Casey's head hurt. This was like talking to a rock.
"Elliot, going after this like it's D-day is a mistake."
Once again Elliot gave Casey that fake smile, the one Casey really hated.
"Well, I'm not going that far without the firepower we need."
"Listen, this isn't force projection, it's a snatch and grab. A minimal footprint 'Armor through speed' concept."
"Yeah, historically that worked so well for the Brits."
"Wait, you got that reference?" Casey shook his head,"Doesn't matter. If you want me to help, this is all I need. A tow truck, preferably 4 wheel drive, two 5 gallon jerry cans of gas, a fully charged deep cycle car battery, a second shooter and someone who can recognize the equipment we're going for. The only extras that would be nice is a mechanic, just in case and CB radios for both vehicles. That's it 3 to 4 people."
"That's suicidal. I won't..."
Casey interrupted, "I made it from Ocala Florida to here, almost entirely alone. You're designing this using the knowledge you have and you've had to move in force because gathering the containers for this wall was noisy, gathering the supplies for this many people is noisy, and noise attracts the walkers. This NEEDS to be quiet."
"OK, Explain why you need what you said."
"The tow truck, in case we can't get the van moving on it's own, 4 wheel drive is obvious. Gas, also obvious, the Battery, just in case we can't get close and the van's battery is dead or bad, The second shooter, to ride or drive the tow truck back, I'll drive the van and the techie will be securing the equipment in case we need to ditch the van. If we take a Mechanic we can hot-wire it, and it gives us a shooter in each vehicle for more security."
"You'll attract walkers all the way down..."
"Unavoidable, to minimize the swarm we'll leave at night, I'll drive using night vision goggles that I got from the CDC. That means we should arrive during the morning and have the most light to work with while on scene."
"You've thought this through." At least Elliot was actually thinking about it and that irritating fake smile was gone.
"Not really, this is how I had to think while out there."
That night they were off. Casey was driving using the NVGs. He carefully avoided all the walkers, This wasn't about taking them down, it was about getting the equipment back, and damage to the truck could cause them to abort. They made good time and got to the van a few minutes before dawn.
Giving the others orders to stay with the truck, Casey went forward, using the NVGs until the approaching dawn made him remove them. Except for a few goons locked in their cars and some kind of Fire department vehicle (and as far as Casey was concerned, they would stay there until the cars rusted out from under them), Casey only found one walker on the road. Oddly, it sat against the news van, not reacting even as Casey approached. Not willing to take chances, he drew his knife and got ready. For some reason, the goon almost sprang to life just as Casey plunged the knife into it's eye. As he scanned his surroundings, Casey thought about the goon, He had seen some of them, just lay around. But this sitting there until he was right on top of them was new.
The area was clear, So he signaled the others to come up. Joe, the mechanic, leading Eric, the tech weenie, as Eva, the other shooter stayed at the tow truck, providing cover. Joe wore a pack with the battery and jumper cables while Eric carried a 5 gallon can of gas.
Of course, the van was locked. 'If it was easy, I wouldn't be involved.' ran through Casey's mind. But as the others caught up to him, he had an idea. Stopping the others, Casey said, "Check that walker for the keys... and anything else." Amazingly and weirdly, it did have the keys, although the remote didn't work. Joe unlocked the door and was about to open it but Casey stopped him. Screwing on the suppressor for his pistol, Casey opened the door and sniffed. Nothing. Entering the van and clearing it showed 2 things. It was empty and the dome light didn't come on. Glancing at the dash as he got out, he saw the headlight switch was on, so he turned them off and popped the hood.
"Eric, get in and turn the ignition to accessory. Find out what's on and turn it off." Casey was scanning and looked back to Eva, she gave him an OK signal. He took the suppressor off his Glock.
'I need to find a holster that will fit this with the can on'
Joe was already set to jump start the van.
'Quick and efficient, good.'
It took three attempts to get the van started. Each time Casey cringed at the noise, but it had to be done. Glancing back, Casey saw Eva give him the guarded sign, pointing past the van.
It wasn't the head's up sign so he jogged to the back of the van and climbed the ladder on the door. About 2 miles down the road was ... something. A large dust cloud.
'Damn, I wish I had a good scope.' Taking out his binoculars, Casey couldn't see what it was, but he suspected. As he climbed down Casey looked at the Chevy suburban with Fire Command F6 on the side.
"Joe, will this thing go?" Casey asked.
"It should be good. Half a tank of gas."
"Change of plans, we need to get that Command vehicle running, now."
To his credit Joe didn't ask any questions. The door wasn't locked, so Casey opened it and stabbed the walker in the drivers seat. It had a radio and a leather-man on it's hip, so Casey threw them on the passenger seat and popped the hood. The keys were already in the ignition.
Joe was hooking the battery up as Casey poured gas into the tank. It took a minute to find the switch to turn the emergency lights off.
Five tries got the truck running. The smell inside was beyond bad and Casey was glad he hadn't eaten, But Joe lost his breakfast. They found some red BIO garbage bags and covered the drivers seat, they got in and they drove to the truck.
Casey got out of the truck and motioned Eva down, "Eva your in charge, get these guys and the van back to base."
"What about you?"
"That dust cloud is a shitload of walkers and they're heading right here, if they keep on the road, they'll get uncomfortably close to base. So I'm gonna try and lead them off" Casey poured the second 5 gallon can into the truck's gas tank.
"How many do you think there are?"
"Hundreds at least, maybe thousands."