The Event: The Beginning (28 page)

“I’m sorry to hear that. We actually have a sizable group, and pretty much all of us have lost family, friends. Roger and I are actually out scouting a route for a wall we plan on building and securing a nice chunk of land to grow and survive on. Searching for survivors is also on our agenda. Would you like to come back with us?” I said. I was tired of explaining my plan to any new potential members of the group, so I just left it at that.

“What’s the catch?” Damian asked.

“No catch, except we all do our part. I won’t tolerate slackers. If you join, you work. As long as you have no problem with that, we will gladly have you.” I told him.

“Well, at least you’re honest about it. I have no problems working, and I was a security guard before everything went down. I have some weapons here, and a couple of bullet proof vests. My food supplies are really low, so there’s not much worth taking now. I would appreciate a spot with you guys.” he replied. I reached out and shook his hand, then sat back and took another sip of water.

“I’m assuming you have heard the gunfire also. Any idea where it might be coming from?” I asked him then.

“Yeah, I do. There is, or was, I should say, a neighborhood homeowners association here, and I remember that there was this one guy who was always what they call a ‘prepper’. Brandon Lee, I think his name was. He was always a bit crazy, and going on about the apocalypse and having to be ready. If I remember right, he bragged before about having a bunker built under his house, as well as being well armed and supplied. I believe he was also a veteran. If it’s not him, I would bet someone took him out and took over his place.” Damien informed me.

“Do you know where he lives?” Roger asked.

“Yeah, next block over. He lives on the corner in a large brick house. It’s the only brick one on the block, should be easy to spot. But if it is him, and he sees you coming, you may not make it to the house. We actually considered removing him from the association because he seemed so unstable.” Damien said.

“Do you want to take that chance?” Roger asked me. I thought about it a minute, and then shook my head.

“No, too big a risk. Let’s get back to the cart and then get back to the ship.” I said.

“Ship?” Damien asked.

“Yes, ship. I brought a group here and commandeered an aircraft carrier. Let’s get back there so we can plan on how to get into contact with this Brandon. Is there anything you want to take now?” I replied.

“Let me just suit up, I’ll grab my gun and some ammo. The rest can wait here.” Damien said. He got up and headed to the back to get his things. Roger and I looked out the windows again to see how clear the road was, and saw several infected milling about still

“I have a car with fuel in it in the garage, if we need transportation.” Damien informed us, stepping back into the living room. He had put on a bullet-proof vest, and had a shotgun in hand with a gun belt on carrying what looked like a Glock nine-millimeter with plenty of spare clips. I assumed that one or more of those pouches carried shotgun shells as well.

“Well, we have an electric cart a few blocks away we will need to get back to the ship. We can take your car back to where we left it, then take yours to the ship as well. Let’s get going.” I decided. He led the way to his garage, and we loaded up in the truck he had parked there. With no power the garage door lift wouldn’t work, so Roger stayed out to raise the door. Damien fired up the truck, Roger raised the door, and waited for him to back out. The noise of the door and the trucks’ engine drew the attention of the infected on the street, so once the truck was clear, Roger let the door drop closed and hurried into the truck. Damien floored it and got us out of there. Turning onto Ocean View Road, we pointed out where the cart was stashed and Damien pulled over to let us out.

“Follow us, we will lead the way back to the ship.” I ordered Damien. Roger had just pulled the cart back out, so I climbed in beside him and we headed towards the ship once more. I radioed in to the ship to let them know we were headed back, and that we had a new friend. We moved as quickly as the cart would allow, dodging the few infected we saw. Damian stayed right behind us, swerving occasionally to run over an infected. It took about 40 minutes to get back to the gate, and Roger pulled up to a sliding stop. I jumped out, quickly followed by Roger, and we started pushing the car out of the way. Damien had also slid to a stop, however the squeal of the tires got the attention of some of the infected milling nearby.

“Hurry, get the vehicles on this side. I’ll start pushing it back soon as you’re clear.” I ordered them after we had made enough room. With good tires, the car wasn’t that difficult to push. Roger jumped back in the cart as Damien climbed back in his truck, and both pulled in as quickly as they could. I started pushing as soon a Damien was clear, and Roger had pulled off to the side and also jumped out to help. By the time Damien had stopped and got out, Roger and I already had the car back in place. I waved to him to follow us, and we jumped back on the cart and sped off. The first of the infected had made it to our makeshift gate, but were still not smart enough to climb it.

As we pulled close to the pier gate, it started opening on its own. Apparently after my radio message the chief had assigned someone to come down and watch for us. We pulled in and I turned to watch the gate closing behind us. Since there was another cart waiting to take the watchmen back to the ship I told Roger to just keep going. Damien followed us to the proper pier and stopped as we pulled up to the storage garage. I waved for him to wait while I opened the garage door and Roger pulled the cart in. we placed all the batteries back on the shelf, and I made a mental note to run some power lines down here to keep them charged. Stepping back out, Roger and I jumped in the back of the truck and I pointed out the right direction. Damien rolled his window down for directions and started rolling slowly down the pier.

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.