To Sail a Darkling Sea

CHAPTER 21

“Go, go, go,” Sophia said, waving for the crew to get off the boat. She’d been the first one from the “security” team to set foot on the island.

Olga stepped off the dinghy and looked around. A couple of the security guys were looking a little pale, but she’d been on one of the “forensic cleaning crews” cleaning up infected held boats and the Boadicea. She’d seen messes before.

And there was a mess. A few more infected had trickled in to the park overnight giving the gunboat crews something to fire up in the morning. Not many, though. She’d gotten most of them earlier in the evening. The pile of bodies was covered in shrieking seagulls making it hard to hear the Lieutenant.

Uniform for the day was Navy “bluecam,” body armor and helmets. They were wearing Marine body armor since the Navy version was just a flak jacket.

She pealed right, covering “her” sector, as the team assembled to follow the Marines.

“Steinholtz,” Mcgarity said. “Keep an eye on your sector.”

Seaman Recruit Matthew Steinholtz had been an Brinks armed security guard who won an all expense paid trip on a cruise liner. It was the worst cruise of his life. But he sort of knew how to use a gun and that was about as good as they were getting.

There were seven security specialists considered “functional” for this operation. Some needed to stay back on the gunboats to provide cover. Others really weren’t “up” for a landing in an infected held town.

And the ones they had weren’t really trained in this.

“PO, you take point,” Sophia said. “We’re going to swing down to the vehicle opening. Just follow the Marines.”

“Roger, ma’am,” Mcgarity said. “Steinholtz, again, look that way,” he said, pushing the SR’s weapon to the south. “If I hear one of you lock and load without my or the Lieutenant’s specific orders, I will personally shoot you. We’re more likely to get killed by ADs than zombies. Move out. Slowly.”

The group began to shuffle down the beach, stepping around dead infected.

“Zombie,” Olga said.

“Where?” Steinholtz said, spinning around.

“Steinholtz!” Mcgarity said, grabbing him by his harness and spinning him back around. “Keep your eye on your sector!”

The Marines had spotted the infected loping down Avenue De Colon. They turned as if they were one mind and each fired a burst. The zombie was hit by at least thirty “Barbie Gun” rounds and dropped like a stone. Then they all swiveled back to covering their sectors. It was over in less than a second.

“For any of you who saw that, that is not how we do it,” Mcgarity said. “Cover your sector. Lock and load if I tell you. Fire if I tell you. Do not load, do not fire if I don’t tell you.”

By the time they got to the vehicle entrance to the park, the Marines were already across the road and into the far building. The building had a metal gate with an electronic lock that the Marines had “bypassed” with a Halligan tool.

“Okay,” Mcgarity said. “We plant ourselves here until we get called forward. Olga, there,” he said, pointing to one of the parked cars. “Steinholtz, there,” he said, indicating the opposite side. “Hadley, Larson, on Olga north. Yu, Hill, on Steinholtz, south.”

“Can we lock and load now?” Steinholtz asked.

“No,” Mcgarity said. “Because we’re going into that building over there. And I’m not going to have one of you idiots AD in a stairwell and have it bounce around until it hits me in the ass.

“Infected, Petty Officer,” Olga said.

“Your sector,” Mcgarity said, putting a hand on Steinholtz’s helmet to forestall him turning around. “You have to trust me and Olga to handle it. How far, Seaman Zelenova?”

“End of the road,” Olga said. She still hadn’t charged her weapon.

“These things are trickling in from that direction,” Lieutenant Smith said. “Stand by. I’ve got this. Keep them on target. Golden Guppy, Seawolf, over.”

There was a burst of fire from inside the building and everyone flinched.

“Your sector, Steinholtz. Larson, I see you trying to turn around, too. Keep an eye on your sectors… ”

“Golden Guppy.”

“Jerry’s Kid loping down the road. See it?”

“Roger.”

“Take him out for me, please.”

There was another burst of fire from in the building followed by more from the.50 offshore.

“Your sector, Steinholtz, Larson, Hill. Do not look at the fire… ”

Olga fortunately did not have to turn around to see the effects. Then again, she’d seen them from behind one of the guns. The infected splashed when the massive machine-gun rounds hit her.

“Okay, okay, Mcgarity,” Steinholtz said, excitedly. “There’s one this way, too… ”

“Hill’s sector,” Mcgarity said. “Keep on your sector, Steinholtz… ”

“Noby, Noby, Seawolf… ” the Lieutenant said as there was another burst of fire from in the building. “Can you engage that infected headed north on Colon?”

“Negative. Our security team’s moving to the beach and they’re too close for us to want to risk it, over.”

“Anarchy, one, say again, one of our people can engage… ”

“Hill, your sector,” Mcgarity said. “Lock and load one thirty-round magazine.”

“Okay, okay,” Hill said, pulling back his charging handle.

“The correct response is ‘lock and load one thirty-round magazine, aye,’ ” the Lieutenant said. “And keep your freaking finger away from the trigger.”

“Lock and load one thirty-round magazine, aye,” Hill said. “I’m loaded, can I fire?”

“Jesus, it’s getting close… ” Steinholtz said.

“Watch your zone, Steinholtz,” Mcgarity snapped. “Hill, take a good firing position. Calmly. You’re on a range. You want it to get close. Trust me, I’ll take it out if it gets too close… ”

“I got another one,” Olga said. She was just barely following the conversation. She was paying close attention to her sector.

“Guppy, you got the Jerry Kid…?”

“Take your weapon off of safe… ”

There were several burst of fire from inside the building and another infected exploded with.50 caliber fire…

“Aim for the chest… Deep breaths, just on a range… ”

“Division, Shewolf. At the top of the building… ”

“Fire single, aimed, rounds… ”

“Oh, just let him shoot it!” Steinholtz yelled.

“Steinholtz,” the Lieutenant said. “One more word out of you and I will pull the trigger on this pistol. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, ma’am… ”

“. . . we’re putting up the scaling ladder now… ”

“Engage… ”

There was a crack of a round from behind her…

“Division, we got a posse up here, you see this?”

“I got it. I got… her… ” Hill didn’t sound so much elated as deflated.

“Roger, Shewolf.”

“We don’t have an angle. We can scrum… ”

“And I’ve got another,” Olga said. “Where are they trickling in from?”

“Can you get these without hitting us or the survivors, over?”

“Division, we have this infected,” the Lieutenant radioed. “Releasing support to Team Shewolf… Olga, lock and load one thirty-round magazine.”

“Oh, and now they’re trying to climb down the ladder. Don’t engage those, Division. We don’t want the ladder damaged… ”

“Lock and load, aye,” Olga said, pulling back her charging handle.

“Prepare to engage infected with single, aimed, fire… ”

“How come she just gets to shoot… ”

“Steinholtz, shut the fuck up… ”

“Prepared to engage, aye,” Olga said.

“Engage.”

It took five rounds to drop the infected. The man had soaked up four and she was pretty sure she missed with one.

“Place weapon on safe,” the Lieutenant said.

“Division, Shewolf. Way is clear to the survivor building. Starting entry for clearance at this time.”

“Seawolf, Division, move your people forward to key locations to screen survivor movement, over.”

“Mcgarity, you’ve got Steinholtz and Larson… ”

“Oh, thank you sooo much, ma’am.”

“Hold this position. The rest of you with the exception of Olga. Remove your magazines.”

“Why?” Hill asked.

“Because the LT told you to, fuck head!” Mcgarity said. “Pull out your fucking mag. Now!”

“Okay, okay,” Hill said, dropping his magazine out of the well.

“Pull back your charging handles and ensure your weapons are clear,” Sophia said. “Not you, Olga.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Olga said as the others cleared their weapons.

“Now, put the mags back in and do not charge your weapons.”

“There’s one this way,” Steinholtz said. “Can I shoot it now?”

“Now when I say ‘lock and load’ you say ‘lock and load, aye,’ then you lock and load. Got it. And only lock and load and don’t put your finger on the trigger til I tell you… ”

“Order of movement will be SR Zelenova, myself, Hill, Hadley and Yu.”

“Who?” Hadley asked.

“Me, you dumbfuck,” Leo Yu said.

“Now you can fire… ”

“Yu, keep looking back in case we get infiltrated,” the Lieutenant continued. “Only SR Zelenova or I can lock and load or engage unless I tell you to engage. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the group chorused.

“I got it! I got it!”

“Good for you. You’ve only got three thousand kills to go to equal a thirteen-year-old girl… ”

“Mcgarity. You keep your eyes on the entrance. Do not let any of these idiots AD us or any of the refugees. Let’s roll.”

* * *

Crossing the street was one of the oddest things Olga had ever done. And she’d done a lot of odd things. But it was absolutely weird. It was just a street. An empty street in an increasingly empty town with the wind whistling through deserted condominiums that had once probably cost a billion dollars apiece.

She checked both ways, automatically, before stepping onto the pavement. Not for zombies, for cars. Cause you didn’t cross the street without checking for cars. The problem being, there were no cars. None running. They were lined up, parked, cold and dead. There were no tourists. There were no retirees. There were no children laughing and playing. Just a slightly cold wind and the occasional howl of a zombie in the distance. And muted bursts of fire from far, far up the cliff.

She entered the gated courtyard of the condos and paused, looking around.

“It’s clear,” Seawolf said. “Proceed.”

The main door of the condo complex had apparently been open because it was mostly intact. And it was pretty dark in the foyer.

“Lights,” Sophia said. “Turn on your taclights.”

Inside the foyer there were the usual mailboxes. There was a large sideways V spraypainted on the mailboxes. The paint was fresh.

“See that?” Sophia said. “That’s the sign that means ‘this way to the exit.’ If you’re following somebody, you go in the opposite direction. If you’re trying to run away from zombies, that is probably your best bet.”

“Or you can follow the bodies,” Olga said. There was one at the base of the stairs.

“Or you can follow the bodies,” Sophia said with a sigh. “Especially if my sister is involved. Hill, Hadley, move that out of the way as we go by. Don’t want the refugees tripping on it. Let’s keep moving, Olga.”

Olga carefully stepped over the body, sweeping up with her weapon to check the stairwell then continued upwards. The stairwell, fortunately, had windows in it. There was plenty of light. And while she’d never actually done anything like this or trained for it, she’d grown up with the War on Terror and had seen the pictures and videos of soldiers fighting in Iraq. She also was an avid gamer so when she came to the landing she turned around and carefully stepped up the stairs, backwards, keeping an eye up the stairs.

“Very nice technique, Olga,” Sophia said. “But we’ve got ten more floors to go up and this has been cleared. My sister doesn’t leave kills behind if she can possibly avoid it. Besides, if they come pounding down the stairs, we’ll hear them in plenty of time. Just walk and keep your eyes and ears open.”

When they came to the next floor, Sophia pointed to the fire door.

“Hadley, Hill, chock these doors shut.”

The team was carrying chocks and hammers. A few swift blows and the door was stuck fast.

“Keep moving,” Sophia said.

“Hey, sis, where you at? We got customers. Lots of customers.”

“Chocking the doors,” Sophia said, keying the radio. “You know, like we planned?”

“Just hurry it up. These people are ready to leave. Division, Team Shewolf, over.”

“Division, over.”

“We’ve got some survivors with mobility issues. They even managed to keep some of their old folks alive. We’re clearing out the corridors so we can move them through the building but we’re going to need help getting them down. Over.”

“Done, ma’am,” Hill said.

“Then let’s get moving,” Sophia said, gesturing.

“Roger, we’ll get some DivTwo people up there with folding stretchers. Recommend, if there is anyone who has the knowledge, belaying them down from the balconies rather than carrying them down the stairs, over.”

“Division, Seawolf, over.”

“Seawolf, Division, over.”

“I can handle that exercise. I don’t have the bodies for more than putting in some guides, though. I’ll need to use the Marines for labor. I’ll also need some rope and shackles. Over.”

“Sounds like my kind of party,” Olga said.

“Not now,” Sophia replied.

“Division, Shewolf, over.”

“Go.”

“There are climbing ropes all over up here. One of the survivors was apparently a professional climber who lived here. That’s how they survived. They’ve even been scavenging empty apartments. So we’ve got the ropes. Over.”

“Can that guy get them down, over?”

“He says he can, but we sort of need real stretchers. Over.”

“They’re on the way up, Shewolf.”

“Roger. Just waiting on Seawolf, then. Out here.”

“Seawolf, status, over?”

“Chocking the doors shut, over,” Sophia replied.

“Leave a team to do that and move to link up with Shewolf’s team.”

“Roger Division. Hill, Hadley, keep at it. Olga, hold up. Division, Seawolf.”

“Go Seawolf.”

“Be advised, I do not have enough people for two-man teams at each primary point. And I’m pretty sure the refugees are going to be freaked coming down this stairwell. I’m going to leave singletons at primary points and try to figure something out for the stairwell. We’ll either have to have a security person walking groups down or… something. Left some details out of the plan on this, over.”

“Roger. I’ll see if I can scrounge up some more people. In the meantime, hurry up and link up with the Marines, over.”

“Will do, Seawolf out. Yu, you okay with going down to the foyer on your own?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Leo said.

“When the refugees come down, guide them out to the street team. Standby. Anarchy, Seawolf, over.”

“Go, Seawolf.”

“Can you move your teams across the street and still maintain coverage? Yu is going to come down to the foyer. He’ll handle the hand-off there. I do not want less than two there on the street. That’s a primary threat point, over.”

“Roger, we can handle that, Seawolf.”

“Seawolf, Division.”

“Division, Seawolf.”

“Div Two will move two-man team and leader to ocean side of the street. You keep your people on the land side. Hand-off Div One to Div Two will be at the street instead of waterline. Over.”

“Roger, Division. Anarchy, did you copy that last, over?”

“Roger, handoff at street, aye.”

They’d finally reached the roof. The Marines were still up on the cliff at the second set of condos. There was a group of refugees up there as well, eyeing the boarding ladder askance.

“Faith, Soph.”

“I see you finally decided to join the party.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m going to put myself at the bottom of the ladder. Olga’s going to have the doorway. As soon as Hadley and Hill get here, I’ll have them escort groups down the stairwell. But you guys are going to have to talk them down and belay them from up there. I’m stretched as far as my people reach. Over.”

“We’ve got more clearing to do, over.”

“I repeat, I’m stretched as far as my people can reach. Do you want me to explain it in simple Marine terms?”

“We were listening in. We’ll handle it from up here. Over.”

“Thank you. Seawolf out. Okay, Olga, you’re on the door.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Olga said.

“Hill!” Sophia shouted into the stairwell. “How far you got to go?”

“Four more floors!”

“That’ll do,” Sophia said. “When I send them over, get them organized in groups of not more than, say, seven. Then let Hill or Handley escort them down.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Olga said.

“Seawolf, Shewolf, over.”

“Go, Shewolf.”

“Change of plan. Get your ‘I Heart To Climb’ butt up here. The climber dude is getting ready to get the old folks down and nobody with my team knows how to really belay someone. Oh, and like, none of them speak English. Guess that high school Spanish is going to come in handy. Over.”

“Stand by. Division, you okay with that? I can’t run my people at all from up on the cliff. Over.”

“Sounds like the only choice, over.”

“Anarchy, Seawolf.”

“Anarchy.”

“You need to stay in place. But tell Yu if he gets any orders yelled down from Olga, it’s the same as getting them from me. I’ll tell Hill and Hadley the same when they get here. Break. Shewolf. I am not going to leave this position until my last two people get up here. Then I’ll head up there. Seawolf out. Olga, you’re going to have to manage Hill and Hadley. Issues?”

“Not from me,” Olga said. “Will they take my orders?”

“They will when I get done with them,” the Lieutenant said as Hadley and Hill finally made it to the rooftop.

“Thank God,” Hadley said. “That climb sucked!”

“And you’re going to be doing it again and again and again,” Sophia said. “Here’s the skinny. I got to go up there,” she said, pointing to the top of the cliff. “When those people get to the bottom of the ladder, they’ll come over here. Olga will get them assembled in groups. You will then escort the group down the stairwell and hand-off to Yu. Then walk back up, and get another group. I’m not going to be here. Olga is now in charge of that part of the evolution… ”

“Why her?” Hadley asked. “I mean, why do we have to walk up and down and she stays here.”

“Because I said so,” Sophia said. “And there’s a reason and you can ask about it when we’re done for the day. But for right now, you do it because I’m the God damned boss. Do you understand?”

“Yeah,” Hadley said.

“The correct response, Seaman Recruit, is ‘yes, ma’am,’ ” Sophia said, tightly.

“Yes, ma’am,” Hadley said.

“You follow Olga’s orders like they’re mine,” Sophia said.

“You coming, sis? Or should we order take-out?”

“Take a breather, then get ready to hump the stairs,” Sophia said.

* * *

“I still don’t see why we gotta hump the stairs,” Hadley muttered. “What is this, the Pussy Mafia?”

“Tú hablas espanol?” Olga said.

“What?” Hadley replied.

“Do you speaka the Spanisha?” Olga said. “How are you going to deal with them? Most of them probably don’t speak English.”

“Oh,” Hadley said. “You speak Spanish?”

“Yes,” Olga said. “And so does the Lieutenant.”

“Why’s she gotta go up there, anyway?” Hadley asked.

“None of the Marines know how to belay someone down,” Olga said. “So she’s going up there to manage that.”

“She sure can climb,” Hill said as Sophia went up the ladder like a spider despite the weight of her gear.

“Let’s hope she knows what she’s doing up top,” Hadley said. “Or bet you one of them goes splat.”

* * *

“Hey, sis,” Sophia said, rolling over the wall.

“Took you long enough,” Faith said, shaking her head. “What now?”

The area the survivors were gathered in was a small garden behind the condo complex. There were a number of recent kills blown around by fifty-caliber rounds and there were holes through the concrete wall that prevented a fifty-foot fall. The boarding ladder was hooked to the top of the wall.

There was a coil of climbing rope, somewhat worse for wear, on the ground and some climbing gear including harnesses and a pair of heavy leather gloves.

“The dude up there said this would do,” Faith said.

“It’ll do,” Sophia said. “I only really need two Marines. One to handle security, one to belay. The belay guy should be fairly big.”

“Bearson,” Faith said. “Belay. Derk, you stay on security.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am,” Corporal Douglas said.

“That all you need?” Faith asked.

“Yep,” Sophia said.

“Okay, the rest of us are out of here,” Faith said. “Let’s go.”

“Bearson?” Sophia said. “You’re going to need to set down your weapon at least.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am,” the Marine said, unclipping his weapon and leaning it against the wall.

“Corporal,” she said. “Get some blankets or something out of these ground-floor condos.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am,” the Corporal said. He went to the closest condo and stepped into the darkened interior over the broken glass of the porch.

“Bearson, come here,” she said, pulling out the climbing harness. It was currently sized for a much smaller person but it fit the Marine. She had to get down on her knees to put it on. “Don’t get any funny ideas.”

“No, ma’am,” Bearson said.

“Excuse please… ” one of the survivors said. “Este to the… ” he was pointing at the wall.

“Hablo espanol,” Sophia said. “Momentito.”

“Got some blankets, ma’am,” the Corporal said, walking back out with an armload of blankets.

“Stand by,” she said, putting a figure eight on the harness. “Fold them and put them on the wall to the left of the ladder, just in contact. Bearson, sit down on your butt. That’s where you’re going to stay the rest of the time.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am,” Bearson said, sitting down. “This I can do.”

I need to talk to the refugees.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Hello,” she said in Spanish, walking over to the group of refugees. “I am Lieutenant Sophia Smith of the United States Navy, Wolf Squadron. We are all glad that you survived but until we get you to the boats, the problems aren’t over. There are too many infected in this town for our small force to get you down to the boats by the roads. So you are going to have to go back the same way we got here. It is, however, quite safe. I am an experienced climber and all that you have to do is climb a ladder. We will attach a safety rope to you so that even in the slight possibility that you slip, we will be able to keep you from falling. I assure you, again, it is quite safe. I need one volunteer, please… ”

The man who had approached her raised his hand.

“I will go. I am tired of this place. Terribly tired.”

“Please raise your arms,” she said. She tied a bowline around his upper chest, tight. “If you slip, just fend off from the wall and keep your arms down. You can’t really slip out of this. When you get to the bottom, call to the girl at the door down there. Tell her that she needs to move over to the ladder to help people untie themselves. Can you do that?”

“Yes,” the man said. “I can even untie this knot myself.”

“Don’t do that til you’re on the roof, okay?” Sophia said, smiling. “There, now, Corporal, help me get him over the wall and onto the ladder… ”

* * *

“Habla Ustéd espanol?” the first refugee said.

“Si,” Olga said. “Hablo espanol. If you will wait here, we will gather a group and one of these men will escort you down.”

“The woman at the top? She said that you, the woman, needs to go to the ladder and untie people who cannot do it themselves.”

“Oh,” Olga said, nodding. “Okay, guys, I’ll assemble the groups at the ladder, you take them from there downstairs. You got it?”

“Jesus, why couldn’t they get this all figured out the first time?” Hadley groused. “We’re just gonna stay in place in teams. No, now we’re going to be by ourselves. No, now we’re going to be… ”

“Because we haven’t done it before,” Olga snapped. “Just follow the damn orders, Hadley!”

“Screw you, Olga,” Hadley said.

“I don’t have time for this,” Olga said. “Just get ready to take the people down.”

* * *

Slowly, one by one, with much coaching, the refugees were put over the wall. Only one slipped off the ladder, an elderly man who lost his footing. But he was only ten feet or so from the bottom and Bearson belayed him down easily.

More turned up as the Marines continued their clearance of the local area. There were more bursts of fire, at one point a lot of fire, but nothing on the radio. So far, so good.

“Division, Team Shewolf, over.”

“Shewolf, Division.”

“All the target buildings are clear. No injuries to refugees or Marines. We are bringing the last group back to Seawolf hand-off at this time.”

“Roger, Shewolf. Good job. Seawolf, how’s it coming with the infirm? Haven’t seen any of those over the side, over?”

“I still haven’t seen the stretchers turn up, Division,” Sophia replied.

“Let me check on the stretchers, over.”

“Division, Seawolf. Thinking about it, unless they’re in really bad health, I really think that the stretchers are a sub-optimal choice. We just lower them on a rope. Unless they physically can’t take it.”

“Shewolf, Division. Are you back in contact with the climbing guy, yet, over?”

“Not yet, Division. Moving this last group of refugees.”

“Contact him and check on what Seawolf is suggesting, over.”

“Aye, aye, Division.”

* * *

“Gotcha, ma’am,” Derek said, balancing the woman as she reached the ground.

The elderly Spanish lady was bitching about something a mile a minute in Spanish. Derek’s Spanish was limited to “Dos cervesas, por favor” and “¿Cuál es el costo de un rapidito?”

“Any idea what she’s saying, ma’am?” he asked the Lieutenant.

“Do you call this a rescue? Where are the helicopters? Who are you people? Are you really from the United States? I don’t believe it. Where are your ships? Where have you been all this time?” the Lieutenant translated. She said something in Spanish and the woman babbled back at her, just as angrily. There was some back and forth and the woman finally stopped, shaking her head. She patted the Lieutenant on the arm then pulled Derek’s face down and kissed him on the cheek.

“What was that for?” Derek asked.

“I told her she’s looking at half the remaining United States Marine Corps,” the Lieutenant said. “Now carry her over to the ladder. We’re going to have to belay her down there as well. Then probably through the building.”

“Hola! Hola!” a voice said from above them.

Rapelling down the rope was a very tan and handsome man in his late twenties. He landed with a bounce and waved and bowed as if wearing a broad hat.

“Senor Javier Eduardo Estrada, at your service, bella senorita!”

It was only when he hit the ground that it was apparent he was shorter than the Lieutenant.

“My boat is the Bella Senorita,” the Lieutenant replied. “I am Lieutenant Sophia Smith of the United States Navy.”

“Lieutenant Smith?” the man said then pointed upwards. “Teniente Smith?”

“My sister,” Sophia said.

“Ah, the resemblance is notable,” Estrada said, then held out a hand at chest height. “Except for the height.”

“You’re one to talk,” the Lieutenant said, chuckling. “Maybe because it’s not such a long way down for me to look, I’m the one that can handle them. Corporal. If you’d move Mrs. Alvarado over to the ladder, please? We get her all the way to the boats and I think we’re done.”

“Not before time, ma’am,” Derek said. “Sun’s going down.”

“And the zombies like the dark, no?” Estrada said. “Perhaps it is best to hurry.”