Ever Hayes - Emergency Exit

“Have you been over there yet?” I asked.

“No, sir,” he replied. “Nothing came up on our screens.”

“Let’s go,” I cut in. “Can we please at least check?”

“We don’t have security clearance,” the captain replied. “We’re well beyond our safety zone out here.”

As I started to object, Blake grabbed my arm. “Are you Coast Guard?” Blake asked the captain.

“Yes, sir,” he replied.

“Well you’ve got a US Marine out there,” Blake continued, pointing towards where the plane had gone down. “And he’d never leave you if the roles were reversed.”

That’s all it took. The captain turned and gave the order to his man on the radio to have the other Cutter follow us. We raced off in the direction of the flight’s path towards the islands. We saw nothing until we were almost right on top of them. Then one of the captain’s men yelled, “Man in the water!”

One man? I scrambled to see who it was, as a voice shouted out again. “Correction…two men in the water!”

We hurried to the side of the boat, and as we approached we could see Danny treading water, holding Lazzo around the neck. The crew tossed out a line to Danny, who grabbed ahold of it. He pulled Lazzo over to the boat, and the crew helped the two of them up. It appeared as if Lazzo was either dead or unconscious, but fortunately he was neither. He merely didn’t know how to swim, and Danny had been forced to give him a quick lesson on the back-float. As soon as he was able to grab the boat ladder, he pulled himself out of the water. He was fine. But as soon as they helped him up on the deck, and he said, “Thank you,” there was a commotion. The captain started shouting orders, and several men came running towards us with guns.

We stepped out of their way, but Danny lunged up and shoved Lazzo towards the back corner of the boat. He put himself directly between the African and the guns. “Move out of the way, sir!” The captain shouted. “I’m not going to tell you again!”

“Like hell,” Danny said. This was Todd and Copper from Fox and the Hound all over again.

“Sir, he can’t come to the island,” the captain replied. “We can’t even let him live.”

“Then you’re going to have to kill me, too,” Danny replied with an icy glare.

“Danny,” Lazzo whispered.

“Shut up!” Danny ordered.

“Danny. They’re right,” Lazzo said.

“No. They’re not,” Danny replied. “We don’t just kill people. You have to have a reason. This man has done nothing but help us. He lives, or we both die.”

It was a stare down that didn’t look like it was going to end well, until Reagan stepped in. “Captain. May I have a word?” she said quietly.

“Ma’am. Step back, please,” the captain ordered her.

“Sir. I’m Reagan Moore. The acting President of the United States was my father.” The captain was listening but not backing off from his impasse with Danny. “The man you’re pointing a gun at,” she continued. “He’s the man who saved me and my sister and went to talk to Daddy before he died.”

We watched as the captain’s stance began to soften. “That man,” she went on, “was not only shot by the man he’s protecting now, but he is the man who gave the President of the United States, under imminent threat to his own life, the pill he used to end his own life, so no one could ever get into Hawaii from the outside.” She paused to collect herself, but only for a second. “The man you are about to shoot is the reason you are still alive. He kept the enemy from bringing down the shield. He’s the reason every person in Hawaii is still alive. So… maybe… you might want to reconsider your position.”

The clarity and accuracy of her words hit us pretty hard. The captain was looking at Reagan now, and then he finally glanced at Danny. “That true?”

“It is,” Blake replied, stepping up beside Danny, also in front of Lazzo. I joined him a second later, and gradually the rest of the group moved in front of him, too.

“Stand down,” the captain ordered his men. He handed his weapon to one of his crewmen and approached Danny, hand out. Danny shook it. “Sorry, sir,” the captain said humbly. “It is an honor to have you on board, sir.”

Danny looked him in the eye. “Do I have your word you won’t harm this man?”

“He will have to be interrogated on land. There’s nothing I can do about that. But…” The captain paused, extending his hand past Danny to Lazzo. “While I can’t let you in to Hawaii as an African, if you’re interested in becoming an American, I can make that happen right now.”

Lazzo was clearly shocked, both by Danny’s defense of his life and by what he’d just heard. He couldn’t help but think of his brother, and of all Eddie had ever wanted. He accepted the offer with tears in his eyes. “Thank you. Yes.” He was sworn in on the Bible and then turned to Danny. Danny hugged him. Lazzo whispered in his ear, “For Eddie…thank you.”

“You got it, man,” Danny whispered back. “You’re welcome.”

The jets and other Cutter served as our sentries for the remaining miles to Hawaii. We never honestly thought we could make it—not against those odds, not given the incredible lengths we had to go to survive each day. We’d made new friends, but lost loved ones. As I stood on the back of the boat and looked back in the general direction of the former United States, I couldn’t help but shake my head. As emotions coursed through me I whispered, “I’m gonna miss you, Mom. We almost got you here. We’ll take care of Dad. I promise. Give our best to Cameron, Nathan, and Wes, will you? I hope you’re all up there with God right now, looking down at us and happy. We made it. But we couldn’t have made it without any of you!”

Tara walked up beside me and put her arm around my waist. “Talking to yourself again?” she asked, with a slight nudge to my ribs. I glanced over at her and put my arm around her shoulders. “Hey… you okay?” she asked, having noticed my tears.

I nodded. “Just talking to God… to Mom… to whomever.” She leaned her head against mine. I closed my eyes and breathed in her scent. They must have a shower on the boat somewhere. She smelled amazingly clean.

“Wow,” I said.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing. Just wow!” The word meant so many different things to me right now.

She was quiet for a couple minutes, and then finally she spoke. “We made it, Ryan,” she said with a beautiful sigh and ensuing smile. “I can’t believe we made it.”

“I know, babe,” I replied, smiling back. I looked her up and down. Plain white T-shirt and tight denim. Bare feet. A perfect ten. My perfect ten.

I looked back out to sea and let my heart drift off for a minute to the love of my life. Sophie, wherever you are, I miss you so, so much… and I will always love you. I wish I had you here with me more than anything… and I know you know that… but I hope, since I can’t have you, you’re okay with this too.

“Tara,” I whispered, choking up a little.

“Yes?” she glanced up at me.

I squared up with her to better look her in the eyes. “I love you.”

“I know, Ryan,” she said back. “I love you, too.”

Danny…

There’s something to be said about standing on a beautiful sandy beach, waves breaking in the distance, as you watch a beautiful girl walk across a makeshift aisle of flower petals towards you. There’s music in the background, but you don’t really hear it. There are friends and family beside you, more friends and family standing up in front of you, all turning their heads to watch her too. She’s everything you need. She’s everything you want. When you lost what you loved most, she was with you. When you needed someone to just be there, she always was. You’re marrying the only girl you’ve ever loved… and repeating the words the preacher says before you… “I, Danny, take thee, Kate…”