Chapter 24

Loot The Port

With flashlights we carefully clear the rest of the receiving building and then start looking for the information we need. God bless organized businesses. There is a chart on the wall with incoming ship names. Nearby is a file cabinet with shipping manifests. I radio Olivia and ask for all the names of the ships she can see in port. I want to know when they stopped receiving to narrow down what we have to go through. It seems like the majority of the names are from ships that came in seven to ten days ago. I look through the files and grab the files from that week and the two previous weeks.

As I signaled Michael that we had what we needed he whispered over. “What about the secure site?”

“What secure site?”

“I watched some t.v. special about shipping ports and the large cranes a while back. They usually have three areas. Receiving where we are at, shipping where I think we are headed next, and finally a secure site for more sensitive shipments.”

“What kind of sensitive shipments?”

“Usually expensive incoming or outgoing classified electronics, precious metals, and the like. However, it also has a separate bunker for anything that is classified as dangerous to store, such as fireworks and ammunition.”

“You mean that somewhere in this place is a bunker full of ammunition?”

“Maybe, I don’t know if every port has it. I just know the one in the special I watched had it.”

Alright time to be a little more methodical. I walk back to the door and study the map of the port more closely. Shipping, Receiving, Wood Products, Liquids, Outgoing Bulk, Agriculture, and there in a corner is a smaller area labeled Secure Site. Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. This kid has more than paid off with just this knowledge. I am sure glad that we paired up and actually work well together. I guess Michael must have seen my grin.

“Was I right?”

“Well there is a secure site. I have no idea what’s in it though. It probably has a separate little office in front of it for its own version of paperwork. We are just going to have to head over there to find out.”

We radio the Olivia on the tender and tell her we will be back shortly to drop some things off and then we will head out again. She says the way is clear. No more zombies have wandered into the area where we are. A short ten minutes later we are back on the tender and telling the girls about what we found. Trika and Olivia tell me that they will start going through the receiving manifests looking for things we could use. I tell them to focus on non-perishable foods, medicines, and farm equipment first. We can take the foods and medicine and stage the farm equipment for later.

Michael and I head back towards the shipping side this time. We decide to cut down on the amount we have to walk by travelling most of the way down the dock in our little boat. There seem to be a lot more zombies down on this end of the port. I wonder if something attracted them down in this direction. Just as I was thinking that we both start twitching our noses. What in the world is that stink? It smells like massive amounts of rotting food. Think of every horrible odor you can then add fecal matter and rotting flesh on top. Multiply that by ten and you might get the idea of what we were dealing with. Michael couldn’t take it and stopped the boat and threw up over the side. This set me off and I start blowing chunks opposite of him. Once we were done we just looked at each other.

“Maybe they ship organic fertilizer?”

“No I am guessing they ship refrigerated foods and with the power down it has all started to rot at once.”

“Oh that is disgusting.”

“It also explains why there are so many zombies on this side. They are attracted to the rotting smell.”

Our little discussion had allowed us to somewhat get used to the stench. It was still horrendous beyond belief, but it did not induce nausea anymore. We once again tie up to the dock and peek our heads over the edge. This one is definitely going to be harder than the last little trip. If we go wide and then to the left, we should stay further away from the smell and thus the zombies. Yep, let’s try that.

I crouch down and as quickly and as quietly as possible make my way behind a set of containers on the left to screen us from the sight of most of the zombies. Step one complete. It looks like we did not attract any attention. Where to next? Over there behind that pile of pallets and then behind those blue containers. Quick crouching run to pallets, look around still safe. Run to the blue containers and as soon as I went behind the container I tripped on something, which propelled me into a zombie that I had not seen. I try and turn my fall into a mighty shove. If I go down I need space in order to have time to get back up.

Michael must have seen me stumble. As I approach the ground much quicker than I notice out of the corner of my eye him running around me. I hit the ground with an audible thump and try to roll over. Man I can barely breathe, wind knocked out of me. Get up or die Mark. I struggle to my feet to see Michael starting to be overwhelmed. There are at least six zombies still up right and it looks like Michael has killed two already. No time for quiet. I shuck out my .45 pistol and start letting loose. Six shots and three more are down. This has taken a lot of pressure off of Michael. He manages to finally have enough time to take out his own pistol and the rest of the group goes down.

This was way too close. We need to figure out a better method, than just running around with our melee weapons. I have to remember this is not some game or fantasy. Real mistakes equal real and horrible death in this world. I can hear the sounds of other zombies moving in our direction. They must be a little confused right now. They heard sounds that mean a meal, but we are hidden behind the containers. We need to get somewhere safe fast. My thoughts were interrupted by a new voice.

“Hey mister can you get us down?”

I panic a little and aim my gun towards the voice above me and see a teenage girl flinch back from the edge.

“Whoah I am sorry about that. You scared me. I am not going to shoot. How did you get up there?”

“The ladder you tripped on fell over when we got up here to avoid the zombies a couple of days ago.”

I look around and sure enough it was a ladder that I tripped on. They must have either been looking for supplies and got caught so they decided to climb up out of reach, or this was some weird elaborate trap. Probably the first one. I signal Michael to be careful and then grab the extension ladder and set it against the containers. The containers here were stacked three high. That is at least 25 feet tall. Probably why they did not just try to jump down. You know that and there are zombies all around.

“Hurry up we need to get to cover, I hear more zeds coming our way.”

My encouragement caused the young lady to move much quicker down the ladder. Following her was a middle aged lady who looked remarkably similar to her. They have to be related.

“We can talk and get each other’s stories in a minute. First we need to get somewhere safe.”

“We can hole up in the receiving building over there.” Pointed out the middle aged one.

That’s perfect. Exactly where we wanted to go. This should kill two birds with one stone. I just nod my acceptance and our now group of four takes off. The two girls are not in the best of shape after being stuck on a container for two or more days, but they get to a side door of the office quick enough. Before I can even think about prying the door open the older lady pulls out keys and unlocks the door. So I guess she worked here? That could be useful. As quick as we could we all ducked into the building. I was the last one in and Took a glance around before heading in. About a dozen coming this way. We need to take care of it before they draw in more.

“Michael .22’s and axes, at least 12 incoming.”

“Roger that.”

I duck into the building and check around to make sure we won’t be taken by surprise. Nobody is in here except us four. Good. I shuck off my pack and grab a two boxes of .22 shells from inside. I hear Michael open up with his .22 pistol. Ten shots later I step up and give him one box of shells. “Reload and switch.”

He steps back and I start my targeted shooting. It looks like Michael took two of the twelve down and wounded several others. I try and put one in the chests of each of the closest zombies and then try for one in the head as a follow up. Three more go down. “Reloading, one more turn then melee.”

Michael steps forward and I step back and thumb new shells into my magazine as quickly as possible. Once I finish I step forward one more time. Michael took care of three more. I aim and fire and fire until I go dry. Four down that time. I holster the gun and step even further out and unsling my axe-bar. Five more zombies. Michael steps to my side. He takes the first swing and I push the next one back into the other charging zombies. This trips them up, giving Michael enough time to remove his axe. My turn is next. I swing down at the closest skull and hear a crack which indicates I was successful in damaging the brain. Another indicator is the now lack of movement from the zombie I hit. Three more to go.

Michael swings and makes contact. Two more. I swing and there is now only one left. Before either one of us can do anything a red missile travels between us and smacks the last zombie straight between the eyes. What the heck? Where did that fire extinguisher come from. I hit it one more time just to be safe. “Michael reload and check them please.”

“’Yes Mark.”

“Well ladies first of all some introductions. My name is Mark and the young gentleman with me is Michael. Thank you for the help with the fire extinguisher.”

“It is good to meet you Mark. My name is Helen and this is my daughter Sally. Thank you for the timely rescue.”

“Well now that names are out of the way, I saw that you had keys to the building Helen. Did you used to work here at the port?”

“Yes Mark I was the manager here at the shipping office.”

My luck is just too good. I did not just save any worker, but the actual manager of the shipping office.

“Well Helen I am part of a group that is migrating down to Andros Island in the Bahamas. We are the lead ship and are exploring ports along the way for safety and for supplies. You and your daughter are more than welcome to join us if you would like. No matter what you decide I wonder if you could help us sort through the paperwork to figure out if there is anything in the shipping containers that would be useful for a group of survivors.”

“Mark, that sounds wonderful and I would be glad to help. I came in to check on an emergency with my daughter and then we got stuck. After raiding the offices for supplies we decided to make a break for it before we ran out of them. We were unlucky and you know the rest. The list of shipping manifests is over here.”