Under normal circumstances the teams would access the playing field at Michie Stadium by utilizing the large opening between seating areas at the southeast corner, and that was where the group of fourteen attackers began their daunting task of escaping the scene without capture. The plan was to use the crowd and the panic of the moment for their much needed cover, as each was now armed with nothing more than a silenced side arm. They would force their way through whatever resistance that might be encountered during the first few hundred yards, while staying as tightly formed for added security as possible. The 45-caliber pistols that had been secured to their thighs during descent were intended to be fired upon only those military personnel or stadium security that could potentially jeopardize the intended escape route. However, there would be no hesitation in waving or pointing them towards civilians to effectively clear a path through the crowd if necessary. Each man also understood that if they encountered a civilian hell bent on becoming a hero, they would be required to strike that person with their weapon repeatedly if need be. Above all other things, it was imperative that none of the fourteen be taken dead or alive.

The group successfully made their way south from Michie Stadium along Mills Road with more ease than was expected, while Jason Tillman did his part to ensure that they wouldn’t encounter a surprise flanking from their left side. As the senior cadet stationed at the cannon on the east side of Lusk Reservoir, he had ordered the men under his brief command to follow him away from the potential flanking position by taking the walking path along the north shore of the reservoir toward the stadium. His directive toward the handful of cadets was obeyed without question, as there were surely people within the stadium that needed assistance, be it medical or otherwise.

During the escape along Mills Road, only a few rounds of fire, one into the leg of a pursuing West Point football player and two others into the legs of stadium security guards had been required. That action effectively halted the advance of civilians, as most had then hit the deck out of fear. Now moving away from the stadium complex with more ease, the assailants neared a downhill section of road leading toward a large parking and tailgating area used by the fans. While descending into the mass of several hundred vehicles, the men located three large vans with identifying flags flown overhead and quickly moved toward them. There was one each painted red, white, and blue in separate quadrants within the field of vehicles, as they had been parked several hours earlier by three of the group of female drivers. The intent of the vans was simple. They were to provide a brief sanctuary for the attackers, as they changed into the civilian attire that had been stashed within them. Using the keys placed under the rear bumper of each, the men climbed into their pre-assigned vans via the rear doors. A few moments later, each man reemerged after having removed the jumpsuit, face shielded helmet, and surgical gloves that they had worn for the drop and assault upon the stadium. Then before moving on, the last man out of each van set a Fugas thermite bomb with a delay of five minutes. The explosions created by them would be small with minimal damage to the surrounding area, but the intense white heat from the thermite element would completely melt the van from within in short order. Any potentially damming evidence that each vehicle contained would therefore be made unrecognizable and irretrievable in just minutes.

Now dressed in clothing more befitting a patron of the game, each of the three smaller groups regained their brisk pace to the south within the panicked mass of spectators that had caught up to their position. Just minutes later, and not long after the vans had become engulfed in the intense heat of the Fugas bombs, each of the fourteen men moved through the Thayer gate with hundreds of other civilians to exit the academy grounds. Their move had been accomplished before any level of order was restored to initiate security lockdown measures, so the task of apprehending the assailants suddenly became more difficult.

Roughly two hours earlier seven getaway cars of various 2022 through 2024 makes and models rolled into the town of Highland Falls not long after the three vans had entered the academy grounds. Parked near restaurants and local businesses, each of the vehicles and their female drivers appeared to be just another aspect of everyday life within the community as they waited for their human cargo to arrive. As the fourteen attackers dispersed into pairs and moved toward their respective transport vehicles, one of the waiting drivers finished cleaning and then safely stowing away her silenced weapon within a fitted pocket under the passenger seat. She, like Courtney in Colorado, had been given a numbered designation after being selected by Samuel for a specific mission beyond that of driving an escape vehicle. Having recently returned with great pride in the completion of that special assignment, number forty-one took a moment to fix her hair and ponder the magnitude of what she had just done.

Per the intelligence report that was initiated more than ten months earlier by her son Jason, and based on the instructions from on high, Ashley Tillman had located her target exactly where it was believed he would be. Then by use of flirtation, and her well-toned body that had resulted from four months of intense high altitude preparation in west Texas, she was able to seduce and lull the man into a false sense of security at his place of business. During the moments that followed, Ashley called upon her hand to hand combat training of previous years and immobilized her lethargic opponent by breaking one of his arms and destroying both of his knees in short order. With the man crying out in pain and sweat beginning to pour from his forehead as he writhed on the floor, she removed a silenced weapon from her purse and pointed it toward his groin. The man instantly froze to the best of his ability, and with cat like quickness she was on him.

While pinning his good arm under her knee as she straddled him, Ashley pushed the barrel of the gun into the man’s mouth. Then she glared into his eyes with a cold blackness of her own and whispered, “I’m sure this is quite different than the way you envisioned me straddling you, but life can be funny that way. Now that I have your full attention, there is something that I must say to you. We have learned that the first cadet you harassed twenty years ago was my husband’s youngest brother Chance, and you need to know that he was killed in the action of an unnecessary war on Father’s Day just a year after graduating from West Point. Another of the cadets that you picked on less than a year ago, and threatened with physical violence on that same day, is my oldest son Jason. He remembers his uncle Chance with fondness from the days of pre-school, and chose to follow in his educational footsteps. Jason, like his uncle before him, will graduate from West Point this coming spring. It is for both of them, and the many other victimized cadets who came between, that I do this now.”

As the man’s eyes grew larger with fear, she removed the barrel of the weapon from his mouth. Before he could cry for help, Ashley Tillman quietly killed the obnoxious overweight man with two bullets into the chest and then one more into his temple for good measure. In so doing, she had made sure that Mr. Nick Spano would never bully another West Point Cadet.

With each of the seven vehicles having received their pre-designated cargo of two attackers, and in some cases one of the van drivers, they were driven southward out of town at a leisurely pace so as not to attract attention. When clear of the immediate area, the vehicles then scattered further by using a variety of routes leading them into northern New Jersey or directly into eastern Pennsylvania. From there, they would individually access interstate-80 when possible and head west through Pennsylvania toward Ohio.