Chapter 22: Stryker

Thursday February 19

I was on my way to the airport with Kendal. We were going to be gone for a four day weekend to finish up the on-site work for the movie. Our destination was the Northwest Territories. We would be staying in the small town of Yellowknife. It was called The Gateway to the North. I was excited about finishing up my portion of the movie. There would be some big chase and fight scenes that would allow me to use my newly acquired gun skills.

Craig had called me earlier in the week and told me he was trapped in the sticks. I didn't feel sorry for the city boy. Yellowknife sounded like the kind of place I would feel at home. Well, except for the weather. It was located just 250 miles from the Arctic Circle. Craig complained he was sure he would freeze certain bodily parts off. I called Sandy Range and she sent up a supply of thermal wear to Craig and the rest of the production group. I packed accordingly.

Craig told me the only fun they had found was a local bar where they did karaoke. I explained singing was not in the cards for me. I didn't even sing in the shower. He told me I could lip-synch. They wanted to go out one night and have a contest to see who the best was. Craig told me to bring my 'A' game because he planned on kicking my ass. I wish he hadn't done that. It made me get my dance class girls and the theater group to help me. We would see who kicked who's ass.

It ended up I stayed Saturday night with Harper and then all day Sunday. We didn't sleep with each other, but we did do a lot of talking. I didn't know as much as I thought I knew about Harper. Harper was from old money. I knew her last name was Mass, but not that Mass. The Mass family owned about a quarter of the land which was currently downtown Chicago. Her grandfather had been governor of Illinois. As a side note, he was one of the few who didn't end up in jail.

Harper's father owned Mass Investment. Their business was wealth management and construction. If you had a lot of money you wanted them to make sure you kept it. His passion though was building. One of his current projects was to convert several blocks of Lincoln Park, a neighborhood in Chicago, into high end houses. He had designed them to look like they were part of the neighborhood by using reclaimed brick and building styles.

Her mother was Cook County's States Attorney, where Chicago was located. Her office had over 900 attorneys and was the second largest prosecutor's office in the country, only behind the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office in terms of the number of lawyers.

I was more than a little surprised her father had me investigated. Harper showed me the file. They had done it when she told them she was going to San Francisco with me. I was shocked to see they knew more about what happened the night Lily almost died. She had been dosed with a drug called GHB (or "liquid Ecstasy").

I found an article about GHB and it said it was tasteless. One of the quotes scared me. It was from a girl who lost twelve hours of her life. When she came too she said, 'My heart is palpitating and my hand-eye coordination doesn't work and it feels like if I stop concentrating on breathing I'll stop breathing. Am I dying?'

It made me wonder if this ever happened to Tracy. It wouldn't surprise me if Bill was behind Lily being drugged.

After I read the report I filled Harper in on the things the report had missed, and updated her on everything recent. She in turn told me all about herself. Harper always had gone to private schools. She begged her parents to let her go to Wesleyan for high school. They wanted to keep her closer to home, but she wanted the education Wesleyan provided. She talked Ray into coming with her, so she would have a friend.

When Ray came out of the closet it had shaken her, but she supported him. She just wished he had told her before they started to dated. His drug problems were not getting any better. He'd been kicked out of Wesleyan and the subsequent boarding school. He was now at Lane Academy, a school for troubled boys.

I found out Tami and Harper had something in common. They were both extremely smart and motivated. I knew Harper was smart. She more than held her own with me. She told me back home she was an outcast because she felt the kids were so immature. When she came to Wesleyan she fit in better and had made some great friends.

Once we had the background covered we talked about our friends, specifically Missy, Lisa, Jennie and Tami. I didn't realize the first three were half-way in love with me. I thought Jennie hated me by the way she acted towards me. Harper explained she was just acting out because she was frustrated I would not even consider her more than just a friend.

I explained to Harper what a self-centered person Jennie really was and the things she, Mark, and her mother had pulled on me. Harper had never heard about any of it, and understood why I was not interested. I also told her about Teddy Wesleyan and his attitude towards money. I was surprised Harper was pissed when I finished telling her.

To say I was emotionally exhausted by the time I went home on Sunday would have been an understatement. The only other person, besides my family, who I had let in like this was Tami. By the end of the weekend I knew Harper was the right one for me. The good news was she felt the same way. We both knew that trying to maintain a long distance relationship would be hard, but we decided to give it chance.

I don't really know how to describe it, but I felt like the missing something I had been longing for had been found. The corny line about another person completing me now made sense. The only thing was there was something in the back of my mind telling me it should have been Tami.

When I got back to school on Monday I ran into Lisa Felton. I was surprised when I didn't feel the attraction I normally had when I was around her. She just gave me a sad look and we didn't speak. I thought for now this was the best approach. I didn't want it getting out that we had slept together. I was pretty sure she felt the same way.

While I was gone visiting Harper, Mom and Dad had talked to Tom and Mary. Mom shared with them what they needed to know to be supportive of Tracy as she recovered. Mom told me she found it funny Dr. Hebert told them the same things Mom had, but for some reason it didn't sink in until Mom explained it.

On the school front I had a 'B' going in English Lit. Dad had reminded me I promised I would not let my grades suffer. I called Suzanne and hired her to be my tutor again. We tackled Shakespeare and so much of it could have multiple meanings. Suzanne confessed money was tight and she also missed teaching dumb jocks. It was a good thing I liked her. What I didn't like was she made me reread everything with her notes on what to look for. One of the things I liked about Suzanne was she didn't just give me the answers. She helped me really understand whatever the topic was. So I had no choice but to take my Shakespeare books with me to Yellowknife.

We flew into Calgary and then had to switch to Air Canada to get to Yellowknife. We boarded a smaller plane which only had twelve rows of two to a side seats. It was all economy seating. I caught myself before I became an ass. It would be very easy to get used to flying first class. Kendal reassured me I would be okay sitting with the common folk. I reminded her she could be replaced. She didn't believe me for one second.

It was a two hour and ten minute fight. When we landed it was three in the afternoon and a balmy 5 degrees out. I was glad I had brought my Range Sport's thermals. Kendal almost turned around to go back home, but I had gotten thermals for her also. It was cold enough you actually felt it in your lungs when you breathed in the cold dry air.

There was a mini-bus waiting to take us to the hotel. Yellowknife was the largest town in the Northwest Territories, with a population just under 20,000. I was surprised to see they actually had several taller buildings of ten-plus stories.

At the hotel we were met by one of the production staff. They wanted me to go to a meeting concerning tomorrow's shoot. I had three scenes to do before I left. The first was supposed to be at an outpost. The school, in the story, had organized a training exercise to a remote location we were supposed to be protecting. The major rival to Craig's character, Royal, was in charge of our two four man teams. Royal was in charge of Bree, Elizabeth and me.

The plot said the other guy was an arrogant ass and left Royal and Stryker, me, to defend the outpost while they all go into town to party. While they are gone we are attacked. I had spent a lot of time working to get ready for this part of the movie. I was not surprised Jessup would want to talk about it. I found the conference room we were supposed to meet and was the last to arrive.

"Ah, good, you made it. Everybody let's get started," Jessup said taking command of the room.

I looked around and Craig had saved me a seat next to him. We said our hellos and got comfortable.

Jessup had rented a warehouse so we could practice tonight. The reason we were prepping at the warehouse instead of doing it on location was because of the cold. Jessup scouted the locations last fall before the temperature dropped. It was predicted a cold front was blowing in from the Arctic Circle. So the temperature was supposed to drop all day. They wanted to get as much as possible of the outside work done early.

From reading the script I knew he was talking about me. The Stryker character was a hard charging guy who gets up and personal in a fight. Craig's character, Royal, was the guy who had your back. The outpost is surrounded. Stryker is outside doing his thing while Royal picks them off with the booby traps and rifle action.

Jessup explained that Stryker's wardrobe was not really designed for the predicted -25 degrees Fahrenheit. The plan was to rush me out and have me do my thing and then warm me back up. The only problem was I was sensitive to the cold ever since I was buried alive in the basement after the avalanche. I was worried I might have problems doing what was needed.

Jessup had his story board out for tomorrow and had video of the location. He and the special effects people went through each step of what would happen. Craig and I felt a little pressure, because the reality was if you blew up a shed, and the shot went wrong, then it took time to put everything back the way it was, before you could blow it up again.

The other thing they were worried about was when to use stunt doubles. The more they could avoid using them, the more usable footage that would not need to be touched up they'd have. The problem was that even though the special effect's guys were the best in the business, when you blew stuff up sometimes it didn't go as planned.

The other problem was, as a sixteen-year-old, I thought I was indestructible. Craig sat back as I told them I could do it and didn't look concerned. I was feeling like Superman. After the meeting Craig took me aside.

"Huge props on volunteering to do the stunts. It all sounds like a piece of cake in a nice warm hotel conference room. Let me ask you something? When they bounce you off the trampoline and you fly twenty feet into a foam mattress it sounds like fun. I can see it in your eyes and I was you once. Just for sanity's sake, what happens to foam mattresses when it is minus twenty-five degrees? Does it turn into a giant ice cube and it is like landing on concrete?" Craig asked.

"I hate you," I told him.

"No, you love me. Make some crazy stunt man figure out if it is going to break all his bones. You just look pretty, as I blow you up."

Of course I didn't want to believe him, so I went and talked to my stunt double. After him telling me about all his injuries and surgeries I decided I better not try some of the more dangerous things Jessup had planned. I might even let Craig blow the stunt guy up. I had a feeling Craig wanted to blow me up too much for my comfort.

To be honest, Craig and I were becoming friends. He treated me like a little brother and looked out for me. That was unless he could torment me. I found out he was behind the whole dancing Stryker nonsense. I was so going to take him down at the lip synch contest.

We didn't get done practicing for tomorrow until nearly midnight. Kendal bailed on me around ten o'clock. Actually with the time difference of two hours I was ready to collapse. I had to be up at five the next morning to catch our ride to the location. It was nearly an hour drive and Jessup arranged for me to get my tattoos redone on the trip.

I was just about bouncing off the walls when I got to my room. I had a ton of nervous energy and I knew I needed to go to sleep. It was a restless night.

Friday February 20

Kendal had to wake me up. I had slept through my wake-up call. I rushed down to find I was the last one on the bus. I was five minutes into the trip, and the makeup guy had my shirt off. They shaved me and put the tattoo stuff on me. The only problem was someone told me it was minus eighteen degrees outside and it felt like it wasn't much warmer on the bus. I could feel the cold seeping into my bones. I was miserable and tired. If Kendal hadn't had a big thermos of hot tea with her I would have been cranky, too.

One of the cool things about it still being dark was I got to see the Northern Lights. Suzanne had told me the lights were caused by charged particles hitting the atmosphere. It was one of those things I would want on a bucket list, things to see before you die. I found a seat close to the front so I could watch as we finished our trip. I got out my iPad and recorded the lights so I could send it to my friends. By now the bus's heater had decided to work and I was feeling better. When we pulled in I was ready to go.

When we arrived Craig showed me were the food was. We were able to get a hot breakfast while the poor production crew had to set up. I went to wardrobe and they got me ready. I was in what amounted to black body armor. I was not happy I didn't have any head gear. They wanted me to be recognizable. The guys who were going to be the bad guys were all bundled up in white snow suite like outfits that looked toasty warm.

Just before I went out I had to sit down with one of the special effects guys.

"I understand you know how to handle a gun," he stated.

"Yes, sir."

"This works the same as what you have been practicing with. There are blank rounds loaded in these guns. Just because they are blanks does not make them toys. You can actually really hurt someone if you are too close when you fire your gun. Please don't point them at anyone who has not been approved."

I gave him a reassuring smile, and then checked to see if a round was in the chamber. I verified the rounds were blanks. The special effects man was happy to see me being cautious.

"I'm serious, David. If I see you messing around I will call off the shoot."

"I'll be careful," I promised him.

The day was a lot of fun. I got to shoot guns and run around. It was a lot like paintball except everything was fake. It was like watching a magic show and knowing the trick. I was also an amazing shot. I would just point and fire and people died. It was a little unnerving to see fake blood gush out of gunshot wounds I was supposed to have caused.

If anyone thought I was a good shot, Craig could shoot the eye out of a fly at 500 yards. If it hadn't been so cold out I think we would have really had a good time. I learned some things I never really wanted to know. Did you know sweat would actually freeze to your head and eyebrows?

You know what else sucked, the continuity girl. She thought once ice had formed by my eyebrows it looked stupid in the next shot if there was no ice there. I kind of could see her point, but I was willing to ignore it. Jessup was no help with my suggestion. Thank goodness the makeup people figured out a solution before I turned my guns on the evil woman who saw everything.

At lunch break they had a cold water bath for me to soak in. It helped thaw me out enough I could stand to get into a hot shower. I was glad I had my Range Sport thermals underneath my costume. Kendal was smart enough to bring an extra set I could change into at lunch time. The wardrobe people took my morning gear and washed it so I could wear it home after the shoot.

The other thing the cold did was dry you out. There is almost zero humidity in this cold air. So I needed plenty of fluids, especially since I seemed to be running all day.

After lunch the rest of the cast had shown up. We needed to do a few shots with them before the special effects guys did their major fireworks. The good news was the majority of the cast only had to do a handful of scenes. They shot everything I wasn't in earlier in the week. I couldn't believe all the whining about how cold it was. I wanted to shoot Ben before we were done. I was glad I was mainly working with Craig today. He hadn't bitched once all day.

Finally at the end of the day, Craig was supposed to set off some land mines. I was supposed to go flying as if I got blown up. I snuck out to see where I was supposed to land and confirmed the pads were very firm. I told Jessup there was no way I was doing it. I think he was a little relieved.

I left the comfort of the trailer to watch the scene. The stunt guy had guide wires to help direct his flight. I watch in amazement as he shot like a rocket to the landing area. He landed awkwardly and didn't move after the scene. The medical staff had checked him out when I decided to go back in. I went right up to Craig and hugged him.

"Thanks for talking me out of that. I think they killed him," I said.

"Are you serious?"

"No shit. I think he is really hurt."

Everyone ran out to see, except Kendal who stayed to make sure I was alright. I was done for the day so I went and changed. When everyone came back in they assured me he would be okay. They did think he broke his arm and possibly a few ribs.

On the bus back Craig talked smack about how I would go down tonight at our lip sync battle. He told me Bree had a killer set that would blow me out of the water. I wasn't worried. My classmates had put together two songs for me I knew would kick butt. Kendal thought I was crazy to even think about doing it.

Kent organized dinner for everyone. It was good to see Craig's right hand man again. We went to a local bar and when we got there it was packed with everyone who worked on the movie. I was surprised to see Jessup and Janice, the producer, both there. It was obvious some of the cast and crew had been drinking before we arrived.

I was happy to see Halle come in and sit next to me. I talked to her and Kent while I ate. When they had cleared the table Craig jumped up.

"You ready Dawson?" he challenged me.

"Bring it on!"

Craig went up to the stage and found the mic.

"We have a special treat tonight. We are going to have a lip synch off!" he said to cheers from the crowd.

I saw that several people had pushed up to the stage to get a front row view.

"To kick things off, we have our favorite dancing machine, joining us from Hicksville USA, David Dawson."

"I'm going to need a little help with this. I need everyone to gather around. Don't be shy," I said to get everyone closer to the stage.

"Shake it baby!" one of the girls yelled.

"For my first number I thought I would release my inner rocker. I'm going to do a little something from AC/DC called 'You Shook Me All Night Long!'"

I saw Jessup shaking his head when I tore my shirt off half way through. I made sure to throw it to Halle so I could get it back. She acted like I she had won some kind of prize as the girls screamed. I could see the doubt creeping into Craig's eyes as I finished.

Halle tossed me back my shirt and I put it back on to the complaint of some of the patrons.

"Now I thought I would change it up to something a little more recent. I need Halle, Bree and Elizabeth to join me on stage," I called out.

Once they were on stage I covered the mic and told them what I wanted them to do.

"For my second number I would like to do something from Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj called 'Bang Bang!'"

On the beat I got the crowd to clap. Then I got the girls to start shaking their hips to the beat. Then I started my dance routine as the lip synch portion started. When the Bang Bangs started the girls had gotten into it. When the rap section with Nicki began I had the head shake going. By the end I had the crowd shaking it. When the song ended I tossed the mic to Craig and strutted off stage.

"Not so fast, David, come back up here," Craig called.

I strolled back up to people laughing and clapping.

"We need to let you in on a little secret. This was all a practical joke. We got a little help from our friends to film this," he said as he pointed out the cameras around the room.

I was so going to get even with him. If there hadn't been cameras, I might have hurt Craig. I guess it was haze the new kid. I saw Jessup and Janice had big smiles on their faces. I knew there was no chance everyone wasn't going to see this. I just decided to own it. I grabbed the mic from Craig.

"I have one more if you want to see it," I offered.

The girls had dusted off Carly Rae Jepsen's song 'Call Me Maybe' as a backup. My dance class had put together a line dance for this song last year for baseball. I taught everyone how to do it and then started the song. Of course my shirt came off for this song too. You have to do the lawnmower scene shirtless. I had the girls and Craig on stage helping me. I noticed Halle had disappeared. It only made sense Janice would want the four of us on stage to promote the movie.

I think everyone had been under a lot of pressure and they needed to cut loose. I ended up having a great time with everyone. The only awkward moment was when I told Halle I had a girlfriend. I think we both knew we were just friends.

Kendal finally made me go back to the hotel, because we had to be up early to be on location first thing in the morning.

Saturday February 21

The day started out better because I didn't have to get tattooed. I was able to keep warm and mostly sleep on the bus ride. We would be shooting the scene where we took the town and saved all our classmates who had left us at the outpost.

We started out at the outpost and did a final scene where Craig patched me up. At the very end I would adlib something like, 'It's really cold out. I need some protective gear.'

Jessup finally agreed I could cover up my tattoos. They added to the scene where we jump on overpowered snowmobiles. I was able to take a coat and head gear from a downed rebel. I was really thankful they let me, because we rode all over the country side during the morning.

For the afternoon we moved to a new location. They had a small town built. I was amazed most of the buildings were just fronts. They hadn't bothered to build sides or roofs. I asked Jessup about it.

"We'll add the rest of the building's structure in post-production. We'll also be adding smoke and other things to make the town look more lived in. We need the fronts for place markers so everything looks seamless," he explained.

By the end of the day Jessup was happy. On the ride back he cornered Kendal and me on the bus.

"I wanted to tell you that you're doing a great job, but I have a problem. Your stunt guy is hurt and will not be able to work tomorrow. There are a couple of shots I can get with other stunt people, but there are two I need you to do."

"I have to answer to his mother, so you better tell me what you want him to do," Kendal said.

"We are doing the cliff face scene where he has to swing across a frozen waterfall. The other is him rappelling down the cliff face."

"I've never done anything like that before. I'm not sure how safe it would be," I reasoned.

"I understand your concern. Think about it and let me know tomorrow," he suggested.

I was glad Kendal didn't look sold either. I had watched what happened yesterday and was a little gun shy.

When I got back to the hotel I checked my emails. I had one from Bo Harrington, my quarterback coach from freshman year. I gave him a call.

"I wanted to touch base with you and see if you wanted to hire me this summer?" he asked.

"Of course I do. Have you heard from the Elite Quarterback Camp to see if I have a slot this year?"

"That was the other thing I was going to ask you. They have a slot reserved for you. The question they have is who you want to coach you. I can send you over a list or make a recommendation."

"Is Bud Mason coaching again?" I asked.

"Yes, and he requested you as someone he wants to coach. You want me to set it up?"

"I liked Bud and learned a lot from him. Do you think it is a good idea to use him or try someone different?"

"Good question. Normally I would look for someone who teaches your style of ball. Coach Mason though has years of Pro experience. I think we can agree he made you better. There is no one I would say is better or you could learn more from. I say go for it," Bo suggested.

"Yeah, set it up."

"I have a favor to ask of you, and I will understand if you say no. Alabama wants you to come to their camp this year. They said they also needed a quarterback coach. Nothing improper was said or offered, but I want to be that coach."

"Hmmm, let me think about it for a moment. We are talking about one of my top five programs I want to go to. It would give me several days to explore their campus. I think I could be talked into it."

"I hate to ask, but what are your top five right now?"

"Alabama, Ohio State, Florida State, Notre Dame and USC," I shared.

Of course the list was dependent on me checking out the campus and football program. I also wanted a chance to play sooner rather than later. If they all picked up stud quarterbacks between now and when I went, it might change my mind. I wasn't afraid of competition, but I wanted to know they were confident in my abilities.

"Not a bad list. You want me to put the word out you are interested in them?"

"I was hoping you would help me with recruiting like you did last year."

"I would be willing to help out. Anyone else you would be interested in me jumpstarting your recruitment with?" Bo asked.

"I think I'm good with Kentucky. Florida has a new coaching staff. I think I want to see what happens, there. I like Texas A & M, Missouri has some potential, Cal and Stanford out west. I also like the idea of staying closer to home, so in the Big 10 Michigan State and Wisconsin stand out. The one program I might be talked into is Michigan with their new coach."

"What about Oregon? Your skills would fit with their offense," Bo suggested.

"Sure. They always have a good team. My concern is will their style of offense make me ready for the Pros?"

"Maybe not, but winning cures a lot of doubts. Let me get working on this and I'll send you over a contract. If you want we can lock in the next two years and I'll throw in specialty training as part of the package."

"Like what?" I asked.

"I would send you to a training facility, where you would improve your speed, flexibility, strength and agility. I send my college guys who want to improve their draft status there so they do better at the combine."

"Send it all over to Kendal. She handles all my contracts. Talking to you makes me want to go out and hit somebody."

"I always tried to avoid getting hit," Bo said.

Kent set up another group outing that Kendal and I went to. Tonight was a different Pub that allowed me in to eat. The legal drinking age in the Northwest Territories was 19. I think Halle and I were the only ones not old enough. My plan for the evening was to have a nice steak and then go to bed. I had another long day in front of me.

I was talking to Halle and Kendal when I heard voices raised in anger. I was surprised when it was Ben and a couple of locals. I saw Kent and Craig jump up to try and calm things down.

"Do you think they need help?" I asked.

"Just stay out of it. Ben has been chasing this girl all week and I think he just met her boyfriend," Halle informed us.

"You need to tell Ben your rules," Kendal suggested.

"What rules are those?" Halle asked me.

At that moment Ben punched one of the locals. His buddies looked like they didn't want to get involved and the boyfriend looked like the fight was out of him.

"My brother taught me these rules," I said turning back to Halle. "One of them is to never date a girl who is in a relationship with another guy."

"Or girl," Kendal offered helpfully.

"Oh, yes. That must be why I can't hook up with Adrienne," I said, and smacked my forehead.

"It's also why you can't take Kate Upton to Prom," Kendal supplied.