The Katrina Files

PART XI

CHAPTER 31

He woke up to the sound of whimpering. His throat was parched and his tongue felt swollen. The sun was beating down on him causing him to squint his eyes. There was that sound again. The whimpering, but this time it was accompanied by a scratching sound. He had stuffed his ears with felt paper from the roof because he couldn't take the sound of his neighbors crying and begging for help while they died a slow, horrible death. The last thing he remembered from last night was plugging his ears and putting his hands over them in an attempt to drown out the noise. It helped a little, but he could still hear everything. He had fallen asleep and now was awakened to this new sound. He got up and out of his makeshift shelter and walked in the direction of the sound. It got louder the closer he got to it. He got to the source of the sound and found out that it was coming from the most pitiful looking sight that he had ever seen. There in the water was a dog. He was swimming for his life and was trying to climb onto the roof of Bill's house. The water was high enough so that the dog was able to touch the roof with his front paws, but he couldn't climb onto the roof to get the rest that he desperately wanted. Bill watched him for a few seconds to figure out what he was trying to do. He would swim in circles and then attempt to climb onto the roof. After each failure, he would swim in circles and then attempt to climb the roof. He was trying this over and over accompanying each attempt with a whimper. Bill felt sorry for him and the next time the dog tried to get on the roof, Bill grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him up onto the roof. The dog was so tired, that he didn't bother to shake the water off, like dogs do when they're wet. As soaked as he was, he just laid down. After several minutes, he stood on his feet and shook until he looked like he had been wrung out by hand. He was a beautiful looking German Shepherd. He was black and tan and weighed about one hundred pounds. He laid back down and was panting as Bill slowly and carefully walked up to him and began to pet him. "Hey, big boy", said Bill as he patted him on the head. There was dog tags on his collar, and Bill grabbed and read them. "Chief. NOPD K-9", Bill read aloud. "I be damned! Even in the middle of all this mess", he said gesturing with his hands at the floods surrounding them, "y'all still find me! Wha' cha gonna do? Gimme a ticket?! Did your brothers in blue send you to give me another ticket? Well, I got news for you. I'm not paying! I should have just left your behind out there", he said pointing to the water. They both sat there a minute and just stared at each other. "A police dog, huh? Chief? Is that your name?", he asked rhetorically. "I guess it is", he laughed as Chief answered the question by looking at Bill and cocking his head slightly. Bill sat down next to Chief and began petting him. "Tell you the truth", he began, "I'm glad you're here. I could use the company." He thought for a moment while staring out into space at nothing in particular. "You know I lost my wife, Mabel. She was my best friend", he said tearing up. "She'd be with us right now, keeping us company. You'd like her. She's great company", he said choking back tears. He used his shirt to wipe his brow and his face of sweat and tears. "You look like you lost someone too. Where's your partner?", Bill wondered aloud. He wondered what series of events had led Chief to be stranded here on this island that doubled as his house. When he first lost Mabel, he was on survival mode and he was so grieved that he didn't have much time to think. But as he lay on his roof, looking up at the night sky, with nothing to do but think, he pondered the "Whys" of this situation. Why had he decided to stay? Why hadn't he listened to Mabel? Why did God allow this to happen? or maybe . . . why did he, Bill, allow this to happen? And now he wondered if God had brought him this "new friend", Chief, in order to bring him comfort and companionship. Not that Mabel could ever be replaced, but having Chief around brought him at least a little comfort. After hearing the sounds of his neighbors dying, it brought him great relief that someone survived along with him, even if it was a dog.

CHAPTER 32

It felt strange. The very streets I grew up on as a kid and patrolled in a car as an adult were full of water, and now I was navigating them in a boat, as if I was out on the bayou fishing and crabbing. It was an eerie feeling as we patrolled in a boat, house to house, street to street, and neighborhood to neighborhood. We had our sidearm, a .45 caliber gun in our holster, while some of us carried shotguns or AR-15 rifles. I sat in our boat carrying my AR-15, while I thought about days gone by when I used to carry a football down these very streets. My friends and I would go down the neighborhood streets challenging other kids to football games. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that years later I would be a police officer patrolling the same streets by boat. While it was true that eighty percent of the city was under water, the depth of the water varied. Depending on what part of the city you were in, that could mean anywhere from one foot to twenty feet. The team I was assigned to, which included my good friend and work partner, Nick, was given orders that started with a search and rescue mission, then we were assigned to the grim task of searching for the dead, and finally we went to normal, looking for looters and trouble makers type of patrol. In the more shallow waters, people were getting out and about, tending to business I suppose. The business of assessing damage, looking for loved ones, looking for food and water. I began to notice people's faces. The zombie-like, blank stares on people's faces as they wandered aimlessly around. I suppose I had the same look on my face. We all did. That shell-shocked look on the outside and inside, having a surreal feeling. A dream-like feeling, where you're not sure whether what's taking place is real or a dream. I kept thinking that any time now, I would wake up out of this nightmare and everything would be back to normal. The truth is, things would never be back to normal. Truth is, things would never be the same again.