The Disillusionists cont'd...

It was early morning and the gang stood on the rocks by the ocean.

"Time for the early bird special?" asked Jay, digging into his shirt pocket.

A few moments later they clambered down into the inter-tidal zone. Gunther was wearing his denim 'Regular Guy' outfit. He prepared himself for certain death. They had found a channel in the rock that gave him enough shelter from the breakers so he could slither around to the side of a low rock face. From that angle they hoped they could catch him as he popped out of a wave. The morning was clear and bright. An early fog had burned off and the air was crisp.

Damn if that water wasn't cold though. It was slow going as G edged his way along the pebbled bottom of the channel. By the time he eased his nuts under the water line, he was already shivering. At the end of the channel, where the swells came up to his chin - a ridge of barnacles or mussels, he didn't know which - gave him a foothold and he crunched his way from the channel out into the open water.

This was no postcard. This was an angry, violent place. Full body slams were delivered standing up and full body sucking was immediate and clean. The first wave to hit him almost knocked a tooth loose. It had come in a little higher and wider than it looked from above. He shook the salt-water out of his eyes and looked up. Snot drained down his throat.

Mike was waving and screaming, "That way! That way!"

Gunther turned his back to the water to see where Mike was pointing as the second wave hit. Whatever grip he had on the rocks was lost. He now sat in a tide pool twenty feet from where he just was. The rope was tangled around his feet. By the time the third wave hit he had crawled to a less slippery spot but that hardly mattered. He cracked his tailbone on a rock as he was sucked out during the return trip.

"This is great!" yelled Mike as he filmed. "Get him to come over here!"

Jay climbed down the rocks a few feet, just out of the frame. "Climb up the rocks!" he screamed at Gunther, who was treading white water. "On the next one, try to get washed ashore..."

"Fuck you!" Gunther could feel himself being pulled further away.

"This is great..." Mike zoomed in on G's face.

"If we lose him, are we insured? asked Alexis. "I mean, can we at least collect on that?"

"Tell him to quit dickin' around and get in here."

The water had flattened out and they could see it start to swell - way, way out there. Gunther started paddling across the rip. There was a beach about a half-mile away.

"Where's he going?" said Mike, switching the camera off.

"He's trying to get away..." said Jay.

"What did you say to him?"

May stood beside them. They looked at her and then back at the water. She wondered what that was about. What did they mean, 'what did you say to him?' She started along the rocks to follow Gunther as he swam.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Jay said, "Why don't we get this over with."

"Ya see Jay," said Mike, "that's what I'm talking about. You never want to see anything through."

"See it through? It'll be through when I see my money."

"You'll see it. We've got to finish the movie."

"Fuck the movie. We can't take this back into the city! You're getting distracted. I say we stick to the plan."

"We are Jay. Just keep cool." They started along the shore to where May and Gunther were. He stood dripping on the rocks ahead of them. The rope was gone, his clothes were shredded and he was missing his boots. Once the others had caught up he said, "I hope that was good enough because there's no freakin' way I'm goin' back in there."

"No, that was excellent." Mike took his hand and shook it. "Let's go back and have a look."