John O'Brien - Chaos

The chain link gate is unlocked so she pushes the gate open and proceeds to the stairs which are currently in their down position making the upward entrance easier.

“I’ll lead up with Private Turnbull behind me. Sergeant Drescoll and Corporal Horace, follow behind. Once at the top, we’ll break into two groups. I’ll go left on the walkway, Drescoll, take Corporal Horace and go right. We’ll recon the inside from the windows meeting up on the backside. If it’s clear, we’ll head through the door and clear it from the inside. Anyone have any questions?” She asks completing her instructions.

They all shake their heads and, with their barrels aimed upward covering their ascent, head up the stairs. Each flight of stairs rise upward to a point level with the top of each container to a small landing at which the next flight begins. On the first landing, a small winch housing a cable is attached to the first flight leading to it allowing it to be raised and lowered. The sound of their steps on the metal stairs is drowned out by the sound of a generator on the ground behind the tower.

Leaving the stairs in their lowered position, Lynn and her team proceed upward. With the heat index now rising above 110 degrees, they are bathed in sweat by the time they reach the top. The low humidity and high heat work with each other to claim the moisture from their bodies; the heat making them sweat and the low humidity wicking it away almost as soon as it appears leaving them feeling dry and parched.

At the top of the stairs, the metal grating and barred railings of the outside walkway leads off the left and right around the tower. The windows of the tower angle outward and are tinted making it difficult to see directly in from their position. They break into their respective groups and proceed up to and around the tower. Lynn peeks in the windows to her immediate front, cupping one hand to allow better vision within. The front interior facing the runway is filled with consoles running around the front and sides of the main tower room. To the rear, a small hallway opens off from the main room and seems to lead to the back of the tower. Doors open up to the outside walkway on both sides of the control room close to the rear of the room. There is no movement or signs of anyone inside other than Drescoll peering in the window opposite her. Continuing around the tower, windows open up into two rooms at the rear of the facility; one is an office and the other sleeping quarters housing two bunks.

“I don’t see anyone inside,” she says meeting up with Drescoll at the rear of the small tower.

“Me either,” he says in return.

“Let’s head in both doors and do a quick check down the hallway.”

Drescoll nods and they both retrace their steps to the entrance doors. Peeking in the small window set in the door and with one hand on the handle, she checks the door assuring herself that it is unlocked before looking over at Drescoll peering in the door on the other side. Giving him a nod, they both open their doors and quickly step into the coolness of the room. The light from the outside illuminates the entire room but in a dimmed fashion due to the tinted windows. The control panels are lit with both steady and flashing lights and a panel against the rear wall houses a radar scope, its lighter green line rotating around the scope. The fact that the radar and lights are working gives the indication that the generator outside provides power to the tower. The closing of the outside doors shuts off the sound of the generator running outside.

They step into the hallway leading to the back. The hallway extends all of the way to the rear of the tower with four doors leading off it; two to each side. They check each door and find a small latrine behind the first door to the right. The first one on the left leads to a small storage area with the two at the rear leading to the office and sleeping quarters. Back in the main control room, Lynn sees a pull-down ladder leading to a trap door set in the ceiling. She pulls the steps down and proceeds up them to the trap door. Turning the handle on the trap door, she opens it and hot sunlight pours through the opening. She climbs out onto the roof.

The flat roof is covered with large and small antennae towards the front along with the rotating arm of the radar. From her vantage point, she sees almost the entire encampment with its lines of tan convex buildings in neat, orderly rows. Main avenues divide the groups of buildings and lead to the various zones of the camp. Far off in a corner of the camp, she can make out a section of storage containers piled on top of each other and vehicles are scattered throughout. In some places, she sees what appear to be very small shapes of bodies lying on the avenues and small alleys between buildings.

An ocean of sand stretches outside of the camp in each direction, merging with the horizon in all directions. Other than the occasional bird flitting here and there and the group standing around the Humvees on the ramp, there is not a thing moving. The only sound disturbing the surreal quietness around her is the generator running some fifty feet below her and out of sight against the containers.

Lynn leaves the roof and steps into the room once again, closing the trap door behind her. “We’ll have to locate someone up there at all times in shifts to monitor the area and look for survivors during the day and for security at night,” she says looking at Drescoll.

He nods and looks around the control room. “It’s going to be a bit crowded in here.”

“Yeah, not much we can do about that,” she says stepping out of the room and onto to the walkway signaling the group, standing on the ramp watching her activities, over.

With the rest of the group gathered about the control room with standing room only and barely enough room to fit them all, Lynn addresses Major Bannerman. “Sir, we’ll have to set up in shifts with a small security team for night that will sleep during the day. By day, we’ll monitor the surrounding area and scavenge for any weapons, ammo, food, water, medical or other supplies we may need. During the day, the night security team can sleep on the bunks. At night, we’ll have to stretch out as best as we can on the floors. We’ll give it five days and rethink our strategy should no one show up.”

“Sounds good, Sergeant Connell. I’ll leave the details to you,” Bannerman says.

Lynn then leads Specialist Taylor to the main console. “Can you work these and teach others how to do it?” She asks.

“Piece of cake, Sergeant,” answers Taylor.

“How many soldiers do you need to man the radios 24/7?”

“Well, considering we won’t have a lot of communication to handle, I think two others for three shifts of eight hours should suffice.”

“Okay, pick two and teach them what they need to know,” Lynn says stepping over to the side of the control room and looking out of the windows to the single strip of gray asphalt serving as the camp’s runway.

Gazing down at it, she thinks both wistfully and longingly, I hope you are doing okay Jack and I hope you come . The odds of both seem very remote to her at the moment; I mean, they talked about events such as this but only really as a means to fill the time and for fun. Would he really jump in an aircraft and fly half of the way around the world to pick me up? And, that is assuming he is still alive, and if he is, will he just gather up his kids and call it good? Suddenly, home and the hope of getting out of here seems very, very remote. With a heavy sigh, she turns back toward the group and begins making assignments.

Assignments are made to bring the weapons and supplies into the tower from the Humvees and to scavenge diesel for the generator. The supplies are placed in the office along with the extra weapons and ammunition. After the diesel is brought and off-loaded, the Humvees are parked close to the fence facing away but not close enough to be used to vault over the fence. The gate is then locked and the stairs raised as the sun descends toward the flat, sandy horizon; becoming to a giant ball of fire as it sinks closer to the horizon. The decision is made to leave the generator on in order to keep the radios alive. Although its noise may be an attractor, it has been running continuously for some time and therefore is not something significantly out of the ordinary.