A New World: Awakening (45 page)

Pulling into the parking lot at what I once thought to be our secure sanctuary, I hurry inside.
 
Lynn has gathered the team leaders that aren’t out on assignments.
 
I quickly detail my observations at Madigan which brings a silence to the group as each ponders for themselves what this means.

“Well, it’s obvious our walls aren’t going to be able to hold the night runners out on their own,” Lynn says breaking the silence.

“So much for our move to base housing.
 
At least I’m assuming we won’t be able to do that as the houses themselves aren’t secure,” Drescoll says.

“Yeah, I think we need to drop the idea of moving to the bases for now,” I reply.

“That still leaves us with the problem of housing then,” Bannerman says.

“True.
 
I believe we need to think about building quarters here in the compound.
 
I think that will be quicker than fortifying the houses up there and it will leave us with the building here as a secure fall back point.
 
Let’s table that for now though and talk about what we need to do to beef up our security here,” I say.

“I think your idea of building another inside wall to create an inner compound is a good idea,” Robert chimes in.

“I agree,” Frank says.
 
“I’m thinking that should be our priority.”

“We need to put up some towers along the perimeter and have them manned at night.
 
They should be self-defensible in case the night runners scale the walls.
 
In other words, they should be designed so they can’t be scaled and far enough away from the walls that they can’t be leapt on from the top,” Lynn adds.

“My thinking is that, if we do build the additional walls, then we need to plan it so that whatever housing we build and the storage containers with our supplies are inside of the inner compound,” Bannerman says.

“I agree with that.
 
I think building the inner wall and towers are our priority right now.
 
I want to make sure we have the entire inner area covered by cameras with thermal imaging and the monitors manned at night along with the towers.
 
There should be plenty of cameras on the bases.
 
We should think about putting an overhang on the walls like we have on the roof to make it more difficult to scale the top,” I say adding my two cents.

“What about mining the outside of the walls?”
 
Greg asks.

“And lay claymores around the exterior of the building here?”
 
Drescoll adds.

“All great ideas,” I say watching Bannerman madly scribble on his clipboard.

“We should seal up the shipping containers at night as well,” Bannerman says looking up from his writing momentarily.

“Shouldn’t we build the barns and stables up more too?”
 
Bri asks.
 
Trust my wonderful girl to be thinking of the animals.
 
Bannerman nods in her direction and his pen dances across the paper.

“We’ve mentioned a lot here.
 
We also have a lot of projects going on.
 
How are those going to be affected?
 
I guess I’m asking how we want to prioritize all of these things.
 
We have the water tower that I think needs to be in place prior to winter.
 
The walls around the vehicle maintenance and storage hangars will be finished in a day, well, two now that we diverted the crews.
 
Let’s see, we also have the inventory and movement of supplies from the distribution centers.
 
We won’t need the teams on supply runs for the time being so we have those freed up,” Bannerman says.

“Don’t forget the searches for other survivors,” Drescoll says.

“There is also the search for families which is time critical and clearing out the area,” I say.

“Well, like Bannerman mentioned, we have a lot going on.
 
We have a lot of resources people-wise but it’s not unlimited.
 
I think we need to prioritize what we are going to do and Bannerman can assign crews.
 
We keep going down the list until we run out of people keeping in mind we still need security and there are our daily tasks as well,” Lynn says.

“Are we at a point where we can create additional teams?”
 
I ask Lynn.

“No, not yet.
 
I think we need to increase the teams at the earliest opportunity but we can’t forsake training,” she answers.

“Okay.
 
We’ll work with what we have.
 
I think our first priority is building the inner wall and towers.
 
Any disagreement with that?”
 
I ask.

“Not going to find any disagreement here,” Greg says to which the others agree.

“We have some time critical elements and need to decide if we’re going to do them or at least where they fit on the priority list; the water tower, vehicle storage facilities, and the search for families,” I say.

“I think we need to throw the idea of fortifying the animal enclosures, as Bri mentioned, up close to the top,” Frank says.

“I think clearing out the area is important as well.
 
That will hopefully keep the night runners away, or at least diminish their numbers, and if we level the ground, we’ll at least be able to see them coming from a distance,” Robert says.

“Alright.
 
So perhaps we keep the crews in place to finish the vehicle maintenance and storage facilities and then have them start on the wall.
 
I was a touch hasty on diverting them.
 
If we have the resources, we can design and start building the towers once we know where the wall will run.
 
Keep the water tower crew on what they’re doing.
 
Assign truck crews and a team to inventory and begin bringing supplies back making sure to secure the containers at night.
 
We also need to find the security codes and bring the generators online up there.
 
Along with building the towers, we can fortify the animal enclosures.
 
Red Team and I, along with Craig, will begin learning the weapons systems and train on the AC-130.
 
We’ll need others with us for support.
 
Are we okay with resources to this point?”
 
I ask.

“I’ll have to work it out in more detail but I think we should be okay at this point.
 
There isn’t a need for a security detachment for the work inside the compound,” Bannerman says.

“Keep in mind we need at least one team on standby as a response team,” Lynn says.
 
“And if you want to gather more cameras, mines, and claymores, we’ll need teams for that and for deploying them.
 
We can have others dig the necessary holes but we need those knowledgeable about arming the mines to actually put them in place and mark their locations.”

“Will we have enough to put skylights in the maintenance facilities as well to deny them to night runners?”
 
I ask.

“We’ll be stretching ourselves thin but I think we can manage that,” Bannerman answers.

“So, we finish the maintenance wall and start on the walls here, build the towers and fortify the animal enclosures, work on the water tower, put in skylights, start bringing supplies down, clear the area when we’re ready, and then search for the families afterwards.
 
Do I have that right?”
 
I ask.

“It’ll be tight but that sounds about right,” Lynn answers.

“What about the search for other survivors in the area?”
 
Drescoll asks.

“We’ll have to do that as time permits,” I reply.

“I still want to talk about housing.
 
I know we have a lot to do and I have a lot to figure out but I just want to make sure we don’t lose this in the process,” Bannerman says.

“That will be quite the undertaking depending on what we want.
 
There are plumbing, electrical, defense, and a myriad of other things to think about and design,” Frank says.

“True.
 
But we need to keep that in mind as we’re close to being overcrowded if not already,” Bannerman says.

“Okay.
 
What do you say we start on what’s on our list and revisit this later?
 
We can discuss that when we have a better idea of what resources we’re going to be using for the tasks at hand,” I say.

“How do we want to present this to the others?
 
If at all?”
 
Greg asks

“I think we lay it out straight up.
 
It’s best if they know what we’re dealing with and it will provide a little motivation,” Lynn answers.
 
“We can tell them at our nightly training session.”

“I think you’re right,” I say.
 
“Everyone else agree?”
 
The group nods their agreement.

“Okay, brief your teams and we’ll tell everyone else tonight,” I add.

“Sounds good.
 
I better get started on this.
 
With Frank’s help, it’s still going to take me all day to figure this out,” Bannerman says.

With that, we break up.
 
I still have the cold feeling in my gut but feel better now that we have a workable plan.
 
Any thought that we can create a totally secure area is gone though.
 
We’ll have to be eternally vigilant as who knows what capabilities the night runners will eventually have.
 
We need to stay one step ahead if not two.
 
I take Red Team and we begin looking at the systems together.
 
Tomorrow we’ll head back up and begin studying in the aircraft itself.

The next several days are a flurry of activity.
 
Red Team, Craig, myself and five others spend the time studying and going through dry runs.
 
The water tower is brought over in parts and starts going up.
 
The wall crews finish with the maintenance areas and begin on the inner wall.
 
Assigned crews start on the towers and fortifying the barns, stables, and pens.
 
Additional cameras are located and put into place with a mass of cabling run in underground conduits.
 
Teams locate mines and holes are dug around the wall perimeter.
 
We place additional claymores at the entrances and loading dock, angling them outward and drilling small holes in the outer wall for the wires.
 
I expect an attack each night and am surprised each morning when we find things the same.
 
So far, the night runners have left us alone and, with each passing day, the knot in my gut lessens to a degree.

After considerable time studying the AC-130 weapon systems in detail and going through a lot of dry runs, I feel we have a good grasp of the systems and their workings.
 
We are working well as a team and find the necessary coordination between flying and the deployment of weapons.
 
It’s time for a live fire exercise.
 
We’ll use one the Fort Lewis ranges and test all of the guns.
 
I don’t want to use too much ammo for test firing as we don’t have an unlimited supply.
 
It’s going to take quite a bit to clear the area around us.
 
Fort Lewis does have a ready supply but again, it’s not unlimited.

Flying over the brown fields, we pick out a target and coordinate our circle.
 
It’s basically setting up and turning a consistent circle around a point, either around a force you are defending or the target itself.
 
The gunners in the battle management center identify targets or an area of suppression and place their weapons on it.
 
The type of weapon deployed depends on the target itself.
 
We’ll be using the 105mm howitzer for the buildings.
 
The 40mm and 25mm will be used for targets identified as night runners.
 
We’ll be running at night to try and catch them in the open so we’ll be using thermal imaging for the most part.

I circle over the target we picked out.
 
Craig sits in the co-pilot seat with Bri between us at her usual flight engineer station.
 
Robert is in the back in charge of fire control coordinating the guns and targets.
 
I would have done that task and had Robert up in front flying but he developed a knack for coordinating while we were training.
 
I knew he had tremendous capabilities but he has continually surprised me with the actual extent of them.

I hear Robert on the intercom coordinate for target identification and acquisition and verify the howitzer is up and armed.
 
The heavy projectile is launched downward.
 
A large puff of dust blows skyward as the 105mm impacts the ground and detonates.
 
He’s right on target.
 
I visualize the loaders in back hefting another round from the weapons rack and reloading.

We fire the howitzer at a couple of other targets with the same result.
 
Robert coordinates and brings the 40mm online and we pick another target.
 
The steady chunk of the autocannon begins and I see smaller puffs of dirt launch skyward around the target completely obscuring the area.
 
We practice with the 25mm and I watch as a stream of fire reaches downward and strikes the ground.
 
These are stationary targets and we’ll have to learn to lead any moving ones we encounter but overall, I’m pleased with the results.
 
At least we won’t have to worry about return fire.
 
Maybe I should change that.
 
With regards to what we’ve learned about the increase in night runner abilities, my thinking changes to I hope we won’t have to worry about return fire.