sir, yes, sir! west hauls off and slaps pike across the face!
sir, no, sir! west grabs pike by the neck, choking him. the others cadets gasp. pike goes down on his knees, the loss of air is so great. he reaches up automatically to try and save himself.
hurricane's due after midnight and we're still going out?
you know popham, works in the kitchen? he told me it was on the radio. he stops, listening. they all hear the wind, howling outside.
hey, guys. they stare at him as he calmly closes the door and walks over to the empty fireplace. finally:
any kindling for afire? he looks around for kindling. a beat.
i mean i killed him. isn't that what we all wanted?
hey, kendall, talk to you for a sec? kendall looks around - there seems no harm in it.
you hated west as much as i did. i'm not saying what i did was right, but you can't tell me you're not glad the motherfucker's dead. kendall says nothing. pike looks around, makes sure no one is listening and then whispers:
the thing is, we've got a real opportunity here. you turn me in tomorrow and we're both fucked-
a gay senator's son who let his sarge get fragged on a training exercise? the press'll crucify you and your father. his career will be over and it'll be your fault. but we do this different and you come out a hero. on kendall, thinking about it. a beat.
mueller. he's as bad as west and we both know it. now i can't do it, cause i'm tied up, but we get the others to go along-
someone else can do the deed, it doesn't have to be you. maybe nunez too, he's got a tendency to follow mueller, but the rest of us can come out ahead - the guys who took out their sergeant's killers!
we'll move the bodies out to the creek and say we came over the hill right as they fragged west, all we gotta do is tell the story right. kendall stares at him. disgusted.
what the fuck happened to you-
wandering through a hurricane trying to find this place. it's gettin' bad out there- where's west?
what? silence. all of them staring at pike.
oh, no. . . no, fuck that- he moves to the door, but. . .
roberto, what the fuck?
why?
blame the nigger, then, huh? someone turns up dead, you just look for the darkest face in the crowd-
do i? the click as nunez pulls back the pistol's hammer.
just like the first day, huh? you standing guard on me. a creaking as the cabin shifts on it's foundation. dunbar looks up at the roof, scared. it holds.
this place ain't gonna hold much longer. dunbar doesn't reply. still staring nervously at the roof. pike looks to make sure the others out of earshot, then:
you and me are friends, right? no reply.
right?
you gotta untie me. i didn't do this thing, ray.
maybe, but that don't make me a killer-
which anyone coulda taken out of my gear on the chopper. were you watching your pack on the ride in? dunbar starts to get up.
ray, this is my life here. i ain't gonna pretend i'm not happy west is gone, but you know i couldn't have done this. it's not in me.
mueller.
we're sweeping our area and suddenly he's gone. couple minutes later, phosphorous grenade pops off about a third of a click away-
who you gonna trust, ray? him or your friend? dunbar stares at him.
enough to go to prison? childs' px scam, mueller was in on it-
look in my pack.
just look. little pocket. dunbar walks over to pike's pack and unzips it. checks the little pocket. pulls out a vial and a syringe.
combat grade morphine. mueller sold it to me. .
pull up my sleeve. right arm. dunbar does to reveal a cluster of track marks.
that look like a lie to you? i been using solid for the last eight weeks. dunbar sits down. not knowing what to say.
after that first night on the parade grounds with you, i was bad - exposure, malnutrition, the works. i needed something to keep me from crashing. mueller found me.
he said he knew guy who had an in at the px, could hook me up. this is before i knew what a dick he was. as mueller produces a syringe from his pocket.
later on childs got assigned there, started running the shit out to every cadet who needed it. but i was our class's first customer.  . pike hands the smiling mueller a wad of cash.
becoming a morphine addict during basic ain't exactly something you want to broadcast. only mueller and childs know. a beat. dunbar gets to his feet.
you saw west, right? how was he killed?
from up close or far away?
that's close range. you go full auto on a guy from close range, you're gonna be swimming in blood. look at my uniform. nothing. dunbar looks. not a speck of blood on it.
and where's mueller's? when i came in, he was only wearing a t-shirt. dunbar looks over to fireplace, where ashes are smoldering.  flashcut to - when dunbar first entered the cabin: mueller, standing there in a t-shirt, a fire burning in the hearth.
way i figure it, west must have found out about their little business and was gonna bust them, so they decided to get rid of him first.
mueller and childs. one of them must've taken the grenade from my pack on the chopper.
then mueller ditches me during the exercise and heads for the creek. ext. louisiana bayou -- creek bed,-- earlier last night mueller stands on the hill and pulls the grenades pin, tossing it down the embankment. .
he blows the grenade to frame me and gets west to come running.  . the grenade blows, setting the entire area aglow.
childs' job is easy, he only has to delay kendall long enough for mueller to get away. suddenly machine gunfire shatters the night!
now all mueller has to do is get rid of the evidence.
and wait for everyone else to arrive. mueller, watching the evidence burn.
what don't you know?
there's no time to think, ray, we gotta get out of here! you untie me, we grab the guns, get kendall and nunez, and make a run for it-
we wait and i'm a dead man. i got a black face, a criminal record, and over a hundred other cadets who'll testify how much i hated west - my court martial will take six minutes. it's either me or them, ray, and you gotta decide right now. the cabin shifts again. dunbar stares at him.
untie me. dunbar doesn't move.
untie me, ray. a long beat. the two men stare at each other. and then dunbar pulls his knife from his boot and leans down to cut pike's bonds.
thank god. . .
this place is going, mueller. we gotta move-
cause i didn't do it. childs motions to dunbar.
where's your shirt, mueller?
still got mine on, not a speck of blood on it. not a bad trick for a murderer- you said you burned yours? the others begin to look at mueller with new eyes.
goddammit, ray, we gotta get out of here-
cadet michael mueller, i hereby place you under military arrest for the murder of sergeant nathan west-
you are to be stripped of all weapons and placed under guard-
until we return to base, and ballistics can match your weapon to the slugs in sergeant west's body-
a test will no doubt link you to the killing-
-failure to comply with this arrest is a court martialable offense in and of itself-
although that won't matter much when coupled with the murder charge-
you stupid white trash motherfucker, i saw you do it- and mueller fires. pike's head snaps back. the gunshot, deafening. then, for an eternity, silence. nobody moves. nobody breathes. as if time has stopped.
all we gotta do is tell the story right.