Blue Plague The Fall

by Watson, Thomas A.

  She continued, “I know Bruce has several full auto weapons, and they are expensive. All the parents got together two years ago one night and agreed that we needed other options to the government restrictions. Bruce and Mike used the machine shop to make a shitload of suppressors and a lot of full auto and burst receivers for the weapons we have.”

  All the boys were staring at her in disbelief. Their parents had done something illegal and not told them anything.

  “Mom,” Danny said over the intercom they had set up in the kitchen to the fort and mission control. “You mean to tell me that you, Dad, Mama Nancy, and Daddy Mike broke federal law, and you grounded me for passing notes in class?” Danny exclaimed.

  “That’s different, baby. I will be the first to admit Nancy and I were against it, but now I have to tell your dad I was wrong,” Debbie said.

  “Well, where are they so we can get started?” Steve said.

  “I will show you. It will take a while to dig them up. Each is five feet down, and as hard as the dirt is, it will take all of you to get them up. We can’t use the backhoe so it will have to be with shovels and picks,” Debbie said.

  “There is a car coming down the road,” Mary said over the intercom from mission control.

  Everyone jumped up and grabbed weapons off the gun rack in the kitchen then headed to mission control. With everyone looking at the monitors, Debbie said, “Steve, Matt, take the west side of the house. David, you and Jake take the east side. Make sure you have your radios on. Don’t do anything unless directed or you have no choice.” Going to the intercom, Debbie pushed the talk button. “Danny, get ready to engage, but do not fire until I say so or you see a hostile action,” Debbie finished giving instructions.

  The boys took off out of the house, putting the earbuds to their radios in their ears and testing before heading out.

  “Stephanie and Tonya, I want both of you ready to guard the back of the house,” Nancy said.

  They both replied they would. Everyone was watching the small car coming down the road at a steady pace. Whoever it was knew where they were going. When the car reached the turn into the farm, Tonya drew a sharp breath.

  “That’s my mom’s car,” she cried, heading to the door.

  “Wait, Tonya,” Debbie said. “We have to make sure it’s your mom before we do anything, okay?”

  Tonya nodded her head, stopping at the door and walking back to the monitors. The small car pulled into the driveway and turned down the driveway up to the call box. It just sat there for a minute then they heard a horn sound.

  “Danny, how many are in the car?” Nancy asked into her radio.

  “I only see one person behind the wheel. It looks like a woman,” she replied.

  Nancy pushed the button on the intercom system to talk to the front gate. “Can we help you?”

  As the driver’s window rolled down, they could see the driver on the monitor as she leaned her head out. It was Tonya’s mother, Pam. Her face was swollen with only one eye open enough to see. “It’s Pam, Tonya and Steve said I should come here if things went bad,” Pam said toward the intercom.

  Nancy told Mary to open the gate. “Pam, pull up to the house,” Nancy instructed her.

  “Danny keep an eye out. Boys, make sure everything is clear on each side of the house,” Nancy said into her radio. “Mary, stay here and report anything, okay?” Nancy told Mary.

  The four women walked outside as the small car was pulling down the driveway. “Spread out,” Debbie said. The four women spread out in a line, facing the car still pulling toward them. Debbie looked over at Tonya, who had tears on her face but did as she was told. Yes, she thought, Tonya belonged in this family.

  As the car came to a stop and the engine cut off, Pam stepped out. She was holding her right side with her left hand. Her clothes were torn, and everywhere they could see skin, it was covered in bruises. Her face looked worse up close. The left side of her face was swollen, with blood covering her face. Tonya took off running toward her mother.

  “Tonya, stop,” Nancy told her. “Pam, are you bitten?”

  “Bitten, no. Warren beat the shit out of me last night. He thinks he beat me to death. I know this because as he walked out the door, he told me to die on the floor like a good bitch,” Pam said. “I have been unconscious for ten hours. It took me an hour just to get some strength up and get to the car,” she said, collapsing to the ground. All the women ran to Pam’s side.

  “Steve and Matt, get up here and help us get Pam into the house. Jake, go and get the first aid kit and bring it to the den,” Debbie said into her radio.

  As they took Pam into the house, she told them Warren had started beating her two days ago. He kept telling her that it was time for the strong to rise up and set the world straight. His brother’s came over with some friends and each took turns hitting her. She could not remember how many or who they were, just that there were a lot of people at their house. Then they loaded up Warren’s guns and stuff and left, but not before Warren had come back into the house and beat her some more before leaving her for dead.

  Nancy and Debbie tended her wounds with Tonya by her side. Debbie told the boys to go and get stuff to start digging and meet her at the barn. Debbie told Nancy to treat Pam and for Tonya to help. Then she told Mary and Danny that they would be on guard duty all day, but Stephanie would give them a break every few hours. Debbie then left the house and headed to the barn. When she got there, the boys were waiting and Steve asked how Pam was. She told him she had been beaten badly, but Nancy was taking care of her. They had a lot of work to get done today and had to keep going on.

  She led the boys to the areas scattered around the farm. Each spot she marked after stopping and looking around. The spots were in separate areas on the farm. Debbie told them each was five feet down and was the size of a footlocker. Each case was metal, but she told them to try not to damage them because they were airtight. They each looked at her in disbelief, asking her if the areas she marked were the right places to dig. Debbie assured them that she had marked them correctly and to get started. Two were to dig at a time then get relieved by the other two. She put Steve in charge of the work as she headed back to the house.

  When Debbie got back to the house, she went in the back door and found Nancy in the kitchen washing her hands. “How is Pam?” Debbie asked.

  “Well, her left shoulder was dislocated. I put it back in. I think she has at least six broken ribs. Her left ear had almost been ripped off; I sewed it back. Her jaw and nose are broke. Her right arm was broken. We set it and just finished placing a splint on it. Three fingers on her left hand and two on her right were broken. I think she has a small liver laceration from the bruising over it. I put her on the monitor, and her breathing is steady, but she was not holding her oxygen level up so I had Stephanie bring up the portable oxygen machine and put her on it. I hear good lung sounds in the upper lobes but nothing in the lower––she probably has blood in her lungs. I have not put in a chest tube since residency, but if she needs one, I had Stephanie bring up the supplies,” Nancy finished her dissertation of Pam’s wounds.

  “I’m a pediatrician, Debbie. She needs Mike and Bruce. I did the best I could,” Nancy said, looking at Debbie.

  “I know you did, Nancy. That’s all we can do,” Debbie said.

  The family had a lot of medical equipment that had once again been bought on eBay. What could not be bought online, Mike and Nancy ordered with their medical licenses. A corner of the basement was set up as a small ER. It could not compare to a hospital in the US, but it could match a hospital in a third-world country.

  “What are her chances?” Debbie asked.

  “That she even made it here is a miracle. If she makes it through the night, she stands a good chance. We may have to give her some blood. She thinks she is A positive, so we can get blood from Matt who is O negative, or Steve, Jake, or Mary, who are O positive. I would prefer to use them first,” Nancy said, looking back to the den.


  “I wish Bruce had put that son of a bitch in a wheelchair,” Nancy said.

  “If the cops would not have stopped him, he would have,” Debbie replied.

  “I’m going to check on Pam,” Nancy said, walking to the den.

  “I’m going to make lunch and take it to everyone while they work. You and I will have to take watch tonight. Can you move Pam into mission control? That way you can watch her and the monitors tonight,” Debbie asked.

  “Yeah,” Nancy replied. “Tonya and I will set up a bed in front of the desk and move her in after lunch.”

  Debbie fixed lunch and brought one of the buggies to the back door. It was after noon when she started her rounds, dropping food off. She pulled up to the fort first, taking Danny some food. Danny was sitting in a chair looking out the windows and glancing down at the monitors. Debbie asked her how she was doing, and Danny said she was okay and asked about Pam. Debbie told her what she knew, and after making sure Danny’s radio was charged, Debbie left to take food to the boys.

  As she got on the buggy, Mary called over the radio that someone was walking down the road. Mary reported that whoever it was looked infected––his or her skin was blue. Debbie called over the radio that everyone was to continue with what they were doing, that it was only one, and everyone had a job to do.

  Debbie then told Danny over the radio as she was driving to the back of the farm for her to report when she saw the person walking down the road. Danny said she understood. Debbie drove around the house to the barn. When she pulled up to the back of the barn, she saw the metal trunk sitting beside the hole the boys had dug. She called on the radio and asked the boys where they were. They said they were in the east field digging to China.

  Debbie took off to the east field. The back of the farm had a small twenty-acre fenced area in each rear corner that they rotated the horses and cows in. With over a dozen horses and three cows, they rotated the animals about every three months from field to field. Now all the animals were in the west field. Between the fields was a strip of land with the fish pond. You could reach the fence on the north side of the farm, or the back of the farm, as the family referred to it. Once you opened the fence on the back, it went into a thirty-yard clearing then it went into the National Forest. Bruce had thrown a fit to keep a cleared area around the chain-link fence except the front where the road was.

  Debbie pulled through the gate the boys had left open. She saw several of the goats running toward her thinking she had food for them. The goats did not stay in the fields; they roamed the entire 110 acres that was surrounded by the ten-foot chain-link fence. The goats rarely went in front of the house. After Bruce had caught one standing on the hood of his truck, he started shooting them with paintballs. With that lesson, the goats did not get on top of vehicles anymore. Debbie saw the boys pulling up a metal trunk out of a hole as she pulled up.

  The boys were covered in sweat. They had taken off their tactical vests and BDU tops in the liquid heat. Matt was off to the side holding his M-4, watching the other three bring out the case. Each case weighed several hundred pounds, so it was not an easy task. Debbie had been there when Bruce and Mike put them in the ground. She knew what the boys were accomplishing, and she was so proud of them.

  She stopped the buggy, telling the boys to put the case on the back. As they put the case on the back, she told them to move over to an oak tree about twenty yards away. When she stopped the buggy, they gathered around. The boys each grabbed a bottle of water, draining them. When she asked them if they had been drinking water, they all said yes but they ran out about an hour ago. Debbie told them they could not work in this heat without drinking a lot of water. Steve told her each of them had drank at least a gallon, and they were going to get some more after this case. Debbie called on the radio and told Stephanie to get on a buggy and bring the boys some water.

  While the boys were talking to each other about digging a hole during August in Louisiana, Danny called over the radio. She was watching the person walking down the road, and she confirmed that he or she was infected. Debbie asked her if she had a shot yet, and Danny replied that she would in a few seconds. Debbie told Danny when she had a shot to take it, and only a head shot. Danny said she understood.

  As Debbie was getting back in the buggy, heading back to the house, and the boys were heading to the next case, her radio went off. Danny reported that the infected was down and had fallen into the ditch on the opposite side of the road. Debbie told her good work and continued to the house. Parking the buggy by the back patio beside the pool, Debbie called Nancy and Tonya to help her get the case off the back of the buggy. While they came to the back, Debbie plugged the buggy back up.

  After the three had set the case by the back door, they all went inside. Debbie gave a shiver as the air conditioner dried the sweat on her body. She set her weapon in the rack and started supper. Nancy went back to Pam in mission control with Tonya in tow.

  At sunset, the boys had gotten all the cases up and moved them to the back porch. Nancy informed everyone that Pam needed blood. Nancy asked Mary if she would go first because the boys had been out in the heat, and she did not want to stress their bodies. Mary said she would. They all gathered around the table, except Mary, who was still in mission control, and Stephanie, who had relieved Danny in the fort. They bowed their heads in prayer when Debbie’s phone rang.

  She grabbed it, looking at the display, and started crying. It had been sent at 3 p.m.––four hours ago. The message was simple: “Made it to trailer. It’s bad here hope not there. Will have to walk home so will take several days to a week, have guest. We will make it home baby I love you.”

  They all jumped up, hugging each other, crying with joy. The duo was okay and coming home to the family. Everyone sat down happy with the good news. After they had finished, Nancy took Mary to mission control and used a blood transfer device to give Pam some blood.

  A blood transfer device was only a tube with a syringe in the middle and a one way valve. One pulled the syringe back, and it pulled blood from the donor, and when pushed, it moved the blood to the recipient. Hospitals used them on infants but the donor end was connected to a unit of blood.

  Debbie called on the intercom that she was coming to relieve Stephanie in the fort. When she got to the fort and climbed up the ladder, Stephanie opened the door for her.

  “Glad to hear from the duo, huh?” Stephanie asked, smiling.

  “Stephanie, I was getting so worried. I need Bruce here. I feel like I’m not making the right decisions here. The crazy thing is I need Mike here almost as bad. It’s like a part of my body is missing,” Debbie confided to her.

  “Yes, the mold was definitely broken after those two were made. Bruce needs Mike to control his temper. Mike needs Bruce to let him know when it’s time to kick ass. Separate they can be beaten, but together nobody stands a chance,” Stephanie said, grabbing Debbie’s hand and holding it to her chest. “You have no idea what it means to me for this family to call me a part of it. I have talked to this family more than my own since I went to Atlanta. I would call them, but they were busy, and we just did not talk. When we got reports that Boston was lost, I did feel loss. My family was never close like this, and I feel so honored to be able to say this is my family.”

  She continued, “I have to admit that I never saw myself learning to shoot guns, hunt, fish, learning combat tactics and learning how to survive. The day that Bruce and Mike invited me to this farm was the best day of my life. Everyone took me in, and I have more happy memories here than my own home. With mom and dad at the law firm, I grew up with housekeepers. The two years I was in Atlanta, I came here, home, more than I went to Boston. I do mourn my parents and my brother, but if anything were to happen to any of you, I think I would die.”

  “Stephanie, we all love you. That is why the kids call you aunt. They don’t even call their real aunts that. When I saw you get out of that car the first day, I knew you would be part of this family. Even thoug
h the boys followed around the beautiful woman like puppies for the first few months you were out here,” Debbie said.

  “Boys?” Stephanie said, taken back.

  “Steve, Jake, Matt, and David,” Debbie said.

  “I was fixing to say Bruce and Mike look at no women like they look at you and Nancy. I have seen plenty of others at the university try, but you two are their world,” Stephanie said.

  “I know. I had to have a few words with a few women up there,” Debbie informed her.

  “I did too; I did not want the duo to get in trouble,” Stephanie said, laughing.

  “You go on in and get some rest. I need you come back at 1 a.m. to relieve me. Tell Tonya to take over for Nancy in mission control,” Debbie told her.

  “Will do,” Stephanie said, walking out of the fort.

  Debbie sat down in the chair and leaned her AUG against the wall, taking out her cell phone. She reread the message again with a smile on her face. Her Bruce was on the way home. In regular times, it would only take twenty-four hours of straight walking to get here, but the duo was packing a lot of gear. Thinking about it, Debbie concluded that they had others with them so it would take them longer. That could only be what he meant by taking a week with guest. She knew how fast Bruce and Mike could hike even with the gear they were carrying. That could only mean others. She said a silent prayer for them, then one for the family. She sat looking out the window with a smile on her face. Not much longer.

  Chapter 27

  Bruce sped down the road heading to Market Street, and from there they would hit I-220 to cross the Red River and head to Haughton. Driving through deserted neighborhoods at sixty miles per hour, dodging stalled cars, Bruce made the little Mini’s engine scream. They looked out the windows at the world speeding by. Infected were everywhere they looked.