the drain transitioned to an eight-foot-diameter pipe. Ken let out a moan of relief, and whispered, “Thank you Lord!”
They stopped and adjusted their backpack straps. As they moved on, no longer walking hunched over, they were able to pick up the pace.
Ken’s back was still painful, so he took another dose of Tylenol two hours before dawn. They marched on. After what seemed an eternity, and again at the edge of exhaustion, they saw dim light ahead.
The storm drain emptied onto a jumble of riprap rocks on the banks of the Des Plaines River. There was a four-foot drop from the mouth of the pipe to the rocks below, so exiting was slow and cumbersome. With daylight rapidly increasing, they felt uncomfortably exposed. They immediately set a twenty- to twenty-five-foot interval as they walked. They walked with their rifle butts tucked into their shoulders and their muzzles down. They moved slowly and cautiously, scanning in all directions and stopping frequently to listen. Ken, in the lead, gave hand signals to Terry. This was a method that Jeff Trasel had called “TABbing”—referring to what the British army termed “tactical advance to battle” (TAB).
They walked along the river for twelve minutes until they came to a large patch of willow trees behind a jumble of fist-sized rocks. The willows were densely spaced, so Ken suggested that the center of the thicket would provide enough concealment for them to set up a cold camp. For the final fifty yards they walked carefully, stepping from rock to rock so that they wouldn’t leave a visible trail.
Before heading into the willows, they refilled their water bottles from the river, dosing them with water purification tablets.
They picked their way into the thicket, trying to minimize any noise.
After clearing some downed tree branches and large rocks, they rolled out their sleeping bags. By the time they had them positioned, it was full daylight.
Ken whispered, “I’ll take the first watch. You try to get some sleep.”
Terry replied, “Try? No problem, trust me.”
Terry awoke at midday. They divided an MRE. They hadn’t eaten in more than a day, so they wolfed it down eagerly.
They then took turns cleaning their rifles and pistols. They were thorough, even unloading each magazine to dry the cartridges. Next, they removed their boots and again wrung out their socks.
Terry did a detailed inventory of the contents of their web gear and packs. Terry carried a standard LC2 ALICE pack. Ken’s was a large “Arctic” variant. Both of them had Wiggy’s brand Ultima Thule sleeping bags strapped on the bottoms of their packs, stowed along with their bivouac (“bivy”) bags, in compression stuff sacks.
In her MOLLE pouches, Terry confirmed that she had six spare black Teflon-coated M16 30 magazines for her CAR-15. Ken carried just four spare 20-rounders for his HK clone.
She whispered each item to Ken, who was guarding their camp as she worked. She took her time carefully writing out a combined list of the contents of their packs in her notebook:
Leatherman Wave tool
2 water bottles
2 first-aid kits (one with Celox coagulant packs)
2 CAT tourniquets
.223 cleaning kit with sight tool, carbon scraper, & CAR-15 stock/1911 bushing wrench. Spare firing pin w/retainer pin and extractor w/pin.
.308 cleaning kit with HK sight tool
.45 cleaning kit with spare firing pin, sear, finger spring, and extractor
6 sets of socks and underwear for K
8 sets of socks and underwear for T
One extra set of DPMs, for each
7 complete MREs
15 main course entrees
Magnesium pills (29 left)
Multivitamins (98 left)
17 Emergen-C packets
100 feet of olive drab parachute cord
AAA Maps: Illinois, Midwest States, Western States, Idaho/Montana
Metal Match magnesium fire starter
Gill net
Hardware wire
Hacksaw blade
Olive drab duct tape
Green bandana
2 bivy bags
Compass
Soap (1 Ivory, 1 Lava)
24 tampons (can be used as bandages)
3 camo face paint sticks
2 toothbrushes
Triple-thickness Ziploc bag of salt
Sewing kit
10 feet aluminum foil
4 black trash bags
Sierra Club cup (Ken’s left in Bronco)
$23.10 face value in pre-1965 silver dimes and quarters
3 bandoleers of 7.62 Ball (one is short 20 rounds)
40 rounds of .308 150 Gr. Spire Point soft nose
1 spare HK 20-round magazine, alloy (loaded with soft nose)
4 bandoleers of 5.56 Ball (one is short 60 rounds)
1 spare 30-round AR magazine, steel (loaded with tracers)
2 match safes with strike anywhere matches
2 spare 9-volt DC batteries
T’s Bible
Being thorough, she added another list below:
In pockets or carried:
LED minilight
1 tin of foot powder (half full?)
Headset radios
Gloves with liners
Tylenol (27 left)
Two bottles purification tablets (about 190 left)
DPM boonie hats
DPM jackets and raincoats
K’s wallet (mine left in car)
T’s sunglasses (Ken’s left in Bronco)
K’s key ring with Proto screwdriver & P-38 can opener (mine left in car)
Bench-made tanto pocketknife (K’s Cold Steel Voyager XL pocketknife left in Bronco)
