'NAM RATS!

by Kurt Bowker

CAST OF CHARACHTERS

SARGEANT TEAG............

LIEUTENANT PIERCE......

STODDARD.......................

DOLE.................................

McCOY............................

TIBBS...............................

BRUNOSKI.....................

GI WITH M16..................

VC GIRL..........................

GI GUARD......................

ONE-SIX.........................

FIRST GI........................

FADE IN:

INT. TUNNEL.

A narrow, coffin of a tunnel, with a light, grayish hue to the walls.

SOUND: A man breathing heavy as he inches his way through the darkness.

The dim shadow of a man emerges as the FIRST GI ENTERS.

He is covered from head to toe with sweat and dirt. His eyes look lost. Stopping for a deep breath, he flicks on his GI flashlight.

SOUND: Still breathing heavy.

His light beam casually dances around a small chamber he has entered. Muddy floor, grey walls, a few tree roots, bugs everywhere of every description, and a sudden glint of steel. Its the barrel of a worn SKS rifle and its pointing at him.

The man's breathing stops with a gasp.

BLAM! a FLASH of fire and a defeaning roar.

The flashlight goes out immediately.

The shot echoes off the dark, twisted curves of the tunnels.

EXT. PIT IN THE GROUND-DAY.

A bunker has been ripped blasted apart. Its log roof scattered around the opening. In one corner of the pit is a tunnel entrance, small and dark, with roots and a spider web dangling in the opening. A GI GUARD is standing above the hole, smoking non-chalantly as he keeps an eye out. LT PIERCE is squatting at the edge talking on the handset of a PRC-77 radio.

....................................LT PIERCE

One-six thats affirmative. We have several tunnel entrances in the area. All points are secure, over.

...................................ONE-SIX (Off Screen)

Roger Delta Two Niner, is your tunnel team ready to go? over.

..................................LT PIERCE

Thats affirmative One-Six, they are ready to eat charlie for breakfast, over.

..................................ONE-SIX

Roger that, tell them hot dogs to watch their butts, Good luck, One-six out.

Lt. Pierce tosses the hand mike and spins about. Behind him, in various poses of relaxation, is Tunnel Team Delta. SGT TEAG, STODDARD, DOLE, BRUNOSKI, TIBBS, and McCOY. Tibbs is calmly stroking his sawed off shotgun with a well, oiled rag.

.................................LT. PIERCE

Listen up! The missions a go! I don't have to tell you Yahoos what to do, thats Sgt Teag's job. i'll just give you the rundown. we had sniper fire coming from all over this area. They have been using these tunnels to move and ambush our guys. We have all the holes covered, no one has come out, so he, or they, are still down there. Go get 'em!

The men HOORAH, in unison.

...............................TIBBS

Don't worry LT, we gonna clean house, me and my little friend.

He pumps the shotgun for good measure.

..............................TIBBS

Double -ought Buck will make a mess of anyones Ass.

ADLIBS: Other guys chuckling or jeering.

...............................STODDARD

You know what they say Lieutenant, mess with the best........

..............................TUNNEL TEAM DELTA

Die like the rest! Hoorahhhhhugh!

.............................LT PIERCE

Goddamn! thats what gives me a hard on in the morning! Motivated troopies! Good luck Sgt.

Lt Pierce nodds at Teag and then EXITS.

............................SGT TEAG

Anyone need me to clarify the OP, or is the shit clear?

...........................TIBBS

Lima Charlie, sarge.

...........................STODDARD

Yeah, Fucking-A, lets get on with it Sarge, times a wastein'. Tonights Pussy night at the Tiger Club.

ADLIBS: More hoots and hollers from the others.

..........................SGT TEAG

Thats what I like, a volunteer for Point. Stoddard and his big mouth are leadin' the way.

Stoddards cocky smile vanishes.

The men get serious and prepare their gear while Teag points them out.

..........................SGT TEAG

Dole will pull slack for Stoddard, with McCoy behind him. Me and Brunoski will be the next team, and Tibbs, you and your canon are my researve.

...........................TIBBS

Are you sure you want me and my baby behind everyone, I might get excited and shoot a load off.

Sgt Teag squares up Brunoski, who is the newest, and most overweight, member of the team.

.........................SGT TEAG

Brunoski, you stay behind me in case Tibbs looses his cherry.

Brunoski looks at Tibbs and his shotgun a little more serious and Tibbs just smiles.

.........................STODDARD

Yeah, Sarge, don't you think it would be better to have Tibbs up front?

Teag snaps a magazine into his P38, 9mm german automatic pistol and sights it in on Stoddard.

........................STODDARD

I take it, I'm on the loosing end of this argument.

........................SGT TEAG

Lets hit it.

Stoddard grabs his Chicom AK47 and heads into the pit.

........................TIBBS

You heard the man boy scouts, lets saddle up.

Stoddard squats over the hole and takes in a deep breath.

SNIFF, SNIFF

..........................STODDARD

Damn! You guys are going to beleive what I smell!

..........................BRUNOSKI

It isn't something dead, is it?

.........................DOLE

Don't let him scare ya, its probably rice cooking or something.

........................STODDARD

Nah, its pussy! God damn it I smell some rauchy, gook pussy down here!

ADLIBS: Cheers and jeers from the other guys.

........................STODDARD

Hey! better hide mother fucker, The Stud is coming to get ya.

........................DOLE

Y'mean, the Dud.

.......................STODDARD

Kiss my dick, country fuck.

Stoddard hops down onto the lip of the tunnel entrance with his feet dangling inside. He cocks his AK.

INT. TUNNEL.

A stretch of tunnel with a curve at the far end. A stream of daylight, and two dangling legs with jungle boots, can be seen at the opposite end. The rest of the tunnel is dark.

.........................STODDARD(Off Screen)

Damn, where the fuck is my flashlight? Hey, McCoy, you got it? Lemme borrow yours Dole.

Sounds of movement can be heard from above.

.......................DOLE

Somebody get the cherry a light.

.....................STODDARD

Kiss my ass Dole.

Stoddard hops down into the tunnel and can be seen from the waist down.

......................STODDARD

Hey, thanks Brunoski, I'm going to take you with me to the Tiger club later. Just don't get yourself killed.

SOUND: a CLICK.

A beam of incandescant light streams into the tunnel from Stoddard.

Bathed in the sudden light is the business end of an old French Revolver. a heavy duty one from the look of it.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Stoddard, the Stud, is hit four times in the groin area an blood squirts out in every direction. He falls to the ground screaming in pain and fires one, useless burst from his AK, mostly into the ceiling. His face is in agony and he soon drops the rifle to clutch the bleeding mess below his waist.

The pistol and its hidden bearer, have vanished.

ADLIBS: Sudden commotion of screaming men, and calls for medics up above.

Hands from above reach down and grab Stoddard by the shoulders and haul him, screaming and kicking, out of the tunnel.

At the far end of the tunnel, a shadowy figure sneaks off.

EXT. PIT-DAY.

The men are all around the squirming, blood soaked Stoddard. Teag and Dole are trying to apply bandages to the area and stop the bleeding, while Brunoski, and McCoy try to hold Stoddard down. Tibbs keeps watch over the tunnel entrance.

.............................SGT TEAG

You stupid, cocky bastard! Who ever taught you to go into a hole like that! I sure the fuck didn't!

...........................DOLE

Looks like you're gonna have to take it easy on the Mamasans for awhile boy.

..........................STODDARD

F-F-Fuck you.

With his last words he slumps down and is still.

Everyone stops and just stares.

Teag looks at the Tunnel entrance and wipes Stoddards blood off his hands.

INT. TUNNEL.

Another stretch of tunnel, dim as death. A shadowy figure in black, with a red bandana around the face, scurries to a seeming dead end.

SOUND: SQUEALING HINGES.

A wooden trapdoor is pushed up and the figure climbs upward, out of the present tunnel.

The squeals shut, but not in a hurry, in a calm, deliberate way.

INT. TUNNEL.

The tunnel where Stoddard had been shot. The sun is shining brightly into the tunnel now that noone is standing in the entrance.

..........................McCOY(Off Screen)

Choke on this Fuckhead!

A metallic ZING!

A SIZZLING grenade is tossed into the tunnel.

It bounces a couple of times on the slimey clay floor and detonates.

BBBOOOOMMMM!!!

Smoke, clods of clay and bits of roots shower the interior. The echo is defeaning.

When it clears, an angry McCoy is in the tunnel, his Swedish submachinegun pointing into the unknown.

...........................McCOY

Clear!

he begins crawling down the tunnel, SMG at the ready.

Dole hops down into the tunnle close behind him. He has a 45 in one hand and a flashlight in the other, which he shines a beam from over McCoy's body, to light the way. The two of them move like snakes down the tunnel.

INT. TUNNEL.

The dead end tunnel from before. McCoy and Dole enter around the corner and stop for a moment to listen and peer around with the flashlight. They crawl up to the dead end.

............................DOLE

Fuck, this can't be no dead end.

McCoy studies every inch of the ground in front and then up top.

..........................McCOY

Hey, shine the light up top.

Dole does it. The yellowish light reveals an old, rotting, wooden trapdoor.

.........................McCOY

Bingo, baby.

.......................DOLE

Son-of-a-bitch. Those bastards are god damn moles! Clever as Sin!

.....................McCOY

Yeah, you ever see a New York Sewer?

.....................DOLE

What d'you think.

.......................McCOY

The rats there eat moles, and every fucking thing else.

McCoy squats up under the trapdoor cautiously.

......................McCOY

You poush the door up and I'll fire off some rounds up there.

Dole nodds and scrunches up next to him. Using the flashlight he pushes up on the door. As it opens with its telltale squeel, something flitters down in the light beam.

...................McCOY

What the ...............

Its a Chinese stick grenade hissing like a kettle of tea.

.....................DOLE

OH SHIT!!!!

McCoy instinctively fires a burst upwards, shredding the trapdoor to pieces.

...................McCOY

Move, move, move, lets goooo!!!

Dole is almost run over as McCoy pushes back away from the grenade. The tunnel goes dark as the flashlight is dropped.

SOUNDS of two desperate, crawling men.

KABOOOMMMM!!!

A blinding flash gives a moments light to the end of McCoy and Dole. Smoke and debri glut the tunnel.

INT. MAIN TUNNEL.

As before, but Tibbs is in the tunnel with his shotgun leading the way.

The tunnel rocks and echoes with the explosion and some smoke filters into the stream of sunlight from the entrance.

...............................TIBBS

Dole!.......McCoy!........

Nothing but silence.

.............................TIBBS

Ah, damn, this ain't happening! Not to my boys!

Tibbs scrambles down the tunnel like a madman.

............................TEAG (Off Screen)

Tibbs! Tibbs! where the hell are you at?!

............................TIBBS

I'm going to get my boys Sarge! I'm not coming back with out that Gooks balls dangling around my neck!

Tibbs dissappears around the far end.

Teag hastily hops down into the tunnel.

...........................SGT TEAG

Shit! Tibbs! You son-of-a-bitch hold up!

He flashes his light down the tunnel, but Tibbs is long gone.

..........................SGT TEAG

Brunoski! Get your lard ass in here, we're on deck, now!

INT. PREVIOUS TUNNEL.

Tibbs crawls through the bits and bloody pieces of McCoy and Dole. His face is a mask of anger and tears.

.........................TIBBS

Damn that good mother fucker. I'll get some payback for you guys. I'll get that son-of-a-bitch!

Tibbs pops up through the riddled Trapdoor, smashing it too pieces, and fires off a blast from his shotgun.

He pumps the weapon quickly and huries up into the new tunnel, hot on the trail of his prey.

For a moment there is silence.

A light flitters from the other way.

Two figures come crawling into the tunnel, one of them breathing heavily.

.....................TEAG

Come on Brunoski, keep up, we got to catch up with Tibbs before he gets hurt!

...................Brunoski

I'm trying sarge. Sure is hot down here.

Teag reaches the Trapdoor and pops up, then looks back down, flashing a light at Brunoski as he wriggles his large body through the narrow tunnel.

..................TEAG

Come on damn it.

Brunoski is sweating like a pig. Suddenly his elbow slips out from underhim and he falls face down in goo. He flashes a light on the mess to see it is a pile of intestines, still quivering slightly.

He pukes.

......................TEAG

Damn you Brunoski. I ougth to leave your ass here.

He grabs him by the back of his T-shirt and pulls him upwards, puking all the way.

INT. NEW TUNNEL.

As dark and narrow as all the rest, with both ends hidden in dark shadows. The VC scurries by like a hunted animal.

BLAMM!!!

A shotgun blast brightens one end of the tunnel and dirt shreds from the wall where the VC had just passed.

Tibbs scrambles into few, pumping his shotgun while crawling forward on his back.

.....................TIBBS

I seen you mother fucker! I got you now. Your teeny, yellow butt is mine!

SPLASH!

Tibbs rolls over onto his belly, pointing the shotgun at the strange sound. He fires again.

BLAMM! SWOOSH!

......................TIBBS

What the fuck?

He pulls his Flashlight from his cargo pocket and flicks it on.

The other end of the tunnel has a pool of water. No other visible doors.

.....................TIBBS

Oh now your a fish! You bastard.

Tibbs scrambles up to the dark water.

.....................TIBBS

Bet you think a black man can't swim, ha, this mother fucker can.

Tibbs dives into the muddy pool.

INT. WATER TUNNEL.

Its like a sink trap. A curve in the tunnel, filled with water, so that gas and other noxious fumes are trapped on the other side. Tibbs swims down, under the tunnel divider and up the otherside.

INT. NEXT TUNNEL.

Tibbs pops out of the water with his shotgun leveled. Someting metalic glints in front of him. He fires.

BLAMM!!!

Something jumps and rattles.

Tibbs flicks on his flashlight again and the beam reveals an old, dented, worn can. A very familiar type of can. A military fuel can.

Tibbs eyes squint at the object.

GASOLINE is stenciled across the can.

Tibbs looks at the water and laps up some in his palm to smell it.

.............................TIBBS

Mutha-fucka!

A flare suddenly fizzes to live with a blinding light. It is tossed into the air towards Tibbs.

He pumps the shotgun and fires blindly.

The flare hits the soaked ground just in front of the water pool and the entire tunnel is suddenly engulfed in flames.

Tibbs screams in utter agony.

INT. NEW TUNNEL.

As before. Teag and Brunoski are just entering the tunnel as the water pool at the end erupts in a wall of flame.

........................SGT TEAG

Jeezus fucking christ! Get back, brunoski, move! That stuff will burn up every ounce of oxygen in this damn stretch of tunnel!

They scramble back the other way with the lumbering Brunoski in the lead, and Teag riding his ass.

INT. ANOTHER STRETCH OF TUNNEL.

A trapdoor in the side wall of one of the previous tunnels is open. It hadn't been like that before, but the men don't take notice as they squeeze through and close the door to seal off the heat of the fire.

Both lean against the walls breathing heavily.

........................TEAG

Damn it, damn it to hell. This is a bad one. Stoddard, McCoy, Dole, and now Tibbs. Fuck!

Teag fingers some mud out of the chamber of his pistol. He uses the pistol to pry the trapdoor back open abit, to watch the tunnel behind them.

Brunoski, breathing and relaxing against the far wall, looks up and notices a faint glimmer of light.

He shines his flashlight up and sees another wooden trapdoor, this one in the roof.

.......................TEAG

As soon as the heat dies off, we'll crawl back the way we came. We are going to need another team to clean up our mess.

Brunoski's attention is on the trapdoor. He pushes it open while Teag is still looking the otherway.

He points his 45 through the opening and then pushes the door up and out of the way with his head.

......................TEAG

I don't know. Tibbs could be alive, or hurt on the otherside of that fire.

Brunoski is suddenly pulled upwards until his shoulders wedge into the tiny trapdoor frame. His body begins jerking and his arms drop the pistol and flashlight and clutch at the clay ceiling.

SOUND: A gurgling.

Teag finally looks around. Brunoski's body is twitching and blood is trickling down his back.

.......................TEAG

What the fuck!......You stupid son-of-a-bitch!

Teag fires several times into the ceiling around the trapdoor as he lunges at brunoski's waist. He tries to pull him out, but the body won't budge.

He fires into the ceiling until the clip is empty. Now he uses both hands to pull on the limp body. Blood flows in streams Brunoski's shoulders, chest and back. Crimson splatters Teag as he struggles to free the Dead Brunoski.

.........................TEAG

Oh god, you poor dumb, bastard.

Teag reaches up through a small gap between the body and the door frame. He struggles with the effort.

SOUND: Snapping wood.

The Body slumps down. Teag slides it aside and clicks his flashlight on revealing an empty tunnel above the trapdoor. Blood is everywhere.

He flashes the light on the hapless Bruno.

A spear had been embedded into his mouth, and through the back of his neck. The spear point protruding from the back, and a broken shaft from the front. His eyes wide open in terror as he died.

Teag reloads his P38 with a smart clap of the new magazine.

He hops up into the roof door and fires a few rounds.

.......................TEAG

Thats just to let you know I'm coming!

In a shadowy flash, he is gone.

INT. A BEND IN THE NEW TUNNEL.

Teag rolls to one side of the bend and fires three rounds at different angles. The flashlight iluminates everything in front of him. He moves cautiously, but quickly. Often moving from one side of the tunnel to the other.

He moves on, like a snake.

INT. MORE TUNNEL.

Teag enters a new bit of tunnel, that seems to widen out a little. there is even a small beam of light from an airpipe in the roof.

He stops, and listens. ducking istantly our of reflex.

Bang! Bang! Bang! An sks!

The rounds bite the clay walls just above his head.

Teag fires back with his entire clip, once again pointing at different angles.

One shot produces a whelp of pain at the other end of the tunnel, and the sound of a scurriying human form.

Teag rolls to the otherside of the tunnel, slapping in another clip as he does so. Then he too hurries off.

INT. ENTRANCE TO A BUNKER.

The entrance is just an open carving. The bunker is nothing more than a hovel, dug out in a square shape and tossed with grass matts for sleeping on. There is another door at the far end fo the bunker, but that one is closed by a wooden trapdoor.

Teag dodges into the bunker and rolls to one side.

It is utterly dark in here except for a beam of light from a roof mounted breathing tube. The light iluminates some of the grass matting.

Teag reaches for his flashlight but, it is gone.

He breathes quietly, pointing his pistol at the darkest, furthest corner of the bunker.

A moment, maybe two, passes quietly.

A yellow, flickering light suddenly comes on from a cigerette lighter at the other end of the bunker. The VC is holding the lighter and pointing the rifle towards Teag.

Both fire everything they have.

The light goes out.

The room roars with echoes of the shots.

Clay chips fly from the wall as teag rolls left and away. Firing the whole time.

A round Smacks into his leg and he winces with the pain.

WHACK!

A rifle butt hits him in the shoulder and he looses his pistol.

He kicks out and sends a small body reeling.

Two dark shadows scramble and wrestle in a deadly match in the dark.

Light flashes off the blade of a drawn bayonet.

A Scream of pain.

Silence as one body slumps to the ground, and another sits back, breathing heavily from exhaustion.

A moment, maybe two, passes.

The flicker of the same cigerette lighter.

The flames iluminate Teags face as he looks over the dead VC sniper. The body is small, like a childs. He pulls it over to look at the face.

Its a girl. A young one, maybe 16 or 17. A pretty one.

Teag throws the lighter away and the room is in darkness again.

INT. TUNNEL LEADING TO THE SURFACE.

This is a new tunnel. Like a chimmney. It leads upwards to a gaping hole and blazing sunshine.

Teag is crawling skyward with effort.

He is tired, dirty and blood stained.

He smiles as the sunshine greets his sweaty face with its dirty, matted hair.

BANG!

One shot rings out.

Teag is hit between the eyes and his body slides back down the tunnel he had been climbing.

The smile still on his lifeless face.

................................GI WITH M16(Off Screen)

I got him! Did you see that? I got that gook bastard! right between the fucking eyes.

The excited, youthful face stares down the tunnel as he rushes up to it.

...............................GI WITH M16

Mother fucker never knew what hit him!

He kicks at the tunnel entrance until it caves in.

The tunnel is dark, and deathly quiet.

...............................................................................................................................FADE OUT.