Chapter Three: At the Waterside

James Murdock thought that he could safely say he knew how it felt to be a salmon making his way upstream to spawn. His muscles were screaming in agony, and he was feeling lightheaded from lack of sufficient air. In fact, he'd been dunked so many times that if someone were able to fast-forward the evolutionary process he'd be sporting gills about now.

He ignored the sharp sting of another rock as it impacted with his left shoulder. At this point James had so many bumps, bruises, and cuts that he'd be lucky to still be recognizable when he got back to the raft.

On the plus side, Billy, (though tiring from his own struggles), seemed to be okay. It took him a few more minutes of inching his way closer, but Murdock nearly cried in relief as he wrapped his arm around the tired dog. He rejoiced as the canine started licking his face in relief and joy.

Though not far from the riverbank, James seriously doubted he had enough strength left in him to get there. He looked around for the raft and saw, much to his happiness, that it was fairly close to him. The respite was short-lived, however, at the looks of horror painted on the faces of his brothers-in-arms. Face was screaming something he couldn't make out due to the roaring of the rapids, but the frantic gesturing at something behind the pilot gave him the general idea that something bad was coming up.

Sure enough, H.M. glanced behind him and saw what had terrified his friends. He was quickly approaching a huge craggy rock that was about to turn him into hamburger meat if he didn't do something soon. His grip reflexively tightened on Billy.

Determined to at least get his dog out of danger, Murdock twisted his body so he was facing the guys. He lifted Billy from the water and prepared to toss him into the raft. Using the last ounce of strength he had, James threw the little dog to his friends, trusting that at least two of them would keep him safe. As he completed the action, he saw something that would stick with him the rest of his life.

B.A. Baracus had lifted his arms and caught Billy before gently setting him down on the bottom of the raft. Hannibal looked momentarily stunned, but Face never slowed in his task of readying the throw bag for another toss. It would prove hopeless, however, because Murdock's ankle was suddenly trapped between two rocks beneath the surface. The current propelled the pilot underwater, where his head struck the huge boulder with so much force that he instantly lost consciousness.


Bosco felt like he was trapped in a nightmare. He knew he was harder on Murdock than anyone else, but was also aware that he was more protective of him at the same time. Their entire relationship had been built on relentless teasing and false threats. B.A. would have given just about anything to take a ride in Murdock's aforementioned time machine and erase his mistake.

He noticed the crazy man had stopped frantically swimming and felt a tingle of relief when he took it to mean the imaginary dog was in hand. The relief turned to horror when he saw the size of the rock his friend was speeding towards.

Face began screaming the pilot's name while frantically waving his arms, making every attempt to catch the man's attention. "Murdock! Behind you!"

"He sees it, Lieutenant! Get the rope ready," screamed Hannibal in a commanding tone. B.A. and his commanding officer continued fighting to get the raft closer. Just a few more feet and they'd be near enough to pluck him and his dog out of the water. He was about to question his own sanity as he realized that he was now regarding Billy as something tangible.

That thought disappeared when he noticed the captain was preparing to throw the dog into the raft. Terrified of what else would befall his friend if he thought he'd missed the watercraft, B.A. set his paddle down and reached forward to grab the invisible animal that had caused all of this mess.

*Yeah right, dumbass. Blame the invisible dog for your own cockup….*

He mimicked catching the supposedly soggy bundle before placing it, (him?), onto the floor of the raft and grabbing his paddle once more. Templeton, who had moved to Murdock's seat after his departure, was just about to throw the rope when the unthinkable happened.

The pilot's foot must have been grabbed by something underwater, because he was suddenly jerked down moments before he would have hit the rock. He didn't realize then that the stone jutted outwards beneath the surface and Murdock had most definitely felt it's impact.


Templeton dropped the bag in shock when he saw Murdock disappear beneath the churning water. When he didn't resurface, the conman outright panicked. "Murdock! Fuck!"

It seemed as if hours had passed by the time their raft had reached the boulder, when it had in actuality been seconds. Just as Face was able to lay hands on the rough surface, the unforgiving rapids jerked them around to the side. He knew that if the raft was unable to rest against the front of the rock that it would be difficult to maneuver. Not to mention the fact that getting back to the pilot would be damned near impossible.

He took a deep breath and jumped overboard. Clinging to every rough spot his fingers could find in the rock, Temp inched his way closer to where he'd last seen his best friend. Upon reaching him, it took time he didn't have to release James' ankle from between the two rocks whilst simultaneously trying to keep himself from becoming caught.

When his friend was finally free, Face pulled him up by his lifejacket and wrapped his right arm around the pilot's chest. With Murdock pulled tightly against his own chest, the lieutenant kept hold of the rock with his left, using the massive object to guide him to the shore.

Though the journey should have taken all of his concentration, Face found it impossible to fully pay attention due to the fact that he felt no movement from his best friend's chest. Working on autopilot, Face finally reached dry land with his precious burden.

*Please be breathing, please be breathing, please be breathing!*

Face gently laid Murdock down on the ground and removed the flotation jacket. Placing a palm on the pilot's chest, he snapped his attention to the other two who were rushing toward them with a first aid kit in hand. I seems they had finally made it out of the water, themselves.

"Hannibal, he's not breathing!"

To be continued….


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