The Last Days

by Gary Chesla

  The Captain glanced over at him. “I may be in the Navy, but I have spent my career being around Marines. I have come to understand that if you want something done right and to avoid a lot of unnecessary bullshit, you find the Sargent. He is the man that makes the Marines Corps run.”

  The Sargent smiled to himself. “May I ask what you did in the Navy before you began to climb the chain of command?”

  “Do you mean what did I do when I actually had to work for a living?” The Captain laughed. “I was a Navy fighter pilot”.

  The Sargent smiled.

  “No comment, Sargent?” The Captain asked. “I assume you have had some experience with some of our pilots in the past. Anything you would care to tell me about?”

  “Yes Sir and No Sir!” The Sargent grinned.

  The Captain smiled and picked up the mic. “Petty Officer McClain. Helo one ready to depart. Report status.”

  “All remains quiet and clear.” McClain reported.

  “Maintain active monitoring. Helo one out!” The Captain said

  The chopper rose off the deck of the carrier and began moving towards San Diego.

  They soon passed over San Diego and traveled north east towards their destination in the Laguna Mountains.

  They flew over La Mesa and El Cajon, areas smaller than San Diego, but the scene below looked much like the horrific scenes in the larger city.

  The last area they flew over before they began to see the mountains was Lakeside.

  The men again sat in silence as they watched the infected filling the streets below like ants on an ant hill.

  “Sir?” The Sargent asked. “Did you receive any intel about how long it would be before this virus would burn itself out?”

  “From everything I was privy to, they were unable to determine the life cycle of the virus.” The Caption replied. “Except for a nuclear explosion, they couldn’t find anything that would kill it. Best I can say is it won’t end in our life time. So we just have to deal with it.”

  The flew over hilly terrain for a few minutes before the area suddenly leveled out and a large lake came into view.

  “Lake Cuyamaca, Sargent.” The Caption announced.

  “Yes Sir!” The Sargent acknowledged.

  The Captain dropped the helo to five hundred feet and began to follow the shore line in a clockwise direction. The lake was about five miles long.

  They were half way around the lake when the Sargent spoke up. “There is something at 10 o’clock!”

  “I see it Sargent.” The Captain replied and grabbed the mic. “This is helo one.”

  “Come in helo one.” Petty Officer McClain replied.

  “We have a visual in the distance. Unknown in nature at this time. Any noise in our area?”

  “Negative on any activity.” The Petty Officer replied.

  “Monitor closely and report. We are going in for a closer look.” The Captain said and clicked off the mic.

  “Watch for anything to move Sargent. There is nothing too small to report.” The Captain said sternly.

  “Will do Sir!” The Sargent replied as he held the binoculars to his face.

  As the Captain began to alter his course to circle around the unknown shapes the Sargent began to report. “It appears to be four larger structures arranged in a square. Outside the square a large plane is standing next to the structures. It appears to be a large aircraft. It must have used the shores of the lake as a landing strip. The lakeshores in these mountains are like concrete. Two smaller aircraft sit off to the side. Maybe small private planes. A number of dots are situated in the center of the square of buildings. If I were to guess at this point I would say they are vehicles of some sort. I can’t see anything moving at this time.”

  “Any potential threats?” The Captain asked.

  “Only what might be in the buildings. Unknown potential. My guess, if anything, small arms or machine gun fire possible.” The Sargent reported.

  The Captain held the helo in position. “Opinion Sargent. We approach from the east at low altitude using the larger aircraft to shield us from view of any hostiles that might be inside the buildings.”

  “Sounds solid to me, Sir!” The Sargent replied.

  The Captain brought the helo down to one hundred feet and began a cautious approach, adjusting the altitude as he got closer to stay in the blind spot created by the large aircraft sitting between him and the structures.

  The Sargent was still using the binoculars to study the scene as they approached.

  He dropped the binoculars from his eyes and looked over at the Captain. “Sir, I have identified the larger aircraft.”

  “What is it, Sargent?” The Captain asked, still focusing on his approach.

  “Sir! it’s Air Force One!

  The Captain held the helo in position. He reached for the mic. “McClain. Helo one. Report!”

  “Nothing to report, Sir!” McClain replied.

  “McClain. We have positive identification on Air Force One.” The Captain said.

  “Captain. XO here. Please confirm Air Force One!”

  “Confirmed XO. Stay alert for any sudden signs of activity here or on our perimeter. If the President is here, we should expect some sort of defensive response. Please alert on any potential signals no matter how brief. We are going in to determine status.” Helo one out.

  “Assessment Sargent?” The Captain asked.

  “I would have expected some sort of radar or warning system to identify approaching aircraft or vehicles, especially if the President is actually present. We didn’t pick up any perimeter defense. They are either short of resources or…” The Sargent paused.

  The Captain watched for any activity near Air Force One in the distance.

  “or they are unable to mount any defense outside of the buildings.”

  “Or they are all dead!” The Captain added.

  “Yes Sir!” The Sargent replied.

  The Captain moved the helo within two hundred feet of Air Force One. He sat the helicopter down, powered down, but did not shut down the engine.

  The Sargent followed the Captain into the back where the men waited.

  “Sargent, please pick two of your men to remain and protect the helo.”

  “Davis, Johnson. Assume positions outside. Davis, take 3 o’clock, Johnson take 9 o’clock.” The Sargent ordered.

  “Gentlemen.” The Captain said. “When on duty, remember the helo is our only way back to the carrier. No one gets near this helo. I don’t care if the President of the United States comes out here and demands to get on board. Understood!”

  “Yes Sir!” The men replied.

  “The rest of you will come with me. We will assume anything or anyone in this compound is hostile until we can confirm otherwise. Act accordingly until I inform you to stand down. Weapons at the ready.” The Captain said then slid open the side door on the helo.

  Johnson and Davis crawled under the helo and laid side by side. Davis faced 3 o’clock, Johnson laid facing the opposite direction.

  The Captain led the Sargent and Petty Officer over to Air Force One.

  They took positions behind the planes landing gear for cover.

  When they were in position, the Captain shouted out towards the buildings. “Anyone inside the compound. This is the U.S. Navy. USS Ronald Regan. Please acknowledge.”

  They waited. They could hear some kind of movement inside, but no acknowledgement of their attempted contact.

  The Captain shouted again. “Anyone inside the compound. This is the U.S. Navy. Please acknowledge.”

  Again, there was some noise inside, but no attempt to reply.

  “Sargent. What’s your take on this compound?” The Captain asked.

  “It looks like four construction trailers that were probably flown in by heavy lift choppers. They were set up quickly. It looks like they didn’t spend much time trying to level them. The two on the left are leaning to the right.” The Sargent replied.

  “I agree. This p
lace was thrown together fast. Probably a last ditch effort to relocate the heads of state. That’s probably is also why there are no signs of any kind of defense. They just didn’t have the time or the men to set things up properly.” The Captain said. “They probably don’t have much in the way of protection inside either. We’re going in to check it out, do whatever you need to do to protect yourself.”

  The Captain shouted one more time. “Inside the compound. We are coming in. We mean you no harm. Please acknowledge.”

  When there was no response the Captain said. “Sargent, you go to the left. Clawson, to the right. I’ll go straight at the door. When we are all at the first trailer, slide over to the door, then we will go inside.”

  They all nodded.

  The Captain flashed one finger, two fingers, three fingers. They all rushed towards the trailer.

  After they were all at the door, the Captain grabbed the door handle. The handle turned easily. It was unlocked.

  Inside they could hear movement.

  The Captain made eye contact with each man, then pulled the door open as he moved to the left side of the door.

  Five badly decomposed creatures came staggering out of the trailer.

  The Captain was the first to fire, dropping the first creature as it came through the door way.

  He hesitated for a second as the stench stung his nose.

  The men then put a well placed single shot to the head of each of the infected as they came out the door at them.

  When no other infected came from the trailer, the Captain took a quick look inside.

  The trailer was one large room that contained a couch, three chairs and a desk. Other than the furniture, the trailer was empty.

  The Captain turned to see the Sargent staring down at one of the bodies.

  The Sargent looked up. “Sir! It’s the president.”

  The Captain nodded. “Sargent, I hope you don’t think I am being unpatriotic, but I believe our chances of salvaging something form this hell hole our country has become has just increased five hundred percent!”

  The Sargent nodded. “Yes Sir!”

  “Let’s clear these other trailers then we will go inside and see if we can find any info that might tell us anything.” The Captain ordered.

  They cleared the other three trailers. Ten more of the infected were inside the other trailers. The other trailers appeared to be sleeping quarters. The uniforms they found in the other trailers indicated they had found the crew for Air Force one. They didn’t find any ID to indicate who the two smaller planes belonged to, but assumed at least one or two of the dead may have been a congressman.

  They returned to the first trailer where the President had been. This trailer was set up as an office area. It was probably to be the new command center for the country.

  “What do you think happened here?” Clawson asked. “This area seemed far enough away from the city. We didn’t see any of the infected in the mountains on our way here?”

  “My guess is one of the men they brought up had been infected and hid it from the others. Or whoever those other two small planes belonged to were infected and brought the virus here.” The Captain replied.

  “It was obviously a politician.” The Sargent added.

  The Captain said. “Keep looking for anything that might help us. The helo will be running low on fuel soon.”

  “You want me to shut it down?” Clawson asked.

  “Negative.” The Captain replied. “As far as I am concerned, the area is not secure. We may still need to make a fast exit.”

  There wasn’t much to work with inside the office, but again, the men that had come here didn’t have much to work with outside of the office either.

  They searched the brief cases in the main trailer. They found a few reports that were dated over a week ago. They detailed the fall of Europe, India, Australia, Africa, and the rapid spreading of the virus throughout South America.

  They found a report by some bureaucrat that stated they didn’t feel the U.S. had much to fear from the virus due to overall health of the American population.

  The Captain just shook his head as he looked at that report.

  The computers on the desks were all open. None of them responded to any attempts to power them on. The batteries were all dead. The computers were plugged into the wall outlets. The portable generators that sat out behind the trailers had all run out of fuel days ago.

  “It looks like we know more about the virus than anyone here did.” The Captain said as he tossed the last report down on the desk. “As I assumed, we are on our own.”

  “Orders Captain?” The Sargent asked.

  “Let’s go home. If we are going to find survivors, our time is running out. “The Captain said.

  They started to leave when they heard gunfire coming from out near the helo.

  They ran around Air Force One.

  The two men under the helo were now lying side by side, facing in the same direction and firing at a slow moving group of the infected heading towards them.

  There were only about thirty of the staggering creatures. They were still over a hundred feet away.

  “Save your ammo men. Get in the helo.” The Captain ordered. “They are welcome to help themselves to whatever is left here.”

  They quickly boarded the chopper and the Captain guided the craft into the air. They made a quick circle around the infected and the now dead compound, the last remains of the U.S. government, before heading back to the carrier.

  They arrived back at the carrier thirty minutes later.

  One Marine was standing out in the middle of the flight deck, standing at attention.

  The men on the helicopter piled out as McClain and two other men ran out to secure the helo to the deck.

  “What’s with the Marine out on the flight deck?” The Captain asked.

  “He disobeyed orders Sir. The men were ordered to only fire at the dead from the top of stairwells three and seven. Private Harrison decided to go down the stairs. The Lieutenant is making him stand at attention for an hour as punishment.” McClain answered.

  The Sargent started fuming. “What the hell is this, a God Damn daycare center?”

  He marched out to where Harrison stood and pushed his face into Harrison’s face and started yelling.

  When the Captain walked into the command center in the tower, he looked down at the Sargent who was still reaming out Harrison.

  “XO.” The Captain said. “If I had it all to do over again, I think I would like to be a Marine Sargent.”

  The XO laughed. “And you would have made a damn good one too, Sir!”

  Chapter 25

  Mike was up early this morning. He felt well rested after sleeping all day yesterday and all last night.

  He thought he had heard some occasional groaning sounds passing by the barn last night, but he was tired and felt secure in the barn.

  The barn was secure and the dead didn’t appear to have any indication that Mike and his family was inside.

  They had just moved on.

  Kimmy moving around the loft woke him up. She was obviously feeling better and she was curious about the loft.

  Mike had laid awake for over an hour watching her running around in the hay.

  He held his breath a few times, hoping there hadn’t been a hole in the loft under the hay when she jumped into piles of hay. He held his breath when she didn’t jump right back up, but stayed under the hay for a few minutes.

  Finally she got bored with the loft and came back over to lay down next to him.

  He looked at the scratches and bit mark on her arm. Her arm seemed to be healing quickly. Must faster than the scare that it had put into him when he first saw it.

  After the second trip to take Kimmy down in front of the car to go to the bathroom, he decided to get up.

  He didn’t feel she really had to go to the bathroom the second time. He thought she was just getting a thrill with being allowed to go inside the barn and was t
aking advantage of the situation.

  But he didn’t complain, not after yesterday.

  Kelly had smiled at him when he came back the second time. All the activity had finally awakened her too.

  She didn’t have to say anything. Her thoughts echoed in his mind. “Your daughter would never ask me to let her go to the bathroom inside the barn!”

  But Mike also knew that she was happy they weren’t going outside.

  Mike just smiled back.

  “I think we should get up and eat. We should probably get an early start today.”

  Kelly nodded. She wasn’t excited about going back outside again, but she knew they had to if they were going to get home.

  She wished they were already home. She missed her home. She missed her soft bed, even though the hay bed was nice, she also missed the feeling of being safe and secure that her home always gave her.

  Most of all, she hated what they had been through the last few days. The only way they were going to get home was to get back on the road. That thought made her body tremble.

  “I’ll get up and fold the blankets.” Kelly said. “Would you and Kimmy pick out something for breakfast? Try to pick out something other than candy bars today. OK?”

  Mike smiled and knelt down as Kimmy climbed on his back for a piggy back ride down the ladder.

  She giggled as Mike stepped out off the loft and climbed down to the barn floor.

  Mike compromised on breakfast. He wanted granola bars, Kimmy wanted candy bars. They compromised and had chocolate covered granola bars and apple juice.

  Their light mood began to change as the time to leave approached.

  Mike packed the blankets and pillows in the back seat, then Kimmy jumped in the car and Mike secured her seat belt. Kelly also reluctantly got in her seat.