Blue Plague The Fall

by Watson, Thomas A.

  Just then the young man stood up and backed away from Bruce before speaking, “You can’t tell me what to do. I’m taking my family to Shreveport.”

  The young mother turned, walking over to him, “Jim, I don’t care if you die. Wherever these people are going, me and the kids are going, too, if they let us. I really hope you don’t follow and die real soon.”

  With that, Bruce led the little group off of Highway 79 to Parish Road 157. It was almost 1 p.m., and they had a long way to go. As they walked down the road, they found out about the new additions to the growing band. The young mother’s name was Susan; she was twenty-three and a very pretty brunette. The toddler was Cassandra; she was two with dirty-blonde hair and gray eyes. The baby was Joshua, and he was six months old. The husband, Jim, or asshole, as Bruce preferred to call him, was thirty and handsome. He was an investment lawyer and was caught down here from Chicago when the government closed all highway traffic. They had been trying to get to Shreveport to the Air Force base. The radio said it was the last safe zone in the area. Jim had no idea what was going on and kept saying the government would have things under control soon.

  In less than fifteen minutes, he had pissed off every member of the group. Buffy had already asked Bruce if she could borrow a knife to stab him. Shaking his head, Bruce just told Buffy not now. Jim did not even carry his own daughter when she got tired, instead making Susan carry both kids. Jim just kept mouthing off about how good he was. Bruce had finally had enough and grabbed Jim by the shirt, pulling him close, telling him if he did not shut up, he would shoot him.

  As they made their way down 157, Bruce told everyone that they were going to stop at the school for water. They needed more now with Susan and the kids. Bruce secretly hoped that Jim died of thirst. Walking in the last real part of town they had to go through, they could see infected just wandering in the distance. Walking since this morning, they had come across several animals that the infected had attacked. Everything from dogs to cats to cows––nothing was safe from them. Luckily, they always saw the infected before the infected saw them.

  Crossing the railroad tracks, the group once again went into the trees. They walked through backyards until they came to the tree line around the school, where Bruce held up his hand for everyone to stop. He knelt down, and everyone was quiet except for Jim.

  He was asking why they had stopped and why he had to kneel down in the dirt in a loud voice. Mike stood up, walked over to Jim, grabbed him by the throat with his left hand, and placed the barrel of his rifle in his face.

  “If you say another word, I will kill you. Do you understand?” Mike whispered as Jim nodded his head, trying to breath. “You do not talk again unless someone speaks to you first,” Mike said, letting him go. Jim knelt down on the ground with his hands over his throat trying to get oxygen to his lungs.

  Bruce smiled inside. It was one of the few times he had seen Mike lose his temper and the only time he had seen death in his eyes. This meant that even Mike could lose his temper with an asshole. It was always Bruce ready to go balls out when something happened. Mike was always there to fight by his side but always tried to reason with others, even if the person was a stupid asshole.

  Mike eased up to Bruce, “Bruce, you know that building has been breached,” Mike informed him.

  Not taking his eyes off the building, Bruce replied, “I know Mike, but we need water, food, and backpacks for the others. I know those supplies are in there; we could waste a lot of time looking through houses. We are going through our water too fast just keeping us hydrated. Now we have Susan and the kids to keep hydrated.”

  Mike nodded his head reluctantly, “Okay, but remember we don’t have a ton of ammo, and you and I are the only ones that can run if the shit hits the fan. If we get hit we will have to stay and fight it out, running is not an option.”

  “Then let’s try not to run,” Bruce said, grinning turning to look at Mike.

  Chapter 30

  Bruce turned back to the school and could not see anything moving. On the side facing them was a set of doors with one standing open. As a plan finished forming in his head, he motioned everyone close.

  “We all are going into the school together. I can’t risk leaving the group out here while Mike and I check it out. If you are attacked out here, we will be too far away to help.” Taking out his 1911, Bruce attached the suppressor and handed it to Alex with some extra magazines. Bruce had shown both Alex and Angela how to use the 1911 along with the Berettas and M-4s they carried. “Alex, you will have to watch our backs. If you see anything, you are to shoot. Don’t think; just raise the gun and shoot. Do not look forward at the group; you are to walk backward. Angela, you stay beside him as his guide, and you do not fire unless you have to. Keep noise to a minimum, no talking, and watch where you step. Susan, you will stay in the middle of the group,” Bruce instructed. Turning to look at Jim, Bruce said, “If you make any noise, you are dead. I don’t care if we don’t find anything.” Jim just nodded his head.

  Well, maybe the asshole could learn something after all, Bruce thought as he stood up and headed to the school with Buffy at his side. Jogging up to the open door, Bruce looked in and did not see anything as he slowly went inside. As soon as he stepped inside, the smell hit him like a hammer. When everyone was in the small inner hallway, Bruce motioned for Alex to close the door slowly. After the door was closed, Bruce and Mike moved forward to the main hallway. Bruce took the right and Mike the left.

  As Bruce eased around the corner, looking through the reflex sight on top of his ACOG scope, he kept the weapon trained where he was looking. The hallway to the right came to a dead end about twenty yards away. He could see several classrooms, but all the doors were closed. If infected were in them, they were trapped. They had been told the infected could not turn a doorknob but they could beat a door down. Satisfied that the right was secure, Bruce turned to the left with Mike. The hallway ended ahead about thirty yards from them making a right turn. Using hand signals, Bruce took the right side of the hall and Mike the left. They could hear pounding coming from the end of the hallway.

  They started down the hall with weapons trained to the front. Bruce and Mike rarely used the safety on any weapon they used. They rested their trigger finger outside of the trigger housing, only bringing the trigger fingers in when they shot. With each step they took forward, the smell was became stronger, and was starting to make Bruce’s eyes water under his Oakley’s. Buffy was holding his left pants leg, walking slightly behind him. When they had gone halfway down the hall, they started hearing movement from around the corner with the pounding. It was the sound of bodies just shuffling around bumping into walls, with a soft moan every now and then.

  Bruce held up his left hand for everyone to stop. He motioned for everyone to stay put as he and Mike moved forward. He reached down and moved Buffy’s hand to his right pants leg. If they had to leave in a hurry, he would have to spin left and did not want to run over her. Bruce motioned Mike to come to his side of the hallway. As Mike fell in behind him, Bruce eased forward. With each step he could feel his pulse quicken, his spine start to tingle, and his palms sweat. He was glad he had on his tactical gloves so he could keep a hold on his weapon. Keeping his breathing under control, he eased up to the corner of the hallway. Stopping at the corner, he slowly eased his left eye from the corner edge and quickly pulled back.

  The hall was about fifty yards long and ended at several sets of double doors. Bruce figured that was the auditorium. There was another hallway off to the right in the middle of the long hallway. There were over forty infected walking around in the hall, with several beating on the large bank of doors at the end of the hall. The closest to the corner was only about fifteen feet away. He was tempted to just pull out, but they needed supplies for the group. It would not be a question of if they dehydrated, but when, without supplies. From the way the infected were just in this hall, there were probably people trapped behind the door. He could not tell if there
were more infected down the second hall.

  Mike and he would have to have excellent fire control to take this many down at this close range. Bruce reached down and pulled the loops of cord that held his spare magazines in his tactical vest. Mike, seeing Bruce undo his magazine pouches, did the same.

  Bruce turned, looking at Mike. Taking his hand off his weapon, he held up both hands, opening and closing them four times to let Mike know forty were around the corner. He grabbed his SCAR with both hands. Taking a deep breath, he stepped around the corner. Bringing up his rifle, Bruce sighted on the closest infected and squeezed the trigger, dropping the closest, and swinging to the next one, dropping another one. Bruce had three down before Mike swung around to his left side and started dropping the infected. Over ten infected were down before the group turned and started toward them.

  The group of infected consisted of men, women, and children moving toward them. Bruce noticed several runners at the door turn and take off toward them. He kept moving his rifle back and forth, squeezing off single shots in rapid succession. In less than fifteen seconds, he felt his bolt lock open, ejecting the empty magazine, and before it hit the floor, the next one was in. Bruce started firing again.

  The runners were running into the slower infected and falling over others that had been shot. Seeing Mike put in a new magazine out of the corner of his eye, Bruce started to worry. It was then he noticed more infected were coming out of the hallway to the right. He heard Angela yell for Alex, but Bruce could not help as he felt the bolt lock back again. Replacing the empty magazine, he just kept shooting into the infected moving toward them. Seeing Mike replace another magazine, Bruce started to get ready to pull back as his bolt locked back again. Bruce slammed in a fresh magazine, taking aim at a running kid and removing the top of his head. Lifting his gun up higher, Bruce continued firing, watching heads explode when the bullets slammed into the skulls. He kept firing into the thinning horde until he felt his bolt lock back again.

  Dropping the empty and ramming in a new magazine, he looked down the hallway as Mike dropped the last standing infected. Slowly looking back and forth, they could see several infected on the floor crawling toward them. Bruce shot the three on the floor that were still moving and looked at the hallway. It was covered with bodies; the forty infected had turned into over a hundred. Bullet holes were all over the walls, and the doors at the end of the hall were littered with holes.

  Bending over, Bruce picked up his three empty magazines and put them in his vest. He only carried ten magazines plus one in his weapon. Yes, he had five hundred in his pack, but he would have to load that. When he got home, Bruce would start carrying more magazines. Bruce hoped nobody was standing behind the doors. He looked at them again as he turned to check on the group.

  Bruce saw two infected lying in the hallway in front of Alex, who was still looking down the hall they had come down. Everyone had stayed where he had told them and done what he had said. He motioned for everyone to come forward. Angela, holding Cade in one arm, pulled Alex down the hall backward with the other.

  As they got closer, Bruce whispered to Angela, asking, “Where did they come from?”

  “They broke out of a room at the end of the hall,” she answered.

  “Why did you yell?” Bruce asked.

  “Alex used a whole magazine to kill one. I was telling him to change. Sorry I yelled,” she said.

  “That’s okay,” Bruce assured her.

  Suddenly Susan bent over, throwing up, followed by Jim. The smell now was almost toxic as it burned their throats. Bruce told everyone not to touch any bodily fluids and started to walk to the end of the hall. He moved over to the left side of the wall where bodies were not stacked quite as high. Stepping up onto the pile of bodies, they followed Bruce to the end of the hall. When they reached the doors, Bruce pulled on the handle, and he was not surprised that the doors were locked. Motioning Mike to the door, Bruce pointed at the lock. True to form, Mike had it unlocked in seconds.

  Mike opened the door as Bruce stepped through scanning the area. He was right; it was an auditorium. Not seeing anything, he walked around the right side of the room heading for the stage. Everyone followed him single file. When he reached the stage, he climbed up to the stage and motioned for everyone to come closer.

  As everyone gathered around, a man jumped out from the left side of the stage and yelled, “Freeze.” Bruce turned to the voice and saw it was a state trooper with his handgun pointed at the group.

  “We are not going to hurt you, Officer,” Mike said calmly.

  “No shit, asshole. I’m the one with the gun pointed at you. Do you realize that a lot of the shots you fired out there came through the door?” the officer yelled at them.

  “Well, there were a lot of infected out there, Officer,” Bruce said in a flat tone.

  “This group is filled with geniuses, fuckwad. I know that infected were in the hallway, but I have the situation under control,” the officer said, looking at Bruce. “Now, each of you will put your weapons on the ground one at a time when I tell you. Do I make myself clear?” the state trooper instructed the group, moving his aim from one person to the other.

  “That is not going to happen, Officer,” Bruce said. “We came for some water and food and then we were going to leave. But if you will not give us any, we will just leave anyway,” he finished.

  “Did you not hear me, punk? You will lay down your weapons now. I have been given orders to execute anyone not complying with my orders. No more arrest; I can kill you,” the state trooper calmly replied, smiling at Bruce.

  “Officer, these men have assaulted me and threatened to kill me. I have watched them gun down people and help escaped convicts. I will help you detain them, sir,” Jim said with a smile on his face, looking at Bruce and Mike. Jim started to walk toward the officer, and the officer swung his aim to Jim.

  “I knew you were felons,” the officer said. “Move another inch sir, and it will be your last,” he said, pointing his gun at Jim.

  Bruce swung his rifle around and pulled the trigger three times from his hip. The first round hit the officer in the chest. He was wearing a bulletproof vest, but it did no good against the rifle round. The round punched through the front of the vest, blowing out the back. The second round hit the officer in the throat, almost taking his head off, while the third round hit him at the bridge of the nose, blowing the back of his head off. The officer dropped where he was standing, still holding his pistol out from his body.

  Mike ran to the back of the stage, keeping his weapon pointed at the area where the officer came out. Bruce went to a kneeling position, and everyone else just hit the floor waiting to see if anybody else showed up. Looking at the officer on the floor, Bruce was glad that, unlike the military, he and Mike shot hollow points. The military had to shoot full metal jackets. Granted, FMJs did do damage, but nothing compared to a hollow point. NATO and the Geneva Convention believed that hollow points and rounds like it did too much damage. They believed if you shoot someone, that person should have a chance to survive. Bruce did not share their beliefs; when he shot someone, he wanted the person dead.

  Spread out over the stage, they waited for several minutes and did not hear anything. Then Bruce yelled out, “If there is anyone back there, come out with hands held high, or we will start throwing grenades back there.”

  “Don’t shoot us, please. It’s only two women and five kids back here. The officer would not let us leave when the school was overrun. He kept telling us he would kill us,” a female voice with a Spanish accent called out.

  “Just come out with your hands up. We are not here to hurt you, but the dead asshole laying out here threatened us,” Bruce replied.

  “Okay. Don’t shoot. We are coming out,” a different female voice answered.

  A small group walked out from the left side of the stage. True to the first voice, it was two women and five kids who all looked the same age. As they looked at the people pointing guns at the
m, terror was on each of their faces. Bruce motioned for everyone to lower their weapons. He noticed that Alex and Angela were the last ones to lower.

  “Is there anyone else back there?” Bruce asked.

  “No, it was just us. There was another officer, but he went outside to get more guns this morning and has not come back,” the younger of the two replied. She was about five feet, six inches tall, and slim, and you could see the Hispanic bloodline in her. She had long black hair that came to her waist and large black eyes. Bruce noticed a swollen mark on her cheek when he looked the women over.

  The other woman was older, and Bruce would find out later that she was sixty and her name was Lynn Robbs. The younger one was Maria Costanzia, and she was thirty. Both were teachers at the school, which was a middle school. Bruce told Mike to check out the back and be careful. Bruce turned to Lynn and told her to give them a brief overview of what had happened here.

  Lynn started telling the group, “Two days ago the school was overrun with infected. When the infected got in, Maria and I grabbed these kids and were heading to the buses like we had been told. As we were running down the hall, two policemen forced us into the auditorium. There was a man with us then, the janitor. The officers shot him yesterday when he refused to run to their vehicles and bring back the guns inside of them. This morning, the other officer tried to sneak out, but we heard some screams. The other officer looked like he was going mad. He kept fondling Maria, and when she tried to stop him, he hit her. That’s when we heard something in the hallway, and bullets started coming through the door. The officer told us to get back behind the stage. Then one of you shot him, and here we are.”

  Maria then walked over, kicking the dead officer’s body and talking Spanish. Bruce was sure whatever she was saying was not nice. Mike came back and reported that the back was clear.