Blue Plague: Hope: Book Seven

by Watson, Thomas A

  Out on the road, Bruce waved the others past as he stopped at the roadblock. He looked back, hearing the roar of machine guns. “This new world sucks ass,” he said then told Louis to follow the others.

  Jake walked among the bodies with the rest of his team picking up the crying kids. Snipers had taken out the women holding kids as everyone else mowed the flock and disciples down. Handing a baby off, Jake picked up a five-year-old little boy.

  “Sorry, but it was the only way you have a chance,” Jake said, holding the boy at arm’s length. “If you have a problem with that later, come and see me.”

  Jake handed the boy off as Matt walked up with his snipers. “Wish they would’ve joined us,” Matt said, slinging his rifle.

  “I’m glad they didn’t. They were brainwashed and that’s not what we need,” Jake said. “We need people who can think for themselves and know they have to fight.”

  Looking at the bodies, Matt grabbed his radio. “This is Matt, requesting bomb run at this site in twenty minutes,” he called out then looked at Jake. “This new world sucks.”

  “Well, it’s up to us to make it better,” Jake said, turning to his rig.

  Chapter 32

  Buffy was sitting on the lip of the cupola, with Bruce standing behind the minigun. Omega had moved south nonstop for three days and had made the turn at Valdosta, Georgia. Their end run was Jacksonville, Florida, which would stay at the center of the hundred-mile line they’d formed. Omega would stop when they hit the ocean.

  Every time Bruce went back to the command area, he knew they were making a difference, just seeing people moving around outside of the perimeter of the command area. Granted, nobody moved without a weapon even inside the perimeters, but it was just that they felt safe enough to do it.

  Blues still came, but not in numbers. Under no delusions, Bruce knew for decades to come, man would live behind walls.

  “Stop!” Bruce bellowed over the intercom.

  “Wow,” Buffy said in shock, looking down the road.

  Inside Prometheus, Angela looked at the monitor showing all the units’ locations on a map. “Why the hell is Bruce stopped?” she asked, looking over at Stephanie.

  “I don’t know, the next line is still four miles away,” Stephanie said, pressing her headset. “Boss, this is command, why are you stopped?” she called out.

  “Elephants in the road,” Bruce called back stunned.

  Jumping up out of her chair to her feet, Stephanie yelled into the radio. “I told you to get some rest! Now you’re seeing shit!”

  Buffy’s voice came over the radio in awe. “He’s not kidding.”

  Dropping her hands, Stephanie turned to Angela as she tapped the table screen, looking for a drone feed near Bruce. Moving around in her chair, Stephanie moved over beside her, looking at the screen. “What the hell are they doing there?” Stephanie asked, waving at the screen.

  Four trucks in his group were stopped and twenty-three elephants were moving across the road in front of them. Angela tapped the screen, changing the view from thermal to color. “Those are African elephants,” she said.

  “Guys, are you seeing this?” Bruce called back as Buffy tapped his arm, pointing at a small river that ran under the road.

  “Yes, we see it, Bruce and I’m sorry I yelled at you,” Stephanie called back.

  “Ah Stephanie, I slept and I think I do need some more sleep because I’m looking at a group of hippopotamus in this river beside me,” Bruce said in shock.

  “Baby,” Angela came over the radio. “Well, you’re going to see some giraffes about three miles down the road.”

  “It’s like a safari,” Buffy giggled.

  Looking down at his map, Bruce saw they were fifty miles from Jacksonville. “Angela, call Willie and tell him to move second regiment up to Mayport Naval Station now. There are a lot of zoos and safari parks in Florida, and it may take him a while to get set up.”

  Buffy gasped, “You aren’t going to shoot them, are you?”

  Putting the radio down, Bruce pointed at the biggest elephant in the group. “Buffy, you see those claw marks? That shows they’ve been attacked by blues and yet, they are still alive. They have two babies in that group and that just shows they can kill blues. I’m not shooting them unless they attack me. I like the idea that blues get killed by something other than humans.”

  “Bruce,” Angela called back. “Willie is pulling his line in now. They should be convoying to the base within the hour.”

  Picking up his radio, Bruce watched the elephants walk off the road. “Copy, the elephants are off and we are moving out. Put out to all units, they are not to shoot wild game unless attacked. If it’s survived this long, they have learned the blues and we will want to know how.”

  “Copy, baby,” Angela said and Bruce put up the radio.

  “Louis, get us back online and there are supposed to be giraffes up ahead. You have my permission to not hit them or any other wildlife,” Bruce called over the intercom.

  “You drive us in the ditch and I’ll kick your ass,” Buffy popped off. “I’m not kidding, dummy. You wreck and I’ll chop it off and see if it crawls around on the ground. Herman already doesn’t like you.”

  Looking over his shoulder at Ted, “Man, I missed Buffy riding with us,” Carl chuckled.

  “Yeah, but we need to let her go off on her own at times with the other kids,” Ted replied, nodding his head.

  In the cupola, Bruce busted out laughing as Buffy turned to look at Ted. “I can go wherever I want,” Buffy huffed as the truck slowly pulled off down the road.

  “Believe me, I know,” Ted said, scanning the countryside. “And don’t think we don’t worry about you when you’re gone.”

  Laughing so hard, Bruce slipped out of the cupola, landing in the floor of the rig. Glancing down at Bruce, Buffy looked back at Ted. “I don’t know if I should be mad or not,” she mumbled. “It sounded nice.”

  “Buffy, Ted just meant we miss you and like the idea of you growing up very sure of yourself,” Carl grinned.

  “Oh,” Buffy smiled. “Thank you.”

  Climbing back up beside Buffy, Bruce patted her leg as he got behind the guns. “Debbie once told me, Buffy, that you were Omega’s girl along with mine,” he grinned, wiping his eyes. “Have to say, she was right once again.”

  Before anyone could answer, the radio crackled. “Bruce, second battalion is reporting heavy contact in Lake City,” Angela called over the radio.

  “Buffy, man the gun,” Bruce said, dropping back down inside. Moving to the back, he sat down at the monitors and looked at drone feeds. Finally finding the one he wanted, he clicked on it, filling the thirty-inch screen. “Lake City, Florida isn’t that big. Where did all those blues come from?”

  “Contact,” Carl shouted, squeezing his trigger and dropping a blue that was charging them. Seeing more break out of the tree line, Carl moved behind his minigun, pressing the trigger. A stream of red shot out, hosing down the group as Buffy yelled contact and opened up with the turret guns.

  “Bonnie, tell the rest of our group to form up in a box when we reach the line,” Bruce shouted, standing up and feeling the rig slow down. He knew they were still a mile or so away from the small field they were supposed to set up in. Looking ahead, he saw giraffes running across the road with blues chasing them.

  Wielding the minigun like a scalpel, Buffy was cutting down the blues that were chasing the giraffes. “Louis, if they don’t move, just run them over. We need to get set up,” Bruce shouted, looking out over their left side to see blues charging from the trees.

  As Louis stomped the gas the rig lurched forward as the giraffes cleared the road and Bruce watched them run into the river beside the road and the blues didn’t follow. “They have learned,” he mumbled, dropping back down to the monitors.

  ***

  Sitting behind her minigun, Danny hosed down the line of blues charging her four truck command group. Grabbing her radio, Danny pressed the sw
itch as she continued firing the minigun with the other hand. “To all second bat, form up in company defense now. Second company, we are setting up at the airport,” she yelled out.

  Dropping the radio, she felt Randy stomp the gas to drive through Lake City. As she continued firing, Danny heard the other company commanders of second battalion calling out where to set up.

  “Danny, I’m bringing first company and setting up with you,” Matt called back.

  “Copy,” Danny said, grabbing the radio as Randy plowed over the dead bodies that now filled the road. “You fuckers couldn’t do this shit yesterday when Matt was in charge, you just had to wait for my turn,” Danny grumbled, grabbing another ammo can.

  A helicopter zoomed overhead with streams of red arcing to the ground, helping to clear a path out of town. Seeing the huge chopper fly past, Danny grinned as she loaded the minigun. “Thanks, big brother,” she said as Steve hovered beside the road in the Super Stallion.

  “Danny, fourth company is reporting two of their platoons are cut off,” Heath, her radio operator called over the intercom. Both he and Beth were in the back, shooting blues as they charged them. “All troops are unharmed as of now, but can’t move. The blues swamped them in bodies. They are buttoned up inside their rigs.”

  “Where are they at?” Danny shouted, pressing the trigger.

  “Both are on I-75.”

  Grabbing her other radio, Danny hosed the road in front of them. “Stephanie, can you get air to my troops trapped on the interstate?” she shouted as blues continued pouring out and charging them. “Beth, tell the rigs behind us to pull side by side till I figure out a route to help my troops!” Danny shouted over her shoulder.

  “Danny, I have air over your troops, but until everyone is set in a defensive position, I can’t concentrate our airpower,” Stephanie called back.

  “Where did all these fuckers come from?” Danny screamed into the radio. “I was just looking at the drone feed in front of us and there was nowhere this number!”

  “They were inside structures and under tree cover,” Stephanie called back.

  Seeing the airport ahead, Danny gave a sigh as one of the rigs behind them pulled up on her left side. “I’m getting really tired of blues,” she grumbled, grabbing her radio.

  “Stephanie, I need to divert and head to the interstate. Can you clear me a path?” she asked.

  “No,” Stephanie shouted back. “Danny, you are barely staying ahead of the forming horde. Even with your entire company with you, I think you would be overrun and have to button up if you moved toward the interstate.”

  “You blue whore monkeys!” Danny shouted out. Ahead, she saw several other rigs of her company pull onto the road heading to the airport. Slowing the rig, Randy pulled behind them and Danny swung her turret, aiming off the right side. “Heath, how long until the rest of the company gets here?” she yelled over the intercom as she hosed the mass of bodies charging them.

  “The rest of the company is already at the airport waiting on us. They are just driving around in a circle until we get there,” Heath called back as he continued shooting.

  Grabbing more ammo, Danny reloaded the minigun. Feeling the rig lurch about, she looked up and saw they had driven over the fence surrounding the airport. “I’m here with first company,” Matt called over the radio.

  Dropping the empty ammo can, Danny looked off to the left and saw a long line of rigs charging at them. Looking ahead, she saw her company driving in a slow circle on the runways. “Heath, tell everyone to form up in a line and we will just join in,” Danny called over the intercom.

  Swinging the turret, Danny pressed the trigger, cutting down the blues charging them as she felt the rig slow. The ten MRAPs with her formed up in a line and joined in with the rest of the company that was driving in a slow circle.

  “Beth you keep shooting off our left side, keeping the inside of the perimeter clear until we get set up,” Danny called out, swinging the turret over the right side and pressing the trigger of the minigun.

  When Matt’s company pulled in joining the circle, Danny looked around at the two hundred and sixty rigs driving in a circle that was over a mile in circumference. Dropping down, Danny grabbed the radio, “Alpha and Bravo companies, close the circle until we are bumper to bumper,” she called out.

  In five minutes, she felt the rig slow to a stop and poked her head out and saw the two companies had stopped forming a mile-long circle. “Matt, you have control here,” she called out and dropped down.

  Sitting at the monitors, Danny flipped through drone feeds until she found the one over the interstate. “Fuck me,” she gasped, seeing the mass of bodies on the interstate. She could see ten bulges in the sea of bodies. That was all she could see of her lost unit. Grabbing the mic, Danny tried to call the unit but didn’t get a response.

  “This is Big Daddy, where is God’s Mower?” Bruce called over the radio.

  “En route, ETA ten minutes,” Stephanie called back.

  “Send it to the interstate. I should have my company there in twelve minutes. Have it do a run here first,” Bruce called back.

  “Copy,” Stephanie said. “Bruce, there are over a million there now.”

  “Copy, I see them, but I’m pissed off and my butt itches,” he snapped back.

  Taking a deep breath, Danny contacted her other companies to find them set up. Putting the microphone down, she watched as the drone over the interstate swiveled its camera out and saw a line of rigs charging down the interstate, sending out walls of gunfire.

  Getting up, Danny turned away from the screen. “Go get ’em, Daddy,” Danny mumbled, grabbing more ammo and climbing back in the cupola as tears ran down her cheeks, hoping her troops could hold on.

  Chapter 33

  Pulling ammo cans up to the turret, Bruce climbed up beside Buffy. “You have the gun,” he said looking back at the hundred MRAPs of his command company behind them. Pressing his radio, “Form up in two-by-two formation. Right column, you will stay in the right lane with the first rig, even with the last one in my column,” he called out.

  Watching the rigs form up, Bruce turned to look ahead and could see a dark mass on the interstate two miles ahead. “We will pass the stranded rigs between our columns. We will take the next exit and drive down the eastbound lanes to the next exit and circle back. Next pass, the columns will be side by side. We will pass the stranded rigs between our columns but this time, we will stop and form a perimeter around them on the interstate. All track commanders, make sure you keep your people firing on both sides until the inside of the perimeter is cleared.”

  “Boss,” Ted called over the intercom. “Not to sound like a bitch, but we need to let one of the rigs with a large plow take our spot in the front.”

  Glancing over at the rig driving behind them, Bruce saw the huge snowplow. “Yeah, that might be a good idea,” Bruce mumbled and called out for the other rig with a plow to pull past him to the front of the column.

  “Okay, boys and girls,” Bruce called over the radio. “Don’t shoot at our rigs with anything bigger than 5.56. These things are armored, but not that armored. We don’t want to shoot our own troops. When we surround those rigs, check your fire because both columns will be very close to each other.”

  As Louis slowed down, another rig pulled in front of them with a plow. “Why don’t any of the command vehicles have big plows?” Buffy asked as she squeezed the trigger, cutting down a group of blues charging them.

  Looking back, Bruce saw a large airplane slowly coming up behind them. “I don’t really want the commanders bogged down at the very front,” Bruce said. “They have enough to worry about.”

  “This sucks,” Buffy scowled. “At the front, you can just hose the goobers down.”

  “Oh, don’t worry, Buffy,” Bruce said as the plane flew over. “You are about to have some targets.”

  Flame erupted from the front of the airplane as it passed over them. Four streams of red shot from the nose
as the pilot weaved the tail of the plane, dragging the streams from one side of the interstate to the other. Bruce was amazed at how slow the plane was flying and not stalling out. “Thought a plane that big needed to move faster, even if it has propellers,” he mumbled.

  When the streams hit the horde, huge swaths of bodies fell down. “We need more of those,” Carl called out behind him.

  “Already told Mack that,” Bruce said, bringing a SAW to his shoulder as the plane flew down the interstate.

  “Hope those troops don’t get hit by God’s Mower,” Ted said, hosing the blues charging them from the left side.

  With Buffy aiming over the left side, Bruce aimed to the right. “If I’m trapped like this inside a metal can, I don’t care what they use to get me out,” Bruce mumbled as Buffy engaged the trigger.

  The lead rig hit the outer edge of the horde with a crash, sending bodies flying through the air. Living and dead blues formed a virtual curtain of bodies in front of the rig as the six troops in the back and the one manning the cupola just shot. There was no aiming, blues were feet away.

  Feeling the tingling in the base of his neck and not fighting it this time, Bruce took a deep breath, “Let’s ride the wave,” he said, bringing up his SAW. Reaching over, he turned on the loudspeakers that were mounted outside of his rig.

  Lowering his boom mic, Bruce stood up behind Buffy as she swung the stream of red in a wide arc, pushing the wall of bodies back. “You blue communist cocksucking motherfuckers! I’mmmm back!” Bruce bellowed over the loudspeakers as he squeezed the trigger.

  Behind Bruce, Ted and Carl swung their miniguns side to side, pushing the wave of bodies back further. With brass already piling up at their ankles, Ted screamed, “Oh fuck yeah, the Dark Knight has returned!”

  Four drones were now overhead and inside the command vehicle, everyone stared in awe as the line of rigs waded into the mass of bodies. By the time the left column hit, the wall of blues was pushed back fifty yards.