John O'Brien - Takedown

Expecting to hear news of the two-legged one’s attacking and of her own pack responding, she waits. Nothing. The pack member downstairs sends an image of the two-legged ones kneeling in the light near the outside portal.

They’re afraid to leave the light , she thinks.

Soon, a signal is sent that the two-legged ones are leaving. Sandra doesn’t know what to make of that but believes they’ll be back.

We load up and head back. I get with Robert, Bri, and Frank to begin the monotony of watching the videos. The thermal videos are next to worthless so I concentrate on the others, taking in every detail as I cycle through them. I have the building diagrams laid out and put the outside images together with the interior plans until I have the place fixed in my mind.

“So, what do you think?” Robert asks after spending hours watching video and diagramming.

“Let’s gather the others and go through this together,” I answer.

I gather the group and give the details and impressions about our trip to the hospital — from both the air and ground.

“Jack, have you thought that this could be a trap?” Frank asks.

“Yeah, I’ve thought about it. Trap or not, I…we have to get her out. If the night runners are capable of setting a trap like this, the only thing I can think of is that they want to lure our teams in to destroy them. Lynn may have just happened to be the one they caught. It could have been anyone. So, with that thought in mind, we won’t be launching with the teams,” I answer.

That creates an uproar with Taylor once again pleading that Black Team be allowed to go. I understand his desire. It was, after all, his team leader that was taken.

Frank waves the discussions down. “Jack, I have several thoughts about that. How would the night runners know to send a message like that? I mean, they communicate in that manner, but how would they know we could…specifically you. And there is the aspect that they specifically sent you Lynn’s image. Have you thought about that?”

“I guess that they could have found that out before I gained some control over it. Again, it could have been anyone who was captured and they sent the image to the one they know could receive it,” I answer.

“That’s too much of a coincidence for me,” Frank states. “Let’s go with the reasoning that they found out somehow, perhaps as you say, that you can communicate in that manner. It still strikes me as too much of a coincidence that Lynn was the one captured.”

“Are you saying that Lynn was targeted?” I ask.

“That’s exactly what I’m thinking,” Frank responds.

“That sends chills up my spine,” Horace states.

“So they may have pulled her image from my mind and targeted her. I don’t like the ramifications of that any more than the rest of you, but, it could be that they wanted to be sure that the trap would succeed so they targeted someone they knew we’d go get. They might not understand that we would go get anyone that was taken. While their reasoning may matter, we can discuss that at a later time. The fact is that Lynn has been taken and I’m going to get her. And, in thinking about it more, if they are doing this to set a trap, that’s all the more reason why we shouldn’t take the teams in. They may not think of or be alert for only one of us going in,” I say.

The mere fact that I use night runners and thinking on this level in the same sentence is scary. They are faster, stronger, more agile, and far more numerous than we are. We have the day and they have the night which makes us even in that regards. If they can think at the high level we are discussing, to the point of kidnapping and setting traps like this, our troubles just multiplied exponentially. If they achieve the level of thinking we have, or heaven forbid, learn to use tools and weapons, then we are truly fucked. The only reason we have lasted as long as we have is because we have weapons and our cognitive ability.

“So you’re planning to go in alone?” Drescoll asks.

“That’s exactly what I’m planning. You saw the building, we won’t stand a chance entering with teams,” I answer.

“Jack, you won’t stand a chance. If they have planned something, then they know we’re coming. It’s not like the CDC. You had the surprise factor then and still barely made it out by the skin of your teeth,” Frank says.

“We have learned a lot more since then. I stand a better chance because I can tell where they are.”

“But can’t they tell where you are as well?” Drescoll asks.

“True, but I don’t plan to be there when they arrive,” I answer.

“Well, it seems like you have a plan. So what is it?” Drescoll says.

“I was thinking of heading inside the front entrance lobby and opening up to let them think we’re infiltrating from downstairs. We position two teams in the light of the foyer and that’s where they stay, making noise and acting like we’re going to come through that way. Not too much but enough to keep their attention focused. Let the night runners gather there and set whatever trap they have planned,” I say.

“Why two teams?” Frank asks.

“Well, I figure if that one night runner was a guard and not some sleep walker, then we’ll need to be in numbers that will draw and keep their attention. If we put in too few and don’t move, they may think we’re putting in others elsewhere.”

“Where will you be entering then?” Robert asks.

“After opening up with the teams downstairs, I’ll access the building via the roof through the maintenance door here,” I answer, pointing to a rectangular building on the roof itself.

“Okay. How are you going to get on the roof?” Robert asks.

“You…and the helicopter,” I reply.

“Me!”

“Yeah. As long as you don’t smash us into the side or drag me along the rooftop. Think you can do that?” I ask, teasingly.

“No promises,” Robert answers with a tremor in his voice. “Okay, assuming I can get you up there. How are you going to get out? The same way…I pick you and Lynn up?”

“That’s the primary solution with the secondary one being that I get to an outside office and rappel down.”

“Fair enough. How are you going to find Lynn in that building? That’s a lot of space to cover,” Drescoll says.

“That’s where it might get a little tricky,” I state.

“By tricky, I assume you mean time consuming and running into night runners,” Frank says.

“Yeah, something like that. I’d like Black and Red Teams downstairs. Horace, take Blue Team and I may need you to shoot out some windows as a distraction if things start getting a little sporty. Charlie and Bravo Teams will stay in the compound here to provide security. Drescoll, I want you to take Watkins and Bravo Team and hold a short distance away. I don’t want to leave the sanctuary defenseless so I want you to be in a position to respond quickly to either site,” I respond.

“Are we leaving at first light, sir?” Horace asks.

“Close to it. I plan to take the Spectre aloft before dark and park in a high orbit away from the hospital. We’ll use the thermal imaging to see if a large group of night runners leave on their nightly hunt. So far, we only know for sure that one night runner is inside. We’ll land after confirmation and rest in the aircraft, going back up before dawn to see if they return.”

Red Team rests as best as they can for the remainder of the day. The evening and next day won’t allow for much sleep so it’s best to get what we can during the day. There’s not much else we can do. The plans have been made — our gear organized and ready to go. As for myself, there are too many thoughts racing through my head to permit any sleep.