The Event: The Beginning

by Lee Thomas

  “Yes, sir, I will do my best.” he replied.

  “Ok then, I believe that covers the major departments. Now for a break down on the new command structure. The ones in charge of a department will be a commander. Whoever they place as their second in command will be a lieutenant commander. That will be the only ‘officer’ ranks, so any senior people will be chief petty officers, followed by petty officers, then seaman. Simplified, no more first, second, or third class, just petty officer. While we will have this simplified system in place, I don’t expect the formality of rank when addressing each other among the civilians, names will do just fine.

  “Now, because we have a large amount of civilians on board, we will need to organize a training class on how to read the space designators so everyone can get around. The watch teams will run on four hour watches since the civilians won’t be used to watch standing. I want three men in the forward, starboard smoke hole, two each on the port smoke holes, and two on each side of the fantail. After dark I want six total on the fantail. All will be armed with rifles, and I would love it if we could find a way to put silencers on them since those things are drawn by noise.” I continued.

  “There are assault rifles with silencers in the armory already, there should be enough for that many.” Chief Smith put in.

  “Good. I understand that you have teams that go out for food, supplies, and searching for survivors, right?” I asked. A nod from Lt. Levine and I continued. “That’s good, I planned on that as well. We do have some things we can start growing on our own, provided we have a couple of spaces suitable for hydroponics?”

  “Yes, sir, I believe so. When the planes were offloaded to the base airfield, the missiles were as well. The consensus was they would be safer there in case of an accidental detonation. The missile bays are fairly spacious, so they should make good hydroponic bays. I’m sure we could rig some irrigation and sun lamps in them.” Lt. Levine reported.

  “Outstanding. The chief on duty this morning on the bridge told me that you suspended all off ship activities this morning. I say we go ahead and let them go. Food is always going to be a huge priority, and I see no reason to put that on hold, especially with the addition of so many more mouths. I am also thinking about making a recording to play over the air, just in case any survivors out there have a working radio. I can’t think that we are the only ones who have survived. Let’s see who else is out there. I also have plans on securing not only the base, but a chunk of surrounding area as well. Do we have a local map?” I asked. One of the sailors in the back who had stayed as gofers raised his hand and with an affirmative answer stepped out to get it.

  “How do you plan on that, sir?” Lt. Harrison asked.

  “There are waterways scattered throughout this area. Either creeks or canals, but big enough, and with enough water in them that these things won’t, or can’t, cross them. We will need a fence of some kind, obviously. The base fence will make a good secondary safety net, but my plan is to secure a much larger area for us. I plan on using a combination of chain link and wooden privacy fencing to keep us out of their sight, plus have a bit of strength. However, since we have a portable crane, flatbed trucks, and a ton of shipping containers, I am modifying my fence line plan. We will transport the containers with the trucks and place them end to end, forming a steel wall. These things can’t climb, so with the containers being what, seven feet tall, that should be just fine. We can use the privacy fence where we can’t use containers.”

  “How much land are you planning on trying to fence off? And what do we do if these things learn how to swim?” Lt. Phillips asked.

  “The fence is not my only idea. Along with the fence, I plan on putting guard shacks in opportune places. Ah, there’s our map, let’s take a look. Thank you.” I replied, taking the maps from the sailor, Anderson, according to his name tag. “Ok, I’m going to draw a line here and pass the map around, so everyone can see what I’m planning. Now, keep in mind, other than getting some vegetables planted, I don’t want to start any serious projects for two or three days, give both groups time to get to know each other and mesh better, plus give the civilians time to rest from the trip. Alright, here’s the map, take a look, pass it on.

  “Wherever there is a bridge with an X on it, it designates one I plan on taking out, not securing. No bridge means no resources needed to secure it. I have seen these things shy away from water before, so using the water as a barrier is smart. What this will do is give us plenty of room to spread if we want, and lots of grassy area to plant crops. This is my basic plan for the next month, get the fence line up and plant food.” I told them. No one had heard this part of the plan yet, as all the explanations up to this point had been focused on getting here. They were still passing the map around, studying it, a few having small conversations amongst themselves with it. I looked at the clock and saw that it was a little after ten now, so I decided to end the meeting.

  “Alright, that’s enough for now. If the sailors would please show the new department heads to their new offices, I would like you guys to get comfy and up to speed about how things run. Make any changes you see fit. Report any problems to the bridge, or have me paged immediately. I need to see to some things, finish getting my things settled in myself. Let’s make this happen guys.” I finished up. The sailors that were running things greeting my group that was taking charge. I watched them meet each other and walk out of the room chatting. I took my files and notes and walked out, heading towards my cabin.

  Walking in, I set the files and notes down on the bar and made another cup of coffee. I sat down with them on the couch and opened the first one, which ended up being the supplies. According to this file, medical supplies were very well stocked, ammo and weapons were also plentiful, and even the list of various things like deodorant, towels, sheets, and various other household necessities appeared well stocked. Next I turned my attention to bunk list. It didn’t take long to realize that the sailors had not really spread out much. The officers had kept their cabins, which I expected, and the enlisted seemed to stay either here on the 03 deck, or on the hanger deck, with a few staying in between. A few had bunks below the hangar deck and I would probably lay a bet that they were the ones who were involved in maintenance, staying closer to the engine rooms.

  A knock on my door caused me to look up and put down the files. I called ‘enter’ and a sailor entered with Roger right behind him. They had the last of my bags, and a box which I bet held my books and what few movies I had brought with me. I directed them to drop everything on the other couch so I could put stuff away later.

  “Roger, hang back, would ya?” I asked as I acknowledged the sailor and dismissed him. “I’m not planning on telling any of the others, but I want to go out and run the route for the fence, see what kinds of conditions we have. I need someone at my back I trust. Are you up for something like that?” I asked him.

  “Sure man, anytime. When do you want to go?” he said.

  “Soon, while everyone else is busy with settling into their new roles and offices. I really don’t want Michelle to know I’m gone, or the girls. Grab your swords and armor, meet me by the elevator we entered through in 30 minutes.” I instructed. He nodded and then headed out. I turned and headed into the bedroom to put on my own armor and sword belt. Once done, I made my way to the bridge first. Stepping in, I raised my hand before anyone could say anything.

  “I need a radio with enough range to hit the beach from here.” I said.

  “That can be arranged, sir. Might I ask why you need it?” asked the CPO, or Chief Petty Officer, that was there earlier.

  “Chief, I have a plan for a fence to secure not only the base, but some of the surrounding area as well. Roger and I are going to scout it out with the map so we have a firsthand account of where the fence is going, the conditions around it, and what I can do to make it better. I want the radio so that we can reach the ship if need be.” I told him.

  “Sir, with all due respect, I can’t let y
ou do that.” The Chief said.

  “Chief, I know that was the procedure for the captain before, but I am not going to sit back and let my people risk their lives or do all the work while I sit on my ass and watch. I appreciate the gesture, but all I need is the radio.” I replied, looking at him and holding my hand out for the radio.

  “Had to try, sir, or Mr. Levine would’ve had my ass.” he chuckled as he handed me two radios.

  “Thank you Chief. I don’t know if you will know the answer to this, but those electric carts on the pier, do they have a charge?” I asked, handing the other radio to Roger and clipping mine on my belt.

  “No sir, but there is a storage garage about three piers down that should have charged batteries, as well as an extra cart or two that has been out of the weather. I would try there first.” The Chief said.

  “Thanks. We will report in every hour. If you do not hear from us after two hours, send a search party. Silenced weapons only, and not a large group. We will be back before dark.” I informed him, then proceeded out of the bridge. I headed back down towards the hangar bay to attempt to sneak off the ship. I made a detour to the control room to make sure the operator was there and knew I didn’t want it spread around I was leaving. He said he understood and got read to open the door.

  Roger was waiting near the elevator and I met him again at the time the door was slowly opening. The elevator was already lowered and the operator only opened the door far enough to allow us to walk out and then stopped it. As soon as we were clear he closed the door again. I knew he wouldn’t wait long to raise the elevator back, so Roger and I hurried to the stairs. Making our way down to the pier, we headed towards the storage garage that the Chief pointed us to.

  Stepping inside the garage, there was a large open space near the sliding doors that obviously housed those electric carts. They appeared to be not much more than modified golf carts. On the far side was a set of large metal shelves with various tools and such, along with several batteries in chargers. I wasn’t sure how long the base power had been out so who only knew if those batteries were still good, but we were about to find out. Roger and I both grabbed one and stepped over to one of the carts. Opening the battery compartment, there was already a battery in place, so I decided to try it out first. We would take these other two as backups. Strapping them into the small cargo area, Roger walked over to open the door wider and I climbed in and tried the starter. The cart fired up after a few tries and it was about as quiet as a golf cart. I pulled out of the garage and waited for Roger to climb in. Once he was in I pointed us towards the gate and hit the gas. We rolled to the gate, slid the gate back, proceeded through, and then closed it back.

  Rolling through the base, it appeared that no infected had made it on the base itself, or at least had been cleared out quickly as there were very few signs of them. Following the signs to the gate, we both kept our eyes open as we approached the main gate. The cars were still blocking the entrance, and no infected were trying to get over them. As we pulled up to the roadblock, however, we could see several infected a few blocks away, just milling around. We looked at each other and I motioned for silence. Moving the cars out of the way however would probably make a little noise, so hopefully we wouldn’t draw too much attention.

  We got out and carefully moved the smaller car out of our way. We managed it without banging into another one and did not get the attention of any infected. Roger pulled the cart out then stepped back to help me move the car back. A slight bump into the other car made us both look up, but it was also quiet enough nothing heard us. We climbed back into our cart and slowly took off. Roger drove this time as I looked at the map and pointed out the directions.

  There were waterways all throughout this area that I planned on using since the infected seemed to dislike entering the water. I directed Roger down the right road to get us there, passing trash and debris all along the way. Several infected saw us this time and started moving towards us, but none of them were the fast ones so we ignored them for now. We made our way to the first area which would be the end of our fence, if my plan worked out well. The road here was fairly straight all the way to the ocean, so it should be easy to secure.

  “We will start here. We can use the shipping containers to form the fence and set the first one as close to the water as possible, then scrounge some chain link or privacy fence to continue out into the water. This road here leads pretty much straight to the ocean. We can create gates with the doors from the storage containers. I figure we can start lining them up in the middle of the road, give us some space on the outside to see anything, plus a bit of road on the inside for ease of travel. See here, we start here, follow this road, and there shouldn’t be too many problems.” I told Roger, pointing out my idea on the map.

  “It looks good to me. What about this area here?” he asked, pointing to the mid-point where highway 460, which was the road we were going to follow, was crossed by the split of I-64 and I-564. What he was referring to was the fact that 460 passed under both highways, so even if we blocked 460, anything could just walk right over our fence.

  “Yeah, I saw that. I think the easiest way to deal with it would be to demolish the bridges far enough this way to prevent anything from walking or jumping over the wall. It’s either that, or place fencing up there as well. I’ll go over it with the group and see what we come up with.” I replied.

  “Alright. Let’s drive it and see what we got.” he suggested. I nodded and folded up the map. Putting it back in my back pack, we climbed back in the cart and started down highway 460, which was also called Granby Street. Rolling at a fairly good clip, we occasionally passed an infected, which I would simply swing at as we passed and kill it. The expected trash and debris was everywhere, as well as the random car. There were several we would have to move, but it looked like we should be able to bring the flatbed trucks and mobile crane down the road just fine.

  “Hey, look over there. That looks interesting.” Roger said, pointing off to our right at a building that had apparently been boarded up even more than the surrounding ones had.

  “Let’s take a look.” I replied. Roger turned the cart towards it and we rolled silently up to it. It appeared to be a large office building. All of the lower two floors windows had been boarded up with what looked like aluminum or tin panels along with the boards. We made our way over to what looked like the front doors, and parked the cart. Getting out, we were both watching for movement.

  “Are you sure this is a good idea, man?” Roger asked, looking around and unsnapping the safety latch on his swords.

  “No, but we will just take a quick peek, see what it looks like. We won’t do a full scale search of the building with just the two of us.” I told him. I unsheathed my own swords and started walking towards the door. They appeared to be fairly well secured, so I was not actually surprised when we couldn’t find any way to open them. Walking around the outside of the building, we discovered all of the windows had been very well blocked. There was a wood frame set around each of them, onto which was nailed sheets of plywood with tin sheets and chain link fencing attached to them.

  “Whoever secured this building certainly knew what they were doing.” Roger observed.

  “Yeah. Makes you wonder if there is anyone left in there.” I responded. “Let’s finish looking at the outside, make sure it’s still secure, and then finish the wall route.” We continued walking around the building, noticing that all of the windows were equally secure. There was one set of doors on each wall, but again they were all well boarded up. We could tell from the scratch marks on them that they had had their fair share of attacks.

  We made it all the way back around to our cart without drawing any unwanted attention from infected, even though we had seen a few wandering about across the parking lot. Firing it back up, we pulled back onto the road and kept heading east towards the ocean. The route seemed fairly straight forward, and even the highway interchange should be fairly easy to secure.

>   Finally making it to where we could see the water, the road ended in a T intersection with Ocean View Avenue, according to the sign. There was a hotel there and a residential area next to it. Right behind both was beach, and unrestricted sand.

  “You know man, I’ve never been to the ocean before. This is awesome. Is this why you joined the Navy?” Roger asked me in a hushed voice. I laughed a little and just looked at the water.

  “Partly. I love the water, and the ocean is just awesome. It’s a hell of a view.” I finally replied. It was peaceful to just listen to the sound of the waves with no car noise, no planes, no people yelling, and no speed boats roaring by. It was enough to make you forget the danger that was right at your back.

  “We better head back now, it’s probably about 3:30 or so now, and almost time for another report in. I don’t want to be gone for too long, as I’m sure by now somebody has noticed our absence.” I said, heading back towards the cart. I made a mental note of the privacy fencing of the residential area and thought it best to use it as part of the wall to save on our supplies.

  “You coming?” Roger asked. He had walked ahead of me as I reviewed the fence and had already got into the cart and started it. I turned and headed his way as what sounded like a gunshot rang out. We looked at each other and I drew my sword.

  “Move that cart, hide it, and then get hidden yourself.” I called out to him. The shot didn’t seem too close, but it would still draw the attention of the infected. I pulled the radio out and radioed the ship to inform them of the situation. Roger pulled the cart between two cars with just enough space for us to slide into it, and then made his way over to me. I was using the cars as cover, crouched down low to keep from being seen.

  “Any idea where it came from?” Roger asked as he crouched beside me.