Chapter 1

Feb 2 1000hrs
I decided to keep a journal today. There’s nothing to do on this damn boat. I’m a soldier not a sailor. My unit freaked out at having to pull out of Iraq so sudden. We just threw all our vehicles and excess weapons on the ships going home and didn’t even have time to account for sensitive items (i.e. weapons, radios, night vision goggles…) something spooked the pentagon to pull us out so sudden. They said it had something to do with a flu outbreak in the south. Sounds ridiculous. Obviously we are not getting the whole story. None the less my unit threw all this equipment on this ship and felt they needed a SR NCO (Non Commissioned Officer) to make sure it arrives in South Carolina safe.
Feb 3 1200hrs
I miss my family. My wife and kids are visiting family in Minnesota right now. We have plans to take the kids to Disney World when I get home. I can’t wait. They have such a great time down there. Hell so do I. I wonder what my platoon is doing right now. I bet they are already home drinking some beers. This boat is to damn slow!
Feb 6 1900hrs
We had a meeting today. The W02 (Warrant Officer) in charge of the boat let us know we had to change course. Instead of pulling into South Carolina, we are now heading towards New York. It adds some time to our trip. This sucks! I think I will chat up the SF guys and see if I can use their SAT phone to call the wife and let her know.
Feb 7 1200hrs
Things are worse than they let us know. My wife said our reservations to Disney were cancelled and that she was given a full refund. She also told me the whole state of Florida was in a state of emergency due to this flu outbreak. I told her to stay with her mom and I will join them in Minnesota. This must be some bad bug. Reminds me of the swine flu.
Feb 12 1800hrs
It’s been a few days since we had contact with anyone on the mainland. No one is checking in on us and we should arrive in 3 days. One of the SF guys managed to get a hold of one of his buddies in 10th group who was also on one of these transport boats. He said they had lost contact with the mainland as well. His buddy apparently has internet access. He said the CDC has declared most of the southern states in a state of emergency and that the epidemic is out of control. He also said that the UK, France, and China are all reporting outbreaks as well. God, this is worse than the swine flu.
Feb 13 1830hrs
Found out today that the SF guy with the internet connection learned that CNN hadn’t updated their page in a week. The news we got was old! What the hell is going on? I tried to call my wife but all I got was a busy signal. The phone lines must be overloaded right now. I hope they are safe. Tomorrows my birthday. Some of the guys want to celebrate with me and get shit faced. I can use an escape from my anxiety. I wasn’t this worried in Iraq. Just 2 more days and we will be in NYC.
Feb 14 1330hrs
My head is splitting. These guys know how to party hard. They tried to get me to take a shot for every year for my age. Yeah bad idea I’m 33. I just got a few down before I hit the floor. That was nuts. Now just wake me up when we get to NYC.
Feb 16 1000hrs
This is all wrong! We got to New York this morning around 0630hrs and still no response from the main land. We passed an Army base in Brooklyn this morning. Ft Hamilton. It was on fire like many of the buildings. The buildings in the city look like match sticks. CW2 Rameriz doesn’t want to dock until he knows what’s going on. He doesn’t want looters getting on this ship. Can’t say I blame him, we are loaded with vehicles and weapons. If this ship fell into the wrong hands they could be very dangerous.
1900hrs
We are spending the night anchored between NJ and NY. The city looks to be in chaos. Everyone is on edge. CW2 Ramirez is in charge. But there are troops on this ship from 3 different units. The soldiers who work on this ship, me and 9 mechanics from my unit and 6 SF guys from 7th group. And everyone has different ideas as to what we should do next. Right now I just want to get to my family and know that they are OK. I know the SF guys think everything is fucked. They suggested we dock on the Jersey side where things are quite and take all we can and find our way home. I tend to agree. But Chief Ramirez held his ground. He wants to wait for orders and he wants to protect the cargo. But I don’t think orders are ever going to come. Tomorrow I’m going to take some binoculars I found and try and have a look into the city to see what’s going on.
Feb 18 2010hrs
Hell is on earth! I couldn’t believe what I saw today. It was right out of a horror movie. Myself and one of the SF sergeants went out on the main deck and used the binoculars I had to look into the city. There were people everywhere. But they looked like they had been in a fight. Their shirts were covered in blood. Gangs were chasing other people. And it looked like they were eating them. Like a pack of wild dogs. This shit is way out of hand. This is no flu! These people are beyond messed up. I need to get off this fucking ship. I’m going to start prepping one of the up armor hummers. I don’t give a fuck any more. I need to know what’s going on with my family. I think the SF team is going to try to get us docked. I’m with them if they do.

Feb 19 2010hrs
Hold up right now in a wooded area of Pennsylvania trying to get some shut eye. But after what we saw and did today it’s tough to close your eyes. Early this morning the SF team tried talking to CW2 Ramirez again. He again refused to dock the ship. Said he needed orders. So the SF team took control of the ship by force. They put the crew in the galley until we got to shore. Myself and PFC Smith from my unit took the hummer I had prepped for myself. He is from N Dakota and didn’t want to travel alone. My hummer was topped off with fuel and I loaded weapons, ammo, and 2 boxes of frags, water and some MRE cases. I even found ammo for the crew served .50 cal on top of the hummer. I also managed to hide away some NVG’s. When we got to shore the SF team took off in a Stryker that was fitted for NBC (Nuclear, biological, Chemical) missions and bugged out. Said they were headed for N Carolina. Most likely to check on family at Ft Bragg. PFC Smith and I left right behind them. Everyone else was in confusion as to what to do. I just hope they stay safe. As we hit the road we learned that the roads were almost all blocked. Cars everywhere with no one in them. Most were covered in gore marks. Bloody hand prints and what not. We decided to go off road. But then we ran into the local population. These people were clearly infected. They tried to attack our vehicle head on. We tried not to hit them but they clearly had no regard for their own life. What kind of illness does this to a person? After awhile we just had to get away from these crazies and run some of them down. Right now PFC Smith looks completely freaked. That worries me. This kid was on the contact team in Iraq. He would regularly put himself in harm’s way to recover broke down vehicles on the roads in Iraq. I have to admit I’m just numb right now. I might be a mess to right now if I allowed myself to focus on what happened today. I have to focus on getting to my family. Right now they are staying in a real small town in the middle of nowhere Minnesota. I hope this plague has not reached that far.