SURVIVORS OF THE DEAD: FROM THE ASHES (22 page)

Harry had removed his radio after they’d picked up Wanda and her granddaughter, as it had been cutting into his side. He didn’t remember seeing one on Derrick recently either. He walked back to the driver’s side door, motioning for Frank to open it again.

“Can we talk to the fireboat on our hand units?” Harry asked, indicating the portable radios they had brought from the police station.

“Sure, no problem. Give me a second and I’ll hand you one out,” Frank replied, closing the door once again.

Several seconds later, Frank cracked the door and handed Harry a hand radio. “You’re good to go. I programmed our handhelds with the fireboat frequency on Channel 3.”

“Thanks, kid,” Harry said as he accepted the hand-held radio, snapping it into place on the clip of his tactical belt. “Make sure you have one of these and hand me another for Derrick.”

Frank tapped his shoulder, indicting the mic attached to the shoulder epaulette of his jumpsuit. He then handed Harry another radio and closed the door. Harry walked over to Derrick to give him the unit, then continued to the opposite side of the truck closest to the water line.

Depressing the transmit button on his own shoulder mic attached to the radio, Harry said, “Phil, this is Harry, do you copy?”

“We’re here, Harry. Frank told me you were alright. We couldn’t see a thing through the water we were laying on you! Glad that’s over.”

“Yeah, it was intense,” Harry replied. “But we’re all good. Can you please have Jimi maneuver the fireboat to the other end of the harbor? I have no idea what we are going to find down there, but we should be ready for anything. And Phil, I really want to thank you guys for helping us!”

“No problem on both, Harry. We look forward to meeting you guys in person! We’ll get going now and see you on the other end.”

“Copy that, Phil. See you soon,” Harry said, and with that clipped the mic onto the tab of his jumpsuit.

“We have company, Harry,” Derrick said, gaining Harry’s immediate attention.

Harry glanced over to Derrick, then turned his gaze past him. There were a small group of forms emerging from the fog in front of the two men.

“POLICE, IDENTIFY YOURSELVES!” Harry shouted while bringing his rife into firing position. He could make out at least six people approaching. Or what he hoped were ‘people’.

There was no response from the group which was now only about twenty feet in front of him. Harry shouted again, “IF YOU DO NOT STOP AND IDENTIFY YOURSELVES WE WILL FIRE UPON YOU!”

Harry finally received a response to his demand. That all too familiar moaning. Except this time Harry was shocked to see two of the forms break into a run, arms outstretched and seemingly headed directly toward him. Harry fired his weapon into first one then the other runner, taking them down instantly. Derrick followed seconds later, firing into what remained of the group. Harry adjusted his position and added to Derrick’s fire and between the two of them the group was taken out within seconds.

“Well that was interesting. That’s the first time I’ve seen those things actually run. That explains why those folks on the boats didn’t try to come ashore. With the gate closed and locked, this would have made a fairly decent area to regroup. But with those things running around I get it now,” Derrick said from his position to the left of Harry while pointing to the bodies lying on the ground.

“I wondered the same thing when we first saw them. But if they don’t have weapons I can understand why they didn’t want to risk going hand-to-hand with those things. I’ve seen the infected move fairly quickly but not in a full-out run. That’s not good at all! Let’s do a sweep, get Frank and the ladies and get down to the boats,” Harry concluded, turning his attention to the fringes of the fog for further threats.

Harry and Derrick spent the next ten minutes or so checking for any infected that might have been in the area before or after they’d opened the gate. They did not feel it necessary to enter the few buildings that were on their side of the fence, the large structure housing the San Francisco Yacht Club being one of those. The men hoped that if there were any of the infected inside those few buildings, they did not have the ability to open doors, although they kept a wary eye out just in case.

Satisfied that the immediate area was secure, Harry and Derrick returned to the truck. Harry grew more concerned as he saw the number of infected that were gathering on the other side of the gate in front of the truck. He knew that sooner or later the sheer weight of all the bodies pressing against the fence would bring it down. He did not want to be there when that happened.

Harry pounded twice on the rear doors of the Bearcat and they almost immediately opened. Harry found himself looking straight into the business end of a shotgun, with Wanda on the other end.

She immediately raised the weapon and said, “Oh my God, Harry! I’m so sorry! I just wanted to make certain one of those things wasn’t ready to jump in!”

“Damn, I wish people would stop pointing guns at me!” Harry said, but took the bite out of the remark with a halfhearted smile.

“What do you mean by that?” Wanda asked, a bit confused.

“I’ll tell you later, Wanda,” Frank said
with a laugh from where he was standing behind her. It didn’t go unnoticed by Harry that Frank also had his Glock in hand. “Harry seems to attract a lot of suspicion lately.”

“Yeah, whatever, kid. You’re lucky there are ladies present!” Harry replied.

Harry jumped up into the truck and helped Frank gather up some supplies into two tactical bags that were empty, concentrating on ammunition, emergency ration energy bars, and a few bottles of water. He noticed a few wrappers from energy bars laying on the bench where Wanda and Nevaeh had been sitting, along with two empty bottles of water. Harry realized that he had eaten very little since leaving the apartment building. He actually could not remember the last time he’d eaten, and he was hungry.

“Frank, please toss me a couple of those energy bars and waters,” Harry asked.

Frank passed Harry the bars and water. Harry thanked him, then stepped back out of the truck and walked over to Derrick.

“You hungry?” Harry asked, handing him one of the brick-like bars that passed for emergency rations, along with a bottle of water.

“Now that you mention it, I could eat,” Derrick said as he readily accepted the food and water. “I think I can even eat this crap!”

Harry and Derrick ate in silence while continuing to scan the area for any unwelcome surprises. After consuming his bar in a couple of bites, Derrick commented, “That was extreme back there. You know we have all been damn lucky so far, right?”

Harry knew that Derrick was not just referring to their recent adventure, but to all of their experiences from the beginning of the insanity up to this point: each person starting out on their own, facing and overcoming their individual challenges, all of which had brought them together to this point in time – behind a flimsy wire-link fence that threatened to collapse at any moment.

“You’re right, my friend,” Harry replied, staring at the seemingly-pulsating mass of bodies that were packed around the fence and gate. “It seems as if we have definitely had luck on our side. It also feels as if I have been in the middle of this mess for months instead of just a couple of weeks.” Harry paused and looked at Derrick. “I’ll tell you something else that has been gnawing in the pit of my stomach. I think if we don’t get into open water soon that luck is going to give out.”

“I’ve had the same feeling for a few days myself, bro. But we’re almost there now,” Derrick replied as he tossed his wrapper and empty water bottle at a nearby trash can. He missed the wide opening on top of the can by at least a foot.

“I’m glad you shoot better than you play basketball!” Harry said with a laugh.

Derrick’s response was a single finger salute as he bent to pick up the trash, successfully getting it into the can on the second attempt. Harry followed suit with his empty wrapper and bottle. Old habits were hard to break, even in the middle of an apocalypse.

“Okay. Let’s get everybody gathered and head out. I hope that fence holds long enough for us to get the girls to safety, then come back for the rest of the supplies,” Harry said anxiously while adjusting the equipment he had strapped or clipped to his body.

“Let’s do it,” Derrick replied.

Walking the short distance back to the open rear doors of the truck, Harry got everyone’s attention, then motioned them out. “Let’s take a little stroll down the marina here and see when the next tour boat
departs, shall we?” He smiled, attempting to ease the concern that was evident on Wanda and Nevaeh’s faces. Not to mention the apprehension that had taken firm hold of his own emotions.

“We’re ready, Harry,” Wanda said, returning his smile and cradling the Mossberg across her arm like a professional hunter. Harry knew she was trying to convey confidence to Nevaeh but it also helped him a great deal as well.

Harry looked at each person for a moment. “We’re going to proceed to the end of the dock and try to make contact with those folks on the boats,” he finally said. “Frank, you and I will lead. Wanda, you and Nevaeh will follow us, and Derrick will take up the rear. Nevaeh, if anything happens I want you to crouch down right away, okay? Out of the line of fire.”

“I will,” Nevaeh replied softly, flashing a quick thumbs up. Harry winked at her, then turned his focus back to Wanda.

“You stay in the middle and try not to shoot me in the butt,” Harry said to Wanda with a lopsided grin. Although he hoped she knew he was quite serious in that request.

“I’ll do my best, but no promises,” Wanda replied, shaking her head and emitting a short laugh.

Harry then directed his attention to Frank and Derrick. “Speaking of butts, you guys watch your own. We don’t have a clue what we’re going to find up there. Procedures are out the window from this point on. We are not going to take any more risks than we have to. If something even looks like a threat we take it out. Understood gentlemen?”

“You know rank suits you quite well. You should have done this a long time ago!” Derrick replied in a comical manner, giving Harry a very sloppy salute.

Frank was attempting to stifle an outburst of laughter and waved a hand to indicate he had understood.

Harry glared at Derrick for a moment, then said, “Okay boys and girls, let’s go.”

With that the five headed east, walking slowly toward the end of the harbor and toward the access to the moored boats, Harry and Frank in the lead, the girls in the middle and Derrick bringing up the rear. Each of the adults kept their heads on a swivel watching for any threats, each thinking that a mass of infected was sure to burst from behind a door to engulf them. But nothing set upon them as they closed the last hundred yards toward the small, gated entrance that would take them into the dock proper where the boats were berthed.

They had only taken a few more steps when suddenly more forms emerged from the edge of the heavy fog. Frank and Harry immediately stopped and brought their ARs to shoulder. Derrick had also seen the shapes coming toward them and moved up to join Frank and Harry. Wanda maintained her position but turned to keep watch for anything that might appear from the rear.

30

Although Harry had said they were not going to take chances going forward, his conscience would not allow him to simply open fire. “POLICE, STOP!” he shouted.

The forms were a bit more distinct now as they got closer; at Harry’s words they immediately froze in their tracks. All three men breathed a sigh of relief but kept their fingers on triggers.

“DON’T SHOOT! WE’RE NOT ONE OF THOSE THINGS!” This came from a male voice in the group.

“I NEED YOU TO SLOWLY APPROACH WITH YOUR HANDS AWAY FROM YOUR BODY!” Harry shouted his command, then lowering his voice said to Frank and Derrick, “Watch them closely. They’ve been given their only chance here.”

Harry watched as four men approached, their features becoming clearer as they neared. He saw three younger men and one older. All four of the men had their hands up as they closed the distance.

“That’s far enough, gentlemen,” Harry ordered when the men were about ten feet in front of him.

The older man, a black male in his mid-to-late 60’s with thinning gray hair and neatly trimmed moustache, took in Harry, Derrick, and Frank. Almost as if he were inspecting them. Then addressing Derrick directly, he said, “I am glad to see you and your men, Sergeant.”

The man’s voice was not unfriendly but wasn’t overly hospitable, either. “I assume by the gunfire we heard that you removed that group of zombies, or whatever they are, that has been keeping us off the harbor. Those damn things are relentless. They hadn’t moved from the gangway entrance until they heard the brouhaha you and that fireboat created. No matter, damn glad to see you! My name is Cecil Fremont, Colonel U.S. Army retired.” Cecil had lowered his arms as soon as he began to speak, and stepped forward with his right hand extended to Derrick.

Frank and Harry had put their rifles at a low ready position as the colonel addressed them. Although appearing nonaggressive, the men could quickly bring the weapons back into firing position if things did not go well. The colonel gave them a glance, and Harry was certain that the message had been delivered quite clearly.