The Event: The Beginning (20 page)

              “This whole thing was your plan. Everyone is expecting to go to a ship. Now you want to leave them here and go off somewhere by yourself? I don’t know how some of them will take that.” Jeff spoke up.

              “It is a reasonable idea. If you decide to do it, you will need to make an announcement to everyone so they don’t think you got them this far and then just decided to abandon everyone.” Roger said.

              “I agree with Roger, it is a sound idea. I don’t agree with only two or three guards, though. I think it should be at least a six man team.” Vince said.

              “I don’t like it. The girls will be worried the whole time you are gone. What do we tell them?” Michelle asked.

              “We are extremely low on supplies here. Ammo and weapons aren’t a problem because we raided the armory, but food and medical supplies are in very short supply. I don’t know how much you have with you, but ours wouldn’t last another week.” Tony chimed in.

              “Look, guys, I have thought about all of this. Maybe a three or four man team is too small, but I have thought about what everyone else would think. I planned on telling everyone. I’m just thinking that if there isn’t a ship there, then at least everyone is already here where it is safe. And with this many people, we could start securing the fence better, running patrols, and going on more supply runs. We have enough to last at least two weeks, with careful rationing.” I replied to them. I knew they all had concerns, and were looking forward to being safe, but I truly didn’t want to risk the whole group being out there in the open if a ship wasn’t there.

              “It’s ultimately up to you, Sheldon. At least you’re asking our opinions, but it is your call in the end. We decided to follow you on this crazy ass plan, and so did everyone else. You have two groups that you managed to get to follow along with us, so obviously other people who can lead believe in it as well. If you tell them this is the best way to ensure them being safe, without putting them in unnecessary danger, most will be okay with it.” Val said.

              “We can leave whenever you want, most everyone is packed since most of our things were left on the RV’s. Nobody really has much to pack up. What do you want to do?” Dave asked.

              “Gather everyone in the courtyard. I need to explain the plan to Tony’s group anyways, and I want to tell everyone they have at least a few hours of rest time here, while I go scout. I will need volunteers to go with me as well, so hopefully I can get four or five willing.” I decided, standing up to imply the meeting was over. Immediately Roger, Jeff, Dave, Tony, and Vince raised their hands and said they volunteered. Well, that was a six man team right there. I chuckled, said fine, whatever, and we all left. The others went to gather everyone in the courtyard, and I went to sit on the bench surrounding the middle tree. I needed to think and figure out how I was going to tell everyone the new plan.

              Half an hour later, the crowd had gathered. There were several conversations going on, with everyone talking amongst themselves, and finally I stood on the bench and tried to get everyone’s attention.

              “Everyone, please, quiet down. I have something I would like to say to all of you.” I started, waiting on all the various conversations to wrap up and everyone look at me. “I know most of you, at least by face if not name. To those of you that made it here with Tony, my name is Sheldon. I’m from Oklahoma. I have a plan to survive. It’s complicated, but the basic gist of it is to find a ship at Norfolk Naval base not far from here. My hope is that there will be an aircraft carrier in port. We plan to take the ship and live on it. It will provide power, running water, and most importantly, safety. Once aboard, we can raise the elevators, close the hangar bay doors, and nothing will be able to get onboard with us. There will also be sufficient space to start some indoor greenhouses and start growing our own food, plus we should be able to hunt as well. It won’t be the easiest life, but we will be safe. If you want to join us, you are welcome. If not, you are free to stay here.

              “Now, to my plan for today. I know everyone has been packing and making ready to go. However, I want to put that hold for a few hours. I plan on taking a small group with me and going to check out the base, make sure a ship is in port. Now, that does not mean I am leaving the group here to fend for themselves by any means. I just want to make sure that the ship is there before I take the whole group out of a place of safety. This base is secure, with a good fence. If there is no ship, I plan on coming back and securing the base even more. If anyone has any objection, I welcome them to speak up now. If not, the team I have picked will be leaving within thirty minutes, and I want them by the RV’s then.” I told this large group look at me. It was a short speech, but I was never comfortable talking to crowds. I stood there as people stared at me, looked at each other, murmured in small groups. I waited several minutes, and no one raised a hand, or a voice, or stepped forward.

              “Alright then, I guess that’s my answer. Everyone can enjoy a few more hours of sunlight and not being in the cars. It shouldn’t take more than an hour to get there, not very long to inspect the pier, then another hour back. It’s about noon, so I want to be back by three so we can load up and get the whole group to the ship by dark, if there is one there. Thank you all, and I will see you shortly, one way or another.” I finished, stepping down off the bench. I headed straight for the RV since I had stashed my swords there already. Several people clapped me on the shoulder or back as I passed through the crowd. Some offered some words of encouragement, some in greeting. I didn’t know all the faces, but I was sure I would know them all before too long.

              Making it through the crowd, I walked through the building, the gears already turning in my head on what I could do with the base, just in case the ship wasn’t there. I gathered my swords and a small food pack, then went in search of which car we would take. I decided on a mini-van, since there were six of us. It looked like it had about three-quarters of a tank, which would be more than enough. I pulled it in front of the building and waited for the others.

              Twenty minutes later, they came out of the building. Jeff pointed at me in the car, and it looked like they were waiting on me in the lobby and finally came outside to check. I laughed to myself as they made their way down the stairs. They loaded up, weapons kept close, and we pulled away. We made it back to the main gate without getting lost, and it swung open as we got close. I waved to the gate guards as we passed.

              “Jeff, you got the map right? I need directions. It has been a long time since I’ve been here, and I don’t remember the way very well.” I said, since Jeff had taken shotgun.

              “Yeah, I got it.” he replied, unfolding the map and finding us on it. “Take this road to 460, then head south and it should lead us right into Norfolk.”

              “Alright, let’s do this. I know it’s the middle of the day, but everyone keep their eyes open. We have seen infected out in the daytime before.” I instructed, pushing the gas pedal down and revving the engine. Since no radio stations had broadcasted anything for a while, we rolled forward in silence, only the wind to listen to. Trash and animals was the only movement we saw though. I made the left onto 460 and we rolled on.

              “Should we be looking for supplies also while we are out, or is this strictly a ‘to the ship and back’ mission?” Vince asked.

              “The way in I’m not stopping. I want to find out if a ship is there or not. Beside, Tony said they have been going on supply runs and have probably pretty well cleaned out this entire area. We might look when we get into Norfolk, but not now.” I said. No one else said anything for quite a while as we rolled south and east.

              We crossed several small waterways and finally we made it into Norfolk itself. I was feeling a small sense of accomplishment and relief at being here. I knew, if there was a ship in port, once I got the group there that someone else could take over. I wasn’t really the leader type when it came to something like this.

              “Look, there is a sign for the base. Turn that way.” Dave said, pointing to the left. I turned where he indicated and followed the sign through the town towards the base. We passed abandoned cars, houses with broken in doors and windows, and businesses with busted windows. Trash was blown all over the place, and it appeared the looting was very bad here at one point. There were bodies here and there that had been ravaged by animals, or infected. We saw dogs, cats, and I swear I even saw a leopard dart behind a house at one point.

              “Jeff, does that map show a zoo anywhere near here?” I asked.

              “I don’t see one, but this is mostly a road map, it doesn’t have a lot of local detail on it like that.” he replied after a minute or two of studying the map.

              “Why would want to know where a zoo is?” Roger inquired.

              “What happens when they handlers stopped coming to feed them? Or someone, out of mercy, opens the cages to let them loose because no one will be there to feed them?” I asked. It was a problem I hadn’t considered before, but seeing the leopard got me to thinking. I was surprised we hadn’t seen any wild animals like that before, now that I thought about it a little. Lions, wolves, leopards, bears, the list of dangerous animals was not exactly a short one.

              “Do you think there are wild animals around then?” Vince asked.

              “I don’t know. I swear I saw a leopard back there, jumping behind a house.” I told them. They all started looking around then. We saw nothing else but dogs, the occasional cat, and some squirrels after that. Shortly after that, we came across a sign directing us towards the base. Slowing down, I made the turn. More abandoned or crashed cars lined the road, and they got heavier as we neared the base.

              “There is no way the RV’s are getting through here without clearing some of them out.” Dave said.

              “Yeah, but look up there, at the gate.” I replied, pointing. There were several cars crashed into the gate itself and each other, basically blockading the road. We slowly made our way to the road that ran along the fence line of the base. More abandoned and wrecked vehicles here as well, but at least none of them broke through the fence.

              “There should be another gate up here somewhere. It will be closer to the pier anyways. Has anyone seen any damage to the fence?” I told them.

              “No, it looked good, what I could see on this side.” Tony said. We continued rolling along slowly, watching for movement, looking for any holes in the fence, as well as keeping our eyes open for the gate. It finally came into view, and it looked similar to the other gate. Cars were wrecked around it, blocking it, but the fence and gatehouse itself appeared intact. Stopping the van, I put it in park so we could get out and try to move some of these vehicles. Since I knew I wasn’t one of the strongest when it came to stuff like that, I climbed on top of one of the nearby cars to keep watch. It only took the others about ten minutes to break into, put in neutral, and move the cars. I jumped down and met them back at our van.

              “Good job guys, but we got movement about four blocks back or so. I couldn’t quite make out if they were infected or not from this distance, but let’s not take a chance. Once we get through, let’s move one or two back to block it off again.” I said as everyone piled back in the van. I eased the van through the hole, had Tony help boost me on top of the van and took the rifle from Vince to watch the movement. The guys moved two of them back, nose to nose and at an angle so unless they climbed over the hoods, the infected would not be coming in. We all loaded back up and headed in what we thought was the direction of the pier.

              Once we passed by a building that looked like it could have been some kind of administrative offices, there was a small grassy area that opened up our view. I could see a wall not too far away from us and turned at the next road that headed that direction. A short ride down the road brought a gate into view. As we pulled up to it, I killed the engine on the van and we got out to examine it. The wall was concrete, about eight feet tall. The gate was simple chain link, and it appeared to be on a chain that rolled it open sideways. We tried moving it by hand, and found that it slid fairly easily. Roger slid it all the way open while I stepped through and took a look. I smiled when I confirmed what I thought I had seen over the wall. Multiple ships sat in port, along with the masts of two aircraft carriers, and the conning tower of a submarine.

              “Hot damn, something going right.” I cried, turning to look at the rest of the group. They stepped up next to me as they looked at the ships. The gate was at the far end of the pier from the carriers, but I assumed there would be other gates. I waved for Roger to bring the van through, and the rest of us walked up a little to make room. I asked Jeff to close the gate behind Roger, and he moved off to close it. Once the gate was closed again, we loaded up in the van again.

              There was an area with a lot of shipping containers to our left, which was now behind us as we turned towards the ships. Train tracks ran along the length of the pier, as well as down each arm of the pier. I kept that in mind. We rolled slowly towards the carriers, avoiding the piles of crates, golf cart like carts, and the few bodies that were strewn around the pier. I looked at the ships as we passed them, and they all appeared untouched, but not inhabited, either.