Blue Plague: War (Blue Plague Book 6)

by Thomas A. Watson

  Sitting up, Carl looked at him with a grave face. “Bruce, we know you like your space, but we have added too many people for us to know them all. It would be too easy for a gang to get someone inside. Not to mention what’s left of the government; you did just wipe out the ruling class and take their military,” he reminded Bruce.

  Not responding, Bruce studied Carl’s face as Ted spoke up. “Bruce, we still have more government out there, and I’m sure they don’t like you or us. Since you’re in charge, you are the target, not us.”

  Not able to argue his way out of it, Bruce threw down his empty bottle. “Fine, but when I say leave me alone for a small amount of time, I mean it.”

  Relieved, Carl walked over, slapping Bruce’s back. “Hey, no problem, but we will stay close.” The door to the gym opened up as Bruce was thinking about his reply. Carl noticed the look on Bruce’s face and knew he was fixing to unload. Turning away, Carl looked to the front of the gym and saw Gene walking over. Thankful for the distraction, Carl nodded at him. “How you doin’, Gene?”

  Walking over with a scowl, he replied, “Pretty good, but can I ask why Millie won’t let me get my own food?” He noticed the look on Bruce’s face.

  Ted chuckled. “Dude, don’t even go there. You’re on the command group, and she wants to serve us. I trust you found out about the spoon?” he asked.

  Never taking his eyes off of Bruce, who was staring a hole through Carl, he said, “She popped the shit out of me till I got out of line. She left bruises.”

  “Chalk it up to lesson learned,” Carl said, ignoring Bruce’s stare.

  Not able to take it anymore, Gene stepped in front of Bruce, breaking the glare at Carl. “Bruce, what’s your problem?”

  Slowly turning away from Carl, Bruce locked eyes with Gene. “I don’t need babysitters,” Bruce growled.

  Relieved, Gene laughed and slapped his leg, “I beg to differ, sir,” he chuckled. “You forget; I’ve fought with you before. You can piss off a saint.”

  Glad he had someone to argue with, he replied, “Gene, we could use these troops on the line going down range, not guarding me.”

  The laughter left Gene’s face as he became serious. “Bruce, their job is just as important. You are a symbol now. If something happens to you, people will lose focus and hope. Everything you and this clan have fought and died for will be for nothing.”

  Letting out a snort, Bruce took a step back, smiling. “Yeah right,” he snickered.

  “Bruce, what your people are not telling you is you’re just as important as this war we are fighting. I knew in our first firefight you had the knack. When you slipped away, sneaking up behind those skinny’s, taking out their entire left flank like you were out for a Sunday stroll, I knew you were a born warrior. Your only problem is you get sidetracked, losing the big picture. I’ve watched you the last few months, and you are much better, but you still take a battle to personal, getting sidetracked,” Gene told him as he sat down on the bench.

  Letting out a long sigh and sitting down across from Gene, “So even you think this is necessary?”

  Nodding as he spoke, Gene answered, “Yes Bruce; everyone on the command group needs protection but you most of all.”

  “Gene, don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t want all this. I just want to get this war over with before I’m driven insane. I don’t like putting others in harm’s way while I’m stuck back in the rear.”

  “That is the job of the commander.”

  As the wheels in his head turned, Bruce just looked at Gene for a few minutes then smiled. “Well, if I’m the commander, I can do what I want,” Bruce declared.

  Knowing that was coming, Gene closed his eyes. “I have never known you not to do what you wanted even when ordered not to,” Gene said, shaking his head.

  Laughing, Bruce reached over and patted Gene’s leg. “I take it you didn’t come over here for this talk, so what’s on your mind?”

  “Well, you’re right on that,” Gene said. “I want to talk to you about this assault in Maryland.”

  Bruce got up. “What about it?”

  “You really want to launch a ground offensive, punching a hole through enemy territory, advancing over a thousand miles, then turn back around and come home?” Gene asked.

  Not liking his plan so much but unable to come up with alternatives, he said, “It’s the most viable option to rescue those there.”

  “Bruce, I don’t doubt you, but that is a long way to go, and we will be fighting battles to get there. Then fight an assault on a closed complex and turn back around, fighting our way out. Omega has never been that far away from resupply. I think this can go bad in a hurry.”

  “Hey, this is my best option; otherwise, I just plant a mushroom,” Bruce said and started pacing.

  “How about going in by air?” Gene asked.

  Stopping his pacing, Bruce shook his head. “No, those choppers will ring the dinner bell for miles, letting everything know we are there.”

  Pointing at the ceiling, Gene said, “I’m talking about parachuting in.”

  “Gene, besides my kids, who are out of action for a while, Omega only has four with jump time,” Bruce said as he started pacing again.

  Laughing, Gene stood. “Well, you haven’t looked at Omega recently then. I have forty-six HALO Rangers in Omega now.”

  Startled, Bruce stopped pacing again. “Hell, I don’t even have HALO training,” he replied.

  “Bruce, we don’t need to drop from thirty thousand feet. We only need to drop at fifteen thousand. You skydived, so you can use a ram-foil chute,” Gene said.

  Ted coughed, “Why would he have to go?” he inquired.

  Gene looked over at Ted. “I guess you didn’t listen closely at yesterday’s briefing. Over half a dozen times, Bruce said he was leading this charge into Maryland.”

  “He never said that,” Ted replied.

  “Oh, yes he did. It was very subtle and elusive, but he informed everyone he was leading it,” Gene said.

  Ted looked at Bruce, “Did you?” he asked.

  “Hell yes!” Bruce barked. “My troops will not be in the field without me!”

  Ted looked at Carl, and Carl held up his hands. “Hey, I never caught it either,” Carl admitted.

  Gene laughed at the two and looked at Bruce. “Well, what do you think about that?” Gene asked.

  Bruce thought about it. “We could do it. We would need a sixty-man team, so we would have to train a few more really fast. After the assault, we could have the Chinooks come and pull us out. I just don’t like being that far away without some form of support.”

  “We can have the A-10s on standby, but this will be a lighting strike. If we are not in control of the complex in an hour and not out of it in three hours, we are screwed. The blues would swarm us by then no matter how cold it is,” Gene said.

  Bruce looked at Ted and Carl. “It’s got possibilities. What do you two think?” he asked.

  “You were going to lead the battle?” Ted asked, still replaying the briefing yesterday in his head.

  Bruce narrowed his eyes. “Ted, if you don’t pull your head out of your third point of contact, I’m going to take it off your shoulders. I said ‘we’ yesterday, and that means me.”

  Carl slapped Ted to make him shut up. “Bruce, it’s got a lot of pluses, that’s for sure, but it’s very risky leaving a lot of our best with their dicks hanging out in the wind,” Carl said.

  “Let’s head to the shop,” Bruce said, gathering his stuff. “Call Willie to join us.”

  At 1000 hours, the command group was gathering as Bruce walked with them into the Command Center. “Change of plans on the attack,” Bruce said, walking to the head of the table.

  Dropping his head to the table, Paul mumbled, “Oh shit.”

  “We’re going to do an airborne assau
lt on the complex,” Bruce said, sitting down.

  Marcus started chuckling. “Damn, didn’t see that one coming,” he said.

  Mike leaned over. “When did you train Omega to jump?” he asked.

  “I didn’t. Gene has a platoon of Rangers that are HALO trained,” Bruce said.

  “HALO?” Paul asked.

  Stephanie leaned over the table. “High Altitude Low Opening,” she told Paul then turned to Bruce. “They might be, but you aren’t,” she reminded Bruce with a frown.

  “Don’t need to be; we are jumping at fifteen thousand feet. We just need people that can jump with a ram chute,” Bruce explained.

  Standing up and putting her hands on her hips, Angela glared at Bruce. “You better explain in great detail how you are going to do this, or I’ll go out to the runway and break every damn plane there,” she warned him.

  Leaning over the table toward her, Ted asked, “How did you know he was going?”

  Whipping her head around, Angela looked at Ted like he was a special needs child. “He said ‘we,’ not ‘the team.’ I think if Bruce were forced to stay behind, he would whine like a bitch and have a nervous breakdown.”

  Smiling at Angela, Gene said to Ted, “You need to pay better attention, troop.”

  Tapping her foot, Angela said, “Well, I’m waiting.”

  Taking a deep breath, Bruce started laying out his notes, going over the plan. When he finished, he looked up at Angela. “Any questions?” he asked.

  Angela looked at Stephanie, who shrugged her shoulders, “Not right now,” Angela finally said.

  As Angela sat down, Danny slapped the table. “This sucks; I can’t go!” she yelled.

  Knowing this was coming, Bruce closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Danny, even if you weren’t injured, you wouldn’t be going. You haven’t trained to jump with equipment into combat.”

  “You just said you were going to train more people!” She slapped the table again then grabbed her hurt arm.

  Letting out a long breath, he explained, “Danny, we are going to train some that are airborne to jump with a ram chute.”

  Thinking it over, Stephanie leaned over to Angela. “I want Bruce to have my baby; he’s already had Danny, so he should be used to it,” she whispered.

  Patting Stephanie’s leg, Angela whispered back, “It’s already in you.”

  As Stephanie let out a groan, Bruce looked at them out of the corner of his eye. “Danny, I know you want to go but not this time. Everyone in Omega is going to be trained to jump this year; we need this capability,” Brue tried to reason with her.

  Willie reached over the table and held out his hand to Gene. “Pay up, sucker,” he said, grinning. Gene reached in his pocket and pulled out his Swiss Army knife, handing it over to Willie. Taking the knife, Willie sat back and noticed everyone was looking at him. “What? He didn’t believe Danny would be pissed and Bruce wouldn’t promise her she could train to jump,” he said, sitting back.

  Really pissed, Gene shook his head, looking at Bruce with a scowl on his face. “Don’t look at me in that tone of voice, Gene,” Bruce warned.

  “What about me, damnit!” Buffy snapped. “I’ve busted my butt learning how to fight, and Mama Stephanie has made me do like a thousand push-ups just learning! Now, you are going to be doing cool shit!”

  Willie leaned back across the table. “Hand it over,” he said, holding out his hand. Grumbling, Gene reached to his belt and handed over his Leatherman.

  “I hope that is all you bet, Gene,” Bruce said, watching the exchange.

  Shaking his head, mumbling, Gene didn’t respond. Willie didn’t hesitate. “No, we have several others.”

  “Buffy, you will train as well but only after the doctor clears you, and that goes for all of you,” Bruce said, looking at his kids.

  Clearing his throat, Jake smiled and said, “I only have stiches, Dad; I can go.”

  Wanting to resign his position, Bruce shook his head. “No, son, you have sixty-two stitches and had a dislocated elbow. You’re on light duty until cleared, so don’t even start,” Bruce replied.

  “Fuck!” Gene shouted as he jumped up and threw a pocket pistol, sheath knife, and a compass on the table and pushed them over to Willie. “You can come and get the rest of the shit tonight. I believe you,” he popped off.

  “Hey, I told you, but oh no, you just didn’t believe me. Now you see what we have had fighting beside us. The kids are almost as bad as he is,” Willie said, grabbing the stuff.

  Wanting to yell at someone, Gene looked at Mack. “Get us a pilot for a C-130 today. We need him all day and all tomorrow!” Gene snapped, heading for the door. “I’ll be outside.”

  Smiling, Willie sat back in his chair, looking at all the loot he won. “Touchy, isn’t he?”

  “Willie, I’m not even going to start,” Bruce said, gathering up his papers.

  Carl jumped up. “Bruce, I tried to tell Gene not to take the bets, but he wouldn’t listen,” he explained.

  “Jake, you and Matt get with your geeks to find out the easiest breach point. Steve, you and Mack work out the air operations,” Bruce said and pushed a stack of papers to Danny. “I want that gathered and packaged to jump with us,” Bruce said.

  Jake jumped up. “They are ‘minions of Oz,’ not geeks!” he shouted.

  Never stopping, Bruce shook his head, gathering his stuff. “Son, when I think of minions, I see small, yellow creatures that speak gibberish to Gru, not people,” he explained and looked at Angela and Stephanie. “Ready for your doctor’s appointment?” he asked.

  “You remembered?” Angela asked, shocked.

  With a smart ass response on his lips, Bruce wisely didn’t respond as he shouldered his rifle and held out his hands. The two jumped up, grabbing his hands. They walked out with Ted and Carl following. When they were gone, Jake looked around at the table. “If someone calls me Gru, we hit the floor. They are not geeks,” he said, getting up.

  Shaking his head, Matt stood up grabbing his stuff. “I never thought about it, but Daddy Bruce has a point. We need a new name for the team. I don’t think I can call them minions again without laughing,” he said as they walked out.

  The girls started laughing. Buffy looked at Danny and Mary. “Daddy’s so cool,” she said, straining to get out of her chair.

  “Trust dad to find something funny like that,” Danny said, holding her arm then helping Buffy up. With Mary on one side of Buffy and Danny on the other, they left.

  Bill looked at Marcus. “When those kids get older, I feel sorry for whoever pisses them off,” he said.

  Willie gathered his winnings. “Shit, I feel sorry for them now,” he said, leaving.

  Walking outside, Bruce led the two to a waiting, brand-new, large, black Suburban, and they climbed inside. Carl closed the door as Ted climbed in the driver’s seat. Carl jumped in the passenger seat as Ted took off. Bruce looked behind them to see a Hummer following. “What, I only get one Hummer today?” Bruce asked with a swaggering tone.

  “No, boss,” Carl said as Ted pulled out of the farm. A Stryker, two more Hummers, and two Suburbans that were identical to the one they were in were waiting for them on the road.

  “Where did you get the new Suburbans?” Angela asked.

  “Found them,” Ted answered as Carl talked on the radio.

  Studying the interior of the Suburban, Bruce said, “My guess is they sent someone to Dallas to get them.”

  “Why Dallas?” Stephanie asked, looking around. “There are a lot of car lots around.”

  “It’s the closest place that makes armored rides,” Bruce said.

  “It’s armored?” Angela said, sitting up and looking around in shock.

  Nodding, he pointed. “Look at the windows; they are two inches thick. Feel how it rides? That’s because of the armor.�
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  Spinning around in his seat, Carl asked, “How in the hell did you know we got these in Dallas?”

  Shrugging his shoulders, “I could’ve taken you there; Mike and I went there to see if we could buy some stuff for the Beast when we were making it.”

  Carl turned around, disgusted. “You know entirely too much. It took us four days to find that place.”

  Stephanie smiled. “Bruce knows a lot,” she said then leaned her head on his shoulder. “Baby, I’m glad you have let Ted and Carl keep your protection detail in place.”

  Wanting to object, Ted opened his mouth to speak, and Carl grabbed his arm. “Say anything, and I’ll put my foot so far up your ass you will taste leather,” Carl threatened softly.

  Getting comfortable, Bruce put his arms around Stephanie then Angela. “That’s the only reason I’m agreeing to this.”

  The convoy sped through the base to Hope. Everyone working stopped and watched the procession speed by. When they reached the hospital, Ted pulled up to the door, and the other vehicles fanned out to provide protection. Carl jumped out, opened the back door, and turned around, holding his rifle up.

  “I feel like a queen with this protection,” Angela said as Bruce moved around her.

  Jumping out, Bruce said, “Guys, not so flashy with the hardware,” and helped the girls out.

  “Forget it; everyone here is armed like we want them to be. If anyone thinks about it, I want them to know we can play too,” Carl replied.

  Shaking his head, Bruce led the two up to the door. “I’m really beginning to start to not like this building,” he said as Ted opened the door.

  Squeezing his hand, Stephanie said, “It will have good memories soon.”

  A man came up and took them to the back of the hospital, where they met their doctor. She was medium height with brown hair. “Hi, I’m Dr. Shelly,” she said, holding her hand out to them. They all shook her hand, and Shelly led them to an examination room. “Since you both wanted to be examined together, we made up this room,” she said then ushered them in.