Survivors (21 page)

His message read, “Good morning Akula.
This is the USS Jimmy Carter. Military maneuvers
seem to be a thing of the past. Would you like to
talk?”

A minute later an answer was flashed back.
“Jimmy Carter, yes let’s talk. Maybe together we
can figure out what’s going on. We will surface and
come to a dead stop.”

Sanchez ordered the Jimmy Carter to the
surface and thirty minutes later both submarines
were sitting side by side. Both ship’s crews threw
lines across to the other submarine and the two
massive attack submarines were lashed together.

Captain Sanchez waited on the foredeck as
a gangplank was placed between the two boats. A
Russian officer, probably the captain of the Akula
was waiting for the gangplank to be secured, and
as soon as it was in place he walked quickly onto
the Jimmy Carter. Sanchez saluted his adversary
and the Russian Captain returned the salute.

The Russian, Captain Igor Stamenov, introduced himself to Sanchez who then introduced the
Russian captain to his officers. Igor Stamenov
spoke excellent English. “Captain Sanchez, I always wanted to set foot on an American submarine.”

Sanchez answered, “If any of my superior
officers knew you were on my ship, I’d probably be
immediately shot, but none of them are alive now,
so I guess I’m safe.”

Stamenov laughed. “In the hopes of better
relations in this new world, perhaps we can arrange tours on both our boats. With luck, they may
become ships of peace not war.”

Sanchez said, “We need to talk and exchange information.”

Sanchez debated with himself about whether to meet inside the Jimmy Carter, and finally decided to treat his guests properly. Captain Stamenov motioned for his officers to come aboard the
U.S. sub. They quickly walked across the gangplank, and then to the amazed stares from both
crews, the officers of both ships disappeared inside
the sail’s hatch and climbed down into the control
center of the Jimmy Carter.

The Jimmy Carter’s shocked crew watched
as the Russian sailors were led into the crew’s
mess area. The ship’s cooks provided everyone with
coffee and tea and then both captains looked at
each other and laughed.

Sanchez said, “So my friend, it seems our
long fought battles are finally over. We have more
important things to worry about.”

Three of the Russian’s eight officers spoke
little English, so Stamenov translated.

The Russians first wanted to know about
the global pandemic. Luckily their medical officer
spoke English, and the two medical officers exchanged facts and suspicions about the worldwide
plague. The CDC seemed to have a better understanding of the disease than what the Russians
knew. Perhaps their government knew the facts
but decided to not share the information with their
military personnel.

The key point of discussion was with regard
to when it might be safe to return to society. For
both medical officers, it was just a guess. Both
captains then explained everything that had happened to their ships from the beginning of the
pandemic to the present. The Russian ship had
been stationed off Nova Scotia when the disease
spread, and just as with the Jimmy Carter, they
were the only Russian ship spared from the disease.

Stamenov explained that a Russian cruiser
had run aground off the east coast of Russia. All of
their crew died early from the disease, and the ship
just kept on its heading until it reached dry land.
They too had finally lost all contact with their
home port, and since they were so close to the
United States, they had decided to look for survivors along the east coast until they felt it was safe
to return to Mother Russia.

The discussion then turned to food supplies. The Russians were hurting. They had not
been able to forage for food, and were afraid to land
on U.S. soil. Sanchez asked Gordy to have the
ship’s cooking staff talk to their Russian counterparts to see if we could exchange some supplies.
Sanchez then explained to Stamenov about their
successful stop on Samana Cays in the Bahamas.
He showed Stamenov the location of the island,
and suggested that other islands might also have
wild game they might kill. Stamenov was grateful.

The discussion finally turned to the future.
Stamenov said, “When we finally return to our
home port we’re going to have to figure out what
the status of our country is, and I’m guessing it
will be similar to what you’re finding. I’m afraid it
will be many years before the east and west can
once again resume our relations.”

Gordy Phillips, who had returned from the
kitchen, said, “Captain, perhaps we can maintain
communications between our two countries. We
were able to listen in to some survivors in Europe
on the shortwave band. Let’s agree on a wavelength
where we can stay in contact. At least we’ll be able
to continue our conversation.”

Stamenov said, “An excellent thought Officer Phillips. Please work with our communications officer to set up the system.”

Stamenov then invited the U.S. crew to
come aboard his ship for a tour. The officers of
both ships crossed over onto the deck of the Akula,
and as the Russian sailors looked on in amazement; their captain led the Americans below deck
to see the wonders of the Russian Navy’s most
modern submarine.

A few hours after the tour, a variety of food
supplies moved between the two boats, with a majority of food moving toward the Akula. It was dusk
when the two captains said it was time to say farewell. Both crews lined up on their respective decks,
and after saluting the other ship, the gangplanks
were removed and the two boats moved slowly
away from the other.

Both submarines travelled on the surface
for a few miles before submerging into a dark sea.
Chapter 31

Lieutenant Monroe and five of his fellow
soldiers arrived at the dairy farm along with Jessie,
George, and me a little after nine o’clock the next
day. Barbara Gordon walked out of her barn to
greet us. She was shocked to see the soldiers
dressed in full combat gear.

Other workers gathered around our group,
and I gave the same speech I had given to the
campus people two days earlier. They showed a
mixture of emotions; first shock at the potential
danger and then relief at the commitment the
MacDill soldiers were making to the protection of
their community.

Lieutenant Monroe and his team began setting up defensive positions around the farm. They
set up a launching site for a small battery powered
drone and launched the small airplane. One of the
soldiers sat at a small table, and used a laptop
computer linked up with an overhead satellite to
fly the silent drone in a search pattern looking for
any threats.

Meanwhile, Jessie, George, and I met with
Barbara. She was delighted to see us and gave us
each a glass of cold milk. It tasted wonderful. “This
is the first batch from the pasteurization plant
down the road. I’ve got about fifty gallons for you to
take back to the campus.”

“The kids will love it,” I said.
Barbara pulled out a container from her
fridge. “Try this,” she said.

She smiled as we tasted small pieces of the
light-yellow cheese. It was delicious. It tasted a little like very mild Cheddar. “We made this yesterday. I think it’s pretty good. We’ll have a lot more
in another week.”

We finished our snack, and then Barbara
took us on a tour of the farm. Two of the volunteers were in the barn running the automated
milking machines. We stopped by each person and
talked to them about what they were doing. They
all seemed to be enjoying their life on the farm. We
then took Barbara’s car on a short trip to the next
farm down the road. Three of our people were feeding cattle roaming free on the large fenced-in acreage.

Barbara said, “We’ve been collecting any
cattle we can find and bringing them all here. I’m
guessing we’ll be able to collect several hundred.
There’re several grain silos nearby filled with feed
corn. I’m guessing we’ll have enough to last a year.
I’ve got to talk to Manny about planting corn for
next year. If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to have a
sustaining herd to meet our needs.”

I said, “I can’t believe what you’ve accomplished in only a few days.”

George and Jessie also had wonderful
things to say about what Barbara and her people
had achieved. “Come with me,” She said. “I’ve got
one more thing to show you.”

We walked over to a large barn at the second farm. Inside, the smell was terrible, but one of
our residents, Maria Fernandez, was busy feeding
about a hundred hens strutting around in large
caged areas. She had a huge grin on her face.
“Come here,” she said, “I have a gift for the people
at the campus.”

She walked to a corner of the barn and
handed us two large cardboard cartons filled with
fresh eggs. I gave Maria a hug and thanked her on
behalf of the residents. As Blaine had correctly
stated, we were a gifting society, and a good one at
that.

Lieutenant Monroe left one of his soldiers in
charge, and we headed back to the campus with a
number of goodies for the campus residents. On
the drive back, Vince said, “I can’t believe all the
things you guys have accomplished in just a few
weeks.”

Jessie answered, “Necessity is the mother of
invention, and luckily we’ve got some wonderful
people who have the right mix of skills.”

Vince continued, “I want to spend the afternoon training the people who will defend the
campus. How many do you think will want to help
out?”

I answered, “All of them have seen Debbie.
They all understand the threat. I’m not sure how
many will want to learn how to fire a gun, but I
think they’ll all want to help out any way they
can.”

George said, “I think we’ll have over 100
volunteers.”
Chapter 32

There were almost 120 residents who
showed up for training, all ages, both men and
women. We all met in the parking lot. Monroe
shook his head in amazement. He called Major
Connors and ordered more guns and ammunition.
The major promised to have Captain Stewart bring
them on her return to Fort Myers.

Jessie showed up with her bow and arrows.
The lieutenant looked at her and shook his head.
Jessie told him there was good place to practice
just off to the west in a field next to a wooded area.
Jessie led the way to the field. Monroe then explained to the residents who had no weapons that
he had asked for more weapons to be sent down
from MacDill.

We all sat down on the grass, and the lieutenant explained how the M16 rifles operated. We
watched as he disassembled the weapon and then
put it back together. We then tried, and about half
of us couldn’t repeat the process, but after repeated attempts, everyone was successful. He then
spent time explaining how the gun worked: the
safety, changing ammunition clips, holding the rifle in different fighting positions, and finally aiming
the weapon.

Then it was time to practice shooting. We
took turns trying to hit a tree 500 yards away, all
except for Jessie who had walked over to the archery target she had taken from the sporting goods
store. While we all tried our best at hitting the tree,
Jessie began practicing her skills with her bow and
arrows. She was actually pretty good at hitting the
target. I could tell this wasn’t the first time she had
been using bows and arrows.

My fellow survivors were practicing with determination. They all seemed to understand the
potential evil lurking at their doorsteps, and they
were going to fight for their survival, and if that
meant using guns to protect their new family, then
so be it.

Lieutenant Monroe circulated along the line
of residents, correcting form and giving praise
when people struck their targets. We all spent the
afternoon trying to figure out how to become citizen soldiers.

At the end of the practice session, Monroe
explained our defensive strategy. “We should have
advance warning of their approach. We will expect
them to enter the campus through the main entrance or from the east. If we get enough advance
notice, I’ll bring the soldiers back from the dairy
farm. I will place a few of my soldiers near the
main entrance along both sides of the road. You
will then position yourselves along both sides of
the road and lay down fire as they approach. Do
not let them pass this point. Otherwise we will lose
the advantage. Any questions?”

One of the men asked, “Will we build barricades for protection?”

“Beginning tomorrow we will cut down trees
and stack them in strategic areas to provide protection.”

With no further questions, Monroe asked
everyone to keep their weapons close at hand and
to stay within the campus if at all possible.

As we were walking back to the apartments,
Vince asked Jessie, “Where did you learn to shoot
like that?”

“At summer camp. I was the best archer; I
even won an award.”

I smiled at her. “Jessie, why didn’t you put
archer down as one of your skills on Margaret’s
spreadsheet?”

Jessie laughed, “I didn’t think it was a very
important skill back then; now I know different.”

Captain Stewart, Sammy, and Blaine arrived a little after five o’clock. They had brought
more guns and ammunition with them in their UHaul truck. We all shared a glass of wine before
walking to the dining area.

Beth served cold milk for dinner. Most of
the kids were going back for seconds and the
adults were enjoying the kids being kids. Beth said
she was going to fix eggs for breakfast.

During dinner Stan came up to me. “The
toilets are overflowing on the first floors in some of
the apartments. I talked to Bill. He thinks it’s because the sanitary sewer treatment plant isn’t
working, and all the sewers are backed up. We’ll
check it out first thing in the morning. Till then
we’re digging a latrine back near the woods.”

“What a pleasant thought,” I said. “Shit
flowing down the hallway in my apartment. We’re
being attacked on two fronts; thugs from the north
and shit from the sewers. I’m going to have to demand a pay raise. Shit is not in my job description.”