Ultimate Warrior, The (1975)

[bunniefuu]

Maybe 6.

It's been 2 days, hasn't it?

Yes, sir. He hasn't moved
a muscle in 2 days.

Strange, isn't it?

That depends
a good deal on the man.

Has he had any offers?

Well, some of the Bethel commune

from across town
came to talk to him.

We need that man.

I'll have to talk with him.

Well, we can holler to him,
tell him to come over.

He'd never hear.
Get a few men together.

You're going to leave
the compound?

If you know a way to get there
without leaving the compound,

I'd be happy to consider it.

The string beans
are coming along, Cal.

Yes, sir.

For being as dead as they were,

I think they're
coming back real fine.

It's good stock.

Good stock.

Yeah?

What do you want?

The Baron wants some men
to go with him to the library.

No.

- What for?
- He's trying to recruit a new man.

A fighter?

Looks like it.

God knows we could use one.

I'm going to talk
to the man at the library.

Be careful.

I hope he's the man
that you're looking for.

So, you can hear me.

What's your name?

I assume you're for hire,

or you wouldn't be
standing here.

Well, I'm called the Baron.

The people of the commune
took to using the term.

Whether it's said in respect
is unknown to me.

What I'm telling you
is the simple fact

that we are not
searching out to destroy.

We do not covet
the lives or goods

of any people.

We have a good and lasting
supply of fresh water,

and we grow our own vegetables.

As our man,

you're entitled to more
than the others...

3 adult allotments of food
and water each meal.

I don't know what
your sexual requirements

might be, but anything
of that sort

will have to be
worked out on your own.

Your room will be dry
and free of rats.

If you smoke,
I have a large cache of cigars.

I believe that to be
the extent of my offer.

Well, I can only think
that your answer is no.

If you should reconsider,

our compound is 2 city blocks away
in the direction you are facing.

You will see the barricades.

Baron!

Baron!

Baron!

Help him, will you?

I'll show you the way.

Carrot!

Baron's place.

The fighter
joined up with him.

Now, why do you figure
the Baron needs him?

He's got all the men he needs...

Or can feed.

I want all of you to meet...

Carson.

Carson.

He saved our lives just now.

Have some of
the girls ready the room

above the old tobacco shop.

When you are settled,
I'd like to talk.

Come right in.

Just push that material off
and sit.

You don't...

Plop in a chair.

Most people plop.

I hope your room was dry.

Yes, fine.

And, as you said, no rats.

That brings me to something
that I've been wondering about.

My pitch to you out there
in the street...

what did I say
that caused you to join us?

Might've been the promise
of extra portions of food.

No?

Well, then...

Maybe the fact

that we don't seek
the goods or lives of others.

No, nothing so noble.

You have...

A supply of cigars?

Yes.

You may be kidding me.

It's interesting
what becomes valuable to us...

When most everything
is taken away.

25 to the box...

And all of them sealed
in aluminum tubes

and as fresh as the day
they were made.

You can have all you want.

I believe I know this.

Hood ornament...

From a 1981 Cadillac.

My father had one.

That was the last year
the car was made.

He really suffered
when he couldn't get

more gasoline to run it.

I don't believe he ever
said another word...

just sat there...

While his world
was turned off around him.

And then, the epidemics.

No hospitals, no medicine.

He was one of the first to go...

he and my mother.

Where were you born?

Detroit.

Anybody there now?

Mostly empty.

A few groups,
something like this.

I haven't been there
in quite a while. I've been...

Moving around, making my way.

Not easy?

You have to be quick.

About this contract of ours...

I don't know how long
I can work my end of it.

You're on your way somewhere?

I have some family
living on an island

off the coast of North Carolina.

Out of the way of K*llers.

You know...

People are beginning
to eat people out there.

I've been hearing stories.

Interesting, what you say
about that island.

Does it have a good
supply of water?

Enough.

It's Robert Jens.
I have to talk to you.

Is it true there isn't
any powdered milk?

Not none, but not much.

We're worried about the baby.

My wife said she saw Clara

take home some
powdered milk today.

Is that true?

Clara got some dried beans.

We put them in one of the sacks

we usually use
for powdered milk.

Do you want me to go
and talk to Barrie?

It might make it easier.

Beans?

It's what Clara
took home with her.

We put it in one of the bags
we use for milk.

You're lying.

No. I think they're
telling the truth.

You'd let your own child starve,
wouldn't you?

No, that's not true.

There's powdered milk
down in that old bakery,

stored up in there.

Nobody knows that.

It's been checked out.

Not really.

Not completely.

It's always been just a rumor.

It's just down the block.

Please, let's check it out.

No.

You're a coward!

It's me, Cal.

Come in.

These seeds are the entire output
for cultivation?

Every bit.
I count them every night.

I can get a lot more.

They'll multiply if we can find
someplace to spread out.

More land.

Will you leave your garden?

Start up somewhere else?

I don't want to go...

But I will.

If we can find someplace
safe enough, that is.

You've worked another miracle.

God knows that's the least
anybody can say.

It's that man
that was at the library.

That's Carrot.

He's always there.

Always waiting.

He looks very sure of himself.

Lots of years since I've seen
things growing like this.

It's Cal's doing.

Do you think it's smart

to climb 4 flights
in your condition?

I know what I'm capable of.

I came here to say hello.

Hello.

The man they call Carrot,

I saw him through
your binoculars.

We introduced ourselves.

He is tough.

Good organizer.

He can call on 30,
40 men if he has to.

He should be able
to take you over...

Wipe you out.

Probably.

But I don't think he knows
how few people we have left.

Would like to have our well.

Looking at your people,
I get the feeling

they figure they won't
last very long.

There's a certain fatalism.

They look to me for salvation.

There will be none.

Don't you see?
We've been doing something here.

I say we.
It's Cal, actually.

He's the man up on the roof.

There are other communes,

but none has a Cal
that I have heard about.

He's a genius
with things that grow.

Seeds.

Hybrid seeds.

So far just 5 crops.

There's squash, cucumbers,
soybeans, string beans,

and now, Cal believes, tomatoes.

The crops are resistant
to all the diseases

that wiped out the cultivated
growth during the plagues.

You're going to give up
on this place.

You got me in here
just to delay the end.

I've been looking for a man...

Who would combine
several attributes.

You're a fighter.

More important,

I see in you
an instinct for survival.

You seem to make all
the correct moves intuitively.

A few people are going
to be leaving.

Cal, for one.

I'm asking you to lead them.

Where?

To an island I've heard about.

Well, we wouldn't hurt
any of the people living there,

but we've got something
that we could give to them.

Who else would be going?

You've probably seen
the pregnant girl Melinda.

She's my daughter.
She carries my grandson.

Or...

Granddaughter.

Have you seen Barrie?
She's not in her room.

Your wife went out
about an hour ago.

Went out?
Did she have the baby?

Yeah. She wasn't
gonna stop for anybody.

Take it up!

Barrie.

I heard a sound, so I hid.

- Where's the baby?
- Please help me.

Where's the baby?!

Take him out of there.
We gotta go back.

No. I know
where the milk is.

- What are you doing?
- Let go of me!

There's a door behind me.
Look for yourself.

- If I help you, will you leave?
- Yes.

We've got to leave.

Even if we don't find any milk,
we won't keep looking.

We've got to take
the baby and go.

I promise.

There's no mistake, Baron.

Someone's been stealing
from the garden.

And Cal told you this?

I looked for myself.
It was the tomatoes.

It had to be one
of our own people.

You could see where he stood.

Really broke up the plants, too.

Well, start looking
around, will you?

Make a quiet search.

Yes, sir.

Ok.

I knew it.
Didn't I tell you?

Let's go.

You stay away from there!

Stay away from there!

Let go!

Put me down!
Put me down!

Put me down!

I wonder what they were after.

There's a baby here.

Good piece of bait.

Can we assume
that they are dead?

You'd be quicker to ask me
to go out there and get that baby

if you weren't worried
that I'd get myself k*lled off,

and there'd be nobody to get
your grandson out of here.

Those people outside are
waiting for me to go.

I've been getting 2 extra
portions at every meal.

They'll want me to perform.

It's dead.

Get this thing up there!

All right,
the rest of you outside!

Hey, there he is.

Try the alley!

He ain't up here!

Hey, there he is!

This way!

Come on!

Here he comes!

They were all dead.

The street we're on
is 29th street.

One line of the entire system
runs under our street

with 5 tunnels and subways.

In the basement of this building
there's a trap door

that goes down into a chamber

where fans used to force
fresh air into the tunnel.

I've outlined the tunnels

to get you close
to where you have to go.

Yes!

Baron, they're fighting
over rations in the storeroom.

I think you better come.

I'll be there as soon as I can.

How many people know
you have this plan in mind?

Just Melinda, Cal, and us.

Do you think
the others would object?

Yes.

They'd feel betrayed.

They would claim what
you were intimating...

that I was saving my daughter's
neck at their jeopardy.

But I'll tell you this.

I'd sacrifice any
and all of this compound

just to get Cal's work
somewhere it would flourish.

It's a matter of values, Carson.

Get out of here!

I'd better tend
to this argument.

You look that over.

You want me to go along?

No. It'll be political.

No use in your taking sides.

I'll be back as soon as I can.

You've got your own
damn favorites!

It's a lie.

Everybody gets the same.

Your wife has a stock
of her own.

She saved out
of her own rations.

Nobody can save
on the slop we get.

Stop!

You'd better put it down, Silas.

Come out.

Him and his wife's
been stealing.

If that is true,
it will be known.

A man better get his before
there's nothing to get.

If you believed
someone was stealing,

you should have come
to me, Silas.

You've got your own
problems, Baron.

What, with Melinda and all.

I'm not inaccessible.

You only need knock at the door.

We wouldn't want to
interrupt you and Carson

being holed up so much.

I don't notice where
you've lost much weight.

Get out of here.

I'll find out if his
accusation is true.

It was found in your room.

Somebody put it there,
I swear it.

I swear it!

Who did?

I'd tell you, wouldn't I?

If I knew, I'd tell you.

You were seen up on the roof.

There were witnesses.

Yeah, I went up on the roof!

Lots of people
go up on the roof!

Lots of people
go up on the roof!

I went up on the roof!

Is there anyone here
who wants to speak up for him?

Is there anyone here
who should speak up for him?

Give him to the street people.

No!

Get that sack!

You're about a month away
from turnin' out the baby.

Just about precisely.

That'll be a fine day, that day.

We think we've got
a place to go to.

Yeah.
The Baron was telling me

that Carson knows
about someplace,

some island somewheres.

I bet I've heard that story
2 dozen times.

Carson's been there.

He's going back to it.

Father's the only thing
that's keeping it all stuck together.

I know.

But it has lasted
a lot of years.

It's the only home some
of these people have ever had.

Your own will be born here.

Cal, he's worried

that you won't be ready
when it's time.

I'll never really be ready,
but I told Baron I'd go.

No!

Cal! On the roof!

Get up to the roof!

Pull up the rope.

And get rid of those planks.

Is Cal all right?

I'll get you to your room.

I said is Cal all right?

Cal is dead.

That farmer had an answer.

I was afraid you lost
your baby last night.

I loved Cal.

I know you did.

I'm not going.

Not going?

It doesn't make sense to me.

You and Carson take the seeds.

Get them going somewhere.

What do you suppose Cal
would have said to that?

It seems to me he would have
said, "get out of here."

"Find a place for my baby."

Here's some warm tea.

Drink it.

You think it over.

Yeah.

You all right, Carson?

Yeah.

Sit down.

If I did, it might suggest
that there's time to talk,

but there isn't.

It's that time?

Carrot can smell something here.

A weakness.

He's probing.

He must know that Cal is dead.

This place is about lost.

We'll have to go today.

Melinda is very upset.
She says she's not going,

but I'll have her ready.

Cal's death changed her mind?

Yes.

Will I have to
take her out by force?

She'll be asleep by the time
you get to my room.

She'll sleep for about an hour.

You drugged her?

If she drank her tea, I did.

Come over here.
I'll show you.

From my door,

we'll have to go
downstairs to the right.

It leads to the basement.

You know, of course,

you'll have to deliver the baby
somewhere along the way?

Yeah. I was wondering when
you'd get around to that.

Joe, wake up.

There's something going on.

Why would he be
going down there?

He was carrying one of those
packs... backpacks.

- Are you sure it was the Baron?
- Of course.

Ok.

I'll take a look.

If it comes to saving
one or the other...

Save the seeds.

She'll come around soon.

I'm gonna close it again,

so you won't be able
to come back.

Good luck, Carson.

How much food did they
take with them, Baron?!

How much food did they
take with them, Baron?!

No more than they deserved.

And how much was that?

Only a few tins of meat
that I had stored for a few years

and 2 cans of water.

Why'd they leave?!

You must know
something we don't.

No. I am still here,
am I not?

A good g*dd*mn
that does anybody!

Your daughter's got Carson!

I'll get another man,

and we'll build
the garden again.

Until then, we'll eat the tin
meat you've got stored away?

Is that what you're saying?

There were only a very few cans.

You'd better go back
to your rooms.

Turning on our own
will only destroy us.

When the day cools,

we'll go up to the roof
and see about the garden.

He sold us!

Get him!

It's open.

Baron, why?

One of the Baron's men
just walked in.

He says he's quit the commune.

We've got ourselves a traitor.

Starting to break up
over there, huh?

He says the fighter and the Baron's
daughter took off down below.

Yeah, they went underground.

You get me the Harkness
brothers and Lippert.

Welcome, friend.

I hear you have
some news for us.

Closer to the heat.

Tell us about the seeds.

They've got seeds.

To grow tomatoes, right?

They took 'em.

Took the seeds?

Yes, yes.

You see these men?
They're the best

underground trackers alive.

You tell 'em.
Tell 'em about the fighter.

Open your eyes and look at 'em!

He went into the cellar.

Hurry up.

We want him!

The girl, the girl, the girl.

The old man's daughter, right?

She went with him.

Where'd they go in?

Into the basement
of the commune.

That'd be into the pipe tunnel.

How long ago?

10...

Minutes?

Have anything else to tell us?

No.

The rats are running.

There must be a reason.

Can you walk?

Billy, go get Carrot.

Already, huh?

Yeah. We got
a line on him.

Move. Go.

They're coming now.

2 of them.

My screaming back there
gave you away, didn't it?

Something like that.

I won't do it again.

There will be more.

Ambush!

Where's my brother?
I said where's...

he's dead!

This the way?

Yeah, a mile in the subway.

I know where they'll be.

I'll get ahead of them.

Just keep moving him along.

Keep it going, lippert.

Maybe we'll try the street.

It's rusted through.

I'm getting cramps.

It cannot be time yet, can it?

No, not for 3 weeks or so.

I...

I'll just rest
a couple of minutes.

The Baron.

That man is more
than I can believe.

Don't you turn out that baby

until we get
to the island, right?

I'll try to keep it where it is.

You still mad at us?

I don't think so.

I guess I just felt safe there.

I suppose Cal thought
it was safe, too.

If you last on the streets
as long as I have,

then you've seen
lots of men die.

After a while it becomes
like doing push-ups,

daily exercise.

But that man dying bothered me.

We have to go down below again.

Pull him down.

I've got to stop.

Got to.

You can make a little
squeak if you want to.

I said I wouldn't...

And I won't.

You have to tie a knot in it.

Here's your son.

Son.

Hurry up!
He's in here!

Damn you!

I knew they'd be worthless.

We're gonna go together.

Together!