of course the bone-deep weariness we all carry from the struggle to survive on a constant basis. It brings a bleached out quality to the eyes that tells of having to endure stress over a long period. It’s the look of frontline veterans returning from a combat tour overseas and something I’ve observed in all of us. I also notice a splash of blood on her cheek which sparks additional concern.
“Yours or someone else’s?” I ask, nodding to her cheek as she stops in front of me.
“What?” Lynn asks, tilting her head.
“The extra bit of rouge on your cheek you managed to pick up,” I reply.
“Oh, someone else’s,” she says as she reaches to her cheek. She then wipes the spots of blood with her sleeve leaving a light red smear.
“Better?” She asks, finishing.
I look at the streaks and shake my head. “Yeah, um, much better,” I answer.
“Jack, you’re such a horrible liar,” Lynn says making another attempt which only makes it worse. I decide it’s in my best interest to not say anything else.
“So, what happened in there?” I ask, nodding toward the bodies covering the warehouse floor. Lynn proceeds to give me the cliff notes version of what happened.
“How was your little chat?” She asks, finishing.
“It was interesting and is bound to get even more so after this,” I answer.
I look over at the remaining sailors gathered together and nod for them to start heading back to their captain. They look plenty shaken but they start walking slowly, periodically looking over their shoulders at the building. Lynn directs several team members to head back inside to gather empty mags lying on the floor in the lit area. We then begin walking across the wide, empty lot and up the drive to the piers. Two firefights and it’s still morning. Yeah, it’s already been a long day and we still have a long night ahead of us. I’m quite ready to wake up from this nightmare.
“I can’t believe he sent his people in after what we told him,” Lynn says as we slowly make our way back.
“I’m not sure he understands the situation but I bet he’s ready to listen now,” I reply.
“He’d better. That’s all I have to say. That was not fun.”
“I’m just glad you’re okay,” I say, putting my arm around her and giving her a quick hug.
I leave Lynn and the other teams by the vehicles and walk down the dock toward where Captain Leonard and the others are still standing. The surviving members of his crew have just left his side and are making their way to the docked sub. I close up to where Bannerman, Frank, Leonard, and Krandle and his team are standing.
“I owe you my thanks, Captain Walker,” Leonard says. “My men briefed me on what happened inside. Their story seems a bit far-fetched and if I hadn’t been standing here myself, I wouldn’t have believed it. It still seems a little too unreal.”
“Believe me, captain, it was a lot for us to swallow in the beginning as well,” I reply. “I’m sorry for the people you lost.”
Leonard merely nods and turns to Krandle, “I owe you my apologies for doubting you as well, chief.”
“I’m not sure I still believe it myself, sir,” Krandle responds.
“I’m guessing you’re ready to listen now,” I say.
“I am, Captain Walker,” Leonard replies with a nod.
“Yeah, about that,” I say and proceed to tell our story.
Captain Leonard listens as I tell him about the happenings as far as we know leaving nothing out. He has a nod here and there along with several episodes where he tightens his eyes. I feel like I’m telling a children’s horror story as I listen to myself tell of the events of the past few months. It seems unreal to me as I tell it… and I lived it. I notice his lips tighten as I mention I was prior service and wasn’t in when it all went down but, to his credit, he doesn’t say anything. I mention our compound and our efforts to gather survivors and clear the area of night runners. After seeming to run my mouth for days on end, I finally bring him up to speed on where we stand now. I’m not usually much of a talker and I totally feel that I’ve used up my words for the next several months if not a year. I finish by inviting him and his crew to join us.
“I think that’s a great idea for us to join up. As far as I can tell, I’m now the base commander here. We can fortify this location and you can bring your people up. We can begin rebuilding here and can certainly use your expertise,” Leonard says.
“Oh boy, here we go,” I hear Bannerman mutter. I don’t think anyone else heard it but it was fairly clear to me.
“Captain, I know where you’re coming from but there isn’t any government anymore. That part of the world is gone,” I say.
“Captain Walker, I know you may be a civilian now but the others with you are still part of the government. We’re the government until we meet up with any still operating in an official capacity,” Leonard replies.
“Leonard,” I say purposely using his name rather than rank, “there aren’t any but small, scattered groups to ‘govern’.”
“Then we govern them. I’m the ranking officer at the moment and we’ll just have to keep the government alive in that manner,” he says.
“There… isn’t… any… government… to keep alive. We have opted to go with a functional command. You know, to have the best chance of survival. What you saw here,” I say sweeping my arm toward the warehouse, “doesn’t even come close to what is going on. These night runners are rampant and are as wily a foe as you can ever imagine. There are also bands of marauders about. Now, you are welcome to join us and of course we’d have you on the leadership team, but we have a harmony within our group that I won’t have messed with. Every day here is a fight for survival and we need the cohesiveness that we have in order to survive. I get where you’re coming from, truly I do, but right now we need to establish a safe haven and we can move onto other things once we have that.”
I notice Krandle give a slight nod at my little speech. I see Leonard’s jaws clench and the veins in his head begin to stand out. I’m quite sure he isn’t used to being talked to in this manner but to be honest, that’s not my concern. Frankly, I’m tired and this morning hasn’t improved my mood much. I understand his position and might act exactly as he is if our positions were reversed. It must be fucking confusing as hell to just walk into this situation. However, my main concern is for the people with us and I won’t sacrifice what we have for anything. It’s not that I even remotely think I’m the best for the job and will willingly follow anyone who has more experience. As a matter of fact, I’d welcome it with open arms but until that happens, this is where we are.
“Walker,” yeah, I notice his dropping the rank, “I plan to restock and head down the western seaboard and possibly to Hawaii to see the situation there. Know that this conversation isn’t over.”
“You can’t be planning to go back into the warehouse or any others, are you? You just lost seven out of the twelve men you sent in,” I say. I feel bad for even mentioning that but it’s necessary for him to actually understand the inherent danger that buildings present.
“We need to resupply,” he responds.
“Walk with me if you will,” I say.
“Where are we going?”
“You need to see firsthand what we are facing,” I say to which he gives a small nod.
We begin to walk down to the warehouse. I signal Lynn to bring Black and Red Teams with us. Krandle walks behind with his SEAL Team. Standing back from but close enough to see into the interior through the now wide open sliding doors, we see dozens of dead night runners lying across the gray floor.
“That, captain, is only some of what your men walked into. Lynn, how many would you say were inside?” I ask.
“That’s about a quarter of ‘em,” she answers. I hear Krandle give a low whistle.
Leonard looks on, turning his head left and right. I can almost hear the gears turning as he sees firsthand what I was talking about.
“And this is in every building?” He finally asks.
“No, not in every one. There is sometimes less, sometimes more, sometimes none at all. It all depends on how they group together and where they lair up. We haven’t found a trend as yet. But, yes, this is what we are facing,” I answer.
“Now, you can gather what you can as long as it’s in the light. And I mean daylight,” I continue.
