The Journal: Crimson Skies: (The Journal Book 3) (32 page)

November 25

Mark left early to visit patients at Camp
Tamarack, which gave me the time and the privacy for what I needed
to do. This was really something I didn’t want company or help in
doing.

Although the temperatures had been dropping
it still had stayed above freezing and no snow had fallen yet. The
cold ground was workable. I got a basket and a shovel from the
greenhouse and knelt beside the four by four raised bed that held
my spring bulbs. I dug up bulbs of blue and white crocus and
fragrant yellow daffodils, striped tulips, and a hyacinth. Then I
moved over to the flower garden that held all of my mother’s
flowers, and carefully lifted out some of the blue-flags and the
pale pink bleeding hearts. I put the shovel in the car and took it
and my basket to the cemetery.

Kneeling in the freshly turned soil at Doris’
grave, my hands shook and I let the tears fall again. I didn’t know
Doris all that well, and I would have liked to have had the chance
to know her better. Now I never would.

I planted the bleeding heart close to the
grave marker, knowing it wouldn’t grow tall, at least not enough to
obscure the writing Jason had done. The blue-flags, those delicate
miniature irises, went on either side. The other bulbs were planted
in a random pattern down the center and would add an eye pleasing
variety of color next spring. They would spread and create a
blanket of color in the years to come.

~~~

“Has Pete been by yet?” I asked Tom. I was
leaning against the doorjamb, momentarily swaying with a déjà vu of
another time I did the same thing, but with Anna.

“Yes, and we’ve got it all squared away.
Thanks for arranging that, Allex,” Tom answered. “Are you alright?”
Concern crept into his voice.

“Yeah, it’s … been devastating to lose one of
the nuns.” My lip quivered and I caught it with my teeth to stop
the trembling. “It’s hard to lose so many in such a short time,
Tom!
Again
. When will this end?”

“I don’t know if it ever will, Allex,” he
replied softly. “What I do know is we have to keep doing what we
can to help those left, until there aren’t any left or we die.”

Die?
“How’s your heart?” I asked,
remembering he’d just had several stents put in.

He chuckled. “I’m fine. It’s you I’m worried
about. When was the last time you did something fun?”

“You gotta be kidding. There isn’t any time
for
fun
,” I sneered. “It’s all work, barely sleep, and then
start over again.” I dropped down into the nearest chair.

“I couldn’t help but overhear your
conversation,” Jim Andrews said as he took my spot holding up the
doorframe. “How would you like to take a short road trip with me
tomorrow, Allex?”

“Where to?” I asked, straightening up in my
seat. I could really use the diversion.

“It’s been over a month and I’d like to check
on the fires in Marquette. It might be good to get away from here
for a few hours. I thought I’d ask Rayn and Eric to come along. We
don’t know what we might run into and four guns are better than
two. You game?”

~~~

On my way home, I saw Amanda’s car at the
laundromat and decided it was a good time to talk to her.

“Oh, hi Mom,” she said when I entered. “I
thought you might be one of the women coming in. I miss the
chitchat with them.”

“I’m surprised you’re not busy,” I said.

“I’m staying busy with all the laundry from
the nuns,” she said, folding yet another t-shirt and adding it to a
growing pile. “The women think what I’m doing is too gruesome to be
around. I sure hope this ends soon. It’s depressing me too.”

“I can fully understand that, and I know how
much the Sisters appreciate what you’re doing for them. What do you
do with the clothes when you’re done?”

“I take them to Pastor Carolyn’s and leave
the laundry bag in the breezeway. If there’s one there, I take it
with me. We don’t see each other, which I think is good. They’re
with sick people all day, I don’t know how they do it or how come
they’re not getting sick too,” she said.

I instantly thought of Father Constantine and
Sister Doris.

“Some of them
have
gotten sick.” I
looked out the grimy windows so she wouldn’t see my anguish. I
looked around at the laundromat. “You’ve cleaned the place up, it
looks nice. You spend so much time here, why don’t you decorate?
You know, make it cheery! I think that would help everyone’s
attitude.”

“I can do that? You wouldn’t mind?” Amanda
looked hopeful.

“Dear, you can do anything you want here. I
don’t think there’s any paint, though you could do new curtains or
put things up on the walls. Use your imagination!”

There had been so much sadness and grief
here, I felt that whatever we could do to cheer ourselves up, we
should, and if Amada was happy, Jason was happy.

November 26

“You’re going
where
?” Mark shouted. “I
don’t think it’s a good idea!” He stood with his hands planted
firmly on his narrow hips.

“And why not?” I glared right back at him.
“We’ll only be gone a few hours. It’s been a month, Mark, we need
updated information.”

“Why you?”

“Why
not
me?” I shot back. “Besides,
Eric and Rayn are coming too. We’ll be in an armor-plated Hummer.
What kind of danger could we possibly be in?”

Mark definitely did not like us going off to
a hot zone, but we needed to find out how bad the fires had gotten,
if the Antlers Basin Bridge was still intact and maybe, just maybe,
there would be other survivors. We also needed to see if some of
the outer stores were still standing. We would never have enough
supplies and there wasn’t enough time to check all of them.

“When are you leaving?” he asked
sullenly.

“In about a half hour,” I answered. “I need
to pack some water and a few snacks.” I wrapped my arms around his
waist and looked up into his deep blue eyes. “We’ll be fine,
honest.”

“Now I know how you felt when I left with Dr.
Streiner,” Mark admitted.

“That was a bit different. She had designs on
you, remember?” He arched an eyebrow at me and was about to say
something more when Jim pulled in. Instead, he leaned down and gave
me a long, soulful kiss.

“You better be back before dinner.”

~~~

“I stopped at the Inn first and had Marsha
pack a cooler I found,” Jim said. “Have you ever been up in that
garage where I am? There is
everything
up there, and all
neatly organized and labeled!”

“Yes I have,” I laughed, which felt good to
do. “Kathy was the most organized person I’ve ever known. She also
liked themes. There are bins filled with pirate outfits, Caribbean
and Hawaiian garb, even pink flamingoes. She could lay her hands on
just about anything in less than five minutes. Next Halloween we
can outfit most of the town,” I said, “if there’s anyone left that
is,” I mumbled under my breath. The numbers were rising of those
lost to this latest flu.

“So what did Marsha pack?” Mark asked.

“A half dozen sandwiches, some muffins, a
thermos of coffee, and a gallon jug of water,” Jim replied.

“All that for a few hours?” Mark sounded
alarmed. “I thought this was to be a short excursion?”

“It is, dear,” I said, laying my hand on his
arm. “I’m sure Marsha was just being extra cautious. Besides, if we
run into anyone, we should have food to share.” I turned back to
Jim. “What else do we need?”

Just then Eric and Rayn arrived from across
the street.

“I managed to find a crowbar and bolt
cutters,” Jim said, “though I couldn’t find a chainsaw.”

“Mom’s got one,” Eric said, heading to the
barn, with Rayn close behind. They returned with the chainsaw, a
bottle of chain oil, and a canister of pre-mixed gas. “I also
grabbed a longer crowbar. It could come in handy.”

“What do you need all that for?” Mark asked.
“It sounds like you plan on doing some breaking and entering.”

“It might be necessary,” Jim stated flatly.
“I’m hoping we find some places that aren’t burned to a crisp. This
is a scouting trip, yes, it’s also a preliminary scavenging
expedition. We will never have enough supplies, Doc, I want to make
sure we have all that we can. It’s a matter of survival.”

Mark looked perplexed. “I can understand
that, but why the chainsaw?”

“It’s thirty-five miles from here to the city
limits, and it hasn’t been traveled for a month. There could be
trees down on the road from the last storms,” Eric said.

“Are we ready?” Jim asked.

“I only need to grab my pack,” I said. “Mark,
can I see you in the house for a minute?”

Once inside, I turned to my husband, taking
his big hands in my small ones.

“I’m going to need a basic first aid kit.
Will you put one together for me? I believe in being over prepared,
you know that, so it should include some pain killers and
antibiotics – in case we run into someone who needs them.”

While he was selecting a few things, I took
my backpack that was always ready, and added an extra box of 9mm
ammo, two more magazines for my Kel-Tec, and a box of .223 for my
rifle. The pack was getting heavy.

Mark added the first aid kit to my pack, and
then hugged me, whispering, “Please be careful and stay out of
trouble.”

~~~

The ride into town was relatively uneventful.
There was zero traffic, as expected, and the road was surprisingly
free of debris. We stopped at the Basin Bridge and all of us got
out.

“Sargent Jones, will you accompany me across
the bridge please?” Jim said.

“Excuse me?” I said. “Why are we being left
behind?”

“Allex, you’re not being left behind. Two
should stay with the vehicle and cover our back. Rayn will cover us
moving forward while I inspect the structure for damage,” he said.
When I raised an eyebrow, he laughed. “This is still a military
operation, ma’am.”

He turned without further word and started
across. Halfway across he paused and leaned over the side. Rayn
stopped and kept focused forward. Jim went to the other side and
looked over the edge.

“Colonel,” I called out, “on the other end of
the bridge there is half of the old bridge that was kept for
fishing. It will allow you a better view of underneath.”

He nodded and they continued over. After
searching the underside of the bridge for recent defects, the two
of them came back to the Hummer.

“It would appear that the controlled
detonation of the dam worked to prevent structural damage. The
water is high, as to be expected, though not so high to matter …
except that the old bridge is now six inches underwater.” He shook
a wet boot. “Let’s go.”

We went to the coal yards for the electric
plant first, as close as we could get anyway. The fire was burning
hot and the asphalt pavement leading into plant was liquid. The air
was heavy with heat and the nauseating odor of petroleum tar. It
was going to be burning for a very long time.

“Suggestions?” Jim said to all of us. “Allex,
what would be the best route to get back to the shore line?”

Access to the shoreline road was blocked with
melted asphalt and broken pavement. Every street we tried was
buckled or blocked with fallen buildings. The streets leading
through or around the university gave us a clear view of the
devastation of that once proud school. It was now leveled to the
ground, steel girders watching over it like silent behemoths. We
made it to the next major artery only to be stopped again by
pavement that was ripped up like it was a toy track.

“What caused the streets to do that, ma’am?”
Rayn asked from the back seat.

“The worst road damage seems to be near gas
stations, so I would guess the explosion of the underground tanks
did this,” I answered her as best I could. “Jim, let’s get back to
Fleet Street. There aren’t any gas stations along that stretch. It
will take us around to the west side of town and we can approach
the shoreline from the south. Perhaps there’s a way to get
through.”

Fleet was littered with massive potholes, and
what wasn’t was rippled from the heat that had passed over it a
month ago. The damage was minimal compared to the other roads, and
the military multi-wheeled drive vehicle took the challenge easily,
though slowly. We ventured down a few of the main streets that
intersected with Fleet, only to be turned back by blockage too
great to go around. After the third such try, we stayed on Fleet
until we came to Highway 41.

“As we feared, Walstroms has suffered major
casualties,” Jim said with a frown. We stared at the huge store and
the caved in roof. “If it’s any consolation, this makes me feel
better about all the stuff that was commandeered.”

We turned east and followed the highway to
the lake.

“I tried to visualize what this might look
like, Jim, but even my worst thoughts are no match for this,” I
remarked. The shells of burned out buildings stood like hulking
monsters lying in wait. Others were just piles of rubble, some of
which were still smoldering. Without the familiar landmarks I was
quickly getting disoriented. The Big Lake, Lake Superior, looming
in front of us was the only constant, and led us to Shoreline Drive
and the harbor.

The scene was surreal. It was like viewing a
disaster movie set after the money shot. The few buildings that
dotted the marina were nothing but piles of charred rubbish while
the playground equipment was untouched. A single swing moved
listlessly in the pre-winter wind coming from the lake, squeaking
with every push it got from that invisible hand. In the back of my
mind it reminded me of a movie, and I couldn’t or didn’t want to
remember which one.