Twenty minutes later, the Captain brought water to the door where Judy accepted the basin, blocking his view into the room. “Any word on our patient?” he asked Mac.
“Nada. All I can make out is that she’s young and speaks Spanish.”
Later, they heard a brief scream from the room but nothing more.
Everyone sat around like expectant fathers. When the side door burst open, Jack said, “Got ya; you’re all dead.”
“We can shoot first and ask questions later, if you’d like,” replied Mac.
The miners carried handlebars, a motorcycle fuel tank, and two more shotguns. Their hands and clothes were bloody.
“What happened to you?” asked Pappy.
“Nothin’. Not our blood,” said Tony, “We tried to rescue another woman, but she died carrying her back. She’d been shot… lost too much blood, pro’bly.”
Abruptly, Jack looked around the hangar and asked, “Judy in there alone?”
“With the woman, yea,” Mac replied.
Angrily, Jack strode toward the office door. “Didn’t I say not to leave…”
“Belay that, dammit!” bellowed the Captain. “She’s fine!”
Jack slowed, but didn’t stop. Mac stood up blocking the door. “Look at yourself! You can’t go in there covered with blood. You look like a mad butcher. You’ll scare that woman half to death, if Judy doesn’t brain you first!”
“I told you all…”
“You don’t give orders any more than I do!” the Captain bellowed again. “Why don’t you shut up and clean up. Judy’s doing just fine in there.”
Despite the admonition, Jack continued, “I told you all that I was going to look after our safety whether you liked it or not.” He reached over Mac’s shoulder and rapped hard on the door. “Judy, please tell me that you’re safe and secure in there!”
Judy replied, “Things are fine in here. Kindly do not disturb us again, Jack!”
Turning to Mac, Jack said, “That woman had plenty of fight left in her.”
“Jack, you heard her answer. Judy has plenty of fight too. Let them be.”
Jack glowered fiercely, but turned away. The miners washed, changed and joined the expectant family in waiting. Nothing more was said about their adventures and Jack was left alone to settle his ruffled feathers.
Presently, Judy emerged with fire in her eyes. She sought Jack and said, “Sooner or later, we’re going to have this out between us. Now is not the time, but I will not deign to give you special notice whenever I want my privacy! Do we have that straight, at least?” She didn’t wait for an answer, but wheeled around and strode resolutely back to her patient.
“Told you she has plenty of fight,” said Mac smirking.
Later, Judy emerged and asked Mac to assemble two army cots inside the office. When she returned she seated herself among the men who looked up expectantly.
“Boys, I really do appreciate your act of compassion in bringing her here. I’ve given her a sedative and she’s asleep now.”
Judy snapped at Jack. “She’s afraid of you especially after all that yelling. What happened out there?”
“She played dead but we thought she might be breathing. When we touched her, she attacked us with a knife,” replied Jack. “We took it away, but even hurt she put up quite a fight.”
“She must have fallen off one of those motorcycles,” said Judy. “She has a painfully dislocated shoulder and a bruise on her leg but no other serious injuries that I could find. I’ve reset the shoulder. She’s young and fit, so she should recover quickly. I want to bring her along with us. Apparently, her brother was killed.”
“I expected that, but we should leave at dawn, and no excuses .”
Ignoring Jack, she said quietly, “Guys, I wish you would show her every possible kindness until she can overcome her fear and grief. I think you’ll come to like her. Her name is Onita; she’s Hispanic and speaks English quite well. She’s really a gentle and well-educated young lady. Not a gangster type at all. She fears for her life and I’ve learned she has good reason. If she’s willing, she’ll make a superb addition to our family. And I don’t want to hear another word about her knife, Jack!”
Tony awakened everyone before dawn. He would be ready to leave as soon as there was enough light to travel without headlights. Judy informed everyone that Onita wanted her brother to be buried and to visit his grave for a prayer before leaving.
Jack fumed, “We need to be outta here by first light!”
Judy replied, “Jack, you can’t deny her request; he was her brother.” Her angry eyes left no room for argument. Jack, the pilots and Mac grabbed several shovels and departed in the dark leaving Tony and Judy to finish packing the cat. Outside, Mac asked Jack, “How will you know which body is her brother?”
“Believe me, I know exactly which one.” Jack marched into the gloom without hesitation, the tarmac devoid of aircraft and the path unobstructed. As they approached the runway, they heard an animal growl which they couldn’t see. They stopped, searching in the dim light until they heard another growl from a different direction.
“Damn dogs have already found the bodies,” said Jack. His voice brought renewed snarling and occasional flashing eyes dimly reflected in the low moonlight. Jack reoriented himself and moved ahead briskly. Nearing a dark form on the ground, two dogs rushed snarling and snapping near Jack’s legs. He swung the shovel like a bat and caught a mongrel full in the chest. The dog yelped in pain and limped away. These were a sad collection of starving house pets, not wolves.
Jack found the brother’s body and emptied his pockets. Trading off, the four rapidly dug a grave in a grassy area near the taxiway. They dug as deeply as the ground permitted, but not deep enough to defeat the dogs. Mac draped the young man’s bright red bandana over the handle of the shovel.
Since no one was willing to stand guard over the grave with so many roaming mongrels about, Jack asked everyone to urinate on the mounded grave to ‘mask the smell of blood’ until they returned for prayers. Mac realized Jack’s request was genuine, but only his journal would ever tell the story.
Meanwhile Judy prepared her patient for travel. She wanted the young woman to lie prostrate and buffered from the jolting ride on the rooftop perch in the nest of folded tent fabric. Judy wrapped her shoulder tightly with an elastic bandage immobilizing her arm so that she could not climb unassisted.
Upon returning, the miners lifted her effortlessly and covered her with a sleeping bag leaving her head exposed, nesting near Judy. Once secured, Onita smiled for the first time. Pleased with her smile, everyone climbed aboard. When Tony started the unmuffled diesel engine inside the hangar, Mac thought the roar would wake the dead.
Tony drove directly to the grave. As the eastern sky brightened, Mac saw mongrel dogs feeding on bodies. The approach of the noisy cat chased them away. Tony positioned the cat to give Onita a clear view of the mounded grave but shielded her from sight of the forsaken black-shirts. Onita was seated beside Judy beneath the bimini cover.
Everyone else joined the Captain standing at the grave. Tony affixed a piece of scrap metal to the shovel handle forming a cross. The Captain read a brief graveside prayer which saddened everyone looking at so many other unattended victims all around them. Jack handed up her brother’s personal effects and Onita in turn asked that her red shawl be draped over the cross. Turning away, she quietly sobbed.
36
Yukon River Bridge, October 19th. The Dalton Highway had been closed by another military blockade. A row of trucks fitted with a prominent gun on each cab faced the travel lanes. Originally intended to look intimidating, the squad of trucks was now snowbound and winter tarnished, and silently shrouded in river fog.
Lazlo ignored the guns and dodged the highway obstacles while Christie directed him under the Alyeska pip
eline to the visitor’s wayside near the Yukon River. She was most disappointed to find her intended cabin refuge solidly boarded shut. They wearily sought another campsite.
Evidence of military activity was everywhere. Tarp covered pallets surrounded the visitor’s cabin and a wooden public information deck had been converted to a sandbagged military observation post. The post contained snow covered tables and canvas chairs resting on tarps. The post was the only choice suitable for a makeshift overnight camp.
Christie seated Ernie in a deck chair covered with sleeping bags while they sorted through military gear stacked on the porch of the visitor cabin. They found plastic wrapped pallets of useful camp gear: tents, tarps, folded cots, and coils of guy rope. Lazlo strung a thick rope between visitor signposts and folded heavy tarps over the rope forming a broad open-ended tent. With a military tent pitched underneath, the deck became their most comfortable quarters since leaving Toolik Station.
After a hot meal of canned stew, the three slept the night undisturbed on insulated winter cots covered with blankets. Ernie awoke looking refreshed with the pain in his ribs diminished. After a quick breakfast of berry pan biscuits, Lazlo was anxious to explore the blockade.
Christie wrapped Ernie in a sleeping bag, seated overlooking the river with a hot cup of tea and the rifle alongside for defense. The couple took Puppy for their own defense while they explored the highway bridge.
“This is the only bridge across the Yukon River anywhere in Alaska,” explained Christie. “This would be the perfect place for a quarantine blockade, so I’m wondering what happened here. Did the military leave? We might be better off on this side of the river until we find out. From here the highway heads south to Fairbanks and the plague.”
“We should check out the far side we can’t see through this fog,” replied Lazlo.
The inclined bridge rose from abutments near shore and disappeared into the mist. Ice covering the inclined wooden highway deck made footing slippery. Ascending the bridge, they heard faint thudding from below and veered to the rail to investigate.
Lazlo had seen the Yukon River only from miles above flying in a commercial airliner. Close up, the river was far broader and faster than he anticipated. They watched a wave of churning slabs pass by roiling and overturning in a tumult of collisions as larger blocks were sundered into smaller ones by the incessant hammering. Occasionally a large surviving block collided with a bridge column, producing the soft thudding.
The bloated corpse of a bull moose floated by caught within the churning floes. Except for the face, his entire body was stripped of all hair making him appear albino. Watching the maelstrom, Lazlo realized crossing the river even by boat was impossible.
“Amazing,” Lazlo said. “Where are these blocks of ice coming from?”
“From hundreds of shallow tributaries east of here. Happens every year after a cold storm until freeze up.”
“When’s that happen?”
“Usually after a cold snap.”
“Worse than we’ve had?”
“Laz, this river is two thousand miles long. Warmer water is feeding the river way south of here. When the water gets cold enough there, the river will seize up here, sometimes overnight.”
“I suppose I’ve never paid much attention to this river.”
As they ascended the fog shrouded bridge, Christie grabbed Puppy’s collar and stopped. They stared at a gap a hundred feet long running the full width of the bridge, uninterrupted to the churning ice below. The timber roadway, its railing, and catwalk had been deliberately cut away. All that remained was the Alyeska pipeline and narrow steel bridge beams, both covered with ice. They couldn’t see the distant shore through the fog.
“Must have been a quarantine line and I suppose we’re stuck on this side,” said Lazlo. “After freeze up, would the river be safe to cross on a snowmobile?”
“Sure. It becomes a highway to the villages all winter.”
“Freezes solid clear across?”
“Laz, the coldest temperature ever recorded in Alaska was eighty degrees below zero at Prospect Camp where we found Ernie. Trust me… the river freezes solid. Laz… we may have to remain here longer than you’ll be happy about. We should make the best of this and prepare for the worst… especially winter.”
“Nothing wrong with that, but why wait longer than necessary to cross?”
“Soon, the weather will be very cold…and when that happens, we can’t be caught out in the open like yesterday. We’re hopelessly unprepared. Next time we should choose our own time to leave… and after the river, there’s another pass to cross. Do you remember standing outside naked and wet… and our desperation camp just yesterday morning? You seem so anxious to move on without a care for reality.”
“I suppose I do feel driven.”
“Yesterday was balmy compared to what’s coming. We’ll need winter clothes and at least one fur parka for each of us…and much better winter gear. We need to organize for travel and choose our own time to leave.”
“Why don’t we check out those military trucks and see what they carry?”
“Laz… I’ll have to hand tailor much of what we’ll need… we’re not going to find parkas and mukluks lying around, especially in your size.”
“No harm in looking… well… not much anyway.”
“Let’s be careful… we still don’t know whether we’re safe from the plague.”
“Well then… Ernie is the man for the job, if he’s naturally immune.”
Christie was sure that Lazlo wasn’t listening. He still nursed his compulsion to move on, taking unnecessary risks. Why, she wondered? If Fairbanks had experienced so much trouble, why go there? Seeking only compassionate people, she dreaded the prospect of rushing into the cynical city in the middle of winter, short of food and begging for help.
Climbing over the concrete barricade at the bottom of the bridge ramp brought them into the midst of forsaken vehicles. The first, a large military truck with a tarp-covered gun mounted on the cab, faced the highway. The sight prompted an abrupt change in Lazlo’s thinking. Could such a truck be brought back into service? If so, they might be far better equipped for travel.
“You seem lost in another world, Laz.”
“Not another world, but the one right in front of us,” he answered… “Christie, if a snowmobile can cross the frozen Yukon… what about one of these?”
“A heavy truck like this?”
“Yea… something hefty.”
“I’ve seen small supply trucks cross, but I don’t know about something this big.”
“Much heavier rigs than this easily crossed the ice around Prudhoe Bay.”
“Laz… just what are you thinking?”
“That we should travel in one of these instead. We could keep dry and warm.”
Lazlo had a new approach to their escape and he wanted to get to work on one immediately. Christie, however, had other priorities.
“Laz, after just one night here, I see you’re already anxious to move on. Before you forget our conversation, I need your help.”
“Alright, Christie… what is it?”
He hadn’t been listening! “We need to get prepared… find food and clothing. We’re wearing everything we own. We should open up that log building and move out of those tents to keep warm. Soon, it will be very cold here.”
“I do remember the cold. We worked outside only a few hours at a time.”
“Well imagine that North Slope weather and spending all night outside in that unheated canvas tent. A better place to stay first, okay?”
“Fine… we can do that. But afterward, I have a few things in mind to do.”
A rifle boomed nearby. Puppy bounded off in the direction of the sound. Since camp was beyond sight, the couple followed her trail which led toward th
e river instead. They found her licking blood off the snow beside the carcass of a moose. Ernie was limping toward the animal with rifle in hand. His shot perfectly placed behind the forelegs caused the animal to collapse on the riverbank.
“Ernie… you’re the man!” shouted Lazlo… “Good one!” as he slapped him on the back ecstatically.
Ernie winced but smiled proudly. “Without your barking dog, the moose just browsed down the river until it got within range.”
Christie removed her parka, gloves and boning knife. “Laz, help me roll it… then get two tarps, the large pot, and an axe or hatchet.”
When he returned, Christie had eviscerated the animal and was reaching deep within the carcass, blood up to her elbows. “Laz, spread the tarp flat, then help me peel and butcher this right here before bears get wind of the blood.”
Soon the contents of the body cavity were spread raggedly on a tarp with the huge heart and liver in the pot. Lazlo wrapped offal in the hide and heaved it into the ice-churning river. Puppy wolfed large scraps Christie tossed to her, then rested on her haunches looking for more.
“Guys… please don’t just stand there… Ernie, keep an eye open for bears. If one arrives on the scent, it’ll come on us fast.”
“I’ve never butchered an animal this big. Show me what you need.”
Christie directed Lazlo where to separate the tendons with the hatchet while she boned everything else. A prodigious stream of blood oozed into the river with a bright red trail meandering downstream. With a heap of meat on the second tarp, Lazlo heaved the boned quarters of carcass among the ice floes.
“This mess is sure to attract scavengers,” said Christie, “and then they’ll prowl around our tent tonight looking for more. We need to bundle this somewhere high.”
“What if we hung a bundle from the bridge over the river?”
Flight To Pandemonium Page 34