Willet – Chapter 6, Part III
If you are new to this series here is the link to Chapter 1 Part I.
This post is short, but it wraps up Chapter 6.
Chapter 6, part III
“Here’s a load bearing vest.” Steve hands me a vest with Molle attachments all over it. “And there’s mag pouches.” He says pointing to a bin. “Would you reload from your waist or vest?”
“Vest.” I said touching my chest where I would want a spare mag. It’s a reactive movement even though I haven’t done a reload drill in over a year.
“You can use one of the carbines from the hut, and we have plenty of spare mags.” Taking only 15 minutes to shop for gear we stuff everything into a huge duffel bag and begin to head back to the hut. Spending the next hour by the light of a lantern I begin attaching the pouches and loading my mags for the next day. Getting my rig correct is very important, these guys have the experience to know where they naturally reach for items and have instilled these motions into their muscle memory. For the past six months they’ve honed this training from practice into perfection. Living this long, they’ve perfected what’s worked. It’s been so long since I actually trained I will definitely be playing catch up.
The kids on the playground ran around playing tag as the teachers huddled wondering what they should do. None of their cel phones worked and the electricity had gone out. It was doubtful that any of the kids realized or even cared that the electricity was gone. The car was abandoned on the side of the road where it came to a stop. In the distance I could see her with the 72 Hour Bag I had outfitted for her on her back. At the school the kids sat huddled in the dark classroom with a teacher reading them a book. Soon they were walking home at sunset on the side walk out of habit even though there would most likely never be a need to look both ways before crossing the street again. At the house she got out the shotgun and loaded the shells into it by candle light. They ate some canned food she heated on the propane grill. Locking the doors in darkness they slept that night in our bed with extra covers and our dog at the foot of the bed.
Sitting up and gasping for air, its still dark outside, I lay back on the cot and go through the timeline of what I thought would’ve been the course of events back home. After my five month journey I didn’t expect them to be there anymore but I am still hopeful they are safe where ever they went to. We had spoken briefly about the Willett cabin, but I’m still sleepy and tomorrow will take all I have to muster.
72 Hour Bag • • • - - - • • • 