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A white Mercedes work van speeds along a two lane mountain road past a green road sign: Talker 5. Talker, Nevada population 192, sits almost as far from the glowing lights of Las Vegas as possible.
The only road in crosses through the aptly named Black Rock Desert over a high ridge.
The van races up the winding road, past the idling Sheriff's patrol car. The Sheriff looks up from his paper at the Stalker Lidar Gun mounted on his dash. He is a man in his 50s, muscle gone slightly soft but still fit, gold rim aviator sunglasses, salt and pepper tidy mustache and a neat rim of hair under his brown Tecovas Ranchman hat.
Eyebrows shoot up in surprise before pinching together in consternation. He pulls the car into gear and grabs his radio.
"Hart, this is Goodpaster. I'm in pursuit of a white panel van out here on 141 headed into town. Mile marker 171."
With the same hand, still holding the radio, he switches on his lights and siren and his engine roars as though the car is excited to have something to do.
Ahead, the van swings around the bends in the road, emerging onto a stretch where a cliff stretches up on the left and drops precipitously to the right, only a guardrail separating the road from thin air. The van approaches another vehicle, coming up behind it quickly, switching lanes across the double yellow line, but not quickly enough. The van clips the driver's side rear bumper of the vehicle.
"Uh, no no, that wasn't it. It was the chairs they got. You know the little handles that let the chair go up or down? Yeah, those. They said those things were on the wrong side. I don't know, that's just what they said! Yo! No, look, I didn't promise them nothing!"
Ernie Prince, Operations Sales Technician for Southern Nevada Office Transport, LLC, drove his car along the windy mountain road, his attention more on the earbuds hooked into his phone than the drive itself. The metallic blue Honda Civic was one of only three possessions Ernie kept that belonged to his late brother. The small car zipped along the curvy road, it's tight swerves mirroring the frustration its driver felt.
F@~+ you, Derek. F+&~ this f#*&ing job and your stupid f@*%ing face!
Ernie repeated this phrase in his head whenever he had to talk with Derek Aames, who was not really his boss, but he was the salesman Ernie "supported," so it was essentially the same thing.
"Yeah, no, okay. I got it. Wait, go back?! That's over an hour away! They'll be closed by the time I get there!"
F@%# you, Derek. F*&+ this f!@@ing job and your stupid--"Yo, what the..."
Ernie hit the breaks as he sees a speeding van coming in the other direction bump another car right alongside a steep mountain cliff.
On the cliff's edge speeds along the most obvious and identifiable vehicle this town has ever seen, a BMW i8 Roadster in holographic pink. Every day it makes the drive to and from the film set, a veritable beacon, blindingly reflecting the desert sun in all directions.
Inside sits Just Angelyna, No Last Name, action heroine and former heiress to the Noland hotel fortune, as well as her "adventure cat" Chichi. (Chichi is a relatively well behaved animal content to just lie around and lick itself whose mother has forced it to wear harnesses and go on walkabouts everyday. It tolerates this.)
5'8" with stark raven hair, sharp temples and a cool complexion, wearing massive shades and holding a cell phone pressed to her cheek, Angelyna chatters away as she drives, tapping acrylic nails against the phone case and the wheel in rhythm with blaring music. "Yah, we're outside this tiny little town in, like, the Mojave?, or maybe the Black Rock Desert?, and babes, let me tell you, this commute is going to wreck. My f~$%iiiing. Car. Just got this baby wrapped before I left LA, but all this SAND, it just gets everywhere."
She leans over, pinching phone between shoulder and ear to free her hand up and pet Chichi. The two of them are returning from the press tour for her last feature Cage Match, currently in theaters, in which she played former inmate Rikki Smalls, whose time forcibly fighting in an underground boxing ring in prison is remembered in flashback as she rises thru the ranks of an amateur girl's MMA tournament. She is hoping to win an Oscar. (She won't.) Next up for Just Angelyna is Alien and/or Zombie Invasion in the Dunes (Working Title). (Pure action schlock either way, however, when she originally booked the part, it was sold to her as a werewolf picture.)
As she speeds around the cliff's edge distracted by twelve hundred things, a van clips her back bumper and passes illegally.
A large, converted Winnebago sits at the edge of a diner parking lot. It is painted with a bright blue and green logo that reads "OutPatient" in large, friendly sans serif letters. Underneath the logo is the motto: "We bring health to you. Screenings. Consultations. Urgent Care." The door is closed, and a sign hangs on it reading: "Lunch Break, Back at 2."
This tiny town and its small population are exactly the kind of people OutPatient tries to reach, well away from the city and reliable facilities. Parking in, say, diner parking lots--or whereever people might congregate--is part of the strategy to try to see as many people as possible.
The three other personnel who operate the mobile clinic, the driver, another nurse, and a medical technician, sit locked inside the clinic, eating their lunch in peace.
Rosa Sinclair sits in the diner at the counter, knowing you need to look and act like a human being before people consider trusting you enough to take their blood pressure. She's on her third cup of coffee, already learned the waitress is struggling with plantar fasciitis and wants to quit smoking, and she's now chatting with a youth about the next action movie in the making.
"Mmmm hmmm. My breakfast is just smelling awesome back there, Jack." Grinning, Fabian calls back to the short-order cook, who may or may not actually be named Jack, and so the young deputy tries to make 'Jack' sound as much like saying, 'Buddy' or 'Brother' as he can.
Might be Clem. Hmmm. Might not. The only thing that Mrs. Hart's baby boy does know for sure, is that his stomach is grumbling, and so Fabian perches on one of the counter stools, leaning an elbow on the countertop.
Glancing around the diner, Deputy Hart takes in the clientele, a few regulars, a couple obvious travelers, and of course, the usual waitress with far too many plates and cups on a tray as she heads back into the kitchen.
Fabian considers offering her a hand when out of the corner of his eye he spots Rosa a few seats away, and he grins. They'd come across each other a few times since he'd been promoted to Deputy last year, and seemed to be 'one of the good ones'. Not like that EMT I ran into who said he was from Vegas. Thought he was all high and mighty...lazy as hell, though.
"Good morning, ma'am. Nice day if it don't rain, eh?" Fabian offers, smiling in his real smile rather than his traffic-stop-greeting-smile. "And how are you..." The cropped haired officer trails off as his radio squawks on his shoulder, and the sheriff calls in his location.
A look of mixed frustration and self-pity crosses Fabian's face as his eyes dart back behind the counter where the grill cook has yet to complete his order. "Well, damn. Jack? I gotta run, I'll be back for that as soon as I'm able..."
To Rosa, Fabian shrugs and says, "Pardon, Doc, I gotta run. Nice seein' ya again.", and he's hustling off to the door.
"Roger, Sheriff. I'm up at the diner. I'm heading for my car now." Hart calls into his radio's mic as he literally jogs out to his car. The officer ducks inside, starts the engine, and is peeling out on the gravel and concrete within moments.
He's twenty yards down the road before he remembers to flick on the flashing lights.
The driver of the van overcorrects, sending it across the oncoming lane and into the rock wall, then rolling across the road between Ernest and Angelyna. It slams into the guardrail, metal beam screaming as it is twisted. The van seems to hang on the edge of the cliff for a moment before sliding over.
The Sheriff grabs his hand set as he screeches to a halt. "Hart, this has just become a rescue operation. We have a single vehicle accident, van gone over the edge. Be half an hour before Humbolt EMS can get here. If one of those traveling doctors is handy, bring 'em along."
"Uh Derek, man, I gotta go! Someone just had an accident!"
Ernie yanks the earbuds out of his ears by the cords and pulls his car off to the side of the road. He gets out and sprints across the road coming to a stop more abruptly than he should have at the spot where the guardrail is now missing.
Wide eyed, he leans over and looks down the cliffside.
Rex drives up to the diner and parks the Slater Sled. He sings with a part of a song playing on the CD player. "Squeeze me macaroni, slop your face with my bologna!"
He sees a cop exiting the diner. Rex shut's up and kills the engine. The music dies. He watches as the sheriff rushes to his car, and speeds out of the gravel parking lot. It's tires spitting gravel until they hit the street. Satisfied that he's safe from focus. The young man grabs work-out bag from the back seat.
He hops up the three steps and grabs the metal handle on the glass door. He opens it. The air was cool. Rex strides down to a free part of the counter. He strikes the counter to emit a little smack. "Can I get a coffee regular? I'll order when I get back." He takes his bag to the bathroom.
He opens the door. The green tile offends his eyes, but it's all he's got. Rex shampoos his hair with a two in one shampoo/conditioner travel bottle and water from the sink. He cleanses the rest of himself with travel washcloths. The youth puts on a fresh T-shirt and jeans.
Returning to the dining room, he hears the horrific crash echo through the windows.
Ernie sees the van upside down on a ledge about 100 feet below. The canyon continues another 900 feet to a dry river bed.
Rex drives up to the diner and parks the Slater Sled. He sings with a part of a song playing on the CD player. "Squeeze me macaroni, slop your face with my bologna!"
He sees a cop exiting the diner. Rex shut's up and kills the engine. The music dies. He watches as the sheriff rushes to his car, and speeds out of the gravel parking lot. It's tires spitting gravel until they hit the street. Satisfied that he's safe from focus. The young man grabs work-out bag from the back seat.
He hops up the three steps and grabs the metal handle on the glass door. He opens it. The air was cool. Rex strides down to a free part of the counter. He strikes the counter to emit a little smack. "Can I get a coffee regular? I'll order when I get back." He takes his bag to the bathroom.
He opens the door. The green tile offends his eyes, but it's all he's got. Rex shampoos his hair with a two in one shampoo/conditioner travel bottle and water from the sink. He cleanses the rest of himself with travel washcloths. The youth puts on a fresh T-shirt and jeans.
Returning to the dining room, he hears the horrific crash echo through the windows.
The driver of the van overcorrects, sending it across the oncoming lane and into the rock wall, then rolling across the road between Ernest and Angelyna. It slams into the guardrail, metal beam screaming as it is twisted. The van seems to hang on the edge of the cliff for a moment before sliding over.
As the van passes, Angelyna hits the brakes and slams on the horn, shrieking "YOU COULD HAVE KILLED MY CAT, you MOTHERF%&$ER, GET BENT AND DIE!" (The actress is a competent driver in a responsive machine; she proudly has done all her own driving for eight years now- on screen and in real life, too!)
But then the van goes over the edge. She yelps, jumping in her seat. "Oh I think I killed him. Oh nononononono. Stacy? Stacy?! I'm gonna have to call you back."
She exits the call and the car, rushing over to the edge to get a glimpse.
Another yelp and she returns to the car's open door, bending down to sweep her adventure cat into her arms.
"C'mere Cheech," she beckons, clutching the grey (arguably green) tabby in her arms and starting another call- to her director.
"Hey, some total ASShole clipped my car and fell off a cliff. I'm fine tho. How are you?"
As she waits outside her vehicle, she idly pets Chichi and lightly stomps her heels.
Rosa waves to Fabian, and is about to remind him for about the seventh time she's not actually a doctor, when he turns right back around. A warning siren in her gut goes off.
She hastily pulls out some cash, which should cover her lunch and a generous tip, and plants it on the table before following Hart out the door. "Is something..."
The crash echoes through the valley. "... wrong?"
"Hart, this has just become a rescue operation. We have a single vehicle accident, van gone over the edge. Be half an hour before Humbolt EMS can get here. If one of those traveling doctors is handy, bring 'em along."
The deputy's radio calls out and and Fabian grits his teeth, "Well, s@$@." then clicks the mic and calls back, "On it, Chief."
Heh. He hates it when I call him Chief.
Fabian's car screeches and he turns far too wide for his own comfort, ending up on the side of the road for a moment. Still, he's thankfull that he's the only one currently there to see it. Moments later, he wheels into the diner parking lot and is out of the car as soon as it comes to a halt.
Jogging inside, he almost collides with Rosa, and brings himself up short. "Doc? You guys! We got a situation just down the road past the ridge! Sheriff says we could really use your help." Fabian awaits their response, holding the diner door open, as if to show his urgency.
The Sheriff's emerges from his car and walks to the trunk and grabs a bullhorn before moving to join Just Angelyna and Ernie. "Any sign of life down there?" he asks, before he gets to see for himself.
Rosa nods at Fabian. "Crash, Deputy? When's EMS's ETA?" She is already moving toward the RV, fumbling with her key to open it.
She yells at her team to get moving down the road. All of them know to wait a half hour for EMS would surely mean the death of whoever is there, so the huge vehicle lurches into motion, following the deputy's vehicle as fast as it reasonably can down the ridge, clinging to the safe side of the road.
"Jesus, we're not a search and rescue team. How're we gonna get down there?"
The 5'10" skinny kid says, "Cool nipple teats" The dark haired youth heads to his car and opens the trunk. "Phoenix had an auction." He loads his shoulder with nylon ropes. "They closed a firehouse and were sellin' some gear." He returns with climber rescue gear
"I'll tie a slipnot lasso on the extra rope. We can lasso the wheel and catch the axil. Someone can pull it taught and secure it to the rails" Rex looks over the equipment. "I'm not to sure how this works."
When you enact this plan as a free action, you produce the perfect tool for the task at hand. You brought it with you, had it brought to you, or knew just where to find it. The tool can be any piece of equipment that you can carry and afford. If it is a weapon, it is fully loaded.
The Sheriff's emerges from his car and walks to the trunk and grabs a bullhorn before moving to join Just Angelyna and Ernie. "Any sign of life down there?" he asks, before he gets to see for himself.
Ernie is spooked about being addressed by a cop, and he starts eyeing his car parked across the road. Then he remembers that he'll probably need to call Derek back, and decides to be a good citizen for now.
"Uh, naw man. But if they are still alive, you need to get them out before they fall all the way down the cliff."
Arriving on scene, Fabian hustles past the others and over to the rail (near the sheriff is) and looks down, surveying the situation. "Well, damn."
The deputy makes a face, squinting at the scene before shrugging and exhaling loudly. Fabian turns to Sheriff Goodpaster "I might be able to climb down there, but..."
That's when he sees what Rex is up to and calls over to the dark haired youth: "Hey, do you really know how to do all that stuff you just said with that rope? I might be able to toss it down and whatnot, but I ain't so good with knots. Least, I never really learned how to tie them..."
Rosa, surveying the scene, calls into the RV. "Jorge, remember that folding stretcher chair Max told us we'd never need? Bring that out."
She addresses those assembled. "Uh, what's the chance that van's gonna explode? Because... I mean, should we be pulling the car up or going down and getting the driver out? If it's safe, you should probably hook the van up to the clinic. It's the heaviest vehicle here."
That's when he sees what Rex is up to and calls over to the dark haired youth: "Hey, do you really know how to do all that stuff you just said with that rope? I might be able to toss it down and whatnot, but I ain't so good with knots. Least, I never really learned how to tie them..."
Rex brings the ropes over to the cliffs edge and drops them to the ground. "A slipknot's easy." The kid starts working on a rope's end. "You're welcome to go full on cowboy with it, if you want, but I never used the rescue equipment, so..."
She addresses those assembled. "Uh, what's the chance that van's gonna explode? Because... I mean, should we be pulling the car up or going down and getting the driver out? If it's safe, you should probably hook the van up to the clinic. It's the heaviest vehicle here."
Rex looks down at the upside down van.
"The guardrail fence is made to keep cars on the road. The guard posts are dug deep. They're deep enough to hold the van better than the clinic." Rex says to the middle aged woman. He turns to the sheriff. "Can we use the push bumper on your police car to run the rescue rope through?"
Initially, Angelyna largely ignores what's going on in favor of her phone, sharing the details of the crash with her director, but upon the rescue crew's timely arrival, she changes tack. "Hey I have to call you back."
Once the rope is revealed, she strolls over idly and offers assistance.
"I can totally go down there and grab that guy; I learned how to belay while training for- for work." She catches herself, preferring to remain incognito until dramatically recognized. "Could someone hold Chichi for me while I'm down there?"
As the group deliberates how to tie off the rope, she lowers her shades a tad and asks "If I'm gonna risk my life like this, I need one of you to film it." She winks at the sheriff and offers him a digital camera.
The Sheriff seems taken aback for a moment, turning to look the stranger in the face. His lips pucker, bristling his mustache as realization dawns. "Your that Just Angel person, aren't you. Well, a bona fide super star. Appreciate the help. Just down do anything stupid. This isn't a carefully prepared stunt."
He takes the phone and fumbles with it.
You can see the gas tanks on the overturned van. and they appear to be intact. No sign of fire, no leaking fuel.
In crisis mode, Rosa isn't really thinking about who's who. But the woman looks oddly familiar. She says, with the genuine concern she affords anyone, "Please be careful. But we need to get moving. Every second counts."
She flexes her fingers, anxious to be able to help, and knowing there's nothing much she can do, yet.
Fabian suddenly has Chichi thrust into his arms, and for a moment he just blinks in shock. Muttering to himself, the deputy knows he'll be of little real help this way and so he turns to Ernest and hands the priviledged canine over to him instead.
"Hold on to the dog." He pauses, then adds "Thanks. Civic duty and all that...", before hurring back over to the rail.
Rex looks around starts smiling. "It's a prank show right?"
Once he realizes that it's not a ruse, He attempts to secure JA. Rex is overly careful with avoiding direct contact. The extra time ends when he snaps the shoulder holsters in place. The kid reaches for the adjustment straps, pauses, then finally pulls them tight. The actresses' body mushed in a pleasing way.
Rex's heart fluttered at the surreal experience. He whispers, "Ok. Ok, Ok." to bring himself back to the real world. The kid rushes to his car. He finds his lower tier smart phone. He looks through his Slater song stash. Rex loads the song and rolls down the window. He pressed play, and the music blasts onto the road.
Rex pulls up the camera and yells, "Go! Go! Go!" to JA.
Fabian suddenly has Chichi thrust into his arms, and for a moment he just blinks in shock. Muttering to himself, the deputy knows he'll be of little real help this way and so he turns to Ernest and hands the priviledged canine over to him instead.
"Hold on to the dog." He pauses, then adds "Thanks. Civic duty and all that...", before hurring back over to the rail.
"Woah, hey man, I don't know about--" but he suddenly has to hold the dog or let it drop, so he holds it gingerly at arm's length for a moment before carefully bringing it closer to him in a cradle position.
He returns to the edge of the road to watch the rescue attempt.
Jorge disappears into the RV before backing out of the door with a contraption of metal tubing and plasticized canvas.
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Angelyna removes her large sunglasses, folds them and smiles. "Yes, that's me, Just Angelyna, No Last Name. You can call me Angelyna for short. Angel works too," she nods at the sheriff.
Angelyna spreads her arms and legs, stepping into the harness and allowing Rex to do all the hard work for her, loops the safety line thru the harness about her hips and proceeds to climb the rockface
She knocks on the van door before opening it.
"I don't suppose you'd like to exchange insurance information?"
Ernie looks down at the animal he's holding while Angelyna gets strapped into her harness.
"I think this is a cat," he mumbles to himself.
Rosa yells down to Just Angelyna, desperation in her voice. "If the driver is nonresponsive, PLEASE, do NOT touch him! He could have a head injury and should NOT BE MOVED! Leave him exactly as he is, strapped in and door shut, and hook the rope to the van so they can pull the whole thing up and we can get to him! And please hurry!"
Angelyna pulls on the driver's side door. It is bent and hard to open, but with a firm tug it opens with a cry of metal on metal. The driver hangs upside down, clearly unconscious. Angelyna has no time to notice anything else as a fur projectile slams into her.
She finds herself suddenly in a scrum with an angry chimpanzee wearing grey-green overalls. It grabs at her and its teeth snap on air. She can feel its hot breath.
The animal is covered in blood from a long cut on its shoulder.
Initiative:
Ernie
Rex
Rosa
Sheriff
Fabian
Angelyna
Ape
Standing 100 feet away (and above) Angelyna -- and holding her dogcat -- there's not a whole lot Ernie can do. He considerately angles the cat so that it can watch Angelyna and the monkey.
The last time Just Angelyna, No Last Name had wrestled with a chimpanzee was in Plutoid of the Apes, when a team of scientists landed on a Kuiper Belt object inexplicably peopled by talking chimps. Unfortunately, the chimp in question had been CGI, and this one very much was not. She tries to position the ape between her and the sky to give anyone armed above a chance to "Aaaa! Shoot it! Shoot the damn thing!" without risking her own life.
The Sheriff drops the phone and draws his sidearm in a smooth, trained movement. He adopts a modified Weaver stance, lowers the weapon to point down at the target, and fires.
The chimpanzee swats Angelyna's hands aside as she tries to maneuver it. The animal's strength little moved by the movie star. But the Sheriff's bullet hits it center mass. The chimpanzee screams in pain and falls to the rock ledge.
Rosa winces as guns come out. "Don't-"
But the sheriff fires true and hits the chimp. Rosa's still not happy. "What if you had hit the girl?" She's treated too many gunshot wounds to be nonchalant about them.
She edges back closer to the edge. "Poor thing," she says of the chimp. "Probably stolen to sell on an exotics market."
She calls out to Angel. "You okay? Can you see if the driver is breathing?"
Angelyna is left shaken as the ape clings to but then falls off her. She debates for a moment belaying down to grab the thing, but decides to heed Rosa's advice first, opening a pocket compact and resting it in front of the driver's nose and mouth to see if the glass fogs.
"Don't worry Sherriff." Says the kid. "We can plant a gun on the ape and sprinkle it with crack."
Angelyna is left shaken as the ape clings to but then falls off her. She debates for a moment belaying down to grab the thing, but decides to heed Rosa's advice first, opening a pocket compact and resting it in front of the driver's nose and mouth to see if the glass fogs.
The driver, hanging upside down in his seatbelt, fogs up the mirror.
Driver is a 20 something white male in blue coveralls. There is a logo in white on his left breast pocket that says Ultitec.
The sheriff turns to Rex, "Never shot a crack head or a tweaker, but I have been known to lock up a delinquent or two for a few days while we track down their parents."
He seems suddenly older, deflated.
Angelyna calls out to the EMT "He's breathing! Want me to bring him up?"