Blue Plague: Hope: Book Seven

by Watson, Thomas A

  “Are they from that compound south of Du Pont?” Jake asked, leaning over the table and looking down hard at the screen.

  “I thought that compound had been cleared as normal,” Bruce said, looking over at Jake.

  “No, sir. It’s still marked unknown but possible survivors. We just can’t tell without making contact. We know they are listening to our broadcast because they set up a large saltwater battery that we showed how to build,” Jake said as Matt walked in.

  Everyone turned and Matt froze, “What?” he said in shock. “I had to show the mechanics how to move Danny’s computer in her rig over.”

  When everyone looked back at the table, Matt sighed with relief and moved over with them. “Okay, so they listen-,” Bruce said.

  “No, Bruce they watch our TV programs,” Angela said.

  “Right,” Bruce said. “So they watch and we still don’t know.”

  “I was going to swing by when we got close,” Jake said.

  “No, I’ll go,” Bruce said and Jake looked over at Bruce.

  “Dad, I’ll handle it. If they are bad, I’ll make them go bye-bye,” Jake chuckled.

  “Fine, I’ll go with you,” Bruce said and Jake groaned. “If you handle it right, then this will be the last time I’ll tag along.”

  Nodding, “Then by all means, join me,” Jake smirked.

  “What about the three?” Angela said, tapping the screen as the image showed the three moving across a field to the building. Standing outside for a while, the three eased in and shut the door.

  “What about them?” Bruce asked.

  “I sent a chopper down there and they didn’t come out. I want to know what the hell they are sneaking around for. We can’t see everything and if they are part of that gang outside of Savannah, they could be trouble. You can’t see everything from the air, Bruce,” she said, crossing her arms and resting them on her belly.

  “Then I shall talk to them,” Bruce nodded.

  “Let me, Dad,” Danny said and he turned to her. “Two are girls and you only have Bonnie on your rig. Seeing girls with guns should make them relax.”

  “Okay, but I won’t be far back,” Bruce said and Danny nodded.

  “Speaking of Savannah, are we going to address it soon?” Ted asked.

  “I’m thinking on that one,” Bruce said.

  Angela grabbed her crotch and took off running to the back, “Tell your kid to stop jumping on my bladder!” she cried out, slamming the bathroom door.

  Everyone turned to Bruce, “I don’t even know where to start on that one,” he confessed.

  “Just shows you, Daddy doesn’t know everything,” Jake laughed.

  “I don’t know shit,” Bruce mumbled, walking to the back of Prometheus.

  Chapter 31

  Standing in the cupola, Danny looked around in the morning sunlight. Glancing back, she saw her Dad in his rig with both of their companies behind them. There weren’t many blues in the area so Bruce just decided to drive down to the building and then form up a line, moving down the state.

  Two Apaches flew over the convoy heading south. “Why are gunships here? It’s only three,” Buffy asked over the intercom.

  “I don’t know and I’m not asking,” Danny replied then glanced down at her map and then at her tablet. On the screen was a thermal view of a drone overhead. The convoy was very evident and she could see a few deer in a field to the east.

  “You see anything from the drone?” Buffy whined.

  “Only deer,” Danny said looking back up.

  “This is boring,” Buffy sighed looking out the back of the rig. Seeing movement to her right, she jerked and swung her rifle over peering through the scope. “Danny, what deer has long spiraling horns?”

  “Huh?” Danny said looking back and saw Buffy looking off to the left side of the rig. Looking out, she saw an animal near the tree line several hundred yards away. Grabbing her binoculars, “Randy, slow down for a second,” she called over the intercom and raised her binoculars.

  “Holy shit, that’s a kudu,” Danny gasped.

  “I see it,” Bruce called over the radio, startling her.

  Grabbing her radio switch, “What the hell is it doing here?” Danny asked.

  “Danny, there were hunting preserves all over the south. Hell, I know one in Texas that’s like six thousand acres,” Bruce called back.

  “Then why the hell did we go to Africa to hunt the things when we could’ve hunted them here?” she asked, zooming in with the binoculars.

  “Your mother and Nancy said hunting wasn’t exotic, so Mike and I booked a trip to South Africa to prove them wrong,” Bruce chuckled.

  “Oh,” Danny said but didn’t understand the reasoning and lowered her binoculars.

  “Can I shoot it?” Buffy asked.

  “Buffy, that little bullet won’t do much to a full grown kudu buck,” Danny said, putting her binoculars down as the rig sped back up. “I shot mine in the chest with a 300 magnum and still had to track the damn thing for a quarter of a mile.”

  “Shucks,” Buffy huffed, lowering her SCAR.

  Not long after seeing the kudu, the convoy slowed as Danny saw the small dirt road to the right and a small building close to the trees. The building was cinderblock and not very big. Danny just guessed it was thirty by thirty feet. For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why it was out in the middle of nowhere.

  As the rig pulled down the road, Danny glanced back to see her Dad and two other trucks following. “Four rigs for three people. Shit, I would be scared,” she mumbled, turning back around.

  Getting closer, the rig slowed down and Danny saw a small pedestrian door and a large overhead door. “What the hell is in that building that they want to protect out here?” Buffy asked. “The small door is metal and the only windows are those small ones at the top.”

  “I don’t know,” Danny said, trying to figure it out as Randy stopped twenty-five yards away.

  Reaching down into the rig, Danny pulled out a bullhorn and turned it on. “Hello, we know you’re in there. We just want to talk and then we’ll be on our way,” she called out.

  After five minutes Danny was getting irritated. “Look, I’m being nice. If you don’t come out, I’m driving my truck through your building,” she snapped.

  “I wanna drive!” Buffy shouted, dropping down in the rig.

  “Buffy, get back on your gun,” Danny snapped over her shoulder. Buffy let out a groan and climbed back up, aiming out the side.

  Hearing diesel engines groaning, Danny looked behind her and saw the other trucks pulling up beside her. Spinning back around and lifting the bullhorn up, “You’re about to have four rigs drive through your building in five, four, three, two,” she stopped as the small door opened up.

  A woman stepped out followed by a younger girl. Both looked haggard and neither were carrying a weapon. They both raised their hands, wearing only t-shirts. Danny waited a minute, “Hey dumbass, we know you’re in there so get your fucking ass out here,” Danny shouted over the bullhorn.

  Slowly, a man stepped out wearing only jeans and carrying an AK with a suppressor. “Since you took so fucking long, put your gun on the ground,” she snapped and the man didn’t move. Spinning the cupola, Danny aimed the GAU at him and pressed the button, making the barrel spin but not fire.

  “I touch this trigger and you’ll be nothing but mist,” she shouted and the man dropped his AK to the ground and raised his hands.

  Letting the GAU go, Danny climbed out of the cupola, “Try to be nice in this new world and you only get a headache,” she said, jumping to the ground.

  Adjusting her SCAR, she heard someone landing beside her and turned to see Buffy looking up at her smiling. “Let’s shoot him for taking so long to come out,” Buffy said cheerfully.

  “Control your urges,” Danny sighed, walking toward the group. Getting closer, she saw that the ‘woman’ wasn’t much older than her and the other was a girl not much older than Buffy. This
new world had aged them decades. The two clutched each other trembling as Danny walked over and the older one cut her eyes at the man then back to Danny several times.

  Not liking that, Danny stopped twenty feet from the group and gave a slight nod, “Sorry for the rudeness, but people are very hostile,” she said, never taking her eyes off the group.

  “You’re Omega,” the man snapped, lowering his hands. “Yo-.”

  “Hey, put those hands up, cock face!” Buffy shouted, swinging her rifle up and aiming at the man’s face.

  “I would listen to her,” Danny said. “It’s getting close to that time of the month and my sister isn’t very nice then.”

  The man’s hands shot high over his head as he trembled, looking at the small blonde girl aiming at his face. “On the radio, you say if people don’t want to go, Omega will leave them alone,” he stuttered in fear.

  “And we shall leave you alone, but we wanted to talk,” Danny said smiling.

  The older woman stepped forward, dragging the younger one, “We want to go with you,” she blurted out.

  “Shut your mouth, woman!” the man yelled, turning toward the two while lowering his hands to his chest and took a step toward them.

  ‘Pfft’ sounded beside her and Danny saw the man’s left knee explode. He fell down screaming, grabbing his knee as blood poured out. Running over, Buffy aimed at the man’s chest and kicked his AK over to him.

  “Go ahead and grab it, needle dick!” she shouted. “Show me you have some balls, little boy!”

  Being verbally degraded by a teenaged girl filled the man with rage, even with his blown-out knee. Letting his knee go, the man snarled at Buffy and reached for his gun. Before he even touched it, three bullets slammed into his chest.

  “Come on touch it!” Buffy shouted, still aiming at the man as he coughed up blood. “You’re going to let a little girl kick your ass?!”

  Taking one hand off his chest, the man reached for his rifle and Buffy fired two more shots and the man screamed, spewing bloody froth. Danny looked down at the man’s groin where Buffy had shot him. “Dude, I told you she was getting close to her time and you had to try her,” Danny smirked then glanced at the two women still holding each other.

  “I take it he didn’t want you to leave?” Danny asked and the women nodded, still looking at the man on the ground as he let out a dying gasp.

  “Grenade out!” Buffy yelled and Danny turned to see her throwing a flash grenade into the building.

  “Get down,” Danny said, dropping down and lowering her head. Boom! sounded and Danny looked up as Buffy eased up to the door.

  “What are you doing?!” Danny shouted, jumping up and aiming at the door.

  “I saw something move inside,” Buffy said, clearing what she could see inside.

  Danny swung back to the women who were still on the ground, “Stay there and don’t move,” she said, moving up behind Buffy.

  “Shit,” Buffy said, lowering her rifle. “They have clothes hanging on a clothesline and a fan is blowing on them.”

  Looking over at the women, “Anyone else inside?” Danny asked.

  “No,” the younger one said and Danny noticed they were both still staring at the dead man.

  “He’s fucking dead,” Danny snapped, swinging her barrel over and shooting the corpse a dozen times.

  They both looked up at her in stunned reverence. “Thank you,” they both mumbled.

  “Shit, I just shot his corpse, Buffy capped him,” Danny said looking over at the door and saw Buffy move inside. “You’re moving in without back up!” she shouted, moving to the door.

  “I can see the entire building,” Buffy shouted. “It’s empty, why would someone put this building out here?”

  “Buffy!” Danny shouted and moved over to the women. “Get up, please,” Danny sighed and both women got off the ground. “We saw you yesterday with guns, why didn’t you shoot the asshole then?”

  “Merrill wouldn’t let us put one in the barrel until we were attacked by blues,” the older one said. “Only his gun had a silencer. We done seen how fast infected come running to a gunshot.”

  “Why didn’t you shoot his ass when blues were close?” Danny sighed.

  “Then they would’ve got us,” the young one said with tears.

  Letting her rifle go, Danny raised her hands as her rifle hung down her right side. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” she said. “If you want to come with us, then here’s your chance.”

  “Please, we heard the radio. Do you really have a safe place and everyone is equal?” the woman asked.

  “I don’t have to get fucked by a bunch of men, do I?” the younger one asked with tears on her face.

  “Girl, a man touches you that you don’t want touching you, you can kick his ass,” Buffy said, coming out of the building.

  “Buffy,” Danny sighed then looked at the women. “Yes, we have a safe place, but there is no free ride. You have to help however you can. The first thing you have to do is learn to fight because that is the first rule; everyone must fight. There are other rules and if you don’t like them you can leave.”

  “We’ll go with ya,” the older one said.

  “You want anything from inside?” Danny asked and both women looked down at their bare legs. They both looked back at the building with a shudder. “I have some clothes in my rig you could put on,” she offered.

  “Thank you,” the younger one said. Still clutching each other, they walked past Danny to her rig.

  Kicking the corpse, “Think I can get Daddy to come over here and piss in his face?” Buffy asked.

  “He’s not breathing, so I doubt it,” Danny chuckled and trotted over, catching up with the women.

  “Ted, Carl, come here. I need you for a second!” Buffy shouted.

  As Danny helped the two into her rig, Ted and Carl jumped out of Bruce’s rig. Climbing in after the women, Danny hit the switch and closed the back door. Digging in her rucksack, Danny pulled out two pairs of pants. She looked at the younger one and stuffed one back.

  Tossing over her pants, Danny pulled Buffy’s rucksack over and pulled out a pair of pants and tossed them to the younger one. “Why are Ted and Carl pissing on a dead man?” Bruce asked, standing on her roof and looking down at Danny.

  Standing up Danny leaned out, looking past the cupola. Sure enough, they were pissing on the corpse as Buffy danced behind them, throwing her arms in the air. “She wanted someone to piss on him,” Danny shrugged then looked up at her Dad. “She remembers what you did to me when I wanted to do that but Matt did it for me.”

  Looking out over the field, Bruce shook his head. “I have come to the conclusion, all the females in my family are bound to drive me insane,” he said and turned around and jumped off the roof.

  Danny heard her Dad groan as he landed on the ground nine feet down. “You know better than to jump off the roof, Daddy! That’s why your knees hurt!” she shouted and turned to the women as they put on the pants.

  “So, can you tell me about anymore assholes around here?” Danny grinned.

  ***

  “I’m coming with you, Jake!” Danny shouted. It was 0300 the next morning as the group stood in Prometheus.

  “Hey, you already talked to your people and I didn’t get to go,” Jake snapped.

  Buffy grimaced, letting out a groan and he turned to look at her as she patted her vest. Opening a pouch on her vest, Buffy pulled out a bottle with a printed label that read ‘Holy Pills’ in bold letters.

  As she shook two out, Jake swallowed hard then Danny reached over, “I need some,” she told Buffy.

  Danny shook some pills out and Buffy threw hers in her mouth. “Dad,” Jake said looking over at Bruce. “I formally withdraw my objection to them accompanying us.”

  “Very wise,” Bruce grinned as Mary leaned over, holding out her hand.

  “God has a weird sense of humor in the synchronization of certain events,” Jake said as Mary tossed some pills in her mo
uth.

  Leaning over to Jake, “Son, you would be wise to drop that shit fast,” Bruce mumbled. “The number experiencing that ‘event’ will whoop your ass, just to see if you cry.”

  Looking around, Jake saw all the women giving him a mean glare. Holding his hands up, Jake smiled, “I’m sorry.”

  “Moving on,” Bruce said looking around the projection table. “The women said there are only like thirty or forty guards-.”

  “Disciples, Dad,” Danny said. “The others are his flock and the leader goes by Moses.”

  “I’m going to have to kill him just for going by that name,” Bruce said, shaking his head. “Fine, disciples and they all wear a red sash around their waist and are the only ones allowed to carry weapons. The women couldn’t give solid numbers on the flock, but said it was over a hundred and females outnumber the males two to one.”

  “I’m getting sick and tired of this shit,” Danny growled, grinding her teeth.

  “Danny, quit grinding your teeth. You have too much money invested in that mouth,” Bruce snapped. Danny looked over at him with a scowl, but did stop grinding her teeth.

  Tapping the tabletop screen, Bruce pointed at the center. “They are set up in the middle of a swamp. A road cuts through and in the center is a twenty-acre island. The road on both ends is blocked off with a channel cut through the road, forming a moat. But on the north end, they have a drawbridge over the moat. They cut trees and made a wall around most of the island. They have a few cows and other animals, along with gardens.”

  Danny jerked her head, looking at Bruce. “You talk like you admire the Jesus freak,” she popped off.

  “Danny, you’ve never fought religious zealots, I have,” Bruce said with a tired face. “Tactically speaking, yes, I do admire the set up. Now on the human level, I just want to bomb the pricks.”

  “Oh,” Danny said, perking up with a grin, “then continue.”

  “Jake, you have a plan?” Bruce asked.

  “Yeah, I’m going to drive my ass up and tell them I want to talk to the douche jockey,” Jake shrugged.

  Angela leaned her head over to Bruce. “He’s so your child,” she whispered.