Blue Plague: Hope: Book Seven

by Watson, Thomas A

  “Nope. I know what Bruce acts like on meds,” he said, lowering his rifle. “I thought Mike knew something I didn’t since he is a doctor. Turns out I was wrong.”

  Ted ran over and climbed up on the roof beside Gene. “Do we need to restrain Bruce? He’s yelling out about dragons,” Ted asked.

  “Ted, Bruce got wounded with some shrapnel and got a shot of morphine so the medic could dig it out. I watched Bruce beat down seventeen MPs and nine bikers by himself, while he was stoned on morphine. You want to restrain him, go right ahead, but when he’s doped up you will have to shoot him.”

  Ted looked back at the group. “Fuck that, let him kill some dragons,” he said and jumped off the RG.

  Bruce pushed passed Jake, stumbling down the road. “Is Mike this way?” he pointed.

  “No, Dad. Remember, he went poof,” Jake said, grabbing Bruce’s arm.

  “I need to piss!” Bruce screamed. Even with all the weapons firing, a mass of blues roaring three hundred yards away, everyone near the interchange heard him.

  Jake pulled his Dad’s arm trying to get him vertical and Mary ran over, grabbing Bruce’s left arm. She pushed till Bruce was vertical, but Bruce’s next step took him off kilter and Jake had to push him back.

  Bruce stopped and looked at Mary, “Please, tell your dad to give me my dick!”

  Mary looked at Bruce, having no clue how to respond. “Dad,” Jake said pulling Bruce’s arm till Bruce was facing him. “Daddy Mike said he wanted to play with it just for a little while.”

  “It’s mine!”

  Mary snorted, blowing snot out of her nose and spun away. “Dad, we keep a spare in the command vehicle. I’ll go help you find it and you can use it till Daddy Mike brings yours back,” Jake said very seriously.

  “Okay,” Bruce pouted and let Jake turn him around, walking back toward Prometheus. “He better not break it.”

  “He won’t, Dad,” Jake said finally grinning.

  “Gene, this is Carl. I need to pull back a few hundred yards. The blues’ bodies are falling off the bridge here into the river’s edge and some have jumped up.”

  “Copy. Are most coming out of Bridgehead?” Gene called back.

  “Negative, just from the countryside,” Carl said. “If we pull back to our new line, we should be good till this is over.”

  “Go ahead and pull back. Get the A-10s to cover before you do.”

  “Already called for them,” Carl said.

  Letting the microphone go, Gene lifted his rifle and started shooting. “I feel unneeded,” he mumbled.

  “Gene, it’s Danny. I’m going to rotate my platoons out.”

  “Already?” Gene called back.

  “Yeah, I want everyone to get a chance to have some fun.”

  “All sections, start rotating your platoons,” Gene called out and turned to Buffy. “Does Bruce ever say he feels like he’s not needed?”

  “Yeah, but then he runs and shoots some stuff and feels better,” Buffy said, grabbing her spare rifle. “That always makes Daddy feel better.”

  Swapping rifles, Gene stood back up in the roof hatch and started shooting. When he was changing his third magazine out, he nodded. “Yes, it does make you feel better to kill some shit,” he mumbled.

  “Danny, can you come off the line?” Jake called out.

  “Oh, no. I helped Mom when Daddy drank that nasty ass tea. It’s your turn,” she snapped. “I told Daddy Mike not to give him that shit. Dad’s not that messed up with a muscle relaxer.”

  “Danny, he wants to take Prometheus for a drive to find the dragons.”

  A long pause filled the radio before Danny came back on. “Dragons?” was all she said.

  “Yes, Danny, so can you come off the line? He listens to you more than me.”

  “Jake, you have a chopper coming in from the north, hold your mortar fire and Danny, you can stay put,” Stephanie suddenly said over the radio.

  “Um, Stephanie, I really need her. Dad is chasing Mary for the keys to Prometheus. Granted, she can moonwalk faster than he can move, but he ‘really’ wants to look for the dragons,” Jake called back and everyone could hear Bruce in the background yelling.

  “Jake, we will be landing in ten minutes,” Stephanie said.

  “Um, we?”

  “Yes, and I’m going to kick Mike’s ass!” Stephanie shouted.

  “Not before I do!” Mary screamed. “No, you can’t have them-,” she said before the radio shut off with Mary squealing.

  Buffy turned to see the huge Super Stallion coming in from the north with two Apaches. “Wouldn’t want to be Daddy Mike right now,” she said, changing magazines as the gunner in the turret grabbed a box of ammo for the fifty-caliber. She jumped up on the roof and ran to the turret. “It’s my turn to shoot a big gun, so move your ass!”

  The man jumped out so fast it made Gene laugh. Watching Buffy pick up the huge box of ammo, Gene moved over and helped her set it in the ready tray. “Now, I’m killing some bitches,” Buffy grinned, loading the belt into the gun.

  Grabbing the charging handle, Buffy yelled out. “Get you some, bitches!” Then she pressed the trigger, sending hate into the mass of blues.

  “You gotta love this family,” Gene chuckled and turned to see the chopper landing next to Prometheus. “Yeah Mike, you’re in for some trouble.”

  Stephanie and Angela ran down the back ramp of the helicopter and stopped, seeing Bruce holding Jake down. They ran over as the chopper took off and saw Bruce was chewing on Jake’s neck and Jake was laughing, trying to get Bruce off.

  “Bruce!” Stephanie shouted and he rolled off Jake, looking up at the sky.

  “I swear, I saw Little Red call my name,” he said, looking at the sky.

  Stephanie and Angela walked over and stopped looking down at him. “Holy shit, did you two get tall!” Bruce shouted.

  Stephanie and Angela held out their hands. “Come on, Bruce,” Angela grinned. Mary and Jake ran over, pushing them away.

  “We’ll get him up,” Jake said and they each grabbed an arm, grunting as they pulled Bruce up. “You two are pregnant and he’s not helping.”

  “I’m so punching Daddy in the mouth,” Mary said, holding Bruce steady.

  “Jake, you put a hickey on Mary in the field?” Angela asked, reaching over to grab Mary’s jaw and turning her head, exposing a big hickey on the side of her neck. “You just did it, it looks like it.”

  “No, I didn’t,” Jake said and they turned to see a hickey on his neck. “My father did that to us.”

  “Oh,” Angela said, letting Mary go.

  “Mary wouldn’t give him the keys, so he held her down and gave her a hickey. When I went to help her, he did it to me,” Jake said, rolling his eyes. “The crew wanted to help but I told them if they did, Dad would kick their ass. This is the worst he would do to us.”

  “My god, your boobs are big,” Bruce said, stumbling over to Angela. “How can you walk?”

  She laughed and took his arm. “Come on, baby. I need to lay down.”

  “I need to piss!”

  Stephanie came over, grabbing his other arm. “Baby, we stopped at Mike’s and beat his ass. Angela has your dick in her bag,” she said as they led him into the command vehicle.

  Mary walked over, grinning. “Never would I believe I could say my father-in-law gave me and my husband a hickey.”

  “Wish I could say this was my first hickey from Dad,” Jake huffed and spun around walking away.

  “Baby, he only put two on you last time and they were on your chest,” Mary laughed.

  As Stephanie and Angela led Bruce in, the crew jumped up, moving as far away as they could. “I hate the smell of green,” Bruce said, rolling his head.

  “Baby, I like the smell of green, it’s much better than yellow,” Stephanie said and Bruce nodded.

  “Yeah, yellow does stink.”

  “I’m so lost,” Angela mumbled.

  “Lay on the bed, baby,” Stephanie said as they gui
ded him. Bruce dropped back with a crash as they turned around seeing him sit up.

  “Your bellies are so cute,” he said with a grin and pulled them close. Angela’s belly was on his right and Stephanie on his left. “I hear my kids in stereo.”

  Stephanie raised her eyebrows, “Damn, that actually made sense.”

  “I have to say, I like Bruce fucked up,” Angela grinned and Stephanie glared at her.

  “We’ll discuss that,” she said and pushed Bruce back on the bed. “Baby, we need to get your clothes off, so we can put your dick back on.”

  “Oh, thank you,” Bruce cried out with joy, falling back on the bed.

  “Hurry,” Stephanie said, getting down and undoing his boot on her side. They reached up, pulling his pants off and tossed them on the floor.

  “Baby, we put it back,” Stephanie said.

  Bruce looked down and gave a sigh of relief, “Thank you!” he shouted and struggled to stand. They helped him to the bathroom and confirmed he really had to pee. They led him back to the bed and pulled his shirt off as a young man came in.

  “Ms. Stephanie, I tried, but two from Omega tried to beat me up and took some Flexeril, then Mike came in and started an IV,” he said timidly.

  “You did what you were told, I’ll take care of the others,” Stephanie said, looking over her shoulder.

  “Um, Ms. Stephanie, we did have to give him three liters of normal saline, Bruce was very dehydrated.”

  “Thank you, anything else?”

  “No, ma’am,” the young man said and left.

  “Who was that?” Angela asked.

  “Omega’s doctor,” Stephanie said. “Rub that side of his face and chest so he goes to sleep.”

  “What did you tell the doctor?”

  “That he couldn’t give Bruce any medications until he called Mike or me.”

  “What about me? Hello, I’m a doctor,” Angela said.

  “Yes and we haven’t gotten there yet, but you saw some of it,” Stephanie said. “Remember when Bruce got wounded?”

  A grave look filled Angela’s face as her eyes watered. “Yes, of course I do.”

  “That’s one reason I never wanted to talk about it. That was your worst moment, Angela,” Stephanie said. “But I need you to listen because he might wake up soon.”

  Wiping her eyes, Angela nodded. “I’m listening.”

  “I know you don’t remember and that’s okay, but Bruce can’t handle drugs. That’s why he’s so good at ignoring pain. That one time is all you have to relate on how Bruce acts on medications. I’ve seen two others and agreed with Debbie. I liked that tea, it knocks his ass out and he’s not so stupid.” Stephanie said and Angela nodded. “Angela, Debbie had a full med pack that night. She had pain meds but she knew and Bruce knew, that she couldn’t give him any. He acts like this, but on any opioid, he acts worse, much worse.”

  “So, no pain meds,” Angela said with a quivering lip.

  “Angela, don’t feel guilty,” Stephanie said, reaching over and caressing her cheek.

  “I just-,” Angela said, throwing her hand up at a loss for words.

  “You feel you didn’t mourn Alex long enough and just jumped in this relationship. Angela, like Bruce told you, in this world happiness is fleeting at best. You found some and grabbed hold, just as Alex would’ve wanted you to,” Stephanie said.

  “Man, you got all wise,” Angela snorted, wiping her eyes.

  “Had a good teacher,” she smiled as Bruce sat up.

  “We have to hide the treasure map,” he said and looked around.

  “Baby, the treasure map is hidden. Now lie back because you’re making the world spin faster when you sit up,” Stephanie said.

  “Man, you’re smart,” he said and dropped back shaking the bed. In seconds, he was breathing regular.

  Stephanie looked over at Angela. “This is what you have to do to keep him in the bed when he takes drugs.”

  “How in the fuck do you know what to say?” Angela said loudly.

  “That about the world, I heard Debbie say the last time. I have no idea about the map,” she shrugged.

  Bruce bolted up in bed, “The Fratellis are here!”

  Angela gasped with a smile, “No, baby, they are running from the police. We have time to hide the map.”

  Letting out a long sigh, Bruce smiled and crashed back down and Stephanie just looked at her. “Fratellis, treasure map,” Angela said nodding, wanting Stephanie to guess but Stephanie just had a blank look. “He’s thinking of the movie, ‘The Goonies’.”

  Cocking her head thinking, Stephanie looked at Angela. “Is it any good?”

  Angela’s jaw fell open in shock. “You’ve never seen The Goonies?”

  “I’ve never heard of it,” Stephanie corrected.

  “Stephanie, that is unacceptable. That is reason enough for grounds for divorce,” Angela said with a straight face.

  “Ah,” Stephanie gasped in shock. “I didn’t know. Is it a great work like Gone with the Wind?”

  Angela threw her head back laughing. “Oh man, we are so sitting down to watch some movies. No, but it’s a great movie.”

  It was 0610, as everyone met up at the chow line. “Pop Quiz!” Angela shouted over the radio and everyone froze. “What was the bad guy’s name in the second Indiana Jones movie?”

  “Angela, the prequel was the second movie, is that the one?” Mary asked.

  “The one with Indiana’s dad!” she shouted as Stephanie screamed in the background.

  “That’s the third,” Jake said. “The main bad guy was Walter Donovan.”

  “Walter Donavan!” Mary shouted in the radio.

  “What’s with the trivia?” Ted asked walking up.

  “Trying to figure out what Dad’s talking about in his hallucinations,” Jake shrugged.

  “Jake, is that a hickey?” Ted asked.

  Balling up his fist, Jake turned around. “One more word, Ted, and you will see why Buffy’s scared of me,” Jake growled.

  Ted jumped back and hid behind Carl, who just moved to the side. “Dude, don’t get me in the crossfire,” Carl said.

  “Come on, Jake, I answered the War of the Worlds question for them,” Ted pleaded and Jake unclenched his fist.

  Danny walked up, passing everyone and pushing through the group that was about to get plates of food to the side. “Cook, give me two plates for Angela and Stephanie and if they throw them at me, I’m coming back. I need soup for Dad and you need to hurry.”

  “What was Stephanie screaming about?” Matt asked.

  “Don’t ask,” Danny said not turning around and started tapping her foot, waiting on food.

  Buffy came running over and stopped by Danny, “Danny, you need to hurry with the food because Angela just jumped on Daddy’s back, choking him out,” she said out of breath.

  “Cook!” Danny shouted and he ran back to the window, passing out plates and a covered bowl.

  “Here, if they don’t like it, I’ll have some food flown in for them,” he said quickly. They grabbed the plates and bowl and took off in a dead run.

  Gene walked up, shaking his head, “Those girls are tough as hell,” he said.

  “Danny and Buffy are Daddy’s little girls, of course they’re tough,” Jake laughed.

  Slowly turning around and shaking his head, “No, Angela and Stephanie. Bruce tried to run out to save a Dr. Jones and Stephanie put him in an armbar he couldn’t get out of. Then, Angela runs in saying Danny was killing somebody named Donovan. Bruce relaxed and got back in the bed, but then started about a secret serum. Angela was choking him out when I left.”

  “You didn’t help?” Willie asked in shock.

  “Nope, he won’t do anything to hurt them, but he damn sure will to anyone else,” Gene said, taking his helmet off.

  Matt leaned over to Jake whispering. “Secret serum?”

  “Dude, I need more to go on than that. You know how many movies and books have secret serums?”

&n
bsp; “Yeah, we need more,” Matt nodded.

  “I’m about ready to order the heavy equipment to start clearing a path, any objections?” Gene asked, wiping sweat off his shaved head.

  “No objections, but only clear one lane for us to get out,” Jake said and Gene just looked at him. “We leave the bodies in piles, so the blues will learn the meaning of fear.”

  Chapter 19

  Two days later, the command group was sitting in the bunker waiting on Angela, Stephanie, and Bruce. Mike looked at the door nervously. “Babe, you made that bed and you will sleep in it,” Nancy said.

  “I know I fucked up,” Mike said. “I’m just glad my convoy left before theirs did.”

  “Angela kept yelling at me to speed up,” Gene laughed.

  “Thank you for not speeding up,” Mike said.

  “Oh I did, but our slowest vehicle could only do fifty, so that was as fast as I could go,” Gene said.

  Nancy leaned over to Mike, grinning. “Your daughter is going to punch you and I’m going to hold you.”

  “I’m her dad,” Mike said boldly.

  “Daddy,” Mary snapped from the end of the table. “He put hickeys on me and Jake. You know how many people asked if we were bumping uglies in the field?” she shouted. “You know better than to give Daddy Bruce drugs! When he twisted his knee and took that Percocet, he was loopy for three days.”

  “I forgot. I swear, I forgot how bad he gets! His leg was locked up and he had tears in his eyes. Hell, thirty milligrams IV of valium should knock out an elephant,” Mike shouted, slapping the table.

  “I’m still punching you,” Mary said, lifting her chin as Angela and Stephanie stormed into the room. Stephanie threw a stack of folders on the table and headed for Mike with fire in her eyes.

  Mike jumped up, holding up his hands. “Now wait, he was hurting,” he said backing up, only to have Nancy jump up, blocking him from running away.

  “Bruce put a hickey on my boooooob!” she screamed. “They hurt bad enough without help!”

  Ted gave a snort and Carl elbowed him as Stephanie looked down the table for the guilty party. Not seeing any suspects, she turned her glare back to Mike. “I told the medic, no meds for Bruce unless cleared by you or me. If he did, I told him very clearly I would pull his balls off and feed them to him. Now Angela knows, but I can take your stupid ass off that list!”