ZRP-2 Chapter 9: Can We Keep It?

"Seriously?" one of the occupants asked. James was just as stunned: if the Navy was still in business, then it meant....well, there was hope. A lot of it really. "Do you know where they're operating?" he asked.

"The coast mostly, trying to secure bases for resupply and... Supply groups of survivors it was what I was doing until..." She shook her head sadly. "Gravity dislikes us Navy Flyers it seems"

"Fucking hell, that's......impressive," James said. Quickly though he said "Uh, not the crashing bit, the operating off the coast bit. Do you know where they were last?" The jeep duo continued down the road, finally leaving the horde behind as they headed back to the town. Still though, there were a number of other zombies coming out of the woodwork, and it made James question how safe they'd be at their rest spot.

"If I get close enough I can contact them on the radio that I have with me" She explained to them. "It is short ranged sadly, some kit we looted from a deserted cold war supply base a while back... I chose to take the radio instead of an extra slot for bullets or knives" The radio was an olive metal rectangle almost with a wire that could be extended out of the top for it to function better.
"That would be the easiest way to contact them assuming the ship is still in position and hasn't chosen to sail on"

"Where were they last then?" James asked. They arrived back with the rest of the convoy though no one got out, either in the jeep or from the other vehicles.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I am not too sure they would have kept moving... The Navigator would have known but I don't think he will be much help to you now" Martha shook her head sadly. "I cannot really give you much better information other than head for the coast... Just stay away from the major ports they are thick with the dead"

"Not surprising," James muttered. Well this was certainly information that needed to be acted upon, quickly. Getting out of the jeep, James shouted out "Marcus! Clara! We've got some good news!" The pair emerged from the bus, both armed and looking for any zombies that may have gone unnoticed. "What's going on?" Marcus asked. James gestured to Martha and said "Tell him."

"The US Navy is still operating the Zeeks cannot use the water" She explained to them, dismounting slowly from the Jeep. "I am in your debt here I... No butts about it I would not have made it if you guys hadn't shown up when you did"

It took them both a moment to truly comprehend just what Martha had said, and half as long for them to give a sigh of relief when they did. "Thank Christ," Marcus said. "Yeah," James said. "Which means....well, not sure what exactly. They're helping out survivors but I doubt they're taking visitors."

"Still," Clara said, "We should at least head for the coast and get close to them. At best, let them know of a large group of survivors they could direct to a safe location."

"I will be honest with you there is no safe place anywhere on the planet... Where ever you go there is a threat we might be able to accommodate you but..." She shook her head and moved on. "I'm guessing you have been surviving since the end I don't suppose you heard anyone who made it out of San Fran by any chance?" Her eyes held a hopefully glimmer, perhaps Martha had friends, or family there. Maybe both.

"San Francisco?" James said. "Yeah, we passed by a group a few months ago. A lot of the people there had come from the Bay area, why? Friends or family?"

"Yeah" She answered before reaching into her flight suit and producing a worn, dog eared well folded, faded photograph of a handsome looking young man, herself a young child, possibly one or two. "I don't suppose you have seen either of those two? The man is my fiancée Thomas Jackthorn and that is our son Mike"

Taking the photo and studying it for a moment, James blinked and said "Add a beard to Thomas and some inches to Mike, and I'd say that's a definite yes. Saw them months ago with a convoy that was heading North East. Said something about Maine."

She seemed relieved. "I got called out on my tour so he stayed behind to care for the baby... We planned to get married when I got back but..." Martha smiled gratefully though her gaze was sad. "I still remember when San Fran fell to the zeeks... I thought they where dead... The streets there are overrun with the zeeks"

"I wouldn't know, haven't been there," James said. "Sorry though, he's not here. But like I said, a few months ago he said he was heading up to Maine state, wanted to get to the waterfront there but somewhere away from major population zones." He looked around, as did everyone else and said "We should maybe get going."

"Thank you though it is good to know that they are alive" She answered picking up her helmet and taking it out of the jeep. "I can tell you the other places to avoid that we know of"

"That helps," James said. "Look, you can ride in the jeep or the bus and tell us where to go and where not to. It's going to be a bit of a way to the coast though, so doubt we'll get there anytime soon."

"Avoid every town and city on the map, most large docks should be avoided as well as any wrecked vessels" She explained. "The zeeks... They followed the people hoping to get evacuated and... Munch munch brains brains" Martha sighed wearily. "I'll take the bus, perhaps unjam my pistol and catch a few winks?" She suggested, secretly she was exhausted still.

"Sure thing," James said. They let her onto the bus, while Marcus had someone go car to car and say they were moving out, much to everyone else's annoyance. Beyond grumbling though, they didn't complain or try to get out, and the convoy soon started moving out of town. The brief rest was over, and soon they were on the move, East.

Martha collapsed on a seat in the bus and rested her head against the cool glass. She refused to let herself fall asleep until she had at least unjammed her pistol. One could never know when you would next need to use your weapon, especially in today's world.

It had been several hours on the back-roads, coupled with a few pit-stops, before the group passed a sign on the road saying "Welcome to the State of Virginia." They finally left Kentucky behind, and were now one step closer to the sea and this naval group. Presently, they stopped at a rest area along the road to get their bearings, with James, Marcus and Clara talking with Martha over where the fleet's course would take it next.

Martha examined the map of the USA, studying the coast. The map lay across the bonnet of a car and she ran her fingers along the coast line, she had found the map folded up on the bus and was marking areas on it where the navy had been... And the places that the zeeks now controlled.
"You need to head to the estuary it would be the easiest place for a boat based extraction" She pointed at a region further in land. "I should be able to contact them from here onwards provided we reach the area before they move out... Radio range isn't too good" She explained.
"Zeeks own a lot of territory on the coast" Martha warned them.

"Which still doesn't make sense," Marcus said. "They've always gone for buildings, neighborhoods and cities. Maybe they still remember on some level that's where people live, but either way that was where they always headed. Nothing much along the coast, especially between coastal cities." James nodded, but said "Either way we keep our guard up. We did not survive two years of this shit by rushing in blind. Now, there's a road we can take that should get us in a straight line to the coast, though.....looks like we'll be near a city at the end of it. So we don't enter at all: make radio contact with the group if possible, and if they answer we get to the beach and hole up for an extraction." James was never a soldier, and he certainly didn't know the proper....lingo. He was just channeling all the movies he used to watch as a kid.

"There are many wrecked boats at the coast" Martha explained to Marcus. "They followed the flood of refugees after the air evacuations where overwhelmed... I cannot tell you how many ghost ships float at sea filled with nothing but the zeeks"
She wondered if this group had what it takes to survive the next leg of the journey, they seemed tough, smart and they knew when to listen. But would they like what they saw? The US Navy was a shadow of it's former self it was a far cry from the powerful monster it used to be.
"Move fast and punch hard, blitzkreg but against the dead as we try not to get bogged down by the zeeks"

"End of the day, goal is the same: get to the beach, contact the navy, and pray we have a ticket out of here," James said, though Marcus frowned a little. "What about the Shepherds?" he asked. "I mean....we were still planning on wiping them out, right?" James looked a bit troubled at the idea of walking away like that, but said "We've killed Pariah, cut off the head of their fighting force. Or at least dealt them a serious blow. But yeah...they're still a threat that needs to be dealt with. Martha, would your people be willing to help?"

"Fuck the religious guys if you want and I want to make it to the coast alive you will need all of your resources here focused on this one task" She stabbed the coast with a pointed finger just to make a point.

"That's not what we meant," James said. "We are fully committed to getting to the coast, but we were planning to take out the Shepherds here. They've been a threat to the towns trying to rebuild, and we've still got our own scores to settle. So we're curious if your friends would be willing to help us take the fight to the religious nutjobs."

"First we deal with zeek then we restore America" She argued simply and bluntly.

"The zombies are.....kind of a secondary problem," Marcus countered. "At least they don't use guns or coordinate attacks."

"Not in the overall picture, humans are a secondary problem zeek has to be dealt with first before we can start killing each other like before" She responded quickly. "The defeat of the undead is the only priority once he is down then Uncle Sam can crush the rebels and restore the Union"

James and Marcus traded a look, kinda taken off guard by the way Marth said 'Uncle Sam' and 'rebels.' "Look," Clara said, "there's way more zombies than there are Shepherds, no way we'll be able to kill them all. Plus the Shepherds will interfere on an epic scale with any plans we set up to deal with the....zeeks. So if you're not willing to help us, then fine. We'll stay for a stint before going on our way."

"You will miss the boat and by extension I will" She countered before sighing exasperated. "There is a plan in place in order to deal with zeek the plan is arming the groups with supplies and knowledge in the form of special operatives to coordinate the actions of the survivors" Martha explained to them. "Until zeek or whatever you wished to call the undead are defeated... Anything else is of a secondary importance since they are the main threat to humanity" Though the pirates easily could be the main threat to those who lived on the ocean waves, not actually the zeeks.

"Well so far we've had more trouble from....well, everyone, equally," James said. "Zombies, Shepherds, bandits and raiders. There was even an Elite compound--rich people who holed up in cities with lots of guns--who gave us some trouble. Believe me, not everyone has the same idea as you, and I doubt they'll be easy to sway."

"A cruise missile can solve many problems look if you want to argue the strategy you will want to talk to the Admiral Topson his strategies have saved many lives" Martha said to them, she had enough with arguing with them. Exhausted by the argument and the survivors who she travelled with and owed her lives to lacked the overall strategic view. Of course, this was understandable they had little contact with any arm of the government, however their quest for revenge could either aid or hinder humanity's survival as a whole... But which one she did not know for certain.

Abel had been listening to the conversation between the new comer and a few of the people from the caravan.  He then spoke up, deciding to put in his two cents.

"You talk about exterminating entire factions and armies of undead, when we're just struggling to get our daily meals.  When winter hits are we just gonna live off from scavenging gas stations?  the only thing left looting is in the big cities and we've already talked about how that's not even an option.  And what about your boat?  I doubt you've had enough food to last the past two years, you're telling me you've been able to scavenge enough food to comfortably feed yourselves?"

Abel took a moment to look at the map.

"We should head south before we're in too deep.  We could grow our own food, year round."

Abel's finger rested on the map over Florida.

"We are fighting a war here we may have lost the battle but the fight is not over, hence the resupply operation, we've lost countless groups" She shook her head, growing weary. "I am heading to the coast it is your best chance for survival, mine as well" Martha could not believe what she was hearing but... After so long of having little or no military presence she should have really expect it.
It was not like she was a marine or a delta force operative, no. She was just a loadmaster not exactly your heroic warrior type. She had a plan, it was not the best plan but it would have to do. It seemed to be far superior to anything they had suggested.

"Look," James said calmly. "We still head for the coast, that's still our best bet. However, Abel does have a point here Martha: armies can't march on empty stomachs and unless you guys have literally an endless supply of food, we need a way to keep any fighters we have, and civilians to boot, well fed. So, when we get to your ship, we should appeal to whomever's in charge and see about heading somewhere warm, somewhere we can grow food."

Martha sighed she knew that saying, they all did, heck she was the one who had to sign pointless forms saying what they where loading, how much and where in the ZSA it happened to be heading. Not that it mattered like anyone would read it. They could debate and discuss till zeek rotted away and America returned to relative normality. She walked away. "If I where you I would try to become part of the crew rather than continue to survive out here or at the very least find some measure to maintain contact for resupply and possible support" They needed to get moving, they spent too damn long discussing things.

"Too late, already part of my own," James shot back. "And we need to move out. Everyone, back in the cars now and let's move out!" Marcus said, now barking orders. People began moving back to their vehicles, and engines picked up again and soon they were on the move.

Martha chose not to punch him one in the mouth, she would consider that choice of action a repayment of the life debt. That was the problem, the main issue that was disrupting the plan of surviving happened to not be the government, the military nor even the zeeks. It happened to be the survivors themselves in their little clans, towns and groups. Loyal to each other yes but unwilling to help out others or serve a wider goal. She climbed up into a vehicle and wondered if she could convince any of them to see beyond themselves or at least just their group. Their loyalty was noble and they where all brave fighters but... They did or could not see how vital their role would be, how every human's role could be.

Abel entered one of the cars.  Even if he didn't agree with their course of action, Abel would stick with the caravan to the end.  Really he just didn't think the world could be saved, humanity might just have to accept the fact that they're not on the top of the food chain anymore.

Abel stuck a half smoked cigarette in his mouth before lighting it with a cardboard match.

So they drove on for the rest of the day. The drive had a few close calls, what with the main road being blocked by car husks which resulted in a detour.....down a road that was swarming in walkers, nearly hundreds. A quick, somewhat panicked u-turn down a different road, and they were back on track, going slightly North before getting on a new road that took them straight for Hampton Virginia. Going through the main city was a no-go, not with the risk of being cornered by the zombies. So they decided on a work around: the police APC--along with two other vehicles--would move forward through the city and push for the coast while the rest of the convoy would wait over by a wildlife refuge.

As the scouting group moved through Hampton, they passed by what could be ebst described as the site of a major battle, at Langley Airfield. Bodies littered the ground, some blown apart and others burned charcoal black. Holes from mortar and tank fire had been blasted into the ground, while empty vehicles were everywhere. James looked on through the window of the car he drove, trailing behind the APC. Maybe we should come back and check on the place, see if we can secure it and use it as a home....he thought.

It was a moot point for now though, at least until they determined if the carrier option was going to work out or not. As of now, the group was parked by a marina, and while they had passed by plenty of the undead on their way in, so far the area was....moderately clear. A few walkers and occasional runner came by, but they were quickly dispatched silently by arrows. Within the APC, James operated the radio, tuning in on the frequency given Martha, though there was no response. Maybe they'd respond to her, so he let her man it.

Jack had been hoping from roof too roof for a bit and was getting tired, he new the city was a bad spot but he needed food, he rested for a bit before moving again, the next jump was a little wide for him but he took it anyway, a move he shouldn't have taken as it resulted in him missing the other building and falling onto a catwalk, losing only his breath "That was lucky" he said to himself before getting up until he heard a creak of metal and then it breaking which resulted in the catwalk breaking apart and Jack fell onto a car denting the roof and spraining his left arm, only luckily bruising himself just about everywhere else. He moved slowly after this coming close to the marina and seeing an apc he closed in on it and knocked on it, whispering "Hello anyone there" looking around he saw some walkers where dead within the area, "Look i just need some help, Hello"

When the group heard the hello, they nearly shit themselves. That said, guns popped up from around the corner of the APC, their handlers standing there. More appeared from the cars, as everyone had their weapon trained on the stranger. "Who the hell are you?" one of them demanded from atop the APC, while James stood at the corner, weapon ready to fire. The guys arm looked weird, maybe broken or sprained....but he could always be a trap.

Hibiki moved fast for pregnant. Her katana pressed to the man's throat, the blade gleaming. "James. Have the convoy spread out a bit. Lrts not waste ammo." She cursed herself mentally. Letting some no name sneak up on them. Not going to happen again.

"Now now Hibiki," James said as he stepped forward and held onto her hand. "Let's not be so hasty. Still.....who are you? I mean, I'd ask why you're here but your arm speaks for itself."

He was pretty freaked from the amount of weapons pointed at him but kept what ever he thought was cool inside and spoke "Arr sorry if i bothered you guys I was just looking for some food where I got chased by some zeds to a roof top and just jumped for a bit until I fell and landed on a car, Look if you don't trust me then keep me locked up in one of your cars and just wait, I got no friends left to save me" he said slowly grabbing his backpack and started to put it on the ground, " Theirs at least two cans of bacon in there and a 9mm pistol with a full mag and a machete in there too" he said letting it drop to the ground. "Ran out of water yesterday"

The group considered it for a moment, when James said "At the very least......we've got supplies to spare patching up that arm of yours. And we can give some water." Not everyone was happy with the idea, but in all fairness they did have the stuff to spare and the guy seemed harmless, and honest to boot.

"Thanks for the help, You guys seem pretty stocked and armed, are you attacking somebody" he said looking at some of the unhappy faces around, " Never mind, Its your groups business, can i keep my weapons or are you guys, i don't mind i would just like to have them."

Abel had his shotgun out and trained on the loner. When the man asked if he could keep his weapons Abel gave James an unsure look, not thinking that to be wise.