Avalon: The Retreat (47 page)

Before he knew it, the Humvee took a turn down a long mountain road and terminated at a guarded gate manned by U.S. Army Military Police. After presenting their I. D.s, they were allowed to proceed to an office area where he could present his orders. This took about a half hour and a Corporal was directed to show Sergeant Bell to his quarters.

The billeting was a Quonset hut… barracks-style on the interior with a wooden floor. There were sixteen cots in a straight line on one side of the hut and the other side of the structure was identical in layout. At the foot end of each cot sat a steel foot locker for personal belongings. There was a diesel burning stove on one end with a chimney that went up and through the roof of the hut.

It must get pretty cold here
, Eric thought.

The Camp was, after all, very near Mount Rainier… a towering dormant volcano covered with snow and ice year-round. Eric stowed his gear and walked over to the Non-Commissioned Officer’s Club, accompanied by his spotter, to see what it had to offer.

This camp was remote and a bit isolated from nearly everything. He guessed the recreational facility would be a decent place to break the monotony of the camp. It was his experience from other training facilities that the more remote, the better the entertainment facilities.

He wasn’t disappointed.

There was a large TV viewing area for movies and a couple of other big screens to watch sporting events. One area housed a couple of pool tables and another section sported an ample bar. There was a small grill area to order hamburgers and cokes. It wasn’t bad considering the remoteness of the camp. Eric met some interesting people and before long, it was time to turn in.

Tomorrow would be a long day.

Reveille came early the next morning and the camp came to life with trucks moving about and people getting ready for the day.

The first week of training was grueling and physically draining. All of the participants were young Soldiers and all of them were in as a good shape physically as any young Soldier should be. They climbed sheer cliffs that went up vertically several hundred feet and terminated on a small ledge, only to continue up several hundred more feet and terminated on another ledge that was ample for all of the climbers.

Eric learned how to tie the number of climbing knots and how to use pitons and other climbing paraphernalia. As tough as it was, it was extremely interesting. The first 10 days went effortlessly in terms of climbing, reaching the objectives, and rappelling from the top… or as some experienced people might say, “rope down” to the next successive ledge below, rig for the next one, and do it all again until they were all safely at the bottom.

This training readied them for the rest of the course.

In weeks two and three, there were two injuries; one Soldier fell and broke an arm and another washed out through his inability to adapt and follow orders. This was a “washout” course. If for any reason some Soldiers couldn’t cut it, they were simply sent back to camp, issued new orders, and sent to a new duty station doing a different job than what they did prior to coming to the course

It was what was referred to as “Down and Dirty.” These training programs were reserved for the elite. Among them were Green Berets, Rangers, Force Recon Marines, and Navy SEALs. They were normally selected by a Senior Enlisted Advisor and approved by a Company Commander in order to be here in the first place. Few were selected to attend and most who were selected completed it to the regulated standards.

Eric loved the Sniper phase of the course. It was innovative, interesting, and moved along smoothly. Some of what was required of Snipers and their Spotters was fairly routine and Eric had done much of it many times before. There were, however, some new innovations that he found not only interesting, but also stimulating.

The climbing techniques that made up the training exercise were interesting enough, but they were simply a means of getting Snipers and Spotters where they needed to be. Once there, they had to take into consideration the distance, wind, bullet drop data, temperature, and humidity before they took the shot. If a Sniper missed that first shot, they may never have the opportunity for a second shot. That’s why Eric was among the top 10 Snipers in all of the military.

He simply never missed his target!

The chances were pretty good that as each year passed by, he would be considered among the top two or three in the world. Perhaps, even, number one.

Tomorrow was the day that Eric and his Spotter were to be graded and shipped back to Twenty-nine Palms. The training was over and everyone was relaxed and enjoying themselves without having to worry about tomorrow and another training session. They were done. They could afford to relax, have a few beers, and enjoy each other’s company as they talked about some of the frustrating moments of the course.

The only exception was talk about the news of the two terrorist attacks in Atlanta and Washington, D.C.. One of the Army Ranger’s family lived in Northern Virginia and he requested to drop the course at the end of the second week to go take care of them.

No one questioned his decision and he headed East.

On the evening of the attacks, everyone had been given “Admin Time” to call and check on their family members. The only family Eric had left was his brother Chris, but he was out to Sea on patrol. So instead, he listened to the news that evening, and he could still hear the radio interruption in his head,
…you evil Americans have felt the wrath of Allah, the magnificent, and it is not done. We will kill all of you infidels…

The thought of it pissed him off, but tonight he could ignore that issue with another beer.

As usual, there was small talk about the way that some of the instructors handled some students. But mostly it was sheer relief knowing the course was behind them and the confidence each possessed now that the training was finished. Eric wasn’t the least bit worried about whether he passed or not; little comments he heard from observers pretty much assured him that he was as good as people said he was.

He was going for another beer when a Soldier burst into the NCO Club with a piece of paper in his hand. He was the Company Clerk, the same Soldier who had taken his orders when he first arrived at the Camp.

The young Soldier hurried to the front of the club. “Listen up,” he said in a loud voice, “As most of you know, two nuclear devices were detonated on the East Coast a couple of weeks ago. Today the United States of America officially declared war a few minutes ago. China has aligned itself with Russia and has nuked both the West and East Coast of the United States and they are invading us from Canada and Mexico.”

People started to murmur to each other as he continued, “All leave and special liberty requests are canceled. We are at war, Troopers, and the death toll is climbing quickly! Further word about this situation will be relayed to you as the commanding officer of this post gets it. No letters, no telephone calls, no radio messages will be come into or out of this post by order of the commanding officer Major Gregory Fields U.S. Army. That is all for now!”

He abruptly left the club.

Eric was stunned, as was everyone else in the club. Some of them held their heads low, some took a seat if they were standing, and some stood who had been seated. Many of the Soldiers began shouting questions at the First Sergeant who was sitting at the bar.

“Right now,” he held up his hand as he spoke, “I don’t know anything more than you do. I promise I will let you know what I’m told as soon as I have information that I can pass on to all of you.”

He paused, knowing they expected something more from him. “Look, we all have families and loved ones beyond the gates of this post and I know exactly how you feel right now about this news. I’ve also got family about an hour north of here on Highway 410 in Greenwater, Washington. The Army will be getting everything ready in order to protect the civilian population here and throughout the rest of the country.”

“It is our job to protect the United States of America from attacks,” his voice got a bit stronger as his words started to take hold. “This attack was premeditated and carried out without any warning whatsoever. I can assure you that those of us who are career military will get our revenge fairly quickly. As I said before, I don’t know any more than you do right now but I promise you this… I will keep you informed of the latest news as soon as I get it.”

And with that, the First Sergeant briskly walked toward the door and made his exit. The next day, he was gone without a trace.

Two weeks went by and more than half the camp’s personnel went Absent Without Leave. AWOL was a serious transgression, especially in a time of war. But few gave it a second thought, just as the First Sergeant did that first night before he disappeared.

Camp David Briscol was rapidly becoming a ghost town.

No one had received any pertinent information from anyone in ten days. Everyone assumed that perhaps an EMP, or electric magnetic pulse, was the culprit. All it would take is a nuclear device to be detonated around 10,000 feet above the ground, it would destroy most electrical apparatus. The radio men were certain their equipment was in working order, but there were no forthcoming messages. Men began sneaking off in the night, taking their weapons and equipment with them.

Most of the Soldiers posted at the Camp on a permanent basis had family about 60 miles north in mostly rented apartments and houses. The powerful feelings of fear for their families’ safety overtook them, and they eventually deserted the base and the military to find their loved ones, and nobody really seemed to care. A number of them who still remained at the Camp were transient and far removed from where they lived and their permanent duty stations.

A group of 45 Soldiers would leave the camp and head west toward Seattle, Washington to assess the damage. They were not deserters; they were Soldiers in search of answers.

It was a sanctioned Military Operation.

The group decided to head out the following morning. The group was led by First Lieutenant William Everett, an Army veteran with recent combat experience. He assigned his second-in-command to be Lieutenant Stephen Donnelly and although Donnelly did not have any actual combat experience, he had attended all the right schools and was a West Point Academy graduate. Both men were good leaders noted for evaluating situations before acting on them. They also weren’t exactly the 100 percent by the book officer types, either. They were well-liked and well-respected by the Troopers selected to go on this mission with them.

The Commanding Officer of the post went AWOL two days prior and hadn’t been seen or heard of since. Nobody made an effort to go after any of the deserters because too many people were abandoning their posts these days and there weren’t enough Soldiers left to go after them. Soldier needed to know what was happening with their friends and families, and the breakdown with the communications systems directly resulted in the breakdown of the military structure. Everyone needed to know the situation beyond the fence of this Camp. Food was running low, which was another cause for Soldiers to run off.