Blue Plague: Rage

by Watson, Thomas A

  “Sure Dad, but we need to start training them today. You know how much they have to learn,” Jake said.

  “Well after we leave I suggest you start with what you have,” Bruce told him.

  “Why not wait a few more days Bruce?” Mike offered.

  “No, as long as they can hit something at four hundred yards we can work on more later. There is killing that needs to be done,” Bruce said grinning. Mike gave up trying to postpone the departure as Bruce continued. “Let’s do this people, I want assholes and elbows, let get to work,” Bruce said.

  Omega met in squads then went to work. Bruce walked out with Mike and heard a jet engine off in the west field. Bruce turned and saw an A-10 take off. “We have Warthogs and you didn’t tell me!” Bruce screamed at Mike.

  “Well, I wanted it to be a surprise,” Mike said grinning.

  “Get me a fucking ride here now!” Bruce screamed into his radio. Four buggies and two Hummers pulled up to the Center almost causing a pile up.

  Bruce jumped in one and just pointed at the west runway yelling. Mike jumped in followed by Angela and Stephanie. The driver sped through the west gate as Bruce continued to scream as another Warthog took off. Grabbing the driver by the shoulders, Bruce screamed louder, shaking him. Luckily for the driver, he figured out that meant faster. When they reached the runway the driver just stopped. Bruce looked at the log fence where the airplanes were kept and started screaming and pointing at it.

  “He wants you to drive us to the damn planes!” Mike yelled over Bruce’s screams.

  The driver stomped on the gas heading to the plane storage area with the crazy man still screaming only stopping to take a breath. When the driver pulled through the gate he stopped in front of four, A-10s. Bruce jumped out of the Hummer and ran to the first one wrapping his arms around the front landing gear.

  “Girls, close your eyes. I think he’s going to molest it,” Mike said.

  They watched Bruce run up to the Gatling gun kissing it then ran around the plane yelling. The three slowly climbed out of the Hummer as Bruce ran around the airplane. A pilot walked over to them watching Bruce.

  “Shit, I thought I loved this plane,” the pilot said.

  Mike looked at the pilot, “You have no idea.”

  “I take it, that’s Bruce,” the pilot asked.

  “Yes, that is the great Bruce,” Angela said watching Bruce.

  “You guys aren’t going to leave him here are you?” the pilot asked, a little nervous.

  “No, because he would try to fly one,” Stephanie said.

  The pilot laughed, “You’re kidding right?” he asked. All three just looked at him with flat stares. “Well, I’m just going to teach my class a little early then,” he said walking away fast.

  “Who’s going to tell him he can’t fly one yet?” Mike asked.

  Stephanie walked over to Bruce who was just yelling as he looked at the plane. “Bruce-, Bruce-, BRUCE!” Stephanie screamed.

  Bruce stopped yelling and looked at her. For a brief second Stephanie was reminded of the looks PJ gave her when he wanted something. “You can’t fly it yet and they only have one seat,” Stephanie said as Bruce just yelled pointing at the cockpit. “Bruce, you’re too big to ride in someone’s lap,” Stephanie told him. Bruce looked down dejected.

  Angela ran over standing by Stephanie, “Bruce, will you tell us about the airplane but please don’t yell I can’t understand and we really want to know about it?” Angela asked.

  Bruce grinned and ran over to them grabbing each by the hand walking around the plane. For two hours Bruce talked about the high wing aspect, the ordinance capabilities, the top speed, flight characteristics, armor distribution, system redundancy and the list went on and on. Stephanie just looked at him in amazement. Mike was just watching with an open mouth. They had gotten Bruce to shut up and calm down.

  When they came over to Mike, he was still in shock as Bruce asked, “How did y’all train people on these so fast?”

  “Some of the people we brought in were already trained and they flew them baby,” Angela told him.

  “Do we have the ordinance to put on them?” Bruce asked grinning.

  “Yes baby, that’s what those two planes just took off for. They’re running over to Dallas and testing the weapons and before you ask, yes I put a UAV over there just so you can watch,” Stephanie told him.

  “I love you two!” Bruce told them, then looked up at Mike who was still in shock. “What’s wrong with Mike?” Bruce asked.

  “He just got over a headache baby,” Angela told him.

  “I noticed every time he gets around new weapons he gets a headache,” Bruce pointed out.

  “He just gets real happy baby. Now come on you promised the twins a horseback ride today. You go to work, we’ll get the kids and meet you at the horses at 1500,” Angela told him.

  They pulled Mike into the Hummer and headed back to the farm. Bruce was sitting in the front passenger seat with Angela and Stephanie in his lap. When they reached the farm Bruce got out and headed to his shop. Mike got out and stopped the two before they could leave.

  “It took Debbie years to do that,” Mike told them.

  “Well she taught us how,” Angela said.

  “Well show me!” Mike demanded.

  “It won’t work for you Mike, I’m sorry,” Stephanie informed him. Mike left feeling let down. “Poor Mike,” Stephanie said as they went to mission control.

  Bruce walked into the shop and had to admit it was clean after his playtime with Warren and friends. Walking around Bruce started pulling out stuff for his own project. In an hour he was welding and cutting metal. ‘This is going to be so cool,’ Bruce grinned.

  Saturday morning the clan was out to see Omega off. Bruce was standing at his RG looking at the twins inside. “No you can’t come with Daddy,” Bruce told them.

  “Daddy, we’ll stay inside,” Emily promised.

  “Who’s going to help Mama Angela and Mama Stephanie take care of PJ?” Bruce asked.

  “Daddy, please!” Sherry whined.

  “No girls, now come on, Daddy has to go,” Bruce told them holding out his arms. They put on pouty faces walking to Bruce. As he lifted them out Bruce told them, “I’ll bring both of you a surprise if you help with PJ.”

  “Really?” they said together.

  Jake walked up behind them, “I will too,” he said. They ran over and hugged him then ran back to Bruce hugging him.

  “Daddy, I thought German Shepherds were supposed to be smart?” Buffy asked, telling Max to get in the RG.

  “They are smart,” Bruce told her.

  “Dad, Max smells his own poop. That’s not smart,” Buffy told him.

  Bruce laughed, “Give bye love, so we can leave,” Bruce told her. Buffy ran over giving bye love to the family and her friend Julie.

  Bruce looked at Angela and Stephanie, “If you need me call me,” he told them.

  “Be careful big guy,” Angela told him pulling him down to kiss him.

  “I will,” Bruce told her as Stephanie came over.

  “Baby, we will miss you and if you need us, call okay,” Stephanie told him as she kissed him.

  “I’ll miss you too,” Bruce said then looked at Mike. “I will try to be back in two weeks,” Bruce told him.

  “Okay Bruce,” Mike said, expecting Bruce was going to be gone longer than that.

  It would be over three weeks before Bruce brought Omega back.

  Chapter 15

  Omega had left two hours ago as Angela and Stephanie were cleaning the bedroom getting laundry ready. As Angela pulled the sheets and blankets off the bed she stopped, “Stephanie, what did Debbie tell you about sex and Bruce in your letters?” she asked.

  “She said to push it,” Stephanie replied dropping a pile of towels from the bathroom in the floor.

  “That’s what she told me to,” Angela admitted. “But it doesn’t feel right,” Angela said.

  “I know, but I don’t
need it anyway,” Stephanie said walking back to the bathroom.

  “How in the hell can you say that?” Angela demanded.

  “I have no idea how anyone can have more than one orgasm!” Stephanie yelled from the bathroom.

  “What about Bruce?” Angela asked.

  Stephanie poked her head out, “What about him?” she asked.

  “Stephanie, you’ve been around him more than me. That man is, or was, a walking hormone,” Angela said.

  “Well that was with Debbie,” Stephanie pointed out.

  “Ah, if I’m not mistaken, we are his wives,” Angela reminded her.

  “Well we’re here if he needs that,” Stephanie told her.

  “What I’m asking you is how do we force it?” Angela said.

  Stephanie thought about it and said, “I don’t know.”

  Angela shook her head, “Stephanie, how far are you on Debbie’s journals?” she asked.

  “She is now in tenth grade and let me tell you that girl could plan. She wrote how she and Bruce went skinny dipping and she wanted to jump him but they just played,” Stephanie told her.

  “How many journals are there?” Angela asked.

  “Six hundred and twenty four, Debbie averaged about twenty a year so far,” Stephanie told her.

  “You’ve only read five years’ worth?” Angela asked.

  “Yeah, I’m taking my time, this is important,” Stephanie said.

  “Stephanie, I want you to read today. I’ll do the laundry,” Angela told her.

  “Why?” Stephanie asked.

  “You’re missing important stuff,” Angela told her grabbing a pile of laundry heading out the door. Stephanie shrugged her shoulders and climbed up on the bed, grabbing the journal she had just started on the previous night and started reading.

  Angela carried the laundry down and started it, then walked back about to walk upstairs but stopped. Instead she walked into the game room and looked above the fireplace at Debbie’s urn. “I’m really trying and so is Stephanie. I hope we’re doing what you wanted. Bruce isn’t coping very well but he’s trying. I miss you very much Debbie and so does Stephanie. I can promise you for the both of us, if it takes us forever we will try to make Bruce happy,” Angela said out loud. Then a sense of peace came over Angela. She smiled and closed her eyes and for a brief second she felt close to Debbie again.

  Mike was down in mission control watching the convoy about to hit Ruston. “Well, what’s your opinion of Bruce’s battle plan?” Mike asked Marcus.

  “Oh it’s a great plan and it needs to be done,” Marcus said.

  “You know what I mean, Marcus,” Mike said.

  “Mike, I can tell you from experience that with the hate Bruce has now, there isn’t enough on this planet for him to kill. He really believes that if he kills enough the hate will stop,” Marcus told him.

  “He was acting a lot better,” Mike said.

  “I told you, that was an act,” Marcus replied.

  “Well it was good,” Mike confessed.

  “Of course it was, but he’s going to start letting it slip. I can say the only people that are safe from Bruce are inside this fence,” Marcus told Mike.

  “How did you beat it?” Mike asked.

  “A young girl that I thought didn’t even know my name came over and asked why I hadn’t come over and ask to marry her. I loved her from the moment I saw her but barely talked to her,” Marcus answered. Carroll reached over grabbing Marcus’s hand squeezing it.

  “How long did it take the hate to leave?” Mike asked.

  “That day she came over. I realized that I had more than hate to live for. But the memories never leave, and neither does the guilt,” Marcus told him.

  “How do you live with it?” Mike asked.

  “You make peace with it. Some days are worse than others,” Marcus admitted.

  Mike looked at Marcus, “You’ve done stuff like Bruce is doing?” he asked.

  “Yes Mike, just not on that scale,” Marcus replied.

  “So we might get him back, but he could be off, mentally?” Mike asked.

  “No he’ll either make peace with it or die. You don’t live with it,” Marcus said.

  Mike looked down dejected as Carroll spoke, “Mike, it be Bruce’s battle not ours. All we can do is carry on and be here for ‘im.”

  “I understand Carroll, it doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Mike replied.

  “They gettin’ ready,” Carroll said pointing at the monitor.

  Bruce was in the lead RG with Danny, Buff and Mindy. They had a driver and a radio operator in the front of the RG. Jake and David were in the LAV behind him. Bruce turned around looking at the convoy as he keyed his radio.

  “Okay, the interstate is clear, we’ll roll through. Try not to blow shit up, I don’t want gangs to hear us. They might run and I’m not in the mood to chase them. First platoon up front, second platoon to the rear, support in the middle. When we roll through we all engage after we clear town, we slow down and second will engage as they chase. Intel says thirty thousand so let’s get some,” Bruce called out.

  The convoy slowed to forty-five as they entered and the blues came out to play. Bruce brought up his M-4 and started throwing hate. Waves of blues charged the convoy but were cut down with steady fire as the convoy rolled along. Several blues even made it to the vehicles but all they could say if they could talk was, they touched them.

  When the convoy reached the other side of Ruston, Bruce had gone through sixty-two magazines. Bruce shot a few more blues that came out of the woods along the interstate but the road ahead was more or less clear.

  Bruce keyed his radio, “Willie, how many behind us?” Bruce asked.

  “Not many boss, I’m guessing maybe a thousand or so,” Willie reported.

  Bruce changed channels keying his radio again, “Base, this is Big Daddy One over.”

  “This is Big Daddy Two,” Mike called back.

  “Did we miss some or did they run away?” Bruce asked.

  “Ah, no. They came out and y’all killed them. There are some walkers and I see several joggers and they’re trying to catch you, but other than that, nothing,” Mike told him.

  “Mike, there’s no way we just wasted thirty thousand,” Bruce replied.

  “Bullshit! Bruce, I’m looking at the bodies and it may not be thirty but it’s over twenty thousand,” Mike told him.

  Just then Willie came over the radio, “We’re clear boss.”

  “See what I mean Bruce, y’all have gotten good at killing,” Mike said.

  Bruce grinned keying the radio to Omega, “Change of plans, we’re rolling hard to Monroe. Reload all magazines, if we can go through twenty that easy let’s see what fifty thousand takes us.”

  Bruce dropped down to help load magazines as the radio operator picked up brass filling a bucket. Looking at Danny, Buffy and Mindy he saw they used almost as many magazines as he did. If they were still shooting at ninety percent that meant his track alone killed over five thousand. Looking at his watch Bruce started laughing hard making the others look at him with weird looks. Not able to resist Bruce keyed the radio.

  “Hey, just wanted to let everyone know, that engagement only lasted sixteen minutes and base reports twenty thousand down. I don’t know about the rest of you, but that makes me want to pinch my nipples,” Bruce told the rest of Omega.

  “We are so fucking bad it should be illegal!” Carl called back.

  “Look up ass whopping in the dictionary and it says Omega,” Ted called.

  Back at the farm everyone was still staring at the monitors after Mike finished talking to Bruce. They had called out contact was made but by the time most made it to mission control it was over. Paul summed it up the best.

  “Fuck me,” Paul declared.

  “I don’t know why everyone is so shocked,” Stephanie said.

  “Stephanie, they just waded through twenty five to thirty thousand blues and didn’t even slow down,” Bill said.
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  “Bill, they fought hundreds of thousands in south Louisiana. If they’re keeping the same kill ratio, which I’ll try to confirm later, with the extra members you’re talking five thousand dead a minute at least,” Stephanie told him. Everyone just looked at her.

  “Has anyone looked at the video from the night that gang attacked us?” Stephanie asked. No one said anything as she continued, “Well I did. When Debbie unleashed Bruce, I can show you, Bruce moving through them taking out seventy-nine inside the fence. Then twenty-two outside the fence plus eleven blues and what you have to remember is, Bruce wounded most of them just so they would scream for Debbie. That’s what’s out there leading Omega.”

  “Fuck me,” Paul said again.

  “Stephanie, how big of a horde would it take to wipe out Omega?” Mike asked.

  “That’s a rhetorical question with many answers,” Stephanie answered shaking her head.

  “Stephanie, just answer it!” Mike snapped.

  “Well if all the trucks broke down and they could only fire half their weapons, a horde of a hundred thousand could take them out. Then if some got sick and half the trucks worked and most of the weapons jammed a few thousand could do it. If they become trapped a horde of a quarter of a million could do it. If everything works right and they can move it would take a horde of five million to over run them. Ammunition and their ability to move would be the deciding factor,” Stephanie answered.

  “Fuck me,” Paul said.

  “I will later tonight,” Cheryl told Paul, patting his leg.

  “Can I speak to Stephanie and Angela alone please?” Mike asked and everyone left. “Stephanie, what are you trying to tell me?” Mike asked.

  “You know why Debbie sacrificed herself so why are you having trouble accepting how good Bruce is at killing?” Stephanie asked.

  “Stephanie-,” was all Mike could say.

  “Mike, look at it like this, okay? Did Bruce go off into the land killing shit while Debbie was here, no. Bruce didn’t want to leave her. She knew what was coming if she died, her only fear is being lived out now. Bruce is doing it for joy, not really to protect us. And I will tell you something Mike, knowing what I know now. I would still want Debbie here, fuck the world,” Stephanie confessed.