02 Flotilla of the Dead (33 page)

            “And, because the roads are impassable and unsafe on the mainland, I have asked the mayor to create additional safe havens near rail lines, so we can bring supplies to survivors using the freight trains and containers full of food that we have secured at the ports.  I am confident that he will be announcing the locations of those new safe havens soon and I would like to encourage any survivors on the mainland who can reach them to do so as soon as they are established.  We can’t help people unless we can get to them and we don’t have the resources to come and find them either.”  The people in the Ballroom looked slightly confused by this statement because they were not aware that Scott was addressing a much larger television audience.

            “But there is good news for everyone here on Catalina.  First, we have brought plenty of food, fuel and other supplies to keep everyone here alive and healthy.  Secondly, we can offer safe haven harbors to any boats that want to cross the channel to Terminal Island or the Port of Long Beach.  We have even restarted the power station on Terminal Island and we can provide shore power to any boats that come there.  But we have a lot of work to do there too, if we have any hope of helping the rest of the survivors in LA, and we need people like you to help us do it.”    There were shouts of support from Boat People who were anxious to return to any safe haven on the mainland, especially one that could provide food and electricity. 

            “That’s right, I need your help too.  And that’s really the theme of my message to all of you tonight.    We can no longer rely on the government alone to keep order and help us when we need it the most.  We have to look out for one another and help each other, if we want to have any hope of restoring the civilization that was taken away from us twelve days ago. 

            “The world has changed.  There are zombies hunting people on the streets.  Those of us left alive are torn between an instinct to run and hide and an obligation to come together, to fight back, to pursue the goal of restoring what we have lost.   The Survival Flotilla is dedicated to the latter path.  Just as our great nation was founded on the principle of E Pluribus Unum,
from many one
, so too will the members of the Flotilla join to form a power that is greater than any scattered groups of survivors could hope to generate alone.”   Another round of applause made him pause.

            “Yes, we’re all Americans.  We all pledge allegiance to the American flag and the country for which it stands, but the USA is bleeding now and it needs all of us to stand up and fight for our own rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.   My mission, the mission of the Flotilla, is to establish safe havens along the coast where survivors can come to join us and enjoy those rights, while they help us fight to defend them and to restore our nation to greatness.  You
are
those survivors!  You
are
that nation!  Will you join me in that mission?”   The audience erupted into cheers of support and applause as Scott paused to gage their reaction.  They were his.  It took almost a minute to quiet them down again.

            “Restoring our civilization will not be an easy task,” Scott resumed. “Nor will it come without hard choices and sacrifices.  We will have to face more than the walking dead.  We will also have to confront and punish those among the living who have abandoned civilized ways and committed crimes against the innocent.”  There were cheers and grim sounds of confirmation from the crowd. 

Scott continued, “Today, as many of you are aware, we liberated the town of Avalon from a gang of armed thugs who had killed the local law enforcement officers and seized control of the limited food supplies here.  Fifty of these criminals have been detained and face charges of murder, assault, rape, and looting.  They will stand trial before you and, if found guilty, their sentence will be determined by Coast Guard Captain McCloud under the rules of martial law.” More cheers erupted as Scott paused for effect.

“But they will not stand trial alone,” he continued.  “As Captain McCloud will explain, he has relieved the local Coast Guard commander from his post and charged him with dereliction of duty.  His failure to act in defense of the people on Catalina Island, and to provide aid to those in danger on the ships anchored offshore, resulted in numerous deaths and other crimes.  As such, Commander Fowler, will also face a Court Martial before the ranking Coast Guard officers here.”  The cheers and applause were deafening. 

*****

              Marty Larson was busy mixing the camera feeds, providing the best scenes to accompany the commodore’s speech.  As Scott spoke the screen switched from views of the commodore speaking in the ballroom to a live shot from the helicopter showing the ships anchored off Avalon in the fading orange twilight of dusk.  Marty used his remote control to zoom in on the Coast Guard Cutter Stratton and the American flag flying from her mast.  Then he transitioned back to the cheering crowd in the ballroom and added a split screen showing the same reaction from the people in the theater bellow the ballroom as they watched Scott, larger than life on the video projector.  Then he switched to a quick view of thousands of people standing outside the Avalon Casino, also cheering, followed by another shot from the helicopter that panned across the thousands of boats crowding Avalon harbor and zoomed in on the Casino again.  Marty was grinning as he confirmed that GNN was broadcasting his feed without edits or distracting commentary. 

*****

            Scott waited for the crowd to calm down before continuing, “Soon you will hear details about our plans to help the people of Catalina and all of the Boat People who came here, but first I want to introduce you to a good friend of mine who recently risked his life to secure the port full of provisions that we intend to share with you.”  Scott motioned to Clint who stood to receive thundering applause.  The applause began to fade as Clint waved his right hand and raised his bandaged left stump.   

“That’s right,” Scott picked up on the crowd’s emotions.  “My friend, Clint, almost lost his life in a zombie attack.  He was actually bitten on his forearm.”  There was a hushed sound of revulsion and thinly disguised fear at that.  “But I amputated his arm within a few minutes and, two days later, he was declared free of infection by our doctor.”  The reaction of the crowd was phenomenal and it took close to 30 seconds to quiet them.

“Yes, Clint is as much of a symbol of hope as the existence of the Survival Flotilla.  I wanted to you to see him tonight and understand that this disease can be beaten.  The cost might be high, as high as the loss of an arm, but the lesson is that you should never stop trying to beat it.  Some people told me, even Clint himself and my own son told me, that I should just shoot him in the head when he was bitten.  However, I’m not a quitter.  I applied a tourniquet and used a saw to amputate his arm at the elbow.”  There was a hushed and expectant silence until Scott said, “He lives!  And so shall we!”  The applause this time went on and on.

*****

 Marty watched closely as Scott waved to the crowd, then to the camera, before reaching for his bottle of water on the podium.  That was his signal to cut the simulcast beyond the Flotilla and the low power local TV transmission.  There was no need to broadcast the details of the plan that the commodore was about to present to his new followers.  The real message had already been delivered to the world.  The live broadcast ended when Marty faded away from the Scott and switched to a live feed from the helicopter that widened from being zoomed in on the Avalon Casino to include the brightly lit
Sovereign Spirit
.  That screen shot would become an iconic symbol of hope in the days and weeks to come.

*****

            Scott was in high spirits as they returned to the ship.  Michelle shared his mood as she gazed upon the boats that filled the small bay past capacity.  They seemed almost as numerous as the stars filling the clear skies.  She realized now that most of these boats would be following her husband, Commodore Allen, in his self-appointed mission to create safe havens up and down the coast of California.  She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that plan.  In fact she wanted nothing more than for Scott to sail away from the zombie infested mainland and find some isolated desert island where their family would be totally safe, but she knew that Scott would never set such a course.  That was one of the reasons she loved him as much as she did.

            After the staged and televised portion of Scott’s speech ended he had introduced all of the other members of the delegation from the Flotilla, starting with Clint.  Some of the people on Catalina might not really understand the implications of someone surviving a zombie bite.  Most of the locals had never even seen a zombie, aside from a few hours of TV before the power went out twelve days ago.  But many of the Boat People had fought their way out of LA on Z-Day, or had watched the graphic and terrifying news on satellite TV aboard their boats.    They realized how amazing it was that Clint had not turned into a zombie.  Scott built upon that amazement to solidify his leadership.  His description of the amputation had enthralled the audience and Clint had added a lighter tone by waving his stump and saying that he never thought he would be thanking someone for cutting off his arm.  

            Captain McCloud was introduced next and apologized for the inaction of the local Coast Guard units since Z-Day, explaining that he had assumed command to ensure that henceforth the Coast Guard would perform its humanitarian and law enforcement duties to the best of their ability.  Sergeant Major O’Hara stood up next and explained that his Marines had been detached to operate under Commander Allen’s orders in defense of the Flotilla and that the Navy and Marine Corps supported Scott’s efforts to organize the defense of survivors along the California coast.  The crowd seemed encouraged and reassured by these announcements from recognizable authority figures.

            Captain Fisher offered a brief and vague, but nonetheless impressive, description of the capabilities of the
Sovereign Spirit
, describing her as the Flotilla Flagship.  Then Captain Knight had captivated the crowd with his description and history of the
Odyssey LP.
  He received a standing ovation when he explained that his ship would serve as an offshore replenishment station for boats remaining at Avalon and Two Harbors until she was needed to establish or support other safe havens along the coast.  Captain Kim and Captain Mathews were introduced together and Mathews did most of the talking as he explained that the
Lane Victory
, an old WWII Victory Ship, would be dedicated to resupply Avalon, while the
Traveling Trader
would start with missions of mercy and transition into a mobile marketplace based on barter and trade between all of the coastal safe havens.  These announcements were also greeted with resounding approval by the audience. 

By the end of the meeting it was clear that at least half of the Boat People at Avalon would be happy to return with the Flotilla Task Force to Terminal Island and virtually everyone wanted to join the Flotilla in return for the supplies and protection they were offered.   Most people left that meeting with renewed hope and a measure of confidence that had been woefully absent since Z-Day.   Michelle couldn’t help feeling proud of Scott as they returned to the
Sovereign Spirit.
  Attending the meeting and seeing thousands of uninfected people had been therapeutic.  She felt a slight lessening of the ever present fear that had formed knots in her stomach for the past twelve days and she could almost convince herself that life might get back to something approaching normal soon. 

*****

Interlude on Hell

Chevron Refinery: 6:45 AM, April 13, 2012

Carl had been ecstatic after he listened to Commodore Allen’s live speech from Catalina on GNN the previous night.  It not only reinforced his own decision to take The Convoy down to the new Safe Haven.  It also convinced everyone else that Carl’s plan was their best option.  Seeing thousands of people gathered together in peace and apparent safety, even if they were all out on Catalina Island, gave everyone who saw it some hope that a return to something approaching normal life was possible.  After the show was over it was almost like a party.  Everyone came out of their RVs and sat around bonfires, talking about the chance to start new lives with the commodore’s survival flotilla. 

The refinery workers were almost as excited as the other refugees.  Their conversations focused on the resources in the ports and the oil refineries that were down there.  They exchanged ideas on how they could contribute to a recovery if they had access to fueling stations and tank farms with electrical power.  They talked about being part of a productive community with a mission to help others.  In short, they sounded like human beings again.

Carl had made his rounds of the survivors, boosting their spirits and resolve, telling them how pleased he was that they agreed with his idea to relocate, and encouraging them to prepare for an early departure.  As far as he was concerned they were ready to move now. The big rig was fully packed with survival gear from the Big 5 warehouse.  The RVs were all gassed up and zombie-proofed.  The new fire truck had been transformed into a zombie defense vehicle.  The water truck had also been modified to defend the convoy.  In addition, Carl had suggested that two empty big rig oil tankers be zombie-proofed and filled with water to be used by fire trucks. From what Carl could see, every vehicle in the convoy was now ready for action and he made the decision to make the move the following day.

Shortly after sunrise Carl was up and busy preparing for departure.  He began by moving his Suburban to what would be the head of the convoy.  The big Cat would join him on point with the Panther fire truck close behind and a tanker filled with extra water following it.  A tow truck with a powerful winch was also near the front of the convoy to assist the earthmover in clearing the roads.  The RVs would follow next in line, along with the tractor-trailer full of provisions and the zombie-proof shuttle bus.  There was a larger possibility of picking up survivors on this trip, so a second, slightly larger tour bus was added to the convoy, though there had been no time to build a cage for the driver.  Near the rear of the convoy there was a utility truck, driven by a mechanic and armed guard, ready to deal with breakdowns.  Then the second big water tanker and the fire truck that Carl had brought back.  It’s water cannon would cover the rear and hoses could be linked to water taker, whenever they stopped.