He joins Schaefer standing in the f.g.  They look
up, watching as Dillon moves through the cockpit,
searching through pockets and compartments.  Schaefer
turns his back to the helicopter.

RAMIREZ
The pilots have each got one
round in the head.  And whoever
hit it stripped the shit out of it.

Schaefer studies the clearing, eyes always moving, wary.
He turns back, looking at the chopper.

SCHAEFER
Took 'em out with a heat seeker.

RAMIREZ
There's something else, Major...

SCHAEFER
Mmmnnn...?

RAMIREZ
I don't think that was any ordinary
army taxi...

Schaefer looks at him quizically.

RAMIREZ
...looks more like a surveillance
bird to me.

Dillon rappells down the line and approaches.

DILLON
Have you picked up their trail yet?

Schaefer taps Ramirez on the shoulder and he moves
away.  Schaefer turns to Dillon:

(CONTINUED)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

REVISED - "HUNTER" - 4/21/86                          15
*
SCHAEFER
Billy's on it.
(indicates chopper)
Heat seeker.  Pretty sophisticated
for half-asses mountain boys.

DILLON
They're getting better equipped
every day.

Bill approaches from the b.g.

BILLY
Major, looks like there were ten,
maybe twelve guerrillas.  Looks
like they took some prisoners
from the chopper.
(points)
Then a different set of track,
over there.

SCHAEFER
(puzzled)
What do you mean?

BILLY
Six others, U.S. issue jungle
boots.  They came in from the
north, then followed the guerrillas.

Schaefer turns to Dillon.

SCHAEFER
Mean anything to you?

DILLON
Probably another rebel patrol.
They operate in here all the time.

Schaefer is obviously concerned about this.  He
turns to Billy.

SCHAEFER
Get ahead, see what you can find.
(to Ramirez)
Slow and easy.

(CONTINUED)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

REVISED - "HUNTER" - 1/27/86                          16

18     CONTINUED:  (2)                                       18

SCHAEFER (Contd.)
(to Dillon)
We don't want any accidents.

Billy takes up the trail, disappearing in to the jungle.
Ramirez signals, the team moves out.

19     EXT. JUNGLE - DAY                                     19

As Billy reconnoiters, Ramirez looks back and gives a       *
sign...

Schaefer nods and rappels down cliff.                       *

As he joins Ramirez, there seem to be butterflies           *
everywhere --

SCHAEFER                            *
What's he got?

RAMIREZ                             *
Same business, guerrillas
hauling two guys from the
chopper...followed by men
with American equipment...

Ramirez seems concerned by this.  Schaefer signals him to   *
move on.  Before he follows, Schaefer looks around:  there's*
something dodgy about this.  He goes.                       *

Over his head is a butterfly on a limb:                     *

20     EXT. JUNGLE - OVERHEAD - DAY                          20

As the assault team passes below, a BUTTERFLY lands on
what appears to be the BARK of a TREE.  It fans its wings
and flies on.

The impression of the butterfly remains in PERFECT
RELIEF, as is imprinted on the bark.  The image fades,
REVEALING for an instant a gridwork of TINY SCALES on
the bark.

The bark moves!  Changing colors, like a chameleon,
REVEALING for an instant the form of something alive
as it flows into the leaves, once again becoming
indistinguishable from the surrounding foliage.

TWO EYES, faintly flowing yellow, appear in the
foliage.  They blink, disappearing, and then become
VISIBLE again.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

REVISED - "HUNTER" - 1/27/87                          16-A

21     EXT. ALTERED P.O.V. - DAY                             21

SEEN THROUGH HEAT-SEEKING VISION, studying the team's
careful, silent movements at they pass by.

The SOUNDS of the FOREST are also ALTERED and ENHANCED
with an electric, STATICLIKE quality.

The Observer scans over the men...and then focuses
on Schaefer as he crouches down, signaling forward
and rear with a circular motion.  He refers to an
OBJECT in his hand, studying it carefully.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

17

22     EXT. SCHAEFER - DAY                                   22

Using a MAP in lining out a course on his COMPASS.  The
other team members appear, silently, clustering around
him.  Using hand signals, Schaefer indicates a course
change.

23     EXT. OBSERVER'S P.O.V. - DAY                          23

Watches closely as Schaefer continues with his hand
signals, instructing his team.

24     EXT. SCHAEFER - DAY                                   24

25                                                  OUT      25

26     EXT. DENSE UNDERGROWTH - DAY                          26

The hillside of a steep valley, dark and foreboding.
Billy passes by and halts, removing his KNIFE.  With
his other hand he pulls down from overhead a THICK VINE,
severing it.  A thin stream of WATER emerges which
he drinks.

Suddenly he stops, letting the water drip to the
ground.  He quietly releases the vine and brings his
M-203 shotgun to bear, listening intently.  Something
seems wrong.  He brings his eyes upward and stares,
hard into the treeline of the opposing hillside.

As his eyes strain to penetrate the dense, intertwined
canopy, he is engulfed by the rising SOUNDS of the
JUNGLE, a cacophony of BUZZING and CLICKING,
amplified in the sweltering heat of the day.  Unable
to locate a source to account for his anxiety, he
relaxes, moving on, resuming the track.

27     BILLY (MINUTES LATER)                                 27

examines the ground as he moves, growing confused
and puzzled by what he sees before him.  He stops,
scrutinizing the jungle, probing the world around him
with his keen senses.

HEARING a faint RUSTLING SOUND he looks up, SEEING a
curtain of MOSS several feet away.  He takes a cautious
step forward, extending his weapon.  He reaches
forward with his free hand, touching the moss.

Behind the curtain a slight shifting of DARK FORMS
occurs.  He pauses and then with a sudden movement,
sweeps the moss aside...

A BLACK EXPLOSION of FLUTTERING WINGS as carrion-eating
BIRDS rush past Billy's body.

(CONTINUED)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

18

27     CONTINUED:                                            27

Billy's face seizes into a mask of horror, his
expression descending into a state of complete,
primitive shock, his eyes staring transfixed, inches
away from the leering death-grin of a HUMAN FACE,
upside down, completely stripped of skin.

Reeling, his body numbed by the sight before him,
he stumbles backwards and stops.

Vines threaded through their achilles tendons, the
BODIES OF THREE MEN, skinned and gutted, hang
suspended in the think, suffocating air, BUZZING
with insects.

Billy turns away, revulsed as Ramirez moves quietly
INTO VIEW, Schaefer directly behind him.  Ramirez
stares at the bodies, now seen to be in the first
stages of deterioration, strips of flesh torn away
by the birds and other scavengers.  In an almost
childlike manner, he crosses himself.

RAMIREZ
(hoarse whisper)
Holy Mother...

Schaefer moves into the clearing, kneeling beside
a bloody pile of CLOTHING and ENTRAILS.  He examines
the clothing and then rises, holding a DOG TAG on
a broken chain.  He reads the tag, his face growing
hardened and bitter as he stares down at the tag,
recognizing the name.

SCHAEFER
(to himself)
J.S. Davis, Captain, U.S. Army...

Schaefer's eyes move from the bloody dog tag to
the bodies.

SCHAEFER
(coldly)
Mac.  Cut them down.

Mac moves forward, withdrawing his COMBAT KNIFE.
The blade flashes, cutting the vine as the first
body THUDS to the ground.  He bends over, picking up
other DOG TAGS.

Schaefer turns to Dillon.

(CONTINUING)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

REVISED - "HUNTER" - 4/19/86                          19
*
27     CONTINUED:  (2)                                       27

SCHAEFER
I knew this man.  Green Berets,
out of Fort Bragg.  What the hell
were they doing in here?  You got
any answers for this, Dillon?

DILLON
(stunned)
Jesus...this is inhuman.
(to Schaefer)
Uh...I wasn't told of any
operations in this area.  They
shouldn't have been here.

SCHAEFER
(angry)
Well somebody sent them.

Schaefer walks off.  Mac steps out of the clearing,
sheathing his knife with a violent gesture, passing
Ramirez.

RAMIREZ
(seething)
Must have run into the guerrillas
...Fucking animals.

Mac moves alongside Blain.

MAC
(spits)
Ain't no way for a soldier to
die.
(looks at Blain)
Time to let 'ol 'painless'
out of the bag.

Grimly, Blain RIPS apart the velcro closures of the
CANVAS BUNDLE slung across his shoulder, REVEALING
a truly awesome weapon, a SIX-BARRELED MINI-GUN adapted
for field combat.

28     EXT. BILLY - DAY                                      28

Kneels at the side of the original trail examining the
ground.  He rises, holding a spent CARTRIDGE.  Schaefer
approaches, kneeling beside him.

SCHAEFER
What happened here, Billy?

Billy looks at him, puzzled.

(CONTINUED)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

REVISED - "HUNTER" - 4/20/86                          20
*
28     CONTINUED:                                            28

BILLY
Strange, Major.  There was a
firefight.  Shooting in all
directions.

SCHAEFER
I can't believe Jim Hopper
walked into an ambush.

BILLY
I don't believe he did, Sir.
I couldn't find a single track.
Just doesn't make sense.

SCHAEFER
What about the rest of Hopper's
men?

Billy shakes his head.

BILLY
(uncomfortably)
No sign.  They never left here
Major.
(pause)
It's like they just disappeared.

Schaefer ponders a moment.  Then, to Billy:

SCHAEFER
Stick with the guerilla trail.
(to team)
Let's get it over with.  We move.
Five meter spread.  No sound.
Nothing.

CUT TO:

28-A   EXT. BLAIN - DAY                                      28-A

Blain feeds the magazine of BELTED-SHELLS into the
weapon, cocking it.  He looks up at Mac, his eyes