“Ah, good, you made it. Everybody, let’s get started,” Jessup said, taking command of the room.
Craig had saved me a seat next to him. We said our hellos and got comfortable.
Jessup had rented a warehouse so we could practice tonight. We were prepping at the warehouse instead of doing it on location because of the cold. Jessup had scouted the locations last fall before the temperature dropped. It was predicted a cold front would blow in from the Arctic Circle, so the temperature was supposed to drop all day. They wanted to get as much of the outside work done early as they possibly could.
From reading the script, I knew he was talking about me. The Stryker character was a hard-charging guy who gets up close and personal in a fight. Craig’s character, Royal, was the guy who had your back. The outpost was surrounded. Stryker would be outside, doing his thing, while Royal picked them off with booby traps and rifle action.
Jessup explained that Stryker’s wardrobe wasn’t really designed for the predicted -25 degrees Fahrenheit. The plan was to rush me out, have me do my part of the scene, and then bring me back in and warm me back up. The only problem was I was extra-sensitive to the cold ever since I was buried alive in the basement after the avalanche. I was worried I might have problems doing what was needed.
Jessup had his storyboard out for tomorrow and had video of the location. He and the special-effects people went through each step of what would happen. Craig and I felt a little pressure because the reality was if you blew up a shed, and the shot went wrong, then it took time to put everything back the way it was before you could blow it up again.
Something else they were worried about was when to use stunt doubles. The more they could avoid using them, the more usable footage they’d have that wouldn’t need to be touched up. The problem was that even though the special-effects guys were the best in the business, when you blew stuff up sometimes it didn’t go as planned.
Another problem was, as a teenager, I thought I was indestructible. Craig sat back as I told them I could do it and didn’t look concerned. I felt like Superman. After the meeting, Craig took me aside.
“Huge props on volunteering to do the stunts. It all sounds like a piece of cake in a nice, warm hotel conference room. Let me ask you something. When they bounce you off the trampoline and you fly twenty feet into a foam mattress, it sounds like fun. I can see it in your eyes. I was you once. Just for sanity’s sake, ask yourself what happens to a foam mattress when it’s minus twenty-five degrees? Does it turn into a giant ice cube, and it’s like landing on concrete?” Craig asked.
“I hate you,” I told him.
“No, you love me. Make some crazy stuntman figure out if it’s going to break all his bones. You just look pretty as I blow you up.”
Of course, I didn’t want to believe him, so I went and talked to my stunt double. After him telling me about all his injuries and surgeries, I decided I’d better not try some of the more dangerous things Jessup had planned. I might even let Craig blow the stunt guy up. I had a feeling Craig wanted to blow me up too much for my comfort.
To be honest, Craig and I were becoming friends. He treated me like a little brother and looked out for me. That was unless he could torment me—as I said, he treated me like a little brother. I found out he was behind the whole dancing-Stryker nonsense. I was so going to take him down at the lip-sync contest.
WE DIDN’T GET DONE practicing for tomorrow until nearly midnight. Kendal bailed on me around ten o’clock. With the time difference of two hours, I was ready to collapse by the time we were done. I had to be up at five the next morning to catch our ride to the location. It was nearly an hour drive, and Jessup had arranged for me to get my tattoos redone on the trip.
I was just about bouncing off the walls when I got to my room. I had a ton of nervous energy and knew I needed to go to sleep. It was a restless night.
Friday February 20
KENDAL HAD TO WAKE me up because I’d slept through my wake-up call. I rushed down to find I was the last one on the bus. I was five minutes into the trip and the makeup guy had my shirt off. They shaved me and put the tattoo stuff on me. The only problem was someone told me it was minus eighteen degrees outside and it felt like it wasn’t much warmer on the bus. I could feel the cold seeping into my bones. I was miserable and tired. If Kendal hadn’t had a big thermos of hot tea with her, I would have been cranky, too.
One of the cool things about it still being dark was that you could see the Northern Lights. Suzanne had told me the lights were caused by charged particles hitting the atmosphere. It was something I would want on a bucket list, things to see or do before you die. I found a seat close to the front so I could watch as we finished our trip. I got out my iPad and recorded the lights so I could send it to my friends. By now, the bus’s heater had decided to work and I was feeling better. When we pulled in, I was ready to go.
When we arrived, Craig showed me where the food was. We were able to get a hot breakfast while the poor production crew had to set up. I went to wardrobe and they got me ready. I was in what amounted to black body armor. I wasn’t happy that I didn’t have any headgear. They wanted me to be recognizable. The actors who were going to be the bad guys were all bundled up in white snowsuit-like outfits that looked toasty-warm.
Just before I went out, I had to sit down with one of the special-effects guys.
“I understand you know how to handle a gun,” he stated.
“Yes, sir.”
“This works the same as what you’ve been practicing with. There are blank rounds loaded in these guns. Even though they’re blanks, that doesn’t make them toys. You can seriously hurt someone if you’re too close when you fire your gun. Please don’t point them at anyone who hasn’t been approved.”
I gave him a reassuring smile, then checked to see if a round was in the chamber and verified the rounds were blanks. The special-effects man was happy to see me being cautious.
“I’m serious, David. If I see you messing around, I’ll call off the shoot.”
“I’ll be careful,” I promised him.
The day was a lot of fun. I got to shoot guns and run around. It was a lot like paintball, except everything was fake. It was like watching a magic show and knowing the trick. I was also an amazing shot. I would just point and fire and people died. It was a little unnerving to see fake blood gush out of gunshot wounds I was supposed to have caused.
If anyone thought I was a good shot, Craig could shoot the eye out of a fly at 500 yards. If it hadn’t been so cold out, I think we’d have really had a good time. I learned some things I never wanted to know. Did you know sweat would freeze to your head and eyebrows?
You know what else sucked? The continuity girl. She thought that once ice had formed on my eyebrows, it looked stupid in the next shot if there was no ice there. I kind of could see her point, but I was willing to ignore it. Jessup was no help with my suggestion. Thank goodness, the makeup people figured out a solution before I turned my guns on the evil woman who saw everything.
At our lunch break, they had a cold-water bath for me to soak in. It helped thaw me out enough that I could stand to get into a hot shower. I was glad I had my Range Sports thermals underneath my costume. Kendal was smart enough to bring an extra set for me to change into at lunchtime. The wardrobe people took my morning gear and washed it so I could wear it home after the shoot.
Something the intense cold did was dry you out. There was almost zero humidity in this cold air. I needed plenty of fluids, especially since I seemed to be running all day.
After lunch, the rest of the cast showed up. We needed to do a few shots with them before the special-effects guys did their major fireworks. The good news was the majority of the cast only had to do a handful of scenes. They’d shot everything I wasn’t in earlier in the week. I couldn’t believe all the whining about how cold it was. I wanted to shoot Ben before we were done. I was glad I was mainly working with Craig today. He hadn’t bitched once all day.