The Infected Dead (Book 3): Die For Now (31 page)

Molly said, “Aunt Jean, the man on the radio is talking about something, but I don’t know what he means.”

“What did he say, Molly?”

“He said a lot of funny words in a row like bravo, echo, and tango.” The last word she said with a giggle.

Jean giggled too. It had to sound funny to a kid. “That’s the way they speak so you know what the first letter is. Try to remember the exact words and then spell a word from the first letters.”

Molly got out a pad of paper. She waited until the broadcast began again, started writing. When she stopped, she handed the pad to Jean. In clear writing for a child Molly’s age, it said, “Charlie, Hotel, India, Echo, Foxtrot, Bravo, Alpha, Romeo, November, Echo, Sierra,”

Jean stared at the pad. She didn’t bother to ask Molly if she was sure she had gotten it right. It was too obvious they were broadcasting a message to the Chief. Jean felt her heart racing at the implications.

“You did good, Molly. Please keep listening to see if they keep repeating the same message or if they change to something else. Don’t worry if you miss the start. They’ll repeat it.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” said Molly, “but foxtrot and Romeo are funny.” Molly was smiling from ear to ear.

Jean smiled too. She still didn’t know if she should let the Army know their message was being received, but she was hopeful. One thing was for sure. Now that they knew about the hidden boat, the door, and the dock, they were also sure that Chief Barnes was somewhere within radio range.
 

The officer arrived in the view of the camera over the front door. He said a few words to the soldiers who were standing guard, and then he smiled at the camera. Jean expected him to say something, wave, or give some indication that he knew he was being watched, but all he did was walk away. A few minutes later she saw him reappear at the tent where the radioman was broadcasting. He handed a sheet of paper to the radioman who turned back to the microphone.

Jean saw Molly begin to write again, and then she handed the pad to Jean.
 

It said, “Callsign Chief, callsign Miller. Respond when you are ready. Will wait.”

Jean had no doubt that the message was asking for the Chief, and she wished she could answer for him. She still hadn’t been able to reach the Chief or anybody else in her group, and she wasn’t sure if she should answer, but she was sure of one other thing. The officer had to be Captain Miller, and if he was, he was a man who said he owed a debt to the Chief.

Everyone got a good night of sleep at Fort Sumter, even though we rotated standing watch on the bridge the Cormorant. The harbor had been dark and quiet with no surprises. If everything went well we would be heading home to Mud Island by the end of the day. The Chief told us he felt like he could tow the line laying barge with the Cormorant at night if the weather was good, so we might be able to complete our plan once we got started.

The kids had all discovered they really didn’t mind bathtubs as much as they remembered, with the exception of Whitney who had always appreciated soaking in the tub. After they had eaten the night before they were all tired, but they were given a big surprise. Kathy and the Chief sat down with them and explained they would have a big job to do the next day while the adults were away.

The kids panicked at first when they heard the adults were leaving, but calmed down when they were told what it was they were expected to do. Kathy told them there were over two hundred rooms in the shelter, and as soon as they were done with breakfast, they were going to inventory the rooms.

The Chief added, “We need to know what’s in this shelter before we leave. If we ever come back here again, it will be good to know that this shelter has something we need. We may also come back here after we’re done getting the barge just to get something that you find that we didn’t know was here, so you guys will need to work fast. It shouldn’t take more than a few hours for some of us to come back. If you don’t finish, that’s okay.”

Whitney looked thoughtful and asked, “Can we just take pictures with the digital cameras we found in that one storeroom?”

“That’s smart thinking, Whitney. As a matter of fact, we can make the lists from the pictures. Go get some breakfast and get started.”

The kids were excited. Exploring was something any kid would want to do, and discovering hidden treasure in the rooms was like being set loose at Disney World. They didn’t need to be asked twice, and they charged off in the direction of the dining room.

Kathy and the Chief followed the kids, and over breakfast the Chief laid out the plan. We would take the Cormorant and the other boat. The Coast Guard ship was for protection and towing, and the smaller boat was for mobility if we were in any tight spaces. The Chief also filled us in on another part of the plan that he hadn’t yet disclosed. We were going to find another seaplane.

None of us felt like we would disagree with the idea, but we didn’t know of any seaplane friendly docks in the area. There were pictures in the Fort Sumter shelter just as there had been at Mud Island and Green Cavern in Guntersville. The pictures we had at Mud Island had clearly shown us where the Tennessee Valley Authority seaplanes would be parked by the country club docks in Guntersville, but there wasn’t anything in Charleston harbor that showed the same.
 

It was doubtful that we would have gone near the seaplane docks if they were by the Patriots Point marina. That area was the most likely place to find pockets of survivors with guns. So far we had given that side of the harbor a wide berth. If someone had managed to secure the World War II aircraft carrier Yorktown that was parked at Patriots Point, it would be easily defended. As a matter of fact, we had considered an attempt to contact people who may have seen Fort Sumter light up when we had scared the Cubans out of the harbor. Whoever was alive over there, they were also curious about the Cormorant parked at the dock, and they were also aware of the heavy gunfight the night we rescued Chase.

After discussion, we had decided to let people come to us. If they were friendly, they would approach cautiously. If they weren’t friendly, we didn’t want to find out by crossing into their territory. We all agreed that there might come a time when we should visit the Yorktown, but this wasn’t the right time.

The Chief said between bites of food that he had been studying some of the high resolution pictures he had brought along from Mud Island, and one of them showed seaplanes parked at a small marina up the Ashley River. There was no guarantee that there would be one parked there now, but the pictures showed the pilings of the dock at the marina were the same type they had at their dock on Mud Island. If there was going to be a seaplane in the area, it would be parked at that dock.
 

“Okay, Chief. What’s plan A?” I asked.

“It’s a simple plan,” said the Chief, “but it could take over twelve hours because of the tides. Low tide will be around 1:45 this afternoon, and we have to go under the Ashley River drawbridge then. Since it won’t be open, we have to hope the Cormorant will fit under it at low tide.”

“How close will it be?” asked Kathy.

The Chief ran a big hand across the stubble on his chin and said, “Probably just a few feet.”

We all stared at him. The mental picture of the Cormorant passing under the bridge with a few feet to spare wasn’t too attractive.
 

“What’s the rule for drawbridges?” asked Kathy. “How did they decide before when it had to open?”

The Chief knew the rule, or he wouldn’t have even considered going under the bridge only at low tide. He knew it was going to be close even at low tide.

“If a ship has fourteen feet of clearance or less, the bridge had to be open for them to pass,” he said.

“Why do we need twelve hours?” I asked. “You don’t think we could make the trip to that boat landing and be back before the tide gets too high?”

“We might, but it’ll be close. I think we could try coasting up to the bridge before the tide is completely low. If it’s low enough, we can go through and make a fast run up river. Bus can get the plane in the air, and the rest of us can pour on the speed getting back.”

“Why do we need the Cormorant?” asked Kathy. “Do you really think we’re going to run into that much trouble?”

“There are at least six places where we could run into trouble, depending on what has happened since the first day. If it was as bad as Tom described on the Waccamaw River bridge, then the Ashley River bridges look like auto salvage yards. The infected dead may not be able to move around freely, but I expect there will be some that decide drop in. The Cormorant might not be able to get close enough to the marina, so we need to take both boats.”

“Did I hear my name?”
 

Tom sat down with a big plate of food next to Kathy. The others were right behind him.

“You guys got an early start,” said Olivia.
 

Chase was walking behind Olivia with a heaping plate of food, and the kids were returning with theirs. Bus had appeared out of nowhere, and he was all ears when we told him we were going to try for another plane.

“I never thought I would say I liked powdered eggs,” said Bus, “but this stuff grows on you. I won’t even ask what this stuff is that tastes like bacon.”

Once everybody was situated at table, the Chief began laying out the plan. He explained that there were likely to be infected dead falling from the bridge onto the deck of the Cormorant, so some of us had to be standing by to pitch them overboard. The smaller boat would be tagging along astern of the Cormorant, and it would have to time its passing under the bridge so it wouldn’t catch any of the falling infected dead. Bus would be on that boat, and once they were clear of the bridge they would make a mad dash upriver to the marina where the planes might be.

The Chief explained that there was a minor league baseball park on the starboard side not long after they passed the bridge. He said he had studied the construction of the park in the pictures, and it looked like a good place to defend. He said he wouldn’t be surprised to find someone had moved into the park and secured it.

Tom said, “You’re right, Chief. I played in a lot of minor league parks. They have high walls, security gates, and good visibility from the highest places, such as the press boxes. They could have someone up there with a good sniper rifle ready to pick us apart.”

“I don’t know why the survivors of this mess have to be shooting at each other,” said Olivia. “If they would all pull together, they might be able to stop this thing from killing the rest of the people in the world.”

“I can’t argue with that,” said the Chief. “The people who shot down my plane didn’t have a good reason for doing it.”

“After the bridge, we’re going to increase speed for a couple of miles and make a run for the marina. We’ll drop Bus off at the planes, give him some time to get one in the air, and then make a run back the other way. Except for when we’re passing under the bridges, we’ll keep the smaller boat on the port side of the Coast Guard vessel. If someone takes a shot at us, the Cormorant can act as a shield. Any questions?”

No one had any questions, so we finished our breakfasts and got down to the business planned for the day. Whitney, Sam, and Perry got their digital cameras and started with the storerooms we had already been plundering. Taking pictures was a good idea right from the start. With over two hundred rooms to photograph, they wouldn’t be able to get done if they had to list everything now. Perry had the bonus idea of the day when he suggested that they make a sign for each room and take a picture of the sign with the supplies. A simple piece of paper with something written on it saying what level the room was on would save time if they had to come back for something.

The adults all packed their gear and weapons. All hands would be needed today for various jobs. I got the job of driving the smaller boat, and of course the Chief had the helm of the Cormorant. Kathy was manning the remote controlled fifty caliber guns from the bridge. Bus was with me so he could be dropped off quicker. Tom and Chase were on the deck of the Coast Guard ship ready to deal with any of the infected that fell from the bridge. Olivia wanted to go along, but she drew the short straw and got the job of monitoring the security cameras in case someone tried to occupy Fort Sumter while we were gone.
 

We still hadn’t been able to figure out why communications weren’t working at the fort. Something had gone wrong somewhere, but there would be time to deal with that later, so we worked out a series of signals Olivia could use. The lights installed around the surface of the fort could be individually controlled instead of all being on or all being off. If one was on, someone was in the fort. If two were on, it wasn’t safe to return, and we would come back for the kids and Olivia after delivering the barge to Mud Island. If everything went as planned, we would fly back and get them by landing down by the tunnel entrance hidden at the end of Morris Island.

Once we were all set, I saw the Chief holding a thumb in the air, so lines were cast off from both boats, and we pulled away from the dock. We coasted out about one hundred feet and then watched the lights on the fort. They flashed on and off three times at a slow pace.

The Chief had figured someone would be watching as we left the fort, and he wanted them to have no doubt that the fort was still occupied by a force powerful enough to remain in control. The boats and number of people observers would be watching should be enough to make people think we were at least an organized group. Whether the observers were friendly or hostile, it had to be convincing. If not, the fort would be occupied as soon as we were out of visual contact.