"The Disaster Drill."
I went to school in Wilmington, NC (UNCW).
In order to test the resources of the local emergency agencies,
they often scheduled disaster drill. I had watched one of these
drills, the previous summer and thought it would be a good
opportunity for me to act out my fantasy in a socially acceptable
way. The worst thing that could happen is someone would accuse
me of acting too well.
They asked for volunteers from the college, I knew a guy in the
local EMT section and I got the info. The agencies involved knew
there was going to be a drill, but, they don't know the exact day
or the circumstances. The purpose is to test their ability to
handle mass casualties. What happens when a lot of people are
injured at the same time.
Carolina Beach is a resort beach on the North Carolina Coast. The
scenario would be a luxury yacht explosion with 50+ people
involved. The entire assets of the New Hanover County area are
suppose to be employed. They took a barge and towed it a little
ways off shore. The waited until night fall on a friday night in
July (I don't think it was friday the 13th, but, I could be
wrong). Anyway the volunteers assembled at the beach pavilion,
which is a modified auditorium with a large wooden dance floor.
I had thought about what to wear. The occasion called for
swimsuit casual. I didn't want to look to revealing, but, as you
guys can probably tell by now, I DID want to get noticed. So, I
wore a pink bikini top covered with a tank top. The sides were
cut low around the arm, to offer a nice view from the side. I
had on a pair of mesh shorts with lining so I didn't need any
panties. I wore makeup and a had my hair tossed. I wore a pair
of leather slaps to the assembly, but, I took them off there.
Both because barefoot is better and I didn't want to loose them
at the beach. The pavilion was going to be used as a temporary
morgue for all fatalities, so I knew I would be coming back there
(hopefully in a bodybag).
They put a piece of tape around our wrist so the EMT's would know
what type of simulated injury the participants had. Black - DEAD
at scene, Red - Critical, Yellow - Serious, White - Minor. I was
able to get a black band. I remember volunteering to be dead, by
saying, "It would take less work". They applied some minor
makeup from the casualty kit and we were all set. I remarked to
the guy putting on my makeup, not to make it too gory, as I
wanted to be a pretty corpse.
We left the pavilion about 7:30pm. We walked over to the beach
which was only across a large parking lot. I could feel the warm
pavement under my feet as it had been a hot day. I was glad the
sand would also be warm because it can get chilly even on a
summer night at the beach. ( I've laid on enough beaches at night,
both alive and dead, to know.)
They spread the casualties out on the beach front. Then they set
the old barge on fire off shore. It took about 15 minutes before
rescue crews started arriving. Some of the actors where
screaming in pain or running around in mock panic. The first
EMT's had their hands full with them. I just lay on my back in
the sand practicing my yoga (the dead man's pose).
After awhile, two guys came up to check on me. They went through
the motion of checking for a pulse, listening for a heart beat,
and the even pulled up my eye lid. I think they did this just to
be cute. As the shined their light in my eyes, I did a perfect
dead stare. I bet they thought I WAS dead. Since they knew the
black wrist band meant is was supposed to be dead at the scene,
one of them finally said, "She's DEAD". I got a little wet
hearing someone say that about me.
They took a tarp and placed it over my body and left. I just lay
their getting into the moment, lying dead on the beach, covered
with a tarp.
Normally, you would be sub-contious, lying in front of others, playing dead. Part of the thrill in all this, for me, is over-comming this natural inhibition. While all this activity is going on around me, I'm DEAD.
In about 20 minutes they returned. They removed the tarp and
placed it on the sand next to me. One of them put his arms under
my shoulders grabbing my waist, the other reached under my knees.
They picked my up and put me on top of the tarp. I was totally
limp. I allowed my head to fall loosely and my arms to hang free
as they handled my lifeless carcass. One of them remarked, as I
knew someone would, "she's good at this". I know they had to be
aroused looking at me laying at their feet.
They took the tarp by the ends and wrapped it like a burrito with
me inside. One carrying the top the other the bottom. As they
carried me, my buttocks hung toward the ground, with my feet and
head raise.
They walked for a couple of minutes and came to a pickup truck
with a flat bed. The guy in the rear placed his hand under my
ass and pushed up straightening out my body. They then slid me
into truck. I lay their for a couple of minutes until they put
another corpse next to me. The attendant hit the side of the
vehicle two times and we rolled away.
We only drove across the parking lot. When we arrive, a couple
of guys slide the tarps out, feet first with me wrapped inside.
They carried me from the sides. After taking me inside they
placed me on the floor and opened the tarp revealing what was
inside.
One of them asked if I was identified. With a negative reply, he
said, "Jane Doe". A couple of seconds later he put a tag on my
toe. I was picked up again, and while I was raised, they slide
the tarp out and slid a sheet under me. They set me back down.
Crossed my ankles, folded my arms across my chest, straighten my
head, and folded the sheet over me.
In the paper the next day they had a picture of the drill. The
scene was in the pavilion. Several sheet covered bodies were
lying on the floor with workers moving about. In the first row,
third body from the right, you could see my foot, wearing only a
toe tag. I kept the newspaper clipping.