They had their truck that they’d used to haul the big generator. They’d bring it back and hook up the fuel truck.
They had a good plan, but it required some tools and another day. Chris took the wheel as Shane directed him where to put the generator. Shane intended to hardwire the pump for the diesel fuel and run it using a manual switch. Chris chocked the tires, unhooked it, and they drove off. Shane was lost making a list of what he needed and running through a few calculations on a pad of paper that he carried.
Without the generator, Chris made short work of their trip home and got quite the surprise when they pulled up to find two trucks and a fifth-wheel trailer parked out front. Women and small children seemed to be everywhere. Some carried mattresses, others carried bedding and clothes. The children were under the watchful eye of an elder woman who kindly waved at them before returning her attention to the little ones.
“Would you look at that?” Shane said simply.
A NEW DAY
A week later, we saw how much could change. Shane worked a miracle in setting up the new generator and staging a fuel truck with enough diesel to last the winter. It would require constant monitoring to ensure the fuel stayed dry, and he shunted the exhaust from the generator back toward the fuel truck to keep the diesel fuel warmer than ambient temperature.
It was nice to have lights and working appliances. We had chest freezers, but they were empty. Berry-picking time approached as did the prime hunting season.
Everyone had worked shifts at the fish wheel, even the new people. And everyone was tired of cleaning and drying fish. The only ones not tired of the fishing routine were the dogs. After the ten thousandth fish, Ben declared victory, and a team of workers pulled the fish wheel onto the shore, where it was braced and stored.
Chris kept working in the fields, but Terri assigned him one of the women each day to help. The newcomers weren’t afraid of work because they knew they’d get a good meal, and they had a secure place to sleep. The women were starting to gain weight and get color back to their skin. Jo and Clarisse’s more rounded diet worked wonders for the group.
Which led to the next crisis, or maybe it was an old crisis in a new way. We didn’t have enough food. The horses did and the dogs did, assuming we were able to bag a moose every few weeks. But canned vegetables we lacked. We were able to do no gardening or farming this year because of our late arrival. That was a huge drawback.
The massive scavenge campaign resulted in our first, second, and third cases of botulism. One of the women and her two children, ages three and one, got sick quickly, but Colleen knew what it was. Induced vomiting and enemas were the only treatment she could think of, then lots of fluids.
Botulism was hard on the victims. They suffered extreme weakness and had trouble talking. Clostridium botulinum was a neurotoxin. After Colleen explained it, I internalized my understanding by relating it to nerve gas, except that the microbes continued to pump out the toxin as long as they were in the person’s body.
The victims were in a bad way, but Colleen kept them as comfortable as possible. Terri was angry and shared that with everyone. She saw two fewer adults to work: the woman who had eaten something poorly canned and Colleen, who had to take care of her.
Colleen saw it as an excuse to open a clinic. She started building a list of medical needs, hoping that an outside resupply could take place sometime. She asked me if I would talk with Mr. Bezos and leverage his joy at finding his daughter into meeting us at the border with a load of supplies.
I don’t know why I hesitated. There was no doubt that we needed help. What happened when the scavenged supplies ran out? What would we do if we had no success growing food for our fifty-eight people? Would I let them starve to prove we could make it on our own?
No. My real plan was to help us survive until civilization could be reintroduced, trade reestablished, and supplies brought in. I was willing to work, but wanted a shining light at the end of the day without having to light a fire to get it.
I was a child of the modern era and would always embrace the conveniences that technology provided. I took Colleen’s list and, at dinner, I asked the whole group if I were to make a call, what did we absolutely have to have.
WINTER PREPARATIONS
Before we added thirty-seven people, we were mostly prepared for winter. All of a sudden, we were short of everything. Something as simple as outhouses. We needed more. We needed more washing machines. We needed more dishes. We needed more food, more water, more wood.
We filled the school, not to overflowing, but there was little empty space with all the classrooms becoming people’s new homes, so Abigail and Phillip moved to a small building by the kennel. The twins wanted to go, too, but we made them stay, telling them that they had to attend school first and visit in the afternoon as they always did.
Charles and Aeryn helped Madison and Amber run the school. They provided the example for learning as well as corralled the younger students when they grew rambunctious. Two of the women joined Amber and Madison as teachers, giving them four adults for the twenty-five children. With the twins helping, it was manageable. Having them all in one room was not.
We needed some structure and leadership.
The catalyst in the turnaround at the Community of Chena Hot Springs had been the mayor, not in the traditional sense of a politician who sat in her office and issued edicts. The mayor had to be everywhere, know everything, and lead by doing.
I nominated Terri for the job as she’d softened her approach immensely since our arrival. She started trusting men again. I wanted to think that our group represented the way people should treat each other. We tolerated nothing else. Those behaviors then became our habits.
Our society was growing and our new additions started to embrace the way we acted. Propriety, dignity, integrity – those were our words and our way.
We knew we’d reached an extreme level of comfort when I walked into the laundry to find two naked women running the wash machines. They waved and went back to keeping their kids from touching things they shouldn’t.
I left because there weren’t any wash machines open.
Terri reluctantly agreed to be the mayor as long as I would be co-mayor. I suggested Chris as the better choice, but she politely refused. I asked Chris to talk with her, but he slapped me on the back and told me it was my turn as the Grand Old Man of the Community.
I asked him not to be so hurtful in calling people names. He saw the humor as he walked away. I wasn’t kidding. I really wanted him to be the mayor.
I’ve parroted the phrase that if you have the ability to act, you have the responsibility. I lived that way, too, within reason. Madison tolerated it. I was still grounded because of my disappearing act, and Amber and Madison colluded to keep Lucas and I from leaving the building together.
Sometimes people can’t appreciate that the best adventures aren’t planned. I still reveled in the fact that we didn’t die in the plane crash. Lucas felt he owed me for pulling him out before the plane went under.
Madison wanted me to be the co-mayor as it would keep my adventurism to a minimum. I admit that being able to breathe was an added bonus, even though I couldn’t keep up with any of the younger people. I could breathe better, but I would never be at one hundred percent. So I agreed and then Terri and I dug into the cold logistics. Her idea of how much food we needed was half of what I wanted to see.
They’d survived on almost nothing. No one was going to get fat on what I proposed, but at least we wouldn’t lose weight over the winter. So we compromised and put a minimum and maximum. We wanted closer to my number but would accept anything above her number.
That meant hunting parties. Some of the women were expert marksmen. I was thankful they weren’t the ones shooting at me when we drove up to their camp outside Healy. Becca and Darren took two dog sleds and headed out to get something we could s
moke, freeze, or eat fresh. The newcomers couldn’t drive dog sleds, so we sent the twins to drive their teams, taking one adult each. No one went out alone.
Ben took the final hunter with him in his quad. They scattered in different directions with supplies for two days. They’d overnight if they had to, but everyone was to return no later than the next day.
The two days came and went. Not a single team returned. The twins were supposed to travel together so there should have been four people telling each other it was time to go back.
We took the other quads and our old beater truck and went in search of our people at first light on the third day. Abigail and Phillip took their dog teams out, too. The rest of the Community took buckets in search of berries. It was August and they were ripe. We had no choice but to keep working while we looked for the members of our family, our Community.
THE TWINS, WYNONA AND ANGIE
Charles and Aeryn argued hard for sixteen-dog teams, but Abigail wouldn’t let them. They took their twelve-dog teams, which were strong and well-rested. They’d been exercised, but a two-day run would be good for them. It was getting cooler and that would keep the dogs from overheating. They planned on heading south then northeast to the edge of the foothills where they hoped to find game. They would follow a stream in the area so they’d have water.
It was a good plan that ended as soon as they saw the bull moose with three cows. The animals bolted to the south and kept running. Charles followed the path the moose had taken, slowly as it was over rougher terrain, while Aeryn drove along the roads in a wide sweep to get in front of them and set Wynona up for a shot.
Once they thought they were in place, Wynona jumped out and Aeryn mushed the dog team out of sight where she watered them and let them rest.
They waited, and waited, and neither the moose nor Charles appeared. Wynona waved at Aeryn, who hooked the team back up. She mushed to Wynona’s position and pulled the dogs to a halt.
“What do you think we should do?” Wynona asked. Aeryn was mature for her age but she was still only six years old. Aeryn shrugged. She wanted to find her brother. Even with the adults who carried rifles, this world could be a dangerous place. Wynona agreed. She called off the hunt and they went in search of the other team.
Aeryn wanted to go straight into the woods and drive until they were found, but Wynona insisted that they go back to where they’d lost them and follow their trail. They would eventually catch up. By heading into the woods, they might miss them and get lost themselves.
They circled the team and headed back on the roads as fast as the dogs could run, which made for a wild ride. The wheeled carriages were shaky at the best of times. It was no surprise that they tipped over when Aeryn tried to make the corner to Charles’ track too quickly. Wynona went face first across the weed-covered pavement. Her rifle hit hard, bending the scope on top. Aeryn tucked and rolled, coming back up on her feet, yelling for the dogs to hold. She was able to right the sled herself as Wynona dusted herself off and started yelling.
Aeryn was six. I wasn’t pleased when they told me this story. There was only one adult present, and she wasn’t carrying her weight.
Wynona climbed aboard and, with tears streaming down Aeryn’s face, they slowly followed the other sled’s tracks.
Once in the woods, the tracks made a sharp turn and headed into a shallow area, then up over the next hill. Wynona jumped out and helped Aeryn manhandle the cart and the dogs through this area. They didn’t see any footprints. Aeryn brightened.
“Charles is a better musher than me. He made it through here with Angie riding.” Wynona hadn’t noticed, but appreciated the observation. She also took the time to apologize to the little girl. Then they were off again on a wild downhill ride. Even with Aeryn standing on the brake, they didn’t slow down. When they hit the bottom, they kept going straight even though Charles’ track turned left.
The dogs ran straight into heavy brush and got tangled up. They had to get out and physically realign the dogs and the cart. Every second they were stopped was that much farther her brother and Angie got from them. Aeryn begged Wynona to hurry. Along the small valley, the foliage was high, but the ground was firm. Plus, the track had been broken by the other team.
They mushed fast and felt like they were gaining. Wynona started yelling for Charles and Angie. Aeryn stayed true to the trail. The dogs started slowing. They needed a break but she encouraged them to keep going. It was cool in the shade of the wood, and they pushed on.
Finally they stopped. Aeryn’s lead dogs hung their heads. She quickly broke out the water and let them all drink. Wynona helped, doing as Aeryn told her since she had no experience with a dog team.
“Wait! Did you hear that?” Aeryn asked. Wynona shook her head. Aeryn had been raised in a non-technological world. Her ears were better than those of people inundated with noise. “Dogs. I hear dogs!” she yelled and started running. Wynona quickly caught up to her and stopped her, telling her to stay with her team, and that Wynona would run ahead.
The woman started yelling and running. She’d been riding most of the time, and despite being tense, she wasn’t tired. She ran, looking back to keep her bearings, and the barking dogs grew closer. She stopped and yelled for all she was worth. The dogs responded and headed toward her. When they ran into view, they were dragging their rigging and tow line but not a cart. She held the rig of the lead dog and she turned back the way she’d come.
Wynona quickly found out how hard it was to drag a team of twelve dogs behind you while hunched over holding a wire rig. She stopped often to catch her breath and yell at the dogs. She was tired and hungry and knew that the dogs would be, too.
She summoned all the energy she had remaining, but it wasn’t enough. She found a small pond and took the dogs there. They drank heartily of the mostly clear water. She assumed it was better than nothing, although decided not to drink it herself. She pulled the dogs to her, not unhooking them as she fell asleep.
Aeryn waited until she couldn’t stand it. Then she set out on the track that Wynona had made. Aeryn was scared. It was late in the day. They’d managed to get separated from Charles, and now she was alone and lost in the woods. She traveled slowly, holding the dogs up as they wanted to run. She was afraid and almost incapable of mushing the team forward. The dogs weren’t intimidated by the dark of the forest, or the sounds of the unknown.
She was relieved to finally see the track go from that of a lone person jogging through the brush to the wholesale weed trampling of a dog team. They turned to her left and she decided to follow, not knowing if that was Wynona returning or if it was where the dogs ran in front of her. She could turn around if she didn’t find anything.
Aeryn was happy to hear dogs nearby barking as they heard her team approach. She mushed them into the clearing and called a halt, as Wynona shook her head, trying to clear the fog of sleep.
“Where’s my brother?” Aeryn spit at the older woman.
“I don’t know; the dogs were running with just the rigging. I never saw the sled or the others. I’m sorry I fell asleep. It was so hard dragging the team. I was exhausted,” Wynona pleaded with the child.
“We need to find my brother! Don’t try to lead the team, that’s the lead dog’s job. Let them pull you. Yell ‘Ha’ to go, ‘left,’ ‘right,’ and ‘hold’ to stop. That’s all you need to know. Now, let’s go. My brother and Angie are out there, and they might be hurt!”
Their only plan was to backtrack the dogs, see where they might have lost the sled. So they let the lead dogs take them back the way they’d come on a journey through the woods.
The cart was obvious when they came to it. It was wedged between two trees and half-destroyed. No wonder the rigging had come lose. They yelled and waited, then yelled some more. There were no footprints, no blood, no anything that suggested the people were in the sled when it crashed. They made their way around the o
bstruction and continued backwards along the track.
Finally it got too late, so they spent the night. They were exhausted but didn’t sleep. They were up with the sun and off, backtracking their way out of the forest. It was slow going because Wynona walked and jogged as she could, but it wasn’t anything like when the dogs pulled a wheeled cart over the open ground. When they broke out of the forest Aeryn was disappointed. She’d hoped to see her brother.
They continued to the road and took a right to go back where they’d originally circled around the woods. As they mushed up the pavement, two figures stood out of the grass, one tall and one much shorter. Aeryn waved and Charles waved back.
BEN AND MAGGIE
Ben took the long route. He wanted to go north where he figured the moose would just be coming out of the higher mountains. His target hunting area was about one hundred miles away. They took off and drove, spending half the day to get there. They set up a camp and then started hunting on foot.
Ben saw signs of moose, but not the animals themselves. He and Maggie waited through the late dusk, but saw no movement. Ben spotted a flock of ptarmigan and shot two of them with his twelve-gauge. He was happy to clean them for dinner and roast them over an open fire on an improvised spit.
“What makes you a good hunter?” Ben asked, not in a way that would make her defensive, but because he wanted to know what her edge was. Ben was always learning. He was comfortable that he could hunt, but was open to new and better ways of doing anything.
“I could gut the animal and clean it without gagging,” Maggie laughed. Ben saw the wisdom in the approach. He nodded thoughtfully.
Return (End Times Alaska Book 3) Page 15
