"Hey, let's go ride up at the dunes!" suggested Doug.
Doug and his friends, Patrick, Sawyer, and James, were sitting on their ATVs in the desert just outside of town trying to figure out what to do. They had the entire afternoon to ride wherever they wanted and the desert around their town was full of amazing places to explore. Although the boys were all about eleven years of age, they had a lot of freedom to ride around and explore the desert. Their parents just expected them to be home by dark and to ride in groups of at least three just in case someone had a break down or other emergency.
"Yeah, we haven't been out there for a while," said Patrick.
The boys started their ATVs and headed out to the dunes which were about five miles from town. They left a trail of dust flying behind them. There was a pretty strong breeze which blew their dust to the north. The boys rode straight out to the dunes without stopping. They covered the five miles to the dunes in about eight minutes which was pretty fast considering the terrain they were riding on.
"I think I ran over a mouse," said Patrick who had been riding in the lead all the way up to the dunes.
"No, I saw it run out. You just barely missed it," said Doug who had been riding right behind him.
James, the only one of the boys riding a three-wheeler, said, "Let's go up to Hollow Rock."
"Maybe later," said Patrick, not too excited about hiking up to the landmark.
"Yeah, we came out to ride, not to walk," said Doug.
Sawyer reved his engine and was the first boy to hit the dunes. They rode all over the bottom half of the dunes. The top half of the dunes was on military property. There was a barbed wire fence which cut the dunes in half. The boys rode right up to the fence several times as they performed various manuevers on the dunes, but they never crossed the fence. There were a couple places where enough sand had accumulated so that there was actually a ramp of sand over the barbed wire, but the boys knew better than to take their ATVs onto military property. The military was known to confiscate any vehicles which were driven onto their land.
There were very few people who were employed by the military living in the boys' town. The town closest to the main entrance to the military reservation was about thirty miles away. There was a sense, from the perspective of those living in the boys' town, that the military had occupied land which should have remained available for public access. The barbed wire boundary was highly resented. The military was looked at as a greedy bureaucracy that used up public funds and deprived people of recreational land.
After about forty minutes of riding around and having fun, the boys parked their ATVs at the bottom of the dunes amongst some tall creosote bushes. As they rested in the partial shade of the bushes they made sand piles and talked.
"Did you get your homework done for tomorrow?" asked Doug. Sawyer and Doug were in the sixth grade and they had a difficult homework assignment which had been given to them to do over the weekend. James and Patrick were in fifth grade and they didn't have any homework due on Monday morning.
"Yeah, I got mine done," said Sawyer.
"Me too," said Doug.
"I sure am glad that our teacher doesn't give homework on weekends," said Patrick. Patrick was not looking forward to the sixth grade since he hated doing homework.
"It's not all that hard," said Sawyer, suggesting that Patrick shouldn't worry about the work he had to do in the sixth grade.
"That's easy for you to say," said Doug. Sawyer was one of the smartest kids in the sixth grade. Correction, he was probably the smartest kid in the sixth grade and so his opinion about the difficulty of the assignment was irrelevant.
James stuck a stick in the top of his sand pile and then said, "Let's go up to Hollow Rock now."
"Oh, alright," said Patrick as if he was feeling too tired for the hike.
The boys carried their helmets about two hundred feet up the wash from their ATVs and left them in a small cave. From there they continued on up the wash and after another quarter of a mile they crossed the barbed wire fence onto military property.
"I hope they're not patrolling today," said Sawyer.
"What are they going to do? Even if they catch us all they'll do is call our parents," said James.
"Yeah, but your parents won't ground you. Mine will," said Doug.
"My uncle will just tell me not to do it again," said Patrick with a smile.
"My mom won't even say that," said James.
The boys hiked on about two-thirds of a mile to the top of a ridge and then along the ridge line for about three hundred yards to get to their destination. They left plenty of foot prints in the soft crust of the ridge. Hollow Rock was a large, egg-shaped boulder about twenty feet tall which had a large hole that the wind had eroded into it. It was made of dark brown igneous rock. In fact, the whole ridge was littered with dark brown rock of volcanic origin. Some of the rocks were small and some were large boulders. The opening of the hole in Hollow Rock had a diameter of about two feet, but the chamber inside was easily large enough to accomodate all four boys with a little room to spare.
Once at Hollow Rock the boys all crawled into the rock after a brief pause to catch their breath.
"One of these days we should have a whole bunch of people come up here and see how many people we can get in here," said Doug.
"Yeah, that would be neat," said James.
"I heard that someone once got twelve people in here," said Patrick.
"I don't believe that story," said Doug.
"Me neither," said Sawyer.
"I bet you could probably stuff seven people in here," said Doug.
"Even more if you got a bunch of little kids," said James.
"Yeah and if you stacked them on top of each other, even more," joked Patrick.
"Yeah, but they'd probably suffocate," said Sawyer.
"Maybe, but at least they'd set a record," said Patrick.
"What if they were so stuffed in here that they couldn't get back out?" asked James.
"Then they'd have to call the fire department to get them out," said Patrick.
"But there aren't any roads that come out to here," said Doug.
"Oh, yeah," said Patrick and then he added, "I guess they'd be stuck."
"Maybe they could crack the rock," said James.
"How? They couldn't use dynamite," said Sawyer.
"Maybe something like a jack hammer," suggested Patrick.
Just then the boys heard a sound from outside that wasn't entirely unlike the sound of a jack hammer. At first they weren't quite sure what they heard. James poked his head out of the hole and spotted something large flying up in the sky.
"It's a chopper," reported James.
"Oh, no, this is not good," said Doug.
"He can't see us in here. We can just wait until he flies away," said Sawyer.
"What if he lands?" asked Doug.
"Then we're in big trouble," said Sawyer.
The boys heard an amplified voice from outside. It said, "We know that you're inside the rock. Come out now!"
"He's bluffing. I say we just wait until he gets tired of yelling at the rock," said Patrick.
"Yeah, maybe he'll go yell at some other rock after a while," said James.
"What if he lands?" asked Doug repeating his last question, feeling even more anxious this time.
"Then we make a run for it," said James.
"What if they shoot?" asked Doug.
"They won't shoot," said Patrick.
"Yeah, they can't shoot kids," said Sawyer.
"But what if they think we're terrorists?" asked Doug.
"They're not that stupid," said Patrick.
They heard the amplified voice again. This time it said, "This is base security. I order you to exit from the rock immediately." The helicopter moved in even lower.
"I think they're serious," said Doug.
"Of course they're serious, but that doesn't mean they're going to actually do anything," said Patrick.
"Yeah, we've got plenty of time," said James.
A few moments later the amplified voice said, "You are trespassing on a military reservation. I order you to exit from the rock without any further delay!"
"This guy is persistent," said Sawyer.
"Yeah, he doesn't know when to give up," said Patrick.
The boys heard the helicopter move away from the rock.
"Is he leaving?" asked Doug, hopefully.
James poked his head out and looked up and saw the helicopter directly above the rock and then he looked along the ridge to the east and saw two hummers about a half a mile away. "Crud! We've gotta get outta here!" said James as he jumped out of the rock.
Patrick, Doug, and Sawyer jumped out of the rock right behind James and started running down the side of the ridge. They could not retrace the route along the ridge line which they had taken to get to the rock since the hummers seemed to be taking that route. So, they had to just head straight down the side of the ridge and into a wash which was about three hundred feet down an extremely steep and rocky slope.
The helicopter hovered over the boys as they entered the wash. By this time the crew in the helicopter had directed the drivers of the hummers to head toward the dunes.
"Where do you think the hummers are going?" asked Doug as they ran down the wash.
"Probably up to the rock," said James as he jumped over a small bush.
"What if they go down to the dunes?" asked Doug. The boys had to yell pretty loudly to hear each other due to the sound of the helicopter.
"Then we might be in some trouble," said Patrick smiling at the idea of the chase getting even more exciting.
"We might be able to still get away even then," said Sawyer dodging a creosote branch as it snapped back after being displaced by Patrick.
After about two minutes of running down the first wash, the boys reached the main wash that led to their helmets and quads. By this time the hummers had reached the upper portion of the dunes. The helicopter was positioned about midway between the boys and the hummers.
"What will they do to us if they catch us?" asked Doug as they continued running down the wash.
"They'll take us to their military police station and call our parents," said James.
"How do you know?" asked Doug who was, by far, the most worried of the boys.
"One of my cousins got caught riding on the dunes a couple years ago," said James.
"Did they take his quad?" asked Sawyer.
"It was a motorcycle and they let him have it back after he paid a fine," said James.
"How much was the fine?" asked Doug.
"How am I supposed to know?" asked James.
"Will they make us pay a fine?" asked Doug.
"Probably," said Patrick.
"What if we didn't run? What if we just came out the first time they asked?" asked Doug.
"Maybe not then, but they still might have," said Patrick.
"Depends if they wanted to be nice or not," said Sawyer.
"You mean, it depends if they wanted to be jerks or not," said Patrick.
The hummers arrived at the barbed wire fence when the boys were about two hundred yards from their helmets. The hummers just drove straight through one of the locations where the sand was piled up over the barbed wire. It was as if they knew exactly where to go.
As the boys grabbed their helmets they could see the hummers driving down the dunes.
"We've got to haul like crazy!" said James.
"I'd say so," said Patrick enjoying every minute of the excitement.
"Crud," said Doug to himself feeling sure that he was going to be in major trouble in just a few moments. His mind automatically pictured his parents yelling at him and grounding him for two months. His fear and anxiety made him run even faster.
The boys got to their ATVs just as the hummers made it to the bottom of the dunes. Doug's heart pounded as he started the engine of his quad. He was immensely relieved when it started right away. He looked back and saw Patrick trying to get his quad started. He seemed to be having some difficulty, but it started on the fifth try and Patrick smiled about the close call. The boys jetted down the dirt road once Sawyer and James were ready and the hummers were not more than twenty yards behind them. The boys were amazed that the hummers were able to stay so close to them.
"Those must be some crazy drivers!" yelled Patrick as they rode as fast as they could.
The road curved up and down the sides of the narrow wash as it descended to the valley below and back to town. The road had been made by ATV enthusiasts over the years. Instead of going straight along the bottom of the wash it curved up the sides whenever possible since the ATV riders enjoyed this kind of a trail more than a straight trail. This gave the boys on their ATVs a definite advantage over larger vehicles, but these hummers weren't ordinary off-road vehicles. They were equiped with the best suspension available and the personnel driving them were highly skilled. Nevertheless, the size of the hummers made it impossible for them to make it through especially narrow passages and soon after the boys passed through a particularly narrow section of the wash, they realized that they were no longer being pursued. The helicopter hovered over them for another mile, but after a bit it turned back also.
As Sawyer, Patrick, James, and Doug emerged from the mouth of the canyon leading up to the dunes, three military jets flew straight over them and on over the town.
"Those guys are flying lower than usual," said Doug.
"They sent them after us," joked Patrick.
"Yeah, helicopters and hummers were no match for our incredible manuevers," joked James.
"The Army is no match for us!" said Patrick proudly.
Sawyer rolled his eyes. He was going to say something sarcastic, but he decided to keep it to himself.
The boys rode straight back to Patrick's house and parked their ATVs under an awning which hid them from anything that might happen to fly over the town, just in case the helicopter pilot had second thoughts about following or trying to locate them.
"Dang that was close!" said Patrick with a big grin.
"Yeah, I'd say!" said James.
"That was crazy!" said Doug realizing how close he had come to getting into major trouble.
"We got pretty lucky that time," said Sawyer.
"Luck? That was pure skill! We outrode professional soldiers in hummers!" said Patrick feeling proud of his accomplishment.
"Yeah, that was pretty intense," agreed James.
"Just a little. I just about had a heart attack," said Doug smiling and holding his hand over his chest.
The boys hung out at Patrick's house for a little while and then went to their separate homes for the evening. The next day at school they told their friends about what had happened. Patrick was extremely proud of what they had gotten away with.
"Yeah, they came after us with hummers, helicopters, and jets, and they still couldn't get us," explained Patrick to a group of his peers.
"Yeah, right," scoffed one of the boys in his class.
"I swear, we were in Hollow Rock and there was a helicopter and then hummers chasing us," said Patrick.
"What about the jets?" asked a girl in the group.
"They were probably just out flying around," admitted Patrick.
Sawyer, Doug, and James got similar reactions from the kids they shared their stories with. Most of the kids believed that they had been to Hollow Rock and most even believed that there might have been a helicopter in the area, but none believed that there had been a serious chase.
It was at about nine o'clock on Monday morning that every person in town heard a huge explosion coming from the direction of the military base. It was at eleven o'clock that all the students, from the fourth grade on up, were called to an unscheduled assembly. Once the students were settled, a group of five military personel walked into the room and in less than thirty seconds they were set up to deliver an audio-visual presentation. The leader of the group was a gentleman of about fifty-five years of age. He wore a standard green military uniform and it was obvious he held a high rank in his organization. In fact, he was the commanding officer of the neighboring military base. He spoke decisively as he explained the reason for his visit. It was obvious that he was an important and busy military officer. "At oh nine hundred this morning we demolished a landmark which was known as Hollow Rock. We took this action as a preventative measure to ensure that children are no longer enticed to trespass onto our military reservation." He went on to explain the dangers and consequences associated with trespassing into restricted areas.
A video was presented which showed the explosion which demolished Hollow Rock. All the students were stunned by this action. There was a gasp followed by silence as they saw one of the most well-known local landmarks in the area destroyed. The video also showed part of the chase from the previous day from the perspective of the helicopter. The commanding officer narrated as the video was shown on the large screen at the front of the auditorium. He concluded his presentation by saying, "We don't want to know who these boys were. They got lucky this time, but should they ever trespas again, they will not be so lucky!" He gave a military salute to his audience and then left. The other military personel quickly removed the video equipment they had brought for their presentation. The total elapsed time from the arrival to the departure of the military entourage was seventeen minutes.
The principal let the students out to lunch early. This gave them extra free time for recreation or to just hang out and talk. The boys' story was proven to be credible and they got a lot of approval from their peers for being so daring. Patrick, though, was not at all happy with the way things turned out.
"Why did they have to blow up Hollow Rock?" asked Patrick with a look of disgust on his face.
"Because the military likes to blow things up," said Sawyer.
"But they have all those helicopters. They could have just moved it," said Patrick.
This idea hadn't occurred to anyone else. Instead of destroying the landmark, the military could have just relocated the landmark. That would have solved the problem in a non-destructive manner.
"But it's the military, they don't do things that way," said James.
"Well they ought to," said Patrick.
"Well they don't," said James. "They don't know how to solve problems any other way."
"Well then they ought to learn," said Patrick, feeling totally disgusted about the military reaction to their trespassing.
"They're bullies. They don't care about doing things the right way," said Sawyer.
"They could have solved the problem and done something nice if they wanted to, but instead they destroyed something awesome and amazing," said Doug realizing that all the fear he had felt about being caught was nothing compared to the sense of loss he felt over the demise of Hollow Rock. He felt ashamed of what officials representing his government had done and felt powerless to do a thing about it.