He walked slowly into the work area, which was well lit from the high windows that ran the length of the outside wall. Inside were six youths rummaging through boxes of prescription medicines and helping themselves to whatever seemed to pique their fancy. If they were looking for something in particular it wasn’t evident from the coarse method by which they conducted their search. One youth had located a case of Sudafed and was emptying the boxes from the case into his backpack. Bishop knew immediately what they would use that for.
As Bishop scanned the room one of the youths noticed him. “Whoa, old man, what do you think you’re doing here,” he challenged.
“Are you speaking to me, young man,” Bishop responded.
“Yeah, I’m talking to you old man and if you don’t get the fuck out of here I’m going to throw you out,” the youth responded. He was dirty, had long, disheveled hair, a scraggly beard, glazed eyes, and was obviously on something. But he was big and, in his drug assisted state, did not appear to be the least bit afraid of Bishop. The other five youths, reacting to the confrontation, moved in behind the youth facing Bishop.
“I’ll tell you what, young man,” responded Bishop, “I’ll ignore your disrespect, just this one time, because I’m not here to interfere with whatever it is you’re doing. I’m just here looking for some eye drops I normally get from this pharmacy. But, if you insist on continuing to be disrespectful, I will be forced to throw you and your friends bodily out of here.”
If there was one thing Bishop was, it was sure of his own capabilities. And, if there is one thing Bishop was not, it was afraid of some drugged up kids.
“Yeah,” said the youth, “you and what fuckin’ army?”
With that, Tanner stepped through the doorway, followed by Jason and Philip, and in unison said, “This army!”
The lead youth immediately reacted by saying, “Damn, Jace, what are you and Chappie doin’ here? We were just lookin’ for some stuff, you know. We didn’t mean no harm to the old man. There ain’t no weed in here but there’s lots of other good shit. Come on an help us and we’ll have a party.”
It was obvious that all of the youths knew each other, probably from high school, and probably knew Jason for his use of marijuana.
Jason looked the mouthy youth in the eye and said in a quiet, emotionless voice, “I suggest, Bernie, that you and Billy, and Tommy and Steve, and Georgie and Buck step outside for a while, before Mr. Westin here, and we, have to remove you. Once we’ve located what we’re looking for you can come back in and do whatever it is you’re doing for as long as you like. How’s that sound? I’m not interested in any party, especially with the likes of you. It’s guys like you that got me into weed to begin with and I don’t need it anymore; and I don’t need you anymore either.”
By using their names, Jason showed that he knew who they all were. The youths had no concept of what was really happening outside and thought that someday, sometime, they might have to deal with Jason and Philip again, so Bernie shook his head at the other youths, glowered at Jason, and they quietly left the pharmacy. As they left, Bernie looked back at Jason and said, “Hey, Jace, how long ya think y’all might be?”
“Until we leave,” Jason responded.
“Well done, Jace,” Bishop said. I think you just saved them from some serious hurt, and maybe us, too. Good job.”
“Naw,” responded Jason, “they’re just puffs; all talk and no backbone. It was just the drugs talking anyway. I’ve known those guys for a long time and the most hurt they’ve ever put on anyone was burning their fingers with a lighter when they lit up a reefer!”
“Okay, Dad,” said Tanner, “what is it we’re looking for?”
“I appreciate you all coming in to give me a hand. Four sets of eyes are certainly better than one; especially when that one set is mine. And, your timing was perfect,” Bishop added.
“We decided the same thing, Dad, and just happened to come in at the right time,” said Tanner.
“What we’re looking for is called ‘Timolol,’ spelled T-I-M-O-L-O-L and it comes in a little white box about three inches high and one inch square. Timolol and some other stuff is printed on the box in blue ink. Just search for little white boxes and we’ll go from there,” he said. “Why don’t each of you grab a section of the room and go from one end to the other of each shelf in your section. It will only be in one place, so once we locate it we’ll be finished.”
“You mean little white boxes like this one,” Philip asked, pointing at a stack of boxes on the shelf right in front of him.
“That’s it,” exclaimed Bishop; excited by the quick find. There were several loose boxes of the medication sitting on top of two twelve-packs. Altogether, Bishop acquired 29 boxes of Timolol; enough to last him another 29 months after his current supply ran out. This means I’ll have enough medication for almost three years before I have to worry about my eyesight, he thought, and who knows, maybe I’ll be able to find some more somewhere else. He put the boxes in a plastic bag he picked up from the counter and led the way out of the pharmacy. As they passed the OTC shelves, Bishop grabbed all the aspirin and Tylenol displayed there and added them to the plastic bag. These will probably come in handy, he thought. I have a feeling that headaches and sundry aches and pains may become the order of the day.
As they excited through the broken door, the youths were sitting on their haunches against the wall.
“It’s all yours, boys,” said Bishop, and the youths immediately reentered the store, but not before turning around and giving Jason the finger. Jason only responded with a smile and a wave.
“You sure made them happy, Bish,” said Jason. “They looked like horses heading for the drinking trough.”
◘ ◘ ◘ ◘ ◘
As Philip pulled his truck into Bishop’s driveway they heard the drone of an aircraft. Bishop looked up from the truck bed and spied the familiar red, white, and blue stripes that ran from the cowling to the tail on both sides of Travis’ 1965 Mooney. The pilot wagged his wings as he flew overhead; acknowledging that he had seen them and everything was okay. Bishop knew that Travis would land at the Sedona Airport in 5-10 minutes and would soon be joining them in the Village. He knew Mel would be delighted to hear the news.
Having heard the truck pull into the drive, the rest of the Westin clan and Melanie Brenner came out to greet the men. They were surprised to see Philip, but at that point they were unaware of the tragedy that had occurred at Chapman’s Service Station.
Bishop told Melanie about Travis’ flyby and it evoked a smile that stretched the width of her face. You could almost see the stress and tension bleed away.
Carly told them all to come inside and get some breakfast and then they could get caught up on what Bishop, Tanner, and Jason had found on their walk; besides Philip.
Bishop quickly gave Carly a hug and told her to hang back just a second. He signaled to Melanie to do the same. Tanner could see what was on Bishop’s mind and he wrapped his arm around Tara’s shoulder and walked slowly with her. Both men told the women about the devastation at Chapman’s, finding Philip there, and burying the bodies of his parents.
As they entered the home, the women took turns in paying their condolences to Philip and giving him a hug. Breakfast was a solemn affair; nothing further was said about the Chapman incident and, in fact, Bishop and Tanner refrained from discussing anything they had seen because they didn’t want to frighten the children. Philip and Jason didn’t want to talk about it for different reasons: Philip because of his grief and Jason because of the shock he still felt over what he had seen.
After breakfast, the kids headed outside to play and the adults, now including Philip and Jason, stayed at the kitchen table to talk. Bishop was the narrator and filled the ladies in on what they had seen of the devastation that had been wreaked on their little community. He refrained from detailing the terrible loss of life they had seen. He filled them in on the confrontation at the pharmacy and highlighted Jason’s role in quieti
ng what could have been a violent situation. Jason noticeably responded with pride but added nothing to the conversation. A sign he’s really growing up right before our eyes, thought Bishop.
It was almost two hours after they had returned home that Bishop heard the slamming of multiple car doors and knew instinctively that Travis had arrived. Melanie had the same reaction and rushed to the front door. As she stepped outside she was greeted with tears, a big smile, and a strong hug by her daughter, Ellen. Michael joined in the hug and then her granddaughter, Kathleen, joined in. The last to join the hug-fest was Travis, but he warranted a big kiss besides. Tears streaked down Melanie’s face, this time from joy rather than stress.
Jack and Celeste Lloyd had heard the car doors, as well, and came over to welcome Travis back. Bishop suggested to Jason that he go down to his grandfather’s and invite them to come by. Jason took off down the street at a jog, still beaming from his new found adultness.
It was only a matter of minutes before Bud Thomas and his entire family showed up at the Westin’s. They had all met at Bud’s to have breakfast together, hoping to mollify the anxiety they all felt, by being with those who mattered most to them. In fact, all of the Morningside Mavericks shared that same feeling for the larger Maverick family.
Colby’s son and daughter, Todd and Olivia, joined Trey and Kiera in the yard and they quickly started playing a game of chase, oblivious of the concerns of the day, unlike their parents.
The adults, now totaling 21 individuals, including the twins, Tate and Mattie, and Kathleen; along with Philip and Jason, occupied every available seat on the patio, half of them cushioned stack chairs they had borrowed from the Country Club earlier in the week in preparation for the 4th of July Barbecue.◘
Chapter 10
Blessings Large and Small
Bishop was the defacto leader of the group because he was the one who displayed the most natural leadership talents and, more or less, because it was his home they were in.
He first commented on the tantalizing smell of the brisket cooking on the smoker, assuring everyone that the meeting would be brief so they could get to the important stuff; like eating. This was his style: put them at ease, solicit comments, make decisions, and get on with it. He indicated he thought it would be good to have a reporting session so everyone could share the information they had accumulated. He felt it was important no one be left out of the loop.
He welcomed Travis back safely and suggested they start with a report from him.
He began by informing them all, in the event they didn’t already know, that, as a consultant, he had been at a meeting of the U.S. Department of Agriculture the previous two days, being held in Phoenix. The meeting was a semi-annual affair attended by the Regional USDA heads and attended by the big wigs from Washington. But this time the big wigs weren’t there; reportedly a last minute cancellation due to pressing business in Washington. The Regional Directors said rumors had been circulating that some major solar event had kept the various cabinet level people meeting with the President and his advisers, but no official word had been communicated to them as to what it was.
Yesterday, he continued, when they all heard the first News Alert, it became clear what the White House meetings were about. The delegates noted that they only had a few hours to return to their homes, if they could find transportation, though some, like Travis had flown their own planes or chartered planes for the meeting.
“I immediately decided to fly on down to Tucson to be with Ellen, Kathleen, and Michael and wait to see what came of the predicted CME event before we flew back here for the 4th of July barbecue,” he indicated. “Once things began happening, it was obvious to me that we needed to wait until this morning to fly here.
“Last night, Tucson was like a war zone. Fortunately, it’s summer break and most of the U of A students had left, because having those thousands of extra people would only have increased the chaos and potential loss of life we witnessed.
“Looting and lawlessness seemed to run rampant last night and fires seemed to be popping up everywhere. We couldn’t determine their cause, but I think at least some of them were manmade. We heard explosions from all directions but didn’t know until this morning that they had been caused by exploding transformers and then secondary explosions caused by the fires. To get back to the airport this morning we had to maneuver through abandoned and, in some cases, wrecked vehicles and had to avoid the large masses of people who were looting the stores along the route. It took at least twice as much time to get to the airport as normal.
“Fortunately, as is my habit, I had refueled the plane and secured it before Ellen picked me up at the airport last night so, other than my normal preflight check, she was ready to fly. It was evident from what we were seeing and hearing that the kids would be staying with us longer than the expected long weekend, so they packed as much clothing and personal effects as I thought the plane could handle.
“We took off without clearances from the flight tower, because there was no one there. We took off to the south and as we circled around Tucson to head north we were able to see a major train wreck on the Union Pacific line. It appeared a tractor trailer and freight train attempted to share the same intersection at the same time,” he said, stating a fact rather than attempting humor. “Freight cars were jackknifed and spread like a set of ‘pick-up sticks’. Thick black smoke blanketed the scene. We circled around it and then followed I-10 north toward Phoenix, staying just 500 feet above the highway. As we had seen in Tucson, the interstate was littered with cars and trucks that had stalled or been in accidents and were abandoned. Some were still smoldering from having caught fire. Some bodies were visible but no one seemed to be moving around. They must have sought shelter somewhere, not knowing what was really happening.
“Phoenix was a landscape of twisted and blackened steel, not unlike the devastation wrought on so many German cities during World War II, but wrought directly and indirectly by a force of nature. Like Tucson, it was more of the same, only logarithmically so. Fires were burning everywhere across the city and out into the suburbs as far as the eye could see. In some cases the extreme heat was causing cyclones of fire consuming everything in their path. In fact, the updrafts caused by the heat of the fires made for bumpy flying so I had to increase our altitude until we cleared the city.
“As we flew over the more densely populated areas we could see looting and groups of people milling around waiting for someone to tell them what to do or just looking for something else to pillage. Some people shook their fists at us as we flew overhead. There were vehicles moving in long lines trying to evacuate the metroplex, heading east and west on Interstate 10. I don’t know why they thought things were going to be any better in other cities, but I guess they hoped that whatever they found would be better than what they were leaving. I don’t think any thought was given to how they were going to get fuel for their vehicles once they got out on the road. No gas stations were operational and there was no AAA, even if they could have called one.
“We merged with I-17 and the trip up to here wasn’t as dramatic in terms of destruction, but the highway was a huge parking lot. Cars were strewn about like toys swept off a table by a child’s hand. Some were mangled, some burned, and some were pristine, as if their owners had just walked away and left them. As you know, once an accident happens on 17, there are only a few places you can get off the highway to get around the accident, and once you start up the Mogollon grade there’s no escape. Cars were piled up or scattered at all angles on and off the highway and here we actually saw people waving at us. Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do.
“There were long lines of people moving up the highway like so many ants searching for food and water. I have no idea where they were heading, and maybe they didn’t either. It was just like the ‘follow the leader’ mentality at work. Somewhere, anywhere, had to be better than where they were and sitting there doing nothing was not an option. Someone probably started walkin
g north and the rest followed. Interestingly, there were no signs of people on the roads once we passed Camp Verde.
“When we flew over the house here and saw you below us, we felt better about things, but that quickly dissipated when we saw the destruction that had been wrought on our Village. And, Sedona was just more of the same. Fortunately, the tarmac at the airport was mostly clear and we were able to land without incident. My car was right where I had left it at the airport and unscathed. We had to weave our way down 89A to 179 and then all the way here, but, as you see, we made it.
“The thing that really frosts my cake,” he said with emphasis, “is that this didn’t have to happen. I don’t mean we could have stopped the CME, but the government knew it was coming and, even if they didn’t know its true strength, they should have shut down the electrical grid before the effects of the geomagnetic storm reached Earth.
“Washington has been so polarized as to be frozen in place. They can’t agree on anything, even when the lives of the people are at stake. I can just see the President and his advisors arguing over whether or not to tell the people what might potentially happen and why the grid needed to be shut down. Some would argue that advance notice would only cause panic. Others would argue that shutting off the grid would be an overreaction and would hurt manufacturing, while some would argue that this was going to be nothing more than another solar flare like the two we experienced previously this week. And, yet others would argue that the CME could be catastrophic. So, as normally happens in Washington, the President called out the National Guard, to do what I can only speculate, and directed that the nuclear plants be shut down. They all had their heads so far up their asses,” he said with some venom, obviously agitated with the stupidity of the federal bureaucracy, “except the scientists who were right but had no status at the table, that they simply did nothing. Now look what their inaction, while they argued over politics and public reaction, has wrought on the American people!”
Sinagua Rising: A story of survival after a worldwide catastrophe Page 10