Blue Plague The Fall

by Watson, Thomas A.

  He and Buffy reloaded both the vests with the equipment and magazines. He put Mike’s pistols back with the suppressors on. He put the XDM in the cross draw with the suppressor. He left out the 1911 with the suppressor and all the magazines. Next, he put the ballistic vest under the tactical vest. Then Bruce put the slings back on the rifles and started putting small drops of oil on all the weapons.

  Mike walked up with the kids, and all were sweating. Mike looked at Bruce working the actions of the weapons and asked if they were leaving.

  Bruce calmly looked at Mike, stating, “Are you fucking insane? Carroll is fixing supper for us, and we are not leaving until we eat. Be damned if I’m getting hit with a switch.” Mike said he forgot as he sat down at the table.

  Everyone continued to get the gear ready, from polishing boots to loading magazine pouches and getting packs ready. By 5 p.m., everything was loaded and ready except for the nineteen people still in underwear sitting on the picnic tables. When Marcus came out of the house, Bruce called him over.

  “Can we stay in your barn tonight, please?” Bruce asked.

  “You can stay in the house,” Marcus said.

  “The barn, please. That way if something happens to one, the other will be able to help,” Bruce said.

  “Not put all your eggs in one basket, it’s fine with me. I will get you some blankets,” he said, walking back to the house.

  Marcus came out of the house carrying a very big stack of blankets. “Here you go,” he said, putting them on the table.

  “Do you know what this is Marcus, and have you used one?” Bruce asked, holding up the 1911.

  “Colt 1911 with a suppressor. I was in Nam Bruce, and yes, I have used one several times,” Marcus told him.

  “Here,” Bruce said, putting it in his hand.

  “Bruce, I can’t take this. It must have cost a fortune,” Marcus replied, staring at the gun.

  “It’s a gift from me to you, and yes, it is expensive, over three thousand dollars altogether. It would make me feel better knowing you had something more than a silenced .22,” Bruce said.

  “Bruce, I’m sorry. I can’t take this; you might need it,” Marcus said, trying to hand it back.

  “Marcus, if you give it back, I’m going to tell Carroll you told everyone she farts in her sleep and made everyone laugh at her,” Bruce told him.

  “You wouldn’t,” Marcus said, looking at Bruce with fear on his face. “Okay, I’ll take it, and thank you. She does fart something awful in her sleep,” Marcus admitted.

  “After we make it home and the world calms down little, I will bring you some real weapons,” Bruce promised him.

  Moose jumped up, growling, looking toward the driveway. Bruce grabbed his SCAR and one magazine and took off to the front yard. Two hundred yards down the driveway they saw an infected heading toward them. The way it was moving, they knew it was a blue walker. Mike ran up beside Bruce, looking down the driveway. Bruce told him to take it; he would never admit it, but Mike was a better shot at long range than he was.

  Mike kneeled down on one knee, taking aim. Bruce held up his middle finger toward the blue as Mike squeezed the trigger four times in rapid succession. The infected dropped.

  “That’s cheating,” Bruce said.

  “Eat me,” Mike replied as the rest of the group came around the house.

  “Is your gate closed?” Paul asked Marcus.

  “No, if the boys are not here tomorrow, I will close it. I’m worried that if I close it, and they are in a hurry…” Marcus said, leaving it open.

  Bruce was damn sure not going to tell him to close it. Turning around, Bruce saw everyone had followed them, and they had their weapons. Bruce told everyone to grab their stuff and carry it to the loft in the barn, seeing no other threats. They walked back to the picnic tables to get their stuff. Laughter was gone out of their faces with the arrival of the infected.

  Chapter 37

  The group was in the loft of the barn, each claiming an area. The four boys had laid blankets out side by side as the girls had done. Each one had a new staff by his or her side. Everyone had their clothes and boots at the foot of their makeshift beds and their weapons lying on the blankets. Everyone was just sitting around in their underwear in the oppressive heat. Mike and Bruce were sitting and talking in the open loft door, looking down at the land from thirty feet up. Bruce had told everyone not to put on shoes so their feet and boots could dry out. Everyone took that as “stay barefoot in underwear.”

  Bruce turned around and saw Angela catch Cade, taking him back to the blanket that she and Alex had spread out. Bruce saw her limping and did not know which foot she was favoring. He called her over as he stood up.

  Angela walked over barefoot in her bra and panties, looking up at Bruce.

  “What, Bruce?” she said, just wanting to lie down. She hurt in places she never knew existed.

  “Sit,” he said and pointed to the chair. After she sat down, Bruce got on his knees and said, “Give me your left foot.”

  “Jesus, my feet again? We have got to get you home to your wife,” Angela said, blowing him off.

  “Foot, now,” Bruce said with iron in his voice, snapping his fingers. She lifted her left foot up to his hands. Bruce saw a blister that ran from her heel to the mid-foot; for a foot that was only a size four and a half, that was a huge blister. Then, looking at her little painted toes, Bruce saw several blisters on the ends of several of them. He looked at her with a scowl.

  “They are only blisters, Bruce,” she said. Mike came over, looking at her foot then at her with disappointment. “Now you have a foot fetish too, Mike? I really worry about you two––all these women running around half naked, and you two look at my feet,” Angela exclaimed. Mike walked to his and Bruce’s packs, digging a flat wide plastic box out of each.

  “Other foot,” Bruce said, and she lifted it up to him. It had several blisters also. He opened the first aid kit that Mike had dug out and started tending to her feet.

  Mike called Ben over and had him sit in the chair and looked at his feet. He also had several blisters. He and Bruce went to work cleaning, popping, and putting moleskin over the areas. Bruce finished with Angela first and told her she could leave; she stood up, kissing him on the head.

  “I’m only going to let you play with my feet from now on,” she promised, walking off as Bruce just shook his head and called Buffy over.

  He and Mike checked everyone’s feet except Jim’s, and everyone except Bruce, Mike, the Stewarts, and the toddlers had blisters. When they were finished, they put up the first aid kits. They heard Susan say ‘no’ pretty loudly and turned around. Jim was spreading a blanket beside her.

  “You are not sleeping by me, Jim. I don’t want you anywhere near me or the kids,” Susan told him.

  “You are my wife, and these are my kids. You will do as I say. If I say we leave this group then that’s what we will do. I have let you get away with a lot because I know this has been stressful,” he told her as he reached out, grabbing a handful of her hair. Jim continued, “From now on, you will do as I say as you always have. These people are nothing but trash, and when the government gets things back under control, I’m going to sue some of them for everything they have. Now, you will shut your mouth and spread out my blanket,” he said, pulling her hair.

  Bruce was tired and not in the mood. He took a step toward Jim and Susan when a hand grabbed his arm. Turning, he saw Mike holding his arm. Bruce looked down at Mike’s hand then up at Mike. Mike held up his other hand for Bruce to wait.

  “Get your fucking hand off me,” Susan said, slapping him and then hitting his arm. Jim let go, stunned by her attack and took a step back. Susan reached down, picking up Joshua and Cassandra and ran to Bruce and Mike.

  “Can I sleep between you two tonight?” she asked, looking at them.

  “Sure you can, Susan. You and the kids get on our blankets, but don’t let Cassandra touch the guns; they are loaded,” Mike told her, smiling a
t her. She jumped on the blankets beside Buffy that Bruce and Mike had laid out side by side for their beds. She sat down holding Joshua in one arm and little Cassandra in the other. Cassandra had her arms around Susan’s neck.

  “Bitch, you come here now. Don’t make me come and get you,” Jim called after her.

  “I want to see this,” Cheryl said, sitting up.

  “Shut up, you country hick bitch,” Jim said.

  “That’s my wife, you asshole,” Paul said, standing up and balling up his fist.

  “Oh, shut up, you stupid-ass dirt farmer, or I will sue you, too. I just don’t think I would get more than five dollars for your cow-shit-covered farm,” Jim told him with his crooked grin.

  Paul stepped toward Jim when Mike called out, “Paul, hold on for a minute, please.”

  “Mike, he has insulted my family,” Paul said in a dangerous tone.

  “Family, huh? Bunch of rejects,” Jim said.

  “Wait, Paul,” Mike said forcefully. Mike turned to look at Susan and asked her, “Do you want to go with him?”

  “Never again,” she said. “I will never let him hurt me or Cassandra again.”

  Mike turned to Bruce, releasing his arm. “Sic him,” Mike said like someone would tell an attack dog.

  “Paul, I would take a step back if I were you,” Mike said as Bruce started walking toward Jim.

  Paul saw the look on Bruce’s face and took several steps back. He did not want to get caught in the storm walking to this end of the loft. He motioned Cheryl back as they cleared the area as Bruce approached.

  “Don’t even try to threaten me anymore, fuckwad. I’m telling the cops you killed those people on the road and those soldiers at the hospital. Then all those infected that Homeland Security said only the military and police could deal with. Any private citizen caught shooting an infected would be dealt with in the courts. You don’t look like military or police to me, just a muscle-bound asshole that carries a gun,” Jim said to Bruce as he walked toward him, stopping in front of him. Jim had dealt with this type of person before. He just had to threaten them with a lawsuit and prison then they backed down. Wishing he had done this earlier, Jim smiled at Bruce. He watched Bruce look him up and down. Using the same tone he used in court, Jim knew he had intimidated the asshole. Bruce was just standing in front of him breathing hard. Jim continued smiling at him, letting Bruce know he was not scared.

  “I know you and Mike are fucking Susan, and I can tell you that really does not bother me. Hell, I have let a few clients fuck that whore. What does bother me is I trained the bitch, and you think you can take away my toy. Let me tell you about that bitch Susan. I found her four years ago working in a shithole diner. She was a whore then like she is now. All women are whores, but I trained that whore, and she is mine. I had to beat her like I have beaten other people,” Jim said, wanting Bruce to know he had delivered his own pain. Jim looked at Bruce. Seeing an angry expression and heavy breathing, Jim mistook it for fear.

  Jim kept his grin, knowing he had to keep at the idiots to intimidate them, then they all would be scared of him. He would keep Mike around, but Jim knew he would have to kill Bruce soon after he took control. Mike always did what Bruce said, so Jim knew he had to get Bruce under control first, making Bruce scared of him. After Mike started listening to him, then he would kill Bruce. Jim wished he had done this from the start, but he had admitted, sitting outside today, that he was scared earlier. Not anymore. This group was just another client he had to get control of. Jim continued looking back and forth from Bruce to Mike.

  “That bitch could not even give me a son first. Let me tell you, she got the beating of her life when we got back from hospital. Then I had a revelation I could use the little bitch like I used her mother. In another few years, I can use Cassandra to get more,” Jim said with a chuckle. He wanted these people to know that what he could do to his own was what he could do to them without a thought.

  “Then Joshua came––my protégé. The bitch had finally done something right. I will train him to be just like me then better. I have an empire of over sixty million, so I have power. With that power, I can take anything you have or will ever have. This will end, and the government will get everything back to the way it was. You can’t kill or hurt me anymore because someone will talk, just like how everyone here has bragged about what you have done. Then you will pay for anything you do to me,” Jim said, looking into Bruce’s face. He had to let them know he had lots of money and power; that always intimidated simple people.

  “Now, I might forget some things if I’m put in charge now and you do what I say even after we get to this shithole of a farm. So start doing what I say now, and I might even let you keep your farm. I will even let you fuck Susan sometimes if you do a good job. I might even let you fuck some of these other bitches. But your first order is to bring that bitch back down here,” Jim told him as his smile turned into a grin. “Now, idiot,” Jim told Bruce.

  Bruce looked Jim up and down. Jim was wearing his torn slacks, dress shirt, and loafers. Bruce looked up to his face when Jim called him an idiot and saw the grin. Bruce smiled an evil grin that would have made Satan shiver.

  Jim saw Bruce’s smile and knew he had him. Bruce was scared of him like he should be. Tonight was going to be a good night. After he put Susan back in her place, he just might have Angela or Maria. He would have Bruce and Mike keep the others under control.

  “Take off your clothes,” Bruce told him in a voice that could have come out of a grave.

  “Fuck you. I’m going to beat the shit out of her before I fuck her,” Jim yelled, thinking Bruce just wanted to fuck her first. “Now do what I told…” Jim started to say as Bruce palm punched him in the stomach, sending him ten feet down the loft. Jim collapsed, holding his stomach and coughing.

  “Take off your clothes,” Bruce said again.

  “I’m going to sue you then you are going to prison…” Jim was saying as Bruce kneeled down beside him and started hitting him with finger strikes over the body’s pressure points. The blows were landing so fast the group could barely follow Bruce’s hands. Starting at Jim’s head, the hits went down his body, ending at his knees. Bruce stopped and stood up with his evil grin.

  “Stop please, stop please,” Jim said in a whimper, crying. He had never felt pain like this before; his whole being hurt.

  “Take your clothes off,” Bruce told him.

  “I’m sorry. Please stop,” Jim pleaded, knowing he should have beat that bitch first to show Bruce he could hurt others, too. Then the pain started again.

  Bruce started kicking the areas that would not break bones, only deliver pain. Punishment would come later; humiliation would come now. After Bruce had finished the flurry of kicks, Jim had been moved halfway back to Mike.

  “Take off your clothes,” Bruce repeated with the grin still on his face.

  “Why?” Jim managed to get out. “I won’t do anything to you, I promise, just quit,” he begged Bruce.

  “I’m going to rape you right here, right now,” Bruce said, like he was giving someone the time of day. “I know you will never hurt anyone again. I’m going to hurt you in ways you never dreamed of,” Bruce told him, feeling the rage coming at him in waves, crashing over his body. It felt like ecstasy.

  “Bruce, you can’t rape him. That is humiliating and demeaning another human,” Lynn said.

  “Just what this sack of shit has done to others his whole life. Let’s see if he likes it. Now shut the fuck up and sit down. Justice is here,” Bruce told her, and Lynn quickly sat back down, feeling the anger on her just for a few seconds. “Take off your clothes,” Bruce said, looking back down at Jim.

  “Please don’t. I will do whatever you say. Please don’t rape me,” Jim said, crying. This always worked before, but this man did not care. The pain was unbearable shooting through his body.

  “Take your clothes off,” Bruce said, and he kneeled down beside Jim starting the finger strikes again. Jim could not
yell out because it hurt too much to move and breathe. He could only manage small gasping pleas for mercy. But mercy had taken the day off.

  Bruce stopped the strikes and said, “The only way for the pain to stop is for you to take your clothes off.”

  Jim moaned, “Okay, but please stop.” Jim struggled to pull his clothes off. Fighting through the pain with each movement, Jim continued his task. That pain did not compare to the pain of Bruce hitting him.

  Once Jim pulled off his clothes, Bruce said, “Now bend over and tell me you want me to rape you.”

  “Never,” Jim said, and the pain started again as Bruce started hitting again.

  Bruce stopped and said, “I’m waiting.”

  “Rape me, please, but stop hitting me,” Jim said in a weak crying voice.

  Everyone just sat and stared in awe and fear. They had just watched Bruce beat a man into submission then beg to be raped just to stop the pain. Ben stood up.

  “I want to rape him, too,” Ben said, looking at Jim.

  “Ben,” Maria said.

  “For what he said to John in the swamp,” Ben said.

  Marty jumped up. “I want to rape him, too. What do I have to do?” Marty said, looking to everyone for guidance.

  “Sit down, you two,” Mike told them.

  “What about what he said to John?” Ben said.

  “It’s being dealt with,” Mike said.

  Bruce looked down at Jim; he was on his knees with his head on the floor. Bruce reached down, grabbing Jim’s scrotum. Jim let out a yell as Bruce squeezed and said, “Make another noise, and I will rip it off and make you eat it.” Jim immediately shut his mouth, and Bruce relaxed his grip.

  “Now crawl to Susan,” Bruce said. Jim took off on his hands and knees with Bruce keeping a firm grip. Jim crawled over in front of Susan.

  “Now beg her for forgiveness, and apologize,” Bruce said. Jim did as instructed.

  “Now go to John,” Bruce said, and Jim crawled to John.