Vern
[The four boys begin following the tracks]
Well, what do we need a pistol for anyway?
Chris
It's spooky sleeping out at night in the woods. We might even see a bear.
Gordie
Or a garbage can.
Vern
I brought a comb.
Chris
What do we need a comb for?
Vern
Well, if we get on TV, we wanna look good, don't we?
Gordie
That's a lot of thinking, Vern.
Vern
Thanks.
Teddy
Two for flinching. [punches Vern in the arm twice]
Vern
Ow.
Teddy
[The boys stop and stare into the distance]
How far do you think it's gonna be?
Chris
[exhales]
If we follow the tracks all the way into Harlow, it'd be about 20 miles. Sound about right to you, Gordie?
Gordie
Yeah. Yeah, it might even be 30.
Vern
Gee, maybe we should just hitchhike.
Teddy
No way, that sucks.
Vern
Why not? We could go out to Route 7 to the Shiloh Church, then down the Back Harlow Road. We'll be there by sundown.
Teddy
That's pussy.
Vern
Hey, it's a long ways.
Teddy
Did your mother ever have any kids that lived?
Vern
What do you mean?
Teddy
Jesus.
Vern
Hey, I'm kinda hungry. Who's got the food?
Teddy
Oh, shit! Did anybody bring anything?
Chris
Not me. Gordie? [Gordie shakes his head]
Teddy
Oh, well, this is great! What are we supposed to do, eat our feet?
Chris
You mean, you didn't bring anything either?!
Teddy
Shit, this wasn't my idea, it was Vern's idea! [to Vern] Why didn't you bring something?!
Vern
What am I supposed to do, think of everything?! I brought the comb!
Teddy
Oh, great, you brought the comb! What do you need a comb for?! You don't even have any hair!
Vern
I brought it for you guys...
Gordie
HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY! Let's see how much money we got. [the boys sit down to count their money] Okay, I got $1.02. [Chris and Teddy hand Gordie their money] 68 cents from Chris. 60 cents from Teddy. [Vern hands Gordie his money; he looks at Vern in disbelief] Seven cents, Vern?
Vern
I haven't found my pennies yet.
Gordie
Well, 2.37's not bad. Quidaciolu's is at the end of that little road that goes by the junkyard. I think we can get some stuff there.
Gordie
Hey, Vern, looks like your mom's been out driving again.
Vern
That's so funny, I forgot to laugh.
Teddy
Stand back, men! Paratroops, over the side! [the boys toss their bags over the fence, then begin scaling it]
The Writer
[voiceover]
"No trespassing" was enforced by Milo Pressman, the junkman, and his dog, Chopper, the most feared and least seen dog in Castle Rock. Legend had it that Milo had trained Chopper, not just to sic, but to sic specific parts of the human anatomy. Thus, a kid, who had illegally scaled the junkyard fence, might hear the dread cry, "Chopper, sic balls." But right now, neither the dread, Chopper, nor Milo was anywhere in sight.
Teddy
Have you guys been watching The Mickey Mouse Club lately? I think Annette's tits are getting bigger.
Gordie
Yeah, I've been noticing lately that the "A"and the "E" are starting to bend around the sides.
Vern
Annette's tits are great.
Vern
This is a really good time.
Chris
The most.
Teddy
A blast.
The Writer
[voiceover]
Vern didn't just mean being off limits inside the junkyard, or fudging on our folks, or going on a hike up the railroad tracks to Harlow. He meant those things, but it seems to me now it was more and that we all knew it. Everything was there and around us. We knew exactly who we were and exactly where we were going. It was grand.
Vern
[Teddy spits water at Vern; Gordie and Chris laugh]
Great! Spit at the fat kid. Real good. What time is it, Gordie?
Gordie
Um... [checks his watch] It's 1:15.
Vern
We better go get the food. Junkyard opens at 3:00. Chopper will be here.
Chris
Ooh, sic balls.
Teddy
[to Vern]
You go. You can pick us up on the way back.
Vern
I'm not going alone. We should all go.
Teddy
I'm stayin' right here.
Gordie
Yeah, man, I'm not goin'. I'm not goin' all the way out there.
Chris
Girls, girls, girls, cool it. We'll flip for it.
Gordie
Okay, odd man goes?
Teddy
That's you, Gordie, odd as a cod.
Gordie
[to Chris]
Flip or eat lead.
Vern
[The four boys flip their coins, and all have landed tails up]
Four tails! Oh, Jesus, man, that's a goocher.
Chris
Oh, come on, Vern. That doesn't mean anything. Let's go again.
Vern
No, man, a goocher. That's really bad. Remember when Clint Bracken and those guys got wiped out on Weed Hill in Durham? Billy told me they was flippin' for beers, and they came up with a goocher before they got into the car. And bang! They all got totaled! I don't like this, man, sincerely.
Teddy
Vern-o, nobody believes that crap about moons and goochers. It's baby stuff! Now come on, flip again. [to Vern] You gonna flip, or not?
Teddy
[They flip their coins again, and this time all show tails except for Gordie]
You lose, Gordie! [cackles] Gordie loses! Oh, Gordie just screwed the pooch! [laughs]
Gordie
Does the word "****" mean anything to you?
Teddy
Gordie, go and get the provisions, you morphadite!
Gordie
Don't call me any of your mother's pet names.
Teddy
[Gordie gets up to leave]
What a wet end you are, Lachance!
Gordie
Shut up!
Teddy
I don't shut up.
VC Vern, Chris, and Teddy
I grow up, and when I look at you, I throw up! [They point at each other's open mouths making gagging sounds]
Gordie
And then your mother goes around the corner and she licks it up.
VC Vern, Chris, and Teddy
Ooh!
The Writer
[voiceover]
Finding new and, preferably, disgusting ways to degrade a friend's mother was always held in high regard.
M Milo
HEY! Hey, you kid! What are you doing there?! Come over here! [Gordie starts running] You! You come back here! COME BACK HERE, GODDAMMIT! I'LL SIC MY DOG ON YOU!
VC Vern, Chris, and Teddy
RUN, GORDIE, RUN! RUN, GORDIE!
M Milo
Chopper! Sic him! Sic him, boy!
The Writer
[voiceover]
Now he said, "Sic him, boy." But what I heard was, "Chopper, sic balls."
Gordie
[Gordie keeps running and starts screaming as Chopper goes after him. Gordie scales the fence and Chopper tries to jump after him. The boys are surprised by Chopper's appearance]
That's Chopper?
The Writer
[voiceover]
Chopper was my first lesson in the vast difference between myth and reality.
Teddy
Come on, Choppy! Kiss my ass, Choppy, kiss my ass! Come on! [Chopper starts biting Teddy's shirt] Bite shit!
Gordie
Come on, Choppy! Sic balls, Choppy!
M Milo
Hey, you kids! STOP TEASING THAT DOG! YA HEAR ME?! STOP TEASING HIM! [to Teddy] Sonny, I'm gonna beat your ass, teasing my dog like that!
Teddy
Yeah? I'd like to see you try to climb over this fence and get me, fat-ass!
M Milo
Don't you call me that, you little tin weasel. Peckerwood loony's son.
Teddy
What did you call me?
M Milo
I know who you are. You're Teddy Duchamp. Your dad's a loony. A loony up in the nuthouse at Togus. He took your ear and he put it to a stove and he burnt it off.
Teddy
My father stormed the beach at Normandy.
M Milo
He's crazier than a shithouse rat. No wonder you're acting the way you are, with a loony for a father!
Teddy
You call my dad a loony again, and I'll kill you.
M Milo
[mockingly]
Loony, loony, loony.
Teddy
[yells and jumps on the fence]
I'M GONNA RIP YOUR HEAD OFF AND SHIT DOWN YOUR NECK!!!! I'M GONNA KILL HIM!!!! [the other boys restrain him]
M Milo
You come on and try it, you little slimy bastard!
Chris
He wants you to go over there so he can beat the piss out of you and then take you to the cops!
M Milo
You watch your mouth, smart guy! Let him do his own fighting!
Gordie
Sure, you only outweigh him by 500 pounds, fat-ass!
M Milo
I know your name. You're Lachance. I know all you guys. And all your fathers are gonna get a call from me, except for the loony up in Togus.
Teddy
[lunges again, but the others restrain him again]
I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!!
M Milo
You little foul-mouthed whoremaster!
Teddy
YOU SON OF A BITCH! I'LL KILL YOU! [the boys begin walking away]
M Milo
Come back here! Come back here, you hear me?!
Teddy
Nobody ranks out my old man!
Teddy
My father stormed the beach at Normandy!
M Milo
I said come back here!
Teddy
HE STORMED THE BEACH, YOU ****!
Chris
I mean, you could be a real writer someday, Gordie.
Gordie
**** writing! I don't wanna be a writer. It's stupid. It's a stupid wasted time!
Chris
That's your dad talking.
Gordie
Bullshit!
Chris
Bulltrue! I know how your dad feels about you, he doesn't give a shit about you. Denny was the one he cared about, and don't try to tell me different! You're just a kid, Gordie...
Gordie
Oh, gee, thanks, Dad!
Chris
I wish the hell I was your dad. You wouldn't be going around talking about taking these stupid shop courses if I was. It's like God gave you something man. All those stories that you can make up, and He said, "This is what we got for you kid, try not to lose it." But kids lose everything unless there's someone there to look out for them. And if your parents are too **** up to do it, then maybe I should.
Vern
Come on, you guys, let's get moving!
Teddy
Yeah, by the time we get there, the kid won't even be dead anymore.
Vern
[The boys have come across a train trestle, and are contemplating crossing it.]
Any of you guys know when the next train is due?
Chris
We could go down to the Route 136 bridge.
Teddy
What are you, crazy? That's five miles down the river! You walk five miles down the river, you gotta walk five miles back. that could take 'til dark. We go across here, we could get to the same place in ten minutes.
Vern
Yeah, but if a train comes, there's nowheres to go.
Teddy
Hell, there isn't. You just jump.
Chris
Teddy, it's 100 feet.
Vern
Yeah, Teddy.
Teddy
Look, you guys can go around if you want. I'm crossing here. And while you guys are dragging your candy asses halfway across the state and back, I'll be waiting for you on the other side, relaxing with my thoughts.
Gordie
Do you use your left hand or your right hand for that?
Teddy
You wish.
Vern
[They start crossing the bridge; Gordie feels the tracks for any vibrations given off by trains; Vern cautiously crawls along the tracks with Gordie walking behind him and the comb falls out of his shirt pocket into the river] [disappointedly]
I lost the comb.
Gordie
Forget it, Vern. [they continue walking along; Gordie suddenly hears a distant sound and looks back the way they came; he then feels the tracks again, and as he does so, he hears a chugging sound; he looks back in the opposite direction again and sees black smoke coming up from the trees; realizing a train is coming, Gordie stands up to alert the others] TRAAAAIN!!! [Chris and Teddy turn around just in time to see a train coming around the corner from the opposite end of the bridge]
Vern
Oh, shit! [crawls as fast as he can]
Chris
[to Teddy]
Move it, man! Go on, move it!
Gordie
[furious with desperation]
Get up, Vern! Damn it! GET UP! [gets Vern on his feet as the train starts to come onto the bridge] MOVE IT! [Vern immediately cowers] Shit, Vern! Get up! Come on, man!
Vern
I don't wanna! We're gonna fall!
Gordie
[looking back at the oncoming train]
WE'RE GONNA DIE, DAMN IT! GET UP!!!! [Vern gets to his feet] GO! GO! [the two run as fast as they can]
Chris
Go, man! Go!
Gordie
DAMN IT, VERN, GO FASTER!!!!
Vern
I can't, Gordie!
Gordie
Go! [the train gets closer to Gordie and Vern]
Chris
Run! Run! [he and Teddy get off to the side of the tracks as the train gets just inches away from Gordie and Vern] Run. Run, man! Move your ass, man!
Gordie
Move it! Move it! Go, Vern! Come on, man! Vern! Go!
CA Chris and Teddy
Run! Goddamn it! Run!
Gordie
RUN, VERN! [Chris and Teddy watch with horror; Gordie, thinking quickly, grabs Vern, and the two jump off the side of the bridge just as the train is about to hit them; as the train passes, Chris and Teddy run over to the end of the bridge and see Gordie and Vern disheveled but unharmed]
Chris
Hey, at least now we know when the next train was due.
Vern
[looking at a pond in their way]
Told you we should've stuck to the tracks.
Teddy
Is it me, or are you the world's biggest pussy?
Vern
I suppose this is fun for you.
Teddy
No... but this is. [reaches up and dunks Vern while laughing crazily] You want some more?!
Vern
Aah! Stop that! Come on!
Chris
Come on Teddy, act your age!
Teddy
This is my age. I'm in the prime of my youth and I'll only be young once!
Chris
Yeah, but you're gonna be stupid for the rest of your life.
Vern
[grinning]
All right, get him!
Teddy
All right, Chambers, you just signed your own death warrant. You die, Chambers! [Teddy and Vern both lunge at Chris, dunking him and laughing loudly, as Gordie disgustedly wades off] Get him! Get Vern! Vern's gonna die!
Vern
Teddy, you're gonna die!
Gordie
[a montage of scenes as they hike]
Alright, alright, Mickey's a mouse, Donald's a duck, Pluto's a dog. What's Goofy?
Vern
If I could only have one food for the rest of my life? That's easy-Pez. Cherry-flavored Pez. No question about it.
Teddy
Goofy's a dog. He's definitely a dog.
Gordie
I knew the $64,000 question was fixed. There's no way anybody could know that much about opera!
Chris
He can't be a dog. He drives a car and wears a hat.
Gordie
Wagon Train's a really cool show, but did you notice they never get anywhere? They just keep wagon training.
Vern
Oh, God. That's weird. What the hell is Goofy?