Chapter 26

After Troop 2 departed Blocking Post 1, six guard stations - which included the two gun trucks - were established within the perimeter of the barricade. The twenty-eight Seals of the two Seal Platoons of Troop 1 were divided into four seven-man guard details. The manning of the six guard posts was reduced to one Seal per post. The Troop’s two Chief Petty Officers and the senior Petty Officer of each Seal Platoon were in charge of the Troop’s four guard sections, and they functioned as roving guards. While they did look out over the barricade, their main function was to ensure everyone stayed awake on duty. Ensign Bilart, the only officer available on a full-time basis, assigned himself to the day shift to oversee the operation of the Blocking Post. The two Seals assigned to the Troop’s Command Section were tasked with monitoring the radio and other administrative duties during the evening and early morning shifts.

The Seals of Troop 1 were assigned to guard duty according to their duty roster, which was prepared using a rotating shift schedule. Within a four-day period, each guard shift performed twenty-four hours of guard duty and eight hours of ‘As Assigned’ duty.

The gun-trucks, two of the guard posts, were positioned in the northeast and northwest corners of the barricade and each was manned by a single person. There was a guard post in the center of the eastern and western sections of the barricade and one in the southeast and southwest corners.

Four of the guard posts had open-sided canopies to shield the guards and their weapons from the nightly rainstorms and barstools for the guards to sit on; while they watched the area beyond the concrete dividers. At the gun-trucks, a tarp was loosely spread over the machine gun to protect it from the rain and each truck’s awning was in place to protect both the machine gun and the guard who sat on his barstool looking out over the barricade. At night, the area beyond the barricade was lit by lights.

There were several contingency plans for when a group of survivors approached the barricade. The plans were developed for different types of attack, but all of the plans followed the same basic scenario. When the CPO, or PO, confirmed the approach of a group, he activated the alert siren and the remaining guard shifts came to help man and defend the barricade. The gun-truck guards dumped their stools over the side of the truck bed and the machine gun was uncovered by a quick flick of the wrist that sent the tarp after the stool. The four shifts of guards moved to the barricade and prepared to fire, if necessary.

It was mid-morning on a clear day, when Seal Team 2 noticed a large group of armed survivors moving south on Highway 80 into the Ark Army’s Area of Operation. Ensign Bilart was on duty when the alert sounded, and he went to find the NCO in charge of the guard section. CPO Kaner informed him that a large, armed party was approaching in the southbound lane of the highway. Raising his binoculars, Ensign Bilart accessed the oncoming people, and then returned to the office to call for backup.

“Seal 1, Seal 2-1. Over.”

A few moments later, “Go Seal 2-1. Over.

“We have a large group of armed people approaching from the north. I need backup.

“I wasn’t able to see the rear of their column, Seal 1, so it was difficult to get an accurate headcount. It looks like a dozen people in the front of the column armed with civilian weapons and there must be at least sixty people pulling wagons. Over.”

“Roger, 2-1. I deployed a Quick Reaction Team to your location. Keep me informed. Seal 1 out.”

When they first arrived at the Blocking Post, Lieutenant Morrison and Ensigns Bilart and Burr had prepared contingency plans for a hostile force approaching them from different directions. A large force coming south on Highway 80 met the criteria of Plan 1. Lieutenant Morrison had conducted drills to prepare his people for this moment.

The only key difference is, Troop 2 deployed to Blocking Post 4, so Blocking Post 1 only had half the firepower. However, Ensign Bilart conducted drills of his modified contingency plans. Troop 1 was well prepared to meet the force that was moving toward them.

As the Seals of the three off-duty guard shifts arrived, CPO Kaner directed them to the positions defined by Plan 1. In addition to the gun trucks, there were two groups of four people each armed with M240B machine guns on the north side of the barricade. The gun truck and one group of four Seals on the west side of the northern section of the barricade was Fire Team Alpha. The second gun truck and group of Seals was Fire Team Bravo. The remaining Seals of the off-duty guard shifts were armed with M-16s and distributed around the barricade.

Since the only visibly armed survivors were the small group at the front of the line of wagons, Lieutenant Bilart was ready to put Plan 1A into effect, which was designed to eliminate an armed group at the front of a convoy, while minimizing casualties to the remainder of the convoy’s people. Plan 1B would be used if the entire group was armed.

Chiefs Kaner and Woodard finished checking the disposition of their people around the barricade and they joined Ensign Bilart, who was standing beside the gun truck in the northeast corner of the barricade.

Chief Kaner asked, “What does it look like to you, Sir?”

“It looks like more than eighty unarmed people pulling wagons and a dozen or so armed people leading them, Chief. They’re probably coming from the Truckee area or Reno.

As the leaders of the approaching group cleared the overpass, Ensign Bilart raised the gun truck’s microphone to his mouth and said, “ATTENTION! You are entering the territory claimed by the Ark and the area is under martial law.”

After a short pause, he continued, “You have a choice. Turn back now or continue forward. If you continue to approach us, you will be required to comply with our directions and will be subject to our laws.”

Lowering the microphone, the Ensign said, “Chief Kaner, Fire Team Alpha is primary if they move to cross the northbound lane of the highway. Chief Woodard, Fire Team Bravo is primary if they move to cross the frontage road. Chief Woodard, join your fire team.”

Chief Woodward left to join his Fire Team. Chief Kaner’s Team was positioned on the frontage road and Chief Woodard’s Team is between the north and south lanes of the freeway.

The approaching group’s leaders stopped for a brief talk. Now they were again moving toward the barricade. The group was strung out along the southbound lane of the highway. When they were fifty yards from the barricade, Ensign Bilart used the loudspeaker to order them to halt. The group began to bunch up when their leaders came to a stop on the highway.

The leaders consisted of a man dressed in a white garment with gold trim and about a dozen men dressed in jeans and jean jackets who were armed with an assortment of weapons; primarily one AK-47, hunting rifles, shotguns, and a sidearm for each man.

The man in the white garment stepped forward and in a loud voice called out, “I am the Chosen One. The Lord commands that we travel to the Land of Plenty. Stand aside, so my people can pass.”

Continuing to use the loudspeaker so everyone could hear him, Bilart said, “I am Ensign Kenneth Bilart of the Ark Army. My orders are to stop all parties entering the area controlled by the Ark Army and ensure they are not in violation of our laws. I informed you that if you continued, you would be subject to our orders and laws. Everyone in your group is to put down their weapons and move to between the two lanes of the highway and place their hands on the top of their heads.”

Turning to his people, the Chosen One called out to his people in a loud voice, “Stay where you are. The Lord will prevail and the infidels will allow us to pass.”

As his words were passed by his people to the rear of his group, the Chosen One turned back to Ensign Bilart and said, “The Lord has chosen me to lead my people to the Land of Plenty. I command you in his name to step aside and let us continue our journey.”

Ensign Bilart muttered to himself in a low voice, “Oh Shit! Just what we need ... a religious fanatic. Right now I wish we had one of those Negotiators here to deal with him.”

Raising the microphone to his mouth, the Ensign replied, “Look, Mister Chosen, you may have your orders from the Lord, but I have mine from my Lieutenant. No one passes this point without our having checked them out first. So the quicker you have your people disarm themselves and move to the center of the highway, the quicker you will be on your way.”

Looking toward each side of the barricade, the Chosen One turned to his people and called out, “Follow me! The Lord is guiding me. He tells me we should to go around these heathens and continue to the Land of Plenty.”

As the Chosen One moved toward the northbound lane of the highway, Ensign Bilart used his loudspeaker to say, “Chief Kaner, Fire Team Alpha is weapons free. Have one of you people place a warning burst of M240 fire in the ground in front of the leaders.”

Chief Kaner called out, “Seaman Tripper, fire a short warning burst in front of the people moving to cross the highway.”

Seaman Ray Tripper set the M240B machine gun’s selector switch to its FIRE position, aimed, and then fired a short burst of bullets about three feet in front of the Chosen One.

“How dare you defy the Lord’s will! Defy the Lord again, and I will have no choice but to order my Cohort of Power to kill you all.”

The Chosen One turned and prepared to proceed across the highway.

Ensign Bilart called out on the loudspeaker, “Chief Kaner, standby to fire on the leaders. Fire Team Bravo hold your fire. Only those designated to fire on my command are to do so.

“Mister, if you and your people attempt to move across the highway, you will be fired on. If anyone points their weapon at us or if I even suspect they may fire at us, you will be fired on. Now all of you ... put your weapons down ... place your hands on top of your heads ... and move to the center of the highway without your wagons.

The Chosen One called out, “The Lord commands we kill these infidels. Cohort of Power carryout the Lord’s will and...”

Not waiting for the Chosen One to finish, Ensign Bilart shouted, “Fire!“

Before the Chosen One’s Cohort could respond, Fire Team Alpha opened fire with five M240Bs on full automatic. The Chosen One and his Cohort of Power were cut down before they had a chance to swing their weapons toward the Seals.

Speaking into the microphone, Ensign Bilart called out, “Cease fire!”

Silence prevailed with the exception of several frightened children and adults.

Speaking into the microphone, Ensign Bilart said in a calmer voice, “Alright people. Your leaders made a bad mistake by not following my orders. I hope you are smarter than they were.

“For the final time, I want each of you to disarm yourself and then move to the center of the highway and place your hands on top of your head.”

At first there was no movement. Then, a few women with children began to move to the area between the two lanes of the highway and placed their hands on their heads. A moment later and it was a mass exodus of people leaving their wagons to do what the soldier ordered them to do.

When everyone in sight was standing in the center of the highway, Bilart spoke to his people saying, “Fire Team Bravo, check the people who are down to ensure no one is faking. Fire Team Alpha, make sure they have no weapons, and then check the wagons. Make sure no one is hiding in the wagons and check them for weapons.”

Chiefs Kaner and Woodard led their Fire Teams over the barricade, while the Seals in the gun trucks oversaw the operation. The leaders were all dead, no one was hiding in the wagons, there were no weapons in the wagons, and no one was armed.

“Seal 2-1, Seal 1-1. I am approaching your position. What is your status? Over.”

“Seal 1-1. Situation under control. We need assistance with crowd control. Over.”

“Roger, Seal 2-1. We will be there in a few minutes. Out.”

Ensign Bilart formed four two-man interrogation teams. The teams would talk with each person in the Chosen One’s group to determine if any of them were guilty of abuse of power. The interrogation teams climbed over the barricade and stood near the barricade. Troop 1 of Seal Team 1 arrived and moved to assist Seal Team 2 with controlling the large group of survivors.

Ensign Mac Allen joined Ensign Bilart and said, “Looks like you’ve had an interesting time, Ken. What happened?”

“Hi, Mac. I’m not certain, but it looks like a religious zealot and his buddies controlling a bunch of survivors. They seem to have dominated these people and thought that they could ignore us. The leader was a real whack job who started to order his buddies to kill us, so we put them down.”

“Those are civilian firearms, aren’t they, Ken?”

“Yeah, but one guy did have an AK. Why?”

“Just thinking, Ken. A dozen people standing in the open with civilian weapons trying to take on a Troop of Seals who have cover and automatic military-grade weapons is pure suicide in my opinion.”

As the two Troops finished checking a person for weapons, they directed the person to walk toward the barricade and to follow the directions they received. As people began moving toward the barricade, CPOs Kaner, Woodard, Race, and Tapp moved to meet them and formed them into four lines; one line for each interrogation team.

The CPOs detained the survivors at their location until the interrogation teams had finished interrogating their current interrogee, so the stream of people waiting to be interrogated started backing up.

Ensigns Bilart and Mac Allen were moving through the area and calmly talking with those around them in an attempt to keep everyone calm.

As an interrogation team finished with an interrogee, they assisted the interrogee and their kids in climbing over the barricade, if necessary. A second group of waiting Seals escorted the survivors to a grassy area near the Inn and told them to wait there. Four Seals were detailed to stay with the people to assist them, if needed.

Now that the survivors had seen that no harm would come to them, they settled down and were willingly following directions.

Ensigns Bilart and Allen were slowly strolling back and forth along the barricade pausing to listen to the interrogation teams talking with their interrogees. After listening in on a dozen interrogations, the two Ensigns talked and formed a good picture of what life was like in the group. Ensign Bilart decided it was time to report what had happened to the Division’s commanding officer, Captain Thomas Charles (Ark 4).

“Ark 4, Seal 2. Over.”

“Seal 2, Ark 3. Ark 4 will not return to the Command Center until tonight. Over.”

“Roger, Ark 3. A large group of armed people approached our barricade on Highway 80 from the direction of Reno. We warned them they were entering Ark territory and that it was under martial law. They chose to continue in our direction and we stopped them short of the barricade.

“Their leader refused to comply with our demands that they disarm themselves and submit to examination before being allowed to proceed. The leader and his cohort, who were the leaders of the group, were informed that they would be fired on if they failed to comply with my instructions to disarm themselves. The leader started to lead his group around the barricade. I ordered a warning burst of fire followed by a second verbal warning. He responded to the second warning by starting to order his leaders to kill us. I had designated Fire Team Alpha to fire on the leaders, if necessary. When I realized he was giving the order to fire on us, I immediately ordered my people to fire on the leaders.

“Once the leaders were down, the remainder of the group complied with my instructions. I had my people verify the leaders were dead and I had my people check the other people in the group and their wagons for weapons. After that we started interrogating them. Seal Team 1 arrived and assisted us with controlling the survivors while we continued interrogating the group.

“So far, the interrogations have yielded similar stories. It appears that the leader believed he had been chosen by God to lead his people to the Land of Plenty. I believe he was mentally unhinged, but he was probably very charismatic. He had a dozen armed men who apparently believed what he told them and he called them his Cohort of Power; these were the group’s leaders. So far, the only people in his group that were armed were the men who made up his Cohort.

“I’m guessing that the average person in his group recognized that he was not right in the head, but needed the security that a large, powerful group could provide them. There are about eighty people left in the group. They consist of about eight men and the rest are women and children. It sounds like the men formed consensual relationships with the women and adopted their kids. The Leader gave himself and his Cohort of Power the right to take and sexually use any woman in the group that they wanted to fuck. I’ve heard that any man who resisted the rape of his women was killed, and then their women and kids split up and merged with the other family groups.

“We should be finished with the interrogations in an hour, Ark 3. We are providing them with MREs and water for now, but can you arrange transport for these people and their things to an SCC today; we don’t have the people and facilities to care for them properly. A few of them also need non-emergency medical care. Over.”