Chapter 34

Setting Up The Base

We approached the first Quonset hut and saw that there was a large padlock on the shut doors. I brought out my trusty axe-bar. I am hoping that I can pry it open and not have to admit to anyone else that I forgot to bring a pair of bolt cutters. I feel kind of ridiculous. I am supposed to be the prepared one. The one with the answers and the plan and I forget something as simple as bolt cutters. Things are becoming more and more complicated though. I have discovered that planning is much easier than doing.

Real life people have a tendency to mess up my nice neat plans. It is quite frustrating. I struggle to pry open the lock for about thirty seconds before Michael speaks up.

“Mark maybe you could let me try the bolt cutters I brought. It might go faster.”

“Why you little. Why on earth did you let me struggle so long before saying something?”

“Well to tell the truth it was funny. I wasn’t sure what was going to break first, the lock or you so I decided to wait and see.”

“You know I will get even for this, but until then wipe off that smug grin and open this thing.”

“Aye Aye, SIR!”

“Just do it.”

Michael took his bolt cutters and snipped the lock off the door. Billy grabbed the door and flung it open and stepped back. We all looked at him like he was crazy.

“What, I would rather be safe than sorry. For all I know someone locked an infected person in here and they turned into a zombie.”

“You know as silly as that sounds that is actually a good piece of advice. I think a lot of us are becoming a little complacent, myself included. We need to treat every situation at least for a few more weeks as deadly. No one wants to be the person who survived the zombie apocalypse and then died because of doing something stupid.”

I see everyone nodding their heads at this statement.

“Alright now that I have finished my little speech, let’s see what goodies are behind door number one.”

We entered into the hut and turned on flashlights. Note to self, get generators fueled and running as soon as possible. Solar panels and other forms of power generation soon after that. I miss the convenience of electricity all ready. I was a little spoiled on the boat. It has generators and I can take hot showers and everything. Second note to self, stay on boat until I get electricity taken care of.

As I look around I see several crates of weapons, or at least what I assume are weapons from their labels. M4’s, 1911 pistols, shotguns, even some old M16’s. I thought those had been phased out of the military? Probably just keep some on hand just in case. It does not really matter. There must be hundreds of unused and unopened weapons in this hut alone.

“Billy is this a normal amount of weapons for a base? I mean I am grateful that there are this many here, but I thought this was a small base with only a few hundred soldiers.”

“It is a small base. Standard protocol on bases outside the U.S. in friendly territory is to have at least one replacement for each soldier just in case. Often times they have more than that to help out transient soldiers or to help with resupply. The military has always had excess supplies of material. The only problem they have had is getting the material they do have to where it needs to go.”

Alright, one little mystery solved.

“So if there are this many weapons than the ammunition?”

“In the other huts. Should be at least 1,000 rounds per weapon stored and for a transient base like this probably more as people will come through and need to recertify on their way to or from another area.”

Oh this is grand. I did not expect this much. There is probably enough weaponry stored on this base to invade whatever is left of the Caribbean let alone protect this island. This will seriously help out my plans and speed things way up. I mean we will still have to go and secure as many weapons and as much ammunition as we can just to be safe, but the priority of it just went down on the list. We can focus now on things that will help us set up and keep a high standard of living and technology.

Hmm, technology. Why is that percolating in my brain right now? Something to do with islands or the Caribbean? No that’s not it. Ah now I remember. I was reading articles on those Google mystery barges that people think are floating data centers. There was one in California and one of the coast of Maine. I guess if we wanted to we could go and see if they are data centers. If they are then hauling them back here would ensure the capacity to keep technology running for a while. In fact, if they actually are in use than bringing them would potentially give us a limited internet and access to whatever useful data is stored already in their servers. Another long term plan to bring up later.

Enough scatterbrain thinking. I signal everyone to leave the building and then I place the broken lock back on the door to prevent it from swinging open in the wind. My group proceeds to check three other armory huts at random just to make sure. We find one ammunition hut, one explosives hut, and one hut full of random large gun parts that Billy thinks are decommissioned or storage for vehicle and boat mounted weapons. The explosives hut is especially eye opening and a little bit scary for me. It is the last inspected hut.

“Ok we are stopping here. I want Michael and Billy to run back to the boat or anywhere else close by and get some replacement locks for this hut and the others. We were not well prepared for this. I do not want this hut to stay unlocked. That is just asking for a bad accident.”

After seeing what was inside those two take off at a jog to go and find a replacement lock. Inside this hut were dozens if not more crates of different types of grenades, antitank rockets and what looked to be anti-aircraft rockets. Just one of those can and would cause a nightmare’s worth of problems right now. I know that they have their uses, but frankly if I need to use a rocket, then I probably should not be in that situation.

After about a 30 minute wait I see Michael and Billy approaching in the distance. Once they arrive we lock up the explosives hut and back track and lock the other huts up as well. We have enough weapons at the moment. We can distribute or figure out the situation with these new ones later. With the current exploration done I lead my little group to help with the clearing of the base. I also want to know what needs to be done to make sure that it is blocked off and nothing new can get in.

Three hours later my squad has put down several zombies which were on the far side of the chain link fence surrounding the base. Luckily it looks like that the fence is strong enough to keep them back for now. We just need to block off the three gates that lead onto the base from the rest of the island. I think that will be a project for tomorrow morning. With that done and another round of clearing zombies from buildings we should be ready for the influx of new residents coming from South Carolina.

With some time away and a chance to cool down I have started missing momma and my daughter. I even miss my brother and sister, which means that I really have been a little stubborn. I do think that I will distance myself from Andros Island in the future just to make things easier on myself. I can always come back and visit. However, seeing those other people on a daily basis will probably drive me insane.

My little group drops Billy off at home and says our goodbyes to Maddie and Mandy and then proceed to the docks where our flotilla is. I see that several tents have been set up on the docks and supplies and vehicles have started to be unloaded. As I get closer the captains of the other vessels along with Trika spot me and come to talk.

“Mark, is it safe for us to debark everything and everyone?”

“I think so, but let me address everyone here before we spread out.”

After a few minutes of gathering the entire group together I start my little speech.

“We have arrived on Andros island and have secured a forward base of operation that will hopefully allow us to clear the entire island and make it safe for you, your families, and those that are following us. I want to point out a few things before everyone decides what to do. First and foremost, you need to understand that there is no 100% guarantee of safety in this world anymore. That being said, our groups have cleared the base of immediate threats to the best of their ability. Until we check every foot of fencing and put up barricades there is a small chance of zombies still wandering in. You need to understand this before making a decision to move of the boats.”

A lot of murmuring is going on in the crowd. I cannot tell if it is positive or negative.

“Second important point to bring up. We still have not restored power to the base. So if you want a hot shower or warm food it might be better to stick with the boats for tonight and possibly tomorrow.”

Okay, that is definitely negative grumbling.

“Listen up, you all need to understand a few things right now. There is no more free lunch. There is no established government that guarantees your rights and responsibilities. If you don’t like what I am saying then fix the problem yourself, come up with a solution that we can use, or leave. That’s it. No one is going to hold your hand and walk you through things. I think that we can make a great new start on this island and its surrounding islands. However, if you stand in the way of keeping my family and friends safe I will take action.”’

That little tirade shut up a few people.

“Finally, tomorrow we need people to do another security sweep, check the fences and block of the entrances to the base. I need anyone qualified to start setting up and installing the solar panels and other electricity generating devices we brought. I need at least three people to finish collecting and removing the dead bodies before they cause a health hazard. Last but not least we need to finish unloading the major portion of supplies for easy access and then make room for the next wave of boats. The group that was following me originally should be arriving sometime tomorrow and we need to be ready for them. I propose we have an early dinner and then work until sundown to get a head start on everything. In three days we will have a large town hall meeting in the base gymnasium and can address any problems or concerns at that time. Are there any questions or constructive comments?”