filled with movement and noise. For her, like the trees and animals, not much really changed in her life except having to secure the house and not bring notice to herself. Well, that and not being able to go to the store every once in a while to shop for food.
We arrive back at the gate two hours after passing through on the way out. I radio Lynn letting her know we are back. The flight line has undergone a transformation of sorts as I pull onto the ramp. A mixture of olive drab and light brown transport trucks and Humvees are parked in a line to the rear of the aircraft. I glance about the ramp to see if Craig’s aircraft has arrived but it is empty of any corporate jet. I was really hoping to see its presence on arriving. I know Lynn is worried but she isn’t overtly showing it as I see her directing supplies being loaded onto one of the transports.
Parking by the other vehicles, I step out and walk over to where Bannerman is standing near the open aircraft ramp. Nic and Bri rush out of the back and over to Mom, wrapping their arms around her and giving her a big hug. I hear their excited voices behind me as they begin to tell their stories. The gray pavement at our feet is beginning to heat up as the sun wends its way higher into the early summer sky. No breeze moves through the grass on the far side of the runway or disturbs the air around us.
“What do we have?” I ask Bannerman after a moment of watching soldiers load the last of our supplies from the aircraft.
He looks at a clipboard he found somewhere, “Well, water is our most critical element. We have enough for a couple of days without having to get more or finding a source. We have enough food for at least a week although we may get tired of MRE’s. There’s plenty of ammo for the weapons although we don’t have much for the M-60’s on the Humvees. Weapons we have in plenty. One of the things we’ll have to think about is clothing depending on what you want to do with that. That should be no problem depending on what’s left in Cabela’s but if you want us to stay with uniforms, we should see about visiting the clothing store and the division supply.”
“Okay. I think our best bet for getting water in the short-term is to hit the local stop-and-robs. I don’t think we’ll find much infestation in those locations. We’ll set up hitting the larger stores when I get back. Good point about the clothing. I really didn’t think about that one. Thanks. We’ll add clothing supply when we hit the armories. I’d like you to go with the teams we put together for the main divisional armories and get everything that might be useful that we can fit in the transports. If you can and time allows, try to get the weapon racks themselves so we can store the weapons neatly when we get to Cabela’s,” I say.
“Will do, Jack,” he says.
Lynn walks over dusting her hands off on her fatigue pants. “We’re all loaded up and ready to go.”
“We should hand out whatever antibiotics I pulled out of the hospital. They should be in the cardboard boxes I had stored inside,” I say. “We should all be in a position to administer those quickly if someone gets scratched or bitten by a night runner.”
“Okay, I’ll see to it. The trucks are all gassed up. What do you want to do with this?” Lynn asks nodding at the 130 beside us.
“Not much we can do I guess. I’ll grab the helmets with the NVG’s and we’ll just close it up. You never know,” I answer.
She nods and then asks, “So, how do you want to do this?”
“Well, you know where the armories are right?” I ask and Lynn nods.
“Okay, then we’ll convoy over to the special forces armory. Leave me Alpha and Red Teams and you take the rest over to the other armories. Does that sound good to you?” I ask.
“Sure. What about the goggles?”
“We only have twelve so let’s split them between us. Did we find any bolt cutters?”
“Yeah, Horace found a couple in the hangars so we should be good to go,” Lynn responds. “What about the others?”
“I’ll take the kids and Mom with me. You take Kathy, Little Robert, and Kenneth. We’ll also leave a team with a vehicle here for when Craig shows up,” I answer. Little Robert appears at the top of the ramp with Mike beside him. Mike trots down and sits at my side.
“I guess I’ll take Mike as well,” I add, smiling.
Lynn doesn’t smile back but directs her gaze to the empty skies around us. “If he can, he’ll be here,” I say putting my arm around her.
“I know,” she says still staring into the blue sky wishing her brother and mom would materialize.
“We can fly over and see if we can find him after we get back,” I say.
“No, I don’t think that would do any good and would be too dangerous anyway,” she says sighing.
“Okay, I’m sure he’ll show up, hon. When we’re finished with the armories, Bannerman mentioned clothing so if you wouldn’t mind gathering those as well. Afterwards, drive the transports back here and head out in individual teams covering both McChord and Fort Lewis to check for any additional survivors. Concentrate on the housing areas but don’t enter any of them unless you absolutely have to. It’s 1000 now so let’s plan to meet back here by 1400 and stay in radio contact,” I say trying to divert her worry and having my own worry about time.
“Explain to me why we’re taking the civilians with us if we’re leaving a team here?” Lynn asks taking her eyes from the sky and looking back at me.
“Good point. I didn’t really think about it and guess I’m a little focused on getting to Cabela’s,” I answer.
The NVG’s, medical supplies, and bolt cutters are distributed. Lynn gathers everyone, introduces Mom, and disseminates the plan. I must admit it feels a little strange being in this role with Mom here. I had always separated that aspect of my life from my family. Not that they didn’t know or anything, but more like I didn’t share much about it. It just feels a little odd, that’s all. Grabbing the helmets from inside, I detail Bravo Team to remain with the now disabled aircraft and the civilians. I hop into the Jeep with Robert as the other teams pile into the waiting vehicles.
We head across the ramp in a convoy with Lynn’s Humvee in the lead. We have the radios set on an agreed frequency but keep the airwaves silent. Lynn will be making radio calls over the various frequencies as we proceed through McChord and onto Fort Lewis to raid the armories. We wind our way through the silent streets. At least with the other vehicles on the road with us, there isn’t that lonely feeling of passing through a desolate place and gives a certain sense of normalcy. Well, riding through a base in a convoy is not really normal for me. It is just nice to see others around even if they aren’t the crowds that used to inhabit these streets.
Brake lights shine ahead and the convoy of vehicles comes to a stop. In a brown grassy field to my left, a hillock sits surrounded by a chain link fence topped with razor wire. Behind the fence and nestled at the base of the mound, a heavy set of double-steel doors sit embedded slightly into the hill. I park the Jeep behind the transport vehicle in front and jump out. Red and Alpha Teams exit their vehicles further up and Lynn walks back down the column in my direction.
“This is the main armory for the special forces battalion. We’ll make sure you get in before proceeding to the divisional armories,” she says standing in the shade of the transport.
“Okay and we’ll keep in contact with the personal radios. Give me a radio check once you get there. I’ll have someone standing by the vehicle radios just in case. Good luck and I love you,” I say feeling the heat of the truck exhaust against my pant legs.
“I love you too. See you shortly,” she replies and begins her stroll back up to the lead Humvee. I see her at one of the other vehicles momentarily to talk about one thing or another.
I walk to the double-wide gate in the chain link fence gathering Red and Alpha Teams along the way. The fence has a tempered padlock holding the two gates closed. Watkins brings the heavy duty bolt cutters and, with Calloway, attempts to cut the post on the lock. The two of them grunt and strain on the cutters and the lock eventually gives way with a resounding snap. The bolt cutters and the strength of the two men have won that battle. Watkins removes the lock and swings the gates open. The other members of the teams keep a lookout for anything in the surrounding area.
I’m not too concerned with night runners inside the armory as the gate was locked and, from my vantage point, the razor wire at the top is untouched. Remembering Lynn’s story of the night runners gaining entrance to the tower in Kuwait, there would be ample evidence that they had been this way. The razor wire would have been strewn with body parts lying on the ground. There is also the fact that there is an identical lock securing the armory doors. From experience, and I can’t assume this to be the case in every instance, the night runners leave clues that they have gained entrance to a building. I worry about their presence, especially seeing we haven’t
