Chapter 25- Inadequate Strength part 3

[Bray]

Yea I am not good at reading through every post. Is it weird that Kelly was afraid to touch puke, or am I weird to think that puke isn't gross when you gotta pick up a good friend to save them from potential death or worse.

Haha yeah given the situation you'd think you'd just get on with the task...women huh? :P

*Hides and waits for the storm*

[IamPaul]

Haha yeah given the situation you'd think you'd just get on with the task...women huh? :P

*Hides and waits for the storm*

Never mind my last post. I forget that Kelly was a lawyer.

[Tandem25]

I just had a thought; what if they weren't shooting at a flesh biter when they landed at Ft. Irwin? What if it was a living soldier who came running up on them or was in a hidden position waiting to shoot them? Maybe Ft. Irwin isn't welcoming any survivors and Michael & crew are surrounded? The final shot we heard (pistol) could have been a warning shot.

Thanks for the link and that's a good theory. I hadn't thought of that one. Most of the other theories posted so far rolled around in my noggin right after this episode. I hope this one is right. It'd flow with the story.
I don't remember who said it but it really was the fastest 16 minutes ever. I had to do a double take at the clock in my office.

Loved the Locked and Loaded ad.

[Hellbringer]

It's also sometimes used as a reference to E-5 in the army, not always air force.

I've called some of my brand new Sergeants "Buck SGT" when they started a little big in their ego britches. It brings them back down to level ground. And I don't do it because of any zoomie or leatherneck references, either.

[Privateer]

If I recall correctly, buck Sergeant (and, for that matter, buck Private) means the lowest rank of the two (Or maybe PV1?), if I recall my googling from when I saw Cool Hand Luke a decade ago. A gunny would be an SNCO, so, yar, outrank. If there is a surviving force at Irwin, there's a significant chance that SGT Cross will not be the senior man on post.

Wiki notes that Irwin has a population of about 8000+. Not a /large/ community, by any means, but, if google maps is something to be believed, it is a sizable enough training facility. Part of me wants to say that the base could have been easily overrun because of the civilian population in Barstow, but, if I recall correctly, that dusty road to the facility wasn't packed with cars.

Still, looking at it, it doesn't look eminently defensible. Its no fortress, and while there must /certainly/ be some sort of fence around a lot of the property, it is a large reservation. Still, chock full of a bunch of dudes being trained to fight in the desert, armed to the teeth, with foreknowledge of all the proper places to hole up (assuming bachelor enlisted housing is the same 'round the military, those things would make some formidable buildings if you could knock out stair access.), its not inconceivable that a sizable population has been holed up waiting for a rescue party.

I have to agree. That gunshot at the end was... inconclusive. It didn't necessarily have to have come from our disembarking heros at all. All the noise might've drawn zombies, but the sound of a big Coastie chopper would probably draw survivors too. Hopefully more /trusting/ survivors.

[Cabbage Patch]

I'm not sure if this is what KC has been hinting at, but let me explain something about Fort Irwin that might be of interest.

This is a MAJOR training base. Every 28 days a 4,000 man Army Brigade arrives there to conduct very realistic war games. These units travel to California with their small arms and some specialized equipment, but they pick up most of their heavy equipment from stores that are permanently maintained on Fort Irwin.

At the edge of the main base there is a complex of warehouses that contain, literally, enough hardware to equip an Army. This includes all of the tanks, armored vehicles, trucks, humvees, ammunition and rations necessary to equip the visiting Brigade. Plus there is enough to equip the Brigade scheduled to arrive the following month. Plus there is enough to equip the OPFOR (Opposing Forces) unit that is permanently based at Fort Irwin to serve as a sparring partner for the visiting units. All told, there must a thousand tanks and armored vehicles and over five thousand trucks and humvees located on the base.

Add to that the fact that Fort Irwin gets its water from wells on the base, it gets its electricity from a solar power complex on the base, that there's a large fuel storage facility and a hospital, and that it's geographically isolated, and you can see why Michael, Saul & Angel thought that the survivors could hold out here.

[DeeKay86]

I'm not sure if this is what KC has been hinting at, but let me explain something about Fort Irwin that might be of interest.

This is a MAJOR training base. Every 28 days a 4,000 man Army Brigade arrives there to conduct very realistic war games. These units travel to California with their small arms and some specialized equipment, but they pick up most of their heavy equipment from stores that are permanently maintained on Fort Irwin.

At the edge of the main base there is a complex of warehouses that contain, literally, enough hardware to equip an Army. This includes all of the tanks, armored vehicles, trucks, humvees, ammunition and rations necessary to equip the visiting Brigade. Plus there is enough to equip the Brigade scheduled to arrive the following month. Plus there is enough to equip the OPFOR (Opposing Forces) unit that is permanently based at Fort Irwin to serve as a sparring partner for the visiting units. All told, there must a thousand tanks and armored vehicles and over five thousand trucks and humvees located on the base.

Add to that the fact that Fort Irwin gets its water from wells on the base, it gets its electricity from a solar power complex on the base, that there's a large fuel storage facility and a hospital, and that it's geographically isolated, and you can see why Michael, Saul & Angel thought that the survivors could hold out here.

It sounds so damn cool that I want to live there now! LOL

[Jeebogs]

I'm not sure if this is what KC has been hinting at, but let me explain something about Fort Irwin that might be of interest.

This is a MAJOR training base. Every 28 days a 4,000 man Army Brigade arrives there to conduct very realistic war games. These units travel to California with their small arms and some specialized equipment, but they pick up most of their heavy equipment from stores that are permanently maintained on Fort Irwin.

At the edge of the main base there is a complex of warehouses that contain, literally, enough hardware to equip an Army. This includes all of the tanks, armored vehicles, trucks, humvees, ammunition and rations necessary to equip the visiting Brigade. Plus there is enough to equip the Brigade scheduled to arrive the following month. Plus there is enough to equip the OPFOR (Opposing Forces) unit that is permanently based at Fort Irwin to serve as a sparring partner for the visiting units. All told, there must a thousand tanks and armored vehicles and over five thousand trucks and humvees located on the base.

Add to that the fact that Fort Irwin gets its water from wells on the base, it gets its electricity from a solar power complex on the base, that there's a large fuel storage facility and a hospital, and that it's geographically isolated, and you can see why Michael, Saul & Angel thought that the survivors could hold out here.

So essentially, what you're saying is, in order for them all to have been turned, something must have gone VERY wrong.

OR, maybe, just maybe, the OPFOR were the zombles and the government were sending troops there to practice taking down the soon to be undead masses!!!

[Hellbringer]

It sounds so damn cool that I want to live there now! LOL

I've been there 4 times. Fun to visit (sometimes), doesn't look fun to live at. Once you leave the base, the nearest civilization is Barstow. The biggest nearby cities are Las Vegas and LA; 3 hour trip either way.

[reaper239]

what is with everyone blaming each other and getting all pissy? yes kelly made an assumption, yes that was bad, no it was not unreasonable, michael: calm the fuck down. she made a mistake, there is no need to beat her face in with a zuchini.