Josta
I don't own the A-team and I'm sure Murdock in particular should be grateful. This chapter contains graphic torture and a near-death experience, so be warned. I don't have a beta-reader so there may be linguistic mistakes in this story (as a matter of fact I'm sure there are) but I hope that won't stop you from reading it…..
I am no doctor and the only thing I know about medicine is that you can take an aspirin when you've got a headache. All medical actions in this story are therefore totally, completely and utterly non-sense.
This story is based upon the episode 'Bounty', because I don't have what it takes to make up a complete story. I just make up 'what ifs'…I was wondering what would have happened if those bounty hunters were a little less friendly. The story takes on from the moment Murdock has been abducted by the two hillbillies and an Indian and is taken to a cabin in another state.
Murdock hasn't stopped his 'jibber-jabber' all the way from the VA to the cabin and Tannen just can't take it anymore. He lashes out at Murdock and hits him hard in the face, using both fists. An older man comes outside and calls him off. He asks Murdock to follow him inside.
Once inside the cabin the old mans' demeanor changes very quickly. All at once he isn't friendly anymore….. Murdock is gun butted between the shoulder blades and forced on a chair. The old man orders the Indian to tie him up which he, very sadistically, does by using barbed wire which shreds Murdock's shirt and wounds his arms. While the Indian is occupied tying Murdock up, the others check over the rifles they want to use for capturing the A-team.
Murdock is visibly scared and very nervous. He chatters: "You know, you look like a Chippewa. Are you a Chippewa? No you're not Chippewa, you're Chumash, Chumash! No, the Chumash roam California. You're not Chumash, you must be Cheyenne. Are you Cheyenne?"
The Indian doesn't answer; he just stares at Murdock who asks:
"Does he always stare like that?"
"The Indian? Yeah, when he gets mad….."
Royco, the eldest son, is very excited at the thought of being very rich in just a few hours from now. The fact that four lives will be destroyed for that purpose is completely insignificant.
"We are going to catch the A-team!"
Murdock is looking scared from one face to another. Compared to these men most inhabitants of the VA are completely sane…..
The father interrupts: "We catch them when I say so! I've been a bounty hunter for thirty-five years now and I know what I'm doing. The A-team bounty is the one I've been waiting for all my life and I'm going to make very sure everything goes as I plan!"
Royco reassures him. "We'll get them, pappy, don't you fret none."
"Well, we better get them!"
He grabs the phone and shows it to Murdock.
"And now you are going to call your friends because I assume they will be very worried about you by now."
Murdock hesitates and stares at the phone. When the old man suspects Murdock is going to refuse he hits him merciless with the rifle in the face, breaking Murdock's eye-socket and cheek-bone. On top of that he threatens to charge the barbwire. Murdock comes down a peg or two.
In the Van the phone rings, Hannibal answers.
"Yeah!"
Murdock tries not to show his fear but his voice quivers and he lisps, due to the beating he received.
"Colonel, there's someone here who wants to talk to you."
"We got your man here, Smith. I hear you and your boys are hard to get….."
"What do you want of Murdock?"
Well, it ain't Murdock we want. It's the three of you we're after. The government is offering a big bounty on you and I aim to collect on it. Now, if you wanna see Murdock again, you and Peck and Baracus will come to me. Take this down; I'm only gonna say it once. Go out of town on route nine up to Bedford Falls. When you get there, go to the bar called the Hat Rack. There's a payphone in the back of that bar. You go there and wait for my call. And remember….. Somebody is watching you every second from the minute you get into town. Now, if you don't answer it when I call, your buddy Murdock here….. is dead meat.
Hannibal races into the bar, the phone is already ringing. He picks it up.
"Yeah!"
"Well, hello friend, I'm mighty glad you made it. I was about to hang up and your buddy Murdock would not have liked that!"
Hannibal is breathless of the running, he pants: "I'm here now. What do you want now?"
Now you're gonna take the road out of town, that's what I want. Follow along the road till you come to Pine Crest Drive. You take a right; follow that along until you come to the junction. Take the left fork; go on till you find an abandoned camp site. There you're gonna stop and you all gonna take off your jacket. Then you're gonna get out of the van and put your hands in the air. If I see any of you guys packing something I'm gonna gut shoot every-one of you.
He replaces the receiver and Hannibal does the same. He checks his watch and runs out of the bar.
After he leaves a man stands up from the stool he was sitting on and goes over to the payphone. It's the youngest son, Tannen. He dials a number.
"They just left; they're on their way, pa!"
BA is in top of a telephone pole and is listening in.
"All right, son, you better get home right now, or you'll miss all the fun. Royco and Chazz are toying around with that fool. You know Chazz's specialty, so if you're not fast, you won't have to hurry at all. Maybe they can teach him to only shut up when he's told to do so."
"Tell them not to kill him, pa, I would love to try out my running iron again."
"He's pretty much damaged but they will keep him alive, boy. He ain't worth nothing when he's dead. Besides….. you already played with him."
"Jeez, pa, a shiner and a split lip! Knowing you, you messed him up a little yourself too."
"You know me well, boy, but I only hit him with my rifle. He's got a broken jaw and a concussion, I think."
"Compared to what Royco and Chazz are doing to him, that's not much indeed."
Hannibal calls BA over the walkie talkie.
"Found out anything, BA?"
"Yeah, some dude used the phone after you left. I heard him tell his pa we're on our way. I've got the number; it's 5552944. But we better hurry. The father said two men are working Murdock over because he won't tell them anything and the son who rang already beat him up but wants to use his running iron on him. He's hurt already. It seems he's got a broken jaw and a concussion. They were bragging about that."
"Al right, be ready, we'll pick you up."
They drive as fast as possible to pick up BA, who takes Faces place behind the wheel. Hannibal is very worried; he doesn't even want to think about what those men are doing to Murdock right now.
Murdock survived severe torture in Vietnam, but that was a lifetime ago. Who knows what damage it will do to his psyche now?
"Face, I must have the address of this number within five minutes, if possible. Every minute it takes further endangers Murdock's life. They haven't been nice to him so far and I fear the worst."
"Al right, five minutes it is. But I will have to lend BA and his toolbox."
"Me? But I'm not good at running scams!"
"I'll do all the work, okay? The only thing you have to do is get in on cue and say what I tell you to. It's just like acting."
Hannibal turns to Face and just looks at him…..
At the national telephone company a phone rings. The operator answers it.
"Operator!"
Anything else she says can't be understood because at this moment Face enters. He's wearing a blue overall, a helmet and a toolbox. He's making a lot of noise.
"Can I help you, sir?"
"Oxlead Construction Company. I should be done in about fifteen minutes."
"What's the meaning of this?"
"Well, the power's off it. We've got to catch in on the main cable."
While Face is explaining this he is hammering paper crosses into the floor, folding back the carpet to succeed.
"Well eh….. no-one told me about any of this."
"You mean you didn't get the paperwork of the main office?"
"Paperwork? No, I didn't get anything."
The phone rings again, Face is still making a lot of noise. The operator gets very nervous and tries to make herself heard.
"Operator. Yes….. eh….. please hold, I'll connect you."
She turns to Face again. "What company did you say you were from?"
"Oxlead Construction! Baracus! You got those drills?"
BA enters; he's wearing a hard hat too. Color? Gold! He hands Face the drills.
"Thank you! Now, I just got to drill a couple of holes."
He starts doing so, while BA walks up to the operator. She recoils as he comes close and looks up at him. He's very impressive at close. He stares back at her.
"Hey, man, she ain't got no hat!"
"No hard hat, eh? Oh, according to rule 114, section 29, everyone working in the area constructing has to wear a hard hat."
"I'm the only operator on duty. I can't just leave."
"Baracus take her to the truck and fit her with a hard hat."
"But I can't leave the board."
"Oh, the board, don't worry about the board; I'll take care of the board. No problem, here you go!" And he shoos her out of her office
BA and the operator leave. Face hurries to the computer and feeds it the phone number 5552944.
He gets the address: 125 South Mason Road.
When BA and the operator get back he's just finished writing the address down. She's wearing a white hard hat now.
"Well, that's perfect! Nice fit, nice color too. Baracus, can I see you in the truck?"
They leave the building and get in the Van.
"125 South Mason Road. Four minutes and twenty-seven seconds. Not bad, huh."
Hannibal consults the map. "When we take this road, we get at the backside of the house. Let's go, BA, we need about twenty minutes to get there. Let's hope we're not too late."
Meanwhile, at the cabin of the bounty hunters…..
Murdock is standing against a tree, facing the trunk. His only clothing is a pair of trousers. It's a little optimistic to state he is standing, because the only reason he doesn't fall down is that he's tied securely. Chazz is a real handyman with the whip he is using on Murdocks back.
The knots of the whip make deep marks, but Murdock bites his tongue to prevent himself from crying out. He won't let them have their fun. At last he loses consciousness, but Chazz keeps on beating, so Murdocks back becomes one large open wound, gushing blood. The old man comes outside.
"Enough already! He doesn't have to die just yet. Get him inside and bring him round."
They loosen the barbed wire. It inflicted a lot of damage because he was tied up real tight.
Inside, Murdock again is tied to the chair. A pool of blood forms underneath it. Bringing him round isn't very easy. He only gets into a state of semi consciousness because he is in too much pain, but the old man is satisfied.
"I'll tell you what we plan to do. We are leaving to catch your friends. The bounty is for 'dead or alive' and in our book that means 'dead'. We are going after them now because I heard that colonel, Decker, got wind of the fact they're in this area too and we don't want him to catch your friends. We'd miss out on that bounty if he did. You won't be alive for long after we get back with your friends. You will be useless to us by then so we will let Tannen use his running iron on you before finishing you off."
Tannen puts his double-barreled rifle against Murdocks chest and squeezes the trigger. He only wants to give Murdock a taste of what he has in store for him and wants to scare him a little bit more, if possible. He assumes the rifle is empty. But alas….. Two bullets leave the barrels and hit Murdock. Missing from a distance like this is absolutely impossible! The impact throws the chair off balance and it crashes to the floor. It shatters immediately. Murdock groans and pants but tries his best to remain conscious.
The old man is very angry at his son. "You stupid fool! What d'you do that for? Killing of our decoy!"
Royco's got a good idea. "Don't worry, pappy. If we don't catch the A-team now, we can always pick up Mrs. Baracus. We know where she lives, don't we? She's as good a decoy as this fellow here; maybe even better."
Murdock is now even more determined to get away. He's got to warn the others…..
The bounty hunters leave the cabin, on their way to the abandoned camp site where they expect the A-team to be. The whip remains behind as a silent witness.
Murdock tries to shred himself of the remains of the chair and the barbed wire. It takes a lot of effort and pain to succeed, but he does. He crawls towards the door; he has to get away now. He doesn't know whereto and he doesn't care either; he just knows he must get away! A trail of blood forms on the wooden flooring. Ten minutes later he has reached the door which the men, in their hurry to leave, left open. He slides down the veranda, panting and groaning of pain and exertion and crawls towards the brushwood. He has to pause occasionally because black spots flash before his eyes and his sight fades. He can't lose consciousness now, he has to go on! He hears the car come back and panics. The fear drives him on….. Away, he has to get away! And with every last bit of strength he can muster he reaches the brushwood and struggles to get in, moaning as the rough branches scrape against his naked, abused backside. He goes on as if on autopilot and guided by his instincts of self-preservation he drags himself on…..
The car comes to a halt at the backside of the house. It's not the bounty hunters; it's Hannibal, Face and BA! Hannibal and BA enter the back while Face goes through the front door.
When Hannibal and BA see the trail of blood, from the remains of the chair and the barbed wire to the front door, they stand stock-still for a moment. The fresh trail of blood leads them right to the front door through which Face enters, just as they reach it. He too looks very worried.
"And? Did you find him?"
"No, he's gone. Looks like we're too late. Only his clothes are left behind. And this." Hannibal points at the whip.
"I'm afraid this is not good for if they'd taken him with them, they wouldn't have left those behind."
Face grabs Murdocks clothing and turns towards the trail.
"Hannibal, we've got to follow this trail! We might find him."
"Al right, if all this blood is his, he can't have gotten far. BA, take the lead, Face take the rear. I'll cover the flanks."
The trail isn't hard to follow and after about a hundred yards BA finds Murdock. He is hardly conscious and still makes, though moaning and groaning, crawling movements but he doesn't make progress anymore. He's fallen into a ditch which turned out to be an insurmountable obstacle due to his injuries. Sweat pours down his face, which is smeared with blood and mud. BA wasn't entertaining great hopes, but still is shocked at Murdocks condition.
"Hannibal! Face! Over here, hurry!"
He falls on his knees besides Murdock and takes him by the shoulders to prevent him from useless straining.
"Easy buddy, relax. We're here, hang in there….. Just relax."
He's getting slightly desperate because Murdock doesn't seem to notice he's there, he is too far gone and is still trying to crawl, groaning in pain and exhaustion.
Hannibal and Face come running and are shocked at the sight of a struggling Murdock with his beaten face and bloody back and arms. Hannibal quickly gives orders.
"BA, get the Van and Face, you check the map for the nearest hospital. We have to act fast 'cause they've beaten him almost to death. That must have been done with that whip. We'll make them pay later; right now we have to take care of him."
Face and BA leave to get the Van. Hannibal stays with Murdock and examines his wounds. The ones on his back are deep, very deep, some about a centimeter and some of his ribs are visible through the bloody mess. Due to his crawling through the brushwood the wounds are very dirty, but Hannibal doesn't dare to do anything about that right now. It's very clear though that professional help is acquired, and fast, or Murdock might not survive.
Murdock stopped his crawling at last, exhausted as he is due to pain and blood-loss. He doesn't even notice it's Hannibal sitting beside him. He thinks his escape-attempt failed. He's desperately looking for a way out and finds he's lucky; his guard is facing the road and he uses all strength he can muster to crawl a few inches more through the ditch, but that's the end of it. He's extremely tired, chilled to the bones and the pain is excruciating….. His chest and back are burning….. He feels like he's falling….. falling….. He just keeps on falling and then there's complete darkness surrounding him….. But then, in the distance….. there's a light….. Curiously he walks towards it. The pain is gone as if by magic, he feels comfortably warm and the exhaustion falls off of him like a cloak….. And there….. the woman standing over there, doesn't he know her? Indeed he does! Getting closer he recognizes his mother. But that can't be possible! She died years ago. He only knows her face from pictures he's seen, because he was very little when she died. Still the same, she's standing there and smiling at him. He reaches out to hug her, but when he walks towards her she raises her hand with the palm facing him as if to stop him. She points to where he came from, insistent, commanding….. He hesitates, he wants to go on, but she shakes her head and keeps turning him away. In the distance he hears a voice.
"….. going to be al right, Murdock. Hang in there! Don't desert me, you hear? You just can't give up now; it's going to be just fine. You hear? Stay with me, son, don't give in now!"
After a final glance at his mother he retraces his steps. Again he feels an excruciating pain and moans loudly.
He raises his eyes and is vaguely aware of Hannibal, who's bending over him and checking his pulse. He doesn't recognize him but when he wants to ask who's with him the only sound he can make is a weak grunt. He shivers and convulsions wreck his body.
This worries Hannibal a lot and he gets to his feet to see if the others are coming yet. When he hears the Van approaching he runs to it.
"Face! BA! Hurry, guys! Come on, he's in a bad way. For a moment I thought we lost him. I can't imagine all the things they did to him but he's in a lot of pain. Face, did you find out where the nearest hospital is?"
"Yeah, but it's too far away, about 75 miles, the River View."
That's too far indeed. It will take them about an hour to get there, time Murdock doesn't have, that's only too clear!
"He won't make it that long, no other options?"
Face already checked that, of course. He too knows an hour is too long and Murdock needs help fast.
"There's a doctor nearby, Dr. K. Stevens, on this road, number 45."
"Let's hurry, it's better than nothing."
Murdock lost consciousness again and imperceptibly cries out when BA picks him up to carry him to the Van. Just then they notice the gunshot wounds. BA grits his teeth.
"Those scumbags! Look at that! It's a miracle he's still alive!"
Hannibal rapidly checks the bullet wounds, angry at himself for not finding out sooner.
"He's been shot from a short distance, see, there's a burn mark on his chest."
Aghast they look at each other; the pain he is in must be excruciating. They would never have believed someone with such injuries to be able to crawl the distance their friend did…..
Hannibal gives short shrift.
"Get the gurney, we have to be cautious."
They hurry to get him to the Van and head to number 45. Luckily its not far to travel. Face en Hannibal sit alongside the gurney to steady Murdock and prevent him from rolling on his back or chest. In spite of his unconsciousness he moans all the way to the doctors' house. They can only hope this doctor will be able to help him because he is visibly deteriorating. He has trouble breathing and is obviously in shock. Hannibal is very worried.
"Faster, BA, or we'll lose him! His pulse is almost 140!"