June 19, 1996. 06:00 (6am), Aleksinac/Bosphorus, Serbia. Bremmer, last on guard duty, began the coffee. Evan had been up since 04:30. During his practice, as was his norm, Evan expanded his Haragei and entered Mu-Shin. Initially, as he stretched out his Haragei, he felt his team mates and the Ambassador. He tried to ingrain their essence into his mindset. Then he pushed outward. Just around the turn, on the main roadway, he could feel soldiers setting up a roadblock. Evan made sure to think about Hermione, her smile, her smell, the feel of her hair, the feel of her hugs, and her warmth. He finished up his exercises, toweled off, got fully dressed and kitted, and made his way back to the rest of the team.
Evan prepped new poultices for LT, Cross, and the Ambassador. Then he went about cleaning each of their wounds and repacking the dressings. The edges of the skin at each wound appeared healthy and uninfected. He then checked the splints on Tristan and Xavier's arms, checking for pulse and color of skin. By the time he finished, McCormick was about, getting breakfast ready.
"McCormick. I was up early this morning and heard some trucks drive by and stop. You think they may have set up a roadblock?" "It's possible, Fenix." "I think we should check it out. We may need to find an alternate route around." Evan said. "Agreed. I'll come with." McCormick replied.
McCormick handed out tasks and orders to those capable, and let them know he and Fenix would be scouting around. Evan and McCormick geared up and moved out. Just as they were about to reach the main street, Evan felt the presence of wizards ….annnnd….something else…not..quite..human. Evan signaled to McCormick to stop. He knew that any magical charm he might use might be detectable by other wizards. With vampires(?) in the mix, it would be downright impossible. With two moderately wounded (with bloody wounds no less), their chances dropped precipitously.
"McCormick. I have a really, really bad feeling about this road block" Evan said. "Why?" McCormick responded. "I've been known to get these feelings on occasion. I've learned to trust them." Evan replied. "And your feelings are saying this road block is really bad news?" "Yes. Especially with our wounded. Two unconscious wounded, that we have to carry, severely curtails our mobility and flexibility. Let's check out the road block first, then we can plan a work around." Evan responded.
Evan and McCormick observed the road block from about 0.25 mile out using binoculars. Evan used Haragei to further enhance his understanding of where everyone was, including the vampires. They marked their observations on their map, and then moved on to another observation point.
Back at the base camp, they reviewed the map with the marked positions of the road block, Serbian soldiers and, as Evan called them, "extras". From their location, there were only two roads going northwest – the main road and a secondary "farm road". The roads run nearly parallel, separated by only one field length. Further to the southwest, the Juzna Morava river snakes its way to the northwest (and Boznia). About 40 miles to the northwest, the river intersects the "farm road". From there, another 100 miles (west) to the border with Boznia and another 45 miles to base. So, Option 1 – take the main road, try to get past the road block; Option 2 – take the farm road. Chances were they would be under close scrutiny there as well; Option 3 – go by river out of the way. They would need to either acquire or make a boat for that, and later acquire another truck. They would have to traverse rivers, mountains and valleys.
Getting caught was not an option – the mission was a secret and therefore could not be acknowledged. Options 1 and 2 were therefor not good options as they carried the highest chances to be caught. That left Option 3. Going by water, out of sight of the road, might facilitate their progress "home", and hopefully circumnavigate the hostiles. Assuming a travel rate of 1.5 to 2 miles an hour, 8 hours a day, they could possibly make 12 to 16 miles per day. As they were still approximately 150 miles from base, they were likely to get to HQ in 10 to 13 days. In order to travel light enough to travel that fast, they would need to acquire food along the way. Between the two of them, they decided to break-down camp and leave towards the evening. It was middle of June, so the evenings were relatively warm – overnight travelling should not be too uncomfortable.
Evan volunteered to gather some more food, scout a path to the river, and look for a boat. McCormic and Bremmer would dismantle the transmitter and set it in a back harness. Before he left, Evan brought out the food Dobby had given him the night before: two whole chickens, stuffed cabbage leaves, rice and beans in covered ceramic bowls.
As Evan left camp, he briefly stopped to enter Mu-Shin and employ the nine Kuji Kiri. It was important he not be discovered by the wizards and vampires with the Serb soldiers. Romania, the home to some of the largest vampire clans, bordered Serbia to the northeast. It would not do well to antagonize the vampires unnecessarily. Evan carefully scouted out a path down to the river. While there, Evan made sure the river flowed to the northwest. He searched up-river and down-river for some empty boats they might use, but did not find anything suitable. There were three to four dinghies/skiffs, but nothing that could hold 8 people plus gear. He'd have to think on that a bit.
Evan decided to utilize the opportunity to contact Hermione. It was coming on lunchtime. He called Dobby to help him out. "Hey Dobby" he said, as his friend appeared. "Hello Master Birdy. How can Dobby's bees helping?" Dobby asked. "Dobby. Can you take a message to Hermione for me?" Yes, sir Master Birdy" Dobby replied. Evan quickly pulled out his pen and a small pad of paper. "Hey Luv. Short on time and space – doing OK. Luv you. Need a bit of help – some buddies are injured by deep shrapnel. Can't get them to a doctor. Afraid to move them much w/o removing. Any medical spell? XXOO". He prepared a second note for Major Tiff. "Sparrows turn to ducks". "Dobby, this is for Hermione. The other one is for Major Tiff at HQ.
Evan made his way back to camp. One of the first things he saw was one of the trucks. More specifically, the wooden sideboards. This gave rise to some more imagination – the inner tubes of the tires could be useful – there were four on each truck, plus spares! The canvas covering of the larger truck was waterproof.
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