John O'Brien - Chaos

Lynn tells three of them to accompany each of the five that come in to get their weapon and one to remain with her at the doors. She shoulders her weapon and picks the clipboard back up. The unit then gathers their weapons in groups of five as Lynn keeps their annotations accurate. Once all weapons are drawn, she details Drescoll to get the Humvees and other soldiers to carry ammo crates outside.

“Sir, I suggest we stop at the TOC and police up the intel. We can then break into groups to police up other intel, gather rations and medical supplies, and other personal gear in the barracks,” Lynn says after crates of ammunition, NVG’s, and extra weapons are loaded into the vehicles once Sergeant Drescoll returns with them.

“Okay, Sergeant, see to it,” Bannerman responds.

Gathering the group around her, Lynn gives vehicle assignments, order of travel, and instructions to meet at the TOC, “And be sure to look out for stragglers. We still don’t know what we’re dealing with here. Report on the radio any sign of movement with location and numbers,” she adds and everyone disperses to their assigned vehicles.

They arrive at the TOC without further incident. Exiting her vehicle, Lynn directs four Humvees to block the wide, sandy avenue in front and stand guard, locating two in each direction down the road facing outward several buildings down. She then allocates a detail of soldiers led by Sergeant Drescoll and two Humvees to locate and gather water and food, setting their return for two hours hence. Major Bannerman opts to leave with the detail party leaving Lynn in charge of the TOC operations. The two detail Humvees head out leaving a trail of dust in the still air behind them, the sound of their engines fading as they head away from the TOC.

Meeting up again with the Specialist and Private she left at the TOC, Lynn assigns them and two additional soldiers to head inside and gather up the intel. She then details Specialist Taylor, a communications specialist, to stay in one of the Humvees parked in front of the TOC to monitor the radios and keep in contact with the detail party. She also tells the remaining soldiers to stand watch around the TOC before heading down to the road to one of the Humvee pairs to check on them.

Arriving at the Humvees with the heat of the day truly building up, she checks on them and talks with for a few moments. Looking back toward the TOC, she notices several of the soldiers grouped around one of the Humvees and, oddly, Specialist Taylor standing away from the Humvee and his assignment with another small group. Looking further up the road, she also notices that the two Humvees that were guarding the other end are nowhere in sight.

What the fuck , she thinks turning back to the soldiers she is standing next to. “You know anything about what’s going on?” Lynn asks the group staring down the road with her, putting a quick picture together and suspecting the worst.

“No, Sergeant,” they reply in intervals without taking their eyes from the road; their responses coming from behind her. Lynn strides back towards the TOC.

About half way there, she sees the one group pile into one of the Humvees and hears it start up. Her stride becomes a run as the doors to the Humvee close. Lynn arrives in front of the TOC with sweat dripping down her forehead, just as the Humvee begins to pull away.

“Soldier, stop that Humvee now!!!” She yells directing her order to the driver and skidding to a halt.

The driver, now only yards away and with his elbow resting on the window frame of the door, sticks his head out of the window and looks back at her. “Sorry, Sergeant,” he says and pulls his head back in as the Humvee picks up speed.

The three remaining soldiers, including Specialist Taylor, come up to her and kneel in the sandy road next to her, bringing their M-16’s to their shoulders and sight down on the Humvee, now rapidly growing smaller and the dust partially obscuring it.

Lynn reaches her palm out to the top of the weapon next to her and pushes the muzzle downward.

“Stand down,” she says and the remaining muzzles lower as the soldiers rise to their feet.

“Sorry, Sergeant Connell,” Taylor says as the Humvee ahead makes a left turn and disappears from view, “there wasn’t much we could do.”

“No worries,” she says still staring after the departed Humvee, “I suspected some would want to go but didn’t think they would do it this way.”

“Everyone okay?” Lynn asks turning to look at the soldiers around her.

“Yes, Sergeant.”

“What about those inside?” She asks.

“They’re still in there,” Taylor responds and then proceeds to relate the details.

He had been half sitting in the driver seat when he noticed the two Humvees down the road drive off. Just as he climbed out of the Humvee, one of the soldiers came up behind him and told him they weren’t staying here but leaving with the other group, asking him if he wanted to go. When he told them he was staying and that they were, in effect, conducting a mutiny, he was rather forcefully ‘asked’ to join the other two; the ‘asking’ being made by way of a drawn Beretta and him being on the wrong end.

Turning back toward the two Humvees she left guarding the other end of the avenue and seeing they were still there, she tells Taylor, “Get on the radio and have them report back here.”

Taylor seats himself back in the remaining Humvee and the other two return a short time later. The soldiers inside accomplish their mission and stand outside just as the vehicles arrive, coating Lynn and the small group in a small cloud of dust as they pull to a stop.

Lynn gathers the group around her, “Okay, is there anyone here who also feels the need to leave?” She asks sternly with her hands on her hips and looking at each one in turn.

As she locks eyes with each soldier, they answer with a “No, Sergeant.”

“Very well. If you hear of any rumors or word of such, you’re to let me know immediately. Understood!”

“Yes, Sergeant.”

She then reassigns a single Humvee at each of the previous locations and gets on the radio informing Major Bannerman of the situation. “Very well, Sergeant Connell, we’ll be returning shortly,” Bannerman responds.

It’s at this time that she notices one of the soldiers that departed was the one that had been bitten in the armory. She lets out a heavy sigh of disappointment and turns to await the arrival of the foraging party.

The detail party returns a short time later loaded with water and food. Lynn brings Bannerman up to speed with the events and their situation. “Sir, I recommend we break into single Humvee groups to gather our personal ready packs and meet back here in ninety minutes before heading out to the tower. We’ll need to recon the tower and set up before dark,” she finishes looking at the blazing sun pass it zenith and heads into the afternoon.

“Very well, Sergeant Connell. Make the assignments.”

Lynn breaks the groups into four separate groups with, Bannerman, Drescoll, Taylor, and herself leading them. “Stay as a team and gather your items one person at a time,” she instructs them. They synch their watches, load into their respective vehicles, and head out to the various barrack facilities.

“What about our armor, Sergeant Connell?” Taylor asks.

“Bring them just in case but it’s not necessary to don them right now.”

With Corporal Horace and two other Privates in her group, Lynn parks the Humvee in front of her barracks. She steps out of her vehicle and scans the area after grabbing her M-16 and several magazines from inside, sticking the extra ammo in the cargo pockets of her fatigues. The occasional birds usually heard or seen around the camp seem to be taking a break from the heat that has now climbed to over the 100 degree mark. Nothing disturbs the still heat of the day. Even the muted sound of generators running near the TOC are silent giving a possible indication to Lynn that the power in this area has been disrupted by either mechanical failure or they may have simply run out of fuel. The closing of the Humvee doors sounds unnaturally clear and loud; even the sound of their boots hitting the ground is crisp and disturbs the quiet more than it should.