“Cool,” Jake said, grinning and sitting down between them after Bruce stood up.
“Jake, for every infraction they do, you will give me fifty pushups,” Bruce said.
“Infractions? These two? I’ll do a hundred for each one,” Jake said. “Blue to my front, male. Let him through!” he yelled.
Bruce smiled and walked around the top of the trucks, talking to the troops. When he was at the fourth platoon, Carl came over the radio, yelling, “Jake, you’re letting the twins shoot blues?! They’re little girls!”
“Yeah, they have been since yesterday,” Jake shot back.
Bruce turned the volume up on his radio so he could hear the conversation better. “You’re wounding the blues before they shoot them?” Carl asked.
“Well yeah. I asked the blues to slow down, but they are being total assholes,” Jake said.
“If I see one of those twins jump off and shank a blue, I’m leaving,” Carl said.
“Well, you just missed it. Emily wounded one, and it wouldn’t lift its head up, so she jumped off and ran over and stabbed it in the head.”
In a panicked voice, Ted called, “You better be kidding, dude.”
“Come over here and see it for yourself,” Buffy said over the radio.
“I mean it; if she did that, I’m leaving with Carl,” Ted told them.
“Ted, she only stabbed it one time,” Buffy said.
“We’re packing our bags, Carl,” Ted announced.
Bruce laughed as he jumped down and walked over to the command vehicle. Stepping inside, he saw Angela and Stephanie at one of the display tables. “Whatcha lookin’ at?” he asked.
“Bruce, the blues are coming but not like they did at the other field. I figure there are around ten to twelve thousand closing but they are just jogging here. It’s like they know we are powerful here, but they hate us so much they have to try to kill us. When we were at the other field, they thought they had a chance, so they all ran,” Angela said.
“Shit, that’s kinda what I figured in a roundabout sorta way.”
“Boss,” Willie called out on the radio.
“Willie, leave the twins alone,” Bruce replied.
“Not talking about them, but you’re not going to believe this. I have a blue at the tree line carrying a samurai sword.”
Feeling irritated, Bruce yelled, “Are you sure?”
“I’ll kiss your ass if I’m lying,” Willie said. “HOLY SHIT! He just cut a walker in half and is chopping it up.”
“I’m coming. That one is mine!” Bruce yelled.
“Bruce!” Angela yelled, making him stop.
“What?” Bruce said, turning around at the door.
“You have proved your point. They know about the advantages of weapons,” she said.
“Boss, he just chopped another walker in half!” Willie yelled over the radio.
“Leave that one; alone he’s mine!” Bruce yelled again. Looking at Angela, he said, “That blue is acting like a badass with a sword. I take that personal.”
Stephanie grabbed Angela’s arm. “Let him go show the stupid creature he is better,” she said.
Angela never took her eyes off of Bruce. “Bruce, if you get infected, we won’t kill you. I’ll muzzle you and keep you alive until we die. Do I make myself clear?” she said.
Feeling his knees get weak, “You’re cold as ice,” Bruce said, leaving. Angela turned to the crew and told them to watch the boys as she and Stephanie grabbed their rifles and followed.
Bruce ran over to Willie and climbed up on the truck. “Look, boss, he’s going after a jogger,” Willie said as Bruce climbed up. He looked where Willie was pointing three hundred yards away as Willie pushed binoculars in his hands. Watching through the binoculars, Bruce saw what Willie was pointing at. Its muscles jerked as it jogged, giving its gait a wobbling appearance. The sword-carrying blue ran up and sliced it from the shoulder to the pelvis.
The sword-carrying blue let out a roar, standing over the bisected jogger. Bruce saw movement on the ground and was amazed to see the jogger trying to drag itself away from the other blue. Sword blue then started chopping it up. “Boss, that blue has major attitude,” Willie said.
“Yep,” Bruce said, handing the binoculars back as Angela and Stephanie came over. Looking out across the field, Bruce yelled, getting the sword-carrying blue’s attention and scaring the shit out of everyone in Omega.
“Don’t shoot him; he’s mine,” Bruce said, jumping down.
“Willie from now on, just shoot the weird ones,” Adam called over the radio.
“Yeah, Willie, just shoot them,” Angela said.
Seeing Bruce jump down, the sword carrier took off in a dead run, actually leaving a trail of dust. “He better wound it before it gets here,” Stephanie said.
“Why do you think I ran out here?” Angela said, bringing her AUG up to her shoulder. Bruce was only ten yards from the line, still watching the blue run at him. Calmly, Bruce watched as the blue held his sword out to its side. When the blue was a thirty yards away, Angela squeezed the trigger, sending a burst into the blue’s left leg.
Bruce turned around. “Let that motherfucker get a little close, didn’t you?” he yelled.
“I thought about letting it get to you without shooting it!” she yelled back.
Leaning over, Stephanie whispered, “I would’ve spanked you really hard.”
The blue stood and hobbled toward Bruce, growling. Bruce just stood with his hands clasped to his front. Seeing Bruce not moving, the blue picked up his pace, which wasn’t much with his left femur shattered. When he was twenty yards away, Bruce reached over his back and pulled his sword.
Seeing that, the blue stopped and watched Bruce as he twirled the blade in his hand through the air and held it out in front of him. The blue looked at Bruce’s sword then at his. Holding his arm out, the blue moved his entire arm in a circle, trying to copy the movement. Going pale, Stephanie said, “That’s not good.”
“No, bitch, like this!” Bruce yelled and twirled the blade deftly in his hands, then he slashed the air in an X. The blue looked at Bruce’s sword then at his and waved his arm across his body. Looking back at Bruce, the blue growled. “Oh, you scare me so much,” Bruce mocked, and the blue grunted back at him, hobbling forward.
“Stomp my dick with golf shoes,” Stephanie exclaimed, watching the blue mimic Bruce’s stance.
“That is totally fucked up,” Angela said.
When the blue was six yards away from Bruce, he lunged bring his sword up over his head and swung it down. Bruce stepped to the side and swung his sword chopping the blues hands off still holding the sword. Spinning around with the swing Bruce continued his swing like he was swinging a bat, catching the blue in the back severing the spine. Continuing with the swing Bruce forced the blade through the stomach cutting the blue in half.
The blue fell in two pieces letting out a roar as Bruce walked over and swung the blade down cutting off the blue’s head. Everyone near saw the blue’s mouth and eyes still moving as Bruce calmly disinfected his sword and sheathed it. Then he walked over to the blue’s sword still being held in the severed hands.
Prying the hands off, Bruce walked over and stuck the blade into the ground and bent down, picking the severed head off the ground, holding it by the hair. Holding it up, he looked at those on Willie’s rig, “Anyone want a little head?” Bruce asked, grinning. They all looked at the still-living head and Bruce in abstract fear. Shaking his head, Bruce grumbled, “Tough crowd.”
Turning to where he shoved the blue’s sword in the ground, Bruce looked into the blue’s face. It was still filled with hate as Bruce smiled at it, and the eyes got wide, and for a second, the face lost its hateful expression. Angela dropped to her knees as several others threw up. “Thought just because you had a sword you were big and bad, huh?”
Bruce said, ignoring the others.
The hate returned to the blue’s face, and the teeth started chomping in the air. “No, you’ve had your last meal. You will spend a week looking out over this field where I kicked your ass,” Bruce said, putting the head on the handle of the blue’s sword he stuck in the ground.
Taking off his gloves, Bruce threw them on the ground and pulled out his bottle of bleach, washing his hands. Then, he took out another pair of gloves and put them on. Climbing up onto the RG, Bruce looked at Willie, grinning.
Willie pointed at the head, saying, “Come on, Bruce; it’s looking at us.”
“It’s okay, Willie. It can’t hurt you, but leave it alone,” Bruce said, looking at the head. “Hey look, blue, I can scratch my nose,” Bruce said, rubbing his nose, and the blue’s face grimaced at him. He turned, walking away on top of the trucks toward his RG. The kids were all jumping up and down, cheering as Bruce came over.
“That man is so off the chain it’s unreal,” Willie announced. “Who in their right mind would want to fight him?” he asked no one then shrugged. “Guess that’s why we stay with him.” Willie looked at Stephanie. “Didn’t that gross you out?” he asked.
“That was cool as shit,” Stephanie gasped, still looking at the head moving its mouth, trying to growl and roar.
“Angela doesn’t think so,” Willie said, looking down at Angela, who was still on her knees.
“That’s so fucking cool! It’s still alive and pissed off!” she yelled, grinning. Giving up, Willie turned around.
“You two are a perfect fit for that family,” he said, walking away.
Chapter 9
Two days later, Omega was heading home from the Texas/Louisiana border. Bruce was riding in the command vehicle, playing with the boys. Angela and Stephanie were standing by one of the display tables, talking to each other. Bruce could tell from the expressions on their faces they were in a deep discussion. Walking over beside them, Bruce put his arms around them. “What are you two talking about?” he asked, looking down at the table.
Angela looked up at him, smiling. “Talking about how the blues are fighting each other now.”
“They aren’t fighting each other,” Stephanie said.
Angela pointed at the table with several pictures on the screen of blues attacking blues. “I beg to differ.”
“Those are walkers and a few joggers. They are viewed as weak and competition that can be removed,” Stephanie said. “If you look, the males take out the weak males, and the females take out the females.”
“That’s still fighting among themselves,” Angela replied.
“No it isn’t. It is only removing the weak. Look all through the animal kingdom, and you see the same thing. Granted, animals don’t use tools to do it,” Stephanie admitted.
Angela looked up at Bruce. “What do you think?” she asked.
Looking at the pictures and small video feeds from a UAV of two blue females tearing apart a female blue walker, Bruce shrugged. “I have to agree with Stephanie; they’re removing the weak competition.”
Throwing her hands up in the air, she said, “Okay, I’ll give y’all that, but it is only one step away from infighting.”
Stephanie shook her head. “No, you can’t make that assessment until you can prove it. Removing the weak is very common in the animal kingdom among all species.”
Angela just looked at both of them with a flat expression. “So you mean they are blue Nazis trying to create a master race of blue people?” she asked.
Hearing that, Bruce busted out laughing, which Angela didn’t care for. Stephanie shook her head. “No, not like the Nazis. They are removing the weak to decrease competition for food and mates, killing off the weak. Didn’t you ever watch the Discovery Channel and Nat Geo?” she asked.
“Of course I did, and I did read also. Yes, animals do remove the weak, but if you look at what we have, the blues are grouping together in packs. It won’t be long until the packs start fighting each other,” Angela said.
Getting his laughter under control, Bruce looked at Angela, grinning. “Little Foot, you are making a big leap there. No species with the exception of man will mark an entire species for extermination. The blues attack us on sight and actively hunt us. They care nothing for their losses, which goes against everything in nature. The goal of life is to survive, and if they wanted to do that, then they would leave us alone.”
Angela thought about what he said and looked back at the table. “I really don’t think they care about their life. They act like insects when they attack. Trying to overwhelm a target with no thought except to eradicate us,” she said.
“Yes, I can see that, but that would mean they won’t infight with each other to the degree you are talking about. They band together too easily to fight us, and nowhere in the animal kingdom do you see multiple packs of animals banding together, fighting a common enemy. They only pack together for benefit and can leave one pack and join another,” Stephanie said.
Still looking at the display table, Angela touched the screen and flipped through pictures until it stopped on a satellite photo of China. “Guys, if they don’t start fighting each other, we are going to die out fast,” she said, pointing at the picture on the screen. “You can’t even call this a mega horde. There are over seventy million in this one group moving up into Russia. The minions have seen four other hordes like this one and two over a hundred million. We can’t fight groups like this,” she said with tears running down her cheeks.
Bruce pulled her close. “Little Foot, they are on the other side of the world. We only have to worry about what’s over here,” he said with Stephanie agreeing.
Not convinced, Angela shook her head. “No, they will find a way to get here, and we can take out mega hordes of twenty to forty million, but a group that size could eat everything we throw at it and still get us,” she said.
“Like hell. I’d nuke one that size,” Bruce said.
Reaching over, grabbing his forearm, Stephanie said, “Ah Bruce, I wouldn’t do that.”
Bruce looked at Stephanie like she was insane. “Stephanie, I don’t think they can get here, but if they do, I’ll be damned if we will fight them like we are. Angela is right; they would roll over us like we weren’t even there.”
“Bruce, the infected repair DNA much better than we do, and the radiation would pose a bigger danger to us than them. In all probability, it would make them mutate to more lethal creatures,” she said.
“You just said they repair their DNA, so how can they mutate?” he asked.
“Their DNA wouldn’t start the accelerated growth of cancer common among radiation exposure. They could grow two hearts, run faster, get stronger, skulls get thicker—hell, any number of things,” she said.
“That is disturbing,” he said, looking at the satellite image.
“I’m not saying they can, but we can’t use nuclear against them until we know for sure. The ones we have are bad enough. Let’s not give them more of an advantage,” Stephanie said, putting her arm around his waist and looking at the table.
Angela looked up at Stephanie. “So you don’t think they will start fighting amongst each other anytime soon?” she asked.
“No, not really, but I do wish for it. They are a true separate species, and from the work Sandy brought, they have thirty-four different animal genes and six plant genes in their DNA. They are truly more genetically advanced that we are. They don’t get sick, injuries are healed very fast, and have the metabolism of a rock until they need it. By all rights, they should be dead. No life form should be able to adapt as fast as they are to their surroundings in the numbers they are in,” Stephanie said.
“Well, that means we just have to work harder at getting rid of them,” Bruce said.
“We will never be rid of them,” Stephanie said. “I only hope we can beat them down enough th
at they don’t evolve much more. When I watched you fight that one with the sword is when I became scared. He copied you,” she said.
“Stephanie, that’s where I think they picked up weapons from. They saw someone, a human, use that weapon and copied them.”
Angela looked up at him. “Bruce, we saw one charge us with a bicycle pump,” she reminded him.
“I think he saw a human use it beating a blue to death and picked it up,” he said.
“That’s what I mean; they can be taught,” Stephanie said.
“They have seen hundreds killed with guns. Why haven’t they picked one up yet?” Angela asked.
“Oh, I’m sure some have, but a gun is much more complicated, and they just beat people with them,” Bruce told her then looked at Stephanie. “What do you mean taught?”
“If we get one stupid human who captures a blue and tries to befriend it to teach it, we are fucked,” Stephanie said.
“What?” Bruce asked.
“Someone could teach them to use weapons, Bruce.”
“That is kinda far-fetched, don’t ya think?” he asked.
“No, you could teach a chimp, and the military even taught dolphins to use weapons. It can be done, but blues accept other blues readily into packs unlike other animals. If one learns, then it would spread,” she said.
“Nobody would teach a blue,” Angela scoffed.
“They already tried,” Stephanie said.
Both Bruce and Angela looked at her in abject horror. “What!” they both yelled, scaring everyone in the command vehicle.
“Sandy told me they tried twice, and one blue even fired a pistol. Granted, it wasn’t that good with it, but it did shoot it. The test subjects would try to kill the handlers and did on several occasions.”
“Why would anyone want to teach a blue that?” Angela yelled.
“To go out and kill other blues,” Stephanie replied.
“That’s insane!” Angela screamed.
“Of course it is. Why do you think Sandy is here?” Stephanie said.
Blue Plague: War (Blue Plague Book 6) Page 11