“Billy?” said Justin. “You know that the CDC posted a zombie survival guide?”
“Yeah, you mentioned it yesterday,” answered Billy, who was busy sending instant messages on his own computer terminal. “It was a joke, wasn’t it?”
“Maybe, but it’s not so funny now. Do you think they knew this was coming?”
“Anything is possible, I suppose,” replied Billy. “But I doubt anyone thought this was coming. Still, you should probably save and print whatever you find. There might be something useful in it.”
Billy returned to his Facebook page and decided to try another message to his friends in Malibu:
Billy Allen: Is coming. Try not to attract any attention and be prepared to defend yourselves. If Facebook and Gmail go down, but you still have access to the internet, you might be able to contact us through sovereignspirit.net. That’s this ship’s private web server and it is linked to the internet by satellite. Hang in there. We just left Cabo and should get to Malibu within a week or so. Keep your heads down and your chins up. Help is on the way.
Billy posted his message and turned to look at his friends. Mitch and Justin were busy surfing the web. Beth looked like she was taking a nap on the couch next to the espresso bar. Jake Argus, Mark’s teenage son, had entered the room quietly. He was leafing through a book he had brought with him.
“Hi, Jake,” said Billy. “What’s up?”
“Not much,” the teenager replied. “I’m just looking at this book my dad gave me. It’s called the Zombie Survival Guide. He says it has a lot of stuff that we might need to know now.”
“Great book,” said Justin. “I didn’t know we had a copy aboard. We should make that mandatory reading.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Billy replied. “You learning anything from it, Jake?”
“Sure, man. But the zombies they talk about are a little different than the ones on the news now.”
“What do you mean?” asked Mitch, who had turned to join the conversation.
“Well,” Jake replied, “the ones in the book are slow and stupid. I don’t know if the real ones are stupid, or not, but they sure aren’t slow. I’ve seen them on TV and my dad was on the helicopter that went to Cabo. He says they move fast. I sure wish I had my Tommy gun.”
“Your what?” asked Justin.
“My Thompson. My dad gave it to me a few years ago. It’s a 45 caliber submachine gun like they carried in World War Two. There’s even a video of me shooting it on YouTube. I could blow a bunch of zombies away with that baby.”
“Sure, buddy,” smiled Justin. “And I wish I had a flame thrower.”
“I’m not sure how well that would work,” Jake said seriously. “If they don’t feel pain they could just keep coming at you through the flames. But we might have one of those aboard, and a Thompson too, you know?”
“What?” Billy asked in surprise. “No, I don’t know. What are you talking about?”
Jake paused. “Oh, your dad didn’t tell you? Well, my dad brought a bunch of weapons aboard when your dad picked us up in Honduras last year. Your dad has them hidden somewhere in this ship. They were supposed to be used to defend us from pirates on our voyage around the world. But now we can use them against the zombies, right?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Billy said, exchanging glances with Mitch and Justin. Billy hadn’t known about the arms caches. He had been at Cal Tech when the ship stopped in Honduras last year to pick up Jake and his father, Mark. Billy only got to spend vacations on the ship, until he and Mitch had taken a quarter off to meet the Sovereign Spirit in Australia and cruise back across the Pacific. In fact, he was supposed to have flown back from Cabo to start the Spring quarter today. But he wasn’t surprised that his dad hadn’t told him about the weapons. He was a little surprised that Jake knew about them, until he remembered that Jake had already gone through paratrooper jump training before graduating high school. Mark had raised his son a little differently than Billy’s dad had raised him.
“What kind of weapons?” Justin asked suspiciously.
“Oh, all kinds,” Jake answered smoothly. “Assault rifles, machine guns, sniper rifles, grenades and grenade launchers, a few LAW rocket launchers, plastic explosives, you name it. Maybe even a flame thrower. I don’t know exactly. You can buy anything for a price in Honduras, and I guess your dad forked out quite a bit for that stuff. It filled up the whole truck that we brought aboard in San Pedro Sula. I never saw where it went after that.”
“Cool,” said Billy. “That could come in handy. And so will that book. Keep reading it and let us take a look at it when you’re finished, okay?”
“Sure,” Jake said agreeably and went back to skimming the pages in front of him.
Billy turned to Mitch. “I think it’s time that I had a talk with my dad.”
*****
Scott was staring out over the open sea as the moon rose above the other side of the ship. The Sovereign Spirit cast a long moon shadow over the dark sea, but there were glimmers of reflected moonlight flickering on the waves near the horizon and the whitewater of the ship’s wake added blue-green phosphorescence to the foreground of his view. It reminded Scott of an ominous scene in a horror movie, but perhaps that was because he was actually living one. It was almost a relief when Captain Fisher handed him the telephone.
“Dr. Frost? This is Scott Allen aboard the Sovereign Spirit. We’re all hoping that the CDC can find a cure to this horrible plague, and I understand that you have a mission for us that might help you accomplish that.”
“Yes, Mr. Allen, or is it commodore?”
“That’s debatable,” said Scott. “I’m leading a flotilla of survivors north towards San Diego from Cabo San Lucas, but nobody has officially made me a commodore, sir. I just want to get everyone on this ship, and the boats following us, to someplace safe, but we’re all willing to do whatever we can to help you find a cure.”
“Well, I don’t expect you to find a cure,” Dr. Frost said, “but I will ask you to find a scientist that could help point us in that direction. His last known position was in Malibu and I understand that you have a home there. Is that correct?”
“Yes, sir,” replied Scott. “And we are planning to take this ship there eventually.”
“Eventually might not be soon enough, Mr. Allen,” said Dr. Frost crisply. “We have reason to believe that there are some important researchers trapped inside of a lab in Malibu Canyon. The local authorities seem to have lost all control of the area and are not responding to our requests for priority extraction. Unfortunately, the military commands that we are still in contact with also seem to have their own priorities and limited assets. Your ship might be the best chance we have to conduct a rescue.”
This response stunned Scott more than almost anything else he had experienced that day. “Is the situation really that desperate already?” he asked.
“You are not our only hope,” replied Dr. Frost, “but you seem like a good bet to me. As I understand it, you and your people have been isolated from the infection. You have a ship with long endurance, sophisticated lab equipment, and the ability to conduct recovery operations by sea, land, and air. Is that correct?”
“Yes, sir,” Scott said, “we do, but we are still a thousand miles away from Malibu.”
“I understand that, Mr. Allen,” said Dr. Frost. “But you are headed there?”
“Yes, sir, we are.”
“In that case I can only repeat my request for your assistance as soon as possible. An extraction operation might not be necessary by the time you arrive, but considering how quickly everything else has disintegrated, I think it prudent to enlist your service.” Dr. Frost sounded sincere, but his troubled tone set off some of Scott’s mental alarm bells.
“I don’t have as much information as you do, Dr. Frost, but if you are betting on us to deliver any vital information or people from Malibu, then the situation must be much worse than the TV news is describing. And, if that’s true, you can rest assured
that you have just lit a fire under my butt that will take us to Malibu as soon as possible.”
*****
Scott was in deep discussion with Captain Fisher on the bridge when a crewman came to inform him that his son, Billy, was waiting to see him. He took a moment to calm down, and realized that he was blessed to have his family safely aboard the Sovereign Spirit. The situation could have been very different. He excused himself and went down to the library where the crewman said Billy was waiting.
The library was a beautiful room with mahogany bookcases on every wall and rolling ladders to reach the thousands of books shelved on them. A conference table with cushioned chairs occupied one half of the room. A couch, coffee table and two reclining chairs under chandeliers that swayed with the rolling swells furnished the other half in a casual style of elegance. Billy was up on a ladder when Scott came in. Billy grinned and came down with a book in his hand.
“Hi, Dad,” he said shyly. “I know you’re busy and a lot is happening, but I wanted to talk to you about a few things.”
“No problem, son,” Scott said with genuine feeling. “I’ll always make time for you, buddy. This whole thing is crazy, but it’s real. I just thank God that you and your Mom are here and safe. I don’t know what I would do if you were back at school in the middle of this nightmare. By the way, do you have any news from your friends?”
“Well, Dad,” Billy replied, “actually, I do. I read some messages on the internet that make me think that most of my friends at school are already dead.”
“Oh no! Thank God you’re here,” said Scott. “Are you sure they’re gone?”
“Not absolutely sure, but it doesn’t sound good.”
“This is a horrible time, son. And there’s not a lot we can do about it either. I wish there were. We can only be thankful that we are safe on this ship. There are a lot of worse places to be.”
“Yeah, well,” Billy said with a slight hesitation, “that’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about; about doing something to help some of my friends who are in a worse place than we are. I think we can help them, if you let us.”
“Who do you want to rescue?”
“My friends in Malibu – Amanda, Brad, David, Shawn, lots of them! They’re all holding out at Brad’s house on Sweetwater Mesa. We’ve got to save them, Dad!” Billy’s voice rose and his anxiety showed through his façade of calm. “I already told them that we were coming to rescue them with a ship and a helicopter. Please, Dad, can we do that?”
“Well,” Scott paused for a moment to consider the prospects. “Yeah, son, we can certainly try. I’ve been thinking about doing something to help save more people. I’d like to start with our friends, if we can. I’ve already made the same type of promise to rescue some people in Malibu. We certainly have plenty of room here for your friends too.”
“Great!” Billy exclaimed. “And I know about the weapons too. Mark told Jake and he told us. So, what have you got?” Billy was ginning now.
“Damn,” said Scott with a sternness belied by his smile. “So much for secrets on this ship! Yes, son, we do have quite a few weapons stashed away. We’ll probably be pulling some of them out soon. And you’re certainly old enough to use one. In fact, considering what’s happening in the world today, you better get used to carrying a gun on a regular basis. I’ll see that you and your friends here get hand guns and start practicing with them tomorrow. You can start practicing with rifles too. I think I’ve got an extra AR-15 with your name on it, as soon as you prove that you can use it responsibly. As for the rest, let me try to keep a few secrets a little longer, okay?”
“Sure, Dad,” Billy answered with an even bigger smile. “I knew I could count on you.”
Scott stepped forward and hugged his son, thanking his lucky stars that they were safe and together on this day of horror. He glanced down and asked, “What book did you choose, son?”
“World War Z,” replied Billy. “I know it was one of your favorites, but I never read it. I guess now is a good time to check it out.”
“It’s a good book. I hope you like it. I just hope that our zombie war isn’t quite as bad as the one described in that book. Be sure to read all of it though. You’ll see that there is some hope, even in a world like this. We can wake up from this nightmare, but only after we fight our way through it. I know you planned on a nice safe life working on computers or running a company, but life doesn’t always turn out the way you plan it. The important thing to remember is that we have to make the best of the cards we get dealt. Just remember that you can win with a bluff as well as a full house, once you learn how to play the game.”
*****
George Hammer was dead tired as he steered the Expiscator through the relatively calm waters inside the wake of the Sovereign Spirit. The big ship left a glowing phosphorescent trail, just like a highway, that George and the other boats behind him could easily follow even in the dead of night. It was a beautiful and seemingly peaceful seascape that George beheld as he led the ragtag flotilla north, but his thoughts were full of the horrors he had witnessed in Cabo.
The television coverage had been unbelievable, more like a science fiction movie of the type that George detested, but coming face to face with actual zombies had nearly sent him off the deep end and into a spiral towards madness. The worst memory that kept replaying in his mind was the look on the face of his son-in-law as George sent a .357 hollow point through his brain. George never could have imagined himself doing that until he was faced with this new and deadly world full of zombies.
He was replaying that scene once again, trying to think of any other option that he missed, when he heard someone enter the bridge behind him. His newly awakened survival instincts made his head jerk around to check for any threat, but he relaxed when he saw that it was the woman he had rescued on the road in Pedregal.
“Hello, Carla,” George said. “Can I help you?”
“You’ve already helped me, George,” she replied with a smile. “I just wanted to see if there is anything I can do to help you.” She was dressed in an outfit that must belong to Scott’s wife, Michelle, and would have been hanging in the closet of the master bedroom. It complemented her shapely figure. George tried not to read anything into her offer.
“I’m fine, thank you,” George assured her. “I’m just winding down from all of the excitement today. This situation takes a lot of getting used to. It still doesn’t seem real.”
“I know how you feel, George,” said Carla, crossing the bridge to stand beside him. “I think it isn’t real,” she whispered in a conspiratorial tone.
“What do you mean?” George asked quizzically.
“I mean this is all so crazy that maybe it’s all just a bad dream,” Carla said absently. “It can’t be real, can it?”
George didn’t know how to respond to that, so he simply shook his head and stared out to sea. He nearly jumped a moment later when Carla placed her hand on his thigh and slid it up to his crotch.
“Hey now,” he gasped. “What are you doing?”
“Trying to help you,” said Carla in a seductive voice. “I want to thank you for saving me today. And I want to make you feel better too.”
“Stop that,” said George as his penis began to harden. “I’m a married man.”
“I was a married woman,” whispered Carla as she pressed her body against him. “But nothing matters anymore. We’re alone in the middle of the ocean. It’s the end of the world. Nothing makes sense. Nothing matters. It isn’t even real. If this is a dream, help me make it a good one.” She continued to rub his swollen member as she breathed into his ear and started kissing his neck.
George was a strong man, a generally good man who had always been a loyal husband, but this sexual assault was too much for him to resist in his fragile emotional condition. He turned towards Carla and met her kiss, half expecting her to bite off his tongue. She didn’t. After a minute of heated kissing and groping George reached down to engage the yacht’s au
topilot and led Carla back to the skipper’s cabin behind the bridge.
*****
Hours later Scott was still up and working on the computer in his office. He had sent out a mass mailing to all of his email contacts, informing them that he was alive and aboard the Sovereign Spirit. He gave a brief description of his intentions to take the ship up the coast of California and asked any of his friends who received his message and needed assistance to reply ASAP. He didn’t expect many replies, but was pleasantly surprised when a few messages started coming in.
One in particular caught his eye. It was from an old college friend in San Diego. He wrote that he and his family were trapped in the penthouse of the student apartment building that he owned and operated. Scott knew exactly where the building was, since he was one of the major investors in the venture. He typed a quick reply telling him to stay put and expect a rescue by helicopter within a few days.
Another reply came in from an old friend in Scott’s home town of Santa Barbara. He and his wife had a small yacht of their own and were currently anchored near Stern’s Warf, safe from zombies, but unsure of what to do next. Scott wrote back suggesting that they sit tight for now and monitor the situation in Santa Barbara. Scott also promised to look for them when the Sovereign Spirit made its way up the coast.
Shortly before dawn on the West Coast, Scott went back to the multimedia room to watch an exhausted Fox Rusher on GNN. The news remained dismal and alarming. But Scott was surprised that none of the reports had mentioned any of the information that the CDC had given them about the origins of the disease. GNN should have access to the same data that the CDC had shared with Scott. Why would they withhold it from the public? Scott’s troubled thoughts were interrupted by yet another news flash on the television.
“This is Fox Rusher with a GNN Special Report. We have received confirmation that Air Force One crashed into a mountain near Colorado Springs at eleven o’clock Mountain Time last night. Military helicopters have been searching the area since then, but have not found any survivors. The President of the United States is missing and presumed dead. I repeat, the President is missing and presumed dead following a catastrophic plane crash near Colorado Springs.”
01 Voyage of the Dead Page 14
