-CHAPTER 5-
A loud roar erupted from Wallings and he flew back, grasping the side of his head. The snow and wind blew, sending his yells out of the clearing. Sam glanced at him through the hazy blowing snow. There was a crackle next to him and he turned to the left to see the blurry form of Captain BJ Hunnicutt barrel into Wallings, sending them careening into the snow. Sam watched them wrestle while the hot blood slid down his side.
From where Hunnicutt came from, came the hunched over form of Hawkeye. He hugged his arms to his chest as he knelt next to Sam.
"Oh god Sam." he whispered.
Sam blinked rapidly to bring Hawkeye into focus. He felt the man's cold hands on his already cold body. There seemed to be no more heat for either of them to steal.
"H-hawk..." Sam almost gurgled, trying to sit up. Hawkeye immediately pushed him back down. Sam hissed as the pain crawled up his spine. He squeezed his eyes shut as Hawkeye probed the wound.
"It doesn't seem like your appendix has burst yet. We need to get you back to the 4077." Hawkeye rushed. He pushed a large hand against the wound and glanced around for BJ.
-4077-
BJ rolled across the snow, landing opposite of Wallings. The two stood up, glaring at each other.
"I'm taking him in, dead or alive. You can't stop me!" Wallings roared.
BJ's eyes glanced over at the discarded knife. Wallings had no doubt forgotten about it. He snapped back to Wallings glaring fiercely.
"You're insane Wallings. I'm not going to reason with you. He's not going with you. Now you'll either come quietly with us or I'll knock you out and throw you across the jeep." he threatened. He didn't know if this villain could hear him over the wind. The snow blew, chilling both men to the bone. BJ's bones creaked as the cold invaded but he ignored it and rushed forward.
He and Wallings grappled, both trying to get the upper hand. Wallings sent a resounding punch to BJ's right cheek, catching him below the eye. His head snapped back and he immediately swung a leg out, going for the man's knee. He hooked the toe of his boot behind Wallings' right knee and pulled. It sent the large man crashing to the snow covered earth.
BJ made a break for the knife, reaching it as Wallings got to his feet and rushed him. BJ could hear the enemy's footsteps in the accumulating crunchy snow. He spun quickly. There was ice under his shoe, causing him to wobble. He reached his hands out in front of him, ready to stop himself.
A large force smashed into him, sending them careening to the ground. BJ grunted as he felt rocks digging into his back. He was ready though, ready in case Wallings attacked again. But hte weight didn't move. BJ frowned, pushing. It was then that he saw what stopped the bigger man. The rusted knife stuck out of Wallings' chest. Even in the wind, with his eyes squinted, he could tell it had hit directly above the heart.
BJ breathed slowly, allowing himself to relax. It seemed over. The man that had terrorized them for what seemed like forever was dead.
Sitting up, he let Wallings topple over, the snow instantly covering the warm body. He quickly stood up and shook his head, clearing the stars that were threatening to set in. Now he knew how Hawkeye felt. BJ's head was throbbing slightly, courtesy of Wallings' punch to his face. He glanced around at the now white environment. He almost couldn't tell which way he had come from. Picking a way, he began to leave, pausing to look back at the body. He would have to be carried to the second jeep. He sighed and turned back to the path, picking his way slowly down the way.
-4077-
Hawkeye could only pale as the color drained from Sam's face. Instead, all the color was in the crimson covering white snow. Sam was trying to steady his breathing yet when the puffs of smoke came from his mouth, it was scattered and broken.
Sam squeezed his eyes shut to clear them. Hawkeye was still by his side but had ripped off strips of his coat as well as bits of Sam's more heavier coat and was tying them together. He had already tied one directly over the knife wound itself. He had thought of going back to the jeep where a medical bag rested. Potter was originally going to be the one to go after Sam and had thrown the bag in the back of the jeep.
He was hesitant to though. With the snow, it was hard to see. Plus his own vision was still blurry. While he was most worried about Sam, he was starting to get concerned about his own head. He shook his skull to get the black spots to leave him behind. They were returning in full force, laughing at him as they jumped around.
"Open your eyes Echo." he called, using a name Sam had once told him was a hated nickname.
Sam's eyes opened flaccidly, his head not moving as he glanced at the man.
"Don't call me Echo. You know I hate that." he mumbled. Hawkeye smiled faintly.
"Well keep your eyes open and we won't have a problem." he said.
The bandages were beginning to soak through. Hawkeye was confused at his sudden anger towards the inanimate object. It had no right to allow Sam's source of life to escape. He quickly glanced around for more of the cloth scraps and located them under the fresh snow. They were wet. He didn't feel right to put them on his patient.
His patient. He cringed at the thought of Sam being a patient. He gritted his teeth and sighed tightly. He was beginning to get nauseous. But he couldn't let it overwhelm him. Sam was his main focus.
He began taking off his outer green army issue long sleeve jacket. He could already feel the chill sink into his bones.
"Benjamin Hawkeye Pierce. Put that jacket back on. My coat is enough." Sam ordered. His voice was weak.
"I need more bandages. You're bleeding out Sam." Hawkeye justified.
Of course Sam knew that. The snow around him was a dark red. He was resigning himself to the fact that he wasn't going to leave Korea alive.
"That may be but you obviously have a concussion. Keep it." he said, unconsciously shuddering.
A snap next to them caused Hawkeye to spin quickly. He let out a slight groan and tottered dangerously.
"I knew we shouldn't have let you come." BJ growled as he ducked under a low hanging branch. It dumped snow on his shoulder but he just brushed it off. He wasted no time kneeling next to the two injured parties.
"Wallings tried to cut his appendix out. I'm worried it may have already burst." Hawkeye reported. He untied the temporary bandages. Although the wound was beginning to clot, it was still bleeding heavily. BJ was really worried. Sam's skin was a pasty grey. At least the snow was beginning to lessen. They could hear each other better.
"It's pretty deep but I don't think it hit any arteries or major organs." he said.
Quickly tying the bandages and apologizing to Sam when the boy yelped.
"I think I already knew that Hunnicutt." Hawkeye snapped. BJ lifted an eyebrow and glanced at him. He didn't reply. Hawkeye probably didn't even know what he was saying. His head preoccupied his time.
Ignoring his friend's comments, BJ pulled Sam's jacket closer to the small frame and glanced around. He could slightly see the trail that he and Hawkeye had taken to find Sam.
"Let's get him back to the jeep." he said.
"Hawkeye looked around and frowned.
"Where's Wallings?" he asked.
BJ glanced up at him, giving Hawkeye a look that told him everything he needed to know. He didn't say anything but swallowed.
"We need to bring the body back. If you want to get Sam back to the jeep, I'll go pull Walling's body down." Hawkeye suggested. BJ immediately turned down the idea.
"We'll only be able to take one jeep back. We'll remember where the other jeep is and send someone back for both." he said.
His head wasn't throbbing like it was before. He was able to think clearer. And by the way Hawkeye didn't retort, he knew that the other surgeon was still feeling even more lousy.
Their conversation over, BJ lifted Sam's upper body, feeling the younger male immediately begin searching weakly for body heat. He tightened his grip and got his feet under him. Although the wind had died down quite a bit and the snow had nearly stopped, BJ had been down on his knees and he had to gather his balance to keep from falling back into a mound of snow.
Hawkeye reached out to steady his fellow captain but in reality he was doing it to keep himself from falling over. His own head was beginning to get worse. His eyes were having the tendency to blur on their own. If BJ noticed, he said nothing.
They walked back down the slippery slope and almost sighed in unison at the sight of their green army jeep. Even Sam felt relieved to see the ugly hunk of metal.
No one said anything as Hawkeye got into the back of the jeep and reached back for Sam. BJ instead leaned in and placed Sam on Hawkeye's lap. He could see that if Hawkeye stood up, he would fall out of the jeep and not get back up. Hawkeye noticed this and said a quiet thank you. BJ paused for a moment, glancing in the direction their jeep had come. They hadn't come far to find Wallings and Sam. He knew it wouldn't take too long to get back to the 4077. Glancing at Hawk, he noticed the man trying to keep his eyes open. He better hurry.
-TBC-
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