John O'Brien - Awakening

“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.