Dark Grid (Book 1)

by David C. Waldron

  “Change of topic. Are you planning on pushing on to whatever your final destination is today or have you reached your final destination?” Mallory asked, wearing her diplomat’s hat.

  Everyone was looking at Eric now so he felt compelled to answer the question. “Not necessarily, and no, why?

  “Multiple reasons,” Mallory replied, “not the least of which is that I’m sure you could all do with some additional rest after the last couple of nights. Joel, you’ve brought up a very good point about this particular location and one that I would like to address. Finally, there is the nature of the Guard specifically and the Army and military in general.” Mallory stopped for a moment to gather her thoughts.

  “In principle the Guard is here to protect the civilian population and assist the full time military or, in the case of a natural disaster, local and state law enforcement. It’s more complicated than that in practice because people and politics end up getting in the way, but the idea is pretty straightforward. In order to do that, however, we need to be able to function as a unit or units and in order to do that we need to protect ourselves.”

  Mallory nodded to Joel, “As you mentioned, this is not the most defensible position in the world or even in this city. Staying here is probably not the best long-term solution and thinking long term is where everyone’s head needs to be right now. You’ve left your homes for what I assume is the same reason. Unfortunately, making the decision to leave and actually doing so are a little more involved for a group the size of the Armory.

  “For example, we have over two hundred vehicles that would need to be moved to wherever we’re going along with all the materiel that goes along with supporting however many people come with us. No matter where we go we will have a huge impact on our destination, assuming that we do in fact relocate.” Mallory held up her hand to forestall any interruptions.

  “We’re not making decisions right here, right now, around this table. That isn’t what this is about and please, don’t take this wrong, but none of you are in the military chain of command--at any level.” Mallory’s glance lingered a little longer on Eric than any of the other civilians at the table, but not by much. “It behooves any leader to have as much information as possible at her disposal before making a decision, which is what I’m trying to do but this is still a military installation and as such it must remain a military decision.”

  “All of that being said,” Mallory broke off and her head whipped around as a number of things happened at the same time. Mallory, Ramirez, and all three of her platoon leaders were out of their chairs and crouched down in a number of positions that could only be described as tactical with their side arms out. Eric shouted, without actually shouting, for everyone to get on the floor now and Joel heard yelling and the echo of gunfire. Finally, there was the sound of boots coming down the hallway and a voice calling for the First Sergeant.

  “Top, we have a situation,” the voice said.

  “HALT!” one of the platoon leaders barked, and the footsteps stopped.

  “Sergeant Jackson, Specialist Davis reporting. Zulu duress Sergeant”

  If he’d actually said ‘zero duress’ or ‘no duress’ they would have known he wasn’t alone.

  “Proceed at a walk on the far side of the hall, son.”

  All three platoon leaders had their firearms trained on the door and Ramirez was physically between the door and Mallory. Joel thought to himself, “I never realized how seriously they take this.” Then again, he, Eric, and Chuck had once again made a human wall in front of the women and children--even crouched down as they were.

  Once Davis came into view he stopped and waited to be recognized, with his hands visible, and the Sergeant who’d identified himself as Jackson did a quick head bob out the door to verify that nobody else was in the hallway. “Come in, Davis. What just happened?!” Everyone slowly got up and Eric motioned his group back to their chairs.

  “Sergeants…Top,” he nodded to everyone. “We just had another group show up, but this one tried to ram and then shoot their way into the Armory.” Although he said it like he was reading the weather report his face told a different story.

  Jackson asked, “Any casualties?”

  Davis’s eyes flicked to the civilian group before answering the question. “None whatsoever from the Guardsmen or their families. Unknown for certain on the, uh…Sergeant, what in the world do I call US citizens who attack the Armory?”

  Mallory stepped in before Jackson could answer. “You call them misguided, scared, and in the end you call them to account for what they’ve done. If you have to put a label on them, though, call them the OpFor. That way they can simply be the other guy without being the bad guy.” Jackson nodded, almost to himself, at Mallory’s response.

  “Fair enough, Top. Uncertain number of casualties for the Opposing Force as they took off when we fired back. We do know that they didn’t leave any vehicles or people but we weren’t aiming to miss. If anyone was armed and aiming at us,” Davis closed his eyes and took a breath, “I’m pretty sure they got hit.”

  Mallory held up her hand for Davis to stop and turned to Eric. “E.T., folks, I’m afraid I need to be devoted to some strictly military matters for the time being. I can’t hold you here but I would suggest that leaving right this minute would be a very bad idea. Before I duck out for a while I would like to offer you a place to stay until tomorrow morning. We’ve got a number of squad bays and we won’t be using them all tonight. I don’t know everyone’s situation, but…”

  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 n
umber 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.”