This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, objects, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
No blues, animals or idiots were harmed during the writing of this book.
Acknowledgment
Once again I have to say, one person cannot write a book alone. It has been so fun to write this series and sharing it with the world. Walking into a book store, seeing someone reading your work is so cool.
To my family, I must say thank you so much. Nicholas, Khristian, Tina and Dylan, thank you for letting Daddy lock himself in his study. Next I have to say thank you to my Mom and Dad for encouraging me to read and passing that love of reading on to me. See Mom, that book club you signed me up for when I was a kid paid off. I have to admit, I love telling a story.
Anyone who has written knows the cost of editing. I would have liked to keep sending the book back to the editor until it was perfect, but at one point five cents a word, I could only do it once. That is where friends and a Dad who loved English come in. Christine Ferguson, Daniel Franklin and my Dad, Larry Watson, I have to say thank you. I’m only releasing the e-book now because we are still tweaking the book, reading it daily catching little mistakes. The paperback will be released next year. I have been contacted by several readers saying ‘I can’t believe you would release a book with mistakes even little ones.’ To them I’m sorry, I’m human and don’t have a publishing house with fifty editors. Again I say editing is not cheap, I’m a nurse, not Donald Trump. I’m sorry for the two week delay but the family and I were moving as fast as we could.
Next I have to address what a few have asked about. The characters appear super human. I know many people and families that are this active, staying in excellent shape. They have to be to hunt around the world, kayak, skydive, mountain climbing and other extreme sports. Again I know, personally, many people that live prepared. They do not consider themselves preppers or survivalist, just people that want to be self-reliant and prepared for a disaster. These people are more set up than those in the book. To those who want your average couch potato, who knows nothing except how to order at Burger King, to survive an event of this magnitude, I’m sorry. The truth is they would die and it would be a short book. My characters are not super human, only prepared, like I describe in each book. If you read books of this type then you are building a knowledge base, granted it’s fiction but they give readers ideas and scenarios. Knowledge is power to those who seek it. The reason I explain the weapons is because simply saying they have a gun, leans more toward pure fantasy. Why not a magic wand? Like the Hollywood actors who never reload. Blue Plague series website has pictures of the weapons.
To the Facebook queen my wife, thank you for wearing out the computer telling others. I can’t forget Rhiannon for the great cover art once again. To the six hundred plus who follow Blue Plague on Facebook thank you. Hearing from each of you every week really kept this house going. Blue Plague: The Fall has sold thousands and still going strong, for that I have to say thank you. I still can’t believe how many have sold and are still selling.
To those who are going on this journey with me, I say Thank You. Now I present;
Blue Plague: Survival
Chapter 1
With a startle, Bruce woke up looking at a ceiling and immediately reached for his SCAR, but grabbed only blankets. Sitting up quickly looking around, Bruce saw his bedroom. Realizing he was home he looked down at his side to see Buffy and Debbie beside him. The memories of last night started coming through the sleepy fog that clouded his brain.
The entire family had been in a group hug around Buffy. After Buffy had fallen asleep in Bruce’s arms last night, he stood up to take her to his and Debbie’s bed. Before he made it to his bedroom, Danny stopped him and told him to put Buffy in her room. Bruce looked at her for a minute, then, nodded his head. Buffy had been so close to him the last few days that he really had gotten used to her being beside him. Taking Buffy to Danny’s room, Bruce gently laid her down in the bed. Danny took off Buffy’s shoes and crawled in bed beside her. Bruce watched Danny pull Buffy close to her and smiled before he left the room.
Debbie was in the hall waiting on Bruce as he left Danny’s room. Grabbing his hand, she led him down the hall to their bedroom. Once they got to the bedroom, Bruce started stripping off clothes. He wanted nothing more than, to burn the top layer of skin off of his body in the shower.
Debbie was going to join him until she saw him turn only the hot water on. Steam boiled out of the shower. She would wait; second degree burns were not fun to endure. Shaking her head, Debbie couldn’t understand how Bruce could take the heat without blisters covering his body. The heating element for their shower was set at one hundred and thirty degrees and burnt the shit out of her if she didn’t run cold with it. Bruce would just get out red from head to toe.
When Bruce got out of the shower, feeling a lot better, he saw Debbie at the end of the bed waiting on her turn to shower. Walking over she put a new dressing on his leg then put the bandages back under the sink and turned back to face him. Smiling, she ran to him jumped and wrapped her arms and legs around him as she locked him in a passionate kiss.
With a big grin, Bruce carried her to bed where they played for an hour. As they lay in each other’s arms, breathing heavily, waiting on a second wind. Bruce heard a thump on the door. Reluctantly getting out of bed, Bruce went to see who wanted something. Bruce was going to answer the door butt naked, just to let whoever knocked know they had interrupted playtime. Debbie told him to put on some underwear as she covered herself with blankets. Bruce grabbed some underwear. He didn’t want to irritate Debbie by answering the door naked.
Bruce cracked the door, but didn’t see anyone in the hall. About to close the door, he noticed Buffy lying at the base of the door. She was fast asleep, curled into a ball. Opening the door, Bruce pointed at Buffy and told Debbie they had company. He told Debbie he was taking her back to Danny’s room when Debbie told him no. Climbing out of bed, Debbie put on a t-shirt and told Bruce to put Buffy in their bed. Letting out a low growl as he picked up Buffy, Bruce did what Debbie asked.
Remembering last night and in no hurry to get out of bed, Bruce sat watching the two as they slept. Debbie had an arm around Buffy holding her close. It was then that Bruce noticed Danny lying on the other side of Debbie. Bruce wondered when she had come in. ‘Damn, no wonder I didn’t have any room to turn last night’ Bruce thought.
Debbie woke up with Bruce looking at her. “Hey baby, did the girls wake you up?” she asked.
“When did Danny come in?” Bruce questioned, glancing over at Danny.
“About an hour after you went back to sleep,” she responded.
“Told’ya last night I should’ve put Buffy back in Danny’s room,” he said reaching over stroking Debbie’s face.
“I can’t believe that you would do that to her. This is her family now, and she looks at you like some kind of demi-god,” Debbie said.
“She’s going to have to learn to sleep in Danny’s room sooner or later,” Bruce told her.
“Bruce, Danny slept in this bed with us almost every night until she was fourteen. She still comes in to sleep on a regular basis,” Debbie reminded him.
“Yeah, beatin’ the shit out of us in our sleep,” Bruce corrected.
“Part of being a Mama ‘n Daddy,” Debbie said. Then continued, “Buffy will learn to sleep on her own, but not until she’s ready.”
“We were busy last night hot mama and I wanted to continue,” Bruce said defending his position.
“We can p
lay later stud muffin. The babies needed us last night,” Debbie replied smiling at Bruce.
“When?” Bruce asked hopefully.
“Later big daddy,” Debbie replied laughing.
“Well, I’m goin’ down and gettin’ some coffee and something to eat. We have a busy day today, plus, the next couple of weeks coming up.” Bruce said leaning over to kiss her, then Buffy, and Danny.
“Bruce, I want’cha to take the day off baby. I can see it in your eyes. You’re tired. So is everyone that you brought in yesterday,” Debbie said, a concerned expression on her face.
“Babycakes, we don’t have time to relax. We have to get everyone settled in and trained to fight. This farm could be hit any minute by raiders or a mob,” Bruce told her as he got out of bed.
“Ok baby, but at least go easy for a few days. On yourself and the others,” Debbie pleaded.
“I will try but I can’t promise. When everyone comes down, I want to go over what I’ve planned. I need you and Nancy to get everyone’s names and start on a guard duty roster,” Bruce told her putting on fresh tiger stripe BDU’s.
“We did that yesterday, big daddy one,” Debbie informed him as he put on another tactical vest.
“Figured as much, my wives like runnin’ a tight ship here. See ya down stairs baby,” Bruce told her walking out of the bedroom grabbing his SCAR.
Closing the door behind him, Bruce headed down to the kitchen. The wound on his leg was sore, but tolerable as he went down the stairs. He could hear someone down there rattling pots and pans. Walking into the kitchen, he saw Lynn starting breakfast. Heading straight to the coffee pot he poured a cup then walked to the den. It looked like a massive sleepover. There were people laying everywhere from the game room, through the den and into the dining room. This has got to be fixed soon, he thought as he headed down to the basement.
Walking over to the gun storage area, Bruce grabbed the parts to turn his SCAR to selective fire. Taking his SCAR apart he took out the factory components and put in the ones he and Mike had made. When he was finished he put the SCAR back together and rotated the fire selector around. Now he had single, three round burst and full auto on his SCAR. Feeling better now that he had options on how much ‘hate’ he could send downrange, he headed back upstairs to the kitchen. Sitting down in his spot at the table Bruce took a sip of coffee.
He almost turned to get his laptop but remembered Jake told him that the farm lost internet service two days ago. They still had satellite internet, but Bruce decided he was not in the mood for more bad news right now. So he just grabbed a notebook and started making a list of the tasks that needed to be done. While Bruce sat writing the rest of the farm started waking up. While making the list he heard a rooster crow from the back yard. Bruce got up from the table and walked out of the back door to the pool patio.
As he sipped his coffee, the rooster crowed again. He started to have serious thoughts about killing it when he heard a cow moo. That’s a lot of noise coming from the farm, how can I make the animals shut the hell up, he wondered to himself. Hearing the door open behind him, Bruce glanced over his shoulder seeing Debbie, Buffy and Danny walking up to him.
“Hey guys, sleep well?” Bruce asked toward Buffy and Danny.
“Yeah, after I found Buffy. When I woke up and she was gone, I ran down to mission control to ask Tonya if she’d seen her. She told me that besides the pigs in’tha field, nothing was movin’ outside. I ran back to my room and looked everywhere. When I couldn’t find her I went into everyone else’s room. Let me tell ya, Jake is so pissed at me about that too! Anyway, after searchin’ all of our rooms, I stopped and I knew where she went. That’s when I found her in your bed. By then I was tired again so I just slept with y’all,” Danny said. “I mean I finally got a little sister and I thought I’d lost her,” Danny added as she put her arm around Buffy.
“I’m sorry Danny, I just wanted to be by Daddy and Mama,” Buffy told her giving Danny a sad look.
“Don’t be sorry, just wake me up next time and we’ll both go get in their bed,” Danny said hugging Buffy who was smiling at her.
“Thanks a lot,” Bruce stated dryly.
“Oh, you know you like it Daddy,” Danny said.
“Yeah I like gettin’ the shit beat out of me, pushed to the corner of the bed and having no cover for the night,” Bruce said looking at her.
“Daddy, you’re hot when you sleep. I thought I was sleepin’ by a fire last night and Danny is the same way. Why do either of you need blankets? I was sweatin’ when I was beside either one of ya,” Buffy said looking at them.
“Thank you Buffy for finally telling them the plight I’ve had sleeping between both of them. I swear, with the heat you two put off, I could melt lead,” Debbie related.
“I always wondered why the covers were on the floor when Danny slept with us,” Bruce wondered aloud.
“Who in the hell needs covers when you have a furnace on each side of ya,” Debbie replied.
“If you stay so warm, why do I get woke up with two small ice cold feet in my back?” Bruce asked crossing his arms.
“Well, you are a furnace, but my feet do get cold so I stick’em in the fire. I can’t do that to Danny because she’s my child,” Debbie told him.
“I’ve fallen out of the bed at least three times movin’ away from you because ice cubes have hit me in the back,” Bruce stated not smiling.
“You do warm my feet up good baby and those times you fell out’a bed. I did feel bad, for a little while,” Debbie told him smiling.
“Let’s get inside guys and go over today’s activities,” Bruce said heading to the door.
As they followed Bruce inside Debbie noticed Conner sitting in Bruce’s chair drinking coffee. Bruce kindly told him to move his ass. Sitting back down, in his now vacant spot, Bruce started going over his list. Looking up from his list Bruce saw Debbie point at his and Mike’s spots whispering to Conner. Lynn was telling others to wake everyone and get the dining room ready for breakfast. Between the breakfast table and the dining room table they could seat thirty. For now, everyone else would have to sit in the den and game room to eat.
Jake sat a plate of food down for Bruce then sat down beside him with his own plate. They were joined by Debbie, Buffy and Danny on Bruce’s right side who all set down with their own plates and started eating. Debbie handed him a list with everyone’s name on it. Bruce stood up and told everyone to be quiet. They could continue eating but he wanted their attention.
Raising his voice Bruce started the instructions, “Mike, Debbie, Nancy and I are the bosses. What we say is to be followed. If you think you are being treated unfairly take it to another boss but only after you’ve completed the task at hand. First, the loft of the barn has to be prepared to make a sleeping area. Nancy and Debbie are making a new guard roster and only the little ones won’t be on it. If you miss a shift or are caught sleeping punishment will be harsh. Next, Mike and I will be laying out a training roster that will be followed. Nancy, Debbie, we need a list of where people are sleeping now. If someone needs to be woken up at night, I really don’t want to wake everyone up to find’em,” Bruce told Nancy and Debbie.
Steve stood up, “Dad, Tonya and I are movin’ back to my old room with Pam. The Stewarts can have the guest room we are in and Angela, Alex and Cade can have the other guest room,” he offered.
“Well son, since you’ve put that much thought in where people should sleep, draw up a list for the Mama’s. You have an hour,” Bruce told him, grinning.
“Thanks,” Steve said sarcastically, wishing he would have kept his mouth shut.
Bruce laid out the rules of the farm one last time so there could not be any misunderstandings. Then he asked if there were any questions. Only Marty asked when they could eat. Bruce turned to the chubby little boy sitting in the den eating. In the trip to the farm he had lost weight but still had a round appearance. Bruce told him, “Everyone can only eat when food was set out on the table. Only tho
se on kitchen duty are allowed to go in the refrigerator or pantry. With the extra people we have, our food supply is going to be put under strain so no raiding the food supply.” He looked at his family and said this went for everyone. They all nodded their heads in agreement.
Lynn spoke up, “I want to be assigned to cook all the time for the group. I’ll still do guard duty and train but could it be at night please.” Lynn stared at Bruce waiting on an answer when Nancy stood up.
“If Lynn cooks, then she has no guard duty. That’s too much to ask of anyone. Cooking for forty people is a lotta work,” Nancy said looking at the family.
“I agree, if she cooks no guard duty. Nancy and I can train her on an individual basis but I think she needs at least one helper assigned a day,” Debbie said looking around the table.
“Second that motion,” Mike said from his end of the table.
“Motion passed. One person will be assigned to help with each meal and no guard duty for Lynn,” Bruce said thankful he would not have to perform cooking duties.
“I don’t want Bruce or Mike assigned to be my helpers either. Don’t get me wrong. I love both of y’all, but neither one of ya listens worth a shit unless it comes from your wives mouth,” Lynn said looking at Bruce then Mike.
Nancy said that was fine, thankful that someone had volunteered to cook. Mike did complain that if he got to help then he could sample the food. With a scowl, Nancy told him to shut up before Lynn changed her mind.
Bruce then read out names for work details around the farm. First group was cleaning out the loft. Second group was moving equipment and supplies off the vehicles, separating it, and then putting it up. He reminded everyone to look at the board in the kitchen to find out what they had to do on the duty roster. He told them it was their responsibility to know when they had duty.
Bruce walked to the dining room. Paul and his family were sitting with the group from the gas station. Walking over Bruce told Paul, “Paul, I want you to get three M-4’s with suppressors and show your family how to use them. Just the basics, you can continue their trainin’ later. Then I want you to look at the animals, gardens, greenhouses and tell us what’cha think. This evening you can tell us where our short comings are.” Paul assured him they would have it done by this evening.
Blue Plague Survival Page 1