THE QUEST ECSS FUNDRAISING RESCUES

 PART 5 OF 7

This was a rescue with a twist. It was that kind of a twist that I often tell you about regarding the skill of my team. On this rescue, the team needed extra time before the Go to get their energy up to more than what was normal. We had to rescue 27 little girls that were in poor condition. Some of the girls may have been close to borderline critical because of malnutrition and severe beatings. The brothel was in a large house on a busy street near city central. The good thing was that there were only two ways in or out front and back. All the windows were covered and would not be accessible so we covered that, just in case. We had made assessments prior to this night to check the windows out. We also remembered what had happened awhile back when the windows were booby-trapped. If you have read that story, you will also remember that some of our team was hit and passed during that rescue. So we are now overly cautious with these kinds of French style houses that were built many years ago. 

We planned to do this rescue when there was a lot of traffic on the street so that our transports to move all of the kids out would become less noticeable. We have tourist logos that we put on some of our transports when the situation calls for it. We knew there were only 4 guards there but more could be in the area. It was another gang owned brothel that catered to more of the high-end clients. We would have three paths of escape to get to our safe houses with many volunteers to watch for shadows along with our teammates as inspectors to know if there were any threatening shadows.

We were in our countdown to hit the brothel but as I was watching the area, I noticed some men approaching that did not look like locals. Our commander also noticed them so we went on hold till we could tell what they were doing. We watched as five more men looking like guards entered the house. They now had 9 guards with still more men approaching. They did not look like guards or customers but maybe business associates of the gang so we had to regroup. We knew we would need more team members so we called them in as we stood down to wait. We were lucky to have so many teammates nearby on this night. They were still a ways out but getting nearer when things suddenly changed.

It started with a lot of movement around the house but one of our team was near enough to listen to what was going on and it was not good news. The girls were being moved to a nearby party so we had to go in with the crew we had if we were going to pull this off. So, we made new arrangements. Everyone was on and updated as we let our in bound know what was going on and to make sure they knew our exit plan. The commander looked into the Viber and I could see her eyes but we didn’t say anything for a moment. Your eyes are the windows to your soul, ya know. I saw she was ready and without doubt. I told our team, “Let’s do this, GO GO GO” and we did. It was chaos but the Quest ECSS controlled that Chaos. The guards and their associates were all taken down with speed. The kids were scattering but with added volunteers, we knew they would take good care of them. 

No matter how fast we were, we knew there would be complications under these circumstances. 

The added team was in route and just a few minutes out but we knew we could not wait. The transports were loading and according to our spotters, more of the bad guys were moving in. Now, the transports were on the move and heading to their preplanned escape routes. I hear from the commander that shadows are going to be a factor. I told her we had it covered and at that moment, I get a message from the team in route that they had arrived and were splitting up to follow the transports. Soon after, the commander said one of our original teammates had intercepted and stopped 3 of the shadows but was pinned down and being shot at just outside of town. At that moment, our teammates caught up with them and quickly ended the stand off.

Our GI Jane had taken a bullet to the shoulder thru the top part of her vest but she would be fine. She would seek treatment after all the girls had made it to the safe house. None of the other shadows had found us so now we were in wait time till we knew all the girls were safe and being treated before leaving for their final destination. 

Total for this rescue: 27 girls. As expected, all were in bad condition but they would recover in time. 

Grand total will be at end of part 7