The X-Files (1993–…): Season 3, Episode 7 - The Walk - full transcript

I reviewed your case
and your service record--

combat duty in Panama, Grenada,

distinguished service
in the Gulf,

great triumph and
great tragedies.

It's clear to me,
Lieutenant Colonel,

these suicide attempts of
yours are simply just...

Cries for help.

You've tried and failed

to kill yourself three
times in as many weeks.

Frankly, if you
wanted to...

You don't understand.



He won't let me.

He won't let me die.

Who?

Who won't let you die?

Just relax a moment.

I'll be back with something
to help you sleep.

Stand down,
Lieutenant Colonel!

No! Not this time!

Just let me go!

Oh, my God!

Where is he?

Down here.

He's in there.

I told you.



He won't let me die.

I don't want to talk

about it anymore.

I told them and I told them,
but they won't listen.

You mean they don't believe you?

No, sir.

You said in the report
that at the time of the accident

you believed somebody
was in the room.

It was no accident.

Don't you
understand?

But this person saved
your life-- is that right?

Look at me.

Look!

I have no life.

He took it all away.

Do you have any idea who it is?

I never see
him clearly,

but he looks like a soldier--

always standing at attention.

A GI?

Or one of Saddam's boys

come back to hold me
accountable.

Whoever it is,

he knows my name.

He speaks to you?

"Your time has come," he said.

Then he started
taking it all away.

What did he start
taking away?

Everything.

My wife,

my children.

And how did
he do that?

How did...?

He burned them alive.

Now he makes me
suffer

because he won't let me die.

Agents Mulder and Scully?

May I have a word with you?

I've been asked
to have you suspend

whatever investigation
you've begun here.

Asked by whom,
Captain?

General Callahan,

Lieutenant Colonel Stans's
commanding officer.

Is something wrong?

Protocol requires

all criminal investigation
of military personnel

to be conducted through
military channels

and their
superior officer.

What? We didn't sign in
at the front desk?

You're in breach of code
and procedure.

Excuse me,
but does General Callahan

have a superior officer?

Ma'am?

Assuming that we wanted
to investigate him,

who would we talk to?

Investigate him for what?

Whatever.

General Callahan
is the senior officer here.

Well, then we'd like
to speak to him on our way out.

I don't know
that he's available.

Ask him to make himself
available.

Tell him
that it's our protocol.

In the meantime, we would like

to finish up
with Lieutenant Colonel Stans.

You never know when he might try
and kill himself again.

Let's finish this,
Mulder.

I keep having the same dream

almost every night.

I know a lot of crips
have the same dream--

"the walk."

In my dream,
I rise up out of my chair

and I can stand,
and I look down the hallway,

only I'm not
in the ward anymore.

I'm at home.

There's my baby girl.

Without even
thinking about it,

I take a step towards her
and I take another step

and I pick her up
and I carry her outside

on my own two feet.

Outside is my little boy.

We run together.

Running.

Me... my legs
like they were before.

We play a little bit
of football,

I show him a few moves,

you know,
like the old man used to do,

and then we just walk home.

No crutches, no wheelchairs.

I know I'll never walk again,

but this dream
just seems so real.

I can't help but think
that maybe someday...

Don't hold your breath!

I think we'd all be interested
in your point of view, Leonard.

Oh, you really want to know
what I think?

I pity all you guys--
I really do--

with your handicap basketball

and your wheelchair races.

You all act like we're...
we're normal people.

We are normal people.

I don't know
if you've had a look

in the mirror lately, my friend,

but you are missing a leg.

I-I don't have any.

Where... where'd my arms go?

We all know how you feel.

No, you don't.

How the hell could you
possibly know how I feel?

There's only one way
you could ever know,

and I can only pray to God
that he'll come down

and take your legs
and your arms away

and give you a little taste
of what it feels like!

Roach.

I'm sorry, gentlemen.

Let's begin again.

What is it, Roach?

What's what?

You got that
I'm-freaking-out look

on your face.

What's the matter?

It's nothing.

Bull. I spent two years

with your sorry ass
in a gun turret.

I think I know when you
got something on your mind.

Come on, Private,
make your report.

It's the FBI, man--
they're downstairs.

They're asking questions
about the LC.

The hell with the feds,
all right, Roach?

You hear me?

The hell with them.

Just forget about them.

General.

Sir?

Agents Mulder and Scully
to see you, sir.

Thank you, Captain.

- General.
- I want you to know I've had

the captain contact
the Justice Department

and let them know about the
FBI's gross misconduct here.

I guess this isn't a good time
to thank you for seeing us, huh?

Let me assure you

this matter will
not go unaddressed.

I would hope not,
considering the extremity

of Lieutenant
Colonel Stans' case.

What case?

There's no case.

Stans is a very sick man.

Yes, so we gathered--
but his file is missing

several important facts which came
out in our interview with him.

I'm sure everything germane
to Stans' situation is on file.

Except for any mention

of the death of his wife
and two children

in a house fire
three months ago.

Well, it was a tragic accident.

No doubt.

But there is no record

of any criminal
or arson investigation.

Stans tried to save
his family that night.

Well, according to him,
he was prevented

from doing so by some kind
of phantom soldier.

Look, I've known
Stans a long time,

and there's no doubt that
he has suffered terribly.

Not unlike Staff Sergeant
Kevin Aiklen.

You know Sergeant Aiklen,
isn't that correct, sir?

He served under me
in the Gulf, yes.

Six months ago, Aiklen also
lost his family to a house fire.

Afterwards, he received
psychiatric treatment

for delusional behavior--

telling the doctors
that he wanted to die

but that somebody
wouldn't let him.

Before throwing himself
into a wood chipper

on the hospital grounds.

Now, unless that's procedure
and protocol,

I'd say the coincidence
of detail

has been rather strangely
overlooked, sir.

Hold on. Just who's
under suspicion here?

Look, I make no excuses

for the sadness of
these men's lives.

They are casualties of war,

once brave men

who we can do little
but feel sorry for.

If you think there's more to it,

you are seriously mistaken.

That's your conclusion, General,

but I'd hope you'd allow us the
opportunity to come to our own.

You really think the general's
got something to hide?

No. I think he's got
everything to hide.

You don't think he's
just closing ranks

to protect his men?

Mulder, I know it's not

what drew you to this case
to begin with,

but I think it's very clear
what's going on here.

What's that?

The general
is protecting his men,

but what he's
protecting them from

is prosecution for the murder
of their families.

Why would he do that?

I don't know,

but I can think
of several good reasons.

Because they were his soldiers
and he feels

somewhat responsible for the
tragedies that have played out?

That could be one.

Or maybe he knows the deeper
secrets to their madness--

the biological weapons they were
exposed to during the war--

cause of the effect.

Considering the government's
absolute disavowal

of Gulf War syndrome,
I'd say it's

a pretty good reason to prevent
our investigation...

but you're
not buying it.

No, what I can't figure out
is why a man who so deliberately

and methodically
set out to commit suicide

would leave the one entrance
to the room unsecured.

But then again,
I obviously

have a feeble grasp
of Army protocol and procedure.

Come in.

I want to apologize, sir.

I didn't mean
to put you on the spot

like that earlier.

I know that, Captain.

This whole situation
is unfortunate.

Is there anything more
I can do?

No. Go home and
get some rest.

We'll deal with it
in the morning.

Relax, Captain.

That's an order.

Yes, sir.

Your time has
come, killer.

All right, that'll be fine.

Thank you, gentlemen.

General Callahan.

One of the detectives
is saying

Captain Draper's death
wasn't accidental.

There are bruises around
her neck and her shoulder

roughly the size
of finger marks.

Then someone drowned her?

The bruises and
surrounding edema

are consistent
with a struggle.

Will you be contacting
her family?

She had no family.

The Army was her family.

I'm sorry.

Truly.

I talked with
security personnel.

Other than Captain Draper,
they saw no one

enter the pool last night
and no one leave.

But the officers are saying
she was drowned.

General, do you have
a family of your own?

Yes. Why?

If the pattern we've seen
is at all consistent,

you and your family
may be in danger.

Based on what?
The death of my adjutant?

Just keep an eye
on them.

Watch out for anything
out of the ordinary.

Mulder, you're serious?

This is a military
base, Scully.

They've got security
everywhere

and no one saw
or heard a thing.

It's not so hard
to believe.

Her screams would have
been muffled underwater.

There would be
no fingerprints.

It also fits the M.O.

of Lieutenant Colonel Stans's
phantom killer.

Agent Mulder,
what did you mean by that?

Well, just a word
to the wise, sir.

No. I mean,
"anything out of the ordinary."

Any unusual or unexplained
phenomena.

Last night,
I saw someone in my office.

He said my name, but when
I turned around, he was gone.

Then my phone machine
went all snakey again.

Again?

That's happened before?

No, not what I saw.

But the phone calls, yes.

Twice before at my home.

Mom, mail's here.

Mom!

Mom!

Mom! Mom!

- Mom!
- What is it?

What is it, honey?

Mom, there was
a man here.

Who?

Oh, thank God you're home.

I was trying
to reach you.

Trevor saw someone
in the house--

just a few minutes ago.

Is he all right?

He's upstairs in his room,
but he's terrified.

I-I'm shaking myself.

Frances, these people
are with the FBI.

Is it about
the break-in?

Why don't you
check on Trevor.

I'll be right up.

Why? What's
happening?

Frances, please.
We'll talk upstairs.

This way.

It just comes on.

The phone doesn't
even ring.

At first I thought
it was a prank.

Did you save
the other ones?

No, I erased them.

I even called
the phone company--

had them check the line.

They checked
the whole house.

They couldn't find
anything wrong.

Have you noticed
any other type

of electronic
interference

like the radio
or the television?

No. Nope, not a thing.

There's someone
in the backyard.

I saw someone out here--
I'm sure of it.

Look.

You better call
the police, General.

You're going to feel
a little stick here.

Yeah, that's fine.

I'll be back
in a little bit.

It was too close,
man, too close.

I ain't doing
it anymore.

- You understand?
- What?

I said
I ain't doing it anymore.

You owe me, Roach.

I wouldn't be in this damn chair
if it wasn't for you.

Hey!

This isn't about
you and me, man.

This is about all the grunts
and all the crips

and all the boys
that came home in a box!

The enemy
must be defeated

and we're
going to do it.

You're going to do your part,
and I'm going to do mine.

Nurse!

Hey.

What do you do, man,
when I rap on the tank?

Get some, get some,
fire at will.

Good.

You're all right.

Nurse!

Come on.

This is killing me here.

What a mess.

You got to learn
to sit still.

How about you learn
to do it right?

There. That ought
to hold it.

Find anything?

No, but I'm really
beginning to like the tape.

Well, we've been a bit luckier.

Whoever's targeted the general
didn't just leave footprints.

They left fingerprints
as well.

Really? Where?

Forensics just lifted two
matching indexes and a thumb--

one on the mailbox
next to the front door

and one on the door
leading to the backyard.

We better go run them.

They're on their way
to the NCIC as we speak.

FBI! Open the door!

- Hands up! Hands over your head!
- Don't shoot! Don't shoot, man!

- Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.
- Turn around. Turn around.

Put your hands down
behind your back.

Cuff him.

Quinton Freely,

you are under arrest
for suspicion of murder.

You have the right
to remain silent.

Anything you say
can and will be held

against you in
a court of law.

If you want an attorney,
we'll give you one.

If you don't...

"Captain Janet Draper."

"Staff Sergeant Kevin Aiklen."

"Lieutenant Colonel
Victor Stans."

"General and Mrs.
Thomas Callahan."

We've got him, Mulder.

Watch your left flank there.

Okay.

Trevor?

Hey, Trevor!

We have enough evidence
to place you

at each of the crime scenes.

In addition
to accessory to murder,

you're looking at conspiracy,
breaking and entering,

- commission of a felony on federal property...
- Can I get a cigarette?

- No.
- We know you weren't

acting alone, Quinton.

We know you had an accomplice.

How did he do it, Quinton?

I don't know.

I don't know what
you're talking about.

How did he get past the guard?

How did he kill him?

Trevor was only
eight years old.

I don't know.

I didn't kill anybody.

I'm just the mailman.

What does that mean,
you're "just the mailman"?

I'm... Rappo's mailman.

Leonard Trimble, right?

If that's the man
they call Rappo.

Well, that's him.
What's he done?

He's a suspect
in two homicides.

Rappo? You must be making
some kind of mistake.

How's that?

There.

See for yourself.

He's a quadruple amputee.

Damn it.

He lied to us.

He said he
was a mailman.

What did he
mean by that?

I don't know,
but I'm adding it to the list.

Are you coming?

I'll catch up with you later.

He knows this place.

He can find me here.

He knows this place.

He's been here before!

I'm not safe here!

Hey! Keep it
down in there.

Let me out of here!

He's going to kill me!

I'm a dead man!

Let me out!

Let me out!

I'm not going to
tell you again.

You're going to kill me!

He's here!

He's... here!

You don't want to get him
started again.

He was pretty worked up
about an hour ago.

Not as worked up
as I'm going to be.

Visitor.

On your feet.

God Almighty.

- How did it happen?
- Suffocation.

The bed sheet
was stuffed down his throat.

Nobody had been
in the cell with him?

- He did it all by himself.
- Not likely.

- Not likely?
- Yeah, he had help, Scully,

and he wasn't lying,
because I think the man

that killed him
was Leonard Trimble.

- Rappo?
- Yeah.

He can't even walk,
let alone kill somebody.

You see this? This is
a dental X-ray plate.

I know. You've been
walking around with it

- since we got here.
- No, actually,

the ones I've been
walking around with,

I already had developed
at the hospital.

See, this is the one
I was carrying

when we first met Stans,
this one in the rehab room,

in the pool,
in the general's office,

and this one at the
general's house.

All of them exposed to
some kind of radiation.

From what?

From Stans's
phantom soldier.

I came down here wondering
if it could be true,

if what
Lieutenant Colonel Stans

was describing was a case
of astral projection.

What you're saying is this man
Rappo is leaving his body

and floating around town
killing people?

Practitioners claim that
during a self-hypnotic trance

the astral body
can actually detach itself

and float virtually anywhere,
sometimes invisible

but sometimes appearing
as an apparition.

They even claim
that the astral body has

psychokinetic capabilities
far greater

than the corporeal body.

Mulder... then why would
he need Quinton Freely?

Maybe he needs a psychic
connection to a place--

a thing or an object, a letter.

That's why Quinton
called himself the mailman.

It's insane.

Sometimes the only sane response

to an insane world is insanity.

You know anything about
backwards masking?

You mean messages
recorded backwards in songs?

Yeah, or on the general's
answering machine.

Check this out.

Your time has come, killer.

Your time has come.

♪ ...polka ♪

♪ You can steal a kiss
to this polka ♪

♪ She'll be shy
when first you try ♪

♪ But by and by ♪

♪ She'll say "ja..." ♪

Leonard Trimble?

No. It's Fred Astaire.

Mr. Trimble, we'd like
to ask you a few questions

about Quinton Freely.

Roach?

What's he done now?

He's dead.

Hmm... well...

serves him right.

- How's that?
- How's that?

Oh, he's only the guy
who turned me into second base

by getting my arms
and legs blown off.

Other than that, he
was a real good guy.

Then why'd
you kill him?

What's wrong with this picture?

We read your medical
records, Leonard.

We know that you've refused
all efforts at rehabilitation.

You've even refused to be fitted
with prosthetic limbs.

Big deal. Maybe I don't
want any of that crap.

Maybe because you don't need it

because you can
leave your body

any time you want,
kill anybody you want to kill.

If I could leave
my body right now,

I could think
of something else

I'd rather be doing.

Like kill
General Callahan's boy?

Lieutenant Colonel
Stans's family?

Sergeant Aiklen?

You're a real trip.

Oh, I'm a trip?
Because I figured you out?

You're a soldier.
You knew what

you were getting into
when you enlisted.

Now you want to blame
everybody else.

Why you want to blame
your C.O.'s?

I blame them for what
happened to all of us.

You don't know
what it was like.

You... you sat at home
and watched the war

on cable TV like it was
a damn video game.

You had no idea about
the guys that died,

about the blood
and the sand--

what it feels like
when a hit comes.

The thing is you just
don't care, do you?

You got your crude oil.

Just change that
station, right?

Killer got
his prime time.

LC got his fancy
little medals.

Now take a good
look at me.

What did I get?!

Nobody knows
how I feel.

They took my life away.

Yeah, so you took theirs.

If I only could.

Now, if you're through
questioning me,

I'd like to get
a little shut-eye.

No sleepwalking.

That's good.

I haven't heard that one yet.

Hardy-har-har.

What do you want to do?

Call General Callahan

and warn him to stay
out of his house.

Frances?

Honey, leave that.

I... I know
how it upsets you

when his toys are spread
all over the place.

We can handle this, Frances.

I don't want to handle this.

I want my son back.

Frances!

Oh...

My God.

No one's answering.

The machine's
not picking up.

General?

Lieutenant Colonel?

What are you doing?

You were right, victor.

He won't let you die.

Sir?

He kills our wives and children,
but he won't let us die.

I know who he is, General.

I know who he is.

General Callahan, sir.

I've been waiting for you.

Who are you?

One of your boys, General.

You killed my wife.

That's right, sir, I did.

And the boy, too.

Come on, killer.

Come on,
Killer Callahan,

get some! Get some!

Come on, killer, do it!

Fire at will!

Come on, killer, do it!

Come on, killer!
You can do better than that.

Come on!

You're going to suffer
like the rest of us.

Oh, you think I'm going
to let it end this way?

Do you? Is that
what you think?

General?

He wanted me to kill him.

I stood down.

I'm done here.

Scully?

He's having some kind

of a seizure.

No, I don't think so.

Nurse!

General Callahan!

Killer...

Come on, killer.

Your time has come.

General Callahan!

General Callahan!

He's non-responsive.

Come on.

Put him on the monitors
and prep the crash cart.

- He's going into cardiac arrest.
- Okay.

And make sure the TV...

Lieutenant Colonel!

Uh... get the keys.

We have to
open the door.

Open the door!

Lieutenant Colonel,
open the door!

General Callahan,
are you hurt?

I'm okay.

No physical evidence was found
linking Leonard Trimble

to the deaths of General
Callahan's wife and son.

Officially, the investigation
remains open,

the murders unsolved.

Leonard Trimble's family
requested his burial

at Arlington National Cemetery.

The Army denied this request.

Trimble was cremated,

his ashes interred
at a civilian cemetery

in Tannersville, Pennsylvania.

Leonard Trimble's mission
was not to kill his enemies,

but to shatter their lives,
to keep them alive

to suffer the pain
that he felt...

to see the view
from his wheelchair.

Amputees sometimes feel
the pain of phantom limbs--

ghosts of hands
still clenching,

legs still aching.

Is it not possible

that Trimble developed
a phantom soul--

a malevolent psyche
that took its violent revenge

on those he held accountable?

It was war that destroyed
Leonard Trimble's body...

but his wounds went deeper
than the loss of his limbs.

What destroyed
those parts of him

that make us human beings,

those better angels
of our nature?

I cannot say.

I made this!