“Well, did we do any good?” Stephanie asked.
“Oh I think we did lots of good. I was really feeling sorry for making Bruce blush so much,” Angela admitted.
“He didn’t try anything,” Stephanie pointed out.
“No, but he lost that haunted look in his eyes and at times I could tell Bruce really wanted to stay here. Then I could see his eyes glass over again,” Angela told her.
“I thought that was just because we were teasing him all the time,” Stephanie stated.
“It was but he could see that we were doing it out of love for him,” Angela told her.
Stephanie grabbed Angela’s hand, “Angela, do you think if we made the ultimatum like Debbie did, would Bruce would choose us?” she asked with hope.
“To be honest I don’t think so, not yet anyway,” Angela told her as they walked toward the house.
“When he painted our toes all I could think about is how much I loved him,” Stephanie told her.
“Me to,” Angela said, then grinned. “We need to plan out each day that Bruce is here like that,” Angela told Stephanie.
Thinking about it, Stephanie smiled, “I can do that,” she told Angela.
In mission control Mike, Nancy, Carroll and Marcus were watching the two walking back to the house holding hands on the large monitor. The kids were running around them laughing. Mike turned around to the group.
“Well Marcus, did you notice a difference in Bruce before he left?” Mike asked with hope.
Shaking his head Marcus answered, “No Mike, but I can say those two kept him so off balance he couldn’t focus his hate.”
“I wish there was a way we could make him stay here,” Nancy said as she sat down.
“If there was a way I believe those two could do it by themselves. I think Bruce would surrender just to get some peace,” Marcus told them.
“I agrees with Marcus. Hate may have a hold on Bruce, but it don’t have his soul yet. Them kids along with Angela and Stephanie won’t be goin’ down without a fight,” Carroll said.
“So, Marcus what can we expect from him on this trip?” Mike asked but didn’t really want the answer.
Taking a deep breath as he sat down Marcus answered, “More of the same but he’ll be getting more violent with his engagements. He wants to bring more pain. If you’ve noticed each time he gets out that’s what he’s done. I just want him to stop before he hits a big city.”
“Yes I’ve noticed that each time he goes out but in each attack Bruce gets just a little more violent,” Mike said. “Why are you worried about a big city now, they’ve already hit Baton Rouge and New Orleans,” Mike asked.
“Mike, those cities don’t have the muti-millions like the big cities do. What worries me is Bruce may want to slaughter the horde and get cut off and over run. Because he wants to kill,” Marcus told him.
“Well we’ll jump off that bridge with Bruce when we get to it. How can we help him now?” Mike asked.
“Keep doing what we’ve been doing. Don’t let Angela or Stephanie do too much so they can bug him. I think every third day we need to have a mail run to the troops. I think those two can write books in three days,” Marcus told him.
Mike nodded his head in agreement as Carroll asked, “How’s Willie doing?”
Mike looked at her as he answered, “I’ve talked to him several times and he’s taking it real hard. Willie told me he didn’t know what came over him that day but that blue female just tore at him. Willie told me now he could burn the bitch himself but that day he couldn’t.”
“He’s goin’ to be alright then?” Carroll asked.
“I think so, his wife is there for him,” Mike told her.
“I’ll stop by and talks to ‘im today,” Carroll told Mike.
Nancy grabbed Mike’s hand, “What kind of numbers of blues did Stephanie put together for northeast Texas,” she asked.
“Over a million and a gang over a couple hundred strong,” Mike told her squeezing her hand.
“You don’t think Bruce will do something stupid that could get the kids hurt do you?” Nancy asked.
“If the kids get hurt it would be totally beyond his control. Bruce will do stupid shit only risking his hide,” Mike assured her.
“With that said, let’s be getting’ this here farm ready for the storm Bruce is fixin’ ta start,” Carroll told them.
Two hours later Bruce was pulling in to a roadside park an hour from Texarkana with the convoy pulling in behind him. Bruce waved his arms motioning the convoy to form a circle with the support vehicles in the center. Looking at his map Bruce looked at the gang’s location outside of Texarkana. He just wanted to go up there and monkey stomp their ass but there was a lot of blues around that would get in the way.
Looking at his map Bruce keyed his radio. “Everyone, we are staying with plan A, we hit them tonight. Check ammo and start resting your squads. Kick off time will be 0200,” Bruce called out.
“Hey boss, I’m not complaining, but there were a shit load of folks in the Texarkana metro area. If memory serves me right it was over a hundred thousand,” Carl called back over the radio.
“Hundred and fifty thousand,” Bruce corrected him.
“Boss, if the numbers stay the same that means over a hundred thousand blues just from the metro area. That camp is only thirty miles from town. If we make too much noise then we could have Marshall and Longview not to mention a shit load of small little towns,” Carl told him.
“I figure if we make too much noise we will have a mil plus on us in a few hours. If we are unlucky then Dallas could empty and head toward us. With that last moving horde there that’s over twenty million. That’s why I want to be ‘realwy, realwy qwite we are hunting wabbits’,” Bruce finished with Elmer Fudd quote and impersonation.
“Okay but if the shit hits the fan I want a raise,” Carl told Bruce.
“Denied,” Bruce shot back.
“Hey now come on,” Carl whined.
“You and Ted find you some women and y’all think you’re the sole reason for creation,” Bruce poked fun at Carl.
Ted chimed in, “Hey boss, Carl said Monica was a keeper. He told me that she throws him down and-.”
Buffy cut him off, “This is getting to stuff I really don’t want to hear.”
“Yes ma-am,” Ted called back.
Bruce chuckled keying his radio, “Well then Carl, when we get back I’ll find you some whip cream so you two can experiment.”
“Oh hell yeah, fuck it, let’s kill everything!” Carl yelled into the radio.
“Daddy, I really didn’t want to hear that. You’re being a gross adult,” Buffy told him over the radio.
“Sorry BB,” Bruce told her. “We will stop thirty miles away from the camp then at nightfall move up to it. I really don’t want many playmates, so just kill what you can,” Bruce lied.
“Who are you and where is our boss?” Conner called over the radio.
“Hey leave the clone alone for now, he promised me whipped cream,” Carl called back.
Bruce laughed as he motioned the convoy forward. The farm had UAVs over them and over the gang. The blues were active everywhere. Omega had killed several thousand just on their casual drive up to Texarkana. With all the blues out Bruce was going to pull the vehicles close to the gang. The idea of being caught in the open with a gang to his front and blues behind him didn’t appeal to Bruce.
When the convoy reached the staging area Bruce went to the RV to see what was going on at the gang’s camp. The farm was sending them a feed from the big overhead UAVs. The walls around the compound were made of cargo containers, semi-trailers and wood. There were only two towers but several areas on the wall set up as guard stations.
On the monitor Bruce could see men on the wall shooting at blues and were making some real good shots, which worried Bruce. When the camera zoomed in Bruce could see the fat end of the rifle letting him know they had suppressors. ‘Well shit’, Bruce thought looking at the sc
reen. The area they were making the approach to the camp was over a hundred yards from the tree line. In the tree line they could see a lot of blues running through the woods, a few thousand easy.
“Fuck!” Bruce screamed as he turned and kicked the wall. Those in the RV moved away not knowing how far the temper tantrum was going. Walking over to the radio operator, Bruce grabbed the mic. “This is Big Daddy One to base!” he shouted in the mic.
“This is base,” a young male voice replied.
“Get Big Daddy Two on the horn now,” Bruce snapped and started cussing then stopped. A plan started forming in his mind’s eye.
Ten minutes later Mike came over the radio, “This is Big Daddy Two.”
“Two, this is One, get the choppers warmed up. I want four Apache’s and six Blackhawks to leave and be here in an hour. Tell the crews that we’re only thirty miles away from the camp so fly at tree top level,” Bruce told him.
“What’s with the air assault?” Mike asked.
“Have you looked at the camp lately?” Bruce replied.
A few minutes later Mike came back on the radio, “Oh now I see why. What did they say to piss the blues off?” Mike asked.
“I have no idea but it just shows you that they’re rude,” Bruce snapped back.
“Hey Bruce, they’re bottled up for now why not go pick on someone else. If we’re lucky the blues will wipe them out to,” Mike told him.
“Hell no, I’m monkey stomping their asses then I’m going to start a blue slaughter. Those are my assholes, I found ‘em, the blues can go find their own!” Bruce yelled back.
“Dude you need to chill. If you keep this up I’m switching you to decaf,” Mike threatened.
“I would love to see you try butt muncher. Get me those choppers here. I’ll brief the teams and we will hit them tonight!” Bruce shouted.
“Man, I hope you get that out of your system before you come home,” Mike told him.
“This is bullshit, I wanted them and the blues are trying to take them away!” Bruce snapped.
“Well I will file a complaint. Steve just left to get the choppers warmed up,” Mike informed him.
“Get the Warthogs up and ready. If this goes south we will be facing fuck you hordes,” Bruce said, throwing the mic down.
“That is one way to put it. Bruce, I hope you know what you are doing,” Mike said.
“You tell him I know what I’m doing-, most of the time,” Bruce told the radio operator as he left the RV. The convoy was pulled in a circle again at a farm house with fields on all sides. Blues were coming to see what the noise was all about, only to be shot.
Before the choppers arrived Bruce expanded the circle so the choppers could land in the middle of the circle. When the choppers landed Bruce gathered up the pilots and squad leaders laying out his plan. Not getting any questions Bruce let everyone rest which was impossible.
The blues weren’t coming in waves but they were in respectable numbers. During the afternoon almost seven thousand were gunned down by Omega. Watching the perimeter, Bruce admitted to himself he liked driving and shooting the blues. This waiting on them sucked, they could run too fast. Hell blues ran faster than his grandma used to drive.
Three weeks ago, mission control watched a blue run from Shreveport to Dallas nonstop and got there under five hours. Two hundred miles and the blue ran the whole way never stopping. Bruce had no idea what was in Dallas but it must’ve been important. Even the best human runner could only maintain twelve miles an hour and they could only do it for thirty miles. Blues could run almost four times faster than a human and didn’t get tired. Bruce was certain blues couldn’t be outrun now, even on a horse.
As the sun dipped below the horizon the night vision gear was brought out and Bruce headed back to the RV to watch the gang’s camp with Buffy in tow. The blues had slacked off coming at Omega. Looking at the monitor Bruce found where all the blues went to. They were massing on the north side of the gang’s camp. From the UAVs pictures Bruce was guessing about forty thousand so far with more coming. Around the perimeter it was quiet but just fifteen miles to the north it was a blue Woodstock party.
Bruce started cussing again making everyone get out of his way except Buffy who just watched the tantrum. Grabbing the mic Bruce yelled, “Two, this is One you copy!”
“Yeah, I was wondering when you were going to call. The blues look like they really want those boys,” Mike told Bruce.
“Fuck’em I want those asshole’s and I’m ready to get medieval on some ass!” Bruce shouted.
“Keeping with your timetable there will be over a hundred thousand blues to the camps north. You attack the camp they could be right behind you,” Mike told him.
“Yeah I can add, but more importantly, I can subtract. Get the A-10s loaded with max weight of cluster bombs. Load all three up and send two up,” Bruce told Mike pausing to think out the attack. “With each one carrying eight clusters they can decimate the two square miles those shitwads are hiding in. Save the last Hog in case we need it to open up an escape passage,” Bruce finished.
“Well how about I send four fully loaded and hold two back,” Mike offered.
Hearing that, Bruce froze, “Where in the hell did you get three more Hog pilots?” Bruce demanded.
“Trained them, we now have eighteen A-10s and more crap to put on ‘em than you would believe,” Mike replied with a smartass smirk.
Bruce lifted the mic up and slowly keyed it, “Have you started training on them yet?” he asked.
“First flight’s in two weeks,” Mike answered knowing that would chap Bruce’s ass.
“I really hate you right now,” Bruce told Mike.
“But I love you baby, why do you have to be so mean to me?” Mike asked as several in the RV snickered.
“I’m not talking to you right now. Have the Hogs start their bomb runs when we start at 0130,” Bruce said throwing the mic on the floor.
Buffy looked up at Bruce shaking her head, her blond curls wrapping around her head. “Daddy, if you really want to fly that plane that bad let’s take some time off and you can train on it,” she offered.
“I wish I could Buffy, but I have shit to kill,” Bruce said, walking out of the RV with Buffy in tow.
Stepping down out of the RV, Bruce pulled down his NVG monocular and headed to his RG. Buffy jumped out following Bruce lowering her NVG. When Bruce reached his RG everyone was laughing from the conversation he had with Mike.
Jake paused long enough to get out, “Dad, I’ll get you a Warthog.”
Bruce just shook his head. “Son, don’t even go there,” Bruce warned.
When the laughter stopped Bruce called Matt and Mary over to his RG. Looking at Matt, Jake, Mary and Danny, “Matt and Jake, you two will start the attack let me know now if you don’t think you can get the guards on the wall,” Bruce told them.
All expression left Jake’s face. “You’re kidding right?” Jake asked and Bruce just shrugged his shoulders. “Dad it’s only a three hundred yard shot and we have no wind tonight,” Jake informed him.
“Well if you hit someone in the wrong spot with a 7.62 they can still scream,” Bruce pointed out.
“Then you have no worries. We are using the 50 cals,” Jake informed him.
“I’m not talking to you anymore either until tomorrow,” Bruce told Jake and looked at Danny and Mary.
“You two will be the only protection they have, up for it?” Bruce asked them.
“Dad, just go drink a cup of warm milk, you’re starting to worry me,” Danny told him.
“Danny, I’m not going to say it but I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Bruce told her and walked away.
Everyone readied gear and moved to their assigned area. Jake’s team would leave in the truck with Mary driving Jake and Matt in the bed with Danny covering them. They would creep up to the tree line ten minutes before kickoff. Three minutes before kickoff they would take out the tower on the west wall and the guards on the west and south wall.
The Apaches would stand out at two miles and take out the rest of the wall and tower guards with their guns. Another was assigned to shoot up the barracks. While they were firing Bruce would lead the air assault with first platoon and fifth squad from second platoon. They would set down on the wall and move into the compound. Fifth squad was going to open the gate for the rest of Omega that was moving up in the convoy.
When the Apaches opened fire the A-10s were going to drop thirty-two cluster bombs on the blues massing in the north. Bruce figured if they hit the gang hard enough, Omega would come out with minimal casualties. If the gang was not taken by surprise then it was going to turn into a slug fest. In that case Bruce was going to pull back and launch the remaining Hogs to level the camp.
At 0020 Jake’s team left and the chopper teams climbed in their choppers. Bruce called the RV to see if anything had changed. They reported the guards had changed shifts and the camp looked asleep. The last blue was shot on the perimeter three hours ago. The blues in the tree line had all moved north joining the growing horde.
At fifteen till the pilots started preflight and Bruce looked at Buffy, Mindy and David. “You three stay on my ass. It is going to be close and fast. I’m first person in the stack, then Buffy, Mindy and David, you cover our ass,” Bruce told them as the pilots started up the engines.
The rest of the convoy buttoned up with the three remaining squads spread out in the other squads RGs to cover the convoy until they left. When Bruce looked at his watch as the choppers lifted off he read 0110 and he grinned. Killing time was finally here.
Keying his radio Bruce called Jake, “Spook One and Two are you in position?” The Blackhawks pulled up to a hundred feet and hovered. Like evil birds of prey the Apaches peeled away from the pack to start the killing. With the choppers up, the convoy pulled out.
“Yeah we’re in position. Have sixteen targets in sight,” Jake called back.
Holy shit sixteen on half the wall, Bruce thought. They’d never seen that many guarding the entire compound. As if hearing Bruce’s thought’s Mike came over the radio, “We count seventeen on the north and east walls. What we think is the barracks, is full. The hostages are still in the southeast corner.”
Blue Plague: Rage Page 28