Chapter 15

I felt putting the MRAP in the rear and the hummer between the RVs would somewhat give us a non-threatening appearance. It would also allow the SUVs to scout and leave the rest of the convoy with good security since the hummer could pull around front or drop behind to the rear at the first indication of trouble.

We started off and drove for nearly three hours without seeing or detecting any signs of the Biological or Chemical weapons. We were just coming to the first town along our route and we could see the first signs of possible contamination.

There were several bodies lying in the road, so we put our M40 masks on and slowly moved forward. As we got closer, we could see that they had been guards or lookouts. None of them appeared to have any injuries or wounds. We stopped and did some tests to confirm the presents of a BIO/Chemical hazard. The test showed a minor trace of both with .03% BIO and .2% Chemical presence. That was enough to confirm that a contamination had occurred but was not enough to affect anyone or anything any longer. This was all reported to Command Headquarters.

We sprayed the bodies with the soap and water combination and the area around them for 10 feet. Let the soap bleach and other chemicals to soak and do their job. We ate an early dinner and then torched everything with flamethrowers and fuel spraying tanks until we had dry burnt ground even most of the ash was burnt.

We kind of circled our vehicles and set up a guard rotation then hit the rack to get some sleep. We all figured that we would take advantage of this opportunity to get sleep not knowing if we would have the choice tomorrow night.

After sunrise we ate breakfast and geared up in our protective suits and M40 masks. Carefully and very slowly we drove into the small town. It appeared to have been well maintained as there was no trash or debris on the streets or sidewalks. All of the stores were closed up and had boarded windows which indicated someone had covered broken glass. There was no sign of life not even animals like cats or dogs. It was spooky.

I called a halt and had two teams dismount to check some of the buildings. All of the stores had been cleaned out of any food. Other items were sorted and grouped in like item piles or shelves. Everything was very well organized. But the million-dollar question was who and where were they. I was hoping that the small group of guards we found was not the entire survival group for this town.

At the far end of town, we found a hint at what might have happened. There were more dead five to be exact and all of them had been shot. When we tested the area, it was slightly higher with .07% BIO and .6% Chemical which is still not dangerous but getting stronger. We reported our findings and our thoughts as we cleaned the bodies along with the surrounding area going a little farther to 25 feet. After letting the soap bleach and other chemicals do their thing it was flamethrower and burners all over again. It was dark by the time it burned out, so we drove about a mile out of town and circled up our vehicles again.

We went for three days and almost a dozen towns without finding any people or signs of contaminates. This made the Generals happy and we were not upset about it either. What was concerning to everyone was not finding anymore survivors. It was a couple of days later when a girl riding a horse was seen off to our southeast just about 100 meters away riding parallel to us. When she figured we had seen her she turned south and rode away. The hummer was the only vehicle that might have been able to follow her, but we did not want to chance sending out a vehicle alone.