by Lee Thomas
The elevator was already down with the hangar bay doors open. It appeared the water side doors were also open, which was probably creating a wonderful breeze through the hangar bay. As Damien rolled slowly down the pier, I finally tapped on the roof to signal him to stop. Once he did, Roger and I hopped down and he put it in park, killing the engine. I waited for him to gather his few belongings and step out of the truck.
“Damn, you really did mean ‘ship’, didn’t you? I thought you meant fishing boat, or sailboat, but this, this is impressive.” he said, whistling as he got out. I laughed, clapped him on the shoulder, and raised my hand to point out the way.
“Let’s go get you settled and something to eat.” I said, smiling. Roger led the way up the stairs, and as we stepped onto the elevator itself, we could see a good size group waiting there for us just inside the hangar bay, including Lt. Levine and several of my upper circle.
“Uh oh, looks like we’re in trouble with the boss man.” Roger chuckled under his breath.
“I am the boss, remember? Just take Damien here to get some food, take the weapons to the armory, and then find Val to get him a bunk assignment.” I replied, laughing a little myself. It did kind of feel like getting called into the bosses’ office to get yelled at.
“Do you know how many people have been worried about you? Where the hell have you been?” Lt. Levine said angrily.
“I had a project I wanted done and I wanted to look after it myself. Walk with me Lieutenant, I’m hungry.” I said simply, inclining my head and walking past the group that had gathered. I refused to get angry or explode back in front of the men. I had enough management and military leadership experience behind me to know when to show force and when to be calm. Walking behind me, I heard Lt. Levine giving some orders to the sailors standing around and then, I assumed, following me.
Stepping into the galley, I asked the sailor behind the line for a cheeseburger and fries, then grabbed a cup and headed towards the tea containers. Soda was going to be hard to come by, but tea was easy to find. I hoped that we would be able to grow tea leaves, but it all depended on the abilities of our growers in the hydroponic program.
“Sir, I don’t understand. You leave the ship without telling anyone, have more than a few people worried, and then just waltz back in and eat? I’m not sure the rest of the sailors are going to understand or follow someone who doesn’t follow protocol.” Lt. Levine continued, standing beside me as I waited for my burger.
“First off, Mr. Levine, protocol has officially been thrown out of the window. Second, I am looking at the long term safety and survival of this group. I will be more than happy to talk to any sailor who has a problem with my leadership style. I had a project I wanted my own eyes on for a firsthand look at, and I dealt with it.” I explained calmly. I was not going to raise my voice or pick a fight in the middle of the galley. I wanted to get my burger, enjoy a nice, hot meal, and then head up to my cabin to review the files and maps one more time. The sailor handed me my burger and fries in a basket, which I reached for with my thanks. I then turned and headed for the nearest stairwell to go up. Lt. Levine followed me, but we both stopped cold when a voice came from the galley line.
“Sheldon! What the hell were you thinking? The girls are terrified waiting for you to come back. No one knew shit!” Michelle griped at me, coming out from behind the line with a metal spatula, which I knew I was getting ready to get hit with. Sure enough, she got a couple of good swats in before she was happy.
“You ever do anything like that again I swear to god I will beat you senseless.” she yelled, smacking me over and over with the spatula.
“Enough, woman, damn. I’m fine, I had Roger with me, and we didn’t run into any trouble. Stop with the damn spatula already.” I said, holding my arm up to block any more hits. She finally stopped hitting me, but stayed glaring at me for a minute or to longer. Huffing, she turned and stomped back towards the kitchen.
“Well, I thought I was going to give you an ass chewing.” Lt. Levine chuckled, following me as I turned and continued on my way to the stairwell. I just glared at him as he smiled and laughed at me, but the half smirk I had softened the glare.
We stepped into my cabin and I set my basket down on the table and motioned for Christian to fix himself something to drink while I went to the bedroom and unstrapped my sword belt. I set them down on the bed and went back out to the living area.
“The protocol is that the captain never leaves the ship unaccompanied. That’s the way the sailors see it, and for better or worse, this is still being treated as a U.S. Navy ship.” Lt. Levine told me as we sat down across from each other and I started in on my burger. He sat and watched me as I chewed, and I finally answered him.
“I understand that, but there is no such thing as countries anymore. The U.S. is gone, government is gone. Society as we knew it is gone. Hanging onto protocol and procedure that tightly is only going to work for so long. That’s why even though I’m accepting the fact that they will call me captain since I’m taking charge, I’m not forcing it. I put people in charge of certain things, and gave them ranks and titles, but that’s in name only. I want everyone to be relaxed, and informal. We are going to have enough to worry about without having to be concerned with titles, protocol, or procedure.” I told him, taking another bite of my burger.
“Following the chain of command and procedure was the only thing that has kept us from totally delving into chaos here. Some of these older sailors are so set in their ways it may be hard to get them to relax and let that go.” he continued. He sipped on his glass of ice water, which was the only thing we had other than tea.
“I really think that is a risk we are going to have to take. I’m not going to cater to someone’s hurt feelings because of a title. I don’t mind calling the sailors by rank if they insist, but don’t expect my people to answer to them.” I said, setting my burger down and taking a drink of my tea. I sat back and thought about that for a second. That was a mindset I would have to change, this whole ‘my people’ versus ‘the sailors’. Everyone on board was now ‘my people’, and I would have to start thinking as such.
“I don’t think its hurt feelings exactly that you have to worry about, it’s that without policies and procedures some things would fall apart around here. There are maintenance schedules to keep, machinery to keep running, as well as our scrounging for supplies, food, and survivors.” he stated.
“I agree with maintaining the necessary machinery to keep the ship running. That’s not an option to discontinue. Also, we will need to keep watch schedules as well as a designated fire party and damage control team just in case. The safety of the ship is paramount, and training new people to take over and act as backups in those roles is also critical. I need the expertise of a sailor to teach the civilians how to live onboard ship, operate the ships systems, and help the whole survive.” I replied. I finished off my food and stood to take my basket to the bar and put my trash in the trash can. Levine had stood and walked over with me and placed his glass near the sink.
“If we’re done, I’ll go see to some of those ships systems and make sure things are running smoothly, sir.” Levine said, stepping towards the door.
“Yes, we’re done. I would like us to be informal, so please, call me Sheldon, not sir.” I responded.
“If that’s the case, call me Chris.” He said, nodding. Reaching his hand out, we shook hands and he went out, closing the door behind him. I stepped over to the phone and called the bridge to ask that several people be found and asked to meet me here in my cabin. Once that task was done, I decided to finally go empty the rest of my bags. The clothes I had I put in the dresser. I had a few odds and ends of personal effects that I placed around the room, hung my swords on a hook behind the door, and left my heavy dagger I called ‘Cross’ tucked between the mattress and box spring like always.
Stepping back out into the living room, I decided to head over to the kitchen and see what I had in the fridge and p
lan on what I wanted to keep. I would definitely have to get a coffee stock as well as tea, sugar, and some kinds of snacks. There was only a couple of bottles of water in the mini-fridge, and I grabbed one, cracked the lid, and sat down on the couch to review the files again. I wanted to get acquainted with the sailors and their skills so I would know what areas I had covered and where I needed to add people. I was fairly up to speed on most of the civilians’ skills, and had several that would be helpful with maintenance, several more that would be excellent on the watch rotation. Since we had quite a few kids with us, I knew I would have to find space and people for a daycare. We would also need to set up a training program for certain jobs.
“So, I heard the commotion in, what did you call it, the galley? How bad did she beat your ass?” Roger laughed at me as he opened the door and came in.
“Very funny. Thankfully it was a metal spatula and not a knife or you guys would be looking for a new leader.” I replied.
“It was pretty amusing to be honest. So what’s up? Wanting to go on another secret mission?” he chuckled as he sat on the couch opposite.
“No, not right now. I’ve asked several people to show up, and I’ll go over it when everyone is here. I’ve just been sitting here reviewing these files on the sailors, trying to figure out what kind of skills they have, what jobs I’m going to put everyone in. I also have schematics of each deck so I can find out where we are going to put the hydroponics bays, and other places to store weapons and ammo other than the armory.” I informed him.
“But what about the wall? Isn’t that why we went out earlier, to determine the way the wall would run?” he asked.
“We will be building the wall, but the ship is going to be a huge part of everything. It’s going to be our home until the wall is built and the base and surrounding area is then cleared of infected. The Nimitz will be our security blanket, storm shelter, and fortress. I need the sailors’ skills and training to run her, and train everyone that came with us to help with that.” I said. A knock on the door made me glance up then, as Val was opening it and poking her head in.
“Come on in, Val, have a seat.” I told her. She was followed by Michelle, and Jeff showed up only a minute behind them. Kevin also showed up, Daryl a few minutes behind him. Lastly the sailors I had asked for showed up. Chief Smith from Security, Chief Carter from Maintenance, and finally Lt. Levine once more.
“Thanks everyone, for coming. I wanted to run something by you all. Michelle, quit glaring at me. I know you’re still pissed about me taking off earlier, but I’m back, and I’m fine. Now, for the reason of my little field trip. I don’t expect us all to live on the ship forever. I have a plan that will give us plenty of space to spread out some, start some crops, and hopefully even find some livestock and start a farm. Roger and I went out today while everyone was settling into their new roles and scouted out a route for a wall. With a wall, we would be safe from the infected, and other people who want to just take what we have.” I started, standing and looking at everyone as they sat and looked at me. I paced slightly while I talked, just to keep moving.
“How do you propose we build this wall?” Kevin asked.
“That’s what this meeting is actually about, Kevin. When I first hashed out this basic plan way back when, the plan was using a mix of privacy and chain link fencing. That’s something I have been thinking about and bouncing ideas around in my head for a while now. I still think using privacy fences, with extra support on the inside of course, would be the best bet. We can put it up in sections, and it would be easy to place gates in.” I replied.
“Why privacy fence? Chain link would be easier to find I would think, and we could just throw the poles up and then unroll it against them.” Daryl asked.
“We know that these things attack on sight. If we use chain link, there is nothing stopping them from seeing us. And even if we have tall fences, enough of those things rushing it and pushing against it will eventually bring it down. Privacy fencing will keep us out of sight. I also plan on having guard shacks, or towers if we can, along with patrols to watch for any breaks.”
“Sounds good. May I offer another suggestion, though?” Chief Carter stated.
“By all means, Chief. I want ideas, please share.” I said.
“We have flatbed trucks, no? We also have mobile cranes. Why don’t we use those shipping containers at the south end of the pier? We could easily empty them out of whatever is in them, load a few up on a truck, and lay them end to end. We even have welding equipment and could weld the ends together for extra strength if you want. With hinges on them already, we could rig some kind of gate to them, maybe using the storage container doors?” he informed us.
“We have several excellent snipers who could provide cover fire while the containers are being moved and set in place. The noise I’m sure will draw them.” Chief Smith chimed in.
“That would be easier than trying to dig holes for fence posts.” Jeff said.
“Faster, too, even if we can only do a few at a time. I think the container idea is better than the fence idea.” Daryl agreed.
“I like it. I never would have thought about that, using shipping containers. Does anyone have any idea how many are out there?” I asked.
“Not really, but an estimate would be in the hundreds. This was a major naval base, tons of supplies came through to resupply ships very often. The problem will be that some of those containers may have contained food, and while we searched some of them, I doubt we got everything. Whoever opens them will need to be prepared for rotten food possibly.” Lt. Levine informed us.
“Alright. We need to find out how long they are, and do a count. I’ll measure the distance as close as possible to find out how many containers we will need to cover it. Let’s start putting together a team to do this. We will need good crane operators, drivers, and of course a defense team. Get me a list of names, and we will see who will volunteer to go.” I told them, feeling like my plan was really starting to work.
“Why don’t we get hunting blind stands for the guard towers? They would be tall enough to see over the containers, and they are designed for the hunter to not be seen inside. You wouldn’t get but one or two people in them, but we could have radios as well in case they saw something.” Val suggested.
“That’s a good idea. There are several big outdoors type stores nearby, they would have plenty of things like that, if they haven’t been looted of everything yet.” Chief Smith said.
“I agree, that sounds good. If we can’t do that, or can’t get enough coverage with however many we could find, we could always cut viewports in the containers, and doors on the inside. We can work on ideas for the gates while we are placing the first of the containers. Let’s get started on this, I have something else I need to plan for as well.” I finished, effectively dismissing the group. The sailors got the idea and stood, nodding at me and heading out the door. Kevin and Daryl also stood and walked out.
“Christian, please stay for a minute. Michelle, Jeff, I also need you to stick around.” I said as everyone started filing out. Val and the rest walked out, presumably to start on the wall project, or whatever project they had currently going. I knew a lot of the civilians, who I brought, were still taking the day to rest and relax, which I had no problem with, seeing as how long we were on the road for longer than expected.
“What’s up?” Jeff asked.
“Chris, do you know if any of the small boys have fuel? If so, do any of them have enough fuel for a trip?” I asked, getting right to the point.
“I’m not sure off the top of my head. I can find out relatively easy though. What are you thinking?” he replied.
“Michelle has a sister and other family in Florida. Before communications went out, we got in touch with her and told them to gather whoever and whatever they could and head to an isolated island just southeast of where they lived. If one of the ships can make the trip, then I need to know if there are enough sailors on board to make a skeleton c
rew to sail down to Florida and back with survivors.” I stated. Michelle looked hopeful, and just waited for an answer from Levine.
“Well, sir, in theory all ship systems regarding navigation and propulsion are essentially identical in operation. To my knowledge none of the sailors on board have served on small boys, or at least not much time on one. I will ask around again for sure though. If we can acquire the manuals for a particular ships systems, we can study it and train on it and be ready fairly quickly, if need be. I’m not sure anyone would volunteer for that particular mission, however. They wouldn’t see how that would benefit the group.” Chris informed me.
“Sheldon, you can’t leave for that long. The group looks to you and would flip out if you disappear again.” Jeff chimed in.
“I’m not, you are. Michelle too. Nicole is expecting Michelle to come get her, but you’re right, I can’t leave. There are too many things to get started here.” I replied to him.
“I’ll get started on a list of crewmembers who are capable, and send someone to check fuel levels on several ships. I will have an answer for you by noon tomorrow if there is an available ship.” Chris told me. I nodded back to him and he turned and left the cabin. That left Michelle, Jeff, Roger, and myself.
“You’re seriously going down there?” Michelle asked me.
“No, you are. Jeff, you will be in charge of the landing party that goes ashore to find Nicole. Find her, and any survivors with her. If you find anyone else along the way, pick them up too. No crazy risks, though, ok?” I replied, turning to Jeff for the last of it.