When they returned to the roof of the hospital at the assigned time, Ben was hoping that their pilot, Wilson, had been able to reach Chuck in Unalaska on the HAM radio to see if he was successful at getting their messages home.
Ben used his suitcase to keep his hands occupied otherwise he would have been fidgeting so much that he’d annoy Nate, his old work buddy from Montana that he’d lured to Alaska to manage his own job in an even more primitive village that the one Ben had lived in the past few months. Ben had already aggravated Nate multiple times while they’d been waiting. Part of Nate’s problem was his growing anxiety over having to fly when all flights had been grounded across the state days earlier.
“I can’t believe I’m letting you drag me along again. A potential disaster waiting to happen. I’m sure. I thought we were going to die out on the water in those boats. They tried to blow us up, remember? On two different occasions. You know, all flights are grounded for a reason. We have had firsthand experience as to why.” Nate had been grumbling about their impending flight the whole time.
“Nate, you can stay here if you want. The only other way back to the mainland is by boat. And you have clearly stated how we had far more excitement on boats than either of us wanted to experience in our lifetime over the past few days. Honestly, you don’t have to come with me. Let me remind you that the only person you know here is that jerk Anderson and he’s extra cranky since he’s been stuck in a hospital bed. I’m sure he’d enjoy the company. Or you could go find Jackson. Who knows if he’s still on the island.” Ben kept walking up the stairs not even giving Nate a second glance. “I thought you wanted to go home.”
“I live in the middle of Montana, remember. No water, no ocean, no boats. All I want is something I can drive with wheels on dry land. Obviously being landlocked suits me just fine. And yes, I’ve had enough ocean adventures to last me several lifetimes. No, I don’t want to ride in another boat. I’m coming. I’m just not happy about how this whole journey has gone so far.”
“Try to remember that as soon as we get to Homer we will be on land the rest of the trip.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s what I keep saying to myself and that’s the only reason why I’m following you up these stairs right now.”
Ben looked in the door to Wilson’s office but he wasn’t there. Once he opened the door to the roof, the blast of chilly air took his breath away. “It’s cold and windy up here. It wasn’t like that when we came in the front door of this hospital to come up here.”
“Great, now there’s going to be turbulence too.” Nate leaned against the wall and rubbed his chest.
“Maybe we need to get one of the doctors here to give you a sedative or anxiety meds before you fly.”
“No, just get on with this. Where’s our pilot?” Nate wasn’t about to look outside until he had to.
“I don’t know.” Ben set his suitcase down on the landing and tapped on the railing as he wondered where else they could look.
“It just sounds like the thump, thump, thump of a helicopter when you do that.”
“Can you stop prattling on at me? I don’t even think my wife nags me as much as you have since we’ve been waiting to go.”
Nate glared at Ben. He stopped drumming his fingers.
“There you are. I was getting ready to leave without you.” Wilson jogged up the stairs.
“Good thing we’re here now, I guess.” Ben wasn’t sure why that comment nearly gave him a panic attack. “Did you need to leave earlier than you planned?”
“It was looking better about twenty minutes ago. Twenty minutes doesn’t change much really.” He turned to go into his office. They followed him in.
“Were you able to reach Chuck? Do you have any news?” Ben asked.
“Oh, I sure do. He was only able to get his message relayed as far as Montana and he’s still waiting to hear if they got a message to Boise, Idaho for you. I can’t believe you two are planning on heading down there. That’s a long trip and things aren’t actually going well down there.”
“What about here?” Nate asked.
“It might get crazy here but at least we have power and lots of resources.” He picked up a clipboard and a few other things before he motioned for them to head out. “I’m ready now.”
They boarded the helicopter and Ben almost couldn’t contain his excitement. He was handed headphones and he could clearly hear everything Wilson had to say.
“We do have a weather warning. It might be a bumpy ride but nothing motion sickness meds can’t help.” He handed Nate a bottle. “You already look like you’re going to hurl and we haven’t even started yet.”
As impatient as he was to get to Anchorage, the trip across the stretch of water from Kodiak Island to the Kenai Peninsula wasn’t going to be long enough for Ben. He had never been in a helicopter before and he loved flying. He was sure Nate would have thought the opposite. It was a rough trip but otherwise uneventful when they could finally see land.
“There are some of our Navy cutters patrolling the coastline.” Wilson pointed to some specks far up the inlet that almost blended in with the dark gray ocean.
Ben was disappointed their flight was about to come to an end. On the other side of the inlet to the west, he could see the mountains on the peninsula go on for miles. The area they were approaching on the Kenai peninsula was flat but the mountains grew to be far more impressive farther inland. It was not long before they could make out the small airport. The whole trip took maybe an hour. He looked over at Nate. He was white and perfectly still. For a minute Ben wondered if he’d had a heart attack or something until his friend moaned before hurling into a bag.
“We were so close and he tossed his cookies anyway. Too bad.” Wilson laughed heartily as he headed for the helicopter landing pad at the airport.
Once they landed, Ben had to do the work for both of them when it came to loading the boxes of supplies from a delivery truck into the helicopter as the wind picked up. Poor Nate wasn’t in any condition to be any help.
“I have to get back to the island. You guys got the best weather on the way over. It’s going to be a fun one heading back.” Wilson cinched down all the straps extra tight before he stuck his hand out to shake their hands and said goodbye. “Good luck fellas. Oh, I have something for you.”
He went back to the pilot’s seat of the helicopter. “I have some food for you. I heard there isn’t much in the stores here and didn’t want to see you guys go without on your trip.” He handed Ben a bag with some canned food and other packaged snacks.
“Do you know how long the drive is?” Ben asked.
“Around four or five hours on a good day. I don’t know if you noticed but the only road out of town heading to Anchorage is full of cars. I’ve never seen anything like it. Hopefully, you aren’t stuck here for days.” Wilson reached in the cockpit to speak to someone on the radio. “All right, I have to fly, guys.” He climbed in and closed the door.
Ben and Nate waved goodbye briefly before they carried their gear off the helicopter landing pad.
“Did you see the road coming in?” Nate asked. He still looked sick. “I didn’t pay attention too much. I was trying so hard not to puke.”
“Actually, I didn’t notice. I was busy looking at the size of the town and that weird little stick of land where all the boats are. The mountains are incredible. I didn’t pay attention to the cars. Why would they be backed up? It would figure that this part of the trip would go so well just so the next leg would become a nightmare. At least I hope that’s not the case.” Ben set down his gear and rubbed his face in frustration. “We need to call the boss and see what he can do for us.”
3
Ben
Once Wilson’s helicopter was out of sight, Ben turned around in a circle to orient himself. Lots of hangars were lined up on one side of the landing strip. The main part of the town was off to the west.
“I’m going to suspect that our best luck in finding a rental car will be that way.” He pointe
d at the buildings that looked more like they were for people than airplanes to his left.
“I agree.” Nate held his stomach and belched. “I think I’m good to go now. I don’t want to be in another boat, helicopter, or plane for a very long time. Well, if it was plane headed home to spare us the rest of this journey, I’d probably reconsider.”
“I hear ya on that. Hopefully, we aren’t hoofing it. I don’t know how long that will take if we have to walk but I’m not sitting here any longer than we have to.” Ben arranged his luggage and headed for the street so he could see the signs on the front of the buildings.
“If things are backed up like they say, we could wind up making better time walking rather than sitting in a car, though.” Nate was struggling to keep up with Ben.
“But a car is far more comfortable.” He pointed at a rent-a-car sign. “Hope this good luck stretch lasts.”
It wasn’t to be.
“All our cars were rented out the day they grounded all the flights so they’ve been gone for days with no cars headed this way. Yesterday morning they gave a voluntary evacuation warning. Not that there’s any threat. Or so they say. Just resources like food and gas are going to be scarce. I’m actually surprised at how many people decided to pack up and leave.” The older woman at the counter gave them an apologetic smile. “Do you have any contacts here? Some people that were desperate to head north were able to network and find a ride out of here. Most of the people I know that wanted to leave were out of here early this morning.”
Ben took off his baseball cap and scratched his head. “I don’t know anyone around here. I need to call my boss. He might be able to find someone.”
He stepped outside the office to call but he had to turn his back to the wind so it wouldn’t make communicating with Dave difficult. He ducked and looked all around when the loud wails of a warning siren went off. Ben clutched at his racing heart when he went back inside.
“Is that a warning of attack or what?” He wasn’t sure if he should duck and cover or what. The woman waved it off.
“Just wait, you’ll hear them tell us it’s a test.” She opened the window so they could listen.
“This is the emergency warning system. It is only a test. If you hear this warning at any other hour of the day, it will be a real emergency and you will need to take cover. At this time, this is only a test.” The siren went off again with the same message repeated right after.
“If that doesn’t put your nerves on end. They do that every day?” Nate asked.
“Yes, sir. It’s for the airport but most of the town hears it too. Every day since the grid went down in the lower forty-eight and tensions have been rising out in the coastal waters. There might be submarines out there. So they say. The airstrip would be the biggest target here in town. I don’t see them bombing us, though. Of course, I could be wrong. We got Navy and Coast Guard ships all up and down the inlet all the way to Anchorage. Fighter jets fly over several times a day. We aren’t messing around.” She shrugged. “And I don’t think it’s worth the effort to head north if you ain’t got a place to stay up there. Where do all these people think they’re going to stay when they get to Anchorage? Winter is almost here. It can snow any day now. I saw that on the news. There isn’t much to watch these days but news. I’m prepared to stick it out here where I have a bed and a fire to keep me warm.”
When the sirens were finished and the woman went back to her television, Ben was about to step out the door when he realized she was watching BBC news.
“The grid is down across America and the most populated areas of southern Canada. It appears Washington D.C. is scrambling to make sense of it all and no one knows when power will be restored. Most of Europe and Japan have pledged to send aid. In the meantime, all United States military personnel stationed overseas have been called home. It is believed it is an act of aggression—” The woman changed the channel.
“Wait, who do they think did it? Korea? Russia?” Nate asked.
“What? They don’t know for sure because Korea and Russia are both claiming victory. So is Iran. Everyone wants to join the victory party. There’s some recent speculation that it could be China but there hasn’t been a word from them.”
Ben had to divert his attention when his boss, Dave, finally answered the phone. He stepped outside with his suitcases.
“Where you at, Ben?” Dave sounded eager to hear all the details.
“We’ve made it as far as Homer. We just got here hoping that we could rent a car but there aren’t any. People are in a hurry to get out of here. Even if we do find something, they’re telling us it’s going to be a long trip because the whole peninsula is headed your way.”
“Yeah, I heard they are giving voluntary orders to evacuate along the coast down there. How was Kodiak? Was anyone leaving there?”
“No. Perhaps the military base gives the islanders security? I’m not sure but I suspect most people can’t leave there anyway. We got out on a helicopter coming in for medical supplies.”
Nate tapped Ben’s shoulder wanting information.
“That was lucky! Let me see if we have any contacts there and I’ll get back to you.”
Once Dave hung up, Ben was left without a plan again. He chewed on his lip and watched the traffic on the main road. “He’s making some calls and will get back to us. Let’s go for a walk. We can go slow.” He waited to see if Nate was up for it.
Nate took his time but followed Ben out to the main road.
Ben held up his thumb a few times when cars passed by but there were no takers. He didn’t expect anyone to stop, he was just checking to see if they could get any bites.
Most of the buildings they passed were dated and old. They kept walking and eventually found the newer section of town with a McDonalds and a big chain grocery store. Fortunately, they didn’t need food because both places were quite busy which surprised Ben. He thought for sure they would have been closed because they’d been cleaned out already.
Dave finally called back. “I have an ex-employee down there. I haven’t talked to Jim in years. He’s got a cabin outside of town. He’s going to come pick you up and see what he can do for you. He was all over helping you out after I told him you both were good at fixing junk. He has an old ATV he’s willing to part with. If you can’t get it going, he says you fellas are welcome to stay until you do find something.”
“That’s fantastic. Tell him we are at the McDonald’s parking lot right now. We can stay put here.”
“Great, I’ll give him your phone numbers.”
Jim never called and they were getting nervous that he wasn’t going to show after an hour had passed. They were tired of getting windblown so they went inside and spent the time people watching as the fast-food place was inundated. Most of the people were willing to order what was available. However, quite a few customers were rude, throwing a fit as they stormed out when they were told they were out of most of the things on the menu board.
A big burly man walked in the fast-food restaurant and looked around the seating area until he looked right at them sitting in a booth with all their gear.
“You fellas waitin’ on a ride?” He was tall, broad-shouldered, and even though he was big, his overalls were baggy around his middle. He looked like he’d been working in a mechanic’s shop or on a farm all day.
“Yes, we are.” Nate was first to stand and extend his hand.
“I’m Jim.” He shook each of their hands with his rough calloused oil-stained hands. He motioned for them to head for the door. “We’re lucky that I can get to my farm in a roundabout way. The main way out of town is a mess and I sure don’t want to get stuck in that”
Ben nodded and carried his luggage to Jim’s truck with Nate right behind him.
Jim was chatty as he drove Ben and Nate to his place.
“It’s been crazy here the past few days. People are scrambling to get out of here. They’re all afraid of what’s coming.”
“Why is there such
a panic to go north then?” Nate asked. He was sitting in the back on the bench seat.
“Well, we are surrounded by water here in Homer. Everyone’s been watching and talking about the military presence out there. We’ve never seen anything like it. We are also last on the list for stores getting restocked. At least the gas stations are getting fuel right now. I think many of the evacuees are just trying to get where they will have what they need but they forget they also need shelter and winter is coming. I heard the hotels are full in Anchorage and all the towns close to it, Eagle River, Wasilla, and Palmer. They are opening up shelters wherever they can find a place to put them.” Jim turned onto a dirt road and sped up like he was still on the pavement. The gravel and washboard bumps on the road rattled the cab of the truck. He just talked louder and the truck fishtailed some as he sped down the road. “Yeah, I’m not going anywhere. Are you sure you want to hurry and head up there right now? I don’t know if it’s just everyone trying to get out at once or if there are roadblocks but it’s been bumper to bumper, slow-moving traffic heading north for the past couple days.”
Ben rubbed his palms on his jeans. “I don’t intend on staying long if I can help it. Dave said you might have something we could drive?” Some apprehension was sinking in. He wasn’t looking for a place to stay, he was looking for a way out. “If we have no choice, we’ll walk.”
“It isn’t much. Dave said you were desperate and I was impressed when I heard how you managed to get this far. He also said you fellas were good at fixing things so I do have some old ATVs that need some TLC. Well, that’s an understatement. They need a lot of TLC. I have about four of them so maybe you can part some of them out to get one of them going. That was my plan, but I’ve been busy with other things so I haven’t messed with them in some time.”
A knot started to grow in the pit of Ben’s stomach. He didn’t expect anything special to get them there but he also didn’t want to waste time trying to get some piece of junk running and then have it break down on the way. They might as well have kept walking from the McDonald’s and tried their luck at hitching a ride.
Endure Series (Book 2): Enduring The Journey: Page 2