Chapter 3: Picking up the pieces

(June 3 — Day 12, Galena, Alaska)

Ramona was still unhappy with Paul. He let the troopers draft their oldest son, Calvin, and two hours later, Steve came in with a permission slip to join the Civil Air Patrol. It was okay when Paul was drafted to be the Minister for the Village Church. In her eyes he had just let the two troopers take Calvin. She was all set to give them the same piece of her mind that she had been giving Paul when the meeting was held that evening.

Paul quietly prayed that she would get it out of her system before the meeting. He had been reading certain sections of the Bible that the previous Minister had marked with sticky notes. It was as though it was speaking to him. He fixed his own dinner because of Ramona's huff. When it came time for the meeting, he dressed and called his wife and son to go.

Mona started in, "Boy you wait until I tell them what I think of their Emergency (gasp) Preparedness (gasp) Plan (whispered hoarsely)." She had carried on so much that she lost her voice! "I lost my voice," she croaked. "What will I do now?"

Paul silently thanked the Lord for the small miracle. "If I were you, I would get a drink of water, and not say anything for a day or two," Paul recommended. "When we get home, I will pray that in the morning you will be better."

As they entered the auditorium/gymnasium, at the door a smartly dressed Calvin Kensington, Trooper Cadet greeted them, "Hi Dad, Mom, Steve. Follow me you will be sitting up front with Lt Dawson tonight. I just though I'd tell you, I think this job is pretty awesome. I'll be able to come and visit tomorrow for lunch. It's not really like the Army. Lt Dawson thought I was being disrespectful. We sort of had a long talk, and I realized that in the present state of the world, I have a really important job. Steve, do you want to help me pass out these programs? Just hand one to every family that comes in."

Steve jumped at the chance and as more people filed in passed out the flyers. The first speaker was Lt Dawson. As he stepped up to the podium, he laid several pages of notes out before him. That was when Stan whispered to Paul, "He will ask you to say an opening prayer."

Paul got a sudden case of stage fright, and thought, "Oh, God! Help me out of this please?"

Dawson began, "This is the second meeting since the war began two weeks ago. Many of us have lost loved ones, and we are grieved at the loss of 67 of our citizens. The good news is that we think the threat of further attacks is behind us. More good news is that the Lord has called a new Minister into our midst. I would like to introduce Brother Paul Kensington, delivered here yesterday morning by the hand of the Almighty. Brother Paul, would you please give the invocation?"

Paul had never been so nervous in his life, well, maybe the first time he took up the Cessna 207 earlier that week. Here goes, he thought as he stood, and then began to pray, "Most gracious Heavenly Father, be with us as we pick up the pieces of our lives, and begin anew, as you would want us to. Watch over those of us who have gone on before us, and bless and comfort those left behind, for we are the ones who still seek your presence. Lord we beseech thee to grant us the Wisdom to know what to do, Knowledge to do what must be done, the Faith that you will be here with us to guide and lead our footsteps. Lord grant us an abundant harvest, and productive lives as we enter this post war age and let us know, speak to our hearts Lord, so that your will be done. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen."

Paul took his seat as the audience smiled approvingly. Dawson returned to the microphone, "Thank you Brother Paul. Now if there are any of you that took offense to Brother Paul's prayer, we will see that there is a boat to California to take you where you can be offended to your heart's content."

That brought a resounding applause, and laughter, along with a few shouts of "Amen, brother!"

Dawson continued, "We learned yesterday that except for essential personnel, the city of Fairbanks has been evacuated to the Anchorage area. Most of the buildings and other infrastructure, not destroyed by looting, are still intact. The bad news is that things like milk will be slow in coming until the dairy cattle in the Mat-Su Valley are given a clean bill of health. We will just have to do without for a while. We need people to run the farms. Somehow, the people from Fairbanks and south to Ketchikan suffered almost a 99% casualty rate. Right now the schools here in Galena, both private and public hold almost half of the students that will be the future of Alaska."

There was a murmur through the auditorium. "We have a big task ahead of us, not only with rebuilding, but more so in feeding our citizens. To help with that, Ramona Kensington and Lana Hart have the expertise in growing produce to help us get started. I need some volunteers to help these ladies get our crops in the ground. Starting tomorrow, with what seeds we were able to bring back from surrounding communities this morning, we will start a planting program. We also brought back shovels, rakes, hoes and picks."

"The next item on the agenda deals with our isolation and communications. First, we can no longer contact Washington, D.C.," Dawson sighed. "There is a possibility that Alaska is on its own, and must thus act accordingly. "It seems that the Governor, his entire Cabinet, and the whole State Legislature are unaccounted for and missing."

The auditorium erupted into cheers! "Free! Free! Free!" Dawson banged a gavel to restore order. "On July 1, we will hold a referendum on whether we stay part of an uncertain nation, or whether we start over as a free, independent commonwealth? We will get our chance to vote next month," he said. "We will need to elect people to represent us in Anchorage or wherever the new capital will be."

Again there were cheers, and shouts of "God has destroyed Sodom on the Inside Passage" and "I guess God couldn't find ten righteous politicians!"

Dawson again banged the gavel. "Okay," he said, "maybe you have something there, but we are without leadership and therefore an Anarchy. We need to elect someone to represent us when we convene, before someone takes power as a dictator. As you know, our Mayor and some of the council were among those we lost over the last two weeks. I won't accept nominations tonight, but please drop them in the prayer box in front of the church. I feel like Brother Paul, being new, can be impartial in the handling of the nomination process.

"Next as those who have died are identified, we will post the names under the cities and villages as we go through them. Sgt Johansen, Corporal Hill, and I will be going to the villages on the Yukon tomorrow for a list of the deceased. The day after, I need some volunteers to go to Ruby, and Tanana where it is rumored there are no survivors. We will not be burying them, just getting their ID, taking a photo, and cremating them in a funeral pyre. Brother Paul, I will not ask you to come, but I might call upon you in the future. For now your duty is to the people in Galena. Trooper Cadet Kensington, our newest recruit will be manning the post and empowered as a VPSO to make arrests if need be in our absence. As more information becomes available it will be posted in the store. Thank you for coming."

Lt Dawson introduced the newcomers to his wife, Lisa, who herself had been a State Trooper when they were stationed together in Nome. It was Lisa who had the most profound effect on Calvin's conversion, after she talked to him about how the current circumstances required everyone to bear whatever responsibility they could. She in fact had resigned from the State Police when the new Lieutenant in Nome refused to let her transfer to Bill's new duty station in Galena. Yet it was Lisa who stepped up to help train Calvin while Bill and Stan were on patrol. Lisa assured Ramona that she would look after her son.

The people filed by to meet Paul and Mona, who could now speak quietly, and was gracious, now that she saw that Calvin really hadn't been forced to do something against his will. There were several that wanted Paul to offer prayers for those gone on to the hereafter. With that thought, he made a mental note that it would be a good sermon to pray for those still with us, as they can still make it into Heaven. He thought praying for a wicked person to be forgiven after living a long and evil life was like shutting the barn door after all the horses got out. He would have to work on that. He did invite them to come and visit and he would pray for them.

As they walked home, Paul said, "I can't do this. I am not a Minister. You have to go to seminary to be one don't you?"

"Paul you did fine tonight," said Mona, her voice now fully recovered. "I am proud of you. I am sorry I yelled at you over Calvin. I should be thankful we are even alive and together. I am proud that Calvin will be joining the troopers. Let's find out more about what Steve wants to do. Maybe we should let him do it as long as he won't be in harm's way. He needs to finish school above all else. Like the man said, he is the future of mankind."

"I don't know if I am up to this though," Paul admitted. "They say God never gives us more than we can handle. I think this time He might have. Did you know there are almost 5,000 students at the boarding school here from all over Alaska?"

"No," Mona replied, "I didn't. Maybe they will be moving into the city when it is safe."

(June 5, Day 14 - Pocatello, Idaho)

Ellie found her Militia friends, much to the dismay of her companions. The Militia had gone into their survival tunnels and shelters under the ground for two weeks thinking it was a nuclear attack, and managed to survive. They were pretty much a bunch of White Supremacists, and it wasn't long before Ernie and Janine decided that they didn't fit in. Ellie opted to stay there with her uncle. After all there was strength in numbers, and the Militia had over 70 trained and heavily armed men, and twice that many women.

Ernie and Janine negotiated their departure after trading them his gold Rolex for diesel and enough food to last three weeks. It was mostly freeze dried stuff and MRE's. They continued on down to Logan, Utah before stopping for the night at a deserted truck stop. Ernie had rationalized that Lana and his daughters were also dead by now, and asked Janine if she would be his companion.

"You mean like a wife?" asked Janine. "Let me think about it. At least I know that you aren't one of them Neo-Nazis like Ellie stayed with. Are you married?"

"I was, but I left them in Alaska back when everyone was dying, and barely got out myself," explained Ernie. "I had to get back to Portland to protect the business from looters."

"I think it is a bit late for that," Janine reflected. "Why did you leave them?"

"There was just one seat on the commuter," Ernie confessed, "and there was supposed to be another plane the next day. If they managed to fly into Portland now, God help them. We should have listened to those warnings about what was being preached in the mosques. I mean some of my clients were Arabs. How could anyone know?"

"I am divorced," said Janine. "I was on my way to meet my ex in Portland and pick up my son. Let me think about your offer. Don't take offense, but I want to know you well enough to know that you won't ditch me too when the going gets tough."

Ernie, being a typical male, figured Janine would come around. Still he had regrets, knowing in his heart that Lana and his daughters were dead in some remote Alaskan village that he had forgotten the name of. He was about to turn off the lights when a tiny knock came on the door. He picked up the pistol and asked, "Who is there?"

"Please, we just want something to eat," came the small female voice.

Janine nodded, and he opened the door to see an Indian girl about twelve, and one that couldn't be older than seven or eight. After checking that it was just the two of them, Ernie invited them inside. They were filthy little kids and hadn't washed in days, if not weeks. Ernie handed the older girl a sack full of the MRE's, and was about to send them on their way.

The older girl asked, "Can we sleep in the floor? The dogs and coyotes out there are attacking everybody."

Janine said, "You kids haven't had a bath in a week or better, have you?"

The older girl shook her head "no."

"Ernie," Janine asked, "Have you got a shirt they can wear while I wash them and their clothes? I'll get one of mine for the little one. What are your names?"

"I am Shayla, and my sister is Kayla," the older one replied. "We lived on the reservation near here until everyone started getting sick. Our dad put us in the truck and drove us about four hours, and dropped us off after our mom died last week. Then I guess he went off into the mountains to die too."

"Okay," Janine said, "I am Janine, and this is Ernie. We are sort of a temporary family, at least until we find some others. Shayla, why don't you help your sister in the shower, and I will wash your clothes in the sink. You will have to wear these shirts to sleep in tonight. When you are clean, you can sleep in the big bed with me. That is if you don't wet the bed."

"She doesn't," Shayla said. "Thank you, Mrs. Janine."

They went to clean up, and Ernie looked sadly at Janine, and confessed, "My daughters were named Shelly and Kelly. Imagine that coincidence?"

"God is either punishing you, or giving you a second chance," Janine suggested. "I don't think we can just leave them here in the morning. We have to take them with us."

"Have you figured out where we are going?" asked Ernie. "I sure haven't."

"Let's get east of the Rockies and see what we find," Janine offered. "We are bound to find more survivors. I tell you what, Ernie, if you show me what kind of a father you are, I will consider your offer before we get to a group to settle down. That is the best I can offer a man who by his own admission left a wife and two kids God only knows where. Fair enough?"

Ernie sighed, "More than fair enough. Thank you, Janine, for even considering it. I really don't deserve it."

"No, you really don't," replied Janine. "The next few days will tell. First town we come to that looks safe, we need to find a store to get us some more clothes."

"Without money?" Ernie asked. "That last place in Washington pretty much took care of that for us. I guess it is an emergency. We will only take what we need."

(June 8 - Day 17, Galena, Alaska)

Air Force Lt Jim Rogers came to the Parsonage door to summon Paul for Ground School. When he questioned what that was for, Rogers explained, "That is where we learn what those instruments, levers, switches, and such are for. You know, those do-dads and thingamajigs? We'll only do a couple of hours today."

"Okay," Paul agreed, "Let me tell Mona where I'm going."

They sat in the Cessna 207 with the manual and went over the functions of the primary instruments. Paul knew most, but he had never bothered with the VOR and DME in the flight simulator. He was strictly a VFR flyer. They spent an hour going over hypothetical situations, and how these instruments would help him. Then Rogers asked if Paul wanted to try it out. He explained that they would simply use the Galena VOR.

After they got airborne, "Tomorrow," Rogers commented, "we can go do touch and go landings in Kaltag, down river."

Afterwards, Rogers concluded that Paul's simulator time is what enabled him to arrive in Galena in one piece. He complimented Paul on his ability to become one with the airplane and said that his son Steve was coming along nicely too. Rogers speculated that he would let Paul fly a solo cross-country flight within a week if he didn't make any grievous errors.

On their return, they landed behind a KC-135 that came to deliver jet fuel. Earlier a C-130 had delivered fuel for the general aviation planes in drums and tanks. Rogers, Hooker and Graham were more or less assigned to Galena as a forward base, to fly the A-10, and F-15's from Galena to patrol for incoming enemy planes, or ships with an E-3C AWACS from Elmendorf. Rogers had already sunk two enemy subs by the end of May, as they tried to offload a landing party near Nome Those two were the only ones he had seen. The Coast Guard C-130 had sunk one near Nome with a homing torpedo.