Chapter 29

Bahama Bound

Two hours later, Trika had pulled the tender up and dropped anchor about 50 meters from the ferry. Everyone then started in to clear zombies and anything else from the ferry that we deemed dangerous or unnecessary, that included vehicles we didn’t want. Every deck takes an hour or more to clear. First up is original zombie patrol. Then it’s clear out the vehicles we don’t want and park them out of the way on the dock or farther. Finally, we have to do a secondary sweep and check all hatches, rooms, closets, and any other space we think might possibly hold a zombie. Olivia and Trika both had close calls with small rooms and zombies falling out at them. I change the order up and have everyone partner up to be safe.

It is after 9 p.m. when we finish. The call to the main group was missed. I really hope they don’t overreact. When we are finished up Trika shows us how to operate the loading ramp and we raise it so nothing else can get on during the night. I do not want to go through this mess again tomorrow. We all wearily returned to the tender for a good night’s sleep, or at least a partial night’s sleep. I don’t feel comfortable and safe here in Miami and choose to implement a watch system. Everyone partners up and takes a three-hour shift. Myself and Olivia are from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., Helen and Sally are taking 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. and Michael and Trika will take the dawn shift from 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. That should give everyone at least six hours of sleep.

Tomorrow will be a little more, low key as we accumulate vehicles to transfer in the ferry and also plan and figure out how we are going to even get the ferry to Andros Island. I should probably use my watch time to work on that. Let’s see the ferry is about three times the size of the tender so it probably needs at least three times the crew. We started with Captian Trika, Michael, and myself. So we need nine to ten people to operate the ferry. I think we can cut that in half, because we are just making a one way trip to Andros Island right now. If we use it again in the future we can try and staff it like it should be. So I need five people for the ferry.

I obviously need a captain and probably a first mate who is familiar with large boat driving. At least one mechanic or engine room person, and one to two general people for watches, maintenance, and general help. Now where can I find these people? Miami is a little chaotic to go around and recruit. I could call down to the main group and see if they have the required people and they could meet us here in Miami. That would delay things a day or two though. Hmm, I just don’t know. I guess I will sleep on it and discuss it with everyone in the morning.

Olivia and I finish our watch shift with no problems. We go and wake up Helen and Sally around 1 a.m. and let them take over. I say my good nights to the ladies and head to the bunk. I need my sleep and a chance for my brain to slow down and process everything. Soon enough the blissful darkness of dreamland welcomed me.

While chasing after a mutated squirrel woman named Sylvia who had stolen my lucky charms I started to shake and vibrate. “Mark wake up there is trouble.”

“Huh, what? Where did Sylvia the squirrel lady go.”

“Mark you need to get up. There are two boats that are approaching slowly and Trika is worried and wants everyone up to deal with it.”

Shaking the last of the dream from my head I acknowledge Michael and start to dress and gear up for a confrontation. What dang time is, 6 a.m.? I still could have been asleep for another hour. Maybe I would have caught that squirrel and punished her while eating my luck charms. Wait what was I even thinking. Man my brain is all over the place this morning. I finish dressing and head on up to the main deck.

Trika meets me there. “Two boats coming in from the North. Look damaged. Moving slow. Be careful.”

Ahh classic Trika speak, is there anything else like it? I make sure I have everything I need weapon wise and then ask Olivia to help find a megaphone. I know I saw one when we were cleaning. Michael remembers where it was and brings it to me.

“Ahoy, vessels from the north. This is the independent vessel…” I paused right there. What the heck was the name of the ship? I had just been calling it the tender. It did not have anything painted on it as it was a prototype that was being shown at yacht shows. Trika shouted down, “New Hope.”

“Once again this is the independent vessel New Hope representing the Islands Alliance and South Carolina Association of Freedom First Organization Leading Delegates.” I felt good, I had not been able to B.S. like this for a long time. “Please state your intentions before we decide that you are hostile and have to take appropriate measures.” Yeah that sounded good. It sounds official and is forceful without being to confrontational. Michael at least is getting a kick out of my improvisation as he is having a hard time keeping a straight face. “What is it Michael?” I hissed quietly.

“You named us S.C.A.F.F.O.L.D. We are representing building equipment.”

Huh, that was kind of funny, not intentional at all.

“Keep it together. We can change the name later. We have to look strong in front of this group in case they are itching for a fight. You laughing is not going to help.”

“Sorry.”

“Ahoy, New Hope. This is Captain Bob of the Sea Dancer and the other vessel is the Moonlight Dream. We are looking for a doctor or a nurse. We have wounded on board that need treating.”

I could see Olivia about to volunteer. “Olivia, gather what you need but don’t say anything yet. Let me get a few more details.” She nodded her acceptance and departed to collect a medkit.

“Captain Bob, we do have someone that can help, but I am going to need to know a bit more. How did your wounded get hurt and what types of injuries do they have?”

“We have a couple of broken bones, some internal injuries and a few gunshot wounds. We ran into a pirate vessel called the Sunset Skipper. When she fired on us we ran and fired what few weapons we had back. After a half hour chase she gave up and we are low on supplies, ammo and need help.”

I was about to answer them back when Micahael interrupted me. “Trika says that was the name of the boat that harassed them yesterday.” So they were probably telling the truth. This could work to our advantage.

“To make things easier and safer for the both of us why don’t you tie up on the west side of the dock here and I will have our captain tie up on the other side. Any walking wounded can come down to the dock first and be looked at then our physician can check on anyone else.”

They agreed and soon enough all three boats were docked a few meters away from the ferry. “Michael you stay back while Olivia and I check out the situation. If you see anything funny warn me if you can. If you can’t then just start shooting.”

“Aye Aye, Sir.”

“Knock it off smart aleck.”

I disembarked the tender with Olivia. I was armed to the teeth, but Olivia was only carrying pistols and lots of medical stuff. Several people were coming onto the dock from the other two ships. There were a couple of pistols and at least one person who stayed on board that had a rifle that I could see, but nothing that would suggest that they were trying to set us up. Olivia moved to the first person who seemed in pain and started her triage and treatment. O person who I could only assume was Captain Bob was approaching me determinedly.

“Hello Captain, my name is Mark and the young lady helping everyone is Nurse Olivia. Can you tell me a little more about your situation and then I can trade or give you all some supplies or maybe even provide something better?” I think it was the offer something better part that stopped him in his tracks.

“’Yes Mark, I am Captain Bob. I thank you for your assistance.”

Bob’s story slowly came out. It seemed that they had a very similar idea to Gerald and his group at the beginning of the zombie trouble. They however, ran into a problem that Gerald did not have as he was much more rural. It was a case of too many chiefs and not enough Indians. Most of the boats belonged to very wealthy people who were used to ordering others around to do things. They were not mentally or physically prepared to actually work and survive. Their bossing people around and demanding things lasted about a day before someone got sick of it and realized that they did not have to listen to the rich people anymore. In most cases the rebellion against the rich was fairly benign. The captains, workers, staff and assorted others who were being ordered about just left. Some of them only went as far as the nearest unclaimed boat with keys, and some left the docks entirely.

The big problem came a couple days later. The rich and entitled people were running out of food and started travelling and demanding others supply them with the rations they had scavenged. Almost everyone ignored them and just got on with surviving. However, for some reason one newly liberated captain by the name of Phillip decided something more drastic than ignoring needed to be done. He gathered a bunch of like-minded individuals and then went on a brief rampage. Phillip was smart enough to limit his victims to the rich people and avoid the actual workers. This meant that the competent people left him alone. When Philip realized no one was going to stop him he switched from terrorizing the rich to terrorizing everyone. People paid him off with material goods and then left.

It took Philip a couple of days to realize his victims were disappearing. It took him another two days to realize that all his wealth was useless. Who cares about diamond necklaces when you are starving. Thus the pirates were born. Philip started raiding all over the port demanding supplies. For some reason he would rather fight humans than risk the zombies and go and collect his own supplies. Last night we approached our two vessels and just started shooting. There was no warning or anything. We returned fire with what weapons we had and then tried to escape. After a brief chase they stopped following us. They either thought we were not worth the trouble or spotted new prey.

After chatting with Bob I felt confident enough to invite him to our group and explain what we were doing. Bob had nine people on the yacht he was captain of and the other boat had eight. With seventeen more people we could finish loading today probably and be gone by dark. There would no longer be a problem with manpower. This timing was heaven sent. I extended the invitation and both groups accepted. Every person who was ambulatory started collecting the supplies and vehicles I wanted to take down to the islands.

Now that locals had joined us finding everything turned out to be easy. I took the first group out with one duck boat and Michael stayed behind and started handing out weapons in case the Dread Pirate Philip showed up. In less than six hours our little group had killed over 500 zombies and relocated a huge variety of vehicles. The top layer of the ferry now held 20 different types of diesel trucks, filled with random looted supplies they grabbed on the way back. The second deck was filled with a variety of john deere tractors and implements. The third deck was just a variety of vans, SUVS and minibuses for transportation. The bottom deck was the best for me. One of the people on the moonlight dream knew where a fuel depot was and we brought back three tankers full of diesel, one tanker of gasoline, and somehow crammed in two dump trucks also.

We had been making a lot of noise and attracting a lot of attention. It was time to finally leave the mainland.