recognition flash in her eyes as she continues to
stare at Mac.  He turns to Mac.

MAC
(confused)
I...saw it.

At these words, Anna reacts in shock, drawing a             *
slight breath.  Schaefer turns, sees her staring at         *
Mac.  He turns back.

SCHAEFER
You saw what?

MAC
(still dazed)
I saw it.

Schaefer turns back to see Anna, staring fixidly at Mac,    *
watching his lips.  Schaefer turns quickly to Blain's       *
body and kneels alongside Dillon.

98     SCHAEFER                                              98

is at Blain's side, shocked at the sight of the
mutilated body.  He is joined by Dillon.

(CONTINUED)

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

56

98     CONTINUED:                                            98

SCHAEFER
(to himself)
Blain...
(puzzled)
...Just like the others...no
powder burns, no shrapnel.

DILLON
The wound all fused,
cauterized...what the hell
did this?

Schaefer stands, looking at the body.  In the b.g.
Anna drifts away from the group.

SCHAEFER
(to Mac)
...Mac!

Mac stares ahead, dumbly, not hearing.  He grabs Mac
by his shoulders, shaking him violently back to
awareness.

SCHAEFER
(demanding;
angry)
Mac!  Mac!  Look at me!

Mac turn to face Schaefer, a shocked expression on his
face.

SCHAEFER
(urgent)
Mac, who did this?

Mac is suddenly angry and frustrated, he has no
explanation.

MAC
I don't know.  Goddamn it,
something...I saw something/.

Ramirez runs from the jungle, breathing hard, shaking
his head.

RAMIREZ
Nothing.  The same thing.
Not a fucking trace.  No
bodies, blood, anything.

(CONTINUED)

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

57

98     CONTINUED:  (2)                                       98

Mac stands.  Instinctively the team has now grouped
around Schaefer, their weapons pointing into the jungle,
ready, their nerves on total edge.  Schaefer looks
upward at the darkening sky.

SCHAEFER
(quietly)
We're losing the light.  Mac,
I want a defensive position
above this ridge, mined with
everything we're got.

Man is again the hardened professional.

MAC
Yessir.

Schaefer looks down at Blain's body.  He turns to
Ramirez and Billy.

SCHAEFER
Put him in his poncho and
liner and carry him back.
We'll bury him in the morning.

MAC
I'll take him.

99     ANNA                                                  99

as they leave approaches the brush, her attention
focused on something clinging to the leaves, well off
to the side of where Mac saw the Hunter.  She draws
closer, reaching out, hesitant, as if drawn magnetically
to the leaves.

100     EXT. DETAIL - HUNTER'S BLOOD - DAY                   100

Clinging to the leaves, thick, viscous, pale-orange,
almost like the sap of an exotic plant.  Her fingers
hover above it, hesitantly, and then touch it.

101     ANNA                                                 101

examines the blood, transfixed.  Dillon appears at her
shoulder, startling her.  He motions for her to return.
She turns, wiping the blood onto her pants leg.

102     EXT. ENCAMPMENT - DUSK                               102

The team is dug into the foxholes in a dense grove of
trees, a solid wall to their backs.  The men are barely
visible they blend in so well.

(CONTINUED)

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

58

102     CONTINUED:                                           102

Nearby, Mac is stringing a TRIP WIRE, low to the ground,
covering it with leaves and grass.  He moves into camp
and reports to Schaefer.

MAC
We've got most of the flares,
frags. and two claymores just
outside.  Nothin's comin'
close to here without trippin'
on somethin'.

SCHAEFER
Thank you, Sergeant.

Mac starts to go but Schaefer places his hand on his
shoulder.

SCHAEFER
I'm sorry, Bull.  It's never
easy.  He was a good soldier.

MAC
(hardened)
The best friend I ever had.

Mac turns and walks through the camp, stopping beside
a DARK OBJECT on the ground.  He kneels beside the
PONCHO pulling back the zipper REVEALING Blain's face,
looking peaceful in death, as if lying in state.

Mac removes something from his pocket, holding it in
his hand, studying it.

103     DETAIL OF OBJECT IN MAC'S HAND                       103

The small WHISKEY FLASH, the chrome rubbed away in
places REVEALING the brass beneath and a MEDALLION
depicting the 101 1ST AIRBORNE DIVISION.

104     MAC                                                  104

takes a tiny sip from the flask.  He replaces the cap
and lifts the flap of Blain's shirt pocket, placing
the flask inside.  He lingers on the face and then
closes the zipper.

MAC
(softly)
Good-bye, Bro.

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

59

105     ANNA                                                 105

is huddles into a foxhole, her hands still tied in front
of her.  She looks down at her pants leg.  The Hunter's
BLOODSTAIN glows with a faint luminosity.  She places
her fingers near the stain.

106     INT. HUNTER'S SHIP - NIGHT                           106

Hawkins' BODY impacts the floor with a THUMP.

107     EXT. ENCAMPMENT - DAY (DUSK)                         107

A momentary HUSH falls over the symphony of night
sounds.  Anna and Billy turn towards the trees with a
growing look of wariness.  The others, setting up the
RADIO, show no response.

108     INT. HUNTER'S SHIP - DAY (DUSK)                      108

The Hunter's foot steps on the upper leg of the corpse,
the PREHENSILE SPUR digging deep, pinioning the body
to the ground.  The Hunter's HAND extends, his
FINGERS puncturing the skin at the base of the spine,
gripping the vertebrae.

With otherworldly strength the arm pulls, the entire
SPINAL COLUMN ripping free from the body, a sickly
SNAPPING and POPPING of cartilage separating from bone
and tissue.

109     EXT. ENCAMPMENT - DAY (DUSK)                         109

Ramirez is tuning in the compact FIELD RADIO, equipped
with a CRYPTO-PHONE device.  Dillon holds the handset.

DILLON
(to phone)
Blazer One, say again...

A CRACKLE of STATIC over the radio.

BLAZER ONE
(voice over)
Red Fox, I say again.  Your
request for extraction denied.
Your area still compromised.
Proceed to Sector 3000 for
prisoner extraction, Priority
Alpha.  Next contact at 1030
hours.

(CONTINUED)

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

REVISED - "HUNTER" - 4/17/86                          60
*
109     CONTINUED:                                           109

DILLON
(to phone;
angry)
Roger, Blazer One.  1030
hours...damn, bastards.

He puts down the phone, turning to the group, huddled
together in a tight circle, Ramirez and Billy facing
outward in defensive positions, Anna, silent, watching.
Schaefer is look at him.

DILLON
(angry;
shocked)
We're still too far in, they
won't risk coming in for us.

SCHAEFER
Expendable assets, Dillon.
Seems Langley is never around
when you need them.

DILLON
I can accept that, it comes
with the job.

SCHAEFER
Bullshit.  You're just like
the rest of us.

Dillon glares back.  Schaefer leaves, lost in thought.
Ramirez looks up at the impenetrable canopy.

RAMIREZ
Shit load o' good a chopper'd
do us in here anyway.

Dillon turns to Mac.

DILLON
Mac.  Who hit us today?

Mac is still obviously feeling the anger and bitterness
of the mystifying event.

MAC
Don't know, only saw one of
'em.  Camouflaged.  He was
there...
(remembering)
...Those fucking eyes...

(CONTINUED)

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

REVISED - "HUNTER" - 4/17/86                          61
*
109     CONTINUED:  (2)                                      109

DILLON
(abruptly;
pushing)
What, Sergeant?

MAC
(returning;
angry)
Those eyes...disappeared.  But
I know one thing, Major...
(pause)
...I drew down and fired
right at it.  Capped-off two
hundred rounds and then the
Mini-gun; the full pack.
Nothin'...nothin' on this
earth could have lived...not
at that range.

Dillon ponders this for a moment, staring hard at Mac.
Mac gets up.

MAC
I've got the first watch.

Mac departs.  Dillon watches Mac as he creeps forward
to the sentry position.  He turns to Ramirez.

DILLON
Ask her again.  What did she
see?  What happened to
Hawkins?

Ramirez turns to Anna.  They talk quietly in Spanish,
Dillon watching, listening carefully.  Ramirez turns
back to Dillon.

RAMIREZ
(interpreting)
She says the same thing...
It was the jungle...

Ramirez looks up at Billy who continues to stare into
the jungle, aware, catlike, reacting to every sound,
his nerves on edge, as if ready to snap.  Ramirez
rises, moves alongside his friend, Dillon watching
closely.

(CONTINUED)

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

REVISED - "HUNTER" - 4/17/86                          62
*
109     CONTINUED:  (3)                                      109

RAMIREZ
(whispering;
imploring)
You know something Billy, what
is it?

Billy turns, his face a mask of primal fear.  He moves
close to Ramirez.

BILLY
I'm scared.

Ramirez is frightened by this.

RAMIREZ