Escape from LA

by Icecat


As he slowly woke, he listened to the sounds around him. Birds chirped, a breeze blew through the trees rustling their branches. Taking a deep breath, he smiled. Not one trace of LA's smog entered his lungs.

Crawling out of his one man tent, Gage stood and stretched, reveling in the feeling of just being alive. Clad in only ragged cutoffs, he walked to the edge of the lake and looked across the horizon, enjoying the splendid sunrise.

He hated living in the city, but he loved being a paramedic. With these occasional trips into the woods and mountains, he was able to retain his sanity.

Glancing back at the camp, he shook his head. His two fellow campers were still asleep. It was a beautiful morning and they weren't up to enjoy it with him.

Wading into the lake up to his knees, he dug his toes down into the bottom. The spongy substance felt wonderful. After walking on nothing but cement for weeks on end, a giving surface was a treat.

He knew he shouldn't swim alone, but he also didn't want to wait for anyone to wake up. Besides, he'd gone camping alone many times and he knew the risks that were involved.

Wading out deeper, he plunged into the cool water, smoothly swimming across it's glassy surface. This was what life should be like. No stress, no alarms blaring at three in the morning jarring him out of a dead sleep. No uniforms or regulations to restrict him.

Blocking everything out, he concentrated on the feel of his body, the way his muscled moved under his skin. It was a great day to be alive!  
 
*****

His back ached, his mouth was pasty and his eyes were gritty. Struggling to extract himself from the small tent he was crammed in, Chet cursed. He didn't know why he let Gage talk him into camping. He didn't really enjoy it. A nice hotel with a soft bed would have been a hell of a lot better than sleeping on the cold hard ground.

Scratching at a mosquito bite on his hip, he yawned and stumbled over to the ring of rocks where the fire had been the night before. He wanted coffee now. "A stove would be nice."

Sighing tiredly, Chet went about the camp, picking up twigs and small branches. Turning, he looked out across the lake. "You've got to be kidding me. What idiot would be swimming at this time in the morning?"

Looking around the camp, he cocked his head and listened. Soft snores could be heard coming from DeSoto's tent. He heard nothing from Gage's tent. He shook his head. "It figures."

He watched Gage as he made his way back toward shore, never once breaking his smooth even strokes. He then turned away and went back to his task of starting the fire.

As he went to place the coffee pot over the small grate, he heard the sounds of Gage walking out of the water. Looking over his shoulder at him, he frowned.

"What's wrong with you, John? Don't you know you're not supposed to swim alone?"

"Aw Chet, I didn't even know you cared."

Shaking the water from his hair like a dog, he finger combed his long dark locks.

He nodded in the direction of DeSoto's tent. "He's not up yet?"

Chet gave him an irritated look, his voice sarcastic. "Is he out here?"

"No, but it doesn't mean he's not up. He could be out in the woods."

"You know not everyone gets up at the crack of dawn. Some of us prefer to sleep in on our days off."
Gage gestured around them. "How could you sleep with all of this waiting to be explored?!"

Chet huffed. "You can explore, I'll relax."

Letting his arms drop dejectedly to his side, Gage walked over to his tent. Maybe no one else appreciated the outdoors the way he did, but there was no way he'd waste his time away from the city, sleeping or sitting around the camp.

Stripping off his wet shorts, he grabbed dry clothes from inside the tent and pulled them on. Lacing his hiking boots, he tucked his shirt in and walked back to the fire that was now burning brightly.

Grabbing a mug, he filled it with half brewed coffee and downed it, much to Chet dismay. Digging through a container, he picked out a couple of granola bars and a packet of trail mix.

"I'll be back in a couple of hours. I'm going for a little walk."

Chet finally paid attention to him.

"Where're you going?"

"Up on the north ridge."

"Okay."

As Gage walked away from the camp he snagged one of the canteens hanging from a tree.

Chet flopped down on the ground to drink his coffee. He had to admit it wasn't really all that bad. The sun was shining, the air was clean and fresh. Then a bug bit him. Swatting at the sharp sting he frowned. He knew he should have stayed home.
 
*** 

Shortly after Gage left for his hike, DeSoto's bleary eyed figure finally crawled out of his tent. Rubbing at his eyes, he yawned. "Mornin' Chet." He looked around the campsite. "Where's Johnny?"

Chet pointed in the direction that Gage had gone. "Mr. Sunshine went for a little hike."

Roy walked over to the fire and poured himself a mug of coffee, then stretched out on the ground across from Chet. "I guess he didn't want to wait for me."

Chet frowned slightly. "I don't get it. He's only a couple of years younger than us, how come he had all that energy? Ya' know he already swam across the lake!"

Roy yawned again and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Sometimes I wonder about it myself. I've just figured that Johnny's a hyper individual."

Chet snorted and poured himself another cup of coffee. "He's not hyper Roy, he's nuts."
 
***

A little over two hours later, Gage came ambling back into camp, whistling happily. He smiled at Chet and Roy who were still lounging lazily around the camp. He practically bounced in place he was so happy.

"Man, you two missed a really great hike. It's beautiful up there!"

Chet's voice was dry. "Yeah, I'm sure it was. There's nothing better than waking up at six in the morning, walking until your feet hurt, sweating like a pig and having bugs eat you alive to make you realize how beautiful everything is."

Chet immediately felt bad as Gage's smile disappeared.

"Fine Chet...whatever. The next time I go camping I won't ask you to come."

"Look John, I didn't mean..."

"Forget it Kelly."

"Oh come on, it's not that I don't like camping...well it's not my favorite thing, but let's face it, all there is to do is hike or fish."

Gage frowned down at him, then turned away and mumbled under his breath.

"What did you say?"

Roy shook his head no at Chet. He knew he was baiting Gage, but he could also tell that his partner didn't seem to be in the mood to be teased. They were both taken aback when Gage wheeled around and yelled at Chet.

"I said, it's a heck of a lot better than layin' around the house and doing yard work!"

A slow flush of embarrassment and anger tinged his cheeks as he continued talking.

"I thought it would be nice to get away from the city for a while. I thought you and Roy would enjoy it."

Roy spoke in a calming voice, hoping to avoid a full blown argument.

"We are enjoying it Johnny."

Gage's voice was sarcastic. "You don't have to lie to me, Roy. He's bored to death and all you want to do is sleep. I knew I should have come out here by myself."

Gage walked over to his tent and dug through it. Grabbing something, he walked back over to the fire. He threw his keys at Chet who barely had enough time to grab them before they hit him in the face.

"You don't have to stay. Take the Rover and go."

Chet looked at the keys in his hands, then over at Roy, his eyes wide in surprise. He was use to Gage's rants, but this one seemed different. He looked back at Gage, his voice quiet.

"How would you get back home?"

"Don't worry about me, just go."

Walking away from them, he grabbed a fishing pole and bait and disappeared around a bend in the woods.

Chet watched Gage stomp away from the campsite, then he looked back at Roy, his eyes still wide.
"What brought that on?"

Roy sighed and gave Chet a guilty look. "I think 'we' brought that on. We said we'd go camping and all we've done is...nothing."

Roy yawned again. He couldn't help it. He had been so stressed out lately that as soon as he hit the woods he had relaxed. Between the fresh air and lack of tension, he had been sleeping like a baby. For him the trip was a blessing. Gage had been right. If he had stayed home, Joanne would have expected him to do several of the projects languishing in the honey-do jar.

"If Johnny hadn't asked you to come, what would you have been doing?"

Chet shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I guess I would have done laundry...maybe cleaned my apartment. Gone to a bar. I don't know."

Chet sighed. "We messed up didn't we?"

Roy nodded his head. "Yes, we did."

Standing, Chet poured his remaining coffee in a bush behind him. Grabbing a stick, he stirred the ashes of the fire as he kicked dirt and sand over it. When he was sure that the fire was completely out and no embers were still glowing, he walked over to the two remaining fishing poles and grabbed them. Walking back over to Roy, he sighed again as he held one of the poles out.

"Okay, let's go over and suck up to him."

Roy smiled as he stood and took the pole. Chet would never say he'd apologize to Gage, he'd rather call it sucking up than admit to him that he was wrong.
 
***

They walked around the bend, surprised when they didn't see Gage close by. Looking around at the ground, Roy pointed to a path in the woods.

"It looks like he's headed for that small pond we passed coming in here."

Chet frowned. "Aw come on, that's almost a two mile hike from here!"

"You would have had to go by it if you were going to go home."

Chet's body drooped in defeat.

Turning back around, Roy walked back to the camp and grabbed a backpack. Loading it with snacks and the remaining canteens, he slung it over his shoulders. Chet gave him a pleading look.

"How about we go home and when he comes back to work, we make it up to him?"

Roy stared blankly at him.

"All right! All right! I'll go. I'm telling you right now, I'm not going to clean the fish and if the bugs start eating me up, I'm coming back here, packing my stuff up and going home."

Without saying a word, Roy walked past Chet and around the bend in the woods. He knew Chet was bluffing. If he was going to do what he said, he would have packed all of his things now to save him the trip back.

Chet mumbled under his breath as he jogged to catch up to Roy. He hated hiking, but he hated being alone in the woods even more.
 
*** 

Reaching a clearing, Roy stepped out of the woods and looked around spotting Gage about twenty yards away. His friend looked content. He was laying back against a tree, his fishing pole held lightly in his hands. He watched as he stiffened and slowly stood, then suddenly jerked the pole. Reeling in a fish, he smiled as he hauled it ashore.

Grasping the fish, he unhooked it, then added it to a line that had a couple of other fish strung on it. As he looked up and spied Roy and Chet, his expression turned into a frown. Turning his back on them, he began to bait his line.

Chet nudged Roy in the side with an elbow. "He doesn't look too happy to see us."

"No, he doesn't, but we'll fix that."

"How can we fix it?"

"We'll go fishing. He'll have to talk to us because we need some of the bait he has."

"Oh yeah, that's right."

Roy also knew that Gage would talk to and forgive them at the same time. He could never hold a grudge, especially over something so small.

Walking over to Gage, Roy set his pack down and smiled at him.

"It looks like the fishing's good here."

Gage ignored him.

"Do you mind if Chet and I fish here with you?"

Gage looked at him and frowned as he shrugged his shoulders.

"We don't have any bait. Can we use yours?"

Gage sighed and motioned at the bait container resting under the shade of the tree he had been sitting under.

Roy quickly baited his hook, stood a few yards away from Gage and threw his line in.

Chet walked past Gage and pulled up the line admiring the fish. "You know I'm not going to clean these."

Gage snorted and gave Chet an irritated look. "Who asked you to? I thought you were going home."
Roy turned slightly away from them to hide his smile. Chet always knew how to get Gage to talk no matter what his mood.

"Well, I changed my mind. I told Roy that maybe we should give you a chance to apologize to us."

Gage almost dropped his pole in the pond. "Apologize?! What'd ya' mean apologize?!"

"Well, you're the one that started yelling and throwing stuff back at the camp. It's not our fault you're in a bad mood. Just because Roy and I wanted to relax, it didn't mean we didn't want to be here."

Gage stared back at Chet open mouthed. "You're unbelievable!"

"Hey, I'm here aren't I?"

Gage looked from Chet, then over at Roy, who carefully schooled his features before looking back at him.

Gage's voice was accusatory. "Why didn't you go home?"

"Well Johnny, I'm having a good time. I haven't felt this relaxed in weeks. Maybe that's why I've been sleeping so much."

He could see the embarrassment creeping across Gage's face. "I'm sorry...I didn't even think about that. I just thought you were bored."

"No, just tired."

"Oh."

They lapsed into silence, the three of them basking in the late morning sun. The only sounds that could be heard were birds singing and bugs buzzing about. The occasional fish jumping out of the water sent ripples across the pond.

Chet closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. Everything was so clean. So peaceful. He couldn't stand it. "Hey, John."

"Yeah Chet?"

"How come you don't belong to one of those hiking groups? I mean you go camping alone alot. What's so fun about that?"

"I don't like those things. All they want to do is see how much distance they can cover in the shortest time possible."

Chet gave him a sideways glance, then smirked at Roy who shook his head. He knew what Chet was up to.

"I think it's because you're antisocial. Either that, it's because you think you're better than them at camping and outdoors stuff because you're part Indian."

"Are you nuts?!!"

"Hey, calm down, you'll scare away all the fish."

"You...you...man, you are such a..."

Gage looked over at Roy who had turned his head away from him. He frowned and narrowed his eyes as he looked back at Chet. "You're an asshole."

Chet feigned shock.

"John, I'm deeply hurt. How can you say that about me? Besides, I don't see you denying what I said, so it must be true."

Gage angrily cranked in his line and checked the bait, stabbing himself through the finger with the hook. Yelping, he quickly pulled the hook out and squeezed the finger to make it bleed better. "Do you see what you made me do?!"

Chet smiled. "I didn't do anything. You're the one who's accident prone."

Shaking his finger, Gage rinsed it off in the water. Roy frowned at him.

"That's not very sanitary Johnny."

"I'll clean it out when we get back to camp."

Setting his pole down, Roy walked over to the backpack and pulled out a small first aid kit. Grabbing the antiseptic ointment and a bandaid, he went over to Gage.

"Let me see it."

"No."

"Johnny, let me see your finger."

Gage held his middle finger up to him. Chet snickered and Roy smiled slightly.

"Not that one, the other one."

Roy saw the slight smile that Gage was trying to hide as he raised his other hand up and gave him the finger again.

Reaching down, he grabbed Gage's hand with the injured digit. Applying some ointment, he wrapped the bandage around the small puncture wound.

Gage check the bandage and picked up his pole and went back to baiting the hook.

Roy sighed. "Thank you, Roy. That was really nice of you to take care of my injury."

Gage turned his back on him and cast his line in the water. "Thanks mom."

Chet sat down and leaned against a tree as he looked up at Gage.

"You didn't answer me, John."

"Chet!"

"No, I'm serious. Why don't you join a group?"

"I was serious too. I like to enjoy myself, not rush around."

"You know what you need?"

"If I say yes, will you stop buggin' me?"

Chet ignored him. "You need a girlfriend who hikes and does outdoors stuff."

Gage sighed and tried to ignore him.

Chet turned to Roy and grinned. "Don't you have a cousin or something that likes the outdoors? Maybe you could hook her up with him. If you did that, he wouldn't be so cranky with us."

"I wouldn't be cranky if you'd shut up!"

"See Roy, he admits that he's cranky."

"Arrggghhh! Chet will you shut up!"

Chet placed a hand on his chest.

"I'm sorry John, I was only trying to help."

Chet looked back at Roy again and smiled causing Roy to chuckle. Gage shot them a dirty look.

The rest of the morning and part of the early afternoon went on like this. Chet was having a wonderful time tormenting his favorite pigeon, Roy was having a wonderful time relaxing and Gage was surprised that even though Chet wouldn't leave him alone, he was having a good time fishing with them.  
 
***

By the time they hiked back to camp, Gage was back in his happy mood that he had woke up with. Taking the fish, he cleaned them, then started a fire to cook their dinner.

Sitting around the fire, they quietly ate their meal then cleaned up the camp site. Roy and Chet sat down by the fire to relax, while Gage walked back over to the lake's edge and sat down on the ground observing the sunset.

He knew they were watching him, but he didn't care. He loved watching the sun as it cast vibrant colors across the sky and water. It was a good time to contemplate life and everything in general.

Picking up a blade of grass, he absently chewed on it. He had many things to be grateful for. The clothes on his back, a place to live, a job that he loved. He peeked back at Chet and Roy, smirking as the two men tried to act like they hadn't been staring at him. He was also thankful that he had managed to find real friends in LA. People he could trust and depend on.

He frowned as he remembered a time in his life when things hadn't been so good. When he had needed a friend and there had been no one to turn to.

As the sun dropped beyond the horizon, he looked up at the velvet black sky watching the stars appear. He was so engrossed, that he jumped slightly as Roy settled on the ground beside him.

"It's really nice out here Johnny."

Roy looked a bit uncomfortable and Gage almost smiled. He knew that Roy was going to start digging for answers on how he felt. Any time he had to be touchy feely, Gage knew that DeSoto was struggling to do it. The man didn't know how to express himself emotionally. This thought did make him to smile. He and his friend were total opposites, yet they managed to be the best of friends.

"Yeah, it is."

"Um...Johnny...are you okay?"

"Yeah Roy, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I mean Chet and I...we didn't mean to...this morning we 'were' relaxing. We had no idea that you thought we didn't want to be here."

"Nah, it's okay. I kind of flew off the handle. I'm sorry I yelled at you guys."

Roy gave him a small smile. "Well...we're sorry too."

Gage snickered and Roy gave him a confused look.

"What's the matter?"

Gage picked up a rock and squirmed it across the lake. "Nothin's wrong." He gave Roy a bright smile. "How about we make s'mores?"

Roy grinned at him. "You brought s'mores?"

"No, I didn't bring s'mores, we'll have to make them. I hid the stuff so Chet wouldn't eat the marshmallows."

Standing, they made their way back to the fire. As they made their s'mores and talked, Gage looked across at his two companions. No they weren't perfect matches, but some how they managed to be friends. What they shared went beyond their jobs. When he really thought about it, what they shared was more than friendship. Roy was his brother and Chet...Chet was, to his surprise, something of a brother as well. Maybe he was the pain in the ass older brother, but he could be counted on to be there for him through thick and thin.

Leaning back, he stuffed a s'more in his mouth, giving thanks for the life that he had, hoping it would continue like this for years to come.