Alive and Alone (3 page)

By mid morning, the snow finally started to fall and the flakes were the big lazy kind that took forever to reach the ground.  David had always loved falling snow and had spent his youth learning to ski, operating a snowmobile, and ice-skating.  While he was at home in the bush, he had never in his life felt so alone and scared as he did at this moment.

The lack of noise is so loud,
he thought as he cut pine boughs to place on top of his shelter,
and I’ll bet a lot of people would not be able to stand the quiet.  

He then remembered his father warning him of what most people experienced when faced with a survival situation, “David, the key to staying sane in a survival situation is to stay busy.  Keep firewood gathered, look for editable plants, find water sources, make your shelter better, and set snares out to trap small game.  Also, keep your clothing in good repair and stay as clean as you can under the circumstances.  If you don’t stay busy and active, your mind will start to feel pity about the situation you’re in and that will make it harder for you to survive.”

David went back to the aircraft and went through the pouches behind the seats, checked the floor and dash, looking for anything of value.  He found little, but he did cover his dad’s body better and felt more comfortable as he did so.  Dave knew his father was dead beyond any doubt and while he felt a horrible pain each time he looked at his body, he understood his father would want him to survive.  To survive meant he’d have to take anything he needed from the aircraft and use it to help keep him alive.  Nonetheless, tears stained his cheeks as he walked back toward the fire.  

Once at the crude shelter, David placed the few items he’d found in the aircraft near the fire.  He’d found a book he’d been reading, a couple of old magazines, two candy bars, and pair of sunglasses.  
Not much here,
he thought as he sat by the flames, pulled his legs up, and wrapped his arms around them.

Suddenly David felt very sad and recognized quickly that he had to get moving or he’d start feeling sorry for himself.  He stood, picked up his rifle and slung it over his right shoulder.  Walking to the survival kit, he pulled out a long length of brass snare wire and placed it in his right pants pocket.  He had decided to stay busy, so he’d put out a few snares to see if he could catch some wild game to eat.

The snow was still falling slowly and the ground was just barely covered.  Dave knew the snow could fall for days like this and in the end, he could end up with thirty inches or more on the ground.  He also knew bad weather would make it more difficult for anyone looking for him to find his location.  But, he’d already decided he’d survive so he was not going to start feeling sorry for himself and give up.

He made a few simple snares by making a locking loop in the wire that would slide up and down smoothly.  The survival book had shown illustrations on how to make the loop and had suggested he place them on game trails.  Looking as hard as he might, Dave could find nothing around him that remotely looked like the game trail shown in the book.  Finally, out of frustration, he placed them in scattered locations about a hundred yards from his camp.

He had just turned to walk back to his shelter when he saw the smoke.  A long dark gray finger of smoke was rising near where his shelter should be.  David knew immediately what had happened; he’d left his fire burning unattended for too long!  As fast as he could, he ran toward his shelter and felt his fear mounting as he neared.  The last thing in the world he needed was to lose his survival gear and his shelter.

In Anchorage David’s mother picked up the ringing telephone, “Hello, Cathy Wade speaking.”

“Cathy, this is Frank.”  She knew Colonel Frank Wilcox was the commander of the search and rescue squadron at Elmendorf and a good friend of her and her husband’s.

“Frank, any word yet on the plane yet?”

“We now know Jim sent a short mayday or said something to indicate he was having mechanical problems with his aircraft.  The message was hard to hear and very difficult to understand.  It was sent at about the same time he disappeared from our radar screens.  Some of our audio experts here at the base are attempting right now to enhance the volume a little.”

“Do you think they are still alive Frank?” Cathy had lived in Alaska all of her life and knew the odds of surviving a mountain crash were remote, but it did happen at times.

There was complete silence on the phone for a second or two then Frank replied, “Cathy, I don’t really know.  As you know, a lot depends on how they crashed and where they crashed.  But, remember, Jim is a doctor and a good one too.  And, don’t forget, he used to teach survival for the Air Force, so he’s has a much better chance than most people would have of surviving.  The key to this whole thing is whether or not they survived impact when the plane crashed.”

“Frank, Jim knows how to survive and I guess, well, I know all of what you just told me.  I'm just at a compete loss on what to do now.  I’m so scared Frank.”

“Cathy, I’m sending Carol over to spend a few hours with you, because this is not one of those times you should be alone.  I’m still at the command post and tied up with the organization of the search aircraft and crews.  I suspect I’ll be here all night.  The weather has turned nasty where Jim’s plane was last on radar and it's slowing down our rescue efforts.  But, Cathy, as soon as I hear anything you’ll be the first person to know.”

Cathy, feeling tears in her eyes, choked a little then replied, “Tha . . .thanks Frank.  Tell Carol I’ll put the tea on.”

As she hung up the phone, Cathy Wade dried her eyes with the back of her left hand and walked to the kitchen counter where she plugged in her electric teapot.  As she reached down and turned it on, she prayed,
please, God, let them both of my men be safe.

Carol Wilcox lived only a few doors down the street and it was less than thirty minutes later when Cathy heard the doorbell ring.  Wrapping her housecoat around herself a little tighter, she quickly made her way to the door.

“Hello, Cathy, Frank just called and told me the news.  I rushed over and hope it’s okay,” Carol spoke with a thick Southern drawl as soon as the door was opened.  She’d been raised in Mississippi and sounded it.

“Its fine Carol, I’m just worried sick about my two boys.  Come on in, I’ve the tea on already.”  

Soon they were both sitting at the kitchen table holding a cup hot steaming tea.  They said nothing as the tea was poured and each woman added sugar or milk to her cup.  

Finally, Carol said, “Look, Cathy, you’ve got some of the best trained people in the world lookin’ for them.  Frank told me there are fifty airplanes workin’ with the search team and each plane has a qualified spotter.  If Jim and Dave have crashed they’ll find them and we both know it.”

Cathy lowered her eyes and asked, “But, will they still be alive when they’re found?”

Moments of long silence followed but finally Carol replied, “Cathy, I can’t answer that and you know it.  If they survived the crash, I know beyond a doubt Jim would be able to survive in the woods.  My goodness, he was a fully qualified Air Force survival instructor and Dave is not far behind him in ability.  They are both capable in the woods, so I’d not worry about that part. Right now is the hardest part, because we have to wait and let Frank and his troops do their jobs.”

“But, what if they're dead?”

Carol lowered her eyes to her teacup, and then said, “Cathy, I hope they're both alive and doing well, but if they’re dead, then they’re dead.  There won’t be a thing we can do to change that and you know it.  I think you’re puttin’ the cart before the horse here.  Let’s wait and see what Frank finds as soon as this weather breaks.”

“I'm so frightened Carol.  I feel so alone.”  Tears gathered in her eyes and then slowly made their way down her cheeks.

“You ain’t alone Cathy and you’ll never be.  I’m here for you and Frank and his people are committed to findin’ your boys for you.” Carol spoke as she stood and then walked to Cathy’s chair, where she put her hand on the woman’s shoulder as she continued, "And if you feel like cryin’ Cathy, then have at it.  I guess any woman in your shoes right now would shed more than just a few tears.”

Less than an hour later, as the two women sat in the living room watching television the show was interrupted with a special news broadcast, “The Anchorage office of the FAA announced this afternoon that a small aircraft, piloted by Doctor James Wade of Anchorage, has been missing for more than twelve hours.  Elmendorf Air Force Base has search and rescue crews standing by for a break in the weather, but according to Colonel Frank Wilcox, the squadron commander, all activities are on hold until the weather improves.  Doctor Wade and his son, David Wade, were flying southwest of Anchorage and disappeared off radar screens late yesterday.  We will keep you updated as more information becomes available.  This is Rodney J. Calbreath, reporting.”

Once again, Cathy broke into tears and Carol moved closer to her friend and gave her a big hug.  It was at that moment Marie opened the front door and walked up the stairs to the living room.

Marie threw her books onto the floor near a big overstuffed chair, looked at her mother and then asked, “What’s the matter mom?  Has something bad happened?”

Carol, realizing Cathy was in no shape to explain things to the young girl said, “Marie, you father and David are both missin’.  Their plane went off the radar screens late yesterday afternoon.”

“Are they ok?”

“Honey,” Carol was unsure how to answer at first, but then replied, “We don’t know yet.  My husband, Frank, has crews ready to search for them, but the weather is too bad for them to go out right now.”

“When will we know?  How could they crash, dad was a very good pilot?”

“Marie, we just don’t know all of that yet.  Frank will find them, but it will take time.”

The young girl moved to her mother’s side, put her right arm around her neck and pulled her close.  Carol felt her heartbreak as mother and daughter both broke into tears of anguish.  
Frank, please, so somethin’ quickly!  It’s the not knowin’ that is the hardest part for these kind people,
she thought as she stood and made her way into the kitchen. The least she could do was make dinner, not that they’d eat, but it was something to do.  Beside, Marie and Cathy deserved the time alone to reach to an understanding of what might have happened.

Dinner was quiet and very little eating was done.  Finally, Cathy threw her fork onto her plate, stood and began to pace the floor.  At that moment, the phone rang.

“Cathy Wade speaking,” Cathy spoke into the phone quickly.

“Cathy, this is Frank again. My crews have gone out and started the search.  Now, I also have word from my audio fellows and they tell me Jim did in fact transmit a very weak mayday call just before he went off radar.  We now have a pretty good idea where the plane went down, so all we can to do is pray this weather will hold until we can find the site.”

“Frank, it’s dark out.  How can they find the plane in the dark?”

“Each aircraft, by Federal law, has an emergency locator beacon in the tail.  When the aircraft crashes, the beacon starts to transmit on guard, or what you would call our emergency frequency.  It doesn’t have the range to transmit far, but if one of my planes gets near the crash site the beacon will still be transmitting.”  Frank attempted to sound excited, but he knew that severe cold weather could affect the transmitter’s battery life and the battery could already be dead.  Or, worse yet, the transmitter could have been damaged on impact.  Only he didn’t say any of these things.  Since he’d been in the rescue business a long time he want to give Cathy some hope and yet remain honest with her, because right now hope was all she had.

“Would your spotters be able to see a fire on the ground?”

“It depends on the cloud cover, but it’s possible.  Right now, I want you to let me talk to Carol and then I want you and Marie to come over to my house for the night.  That way you won’t be alone and the last thing you need is to stay in that house.”

CHAPTER 3