The small plane banked south as it gained altitude, the sun glinting off the windshield. Gazing out the window, John Gage was thinking it would be nice to get home. He looked around at the other passengers—his partner Roy DeSoto sat next to him in the rear seat of the plane. In front was Dixie McCall, a nurse a Rampart Hospital. And their pilot was Dr Kelly Brackett, head of Emergency Medicine at Rampart.. At least I'm in good company, thought John.
Gage and his fellow passengers had just taken off from the airport at Reno, Nevada, where they had spent the last few days demonstrating paramedic techniques to firefighters from Nevada and Utah. Several fire departments in those states were debating whether to start a paramedic program of their own, and had asked the Los Angeles County Fire Department for some help in determining the best way to implement their own programs. So the department had asked Gage and Desoto to go to Reno to show their fellow firefighters what the program could do. When they had mentioned it Dr Brackett and Dixie, the pair had volunteered to join them. The trip had gone well. The firefighters had asked a lot of really good questions and seemed optimistic about the program.
"So, Johnny," asked Roy, "Were you able to get hold of Sarah, to let her know you ll be home in time for your date?"
"Yeah," Gage nodded, "I should even have enough time to get home and shower before I have to pick her up."
Dixie McCall turned to look at Johnny. "Is this a new girl? I don t think I ve heard you mention her before?"
"It s always a new girl with Johnny," quipped Roy. "I think he s trying to break a the record for most girls dated in a year."
Dixie and Kel Brackett laughed. Gage just looked at Roy with a sour expression on his face. "Cute, Roy. And here I thought we d left Chet Kelly in L.A."
Roy shook his head, sharing the laugh with Dr Brackett and Dixie.
****
They had been in the air less than an hour when suddenly the planed bucked, then began to shudder. Brackett started checking the instruments, trying to figure out what was wrong. He flipped switches, attempting to smooth out the ride. He checked and re-checked every indicator, but to no avail.
"Buckle up folks, looks like we re going in for a hard landing," Brackett told his passengers. He then began sending a Mayday call over the radio.
As the plane began to lose altitude, Johnny and Roy looked at each other. They were flying over a mountainous area, with no flat spot where they might be able to put down. Each knew it would be a rough landing, and tried to prepare themselves for the worst.
Brackett was trying to control the plane but was losing the struggle. The ground came up fast. The plane crashed into the trees with a screeching and whining of metal being torn apart. The left wing broke away, causing to plane to cartwheel into the ground. It stopped when it slammed into a tree.
****
Roy woke up, not quite sure where he was. He could smell something burning..smelled funny..like maybe an electrical fire. What was burning? And if he was at a fire, why was he lying down? He felt disconnected--like he wasn t really there. And he really had a headache!
He opened his eyes, trying focus in on something, anything, to help him understand what was happening. What was going on? He closed his eyes again, trying to concentrate on sounds now. He heard crackling, and metal creaking. And he could hear someone moaning. Moaning—someone s hurt. Gotta help them.
Roy started to move toward the person he could hear, but stopped short when a pain shot up his right arm. He yelled out, grabbing the arm with his left hand. Catching his breath, he looked down at the arm. It was twisted at an odd angle, but he couldn t see any blood. Well, he thought, a broken arm, but at least it s not a compound fracture.
Remembering the moaning he s heard he look around. Everything came back to him then—the trip, the plane, the crash!
"Johnny, Dix, you guys okay? Doctor Brackett, can you hear me?"
Getting no answer, he gingerly started to move so he could see into the rest of the plane. He moved slowly so as not to jar his injured arm. He found Gage first. He was unconscious, with a nasty cut over his right eye. Roy checked his pulse and made sure he was breathing, then turned to checked on Dixie and Dr Brackett.
He heard the moaning again, and realized it was Dixie McCall. He reached out to touched her arm, calling her name at the same time. Dixie opened her eyes and looked up at Roy.
"Dixie, can you hear me? How bad are you hurt?"
"Roy? What happened?"
"We crashed. Are you hurt? Can you move?"
"Yeah I think so. What about the others? Are they okay…owww…"
"Dix, what is it?"
"My ankle, Roy. It hurts. I think it might be broken."
"Okay, take it easy. Can you check on Dr Brackett without moving around too much?"
Dixie nodded and reached out to put her hand on Brackett s right hand, which lay on the seat next to him . He was out cold, slumped against the side window. She could see a number of cuts on his face and shards of glass covered his head and body. Dixie pressed her finger against Kelly s wrist.
"His pulse is strong, Roy, but he s unconscious. What about Johnny?"
DeSoto was checking on Gage. "He has a bad gash on his head and he s out too. Can t tell if he has other injuries or not."
DeSoto realized he was going to have to get everyone out of the plane to check them over completely. He turned back toward the door next to his seat and reached for the handle. It wouldn t budge. So he placed his feet against it and kicked. The door grudgingly yielded and he was able to lower himself to the ground, being careful not to move his arm too much. The plane had ended up tilted slightly to the left, so it took a little bit of effort for him to get out.
He looked around and discovered the source of the electrical burning smell. Smoke was coming from the engine, which now lay about 25 feet away from the body of the plane. He didn t see any sparks or flames, so he dismissed it temporarily. More important things occupied his mind. Like helping his friends.
****
He reached up to give Dixie a hand out of the plane. He carried her over to an evergreen tree about five feet away and set her down so that she could lean against the tree. After getting her settled, he headed back to the plane, noticing movement from the back seat. It looked like Johnny was awake.
"Roy?" Johnny called, "Roy, where are you, man? You okay?"
"Don t move, Johnny. Let me help."
"Oh, man, have I got a headache," Gage remarked as Roy walked around the opposite side of the plane and slowly opened the door next to Gage. Because of the angle at which the plane was tilted he wanted to make sure Gage didn t fall out. Johnny was gingerly feeling the gash on his forehead, wincing at the touch.
"Take it easy, Johnny. Are you hurt anywhere else? Can you move? We need to get you out of the plane?"
"Yeah, I m fine." Gage looked around. "Dixie and the Doc?" he said, glancing at Roy, concerned for his friends.
"Dixie s outside already. Looks like she has a broken ankle. I m not sure about Dr. Brackett. He s alive, but unconscious. Let s get you out and then I can check on him."
"I ll help you," Gage said. Seeing that Roy was about to object, Johnny raised his hand. "I m okay, Roy, just a bad headache. What about you, are you alright?"
"My arm s broken. Other than that I think I m fine."
"Roy, why don t I check on Brackett first and see if it s safe to move him from the plane," Johnny suggested.
With that he worked his way forward and began checking Kelly Brackett for injuries. When he could determine that there didn t seem to be any broken bones, they
decided to move him from the plane so they could treat what injuries he did have.
Johnny dropped from the plane and joined Roy next to the pilot s door. As Roy opened it, Johnny eased Brackett from the plane. DeSoto grabbed his legs and they carried him around to where Dixie sat, carefully laying him onto the ground. She immediately started checking his pulse and respiration.
Roy and Johnny sat on the ground next to the doctor, waiting for Dixie to complete her exam. Both were feeling some pain from their various injuries, but they knew that Dr Brackett was even worse off then they were.
"Well, Dix," asked Roy. "How is he?"
"His breathing is pretty ragged, Roy," she replied, "But I need a stethoscope to be sure of anything."
Johnny looked back at the plane, put his hands on the ground and pushed himself up. A wave of dizziness washed over him and he staggered, almost falling back down.
"Whoa, Johnny," said DeSoto, "Take it easy. You took a pretty nasty hit on the head. Don t push it, okay."
Shaking his head to clear out the fuzziness, he started toward the plane.
"I m alright, Roy. I just got up too fast," Johnny assured him. "I m going to try to get our equipment from the plane. Looks like the doc might be needing it."
Gage walked back to the plane and climbed in. He began digging through the debris, tossing aside some items so he could look underneath. He found the orange box containing the bio-phone and the defibrillator. He placed them near the door just as Roy walked over to help. DeSoto picked up the bio-phone and took it over to where Dixie sat, then came back and picked up the defibrillator.
Johnny was having trouble finding the drug box. And he figured that would be the most important thing to locate. He pulled aside a large piece of metal, cutting his hand on the jagged edge.
"Damn it!" he exclaimed, watching the blood begin to drip from the wound.
"Johnny, you okay," called Roy.
"Yeah, I just cut my hand. Nothing big. I m fine," he told DeSoto, feeling stupid for not being more careful.
As Gage moved aside one last piece of metal, he finally spotted the drug box. It was large & black, similar to a fishing tackle box. But it contained a lot more items for sustaining life. As he reached down for the box, he just hoped that everything inside was intact. He feared that Doc Brackett was going to need all the help they could give him.
*****
As Gage carried the drug box to where his friends were tending to Kelly Brackett, he watched Roy open up the bio-phone.
"Hey, Roy," called Johnny, "Do you really think anybody will hear you from all the way up here?"
"I doubt it," replied Roy, "But at this point, I m willing to try anything."
"Well, Doc Brackett did get out a Mayday. So hopefully we ll be found soon."
Johnny set down the drug box and looked around at the area they had crashed in. It was going to be dark in a few hours, he thought.
"Look guys," he said to Roy and Dixie. "Do you two think you ll be alright for a few minutes. I want to check the plane for an emergency kit, and to see if there are any flares. Then I think I ll start gathering up some wood. I want to get a fire started just in case we have to spend the night here. It gets cold in the mountains at night, even during the summer."
Dixie glanced up from her examination of Kel, concern showing on her face.
"I don t like the fact that he s still unconscious, Roy. Hand me the BP cuff and stethoscope. Johnny, do you think the radio still works?"
"Don t know, Dix, but I ll check it after I get the fire started."
Roy and Dixie set about doing a thorough examination on Kelly Brackett, while Johnny dug the emergency kit from the plane. Then he headed off to find some dry wood so he could build a fire.
*****
Johnny came back about 15 minutes later, his arm filled with small branches and twigs, which he planned to use for kindling to get the fire started. He set them down on the ground and headed back out to find some bigger pieces that would be used to keep the fire lit.
Roy and Dixie were still treating Kel as best they could under the circumstances.
They had set up an IV and tried to clean up the cuts on his face. They had also checked to be sure nothing was broken. Dixie was once again checking his BP to be sure it hadn't changed. Roy was pulling out a thermal blanket to wrap around the doctor to keep him warm.
Gage returned with a few logs and began building the fire. First he dug out a crude shallow hole in the ground, using his hands and a sturdy branch. He made the hole about a foot in diameter, then surrounded it with rocks. He piled the kindling in the middle, making a sort of pyramid shape of the twigs and branches. He stuffed in a few pieces of paper from his jacket pocket, and then opened up the emergency kit in search of matches. He didn t find matches, but did discover a lighter, so he flicked it and set the paper on fire. He lightly fanned the flames until the twigs caught, then started building up the fire with the larger pieces of wood. As soon as he knew the fire was going strong, he stepped around it and crouched down next to Roy. DeSoto was attempting to put a splint on Dixie s ankle, but was having difficult without the use of both his arms.
"So, how is Dr. Brackett, Roy?" Johnny asked, taking the splint from DeSoto and setting about fixing Dixie s leg.
"Not so good, Johnny," Roy said. "He s still unconscious. His injuries are relatively minor, but of course we don t know what s going on inside. He must have hit his head pretty hard though."
Roy looked at his watch. He was suprised to see that they had been on the ground for less than an hour.
"Hey, Roy," Johnny called, "Why don t you just relax for a while. As soon as I m done here, I ll take a look at your arm."
DeSoto just nodded and moved closer to the fire. He laid back, placing his head on the bio-phone. It looked like it would be a long night.
*****
After getting Roy and Dixie treated, Johnny had decided to check the plane again to see if he could find anything they could use. He found a couple of pieces of luggage. Carrying the suitcases to the door, he set them on the ground outside. As he pulled himself back into the plane, another dizzy spell came over him and he had to sit down before he passed out. Gage took a couple of minutes to relax and get his equilibrium back.
Probably have a concussion, he thought. As soon as everything is settled, I ll have Roy or Dixie check me out. But the others were all injured more seriously than he was, so he figured it could wait. But he sure had a headache.
He finally found everybody s luggage. He also found a tool box, so maybe he could take a look at the radio later, and see if he could get it to work. He pulled the cases out of the plane, and dragged them over toward the others.
*****
The phone was ringing in the station house as the engine pulled back into the truck bay. Chet Kelly jumped off and ran to the kitchen to catch the phone before the caller hung up. It was two o clock in the morning and the men had just returned from a building fire.
"Station 51, Fireman Kelly speaking," he announced as he put the phone to his ear. "Oh, hi, Joanne……. No I don t think he s called but we just now got back from a run. Hold on, let me check with Captain Stanley."
Chet covered the mouthpiece on the phone as Hank Stanley walked in the room.
"Hey, Cap," Kelly began, "Joanne DeSoto is on the phone. She wants to know if we ve heard from Roy or Johnny, saying they were going to be delayed. Apparently they haven t returned home yet."
Stanley shook his head and reached out to take the phone from Kelly.
"Joanne, this is Hank," Stanley said to Roy s wife. "No, I haven t heard from either of them. Did you check with the hospital? They would of had to go back there first to get Johnny s car………. Yeah, okay, if I hear from them, I ll tell Roy to call you right away……….Okay, Joanne. And listen, don t worry, they probably just got a late start out of Reno. You know how those things can be. Since Dr. Brackett was doing the flying, they weren t on any set schedule……….. Yeah, okay. I ll talk to you later, Joanne."
Stanley hung up the receiver and turned around and looked at the others who had gathered around the table.
"Anything wrong, Captain?" Marco asked.
"I don t know. That was Roy s wife. She said he hasn t gotten back home yet.
Didn t Johnny say they were going to be back by 8 o clock?"
"Yeah," said, "He had a hot date or something."
"I d better call the hospital myself, see if they ve heard from Brackett or Dixie McCall. Do we have the number where they were staying in Reno?"
"Yeah, Cap, I wrote it on the calendar on your desk," said Mike Stoker.
Stanley headed to his office to make the calls.
******
It was cold now. And the wind seemed to be picking up. Johnny was awake, keeping the fire stoked. He had put on every piece of clothing that he could, just to keep warm. The others were trying to sleep, wrapped in thermal blankets from the paramedic equipment. Gage had the radio out of the plane and had tried to get it working, but wasn t having any luck. Maybe Roy could take a look at it later.
Johnny and Roy had earlier moved some of the larger pieces of debris and placed them upright against some trees that were close to the plane making a small enclosure to try and keep some warmth in and the wind out. The plane was also acting as a wind-break to keep the wind from either blowing out the fire or spreading into the surrounding forest.
Dr. Brackett had finally come around, but he was still groggy and his vital signs were unstable. Dixie and Roy were lying close to him, trying to keep his body temperature from dropping too low. But he was in a lot of pain and they all hoped he d last until morning.
Johnny got up and started walking around in an effort to keep awake and stay warm. His head was killing him. Dixie had checked him out and diagnosed a concussion, just like Johnny had feared. He had taken a couple of aspirin, but they didn t seem to help. As he wandered, he picked up more branches and small logs, so that they could keep the fire going. He figured he might as well do something useful. Maybe it would get his mind of the pain in his head.
"Johnny," a voice called.
Gage turned around and saw Roy walking toward him.
"How s the doc, Roy?"
"About the same. What are you doing?"
"Just trying to stay warm." Gage leaned against the side of the plane. He looked up at the night sky, able to see a few stars peeking through between the treetops.
"You know, Roy, I ve camped out in these hills. It s really beautiful country. But right now, it just seems cold and lonely."
"Yeah, it is kinda desolate isn t it?"
Gage smiled. "Well, then I guess it was appropriately named, huh?"
"What do you mean?"
"Roy, this whole area" explained Johnny, waving his hand around, "Is part of a national forest……. This part of the forest is called Desolation Wilderness."
******
It was 4 o clock, and Captain Stanley was still on the phone. He was talking to his Battalion Chief, making arrangements to get his crew up to the search area.
"Chief, my men are not going to be left out of this search," insisted Stanley. "Those are our people up there, and we want to be a part of this. I realize it s way out of our jurisdiction. But the boys and I have the next 3 days off and we want to go up there and help. I ve already talked this over with the county department that is heading up the search. I have a friend who is going to fly us up to Sacramento. The Chief there is going to have someone meet us at the Sac airport and drive us up to the staging site."
Stanley nodded at something the Chief was saying.
"I understand, Chief. We re prepared for that. We just want to be there when they re found…………Right, Chief, we ll be leaving here in about 5 minutes."
Stanley hung up the phone, and heading out to the parking lot. Captain Carter and the rest of B shirt had come in early when they heard about Gage and DeSoto and relieved A shift so that Stanley s crew could join the search.
"Hank, make sure you call us as soon as you hear anything," advised Carter.
"Yeah, I will, Steve," Stanley assured him. "And thanks to you and your crew. I really appreciate them coming in so early. My guys were going stir crazy here wondering what happened to Johnny and Roy. Listen, Joanne will probably be calling back to see if we heard anything. Tell her what s going on, will ya?"
"I won t wait for her to call me. I ll call her. Good luck, Hank."
Stanley and his men hurried to the Captain s car and headed to the airport, where the Cap s friend was waiting to take them to the Sacramento airport.
*****
The search teams were getting ready to move out when Stanley and his men arrived at the field command location. Stanley set out in search of the person in charge, while his men made their way to where the teams were loading up. They discovered that some of the people involved in the search were firefighters who had been at the demonstration the day before. They had heard about the plane going down and volunteered to be part of the search.
Stanley and his men were assigned to a team and gathered up gear for the search, heading for one of the trucks that would take them to the landing site. They would be observers for the helicopter crews.
*****
Up on the mountain, the sun was finally starting to rise, the sky beginning to lighten slowly. Roy DeSoto was sitting by the fire, fiddling with the plane s radio. It was awkward trying to handle the tools left-handed. And he was discovering that Johnny was probably right, they weren t going to get it working. It was just damaged too badly….not to mention the antenna had been broken off when they crashed.
Dixie was still asleep and Dr. Brackett kept going in and out of consciousness.
Roy or Johnny checked him frequently just to be sure there had been no change in his condition, but they both knew there was nothing more they could do. If he didn t get to a hospital soon, he would die. That was certain.
Johnny had gotten little sleep, and was out now trying to find something, anything, to eat. Gage had done a good deal of camping, so he should be able to find something they could chew on. He was also trying to find a source of water. Dehydration would be their biggest problem. They had already gone through the small bottle that had been part of the emergency kit and no one knew how long rescuers would take to find them.
Gage returned, wearily making his way through the trees. He was carrying a tree branch, about 4 feet in length and about 2 inches in diameter. It forked into a "Y" shape at one end.
"What s the matter, Johnny," Roy questioned, "Don t you think we have enough firewood already?"
"This one isn t for the fire, Roy," he explained, "I figured Dixie might need a crutch. It s crude, but it should work for a short while."
Dixie sat up, looking at the ‘crutch . "Johnny, I think that will work just fine.
Why don t you help me up and we ll test it out."
Gage walked over and leaned the crutch against a tree, and then reached down to help Dixie up. Making sure she was steady on her good leg, he retrieved the branch and handed it to Dixie. She placed in under her arm and began a slow, careful test.
"It works great, Johnny. Thanks. That was very thoughtful of you."
"Any luck finding food or water," asked Roy.
"No, but I didn t go too far," he replied. Gage gazed at their surroundings. "You know, Roy, I think I need to get higher, see if I can see anything of the area. When I was taking my little walk, I spotted an area that might be an easy climb up. It s about a quarter mile southwest of here and the only rock outcrop I can see in the area. It looks like it might give me a good view of the area. I m going to head back there and take a look around."
"I don t know, Johnny, maybe we should just wait," said Dixie. "Now that the sun is up, someone is bound to come looking for us. And with that head injury, if you get dizzy during the climb, you could lose your balance and fall. That wouldn t do us any good."
"I know, Dixie, I just want to get a look at the area, see if I can spot some water or a road. Look, I won t be gone long. If I start to get dizzy I ll stop and rest, I promise. Roy, while I m gone, can you gather up some of the rubber pieces from the tires?"
"For a signal fire, you mean?" Roy inquired.
"Yeah. About 75 yards down that way," Gage said, pointed downhill from their camp, "There s a clearing, large enough that if we light it there, it should clear the treetops."
"Okay, Johnny, but be careful. Like Dixie said, the last thing we need is for you to fall off a rock or out of tree or something," Roy mentioned, smiling.
Johnny laughed, walking away. "I ll be careful, Mother, thank you."
Dixie hobbled over on her new crutch, watching Roy as he started to gather the rubber tire remnants.
"I don t get it, Roy. What do you plan to do with that?"
"I ll build another fire in the clearing that Johnny found. When rubber burns it gives off a lot of white smoke. During the summer, the forestry service has spotters in fire towers in various locations in the forest. I just hope it s not too early in the season. I m not exactly sure when they start manning those towers. But if they are out, and if we can get enough smoke going to get it over the treetops so it can be seen, then they ll send someone to check it out."
Dixie had started nodding about halfway through Roy s explanation. She looked at him, thinking that as long as she had to crash, at least it was with people who knew what they were doing.
*****
Search planes were in the air and several helicopters were loading up and getting ready to take off. Stanley and his men were anxious to get started. They knew that if Johnny and Roy made it down safe, they would be able to survive if their injuries weren t too bad. But that was the kicker. If they had been badly injured, the quicker they were found, the better. At least they had a doctor and nurse on board, and some medical equipment—couldn t ask for more than that.
These men weren t about to go home without their friends. Gage and DeSoto were like family members. And Dixie and Dr Brackett were good people. The search party would do everything they could, take as long as the needed, to find these four and bring them home.
*****
Roy had been able to gather quite a bit a rubber at the clearing. He had even started to dig out another shallow hole, like Johnny had with the first fire ring.
He heard a shout, but couldn t understand what was being said. It sounded like it was coming from the crash site, so he rushed back up there. As he approached he noticed Dixie leaning over Dr. Brackett. It looked like she was doing chest compressions.
He doubled his pace to reach Brackett s side. Dixie was crying as she worked on Kel, alternating between chest compressions and mouth to mouth resuscitation. Roy began to set up the defibrillator.
"He was awake for a few minutes," Dixie cried, "Then he just slumped back. I checked him and he didn t have a pulse and he wasn t breathing!"
She stopped the CPR long enough to check for a pulse.
"Nothing, Roy!" Dixie resumed CPR.
Roy grabbed the paddles and handed them to Dixie, who placed them against Brackett s chest as Roy punched the button to set the voltage. When it reached the proper level, Dixie pressed the buttons and sent the shock that she hoped would revive her friend.
Brackett s body jerked with the charge, but his heart did not begin to beat.
"Again, Roy," she said tersely.
The procedure was repeated, this time with better results. Roy pulled out the BP cuff and stethoscope while Dixie checked the doctor s respiration. Assured that he was indeed back with them, they collectively let out a breath.
They sat back for a moment, watching Brackett to be sure he would continue breathing. Roy shut off the machine and took the paddles back from Dixie.
Roy stood up. "Dixie, I m going to get that signal fire started. We have got to get out of here…and soon." He glanced back down at Brackett, then took off for the clearing.
The fire was ready, it just needed to be lit. He dug the lighter from the pocket of his jeans and lit the paper to get the fire going. He hoped that those fire spotters were alert this morning. He stood there and watched as the fire grew, eventually catching the rubber and sending out a whitish gray colored smoke. He watched as the smoke lifted and began to spread. He only hoped it would stay thick enough to be seen over the trees.
Dixie was keeping a close eye on Kel Brackett. He seemed to be breathing regularly now and his pulse was staying steady. Neither of them wanted to admit how scared they had been. It had been a close call, and they knew it could happen again to any time. Kel needed a hospital. And he needed it soon.
They were pinning their hopes now on the signal fire.
*****
Stanley and his men were discouraged. It was almost noon and no one had seen hide nor hair of the missing plane or passengers. They had searched almost half of the designated area, but nothing had been found. No bodies.. no plane debris.. not a single thing to show that the plane had even been in the area.
But they would continue to search until they found their friends. Or until they ran out of places to search.
*****
Johnny found the rocky area that he had seen earlier and hoped it would be as easy to climb as it had seemed from a distance. He started up, being careful where he placed his feet and hands. He didn t want to startle a sleeping snake. Gage was the only one of the group who had full mobility, and full use of his arms and legs, and he intended to keep it that way…just in case they ended up having to walk out on their own.
It was slow going, and his head was pounding. He stopped about half way up when his vision began to blur slightly. He had brushed off Roy s remark about falling from a rock, but he knew it was a distinct possibility. So he was careful. After a minute he felt a little better. He blinked a couple of times, which seemed to clear his vision a bit, so he resumed the climb. He knew how badly they would need water and hoped to see any kind of lake or stream, even a puddle. They needed water, and any source would do.
He hoped he would be able to see something from the top of these rocks. The forest was pretty dense in this area, so seeing anything would be difficult, but he had to try.
Just a couple more feet to the top, and finally he was on a flat rock just wide enough for him to stand on comfortably.
He looked around below him, trying to see any indication of water or a road. But he couldn t spot anything close by. He did see some small lakes, but nothing closer than a few days walk, and he knew that wasn t close enough. He looked behind him, further up the slope, wandering if he should try to go higher. It was steep though, and he wasn t sure he was up to it.
After resting for a few minutes, he decided to try it. It might be their best chance and he would do whatever he could to help get them out of this mess and get the others to a hospital. Especially Doc Brackett. The man was a friend. Not to mention a damn good doctor. He had saved the lives of both Johnny and Roy on more than one occasion and Johnny wanted to return the favor. So he began to climb.
*****
Roy was sitting by the signal fire, hoping that the smoke was being seen by someone, somewhere. He heard a noise behind him, and turned to see Dixie hobbling down on her homemade crutch.
"Dixie," he asked, "Do you need something? Is the doc okay? You should have yelled, I would have come back up. You don t need to come all the way down here on a bad leg."
"No, I just came down to relieve you for a few minutes. Kel seems stable for now and I thought you might want a break from the smoke."
Roy smiled. He had been shifting his position to stay out of the smoke being blown around. He helped Dixie to sit next to him. Then he glanced at his watch…for the tenth time in the last 5 minutes.
Dixie looked at his concerned expression. "You worried about Johnny?" she asked.
"No, not really. I just wish he d get back. And I hope he s able to find some water. It s almost one o clock. The longer we re here, the more it looks like we may have to spend another night on this mountain, and we ll need the water."
"Yeah, I know."
"Dixie, is Johnny okay? I know he hit his head pretty hard. And he s been in a lot a pain, although he doesn t want us to know that."
"Well, he has a concussion, which can lead to other problems if he doesn t take it easy. But he does have a point. We need to get out of here, especially Kel. So I guess we ll all be pushing the limits until we re found."
"Yeah, I just don t want him to overdo it, y know? He ll try to do more than he should and might make his condition worse."
"Maybe, but trust him, Roy. If it gets too bad, he ll speak up. He won t put the rest of us in jeopardy, just to ease his pride. He knows better than that."
"You re right, I know," Roy agreed, nodding. "Johnny can be a goofball at times, but when things get serious, he s always right there. He s smart and he has a lot of common sense. And he knows this type of country far better than I do. I m glad he s with us."
"You know, Roy," began Dixie, "I never told you guys this, because I didn t want to show preference, but you and Johnny are my favorite paramedics. I remember telling Joe Early once that if anything ever happened to me, I hoped that you and Gage would be the ones to respond." She smiled. "And sure enough, here we are."
"Thanks, Dixie," answered Roy, "I m glad you told me that. I really enjoy working with Johnny. That s why I requested him as my partner after he got out of training. We hit it off right from the start, you know. It felt right. It felt like I always thought it would feel to have a brother. That s how I see him, like my little brother. Heck my kids even call him Uncle Johnny!"
Dixie understood. She felt that way about both Roy and Johnny.
"With some of the paramedics," she said, "They work together well, but it s not the same as what you and Johnny have. You two… you're a team. When you work together it s almost like one person. I remember watching you in the ER once. Remember when we had that big traffic collision and you guys happened to be in the hospital when the patients started coming in? You helped out with triage and that one patient went sour on you, but all the doctors were tied up. So you and Johnny just started working on the guy. I was right next to you working on my own patient, and I remembered thinking how well you worked together. You hardly said a word to each other but it was like each of you knew what the other was thinking. You knew exactly what Johnny was going to do, and he knew what you were going to do. It was an amazing thing to watch."
Roy nodded. "You re right. We have been working together so long, that it s automatic. I don t have to ask him to do something. If I think about, I ll usually turn around and see he s already on it. And vice versa. It s hard sometimes, though, when I have to work with someone else. When Johnny s on vacation, or on sick days, or something. I m spoiled having such a great partner."
"Johnny feels the same way, you know," Dixie said with a smile. "That time you were in the hospital with tonsillitis, he was going crazy having to work with Newman for a week. He wanted the doctors to let you go back to work early. He even promised to do all the talking on the radio, so that you could rest your voice."
Roy laughed, imaging his partner pleading with Dr. Brackett to let Roy go back to work early. Thinking of Dr. Brackett, he glanced at his watch again.
"One of us better go check the Doc," he told Dixie. "Are you sure you want to stay here and tend the fire?"
Dixie waved him away, "I ll be fine, go on. I ll yell if I have any trouble."
Roy turned and headed toward the plane. When he got back there, he checked Brackett s vital signs. The doctor moaned as DeSoto grabbed his wrist to check his pulse.
"Doc? Dr. Brackett, can you hear me?" asked Roy.
Brackett slowly opened his eyes, blinking several times in an effort to focus on Roy s face.
"Roy, is that you?"
"Yeah, Doc, how ya feeling?"
"Like a tree fell on me. What happened?"
"Do you remember anything, Doc?"
"We were in Reno, a demonstration or something."
"Yeah…anything else?"
Brackett started to shake his head, but winced at the pain it caused. He couldn t remember, but it was pretty obvious by looking around that they had crashed.
"Dixie, is she okay?"
"Yeah, Doc, she s fine. She has a broken ankle, but otherwise she s okay. She s down tending the signal fire."
"Signal fire?" Brackett croaked.
"Johnny s idea. We re burning the rubber from the tires of plane. It s sending up a lot of smoke and we re hoping it ll be seen, and someone will come out to investigate."
Brackett looked around, trying to see Gage.
"Gage is out looking for water, Doc. He s the only one of us healthy enough to do the climbing around," Roy explained, indicating his arm in it s splint.
Brackett nodded slightly, and seemed to relax a bit. At least I didn t get anybody killed, he was thinking. He couldn t remember exactly what happened, but he had been the pilot, and was relieved that no one had died.
*****
Gage grabbed hold of the branch and pulled himself over the top. He leaned back to catch his breath. It had been a hard climb and his head was pounding. He closed his eyes and rested for several long minutes, trying to slow his breathing and willing the pain to go away. As he relaxed, he glanced at his watch. He d been gone longer than he planned on, almost 2 hours. He knew Roy and Dixie would begin to worry soon, but if he could find some water, it would be worth the recriminations he knew he would hear.
As Johnny opened his eyes and began to look around, he realized he was on a stretch of dirt road. He wondered if this was a forest service road. If so, it might lead to a spotter s tower or a ranger s cabin. But should he follow the road, or go back first and let the others know what he d found?
He decided to check it out for just a short way and see if he could spot anything.
Johnny pushed himself off the ground and wearily started to following the narrow dirt track. It would barely be wide enough for one vehicle, but he supposed it wasn t used very often anyway. If it was even used anymore, he thought, as he trudged on.
******
"Air 21, do you copy?"
"Roger, HQ, Air 21 here."
"Air 21, got a report from Jake Hutchins. He can see some smoke 2 ridges over to the west from his place. Are you available to check it out?"
"HQ, roger, I can do that. But it s out of the search area."
"Copy that, 21, but command wants to check it anyway, just in case. He doesn t want to ignore the fact that the plane may have gone down somewhere outside the current search area."
"Roger, HQ, on the way."
The pilot turned to Hank Stanley in the seat next to him. "Did you get all that, Cap? It s not too far away, will take us less than 10 minutes to get there."
Stanley nodded. As much as he didn t want to abandon their part of the search, he was getting discouraged that they hadn t been able to find anything yet. Maybe the plane had gotten further then originally thought. At least this smoke siting was something positive to concentrate on.
Stanley looked into the back of the chopper, raised his voice, and told the others what was going on.
"Keep your eyes peeled for the smoke, boys. We re not sure how thick it will be and we don t want to miss it. Especially if it s John and Roy and the others."
Everyone acknowledged the Captain, and then turned their eyes back out the windows, searching for their friends.
*****
Roy was getting ready to set up another IV for Dr Brackett when he heard a strange noise. It was a rustling noise, but he couldn t quite tell where it was coming from. He rose to his feet and started walking around their small campsite.
He headed around to the other side of the plane, then froze.
Facing him, just a few yards away, was a mountain lion.
DeSoto didn t move, waiting to see what the big cat would do. When it looked like the feline was content to just stare at him, Roy started to move backward, slowly, so as not to spook the animal.
As he shuffled back around the plane, he glanced around quickly, looking for something he could use as a weapon. His heart was beating so fast and so loud, he was afraid the cat could hear it. He spotted a large branch and reached down to pick it up, being sure not to make any quick movements. The cat was treading after him and he didn t want to cause it to attack.
Roy was hoping the cat would leave, but it continued to follow him.
"Roy, what is it?" called Brackett.
"Shhhhh, Doc, quiet."
Brackett saw the cat then and the cat saw him. It snarled and lowered down on it s haunches, ready to pounce. It jumped quickly, straight at DeSoto!
"ROY, lookout!"
DeSoto hefted the branch in his left hand, hoping he had the strength to ward of the attacking animal. As the cat came toward him he ducked and swung, striking the cat on the side. It let out a cry of pain, but landed on it feet and hissed at Roy.
DeSoto yelled at the cat, hoping to scare it off,
"Go on, git! Get out of here! Go Away!"
But the mountain lion primed itself to attack again. Roy gripped the branch tighter, ready when it sprang again.
This time he was able to catch the big cat on the side of the head. It fell, dazed.
"Roy, Kel, do you hear it? It s a helicopter," yelled Dixie as she hobbled in the small area. She stopped short as she took in the scene before her.
"Don t move, Dixie, don t even breathe."
Just then a whooshing sound was hear overhead and small pieces of debris began to fly around in the turbulence that was kicked up as a helicopter began to hover over the site. But DeSoto and Brackett were oblivious to it. More pressing matters were at hand, waiting to see what the mountain lion would do next.
The cat got shakily to it s feet and darted into the trees, scared off by the chopper. Roy watched the spot where the animal had entered the forest, willing it to keep going. He was scared, afraid he might not be so lucky if it came back.
Dixie limped over to Roy, and touched his arm. She grabbed the branch and delicately removed it from his hand and tossed it on the ground at their feet. She could feel Roy shaking….or was she the one shaking. It didn t matter, now. The threat was gone, and help was here.
"Roy," she said quietly, "It s okay. It s gone. Roy? Are you okay? Did it hurt you?"
DeSoto shook his head, both to answer her question and bring himself back to reality.
"I m okay, Dixie, I m okay." Only then did Roy notice everything being blown around. "What the hell?!" He looked up, spotted the helicopter, finally.
"Dixie, look! A Helicopter! They found us!"
Dixie smiled at her friend. "Yeah, I know. That s what I came up here to tell you. But you were a little preoccupied when I got here. See what happens when you invite friends over and forget to clear it through me first."
Roy laughed as they hugged each other and waved at the machine above them, grateful that they had finally been found.
*****
"Chet, lower down the sack to them. We need to let them know what s going on and there s a radio in there."
"Marco s tying it off now, Cap…hey, Cap, I can see Roy and Dixie, and I think that s Dr. Brackett laying on the ground there, but I don t see Johnny."
"Anybody else spot Gage?" Stanley asked.
"No, but he could be inside the plane," replied Lopez.
"I don t see him either, Cap," added Stoker, "But the trees are so thick, I can t see much of anything."
"Cap, you don t suppose he s…." began Kelly, concern on his face.
"Let s not jump to conclusions, Chet," Stanley interrupted, "Just get the radio down there and we ll ask."
Kelly opened the chopper door, and Lopez released the bag, playing the rope out until the bag was grabbed by DeSoto.
Roy untied the rope and opened the bag. He grabbed the water bottle on top and handed it to Dixie, who took a long drink and then took it over to Brackett. Roy pulled the walkie-talkie radio out and turned it on.
"I don t know who you guys are, but we sure are glad to see you!"
"What s the matter, Roy," said Stanley, "Don t recognize your own crew? You haven t been gone that long."
DeSoto was in shock, "Captain Stanley?! What are you doing here? How did you get here?"
"Just relax, Roy, we ll get you all out. What s the situation? How badly are you injured?"
"We need to get Brackett out of here ASAP. He has a head injury, and possible internal injuries. Dixie has a broken ankle and I broke my arm."
Stanley paused, afraid to ask the next question.
"What about Gage? We can t see him down there with you. Roy, is Johnny…"
"He s alive, Cap, he s just not here. He took off a couple of hours ago, looking for water. Actually, I ve been getting a bit worried. I thought he d be back by now."
"Thank God. Okay, Roy. We spotted the clearing where the signal fire is. We re going to head over there and the boys will come down and help you people get ready to move. The pilot and I will go see if we can spot Gage. Any idea which direction he went?"
"He told me he spotted a rock outcrop he was going to try to climb, southwest of
here. He wanted to try to get up high so he could look for water or a road out. Cap, he has a concussion and he s been in some pain. If he got dizzy and fell…." Roy didn t continue, not wanting to think about the possibilities.
"Don t worry about that, Roy. The pilot has been on the radio with the command center. There are more rescue personnel on the way including some experienced trackers. They ll try to pick up his trail, and follow it. We ll find him, Roy. We ll find him." Stanley tried to sound reassuring. But he was worried too.
During this conversation, Kelly, Lopez and Stoker had all rappelled from the chopper and were making their way to the crash site. As they came upon the trio, everyone exchanged hugs and words of relief. The helicopter then veered off, to the southwest, in search of John Gage.
*****
Gage thought he heard a helicopter, but when he looked around he didn t see anything. He figured he was just hearing things. Probably lack of food and water, not to mention the headache that seemed to have become a permanent fixture, were combining to make him hallucinate. He wasn t about to let that stop him though. He blindly continued down the road. His friends needed help and he wasn t going to let them down.
As he rounded the corner, the road just ended. He stopped so fast, he almost fell over. He couldn t believe it…the road just stopped. Talk about a road to nowhere. He felt defeated. And tired. He walked over to a large fallen tree and debated his options.
What options? There aren t any options left. All he could do was return to the plane and announce his failure. His friends were depending on him and he had let them down. Their only hope now was the signal fire. Or a miracle.
Johnny went back to the rock outcrop and began the climb down. At least going down should be easier than going up. He half climbed down, half slid down the slope. As he got part of the way down, he lost his grip on the rock and started sliding out of control. He reached out desperately, searching for anything he could grab to slow his descent. But he continued to slide. A sudden pain in his knee told him he was in trouble. Suddenly he stopped sliding. He lay there for a moment, then tried to get up. At the first movement though, sharp pain shot up his leg.
Damn it! You fool! Now what? A lot of help you are. You had to play hero, and go look for water. And now you re hurt! You sure won t be any use to Roy and Dixie now. And what about Dr. Brackett? You were the only one who could have carried him out if it came to that. And now look at you. You re no good to anybody in this condition!
He laid his head down and looked at the sky. I ll just rest here a while, he thought, then try to crawl back to the crash site. Maybe I can find another branch like the ‘crutch I found for Dix. A number of other things came to mind as he drifted off. Just a little rest, that was what he needed. Maybe when he woke up his headache would be gone too.
*****
Dr. Brackett and Dixie had been loaded up into a helicopter and were on the way to a Sacramento hospital. They had to airlift them both out, but with all the help they now had on the ground, it hadn t taken very long at all. A second helicopter was now inbound to pick up DeSoto and the rest of the Station 51 crew that had come looking for him. It was starting to get dark now, and they wanted to all be off the mountain before the sun went down.
"Okay, Roy," called Chet, "You re next."
"Any sign of Johnny yet?" Roy asked, concern on his face.
"Not yet, but don t worry, Roy," assured Marco. "The Captain will find him."
Chet and Stoker helped Roy slip into the rig that would lift him into the helicopter, careful not to jar his arm. As Roy was lifted off the ground, Chet, Marco, and Mike watched their friend, hoping that Marco was right.
*****
As darkness settled in outside his Sacramento hospital room, Roy began pacing back and forth again. There was a fresh cast on his arm and the doctor had given him something for the pain. He had also been able to check on Dixie and Dr. Brackett.
Brackett had been in surgery for 2 hours. He had lost consciousness again on the ride to the hospital, and his breathing had gotten worse. The surgeons had found a punctured lung and been able to repair it. And they fixed a small blood vessel that had been damaged. Other than that, he had a hairline fracture of his left leg, and a severe concussion, but thankfully no skull fracture. He had however, also broken a couple of fingers on one hand. All in all, the doctors assured Roy and the others that Kel would be fine. He d probably have to stay at the Reno hospital for at least a few days, and then would be transferred to Rampart. Chet had called Rampart to let Dr Early know what was going on. Roy and Dixie would probably fly back to Los Angeles in a day or two.
And Dixie had the broken ankle, a couple of cracked ribs, and various cuts and bruises. She was just down the hall, finally able to get some rest. She hadn t been told that Johnny was still on the mountain. Roy hadn t wanted to worry her.
"Roy, you need to settle down. The doctors told you to get some sleep," said Chet Kelly. "Look, I know you re worried about Johnny, but there isn t anything you can do. If you don t get some sleep, you ll look like hell when Joanne gets here tomorrow."
Roy glanced at Chet. He knew Kelly was right, but it didn t keep him from worrying. Johnny would be spending another night on that mountain. And Roy didn t know what kind of condition he was it. He knew that if Johnny had been okay, he would have been able to signal the helicopter, somehow. He hadn t gone that far away from the crash site.
Damn, why couldn t they find him!
DeSoto heard the door open behind him, but he figured it was just another nurse, coming to take his blood pressure again. He continued to look out the window into the darkness.
Chet turned and a smile lit up his face, but he kept quiet, glancing over at Roy, then back at the visitor.
John Gage pushed his wheelchair all the way into the room, followed by Stanley, Lopez and Stoker. Gage had put a finger up to his mouth, urging Kelly not to speak out.
Johnny rolled over to where DeSoto stood by the window. Roy realized someone was behind him, but didn t turn around. He was staring at a reflection in the window. It had started to rain. And the combination of the lamp glaring off the glass and the rain outside, made it look like Johnny behind him. He shook his head to get rid of the image.
But it was still there when he opened them back up again. He spun around. John Gage was sitting in a wheelchair. Roy gasped.
"Johnny?"
"Not happy to see me, Roy?"
Roy reached out and grabbed Gage s shoulder with his good hand. His eyes began to water. Johnny laid his own hand on top of Roy s and squeezed. He frowned.
"I m sorry, Roy," he said, sadly. "I tried to get out. I found a road and started to follow it, but it stopped. It just stopped, Roy. I couldn t go any further."
"I m just glad you re okay, Johnny. I ve been kicking myself for letting you go by yourself," Roy confessed.
The others quietly left the room, letting the two friends have some time to themselves. Stanley wanted to call the station and let them know that they finally found Gage. They already knew that the others were okay, and he knew they were concerned about Johnny, too.
Roy sat down in a chair and looked Gage in the eyes.
"You scared the hell out of me," he told his friend. "When you didn t come back, I was going to start looking for you. But I didn t want to leave Dixie there alone with Brackett. And when the helicopter came---man, I have never been so glad to see anybody in my life. But then, when Chet told me they couldn t find you……" Roy couldn t continue, thinking about maybe losing this man who was as close to him as any brother could be..maybe even closer than brothers.
Johnny seemed to understand. He was just glad that everyone was okay.
"I was on my way back to the camp. When I couldn t go any further on that road, I felt so useless. Here all you guys were hurt and I couldn t find water, or help get us out.
Then, when I was climbing down the rock, I fell and twisted my knee. Damn, Roy, I felt so stupid laying there. All I kept thinking was ‘Roy told me to be careful and I couldn t even do that right . I ll tell you, partner, I really figured I had screwed everything up."
"Didn t you hear the helicopter?"
"I heard it, but couldn t see it. I figured it was just wishful thinking on my part. After I fell, I either dozed off or passed out…I m still not sure which. Anyway, I woke up when this blinding light hit me and I heard a loud flapping noise."
"The helicopter finally found you," Roy declared.
"Yeah, that s what it was," agreed Johnny. "But of course, coming out of a stupor like that, I thought sure I was dead and on my way to heaven. Or somewhere. But then, I thought, isn t dead supposed to be silent."
DeSoto was chuckling at that. "So you re not dead after all."
"Naw, not dead, but I sure am beat. I don t know about you, pal, but I NEVER want to do that again. I feel like I ve been through the wringer."
They talked then about Dixie and Dr. Brackett. Roy assured Gage that they would both be just fine. And DeSoto told the story about the mountain lion.
"I m impressed, Roy, fighting off that cat all by yourself!"
"I m not sure what I would have done if it had come back. I don t think I ve ever been that scared in my life. At least, not until they couldn t find you."
"Thanks, Roy," said Johnny. "It means a lot to me to hear you say that. I felt bad about not being able to do anything to help."
"Johnny, how do you think they found us?"
Gage looked at him, confused.
Roy just shook his head at his partner.
"They saw the signal fire, Gage. The fire that you thought of. You did help us, my friend. You helped me. You helped Dixie. You tried to go for water. Okay, maybe you didn t find any, but at least you tried. In my book, that s all that matters. I trusted you with my life and you didn t let me down. I ve been going crazy sitting here waiting for word about what happened to you."
"The feeling is mutual, Roy. That s why I felt so bad. You have helped me out so much in the years we ve been working together. You ve saved my life a dozen times or more. You re family, Roy. You're MY family. I don t want to lose my family."
The partners just looked at each other then, knowing how close they had come to losing each other. How close they had come to dying.
Each also knew that neither would ever find a better friend. Or a better brother.
************************************
Author s note: I hope you all enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. And Tangee—thanks for your helping in getting me past that writer s block wall. I appreciate the help.