Alive and Alone

by W. R. Benton

  “Put yer coat on David and ya two foller me. I got a small building out back that I keep my furs in until I can get ‘em to market. It’s small, no stove, but it has a lamp and we can make a stove from a coffee can or two I have there,” Vittles said and then started moving around to the back of his flaming cabin.

  The building was small, maybe ten feet by ten feet, but it had a roof and was better than anything they could make. David was shivering by the time they reached the crudely made structure and knew he’d warm up once they got a fire going. He watched as Vittles took an old coffee can, turned it upside down, and made a small fire in the can. He winked at David and said, “Now, this ain’t the safest way to make a fire, but we’ll be safe from carbon monoxide poisoning because this place has a thousand small cracks that let the wind in. The key to a fire in a closed shelter is to keep it well ventilated.”

  “I know. I got a bad headache on the way here because I forgot to make a vent hole in my snow shelter,” David replied remembering that night.

  “Lots of things in the bush can kill a person, from the weather to the critters. The key is to try to learn all ya can before you leave a town. Each year people come up here expecting one thing, but finding another. Our mountains are beautiful, but they’ll kill an unprepared or ignorant person in no time.”

  “How’s our food supply?” Banks asked as he moved some animal pelts and sat on a wooden bench.

  “Got lots of meat in the cache, but that’s ‘bout it. The fire burned up most of the veggies and canned goods. I’m just glad I was able to grab my two guns before I ran from the cabin. I keep some ammunition out here and some in my cache, so I always have some when I need it. I’d semi-prepared for a fire.”

  “In what ways?” Banks asked.

  “I’ve got extra clothing, knives, one gun, matches, fuel and some other things in the cache, but not a lot. Just enough to keep a man alive fer a short spell, but that don’t include no vegetables at all.”

  “Ok, so we’ll have to find something to fight off scurvy. We can drink pine needle tea, but it’s a bit on the sour side. Nonetheless, it will give us the needed vitamin C.” Banks gave a grimace as he thought of drinking the tea.

  “Yep, we can do that and that’s smart thinkin’ if we’re here fer a spell.”

  “Well,” Banks said as he gave a false smile, “things could be a lot worse.”

  “Let’s just hope things stay as they are, because this is rough enough for me. Looks like I’ll have to fly back to Anchorage with you and spend the winter. I lost all the food, supplies, and pretty much all I own a few minutes ago.” Vittles stated as he lit the tinder with cold fingers and watch the flames grow in his makeshift stove.

  CHAPTER 14

  IN GENERAL MOORES’ OFFICE the curtains were open, allowing the sun to shine in as two men sat talking. Coffee was in the hands or both and the atmosphere was as relaxing as it ever gets in a general's office.

  “Frank, get your rescue teams moving as fast as you can. The weather forecasters assured me of five or six days of good weather to get to the Wade crash site and find those two.”

  Colonel Wilcox grinned and replied, “I’ve already alerted my crews and they’re on standby to lift off as we speak.”

  The general’s face grew grim as he said, “Frank, this will be our last attempt. If the teams should fail to find Banks and David, well, we’ll not get another chance. I’ve been notified by phone from Major General Thomas that this will be it. He thinks, and I agree with him, that the weather is too severe and the cost too high to keep searching. You’ve got five or six days find them.”

  Standing, Frank said as he saluted, “I’ll find them, sir.”

  Once outside the general’s door, Colonel Wilcox began running to his office. Standing by his desk, he picked up the phone, dialed a number and said, “Zee, it’s a go. Get the two choppers ready along with the rescue teams. As soon as you’re ready, give me a call at the command post to make sure it’s still on. At that point I'll give you a go ahead or abort.”

  “Yes, sir! I’d imagine we’ll be ready to lift off within twenty minutes. The teams have the gear loaded and all of them are in the alert building.”

  On his way to the command post, Colonel Wilcox noticed it was still very cold, but the sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky. Please, God, let this rescue work, he thought as he entered the building.

  The command post, filled with men and women coordinating maintenance for all the aircraft assigned to the base, was busy. People came and went, always in a rush. The aircraft could radio the command post and talk about aircraft problems or discuss missions if need be. Colonel Wilcox sat in his seat, asked for a cup of coffee, and waited.

  On the flight line, the two choppers were loaded and ready to go before the captain transmitted, “Rescue Center, this is Save One. We’re ready for liftoff.”

  “Roger, Save One, this is Rescue Center, the mission is a go.”

  “I read you five by five and understand the mission is a go.”

  “Affirmative Save One, good luck and good hunting!”

  “Will do. This is Save One, I'm switching to the tower now Rescue Center. Thanks for the luck!”

  The colonel leaned back in his chair, enjoyed his coffee and thought, nothing to do now, but wait.

  Zee could feel the excitement as the rescue team members prepared to exit the aircraft at the crash site. The members gave thumbs up and replied, “Okay!” as Zee called them by name asking if they were ready to go. This is why I fly in rescue, the pilot thought as he hovered over the crashed Wade aircraft. Ropes were thrown out of the door, on both sides of the chopper, d-rings were snapped shut around the ropes and the men started repelling down to the ground.

  Once the last man was safely on the ground, Zee heard, “Save One this is Rescue 26, the team is on the ground and you’re clear to liftoff.”

  “Roger Rescue 26, understand I am cleared to liftoff. Center, this is Save One, the team is on the ground. I’ll say again, Rescue 26 and the team are on the ground.”

  “Save One, good news. You are to move off slightly and circle until Rescue 26 contacts you. What’s your fuel status?”

  “Long time left on gas, Save Center, I’ll let you know when I’m getting low. Save Two, has also just landed their team. Both teams are on the ground.”

  “Copy, Safe One, understand both teams on the ground.”

  On the ground Technical Sergeant Price, Rescue 26 team leader, listened as the two choppers flew away. He knew they’d be circling nearby and if he needed them all he had to do was radio one of them. Looking around the crash site, there were no tracks in the snow. From all appearances, the place was as clean as a whistle.

  “Richard, take two men and check out the top of this mountain. Once on top, scan the area below 360 degrees and look for smoke or signs of life.” Staff Sergeant Richard Usher was the team leader for the second search group, Save 27.

  “Not a problem, Bill, we’ll radio you if we see anything. Lopez, you take point and Bagley, you’re my slack man. Let’s move people.”

  “Save One, this is Rescue 26, how about one of you flying around down low out there and looking for signs of life?” Price radioed Zee, hoping they’d spot some smoke or see a signal of some sort.

  “Rog, we’ll both do it. If you need us, remember our motto.”

  Price laughed and said, “I remember, 'I call and you haul!'”

  A laugh sounded over the radio and then Zee replied, “We’re going low level now.”

  The birds were spotted as they dropped down low to fly over the tundra, searching in a very well organized pattern. They were flying box like patterns, to cover as much of the terrain as possible. However, they were well west of where David Wade sat shivering in the cold cabin.

  “Rescue 26, this is Rescue 27, nothing moving on the tundra.”

  “Copy Rescue 27, return to the crash site.”

  Where could they have gone? Are they still on the mounta
in? Or, did they move out onto the open tundra. I noticed a few groups of trees a few miles from here, so they might be there. But, smoke should have been seen by Richard, Sergeant Price thought as he pulled his ski cap down tighter on his head to block the cold light wind.

  Once Usher returned, he and Price looked the map of the area over closely. Marked off in one thousand meter areas, the topographical map showed the mountain, and a complete range of mountains to the north. To the west and east was open tundra with small groups of trees at odd intervals. It was rough country and both of the rescue men knew it was unlikely that Banks or the Wade boy still lived. Since it was not uncommon for the nights in the area to be twenty degrees below zero or more, the average person would freeze to death in a day, two at the most.

  “Save One, Rescue 26, do you have a visual on anything?”

  “Rescue 26, negative.” He heard Zee’s voice come back with a response quickly.

  “Save One, I’d like to move Rescue 27 off to the east to check the tundra while I move off to the west and check the trees.”

  “Roger, copy.” Zee answered and then came back a second later with, “Save Two we will do 360’s off to the east and I’ll do the same on the west side.”

  Sergeant Price knew the aircraft would fly circles over them, so in case they found the survivors or needed help they’d be close enough to communicate by radio or land quickly. “Copy, Save One, we’re moving now.”

  Turning to his rescue team, Sergeant Usher said, “Saddle up, we’re moving out onto the tundra to the east.”

  No complaint was heard as the men adjusted their gear, lowered their facemasks, and began the hump down the mountain. It was just a few minutes later when Sergeant Price and his men started down the west side. The going was slow, due to newly fallen snow, and more than once a man fell on the slippery surface. Not long after making the bottom of the mountain, the Radio Telephone Operator (RTO) moved up beside Price and handed him the headset as he said, “It’s Save One.”

  “Save One, this is Rescue 26, over.”

  “Rescue 26, we are bingo on fuel and need to return to base.

  “Copy, you are returning to base.”

  “Roger that and don’t expect us back until daylight.”

  “You have a nice trip back Save One and I’ll catch you in the morning.”

  “On the behalf of my crew, Safe One, we’d like to thank you for flying with us on this fine day. We hope you’ll remember us for your future flying needs. Good luck Rescue 26, out.”

  Price chuckled and thought the humor was a symbol of the type of men he was working with. Even under severe stress, they kept their humor, while performing a serious and potentially deadly mission. Great men, he thought as he readjusted his web belt as he walked and listened to the sound of the choppers growing fainter.

  By dusk, the men reached the open tundra and began to set up camp. Unlike David and Sergeant Banks, they brought lightweight tents and other special gear for the mission, so they did not make a snow shelter. The rescue teams gear was light and designed for arctic explorers and rescue teams.

  Over a heated MRE, Price glanced over at Airman Tony Baird and noticed the fatigue on the young man’s face. Finally, Price asked, “You hangin’ in there Tony?”

  “I’m doing fine. I just find walking in all of this deep snow to be more difficult than I thought it would be.”

  Price laughed and then replied, “It’s hard on a man and more than one person has died from a heart attack walking in this stuff. By the way, I know this is your first mission, so it seems harder than it really is.”

  “I’m in good physical shape; just new to the job is all! For some reason, training didn’t seem this rough.” Tony said with a laugh.

  Price gave a light grin and replied, “Tony, your training was much more difficult than this, physically. The mental aspects of this mission make it rougher. We all want to find Wade and Banks, so the emotional stress is what you’re dealing with right now. And, the mental part of the mission can make you as tired as the physical efforts can.”

  Tony met the eyes of the older rescue man and said, “Uh-huh, I think you’re right. I know Sergeant Banks real well and I’d like to be part of the group that finds him.”

  “Maybe it’ll be us or maybe it’ll be Ushers’ team, but Tony, keep in mind we may never find a sign of either one of these guys. This country is hard on people and its valley’s and canyons are filled with unburied bones of those who made a single simple mistake at the wrong time.”

  Looking down at his boots, Tony didn’t look up, even though he could feel the eyes of Sergeant Price on him. Finally, he said softly, “Sergeant Price, there’s always a chance we won’t find these two, but it won’t be because we didn’t try.”

  Price reached over, patted the younger man on the shoulder, and replied, “We never leave a man behind that we can recover and you know that. So, you just keep our motto in mind as you walk tomorrow, ‘That Others May Live.’ We’re out here, hopefully, to save two lives and that makes our mission special. At least nobody is shooting at us.”

  Tony gave a slight grin, looked up and said, “I’ll do that sergeant.”

  The next morning, instead of moving toward the tree line where David and the rest were sheltered, Sergeant Price led his men to the southwest and another tree line that was about two miles closer. He fully intended to move toward David’s trees, but he’d start that search the next day. Price knew most survivors moved in circles or made their way to the closest shelter, so the tree line he’d picked that morning made sense to him professionally. As he walked, Price prayed that David had met with Sergeant Banks, because that would greatly increase his chances of survival. Even without any survival gear, Banks was fully capable of surviving in the arctic and had done it often enough in training.

  As they walked, Price called out, “Remember to keep a watch on your water intake and check for dehydration at each break.”

  All of the members of the rescue team knew dark urine was a sure sign of dehydration and that in cold weather most people had a tendency to drink less water than normal. Often, when they took breaks, the men would drink hot water to make sure their bodies were getting enough fluids. Besides, the hot water helped to keep their body heat up.

  It was less than an hour after dawn when the RTO moved up beside Price, during a short break, handed him the headset and grinned as he said, “Guess who?”

  “Save One, Rescue 26, how do you read me?” Sergeant Price spoke into the small microphone.

  “Five by five, Rescue 26, and I hope your night was restful.”

  “Not bad. I complained to the manager about the lack of heat, but he didn’t seem interested.”

  Zee, who fought hard to hold back his laughter said, “Rescue 26, we’ll 360 over both teams as long as we can. Colonel Wilcox has two other birds scheduled to take over when we bingo on fuel.”

  “Copy Save One, out.” Price spoke, handed the headset to his RTO and then turning to his team he said, “Saddle up and let’s move. I want to be in that tree line before noon.”

  The team reached the trees well before noon, but there was no sign of anyone having been in the area. It was hours later, over a hot cup of coffee, and as the sun went down that Price said, “Any of you guys have any ideas?”

  “They might be in the next group of trees to the northwest.” Airman First Class Chip Brown spoke as he raised his steaming coffee cup.

  “They could be.” Price admitted.

  “Look,” Sergeant Bill Lavet, the assistant team leader said, “we have to face the fact they might well both be dead too. Now, don’t everyone jump on me, but it’s more than likely they haven’t survived the cold.”

  Price gave a shallow smile and replied, “Well, it makes no difference if they’ve survived or not as far as I’m concerned. I intend to keep looking until I find them, their bodies, or I’m called back by Rescue Center.” He noticed Tony Baird give a big smile.

  Lavet look around the small
group. “I’m not saying we quit and I’m not a quitter. I just meant we are looking for survivors, when maybe we should be looking for bodies. No one has seen any signs of life and as much as I like John Banks, well, there is a better than average chance he didn’t make it. Besides, what are the odds a young boy like David Wade surviving the period he was alone before John was even put on the ground.”

  The team grew quiet and after a short time Price said, as he looked over at Lavet, “Bill, I hope your wrong, but you could be right. The problem, if they have died, is finding the remains in all this fresh snow.”

  “There aren’t any remains where we’ve been so far.” Airman Samuel Jenkins, the dog handler, said as he placed his empty cup in his rucksack. “It there had been, Max would have moved toward them.”

  Max was the big German Sheppard trained in rescue and recovery. Part of the dog’s job was to find survivors, but another part was locating remains of those who did not survive. He’d been with them from the beginning, so maybe there was still hope for David Wade and John Banks.

  “Good point, Sam, and from now on I want you and Max on point, though we’ll take turns breaking the snow on the trail so you don’t wear yourself out.” Price said with a grin as he thought, Max, you could actually end up being a real lifesaver in this situation.

  The next morning, just as a false dawn broke off to the east, Zee was back on the radio, “Rescue 26, this is Save One.”

  “Copy, Save One, go ahead.” Price spoke as he unzipped his coat a few inches to allow his body heat and moisture to escape.

  “I’ve got some bad news, Rescue 26, the mission is called off. There is another bad front moving in and Headquarters Air Force has ordered the teams to return to base. I repeat you are to return to base.”

  Price didn’t answer immediately because he felt a mixture of anger and shock. They all knew if they returned now they’d never come back. For a moment he considered not responding, knowing he could always say later he’d not received the last message from Zlotkowski and blame it on radio problems. But, like the professional he was, he replied, “Copy, Save One, has Rescue two 27 been informed?”