Ever Hayes - Emergency Exit

And then we lost that option too. The boats started moving towards us. Eddie snapped his fingers and waved Danny over. Danny went back to him. A minute later he was back. “Dad,” Danny said. “Eddie, Lazzo, and I are going to climb the ravine and see what we can see. When those boats get close enough to where you know they won’t miss us, bring everyone up the ravine. That should be six to eight minutes.”

I checked my watch quickly. 10:08 .

“Let everyone know they’re going to have to run,” he continued. “Leave everything behind except the backpacks.” Danny looked at Blake then. “You’re going to have to cover the back end. Send Sam up first. Isaac needs to carry Abbey. Dad can carry Emily. Blake, you do not let anyone get shot.” Blake nodded, and Danny was off.

Danny, Eddie, and Lazzo scrambled up the steep ravine. As they reached the top, they dropped to the ground and peered through their rifle scopes. The helicopter sat about three hundred yards ahead of them. There was a tent set up about a hundred yards beyond it, and there were anywhere from ten to twenty men moving around, but Eddie didn’t see any of the officers. Instead, he was focused on a dog and the man holding his leash. General Roja was here.

The general had posted lookouts along the Colorado River leading to Page. Somehow the Americans had managed to get past almost two dozen of them undetected, but one of his men above the canyon walls near Labyrinth Bay had spotted two rafts pass beneath him. He had called it in, and the general had flown over immediately. He had the backpack of his officer in the back of the helicopter and was counting on it being detected when he landed. But he thought the Americans would be smarter than this. He thought they’d try to cross to the other side and hide on the island across from them. No matter. He was happy to take them however he got them. And if Eddie was indeed with them, he couldn’t wait to see the look on his face. Yes, he wanted to be right here when they caught them. This was the end of their run.

From the top of the bluff he watched as the heavily armed lighted boats closed in on where the rafts had last been spotted. He didn’t know what to expect. But he definitely wasn’t expecting the Americans to come to him.

As Danny, Eddie, and Lazzo came out of the ravine and up onto the plateau they garnered the attention of the general’s dog. He started barking as Danny and Lazzo started firing. The man holding the radio was the first one Danny took down. The guy who reached for it was next. Lazzo took out three men by the general. The general released his dog, and Eddie shot the dog before it had taken five steps. As the general pulled out his own gun, Eddie shot him in the arm. Danny took out three more soldiers running at them with guns blazing. The helicopter propellers started spinning, but Danny reached the helicopter door, threw it open, and put a gun to the pilot’s head. The pilot shut the chopper down and Danny led him, alive, to the general. The helicopter, now in their possession, gave them a great escape option, but only with a living pilot. Another man suddenly bolted from behind the tent, and Lazzo put him down immediately.

Eddie, meanwhile, had gone directly up to the general and put a gun to his head. As the rest of us scrambled out of the ravine, Danny directed us to the helicopter. He ordered Blake and Sam to stand guard while he gathered Eddie and Lazzo. Danny ran towards Eddie and the general. “Eddie, wait. Don’t,” Danny yelled.

“Listen to your American friend, you cowardly traitor,” the general sneered.

“Why the hell should I?” Eddie demanded.

“Let me show you why,” General Roja replied.

“You have two minutes!” Eddie yelled. “Talk.”

“I only need one,” the general replied. “But I need radio.” Gun pressed to the general’s head, Eddie shoved him towards the tent with the radio. The general picked up the radio and looked to Eddie to make sure he could talk. Eddie rolled his gun as if to suggest he hurry up. “Turn on the lights,” the general ordered.

Below them on the river a boat suddenly lit up. It was several hundred yards away, but it wasn’t hard to tell the boat contained several soldiers and a prisoner. Then the general turned back to Eddie. “Because I have your wife.”

The stunning admission left Eddie speechless and reeling. He stared at the general. Then, suddenly, Eddie picked the general up off the ground by the throat. As the general struggled against Eddie’s anger-driven strength, Lazzo finally spoke up. “You lie.”

The general gasped out, “No.” He pointed at the boat as it approached.

“Eddie,” Danny urged. “We have to go.”

Eddie dropped the general and he yelled into the radio, “Put her on.”

A static voice replied confirming the general’s words. It was Eddie’s wife. Eddie stood there unmoving as tears formed in his eyes. Lazzo spoke to him. “Eddie. They’re stalling. Look at the soldiers. They’re coming.”

Eddie glared at the general. “What do you want?”

“You let me go. I let her go,” the general wheezed.

“No way, Eddie. He’s lying,” Danny reasoned. “You know it.”

Eddie nodded. “And my family?”

“They’re all alive,” the general said with a smile, convinced he was getting through to the giant man.

“And if I go?” he asked.

“They all die,” the general replied.

“If I stay?” Eddie eyed the general. The general shrugged.

Soldiers were taking the boats to the shore. Soon they’d be scrambling up the hill. They’d be here in a matter of minutes.

“Eddie,” Danny urged. “Come on. They’re going to kill you no matter what.”

Eddie turned and looked at Danny. “I know. But I can’t leave her. You go.”

“One problem with that,” the general said.

“What?” Eddie replied.

In an instant, the general raised his arm and fired a bullet from a small handgun in his sleeve through the head of the helicopter pilot standing next to us.

“No!” Danny screamed, as the pilot slumped to the ground—dead.

Eddie grabbed the general again. He looked at the soldiers climbing out of the boats below, hurrying towards them. “Lazzo,” Eddie shouted. “Get everyone in the helicopter. I’ll be right there.”

Danny could tell Lazzo didn’t believe his brother, but as Danny pulled on his arm Lazzo turned with him and ran. I watched Eddie and the general’s heated conversation from a distance. The general appeared to hand something to Eddie and Eddie looked down at it for a minute. Then Eddie looked back up, shoved the general and took a swing at him, knocking him down. The general didn’t get back up—didn’t move at all—and Eddie turned towards us. Eddie ran around to the pilot’s window and leaned in towards his brother. I couldn’t make out what they were saying but clearly Lazzo didn’t like it. I heard him say “no” twice. Eddie handed something to Lazzo and then stepped away from the helicopter, lobbing a grenade towards the radio tent. It erupted into flames seconds later and Eddie began walking towards the troops coming up the hill.

Danny grabbed Eddie’s arm as he started to walk away. Eddie held out his hand. “I’m sorry,” he yelled above the din of the motoring blades.

“Me too, my friend,” Danny replied. “Good luck.” Eddie spun back towards the troops and Danny jumped into the helicopter. “Let’s go,” he shouted at Lazzo.

Lazzo’s extensive flight training took over. He flipped the switches and lifted the Blackhawk off the ground, motoring it towards Page. There were lights approaching through the air. More helicopters. Lazzo flew directly at them while taking one last glance at Eddie below. It seemed wrong to leave him like that, but Eddie’s wife was down there. Eddie couldn’t just walk away from her either. The last I saw of him he was on his knees in the middle of a circle of armed soldiers. As soon as the general was revived Eddie would likely be dead. His wife as well. I could only imagine what he must be feeling. Lazzo too, for that matter.