Looking past the patio Bruce saw the gimp standing in his underwear at the water hose washing his clothes off. Bruce called Lance over and told him to tell the gimp to come here and to move it. Lance ran over to the gimp then talked to him pointing at Bruce. Gimp took off at a dead run toward Bruce stopping beside the table.
“Gimp, you had some not so nice thoughts today, they weren’t bad but they weren’t nice either didn’t you?” Bruce asked looking at the gimp, who had a shocked look on his face.
The gimp looked down at his feet and said, “Yes sir, I had some bad thoughts but not to hurt anyone just bad thoughts of throwing shit at people. I’m sorry.”
“I’m not going to hit you now. Not because the wives said not to but because I’m tired and you did do some good work today,” Bruce told him. He saw relief ripple over the gimps’ body with the no punishment statement and pride from the compliment. “Now, don’t let it go to your head. Anymore bad thoughts and we’ll have a score to settle.” Bruce told him. “Get down on your knees, you don’t ever look down at me,” Bruce snapped. Gimp dropped to his knees so fast Bruce felt the impact through the concrete. Bruce cringed inside knowing that had to hurt.
Looking at the gimp kneeling Bruce said, “After you clean up, I want you to go over to the piles of clothes and pick out three ACU sets, two pair of boots, tennis shoes, underwear, socks, and t-shirts. Then put’em in a back pack. From now on that is what you’re to wear, clothes like the rest of us. Do you understand?”
“Yes sir,” gimp said with tears in his eyes, he liked being treated like everyone else. “I won’t think bad thoughts any more, sir,” he promised.
“That’s good, because tomorrow you’ll learn how to work in the garden after shit detail. The more you make yourself useful, the better the treatment you’ll receive.” Bruce told him.
“Thank you sir,” gimp replied with a look of determination.
“Now, throw those old clothes away and do what you’re told,” Bruce told him. Gimp jumped up and ran off.
Mike laughed as gimp ran off, “Alright Jedi master, what’s on the plate for tomorrow?”
Bruce turned to Paul, “Well, what does the farm look like to you?”
“Well, first let me say, this is the best operation I’ve ever seen, much less heard of. Y’all are prepared here for a lot of stuff. But, I hate to tell’ya, y’all are not farmers. First, in your garden, you have planted your plants to far apart. There should be double what you’ve planted on each row. I know what it says in the books, but this is good soil and that twenty acre garden is goin’ to put out, literally tons of food per acre. But, it could’ve been doubled. Second, you’re over feeding every animal on this farm and wastin’ a lot of food. You have several years’ worth of chicken feed alone, if, you feed them correctly, not nine months as Nancy had projected. Same thing goes with the quail, pheasants and ducks. Your horses and cows are fat from over feeding. They require about two percent of body weight a day. For the horses here that’s about twenty pounds of hay ‘or’ grain a day. Not both, like y’all are feedin’em, they waste what’s not eaten. You have the hay troth off tha ground and one for each animal which is good. Your goats and rabbits are so fat they can barely move, they need their food cut in half. You need’ta harvest your catfish pond soon. There are way too many fish in there and we had to fix the aerator in the pond. Let me tell ya, when we got in that pond to fix it, I was actually scared with all the fish around us. We all got stuck with a fin at least once. Your greenhouses are in top notch shape, you just need a better watering system. I figure we should get close to a ton a month from each of them,” Paul said to Mike and Bruce looking at them before continuing.
“If we could seal off this land we could stay here for a while, with tha supplies and what is already set up here. We only have’ta worry about others coming here, be they infected or raiders. The chain link fence around the property is in excellent shape but it can be climbed easily. I noticed several piles of razor wire by the barn and wondered why it wasn’t put up. I figure with a few more milk cows and chickens we could seal this place up and try waitin’ it out,” Paul told them his opinion.
“Well, it’s good to hear your mistakes from a man who knows what he’s talkin’ about. We all may have grown up on farms but you’re right, we aren’t farmers. If you could, would’ya set up a feeding schedule for the animals? When we replant for fall crops, we’ll do what ya said. Now, as for the razor wire, I for one didn’t want to put it up after puttin’ up that damn fence. Then if any hunter or someone had seen a ten foot chain link fence with razor wire on it they would have wondered what was inside. Now, it doesn’t make a difference with the end of the world shit going on,” Bruce told him honestly.
“I’ll get several of the others and put up the razor wire. It is the least we should do,” Paul told him.
“We’ll get to that later but first we have to get the loft ready for this group to live in. It’ll need plumbing and a septic system for showers, sinks and toilets. Then it needs to be wired in so we can get A/C and heat up there. We’ll raid several empty houses around here to get what we need. There’s a Boy Scout camp thirty miles from here where we can get bunk beds. Before anyone says anything, I want bunk beds in case we find more people. I want the loft to be able to hold up to fifty people,” Bruce told them laying out his plan.
“Why not wait a little while before goin’ out? Let’s see if it gets better,” Conner offered, adding his two cents.
“Hold that thought for a second,” Bruce said waiving to Debbie motioning her to get Nancy, Angela and Alex. When the four got to the table, Bruce related everything that had been discussed so far as they all pulled up chairs. Seeing everyone at the table, Stephanie came over and sat down beside Bruce and Debbie. After Bruce finished bringing everyone up to speed he turned to Conner.
“I feel it’s goin’ to get a lot worse sooner and it’ll be decades before it gets better, if it ever does. I want to be prepared for a siege real soon. Whether it comes from blues or a gang, I want this place ready. We have ta’ get everyone a spot to live in and reinforce the fence all around the property,” Bruce told them.
“You told us to prepare for a zombie apocalypse, that’s why I wanted the fence and bought it Bruce. You even said it would work in a zombie apocalypse,” Nancy whined at him. She was damn proud of her fence.
“We did try to prepare for a zombie apocalypse, Nancy, because anything else would seem easy to live through. No one could have predicted that we would be surrounded by evil Smurfs, some with rocket engines in their asses. Wantin’ to rip you to pieces and then eat ya. If one of you had told me this was comin’ I would have packed my bags and left, afraid that you’d stab me to let the demons out while speaking in a demonic voice,” Bruce informed her.
“Ok, I thought you were makin’ fun of my fence,” Nancy said sounding an awful lot like a kid.
“Making fun of your fence baby girl? If Mike wouldn’t get jealous, I’d come over there and kiss you with tongue,” Bruce told her making everyone laugh.
“Come down to our room later tonight Bruce, we can share brother,” Mike said winking at Bruce and blowing him a kiss. Nancy slapped him on the arm laughing.
“Being serious again, tomorrow a small group will go out in trucks with trailers to maximize our hauls. I’ll be in the beast leading the raid. We will ransack houses close to us first. Then make a run to the scout camp, stopping at that man’s house who installs septic systems and get some of his stuff after we leave the camp. If we run into survivors and they look ok, we’ll invite’em here; if not, we’ll move on. We will not kill anyone unless they act against us or hurt others. If the man that sells septic systems is still home, we’ll try to barter. If it’s a no go, then we’ll move on. We will not become marauders here, period. Is that clear? We will help who we can but won’t endanger our clan unnecessarily,” Bruce said looking at everyone and each nodded in agreement. Then Stephanie spoke up.
“Actually f
ewer than eighteen percent of infected attacks result in pure cannibalism. They bite to infect and most of time leave you alone after biting. Sometimes -,” She stopped as Bruce held up his hand.
“Stephanie, I love you with all my heart and I’m going to let you give a full dissertation and briefing on whatcha ya know about the virus and the infected, but not right now. Once the loft is done, we will all gather in the game room and let cha explain what you have found out, ok,” Bruce said putting his hand on her leg and patting it.
“Ok, deal, I will get a good presentation together for you,” Stephanie said smiling given a task she knew she could handle.
“Conner, you and one of the other troops will be in the Stryker ready to roll out if we get in trouble. We’ll gather over three days then build. I want this project completed in two weeks because we have more stuff to do,” Bruce told them.
Mike chuckled, “You know Bruce it never ceases to amaze me. No sooner than we leave the hospital the entire family reverts back to ‘Southern Grammar’,” Mike told him.
“Well, we have no one to impress, let’s just be country boys now,” Bruce agreed laughing. Bruce stood up and told everyone, “It’s time to eat and get some sleep, because we’re fixin’ to get busy.”
Chapter 2
They couldn’t leave the next day because Mike wanted several of the SAW machine guns to have suppressors. Bruce had given in, kicking himself for not thinking about that. Getting up early, Mike and Bruce made suppressors for three SAW’s and one M-240, which was just a larger version of the SAW. It just fired the bigger 7.62 ammo. Then Bruce made suppressors for the 50 cal machine guns on the Stryker and the Hummer. He almost attempted to make a suppressor for the Mk 19 grenade launcher but decided against it, since that thing made enough noise to be heard twenty miles away.
With the adventure put off for a day, Jake and Matt put up a large antenna on top of the barn for the Raven, to extend its range. Then they pulled out a large satellite dish that the previous owners left on the farm. After running wires from the dish into the house, the boys would run outside and move the dish, then run back inside. Just watching the way the two were acting, Bruce did not even want to guess what they were up to.
Everyone now, had at least an M-4 with a suppressor and a pistol. Buffy had gotten some of Danny’s old BDU’s, combat boots and a tactical vest that Debbie had made for her. Now she carried a compact Glock 9mm pistol with her UMP 45 submachine gun. The first time Bruce saw her dressed in camo he thought she looked like Shirley Temple going to kick someone’s ass.
Jake and Matt sent the little Raven up the next day while Bruce and Mike worked on suppressors. The small village of Castor, fifteen miles to the east, had blues running around everywhere. Several blues were seen around the farm on the roads. Switching to thermal, the closest survivors they found was the Snead farm fifteen miles to the northwest as the crow flies. It was over thirty miles by road. They had seen several vehicles traveling on the highway forty miles to the west. They could not tell if they were gangs or survivors.
With the suppressors done, Bruce and Mike pulled out the beast and put the steel plates over the windows. Then they loaded it with extra ammo and fuel after making sure the video cameras worked, so they could drive it with the plates over the windows. The beast was then moved to the front of the house.
Sending the Raven out several times during the day, Jake and Matt had found two houses ten miles to the south, sitting close together with another one beside them under construction. They loaded up Bruce, Mike and Steve’s trucks along with Debbie’s SUV with tools to take what they needed from the houses. Matt would be the only kid not going with them on the first run. Bruce wanted him at the house to run the Raven. Mike was also staying to run defense in case the farm was hit. He did not like it and voiced his opinion about it to everyone. Debbie was coming along with Paul, Alex, Angela, and Mindy with the four women from the gas station, seventeen total counting Buffy. The three soldiers were staying behind in the Stryker for back up. Bruce told everyone else to stay alert and do whatever Mike said.
The next morning Bruce put at least one family member in each vehicle in case they came under fire. Debbie, Buffy and himself rode in the beast. At 5:30 a.m. he called out over the radio, “Everyone load up. Mike do you see anything with the UAV?” When Mike replied that the coast was clear, Bruce told them to open the gate and the small convoy left. They kept the speed at thirty-five mph so the vehicles would stay quiet.
They reached the houses without incident. It was not until Matt had to bring the Raven home to change its batteries that the first few infected hit. After Bruce, Buffy and Jake cleared the house, they took the front of the house to stand watch. Debbie, Danny and David took the back, while everyone else went inside to get what was needed. Ten minutes after the group had gone into the house, a group of infected came down the road from the direction they had come. Without pause, Jake raised his AR-10 dropping the entire pack of nine in less than fifteen seconds before they got within a hundred fifty yards.
Watching Jake shoot, Buffy just ogled at him with an open mouth. Bruce seeing her reaction smiled. “We taught all the kids how to shoot BB but nobody can shoot better at long distance than Jake. Matt is almost as good but not quite,” Bruce told her.
“He may be able to shoot BB but all the brothers still have trouble taking me in hand to hand. I can take everyone else,” Danny called out over the radio.
“I beg to differ on that,” Mary came over the radio to disagree with her.
“Drop it and keep the radio open, we have infected coming through the field behind the house,” Debbie yelled over the radio. This froze Bruce’s blood.
“How many and do you need back up?” Bruce asked fighting the urge to run to her.
“Five and we have them,” Debbie told him as the three of them opened up with suppressed single shots. Then he heard someone open up on full auto. Worried, Bruce called them and asked them if they needed back up. Debbie popped off at him, “We trained also Bruce, you don’t have to hold our hand. One was a runner so I went full auto and sprayed his face.”
Chucking to himself, Bruce keyed his radio, “Good job baby, stay alert.” He was glad everyone had a radio on this raid, it was already making a world of difference. Hearing the inside team ripping out showers, sinks and toilets he turned back to the road. “Mike, when is the Raven coming back?” Bruce asked over the radio.
“Matt’s outside changing the batteries now,” Mike told him.
Hearing something behind him, Bruce turned seeing several girls bringing out a sink and putting it on the trailer of Steve’s truck. Debbie came on the radio, “Inside team grab all the clothes, shoes, food, towels, toiletries, blankets and everything else we might need.” Bruce almost said something but decided not to, they might as well get what they could. In less than an hour, they had two showers, two sinks and two toilets on the trailer. The back of the truck was full of clothes and other stuff. Bruce even saw a large flat screen TV sticking up from the front of the bed. When he saw the team coming out empty handed, Bruce told everyone to load up and they moved to the next house.
Pulling over to the next house, Bruce walked up with the clearing team. Pointing for Jake to take the lead, he moved to the door to find it locked. Kneeling down, Jake went to work, Bruce and the others readied to enter as Jake picked the lock. When the lock opened, Jake swung the door open and pulled up the P90. With his AR-10 across his back, he entered with Bruce, Buffy, Mary and Debbie behind him, Danny stayed at the door with David. As they entered the main living room, Bruce motioned for Debbie and Mary to head upstairs. They moved up the stairs while Bruce and the others took the first floor. Then Bruce heard Jake call out, “Contact front.”
Bruce looked to his right and saw a runner come out a door on the far right, heading toward Jake. Jake let off a burst that hit the runner in the chest, slowing it down. Then Jake lowered his weapon, kicked the runner in the chest, sending it across the living room, slamming
into the far wall. Bringing his weapon up, Jake put a burst though the runners head. “Contact down,” Jake called out.
Jake, Bruce and Buffy continued to clear the first floor when Debbie called out on the radio, “Contact.” Bruce listened for the shots but didn’t hear any and was fixing to run up stairs when Debbie called out, “Contact.”
With a pissed off tone, Bruce keyed his radio asking her, “Care to elaborate on that contact?”
“Walker locked in the bathroom. Didn’t want to shoot it and damage the stuff inside, so I stuck a knife in his skull,” Debbie told him.
Shaking his head, Bruce informed her, in a really pissed off voice, “Next time throw some hate at ‘em. Screw damaging shit.”
Debbie politely told him, “Fuck off, Mary is pissed off that she didn’t get to stick a knife in it or shoot it. Be damned if I’m going to listen to shit from either of you.”
“I’m sorry baby, please don’t shoot or shank me,” Bruce apologized.
“I’m not promising shit,” Debbie replied, ready to beat members of her family.
In less than ten minutes, they called the house clear. Bruce, Buffy and Mary took up watch on the back. Debbie, Jake and David took the front. Bruce had put Mary with him since they had pissed off Debbie. He was not in the mood for Debbie to start spanking kids, or him. Being honest with himself, Bruce figured he could throw the kids at her one by one, and by the time she got to him she would be too tired bust his ass.
Matt called them over the radio, “Raven overhead.” Bruce looked up trying to find the little plane when Matt called back, “A large group of at least fifty coming down the road from the other direction.”
“Anything behind the house?” Bruce asked him.
“Some deer, about half a mile away,” Matt replied.
“Keep an eye out back here,” Bruce told Matt. “Angela, Alex come to the back of the house and stand guard. We’re moving to the front,” Bruce called over the radio as he led his group to the front.
Blue Plague Survival Page 3