Chapter 4

The jeep rumbled down the road, kicking up dust with its cleat-like tires. Sam hadn't moved from is position. He was sure that his appendix was going to burst. Whether he got to where Wallings was taking him or the 4077 found him, his appendix was going to make things very uncomfortable.

Wallings hadn't said a word since they had pulled away from the 4077. Sam had been too busy trying to stay breathing correctly. The scenery was passing by swiftly, almost making him nauseous. The jeep was bouncing up and down.

"Just wait until my superiors learn that I caught an enemy. I'll get a medal for sure." Wallings yelled over the noise. Sam opened his eyes and the sun pierced through him.

"Do you realize what you've done? You've just terrorized a MASH unit and taken one of their own. We HAVE no enemies there!" Sam gasped, gripping his side tighter.

Wallings turned a corner sharply and glanced at Sam.

"You shut up. I know that your MASH treats the enemy more..nicely than the others. You must be conspiring with them. You'll have all the answers and my superiors will get the answers from you." He said.

Sam was quiet, leaning his head back against the seat. The cold wind blew through his hair, shocking his brain into asking more questions.

"So who was Bennett?" he asked, keeping his eyes closed.

"I thought he was on my side. But then I saw him talking to those Koreans. I had to stop him from informing the enemy of the plans. I needed him to tell the superiors what he had done." Wallings explained.

Sam was beginning to sweat. A fever was setting in.

"You were the sniper on the MASH grounds. You shot the Korean." he said, finally realizing things.

"He was going to warn his associates. I couldn't let that happen." Wallings said.

There was a haunted look in his captor's eyes.

Wallings must truly believe what he's telling me! Sam thought to himself. He took a deep breath and sat up straight.

"Look Wallings. If you want me to be able to tell your superiors anything, I have to be alive. There's something wrong with my side. I need help." he tried to reason.

Wallings didn't respond. He instead pulled the jeep over to the side of the abandoned road.

4*0*7*7

"We should have checked your head! You're driving crazy!" BJ yelled over the sound of the jeep.

The two of them were squinting in the cold morning air. The wind was blowing as harshly as it had the night before. Hawk's numbing fingers were quickly taking the place of his concussion force headache.

"You know as well as I do that if his appendix bursts, he could get peritonitis, get an infection, things can get serious!" Hawkeye yelled over the rush of air around him. He didn't even want to start thinking about the weather. The clouds overhead were beginning to puff and gray, showing signs of oncoming snow. They knew it was going to snow. After being in Korea for so long, it was easy to know when the weather was coming. They knew the signs.

"There's faint tracks up to the right." Hawkeye heard BJ call out.

He squinted out in the middle of the road. There were slight tracks veering off the road and out of sight.

Slowing the jeep and pulling it to the side, the two of them hopped out and began following the tracks. There were a few spots that had ice on them and it was obvious that the jeep had skid over it. It was that fact that made Hawkeye begin to worry more. He was beginning to have horrible thoughts about if the jeep had skid off the road or overturned on one of the many jagged rocks around.

Looking at BJ, he could tell he was thinking the same thing.

"Keep an eye out for any skid marks." Hawkeye hollered slightly over the increasing winds. BJ nodded.

The terrain gave room to anyone to hide. For all the two of them knew, there could be a couple snipers looking at them. As the wind blew the past snow sprinkled off the tree branches, some of it landing on their shoulders.

"I'm starting to think I should have grabbed my coat." BJ mumbled to himself.

Hawkeye wasn't on the same level. He was just concentrating on staying upright. His head was still throbbing and the bumps along the way in the jeep hadn't done any good. There were a few black spots clouding his vision and he blinked repeatedly to remove them. It had worked a few times but now the little buggers were coming back in full force. He rolled his eyes upwards and visibly winced at the pain it caused.

Unfortunately, BJ noticed. He stopped walking and didn't hesitate to grab Hawkeye's arm to stop him. Hawkeye jerked in his grip and turned to look at BJ expectantly.

"Your head is still bothering you. Wait here. I'll go and scout ahead." BJ said.

Hawkeye's eyes widened.

"No! BJ, Sam could be bleeding or dead by now. Plus, Wallings has a gun. If he sees you, it could be lights out for all three of us." he justified.

"But if you'd stay here for just a few minutes, I can come get you before he even sees me." BJ argued.

Hawkeye frowned.

"I'm just going to follow you anyways so you might as well give up." he said, pulling his arm from BJ's grip. BJ growled but watched Hawkeye stride forward. They struggled up a small hill, still following the deep tracks. With the ice, the two didn't think Wallings was stupid enough to drive the jeep down an icy hill.

As they moved, the sounds of conversation drifted through their ears. One voice sounded in pain and the deep one was obviously Wallings.

4*0*7*7

Sam leaned against a close rock, a fine sheen of sweat across his forehead. His breathing was labored and he was sure his vision was blurry. His brain was going into complete panic. The pain in his side had intensified and he couldn't even sit up straight. His eyes followed Wallings as he paced the clearing, the gun twitching in his grasp.

"Wallings, I'm gonna die anyway. It's just one less enemy. You can go back and tell your superiors that you succeeded." Sam groaned.

"No, no you have to be alive to be questioned." Wallings growled, stopping his pacing and wiping snow off his shoulders.

It was only then that Sm noticed he was shivering. His chest felt as if his heart was about to burst out of his chest. He could feel all his bones shaking inside his skin.

"What can I do to keep you alive?" Wallings mumbled to himself. He seemed at war with himself. Sam let him stew and began looking around for a way to change the status quo. The snow was beginning to cover everything. He could see a few loose rocks that were just within reach. He glanced back and Wallings, eying him as he paced back and forth, running his hands through his hair.

Sam slowly lifted his arm, careful not to let any leaves or twigs crackle as they fell to the ground. Although the howling wind would probably blow the noise away and to the other side of Korea.

The rock was cold in his hand, completely frozen. He was tempted to drop the rock and pull his hand back to his body, to warm it against his chilled torso. But he ignored the tempting thought and clenched his teeth. Wallings seemed to be in his own world. He wrung his hands and mumbled to himsef about something or other. Now Sam knew that Wallings wasn't right in the head.

He pulled the rock to his side and covered it with his hand. He wished Hawkeye and BJ were there. They always knew what to do. At least he would have had some comfort as he died.

"What can I do?!" Wallings yelled, startling Sam out of his thoughts.

"My appendix has to come out. Take me back to the 4077. They can remove it and I'll be well enough to travel." he groaned, placing his free hand protectively over his pained side.

"No! The MP's will be waiting. If it just needs to come out, then I'll do it." Wallings decided.

He had an unusual glint in his eyes as he stared at Sam and then began fumbling through his pockets for something. Sam tried to back up, sliding his body back but his muscles began to freeze up, making it extremely difficult to move at all. His head fell back against the frozen ground with a small 'thump'. His eyes fluttered shut against the blowing snow when he unexpectedly heard an 'aha' from Wallings. His eyes opened sluggishly and rolled down to see what Wallings was doing. The big man was holding something in his hand but Sam didn't have the strength to lean up to see what it was. He released a groan.

"Yes sir, I'll fix it myself." Wallings mumbled to himself.

Sam felt the intruding cold impale his abdomen. The first thought in his mind was that the wind felt marvelous on his heated, fever ridden skin. But the pressure of someone holding him down by his chest caused his brain to go into overdrive. His limbs weakly struggled to push the offending force off but all movement froze as an agonizing slice of pain radiated throughout his side. He glanced down to see Wallings gripping the handle of a deadly looking knife whose blade was currently buried deep within his side. A scream was his delayed reaction. It seemed to sear his throat with its intensity. As the knife began to slide downwards, Sam suddenly remembered the frozen rock in his hand.

Surging with all his might, Sam cracked the rock across the side of Wallings' head.

TBC