The Road to Round Mountain II - The Alliance: By C.G Roberts

by C. G. Roberts

  The scout leader wasted no time in getting up the hill as the patrol car vanished quickly among the trees. Some of the remaining kids gathered around me and Vargas who was using a tree stump as a make shift chair. The questions came fast and furious as to how we made them fly through the air and made the trees fall to help build a temporary dam. “Boys, Boys, please no more questions;

  let the men breath. “I’m sorry fellas, but these kids including myself are more

  than curious as to what just took place”, the skinny younger scout leader offered.

  “It’s okay and we can explain it, but if you don’t mind if we wait until we get

  up to higher ground”, I pleaded. Before I realized it Vargas was standing next to

  me and uttered, “I have just one question, where in the hell did that guy get holy water, and why was he trying to exercise the demon from you”? I turned to him and he had an ear to ear smile going on. He looked much better and for that I was glad. I pointed to myself and replied, “Billy’s house, is now clean”. It never hurts to toss in a Poltergeist reference from time to time.

  “By the way, that was two questions and that was excellent work you did with those scouts”, I added. “Good work yourself, Oh Billy the Mighty Beaver”, Vargas replied sarcastically. “If I was the Mighty Beaver, my dam would’ve held better”. We had a chuckle over that one as the patrol car was flying back down the hill.

  The salt and peppered hair scout leader hollered out the window, “They had the radio on in the RV and they said that it was an earthquake and that it was 8.9. Its bad fellas, really bad”, as he ushered more of the kids in to the car and at our request, the Modern day Father Merrin went along this trip. Sorry Father, No demons for you! As the driver took off again I took a quick head count Vargas, myself, two scouts and one leader. I was starting to feel better but the ground started to vibrate violently again. If this was an aftershock, it was a damn big one.

  The ground just to our right split about a foot wide and the rumble of the

  aftershock caused sizable waves in the water which were heading in our direction.

  Vargas made a dash up the hill and the rest of us followed. We stopped around

  the first curve in the dirt road and watched as the water level went down almost

  as quickly as it came in. The ground was silent and the only noise was from the

  patrol car coming for its final fare of the day.

  Once we headed up the hill, the salt and pepper haired scout leader offered, “My name is Roy, Roy Corgil and I can’t thank you guys enough for what you did, whatever it was that you did. I don’t think I would’ve believed it if I didn’t see it

  with my own eyes”. His eyes did have a bit of panic in them but he maneuvered up the hill like a trooper. “I’m just glad we were able to help”, I countered. “Yeah, dead is no way to spend your camping trip”, Vargas added. “Really deep and insightful there Vargas”. He just shrugged and ignored my sarcasm.

  It was a great sight to see everyone safe and unharmed for the most part. The one scout that had his foot stuck between the logs had a noticeable limp. The Sheriff ran up to the patrol car and ushered us out quickly as he needed to get the two way radio to a local frequency. As we got out of the way he said, “Hell of a great job you two. Some of them were filling us in as to what happened”.

  The ground was silent and hopefully the worst was behind us. A bunch of the scouts were complaining about being hungry, saying they were getting ready for

  lunch when Mother Nature unleashed her wrath. Chuck and his wife overheard

  the scouts and made several trips in and out of the RV. I paid no attention to

  their activity as Vargas and I relaxed and enjoyed a peaceful smoke.

  Neither of us said a word as we were both exhausted but in good spirits from

  the successful rescue.

  As we made our way back to the crowd, my nose was attacked by the

  won derful smell of hotdogs and hamburgers cooking. Chuck had a side panel on the side of the RV, and when opened it had a grill that unhinged from its position and came level with two metal legs that kept it propped up. The grill was run on

  propane so no on e had to wait like you would with a conventional grill. Captain Ackers was acting as Chef. He was maneuvering food all over the place with tongs and appeared very comfortable doing so. Chuck came over to me and Vargas and offered, “My wife and I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate everyone’s

  safety than to cook up a feast. We’ve got two weeks’ worth of food and it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting to our destination so let’s all dig in”. We started heading for the food when Chuck asked, “So, is it true that both of you were hit by lightning”? “It’s true”, I replied. Chuck concluded, “What are the odds of that”?

  I had no answer for him as I was distracted by the sound of a Helicopter. If there was anything that I wasn’t in the mood for was another Helicopter. Of course this one could be flying around and reporting back on whatever damage

  had occurred. At least that’s what I was hoping…………………………..

  30

  Mr. Rollins was utilizing his high powered binoculars when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. “Rather busy trying to locate our subject which was made significantly more difficult with the Earthquake sir”. The noise from the helicopter made it difficult for Mr. Rollins to hear his Mr. Baily’s woes. “I do understand that the current set of events may alter things, but I have confidence that you shall find him. How bad is the damage from your view”? Mr. Rollins

  hesitated for a second before replying, “I’ve never seen anything like this,

  Highway 97 is basically gone for a thirty mile stretch. The Earthquake split open the side Crater Lake and as it emptied it destroyed anything in its path. We’re getting reports that it was an 8.9 with a good dozen aftershocks so far. Just north of our location the water from Crater Lake split open Highway 97 about thirty yards wide and we saw an RV teetering on the edge of the road, but when we came back around it was gone; it must have fallen in”.

  Mr. Rollins could hear Labored breathing followed by a small coughing spell. “From reports I’ve had the Quake was felt as far south as Reno, Nevada and I’m sure you’ll have company in the air shortly from the National Guard and other authorities so you’ll need to get away from there to avoid attention. Get all reports you can and contact me later and if we have to we’ll set up vehicles from

  border to border to locate him”. “What if he didn’t survive sir, I do know that the

  others didn’t survive the car wreck, but they did find tracks walking away from

  the sight. So if it was Billy and the other guy, then they were walking and walked right in the middle of one of the strongest quakes ever recorded in the States. We might have to consider that they didn’t make it Sir” .

  “The only thing we need to consider is what will happen to you if you don’t find him”, Mr. Baily countered. “Also you seem to forget the vast resources available to us Mr. Rollins, so like I said, get all the reports you can get ahold of and call me later and if they do turn up dead somewhere then we move on with the one currently training in the compound. That is not option one for me so

  make sure you scour all reports carefully for all those that might have died from the Quake and report back. Is that clear Mr. Rollins”? A heavy sigh followed by, “Crystal Sir”. Mr. Rollins slid his phone back in his pocket and put his headset back on to talk to the pilot. “We need to vacate the area Carl, where’s the nearest place we can put this thing down safely”? Carl took a quick check of his charts and replied, “Klamath Falls”. “Okay, we head for Klamath falls”, Mr. Rollins acknowledged.

  31

  Despite the fact that we just survived one hell of an Earthquake, everyone was

  in good spirits. Some of that might have something to do with a lot of satisfied

  bellies, filled with Hotdogs, burgers, chips, soda and a
lot of water. A Dr. Pepper

  sounded good right now, but right now anything was appreciated.

  All of the scouts were following Vargas and me like we were some Circus side

  show. We know that the other adults have informed them about what happened to us and some of the things we could, but they continued to shadow us in hope of perhaps an encore performance of “The Flying Scouts”.

  The Sheriff and the Captain were busy with radio transmissions in the patrol

  car. Everyone seemed more than appreciative of being rescued. The lone

  exception to that was my favorite scout leader Father Merrin. The other leaders

  insisted he keep his distance form Vargas and me. He obliged their request but

  on occasions would give us hateful looks perhaps in hope that we might burst into

  flames.

  We heard the car doors close and the Sheriff called me and Vargas over to the

  patrol car. The look on the Sheriff’s face was not that of a happy man. “Were you able to find out anything”, I asked the Sheriff? He took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. I’ve seen this a few times and good news never follows.

  “This is a bad on e fella’s.

  “Looks like this started with a quake in Portland around a 6.1 if I heard him

  right, then another smaller one just east of Eugene and then this one. There’s

  extensive damage from Portland to just north of Klamath Falls”, the Sheriff

  concluded. The Captain added, “You two remember that town we filled up at and got some grub”? Vargas and I nodded while I lit up to prepare for the rest. “The town of La Pine no longer exists.

  I almost choked on my cigarette upon hearing this and replied, “What do mean, no longer exists”? “When the quake hit, a tanker was at the same station we were at filling their tanks, and it looks like the ground shook enough to knock

  down a power line and it landed on the tanker, and then”. The Captain made a

  gesture with his hands to show an explosion.

  “What about the fire dept., weren’t they able to help”, Vargas added ? The Captain shook his head, “The nearest fire department is in Bend, and by then the ground separated and buckled the highway so there were no roads to get to La

  Pine”. I shook my head in disbelief and replied, “You mean the whole town is”……………… “Yeah, it’s one blazing inferno that will have to burn itself out”, The Captain added.

  Vargas plopped down on his butt without n otice and I’m sure the Captain’s

  news had nothing to do with it as his head was bobbing up and down and he

  almost fell over. I bent down to help but he put out his hand, “It’ll pass, I just

  need my medicine fairly soon”.

  “The news doesn’t get any better”, The Sheriff offered. “It seems Interstate 5

  is chewed up almost as bad as Highway 97 and I just heard over the radio that

  there is four families’ camping by Crater Lake. One of the Helicopters reported that the area where the campground is located………….was gone; nothing but a giant hole where the campground used to be”.

  “Oh and Billy, I left a message with one of the officers in Klamath Falls, and

  he’s going to contact Jenny for you”, The Sheriff said. “Oh, crap, I bet she’s

  worried shitless, Sheriff, can I use your phone, mine got all busted up from the car

  wreck”, Billy pleaded?

  “I would’ve handed it to you already, but there’s no service. Towers are down all over the state, that’s why Bill and I changed the radio channels and got lu cky when Klamath Falls replied”.

  “How are we going to get out of here, Vargas needs his medicine and we

  need to get to Round Mountain”, I hastily inquired? The Sheriff lifted his huge

  mitt of a hand and replied, “We’ll get there, but first we have to wait. I gave Klamath PD our position as best I could and the National Guard is sending out recue copters to lift us up and over this mess to safety, but it’s going to take time. I’ll tell you what though, once I get word that they’re coming, I’ll make sure that you and Vargas are on the first air bus out of here. Bill and I need to stay with these folks and make sure everyone is safe before we go. I believe that they’re going to drop everyone off at Klamath Falls, which should work out for you two since that’s where he needed to go to get his medicine. If you two find the urge to strong and can’t wait for us then go on ahead. Just do me one favor”.

  “What’s that Sheriff”? “Buy a damn phone and put this number in it, who

  knows maybe we’ll get some service going soon”, as he handed me his business

  card with his number on it. “Keep in touch about where you’re at, and we’ll catch

  up as quickly as we can”, The Sheriff concluded.

  I was more worried for Jenny than I was for myself and I ’m grateful to the

  Sheriff for remembering to get word back to her. Vargas joined me by the patrol

  car for a smoke. “You feeling any better”, I asked. Vargas shook his head yes as

  he lit one up. “This day just keeps getting better and better. Fortunately the only things left for us are Boils and a swarm of Locust”, Vargas added with his own hint of sarcasm.

  As I looked around us I noticed all of the trees that had either fallen over or

  disappeared altogether. The road was impassable in both directions. We had the mini gorge cutting through highway 97 to our north and a series of buckled and missing chunks of road to our south. Just in case I peered into the sky for locust.

  Vargas stomped out his smoke and had me follow him to the side of what’s

  left of the road. “If the Sheriff’s right and we can get on the first rescue flight out of here, then once we get to Klamath Falls you and I will head for my other house

  and get my Toyota pickup out of the garage and find a hotel for the night. The Sheriff may be right, even with all that has happened there might be a welcoming party close by”. I scratched my head in confusion, “Then why go to the house at all, we could go buy a car with the money we have and then we won’t have to worry about being seen”.

  “You got a point, but this house has a rather unique point of entry. You

  remember how we left the cabin”, in hopes to jog my memory? “Yeah,

  downstairs and then down some more”, I recalled. “Okay, now since we won’t be pulling into the driveway with a car, it will be simple for us to gain entry from the bottom of the hill. There’s only two other houses close by and acres of field for a backyard, so it will be cake to get in without being seen. You seem to forget that I need my medicine and I can’t just show up at a pharmacy without getting ahold of my Doctor, who by the way is in Bend and won’t be able to call him for obvious

  reasons”.

  He had me on that on e. I did forget about his medicine but the point of pulling out of the driveway started to bother me. “One question oh great one, I realize that we won’t show up with a car, but if they’re watching, won’t they see us leaving in one”, I love it when I get memory recalls from Criminal Minds.

  He was stumped, he started to say something but had to think about it some more when finally he offered, “Okay, just fuck off junior detective, I didn’t think about that, but there is a used car lot about a mile from my house. We can check out what they got and then find a hotel, is that okay with you”, He snarled waiting for me to find fault in that plan as well. That scenario was much better than the former, “Works for me”, I concluded. “I’m going over to see if that family has any Advil or something, my heads killing me”, Vargas mumbled as he headed for the

  RV.

  The first helicopter showed up in about an hour. It was a long process since there was no were to land, they had to lower the cable down to us. They could only take five at a time so it was not going to be a rapid rescue. Two of the scout

  leaders were helping the boys
one at a time with the safety harness and once secured it would slowly lift them to the helicopter. The rest of the scouts had known that we were going to be in the first group leaving so they gave me and Vargas the best group hug that one could imagine. Chuck and his wife came over to us and shook our hands and thanked us again. Chuck’s wife followed with her own hug of us. We had said our goodbyes to the Sheriff and the Captain with

  strict instructions to contact them as soon as possible, which we will do. The only

  one that didn’t come over to us was the infamous Father Merrin, which was fine

  by me since I could only tolerate one exorcism per day.

  They all waved as we took off and I immediately had a view of the mass

  destruction caused by the quake. One of the National Guard troop pointed over

  to where Crater Lake used to be. It was sad to see that it was nothing more than

  a hollowed out volcano. Highway 97 had several sections either buckled, or sank

  straight into the ground. Trees was scattered like someone had emptied an ashtray. This was not the scenic Oregon that I was used to and it left a sour feeling in my stomach.

  Vargas and I each had our backpacks around our shoulders and ready to land. The flight was barely fifteen minutes as we landed at the Klamath Falls Airport. As we piled out of the helicopter one of the National Guard soldiers pointed us to a

  shuttle. This would take us to a local hotel for the night. Vargas and I had other

  plans. We did tha nk the pilot and those that met up with us but Vargas opted for

  a cab to take us close to his other house.

  After a short walk we saw a couple of Taxis. Vargas went up to the open window of the taxi driver and handed him a fifty dollar bill and said, “Will this get us to Kimberly drive”? The drivers eyes perked up and replied, “I think we can make that happen, is there an address to go along with Kimberly Drive”?