by Lee Thomas
“Good. We are currently just out of view near the gatehouse. Is it clear to make it to the ship?” I asked him.
“Negative at this time. Wait a minute for them to go into the next ship.” he replied.
“Roger that, let us know when it’s clear.” I told him. “Casey, soon as he gives the all clear, you floor it and get to that pier. You need to be between the carriers as quick as possible. If these guys aren’t friendly, I don’t want to give them an easy shot, understood?”
“Yes, sir.” He replied, leaving the cart in gear with his foot on the brake.
“Excellent. Now, when you get back to the ship, get onboard and tell Christian to post snipers, but hold his fire unless fired upon. Roger, come with me, we are going to try to sneak behind them and see if we can find out if they are friendly or not.” I said, waiting for the reaction. Casey and Jason both started arguing about that decision over each other, but I hushed them and signaled them to stay quiet.
“Look, I’m not pushing this whole captain thing, but this time I will. If these people are just survivors looking for supplies, then we have an obligation to help them. Roger and I will be careful, but tell Christian that if they open fire on us, take them all out, understood?” I told them, staring at each in turn. I really didn’t like the whole captain thing, and sticking to military chain of command that much, but in this case I would use it on them.
“Yes, sir.” They both replied, a little sullenly, but as sailors they would obey the order. I nodded at Roger, who nodded back. We got out of the cart and both adjusted our sword belts. We took the rifles from Jason and Casey, just in case. Roger and I then started jogging south along the pier fence. There was plenty of vegetation with the landscaped bushes, debris, and buildings and signage to give us plenty of cover as we made our way past where we thought the others were. It took us about twenty minutes to jog that far since we tried to stay hidden the whole time.
“This should be far enough, let’s find a way through this fence.” I told him. We moved towards the fence, and I motioned we should simply slip under the chain link. Removing a couple of wires on the post allowed us to pull the chain link up just enough to slip under, then we replaced the wires. That put us on the pier itself, but we had chosen a spot behind a couple of shipping containers, so we should have gone totally unnoticed.
“Ok, now what? Do we just stroll up to them like ‘Hi, how ya doing?’, or do you have something else in mind?” Roger asked me as we peered around the corner.
“Well, something like that, yeah. We are going to play it as if we are simply looking for supplies. If they press us, we will say we have a building not far from here, just out looking for supplies and food. Clear?” I replied. It seemed a fairly simple, easy to remember cover story, and it seemed very feasible. Roger confirmed he understood the story, so we stepped out from around the corner to the middle of the pier, and headed for the closest ship, trying to act like we had just arrived. We made our way to the ship, climbed aboard, and started looking around topside. Roger noticed the others had spotted us and were watching us, so he ‘noticed’ them, and then waved me over. I made obvious hand gestures to let them know we were not infected, and when they motioned back, Roger and I headed off the ship and started heading their way.
“Christian, this is Sheldon. The other group has noticed us, we are moving to meet them. They appear friendly so far, but keep your eyes on them. Radio silence from now on please, I don’t want to tip them off.” I said into the radio quickly while we were out of sight. As we cleared the bow of the ship, we could see the other group was gathering on the pier and coming to meet us. Roger and I walked slowly towards them, looking around as if we were looking for infected as we did.
“Are you bit?” one of the larger, older men asked. He had kind of a mean, hard look to him which reminded me of an old surly biker. I assumed he was going to be the spokesman for the group then.
“No, neither one of us. Are any of you?” I asked in return.
“No, we’re clean.” he answered. “Just the two of you?”
“Now, yeah. There used to be more of us, but we had several who were too slow, or were too squeamish to take these things out, so they got bit and turned, or just outright killed.” I told him. I wasn’t going to offer too much information too fast, as everyone these days had to be careful who you trusted.
“You got a place to hole up?” the biker look-a-like asked. The rest of the group was relaxing, but looking around as if they expected more people or infected to show up. At least none of them were looking at us threatening. My hope was that Christian could hear the conversation on the radio as I had locked the channel open before we cleared the ship.
“Yes, we do. We fortified a couple of office buildings not too far from here that are connected by an air bridge. We sealed off all the ground floor access except for one door in each building that leads to a secure alleyway. No power, but we can collect rainwater on the roof, and started to grow vegetables as well, but our people with the green thumbs have been lost. What about you guys?” I replied.
“We used to, but it was overrun. We have been on the move now for about two weeks, looking for a new place to settle down.” The biker answered back. Roger and I pretended to confer with each other for a minute or two quietly, and then turned to face them again.
“What if we join forces? We could use the extra manpower, and a group is more likely to survive that just two of us. There is more than enough room for all of us.” I proposed. I heard some low clicks on the radio and knew Christian was trying to signal me. “Why don’t you guys talk it over, my friend and I are going to search this ship real quick. If you decide we should join up, we will take you to where we are staying. If not, have a nice day and we will continue on our way.”
“We will think about it. I’ll let you know shortly.” He replied, nodding as he spoke. Roger and I then turned and headed towards the nearest ship, one of the cruisers, and left them to talk amongst themselves. Once onboard, we quickly ducked inside so I could contact the ship.
“This is Sheldon, what’s up?” I asked as soon as we were hidden.
“They had a few more men hidden on the ship they just came off of, but it looked like they were just not wanting to show their hand. How did it look from down there?” Christian asked.
“They looked ragged, like they had been on the road a while. They said the place they were at was overrun two weeks ago and they had been on the move since, and it looks like it. They didn’t really look like they posed a threat, but that could have been just for show, to throw us off our game. How much could you hear?” I replied.
“All of it, but their responses were a little muffled. The snipers are watching them, and if it looks suspicious we will let you know. If they agree to join, when are you going to tell them about the ship?”
“As soon as they agree. If they don’t we will make a show of leaving, and then just wait until they are gone to come back aboard. Let’s have a welcome party gathered in the hangar bay just in case. I will want guards, hidden if possible, just in case they decide to get violent later.”
“Aye sir.” Christian replied. I simply sighed as I once again had to deal with the ‘sir’ thing. I placed the radio back on my belt, adjusted my sword belt, and shouldered the rifle a little better. After waiting about another twenty minutes, Roger and I decided to head back out. As we made our way from the hatch to the gangplank, we could see the other group gathered near where we had talked to them. The one who spoke to me waved us over and stepped forward a little from the group.
“We’ve decided that if your buildings are really as safe as you say they are, we will join up. How far away are they? Can we get there before dark?” he asked.
“Close, very close. We will be there well before dark. I’m glad we can help you guys out, we all need to work together if we want to survive at this point. My name is Sheldon, this is Roger.” I answered him.
“Thomas. We’ll make proper introductions of
everyone later, once we can relax for a bit. As you can understand, we are all just a little edgy about being in the open for too long.” our new friend responded.
“Well, then, Thomas, let me let you in on a little secret. We are a lot closer to our facility than you might think. In fact, you can see it from here. Also, there isn’t only the two of us. I lead a group of about 400. That ship back there at the end of the pier? That’s where we are staying.” I informed him, pointing at the last towards the carrier. Shocked, he turned and looked at the ship.
“400 huh? That’s a lot more than two. I’m assuming you only said that to judge if we were hostile or not before telling us where your people were?” Thomas replied, huffing a little. “I guess I understand that, I probably would’ve done something similar, had I thought of it.”
“I led a lot of them here from Oklahoma. Some were sailors already onboard when we got here. Our only goal is to survive, thrive, and find and help any survivors we can. We have a plan, we have safety, and we have power. If you’re still interested, I would be glad to have you.” I told him. He looked at me a few minutes, different thoughts crossing his face. I could tell, even without knowing him, that he was weighing the options, now that he knew the truth.
“Well, I don’t like being lied to, but I understand the reasoning. I guess I can let it slide. We would love to have someplace to lay down tonight that has a bed, and some real food. Any chance you have that on that big boat you have?” he finally said to me. The clenching of his jaw told me that he wasn’t fully ok with the lie, but since it was to protect my people it was warranted.
“Yes, we have food, beds, and more importantly now a days, hot water and showers. I don’t know about you and yours, but after a week on the road getting here, the shower was the best part of that first day. Let’s get onboard and start to get you guys settled. It is getting late, and I would rather not deal with any infected today.” I told him, stepping forward to shake his hand. Once we did that, his people seemed to visibly relax. I started forward down the pier with Roger right behind me, and Thomas led his people, following us. I waved my hand in the air as we passed the Jefferson and as we turned down the pier between the carriers, the elevator started lowering.
“You weren’t kidding, you really do have a ship. I thought maybe you were pulling our legs, trying to get one over on us.” Thomas said.
“I wasn’t kidding, no. Let’s get everyone onboard and settled for the night.” I replied as we watched the elevator settle itself all the way down and the hangar door start to slide open. Several sailors stepped out onto the elevator, along with Christian.
“Sir, preparations are almost ready for our new guests.” He reported to me.
“Excellent. Thomas, this is Christian. He was the one in charge of all the sailors when I showed up with my group. We merged and have been here ever since. Of course, that was only two days ago. But we have plans, things are being set up, and we could always use more hands on deck to accomplish them.” I informed Thomas and his group.
“Welcome aboard. If you will give your weapons to those sailors there, we will place them in the armory for safety. Then if you will follow those guys they will show you to the galley so you can get something to eat, and finally we will have some bunks prepared for you as well shower things brought.” Christian said, shaking Thomas’ hand and pointing out the two groups of sailors as he spoke.
“Why do we have to give up our weapons?” one of Thomas’ men asked.
“You’re not giving them up. We just keep them centralized so if an attack against the ship happens they are all easily accessible. They are still your weapons, and can be checked out at any time. We just prefer them to be kept long term in the armory. That’s only the guns however, if you have knives or other blunt weapons you are free to keep them on you.” I explained, wondering if that was going to be the big issue with everyone that we brought on.
“Just do it Craig. If they wanted to hurt us they would’ve taken us out on the pier.” Thomas turned to his man and said. Turning back to me, he nodded and waved his hand as if to say ‘proceed’.
“I will let the sailors get you settled then. The food is good, and for now we have plenty. The showers have hot water, and the bunks might be Navy issue, but they are comfortable, especially after being on the road for a bit. I will check on you later this evening, and we can start getting you acclimated to the ship tomorrow. For now, relax, eat, and unwind.” I said. Thomas and I shook hands again and he directed his men to hand over their rifles and pistols. I caught glimpses of some pretty impressive knives, and I was sure most of them had hidden blades as well. Once they were set and following the sailors to the galley, I clapped Christian on the arm.
“Not a bad day’s work I guess. Did any of the others report anything interesting?” I asked him as we made our way back up towards the bridge. Since there was a conference room near my quarters, that was where I had decided to conduct most of the day to day business.
“No, not really. None of them saw any infected, but there were signs that they had been there. There was some food found, mostly canned stuff, but a few of the houses still had power, and a couple of those had still functioning freezers. There was hamburger, chicken, frozen dinners, things like that, still edible. It was brought back and is now in the galley. No other weapons or survivors were found. The separate teams are supposed to be writing up a quick report and I will have them brought to you as soon as they are done.” He informed me.
“Good. I’m going to put my swords up. We have some tech guys around, right?” I replied.
“Yes, sir, several.”
“Please have them paged to the conference room. I have an idea and I want to speak with them. Also, please page all the department heads for a meeting at say, 1700. I’ll be in the conference room shortly.” I asked of Christian.
“Aye, sir.” He replied and then continued up to the bridge. Roger followed me as I stepped into my quarters. I waved to the fridge as I headed for my bedroom to put my swords up. As I came back in the living area, he tossed me a water bottle.
“Thanks man.” I said as I twisted the cap off and took a swig.
“I’m gonna head down, see what Jess is up to.” He told me as he stepped towards the door.
“Alright man, take care. Get some rest, we may be at it again tomorrow.” I informed him as he went out the door. I finished my water, grabbed some of the maps from the box of files and headed out towards the conference room. It was only down the corridor a short ways, but even so some of the tech guys beat me there.
“Afternoon fellas.” I said as I entered, waving off the expected ‘attention on deck’ announcement I was already beginning to expect from the sailors.
“You wanted to see us sir?” one of them asked. His name tag said Johnson and his rank badge showed Third Class.
“Yes, but it's Sheldon, not sir, please. Are you guys it or is there more people coming?” I asked in return.
“There should be three more sir, but they were off duty and had to be woken up. It shouldn’t be too long before they show up though.” another sailor said, Hernandez by the name tag.
“Alright. Give me names here guys, I haven’t met everyone yet, and I’m horrible with names.” I informed them as I set the maps down that I had brought and sat at the head of the table. They introduced themselves one by one around the table. There was Jeremy Johnson, Aaron Hernandez, Timothy Galleon, Erica Holder, and Howard Davis. By the time they were done, the other three sailors walked in, along with four civilians. I asked them for introductions as well and got Frank Smith, Wes Leaker, and Pat Driver for the sailors, as well as Yvonne Allen, David Franks, Kelly Moore, and Lee Warner.
“Alright, this is an impressive showing. So this is all the tech people I have on board, correct?” I asked, getting this little meeting started. Once I received an affirmative, I stood and began spreading out the maps.
“Ok, this is why I asked you all here. If we have power, it stands to reason that
others can too, right? I also figure that satellites are totally unaffected by what’s happened. I need to know if we can access those satellites, especially the ones that would allow us to take pictures. Do we have the capability on this ship for that?” I asked of them.
“Well, sir, we are still connected to the communications satellites. I’m sure we could connect to the reconnaissance satellites if we tried. Any particular reason why?” Frank asked.
“You see these maps? They are road maps. I need up to date terrain maps. Something I can plan a route with to build our wall. I have an idea where it’s going, but I need current views, and I would like to be able to use them to see threats in the area. I also want to find and acquire night vision cameras to install around the exterior of the ship so we can keep watch on the pier without having to have a person outside, in case of inclement weather, or attack.” I informed them.
“We would have to drill access holes for the cables, and that could compromise the security of the ship.” Wes chimed in.
“Not if we seal it up around the cable, like with a house. We could also drill holes only just big enough for the cables so that the cable itself seals the hole, mostly.” I replied. I had actually thought about it a little bit beforehand, but I wasn’t tech savvy enough or cocky enough to think I had thought of everything. I hoped for some good feedback.
“That’s possible, but I don’t think we have any type of sealant to use for that.” Howard countered.
“I’ll get with David, he’s the guy I put in charge of maintenance. If we have anything, his team will know. I will also put together a raid team to go in search of coax cable and the cameras themselves. Hopefully we will be able to find enough that we can have excellent coverage.” I said.
“I can start finding locations for cameras while we search for them if you would like.” Aaron offered.
“Yes, good, do that. Since I don’t know if we will find any that are weather resistant, try to find areas under the flight deck overhang. If that’s not feasible, get with the machine shop chief to see what he can make you.” I told him. He nodded and acknowledged the order.