Were the other survivors still here? Or did they try to get out and were caught on the road by the Russians? We’d probably never know. It didn’t matter if we found out or not. I had what I came for, and we were ready for winter.
RIDING HORSES
Colleen was a godsend. She was a nurse and had nursed Lucas to health. She would do everything she could to help us with Amber’s baby. We would have been at a loss otherwise.
Colleen took a liking to our twins. She spent a great deal of time with them, teaching them about her horses. At first, they only rode with her. She told them they didn’t get to ride on their own until they could properly care for the animals. They learned to brush them and feed them carrots. Their little hands were at risk, but Colleen watched them closely and taught them well.
With only a blanket as a saddle, she would lead the horses by rope while the twins rode. It was nice to see. I think the twins saw the horses as really big dogs. And they loved dogs. With the free-for-all dog frenzy at the resort, the twins were always at risk of getting mowed down, but they took it all in stride. Over the past year, they had slept with Phyllis and Husky. I don’t think they could sleep without having a dog by them. They treated horses with the same degree of companionship.
Colleen knew that she would have to spend more and more time at the Hot Springs just to make sure that the new mother and baby would be fine. She decided that moving there would be best. They were able to fence in an area she could use as a pasture. So she loaded her horses into her trailer and made the drive. She took very little in the way of personal things. I think it was more than a move to help out the Community. It was her way of closure, of reconciling herself with the past and moving on with her life.
Almost all of us carried the burden of the time before. Madison and I didn’t know about the rest of our family members. We were the only ones who lived in Alaska. We believed the rest were fine, but they didn’t know about us and had to suspect the worst. We couldn’t help that. Maybe John had gotten through and delivered our messages, although that was doubtful. John was a scumbag.
The twins were devastated when Colleen told them she was moving to the resort. They wanted us to move, too. This created some strife on the home front. They didn’t get over it as we had hoped. They brought it up daily and seemed genuinely angry with us. This went on for weeks, until it snowed, then we had other things to think about.
THE FIRST SNOW
The first snow came on September 15th. We were scrambling! There were still tomatoes in the garden along with a number of peppers and other things.
When I got up in the morning and saw that it was snowing, I let Madison know that I was on my way to the garden. I took the quad and bolted off, the dogs racing after me.
I haphazardly picked everything remaining. The snow had not yet settled on the plants so I hoped that they hadn’t frozen the vegetables and ruined them.
I filled bags with everything left. Some of the peppers were too green, little more than fiber with no taste. We could still mix it all together and create some kind of sauce. We could not abide wasting any of our work. We had enough to eat, but we’d worked long and hard on our garden. As I liked to tell people, I fought a bear to maintain the sanctity of our young plants.
Sam and Martha showed us how to build our seed stock for the next year off what we had grown this year. Those were already safely stored in a cool area of the house.
We didn’t quite have all of our winter gear ready either, like the snow machines and our tractor with the snow thrower. That wouldn’t take long. Either it worked or it didn’t. Charging the batteries would be easy. We had power almost constantly, only shutting the generator down for a little while here or there. Although that probably needed to change. We needed to learn to live without electricity. And probably propane and gasoline, too.
That would be the hardest part. We liked having mobility. Well, I liked being able to drive, whether it was the quad, a Jeep, the truck, or a snow machine. Even the airplane was a bash, but that nearly resulted in our total demise, so we could do without flying.
With the snow, it might melt or it might stay. We were entering the in-between time. Too much snow to drive the Jeeps, but not enough snow to drive the snow machines.
The dogs enjoyed new snow, especially when it was still relatively warm. With temperatures around thirty, it was prime outside play time. After getting the vegetables indoors, everyone was up. We put snowsuits on and, as a family, made snowmen. We made one big one that would be the dad, then a slightly smaller one that would be the mom. We made two small ones for the twins. Then they wanted to make a snow horse. That was a challenge that required a little more planning.
We had been out all morning, and now it was time for lunch. We chopped up some of the freshly picked vegetables (none of them ripe) and doused them with olive oil and spices. It was all we had left; the dressing ran out long ago. We had some moose burgers, without buns, with rice on the side. We were blessed in being able to provide a meal like this in these days. We had never even come close to getting hungry, although we usually never gorged. We ate what we needed and no more.
Together, we plotted how to build a snow horse. When we went back outside, the work went quickly. It had warmed above freezing, and the snow was really sticky. It stuck together well. Our snow horse came together, but it looked more like a four-legged Frosty the Snowman or maybe the Stay Puft marshmallow man. This helped the twins a little. They now had their own horse in the front yard.
If the snow melted, we would head up to the resort and check in on Colleen. Hopefully, they had been successful in moving a load of hay there. Sam had said that he would help her with that.
I expected Sam and Martha to winter in their cabin, but they were invigorated by the Community. They provided knowledge and guidance; they were helpful; they were good people and, most of all, they were needed. Everyone needs to have a purpose beyond simply surviving.
They decided to move to the Hot Springs full time. Sam was a dynamo in the power plant. He understood how it worked and what needed to happen to keep it working. Martha was great at maintaining good order and discipline. She would be there whenever anyone needed something. Need, as in someone to listen, a cup of tea to hold something warm, a helping hand to wash the sheets. She was everyone’s grandmother, and she broached no disrespect. If Jo said lunch would be ready at one o’clock, Martha had everyone there on time, cleaned up, and ready to eat.
Martha had a way about her. Sam assumed the role of grandfather and took over Amber’s duties as Mayor as she got farther along in her pregnancy.
The Community was getting excited about the prospect of growing. The destruction of Fairbanks and then the helicopter incident had changed their attitude toward their future. We were on our own, and we had to assume that it was for the duration. We didn’t know if we would ever return to a normal life, definitely not here, but maybe not somewhere else either.
With the snow, we found ourselves isolated from the Community and the others we had brought into the fold. That meant there was more time for us to spend on ourselves. We got the assembly line ready and went to work preparing the vegetables to make a pseudo-salsa.
When the weather allowed it, we would head to the resort so the twins could see the horses. No, that didn’t mean this afternoon and probably not tomorrow either. More disappointment from the young ones.
CLEAR ROADS AND
CLEAR SKIES
It only took three days for temperatures to climb back into the fifties and most of the snow to melt. As promised, we headed to the resort.
We took the truck so we could deliver a load of fuel to them. An extra fifty-five gallons would come in handy for the snow machines and some other pieces of equipment.
With the sun getting lower on the horizon with each day, many areas of the road were shaded. We slowed as we drove through the remaining snow. We had our special winter tires on, our Blizzaks. These did great in the snow and cold, but were spongy i
n the summer. I had no way of putting our summer tires on because we didn’t have them on rims. I had always taken them to a shop to get changed over.
More confirmation – I was the world’s worst prepper. I should have had them on their own rims.
We had almost come full circle from the winter before as the new winter approached. We had improved our lives considerably over the past year. I can’t imagine what it would have been like if the twins had refused their potty training. The fact that Fairbanks was no more and so few people were left alive was reduced to my own personal view that misery consisted of changing diapers.
I was so shallow.
Since we had brought the truck, it was a tight squeeze with the dogs and two car seats. We managed, but the drive took longer than usual because of the snow. When we finally arrived, we were all happy to get out. The dogs darted off into the pack. We unbuckled the twins and went inside.
Jo was sitting in the dining room, watching a movie on a TV that was set up on the bar. She had her feet up and seemed to be enjoying a mixed drink. It wasn’t even noon yet.
“Is everything okay?”
She looked at us. She was very relaxed, her eyes dilated. She slowly smiled.
“Are you stoned?” I blurted out before thinking.
“Hey! That hurts!” Then she started giggling. “How can you tell?”
We went from surprised to shocked. In the uncomfortable silence, one little voice spoke out, “What’s stoned?”
“Apparently Jo is, so let’s go check on the horses.” The twins were instantly distracted, and away they went with Madison running after them. I was sure they would follow up later until they were satisfied with a definition that made sense to them.
“We were cleaning out a better set of rooms for Amber and Lucas when we found someone’s stash. It was only a couple of joints that Emma and I shared. Emma! What do you think of the weed? Emma?” I looked around and found her on the floor under the table with the coffee pot. She was sleeping, crumbs from something she’d eaten scattered on the floor around her.
“Uh huh.” I wasn’t sure there was anything to do. “I’m going to see if anyone needs any help. Don’t hurt yourself.” Jo seemed to be moving in slow motion. I doubted she was capable of anything more than falling off her chair.
Martha was in the kitchen, busily getting lunch ready. The smell of fresh bread made my mouth water.
“Martha! You could possibly be the absolute bestest ever. By the way, I have to ask, where did you get the eggs?”
She shooed me away from the oven as I was about to open it.
“I’m afraid the stock of frozen Egg Beaters is getting low, so enjoy bread now while you can,” she suggested good-naturedly.
I guaranteed her that I would. I expected the stock of most things was getting limited. Vegetables, moose, and caribou would become the staples. But that would keep everyone alive until they could work on something next year that they could turn into flour. Is there any way chickens would survive in the wild up here? Probably not. But there were ptarmigan. Maybe we could capture some and see if they might produce eggs. Probably not there either.
WHAT’S THE WAY AHEAD?
I’d ask Sam. He’d have ideas about eggs and flour. I was certain they would be good ideas, too. The man was a survival genius.
Although it was a beautiful fall day, I thought that planning would be beneficial. Becoming self-sufficient was going to be critical come the new year. We would run out of plenty from before, leaving us with our wits and what we could grow or create ourselves.
It was a big challenge. It also changed the dynamic. It begged the question of what were we living for. Where did we want to be in five years? What about twenty years? Was it possible to think that far ahead?
What happened when we ran out of ammunition? And gas? The ammunition could last our lifetime if we used it only when hunting big game. The gasoline would run out within a year or so, even if we were able to stabilize it. In either case, we’d have to figure out how to survive without it.
What kind of world would the twins grow up in?
It was making me sick to my stomach thinking about all these things. I was having serious doubts. I had never shared with Madison or the twins how afraid I was for our future. I was afraid every time my breath caught and my asthma acted up. I couldn’t guarantee how much longer I would be around. I wasn’t that old at fifty-three, but my lungs were compromised, and I would not receive any more health care. I was on my own.
But I was the positive guy! Look at the remains of the snow men in our yard. Miserable people don’t make snow families.
The twins were happy. They had us, and they had their friends in the Community. They had Colleen and her horses. They had Abigail and the dogs. They were learning. Their little purple fingers knew how to pick berries. They understood that animals are our friends, yet every now and then a moose will sacrifice itself for us. We say a prayer and thank the animal for living well.
I’m sure everyone undergoes a crisis of faith at some point. I couldn’t let anyone see me like this. I needed for them to believe, because there had to be better out there. The war would have to end at some point, and relief agencies would stream in, proclaiming their own greatness as they provided materials and people. Look at me, helping survivors!
I didn’t like that world either. It would take generations to build a new world, a better world. I gave myself ten years to influence the future. The twins would be thirteen years old. They would have to be ready to carry humanity forward, regardless of anything else. In the other world, they would have been learning things that meant something, but not how to survive. What did they need to learn to build that better world?
I sat on a bench outside the lodge. A number of dogs came by to give me a sniff. Once they learned that I didn’t have any treats for them, they ran off. I leaned down with my head between my knees. I was going to be sick. I jumped up and made it to the bushes just in time to lose my breakfast and too much coffee. As I hit bile, it was tinged with blood.
I’m sure it was from all the stress I put on myself to get us ready for winter. We were ready. It was time to relax. My personal crisis probably generated enough extra acid to put me over the edge. I hadn’t felt badly lately, a little upset stomach here and there.
I needed to de-stress. So of course I would not tell Madison. She’d freak out about it. And we needed to talk about what we wanted for the twins in ten years’ time. I needed that. They would get an accelerated education. They would have to grow up more quickly than either of us liked.
After all my contemplation and puking blood, I was no closer to an answer. It weighed on me.
Once again, I found myself seeking Sam’s counsel. What drove him and Martha to remove themselves from society, then reenter it as they had?
SAM’S WISDOM
I found Sam in the geothermal power plant building. He was tinkering with something while the pumps hummed. Everything was running smoothly. I expected no less.
He was alone.
“Sam!” I shouted as this was not a quiet place. He motioned me toward the door. We went outside.
“How do you do it, Sam?” I left it open-ended.
“Do what?” He didn’t like to waste time. He needed more information to give a better answer.
“Keep going like you do. Your cabin. Not interacting with people. What’s it all for?” I continued. “Aren’t we supposed to make sure things are better for our kids? Is that what we’re doing here?”
“You are giving them a chance to make their own way. If it’s better for them, it’s not because you gave it to them better. It’s because you helped them to make it better for themselves. Did you like what you saw from young people before the explosion?” Sam asked. I shook my head.
“Little kids with cell phones. Video games. Kids in college protesting everything, affecting others who just want an education. Think my way or you’re wrong!” I kicked a dirt clod into the bushes. “Outrage. People
were offended all the time, outraged at nothing. Then when something important came along, there was no energy left.”
“I see.” Sam put his weathered hand on my shoulder. I looked at him. “Where are your twins right now?”
“They are at the stables, with the horses. Why do you ask?”
“Is that a waste of their time?” he asked as we shuffled back toward the lodge.
“I don’t think so. Colleen’s been teaching them how to care for the animals.”
“Life lessons, Chuck. And Abigail has been teaching them about the dogs. And Jo about cooking. And you about gardening.”
“Little things here and there. I don’t expect them to start their own garden next year or build a kennel and breed dogs.” I was probably a little more sarcastic than I had intended. My stomach was churning.
“Sure. Not this year, or next year, but what will they be capable of in ten years?” I squinted back at him.
“In ten years? I would be surprised if they weren’t fully capable of taking care of themselves and probably take care of us, too.
“They’ll be thirteen at that point, right? Instead of playing video games or dicking around with their phones, they’ll have life skills.” We reached a bench. He sat. I took the spot next to him and leaned forward, my head dipped down toward my knees.
Run (End Times Alaska Book 2) Page 7
