The Last Days (3 page)

Chapter 3

The Cumberland eased off the throttles as the two Chinese fishing boats came into view.

“Battle stations sounded throughout the ship. Sailors rushed to their assigned posts. Weapons were brought to bear on the two dilapidated fishing boats as the F-18 circled above guarding the airspace.

Men in the command center scrutinized their screens looking for any hidden threats that might be lurking in the area, waiting to ambush the ship while it was occupied with the fishing boats.

“Sit Rep!” commanded the Captain.

“All clear Sir!” came the reply. “Nothing moving anywhere, those two boats are all that is in the area.”

“Confirmed Sir!” another voice sounded. “Area is clear.”

“Jamison, front and center.” The Captain barked. “You’re our Chinses interpreter. Tell those people to turn those shit for boats around and go back towards the mainland.”

“Yes Sir!” Jamison responded as he picked up the mic that would broadcast his voice over the ships outside speakers. He started talking in Chinese.

The Captain held his binoculars up to his face as he studied the boats off the port side of the ship.

“They aren’t leaving Jamison. Are you sure you are using the correct dialect. Try something else, Mandarin or something.” The Captain said without lowering the binoculars.

Jamison spoke into the mic again as the Captain watched the boats.

“Jamison, are you sure you are speaking Chinese? “ The Captain laughed.

“Yes Sir! I’ve tried a couple different dialects. No matter what dialect they speak, they had to have gotten the message.” Jamison replied.

“Captain, look at this.” One of the men at the console said as he zoomed the ships cameras in on the closest boat.

The boat grew larger on the screen.

“There is blood everywhere. Something happened on that boat. There are about a dozen people lying on the deck. They look like they are dead or at least unconscious. I think they might need help. They may not be able to turn the boat around on their own.”

“Davis, take six armed men, take Jamison and board that boat and see what the hell is going on. The rest of you keep alert. This could be a set up. Be ready to unleash all hell if they try anything.”  The Captain ordered. “Helm, hold us here. Jamison, take the skimmer out to that boat. I don’t want to get any closer to those things until I know what they are up to.”

Jamison followed Davis out to the armed men waiting in the skimmer. As soon as Jamison was in the skimmer, it was lowered down into the water. After unhooking the cables, the engines started and the skimmer made its way out towards the fishing boat that floated aimlessly in the rising and falling swells.

Jamison turned and looked at Davis. “Keep alert. I don’t like this. Something about this isn’t right.”

Davis laughed. “Just stay behind me until we clear the deck. If there is something not right, we have enough firepower to handle it.”

Jamison laughed. “There is also something about all these men with large guns and sharp objects in a rubber boat that doesn’t make me feel too confident. We could be in trouble if anyone in that fishing boat drops a fishing hook in here.”

Davis laughed. “It would take more than a few fishing hooks to sink the skimmer.”

Jamison pushed his finger into the side of the boat and watched as rubber pushed inward. “If you say so?”

Davis smiled. “You can swim? Right?”

Jamison ignored Davis as he studied the fishing boat they were rapidly approaching.

The skimmer bumped against the side of the fishing boat as the sailor guiding the skimmer cut the engines.

Davis tossed a boarding net up over the sides and three men quickly climbed up to the deck of the fishing boat and secured the deck for the rest of the boarding party.

When Davis and Jamison climbed on board, the other members of their party were standing in a semicircle on the deck with their weapons out in front of them as they scanned the boat for threats.

The boat was small, only about forty feet long. One small cabin area rose up out of the center of the boat. The deck was covered with smeared blood. Ten mangled bloody bodies laid motionless across the deck. The sound of movement could be heard below deck.

“What the hell happened here?” Jamison said as he looked at the condition of the bloody boat.

Davis shouted. “Roberts starboard, Tomson Port. The rest of you with me. We are going to clear the cabin to see what is below. Jamison, stay behind us. We might need you to talk to any survivors down there.”

Davis moved slowly towards the cabin door and the sounds coming from below. Two men flanked his left and the other two men flanked his right side. Jamison followed in the center of the formation and listened, trying to make sense of the sounds coming from below.

Davis approached the cabin door. He made eye contact with the men on both side of him.

They all nodded at him as he reached for the door.

Davis threw the door open. It gave off a loud banging sound as it swung open and slammed into the side of the cabin.

In the dark cabin below, dimly lit by the light coming in through the open door, they could see a dozen dark faces in the shadows tilted up looking out at them.

A chorus of guttural sounds started to rise up out of the cabin.

“Jamison?” Davis shouted over his shoulder. “What the hell are these people saying?”

“Damn if I know.” Jamison replied. “It doesn’t sound like any Chinese dialect I’ve ever heard before.”

“Well tell them we are here to help them before they shit themselves!” Davis shouted.

Jamison started talking.

“I don’t think they understood a word you said.” Davis yelled. “Let’s get them out of there. Maybe they aren’t even Chinese. You know sign language Jamison?”

Davis moved closer to the open doorway. Suddenly one of the staring dark faces jumped out at him and clamped its teeth onto his arm.

“God damn it!” Davis yelled as he slammed his rifle barrel into the person’s head, then knocked him back down into the cabin. “That son of a bitch bit me!”

Davis shook his arm, trying to shake away the pain.

“What the hell are you laughing at Carlson?”

Seaman Carlson looked at Davis. “I have spent the better part of the year watching for the Chinese to shoot at me, drop a bomb on me or fire a missile at me. It never crossed my mind I needed to worry about them biting me.” Carlson laughed.

“If one of these bastards bites you, let’s see how funny you think it is.” Davis grumbled as he tried to stop the bleeding by pulling his sleeve over the wound.

“Did you see what that guy looked like?” Jamison asked as the others stared at him. “The poor bastard looked half dead. His eyes looked like he was half out of his mind.”

“I think the son of a bitch was totally out of his mind!” Davis grumbled.

Carlson laughed again, but quickly stopped and started swearing as another person lunged out of the cabin and sunk his teeth into his shoulder.

Davis grabbed the man, jerking him away from Carlson and pushed him back down into the cabin. He grabbed the door and slammed it shut.

“Not so funny now is it Carlson.” Davis shouted as he watched the blood flow from Carlson’s wound, spreading across his back and down his arm.

“What the hell is it with these people?” Carlson said as he strained to twist his body so he could get a better look at his shoulder.

Davis grabbed the mic attached to his collar. “Scout to mother. Come in mother.”

The Captain of the Cumberland lifted his mic. “This is mother. What’s your situation scout?”

“We found ten dead on deck. There are about a dozen more below deck. They are alive but I think they are all crazy. Cap they bit me and Carlson.”

“Say again scout. They did what?”

“A couple of these crazy bastards bit me and Carlson. It hurts like hell Cap. Instructions?” Davis said.

“Stand by scout.” The Captain said.

“Will do.” Davis replied as he rolled his eyes as he looked back at Jamison.

“What are you laughing at XO?” The Captain of the Cumberland said.

“Nothing Sir!” the XO replied trying to force the smile from his face.

A smile spread across the Captain’s face as laughter sounded from all areas of the bridge.

The Captain picked up his secure phone line to the Ronald Regan. He waited a moment then spoke. “Captain. We boarded the first fishing boat as ordered.”

“What did you find?” The Captain of the Ronald Regan asked.

“Ten dead. The deck is covered in blood. I don’t know what the hell happened out there.” The Captain of the Cumberland replied.

“Any survivors?”

“The away team said there are about a dozen survivors below deck, but they think they have all gone crazy or something. Two of my men reported that they have been bitten by the survivors. You want us to put a bag over their heads and bring them back to the Cumberland for treatment?”

Tom Bolten, the Captain of the Ronald Regan sank back in his chair. He didn’t want to believe what he had just heard. From his briefing with the Pentagon, he realized what he had feared could happen, was happening. Not only was his ship in jeopardy, now the Cumberland had been infected.

He knew the Cumberland could not bring any of the survivors aboard and have any chance of surviving themselves. If in fact the people the Cumberland had found were indeed survivors.

He wanted to tell the Cumberland to leave their away team on the Chinese fishing boat and get the hell out of there. It was the only sure way for the Cumberland to survive. But that went against everything the U.S. military stood for. Their creed was that they would never leave anyone behind. He knew this was one time they should leave someone behind.

He pulled the phone closer to his lips. “Negative Cumberland. Listen carefully. China has had an outbreak of a deadly virus. So far there is no known cure. I fear those people are beyond our help. Get your men off that boat now. I’ll notify the Chinese authorities what we found. They can handle this. The only way we can be sure the virus won’t spread to the Cumberland is for you to leave the away team on that boat and get the hell out of there. But I know that is not something either you or I can do. So get those men back to the Cumberland and put them into isolation. No one can have contact with them for seventy-two hours. Understand Captain.  That is an order you cannot afford to question” Tom Bolten said slowly.

“Understood.” The voice from the Cumberland replied sounding confused.

“I want an update on their condition every eight hours. Good luck Captain.”

The Captain of the Cumberland stood stunned as he listened to the phone go dead in his ears.

He had not been in on the briefing with the Pentagon. The fewer people that knew what was going on with China, the better. This was the first the Captain of the Cumberland had heard about a situation in China.

The fact that command would even mentioned the possibility that it would think about leaving his men behind and abandoned scared the hell out of him. There was more going on than he was being told. That was life in the Navy. He accepted the fact he was only told what the Navy felt he needed to know.

He couldn’t help but feel he was not being told something that he really should know about.

But now he had a ship to worry about. He hung up the phone and picked up the mic. “Scout, reply!”

Davis punched his mic as his body began to sweat. He shivered all over despite the warm wind blowing in off the South China Sea.

“Scout here.”

“Scout, get your team off that boat and return to base. The Chinese will pick up the survivors. Confirm.”

“Confirmed.” Davis said as he let the mic fall back against his uniform. Sweat dripped into his eyes. He used his sleeve to wipe at his eyes to clear his vision.

“OK, let’s go home.” Davis said as he glanced around at his team.

There were no complaints from anyone except for the loud unintelligible sounds that came from the cabin.

They all started for the side of the boat to climb the netting back to the skimmer.

Everyone except for Carlson. He just stood and stared at the cabin door.

“Carlson. Move your ass!” Davis yelled.

Carlson slowly moved his head and looked at Davis.

“You OK Carlson?” Davis asked.

“I don’t know.” Carlson replied, his speech slurred. “I feel weird.”

“Tell me about it.” Davis replied. “Get in the skimmer. You can go see the doc when we get back.”

Carlson staggered as he shuffled his feet, following the others to get back on the skimmer so they could go back to the Cumberland.

Lieutenant Paulson climbed down the ladder and hopped off the last rung, landing in the passage way that would take him back to the sick bay.