by Newman, AJ
Only ten jugs were dropped on the first pass, and seven of the homemade bombs missed their targets by half a city block. Two hit close enough to spray burning liquid on several of the men. Only one hit in the middle of the ambush. Two men ran with the liquid fire searing their skin. Three vehicles were on fire, and the group was in disarray when Jon’s aircraft flew over, dropping twenty of the plastic pipes containing explosives and packed with nuts and bolts. Most missed and only peppered the surrounding buildings, but two hit close enough to wound half a dozen of the enemy.
Jack made another bombing run from much higher, set several of the buildings on fire, and scored another Humvee. Jack radioed their friends, and soon the enemy was under attack from the west by Froggy’s men and the east by the US Army. The rogue Army unit was shredded to pieces along with a half dozen bounty hunters. Captain Johnson radioed and asked Jon to let his men mop up the area.
Jack and Jon flew back to the airport. Jon landed and called Captain Johnson. “Captain, drive up to the Lubbock airport, and we’ll meet with you there, and if we feel safe, we’ll then take you to our headquarters.”
“First, I’d like to thank you for saving us from the ambush. We have some great men, but we weren't prepared for an attack of that magnitude. My men would have won the fight but at a dear cost. Thanks again.”
“Glad to help you, but it would be nice to know why you’re in our area.”
“The Secretary of Defense has become the interim President of the USA. I’d like to set your community up to become our first outpost in Texas and expand from here. The country needs ranchers and farmers producing beef, pork, and crops as soon as possible. We can assist in getting started.”
“Good to know. We want to help out in any way possible.”
Captain Johnson said, “Give us a couple of hours. I want to handle any surviving traitors and see if we can salvage any of their weapons or vehicles.”
Jon said, “Works for us. There are a few nasty groups south of your position, but they shouldn’t bother you. We control Lubbock.”
Froggy and the others overheard the conversation between Jon and Johnson. Barbara was the most alarmed. “I’ve recently learned not to trust anyone besides my family and friends. Jon, how do we test this group to see if they have good intentions?”
Froggy’s head moved slightly side to side. “I agree, but we have to start somewhere.”
Jon had a pensive look on his face and listened to the give and take on the topic. “I have a plan. A couple of us will let it leak that we’re immune and watch their reaction. They couldn’t have more than twelve to eighteen men in those Hummers. We gear up for a fight but wind down if we like their reaction. We do this before we take them to your headquarters or the NAS.”
Froggy’s head was now nodding. “Anyone got a better idea?”
☣☣☣
Sergeant Billings cautioned his captain to be wary of the people who had just saved them from the ambush. “Sir, how do we know if these people aren’t worse than the group they slaughtered with the bombs?”
“Roy, we don’t. You have to ask yourself why they didn’t let the others attack us and weaken both groups if they wanted to harm us? It would have been safer for them.”
“Damn, I hadn’t thought of it like that. I guess that’s why you get paid the big bucks. Not that dollars are worth spit anymore.”
Captain Johnson looked over the dead men lined up on the tarmac and then asked, “Is this all of them?
“Yes, sir. We gained nineteen M4s, twenty-five 9mm, a dozen LAWs, ammunition, and three Humvees. One of them has twin SAWS, and the other has the Ma Deuce. ”
“Good, replenish what we need and keep the LAWS and the Humvees with the turret-mounted weapons. Load the rest up and be prepared to give it to these new friends.”
Johnson left half his men and vehicles outside of the airport perimeter, ready to charge in if needed. He directed his driver to drive up to the front of the terminal, where he saw several people standing. Captain Randy Johnson and his driver placed their head cover on and turned their respirators on before walking up to Jon and Barbara. He could see others of their group through the front window of the terminal.
Captain Johnson stopped six feet away from Jon. “Sorry about the spacesuits, but one can’t be too careful these days. I’m Captain Randy Johnson, and I’m pleased to meet you.”
“I’m Jon Stone, and this is my wife, Barbara. There’s no need for the spacesuits for your protection around Barbara and myself. Have you been around anyone outside of your group for a minimum of fourteen days?”
“No, we haven’t, and my group is disease-free. Why are you so sure your group is disease-free?”
Jon laughed, “I didn’t say our group is disease-free. Just Barb and I. We’re also looking for the immune colony. Barbara and I have been slowly spreading immunity by ourselves. With more immunes, we can spread it much faster.”
Johnson looked Jon in the eyes. “Our commanding general was asked to chase down the rogue army units who threw in with the scumbags who took over the CDC and began killing immune people for their blood. We have to stop them and encourage the immune people to share some of their blood to help make others immune. The Army has also been asked to help start up communities around the country to kick-start manufacturing and farming. We received intel that one of the rogue units was leaving Dallas and on the way west to search for a large colony of immune people here in Lubbock.”
Barbara stepped forward. “I’m a doctor of immunology and previously worked on finding a vaccine for the virus at the CDC in Atlanta. I escaped the rogue group months ago. Jon and I are immune, and we can assure you that the rest of our community is also free of the virus. Every newcomer to the area is placed in isolation for two weeks before releasing them. Any infected are turned away, or sorry to say, shot if they don’t leave the area.”
Captain Jonson reacted with a scowl. “How do you know you’re immune, and did you work with Doctor Green?”
Jon tensed every muscle ready to fight when Barbara said, “I know Dr. Green and worked closely with him. I was shocked to find that he worked with the rogue elites and soldiers.”
“Dr. Green didn’t work with them. He reported to one of our agents the entire time. Yes, he had to oversee the operation as directed by the crooks above him because they held several of his family hostage. He was instrumental in overthrowing the evil men above him and has been doing valuable work developing a method to make others immune. You two could be very valuable in spreading immunity.”
Jon and Barbara’s hands slid closer to their pistols. Johnson noticed. “Wait a minute. I know what happened with the murder of the immunes to make the elite immune. Dr. Green has developed a method to use blood plasma to pass on the immunity without harming the donor. One person can pass on immunity to six people every month. We only have eleven immune people. You could donate here and help your people. Later, we could send plasma to other cities.”
Barbara tapped Jon on the shoulder. “Captain Johnson, can you put me into communication with Dr. Green?”
“Yes, give me a minute,” Johnson said, before walking back to his Humvee to return with a satellite phone. He dialed a number and asked the person on the other end to patch him through to Dr. Green.”
Barbara was on the phone with the doctor for fifteen minutes while Johnson filled Jon in on the status of the country. Barbara started walking back to Jon and the captain as she talked. “Of course, I know my people are immune. I performed most of the transfusions myself. I knew the plasma process would work but didn’t have the equipment to process the blood. Send that mobile unit now. We’ll ship plasma back to you from here. No! No one wants to leave here now. You’ll have to regain our trust first.”
Jon and the captain stared at Barbara as she turned to them. “Captain, we have two hundred immune people in our group. Dr. Green is sending a mobile plasma-processing lab ASAP.”
Johnson was dumbfounded and stared at Barbara. Jon
waved for the rest of his group to join them. Johnson took his head covering off and shook Jon’s hand. “Barbara, how do you have that many immune people?”
She went into detail about how the immunes increased by a factor of one-half every three weeks in her process. She then explained how the new process yielding an increase by a factor would dramatically increase the number of immunes across the entire country.
Froggy’s head was spinning as he tried to catch up with the others. “How soon can the trucks get here with the medical equipment?”
Barbara said, “The plane will land here before sundown. More units will arrive by semis tomorrow. We have the only large cluster of immunes in the world. We’ll finish making our community immune, along with Captain Johnson’s men and women. Then we begin supplying plasma to the rest of the USA. Dr. Green thinks his team can have the process double the number of immunes from one pint of plasma to twelve in a few weeks. They have developed a process, but the recipients have to be tested for immunity in three weeks to make sure the process is still effective.”
Jon listened patiently. “How many soldiers survived? Won’t you need a large number of men to restore law and order?”
“Not really. Most of the issues were in large cities, which were wiped out by the virus. The flyover states have pockets of law-abiding citizens whose major issue is the stragglers showing up on their doorsteps with the virus. This accelerated cure will end that dilemma where they’d have to kill otherwise good people.”
Barbara added, “I forgot. If we get the plasma into a victim before the hemorrhaging starts, we can save them and make them immune.”
Captain Johnson said, “We need to get everyone immune here and then start up immune centers in Amarillo, Abilene, and Dallas/Fort Worth. We’ll also ship plasma and volunteers around the country to our strongholds to keep spreading the immunity.”
Chapter 19
Reese NAS –January 2038
Barbara and Jon sat on their deck, looking across the backyards at their friends trying to enjoy the warmer than usual night air. They each sipped a glass of cold coke with a splash of Blanton Bourbon. Jon saw Samantha and had a thought. He excused himself and climbed into Samantha’s driver’s seat with a chip in his hand. “Samantha, make a duplicate chip for Barbara. I plan to be around forever, but just in case, I want you to protect her like you’ve been doing for me. Use the same settings for her that I programmed for me.”
Jon slid the chip into the slot, and Samantha said, “Having a wife and future kids are a big responsibility. I’m happy you want me to help keep them safe.”
Jon was taken back. “What? No smart assed comments?”
“Remember, I’m programmed to know what you like and don’t like. You’re serious about this, and I’ll be serious about this new duty. Of course, I’ll still bust both your balls about other topics, but your safety is nothing to joke about.”
Jon patted her dash and took the chip when Samantha’s computer had finished programming the memory chip. Jon walked back to Barbara and held her close for a minute. He placed the chip in her hand and said, “Don’t lose this. It must stay with you at all times. It’s waterproof, so keep it on you without fail. Samantha will now protect you as she has me. I think we’ll add some more AIs in the future for our children. I’ll start looking for a vehicle to become your Samantha next week.”
Barbara kissed Jon and thought he was a bit melodramatic. “Jon, it’s so sweet of you to watch over me.”
“Hon, it’s dawned on me that you and I’ll be separated when you start up the new immunology project in Amarillo. I want Samantha to take you up there and back when I can’t go with you.”
Barbara was pleased about the concept but frowned. “Could you find me my own AI Jeep Rubicon? Samantha is yours, and I need my own to train.”
While Barbara and Cindy managed the Immune Project, Jon and Froggy took Captain Johnson and part of his team down to Walt’s ranch to sort out the rancher issues. The rest of Johnson’s team worked with Steve to increase Lubbock’s security. Planes and trucks loaded down with gear arrived daily, along with over a hundred more soldiers. The soldiers made Jon and Froggy nervous at first, but Johnson made them understand that Lubbock and the immune process had to be well protected from enemies inside and outside of the USA. Only the UK and Australia had been using the synthetic blood, which left the rest of the world with almost no immunes. Johnson explained that the Immune Project was top secret. Yet, top secrets always leaked out eventually, and a leak could put them all in jeopardy.
Walt’s Ranch - Lubbock, Texas – February 2038
Walt and Meg greeted them warmly and were quick to make sure they knew they were on their side. Jill had come along to visit with her folks and help with the ranchers.
Walt was open and honest with them. “Captain, here is a list of the ranchers and men who’ll help you. The second page has the ranchers who’ll oppose you and all ranch hands that will be trouble. The worst of the lot were killed during their attempt to ambush you. I’ll help any way you need me to.”
The captain was pleased by what he heard but was guarded against future ambushes. “Walt, the bottom line is the ranchers have a thousand times more beef than they can use for their family and friends. Froggy’s people have much more grain and fruit than they can use. We need to get trade going again to feed the survivors. One of our tasks is to get the survivors who hunkered down in bunkers and ships on the ocean back out into the country and start farming, manufacturing, and grocery stores back into operation.”
Froggy scratched his chin and spat tobacco over the deck’s railing. “Where ya gonna put all of these people?”
The Captain unfolded a map out on the patio table. “I must first say, we don’t intend on forcing anyone to move. The ranchers and farmers in this area are free to keep on living and prospering here. We’ll set up trade with you. The ones in the bunkers will need to settle in areas with rich pastures and farmlands that receive natural water. We can pump from rivers, of course, but the days of having to divert entire rivers are over.”
There were numerous areas of the country shaded in yellow to note places to farm. Most were close to manufacturing hubs that needed to be restarted. Jon had an ah-ha moment. “We can’t start up every factory that had been in operation. We need one of each type on the west and east coasts except for the large equipment operations. We need oil, natural gas, and coal companies back in operation. What about nuclear power?”
Captain Johnson shrugged. “They were shut down for good. It’ll be a hundred years before we start them up, if ever. We see this as a time to convert the country to solar, wind, and geothermal energy. We’ll start with fossil fuel at first but do away with it when it’s practical. It won’t be in our lifetime. England, Australia, Germany, and India have joined us to form a new United Nations with agreed-upon goals. The new goals are to rebuild the world, eliminate nuclear bombs, clean up the environment in a practical method, and to make all men free and equal.”
“How many people are left alive?” Jon asked.
Captain Johnson took a deep breath. “About a quarter million in the USA, fifty thousand in Canada, and approximately a million more in the rest of the entire world survived. Most of our enemy’s leaders and military were killed when we nuked their bunkers. Our enemies didn’t trust the synthetic blood the US drug manufacturers produced and made their own. Theirs didn’t make people immune. We’re not going to pass on immunity to countries that aren’t in our new UN. Others want to join, but we’re skeptical of their motives. We’re also concerned about how they survived at the expense of their population. Only the politically connected and elite survived in most countries. Most of the country’s survivors were selected with a lottery system from ones not already infected.”
Jon was alarmed this action was heading the USA to the One World Order that had been stopped back in the late twenties. “Are you saying there’ll be one big country?”
Captain Johnson’s head jerked
toward Jon. “Hell no! That’s not what we’re saying. A couple of countries have joined together for mutual benefit as Canada and the US have done. Most countries just want to belong to the new UN for mutual protection and trade purposes. The dollar will be the currency of record that’s used for trading between countries. Otherwise, everyone does their own thing inside their countries. ”
Jill was still skeptical. “So the countries of the world are happy to be alive and willing to join in and sing songs around the campfire.”
“No, that’s not the case. Our Navy and volunteers from several countries' armies are wiping out hot spots around the globe. Several dictators popped up with more weapons than they needed, and they began to subjugate the people around them. We eliminate those operations as fast as we identify them. We do the same with the drug cartels. You’d be surprised what a few attack helicopters and Navy jets can do to a drug cartel’s operation.”
Jack said, “Sounds like a good start. I guess our role is to spread immunity while Froggy and Walt begin shipping beef and veggies out to our new country.”
☣☣☣
Sacramento California – February 2038
“Look, damn it! I just want to know if Ball has recovered enough to perform the task. If not, why are we keeping him alive?”
“Sir, the new government managed by the Secretary of Defense has taken the CDC operation and all of the rest of our immunity programs from us. We can’t …”
“Tell me something I don’t know. Can Ball restart our operations if we move them down to Mexico?”
“Sir, I’m trying to tell ….”
“Well, spit it out, man!”
“Sir, we’ve found the immunes who escaped months ago. One of them was a CDC doctor of immunology. They’ve successfully spread immunity to almost a thousand people. They’re using Dr. Green’s new process involving the use of plasma. I propose to get some of those people to volunteer to join us and bring along their immunity and knowledge of the process. We can jump-start our program.”