Disclaimer: The Rat Patrol is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.

Werewolf? There Wolf!

By Suzie2b

It was nearly Halloween and the latest movies to make their way to the base at Ras Tanura was The Wolf Man played by Lon Chaney, Jr. and The Mummy with Boris Karloff as the ancient Egyptian mummy named Imhotep.

Moffitt and Linda walked out of the Sunday double feature and squinted into the bright afternoon sunlight. Linda smiled as she said, "Well, that was horrifyingly fun, don't you think?"

Moffitt tucked the young woman's arm through his and sighed. "Actually, I've never been a great fan of horror films. There doesn't seem to be any purpose to them."

"It's called entertainment, Jack."

"Give me a good documentary or a mystery … now that's entertainment. I've seen The Hound of the Baskervilles three times and I'd see it again." Linda giggled and Moffitt finally smiled. "Is there time for a little supper before you start your shift?"

Linda looked at her watch. "Yes, there is. But do we have to go to the mess hall? I'd like something different."

Moffitt nodded. "I know just the place."

#################

Several days passed and the Rat Patrol had been doing daily patrols while they waited for their next assignment. When it finally came they were sent to Egypt to check on reports of Italian troop movement.

The morning they were to leave, Troy looked at Moffitt as they left their quarters. "You feeling okay? You don't look too good."

Moffitt sighed. "I've got a bit of a headache and a scratchy throat this morning."

"If you're getting sick, you should probably stay behind."

Moffitt smiled. "What and let the three of you go off by yourselves to have all the fun?"

Troy chuckled. "This is just a recon mission…"

"I'm sure it's nothing more than a slight cold. I'll be fine."

##################

Over the next day and a half, Moffitt developed a cough and some congestion to go with his sore throat and nagging headache. The sergeant sneezed into his jacket's sleeve and caught Tully looking at him worriedly. Moffitt sniffled and said with bit of irritation, "It's just a slight cold."

Not wanting to argue, Tully simply nodded and went back to his driving. But he kept a covert eye on his friend in the passenger seat.

Two days later, the Rat Patrol had the information Captain Boggs wanted and headed home.

They had stopped for the night. It was late when Hitch knelt next to a shivering Moffitt where he sat leaning on the wheel of one of the jeeps wrapped in two blankets. The private handed the sergeant a steaming mug of tea and two aspirin. "I heard peppermint tea is good for colds, serge."

Moffitt took the mug and pills. He reveled in the warm scent of peppermint and honey. "Where did you get peppermint tea and honey?"

Hitch grinned. "There's peppermint drops in the bag of candy I got before we left base. Tully had a small jar of honey stashed away … but now that I think about it I have no idea why he has a jar of honey out here to begin with."

Tully smiled as he stepped up to join Moffitt and Hitch. "Charley's aunt sent several jars. I snagged one for Moffitt because he said he wasn't fond of the honey they have on base."

Moffitt smiled tiredly. "Well, thank you, Tully. And thank you too, Hitch, for the tea. I feel better already."

Hitch said, "You know, we could stop at Al-Khobar on our way back to base. There's a doctor there…"

"No need for that. It's just a slight cold. I'll be right as rain in no time."

Tully simply nodded and said, "I'm heading out to relive Troy on watch. Try to get some rest."

##################

Moffitt finished his tea and set the mug aside. He did manage to doze a bit, but nothing he did made him comfortable. The ground felt harder than usual and he contemplated getting into the passenger seat of the jeep … but decided it would take too much energy. Again he leaned his head back and closed his eyes, hoping for some sleep.

When Moffitt awoke again he felt groggy and he needed some water. With some effort he managed to stand up and get a canteen out of the jeep. After he took a swallow, he leaned against the side of the jeep and looked around. The fire was low and he told himself to put wood on it before trying to sleep again. It appeared that Troy and Hitch were asleep in their bedrolls. He didn't see Tully and assumed the private was still on watch.

The moon was full and bright, giving the desert an indigo glow accented with silver. Moffitt spotted a tall form moving slowly around the perimeter of camp. At first glance he thought it was Tully, but as he continued to watch, he started to notice something odd…

The figure Moffitt watched was slightly hunched. The uniform was torn and he saw no boots … in fact there were no feet! At least they weren't human feet. Moffitt began to walk slowly out towards the figure, truly wondering what he was looking at.

And then it turned around and Moffitt gasped. The face only slightly resembled Tully's, but the shape had changed and the several days' worth of beard appeared to have grown into … fur? How could that be? Tully was changing before his eyes.

Moffitt glanced at the full moon again, then back at Tully, who obviously hadn't noticed him. He turned and looked back at Troy and Hitch again. What if they weren't sleeping? What if the creature Tully was changing into had killed them? Slashed to death by the claws and fangs the private now sported as he face changed further. They never had a chance to call out for help.

Moffitt moved to the fire and picked up a burning piece of wood. He quietly started walking towards the figure. As he got closer, Moffitt could see fur showing through the torn material of the uniform "it" wore.

##################

Tully heard movement behind him and spun around. At first he let out a sigh of relief when he saw Moffitt coming toward him, then he saw the burning piece of firewood. "What's goin' on, sarge?" The sergeant didn't answer, he just kept closing in. Tully then noticed the odd look in Moffitt's eyes. "Umm … you wanna put that down, sarge?"

Moffitt didn't hear Tully's voice. What he heard was something resembling a growl and snarl. He had to put Tully out of his growing misery…

Tully began to step back when Moffitt suddenly lunged forward swinging the burning piece of wood. Tully managed to deflect the blow with his machine gun and was knocked onto his back as he said, "I don't want to hurt you, sarge!"

Moffitt swung the smoldering wooden club at Tully's head. Luckily, the private rolled to one side, barely getting out of the way in time. With a quick move Tully kicked Moffitt's feet out from under him, sending him flat on his back.

Then Troy and Hitch were there, struggling with an incoherent Moffitt.

##################

At the small hospital in Al-Khobar, Moffitt opened his eyes. His head felt as if it were stuffed with cotton. He looked around at the otherwise empty ward. He found Troy sitting next to his cot looking back at him with a slightly amused smile.

Troy said, "'Just a slight cold', huh?"

Moffitt asked quietly, "What happened?"

"Not real sure. You developed a high fever and tried to kill Tully."

Moffitt was horrified as he asked, "Is he all right?"

Troy nodded. "You gave him a scare, but you didn't touch him. Do you remember what happened?"

"I'm not sure." Moffitt frowned as he tried to remember. "I think I thought I was saving Tully somehow…"

Troy's eyebrows went up with surprise. "You thought you were saving him by beating him with a burning piece of wood?"

Moffitt shrugged. "Right now I'm just not sure what was going through my mind. You're sure Tully's all right?"

"Positive. He was more worried about you than anything else." Troy hesitated, then said, "There is one thing I need to ask before I get out of here so you can rest."

"What's that?"

"When Hitch and I were trying to calm you down … before you passed out … you kept insisting that you needed a silver bullet…"