That makes me laugh. “If they thought we were missing, they wouldn’t come looking for us. They’d just quit and go home.”
“I’d say you’re probably right about that, but there’s no probably about it.”
We get back to camp and find Top and Rhonda sitting in our chairs. It’s the same camp we usually set up—a basic dome shelter with a couple of net-beds inside, and two chairs outside in front of a fire. We didn’t bother building our signature coffee table this time.
They’re leaning back, apparently relaxing, which is unexpected considering all of the work that needs to be done, but that’s not the most surprising thing. They’re each holding a can of beer and several crushed cans are scattered on the ground around them.
Ash sighs,shakes his head and walks off.
“Are we having a party?” Unlike Ash, I need to get to the bottom of this.
Top looks up at me. “Why not? Everyone quit… again.” He takes a long drink from his can, then wipes his mouth with his sleeve. “They all just walked off the job, or drove off, if you want to get technical.”
He’s drunk. I look to Rhonda hoping she’s sober enough to tell me what’s going on. “What happened?”
“Don’t look at me. They said it was too hard, then took one of the ATVs and left.”
“How were they able to take an ATV? You know what? It doesn’t matter.”
I look over and see Ash heading down to the creek. I guess there’s not much he could do anyway. I turn back to Top with, “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back.”
By the time I get to him, Ash is at the water’s edge filling his canteen. Before I can say anything, he looks up with, “Everyone quit again, didn’t they?”
“Yep. You know what this means, right?”
He stands to face me. “Thank God. It’s about time.”
We talked about it several days ago, but I’ve held back, hoping things wouldn’t get worse. Clearly, they’re not getting better, so we might have a chance.
We stop next to the fire and I start first. “Look, Top, this isn’t working.”
He laughs. “You think?”
I ignore his sarcasm. “It’s not you. We know that. But here’s what’s going to happen.”
I explain how we’re going to go back to the way we did things before thenetwork got involved. Top doesn’t say anything, which means he isn’t arguing. Not yet anyway.
“It’ll be just me and Riggs with our GoPros,” Ash adds. “And to make you guys happy, we’ll even take one of the Canon DSLR cameras with a couple of lenses. We can do fifteen to twenty miles per day if we pack light and this way we’ll need only one ATV for the rest of the trip. You two can drive it. You’ll park five days ahead of us and when we get to you, we’ll resupply, give you the footage we have, then keep going.”
Staring into the fire, Top looks like he’s considering it. After a moment he looks up with, “The network will never go for it.”
“We’re not asking,” I tell him. “If they have a problem with it, you can tell them we didn’t give you a choice. We just did it.”
Ash crouches down and presses his hands to the fire. “I could make the argument that by not providing a reliable film crew, the network is in breach of contract. Now it’s up to us to save this project and a whole lot of the network’s money.” He stands and looks Top in the eye. “How far over budget are you?”
Top laughs. “Millions, and it’s their own damn fault.”
“This will stop the bleeding,” I point out. “You can tell them that, and while you’re at it, tell them to take a look at the footage we’ll provide before they try to shoot us down.”
Rhonda comes to her feet, sways, then catches her balance. She’s a little tipsy, maybe a lot tipsy. “This sounds like fun… I’ll get us some more beer.”
Ash shakes his head. “Riggs and I are good.”
She glares at him with narrowed eyes. “You used to be fun.”
Ash ignores her so she gives me a look I don’t understand, like I’m just as bad, before she turns and heads off toward the food trailer. I’m sure there’s plenty of beer still left in it.
Top starts to stand up, then drops back into his chair. “I don’t think the network will have a problem with it.” He’s slurring his words, and I almost laugh. I certainly don’t blame him for taking the night off, especially after his entire crew quit on him. “In fact,” he continues, “I think they’ll be glad. Do you mind if I tell them it was my idea? I need a win right now. Otherwise, I’ll probably never work again. But if it goes well, it’ll—”
