by Mark Tufo
“Runners!” Harry exclaimed, instantly taking two of the things down with the AR-15.
Derrick took another one down with his next volley. Frank, who appeared to Harry’ right, shot two more of them as Harry finished the last. All six had fallen heavily and skidded a bit when they hit the pavement.
The bodies the men had already shot lay as a small barrier in front of the advancing horde. This served to slow it a bit as others behind this barrier began to trip and fall, causing a slight domino effect. But further to the rear the infected began to simply walk up and over the bodies in front of them.
The small diesel engine of the Swift Boat came to life with a rumble as Bill started it.
“In the boat, now!” Harry exclaimed, the three continuing to fire into the horde as they slowly stepped backward. “It looks like they’re tripping up but others are coming over the top!”
The three men continued backing up as they fired. Their shots were true, bringing more of the things down. But with the number of infected surging toward them their efforts did very little to stem the tide. As they finally reached the bow of the Swift Boat, the horde was within fifty feet of their position.
“You guys get on the boat. I’ll cover you,” Harry said to Derrick and Frank in a tone that held little room for argument. The two men broke off their fire and climbed on board. Just as Harry was about to join them, at least a dozen runners suddenly appeared at the top of the pile of bodies. They leaped over those bodies, quickly closing the short distance between them and the men at the boat.
“HARRY, COME ON!” Derrick shouted, beginning to get out of the boat to join his friend.
“STAY IN THE DAMN BOAT AND GET OUT OF HERE!” Harry returned the shout as he continued to fire at the runners that were now only twenty feet in front of him and closing that gap rapidly. “NOW!”
Harry was once again brought to the realization that his time was up. That calm which had taken hold of him the last time he’d thought he was going to die as they were rescuing Wanda and her granddaughter. He slowed his breathing and took better aim, determined to take out as many of the infected as he could before they got to him. But he had lost count of the rounds he had been firing and the next pull of the trigger did not bring about the desired result of a round leaving the barrel.
“Well, that’s not good,” Harry said to himself as he quickly reversed the rifle, grasping the extremely hot end of the barrel in a two-handed grip. He was still wearing tactical gloves which helped somewhat, but he could still feel the heat creep through toward the palms of his hands. He did not have time to concern himself with that little discomfort however. Unable to insert a fresh mag into the rifle, and without his Glock, he prepared to bludgeon the first infected to reach his position. “COME ON YOU SONS OF BITCHES!”
The runners were now ten feet from Harry, and as he brought the rifle up into what resembled a baseball player’s stance preparing to hit a home run, he heard the earsplitting blast from an air horn to his right. Seconds later he was knocked off his feet and onto the ground by a tremendous surge of water. His head impacted with the pavement hard enough to cause him to momentarily lose consciousness.
* * *
The thick fog limited Phil’s view of the strip of land that made up the mole of the harbor. But he had been keeping a watchful eye on the area after he had spoken to Harry on the radio. Without the engine of the Phoenix running it was fairly quiet, the only sound the lapping of the Bay waters as it hit the breakwater of the mole and the sides of the fireboat. Phil had heard the racket of the fence being taken down, and even without binoculars he was able to see the infected clearly enough once they emerged from the fog line. As soon as he saw the mass of infected surge forward he had immediately told Jimi to get the Phoenix as close to shore as possible.
It took Jimi only a few moments to start the powerful engine and engage the propeller of the Phoenix. Phil was nearly thrown from his feet as Jimi sharply turned the boat toward the breakwater of the harbor at full throttle. As the fireboat got closer to the mole, Phil watched as the three men began firing into the leading edge of the horde bearing down on them, although with little effect. He watched as two of the men broke off firing and jumped into the smaller boat at the edge of the boat launch. The third man continued using his rifle in a vain attempt to hold back the advancing mass but it was obvious his efforts were not slowing the onslaught.
As the fireboat closed to fifty yards from the entrance to the docks, Phil saw a large pack of the infected suddenly break from the horde and begin running toward the men’s location. Although there was a pile of bodies that had accumulated from the men taking the things out, the runners seemed to have little difficulty in getting over it. Phil watched in horror as the man suddenly grasped the end of his rifle, placing the stock on his shoulder as if he were preparing to swing for the fences. The runners were now very close, and if Phil didn’t do something soon that man was going to die.
“JIMI, GET THE PUMPS GOING RIGHT NOW!” Phil shouted as he grasped the forward water cannon he now stood behind, aiming the nozzle toward the space between the infected and the man. Within seconds, Jimi yelled back that the pumps were on and the cannon was ready. Jimi let lose a blast of the Phoenix’s air horn to let the men ashore know that the fireboat crew was trying to help. Phil activated the water cannon, sending a heavy concentrated jet of water between the man and the runners. He could not see what was happening through the water, but he hoped it was enough to at least distract the infected long enough for the man to get onto the boat behind him.
* * *
Derrick and Frank also heard the air horn, followed by the heavy flow of water coming from the fireboat. Harry disappeared under the onslaught. Derrick did not hesitate as he leaped from the boat and ran to Harry’s last position, with Frank right behind.
Harry came to his senses as he felt himself being dragged to his feet. Thinking the worst, he swung his arms wildly to fend off the infected he was certain surrounded him. The response shocked him, however.
“Damn it Harry that hurt! I’m trying to help you here!” Derrick said, although his voice was somewhat muffled by the roar of the water. “You need to get your ass moving, old man!”
Harry finally shook off what remained of the fuzziness in his head and realized what was going on. It was obvious that somehow the fireboat had rendered assistance, and at fairly close range given the force of water being pumped. Derrick was now half-dragging and half-supporting Harry, leading him to the Swift Boat and helping him aboard. Frank was right behind, keeping a close watch with his rifle at the ready and pointing toward the direction of the horde. Bill helped get Frank back in the boat, then raced to the pilot house. Starting the Swift Boat, Bill reversed it away from the launch, then out into the open Bay at full throttle.
Harry laid on his back, trying to catch his breath as the Swift Boat sped out of the harbor. “What the hell happened?” he asked Derrick
“We had our butts saved is what happened,” Derrick replied. He looked toward the Phoenix as the Swift Boat passed. He could clearly see a man standing behind the water cannon at the bow of the boat and someone in the pilot house. As the Swift Boat passed, Derrick raised his arm and waved. The Phoenix gave two short blasts from its air horn and the water cannon shut down. Derrick glanced back toward the launch area. What he saw made his blood run cold. Hundreds of bodies crowded the edge of the launch, arms outstretched toward the Bay and the escaping men on the boat.
“Help me up, Derry,” Harry said, extending his hand. Derrick grasped the outstretched hand and helped him to his feet.
Harry was still a bit unsteady. “Wow, head rush,” he said as he gingerly touched the knot on the side of his head.
“That looks a bit painful,” Derrick said, indicating the goose egg.
“Yeah, but luckily my head is harder than that pavement,” Harry replied while reaching to where the radio mic should have been on his jump suit. Not finding it, he looked down toward the radio on his
tactical belt. He saw what was left of the mic cord simply dangling from the obviously damaged radio. “That’s unfortunate,” Harry muttered.
“What?” Derrick asked.
“I must have landed hard on the radio back there. Ripped the mic from the cord. Smashed the hell out of the top, too,” Harry said as he removed the radio from its belt case and examined it.
“Here ya go, Harry,” Frank said as he made his way to the two men still standing at the bow of the boat and handed Harry his radio.
“Thanks, kid,” Harry said as he tossed the useless radio into a box at his feet while taking the operating radio being offered.
“Phil, this is Harry,” he said into the radio. “Man, we really owe you guys!”
“Glad to be of service. You know the San Francisco Fire Department has one of the quickest on-time responses in the Bay Area,” Phil replied with a laugh.
“You have sure proven that point clearly today, my friend. Seriously, thank you,” Harry said with deep sincerity.
“No problem, Harry. What’s our next move?” Phil asked.
“We head to Alcatraz. Break, Cecil, are you monitoring?” Harry said.
“Right here, Harry,” Cecil’s voice replaced Phil’s on the radio. “We’re already at the dock on the east side of the island and we have a problem here.”
Harry glanced to Derrick and Frank who were now both standing in front of him and said into the radio. “What do you mean, we have a problem?”
“There appears to already be some unwelcome inhabitants here. Please head over and we’ll decide what to do,” Cecil replied, frustration obvious in his voice.
Shaking his head, Harry could only imagine one thing that could create that tone in Cecil’s voice. “Copy that, Cecil. We’re on the way. Break. Phil, follow us over and be prepared to go to work again,” Harry said.
“10-4, Harry. Right behind you,” Phil responded
Harry looked back toward Bill at the controls and pointed toward Alcatraz. Then, using a chopping motion with his hand, he indicated that Bill should head toward the island. Bill nodded in acknowledgment. The diesel engine of the Phoenix come to life then, and the fireboat quickly caught up to the Swift Boat. All eyes were now on the island made famous in history as a prison and in numerous movies.
It took twenty minutes for the two boats to reach the eastern side of Alcatraz and the only dock to get onto the island. Harry saw the various boats from the marina bobbing in the wake of the Bay waters several hundred yards from the island. One boat was only about fifty yards from the dock, and he assumed that was Cecil’s.
“Phil, cut your engine and maintain a position here while we meet Cecil,” Harry said through the radio. The fireboat stopped and maintained a position just to the south of the dock and approximately a hundred yards out.
“Okay, Harry. We’ll stand by here,” Phil responded.
“Harry, this is Cecil. We’re the small speed boat up here. Pull up alongside us but don’t approach the dock. You’ll understand why as soon as you get closer,” Cecil’s voice came though the radio speaker.
33
Harry was now standing next to Bill as he began to maneuver the Swift Boat next to Cecil’s smaller boat. Harry had already seen activity around the dock and the shapes he had been watching became clearer as they neared the island. To his dismay, he watched as dozens of infected milled around the dock and upper landing.
Derrick turned toward Harry with a questioning look. Harry simply shrugged his shoulders. He had no idea what they were going to do now.
Bill quickly brought the Swift Boat alongside Cecil’s. They were close but still could not talk directly, so they continued to use the radios.
“This is not good. We counted about fifty of those things up there,” Cecil said calmly through the radio Harry held. “Even with the weapons we have, I think we would have a difficult time clearing them out enough to land.”
Harry had not taken his eyes off the small horde that now nearly covered the small dock. The activity from the Swift Boat had garnered their full attention. He could not hear them from this distance, but he was certain the moaning they emitted must be attracting other infected from the area.
Harry’s thoughts were a jumble. He had not thought past this point in his plan. Alcatraz had seemed to be the most logical location to find safety. It was apparent that others had thought the same. Maybe these were people who had made it to the island seeking a safe haven. They could have run into a group of infected when they arrived, and as in Cecil’s group on the marina, the infection spread before it could be contained.
Derrick and Frank were now standing next to Harry staring at the dock. Frank was looking through binoculars, scanning the area.
“They’re definitely infected,” he said “I also see several in the windows of the building directly above the dock.”
“I don’t think we can handle this, Harry. There are just too damn many of the things,” Derrick said.
“I agree.” Harry took the binocs from Frank and brought the dock and surrounding area to closer view. “They seem to be coming out of the woodwork.”
Harry handed the binocs back to Frank and turned to look toward Cecil to find out what he suggested. But like an elephant in the room not previously noticed, something caught his eye – a large land mass to the north of their location. Another island he knew well, but for whatever reason had not considered. A large island which, like Alcatraz, sat in the Bay, isolated and only accessible by boat. Angel Island.
Harry had been to the island many times over the years. He enjoyed the feeling of wilderness so close to the city. AI was a tourist destination as well, but he could still find solitude on the many trails that spanned the large land mass. With sadness once again surrounding him like the fog they now sat in, he remembered the many times he had taken his nephew to the island to spend a day exploring. He’d delighted in his young nephew’s reaction to the history of the island. Harry once again felt the urgency to get these people somewhere safe so that he could go find his own family.
Shaking himself out of the funk he was swimming in, he radioed Cecil. “I think we need to bypass Alcatraz. We don’t need to risk the lives of these people trying to clear the island. We might be able to do it, but at a cost I am not willing to gamble.”
Cecil replied immediately and said, “I agree completely, Harry. But we can’t just float around the Bay.”
“Agreed. But I think we may have another option. Look to the north at that large land mass. That’s actually an island, Angel Island, and frankly I think it would offer a better location for us than Alcatraz. There is only one way that I know of to get onto the island and that is Ayala Cove. It has several boat docks we can tie up to, and offers a much larger area should we run into the infected. Along with many buildings that could be used for housing, there’s also a Coast Guard Station on the point to your right. Point Bunt. Not sure if anyone is still manning it, but there might be additional supplies that could be secured.”
Harry saw Cecil turn and look, then heard his voice reply through the radio. “I think we have no other option right now. Speaking of the Coast Guard, have you heard anything from them or if they are still in the area?”
“No idea. I made contact with the chief of police before we headed to the marina. He said the Coast Guard was still here but we don’t have the radio equipment to make contact.” Harry glanced to Frank who was shaking his head, confirming what he had just said, and then continued relaying the information to Cecil. “The chief said they were trying to secure the Oakland Port the last time they had been in contact. I got the impression that they were not to be messed with.”
“We haven’t seen anything of them as well,” Cecil replied after a few moments. “Not even helicopters. I wish there was a way to contact them. They have to be able to provide help in some manner.”
“Here again, I don’t know, Cecil,” Harry said. “Maybe we can find radio equipment at that Coast Guard station once we get these
people on the island.”
The moment Harry released the transmit button, a female voice came over the small radio speaker he held in his hand. “Mr. Lancaster, this is the Coast Guard Cutter Tern. Please stand by one for the Captain.”
Harry could not believe it. He looked to Derrick and Frank who both stood with mouths open, looking first at him, then at the radio in his hand.
“Mr. Lancaster, this is William Overton. I’m the captain of the Tern and in overall operational command of the military assets in the area. That is, what is left of the military assets here, which is not much.” Overton sounded tired, his voice tinny through the small radio speaker.
“Captain Overton, I can’t tell you how happy we are to make contact!” Harry said with relief. Here was someone to take the responsibility of people’s lives off his own shoulders. He quickly reported what had happened up to that point, including what they had seen in San Francisco and the infected they had found on Alcatraz. “If you could give us instructions as to where you would like us to go, we can get started right away,” Harry concluded.
“I understand your situation, Mr. Lancaster. We’ve been monitoring your radio communication since you left your station,” Captain Overton began. “To answer your last statement first, we are not going to meet. At least not at the moment. You should continue with whatever plans you have, and I would agree that Angel Island is a good place to secure if you can. We are well aware that Alcatraz is overrun. We did a few flybys of the island at the onset of this mess and were able to determine that fact. I don’t have the time to explain everything to you in detail, so I need you to listen very carefully.
“I have been ordered to secure the Port of Oakland by the military command in Southern California. They think the Port contains supplies that will be vital in the weeks to come. Personally I think it’s a clusterfuck, but I am not in a position to question orders at this time. What I do know is that I have lost nearly half of my crew since the shit hit the fan and can barely hold what we have here, let alone help others. I realize that sounds harsh. This goes completely against everything I believe as an officer and a human being, but I have little choice at the moment. I refuse to lose any more of my people engaging in fruitless actions and putting those I have left at further risk.”