by SD Tanner
His main worry was their dependency on the one Black Hawk they’d managed to steal. Hatch, TL and Benny were still looking for places to scavenge more supplies and additional helicopters. The vehicle mechanics couldn’t help them maintain the bird, but they’d given them practical advice on how to create spare parts and tooling in preparation for an aircraft engineer they hoped would eventually turn up. In the meantime, between moving people to and from the ship, gathering supplies and recon, they worked the bird hard. Hatch was happily spending most of his days in the air and regular road convoys travelled between the ship and the Base.
The other stroke of good luck was finding Gerry. He’d hidden in his bunker for three months, and arrived at the Base a few weeks before his speech. When Gerry ran out of food in his bunker, he’d been lucky enough to join a group heading to the Base. Now permanently based on the ship, his job was to monitor radio frequencies. Oddly, whenever he talked about radios or was on the radio, Gerry completely lost his nervous stammer and sounded like a professional newsreader.
One day Gerry explained to them how the radios worked. His explanation was complex and he’d said, ‘The ship and the helicopter have UHF, VHF and HF. HF is 2 – 30 MHz. Radio waves travel in straight lines and because the earth is curved the straight lines can only travel 50 – 60 miles and then they can’t get around curve of earth so can’t be picked up. You need repeater stations so radio waves can keep jumping the curve of the earth. But there are very few repeater stations left. HF is different. Because of the frequency they travel at they can be reflected back to earth by the ionosphere layer in the atmosphere. It’s called ‘skipping’ which means the waves repeatedly reflect off the ionosphere so it can go around the curve of the earth. However lots of things can impact the ionosphere. Sunlight, darkness, sunspots etc. That means it changes the frequencies that are useable. For example in the dark in winter HF will only go possibly to 10 MHz. In summer in daylight it may go from 10 to 30 MHz. Sometimes it is so bad you can only get 50 – 60 mile radius and can’t use the ionosphere at all. The new systems use computers that can sustain links even as the atmosphere changes otherwise it has to be done manually. To do it manually you have to be very skilled. So you need specialist equipment for HF plus you have to have the automatic link establishment at the Base or anywhere else you want to radio with so they can communicate without manually adjusting frequencies.’
After listening to Gerry’s explanation, Pax declared that was 20 minutes of his life he was never getting back and he hadn’t really understood it. TL comprehended enough to send Pax with Gerry to pick up the communications gear from his bunker. He wasn’t entirely sure how they’d done it, but they now had communications between the ship, the Base, the bird and even the CDC. It was critical for both coordination and the people who had their family split between the Base and the ship. Gerry also brought contact with other survivor groups. Being a mad radio enthusiast, Gerry spent his time in the bunker searching frequencies and he was in contact with a number of survivors before he left his bunker. He was very keen to talk to those people and Gerry was trying to make contact with them.
He awoke at 3am in the morning and found Gerry was standing at the foot of the bed stammering, ‘Umm…you need to…umm…come to the…umm comms room.’
Turning on the night light, he tried to understand why Gerry was in his room on the ship. Having been woken, Ip climbed out of their bed completely naked and strolled to the bathroom. He thought if Gerry was nervous before, he was probably about to have a stroke now. Taking the time to admire Ip’s peach-shaped bottom as she left the bedroom, he turned his attention to Gerry and said, ‘This betta be good, Gerry.’
As he climbed out of bed and pulled on his ACU pants, Gerry fidgeted and tried to look anywhere but at him and said nervously, ‘You…umm…wanted me to umm…tell you umm…when I umm…made contact with umm…the other groups.’
Now dressed, he stood in front of Gerry and said confidently, ‘Yes, I did.’ Rather than wait for Gerry to stammer out another awkward sentence, he added, ‘And I’m guessing ya have and ya need me to go to the comms room.’
Gerry nodded and practically ran out of the room. Ip was still in the bathroom and, as he left the room, he called, ‘Goin’ to the comms room, honey.’
In the comms room, Gerry had the person on speaker, and using his radio news presenter voice, he said, ‘Hello Nelson. Are you back?’
A man, he assumed was Nelson, replied, ‘Just back now, Gerry.’
Gerry said smoothly, ‘Great, I have Gears here with me. I’ll pass you over to him.’
Leaning into the microphone, he said, ‘Nice to meetcha, Nelson.’
Nelson replied in a deep voice that inspired confidence, ‘You too, Gears. Sorry we’re not on the radio often now. There’s not many people left to talk to, but we’re relieved to hear Gerry is doing well. He tells us you have your own cruise ship.’
Without understanding why, he found himself immediately warming to Nelson and said, ‘Yeah, we do. Who’s we, Nelson?’
Nelson replied, ‘There’s nearly 100 of us here. We have a bunker in Lumberton.’
‘That’s impressive,’ he said genuinely impressed. ‘How ya holdin’ up?’
Speaking with an honesty that appealed to him, Nelson replied, ‘Well, power is always an issue. That’s another reason why we haven’t been on the air much. Maintaining supply to this many people is also becoming a major problem. We’ve pretty much used everything that was easily accessed. There’s more supplies near us, but the hunters occupy the buildings. It’s getting riskier for us to get supplies because we’re needing to travel further out, which means staying outside our bunker overnight.’
Nelson sounded like a man with the same problems he had. It felt good to talk to someone in the same situation with the same worries and he said, ‘We were in the same position a month or so ago. We got lucky and scored ourselves a bird and a pilot. Really changed the dynamics for us. Being surrounded by army depots made a big difference as well.’
‘Have you had much trouble with the living?’ Nelson asked.
He thought of the Major and said, ‘Not yet, but I’m gonna shortly. What’s your hunter problem like?’
Sounding worried, Nelson replied, ‘Bad and getting worse. They are eating all the animal life around us.’
That meant the hunters were evolving everywhere and he asked, ‘How do ya defend your base?’
‘We sleep in the vault of a bank. It’s not the best, but it’s safe at night. But we have no water or toilets in here, so it’s primitive, but serviceable,’ Nelson replied.
He understood exactly what their bunker must be like and said, ‘Our land base is a bunker style storage facility, but we have the same problem as you. We run water from a nearby lake and have portable toilets, but as we got more people, sanitation became a real issue.’
Nelson asked, ‘How do you protect your base at night?’
‘Perimeter lights with sentries shootin’ any dumbass hunter that steps into the light,’ he replied bluntly.
Nelson sounded impressed and said, ‘That makes sense. Maybe we could find a better site and try that.’
‘Ya need a lot of good shooters, guns and ammo for that tactic,’ he advised.
Laughing, Nelson said, ‘We wouldn’t still be here if we didn’t have all that.’
Wanting to know if they’d run into the super hunters yet, he asked, ‘We’ve run into a new type of hunter. We call it the super hunter. It protects itself by wearin’ body armor, and it can control the normal hunters like an army. Have ya seen ‘em?’
Nelson paused and then said, ‘I’m not sure, but that could explain some of the problems we’ve had lately. We lost six people in hunter attacks last week and another two people last night. Usually we’ve been able to stay out until dusk, but over the last week hunters have been attacking in greater numbers before it gets completely dark.’
If the hunters were attacking in daylight, he wondered if Lydia’
s theory about UV light might be right, or maybe hunters were more confident about attacking if a super hunter was guiding them. Curious what Nelson may have seen, he asked, ‘Did ya see any hunters wearin’ body armor?’
Nelson replied excitedly, ‘It’s weird you should ask that because several people have told me they thought they saw a hunter dressed oddly during the attacks. What’s going on?’
Sighing to himself, he replied, ‘We were attacked by over 100 hunters last month and we found one wearin’ body armor. When it tried to attack one of us in daylight, we killed it and took the corpse back to our lab. Our doctor did an autopsy and discovered it’s a new type of hunter. We’ve nicknamed it a super hunter ‘cos we’re pretty sure it can control hunters and turn them into an army.’
Sounding worried, Nelson said, ‘The hunters are trouble enough without becoming an army. How do we defend against that?’
He was having the same problems as Nelson, and not having any solution, he asked, ‘Do ya know where that super hunter is?’
‘No,’ Nelson replied. ‘The attacks happened 30 miles apart, so if there is one, it could be anywhere.’
He sat back in the chair and thought they urgently needed more skills and combat troops. Gathering up survivors was one approach, but Nelson had nearly 100 people and there was a good chance they might have skills he could use. At the very least, if he could help Nelson become stronger, they were a ready-made fighting force and he figured Nelson’s people were competent fighters or they’d be dead by now. He needed to enlist Nelson and his group, but he wasn’t sure how to enlist someone he’d never met. He wondered, if he was in Nelson’s position, what he’d need to hear to believe in someone and decided extending the hand of friendship was a good start.
Clearing his throat, he asked, ‘What can we do to help ya people?’
‘Seriously?’ Nelson asked, sounding surprised. ‘You want to help us?’
‘Me and my two brothers were in the army when the world when to hell,’ he explained. ‘We spent the first four weeks survivin’, but it’s not enough, Nelson. Survivin’ is one fight away from being dead. If I’m gonna die fightin’ then I wanna be fightin’ for somethin’ more than one more day of survival. I want these hunters gone. I want our land back, our homes and our safety. I’m not takin’ this shit. If I die fightin’ tryin’ to win this war, then I’ll die happy enough.’
When Nelson didn’t reply, he asked, ‘So, I ask ya again, Nelson, how can we help ya?’
There was more silence and he wondered if Nelson had decided he was completely crazy, but eventually Nelson said, ‘Thank you, we need any help you can offer. I’ve got 12 children and three pregnant women here. We barely have any medical supplies and food is getting hard to come by. Ammo too. Whatever you can spare we need.’
Relieved they clearly needed one another, he said, ‘We have over 30 children under the age of 12 here on the ship where it’s safe. I dunno if we have any pregnant women, but if we do, they’ll be on the ship too. We have medical supplies and plenty of weapons and ammo. As for food. It’s a problem keepin’ so many mouths fed, but we’ve got a lot of MRE’s. We have a doctor and hospital of sorts, plus nurses and a coupla interns.’
Nelson interrupted and said, ‘Wow, you and your brothers have got a lot further than we have.’
He contemplated not mentioning Ip, but needing alliance partners, he decided to be upfront and said, ‘There’s a reason we got this far. We have someone here who was infected by the CDC with a counter virus to the hunter virus. It means she can kill hunters instantly. She infects them by touchin’ them.’
Sounding surprised, Nelson said, ‘That’s a hell of a weapon.’
‘Yeah, she is,’ he replied. ‘With her, we’ve been able to easily clear sites of hunters, which gives us access to a lot of buildin’s with the supplies we need.’
‘Well, however you do it, we need your help,’ Nelson said frankly. ‘How do we make this happen?’
‘We can get to ya by bird,’ he answered. ‘Do ya have sites ya need cleared of hunters?’
Nelson said hopefully, ‘Yes. Lots. We’ve tried clearing the sites, but we lose a lot of people trying.’
‘Okay, I’ll bring a combat team and our hunter killer,’ he said. ‘One other thing ya might wanna think about. The ship is safe and we have medical support here. We can take the kids and pregnant women back with us. You’ll be able to stay in radio contact with ‘em.’
‘I’ll talk to my people about that,’ Nelson confirmed. ‘Is there any way we can help you in return?’
‘Well, actually there is,’ he replied, and he smiled to himself thinking that maybe he could build the alliances he needed. ‘I haven’t got anyone who can drive a cruise ship. If ya have any ships engineers, I really need ‘em.’
‘I don’t know if I do, but I’ll ask,’ Nelson replied. ‘If you need people, I know someone else who you can talk to. Her name is Izzie and she’s based in Pensacola, Florida. Last I heard, she had about 50 people, but they were struggling. I can make contact with her and let her know we’ve spoken and I think you’re good guys.’
Gerry said, ‘I’ve been trying to get Izzie on the radio, but she’s not responded so far.’
Nelson replied, ‘You were the glue that held us together, Gerry. When you went off the air, none of us maintained contact that well. I guess you held us together by staying in regular contact.’
‘Well, I’m back,’ Gerry said triumphantly. ‘And I’ll be on the air from now on.’
Nelson replied sincerely, ‘Thank you, Gerry. Gears, how quickly you can make it over to us?’
He replied, ‘Give me four or five days to organize supply and troops. In the meantime, I’d like us to speak daily if we can. We need to get to know one another and I need to share our mission with ya.’
Nelson replied, ‘I’d like to get to know you and your team. And, Gears, your mission is a good one. You can count us in.’
He agreed a time to speak with Nelson again and they both signed off. Leaning back in his chair, he grinned at Gerry and said, ‘Tell me what ya know about Nelson and his group, ‘cos I’m not takin’ Ip anywhere I think might be bad for her.’
Before Gerry could answer, he added, ‘Could ya like pretend you’re talkin’ on the radio. Be a lot faster that way.’
Gerry blushed and said slowly, ‘I’m better if I speak slowly.’
‘Then speak slowly,’ he said kindly.
Gerry told him everything he knew about Nelson and his group. Gerry been in contact with him for several months and assured him Nelson was consistently reasonable. He thought Nelson sounded like a decent man, but he wanted to keep talking to him by radio until they made the trip out there.
Looking at Gerry contemplatively, he asked, ‘Do ya think ya can find more groups?’
Gerry spoke slowly and said, ‘Yes, Izzie just might have some ships engineers. There were a lot of naval sites near her. Plus I was talking to a few other groups, and I’ve been trying to contact them since I got to the ship.’
He thought he should have known Gerry was doing that and asked, ‘Why don’t I know that already?’
‘Umm…you guys don’t talk to me much,’ Gerry replied. ‘My stammer kind of umm…annoys people.’
He realized he hadn’t shown much patience for Gerry and said honestly, ‘Yeah, well that ain’t your fault. In future, we’ll give ya the time ya need, Gerry. What else don’t I know?’
Gerry fidgeted and then said, ‘I was tracking umm…government comms for a while. Do you want to umm…know about that?’
Mentally kicking himself for not debriefing Gerry, he said, ‘Yeah, Gerry, I do.’
Gerry nodded at him apologetically as if the omission was his fault and said, ‘Right until I had to leave my bunker I umm…heard government broadcasts. They umm…were calling for survivors to umm…make their way to umm…a base in North Carolina. It was a umm…repeating broadcast, so I don’t know if umm…there was really anyone left there.’
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br /> That was news to him. No one had ever told them they’d heard any government broadcast and he asked, ‘Is it still broadcasting?’
Gerry shook his head and said, ‘No. It was ummm…one of the first things I checked when I got comms up on the ship.’
It was obvious Gerry knew a lot more than they did. He decided he needed to take the time to listen to Gerry’s story and said, ‘I’m sorry I ain’t taken the time, but I need ya to tell me everything ya know, Gerry. Let’s meet up at 7am for breakfast in my room.’
He watched Gerry blush and look down at his hands. Sounding embarrassed Gerry stammered, ‘You’re a really umm…busy man. I should have umm spoken up.’ Gerry looked him in the eye and without stammering, he said, ‘Thank you for saying you’d help Nelson. He was a lifeline to me when I was in the bunker, and I’m glad I can do something good for him.’
He grinned at Gerry and went back to his suite where he found Ip buried under the mound of quilt. Stripping off his clothes, he climbed under the quilt with her and his hands sought her warm body. He felt her uncurl and she wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him closer to her.
‘Good morning, honey,’ he murmured, as he pulled her hips into his and kissed her deeply. He didn’t get any more sleep that night, but he thought he and Ip made very good use of their early morning start.
***
Ip speaks: I see a being I do not know. Is someone else there? Make yourself known!
Voice speaks: Are you real? Or am I dreaming? I’m not sure I’m not sleeping.
Ip speaks: What is dreaming?
Voice speaks: When you sleep, don’t you dream?
Ip speaks: When I sleep my world is dark. Only awake do I see a spark.
Voice speaks: Who are you?
Ip speaks: I am me and you are you. Are you ruler too?
Voice speaks: I don’t know of whom you speak. I live in a bunker. It’s very deep.
Ip speaks: You do not quite speak as I do. What kind of creature be you?
