.
There.
Go, Trashy. Run. Now!
My life for you!
Trashcan Man.
What?
Where are you?
Everywhere.
I will place you high in my councils, Trash...
and I will set you to burn.
My life for you.
You were right, Lord.
Those prunes did the trick.
But my, don't they taste nasty.
"Once in every generation...
"the plague shall fall among them."
That's what it says in the Book.
Seems like you maybe went a little too far this time...
Rats in the corn, Lord.
And the rats are his, ain't they?
Welladay.
I feel them coming in my direction.
Some of them will be going on to him...
won't they?
I hear you, Lord, and I'm in the way of doing your will.
But I don't much like it.
Hundred and six years old. Seems a mite long in the tooth...
to be leading the children of lsrael out of Egypt.
Or the children of America into Colorado.
Doctor said cut out the coffee.
But I just have only one cup a day.
Two cups a day.
Besides, he's dead and I'm alive.
I do what you say, Lord. Don't I always?
But even your own son prayed...
that the cup be taken from his lips, and I'm praying the same thing.
Probably get about the same answer, too.
I got the Lord to protect me!
I ain't scared of the likes of you!
I think you lie, old woman.
Get thee hence, low spirit!
Turn them away if they come, Mother.
Take my advice. Turn them away.
Your blood is in my fists, Mother.
Dear Lord, take this evil vision from my sight.
If it's your will to bring them on, God...
better do it before I lose my guts.
Amen.
- Anybody home? - Help me!
I'm down here!
Please help me!
You sound pretty hungry, rabbit.
Could you let me out of here, mister? I'll do anything you want.
You poor guy.
You look like kaka.
- Tell me something, Lloyd. - How do you know my name?
Lucky guess.
How'd you stay alive so long?
I saw it coming down and I saved up some food. That's how.
Brer Rat. How'd he taste?
Poke should be here, not me. Everything was Poke's idea.
And you got stuck with nothing to eat but rat tartare. Bad luck.
Worst damn luck I ever heard of.
But it could just be that your luck's on the change, Lloyd.
Look here.
My God.
Wait a minute, son. You ain't seen nothing yet.
Not bad, huh?
I never even introduced myself, did I?
Pleased to meet you, Lloyd. Hope you guessed my name.
Nothing. Just a little classical reference.
Actually, my name's Flagg. Randall Flagg.
Before I open up this cell door...
and take you out for a couple of cheeseburgers and fries...
I think we ought to have ourselves a little understanding.
I'm going to make you my foreman, Lloyd.
I'm gonna slip the keys to the kingdom into your hand. I pick you.
Do you understand that? I pick you.
Anyone ever done that for you in your whole miserable life?
Not even Poke.
We just, you know, sort of fell together.
After that, I just kind of got left here.
"Kind of got left here."
That's one way of putting it, I suppose.
Would you like to get back at those people who'd leave a man to die in a jail like...
Well, like him?
- You bet I would. - Of course you would.
But I've got a feeling you're somebody special. A real find.
Not exactly a quiz kid...
but you are the first.
I'm even going to put you ahead of Trashcan Man.
- Who? - Never mind.
I need your word that we're gonna stick together.
No backstabbing, no falling asleep on the watch.
Just you and me, Lloyd. Win or lose, stand or fall.
You give me your promise, I give you the key.
I promise.
You're free, Lloyd. Come on out.
Is that mine?
- Shall we bite some chow, man? - Bite some chow, yes, you bet.
There's a lot to do. We have to work fast.
- But we can do it, can't we, Lloyd? - Yes. You bet.
You and me, soldier. You and me!
Larry, I can't do it.
Sure you can.
- I'll be with you. - No. You don't understand.
I can't do it. Dark, confined places. I can't do it. I'll go crazy.
- That's great. - I'm sorry.
That's just great, Nadine.
Why you didn't tell me this before we got 60 or so blocks...
from the George Washington Bridge is beyond me.
Because I thought I could do it.
Why me?
And you've had plenty of those, thank you very much.
- Give that back. - No, ma'am.
I'm not going to stand here in the middle of five million dead people...
and watch you commit suicide.
No!
Damn you.
- Where are you going? - Going to the George Washington Bridge.
By myself.
I don't need this prima donna act, missy. I really don't.
You have fun getting raped and murdered back on Seventh Avenue, sweetheart.
Come on back. This is crazy.
I'm sorry, okay?
If it has to be the bridge, that's fine. Just don't do it alone.
The hell with you.
I'm going in now!
Don't look at them, stupid.
Larry.
Who's there?
ldentify yourself!
You better start talking before I start shooting here!
Larry, please stop shooting!
Nadine, you stay where you are, do you hear me?
Are you hurt? Did I shoot you?
No, but I felt the wind...
One came by so close I felt the wind of it...
and the tile chips on my face. I think I cut my face--
God, I'm so sorry.
- It's okay. - I'm sorry.
Are you still mad about the pills?
- No. - 'Cause I won't take the pills, Larry.
It's okay.
Oh, dear God.
I tell you...
Jersey never smelled so good.
I don't think you're singing that just right.
Take it easy.
It's okay, I'm a friend.
Well, I certainly hope so.
Just think of it as home defense while on the road.
All right, I certainly will.
- Glen Bateman at your service. - Stu Redman. Originally from east Texas.
Kojak, say hello to Stu Redman.
He's such a miserable dog.
Don't be too hard on him.
He's the first dog I've seen in...
well, since the third week of June.
Yeah. The superflu took most of the dogs right along with their idiot masters.
Most unfair.
It might not be a bad idea to paint with your glasses on.
Not when you paint like I do.
I can't do this, Larry. I just... Not now.
You can. Sure you can. You can do anything.
No, I can't.
I want you.
- I know, but-- - Do you want me?
I know you do.
So what's the problem?
I just...
need more time.
It's the dreams?
- I told you, I don't dream. - Come on, Nadine.
I had the same dreams.
I don't know anything about that. I just...
I just need more time.
Yeah, sure.
Time I got.
Thank you.
Folks round these parts just call me Mother Abagail.
You'll be coming along to see me, won't you, Larry?
Yeah.
Hemingford Home...
or Boulder.
One place or the other.
So cold.
No, he's warm. Not you.
But I'm the one you belong to, Nadine.
- You are the promised one. - Why me?
Who promised?
That doesn't matter.
Nadine. My love.
As long as you hide your mind from the old woman, you'll be fine.
- When you come to me, we'll be married. - Married.
But I want you to leave the one you're traveling with. Tonight.
I can handle Larry. He's just a boy.
Leave him.
Larry, by the time you read this, I'll be gone.
If I stay, we'll end up sleeping together, and I can't have that.
I have my reasons. Thanks for being there.
I'll see you again. Much love, Nadine.
You were right about the dreams.
Hey, mister, watch out!
Holy G, mister, but you took a tumble.
Didn't you just? My laws.
I'm sorry if I scared you, mister, but you scared me, too.
You're the first person I've seen in just about forever.
I made that, mister. You like it?
You bet.
I got them dummies from the window of Landon's on the highway to Okie City.
I thought a few decorations would cheer up Main Street.
It's been awful sad with everyone gone.
Do you like them?
Thanks. Decoration is my hobby.
M-O-O-N. That spells "hobby."
Do you want to go on up the street to the drugstore and get a Band-Aid?
We can just take it if we want. Everyone's gone, so it's not like stealing.
Sure don't talk much, do you?
I'm sorry, mister, I can't read.
Just a few little words is all.
I went to school. I made it to the third grade, but then I kind of pooped out.
I could read some Curious George when I left, but since then I kind of forgot.
I'm sorry, mister, I don't get you.
My daddy always said I was a little slow on the upchuck.
That's a joke.
My daddy was always joking around and...
I got it, mister!
You're just like old Albion Packalotte's hired man.
Tom Cullen knows what that is.
M-O-O-N. That spells "deaf and dumb"!
When they all coming back, mister?
I know where they went, laws, yes.
They up and went to Kansas City.
They're always talking about what a dull town this is...
since the roller rink went bust.
There's just the drive-in theater out on Route 61.
All they show is them diddly-daddly pictures and they're all rated "X."
M-O-O-N. That spells "X."
So they all went to Kansas City.
Except my mama. She caught a cold and died.
I put her in the cemetery my own self.
So she didn't go to Kansas City with the rest of them.
She's up in heaven. She's eating the bread of life with Jesus.
Mister, if you're going to Kansas City, can I go with you?
I ain't never been...
and I don't want to stay here anymore.
It's lonely and it's scary at night.
Drive a car? Tom Cullen?
Laws, no.
I guess you can't drive a car, either.
I got just the thing for you, ma'am.
Hey, mister, nice bike. Who's it for?
You want me to go with you? To Kansas City?
To see the old black lady?
That's right. She lives in a little house in the corn.
She plays her guitar on the porch.
I don't mind going to see her, but we won't go see the other one, will we?
The one that turns into a crow and flies away?
He wears boots and jeans...
and a jacket with special buttons on it.
Face buttons.
He looks like a man, but I don't think he's really a man.
We won't go near him, will we, mister?
Okay, then. All right, I'm ready.
Laws, yes. M-O-O-N. That spells "ready."
M-O-O-N. That spells "Nebraska"!
Time to get going, Stuart.
You come see me.
Who are you?
- Who are you really? - Your last hope.
If you miss me in Hemingford Home...
we'll be moving on to Colorado. I think you know where.
Boulder. But...
The rats are his.
Stay away from her, East Texas. Stay away or you'll all die.
The plague!
You come on along and see me. You and all your friends.
Damn dreams are going to drive me crazy if I don't do something.
So I'm gonna go to Nebraska. I gotta find out what this means.
- You want to come with me? - Why not?
Always assuming we can find a motorcycle with a sidecar.
I'm not leaving Kojak.
Well, you don't sound very enthusiastic.
When I lose sleep, I get cranky.
Bad dreams?
The name of the guy in the desert is Flagg.
And I think he's crucifying anyone who gets in his way.
Let's say we go out there to Nebraska and the old woman's there.
"Folks round these parts call me Mother Abagail.
"I'm 106 years old and still make my own bread."
Yeah, that's her.
Let's say she's real. Then what?
Well, it's obvious she's some sort of magnet.
So I suppose we start building the whole sorry mess up again...
using her as magnetic north.
You hear that?
How you doing?
I'm Stu Redman. This here's Glen Bateman.
And that furry one over there, that's Kojak.
Fran Goldsmith.
- We're glad to meet you. - And we're glad to see you.
- Aren't we, Harold? - I don't know.
Do we assume they're all right...
just because they remember how to shake hands?
No harm intended here, Mr...
Lauder. Harold Lauder.
Harold, I don't think I'm ever going to get these calluses off my fanny.
Where are you folks headed?
- Nebraska. - Stovington, Vermont.
What? What's wrong?
Going to Stovington would be a waste of your time.
I hardly think you're the best judge of that.
He was there. And he knows. They tried to kill him.
- Really? - Yeah.
Look...
Glen and I were about ready to head to Nebraska.
We've been having the same dream--
The dreams are an aberration.
Maybe, but we're all headed in the same direction.
- Why don't we go together? - Okay.
- No. - Harold.
I don't like the looks of them.
This one in particular.
Can I talk to you for a second? Come on.
I'm gonna talk straight to you now, okay? Between you and me.
I do not want to cut in on you here.
That's the last thing in the world that I want.
Relax. The last thing in the world.
Here you go.
- Okay. - No, thanks.
You sure?
Not bad. Cold.
Enjoy it.
I have a feeling there's gonna be a shortage of cold beer this summer.
- I still want to check Stovington. - Harold, why?
Let's just say I'm from Missouri.
And I don't always take the word of people I just met as gospel.
All right.
But there isn't anything there you're gonna wanna see.
Still from Missouri?
You was right. I never should have eaten all them apples. Laws, no.
Where you going?
Don't worry, I ain't going nowhere. My legs feel all funny.
My God. Are you real?
If you're real, say something.
Are you a deaf-mute?
Somebody finally shows up in this crappy town...
and it turns out to be a deaf-mute.
Well, hi. My name's Julie Lawry.
You can't tell me yours, can you?
Poor you.
Does baby have a sad tummy?
Ain't he a moose?
"I'm Nick Andros. My friend is Tom Cullen. He's mildly retarded."
A retard and a deaf-mute. Just my luck.
What?
Do all deaf-mutes have such big guns?
They do?
Peekaboo.
What?
No. Hold me.
You gotta hold me.
I've been lonely.
No, no. What's that?
He's just a retard.
He doesn't feel things the way that you and I do.
He can wait.
What?
Get out.
Stupid dummy.
It was those apples. Laws, yes.
I don't want it. No, sir. Say, who's that?
How you doing, cutie-pie?
I heard you weren't feeling too good.
Your name's Tom, right?
Tom Cullen.
- M-O-O-N. That spells "Tom Cullen." - Yes.
I don't want medicine, mister.
That's right. You know what I know about that stuff? That stuff's poison.
No, sir. Tom Cullen doesn't drink poison. Daddy said, "Don't you ever."
Daddy said if it killed the rats in the barn, it'd kill me, too.
Please don't make me drink it, mister. Please.
His daddy said, "Don't do it." Don't make him do it.
I got Mighty Mouse here with pink lips...
and a big old moose over there crying just like a baby.
Dummy freak bastard!
Yeah, that's right. You wouldn't dare.
Please. Don't fight.
I feel better now. I can go on, see?
Fine, I'll read your crappy note.
It was just a joke, dummy. It was a joke.
Joke, stupid. It was a joke!
I'm gonna get you. You and your stupid freak friend.
I'm gonna get both of you guys!
Sorry, mister. I cry like a baby.
But she scared me. Laws, yes.
You, too?
Laws, yes!
Let's get out of here before she comes back.
She's shooting at us! Come on, mister, we gotta get out of here!
Come on! I want to see you run!
If I ever see any of you two in my face again, I'll kill you!
Hot. Laws, yes.
What is it?
Mister, we gotta go. We gotta hide! What if... That could be her!
She's back there. Laws, yes, Tom knows that...
but what if that one's like her?
He might be like us? Nice, like us?
Holy crow! Am I glad to see you fellows.
You boys headed to Nebraska?
My friend can't talk. He's deaf and dumb. But he's smart.
I bet he is. He got that look, don't he?
Name's Ralph Brentner.
I'm Tom Cullen.
M-O-O-N. That spells "Tom Cullen."
I don't know his name 'cause I can't read it. Sure wish I did, though. Laws, yes.
Your friend's name here is Nick Andros.
M-O-O-N. I guess that spells "Nick."
Nick Andros. How you doing?
Why don't you boys climb on in?
We got some miles to turn before dark.
Thank God!
I'm so happy. We're so happy to see someone else.
Right, Joe?
- I'm so pleased to meet you. - Same here, believe me.
How you doing, son?
Joe!
Put that away.
Nice kid. Has he had his rabies shots yet?
I'm sorry. He's been traumatized.
Haven't we all?
I suppose so.
I'm Lucy Swann.
The boy...
I found him in a supermarket in lowa City.
He was just wandering around and eating sweet stuff.
Back then, he was almost feral.
You took him with you anyway.
He would have died on his own.
So what do you think happened here? I mean, you think it was lightning, or...
It started around dusk.
It was a whole series of explosions on the west side of town...
where the tank farms are.
Then, later that night, there was a wind...
and by morning, the rest of the city was gone.
I'd say it was set.
You think somebody deliberately burned Des Moines to the ground?
Yes.
Who'd want to burn a whole city to the ground, for God's sakes?
Cibola.
My life for you.
I will set you high in my councils, and I will set you to burn.
Cibola.
The city, as promised.
Thank you, Lord. I didn't drop it on the floor.
Now, Lord, I ain't picked the corn yet.
Maybe some of those men you're sending will help me out.
Thank you, my Lord, for bringing them to me.
Hello, Mother.
Ralph Brentner. I'm so pleased to meet you.
We never made a single wrong turn. Nick here knew just how to come.
Hello, Nick.
Glad to see you.
God bless.
You've done it, Nick. You've brought them through.
You're the first of many.
You're all welcome here.
Our time is very short, but we'll break bread together...
and have some fellowship, one with the other.
- Granny lady? - What, honey?
Are you the oldest lady in the world?
Gina. That's not polite.
Mayhap so, sweetheart. Mayhap so.
That was a dilly of a meal, ma'am.
It wasn't bad.
Birds was a little tough.
"But it's a hell of a lot tougher where there's none"...
my own mama used to say.
Now I've made up a cot for the little one in the back room.
- The woman, what's her name, Ralph? - Susan. Susan Stern.
A goodish name. She can bunk with the tot.
How did you know to come to me in the first place?
We dreamed of you, Mother.
Of you and the other fellow.
The other fellow.
Come on, you. Time for bed.
God bless the child.
God bless the child that's got her own.
I was told...
that we're gonna be like a snowball rolling downhill...
picking up other people as we head west.
Told? Told by who, Mother?
Told by God.
I tried not to hear what God had to tell me but you can see all the good it done.
You been drafted, too, Nick.
God has his finger on your heart.
And He's got more fingers than one.
There's dark work ahead for his chosen ones.
Dark and bloody.
Ma'am...
what if this dark man we've been dreaming about isn't real?
What if he's, what do you call it, a bogeyman?
You dreamed of me. Am I the bogeyman?
No, ma'am.
He's real all right...
and it's our lot to deal with him.
God don't explain his will...
to the likes of Abby Freemantle.
Well?
Nick says...
He says he don't believe in God.
God bless you, Nick, but it don't matter.
He believes in you.
I'm fine.
Just thinking some long thoughts.
My daddy owned all this once.
As far as your eye can see.
And my brothers lost it...
a piece at a time, after he was gone.
Finally...
the only thing left was the home place.
What I said to myself was:
"Don't worry, Ab. They can have the rest.
"I'll hang on to the home place...
"come what may."
And now look at this.
Look at my things, sitting in the back of that damn truck.
And look at me, getting moved on...
like a vagrant turned out of a boxcar by railroad dick.
Is that what God is?
A big old railroad dick, who'd like to whop you upside your head...
if you don't step as lively as he wants you to step?
Oh, Jesus!
You guys coming?
Daylight's wasting.
Come on, Nick...
Ralph's waiting.
All right.
Let's go.
Boulder, here we come!
Cibola!
My life for you.
Wonderful city of gold!
Seven in one. My life for you.
Anybody here?
- What are we gonna do with him? - Let him sleep. Flagg wants him.
Where is Flagg, anyway?
You that anxious to see him, Barry?
I just thought...
Flagg will be around. He's been waiting for this guy.
This guy's something special.
My life for you.
Thank You, Lord, for bringing us across the prairie...
and to this place where the mountains begin.
Please take care of us in the days and weeks to come...
and help us to love one another and do your will...
however hard it may sometimes seem to us.
Tom! Tommy, come look!
- What is it, Gina? - A parade. Come on up and look.
Gosh, it is!
M-O-O-N. That spells "parade."
Help us to be true, dear Lord.
Help us to stand.
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