FADE IN:
74 EXT. HUE CITY
RUINS--DAY
The LUSTHOG SQUAD on patrol moves slowly in
single file,
fifteen yards apart, through the ruined,
smouldering city.
JOKER
(voiceouer)
Intelligence passed the word down that
during
the night the N.V.A. had pulled out of our
area to
positions across the Perfume River.
Our squad is sent on patrol to
check out the
report.
75 INT. BOMBED FACTORY--DAY
The patrol
moves carefully through the gutted shell
of a building. The clink of
their gear as they walk
sounds loud in the unnatural silence.
CRAZY
EARL stops to pick up a child's stuffed toy.
BANG!
The toy triggs a
booby trap, blasting CRAZY EARL
across the room.
The squad dives for
couer.
COWBOY
Face outboard and take cover! Do it!
DOC JAY scurries up to CRAZY EARL, who is
unconscious and gives him
mouth-to-mouth
resuscitation.
COWBOY scrambles up to them. He looks
at CRAZY
EARL. Then JOKER runs in.
DOC JAY
(stops for a second)
He aidt gonna make it.
COWBOY
(to himself)
Shit.
COWBOY doesn't know, what to do. Then he
fumbles
for his field radio.
COWBOY
Hotel One Actual,
this is Cowboy!
DOC JAY continues the mouth-to-mouth.
COWBOY
Hotel One Actual, this is Cowboy!
MURPHY
(o.s.)
Hotel One. Over
COWBOY
Murph, this is
Cowboy. Craze is hit. Booby
trap.
MURPHY
(o.s.)
Roger. Understand. Wait One.
COWBOY looks around edgily.
MURPHY
(o.s.)
You're senior N.C.O. You take charge and
continue on with the patrol. Call in at the
next checkpoint. Over.
COWBOY
Roger. Out.
COWBOY stares at the radio. He looks scared.
He
turns to JOKER.
COWBOY
I'm squad leader.
JOKER
punches him reassuringly in the arm.
JOKER
I'll follow
you anywhere, scumbag.
DOC JAY stops working over CRAZY EARL and
slowly
looks up.
DOC JAY
He's dead.
The three men
stare at the body.
76 EXT. BURNING FALLEN BUILDING--DAY
The squad
moves past a burning five-storey
building that has collapsed and is
lying on its side.
DISSOLVE TO:
77 EXT. LOW CONCRETE WALL--DAY
EIGHTBALL, on point, studies a map as he walks.
Then he slours to a
stop and signals to halt the
squad.
The squad stops ancl crouches
down in the rubble.
EIGHTBALL gestures for COWBOY to move up.
EIGHTBALL
(quietly)
Cowboy!
COWBOY moves up and they
kneel behind a low
concrete wall.
COWBOY
What's up?
EIGHTBALL
I think we made a mistake at the last
checkpoint.
He shows COWBOY the map.
EIGHTBALL
Here ... see what
you think. I think we're
here and we should be here.
COWBOY
studies the map.
COWBOY
We're here?
EIGHTBALL
Yeah.
COWBOY
We should be here?
EIGHTBALL
Yeah ...yeah ... that's right.
COWBOY is confused and
scared.
He checks his compass. Then he peers over the wall
through
his binoculars.
COWBOY looks back nervously at the squacl strung
out
behind him.
COWBOY
Fuck ... What do you think?
EIGHTBALL
Well, I think we should change direction.
EIGHTBALL
doesn't sound like he really knows what
to do either.
COWBOY knows
he has to make a decision.
COWBOY
Okay. We'll change
direction.
COWBOY motions to the squad to come up. They
rattle up
and take positions behind the low wall.
JOKER
What's
up?
COWBOY
Changing direction.
JOKER
What, are we lost?
COWBOY
Joker, shut the fuck up!
COWBOY
(to squad)
Okay! Listen up! Can you hear me?
Adlibs of "Yeah!"
COWBOY
Okay, we're changing
direction. We're heading
over that way.
COWBOY points over the
wall to some ruined
buildings across an open space to their Left.
COWBOY
Eightball's gonna go out and see if he can
find a way
through.
EIGHTBALL shrugs, apprehensiuely.
COWBOY
Got it?
Adlibs of "Yeah!"
COWBOY
Eightball ... let's
dance.
EIGHTBALL slowly gets to his Knees and peers
over the wall.
EIGHTBALL
Put a nigger behind the trigger.
78 EXT. RUINED STREET
HUE--DAY
EIGHTBALL climbs over the low wall and moves
cautiously out
into the open, heading for the
damaged buildings.
The squad covers
him.
EIGHTBALL reaches the buildings and stops to
study the
smoke-filled square.
79 SNIPER P.O.V. -- DAY
P.O.V. from a concealed
position on the second
floor of a building on the square, an AK-47
rifle is
slowly raised and aimed at EIGHTBALL.
EIGHTBALL turns back
to wave the rest of the
squad up.
BANG!
The SNIPER fires.
EIGHTBALL is hit in the leg.
Seen in slow motion, EIGHTBALL twists and
crumples to the ground.
The LUSTHOG SQUAD fires blindly, wildly, at
every
door and window in the direction of the shot.
COWBOY
Okay, cease fire! Cease fire, goddamn it!
Some of the squad keep
firing.
COWBOY
Cool it, goddamn it! Cool it! Cease
fire!
AdLibs of "Cease fire!"
The firing stutters to a stop.
COWBOY
Okay, listen up! Did anybody see a sniper?
Did anybody
see anything?
T.H.E. ROCK
(down the line)
Did anybody see a sniper?
DOC JAY
No!
DONLON
Nothing!
RAFTERMAN
Negative!
T.H.E. ROCK
Nothing!
Adlibs of "No!"
COWBOY
Okay, then save your ammo! Nobody fire till I
tell you!
Seen, in
slow, motion, the SNIPER fires again and hits
EIGHTBALL in the arm. He
screams in pain.
The squad opens fire at buildings facing them.
COWBOY
No, no! Cease fire! Cease fire! Animal, cease
fire!
Keeping low, DONLON comes up and hands COWBOY
the radio.
DONLON
Cowboy, it's Sergeant Murphy.
COWBOY
(into radio)
This is Cowboy. Over.
MURPHY
(o.s.)
This is Murphy. What is your present
position? Over.
COWBOY
Murph, we're receiving enemy sniper fire.
Eightball is
down. Our position is about half
a klick north of checkpoint four.
Believe pos-
sible strong enemy force occupying buildings
in
front of us. Request immediate tank
support. Over.
MURPHY
(o.s.)
Roger. Understand. I'll see what I can do.
Over.
COWBOY
Roger. Over and out.
COWBOY
(to Donlon)
Stay close.
DONLON
Got it.
COWBOY
thinks hard for a few seconds.
COWBOY
(to squad)
Okay, listen up! I think we're being set up
for an ambush. I think
there may be strong
enemy forces in those buildings over there.
I've requested tank support. We're gonna sit
tight until it comes,
but keep your eyes open.
If they decide to hit us, we'll have to
pull
back fast.
The SNIPER fires, wounding EIGHTBALL again, this
time in the foot. He shrieks in agony.
Again the squad opens fire.
COWBOY
Goddamn it! Hold! Cease your fire, Mother!
Cease your
fucking fire!
The firing stops.
DOC JAY
Cowboy!
COWBOY
What?
DOC JAY
We can't leave him out there!
COWBOY
We're not leaving him! We'll get him when the
tank comes
up.
DOC JAY
He's hit three fucking times! He can't wait
that long!
COWBOY
I've seen this before! That sniper's
just trying
to suck us in one at a time!
The SNIPER fires and
hits EIGHTBALL in the thigh.
His cries echo across the open space
ground.
ANIMAL MOTHER fires madly.
COWBOY
(shouting)
Goddamn it! No!
The squad continues firing.
COWBOY
Goddamn it, cease fire!
The firing trails off:
ANIMAL MOTHER
He's out there alone!
COWBOY
Cease
fire!
The firing stops.
DOC JAY
Man, fuck this, fuck
this shit! I'm going out to
bring him in!
COWBOY
No! You stay the fuck down!
DOC JAY
Cover me!
DOC
JAY jumps over the wall and, ducking low, zig-
zags across the open
ground.
The squad fires to cover him.
DOC JAY gets there safely and
momentarily drops out
of sight.
COWBOY
Goddamn it!
Goddamn it! Okay, cease fire!
He's there!
Adlibs of "Cease fire!"
80 SNIPER P.O.V.--DAY
DOC JAY, Seen over the sights of the SNIPER's
AK-47,
drags EIGHTBALL toward cover.
81 EXT. THE SQUARE--DAY
The
SNIPER fires. DOC JAY is hit and falls next to
EIGHTBALL.
The squad
opens fire again.
COWBOY
Hold your fire! Hold your
fire!!! Cease fire!
You can't see the sniper! Save the ammo!
Nobody fire till I tell you! Nobody!
ANIMAL MOTHER
What
the fuck do we do now, Cowboy?
COWBOY
Gimme that
fucking radio.
DONLON scuttles over with the radio.
COWBOY
(into radio)
Murph? This is Cowboy. Over.
MURPHY
(o.s.)
This is Murphy. Over.
COWBOY
Murph, we're in some deep shit. I got two men
down. What's the story
on that fucking tank?
Over.
MURPHY
(o.s.)
Sorry, Cowboy. No luck so far with the tank.
Will advise. Over.
COWBOY
Roger. Out.
(muttering to himself)
Numbnut
bastards!
(to the squad)
Okay, listen up!
T.H.E. ROCK
Listen up!
COWBOY
Can't afford to wait
for the tank. I think
they're gonna hit us any minute. When they
do we won't have time to pull out. We gotta do
it now. Let's get
ready to move.
No one moves or says anything.
T.H.E. ROCK
Get ready to pull out!
ANIMAL MOTHER
Wait a minute!
Hold it! Hold it! Nobody's
pulling out! There's only one fucking
sniper
out there!
COWBOY
Back off, Mother! I'm
calling the plays! I say
we're pulling out!
ANIMAL
MOTHER
Yeah, well, what about Doc Jay and Eightball?
COWBOY
I know it's a shitty thing to do, but we can't
refuse to
accept the situation.
ANIMAL MOTHER
Yeah, well, we're
not leaving Doc Jay and
Eightball out there!
COWBOY
Doc Jay and Eightball are wasted! You know
that!
ANIMAL
MOTHER
Bullshit! Come on, you guys! We gotta go
bring'em back!
Let's go get 'em! Let's do it!
COWBOY
Stand down,
Mother! That's a direct order!
ANIMAL MOTHER
Fuck you,
Cowboy! Fuck all you assholes!
ANIMAL MOTHER jumps over the wall and
runs
screaming and firing his M-60.
The squad fires to cover him,
blasting chunks of
mortar and concrete from the buildings.
ANIMAL MOTHER
(screaming)
Fucking son-of-a-bitch! You
motherfucker!
Aaagh! Whooo!
ANIMAL MOTHER reaches the buildings
and drops
down against a shattered wall. He calls across the
open
street.
ANIMAL MOTHER
Doc! Doc! Doc! Where's the
sniper?
DOC JAY tries to speak.
ANIMAL MOTHER
Doc,
where's the sniper?
Barely able to move, DOC JAY tries to point in the
direction of the SNIPER.
Suddenly he and EIGHTBALL are riddled by a
burst
of automatic fire from the SNIPER, Killing them
instantly.
ANIMAL MOTHER's eyes widen in horror.
ANIMAL MOTHER
(under his breath)
Shit!
ANIMAL MOTHER gets to his feet and edges
forward to
the corner of the building.
He carefully looks around the
corner across the
square at the black building, from where he thinks
the shots were fired.
BANG!
A shot from the SNIPER ricochets off
the wall a few
inches from his head.
He ducks back around the
corner, breathing hard.
ANIMAL MOTHER looks around and carefully works
his way to a safer spot behind another building.
He shouts to the
squad.
ANIMAL MOTHER
Hey, Cowboy!
COWBOY
Yeah!
ANIMAL MOTHER
Doc Jay and Eightball are wasted!
There's
only one sniper, nothing else. Move up the
squad!
You're clear up to here! Come on!
COWBOY isn't sure what to do.
COWBOY
(mutters)
Son-of-a-bitch.
The squad look to
him.
He takes a couple of thoughtful breaths and decides
to go.
COWBOY
Okay, listen up!
No-Doze, Stutten, Donlon, Rock--you
come
with me, we'll take a look! The rest of you
stay put and
cover our ass! We may be
coming back in a big hurry!
JOKER
I'm going with you.
RAFTERMAN
I'm coming,
too.
COWBOY
Okay.
(To the others)
You
all set?
Adlibs "Yeah!"
COWBOY
Let's move out!
T.H.E. ROCK
Let's do it!
The five men clamber over the wall and
dash
across the broken ground to the smouldering
cluster of
buildings.
When they reach ANIMAL MOTHER he leads them
to a street
off the square where they duck down
against a shattered building.
They catch their breath and move forward to the
next building, where
they crouch down against
the wall.
ANIMAL MOTHER
(pointing)
Cowboy .. . top of the black building,
around the
corner.
COWBOY cautiously moves to the corner of the
building and
studies the strange-looking black
building which commands the square.
Then. he ducks back around the corner, more
uncertain than ever what
they should do.
COWBOY
Donlon ... give me that radio.
COWBOY moves to DONLON to take the radio.
Facing away from the black
building, COWBOY does
not notice that from the place he has moved to he
can be seen. by the SNIPER through a jagged hole in
the building.
83
SNIPER P.O.V. OF COWBOY
The SNIPER's P.O.V. --COWBOY's upper body is
just
visible through the hole in the building.
84 EXT. SQUARE--DUSK
COWBOY
Murphy, this is Cowboy. Over!
A gunshot reverberates.
In slow-motion COWBOY falls.
JOKER
Cowboy!
ANIMAL
MOTHER starts firing his M-60.
RAFTERMAN
(shouting)
Holy shit! The sniper's got a clean shot
through the
hole in the wall.
Much yelling, shouting and confusion as the men
realize where the shot came from.
JOKER
(shouting)
Get him! Get him the fuck outta here!!
COWBOY is
carried behind the building.
All talk at once.
JOKER
Easy! Easy!
DONLON
Get him on his back.
Adlibs.
COWBOY
(weakly)
Oh, I don't believe this shit.
Adlibs, fumbling for bandages, etc.
JOKER
Shut up!
You'll be all right, Cowboy.
T.H.E. ROCK
Take it easy,
Cowboy.
Four pairs of hands doing things.
COWBOY
(moaning)
Uhhh, that son-of-a-bitch!
JOKER
You're
gonna be all right.
T.H.E. ROCK
You're going home, man.
You're going home.
DONLON
Easy, man. Easy. Easy.
COWBOY
Ohhhh, don't shit me, JOKER! Don't shit me!
JOKER
I wouldn't shit you, man. You're my favorite
turd.
COWBOY begins to lose consciousness.
JOKER
Cowboy...
DONLON
Hang on, man. Hang on!
COWBOY
(coughs)
I ... I can hack it.
T.H.E. ROCK
You can
hack it.
COWBOY
I can. I-I...
COWBOY spits up some
blood and dies in JOKER's
arms.
JOKER bends down and hugs COWBOY.
Nobody moves.
Then, one by one, they slowly get to their feet.
JOKER
is the last to get up.
They stand looking at the body.
ANIMAL
MOTHER leaves two men to continue firing
at the SNIPER, and he scuttles
around the corner to
the group around COWBOY's body.
He looks at
COWBOY and then at JOKER.
ANIMAL MOTHER
Let's go get
some payback.
JOKER looks up slowly.
JOKER
(in cold anger)
Okay.
ANIMAL MOTHER leads then down a narrow
street.
They stop to take cover behind a building just off
the
square.
They have to cross the open. square, ruhich would
give the
SNIPER a clear shot at them.
ANIMAL MOTHER
Give 'em
some smoke.
He and JOKER toss three smoke grenades into the
square.
They explode ruith a dull bang.
They wait while the square slowly
fills with
smoke.
ANIMAL MOTHER waves and they run out blindly
through the thick smoke to the other side of the
square.
85 INT. BLACK
BUILDING
They work their way into the shattered, burning
building,
past twisted steel girders and huge broken
chunks of concrete.
They
come to a place where they have to split up.
ANIMAL MOTHER points one
way.
ANIMAL MOTHER
Donlon, Rock--that way. You two with
me.
DONLON and T.H.E. ROCK move off as ordered.
JOKER and RAFTERMAN
follow ANIMAL MOTHER the
other way.
They come to another place where
they have to
choose which way to go.
ANIMAL MOTHER
(pointing)
JOKER, in there! New Guy with me.
JOKER cautiously
enters one door. ANIMAL MOTHER
and RAFTERMAN disappear through the
other.
86 INT. WRECKED AND BURNING LOBBY--DAY
JOKER finds himself in
what was the lobby of the
building, a large room, which is on fire,
with
shattered columns, oriental arches, and windows
with large
decorative grillwork.
JOKER inches slowly into the room.
He hears a
noise, ducks behind a column and peers
around it.
He sees a small, b lack-clad figure standing at a
window - the SNIPER.
He raises his
rifle, aims and squeezes the trigger.
A loud click.
In slow motion
the SNIPER turns to face JOKER.
We see the startled face of a
beautiful Vietnamese
girl of about fifteen.
In slow motion JOKER
frantically works the bolt of
his M-16.
With the hard eyes of a
grunt, the SNIPER fires her
AK-47 rifle.
In slow motion JOKER ducks
behind the column,
desperately trying to unjam his M-16 rifle.
In,
slow motion the SNIPER fires and runs down a
few steps to get a better
shot at JOKER.
The bullets from her AK-47 tear large chunks of
masonry from the column shielding him.
Suddenly the SNIPER's body
seems to explode as she
is hit by a burst of automatic fire.
RAFTERMAN has come up and fires his M-16 into the
girl's body.
JOKER
stands trembling against the shattered
column.
RAFTERMAN snaps
another M-16 magazine into
place, gestures JOKER to stay put, and moves
forward like Supergrunt to check out the rest of the
room.
It's
clear.
He moves to the window, and shouts to the two men
in the
square.
RAFTERMAN
We got the sniper!
The SNIPER lies
on the floor, writhing in pain.
JOKER and RAFTERMAN cautiously
approach her.
RAFTERMAN kicks away her AK-47.
The two men stare at
her in disbelief:
The SNIPER is a child, no more than fifteen years
old, a slender Eurasian. angel with dark beautiful
eyes.
They are
startled by a faint sound.
They dive for cover.
They listen.
ANIMAL MOTHER calls from behind cover at the other
end of the room.
ANIMAL MOTHER
Joker?
JOKER
Yo.
ANIMAL
MOTHER
What's up?
JOKER
We got the sniper.
RAFTERMAN and JOKER circle around the SNIPER as
DONLON and T.H.E. ROCK
and ANIMAL MOTHER walk
up.
RAFTERMAN
I saved JOKER's
ass. I got the sniper. I fucking
blew her away.
RAFTERMAN laughs
hysterically, and kisses his rifle.
RAFTERMAN
Am I bad?
Am I a life-taker? Am I a heart-
breaker?
No one pays any
attention to RAFTERMAN.
The SNIPER gasps, whimpers.
DONLON stares
at her.
DONLON
What's she saying?
JOKER
(after a pause)
She's praying.
T.H.E. ROCK
No more
boom-boom for this baby-san. There's
nothing we can do for her.
She's dead meat.
ANIMAL MOTHER stares down at the SNIPER.
ANIMAL MOTHER
Okay. Let's get the fuck outta here.
JOKER
What about her?
ANIMAL MOTHER
Fuck her. Let
her rot.
The SNIPER prays in Vietnanese.
JOKER
We
can't just leave her here.
ANIMAL MOTHER
Hey, asshole
... Cowboy's wasted. You're
fresh out of friends. I'm running this
squad
now and I say we leave the gook for the
mother-lovin'
rats.
JOKER stares at ANIMAL MOTHER.
JOKER
I'm not
trying to run this squad. I'm just
saying we can't leave her like
this.
ANIMAL MOTHER looks down at the SNIPER.
SNIPER
(whimpering)
Sh . . . sh-shoot . . . me. Shoot . . . me.
ANIMAL
MOTHER looks at JOKER.
ANIMAL MOTHER
If you want to
waste her, go on, waste her.
JOKER looks at the SNIPER.
The four
men look at JOKER.
SNIPER
(gasping)
Shoot .
. . me . . . shoot . . . me.
JOKER slowly lifts his pistol and looks
into her
eyes.
SNIPER
Shoot . . . me.
JOKER jerks
the trigger.
BANG!
The four men are silent.
JOKER stares down at
the dead girl.
RAFTERMAN
(laughs)
JOKER ...
we're gonna have to put you up for
the Congressional Medal of...
Ugly!
(laughs)
JOKER looks at RAFTERMAN, blankly.
DONLON
Hard core, man. Fucking hard core.
87 EXT. BURNING
CITY--NIGHT.
The platoon moves through the city, silhouetted
against
the raging fires. A scene in, hell.
JOKER
(narration)
We have nailed our names in the pages of
history
enough for today. We hump down to
the Perfume River to set in for
the night.
The marines start to sing.
MARINE PLATOON
Who's the leader of the club that's made for
you and me?
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E.
Hey there. Hi there. Ho there. You're as
welcome as can be.
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E.
Mickey Mouse. (Mickey
Mouse.)
Mickey Mouse. (Mickey Mouse.)
Forever let us hold our
banner high.
High. High. High.
Come along and sing a song and
join the
jamboree.
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E.
Here we go
a-marching and a-shouting
merrily.
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E.
We play fair and we work hard and we're in
harmony.
M-I-C-K-E-Y
M-O-U-S-E.
Mickey Mouse. (Mickey Mouse.)
Mickey Mouse. (Mickey
Mouse.)
Forever let us hold our banner high.
High. High. High.
Boys and girls from far and near you're as
welcome as can be.
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E.
Who's the leader of the club that's made for
you and me?
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E.
Who is marching coast to
coast and far across
the sea?
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E.
Mickey Mouse. (Mickey Mouse.)
Mickey Mouse. (Mickey Mouse.)
Forever let us hold his banner high.
High. High. High.
Come
along and sing a song and join the
family.
M-I-C-K-E-Y
M-O-U-S-E.
JOKER
(voiceover)
My thoughts
drift back to erect nipple wet
dreams about Mary Jane Rottencrotch
and
the Great Homecoming Fuck Fantasy. I am so
happy that I am
alive, in one piece and short.
I'm in a world of shit . . . yes. But
I am alive.
And I am not afraid.
MARINE PLATOON
(singing)
Come along and sing this song and join our
family.
M-I-C-K-E-Y- M-O-U-S-E
The marines march off into the distance.
MARINE PLATOON
(singing)
Who's the leader of the club
that's made for
you and me?
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E
Hey
there! Hi there! Ho there!
You're as welcome as can be.
Mickey
Mouse ...
The sound fades away as the scene fades to black.
