The children had already been fed and Chandler, pastors 3 year old Grandson was playing on the floor over in the corner. The door to the tool room, which we used as a radio room was just to his left. He started saying”mama,mama” over and over . when I looked at him he was pointing at the door. Pastor got up and went over to pick him up and comfort him, as he had done when any of the children called for their mom. As he approached he heard her also. It was Jillian, his middle daughter. She was on the short wave radio. "Can anyone hear me", was all she repeated over and over. Pastor keyed the mike and replied, "Jillian? Is that you"? With a short pause she answered him, "Dad"? With emotion filling her voice. Jillian was an administrator for a large hospital in the city about 45 miles to the north. Her husband Benjamin was a cardiovascular surgeon there as well. They had met while working there some ten years ago. They married seven years ago and their oldest daughter was now four. Benjamin had been on call and was in the middle of a thirty six hour shift when the EMP went off. Jillian was working as well. During those times when they both worked Pastor and Sadie would watch the kids.
Many times when visiting Pastor he would have them in his office playing on the floor with their toys as he worked. He always made a point to remember how God has blessed him with a job where he was able to spend time with his family. Pastor was the kind of guy who really truly loved everybody he met..He was definitely blessed by God. After the EMP went off ,it was crazy at the hospital. The emergency generators wouldn’t start because the electronic controls had all been fried. They had battery backup on most life critical equipment but that only lasted several hours. In the first two days they lost over two hundred patients . The toll was over 800 now and rising.Jillian was crying as she talked to her parents and her children. She said she and another administrator were taking turns trying to raise someone on the radios. They were going up the bandwidth slowly and tediously calling out for anyone who could hear.She told us that things were really bad at the hospital and she was getting worried for her safety.When asked about Benjamin, her voice broke with sobbing as she told Pastor "He's,,,he didn’t,,he's gone daddy". Sadie started crying and then blurted out, "come home honey, come home". Jillian told them that she had stayed because Ben felt he was obligated to help do what he could for the patients there, and then after he died she didn’t know where to go. She didn't know how or if she could make it back home. Now after hearing her children's voices she knew she had to try.No matter what happened. She would try.
This whole section of the state played a big part in the industrial revolution with the production of brass. There were old brass mills in towns up and down this river valley from one end of the state to the next. Some had been torn down and many were turned into shops and upscale loft housing. I heard Jillian ask Pastor , "How daddy how. How can I get home". There was an old rail line that ran along the river that had been used to move brass and raw materials for years, mostly being discontinued decades ago. In some of the more affluent areas it had been turned into walking trails or bike paths. In the inner city areas it was home to an underground urban subculture of drug addicts and derailicts.It did however run almost the entire state north to south.
I keyed the mic and asked her, “do you know where the train tracks are in reference to the hospital. She answered, " yes I think so. There's a bike path about three blocks away, I think that’s part of it". "Ok", I said. "When you get off the radio. Grab what you can for food and water put them in your backpack and walk out. Don’t tell anyone or say anything to anybody. Just walk out. Head for that bike path and go south". Pastor leaned into the mic and asked,"Do you have your gun honey"? She said, "yes Daddy it's in my purse". "Keep it close", pastor told her. Greg leaned over his shoulder and said, "Sweetheart make sure it's loaded, pull the slide and put one in the chamber and slide it into your pocket. And honey, if you need to pull it out don’t hesitate. It's likely that they sure won't". Pastor said, " be carefull baby". She replied, "I love you daddy". He started crying. I picked up the mic, "Jillian leave now, we are on our way we will find you honey. Just keep moving no matter what". "Ok". Then she paused. "I'm scared". Sadie was crying and Pastor was emotional as well. I told her I knew that it was scary. But if she went now and didn’t stop we would likely have her sometime tonight or early tomorrow. I reiterated what Greg told her. I said, "Jill, keep that gun handy". I asked her if she had winter mittens. She said she did. I told her to slide the gun into her glove into the palm of her hand. I said, "when you pass someone grip the gun and shoot it right through the mitten if you have to". I was with benjamin when he bought her that gun when she first got her conceal carry permit. He purchased her a ruger lc9. It was a sub compact 9mm with a green laser. He reasoned that if she needed to pull it and shoot quickly the laser would allow her to not have to take the time to aim down the sight. It was a nice little gun.
She told us she would do it and signed off. We scrambled. Linda already had my pack loaded with some granola bars and bottled water. She put in a change of clothes and an extra hoodie. We had enough supplies for a couple days just in case. Steve, Richie , and I loaded up our weapons and they put together a bag of supplies each and we headed for the power wagon. We radioed Aaron and Greg to get back right away, we had an emergency. Pastor came out with his bag and the Mossberg strapped over his shoulder as well. He said he was coming. Aaron had Josh to help him with camp security. Lee put together a bag for Greg and when he and Aaron got back into camp we filled them in quickly.
Greg hopped in the power wagon and we took off. We left to go rescue Jillian at 1:30 pm. Normally it was about an hour ride straight up the highway. The train tracks were in the valley adjacent to the old state road that ran north to south. It had been mostly abandoned when the highway was built in the late 60s. Except for little sections here and there that were still used ,it was mostly overgrown . Nothing more than a wide trail now with cracked asphalt for the base. We decided that this would be the best route for us to take. There were a couple places along the route where the road had been completely removed to make way for building construction or the like. The kmart just north of town was an example. In these places we would have to go around, sometimes maybe even having to jump on the highway for short lengths of the trip. When Jillian got off the radio she went into the staff lounge she grabbed her bag and put two bottled waters in it as well as a bag of goldfish crackers and an apple. She took the mittens from her backpack, chambered a round in lc9 and slid her mitten on over it. She headed for the door, almost running. When she was out side she went straight for the bike trail and headed south. While making our way north in a route to connect us to the old state road Pastor told us that he had some familiarity with the bike path. When Benjamin and jillian would work long shifts together he and Sadie would take the kids down to see them , often having picnic lunches on that bike trail. He said he didn’t know exactly how long it was but said he believed it to be at least 10 miles which was where it came into the next town south of the hospital.That would put that town approximately 30-35 miles north of our position. It took us about three hours to get into the town of little falls. The route up was pretty deserted although we did pass several encampments along the road with little activity in them and no threat to us. We only had to get on the highway for two miles to get around a newer condo development was was built on a lot that the old tracks ran through. We had a choice of diverting down a main road through the area or up onto the highway. We decided the highwsy would be the best bet for avoiding people. It also ended up being the slowest two miles of the trip having to weave around all the abandoned disabled vehicles. We got to where the tracks turned into the bike trail going north out of little falls. Now Jillian was a runner in college and actually broke a few university records in her time there. We put the hospital up north at about 13 miles from where we were. There was a chance she could have been further south down the line if she ran . If not she should be coming up to our current position pretty soon. Even at just a brisk walking pace we figured she could do a 20 minute mile pretty consistently. She was in excellent shape and scared. I didn’t envision her stopping for too many breaks or even slowing down from a jog much. We looked north up the trail and south down the tracks into town. I looked at Greg and he just shrugged his shoulders. Pastor said confidently “Go North toward the hospital”. North we went. We drove the power wagon right down the bike trail. About a mile or so later we came to a bridge where the trail crossed a river.
It was about 70 feet above the water and too narrow for the truck . As we got out and started to walk across it we saw a figure approaching from the other side. We couldn’t see the face but judging from the size and pace I thought it could have been jillian. Just as she were about to walk over the water a large man called out from behind her to stop. She turned and looked at him but did not stop she started running. He started running after her. He had something in his hand. A pipe or a stick maybe. I couldn’t quite make it out. It was a little after dusk, almost completely dark. The man was taunting her and yelling at her and laughing. Telling her she wasn’t going to outrun him. He laughed and said, "you're all mine little lady”. She had about 300 yards to go to reach us and Steve and Richie started running toward her.I looked at Pastor and said, "I think she can outrun him” Greg mumbled something and grabbed the 308 out of the truck. He lifted it to his eye and pulled the bolt back and fed a round into the chamber. He peered through the scope and pulled the trigger. Jillian started screaming and just kept running. The man dropped on the trail and didn’t move. Greg said “yep you were right, she did outrun him” as he put the rifle back in the truck. Jillian reached Richie and Steve a few moments later and broke down crying. Pastor ran up and grabbed her in his arm. “It's ok honey,you're ok. Everything is gonna be just fine”. Steve jumped in the driver's seat. Pastor rode shotgun with his daughter in the middle. He had his arm around her pulling her close. Greg, Richie,and I were in the back. We headed for home.
