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Old 10-03-2015, 06:06 AM
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RandyT0001 RandyT0001 is offline
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Day 002
Scattered clouds moved in from the west. However, the best thing is the smell of smoke from the west. I told Angela and Charles to find some clothes out of the contact packs that fit them and get ready for a first contact encounter. I told the rest of the team to prep for travelling over watch duty. I told the team that we would exit the bolthole and secure it from intrusion. Then the team will proceed due west with Angela and Charles as point team, George and Eric as cover team and Laura and I as the reserve team. The rally point will be 100m east of the bolthole. Angela will be the primary contact person and will not have a radio so watch for the standard hand signals. Charles will have a radio and can relay messages with the rest of the team. I know the team will do well. My biggest worry is her accent. Five years after the war and a New England accent might be ‘unusual’ but several decades after the war it might be ‘out of place’.

After travelling west for about a kilometer, we intersect a north-south wagon trail or pathway. The wagon trail was probably wide enough for the Hummers, if we could find a path through the trees to get there. From a few vantage points while crossing the hills, I could see that north of our axis of travel there was flat land so I directed the contact team to follow the wagon trail north. About a third of a kilometer north, the trail met with a wider dirt road. Eric says the road is low tech but well designed, being peaked and sloped for drainage and, apparently, dragged for smoothness. We just have to find the government that maintains the road.

At this point, a wagon rounded the curve in the road to the south and came into view. Angela and Charles signaled the wagon to stop and talked to the couple driving it for about five minutes. The middle-aged couple, Sam and Bernice Walton, was in route to Falkner, the Le-fáy-et county seat, to repair the tower clock. Sam said the war happened long ago before his father was born, seventy years ago. Angela and Charles claimed to be travelling in search of baby clothes. I don’t think Bernice believed them because when she heard that reason her eyes about dropped out of her skull having popped so wide. Sam Walton told them about a village just past the curve to the south and suggested they ask those families about old baby clothes.

Once the Walton wagon had travelled a few hundred meters north, the team moved south to the village. Once Angela and Charles could see the first building I ordered them off the road. I told the team that we would conduct a sweep around the perimeter of the village to find good observation posts. The team was to avoid contact with locals. I assigned members to the OP’s. For the remainder of the day the team observed the movements and people of the village. About an hour before sunset, I ordered the team to gather at my post. From there the team returned to the bolthole via over watch movement.

Since the wind was from the west, I agreed to Laura’s preparation of a hot soup meal for the team. After assigning watches, the team met to discuss plans for tomorrow’s initial contact with the villagers. Based on the day’s observations several people would visit one centralized building, possibly a general store or church. In the morning, the team would return to the village in Project uniforms and proceed to that building to introduce ourselves. Our goals would be a peaceful encounter to obtain information and assistance to recover our vehicles.
John Aaron Bell

Last edited by RandyT0001; 10-11-2015 at 01:49 PM.
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