As I ran I squeezed off a few shots from my 9mm as they got close but for the most part I had outdistanced the group at the shelling site in no time at all. The trouble was all the zombies who had not been drawn to the shelling started popping out from behind shipping containers and crane legs as I ran past and I had to dodge and weave furiously to avoid their grasping hands.
More than once stealthy zombies came within inches of dragging me down but my luck held and I was able to dodge, shoot, or outrun all of them.
Less than three minutes later I was about to take a long walk off a short pier. After running all out I was beginning to tire, but the horde, now several hundred strong, was not tiring. They were catching up. My first biathlon was only halfway over however. I dove headfirst into the brown water.
The vest worked just as advertised and I popped to the surface just in time to see the fastest of my undead competitors complete the first stage of their biathlon and begin the water event.
I started swimming away from the edge of the seawall as fast as possible as more splashes sounded. I turned out towards the center of the river, swimming diagonally away from the point I had jumped from.
Luckily zombies are not nearly as good at swimming as they are at running. Only one got close enough to grab at my foot before sinking. Relatively few zombies bothered to chase me in.
From behind me I heard the PBR come racing up to fish me out of the water. They had dropped the rest of the team off to perform our mission as soon as the zombies had gone after me and then sailed the length of the terminal to grab me.
No sooner was I out of the water than CWO Magann radioed the signal to Sterett. A sound like thunder cracked overhead followed by the sound of rain on an aluminum roof as the 155mm guns Sterett was carrying fired their BB rounds and thousands of ball bearing fell on the heads of would be zombie track stars.
From the PBR the petty officers joined in with their guns adding to the cacophony of noise and carnage on land.
I handed Warrant Officer Magann the sopping wet MOLLE vest. “I believe this belongs to you.” It fell to the deck with a wet thump.
Chapter 13
The Dundalk facilities had been more or less intact according to Baublitz. The team had fought a steady stream of zombies in my absence despite my diversion. The site is just too close to a former population center.
I turned to Walls “Any word on the mission changing yet?”
“Nope.”
“Is the radio functioning properly?”
“Yep.”
“Alrighty then, one last place to search, the former Coast Guard Yard at Curtis Bay, straight across the river from us. I bet we can knock that out before nightfall.”
On the trip across the Patapsco we ate our C-rats. No amount of Kool-Aid powder could get the taste of spam out of my mouth, but at least I was full, despite losing my chocolate bar from the downdraft of the helo when it buzzed us as it continued to sound the channel. More good auspices.
At the bow of the PBR PO3 Gill was taking sounding, not that the PBR drew more than a few feet of water, but an aircraft carrier sure does. As we approached the old Coast Guard Yard he informed us “The deepest this water gets is 20 feet.”
“Yea another wild goose chase. Let’s just get out and see if anything is salvageable.” I answered.
We motored past the base one way, turned around and motored back the other. It was mostly burned out. The locks of the drydock, which was smaller than the one at Sparrows Point, were busted open. The place looked like it had been looted. Worse of all there were zombies all over.
“I’ve got a dozen Zulus by the dry dock,” howled Ethan.
“Score of Zebras by the satellite dish,” responded William
“Mob of Zippers by that warehouse.” said Marion.
“Come on that’s not even NATO phonetic at all. Pack of Zeds in the hanger,” said Dan
“Bushel of Zekes by that burnt out car,” said Baublitz.
“Legion of Zits by the flagpole,” said Markus.
“Zombies over there.” grunted Bull, not quite getting into the spirit.
It wasn’t worth getting out of the boat. As nightfall approached I decided, “Turn us around, let’s go back to Sterett. Marion, did you find anyone to watch the rabbit while we were gone?”
“I thought you did.”
“NO, you said you would.”
“I’m messing with you; I left her with one of the cooks.”
“If I find rabbit on the menu I’m gonna kick your ass.”
“She’s still too small to eat; I’d like to see you try.”
It was good she could still joke after a tough day like today. Everyone looked pretty dejected after repeatedly coming up empty.
It was dark out by the time we tied up to the destroyer’s stern, no point in hoisting the PBR back aboard since I had a feeling we would be using it again in the morning. Sterett was still anchored past the Key Bridge, but the helicopter was back on board.
Chief Aquia met us at the stern. “Captain wants to see you in his cabin, new orders.”
“Thanks Chief. Go get some chow and hit your racks, looks like we’ll be back at this again tomorrow,” I told the team.
Owen met me in his cabin. “Plenty of bad news tonight. I just got off the horn with Reaper 6; the admiral has given up on trying to find Team 3. They are officially missing presumed undead. He has a new mission for you too. It’s in the middle of the Inner Harbor, but if you do it right you’ll be able to get what the admiral wants and collect those zombies you owe me.”
“It’s been a long day; please tell me you have some good news to go along with the bad.”
“The Seahawk scouted out a usable channel for us. If all goes well we will be able to fully support you. If it doesn’t work neither one of us will complete our mission.”
Chapter 14
I am not a morning person, but the strange vibrations coursing through the ship, combined with the thudding noise over my head compelled me to get up ahead of my 0500 alarm. I strapped on my pistol belt and went to the bridge.
I made it up there just in time to look forward out the window and see the Key Bridge retreating behind us and a white bubbly wake extending from the bow out ahead of us.
That’s when I figured it out; we were sailing up the channel… backwards.
I walked to the starboard bridge wing where Commander Owen was looking through his binoculars, forward, towards the stern of the ship, which was now facing the burnt out skyscrapers of Baltimore.
“This is the first mission back there in two years.” He said without looking at me, gesturing towards the city.
“People used to say Baltimore is a city with Northern charm and Southern efficiency.”
We boarded the PBR by 0630, just as the sun was breaking the eastern horizon, over Dundalk. Sterett was ponderously feeling her way up the channel the Seahawk had mapped out.
“She’s a Coast Guard Cutter right? Have you ever served aboard her?” I asked Baublitz as we pushed. The sea was calm as glass, and the color of Dr. Pepper. Dr. Pepper used to go great with pretzels.
“Not exactly, she has been out of commission since the mid 80’s. She was a museum but I have been on before. When I was stationed at Curtis Bay us damage controlmen went over once a year to do volunteer work on the exterior of the ship.”
“Explain why we are doing this.” Ethan asked groggily as he poked around the ship’s wiki page on his Smartphone.
“The navy needs this ship. I don’t know if it’s to cannibalize parts, or to use as is, although I doubt it will still sail on its own, or if it’s for the scrap value, it was made in the 1930’s, I assume prewar steel is high quality stuff. God knows we aren’t building new ships, or forging new steel anymore. Besides it’s sure to be full of zombies so we can replace the ones you and William killed the other day.”