02 Flotilla of the Dead Read Online Free Page A

primary stronghold here and a place of refuge in case the zombies ever break through again.  And you would remain in command of this ship.  Does all of that make sense to you?”
                   “It sounds fantastic.” replied Conrad.  “A lot better than any of us had hoped for.  I mean we all knew that there were a lot of supplies and things we need right across the street in the cargo terminals, but we were trapped here with only two hand guns among three hundred and twenty people.  We had no hope of getting any supplies at all because we were surrounded by zombies. I thought we were doomed to a slow death.  Now you’ve relieved the siege and promise so much more!  I can’t thank you enough and I’m sure I can get everyone else here to go along with your plan.”
                “I’m glad to hear you say that, Conrad,” Scott said.  “Based on your assurance, we’ll proceed to set up the first phase of giving you what you’ll need to make the Queen Mary a viable stronghold.”  Scott and Conrad shook hands and they all returned to the open cargo door in the old ship’s side. 
    Mark was waiting for them on the ramp, still scanning the area for additional threats.  The Marines had completed their mercy mission of dispatching crushed zombies and were climbing back into the Amtracs.  O’Hara went over to give orders for one of the Amtracs to remain on guard in the parking lot and wipe out any zombies that showed up.  Then he returned to join Scott’s group in the SUV and they drove swiftly back to the Sovereign Spirit.
    *****
    Things happened fast after that.  Scott and Captain Fisher selected ten of the crew from the Sovereign Spirit and asked them to volunteer for a recovery operation.  All of those chosen were willing to go when the reason was explained to them.  Half an hour later the Sovereign Spirit pulled away from the Cruise Ship pier and turned to circle past Terminal Island and move slowly into the southern cargo ship basin in the Port of Long Beach.  This was a manmade port with over a mile of pier space that could service at least seven large container ships at a time.  There were only two ships docked there now.
    The Sovereign Spirit moved alongside the ship closest to the entrance of the basin.  The name on her hull was Reliable Burden with a home port of Hong Kong.  She was at least 700 feet long, high at the bow, low amidships where containers were stacked, with a large superstructure astern.  The cargo deck was currently less than half full of twenty and forty foot containers.  There was no way to tell from a distance what the containers carried.   There was no immediate sign of life – or the undead – aboard either, which suited Scott just fine. 
    Captain Fisher maneuvered right up to the container ship and the volunteers jumped across to the secure the two ships together.  They were followed by a squad of Marines who spread out to sweep the ship in search of zombies or survivors.  They found five of each.  The zombies were shot and the survivors, once released from the galley where they had barricaded themselves, were brought on deck for questioning.  They were all Filipinos who spoke functional English and they were a gold mine of information.  The Reliable Burden had arrived in port two days before the zombie outbreak.  These uninfected survivors had been part of the skeleton crew who did not get shore leave during the unloading and loading process.  The unloading of consumer electronics from China had gone smoothly.  They had begun loading American export containers the night before Z Day.  The exciting news was that almost all of the containers they loader were Reefers.  These were intermodal containers with built-in refrigeration systems used to transport fresh food and other perishables.  They were always placed in the lower part of the container stacks because they required power hook-ups for the refrigeration units in each