Lone Star Odyssey- First Steps

by David Wilson

  After following the rail tracks for about a mile from the crash site I came to where the tracks intersected with Highway 100. Turning west I continued on towards the mall area feeling more and more exposed. So far I’ve not seen any other people moving in my direction but had seen several groups of what appear to be teenagers heading in the direction the mall. That was not good. I planned on waiting until dark to enter the mall, however if there were a lot of people at the mall I would have to make my move as soon as I could. Any break-in would be attributed to them and would keep anyone from looking for a single individual. Every couple minutes I would do a complete scan of the area. Other than the small gangs of skateboarders the area appeared to be empty. I used the time in between to go over my mental checklist of items I needed. Top of my priority list was 5.56 ammo for my M4, I would first load some mags and get my M4 fully operational. Second, 9 mm and grab a few more magazines for my Glock. If they had left out the pistols I was hoping to snag another Glock, maybe another 17 as a backup. That is what I normally carry as my tactical pistol. One of the best all around useful handguns ever made as far as I’m concerned. I wished again I had bought mine Model 19 as a backup, it already had a good RMR installed and sighted in and I trusted it as I have about 3000 rounds though it. But either way I needed a couple hundred rounds for both the 9 mm’s and at least six hundred rounds of 5.56. I know that sounds like a lot of ammo but I really, really hate being without ammo.

  First Gulf War, two days before the breach into Kuwait.

  The message came into the 8th Marine Regimental S-2, 10th Marines had reported they had several suspicious individuals in their custody that they had caught attempting to sneak out of Kuwait into Saudi Arabia. They were requesting for someone to come out and take them off their hands for interrogation. The request was passed on to our team. There were two CI sub-teams assigned to the 8th Marines, which made a total of six CI types and our two Kuwaiti interpreters. 10th Marines had sent an MP vehicle with a mounted M-2 (.50 caliber machine gun) over to “guide” us into their perimeter. As most of our guys had been busy most of the day it was decided that myself and the other sub-team commander would take our interpreter and take care of the incident. It was already late in the afternoon and total darkness comes quickly to the desert. This makes navigation difficult at best, even during the day there are very few landmarks, at night it is almost impossible. The best you can do is attempt to follow an azimuth. You have to remember that this was before GPS was common. Most of the times back than this was accomplished by having someone sit on the hood of the Hummer and give the driver hand and arm signals in a mostly vain attempt at navigation. But the MP driver claimed to “know” the way and off we went to accomplish our mission. True to his word the MP was able to get us to the outer perimeter of our destination. The problem being the canon cockers had laid in a hasty mine field that afternoon and it was not clearly marked for safe passage. It was determined that our best course of action was to halt in place and wait until daylight to proceed. Of course by the time we stopped we were already into the edge of the minefield and that meant no getting out of the vehicles for any reason. If you have never had the pleasure of attempting to sleep in a military Hummer, well unless you have done it, it is hard to explain how uncomfortable it is and it is not something you need to add to your bucket list. Anyway as nature would have it, it wasn’t too long before a couple of the guys began to complain about needing to relieve themselves. There are only a limited numbers of ways this can be done from inside a crowded Hummer. It was finally decided the best way to do this was for them to climb out the back and stay in the tire tracks. Yes, kids join the Marine Corps and see the world. Anyway shortly after solving this major problem, our Iraqi friends decided they had too much armor in their inventory and launched their one and only attack of the short war. Of course the location of their attack was the gap between the 10th Marines and the 8th Marines and just happened to be exactly where we were sitting in the middle of a minefield. Needless to say it got a little exciting for a few minutes. Oh, did I forget to mention that when we deployed, Uncle Sam only sent us over with side arms, our interpreters had M-16’s, so that gave us a total of two 9 mm pistols, two M-16’s and two AT-4’s. Where you ask is the logic of issuing us AT-4’s but not rifles, please I’m sure it made sense to someone, somewhere. Anyway the MP Hummer did have an M2 machine gun and the two MP’s were armed with both M-16’s and pistols but it was all pretty worthless against an armored battalion of T-55 and T-62 tanks. Our only chance was to hope they would not see our two Hummer’s in the dark. We were just getting ready to bug out when the 10th Marines made that a moot point. The Iraqi’s breached the berm about one click to our north but never made it beyond 500 meters from the original breach. Did I fail to mention that the 10th Marines were an artillery unit? As the Iraqi’s poured though the breach, the Marines lowered their 155 mm artillery tubes to ground level and opened fire. Long story short, there was nothing but a bunch of scrap metal left. The 10th Marines hammered each and every tank south of the breach into just so much junk. It was the most terrifying yet beautiful sight I have ever witnessed. We were about 400 yards to the west and maybe 100 yards behind the artillery tubes. When a 155 mm hits a T-55 at point blank range, well what can I say there really isn’t too much left, maybe a piece of track or a road wheel but that’s about all. The artillery was firing in volley and each time the six 155 mm’s would fire it was like the world exploded, the concussion even as far away as we were felt like it ripped the air from your lungs. The awe of it was completely mesmerizing. No words can really ever do it justice, it was just as we say in the Corps, it was fucking magic.

  Bottom line is I am not a fan of being under-gunned. More is better, bigger is good and more and bigger is really, really good. Like I said earlier, I would love to have an AR-10 vice an M4, but I will stick with the M4 because I can carry more ammo. I might change my mind if I can get my hands on a SCAR in .308, but more than likely even if Bass Pro has one they would only have the 10 round magazines for it, this is Maryland after all.

  As I continued to skirt the highway it took me about an hour to get within sight of the mall. Upon getting close I cut south across to the edge of the woods bordering Highway 100. I would need to cross over to get within sight of the store. At least the timing of the event had been during a time with low traffic, there were not a whole lot of cars within sight on the highway. I stood and watched the area for several minutes. Ideally the best spot to watch from was from the wooded area directly to the east of Bass Pro. The drawback to this was I would have to cross several roads and the likely hood of being seen was high. I really needed to get eyes on before dark to see any activity around the area. I decided that I would break down the M4 and conceal it in my pack so not to draw attention if I were spotted crossing any of the roads. After breaking it down I had to repack my ruck to make room but it was do this or stash the M4 and I really do not to do that. Putting the ruck back on I stood and watched again, seeing nothing I moved across Highway 100 as quickly as I could while at the same time keeping my movements slow enough that it would appear I was not in a hurry. Quick movement draws attention as does moving too cautiously as it appears to be sneaking or as my Dad would say, “Up to no good”. After crossing the highway I scouted around and found a couple of downed trees that still had the rootball attached. Both appeared to have blown down recently as they still had their leaves. I dropped my ruck and climbed up onto the closer of the two root balls and pulled out the small set of bino’s I had found in one of the rucks from the airplane. I swear if I can I’m going to al least attempt to get word to the SFC’s family to let them know what happen to him and thank them for his sacrifice. With his bino’s I was able to get a fairly good view of the roads leading into the mall area and the front entrance area of the Bass Pro.

  After a quick once over I was amazed to see no one and the glass doors of Bass Pro appeared to still be intact. From my vantage point I could not see the boat sale
s area but as far as I could tell there was no damage to any of the boats sitting out front. That thought caused me to think for just a second about the possibility to use a boat to get home but just as quick I dismissed it. One, I didn’t have the knowledge and skills to sail a boat from Baltimore to Houston and I didn’t want to waste the days it would take to get to the harbor to maybe find a suitable boat, maybe I might be able to figure out how to sail one by myself, and maybe I might be able to find the supplies I would need to manage the trip by water. Way too many maybe’s for me. While I am extremely confident in my land survival skills, I was not that confident in my limited, read non-existence, sailing skills.

  Under normal hiking conditions I know I could average 12 to 15 miles a day given the terrain in this area and some luck. That is as long as I didn’t have to scavenge for food or water or twist a knee or develop blisters. I know, I know, you are thinking that’s not very far. Backpackers on the AT often average 20 miles or more a day. Well wake up and smell the roses, this isn’t some pleasure hike with a box of supplies waiting at the next post office, or a store where you can resupply. But let’s say this is Burger King and you want it your way, so 20 miles a day it is, even if everything goes perfectly and I don’t have any trouble at all, I’m only going to cover approximately 220 – 240 miles before I’m completely out of food. It is approximately 1400 miles to Houston, TX. Also above all else, I must find water every day. Easy, there are a lot of streams, rivers, lakes and ponds in eastern Virginia, right? But it really isn’t about finding the water that is the easy part; it is how you handle the water. One drop of the wrong water could end your trip, forever. Pick up the wrong bacteria (read cholera), or amoeba (dysentery), or protozoa (giardia), by drinking contaminated water or absorbing through a scratch or cut and you will be down for the count without the proper medical treatment. Four-fifths of all illnesses in developing countries are caused by water-borne diseases, with diarrhea being the leading cause of death among children. With no power, where do you think all the sewage is going to end up once all the pumping stations stop. If there is one item you do not skimp on that is your water equipment. I still needed at least one more stainless steel water bottle, along with at least one more method to filter water, and as last resort, have a back-up bottle of water purification tablets or a small bottle of beach.

  I made myself relax and settled in to watch the area. It was at least two hours until the sun went down and I had no intentions of doing anything until well after dark. Actually I thought if there is no activity between now and dark I might make my move about an hour after total darkness. Hopefully the cloud cover would hang around, but even if it doesn’t there is not much of a moon anyway. The more I thought about it the more I wanted to get in, get out and get some distance before morning. Each day the situation was only going to get worse and worse and the faster I could get out of the built up area surrounding Baltimore the better.

  Movement caught my eye and I brought up the bino’s for a better look. A group of teenagers on skateboards came into focus. There were six of them, typically they would have gone unnoticed but these were not typical days and any group of people could be a threat. As I watched I saw the group approach some of the parked cars. They moved slowly by the cars and appeared to be looking into each of them. After stopping by one car, I couldn’t tell exactly the make or model but it looked to be an Accra or Infinity, they moved off a short distance and appeared to have a conversation before moving on to the south and out of sight. Looked to me like they were scouting out which vehicles to come back too after dark. That could be a problem, but I would really like to avoid them if I could. That way any break in’s might be attributed to them and would keep anyone from looking for a single individual.

  Every couple of minutes I would do a complete scan of the area. Other than the small gang of skateboarders the area appeared to be empty. I used the time in between to go over my mental list of items I needed. Ammo first priority, 5.56 first, load some mags and get my M4 fully operational. Then 9 mm ammo, if time, grab a few more magazines for the SIG. I had to keep reminding myself not to get too greedy, take only what I needed and get out. Get the ammo, move to the camping area and get a good water filter and a spare filter. Ideally I could grab a couple Platypus GravityWorks or a Katadyn Vario, along with a couple of Life Straws, but whichever one was there and also had an extra filter was the one I would grab. The best thing about the Platypus was you did not have to expose yourself for long to get water. All you had to do was take the dirty water bag, fill it from the water source and then you could move back to cover and filter it later. Next up would be food, grab and stuff as many Mountain House meals and bags of beef jerky as I could get into my bag. Than over to the back packing stove area, hopefully they would have a some solid fuel cubes, I have my Solo stove, but I really did want some of the cubes as they didn’t create as much smoke and as I would be in or close to built up areas for a while I did not want to attract any more attention than I had too. Later I would be traveling in areas that would have plenty of natural fuel.

  Next up would be a good quality sleeping pad for my Warbonnet hammock. The Warbonnet is a double-layered hammock with the ability to slide a sleeping pad between the two layers. In my younger days I did a lot of camping, mostly with old army shelter halves. While in Afghanistan I was turned on to using a hammock system. When most people hear the word hammock they conjure up an image of a large backyard hammock. But a good backpacking hammock system is something else entirely. While a decent one-person bivy tent could be found for around one hundred dollars. A Warbonnet or Clark 4-season hammock system with all the whistles and bells run about four hundred, but once you ever try one you will be listing all of your tents on Craig's List. My wife and I were over at one of the SF guy’s house for a cookout and he was showing his Warbonnet off and my wife could see it in my eyes when I turned to her to explain why I needed one. She stopped me before I could open my mouth and said absolutely NOT. End of that conversation. As I already had one, I didn’t argue with her. She always gave me a hard time about any “prepper stuff”, she really didn’t care but she just didn’t want to hear about it. I did not have an under or over quilt for my system, but I had spent the extra money on a Super Fly and all of the Dutchware for it. For those of you that have never messed with Dutchware, they take accessories and make them better, I don’t have time to explain how valuable their devices are for rigging a hammock, tarp or rain fly. Again another one of those things that make living on the go so much easier. I would keep my eyes open for an under quilt as the weather would be turning cooler at night and the only real draw back to a hammock is that it is not the warmest without the right add ons.

  I wish I was not in Maryland for the hundredth time. Any other Bass Pro in the world would have traps and snares, but probably not in this one, this is Maryland, can’t have any of those nasty traps that harm the local wildlife. I wonder where they all think their small dogs and cats run off to, yes as shocking as it is, those pets didn’t run away or get stolen, they become fast food for local coyotes or bobcats that roam freely in the local neighborhoods. “Oh look honey, see that beautiful wild animal, I wonder where Muffy is, he should be back by now, he just went outside to potty.” Morons. I would grab a roll of electric fence wire and make some snares. Snares and traps are quiet and don’t expend a lot of energy. I’m fairly confident I can at least find some old steel traps once I hit the countryside of Virginia. I also need to grab a set of Troy flip down or offset sights for my M4 as it does not currently have any backup iron sites. I’m a firm believer in redundancy. I’ve never had a Trijicon device go bad on me, but I have been known to be a little rough on gear. Just never hurts to have a backup. I wouldn’t pass up an RMR either as the ACOG has a mounting spot for one. Don’t know if the EMP would’ve shorted them out but it is worth a shot if one is lying around. Also will attempt to get a good suit of camouflage if I have time along with a good set of long johns and winter gloves. I would really l
ike a camo Gore-Tex jacket. I almost laugh out loud I can hear my wife, is this a need thing or is this a want thing. What I really need is to get in and out of Bass Pro as fast as I can. Lastly, I need to grab a bunch of AAA batteries for my headlamp and a new flashlight along with maybe a good weapons light for my M4 if they have any. At least my headlamp didn’t get burned during the EMP as I had gotten in the habit of never leaving batteries in it after ruining a Petzl by leaving batteries in it for a couple of years.

  Glancing up I saw the same group of boys approaching the front of the Bass Pro from the North. They slowed as they weaved between the boats but didn’t go near the big bay doors and quickly moved on pass the front of the store moving more or less in a straight line back to the car they checked out earlier. I wondered what their fascination was with this one car when I could see a couple of much nicer vehicles parked out front of Bass Pro not to mention the new four wheeler still parked outside of the front doors of the store. Looking back now this should’ve been an indicator to me. Trained observer my ass, maybe the government didn’t get their moneys worth when they sent me to all that training. It didn’t take long before they demonstrated why this particular car was of interest to skateboarders. The car was sitting all by itself and was one of those low-slung aerodynamic models. Perfect for using as a ready-made skateboard ramp. I just about jumped out of my skin when the first kid hit the car. By the time I got my binos up all I could see was a skateboard flying though the air and a body on the ground to the side of the vehicle. My first thought was that someone had shot him but then I saw the kid slowly get his hands under himself to push himself up into sitting position. I could hear the other boys laughing and making fun of him.