Entry #4 - First contact

As we came close to the gates of the complex it suddenly hit me. This was not a mere bandit camp, this was an army base. And by the looks of it, the military still owned it. I then realized that we stood no change against them if they were to turn hostile and radioed the larger group to return to the town. We could now only resolve this with a good talk.

They led us to a central building, with several armed men in front of the door. It looked to be their headquarters. Surrounding this building were a bunch a tents and smaller buildings. One with a red cross symbol on it, but most just bland army green. Among the armed men there were a lot of refugees just like the ones we’ve picked up the last few weeks. And they seemed to be in pretty bad shape.

Within the walls of the headquarters there were several large rooms and some small offices. They brought us to an office with Cmd. Jackson on the door. This must be their commanding officer and the man we wanted to speak with. Jackson looked like a grizzly old soldier, hardened by years of service.

“This group approached the base with a white flag, sir.”, said one of our escorts. The man frowned, “And what is it you want, gentlemen? Food? Water? Medical supplies...? I hope you had a good look around, there isn’t much here. ”

Before I could say anything, Phillip stepped up and said: “Someone from this base infiltrated our town a few days ago and shot one of our residents, while trespassing in her home. As sheriff of the town of New Hope I demand your cooperation in finding the culprit and bring him to justice.” While saying this, Phillip pulled a small plastic bag out of his coat, in it was the casing of the bullet. Jackson looked surprised, but not as surprised as I was with Phillip.

Jackson said: “That’s a pretty serious accusation you make mister...”, “Phillip, appointed sheriff of New Hope”, Phillip replied. “Well Phillip”, Jackson continued: “We will hand that casing over to our quartermaster, Cpt. Brooks. He should easily be able to match the numbers of the casing to our database. If what you say is true, we’ll have your man in no time.” Jackson turned his attention to one of our escorts and said: “Private, see that this casing gets the Brooks ASAP.” “At once, sir”, he replied. He took the bag with the casing and walked out of room. “In the meantime”, Jackson continued: “you are our guests. Cpt. Brooks will have an answer for us tomorrow. I would like to invite you for supper and stay for the night.

I figured we weren’t allowed to leave anyway, so we accepted the invitation and stayed. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring. I can only hope both Cmd. Jackson and this Brooks guy are honest if the casing turns out to come from here.

Entry #3 - Recon Entry #5 - Trouble..