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Karen came to both Sheri’s and Chuck’s rescue, “Mallory, if you could designate one ‘Female’ for Sheri and I, one ‘Male’ for Eric and Chuck, and I think one ‘Family’--assuming that’s ok, Joel, Rachael?”

With nods and agreement all around, it was decided.

“Sergeant Ramirez, would you please see to the rooms.  This conference room is yours for now as well.  If you need anything, one of the guardsmen should be able to find either Sergeant Ramirez or myself.”

Chapter Fourteen

Once all the guardsmen left, nobody said anything for almost a minute.  As stressful as the last day and a half had been, they‘d also been so busy that they hadn’t been able to stop and think about what it all meant until now.  As a group, they were taking it fairly well.  There hadn’t been any real panic, yet.  Disbelief, and tension, sure, but along with it there was a core of trust that had allowed them to overcome it.  Most people didn’t have that core of trust on a large scale, and the result had just played itself out at the entrance to the Armory.

“How do you think it’s going to go?” Chuck asked Eric.

“Mallory is smart, and she’s good at what she does.  Part of it depends on whether or not there’s any communications capability with higher up yet.  If not, it’s all up to her, and this little incident will probably help tip the balance towards getting out of Dodge.  If she gets micromanaged then all bets are off.”

“I take back what I said about defensibility.  They obviously did fine.”  Joel said.

“No, you’re still right.”  Eric replied.  “Against a concerted attack along the entire perimeter there’s no way to protect this position as it sits.  With some time and more people, sure, but I think we just found out that we don’t have the former, and how do we trust or train the latter?”

“People really aren’t taking this well are they?”  Joel asked with a straight face.

“Um, no Dad, they aren’t.” Josh answered, equally stoically.  “The giveaway for me was the whole pulling the guns and everybody getting on the floor while the Army base was under attack.  How about you?”

Rachael was really trying not to laugh while Chuck just stared at Josh and Joel.  Karen and Sheri shook their heads.  Maya summed it up best when she said in that exasperated tone that only an eleven year old can have, “MEN!”

For the second time that day, they laughed until they cried; the stress relief was amazing--even if short-lived.  They were wiping their eyes when Ramirez came back in with a number of sets of keys to let them know where they would be sleeping.  “Oh, come on guys, she’s not always this bad.  She grows on you…kinda like a fungus.  You get used to her.”

“Can it, Ramirez.” Eric chuckled.

“Right, anyway, I’ve got squad bays set up for you folks and if you’d like to follow me I’ve got keys for you all and we can bring your luggage in as well.  You’re all parked in a more interior area and you’ll have a couple of armed escorts while we have someone watching from the tower.”

“Works.” Eric said and got up to lead the way.

“Looks like bunk beds tonight, hon.” Rachael said as Joel followed her into their unlocked squad bay with the bags he’d carried in from the SUV.  “They’re even bolted to the floor.  Worse than college.”

Maya and Josh rolled their eyes at each other as Josh dug through the extra backpack that he’d brought inside.  “Since the conference room has power I figured we’d charge the games and the cell phones.  No reason to let them go completely dead, and we’ll probably use the alarms in the morning again.”

“Ok Josh, knock it off, you’re making me look bad,” Joel said with a mock scowl.  “So, what are we going to do for the rest of the day?”

The short answer was…not much.  Over the next three hours they wandered around the main areas of the Armory as a group and watched as people slowly trickled in.  At one point they saw Sergeant Ramirez walking with a slightly less determined stride from one place to another and took the opportunity to ask a couple of questions.

“Looks like you’re getting some new recruits,” Joel motioned to the steadily increasing population in the main hall.

“Actually, Top’s been sending out groups to pick up Guardsmens’ families since yesterday afternoon.  We’re about halfway through the list of folks that have mustered,” Kyle replied.  “In a number of cases, bringing them in has been by far the safest thing to do.  We’re also pretty sure it’s what triggered the group who tried to get in earlier this afternoon.”

“Any word from higher?” Eric asked.

“Not yet.  No communication whatsoever.  I’ll admit we aren’t trying real hard though.  Everything’s hooked up and we’re listening, but we’re only transmitting once every six hours for the time being.  I gotta run.  Give us another hour or so and I’ll probably be coming to find you guys.”  With that, he was off again.

…

It wasn’t actually until dinner that they saw Ramirez again and he caught up to them as they were lining up.  “Sorry guys, it’s been a bit crazy for me today, apparently the power is out.” He winked at Karen who rolled her eyes.  “I know today’s probably been boring as sin for you but, believe me, I think it’ll pick up here shortly.  Let me fill you in at dinner and then Top wants to get together with everyone if that’s ok?”

“Fine by me,” Eric said and looked around to nods and shrugs.

At the same table they had used at lunch Kyle gave them a rundown of the day’s activities, which included one more recent attempt to raise the local Army base, the Pentagon, and NORAD.  “We’ll be picking people up throughout the night and into tomorrow afternoon most likely, but we should have everyone who’s coming in accounted for no later than tomorrow night.”

“Any idea which way Top is going to jump?” Eric asked.

“Possibly, but I’m not going to say anything until she sits down with you guys.  Sorry, Eric.”

Eric made a c’est la vie face and shrugged.

“Has there been any word from any other source?  Like CBs or short-wave from further away?” Rachael asked.

“There has, but it’s all been general and it’s all been pretty much the same and very fragmentary.  The power is out; some folks think it’s the end of the world while others are just waiting for it to come back on.  Mass panic hasn’t set in everywhere yet but its hit in a lot of places, mostly because there is simply no communication with the outside world and that’s what has people the most freaked out.”

“What’s the furthest away you’ve gotten reports from?”

Kyle made a face for a second, “I think the furthest away we’ve gotten a relayed report from about the power being out was Anchorage.”

Conversation continued until everyone finished and Kyle ushered everyone to the conference room with the exception of the kids. 

“Ok, off to bed you two,” Rachael said.  “Or at least into our room.  We don’t need to be taking up as much room as we are and we still have some things to discuss.”

“Mom, I’m not tired--it’s not even 6:30!” Maya complained, and then ruined her case by yawning.

“Uh-huh, fine, you can play your handheld ‘global domination magical pet horse trading game’ then.  I’ll come with you and get you and your brother settled in but then the adults still have a lot to discuss…”

…

Mallory came into the room with her three platoon Sergeants in tow again.  This time she introduced them to the group.  “Everyone, this is Sergeant Bill Stewart, Sergeant Allen Halstead, and Sergeant Douglas Jackson.  I lean on these guys pretty heavily when we go on maneuvers; and if we have any planning that needs to be done, I need them here.”

At Eric’s raised eyebrows, Mallory explained herself.  “Yes, I said planning.  The decision is still mine, but if planning needs to be done I’m going to avail myself of all possible tools at my disposal.  Yes, Eric, I just called you a tool.”  Mallory smiled as Eric put on a faux-pained expression.

“Joel, you brought up a number of good points but the one that concerns me the most is one I’ve considered as well, but only tangentially.  The fact that a day into this mess a civilian was already thinking of it does not give me the warm fuzzies.  You’re correct that the Armory is in the middle of Nashville, and that it’s really not that defensible of a position--that’s because it was never intended to be.”  Mallory was trying not to lecture but she had to get some basic information out to the non-military people in the room.  “The Armory is basically a staging area, a rallying point if you will.  We muster here and get sent elsewhere to fight or support if necessary.  We don’t train here; we hold onto and maintain equipment here.”

Rachael came in from settling the kids in at this point and took a seat.

“So, as you mentioned, tactically this position is sub-optimal to say the least.  I was not going to have this portion of the discussion in front of your kids though.  Frankly, I wasn’t going to have it in front of you, either, but you brought it up first, so I’m not going to hide it from you.  Stewart, Halstead, Jackson--we are going to need an Advance Area.  I want some suggestions on a TOE for a detachment, including size and specific individuals you would send tomorrow morning.  Here’s the kicker, I need it in one hour.” Mallory paused to let that sink in.

Kyle’s face fell.  “Oh that is so unfair, they get a whole hour!”

“Can it, Ramirez.”

“I’m getting a lot of that today.”

“Something’s telling me you get a lot of that most days,” Joel said.

“What can I say, there’s a reason I’m still a Staff Sergeant.”

“Wrong, there’s probably fifty reasons you’re still a Staff Sergeant, Ramirez,” Mallory rejoined.  The mood lightened in the room a little.

“Top, how long do you anticipate the forward deployment being on its own, and do you have any idea where it’s headed?”  Stewart asked.

“Good question, Eric, I’ll start by deferring to you.  When I asked you if you had reached your final destination earlier this afternoon you said no.  Care to share where you were headed?”

“Absolutely.  Love to, as a matter of fact.  We were planning on heading to Natchez Trace State Park.  Based on the Taylor’s previous visits and what we’d been able to piece together from a couple of road atlases, it might do well for what you’re thinking.  It’s about eighty-five miles west of Nashville, and ten or twelve miles from the next largest town.  It straddles Highway 40, and has three or four good sized lakes if I recall correctly.  It’s fairly wooded and I would think that game would be, if not abundant, certainly sufficient for the time being.”

Mallory had assumed her ‘thinking pose’ with elbows on the table and steepled index fingers against pursed lips.  She was tapping her thumbs together.  “Were you already thinking of getting us out of here?”

Eric didn’t answer the question directly right away.  “It was Rachael, I think, who brought up the park.  She mentioned that the family had camped there a couple of years ago.”  He stopped for a few seconds and then went on, “Bringing at least some of the guard along
did
come up during the discussion though, yes.”

Mallory looked over to where Rachael and Joel were sitting and nodded, “And neither of you were ever in the military, huh?  Too bad--for the military, that is.  You’ve both got really good instincts.  Both of your kids do too, for that matter--not that I think you need my validation on that--but I actually enjoyed talking to both Josh and Maya at lunch, very mature for their ages.”

Joel and Rachael couldn’t help but smile a little at the compliment, more so for their children than for themselves.

“That, however, doesn’t let my right arms get to their assigned task.  Before I start your clocks, gentlemen, no, I don’t know how long I anticipate the detachment to operate on its own.  Assume two weeks of operations in an unknown--but not a known hostile--environment before anyone else joins you.  Also assume that there will not be either the ability or the availability to supplement your rations; I would rather you be pleasantly surprised than hungry.  Assume one of you will be leading the detachment, because one of you will.  However, one of the many first things to do will be to get communication back to the Armory set up.”

Sergeant Jackson glanced over at Kyle and back to Mallory, and she responded in the very next breath.  “I have not yet decided if Mr. Ramirez will be part of the deployment.  Jackson, if you go, he doesn’t--
end
of discussion.  You two get in too much trouble where I can actually see you, there is
no way
I’m sending you two out there together eighty-five miles away.”

Mallory rolled her eyes heavenward and held her hands palms up, “Please give me strength.  I know they think I’m crazy for staying in all these years, but do they really think I’m
stupid
?”  She shook her head and looked back at her platoon leaders.

“If there are no further questions…dismissed.”  All three Sergeants got up, said their goodbyes to the rest of the group and trooped out, already discussing the beginnings of their operational plan. 

“Now, Mr. Taylor, I know I’m going to regret this but I’m going to ask anyway.  Have you come up with any more disasters for us to deal with?”

Chapter Fifteen

“Actually, yes…fires.”

“You are going to be so much fun, I can just tell.”  She took the sting out of the comment with a smile, but Joel knew what she meant.  “Go on.”

Joel was taking Rachael at her word; they needed someone to look at the big picture.  “There are bound to be fires eventually.  Someone will fall asleep with a cigarette in bed or try cooking with a gas grill inside, or some nutjob who wants to watch the world burn will try to do just that.” 

“Then there are natural fires-- in the city or the surrounding countryside.  We get some whopper thunderstorms down here, as you well know, and lightning strikes are common enough.  Those can certainly start fires, although depending on how bad the rain is they may not cause too much damage.  Either way, fire could become a real problem if it got out of hand.”

“You don’t seem to think it’s going to be as big a problem as, say, disease though, correct?” Mallory asked.

“Basically, yes, for a couple of reasons.  Fires are preventable to a large degree, and even if they do occur they typically don’t burn down entire neighborhoods.  We don’t live in the era of Mrs. O'Leary’s cow kicking over a lantern and burning down Chicago anymore.  Forest fires are the one thing that truly scare me, but we can’t do a thing about those so I have to just back off from thinking about them so it doesn’t drive me insane.”