Chapter Thirteen: Fighter
~~
The tension could have been cut with a knife. Colonel Potter bowed his head after he delivered the news, unable to see the reactions of the others. Margaret's hands flew over her lips; her mouth and eyes wide open in shock. She had been in the Army for years, and she had seen more death and injury than she cared for, but only once had she seen a close friend of hers been put in such danger, and even to this day she had nightmares about the incident. She did not know how she would cope to live through it again.
Klinger turned away, unable to react any other way to the news he had just heard. He feared the worst for BJ, he had a vision of wounded being flown in on a chopper or being brought to the M*A*S*H on a bus. Klinger had an image of him lifting the blanket back, to get the name and serial number of someone who had not survived, and finding BJ's lifeless eyes staring into his own. The thought made him feel totally sick to the stomach.
Hawkeye, his mouth slightly open, shook his head repeatedly, as if the entire thing was a huge joke and BJ would walk in at any moment, laughing, smiling, and saying, "Got you!" Hawkeye would have jumped for joy if it were a joke, after giving BJ a good talking to about scaring his friends to death. No matter how much he stared at the door, it did not open.
"What can we do?" Margaret asked quietly.
Everyone present knew the answer to that question. Nothing.
"I'll go out and look for him," Hawkeye said, getting up from where he had perched on the table, but before he could get to the door, a firm grasp held him back.
"Don't be a fool," Colonel Potter snapped. "You don't know where the Hell he is, where do you think you're going to start looking?" He knew that the obvious instinct was to go out and search for BJ, an instinct that came not only from a best friend but also from others close to him, but Colonel Potter had enough sense to know that doing so would be far too dangerous. Instead, he had come up with a better solution. "I've sent for a chopper to go and look for him, but remember, he can't fly over enemy territory so we may not even succeed with that."
"It's better than nothing," Klinger said quietly.
"Where's the chopper?" Hawkeye demanded. If he went with the pilot, he would be on hand to tend to any medical situation, and would also eliminate the feeling inside him that he was doing nothing.
"And where's Hunnicutt going to sit if and when our pilot finds him?"
"I'll ride on the side, and he'll have one of those counter-weight things," Hawkeye insisted, and Colonel Potter saw that he was not going to win this particular discussion.
Sighing, he said, "Chopper leaves in three minutes. Get your helmet and medical bag and be up at the pad by then. Klinger, get Pierce the papers, ASAP." Hawkeye gave Colonel Potter a look of thanks before he ran out of the room to the Swamp, to change out of his robe and put on some clothing.
~~
It took some minutes for it occur to BJ that he could hear the shelling again. Once the pack had set off, the loud noises had faded away, but as he drove alone down the road, they began to creep back. Thinking that the shelling had been moving at a quicker pace towards him, he increased his speed in the hope that he might be able to outrun them.
BJ, at that moment, did not have the sense to see that he was going towards the bombing, as opposed to away from it. It had been hours, days, he had lost count since he had last eaten something, and his lack of energy had begun to take its toll over him. He had felt out of it since coming off his shift at the Aid Station, when the adrenaline must have been used up, he thought to himself. He had trouble focusing and concentrating, and he felt like he was constantly in a daze, or some kind of world of his own.
He shook his head, and tried to snap himself out of it, and only when he tried to focus on something did he realise that bombs were going off not more than a hundred yards in front of him. Reacting sharply, he swerved the jeep to perform a U-turn, and began to accelerate in the opposite direction. He looked in the wing mirror, and could clearly see the yellow balls of fire that rose as the shells landed on the ground, only slightly before he could hear the earth-shattering blasts that rocked the world around. They came towards him at an alarming rate, and inside he felt that he might not live to see the sun rise.
The sky was becoming lighter, and although this gave BJ the advantage of being able to see the track before him, it also gave the bombers a better chance of spotting him and aiming for his jeep. He pressed the accelerator as far to the floor as it would go, hoping and praying for speed. The wind and dust stung his eyes and face, but he didn't care, all that mattered was beating the bombs.
BJ didn't realise it then, but he was fighting for survival, fighting to live like he knew he had something to live for. Although he felt that he had nothing left in his life, something within him knew that he had a beautiful daughter waiting for him when he got back to the States, and she was something to stay alive for.
Despite it being a chilly morning, the sweat poured from BJ's forehead as he drove, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the steering wheel with all his might, squeezing as much energy and speed out of the jeep as he possibly could. The road swerved and dipped as it pleased, leaving the driver fairly shaken, and if he'd had any lunch inside him, he would have surely lost it by then.
The shelling seemed to have veered away from BJ's path, and he took a look in the wing mirror to check. Although he could still see and hear the explosions, they were further away, and heading to his right, and BJ breathed a momentary sigh of relief. Still, he had to keep going, as the morning was becoming lighter by the second, and it would only be a matter of minutes before there was enough daylight for him to be spotted.
He averted his eyes from the mirror to the road ahead of him just too late, and there was no time to avoid the large crater in the middle of the road, where he assumed a bomb had once dropped. Despite his efforts, the right front wheel became caught in it, and the jeep flipped over in the air, throwing BJ from it. He landed and rolled along the ground for a moment, and the world around him melted into darkness as he passed out.
~~~~
~~
The tension could have been cut with a knife. Colonel Potter bowed his head after he delivered the news, unable to see the reactions of the others. Margaret's hands flew over her lips; her mouth and eyes wide open in shock. She had been in the Army for years, and she had seen more death and injury than she cared for, but only once had she seen a close friend of hers been put in such danger, and even to this day she had nightmares about the incident. She did not know how she would cope to live through it again.
Klinger turned away, unable to react any other way to the news he had just heard. He feared the worst for BJ, he had a vision of wounded being flown in on a chopper or being brought to the M*A*S*H on a bus. Klinger had an image of him lifting the blanket back, to get the name and serial number of someone who had not survived, and finding BJ's lifeless eyes staring into his own. The thought made him feel totally sick to the stomach.
Hawkeye, his mouth slightly open, shook his head repeatedly, as if the entire thing was a huge joke and BJ would walk in at any moment, laughing, smiling, and saying, "Got you!" Hawkeye would have jumped for joy if it were a joke, after giving BJ a good talking to about scaring his friends to death. No matter how much he stared at the door, it did not open.
"What can we do?" Margaret asked quietly.
Everyone present knew the answer to that question. Nothing.
"I'll go out and look for him," Hawkeye said, getting up from where he had perched on the table, but before he could get to the door, a firm grasp held him back.
"Don't be a fool," Colonel Potter snapped. "You don't know where the Hell he is, where do you think you're going to start looking?" He knew that the obvious instinct was to go out and search for BJ, an instinct that came not only from a best friend but also from others close to him, but Colonel Potter had enough sense to know that doing so would be far too dangerous. Instead, he had come up with a better solution. "I've sent for a chopper to go and look for him, but remember, he can't fly over enemy territory so we may not even succeed with that."
"It's better than nothing," Klinger said quietly.
"Where's the chopper?" Hawkeye demanded. If he went with the pilot, he would be on hand to tend to any medical situation, and would also eliminate the feeling inside him that he was doing nothing.
"And where's Hunnicutt going to sit if and when our pilot finds him?"
"I'll ride on the side, and he'll have one of those counter-weight things," Hawkeye insisted, and Colonel Potter saw that he was not going to win this particular discussion.
Sighing, he said, "Chopper leaves in three minutes. Get your helmet and medical bag and be up at the pad by then. Klinger, get Pierce the papers, ASAP." Hawkeye gave Colonel Potter a look of thanks before he ran out of the room to the Swamp, to change out of his robe and put on some clothing.
~~
It took some minutes for it occur to BJ that he could hear the shelling again. Once the pack had set off, the loud noises had faded away, but as he drove alone down the road, they began to creep back. Thinking that the shelling had been moving at a quicker pace towards him, he increased his speed in the hope that he might be able to outrun them.
BJ, at that moment, did not have the sense to see that he was going towards the bombing, as opposed to away from it. It had been hours, days, he had lost count since he had last eaten something, and his lack of energy had begun to take its toll over him. He had felt out of it since coming off his shift at the Aid Station, when the adrenaline must have been used up, he thought to himself. He had trouble focusing and concentrating, and he felt like he was constantly in a daze, or some kind of world of his own.
He shook his head, and tried to snap himself out of it, and only when he tried to focus on something did he realise that bombs were going off not more than a hundred yards in front of him. Reacting sharply, he swerved the jeep to perform a U-turn, and began to accelerate in the opposite direction. He looked in the wing mirror, and could clearly see the yellow balls of fire that rose as the shells landed on the ground, only slightly before he could hear the earth-shattering blasts that rocked the world around. They came towards him at an alarming rate, and inside he felt that he might not live to see the sun rise.
The sky was becoming lighter, and although this gave BJ the advantage of being able to see the track before him, it also gave the bombers a better chance of spotting him and aiming for his jeep. He pressed the accelerator as far to the floor as it would go, hoping and praying for speed. The wind and dust stung his eyes and face, but he didn't care, all that mattered was beating the bombs.
BJ didn't realise it then, but he was fighting for survival, fighting to live like he knew he had something to live for. Although he felt that he had nothing left in his life, something within him knew that he had a beautiful daughter waiting for him when he got back to the States, and she was something to stay alive for.
Despite it being a chilly morning, the sweat poured from BJ's forehead as he drove, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the steering wheel with all his might, squeezing as much energy and speed out of the jeep as he possibly could. The road swerved and dipped as it pleased, leaving the driver fairly shaken, and if he'd had any lunch inside him, he would have surely lost it by then.
The shelling seemed to have veered away from BJ's path, and he took a look in the wing mirror to check. Although he could still see and hear the explosions, they were further away, and heading to his right, and BJ breathed a momentary sigh of relief. Still, he had to keep going, as the morning was becoming lighter by the second, and it would only be a matter of minutes before there was enough daylight for him to be spotted.
He averted his eyes from the mirror to the road ahead of him just too late, and there was no time to avoid the large crater in the middle of the road, where he assumed a bomb had once dropped. Despite his efforts, the right front wheel became caught in it, and the jeep flipped over in the air, throwing BJ from it. He landed and rolled along the ground for a moment, and the world around him melted into darkness as he passed out.
~~~~