Free Project Terminus by Nathan Combs

how organized they are. Most likely they’ll be coming from Robbinsville. It’s hard to imagine they’d use a horse for transportation and not food, so I think they’ll be on foot. If they are mobile, we could see them at sunset tonight, but best guess is at dawn tomorrow. As far as numbers go, I have no idea.”
    “Okay, assemble the shooters at dawn in the OP for a powwow, and when the fog lifts, we’ll man the OP until we’re done. If they don’t show up today, we’ll re-instate the watch positions just before dusk, then rotate watches on the OP, the crow’s nest, and the SAW every four hours. Everyone not on watch sleeps.”
    The sun was just peeking over the horizon when Wade began addressing the shooters. “All right guys, you know the drill. We’ve planned and practiced this for a long time. But, we have zero Intel. We don’t know who they are, how many they are, what their capabilities are, and no idea what their level of training is. So we need a prisoner; two, if possible. The rest are DOA. If they have horses and night vision gear, we expect an attack sometime this evening. If they’re on foot, which we think they are, we anticipate the attack will come early tomorrow morning. The fact is, we don’t know. It’s just a guess.
    “Sean, I want you to grab some shut-eye. Bill will take over the OP until you get back. Make it 1700 hours. Chris, I know you don’t want to, but I need you to get off the Barrett and get some sleep. You can crash in the nest if you want to, but get off that weapon. Randal’s going to do a five-mile recon up the valley, past the OP. Highlander, you stay on the SAW for now. I’m going to go check on the women and kids and recon the backside of the mountain. Keep your headsets on, but maintain radio silence. When we communicate, we’ll use our call signs. Let’s do it.” 
    Everyone in Fort Terminus had a combat responsibility. Carol’s job was to coordinate the activities of the non-combatants and to ensure their escape if the Fort was over-run. She was sitting in the mess tent going over the game plan with them when Wade entered. When she saw him, she told the group she’d be back in a few minutes and motioned Wade to follow her outside.
    Wade smiled and asked, “Everything all right, Carol?”
    “Yeah, of course. But, Wade they’re scared. And so am I.”
    Wade grabbed her shoulders and said, “Everyone’s scared, Carol. I am too. But I guarantee you no one—and I do mean no one —is getting into Fort-T. Keep them busy and keep it light. They’ll be fine. I’m counting on you. We all are.”
    The opening to the cave was small, and like the plateau itself, difficult to see unless you knew it was there. It was decent size at twenty-seven feet long, averaging eighteen feet wide, and in places, twelve feet high. Wade entered and spent a moment examining the backpacks sitting against one wall. They contained basic survival gear and would be used in the event the Fort was over-run. It was Carol’s job to take the non-combatants into the cave, don the backpacks, exit through the crow’s nest, and disappear on the backside of the mountain. From there, she would lead them to a secondary site deep in the mountains.
    Wade was always amazed how easy it was to climb the nine hundred-plus foot shaft to the crow’s nest, and he did so now in less than ten minutes. Upon exiting the shaft, he saw Chris lying behind the Barrett sound asleep. Watching him, he felt a deep sense of pride. Two of his boys had grown into men any father would be proud of, and he was in the process of raising his third. He was determined Adam and his granddaughter April would have a life beyond Fort Terminus. He stood lost in thought for a full minute, then abruptly turned and set out to recon the backside of the mountain.
    Carol looked at the questioning faces of the six people she was responsible for, and mentally went over her assessment of each one. Linda was short in stature, but big in