Don't own Chuck
Somewhere on the Wawona road Casey was driving his 1985 Crown Vic pulling the airstream winding up in the mountains. Kat was sitting next to him while Morgan and Alex were in the back. Casey started the trip off mad at Morgan because as usual he over slept and he never let him forget it the whole trip. Then, as John was driving he heard the sound of a bag of chips being opened and a can of soda.
"Morgan, I swear if I find one chip back there in the seat I'm going to jam it down your throat with the rest of my fist, and don't be touching anything back there with those greasy paws."
"Come on John I'm hungry, we drove all the way through and didn't stop for a bite to eat. I need to keep my strength up."
"Grimes if I find any grime back there you'd better have you burial insurance paid up and Alex named beneficiary in your will. Although what do you have to leave… some comic books and some Star War toys."
"I have you know they're all collector's items," said Morgan. "They're all worth a lot of money if sold to right person."
"A lamebrain like you… where are you going to find someone dumb enough to pay good money for your crap? He'd have to be as big an idiot as you are."
"Oh really, I know someone who would. Chuck would for sure. Most of the collectibles I own we went in halves on."
"Case closed. Hey you're not drinking grape soda back there are you? I swear Morgan if I find any purple stains you're going to have some black and blue ones.
"John, you know you swear a lot," said Morgan as Alex elbowed him to be quiet. "You know what they say John, 'purple haze running all over my brain'," said Morgan as he taunted Casey waving the can around.
"I'll give you a haze alright that's right the one you'll be coming out of when you wake up in the hospital in a full body cast in traction wondering how you got there."
"Yeah, I know you love me Big Guy and I care for you too," said Morgan. He never heard John's rebuttal because his phone rang.
"It's Big Mike from the Buy More I need to take this it could be important," said Morgan. He answered it and put it on speaker. "Big Mike, what's wrong?"
"This is Fernando, I'm using Big Mike's phone because every time I call you on mine the call never goes through. It's like you're screening my calls."
"Strange how that works. I left word, Big Mike's in charge why are you calling me? If it's work related you should be talking to him.
"We did but he ignored Skip and me so we're taking our complaint up the Buy More chain of command. I want you to know how we're being unfairly treated. Made to work on a national holidays for straight pay just wait until out union hears about this."
"But we don't have a union and what's this about being made to work on a national holiday? There are no national holidays this time of the year. Don't tell me you and Skip have got your own holidays now back to back, dumb and dumber."
"No, it's right here on your calendar. Skip says it's Malcom X's birthday but I told him there was no such holiday..."
"That's right Fernando for once said something intelligent, but if you know there's no holiday why are we having this conversation?"
"I said it wasn't Malcom X's. It's the X-men holiday like president's day where they put Kennedy and Washington together."
"You mean Washington and Lincoln but no there's no holiday..." Fernando cut him off and was also insistent.
"Yes there is, on your calendar there's a big X on today so how do you explain that? Everyone knows holidays are listed on the calendar so the X… the X is what holiday? Skip says you're trying to cheat us out of a day off."
"You guys are permanently off. You know I can give Skip a lot of days off, its called unemployment. I marked that X to mean I'd be out. There's no holiday and generally on the calendar it says what the holiday is like 'Presidents Day'. Just go to work I don't want to hear another word. Just go."
"Moron, off the phone with the imbecile," yelled Casey, "I've got an incoming call from Sarah."
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Chuck was working frantically as he cut through firewall after firewall until he got where he wanted and powered down the transponder. He looked over at Sarah who was shaking her head she wasn't having much luck getting through to Casey. The cell service in the mountains came and went. Finally after what seemed forever it was ringing.
"Oh crap it's not working," said Chuck. Sarah looked over at him as the Casey's phone rang. "They're still going after Jason. If anything it looks like they're speeding up."
"His phone is ringing, Crap the line dropped before he answered," said Sarah as she got 'the person you are calling is unavailable at this time please try later.'
"We've got to keep on trying. I'm going to activate the airstreams self-defense system remotely with that extra satellite feed we can boost cell service. This has got to work I can see them from overhead and there… there's their target ahead of them heading for the tunnel. Look there are two Land Cruisers that have fallen in behind Anna and Rebecca."
"There are probably two more coming from the opposite end of the tunnel. Chuck, Sweetie, I don't want to put pressure on you but it's now or never."
"Okay now try it," said Chuck as he crossed his fingers. Sarah hit autodial and placed the phone on speaker.
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Anna and Rebecca were following Jason's GPS signal and gaining on him. It looked like they should be on him soon when the signal stopped. Rebecca slapped the receiver then shook it to see if she could get it to work but nothing the signal was gone.
"He's turned off his GPS transponder so he thinks he can go in stealth mode just like that he's so wrong. We know he's on the road in front of us so if we keep up at the speed we were traveling at now we should overtake him. There's no place for him to go. He can run, but he can't hide."
"Wait a minute! I don't want to keep sounding paranoid, but couldn't it also be that he turned off the transponder because he knows someone is following him so this gives him a chance to lay in wait for us?"
"Or it can be that the transporter simply broke. They do break from time to time or he could be in an area that there's no or limited coverage. This mountains block cell coverage and what is GPS but I hear what you're saying we should go in with caution."
"Yeah like you know what that is or you've ever done that. Hey look ahead, I've got a black Mercedes SUV in front of us and the license plates are a match. I guess this is the moment of truth. The Yosemite tunnel is coming up I'll cut him off inside then we both take him."
"Okay cousin, let's do this," said Rebecca as she got her QSZ-92 out in one hand and the Taser in the other. "Time to Rock and Roll."
The Mercedes then the Ford entered the tunnel. Anna punched the 4x4 and as she passed somewhere around the front wheel well she cut over forcing the Mercedes into the tunnel wall. Anna jumped out of the truck as Rebecca went up and over to throw open the side of the Mercedes.
"Jason, out where we can see your hands," yelled Anna but inside in the driver's seat was a guy they'd never seen before.
"Who's Jason and what do you want with me? Are you ladies crazy? I was told to drive…" The man never got out his explanation when his head exploded and blood splattered all over them. Rounds began flying from both end of the tunnel. They were trapped and boxed in from both sides. Anna returned fire as she scrambled through the Mercedes to Rebecca to find some cover. Suddenly there was a lull in fire followed by a voice calling to them that Anna recognized.
"Anna, I want you to know this is nothing personal," said Jason. "This is just business. We did have some good times together but I'm afraid I'm going to have to call it quits for good this time. I would offer you some lame story telling you that if you laid down your weapons and turned yourselves over to us I'd let you live…"
"But we both know that would be a load of crap so go ahead take your best shot. But I'm going to take a few of your guys with me and who knows I might get lucky."
"Who knows I certainly did. Bye Anna," said Jason. "Resume fire, fire at will I want them dead," he yelled. The sound of gunfire in the tunnel was deafening as it echoed off the walls. Anna and Rebecca got down firing from under the Mercedes and the 4X4. The noise was so loud that the shooters couldn't hear where Anna or Rebecca where firing from so they were shooting too high.
"Well you can say I told you so," said Rebecca as she fired. Glass fell down on top of them but they continued firing until they ran out.
"Stop firing, stop firing they're out of ammo. Let's move in and take them," yelled Wei. "Go get them." Two men stepped forward then dropped with jade darts stuck in their heads
"Who gave the order to stop firing," yelled Jason. They were so concentrated on their fire that no one noticed another vehicle driving into the tunnel. Suddenly two Toyotas exploded as a missile struck dead center one tossing in aside into the other.
Casey came rolling through with a Browning blazing away extending past the left head light. From the top of the camper a dual mini-missile launcher came out and fired a hellfire missile at the other two SUVs clearing a path through the tunnel.
"Does someone need a lift," really Morgan as she opened the camper door. "Come on get in we can't hold them off forever." Rebecca and Anna scrambled back over the wreckage into the airstream. Casey watched in the mirror as he held Jason's men pinned down until he saw the door close. Then he pulled out nudging the burning hulks out of the way. The Triad took them under fire but their small arms were no match for the armor plating.
Alex and Morgan got the two women onboard but as soon as Anna was inside she collapsed and fell in the middle of the floor. When the driver was killed she'd gotten hit trying to find cover.
"Alex get Chuck we need him," yelled Morgan. "She's bleeding bad."
Back in the hotel…
Chuck manned communications while Sarah went to get Mary and Sam. She walked back over to the main building were she found them sitting next to the fireplace listening to a park ranger telling them stories about the first peoples who used to live in the valley. Sarah walked in then hung in the back to watch for a bit. Sam sat on one of the over stuffed chairs with her feet dangling. They were too short to touch the floor as she got close she heard Sam talking she sounded excited.
"Really then what happened?" Sam asked as she followed the story intently hanging on every word the ranger said. Then Sam saw her and came running.
"We need to go now to the cottage and get cleaned up. I think we'll be ordering room service tonight. I'm sorry if you got stuck babysitting," said Sarah as she shook the ranger's hand.
"No problem, it's nice to see kids who are interested in something other than video games and Facebook. However, I told her we don't allow people to leave food for the animals. They have to forage on their own and away from humans. You don't want a bear associating you with food."
"No, I can see that wouldn't be such a pleasant experience. Thanks again… I'm sorry but I didn't get your name?"
"You have to promise not to laugh. My name is Smith as in Ranger Smith." Sarah fought the urge to but she had a big smile that said she wanted to. "Don't worry everyone does when I meet them. I'll see you guys around," said the Ranger as he tipped his hat then left.
"Come on Booboo we need to get back to the Cottage and see what Yogi's up to," said Sarah as Sam gave her a puzzled look.
"I didn't make a boo-boo," said Sam. Sarah grabbed her up and hugged her, she wanted to talk to her about her behavior before but she just wanted to hold her for now.
"Any word on the convoy," asked Mary. "They should be at a good point by now and what about Casey? He should be here soon with the airstream."
"About that there might be a delay."
Back in the cottage….
Chuck was sitting in front of a tablet waiting for Casey to come out of the tunnel. When he went in they lost their comms link so there wasn't anything to do but wait. Chuck got nervous when he saw smoke rolling out both entrances but no Casey.
"Relax Chuck," he told himself, "it's going to take time to clear the tunnel." He walked over to the fridge and pulled out an over priced beer then came back just as Alex popped on the monitor.
"Chuck, you've got to help us. It's Anna she got hit and is losing a lot of blood. What do we do Morgan has his hand over it but it's not stopping."
"Just relax and don't freak out. Take a few deep breaths then tell me what happened. How did she get hit and is the bullet still inside?"
"Chuck, do something. Yes the bullet is still in her, please," said Rebecca. Just then Sarah came back with Sam and Mary. They could tell by Chuck's look they'd walked in on something bad.
"I tell you, why don't we run you a bath," said Sarah. "Then you can tell me everything Ranger Smith told you." Chuck gave her a quizzical look but didn't have time. Sarah got Sam quickly out of the room.
"Alex, I need to see the wound," said Chuck as Mary came around behind him. "Mom, I need to see it clearly to flash or it won't work."
"Guys, you're going to have to lay her on the table in the kitchenette. Alex, on the bottom left corner feel with your hand underneath. You should feel a lever pull it towards you." Alex followed Mary's instruction and the kitchen table became an operating table with a flood light that dropped down from the ceiling.
"Good that's just what I needed. Rebecca, there should be a medical kit in the overhead cabinet above the fridge. In it you'll find everything to take her vital signs and to operate."
"Operate? Did he say operate," said Morgan. "Chuck, are you crazy? We don't have Ellie or Devon here. How much have you been drinking?"
"Shut up Morgan. You can't stop her bleeding because the bullet nicked an artery and if you don't stop the bleeding she'll bleed out. In the refrigerator you will find two bags of O- plasma. Do not try to warm it in the microwave. Rebecca get an IV in then get the plasma flowing in it. Does anyone know her blood type?"
"It's B positive," said Morgan as Rebecca and Alex looked at him. "What she told me once and I remembered."
"Guys stop talking and Morgan standby we might need your blood. Okay in the living area under the coffee table you'll find one of my tranq pistols. Thank one of the darts and inject Anna. After that we can start the operation."
"Start the what? Again with operating Chuck there has to be another way. Can't we fill the hole with superglue or something?"
"Guys, you need to work and keep quiet. Morgan that's especially true for you. Alex, keep track of her breathing if it starts to become shallow that could be the first signs of cardiac arrest," said Chuck then he turned to his Mary. "Mom, call Casey and tell him to get here as fast as he can."
"Okay I've got the dart," said Rebecca then she injected Anna with it. "Her vital signs are holding. Okay now what?"
"Good you guys are doing fine. You're going to have to widen the wound so I can see but when Morgan moves his hand blood will start squirting out. You're going to need to have lots of water on hand and keep flushing until I tell you to stop. Morgan, when I say stop you're going to have to reach in pull the bullet out then pinch the artery off. Alex either you or Rebecca need to be ready with suture from the medical kit to sew the nick in the artery so it doesn't bleed anymore. I don't want to put any pressure on you but this needs to be done as fast as you can."
"No pressure absolutely," said Morgan. "Chuck, are you stoned. How the Sam Hill do you think we're going to do this?"
"Morgan, you guys can do this it's just like in the game of Operation. You know the board game you like to play."
"Yeah but in that one if I screwed up his nose turns red then I could try again. Chuck, there are no redos here."
"No Morgan there are no redos but if you don't do anything she dies so you've got no choice. Okay everyone ready we go on three," said Chuck as he did a quick three count. "Morgan move your hand." Blood squirted out bright arterial red.
"Okay it's an artery get in there and widen the wound," yelled Chuck. "Come on move it she doesn't have all day. Okay stop there's the bleeder and the bullet. Morgan just like the game straight in with forceps and pull it straight out then pinch over the artery. Morgan, don't throw up in her wound. You got this little buddy, you own it. Good, good now someone flush while the other stitches but make it fast. However, make sure they hold," said Chuck as the signal started going out.
"Chuck, we're losing you. What do we do next, Chuck?" But before he could say anything the link dropped.
"Close up and I'll meet you at the camp site," he yelled but they were gone. "Crap we lost the bird. I can't believe this. Mom, tell Sarah where I went and if Sam asks tell her I went to help Casey." Chuck grabbed the keys to the Range Rover then drove to the Clinic before going to the camp site.
"I need to see the doctor who's on call there's a small emergency," said Chuck. The nurse looked him over. "Oh it's not for me."
"I'm sorry but we don't make house calls. You need to bring the person in for treatment and evaluation those are the rules."
"I'm sorry too," said Chuck as he darted her then grabbed her keys. He put on a white coat and picked up a clip board to look official. Then he walked back to the blood storage area without anyone saying anything. Then he used the nurse's keys to get in. He grabbed four bags of B positive four bags of saline and then an antibiotic before leaving.
He was just out the door and on his way to his car when this couple came up to him. The man was in obvious pain and the woman was supporting him.
"Doc, I need you to look at my... well my... my husband," said the woman standing in the cold half-dressed and wet. "He slipped in the shower and broke his shoulder."
"I'm sorry but I'm off-duty, the doctor on call will be able to help you," said Chuck but he heard the woman complain and say they ought to call security. "Wait, are you sure it's broken? I'm not even going to ask why you're wet and he slipped in the shower or why he doesn't have his wedding ring on."
"I... well I... I took it off so I wouldn't lose it in the shower. Yes that's it but Doc it hurts like I broke it and I can't move it either."
"Here put your hand on my shoulder and on the count of three I'm going to try something. It's going to hurt but if I'm right you'll be as right as rain. Are you ready?"
"Sure, sure let's just get this over with," said the man. His golden hour was almost up and he was beginning to feel the pain. The woman with him was shivered as she watched impatiently."
"Okay, one, two," but before three Chuck extended the man's arm and popped his shoulder back in place. The man let out a yell but as Chuck thought he had just dislocated it when he fell. "How's that?"
"Wow, it's fine as good as new. Gee thanks Doc."
"Okay like I said I'm off duty we can go back in and I get all your insurance information and we send the claims to you homes which I'm guessing could be a little embarrassing. That's option A or we can go with option B just say our goodnights here and promise to practice safe sex."
As Chuck guessed they would they went with option B so in a few minutes he was in his Range Rover speeding off to go to upper pines camping area to meet Casey. He just hoped he was in time to make his house call.