Story Market Day
- Thread starter ComCamGuy
- Start date
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Preparations Accelerate
The activities definitely shifted the next several days. Everyone was trying to figure out what they were going to take with them, where it was going to be packed and how. Veronica was still going to work, but now it was to submit paperwork and clear out stuff. The announcement was made. The detachment was moving out to the range and downsizing.
Early retirements were authorized. Veronica didn’t think things would hold together much longer. The reason she was leaving, she told her co-workers, The whole move was nothing more than rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. She wanted off before it sank. She was only hanging around to help pack the shop up since she had nothing else to do and wanted to help her coworkers who were being left holding the bag as it were, or at least that is what she told everyone.
Since most people were still trying to decide what to do and were making plans Veronica volunteered to spearhead the movement of the equipment. This way she could keep an eye on what was being moved to the range, and what was being turned in. She knew how much got lost or became unaccounted for when units shut down, especially on a closing base. Veronica could also make some useful bits slide their way under the radar for their own trip. If they were getting turned in anyway, they might as well get used. Lost is lost.
While this was underway, Violet was trying to make other preparations with the help of Owen and the kids. She knew it was important to keep Owen busy, insulated and make him feel part of the team as quickly as possible. It was the psychological part of the POW who started to collaborate with enemy to bringing back to the fold. Veronica and Violet understood what he did and why. They needed him to realize they knew and accepted it and didn’t think bad of him for it.
Derek and Gretchen were scrounging for useful parts at the local junk yards and scrap yards. The big scores they found were a pair of ladder racks for their trucks. The other parts they were still searching for were more rims with decent tires and some brush guards they could modify to fit.
Derek and Gretchen were using Veronica’s Ent as a template, or at least inspiration for their own travel vehicles. With some lumber for a platform, they figured to make sleeping platforms they could put tents on. Nothing fancy like the pop up on the G Wagon Ent, but they were starting small.
Owen was trying to get into the spirit of things. It was hard as he struggled with Daniel’s death and worse, his lack of funds for the project. Finally, he was struck with an idea he could do on a the cheap. He would stop trying to be like the others and copying the G Wagon. He would make his van a tiny house.
With a new direction and inspiration as the idea in his head, he was excited to get started. His first chore was stripping the interior and putting a bunch of insulation in. He scrounged around Veronica’s house finding some house insulation and wood left over from the renovation of the basement which was perfect for the walls for his van. He wired the electrical for the lights, stove, stereo and other device into the walls. In some spots along the walls he ran long 8” PVC pipes in the insulation space to store the fishing gear, bows, arrows and other long fragile things. He was throwing himself into the design and building as a way to distract his mind, not that it worked much against the quiet nights.
Derek and Gretchen had their trucks up on jack stands in the garage one afternoon when a new vehicle showed up. It was absolutely huge. A monstrous truck with a box on the back, it reminded Derek of a moving van, but different. He slid out from under Gretchen’s truck and checked his pistol as he looked at Gretchen.
“Go get Violet.”
Without a word, Gretchen went inside the house to get Violet. Moments later, Violet was coming down the stairs when the truck’s air brakes let out a big hiss, along with its powerful diesel motor shut down. The driver’s door opened as Violet hit the driveway.
Violet looked at the massive tan double cab medium duty ambulance, trying to figure out who it could be when she saw Bron’s smiling face come around the fender.
“You like?”
“What the hell, Bron? This thing is huge!” Violet said as she walked up to their friend.
“This was my project that got me through my divorce. I’ would get pissed off and have to rear something up or bang on shit and forget things for a while, so I would go out and work on my conversion camper!” She said, with her half smirk half grin.
“Why such a big ambulance or why an ambulance at all for that matter?” Violet asked, still not believing it.
“I got a hell of a deal for one thing. I won it at an on line auction from some business going bankrupt who used to do a bunch of medical support contracts overseas. Well with all the draw down over the last couple of years, this company had to fold with no new contracts to keep it afloat. Low milage, big engine, lots of solid spaces and cabinets inside, separate HVAC system and an on board generator for the back already installed. They had to worry about long stretches between locations so it has absolutely monstrous fuel tanks that feed the generator and the engine so, all I had to do was repurpose the inside. Right now I have it piled with a bunch of the stuff from the shop Veronica wanted to steal, I mean transfer to other units, otherwise I would give you the nickel tour.”
Violet looked at this monster, thinking it was the exact opposite of Veronica’s stealth Ent. Bron wasn’t subtle in anything, and this was definitely her. Violet looked over at Derek and Gretchen.
“You heard the woman, we have loot to unload.”
Bron stepped around to the side door of the box. When she opened the door, a set of steps lowered, making it easier for her to get in.
“You know there is a problem, when you need a ladder to get in.” Violet quipped watching Bron climb up the steps.
“Yeah, well, it’s part of the price I have to pay for the ground clearance and four wheel drive.” Bron shot back as she started handing boxes out the door.
Violet started carrying them into the garage. Gretchen was next. When she was handed the box, she wasn’t sure what to do with it.
“Where do we put these? In the downstairs storage room?”
Violet answered before anyone else did.
“No, lets stack them up here in the back of the garage so Veronica can sort through them. I would hate to move them three or four times.”
For a good twenty or thirty minutes, the group kept unloading boxes and stacking them in the garage. There were all kinds of boxes; cardboard, shipping trunks, duffle bags and more. The pile kept growing in the garage until finally Bron told them they had the last one.
“OK, Bron, now that the scut work is done, tell me more about this beast.” Violet said as she climbed up the steps into the back of the box.”
Violet was surprised. She was expecting the standard ambulance interior or the standard military style cabinets and such. Instead, everywhere she looked was the warm feel of wood. Wood paneling on the walls, the ceiling, the front of the cabinets, all done in a craftsman style. She just stood and stared.
“Not what you were expecting?” Bron asked her as she stood there. Derek, Gretchen and Owen came in as well.
“Absolutely not!” For a few moments everyone stood in awe, running their hands over the wood and marveling in the stark contrast to what they expected. Bron just stood there with a smile.
“This is bigger than my first apartment! Nicer too!” Violet exclaimed.
Owen thought it was bigger than his last apartment. He pushed those memories back in the corner he was trying to banish them. Instead, he was focusing on things he could do in his own build. He tried to pay attention when Bron started talking again.
“I did the platform bed against the front wall so I still had a huge area for storage and closet. The door in the front corner used to be access to the big ass O2 tanks. It’s now a wet bath. The cabinets down the driver’s side I turned into the kitchen and that’s also where the electrical rat’s nest ends up in the back with the generator. The cabinet in the back of the passenger side is where the rack mounts for the computer gear lives.”
Everyone was ooing and ahing as the looked at everything.
“All this wood must weigh a ton.” Owen commented.
“Not really. Its 1/8” Birch plywood I used to basically make paneling and reface the cabinet doors. I got lucky in the whole weight thing as well. The company down in Houston who built it doesn’t use any wood when they build the box. It’s all aluminum frame and honeycomb panels. It was already heavily insulated for the desert heat as well. They originally designed this for critical care long range transport. I found some of the original design plans and concepts. It was planned for up to three medical people working in the back on the patient. That’s why the four door and four seat cab.”
“What about feeding this big ass thing?” Violet was thinking it would take forever to hand pump fuel in for this thing.
“This thing has fuel for days. Three hundred gallon saddle tanks up front and a ninety gallon auxiliary tank in the back for the generator. They used to have two, but I pulled the second one to use the space for water.”
“Shit! That’s a ton of fuel!” Derek exclaimed.
“Actually a ton and a half. I did the math.” Bron smirked.
While everyone else was looking nuts and bolts, Gretchen was looking at the curtains, the painting, and all the other style touches. It looked a lot like some of their parent’s furniture and decorations from Germany.
“I love the designs and colors with everything you’ve done in here.”
“Thanks! It’s my homage to my Romani heritage.”
Violet was paying attention now to the design bits Gretchen was looking at.
“I didn’t know you were Romani?” Violet asked as she traced a finger over one of the inlays.
Bron’s voice took on a different, sadder tone now.
“Yeah, half my family made it out to America. The other half, Birkenau.” She rubbed the thin bracelet Violet had always seen her wear. It had numbers on it she didn’t understand before. She did now.
The activities definitely shifted the next several days. Everyone was trying to figure out what they were going to take with them, where it was going to be packed and how. Veronica was still going to work, but now it was to submit paperwork and clear out stuff. The announcement was made. The detachment was moving out to the range and downsizing.
Early retirements were authorized. Veronica didn’t think things would hold together much longer. The reason she was leaving, she told her co-workers, The whole move was nothing more than rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. She wanted off before it sank. She was only hanging around to help pack the shop up since she had nothing else to do and wanted to help her coworkers who were being left holding the bag as it were, or at least that is what she told everyone.
Since most people were still trying to decide what to do and were making plans Veronica volunteered to spearhead the movement of the equipment. This way she could keep an eye on what was being moved to the range, and what was being turned in. She knew how much got lost or became unaccounted for when units shut down, especially on a closing base. Veronica could also make some useful bits slide their way under the radar for their own trip. If they were getting turned in anyway, they might as well get used. Lost is lost.
While this was underway, Violet was trying to make other preparations with the help of Owen and the kids. She knew it was important to keep Owen busy, insulated and make him feel part of the team as quickly as possible. It was the psychological part of the POW who started to collaborate with enemy to bringing back to the fold. Veronica and Violet understood what he did and why. They needed him to realize they knew and accepted it and didn’t think bad of him for it.
Derek and Gretchen were scrounging for useful parts at the local junk yards and scrap yards. The big scores they found were a pair of ladder racks for their trucks. The other parts they were still searching for were more rims with decent tires and some brush guards they could modify to fit.
Derek and Gretchen were using Veronica’s Ent as a template, or at least inspiration for their own travel vehicles. With some lumber for a platform, they figured to make sleeping platforms they could put tents on. Nothing fancy like the pop up on the G Wagon Ent, but they were starting small.
Owen was trying to get into the spirit of things. It was hard as he struggled with Daniel’s death and worse, his lack of funds for the project. Finally, he was struck with an idea he could do on a the cheap. He would stop trying to be like the others and copying the G Wagon. He would make his van a tiny house.
With a new direction and inspiration as the idea in his head, he was excited to get started. His first chore was stripping the interior and putting a bunch of insulation in. He scrounged around Veronica’s house finding some house insulation and wood left over from the renovation of the basement which was perfect for the walls for his van. He wired the electrical for the lights, stove, stereo and other device into the walls. In some spots along the walls he ran long 8” PVC pipes in the insulation space to store the fishing gear, bows, arrows and other long fragile things. He was throwing himself into the design and building as a way to distract his mind, not that it worked much against the quiet nights.
Derek and Gretchen had their trucks up on jack stands in the garage one afternoon when a new vehicle showed up. It was absolutely huge. A monstrous truck with a box on the back, it reminded Derek of a moving van, but different. He slid out from under Gretchen’s truck and checked his pistol as he looked at Gretchen.
“Go get Violet.”
Without a word, Gretchen went inside the house to get Violet. Moments later, Violet was coming down the stairs when the truck’s air brakes let out a big hiss, along with its powerful diesel motor shut down. The driver’s door opened as Violet hit the driveway.
Violet looked at the massive tan double cab medium duty ambulance, trying to figure out who it could be when she saw Bron’s smiling face come around the fender.
“You like?”
“What the hell, Bron? This thing is huge!” Violet said as she walked up to their friend.
“This was my project that got me through my divorce. I’ would get pissed off and have to rear something up or bang on shit and forget things for a while, so I would go out and work on my conversion camper!” She said, with her half smirk half grin.
“Why such a big ambulance or why an ambulance at all for that matter?” Violet asked, still not believing it.
“I got a hell of a deal for one thing. I won it at an on line auction from some business going bankrupt who used to do a bunch of medical support contracts overseas. Well with all the draw down over the last couple of years, this company had to fold with no new contracts to keep it afloat. Low milage, big engine, lots of solid spaces and cabinets inside, separate HVAC system and an on board generator for the back already installed. They had to worry about long stretches between locations so it has absolutely monstrous fuel tanks that feed the generator and the engine so, all I had to do was repurpose the inside. Right now I have it piled with a bunch of the stuff from the shop Veronica wanted to steal, I mean transfer to other units, otherwise I would give you the nickel tour.”
Violet looked at this monster, thinking it was the exact opposite of Veronica’s stealth Ent. Bron wasn’t subtle in anything, and this was definitely her. Violet looked over at Derek and Gretchen.
“You heard the woman, we have loot to unload.”
Bron stepped around to the side door of the box. When she opened the door, a set of steps lowered, making it easier for her to get in.
“You know there is a problem, when you need a ladder to get in.” Violet quipped watching Bron climb up the steps.
“Yeah, well, it’s part of the price I have to pay for the ground clearance and four wheel drive.” Bron shot back as she started handing boxes out the door.
Violet started carrying them into the garage. Gretchen was next. When she was handed the box, she wasn’t sure what to do with it.
“Where do we put these? In the downstairs storage room?”
Violet answered before anyone else did.
“No, lets stack them up here in the back of the garage so Veronica can sort through them. I would hate to move them three or four times.”
For a good twenty or thirty minutes, the group kept unloading boxes and stacking them in the garage. There were all kinds of boxes; cardboard, shipping trunks, duffle bags and more. The pile kept growing in the garage until finally Bron told them they had the last one.
“OK, Bron, now that the scut work is done, tell me more about this beast.” Violet said as she climbed up the steps into the back of the box.”
Violet was surprised. She was expecting the standard ambulance interior or the standard military style cabinets and such. Instead, everywhere she looked was the warm feel of wood. Wood paneling on the walls, the ceiling, the front of the cabinets, all done in a craftsman style. She just stood and stared.
“Not what you were expecting?” Bron asked her as she stood there. Derek, Gretchen and Owen came in as well.
“Absolutely not!” For a few moments everyone stood in awe, running their hands over the wood and marveling in the stark contrast to what they expected. Bron just stood there with a smile.
“This is bigger than my first apartment! Nicer too!” Violet exclaimed.
Owen thought it was bigger than his last apartment. He pushed those memories back in the corner he was trying to banish them. Instead, he was focusing on things he could do in his own build. He tried to pay attention when Bron started talking again.
“I did the platform bed against the front wall so I still had a huge area for storage and closet. The door in the front corner used to be access to the big ass O2 tanks. It’s now a wet bath. The cabinets down the driver’s side I turned into the kitchen and that’s also where the electrical rat’s nest ends up in the back with the generator. The cabinet in the back of the passenger side is where the rack mounts for the computer gear lives.”
Everyone was ooing and ahing as the looked at everything.
“All this wood must weigh a ton.” Owen commented.
“Not really. Its 1/8” Birch plywood I used to basically make paneling and reface the cabinet doors. I got lucky in the whole weight thing as well. The company down in Houston who built it doesn’t use any wood when they build the box. It’s all aluminum frame and honeycomb panels. It was already heavily insulated for the desert heat as well. They originally designed this for critical care long range transport. I found some of the original design plans and concepts. It was planned for up to three medical people working in the back on the patient. That’s why the four door and four seat cab.”
“What about feeding this big ass thing?” Violet was thinking it would take forever to hand pump fuel in for this thing.
“This thing has fuel for days. Three hundred gallon saddle tanks up front and a ninety gallon auxiliary tank in the back for the generator. They used to have two, but I pulled the second one to use the space for water.”
“Shit! That’s a ton of fuel!” Derek exclaimed.
“Actually a ton and a half. I did the math.” Bron smirked.
While everyone else was looking nuts and bolts, Gretchen was looking at the curtains, the painting, and all the other style touches. It looked a lot like some of their parent’s furniture and decorations from Germany.
“I love the designs and colors with everything you’ve done in here.”
“Thanks! It’s my homage to my Romani heritage.”
Violet was paying attention now to the design bits Gretchen was looking at.
“I didn’t know you were Romani?” Violet asked as she traced a finger over one of the inlays.
Bron’s voice took on a different, sadder tone now.
“Yeah, half my family made it out to America. The other half, Birkenau.” She rubbed the thin bracelet Violet had always seen her wear. It had numbers on it she didn’t understand before. She did now.
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ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
In the Garage
The garage was filled with the sounds of work and music. Derek and Gretchen were working on their trucks, trying to make, modify and set them up to make the journey to Paige’s. Derek worked at wiring and plumbing the thirty-gallon drums in the bed of both of their trucks. They were up next to the cabs so their weight was well balanced. Derek had Paige’s diagrams and blueprints to work from. Granted, they were made for Veronica’s surplus G Wagon, but their trucks were simple enough to make the changes for her set-ups to work.
While Derek was working fuel, Gretchen was working storage. Violet was helping her build a platform and storage drawers in the bed of both her and Derek’s trucks. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any of the big fancy floor length drawer glides to use like in the ones she saw with Paige’s. At least the bed liners were smooth and the wood drawers would still slide ok, as long as they didn’t load them up too heavy.
Bron was helping Owen. Owen was thankful for the help. He kind of knew what he wanted but he knew Bron had a lot more experience building into a vehicle. They went through a bunch of designs and changes as they went, including pulling some of his earlier work apart. Owen didn’t mind, though. The improvements were worth it.
One of the first changes was an elevated floor. This let them put some insulation between the cold metal floor and the living space. An insulated chunk of duct work ran down the middle under the floor as well. Bron showed him how to do a diverter valve for the van’s heater so he could pipe air back into the sleeping area.
Bron was full of ideas to help Owen. The part she didn’t tell him was the other part she was helping him with as they worked. Veronica had confided in her. She knew. She used Daniel’s tablet to backtrack and scour evidence of his activity about Violet, Veronica and Gretchen from wherever he hid or posted or created his stuff.
Bron was a whiz at all things cyber. It was her specialty, after all. Because of this, she saw things beyond most people’s comprehension, especially when she worked with Veronica. Child pornography, human trafficking, extortion, domestic violence, all these things ended up on Veronica’s plate. Because everything happened on the web any more, that meant it ended up on Bron’s plate.
They worked together a lot and developed a great friendship, a bond, and level of trust both had rarely felt with others. When Veronica told her about going north and extended the offer to come with her, she agreed. She helped Veronica come up with the shopping list of stuff from the unit to ‘appropriate’. She’s also the one Veronica talked to about the others coming with her.
Bron was the one who forced the paperwork through the system for Derek and Gretchen’s guardianship. She was pushing the retirement paperwork for herself, Veronica and Felicia with every tweak and underhanded benefit she could think of, commandeer or fake on their way out the door. All the electronic property records had an embedded self-destruct wiping function. She had a couple sets of false papers complete with lines of credit, cards, passports, drivers’ licenses and electronic identities for everyone; Violet, Veronica, Felicity, Derek and Gretchen.
She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to do all of this, but she figured to take advantage of all the connections and possibilities before she didn’t have the access any more.
When Veronica told her about Owen killing to protect the rest of them, she didn’t know what to think, other than oh shit! When Veronica said they were going to help Owen and press forward, she knew she would try what she could. She owed Veronica that. She would do a lot for Veronica.
All of this is what led to her playing junior carpenter again after she swore off the hammer and saw after finishing her RV. At least she could help Owen make something usable.
The garage was filled with the sounds of work and music. Derek and Gretchen were working on their trucks, trying to make, modify and set them up to make the journey to Paige’s. Derek worked at wiring and plumbing the thirty-gallon drums in the bed of both of their trucks. They were up next to the cabs so their weight was well balanced. Derek had Paige’s diagrams and blueprints to work from. Granted, they were made for Veronica’s surplus G Wagon, but their trucks were simple enough to make the changes for her set-ups to work.
While Derek was working fuel, Gretchen was working storage. Violet was helping her build a platform and storage drawers in the bed of both her and Derek’s trucks. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any of the big fancy floor length drawer glides to use like in the ones she saw with Paige’s. At least the bed liners were smooth and the wood drawers would still slide ok, as long as they didn’t load them up too heavy.
Bron was helping Owen. Owen was thankful for the help. He kind of knew what he wanted but he knew Bron had a lot more experience building into a vehicle. They went through a bunch of designs and changes as they went, including pulling some of his earlier work apart. Owen didn’t mind, though. The improvements were worth it.
One of the first changes was an elevated floor. This let them put some insulation between the cold metal floor and the living space. An insulated chunk of duct work ran down the middle under the floor as well. Bron showed him how to do a diverter valve for the van’s heater so he could pipe air back into the sleeping area.
Bron was full of ideas to help Owen. The part she didn’t tell him was the other part she was helping him with as they worked. Veronica had confided in her. She knew. She used Daniel’s tablet to backtrack and scour evidence of his activity about Violet, Veronica and Gretchen from wherever he hid or posted or created his stuff.
Bron was a whiz at all things cyber. It was her specialty, after all. Because of this, she saw things beyond most people’s comprehension, especially when she worked with Veronica. Child pornography, human trafficking, extortion, domestic violence, all these things ended up on Veronica’s plate. Because everything happened on the web any more, that meant it ended up on Bron’s plate.
They worked together a lot and developed a great friendship, a bond, and level of trust both had rarely felt with others. When Veronica told her about going north and extended the offer to come with her, she agreed. She helped Veronica come up with the shopping list of stuff from the unit to ‘appropriate’. She’s also the one Veronica talked to about the others coming with her.
Bron was the one who forced the paperwork through the system for Derek and Gretchen’s guardianship. She was pushing the retirement paperwork for herself, Veronica and Felicia with every tweak and underhanded benefit she could think of, commandeer or fake on their way out the door. All the electronic property records had an embedded self-destruct wiping function. She had a couple sets of false papers complete with lines of credit, cards, passports, drivers’ licenses and electronic identities for everyone; Violet, Veronica, Felicity, Derek and Gretchen.
She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to do all of this, but she figured to take advantage of all the connections and possibilities before she didn’t have the access any more.
When Veronica told her about Owen killing to protect the rest of them, she didn’t know what to think, other than oh shit! When Veronica said they were going to help Owen and press forward, she knew she would try what she could. She owed Veronica that. She would do a lot for Veronica.
All of this is what led to her playing junior carpenter again after she swore off the hammer and saw after finishing her RV. At least she could help Owen make something usable.
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Texican
Live Free & Die Free.... God Freedom Country....
All of this is what led to her playing junior carpenter again after she swore off the hammer and saw after finishing her RV. At least she could help Owen make something usable.
What one does to help others that are suffering.
Texican....
What one does to help others that are suffering.
Texican....
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Final Teammate Arrives
Owen and Bron were working in the garage on his van the next day when another car arrived. Owen didn’t recognize it but Bron did. She stopped what she was doing at approached the station wagon in the driveway.
“It’s about time you got your shit together and got over here. We got work to do!” She said as she walked towards the opening driver’s door.
Owen saw a small framed woman climb out, a small backpack in one of her hands.
“Yeah, Yeah, bullshit! Bron, I've been cleaning up and covering the tracks you and Veronica have been leaving behind as you two ran roughshod through everything! Here, this is your shit.” She said as she slung the pack at Bron.
Bron caught the backpack and looked inside as the woman walked past her up to Owen.
“Hi! I’m Felicia, you must be Owen.” She held out her hand.
Owen wasn’t sure what to say. This woman’s looks and her accent didn’t match up. You don’t expect an oriental woman, in Utah, with a thick southern accent.
Hi, Felicia. I understand you are going with us as well?” Owen asked.
“Yup.”
Owen and Bron were working in the garage on his van the next day when another car arrived. Owen didn’t recognize it but Bron did. She stopped what she was doing at approached the station wagon in the driveway.
“It’s about time you got your shit together and got over here. We got work to do!” She said as she walked towards the opening driver’s door.
Owen saw a small framed woman climb out, a small backpack in one of her hands.
“Yeah, Yeah, bullshit! Bron, I've been cleaning up and covering the tracks you and Veronica have been leaving behind as you two ran roughshod through everything! Here, this is your shit.” She said as she slung the pack at Bron.
Bron caught the backpack and looked inside as the woman walked past her up to Owen.
“Hi! I’m Felicia, you must be Owen.” She held out her hand.
Owen wasn’t sure what to say. This woman’s looks and her accent didn’t match up. You don’t expect an oriental woman, in Utah, with a thick southern accent.
Hi, Felicia. I understand you are going with us as well?” Owen asked.
“Yup.”
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ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
In the Garage
The garage was filled with the sounds of work and music. Everyone was working a different task to ready their vehicles for the changed plan to head directly to Paige’s grandfathers instead of going south to convoy north with Violet and Veronica’s parents.
Some of the group was still not sure why the change but it was the V’s decision. This meant they had to do the work without the help of the experts to answer questions or trouble shoot with them. Instead, they only had diagrams and instructions. They were just going to have to make it happen and that was what they were doing. At least they were trying.
With Paige’s diagrams and blueprints in front of him, Derek set out to wire and plumb the thirty-gallon drums in the beds of both of their trucks. Derek stared at the papers on the work bench, frustrated he was unable to make the conversion from the G-Wagon to the trucks easily. Even just the math to do it should be simple but he could not get any internet connection to do them. He finally had enough throwing the papers in the air walking away.
“Yo, cowboy what’s the problems?” Bron called loudly from across the garage.
She walked over to where Derek was working. She started picking up the papers then putting them back on the work bench. She handed Derek a cold soda.
“Now what is the problem?”
“I can’t understand these blueprints!”
“Calm down,” as she reached into her pocket, pulling out scales, protractors, compasses, rulers, slide rule and even an abacus. “Now we have the tools. I will teach you how to read the blueprints, follow her plans and adapt them to your truck.”
It didn’t take long before Derek started to understand how to use her tools. Finally, it made sense and he was doing it on his own. He was using math in real life. Bron left him to finish on his own.
Derek drew up his own plans from what he learned from Paige’s. He would put the tanks up next to the cabs so their weight was well balanced. Once he understood things, their trucks were simple enough to make the changes for her set-ups to work.
While Derek was working fuel, Gretchen was working storage. Violet was helping her build a platform and storage drawers in the bed of both trucks. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any of the big fancy floor length drawer glides to use like in the ones she saw with Paige’s. At least the bed liners were smooth and the wood drawers would still slide ok, as long as they didn’t load them up too heavy.
Bron swore off the hammer and saw after finishing her RV but after what Veronica had confided in her and what she knew about Owen she had to help. It was a way to get close to him. She would offer to help him. If all else fails at least she helps Owen make something usable.
She went over the events Veronica told her and the things she knew far too much about in situation like these. She had to form an action plan.
Veronica told her Owen killed Daniel to protect the rest of them, she didn’t know what to think, other than oh shit! When Veronica said they were going to help Owen and press forward, she knew she would try what she could. She owed Veronica that. She would do a lot for Veronica. Veronica was ….
She and Veronica worked together a lot and developed a great friendship, a bond, and level of trust both had rarely felt with others. When Veronica told her about going north and extended the offer to come with her, she agreed.
She helped Veronica come up with the shopping list of stuff from the unit to ‘appropriate’. She’s also the one Veronica talked to about the others coming with her.
Bron was a whiz at all things cyber. It was her specialty, after all. Because of this, she saw things beyond most people’s comprehension, especially when she worked with Veronica. Child pornography, human trafficking, extortion, domestic violence, all these things ended up on Veronica’s plate. Because everything happened on the web any more, that meant it ended up on Bron’s plate.
Bron was the one who forced the paperwork through the system for Derek and Gretchen’s guardianship. She was pushing the retirement paperwork for herself, Veronica and Felicia with every tweak and underhanded benefit she could think of, commandeer or fake on their way out the door. All the electronic property records had an embedded self-destruct wiping function. She had a couple sets of false papers complete with lines of credit, cards, passports, drivers’ licenses and electronic identities for everyone; Violet, Veronica, Felicity, Derek and Gretchen.
She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to do all of this, but she figured to take advantage of all the connections and possibilities before she didn’t have the access any more.
Now she had to wipe this digital mess away without Owen knowing.
Owen was thankful when Bron offered to help after seeing her beast. Bron was impressed with what he had done but some improvement ideas. Owen ended up spending hours undoing some of his previous work to implement the new ideas. He
didn’t mind, though they were worth it.
Owen kept working hard on one of the first changes an elevated floor. This let them put some insulation between the cold metal floor and the living space. An insulated chunk of duct work ran down the middle under the floor. Bron showed him how to do a diverter valve for the van’s heater so he could pipe air back into the sleeping area.
Meanwhile, Bron was researching one of her ideas. What Owen didn’t know she was restoring his life after what Daniel did. She used Daniel’s tablet to backtrack and scour evidence of his activity about Violet, Veronica and Gretchen from wherever he hid or posted or created his stuff.
Final Teammate Arrives
Owen and Bron were working in the garage on his van the next day when another car arrived. Owen didn’t recognize it but Bron did. She stopped what she was doing and approached the station wagon in the driveway.
“It’s about time you got your shit together and got over here. We got work to do!” She said as she walked towards the opening driver’s door.
Owen saw a small framed woman climb out, a small backpack in one of her hands.
“Yeah, yeah, bullshit! Bron, I’ve been cleaning up and covering the tracks you and Veronica have been leaving behind as you two ran roughshod through everything! Here, this is your shit.” She said as she slung the pack at Bron.
Bron caught the back and looked inside as the woman walked past her up to Owen.
“Hi! I’m Felicia, you must be Owen.” She held out her hand.
Owen wasn’t sure what to say. This woman’s looks and her accent didn’t match up. You don’t expect an oriental woman, in Utah, with a thick southern accent.
“Hi, Felicia. I understand you are going with us as well?” Owen asked.
“Yup.”
The garage was filled with the sounds of work and music. Everyone was working a different task to ready their vehicles for the changed plan to head directly to Paige’s grandfathers instead of going south to convoy north with Violet and Veronica’s parents.
Some of the group was still not sure why the change but it was the V’s decision. This meant they had to do the work without the help of the experts to answer questions or trouble shoot with them. Instead, they only had diagrams and instructions. They were just going to have to make it happen and that was what they were doing. At least they were trying.
With Paige’s diagrams and blueprints in front of him, Derek set out to wire and plumb the thirty-gallon drums in the beds of both of their trucks. Derek stared at the papers on the work bench, frustrated he was unable to make the conversion from the G-Wagon to the trucks easily. Even just the math to do it should be simple but he could not get any internet connection to do them. He finally had enough throwing the papers in the air walking away.
“Yo, cowboy what’s the problems?” Bron called loudly from across the garage.
She walked over to where Derek was working. She started picking up the papers then putting them back on the work bench. She handed Derek a cold soda.
“Now what is the problem?”
“I can’t understand these blueprints!”
“Calm down,” as she reached into her pocket, pulling out scales, protractors, compasses, rulers, slide rule and even an abacus. “Now we have the tools. I will teach you how to read the blueprints, follow her plans and adapt them to your truck.”
It didn’t take long before Derek started to understand how to use her tools. Finally, it made sense and he was doing it on his own. He was using math in real life. Bron left him to finish on his own.
Derek drew up his own plans from what he learned from Paige’s. He would put the tanks up next to the cabs so their weight was well balanced. Once he understood things, their trucks were simple enough to make the changes for her set-ups to work.
While Derek was working fuel, Gretchen was working storage. Violet was helping her build a platform and storage drawers in the bed of both trucks. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any of the big fancy floor length drawer glides to use like in the ones she saw with Paige’s. At least the bed liners were smooth and the wood drawers would still slide ok, as long as they didn’t load them up too heavy.
Bron swore off the hammer and saw after finishing her RV but after what Veronica had confided in her and what she knew about Owen she had to help. It was a way to get close to him. She would offer to help him. If all else fails at least she helps Owen make something usable.
She went over the events Veronica told her and the things she knew far too much about in situation like these. She had to form an action plan.
Veronica told her Owen killed Daniel to protect the rest of them, she didn’t know what to think, other than oh shit! When Veronica said they were going to help Owen and press forward, she knew she would try what she could. She owed Veronica that. She would do a lot for Veronica. Veronica was ….
She and Veronica worked together a lot and developed a great friendship, a bond, and level of trust both had rarely felt with others. When Veronica told her about going north and extended the offer to come with her, she agreed.
She helped Veronica come up with the shopping list of stuff from the unit to ‘appropriate’. She’s also the one Veronica talked to about the others coming with her.
Bron was a whiz at all things cyber. It was her specialty, after all. Because of this, she saw things beyond most people’s comprehension, especially when she worked with Veronica. Child pornography, human trafficking, extortion, domestic violence, all these things ended up on Veronica’s plate. Because everything happened on the web any more, that meant it ended up on Bron’s plate.
Bron was the one who forced the paperwork through the system for Derek and Gretchen’s guardianship. She was pushing the retirement paperwork for herself, Veronica and Felicia with every tweak and underhanded benefit she could think of, commandeer or fake on their way out the door. All the electronic property records had an embedded self-destruct wiping function. She had a couple sets of false papers complete with lines of credit, cards, passports, drivers’ licenses and electronic identities for everyone; Violet, Veronica, Felicity, Derek and Gretchen.
She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to do all of this, but she figured to take advantage of all the connections and possibilities before she didn’t have the access any more.
Now she had to wipe this digital mess away without Owen knowing.
Owen was thankful when Bron offered to help after seeing her beast. Bron was impressed with what he had done but some improvement ideas. Owen ended up spending hours undoing some of his previous work to implement the new ideas. He
didn’t mind, though they were worth it.
Owen kept working hard on one of the first changes an elevated floor. This let them put some insulation between the cold metal floor and the living space. An insulated chunk of duct work ran down the middle under the floor. Bron showed him how to do a diverter valve for the van’s heater so he could pipe air back into the sleeping area.
Meanwhile, Bron was researching one of her ideas. What Owen didn’t know she was restoring his life after what Daniel did. She used Daniel’s tablet to backtrack and scour evidence of his activity about Violet, Veronica and Gretchen from wherever he hid or posted or created his stuff.
Final Teammate Arrives
Owen and Bron were working in the garage on his van the next day when another car arrived. Owen didn’t recognize it but Bron did. She stopped what she was doing and approached the station wagon in the driveway.
“It’s about time you got your shit together and got over here. We got work to do!” She said as she walked towards the opening driver’s door.
Owen saw a small framed woman climb out, a small backpack in one of her hands.
“Yeah, yeah, bullshit! Bron, I’ve been cleaning up and covering the tracks you and Veronica have been leaving behind as you two ran roughshod through everything! Here, this is your shit.” She said as she slung the pack at Bron.
Bron caught the back and looked inside as the woman walked past her up to Owen.
“Hi! I’m Felicia, you must be Owen.” She held out her hand.
Owen wasn’t sure what to say. This woman’s looks and her accent didn’t match up. You don’t expect an oriental woman, in Utah, with a thick southern accent.
“Hi, Felicia. I understand you are going with us as well?” Owen asked.
“Yup.”
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Plans and Preps Continue
The kitchen table was once again the planning center for the group. Everyone was trying to think, plot and plan. They knew it would be better to figure out potential problems and possible solutions now instead of being surprised by it on the road. The brain trust finally decided you can’t plan for everything so it was time to stop just thinking and start doing. This was the only way to make sure some of their solutions could work.
One thing they did know is some people are better at doing certain things than others. It was time to divide and conquer the remaining work going forward. The chores were split up to keep everyone involved. Veronica got the weapons and hunting gear detail. Derek was assigned the vehicles and fuel. Bron’s main duties was helping everyone with vehicle modifications while continuing any last minute electronic problem solving. Gretchen and Felicia’s job was to gather the food and overall vehicle packing with an emphasis on finding small spaces. The group said it had something to do with them being able to fit into small spaces.
Owen, and Violet were the utility infielders. They did a lot of everything and backchecked the work the others were doing. At this, the meeting was adjourned and everyone went to their assigned duty.
The jobs were not as easy as every thought. They all spent considerable time racking their brains for resources and locations to scrounge, steal, beg, borrow or buy what they needed. What they couldn’t get, they had to make. PVC pipes were popular in all sorts of sizes, especially larger ones.
Some of the big ten inch pipes, Bron had painted black with end caps and hose fittings. These became solar water heaters along the sides of the roof of most of the vehicles. This would let them carry larger quantities of water outside the vehicles without it freezing solid.
Veronica used long sections for objects like bows, arrows, fishing poles, rolls of construction Tyvek, and spare antennas. These also went on the outside roof racks.
On the roof of Owen’s van, pieces were scavenged to make a full length industrial grade roof rack. On this he and Bron secured a horseshoe of junkyard truck bed toolboxes for storage. This freed up space inside for more fragile or weather sensitive things.
Felicia’s Volvo cross country station wagon was by far the most streamlined rig. She had a small sleeping platform down one side, storage drawers under the bed, and a small fridge and kitchen on the other side. Most of the belongings she was taking were either in a pair of rooftop pods or in the small off-road trailer she was towing.
One of the things in their plan Veronica wasn’t as happy or comfortable with was the concept of everyone solo in their vehicles. Well, Derek and Gretchen would not be alone they each would have one of the dogs. Violet is never alone she has so many personalities living in her head or at least that is what she always told her. She would worry about Owen even if someone was with him unless it was the right someone. Bron and Felicia, she was not sure about. She couldn’t worry about everyone riding alone. It was what it was; a modern day wagon train.
She had a bigger problem. Even singling up on drivers, she still had one too many sets of wheels. Well, it is time for to her cut one final deal with Mike. Mike would like the ride.
The kitchen table was once again the planning center for the group. Everyone was trying to think, plot and plan. They knew it would be better to figure out potential problems and possible solutions now instead of being surprised by it on the road. The brain trust finally decided you can’t plan for everything so it was time to stop just thinking and start doing. This was the only way to make sure some of their solutions could work.
One thing they did know is some people are better at doing certain things than others. It was time to divide and conquer the remaining work going forward. The chores were split up to keep everyone involved. Veronica got the weapons and hunting gear detail. Derek was assigned the vehicles and fuel. Bron’s main duties was helping everyone with vehicle modifications while continuing any last minute electronic problem solving. Gretchen and Felicia’s job was to gather the food and overall vehicle packing with an emphasis on finding small spaces. The group said it had something to do with them being able to fit into small spaces.
Owen, and Violet were the utility infielders. They did a lot of everything and backchecked the work the others were doing. At this, the meeting was adjourned and everyone went to their assigned duty.
The jobs were not as easy as every thought. They all spent considerable time racking their brains for resources and locations to scrounge, steal, beg, borrow or buy what they needed. What they couldn’t get, they had to make. PVC pipes were popular in all sorts of sizes, especially larger ones.
Some of the big ten inch pipes, Bron had painted black with end caps and hose fittings. These became solar water heaters along the sides of the roof of most of the vehicles. This would let them carry larger quantities of water outside the vehicles without it freezing solid.
Veronica used long sections for objects like bows, arrows, fishing poles, rolls of construction Tyvek, and spare antennas. These also went on the outside roof racks.
On the roof of Owen’s van, pieces were scavenged to make a full length industrial grade roof rack. On this he and Bron secured a horseshoe of junkyard truck bed toolboxes for storage. This freed up space inside for more fragile or weather sensitive things.
Felicia’s Volvo cross country station wagon was by far the most streamlined rig. She had a small sleeping platform down one side, storage drawers under the bed, and a small fridge and kitchen on the other side. Most of the belongings she was taking were either in a pair of rooftop pods or in the small off-road trailer she was towing.
One of the things in their plan Veronica wasn’t as happy or comfortable with was the concept of everyone solo in their vehicles. Well, Derek and Gretchen would not be alone they each would have one of the dogs. Violet is never alone she has so many personalities living in her head or at least that is what she always told her. She would worry about Owen even if someone was with him unless it was the right someone. Bron and Felicia, she was not sure about. She couldn’t worry about everyone riding alone. It was what it was; a modern day wagon train.
She had a bigger problem. Even singling up on drivers, she still had one too many sets of wheels. Well, it is time for to her cut one final deal with Mike. Mike would like the ride.
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ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Decisions
“Well, somebody needs to be!” Violet shot back.
“Why? We aren’t doing this as a military movement. We aren’t doing a mission. We don’t have somebodies timetable to meet. Why do we need somebody to be ‘in charge’?” Veronica exclaimed.
The two were in the backyard by themselves for this little talk. Violet had been pushing Veronica’s buttons on this for the last week and Veronica kept dodging the issue whenever anyone brought it up.
“Because, Veronica. Someone has to be the final arbitrator, the one to make the tough call, otherwise its chaos.”
“Look, with dividing up all the preps, we can each be the subject matter experts for the pertinent decisions as they come about.” Veronica persisted.
‘That’s leading by committee. Great for a home owners association, but horrible in a sudden life or death situation. Besides, its not like we are trying to choose who it should be. Derek and Gretchen don’t have experience and need to be led. Bron and Felicia are used to deferring to you by rank, and if it’s down to a decision between you or me, you plan it and I will execute it.”
Veronica tried to find the problem with Violet’s plan, and there were many. Unfortunately, the logic was sound and she didn’t have a better alternate.
“Fine. If I’m the wagon master of this train, let’s start looking at the layout and lineup.”
“Good idea. Let’s look harder at the route first though. That may dictate certain things about the order of vehicles.” Violet countered.
“Sure, my first official act and idea as the leader and you go and change it...”
“That’s my job. As the one voted second in charge, my job is to make sure you think through things and play devil’s advocate in addition to your brute squad enforcer.” Violet’s grin was big and infectious.
“Well, somebody needs to be!” Violet shot back.
“Why? We aren’t doing this as a military movement. We aren’t doing a mission. We don’t have somebodies timetable to meet. Why do we need somebody to be ‘in charge’?” Veronica exclaimed.
The two were in the backyard by themselves for this little talk. Violet had been pushing Veronica’s buttons on this for the last week and Veronica kept dodging the issue whenever anyone brought it up.
“Because, Veronica. Someone has to be the final arbitrator, the one to make the tough call, otherwise its chaos.”
“Look, with dividing up all the preps, we can each be the subject matter experts for the pertinent decisions as they come about.” Veronica persisted.
‘That’s leading by committee. Great for a home owners association, but horrible in a sudden life or death situation. Besides, its not like we are trying to choose who it should be. Derek and Gretchen don’t have experience and need to be led. Bron and Felicia are used to deferring to you by rank, and if it’s down to a decision between you or me, you plan it and I will execute it.”
Veronica tried to find the problem with Violet’s plan, and there were many. Unfortunately, the logic was sound and she didn’t have a better alternate.
“Fine. If I’m the wagon master of this train, let’s start looking at the layout and lineup.”
“Good idea. Let’s look harder at the route first though. That may dictate certain things about the order of vehicles.” Violet countered.
“Sure, my first official act and idea as the leader and you go and change it...”
“That’s my job. As the one voted second in charge, my job is to make sure you think through things and play devil’s advocate in addition to your brute squad enforcer.” Violet’s grin was big and infectious.
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ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Route and Plan
Several evenings were spent with maps strewn across the table, everyone pouring over every detail. Slowly the route emerged. The first idea was a simple interstate route, and all would be ok, done in a couple of days. This was wildly optimistic and quickly re-evaluated in light of Veronica and Violet’s experiences going to their parents, coupled with further deterioration of things.
One of the first planning points was when. They were trying to balance how soon to go with weather, how soon they can be ready, and resources here vs what they will take and need on the far end and a dozen other things.
With the worry of weather came the question of what can they do if the weather or road is bad. How deep is too deep for the vehicles to slog through snow. How about water crossings? Day or night travel? Night time, the roads will be frozen, both good and bad. At night, hazards will be harder to see. Daytime will be easier to see them coming and maybe set op to ambush. All of these questions flowed around the table.
With no relief drivers, the driving time had to be shorter. If they had to worry about bad weather, obstacles and other hazards to be surmounted, this would get shorter and shorter. Fifteen hundred miles got longer and longer as they planned and did the math. Everyone agreed. Slow and steady would be better than trying to blaze through and wreck everything and everyone in the process.
They designated several different routes as they went, complete with the turn-offs to branch from one to another. This would let them divert and go around a sudden hazard area without much hesitation or discussion at the time. A lot of the road choices will be done on the fly as they see the roadway and weather conditions on the day of the drive.
A couple of the areas they were going through were designated as hold over points to let them harvest some game to top off the larders, situations depending. It sounded a bit silly to Veronica and Bron when Violet suggested it, but Veronica was quickly on board. The rest took a bit of convincing. It was decided. One day gathering for every two days of travel. This would let them stay on top of vehicle maintenance, health and supplies.
Several evenings were spent with maps strewn across the table, everyone pouring over every detail. Slowly the route emerged. The first idea was a simple interstate route, and all would be ok, done in a couple of days. This was wildly optimistic and quickly re-evaluated in light of Veronica and Violet’s experiences going to their parents, coupled with further deterioration of things.
One of the first planning points was when. They were trying to balance how soon to go with weather, how soon they can be ready, and resources here vs what they will take and need on the far end and a dozen other things.
With the worry of weather came the question of what can they do if the weather or road is bad. How deep is too deep for the vehicles to slog through snow. How about water crossings? Day or night travel? Night time, the roads will be frozen, both good and bad. At night, hazards will be harder to see. Daytime will be easier to see them coming and maybe set op to ambush. All of these questions flowed around the table.
With no relief drivers, the driving time had to be shorter. If they had to worry about bad weather, obstacles and other hazards to be surmounted, this would get shorter and shorter. Fifteen hundred miles got longer and longer as they planned and did the math. Everyone agreed. Slow and steady would be better than trying to blaze through and wreck everything and everyone in the process.
They designated several different routes as they went, complete with the turn-offs to branch from one to another. This would let them divert and go around a sudden hazard area without much hesitation or discussion at the time. A lot of the road choices will be done on the fly as they see the roadway and weather conditions on the day of the drive.
A couple of the areas they were going through were designated as hold over points to let them harvest some game to top off the larders, situations depending. It sounded a bit silly to Veronica and Bron when Violet suggested it, but Veronica was quickly on board. The rest took a bit of convincing. It was decided. One day gathering for every two days of travel. This would let them stay on top of vehicle maintenance, health and supplies.
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
“So, with all the stuff we have been thinking, unless someone can justify a change, the order of travel is as follows.” Veronica was moving small toy cars around on the table as she spoke.
“I’m in the lead in the Ent. Next is Gretchen in her truck, then Derek in his truck. This puts him close to the middle of the group to help quickly if there’s a mechanical malfunction. Then, behind him is Bron in the monster. She can see forward over all of us and makes a good rally point for any stops, planned or otherwise. Next is Owen’s van, then Felicia’s Volvo and bringing up the rear is Violet in the other G-wagon.” She looked up at the faces around the table. They all were looking at the layout and thinking she could see. Good! They need to be taking this serious.
“What about positions when we stop?” Violet asked.
“It depends on the terrain we are in when we stop and if it’s just a short stop or a stop and gather. If it’s a big enough area, we will treat it like the old school wagon train circles so we have mutual support, or like the old carrier task force, and use Bron’s and Owen’s rigs in the middle like the carrier with the others around them. All of these are great plans, but it will really be dictated by roads and circumstances.” Veronica was ready for this question.
Veronica looked around the group again. No one had a question. Fine, more assignments.
“Out in the garage, I have a couple of duffle bags from the parachute rigging shop. In there are some of the big ass airdrop suspension ropes. We are going to use those as emergency recovery straps. We need recovery points identified and tested on all the vehicles. When we roll, I want one of the lines attached to the front of each of the vehicles. That way, just like downrange, we can just connect it up right away and get moving again. This will allow us to work on vehicles where we want to, not where they break down.” Veronica looked at her notes before she continued.
“Felicia, I have a couple of half full medical bags for you to scrounge through. Figure out what you need to finish them off and I’ll try and get it.”
Felicia looked nervous at this.
“I don’t know if I’ll know. Medic was a long time ago.”
“Felicia, it’s not like I’m picking you over someone else. Self-Aid Buddy care classes is all the rest of us have. You were an Air Force Medic back in the day.”
“Yeah, for all of four years, in a clinic, over ten years ago. I wasn’t that good, either. That’s why I cross-trained!” Felicia blurted out.
“You’ll do fine. It’s just a little drive. As long as everyone is careful, we shouldn’t have to test your memory of your medic training.” Violet said, hoping to reassure her.
“I’m in the lead in the Ent. Next is Gretchen in her truck, then Derek in his truck. This puts him close to the middle of the group to help quickly if there’s a mechanical malfunction. Then, behind him is Bron in the monster. She can see forward over all of us and makes a good rally point for any stops, planned or otherwise. Next is Owen’s van, then Felicia’s Volvo and bringing up the rear is Violet in the other G-wagon.” She looked up at the faces around the table. They all were looking at the layout and thinking she could see. Good! They need to be taking this serious.
“What about positions when we stop?” Violet asked.
“It depends on the terrain we are in when we stop and if it’s just a short stop or a stop and gather. If it’s a big enough area, we will treat it like the old school wagon train circles so we have mutual support, or like the old carrier task force, and use Bron’s and Owen’s rigs in the middle like the carrier with the others around them. All of these are great plans, but it will really be dictated by roads and circumstances.” Veronica was ready for this question.
Veronica looked around the group again. No one had a question. Fine, more assignments.
“Out in the garage, I have a couple of duffle bags from the parachute rigging shop. In there are some of the big ass airdrop suspension ropes. We are going to use those as emergency recovery straps. We need recovery points identified and tested on all the vehicles. When we roll, I want one of the lines attached to the front of each of the vehicles. That way, just like downrange, we can just connect it up right away and get moving again. This will allow us to work on vehicles where we want to, not where they break down.” Veronica looked at her notes before she continued.
“Felicia, I have a couple of half full medical bags for you to scrounge through. Figure out what you need to finish them off and I’ll try and get it.”
Felicia looked nervous at this.
“I don’t know if I’ll know. Medic was a long time ago.”
“Felicia, it’s not like I’m picking you over someone else. Self-Aid Buddy care classes is all the rest of us have. You were an Air Force Medic back in the day.”
“Yeah, for all of four years, in a clinic, over ten years ago. I wasn’t that good, either. That’s why I cross-trained!” Felicia blurted out.
“You’ll do fine. It’s just a little drive. As long as everyone is careful, we shouldn’t have to test your memory of your medic training.” Violet said, hoping to reassure her.
Griz3752
Retired, practising Curmudgeon
#6335
to differing to you by rank
Probably should be 'to deferring to you by rank'
On another vein: Why does the phrase “You’ll do fine. It’s just a little drive. As long as everyone is careful, we shouldn’t have to test your memory of your medic training.” Violet said, hoping to reassure her. make me feel like we're being set up here people?
to differing to you by rank
Probably should be 'to deferring to you by rank'
On another vein: Why does the phrase “You’ll do fine. It’s just a little drive. As long as everyone is careful, we shouldn’t have to test your memory of your medic training.” Violet said, hoping to reassure her. make me feel like we're being set up here people?
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kyrsyan
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Umm... because it does. I instantly felt alarm bells going off upon reading that. It's like daring the universe.
Griz3752
Retired, practising Curmudgeon
Yes & particularly in this little world we're following on this thread
Griz3752
Retired, practising Curmudgeon
Go on laugh - I picked up my heart meds last week; good for another 180 days - well 175 now.....It’s just a little drive to drop off some gas???
Lone_Hawk
Resident Spook
"Just a little drive" he says...It’s just a little drive to drop off some gas???
"Just drop off some gas" he says.....
What, you channeling the Three Stoogies?
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Preparations Continue and Some Things Get Real
With the route planned, the vehicles preparations was now becoming main priority. Everyone could feel the intensity grow daily as the work became harder to make sure all the details on their vehicles would pass the test of the upcoming event.
One of the biggest concerns of everyone was fuel. Everyone looked at the distance and knew they needed to take a lot more fuel than they originally planned. Felicia was the one with the solution.
“Look, we need to take more. No two ways about it. Only Bron’s has a shot of an unrefueled trip. If Owen can get us some more drums like the ones in the pick-ups, I might be able to get some more trailers like mine, or at least that size. We put at least one or two drums in each, refuel out of those first so if anything happens, we can cut them free and still have maximum fuel load, like a fighter’s drop tanks.”
At the words ‘drop tanks’ Violet’s eyes lit up. She remembered something.
“If we can’t find some more drums, I saw some aircraft wing tanks out at that surplus place at the end of town.”
“Shit! Depending on what they came off of, those are huge and would weigh a ton, far too much for most of the vehicles to tow.” Veronica countered.
“We can always check it out. Hell, if we could get a trailer strong enough we could put two on, fill one with diesel and one with mogas, and put it behind mine, I become the tanker for everyone.” Bron was getting behind the idea.
The room was silent as everyone was thinking. Finally Veronica spoke up.
“That might be the best idea but let’s work every angle we can think of. If we have small trailers with fuel and a monster trailer in the middle to work from, then if we lose any one trailer, we can still have enough for everyone.”
Veronica looked around the table.
“How are the other preps going?”
“The platforms on top of the trucks are completed, and the ramps carpeted so the dogs can come up into the tents. We tested it. If Gretchen and I park side by side or nose to tail, we can flip down one dog ramp to the ground and set the other one from her platform to mine so they can go from one to the other. The ramps are strong enough for us to go across as well. The roof top tents Felicia found will work great when we finish patching them and sealing them.” Derek ran down the latest projects he was working.
“We’ve been running the dehydrators and smokers to process the latest hunt’s take. We vacuum packed a lot of dog food into serving sizes so we could split it up among all the vehicles along with the other food. We wanted to bounce the idea of having planned pre-packaged travel day’s food planned. We were thinking things like chili or stew so we could have it in a crock pot cooking away as we drive, then when we stop, it’s already good to go.” Gretchen proposed.
Everyone agreed it sounded like a good idea.
“We have all twelve of the water tubes complete and ready for mounting. I have the parachute funnels ready to hang and process the snow on the days we stop to reload the water tanks. We need to keep enough space and materials to process the game we get along the way. We can bag it and put it on top of my van or Bron’s van to freeze. Both are too tall for most predators to get to quickly.” Owen said when it was his turn.
Around the group the preparations continued. Even as fast as they were all working, Veronica still felt they were moving too slow. They needed to get things finished and loaded, especially things like fuel. She wasn’t sure where they will get enough to load up when the time came. They needed to finish the fuel preps first to get all the extra tanks loaded. If they could do that, then they would restrict their running around to conserve fuel for the trip. Maybe a week, at most two. They needed to go. It wasn’t only her. Violet was getting anxious too. She wanted to get on the road. She had to get these butterflies out her stomach.
With the route planned, the vehicles preparations was now becoming main priority. Everyone could feel the intensity grow daily as the work became harder to make sure all the details on their vehicles would pass the test of the upcoming event.
One of the biggest concerns of everyone was fuel. Everyone looked at the distance and knew they needed to take a lot more fuel than they originally planned. Felicia was the one with the solution.
“Look, we need to take more. No two ways about it. Only Bron’s has a shot of an unrefueled trip. If Owen can get us some more drums like the ones in the pick-ups, I might be able to get some more trailers like mine, or at least that size. We put at least one or two drums in each, refuel out of those first so if anything happens, we can cut them free and still have maximum fuel load, like a fighter’s drop tanks.”
At the words ‘drop tanks’ Violet’s eyes lit up. She remembered something.
“If we can’t find some more drums, I saw some aircraft wing tanks out at that surplus place at the end of town.”
“Shit! Depending on what they came off of, those are huge and would weigh a ton, far too much for most of the vehicles to tow.” Veronica countered.
“We can always check it out. Hell, if we could get a trailer strong enough we could put two on, fill one with diesel and one with mogas, and put it behind mine, I become the tanker for everyone.” Bron was getting behind the idea.
The room was silent as everyone was thinking. Finally Veronica spoke up.
“That might be the best idea but let’s work every angle we can think of. If we have small trailers with fuel and a monster trailer in the middle to work from, then if we lose any one trailer, we can still have enough for everyone.”
Veronica looked around the table.
“How are the other preps going?”
“The platforms on top of the trucks are completed, and the ramps carpeted so the dogs can come up into the tents. We tested it. If Gretchen and I park side by side or nose to tail, we can flip down one dog ramp to the ground and set the other one from her platform to mine so they can go from one to the other. The ramps are strong enough for us to go across as well. The roof top tents Felicia found will work great when we finish patching them and sealing them.” Derek ran down the latest projects he was working.
“We’ve been running the dehydrators and smokers to process the latest hunt’s take. We vacuum packed a lot of dog food into serving sizes so we could split it up among all the vehicles along with the other food. We wanted to bounce the idea of having planned pre-packaged travel day’s food planned. We were thinking things like chili or stew so we could have it in a crock pot cooking away as we drive, then when we stop, it’s already good to go.” Gretchen proposed.
Everyone agreed it sounded like a good idea.
“We have all twelve of the water tubes complete and ready for mounting. I have the parachute funnels ready to hang and process the snow on the days we stop to reload the water tanks. We need to keep enough space and materials to process the game we get along the way. We can bag it and put it on top of my van or Bron’s van to freeze. Both are too tall for most predators to get to quickly.” Owen said when it was his turn.
Around the group the preparations continued. Even as fast as they were all working, Veronica still felt they were moving too slow. They needed to get things finished and loaded, especially things like fuel. She wasn’t sure where they will get enough to load up when the time came. They needed to finish the fuel preps first to get all the extra tanks loaded. If they could do that, then they would restrict their running around to conserve fuel for the trip. Maybe a week, at most two. They needed to go. It wasn’t only her. Violet was getting anxious too. She wanted to get on the road. She had to get these butterflies out her stomach.
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ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
she used to be a medic, didn’t like it, didn’t like it one bit. That’s why she crosstrained to the new job ten years ago
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Tools
The group stood around the table and cases Veronica had in the garage. This was part of their plan that made some of them twitchy. Veronica was explaining things and trying to answer everyone’s questions, both spoken and unspoken, all the while keeping certain secrets and some things segregated, i.e. typical Veronica.
“So, sidearms. As far as me, Bron and Felicia, we all have our issued sidearms to start with.” Veronica was explaining when Bron interrupted.
“I know you said we were good to go and not to bother turning in our sidearms, but how did you fix it? They showed it checked off when I out-processed the detachment, such as it was.”
Violet chuckled. She knew Veronica didn’t necessarily like explaining all her sneakiness. She knew Bron knew as well. This was to reassure them , she knew Veronica had to. Keeping the cowboys calm was the job of the wagonmaster, after all.
Veronica didn’t see a good way around some of this, so she might as well lay some of it out.
“Well, when I did the turnover to Brett, he was only signing for the weapons being moved to and to be used by the new, smaller detachment out at the range, plus ten percent for operational spares. This included sidearms and long guns. The only thing on the new official rolls out there were the ones the agents moving there would use. All the rest were turned in to close out the old rosters. These were packed up and shipped off, back to central depot at Anniston, as shown on all the paperwork. I have the dash six and DD1149s showing the crates going that way, all signed and entered into the system. Bret has copies of them.”
Felicia looked at the holster on her hip and the M-4s on the table, then back at Veronica as she continued.
“Meanwhile, in the computer system, the codes show all detachment armory assets were transferred from the old armory rolls here to the new ones out at the range. Any locally triggered audit would show the detachment having everything they are supposed to on the new detachments paperwork, and no one at the far end of the system will be looking or expecting anything different than status quo from there. It would take some seriously focused digging to even get curious. I don’t think things will hold together enough for anybody to care that much.”
“What if somebody does?” Bron asked.
“Brett’s butt is covered, my butt is covered, and even if someone started asking questions, who are they going to ask? If I’m getting retirement checks, they are going to my backup bank account I still have in Germany. I told Brett I was going down to help my uncle rebuild his house down on Ft Walden Beach. They can spend a lot of time looking for me in Florida.”
Felicia wondered the cost of all of this.
“So, Veronica, what did it cost you to Brett to pull all of this off?”
“The undercover and confiscated weapons locker.”
Bron and Felicia thought about the two big trunks of off the books weapons Veronica had stashed, handed down within the detachment. They knew it was a serious Pandora’s Box of different stuff. They both wondered why Veronica went through all the effort to do the paperwork shuffle instead of just using the already free and clear stuff. Veronica saw the question in their eyes.
“Because it was a scattered hodge-podge. We needed solid, reliable and stuff we could work with as a cohesive group. That’s why.” She looked down at the weapons on the table.
“Even with that, because of some other factors, we are arming you, Owen with the same sort of pistol Bron and Felicia are carrying. I didn’t necessarily know if I would be able to get enough for all of us so Violet, Gretchen, Derek and I have Glocks instead. For fighting carbines, everybody is running some sort of M-4 type. I was able to come up with enough for Gretchen, Owen and Derek. Violet and I are covered as well, and Bron and Felicia, you get your issued carbines back.” She pointed to the table in front of her.
“If everyone isn’t wearing their pistols all the time, start now. We need to be comfortable with them and treat them like security blankets. I’ll take a couple of us out to re-zero weapons as we keep preparing. I know I have hunting rifles and shotguns still to pack. I will get with each of you to spread some into all the vehicles so we don’t lose capability if we lose a vehicle. When we get things set into the vehicles, we need to make sure we have the carbines ready to grab in an emergency. If we are sleeping, then they need to be with us in the tent. If we are cooking in the back, they need to be in the back with us. We don’t know how bad it’s going to be on the road, but we know people are now beyond desperate.”
Derek and Gretchen looked like they had questions. Veronica silenced them with a slight shake of her head. They understood. No yet. Wait until they were in private.
The group stood around the table and cases Veronica had in the garage. This was part of their plan that made some of them twitchy. Veronica was explaining things and trying to answer everyone’s questions, both spoken and unspoken, all the while keeping certain secrets and some things segregated, i.e. typical Veronica.
“So, sidearms. As far as me, Bron and Felicia, we all have our issued sidearms to start with.” Veronica was explaining when Bron interrupted.
“I know you said we were good to go and not to bother turning in our sidearms, but how did you fix it? They showed it checked off when I out-processed the detachment, such as it was.”
Violet chuckled. She knew Veronica didn’t necessarily like explaining all her sneakiness. She knew Bron knew as well. This was to reassure them , she knew Veronica had to. Keeping the cowboys calm was the job of the wagonmaster, after all.
Veronica didn’t see a good way around some of this, so she might as well lay some of it out.
“Well, when I did the turnover to Brett, he was only signing for the weapons being moved to and to be used by the new, smaller detachment out at the range, plus ten percent for operational spares. This included sidearms and long guns. The only thing on the new official rolls out there were the ones the agents moving there would use. All the rest were turned in to close out the old rosters. These were packed up and shipped off, back to central depot at Anniston, as shown on all the paperwork. I have the dash six and DD1149s showing the crates going that way, all signed and entered into the system. Bret has copies of them.”
Felicia looked at the holster on her hip and the M-4s on the table, then back at Veronica as she continued.
“Meanwhile, in the computer system, the codes show all detachment armory assets were transferred from the old armory rolls here to the new ones out at the range. Any locally triggered audit would show the detachment having everything they are supposed to on the new detachments paperwork, and no one at the far end of the system will be looking or expecting anything different than status quo from there. It would take some seriously focused digging to even get curious. I don’t think things will hold together enough for anybody to care that much.”
“What if somebody does?” Bron asked.
“Brett’s butt is covered, my butt is covered, and even if someone started asking questions, who are they going to ask? If I’m getting retirement checks, they are going to my backup bank account I still have in Germany. I told Brett I was going down to help my uncle rebuild his house down on Ft Walden Beach. They can spend a lot of time looking for me in Florida.”
Felicia wondered the cost of all of this.
“So, Veronica, what did it cost you to Brett to pull all of this off?”
“The undercover and confiscated weapons locker.”
Bron and Felicia thought about the two big trunks of off the books weapons Veronica had stashed, handed down within the detachment. They knew it was a serious Pandora’s Box of different stuff. They both wondered why Veronica went through all the effort to do the paperwork shuffle instead of just using the already free and clear stuff. Veronica saw the question in their eyes.
“Because it was a scattered hodge-podge. We needed solid, reliable and stuff we could work with as a cohesive group. That’s why.” She looked down at the weapons on the table.
“Even with that, because of some other factors, we are arming you, Owen with the same sort of pistol Bron and Felicia are carrying. I didn’t necessarily know if I would be able to get enough for all of us so Violet, Gretchen, Derek and I have Glocks instead. For fighting carbines, everybody is running some sort of M-4 type. I was able to come up with enough for Gretchen, Owen and Derek. Violet and I are covered as well, and Bron and Felicia, you get your issued carbines back.” She pointed to the table in front of her.
“If everyone isn’t wearing their pistols all the time, start now. We need to be comfortable with them and treat them like security blankets. I’ll take a couple of us out to re-zero weapons as we keep preparing. I know I have hunting rifles and shotguns still to pack. I will get with each of you to spread some into all the vehicles so we don’t lose capability if we lose a vehicle. When we get things set into the vehicles, we need to make sure we have the carbines ready to grab in an emergency. If we are sleeping, then they need to be with us in the tent. If we are cooking in the back, they need to be in the back with us. We don’t know how bad it’s going to be on the road, but we know people are now beyond desperate.”
Derek and Gretchen looked like they had questions. Veronica silenced them with a slight shake of her head. They understood. No yet. Wait until they were in private.
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ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Fighting Preparation Begins to Come to the Forefront
It was a long day. Veronica had people working with and getting familiar with their carbines. Everybody but Violet and Veronica had matching carbines. They were using the suppressed ones they got from Paige. Everyone was using the same basic platforms to make emergency operations and ammo cross flow easier.
Veronica dipped into her stash of web gear to outfit Owen, Derek and Gretchen. Nothing too fancy, just something to carry the minimum and still be able to be worn all day long while driving.
Veronica and Violet said nothing about the two super short carbines they had. When she thought of her tiny ‘problem solver’, Veronica was reminded about another potential need they needed to be ready for.
“Oh, since we will be traveling in the middle of nowhere and could have problems at the drop of a hat, we need to have emergency bags for everyone close at hand as we drive. The drill will be, you bail out of the car, truck, station wagon or whatever, you grab you pack and your carbine. It needs to be easy to get to, small enough to grab in a hurry, and light enough to run to cover with.”
This led to more planning and plotting, leading to everyone putting a change of clothes and a set of the bare essentials in a bag to be stored in each of the other vehicles. Each vehicle ended up with a duffle bag containing back up clothes for the group.
As each person came up with an idea or a plan or a worry, they all worked the solution.
It was a long day. Veronica had people working with and getting familiar with their carbines. Everybody but Violet and Veronica had matching carbines. They were using the suppressed ones they got from Paige. Everyone was using the same basic platforms to make emergency operations and ammo cross flow easier.
Veronica dipped into her stash of web gear to outfit Owen, Derek and Gretchen. Nothing too fancy, just something to carry the minimum and still be able to be worn all day long while driving.
Veronica and Violet said nothing about the two super short carbines they had. When she thought of her tiny ‘problem solver’, Veronica was reminded about another potential need they needed to be ready for.
“Oh, since we will be traveling in the middle of nowhere and could have problems at the drop of a hat, we need to have emergency bags for everyone close at hand as we drive. The drill will be, you bail out of the car, truck, station wagon or whatever, you grab you pack and your carbine. It needs to be easy to get to, small enough to grab in a hurry, and light enough to run to cover with.”
This led to more planning and plotting, leading to everyone putting a change of clothes and a set of the bare essentials in a bag to be stored in each of the other vehicles. Each vehicle ended up with a duffle bag containing back up clothes for the group.
As each person came up with an idea or a plan or a worry, they all worked the solution.
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Knighttemplar
Veteran Member
Nothing on comm’s for car or person?
Lovin the story, moar faster.
Lovin the story, moar faster.
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Secrets
Late that night, Veronica and Violet came into Gretchen’s room through the secret passage and summoned Derek to join them. Soon Derek, Gretchen, Senshi and Onna were on the bed waiting for Veronica and Violet to explain.
“I mentioned it earlier, but I needed to give you two these.” Veronica held out some zip-loc bags with documents in them. Derek and Gretchen looked confused as they started looking through them. While they looked Veronica talked.
“Here is a fully backstopped in the computer system alternate4 identity for each of you. I know you’re confuse about why. Here’s the why. If anything were to happen to us, get separated, detained, or if Violet and I were even killed, we don’t want you two to be put back under the whim of some social system. I know you two could take care of yourselves and each other even if we weren’t around. You proved it to me time and time again. These documents mean you have the authority to do so, even if it’s fake. When we are traveling, we need to look at how each of you look and act, just in case. “
Gretchen and Derek looked at the documents and each other, the seriousness dawning on them about Veronica’s worries. Violet started talking.
“Bron built the identities in the database system and should hold up to all but the most powerful deep probes. She kept your first names the same to prevent confusion in a hurry. According to these papers, you,” she looked at Gretchen, “are eighteen and you,” she looked at Derek, “are twenty.” Violet looked over at Veronica. “What else do they need to know?”
“I don’t know right now. I’m sure there will be more.” Veronica looked like she was wracking her brain for answers.
“Get some sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow.” Violet said as she led Veronica out of the room and back to hers before heading on through to her own room and bed.
Late that night, Veronica and Violet came into Gretchen’s room through the secret passage and summoned Derek to join them. Soon Derek, Gretchen, Senshi and Onna were on the bed waiting for Veronica and Violet to explain.
“I mentioned it earlier, but I needed to give you two these.” Veronica held out some zip-loc bags with documents in them. Derek and Gretchen looked confused as they started looking through them. While they looked Veronica talked.
“Here is a fully backstopped in the computer system alternate4 identity for each of you. I know you’re confuse about why. Here’s the why. If anything were to happen to us, get separated, detained, or if Violet and I were even killed, we don’t want you two to be put back under the whim of some social system. I know you two could take care of yourselves and each other even if we weren’t around. You proved it to me time and time again. These documents mean you have the authority to do so, even if it’s fake. When we are traveling, we need to look at how each of you look and act, just in case. “
Gretchen and Derek looked at the documents and each other, the seriousness dawning on them about Veronica’s worries. Violet started talking.
“Bron built the identities in the database system and should hold up to all but the most powerful deep probes. She kept your first names the same to prevent confusion in a hurry. According to these papers, you,” she looked at Gretchen, “are eighteen and you,” she looked at Derek, “are twenty.” Violet looked over at Veronica. “What else do they need to know?”
“I don’t know right now. I’m sure there will be more.” Veronica looked like she was wracking her brain for answers.
“Get some sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow.” Violet said as she led Veronica out of the room and back to hers before heading on through to her own room and bed.
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
know in the abstract. Not everyone knows comms past “cellphone and walkie-talkie “
Griz3752
Retired, practising Curmudgeon
Particularly those urban dorks who walk down the street, face-welded to a screen .......
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
The Next Day
“Do you want to tell my what’s going on? You’re pushing awful hard on practicing combat transitions and tactical stuff. What aren’t you telling me?” Violet cornered Veronica in the kitchen while everyone else was showering up and getting ready for dinner.
They had spent over four hours practicing bail-out drills and rifle to pistol transitions. Every time Veronica was finding flaws, pushing them harder and harder. Finally, Violet called a halt for the day.Everyone was exhausted and needed food.
“What am I not telling you? How about the fact I am scared shitless we might run ito a problem too big for us to tackle or run away from? We have you, me, and then things start getting sparce.” Veronica blurted out.
“What about Bron and Felicia? They are Federal Agents like you.” Violet shot back.
“Bron’s great at fighting from a keyboard and digging out the intelligence, Felicia is more urban and city experienced. Then there’s Owen. All of this is new to him. Even being ‘wagonmaster’, it’s not them I’m really responsible for, not the ones I’m trying to make proficient enough to survive. Gretchen and Derek. I promised we would take care of them. I can’t let up. If it’s one more practice, one more bail-out drill that makes the difference between them living or dying, surviving or not surviving, then I don’t mind being the bitch and making them run more drills.”
“Do you really think it’s going to come to this, Veronica?”
“God, I hope not, but you know what dad says about hope.”
Violet shook her head as she recited her father’s words.
“Hope is not a plan.”
“Do you want to tell my what’s going on? You’re pushing awful hard on practicing combat transitions and tactical stuff. What aren’t you telling me?” Violet cornered Veronica in the kitchen while everyone else was showering up and getting ready for dinner.
They had spent over four hours practicing bail-out drills and rifle to pistol transitions. Every time Veronica was finding flaws, pushing them harder and harder. Finally, Violet called a halt for the day.Everyone was exhausted and needed food.
“What am I not telling you? How about the fact I am scared shitless we might run ito a problem too big for us to tackle or run away from? We have you, me, and then things start getting sparce.” Veronica blurted out.
“What about Bron and Felicia? They are Federal Agents like you.” Violet shot back.
“Bron’s great at fighting from a keyboard and digging out the intelligence, Felicia is more urban and city experienced. Then there’s Owen. All of this is new to him. Even being ‘wagonmaster’, it’s not them I’m really responsible for, not the ones I’m trying to make proficient enough to survive. Gretchen and Derek. I promised we would take care of them. I can’t let up. If it’s one more practice, one more bail-out drill that makes the difference between them living or dying, surviving or not surviving, then I don’t mind being the bitch and making them run more drills.”
“Do you really think it’s going to come to this, Veronica?”
“God, I hope not, but you know what dad says about hope.”
Violet shook her head as she recited her father’s words.
“Hope is not a plan.”