The Plague Dogs (1983) 7.8

Snitter: Have you ever thought, Rowf... that we won't need food when we're dead? Or names for that matter... I wonder who the buzzards will like best... You, or me... I hope you make sure we're properly dead before you start, old rip-beak! [first lines] Stephen Powell: I think he's starting to pack it in. Snitter: Rowf. Rowf! Come back. Rowf: [half-conscious] Can't do it. I'll fight! I'll tear them white-coats... damn white-coats... Snitter: It's not the white-coats, Rowf. It's me - Snitter. Listen - the door's not a wall anymore. Rowf: I can't stand the water anymore. When I shut my eyes, the water comes back. Snitter: How do you get out? Do you drink it? Or does the sun dry it out? Or what? Rowf: I don't know. I hate it, Snitter. The water's terrible. Snitter: The wire's loose here, along the bottom. If I put my nose under it, I might be able to get through... Rowf: Why do they do it, Snitter? I'm not a bad dog. Snitter: I don't think they do it because they think you're bad. Snitter: They're not masters, Rowf. I had a master once, and I know. Whatever the White-coats are, they're not masters. Rowf: Something's been burnt in there. It's a death place. Bones, hair... Snitter: They must burn creatures in there, Rowf. [sniffing] Snitter: Sheep... rain... I can smell it underneath the ashes. Rowf: In there? Smells come through the cracks. Dogs don't. Snitter: They've taken everything away! The houses and roads, cars, pavement, the lot! How did they do it, Rowf? Rowf: The white-coats must have changed it so they could do something or other to animals. Snitter: But my master never used to do anything to me... Rowf: I don't want to hear about your master. Snitter: When I was at home, my master... Rowf: Aren't you listening to me? Snitter: Masters are different, Rowf! You'll see what I mean when we've found one. Rowf: Supposing there aren't any masters left? Snitter: The flies in my head... they keep buzzing. Snitter: Rowf, if we don't find food soon, we'll die. Rowf: I'm not going to die. Not without a fight. Snitter: Who are you going to fight? There's no one here.

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Rowf

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: I'll fight this. But we have to change. Snitter: Change? Change to what? Rowf: To what we used to be. Real animals. Wild animals. Snitter: The world was black and white... and then the truck came, and lightning shot down my head. Rowf: We're not about to die! The Tod: No? Why, hinny, ye've got no chance at all. I've bin watchin' ye the last two days, ye'll not last hollerin' yer heads off, racin' about the fell. Snitter: What do you mean? What are you saying? The Tod: Just a proposition, bonny lads. If ye'll hunt with me, I'll keep ye right, and ye'll have yer meath, we'll run through the night and follow me feet... Rowf: I don't understand a word he's saying. Snitter: He'll show us how to live out here if we let him share what we kill. The Tod: Aye, laddie, that's it. Why, ye'll have no bother with me, I'm a delicate eater. I don't aught but pick at me meat. Rowf: He'll cheat us and run away when it suits him. Bloody thief, that's what he is. Snitter: Well, we've nothing to lose. He's a sharp one, Rowf. Rowf: If you're still here when it's light, we'll decide what to do then. The Tod: Ah, now yer talkin' sense. Keep a tight hold of yer mate, and a good look over ye. Rowf: What do you call yourself? The Tod: I'm the Tod. Tod, ye know? Canniest Tod on Moss an' Moor. Rowf: What's happened to you? Snitter: What do you mean? Rowf: Your head... Snitter: It's just a hole. It's not that strange, not really. Holes. The Tod: The farmers are down in the valley, headin' this way, dogs all over the place. An' they've got guns! Rowf: How is it going to end, running all over these mountains? Snitter: We've got to go, Rowf, Tod's right. Rowf: Maybe what they're doing to us is right. I'm a good dog, Snitter! The Tod: Ye're no dog at all, now. Ye're a sheep killer. Snitter: I was coming back, and all the grass and stones in my head were very loud, like a strong wind. And I was on a road, like last time. He called to me and smiled, and I went to him... and everything smashed to pieces. I smashed it like I did the other time! It all comes from me, Rowf! Out of my head... I killed that man, like I killed my master! That's why we're here now, like this. We'll be punished, Rowf... Rowf: They cant' do anything worse than they've done already... Snitter: Everything bad comes out of my head! Don't you see? Perhaps dying... even dying doesn't stop it. Rowf: I don't know what you're talking about. But as for dying, I'll fight before I'm killed. Snitter:

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They'll shoot you, Rowf, when they come with guns. The noise breaks the world to bits!