Looking down as PJ tried to climb in his lap, Bruce nodded. “I’ll kill him after breakfast, what did he do?”
“Oh, the little turd flushed everyone’s socks down the toilet this morning,” Stephanie snapped. “Don’t smile, Bruce because he opened your drawer, flushing your socks also.”
“I shall kill him at once,” Bruce said, getting up and pulling out their chairs. “I hate to ask, but did you spank him?”
“I tried,” Angela said, sitting down and looking over at Stephanie. “But someone stopped me.”
“I think Bruce needs to talk to him first,” Stephanie said, helping Emily into her chair.
“Babe,” Bruce coughed, looking at Stephanie. “He’s two. A lecture doesn’t really work in the mind of a two-year-old.”
“Just make him stop. I don’t have that many socks and now I know why,” Stephanie said as Millie sat her plate down.
“I’ll take care of it,” Bruce said, putting PJ in his high chair.
Sitting down he looked over at Matt, and could tell he was nervous about going out in charge. “Matt, you know what to do, so relax.”
Danny looked down the table. “Are you going again covertly?”
“Hey, I wouldn’t have gone as a handler with you, but two women said they were going with or without me and if I tried to stop them I would be using a cane to walk with, but they would take care of me when they got back,” Bruce snapped and Danny and the others turned to look at Angela and Stephanie.
“Don’t look at us like that. We don’t go to the firing range doing pushups and to the gym, just to sit around here when our kids are going into combat as leaders by themselves for the first time,” Angela popped off.
Looking down the table at Danny and the other kids, Stephanie nodded. “We had to see with our own eyes that you had learned well from Bruce. He was fine letting you go off, saying, ‘They will be fine and don’t need babysitters’.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell us you were going,” Nancy huffed.
“You didn’t know?” Jake asked shocked.
Slapping the table hard, Mike looked around at them. “Hell no, and didn’t, till they were in the air and Bruce called me on the cellphone.”
Danny looked over at Angela and Stephanie. “Not to sound like a bitch, but wait till after the babies are born to come again. I don’t like seeing you two beating the shit out of people pregnant.”
“Hey, what about them beating the shit out of me!” Bruce cried. “I still have bruises.”
Rolling her eyes, Danny shook her head. “You’re tough and a big boy, Daddy.”
“I said I was sorry, but you were squishing my boobs,” Stephanie whined.
After breakfast, everyone escorted Matt, Mary, and the other kids that were going to the airfield. Half of the assault team that was hitting Mobile was gathered around as pilots walked around, checking the helicopters.
“You’ll do fine,” Jake said, coming up to Matt. “The other half of Omega is in place outside of Mobile and will start a ground assault to you.”
Glancing around to make sure nobody was close, Matt turned to Jake. “Are you sure this is such a great plan?” he asked in a whisper. “You didn’t have a ground team to extract.”
“Yeah and like I said, we had to kill everything around us before we could pull out. With vehicles there, your team at least has positions to fight from,” Jake said as Buffy walked over, decked out in combat gear.
Letting out a long sigh, Matt looked around at all the troops getting ready. “They all better fight,” he mumbled.
Laughing, Jake patted his shoulder. “I wouldn’t worry about that after the last time.”
Looking at the troops for several minutes, Matt finally turned to Jake. “I think you and I can come up with a better plan,” he said in a low voice.
Knowing what Matt was feeling, Jake shook his head. “No, we can’t. You’re nervous and need to let that shit go because I’m not taking our crazy act to another level, brother.”
A smile slowly crept up on Matt’s face. “I can’t believe you took out four troops, set down on a forty-story building in Memphis killing blues for a day, one shot at a time.”
“You don’t quit acting like a wuss, you’ll be doing that, so buck up and do what you know needs to be done,” Jake said as Buffy moved over, standing beside Matt.
She reached over patting his arm, “Don’t worry, Bubba. I’ll be with you,” she said with a childish grin.
With no expression, Matt just looked down at her, then up at Jake. “She went out with you, why do I have to take her?”
Buffy’s mouth fell open in shock as Jake laughed. “Dude, Dad said she goes,” Jake snorted.
Looking back down at Buffy, Matt’s eyes grew hard. “Buffy, you better stay right beside me and don’t do anything unless I tell you.”
With her mouth still hanging open, Buffy shook her head. Slowly, she closed her mouth as she said, “You need to go back inside and find your balls because you can’t use mine.”
Jake dropped down on the ground laughing as Matt just stared at Buffy. “Buffy, I’m not kidding. I have to run the battle and can’t worry about you.”
“I can take care of myself,” she snapped.
“Buffy,” Matt snapped.
Stomping her foot, Buffy glared at him. “Since when have I ever not done what I was told,” she growled in her high-pitched voice.
“That’s the problem, if you aren’t given very explicit instructions, you take it upon yourself to act,” Matt popped off.
“Pussy,” she snapped and spun around, walking away.
Matt turned to see Jake rolling around on the ground laughing. “You’re not helping,” Matt said, offering a hand to help Jake up.
Grabbing Matt’s hand, Jake pulled himself up. “Dude, I told her the exact same thing,” Jake chuckled.
Hearing the turbines starting to crank up, Matt looked over his shoulder as the line of choppers slowly came to life. “I don’t want to fuck up. If I do, people will die,” Matt said, barely loud enough to hear.
The laughter left Jake as he moved beside Matt. “Just do what you know. I told you I was scared when I left, and you told me to quit acting like a pussy so now I’m telling you, stop acting like a pussy.”
Watching the troops move to the choppers, Matt nodded. “I’ll try,” he mumbled.
“You better do more than that because I’m not acting more insane,” Jake huffed. “Danny is already pissed that we have to act crazier as it is.”
“Yeah,” Matt grinned, hearing Danny’s name. “She says she has to be double badass above the rest of us.”
“That’s my point,” Jake said as Danny came over and saw the look on Matt’s face.
“Matt, don’t worry,” she said kissing him, then leaned back looking at him. “If you show everyone what a bad ass you are, I’ll wear the camo bikini.”
A sly grin filled Matt’s face. “Oh yeah,” he groaned.
Carl walked over, tapping Matt. “Time to load up, boss,” he shouted over the noise of the choppers.
Matt hugged Danny and Jake and followed Carl to the chopper. Walking up the back ramp of the Chinook, Matt looked at the faces staring at him and concentrated putting on the face he always wore. “Time to kick some ass, troops!” he shouted, moving between the rows and found Buffy already sitting down.
“Yeah!” the troops yelled as the chopper took off.
Bruce walked up beside Jake watching the twenty Chinooks take off, flying in two lines of ten. “He scared?” Bruce asked.
Glancing around and making sure nobody was close, “Shit, yeah,” Jake snapped in a low voice. “We aren’t you, Dad. It’s scary having people’s lives depending on your actions.”
Looking at Jake with a gentle expression, Bruce sighed. “Son, I’m terrified every second of every day because every decision I make could get a lot of people killed, or worse, get this little pocket of humanity wiped out.”
Hearing that his Dad got scared shook Jake�
��s world. Feeling lightheaded, Jake stumbled back. “You?!” he gasped.
“Yes, son. I know you’ve figured some of why I act insane, but it’s not all an act,” Bruce said reaching out and grabbing Jake’s shoulder. “It’s the only way I can hold onto my sanity. Being in charge in a situation like this sucks and anyone who wants it, doesn’t need it. Only those that can do the job and not want it, are the ones put in charge.”
For several minutes, Jake stared at his Dad then turned to the east, seeing the choppers had already disappeared over the horizon. “Okay, I understand,” he said glumly.
“Come on, let’s get to mission control and you run operations for Matt,” Bruce said, pulling Jake over to his SUV. Bonnie held open the door as they climbed in.
“Shit, Momma Nancy and Daddy Mike can run an air operation better than anyone,” Jake snorted.
“Well,” Bruce said as Bonnie shut the door. “They’re, kind of, not here.”
Jake whipped his head around, staring at his Dad. “What?”
“They, uh, wanted to make sure Matt did okay,” Bruce said as Ted turned around from the passenger seat.
“Mission control, boss?” Ted asked.
Jake looked at Ted, “I thought you were going?” Jake asked.
Shaking his head, “Nope, talked it over with Carl. Only one of us will go out with Omega from now on, unless Bruce is in the field,” Ted said looking at Bruce.
“Yeah, head to mission control,” Bruce said as Jake leaned back in his seat.
“So, what do you really think of our plan?” Jake asked as the driver took off.
“Like I told you before when you and Matt brought it to me, I like it.”
“You made us change stuff,” Jake said as the driver took a turn very sharp.
“Hey, we aren’t in that big of a hurry,” Bruce snapped at the driver then turned to Jake. “Because you had too many moving parts. Always keep your plan as simple as possible.”
“So, you think everything will go okay?”
“Son,” Bruce said looking out the window. “You’ve been in battle. The plan starts to fall apart from the second the first shot is fired. That’s why you keep it simple.”
Jake just stared at the side of his Dad’s face, till Bruce turned and looked at him. “Son, neither you nor I will ever come up with a battle plan that will be foolproof.”
“You’ve done pretty damn good,” Jake snapped.
Leaning forward, Bruce hit a button that rose a glass between them and the driver’s compartment. When the glass seated, Bruce looked at Jake with hard eyes. “The troops fear me more than the blues or gangs. Each one knows I’ll fight to the death for them. Son, you’re wanting something that’s not possible, to always make the right decision. We make mistakes and sometimes, those mistakes cost us dearly.”
“You don’t make many,” Jake said, then looked out the window.
“My biggest mistake got your mother killed,” Bruce said looking ahead and Jake whipped his head, gawking at Bruce.
“Dad, we were attacked by a group several times bigger than we were! How can you say that?!”
Just staring ahead at nothing, “I’ve never told anyone this,” Bruce said. “I had our defenses set up to face blues. All our manpower evenly dispersed around the perimeter. I should’ve had half the force held back and moved toward the attack.”
Almost panting, Jake shook his head. “Dad, there was no way you could’ve known, or even if that would’ve worked.”
Slowly, Bruce turned to Jake. “My second mistake was not killing those in Colorado. That almost cost me my kids,” Bruce said in an icy voice. “For your ears only,” he said, then looked away. “If it wasn’t for Stephanie and Angela, I would’ve wiped them out, but they knew who Gene was and Debbie knew he was supposed to be here. They are relentless when they want something and I gave in, and look what it almost cost me.”
Reaching over, Jake patted his Dad’s arm. “Dad, we didn’t die, so let that go,” Jake said, leaning back in his seat. “I can tell you for a fact, I’ll never make the mistake of not putting out ambush points again.”
They rode in silence till the SUV stopped in front of the house and Bruce turned to Jake. “Son, you just do the best you can, that’s all you can do. I wouldn’t have put you and Matt in charge of these operations if I didn’t think you could handle them.”
Jake looked out the window and saw Bonnie about to open his door and hit the lock button, making her jump back. Turning to face his Dad, Jake leaned over. “Why are you putting us in charge? Why not Gene, Ted, or Carl for that matter?”
“This war will last a long time and most importantly, I trust each of you to always do what is right,” Bruce said, hitting the unlock button. “I trust the others, but I think they would start to fold under the pressure in time. We can’t have a totalitarianism ever running this new world. Nobody can tell anyone what they can’t do, as long as it doesn’t hurt others. Many want to change that and I know none of you ever will.”
Nodding, he opened his door and Bonnie grabbed it, holding it open. “On that, you are very correct. We grew up listening to you and Daddy Mike bitch nonstop,” Jake laughed getting out.
Smiling, Bruce got out and Ted closed the door. “Scared the shit out of me, raising the privacy glass,” Ted mumbled.
“Private talk,” Bruce said, heading for the house.
“He needed it,” Ted said following him. “They are great leaders, but need confidence.”
“Ted,” Bruce said, stopping and looking at him. “A good leader should never have confidence in his choices and should always second guess, but doesn’t change his plans unless he’s found a fatal flaw in his plan. A good leader’s confidence should always be in those under them.”
Scanning his card and opening the door, Ted held it open. “Yep, and that’s why everyone follows you,” he said with conviction.
Chapter 14
Leaning over, Matt looked out the port window at the suburbs of Mobile, Alabama. Even from two thousand feet up, he could see blues running. They looked like streams of ants from this high, forming into long chains and following the choppers’ path.
“Alright,” Buffy cheered, looking out the port window. “I get to kill me some blues!”
Matt turned to see a wide grin on Buffy’s face. “Get serious,” he said over the engine noise.
“I am,” she shouted back, picking up her helmet and buckling it on. “I’m getting serious about killing some blues.”
Knowing it would do no good, Matt looked down at his map as the pilot came over the intercom. “Five minutes.”
“Copy,” Matt said, hitting the transmit key while studying the map. Feeling a tap on his leg, Matt looked up.
“Escort choppers off our port side,” Carl said, pointing at the window.
“Can’t you just say ‘on our left’?” Buffy shouted. “We aren’t in the Navy.”
Like Matt, Carl knew it would do no good and didn’t answer. “Relax and just do what you know and remember, you have an image to uphold,” Carl said, leaning close to Matt’s ear.
Jerking his head up looking at Carl, “You know we had a meeting, talking about that?” Matt asked.
“No, but that was very good that you and the others did,” Carl said then patted his body, checking his equipment.
“Scout plane is over target and light enemy activity reported,” the pilot said over the intercom.
Folding his map and shoving it in his pocket, Matt checked his equipment. “Shit, that won’t last long,” he mumbled. Feeling everything in place, Matt hit the transmit key. “How far out is the ground convoy?”
“They should be on site five minutes after we touch down, but are reporting major activity en route,” the pilot called back.
“Give me an open channel to them,” Matt called back and heard his headphone click. “This is Air One calling Ground, what’s your status?” he asked over the radio.
“Be there on time, Air One,” David called bac
k. “Starting to get a little thick behind us, but we are staying ahead of the masses.”
“Copy,” Matt said, thinking.
“Ground One, you need to speed up,” Jake said over the radio.
“God damn it, Jake, I know what I’m doing, so quit it. I don’t tell you what to do!” David shouted.
“Hey, I was just telling you because Dad ordered a cluster bomb attack on that bridge a mile from you, and I didn’t want your vehicles close,” Jake called back.
“All ground units, keep spacing and take your speed to fifty!” David shouted over the radio.
Matt took his headset off and put his earbud in for his radio, turning it on. “Buffy, you stay on the main channel,” Matt said, putting his helmet on.
“Duh,” she droned, checking her SCAR.
Leaning his head back, Matt mumbled. “I don’t know if I want kids anymore.”
“Two minutes,” the crew chief yelled, holding up two fingers and walking down the aisle.
Getting up, Matt followed the crew chief to the rear ramp. He looked back to see Buffy right behind him. Feeling the chopper dropping fast, Matt reached out and grabbed the bulkhead. After watching the attack Jake did, they noticed the blues got real excited seeing the choppers slowly descend and massed at the area quickly. So it was decided that the choppers would stay high and rapidly descend on the target.
The ramp in front of him started to whine as the crew chief lowered it and Matt saw they were still several hundred feet up. “Damn,” he said as streams of red shot from every chopper as blues came out of buildings, filling the roads.
“It’s not that many,” Buffy said, moving beside him and looking out.
“Beg to differ,” Matt said, hitting his transmit key. “All teams, stay in tight formations on the ground until ordered to spread out in a line. The blues are pouring out of the woodwork down there but I really want to show them, we go where we want.”
Releasing the transmit key, Matt was almost panting as the ground got closer. “You tell ‘em, Matt,” Buffy said, press checking her SCAR. “Those assholes can’t tell us we can’t go somewhere.”
“Yep, not really wanting kids anymore,” Matt said as the chopper touched down.
Blue Plague: Hope: Book Seven Page 17