When The Fault Breaks: Life Will Never Be The Same Page 15

  "Well Ben, I guess we will see who says uncle first and I can promise you it won't be me."

  Ben replied, "OOHHH that sounds like a challenge."

  "Your damn strait it is Ben."

  "Bring it on."

  Ben reached over and took the first hit, he replied, "Lame, your turn Tony."

  Ben handed the jar to Tony.

  Tony took his hit coughed a bit then said, "WHOA."

  I reached up and took a swig, then shook my head a bit and blew out, goose pimples formed on my arms as the white lightning hit me.

  "Damn that is some good stuff."

  I handed the bottle to Fred. He took a hit with no reaction at all and handed it back to Ben.

  Ben took his second hit, made a strange sound, shook his head and said, "DAAMMNN…."

  Tony said, "Never talk shit when you can't back it up."

  Ben bantered back, "Go for it Tony, but don't cough up a lung."

  Tony took the jar and took a big swig. He shook his whole body and said, "Oh My God" but that was it. Tony handed me the jar for my second hit.

  "I've had all I'm going to have, so I guess I'm the biggest loser in this battle, here Fred."

  He took another hit; it didn't seem to faze him and handed it back to Ben again.

  Ben looked at it, paused, Tony jumped on that and said, "What's the matter lightweight can't you take it?"

  Ben replied by slamming back a big hit, you could see his face turn red instantly.

  Then acting like a real tough guy he said.

  "This stuff isn't that bad ass."

  With that said he went to stand up. You should have seen it, with one fluid motion Ben stood up then fell flat on his face, passed out.

  After the initial concern for his safety passed, we all started laughing when we saw he was ok, he was just passed out.

  Tony looked at Fred and asked, "Do you want another hit?"

  "Nope I am good."

  With that Tony capped the jar without his third hit either. We all laughed about it for a while and laid Ben out on the bench and made sure he didn't choke.

  After a slow start we started hauling in fish after fish. We had filled the fish boxes under the benches and still they kept coming. Before the end of the night we had so many fish we decided to just stop fishing and call it quits. We put the cover over the ice hole to keep it warmer in the hut and had some fresh fish for dinner. Tony really got Ben that night. While he was passed out Tony painted huge eyebrows and a big L on Ben's forehead, and none of us was going to tell Ben about it.

  Later that evening we took turns telling stories and laughing long into the night.

  Tony inquired, "Hey Peter, tell us another one of your sea stories."

  Fred replied, "Yea squid let's hear another one, something funny this time."

  "Okay, I had only been on my first ship stationed in Spain for a month or so and already had to see the Executive Officer because I was late a few to many times so he knew who I was. I was in the shop and my second class came in with a double female fire hose fitting and told me and Woody to come with him.

  We followed him to a head not far from the bridge and he pointed to a pipe below a urinal and told me to hook one side of the fitting to the pipe and the other side to the fire hose that was already on the deck. I started to ask him 'but', then he barked back, 'DON'T BUT ME.' I was going to ask about checking valve settings on the line like they taught us in school.

  Then he told Woody to follow the fire hose to the hose station the next deck down and told me to stand on a ladder between decks and tell Woody to turn on the water when we were all ready. I hollered down to him to turn on the water and watched as the fire hose filled.

  Soon after the water started rushing through the hose, I heard a blood-curdling scream from the Executive Officers office. I could see in his office from the stairs and could see in his head. Looking in the direction of the scream, I saw the XO come flying out of his stall with his pants down, and I saw a column of water slamming into the overhead above the toilet. As I watched the XO running, I started screaming at the top of my lungs. 'Woody SHUT IT OFF, SHUT IT OFF.' As soon as the XO spotted me he screamed out 'BRESTERRR!!!'

  I looked at the XO and pointed at the second class and hollered he told us to do it. The XO was not too happy but really all he could do was tell us to clean it up. That second class looked at both Woody and I and told us to get in there and clean it up, but the XO stopped us and told our boss the second class to clean it up. The force of the water was so great it had stuck turds to the overhead.

  It was everything we could do not to laugh while we were still in front of the XO but as soon as we were down a couple decks Woody and I fell to the deck laughing our brains out. We went to see what the fire main pressure was for the fire hose and it was almost one hundred fifty pounds of pressure. I can only imagine what it did when it hit his ass."

  Fred and Tony could not stop laughing. Fred asked, "Why didn't it all go down the drain?"

  "Because it turned out a valve was left closed after a drill and the only other thing on that drain line besides the urinal I hooked the hose to was the XO's toilet, so all that pressure hit him in the ass. It was so funny I remember it vividly still today.

  I asked Fred, "So Fred what about you, do you have any good stories for us? Come on soldier boy it's your turn."

  "Okay, I have a good funny one too. I was stationed at Luke Air Force Base teaching for a few years in the early eighties. One day while I was returning from the mess hall and was crossing a parade field when I crossed paths with an Air Force officer. As it turned out I did not see the guy but he did me. All of a sudden I heard "'SOLDIER.'

  I turned and replied, yes sir. He snapped back, 'Don't you salute a superior officer when you see one?' Without even thinking I replied, 'yes sir when I see one.' Just as the words escaped my lips I realized what I said and did not have a chance to clarify it before he went off on me.

  He made me give him my Staff Sergeants' number, my name and reamed my ass. By the time I got back to my office my Staff Sergeant called me into his office. He was standing there with his arms crossed and this pissed off look. I told him my side of the story and he told me not to let it happen again. I promised him it wouldn't and that was that, at least he thought so.

  I decided that arrogant ass of an Air Force officer needed to be taught a lesson. You don't treat a jarhead like that without consequences. I told my students about what had happened and told them the next time we see him we would pay him back. You see we all normally went to lunch together and would pass this officer. So I told my students that the next time we spotted him we needed to space out the group. The plan was to walk in a drawn out column over ten feet apart.

  It was not long before we saw him and I yelled out nice and loud 'FAN OUT HUT.' We all separated into this long line that required him to salute each of us one at a time raising and lowering his arm each time as he passed us. I just smiled as I saluted him and said, 'good afternoon sir.' He was clearly irritated by it but what could he do but salute all of us.

  This happened a few times before he stopped me as he approached me. He told me to stop doing it, and I replied that I thought he loved to salute so I just gave him more opportunities to do it. He was not to happy and said not to do it again and said it was an order. When I got back to my office my Staff Sergeant again called me into his office and had yet another talk with me. He told me not to do it again and I promised him I would stop, but as I was starting to walk away he leaned into me and quietly said, 'Good job I hate that guy.'"

  Tony could not stop laughing, and neither could I for that matter.

  Fred and I spent more time making fun of Air Force Officers, well most officers for that matter and told a few more stories of some of the idiots we had encountered over our years.

  After a few more hours we finally all crashed. Poor Ben he missed out on all the good fishing and fun. When we got home the next morning Ann looked at Ben then looked at us and we
all shook our heads no and put our fingers to our mouths. Shhhh.

  Beth came in, looked at Ben and asked, "What the hell is that?"

  We all stood there with this innocent look, held up our hands and shrugged our shoulders all innocent like, Beth held up a mirror to Ben and he was not happy.

  Tony turned to Ben and gloated, "I told you not to mess with fire boy you might get burned."

  We all got a good laugh out of it including Ben and spent the rest of the day sitting by our fire.

  Many fish were caught over the winter in those ice fishing houses and everyone was welcome to use any of them and they all did. Before spring the houses were removed from the ice so they would not fall through and be lost.

  We had been having a mild winter for some time but we knew that would end soon. One night in the middle of February we were hit by the worst storm of the winter. The weeks leading up to it were already bad enough but this storm was different. The skies had darkened early in the day and from our vantage point we could see ominous clouds creeping up the valley.

  "Have you seen the snow out there Peter?"

  "I sure did Tony it's crazy."

  It started out as freezing rain and lasted like that for several hours then it started to slowly turn to snow, lightly at first, then it really started to fall hard.

  "I've never seen snowflakes that large, they are the size of softballs. Look at that, it's unbelievable."

  "I have Tammy; I saw it snow like this in The Great Christmas Blizzard of 88 in Denver. It's not all that uncommon to get golf ball size snowflakes this far up in the mountains."

  "The winds are wicked out there now. They are blowing up the valley."

  "I'm more worried about the combined weight of the ice and snow on the tree branches Beth, they could come crashing down tree after tree very soon."

  "I bet everyone living in the cabins is happy that no trees were left standing within falling distance of any house."

  "Of that you can be sure Ben, this is a blizzard that everyone will remember."

  The storm lasted for what seemed like a year, but in reality it was almost a week before the snow stop falling. When we were finally able to get out and check out the damage we were all in awe. Six feet of snow had fallen on the ground and there were drifts up and over many homes. That was also when we learned that we lost John in the storm, he was trying to keep his door clear of snow when a giant mountain of snow slid off his roof and killed him.

  The cave faired very well in the storm with no damage or loss of life, and everyone else made it through warm and well. Some of the residents needed to remove snow from the entry way ever day so they didn't get buried.

  Over the course of winter most of the ham radio transmissions we had been listening to ended, even the ones from Salt Lake. We figured that could not be a good thing, as it meant that many remaining bits of civilization were now more than likely gone. And we had decided never to transmit because we did not want anyone to find us by the signal. We also did not have any arrivals from the time we arrived or throughout the winter. For now, we were alone and isolated from the rest of the world.

  We were happy with our seclusion, though, as the cave made for a warm inviting atmosphere where we were all able to make plans for the spring. The cave worked great as a shelter, and except for John, we didn't lose anyone to the cold or from starvation.

  Despite the circumstances that led us to the valley it was like a Norman Rockwell setting. The views were breathtaking even though the snow covered the area and looked foreboding. Icicles hung from everywhere and the stream was frozen over. It was a good thing we closed in the aqueduct that supplied the water to the cave. Our handiwork provided all the water that was needed throughout the winter.

  Looking out at the snow we could see little paths between the cabins and the cave that looked like a maze for rats. It was clear there was a great deal of travel back and forth between the cave and people's places. We had really become a tight-knit community with everyone making sure others were warm and well fed.

  Winter in this part of the country lasts at least three months so we spent a lot of time inside. There was something about the quiet that made us feel like all would be well. At the same time, we knew we were there because everything we ever knew was gone. We figured that we would never see any of our family again.

  Chapter 15: The Council

  We were in the cave having dinner and celebrating the coming spring, when Liz asked the original eight again about establishing a council. Its purpose would be to streamline the decisions that needed to be made about the village, and give everyone a voice about it. We had already agreed that it needed to be done so Fred decided that was a good a time as any, so with no warning Fred stood to speak.

  With his glass and knife in hand Fred tapped the side of his glass a few time. CLING, CLING, CLING.

  "Can I have everyone's attention?"

  The cave slowly fell quiet.

  "First off what I would like to say is welcome to all of you and I hope everyone is enjoying themselves tonight."

  A large overwhelming yes was heard.

  "That's great, it has been a cold winter but I hear that everyone is doing very well. I would like to take a moment of silence for the loss of John last month, he will not be forgotten."

  The room fell silent and everyone bowed their heads.

  Fred motioned his hand toward Liz and said, "Liz here has brought up a topic that has been tossed around for a while now and I think this is the best time to talk about it seeing that we are ALL here."

  "She suggested we form a council. I think it's not a matter of should we do it, but more who should be on it. But before we get to that, I wanted to take a moment and personally thank Peter for all he has done and say that if it had not been for him NONE of this would be here. It has been his vision for this community that has brought it about."

  "Thank you Fred but that is not the case, I could not have made this myself, all of you built it."

  "That may well be the case Peter, but I still thank you for the vision."

  "Thank you again Fred, and we all thank you for everything you and your team have done, there is no way we would have made it here without your guidance."

  "Now let's get to the business at hand. There are forty-seven of us, not counting the newborns, here today and we need a fair representation of all the different groups that arrived at the lake camp. I think that four members is a good starting point for a council. If we ever get more we can add to it to represent them as well. Does anyone have any opposing thoughts or feelings on the number of members?"

  I looked around the cave and saw many simply nodding their heads in agreement.

  "Ok then four it is. I will be the first to nominate someone for one of those positions. I think for the sake of fairness no one can nominate more than one. My nomination is Fred, besides representing his team he is level headed and makes decisions based on what is needed not on emotions."

  Ben spooks up, "I second that, all in favor raise their hands."

  From what we could tell everyone raised their hands.

  "Then Fred is the first member of the council, now keep in mind the order elected means nothing."

  This time Sandy spoke up, "I nominate Ben to be a member, as far as I am concerned he can represent us up on the hill and he is a good man."

  "All in favor?"

  Again it seemed like all hands went up.

  "Okay Ben you are number two, why don't you two get up and stand over there by the fireplace while we figure out the rest of the council."

  The two got up and stood by the fireplace shaking hands and congratulating each other in a playful sort of mocking manner.

  Fred spoke up and asked, "Is it appropriate for a member to nominate another, I would have before I was selected."

  "I don't see any reason why not, who do you have in mind?"

  "I think that Becky is a good choice."

  "All in favor?"

  Yet again all han
ds went up.

  "Okay that makes three we need one more, any nominations?"

  Ann spoke up this time, "I think we need to have equal numbers of men and women on the council so I nominate Cindy she seems to speak for all those guys that came in that second large group so it should be her."

  Cindy responded, "I don't think I would make a good councilwoman, I'm nowhere near as smart as the rest of them."

  Sam, one of the people that came in with her stood up.

  "Not only are you as smart as the rest of them, I think that you are the best choice of all. All in favor?"

  One last time all hands went up, and with a big cheer from her followers we now had our council.

  "All right then why don't you join them Cindy and let's all see our new council."