by Lee Thomas
“We have a few outposts set up on the mainland over there, set up in some of the older castles that still had standing walls. We fortified them, added some solar panels to give them some rudimentary power, and occasionally make supply drops with food, ammo if they need it, things like that. They seem to be doing ok for the most part, but the “infected” as you call them, seem to flock to them and constantly surround them.” Kyle explained.
“I would love to hear all about it, but unfortunately I don’t have the time today. There is a new plan in the works and I want to make sure everything is being prepared for it. You all are free to roam about the ship if you like, there will be some escorts available to you so you don’t get lost, clean clothes if you need them, and of course food and water will be available as well. Rest and relax if you want to, and of course you are free to leave the ship and wander about the base as well.” I informed Kyle, standing and shaking his hand as I did. He also stood as he shook my hand in return, nodding in acknowledgement. Several of the others also stood to shake hands and say goodbye as I left. I noticed several different accents, which made sense as all kinds of people had been evacuated to safe zones before it was too late.
Leaving the trailers, the people who volunteered as escorts for new arrivals nodded at me and greeted me as I headed back to the map room. I knew the bridges had been secured already, but now we needed to start moving people up there and clearing out the infected. Even though we still hoped for a cure, it just wasn’t worth risking the groups safety to try and capture the infected and let them go outside the safe zone. I had originally hoped to have the project done by winter, but it was so late in the year now that I was thinking about taking it slower, more methodical, and taking the entire winter to clear the infected out and move in during spring. The farmers I hoped to move first, so they could inspect and claim some land to get some crops started and repair any fences to keep the livestock from getting away. Larger grazing areas would do our animals good, and I knew the horses would love room to run.
Scattering the maps out over the table, I also pulled the notes out from the bridge teams and marked which ones they destroyed and which ones were fortified. There were now only three access points to the peninsula from the mainland; the northern bridge crossed the canal and was temporarily gated, which we would improve on later. The western gate was a drawbridge across the river which had two sections that turned 90 degrees to allow ships to pass. Leaving it turned was better that any gate or wall we could build. The southern gate blocked the bridge/tunnel access that let out just south of our current eastern gate. Since the infected didn’t seem to like to cross bridges anyways, this was by far the most secure area we could hope for.
By noon, I had marks all over the maps, outlining various farmland, possible pasture for the livestock, scattered locations for guard garrisons to keep weapons, train new guards, as well as finding good places for hospitals and schools. My ultimate plan was to return to normal life as much as possible, even though certain obvious sacrifices would have to be made. I also marked what looked like power plants and made a side note to send the engineer teams there first, to see if we could restore power. Doing that would then lead us to potentially having running water, heat and air conditioning, and be able to keep radios at each gate and guard garrison in case of trouble. I also wanted to increase the number of people who were concerned with food production, helping the farmers, growing larger, and hopefully more diverse crops, and breeding the livestock more. I also reviewed the information I got from Shayne again about the condition of the Jefferson, and I was confident that it would be a good home here on the base since she was fully functional apart from her screws, or propellers being frozen. It wasn’t worth trying to repair them, as we couldn’t get her in to dry dock, and it would be impossible to fix without flooding the compartments.
“Jeff and Sheldon, please report to the bridge immediately.” Sounded over the intercom suddenly, bringing me out of my head and back to reality. I sighed, knowing that this was going to be some new problem to deal with, and I was getting tired of putting out fires.
“Report.” I said as I walked in, raising my hand to silence the sailor about to announce me on deck.
“We just got a SOS from the hunting camp. They are under attack.” Johnson told me, handing me the note from the radioman.
“Any hunting teams actually out, or is everyone in right now?” I asked. If everyone was there, that put about fifty people or so if imminent danger.
“They said everyone was in. There was also a problem with one of the teams on their last hunt, a full report is being compiled now.” Johnson replied. He was still military enough he preferred to answer to his last name, and it wasn’t worth the effort to try to get him to change. He was also one of the last few who insisted on calling me admiral and announcing me every time I walked in.
“Get a rescue team ready, and get the rescue helos ready, we may need them to provide noise to draw the infected away, but I want armed teams in them.” I told him, making it sound more like an order than I preferred, but sometimes that was the only way to get things done quickly.
“What’s going on?” Jeff asked as he walked in.
“Hunting lodge is under attack. Get your gear, we’re going to help.” I informed him as I started heading out to go get my armor and weapons ready. I knew it would take the chopper crews a few minutes to be up and running, which would give me time to get ready as well.
“I’ll meet you on the flight deck in ten.” He replied, jogging off to his quarters to get his stuff as well. He knew me well enough that he knew I would go with or without him, and I would prefer to have him as backup to help watch my back. Entering my bedroom, I grabbed my armor, belting it in place quickly, grabbing my swords, checking the pistols, and grabbing my helmet on the way out. It was a specially modified motorcycle helmet that had a radio built into it to I could stay in touch with the ship.
Stepping out onto the flight deck, the wind pulled at my hair, reminding me I needed a haircut again soon. I saw the chopper pilots doing their preflight checks, which we still did for safety, and the guard teams checking each other over for broken or loose equipment. Once everyone called ready, I verified with the bridge that the camp was still responding, which it was, but said the infected were starting to push in one section of the walls, and they weren’t sure how much longer it would hold. I swung my fingers in the air to indicate we were ready, and everyone loaded up as the engines got to full swing on both choppers. I hated flying, but this was the only way to make sure we got to the camp fast enough to help. My stomach dropped as we lifted off the deck, and both choppers banked over the water as they started to pick up speed and turn in the direction of the camp. The radio was quiet as each man and woman got into the mindset of battle again, and I noticed most of the ones in my bird were former military. I was trying to blend them into civilian life as well, and get some of the civilians into the guards in an attempt to blend both groups, but it wasn’t working so well. I was about to give up and just call the guards our military branch, and start treating them as such, since that seemed to be where most of them felt comfortable anyways.
There was a clearing about half a mile from the camp that I asked the pilots to drop us in so we could sneak up on the infected, and the helos themselves could stay high and make some noise to draw them away from the camp. Once we piled out, I called everyone over as we waited for the choppers to leave.
“Alright, last word was the herd has damaged the fence on the northern wall. We are going to focus on that section to pull them away and let the camp repair the wall. Radios should be on channel six so we can talk to the camp as well. I want four groups, try not to crossfire each other, and as usual, no gunfire if we can help it.” I told everyone, getting nods from the entire team. I knew Jeff would be on my team, but I trusted the others to watch their backs. We moved out, each team going on a slightly different path to try to surround the camp. Jeff lead our team towards the northern p
art of the herd, and we moved quickly, but quietly, looking in all directions for the edge of the herd.
As we cut through the woods, we did come upon several infected shambling towards the camp. They were simple to take out as they didn’t see or hear us, but there were two that heard us first as someone stepped on a twig, or a pile of leaves and gave away their position. We finally came to a heavier concentration of infected, slowing our progress and taking them out as we could. With the amount of infected though, they were starting to notice us, and I heard the screeches in the distance that meant one of the other teams had probably been noticed. The sound drew the ones near us, and when they turned they saw us. Planting my sword in ones’ head, I swung at another one as it turned, catching it through the throat before it could scream, almost decapitating it fully. The first one fell as I yanked my sword back, and I kicked the second in the chest to drop it to the ground as well. An arrow appeared in the head of another one, and looked back to see one of my group cocking their crossbow back.
We continued clearing infected as fast as we could, the choppers flying overhead finally getting their attention. Looking up mostly, the infected started to disregard us, which made it even easier to take them out. The only other sounds were the thunks of swords in flesh, and the infected dropping to the ground. The choppers were moving off now and getting quieter, but as we watched, the infected seemed to follow the sound, drawing away from the wall, which is what we wanted. Several more still saw us and went to attack, but they were clumsy in the woods, getting tangled in the underbrush and vines, tripping over roots and rocks, so they were easy to dispatch.
We finally cleared a path all the way to the wall, and we could see where the infected had broken a few of the supports and were almost in the camp. Calling to the people inside, we saw a face peer out, relief clear on him as he saw us.
“Can you patch this?” one of the team members asked.
“Yes, temporarily, but it will take a few minutes.” He replied.
“Get to it, we will stay here until you’re done.” She told him. With a nod, he disappeared, and we could hear multiple voices calling out inside, and saw the fence move back into place, with new boards going up behind the broken ones for support. After about twenty minutes, the breach was temporarily plugged, and the team inside called out they were good. With hand signals, our team started towards the gate area, following the direction the herd went as they followed the helicopters. According to the map, there was a ravine not too far away to the southwest, which was hopefully where the infected were being led. If they fell into it, the ones that survived the fall would not be able to get back out.
“Hold up, what is that?” one of the women in the lead said, holding her hand up to stop us, and pointing with the other deeper into the woods. The rest of us shifted to be able to see her line of sight, and it appeared to be something hanging from a tree. Moving around it as we moved closer, approaching the object, it finally became clear that it was a person, draped over a branch. Part of one arm was missing, as well as a foot. We were unable to determine if it an infected person or not, and could not understand why they would be hanging there.
“Wait, I’ve seen this before, in Africa.” One of the men said. I remembered he said he was a zoologist before, so it didn’t surprise me he said Africa.
“Well, what was it?”
“Lions, tigers, and leopards. In the wild, they would all take their kills up into the trees, or high rocks, to prevent the smaller scavengers from getting it. I would bet on there being at least a couple of one of those big cats around here now.” He explained to us. With zoos being abandoned, that did make sense, and we had reports from hunters in the past that had thought they had seen tigers or leopards, and we had heard lions roar.
“Everyone keep sharp, look up as well as out, let’s not get ambushed by an overgrown housecat while we’re out here.” I told the group. That would just be embarrassing to be taken out by a giant tomcat after surviving all the other difficulties we had faced. We regrouped, staying a little further apart to be able to watch up and out, moving as quietly as possible. A few infected were shambling through the trees, apparently not drawn by the chopper sounds, or else had lost interest in it and turned back to just wandering. Those were dispatched quickly, still without any of us firing a shot. The crossbowman had managed to retrieve all his arrows as well, only one being bent enough to not still be useable.
We made it to the road without any further encounters, and I estimated we were about a mile from the turnoff for the camp. A quick radio check told us that all the other teams were ok, no injuries to report, and the infected seemed to be mostly drawn off by the helos. There were still dozens of them that were taken out though, and if there were tigers, lions, or some other large predator around, they would eat good for a few days, unless the scavengers got to the bodies first. Luckily the virus didn’t seem to be transmissible to animals, so we didn’t have to worry about animals going crazy on us too.
We could hear the helos in the distance, and see the occasional flare above the trees as well, apparently an attempt to draw the infected away. A yell from one of the men made us all turn to see a small herd approaching us from the tree line. They were still a small distance off, but they were on the road, about ten of them, and more were coming from the trees. The group spread out, waiting for the infected to get close so we didn’t have to shoot. Arrows flew by as the crossbow sang out, as quick as he could reload, dispatching eight of them before he slung it on his back and drew his knife, a large hunting knife with brass knuckles on the grip, sure to not slip out of his hand. Swords and bats swung, and knives thunked into skulls as the team worked to take out the infected as they got close. We continuously stepped forward to attack, then pulled back to the line, switching with the backup person behind us so no one got too tired, and there was always someone watching our backs.
Three infected came from the tree line to my right, moving a little quicker than we usually saw them, and I just barely saw the movement out of the corner of my vision. I swung at the first one, catching it in the temple with my blade. The second one I stabbed at with the other hand, which allowed the third to grab at and bite my arm before I could wrench my sword out of the first ones’ skull. Before I could shake it off, another team member came up and planted their knife in the back of its skull. The body going slack pulled my arm down, but it did relax its jaws enough to fall away before it pulled me down with it. I nodded my thanks to Erin, who nodded back, looking at my arm. We both looked as I raised my arm up, and while there were marks on the leather, it wasn’t even close to breaking through.
We continued fighting until the entire small herd lay dead on the ground. No one was bitten, which I was extremely grateful for, but we still had the problem of the larger herd. With the other three teams tracking them, and hopefully the choppers pulling them into the ravine, I led my team back to the camp to check on things there. As we walked, we continuously scanned the tree line, watching for movement, listening for the sound of anything other than human. The mile trek to the camp seemed so much longer, and we were all relieved when the gate finally came into view. We broke into a slow jog the last two or three hundred yards, wanting to be inside, but knowing a full out run would prevent us from seeing an attack before it was too late. As we came up to it, the gate swung open allowing us in, then closed behind us.
“Where is everyone else?” a man said as he approached us. I recognized him as one of the originally members of this community, Greg was his name, if I remembered correctly.
“They went to watch the main part of the herd, make sure they were being drawn off. I’m hoping the helos drew them into the ravine where they can’t get out. How’s the wall, can it be repaired?” I asked, removing my helmet and running my hands through my hair.
“Not with our current supplies, but it is patched for now, and we will keep watch on it. We will have to cut some more lumber, and if there are any more of those tin panels left we could use
them.” Greg replied, leading me towards the breach. The gate was on the south wall of the camp, and the breach was on the northeastern corner, so it was a little bit of a walk from the gate. As we walked, I observed the state of the camp, and it appeared that even though they didn’t ask for too many supplies for maintenance, the camp was in good shape. This place appeared to be a small community, with two main roads running east to west, and two running north and south. Several houses seemed to line the outside of the road frame, and according to the signs it was mostly storage and processing inside the square. If this place wasn’t built for processing meat, then the people here sure did an outstanding job of re-purposing it.
“This is the first time you’ve been here, isn’t it?” Greg asked me as we walked. I looked at him and chuckled as he apparently noticed me looking around.
“That obvious, huh? Yeah, I hadn’t had the chance to make it out here before. This is a pretty nice setup you have though, seems efficient, this far out from major cities I would assume that the infected wouldn’t bother you much. How many times have you had attacks of this size?” I replied to him.
“Only one other attack of any sizeable amount, but nowhere near this size of this herd yet. We have the almost daily four or five shamble up to the wall, but they have never seemed to be forcefully attacking before, today was a new development.” He answered. We were finally nearing the breach, and I could see that while repairs were underway, it would only be a patch, and not a solid repair. I made a mental note to have better supplies sent over as soon as we could to help fortify the walls. If it came down to it, maybe we could cut the remaining storage containers into sections and send them over. We had a few left over from the wall construction, and while we were keeping them in case we ever had to repair the wall, we could easily spare some for something like this.