The Last Descent Page #3

Heh. I'm sure

you had better things to do

the day before Thanksgiving.

[laughs]

Are you kidding?

Better today than tomorrow.

Some of us wouldn't

be able to fit in here

after some turkey and stuffing.

We'd all be real...

[balloon sound]

[both laugh]

JOHN:

Yeah.

Hey, can you reach your light?

Uh...

Yeah, I think so.

-Well, I just...

It depends on what

you can handle, you know?

You might want to conserve

the battery on that thing

as long as you can.

Yeah.

Got it. Okay, yeah.

SUSIE:

Okay. Okay.

Shoot.

We've never seen anything

this technical, this tough.

FEMALE REPORTER:

26-year-old John Jones

went to BYU and was in

his second year of med school...

MALE REPORT ER". "loved

the outdoors and explored

caves before-

this one was different.

He's stuck head down, that would

tell me that he was probably

was still on his way in.

MALE REPORTER". The rescuers

had to squeeze through

narrow twisting passageways...

MAN:
If we'd put other people

in the same location,

they could likewise

get stuck or get hurt.

Where's Hodgson?

-Right there.

Thanks.

And will someone get ahold

of the news station,

and get rid of that chopper'?

I can barely hear myself think.

How long you been standing there?

-Not long.

How's our boy

doing down there?

He's been trapped

at least three hours.

He's got near zero mobility,

and it's next to impossible

to get a rope on him

anywhere that gives us

any purchase.

Well, how deep is he?

Pretty much all the way down

in one of the unmapped parts.

About 100 feet below ground

through a bunch of tunnels.

HODGSON:
I thought

they closed that place off.

SUSIE:
They did,

it's been closed to the public,

but it looks like his brother

got a special permit to get in.

Sheriff Hodgson.

-Dr. Doug Murdock.

I'm a trauma critical care,

Utah Valley Medical.

How is John doing physically?

It's hard to say.

He's gurgling a lot.

What kind of angle's his body at?

He's pretty much

all the way down,

maybe a 70-degree angle.

The body can't survive that long.

Blood has to pump backwards,

circulation slows,

capillaries leak.

I mean, things start

to fail pretty quickly.

Well, how long has he got?

Considering how long

he's already been trapped,

he's gonna get delirious

in another two hours.

Six to eight hours from that,

his body starts shutting down.

So once we get him out,

is he going to be okay?

There'll be toxins

built up in his blood.

So if you take him out

on the wrong angle,

that could rush

to his heart and kill him.

So the faster we act,

the better his chances.

Let's get our guy

and get him down there.

Who's taking point?

-Aaron.

SUSIE:

Are you sure he's ready again?

I mean, he hasn't been

the same since Crandall.

HODGSON:

Yeah, none of us have been.

I know, and he thinks

he should have been in there.

This feels all too similar.

Should we tap someone else?

HODGSON:
Aaron's the best

we got, you know that.

Besides that,

he loves that place.

He's been down there

mapping it for years.

That place is unique.

It's got to be Aaron.

Are you ready?

-Yeah, I'm headin' down.

What's the guy's name?

-John Jones.

Okay.

-How are you feeling?

Good.

-Are you sure?

Yeah. See you down there.

Hey, Aaron, you know

this could be a while.

It doesn't look like you're

taking a lot with you.

You've been

in this cave, Susie.

You know she doesn't like

to be stuffed.

HODGSON:

Whatever you think, Aaron.

Look, Susie gave us an idea

of what we're

working with down there.

Sol need you to get to him,

find a way to get him free,

and when the time comes,

we're going to have

to get real creative on this one.

I'm not coming out without him.

[III]

Hi, beautiful.

Nice to see you again.

John Jones.

Whoa.

This is new.

Okay.

John!

John?

H 6Y-

H 6Y-

I'm Aaron.

How are you feeling, buddy?

Can you get me out of here?

I'm kind of done

with being on my head.

The question is, what are

you doing on your head?

I wish it was a longer

and more interesting story.

AARON:
I bet you do.

I bet you do.

Real story, it's gonna be

the one about

how we got you out of here.

[scoffs]

SUSIE:
John's body is too big

to just be pulled out.

He's so deep, it's hard

to get any leverage.

It looks like when he went in,

he sucked in air

to squeeze in

where he's trapped.

So if we're going to get him out,

he's going to have to do it again

and push while we pull.

But there's a problem,

the tunnel bends

right against his back.

Meaning what?

Meaning we probably have

to break his legs to get him out.

JOHNI:

That bad, huh?

AARON:

Eh, I've been a part of

a lot of search and rescues

that seem near impossible.

We'll figure this out, man,

no doubt in my mind.

JOHN:

Okay.

Here, you don't

need this fight now.

You're probably thirsty.

Drink coming down.

Got it. Thank you.

Is that lemon?

I always wondered

who bought that awful avor,

and now I know it's

you search and rescue guys.

Hey, I didn't buy it, all right?

I get what you mean, though.

It's disgusting.

It takes like

dish soap or something.

But, hey,

when we get on the surface,

you get me a bigger budget,

I'll come get the other guys

with, I don't know,

blue, purple,

whatever they want.

[Aaron laughs]

Yeah. You know, actually,

my legs feel looser,

I think I can... try and...

[John grunts and struggles]

AARON:

Whoa, whoa! Hey! Hey!

[III]

No! No! No!

AARON:

Don't move. It's just me.

Okay, stop. Stop.

[coughing]

Ifsjust me.

What's up, man?

It's nice to see a face.

Listen, we're going

to get you out of here, okay?

Well, sorry about that.

I kicked dirt all over the place.

AARON:

It's okay.

Cleanliness is impossible

in a wild beauty like this one.

Besides, it's crazy with walls

getting soft and hard.

It's like this cave

is alive sometimes.

Yeah.

Don't try it upside down,

you'll start seeing things.

You seeing ghosts?

I don't know.

Hey, relax.

[John grunts]

And, uh, that's what

you call it, fight?

This is doing the same thing

and expecting a different result.

It's the definition

of insanity, right?

Einstein I think, huh?

Brilliant.

Being stuck in here has nothing

to do with my waistline, does it?

[chuckles]

Well, I wasn't going to say

anything, but, uh...

[Aaron laughs]

Did you just call me fat?

AARON;

Oh...

It is what it is.

Once we get up there, if you

need a workout buddy, I'm game.

You promise?

Promise.

MAN [ON TV]:

We were able to send

one of our savers in

dose enough to him

that they were able to chat.

FEMALE REPORTER:

The Nutty Putty Cave is in

an extremely narrow offshoot

known as The Birth Canal.

MALE REPORTER:
His body

plugged in a narrow tunnel,

10-14 inches wide.

MALE OFFICER:
Anytime you're

in a position where

you don't have control

over when you come and go,

ifs gonna have an effect

the person emotionally.

MAN:
There's stiff some

more tight spots in the cave.

Gravity was really working against

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