Grabbing the mic, I say, “Lynn, this is Jack, over.”
“Go ahead, Jack,” Lynn responds.
“What’s your location?”
“We’re just passing that creek before the casino,” she answers.
“Okay, stage there. It looks like they have some sort of encampment here. I need to analyze it more. We’ll come up with a plan afterwards,” I say.
“Okay, Jack, we’re staging off the road and will await your call,” Lynn replies.
“I want to get a look at the other side and get a recording of the entire camp,” I tell Greg.
“Okay, it looks like we can sneak around to the east and cut behind that far tree line,” he responds pointing to a band of trees in the distance.
The camp around the high school itself is surrounded by a chain link fence with barbed wire encircling the top. Constructed back a little from each corner is a built up, covered observation platform. An overhang stretches around the exteriors and it looks as if the ladders can be pulled up creating bunkers that can’t be scaled easily. To the extent that I can see from this vantage point, the platforms are also constructed at intervals around the perimeter and the corner ones are manned. A string of pole-mounted lights also line the perimeter with what appears to be small spotlights on the towers themselves.
“Okay, let’s try and sneak around that way,” I say agreeing with Greg and wanting to get a recording of the other side as well.
I swing the nose around to the east keeping below the camp’s line of sight and far enough away that I believe the sound of our engines and rotor won’t be heard. Hopping over various tree lines and buildings, we make our way around, looking ahead through the camera before our next hop.
“Whoa, what’s that?” Greg says as we settle behind one particular line of trees.
I look down at the screen and see movement in a large clearing ahead in the distance. Working with the zoom controls once again, I see people scattered across the field. Some appear to be working on fields that have obviously been plowed while others seem to be working on structures in various states of construction. The people, for the most part, appear unarmed with others standing around are obviously armed. Yellow school buses dot the entrance.
“What’s that look like to you?” I ask Greg. I have my own ideas from years of experience in the field but perhaps my view is biased.
“Well, it could be that those standing around are keeping guard and a watch out for those working in the fields and buildings, but I would think they would be more on the perimeter if that were the case. Instead, they seem to be focused inward so my best guess is they are guarding the people working. Their stance and positions are more in line with people guarding prisoners,” he says after looking at the screen for a moment.
“That’s what I think as well. That sort of fits in with the apparent attack on Gonzalez and the kids,” I reply.
“Yeah, it does fit in with the overall theme. So do you think they’re capturing people to work on their farm or whatever it is up there?” He asks.
“So it would seem,” I answer. “Let’s work our way further south and east around this and come at the camp from the north.”
“Sounds good to me. I count about twenty guards and at least fifty people working. It’s hard to get an exact number from here,” Greg says.
“That’s about what I have. It would be hard to assault with the guards inter-mixed the way they are,” I say edging the aircraft back after recording the scene.
“Yeah, there might be some collateral casualties depending on the guard’s reactions,” he replies.
“Let’s see what we can see from the other side and regroup,” I say hating to even voice those words. I am wanting my kids back and to see how they are but know that this has to be played right. Rushing in could make it much worse. We swing further south and I relay the latest information to Lynn along with my thoughts.
“Okay, Jack, just don’t get it in your mind to go in and play hero,” she responds.
“No worries, we’re just going to get video and survey the camp,” I say.
“I know you, Jack, just make sure that’s all you do. We’ll be standing by,” Lynn says.
Edging around the entire area, we come up on the camp from the north, stopping a distance out but where we can get an effective picture of the layout from the this side. It looks pretty much like the south with towers and fencing. The only difference is the fence’s closer proximity to the buildings as opposed to open fields on the south side. I’m not sure how they are keeping the night runners away just using a chain link fence but they’ve survived this long so they must be doing something right.
Completing our surveillance, I circumvent the camp to the west wanting to get an overview of the entire surrounding region. I’m pretty familiar with the area but I want to get a better picture and leave the recorder on as we pass by on our way back towards Lynn. I feel very reluctant to leave and I have a knot in the pit of my stomach but I know it’s for the best. Still leap-frogging along, I set the camera on thermal looking for any outriders from the camp remembering the movements I saw previously. Nothing shows up but in the event they do have people watching the roads, I know back ways in to avoid them. I let Lynn know we’re on our way back and eventually spot the heated outlines of the Humvees in the distance parked on a side road.
“Lynn, let’s regroup back at base, look at the footage, and go from there,” I say coming to a hover close by.
“Copy that,” she responds. I see soldiers gather in the vehicles and turn back towards Olympia.
Greg and I are mostly silent on the quick flight back to Cabela’s. My mind is racing through ideas and scenarios, keeping some and discarding others. What I really want to do is sneak into the encampment and bring Gonzalez and the kids out. I store that away. I am eager to get back and get a plan underway. My landing on the hard surface is indicative of my anxiousness as I compress both Greg’s and my spine with the firm landing. Team members left behind to guard our sanctuary are gathered outside waiting to hear any news. I’m sure they have been monitoring the radio but we didn’t really say much over it.
The rotor winds down slowly, far too slowly for my liking but they eventually come to a stop and I hop out. I pull the tape from the Kiowa and walk to the crowd gathered. Giving a quick synopsis of what we found, I stroll inside and gather several camp tables together in the middle of the first level. I ask Bannerman for a laptop from the several he has acquired during team outings for supplies along with a VHS player we acquired from Fort Lewis. Hooking up the player to the laptop, I plug the tape in and test it. The imagery isn’t exactly like the high definition we had become used to in the last years before the change in the world but it is clear enough for what we need.
Greg and I, along with others looking in over our shoulders, begin to go through the recorded footage, waiting for Lynn and the other teams to arrive. We begin mapping the encampment to the best of our ability on a large sheet of wrapping paper Bannerman procured. Frank begins taking notes as we discuss the layout.
A surge of engine noises drift in through the open doors signaling the arrival of the other vehicles. The faint sound of doors banging closed follows shortly thereafter. Lynn and the other team leaders crowd around the small screen as the images are replayed numerous times. The camp layout is eventually put down on the paper and plotted along with the outlying farm. The farm, while looking through the images, has a similar chain link fence surrounding it. There doesn’t appear to be any of the tower structures nor do any of the structures appear to be living quarters. From the buses parked at the only entrance, it’s apparent they drive over to tend to the fields from the nearby high school.