“You’ve heard the calls?” I ask to which he nods.
“I want us to be in a position to support Lynn if they run into trouble,” I say.
“Probably wouldn’t be a bad idea. Any worries about the boys in white?” Greg asks nodding toward the Captain and the sub.
“Not for the time being. I’m not sure their Captain is a big fan of me. I don’t think he believes what is going on but I don’t think they’ll cause any problems. I think he’s trying to digest it all just like we had to,” I answer.
“That can’t be easy.”
“No and I’m not sure I have yet.”
“That’s because you’re an old man,” Greg says.
“At least I didn’t fall out of the ugly tree and get hit by every branch on the way down,” I respond.
“Look who’s calling who ugly,” he replies, leaning over me trying to be intimidating.
“Hey, I’m not the one kids point at and mistake for a sea cow when swimming… just sayin’.” Humor is one way we disperse the tension of knowing our team mates have entered a night runner lair.
Lynn’s call of, “Night runners on top of the crates,” interrupts our little tete-a-tete prompting action on our part.
“Red Team, Blue Team, form up on me,” I shout.
We form up and begin trotting toward the distant warehouse. As we draw closer, my throat tightens and heart rate accelerates hearing a din of shrieks emanating from within. I head toward the open side door when I see the large doors begin to slide open. The sound of shrieks increases through the thin aperture that is growing wider by the second. It’s hard to make out who is pushing the doors apart but I see a full team shoving on the large, heavy doors. The screams within change in tone from rage to screams of pain.
With the doors mostly open, I see Lynn and several of the other team members that entered standing in a line deeper inside the building. Scores of night runners lie scattered on the gray painted concrete floor. Some caught in the light arch in pain before slumping back to the ground. A group of five men huddle together outside off to the side. I observe Lynn lower her weapon and shout something into the interior. She stares into the darkness waiting for something. Finally, she shouts, “Okay, let’s get the fuck out of here,” and turning, she heads in my direction.
As she draws near, I see the weariness of the post-adrenaline phase of combat etched in her eyes. There is of course the bone-deep weariness we all carry from the struggle to survive on a constant basis. It brings a bleached out quality to the eyes that tells of having to endure stress over a long period. It’s the look of frontline veterans returning from a combat tour overseas and something I’ve observed in all of us. I also notice a splash of blood on her cheek which sparks additional concern.
“Yours or someone else’s?” I ask, nodding to her cheek as she stops in front of me.
“What?” Lynn asks, tilting her head.
“The extra bit of rouge on your cheek you managed to pick up,” I reply.
“Oh, someone else’s,” she says as she reaches to her cheek. She then wipes the spots of blood with her sleeve leaving a light red smear.
“Better?” She asks, finishing.
I look at the streaks and shake my head. “Yeah, um, much better,” I answer.
“Jack, you’re such a horrible liar,” Lynn says making another attempt which only makes it worse. I decide it’s in my best interest to not say anything else.
“So, what happened in there?” I ask, nodding toward the bodies covering the warehouse floor. Lynn proceeds to give me the cliff notes version of what happened.
“How was your little chat?” She asks, finishing.
“It was interesting and is bound to get even more so after this,” I answer.
I look over at the remaining sailors gathered together and nod for them to start heading back to their captain. They look plenty shaken but they start walking slowly, periodically looking over their shoulders at the building. Lynn directs several team members to head back inside to gather empty mags lying on the floor in the lit area. We then begin walking across the wide, empty lot and up the drive to the piers. Two firefights and it’s still morning. Yeah, it’s already been a long day and we still have a long night ahead of us. I’m quite ready to wake up from this nightmare.
“I can’t believe he sent his people in after what we told him,” Lynn says as we slowly make our way back.
“I’m not sure he understands the situation but I bet he’s ready to listen now,” I reply.
“He’d better. That’s all I have to say. That was not fun.”
“I’m just glad you’re okay,” I say, putting my arm around her and giving her a quick hug.
I leave Lynn and the other teams by the vehicles and walk down the dock toward where Captain Leonard and the others are still standing. The surviving members of his crew have just left his side and are making their way to the docked sub. I close up to where Bannerman, Frank, Leonard, and Krandle and his team are standing.
“I owe you my thanks, Captain Walker,” Leonard says. “My men briefed me on what happened inside. Their story seems a bit far-fetched and if I hadn’t been standing here myself, I wouldn’t have believed it. It still seems a little too unreal.”
“Believe me, captain, it was a lot for us to swallow in the beginning as well,” I reply. “I’m sorry for the people you lost.”
Leonard merely nods and turns to Krandle, “I owe you my apologies for doubting you as well, chief.”
“I’m not sure I still believe it myself, sir,” Krandle responds.
“I’m guessing you’re ready to listen now,” I say.
“I am, Captain Walker,” Leonard replies with a nod.
“Yeah, about that,” I say and proceed to tell our story.
Captain Leonard listens as I tell him about the happenings as far as we know leaving nothing out. He has a nod here and there along with several episodes where he tightens his eyes. I feel like I’m telling a children’s horror story as I listen to myself tell of the events of the past few months. It seems unreal to me as I tell it… and I lived it. I notice his lips tighten as I mention I was prior service and wasn’t in when it all went down but, to his credit, he doesn’t say anything. I mention our compound and our efforts to gather survivors and clear the area of night runners. After seeming to run my mouth for days on end, I finally bring him up to speed on where we stand now. I’m not usually much of a talker and I totally feel that I’ve used up my words for the next several months if not a year. I finish by inviting him and his crew to join us.
“I think that’s a great idea for us to join up. As far as I can tell, I’m now the base commander here. We can fortify this location and you can bring your people up. We can begin rebuilding here and can certainly use your expertise,” Leonard says.
“Oh boy, here we go,” I hear Bannerman mutter. I don’t think anyone else heard it but it was fairly clear to me.
“Captain, I know where you’re coming from but there isn’t any government anymore. That part of the world is gone,” I say.
“Captain Walker, I know you may be a civilian now but the others with you are still part of the government. We’re the government until we meet up with any still operating in an official capacity,” Leonard replies.
“Leonard,” I say purposely using his name rather than rank, “there aren’t any but small, scattered groups to ‘govern’.”
“Then we govern them. I’m the ranking officer at the moment and we’ll just have to keep the government alive in that manner,” he says.
“There… isn’t… any… government… to keep alive. We have opted to go with a functional command. You know, to have the best chance of survival. What you saw here,” I say sweeping my arm toward the warehouse, “doesn’t even come close to what is going on. These night runners are rampant and are as wily a foe as you can ever imagine. There are also bands of marauders about. Now, you are welcome to join us and of course we’d have you on the leadership team, but we have a harmony within our group that I won’t have messed with. Every day here is a fight for survival and we need the cohesiveness that we have in order to survive. I get where you’re coming from, truly I do, but right now we need to establish a safe haven and we can move onto other things once we have that.”