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Jayme was driving, Tripp was in the passenger seat, and Brendan and Will were in the back. They were on their way to base camp, all of them still exhausted. Jayme felt like he was more tired after his nap, than he was before it.
He turned onto one street they had used the day before, only to get stopped by a river of rushing water. There was no way they could risk crossing it in the truck. It didn’t look deep, but you could never tell with those kinds of things. Plus, there was a bunch of debris in the water. Jayme watched what looked like a shed get pushed down the road in front of them.
“Hey, what’s that?” Tripp said, and pointed out the front windshield.
He looked at where Tripp was pointing, and inwardly groaned. There, sitting on the hood of a car in the middle of the rushing water; was a brown puppy, shivering and huddled up close to the windshield.
“Looks like a puppy,” Brendan said, his face coming between them; as he leaned forward from the backseat.
“We can’t just leave it there,” Tripp said, and made to get out of the truck.
He grabbed Tripp's arm. “How the hell are we supposed to get to it?”
“I’ll wade out there and grab him. I’m not leaving him there.”
“Tripp, it’s too dangerous. You see all the shit rushing by us? You’ll get swept away by something.”
“We’ll tie a rope around my waist, that way you guys can pull me back.”
“No.”
“I’m not leaving here without him,” Tripp said, and got out of the truck.
“Fuck!” he exclaimed, and shoved open his door.
Brendan and Will followed. They all stood at the front of the truck and looked at the water.
“I’m going to have to agree with Jayme on this one, Tripp. It’s too dangerous,” Brendan said regretfully.
“You just wanna leave the poor thing there to die?” Tripp snapped and motioned to the puppy.
“He’ll be fine there until the water recedes, then he can go on his merry way,” Jayme argued.
“What if the water gets higher, and the car gets swept away? He’ll be doomed.”
“I’m sorry, but a puppy is not worth risking your life for,” he replied.
Tripp stood there staring at him, a spark of defiance flaring in his eyes. Shit. Jayme was not going to win this battle.
“I’m going. Help me or don’t, either way, I’m saving that dog,” Tripp said with finality. He was not going to budge on this.
Tripp went to the back of the truck and opened the hatch. He came back unraveling a nylon rope. He wrapped one end around his waist; tying it off with a special knot so it wouldn’t come undone.
“Goddammit.” He huffed, and picked up the line.
Brendan wrapped some of the rope around his fist, as did Will. The three of them held tight to the rope, as Tripp waded out into the knee-deep water. He shuffled his feet, taking small steps toward the car. Jayme’s heart pounded as he watched. Anything could go wrong, and Tripp could lose his life in a second. He was not a praying man, but he prayed to whatever higher power there may be; that Tripp made it back to him safely.
It took Tripp about five minutes to get to the puppy. They were the longest five minutes of Jayme’s life. Now he just had to get back. Tripp grabbed the puppy and tucked it under his arm like a football. He started to make his way back.
Jayme took notice of the water steadily rising, by the time Tripp was halfway back; it was up to the tops of his thighs. Tripp was maybe about three feet away, when Will yelled for him to look out. He glanced to his right, and saw a car being swept right toward him. Tripp glanced at it, then looked at him.
“Jayme! Catch!” he yelled, then lobbed the puppy at him.
Jayme instinctively let go of the rope and caught the puppy just as the car slammed into Tripp.
“NO!” he screamed, and watched in horror as Tripp went under the water; and the front of the car.
The rope was stretched tight, and Brendan and Will struggled to hang on. Jayme placed the puppy on the ground and raced to the side of the raging water; where Tripp was definitely under the front of the car. Which had stopped moving several yards away.
“Call for help!” he yelled at Brendan.
“I can’t! I’d have to let go, and Will can’t hold it on his own.”
“Fuck!” He ran back to the truck and tore apart the supplies to find another rope. He found it and ran back to where Tripp was. He’d been underwater for far too long. Jayme tied the rope around his waist, then tied it to the tree a few feet away. He had to get him out of the water, before it was too late.
