Blue Plague The Fall

by Watson, Thomas A.

  Bruce walked to the kitchen to start coffee and breakfast. Taking off his gear, he hung it on the back of his chair, putting his SCAR in the rack by the door. After getting breakfast started and pouring a cup of coffee, Bruce brought out his laptop and started surfing the Web. It was getting worse out there. There were now cases of Congo virus in Memphis, Little Rock, St. Louis, Detroit, Columbus, Phoenix, and San Antonio. The military was using artillery on the border of Mexico. All the small towns on both sides of the border had been evacuated, and anyone trying to enter was being shot. The city of San Francisco was a war zone. The Navy was shelling the border, and everyone was yelling for a ceasefire. This is what the news sites covered: “Battle of the Mexican Border.” Sure, there was mention of new cases of Congo virus in more cities but no mention of riots or means to control them on any of the major news sites. They were showing pictures of the border and some of the drug cartels that had attempted to fire back, but when they had planes dropping bombs and artillery being fired being fired on them, they really did not stand much of a chance. The Mexican army was being pulled to southern Mexico to assist with the riots that were spreading throughout the southern half of the country.

  Bruce quit reading as he placed the food on the table. Scrambled eggs, pancakes, biscuits, and bacon would get the family started. He started the second pot of coffee because he figured the kids would be getting some today. They usually drank coffee but only one or two cups. The adults usually only stopped on the fourth, and he did not want to run out of coffee this morning. Sitting down in his chair, he started eating and reading more information, this time from the message boards. On all the boards, there were reports of chaos in the North. The southern part of Florida was in full-scale battle from Orlando down; anyone trying to leave the state was being detained in camps set up by Homeland Security. At all airports, there were planes landing with troops and pushing into urban areas.

  In Louisiana, the governor had called a state of emergency. All state employees had to report in to see if they were needed. This worried Bruce because all the adults worked at the state university hospital. What should they do about that? He knew the call would come sooner or later. There were no reports of Congo virus in the state, but the governor was abiding by the government to close all interstate traffic unless it was carrying consumer goods for commerce. The post office would continue to operate as normal, along with all other consumer supply transport. Goods could travel, but people could not. This worried Bruce, but it made sense to attempt to limit the spread. But people did drive the trucks, so the risk was there, but you could just not stop supplies coming into a city. The governor was instituting a fuel rationing system for the state. If you wanted fuel, you had to go to a state trooper office or city hall for a ration card. All businesses that sold fuel could only sell to those with a card. Any violation would result in revoking of their business licenses and heavy fines. This went into effect at 5 a.m. that morning. Police were notifying all fuel stores, and all stores had to sell at posted prices and could not raise the price unless approved by the sheriff of each parish.

  Well, in the most corrupt state in the union, Bruce could see this being abused. Bruce looked up as Mike, Nancy, and Debbie all walked in, each depositing equipment and heading for the coffee then the food. In that order. Bruce smiled at how priorities changed as one aged. He informed them of the information that he had found out and his speculations. They all agreed that it seemed fishy that the major sites were not putting up much information other than about the battle along the border.

  All the kids came downstairs, and Tonya and Steve walked in. Not even bothering putting down equipment, they headed for the food then grabbed coffee before sitting down at the table with gear on. It wasn’t until Nancy told them to put the weapons in the rack did they take a breath from eating. As one, they grabbed weapons, ran to the back door, put them in the rack, and ran back to the table in case someone tried to eat what was left on their plates.

  It was during this that Debbie stated, “Facebook is offline. It says it’s down for maintenance.” She went to the other major boards, and it was the same. “That is too much of a coincidence, isn’t it?”

  “Well, it could be possible,” Matt said over the intercom. “With all the people on the Web, it does not take much for a server to be overloaded.”

  “If one of our geeks says it’s possible, then that is good enough for me,” Bruce replied.

  “I did not say that was the cause, but it is feasible because the Web has been on fire all night. Servers are crashing everywhere with all the traffic. The government could have shut them down because that is all a lot of people know. They don’t go to the little message boards. The major news networks have large servers that can handle volume, but most people do not go to them anymore,” he said.

  “Well, it does not make much of a difference. We have a lot of work to do today, and we need to get started,” Bruce said.

  He got up, grabbing his equipment and putting it on, then went to the shop to pull out stuff needed for the fort. He started throwing stuff on a trailer that could be pulled by one of the ATVs. As Mike walked in, he asked what they needed. Bruce told him to grab the cutting torch and welder. After they loaded up the trailer, Nancy called over the radio that she was sending Matt and Jake to bed. Danny was going to man mission control, and the list for the week was up by the calendar along with BDU type. Bruce replied that was great and for everyone to go to the fort. Mike got the electric lift, grabbing several camouflaged nets.

  They moved the little convoy out to the fort, coming from the backyard. The fort was a hunting blind that they just built on top of the telephone poles. It had windows on each side with blinds in place over the windows so you did not have to silhouette yourself. Bruce told everyone his plan. He wanted to bolt quarter-inch steel to each side then weld angle iron onto it. Any bullet hitting the fort would be hitting the angle iron at forty-five degrees to ricochet off. Then, if a bullet could make it through that, it would have to go through the quarter-inch back plate. Then he wanted to put a pole beside the door that they could slide down in case of emergency. Mike interjected, “Why not pull the ladder out and put up a rope ladder? That way it would be hard to get at someone up there.”

  Bruce pointed out that if someone got hurt up there, in the middle of a gunfight would not be the best time to get the electric lift out. When he said that, both moms’ faces paled; the realization that the kids could be facing gunfire was upsetting to them, to say the least. Both moms wanted several inches of steel up there, but Bruce pointed out that they did not have enough steel, first, and the building would not support it, second. After pulling a piece of angle iron out to demonstrate to both moms what it could stop, Bruce informed them that quarter-inch angle iron was a V-shaped piece of steel that could be cut to length with the point of the V facing out and its top welded to the plate steel in rows side by side. He explained that with the tilt of the V, a bullet had to travel through a half inch of steel before it even got to the base plate.

  Taking his SCAR out with its fourteen-inch barrel and suppressor attached, Bruce stood a piece of angle iron against a tree and shot it. The bullet left a scratch on the metal but nothing else. Then, taking a piece of flat quarter-inch steel, he did the same thing. The bullet punched through but fell on the other side of the metal.

  “How big of a bullet will it stop?” Debbie asked.

  “Probably up to a three hundred-magnum rifle; it won’t stop a fifty cal. Remember, we have to see them before they see us; that is what our defense is based on. We are not a military unit. We cannot call for air support or artillery to help us out. We cannot get in a prolonged gun battle here. We will lose. That is why we have so much surveillance on the property,” Bruce said to both Nancy and Debbie.

  They started cutting metal and bolting it to the fort. With the electric lift, this went by very fast. By 10 a.m., they had the panels on with the pieces welded on. Next, they cut wood to make overhangs to keep
the sun from shining off the windows. You could not see up out of the windows, but Bruce figured that if they were under air attack, they were screwed anyway. Next, they put up the camouflaged netting over the outside.

  Then they took the electric lift, trimming the tops of all the cedar trees along the fence to open the view to the road from the fort. Not enough off the tops so the fence could be seen but opened up fields of fire from the fort. So those in the fort could shoot over the fence, and not through tree tops. Bruce told Steve to strengthen the floor of the fort with the lumber that he bought and place one stack of sandbags around the floor up to the window ledge. This way, any bullet that made it through would have to go through a foot of packed earth. Bruce was scared to place any more for fear of breaching the floor. The floor was made with treated 2x12s and railroad ties, but he did not want to push his luck. Bruce started to chuckle.

  Debbie stopped hanging netting, asking, “What is so funny?”

  “When Mike and I spent all that money on this thing, then wired it for electricity, both you and Nancy asked why we were spending so much money on making the kids an expensive tree house. You both said we were only going to be watching from there if anything happens, not shooting. Now you two want me to make it a battleship,” he replied.

  “In my wildest dream, I did not think my kids would be at risk for a firefight in this damn thing. If I would have dreamt that, then I would have demanded you make that thing out of concrete,” Debbie stated, a little pissed.

  “Hell yeah, with a cannon on top,” added Nancy.

  “Like I said, we have to see them first,” he told them.

  “You always trained everyone in this family to take out the observation post first before you attack. This is an observation post, Bruce, that our babies will be in,” Debbie said to him. He could see anger building in her face.

  “I know, baby. We can only play the hand we are dealt. But we can stack it in our favor. We can add a lot of alarms around the property. No one could believe that this thing is armored, so that is in our favor. Even if they take a shot, whoever is inside will have a chance with this preparation. Prepping is what we have been doing for the last seven years, just trying to increase our chance at survival, be it in a gun battle or feeding ourselves for an extended period of time,” Bruce said, looking up at both wives.

  “I know, Bruce,” said Nancy, “that is what we have been preparing for, but it’s just the thought. Then I think what they would have if we lived in a house in town with no protection or supplies. How would our kids be protected? Like all those people up north now and those during Katrina. They did not prepare for anything, and look at what has happened to them.”

  “All I have to say is, anyone that threatens my family, I will pull their skin off their body with pliers before killing them,” Debbie said solemnly.

  “That’s my girl. I’m going to the road to take a look,” Bruce informed them.

  After walking out on the road, Bruce turned and looked at the fort. It looked like the top of an oak tree with a lot of trash in it. If you did not know what you were looking at, you would never think it was a lookout. A thought crossed his mind, and he called over the radio, telling Mike to bring the lift to the other side of the road to pull some Spanish moss that hung in the trees and put it on the fort. Spanish moss grew everywhere in Louisiana, and that would put the finishing touches on the outside.

  At one o’clock, they were finished with the outside. Bruce told everyone to head to the house for lunch. It was on the way to the house that Danny called over the radio. The hospital was calling, and they were leaving a message on the answering machine. The outside world was intruding on the family; it was time for decisions to be made, for better or worse. They all took off running to the house with weapons in hand, leaving the equipment that was used on the fort to be worried about later.

  Chapter 20

  Everyone was in the den listening to the answering machine as Mike replayed it to listen to it for the third time. The message stated, “This is the university. A disaster drill has been issued. All employees are to report immediately to the hospital at once. Anyone not here by twenty-hundred hours, or 8 p.m., will have police sent to their residence to bring them to work. Anyone refusing to report will have their license suspended by the state. If transportation is needed, then contact the university for a scheduled pickup time.” It had been recorded to be played in a mass calling. Everyone just stood looking at each other. Bruce broke the silence, “Everyone in the kitchen. You, too, Danny. We will leave mission control unmanned for a little bit.”

  Everyone took his or her seat at the table, placing weapons on the table. Matt and Jake had woken up and were in seats along the table. Bruce stood up to start the debate on what the family should do. “First, this is something we have to think about. If this blows over and we don’t show up, then we have lost our licenses to practice medicine for Mike and Nancy. Debbie and I will lose our nursing licenses. Then we have to worry about them trying to bring charges against us for failure to show. Second, if we don’t show up, the police will come out here. We don’t know if they will try to arrest us and seize the property. We have to think about all contingences here,” Bruce said, looking at each person at the table.

  “What are you thinking, Bruce?” Mike asked.

  “I think you and I need to call in and report to staffing that we are coming in but our wives are staying home to watch the kids. I know they will say that they have childcare set up at the hospital, but we also have a farm to see after. I believe that if you call in, being an attending in the ER, they will listen to you and take Nancy and Debbie off the callback. Nancy, being a pediatrician, and Debbie as a labor and delivery nurse, they should agree to that. You and I have no choice, both working in the ER. We will be seen as valuable assets, and they will want us there. I think we will put the family in danger by not showing up,” Bruce stated.

  “What about if one of you stay here and Debbie or I go, Bruce?” Nancy asked.

  “No, they will want us and, remember, if this goes to shit, which I believe it will, you two are beautiful women and will be seen as property. We saw that all through Katrina. They would not let women in the area for fear that they would be raped. It has not gone to shit here yet, and we do not want to be the focus of the authorities’ attention. With the nine of you here, all of you will be safe here. I know each of you knows how to handle yourself. But I don’t want to throw either one of you in the middle of the shit,” Bruce said.

  “Oh, but you and Mike will be in the shit storm,” Nancy snapped.

  “We both work in the same department and will be side by side. If either one of you went, you would be on another floor where we could not be by your side in case it goes bad,” Bruce pointed out.

  “So outline your plan then,” Debbie said finally.

  “Mike and I will take the Mini Cooper with our supplies and weapons, putting them at the trailer in Haughton. Then we will go on to the hospital. If or when it goes bad, we will go to the trailer, get our stuff, and head back here,” Bruce stated.

  “Why not take the beast? I thought that’s what you made it for, Dad,” Steve said.

  “I would love to, but if Shreveport and Bossier get locked down, we will have to walk back here and leave the vehicle behind. Think about it, they will put up roadblocks to stop all traffic,” Bruce told him.

  “You mean the both of you spent that much time and money to build a tank and can’t use it?” Debbie yelled.

  “Yes, baby,” Bruce said, realizing that he and Mike had fooled no one with the money they spent on the beast. “I would rather it stay here in case you need it or have to come and get us. But under no circumstance is anyone to leave this property. Someone might follow you back to the property. It could be a cop or someone else. The point being, I want this place to disappear. Before we leave we are cutting the outside power so the panels aren’t sending power to the grid,” Bruce informed them.

  “I still want you tw
o to take the beast,” Nancy said. “I don’t care how much the damn thing cost; it could protect you getting back home.”

  Mike reached over and placed his hand on top of Nancy’s. “Baby, listen to Bruce with your mind not your heart. What he is saying is true, and you know it,” he told her.

  “Fuck it. Call them and tell them we quit,” Nancy said with tears in her eyes.

  “What happens if they send the cops out here? They are detaining people everywhere for just trying to go somewhere safe, baby. There are no riots here yet, so they could send a lot of people here to get us. We would have a fight on our hands that we could not win, and then we would be detained or killed,” Mike said looking at her.

  “I’m with Nancy. Tell the cocksuckers we quit,” Debbie said, reaching over to hold Bruce’s hand.

  “Baby, if I thought we could get away with it, I would do it, but I really believe that we would endanger the entire family. Who knows what they would do with the kids and all the supplies we have here. Because once they come out here and see what we have, they will not let us keep it. They will confiscate it to give to others, and all this hard work is gone,” Bruce said, rubbing her hand.

  All the kids jumped up, running to their dads, hugging them for dear life. Bruce stood with tears in his eyes, looking at Mike, who was crying. They all converged into a group hug. Bruce knew this was the only way the family stood a chance. They could not give anyone a reason to come out to the farm. If it required this sacrifice, then he was prepared to make it. Seeing Mike, Bruce knew he agreed. Mike said, “Okay, everyone, sit back down. We have some things to discuss.”

  “We will do everything in our power to get back here before the shit hits the fan. We will keep in touch by phone. Most of the cell service around here is on solar, so it will be the last to go. Remember that just because you can’t call doesn’t mean the lines are down. You can text because it carries less information. But please don’t call us every few minutes. We will set up a schedule when we get there about when to set up contact,” Mike said as everyone was sitting back down.