Zombie Dawn Exodus (5 page)

With the deck level secured the Marines moved up the
staircase and continued on their mission to the bridge. Some of the
emergency lights provided a small amount of red lighting, but most
of the route was dark and unlit.

On the starboard side of the vessel Fernanda and her
unit were already up two floors when they came across the first
bodies. On the floor were several corpses, as well as three twisted
and contorted bodies that were obviously zombies. The main
difference was that the clothing of the zombies was torn and
damaged as well as their skin and flesh. The zombie bodies were
also damaged, with at least one missing a limb. The other bodies
were unharmed, apart from a small number of bite wounds and
injuries. The Marines had experienced these kinds of bodies before
and were all too familiar with the dangers.

The Marines placed a remote sensor unit that
combined thermal imaging and a rotating camera unit that could
monitor the entire floor. Continuing past the bodies they moved up
the stairwell and to the part of the ship known as the Commodore’s
Club. This was a small but exclusive bar that provided views out
over the bow of the ship. The door leading inside was half open and
a body in a uniform was sprawled out blocking the way in.

Fernanda updated Captain Black with her
progress.

“Sir, we have secured the floor leading to the
Commodore’s Bar. We’ll clear this section then meet you at the
bridge,” she said.

“Understood, we are one floor above you and
approaching the luxury suites. Be careful, we’ve found bodies from
the crew and the undead already,” answered Captain Black.

Sergeant Fernanda entered the bar, closely followed
by three more Marines who raised their weapons, scanning for signs
of trouble. The bar was smaller than she expected but it was well
furnished. All along the length of the room were windows facing
forwards. She moved up and spotted the Marines out in the
forecastle. To the left was a small group in civilian attire, which
must have been Dr Garcia and her assistants.

“Sir, it looks like the Doctor has arrived on the
forecastle,” she said into her radio.

“Affirmative,” came the response.

Looking around she was satisfied the room was
clear.

“Close it up, we need to keep moving.”

They left the room whilst they sealed it securely
behind them and then returned to the stairwell. Moving upwards they
entered a small lobby area that led to the luxury suites. These
were the forward facing accommodation and therefore the most
expensive and prestigious parts of the ship to stay in. All of the
doors were either broken open or slightly ajar.

Throughout the open area a number of bodies were
dotted around, as well as blood stains and burn marks. It was a
main hub for this part of the ship and the number of bodies
suggested quite a few people had been caught out there.

Johnson examined part of the damaged wall and then
double-checked two of the bodies. He turned to Sergeant
Fernanda.

“There was definitely a battle of some kind here,
look,” he said as he pointed to a number of objects near the
bodies.

As she stepped forwards Johnson prised what looked
like an improvised maul from the fingers of the dead man on the
floor.

“Yeah, I’ve seen this before. Be careful,” she
said.

The communication system clicked, informing her that
Captain Black was approaching the luxury suites from the other
side.

“Hold your fire, friendlies coming in from there,”
she pointed to the doorway leading to the port stairwell.

The door opened and two Marines each one carrying an
M4 carbine entered, both of them looking for signs of the enemy.
Sergeant Fernanda gave them a thumbs up signal which they then
passed on to those waiting on the staircase. They moved up to
Fernanda, Captain Black came up next and the rest followed. The
unit was now reassembled in the open area at the luxury suites.

“According to my plans the bridge is directly above
us,” said Captain Black. “You, you and you, check the rooms.”

The three men moved off to examine the suites whilst
Captain Black and Sergeant Fernanda discussed the next move.

“This area leads off in three directions and it’s a
critical hub for this part of the ship. It is essential that we
maintain control of this. I don’t want us trapped in the bridge
with no way to get out. I want you and your Marines to cover the
open lobby here, the corridor leading to both stairwells. We’ll
proceed to the bridge, I’ll update you when we get there.”

“Understood. Do you think you’ll be able to get the
security systems online?” she asked.

“I doubt it. This ship is state of the art and
according to Dr Garcia, contains the latest networked security
systems. Why do you think she’s coming aboard?”

“Let’s hope she can get the system online then.”

Captain Black nodded and then headed for the
stairwell.

“First Squad with me, Second Squad stay with
Sergeant Fernanda,” he ordered.

Without pausing the Captain left the open area and
started working his way up the staircase, the rest of his squad
followed. Sergeant Fernanda then turned to her own squad and
organised her Marines into defensive positions. Their first job was
to cover each key point, but once these were secured they then
pulled out furniture from the suites to form a series of
rudimentary barricades. In less than three minutes the lobby had
been turned into a small fort with cover facing the corridor,
suites and entrances to both stairwells. With that kind of cover
the dozen Marines should have no trouble defending the area.

With half of the squad in the centre guarding the
lobby the rest split into three groups of two so that they could
patrol the immediate area for intruders. After facing many similar
situations though, none of them ventured so far as to be out of
sight of the rest of the group.

Captain Black was the first to reach the entrance to
the bridge. Like most of the rest of the ship the doors were ajar,
but unlike previous locations there were no bodies to be seen. He
entered the section and moved inside. All along the one side were a
dozen screens. There were a substantial number of windows providing
an excellent view of the forecastle, bow and both sides of the
ship. In front of the computer screens were lots of chairs, each of
them facing the displays and the windows. The Captain moved to what
looked like the most important position and pressed a few keys on
the system. Though there were a few lights on, none of the
computers appeared to turn on and the screens remained dark and
lifeless.

“Dr Garcia, the forward section of the ship is
secured. We could do with you and your technicians to get this ship
active. What is your ETA?” he spoke into his radio.

There was a short pause before the familiar voice of
the Doctor replied.

“Captain Black, we are in the stairwell and on our
way up, I estimate two minutes before we arrive. Please don’t touch
anything till we get there,” she said in a serious tone.

One of the Marines dumped a large pack onto the
floor in the middle of the bridge and proceeded to unload various
communications and surveillance equipment. The first item out was a
rugged looking laptop. He placed it on top of the first box and
flicked the switch. As it started up a serious of small windows
popped up, each showing a view from the cameras the Marines has set
up so far. He then flipped out a secondary screen from the rear of
the machine that showed another two views, one from the UAV and the
other from the hovercraft that was returning to the ships.

The door opened and in walked Dr Garcia, flanked by
two of her personal security guards. These men were very well armed
and wearing purpose built body armour, perfectly designed for use
in infected areas. She walked onto the bridge and looked around,
taking in the computer terminals, networked systems and power units
dotted about. She then turned to Captain Black.

“This is as expected. The equipment looks undamaged
but we don’t have the main power back up do we?” she asked.

“That’s correct, from my plans we would need to
reach the auxiliary engine room to reactivate the power.”

“That’s ok. We aren’t looking at taking the ship. We
just need enough power to get the computer system and network back
up so we can see what’s going on here,” she replied.

Two more Marines arrived. They were carrying Dr
Garcia’s equipment and placed it down near their own surveillance
equipment. Dr Garcia gave their gear a quick glance.

“Quaint,” she said annoyingly and then turned to her
own people.

“Get the portable power rigs up. You, set up my
system over there next to the network switches,” she ordered.

The Marine nodded and started moving the equipment
to the appropriate place. Captain Black moved up to the Doctor.

“Nice to see you’re getting comfortable here. How
long do you need to get the security feeds back up?” he asked.

“Well, I anticipate it will take around fifteen
minutes to power up the bridge’s systems and then up to ten minutes
to break the security. I’ve checked the system specifications and
it shouldn’t be too much of a problem…assuming no more
interruptions,” she said.

“Then don’t waste time talking to me,” he said as he
moved back to the group of Marines waiting at the other side of the
bridge. As he made his way across the room he radioed in.

“Black here. Bridge is secure, suites secure and
forecastle is secure. Anticipate access to security feeds in
approximately twenty five minutes,” he reported.

“Affirmative. Do you require anything else for your
operation?” came the reply from Captain Mathius back onboard the
ship.

“Negative, we have everything we need. Just make
sure the helo and LCAC are ready in case we hit trouble. We don’t
know what else is out here,” answered Captain Black.

“Understood.”

The lights in the room flickered, causing Captain
Black to look back at Dr Garcia and her team. One of the
technicians looked back at him, noting his interest.

“We’re getting there,” he said, almost
apologetically.

* * *

Sergeant Fernanda and her squad were secure in their
position outside the luxury suites, just one level below the
bridge. In the fifteen minutes since they’d been there they’d come
across no movement, either dead or alive. On the improvised
barricade one of the Marines had set up his M249 machine gun and
was scanning it from side to side, looking for trouble down the
dark hallways.

Fernanda’s radio crackled.

“This is Black, we have partial feeds up and
working. I’m sending down six men to relieve you.”

“Sir?” replied Fernanda.

“I need you to take your squad directly to the Grand
Lobby and fast.”

“Have you found something?” she asked, sounding
concerned.

“Most of the cameras are down in the aft section of
the ship and a large number are also down near the Grand Lobby.
We’ve managed to isolate sounds in that area though and it seems
there’s movement there, but we cannot determine whether it’s
survivors or the undead. We have a route that appears clear to get
you there.”

“What’s the rush? Can’t we wait until we have more
intel before we go in?” she said.

“We could, but it seems the ship has problems,
serious problems.”

“What do you mean?” asked Fernanda.

As she waited for a reply she signalled to the
Marines patrolling the corridor leading to the aft of the
vessel.

“This is Dr Garcia here. I’ve gained access to
engineering and it seems there are problems with the refrigeration
plant’s engines. They are positioned deep in the centre of the
vessel, at the bottom near the bilge. From the information I have
it seems there are major electrical failures in that area and
increases in heat,” she said.

“A fire?” asked Fernanda.

“Yes. Either the electrical system has failed and
started a series of fires, or more likely there are survivors who
in their struggles they have either accidentally or deliberately
set these sections on fire,” she replied.

The voice on the radio changed abruptly as Captain
Black took over.

“Either way, Sergeant, you need to get your team aft
and fast. I’m sending the Doctor’s route to your PDA now,” he
said.

As their conversation continued the port stairwell
door opened to reveal the relief unit of Marines that had been sent
down by the Captain. Fernanda called out to her unit.

“Listen up!” she barked whilst she grabbed her M4
carbine.

The Marines moved back to her as she explained the
plan whilst she slung the weapon across her torso. Without stopping
she pulled on her armoured lower arm guard and moved off down the
corridor and into the darkness of the ship.

* * *

Captain Black and Dr Garcia watched the numerous
displays on the equipment they had both brought. Whilst the
Marines’ equipment provided video feeds from the Marines
themselves, Dr Garcia’s equipment and her work with the ship’s
system provided limited viewpoints of different parts of the ship.
It wasn’t perfect but it was a lot better than no footage. On the
one screen they could see the entire length of a long corridor. It
led from their original starting position towards the rear of the
ship. The Marines had already travelled about a hundred metres
along it when they appeared on the cameras. One of the technicians
hit a few keys and managed to get several of the lights to come on,
providing some illumination for the small unit of Marines.

One of the smaller screens showed a feed coming
directly from Corporal Armstrong. He’d taken point for the unit as
they made their slow progress through the ship.

A light started flashing on one of the computers
followed by a low toned alarm.