Escaping Yellowstone

by Larry LaVoie

  “Deputy Director Haines speaking.”

  “Helen, what the hell is going on? The golf course is underwater.”

  Helen Haines had been with Homeland Security since it was created by the Bush Administration in 2002. James Carling had been her boss for seven months, a political appointee from a new president. He tended to spend more time on the golf courses than he did in his office, but she never complained. He rarely got in her way and leaving her in charge was better than explaining how the department worked to a newcomer and was a waste of valuable time in an actually emergency. “If you’re near a television, turn on the news, otherwise, we have every agency within fifty miles of any coastline on red alert for flooding.”

  “You didn’t think to call me?”

  “Sir, with all due respect, you get the same notices I do. Check the text messages on your phone.” At this point she didn’t care if he fired her. She had her hands full.

  “I’m in West Palm Beach and it appears the entire area is underwater.”

  “Would you like me to send a helicopter?”

  “Are we under attack?”

  Helen held back a laugh. “The water will go down when the tide goes out. What course are you on, I’ll send a Coast Guard helicopter for you. Will you be returning to Washington?”

  “No, I have family down here. You can handle things from there. Let me know if anything changes.”

  Chapter 21

  Yellowstone National Park, daybreak Christmas Eve

  Cody and Lisa were sitting on one side near the front of the dozer. It was a noisy machine and conversation was difficult. Only those near Elliott could hear him.

  “We’re getting low on fuel,” Elliott said. “Madison Junction is up ahead. I’m going to see if we can get some there.”

  “Good,” Lisa said. “The kids have been complaining and need to use the bathroom.” Wendy and the kids were sitting next to her.

  “You’re going to make a good mother,” Cody said, elbowing her. He checked his watch, knowing if his theory that the moon was causing the higher magnitude earthquakes was true, they were already past due for another one.

  Madison consisted of a few houses, a gas station, and a minimart, all which had been shut down for the past two months. They were not due to open again until next April. Elliott pulled into the lot where he had found the dozer and stopped near a pump that had Diesel stenciled in white letters on its side. He opened the door. “Everybody out.” He reached in the metal box next to his seat and pulled out a hammer and a screwdriver and handed them to Cody. “Here’s the key to the restroom.”

  Cody took the hammer and a screwdriver. “Follow me,” he said.

  Cody walked around the side of the gas station, at times sinking to his knees in the snow and other times walking on a layer of ice a few inches below the surface. Wendy was having trouble rustling the kids, so Cody grabbed Tyler and hoisted him to his shoulders. He tried the door handle on the Women’s restroom. It was locked, so he popped the door handle off with the hammer and used the screwdriver to turn the latch.

  “Cool,” Tyler said, admiring his uncles’ skilled break in.

  “Can you take him with you?” Wendy asked.

  “Sure,” Cody said. He tried the handle on the Men’s room and it was locked, too. He broke it off and opened the door. “We’re only doing this because it’s an emergency,” Cody said to Tyler, “I ever catch you trying something like this and I’ll personally escort you to jail.”

  The power was off and the restrooms had been winterized with antifreeze. “Don’t bother to flush,” Cody yelled.

  Elliott used a pair of bolt cutters to snap the lock on the diesel tank and drained what little fuel was left in the tank into the dozer. The pumps did not operate without electricity so he left the nozzle in the dozer and went to the mini-mart and broke the glass in the door and let himself in. He went to a bay and found a portable generator and started it.

  Blake followed Elliott inside. He went to a rack of coats and pulled off several of them. He found blankets and handed them out. “There’s food in here, too,” Blake called out.

  Mike had followed Blake in and grabbed a package of potato chips and a box of powdered donuts that were well beyond their expiration date. He also found a rack with mittens and started handing them out.

  Elliott stood in the doorway. Cody showed up with Tyler on his shoulders again. “You want a coat and mittens for Christmas?” he asked Tyler.

  “And a candy bar.”

  “Good thinking.” Cody stuffed the pockets of his parka with candy bars. He found some Bic propane lighters and took the whole box.

  “What are you doing?” Wendy asked. “My kids are going to think it’s okay to loot.”

  “Only in an emergency, got that Tyler?”

  Cody found Elliott still outside watching the frantic activity inside the store. “How much fuel did you get?”

  “Not enough. The tank was nearly empty. I was thinking we should make camp here. I saw a propane tank. There’s a stove. It might be the best bet. If we run out of fuel on the way to Mammoth, no since all of us dying in the cold.”

  “Are you sure you can’t make it back to Mammoth?”

  “I’m not sure of anything, but that dozer drinks fuel like a thirsty elephant and if we get everyone five miles out of Mammoth, there is no way to walk that far through the snow, especially with the older folks.”

  “What are you talking about,” Cody said. “You’re as old as Nathan and my dad.”

  “You know what I mean. I was thinking I could go it alone and see if I can get back to phone service. We could still get calls out from Mammoth when I left.”

  “I got a better idea. You stay and help everyone get comfortable and I’ll go for help.”

  Lisa walked up on the conversation. They were standing in a covered area in front of the store that was nearly void of snow. “What’s wrong?”

  Elliott hushed up. “I’m telling her,” Cody said.

  “Telling me what?”

  “There isn’t enough fuel to make it back to Mammoth. We’re better off staying here. There’s a propane tank out back. We can probably get heat ―”

  “Is there a radio here?” Lisa interrupted.

  Cody looked at Elliott. They both shrugged and went back into the store. Cody found a door with a Private sticker at eye level. He opened the door and found a desk with a filing cabinet. The desk had a computer that was useless without an internet connection. He checked the drawers in the desk and the filing cabinet. “No radio,” he said looking up at Elliott and Lisa.

  “It was worth a try,” Lisa said.

  “We’re back to me taking the dozer to Mammoth and all of you staying here warm and cozy,” Elliott said.

  “That sounds good, except I need to be the one who leaves,” Cody argued.

  “Why’s that?”

  “I know the road.”

  “It’s daylight. I doubt that’s a problem, besides I already drove it here and back in the dark.”

  “Will you two stop,” Lisa said. “I think both of you should go. The odds are better if there are two of you.”

  “We probably won’t make it,” Cody said.

  “Well, why even try then?” Lisa asked, her voice breaking.

  “Because there isn’t any other way,” Catherine said. She had been listening in. “The only people who know we’re out here are the people we borrowed the snow taxis from and they were leaving for the holiday.”

  “She’s right,” Elliott said.

  Cody agreed. “Okay. Lisa, can you round up everyone so I can help organize this?”

  Elliott was in the driver’s seat as they left Madison Junction for Mammoth. The trip was about twenty miles in a straight line, but twice that far on the crooked road. “Maybe we can make it to Norris Junction.”

  Cody said. “There’s a road maintenance shed there that may have some diesel. We could siphon it out of one of the dump trucks.”

  “How far do
you figure that is?”

  “It’s on the way. Probably ten miles.” Cody was riding crouched down alongside the driver seat. “I’m thinking one of us should have stayed behind. Blake is worthless and I’m not sure how much help the rest of them will be.”

  “You said your dad was an engineer. He’ll figure out how to keep everyone warm.”

  “We might have made a mistake,” Cody said. “If there is fuel at Norris Junction we could have brought everyone with us. Now we have to go back for them.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up. We don’t know there is fuel. Would you have you risked everyone on that bet?”

  “I forgot you’re a gambler,” Cody said.

  “Was a gambler. There’s a difference. I only bet on sure things, now.”

  “So, you see this as a sure thing?”

  “Your girl was right. The odds are better with the two of us.”

  “Lisa is more than my girl.”

  “It’s a figure of speech. Don’t get all politically correct with me. I’m from a different generation.” He grinned at Cody. “Or are you two closer than you let on.” He raised his eyebrows.

  “Give me a break,” Cody said. “What are you, in junior high? Let’s just get some help and get back there.”

  Madison Junction

  Nathan and George had organized a crew to clear an area around the heater so the women and kids could set up camp closest to it. There were plenty of blankets and food for the time being. They still needed the heat; otherwise there wouldn’t be enough clothing and blankets to get them through the -18-degree night if it took that long for Cody and Elliott to return with help.

  “Blake, do you know anything about propane heaters?” Nathan asked.

  “What’s to know, you turn them on and strike a match,” Blake answered.

  “George, can you go with him. It probably needs to be turned on at the tank outside.”

  A few minutes later George and Blake stared at the main line leading from the propane tank. “This isn’t good,” George said, seeing the padlock through the leaver that opened the line into the building.

  “I’ll get the hammer. We can break the lock,” Blake said.

  “Find a bolt cutter or a hack saw,” George said. “You go banging around on a propane line… it just isn’t smart.” He stared at the large tank. The fact that it had been locked up probably meant there was still propane in it. There was no gauge to read fuel level. He tapped on it, but couldn’t get an indication of how much.

  Blake returned with a bolt cutter and handed it to George who quickly snapped through the lock. He removed the lock and opened the valve. “What did your father do?” George asked, looking up at his son-in-law.

  “I don’t know. I never met him.”

  “I thought you said he left when you were five?”

  “I don’t remember him,” Blake said. “Can we go inside?”

  Back inside Nathan was standing by ready to light the wall heater. There was another overhead heater, but they would need a ladder to reach it. After a few minutes of clearing the lines of air, Nathan smelled the propane and twisted the ignition switch, which in turn provided a spark, and the heater roared to life. “Good job, you guys,” he said to Blake and George.

  “We need to light the overhead furnace,” George said.

  “I think I figured it out while you were around back.” Nathan held up a remote control. He pointed it at the heater and they could see blue flames through a vent in its side.

  George sat next to Mike. “What brought you to Yellowstone in the dead of winter?”

  “Four of us were drinking in Helena,” Mike said. “One in the crowd was a Yellowstone guide and talked us all into a three-day trip of a lifetime, no charge. All we had to do was spend a few days in Yellowstone, pose for a few pictures, and look like we were having fun. I must have been drunk; I don’t even like the outdoors in summertime. The first day we went cross country skiing, he took a few pictures. Said he was making a new brochure. Yesterday, before the quake we were riding snowmobiles around the geysers in the upper Basin. We had a picnic lunch. Me and this woman, Ginger, at least that’s what we called her because she had beautiful, long, flowing red hair,” he paused and looked up with his eyes closed, picturing her face. “Ginger and me, we started to get close. She was nice and we both had lost our spouses. Her husband had died. I went through a bad divorce years ago. Anyways, we were hitting it off and were going to go to Casper and spend Christmas together. She has grown kids there. Last night, she was in bed and I was thinking how wonderful it would be to spend Christmas with a real family again. I couldn’t sleep and I went downstairs. I saw all of you having so much fun. I sat in the corner and watched, dreaming I might see the day when I would have a family again. And then, well… we’re here, now.”

  George choked up as he saw tears streaming down Mike’s face.

  “Don’t tell the others,” Mike said.

  George put his arm around Mike.

  Wendy walked over to George and Mike. “Dad, you two look like you’re freezing. Come and join us by the heater.”

  “What do you say, Mike. She’s a hard one to turn down.” They got up to join the others. As they reached their feet, the ground started to shake. A roar, like an oncoming freight train, filled the air. They were knocked back to the floor and Wendy went with them. Things started falling off the shelves. A large glass window shattered letting in a cold wind. There was a crash outside and the canopy covering the gas pumps in the front of the store hit the concrete.

  Chapter 22

  Norris Junction, December 24, morning

  “This is a happening place in the middle of summer,” Cody said, as Elliott turned off the road and pulled up to the boarded-up store at Norris.

  “Looks like a ghost town now,” Elliott said. “Compared to the rest of Yellowstone, Mammoth is beginning to look like a metropolis.”

  “It’s the only place with roads in and out all year around,” Cody said. “Everyone going in and out of the park in winter goes through Mammoth. This is your first winter in Yellowstone, isn’t it?”

  “I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t met Catherine.”

  “That’s the building I was telling you about,” Cody said, pointing to a large building a few hundred feet from the store. “No telling how many Federal laws we’ve broken so far, I guess a few more won’t matter.”

  “Hearing you tell it, there won’t be enough left of the park to recognize anyway.”

  “I’m no fortune teller. This might all die down and we’ll have our fingerprints on everything.”

  “And a lot of explaining to do,” Elliott said, with a grin. He pulled up in front of the rust-colored building. Snow had drifted halfway up the sliding metal door. Next to the building was a small mountain that Cody knew was a pile of gravel covered with several feet of snow.

  He expected there would be road maintenance equipment inside the building, but first, they would have to find a way in. They got out of the dozer and put on snowshoes. The door was the only access that wasn’t completely buried in snow. After walking back and forth a few times, Elliott said, “Get back in the dozer. I have a plan.”

  “You’re not going to drive this thing through the building, I hope, because the roof has enough snow on top to bury us alive.”

  “You read my mind. You got a better idea?”

  “How about you use the blade to clear a place for us to enter the building? I haven’t seen you operate the blade of this thing. You were bragging how good you were. I hope you operate it better than you land a plane.”

  “You really know how to hurt a guy. I’ve a good mind to hand over the controls to you.”

  “Just clear a spot so we can get in.”

  “After this is over, I’m going to move to a warmer climate. Even Billings in the dead of winter beats this place.” Elliott lowered the blade and pushed a wall of snow away from the door. He backed up and took another swipe, moving a good foot of snow with each pass. Fina
lly, they were down far enough to see a row of windows at the top of the doors.

  “Holy shit,” Elliott said, stopping the dozer. “I didn’t realize the building was this tall. If I would have crashed through those doors we would have dropped a good ten feet.”

  “Right on our nose,” Cody said. “Aren’t you glad you listened to the kid.”

  “Don’t push it,” Elliott said. “This place better have fuel.”

  They used a crowbar to break the hasp that held the two sliding doors together. The doors were attached to rollers on tracks sixteen feet overhead. Each door was ten feet wide. Elliott slid his gloved fingers in the crack between the doors and tugged, but there was no movement. Cody grabbed the door and helped, but it barely moved. Cody fetched a crowbar from the toolbox in the dozer, wedged it in the crack and forced the doors open a few inches. By brute force they were able to widen the opening so they could slip inside. The only light in the building was from the crack in the door. They stood inside waiting for their eyes to adjust. The room smelled of grease, oil, and diesel. Inside, not far from the door, was a large tank on a rack marked DIESEL. Cody looked at it and looked around. “This building is set up for electricity. Look at the door. It has an electric opener. The pump for diesel is electric.”

  “Then there has to be a generator.” Elliott said. He scanned the room. “Over there.” He pointed to a door. They passed by the front of a dump truck whose bumper was waist high and skirted around a bucket loader. The door was marked Electrical. Elliott tried the door, but it was locked with a deadbolt.

  “Dammit, isn’t anything easy,” he said. Frustrated, he kicked the door several times.

  Cody stood watching him. “You feel better?”