Staring at a six by eight foot map of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia that had just been laid out before them on the office table, Samuel Tillman said to the group of six surrounding it, “Alright everyone. That was good work on the other eastern site, but now that we have finalized our intended plans there, we must turn our attention to the Maryland location. Before we begin though, it should be noted that we don’t have an inside source who could provide us with additional up to the last minute intelligence reports. Also of concern is that the intended target is on a separate piece of land from the main body. For those reasons, I personally believe that the Maryland site could be more challenging for us than the New York location with regard to the necessary logistics.”

Directly across the table from Samuel, one of his six most trusted members of the organization said, “I agree with your assessment number two.”

“Thank you. Now the good news is that the Maryland location will be easier to figure out than the Colorado location. That unfortunately will be a nightmare for us to plan, so we will put that off until we have these logistics ironed out.”

Another of those who were surrounding the table then asked, “With regard to Maryland, do you have specific thoughts on how we should proceed, or are you open to suggestion?”

“As with our discussions regarding either of the other two sites, this is an open forum.”

“Since that is the case, I would like to propose an escape route to the east.”

After a quick glance back toward the map, Samuel replied, “That is certainly one possibility, but please tell me why they should go east?”

“Well number two, I believe that they could obtain total surprise by doing so. With limited highway or road options to the east, no one would expect our team to travel in that direction.”

Looking around the table at each of the other five, Samuel asked, “Does anyone have a thought in reply to this suggestion?”

Pointing with his finger at a specific spot on the map, the man immediately to Samuel’s left replied, “With all respect to our friend, I don’t believe that would be our best option. After escaping from the attack zone, our team would need to access highway-50 and travel eastward for roughly eight or nine miles before coming to a toll plaza for the bridge crossing over the Chesapeake Bay. That could present several problems, which could lead to the capture of both the ground and air personnel.”

The man who had suggested the idea of an eastward escape route had taken no personal offence to the rebuttal, but he did ask, “Could you elaborate on the potential problems that you see?”

Looking across at the man, he replied, “Well first off the bridge could have had a recent accident or heavy weekend traffic heading toward eastern Maryland or Delaware. If so, then that could hinder the escape efforts of our personnel. For that matter, there could be a long line of cars at the toll plaza itself, or if the authorities have acted more quickly than we anticipate, the bridge could be closed due to the recent attack. If either of those scenarios were to transpire, then our team would be gridlocked in the traffic with no hope of escape.”

Having listened closely, Samuel intervened by stating, “You make a valid argument, as that bridge is an obvious choke point. Let’s assume however that our team does make it across the Chesapeake via the highway-50 bridge, how do you see things unfolding from there?”

“Well number two, it could get worse for them. Unless we set up a plan to evacuate our personnel from some remote location via either the water or air, they would be stuck on a rather large peninsula. There are very limited options for passenger ferries, and some of those would be closed for the winter by mid-November. The only bridge option other than what they had just traversed would be the one heading south toward Norfolk Virginia at the mouth of the Chesapeake. It’s roughly one-hundred ninety miles from Annapolis through Salisbury Maryland and on to Kiptopeke Virginia at the north entrance point, with the three bridge spans and two tunnels of the structure measuring another twenty. That’s a long way to travel on the peninsula toward a lengthy bridge escape route from it during what we must envision as being a high alert situation initiated by the federal government. I feel that as a result of the attack, a bridge of such strategic importance near the largest Navy base on the eastern seaboard will most assuredly be closely monitored. It could even be closed to automobile traffic by the time that our team arrives. If so, then that would leave only one viable route off of the peninsula by vehicle as backtracking to a position near Wilmington Delaware would be required. Unfortunately that option is well north of where they would have initially come across from Annapolis, so precious hours could be spent while attempting to reach it.”

Samuel had listened closely to the breakdown of the challenges that the escaping ground forces could possibly encounter, and had made up his mind because of them. Then while staring with pleasure at his well-prepared friend and planner who had just enlightened the group, he stated, “It’s obvious that you have put some advance thought into this scenario.”

“Yes number two I have. Our friend is correct, as there would be an element of surprise. Unfortunately that surprise would probably not work in our favor. Therefore the way I see it, a planned escape to the east would be a mistake on our part.”

Once again looking around the table for input, Samuel asked, “Can we all agree, based on the information provided by our friend, that we should pursue a course of action other than an escape route to the east?”

A collective mummer of voices could be heard, and the positive nodding of heads from every member of the group could be seen. Then the man who had proposed the idea said, “I agree as well. We should look into other alternatives.”

Samuel nodded and said, “Alright, let’s see what options are available to the west.”