Enduring the Crisis by K.D. Kinney Page A

quite often claimed she hated him for giving her grief.
    Zoe and Holly were quite the pair. He missed Zoe’s silent presence. She sometimes was so quiet and agreeable that he and Tammy worried she’d be lost while Charlie and Holly competed for attention. He took great effort to make sure that didn’t happen when he was home. Holly, when she wasn’t striving for all the attention, was full of curiosity about space once she got a good look at the stars at the cabin.
    Mae was definitely the Daddy’s girl. She cried for days after he left and Tammy let him know. She didn’t want him to go either so she made sure he knew how broken hearted she was for weeks after he left. He would get calls late at night  from his youngest just wanting to hear he was okay. He wondered how she was faring so far.
    He rested his arm over his eyes as he thought about the grief at home. They didn’t know he was coming so what did they think? He couldn’t imagine never hearing the girls giggle and laugh in unison as they made fun of each other, or spoke in funny accents to each other. He would miss hearing them play instruments and sing together. He needed to stop thinking in terms of never hearing or seeing them again. The one thing he did know was when he did make it home, none of them would be the same. They’d see things they wished they hadn’t. And that made him want to get home even sooner. If only it were possible.
    “When I wake up tomorrow, I will find a way,” he whispered. “I’m leaving this place and won’t be wasting any more time.” He closed his eyes and all he could see was Tammy looking at him the way she did when she really needed him close. “I’m coming.” He muttered as sleep finally took over.

18

Ben
    Ben woke up when his body alarm usually woke him. He didn’t have to look at his phone to know it had to be six am. He washed up, hoping that Nate was an early riser too. No such luck. He wandered the halls to find food. After the rough boat ride the night before, Nate and Ben hadn’t been all that hungry. So he was ravenous with his stomach leading him to where he smelled coffee. He didn’t drink coffee at all but hopefully there would be food nearby.
    He was right. They had a breakfast buffet and there were a few people already starting their day. He said hello to a couple of rough looking men at the buffet. Perhaps fisherman? He spotted another man across the room. The man was even bigger and scruffier than the two that were filling their plates at the counter.
    Ben felt impressed that he was the man he needed to speak to that morning. Ignoring the protests from his stomach as he passed by all the food waiting for him, he crossed the room to the table where the man was reading a magazine. Usually Ben didn’t have much trouble starting conversations but he had no idea how to lead into what he wanted to ask the guy. ‘You gotta boat?’ seemed rather pretentious.
    When the man looked up, it seemed as if he knew why Ben was there. “I ain’t got any need for anyone else on my crew.”
    “I’m actually looking for a way to Anchorage more than I’m looking for a job. My company will pay to get me and my friend back there.”
    “Hmph.” He adjusted the way he was sitting to get a good look at Ben. “Why you look so desperate? Why the rush? A boat is comin’ for all the stranded.”
    “I need to get to the lower forty-eight, back to my family.”
    “You know, there ain’t no use in that. You get to Anchorage and your best bet is to stay put. Nothin’ is leavin’ the state. It is anarchy and mayhem down there already. Just a couple days in and the word on the radio comin’ from there is all bad.”
    “There’s radio transmissions coming from there?”
    “Of course. There’s some smart ones down there that have been preparing for somethin’ like this to happen.”
    “We’re just so far away.” Ben rubbed the whiskers on his chin that he forgot to shave. He should have gotten his HAM radio