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Chet Kelly shouted when his curly hair caught on fire. A nearby lifeguard tackled him under the water and snuffed it out. Another lifeguard had grabbed a special navy blue meshed bag full of tiny yellow cylinders before all of them were forced to abandon the six beach trucks as the oil slick fire slithered onto both sand and water, growing dangerously larger by the second. Suddenly, a new burning outpouring gush from the pipe cascaded down into the water and a burning sea of flames surged towards all the lifeguards and firemen desperately splashing water over themselves by the shallow end of the jetty. It encircled them, rushing towards their faces. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the jetty, Carly Davison and Chris DeSoto were terrified out of their minds. Between them and the safety of land, the entire sea was catching on fire. "Mom! Swim away! Swim away! It's too dangerous!" shouted Carly. Already, in her head, that odd buzzing aura that always made her mouth go dry and sour, was rising. "Chris.. I think I'm gonna black out! Help me!" Chris DeSoto leaped into action, tearing his eyes away from the last place he saw Hobie Buchannon go down. "Carly?!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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******************************************************************* From: Constantinos Bouras <kb9ora@yahoo.com> Date: Thu Feb 17, 2005 11:49 pm Subject: The Drama Continues Meanwhile, back at Baywatch HQ, Sid, continued to send additional units to the scene unfolding, and picked up the phone and pushed the speed dial button for L.A. County F.D. Dispatch as the force of the explosion rocked the building and knocked him out of his chair. "What the- ??????" He yelled as he got up and looked out the window, seeing the growing plume of smoke. At that moment, the radio traffic went into overdrive as all the units in the area reported they were rolling. He pushed the speed dial button on the phone a second time. ##L.A. County F.D. State your emergency.## |
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The call taker responded. "This is Baywatch HQ, we have a explosion and fire at the 5th Street storm drain, in Malibu. Stand by... Ok, we have petroleum products involved, that's spread to the ocean. We also have some kids on the jetty there. Give me everything you can!!!!!! We also have reports of lifeguards and the county firefighters that are with us involved!!!!!!!!!" ##Copy, help is rolling.## came the reply as he got the appropriate box number from the sheet and passed the info to the dispatcher at the console. "Better get boat 110 and whatever L.A. City boats they can send." he said. "Right." was the reply. ##Station 69, Station 65, Station 70, Station 71, Station 88 Station 99, Squad 67, Squad 51, Copter 11, Boat 110, Boat 310, Battalion 5...Respond to the 5th street storm drain in Malibu for an explosion and fire with people trapped. L.A. County lifeguards are on scene. Time out : 1230.## |
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##Battalion 5, L.A.## "Battalion 5." ##Be advised, L.A. City F.D. is sending Boats 2, 3, 5 and 4 to assist. You also have 4 ambulances responding.## "Battalion 5, 10-4. Start move ups and start the Coast Guard in also with their chopper to assist." ##10-4, Battalion 5.## Meanwhile, back at the jetty.. Craig turned on the canisters of emergency air and passed them around to the firefighters of engine 51 and the lifeguard escorts, and included a mask. "Ok guys, this should give us some clean air to breathe, while waiting for the backup to arrive. Should last 15 minutes, and there are more in the bag. Just time your breathing right and you can make it last longer, just like your SCBA tanks that you wear." Just as they were preparing to dive under, they heard a scream from the end of the jetty from Chris DeSoto, who had spotted them, "HELP!!!!!!! HELP!!!!!!! HELP US PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!" "Look!!! Down there at the end.." Marco yelled. "Isn't that Chris DeSoto???" |
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*************************************************************** From: "Patti or Jeff or Cassidy" <theaterhost@voyagerliveaction.com> Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2005 12:21:54 -0800 (PST) Subject: Inch by inch.. Second by second.. As they rushed over the sand, Vince and Garner and Trevor could see the lights of Eddie's truck as he sped through the wave splash to join them. Mitch made for the beach, stripping off his tan uniform as he ran. Now, they could all see that Cory was on the back of a dolphin and that she was screaming for them, "Hurry!! I can't find Hobie! He was right under me..!" Buchannon backstepped to a halt before the flaring flames, not seeing anything but the sea ...on fire.. and Cory. He made his choice and peeled shoes and pants down to his red trunks. "Hobie?!" He unraveled the line on his rescue can and slipped into its band. He hit the breakers, swimming in powerful strokes towards her. Mitch's plunge into the water, upset the dolphin. Koko went wild with fear when fire splashed near her eyes and Cory tumbled off, "Kok-- Come h--" A wave slapped her in the face. She started to drown. On the beach, leaping off the police bike, Trevor saw her fail, too. He, too, shed shoes and shirt. He knew that Mitch needed help now, for Hobie was nowhere in sight. He dove in. |
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Garner and Vince snatched up fire extinguishers and fought for clear paths over the smoking sand to the ocean. They saw that the beach was empty of bodies. "Where are they? *cough*" Vince choked over the smoky fumes. "I thought Mitch said all the fire boys would be down here somewhere.." "They are.. Look!" said Garner, pointing to the water. "But I don't know how much longer they're gonna last. The fire's closing in on them! Hey! Duck under! Now! The fire's coming fast!" he warned them. Roy Desoto, coughing hard on fumes, shouted towards shore. "Vince! Get to Chris! He's holding Carly up. Something's wrong with her!" "Got it! Now save yourselves!" shouted Howard through the smoke. He leaped and jumped over burning sand to get to the jetty and he started running towards the two kneeling dots of white that were the children on the far end, dancing quickly over the rocks as fast as he dared. "L.A. and Baywatch has the whole calvary coming!" he said, listening tightly to his radio pressed to his ear. Johnny Gage let out a shout and forced his own and his partner's heads down into the next wave before Roy had a chance to refill his lungs again. A hissing caressing bubbling sheet of orange skinned over the surface of the water they had just left. Fire was now burning directly above them on a thick oil pool. Roy DeSoto kicked out of Johnny's arms, trying to head out to sea to outswim the spreading fire, but Johnny grabbed his ankles, holding him in place. He pointed into the murkiness to their right. Another baywatch lifeguard, wearing a mask of glass, swam over to them and thrust the mouthpieces of two yellow emergency spare air cylinders into their mouths, and hovered there, waiting for them to signal that they were all right and breathing ok. Roy thought that air had never tasted so good. He felt an underwater Cap, Chet, Marco and Mike join them, with linked arms, similarly sucking on the tiny spare air tanks that the lifeguards had handed out, and one by one, they all gave the guards the ok signal. Then they began the long submerged swim up current to reach the part of the sea that was away from the fuel fire to get plucked out by the rescue boat. Two guards stayed with the firemen while four others kicked back towards the jetty to help Mitch and Trevor Cole locate Hobie Buchannon's drowning form. |
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--------------------------------------------------------------- Mitch kept his eye on the woman. She was having a lot of trouble staying afloat. He was torn between diving to search for Hobie, and helping her. He chose to go for Cory. "Here! Hang onto the buoy!" he commanded her. "Can't! Paralyzed..Too tired.." She slipped under. Mitch took a breath and went down after her, dodging clumps of burning oil. He grabbed her waist and pushed her to the surface. She sputtered, sucking in huge lungfuls of air, choking on the acrid smoke around them. "Easy, I got you." he encouraged. "*choke* Carly! How's Carly?. She seizes whenever she gets too excited...." Mitch shot a look over to the jetty. "She's still on the rocks. A policeman's there with her, she's still ok." Mitch said as he brought his float in front of them. The swirling water was deafening. He agonized over leaving her, "Cory! Listen! You've got to try and hang onto this. I've got to go after my son..!" He tried to release her but she had no strength left. Mitch couldn't leave her. He spun them both around to drive away the fire, searching desperately for any sign of clothing. "Hobie!" "Wait!" Cory shouted, growing more clear headed with her renewed ability to breathe while in his arms. "Koko can find him." She blew her whistle and the small dolphin surfaced next to them. Cory commanded her. "Koko. Seek! Retrieve the toy!" Mitch was beside himself, "What are you doing?" "Just trust me! Koko, now!" she sobbed. She made a sweeping gesture and the dolphin suddenly dove under the burning waves. Trevor Cole got to them both, seconds later. His hair was singed but he was still very very full of adrenalin. Cole saw that Cory was in pretty fair shape, managing to keep her head above the water despite of her paralysis. "Take her!" Mitch said. He took off the lifeline float and gave it to Cole to use for Cory. "Look for the dolphin!!" "What?" "Just do it!" Mitch twisted in a circle in agony, still searching for Hobie. "I'm so sorry. I did it again.. I'm....s-sorry.." cried Cory. "Shhh.. Just relax. Let me do all the work. Concentrate on breathing lightly. This smoke can still knock us both out." Trevor hissed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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**************************************************** From: Jeff Seltun <finiterider@yahoo.com> Date: Tue Feb 22, 2005 4:03 pm Subject: Beached! Ten feet away, the dolphin broke the surface of the sea, bearing Hobie in her mouth by his shirt. Trevor spotted them, "Mitch! Over there!" Mitch got to his son and turned him face up. The boy was limp and unconscious. He tried to see if Hobie was breathing, but a wave full of fire suddenly swept over them and he was forced to cover up Hobie's nose and mouth with a hand to keep them submerged until the danger passed. Mitch held his breath, hearing his own heartbeat thud rapidly, waiting for the deadly swell to pass by. It pushed them nearly to the sharp rocks. He and Hobie burst into the air a few seconds later. Rocks loomed at them horrifically. Without thinking, Mitch grabbed onto Koko's close offered dorsal fin and the animal tail kicked them away into some calmer, fire free water. There was more time between the waves. Mitch tipped Hobie's head back over the dolphin's flank and listened. Hobie wasn't breathing. After the next wave, Mitch gave him a breath. "Oh, G*d. Breathe!" He couldn't tell if Hobie had a heartbeat. Mitch began to swim to shore, looking behind him for incoming swells or other lifeguards. He found his rhythm, giving Hobie two breaths in between each wave's duck and cover move. |
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He got him ashore just down beach of the oil fire. Garner helped bear him out of the water, "Is he breathing?" "No.." They stretched Hobie out onto the stained hard pack. Garner felt Hobie's neck after the next breath. "He's still got a pulse." Mitch nodded, continuing his efforts. "Come on, Hobie! Breathe!" The boy remained still. Eddie and Shauni arrived and the siren ceased. They skidded to a halt a few feet away from Hobie. They leaped out of the truck, grabbing equipment they would need. Johnny Gage dropped to his knees with an ambu bag and oxygen. He tapped Mitch on the shoulder. "Ok, Mitch, I've got him.' Mitch was in unreality. Hobie was going to die if he stopped and all he knew was that someone was now trying to pull him away. He fought back, grabbing at his son's head again. "Mitch!" Eddie cried out, "Let us use the O2 on him! He needs it!" |
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Garner dragged his friend away forcefully, using an arm lock to control him, "Listen to Eddie and Johnny. They're going to help Hobie.." Mitch shook violently and came back to himself. "All right.. I'm all right.. Let me go..." Garner released him. Eddie and Johnny Gage worked desperately. Shauni took the boy's hand into her own. "Hobie? Can you hear us? Hobie. Come on, honey. Take a breath. You're out of the water.." They all looked at his fingers. They were motionless; only the ambu bag hissed as Johnny Gage delivered breaths. |
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Then Hobie squeezed her hand. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Trevor had Cory near the beach. He picked her up and carried her to the sand by Eddie and Shauni's rescue truck. She was coughing violently. "You're going to be ok. Both of us are. Concentrate on breathing slowly." He laid her down just before he had to lay down himself. He felt Roy DeSoto offer him oxygen even as Captain Stanley gave some to Cory as she blacked out. |
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Mike Stoker and Chet Kelly helped Vince carry a limp Carly Davison in all their arms, in a line, and then into the clipper boat tethered to the smoking rocks. Koko leaped over and over again in concern for the humans and for her missing trainer until the boat finally ground itself ashore near where the others were working on Hobie, Cory and Trevor. Then Koko just lay quietly on the hardpack, squeeing softly on her belly as she watched everything going on. "She's ok, Roy." said Vince to DeSoto about Carly, the little girl. "Just a faint from smoke. No signs of convulsions at all. We gave her some 02 on board the launch." "Set her down over here. I'll take her vitals as soon as I've taken Cory's. Chris.. nice job keeping Carly from falling into the water. I saw the whole thing. You make a pretty good junior lifeguard, you know that?" |
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"Thanks, dad. What happened to you? You're all wet.." "It's a long story. I'll tell you about it on the way back to Baywatch. Can you start getting blankets for anyone who's lying down? I'm sure Garner and Vince'll help you before they have to fill out their reports." Roy suggested to his son. "Ok. I'll get things started." smiled Chris. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gage and Buchannon bustled Hobie onto a backboard after immobilizing his neck with sandbags. Things looked good. Hobie was breathing on his own, taking oxygen well. And he could move all of his limbs. Hobie was loaded onto Eddie's beachtruck for the short trip to Headquarters to await an ambulance while Gage and the others tended to his I.V. starting and crash recovery medication delivery. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You have some hard explaining to do, young lady.." Garner gruffed. Cory looked up from the sanctuary of her blanket, "Yeah, I guess I do." She was lying propped up on an ambulance stretcher. Cory felt better. Her head was clear again. Her daughter, Carly, was sleeping lightly under a lifeguard's careful scrutiny on the passenger bench in a stokes stretcher. Trevor appeared from around the rig's door. "You?!" Cory gasped. "You're the one I saw on that beach that day?.. I didn't mean to get you in trouble. It was just....I was so happy to be swimming again." She looked away, uncomfortable. "With the dolphin?" Roy asked, puzzled, he had already discovered Cory's partially paralyzed state in the few minutes it had taken her to decide to wake up again. "And a scuba tank. I used to work at the Institute before...." Cory looked down at her legs in shame. Trevor bit his lip from where he was getting some minor burns attended to on his forehead. "Look, it was my fault for getting caught in that rip current. Not yours." "But I distracted you.." "It's not your fault!" He said angrily. He pushed away Roy's hands and walked away to deal with the crowd gathering to watch the firemen from 51's fighting the fire with foam alongside the lifeguards they were already familiar with. Garner fixed her with a stare. "It's about time you were straight with us. What really happened out there? Why did you do all this?" Cory sighed, caressing her sleeping daughter's damp hair. "After I heard on the radio that Koko had been freed, I went to look for her, with this..." She showed him and Vince Howard the silver chrome recall whistle and chain she clutched tightly in her hands. Silence stretched for several seconds. Cory shifted, restlessly, and pulled off her oxygen mask. "Officers, you can't know how much I've missed being in the ocean. I had to know that feeling again. Do you understand? With Koko, I was free.." Vince was a study in seriousness. "Talk about Trevor." "I was feeling good that day. I had found the crate at my doorstep. I couldn't believe what I saw inside. Such beautiful things. And the statue of Koko. I wore the comb and necklace to celebrate my first swim since the orca whale accident. I don't get the attentions of many men anymore. That's why I teased Trevor. I thought he was cute." she looked away embarrassed. |
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"Go on." Garner said. Cory looked up at the brightening sky, "But then he got caught in the current and was swept away. I thought, My G*d, I can't let this man drown. He was almost unconscious when I managed to get a hold of him. I gave him air through my regulator, but he passed out. He looked so beautiful in the water, like an angel. Before I knew what I was doing, I put my necklace around his neck and I kissed him. Then I saw the lifeguards coming and I pushed him into their arms." "Why didn't you stay with them?" Ellerbee asked her. Johnny Gage shoved past Garner. "Excuse me, Sergeant Ellerbee, We've got to go. The boy's already left for the hospital." Garner relented and so did Vince and they both stepped back as Roy got out and closed the ambulance doors. They saw a last glimpse of glistening green eyes as Cory began to cry for a great many things that would be no more. "What will happen to her?" Shauni wanted to know. Vince and Garner had forgotten that she was still there. Garner smiled at her. "Oh, I have a sneaking suspicion that the courts will go easy on her." Vince nodded his head, agreeing with his colleague. "After all, she did help save two lives." Shauni nodded and together, Roy, the two officers and Johnny Gage watched the manned Malibu paramedic ambulance disappear into the distance up the tarmack. The firemen and lifeguards didn't know what sounded more mournful, Koko's crying distress whistles at being separated once again from Cory Davison, or the wind blowing through the dying waves. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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