02 Flotilla of the Dead (12 page)

            “Oh shit!” exclaimed Scott as he set his cheese plate aside and stood up.  “This could cause some big problems.”

            “What are you talking about?” asked Mick.

            “You heard him,” said Scott in a louder voice.  “Look at the video feed from the news helicopter.  You see the ocean at the end of that freeway they’re flying along?  And the ships beyond it?  That’s us.  GNN is about to broadcast live shots of the
Sovereign Spirit
and
Reliable Burden
tied up next to the
Queen Mary
, with the
Stratton
right next to us and all those trucks and armored vehicles parked on the dock, not to mention our Marine guards out there.  Just look out the window!  See all those people on the deck of the
Queen Mary
celebrating the return of the convoy?  And what about all the boats alongside the
Traveling Trader
getting supplies?
 
That’s going to look mighty attractive to every survivor hiding in an attic or basement within fifty miles of here!  Especially the ones being burned out of their homes a few miles up that freeway!  If they see some indication of a safe haven down here, it could cause a stampede of survivors coming this way, not to mention all the zombies that would be chasing them!”

            “So what should we do?” asked Mick.

            “It’s too late to do anything now,” replied Scott. ‘
Short of shooting down the GNN helicopter, which I refuse to even contemplate,’
he thought to himself.  Out loud he continued, “We might as well just watch the show and see how it comes across.”  He returned his attention to the big television and slowly resumed his seat, noticing as he did so that all the other people in the salon were dividing their attention between the television and Scott’s reaction to it.  He’d need to keep that in mind from now on.

“… the GNN helicopter is approaching Long Beach Harbor where we can see that the famous Queen Mary is still there.  And it looks like there are other ships near her.  Let’s go live to our pilot for a special report on the current conditions in the Port of Long Beach.  Chet, can you hear me?  What can you tell us about what you see in Long Beach?”

“Yes, Fox, I hear you loud and clear.  This is Chet Davis piloting the GNN eye in the sky.  I’m over Long Beach now and I can report some unusual, but hopeful, activity down here that appears to be centered on the Queen Mary.  I’ll focus on that in a moment, but first let me direct your attention to an unusual road block or barricade set up at the end of the 710 Freeway.  That looks like a wall of shipping containers placed across the highway leading to the Queen Mary and part of the Port of Long Beach.  It wasn’t there when we flew over this area a few days ago.  The barrier extends from the mouth of the LA River to the inland side of the port, isolating most of the Port of Long Beach.   Outside of that barrier I can see hundreds, perhaps thousands, of zombies crowding around, trying to get through.  It looks like someone has built a wall to keep the zombies out!  There are similar barriers set up on the bridges to the city of Long Beach with dense mobs of zombies held back there too. ”

“That’s remarkable, Chet.  That sounds like the first example of a successful area defense strategy against zombies that we have seen locally.  What more can you show and tell our viewers?”

“I’m panning up towards the Queen Mary now, Fox, and this scene is even more amazing.  There is a lot of activity here and I don’t think any of the people that I see down there are zombies!  I see hundreds of people on the deck of the Queen Mary actually waving up at me – not just reaching the way zombies do.  And I see vehicles moving around in the parking lot there.  Some of them seem to be military vehicles.  Yes, there are definitely soldiers down there with tanks or armored vehicles!”

“That’s great news, Chet!  If the military has arrived, this might be the beginning of the relief efforts that the government has been promising.  What else can you see?”

 “As I pan out and widen the view, Fox, you’ll see four large ships near the Queen Mary that seem to be operational.  One is a cargo ship pulled up next to Queen Mary’s breakwater.  The next one I’m showing you now looks like a small cruise ship, but it has a big ramp on the back that is lowered onto the passenger terminal pier where they used to keep the old Spruce Goose.  There’s activity on the deck of that ship too, and it has a helicopter on its upper deck.  Wait, yes, it has a seaplane too!  And there are speed boats and utility craft where some of the lifeboats should be.  This is not a normal type of ship, Fox.  Now look at the black armored vehicle parked on the ramp of that ship.  I think it says DHS on the side.  Could this be a Homeland Security operation?”

            “That’s an excellent question, Chet, and certainly a hopefully thought.  If it is a DHS operation, it would be a welcome sight for all of the survivors who can see this, not only in the Los Angeles area, but across the nation and around the world.  This is some of the first evidence we have seen of organized activity since shortly after Z-Day.  What more do you have for us Chet?”

“The big white ship in the harbor is a Coast Guard cutter, Fox.  It’s one of the biggest I’ve ever seen.  It has two helicopters that I can see.  And one of its boats seems to be returning from the unusual ship we were just discussing.  They all appear to be working together.  And wait until you see what’s going on at the last ship!  It’s another cargo ship, but it’s surrounded by at least a hundred smaller boats and yachts.  It looks like the cargo ship is transferring supplies to the smaller boats.  Yes, Fox, I think this is some sort of rescue and resupply operation.  I have about another hour of fuel, so I’ll continue to circle Long Beach and provide further reports on what is happening here until sunset.”

“Thank you, Chet.  I’m sure that all of our viewers around the world will be interested in this development.  We’ll stay with you live and bring in some experts to help explain what you are showing us…”

“Oh Shit!” Scott shouted as he sprung to his feet again, attracting everyone’s attention without caring.  “That tears it!  Mick, fire up the Huey, we have another mission to fly.”

*****

            The Super Huey lifted off the
Sovereign Spirit
five minutes later and climbed up towards the GNN helicopter that was hovering over the
Queen Mary
at an altitude of a thousand feet.  Scott was in the copilot’s seat and had one of the multifunction displays tuned into GNN.  He listened to the running description of his own takeoff.  Then he turned his own transmitter to the emergency frequency and began hailing the GNN helicopter.

“Yes, Fox, the helicopter on that strange ship has taken off and is climbing towards me now.  I am unsure of their intentions, but I will wait here to see if they are friendly.  Wait a moment.  It looks like I’m receiving a radio message on the emergency frequency.  Hold on while I patch you all into the conversation...Yes, this is the GNN news helicopter over the Port of Long Beach, who is calling me?”

 “Hello there, Chet,” said Scott. “This is Commodore Allen of the
Sovereign Spirit
, flag ship of the Survival Flotilla.  I’ve been watching your broadcast and thought it would be a good idea to come up and meet you.  Maybe we can set the record straight before you and Mr. Rusher jump to any wrong conclusions. I’m flying the helicopter moving into position next to you and I’d like to invite you down to conduct an interview, if you’re interested.”  Scott heard his own voice echoing a second or two later from the GNN broadcast. 

“Yes, Commodore, we at GNN are very interested in interviewing you.  But can you tell me and our viewers something about what you are doing right now?  We are broadcasting live, so you can consider this an interview if you like.”

Scott smiled to himself and realized that Chet over there was not too excited about the idea of landing in the middle of the armed men he saw below and would like to keep broadcasting views of the activity, instead of landing in the middle of it.  An interview by radio would serve his purposes just as well, so he replied, “Sure, Chet, we can do an interview over the radio if you like.  It shouldn’t take too long.  Go ahead and ask your questions.”

“Thank you, Commodore.  Can you start by telling us who you are and what you’re doing here?  Who are all the people with you?  And all these ships and boats?  What are your plans?  And how have you survived the zombie apocalypse?” 

            “Those are a lot of questions to handle at once, Chet, but I’ll give it a shot,” said Scott with some good humor in his voice.  “My name is Scott Allen.  I’m in command of this Survival Flotilla by authority of the CDC, FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security, with assistance from the Coast Guard and the US Marine Corps.  My current mission is to assist survivors on boats and ships along the coast of southern California and to establish coastal safe havens for as many survivors as possible in the aftermath of what you are calling Z-Day, or the Zombie Apocalypse.”  Scott paused for a moment to let that sink in. 

 “My ship is called the
Sovereign Spirit
.  She is a former cruise ship and ferry, converted into an expedition yacht before this crisis.  Now she’s the Flag Ship of the Flotilla and serves as our command center and mother ship for amphibious rescue and recovery operations.  As for the other boats with us, we’ve collected a growing number of what we call
boat people
who survived the zombie outbreak by going to sea.  They have become my primary responsibility.” Scott paused again, deciding how to say what needed to be said next.

“What we’re doing here is securing a source of supplies to keep the people with us alive.  We’ve isolated a small area in this port as a safe haven for the Flotilla and we’re loading cargo that will help us establish more safe havens on islands and isolated anchorages along the coast.  So, for the people listening, if you are on a boat right now and need assistance, you can come here to get it, or wait for us to come to you.  But there is no way to get here by land anymore, unless you can fight your way through tens of thousands of zombies surrounding us.  And even then you wouldn’t be able to get past the barriers we have built to keep the zombies out.  In the future we hope to be able to open some sort of supply line to survivors inland too.  But that isn’t possible right now.  So, at least for now, only those who have access to a boat or a helicopter can come here for supplies.  Otherwise, you won’t be able to get here, so don’t even try.”

“That seems a little unfair, sir.  What about all of the people trapped in their homes?  Don’t you have any plans to help them too?”
 

“I’d like to be able to help everyone who’s listening to me now, Chet, everywhere.  But you know I can’t do that.  What I can do is tell them how to survive on their own, or preferably with the help of other survivors near them.  There are a few critical things that we’ve learned since Z-Day.  First, zombies don’t swim and are afraid of water.  Use that knowledge to your advantage.  Secondly, zombies prefer to walk down hill, unless they get attracted to something up hill.  If you can get to high ground and avoid attracting attention, your chances may improve.  Hilltop strongholds are a good place to organize a defensive community; not as good as an island or a boat perhaps, but much better than a house in a city or suburb.   

“Third, and perhaps most obvious, we need to eliminate as many zombies as possible and the best way we know to do that is to shoot them in the brain.   If you don’t have a gun, try to get one, or improvise a weapon to defend yourself.  However, if our Flotilla is the only organized resistance force in this area, then Los Angeles is doomed.  So get it together people!  Don’t wait for the police, or the government, or military to come and rescue you.  They won’t.  They can’t.  The closest organized military resistance is in San Diego and the only thing they can do for civilians right now is put them into crowded refugee camps on Coronado Island.  So don’t expect help to show up here any time soon,” said Scott with a tone of firm conviction. 

“Excuse me Commodore, but that statement is at odds with the assurances that have been given by the government.  We’ve been told to expect relief forces from Fort Irwin and Twenty-nine Palms.  How can you be so sure that they won’t be able to provide assistance to us soon?” 

“Just look around you, Chet,” said Scott evenly.  “Things are getting worse, not better.  More than half of the population here is already dead or infected.  The rest are hiding out behind locked doors where they’re running out of food and water.  Even if thousands of troops show up tomorrow, they won’t be able to do much more than establish and defend some safe zones in strategic locations that survivors will have to reach on their own.  That means everyone who’s still alive needs to learn how to defend themselves.  So listen up, people!  You all need to organize and resist the zombies on your own.  Above all, you need to survive and persevere against all odds.  The fate of your city, your state, your nation, perhaps even our species depends on the actions you take now to save your own lives and everything that’s dear to you.”  Scott knew he was laying it on a little heavy, but after listening to more than a week of empty promises coming from government statements repeated faithfully by Fox Rusher on GNN, Scott thought the audience cold use a cold dose of reality.