Steve Sidel climbed down the ramp and shined his light around the carnage that met his eyes. He could not believe the shambles the lobby was in. He saw motionless figures scattered around the jumbled floor. Many others were moving around in the darkness, stumbling over fallen debris with no destination in mind. His light picked up a round object near his feet and he peered intently at it. It was a decapitated head still wearing wire rim spectacles. The metal vent that had been where the crevice in the roof started must have fallen down on the man when he was trying to get away when the roof caved in. He recognized the lifeless eyes staring through the glasses as the hotel manager, Dilford Bailey. He noticed he died with the same dour expression he had worn since the grand opening. He averted his eyes away from the horrible sight and began shining the flashlight around the collapsed building. He saw two women about twenty feet away and one was helping the other to get up and walk toward the ramp. Kevin Backlin came up behind him and when he saw the people in the beam of Steve's flashlight he let out a yell.
"Hey Bill. It's our wives and they're all right, come quick."
Bill Forham had just reached the bottom of the ramp when he heard Kevin holler. He ran up behind his best friend and placed a comforting arm on his shoulder.
"Oh that's great Kevin. Let's get them out of this hole and see whom else we can help after we have them safe."
The two friends hurried over to their wives and Steve Sidel knelt down beside the closest person to him and helped a stunned man to his feet. He led him in the direction of the ramp where the twins were now waiting and went back to see whom else he could help. Just as he bent down to help the next closest person to him, a young lady ran up to him out of the darkness and said.
"You've got to do something. There are two men with guns over there and they are trying to rob the place." Steve recognized her as the desk clerk that was on duty when he checked in.
"You don't think they will still try to rob this place after what happened do you?"He questioned her.
"I don't know but, they are definitely crazy. They were talking about shooting anyone that got in their way. I think they are really nuts. Oh, aren't you Steve Sidel from the computer company?"
He had shined the light away from her face and she could see his in the reflection of the light from where it was now shining on a half-fallen roof beam.
"Yes I am. It's Paula isn't it?"
"Yes I'm Paula. Paula Howard. What can we do?"
"Listen." Steve spoke very softly. "Help me get this woman over to the ramp and we'll tell the people over there to alert the police that must be here by now, that we have some dangerous people down here and they can send a couple of officers down here to take care of them, okay?"
Steve helped a very shook up elderly women to her feet. Her diamond necklace shone in the light from the flashlight as Paula held her arm as they started leading her toward the ramp.
When Steve and Paula reached the ramp they handed the women over to one of the twins just as Kevin and Bill climbed back down in the hole.
"We got big problems Steve." Exclaimed Bill Forham. "The people on the surface said the crack at the lake was getting larger and the whole lake might be pouring in on us in a very short time. We have to really rush if we're going to save all these people."
"We got more problems than that Bill. Paula here said she was about to be robbed when the whole place fell in. She said the two men are really pissed off and they are carrying guns. This is getting to be some adventure."
The three men and the women looked around with the flashlights and Steve said.
"We got to get as many people as we can out of here before the water comes rushing in or those gun wielding jerks come around. Try to tell anyone you see where the ramp is and anyone that is still alive but, cannot go under their own power, tell them we will help them as soon as we can. You two take the one flashlight and head in that direction." He pointed away from the direction of the lake. "I'll take the other light and head over there." He nodded in the direction of the lake. "Paula, you go back to the ramp and climb to safety while we see who we can find."
"No Steve. I'm not hurt. I'll go with you to help save anyone we can." Paula replied. "I think two will be better than one in this situation, don't you?"
"I guess you're right Paula but, stick really close to me okay?"
She nodded her head in the faint light from the flashlight and they began making their way toward the front doors of the lobby. They saw a woman staggering around in a very dazed condition and they both recognized her as Tiffany Royal, the movie star.
"Miss Royal." Paula stated. "Over here. We'll show you the way out."
Tiffany Royal slowly made her way over to Steve and Paula and said.
"Thank God someone is here to help. Brandon Miles is lying over there with a big lump on his head and I can't wake him up. Please help him."
Steve rushed over to where Brandon was lying and reached under his arms and lifted him to his feet. He groaned as soon as he was upright and almost fell over backwards. Steve walked him over to Paula and Tiffany and handed him over to Paula.
"Paula. Why don't you show them where the ramp is and the twins can help them get out. I'll be right by the doors over here so you'll be able to find me. There are a lot of people over there and I'll go see what I can do."
Paula got Brandon and Tiffany to the edge of the ramp and handed them over to the twins and headed back toward Steve when she heard a gruff voice in her ear.
"Stop right there bitch. Oh it's you again. The broad at the front desk that slipped away when the world caved in. Well honey. We're back."
June 14, Saturday 2:13 p.m.
In the woods
Darwood McKenzie woke up when a squirrel started chattering at him. He had fallen asleep about ten thirty in a remote area about one hundred and fifty yards away from the tennis courts. Dilford Bailey had chewed him out for getting the woman and her dog soaked and he put his tail between his legs and wandered into the woods to be by himself. He was really disappointed that he could not do anything right and he felt really sorry for himself. When he came across a nice soft pile of pine needles laying in front of a large pine tree he sat down with his back to the tree and pondered his future. He sat there for awhile and had finally fallen asleep. The squirrel made so much noise at having this stranger invade his personal space that he had not given up chattering until Darwood got up and moved away from his nest.
Darwood had no idea what to do next. He was probably going to get fired he reasoned as soon as Bailey told his boss what he had done. He really liked his job and he was sorry he kept screwing up. If they give me one more chance I will really be good he thought. I will never make a mistake again. With this added courage he decided to face whatever was dealt to him and he walked back toward the resort. He kept his head down most of the way out of the woods and when he reached the tennis courts he looked toward the lobby. Unfortunately the lobby was gone. A look of terror crossed his face and he raced over to where a group of people were standing in the parking lot. He tripped only twice on the way there and he felt his life might really be on an upswing. When he reached the group of people, he was fascinated by an Indian girl who was helping some hurt people out of the large hole in the ground.
"Let me help you miss." He directed toward Connie Littlefield as she was helping two elderly people toward a shady tree to sit under.
"Why thank you. I could use some help." She replied as she looked in the eyes of Darwood McKenzie. "These people are really dazed." She handed the arm of the elderly man over to Darwood and he gently grasped the man's arm and walked him slowly over to a tree.
"What happened here? It looks like the whole place sunk in the ground."
"There was some kind of sinkhole and a whole lot of people are trapped underground.
I'm just trying to
help the people they get out of that hole to be comfortable until help arrives."
Darwood noticed for the first time the bruises and infected needle marks on her arms and for the first time in his life a feeling of wanting to care for someone the rest of his life blossomed out of his heart. He knew she was a few years older than him but he figured she had been through a lot and maybe she would accept the help from someone who really cared. She noticed him looking at her arms and a blush began forming on her face. This guy isn't looking at me like a piece of meat ready to be used she thought. He looks like he really cares. She smiled from deep inside at Darwood and said in a quiet voice.
"There are some more people to be helped. You're welcome to come with me if you want."
Darwood looked her in the eye and the chemistry that shot back at him decided his future.
"I couldn't think of anything I would rather do miss. Oh I'm sorry. I don't even know your name."
"Well half clumsy. I'm very glad to meet you." She smiled. "Let's go help some
people."
She held out her hand and he took it very greedily and together they walked back toward the hole to see whom else they could comfort.
June 14, Saturday 2:34 p.m.
Front parking lot
Kathy Santos had a smile on her face as she headed back toward where the lobby once stood. She was very pleased that the boys were safe and now all she had on her mind was finding that hunk, Steve Sidel, and seeing what she could do to make him notice her again. She was taken aback when she saw all the people scattered around under the palm trees, apparent survivors from the cave-in, of the lobby. She ran up to Beverly Forham and asked if she had seen Steve Sidel. Beverly told her that she thought Steve was still in the hole and he might come out soon because he had been down there a long time. In the meantime several other people emerged from the hole and climbed very unsteadily up the aluminum ladders with the help of the twins. She told Beverly she was going down into the hole and see if she could find Steve. Beverly nodded her acceptance and smiled, wishing her luck.
Kathy Santos climbed down one of the two aluminum ladders and saw that it looked very dark down in the hole as she stood on the fractured roof and looked down. One of the twins put his arm on hers and said.
"It's not really that bad down there. They have flashlights and every time my brother or I helped someone up we could see a little bit down there. I'm sure you'll be able to find your way around and I know they can really use some help down there. Well, good luck."
Kathy descended into the hole and was amazed that she could see around her. She started walking toward the double doors of the lobby when she saw Steve Sidel leaning over an elderly couple that were lying on the floor.
"You have to get up." Steve was saying. "We don't know how stable this place is, I think it's getting really scary around here."
Kathy could hear the compassion in his voice and her heart went all out for him. She started to walk closer when she heard the desk clerk Paula let out a little yelp. She turned around and saw a really spacey guy holding a gun on the desk clerk and she tried to blend back into shadows. She knew she couldn't be of any help if someone threatened her with a gun so she hid in the shadows until the gun slinging crew moved away her.
June 14, Saturday 2:40 p.m.
In the lobby
Tyrone Washington woke up with a blasting headache. He placed his left hand carefully on the back of his head and felt a jagged gash that was sticky to the touch. He moved his head slowly to the left and right trying to work the stiffness out of his neck and wondered who the hell he was. He heard a low moaning and realized with a shock it was coming from his own mouth. Get right, he said to himself and looked slowly around.
A pale glow was coming from the floor about twenty feet away and he realized it was an emergency light that had fallen from its ceiling mount and was partially covered with debris. In the faint light he could see several shapes that looked like crumpled human figures. A sharp cry of pain emitted from one of the figures about ten feet away and he tried to figure out what had happened to place him at this given spot at this given time and he still wondered just who he was.
He could see in the dim light that he was in a very large room, ballroom size, and there were fallen boards and overturned tables and chairs among the human shaped figures. Some type of disaster must have happened and obviously he had been struck on the back of the head. He slightly recalled a petite, very attractive blonde women asking him where the manager's office was located and he vaguely recalled a sharp stinging in his right shoulder as he was about to answer her. The image slowly faded and he felt slightly nauseous. Well, it should come back to me he thought and maybe then I'll remember who I am.
Tyrone Washington got slowly to his feet and as he was getting up he heard a heavy thud come from beneath his feet. He looked down in the soft glow and saw the gleam of a very large revolver at his feet. He realized that he had dropped it when he was struggling to get up and he felt down his right side and felt an empty leather holster. Why would I be wearing a gun he thought? He picked up the gun and felt the front of his shirt and found a metal badge affixed to his chest. I must be some kind of law enforcement officer he thought. He shook his head trying to clear the cobwebs and decided that if he was a lawman he best get to work doing whatever a lawman would do. He staggered toward the light he could see coming from a large crack in the roof and saw a small group of people gathered near the opening. When he was less than twenty feet away, he saw one of the men holding a gun to the head of one of the women that was near the opening. He slid back in the shadows and bumped into a person already crouched down in the darkness.
"Oh thank goodness you're here officer." A female voice softly whispered. "Those guys are acting really insane. They have already shot a deputy and I think they'll shoot anybody that gets in their way. What can you do?"
"I'm sorry lady. But, I can't even remember who I am. How am I going to rescue anybody if I can't even remember who I'm suppose to be?"
"Did you get hurt?" Kathy Santos realized he was favoring the back of his head in the dim light and reached a caressing hand to the back of his head and felt the jagged gash that had by now stopped bleeding. "Oh my gosh you're really hurt. We have to get you some medical help right away."
"No really. I'm fine. I just can't remember who I am. But, it will come back to me I'm sure. Let's just play it safe and hide here until we know what's going on."
"Okay, but I think your name is Tyrone. At least that's what your name tag says. I can barely read it in this dim light."
"Tyrone huh. Doesn't ring a bell. Well we better wait to see what these crazies are going to do. Are you sure you are all right?"
"I'm fine and by the way, my name is Kathy. Kathy Santos."
"Glad to meet you Kathy." He started to get glimpses of a very attractive woman in a bright green bikini out at the pool in the recesses of his mind. Then he had thoughts of a cute woman holding a tiny baby. All of a sudden his memory came rushing back like a tidal wave and he was engulfed in happiness at the wonderful pictures in his mind of his wife and kids. Thank you Lord he thought, and smiled at Kathy Santos.
"I remember" He told Kathy. "I'm a security guard here at the resort and somebody drugged me with a shot. It didn't work right away so, I started to turn around and see who stabbed me with a hypodermic needle, when the lady I was talking to swung her purse at me which must have been loaded with something heavy and split my head open, I remember seeing the smile on her face as I started falling. One of the vilest smiles I've every seen. She must still be here somewhere and I bet she's with that guy holding them."
"I wouldn't doubt it Tyrone. We need to definitely get some help."
June 14, Saturday 2:42 p.m.
In the hole
; Steve Sidel wondered what was keeping Paula Howard from coming back from the opening after delivering Tiffany Royal and Brandon Miles. He helped an elderly couple up and pointed them toward the opening and had just turned around to continue looking for other survivors when a gunshot echoed loudly in the enclosed lobby. His immediate reaction was to duck and when he looked around in his crouched position he could see several figures in the dim light from the jagged hole in the roof.
A woman's scream had paralleled the gunshot and he thought it came from the same direction as the shot. He melted further into the shadows and started working his way toward the opening still in a crouched position. His entire concentration was focused on the people at the opening and he jumped quickly backwards when he came in contact with a very soft human back. A sharp very low yelp sprang back at him from the person he had bumped into and he peered intently into the darkness until he recognized the very attractive face staring back at him with very large eyes.
"Kathy. Are you all right?" He whispered. "How long have you been hiding here?"
Kathy Santos threw her arms quickly around Steve's neck and said in a very low excited voice.
"Oh Steve. I'm so glad it's you. I was so frightened when I heard that shot. I was so afraid someone was shooting at you."