Danny leaned over the RG and looked down at him. “Don’t do it, Dad. She means it, and I think that would hurt.”
With his face red, Bruce turned around, looking at Danny with a scowl. Fixing to key his radio, he stopped, knowing what he was going to say was going to start a shit storm. Spinning around, Bruce walked thirty yards away from the line. The axe man saw him and let out a roar, busting into a sprint right at Bruce from six hundred yards away. Seeing the blue bound toward him, Bruce could only guess, but he was sure the blue was coming at him around fifty miles per hour.
In most cases, seeing a blue, naked man running at you going faster than a horse with an axe raised above his head, roaring, would unnerve some. It totally pissed Bruce off as he felt the wave crash over him.
Seeing that her dad was on the wave, Danny sighted in on the blue, getting ready to blow it away. She reasoned Daddy could only be mad at her for a little while anyway. When the blue was a hundred yards away from Bruce, she put her finger on the trigger only to see bullets hit the blue in the left leg. The blue crashed down, dropping its axe, going end over end.
Confused, Danny lowered her weapon to see Bruce drop his SCAR, letting it hang by its sling. He reached over his back and pulled his sword, twirling it in his hand. Looking back to the blue, Danny saw it stand up and look at her daddy, then it looked around on the ground until it saw the axe. It hobbled over, picked it up, and spun around, roaring as it hobbled in a jog at Bruce.
Buffy firing the fifty shook Danny out of watching the fight to see blues coming. She shot six then turned back to watch. The blue was ten yards away as it suddenly picked up speed, bringing the axe down toward Bruce.
Stepping to the side as the blue swung, Bruce sliced it across the belly as it went past and kicked it in the back of the leg. The blue hit the ground but sprang right back up. Holding the axe like a bat, he swung at Bruce. Bruce leaned back, letting the axe swing in front of him and swung his sword low, catching the blue on the calf. The blade severed the muscle clean in half, making the blue drop to the ground in a roll, but once again, it sprang up to its feet.
It stood looking at Bruce, growling with saliva coming out of its mouth. It put no weight on the leg with the bullets and severed calf muscle. Rather, it hopped toward Bruce, raising the axe above its head. Bruce lunged forward, slicing the thigh muscle on the other leg as the blue swung the axe down. The blade missed Bruce as the blue fell down again. This time, it used the axe to stand back up.
Getting back to its feet, the blue grabbed the axe like a bat again, looking at Bruce with what could only be seen as hate. “Hey, you started it, fuck wad,” Bruce said. The blue roared, hurting Bruce’s ears as it limped toward him.
Smiling, Bruce reached down and pulled out his pistol, shooting the blue in the knee, dropping it. “See what I can do,” Bruce said, walking over. The blue looked up as Bruce walked over, trying to raise the axe as Bruce shot him in the head. Standing beside the blue, he studied the blade of the double-headed axe, and it was covered in dried blood. From what he didn’t know, and he wasn’t going to touch it. The blades looked very dull and chipped.
Shaking his head, he turned around, heading back to the line. Everyone shook themselves out of the day dream and started shooting again as Bruce climbed up to the top of the RG. He pulled a bottle of bleach from his pocket, dousing the blade, then wiped it down and put it back in the scabbard on his back. Looking up, he saw two pissed off women coming at him.
He jumped down, and his knees told him that he was going to pay for that later. When Angela and Stephanie came closer, they both took in a deep breath to start. He drew his hand across his throat to let them know to shut it. They both closed their mouths, but the anger stayed on their face.
“What did you two just see, and don’t say stupid shit, okay? What did you just see?” he asked.
“A blue trying to chop you in half!” Angela yelled.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought also,” Bruce said, looking down.
Huffing and puffing, Stephanie screamed, “What the fuck is so hard to figure out, Bruce!? He wanted to chop you up in little pieces!”
“Enough with the yelling please. It gives me a headache,” Bruce said.
Narrowing her eyes, Angela said, “Oh you are fixin’ to get a headache.”
“God damn it, don’t you see?” he screamed, making both jump back. “It never attacked without the axe. It knew the axe was a more powerful weapon than his hands were. It understood the concept of using a weapon to make itself more powerful!” Bruce yelled.
Angela thought about what he said as Stephanie spoke. “Bruce, we’ve seen them use sticks and rocks. Hell, in Kansas, we saw two with baseball bats.”
“Yes, but they dropped them after they were hit and continued to attack. They didn’t know that the weapon gave them distance and more power,” Bruce said. Stephanie listened to what he said, playing the fight out, and her eyes grew wide.
“Fuck me with a rubber duck,” Angela yelled out. “That’s why you played with it?” she yelled.
“Yes,” Bruce replied. “The way he was carrying it suggested he knew it was a weapon. I needed to know how much he considered it a weapon,” he explained.
“He saw it as a weapon, Bruce,” Stephanie said in a calm voice.
“Believe me, I know; I saw his eyes when he first charged.”
Angela lunged toward him, but he held out his hand to stop her. “I don’t know if I have blood on me,” he said.
Angela stopped and looked at him. “Thank you for shooting it in the leg first.”
Bruce looked at her like she had lost her mind. “I wasn’t letting that fucker near me until I evened the playing field,” Bruce said, making Angela step back.
“Even the playing field?” Angela asked. “Bruce, I’ve seen you with that damn sword take out ten blues,” she said.
“Unarmed,” Bruce reminded her. “Yes, even the field. If I hadn’t hit his leg, that fucker would have killed me. He was way too fast with that damn axe.”
Stephanie took a step back with Angela; they had never heard Bruce admit something could kill him. “It was that fast?” Stephanie asked.
“Fast and strong. On that first swing, I’m sure that axe would have buried in the side of one of the armor on the trucks,” Bruce said. Stephanie’s eyes got wide as Bruce stepped up to her. “Stephanie, I want your best guess. Was this a fluke? He just happened to come across an axe and used it till he found out it was a weapon because there was blood over the blade and the edges were dull?”
With a concerned expression, Stephanie thought looking at Bruce then shook her head. “No, Bruce, the odds are too astronomical. I figure he saw a human use it and mimicked it once. Then, he knew it saved him energy, making him more powerful,” she told him.
“Damn it, that’s what I figured,” Bruce said, heading to the command vehicle. After spraying down, he walked inside and grabbed the radio. “Mike, I need for people to get on the short wave and for Gopher to ask over the radio if they have seen blues using tools as real weapons. Not bludgeoning weapons but really use weapons,” Bruce said, waiting on Mike to answer.
“Brother, you have to do better than that to justify playing with one carrying an axe!” Mike yelled back. Getting irritated, Bruce dropped the microphone and started rubbing his temples.
Knowing Bruce was getting close to spinning off, Angela grabbed the microphone, “Mike, he had good reason to, so shut up and listen!” Angela yelled and told Mike what was said.
When she finished a few seconds later, Mike came back over the radio in a low voice. “That is so uncool.”
Taking the microphone from Angela, Bruce asked, “I guess you haven’t really been watching here then?”
“Ah, yes we have, Bruce,” Mike said.
“Mike, what’s the temperature outside?” Bruce asked.
There was a
slight pause. “Fifty-two degrees.”
“Mike, when we pulled into this field this morning, it was forty degrees, and they were running at us full speed,” Bruce said.
“Shit, Bruce, in Georgia, it was thirty, and they were doing that,” Mike said.
Closing his eyes, Bruce said with malice, “And you tell me this just now.”
“I wasn’t thinking, Bruce. We just had blues, and we shot them,” Mike snapped.
Feeling wore out, “They’re evolving,” Bruce mumbled.
“Well, Stephanie and Sandy said they are as smart as chimps,” Mike pointed out.
“Mike, it takes a chimp five years to learn how to put a stick down a hole and pull out ants. I just had a blue try to chop my head off with an axe. I think that shows they’re smarter!” Bruce yelled.
“Where did you learn all this information?” Mike asked.
“All right, Mike, I’m going to tell you a secret. There are these rectangular things out there that have squiggly lines in them called books. If you know what the squiggly lines mean, you learn from them,” Bruce told him in a hypocritical voice.
A few seconds went by before Mike replied. “Bruce, I love you like a brother, but when you get back, I’m punching you in the dick.”
Stephanie snatched the microphone out of Bruce’s hand and shoved him back. “Do that, and I’ll cut yours off. Punch him in the stomach,” she barked at Mike.
Afraid to get near Stephanie, Bruce said, “Stephanie, get Sandi on the radio, and talk about what we figured out. Then, come and tell me what you think. Make sure Mike gets Gopher to announce on the radio.”
The team radio crackled, breaking the conversation. “Hey, boss, I have a blue out here running at us with a knife,” Willie called over the radio.
Keying his radio as he shook his head, Bruce asked, “How far out?”
“Six hundred yards,” Willie said.
“Shoot it in the leg, and see if it keeps the knife.”
A minute went by, then Willie replied, “Yep, he dropped it and picked it back up, and it’s running toward us.” Bruce took off running out of the command vehicle.
Sprinting across the perimeter to Willie’s section, he climbed over Willie’s RG and could see the blue hobbling toward them, holding a large knife. Pulling his sword, Bruce yelled, “Keep the others off of me!” as he jumped down.
The blue saw him and started hobbling faster. As it got closer, Bruce saw the knife was a large kitchen knife; it was covered in blood, and the tip was bent. Then the blue stopped and crouched down, looking at Bruce. “Oh, I know you didn’t,” Bruce said, spreading his feet, looking at the blue.
The blue was ten yards away, growling, holding the knife out to its side with the point up. A small surge of panic hit Bruce, but he slowed his breathing and twirled his sword and turned his body to the side, looking at the blue. “Mine’s bigger; let’s play,” Bruce said, shuffling toward the blue.
When he was eight yards away, the blue jumped, not lunged, and sprang through the air in a dive at Bruce’s chest, holding the knife out in front of it. Stepping back, Bruce moved to the side, bringing the blade down, slicing the blue’s hand off at the elbow as it sailed past. Bruce created distance as the blue hit the ground in a roll and jumped up, moving over to the hand Bruce cut off.
To everyone’s horror, the blue ignored his wound and reached down with his left hand, picking up the knife from his chopped-off hand. He looked up at Bruce, holding out the knife and growling. “Bullshit!” Bruce yelled, pulled his pistol, and emptied the magazine in the blue’s head. All thirteen rounds hit the blue in the head before it hit the ground.
Bruce dropped the pistol, brought up his SCAR, and started shooting what was left of the head. When his bolt locked back, he changed magazines and looked around. He could see a few blues still coming out of the woods around the field. Walking over, he grabbed his pistol and sword, cleaning them and putting them up. Climbing up on Willie’s rig, he looked him in the face.
Willie was pale and sweating. “Boss, this is a whole new ball game.”
“Yeah, and this game is going to suck,” Bruce agreed.
“Bruce, he went back and picked the knife up out of the hand you fucking chopped off!” Willie yelled.
“I saw, Willie. Remember, I chopped it off,” Bruce said. “But it studied me before it attacked. It knew I had range. That’s why it lunged.”
Willie shook his head. “Boss, that means before long, they are going to understand guns.”
“I think they do already,” Bruce said.
Fear spread through Willie’s body, “That is not funny, Bruce,” Willie said as Bruce opened his voice microphone so everyone could hear.
“I don’t think they will be picking them up and using them anytime soon, but they understand we can kill them from a distance. That’s why sometimes, they have ambushed us; other times, they have waited till they had numbers to attack us.”
Wanting clarification on Bruce’s theory, Willie asked, “When you say ‘pick up and use anytime soon,’ please clarify?”
“Perhaps a hundred years,” Bruce said, and that made Willie feel a little better.
“But what I think is if we were in a smaller field, we would have more coming in at us in larger groups,” Bruce said.
“Bruce, they are coming at us from all sides. Not in strength but enough. We have been killing about three hundred an hour,” Willie said.
“Willie, they are probing us on all sides. Those roars we hear out in the distance? I think that is actual communication. I think it tells others where we are, how we are set up, if there is a bunch of us, how many blues are here, and maybe how they think they can take us,” Bruce said.
Stepping back, Willie said, “Bruce, that’s crazy.”
“I bet if we were in a smaller field, we would see more blues coming in from further out to attack us. You’ve seen that roaring relay they use. I think more blues would come if we were in a smaller field. They don’t like the large field for the reason we like it. They can’t get close before we engage them.”
Willie raised his hands, pausing Bruce, “Why the hell do they attack us on the roads then? We can outrun them.”
“Willie, you are using a higher level of thinking. Look at it from an animal’s point of view. Your prey is right there only a hundred yards away. We never really run off and leave them; just lead them on, killing them right at arm’s reach. Like the dogs that chased us on bikes when we were kids,” Bruce said.
Willie shivered. “Okay, but Bruce, those are just roars. How could they say all that in a roar?”
“Wolves can call a pack into an ambush with howls,” Bruce said. “Then remember when we made the females roar. Everything came in pissed off.”
Stomping his foot and spinning around, Willie yelled, “Fuck this!”
“Tomorrow, we will see if my hypothesis is right. There is a field half the size of this one sixty miles from here. When we set up in the middle, we will have only two hundred yards to hit them once they clear the tree line.”
“That’s cutting the playing field down a lot, Bruce—to their advantage. They already have speed, strength, and the ability to take damage.”
“Willie, in a month, Omega will be here with Gamma going toe to toe with the government. I really don’t want to worry that much about blues,” Bruce said. “What worries me is if we get in a slug fest and a mega horde shows up. We can’t call time out and run home.”
“Dude, you keep those thoughts to yourself. I don’t want to hear them. I don’t know about anyone else wanting too, but I don’t. If you’re leading, I’ll follow and fight with you, but you keep those thoughts to yourself,” Willie told him, turning around.
The radio crackled. “I agree with Willie, Bruce. Next time, don’t open your radio up when you talk about what worries you,” Ted called over the radio.
“I want my blanket,” Carl said over the radio.
When Carl’s transmission clicked off, a small voice came over the radio. “Carl, I’m getting you a knife that will talk to you,” Buffy chimed in.
Very quickly, the radio clicked on. “That’s okay, Buffy,” Carl answered.
“I’m serious, Carl. Herman tells me it’s going to be okay and who to poke holes in. Then, everything is better,” she said in a small cheerful voice, and Bruce smiled.
“Bruce, make her stop it,” Carl whined.
“Buffy, put Herman to bed, and keep shooting blues. Knives scare Carl because they say bad things to him,” Bruce said.
“Daddy, he just has to find the right one,” she said.
Keying his radio, Bruce tried not to laugh. “Buffy,” he snapped.
“Okay, Daddy,” Buffy said. Bruce started laughing and saw Willie looking at him.
“That’s what I mean, Bruce. With you and your insane family with us, I’ll attack the ocean. We may not win, but it damn sure would know we had been there,” Willie said as Bruce climbed down. His knees had informed Bruce that anymore jumping and they were quitting.
Walking over to the command vehicle, Angela opened the door for him. PJ and Cade were playing with cars on the floor as she grabbed his face and turned it to her. “Reports are already coming in about blues using knives, axes, hammers, and poles. One person in Ohio reported blues throwing rocks at him. And Bruce, they’re saying the blues aren’t hibernating till the temperature get below twenty now.”
“That’s evolution. Ain’t it a bitch?” Bruce said.
Chapter 8
The next morning, the platoon leaders and kids gathered with Bruce in the command vehicle, eating breakfast. Once the sun went down, the blues started coming in bigger groups but never massed or pressed them hard. There just weren’t the numbers to do that here anymore. When the numbers were tallied up close to nine thousand, blues were thought to have been taken out. Not the numbers Omega was used to facing, but it was enough to damn sure keep their attention.
Blue Plague: War (Blue Plague Book 6) Page 9