INT. TRAIN CAR - NIGHT The train speeds through a midnight landscape.

Its carriage is packed to the brim with refugees - Middle Eastern, worn, tired. The distant RUMBLE of explosions shakes the car. ADAD (19) glances through the crowd, looking for anyone he may know. He finds nobody. His sister SADEEN (11) hugs him at his waist. The mob squishes them against each other. ADAD Gran-papa used to tell me a story about the first time he rode a train like this. SADEEN What was gran-papa like, Adad? ADAD Funny. Funny like the man on the television, the one with all the accents. SADEEN (exaggerated cowboy accent) Get the heck away from my cows now, yall hear? Adad chuckles, and rubs his sisters head. The other passengers give him dirty looks - what right do you have to be laughing at a time like this? ADAD Spot on, youre a natural. The story! SADEEN

ADAD Right, the story. His parents your great grandparents - had taken him to the Crac des Chevaliers way up in the mountains when he was Id say around your age. It was a cold winter morning, and they boarded the train with puffy, heavy jackets. (MORE)

2. ADAD (CONT'D) Now, gran-papa, he had never seen a train before - especially a heated train, like the one they were on, and he quickly shed his coat to explore the carriage. The time soon came for them to disembark - and that he did, but with only the shirt on his back. He realized his mistake as the cold hit him, and rushed after the departing train. There he was, a boy just your age, diving under peoples legs in frigid weather, with both his parents screaming and chasing after him Sadeen giggles. SADEEN So I get it from him? ADAD What, your wild streak? No, you were raised by jackals. She laughs again. An older PASSENGER barks at them. PASSENGER Shut your whelp up! Im sorry? ADAD

PASSENGER You heard me. The passenger SHOVES Adad. Adad SHOVES back. The crowd sways like a wave. Sadeen jumps into the middle of the two men. Her hands on her hips, she pouts at the other passenger. SADEEN Cut it out, mister! The other man cackles. The tension deflates. PASSENGER This ones got a mouth, huh?

3. ADAD She dont take nothing from no one. You think Id put up a fight? I wouldnt go against Sadeen. PASSENGER Wont dream of it. A VOICE from across the cabin cuts through. VOICE (O.S.) Say, why are we stopping? MURMURS fill the train car. Adad presses his face to the window. Sure enough, the train is slowing to a stop. Bright flashlights shine through the glass. Adad... SADEEN

ADAD Shh. Not now, sis. The train SCREECHES to a halt. SCREAMS everywhere as passengers are pulled off the train by soldiers. SOLDIER (O.S.) GET OFF THE TRAIN NOW! MOVE ORDERLY! Adad grasps Sadeens hand as they move with the crowd. EXT. DESERT - CONTINUOUS The trains stopped in the middle of the desert. Military jeeps and soldiers surround the cars, pulling the crowd out. SOLDIER MOVE! YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED TO ENTER TURKEY! THIS TRAIN GOES NO FURTHER! A ROAR from the crowd in protest. The soldiers form a line against the crowd, steadying their rifles. Sadeen SLIPS from Adads grasp, rushing into the mob. SADEEN! ADAD

4. He PUSHES through the ocean of refugees, searching for his sister. Her voice CUTS through the noise. SADEEN (O.S.) Hey! Let us through, mister! Let us thr CRACK - the rifle goes off. The mob EXPLODES, rushing the military. More shots RING out, MAYHEM, MASSACRE. In the midst of this, Adad finds Sadeen. Shes on the ground. Blood wells around her. ADAD SADEEN! NO! She shivers as she grabs for her brothers hand. SADEEN Adad... Im so cold... Tears stream down Adads face. ADAD You left your winter coat in the train, silly... just like granpapa... Sadeens laugh is weak. SADEEN ... I did get it from him, huh? ADAD Sis... Im telling you... it was the jackals... She smiles at that. The life fades from her eyes. As bullets CRACK around him, Adad carries his sister in his arms, and boards the train. FADE TO BLACK.