Chapter 18

Operation Collection

I directed Hank, who by this point was my go to person in the new group to start collecting everything they could to make walls to protect the marina. We wanted one entrance with a moveable gate, and the rest just good enough to hold of zombies. My first suggestion was to go out and collect every car they could in a half mile range and bring them back. They should head out in pairs for safety. If they could not find the keys, then they should break a window, pop the hood and disconnect the battery first. This was to silence any alarms that might attract zombies. After that you can shift the car into neutral and tow it back if needed.

A giant line of cars lined up bumper to bumper is a good temporary fence and a solid base to make a higher and more permanent defense. One out of every three people would stay behind and guard the new base. I told all of this to Susan and put her in charge of organizing our small group and the people that would be joining us from the boats. I took Hank with me and we started the collection. Especially at the beginning of anything new, I as one of the leaders needed to demonstrate to everybody my willingness to pitch in and do any task that I asked of the others. That might change as our group got larger and started to specialize, but it was essential at this point in time.

Hank and I unhooked my trailer and gave a few of the shotguns plus ammunition to Susan to hand out as needed. This cleared up space for Hank to ride in the front seat with me in Betsy. I decided to head out farther and work my way in. The collection of vehicles was actually easier than I expect. We target neatly parked cars in driveways or on the side of the road first and then break into the houses. The key is generally placed in an easy to find area like a key holder or on an end table near the door. After we had retrieved ten different cars Hank finally spoke up.

“Mark why don’t we just go to a dealership with everybody like we did before and take everything there is on the lot?”

Well terrific. Now I feel like an idiot. I forgot my own original plan of raiding a dealership. We could have finished this task by now.

“Hank, that is a brilliant idea, and I am ashamed to say that the only reason we have not done it is because I did not think of it. Thanks for bringing it up. I think we will wait here for the other teams and then take one of two vehicles crammed full to the closest dealership and follow your suggestion.”

As soon as Hank and I slotted our latest acquisition, a lovely used Toyota Corolla, into place we check in with the group that has stayed behind to guard the place while we wait for the others.

“Hi Gerald, Hank had a brilliant idea to speed things up so I thought I would check in with you while we wait for the other car scavenging groups to show up.”

“Oh what is his idea?”

“Something I should have thought of, we are going to load up one vehicle and drive to the nearest dealership and bring back a fleet of cars together. I figure two maybe three trips and we will be done with the basic outline of the wall.”

“That is a smart idea to speed things up. Everything here is going well. We have a few zombies straggling in that are easily dealt with. It seems that you brought and killed everything that was close by when you first arrived.”

“It is most likely due to the marina being on the outskirts of the city. I still have not gone into a big city and frankly I am dreading having to go.”

“Well why would you have to go in to a big city?”

“I am not sure that we will find everything we need in smaller towns or on the outskirts, but I am hopeful. By the way have you sent out scouting teams on the water yet?”

“Yes Mark. I sent out three teams. One to each of the closer marinas and one to the commercial port. They will bring back a list of ships they think might help us and update us on zombie and survivor numbers.”

“Speaking of numbers I would like to talk to you about settlement numbers. I was thinking, while more is usually better, it might not be in this instance. I was hoping you would agree to limit the intake of new people for say three months to six months while we get established down on the island.”

“Keep talking young man.”

“Well I think that anything over 200 people would be quite difficult for us to deal with organizational wise while we set up. I actually think somewhere around 100 people would be better, but I am not going to turn families and such away if we start going a bit over. 100 adults will provide enough manpower for us to clear out and set up the island. Depending on when we finish we can then go out recruiting.”

“That is coldly logical and I agree up to a certain point.”

“I don’t understand Gerald, what do you mean up to a certain point?”

“You are forgetting to take into consideration that others might find us. Do we turn them away or do we accept them?”

“That is why I think we should keep the original group small so we can accept anyone that shows up and proves themselves.”

“What about expansion and those that want to find their families, friends, and others?”

“After we are stable, say three to six months down the road, I would send organized expeditions to find supplies and recruits. Every time we reached around 500 citizens I would split the group and send 100 to 200 of them off to settle another island. This would allow us to expand, separate people that have conflicts with each other, and eventually start to reclaim larger areas. How many people per island would depend on resources and the size of the island. I would try to keep each island under 2,000 people maximum in the long run, unless we are able to restart technology.”

“Why the cap on citizens?”

“Think about how much we relied on technology, especially in urban areas. Without it, maintaining order and health with a large group in a small area will be impossible. This may be an apocalypse, but that does not mean I want to lower my standard of living to a slum like existence.”

“That does make sense. What about government and responsibility, because you know people are going to ask?”

“I think we continue like I suggested before with each person who knows the most in charge of that aspect for the first six months to a year. After that if we reach 200 or more citizens I say we write a new constitution and give democracy another go. We will be in the unique position of still remembering what worked and what didn’t and actually have the means to change what we want. As for crime and such, I think any three adults over the age of 21 who were not involved or related if possible can judge and carry out a sentence. I think the punishments will be harsh at least at the beginning. I think that there should be only three punishments. Hard labor, banishment, or death.”

“Enough of this talk. I see that the other groups are all here. Go and finish your car collection and fence building Mark. By the time you get done I should have information on the other two marinas and the port. We can sit down tonight for dinner and talk about it then.”

“Sounds good Gerald. Keep everyone safe and working here.”

With that taken care of Hank and I round up 12 people and basically shove them into an SUV and take off for the closest dealership. We are not comfortable, but the ride only lasts for seven minutes so the complaints were minimal. Once at the dealership we decide that the minivan and SUV section should finish off our wall easily. The first trip is ten minivans for the wall, one truck and two cargo vans for supplies. With a quick ten-minute zombie clear out our total time getting these vehicles was under half an hour. This was a vast improvement on sending people out piece meal, and it was safer. Our group makes six more trips before everyone is satisfied with the wall and the vehicles we have for supply runs.

Including the boats and trailers that some enterprising individuals added to our wall back at the marina we now had a fairly solid wall that was at least 200 meters long. This enclosed a very large area. More than enough for us to set up camp and stage supplies for now and in the future. Every vehicle in the wall’s keys were kept in the car to the left under the driver’s mat. This simple precaution should confuse any actual human opponents that might try and breach the wall in the future. They just might assume that the keys are not there.

With all of the activity throughout the day, several zombies had approached our little fort, but were easily repelled. As the day went on fewer and fewer zombies were attracted to the noise. It seemed we had taken care of almost everything local. We would still post a watch, but there were enough boats that we could all cast off and probably catch our first real safe sleep in days. I had watched the boat group closely throughout the day. My group had eight people in it when we arrived. Now our combined group was closer to thirty people. There were around ten kids and twenty adults or teenagers old enough to be considered adults. With the ten to twenty people that were following in the family that put us around 50 people. I wanted around 75 to 100 for the initial entry onto the island. So we have some room for more survivors. I need to talk to Gerald and some of the other adults and make a list of professions that would be useful. I don’t think I will be able to actually turn anyone away that is willing to work hard, but identification of needed areas would possibly help us target where to look for survivors that might be helpful.

I walk over to the barbecue area where Gerald was holding court and talking to many others. “Good evening Gerald, everyone, may I join you?”

“Ah, Mark, just the person I wanted to talk too. We have some questions and some information. I think now would be a good time to share and hammer out the rough details of where and how don’t you think?”

“That sounds fantastic. Let’s get to it.”

Over dinner and the following two hours the adults in the group came up with several ideas and adjustments for the plan. One of the exploring groups reported that the closest marina to us was empty. The second marina had another group of about ten to fifteen people that were willing to talk to us tomorrow. The final exploration group went to the port and found no organized group, but saw several individuals moving around, but more importantly they brought me a list of the types of ships that were in port. With that list I along with input from actual people who could run ships came up with a list of what I wanted to take to Andros Island.

Two barges with accompanying tugs full of fuel tanks, farming equipment and supplies, and a couple of larger tractors/backhoes. One small passenger liner that usually does local sunset tours and such, but could hold 50 to 100 people easily. One small container ship with its own crane. One smaller tanker filled with diesel.

While I knew that Andros Island had agriculture, I had no idea what kind of shape their tools or farming equipment was in. That was the main reason I wanted at least one barge full of whatever we needed to run farms to feed 500 to a 1,000 people. Why that many when I am trying to limit the amount of people that would come with us. Simple, I was going to need trade goods and the reality of the situation was that we could easily grow quickly. I would rather have more than needed than not enough. The tractors and backhoes were for building defenses quickly and moving wreckage more easily than by hand. We obviously needed supplies, fuel for our vehicles, and of course seeds and everything necessary to start growing crops.

The smaller container ship with its own crane would allow us to raid ports all over the world and claim any container we wanted. I know there were several that would help us at the local port and we could fill empty containers with other supplies and then just lift them onto a ship. The container ship had to be small to get into a variety of ports. The giant container ships you see on t.v. were no good for what we needed. They were too large to go to smaller ports and required to much manpower to operate. I also wanted an entire container full of ammunition and one of toilet paper before we left. The ammunition was obvious for our needs, but I bet several people forgot that toilet paper would become scarce in the next few months. I was willing to live without the internet and t.v., but having adequate toilet paper was a must.

The group also identified the key needs of professions we should target.

Anyone with medical experience Anyone with farm experience Anyone with boat or ship handling experience Anyone with maintenance or equipment fixing or usage experience Anyone with law enforcement or military experience

That was it. We would take others, but those were the necessary areas to start up a solid outpost. As the outpost grew, the needs would change. Teachers, carpenters, and masons for new construction, plumbers, and more would be needed, but before we could specialize, we had to survive.