Survivor
Ernest Bywater
Survivor
All rights reserved and copyright © 2016
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. All rights are reserved by the author, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.
Product names, brands, and other trademarks referred to within this book are the property of their respective trademark holders. Unless otherwise specified there is no association between the author and any trademark holder, nor are any expressed or implied. Nor does it express any endorsement by them, or of them. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark, service mark, or registered trademark.
Cover Art
The image used is posted on Wikipedia as VanHornTX_2008.jpg by Leaflet, and is used with his permission under Creative Commons Attribution. The cropping, size adjustment, and text are by Ernest Bywater. All rights to the cover images are reserved by the copyright owners.
14 April 2022 version
Published by Ernest Bywater
E-book ISBN: 978-1-365-51066-3
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Note: Due to the main character and the narrator being Australians UK English is used in this story, except for dialogue by a US character where US English is used in the dialogue and some nouns.
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The title styles in use are a chapter, a sub-chapter, and a section.
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Foreword
In the early stages of writing this story I sought legal advice on the relevant laws of Texas about a minor having a handgun on a remote ranch in Texas. I asked the Texas Department of Public Safety who then told me to ask my local lawyer since they deal with the administrative matters on gun licenses and not law interpretation. So I made a similar request to the Sheriff of Maverick County, Texas, because that's the area I'm basing the story in. However, I received no reply to my email.
When I made a public request for information on a forum a lot of private individuals from Texas provided information to show it's either legal or accepted by the community. The federal and state laws are mixed because they give minimum age limits then they go into a lot of detail about precautions on using or carrying a firearm in public places as well as listing a lot of exempted uses for those under the stated age limit. Further mixing up the issue are the various city and county laws on the subject of gun laws. After several months I gave up on finding out the exact laws covering the situation.
The handgun I've selected for the character to use is a Bond Arms Snake Slayer IV with a four and a quarter inch long rifled barrel in .45 calibre which allows for the use of .410 shotgun shells. The National Firearms Act regarding short barrel shotguns isn't relevant to the Bond Arms Snake Slayer when loaded with a .410 shotgun shell because it's a gun with a rifled barrel which isn't modified from the way it's made by the manufacturer. The use of a different load is irrelevant to that law.
To enable me to include a more involved section of Pat's time in school I emailed the school administrators of the schools involved, and when I had no response after several weeks I decided to minimise the school involvement sections, thus I kept them as generic as possible. I also removed any direct naming of the schools involved, despite it being so easy for people to work out which ones they are. This was done to stop any legal concerns which might arise if I named them.
The story starts in Australia then it moves to the USA.
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Is It Worth It
On the Road in New South Wales, Australia
Sergeant Michael Nolan is on leave with his family and he's enjoying the drive along the mountain road. The view on their left is beautiful as they can see out over the national park for a long way. Only another few kilometres to go on the Bulli to Appin Road to be through the mountains and then back into the heavier town traffic. At least they bypassed the bumper-to-bumper long-weekend traffic on the Motorways and most of the other main roads going north. Once into Campbelltown there's a number of local roads to get back to base. They'll be back in their Base Married Quarters late this afternoon, if they aren't kept too long at Bill's place after he drops his brother and his family at their home. Michael is thinking about continuing down through Appin on the good road or to cut off near Appin Sand to go via Wedderburn. It's a shorter lower grade road that'll miss all of the traffic cutting through Appin to get to the southern end of Campbelltown to get onto Narellan Road to go west.
He usually goes through Appin, but he's fed up with the coach bus tailgating him so close if the driver was any closer he'd be sitting in the van. Michael doubts he's a second of time behind him, and not the three or four seconds the driving schools recommend. This is a good road, but there's really nowhere to overtake anything along it and Michael is doing the legal limit of one hundred kilometres per hour, which doesn't seem to be fast enough for the bus driver. Michael thinks, Just this curve, the bend back, and the straight. Then about two kilometres to the turn off. I think I'll take the turn off to get this idiot off my tail as he'll stay on this road to go into Appin.
Michael's van is through the first curve to the left and it's entering the curve back to the right when he sees a sports car on the other side of the road going in the other direction at a very high speed. The oncoming car is drifting wide, so it's soon in the middle of the road. Michael goes a little more to his left in the hope the two cars can slide by each other. The other driver suddenly pulls his steering wheel to the left, and his car is immediately into a skid. The sports car slides further into Michael's lane, but there's now no more time for Michael to do anything before the sports car slams into the front of his van at an angle then the sports car spins off into the scrub to the left of the van. The force of the impact punches the front of the van further to the left and backwards into the bus a little right of its centre. The bus turns on the contact point with the rear of it coming around while the van is spun to the right by the bus contact so the van ends up nose into the scrub on the right side of the road with the bus across the road to block both lanes of the road.
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Inside the Van
All in the van are a little tired while Pat Nolan, Michael's son, is very tired and almost asleep. He starts to wake up when he hears his father swearing, so Pat is raising his left hand to rub his eyes when he's thrown hard against the seatbelt at the same time there's a loud noise instantly followed by something smashing into his side. He's in pain, but he can't see anything and he's being shaken about. The movement stops, but the pain doesn't. The air-bag in front of him deflates and Pat can now see the van has been in a crash. Pat looks down to see his left arm is broken, he's not sure if he hit something or the air-bag broke it when it inflated. He can also see his right leg is broken. From his first aid training Pat thinks they're simple breaks, but he isn't sure. After undoing a button just above his belt Pat uses his right arm to put his left hand and lower arm inside his shirt to take as much weight as possible off of the arm and the break while holding it as still as possible under the circumstances. He can't hear any sounds so he wonders if he hurt his ears.
Pat looks up, and he can tell both his parents are dead due to the way the front of the van is right up against the front seats. He can see his father's cell phone is still in its cradle, but the cradle is no longer attached to the dashboard and it's sitting on the floor near Pat's feet. He undoes his seatbelt, leans over, picks up the phone, cycles through the numbers to the one he wants, and he calls the emergency number. He looks about the van while he does this, and he doesn't like what he sees.
The phone is answered so he says, “Car crash including a bus, we need ambulances,” and he gives the GPS co-ordinates from the SatNav in the van's dash. He finishes with, “The road's blocked and I can't see anyone moving about in the bus or on the road.”
After confirming the information given the operator says, “We've got help on the way, can you stay on the line, please?”
“I need to treat my injuries, but I can leave the phone open and in my pocket, will that do?” Pat knows this will allow them to track the phone.
“Yes. See what you can do for the others.”
“I will, but I'll be limited in helping them due to my own injuries.”
Pat puts the phone in his shirt pocket and does the button up to keep it there. From the damage to their bodies he knows his parents and sister are dead, and he's numb from the shock of it. He uses his right arm to help him stand up to check for a pulse on his parents and sister, but he finds none. He turns around and hops down the aisle to check out his cousin, aunt, and uncle. They're all dead. He looks at the luggage area, but the back of the van is crushed against the back of the rear seat, so there's no way he can get at the first aid kit. He moves back to the front of the van and is surprised to find the side door slides open without any trouble. He hops out of the van, turns, and gets out the plastic emergency triangles stored in the pocket on the back of the front passenger's seat.
Ignoring the pain in his leg Pat hops down the road to get around the bend. He's able to see a long way down the road, so he stops, squats on his good leg, and he sets up one of the triangles in the middle of the road to alert the traffic that may come along. This task is easy to do with one hand because he only needs to push down on the folding cross piece to straighten it to create the base then flick the switch for the blinking red LED lights in it. After standing he makes his way back to the crash. Only then does he see the other car off to the side in the scrub. Pat can't see a way to get to the car in his current condition so he leaves it be as the ground is just too rough for him to try it. He slowly hops to the bus, around it, and down the road behind the bus. He moves a little down the road, squats again, sets up the second triangle, sighs, and faints.
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Responses
When the emergency call goes out police cars near both ends of the road enter it to race down the road. Ambulances are also directed to the scene from both ends of the road, plus a few more ambulances are directed to the scene from further away so they'll be closer if they need more on site. They'll know once the police access the scene.
A police officer patrolling the Pacific Highway near the turn off is the first on the scene. When he comes around the last curve before the crash he sees the bus, the triangle, and the boy lying on the road. He stops near the boy, gets out, checks the boy, uses his first aid kit to stop the bleeding he can see, and he calls in to confirm the crash. He says, “I'm on the east side of the crash. I can see part of a van and a coach bus. I can't see any movement at all. I've a seriously hurt boy who needs immediate medical attention. Get the 'Care Flight' helicopter here right now!” They confirm the need for the medical helicopter service. He leaves his car in the middle of the road with the rooftop lights on to make it more obvious and to protect the boy he doesn't wish to move.
Constable John Kent follows the trail of dripping blood back around the bus, spots the other car, and he calls in the update, looks at the bus door and adds the need for rescue service vehicles to access the injured in the bus and car. John only takes a moment to confirm the driver of the sports car is dead and is the only person in it. Over to the van and he confirms he has six dead in the van. He's turning back to the bus when another police car arrives, it comes in from the Appin end of the road.
Senior Constable Anne Mackenzie stops her car and gets out. She looks over at Constable Kent and asks, “What have you got, John.”
He waves to the sports car, “One dead in the Ferrari over there, six dead in the van, haven't got into the bus yet, but look at this,” and he points to the blood trail from the seat in the van, up the road to the emergency triangle, and back past the bus. He adds, “There's another warning triangle down the road on the other side of the bus beside an unconscious boy with a broken arm and a broken leg.”
“That who the helicopter is for?” John nods yes. “OK, now the bus.”
Anne checks the van then both officers walk around to the back of the bus, climb up, and remove the rear window emergency exit so they can climb into the bus. The passengers are lying all over the place. They can see many broken limbs, but no blood. They check pulses and find them. Everyone back here is alive, but unconscious. They work their way forward. The ones nearest the front have the worst injuries, but the only dead ones are the driver and the two old ladies right behind him.
Anne gets on the radio and tells control, “There's thirty-two injured people on the bus with three dead. A van with six dead, a car with one dead, and a badly injured boy from the van. Total of thirty-three injured and ten dead. The road is blocked, so get the ends closed off.” She turns to John, “You stay in here to watch them. If anyone wakes up keep them calm and still. You can leave when the paramedics get in here.” John nods acceptance of his orders, and Anne leaves the bus to go look at the boy. A moment later she's kneeling beside the boy while checking his pockets for ID documents when she hears the helicopter.
The Care Flight helicopter lands on the road behind the police car, two paramedics get out, and they come over while carrying some gear. They check the boy, open the gear they have, and hook him up to monitors. Anne knows what they'll need next, so while they work on the boy she goes to the helicopter to help another crew member to bring a stretcher to the boy. When they near the front of the police car one paramedic says, “That's odd! The kid has a set of dog tags with all his ID info. They're not Medi-Alert tags, but they do look like Army issue ones.”
Anne says, “He's from the van on the other side of the bus. He came here to put up the warning sign. The van's driver is an Army Sergeant by the name of Nolan, according to the name on his blouse. What's the kid's name on the tags?”
“Pat Nolan. OK, I'll take the info on the tags as valid. That helps.” In a few minutes they have Pat in the stretcher, put the stretcher into the helicopter, and Pat is on his way to Campbelltown Hospital.
Anne looks at the bus, and she can see white uniforms in there. John is walking toward her. Sounds behind her alert her to the ambulances arriving from Bulli. People are soon leaving the bus on backboards.
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Clean Up
About an hour after Constable Kent's arrival on the scene there's a white mid-sized van on-site with several police officers taking many photos and measurements. When they indicate to the rescue service people they can start cutting the body out of the sports car one says, “Keep an eye out for a dash-cam of some sort, and get me if you see one, please.” The men waiting to cut up the car nod yes before they get to work. The officer in charge of the investigation walks toward the van.
Her team member working in the van says, “Jan, this guy has front and rear cameras, and they look good.” Jan nods while she waves to Jack to show she heard him, as that's good news since it means they should have some video of what happened. She loves it when someone has a camera to show them what happened.
She looks up at the bus and the man there says, “The main camera's had it, but there may be something on the storage unit. I'm working on it.” She waves her acknowledgement of the report.
Jan walks up to where Anne and John are, and she says, “Going by the skid marks and how they ended up, I'd say the sports car was speeding then drifted wide to hit the van. The bus had to have been up the van's arse to get smashed that way. However, the cameras will tell it all.”
Ten minutes later Jan sits up from viewing the recordings made by Michael's car cameras, the whole story of the crash is there. There's still more evidence to collect and her team has to fully evaluate it all, but the basic facts of the matter are now known to them.
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Road Accident Analysis Unit
Jan and her team take so long on site it's time to go off shift and head home before they return to their office. So they put everything into secure cupboards and go home. The next day they're very busy going over everything to get a more detailed picture of what happened on the road. This includes the use of their accident simulation software.
The simulation software is run with the exact data, and it gets a result so close to the end result they know it all fits. Then they run it all with some data variations before they document their findings. They run the simulations several times, and they get the same sets of results.
Pathology reports of the three drivers' blood tests arrive and are added to the reports. While they don't affect the simulations they are a significant addition to the report the team writes.
Mid-morning of the third day after the crash Jan is presenting the report to the unit commander for his approval to present it to the NSW Coroner. The report includes images from the scene, the pathology reports, and their simulations. The only thing to add is Pat's statement, which won't be available until the doctors allow him to wake up and the police can talk to him. At the moment he's in a medically induced coma to help with his healing. However, he's not expected to add much to what they already have, if he adds anything at all.
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Final Analysis
Jan starts her report with a map of the road. Pointing to the Appin end she says, “From the SatNav records in Casey's Ferrari we know he was travelling from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and fifty-five kilometres per hour from soon after turning onto the road to when the crash occurred. The SatNav records from Nolan's van show he was travelling between ninety-five and one hundred kilometres per hour from soon after entering the road. The slower speeds are on the steeper grades and the curves. This matches our interviews of his friends and work colleagues who all say he was a conservative and safe driver. The combined damage to the front of both of the vehicles matches the total energy expected of a two hundred and fifty kilometre per hour crash.”
She moves to point at photos of the cars' front ends, then steps away from them while saying, “The pathology reports show no alcohol or other foreign substances in the blood of Nolan or Kelly, the bus driver. However, they do show significant levels of cocaine in Casey's blood. They're high enough to seriously impair his ability to judge things or to drive.” Jan moves to the side of a large monitor and she nods to one of the team members sitting at a desk with a laptop computer while saying, “The dash camera records from all three vehicles show Casey's car was just on the wrong side of the road when it came around the curve and Nolan edged left to give Casey room to get by. The camera recordings from both the van and the bus show Casey suddenly reacted to seeing the van on the road. Casey's response was to over-steer to the left. His car lost traction so the Ferrari's slide to the right became much faster. The van had no more room or time to get out of the way of the Ferrari. The vehicles hit head-on with the Ferrari just a bit to the left of the van's centre and at a slight angle. The collision punched the van back and a little to the right into the front of the bus, causing it to spin on the point of impact while moving across the road. The second impact caused the van to spin around to end up facing into the scrub north of the road.”
Inspector Rochester asks, “So Casey is responsible for the ten dead.”
Jan sighs then replies, “Yes, and no, Sir. Casey definitely caused the deaths of Mary Nolan, Michael Nolan, and himself. He was also a major contributor to the deaths of the others. However, our analysis of the crash shows Kelly is the main cause of all of the other deaths.” Inspector Rochester sits up a bit straighter while she adds, “All of our simulation software shows two important things. First, if Casey hadn't pulled back left but stayed as he was his car would've hit the side of the van with the side of his car then bounced back to his side of the road while the van gets pushed onto the road's shoulder. People would have been injured in the shaking around, but not killed. The second important point is if the bus had been at the proper following distance and not so close to the van the collision with the Ferrari would've punched the van onto the other side of the road and the bus would've passed between the two vehicles without hitting either of them. In that case only Casey and the two Nolan's in the front of the van would have been killed while the other van passengers would have had minor injuries.”
Pointing to two still images, one from the van and one from the bus, Jan says, “The impact with the bus is the major cause of the deaths of the rest of the van's passengers, the injuries to Pat Nolan, and the death of the three people in the bus. If the bus had been back where it should have been the van's rear impact wouldn't have happened. The others in the van died because the sudden, severe, violent changes in direction broke their necks before the air-bags could fully deploy and immobilise them. Their pathology reports list the cause of death as being broken necks.” She looks straight at Inspector Rochester as she says, “The only thing that doesn't make sense in all this is how the boy Pat Nolan survived without a broken neck. Which is why we want to interview him.”
Rochester stands as he says, “Don't include the last bit about the boy when you present this to the Coroner tomorrow, unless the boy wakes up and he gives you the answer. Then include it if it's relevant.” Jan nods her akcnolwedgement, and the inspector leaves the briefing room. While walking to his office Rochester thinks about the crash and its outcomes.
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A little later Rochester is still thinking about the crash while he eats his lunch. Finishing his lunch he makes a decision, and he calls the NSW Attorney General's Office. When he gets an old friend on the phone he says, “Mark, tomorrow afternoon the report on the weekend's big crash is going before the Coroner. You should have a solicitor who's also a trustee there to listen to the report because someone should seek approval to be appointed to represent the boy, Pat Nolan.”
Mark asks, “Why, Colin?”
“The kid is now an orphan. The driver of the other car is from a very rich family. The kid should get some compensation for having all of his family killed by another's negligence. Also, he's only ten years old and is in a coma in hospital. Thus the trustee aspect. I'll see what we can do to find some next-of-kin for him.”
“OK, Colin. I'll get someone I trust to go.” They both hang up.
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Notes
For those who don't already know: a SatNav is the common term for a Satellite Navigation system that uses the GPS positioning systems to show the device's current location. Most also record sets of readings on a frequent basis, thus they make a good record of what the vehicle has been doing. Most of the ones used in vehicles include maps so the driver can use them to navigate to their destinations in new areas.
In a vehicle crash the vehicles involved in the crash will have damage to them consistent with the amount of energy involved in the crash. This will vary with the speed of the vehicles, their weight, their direction of travel, and their amount of traction on the road. The speed and weight will decide the amount of kinetic energy in each vehicle while the way they're travelling and the traction will affect how much energy passes from one vehicle to another, which will affect the way the vehicles act after the initial collision. This means when a vehicle hits a solid wall at 60 kph kilometres per hour the energy from the vehicle is that of a 60 kph car while the energy from the wall is zero, so the total energy involved is that of the car. If the wall sustains no real damage then all of the energy is absorbed by the car. In an accident where both cars hit in a head-on-collision at 60 kph then the total energy is that of 120 kph and it is split between the two cars. The resulting amount of the energy absorbed by each car in both incidents above is the same.
However, the situation is very different when other factors come into play. When a car travelling at 150 kph has a head-on-collision with a car travelling at 100 kph the total energy involved is the same as for a 250 kph collision shared between the two vehicles so each sustains the amount of damage equivalent to hitting a solid wall at 125 kph, which is the case in this story.
In the case of a collision of two vehicles travelling in the same direction the amount of energy in the crash is that of the difference between the speeds of the two vehicles and the amount of traction the vehicle hit has with the road as the hit vehicle may absorb some of the energy by rolling forward or moving sideways when struck by the other vehicle.
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In the Hospital
The Care Flight helicopter takes Pat Nolan to the Campbelltown Hospital Emergency Centre where he's examined by the doctors, put through an x-ray and MRI, then treatment is started. His main injuries are the broken arm and broken leg, but he also has a lot of bruising on his body. From the reports of his post-crash activities they don't think he has a concussion, so they decide to sedate him to let him sleep for a few days to help with his healing. Pain killers as well as a sedative and some nutrients are in the drip they attach to him. Because they know his parents are dead they get the local NSW Family Services people involved to get a court order to provide for all aspects of his treatment and to start a search for his next-of-kin.
On the afternoon of the third day after the crash the doctors decide to let Pat wake up naturally in the morning, so they stop the sedative during the night. The next morning Pat wakes up just before the usual hospital breakfast time. The monitors note his changing vital signs and they alert the nursing staff to the changes. A nurse comes in to watch him.
A little later Pat is awake and he's looking at the Nurse. For a few seconds he doesn't know where he is, then he realises she's a nurse and he's in the hospital. Finally his memory of the crash returns and he grimaces. A doctor walks in and the Nurse says, “He's awake, aware, and he knows his situation, Doctor. I saw it all on his face!” The Doctor nods to show he heard her report, then he gives Pat a full set of physical checks while asking a series of questions to review his mental state.
The Doctor makes notes on Pat's chart, resets the monitors, gives the Nurse some instructions, and he goes to update Pat's main file before he calls the police to let them know Pat is awake.
An hour later Jan walks into the room and says, “I'm on the police team investigating the crash you were in, Pat. What can you tell me?”
Pat says, “Nothing. I was napping when Dad's swearing woke me, then all hell broke loose. Once we stopped I could see Mum and Dad were dead so I used his phone to call for help. Checked the rest of the family, all dead. I set out the warning signs, and that's it, until today.”
“We do have enough from the cameras in the cars to sort it out. One thing none of us can work out is why you weren't killed. I don't mean to be morbid, but it's an anomaly I wish to sort out.”
Pat's response is, “I don't really know. But I suspect it may have been how I was sitting.” Jan frowns, so he adds, “Get a boy my height, two chairs without arms which have backs about the same height as the car seats and I can show you.”
A few minutes later a boy visiting a friend is roped in to help, two chairs are brought into the room, and Pat is saying, “Put the chairs over near the wall. One against the wall with the second beside it.” Once they're set up he has the boy sit upright in the chair by the wall and Pat says, “That's how the rest of the family were sitting when I dozed off.” He tells a nurse, “Give him a pillow.” She does, and Pat tells the boy, “Put the pillow in the side corner of the chair and the wall. Now turn a quarter turn across the seat so you can lift your right leg up onto the edge of the seat. Slide down to have your head below the top of the chair and lean into the pillow.” A few more instructions are given to get the boy into the right position before Pat says, “That's the position I took to go to sleep. It's also very much like how I was when I woke up.”
Jan walks over to look at the bruises on Pat's body, and asks, “Did you pull your left arm out of the seat belt so the belt went under your arm and not over it so it didn't push on your neck?” Pat nods yes. “The bruises looks like you did. OK! This now makes a lot more sense.” Pat frowns. So Jan adds, “You were lower down and in the corner with support in two directions. Also, you were turned almost ninety degrees to the rest of your family. That made a huge difference to how you were thrown about in the crash. The car was punched backwards, so they came forward in their seats due to the vehicle moving quicker than they did. The hit with the bus had them slamming back into the seat and throwing them sideways at the same time. Your position had you shoved side to side with the seat right there giving you more support. When they went from forward and backward to sideways with no support you went from side to side to backward with the van side there as support. The extra head support of your position plus the change in force directions applied gave you an advantage which saved your life.”
Pat's response is a grimace at being reminded he no longer has a family. All present recognise he's suffering from 'survivor's guilt.' The Doctor asks, “Pat, what do you know about other family members. The Family Services people are searching, but they can't find any others.”
While slumping further into the bed Pat replies, “Both Dad's parents are dead. He and Uncle Bill were close because they had no cousins, and I know all of their aunts and uncles are dead with no kids. I don't know of any other relatives on Dad's side of the family at all. Although his grandparents could have some relatives back in Ireland, but I don't know how to check on them. On Mum's side I know her brothers, sister, and her mother are dead, but I think her father is still alive and living somewhere in Texas. That's based on the last time Mum called him on the phone. Get a copy of the phone bills for the last six months because the only US number on it will be his.”
The Doctor and Jan both make a note of the information as the Doctor says, “I'll pass that on to Family Services. Now, your broken limbs are simple fractures so they'll need several weeks to heal. Because we kept you sedated for a few days I want to keep you here for a week. Pat, I'm not sure about what will happen to you after that.” Pat nods to show he heard and he understands what the doctor said, then they all leave except for the Nurse.
The Nurse pulls over a chair and asks, “Are you wondering if it's worth living with all of your family dead?” He turns to her and nods yes. “I thought so. I had similar thoughts when my family died. I was sixteen at the time. A friend of the family spoke with me about survivor's guilt and how you feel all alone in a situation like this. Then he gave me some good advice. He said, 'Although you may not feel like living you should live so you can make your life a monument to those who didn't.' I took his advice to heart and I've lived it all my life, just like he did.” Pat has an odd look, so she adds, “He was one of the first members of a group of commandos who ended up as the first Special Air Service unit. He went on a few operations where a lot of his fellows didn't return. Of his original group who transferred from his first army unit he was the only one to live through the war. Many of them had families, so he spent most of his post war life helping the families of those who didn't return, until he got so ill he had to leave England for a warmer climate.”
Pat sighs as he nods his understanding of what she's saying. He does continue to wonder if life is worth living, until he remembers his father telling another soldier, 'A true warrior keeps on fighting no matter what happens or what the situation is. Even when he knows he can't win a warrior continues to fight. On a more pragmatic level it means the number of the enemy you take out now makes it easier for those who follow you due to having a smaller force to fight.' The thought merges well with a song now playing on the radio the Nurse leaves playing beside Pat's bed.
The station is playing a lot of 'Golden Oldies' and they play the 1970s song 'I Will Survive' by Gloria Gaynor. Although the basic premise of the song, and most of its lyrics, don't fit Pat the chorus sticks in his mind as applying to his situation:
“Oh, no, not I!
I will survive.
Oh, as long as I know how to love
I know I'll stay alive.
I've got all my life to live.
I've got all my love to give and I'll survive,
I will survive, hey, hey.”
Pat chooses to survive. He'll hold his head up high the way a later verse says, no matter what life throws at him now or in the future.
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When she gets back to her office Jan updates her report to include the information she has from Pat, and his condition.
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Coroner's Court
When Jan presents her report to the Coroner's Court all of the parties with an interest in the matter are there, or are represented. Most of those who were injured and the families of the dead are there, except for the Nolan family. The bus company's manager and solicitor are there as well.
The Casey family isn't happy with the blame being placed on their son, but the camera evidence with the pathology report on the drugs make it hard to refute. However, their solicitor sits up to take notice when Jan gets to the part of her report on the culpability of the driver of the bus for the majority of the deaths. The bus company representative and the company's solicitor don't like it. Both the solicitors ask Jan a few questions on the simulations as both are trying to reduce the culpability of their client while putting it all on the other party.
The Coroner accepts the report and declares the first three deaths to be the result of the actions by Casey due to his irresponsible behaviour in how he drove the Ferrari. He also declares the deaths of the others to be the shared responsibility of Casey and the bus driver Kelly. Because he was an employee of the company on company business the bus line has a liability and shared responsibility of the deaths of the others. However, the level to which each is responsible is an issue requiring the Coroner to investigate further before he can declare a decision. He instructs Jan to conduct further simulations and to provide him with a report on them.
He's about to close the case when solicitor and public trustee Dawn Mason stands and says, “Your Honour, I see Pat Nolan is under-age with no adult here to represent his interests. So I petition the court to look after his interests in this and related matters.”
The Coroner looks at her for a moment, reads some records on the file, makes a note, and says, “I see searches are still under way for his next-of-kin. Petition is granted until such time as his family is found. They must verify your continued involvement after that. You may bill the court at the standard rates for his representation.” The court moves on to the next matter before it, so many of the people leave now their matter is over.
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Legal Affairs
Dawn visits Pat in hospital to discuss the legal aspects and actions affecting him. He tells her the information about his family she needs to know to commence actions. She also asks for his approval to commence legal action for compensation. Which he gives, despite not knowing what it is she intends to do about it. The Doctor and Nurse witnessing the conversation do make a point of asking him what he understands Dawn wants to do, and Pat's answer is, “She wants to make those responsible for killing my family pay for killing them.” The three adults agree he understands the basics of the situation and Dawn should handle the finer points of Pat's instructions on making them pay for their actions.
Casey's family aren't happy when Dawn submits a compensation claim against the estate of the Ferrari driver, the Casey Trust who owns the car, and the company who insured the car. The bus company isn't happy when she lodges compensation claims against them and their insurance company. When the media reports on the claims Dawn finds herself being called by the injured passengers as well as the families of the two bus passengers who died.
For reasons unknown to Dawn the Casey family, the bus company, and their insurance companies want the matter dealt with very fast. She suspects it's the publicity aspects that have them all worried. She deals with them as two parties by lumping the insurance companies in with the other party they're connected with. Within a week Dawn reaches a deal with the Casey side to pay compensation of one and a half million dollars for each dead person in the van and bus, plus they pay half a million dollars for each person injured in the bus and the van. While the bus side pays compensation of the same amounts except for the driver of the bus. Thus Pat is paid a million dollars compensation for his own injuries and eighteen million dollars for his murdered family members.
All of the payments go into a trust established for Pat, along with the personal life and income insurance from his parents, aunt, and uncle. The outstanding pay and entitlements also go into the trust, plus the money from the sale of their assets when they're sold in the following months. A monthly living allowance is permitted to be paid to Pat from the trust.
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Funeral
Early afternoon on the Saturday nearly two weeks after the crash Pat is in a wheelchair being pushed along a path to the single graveside funeral being held for all of his family. He asked for the one funeral with them all being buried together. Dawn starts the arrangements for Pat, but the Campbelltown branch of the Returned Servicemen's League and the local branch of Legacy, the ex-servicemen's charity group that looks after the families of dead service personnel, take over the task for Pat.
At the graveside Pat is helped to stand as he has a walking cast on his leg and a cane to lean on. The service is short, but it does include all of the funeral parts for a serving member of the Australian Army. After the 'Ode of Remembrance' from Binyon's poem 'The Fallen' and the bugle the dead are lowered into the ground while Pat stands there, and cries.
Ode of Remembrance
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.”
After the service Pat turns to the nearby soldiers. The Sergeant calls, “Parade, attention,” and salutes Pat as the troops come to attention. Pat gives a weak smile, comes to attention, and returns the salute. He knows them from the base his father was posted to. Pat often saw them around the base services he was allowed to use. Suddenly feeling tired he slumps down into the chair, and the Nurse with him wheels him back to the car.
The officials contacted his grandfather during the last week and made arrangements for Pat to leave tomorrow to be on his way to Texas to live with his grandfather on a property north-west of Laredo. He'll go to Sydney's Mascot Airport to fly non-stop to Dallas, Texas where he'll be met by his grandfather. His bags are in the car. This morning he was at his father's Army Married Quarters to pack what he wants in the way of the family heirlooms and his personal effects. In the morning he's on his way out of the country. Later, Dawn will send his trust funds along too.
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Interlude
Five men walk into the office of their boss and they stand in front of his desk while waiting for him. The man behind the desk finishes writing on the paper in front of him, he puts the pen down, looks up at the men, then turns to their leader to ask, in Spanish, “Well, Carlos, any changes in the last four weeks?”
Carlos shakes his head no as he replies, in Spanish, “Patrón, we still haven't found their house. We looked all over, but we found nothing. We think it must be hidden in the area where they spend most of their time, but that's all. There are only the five men and the woman. They spend a lot of time walking about the ranch, quite a bit of time fishing in the ponds and the river, and some time with rifles at their range. We watch the gate, and they only go out once or twice a week. They usually go north and return the same day. There are times we don't see them about the ranch. I think they are in their house at those times. Even at night we see no lights from their house. There are no power lines and no phone lines to trace. They all carry cell phones, so they don't need a phone line. The only time we see all six out at once is when they go to the rifle range as a group. They compete with each other shooting their rifles.”
“We have a few more months before we need to act, Carlos, keep a watch on them and see what else you can find out.”
“Si, Patrón.” Carlos turns and he leads his men out to go back across the river to watch the six Americans living on the land the Patrón wants to use to move some smuggled freight through. Two hours later they're again set up in the camp they have across the river.
An hour later a man in desert battle dress uniform (BDU) walks in the front door of the house he and his friends live in and says, “They're back in the camp. I think they left to report to their boss.” His five friends all nod to show they heard him and they go on with having their evening meal while he walks over to get his meal out of the pot on the stove. There's no urgency, not until they know what the men watching them want, plus who they're doing the watching for, and why.
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In Transit
Sunday morning Pat is taken to the International Terminal at Mascot Airport. The car stops at a drop-off point where Dawn and the driver get out to go to the back of the car. They get the wheelchair out of the trunk while the Nurse gets out of the car then leans back in to position Pat to leave the car. The wheelchair is unfolded then Dawn pushes it to beside the car while the driver gets a luggage trolley out and loads Pat's five bags onto it. It takes a few minutes to get Pat out of the car and into the wheelchair. By then the driver has the bags ready to go with a shoulder bag on top of the four suitcases, and the driver is back in the car. Dawn tells the driver, “Jim, park somewhere. I'll call you when we're ready to go, but this will take us a few hours in the terminal.” She closes the car door when Jim acknowledges the orders. She turns, takes control of the luggage trolley, and she pushes it in the wake of the Nurse pushing Pat.
They reach the Qantas desk where they check in the four suitcases to be placed in the cargo hold, are given the gate number, and head for the gate. Yesterday Dawn did most of the check-in on-line, including Pat's meal choices. The three of them go through the security check point and Pat is processed through the Immigration Control Point using his Australian passport as he has Australian and US citizenship. One year his mother got him his own US passport for his birthday, and she also got him an Australian passport. Although three years old and unused until today he has his two valid passports, which helps a lot with speeding up his travel to his grandfather in Texas. Instead of getting a visa to enter the USA Pat is leaving Sydney as an Australian citizen and he'll arrive in Dallas as a US citizen by using his US passport to enter the country.
They reach the correct gateway, check in with the Qantas staff, and meet the member of the cabin crew who'll be keeping an eye on Pat during the flight, because he's an unaccompanied minor. The four talk and settle down to wait until Pat can board the plane when it's ready.
When it's time one of the gate staff walks over to them and says, “The plane is ready for Mister Nolan to board.” He moves behind Pat to push the wheel chair into the boarding tunnel with the intent of taking him to the aircraft and bringing the wheelchair back out to the Nurse.
Pat says, “Help me to stand, please. I don't like having to leave, but I have to. However, I want to do it under my own power.”
Dawn says, “Pat, if you slip you can do a lot of damage to your leg. It's only just beginning to heal. I know they call it a walking cast, but it's not all that safe to walk with it yet.”
He turns to her and firmly says, “I'm walking out of here. Help me to stand up.” The Nurse moves up beside the wheelchair, takes the cane from Pat, holds it in her right hand, and she holds her left arm out in front of him at her waist height. He takes her hand and he uses it as a lift point to keep his balance while coming up out of the chair to stand on his left leg. Taking the cane back from the Nurse he smiles at her as he says, “Thank you, Miss Burns.” He turns to Dawn, “Thank you for your help during the last two weeks, Miss Mason. Take care.” Pat turns toward the boarding tube and he leans on the cane the way he was shown yesterday, then he swings his good leg forward in a cross between a step and a hop to make his slow way across the floor, leaving Dawn and the nurse beside the wheelchair. The Qantas staff take up positions on each side of Pat to be able to catch him if he falls. They know his story and they admire his courage in wanting to leave under his own power, but they're very concerned about his ability to safely do so.
Pat is only halfway down the tunnel when the other passengers are allowed to board, thus they soon flow around Pat and his protectors. Qantas had intended to board Pat first, but it turns out he's the last to board, despite being the first to enter the tunnel. At the aircraft he makes his way to his seat while thinking about the disagreement he had with Dawn about the seating.
Dawn chose Qantas Flight QF 07 because it's a direct non-stop flight from Sydney to Dallas on an Airbus A380-800. The flight is fifteen and a half hours so Dawn wanted to send Pat First Class. But he refused to go First Class to sit by himself in the fancy suites they have. The next choice was Business Class, but the seating plan has those seats on the upper deck. So they were ruled out due to the stairs as she thought he'd have to climb them. Thus he ends up in the Economy seating on the main deck. Dawn does manage to get Pat the right hand window seat just behind one of the emergency exits. There are two seats to his left, but the row in front of them doesn't have a seat in front of his seat, so he can walk up to the seat, turn, and sit. The cabin crew member keeping an eye on him has her seat almost in front of him, plus he has a straight run up through the aisle of the next section to the handicap toilet when he needs it. Having no seat in front of him means he can stretch his legs out if he wants to, and he doesn't have to worry about anyone tripping over them.
The funny thing about the conflict is Pat just found out the plane has multiple boarding points with one going to the upper deck from the boarding tube, so Pat could've walked to the Business Class seats. They didn't know because the websites they went to didn't mention the two level boarding. Pat smiles at their mistake, but it doesn't make any real difference to him what class of seat he has, as long as he's not alone.
Pat hobbles past a middle-aged couple on the two seats of the first row of this block, moves to his seat, and he finds a seven year old girl in it with the seat beside her vacant while a ten year old girl is in the aisle seat. The girl in his seat is glued to the window, so Pat says, “Excuse me, but you're in my seat.” The couple turn to him at the same time as the girl. He adds, “Normally I wouldn't care what seat I'm in, but, right now I need the extra room in front to get in and out.” The girl looks over his injuries, and gives him a weak grin as she moves to her assigned seat. Pat moves closer, turns, and lowers himself into the seat.
The gate staff left Pat when they entered the aircraft and the cabin crew person stayed with Pat. She waits until Pat is in the seat then leans down to do up his seatbelt while saying, “Use the call button when you want me to help you get up, Mister Nolan.” Pat nods yes, and she goes to her seat after putting Pat's carry-on shoulder bag where he can get at it.
When they start the safety talk his neighbour goes to speak so Pat puts his finger to his lips as he signals for her to listen to the talk. When the talk is finished he says, “Good, now I know what to attempt to do if something goes wrong.” The girl's eyes go very wide, so he adds, “It's very rare for things to go wrong with these big commercial planes, but nothing is perfect and sometimes things can go wrong. So it's good to know what to do if they do. My name's Pat, what's yours?”
The girl half grins as she replies, “I'm Millie. Do you fly often? What happened to make you so banged up?”
Pat grimaces at the last question, but he replies, anyway, “This is my first time in a big plane, but I've flown in several helicopters before. My Dad used to work on helicopters and we all got rides in them at the base Christmas party each year. I was in a car crash and I got thrown about.”
“Does it hurt?”
“Not while I take the pain pills the doctor gave me.” Millie half smiles at his reply, and they chat for the time it takes them to move around the airport. Both go silent while they look out the window during the take off. When they're at their flight altitude Pat shows Millie how to use the television in the back of the seat in front of her. When she's happily watching a movie he gets his e-book reader out of his bag to start reading a story he has on it. His father found a website, finestories.com, with a lot of free stories on it, and his favourite author is an Aussie with a lot of stories on the site. He also has them available from the publishing site bookapy.com as e-books so Pat got Dawn to buy him several of the e-pubs to read because he wasn't sure about his access to the Internet while travelling. One thing he likes about the e-pub versions is they have all forty-six of the 'Clan Amir' stories in an anthology so he can just read through instead of having to go back to the site for the next story. Most of them are short stories so it's nicer to just read on into the next story. The same is true for his other book of short stories and his books of three novels set in the 'Damsels in Distress' Universe. The easy to read action stories appeal to Pat, just as they appealed to his father. Pat settles down to read more of the anthology titled 'Clan Amir of Berant.'
Millie's movie finishes just before the cabin crew brings around snacks for them to eat, so Pat puts his story aside to chat with her while they eat. She asks him what he's reading, so Pat tells her about the website and the stories of his favourite authors on the site. After they finish eating he switches to the book of short stories to read a couple of them to her. He's not sure if she'll understand them all, but she enjoys him reading to her although she does soon fall asleep. He goes back to the first book. A little later he puts the book aside to take a nap as well.
The long flight seems to go a lot quicker due to the many chats he has with Millie between eating, reading, and sleeping.
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The only logistics problem with Pat flying to his grandfather is none of the airlines going to the USA will accept an unaccompanied minor who has to change planes along the way. They will accept, and charge extra for, a child to take a single non-stop flight. A family representative must hand the child over at the start airport and a family representative must be on hand to take the child at the next airport the plane lands at. The most convenient trip would've been for Pat to take a local flight from Dallas to Eagle Pass to meet his grandfather there, but this restriction means it's not possible. The aircrew can't even hand him off to another aircrew. Pat wouldn't have been able to go beyond Los Angeles if Qantas didn't have a direct flight to Dallas. What this means is Pat's grandfather has to travel nearly five hundred miles from his home to Dallas. Pat looked at it on the maps and he worked out it's about an eight hour drive in each direction. That's a long day or two of travelling.
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When the plane touches down in Dallas fifteen hours and thirty-five minutes after leaving Sydney Pat says to Millie, “We left Sydney at one in the afternoon on Saturday and now it's just after one thirty in the afternoon on Saturday. It sure feels like we've been in this plane a lot longer than half an hour! And they say flying is supposed to be a fast way to travel. Can't prove it by this flight.” Millie giggles at his remark because her parents told her about the different time zones and the way the days change in travel due to crossing the International Date Line.
Pat sits to wait until the cabin crew member helping him indicates for him to get up, then he slowly follows the other passengers out of the aircraft. She helps him get his bags to take them through to customs, and she's surprised to see his US passport when he gets it out. He turns to her and says, “Dual citizenship. That's why my grandfather is here.” She smiles in reply. The customs man soon finishes checking Pat's gear. A few minutes later Pat is being handed over into the care of a man in BDUs after he provides suitable ID and signs for receiving Pat. The man is Pat's grandfather: Master Sergeant Daniel Riley, US Army, retired.
About an hour later they've had a bite to eat and Pat's grandfather is helping Pat into a twin engine light aircraft while his bags are put into a storage section of the aircraft. Pat is tired, so he has a nap on the flight. He wakes up to see the plane coming in to land on a private strip that looks to be in the middle of the Texas scrub. There's a nice residence compound in what looks like an oasis at one end of the runway.
They transfer Pat's bags from the plane to a nice crew-cab pickup painted to blend in with the local landscape. Pat and his grandfather get into the truck after Pat is introduced to the owner of the plane and both of them thank the man for the use of the plane. They leave the airstrip going north-west on a dirt road, turn south-west on another one, and are let out a gate by a man at a building beside the gate. They turn back north-west to go along a better quality road. At another crossroad there are gates on each part of the other road. They stop, Pat's grandfather gets out, unlocks the gate on the left side of the road they're on, opens the right-hand side of the gate, drives through, stops, gets out, then he shuts and locks the gate. During the drive Pat looks out over the very flat landscape. All he sees is scrub about four to six feet high that seems to just go off into the distance with a hint of mountains or hills on the horizon. He has no idea how far away they are. There are also some towers sticking up here and there.
Silence has ruled the drive, until now when Pat's grandfather says, “I want you to call me 'Sarge,' simply because everyone else does, please.”
Pat grins as he says, “I know that's what everyone called Dad, but he never let anyone in the family call him that. They got a whack if they did. So please bear with me while I get used to doing so, Sarge.”
“That's OK, Pat. I expect there's a lot of changes for you. The email from the hospital doctor said a nurse has to check you over every few days. One of my hands was a combat medic and will do that. For the next few months you'll see the doc in Eagle Pass every two weeks for a full check up. The clinic has your medical records from Australia. Our ancestors used to own almost all of this land around here, but it got cut up with inheritance splits and sales. Now much of what we own is this patch within the fence we just came through and down to the river. As long as you stay within the tall fence and this side of the river you'll be on our land. Our property does include a lot more land outside of the high fence, but it's on long term leases to farmers. We have some three feet high fences inside the boundary too. We don't get many visitors other than the Border Patrol, drug smugglers, and illegals. If you see anyone here you tell us about it. We'll sort out what category they're in.” He stops to look about the scrub near them.
Sarge points off to the side as he adds, “We still have some cattle on the ranch we let run wild because we don't do anything with them. But every now and then we catch one for our own use or to give it away to a charity or the church. It isn't worth the trouble or cost to work them because we don't have enough land or cattle to make it worth the trouble. The property we were just on makes a lot of money from their cattle, but they're a lot bigger than we are. The bulk of our income is royalties from a couple of oil and gas wells on the property. A company works them and pays us. It isn't much per gallon, but it's a good payment each month because they take a lot of gallons from the wells. They'll call us if they want their people to come look at something. Legitimate visitors all call us before they come out. That's to make sure we're on the ranch, and also to get us to unlock the gate for them. The Border Patrol have a key and the crooks often cut the lock, which I replace when they cut it. I expect you won't be going too far from the house for the first month or so.”