by Larry LaVoie
“We’ve got to go back in,” Lisa said in a near panic.
“You stay out here. I’ll find a way in. Give me your phone.”
“It’s no good…”
“I know,” Cody said, gently removing it from her hands. “I need a flashlight. Stay here. No sense both of us getting trapped if there is another aftershock.” He knew there were bound to be many more aftershocks.
He trudged along tangled timbers and debris looking for the front of the building. That would be the closest place to where he had last seen his family. Avoiding a line of broken glass and window frames that had popped out of the building, he found what was left of the entrance to the lodge. The snow machine he and Lisa had used was squashed under the large pine logs that had once held up the covered entry. He got down on his stomach and scooted under a log and shuffled along weaving his way over, under, and around any opening he could fit through until he was certain he was in the lobby. He heard screams, sobbing, and yelling. He called out to his father. “Dad, it’s Cody, can you hear me?”
“Over here.” His father’s voice sounded calm, but it was because he was holding his mother who was crying.”
“Are you okay?” Cody asked. “Who’s with you?”
“Your mother, Nathan and Blake. Blake is trapped under a log. We can’t move it.”
“Wendy?” Cody yelled. He had reached a pocket and sat up. He moved the light around looking for a way to them.
“Is that you, Cody?”
He recognized his mother’s voice. “Mom is Wendy with you?”
“She went up to the room to check on the kids a few minutes before the earthquake.”
Cody scanned the light around. Getting any farther through the rubble was useless. He was lucky to have made it as far as he did.
“Listen. You’re going to be trapped until I can find a way to remove some of this rubble. You need to grab anything you can to keep warm. We don’t have phone service and our transportation is crushed. It’s well below freezing, so if you have anything that you can use as a blanket: tablecloths, coats, anything at all. Cuddle together if you can. I’m going to try and find help…” his voice cracked. “I’ll do the best I can.” He turned around and wiggled back under the fallen timbers and back out to the entrance. He stood up and looked around. Lisa was nowhere to be seen.
“Lisa!”
The wind kicked up powdered snow and blasted his face. He turned the phone off and stuck it in his pocket. He listened for a reply. The screaming from the inside seemed far away. He saw deep depressions in the snow leading from where he had left Lisa and followed them.
The depressions in the snow were about a foot deep. Cody matched his steps to those in the snow. They led around the base of the lodge. It was such a mess he was having a hard time getting his bearings. “Lisa!”
His voice was lost in the wind. He heard a roar and braced himself, but then relaxed. It was Old Faithful erupting. He wondered if it was on schedule or had changed schedules again like it had in the past. Earthquakes had a way of disrupting the eruption cycles of the geysers. “Lisa!”
“Cody, over here.”
Cody saw Lisa trying to move a piece of roofing.
“I told you to wait for me,” Cody said. “I was worried.”
“I heard Wendy,” Lisa said. “I’m sure it was her.”
“Mom said she went back to her room. She could be near here.”
“Wendy,” Cody yelled at the top of his lungs. He stood for a minute listening, not realizing he was holding his breath. “Wendy, answer me. It’s Cody.”
Lisa started to say something and Cody cut her off by raising his hand. Lisa cocked her head. She heard it, too.
“We’ve got to be careful moving this stuff. It could cause something else to fall.”
“We have to get them out. Your mom is okay?”
“Everyone is accounted for except for Wendy and the kids,” Cody said. “Blake is trapped under a log. I couldn’t get to them. It’s an impossible mess. We need to get help.” He hesitated for a moment. “I’m not sure about your mom. Dad said Nathan was with them. I’m sorry. I don’t know about your mom.”
“Martin said he had notified FEMA and Homeland…”
“Not good enough,” Cody said. “Everyone inside is going to die unless we get to them.”
“I’m out of ideas,” Lisa said. “We can’t move this stuff and even if we could we might do more harm than good. This building is a pile of sticks. We move one, it could bring down the rest of them.”
“We have to try,” Cody said, taking her hand. “There’s a utility shed across the lot that’s still standing. Maybe it has something inside we can use.”
“I want to stay here,” Lisa said. “I can hear Wendy and the kids. They must be terrified.”
“I’ll be right back,” Cody said. He kissed her and trudged off.
Yellowstone Park, Mammoth Lodge
When the first earthquake struck, the people in Mammoth Lodge did not feel it until thirty seconds after it had demolished Old Faithful Lodge. Nearly thirty miles from the epicenter under West Thumb Geyser Basin, Mammoth Lodge fared much better. Catherine and Elliott were in the bar, topping off their evening with cocktails, celebrating six months of being with each other. As the building began to shake Elliott grabbed his drink and held it off the table. Catherine grabbed the table and held on as it bounced against the plank flooring trying to rip her out of her chair. A bottle vibrated off a shelf behind the bar and crashed to the floor. At the time they were the only customers. After it stopped, Elliott grabbed Catherine. “That was a lot stronger than the ones last spring.”
“You can say that again. Are you okay?”
“Fine. I better check on Chase, I don’t see him.”
Elliott walked over to the bar and leaned over. Chase was sprawled out on the floor. The bottle that had come off the shelf had struck him on the head. Elliott ran behind the bar and patted Chase on the cheek.
“What happened?” Chase asked.
“Earthquake. You got cold-cocked by a bottle of Johnny Walker.”
“The good stuff, I hope,” Chase said, sitting up. Elliott handed him what was left of a magnum bottle of single malt whiskey.
“Jesus, they don’t even make that stuff anymore. I was saving it for a special occasion.”
Elliott helped Chase to his feet. “I’ll get a mop. Don’t cut yourself.”
Chase started to fall and dropped the broken neck of the bottle. Elliott grabbed Chase and helped him around the bar to a chair. “For a big son-of-a-bitch you sure can’t handle your liquor.”
Catherine joined them. “Elliott, that’s no way to talk. Can’t you see he’s bleeding?”
“You’ll be all right, won’t you?” Elliott said, patting the big man on the back.
Chase nodded and the second quake hit. This time the bottles that had rattled near the edge of the shelves started dropping and exploding like grenades. Elliott grabbed Catherine with one hand and the edge of the massive bar with the other. Chase fell off his chair and fell back to the floor. They watched as the tables and chairs danced across the room and started piling up on one wall. After the second quake passed through, Elliott picked himself up and helped Catherine to her feet.
“I’m not sure we should stay inside,” Elliott said. “Another one like that could trap us.”
“I wonder what’s happening,” Catherine said. “Cody’s still in the park. Call him and he can tell us what’s going on. We were supposed to meet him at Old Faithful tonight.”
Elliott slipped his cell phone out of his pocket and called Cody’s cell. “It’s not responding. The tower must be down.”
Chase had recovered enough to walk without help. He went behind the bar and started cleaning up the broken glass. “Terrible waste of good booze,” he said. “I hope the hotel is insured.”
Elliott checked his cell phone for signal strength. “This is crazy. I have four bars, but Cody’s phone says it’s unavailable.”
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Catherine pulled her phone out of her purse and called Cody. She got a message saying the number was unavailable.
“Try the lodge,” Chase said from behind the bar.
“No answer there either,” Elliott said.
Chase came from behind the counter and called a number on his phone. “I can’t raise the Lake Hotel either.”
“Call 9-1-1,” Catherine said.
Chase dialed 9-1-1 and got a ring that transferred to another number. After several rings an operator answered, “Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency.”
“You didn’t feel that earthquake?” Chase asked.
“Earthquake?”
“Where are you?” Chase asked.
“I’m in Cody, Wyoming. Please state your emergency or get off the line.”
“This is Chase Harding. I’m calling from Mammoth in Yellowstone Park. We’ve had a couple of earthquakes and I’m trying to get hold of anyone in the park who is in charge.”
“I’ll contact the Ranger on call,” the operator said. “Is it all right to call you back on this number.”
“Yeah, sure,” Chase said, disconnecting. He looked at Elliott and Catherine. “If I wanted a ranger, I would call him myself. I have Eric’s cell number.”
“Well what are you waiting for?” Catherine asked. “This is a bit of an emergency, I’d say.”
Elliott nodded in agreement.
Chase made the call.
“Eric, Chase here. Sorry to interrupt your holiday, but there’s been an earthquake in the park and it seems some of the cell service in the southern end of the park isn’t working.”
“I’m at my sister’s place in Casper,” the Chief Ranger said. “Have you tried my office?”
“I got the answering service,” Chase said.
“I’ll make a few calls. Is everything okay in Mammoth?”
“Other than losing a ton of booze, everything here seems all right. I was worried that some of the tourists might be in danger. I can’t seem to raise any of the other lodges.”
“Okay. Is there any way you can check things out? I’ll try the park rangers, but you’ve probably tried them already.”
“Hold on a second, I’ll have Catherine try Park Headquarters.”
Catherine made the call to the Park Ranger Headquarters. The line made a beeping sound. “I think their phone is off the hook.”
“Catherine says the line isn’t working. How about Elliott and I go over to headquarters and check it out and call you back?”
“While you’re doing that, I’ll try to get through on satellite. I have an emergency phone for occasions like this.”
Elliott kissed Catherine. “You stay here until we get back. Stay away from the windows just in case there’s another quake.”
“I want to go with you. I need to check out the Post office.”
“Okay. We can drop you off.”
Chase stood by his Tundra staring at it. The lights were blinking and the alarm was sounding through repeated beeping of his horn.
“Can’t you turn that thing off?” Elliott said.
Chase still wasn’t thinking as quickly as he should have been. He fumbled in his pocket for his key and stopped the noise. “I was a little confused. I swear I parked over there.” He pointed to a spot about twenty feet away.
“You want me to drive?” Elliott asked, not certain Chase was thinking clearly.
“No. Get in.”
Elliott and Catherine climbed into Chase’s Tundra. He had it equipped with studded snow tires and the packed frozen road wasn’t a problem for him to make the five-minute drive to the Post Office and Park Headquarters building. All the lights were off in both buildings. Elliott noticed the infirmary lights were also out. “That’s strange, the hospital is equipped with a backup generator,” he said, getting out of the vehicle.
Chase went to Park Headquarters and tried the door. It was locked and no one appeared to be in the building.
Elliott walked over to the infirmary and walked in the front door. An EMT was sitting at the counter with a lit candle. “Just checking to see if everything is all right,” Elliott said.
The young woman looked up. “We’re fine. Don is checking on our backup power. It’s supposed to come on automatically.”
“Have you been able to reach any of your other stations?” Elliott asked.
“Haven’t tried. Is there a problem?”
“That’s what I’m trying to find out. Would you mind calling the station in Grant Village and asking how things are there? You do know there was an earthquake?”
“We have them all the time.”
Elliott waited for her to make the call on the radio.
She didn’t get a response and looked up at Elliott. “Probably away from the vehicle.”
“Don’t they have personal radios?”
“Sure. Let me try again.” Not getting a response, she said, “I’m going to try satellite.” She picked up a handheld phone. There was no response. “I’ll contact the Rangers and see if they can find out what’s going on.”
“You won’t reach anyone there either,” Elliott said. “They were the first ones we called.”
He went outside and saw Chase and Catherine heading toward the Tundra. In his haste to get to them, he slipped on the frozen ground and fell. He got back to his feet and waved he was okay as he approached.
“You clumsy goof,” Catherine said. “You could hurt yourself.”
“You think I did that on purpose?” He turned to Chase. “Chase, you don’t happen to have access to a snow taxi?”
“I might, why?”
“I’m thinking that earthquake came from the south and there is a large area of the park that didn’t fare as well as Mammoth.”
“I hate to wake them up. You know it’s after midnight.”
“There could be people in trouble,” Elliott said. “I could give a rat’s ass about waking up someone in the middle of the night.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m thinking we get a snow-cat and head south to see what kind of damage there is. Cody and his family are at Old Faithful and they don’t have phone service. You couldn’t raise anyone at the Lake Hotel. It could be bad out there.”
“That will cost a fortune in fares.”
“I don’t want to hire a taxi, I want them to loan me one. Make that two, you drive one, I’ll drive the other.”
Chase let out an exasperated breath. “I’ve been up since five yesterday morning. I’m beat. Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Make the goddamned call,” Elliott said.
“What about me?” Catherine said. “I can be of help.”
Elliott considered her plea for a moment. “Okay, you can come along.”
It took an hour to get the snow taxis fueled up and ready for the trip. The snow taxis were each an extended van with three rows of seats that could sit four across. With the driver and one in the passenger seat, they were capable of holding fourteen people. They didn’t have any idea if they would find survivors or not. In place of the wheels, the snow taxies had tracks, much like a tank. They were used throughout the winter months for tours of the park and were operated by a private firm.
Elliott led the way with Catherine sitting in the passenger seat. “That moon sure looks strange tonight,” he said to Catherine.
“Be thankful it’s so bright. Those road markers are all but buried.”
The sides of the road were marked by stakes that showed the snow depth, but they only extended a few feet above the deep snow.
Elliott figured the forty-mile trip from Mammoth to Old Faithful would take them a least four hours in the heavy snow-covered roads, longer if they encountered any major problems such as avalanches or landslides. The earthquakes made almost certain it wouldn’t be clear sailing. Elliott slipped on his aviator glasses to cut the glare from the headlights on the snow. He reached for a knob and turned the defrosters on high. He kept an eye on the rearview mirror for Chas
e’s headlights. “Keep watch on Chase. I don’t want to lose him.”
The taxis were equipped with two-way radios and they were able to communicate with one another. They were an hour into the trip when Elliott got on the radio. “Hey, Chase, you got a chainsaw with you?”
“What’s up?”
“Looks like a slide with several trees across the road. I don’t think we can get around them.”
“Pull over and I’ll come up beside you.”
Elliott pulled to the side and waited for Chase to come alongside. He got out into a bitter wind. They rummaged through the supplies, but neither van had a chainsaw.
“I don’t like it,” Chase said. “We try and drive over that we could flip over. We become the ones who need rescuing.”
“I don’t blame you if you want to turn back,” Elliott said. “I think I can find a way around it. If you go back, I want you to take Catherine with you.”
“I’ll wait here and see how you do,” Chase said. “If you can find a way through, I’ll follow you.”
Elliott got back in the snow taxi and said to Catherine, “I want you to go back with Chase while I try and find a path through this. Once I’m through you two can follow.”
“I’m staying with you,” Catherine said.
“Look, it’s just a precaution. If I roll this thing, there’s no sense both of us needing rescued.”
“I trust you.”
“I wrecked an airplane less than a week ago. Get out and go with Chase. I’ll wait for you on the other side.”
Catherine could see Elliott was serious. “Okay, but if this is some kind of trick, I’ll never forgive you.”
Elliott kissed her. “Go.”
Chapter 19
Old Faithful Lodge
Cody pulled the door open to the maintenance shed. The building had remained standing with the metal roof intact. It had taken him nearly an hour to free the door from a snowdrift that was blocking it. Finally, he had managed to climb through a broken window and find a snow shovel. All the while he knew his family was suffering in the bitter cold. He cursed himself for bringing them to Yellowstone. And Lisa, she would hate him forever if her parents were hurt because he insisted they spend Christmas in Yellowstone. He had just finished freeing the door and pulling it open when Lisa showed up.
