“Don’t mention it,” she shouted back.
Derek reached up and pulled the door closed. The interior of the cabin became more quiet as the rush of air ceased. Everyone looked at each other, all surprised to have actually made it out of there.
“I thought we were goners,” Derek said, “everybody ok?”
“I’m good,” Amy said.
“Me too,” John answered.
“How about you?” Amy asked Jimmy.
“I wasn’t scared,” he said.
“Well, I was,” she answered.
“Whew,” Derek said, “I’ll second that.”
Amy leaned back and closed her eyes. Derek climbed into the copilots seat beside John. John put on a headset and handed one to Derek.
“Ok, Mr. helicopter pilot. Where to?” Derek said.
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out now. First we’ll get out over the water. I don’t want to have to worry about cell towers or whatever. No power, no lights on those things. We wouldn’t know one was near until we hit it.”
“How long do you think it will take to get to the ship?”
“They were working off the coast near Wilmington today, so, the way I figure it, they steam to their new location overnight. I would guess they work from the middle of the search area during the day. So they would be heading our way now. We can be there in an hour. Check the map in the pocket on your seat. See where they would be if they traveled twenty miles and hour for two to three hours.”
Derek pulled the map from the chair and switched on the light. He checked the distance per the legend on the map and guessed where the ship would be in an hour.
“Myrtle Beach,” he said into the headset.
“Good,” John said directing Derek’s attention to the instrument panel in front of them, “you see this switch? I need you to move the dial one click at a time and broadcast a message. Anything. Repeat it every thirty seconds for three minutes then switch and do it again. We have to try and communicate with the ship to let them know we’re coming. We need the lights on that ship to be on so we can see it. The switch to talk is on the panel. Just flip it up.”
Derek turned the dial, flipped the switch and spoke.
“This is Derek Johnson,” he said, “survivor. Calling USS Harry S. Truman. Do you read?”
He paused then repeated several more times. There was no reply. He turned the dial and repeated the message. Derek kept this up for twenty minutes with no success. They had traveled fifty miles and were becoming discouraged.
“You try,” he told John, “my throat is getting dry.”
John flipped the switch and cleared his throat.
“This is John Beckham. Survivor, calling USS Harry S. Truman. Do you read? Out.”
Suddenly a voice filled the headset. Derek sat up straight and looked at John.
“This is the United States Ship Harry S. Truman. Please identify yourself.”
“My name is John Beckham. I have three, no, make that four, four other survivors with me. One adult male, one adult female, one minor child and a dog. We are five miles off the coast of South Carolina roughly fifty miles Northeast of Charleston in a news helicopter flying at five thousand feet.”
“Hold one please,” came the reply from the ship.
They waited for what seemed like hours even though it was only minutes.
“Mr. Beckham, this is Capt. Dean. Commander of the Truman. We have you on radar. We are approximately twenty-five miles North of your location. What is the status of your passengers?
“All healthy sir.”
“No carriers?” came the reply.
“No,” John responded.
He and Derek looked at each other. Derek mouthed the word carriers and shrugged.
“Great. We’ll guide you in. The ship will be lit up like a Christmas tree. You shouldn’t have any trouble finding us.”
“Thank you sir.”
“No problem. No need to call me sir. You’re all civilians right.”
“Two civilians and two ex military sir.”
“Outstanding. I’m going to turn you over to the air traffic controller. I’ll have a hot meal waiting for you after decontamination. Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
The air traffic controller told them to reduce speed to 80 knots, drop to thirty five hundred feet and turn eight degrees left. John complied.
“We have completed your instructions and are maintaining eighty knots.”
“Hold present course. You should be able to see us in fifteen minutes. When you acquire the ship reduce speed to thirty-five knots and alert us that you have visual contact. Are your lights on?”
“Affirmative.”
John looked back to see Jimmy and Amy standing behind him. “We’re almost there. I need you guys to sit back down and strap in.”
They sat down and put on their belts. It’s almost over Amy thought. She couldn’t help it. A big grin spread across her face. She hugged Jimmy tight.
“Almost home,” she said.
“What do they mean by carriers?” Derek asked John.
“I don’t know. I thought either you had it or you didn’t.”
They flew in silence for ten more minutes then, dead ahead, Derek saw it first. The lights on the tip of the radar mast became visible first then the entire ship quickly rose from behind the curvature of the earth,
“I see it,” he said.
John slowed the helicopter to thirty-five knots and called the carrier.
“Harry S. Truman this is John Beckham. We have you in sight and have reduced speed to thirty-five knots.”
“Roger that,” came the reply. John and Derek could hear cheers in the background as the person on the other end spoke. Their spirits rose accordingly. “Maintain visual approach. We have slowed to five knots. You will need to circle the ship and come in from the North. At present the wind is out of the South at five mph. Do you copy?”
“Loud and clear,” John said, “I’ve landed helicopters on ships before. It’s been a while but it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Roger that. When you come in watch for the landing personnel. You will be instructed to land on the fantail. If you are waved off, take off again and bank away from the superstructure. When you land remain in the aircraft. Medical and security personnel will tell you what to do. And, this is very important. On your approach if you do anything that appears to be a threat to the ship you will be shot down immediately.”
“Got it,” John said looking over at Derek with a nervous smile.
The ship was growing larger in the windshield as the helicopter floated over the water. When he neared the ship John swerved left and circled around to the other side. He approached the fantail and slowed dramatically. He matched the ships speed as he reached the rear edge of the flight deck then slowly crept forward. The flight deck personnel directed him to his landing spot then motioned for him to set down. John cut power and the chopper settled to the flight deck until the ship was supporting all of the aircrafts weight. The engine wound down as the rotors slowly stopped turning.
Derek reached over and shook John’s hand. They smiled at each other then looked back at Amy and Jimmy who were sitting up smiling broadly and looking very relieved.
The side door of the helicopter suddenly opened as two corpsmen carrying medical equipment and a handful of armed guards appeared. All wore protective suits and full face respirators.
“Everyone keep your seats,” one of the Petty Officers said tossing a box of surgical masks into the cabin. “Put these on and sit tight until we’re finished. We’ll check you here, then you can go inside.”
“Ma'am,” one of the guards said, “I’ll take the dog please.”
Amy untied Suzie and handed the leash to the guard who led the dog over to the super structure and inside the ship.
“Doesn’t the dog have to be checked out too?” she asked.
“No,” one of the Corpsmen said, “dogs can’t be carriers.”
&nbs
p; “Carriers?” Amy said.
“We’ll explain later Ma'am.”
They were all examined thoroughly. Blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, eyes, ears and throats were checked. Nasal swabs were taken and sent to the ships medical lab immediately. They were also made to pull their shirts up exposing their stomachs which were examined closely.
“What’s the big deal? Why are you looking at our stomachs?” Amy asked.
“Carriers have certain symptoms that we’re checking for, ok. Yellow eyes, dilated pupils and broken blood vessels on the retina,” one of the corpsman said. “The ears can be infected, their throat is red and splotchy and they run a fever. And, to answer your question, they have a rash on their stomachs. That’s something we didn’t see in the initial outbreak. There wasn’t time for it to develop before the person died. Also we can detect it before symptoms appear with a simple swab of the nasal cavity by using the standard flu test.”
"So carriers can have it but show no signs of being sick?" Derek asked.
“Exactly. But, they're only mildly contagious to begin with then extremely so once the rash appears. Once that happens, carriers will be dead within twenty four hours and everyone else they come in contact with after the onset of the rash will be deathly ill after two hours and dead within four to six.”
"We don't know why the progression is different in carriers but we're studying it and running tests," one of the other Corpsman added. "They actually have partial immunity but not enough to overcome it. We think they may have been carriers since the beginning. Just not very contagious."
“My God,” Amy said to John. “Jim's kid back in Laurens. She had all the symptoms, including the rash.”
John looked at her and frowned.
“Wait a minute,” the corpsman said, “you’ve been around people with these symptoms?”
“No, but we talked to survivors who had children that were just coming down with the symptoms you described. We were never near them,” Amy said.
"How long ago was that?"
"Wednesday," John said.
“Good. If you had been exposed you would be either very sick or dead by now. Besides, you all check out fine so far, we just need to wait for the nasal swabs to be tested then you can go inside.” the corpsman turned to the guards. “It's ok I don’t think they’re carriers but we’ll wait until we hear back from the lab.”
The guards lowered their weapons and stepped back. No longer blocking the exit from the helicopter.
“Sit tight, it won’t be long,” the corpsman said.
“Right,” John said, “so could we be immune to it or what?”
“Probably not,” the corpsman said, “most people aren’t. One in one hundred survivors may be naturally immune. You all are just lucky. Plain and simple. Pure, dumb, luck. Even people who are immune would run a mild fever and feel like crap for a couple of days. Any of you experience anything like that?”
“No," John said as a female corpsman approached the aircraft.
“They’re cleared to enter the ship,” she told the guards.
“Great,” one of the corpsman said.
“What if one of us was a carrier?” Amy asked. “What would you have done?”
The corpsmen looked at each other obviously not sure if they should try to answer the question. One started to but was cut off.
“At ease Corpsman, I’ll answer that.”
Everyone turned to see the Captain of the ship standing ten feet from the aircraft. He wore a surgical mask and gloves but no protective suit.
The Corpsman stepped out of the way allowing him to walk up to the door. He reached out his gloved hand and shook the hand of each of the survivors including Jimmy.
“You would have been terminated. All of you,” he said without hesitation. “Then sealed in your helicopter and shoved overboard. We would have had no choice. This ship could be humanity's last chance. There’s a lot, a lot, you don’t know. We’ll brief you on the global situation in due time.” The Captain looked at John and smiled. “Nice piece of flying. Good job. These people owe you their life.”
“Thank you sir,” John said.
“Ok Corpsman get these people inside, get ‘em cleaned up, clothed, fed and assign them a rack.”
The Corpsman saluted the Captain as he turned and headed back up to the bridge of the ship.
“Follow us,” the corpsman said. “As for berthing, are you two a couple?”
John looked up at Amy and was about to say no when Amy spoke first.
“Yes, we are,” she looked at John, smiled and grabbed his hand.
“Ok you guys will get a room together. How about the kid?”
“They’re his guardians,” Derek said motioning toward Amy and John, “but he can room with me.”
“Where’s my dog?” Jimmy asked, “I’m her guardian.”
The corpsman laughed. “Don’t worry little man. She can sleep in your room ok.”
“Cool,” Jimmy said.
They jumped out of the helicopter eager for a hot shower and meal. They followed the Corpsman into the ship and down to the ships hospital where they were able to take a shower.
Each was given a special type of soap normally used before surgeries and instructed how to disinfect their entire bodies. Then they were issued a new set of Navy sweats along with several changes of underwear.
They were led to the galley where they were met with thunderous applauds as they walked in. The Navy personnel present shook their hands and waited on their every need. They sat and ate until they were stuffed and drank their fill of hot coffee. Jimmy ate ice cream until he felt as if he would burst.
“Don’t get used to this,” the galley Chief said joining them at the table. “This is your welcoming meal. After this you’ll be fed like everyone else.”
“How long will the food last,” Amy asked.
“This ship usually has over five thousand sailors onboard. Counting survivors we have a little over nine hundred right now,” he said. “We were fully stocked when this began for a six month deployment. So we’re good for at least two years. Longer if you count the MRE’s we carry on board. That would give us another three months at two meals a day.”
“What about water?”
“We can make all the fresh water we need from sea water. That’s not an issue.”
“Won’t we run out of fuel?” she asked.
John who was seated beside her laughed. The Chief looked over at him and smiled.
"Well, as far as fuel is concerned we should be good for about fifteen years,” the Chief told Amy with a smile.
“Nuclear power,” John said leaning over to look at her.
“Oh,” she said, “duh.”
Everyone laughed.
“You’re ex Navy right?” the Chief asked John.
“Yeah Chief, helicopter pilot.”
“That’s good, we only have three helicopter pilots and four fixed wing aircraft pilots on board.”
“How many aircraft are onboard?” John asked.
“Three helicopters and four planes, so your bird and piloting skills will be valuable.”
“Well Chief, my piloting skills are a little rusty.”
“You’ll be alright.”
Suddenly "attention on deck" was shouted as all the military personnel jumped to their feet and stood at attention as the Captain strode into the galley. "At ease," he said as he took a seat across from the survivors.
"Sorry about all the poking and probing," he said, "had to be done."
"We understand," Derek said, "at least they didn't check our prostates."
Everyone laughed except Jimmy. "What's a prostate?" he asked.
Everyone laughed again. "We'll let the Corpsman explain that to you later," Amy said.
"So you're a pilot?" The Captain asked John.
"Yes sir, flew Seahawks mostly. Have some time in the old H-3."
"Would you be interested in joining with us for search and rescue? We could use you, and your heli
copter."
"Well It’s not my helicopter I’ve officially turned it over to the Navy but, absolutely, whatever you need me to do just say so."
"Great, our mechanics will check it over. We’ll have to do a little refitting. You feel comfortable in it?"
"Yes sir. It's actually much easier to fly than what I was used to."
"We'll give you a couple of days to recover before we put you to work."
“Ok,” John said then paused. “Captain, A plane flew over us last Wednesday. We were in the upstate of South Carolina, East North East of here. It was flying to the North East. Was it one of yours?”
“No not that far from the coast. Not one of ours, but, I think I know of the plane you’re talking about.”
“Oh you do?” John asked.
“It was a bad situation. We were conducting rescue operations when I was called to the bridge. We had made contact with an aircraft. They said they had come from Atlanta and were headed for the Washington D.C. area. They were going to land at Regan National. We started working on a plan to pick them up but they never made it,” the Captain looked down at the table. “They said they had a situation on board. And on top of that the pilot told us she was sick, getting worse, and no-one else on board could fly the plane. She did managed to turn on the auto-pilot.”
“Oh my God,” Amy said. “That’s awful. Did they crash?”
“Eventually,” the Captain answered. “There were five people on board. Three men and two women. After dragging the pilot back to the cabin, the other woman on board locked herself in the cockpit. She came on the radio and said the others were either dead or dying. We didn’t hear anything for about fifteen minutes, then she came on one more time. She was sobbing and we could hear banging on the cockpit door. She said they were trying to get her. Then we heard the door give way and she started screaming. The signal went dead after that. We never heard from her again.”
“Wow,” John said. “They had a carrier on board.”
“Yeah, that’s what we think. They didn’t know it until they were in the air.”
Everyone sat in silence for a moment then Derek finally spoke.
"Sir I'll be happy to pitch in wherever I can. I was in the Army. I would like to stay busy."
The Demon Dead Page 29
