The Judas Goat

Fresh out of the oven.

-I'll help her eat this. -All right. No! Hey!

-Zach! I-- -I'll get the lemonade.

-Listen, go-- Can we have some cups? - I got some. Here you go.

-Four of them. Four. Yeah! - Four?

It's gonna fall. This is heavy. Okay, okay. Ready?

- One. -Okay. Ready?

- Over here. -Thank you.

- That's done. -It's done!

Oh, that looks good. Right there.

Oh, this looks great!

-Here you are! Yup. -Oh, thank you, sir.

- That looks good. -Careful.

It is good.

-Oh, you guys, this is great! -It's sort of...

- -All right!

-Good! -

Attention! A toast.

-Welcome home, Frank. - Welcome home!

-Welcome home, Dad. -Thank you. All right, buddy.

It's good to be here.

- Hey! - Oh, boy.

Daddy, look!

Hey, look at you.

- -Oh!

Oh, my God!

- - This one has my name on it.

- -

-I'm gonna grab that, all right? - Yeah.

Guys, guys, wait up! Wait up, wait, wait.

No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no!

Wait, wait, wait, wait! Hey!

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!

Wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, just wait!

Just wait!

- -

No!

I always figured I'd die in these woods anyway.

I'm gonna get you off this mountain.

Bury me, man.

Just bury me. Promise me you'll bury me, okay?

You stay here. I'll be back. I'm coming back, Gunner.

You stay here. I'm coming back, Gunner.

- -

- -

Frank's dying.

-Blood pressure's 90 over 60. - That's low.

Does he need blood? I'm a universal donor.

Blood's not the problem. His temperature is 104. He's septic.

I've been giving him fluids and antibiotics.

None of that's gonna do any good until we get that arrow out of him.

It's a foreign object filled with bacteria.

The body's trying to fight it but can't, so...

white blood cells, fever, systemic inflammation...

- Right. -Antibiotics are fighting a losing battle.

So you're gonna, uh, pull it out?

If I pull it straight out, then it's gonna cause more damage than it went in.

-Are you okay? -Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Okay, good. 'Cause you're gonna have to help me hold him still.

-Yeah, like now, yeah. -Mm-hmm. Yeah.

-Right, on three. One, two... -

Two. Three.

-Okay, I got it. -There you go. Good.

Hold that. Keep the pressure on.

The only way out is through.

-Jesus! -Hey!

Stay with me. Do not lose your shit. You understand me?

-Say it. Say it! -I will not lose my shit. I'm good.

Oh, wow!

Okay. We got it.

- - Got it.

-Here, hold this. Keep the pressure on. -Oh, fuck!

Can you just go-- get it again for...

Ah, wow.

- -

-One, two... three. - Okay.

-So we done? -Yup.

-Good. -All we gotta do is cauterize the wound.

Fuck.

- -

Here.

Now we done?

You want some coffee?

Why'd you have to go after him?

Uh, Henderson had some information we needed.

I'm talking about Frank.

- -Hmm?

Look at the state of him.

This is all your fault, man.

Do you think any of this is gonna make any difference?

Look...

I have to believe that. I mean...

Yeah, for you.

But what about him?

God! Two nights in a row.

You can't blame the alcohol this time.

- -

-You're not getting a key or anything. -

So, I know I'm supposed to ignore what I'm looking at here.

Boundaries or...

rules of engagement for whatever this is, but...

What the hell is this, Dinah?

It's work.

You know... I must be a real idiot...

because it is only just now occurring to me that you might be...

using me.

What are you not telling me here?

I'm a Homeland Security Investigator, Billy.

There's a lot I'm not telling you.

Why are you so intent on pissing on the memory of a dead man?

That's not what this is.

Why don't you put your pants on? You look kinda stupid right now.

You know, some people are good liars. They don't blink an eye.

Others, not so much. You... you're bad at it.

So I'm guessing that you just get mean in order to avoid doing it.

I'm not lying, I'm just not telling you anything.

About something.

No, something... something about my friend, Frank.

You know that they never found his body?

Is that in...

in your file?

Yeah. It is.

Hmm.

I always wondered about that.

Gotta go to work.

Oh, shit.

Gunner!

-Hey! -What if he's still out there?

-Hey! Frank. Shh. -I gotta get... I gotta get him.

Relax. You gotta lay down.

-Lay down. - He's out there.

You gotta lay down. Listen.

Hey, Gunner's dead.

-I did... I left him. -Sorry.

I gotta go back for him.

-Gotta go back for him. -I took care of it.

-What do you mean? What do you mean? -I took care of it.

He's gonna get a proper burial.

Get some rest.

Thank you.

I didn't get a thank you.

I got the finger.

I got spit on.

But...

the vice president pinned a silver star on me.

Is that why you served? For gratitude?

April, 1968.

About 20 miles west of Tam Ky.

I killed 13 of those gooks with their own grenades.

"For gallantry in action."

You guys have no idea how good you got it.

"Thank you for your service."

Anybody who needs a "thank you" is a goddamn pussy.

We don't need it, you miserable old bastard.

-Maybe we earned it? -

Why'd you fight, O'Connor?

What drove you that day, and all the days after?

Just doing my duty.

Then why are you so angry about it?

You did what you were supposed to do, right?

As we all did.

So why come here?

I figure these guys need to hear an alternative.

They already got mommy holding their hand.

Daddy's here to toughen 'em up. Send 'em back out there.

Out into the real world.

A world that does not give a shit about us.

Where real Americans are put at the back of every goddamn line.

Where's Lewis? Have you seen him?

He's a bright kid. He saw the light.

He knows the truth when he hears it.

He knows words aren't gonna win this fight.

There is no winning the fight.

When I trained as a corpsman, they gave me a goat.

I named my goat Cassius, because he was a G.O.A.T., right?

You know what they did to that goat?

They blew him up.

They cut him.

Gave him simulated IED injuries.

And then they tell you to go out there and save his life.

Because that's how we learned.

Over and over again.

What sort of life is that?

You know, you... you go through all this shit