CH2
Kate woke the next morning and stretched before choosing what to wear today and hanging up what she had worn the day before so it could air out. That was another thing about life these days, she didn't get to wash her clothes much and even when she did it was just as fast as when taking a shower. So much so that everyone had learned to wash when they showered. Today, however, wasn't one of those days for her.
She emerged from her tent to find Ann waiting. "Sleep well?" Ann asked her. "Well enough. Ready?" Kate holstered her service weapon after checking it. Both of them were scheduled to clean their weapons tomorrow. That was one good thing about being in a precinct, there were lots of gun cleaning kits. What they didn't have the benefit of was the use of the shooting range. That area had been demolished and turned into sleeping space. They didn't have the excess rounds to spare for practice anyway.
Once downstairs they met up with their team members and headed out after checking in with Captain Montgomery. They took a slightly different route to reach the same location. "We're searching for the entrance to the basement this time." She really wanted that basement. She had a feeling about it. "We haven't cleared the upper floors yet," Holiwell countered. "And more sheets and such aren't high on our list of things to find. There's a basement in this building and we're going to find it."
The other four teamed up while Kate went alone as the worked their way into the burnt out portion of the building. Problem was the stairs to the basement could be in any of the small shops that used to be here. It was the burnt out remains that made everything difficult for all of them.
It was too dangerous for them to call out to each other. Being stealthy was paramount, still walking in this mess meant noise. From what she could tell she was in a small clothing shop based on what she was seeing. Because of this she had her eyes open for anything. Kate stopped and lifted a charred board and found what to her was a gold mine. The plastic was a little crinkled from the heat but it looked like the three panties inside weren't damaged. They weren't her size but surely one of the women could use them, so they went into her backpack. She looked for more but it looked like these had fallen and been saved from the flames while everything else wasn't.
Kate made it into the back room where she found that this area hadn't been hit as hard from the fire. Here she found a lot of sewing items that went into her backpack. So far it was a good start. Also back here were two doors. Based on the construction of the doors, she was betting the one on the rear wall led outside. The other was a lot cheaper-looking and was an interior door.
She checked it over first and ran her fingers around the edges searching for anything that didn't belong there. The door knob wasn't lockable which made her hope it wasn't just a closet. She carefully opened the door with her weapon ready. What she found in front of her was a small landing that went to the left and down. 'YES!' she told herself in her head. However, a noise behind her made her turn. She caught sight of a man who had what looked like a mop handle that he stabbed into her belly, causing her to double over and fall backward into the stair landing.
Another person came charging up the stairs and knocked her weapon away as she was hit in the belly again by the guy with the handle. A solid strike to her head and Kate's world went black.
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Her eyes fluttered open and she realized that her belly ached as though she'd been punched and her head hurt. Then she remembered how she'd gotten to be like this. She lifted up her head and mustered her reserves to launch an attack. However, what she found was the first guy lying dead in a pool of blood. Another much like him was lying dead in the doorway and she took him to be the one who hit her in the head.
However, it was the person still standing that had her attention. He was tall, maybe 6'-2" tall. He was well-built with broad shoulders and was dressed all in black from head to toe. She took a more careful look. He was wearing some kind of armored vest, black pants that looked painted on showing off his muscular legs. The shirt under the vest was also skintight and displayed his powerful arms.
What had her attention at the moment was watching him sheathe a really long silver knife. There were three more of them just like it on either side of his chest. She looked and saw he was wearing a solid black mask. The mask wasn't a head mask, it was strictly a face mask. It had light silver or gray arched eyebrows, a thin mustache as well as a van dyke beard that she'd remembered seeing in a portrait. His eyes were covered and all she saw was what looked like a honey comb that was slightly reflective.
"Who're you?" Her mind was still a little foggy. "Who? Who is but the form following the function of what and what I am is a man in a mask," the voice answered softly, far softer than she thought based on his appearance. "I can see that," she snapped and took a quick look for her weapon. "Of course you can. I am not questioning your powers of observation. I am merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is," the man in black countered. Then he quickly turned his head which gave Kate a chance to reach for her service weapon.
Lifting it up and pointing it at him, she realized he was gone. A moment later Ann Hastings took his place. "KATE!" Ann Hastings said softly and stepped over the dead bodies to help her to stand. "What happened?"
"I found it." She nodded toward the basement stairs. "Then someone I didn't see shoved a mop handle in my belly. Him, I think." Kate pointed at the man with the pole laying nearby. "Then someone came charging up the stairs and that's the last thing I remember." She was furious with herself. Ann reached out a hand to help her stand.
"These two have been cut deeply and stabbed," L.T. informed everyone. "Yeah, there was someone else. He was dressed all in black with a black mask and knives," Kate grudgingly admitted. Ann grinned. "So a secret admirer huh?" Ann beamed at her. "Oh, shut up," she grumbled. She had been ambushed and she was still pissed off. "Fine, but next time you see him, ask him if he has a brother and if you don't want him, send him my way." Ann was still beaming till she leaned in and placed her lips next to Kate's ear. "It's been a long time." Ann hadn't gotten laid since she found her boyfriend that she loved like no one else was dead. "I hear you," Kate agreed softly. Sure the place was full of men, but none of them even remotely interested either of them. Which meant neither of them had had sex in what felt like ages. "Let's find out what we've got." She lifted her weapon and took out her flashlight.
Kate started down the stairs shining her light on the treads looking for trip wires or even a loose board. This was no time to break something since doctors were nowhere to be found.
Downstairs they found a two-man crib that was filthy. "Jackpot!" Ann was smiling wide when her light landed on jar after jar as well as a few cans. "Spread out, let's see what we've got," she ordered and they start filling their backpacks.
"Why were they sleeping down here instead of upstairs?" she questioned quietly. After all there was a perfectly serviceable hotel with sheets, pillows, and beds to chose from. "I think they were." L.T. held up a well-used hotel towel.
"Pack up and let's move. I don't want to be caught down here. Remember to strip the bodies on our way out." Maybe they had nice enough shoes that someone could use along with what they were wearing.
With full backpacks and makeshift bags that held clothes, shoes, and other items, they worked their way back slowly toward the precinct. When they got there the place was buzzing and they hadn't even shown anyone what they had found. "What's going on?" Ann asked as Kate shook her head having no idea. Once upstairs they found the 4th floor just as excited. They dropped their prizes on some desks. "Be right back." Kate went to Montgomery's office. "We've got some food, a little water, shoes, and some clothes." Oddly enough, it didn't make him nearly as happy as she thought it would. "What's up, sir?"
Ann and the others just watched and didn't bother inventorying what they had brought back. Eventually Kate came back to them smiling. "Our ham radio picked up something. Apparently the government still exists and they've been busy using the military. They're loading up a number of boats and sending them to New York. Water tanks, diesel fuel, food, and other things. Enough boats carrying 12,000 tons of material." She didn't really know all that was coming.
Ann started dancing in place. She squealed and then hugged Kate who was still smiling and hugged her back. "What are we going to do with it all?" L.T. asked since that was a really heavy load. "We're relocating, all of us. Us, the people across the street, everyone. We're going to be taking over the port where it will be stopping. The water and fuel tanks we get to keep till next time. As to the rest, we have two days to unload before the boats leave, empty or not. The plan is for it to come back in a year. Yearly supplies to the major cities if they can keep it up." Ann danced again while the guys hugged each other and fist-bumped.
"Our new job is to go to the port tomorrow and begin securing it. Montgomery's going to load up everyone into the cars and trucks that we still have and get there the next day. He's already got them packing to load up tomorrow. Our first job is to pack up what we have and either take it with us or leave it to get loaded later."
"Let's get packing." Ann clapped and rubbed her hands and headed upstairs to the shower level where the women were camped. "Pack up guys, we're moving. I'll see you three at dinner."
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Montgomery told the three teams of five that would be going what he wanted them to do. "First recon as much of the space as possible. Expect the place to be big and far more than you three can secure. Find a spot and secure that area. We'll all be there before sunset and spend the night in what you have found. After that we'll spread out and secure the entire site. We'll push or pull everything we can to create another border as much as we can. We have a month before our boats arrive; we need the entire site to be secure by then. That many boats will be incredibly long and noisy. Don't get any ideas that rationing will be lifted. There's no guarantee that another round of boats will show up in one year or even how big it will be." Roy left off 'If this group shows up at all.'
"Pick up your weapons and get moving," Roy ordered. All fifteen of them stopped to pick up either an AR-15, or Ithaca 37 or Mossberg 590 shot guns along with three extra clips or a box of extra shells. This was in addition to their service weapons that were all 9mm but varied between Sig Sauer P226, Glock 17 or Glock 19, and their three extra clips.
Even now Kate was in charge since she had seniority over everyone in this group. Plus she had grown up in New York City and had spent her career in the 12th Precinct. "It's going to be late by the time we get there. Unless we run across a gold mine, like a restaurant that hasn't been looted yet..." Like that was going to happen this late in the game. "We keep moving. I don't want us to be doing recon and finding a safe place just as everyone else shows up. Let's move." She lifted up her AR-15 and started down the stairs.
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It had taken them time to get from Manhattan to the Bronx. South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) to be precise. The place was huge and they stood no chance of securing all of it in just a few hours. Atlantic Basin, Bay View Marina, Brooklyn Army Terminal, and Mill Basin Wharf.
Just getting there meant going over one of the bridges that they had to take like an army squad in WWII. Bridges were choke points and the perfect location for an ambush. This late in the game they were all on the lookout for gangs of people who had gotten together. Let alone the city gangs that might still exist. So far they hadn't seen anyone, however, they did notice that if Montgomery came this way he had his work cut out for him. A lot of cars would need to be cleared off of the road.
The entire site was massive and even now the huge parking lot out front was filled with cars. This particular area couldn't handle cargo container ships. That was another section of the New York Port.
They were forced to move forward one or two cars at a time after entering the area through the 39th Street Gate. As they started reaching the first of three large buildings, what none of them knew was that the building they were headed for was the J-1 Shed, across from it was the N-Shed which was half the size, while the building next to it further out on the dock was the J-2 Shed.
One quick look told Kate they couldn't clear and hold the J-1 Shed. Unfortunately there was a wide open space between the J-1 and the N-Sheds. It forced her to backtrack and cross a much smaller opening, one person at a time till they were on the outer end of the smaller N-Shed, even though the J-2 Shed was the smallest of the three.
Kate gestured to the two that had AR-15s. "Backtrack to the cars and cover the large open space between the two buildings. The rest of us will go down this side. ... And watch your backs." The N-Shed was on one side and water on the other. The next dock over was filled with cars and a few cargo containers. With no buildings it meant no one on that side had the high ground over them.
She sent everyone two at a time. A shotgun out in front followed by an AR-15 till she ran out of AR-15s. This side had a number of doors with windows high up while the other side of the building had nothing but loading doors (18'x18' roll-up doors).
She was on the closest end with her AR-15 along with three shotguns. Ann took middle with her three shotgun-toting men, while all the way to the end was an AR-15 and four shotgun-toting men. She held up her arm and when she lowered it they opened up a door and started entering to clear it and secure it for when Montgomery showed up.
The second they did everything went straight to hell. Kate heard gun fire from what she determined to be hand weapons inside the building. However, she also heard an explosion outside.
Two guys outside heard a metal sound that scared them shitless and then heard it bouncing their way. Both of them ran a different direction from each other but circled around, followed soon after by having the car they were hiding behind blow up quite spectacularly. A gun fight quickly erupted outside along with the one inside. Kate heard and felt rounds just missing her. She hunkered down behind cases and equipment that were stored inside the building. And she and her team returned fire.
It didn't help any to yell out "NYPD!" Being in the police didn't mean much these days and only people that didn't have weapons listened to you. Everyone else was part of a gang that would attack anyone to stay alive.
Kate motioned for two of her men to go one direction to try and flank whomever it was. She motioned for the other to watch straight ahead while she went toward the center team. Just as she was almost behind another crate she took a round to the shoulder which caused her to crash to the ground. She bit her lip to keep from crying out and alerting her attacker that she was injured and he now had an opportunity to advance on her. She was writhing in pain.
Outside one of the AR-15 cops was down and was about to take a shot to his head when suddenly a knife showed up in the would-be shooter's throat. The cop twisted his head to see where it had come from and caught a glimpse of someone in black who actually had a black cape. While he struggled to a position so he could fire his weapon, the shooting outside stopped and he never saw the man dressed in black running for the N-shed.
Kate had managed to sit up with her back to the crate and gave up her AR-15. She pulled out her service weapon and tried to watch each side. She suddenly took a round in her right leg. She was able to return fire and watched the guy who had just shot her fall. Another round hit her same leg only lower down.
A man appeared at her corner carrying a hand weapon; he stepped up and aimed his weapon at her head. She froze, partly because she was watching her life flash before her eyes and partly from blood loss. It looked like she was going to die quickly, quickly enough that she would never know she was dead.
Then the man fell over onto her legs which hurt like a son of bitch. The last thing she saw was the large silver knife sticking out of his back then she didn't see anything more.