The Last Days (31 page)

Chapter 24

Capton Bolten had just finished briefing the Marines, telling them what he knew about all that had happened.

He was happy to see the determination in their eyes as he detailed his plans to find more survivors with the hope of reestablishing a foothold on American soil.

If that was not possible, to at least find a way for them all to survive.

After answering all their questions as honestly as he could, he dismissed the group.

He now sat in the control room on the bridge to discuss his plans for the next excursion into southern California.

The men sitting around him were the XO, The two Petty Officers, the Lieutenant and the Sargent.

“Gentlemen.” The Captain started. “Before we continue our plans to find survivors, I feel we should make an attempt to find if anything is left of our government or military command. If they still exist, they may have important information about the conditions in different parts of the country. They might have records about where the virus hit the hardest and what areas had the best chance to survive. It could save us countless hours of searching and wasting our resources. We have considerable resources, but with the state of the world, what we have is irreplaceable. Once our fuel and supplies are gone, they are gone.”

“What about the ships we saw in the harbor?” The XO asked. “We could possibly replace a lot of our fuel and food from those ships.”

“That may be possible, but it would require considerable risk. It is a risk I would prefer not to take at this time. The ships could have been waiting to be resupplied. If so, the risk we would be taking to get onto those ships to find out would be for naught. When we have more men that would increase our chances of successfully executing such an operation we will reconsider. At this point we have enough supplies on board for our present needs.” The Captain replied. “The ships themselves may be crawling with the infected. When needed, we will explore that option again.”

“How would we be able to get to Washington to see what is left of the government and the Pentagon? Would your plan be to take the ship to the east coast? It seems the trip would take a lot of time.” The Lieutenant asked. “I believe the longer it takes to get back to search for survivors, the lower our odds of finding anyone left alive.”

“You’re correct about the time factor being against us. If we don’t find any survivors in the next week, I honestly do not believe we will find any. There will be small pockets of a few individuals that will be able to survive for some time, but to find any substantial number of survivors, it has to be soon. Their numbers are probably declining substantially every day.” The Captain answered. “When we were recalled back to the states, I had been informed that the government was attempting to relocate to a safe area in California near San Diego. They were going to establish a control center there until conditions improved and they could attempt to regain control over the country again.”

“What about the rumored caverns that were supposed to have been built in the Rockies to house the government in the event of a national disaster?” The XO asked.

“I thought of that. It is my belief that they attempted the move there first. As you know it only takes one of the infected to create a devastating chain reaction. I believe what happened on the carrier also happened there. The quarters there are probably like our lower decks, totally populated with the infected. My last communications specifically stated that they were relocating to California. I believe if we are going to find any remnants of the government, it will be here.” The Captain replied. “Lieutenant, Sargent, you spent some time here in California. Did either of you see or hear anything that might help us narrow our search area?”

The Lieutenant shook his head. “Sorry Sir. There wasn’t anything I am aware of that would help.”

“Knowing the government,” the XO added. “They would probably have set up a base in downtown LA.”

The Captain laughed. “I agree XO. That would be typical government thinking.”

All the men laughed.

“But let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.” The Captain smiled. “Let’s assume they actually listened to someone with some intelligence for once.  Let’s assume they for once, made an intelligent choice. We don’t have the time to waste checking out typical government choices of locations. We know what we would find there. It would look like what we saw in LA. Again, it would be a total waste of our time.”

Again the men all laughed.

“I only plan at taking one shot at this. At best, even if we had the exact location of where to look, from the loss of communications, I don’t believe we will find anyone left. But I feel obligated to try before I continue to operate on my own. I am a Navy Captain and believe in working through the proper chain of command, if it still exists.” The Captain said. He looked at the Sargent. “Sargent, If you were the man that had been given the job of making the decision of where to relocate the government. What would have been your choice of a survivable location?”

The Sargent looked at the Captain. “If my instructions would have been to select a location in the San Diego area, I would have chosen the Laguna Mountains near Lake Cuyamaca. It is in the mountains which would give a measure of protection and the lake would provide the water they would need. It may be possible to survive there for an extended period.”

The Captain pulled up the map of the Laguna Mountains and studied the area around the lake on his computer screen. He panned around other areas in southern California. Finally he looked up at the men. “I agree Sargent. It looks like a reasonable choice. I believe that is where we will look. Let’s hope they had a Sargent to make the decision for them and not a bureaucrat.”

“Petty Officer Clawson, is the helo fueled and ready to go?” The Captain asked.

“Yes Captain.” The Petty Officer replied.

“Petty Officer, you will join me on this mission.” The Captain said. “Sargent, you will also join me. If you would select two more of your men, preferably good marksmen. If any of your men are snipers, they would be a good choice.”

“Yes Sir!” The Sargent replied.

“XO, the ship is yours until I return.” The Captain said. “If I don’t return, I would expect you to carry on as planned.
“Yes Sir!” The XO answered.

“After you do what you can to rescue my ass, of course.” The Captain smiled.

“Of course Sir.” The XO replied. “That goes without saying. By the way Captain, I understand the Maries have volunteered to try and clear the next level below the hanger deck. I said I would run it by you.”

The Captain smiled. “I guess the Maries are getting bored. It has probably been a few days since they have been able to shoot anything.”

“Yes Sir!” The XO chuckled.

“I wasn’t planning on attempting that yet, but it is always a good idea to keep the Marines happy. Divide them into two groups and have them remove the barricades above the number three and number seven stairwells. They can pick off as many of the infected as they can from there. ”The Captain said. “They are not to attempt to go down below until I return. That should be a good start and should keep them happy for a while.”

“Yes Sir, I’ll see to it.” The XO replied.

The Captain went down to the helo where the other four men waited. The Captain crawled into the pilot’s seat and powered up the engine while the other men boarded.

“Sargent, you’re up here with me.” The Captain turned and called out into the back of the helo.

The Sargent moved up to the Captain and the Captain pointed to the copilot’s seat. “Sir, I’m not a pilot. I can’t help fly this thing.”

“Neither can any of the other men. I want you up here with me for your experience and to help keep my ass out of trouble.” The Captain smiled.

The Sargent slid into the seat next to the Captain. “Sir, may I ask why you chose me instead of the Lieutenant for this mission?”

The Captain glanced over at him. “I may be in the Navy, but I have spent my career being around Marines. I have come to understand that if you want something done right and to avoid a lot of unnecessary bullshit, you find the Sargent. He is the man that makes the Marines Corps run.”

The Sargent smiled to himself. “May I ask what you did in the Navy before you began to climb the chain of command?”

“Do you mean what did I do when I actually had to work for a living?” The Captain laughed. “I was a Navy fighter pilot”.

The Sargent smiled.

“No comment, Sargent?” The Captain asked. “I assume you have had some experience with some of our pilots in the past.  Anything you would care to tell me about?”

“Yes Sir and No Sir!” The Sargent grinned.

The Captain smiled and picked up the mic. “Petty Officer McClain. Helo one ready to depart. Report status.”

“All remains quiet and clear.” McClain reported.

“Maintain active monitoring. Helo one out!” The Captain said

The chopper rose off the deck of the carrier and began moving towards San Diego.

They soon passed over San Diego and traveled north east towards their destination in the Laguna Mountains.

They flew over La Mesa and El Cajon, areas smaller than San Diego, but the scene below looked much like the horrific scenes in the larger city.

The last area they flew over before they began to see the mountains was Lakeside.

The men again sat in silence as they watched the infected filling the streets below like ants on an ant hill.

“Sir?” The Sargent asked. “Did you receive any intel about how long it would be before this virus would burn itself out?”

“From everything I was privy to, they were unable to determine the life cycle of the virus.” The Caption replied. “Except for a nuclear explosion, they couldn’t find anything that would kill it. Best I can say is it won’t end in our life time. So we just have to deal with it.”

The flew over hilly terrain for a few minutes before the area suddenly leveled out and a large lake came into view.

“Lake  Cuyamaca, Sargent.” The Caption announced.

“Yes Sir!” The Sargent acknowledged.

The Captain dropped the helo to five hundred feet and began to follow the shore line in a clockwise direction. The lake was about five miles long.

They were half way around the lake when the Sargent spoke up. “There is something at 10 o’clock!”

“I see it Sargent.” The Captain replied and grabbed the mic. “This is helo one.”

“Come in helo one.” Petty Officer McClain replied.

“We have a visual in the distance. Unknown in nature at this time. Any noise in our area?”

“Negative on any activity.” The Petty Officer replied.

“Monitor closely and report. We are going in for a closer look.” The Captain said and clicked off the mic.

“Watch for anything to move Sargent. There is nothing too small to report.” The Captain said sternly.

“Will do Sir!” The Sargent replied as he held the binoculars to his face.

As the Captain began to alter his course to circle around the unknown shapes the Sargent began to report. “It appears to be four larger structures arranged in a square. Outside the square a large plane is standing next to the structures. It appears to be a large aircraft. It must have used the shores of the lake as a landing strip. The lakeshores in these mountains are like concrete. Two smaller aircraft sit off to the side. Maybe small private planes. A number of dots are situated in the center of the square of buildings. If I were to guess at this point I would say they are vehicles of some sort. I can’t see anything moving at this time.”

“Any potential threats?” The Captain asked.

“Only what might be in the buildings. Unknown potential. My guess, if anything, small arms or machine gun fire possible.” The Sargent reported.

The Captain held the helo in position. “Opinion Sargent. We approach from the east at low altitude using the larger aircraft to shield us from view of any hostiles that might be inside the buildings.”

“Sounds solid to me, Sir!” The Sargent replied.

The Captain brought the helo down to one hundred feet and began a cautious approach, adjusting the altitude as he got closer to stay in the blind spot created by the large aircraft sitting between him and the structures.

The Sargent was still using the binoculars to study the scene as they approached.

He dropped the binoculars from his eyes and looked over at the Captain. “Sir, I have identified the larger aircraft.”

“What is it, Sargent?” The Captain asked, still focusing on his approach.

“Sir! it’s Air Force One!

The Captain held the helo in position.  He reached for the mic. “McClain. Helo one. Report!”

“Nothing to report, Sir!” McClain replied.

“McClain. We have positive identification on Air Force One.” The Captain said.

“Captain. XO here. Please confirm Air Force One!”