exit to take. We arrive at the open gates of the Air Force National Guard Base and drive to the flightline. F-15’s sit in rows in the center of the tarmac with others parked in large, open hangars. Off to the side on the edge of the ramp, two C-130’s sit side-by-side. We pull up behind them and exit.
Opening the crew door of one, I check that the inside is clear. The interior has a musty aroma mixed with the smell of oil, jet fuel, and the ground in odors of years of use. I walk into the cockpit and turn on the battery. The gyros begin spooling up and the total fuel gauge reads about three-quarters full. There aren’t any external fuel tanks installed on this one so their tanks read empty. The fighter squadrons have the 130’s to carry their gear for their deployments and exercises. Satisfied that all is in order and this one appears in good shape, I walk to the rear and drop the ramp.
“Do you want us to carry the gear inside?” Robert asks after I relate that this one seems to be in working order.
“No, we’ll just drive the Humvee in and tie it down,” I answer. We edge the vehicle in and secure it to the cargo floor.
“This one should be almost identical to the other one,” I say to Bri and Robert as we take our familiar seats.
“Okay, Dad,” Bri says adjusting her straps.
Lynn straps in at the nav seat while the others find seats on the bunk adjacent to the rear bulkhead. I find a checklist sitting on the throttle quadrant as we proceed through the checklists in a familiar fashion. Brian, Kelly, and Jessica look decidedly anxious as they watch Bri handle the fuel and electrical systems. They glance nervously from her to Robert sitting in the co-pilot seat as we run through the start-up procedures like old hands. The engines come to life as we start one after another; the throaty roar saturates the cockpit. We don’t have helmets so the sound fills our ears in full force. We’ll have to shout to one another as we don’t have mics or headsets either. We taxi out and take off into the noon sun and turn north staying down low and follow I-5 northbound. As we turn to the north, leaving the dead city behind us, my thoughts go out to those who remained at Cabela’s and wonder how they are doing.
An Angel Falls
Nicole stands in the parking lot and watches her dad, Robert, Lynn, and Bri leave the parking lot and disappear over the hill. She wanted to go with them but understands why her dad wanted her to stay. With a sigh, she turns to see soldiers begin to cart the bodies out of the outdoor store. They pile them in a back corner of the lot. There is activity at the front doors as Bannerman and other soldiers begin to install the security doors they fetched from the shop. The sun is warm on her shoulders and she fidgets in the dark fatigues, trying to become accustomed to the fit and style. Feeling a little useless at the moment, she walks over to the transport trucks with her grandmother and Michelle and helps unload supplies.
The remainder of the day passes quickly with the rest of night runner bodies being carted out and, with a liberal dose of diesel fuel, burned in the far corner of the lot. The large amount of corpses creates a vast funeral pyre. The doors get installed and tested along with steel shutters placed on the windows facing the entrance and the supplies are off-loaded into the store. With the sun dropping below the trees to the west, everyone gathers inside to eat, mostly in silence, and settles in for the evening.
“I think we’ll leave the generator going for the night so we can have our first night with lights,” Drescoll says addressing the tired group. “We’ll need to gather some of the blankets in the store and cover the doors and such so the light doesn’t show outside.”
The security doors, one on the inside and outside of each set of entryway doors, are rolled down and locked just as the last of the sun’s light vanishes and dusk sets in. The locking of the doors effectively shuts away the outside from the hopefully safe haven inside. Blankets are taped to the walls against the interior security doors to prevent any light leaking out. Nicole listens as Drescoll assigns watch schedules. Cots and sleeping bags, for everyone to sleep on, are pulled from shelves, out of boxes, and from storage areas.
Nic is setting up her cot and bag next to Michelle and her grandmother on the second floor when a clanging, crashing sound echoes throughout the interior. Nic startles and jerks her head toward the front entrance where the noise originated. Her heart pounds in her chest.
“Red Team, cover the side door. Alpha and Bravo, to the first floor and cover the entrance. All other teams, along the balcony. Green Team, on me, we’ll be in reserve,” Drescoll shouts.
A flurry of activity and noise follows Drescoll’s orders as soldiers gather their weapons and gear and make for their assigned positions; clicks of bolts being drawn back and released, vests being donned and zipped, radios tested, and shouts establishing orders from the team leaders. A semblance of order ensues and the teams take their positions as the slams against the outer security doors becomes increasingly numerous and much louder. Nicole observes the activities with interest from her position adjacent to a wall with a steel, gray door inset into it. Her head turns from the teams settling in and watches Drescoll take a position with Green Team nearby. Time passes differently and in a variety of ways for each of the survivors; some fearful, others restless, and even some annoyed at the intrusion on their evening.
Nicole feels of all of them. She is fearful that the night runners will find a way in yet confident that the soldiers around will take care of them and keep everyone safe in the event they do. She knows what they have been through in this past week or so and they have come through it okay every time. Her dad doing what he did and leading this group came as a big surprise to her. She had no idea her dad was capable of the things he did. She also feels restless not being able to do anything to help. She glances at the M-4 she grabbed that now lies across her lap, seeking assurance from it but none is given by the black plastic and metal.
Her restlessness and the fact that the night runners haven’t immediately broken in and assaulted them allows her mind to wander. She thinks over the days since the world changed, the exhilarations, fears, exhaustion, and closeness that the days have brought. How odd it is to be sitting in this particular place and time with all that has happened.
She has always been close to her brother, sister, and dad but the events they have been through have drawn them even closer. She feels bonded to them like no other time and feels an empty feeling inside without them around; watching Robert learn and become more self-confident and trying to impress Michelle; Bri watching everything and missing nothing even though she keeps that to herself; her dad trying to hold everything together and yet thinking he keeps making mistake after mistake.
She feels a touch of sorrow for them with their being thrust into this situation without asking for it; that they have loved ones about which they know nothing and probably imagining the worst. Nicole wonders how they are able to get through each and every day with that kind of turmoil and stress. They must think about it but they don’t show it that she has seen.
The stars twinkle in the nighttime sky as a night runner stands in the parking lot watching other packs attack the doors of the building to his front. The smell of burning flesh rises to his nose from a glowing pile behind him. The pavement beneath his feet feels coarse and rough but not painful. It goes unnoticed as he continues to observe the shrieks and runs of the night runner packs trying to gain entry into the structure where food resides. The smell of the food faint yet distinct. The dashes of the individuals end with a dull, metallic clang that rises over the area.
He trots over to the side and sees the same activity with a door on the side of the structure. He has not joined any of the packs as yet but may have to soon. His stomach feels empty as he didn’t find any sustenance the night prior. It is becoming scarcer in this area and he knows, in his own way of thinking, that he will have to move
