Alive and Alone (2 page)

The survival kit was packed in a plastic container and it opened like one of his mom’s food plastic storage containers, once the two-inch wide duct tape that went around the kit and kept the lid watertight was removed.  
I can use this container to store water in,
David thought as he started pulling components out of the kit.  The young boy noticed each divided part of the kit had been packed in what looked like large compressed sandwich bags and labeled, food, fire, shelter, signals, water, first aid, and miscellaneous.  
They must have double packed all of this stuff to keep it protected from water or snow,
he grinned as he realized someone had done a lot of work to make this kit.

Opening the bag marked shelter, David was surprised to find a large piece of tarp, some parachute cord, and some small metal tent pegs.  The young man understood a few minutes later that he would have to use the tarp to make a tent.  He’d done it lots of times with his mother’s blankets in the back yard, so this should be no harder.  Lying under the shelter bag, at the bottom of the survival kit, he discovered a sleeping bag and a wool blanket, but he knew his first task was to get a shelter up, and then he’d worry about comfort.  He placed the items aside for the time being as he stood on tired legs and then pulled his hunting knife from his sheath.

David had been born and raised in Alaska, which gave him an advantage that he didn’t even consider.  All of his life, as far back as he could remember, he’d been camping, fishing, hiking, and hunting.  His serious hunting had actually just started the year before, but he’d downed a nice caribou and later in the same season he’d been able to get a moose.  For years he’d gone on hunting trips to help around the campsite as the older boys and men hunted.  His father had been responsible for teaching David how to live with nature and how to live in the wilderness in comfort.

Doctor James W. Wade had spent four years in the United States Air Force as a survival instructor and after his discharge he’d used the educational benefits from his military service to go to college and then on to medical school.  He’d done well in Anchorage and his practice was large.  Since he’d left the service while stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage, James had stayed in the area because he’d fallen in love with not only the beautiful country, but David’s mother as well.  That had all happened many years past and during that time James had added both David and Marie to the family, become qualified as a private pilot, and spent as much time in the bush as he could.

David pulled the hood up on his jacket and moved into the nearby trees to find some long green limbs.  
We’re lucky we crashed here and not above the tree line up north.  At least we have trees and some shelter from the wind,
the young man thought as he cut six long green poles and pulled them back to the protection of the rocks.  Once in the rocks and out of the wind, he trimmed the poles carefully to keep the small limbs from puncturing his tarp once placed over the wooden frame.

Dave, you're pretty stupid!
 He suddenly thought as he felt a deep shiver go through his whole body,
you need a fire and now.  
He removed the lighter and fire-starting materials from the bag marked, fire.  He noticed he also had two boxes of windproof matches, flint and steel, and a magnesium match.  He removed the flint and steel from the container and placed it in his inside jacket pocket.

Since David had selected a shelter out of the wind in the trees and behind some large boulders, his fire was easy to start and in a matter of a few short minutes, he had a small fire burning.  His father had always warned him to keep his fires small, because they used less wood, and for safety purposes to never leave it unattended for very long.  Dave kept his fire very small, not much bigger than a dinner plate, and as the damp wood snapped and popped, he walked around his campsite picking up fuel to burn later.  He’d indeed been very lucky where they’d crashed the plane; dead wood was all around him.

As soon as he’d gather enough wood for the fire to burn all night, he laid the green poles over three large boulders and then draped his tarp over the wooden frame.  With the rocks pretty much covering the sides and his trap on top, David felt his shelter would do for the time being.  He quickly tied the parachute cord to the metal grommets in the tarp and tied the cord to the tent pegs.  Then, he used a rock to hammer the pegs into the hard half-frozen ground.

Well, it’s crude, dude, but it should hold,
Dave thought as he pulled on the tarp to see if it was secured.  He knew if the weather turned nasty and it started to snow, he would cover the tarp with boughs from the evergreen trees and then plaster it all with snow.  He and his father had once camped during a bad blizzard in a snow-covered shelter just like this and had been warm with only a candle burning inside.

With his shelter up and his fire burning, David opened the pouch labeled food and shook his head in disbelief.  He had expected much more, but he knew a person actually needed little food to survive on, as long as they had water.  In the bag, he found two dehydrated meals, four chocolate candy bars, and a small bag of hard candy, four containers of dried soup, and four high-energy bars.  It was then he remembered his father saying that most rescues happened well within forty-eight hours, so a lot of food was not needed.  
I hope you were right dad,
Dave thought as he pulled out a metal canteen cup and added the last of his bottled water to the container.  He placed the cup near the fire and glazed into the dancing flames as he waited for the water to heat.

As soon as the water started dancing in the cup, David added the dried soup base and stirred it with a plastic spoon from his emergency rations.  While he was hungry and scared, he knew his father needed the heat and energy the soup would give him more than he did, so David stood and made his way toward the aircraft wreckage with the metal cup in his right hand.

The young man pulled the door open and didn’t notice the loud groan it gave in protest at being moved.  It was darker now, almost dusk, and it was hard for him to see inside the aircraft.

“Dad, are you alright?”  David asked, as he moved awkwardly into the wreckage to avoid sharp pieces of jagged metal.

Long seconds passed before he heard his father say, “Dave . . . not long . . . now.”

David moved to his father’s side and still holding hot cup in his right hand he used his left hand to raise his fathers head from his shoulders.  “Dad, try to drink some of this, it’s hot.”

“No . . .Dave, I . . . cannot drink . . . with inter . . . nal injuries.  You . . . drink.”

David suddenly remembered the small flashlight he had in the pouch behind his father’s seat.  The pouch also had some candy and another bottle of water.  Dave moved his body to the left and using his right hand pulled the flashlight out.  Sliding the switch on, the light was bright in the small confines of the wreckage.

Moving the light toward his father’s face, the look in his eyes shocked David.  His face was deathly pale and his forehead was beaded in sweat.  Dried blood covered almost every inch of his dad’s face and neck.  Fear grew like an over inflated balloon in the young boys mind as he looked into the eyes of a man he both loved and respected.  David knew instantly when their eyes met, his father was dying.

“Dad, you hang tough man.  Someone will be here soon, you’ll see!”  The young man suddenly blurted out, his mind about to snap.

“I . . . am tryin’, son.  I . . . hurt Dave.”  As his dad spoke, David saw his father’s eyes lose focus and then abruptly roll back in his head.

“Dad, don’t you die on me!”  He screamed as panic filled his very soul.

His father’s eyes opened once more and he placed his right hand on David’s left arm, which was still holding his head erect, and said, “Dave . . . I . . .love . . .you.”

David was watching intently as his father’s eyes rolled back once more, a shudder went through his whole body, and Doctor James Wade died.  It was many minutes later before the young man realized what had happened.  

“Dad!  Dad!  Don’t leave me alone, dad!”  He screamed and then in almost whisper a few seconds later, he pleaded, “Come back dad!  I love you dad, please, don’t leave me dad!”

Later David was not sure how long he’d stayed in the wreckage crying.  He knew the death of his father had almost killed him, because the inside of the aircraft had grown very cold.  He was shaking severely from the start of hypothermia when he once more made his way back to the warmth of his shelter and fire.  

Tear froze on his cheeks and his hands no longer had much feeling left in them as he added wood to his dying fire.  As the flames ate at the dried wood, the young boy stared into the fire and thought,
What can I do now?  How can I tell mom and Marie that dad is dead?  Dad, I love you.  Oh, dad, I wish I could have done something to help you.
 It was hours later before his head drooped from fatigue that David Wade entered the void of deep sleep.

CHAPTER 2

O
FF
AND
ON
during the cold and windy night David added wood to his small fire, though come morning he would not remember doing it.  The snow he had expected did not come, but it was about as uncomfortable and cold as the boy could take.  He awoke cold, hungry, and aching all over.  He knew he should have lined his shelter floor with pine boughs, crawled into his sleeping bag and gone to sleep, but his mind just didn’t seem to function like it normally did.  For once in his life, David Wade was alone in the world and the reality of his situation scared him more than just a little.  Even the wind whistling through the trees and rocks seemed to whisper of his coming death.

As he added a couple of small pieces of wood to his fire, David understood he was giving up and without a fight.  
I can’t let dad down or my mom,
he thought as he watched the flames,
I have to try hard to survive.  I know enough, after all it should be almost any time now that a rescue team starts looking for us.  I have to survive for dad.  I know he was worried about me and I have to live for him.  What was it dad called the desire to survive?  I remember now, he called it the will to survive.

David pulled the survival kit closer and started going through all of the items in the kit again, but paying much more attention this time.  He found all sorts of things and some he figured he’d never use.  He discovered a plastic whistle, two cans of water, a strobe light, a signal mirror, an Air Force survival manual, a first aid kit, a pocketknife with two blades, a pair of wool gloves, and some other smaller items.  He also found a fanny pack with a belt and plastic quick-disconnect buckle, so he could wear it around his waist.  He placed some of the signaling gear, compass, the fire starting equipment, and the two pouched of dehydrated food in the fanny pack.  The rest of the gear he placed inside the plastic survival kit container and put it inside his shelter.

It was just as he returned to the fire he remembered the rifles and suitcases they had in the aircraft.  He stood and made his way to the wreckage, feeling the pain of his father’s death growing as he neared the small plane.  He had covered his father’s head with the casualty blanket before he’d left him, so at least he did not have to look at his face.  He knew if he saw his father, he’d break down again and right now he could not afford to do that.  There was a small storage compartment on the left side of the aircraft, near the tail, that held the suitcases and rifles, so Dave approached the latched door of the compartment.  It appeared to be intact and it opened easily once he pushed the latch.

He reached inside and pulled out two small overnight bags, and then removed two rifles in protective plastic containers.  Finally, reaching to the very rear of the compartment he pulled out a small military ammunition can that held the shells for both rifles. David knew there were fifty bullets for each gun stored in the can and for the first time since the crash, he felt some relief.  He’d grown up hearing stories of killer grizzly bears and wild attacking moose, so having a weapon at least made him feel more secure and safe.

David picked up the equipment and made his way toward camp as quickly as his stiffened body would allow.  The wind, though still blowing, had much less of a bite than the day before.  
Temperature has gone up a little,
he thought as he neared his fire.

Kneeling beside the small blaze, he placed the metal canteen cup near the flames and added a cup of water.  As the water heated, he opened the overnight bags and sorted the clothing into piles, which he placed inside the shelter.  He kept out a sweater, wool socks, and his hiking boots.  He then opened plastic the gun carriers and checked both of guns very closely.  His father’s rifle had a cracked stock and the scope was hanging loose from the mounting rings.  David placed the damaged rifle inside the shelter and pulled his own rifle from the protective plastic case.

His rifle was still in good condition, but he knew the scope was likely out of alignment from the hard impact of the crash.  He was not concerned and using his pocketknife, he removed the scope and placed it in his coat.  He’d use the scope as a monocular now.  He could hit pie plates at a hundred yards using the open sights on his rifle, so he was sure he’d survive with his own gun along.  The sling and mounts were still secured, so he'd not have to carry the rifle in his hands all the time.  Both of the guns were of the same caliber, 30.06, so he knew it would drop big game if needed, but more importantly, he now had a hundred rounds of ammunition for his rifle.