As Easy as 'Snap'ping

"Sorry folks. Wounded coming in 10 minutes. All medical teams to tre-oj," said the bringer of bad news on the loud speaker.

People groaned all through out the compound but none louder than two drunken surgeons. One had messy black hair and rumpled clothes from his late night. He was the head surgeon and had only just gotten into bed. The other was a bit gray around the edges and had a cheesy mustache. They groaned again and rolled over to sit up. Half drunkenly, half sleepily they tugged on their boots and put on some pants. And followed their tent mate Charles out of the tent known to others as the Swamp and out into the chilly night air.

The head surgeon shivered and regretted not grabbing a coat. "Hey B.J. when did we get in?"

B.J. looked at his watch. "Oh say about an hour ago." He started to laugh. "Phew. That sure was a night though."

Before they knew it they heard several ambulances drive up. They gazed at the 3 that stood in front of them as the other people milled around checking everything. They looked down further the road and found several more driving up. "They sent us a whole damn army," scoffed the chief surgeon. He combed his fingers through his messy jet black hair. "It's going to be a looong night." His companion nodded his agreement and they set off to check on the wounded.

The hours ticked by and finally the surgeons hobbled into their changing room. They all slumped onto the nearest piece of furniture. Wearily they threw their soiled clothes into the laundry bins.

"Hey Charlie, where were you last night?" asked the head surgeon as he combed his hands through his already rumpled hair. He turned to his left and looked at the person waiting for his answer.

"I was resting when you two hooligans went and drank yourselves silly. And my name is Charles as you fully know Capitan," said the major emphasizing his companions rank.

"Now, now Charlie there's no need to call each other's ranks. And my name is Hawkeye as you fully know Major," said the chief surgeon mimicking the superior officer.

Then just as Charles opened his mouth to reply to Hawkeye's snide remark Colonel Potter the camps C.O. interrupted, "Hold your horses sonnies. We've all been working most of a day. It's already past noon. We've all been working for 18 hours straight. I suggest we all go get something to eat then go get some rest." He raised his eyebrows in dominance. "Okay dokey?"

"Okay dokey," they all replied in unison. They finished changing and headed toward to the mess tent. They all lined up to receive their daily torture.

Hawkeye wrinkled his nose as Igor put something furry on his tray. "What is that Igor?" he asked disgustedly.

"Oh it's canned vegetables," the cook replied.

Hawkeye rolled his eyes and dropped his tray on the serving table. "I think I'll just settle with coffee." He poured himself some of the steamy liquid and went and sat with B.J. and Charles. He ran his fingers through his hair again and sighed. "Oh my god. I hate this hellhole. I can't believe I operated on that little girl. What was she? Seven? Oh I don't know. Everyday children like her die. I couldn't even save her. I hate this war. It kills innocent people everyday. It doesn't matter how old they are either. Koreans and Americans alike kill bystanders who can do nothing to stop it." He was now in a rage and was practically shouting. B.J. and Charles tried to calm him down but he was just getting started. "I hate this war. I hate this hellhole that people around here love. I hate the government that sent us over here. I hate the army. I even hate my-," he stopped abruptly fuming. He sat down quietly and when he noticed that everyone was staring at him he shouted, "What?" and they all turned back to their food.

B.J. glanced at him sideways. "What's the matter Hawk? You're hardly eating and you've been moody lately." Hawkeye didn't answer him and turned so his back was to B.J. He surveyed the tent as if it was all of a sudden his top priority. B.J. sighed as Hawkeye finished his coffee and walked back to the Swamp to be alone.

Major Houlihan came over after Hawkeye left and said, "What's the matter with him?" B.J. shook his head. Margaret patted his arm, winked at him, and said, "Maybe I can get an answer out of him." She gave him a smile and followed Hawkeye to his tent.

Margaret knocked on the door's wooden frame. When there was no reply she quietly opened the door and peered inside. She saw Hawkeye sitting on his cot with his head between his hands. "Hawk," she called gently, "May I come in?" He didn't say anything but shrugged his shoulders. He looked a bit depressed. She walked in and closed the door softly. She stood watching him. "What's the matter Hawk? Usually you would already have made several offers to share a cot. You're not your usual jackass self." She gently placed her hand on his arm but drew back when he slapped it as if it was a large spider. "What the hell is the matter with you?" she asked angrily.

Hawkeye looked over at her and said with a small smile, "Did you know you look sexy when you're angry?" He leaned over and wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

Margaret slapped his hand and stepped back. "I'm not here to talk about me. I'm here to talk about you. You're not your usual self. Now if it's nothing important get up," said Margaret with her hands on her hips. When Hawkeye didn't make a move to get up she went over and tried to get him up.

When she couldn't get him up, she looked down and saw him shaking with anger. He stood up and shoved her hands off of him. "Leave me alone. Damn it Margaret," he growled at her as the six foot something doctor towered over her.

Margaret involuntary back up but said holding her ground, "No, I'm not leaving Capitan until you tell me what's wrong."

"You want to know what's wrong? You want to know what's wrong?" He started to pace like an animal in a cage. "There are a million things wrong. What's wrong is this war! What's wrong is this hellhole! I had to operate on a little girl no more than 7 today and she didn't even live! Plus what happened to-." He abruptly stopped his rant and looked at Margaret as if she was the only good thing about this.

Margaret backed up again because she didn't like the way that Hawkeye was eyeing her but asked soothingly, "What happened Hawkeye?" She moved toward the red-faced man who was trying to catch his breath from yelling.

"Nothing," he muttered. He sat down on his cot again and ran his fingers through his hair again.

"You can tell m-," started Margaret.

"Damn it! Just stop it! Leave me alone! I just want to be alone!" said Hawkeye as he stood up again.

"I'm not leaving Hawkeye until you tell me what's wro-," started Margaret again.

"Damn it Margaret! Leave me alone!" he yelled. He started throwing his martini glasses at the wall then after he ran out he picked up a black object that he had set out earlier and pointed it at Margaret.