Chapter 15

In the morning, we took an armored Humvee and two without and left for Anaheim. From earlier reports, we knew not to take Interstate 5. It may have been the most direct but we knew there were problems with it. We went up 15 after heading east. If the roads were okay, it still shouldn't take long. We didn't go fast. Losing a vehicle because of an accident would be bad. No more were being built and fixing them up to drive was not easy.

We made Corona without incident though there were many ominous cracks in the roadway that looked fresh. We now headed west toward Anaheim ... Just over half way there, we saw water which quickly became a problem as it got deeper. The Humvees had a high ground clearance and a lot of weight but they were not boats. We brought a solution with us. We brought two rubber rafts with pressure tanks and paddles. There were engines but we hadn't time to get those working. We got out, pumped up the rafts and loaded ourselves, medical supplies, a bit of food and water, and the paddles.

We launched the boats gingerly. They were loaded down and we didn't want to puncture one from carelessness. We slowly and steadily paddled toward the stadium location.

We had paddled across the Santa Ana River which now ended in the bay behind us. I don't know how deep it was but the stadium was in water. All the lower entrances were under and I knew without looking that the field was flooded. As we closed up, we found fifteen men and women and about that many children. They were all that were left from the 'quake and tsunami.

One of the men, Carl, told their story. He said, "We're glad you're here. When the 'quake hit, there was little damage to the stadium and most of us made the mistake of relaxing on the field. The tsunami hit while most of us were down there. Many never had a chance. The water washed over them bowling them over and slamming them against the walls or taking them through the passageways to the outside. Those who were taken out, we never saw again. The ones inside have been found and are over at the far wall. We can't even bury them. We have almost no supplies except for what a few of us had high up. Some of us liked living up in the upper part of the stadium and that saved our lives. Only two from the floor still live. One of them has a broken arm. We need help. We started building a raft because we know we can't stay. All the land is underwater even at low tide. I'm not sure any of us could swim out.

"We need food, water, and medical supplies. Almost all of us are injured in some way even if only scrapes."

We bandaged various cuts and scrapes. After everyone was bandaged and fed, I said, "What can we do to help you?"

Carl looked around and, when no one else spoke up, said, "We need to get off here. We no longer have water, food, and shelter. We need to go where we can live though there are precious few of us left."

"Carl," I said, "why don't you join Camp Pen?"

"Anne and I would like that. I can't speak for the others though I don't know where else to go anyway."

"Okay, we'll stay here tonight. Tomorrow, we will start ferrying you to shore and any who don't want to join Camp Pen can go their own way." That's what we did. A few people came by to ask me more about Camp Pen and how it was governed. The next morning, we ferried everyone to the Humvees. Only one couple and their child did not want to come to Camp Pen. The three of them headed northeasterly further into the foothills. We never saw them again. The rest joined us at Camp Pen.

The biggest thing to which they have had to accustom themselves is the freedom. You can do what you want as long as no one complains.

We have had a few aftershocks but nothing even medium, much less large in the way of tremors and I hope we don't. I want to get a boat into shape and sail up the coast looking for more people and finding out what this land now looks like.

We found a boat by accident. Jennifer, Terry, Rob and I had gone to the coast which was not as bad as it was up north. The tsunami may have been pretty good sized but it hadn't found much to damage. When we arrived, a boat was beached, the stern rocking gently in the water.

We approached it slowly calling out. No one answered us. Finally, I clambered on board and found it had long been abandoned. From the deck, you could see that the sails were tattered and it had suffered for a year or more in the water. There was an anchor and I threw it out on shore to keep it from floating off.

Jennifer looked at me and grinned, "You look like a cat that caught a bird. What are you going to do with it?"

"Let's clean it up, learn to operate it and sail around." I went back down into the cabin area. It was dirty from neglect. I came back out as Jennifer came on the deck. "There are no bodies on the boat. It looks like no one has been on it in over a year. It floats and there's little water inside. I think we can make it work."

"Sal, don't get carried away. We need to think this through before doing anything crazy."

"No problem. I just see a real possibility here. Let's not let it get away." I went to the stern and looked at the outboard mounted there. It would need some work or we would have to replace it along with some fittings. It was worth checking out.

"Sal, we can try this but you had said there were places where boats were parked. I think we should look there before we spend much time on this one. There may be better ones available." said Rob as he moved toward the middle after helping Terry come aboard.

"Yeah, but this one's here."

"Remember what you always told me. 'If you're going to take, take the best.'"

"You're right. We'll make sure this one is well anchored so it won't get away and look around. We also need a place to dock it or whatever we find."