Split Second

What's the matter, Captain?

You will have to get out of here. It's a restricted area.

Why, we're out here on a hunting trip.

How did you get by the roadblocks on the main highway?

We've been hunting in this area for 3 days.

You'll have to turn around and move out.

This is an atomic testing ground. - What?

There is a bomb scheduled to go off here in the morning.

Okay.

" The atomic detonation scheduled for tomorrow morning .."

" Is one of a series being conducted by the Atomic Energy Commission ."

" In conjunction with the Army, Air Force and Marines ."

" This blast will be a tower explosion ."

" And will be detonated ten to eleven miles .."

" From the control point on a bearing of 10 degrees east of west ."

" The section of the Nevada proving ground south of the control point ."

" Is the Frenchman Flat site ."

" And the area to the north is known as Yucca Basin ."

" Several locations within the basin have been activated for nuclear tests ."

" And the cleaning of these areas is now being completed ."

" The scheduled time for the blast is now 06:00 tomorrow morning ."

Sorry. You can't get to Hanford by the cut-off.

You'll have to take the main highway to Carson City and cut through to Reno.

But that's fifty miles out of the way. - Can't be helped.

The shortcut is in the blast area. - Oh.

Is that where they do all the dirty work?

That's the tower.

It will be atoms itself this time tomorrow.

What's that?

An old mining town.

Lost Hope City.

It blows up tomorrow too.

A ghost town?

Yeah .. we went through it yesterday just to make sure.

Maybe we'd better give it another look, just in case.

Uhuh.

Yeah.

Well, keep the copters up until dark tonight.

And have them make one last sweep as soon as it gets light tomorrow morning.

The roadblocks stay in until I give you the word.

You can write your story Larry, that the area round Lost Hope City is now clear.

At least it will by the time your paper is out.

Thanks.

Are you covering the blast?

When the order I called out yonder, I'll be there.

Come in.

Hello, Colonel. - Charlie.

What are you doing here?

'Relieving you from duty' as they say in the English war pictures.

I'm covering the blast and you're going to Carson City.

For what? - They had a prison break there.

When did he bust out?

Last night when nobody was looking.

You are to leave immediately.

Have you been cleared to cover this operation?

Not completely. We'd better get started.

Why does that paper of yours have to make a switch at this late date?

Because Larry is our big, ace scoop reporter.

And Sam Hurley is big news.

What about the blast?

Well Colonel, when you've seen one atom bomb, you've seen them all.

My regards to your wife and children.

Drive carefully.

Put cotton in your ears.

Hadn't we better just hurry like anything?

Get me security.

How is everything?

Just fine, thanks.

Another piece of pie?

No thanks.

Okay.

More coffee?

Uhuh.

Hey, Larry. - Hiya, Pete.

You've not been up this way in weeks. - No. Been busy blowing up the desert.

Give me a couple of packs of cigarettes, will you.

What's it going to be tomorrow morning? - More of the same thing only bigger.

There goes my windows again.

Where are you heading? - Carson City.

Hey.

Where is the kitchen? - The kitchen?

The place where people who can't pay their bills wash the dishes.

My first customer today, and this is what I get.

How much does she owe? - Fifty cents.

Here. I think it's deductible.

You might as well take that back, mister. It won't buy you anything.

My dear lady, I'm thinking of this poor man, his business.

His three children.

What three children?

You can always find three children.

I'll see you on my way back, Pete.

Okay.

Hey, how come you're broke?

I thought you came in on the last bus.

This is as far toward Reno as my money would go.

You got a job there? - You might call it that.

Well. Thanks for everything.

Hey.

Carson City is on the way to Reno.

Larry will give you a lift.

You're welcome.

Hot day, isn't it?

This is the road is where 3 people from Cedar Rapids died of thirst last year.

Could I .. offer you a drink.

Then how about a lift?

I'm going as far as Carson City.

Why not?

I might as well be chased as stranded.

My name is Larry.

Why should I doubt you?

What's yours?

Dorothy Vail. But don't consider that an introduction.

Dottie .. I think you're bitter.

You must have had a cruel life. Bad luck, hard knocks.

Don't open a relief agency for me.

What do you do when you're not beating off advances?

When is that?

I mean, what do you do for a living?

Night clubs.

Singer? - Dancer.

What do you do? - Newspaper man.

Do you count many readers around here?

Oh, just a few prospectors and gophers.

Are you on a story now?

Jailbreak and murder.

He doesn't look like a killer.

" All of the western states have been alerted to apprehend the convicts ."

" Who are known to be in a green 1941 Ford sedan ."

" But as of this hour, nothing has been seen of them since their escape ."

" Citizens are urged to be on the lookout for these criminals ."

" But caution should be used as these men are armed and considered dangerous ."

Well, so far, so good.

How you doing, Bart?

Not so good. They really got me.

How long we been driving?

A couple of hours. We're right on schedule.

A service station is only about a mile up the road. Right, Dummy?

Are we going to make it, Sam?

No trouble at all.

We'll dump this junkheap ..

Pick up a car at the station and be at Johnny's in three hours.

The bullet is still in me. I'm going to have to have a Doc.

You'll get a doctor, don't worry.

Dummy.

Help Bart inside. Make him comfortable.

Sorry to keep you waiting. I was fixing an engine up.

You alone here?

Yeah. - Nobody in the house?

You know who I am?

I read the papers this morning.

You .. do much business here?

Enough to live.

Let's take a look around.

What's that shack over there? - Just a pump house.

And here?

Hide him in the back. Then check the house.

What happened out there?

I ran into a hero.

Did you have to kill him?

Well I couldn't let him hang around to tell everybody we'd been here.

Did you junk the car? - Yep.

Want one?

Sam .. how are we going to get a doctor?

Johnny will know one. We'll pick up a car here before long.

Maybe that guy out there has a car?

I want one with people in it.

Hurt?

Maybe if I had a drink.

Sure.

Dummy, look in that shack outside. See if you can't find a bottle of something.

You got a lot of guts, Bart.

It's been a tough trip so far.

Was it?

We'll make it. - Oh, we'll make it.

How long will we have to hold up with Johnny before we can go for this money?

It wasn't really planned, with you all shot up here.

Maybe you ought to leave me and go on.

You can quit that kind of talk.

We started out together, we'll end up together, one way or another.

Well.

Tommy really has everything set up fine. Look at the clothes he dug up for us.

Pretty fancy, eh?

Oh, that ought to do it.

There you go .. make you feel better.

Help yourself.

There is plenty more of that where we're going.

We'll patch you up and then we'll get you into our new clothes.

I'm glad you noticed the gas. I'd hate to get caught in this heat.

Are you sure you can't stay with me longer than a week?

Don't you think I'd like to?

You could at least fly up every other weekend.

I'll be with you as much as I can.

You know that.

We'll get out of Reno and go down to Tahoe this weekend.

You certainly took your time. - I certainly did.

What do you want?

A lift, buster. A nice fast drive. Watch 'em, Dummy. I'll be right out.

Why don't you just take the car? - Let's go. In the other direction.

What are you going to do with us? - We'll see.

Why don't you just let us out?