Alive and Alone

by W. R. Benton

  “I will in a minute. Cathy, I left Major Barnes in charge and he promised to call if they discover anything new during the search. This search will go on now twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week until we either find them, or else the general calls the search off.”

  Cathy, afraid of the answer asked, “And, Frank, how long do you think the search teams will look for the plane?”

  Frank Wilcox shook his tired head, glanced down at his coffee cup, and then said, “I’d guess we’ll look for a week to two weeks. Our experience shows if we don’t find any sign of them within that time, well, we might never find them. The overall cost of the operation is the deciding factor Cathy. It is very expensive to run a search and rescue effort, just in aircraft fuel alone.”

  “What are the chances of the plane being found Frank? And, I want the truth from you.” Cathy asked, dreading the response from the crusty old Air Force colonel.

  “Well,” Frank said then took a quick sip of his coffee before continuing, “pretty good actually, because we find more than we don’t find. I’d say the odds are excellent that we’ll turn up something. The hardest part right now, and you know this, is the waiting.”

  Carol, who had not spoken much that morning suddenly said, “Frank Wilcox, colonel or not, you get in the shower. And, you, Cathy, need some sleep too. You were up all night and if you don’t go and try to sleep I’m goin’ to call Doctor Williams and have him give you some medications to make you sleep. You’re both a couple of very tired people and we all have to stay strong, not only for Jim and David, but for Marie as well.”

  Cathy’s eyes filled with tears, she slowly nodded in agreement, and then said, “Carol, I just don’t know how I can live if I lose both of my men.”

  Carol, placed her hands on her hips and said, “Carol Wade, right now we don’t know that you have lost a blame thing, except maybe an airplane and a lot of sleep. It’s like Frank just told you a minute ago, it’s the waitin’ that is stressful. Now, use the guest bedroom, lie down, and try to sleep. I promise to awaken you the minute I hear somethin’.”

  Cathy stood and felt a deep fatigue in her whole body. Her eyes felt as if they had sand in them and her legs were tired. As she walked toward the bedroom she thought, Please God, keep Jim and David safe for me. I love and need them.

  Frank, still sitting at the table waited until he heard the door to the guest bedroom shut then said to Carol, “We should have found something already. Ribas flew the same flight path Jim filed and yet they saw nothing at all. He reported the ground was rough, with mountains and deep gorges, but I can’t figure out why the ELT didn’t work.”

  Sitting down beside her tired husband, Carol replied in a tired voice, “Frank, I’ve heard your search and rescue stories for years. We both know there are strange things that happen at times when a plane goes down. The two most obvious situations are they were both killed on impact or else one or both of them are attemptin’ to survive out in the bush.”

  “Well, I hope they survived the crash. Jim Wade has the education, training, and experience to survive out in the bush forever, or for at least a very long time. I’ve been camping with him in the deep snows of the Arctic Circle, way above the tree line, and he did it in comfort too! The man is an expert at staying alive in situations that would kill a normal person.”

  Carol took a sip of her tea, gave Frank a worried look and asked, “But, what if Dave is alone? How do you think he’d be able to survive by himself?”

  Frank, a man who’d spent over twenty-two years in rescue and recovery, thought for a minute, gave a weak grin and said, “David has been a boy scout, he has done a lot of cross country skiing, and he’s grown up in Alaska, so he’s got good cold weather smarts. Also, he’s been camping, fishing, and going to hunting lodges or on remote hunting trips for years. More than once over the years, I sat by a campfire at night camping with those two and listened to Jim tell David about how to survive in the bush. But, Cathy, what worries me is the fact most survivors of an airplane crash are usually seriously injured.”

  “But, Frank, Jim is a doctor.”

  “What if Jim didn’t survive the crash and Dave is alone and injured on some mountain side? How long do you think a fifteen year old boy can survive out in the Alaskan wilderness if he has been seriously hurt?”

  “Can you send in dogs and men to do a ground search?”

  Frank shook his head and his eyes showed his frustration as he replied, “Of course we can’t at this point Carol. The flight path is too long and over some of the roughest country in the world. It would take years for men on the ground to cover half the distance and there is no assurance that in the last few minutes Jim didn’t veer off course in an attempt to find a softer place to put his plane down. He could have crashed miles from where he went off of radar.”

  “I don’t understand. Can’t you just go to where the plane went off the radar screen and find the airplane?”

  The colonel gave a tired chuckle and said, “Carol, baby, I wish it was that simple. See when an airplane drops too low it goes off the radar screen because our radar system cannot tell it from the clutter on the ground. Now, let’s say the minimum altitude for a radar system to identify an aircraft is a five hundred feet, well, a plane in trouble could fly maybe another fifty to a hundred miles, depending on what the problem was onboard the aircraft.”

  “That far? Ain’t it dangerous to fly that low?”

  “We did it all the time in Vietnam and in Desert Storm. In combat military pilots often fly below a thousand feet and they do it very fast too, so radar cannot pick them up on their screens. So, as you can see, the search is anything but simple. Only, knowing Jim, I know he’d try his best to find a soft spot to crash on and he’d also try to stay as close to his original flight plan as possible. The man was not only a very good doctor; he was also a smart pilot.”

  “What do you think might have happened Frank? I mean about them survivin' the airplane crash.”

  “Carol, I don’t honestly think Jim is alive, or if he is he’s severely injured. If he had made it out of the crash, he would have had signals out for our planes when they flew over this morning. But, we saw nothing at all and that is not a good sign to me.”

  Carol gave a low moan and then asked, “And, what about Dave?”

  Frank thought for a moment and then replied, “He’s a smart young kid and we both know that. I don’t think signals would have entered his head, especially if Jim was dead or seriously hurt. Now, one of two things happens to most survivors as soon as they realize they're all alone. They become irrational due to stress and trauma of the situation, or they dust off their pants and start the struggle for survival. I see Dave as the kind that would do both.”

  “Both?”

  “Yep, I think for the first twenty-four hours, especially if something happened to Jim, Dave would not be thinking clearly and perhaps he’d be seriously depressed. But, and remember this, the young man has a strong mind and he knows the woods, so eventually he’d bounce back and start to do what needs to be done.”

  “I really hope so Frank. If Cathy loses both Jim and David, she’ll have a hard time of it. As a matter of fact, I think tomorrow I’ll make appointments for her to see a doctor and to visit the pastor of her church.”

  Frank lifted his cup, drained the last of the coffee, gave Carol a weak smile and then said, “I think that is a great idea. The key right now is to keep her physical condition sound and to keep her emotionally stable as well. Besides, I can assure you, the United States Air Force is not beyond calling on God when the situation calls for it and right now I feel it does.”

  “Ok, I’ll make the appointments, but right now it’s off to the shower for you and as soon as you're done get something to eat. I want you in bed and asleep within the hour. You need to stay rested with a clear head Frank, if you’re going to help Jim and Dave.”

  Cathy rolled around in the big bed for hours and she was unsure if she ever slept or not. Her exhauste
d mind filled with horror at the prospect of losing half of her family in one day, so what rest she got did not come easy. It was near noon when she got out of bed and showered. She had brought a small overnight bag, so she removed her jeans, underwear, and blouse and quickly dressed. Cathy knew she needed to talk to some people because she knew her body well and she could not continue with little sleep and no eating. I must stay strong for Marie, she thought as she pulled her socks on.

  Upon entering the kitchen, Carol gave Cathy a big friendly smile and said, “Well, you still look tired, but much better. Cathy, I hope I don't upset you, but I made an appointment for you to see your doctor this afternoon and your pastor this evenin’. Both of them are concerned about you and worried about Jim and Dave as well.”

  Cathy sat down at the kitchen table as Carol walked toward her with a small plate in her right hand and replied, “No, I did some thinking this morning, before I went to sleep about the same thing. I haven’t slept much the last two nights because I'm worried sick over waiting. Maybe I can get through all of this with the help of the doctor and my pastor.”

  Carol placed the plate in front of Cathy and said, “Now, there ain’t much on this plate, two eggs, two strips of bacon, and two pieces of toast, but Cathy Wade, I want you to eat all of it.”

  That afternoon after a short visit with Doctor Williams, Cathy stopped by the pharmacy to pick up the prescriptions he had given her. He explained that she was suffering from the stresses of the missing plane and as he result he prescribed some medications to help her relax and to sleep. When she’d voiced her concern about becoming dependent on the drugs the doctor had laughed and said, “Cathy, I have only ordered enough medication to last you two weeks. You are suffering from what we call situational stress and the medication is justified with what is going on in your life right now. Additionally, if you do not abuse these meds and take them only as directed, you have no need to worry about addiction.”

  Her next meeting with her Pastor was a much better meeting as far as she was concerned. Pastor Lucas was an older man, with a small gut just starting to peek over his belt buckle, dark brown eyes, and a friendly smile on his face for everyone. While his hair had once been red, now it was streaked with strands of gray. He was married, had three children, and was actively involved in the community. He was a scout troop leader, ran the local community choir, and stayed busy helping kids with homework problems. Pastor Lucas was a man who looked, thought, and acted, as a pastor should, as far as Cathy was concerned.

  They'd discussed Cathy’s fears and how God could help her in her time of need. Pastor Lucas promised that he’d have the whole church pray for her men and that the hand of God sometimes worked wonders. But, he also reminded her that God didn’t always make things turn out the way we want them to be. Cathy realized later, this simple, but open discussion with her pastor had the most calming effect on her.

  He told her he would do his best to rally everyone to pray and assist her, yet ask them to respect her privacy at the same time. Both the pastor and Cathy knew most of the members of the church would want to call on her immediately to assist, but right now was not the time for visits. Pastor Lucas promised he would remind them to allow Cathy Wade time to determine what had happened to her son and husband, and then perhaps they could become more personally involved. They said a short prayer together and then she had driven home.

  Cathy arrived home just before four, so she started dinner. She took one of the pills Doctor Williams had prescribed and discovered it did not affect her mind much, other than relaxing her just a little. She was still very worried about Dave and Jim, but the deep anxiety she had carried the last few days disappeared.

  Just as she was placing the beef roast into the oven, her front doorbell rang. She closed the oven and made her way to her door wondering who might be visiting that time of the day. Upon unlocking and opening the door, she gave a loud laugh and looked into the dark eyes of her daughter Marie as she asked, “Why didn’t you just walk in honey like you always do?”

  “I couldn’t do that mom. I left my keys on the dresser at the Colonel’s house when I left for school this morning and I didn’t want to walk over there to get them. It’s too cold to do much walking right now.”

  “Well, come on in. I’ll have dinner done in about an hour.”

  “What are we having?”

  “I’ve cooked your favorite, roast beef, with potatoes, carrots, celery, and onions. How does that sound?”

  Marie sat at the table, lowered her head and then asked in a low voice, “Mom, what do you think dad and Davie are eating?”

  Cathy kneeled beside her daughters chair and raised her small chin with her right hand and spoke, “I think they're eating well, because you know how good your dad is at hunting. And, remember, the airplane has a survival kit and all of those kits have some food in them.”

  “Mom, I don’t know if I can eat, because what if they don’t have any food?”

  “Marie, you and I have no control over what has happened to Dave or your dad. We can only hope God protects them and returns them to us unharmed. Right now, we have to take care of ourselves. Do you understand what I mean?”

  “Sure, kind of.”

  “What don’t you understand?”

  “Mom, I’m scared. I mean, I fought with David all the time and now that something might have happened to him I feel terrible about it.”

  “Marie, listen to me honey, all brothers and sisters fight. They always have and always will. It’s okay to argue, I even fought with your Uncle Ralph when we were growing up.”

  Marie gave a weak grin and asked, “You did?”

  “Sure and we fought all the time. So, I want you to forget about your fights with Dave, they were healthy fights, Marie. And, don’t worry about what our men are eating. If I know your dad, they're mostly like both sitting around a blazing fire right now eating moose steaks!” Cathy said to her young daughter as she thought, please God feed my loved ones now that they need you.

  CHAPTER 5

  AT THAT MOMENT, Dave was thinking about eating, but it wasn’t a steak from a moose. The young man was sitting near his fire warming his hands as a large chunk of fox meat roasted on a green stick over the fire. He had eaten some of the fox the night before and didn’t care much for the strong gamy tasting meat, but he had little choice. David knew he had to eat what was available and at that moment, it was fox.

  An earlier check of his traps had produced no new food, so he'd returned to camp, boiled a canteen cup of pine needle tea and placed the meat on to roast. Funny, I haven’t had a soft drink in days or any chips either and I don’t miss either one of them. What I’d like right now is a big thick steak and a salad with lots of veggies! Dave thought as he reached over and rotated his meat over the coals.

  After a few minutes, he pulled his wild tasting meat from the heat and took a small bite, making an ugly face unconsciously as he chewed it. As he ate he thought, I’ll take a look on the other side of the mountain this afternoon and see what is out there. I doubt there is anything, but dad said the Air Force used to have radar sites from World War 2 in this area. I don’t think anyone would still be in one of them, but at least I’d have shelter and maybe a way to contact someone for help. I might even find a telephone that'll work!

  As soon as his meager meal of fox meat and pine needle tea was finished, Dave started cutting the meat he had on hand into thin strips. He had made jerky as a scout and new the meat would last for years once it dried out. Due to the cold weather, he didn’t fear his meat spoiling, but it would be easier to pack if he had to walk out. While his scout recipe called for lots of salt and pepper, both of which he lacked, he could make it without either of the spices. Also, in the scouts they had used an oven to dry the meat, so David wondered how it could be done in the bush.

  He opened the damaged survival book and on page 110 he noticed an illustration of how to dry meat by smoking. The illustration showed a tee-pee looking frame made of wood and a
covering of parachute material. Inside of the frame were wooden racks that ran over a small fire at the base. He noticed the racks were high enough up that the flames from the fire could not touch them. David wondered what he could use to cover the frame, since he didn’t have a parachute. It suddenly dawned on him; he could use this casualty blanket during the day to smoke meat and then sleep with it at night. He quickly jumped to his feet and started working on a wooden frame.

  Less than an hour later David had a small frame constructed of green wood and had his casualty blanket wrapped around it. Following the instructions in the survival manual, he then made a small fire at the base of his frame. He left a tiny opening at the top to allow the smoke from the fire to escape.

  David then filled the drying racks inside the tee-pee with meat and then closed the casualty blanket to allow the meat to dry. He had no idea how long it would take, but he knew it had taken over twelve hours when they had used his oven. He remembered once the meat had dried it was lightweight and tasty. Maybe drying the fox meat will make it taste better, he thought as he glanced around his campsite.

  He had run out of water at breakfast so using his canteen cup he packed it full of snow and placed it near his campfire. David knew not to put the cup on the hot coals or flames because the cup would get too hot and the melted snow would become scorched, which left a bad taste. He had done it once on a hunting trip a few years before. He decided to melt enough water in his cup to fill the empty water bottles he had with him. The young man knew it would take hours, because he’d not only have to melt the snow, but allow the water to cool down enough to pour into the empty bottles without damaging them from the heat.

  The morning and most of the afternoon passed slowly with David melting snow, filling his one-liter water bottles and adding more wood to his tee-pee as the meat slowly dried. He felt a deep sense of accomplishment when he realized for the first time since the crash, he was actually in control of what was going on around him. Now, he thought as he tightened the plastic cap on a water bottle, if I can just get rescued.