The Event: The Beginning (38 page)

Watch stations were also built into the upper containers with stairs for easy access. That removed the need for the hunting blinds, and still gave the watchers height to see things coming. The mutants had tried attacking the wall before on a few occasions, and it was the fact we saw them coming and could prepare that probably meant the difference between them getting in and us holding them back. Now, with the added height on the wall, there was that much more security and we could relax a little more. The gates continued to be our only weak points in the wall, but they were heavily guarded. We even managed to set up chain link fencing to create a sally port of sorts for the vehicles, just in case one or two got in with the vehicles.

Early November brought us our first snowfall of the season, earlier than we expected by several weeks. It was light, only a small dusting, but it boded ill for the winter. The weather crew kept a sharp eye on it from then on, and made daily reports. Our satellite pictures showed that most of the north was receiving snow already as well, and in some extremely northern areas it was already sticking in what appeared to be decent amounts. We had already harvested our crops for the year, and we had plans in place for the animals, but holding out through that cold a winter with limited supplies was not high on my list of things to do. Fish would still be able to be caught, and the hunters would undoubtedly be able to bring in fresh meat as well, but our vegetable intake would be limited by how good the hydroponics worked. There were several hydroponics bays on board ship, in the old missile storage bays, and they had various vegetables at various stages of growing. Using sunlamps, they could continually grow year round and always have some ready or near ready to eat. There were also a few bays set up on shore in various buildings whose intended purpose no longer was needed in this new world.

Food wasn’t the only thing we had started producing, either. Several people had stated they had recipes and knowledge of beer brewing, so our blacksmiths set them up with equipment and they built their stills and such and began working on producing beer and spirits. The raw ingredients were not so easy to come by, but someone had found bee boxes at one point so we could produce honey, a brewery had been raided for its stores of hops and barley and such, and a fairly successful production of alcohol soon began. In was limited supply of course, but it was available, which drastically improved the moods of quite a few of my men and women. Small stashes had been found off and on in various supply runs also, so we had a nice stash going. Tony and Brandon finally had to use the brig again however as several drunken fights inevitably broke out. I heard that someone had even began making whiskey as well.

December came in cold and damp, with very few days of sun breaking through the clouds. Our solar batteries were hard pressed to stay charged without direct sunlight, but we managed. One day I got paged to the bridge and read a report from the weather crew that worried me greatly. I called a meeting of the senior officers immediately to make some new preparations. It seemed a major storm was coming our way, and the weathermen were predicting massive amounts of snowfall. Since we didn’t have to worry about traffic wrecking on the roads, the only real issues we would have to deal with would be keeping the animals warm, and the hunting teams being stuck outside the walls with no way to get to them. We made as many preparations as possible, and when the storm hit, by the time it was over, there was almost a foot of snow on the flight deck, and just under two feet in some of the drifts on shore. Several people got stuck in their homes, and the guards had an extremely difficult time patrolling the wall, or even getting to their posts.

Three weeks went by with the snow on the ground, and then another round hit us. Luckily the second snowfall was minimal, so there really wasn’t too much additional accumulation. January rolled around with a small new year’s celebration, and still a lot of snow on the ground. The farming crew assured me that the freeze would not ruin our crops for next year, and that the animals were well cared for and protected.  Since we had power, that meant heat, so even with all the snow we didn’t have to worry about anyone freezing to death. With the cold temperatures, as the snow melted it just turned to ice and froze over, making any kind of travel nearly impossible. The horses had a better time of it as the carts were nearly buried in the ice, so the guards took to riding to the wall since several of them were experienced riders and trained the rest.

We pushed on, each of us doing what we needed to do in order to keep everything running and everyone safe. The snow eventually melted and we were able to plant the next season of crops. The hydroponics definitely helped cover gaps, but could not fully sustain us for long periods of time. We heard from the other nations that they too suffered rough weather this winter, and had suffered losses because of it. The hunters liked it because more animals were coming out now, and they were trapping rabbits, squirrels, and various other small animals, in addition to taking down deer, elk, turkey, and even the occasional predator like wolves, or the rare lion. We had seen leopards in the area before, but hadn’t run into them since. We were using as much of the animals as possible as well, including the pelts for hats, blankets, and clothing. Even the bones were used for both decorative and utility purposes, such as knife or utensil handles. Some of the hunters had taken to creating mementos of hunts to keep track of how well they did, small keepsakes from each animal, usually a bone, or tooth.

As the people spread, I put others in charge of other areas, in order to keep things running smoothly. Dave was paced in charge of the base, which included everything we had running on land, including the guard detail. They were still under the ultimate charge of Tony onboard ship, but Dave did let us know if there were any areas that needed special attention, while Brandon was in charge of the base defenses. Some of the sailors, and civilians, moved onto one of the two submarines we had, and I moved them and secured them to one of the tunnel entrances on the bridge and docked them there, under the bridge. It served as an early warning system for any ships coming close to us. We had already fought off a couple of attacks from others using boats, so it seemed prudent.

Jeff’s son Dustin had proven himself capable of leading, so Brandon promoted him to Guard Captain. While Brandon retained overall control of the guards on land, setting schedules and such, Dustin helped resolve disputes, took reports, and in turn sent reports to Brandon. My daughter Angela was on the guard as well, so I constantly worried about them, even though I knew the wall was safe. Most of the teenagers did have jobs around here, learning how to keep this place going so they could take over one day. They were everywhere, from maintenance, to guards, to farming. Even the smiths had apprentices learning the trade.

I had an idea about taking some of the smaller ships on missions, like when we went for Nicole and her group, so I made some of the higher ranking, and competent, sailors captains of a couple of them. They made sure that maintenance was performed and the ships ready to go, minus supplies, anytime. Once I started doing that, having others in charge of what the sailors deemed multiple commands, the sailors, in typical sailor fashion, started jokingly calling me ‘admiral’ instead of captain, and of course it stuck. I tried to stop it, but it was a sign of respect, and after speaking with, and getting the opinions of, several people I respected and trusted throughout the base and ship, I finally bit the bullet and let it go. I had also taken to writing a journal, just to keep a record of things that happened, in case future generations wondered how we survived this thing.

As spring led into summer, I reviewed what had gone on so far. My plan was working, I had led people here, and we still, even now, found other survivors, joined forces, and grew our group. We watched, we learned, and we prospered. I stood on the flight deck one evening, just looking out over the base, feeling the wind, hearing the sound of the water on the ship and the low murmur of people in the distance working, and it finally hit me, the first part of my plan was done. The beginning was over, and we were now starting the next phase of our new life in this new world, survival.

Terminology

The Event - the short time period when the virus first appeared and spread through the world

Infected - commonly called zombies, a victim of the virus

Mindless - term used for the most common type of infected person; slow, clumsy and easy to avoid

Mutants - uncommon, but aggressive type of infected, able to think and plan, fast and hard to kill

Ladderwell - stairs onboard ship

OOD - Officer Of the Day, person currently in charge, changes with the shift

Passageway - hallway

Aft - back part of a ship, or towards the back

Forward - front part of the ship, or towards the front

Galley - ships cafeteria, also known as the 'mess hall'

Sickbay - medical clinic

Bridge - main command area of the ship

Quarters - sleeping rooms onboard ship, also called bunkrooms

Loadmaster - person in charge of loading supplies and personnel onto or off of the ships

Cast off - the act of a ship leaving the pier

Tower - portion of the ship above the flight deck which holds the bridge and communication equipment

Deck - floor of a ship, also each level of the ship is called a deck

Gangplank - ramp or stairs that leads from the pier to the ship

Port - left side of ship

Starboard - right side of ship

Yeoman - Navy rate, or job classification. Often acting as secretaries or message runners

Head - Navy term for restroom

Common Abbreviations

Adm - Admiral

Capt - Captain

Cmdr - Commander

Lt Cmdr - Lieutenant Commander

Comms - Communications

OOD - Officer Of the Day

CO - Commanding Officer, usually a Captain

XO - Executive Officer, usually a Commander; Second in command

Ranking system

Admiral - Leader of the group

Captain - Leader of specific command; i.e. ship or base; called CO for short

Executive Officer - Second in command under CO, usually a commander

Commander - Leader of specific department

Lieutenant Commander - Second in command of a department

Chief Petty Officer, CPO - Highest non-officer in a department, often left in charge

Petty Officer - Team leaders

Seaman - Regular workers

Afterword

              Firstly I would like to thank everyone who allowed me to use them in the book, as well as my family for patiently waiting on me to finish it. I also want to thank the ones who provided me with technical information on semi-truck and RV capabilities. Special thanks go out to those who helped me with scenes, and with the cover art as well.

              I also want to give credit to the information from the U.S. Navy website. The ship names are actual active ships, although certain liberties were taken with ship geography and capabilities. I beg that my fellow shipmates forgive the misinformation, but I needed it to be realistic sounding without giving away anything classified. I also know that those particular ships would not be in port at Norfolk together, so again, please forgive the literary liberties. I loved my time in the Navy, and I learned a lot of valuable lessons there.