To Sail a Darkling Sea

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… ”