War
Date: 2015-05-25 04:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Zombies; Apocalyptic
Description: The ultimate battle for humanity and freedom begins–and ends–right here. On one side: the ravenous, unending and undead hordes of the Infected–insanely fast blue zombies who can think, heal, and even reproduce. On the other: the vicious, hyper-violent and desperate remains of the U.S. Government, obsessed with destruction of the real America. Only Bruce and his brave clan of battle-hardened warriors will stand and fight for the future. But there is hope. Bruce and his clan have gathered an awesome array of weaponry on the ground and in the air. They commandeered most of the country’s satellite
Publisher: Smashwords

BLUE PLAGUE

WAR YEARS

Book Eight

Countdown

THOMAS A. WATSON

BLUE PLAGUE:

Countdown

Book Eight

© 2022 by Thomas A. Watson

All Rights Reserved

Credits

Edited by Sabrina Jean
www.FastTrackEditing.com

COVER ART BY CHRISTIAN BENTULAN

This book is a work of Fiction. People, places, events, and situations are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or historical events, is purely coincidental.

This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the written consent of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Thank you for acknowledging the hard work of this author. If you didn’t purchase this book or it wasn’t purchased for you, please go purchase your own copy now.

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Contents

Special Thanks

Introduction

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Special Thanks

Sabrina Jean

Rebecca Larsen

Tina Rush

William Beedie

Deb Serres

Fleur Wilkinson

Joseph Ruffolo

Tina Watson

Cora Burke

Arthur Maybee

Anna Shirley

Yalonda Butler

Jan Tice

Leslie Bryant

Kathy Roberts

Randy Clements

Introduction

Hey everyone,

Yes, at long last we have Blue Plague once again. War Years was always part of the series, but I wasn’t going to write it until we got the rights back. Lo and behold, all of you and Tina did just that and we got the rights back. I’m blessed for fans like all of you and a wife like Tina.

War Years is a continuation of the story but in a different way. Yes, Bruce will stay in the story and the ending in Hope was always the ending I intended. It was written before the first book was even completed. The reason was, I knew I would take a break from Blue Plague before beginning War Years and I didn’t want to leave any fans hanging without closure. In War Years, there will be some future scenes because in the continued Blue Plague series, War Years will be the end of the story.

The reason from the beginning for War Years was simple: the war of survival was being passed to the next generation.

First let me say, it was like meeting long lost friends when I started writing Blue Plague again. How many books will be in War Years? I have no idea but like always, the ending is already done and was done before Survival was finished. I just don’t know how we are going to get there yet.

Once again, thanks to all of you. Thanks to my family and Tina for standing beside me and helping me along in each and every story.

Now, may I present ‘Blue Plague War Years: Countdown’.

Thomas A. Watson.

Chapter One

Cracking his eyes open, Bruce lifted his head off the pillow, glancing toward the bedside table to see it was just after five a.m. With a warm smile he glanced down to see Joshua and Isaac sound asleep on his chest. On his left side Angela was sprawled out, with Jessica nursing in her sleep on Angela’s chest. Just thinking when Isaac and Joshua nursed, Bruce fought not to chuckle. Stephanie put one on each breast and could do it in her sleep. He had thought the booby fairy had come to see Angela and Stephanie before but holy crap, they had some tatas now.

For the past three and half months Bruce had done no clan work but did consult several times mostly about Hope, the city being built because the original area was now firmly called Base Hope. He read a few books, played with kids and of course, tended to babies. Today was his last day before moving back into the helm. None had asked, but Bruce knew it was time.

Holding the boys to his chest, and really hating the fact he was sleeping in the middle, Bruce slowly eased up while glancing side to side trying not to disturb anyone. One thing they had learned, if one baby started crying, all three were soon crying and that was to be avoided at all cost.

Standing up in the bed he walked to the edge and stepped off before moving over to a line of bassinets. Putting Isaac in one and Joshua in another, he left Jessica since she was still nursing. For nearly the entire time he had been off, Bruce had only slept on his back because there was at least one baby always on his chest during the night.

Last night was one of the rare nights when it was just them and the babies. Dani’s old bedroom was now Buffy’s and that’s where Emily and Sherry slept for the most part. Now that Mary’s room was empty of computer servers, it had been turned into a boys’ room for Cade and PJ. Since they had moved in with Buffy, their hero, Emily and Sherry would always go to sleep there but a few times a week they would come in during the night and climb in bed. Bruce soon learned the nights they didn’t sleep with them, the twins crawled into bed with Buffy. Only because Buffy would announce to the world the next day that Emily and Sherry had dog-piled on her while she’d slept.

PJ and Cade were trying to be big boys now and sleep in their own room but more than the twins, they came in during the night to crawl in bed. The two thought they were big boys because they’d finally trimmed and carried off all the branches from the tree Bruce had cut down in the front yard that they’d climbed up six months ago.

Just to put his mind at ease, Bruce left the bedroom and headed down the hall and cracked open Buffy’s door and gave a snort. Emily and Sherry were sprawled across Buffy. Easing the door closed and turning around, Bruce opened the boys’ room and saw PJ and Cade both asleep on the top bunk. Satisfied they were good, he headed back to the bedroom and straight to the bathroom.

Closing the door and turning on the light, he tapped the interactive mirror. Since Hope had its own internet, the interactive mirror had been put in by Jake and Matt before Bruce brought the family home from the hospital. In one corner was the weather, the other had the clan news station playing, and then at the bottom he tapped his name and it showed his schedule for today, which was just taking the kids to school and daycare. Stephanie and Angela had been on him to establish care with one of the doctors but wouldn’t let him do it while he was on vacation. Not knowing how the hormones were playing that day, Bruce had let it lie and told them to set an appointment when they thought he should go.

He had taken time off, but one thing Bruce did was backtrack the journey the kids he’d rescued from the island had taken. Since it was personal and surely an impossible task he hadn’t done it before, but now he had time. One day during the second week they were home, Stephanie and Angela had told Bruce to do what he wanted.

Not even entertaining the idea of going alone, Bruce had taken his protection detail along. It wasn’t hard finding the shot-up buses on I-49 near Boyce. There were three tour buses and all had been shot up. Two had wrecked and were overturned in the ditch. The other had been shoved to the side of the road by Omega when they’d run around Central Louisiana. All Bruce knew, it wasn’t his rig that did it. Once again, Bruce had been beyond impressed with the sixteen-year-old Paul who’d taken responsibility for a group of kids he didn’t know. From right there, Paul had to lead a line of young kids twenty miles across the countryside while fighting blues with nothing other than a length of pipe and dodging the gang that had hit the convoy. Bruce was certain the gang they had taken out in Ville Platte was the one responsible because there were two shot-up Harleys near the wrecks.

The only luggage were the remains of military rucksacks, but there were lots of bones. One bus still had the undercarriage closed and when he’d opened it, Bruce had found it was packed with MREs. In the others, he’d found the remains of MRE boxes from where animals had torn into them. With his protection detail covering, he’d started the task of going through luggage and that’s when he’d found the uniform with a few bones of a National Guardsman. The three holes in the chest of the shirt showed how the guardsman died. Continuing his search, Bruce had found a faded map inside the bus with a highlighted route. The bus had been headed to Colorado but more importantly, it had left the National Guard Armory in Alexandria.

The convoy hadn’t even traveled twelve miles before it was attacked. Knowing what it was like during the Fall, there wasn’t any doubt all the buses had been packed with people. At that time, one thing Bruce did know was there were no Louisiana National Guardsman from Colorado at the base but there were forty-one civilians who were from Louisiana brought in from Colorado. He would later find out there had been eighteen guardsmen there but all had been executed by Homeland for various reasons, like wanting to leave.

Not finding anything there Bruce had headed to Alexandria, and the armory had been scouted by Omega but it was empty. All military equipment was gone, but if you looked in the city, you could find it lying about where the guardsmen had died trying to fight the blues.

After killing a few blues that tried to interrupt his quest, Bruce found the ‘Big Building’ Frank had told him about at the armory. Cracking the door to let Max see if it was okay, Bruce had gone inside and found the luggage. Bruce realized the military had told everyone to leave behind their stuff so they had room for food.

There were cots everywhere and Bruce went over to a desk covered in dust near the door. Off to the side, he’d found a clipboard and a laptop. A handwritten note from a major, dated the day before the kids had left, read that civilians were no longer allowed to take suitcases to make room for food stores and more people. The only exception was a diaper bag, and it could only carry supplies for an infant. Under the note Bruce found columns that listed departures, next to last and complete with date and time. Six days before he’d found the kids, it listed three buses with two hundred and thirty-six civilians, with six soldiers per bus, departing for Colorado. The last entry was a cargo plane loaded with MREs and ten troops heading to Boulder, Colorado two hours after the buses left. There was another entry for a cargo plane the next day but no departure time. Bruce was still certain the guardsmen who had been manning the armory had died there. The torn-down fences around the armory left little doubt the blues hadn’t penetrated the armory.

Handing the laptop off to Ted to take and plug up in one of the trucks to recharge the battery, Bruce had started digging through the desk for the CQ log. The CQ log was Change of Quarters and was just a list of events that occurred at the barracks. Every unit in the military kept one because it was a list of events, and the military loved lists. It didn’t take Bruce long to find it in a drawer. Reading it, he was surprised to find that the guard unit had still been fighting in Alexandria that day and the morning after the buses had left carrying the kids when the power went out.

Putting the log with the clipboard, he started going through the luggage. It didn’t take him long to find a small school backpack that had ‘Frank’ printed on it. Putting it to the side, he’d kept digging and couldn’t help but smile seeing two identical pink backpacks. On the side of each one, written in marker, he saw they belonged to Emily and Sherry.

As he was putting those to the side, a helicopter had landed and Bruce stormed outside wanting to know who was bothering him. He’d found Jake and Matt climbing out of his Blackhawk since they both were now pilots. Jake had just held up his hands, seeing his dad’s face, and told Bruce he knew what he was doing and wanted to help.

Glad for the help, Bruce had sent Jake to the laptop and asked Matt to find where the security cameras downloaded. Then he went back to searching bags. True enough, Jake had come in with the laptop unlocked and opened to the recording log with typed entries of everyone who had been sent out. Not believing his luck, Bruce had taken it and asked Jake to continue searching the bags. It wasn’t long until Jake found Nathan’s and Alice’s bags.

Reading the logs, Bruce read Frank had been brought in by his aunt and uncle, his parents were killed by blues, but he now had the address. Alice was brought in by her mother, her father killed by blues. And her mother had left with her on the bus, but their address was listed also. Nathan was brought in by his sixteen-year-old sister, parents she’d reported were killed by blues. The sister had left Nathan at the armory and wasn’t logged back in. Weeks later, Bruce had talked to Nathan and in a small voice Nathan had said his sister went to pick up her boyfriend and never returned, but Bruce had Nathan’s home address. Robert was brought in by an eighteen-year-old brother and the brother had left on the buses. Robert’s parents and sister were killed by blues on the way to the evacuation center but again, Bruce had an address.

Emily and Sherry were listed as brought in by a neighbor, their mother killed by infected, but Bruce had the neighbor’s address.

Going through the entries, Bruce stopped at a long one that listed - Kerry, female, age unknown, address unknown and unknown infant. The information was provided by Avery Timms. Avery said he’d joined up with Kerry and her husband Ronnie in Eunice at the evacuation center at the high school. After the evacuation center was overrun by blues, everyone just took off running. Running through fields, Avery had met Kerry and her husband again just off East Laurel Avenue outside of town. Kerry had heard something in a ditch and went to look and found a baby. There was nothing, nor anyone alive or dead near the spot. Avery had given great detail to the spot and days later, Bruce would go to where PJ had been found and confirm the closest house was over a mile away.

The report stated Avery was positive the infant wasn’t from Eunice because he knew most everyone. He knew Kerry and Ronnie, couldn’t remember their last name, but gave the street they lived on. Avery reported the child was just sitting in the ditch, naked, playing in the dirt. They soon found a wrecked car an hour later down the road. Inside was a diaper bag but it was for a girl and the car seat in the car was covered in blood. Near Lawtell, Ronnie was taken down by blues two days later and Kerry hadn’t spoken since.

Closing the laptop, Bruce had come to the conclusion he would never know about PJ’s background, but he still had a smile. He knew the teen’s name now who had given everything, including his young life protecting the small kids. Paul Ziggly. Now Bruce had an address.

Bruce was a bit shocked when more SUVs had pulled up as they’d put the kids’ bags in his ride. Dani, Buffy, Mary, Mindy, David, and Conner had all driven down. Mary had called Jake. Yes, cell coverage extended out nearly a hundred miles from Base Hope now. Jake had told her what Bruce was doing and the word spread. The rest of the family and others had wanted to come but they were busy.

Robert and Alice had once lived in Alexandria and they’d found both houses, so Bruce grabbed pictures and documents because none of the kids knew when their birthday was.

Paul Ziggly had lived in Pineville which was just across the river from Alexandria so they’d headed there. The home was intact and empty. Bruce had pulled pictures off the wall, thankful to finally put a face with the name. Paul was just a skinny sixteen-year-old with long hair and pimples. Going through the house, Bruce had discovered Paul was a mediocre student, didn’t play sports or have hobbies. It seemed like all he’d done was play video and role-playing games. Yet he was still a hero and had given his all, thinking of others, and gave his young life willingly to save the little kids without pause.

Taking photos of Paul and his family, Bruce had led the group south to Nathan’s house in Kolin. Bruce’s heart sank when they’d reached the address. The house was burnt to the ground. There were two cars there and Bruce looked in them and found cell phones plugged in. Later, he would find pictures of Nathan’s family on both phones and all of Nathan’s information in his mother’s phone.

Frank had lived in Bunkie. The house was intact but had been ransacked by people looking for supplies. But Bruce found pictures and documents then left, so Bill could bring Frank back. The last was the twins and the neighbor who had lived in Opelousas.

It was late when they reached the address and Bruce had paused, looking at the neighborhood while blues were shot around him. He had driven through here with Omega, this very street in fact. Not knowing which house around the neighbor’s was Emily’s and Sherry’s, Bruce started searching with the others. It was Dani and Buffy who’d found it across the street. Buffy and Dani headed upstairs and gathered toys while Bruce searched the house. As he searched, Bruce had discovered Emily’s and Sherry’s mother was a single mom. There weren’t pictures of a dad, nor any other family members. There were several dozen pictures of Emily and Sherry, but only three with their mom. Bruce had told Jake to take the computers and his detail to take all pictures in the house. Then Bruce had found the birth certificates. The twins had turned five the day before he’d found them on the island.

Brushing his teeth as the memory played in his mind, Bruce just gave a sigh. Rinsing his mouth out, Bruce washed his face then turned out the light. Wearing only his boxers, he eased through the room and grabbed his gym bag beside the door. He would dress downstairs. The downtime he’d had Bruce enjoyed, but he was a little dejected because he knew he was supposed to discover something and he still didn’t know what. In truth, he had wanted to return to work weeks ago, but his instructions in the red notebook from Debbie said he would find out something of great importance before he went back to work.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, he saw the security detail of six guards stand up from the kitchen table. All were dressed casually and the cards on the table told Bruce how they’d spent their shift. “Guys, I have a base around me. Why don’t you take turns sleeping with one awake and he can get the others up when I come down?” Bruce asked, dropping his bag.

“Sorry, sir. You know we can’t do that,” Jose, the one in charge, replied as another made a call.

Noticing there were only six when there had always been seven, “You down a man?” Bruce asked.

“No, sir. Mica took Max out to use the bathroom,” Jose answered. Hearing that, Bruce really didn’t mind that someone was awake during the night.

“You could at least let Ted and Carl sleep,” Bruce said, pulling on his gym clothes.

“Absolutely not,” Jose responded. “I have no desire to ever find out what a knotted plow line is and Carl assured me if I fuck up, he’s telling Marcus and I’ll find out.”

Finished getting dressed, “Can’t say I blame you,” Bruce laughed, heading out the back door with three following him. When he reached the gym, he found Ted and Carl waiting. Since both were now married, “Guys, you have new wives. Don’t you want some morning lovin’?” he asked.

Carl grinned, “Got mine,” he answered.

Yawning, “I got mine last night,” Ted replied and followed Bruce inside. “What are we doing for your last day off?”

“Going to the shop,” Bruce answered pulling on his workout gloves, and the three started the day.

***

As Bruce was pulling on his gloves, Kirby Barton was guiding his coastal or Long-Haul tugboat up the Mississippi River just south of Cairo, Illinois. Kirby was assigned to the Scavenger group. Before the Fall he was a tugboat captain, and that’s why he was selected to start this group up. His tug was pushing twelve barges. The barges had been converted into a helicopter flight deck. There were four Blackhawks, two Apache gunships, and two Loaches lashed down. Two of the barges were crew quarters for those not on the boat. The other barges held gear, provisions, and food to supply them. None were loaded to full capacity and that’s why they were pushing a dozen barges, just for having an area to operate the helicopters. Nancy had set this up months ago, so Base Hope was actively searching for survivors full time and was dubbed Rescue Scavengers. The operation was run from a small outpost in Vicksburg, and Kirby along with three other tugboat captains, were in charge of this operation with two crews out for two weeks then down for two weeks. There were another four crews being trained and barges being built and outfitted, but it would be another month before they would become operational.

Their goal and mission: rescue and rescue only. Each crew had fought blues and some gangs, but that wasn’t their mission.

Many survivors had radios and made contact with Hope. Crews at Base Hope triangulated their position and a drone was sent out to check the group. If there was any thought the group was a gang it was passed over, but most were taken to the next level. A long-range chopper would take off and drop a secured radio off at sites that’d made it to this level. With a secured radio, Base Hope would find out how many survivors and ask basic questions. Again, most made it to the next level. Rescue.

Those survivors not in an area where Omega, Beta, or Gamma patrolled couldn’t make it through the blues. The flood of survivors coming in on their own had dropped in the last two months. Except whoever the Scavengers were bringing in, which was a flood. They were averaging over four thousand survivors a week and it didn’t look like that would decrease anytime soon but was in fact, increasing quickly. Especially with what they’d found on the Ohio River in Kentucky, a huge flotilla of boats with survivors.

The other captain had discovered them two days ago. The group had radios but they were marine band, not normal two-way radios. When asked why they hadn’t tried to float down the river, all had a similar answer, “Bridges”. Everyone on the tugs understood this. Blues would jump off a bridge in a heartbeat trying to land on a boat if they thought people were on it. Tug crews didn’t have that problem. They just sent up a chopper, dropped fuel drums to block off the bridge with fire, then killed the blues still on the bridge before the tug passed under.

Using this new information, Nancy had teams redo searches and low and behold, they started finding survivors, lots of survivors. On lakes, rivers, swamps, and even several ponds they’d found groups living on the water. Most were only one or two boats, but there were other large flotillas discovered. They’d been missed because people stayed undercover if they could. Many groups they’d found had other boats with them that were filled with dirt, just enough to grow food, and this was one thing the drones started looking for.

Another thing they’d found out, those on the boats didn’t go on land unless they abso-fucking-lutely had to. So they hadn’t scrounged up parts to build or find two-way radios that had the range to let Base Hope know they were there. No one really could blame them, they were safe and had survived this long. But when contact was made with the boat survivors, so far only a few, less than a hundred, had turned down joining up with Base Hope. They figured they had survived this long and knew the blues couldn’t get them on the water. Numbers were still being compiled as more were found, but it looked like the Rescue Scavengers were going to be busy for quite a while.

Word had already come down, four more tugs and barges were being started because some conservative estimates were predicting ten to twenty thousand survivors a week could be brought in.

Turning to his first mate, “Night watch report anything?” Kirby asked.

“Just a hanger on some debris,” the first mate responded. Hanger was a nickname for blues that were latched onto something in the water like trees and other floating objects. They weren’t common, but they weren’t rare either.

There was nothing on the tug or barges that a blue could use to climb aboard, and there were gun mounts around the boat and barges. These were mainly for gangs but so far, no gang had bothered them. Kirby had seen a few gang members on the bank watching them but it seemed they knew, fuck with Rescue and hell is coming.

Checking the displays and seeing the weather was good, “Tell that news crew we are starting operations and to get their camera set up,” Kirby said, turning around to look out the window at the flight deck.

Chapter Two

Finished with his workout, Bruce walked into the bedroom and tried not to bust out laughing. Stephanie had all three babies propped up on pillows at the end of the bed, showing them alphabet flash cards. All three were looking at her with wide eyes, “This is C,” Stephanie told them, showing them the card. “C is for cat.”

Since the babies were a month old, Stephanie had started with the flash cards: alphabet, numbers, colors and shapes. Every night, the babies listened to classical music to go to sleep with. Angela read to them every day and they listened to nursery rhyme songs. Bruce, being Bruce, took the babies to his shop and let them watch cartoons and listen to rock and roll like AC/DC.

“You haven’t started on multiplication?” Bruce asked, coming up behind Stephanie and hugging her.

Turning around and hugging him back, “Bruce, it has been proven the sooner you start teaching-,” Stephanie stopped as Bruce let her go.

Still trying not to laugh, “I know, Little Red, and you are doing a great job,” Bruce said. “Angela is reading them the Lord of the Rings and I’m letting them watch Bugs Bunny.”

Holding up the next card to the babies, “This is D, for dog,” Stephanie told them and Bruce looked at the babies. All three were following the card with their eyes like they were wondering what it did. Before he started laughing, Bruce headed towards the bathroom and saw the other kids’ clothes already laid out on the dresser. Walking into the bathroom, he found Angela pulling her hair back.

“Good workout?” she asked, turning around and hugging him.

“You bet,” he said, hugging her back. “You two go on and workout, I’ll get the young’uns up.”

Smiling, “You sure?” she asked.

Nodding, “Yeah, by the time I get them ready, you two will be finished and meet us in the center for breakfast,” he answered. “What’s on y’all’s agenda today?”

Taking her arms off Bruce, Angela reached back, tapping her name on the mirror. “It’s not that hard,” she chuckled and snorted. Bruce shrugged and saw they had interviews of different clan members for the news. Then each had meetings to go over with the Praetorian Guards, Supply, and Scavenger units that they were over.

“Kind of feels like I’m snooping if I look at your planner,” Bruce said, making Angela snort louder.

“That’s what it’s there for, babe,” she told him and left. “Bruce is dealing with the rug rats,” she told Stephanie.

Nodding as she held out another card to the babies, “This is J, for jelly,” Stephanie told the babies, then turned as Bruce came out of the bathroom. “Will you finish the cards?” she asked, holding them out.

“Yeah, sure,” Bruce stated with a straight face and Stephanie handed them to him.

“You should know everyone has eaten, but you need to talk to Isaac. He has to stop biting or gumming, whatever you call it, when he feeds.” Stephanie informed him.

Bruce just gave her a deadpan expression as Angela chimed in, “No, he needs to talk to Joshua. Shit, that’s what woke me up. I swear, he has teeth.”

That did bring a grin to Bruce’s face. If a kid was crying and hungry, whoever got there first was who popped a boob in its mouth. He’d busted out laughing yesterday after walking in and finding Angela feeding Isaac and Joshua at the same time and Stephanie feeding Jessica. He didn’t remember any of his kids being as big as Joshua and Isaac at three months. Jessica was tiny compared to them and Bruce was certain by the time they were two years old, the boys could play college football. And Angela feeding both at the same time with her tiny stature just exaggerated how big they were. “I’ll tell the boys again, no biting the boobies,” Bruce vowed.

They both kissed him on each cheek and he swore they were nearly skipping out of the room. Stephanie was cleared to go back to light duty at seven weeks and Angela at nine. Looking at them one couldn’t tell they’d had babies, but none of the women who’d had babies did. Tonya was back to her pre-birth weight three weeks after little Debbie and back at her job in a month on light duty. Just like Angela and Stephanie, she’d wanted to because that was helping the clan, therefore the next generation.

Turning to the babies and seeing all three looking at him with wide eyes, Bruce held up the deck of cards and shuffled them fast. “K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y and Z,” he told the babies and they all smiled, throwing out their hands. “Okay, we got our learn on for the day so far. I don’t know who stinks, but everyone gets a bath,” he told them and that seemed to make them happier.

Moving them off the pillows into the center of the bed, because that’s how he and Debbie had found out when all of their kids had learned to roll over, when they’d hit the floor. Grabbing two bounce chairs, he moved to the bed and grabbed the boys buckling them in. Unlike Emily and Sherry who were very identical, like a mirror copy, Isaac was chubbier than Joshua and they were easy to tell apart. Well, to those in the family and most at daycare.

Grabbing Jessica, Bruce’s nose found the culprit. Lifting her up to his nose, “Damn,” he said, yanking his face back. “You are too little to take a shit that stinks that bad,” he told her, and Jessica just chewed on her fist wondering what the crazy man was saying.

Tucking Jessica under his arm and picking up Joshua in his chair, Bruce headed to the bathroom. Putting a towel on the floor he laid Jessica on it and set Joshua’s chair down beside it. “I’m back,” Buffy called out from the bedroom.

Heading out of the bathroom, “Back from where?” Bruce asked, picking up Isaac in his chair.

Looking around the room, “Where are Angela and Stephanie at? They told me to get the kids up,” Buffy asked, dressed in her workout clothes.

“I told them I had the rug rats today,” Bruce said, shaking his head. “Did you stick your head in a mixer? Your hair is knotted and sticking up.”

Waving him off, “I’ll work out, then eat and do my hair after I shower,” she droned. Seeing the look Bruce gave her before he carried Isaac to the bathroom, Buffy groaned and followed. Saying nothing, Bruce put Isaac down and grabbed a brush then went to work. Truth be told, Buffy did this on purpose. Bruce had gotten good at brushing hair on his time off. In no time, Bruce was pulling her hair back in a ponytail. She spun around and hugged him tight. “Thank you, Daddy,” she smiled. Like Angela and Stephanie, after letting him go Buffy seemingly skipped out of the room.

Turning to look at his reflection in the mirror, “Well, I wonder if I’ll still be cool when she turns fourteen,” Bruce grinned. He tapped the mirror and rock and roll filled the bathroom. He looked down at the babies and saw them smiling. “I like Beethoven, I really do. But to get going, you need rock,” he told them.

Stepping to the shower, he turned it on then headed back to get wipes which were just moist washrags in a warmer. About to head back, he saw Emily and Sherry walk in half asleep. “Hey girls, strip and get in the shower,” he told them. They both just looked at him with sleepy eyes and moseyed to the bathroom pulling off pajamas very slowly.

Cade came in pulling PJ, who looked like he was still asleep as he stumbled. “Shower,” Bruce said and Cade just pulled PJ along.

After stripping Jessica and wiping the poop paste off, Bruce opened the shower door with Jessica in his arms to see all four just standing under the jets of water. “PJ, you take your underwear off before getting in,” Bruce sighed, stepping in.

Pulling PJ’s underwear off and tossing them out, he started washing Jessica and noticed the four still standing like statues under the jets. “Guys, you can get the rags and start,” Bruce offered, but they didn’t move. When he was done with Jessica he stepped out, dried her off, and swaddled her in a towel before putting her in her bouncy chair. Grabbing Isaac, Bruce got back in repeating until the babies were done, then did the four statues. Since PJ and Cade still had buzz cuts they were done fast.

When they were done, Bruce almost turned the shower off but remembered he hadn’t washed himself yet. Truth be told, he had done that a few times on his time off. Now with everyone clean, he turned the shower off and guided the four zombies out. He looked down and saw the babies were asleep. “Damn,” he mumbled.

After drying them off, he ushered the four into the bedroom and felt like the Pied Piper with the way the four stayed single file. Not even attempting to ask them to dress themselves, Bruce did it then dressed himself. Taking a deep breath, he went and brought Joshua back because he seemed to be the hardest sleeper.

Very carefully, Bruce dressed Joshua and was surprised he didn’t wake up. He repeated the process with Isaac and again was surprised. Taking a deep breath he went back for Jessica and as soon as he picked her up, Jessica’s eyes opened. “Hey, squirt,” he smiled and Jessica’s face tensed up to let him know waking her up was uncalled for.

Bruce stuck his tongue out and made funny faces and the grumpy left Jessica’s face and was replaced by bewilderment. “Whatever works,” Bruce smiled at her. Very happy Jessica let him dress her and didn’t start crying, Bruce went to grab carriers and stopped. Emily, Sherry, Cade and PJ were lying on the floor asleep. Giving a groan but having experienced this, Bruce headed to his closet.

He rolled out a double stroller and moved it to the bed. There was a triple stroller downstairs but he couldn’t get it down the steps as easily. Laying the seats down he put Isaac and Joshua in, then put on a chest carrier and tucked Jessica in who was chewing on her fist now. “Hey, you ate not that long ago,” he reminded her, but Jessica just ignored daddy.

Moving over, he shook the four awake on the floor, “Guys, I can’t carry you and none of you fit in the stroller so come on,” Bruce told them and all four struggled off the floor like they were the living dead. “We didn’t play that hard yesterday,” he told them.

When all four were vertical, Bruce grabbed diaper bags and put them under the stroller and headed for the door. “Follow,” he told his four zombies and like zombies they followed. Coming out into the hall, he saw Jose at the top of the stairs waiting. “I’m really lovin’ my own security,” he mumbled. Jose grabbed the front of the stroller and picked it up as Bruce picked up the back.

Heading down the steps, Bruce glanced back and saw PJ with his eyes closed heading back to his room. “PJ,” Bruce whispered, making PJ stop and crack his eyes turning to Bruce. “Follow,” Bruce reminded him and PJ changed directions bringing up the rear.

“I think you wore them out yesterday,” Jose grinned when they reached the bottom and put the stroller down.

“We didn’t play that hard,” Bruce scoffed, pushing the stroller to the door and all the security detail snickered as Jose opened the backdoor. Rolling out the backdoor, Bruce saw Max sitting and waiting. “You could’ve helped,” Bruce told him.

Max just looked at Bruce like, ‘You let Emily and Sherry put barrettes in my fur yesterday. Forget it’.

Coming into the center, Bruce saw Mike get up still in workout clothes but was holding Cassandra. “Dude, I told you when you left the gym if you needed help, call. You have a cellphone,” Mike told him.

“Please, after chasing down platoon and company leaders across Alabama and Georgia, the rug rats are easy,” Bruce scoffed. As Bruce drove the stroller to the table, Mike led the zombies to their chairs. PJ just used the highchair as a seat now because ‘he was big’. With Cassandra on his hip, Mike put each one in their chair and they promptly laid their heads on the table.

Leaving the boys in the stroller and Jessica in the baby carrier, Bruce sat down as Millie put down his mug from hell. “I tells you that you was wearin’ ‘em young’uns out yesterday,” Millie said, reaching out and caressing PJ’s and Sherry’s heads.

Snatching the mug up, “They need to toughen the hell up,'' Bruce scoffed. Before he finished his mug, the rest of the family came in from the gym and Bruce was thankful. He wasn’t going to have to fight the zombies to eat. When they finished, Angela took Jessica and Stephanie took Isaac to feed. Like he only now realized he was alone, Joshua woke up crying and Buffy ran over, taking him out of the stroller and Joshua stopped crying as she talked to him. After the babies were fed they were passed around the command table so everyone could get some baby love.

Taking his time and enjoying his breakfast, Bruce saw the center door open and Bonnie came in followed by her dog, a tiny Pomeranian she called Tiger. It was a gift from a clan member in her apartment building. The complexes in the metro area couldn’t be called dorms because they were multi-room. They were small but still, there was a bathroom, living room, kitchenette, and bedroom. Some had two bedrooms and a few had three. That’s why they were referred to as apartments.

Dogs were in Hope but nothing like before the plague. Between the teams, there were two hundred that were trained to locate blues like Max. Most of these breeds were larger and there were a few mutts that had this job. Smaller dogs were rarer but there were some. Bruce knew the reason Bonnie got the dog as a gift was because of her ordeal. For those who had dogs, there were long lists of people wanting puppies.

At the farm, the only original dogs left were the Chihuahuas, Buddy and Sassy. Since the outbreak, they rarely left Matt’s or Jake’s room. The only time they did was to go out to use the bathroom, which wasn’t but twice a day. The Basset Clyde had died of old age before Mike and Bruce made it home from the hospital. The Pyrenees were moved off the farm when Paul relocated the animals because they wouldn’t abandon their herd. There were several German shepherds and Bruce was going to breed Max when he got older.

Bonnie moved over to the wall and brought her AR across her front, standing guard. It was Bruce who’d told Carl and Ted to give Bonnie a time to report in for duty since she lived in town, the metro area of Base Hope. Bruce didn’t want her busting ass to get to the farm when he woke up going to the gym. Bonnie was one of the few who had a golf cart assigned to her. Everyone wanted one, but the power output of Hope just couldn’t take it. The only ones who used gas vehicles inside the walls were those on duty. There was a whole field outside the wall that held cars, and people could check those out and ride around. Some did but nobody left the immediate area because blues still stayed forty miles away.

After everyone had finished, they passed the babies back. Angela and Stephanie put the babies in the stroller, making Jessica ride with Isaac. “If you play with the kids today, don’t wear them out again,” Angela told him with a huge grin.

Bruce’s mouth fell open with a gasp as Stephanie kissed his cheek then spun his face toward her. “The zip line was a bit much,” she told him, putting her hand under his jaw and closing his mouth.

Finally gaining his power of speech, “They’re my kids and I’ll play with them how I want,” he told them.

Leaning over and kissing Bruce then moving back just a bit, Angela looked him in the eye. “You sure you don’t want a little more time off?” she asked in a hushed voice.

Shaking his head, “No, I needed the downtime, but it’s time to get back in the trenches. Whatever I was supposed to learn, I guess I know it and I’m just too stupid to realize it,” he answered.

Standing up, “You’ve said that like every week. Learn what?” Angela asked.

“I don’t know,” Bruce shrugged. They both just smiled and kissed the kids who were recuperated enough to at least be sitting upright zombies. Bruce watched everyone leave except Ted and Carl. This wasn’t uncommon that no one really talked to Bruce on his time off because they didn’t want him to think about what Mike called, ‘work’. “Let’s get the kids to school and daycare,” he told them, standing up. He glanced down and saw Tiger sitting beside Max. From day one, they had been buddies. This tickled Bruce to no end. Max took dumps bigger than Tiger.

Leading his little pack of stumbling zombies, Bruce paused as they passed Debbie’s statue. He looked just past her statue to see an engraved slab of marble with a relief picture of Paul Ziggly. Bruce had wanted a statue, but Henry said he didn’t have picture angles to do it correctly since he had never seen Paul. There was no doubt Henry was an artist but also a perfectionist. Qualities, Bruce had never thought could be combined. Seeing it was important to Bruce, Henry took the pictures and a month later presented the engraved picture. “I know you found him, Debbie, but just wanted to let you know I did also,” Bruce told the statue. Inside the mausoleum, Bruce could hear Henry grinding away. And nobody went in when they heard that.

Walking on, he headed over to the daycare school where little Debbie had been born. It had been expanded and upgraded like everything else. But Bruce really thought in time it would be shut down and converted into something different. The barracks at the farm were built to house over five thousand but now, held just over three thousand. That’s why Bruce thought it would be shut down. To him it seemed like a waste of resources, but Susan was over the schools and he would let her make the call. During his time off, he would often sit and just go through the computer to see what everyone was doing and check on the areas they were running.

Even Paul and Cheryl had moved out of the house into the barracks. Now some rooms were connected, so Alice and Robert had their own room right beside Paul and Cheryl. Paul’s and Cheryl’s son Chad was now seventeen. He had always been on the construction crews, but last year joined the Praetorian Guard here at Base Hope. Chad’s primary job was still construction and it seemed he had the knack to design and build, just like his dad.

The daycare school only taught up to sixth grade. All the kids still at the farm in higher grades were bussed into town where there were multiple schools. School only lasted six hours but it was year round and for the most part, kids took extra classes. It didn’t take a genius to figure out the more one knew, the better your chances of survival. Compared to before the Fall, the curriculum was now college level at middle school level and there were a lot more hands-on classes. Not just shop classes, but many others like home economics that taught canning, sewing, and other basic skills.

Heading through the fence, he saw Susan step out resting her hands on her pregnant belly. Susan took her job very seriously and was at the school most days by 0500. Nobody had a job and stayed behind a desk. If you had to schedule, outline, or other paperwork for your area, you did it and your job. There were no paper pushing managers anymore.

Seeing the line of little zombies stumbling along behind Bruce, Susan giggled. “I told you, Bruce. You were wearing them out yesterday.”

“Emily, Sherry, Cade, PJ,” Susan snapped and all four lifted their heads up and eyes opened wide. “Time for class,” she told them, and they took off running inside. “Is what Angela and Stephanie pumped yesterday in the diaper bags?” Susan asked.

Nodding and trying not to chuckle, “I guess,” Bruce answered. When Angela and Stephanie were working, they pumped of course. Angela pumped when she got around to it. Stephanie pumped every three hours on the dot. Just ten days ago they were doing the noon live broadcast when an alarm beeping sounded. Stephanie had been giving a report on the new construction and stopped. Looking at the camera she said, ‘Sorry, I have to pump’ and walked off the set. Bruce was thankful that Stephanie just didn’t haul out her boobs and do it while she continued her report.

Taking the stroller, “I’ll keep them in daycare so you can enjoy your last day off,” Susan told him while wheeling the stroller inside.

“Well,” Bruce huffed and spun around, almost running into Carl. Carl just stepped to the side and let Bruce pass and joined Ted and Bonnie to follow Bruce. Walking around the machine shop that was behind his old shop, Bruce stopped. The kids had taken over his and Mike’s old shop because he had a new one, and Bruce had told Mike it was theirs not his. Dani, Mary, Jake, Matt, David, Mindy, and Buffy had laid claim to the building and restocked it with tools for their own shop. Dani and Mary had their offices inside to do paperwork. Buffy had one as well, but that’s where she did her school work because Stephanie never stopped teaching.

Last month, just to show everyone in the clan and prove a point of how far Buffy had advanced, Susan had Buffy teach a geometry class as a substitute teacher. There were mainly seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds, but over a dozen adults as well in the class. Bruce was proud of Buffy because she didn’t pull Herman out even one time, but she did make nearly everyone in the class do pushups. But the students were very impressed with Buffy’s teaching. Some were tired with sore arms, but they had learned.

The first thing the kids had done to the old shop was expand it. The new addition was taller than the original shop and had five twenty-foot-tall roll-up bay doors. This is what made Bruce stop, all five doors were open. Inside were five MRAPs the kids were using. He could see Dani, Mary, and Buffy working under the hood of one now and he knew it was Dani’s rig. Like they had been told, Dani and Buffy rebuilt the rig after Buffy tried to run over every blue in the state of Georgia.

All five rigs had the tracked undercarriage mounted now, the one that Joe and Harry had designed. After showing him Buffy couldn’t break it, Bruce gave the go-ahead to upgrade some of the MRAPs. One thing they did find out was the turbocharged four hundred horsepower engine in the MRAP could only push the twenty-five-ton rig forty miles an hour with the tracks on.

During his time off, Bruce had worked on his rig because he could do what he wanted. After the tracked undercarriage was on, the first thing Bruce had done was get a bigger engine. That was when Dani and Buffy were rebuilding their rig. Dani saw what Bruce was doing and because she was his child, Dani had taken off looking for a bigger engine. Dani had then put a six hundred horsepower engine in and put twin turbochargers on it, now her rig could once again do sixty.

The reason Bruce stopped outside the old shop was because the girls looked like they were adding more to the engine. Bruce had done all his work before mounting the engine and thought they had too. Giving up, he headed over and stopped at the bay door. “What are you doing?” he called out.

Looking up and flipping her head to throw her ponytail out of her face, “Hey, Daddy,” Dani smiled. “We’re adding another alternator.” For the life of him Bruce couldn’t think of why, since he knew the engines Dani and the others had put in all five MRAPs already had two alternators. Yes, they’d replaced everyone’s engine. To anyone else, it would’ve been funny seeing the girls out there tearing apart the MRAPs. Jake, Matt, and David did help, but the girls did the majority of the work. Bruce had tried to help when he was done with his own, but they’d refused to let him. They all told him to go do something else.

Giving up, “Can I ask why?” Bruce blurted out.

Nodding, “You can ask, but we aren’t telling,” Dani grinned. “You’ll find out tomorrow in the briefing. Now, go enjoy your last day off.”

“Okay then,” Bruce chuckled. The new shop was in the front of the house, just twenty yards away from the fort. The huge building sat all alone. As Bruce headed to the shop, he glanced over at the fort. When he and Mike had built the original fort before the Fall, the kids had used it as a clubhouse. And that’s what it was used for again. There was a line of battery-powered cars under the fort. The deck had been expanded and Bruce had put a zip line up from the deck, running a hundred yards across the yard. A grown-up could ride the zip line and the cable barely sagged, it was so taut.

At least three times a week, Bruce would grab the kids after school and play. Not always at the fort but just spending time with them. He even took them camping twice, with Angela and Stephanie joining them the second time. He spent time with Buffy but like teens do, she was hanging out with Dani more. But at least once a week Bruce had let Buffy choose a car in the storage area outside and let her drive him around the countryside.

Then one day, Dani had pulled up in a monster truck. Not a competition truck that only had a shell for a body, a real quad cab truck with sixty inch tires and a V12 supercharged engine. Dani, Mary, Mindy, and Buffy had taken off. There was a swamp three miles from the north gate and the girls had torn it up. When the truck was driven back, it looked like a ball of mud with trees sticking out of it. They’d cleaned it off and parked it with the collection so others could use it.

As Bruce stared at the fort, Ted looked at the new shop. He was certain, any man who had ever lived would have to fight to not have an orgasm just walking inside because Ted damn sure did. The building was over thirty feet tall and the main area was fifty thousand square feet. There was an addition on the back that was separate and held a wood working area.

Inside, there were different sections laid out. A machining area with ten different machines, and a welding area right beside it. Then there was a gun smithing area and next to it was a huge workbench that ran the length of the wall with tools galore. Like before there were tools on the wall, Bruce had no idea what they were for, but they looked cool. There was one area Bruce had set up that had huge 3D printer machines and a computer controlled embroidery machine. On the left wall was the auto area. Right now their MRAP was inside and if they pulled the MRAP out, Ted knew they could pull Prometheus inside and work on it and still have room to move around. One thing Ted knew Bruce loved was the thirty-ton crane that was suspended from the roof. The kids had added one in the addition they’d put on the old shop.

Having really enjoyed the break, Bruce spun and headed to the shop. Carl swiped a card to open the door and was shocked Bruce didn’t grumble. Bruce could scan his ID bracelet to get in, but still didn’t like the level of lockdown around him. He headed over to his desk as Ted went to a wall rack that held work coveralls. Bruce let them play with his toys since Ted and Carl were both taking machining courses.

As Ted put on some coveralls, Carl headed over to some small desks he and Ted used in the shop. They had offices in the barn like most of the others on the command group. These desks were just for a space to work from when they were in the shop. Bruce had brought the desks in after seeing them both just sitting in chairs reading on their laptops.

Grabbing an AR off the desk, Carl carried it over to Bruce and held it out. “Joe had the new class of apprentices make Omega new rifles,” Carl grinned, watching Bruce turn around with a huge grin.

Bruce took the AR and saw it was Cerakote in dark gray and on the mag well was a huge white omega symbol. It was loaded with furniture (laser, light, fore grip, etc.) and had a suppressor mounted. “How many did they put out?” Bruce asked while inspecting the holographic sight.

“Two for each member,” Carl answered before heading over to the rack to grab some coveralls. “Want me and Bonnie to start loading the MRAP up?” he asked, waving at the rig. He was rather proud of the work they had done on it and was thankful Bruce had taught them how. The rig was basically brand-new with upgrades but empty. Everything they had stored, like ammo and supplies, were stacked against the wall. Carl liked the tracks but still wished Bruce wouldn’t have gone so crazy hot-rodding the engine. Like the Bradley, the tracked MRAP had a steering wheel to drive with and pedals. It was Bruce who’d told them Joe had used the same transmission on the tracks that a Bradley uses.

The kids’ MRAPs could do sixty. Bruce’s MRAP could do seventy and in all reality could probably go faster, but Ted and Carl had started screaming for Bruce to slow the fuck down. Ted and Carl still hadn’t let their driver Louis, aka dummy, drive it yet.

Setting the AR on his desk, Bruce looked over at the MRAP. “No, let’s see what Jake is doing and if it’s extensive, we’ll just pull the engine to upgrade,” he said, and Carl just prayed there wasn’t anything else Bruce could do to an engine to make it go faster.

Dropping in his chair, Bruce opened a notebook that he had been keeping notes in on all the jobs here at Hope. He had started this the first week, just for peace of mind, making sure others were thinking and covering as much as they could. As many times as he had asked for things to be done ‘NOW’, it seemed the rest of the command group took it to heart. Not even Bruce would’ve thought of the things they had done. Each member of the command group had areas with leaders reporting to them and those had managers reporting to them.

It was all stored on the internet for Hope, but only the command group could access it. Mike’s pet project was healthcare and there were now fifty-two doctors, twenty-three nurse practitioners, and nearly a hundred nurses and other healthcare providers. There were now over a million bodies between Base Hope and Hope. After the expedition to Georgia, Bruce had Gene take Beta into Missouri to clear the area of the fort they had built while Mike went out and cleared the area in Texas around the fort to be put there. The fort in Killeen, Texas would’ve been the biggest because it enclosed Fort Hood, but Paul had started on what Bruce called the City of Hope during the expedition.

The week Bruce brought Angela, Stephanie, and the babies home, Paul had started. Hope was sixty miles by sixty miles square. The north wall ran from Minden all the way to West Monroe. One thing Bruce did know was the inside of the base in Texas hadn't even been started and Paul had pulled half the work crew back to Hope to work on the wall here. Granted, Fort Hood was an active base before the Fall, but many of the buildings needed work.

The wall for the City of Hope was two miles from the east wall of the Base Hope, with a very large train yard between them. If Bruce hadn’t driven out there, he never would’ve believed how fast they were working. Five miles of wall were put up in a day and after eleven days, the crews got up to ten miles in a single day. The thirty foot concrete barriers weren’t the ones Bruce designed, Paul had made upgrades. Bruce’s design had been a Y-shaped barrier. Paul’s was a Y and a T, combined with a five foot bulge at the base joining the stem, and Paul’s were taller. Wondering just how in the fuck Paul was accomplishing that task, Bruce dove into the computer.

It seemed when Paul had found out about the four hundred mile long wall Bruce wanted to build in Mexico, he’d expanded the yard where they were pouring wall sections. The concrete yard was four miles outside the east gate, now inside the wall of the City of Hope, and the area where the barriers were poured covered two hundred acres. In an assembly line fashion and with an army of workers, two miles were put out each day. Those poured days ago were left to cure then loaded up and moved further south to a huge field to be arranged like giant dominos.

Then, wondering where in the hell Paul was getting the cement because there were huge companies close but they didn’t have that much, Bruce dove on the computer again and saw Paul had the Praetorian Guard clear the area at a huge plant in Arkansas. Then he’d built a wall around the plant and quarry, making it an outpost. Then using the power from two nearby hydro dams, after bringing them online and cutting all ties to anywhere but the plant, Paul had brought the plant online. In Alabama, Paul had done the same to another plant before bringing it online and turning it into an outpost also. Now, concrete was being delivered by rail in massive quantities.

City of Hope’s walls were done in just forty-four days, enclosing over three thousand square miles. Then, those that Paul had pulled from Texas went back to finish the buildings inside Fort Hood which had only taken another month since the team that had been left kept working away.

Like they had done at Fort Hood, Gene then gathered Beta and Omega, without Bruce of course, and members of the Praetorian Guard, thirty thousand total. They’d formed a line inside the west wall of the City of Hope with ten feet between each member and walked east to clear the inside of the wall of blues. Forty miles away from the base they’d started finding blues that had been trapped inside when the wall was finished. With UAVs overhead, those on the ground knew when blues were close and none were lost. There were a few close calls with blues, but the main danger turned out to come from snakes. Nineteen people were bitten by snakes. Almost nine thousand blues were killed inside the walls and the bodies then removed, along with several hundred snakes. Then two days later, they’d done it again with dog teams and didn’t find any, blues but another three were bitten by snakes and another was attacked by an alligator. Luckily, the gator was shot fast before pulling the trooper into deeper water.

Thanks to the hospitals, none of the snake bites or gator attacks had any problems and were back at work within a week.

One thing Bruce did look into was wildlife, and the blues were proving to be the worst blight ever. They ate everything from insects to elephants. If the animal couldn’t reach water, blues would overwhelm it.

When the second sweep to clear the inside was underway, Paul had already started on the living areas of the City of Hope. Using the same layout as Base Hope and building a community one mile square, Paul changed the apartments from six stories in Base Hope to ten stories in City of Hope. This was where Bruce had learned generators were pulled in and turned on, even in Base Hope. They had outgrown all the power, even with routing other hydro stations here.

The smallest generator was 3MW and the largest was 10MW that Bruce could find logged in the computer. He didn’t want to use fuel for power, but there wasn’t a choice.

Continuing his search of current projects, Bruce found one but not who had started it, but suspected it was Mike. It was labeled Mosquito Control and it had a hundred people assigned. Digging deeper, he saw there were nearly ten thousand traps out and found a diagram that Mike had shown him once. It was a tire cut in half with a water spigot attached. Water was poured in and the mosquitos laid their eggs in the water. You would get a coffee can with cloth over it and drain the water through the cloth. The cloth would catch the eggs and then you would pour the water back in the tire, since mosquitos left a scent when they laid eggs and the water would attract more. Another positive thing was the traps were also killing the no-see-ums. Tiny flies that bite the shit out of you.

The operation had been going on since last year and Bruce freaked out after finding pictures of some of the hauls of mosquito eggs and larvae. The group didn’t drain them all every day but made rounds up to twenty miles outside the walls of the base. Each trap was emptied once every ten days, and the record haul for one day was thirty-four and a half pounds of larvae and eggs. Bruce had known the mosquitos hadn’t been as bad and just thought they had died off. The group’s last line of traps for mosquitoes were the CO2 traps, but there were only a few hundred of these since they used propane and electricity.

He knew in the old world that one group could’ve never existed. Just using basic amounts of pay and for the supplies, the group would’ve cost two hundred thousand dollars a week to keep running. Hell, he would’ve rather paid for that than to send his money around the globe. The proof that the Mosquito Control group worked was very evident. If that wasn’t enough, they also laid traps out for other biting insects, and one group they were controlling very well in the area were the horseflies and those like it. Bruce hated those damn things. To him, they hurt worse than a wasp sting. He had seen pictures of the traps before on farms and knew they were called Malaise traps, but he hadn’t known what they were. If he had known such a thing existed, he would’ve filled the two-hundred-acre farm with them.

Like the mosquito traps, each of the horsefly traps were checked once a week and emptied. There were three types of traps, and Bruce had only seen the Malaise trap before, but all three types worked. Many traps were around the livestock, but there were over two thousand out. There were pictures and numbers to back up the traps, and some traps were taking in over a thousand horse, deer, and yellow flies a week (They were all the same to Bruce). The single daily record in the collection was one hundred and eleven pounds of horseflies. When he finished going over all that, Bruce felt everyone in the Mosquito Control should get a blow job.

The levels the others were taking care of business put his mind at ease, but he still continued going through each member of the command group area and kept being amazed. They were thinking very outside the box to solve problems.

Not only did Bruce play with the kids, he made rounds visiting the different schools just to see those he was fighting for. He also did other projects like a Japanese garden behind the new shop. He and Buffy rebuilt his truck she’d wrecked. Then there was the time spent with Angela and Stephanie.

To Bruce’s great horror, two golf courses had been put inside the walls of Base Hope. He knew for a fucking fact he’d never been asked about that. In Hope, each block or square mile had recreation centers and areas, and there were six blocks now that housed the half a million in Base Hope and the others in the City of Hope, with the rest of the survivors in the other outlying bases in Missouri, Alabama, and Fort Hood. Outside, these blocks held tennis courts, some basketball courts, baseball fields, football fields, soccer fields, paintball fields, and other outdoor activities. One that Bruce loved was the variety of putt-putt courses. Everyone in the family knew Bruce hated golf but loved putt-putt. There were six recreation areas around the town and each one held a different putt-putt course and whoever had built them, Bruce wanted to give them a medal. They were all interactive and not just putting greens. When he’d designed the living area, he’d just listed ‘rec area’ and ‘put things for people to do’. Paul and his design group had taken that to heart and run with it.

Another thing Bruce loved, there were six twenty-lane bowling alleys. One had to make reservations a week in advance to play during the evenings. There were even hair salons that were run around the clock and other things from the old world to make life, not easier but enjoyable.

But to Bruce’s horror, it turned out Angela and Stephanie both loved to play golf. Bruce had never played in his life and never had the intention of playing. He also never knew either of them even liked golf, despite knowing Stephanie as long as he had. Two weeks ago, they had told Bruce they were going to play and scheduled a tee time. At the time, Bruce didn’t give a shit. He had just gathered up some vodka to make drinks. His plan was to get drunk driving the girls around on the golf cart as they played.

Oh, Angela and Stephanie weren’t having any of that. They’d made reservations at the driving range beside the golf course they were playing at so Bruce could practice. Behind Bruce, Bonnie, Ted, and Carl just snickered. Promptly turning around, Bruce had informed them they were playing as well and that’d shut them up. Well, Bruce found something he wasn’t good at no matter how hard he tried. He came in one hundred and four over par and had broken two clubs when he beat the ground and lost another when he had tossed it in a water hazard because the club wasn’t sending the ball where he was aiming.

There was a famous golf pro in Base Hope who had been on the PGA tour. Well, that’s what everyone who played golf had told Bruce because he damn sure didn’t know him. The golf pro had even come out to help Bruce get ready before the game. There were others in Hope who, before the Fall, had been famous. There were two very popular actors and three actresses, but they were just workers now. One of the actresses was a whiny bitch, but she did her work. Now that breathing room had been gained, groups and clubs were being formed to make shows and there had even been a movie made. All the actors and actresses were in it and Bruce had gone along with the family to one of the movie theaters, but it was a chick flick and he’d fallen asleep.

There were nearly a dozen famous sports stars, eight famous singers, and other celebrities from the old world but now, they were just survivors. They all had jobs to do and what they did in their own time was their business, but they received no special treatment.

Hearing the door open, Bruce spun around in his chair to see Mindy and David walk in holding hands. “Hey, guys,” Bruce said holding out his arms, and Mindy ran over and leapt onto his lap. The only other daughters who wanted more lap time or hugs were Emily and Sherry. Bruce didn’t mind as he hugged her tight. “You seem happy,” he said looking at David as Mindy lifted her head off his chest, looking at Bruce with a huge grin.

“We just got back from town, Dad. I’m pregnant,” she said, practically vibrating. Bruce hugged her tight and pushed off so his chair rolled over to David. Wrapping an arm around David, Bruce pulled him into the hug. There was no doubt, David and Mindy loved each other. They were never far apart and they didn’t even argue, which seemed weird to Bruce but it worked for them.

“Mindy wanted to tell you first before we tell the others,” David said as Bruce let him go.

“Well, I’m honored,” Bruce replied. They talked for a bit then the two left to share the great news.

“We will save this world,” Bruce mumbled as he turned around and continued to look at the computer.

Chapter Three

It was 0600 when Bruce walked in the command bunker the next morning with Angela and Stephanie for his first meeting in over three months. Bruce saw everyone already there and breakfast was being served. The other kids were being escorted to the center for breakfast by their security detail and once again, Bruce liked his security detail because he had played hard with the kids yesterday afternoon and knew zombies would occupy their bodies when they awoke.

He smiled as he headed to the end of the table and his step faltered seeing Dani and Buffy standing beside his chair. There was a bowl of water and plastic bottles at his spot. Dani was holding an apron and Buffy was standing beside a roll-around sink. “Guys, I do my own hair with a razor every other day,” he told them, just in case they forgot.

“Duh,” Dani sang out, then patted his chair. “Sit,” she told him, but Bruce didn’t move.

“What is all this?” he asked, motioning toward the supplies. With soft eyes, Dani and Buffy both put on the most adorable smiles and Bruce immediately got suspicious.

“Your goatee is white. It’s not even gray, so we’re dyeing it,” Dani informed him because there clearly was no “ask” involved.

“It’s on my face and I’m fine with it,” Bruce replied and the smiles fell off and Bruce was tempted to just go back to bed.

“You’re our daddy and if we don’t want to look at your white goatee then you have to sit down,” Dani snapped, then Buffy joined in.

“We keep our hair long because you like it that way, so park your behind,” Buffy barked.

For a second, Bruce was a little spellbound because for a brief instant, teenage logic made sense and for some reason he couldn’t explain, that thought terrified him. Pushing the thought out before it bred, Bruce just stared at the two and saw both take breaths to continue and he was not in the mood for teenage girl logic this early in the morning. “Fine,” Bruce moaned, heading for his chair and dropped down.

As Dani put the apron on him, Bruce saw some of the others in the command group exchanging things. Turning, he saw Nancy rolling her eyes at Mike. “Fine, you win,” Nancy moaned and Mike just had a shit-eating grin.

Then it hit Bruce, there had been bets placed on this. Not liking the fact the others were betting but having no intention of pissing off teen girls who were using Holy Pills, Bruce just leaned back in the chair as the two went to work. “Told you he wouldn’t even yell,” Stephanie said sitting down, pulling out her laptop and notepads.

Almost glaring at Bruce, “Would you have done that for us?” Angela asked.

“If you had asked me, I would’ve done it myself or made an appointment to have it done in town,” Bruce responded, and that took the grumpy face off Angela. Taking a breath to comment, Bruce stopped when Stephanie slapped the table hard, scaring the shit out of everyone.

“Say anything about your age and us being ashamed, we go the fuck outside, bitch,” Stephanie growled. What scared the shit out of Bruce the most was that was exactly what he was about to say. The others around the table snickered as Bruce just forced a grin.

Turning to look at Dani, “Don’t dye it some weird ass color,” he told her.

Rolling her eyes as she put petroleum jelly on his lips and around the edges of the goatee so they wouldn’t dye the skin, “We are dyeing it dark brown like it used to be before the world turned to shit,” Dani told him.

As the pair worked, Bruce had to admit they were pretty damn good, watching Buffy mix up the dye. “You two have been doing shifts at one of the salons?” Bruce asked.

“Yep,” they both sang out.

Dani pulled on plastic gloves and grabbed a small brush. “We wanted to learn how to do it and not screw it up so when we do it next time, you couldn’t use that for an excuse,” she told him.

“Why didn’t you just ask?” Bruce wondered out loud. Not able to move his head because they were coating his goatee, he cut his eyes to Angela and Stephanie. “Or either of you could’ve asked.”

It was Buffy who answered with a smile as she worked. “Because you would’ve said ‘okay’ and would’ve had every intention of doing it but would’ve forgotten and when we would’ve asked again, you would’ve replied, ‘I’m going to’. This way, we just take you out of the equation and everyone is happy.”

About to object to that, Bruce wisely remained silent as Millie came in carrying a tray. When she set it down in front of him, Bruce noticed Millie had on an apron and a long wooden spoon was sticking out of one pocket. “Thank you, Millie,” Bruce said and would’ve smiled, but Dani and Buffy were kneading the dye into his goatee.

“You be learnin’, Bruce,” Millie told him, walking around behind him and kissed him on the top of his shaved head.

“We can start,” Bruce said, shifting his eyes to the table. Paul started first, going over the city projects and the schedule. Then he went over the Alabama and Missouri forts and everyone now housed in all forts. Last, he reported Fort Hood was done and gates had been put in to enclose two hundred and sixty square miles. Like had been done here, Beta and Gamma formed a long line of troops with MRAPs behind them and walked across the entire base. About half the arms and vehicles were there and the vehicles that weren’t, were at the border when the government had closed it at the start of the outbreak.

Since that base was damn near empty because one of Bruce’s last orders was not to move survivors there, “How many survivors do you want to move there?” Paul asked as Dani and Buffy stepped back and turned on a timer.

“None yet,” Bruce answered, shocking Paul. “That will be our training center for the four-week advanced course and the next four-week course for the fighting units and scavengers. The two-week basic course we will keep inside the walled cities. The one here needs to be moved to the city and off the base. The survivors who move there will be the ones who run it and will rotate out.”

Nodding, Paul made notes as Conner went next. “Bruce, we are outpacing production on 7.62 magic bullets. Our saving grace has been you pulled everyone out of the field and just had them clearing around forts. On our push through the south, we drained our stockpile,” Conner said and was glad to see Bruce was a little shocked. “Bruce, every rig has at least one minigun but as you know, many have two or three and there were twelve hundred in each regiment when they were out. Each Blackhawk has two and that adds up to over four thousand miniguns with each shooting three to four thousand rounds, depending on the setting. And we use those a lot. I’m not even going to mention the belt fed weapons, not to mention the air wings with the converted planes. God’s Mower can dump a million rounds in half an hour and now we have more.”

“Hey, bitch,” Dani snapped, and Bruce snickered as Conner just held up his hands in surrender. Dani had found out God’s Mower was a P-3 Orion. The Navy used them for hunting subs. The two were found in New Orleans stripped bare because they had been sold to some government. Well, Mack saw planes he didn’t have and hooked up with Joe: God’s Mower was born. When Dani came back and found out what plane it was, she went looking for more and found them.

She had six more brought in, but these weren’t stripped down so Dani grabbed tools, saws, and a cutting torch. Joe had come up and saw Dani tossing out multimillion dollar computers and radars on the runway as she stripped the first one to make more God’s Mowers. Afraid Dani was going to remove stuff that didn’t need to be removed, Joe convinced her to let him take over.

Laughing as he remembered, “How are the Mowers coming along?” Bruce asked as the timer beeped. Dani rolled his chair back and Buffy pushed the rolling sink in front of Bruce.

Watching the two rinse the dye out, Mack fought not to laugh. “Three are up and the other three should be done before Thanksgiving,” Mack answered, wondering if Bruce knew just how many God’s Mowers Dani had planned.

When they were finished rinsing the dye out, Buffy grabbed a towel and dried Bruce’s face. Grabbing a hand mirror, Dani held it in front of Bruce but he never even glanced in it. “Thanks, you two,” he said, pulling them down and hugging them tight.

Letting them go, Bruce turned to Conner. For a brief second, Conner almost commented on how much different Bruce looked but stopped that train of thought. “We’ve stopped production of 9mm and .45ACP magic bullets to increase production of 7.62,” Conner said, turning to Jake and Matt.

“We are going last,” Matt said.

Knowing his dad very well, “After what we go over, he won’t hear anything else,” Jake added.

Leaning over to Angela, “They know their daddy better than I ever knew mine,” Stephanie whispered, making Angela give a snort.

“Pam doing okay?” Bruce asked. Tonya’s mother Pam was over the europium and had eighteen under her. All they did was process the ‘nuclear material’ to be put in hollow points. Bruce had asked Steve if Pam could handle the task and Steve said his mother-in-law was more than capable and so far, Steve was right.

“Pam isn’t having any trouble, but says she can’t increase europium output without more people. That’s why 9mm and .45ACP were stopped to increase 7.62,” Conner answered.

Seeing his dad about to continue with Conner, “Dad,” Jake called out, stopping him. “That’s all you need to know for now because whatever changes you are thinking about making, you will change your mind when Matt and I are finished. So just let everyone else continue.” With the stuff they’d used to dye Bruce’s goatee put away, Dani and Buffy sat down and both grinned.

Not sure if he should be mad or not, Bruce finally just gave a nod. “Bruce,” Joe called out and Bruce turned. “Since we are at this spot, have you heard of the XM124?”

Scoffing, “Yeah, it’s referred to as the micro-minigun. It’s a 5.56 minigun and I even got to see one once,” Bruce answered and saw Joe was surprised at last because Bruce didn’t have one. “Finally got tickets to a Shot Show,” Bruce said with a grin.

Remembering the time very well the year before she’d moved, “I thought Debbie was going to shoot your ass and I didn’t see her for a week after all of you got back,” Stephanie gasped.

“Shit, you should’ve been there,” Nancy moaned. “They say one person can’t visit every booth at the Shot Show. Well, let me tell you, they are fucking full of shit! Bruce made it to every table in four days and many he revisited.”

Angela and Stephanie turned from Nancy to Mike, who was twiddling his thumbs looking at the table. “Oh, Mike was running right along with Bruce but by the third day, Mike couldn’t even keep up,” Nancy told them.

In unison, Angela and Stephanie turned to look down the table at the kids and noticed all of them were trying to look innocent, but Steve looked like he was trying to hide behind Mack. “Oh, they were just as bad,” Nancy groaned. “Steve almost had Bruce talked into ordering an ultralight helicopter. To this day, I’m certain the only reason his father didn’t was because it wasn’t shipped with the machine guns. But Debbie wasn’t taking chances and took Bruce’s wallet when we checked into the hotel. I took Mike’s the first day,” Nancy ended with a smile.

Looking at Joe, “You were saying?” Bruce blurted out to stop Nancy.

“We made fifty and I’ve put twenty on some Blackhawks and want to put some on the rigs and let the troops try them,” Joe said. “Before you ask, we have tested them, and they run just as good as the 7.62. The rigs would be best because they don’t need the range of a 7.62 as much as the choppers, but the choppers will be able to carry twice the ammo.”

“Send three to my shop and I’ll put them on my rig,” Bruce said, still feeling Nancy staring at him.

“I want some,” Dani chimed in and was followed by all the other kids.

“Joe, just start a line up and let’s arm half the rigs with the micro,” Bruce said.

“You’re not going to tell everyone you tried to buy that micro-minigun at the Shot Show?” Nancy sang out. “You called the sheriff and asked if you could buy it for the department to test and see if they wanted one. That way, you could list it as a police demo and have a new toy.”

Clearing his throat, “Can we continue?” Bruce said, turning to Mike. “I want to ask, are you the one who came up with the Mosquito Control group?”

Clearly shocked, Mike gave a jerk. “Yeah, how did you even know about them?”

“Fucking outstanding job,” Bruce said as half the group asked what the hell that was and Mike explained.

“Wondered why I wasn’t getting eaten alive,” Gene scoffed. “When I was stationed at Fort Polk, I swear I should’ve gotten a blood transfusion every week.”

Bruce turned to Angela and Stephanie and it was clear they knew about the group. “Can you do an interview and follow the group making them look really good? I want others to know and for Mike to expand it by another hundred and extend their range out to fifty miles from the walls,” Bruce asked.

“Sure,” Stephanie answered, making a note.

“Whew, that’s good because they are going to be hard-pressed to get enough traps up just for the City of Hope,” Mike sighed with relief as Bruce started eating.

Mack went next, telling Bruce the airport was up in the City of Hope and got a shocked reaction. Then Mack explained the pilots and ground crew went over and built it since the airport on base was starting to get really crowded. The airport there would take most of the heavy planes. After giving the rundown of everything in his area, Mack leaned back in his chair. “I should tell you, the A-10 boys got jealous of what you asked Joe to do to the Apaches,” Mack said with a grin.

Carl turned to Bruce, “What the hell did you do to the Apaches?”

“He got us to mount a minigun beside the 30mm cannon,” Mack answered. “It took a little work and reprogramming but they work and have nine thousand rounds on board.”

“I like the 30mm, but they only carry twelve hundred rounds,” Bruce told Carl. “In this war, we need lots of bullets flying.” Then Bruce looked at Mack, “A-10s?”

Grinning, “A dozen of them went whining to Joe and Harry. Joe and Harry converted some miniguns from twenty-two-inch long barrels to thirty-six-inch long barrels and mounted them in the left side of the nose of sixteen A-10s. Now, half of their 30mm ammo was taken out but was replaced with sixteen thousand-round magazines for the minigun. Another sixteen we mounted for the GAU-19 with the fifty caliber Gatling gun. Like the others, they can only carry half a load of 30mm for the main gun and can only carry eight-thousand rounds for the GAU-19. We’ll see how they do before changing the others.”

When Mack was finished, Mike looked down the table at Sandy. “Okay, Sandy. You go next.”

Arranging her notes, Sandy looked at Bruce. “I’ve done the research on the Omega soldier who was contaminated but didn’t turn,” she said and cut her eyes to Gene who was sitting beside her.

Having told Sandy to keep her language on his level, “You’re doing great,” Gene smiled and patted her arm. Before Omega returned from the field, a large building was built two miles outside of the walls to the west. Mike asked Sandy what she needed to continue the research and it was gathered.

Batting her eyes at Gene, Sandy glanced at her papers then turned back to Bruce. “I found the same four markers present in his blood that I isolated on the one we had before Homeland killed him,” Sandy glanced up to see Bruce nod and continued. “Now we’ve got blood samples from two others who were in Missouri and infected but didn’t turn. One sample didn’t yield anything because it wasn’t stored properly. But the other one, I isolated the markers and found the same four again.”

Taking the top page off the stack she was reading from and setting it to the side, “I asked Mike if I could try a hypothesis but needed blood samples from some here in Hope,” Sandy told him and Bruce remembered someone coming to take his blood while Stephanie and Angela were in the hospital. “The one infected in Georgia had been fighting with Omega since you first went out and that’s what gave me the idea.”

Locking eyes with Bruce, “Eighty-four percent of those members of Omega who have been fighting since your run through Texas have the markers,” Sandy told him. “I introduced the virus in their blood samples and it was killed. They have innate immunity.”

Hearing that, Bruce’s eyes got wide but Sandy continued before he spoke. “Your blood has more than anyone’s, Bruce,” Sandy informed him, then quickly added, “I’m not suggesting to go get bitten to test it, but when I introduced the virus to your blood sample, it was killed off or broken down much faster.”

Sandy just looked at him and Bruce nodded for her to continue. “Those four markers are the key to innate immunity and eventually developing a vaccine. But as of now, I asked Gene if I could have one of the prisoners to experiment on-,” she stopped as Gene cut in. But everyone at the table was looking at Sandy in shock that she’d even suggested it, much less did it.

“Yeah, Sandy really doesn’t like them because Stephanie told her they all hate learning and burn down schools and books,” Gene said sheepishly and shrugged. “So I went and got one for her.”

Bruce noticed Sandy blush a bit as she continued. “Well, since I isolated the segments, I reproduced them using…,” and Sandy continued speaking. Except for Stephanie, nobody knew what the fuck she was saying and there were doctors, nurses, and other professionals among the group.

Gene reached over and squeezed Sandy’s arm and she paused. “You lost us, honey, on how you reproduced the segments,” Gene whispered.

“Sorry,” Sandy whispered back, then ran her eyes up the page to that spot. “I used a gene sequencer to reproduce the four segments,” Sandy said.

“Hold up,” Willie said. “‘I used a gene sequencer to reproduce the four segments’ means the same thing as the fifteen minutes of words you spit out before?” he asked in shock.

It was Gene who answered. “For those of us who don’t understand, it sums it up very nicely.”

Nodding, “By all means, continue like that,” Willie sighed out.

“Well,” Sandy scanned the page to where she’d stopped and continued. “I injected the stupid, cocksucking prisoner with the four segments.” When those words came out of Sandy’s mouth, everyone’s mouth at the table fell open in shock, except Gene’s.

Patting Sandy’s arm, Gene looked around the table proudly. “I taught her to use words I understand on people she doesn’t like.”

Really blushing now, Sandy moved to the next page. “I gave the cocksucker twelve hours and drew blood to find the markers-,” Sandy continued using words only Stephanie understood until Gene squeezed her arm again. “Sorry,” Sandy said. “He was showing innate immunity markers, so I introduced the virus and over twelve hours it was destroyed.”

“You can make a vaccine?” Conner gasped and Sandy turned and started talking to him, but only Stephanie knew it was English.

Gene squeezed her arm again. “It’s a special vaccine, Conner, that just doesn’t last very long,” Gene told him.

“You understood that?” Conner asked in awe.

“No, she’s smarter than I’ll ever be,” Gene scoffed. “It took Sandy three days to explain it to me. She finally went and found some Legos and used those to explain it on a level I could understand.” Bruce damn near told Stephanie to go and get those Legos and teach him. Because if Sandy could teach Gene that way, he knew for a fact Stephanie could teach him.

Looking at Bruce, “I’m going to keep injecting the cocksucker every week until he succumbs to the virus and that will give us an estimate how long innate immunity holds,” Sandy said.

Clearing his throat, “Just how much of this virus are we talking about injecting?” Bruce asked, and Stephanie started to explain but Gene stopped her.

“Stephanie,” Gene called out. “Let Sandy,” he pleaded, then looked at Sandy. “Just like you did with me,” Gene told her in a low voice. As Sandy grabbed stuff from a bag on the floor, Gene smiled at Bruce. “That was the first question I asked,” Gene admitted.

When Sandy set a five-inch-thick ream of paper on the table, Bruce almost took off running. Be damned if he was going to let someone read that much shit to him. Then Bruce noticed the pages were blank. “Let’s say this stack of paper, if I laid it end to end, represented the virus,” Sandy said looking at Bruce and he nodded. Holding up a pair of scissors Sandy lifted the top paper off. Using the scissors, she cut a very tiny sliver off one corner and brushed it off her fingertip. Bruce stood up and couldn’t see it, so he walked around the table getting closer until he saw it. The sliver of paper might have covered Lincoln’s nose on a penny.

He looked up to see Sandy cutting another sliver off and before she put it on the table, Sandy looked at it and then cut a tiny piece off the end before putting it on the table. It dawned on Bruce, Sandy was actually measuring what she was cutting by eye to be as exact as she could. The new tad of paper was just a little longer than the first but just as wide. The next one was wider but not as long and all three together wouldn’t have covered up Lincoln’s cheek. When Sandy put down the last piece it was the biggest, but wouldn’t cover up Lincoln’s forehead on the penny.

Putting the scissors down, “Those four slices of paper I cut represent the sections I injected into cocksucker compared to the total virus,” Sandy stated proudly.

Feeling much better now, Bruce headed back to his seat as everyone congratulated Sandy that they’d understood. “You need to learn to explain like that, bitch,” Angela hissed at Stephanie.

Gasping, “You’ve never had a problem understanding what I explained,” Stephanie told her.

“You spent four hours explaining before I understood what Sandy just did in five minutes,” Angela huffed. “I really don’t give a fuck how much sections of a virus weigh because of molecular density using single molecule fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. There isn’t a scale I can put them on to check.”

So happy he, the only nurse, wasn’t the only idiot in this marriage about the micro world, “Thank you, Sandy,” Bruce said sitting down and turned to Stephanie. “Go to Sandy’s and get those Legos and use them to explain to me,” he offered.

“Fuck that,” Angela snapped. “We just got Cade and PJ some Legos; we’ll use those.”

“Bruce,” Sandy called out and he looked at her before Stephanie responded to either of them. “Gene asked me for a hypothesis as to why the original Omega showed such high levels of innate immunity. Would you like me to explain?”

Almost shouting, ‘Hell No’, Bruce saw Gene nodding his head minutely. “Go ahead,” Bruce offered.

Sandy explained that as Omega let the blues get close and engaged them, when bullets impacted the virus was put airborne from blood and body fluid. But once it left the body of the infected, it was effectively inert. Only by going from an infected to a human directly could it survive transmission. So only a bite, direct fluid transmission or sexual intercourse could provide that. Bruce flopped back in his chair as images of blues raping humans to spread the virus filled his mind. “Babe,” Stephanie said, knowing damn well what was going through Bruce’s mind. “They won’t do that.”

Feeling better, Bruce turned as Mike spoke. “But Stephanie had data that the virus could survive outside the body for up to ten minutes in optimum conditions.”

“A human body,” Sandy corrected, and Bruce felt a headache coming on. “It is actually easier to catch the virus from another human before transformation than from an infected one. Humans encapsulate the virus in pus, mucus, and body fluids that actually protect the virus. In case you haven’t noticed, infected, blues, they don’t have festering wounds or runny noses. Their immune system is so effective they don’t need to have an inflammatory response like humans. Again, I’m not suggesting drinking the blood of infected or stop your contact procedures, but that’s what we’ve discovered.”

Stephanie leaned over and spoke in a low voice, “I’ve told you the same thing.” Bruce nodded because he had remembered that lesson.

“How long till you think you could put this innate immunity into practice and how long do you think it would last?” Bruce asked Sandy.

“Um, I will need more of the cocksucker’s friends to test and run trials on, but by April we should be ready for advanced trials,” Sandy told him, then spoke in another language. Before Gene stopped her, Stephanie spoke in the same language as the two conversed for several minutes.

Finally speaking in words everyone understood, Stephanie shook her head. “No, Sandy. You’re going to be lucky to maintain one hundred days of innate immunity at those levels.”

As Sandy was about to respond, Bruce held up his hand stopping her. “You two may speak after class but for right now, I’m going with what Stephanie said,” Bruce told her, and Sandy nodded.

“Stephanie does raise very compelling points of attention,” Sandy agreed, like Bruce understood what they had been talking about. Stephanie being smarter than him and his other wife is why Bruce went with what she said and Mike motioned for Willie to go next.

Chapter Four

When everyone was done, Jake and Matt stood up and passed out booklets, but Bruce noticed that neither Mike, Nancy, Stephanie, Angela, Marcus, Carroll, nor the kids got one. Then to confirm it, those who didn’t get a booklet pulled one out. Not opening his, Bruce looked down the table to see Jake already looking at him. “Yeah, they know already. Matt and I told everyone but Angela and Stephanie while they were still in the hospital. We told them three weeks after they were home and they agreed with the rest of us, you couldn’t learn about what we were doing until your vacation was over,” Jake told him.

Bruce glanced over at the wives, then scanned the faces of his kids before finally turning to Mike and Nancy. All of their faces were set firm, daring Bruce to argue the fact. “Well, if that’s what you decided, I can live with that,” Bruce said.

Reaching over, Angela patted his arm. “I’m so proud of you,” she beamed. Pushing his empty plate away, Bruce just smiled and nodded to Jake.

Jake stood up and handed out what looked like black paper squares but they were rigid. When one got to Bruce, he sucked in a breath because it had nearly no weight. Holding it over the table, he let it go. It did drop, but it floated down like a piece of thin cardboard. Picking it up, Bruce held it sideways and it was just a bit thicker than the back cover of his notebook. With both hands he tried to bend it and there was no give. Looking up, Bruce saw the others who hadn’t seen this before doing the same thing.

“You can’t break it,” Matt told everyone as Jake lifted another one but it looked thicker.

“I shot this one with a .308 FMJ,” he said, then looked at Angela and Stephanie. “The 7.62.”

“Duh,” Stephanie sang out. “We are married to Bruce and you think we didn’t know that? Would you like me or Angela to recite the ballistic chart?”

“Sorry,” Jake grinned, holding up the black square. “As you can see it didn’t penetrate, but” Jake held up another square and it had a small hole in the center. “This one I shot with a .338 Lapua armor piercing round. This sheet is the equivalent to one inch of rolled steel. The sheet I passed around is the thinnest and it will stop a 9mm.”

Barely listening to Jake as he stared at the square he was holding, “You got this from Groom Lake,” Bruce gasped with a huge grin. Jake and Matt both gave long groans as Mike, Nancy, Stephanie, and Angela rolled their eyes. “Who was over this project?” Bruce asked in wonder.

“Daaaad,” Jake whined out.

“They’ve seen it, where are they at?” Bruce asked, getting to his feet, never taking his eyes off the black square he was holding.

Letting his head roll back, Jake stared at the ceiling for a few seconds. Dropping his gaze back to his dad, Jake saw Bruce looked like he was about to leave. “Dad!” he shouted, scaring the shit out of everyone and making Bruce jump, but he did take his eyes off the black square to look at Jake. “This didn’t come from a spaceship!” Jake snapped and when Bruce took a breath to counter, “Dad!” he shouted again. “There isn’t a spaceship there! There hasn’t been one because if there had been one we would’ve found research! If a ship had crashed, there would’ve been things there Matt and I had never heard of or even imagined! Everything we’ve come across we’ve heard of or is the next step! There really is transparent aluminum, we can make it and have been for decades! By next year we’ll have some really awesome shit and none of it came from a spaceship! What you’re holding is similar to graphene. A fifteen-year-old boy wrote a thesis ten years ago about how to bond graphene together and then use gargantuan amounts of electricity, plasma, and pressure to make it produce a stable rigid form! Something that everyone thought was only possible in theory! But the government and a corporation set him up in Groom Lake! There are no green men! And if there were, we would’ve never been able to shoot them down! Think! That’s what you always tell us! If they can travel here, we would pose no risk to them on any level!”

Jake watched Bruce’s shoulders slump and the grin fall off his face, and Jake suddenly felt like he had told Emily and Sherry that Santa Claus wasn’t real. Now feeling really bad, “Dad, I’m sorry but there isn’t a spaceship at Groom Lake. But I’m not saying there isn’t one anywhere. There just isn’t a spaceship there. I swear to you on my soul, Dad, if there is a spaceship on this planet, I’ll find it for you. There are thirty-nine deep underground bases, DUMBs, in the states that we have found and I’ll search every one. If I don’t find one here, I’ll load up the Cyber Ninjas and we’ll head to Russia and search theirs.”

A relieved smile came to Bruce’s face and Jake felt like he’d convinced someone Santa was still real, and it did make Jake feel much better. When Bruce sat back down, Jake held up one of the black squares. “They developed this eight years ago and they can make it thicker like the ones we shot with big bullets, but only seven millimeters before it starts losing structural integrity and becoming brittle. As you can see, what I passed around isn’t that thick. Now those in the government were developing this for armor, be it tanks, choppers, or airplanes. They have been working on that for the last six years and what they’ve been trying is to make it conform to curves but they haven’t been successful. It can only be made in a flat panel.”

Jake watched his dad nodding as he looked at the square he was holding again. “They call it by…” Jake paused and his dad looked up. “The name has twenty-three letters and two dashes,” Jake said. “Matt and I just call it polygraphenoid. It’s six hundred times stronger than steel by weight. What you’re holding has the same strength as a quarter inch of cold rolled steel.”

All those just hearing this gave low whistles of astonishment, including Bruce. “We don’t give a shit about the armor capabilities,” Jake said, putting the square down and dug in a canvas bag on the floor. When he stood up, he was holding a polygraphenoid one foot square box. “This is what we want it for,” Jake said letting it go, and the box shot up out of his hands and hit the ceiling.

“You put helium in it?” Conner asked.

“I told you Buffy wouldn’t be the only one to ask that,” Dani popped off.

Ignoring Dani, “No, Conner, there’s nothing inside. That’s what makes it float. Inside is a vacuum,” Jake said and saw Bruce’s eyes light up again. When Bruce locked his eyes, Jake held up his hand. “Don’t,” Jake pleaded, he couldn’t take the ‘Santa’s dead’ look again. “Dad, the government was developing this for armor, and aliens wouldn’t need a vacuumed ballast ship to travel through space. The idea is very old, Dad. The first recording of it was by a monk in the late sixteen hundreds, but there has never been any material that could maintain a vacuum and achieve lift. That one cubic foot gives us one ounce of lift with full vacuum pressure.”

Jake gave a relieved sigh when his dad nodded and Matt stood up before putting another box on the table, but this one didn’t float. “I’ll pass this around but if you look at the seams, you will see they are bonded,” Matt said and passed it around as Jake tapped away on his laptop. “To keep it simple, it’s a resin you smear on and shine a chlorine laser on and the resin solidifies to a pure carbon like a diamond. It is hard but very brittle.” Matt pointed at the box at the ceiling, “If you shoot that box with a 9mm it won’t puncture but could break one of the seams, thereby releasing the vacuum.”

The screen behind them came on and the first-timers, hearing this, all let out gasps. “This is our prototype flying airfield capable of carrying helicopters,” Jake said. The image was taken from a distance but on the screen it looked like a tall building laid on its side, but it was floating and had a small tower in the middle sticking up. They could tell it was at the runway and it was only twenty feet off the ground, but it was floating. There was a helicopter parked on the building’s side and another was landing. “The Flying Airfield has a landing strip three hundred feet wide, eight hundred feet long, giving us five acres of floating deck. The ship is thirty feet tall from keel to deck and the actual hull is just a little wider than the flight deck.” He paused, tapping the keyboard and the image changed to a view above the ship. “Those four contra-rotating ducted fans extend out eighty feet on each side.”

Matt picked up what looked like a metal shoe shine box with wires at the top and put it on the table. “This is called a shaft engine. The only thing that turns is the shaft. All combustion takes place on the shaft. This one weighs twenty-four pounds and has a rated output of one hundred shaft horsepower.”

“Holy fuck!” Willie cried out.

Turning to Jake, “That sums it up,” Matt said, then turned back to the table. “Yes, they are revolutionary but when we say they are engineering marvels, we aren’t kidding. For the engine to work, the parts must be perfect. I’m not talking one thousandths of an inch. We are talking about one hundred thousandths of an inch into the micrometer realm.”

“Can Joe make it?” Conner asked.

Turning to Conner with a confused look, “By hand?” Matt asked and Conner nodded. “No human can machine that by hand and we only have three CNC machines running now that can machine on that level, but we have gotten seven more and are setting them up. But we have two metal 3D printers that can do that. In a month, we’ll have more of each. The engines on the prototype weigh six hundred pounds and are putting out ten thousand horsepower. The four main fans are forty feet in diameter and each puts out over fifty thousand pounds of thrust.”

“How fast does it go?” Conner asked.

Shrugging, “Wide open I would guess around seventy, but we’ve never taken it over sixty,” Matt answered. “We could make some adjustments to increase speed.”

“Conner,” Jake called, getting his attention. “This isn’t to fight. With this, we won’t have to stop every two hours and let the airfield deploy to refuel the choppers. When one of the companies gets into shit and the choppers are out of ammo, they don’t have to wait for the airfield to stop and deploy to land and rearm. This can stay over us.”

Turning from Jake to the screen, “We need more,” Conner said as realization set in.

“Hold up, cowboy!” Matt howled out. “We are taking baby steps because this is new ground. Air is a thousand times less dense than water, so we have to start small. Yes, it’s big but it has to be to float, but we are talking about landing choppers that weigh tons on a floating platform. All along the edges are more fans but only ten feet in diameter, but they put out fifteen thousand pounds of thrust to help keep the deck level. You wouldn’t believe the computing power involved.”

Nodding, “Yeah, we added water to use as ballast and put collapsible tanks through the ship to help keep it level. The fans have to move a lot of air to balance out the ship or we can pump around some water,” Jake explained, then tapped the keyboard again.

“Yes, this is our first prototype stage and we are going to start building the next prototype in a few weeks,” Jake said and turned to his dad. He saw a small grin but really couldn’t read what Bruce was thinking. “You can look at it today, Dad, but not fly around on it. We had to add more ballast tanks and water.”

“How much does the ship weigh?” Willie asked.

“Structure?” Jake asked and Willie nodded. Tapping his keyboard, “One hundred thousand, six hundred and eighteen pounds after the new tanks are put in, just a tad over fifty tons.”

“And it floats?!” Willie yelled out.

With a look of disappointment, Jake turned to his dad. “Son,” Bruce said. “He’s Army. We like the ground.”

“Yes, Willie, it floats and this prototype  has a capable total of one hundred and sixty tons of lift, but since it weighs fifty tons you can subtract that so it can only lift a hundred tons,” Jake told him with a grin.

“You’re that certain on the weight?” Gene asked.

Nodding, “Everything is weighed before it’s put on,” Matt answered. “The welds are added. The heaviest structure is of course the deck and like most of the metal on the ship, it’s aluminum. There is some titanium and a shitload of plastic.”

“Yeah,” Jake joined in. “The main structure that joins the main engines is the only steel but with that much thrust, we wanted steel.”

“How many people to man it?” Carl asked.

“Thirty. Five for the bridge to fly it, the rest for the flight deck and everyone is maintenance. One in the tower to guide the choppers in and the rest to run the flight deck and bring up ordnance,” Jake answered. “They will rotate out every eight hours when operations start,” he added and Carl gave a funny look. “We designed the next prototype like the production model. Nobody sleeps there. Well, not in beds. There is no mess hall and there are only two bathrooms. There is a common room for the pilots and crew of the choppers as we fly where they can sit, but this ship is pure warrior only. The first ship will be named Spartan for a reason and that will be the name of the class. None will have comfort of any kind. Every pound we can save is more ordnance or fuel. If the crew wants to rest, they can fly down to the trucks of the mobile airfield that has bunks. There is only two hundred gallons of drinking water stored on board.”

“How many choppers can it carry?” Ted asked.

“This one and the next are pure prototypes. This one can only carry five fully loaded,” Matt asked. “The actual class of ship will be bigger, with the ballast extending out further toward the fans. It will be able to carry twenty choppers, one hundred and twenty tons of ordnance and twenty-five tons of fuel for the choppers. But,” Matt ended in a snap, “we are putting that low because we don’t want to pack it full of shit right off the bat.”

“Let me be clear,” Jake said looking around. “By choppers, we mean Blackhawks, Apaches, and Loaches. Chinooks can land on it because they already have but if we take Chinooks, we have to remove two of the others to make space and the same goes for the Super Stallions.”

“You ah, need help building these flying airfields?” Carl asked, making Jake and Matt chuckle.

“No, but if we do, I’ll give you a call,” Jake answered and tapped his computer again. “This is our first stage and we aren’t moving past it until Matt, myself, Mack, Steve, Natasha, and the Cyber Ninjas all agree we are ready. For any that don’t know, Natasha Schaad joined us from Groom Lake. She is only outranked by Matt and myself among the Cyber Ninjas,” Jake told them and the screen changed to 3D diagrams. At the bottom they could see the diagram of the Spartan and the one above it was six times bigger, but the one at the top was fucking huge.

“The next class will take airplanes, so they are called flying carriers,” Jake told them. “This is only concept planning, but they will be built. When we start, the first one will be a prototype with a flight deck four hundred feet wide, two thousand feet long, and forty-five feet from bottom to deck as of right now, but with what we are finding out on the Spartan class, we think those numbers are low. But as it stands on the drawing board now, that will give us an eighteen-acre flight deck. Our goal is to have twenty planes but nothing larger than an A-10. Dani wanted us to do God’s Mower but the damn thing is heavy. The ship could carry it, but the P-3 would take the place of three planes. Again, I want to stress, that is a guess because we are learning.”

“Planes?” Willie gasped in awe.

“Dude, we’ve already landed a Harrier on the prototype Spartan and it took off, but we are nowhere near the ability to shift thrusters and weight to compensate for a plane moving around,” Jake scoffed. “That damn thing flew off and the ship jumped eighty feet in the air. It lifted so fast the two people on the flight deck collapsed from the g-force.”

“Um, you do have parachutes on it, don’t you?” Conner asked.

Giving Conner a stupid look, “No Conner, we give the crew cyanide pills in case the ship is going to crash or they fall off,” Jake moaned. “Of course there are parachutes for everyone and extra. Everyone working on the flight deck must have one on.”

“When do you think you will start working on the carrier?” Carl asked with a huge grin.

“A year at the very earliest,” Matt answered. “The one at the top is what we are going after. We call it the flying base. The planned design now is a flight deck eight hundred feet wide, thirty-two hundred feet long giving us a fifty-eight-acre flight deck. We have a way to go before we can estimate height. We are shooting for sixty airplanes and twenty choppers for the air wing. Before anyone asks, this one is a long way off, we are talking years. There are other projects from Groom Lake we are testing. The one showing the most promise is a hydrogen engine.”

Nodding, “Yes, the flying base is a real long way off,” Jake told them. “We have to learn from the others before moving to that one.”

Holding up the polygraphenoid square, “You can do all that from this? Something they wanted to use for armor?” Ted asked in wonder.

“Yeah,” Jake answered. “Let me tell you, they calculated the cost of making polygraphenoid three years before the Fall and it was four times as valuable as gold.” Ted looked at the black square in wonder as Jake continued. “What it is made of is cheap, but it takes enormous amounts of power for the machines that make it and the computers running the machines.”

Matt and Jake looked around and saw no more questions, then looked at each other. “Okay, let’s show them,” Jake said.

Matt went over to the door at the stairs and opened it. “Come on down,” he called out. Heavy footsteps were coming down the stairs and two black armor-encased figures walked in and stopped behind Matt and Jake. Ted, Carl, Willie, and Conner all jumped to their feet in shock.

The first thing in Ted’s mind was Darth Vader fucked Iron Man and these were the offspring. The armor covered every square inch of their bodies. It didn’t look metal, it kind of looked plastic but he knew it wasn’t, and the helmet was the size of a motorcycle helmet but blockier and there wasn’t even a visor to see out of.

Jake had been looking right at Bruce when they walked in and was waiting for the claim of ‘alien technology’, but Jake knew the look his dad got as soon as the two walked in. It was the look of utter relief.

“They got the WIACS going?” Gene asked in shock. He pronounced the acronym as ‘Why-acts’. When Gene said that, Matt, Jake, and the two armored figures turned to him. “That’s why I was at Groom Lake ten years ago,” Gene told them. “It’s the Warrior Integrated & Augmented Capability Suit. It was supposed to be the culmination of the Land Warrior system they started in the eighties. When I was on the project, they were working on the polycarbonate armor. Jake, this thing has some serious problems in the skeletal system.”

“Wow,” Jake said, then shook his head. “No, it ‘had’ some serious problems. Matt and I worked it out with the Cyber Ninjas.”

Shaking his head, “Jake, I’ve seen just the skeleton frame lock up and we had to cut the trooper out,” Gene told him.

“They had to make a tool to cut them out after they added the armor,” Matt told him.

“Jake,” Gene said, looking at the suits. “I’ve seen these things break the wearer’s arms and read reports of them breaking legs and fingers of those wearing the suits. I’ve kept up with the project and that polycarbonate armor is twenty times stronger than steel. Yes, the idea is great, but we are talking about trapping people in a cocoon that’s stronger than steel.”

Holding up both hands, “Gene,” Jake sighed, “Chill, that problem is fixed.”

“Son,” Gene said leaning back in his chair, “You mean to tell me, you and Matt along with your little ninjas fixed a program that has been in the works for almost two decades, had the best scientific minds, and billions upon billions of dollars poured in, and you did it in less than a year?”

“Um, no. Matt and I only started working on it when we moved those from Groom Lake here. Until then, we didn’t know it existed. I actually found the problem for the suit when we were in South Carolina getting those prisoners from the gang that Dad bombed. We were just sitting there, so I was going over the programing code,” Jake replied, and Gene’s eyes got a little wide. “That’s why I needed more computers in my rig. This damn suit runs on one hundred million lines of code and that takes some serious time to go through. Matt was going over the basic operating system and I was going over movement code. I will admit, the guy who came up with the program for this suit was a genius. It was the idiots who input the operating instructions that screwed it up.” Jake glanced back and saw his dad still looking at the suits in a state of pure thankfulness.

“Can you explain to me what was wrong without using computer code?” Gene chuckled.

Nodding, “They Mars’d it,” Jake answered, and Gene just looked at him. “The Mars lander that crashed?” Jake explained, and Gene’s face didn’t change. “The program was written in metric measurements and some on the team put in movement measurements in imperial measurements. I only think it was one, but Matt and some of the other Cyber Ninjas think it was two on the suit team who did it. That’s why the Mars lander crashed.”

Finally, Gene gave a hesitant nod and Jake continued. “Like when they moved their arm, the outside motors were moving it based on metric and the inside motors were using imperial measurements. This caused tension to build up and drain the battery hard because the suit was doing what it was told but using two different measurements. A millimeter and a tenth of an inch aren’t the same and the more movement the suit did, the more the problem compounded until the suit locked up. While it didn’t really lock up, the motors did and couldn’t release the tension so the skeleton could return to a flaccid state when the power was turned off.”

Shaking his head, “Son, you have any fucking idea how much money was put into this project that you just,” Gene paused as he quoted in the air, “’fixed’ during a lull in a battle?”

“Whoa,” Jake said as Matt’s face turned grumpy. “Don’t talk about money. Matt started going through the ledgers and I stopped his ass when he reached 2010. They had dumped enough money into this program to build two aircraft carriers complete with air wings by then. The more he read the angrier he got, so I hid the logs and wouldn’t let him finish.”

“Gene, it works. Shut the fuck up and let him tell us about it,” Ted stated in wonder.

Everyone laughed as Jake turned to Bruce. “Like Gene said, this is the WIACS suit but we just call it the ‘suit’. There are two versions, the basic,” Jake said pointing at the one beside him. Then he pointed at the one beside Matt, “and the command version. Now these suits are made per individual. You stand in a laser scanner and have your body scanned down to the micrometer. Then you change poses and are scanned again so your movement is measured. This is repeated several times before you get out of the body scanner and sit down to have your head scanned at another machine, then sit at another to have your hands scanned. The suit can do the splits but the operator might not be able to, that’s why you are scanned so the system learns your range of motion.”

Jake stopped and pointed at the one next to him. “This is Oscar, or as he likes to be called, El Bobo, one of the Cyber Ninjas. He’s volunteered to be one of the guinea pigs for the suit. Oscar is the same size as I am and he weighs one pound more than I do, but I can’t wear his suit and he can’t wear mine. These suits aren’t handmade, they are printed. There are two different parts to the suit,” Jake said and paused as Matt went to the stairs and called someone down.

A young woman came down in what looked like a wetsuit that covered her up from the feet and ended under the chin. But the suit had horizontal gray ridges from the toe up to the neck. “This is the base suit,” Matt told everyone as Jake continued.

“Now, like I said, I can’t wear Oscar’s suit and he can’t wear mine. When we put on each other’s base suits, they look like they fit, but they don’t,” Jake said and held out his right arm. “From the tip of my elbow to the tip of each of my fingers is longer than Oscar’s. Oscar’s legs are seven millimeters longer than mine so the base looks like they fit, but don’t. And Oscar can’t fit his big ass size thirteen foot in my size eleven boots. We can put on the second part of the shell, but it won’t turn on because the suit doesn’t fit and won’t register the wearer seated. This wasn’t built as a security precaution, but it does make a nice one. This is a safety feature. Like Gene said, this suit can hurt you if it’s not on properly. The base suit has billions of air pockets that can be inflated to deaden impacts, but they also inflate to mate with the outer shell. But there are some exceptions.”

Jake paused to see the new people staring in awe, then noticed Sandy was reading the booklet. “Like I said, each suit is printed for one person and only that person,” Jake said. “Now, in Omega we have two sets of twins,” Jake paused and noticed his dad was still staring at the suits with reverent bliss. “Nat and Wylin are very identical, just like Emily and Sherry. Nat and Wylin can wear each other’s suit, but they both say that it feels different than their own. The other set of twins are Catlin and Karrie. Yes, they are identical, but everyone can tell them apart very easily. Karrie is just a little bit bigger than Catlin. They can’t wear each other’s suits. I’m saying this just to get across how individualized each suit is,” Jake reiterated.

“Now, there is one thing and one thing only that is interchangeable between all suits,” Jake said, then motioned for Oscar to turn around. “Pull your battery, Oscar,” Jake said and Oscar reached to the lower part of the back and pulled a section out and handed it to Jake. “This is the battery pack. It weighs fourteen pounds and if you’re just walking around not doing much it will last sixty hours, but the more strenuous the activity, the faster it drains,” Jake said, handing it back for Oscar to put back in his suit. “What pissed me off is this battery design is over seventeen years old. I won’t bore you but it’s mainly made up of a type of organic-like plastic that’s infused with lithium and silver, but your cellphone has more lithium than this battery. The main elements in the battery are Thorium and element 115. Natasha gave the best analogy explaining the battery, it’s the equivalent to a nine-thousand-watt generator that’s fully charged and has a full tank of gas. The more you do that stresses the generator, the faster you run out of gas.”

Bending down, Jake took another battery from his bag. “Notice I had Oscar remove the battery because I couldn’t. Well, I could with a sledge hammer, a chisel, and a pry bar, but it would take a bit,” Jake corrected. “Someone else wearing a suit can remove your battery and replace it, but an enemy couldn’t sneak up and yank your battery.”

Clearing his throat, Matt jumped in. “Now when you pull your battery, you have five minutes to get a new one in. There is an internal battery, but it’s very limited.”

Jake held up the battery he’d taken from the bag. “This is very powerful, like I explained, but you don’t have to worry about it blowing up or catching fire. But don’t go sticking shit in the charging port because it will kill your ass. The metal you see is the casing, you have to look at the end inside the charging port to see any of the battery,” Jake told everyone then handed the battery to Gene to pass around. Gene didn’t even look at it and passed it along. “Now on each suit’s left lower leg on the outside you will see a bulge, this is a spare battery. On the command suit, there is a battery on each lower leg. Now unless we are in a battle, I want batteries changed every twenty-four hours of operation or at fifty percent. Reason, if we get in a battle and you’re at fifty percent and have to do strenuous fighting, the battery does drain faster. Natasha, Matt, myself, and the Cyber Ninjas are working on that but for now, change the damn battery,” Jake said, turning to the command suit.

“Hold up, Jake,” Willie called out and Jake turned. “From what you’ve said, and I’m taking for granted, these suits have a lot of special material invested in them. So, when a person dies or quits the team, we are just stuck with a suit that nobody can use?”

Laughing, “Oh, I’m glad you asked, but I was going to bring it up later,” Jake said turning to Willie. “It actually makes me very proud of the military. They built a machine that you toss the suit in and it shreds the suit down to dust. Then the materials in the dust are separated by melting point to be reused to make another suit in the printers. The machine reclaims ninety-seven-point six percent of the material. Only some of the polycarbonate armor is lost. There are eighty pounds of titanium, ten ounces of silver, and three of gold, and all that is reclaimed. Hell, there are seven pounds of fiber optic media and it’s all reclaimed.”

“You know why?” Gene asked and Jake gave a startle, turning to Gene and slowly shook his head. “The suits were never going to be issued,” Gene told him. “There was never going to be one lying around that could be taken by a spy. Troops would have measurements stored like you said. When there was a mission or training to be done, a suit was going to be printed for each soldier to use and then it would be recycled.”

“Whoa,” Matt and Jake gasped.

“I have to fucking ask!” Carl cried out. “How fucking much is, or was, each suit worth? You know, before this shit. Yeah, now each one is worth everything, but some of my fucking troops were on food stamps just to feed their families.”

Scoffing, “Shiiit,” Gene dragged out. “I have no idea and couldn’t even guess. Billions had already been invested when I was there. Don’t know how many and don’t really want to know how many more were added.”

Turning to Carl, “Carl, just from the computer power used, materials and design…” Jake paused as he shrugged before turning to Matt.

“An easy thirty million for the basic suit,” Matt said with a dark look. “If you consider what they spent and tried to factor that in, add more zeros. They just kept throwing money at it when they should’ve brought in fresh eyes to go over the problems, but nooo! Someone wouldn’t have gotten paid for a sixty-thousand-dollar hammer!”

Nancy turned to Mike who was just grinning. “You so corrupted our first-born,” she groaned.

“He has made his father proud,” Mike stated with pride and poked out his chest.

Turning to look down the table at Gene, “Just who was in the line to use those?” Ted asked.

“SOCOM, and only selected units of those,” Gene answered. “Not all of Delta, or all of Seal Team Six, or Recon. The last time I looked, which was about a year before the Fall, there were only four hundred soldiers who were going to be trained in the WIACS.”

Matt and Jake turned to look at each other. “That makes sense,” Matt said and Jake nodded.

“Okay, back on topic,” Jake said, turning to the command suit. “This is Douglas, another one of the Cyber Ninjas. He was the first to be the guinea pig in a command suit,” Jake told everyone and Matt snickered. “Fuck you, bitch!”

“We both agreed, along with all the Cyber Ninjas, that neither of us would be the first in the suits,” Matt chuckled.

Just snarling at Matt, Jake continued. “As you can notice, the command suit is heavier duty. Yes, it is stronger, both in material and strength but the real difference is the capability, which is why this suit has two batteries. The one on bottom in the same spot as the basic suit runs the suit and the one on top runs a second computer system. Again, I’m proud of the military because both are interchangeable. Look at the helmet,” Jake told everyone. “Notice it is thicker and bigger than the standard suit. That is because it can monitor and do shit that will blow you away. The extra bulk on the chest and back are computers for those capabilities and the stronger motors.” For several minutes, Jake described the computers and capabilities but none were really listening.

“Um, why does it have shark fins sticking off the back of each shoulder?” Conner asked.

“Those fins are the suit’s antenna for communications and monitoring the suit and operator,” Matt answered.

Turning around to Oscar, “Oscar, open visor,” Jake told him. Reaching up with his left hand, Oscar touched the side of his helmet. Where a visor would’ve been on a motorcycle helmet, the blocky front pane on the helmet parted in the blink of an eye with no sound, revealing eyes behind glass. “The cover splits and slides back. It doesn’t disappear,” Jake explained and Dani giggled, looking at Mary.

Jake pointed at a bill-like protrusion over Oscar’s eyes. “This isn’t to block the sun. All along this protrusion are optic sensors. With this helmet, you can change from three different frequencies of infrared and it is better than anything we’ve ever heard of,” Jake said turning to those around the table and still, Bruce had the same blissful expression. “I’m talking better than fifth generation night vision,” Jake continued.

“It has four different thermal views,” Jake said, dropping his pointing hand back to his side. “Now the visor that seals the helmet off not only protects. Then, inside it, there is a textured screen and with the optic shield you see over Oscar’s eyes giving you 3D vision. Remember, your head is scanned in so the computer knows where your eyes are and that’s the field it projects. What you see is where it’s at. There is no guessing. Now, I will say, your natural eyes projection of 3D is easier to interpret, but this system gives you details your eyes could never match. I’m talking above 10k definition. There are sensors that know where your eyes are looking and on the screen, that area magnifies automatically to a power of one. Then you can interface with the system,” Jake paused.

Oscar held out his left arm and on the inside of the forearm a panel popped open. “This is one interface link,” Jake said. “From here, you can tell the helmet to zoom in to a magnification of ten,” he said with a huge grin. Everyone looked at the inside of the forearm but there were only a few buttons and none had letters or symbols. “You use these to interact with the tabs displayed on the screen,” Jake said.

“But,” Matt cut in. “Most just use virtual interaction,” he said. “You will see people wearing suits and it looks like they are tapping the air or turning pages, but they are going through menus. We only use this one to hold down on movement that can be detected when you’re close to the enemy.”

“That was its purpose,” Gene added.

Jake gave a nod but grinned at the table. “Humans have a natural two hundred and ten degree field of vision,” Jake beamed as Matt tapped the keyboard and the monitor on the wall changed. “This system gives you two hundred and thirty degree field of vision from the front, but it also gives you a thirty degree field of vision directly behind you.”

Those hearing this for the first time got excited and turned to the screen to see a display. “This is the display from inside a helmet,” Matt told them. “Look up in the left-hand corner of the screen. That small screen isn’t 3D, but it gives you a thirty-degree view behind you. And you’ll notice it’s thermal and that can’t be changed. You can change the type of thermal and contrast, but that’s all the camera views.”

Jake had Oscar turn around and pointed at a small bump at the back of the helmet. “That’s the camera,” Jake told them, then had Oscar turn back around.

Turning, Jake looked at his dad, but Bruce was still looking at the suits in bliss. “Now,” Jake continued, getting a bit worried about his dad. “This suit augments strength. Yes, it is much stronger and can lift more, but the operator is the limiting factor. The reason is, if the suit operated on full strength, you couldn’t do anything,” Jake said and motioned Oscar to the table.

Reaching down, Oscar picked up something with each hand only using his index fingers and thumbs. When he held them out at arm’s length, everyone saw it was a needle and thread. “Fuck me,” Willie gasped watching Oscar deftly thread the needle.

“The base suit has sensors and using biofeedback, the suit uses that to engage strength but also ‘feel’ what you are touching with your hands,” Jake said as Oscar put the needle and thread down. Jake motioned to Buffy. “Buffy is five-foot-two, point three inches tall, and weighs one hundred and fourteen pounds,” Jake said and saw his dad finally give a startle, jerking his eyes to Buffy. “Yeah, Dad. She’s growing up,” Jake grinned, but Bruce just turned back to the suits and Matt took over.

“Buffy can bench press one hundred and forty-five pounds three times and let me tell you, that works her little ass off,” Matt told everyone proudly. “When Buffy has her suit on, she can bench press six hundred and eighty pounds ten times,” Matt said and again Bruce jerked, but this time he looked at Matt and Jake with feral eyes.

Holding up his hand, “Don’t,” Jake warned. “Nobody was going to tell you until your vacation was over, so don’t get pissed. You are going to get yours, but we needed to start developing a training program.” Not liking it, Bruce relaxed and turned his gaze back to the suits.

With Bruce handled, Matt continued. “Now, Buffy can tell you, pushing that six hundred and eighty pounds, to her in the suit, it felt like she was pushing her max rep of one hundred and forty-five,” Matt told them. “Yes, we could’ve continued on to find her real limit, but we didn’t. Everyone who gets in a suit will do this to let you know where your strength curve is.”

Matt pointed at Douglas. “Buffy has a command suit like this. If she were in a regular suit, the weight would’ve been cut down some for her, but,” Matt paused and jerked a thumb over at Oscar. “Oscar can bench press one thousand one hundred pounds. Why? Because he can lift more than Buffy without the suit. The bio-feedback is the limit, not the suit.”

“Hold up!” Carl cried out. “What if I go and grab the bumper of a car and just strain against it trying to pick it up?”

Nodding to Buffy, “She can pick up the front of a car,” Matt told him.

Rolling his eyes, “Okay, how about I strain lifting a tank?” Carl countered.

“You’re not lifting a tank,” Matt said dryly. “But I think I know what you’re getting at. The suit will continue to apply strength, in increments. But,” Matt paused, “you can break the suit. Depending how badly you break it, you may have to be cut out of it. I will say the screen gives you a warning and if you see a warning, you’d better stop. When you strain the suit like that, it drains batteries fast. I mean, it could drain them and shut off. Now you’re stuck holding something heavy and your suit can’t move. If what you’re holding is too heavy, it will break the motors and what you’re holding will then land on you. Then someone has to lift the shit off, get you out, then cut your suit off before we can work on you.”

Getting pale as his mind filled with visions of a massive truck on him, “Stop when the suit warns you,” Carl mumbled.

Nodding, “Since we are here,” Matt said pointing at both suits. “The suits do first aid. If you break a leg, that part of the suit will lock and inflate to splint it, but you can still move. If you get shot, the suit applies pressure to that area.”

“So size has no factor in getting a suit?” Conner asked.

It was Jake who held up his hands. “No, there is a limit,” Jake told him. “I noticed when the computer went to work graphing Buffy’s suit it took longer to make than any of the others, so I knew we were getting close. So I had Angela come down to get scanned.” That got Bruce’s attention and he turned to glare at Angela and Stephanie that they got toys and he didn’t.

“Dad!” Jake bellowed and Bruce jumped in his chair, turning to Jake. “I just scanned Angela. She hasn’t had a suit printed,” Jake said calmly, and that seemed to appease Bruce. Instead of turning back to the suits, Bruce picked up a pen and flipped open a notepad. As he started writing, Jake continued.

“Angela is one thousand, four hundred, and eighty-eight millimeters tall. That is four feet, ten point six inches,” Jake told everyone and Angela held her chin up with pride. “The computer took a very long time but finally gave a rendering for printing. I knew then we were close so I changed parameters, and one thousand, four hundred, and seventy-three millimeters is the cut off. Four foot ten inches.”

“That is for a command suit,” Matt pointed out.

“Hey,” Jake snapped. “Neither of my moms are going out in basic suits!”

Matt held up his hands, seeing Dani getting to her feet. “I was making a point!” Matt shouted. “The basic suit will render out for someone four feet eight inches. I agreed with you that I would help redesign the damn suits if Angela wouldn’t have gotten a command suit.”

Hearing that, Dani sat back down and Matt sighed with relief. “Aw,” Angela sighed. “Debbie gave us such great kids,” she smiled with watery eyes. “I’m claiming all of you. Stephanie and Bruce can have the little ones.”

Hesitantly raising his hand, “Um, it… Well, I’m just going to ask, how do you take a piss?” Willie asked.

Reaching down to the bag on the floor, Jake held up his left hand. It looked like he was holding up what looked like a ridged condom. “This is for the boys,” he said, then held up his right. It looked like an athletic cup. “This is Ms. Thirsty for the girls,” Jake said.

“It feels weird as hell,” Buffy informed everyone.

Getting worried about the suit now, “Okay, what about taking a dump?” Willie asked and Jake reached down then held up a diaper. “Oh come on, can’t you just take it off?”

Shrugging, “I guess, but Willie, with training and an extraction station you can get this on in five minutes. With lots of training, you can take it off in nine minutes without a station to help you,” Jake told him and many around the table scoffed at that.

“I want to see someone get that fucker off in nine minutes without something to hold on to,” Dani challenged.

“You’ll see what an extraction station looks like when you start training on the suits, but it’s basically a platform you can hold onto and climb out of the suit. It’s more involved and you’ll understand when you see it for yourself,” Jake told Willie, but then looked around the table. “Just getting out of the suit in the field is a pain in the ass. The ‘shirt’,’” Jake quoted in the air, “alone weighs over a hundred pounds at the minimum but more, the larger the person is. Now think about taking off a rigid shirt that weighs that much.”

Not liking that fact, “So with the station it is easier?” Bruce asked because getting out of the suit was important to him.

“Much,” Jake gasped and those who had been around the suits nodded in agreement. “Using a station, the back opens up and you shimmy out like you’re getting out of a cocoon or a spider molting.”

Not wanting to ask more, Bruce would just wait to see as Jake had Oscar turn around and pointed out the thickness over the back explaining that it was the main solid-state computer. Explaining in detail this was the part that swung out, Jake continued about the setup. Once the operating program was uploaded in a suit, it couldn’t be changed. The only thing that could really be changed were the monitoring functions, like radio frequencies. Next, he explained once inside the suit, you were in a sealed environment. The suit could withstand temperatures up to two thousand degrees and down to minus one hundred and thirty, both Fahrenheit. On board was an active heating and cooling system that could be set by the user. And the list of features just kept going.

“Now, armament,” Jake said, and that made Bruce stop writing. Looking up, Bruce set down his ink pen. “As you can see on Oscar’s suit over the midsection, there are points to attach hard AR magazine holders and on his left side is an attachment point for a dump bag. These can be added at the time of printing, but this system has its own choice of firearms.”

Giggling, “Oh, Bruce. You’re going to love this,” Gene mumbled.

Reaching down, Jake lifted up a rifle like none Bruce had ever seen or heard of. It was a bullpup design he could tell, but it looked much heavier than anything he had ever seen. “What the hell is that?” Bruce asked.

“It’s called the Caiman AAR, Advanced Assault Rifle, ten-millimeter caseless assault rifle with an under-barrel twenty millimeter grenade launcher,” Jake stated proudly. Not really seeing the reaction he was expecting from Bruce, “Dad, this is the best assault rifle you’ll ever lay your hands on,” Jake vowed.

“Now, on that, I’ll agree, but only when you’re in a WIACS suit,” Gene nodded.

Giving a hesitant nod, “Okay, yeah, I’ll give Gene that,” Jake admitted. “The Caiman weighs twenty pounds fully loaded.”

Hearing that made Bruce’s eyes get wide, “Dad!” Jake cried out. “When you’re in the suit, you don’t feel the weight. The weapon, weight-wise, feels like a .22 rifle.”

Matt held up a projectile. Bruce could see the copper jacketed round and it was longer than the ten-millimeter pistol lead. Holding up his hand, Matt took the hint and tossed the round he was holding through the air. Catching it Bruce held it up, and up close he could see just where the powder charge started. The charge was the same diameter as the bullet and just a bit longer. Running his eyes up to the projectile, Bruce saw it was a hollow point. It was definitely a hunk of lead longer than a 10mm pistol round, but the charge just seemed really inadequate.

“What’s the projectile weight?” Bruce asked.

Grinning, “Eighteen grams or two hundred and seventy-seven grains,” Matt responded. “It fires at forty-six hundred feet per second and hits with fifty-five hundred foot pounds of energy.”

Hearing the numbers, Bruce brought the bullet closer to his face. “What the fuck is the propellant?”

“It’s a new one and only has a number,” Matt answered. “See the shiny coating on the propellant?” he asked and Bruce nodded. “That’s the primer. The projectile and propellant are pressed into a formed mold.

There is no firing pin. When you pull the trigger, it fires an arc and that sets off the coating, thereby igniting the propellant. It burns so clean,” Matt crooned.

With a flat expression, “You’re wanting me to use a gun that takes batteries to fire bullets?” Bruce droned.

The smiles dropped off Matt and Jake. “Dad, there is one moving part, the bolt. The arc does the same thing a firing pin does and yes, it can break, but so can a firing pin.” Jake stopped and had Oscar raise his right hand up. “The weapon takes its charge from the suit, but you can fire it for ten thousand rounds without the suit,” Jake told him then gave a shrug. “Granted, you’re going to be tired because the bitch is heavy as hell without the suit.”

“Daddy Bruce,” Matt called out, getting his attention. “The Caiman has fired over a million rounds with no malfunctions,” Matt told him, then flipped up what looked like a folding charging handle and yanked it back. When it was all the way back, Bruce saw a small ejection port. “This is to view the firing chamber to make sure the weapon is empty and just in case your caseless round doesn’t fire, you can eject it out but to date, they haven’t had that. They removed one more point of failure, the primer. This resin, if mixed correctly, will always ignite.”

“Bruce,” Gene called out. “The only downside to that weapon is the weight. I was trying to get them to lighten the weapon up and get in trials for the line units.”

“Fine,” Bruce moaned. “How many rounds in a mag?”

Grinning again, “One hundred,” Matt sang out and lifted a mag up. It looked just as long, but thicker than the AR magazine and wasn’t curved. Then, Bruce did a double-take when Matt put the six-inch narrow side of the magazine into the rear of the rifle and slapped it in. Picking up another magazine, Matt tossed it down.

Bruce saw a caseless projectile sticking out ready to get shoved in by the bolt but didn’t see how a hundred could fit. He popped the first round out and saw the next one swivel from its side end to end, like a P90. The bullets were stacked across the magazine and then flipped when they reached the firing chamber. “Hell, I like that,” Bruce said, really meaning it. “It only shoots hollow points?”

“No,” Jake said and slid down other bullets for the rifle. “The standard round was to be explosive tip, light armor piercing, incendiary round, but we ain’t using that. That round will punch holes in our suits, the hollow point won’t. The next is the FMJ ballistic round.” Bruce looked down and saw a sharp-nosed bullet like most assault rifle rounds. “With the round nose explosive tip and hollow point ammunition, you can hit targets accurately out to eight hundred yards with ease but after that, the wind and drift come into play hard and the rounds bleed off energy fast. Now the FMJ, you can get on target at twelve hundred yards easy.”

When he looked up, he saw Matt holding what looked like a massive shell. “This is the twenty-millimeter round for the pump action grenade launcher,” Matt told him. “Two rounds in the magazine and one in the pipe. The projectile is programmable to go off at a certain distance or upon impact.”

“Now Dad,” Jake said, bending down and digging in the bag. “I know you love .45ACP but I’m sorry, I’m not redesigning this pistol for you,” Jake said standing up and holding a rather meaty-looking pistol. The only handgun, similar in size Bruce could compare it to would be .50AE Desert Eagle which it resembled. “This is the Caiman side arm. Yes, it looks similar to a Desert Eagle. Why? We don’t know. Like the rifle, this is a ten-millimeter caseless. There is also a Caiman PDW, personal defense weapon, a submachine gun, but we aren’t bringing it into production and like the others, it’s ten millimeters and uses the same pistol ammunition.”

Hearing his dad groan, Jake held up the pistol. “The pistol shoots a twelve-gram bullet at three thousand feet per second and hits with over a thousand foot pounds of energy, that’s three times more than what a regular 10mm can do. Like the rifle, it has an integrated silencer already built in. The ‘hammer’ you see isn’t a hammer. It’s a lever used to check the chamber and eject an unfired round,” Jake paused. Running his left hand down the top to the ‘hammer’ Jake pushed it back and on the top, a section opened up exposing the firing chamber. Letting the lever go, the opening closed. “This isn’t a slide,” he stressed. “The bolt is housed inside but what looks like the slide is actually the upper receiver.”

“Fine,” Bruce sighed, “how many in a mag?”

With an ear to ear smile, “Forty rounds in a magazine,” Jake answered. “Like the rifle, it uses the P90 flip. Like the rifle, you can adjust the rate of fire in the suit’s menu up to full auto at six hundred rounds per minute.”

“I… I, uh, think I’ll like this 10mm,” Bruce predicted with wide eyes locked on the massive pistol. When those in the suit were holding the pistol, it didn’t look that big.

“Oh, hold on, Dad,” Jake said, moving by Oscar. “Oscar has a full load of magazines now,” Jake told him and Bruce stood up to see if they were on the floor. Jake pressed a flap on the outside of Oscar’s left leg and pulled out a magazine for the Caiman rifle. “That’s where the rifle mags are stored,” Jake smirked. “Ten magazines, but watch where the pistol goes,” Jake said, reaching over to Oscar’s chest. He let the pistol go and it stayed stuck on Oscar’s chest aimed across his body. “It won’t fall off and only someone in a suit can pull it off.”

Now panting, “Ohhh,” Bruce gasped. “I’m getting a woody.”

Leaning over to Angela, “I was really getting worried,” Stephanie whispered. “Shit, I got aroused when we first heard this. I never knew weapons could be that erotic.”

Turning to Stephanie, “Why in the hell do you think I told you we were going to find Bruce after Jake finished showing us,” Angela snapped. “I could’ve hooked jumper cables to my tits and jumpstarted a fucking car.”

Most around the table smirked except Bruce’s kids. “Guys, you’re grossing me out,” Dani moaned.

Bruce stood up, “Pumpkin, you remember that the next time you use the radio to talk dirty to your husband,” Bruce told her and Dani turned instantly red.

“That was our command frequency. Nobody but he and I were supposed to be on it,” she gasped.

Tearing off sheets he had written on, “And Prometheus,” Bruce informed her. Then Bruce turned to Angela and Stephanie. “I’m going to the shop. I need to work on some stuff and I’ll be out most of the night, but I need to talk to both of you for a little bit before I start,” Bruce told them with a grin.

Grabbing his stuff and the booklet Jake had passed out, he walked around the table before stopping in front of Matt and Jake and handed Jake the papers. “Have the answers tomorrow,” Bruce told them, then turned to the table. “Command meeting 0530, have breakfast here,” he told them, then bent down and slyly picked up the Caiman rifle. Spinning around and cradling the rifle, Bruce left without another word.

Stephanie turned to Angela as she collected her stuff, “I guess he finally heard what he needed to,” she suggested.

Gathering her stuff, “How long do we have to give him?” Angela asked.

With her left arm full, “That’s long enough,” Stephanie declared and they both rushed for the stairs. A few seconds later, Stephanie eased back into the room. “Oscar, let me have the pistol,” she said shyly. Reaching up, Oscar took the pistol from his chest and handed it to Stephanie. “Thank you,” she beamed and took off in a sprint.

“They have been around Bruce too long,” Nancy moaned.

Willie leaned over until he could see Mike down the table. “Mike, can I have, like, an hour off?” Willie asked. “I really need to have a talk with my wife.”

Jumping to their feet, “We need to talk to our wives, too!” Ted and Carl sounded off.

Carroll gave a chuckle, “You boys take off,” she laughed out, and take off they did. She turned to Marcus and just smiled. “I’m going to take a nap.”

Getting up, “Yeah, I’m a bit worn out after that meeting,” Marcus admitted, holding out his hand and led Carroll up the stairs.

“Grown-ups are so weird,” Buffy moaned, getting up and just stormed out.

“Mike,” Nancy whispered. “I want to try on the ruby slippers.” Mike didn’t say shit. He jumped to his feet, picked Nancy up, throwing her over his shoulder and bolted from the room. The other husbands and wives looked at each other and left quickly.

Paul stood up laughing. “Seems Bruce has rubbed off on many here.” Bill, Mack, and Joe all nodded but left quickly, leaving Paul alone. When he had everything gathered up, Paul rushed for the stairs.

Chapter Five

The next morning, the others arrived to find Bruce already in the command bunker at the head of the table tapping away on his laptop with his reading glasses on. One by one they came in and Millie sat them down and served them a plate. Angela and Stephanie came in last and both groaned. “Bruce, you can change clothes,” Stephanie told him.

Not looking up from his laptop, “I’m not talking to you right now, Ms. Hundred Orgasms,” Bruce shot back and Stephanie’s face turned purple she blushed so hard.

“That’s no shit,” Angela scoffed, dropping in her chair. Even the kids were holding in laughter watching Stephanie blush harder. After Millie gave them plates, she gathered up the staff who’d come with her to leave. When Bruce went to say something he saw Jake shaking his head no, so Bruce let Millie leave.

“Dad, at times when we aren’t in the Alex Center eating, Millie likes going to all the other centers to check on them,” Jake told him, and saw his dad just stare at him wanting more. “Dad, Millie is over the kitchen, and that means all kitchens.”

Not remembering that, “Okay, so who helps her?” Bruce asked.

“Duh, Bruce. Lynn,” Nancy sang out. “Hell, Debbie and I put her over the kitchen first.”

Looking down at his laptop, Bruce tapped the keyboard and the monitor behind him popped on with a spreadsheet. “Lynn can’t do that,” Bruce shot back. “Who’s helping them?” he repeated.

“Dad,” Jake called out and Bruce turned. “Millie puts everything into the computer.” For a second Bruce smiled, thinking Jake was screwing with him, but realized Jake wasn’t and the smile dropped. “Dad, that’s why they voted Millie to be in charge. She was the only one who could put it in the computer.”

Tapping the laptop again, another program pulled up on the screen. “So you, Matt, or one of the Cyber Ninjas wrote this for them?” Bruce asked because the program listed was what was used every day by each center. Then it listed what had to be restocked and in what underground storage unit and container each item could be found.

“No, Millie wrote that,” Jake answered.

“Son, I remember Millie’s info log and it said nothing about computers,” Bruce replied.

Nodding, “And she had never touched one until Lynn gave her the tablet I’d given Lynn to write on. Millie asked me if there was a way she could type on it since she’d taken that in high school. So I gave her a laptop,” Jake answered, then continued. “I had to show Millie how to turn it on, Dad. I was really expecting a long day, but I explained one time how to do spreadsheets and Millie had the hang of it. Two weeks later, Millie asked if I had books that she could read on computers,” Jake said with a grin.

With Bruce speechless, Jake continued. “Dad, I gave her a basic programming book and showed her how to let the computer demonstrate in tutorial mode. Holy shit,” Jake gasped. “Dad, Millie learned C++ in a week.”

Leaning back in his chair, “Took me a little longer than that,” Bruce mumbled.

“Dad, Millie is a natural when it comes to computers. To be honest, if she wasn’t over the kitchen I would put her on the Cyber Ninjas,” Jake admitted.

“He’s not joking, Daddy Bruce,” Matt said. “She’s the one who entered the barcode items for everything the centers use to cook with. They don’t have to mark it off, they just scan the can, bag of flour, even the mason jars we’ve canned Millie printed bar codes for them. They can scan the jar, know when it was canned, and who canned it. Then it’s taken out of inventory.”

Looking around the room, “Am I the only one who didn’t know this?” Bruce asked.

Ted and Carl raised their hands, “We didn’t know, boss,” Carl told him. Then Joe, Mack, Bill, and Willie raised their hands so Bruce turned to Conner.

“Well, yeah, I knew. The daycare and school used to be in the center. When I would visit Susan, I would see Millie working away in the kitchen on a computer in her little office. If she wasn’t there, she was at a table in the center on a laptop,” Conner explained.

Huffing, “I’ve only been in the kitchen two damn times,” Bruce mumbled.

“You’ve been a few more times than that, babe,” Stephanie smirked and Bruce turned to her. “You and Mike both have been in the kitchen more than a few times, stealing spoons if I’m not mistaken.”

“Ahem,” Bruce coughed, clearing his throat. “I plead the fifth on that,” he replied, making everyone chuckle.

Standing up, Bruce grabbed booklets from one stack beside his computer and started tossing them out to each person. “This is what I’ve compiled of what I’ve learned so far on fighting blues and tactics to use,” he told everyone, and saw everyone but Angela and Stephanie open it to start reading. “Not now!” he snapped. “You can go over it later.” Angela and Stephanie had helped put it together so they knew it already.

“Any hints?” Willie asked.

“Blues always attack in a straight line,” Bruce responded.

Thinking about that, Willie nodded. “Hey, I knew that.”

Then Bruce started passing other booklets out, “Jake, do you have some answers for me?” Bruce asked.

“It depends on what you’ll let us do,” Jake answered, and Bruce turned to Jake. It was only then Jake realized he liked his dad’s goatee dyed back to its original color. “Yes, we are using generators here, Dad, and the command group all voted we had to, but that was while you were on vacation. Yes, we are using generators at the Land of Oz, but you said you wanted to try to not use them and save the fuel.”

Holding up his hands, “Jake, that is on me and Paul was right, we will never be able to go through that billion gallons we have treated around North Louisiana, so let’s use it while we can. I know when the regiments were out they were sucking down fifteen thousand gallons a day, and that’s not including the air wings,” Bruce told him. “How much are you, Matt, and the Cyber Ninjas using at the Land of Oz?”

“For the past four months, twelve generators together putting out fifty megawatts,” Jake replied, and everyone let out gasps. “Yes, we started using generators before the vote and that’s one reason why we were hesitant on using more. But, if we hadn’t, we would’ve browned out all of Hope.”

“Son!” Bruce cried out. “I went over power usage last month and the only place that uses more than the Land of Oz is the foundry where they melt down metals.” Bruce glanced at Paul, “Last time I looked, Hope was receiving nearly a hundred megawatts.”

Nodding, “With the power we’ve routed here from the hydro dams we’ve gotten back up in Arkansas and Toledo Bend? That’s about right,” Paul replied.

“And without the generators we have running, the Land of Oz can brown out Hope,” Jake repeated.

“Just how much power do you need?!” Bruce cried out.

Jake looked at Matt and Matt turned to Bruce. “Double what we have now,” Matt answered.

Dropping in his chair, “What the hell are you doing over there?” Bruce gasped.

“Dad, those supercomputers we hauled here from Groom Lake use serious power. Hell, it takes eight megawatts just to turn the damn things on, and let me tell you when they start to work, they eat power like a redneck drinks beer, nonstop and no limit in sight.”

Joining in, “Yes, the cooling units for each one draws over twenty kilowatts,” Matt said.

“New super computers don’t use that much. I’ve read about ‘em,” Bruce panted out.

Shaking his head, “Yes, some supercomputers don’t need that kind of power, but the ones that have to use massive amounts of memory do. Hell, the super computers that run the printing machines for the suits have a one yottabyte memory,” Jake told Bruce and saw Bruce’s face get pale.

“I read that’s impossible and all the computers in the world would only equal up to one exabyte,” Bruce panted.

“Well, nobody bothered to ask the guys running the black projects because those computers we brought back have been there running for decades,” Jake shot back. “Yeah, there’s also a two-petawatt laser and yes, there have been others built, but they fire for a trillionth of a second. The one at Groom Lake can fire a beam for three seconds and it was working seven years ago. We left that because it would take too much to haul it here, but we plan on hauling it back when we get close with ground units.”

“He’s not exaggerating, Bruce,” Gene called out from the other end of the table. “I can tell Jake where a few more are located.”

Taking some deep breaths, before he spoke, “So, if you double the power, that would be enough to run everything you need to give me your best answer?” Bruce asked.

Shaking his head, “No, that would be enough power to just run everything. We don’t know what the draw will be when the machines are actually producing,” Jake corrected.

“If I tell you to get what you need and run it, what would be your best guess?” Bruce countered.

“We could increase suit production from thirty a day to one hundred and ten a day. But,” Jake snapped, “that would be using the backup printers and if one goes down, it will have to be fixed. If they don’t break, all of Omega, Gamma, and Beta will be outfitted with suits by February the first. Then we would start on the Praetorian Guard and Sigma Scavenger security teams.”

Matt looked at his notebook before speaking. “We could have the six flying airfields built by the middle of February, but Daddy Bruce, we really need until March the first. Not saying they will be perfect, but the big bugs should be worked out by then,” Matt told him.

Holding up his hand, “Dad, can I show you something?” Jake asked, since he could see Bruce was thinking hard. When Bruce nodded, Jake tapped his computer and all the screens around the room lit up except the one behind Bruce that he was using. “Matt and I came up with this two weeks ago and we put the first one out three days ago,” Jake said.

Everyone turned to a screen and saw a windmill surrounded by a black box floating off the ground. The black box formed a tunnel with the windmill inside. When Jake tapped his keyboard, the picture changed, still showing the windmill but now, there were people near it. “Fuck me!” Paul shouted. “What size turbine is that?”

“Three megawatt,” Jake answered, tapping the keyboard. The screen blinked and showed a video. The black box was slowly rising up in the sky. Three heavy cables were attached to the front and two smaller ones were attached to each side. When the contraption looked to be about sixty feet off the ground, the black box tunnel acted like a weathervane and they saw the windmill pivot to the right and the blades started spinning. “We can raise it to a thousand feet, but so far haven’t had to go over five hundred,” Jake told everyone.

“Where’s it at?” Paul asked.

“In the far southeast corner of the City of Hope,” Matt answered. “It has blinking lights so pilots can see it.”

Slowly, Paul turned to Jake. “You do realize that’s nearly eighty miles from here, right?” Paul asked.

Sheepishly, “Yeah, but if it fucked up, we didn’t want anyone to see,” Matt responded, and Bruce couldn’t help but agree with that reasoning.

Getting up with a long sigh, “Okay, the blue book I handed out outlines our next objective and changes we’re making to the outline I gave you in the summer,” Bruce told them. “I had to make changes. We are moving the wall in Mexico further south,” he said, tapping the computer and a map of Mexico popped up. The wall was at the narrow point before the Yucatan Peninsula. On the gulf side, the wall started just above the town of Agua Dulce and ran across the country north of the town Chahuites until it reached the Pacific. “This new line is just over a hundred and fifty miles. Paul, how long until we have enough sections for the wall and fort we’re setting up down there?” Bruce asked.

“The fort is still five by ten miles?” Paul asked and Bruce nodded. “We have that now,” Paul answered and saw Bruce stop blinking. “Hey, when you gave me that shit, I went to the crew building the wall sections and they went into high gear. As you know, half of the wall for the City of Hope was destined for Mexico, but we had to have it up now so we could deal with the influx we got. If the wall was going where you wanted it, four hundred plus miles long, I’d need until March.”

“Paul, I want you to go over that site for the wall and fort. When we get there, I want those crews to be able to build it in their sleep.”

“Bruce, we’ve been practicing that. Granted, we were practicing for the four-hundred-mile wall, but this will just be faster,” Paul said and noticed Bruce looking at him with narrowed eyes. “Aw, fuck you!” Paul shouted, making everyone else jump. “I know how important this wall and fort are in the overall strategy! I read your damn outline for the war! I’m leading that crew and you will fucking like it, understand?! Now, when are we going?”

Not about to order Paul not to go, Bruce just nodded slowly. “We kick off in March on the twenty-ninth unless the weather says otherwise. The reason for the date, by then we’ll have a surplus of ammo that I’ll feel comfortable with.”

If a pin had dropped, it would’ve been heard over the absolute silence from the room. Everyone was staring at Bruce with mouths agape. “We all have missed things,” Bruce told them, dropping in his chair. “But I can finally see a way this war can be over in five years.” Hearing Bruce say ‘five years’, many felt faint because Bruce had said it before but for the first time, they could tell he believed it.

“What the hell have we missed?” Mike asked.

“The main one,” Bruce chuckled. “How many we were fighting.”

“Bruce, we know they are breeding but come on, we’ve killed over fifty million! That’s winning the war and not keeping them in check,” Mike told him and Bruce chuckled, making Mike worry about Bruce.

“Mike, we haven’t even kept them in check,” Bruce informed him. “Would you like me to explain?” Bruce asked, and Mike shook his head no. Several minutes passed and finally Mike nodded because Bruce wasn’t going to tell them otherwise. “We never figured the populations of Mexico and Canada into our first estimate. With just those, we are talking another one hundred and twenty-five million, but those countries have higher infection rates because the population didn’t have guns to even try to protect themselves.”

Stephanie let out a gasp. “Shit, I missed that.” Blues didn’t care about borders and moved constantly.

“We all did,” Bruce sighed, then gave a smirk. “Well, not all of us,” he said softly, and everyone was looking at him with more than a little worry. When Bruce looked up, he turned to Angela and Stephanie. “I quote, ‘When your first and much needed rest is over that everyone asks of you to take, and you damn well better take it, you will hear something that will change your war. Sit back and think and then you will realize the real enemy is much more than you estimated’,” Bruce recited to them.

Stephanie took her eyes off of Bruce as she racked her brain. “Debbie wrote that,” Angela said, pinching her bottom lip. “It was in the part about watching the kids and about supplies.”

“Page seventy-two, third paragraph!” Stephanie cried out.

Shaking his head, “Fourth paragraph,” Bruce corrected, and Angela was surprised that Stephanie didn’t look up the scanned copy on her computer. Then Angela realized, on things with Debbie, Bruce remembered but until now he had never recited anything.

“Okay, so we just have to kill some more,” Dani shrugged. “My rig now has tracks so Buffy can go hog ass wild on their asses.”

Turning to Dani, Bruce saw her carefree attitude fall off. “Oh Pumpkin, it’s so much worse,” Bruce said and slowly tapped the keyboard. The screen behind him changed to a drone view, but it was really high up. After a few seconds, the camera zoomed in.

“Oh, come on!” Ted cried out.

“Where the hell is that?” Paul asked.

“Panama,” Mike groaned. “How many?”

A huge mass was packed to the south and it stretched for sixty miles. “Sixty million at least,” Bruce answered in a tired voice. “Yeah, I remembered that line last night as I was working. Then I called the bunker and asked if they had a Global Hawk up over us. When they said they did, I asked them to go to Panama just to see. But someone had programmed a satellite their sons took over to maintain surveillance. It started a week before she was killed.”

“She didn’t tell us!” Angela cried out as the screen behind Bruce changed. It was a satellite image of Panama. The image changed, but it was a zoomed-in shot and the date was March eighteenth, a week before Debbie was killed. Bruce tapped the screen and the image changed to play a slideshow. Four months later, large groups showed up crossing bridges and even the top of the locks. As the slide show went on, the mass kept growing to the south with steady streams now heading north.

“What the fuck? There’s plenty of shit to eat in South America!” Ted cried out and everyone turned to him. “Hey, Carl and I fucking know! We’ve humped the Amazon searching for cartels. Then Central America, looking for communist rebels. There is plenty for the blues to eat there! They don’t have to come here! That is some bad ass bush down there!”

“And that’s why they come,” Bruce said, and everyone turned to him but he was still watching the slideshow. “Blues don’t like jungles. They are sight hunters. Why they didn’t carry their asses to Chile, I don’t know.”

“How do you know they don’t like jungles?” Mike asked.

“My research team found that out before we went to Groom Lake,” Bruce replied, and Mike gave a nod. “We don’t have jungles so I never thought to mention it.”

“Research team?” Willie asked.

Nodding, “The team that was at Mt. Weather,” Bruce answered.

“You mean the ones trying to teach a blue to pull a fucking trigger?!” Willie shouted.

Holding up one hand for Willie to relax, “Willie, what would you do if a Homeland agent had a gun aimed at your seven-year-old son’s head and the agent told you if you didn’t get with the program, you were going to watch as he tossed your three-year-old daughter in the cages with the blues? They had no guns and no training. I can tell you what I would’ve done… tried to teach a blue to pull a trigger,” Bruce told him. “Now, if I would’ve had a gun to have a chance, I might have tried to fight back. They never gave the team more than one bullet for the gun they were training the blue on, so don’t be a smart ass.”

“Evil in mankind knows no limit,” Carroll said, shaking her head.

Giving a slight bow of his head, “Bruce, you’re right. In that instant, I would’ve done the same,” Willie admitted. “So, what was this team’s main mission?”

“To watch, study, and record behavior of blues,” Bruce told him. “There is a primate specialist, two psychologists, an animal behavior specialist and, believe it or not, a big game hunter from Africa. Him, Homeland watched really closely. If he wouldn’t have been so good at animal behavior, they would’ve killed his ass.”

“So, jungles?” Mike asked.

“Sorry,” Bruce mumbled, turning to Mike. “You know every year the Amazon floods, right?” he asked and Mike nodded. “Well, the blues didn’t and you wouldn’t believe the bodies that floated out last year. The year before there were bodies, but not that many killed by the floods. Some of the team thinks food was running out, but me and the big game hunter disagree. Blues can live just about anywhere, but I’ll get back to that. They were able to find satellite images of Brazil last year and blues were packing the roads but shit, they do that anywhere. It wasn’t until this morning that I realized where they were going, but those images they showed me were seven months old by then.”

“Motherfucker,” Stephanie growled, then slammed her fist on the table.

“Hey!” he barked and Stephanie turned. “That body belongs to me, so stop that. Your hand in a cast would put me in the hospital.”

Not able to help it, Stephanie giggled as Angela snorted and laughed. Despite the mood, everyone gave a chuckle. “How far down have you seen the exodus?” Stephanie asked.

Shaking his head and looking away, “That woman knew you two, it seems just as well as she did me, and I was with her for over twenty years,” Bruce mumbled, then turned back to Stephanie. “Found images from the very tip at Santa Cruz of blues heading north, but those images were during the first year. There aren’t really hordes en masse. They are just strung out on roads. But they don’t like jungles because they can’t see very far and there’s shit down there that can kill them. In a jungle, they don’t have the advantage of speed and we know they fucking hate water. Don’t get me wrong, blues are in the jungles just not shoulder to shoulder.”

“If Debbie knew, why didn’t she ever say something?” Bill asked.

Angela turned to Bill, shaking her head. “Really?” she asked. “First, Bruce went fucking insane. If his ass would’ve seen the blues in columns coming over the canal, he would’ve taken the fuck off. After that, Bruce went hunting for hordes. If he would’ve seen that, Bruce would’ve taken off.”

Clearly scared, Bill tried to keep a steady voice. “Are we just going to let the blues come?” he asked.

“Carry your ass down there and stop ’em,” Angela challenged. “Debbie very clearly says we can’t go past Belize until the war here is over. Only then can we secure the south.”

“She doesn’t say ‘Belize’, Debbie just said we can’t go further than where we went on our first vacation with Mike and Nancy. We went to Costa Rica,” Bruce told Bill.

Leaning back in his chair hard with a groan, “How many you figure are already here from South America?” Mike asked.

“By the time we get the wall up, when you figure the reproduction in and there were over four hundred million people in South America and over half are heading here. Then Mexico and Canada with reproduction, I figure we will be really close to the half billion blues on our side of the wall and the North Pole that we have to kill. That includes what we’ve already killed,” Bruce answered.

Hearing the number, many wanted to just cry. “Shit, and I was worried about the two hundred million when we started,” Conner blurted out.

“Babe,” Angela called getting Bruce’s attention. “Can I ask, what did you hear that changed this war?”

For several seconds Bruce looked at Angela. “The suits, baby,” he told her. “If those things even work half the time, they will be our saving grace. With those suits, we have a chance to end this war in five years. Yes, the flying airfields and such will make a huge impact, but nothing compared to the suits.”

“Against five hundred million infected?” Willie cried out.

“Yes,” Bruce nodded. “My original way would’ve taken us ten years just to get to the second phase, and that’s when we will lose the most, even with the suits.” Everyone just stared at him. “Hello? We can’t fight this entire war from rigs shooting blues. We will have to get out and root them out. That is the only way to get rid of your enemy, get on the ground, search every hole, comb the countryside, and stomp his ass.”

Still looking out at shocked faces, “Guys, haven’t any of you ever wondered why I kept saying a million people? Well, after I got rid of my insanity,” Bruce said, and nobody answered. “My original war, I predicted we were going to lose over a quarter of a million soldiers, a quarter of the species here in the states. We were going to lose whole companies in combat at a time. I just couldn’t figure out how to get on the ground and fight them. Not ambush in small hit and runs, wiping out pockets. Granted, until we got the magic bullets, I was putting our death total at half a million. With these suits, we can get on the ground and go toe to toe. I don’t think we’ll get companies wiped out unless the commander is a fucking idiot, and we are weeding those out rather fast, but we will lose platoons. They will be swarmed under too fast and be too far away from support.”

Swearing nobody at the table had even blinked yet, “Yes, we’ve hunted blues around here, but it was small scale and we stayed local to clear an area and never ventured out. Hey, I’ve only dismounted one fucking time to fight blues on their ground and that was in Mobile. And I’m here to tell you, my asshole was so tight going in those houses, I could’ve turned a lump of coal into a diamond. But that was the best strategy I could come up with. Keep a full regiment on guns with a platoon to provide cover for the extraction of the squad through a corridor. That idea would’ve worked, but I want everyone to think how long it would take with only one squad doing the clearing one building at a time? Fucking forever! So we were going to have to bust down into companies to cover one squad. That would work, but a company can’t throw out enough lead in such a confined area and if you go further, to a platoon to cover a squad? Like I said, the body count was going to be astronomical and we couldn’t afford it but had no choice.”

With wide eyes, “You said you were just trying to get the blues to commit to a fight,” Dani panted out as the realization of what this war could cost the clan and family hit her.

“I was, but I was trying the only tactic that I had come up with by engaging the blues toe to toe, by going and clearing them out because that’s the only way we have a chance,” Bruce told her.

“But we have the suits,” Ted reminded Bruce.

“Yes, we do, but those suits don’t make you Iron Man,” Bruce warned. “Did you watch the video Jake put on the internet for the command group?” Bruce asked and Ted shook his head. “Ted,” Bruce sighed. “It was in the handout Jake gave you. Do I need to start checking your homework, young man?”

That got a chuckle from everyone as Bruce nodded to Jake and he started tapping away on his laptop. “It only took three to take him down,” Bruce told Ted then looked back at Jake. “The one you picked seemed to know how to fight, how did you choose him?” Bruce asked.

“Asked five prisoners who could and would fight for a chance to leave,” Matt answered. “We threw them in a pit and he was the one left standing.”

“I would’ve liked to have watched that,” Bruce mumbled as the screen came on behind him. There was a man in a WIACS suit in a very large cage that had thick metal bars.

“Hold up,” Conner called out. “Where the hell is that?”

“Dad’s blue analysis, examination, and experimentation building. He has a team assigned there whose only purpose is to study blues. The team he was just talking to Willie about. We just call it the A&E building,” Jake answered. “That’s where Dad had me and Matt drop off all the blues we caught in Georgia.”

“I thought we gave them to Beta to use,” Conner mumbled.

“We catch our own,” Gene smirked and Jake hit play.

Three blues ran out and the man in the suit charged. He hit one in the face and the head nearly exploded as the blue flew back from the impact, slamming into the wall then slumping to the floor, dead. Another blue grabbed the man’s arm and he yanked back, lifting the blue off its feet then swung his arm over and slammed the blue into the floor. The last blue tried to tackle the man but didn’t take him down. Grabbing both of the blue’s arms the man lifted the blue up then spun around, power slamming the blue onto the concrete floor that had lines painted across it in evenly spaced intervals.

The blue that had tried to grab his arm was trying to get up and the man walked over and stomped on the blue’s face, crushing the skull like a grape. Heading back to the last one he stomped it the same way, killing it. “Was it wise to let him even get in a suit?” Willie asked.

“Please,” Jake scoffed. “We could’ve cut the power to the suit at any time and he knew it because we showed him. We told him the truth, that we were trying it out and he was the fighting guinea pig. If he made it through the blues alive, he could leave in a truck but without the suit.”

“How many blues did you tell him?” Willie asked.

“Didn’t give him a number, but there were fifty-three there,” Jake answered.

“If he had killed all fifty-three?” Bill asked.

Shrugging, “I would’ve kept my word and let him go,” Jake replied.

“We gave our word,” Matt told Bill. “But I was going to call Dani if that happened and have her get a drone up and blow up the truck. Dani never gave her word.”

On the screens, it showed the next group that held five blues and one was a matrix kid around twelve. Again, the man charged but this time a blue leapt, hitting him in the chest and the man flew back about ten feet. Hitting the ground, the man rolled backwards and was on his feet as the group charged. The power of the suit was hard to believe, but the blues clearly had the strength and muscle mass to deal with the blows, even though the suit was stronger… blues had faster reflexes.

As the man slung a female across the cage, the matrix kid sprang at him from twenty feet away, latching on the man’s neck. The matrix kid was chewing at the helmet as the three blues converged. “Pause it, Jake,” Bruce said, staring at the command group because he had memorized this tape. “I want everyone to hear me on this,” Bruce told them, looking each one in the eyes. “You will instruct our troops and any who wear a suit, their first priority if a blue grabs them is to always get that one off. We will be doing lots of hand to hand with and without the suits but if a blue grabs on to you, it will slow you down more. They are to take a hit or tackle if that’s what it takes to get the one holding them to let go.” When everyone nodded, Bruce let Jake continue the video.

It was clear the blue kid, about the size of a ten-year-old, was slowing the man’s movements but also throwing him off balance. “Remember, blues weigh more than we do because they are denser. That ‘kid’ on him weighs a hundred and eighty pounds,” Bruce told them as the two males dove at the man. Raising both his fists high, the man swung down hitting the one diving from the left in the neck, clearly breaking the neck, but missed the one from the right. Even without sound, they could tell it was a bone jarring impact as the group landed on the floor. The female that was flung away got back up and charged over, diving on the pile.

“Jake, how much did that suit dampen that impact?” Bruce asked while grabbing a pen.

“Without the suit, the man would’ve died,” Jake answered as the man finally got a foot up and kicked out, tossing the male across the cage. He reached over and grabbed the female by the skull and smashed her face into the concrete and liquid shot out from her crushed skull. On his back, the matrix kid was still biting and clawing away at the armor.

Reaching over his back, the man grabbed the kid by the neck and pulled hard. The kid was yanked off his back and the man tossed him across the cage. Slamming into the heavy bars, the matrix kid dropped to the floor weakly and they could tell it was hurt but very much alive. That was until the man came over and kicked the kid in the face. The head separated from the body and flew back to lodge between two bars. Spinning around just in time, the man caught the last blue male that had gotten up and charged him.

Grabbing the blue as it reached him the man threw his hip out, throwing the blue over his body and slamming the blue male onto the concrete. The skull exploded and the man stood up and they all saw him wobble slightly. “We gave the prisoner a chance to rest for fifteen minutes and get a drink while the cage was cleared,” Jake told everyone as the video ended.

The screens cut back to the video and the cage was cleared. Again, the heavy steel door on the other side opened and this time six charged out, a matrix kid and five males. This battle was brutal and fast paced. One of the male’s hit the man, sending him crashing into the bars and all six dove on him. “The blues aren’t fighting together,” Buffy noted.

“Very good, BB,” Bruce said as he continued writing. It took the man a full eleven minutes to kill all six and it was very clear he was tired after that bout.

“This time, we gave the prisoner half an hour to rest as we cleared the cage,” Jake told everyone as the video ended.

“It’s almost like you wanted him to live,” Bill noted.

“Please,” Matt scoffed. “We were testing the suit and you can’t do that if your test subject dies really fast.”

When the video began again the cage was clear. At the far end of the cage, the steel door opened and seven blues came out, four males, a female and two matrix kids. It was very clear from the beginning, the matrix kids were giving the man trouble. To make matters worse, one of the matrix kids was the size of a fifteen-year-old so they knew it was well over two hundred pounds and it was fast. It wasn’t the oldest matrix they had seen nor the biggest.

As the battle reached ten minutes and none of the blues were dead but several had broken appendages, Stephanie spoke. “He’s not using finesse in any of his attacks,” she pointed out. “He’s only relying on the suit’s strength.”

“Eww Little Red goes to the front of the class,” Bruce sang out, still writing.

This fight took eighteen minutes for the man to remain victorious and the video ended. “This time, we gave the prisoner a full hour to recover and before the next fight, get close ups of the damage to the suit,” Jake told everyone. “On the internet, after each fight we have pictures of damage to the suit, but this is the only one we videoed. Sorry, that’s on me.”

“No, I should’ve done it,” Matt countered.

“Matt, Jake,” Mary sang out. “It’s done, drop it.

Matt just nodded as Jake said, “Sure, honey.”

When the video started it was up close, and there were deep claw marks all over the armor. Around the head, they could see teeth impressions. “How fucking hard can blues bite?” Gene asked.

Still writing, “The researchers tested several and it averages out to around eight hundred psi,” Bruce answered, then looked down the table at Gene. “A human only bites at one hundred and sixty psi.”

“If that would’ve been one of our troops, we would’ve pulled them from the line and sent for another suit,” Jake told everyone. “The chest armor on the right side, those claw marks go all the way through so the armor is breached.”

The image flickered and again the man was standing in the cage, but appeared well rested looking toward the steel door. When it opened three matrix kids bounded out in the blink of an eye, and everyone saw the man’s shoulders slump in disappointment. It seemed he didn’t like the matrix kids. Two males and two females followed the matrix kids out, but they had already reached the prisoner.

“How fast were those shit wads moving?” Buffy asked.

Still not watching, “Thirty-seven miles an hour,” Bruce answered as he wrote.

Buffy glanced at Jake and he confirmed with a nod and Buffy turned back to Bruce. “How do you know? You aren’t even watching,” she asked.

“I’ve memorized it, BB. If you’re asking how I figured the speed, those lines on the floor form one-foot squares just for that purpose, so the researchers can calculate speed.”

When Buffy turned back, one matrix kid was dead along with one male. Another matrix kid was on the man’s back, the other was on the opposite side of the room where the man had thrown it. The man was fighting the others off hard to keep them from taking him to the ground. One male dodged a swing coming in low and hit the man in the gut.

The pile moved across the floor and the man’s back slammed into the bars. It was clear this hurt the matrix kid on his back much more than the man. As the blue male bit and clawed at the man’s abdomen the two females charged, hitting the man and knocking his arms off the blue male just before the man broke the male’s neck. From across the cage, the other matrix kid leapt up hitting the pile and grabbing the man’s left arm as the pile went to the floor.

On the floor, one of the females grabbed the right arm as the male now sat astride the man. Everyone’s mouth fell open as the matrix kid on the man’s left arm wrapped his legs around the upper arm as the matrix kid held the man’s wrist and straightened the arm out. Just the way the kid was straining, they knew the forces involved were extraordinary. “The suit is giving the prisoner a message on the screen now that he is exceeding his bio limits of strength,” Jake told everyone.

When the matrix kid had the arm extended, he leaned down with his mouth taking the index finger in and bit down. On the right arm, the female had it held down as the male and other matrix kid slashed with claws and bit the armor. On the left hand, the matrix kid pulled away and for a brief second blood shot out then stopped.

“The suit is applying first aid and stopped the bleeding,” Matt explained. “What that matrix kid just did to that gloved finger was the equivalent of biting through a quarter inch steel bar. The only upside is it took him two minutes to do it.”

The prisoner was still fighting, trying to use his legs to throw the male off but with the matrix kid on his back and male sitting on his belly, he couldn’t roll or bring his legs up. Everyone saw the second when the male clawed down from the neck and felt the bump where the chest piece met the armor around the neck.

Digging his claws in at the spot, they watched the male work his claws forming a gap in the armor. In under two minutes he got his fingers under the left side of the top of the chest piece. All across the blue male’s chest, his muscles rippled as he strained and the chest armor slowly bent back. All of a sudden, it gave a pop and flew off. The base layer was cut resistant but not against claws as the male slashed in.

“They got to the chewy center,” Bruce laughed out before turning a page and continuing to write. The man started writhing around and all the blues started fighting the male over the kill. Suddenly, darts hit the blues one by one and they turned around with bloody, snarling faces. A few minutes later, they all tumbled to their sides like they were drunk. “Sodium bromide,” Bruce smirked as the video ended.

“You didn’t kill the blues?” Bill asked.

“Why?” Jake countered. “We are learning from them and if need be, I can use them to test another suit.”

Angela turned to Bill and was shocked when Bill nodded approvingly. “So Bruce, with these suits, you really believe we can kill between four hundred to five hundred million blues?” she asked.

Putting his pen down and turning to Angela, “We don’t have much choice, Little Foot, but yes, I do,” he answered.

“So in four years and three months we’ll be done?” Angela asked timidly.

Cocking his head to the side, “How in the hell did you come to that?” Bruce asked.

“Your first major campaign, when we got Gene here,” Stephanie answered.

Turning to Stephanie, “Did she say that in your letter?” Bruce asked.

“No, Bruce, in the red notebook, page two hundred and three,” Stephanie replied.

Thinking for a minute, “She just said after the first major campaign started, the war would end five years later and loved ones would fall. What gives you the idea that campaign was it?” Bruce asked.

“Do you know?” Stephanie asked and Bruce nodded. “Then tell us.”

“What gave you the idea that was the start?” Bruce repeated.

“Hello? It was a fucking war,” Stephanie sang out. “Our kids got hurt.”

Slowly, Bruce shook his head. “You’re reading between the lines, putting stuff there that Debbie didn’t write. Stephanie, the only war that matters is against the blues. The humans we fight along the way are just a sideshow, no matter what problems they give us,” Bruce told her. “She very clearly stated when you two had kids, I would be asked to take time off. In that time, I would learn something that would change this war. All the attacks we have done till then were to learn and must be done so family and friends don’t fall needlessly, but the war wouldn’t start until the first campaign after I took time off when you two had kids. That is the marker, the kids.”

Looking off as she pulled up the notebook in her mind, Stephanie went through the words then turned to Bruce. “Bruce, that was about if we moved to Nebraska, not here,” Stephanie informed him, but Bruce just smiled.

“No, Little Red, what Debbie said about Nebraska was if we did move there, we needed to secure power and water first and fast. That if we moved there, the war would last two more years, so she is telling us seven years, but more of the clan and family would fall during the war. Two paragraphs down is the one I’m talking about.”

Thinking as she went over it, Stephanie turned to Bruce, shaking her head, “But-,” she stopped as Bruce held up a hand.

“What’s the last line in the paragraph before it?” Bruce asked.

It only took a second to remember and Stephanie’s shoulders slumped, “No matter where you choose to stand in this war, I will be with you as these events unfold for the new members that have come into our family.”

“Hell, I thought that just meant Stephanie and I would adopt kids if we moved to Nebraska,” Angela admitted.

“I did, too,” Stephanie agreed.

Chuckling, “If Debbie had meant that, she would’ve said ‘they will bring in’ not ‘have’,” Bruce told them.

In that instant, they both realized just how well Bruce knew Debbie and the red notebook. Like Debbie had always said, it was for Bruce. Everyone could read it and have an idea of what she was saying, but Bruce would know because it was a letter and instructions for him. When Stephanie reached that conclusion, “Bruce, please read my letter,” she begged.

“Nope,” Bruce answered again.

“Why? There may be something I missed,” Stephanie moaned.

“Debbie said to trust my gut and my gut tells me not to,” Bruce informed her.

“Bruce,” Angela groaned. “Debbie told all of us that.”

Shifting his gaze to Angela, “She said it in the red notebook and was very adamant about it,” Bruce told her.

“I don’t remember that,” Angela confessed, feeling bad because she didn’t.

“That’s not in there!” Stephanie cried out. “The only time she even wrote ‘gut’ was the last page talking about how it would affect you.”

Turning to his laptop, Bruce tapped the keyboard then used the touchpad to bring up the scanned pages. He scrolled to the last page and turned the screen to them and they both read the handwriting again.

They both looked up at him with furrowed brows and Bruce got up and pointed. The words were separated from the body and stacked over one another but clearly said: Always Trust Your Gut.

Both of their mouths fell open when they finally saw it. Slowly, they both turned to each other and then to Bruce. “My gut tells me not to read your letter,” he said again. “Will it always? I don’t know. Like those memory cards Debbie gave me. I feel it’s my gut saying no, but I know it’s my heart.”

“What memory cards?” Angela and Stephanie asked.

“The bag of memory cards she left for me the day she died,” Bruce reminded them. “I showed you the letter after the horde and made you necklaces like the one I made. I was with the brothers and their friend three days later when you two came in wanting to help, again, and I showed you the bag of memory cards.”

Angela remembered the letter clearly and something in the letter about not watching something, but had only read the letter that one time. The hurt was too deep to remember and was clouding her mind. She finally turned to Stephanie. “Don’t look at me, all I remember is wanting to remove Warren’s lungs by pulling them out of his penis,” Stephanie confessed.

“I told both of you, when I can, we’ll see what’s on them,” Bruce reminded them.

They both smiled, then the smile suddenly fell off of Stephanie’s face and Bruce eased back as a scowl arose to replace it. “Hold up, bitch!” she snapped and the others who were just watching moved to the other end of the room. “You knew Angela and I were going to have kids and wanted us to go our own way thinking we cheated on you?” Stephanie grumbled.

Furrowing his brow and racking his brain, trying to figure out how Stephanie came to that conclusion, “I have no fucking idea what you’re talking about,” Bruce just gave up and would take the ass chewing.

“You had a vasectomy like you pointed out when we told you,” Stephanie snarled. “If you knew babies were coming, then you suspected they wouldn’t be yours, didn’t you?”

Not even attempting to follow that reasoning, “No, what I thought when I read that was I would have it reversed because both of you would ask me so we could have babies and do that to prove it to me. I liked the idea of babies, but not that they would be just for proof of your love,” Bruce explained.

Angela curled her lip up and then noticed many of the guys, including Dani were nodding in agreement. “That’s so boy reasoning, it’s idiotic,” she huffed.

“Oh, like immediately thinking I would think you two would have gotten pregnant by others isn’t stupid?” Bruce asked, raising his left eyebrow.

Stephanie smiled, “Okay, I’m sorry I even thought that.” Then she let out a gasp, “We had a fight, we have to go make up,” she informed them.

Angela and Bruce both just looked at each other and sighed. “If we don’t, she’s going to whine like a bitch,” Angela moaned.

“I’m not doing all the work,” Bruce scoffed. He kissed both then moved back to his spot. Ripping the pages he was writing on, Bruce looked up to see everyone moving back to their seats but didn’t remember seeing them get up. “Dani, Mary, Mindy,” he barked out and the three jumped up.

“Yes, sir!” they called out grinning, hoping guns or explosives were involved.

“You three have a task. I want the names of every seventeen-, eighteen- and nineteen-year-old in the clan, and that includes the outlying forts,” he told them, handing them the pages he’d torn out.

Taking the pages, Dani looked at the other two then back to her dad. “Okay, can I ask what for?”

“For a fall dance the first week of December. It will be for the proms all those missed. We can’t call it a prom anymore because learning is to never stop,” Bruce told them.

There was excitement, but it was subdued. “Dad, if you want it to be like a prom, Mary and I will be the only ones who have formal clothes. I really don’t want to wear an Easter dress. We can’t make everyone tear off across the countryside looking for clothes,” Dani told him.

“You have your orders and daddy will take care of that, Pumpkin,” Bruce grinned. “Go get started.”

The three ran out giggling, reminding Bruce they were still girls, no matter how much of a badass they were. Digging in the stack at his spot, Bruce pulled out three thick manila envelopes. He threw one to Gene and gave the other to Mike. “Those are Gamma’s and Beta’s targets and objectives. I want briefings by tomorrow on how you will accomplish them,” he told them and tossed the last to Willie. “That is Omega’s objectives, you have till tomorrow to present your plan.”

Bruce turned to Joe and Joe gave a nod. “Our shit is done and waiting on you,” Joe told him grinning.

“Angela, Stephanie, get your gear,” Bruce told them, heading to the door. “Ted, Carl, have headquarters’ group meet us on the road!” Bruce shouted, heading up the stairs as Stephanie and Angela took off after him.

Looking at the printed pages from his envelope, “Nancy, um, we’re going to need to sit down and go over this,” Mike told her.

Pulling out her cellphone, “I’ll reschedule our day,” Nancy sighed. “Is it worth it?” she asked.

Flipping through the pages, “Oh, yeah,” Mike grinned. “It’s definitely worth it.

Chapter Six

It was October, two days after Buffy’s birthday, and Bruce was driving along in a UTV on the east road that ran along the inside of the wall at the base of the berm. Everyone just referred to it as Berm Road since it went around the entire inner wall. “Guys, you have to at least act cool at all times,” Bruce said leaning back in the seat with his left hand resting on top of the steering wheel. Glancing over, “Do you understand?” he asked.

Strapped in car seats, Jessica, Isaac, and Joshua were just chewing on their fists staring at him. None of the three responded but were watching him. Using a cutting torch, Bruce had rearranged the seats so when he strapped them in he could see and reach all three. “It’s just us, you guys can say what you want,” Bruce told them. The UTV was fully enclosed and this morning Bruce was thankful for that. Just walking around the temperature was nice, but riding along at twenty-five mph it would’ve been a bit too nippy to take the three tiny musketeers along with him today.

Shifting his head to the side, Bruce glanced in the rearview mirror. “Look at the people you have following you around. Why? Because you’re cool,” Bruce told them, looking at his protection detail behind him in a convoy. There were the SUVs, Strykers, and several of them on motorcycles riding ahead. They would ride up a ways and stop and when Bruce got close, move ahead to do it again.

They had left the airport after going to check on the first flying airfield under construction, Spartan One. There was no denying it was awesome as hell. The prototype was there as well and also doing tests today. When Bruce saw it for the first time, he’d wanted to tell Jake the width, or beam, he’d given of three hundred feet was wrong. Jake was there but when Bruce found him screaming at people for being stupid, Bruce just let it pass. Jake only cared about the flight deck, which was three hundred feet wide, the only reason they were building the ship.

From what Bruce could tell about the argument, it seemed everyone found out the flat sides on the airship sucked ass. That thirty-foot tall and eight-hundred-foot side wall caught a lot of wind, throwing the ship about. Just following the argument, Bruce realized they hadn’t overlooked it but were in a disagreement on what to do with the sides. On the prototype, one side had a sharp wedge that extended out forty feet in the middle and the other had a gentle curve that extended out the same distance.

Just listening, half there wanted the wedge and the other half wanted the curve. The wedge worked better, but only if the wind hit it right. The top and bottom of the wedge acted like flat surfaces when the wind hit it wrong. The curve didn’t do that and didn’t care where the wind hit, but it never parted the wind like the wedge. Those wanting the curve were in different groups talking about different slopes of the curve. Screaming so loudly Jake levitated, he informed everyone a curve with a radius of fifteen feet was going around the ships and the next fucker who questioned him, they were hunting blues with a plastic spork.

It seemed none of the Cyber Ninjas or work crew wanted to find out if Jake was playing and just accepted it. So Bruce went to inspect the sides of the prototype and saw the rounded side and the wedge weren’t metal at all, they were cloth. Getting closer, Bruce really thought it looked similar to Gortex, and holy shit was it pulled tight.

Not counting the cloth sides, the beam was four hundred feet and the pylons that jutted out holding the massive contra rotating blades stuck out another sixty feet, then there was the twenty-foot fan. So from the edge of the fan from side to side the ship was nearly five hundred feet wide, making Spartan One much bigger than the prototypes.

The ship was at the end of one of the runways and held ten feet off the ground by landing gear that was just thick aluminum poles with a square yard of one-inch-thick aluminum for a foot. Bruce found out the landing gear did retract and each one could extend or retract four feet to keep the deck level when it was on the ground. The landing gear was only to be used as a last resort. Jake and Matt, from the beginning, wanted the ship to land in water. Stress was spread out across the frame. This was why a shallow lake was being dug out by the airport now. Spartan could land and dock to be loaded. Docks wouldn’t be built until they found out how high Spartan would ride in the water. With this prototype, only a few feet of the frame was below the water. The massive size displaced water and for its size, the ship was light.

Directly under the ship near the center, a ramp was extended down and since Jake was cooling off, Bruce took the babies with Ted, Carl, and Bonnie up on the ship. The first thing that hit Bruce was Jake had gone to extreme levels in cutting weight. The floors were grates, not solid. Even the floor at the bottom was a grate but there was a very thin layer of aluminum on it, and Bruce was sure that was just to help with wind or if it rode lower in the water after it landed. The walls throughout the ship were the black polygraphenoid ballasts. Despite the size there wasn’t that much room but what room there was, every square inch was dedicated to the mission.

Everywhere was heavy PVC pipe, mostly running to the ballasts to pull a vacuum or pump air in. All these were painted yellow. The next numerous pipes were for the water to pump to different areas to balance the ship quickly and these were painted blue. Next were the red painted pipes, and these were for fuel.

Heading to the bow, Bruce found the bridge that jutted thirty feet out the front of the ship. It was made mainly of Plexiglas and formed a point dead center of the front of the ship. Even here, Bruce could tell there was very little comfort designed for the crew. The seats at all five flight stations were welded to the floor and had seatbelts, but looked uncomfortable as hell.

As Bruce was climbing up steps to the flight deck, Jake joined him. Reaching the flight deck, Bruce was taken aback by the sheer magnitude. Looking at the deck and expecting to see a slick sheet of aluminum, he found it wasn’t. They had put a thin layer of resin and sprinkled graphite over it, so the deck had the feel of very coarse sandpaper. On the right side in the middle of the ship there was a thirty-foot tower twenty feet from the flight deck. Directly opposite on the other side was another tower but not as big, and Jake told him that was the radar.

All in all Bruce was impressed, but did add on to Jake’s headache. Bruce asked Jake to add thermal cameras at each corner. Since the ships were always going to be high up and over the troops, they could give a permanent feed of the surrounding area. Before he blew up Jake paused, realizing that it was a good idea. Then Bruce asked Jake to put a little bit of comfort in for the crew. There were two toilets and Bruce’s tennis shoe box had a bigger area to sit on than those tiny toilets.

Jake then took him over to the first Spartan ship under construction and Bruce saw teenagers carrying twenty feet long, one foot wide, and one-foot tall polygraphenoid boxes, what they called graph-beams. Just looking at the beam one would think they were heavy as hell, but one kid would toss one up to another like one would a small toy, since the entire beam didn’t even weigh a quarter of a pound. Jake told him the polygraphenoid was made twelve inches wide and could be as long as they wanted it but in the room they had it set up in, they could only make it thirty feet long. When Jake mentioned ‘cut’ Bruce cocked an eyebrow and Jake said they cut it with a laser.

The ships weren’t that hard to build because the only metal was the skeletal frame and flight deck, then they packed it with as many beams as they could. But what took the longest to build were the shaft engines. They had to be assembled in a clean room. Before Bruce left, Jake asked if he was sure he didn’t want to get measured for his suit sooner. Telling Jake no, Bruce let Jake hold his brothers and sister then loaded up with his detail following and hit the road.

Bruce wasn’t going to upset the carefully planned schedule Jake, Matt, and the Cyber Ninjas had laid out to build the suits. Bruce was scheduled to get scanned on November the first and his suit built on the second.

Nearing the east gate, Bruce tapped his phone resting beside him. “Hey, boss,” Carl answered.

“Carl, tell them I want the gate open before I get there. Jessica doesn’t like it when I slow down,” Bruce said, winking at Jessica, and that got a giggle from all three.

“Got it, boss,” Carl responded and Bruce hung up. He drove along just enjoying the ride. First and second battalions were already fitted for suits and the rest of Omega first regiment was going through now, so Bruce wanted to move about to look around since the others would talk to him about work now.

Leaving Base Hope via the south gate, Bruce glanced over and saw all three were asleep. “Oh, we so have to toughen you guys up,” he sighed.

City of Hope had a total of ten gates around the two-hundred-and-forty-mile perimeter and Bruce was heading to one of three on the west side. As of now, it was the main one used for traffic. The gate at the railyard was used more, but by heavy equipment since dirt, rock, and concrete was brought in by the trainload there. There were people on tractors cutting grass and a few others working outside. They all had weapons, but rifles were slung across their backs. Inside Base Hope, it wasn’t uncommon to see people moving about without a rifle, but most still had a pistol. The only time people didn’t carry one was if they were going to drink or take drugs. It wasn’t a rule or law, just the smart thing to do. Even impaired you were responsible for your own actions, and that alone made everyone lock up weapons before tossing down a few.

Driving two miles down the road, Bruce reached the road to the left heading to City of Hope. The trees were thick and he was still eight miles away so he couldn’t see the walls, but Bruce sighed as his protection detail tightened up around him. He had one of his Omega ARs and his UTV could outrun a blue so he wasn’t worried, especially this close to Base Hope.

One thing they did find out, the area of fear the blues had was from Base Hope, not the new city. The City of Hope extended past the zone blues didn’t cross for Base Hope, so two thirds of the city walls were outside that zone. The Ouachita River ran along the entire outside of the east wall so blues were only seen on the other bank.

Before Paul had even started on the Fort Hood walls, he’d flown out to the fort in Alabama. After seeing blues climb walls, Paul had the guards lure some blues there. Well, Paul brought some gang members Omega had captured to lure the blues. They hung four of the gang from the top of the walls and made noise. Normally when blues were seen from the wall they were shot, but Paul told the guards to let them come.

Over two dozen blues came and Paul gave a sigh of relief that they couldn’t climb the walls. It was Bruce’s research team that had found out blues needed a porous surface that they could grip with their claws. The outside of the concrete walls were smooth as glass and perfectly vertical. The blues could jump from the ground straight up nearly fifteen feet, but they couldn’t climb the wall.

It was because of that, Paul made changes to the wall sections. A two-inch wide, three-foot-tall tab that ran end to end across the top was added to each section of wall poured now. After the wall was set, another fifteen-foot section was lifted up with a slot on the bottom. It fit over the tab to make the wall forty-five feet tall. Paul just told the command group he didn’t like the fact a blue could jump half the height of their wall.

Before Bruce reached the City of Hope gate, he found crews working outside the wall clearing trees and undergrowth back from the walls. He knew these groups were small compared to the groups working in the ‘hot’ areas of the walls where blues still roamed. Even here there were guards covering the crews, but not like in the hot areas.

Passing through the gate, one could tell work was just getting underway for the City of Hope. Base Hope looked ‘lived in’. Even though they were using half of the fifty square miles inside the wall, the forest and fields didn’t look wild. Waving at the guards, Bruce was happy to see his security team pull back behind him.

Taking a road south, Bruce headed to the first housing area or square mile block being built. The road was four lanes and paved. One crew was painting stripes on the road and they stopped working seeing a UTV with a column behind it coming toward them. As he passed Bruce waved, and the crew saw who it was and returned the wave.

Only the first community block in Base Hope had the fifteen-foot wall around it. Paul said it wasn’t that much of a barrier against blues. It wasted resources and manpower that could be used elsewhere, so the next five that were built in Base Hope didn’t have the fifteen-foot wall. Removing the wall would’ve been too labor intensive so it was just left. Like the other one-mile square community blocks, City of Hope’s blocks didn’t have walls.

He saw the first ten-story buildings over the trees ahead and grinned, thinking Paul finally built some skyscrapers. While the blocks in Base Hope housed eighty thousand per block, because Paul made changes before he started, the blocks built in the city housed double that. There weren’t any recreational areas yet, but everyone had a room to sleep in. All effort was put into housing and centers to feed the people. They could go to the base for recreation until then, since there were buses that ran back and forth. Most of those working in the city lived there so they were expanding their living area and according to the morale committees, nearly all understood.

Relaxing as he drove along, Bruce glanced over at the sleeping babies and grinned. When the exodus had started toward Base Hope while he was still in the field, they’d been forced to set up tents in the forward forts and at the base to house those who came in. In Bruce’s original plan, the outlying forts would only house fifty thousand. Since nobody asked him, Paul changed that.

There was one crew nobody messed with to pull workers from, that was Paul’s construction crew. It was now over fourteen thousand strong and was supplemented by others in the clan. That way, Paul could send a small group to build and those helping could learn and do the menial tasks. Most every person in the clan could work construction after two months. That’s all Paul’s crew did. The eight hundred pouring the concrete walls were part of Paul’s crew. From the very beginning, Paul’s crew was bigger than Omega and Gamma combined. Only now did the clan have enough people to put out a large fighting force. Like Bruce pointed out long ago, ‘What good are we doing; going out to fight if the home front isn’t safe and secure?’ Every member of Paul’s crew had been through all three training courses and could fight, and did. Even now, they were clearing areas outside the walls while other members of the construction crew covered them.

Their main job was to build this new world, and it was a job every member on Paul’s crew understood very well.

Paul expanded the Alabama and Missouri forts to house two hundred and fifty thousand each. Since the forts were twenty-five square miles enclosed by walls, it wasn’t that cramped. While Bruce was on his vacation, Paul had told the command group half of those at the outlying forts would be brought into the city, leaving no less than seventy thousand in each fort. That way, they could use the empty housing if needed for another influx.

Turning to glance back at the road, Bruce’s foot came off the accelerator as his mouth fell open. The UTV coasted to a stop as he looked over the community blocks at a dozen buildings in the distance. The fact he could see them ‘over’ the first community blocks was what was shaking Bruce. Every housing unit here was ten stories, but these were obviously taller.

Bruce jumped when he heard a tap on his window. Turning, he saw Ted standing outside. Sliding the window down, “We stopping, boss?” Ted asked. “If we are, we need to move to the side. The trucks follow the speed limit, but full cement trucks and trucks hauling dirt can’t stop that fast.”

Pointing ahead, “They’re taller,” Bruce told Ted.

Not sure if this was a test, Ted turned to look ahead and could see the urban area and many places under construction. Deciding to play it safe, “Do you want them shorter?” Ted asked. “I’ve gotten real good driving a dozer.”

Getting out, Bruce pointed at the horizon at the buildings peeking above the first community blocks. “Nobody told me we were making them bigger,” Bruce told Ted and turned to look at them. “And it doesn’t look like they are stopping where they are at now.”

Ted wondered what the correct response to that was and pondered several options. “You want to go see how high they’re going?” Ted offered.

Nodding, “Send one of the motorcycles ahead to find a foreman to meet us there on the ground,” Bruce said, getting back in the UTV. Ted took off running as he shouted into the radio. A motorcycle in front of them took off and when it was half a mile away, turned on a siren.

Closing the door, Bruce looked over at the babies sleeping and was thankful the rider had waited until he got a good distance away before turning on the siren. Then Bruce realized more than likely, Ted had told them to do that. Ted, Carl, and Bonnie had been recruited as caregivers many times. At first they were hesitant, but they all loved it now. Each time Bruce saw one of them rocking a baby as he tended another, he loved his security a little more.

Driving along Bruce noticed on the street ahead, people were lining up on both sides, and it was a lot of people. Even half a mile away he could hear them cheering. “Aw shit,” Bruce groaned, glancing over at the sleeping babies. All of a sudden, the black SUV behind him barreled around him then took off. They reached the crowd long before Bruce did and he could hear Carl over the loudspeaker.

“Don’t shout, he has the babies and they are asleep!” Like someone pushed a mute button, the crowd fell silent.

“Wow,” Bruce mumbled as he approached the crowd. He slid his window down and waved. He couldn’t help but smile at all the whispered, ‘Hi’ and subdued ‘Thank you’ from the crowd as they waved back. Leaning back in the seat, he pointed past him so those on the left side could see the three sleeping babies.

A collective ‘Aww’ went through the crowd as he eased along. Following the SUV, Bruce looked off to the side to see crews were shutting down machines before he got there as word spread ahead of the convoy. “I didn’t want to interrupt work,” he groaned. “I don’t think a cement truck would’ve woken them up.” But the crowd was taking no chances.

“Shit,” he grumbled and grabbed his phone calling Carl. “Tell Bonnie to come and drive as I walk along talking to the crowd,” Bruce said as soon as Carl answered.

“She got to drive the babies yesterday! When do I get a turn?” Carl snapped back and Bruce just held the phone out at arm’s length, staring at it in disbelief and making sure he’d dialed the right number.

“Okay, Carl, you can drive the babies,” Bruce said and the SUV in front of him wasn’t even stopped when he saw the passenger door fly open and Carl leapt out. He ran back to the UTV with a huge grin as Bonnie climbed out of the backseat, closing the door Carl left open.

Bruce got out and let Carl in. His protection detail called this the ‘kid’ UTV. In the backseat, he could fit Emily, Sherry, Cade, and PJ with the babies up front. Angela and Stephanie had to drive another one. The UTV had A/C, heater, oscillating fans, DVD player with two screens in the back and one up front. And last but not least, a killer stereo system.

Climbing in, Carl eased the door closed and checked on the babies as Ted and Bonnie came over with grumpy faces cradling their weapons. It was very clear what they were irritated about as they looked at Carl in the UTV. “It was his turn,” Bruce told them.

“Fine,” Ted huffed, even stomping his foot. “I get to drive them around next.”

Casting his eyes to the sky, “Babe, you can stop any time,” Bruce told the heavens. “I’m doing my best, but you’re pushing the boundaries here.”

Dropping his gaze, Bruce moved to the crowd shaking hands. Realizing the UTV was going at a crawl, “Ted, tell Carl to ride around so the babies don’t wake up,” Bruce called out and heard Ted give a gasp of shock. He glanced back to see Ted staring at him with a gaping mouth, but Bonnie was on her radio.

The UTV eased ahead with half the convoy following as Bruce just turned back around talking with people. It took him an hour to make it to the new community blocks. Like all community blocks, roads were laid out in perfect lines running north to south and east to west. He could tell there were four blocks under construction south of the four that were already built.

Scanning around, he saw where the motorcycle stopped and headed that way. “That is Kandice, the foreman for this block,” Ted said from behind him.

Kandice was wearing jeans, work boots, t-shirt and a tool belt with shoulder straps hanging off her. It was very clear Kandice was a well-built woman. Granted, a well-built woman covered in cement and sawdust. A hardhat sat atop her head and Bruce wouldn’t have been surprised if a tiara hadn’t sat on that head once, before the Fall. Everyone worked and only those who strived and could do the job were given more responsibility.

“Hey, boss,” Kandice smiled, taking off a glove, and Bruce shook her hand.

“You can call me Bruce,” he smiled and pointed at the buildings behind her. “Those are bigger,” he informed Kandice.

The smile dropped from Kandice’s face, wondering just how she should respond. “Bigger than what, Bruce?” she asked hesitantly.

Jerking a thumb to the community blocks they’d passed through, “Than those,” he told her.

Nodding, “I know. My crew built the apartment complexes for two of those six-hundred-and-fifty-acre blocks,” Kandice answered.

“Paul told me the apartments in the city were going to be ten stories,” Bruce told her as he pointed behind her, “those are taller, so that means they are bigger.”

The crowd around them was quiet listening to the conversation and it was clear, they were confused like Kandice was. Following the direction of the statements, but not the reasoning, “Are you mad?” Kandice asked furrowing her brow.

Scoffing, “Hell no,” Bruce chuckled. “I just like being kept in the loop.”

“Well, when the foremen met with Paul last month we asked for the changes, the next four blocks will have twenty-story apartment complexes. It’s easier to add more now,” Kandice told him. “Sorry, Bruce,” she told him. “I’ve been here since we fought that horde and you lost your wife. Those on construction have learned, do more and you will need it because you’re going to save as many as you can.”

An excited murmur ran through the crowd as Bruce shook his head. “No, WE are going to save as many as we can, Kandice. I can take Omega out and kill. Yes, we rescue some, but the scavengers go out to get most or escort others. Those here help them get settled and teach them, giving those we save a chance to help save others. I’m just part of the machine.”

“Wrong,” Kandice told him bluntly. “You have the vision, desire, want, and drive to make it happen. You ask nothing that you won’t do yourself, and allow no one to sit on their ass while others work. I wanted to try for Omega and passed the selection, but Paul begged me to stay on his crew because I was doing just as much and it would take time we don’t have to train someone to take my place. It wasn’t until your wives came to talk to me that I understood. We all have a place and job we have to do to help you fight this war, saving as many as we can.”

Holding out his hand, “I’m sorry, you do understand. But I’m still just a part,” Bruce told her, and she shook his hand.

“You’re right,” Kandice stated, shocking Bruce. “But you’re the most important part.” The others in the crowd all agreed with Kandice and Bruce just gave up but still smiled. “Would you like to see the new apartment complexes? We’re enclosing the first one now.”

Bruce was still in awe at just how fast the construction crews moved now. Like Paul had explained long ago, they weren’t worried about the cost of manpower and could flood each job with bodies. Not too many bodies to get in the way but enough that the work always moved forward rapidly. One thing Bruce learned that slowed the construction process was waiting for the concrete to set. That’s why so many were done at a time. When one was poured they would move to the next to pour. When it was done, they could return to the first and continue.

About to follow Kandice, Bruce paused and looked around for his UTV and found it driving around piles of dirt. He turned to see scowls on Ted and Bonnie. “The babies are awake and Carl says they are laughing when he drives over the dirt piles,” Ted grumbled.

Sighing, “Ted, I told you, it’s your turn next time,” Bruce reminded him.

Waving his hand out, “There won’t be any dirt piles around on my turn!” Ted snapped. “When Isaac laughs, it’s the funniest sound I’ve ever heard.”

“We’ll find some, Ted,” Bruce moaned.

“What about my turn?” Bonnie whined.

Turning around, “Bonnie, you can drive the MRAP first tomorrow when we take it out to let Louis drive,” Bruce told her.

They both got in Bruce’s face, “You aren’t letting dummy drive our babies around!” they shouted at him.

Looking them both in the eye, Bruce was about to remind them they were ‘his’ babies but didn’t. “No, he will drive but if he makes any of the babies so much as spit up, he has to run back to base with the MRAP chasing him,” Bruce told him.

Ted accepted that and stepped back, but Bonnie stayed toe to toe with Bruce. “The babies aren’t getting in the MRAP with dummy driving without helmets,” she informed him and the crowd around them was standing in shock.

“They will be in car seats and I haven’t seen helmets that small,” Bruce told her.

“I need to use your shop, but they will have helmets tomorrow before the dummy takes the wheel,” Bonnie vowed.

Now intrigued, “By all means,” Bruce told her. “Now, can we look at the building? I’m interrupting their work and if I interrupt work too long we are staying to help,” Bruce told her, “with the babies.”

Giving a nod, Bonnie stepped back and let Bruce follow Kandice and they trailed along. Like all buildings over three stories on base and the city, there were elevators. But unlike old elevators that were hauled up by massive lengths of cable that took up lots of space, the new elevators had gears on each side and ‘rolled’ up and down the shaft. The power was supplied by the rails the gears used and the only cable was the counterbalance weight that hung just behind the elevator shaft. It was much more energy efficient and safer.

When they got to the top of the building, Bruce looked out with wonder at the world splayed out two hundred feet below him. Looking around, he could see the wall disappearing in the distance. Finally turning towards base, Bruce could make out the wall in places, since there was now half a mile cleared around the base wall.

Kandice told him the new apartment complexes were all three to four bedrooms, depending on the floor. And Bruce had to ask but Kandice assured him those rooms on the top floors were identical to those below, they just had a nicer view. “You know where Paul is?” he asked as they headed down.

Laughing, “Yes, he left here an hour ago heading to Mt. Hope,” Kandice told him.

“There isn’t a mountain in Louisiana,” Ted informed her. “Even the hills here aren’t that big.”

With a lopsided grin, “There’s not one yet,” Kandice corrected as they left.

Chapter Seven

They left the urban area and parked down the road under some trees so the babies could get fed. To the south, they could see planes landing and taking off. Bruce turned to see Bonnie feeding Joshua, Ted feeding Isaac, and Carl feeding Jessica. Bruce wasn’t even given a chance to grab one of his kids to feed. When he turned to watch Carl feeding Jessica and talking baby talk to her, Bruce couldn’t help but grin. Then Bruce thought he needed to get Jessica out in the sun more. Carl was black but not that dark and Jessica seemed to glow her skin was so white. Pulling out a notepad, Bruce made a note to talk to Nancy about that.

Hearing planes coming in, Bruce turned around to see a C-5 Galaxy coming in to land. “Didn’t know we had any of those,” Bruce mumbled. It was the largest cargo plane in the US military inventory. Turning back to the west, he could see large shapes lining up to land in the distance. “I’m going to have to tell Mack to chill,” Bruce sighed.

It seemed Mack wanted at least one of every plane in the inventory, and then any neat civilian planes. He still hadn’t gotten over the list of what Mack added while he was on vacation. But he knew for a fact there was a fully restored World War Two B-17 Flying Fortress at the city airport. They didn’t restore it; it was a flying museum but Mack had sent a team to go get it. After it landed, they’d put the thirteen fifty caliber machine guns back on. Not all the aircraft were here or the base, some were at the Air Force Base in Bossier and others were at the forts in Missouri and Alabama. There wasn’t a doubt in Bruce’s mind, Mack had collected over two thousand aircraft that weren’t part of the fighting wings.

Jimmy and Steve were just as bad, but they collected helicopters. The clan had over a thousand Blackhawks now and over eight hundred Apaches. Then there were Marine Cobras, Super Stallions, Chinooks, Hueys and there were many of those. There were Ospreys, but not many. If it was in the service, they had at least one here. Like Mack, they’d brought back cool civilian helicopters and Bruce knew there were more choppers than planes. Jimmy and Steve even had several hundred smaller helicopters so those who had graduated and weren’t assigned to fly could take them up. It was like the cars Bruce had started gathering parked outside the base. The only difference was if you flew the helicopters you had to come back and help with maintenance, but nobody seemed to mind. You did have to schedule your time to take one up.

Like them, Mack had a fleet of prop planes that those who were qualified could sign out to fly. This was done for morale, but also kept a pool of personnel who could fly and be ready to call upon if the need arose. There were stipulations to all those who flew. They couldn’t fly past the forts that were out. As Mack told them, ‘If you crash, we are sending rescue and past those, the rescue team will be in deep shit, so no going past the forts.’ So those who flew had to stay within three hundred miles of Hope.

Bruce suspected the real reason for that rule was so a spy couldn’t escape quickly, but he kept that to himself.

Watching two more C-5s land, Bruce turned and saw more coming. “What the fuck?!” he cried out, yanking his phone out. “Yes, they are cool, but we don’t need that fucking many,” Bruce grumbled swiping his phone on. Hearing jet engines descending he turned, and his hand froze over the phone.

“That’s something you don’t see every day,” Ted said behind Bruce.

The blue and white Air Force One was descending to land as Bruce gaped open mouthed at it. Then he turned to see another one just like it coming in to land. “I didn’t know there were two,” Bonnie said.

“Yes, and they always flew together in case one had trouble, they could transfer the president,” Ted told her. “The only thing different from each other is the tail number. But whichever one the president was on was called Air Force One.”

“I knew that,” Bonnie huffed, putting Joshua on her shoulder to burp him.

What he was seeing finally made sense to Bruce as he swiped his phone back on and scrolled for Mack’s number. Finding it, he tapped it bringing the phone to his ear. “Hey, they were just sitting there,” Mack answered before Bruce even spoke.

“Mack, you have got to curtail your need to have one of every plane,” Bruce sighed.

“You realize how many planes I left at Groom Lake?” Mack scoffed, but wasn’t about to tell Bruce they were working on bringing many of those here. “Besides, those are symbols of America and I wasn’t leaving them to sit on a small-town runway in Colorado to waste away.”

“I know where they were, Mack. Jake and Matt found them a month after they took over the government site in Colorado. Do we even have room for them?” Bruce sighed, feeling like he was talking to a kid who wanted more toys. He wasn’t against it, but Mack’s toys were fucking huge and took a lot to play with.

“By the end of the month, each plane will have its own hangar. The pilots, ground crews, and I have already started them,” Mack told Bruce and the phone was yanked from his hand.

He turned to see Carl bringing his phone up. “The Secret Service vehicles belong to Omega headquarters element,” Carl snapped, then handed the phone back to Bruce. Carl just ignored the look from Bruce as he put Jessica on his shoulder to burp her.

“I already told them that, and Steve laid claim to the three choppers for the same reason,” Bruce heard Mack reply from the phone, then brought the phone to his ear.

“Mack, curb your urges for now and let me know when you’re sending groups out to get shit. I don’t like risking troops to gather stuff that won’t help in this war,” Bruce told him.

“I only used my pilots and ground crew,” Mack responded and Bruce gave a groan.

“Which one did you fly in?”

“The first one,” Mack reported proudly. “Just to let you know, you were right. Colorado is getting packed with blues. It was a bit touchy there for a minute, but we got out with no problems.”

“Fine, Mack. See you at the next meeting,” Bruce sighed and hung up.

“You really can’t talk, Bruce,” Ted informed him. “When you get around guns and weapons, you go hog ass wild.”

Putting his phone away, “I can fit lots of my toys in a truck. Mack needs big ass buildings for his. I’m not saying those weren’t worth the risk but come on, he has a fucking World War One bi-plane down there. I want shit to scour the earth of blues and he’s collecting shit for a museum.”

Putting Isaac on his shoulder, “So, in Jacksonville those three 1876 Gatling guns, real fucking Gatling guns that have the crank handle, the ones Carl and I helped load up are going to be used in this war?” Ted asked.

Bruce couldn’t answer, so he just stuttered. “What about the World War Two Sherman tank and half-track, not to mention that Civil War cannon we brought back from Georgia. Complete with cannon balls?” Carl chimed in.

“Not to mention like ten full suits of knight’s armor and like a hundred swords from that place in South Carolina?” Bonnie added.

Looking at all three, “I could fit all mine on trucks,” Bruce responded. Then like a chorus, all three babies burped. “Let’s go,” Bruce said, finally smiling. Just so he wouldn’t have to watch Ted pout, Bruce let him drive the babies in the UTV and he rode in the SUV behind it.

The road system for the city hadn’t even been started, so they had to use the existing roads as they drove near the very center of the zone for the City of Hope. It was near the hamlet of Gainesville where their destination was. Bruce had come here twice on his vacation, and both times without Bonnie, Ted, and Carl. He’d told them there were others on the protection detail and they were to take time off. Not liking it, the two did it anyway and started taking one day a week off, along with Bonnie. Everyone else on the detail got time off, but they just liked hanging around Bruce.

When they reached the site, Bruce heard gasps from Carl and Bonnie. The work site was huge, going as far as they could see. In the center they could see a mound was being built and the numbers of heavy equipment was mind boggling.

This was Bruce’s idea and when he gave it to Paul with the plans he’d sketched for the City of Hope, Paul had scoffed. Bruce wanted a ridge that ran east to west, one and a half mile wide at the base and four miles long that rose a thousand feet up. Then Bruce explained the why. That high up, they would have four miles of south-facing slope and could catch every ounce of sunlight that was possible. Along the ridge they were putting large wind turbines and this would help tremendously on the power the base and city needed. But that was a shitload of material, dirt, that would be needed.

Paul had looked at the plans and listened as Bruce explained how they could use the trains to bring in the dirt. Since they needed dirt anyway to place on the inside of the two-hundred-and-forty-mile-long wall to make a berm, this was just more. In Bruce’s diagrams, Paul just grinned at how HESCO barriers five-foot-tall, five feet wide, and ten feet long would be used to line a box out. Dirt would be packed in then another line of HESCOs would be placed just inside the first one like a step, then packed with dirt. Paul realized it was like building a pyramid.

Then the steps on the side would be filled in with a layer of rocks and dirt, and grass would be put over it to keep it in place. When it was done, they would have a long south-facing slope and a ridge high enough to generate wind power. Paul fell in love and the project started before the wall around the city was even complete.

On his first visit Bruce had thought it looked bigger, but on his second visit he knew damn well it was bigger. He drove the UTV with the kids around it. It was three miles wide and six long. When he asked Paul, Paul just shrugged, ‘Bigger is better’. Since no wives were ever informed or asked, the project took off.

It was Nancy who first found out, wondering why every morning hundreds of rail cars arrived from Arkansas loaded with dirt and leaving that night empty. She didn’t ask, Nancy got in a truck with her security and followed the line of dump trucks. By the time she found out, the project was already fifteen feet high. With a scowl, she went looking for Paul and wasn’t a happy camper.

She’d found him at the site and told everyone to leave the construction trailer they were in. Before she started, Paul explained what the site was for and Bruce had given him the plans. He did admit he expanded it and the ridge was going to be fifteen hundred feet tall now, but that was only a good thing. This was a project that they could use manpower on since those coming in weren’t ready for manual labor but could drive dump trucks. It would give them a job and a sense of purpose that they were helping right off the bat.

Considering Paul an amateur after dealing with Bruce and Mike, Nancy saw through that line of shit before Paul even finished speaking but the project was already underway and the reasoning was sound. Of course when she told Mike, he jumped in a truck to go see it and thought it was the coolest project going at the time. At the next meeting, Nancy informed the others about the mountain ridge being built in Louisiana and had to threaten the other men when they got up to go see this awesome site. Cheryl had just looked at Nancy. ‘I can’t watch him all the time, but I think they have earned the right to do a really cool project they want, no matter how stupid it seems’.

Thinking about that, Nancy agreed and everyone started devoting more resources to what they’d dubbed, Mt. Hope.

When they reached the group of trailers that served as the office, Bruce got out. The one thing he didn’t like was Paul was covering up the steps that formed the ridge almost as fast as they were building them. Bruce wanted to see a huge ass pyramid ridge rise up from the ground. Now the ridge was over a hundred feet tall and the only steps you could see were the top three, and the sides were being filled in with rocks and dirt. When the area was even, a worker would come over with a packer machine and run it over the ground packing the dirt. If it was even from top to bottom, he would move on. If it wasn’t, more dirt would be put in.

After the packer moved off, an ATV pulling a trailer rode on top of the HESCO barrier above. Then workers would pass out plates of grass, stacking them over the packed dirt and staking them down until the trailer was empty. It would pull off to be replaced by another and the process ran along on all sides.

The road that ran up from the north end was wide enough for two dump trucks to pass. Like the ridge, the road was added to as well, so it rose with each five-foot layer of Mt. Hope. HESCO barriers stacked three wide on each side of the road and more were added each day with each layer as they held the dirt in place for the road while a mountain was raised.

Getting the kids, Bruce found Paul in the trailer talking to a group. Seeing Bruce, Paul told them to go ahead and then pulled Bruce over to another drawing. “This is what I wanted to show you,” Paul almost cheered.

“I know we are putting solar panels on the south slope and that will give us over a hundred megawatts, but listen. We’ve already built a test model, so it works. We are going to build four plants and use the energy from the solar panels to heat salt. Then use the heat from that to turn turbines for power. That way, when the sun goes down we aren’t losing a large chunk of our power output,” Paul explained.

“Thermal energy storage,” Bruce nodded and noticed Paul gave a startle. “I’ve heard of it and have a book on it but haven’t looked at it, so I have no idea how to build one.”

“One of the guys here built one in India ten years ago. We built a small one just because I wanted to see proof of concept. Even if we have a few days of no sun we’ll still have power. And,” he paused, “I’m putting in a coal power plant just for that reason, just for backup in case we have like two weeks of no sun, it can heat the salt.”

Nodding and really liking that, “Okay,” Bruce nodded.

“I know you wanted two square miles of panels but, how much of the south slope can we use?” Paul asked.

Looking at Paul, “Paul, that’s all the solar panels I think we can find,” Bruce told him.

“So, if I find more I can put more up?” Paul asked with a grin.

“Knock yourself out, dude,” Bruce chuckled.

“Bruce, I really think by summer we won’t have to worry about power if we set this up right,” Paul told him.

“I’m all for that,” Bruce replied. “So, you think the propellant plant will be up by January?” This was the plant that would make their gunpowder, explosives and the new propellants for the ten millimeter.

“It will be up, but I don’t know about power,” Paul sighed. “We’ve started on the coal plant and it should be up by then. There is enough coal loaded in rail cars we won’t have to worry about digging any for a while if you want to turn it on to bring the propellant plant online, but there is no way we can do the propellant plant, new foundry, and the refinery until we get Mt. Hope operational.”

“We have fuel and we also have the small refinery, so do it,” Bruce told him and Paul nodded.

Paul pulled out plans and gave Bruce the outline of current jobs in the city and expected schedules with completion. When Paul was done, Bruce turned and saw Ted, Bonnie, and Carl rocking the sleeping babies in their arms. “Have you looked over what I gave you?” Bruce asked.

“Yes, but Bruce, you have to give me at least a month to draw up a plan, and the spot you picked out for the fort needs to be moved further inland and north,” Paul told him.

Looking Paul in the eyes, “Bring me a plan and new building site that you approve of by February,” Bruce told him, shocking Paul. Saying goodbye, he held the door open for Ted, Carl, and Bonnie to carry the babies out. “One more stop,” Bruce told them. “You three get in and I’ll drive. We’ll get one of the others to drive the UTV back.”

It took Bruce nearly an hour to reach their next stop in the middle of nowhere near the south wall of the City of Hope and he passed through three checkpoints manned by some of Omega. Easing down the blacktop road, Bruce pulled out into a very large field that had been covered with small rocks. But spread out over the field was one hundred and eleven amusement rides. He'd been on vacation and had babysitters up his ass and couldn’t do much of anything, but he could get others to and keep it quiet. Joe and Harry had rounded up teams and ransacked amusement parks in Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia a month ago with some of Omega and Scavengers.

The day Bruce brought Stephanie, Angela, and the babies home, Joe and Harry, with scavengers, hit the storage for two state fairs and moved the rides here. Joe and Harry had teams going over them for safety to make repairs and learning how to operate them. This was a present for the entire clan so everyone could relax. Joe came over with Harry and they assured Bruce it would be ready. Telling them he would see them at the meeting in the morning, Bruce headed back to the SUV and chuckled. Ted, Carl, and Bonnie were sound asleep with babies in their arms. Not able to help it, Bruce pulled out his phone, taking pictures. His video camera on his hat was always on, but he wanted good shots of this.

Driving slowly so he didn’t wake anyone up, Bruce headed back to the base.

Chapter Eight

Everyone was in the command bunker when Bruce walked in with a smirk. “I can play with your boobs when I want to,” Bruce said over his shoulder.

“You don’t have to make faces at the babies when you do,” Stephanie shot back and Angela was just chuckling and snorting. “That is their food you’re playing with.”

Everyone at the table gave snorts, fighting not to laugh as Bruce set down his stuff and turned to Stephanie. “I played with them before the babies used them for food. I had them first, so they are mine,” Bruce teased, then stuck his tongue out at Stephanie.

Letting out a gasp, Stephanie’s mouth fell open in shock that Bruce, the father of their children, was going to deny his kids nourishment. “Studies have proven that babies need six months of breast milk to have a healthier life,” she tried to counter.

Throwing up his hands, “Hey, Isaac starts crying just because I walk up behind you and cop a feel. He can drink goat’s milk; he can survive on that. I don’t have boobs, so I get to play with yours and Angela’s. Hell, I can touch them now and they want to be stingy? We have goats,” Bruce stated firmly and Angela dropped to the floor, fighting to hold in the laughter.

“I never said you couldn’t touch them,” Stephanie whined. “They just hurt when I was pregnant! Now they hurt if I don’t get milk out of them! I’m making more milk than a damn cow! You just want to play with them! Stop picking on Isaac!”

“Hell, you don’t know who you feed, you just grab a kid and pop a boob in their mouth. We picked up kids yesterday at school, you heard a baby cry in the daycare and you run to go put a boob in its mouth. You were already holding Joshua, I had Isaac, and giggle pants had Jessica. Who did you think you were going to feed? You were going to another kid and deny me booby time.”

Rolling her eyes up, “Okay, I’ll admit, I just heard a baby crying and that was my first reaction,” Stephanie confessed. “But you don’t have to make faces at the babies when you squeeze and jiggle my breasts. How would you like it if someone jiggled and squeezed the refrigerator with your food saying it was theirs and you can’t have any? You would kick their ass!”

Rocking his head to the side, “I’m bigger than they are,” Bruce huffed.

“You can’t be that mean, Bruce,” Stephanie pleaded and Mike slid out of his chair and hit the floor, and laughter roared from under the table. With the dam broke, everyone busted out laughing, scaring Stephanie. She looked around the room in horror. The man she loved was going to deny their babies food and they were laughing.

Feeling something hitting her leg, she saw Angela on the floor having convulsions. Giving a long sigh and rolling her eyes, “You motherfucker,” Stephanie snarled and even Bruce started chuckling. “You made me think-,” she started and Bruce threw a hand up.

“I have no control over what you think,” Bruce informed her with a grin.

Looking down at Angela kicking the floor as she laughed, “You could’ve said something,” Stephanie informed her.

“That was fucking great!” Angela howled out. “Bruce tells you he’s going to start making milkshakes in front of the babies with your milk and not give them any as he drinks it slowly and you nearly passed out!”

Looking from Angela to Bruce, “It wasn’t funny,” Stephanie decreed and dropped in her chair with a grumpy face. Everyone was laughing but getting it under control as Bruce sat down and Angela climbed in her chair. “I shouldn’t feed Jessica for that, but I won’t punish a baby for you acting like an ass,” Stephanie warned.

“I’ll throw Jessica on you after you go to sleep, you’d never know,” Angela chuckled then reached over hugging Stephanie, but Stephanie didn’t return the hug or even look at her. “You have to admit, it was funny. Like you would ever really think Bruce would deny anything for his kids,” Angela said.

Giving a sigh, “Okay,” Stephanie groaned. “I should’ve thought about it and realized he was joking, but all I could think about was the kids starving and Bruce drinking breast milkshakes.” Even Carroll had a hard time remaining in her chair hearing that as the laughter roared in the command bunker. It took a few minutes but even Stephanie gave a smirk, then started laughing.

Wiping her eyes, “Oh, Stephanie, I do love you so,” Nancy said giggling. “To be as smart as you are and it’s so easy for Bruce to pull something over you just tickles me.” Shifting her gaze to Angela, “And you, you are the only person alive who can make Bruce blush. I love you two dearly,” Nancy smiled.

Pulling out his reading glasses and resting them at the end of his nose, Bruce scanned his notes. “Dad,” Dani called out.

“Yes, Pumpkin,” Bruce answered but didn’t look up.

“We have optometrists, you can go and get glasses or even contacts,” she suggested.

“Dani, I only need them to read,” Bruce replied with a warning tone, but didn’t look up and continued reading.

“I’m just saying, I don’t like them,” Dani huffed and Bruce looked up at her.

“Pumpkin, I let you dye my goatee. Let me tell you, I woke up the next morning, got up, went to the bathroom, turned on the light, and screamed like a bitch as I dove under the sink thinking there was a strange man standing in my bathroom,” Bruce told her as Angela and Stephanie stifled laughs.

“That’s what that was?” Buffy asked looking down the table and Bruce shifted his gaze to her and she sat back, hiding behind Matt.

“My security bursts in with guns drawn, babies screaming, and me hiding under the sink thinking a man had snuck in my bathroom. That smart mirror your brother and husband put in my bathroom even lit up, outlining my reflection before I turned on the light. But when the light came on, I didn’t realize it was me and screamed like a bitch. I’m giving you advice; you’ve changed daddy enough for the time being, Pumpkin.” When he was finished, he turned to Angela and Stephanie. “Oh, you laugh now but if I remember, both of you had grabbed guns and were standing on the bed over the babies.”

With her giggles stopping instantly, “We weren’t going in there to find out what scared your ass,” Angela popped off. “Bitch, I’ve watched you pull a knife and tomahawk fighting blues. Wade into battle outnumbered fifty to one, and you want us to leave the babies and find out what the fuck scared the Mighty Bruce? Fuck You, buddy!”

Thinking about that for a minute, Bruce finally nodded. “Okay, you’re right.” He pulled out folders and passed them down. “One for each member of the command group,” he told everyone. “Advisors, you can get a copy but the folders go to members.”

“I want this passed,” Bruce told everyone. “It outlaws anyone from ever suggesting or attempting to pass a law to stop killing blues.”

Slapping the table, Dani jumped to her feet. “Who the fuck said that? I’ll fucking kill them with an ice cream cone after I fuck their momma to death with a bulldozer and make them watch!”

Everyone was looking at Dani breathing hard and staring at Bruce, wanting names. “And now you know why our kids are only advisors to the command group,” Bruce informed the group.

“Shit, I’ll get Dani the ice cream cone and get Carl to drag the fucker to the spot of Dani’s choosing,” Ted admitted.

“Please,” Bruce sighed. “This isn’t for now,” he iterated slowly. “I can see in fifty to sixty or even a hundred years from now, groups wanting to rally for the defense of the poor blues that are being slaughtered. This isn’t for us or even our grandkids. The population may forget, but we must pass this down to them. The war here will end, but the battle against the blues will go on for centuries. We can never let them evolve so we kill as many as we can, shrinking their gene pool.”

“That’s actually very effective,” Sandy mumbled as she read the pages.

“So we kill all of them here and then launch a war against the world?” Mike asked, leaning back in his seat.

“Yes, but that war will be fought on our timeline. Here, we must fight now otherwise the fuckers are going to walk over us,” Bruce told them. “Like I’ve told everyone, they aren’t going away.”

“Where do I sign?” Willie asked.

Holding up a folder, “You sign this one on all three pages,” Bruce answered and Willie got up pulling an ink pen from his pocket. “Did you read it?”

“Scanned it,” Willie answered. “Dude, I don’t care if it says we kill their cat before they die. Anyone who ever mentions blues should be saved after wiping over ninety percent of humanity from the globe needs their DNA removed from the gene pool.”

Watching Willie sign, Bruce had to agree with the logic and Mike took Willie’s pen and signed. It was passed around and Bruce looked at the group. “The clan will be asked to pass this into charter. That way, it’s in our Constitution and future generations can’t deny this law.”

“Shit, anyone can argue,” Mike chuckled as Stephanie handed back the signed law.

“Nope, every clan member will sign a hard copy and it will be scanned into the computer. The originals will be stored,” Bruce answered.

“That’s going to take a bit to print,” Marcus said.

“Bruce,” Carroll called out and everyone turned to her. “If that be your thinkin’, everyone that comes in needs ta’ sign that along with the charter. They gave their word, but that word can be put in writin’.”

“Shit, I like that,” Carl mumbled with a nod.

Turning to look at everyone, “They sign the charter when they are brought in,” Bruce told everyone and they all looked at him. “The questionnaire they fill out, the next page is the charter, the clan laws, and they will abide by them.”

“What?” half the room called out and the other half started tapping on computers. Marcus leaned to the right to look on Conner’s, and Carroll leaned to the left to look on Jake’s.

“I’ll be damned,” Jake said, pulling up one at random. “We’ve been doing that since Willie got here?”

“I remember signing that,” Willie admitted.

Marcus pointed at Conner’s screen, “That one came over here with us,” he said.

Reaching over and tapping Marcus, “Dem papers Debbie had us take over for everyone ta’ fill out,” Carroll told him. “She was gettin’ a signed vow from all them that came in.”

“I didn’t sign one,” Stephanie said and Angela nodded.

Scoffing, “Both of you are members of this family and don’t have a choice but to live by your word,” Dani informed them.

Turning to Dani, “But it’s not fair. We are at the top. Everyone here needs to have one signed to show the clan, we are all the same,” Angela told her.

“Jake,” Bruce called out and Jake looked up from his computer. “Make it print out somewhere so everyone can sign the charter. We don’t need the list to know what we can do.”

“Jake,” Angela said. “Print the form to list what you know. We are all the same, Bruce.”

“What she said, Jake,” Bruce confirmed. Then he looked at Mike, Willie, and Gene, “Were your missions successful?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Willie grinned.

“Beta brought back nine semi-trailers full,” Gene replied and Bruce turned to Mike.

Mike was about to answer, but Nancy stopped him. “Gamma has to go back out,” Nancy said and Mike’s face went pale. When he turned to Nancy, she was already looking at him with narrowed eyes. “Gamma and Beta just grabbed shoes. I can say, Omega at least got correct shoes, but not enough.”

“They all have heels,” Gene cried out.

Turning to Gene with her eyes still narrowed, “You brought back over three thousand pairs of five-inch-tall porn star platform boots!” Nancy shouted. “We are talking about teen girls going to a dance, not making a porno!”

Shrugging, “I thought they looked nice,” Gene mumbled.

Sighing, “Nancy,” Bruce waited for her to look at him. “How about the dresses?”

Scoffing, “We have over a hundred and eighty thousand, Bruce, and I’m going low. That warehouse in Atlanta supplied prom dresses to the entire east coast and was locked up tight,” Nancy smirked then added, “Granted, ten thousand are wedding dresses, but there are plenty of others.”

“Are you sure those are wedding dresses?” Willie asked and Nancy nodded. “Several in Omega said that but they looked like prom dresses to me, so I said grab ‘em.”

“Figures,” Nancy mumbled. “Nearly half of Omega is female.”

“So is Gamma,” Bruce pointed out.

Nodding, “Yes, but their leader is an ass who bursts into warehouses shouting, ‘Get all the women’s shoes!’ I tried telling him we needed to go down the street to another store and to Dallas, but Mike said there were more than enough there,” Nancy told him. “If the girls are going for a morning run and a day at the beach, we have enough tennis shoes and sandals for them.”

Turing to Dani, “How many in the age group are in the clan?” Bruce asked.

Not even looking at her notes, “One hundred and twenty-seven thousand, nine hundred and forty-eight right now here and the forts,” Dani answered with a smile.

Giving a long whistle, “And where are we having this dance?” Mike asked.

“In town,” Bruce answered and Mike just stared at him. “The convention hall that Paul built,” Bruce said.

“We can’t fit that many in there,” Mike scoffed.

“Mike, that building is fourteen fucking acres. Paul built it for concerts and meetings for two hundred and fifty thousand, so the entire base could be seated in two different meetings. I know of three concerts put on there and one I know was more than that,” Bruce countered and Mike didn’t look convinced. “Mike, it’s over four hundred thousand square feet, it may be tight but they’ll fit.”

“That’s like eight square feet per person,” Sandy offered looking around.

“There is also a ten-acre veranda on the north side,” Paul reminded everyone. “Um, what about the kids in the other forts?”

“We’ll bring them in by train, but we get a warmup before then,” Bruce said. “By then, we’ll have room here to house them the day before and until they return home.”

Paul nodded and made notes as Bruce tossed down a clipboard to Dani. “You notify everyone on there what their job is. If one complains, you come to me and don’t take care of it yourself,” Bruce warned and Dani took the clipboard nodding with a smile as Mary and Mindy leaned over to read the clipboard.

“Hold up, Dad,” Jake said standing up. “I want to say something and I want a vote on it now. If the vote is no, I quit,” he stated with conviction.

“No, WE quit,” Matt said standing up.

“What the hell has crawled up your ass?” Bruce asked. “Anyone who pisses off you two, I’ll have to kill them slowly with much pain using a roll of duct tape.”

“No, I want an order from you and Daddy Mike that any trooper who’s pregnant, when their WIACS suit doesn’t fit, they are moved back to a support role,” Jake said and Mindy turned to glare at him. “I’m not having one of my sisters risking her baby, a member of this family that we need. And that means in a support vehicle, not driving one of the assault rigs. So glare at me all you want, sis,” Jake huffed.

“When will the suit not fit?” Bruce asked.

Shrugging, “It will be different for each one, but a twenty percent increase in any body area and you can’t fit in the base suit,” Jake replied. “I want that enforced for everyone,” he added, turning to Angela and Stephanie.

“We stayed in the command vehicle, buddy,” Angela snapped. “I’ll get a belt. I’m not Stephanie.”

Giving a nod of acknowledgement, “I know you did, but in the future that may change and I want an order now that stops it. We need people in this clan and family, you can all fight again after the baby gets here,” Jake told her.

“You’ll have a printed order signed by me and Mike this afternoon,” Bruce said and Mike nodded.

“I’d like this ta’ be unanimous from all of us,” Carroll said. “I call a vote.” All the members raised their hands and Mindy dropped her scowl. “I’ll get Millie ta’ write up an we can sign it next meetin’ and put it out with Bruce’s and Mike’s order.”

Glancing at Matt, they both nodded. “We’re happy with that,” Jake said sitting down.

“Okay, next, Stephanie, Angela, you are doing a taped interview with me this afternoon. So I can tell the clan some things. You can dress me to look appropriate and think of where you want to do it,” Bruce told them, and they both gave slack-jawed expressions. “Next, I know some of you have found out what I’ve had Joe and Harry working on, but now it’s time to tell everyone. Starting October the twenty-seventh and going until Halloween, we are having a fair here,” Bruce told everyone and those who didn’t know, soon looked like Angela and Stephanie.

Ignoring the open mouths, “There are a hundred plus rides and we will rotate everyone in the outer forts through. Kids can dress up and each group, like Paul’s different construction teams, Mack’s pilots, then his ground crew… like that will have booths. But each will have a booth to hand out treats. Omega has already called cotton candy to pass out, so everyone choose something else,” Bruce told them and still the mouths hung open. “Questions?”

Raising her hand, “Um, why?” Nancy asked. “I know it’s to have a little fun, but we could have a street fair or a dance for everyone. We’ve talked about power and I’m not stupid, those rides use power.”

“Not as much as you think,” Bruce told her. “Yes, it’s to let the clan have fun, but it’s also to introduce the suits and the flying airfield to them with their own eyes. At each booth, everyone will have equipment on display so the clan sees everything we have here, not just items of war either. Heavy equipment, trucks, and all the things we are using that many haven’t seen but have heard of.”

“Dad,” Jake called out. “Are you sure? I mean, you know there are spies here, right?” he asked and many looked at him. “We don’t know who, but I can guaran-damn-tee you there are spies here.”

Nodding, “I know there are, son, but I’m not going to deny the clan to see what they’ve helped accomplish just because of the threat of spies. Now, am I going to tell them about capabilities? Or what’s in the magic bullets? No,” Bruce said. “We have got to get them used to the idea this war is going to hurt and it has to be seen through. Every ounce of happiness one gets is to be treasured and held onto because it may be a long time before they get any happiness again.”

“You wantin’ this fair and dance ta’ be every year, don’t ya?”  Carroll asked and Bruce nodded. “I agree. The clan needs joy ‘cause we all be workin’ hard and long.”

“Okay, next,” Bruce said, looking at his notes and picking up a cloth patch. “I want every area under each one’s control to think of an ID for a patch,” Bruce said and turned the patch around. It had a ninja diving through the air holding a laptop. “This patch is for the Cyber Ninjas. Sorry, son, I chose this.”

“That’s cool as hell!” Matt cried out holding out his hand and Bruce tossed it down.

“Omega, Gamma, and Beta, we already have our patches,” Bruce said, tapping the Omega patch on his shoulder. “But every workgroup, I want to have a patch. Many members here are assigned to two groups, and those get to display both,” Bruce said, then picked up a sash. “Yes, I got this idea from the scouts. Every class someone has taken, I want them to get a patch so they can show others in the clan what they have learned and done for the clan. I want people to show pride in what they’ve done and continue to do.”

A very sly grin split Mike’s face. “You dog,” he chuckled and everyone turned to Mike, but he just laughed at Bruce. “You want others to see slackers.”

Giving a very fake gasp, “Mike, I would never want to belittle anyone for being a worthless piece of shit,” Bruce claimed. “Yes, that is part of it, but I want those who are improving to be able to display it and to have days that it is encouraged to be worn. We don’t force anyone to do this. I want the clan to be proud of what they are doing and what they are learning.”

“I like it,” Nancy nodded. “It’s a simple way to show pride in themselves and their accomplishments. Just one question, how are we going to make these patches? We have people who can sew, but that’s a lot of patches.”

“Oh, I found the coolest machines in Arkansas when I went to get stuff for my Japanese garden,” Bruce told her proudly. “A computer sewing machine. It feeds its own cloth and you program what you want it to sew for the patch.”

As Nancy drew a sharp breath, Mike grabbed her arm. “It was his vacation and he took his headquarters element with him,” Mike told her. “Bruce gathered what he wanted for his garden, so drop it.”

“They didn’t get mad,” Bruce said, nodding to his wives.

“You told us you were getting stuff to make a Japanese garden; we didn’t know you were going to Arkansas to bring back rocks, moss, boulders, juniper, and cedar trees on a dozen semi-trucks,” Stephanie replied.

“Ted and I found him some koi fish,” Carl stated proudly. Nancy, Angela, and Stephanie just glared at him.

“Any other questions?” Bruce asked. “Then I’ll give you the run-down of the last report the researchers have sent me. They’ve dissected one hundred matrix kids and can instantly tell which were born and those infected and turned. First, the occipital lobe that controls sight is twenty percent bigger than ours and the temporal lobe for hearing is ten percent bigger. The pituitary gland is six times larger and somehow, blues can regrow teeth. Now for the good news, on the matrix kids, the frontal lobe is nearly nonexistent. Ours is fifty-percent larger. They are currently spying on four packs, studying behavior,” Bruce said and Conner’s hand shot up.

“No, Conner, they aren’t studying them on the ground, they are studying them via remote,” Bruce said, then sighed heavily. “They gave me their first estimates on numbers we have left with those from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America. If the wall isn’t up before next summer, we will have six to seven hundred million. By the time we get the wall up, there will be nearly a billion above the fence. They are ninety percent positive on those numbers. But it gets worse and the numbers rise.”

“Let’s go build the damn wall,” Willie gasped with wide eyes.

“We aren’t ready yet and won’t be until February at the earliest,” Bruce told them as he fidgeted with his notes.

“What, Bruce?” Mike asked.

“Now the really bad news,” Bruce sighed. “Blues’ pregnancy lasts between one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy days. Yeah, not even six months.” The shock was instant and everyone was speechless. “Oh, I wish I could say that was all,” Bruce said. “By the time the demon spawn is five months, it’s the size of a one-year-old and as you know, double the weight of a human one-year-old. It can walk and run, as we’ve all witnessed. By the time it is one, the demon spawn is the size of a five-year-old human. At the age of two, they are the size of a nine-year-old. Now the group has identified in the wild, only six blues that were born, and not turned as a child, that they think are three years of age, they are the size of a sixteen-year-old and are sexually mature.”

Jumping up, “That’s bullshit!” Conner informed everyone.

“Well, I didn’t get to vote, Conner,” Bruce said and saw the look of utter shock. “Yes, they can breed twice a year and at three are sexually active and can reproduce. Now, hunting them down over the globe seems like a really good fucking idea. Even with what we’ve killed here in the states, and not counting the other countries, we still haven’t broken even.”

“What the hell are we going to do?” Bill asked.

“Get ready for the fair, train the troops, prepare for a fall dance, train troops, make bullets, then kill the fuckers,” Bruce answered, and then looked at Marcus and Carroll. “I’m ordering Darrell and Eric to run Ft. Hood,” he told them, and that got their attention and many others.

“Why?” Marcus asked. “You said they were doing very well in Omega.”

“Oh, they are, but I need someone I trust explicitly over that fort. It will be training our fighters, and that’s where sedition will try to start. It can’t be one of my family or Mike’s. I know for a fact those two will do their best, but they may be a bit pissed,” Bruce replied.

“They’ll understand that, Bruce,” Carroll assured him. “They ain’t gonna like it, but they’ll do it an’ be proud of it.”

“Anything else?” Bruce asked, and no one offered anything. He turned to Angela and Stephanie, “I’ll see you this afternoon so you can tell me what to wear and where we will do the interview.”

When Ted and Carl followed Bruce out, Stephanie gave a chuckle and everyone turned to her in shock. “What?” Angela asked.

“Are you worried?” Stephanie asked.

Shaking her head, “No, but what did you find funny?” Angela asked.

“Bruce is only worried about one thing; did you catch it?” Stephanie asked and Angela shook her head. “Training the troops,” Stephanie answered.

“That is kind of important,” Willie informed her.

“Duh, dumbass,” Stephanie sang out and Willie jumped, never hearing that from Stephanie. “Bruce has only said the troops need training in one thing and one thing only, hand to hand. That’s the only part he’s worried about.”

Chapter Nine

Walking out the backdoor, Bruce looked up at the noon sun as he waited on Bonnie, Ted, and Carl to join him. It was Halloween, and the last day of the fair. It was a bigger success than even Bruce had thought it would be. Over two hundred thousand came through a day. Unfortunately, everyone couldn’t go when they wanted because there just wasn't room. Everyone received tickets with the day they could go and everyone got to go twice, but those with kids were allotted an extra half day.

That’s where they were heading, since the fair opened at 1300 and ran until midnight. He was at Omega’s booth to meet people but did take the little kids on rides. Then their older brothers and sisters showed up and would take them away. Yes, his family went every day because he, Angela, and Stephanie had to be there, just like everyone else in the command group. If anyone had a problem with that, as far as Bruce was concerned, they had better keep it to themselves.

He couldn’t help but grin at the ‘Day of Flowers’ he’d somehow started. On the twenty-fifth, guys just handed out flowers to girls.

“Bruce,” Bonnie said, coming out the backdoor and stopping beside him. “Don’t take the babies on the roller coaster again. I really thought your wives were going to beat you.”

“I only took them on the little one,” Bruce chuckled. “The guy running the one that does loops wouldn’t let me work on a way to tape them to the seats.”

Shaking her head, “I will take a bullet for you, but I’m not standing between you and your wives if they get pissed at you,” Bonnie warned him. “If they get that mad at you? Sorry, but you’ve earned the beating.”

Reaching over and patting Bonnie’s shoulder, “Smart girl,” he grinned then noticed her Halloween outfit.

The day they’d taken out the MRAP to let Louis drive, Bonnie had kept her word. When Bruce walked in the shop with the babies, there were three small helmets complete with straps and padding. Having trouble believing what he was seeing, Bruce picked one up studying it and wondered where in the hell Bonnie had found them. Going to put the helmet down, Bruce took a step back. Next to each helmet were small shin guards and elbow pads. Knowing damn well Bonnie didn’t find those, Bruce just turned around and asked. Bonnie had used his 3D printer and printed them for the babies, then glued on the padding and used rivets to attach the straps. For the life of him, Bruce couldn’t think of why babies who couldn’t even crawl yet would need shin guards and elbow pads. They still wore them, after Bonnie put them on, though Jessica wasn’t so sure about the helmet. The helmets fit snuggly and the babies couldn’t even wiggle out of them.

It was then that Bruce felt sorry for Bonnie’s first-born child when she had one. In his mind’s eye, Bruce could see Bonnie designing it a protective suit to wear its entire life.

After that, Bruce went to Jake because Bonnie was really good with computers. Hell, Bruce knew she’d saved his computer pads from certain death many times because it wouldn’t do what he’d wanted. Jake told him he knew Bonnie was good with computers. When they were putting the Cyber Ninjas together, they tried to recruit her. Jake didn’t, but one of the other ninjas tried. But Bonnie had turned them down and she’d said she was going to join Omega no matter how long it took and would work her ass off until she was accepted.

Because of Bonnie and Mike, there were now challenges the testers could give to those who’d barely missed the cut. Those who made the cut were first sent to the Praetorians before they could join a team, and Omega usually only pulled from the other teams.

Ted and Carl walked out and Bruce glanced back, “I worry about you two,” Bruce sighed. Both were wearing Gryffindor robes and Hogwarts school outfits.

“You talk to Buffy,” Carl snapped. “She said we had to wear one if she did.” All costumes were handmade and they had seen some really cool ones. Bruce liked that much better than going to a store and buying something cheaply made off a rack.

“You two are wearing costumes,” Ted teased.

“We look cool,” Bruce replied. He and Bonnie were wearing Vault Suits from the game Fallout. They even had the Pip-boy on their left arm. Bruce had one from long ago, but Bonnie went and printed her own. They both had drop holsters on their right thighs and Bonnie had gone and printed out wild-looking attachments. Ted and Carl had guns under their robes.

Groaning, “Why didn’t Buffy let us wear something like that?!” Ted cried out. “I could’ve made a cool DOOM costume or even Star Wars like Gene and Sandy. No, we have to dress up in this.”

“Sherry and Emily begged Buffy to go as Hermione,” Bruce reminded them. “Are we ready?”

“No!” Ted snapped, but pulled out his cellphone calling their rides. When the detail stopped, several of the other guards gave cat-call whistles at Ted and Carl and one shouted out to cast a spell for her.

When they were in, Bruce saw Louis behind the steering wheel and his right eye was still swollen, as was the entire right side of his face. Ted and Carl had come up with a plan to not let Louis drive Bruce. They would drive him until they went into the field, but Bruce had stopped that. Yesterday on the way to the fair, Louis had jerked the wheel too hard to avoid a squirrel darting across the road, throwing everyone around and almost going into the ditch before slamming on the brakes.

Even though Carl was sitting in the passenger seat, Bonnie had crawled between the seats to throw the shifter into Park. Then Bonnie’s fists started flying, punching Louis in the face. Bruce didn’t give a shit because they had the babies, and all three had started screaming when the vehicle jerked to the side hard.

The SUV was a Secret Service SUV. There were two bench seats facing each other in the back and it was really easy to move the babies about.

By the time Bruce and Ted got the babies quiet, Bruce looked up to see Carl had gotten out and was rounding the front of the SUV with bloodlust in his eyes. Now with her body pulled to the front, kneeling on the center console, Bonnie was still punching Louis in the face but had much better leverage, meaning much harder punches were landing. Louis was trying to fight back, but Bonnie’s right fist was like a jackhammer and Bonnie’s left was blocking anything that Louis tried to throw.

When Carl yanked the driver’s door open, Bruce jumped out the passenger side because he was certain from the look in Carl’s eyes, Louis wasn’t long for this world. Pushing Carl back, Bruce dragged Bonnie out as she grabbed Louis’s shirt with her left hand while her right never stopped. Since Bonnie had Louis, Bruce pulled both out and Bonnie rode Louis to the ground, driving her fist in his face. Bruce was certain Louis had been knocked unconscious by then.

Grabbing Bonnie by her shirt, Bruce yanked her off to separate the children. When Carl saw Bonnie come off, he went to dive on but Bruce stopped him. Finally calming Carl down, Bruce turned to see Louis staggering to his feet. “Do it again, I’ll let Bonnie push your face out your ass,” Bruce told Louis and told everyone to load back up.

Following the lead SUV, Louis pulled out onto the road as Bruce got comfortable. “Just because we don’t have the babies today, don’t act like an ass,” Bruce warned Louis.

“Oh, please do,” Carl snarled from the passenger seat.

“You ever make the babies cry again, I’m going on shit detail for removing your heart via your nasal passage,” Bonnie told him.

“I still owe you, Louis,” Ted sang out and Bruce turned to look at him. “I won’t break anything,” Ted, kind of promised.

“I told you, Louis. You are the only fucker who’s not allowed to leave Omega or Hope. I’ll find you,” Bruce said. Ted and Bonnie glanced over at Bruce. “He went whining to Mike, and Mike told Louis to man the fuck up or eat a bullet.” For the first time ever, Bruce had laid claim on someone against their will. “Mike’s advice for Louis was to learn to operate without his head up his ass.”

“Yes, sir,” Louis replied.

“Louis, you learn to operate like a person with more than one brain cell, I will let you transfer but until then, you’re my bitch,” Bruce told him bluntly.

“Yes, sir,” Louis answered.

Settling back in the seat since it was an hour’s drive, Bruce went over the security briefings in his mind. Despite all they were doing, Matt and Jake still did an excellent job gathering intel. The blues were wiping out gangs faster than Omega ever had. At one time they had discovered over a thousand, but it was down to around six hundred or so now. They still found some and the blues wiped out others. There were four gangs that bothered Bruce. Well, four that they knew of. Ohio, Michigan, Washington, and New York were the largest and all were confirmed gangs. Not stupid, Bruce knew there were others. America was big and now easy to hide in.

Nancy had wanted to change the reference ‘gang’ to ‘hostiles’. Bruce didn’t care what they called them, he knew if the blues didn’t kill them, he would lead a team to do it. There was some government in bunkers, but they were sealed tight and not interacting with anyone. Then there was Australia.

It was still blue free and the population had more than tripled with the outbreak. Only after a quarantine of two weeks would you be allowed to enter, but they weren’t allowing anyone in now. Not that there was anyone trying to get in any more. One thing Bruce did have Matt and Jake check were those who had arrived in Australia, and Bruce wasn’t surprised to see the ultra-wealthy were there first. He couldn’t find one member of European royalty that hadn’t made it to Australia. The US Navy that arrived was still there and helping to enforce the quarantine by patrolling the waters.

What tickled Bruce was that Australia watched the news broadcasts Hope put out. According to some poll Down Under, it was the highest rated show. The thing Bruce didn’t like was the reaction of those in government, prime minister, ministers, and those in parliament, toward Hope. That was one thing he couldn’t understand until Matt and Jake informed him no one in upper government serving now had even been born in Australia. There weren’t many of these immigrant commonwealth politicians who didn’t think Bruce was the antichrist. He was training everyone to fight, guns were everywhere, and he slaughtered infected and humans alike. The fact he’d killed the acting president, twice, hadn’t gone over well.

The average person in Australia loved him and those at Hope. Real Aussies were in love with Bruce and the clan. There was such turmoil among the populace about the commonwealth speaking out against Hope, a bill was introduced to jam the broadcast, which started riots. Australia had been hurt by the massive influx running from the plague, causing massive food and housing shortages. But like the good people the Aussies were, they took in the huge waves from the world, including the rich, which hurt more than anything. Just reading the limited reports, Bruce knew Australia had been hit by another virus and it wasn’t blues. The last he had been told, there were riots in all major cities but that was months ago. A law during the first year sped up the naturalization process and at the end of the first year, Aussies were outnumbered three to one at the polls. Now they had no voice in their own country and no chance to ever get one elected. Like had been done before by those in power, free shit was given away to buy votes. Immigrants who had been naturalized in the exodus had a five-year memorandum before they had to work, to adjust, the new politicians had said to the roaring crowds. So that left the actual population of Aussies little more than slaves because they had to work to support the massive influx, but the law guaranteed no natural-born Aussie would ever hold a high office. What had taken decades by the ruling class in other countries took less than six months in Australia, creating a dependent population that would keep those the rich chose in power.

He did feel bad for the Aussies but Bruce had enough shit here to keep track of.

As for the gangs here, they were a side note as far as Bruce was concerned for now. When he whittled the blues down some and got some breathing room, he would make time to check up on the Aussies because Bruce knew those at the top posed a risk to the clan.

After the huge run to Florida, they did have several communities join them who stayed where they were, including the group of pot-smoking hippies in the gulf. He hadn’t visited them but saw the tapes of the reporters who had gone. None were there against their will and everyone was really, really happy and very mellow. The only ones not stoned out of their gourd were the kids, the young kids.

Jake had dubbed the group the ‘Stoners’ and Bruce had to admit, it applied. They did work. How, with as stoned as they were? Bruce had no idea. The fact they were refining fuel, not something you wanted to do with an addled mind, was astonishing to Bruce. They were more than happy to live by the laws of the clan and the only time you got to see a Stoner mad was at the mention or sight of ‘blues’. The Stoners had fought gangs and wiped two out, so they were left alone. They may have stayed stoned, but they fought when needed.

The Stoners supplied oranges and seafood to the clan and of course, pot, but the clan didn’t take or need how much the Stoners wanted to send. Bruce had seen many marijuana plants in his life, but holy shit. What the Stoners grew would make any pothead drool. They had plants with buds measured in feet and leaves that were nearly crystalized. Like most drugs, Bruce couldn’t do pot either. It made him mean… very mean to anyone. It turned out, blues liked to eat the Stoners’ crops of happy weed. Holy shit did that piss the Stoners off, and that’s why Stoners hated blues. Blues would rip an entire plant from the ground after eating a bud. Unfortunately, happy weed affected blues like it affected Bruce, it made them much more aggressive.

There was another group in Georgia living on an island in the Savannah River that wanted to stay put but still joined the alliance. While the Stoners were in the thousands, this group was just over two hundred. As long as they lived by the laws, Bruce didn’t give a shit.

Looking up, he saw Louis turning down the road that led to the fair. It wasn’t long until he saw the flying airfield hovering over the fairgrounds. Glancing at his watch and knowing buses would be arriving soon, Bruce was about to tell Louis not to hit anyone and drive him to the Omega booth. But he didn’t have to.

Carl lifted a faux magic wand up and placed the tip against Louis’s temple. “Hit someone, or even just scare them, and I’ll shove this fucker through your skull,” Carl warned, and Bruce could see Louis break out in a sweat.

“First time I’ve ever heard of death by magic wand and it could really happen,” Bruce admitted.

With expert dexterity, Louis moved through the few people at the hundred-and-fifty-acre fairground with the security detail behind them. The Omega booth was ahead, as were two MRAPs, Bruce’s Super Stallion helicopter, and Prometheus on display. He saw Angela and Stephanie with two camera crews and laughed. “Oh, I think they look so cute,” Bruce sang out. Angela was dressed as Belle from the Beauty and the Beast, and Stephanie was dressed as Ariel from The Little Mermaid.

“Um, did Emily and Sherry pick out everyone’s costume?” Bonnie asked.

“Not mine,” Bruce grumbled and Bonnie left that the hell alone because Bruce usually did what the twins wanted. When Louis stopped, everyone got out and Carl told Louis to park right behind the booth. The fact Carl held his wand at the tip of Louis’s nose when he gave the instructions did tickle Bruce.

“Damn, you look cool,” Angela smiled at Bruce, then turned to see Bonnie. “You had to go like the boss, huh?” Angela chuckled.

Giving a small shrug, “I knew nobody would laugh if I came in this,” Bonnie admitted and Bruce looked at her hard.

“If I had known that, we would’ve dressed in grass skirts and coconut bras,” Bruce told her. “You don’t give a fuck what others think as long as you’re happy. Your family and team will always have your back and might laugh, but it will be with you and not at you.”

A shadow fell over them and Bruce looked up as the flying airfield settled over them. “Okay, I like having a portable shade with fans floating in the sky. Carrying helicopters? Minor bonus,” he told everyone and they laughed. With an expression that spoke of being pissed, he turned to Angela and Stephanie. “Did you run off and leave my babies?”

Stephanie let out a gasp and got ready to unload as Angela nodded. “Hell, yeah. I told Isaac and Joshua to hold Jessica’s hands and follow us but they wouldn’t, so we just left their asses,” Angela said with a straight face. Stephanie snapped her mouth closed and just let Angela handle it.

“Figures,” Bruce mumbled as Angela stepped closer. “So, are you two doing interviews all night and leaving me to deal with people alone?”

Straightening his collar, “You’re a big boy and we got you the best babysitters,” Angela told him.

Looking at them in the princess outfits and wiggling his eyebrows, “Since you’ve lost the littlest rug rats, are both of you wearing those dresses home?”

Shaking her head, “No, I’m leaving my dress here and walking home naked,” Angela responded.

“We pick up hitchhikers,” Bruce told her with a wink and turned to Stephanie. “So, you really lose your voice? Or just nothing to say?”

Furrowing her brow, “When did I lose my voice?” Stephanie asked and Angela snorted so she immediately started scouring her memory, realizing Bruce was picking since Angela was laughing. “Oh, yeah, I busted a cap in Ursula and got it back.”

Walking over, Bruce hugged both. “So, do I get to go home with famous people and get freaky?” he asked.

They both pushed him back. “Who the fuck are you going home with?” Stephanie asked.

“I’ll pick and stuff, but I’ll cut a bitch. You are bought and paid for,” Angela informed him.

“You two have signed like a hundred autographs. I just pose for pictures,” Bruce told them.

“Bruce, they have watched you fight. Not in a movie, in real life. You wade into battle like a mythical god and they’ve seen it,” Angela told him. “Babe, they are a bit intimidated by you. You do shit action heroes in movies do, but they know that’s fake. The shit you’ve done that they’ve seen, they know is the real deal. That’s the big difference.”

“So, the clan is scared of me?” Bruce asked.

Giving a long sigh, “I don’t know what got you in this mood, but get rid of it,” Stephanie told him. “No, babe. They love you, but are intimidated. They don’t think they could do what you do without fear, much less live through it. Everyone here has seen blues kill family and friends, you fucking fight them with a sword. Many have suffered under wicked people, and you break out a bag and get medieval after you kill the wicked people’s friends.”

Looking at both like they were full of shit, Bruce changed topics. “So, is Nancy happy with the shoe selection now? Boys are easy, we raid tux rental stores and we’re done. You know we have nearly a quarter of a million tuxedos?”

Leaning to Angela, “It’s the ‘asshole Bruce’ that Debbie warned us about,” Stephanie whispered.

“Yeah, ‘asshole Bruce’ who’s going to get his ass kicked,” Angela challenged. “To answer your questions, yes, Nancy is happy now, as we all are. Yes, we know how many tuxedos there are and the reason boys dress in tuxedos is- any attire choices more complicated and they would screw it up.”

Cracking a grin, “Oh, that was good,” Bruce told her, hearing buses. He looked up to see a line of buses pulling in. The doors opened and kids streamed out screaming like they were charging machine gun nests. “Where is the rest of my staff? I’m not manning the booth by myself.”

“We told them to go and ride some rides and enjoy the fair,” Stephanie said with a smile, then dropped the smile. “You ever try to tape our babies on a roller coaster again before they reach the safety height, I’ll bite your nipples off and sew them on your forehead.”

Wheeling around and locking Bonnie in his sights, “I didn’t say shit!” Bonnie informed him.

Before Bruce turned to them, Ted and Carl both had their hands raised, “We didn’t say shit, boss,” Carl assured him.

“No, Kerry, the man running the ride, told us when we got here,” Angela said. “He came to apologize but was just scared the babies might have gotten hurt no matter how certain you were they wouldn’t.”

Just to make sure the wives only unleashed on Bruce, “We did try to talk him out of it,” Bonnie told them.

“Fine,” Bruce moaned. He walked inside the booth and turned on the cotton candy machine. “You two don’t get any cotton candy.” Ignoring that, they both came over and kissed him, then each left with a camera crew following.

“Mr. Bruce!” a hundred kids screamed running full bore toward the booth. He smiled at the beaming faces and cute costumes.

“Did you come to see me or did you come for cotton candy?” Bruce asked, crossing his arms.

“Cotton candy!” they shouted.

Nodding as he laughed, “Good answer,” he told them and grabbed sticks to swirl in the cotton candy. As he started passing them out, Ted, Carl, and Bonnie came in to help. Nearly all the kids wanted a selfie picture with Bruce so they pushed him to the side and handed out the treats. Bruce could feel the excitement and just utter bliss emanating from those at the fair, and he needed to feel that from the clan as much as they needed to feel it themselves.

Two hours later and there was still a line, Bruce looked up to see Mike and Nancy coming with Cassandra holding Mike’s hand. Mike was the Scarecrow, Nancy was Dorothy complete with ruby slippers. The fact Mike wasn’t ravishing her on the spot made Bruce proud. Cassandra was dressed as Glenda the Good Witch of the North. Walking beside Nancy was Max. He had a ring of fur around his neck to be portrayed as the lion. Bruce busted out laughing when Tiger stuck his head out of the basket Nancy had hanging from her arm.

“Yeah, Emily and Sherry asked if Tiger could be Toto,” Bonnie told him as she handed out cotton candy.

When they came into the booth, Bruce hugged Nancy. “You mace his ass to keep his hands off?” Bruce asked as he let go.

“No,” Nancy chuckled and Bruce turned to see Mike looking exhausted. “I wore his ass out last night. I had to make sure I got it out of his system.”

“I want to ride the merry-go-round again,” Cassandra said as Ted handed her some cotton candy.

Giving a heavy sigh, “Cassandra, there are sixty-two horses on that merry-go-round and you’ve ridden every one of them, twice today. Can we go on another ride?” Mike begged.

“The log you ride that splashes in the water!” Cassandra cried out.

The look Nancy gave Mike should’ve unnerved him, but Mike didn’t even flinch. “At least I can sit,” Mike said, leading Cassandra out of the booth.

“Max, stay,” Nancy said and handed her basket to Bonnie. “Don’t think Tiger would like the log ride,” Nancy told her. “Cassandra has been begging for the last two days to ride bigger rides. I really think she did the merry-go-round to wear Mike down.”

“It worked,” Bruce said, leaning down and putting his face next to a kid as the kid took a selfie with Bruce.

Leaning close to Nancy, “Emily and Sherry wanted you to dress in this?” Bonnie asked.

Nodding, “Yes, they think Mike really likes the Wizard of Oz with the way he grins at the ruby slippers,” Nancy clarified.

“Um, what did they want Bruce to dress up as?” Bonnie whispered.

Rolling her eyes, “Vlad,” Nancy said and Bonnie knew who that was. The twins loved Hotel Transylvania. The movies or show, it didn’t matter. Everyone in the family could recite any one of them. As could anyone on the security detail or any teacher or kid in daycare and school. Vlad was Dracula’s dad and called Grandpa Drac and he looked ancient. “Well, it irritated Bruce but when Dani found out, she knew that hurt Bruce’s feelings and it pissed her off. Then Buffy found out and got mad at the twins also. In Emily and Sherry’s defense, Jake had already told them he would be Dracula for them. But for the last week, Emily and Sherry have been dishing out the hugs and kisses to everyone, trying to make amends.”

Leaning back, “Oh,” Bonnie mumbled. Buffy looked up to Dani, but Emily and Sherry looked up at Buffy like she was a living god.

When Nancy left, Bonnie saw other members of Omega arrive dressed in their battle gear to open up the MRAPs and Prometheus to give tours. It was an hour later when members of Omega came dressed in WIACS suits when the kids went absolutely crazy. Every day, six were there at the fair who had completed training to show the clan, in person, what Bruce had shown them in his interview. And since Omega was first to be assigned the suits, they were only supposed to be at this booth. But Bruce had told them the first day, two at Omega, two at Gamma, and two at Beta.

By the time the sun started to set, the line finally started to get shorter but never stopped. Ted couldn’t help but smile as Bruce leaned down to take another picture with the kids. Families were pulled over by kids and Bruce would pose with the family and kids for a picture. It did surprise Ted that Emily and Sherry didn’t dress up like Bruce in Omega gear. They copied him all the time and Buffy, their hero, was Omega. Then Bruce informed Ted, he’d told them to dress up in something else. When Ted had just looked at Bruce confused and thinking that was mean, Bruce had said, ‘In time, they will wear Omega for real. They need to experience and enjoy other things now’.

When Ted turned and saw Gene and Sandy, he busted out laughing. Gene was dressed in a very realistic Darth Vader costume and Sandy was dressed in white as Princess Leia, complete with hair bagels. “You do know Vader is a bad guy, right?” Ted asked as they stepped in the booth.

“Vader is a cool mofo,” Gene replied, taking off the helmet, and Ted saw Gene was soaked in sweat. The temperature was nice and the suit didn’t look that hot.

“You been running?” Ted asked.

Shaking his head, “Emily and Sherry have been yanking us to rides,” Gene panted. “I’m so sick of that roller coaster and ferris wheel I could blow them up.”

“You lose them?” Ted asked.

“No, they are with the other kids. Emily and Sherry said we had to come with them,” Gene explained. “We snuck away when they went to the one that shoots your ass in the air. Four times was enough for me.”

Ted looked back and saw the kids coming, “They tracked you down,” Ted laughed and Gene groaned. David and Mindy were dressed as Peter Pan and Wendy. David was carrying tiny Jessica, who was dressed as Tinkerbell. Matt and Dani were dressed as Mr. and Ms. Frankenstein or more correctly, Frank and Eunice, from Transylvania of course. Clearly excited, Cade and PJ were walking with them. Cade was dressed as Ash and PJ was dressed as Pikachu. Jake and Mary were dressed as Dracula and Captain Ericka. The fact Ted knew who Captain Ericka was and that was who Mary was dressed as, spoke of how many times he had seen the movies. Jake and Mary were pushing a stroller with Joshua and Isaac, who were dressed as Dalmatians.

“There’s my gang!” Bruce shouted, holding out his arms and walking around hugging the group.

Bringing up the rear was Buffy holding hands with the twins. Buffy was of course dressed as Hermione. Emily and Sherry were dressed identical as Mavis, complete with black hair. The twins had lighter blond hair than Buffy and Ted thought they looked a little creepy with black hair. Not to mention pale face, black lipstick, and eyeliner. Following along behind Buffy was Marty, also dressed in Hogwarts robes.

Shaking his head, “That boy has it bad,” Ted mumbled. At one time, he was worried about Marty hurting Buffy’s feelings but now, he kind of felt sorry for Marty. Ted didn’t know if it was love, but it damn sure was infatuation. If Buffy thought an astronaut was cool, Marty would start training. It was only after Marty joined Omega when Buffy even talked to him. Ted thought Buffy liked him, but wasn’t sure. He’d seen Buffy throw Marty down and put him in an arm bar more than once when he got them killed on Xbox. It was the fact Ted knew Marty was really trying to wrestle and Buffy still kicked his ass was what made Ted feel sorry for him. A year older than Buffy and bigger, Marty still couldn’t take her, no matter how hard he tried.

“Daddy!” Emily and Sherry cried out, letting Buffy’s hands go and running to Bruce. “Gene made funny noises on the roller coaster that goes upside down,” Emily informed Bruce as he picked them up with a soft grunt. Now eight, the twins were growing up fast and Bruce knew he wouldn’t be able to pick both up much longer.

“Thought I was going to puke my balls up,” Gene admitted.

“Luke or Han wouldn’t have punked out,” Carl told him.

“Then let their asses ride that damn thing six times in a row,” Gene challenged. “Sandy just left my ass, telling me she’s not in the mood to defy gravity.”

Jake came around inside the booth. “Guys, take care of the crowd,” Jake told everyone as he grabbed Bruce and pulled him away. Reaching in his back pocket, Jake held out a slip of folded paper. Glancing around to make sure none were close. “Sign this,” Jake told him in a low voice.

“You get a bad grade in school? That’s what it was the last time and a C isn’t a bad grade,” Bruce chuckled as he unfolded the paper. Squinting his eyes trying to read the typed print, “Fuck,” Bruce snapped and patted his chest then his thigh until he felt his reading glasses. “Getting old sucks ass,” he spat out. Jake didn’t respond as Bruce put on his glasses and read the page.

When he was done, Bruce looked up. “Are you certain?” Bruce asked.

“Yes,” Jake nodded. “Positive. Otherwise, I wouldn’t ask. You said I had to have approval from three command members. Since I’m only an advisor like the others, I’m getting members to sign. I figured you wanted to sign the first warrant.”

“First?” Bruce asked, arching an eyebrow.

Tilting his head toward the paper, “We’ll know after you sign,” Jake told him.

Pulling out an ink pen, Bruce saw Mike’s and Marcus’s signatures already at the bottom of the page. As he was signing it, Jake pulled out his phone and tapped the screen. “Do it,” Jake spoke into the phone as Bruce handed the page back.

“You come now for something like this?” Bruce asked.

Shrugging, “The target’s here,” Jake scoffed. “I have a team of Cyber Ninjas doing the mission. I’ll catch you up when we aren’t so public.”

Putting his glasses away, “Will you take over the booth?” Bruce asked.

Pushing his cape back so he could fold his arms over his chest, “Are you going to take the babies on the wild roller coaster?” Jake asked.

Scoffing, “No,” Bruce responded. “Doesn’t matter if I’m in charge, they won’t let me tape them in the seats.”

“You know Angela and Stephanie grounded you, right?” Jake informed him. “And I have to say, I agreed with them.”

“The Three Musketeers would’ve loved it,” Bruce predicted. “But they can’t ride it because they won’t let me tape them in the seats.”

“That includes the rocket lift, slingshot, tilt-a-whirl, blast off-,” Jake stopped when Bruce held up his hand.

“I get the point,” Bruce said.

“Dad, you held down my wife while her father put the bungee harness on her legs and taped it down. Mary was begging y’all to stop,” Jake reminded him.

“She wasn’t your wife then,” Bruce pointed out. “Besides, Mary went two more times by herself after that.”

Giving a long sigh, Jake nodded his head and Bruce took off. He grabbed Jessica from David and snatched the stroller with the boys from Mary and left in a sprint. “Emily, Sherry, come on!” Bruce shouted over his shoulder.

“What the hell did you do?!” Bonnie cried out, breaking into a sprint and following Emily and Sherry as they chased Bruce. Ted and Carl took off after them as everyone turned to Jake.

“Dad’s been punished enough and learned his lesson,” Jake told them.

“PJ, Cade, let’s go!” Buffy cried out holding out her hands and led the boys in a run as fast as their little legs could go.

Mary, Dani, Matt, David, and Mindy were just looking at Jake in shock. “Dad never hurt us permanently,” Jake reminded them. “Besides, those kids need to get tougher to live in this family.”

***

The next morning, the sun wasn’t even up and Bruce was sitting at the command bunker with the other command members waiting on Jake and Matt. The boys walked in with laptop bags and looked around. “We aren’t late, I said 0500,” Jake told everyone.

“We know, son,” Bruce grinned. “So, how did you uncover a spy?”

“He’s a stupid fuck,” Matt replied pulling out a laptop.

Waiting for more, nobody said anything as the boys set up their computers. “So he just came and told you he was a spy?” Bruce offered.

Shrugging, “Basically,” Jake nodded, sitting down and tapping his keyboard. “Four days ago, a radio broadcast went out of the City of Hope on a frequency we don’t use. It was isolated and we found it was encrypted. We triangulated it and sent a roving drone to find the source and who they were talking to and where. El Dorado, Arkansas.”

The screens blinked and everyone knew they were looking at an image from one of the small drones that flew around inside the base and city looking for blues or gangs trying to infiltrate, but mostly for blues. The camera was in thermal mode and they soon saw a heat signature and the camera zoomed in. It showed a person tucking something in a bag, then the screen changed to regular view but it was night so they couldn’t really see much. Undoubtedly, neither could the drone operator and the view went back to thermal.

It showed the figure shoving the bag under a log then moving away. From the compass on the image, the man was heading south. “He used it two miles from the north wall,” Matt told everyone. “Since it was just laying out there, we sent a Cyber Ninja to take a peek.”

“Who is it?” Bruce asked.

“Dietrich Palmer,” Jake answered. “The drone followed him back. He’s actually assigned to base section four, complex six, floor seven, room twenty. If you have looked on the north wall lately he broadcast just two miles from the work crews, but with the fair and the guards nearby, I think he was trying to mask the signal.”

“Could he have radioed out before?” Mike asked.

“Not here,” Matt scoffed. “Any radio that transmits that isn’t on our frequencies within a hundred miles, we get alarms.”

Tapping on his own computer to bring up the man’s file, “Four days and you just tell us?” Bruce asked.

“Well, yeah, we wanted to make sure,” Jake answered. “He could’ve been talking to a girlfriend. We have lots of that but it’s not encrypted and when we hear that, we just leave it. Dietrich was raising flags, but not enough to violate clan law as of yet. So, we started digging.”

“He came here in June and has been through basic and the first four-week combat course and is working in the sawmill,” Bruce read out.

“No, Dad. We dug,” Jake corrected. “All drone and camera footage is held for thirty days. It’s taken in public, so we ran facial recognition. We found four others that Dietrich talks to who raise flags. Now he could’ve met them around the base, forts, or city, but it’s highly unlikely.”

“Forts?” Ted asked.

Nodding, “Yeah, he’s been to Fort Hood twice. But we sent him to Missouri for special transport. He works in the sawmill and they deliver lumber. Normally, we send it by rail, but Fort Missouri needed it then for some concrete project,” Jake told them.

“The spillway they are putting in on the lake they are building,” Paul answered. “I authorized the shipments.”

“Yeah, but Dietrich begged to go each time,” Jake said, tapping the keyboard. “In Missouri, the rest of the crew that came with him went to center number two to eat. In case you didn’t know, their center two is like Base Hope’s center five. That’s where we send extra mouths to feed because they make more for that reason. Now, this is the first time Dietrich has ever been in Fort Missouri, but he heads right for center eleven,” Jake said as they watched Dietrich head inside the center.

“Now he searches the room and spots her. Gladys Benson,” Jake said, and Dietrich walks over and they see Gladys give a startle but gets up and hugs Dietrich. “He’s never been there, so how in the flying sack of monkey shit did he know she was there?” Jake asked. “Now, we are really suspicious but hey, they could’ve been lovers in a past life and found each other again,” he offered and many turned to him. “I don’t like looking into people’s private shit any more than my dad but when you violate trust, you throw everything away.”

“I was willing to go with ‘they connected with a Ouija board’,” Matt admitted.

“So, he’s never been there and the entire time Dietrich has been here, Gladys has never left there. So how in the fuck did he know what center she was assigned to? Even then, we were giving him the benefit of the doubt,” Jake told everyone.

“Better man than me,” Mike scoffed. “That alone is worth looking into. I know that girl. I mean, I’ve seen her around here.”

“Yes, Gladys has been with us a year and nine months. Here at Hope, she worked in the warehouse then went through the second four-week training and asked to be assigned to scavengers. She volunteered to go to Missouri,” Matt said.

“That’s where I’ve seen her. She drives a forklift to load the trucks,” Mike nodded.

Matt and Jake both looked at Mike. “That’s awesome,” Jake admitted.

“Dad can remember a face,” Matt said.

Clearing her throat, “Yeah, especially a twenty-nine-year-old brunette’s face,” Nancy said.

Letting out a long groan, Mike turned to Bruce. “I’m beating my wife today, just warning you,” Mike told him.

“Shit,” Bruce scoffed. “For that, I’d punch her in the nose.”

“Jesus!” Nancy cried out. “I was picking!”

Bruce winked at her, “So were we,” he smiled.

When everyone turned back to the screens, “Well, next we have Dietrich meeting Gladys here at the fair,” Matt said as video played. “Now that we have the authority, we went through phone, email, and text. Neither has ever talked to one another, but they are certainly friendly.”

“You have a slip of paper for her?” Bruce asked.

“You signed it, Dad,” Jake answered.

Opening the padfolio that held a copy, “You signed it, Bruce,” Bill confirmed. “It was for surveillance, invasion of privacy, and monitoring for Dietrich Palmer, Gladys Benson, Lionel Austin, Sammy Ingram, and Valarie Ulster,” Bill read off the date and clan ID numbers.

“Oh, I like that. I only had to sign once,” Bruce grinned. “Now what made you wait so long? With just what you’ve given me, with him using a radio, I would’ve gotten the signatures.”

“Well, the Ninja I sent to look at the radio, I got him to put a listening device there. It’s a clan spot and it’s not invasive. I just wanted to make sure,” Jake told him.

“What did you hear?” Bruce asked.

“He was making contact with those inside and would set up a drop point after he got everything, but there has been too much going on to move around. He scheduled next contact in fifteen days,” Jake said.

Grinning, “He’s a handler,” Bruce said. “Paul, make up something and have some lumber sent to Alabama. Let’s see if Dietrich has friends there.”

“Can do,” Paul nodded, “handler?”

“That’s the one who runs spies,” Bruce answered. “Jake, Matt, who the fuck did he radio?”

“House south of El Dorado,” Matt answered. “We got a drone up there while they were talking. After they were done, four left the house. We followed them a hundred and seven miles. They got in a plane and headed north.”

Slapping the table, “No way! We own the air and have radar out to three hundred miles and it links with the other forts expanding our coverage!” Steve shouted.

“Dude,” Jake said, holding a hand to Steve for voice control. “Steve, they never flew more than a hundred feet off the ground,” Jake told him and tapped his keyboard. A view from a predator came on and below was a twin engine plane.

“Okay, I’m impressed,” Steve acknowledged. “Flying that low, yeah, they could avoid radar.”

“Flying that low, a traffic camera could take a picture of them and send them a ticket,” Mike scoffed.

“Jake, you are to assign a whole team to monitor this group and who they talk to. They have information about flight control,” Bruce said.

“Yeah, Dad. That’s where Valarie Ulster works and has for the last six months. She’s been with us for a year and when she got off probation, that’s where she wanted to work,” Jake told him.

“You know this Valarie?” Carl asked.

Shaking his head, “No, and Melanie has never mentioned a Valarie,” Ted answered.

“You ask Melanie about her, I’ll cut your dick off,” Bruce threatened. “Someone here has dropped, sent, drew pictures, but got information to them. Otherwise, they wouldn’t know how to avoid air.”

“Like I would ask Melanie,” Ted huffed. Like Bruce, he knew Melanie might act differently if she knew the girl. “You don’t seem that upset.”

Shrugging, “I’m not really,” Bruce admitted. “Bound to happen sooner or later and unless you reign with an iron fist and give no freedom, it’s going to happen.”

Understanding completely but not having a solution, “So, what are we going to do?” Ted asked.

“See what they are after and how many there are. If this guy is the handler, why did he get here so late? This team has been operating for over a year, yet he showed up here four months ago? Son, where does the plane go?” Bruce asked. Reading Dietrich’s bio and history Bruce could see why he was taken off probation status after two months.

“Ohio,” Jake answered and everyone groaned. “Hey, it’s better than Michigan. Those fuckers are beyond animals.” Nobody could argue that because the group on the Upper Peninsula were animals. It wasn’t one gang but many.

“Nancy,” Bruce called out, startling her. “How are your scavenger teams assigned to rescue doing?”

Not even surprised Bruce knew, “Last week they brought in just over nine thousand and if we can keep them supplied, they will be able to keep that up for over a year if the people can hold out till we get them,” Nancy reported. “I’ve started setting up more groups whose only mission is rescue. By December, Angela and Stephanie agree with me, we can double that number, possibly triple it, and still keep going for over a year.”

With his back to the table and his chair spun around, Bruce stared at the screen of the paused image of Dietrich talking to Gladys. “Assigning those new teams going to put us short anywhere?” Bruce asked.

“No,” Nancy answered firmly. “We are still using the screening process, just skipping the first phase of contact.”

“Paul,” Bruce called over his shoulder. “Can we handle those numbers without forcing people into tents?”

“As long as Nancy doesn’t bring in more than twenty thousand a week, we can handle those numbers,” Paul answered. “But we won’t be able to keep them in the forts for the six-month probation unless you let me start on the other forts, like the ones in Georgia and Florida.”

“No, you worry about the ones I gave you. When you are satisfied with your design, I want your crews to be able to build them in their sleep.”

“Already started,” Paul assured him.

“Jake, Matt, I want you to assign a team of Cyber Ninjas that you trust to keep their mouths shut to track this group. When one of this group takes a shit, I want to know color, consistency, odor, and how much tissue they used to wipe their asses,” Bruce ordered. Jake and Matt nodded with grins. “Carroll, Marcus, Bill, this team will report to you every day, and I want them to have your numbers so if others are found, you can sign the order to put them under surveillance.”

“What if they try to leave?” Marcus asked.

“Detain them if you can or kill them,” Bruce replied then spun around. “I want an honest answer from everyone at this table. How many of you think there are other gangs with spies here?”

Everyone raised their hand and Bruce flopped back in his chair, “Yeah, I know there are more here, too,” he told them. “Jake, Matt, no bullshit, you are certain no one can radio out without you knowing?”

“Yes, like Dietrich, we knew he radioed out but we couldn’t listen in,” Matt answered. “That goes for all the forts, the base and the city.”

“I want a program running that IDs threats from all cameras at sensitive areas. Areas like the munition storage bunkers, ammo plant, power stations, gates, aircraft hangars, Omega, Gamma, Beta motor pools, Scavenger or Praetorian motor pools, and guard stations. If a person is moving from one to another, that is reason for suspicion,” Bruce told them.

“Dad, sooner or later everyone goes to all of those areas, if for nothing else than to look,” Jake told him.

“Maybe, but we can do a background check and rule them out,” Bruce said. “Areas like that could hurt us and are public, we will use them like honey to trap the flies.”

Giving a long sigh, “How long do we hold images of those areas?” Jake asked.

“A year,” Bruce answered and Jake bit his tongue to keep from popping off. “I know, son. I don’t like it either, but this isn’t spying and everyone still has their rights. We just don’t have time to deal with this right now and the next few months don’t look promising. When we deal with this, there won’t ever be another spy in Hope, ever. When I’m done, no group will have the balls to send spies here again.”

Carroll turned to Matt and Jake. “How certain can ya be of your Ninjas?” she asked.

“They all sign a waiver when they become Cyber Ninjas. At any time we can look into their private life, and they know it,” Jake told her. “The watchers, those who watch the masses for security, give that up to keep the masses safe. Yes, Matt and I signed it as well, nobody is above anyone.”

Liking that, “We need ta’ set up a place to meet them Cyber Ninjas,” Carroll told him. “Them comin’ here every day be raisin’ questions.”

“Damn,” Bruce chuckled. “You've been holding out on us, girlfriend. You know this spy business.”

“She’s seen every movie and show about spies they've ever made, and read most books,” Marcus told him.

“Then we really need to do it via video,” Matt said. “Nobody but Cyber Ninjas can get on our server and we know who is on it at all times.”

Getting to his feet, “Set it up,” Bruce smiled. “I’m ready to get scanned.”

“And they will be ready to scan you,” Jake laughed.

Gathering her stuff up, “You really need to turn some heat on in that room,” Angela said. “Standing naked in a room that’s freezing sucks ass.”

“It’s sixty-four degrees,” Jake chuckled. “Sorry, but the scanner can’t get hot. There isn’t any A/C in that room, the cooling system for the scanner and computer keeps the room that cold.”

With her arms full, “Then when my suit is printed, there will be two hard nipples on the chest plate,” Angela said with a straight face, and Bruce busted out laughing as the others chuckled.

“That shit hurts,” Stephanie moaned.

“Opposite effect here,” Carl admitted getting up. “I had to wait two hours for my balls to drop back out of my body.”

Chapter Ten

Waking up, Bruce moved at hyper speed. He worked out, showered, got the kids to the center for breakfast and off to the school in record time. Feeling the excitement radiating from Bruce, Angela and Stephanie kept telling him they would do it, but Bruce knew it was getting close to the time for war and wanted to spend as much time as he could with the kids.

He didn’t even head around the house to have the security detail drive him, Bruce jumped on a four-wheeler. The security detail had to take the road and it was longer. Bruce just shot out the west gate and punched the throttle. Jumping the creek, Bruce sped through trees and fields heading north in a straight line until he reached the Land of Oz.

The buildings were spread over forty acres with more being built and there wasn’t a fence, but there were cameras. Now, a fence was going up because on the east side was a twenty-acre field and those just getting suits were in it learning them, then would move to other areas to learn their suits. After Bruce’s broadcast and the fair, when people had time off they liked to come and watch the super suits. It was mainly kids, but until the operator learned just how powerful the suit was and how to operate it safely, they were dangerous to be around. That’s why a chain-link fence was going up to keep people from getting to close.

Driving around the buildings to the front, Bruce parked his four-wheeler in the parking area. There were cars and trucks there but it mainly held golf carts or electric buggies. Hearing the low sound of suit motors, “Hey, Daddy,” he heard Dani call out and turned.

Seeing Dani in her suit, Bruce’s world crashed around him. “How could you?!” he cried out. “You’re my pumpkin, how could you do that?! Do you hate your daddy?!”

“Dad, it looks cool,” Dani told him, not even looking down at her suit. It had taken her some time, but Dani had painted her suit to look like Iron Man. “Batman doesn’t even wear robotic suits,” she told him.

“Batman designed and built several. He’s worn them fighting Superman and Bane, so don’t try that,” Bruce snapped, still looking her up and down like he wanted to cry. “Iron Man?!”

Stomping her feet, “Daaaadddddyyyy,” Dani whined out which the onlookers thought looked funny, seeing Iron Man whining and stomping feet, but wisely didn’t laugh.

Turning away with a huff, “Fine,” Bruce groaned. “I forgive you.” Bruce went to hug her, but Dani took a step back.

“I haven’t been cleared to touch people yet,” she told him. The fact Dani’s voice sounded the same and not like it was coming from a speaker blew Bruce away. “Jake and Matt are inside waiting for you. I have to get back to training.” Giving Bruce a wave, Dani spun and sprang in the air jumping sixty feet, then did it again to go over the ten-foot-tall chain-link fence that was being put in.

“Iron Man,” Bruce moaned. “She could’ve picked Halo, Aliens, Borderlands… hell, anything else but no, she chooses Iron Man.” Shaking his head and heading for the door, “Well, I still love her, but I need some time to come to terms with this,” he told himself.

Before he reached the double doors, they opened and he saw Jake standing there. “I told her anything besides Iron Man, but you see how that went,” Jake informed him.

“Let me guess, yours is painted like Superman,” Bruce huffed.

Shaking his head, “Um, no. I painted mine Multicam like most everyone does. Everyone except your daughter,” Jake told him.

Walking inside, Bruce waited until Jake took the lead. He had been there before and was even there yesterday, but Jake seemed to get weird if Bruce wandered around the Land of Oz. The main building they were in was massive, like a super Walmart covering ten acres, but was subdivided into sections. Yesterday, the scanning was a bit more involved than Bruce had expected.

In a room with a really cool-looking machine and butt naked, Bruce had stood on a platform. There was a monitor on the wall that had a digital display mannequin. The mannequin would do a pose and a computer told you to copy the pose. When the operator in another room saw you hold the pose, a wide band of laser light shot out and circled you. It wasn’t slow but it damn sure wasn’t fast either at thirty seconds, and you had to stand perfectly still. If you moved the scan had to be repeated and the girls were right about one thing, the room was fucking cold as a motherfucker.

The hardest poses were those kneeling and squatting with legs in different positions and angles. Thankfully, a glass rod came out of the machine to help you stay still but an hour and fifty minutes later, Bruce was fighting to keep his teeth from chattering. He had to do several poses over and the operator kept reassuring him it was normal. More than once, Bruce nearly yelled at the operator to shut up and just hit the button to scan him so he could get warm.

When Bruce left the room he’d found Jake waiting, holding a blanket. When Bruce wrapped it around himself, he felt the blanket had been warmed first. At that moment, Jake was his favorite child. Next, Jake had led him to another room. This room scanned hands, feet, and head. Bruce didn’t give a shit because he got to keep the blanket. The feet were done in two passes, but it took half an hour on the hands and fifteen minutes on the head. The part Bruce hadn’t liked was he had to wear contacts for the head scan. He found it hard as hell to keep your eyes open when a laser scans you, no matter how cool the contacts are.

After he was finished getting scanned, Bruce had gotten dressed but kept the blanket wrapped around him. Jake took him to the assembly area. It could be seen through a wall of thick Plexiglas. Snuggled into his blanket, Bruce stood at the window as workers wearing cleanroom suits inside the production room pulled completed suits from a thick gel. Looking at it, Bruce thought it looked like something had just given birth to the suit then realized it had.

Moving over to watch as a new suit was started, the printing head was huge with over thirty tubes feeding in the material needed to print. The head hovered over a vat of gel then went to work. Moving at blinding speed, it built the base suit one thousandth of an inch at a time. As the suit printed, what had already been printed sunk in the gel. Oh, Bruce had wanted to go in that room and get a better look, but the doors were sealed and you had to gown-up first. Also, Bruce knew he would’ve had to listen to Jake whine because Bruce might touch something he shouldn’t and figured it wasn’t worth it.

Small stations made gloves and helmets and Bruce was shocked it took just as long to print the gloves and helmet as it did to print an entire suit. When the base suit was done, it was removed from the clear afterbirth gel and then the outer skeleton suit was printed. The boots were made last by the same station that had printed the helmets and the boots were done in no time at all compared to the gloves and helmet. The gloves were printed on separate machines and only gloves were made on them.

“Are you excited?” Jake asked, leading his dad down the halls.

“Hell, yeah,” Bruce laughed. “I’ve read about super suits my entire life in comic books and Sci-Fi books, but never thought I would actually get to wear one.”

Jake stopped and turned to Bruce with a serious face. “Dad, please follow the directions. We haven’t had anyone wearing a suit get hurt and you’re not allowed around anyone not in a suit until you’re cleared. We had an accident in the beginning, but her arm is healing fine. Larry tripped getting up and grabbed her arm, it was an accident. But only let those wearing the suits help you, I don’t want you going through a wall if you’re unsteady. We have shit in here we don’t want broken.”

“Son,” Bruce sighed, “I may act insane but it’s an act, as you know.”

Scoffing, “Yeah,” Jake said, spinning on his heel and continuing down the hall. Leading Bruce into a room, “Put your clothes in the box, it will be taken from here to where you’ll get dressed,” Jake told him, walking over to a table and pointing at a cardboard box. Picking up a tube of paste, “Put this on your ass, and I mean coat your ass good before you put on the diaper,” Jake told him and saw Bruce just give him a blank stare. “Dad, you’re going to be in this suit for eight hours unless there’s an emergency. It takes up to twenty minutes to get you out the first few times. You will wear the diaper or we stop now,” Jake threatened.

“Fine,” Bruce sighed, taking his shirt off.

Holding up the clear ridged phallus, “Dad, just like the videos you watched yesterday, you put Mr. Thirsty on first before the diaper and definitely before the base suit,” Jake told him, then pointed to the tip of the flexible tubing. “You will see where this plugs in the left leg area. Just put the tube there, the suit does the rest when it powers up. I’m not helping you and just be glad you’re not female. Ms. Thirsty has to be held in place as you zip up the base suit and you have to put paste on the front and back.”

When Bruce pulled off his boots, Jake put the base suit on the table. “I’ll be back in five minutes,” Jake told him heading for the door. Now naked, Bruce grabbed the paste and squirted some in his hand. He was a nurse and a new daddy again. He knew what this was, skin protectant like babies used and that he’d put on Joshua just this morning. Smearing it on, Bruce was happy to see a towel and wiped his hand off before putting on the diaper.

Grabbing Mr. Thirsty, Bruce curled his lip and gave a jump. “Shit, that’s cold,” he barked. When he was done, he grabbed the base suit. It resembled a scuba wetsuit that zipped up from the back complete with footies. Shoving his feet in, he saw where Mr. Thirsty went and put it there. Getting his arms in, Bruce felt the base layer was a little tight. “Spandex doesn’t have shit on this,” he grunted.

When it was on, Bruce reached back grabbing a tassel attached to the zipper and pulled it to zip the base suit up. The base suit stopped at the base of his skull, enclosing his entire neck. Looking down at the gray raised rings that ran up the suit every quarter of an inch, “I look and feel like a ribbed condom,” Bruce stated. All that was exposed were his hands and head.

“Good,” Jake said, coming in and saw his dad’s boots on the floor. Grabbing them and putting them in the box. “Follow me,” Jake said, leading Bruce out of the room.

“I am so working on another diaper,” Bruce stated, trying to adjust the suit with tugs but it didn’t move. It was snug but he could move and it wasn’t constricting his breathing, but just felt strange.

“You can’t adjust it, so stop pulling,” Jake told him. Glancing down at his chest, Bruce saw the suit was curved over his chest and not pulled taut to cover his chest. Leading Bruce into another room, Jake sat him at a terminal. “Fill in the blanks. This is the display input, what others will see when they look at you in their suit,” Jake told him. “I will double check it but Dad, if you mess up, we will have to redo the suit because this can’t be reprogrammed and that will throw the timeline off.”

“Okay,” Bruce nodded as Jake plugged a box up to the computer and Bruce knew it was his measurement recordings. Looking at the screen, Bruce saw- Rank above the field for his name with a tab and general (four stars) was already checked. Using a mouse, he clicked it open even though Jake said ‘Fill in blanks’ and never said ‘Check the drop boxes’. In a drop-down file beside rank he saw all the other ranks of the US Army. “There hasn’t been a five-star general in, like, forever,” Bruce scoffed and almost checked it instead because he was the one in charge, but noticed the (General of the Army) rank was red. One thing Bruce did know, if a computer showed something in red, it didn’t like it. So he closed the box and spotted another tab above the military ranks. He clicked it and a drop file came up and he smiled seeing the chain of succession. At the top was- Commander in Chief, POTUS, and it wasn’t red.

“Yeah, that’s who I am, the motherfucker in charge at the top of the totem pole,” Bruce smirked, unclicking the ‘general’ and clicking the box next to ‘POTUS’ then closed the tabs. Display Handle- came up with a blank field. “I don’t need no handle. I’m Bruce, motherfucker,” Bruce chuckled typing in, BRUCE, in all caps and hit enter. Display Rank- with an empty field came up and Bruce chuckled typing, BOSS-1. When the next box came up Blood Type, Bruce saw his O pos, already in the space. “Okay, Hal, don’t fuck with me,” Bruce warned the computer.

Walking in the door, Jake came over glancing at the screen, “You put that in yesterday before you were scanned. That’s just to make sure you got it right,” Jake told him, glancing at the screen and seeing his dad’s name in all caps to be displayed just like his rank, BOSS-1. “Well, I know where I got my ego from,” Jake mumbled.

Hitting enter, Bruce saw he was done and stood up, following Jake out of the room into a room with a really large table that was nearly vertical. “The first time is the hardest and longest, you don’t do anything until I tell you,” Jake warned him. “We aren’t in suits and want out of here before yours turns on and powers up.”

“I won’t do shit,” Bruce promised as Jake put the gloves on him and Bruce couldn’t bend his fingers or wrists, but the gloves were so snug they didn’t slide off when Jake let go.

Taking a breath, “Hold up your arms,” Jake told him as two came over carrying the upper skeleton. When they put it on and let go, Bruce stumbled as the weight hit his legs. “We’ll help you,” Jake said, moving over and helping Bruce lean back against the table as the two came over carrying the lower skeleton. “This is the fun part, you have to do both legs at the same time,” Jake told him. “Don’t worry. After this, the suit will help you,” Jake assured him.

Using the table, Bruce grunted trying to hold his body from sliding down but couldn’t bend anything. With only Jake keeping him from sliding, the two pushed the skeleton pants on. Not able to move his arms or legs, Bruce was frozen like a statue and really didn’t like this. Jake and the other two pushed Bruce until he was leaning back on the table, then the table tilted back until Bruce was almost lying down. Feeling his feet get moved, he lifted his head as much as he could to look down as the heavy black boots were put on. “Oh, this better work,” Bruce warned everyone as Jake plugged a thick cord into the back of the suit and then left.

Holding the helmet, Jake came over standing at the head of the table beside Bruce. The back of the helmet opened out like a flap but not very far and had an inner membrane from the flap to the helmet. “Dad, when I put this on, I’m turning the suit on and getting out. You don’t move as the suit boots up the first time, and it takes a few minutes so don’t worry. I’ll be able to talk to you,” Jake told him. Not about to admit he was a bit scared; Bruce gave a nod and Jake slid the helmet over his head and just like the suit, the helmet wasn’t tight but heavy.

On Bruce’s forearm Jake pressed a button and then reached up on the helmet pushing another, then took off running out of the room.

In front of his eyes on the screen, Bruce saw it flicker and realized the screen was all he could see. He could cut his eyes any which way and not see the helmet, only the screen. The screen came on bright and Bruce squinted his eyes until the screen dimmed. “Dad,” he heard Jake, and Bruce almost turned his head because it damn sure didn’t sound like Jake was on a radio. It sounded like he was in the helmet with Bruce.

Giving it a shot, “Yes, son,” he said.

“Just checking on you,” Jake told him. “The suit is booting up.”

“H-,” Bruce was about to ask ‘How long’ but felt the suit move and it fucking freaked him out.

“Don’t move, Dad,” Jake told him.

Inside, Bruce could hear the suit powering up and he gave a startled cry as the outer shell started to conform to his body. The base suit felt like it was expanding and the outer hard skeleton suit was contracting. The first thing he felt were the boots closing and conforming to his feet. Then the helmet shut and Bruce almost told Jake to forget it and get him the fuck out of this thing.

Before he could, the suit gave a shudder and now Bruce could feel and hear the armor sections over the outer suit opening up and covering every square inch of his body as the suit continued to conform. “Okay, that feels fucking weird,” Bruce informed everyone listening.

“Yeah, I know,” Jake chuckled in his helmet. The screen was on, but he couldn’t see out yet as lines of code ran up the screen and a display came up on the right of a suit projected on the screen and parts would highlight then move to another and highlight. “The suit is setting up its operating parameters. You’ll only have to do this if you outgrow your parameters and get a new suit made.”

“So if I get fat, I have to do this shit again?” Bruce asked.

“Yes, but if you put on too much muscle or lose too much weight as well. We’re just starting the test to see how much one has to change, like females being pregnant. What we do know is you can gain more weight than you can lose before the suit won’t fit,” Jake said and Bruce felt the gloves tighten up and he fought not to move. Well, he fought not to take off running because this was the weirdest shit he had ever been through. Never in his life had Bruce been claustrophobic, but he sure felt that way now.

Jake glanced over and saw the status bar still running. Letting go of the button on the microphone he was using to talk to his dad, “What’s taking so long?” he asked the Ninja at the monitor.

Having never taken her eyes from the screen, “Nothing, it’s loading the operating system,” she told him.

“It’s only at fifty percent, it doesn’t take that long to boot up a command suit,” Jake mumbled. “Has he done anything?”

Shaking her head, “No, he’s holding still, but his heart rate is elevated,” she answered.

“I shit my diaper the first time,” Jake scoffed, grabbing the microphone and pressing the button. “You okay, Dad?”

“Son, you swore yesterday you could get me out of this suit and you better not have been shitting me,” Bruce told him. Another door opened in the room with Bruce and two wearing suits came in and one looked like Iron Man.

“Dad, I swear we can get you out, you’re still booting up,” Jake said as the figure wearing the Multicam painted suit turned to the control room and tapped his helmet.

“Dude, it doesn’t take that long for a command suit to boot up,” Matt said.

Glancing over at the screen, “It’s only at seventy percent, moving just as fast as always, but the program’s loading with no trouble,” Jake told Matt. Bruce’s screen blinked and he could see the room and he cried out. “What, Dad?” Jake asked with a worried hint.

“I can see the room but there are still lines of code and a diagram of a suit on the screen with different sections still blinking,” Bruce answered, then realized just how much more expanded his field of vision was.

“The suit is still booting, so you’re good,” Jake said as Dani tapped her helmet and leaned over Bruce’s face.

“It’s okay, Daddy,” she told him.

“I gave Matt my pumpkin and he returned her as Iron Man. I don’t know if I like him anymore,” Bruce sighed.

“I asked her not to, Daddy Bruce,” Matt said leaning over.

“I look cool as hell,” Dani said with a smirk. “Don’t move, Daddy, or it takes longer.”

“I haven’t moved a muscle except for my sphincter,” Bruce assured her. “If I would’ve known it would’ve been like this, I would’ve shoved a lump of coal up my ass and shit a diamond out this afternoon.”

As the wait grew, Jake was starting to get worried. He had done hundreds of command suits since most of headquarters’ troops were getting equipped with them. It was taking nearly as long as programming three command suits as it was for his dad’s suit. Finally the screen blinked, ‘Setup Complete, System Operation Loaded, No Defaults Detected.’

Giving a sigh of relief, “Okay, Dad, listen to Dani and Matt,” Jake told him because this had put them behind schedule.

As Matt unplugged the cable from Bruce, “Get up slow, Dad. Remember the video, think slow and soft,” Dani told him.

“Fucking video is full of shit, saying this boot up didn’t take long,” Bruce bitched as he sat up and paused. It was really easy to sit straight up which took him by surprise because he was expecting some type of stiffness. Repeating in his mind ‘Slow and soft’, Bruce pivoted on the table to get his legs off the side. Getting to his feet, he could hear the soft whine of motors with each move. It felt like he had on something but weight wise, it felt like he was naked.

Walking beside Bruce, Dani and Matt led him outside. In the practice area were others in suits. There were doors lined up like dominos and some in suits were just opening them, walking through and closing them before going to the next door in line to repeat it until the end. At another table, groups were picking up crystal drinking glasses and putting them in lines. Off to the side, a group was playing cards and others were playing chess. It was just lots of mundane tasks to teach the user the strength of the suit and how to use it. “Okay, time for school,” Bruce sighed walking out the door.

Chapter Eleven

It was the long-awaited day of December fourth. Adjusting his tie, Bruce looked at his reflection in the mirror. “Never worn a chauffeur suit,” he told his reflection. Walking out of the bathroom, he saw Angela and Stephanie putting on their jackets for their chauffeur suits and then grab their hats.

“I hate hats,” Stephanie grunted.

“It’s only for a little while,” Angela sighed. “Can’t believe Gopher trying to ‘tell us’, we were working the carpet for this.”

“You and Stephanie could’ve worked the carpet, the kids would’ve liked getting interviewed by you two,” Bruce told her.

“Yolanda will be there with Kenny working the carpet and they love her just as much,” Angela said as Bruce hugged her. Cradling Bruce’s arms as he hugged her from the back, Angela gave a soft sigh. “Everyone in the command group is driving limos for the kids and we are too. I didn’t ride around with Stephanie for two days as she practiced driving that forty-foot-long Lamborghini to not pick up kids.”

“I drove very well, thank you,” Stephanie replied as Bruce let Angela go and hugged Stephanie.

“Yes, you did,” Bruce grinned. “Offer still stands, one can ride with me.”

Stephanie stepped back beside Angela and they both shook their heads. “No,” Stephanie told him. “Buffy will listen to you.”

“She did very well on the training and never knocked over one cone,” Bruce replied.

Nodding, “Yes, because you were in the passenger seat,” Angela told him, then glanced at her watch. “Let’s tell the kids ‘bye’. It’s almost time for our first pickup.”

Watching Angela put on her chauffeur hat, Bruce grinned and headed over to the nightstand getting his hat. Only two people who were driving tonight weren’t wearing chauffeur suits, Marcus and Carroll. They were putting on their Sunday best but said ‘No’ on the suit.

For weeks, Omega, Gamma, Beta, and the Scavengers had scoured the country looking for limos. Party limos that carried groups and the smallest one they came back with held sixteen, and they brought back three hundred and four. Since the limos had been sitting for so long many were towed back, then groups went to work on them. Now each was scrubbed down, waxed, and the engine checked out looking brand-new.

When the command group went to choose what limos they were driving, Carroll busted out laughing and hollering for Marcus to come to her. Marcus found her pointing at a fifty-eight-foot-long Cadillac limo that had triple axles on the rear and seated twenty-four. Carroll informed everyone that one was theirs. Bruce wasn’t going to argue because the damn thing looked like the rear was in another zip code.

That’s when Stephanie spotted the Lamborghini and laid claim. Buffy had already informed Bruce she was driving, and she got to pick out the car. And she did, a H1 stretch Hummer that seated eighteen. The one Bruce really wanted, Paul got. A monster truck limo that was fifty inches off the ground and seated sixteen. The back doors didn’t open; they folded down, extending stairs out. In the bed was a hot tub. After the command group, the others who were chosen to drive moved among the limos selecting what they would drive. Then they set cones up on the runways and practiced driving the behemoths.

It was nearly a tussle between Mike and Bruce to see who got to take their kids. Heading the fight off at the pass, Nancy pulled out a coin telling Mike to call it in the air and Bruce won. He would take them and Mike would bring them home. Mike and Nancy had chosen a Cadillac Escalade that looked like a nightclub inside. It had a dancing pole, bar, four TVs, and seated twenty.

He found Buffy waiting at the stairs for him dressed in a little chauffeur suit and hat. Her long blond hair with Shirley Temple curls framed her smiling face. “Damn, she’s a heartbreaker now and only improving with age,” Bruce mumbled to himself.

“Angela and Stephanie are already gone,” she told him, wrapping an arm around Bruce’s waist and they walked down the stairs together. All the little kids were at daycare with the little kids from other members of the command group. It didn’t go over well when Emily and Sherry found out they weren’t going to be riding in the long cars.

The kitchen was empty since Ted and Carl were going to be riding behind him, driving limos with their wives. The rest of the security detail was spread out in Base Hope and the convention hall. Opening the front door, Bruce held it open for Buffy. “Go start the ride,” he told her and Buffy gave a squeal as she broke into a run for the H1 limo parked in the front. Before he turned around he heard a low rumble and saw the monster truck limo drive past, since Paul was taking his son Chad and those from the barracks here first.

When Buffy had the limo running, Bruce turned around and rang the doorbell then headed to the limo. Opening the back door, he held it open and waited. Matt and Dani came out first and Bruce gave a contented sigh. Another heartbreaker, his pumpkin, looked like a true princess in the prom dress. “How do I look, Daddy?” she smiled.

Her hair was perfect as was her makeup, then Bruce noticed the scar on her shoulder that ran down her arm just past the elbow. Adjusting the corsage on her dress then leaning over, he kissed her forehead, “Like daddy’s little princess,” he told her then looked at Matt. “Look rather dashing, young man.”

“Thank you,” Matt smiled and helped Dani inside. An army of women had started days ago making corsages, and every young man who was going with a girl got to come by and pick one up to give his date. Those who didn’t have dates, a member of Omega or Gamma gave them a corsage. The group made all but three. Bruce had made the ones for Dani, Mary, and Mindy for the boys to give them.

Next out were Jake and Mary. Like Dani, Mary was beautiful and Jake looked proud of his girl. Bruce kissed her and then Jake helped Mary inside as David and Mindy came out. Unlike the other kids Bruce adopted, Mindy had adopted him and he loved her. He still felt weird because he looked and treated her like his daughter, but it still felt off. If Debbie had been there, she could’ve told him why and Stephanie would in time. Bruce had never seen Mindy at the age before she became a young woman and she had never been locked into Bruce’s mind to remain young forever. He saw Mindy for what she was, a knockout young woman who he was proud of. But she would age in Bruce’s mind because he still hadn’t figured out, daddy’s princesses stayed young forever and Mindy would miss out on that part, but she still had a daddy.

Bruce shut the door as another limo drove from around the house taking more kids from the barracks and he saw Steve driving with Tonya beside him. He climbed in and Buffy very expertly eased out to the road and drove them to town. In the back he could hear the excited chatter and when they reached town, the chatter stopped.

The sidewalks were packed with people all waving and cheering as the limos passed. Bruce had covertly sent out the word for anyone who could, to line the streets. He wanted this night to be very special and would do whatever he had to, to make it so. There were hardships coming and like everyone, these young adults had lost many friends and family but tonight they were being shown, the clan was there and they were special. Like all wars, the young would be fighting.

Pulling in, the roar of the crowd got Bruce’s eyes misty that the clan would do what it could to make this night special, no matter what was coming. Tonight was for the young adults who had given a lot and were going to be asked to give a lot more for the rest of their lives. Hearing his kids in the back talking excitedly about the crowd, Bruce had never been happier with the clan. If just standing outside and cheering was something they could do, they’d do it because it certainly looked like over half a million people lining the streets cheering.

Limos were moving about entering the apartment complexes to pick up those going and Buffy was driving along, perched behind the wheel with an ear to ear smile. Bill’s cops were at each intersection directing traffic that was only limos and still, the sides of the streets were packed with people cheering.

Driving through town, Buffy got in the line of limos that were dropping the party goers off. As the limo ahead pulled off Buffy pulled up, stopping at the red carpet that led to the door of the convention center. Bruce got out and went to the back and opened the door. “That was wild!” Dani cried out as he helped her get out of the limo.

“Yes, it was,” Bruce smiled, then helped Mary and Mindy out. The three couples held hands walking down the carpet and were stopped by Yolanda and a camera crew. Closing the door, Bruce jogged to the front and jumped in. “Section one, complex three,” he told Buffy.

“I do remember our schedule,” she moaned, shifting into drive. “Compared to what Stephanie teaches, memorizing our pickup route for this dance is easy.”

Reaching over, he patted Buffy’s leg. “I’m proud of you, BB.”

“Thank you,” Buffy smiled. “Love you, Daddy.”

“Love you too, BB,” Bruce replied as Buffy guided the limo into the drive. “Damn, that car is long,” Bruce said looking at the limo Carroll was driving. Marcus shut the door as the last party goers got in and headed for the passenger door. “Marcus needs a lunch to walk to the back of the car.”

“I wasn’t driving that one, but Mamaw Carroll drives it really good,” Buffy told him.

Bruce could see the members of the teams under the awning and the line of young adults stretched inside to the lobby. On each limo’s front bumper was a tag that listed how many it held and those at the complex knew how many to call up to get in the limo.

As Buffy pulled up, Bruce could hear the excited chatter even with the windows rolled up. When he grabbed the door handle, he noticed another TV crew. “Now this is coverage,” he chuckled as Buffy came to a stop. When he got out, the group about to load up stopped chattering and stared at Bruce as he headed for the rear door.

“It’s Mr. Bruce,” he heard, whispered in the group.

“I’ll be one of your chauffeurs this evening,” he told the group as he opened the back door.

A young girl eased away from the pack, “Can we get a picture, Mr. Bruce? I mean, with you?” she asked timidly.

“Of course,” Bruce laughed and the excited chattering started again. All the kids ran over clustering around Bruce as he turned to the camera crew. “Hey, take a picture and post it on the event page for them!” he hollered out and the crew came over. When the pictures were done, the kids loaded up and Bruce shut the door.

“Bruce, I’m Peter with Hope Broadcasting, you came up with this and the fair for the clan, can I ask why?” Peter asked, pointing the microphone to Bruce.

Nodding, “A little happiness goes a long way these days,” Bruce told him.

Leaning to the side, “Who’s driving? We’ve seen Angela and Stephanie,” Peter asked.

“My daughter Buffy,” Bruce proclaimed proudly, and the smile fell off Peter’s face and Bruce noticed the camera crew stepping back. Then Bruce realized the chatter had died down again. “Seems they’ve heard of Buffy and driving,” Bruce mumbled then turned to Peter. “Buffy only drives wild when she’s trying to run over blues,” he smiled then headed for his door.

“Any more surprises for the clan?” Peter asked, chasing him.

Stopping before he dropped in the seat, “Don’t know. I just know we have a long war ahead of us,” Bruce said, getting in and shutting the door. “I don’t like reporters,” he sighed and the excitement from the back was kind of loud.

Steering out of the drive back to the road, “You realize both of my moms, your wives are reporters?” Buffy asked, driving out. The crowds were still cheering and limos were everywhere now but were moving like they had rehearsed.

“They’ve tried to quit three times and everyone throws a fit,” Bruce grumbled. “They have enough shit to do for the command group running this shit show.”

“Duh, they’re good,” Buffy told him as a policeman directing traffic stopped them. “They make people laugh and tell a story and not report. They just give the information and let you decide. Peter is an idiot,” Buffy smirked. “He tries to report so people believe only what he says.”

“Then why is he reporting?” Bruce asked as limos passed.

“Dani says it’s because he has a nice butt and smile,” Buffy told him. “I think his butt is between his shoulders.”

Hearing the kids in the back now standing up out of the sunroof waving at the throngs on the sidewalks, “That was the first time I’ve met him,” Bruce said as the cop stopped the other lanes and turned to them, waving Buffy on. They could’ve turned, but everyone was making a loop around town so the kids could bask for just a little while at the crowds cheering for them.

Buffy was about to say something when a man darted out, running across the road and almost getting hit by Buffy and a limo in the oncoming lane. Stopping quickly but very smoothly, “Motherfucker,” Buffy snapped, throwing the shifter in park as her window rolled down.

Sticking her head out, “Cocksucker!” Buffy screamed. “I know your face, bitch! I’m going to find you and kill you slowly, fuckwad!”

The man froze when he reached the sidewalk, looking back at the blond with half her body out of the Hummer limo. “Yeah, fucker. I know your face now! I’m going to find you tonight and cut your dick off! I had the right of way!” Buffy screamed and Bruce realized the crowd had fallen silent.

It was very clear the man was scared as he eased back out into the street but this time, checking traffic and it was stopped. Granted, it was stopped watching Buffy. “Oh, you look now, you bag of monkey ass!” Buffy snapped. “You will meet Herman tonight.”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Buffy,” the man told her. “I was getting pictures of my son and his date. I should’ve waited.”

Narrowing her eyes, “Hmm,” Buffy groaned. “Make me slam on the brakes again and I don’t care if you’re having a baby, you will meet Herman. You get a pass this time,” Buffy told him.

Bruce was shocked when the man gave a slight bow. “Thank you, Ms. Buffy,” the man said and moved back to the sidewalk as the cop walked up to Buffy’s window she was still hanging out of.

“Problem?” he asked.

“Oh, you ask that now after a fucker runs across the road and I almost hit him?” Buffy yelled. “You must have the IQ of a donkey’s dick! I could expand my terminology, but your unpretentious cognizance wouldn’t comprehend! Now get your ass back there and direct traffic!”

The kids in the back were all snickering as the cop turned away in shock and headed back to direct traffic, trying to figure out just what Buffy had told him. “Oh, someone is close to that time,” Bruce moaned as Buffy slid back into the seat. The limo in the other lane had its window down and Bruce saw Steve’s head sticking out.

“Want me to run his ass over, Buffy?!” Steve yelled out as they passed.

“No, don’t hurt the limo, bubba!” Buffy shouted back, putting the shifter in drive.

“Seems they’ve heard of Buffy’s legend as well as her driving,” Bruce mumbled as the crowd started cheering again.

Dropping their load off, they took off again and Bruce heard his phone ring with a text. Digging it out, he read the screen. “Do our special pickup,” he told Buffy. She just smiled and guided the limo with an expert ease that Bruce was going to remind her about the next time she drove anything of his.

Getting in line at another complex, Bruce tapped his phone replying to the text. They waited as the four limos ahead were loaded up, then pulled under the awning. Bruce got out seeing Bonnie with a throng of other teens. Having never seen her in like ‘real’ clothes, Bruce had to say in a prom dress Bonnie was very pretty. “Bruce!” she cried out, then lifted up her dress to run over.

She gave him a hug and he returned it. “You didn’t think just anyone was driving, did you?” he chuckled letting her go and a young man came over to stand beside her. It was the way he stood next to Bonnie that Bruce knew he was with her. “And you are?” Bruce asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Denny, sir,” he answered.

“Bruce, this is my date and boyfriend Denny,” Bonnie introduced. “Denny, this is Bruce, my boss.”

Denny held out his hand, “Technically, you’re everyone’s boss, but glad to meet you formally, sir,” Denny said with a bit of nervousness.

Shaking Denny’s hand, Bruce turned to Bonnie. “Load your crew up,” Bruce chuckled. It was good for Bruce to see Bonnie as a seventeen-year-old girl and not just a member of Omega. With squeals of excitement they piled in and Bruce shut the door, but not before posing for a picture with Bonnie and her group.

It took nearly two hours for the army of limos to transport the throngs to the convention hall, but it was done. Buffy parked the limo among the rows of other limos and they got out to head inside. Shutting her door, Buffy ran up and grabbed Bruce’s hand as they crossed the parking lot. Glancing at his watch to see it was 1745 and the party formally started at 1800, “I love staying ahead of schedule,” Bruce said, dropping his arm.

This was only Bruce’s third time in the convention hall and he was still amazed at the size when they walked in. It wasn’t packed elbow to elbow and you could move about in pairs without one being dragged along, but the building definitely looked packed.

They saw Gene and Sandy talking with Angela and Stephanie, everyone in chauffeur suits. “I’d say they’re happy,” Bruce said, joining them.

“Bruce,” Gene laughed. “I watched girls and boys sitting in the back of the limo texting those standing up in the sunroof.”

“Yeah, had to deal with that from Dani and Mary for a long time,” Bruce said as Buffy let go of his hand and moved off to talk to Mike and Nancy.

“Angela kept telling those in the back that the one they were texting was right there, just talk,” Stephanie giggled.

“Says the girl who was texting and driving,” Angela scoffed.

Turning to Angela, “I had both hands on the wheel using voice to text,” Stephanie snapped.

“Why didn’t you just call the station and tell them to stop the camera crew from following us? That’s what the phone’s first purpose is,” Angela retorted.

Ted, Carl, and their wives walked up behind them as Stephanie lifted her chin high and crossed her arms, “Some things you just want in writing,” she shot back.

Rolling her eyes, Angela turned to Bruce. “You will be on your best behavior, understood?” Angela told him with a glare.

“What the fuck did I do?!” Bruce cried out.

“I don’t think you’ve done anything yet. This is the kids’ special night, they don’t need their father acting weird,” Angela told him and Bruce just gave a grunt. “I mean it, Bruce. I’ve warned Stephanie, now I’m warning you, act civil,” she dictated and Bruce turned to look at Stephanie in shock.

Shrugging, “I saw Peter trying to wrestle you down for an interview. I texted him and told him we have inside access he could never get, just to rub it in his face,” Stephanie explained.

“Urrrgggg,” Angela growled in frustration. “There are three of us in this marriage and I feel like the only adult! You two, grow up!”

With his face turning to stone, “That does it,” Bruce said, reaching out quickly and grabbing Angela. Before she knew it, Angela was on the floor and just as she tried to fight back, Bruce flipped her over on her stomach.

“God damn it, Bruce!” she shouted as Bruce sat on her butt and he faced her feet. Grabbing Angela’s ankles he pulled her legs up. “Let me go before I kick your ass!” she screamed as Bruce grabbed one of her tiny loafers and pulled it off and Angela tried to roll. “I’m not in the mood to be tickled, bitch!” she bellowed.

Grabbing Angela’s sock, Bruce peeled it off and tossed it to the side, looking at Angela’s foot covered in black lint from her sock. As Angela screamed Bruce moved his mouth like he was chewing and Gene put his arm around Sandy, making her take a step back with him. Gene had witnessed this before and wanted no part but didn’t have the nerve to run, fearing it might trigger Bruce’s hunter instinct to chase.

When Bruce opened his mouth, drool spilled out like a faucet had been turned on as he leaned over and Angela felt his slobber hit the sole of her foot. Taking a breath to unleash on his ass, Angela froze as Bruce drove his tongue between her toes. Angela’s body gave a violent revulsion shiver, “Ewwaaweeee!” she screamed and fought not to puke. “Don’t, my feet are nasty!” she managed to get out in a scream.

Feeling Bruce drag his tongue across her foot, Angela didn’t think even Max left that much slobber as her body convulsed in disgust. Sitting up on Angela’s butt, Bruce looked over his shoulder at the back of Angela’s head. “Who’s your daddy?” he shouted.

“I’m going to choke you and beat you to death!” Angela screeched and Bruce stuck his tongue out, driving between the other toes and Angela gagged as she screamed.

Watching the assault, Stephanie slowly started backing away. She had heard of this and even read it in the journals, but to witness it was something else entirely. There was actual drool from Bruce hanging and dripping off Angela’s toes. “Fuck this, she’s on her own,” Stephanie declared spinning around and took off.

Hearing the screams and knowing it was Angela, the kids came running, using elbows pushing through the crowd. Dani came out first and skidded to a stop twenty feet away and let out a gasp as Bruce lifted his face up again and worked his mouth to make more drool. With a look of horror, Dani spun around and knocked Matt down as she sprinted as fast as she could in heels and prom dress. Those who didn’t move were knocked down.

With wide eyes filled with horror, Jake was about to get Mary and run but he turned and saw Mary had already taken off leaving his ass. Then he noticed she was following the wake Mike and Nancy had made when they took off and he followed in a dead sprint. Panting like the hounds of hell were descending, David saw what was going on and just pulled Mindy into a supply closet to hide.

“Who’s your daddy?” Bruce shouted over his shoulder again. “Who’s number one?” he howled.

“You have to sleep and I’m going to get your ass!” Angela screamed then her tongue shot out as she dry heaved, feeling his tongue between her toes again and saliva dripping off her foot and running down her leg.

Everyone saw the family flee and knew that wasn’t good, so the area around Bruce cleared except for Gene, Sandy, Ted, and Carl. Their wives just left. “I must say, that looks very disgusting,” Sandy commented with a shiver.

“That boy ain’t right in the head,” Gene sighed as Angela’s body trembled in revulsion. “Bruce was my platoon sergeant the entire time I was a second lieutenant. Well, we had this squad leader Staff Sergeant Kendall who was egotistical, which isn’t uncommon in the Rangers, but he was a bit much. One day in formation, Kendall announces to everyone he’s God’s gift to the world and all men and Rangers should strive to be like him. He and he alone was the gold standard all men should judge themselves by but all should know, they would never reach his level of perfection,” Gene said. “Well, Bruce had had enough. Right there in formation, Bruce threw that fucker down, yanked off Kendall’s combat boots and done that,” Gene waved out at Bruce as Bruce continued asking Angela who her daddy was and who was number one.

“Not one troop went to help and I damn sure wasn’t. I’d seen Bruce do that to Debbie once and wanted no part, seeing Bruce would do it to anyone,” Gene explained. “Kendall screamed and tried to get out, but Bruce is fucking good. He held Kendall down and continued until finally Kendall started crying and told him that Bruce was daddy, number one, and the king of the world. Bruce let Kendall up and I shit you not, Kendall ran off barefoot with slobber dripping down his legs, leaving wet footprints, crying like a three-year-old who had their teddy bear taken away.”

Shaking his head watching Bruce pull off Angela’s other shoe, “Kendall cried for two days, transferred out of the Rangers that week, and was assigned to a firing range till he got out. Last I heard, Kendall was living out of a dumpster and drinking anything with alcohol,” Gene finished. Angela wasn’t even screaming threats anymore as her body gave revolting dry heaves as Bruce worked her other foot over.

“Has he ever tried that with you?” Sandy asked.

“No,” Gene stated firmly. “I’ll outrun his ass and if he catches me, it will only be because I died and then I won’t care.”

“Please, don’t let him do that to me,” Sandy pleaded.

Turning from the spectacle to look at Sandy, “I love you. I’ll kill for you and die for you, but,” Gene paused nodding at Bruce, “you piss him off enough that he does that to you, you’re on your own,” Gene stated firmly. “Like I said, I saw him do that to Debbie. It was the party the platoon threw to welcome me. Don’t know what Debbie did, but I saw what Bruce did. One of the women went to help, and was thrown down beside Debbie. Then the woman’s husband tried to save his wife and he was thrown down. In ten minutes, the husband was telling him, Bruce could have his wife and kids if Bruce would just fucking stop. Any who interfere, they get it worse.”

Nodding in understanding, “Perhaps it would be good to move about and check on the celebration attendees,” Sandy offered and Gene smiled leading her away. They passed Millie coming with a wooden spoon in hand and Gene didn’t say shit and let her continue on. Reaching the cleared area Millie paused and gave a shiver seeing thick drool hanging from both of Angela’s feet. Thick slobber was dripping from her toes as Angela now just tried to get her feet away from Bruce’s mouth having given up on getting away.

Not spotting any family and the only ones near Bruce were Ted and Carl, Millie put her spoon away as a voice in her mind told Millie, Bruce would do that to her if she interfered. “I needs ta’ check the punch,” Millie stated for her own peace of mind and hurried off.

Because they were his security, Ted and Carl never left, but they damn sure weren’t about to help either. They’d heard Gene’s story. The fact they saw the way the rest of the family left in a sprint only proved it. Carl turned to Ted with a grave face. “Ted, if Bruce does that to me, don’t think less of me, but I’m crying,” Carl confessed.

Turning to Carl, “He does that to me, I’m going to counseling,” Ted admitted, “for the rest of my life.”

Now Angela wasn’t even fighting and Bruce looked over his shoulder, “Who’s your daddy?” he asked.

“You’re my daddy. You’re my daddy,” Angela panted out like she had run for hours. “You’re number one. You’re the man.” Angela panted each word and started repeating.

Getting up, Bruce picked Angela up in his arms and she flopped back in utter exhaustion. Setting her on a table, where Angela just toppled back lying down and repeating Bruce was daddy and number one, he reached over and grabbed a napkin. Even he gave a shiver seeing drool still hanging from her small painted toes, but there wasn’t any lint on her feet anymore. Drying her feet, Bruce went back and got her socks and shoes and put them on her. “Are you going to be nice?” Bruce asked.

“You’re my daddy. You’re my daddy. You’re my daddy,” Angela panted out repeatedly.

“Are you going to be nice?” Bruce asked again.

“I’ll be nice, Daddy, I’ll be nice, you’re number one, Daddy,” Angela panted. Grabbing her arms, Bruce pulled until Angela was sitting up. When she looked at Bruce she saw his goatee was soaked with saliva and there was black lint all over his face and Angela’s body gave a shiver.

“That was so fucking gross,” she said as her breathing slowed. “The foot thing… is neat but, that… that was just fucking gross. My feet were sweaty and dirty. I’ve been in those loafers all day th-,” Angela just stopped as another shiver of revulsion went through her, nearly making her vomit. She glanced around and only saw Ted and Carl nearby. It was then she realized, the family had left her and if they’d left her, they knew about this and that only meant this wasn’t the first time.

When Bruce went to kiss her, Angela put a hand on his chest stopping him. “Are you crazy?” she asked. “You licked my dirty feet and between my toes. Your face is covered with lint bunnies from my socks and you are going to kiss me with that mouth? Not even bothering to brush your teeth or clean your face?” she challenged in shock. With a wicked grin, Bruce cut his eyes down to her feet and Angela vaulted from the table, wrapping her legs around Bruce and latching on to lock her mouth over his. Her reasoning, if his mouth was on hers, it wasn’t heading toward her feet.

Angela was certain, if Bruce had told her to go push little kids down and make them cry, she would’ve done it just to keep his tongue away from her feet. Finally breaking the kiss, Angela let go with her legs dropping to the floor. She then stuck her tongue out, wiping the lint off. “Oh, that was nasty,” she shivered and moved away. Ted and Carl just stood like statues not wanting any attention from Bruce, but they would do their job.

“That was so gross, Bruce,” Stephanie said walking up and when Bruce turned she nearly bolted.

“Angela started it,” Bruce replied as the onlookers started talking and the hall was soon filled with the loud murmur of conversations. Grinning, Bruce turned and went to kiss Stephanie, but she stepped back with both hands up stopping Bruce.

“I’m married to both of you. Yes, the foot thing is cool, but I don’t want to taste Angela’s sweaty feet,” Stephanie told him, trying not to shiver at his soaked goatee and saw Bruce’s eyes drop to her shoes. Letting out a cry, Stephanie wrapped her arms around his neck and locked her mouth over his as her body trembled from nausea. Breaking the kiss, she wiped lint from her tongue then spit to get it from the back of her throat. “Oh, that was nasty,” she gagged and walked past Bruce and he popped her on the butt lightly.

Still, Carl and Ted stood not moving a muscle as Buffy eased over. “That was so gross and nasty,” she informed him and Bruce just shrugged. “I’m sorry and don’t take this the wrong way, but you do that to me and Herman is coming out,” Buffy told him.

Laughing, Bruce reached to his back and pulled out his Predator machete he had hung upside down between his shoulder blades under his jacket. Holding the massive blade up, “That will never work on me. Charlotte will eat Herman,” Bruce responded and Buffy’s shoulders slumped in defeat.

Remembering everything Dani had ever taught her about getting her way with daddy, Buffy looked down and poked out her bottom lip. Then she shifted side to side. Keeping her head down but looking up at Bruce with very sad eyes, “Daddy, it will make me cry,” Buffy pouted out meekly.

“Dani cried both times she’s got it and so did Jake,” Bruce told her and Buffy dropped the pouty look instantly. She was going to find out what made daddy do that so she would never have to face that. Watching Bruce put the massive blade away, “Why did you carry that? You have your little knife and even a gun?”

“Need to get used to carrying it again,” Bruce told her. “If you’re not used to carrying a weapon, you won’t use muscle memory when you need it.” Buffy understood and knew Bruce had stopped carrying the massive knife just so he could carry more bullets. His vest had to stay at a certain weight and Bruce wasn’t going to break his word.

Chapter Twelve

The party continued until two a.m. and the limos started pulling up and the process reversed with the valets calling out the destination and those filing in. They didn’t take the kids straight home, they drove one loop around the base. Passing Oz, there were groups beside the road cheering and those in suits training, but they had to stay inside the fence.

Driving along the runway, pilots and ground crews formed lines and cheered as the limos passed. Then they drove past the motor pools that housed teams’ vehicles and gear to find people along the fences cheering. All of Hope came together and did what they could to make this night special, a memory of a lifetime for this group of teens.

It was nearly five a.m. when Buffy pulled into the farm. “We’ll take the limo to the vehicle area outside the wall tomorrow,” Bruce told her getting out of the limo. He didn’t see any of the other limos, so he knew they were still riding around.

When Buffy didn’t see him head for the door but towards the shop, “What are you doing?” she asked.

“Clear my mind,” Bruce told her and Buffy knew he wasn’t going to the shop, he was going to the garden. She ran over and slowed to walk beside him.

“Um, Daddy, can you show me how to meditate?” she asked. “Dani’s tried, but all she says is ‘clear your mind’. Well, clear it of what? If I’m thinking about clearing my mind then it’s not clear. How do I think clear?”

Laughing, “Oh Buffy, I love you so,” Bruce told her, pulling her to his side. “Dani said nearly the same thing when Jake and Steve taught her to meditate.”

Knowing why Bruce went to the garden, “If you want, we can try another day,” Buffy offered.

Pulling her to his side, “Nah, now’s a good enough time as any. Can’t have my BB not knowing how to meditate,” he said.

Before and even after the Fall, Bruce would head to the catfish pond to meditate on the pier. Now, there was just too much going on in the farm. With the barn now an administrative building, people were always there because those in charge worked twice as hard and twice as long. The fields now housed rows of helicopters because that’s where they were stored and worked on. Now covered in thick lush grass, the fields provided a nice landing area and didn’t throw up dust.

After the babies were here and Angela and Stephanie told Bruce to go, he did, straight to Paul. Paul had to be notified of anything being built inside the wall or near the base and now city. For others, Paul had to approve, Bruce just went and handed Paul a hand drawing of the farm. Behind the new shop, a two-acre square was drawn in the southwest corner of the berm that rested behind the two-hundred-and-ten-acre fence. Bruce didn’t know he had to have approval, he had missed that meeting and nobody had informed him.

Paul had asked what Bruce needed and Bruce replied nothing, and explained what he was doing. A part of Bruce did feel guilty that he was taking time to build a garden just to meditate for himself. But what Bruce didn’t see and others did, in reality, it was for the clan. Bruce meditated to calm down so he could think, and Bruce’s thinking was what had saved them thus far so to everyone else, the garden was vital.

Since there weren’t any buried lines there, Paul had just nodded and again asked if Bruce needed help because Paul would’ve found those who could help, but Bruce said he would do it. Drawing out a plan and then staking out the area, Bruce had taken the Omega headquarters troop to Arkansas with trucks and heavy equipment. Buffy even went the first time and got to see the coolest machines. One had an attachment that would clamp a ten-foot circle around a tree then huge spades with hydraulics were shoved in the ground, taking the tree from the ground with a plug of dirt ten feet around and fifteen feet deep. All the first trees were cedars, ten- to fifteen-foot-tall cedars. Bruce only got the ones that looked like Christmas trees to Buffy.

Then Bruce had gone around collecting boulders. None could be picked up by hand. Bruce had an excavator for those. Nobody asked why they were getting the big rocks or why Bruce was actually looking rocks over and passing some by but would get another. The blues weren’t a problem since Omega had cleared the area twice. It only took three or four to keep watch with the micro UAVs up and they only killed a few dozen an hour in the trips to Arkansas because Bruce led them out into the sticks.

Returning to the farm, Bruce had put the cedar trees in the ground to form a box around the two acres and this Buffy understood. Then Bruce had all the big boulders just dropped out on the ground. First, he’d numbered each boulder, then moved around in the area marking spots. Getting on the huge excavator, Bruce had put the rocks where he’d marked. They ranged in size from a desk to a pickup truck and some were laid on the ground, others were half buried. Ones that were half buried, some were buried flat with a bulge out of the ground while other long boulders were buried sticking up out of the ground like a finger.

The biggest boulders with flat sides Bruce arranged on the west side of the area stacking them up and Buffy was worried they might fall because some were bigger than Bruce’s pickup truck. Only when Bruce hit the pile with the excavator and none of the rocks moved had Buffy relaxed. The way he’d stacked them in a pile, they couldn’t fall over unless explosives or heavy machinery was used. It was when Bruce drove the excavator away from the pile that Buffy realized it looked like a baby mountain over twenty feet tall.

Driving the excavator to the north side, Bruce stacked boulders here but the area was wider and to Buffy, it didn’t look like a mountain if that’s what he was trying to build. Pulling the large excavator out, Bruce had pulled in a smaller one and dug a four-foot-deep trench around the area but by then, Buffy had been getting bored and left.

Ted and Carl, who never really left Bruce’s side, just did what he wanted and couldn’t figure out what kind of ‘garden’ Bruce was making with rocks and cedar trees that had a four-foot-deep trench weaving around the two acre plot. Bruce would stop and start putting in a few hours a day in the area and it was that first month, both realized what kind of ‘garden’ Bruce was building. A Japanese garden and they both knew why, a place to meditate. They were happy because when Bruce tried at the pond, people would always shout out to Bruce if they were near. Choppers taking off, jets taking off a mile to the west, it was distracting to them and they tried their best to keep people back.

He even started letting them help in the garden after they told him they had figured it out. After running a shitload of pipes, they helped line the trench with erosion material then poured smooth rocks over it making a stream bed. When they were done, Ted and Carl had looked in awe at the stream bed. There were two small islands and one big one in a large pool area, the stream entered one end exiting the other. Before they put water in, Bruce put a ten-foot-tall magnolia tree on one small island and the other was covered with sand. Then in the shop, Bruce had experimented with water. Ted and Carl quickly worked out Bruce was figuring out how much noise water made as it fell.

It was the last week of his time off when they found out what the tall mountain was for. At the top of the mountain Bruce had built a small pool, then using plaster, Bruce made a four-foot-wide ten-foot-long trough. He extended the trough out from the mountain over the pool with the two small islands and it was Ted who figured out it was to make a waterfall.

The only part Bruce messed up on, he had a hundred gallon per minute pump set up on the mountain. They all realized when he turned it on, the four-foot-deep pool area in the ditch wasn’t deep enough, but it damn sure was loud. It had taken a day to drain, dig out, reline, put the smooth rocks back, and refill the stream with water. The pool, now ten-foot-deep, handled the waterfall just fine and the koi fish were added.

Then they’d headed back to Arkansas with Bruce and watched as Bruce used a small excavator, scraping up moss. He never dug deep, only a few inches, taking strips a few feet long at a time.

Over half of the garden was covered in lush green moss now with large spots of white sand and a crushed rock path winding through. Bruce still worked on the garden, but not for long periods of time. He told Ted and Carl it was a work in progress. Last week they’d helped on the other pile of rocks. Bruce used mortar to fill in cracks but not all of them and Carl figured out they were making another waterfall, just wider with many small falls until the water reached the stream.

Leading Buffy in the gate, yes, there was a gate and Bruce didn’t put it there, Paul did it himself with a crew. Paul had gathered a crew while Bruce was busy and put a ten-foot-tall breathtaking cedar fence around the plot. After he’d done it, Paul avoided Bruce for a few days, but Paul didn’t want people wandering in. Security loved the fence, therefore Angela and Stephanie loved the fence. But Paul knew Bruce and when Bruce meditated, if someone wasn’t there to watch his back, it was possible to get close to Bruce and the garden was secluded.

Flipping switches, low level lights came on in the stream and near the waterfalls and the area was flooded with the sound of the big waterfall. Buffy was looking right at Bruce when it turned on and thought Bruce smiled for a brief second. “The object of meditation is to focus the mind,” Bruce told her, leading Buffy over to one of the sandy areas. “Your mind doesn’t have to be clear, just relax and think about one thing. Me, I think about calm to rest my mind and find peace.”

“So, you can meditate on fighting?” Buffy asked as Bruce got down on his knees then sat on his heels.

Nodding, “Yes, I do that a lot,” Bruce told her. “Meditation is relaxing but not sleeping. You still think, but only on one thing. There isn’t a goal per se, if you feel relaxed when you’re done, you’ve achieved your goal. You’re better off than when you started. I use different methods to meditate, as do most people. Like when I’m in the shop tinkering, my hands are busy but I can think about something else. Here, I can work on my garden like in the shop, but I can go to a spot, stop, and just relax. There’s a spot on the wall to the south where I go and just look out over the treetops and think. It depends on the problem, how much I have on my mind, and my mood as to where I go.”

“Oh,” Buffy said cheerfully in understanding as she got down in the sand sitting like Bruce.

As Bruce was talking to Buffy, Angela and Stephanie pulled up and parked beside the H1 limo. They got out and immediately heard the waterfall. Yeah, it made some noise. But the sound was very soothing and not distracting. “I didn’t want to make him upset,” Angela moaned. “I just wanted him to relax.”

“I know, I was trying to warn you,” Stephanie replied.

“I did it just like Debbie told us to. Shit, how many times did we see her do it?!” Angela cried out.

Turning to Angela, “Even Debbie got it wrong in the beginning. She nor anyone has named it, but Debbie had that sick shit done to her seven times,” Stephanie told her. “Be thankful you surrendered because he fills your ears with spit when he shoves his tongue in, then covers your face.”

With a shiver racking her body, “So, I either get Bruce to tense up and argue a bit then relax, or he fucking drools gallons of spit over my feet licking between my nasty toes,” Angela quivered. “If I would’ve gotten out of the shower, I would’ve been freaked, but not like that.”

“Oh, you need to reread when Dani was ten. What he does is worse after his target takes a shower,” Stephanie said.

About to ask, Angela just shook her head. “I don’t want to know.”

“Well, he’s in the garden, so he’s relaxing,” Stephanie offered and started for the garden.

Running around the limo and grabbing Stephanie’s arm, “We don’t bug him in the garden,” Angela reminded her.

“I’m not bugging him. I’m just going to check on him,” Stephanie told her and continued walking.

Walking along with her, “I would’ve built that garden for him if I knew he wanted one,” Angela said.

“Well, he lost the pond so he just made another spot,” Stephanie pointed out.

“I’ve tried meditating by the pond. I don’t know what he found so appealing. There are so many catfish, you can smell them,” Angela said.

Giving a chuckle, “What’s in the center of the pond?” Stephanie asked. “That aerator fountain, it shoots water up in the air. That falling water relaxed him and used to drown out sounds of the farm. It just can’t drown out the sounds of a base.”

“Wow,” Angela gasped. “You really fucking know Bruce.”

“Sometimes,” Stephanie sighed. “Sometimes you know him better, but you are always willing to risk something to change his mood, just like Debbie. Like you were trying to do. If Debbie knew Bruce was mad or tense at something and it was bothering him, she would irritate him, they would argue, and he would feel better because she took some of that anger away. The only time I can fight with him is when Bruce pisses me off and I feel bad about it later. I just don’t like him being mad at me.”

When Angela laughed Stephanie stopped, wondering what she’d said that was funny. “Stephanie, he loves us, and one thing I know about Bruce, he can get mad at us, but he can’t and won’t stay mad at us. That is dangerous on his part because if we were bad people it could be exploited. If we were bad, think what he would do. I still think that was a tiny bit of why Debbie chose us. She didn’t want to risk a bad woman weaseling her way into Bruce’s life because when he says, ‘I do’, it’s forever. But Debbie did miss one thing on that, the kids. Those kids would kill an evil bitch even if Bruce loved her. They will protect their daddy. As I figured out long ago, both of us don’t equal one Debbie but she chose us, loved us, and we returned that love to her and Bruce. We have to do whatever we can to help Bruce along because he will always stand with us,” Angela said then turned away. “Except the nasty feet thing, I’ll fucking run till I die next time,” she amended.

“That’s why he does it, to gross you out,” Stephanie said but didn’t even grin. “Bruce doesn’t give a flying fuck what anyone thinks of him, not even Debbie.” When Stephanie said that, Angela gasped and was about to argue but Stephanie continued. “Hey, Debbie told me that and Nancy was there. It was when I went to Nebraska with them. Bruce just wanted Debbie to love him. He didn’t like to make Debbie mad because he loved her, but Bruce was and will always be Bruce. You take him for who he is. The only one who comes close and no, it’s not Debbie, I said comes not came,” Stephanie told her. “The only one who comes close is Dani, but she cares, just a little bit mind you, about what Matt thinks about her, but not as much as Debbie cared about what Bruce thought of her.”

Having no trouble seeing that, “I know Bruce has done that to guys, but has he done it to Mike?” Angela asked with a shiver.

“No,” Stephanie answered. “He tried and Mike knocked Bruce the fuck out. Mike went to pull Bruce off Dani when he was doing it to her. Well, Dani was crying and Mike figured it was enough. Debbie screamed at Mike not to or Bruce would do it to him. Well, by the time Mike heard that he had already pulled Bruce off. Oh, and the fight began. Bruce knows he’s going to fight to gross someone out, but Mike was fighting harder than Bruce. After he knocked Bruce out, Mike went and grabbed some clothes and headed to Shreveport. He didn’t even stay in the trailer. Mike rented a room at one of the casinos. He called Bruce two days later and Bruce said they were cool and he would’ve done the same. Bruce never even pranked Mike back.”

“Stephanie, my first thought when he took my shoe off was, ‘My god, he’s going to do the foot thing right here in front of all these people and our kids. My feet are sweaty and nasty.’ I was so embarrassed at just the thought then…” Angela paused fighting a gag.

“Like you said, two of us don’t equal one Debbie, but with both of us, we make a pretty good team to try,” Stephanie told her.

“Hey, we bring another person in this marriage, if their only job is to deal with the nasty feet thing no matter who Bruce is mad at? Then I’ll go find someone to marry all of us, male or female, I don’t care. The fetish thing is neat, but that…”

Thinking it over, “Nobody would ever go for that,” Stephanie concluded, wrapping an arm around Angela’s shoulders and continued  towards the garden. Opening the gate and easing in, they saw Bruce and Buffy kneeling and facing each other in one of the sand areas. Bruce was using his hands as he talked and Buffy was just watching and listening attentively. “Aw, he’s teaching Buffy to meditate,” Stephanie cooed.

“He’s okay,” Angela whispered, not wanting to disturb Bruce, but the rush of water drowned out jet engines. She could’ve shouted and still not have been heard because Bruce was talking to Buffy in a raised voice and they couldn’t hear it. That was the very reason for the falls, big and small; they blocked the outside world from intruding in the garden.

They both nearly freaked when Bruce turned toward them and waved them over. “If he’s upset and goes for my feet to drool on, I’m throwing you in front of me,” Angela told her.

“He wouldn’t do that in the garden,” Stephanie scoffed. But she was making plans to flip Angela over her hip to get Angela on the ground giving her a head start if that’s what Bruce waved them over for. Grabbing Angela’s hand so she already had a grip on the spider monkey, they followed the rock path.

Others did come to the garden. Well, others being Mike, Nancy, and the kids, but only at certain times. It amazed Stephanie that even Mike’s kids knew Bruce and when to leave him alone. Buffy was training Emily and Sherry now in martial arts and had trained with them several times in the garden. They normally did it in the shop the kids had taken over, except on those days when work was going on. One thing everyone knew, in time this garden was going to be breathtaking.

“Hey,” Bruce said looking up at them.

“We just wanted to check on you,” Angela said, but looked ready to bolt any second.

Laughing, “I’m good. I ate, brushed my teeth, turned on the night light, and laid out my clothes all by myself,” Bruce joked.

All joy left Stephanie’s face, “You can piss me off faster than any person on Earth,” she informed him.

“Sorry,” Bruce said, dropping the laugh. “That was me being an ass,” he admitted.

That made both smile. “So, you’re teaching Buffy to meditate?” Stephanie asked and Bruce gave a startle. “You don’t think we keep up with what the kids are doing?” she asked in shock.

“Wow, you two are so awesome,” Bruce grinned then glanced at Buffy.

“I didn’t want to bother you so I asked Stephanie how to meditate. Well, she didn’t know and I asked Angela. She didn’t know and told me to ask Stephanie,” Buffy told him.

“You don’t bother me, Buffy. If I’m busy, I’ll tell you but I’ll make time,” Bruce assured her then turned to the duo. “You don’t know how to meditate?”

Shrugging, “I can relax,” Stephanie replied.

“I read something or play a computer game when I need to relax,” Angela told him.

“Would you like to learn?” Bruce asked and they both perked up. “Little Red there,” he pointed to his right. “Little Foot,” he pointed to his left.

“Bruce, baby,” Angela said, getting to her knees. “Don’t mention feet for a little bit, please,” she begged and gave a shiver. Bruce nodded as he chuckled and started the lesson over.

It was late afternoon the next day and Bruce was out in the east field standing on a scaffold. The runway was still used for UAVs but they were housed in a building outside the fence around the farm. Spread out across the field were both regiments of Omega. They were all doing hand to hand training that Bruce had started last month. The only ones not there were the last ones training on their suits who had just got them. Gamma had started receiving suits the day after Thanksgiving.

Hearing noise, he turned to see a group charging out of the east gate of the farm. A figure at the front was holding a huge black flag with a Gamma symbol (Γ). It didn’t bother Bruce because the Omega flag was behind him. A lone figure broke away from the group and took the flag from the bearer and headed to the scaffolding. Bruce knew it was Mike long before he got close enough to see it. Mike had told Bruce, Gamma was going to start training in hand to hand with Omega.

Using the stairs, Mike jogged up to Bruce and mounted the Gamma flag beside the Omega flag. “Thought you were going to start weapons soon?” Mike asked.

“Oh, we are,” Bruce chuckled. It seemed Omega, well, most of Omega, was following Bruce’s choice since many had katana swords. Where they had found all of them beat the shit out of Bruce, but he had a feeling that’s why some didn’t have katanas, they were still looking.

Gamma, like Mike, were using large bowie knives or heavy machetes. That was one thing Mike never really got excited about, swords or knives for that matter. Mike had knives and swords. The katana Bruce gave him that first Christmas was displayed on a shelf in Mike’s bedroom with Nancy’s. But, Bruce had a feeling there was one piece of steel that got Mike excited.

Turning around, Bruce picked up a long box. “Hey, got you a present,” Bruce said, handing the box to Mike. Taking the box warily, “It’s not a prank,” Bruce chuckled.

The box was heavy and looked like a very long box that held roses. Taking the top off, Mike’s eyes grew wide. “Ahhh,” he gasped softly and pulled out a sword. “Crom,” Mike grinned inspecting the sword. The sword wasn’t a cheap replica. It was a handcrafted Conan the Barbarian sword and weighed over eight pounds.

Reaching back, Bruce picked up a hard scabbard he’d had Bonnie print out. “You can use this to mount it on the back of your suit,” Bruce chuckled.

With a wide-open grin, “Crom, grant me vengeance,” Mike panted out then turned to Bruce, “How did you know I liked this sword?”

Shrugging, “It’s the only sword I’ve ever seen you get excited over because I knew you weren’t drooling over Arnold,” Bruce answered, making Mike laugh. “There’s another box down below for you to give Nancy,” Bruce told Mike, “It’s Valeria’s sword.”

Holding the sword high, Mike turned to the troops. “Gamma!” he bellowed and everyone stopped, turning to see Mike holding up a sword. “We are barbarians, Gamma!” Mike shouted and Gamma started whooping and hollering.

“Yep, knew he liked that sword,” Bruce laughed. “Glad it wasn’t Arnold he was looking at like that.”

Chapter Thirteen

Leaving the shop, Bruce adjusted his shoulder bag and armful of papers. “Want us to get some of that?” Carl asked behind him.

“I can carry my own school books, thank you,” Bruce shot back and heard Ted snicker. It was only ten days until Christmas and the weather was nippy. Well, for Louisiana it was nippy at thirty-five degrees. One thing Bruce could admit, he could deal with cold much better than heat.

They followed Bruce to the house for the command meeting at 0900. When a guard by the backdoor swiped a card to open the door, Bruce didn’t even growl. This shocked Ted and Carl because Bruce always growled his disapproval of having to be scanned into his own house. Walking in the kitchen Bruce slowed, seeing others in the living room. He spotted Natasha first and then others who were supposed to be in the meeting, even a few advisors. “Jake told everyone to wait here until called for,” Natasha told him and Bruce gave a nod before turning down the hall then heading into the old office. Another guard was at the head of the steps leading down into the bunker and Bruce did give a growl at this which made Ted and Carl relax some.

When Bruce saw another guard outside the doors at the bottom of the steps, he slowed his pace down the steps. Before Bruce unloaded on them, “We didn’t put them there,” Carl informed Bruce.

The guard opened the door and Bruce walked in to find the command group already at the table waiting. “Jake,” Bruce called out heading for his chair at the other end of the table. “Why are there more guards in the house?” Bruce asked.

“Matt and I wanted to put something before you and the others,” Jake answered. Putting his stuff on the table Bruce looked up at Jake and nodded, then started unpacking his laptop. “We want to ask that Natasha be brought in on the magic bullets,” Jake said and Bruce stopped.

Looking up at Jake then to Matt, “I know you’ve put her over a lot in the Land of Oz,” Bruce said and Matt held up a hand.

“Daddy Bruce, she’s good and we really think Natasha will be a bonus. She thinks way outside the box and her problem-solving skills are like something from legend,” Matt stated.

Looking around the room, Bruce saw it was only those who knew about the europium, command members and senior advisors. “She talks and it will be you two who deal with her,” Bruce warned.

“Please,” Jake scoffed. “She will understand, and I’ll cap her myself if she doesn’t, but we don’t have to worry about that. We think she will have much more to offer. Hell, she improved the flying airfield more than anyone, including Matt and me. The first two Spartans (the class of flying airfields) are up and running. The next two will be operational the first half of January, but with the changes Natasha pushed.”

Nodding to Jake, Bruce looked around the table. “Jake has put forth that Natasha be brought in on the europium, I consent and ask for a vote,” Bruce said and everyone raised their hand. “Vote passed,” Bruce said, then turned to Matt and Jake. “You will tell her in a secure place. If you think she’s that much of a help, let her read the war outline I gave the group and let her know, she’s a senior advisor now.”

That shocked many and the boys nodded. “Oh, I know she’ll have lots to offer,” Jake said. “We’ll just have to show her the ‘magic’ is europium. Even I still have a hard time accepting that.”

“Just how did that guy figure it out?” Conner asked, looking around.

“A blue broke a computer monitor in its cell that was displaying a man shooting a gun,” Bruce answered, continuing to set up. “It drove its fist into the monitor and then dropped dead seconds later. It took Emerson weeks, but he figured it out. Fucking Homeland killed his ass because they didn’t want to shoot each one. They wanted blues to hunt other blues. They wanted quick and easy. You want quick and easy, bake cookies or masturbate.”

Lifting his eyes to look around the table, “So, is that all before the others come down?” Bruce asked.

“Nope,” Marcus said, holding up several folders. “I wanted to go over the spies.”

“That for me?” Bruce asked, pointing at the folders and Marcus nodded. Walking around the table to Marcus and grabbing the folders, “Give me the quick and dirty,” Bruce said heading back to his spot.

“After your interview to the clan, Dietrich confirmed with Peter Denton, that the broadcast was only put out to Hope and outlying forts. Peter Denton works part time at the studio and Dietrich was hoping it had been broadcast out to the wilderness,” Marcus said and everyone turned to Angela and Stephanie.

“We heard the name the day after the warrant was signed just like everyone else,” Angela scoffed. “We weren’t surprised. His primary job is inventory. He wishes he could be full time at the studio.”

“The fact Stephanie wants to gut the fucker with a butter knife may have something to do with Gopher not giving Peter a fulltime reporting job as an anchor,” Bruce mumbled.

“Like the bitch would use a butter knife,” Angela snorted.

Slapping the table hard, “I’m going to use a guitar string and saw his dick off then shove it up his ass!” Stephanie bellowed.

“Ahem,” Bruce cleared his throat and clasped his hands together on the table. “Babe, I love you and Angela loves you,” Bruce told her and that got a smile from Stephanie. “I know Peter’s a spy. But baby, every guy who flirts with you doesn’t need to have his dick cut off. You don’t have to threaten them and make fun of them. Just let it go.”

“Peter thinks it’s funny that he upsets me,” Stephanie grumbled. “We’ll see how funny he thinks it is when I saw his dick off.”

“Then why didn’t you let me or Angela handle it? Hell, even Bill offered to threaten Peter to make him apologize and put him on shit detail,” Bruce asked.

“I’m good now fighting hand to hand, CQB, and really good with a knife too. I can take care of myself, thank you,” Stephanie answered.

Turning to Angela, “You goin’ to help?” Bruce asked.

“Nope,” Angela answered. “Her dick is way past sitting on her shoulder. It’s dragging the ground and the end is still upstairs.” Giving up, Bruce just turned back to Marcus who had a smirk, and nodded.

“So far we’ve identified six in this ring, but we know there’s more. The reason I mentioned the contact with Peter, is Dietrich left base to make contact,” Marcus said and many gave a startle. “Yeah, we were about ready to light his ass up, but Dietrich went to a house on the other side of Lake Bistineau near Koran. There was a HAM radio there. Yes, the Ninjas caught the transmission and it was encoded, but they had a Reaper over him. Jake taught them the secret stuff Mack showed him about the Reaper and they cracked it. Dietrich told whoever answered, immediate drop in two days and gave coordinates. We got the package after Dietrich hid it and it was a copy of the interview. There was a message that said at next contact there would be another drop, same location. That was two days before the dance. We copied the computer thing left, and it was pictures and video of the suits and flying airfield at the fair. There was also one magazine of 5.56 magic bullets.”

Marcus saw none of this really surprised Bruce. “Dietrich contacted them again via the radio hidden in the city, and was told to get as much information about the suits and airship to make copies, along with what’s in the magic bullets. Reward would be increased and extraction would be ten days after it was done,” Marcus told him. “You already know who they are talking to, don’t you?”

“Australia,” Bruce nodded. “Jake and Matt still send me intel reports everyday even if we don’t have a meeting.”

“So they have some magic bullets?” Conner asked with a groan.

“Yeah, right,” Matt chuckled as he typed on his keyboard. “Gladys had the bullets, but after we got permission to search her room and found them hidden, we replaced them with something a bit more mundane.”

Conner gave a sigh of relief as Jake spoke. “Magic bullets aren’t that hard to get,” he reminded everyone. “Technically, Gladys did break the law because you are supposed to always turn in magic bullets because we just can’t make enough of them. But, everyone has done it. Those on the base and city who have access have brought some out to show. Granted, it’s only ever been one or two rounds that we know of. The clan just wants to feel a magic bullet and see one with their own eyes. That’s why we’ve never enforced it. But we do tell everyone who has access to watch out for them because gangs want them and that, everyone understands. Everyone who has access to magic bullets is to always be on the lookout for people who want them. Not to look at, but actually want the bullets. Gladys doesn’t have true access, she’s a loader, but they are given bullets just in case. Gladys is worried about what little she did take. I mean, one magazine of 5.56, come on. Hell, guards on the wall for the City of Hope use nearly five hundred rounds a night. In case anyone is wondering, we know the date Gladys took that magazine,” Jake smiled.

“Motherfucker,” Gene laughed, and most turned to Gene as he laughed. Seeing many confused faces, Gene chuckled out, “He just told you, someone notified the Ninjas about Gladys.”

Locking eyes with his dad, “Damn, you were right. The son of bitch is good,” Jake said nodding at Gene.

“Yeah, asshole knew when I was going to try something every time,” Bruce huffed.

“So, they don’t have magic bullets?” Conner asked for clarification.

With a shit-eating grin, “No, we gave them bullets that have ground up stale Cheerios and uranium,” Jake answered.

Slowly raising his hand, “Not to be like a cocksucker here,” Willie said, and when everyone turned to him Willie lowered his hand. “Shouldn’t we, like, tell Australia what’s in the magic bullets? They are the last place free of infection.”

“If it was just the Aussies down there, I would,” Bruce admitted. “But the scum that wants to rule the world are down there now. Australians are actually a minority in their own country now and are treated as such. For every Aussie, there are three immigrants. Eighty percent of the wealthy from across the globe are in Australia now. The president here was the only world leader that didn’t make it.”

“Oh, they tried to get his ass like three times,” Gene spoke up. “After the president’s motorcade was overrun in New York, the line of succession kicked in till it got to a living person. He was too far inland and the navy lost a lot of people on the last two attempts. They were on the West Coast the first time and he was on the east. Flying in from an aircraft carrier, they secured an airfield outside of Phoenix that could handle Air Force One because all the tankers that could refuel Air Force One were gone. Well, the bases were gone. The carrier group gathered every plane it could, CODs C-2 Greyhounds,” Gene paused, seeing weird looks. “It’s a twin engine plane used to deliver supplies to a carrier,” he told them and Jake put a picture up on the screens around the room. “They even had four Ospreys. The navy airlifted over a thousand sailors to that airport and they did secure it. But they didn’t have the ammo to hold it. All personnel and aircraft were lost. Well, Air Force One was almost there but starting to run low on fuel and a carrier group on the east coast said they were taking over an airfield at Knoxville, Kentucky because they knew Air Force One couldn’t make it to the coast with the fuel it had left. As Air Force One was en route, another thousand sailors were wiped out and all the aircraft lost. The aircraft weren’t lost, there just wasn’t anyone alive who could fly,” Gene corrected. “That’s when POTUS told us in Colorado to secure a site for him to land and we did,” Gene said, grinding his teeth. “Air Force One landed on fumes, along with the entire presidential air fleet. That motherfucker didn’t want to leave until one of the presidential limos was off-loaded. The fucking airport was packed with blues and it was in the middle of nowhere! He didn’t want to ride in a MRAP, he wanted the presidential limo because he hadn’t ridden in it before. I led six thousand, four hundred troops to secure that airport. That fucker cost me over four thousand troops wanting that damn limo. I finally told him, if we stay another ten minutes we are dead and he finally agreed to leave,” Gene told everyone.

“Three months later, the Marines lost two MEUs, expeditionary units, trying to fight inland to reach him and set up a refueling point in Idaho. They were going to use four helicopters from destroyers to try to fly in, but the MEUs were wiped out before they even made it out of Oregon. We still don’t know how, but we lost all but two aircraft carriers that were at sea to the virus. As everyone knows, they are in Australia.”

Leaning over the table and looking at Ted and Carl, “I want one of those presidential limos here to drive me around,” Bruce told them. “I want pictures and I want them on the internet.”

Everyone busted out laughing as Gene said, “You are something else, Bruce.”

Bruce turned to Angela and Stephanie. “I will drop you off at the studio. You are riding with me in the limo and we are going to be naked for our ride,” he grinned. “You can get redressed in the limo before you go in to do your noon show.”

Angela and Stephanie both pulled out phones tapping the screens. “I’ll have Keith ready to fill in for me in case I’m late,” Angela said.

“I’m telling Gail to be ready to fill in for me,” Stephanie stated.

“So telling the Aussies is bad?” Willie asked as he stopped laughing.

“Willie, have you listened to the reports Jake and Matt have given? They started giving updates on Australia in April. The ruling class finally got what they wanted, a population they can control. Yes, Australia had loosened up on citizens and guns, but now it’s a thousand times worse. When they should’ve been handing out guns, they took back what few there were,” Bruce told him. “The US Navy isn’t the only force there. Most of the European Union have troops there. If you add them all up, they have more troops than the Aussies. There are over a hundred and thirty million people in Australia now, along with the thirty million Aussies who were there in the first place. What I don’t understand, the fuckers down there, the so-called super rich, are the ones calling the shots. Only thing now is, they aren’t super rich anymore. All their hard assets are in lands controlled by the blues. What they have is just numbers in a computer and they are still in control,” Bruce grumbled. “Willie, those fuckers hate us with a passion. Why? We are showing everyone, they can fight and control their own destiny. The only laws they have to follow are the basic laws of the clan. Those who work are the ones in control, not the so-called ruling elite.”

“Okay, but what happens if somehow a breakout does occur Down Under?” Willie asked.

“Willie, if there aren’t blues in Australia already, there will be soon,” Bruce said with confidence.

“Whoa, Dad,” Jake said. “They have a great system going on with their patrols.” Jake saw Bruce just look at him, never showing any doubt. “What makes you say that then?”

Bruce started tapping his computer. “It was Nancy who showed me the answer,” Bruce said and everyone turned to her.

Shaking her head, “I have no fucking idea what I told him,” Nancy confessed.

“It was a photo you showed me that one of your barge patrols took,” Bruce told her. “They call them ‘hangers’.”

“Oh,” Nancy said nodding, and then stopped. “I don’t get it.”

A picture popped up and everyone could see a blue hanging on a metal drum floating in the water. “This was taken on the Mississippi River, but there are reports of this everywhere. Those coming in that Nancy’s scavengers have found on waterways will tell you about them. Each boat crew has a different name for a blue hanging onto something floating in the water, but I like ‘hangers’,” Bruce said looking up. “My research team studying blues has a Global Hawk at their disposal. When I saw this, I asked them to just scan the ocean. Well, the drone was coming back from Africa and it only took an hour to find one,” Bruce said, tapping the keyboard. An image of a blue laying on something white floating in the water popped up on the screen. “That blue is a thousand miles from the closest land,” he told them. “They may have hydrophobia, but they can cross water. I’m one hundred percent positive, not one blue jumped on something that was floating just to see where it would go. More than likely, they were chasing something and fell in or tried to jump on a boat going under a bridge,” Bruce said and they all nodded on that one.

“Fact is, they can cross water. Not on purpose, but they can. If you’ve read what the research team put out, a blue can go for five months without eating. It can go fifty days without water. Son, that’s lengthy enough to float a long way,” Bruce said.

“But Dad, they will know when it happens,” Jake told him.

“Son, I’ve been to Australia. They call it the Outback for a fucking reason. People in America used to freak out seeing a sign, ‘Next gas 70 miles’. Shit, in the Outback, that’s right next door. Motherfuckers in the Outback will WALK thirty miles to fill up a gas can. They carry gas cans in their trucks for a reason. I worked with the 1st Commando Regiment and when we were done, a sergeant asked if I wanted to go to his property in the Outback. Shit, I had ten days leave, so I said sure. We took his small plane from Brisbane, flew for six fucking hours, and landed at an airstrip in a town that had three buildings and four houses. Got in his truck, filled up the sixty-gallon tank at one of the buildings that was a gas station, and filled up eight five-gallon cans,” Bruce paused seeing everyone listening, “Yes, it was liters, but I’m converting,” Bruce told everyone.

“All those television shows you see of trucks and cars in Australia with snorkels, heavy-duty grill guards, and off-road packages? They have that shit for a reason. You can’t even compare Alaska to the Outback. We drove for ten fucking hours and we passed one town, and all that was there was a gas station that was also someone’s home. Mick, the sergeant I was with, told me he didn’t like to give them business even though they were closer to his place. There is only one thing that can save Australia from blues in the Outback and that’s those damn crocodiles. We crossed one swamp. Yes, they call it something like billabong, but it’s a swamp. Well, I look out my window because the truck is going through two feet of water and I spot a croc coming at the truck. Oh, hell yeah, I wanted to go home right fucking then, but Mick told me we didn’t have the fuel to turn around.”

Bruce paused as everyone leaned over the table waiting for him to continue. “So Mick finally told me, we reached his place. I look around for a house and Mick says, we reached his land, not where he lives,” Bruce said. “Oh, we had another three hours of riding to get to any structure. We are on a dirt road like we have been since we started and he’s driving like thirty to forty. I’m thinking he’s about to go cross-country. But Mick says the road goes to his house. So I ask just how big his shit is, I shit you not, Mick looked over at me and shrugged, ‘It’s on a tiny spread, forty-five thousand acres’,” Bruce stopped shaking his head. “Yeah, the first thing I fucking asked was why in the fuck was he in the army if he had that much land and Mick busts out laughing. According to him, what he owns isn’t shit in the outback. His parents own over a quarter of a million acres and run a sheep farm. Oh, I’m thinking his family is like mega money but no, they’re normal folks. We have states here that aren’t as big as his parents’ ranch,” Bruce told everyone, then turned his gaze to Jake.

“Son, Australia was nearly the size of the US and only had the population of Texas. Yes, there are more people now but they are all staying in the same places, along the coasts. Before you say, ‘That’s where a blue will wash up’, you can drive for hours along sections of coasts and not see a town. And that is on the east side, the desert west coast, bring gas cans, lots of gas cans. I’m not saying they won’t stop some, but they won’t stop them all,” Bruce finished.

“What happened when you got to Mick’s?” Angela asked and Stephanie started chuckling.

“Oh, found out the fucker had a runway and a plane there but the plane he flew us in, he’d taken to Brisbane for a friend to get a new engine. He had a big fuel tank, but I never found out how he filled it,” Bruce said, cutting his eyes at Stephanie chuckling. “I’m not going to lie, it is beautiful but damn. I can take the remoteness, but every fucking thing on the continent can kill your ass. I wasn’t out of that truck for two hours and saw three of the deadliest snakes in the world!” Bruce cried out. “Now, thinking about that, some of that shit might kill blues,” Bruce admitted.

“What about the kangaroo? An..a…and koala?” Stephanie giggled and started convulsing in her chair.

Sitting up in her chair, “Koala?” Buffy asked with a smile.

“What kangaroo?” Dani asked as Bruce stared holes through Stephanie.

“The kangaroo was on Mick’s porch. I thought it was a pet,” Bruce snarled at Stephanie and she bit her lip to hold in the laughter and slid out of her chair. Turning to Jake, “That’s why I know blues will get to Australia, but I’m sure some already have. If they move around the Outback, they have food and like my researchers have pointed out, blues like to stay where they can see long distances. That’s why they don’t like jungles but will go in forests, like around here. If they can see a hundred yards, they’re good.”

“Hold up,” Dani said, getting to her feet. “What about the kangaroo?”

“Nothing,” Bruce said, making the pile of folders beside him neat.

“The kangaroo kicked Bruce’s ass!” Stephanie howled out from the floor.

“I’m burning those fucking journals,” Bruce growled. He then looked up at Dani who was grinning. “I thought the damn thing was a pet. I mean, it’s on his porch just standing there looking around! I see a little joey peek out of the pouch. I think ‘aww, how cute. I need a picture for Debbie’. Well, I moved up to take a picture and felt God thump my chest. I wake up half an hour later in Mick’s - guest room(slash) living room(slash)kitchen(slash)only room with power, and he then tells me, ‘don’t get close to a kangaroo momma’. I told him I thought it was a pet and he laughed. He tells me he’s woken up with the damn things in the house, but none are pets.”

“It boxed you?” Buffy asked.

“Fuck no, the bitch kicked me and sent me twenty feet through the air and off the porch,” Bruce snapped. “It fucking hurt to breathe, otherwise I would’ve tracked that bitch down and fed her and her kid to a croc.”

As Stephanie crawled back in her chair, still trying not to laugh so hard, “What about the koala?” Buffy asked.

Glaring at Stephanie with a piercing gaze, “Will you keep your mouth shut?!” Bruce snarled and Stephanie shook her head as her face turned purple. Curling his lip as he mumbled silently, Bruce turned to Buffy. When she saw the violence on his face, Buffy really didn’t want to hear about the koala anymore.

Leaning his head to the left and right, popping his neck, “Well, my chest hurt from the bitch kangaroo kicking me,” Bruce grumbled, turning to Stephanie. “So, Mick gives me a beer. Well, I didn’t know then but Australian beer is much, and I mean much stronger than our beer. They call our beer piss water, and make fun of American beer. I didn’t like the taste but fuck my chest hurt. I should’ve realized after two I was drunk. I had just turned twenty and could drink a case of Budweiser and walk a straight line, but that shit knocked my dick in the dirt. Then I hear a noise and freak out thinking Zulu warriors riding dinosaurs and shit is coming. I fucking dove under the table and came out fucking screaming. There was a damn three foot lizard under there.”

Everyone was trying not to laugh as Bruce held his gaze on Stephanie. “Oh, Mick was rolling around laughing when I hear that noise outside again and start screaming for a fucking gun. Mick gets his ass up and pulls me to the porch, but I didn’t want to go on the porch because the last time I was there, I got knocked the fuck out. He points over to a tree as I hear that noise again. It’s a bird that isn’t even a foot long, he tells me it’s a kookaburra. I just can’t believe a bird that size could make that sound, but it damn sure could,” Bruce paused and reached over taking Mike’s bottle of water but never took his eyes off Stephanie.

Putting Mike’s water back after taking a long swig, “Since Mick is having such a laugh at the funny American, he pulls me back in and I see the fucking lizard again. Mick tells me to quit acting like a sheela. I tell him sheela can kiss my ass because I’m not drunk anymore. Then Mick explains sheela equals pussy as he gives me another beer.” Bruce turned to Buffy, “Another thing I learned, everyone in Australia has alcohol to deal with nature. You find a house without alcohol, they aren’t Aussies.” When he finished, he turned back to Stephanie.

“So Mick tells me this is just a baby lace monitor. I correct his fucking ass telling him it’s a three foot fucking lizard. Mick scoffs and pulls me outside but takes the side door that I would later find out led to the bathroom (slash) outhouse with a water hose on the side for an outdoor shower. He pulls me to the barn(slash) carport(slash) airplane hangar(slash) food storage and opens the door. He bangs around and I see one huge snake crawl from under the plane and nearly pass out when Mick picks it up and puts it outside. ‘Just a python, ya ninny’, he scoffs at me and starts to bang around some more, but I’m looking at the nine-foot snake that’s slithering away. I turn back around when I hear a hiss. I thought it was a croc in his barn but Mick says that’s a monitor, perentie monitor. What I see is a seven-foot-long fucking lizard that is pissed the fuck off. I finish off my beer, walk over to the plane, and climb in. Mick asks where I’m going, I tell his ass I’m leaving his little slice of heaven before it kills my ass.”

Hearing a snort, Bruce shifted his eyes to Angela. “Mick says he didn’t know I could fly. I told his ass I would fucking figure it out. I started looking over the instrument panel, but Mick said before I took off to come inside and he would cook some food. I was hesitant but he said steak so I walked my ass back inside and didn’t even wait for him to offer a beer. But I open the fridge and don’t see beer. Mick slaps my hand, closing the door and pulls me over to another fridge. It seems in Australia, beer has to have its own fridge because it’s so potent,” Bruce explained then shifted his eyes back to Stephanie.

“I sucked down five fucking beers standing at that fridge. If I was going to die, I didn’t want to feel it,” Bruce told them. “Well, the Outback took a break from me while food was cooked or I was too drunk to notice. Mick wanted to eat on the porch and I informed him I would rather roast in hell. I didn’t want to be on that porch. So Mick took me out to a picnic table and we sat out there eating. An hour or so passed and the sun was going down and bitch kangaroo came bouncing in, or I thought it was her, but she brought in a pack of cunts with her. Kangaroos, a herd, or whatever you call a bunch of hopping bitches, just bounced past as I’m trying to climb a tree before they kick my ass again. There was no way in hell I was dealing with a pack when one momma knocked me out. The kangaroos just keep on going and now I have to figure out how I’m getting my drunk ass out of this tree I climbed up.”

Bruce stopped and for the first time in the tale, gave a grin. “Mick’s drunk ass was rolling around laughing at me and calling me sheela. He stops all of a sudden as something on the ground rises up hissing. I knew when he slowly eased away, it wasn’t a nice snake. When Mick got far enough away, he jumped back and took off running and the snake gave chase,” Bruce paused. “Yeah, the snake chased his ass. I didn’t know what to do. He fucking ran from it so I know that snake is bad, but if I jump down I could hurt my leg because I was drunk and that snake looked kind of fast. Before I decided, Mick came from the other side of the house. He just ran around it. He told me that was an eastern brown and if it bites we die because we are too far out. Well, I tell his ass I don’t want to meet a western, northern, or southern brown and he just laughs telling me to get down. I politely tell him to go fuck himself. Mick informs me they love trees and I flew out of that tree like Spider Man. After going to the beer fridge again, because I found out Aussies always keep the beer fridge full because nature kicks your ass down there, he leads me to the side of the house. Oh, what do I see? A really big ass lizard eating a really long ass snake. Mick tells me that’s why you let monitors be, they eat snakes and that was the brown we saw earlier. I inform Mick, in America, we are advanced. If a snake tries to bite our ass, we get a gun and shoot the son of a bitch.

“Now, I’m drunk but I’m terrified of the Outback and I visit the beer fridge many times. I don’t know when Mick helped me to the bed(slash) couch, but he told me if a kangaroo is inside in the morning to leave it alone. Shit, I wanted to sleep in the truck but figured that big ass lizard was still hungry so I just passed out hoping if I died, it would be quick,” Bruce stopped for a bit staring at Stephanie laughing quietly.

“So, I’m in a drunken blissful sleep and have to pee but know the beer shits won’t be far behind. I mean, I feel pressure. Well, I’ve seen the outhouse and cracked my eye open and saw it was just getting light out so I wasn’t going in that outhouse until I could see inside and I closed my eye. But I still feel I have to pee but the pressure moved. Oh, the remnants of alcohol evaporated from my body at that realization. My bladder has been with me my entire life and it has never ‘moved’. I slowly opened my eyes looking down and see a fucking gray beast sitting on me and the head rotated around like the exorcist. I didn’t have to pee anymore because it all came out.

“I jumped up screaming, saw an opening, and took off. I didn’t even care that I ran off the porch. I was going to run back to my wife. And run I did. The sun was up when a dirt bike shot past me and skidded to a stop but I just ran right past that motherfucker. Mick jumped off the bike and ran after me and tackled my ass. Oh, I busted his lip, telling him I was fucking running back to America. I was certain I could swim the Pacific with no problem.

“Mick finally calmed me down and told me he would fly me back. Well, I wanted him to bring the plane to me, I didn’t want to go back to his house. It took a bit on his part, but I got on the back of the bike and he drove us home. Now, I will admit, Mick can track because I didn’t run along the road. I busted brush, baby. I was heading northwest because Debbie was in Washington State and there was none of this evil shit there. It seemed I had run nearly five miles almost reaching a swamp he called a billabong.

“We reach his slice of heaven, that I called hell, and he asks me what the hell scared me. I informed his ass there was a fucking demonic bear that could spin its head all the way around and Mick dropped to the ground laughing. So tired of that now, I started looking for something to beat Mick to death with that I could argue it wasn’t me, the kangaroo or the demonic bear used it. Staggering to his feet, Mick goes in the house and comes back with a koala bear. Crossing my arms over my chest, I inform Mick, there is another one that’s four times that size in the house. Mick tells me in a gale of laughter it was sleeping on my pillow that was still on the couch. He told me the koala’s name was Freddie and Freddie normally isn’t there that time of year and I don’t even fucking ask ‘what time of year’ Mick is talking about.

“I finally held the stinky bear and took its picture because I knew Debbie would kill me if I didn’t,” Bruce finished and everyone was trying not to laugh. “There, I told it,” he snarled at Stephanie.

Putting her hands on the table, “Bruce, you do know when Mick visited you and Debbie in Washington and told that story along with your week there, Debbie recorded it,” Stephanie smirked. “Mick said you tried to kill Freddie.”

“I did not,” Bruce growled. “I pulled a knife from the kitchen and told that demonic little head-spinning bastard to stay the hell away from me.”

“Oh, man,” Dani panted. “Why didn’t Momma ever tell us about that?”

“Someone will find out later why Momma didn’t relay that story or others of my time in Outback Hell,” Bruce smiled, cutting his eyes toward Stephanie.

Waving a hand out, “You were speaking about Australia, so that was a valid point of contention and associated with the subject brought up by several,” Stephanie informed him. “It was meant in no way to be degrading.”

“I pissed and shit all over myself running from a fucking little moving teddy bear before that I got my ass kicked by a whore kangaroo,” Bruce growled.

“It was relevant to the conversation,” Stephanie smiled. “Any action by you for that will be considered hostile and unforgiving. I was just helping you explain the vastness of Australia to one of our children.”

“Jake, just tell the others to come down before I shave Stephanie’s head,” Bruce grumbled.

Chapter Fourteen

Dropping down at his desk in the shop, Bruce looked at the calendar Emily and Sherry had made for him at school and just grinned until he realized it was the eighth of January. “I never should’ve taken so long off,” he grumbled and picked up the report from Paul. If they were going to launch the project to build the wall in March, they had to take over Laughlin Air Force Base now.

Supplies were going to be moved forward to Laughlin to build the Mexico fort and wall. As well, Laughlin was going to be the main air base. A wall had to be put up around it and the inside cleared before supplies could be moved and the base set up to run operations.

Because of the report, Bruce had put Omega on alert and set to roll out to Laughlin on the tenth. Vehicles had already been moved to the assembly area as the clan again started getting their army ready for war.

The entire day had been spent training in his suit along with Omega. Everyone wearing a suit found they had something else in common with blues: they couldn’t swim. Or as Buffy put it, ‘we swim like a big rock’.

All day had been spent getting over the panic when you sank no matter how hard you tried, there was no swimming. The suit was airtight and the helmet sealed off when submerged. Once under water, you only had three minutes of air inside the suit. When your feet hit bottom, you had to push off to break the surface and get air, submerge and repeat until you could get out. The major problem with that was if the water was deeper than thirty feet, you couldn’t jump to break the surface and twenty feet wasn’t a ‘give me’.

Oh, there was a line of suits that could be made to function underwater. The suit took oxygen directly from the water, but the Cyber Ninjas hadn’t worked the kinks out of that line yet. Not to mention the fact in the time it took to print out an underwater capable scuba suit, three land suits could be made. What Bruce found pretty cool was there was even a pressurized suit designed for the Space Force. It took even longer to print one than the scuba suit.

Looking up as Ted, Carl, and Bonnie walked in followed by Max and Tiger, “What the hell took you three so long?” Bruce grinned.

“Tending to your shit,” Ted huffed.

Pushing back from his desk, “I put my suit up,” Bruce stated.

“No, Max,” Ted clarified. “Your dog thought a squirrel was going to kill us all and took off after it. What a squirrel was doing out in the field I’ll never figure out, but when Max caught the squirrel it seems the squirrel didn’t like that.”

Looking down at Max, “Do I need to go and shoot a squirrel?” Bruce asked, and Max just sat down panting.

“No, Tiger came over to help, yapping away,” Carl laughed. “When Max let the squirrel go it charged Tiger, and Max wasn’t having that.”

Rubbing Max’s head, Bruce couldn’t help but grin as Tiger came over and jumped up in his lap. “I think both of you together are a bad influence on each other,” he chuckled.

“I’m not commenting,” Carl huffed as he sat down. “You would think training in a powered suit wouldn’t be so tiring.”

“You are still performing actions, just with more available power,” Bonnie said as Tiger jumped off Bruce’s lap and ran over to jump on hers when she sat down.

Bruce just nodded because training in the suits was tiresome. The younger crowd who were used to dealing with computers were much better going through the menus to get the suit to do what they wanted. This didn’t include Bruce, and that’s why Bonnie had a direct link to his suit. Jake was certain, his father could and would break the suit when he got lost in the plethora of menus on the heads-up display.

One thing that Bruce and everyone had come to find out, wearing the suit was addictive. You had the power of a superhero and really didn’t want to take it off. Because of that, Bruce had put out to all commanders to watch for that, and Bruce was designing a schedule to be followed to make sure troopers took off the suit. Bruce knew it was addictive because he was one of those addicted. In the suit he could sprint forty-one miles per hour, but could only do that for eight seconds. But Bruce could jog at twenty-three miles an hour and could do that for three hours. Granted, he could probably go a bit longer, but the battery was drained by then.

By no means was Bruce the fastest, not even among the family. Buffy held that title, sprinting at forty-eight miles per hour, but the fastest was a member of Omega and he could sprint at fifty-three. So yeah, the suit was addictive because you were a demigod with superpowers at the very least.

That was why a new type of vehicle was being added to each regiment. It had one function, monitor the suits and those inside. Natasha was the one monitoring those in Omega, which did surprise Bruce.

Natasha had joined them from Groom Lake. She’d been with the Space Force, working on a plasma engine at Area 51 when the Fall occurred. In a twist of irony, everything Natasha needed to get her engine to work was there at Groom Lake but because of the secrecy, she and her team didn’t know and toiled away. One thing Bruce could agree with Jake on, Natasha did think outside the box.

After being shown what made magic bullets, because Natasha damn sure didn’t believe it, Natasha came up with a way to increase production almost overnight. They had been grinding the europium into a powder and loading hollow points. Since bullets were made from lead wire pressed from huge billets of lead, Natasha just inserted a thread of europium in the center of that lead wire. It was almost as effective as the powder, but the longest one of the test blues lasted after being shot in the leg was seventy-nine seconds. With the powder, blues dropped in fifty seconds.

Using powder, magic bullets production was just over a million rounds a day. With Natasha’s method, they were putting out two point six million rounds a day in various calibers. The problem now was the rest of the components like lead, brass, primers, and propellant. That may seem like a lot, but one regiment of Omega in Georgia had chewed through a day’s production in under an hour. Granted, the blues were thick, but they had consumed Hope’s entire surplus of magic bullets in that one campaign. That’s why Gamma and Beta were just used to secure the areas where forts were going up.

If blues were at a distance or solitary, troops used rifles to take them out and the clan averaged five rounds per kill. The blatant fact was blues charged for the most part and belt fed guns were the fastest way to stop that shit. That’s why ammo was always at the forefront of Bruce’s mind. He never wanted any trooper or survivor to have to count shots to kill blues. Nobody wasted ammo but when spotting a blue, trigger control wasn’t a priority and Bruce never wanted it to be. When Omega had started with no magic bullets they had to let blues get close to get aimed kill shots, and two hundred yards was close in Bruce’s mind when the other side could run at fifty miles an hour. Now they could engage at a distance but distance also added up to more misses, but at least they weren’t nose to nose with the evil Smurf speed demons.

Going over projected numbers of blues killed on Omega’s battle run, Stephanie had concluded Omega was averaging seventy bullets to kill one blue. When you have air swooping down like God’s Mower, Bruce felt that number was off but was still happy with it because rationing ammo was never going to happen as long as he was in charge. Hell, even the guards mounting the walls of Hope and the forts used several thousand rounds a day shooting blues that got in range. That didn’t include Fort Hood. They were using around five thousand rounds each shift to keep the blues at bay and were reporting they weren’t stemming the tide by any means.

Thanks to Natasha, production had more than tripled but using what Stephanie had come up with, it would take three decades to make enough ammo just to take out the blues in the states. Paul had assured Bruce by March, ammo production would reach three and a half million rounds a day. But even Paul admitted that was going to be the upper limit for some time until raw material production could be increased.

Carl, Ted, and Bonnie were just looking at Bruce as he gazed off at nothing. All of them knew he was thinking and to leave him alone, so they just sat quietly.

Not coming up with a way to increase ammo, Bruce thought about survivors. Out west, snow was making finding survivors easy with the drones. They had never really concentrated hard because there wasn’t that much water, but they were finding survivors in the mountains. Way more than what anyone had predicted.

One group they had spotted while Bruce was on vacation was in Utah and it was a big group. Contact had been made in July and the group reported ten thousand, two hundred and eight survivors. The group was near Strawberry Reservoir at over seven thousand feet elevation. Bruce was shocked a group that large was there because two hordes had passed the area. Yes, the group had used the terrain to make fences and blocked off any easy path, but the barricades weren’t that impressive in Bruce’s mind. Because the group was so far away, it had taken a lot just to drop a secured radio off to them. Not surprisingly, most were Mormons.

A large portion of survivors they had found out west were in the backcountry way up in the mountains. They had found several small communities at high elevation, like nine thousand feet, still there but with log walls around their towns like from ages past in cowboy days.

“Why haven’t the blues hit them?” Bruce mumbled, but nobody answered. First, they knew not to disturb him and second, they had no idea what he was talking about.

Pushing that thought back to wonder about later, Bruce started going over what had to be done and if he had missed any training that could help. One thing that did bother Bruce, drivers of any vehicle weren’t issued suits. Jake and Matt had implemented that from the start. At first, Bruce disagreed until it was pointed out, a driver wearing a suit could very easily, not meaning to, rip the steering wheel off if they got excited. Having the steering wheel ripped off as a swarm of blues were approaching was bad on too many levels. Not to mention, a driver wearing a suit would have very little room in any vehicle. The suit was twice as bulky compared to Hollywood’s version of an Ironman suit.

In his suit, Bruce did drive an MRAP and found out Jake and Matt were spot on. Ripping a steering wheel off wasn’t that hard, not to mention if you slammed the gas or brake pedals, you bent it or broke it off. To compensate for that, Bruce had all rigs put a cage door from the back to block off the driver’s area. Not about to ask Jake and Matt to reconfigure a suit’s strength for drivers, Bruce let the order stand.

So not having a solution to that, Bruce let his mind wander along until supper.

***

In their office at the barn, Stephanie looked over at Angela at her desk as both were doing paperwork for the areas they were over. “You know, if we didn’t have to be reporters, we would be training now and then could get the kids,” Stephanie sighed. They were still training on their suits.

Shoving a stack of reports away, “I know, but every time we even mention quitting, we have thousands of emails begging us not to, thanks to Gopher going on the air informing everyone,” Angela reminded her.

Thinking as she bit her bottom lip, “You think Debbie would’ve been a reporter?” Stephanie asked.

“Yep,” Angela answered without hesitation and Stephanie turned, a bit shocked she’d answered so fast and sounded so sure. “Stephanie, Debbie met with groups every day, telling them what was planned, what to expect, and so many other things. Hell, Debbie talked to people more than anyone, including the pastor. So yeah, it would’ve been just right for her. But in all reality, Debbie never had a choice keeping the clan up-to-date because most of the time, Bruce expects people to read his damn mind!” Angela snapped the last part out.

Not able to come to Bruce’s defense on that, Stephanie just nodded. “Never really thought about it, but Debbie was always talking and meeting with people,” she admitted.

“That’s another reason I don’t mind, because I know Debbie would want us to,” Angela told her.

Locking eyes with Angela, “Just because we are getting suits, don’t think we are going to wade into battle with Bruce,” Stephanie warned.

Not intimidated, “Please,” Angela scoffed. “I know that’s why Debbie never went out. She knew what would happen.” So glad Angela knew and she didn’t have to tell her, Stephanie relaxed. “Debbie was the baddest bitch I’ve ever known in my life,” Angela admitted. “She backed down from nobody, including Bruce. I really think Mike is the only person besides Bruce that could’ve beaten Debbie in a fight. She never hesitated any time going out on runs, and I watched Debbie cut down blues with her AUG like they were toys. But she knew her time was coming fast and never really pushed hard to fight because Debbie knew if fate cut her time short before she could prepare Bruce, the world was fucked. Now, if we get hurt I think the clan could function and survive with the kids, but Bruce would lose his mind so I know we aren’t going to wade into battle with him but I hope you know, we will still be going and running his air war.”

Lifting her chin, “That’s behind the lines, so it doesn’t count,” Stephanie informed her, making Angela snort and giggle. “If something happens to us in Prometheus, Bruce and Omega are already dead.”

“I was going to ask Carroll if she minded babysitting for us,” Angela smirked. “She and Marcus offered to keep the kids before I did.”

Smiling for a second at that, Stephanie dropped the smile with a nervous look, getting Angela a bit worried. “Can I ask you something personal?” Stephanie cringed, but had been working up the courage for over a year.

“Duh,” Angela sang out. “You’re my wife and best friend.”

Forcing a nervous smile, “I swear, I don’t want to hurt your feelings…” Stephanie paused. “Why did you run to Debbie and Bruce’s room when you heard Alex was killed?” Instantly, Angela’s eyes got watery and Stephanie really wanted to cry and take the question back. “I’m sorry,” Stephanie blurted out, getting up and dropping on her knees in front of Angela’s chair and hugged her tight. “Forget I asked.”

“No,” Angela said in a normal voice and pushed Stephanie back to look in her face. “I heard Alex,” Angela told her and Stephanie just cocked her head to the side. “Right after Mike told me Alex was the first one killed, I heard Alex. He wasn’t in my mind, Stephanie. I heard him and wondered why nobody else did,” Angela sniffled.

Stephanie clearly remembered Angela on that day calling out Alex’s name and looking around the room just after Mike told her. Like everyone else, Stephanie thought it was shock.

Never blinking as she looked into Stephanie’s eyes, “Alex told me to get Cade and run to Debbie and Bruce’s room,” Angela admitted. “I just kept looking around for him because I fucking heard him, then Alex started getting forceful raising his voice and repeating for me to get Cade and run to Debbie and Bruce’s room now. So I grabbed Cade, thinking Alex was going to be there for some reason and this was just a mistake. As I was running up the stairs I heard Alex’s voice and he was much calmer, almost at ease,” Angela told her.

Wiping her eyes, “Going up the stairs carrying Cade, Alex’s voice wasn’t around me anymore, it was inside me. He said, ‘Stay close to Debbie and Bruce, they will always protect and love you and Cade.’ When I got to the bedroom, I was searching for Alex,” Angela admitted.

Stephanie and Debbie had followed Angela, and Stephanie always wondered why Angela opened the closets and looked in the bathroom. “When you and Debbie left was the last time I heard Alex,” Angela mumbled. “’Hell is coming and you must stay near them. I will always love you, but you must be ready’ is what he told me and I just sat and cried because I thought I was losing my mind. It was then I realized Alex was really dead and I was just in shock, but I heard him. Then after Debbie, I realized I really did hear Alex. He knew who would stand with me and Cade no matter what. Even in death, he was looking out for us.”

Reaching up and brushing Angela’s bangs from her face, “I’m sorry I asked, but I always wondered why,” Stephanie told her.

Smiling, “I know Alex is with Debbie waiting on us,” Angela told her.

With her own eyes leaking now, “I miss Debbie so much and I like the fact Alex was waiting on Debbie with her dad,” Stephanie admitted.

Cringing slightly, “Stephanie, do you think Debbie is proud of how we are doing?” Angela asked somewhat nervously.

Giving an exasperated sigh, “I hope so,” Stephanie cried out. “We are doing the best we can and she guided us as much as she could but also left us instructions, so I hope she is proud of us.”

Smiling now, “She did share her family with us,” Angela noted.

Not smiling, “I still wish it had been me taken and not her,” Stephanie admitted.

“It had to be her.”

Nodding, “Yeah, I know that now and whoever or whatever God is, it better be ready to do some explaining when I get up there,” Stephanie said.

Giving a snort and chuckle, “Oh, you wait until I get there because I want to watch that,” Angela told her.

Looking over at the clock, “It’s supper time, we can finish this tomorrow,” Stephanie said standing up and held out her hand, pulling Angela up from her chair. “I swear, running scavenger teams and the Praetorians is more time-consuming than I thought.”

“What about the recycling plants, building teams, committees-,” Angela stopped as Stephanie put a finger on her lips because Angela could’ve gone on for a long time.

“I know what we are over, but those are the ones going outside to gather supplies and they worry me,” Stephanie replied.

“You know going out with Omega is just going to increase our workload,” Angela said, straightening her shirt.

Narrowing her eyes, “You would rather stay here?” Stephanie warbled.

“Hell no, but I just thought I should point it out since paperwork seems to bother you.”

Shaking her head, “You’re like Bruce on paperwork, ‘I’ll do it when I get to it’,” Stephanie grinned.

Shrugging, “Yeah, I just make sure I keep up with the important stuff and do the rest when I get a chance,” Angela admitted as they headed out of the barn. “You know, this place doesn’t look anything like it did when I got here.”

“Huh,” Stephanie grunted. “This was the closest place I’ve ever had to a real home and family, so think about how I see it. I can only imagine how Bruce, Mike, and Nancy feel. The kids I don’t think really care much either way.”

Reaching out and holding Stephanie’s hand as they headed to the center, “But because of them, humanity has a chance and none of those coming in can see what they did to prepare and save us all,” Angela moaned, feeling it wasn’t right.

Looking around at all the changes while they walked, “Well, there’s no way it could ever be returned to the way it was,” Stephanie pointed out.

Also looking around, “No, someone would have to build a replica,” Angela said.

“That won’t happen,” Stephanie scoffed. “Think we should see if Bruce got the kids?”

“We are,” Angela answered. “We’re going to the center and if Bruce doesn’t have them or isn’t there, we’ll go get them.”

Shaking her head, “I know Bruce didn’t finish the flash cards this morning, and the babies don’t need to miss a day,” Stephanie said and Angela stifled a snort. She didn’t think it was funny, just how Stephanie approached the learning. Stephanie acted like the babies understood every word she was saying. All three could crawl now and weren’t fast, but seemed to move with the stealth of a ninja. No sooner than you turned your back, they were into something and with three, one always seemed to evade attention until they got into something.

Now six months old, Joshua and Isaac were the same size as some of the one-year-olds and poor little Jessica was still wearing clothes for a three-month-old. When Jessica was born, Angela had hoped because of her size Jessica wouldn’t be tiny, but it seemed she refused to grow. “Where the hell did our boys get their size from?” Angela blurted out. “I’ve seen pictures of Bruce’s family and he’s the biggest.”

“They didn’t get it from me,” Stephanie scoffed. “I was the tallest person in my family.”

“Bruce better hope some of those genes are in Jessica,” Angela grumbled. Wisely, Stephanie didn’t laugh because Angela didn’t like being tiny and she hoped Jessica would hit a growth spurt, but wasn’t going to be surprised if Jessica turned out like her momma.

Reaching the center, they joined the crowd heading inside and several did a double-take since Angela and Stephanie usually did the evening news broadcast, but they’d told Gopher they were taking a week off and only doing the noon broadcast. Walking in they spotted Susan, so they knew nobody was still at school, but didn’t see Bruce or the kids.

“Where’s Bruce and the kids?” Stephanie asked, walking up to the table.

“I don’t know where Bruce is, but Dani and the other kids came and picked up the little ones a few hours ago,” Susan answered.

“I hope they remember the babies have to eat every three hours,” Stephanie blurted out, lifting her arm and glancing at her watch.

Rolling her eyes and heading to the end of the table, “It won’t damage the babies to be a little late for a meal,” Angela told her, again.

Before Stephanie responded, the door opened and in filed their wild bunch with Dani, Mary, and Mindy carrying the babies. Everyone at the table gawked at Buffy, walking between the twins and holding their hands. “AWwww, that’s so sweet,” Stephanie cooed.

Knowing it was about her, Buffy gave a tiny grin. “Emily and Sherry can be really nice at times.”

“What were you guys doing?” Stephanie asked and went to get Joshua.

“I got him,” Dani smiled, sitting down. “Since we finished training early today, we got the little ones and played in the fort.”

Not wanting to know how six-month-olds ‘played’, Stephanie left it alone. “They do need to eat,” she pointed out.

Looking up at Stephanie, “We killed a cow and roasted it this afternoon for them to eat,” Dani replied.

Rolling her eyes and heading for her chair, “Oh, you are so your father’s child,” Stephanie moaned.

“We fed them an hour ago with the boobie milk you sent to daycare, Stephanie,” Dani told her.

After leading the twins to their chairs, Buffy moved over, getting in her chair next to Dani. “You need to stop before you make her mad,” Buffy warned. Thinking about that, Dani gave a nod in agreement. You never had one momma on you. Angela and Stephanie both unloaded when someone angered one.

Thinking about it, Dani liked her mom’s choice. It took both to corral her father. Stephanie was the loving one, but would rarely stand up to Bruce. Angela would stand up to Bruce, but couldn’t stroke his ego like Stephanie. Both complemented each other very well. So well in fact, at times, Dani felt a bit sorry for her dad. “Sorry,” Dani replied with a smile at Stephanie.

“She’s much wiser than her father,” Angela snickered while sitting down. “You finished training earlier than expected.”

“Yeah, Dad noticed people were getting bored and called a stop,” Dani told her cuddling Joshua to her chest.

“The only ones still out are Daddy Bruce’s headquarters group,” Mary chimed in.

None were surprised by that and everyone knew why. Those two hundred were always near Bruce and had to follow him into battle and with Bruce, one never knew what that would involve, so they trained ten times harder than any group. No matter where Bruce waded into battle, those in his headquarters group would always follow no matter the odds.

Everyone turned to see Jake, Matt, and David coming in, but were surprised to see Natasha with them. She very rarely left the Land of Oz and for the most part, was now over Oz with only Matt and Jake over her. Dani had to admit, Natasha was in the same realm as Stephanie and Sandy with intelligence. Unlike Sandy, Natasha was streetwise and not gullible. Natasha held degrees in aviation, computers, telemetry, aeronautics, and astronautics.

Dani had never met anyone in the Space Force until Natasha, even though it had been established for years before the collapse. Unlike Stephanie, Natasha could explain something very complicated in simplistic terms, but Stephanie was getting much better. Natasha may not know much about viruses but she damn sure knew computers and aeronautics. If Natasha impressed her brother and her husband, Dani knew Natasha was good.

When Jake and Matt sat down at the table, Natasha had a look of panic wondering where she should sit. Nodding at each end of the command table, “Sit anywhere but the ends,” Dani offered, feeling Joshua snuggle into her neck.

“Yeah, Daddy will throw you out of his chair and Daddy Mike will just sit on you,” Buffy chuckled. Since Dani and Buffy were offering assistance, Natasha sat on the other side of Buffy to be close to both.

Turning to Matt, “You finally pulled her away from Oz,” Dani said.

“Yeah, it was to save the lives of some of those on the Spartan design team,” Matt laughed.

“More changes?” Dani gasped because Natasha had already made the Spartans bigger, despite four having already been built. Matt had explained it to Dani, it wouldn’t be hard to upgrade the ones already built because he and Jake had designed them to be altered since they knew this was a work in progress. In normal times, a ship would be put through its paces then put in production. Not now, because they needed every advantage they could get.

Dani, like most in the family, knew Matt and Jake were beyond intelligent. Not to say Dani and the other kids weren’t, but Matt and Jake were fluid in their thinking. Dani was more like her father. Both could think outside the box, but were rigid in their thinking in many ways. Trying to put a square peg in a round hole, Matt and Jake would alter the problem to achieve success. Dani, like her dad, would get a big hammer and pound the square peg through the round hole and achieve success.

“No, they were arguing on how to do the changes already made on the Spartans already built,” Matt told her. It was the fact neither Matt nor Jake argued against the changes, Dani knew the changes needed to be made.

Leaning over to Natasha, “If you promise to bring him back, I’ll let you take Herman to talk to the team,” Buffy offered, making Natasha burst out laughing.

“Buffy!” Jake snapped, startling her. “Natasha has already threatened to take the team up on Spartan One and throw them off, so don’t offer any more suggestions.”

Leaning forward to look down the table at Jake, “Any idiot who argues against the thrust vectoring Natasha designed is a complete moron,” Buffy snapped back. “The increase in power to weight ratio is mind boggling, not to mention the air differentiable manifold design that negates down drafts by forty-three percent and up drafts by twenty-four percent. To do all that and only increase the weight by four percent, any who argue about the changes need to be taken to altitude and tossed off Spartan One to see if they can discover the power of flight before reaching terminal velocity.”

Very slowly, Jake turned his eyes to Stephanie. “You are going to lighten up on Buffy’s lessons,” Jake informed her. He wasn’t surprised that Stephanie knew because she and Angela kept track of everything for his dad.

“Jake, what Natasha is doing is a very good example of calculus and physics in practice,” Stephanie informed him.

Shifting his gaze to Dani, “You going to help here?” Jake asked.

Shaking her head, “Nope. I have to help Buffy with her homework and don’t want it increased,” Dani informed him.

Very quickly, Buffy spoke up in a panic. “Dani only helps, she doesn’t do it,” Buffy told Stephanie.

“I know,” Stephanie laughed, which shocked Buffy. “Dani has come to me several times, convinced I was making up a new form of math or area of science.”

“In that, she is her father’s child,” Angela admitted.

“Stephanie, Buffy doesn’t need to know how to do stoichiometry in her head!” Dani barked startling Joshua. “Humans are advanced! We have calculators, pencils, and sheets of paper.”

Expecting Angela to intervene, Stephanie looked across the table at her. “Oh, on this I’m agreeing with Dani and not because Bruce said the same damn thing,” Angela told her.

“The ability to perform complex mental arithmetic is very important,” Stephanie sang out.

“Stephanie, I never did complex drug calculations in my mind without checking them with a calculator and paper,” Angela shot back. “The ability to SEE your calculations is how you can catch a mistake faster.”

Looking off and thinking for a second, Stephanie finally gave a nod. “You make a very valid point. But what if you don’t have a calculator or paper?”

Rolling her eyes and looking up at the ceiling, “Get a stick and draw in the dirt,” Angela moaned.

Nodding again at the simplicity, “Yes,” was all that Stephanie said. “You know, if you discussed problems like this instead of trying to put me in a headlock, we could make a lot of progress.”

Dropping her eyes to Stephanie, “I never tried,” Angela huffed. “Stephanie, you had Buffy doing pushups because she couldn’t recite calculus formulas and work them out in her head after you gave her a variable! What the hell was I supposed to do?”

Slapping the table, “Not jump on my back like a spider monkey and try to choke me out!” Stephanie shouted back. Watching the two argue Dani amended in her mind, another reason her mom chose Angela, Angela would always protect the kids from Stephanie and her dad.

“It got you to stop, didn’t it?” Angela laughed, but Stephanie just narrowed her eyes. “Okay, I should’ve just said something but I saw Buffy’s arms were shaking, she was so tired doing pushups. I just reacted, I’m sorry.”

Accepting the apology, Stephanie turned to Buffy. “I will start allowing you to use pencil and paper,” Stephanie said and Buffy sighed with relief.

Leaning over and looking down the table at Buffy, “I’ll bring you a damn graphing calculator,” Angela sang out, then turned to Stephanie and was surprised to see she was smiling.

“Okay, Buffy can use a calculator after she proves she can work a problem out without one first,” Stephanie offered and Angela nodded, accepting that.

The rest of the table never said a word and watched the two. The main reason no one spoke was only Angela and Stephanie could argue with each other. Anyone who tried to join in on one side, both ganged up on you no matter who was in the right.

Walking in, Bruce’s step faltered noticing everyone at the command table looking at Angela and Stephanie. “Shit,” he sighed.

Stepping up beside Bruce, “I suggest you let them settle it,” Carl informed him.

Ignoring Carl, Bruce headed toward his chair. “What is the problem?”

“Nothing,” Angela said as she and Stephanie stared at each other with smiles.

Dropping in his chair, Bruce knew that was a lie because Millie hadn’t brought over the food. “Do I have to get pissed off?” he asked.

“No, we settled it,” Stephanie replied but kept her eyes on Angela.

Looking from one to the other, “I’m sure both of you remember, I know where to ‘tap’ a woman on the back to get compliance,” Bruce stated, and both wheeled their eyes to him.

“You wouldn’t dare,” Angela gasped.

“Debbie only gave you permission to use that on me once!” Stephanie cried out.

Since he was the only one to know the truth about the incident, Bruce leaned back in his chair. “I asked a question and would like an answer. You two may be smiling, but I’m not in the mood to watch you two tussle.”

“I agreed with Angela that Buffy could start to use a pencil and paper to work out problems now and then could use a calculator,” Stephanie replied. In truth, she hadn’t minded when Bruce used the technique on her the last time, but Debbie had cried for a day and she didn’t know what Bruce would make her do if he used it again.

Nodding to Stephanie, “Thank you,” Bruce said then turned to Angela. “I was in agreement with you, but you didn’t need to jump on Stephanie’s back trying to choke her out. Buffy was learning.”

“You do that zombie kung fu technique on me, you better never go to sleep,” Angela warned. “Buffy is a teenager, not someone working on their doctorate. I’m all for learning, but these Gestapo learning techniques are going to stop.”

Letting out a gasp, “How dare you compare my teaching to the Gestapo!” Stephanie cried out.

“If the Jack boot fits,” Angela replied.

Looking from one to the other, “Be nice,” Bruce smirked.

“I just want Buffy to reach her full potential,” Stephanie defended herself.

Looking at Stephanie with no expression on her face, “You had PJ and Cade running laps around the house yesterday for answering questions wrong on their homework,” Angela droned.

Before Stephanie spoke, Bruce did. “I agreed with that.”

Casting her eyes to the heavens, “You can lighten up with the challenges,” Angela declared. “I love both, but I’m goin’ to hurt ‘em.”

Not liking this from Angela, Bruce glanced at Stephanie. “Let’s start going easier on the kids and their schoolwork.” Also not liking the way Angela was acting but making a mental note to talk about it later, Stephanie nodded in agreement.

With the tension in the air gone, everyone at or near the table relaxed as Millie came over with staff bringing the food. “So, Bruce, did you do anything important today?” Stephanie asked.

A smile from ear to ear filled Bruce’s face. “Hell, yeah,” he sang out. “I finally shit in my diaper!”

Stephanie’s mouth fell open as Angela’s head hit the table in embarrassment. “Some days, I’m ashamed he’s my dad,” Dani mumbled.

“You weren’t there when he took it off and showed everyone,” Jake scoffed.

Chapter Fifteen

Perched in his cupola, Bruce looked out over the land. They were ten miles outside of Palestine, Texas heading to Fort Hood following the rail line. Pulling out at 0500, Omega were in high spirits but when they drove out, nearly everyone not working was lining the roads cheering as they left. The fact it was twenty-five degrees outside hadn’t deterred many from seeing them off.

There was no doubt in Bruce’s mind now, he wanted to bring his suit into the marriage. He was sure Angela and Stephanie would understand. No matter what the temperature was, he was snug as a bug inside his WIACS suit. Not to say the suit didn’t piss him off. The computer interface was really starting to get on Bruce’s nerves. He was certain someone like Jake or Matt could make it more user friendly.

He glanced down at his tablet to see the formation of both regiments of Omega displayed on a map. Each regiment had twelve hundred MRAPs, with over six thousand fighters manning them in five battalions. Along with the fighters, there were another two battalions in each regiment that were for support. When added up, each regiment had twelve thousand souls committed to battle.

One of the changes Bruce had made, each of the kids were now over a battalion in Omega first regiment. Jake was over the first, Mary the second, Matt the third, Dani the fourth, and David the fifth. In time, Bruce felt Mindy would be able to run a battalion but she wasn’t ready yet, so she was left with David. Technically, Bruce was over first regiment and Willie the second with Bruce in overall command, but Bruce took a play from the kids on their last outing. Each day they would rotate who was over first regiment just so Bruce could see how they dealt with commanding more.

After he’d informed the kids, Bruce had left because Jake wasn’t happy and Dani was inventing new curse words. Bruce did it to free up commanders to spread around the other battalions, along with evaluating the kids because they needed experience.

Another change he’d made was to the numbers on each rig. Now, no rig had more than four in the back and a driver. Despite the MRAP being large, four bodies in suits filled it and any more would constrict movement. The other thing it did was give more bodies to spread out to bring all forward elements up to strength. Not only Omega, but Gamma and Beta were filled to full strength. The bodies left over were moved to support. Support wasn’t a cakewalk because the units sent back were there to guard the supply convoys that were to feed the units, and protect the flanks. Those units that guarded convoys and the rear flanks were in suits, but those who protected the headquarters elements weren’t. Either everyone in the back of a rig was in a suit or nobody was. A person in a suit could kill someone if they just turned around too fast. In battle, a person’s training was pushed and Bruce didn’t want needless deaths because this was going to be a long war.

“Bat One, this is Bat Three, we need to hold, my third company just found a big nest,” Matt called out over the radio and Bruce gave a long sigh, lifting his left arm up because the radio was still too loud in his helmet for Bat Three. The fact his suit could monitor thirty different channels simultaneously was a bit overwhelming to Bruce.

“Copy, Bat Three,” Jake called back since he was the first over the regiment. “All battalions hold until cleared.”

“Bat Three, just call in air,” David barked over the radio.

“It’s right beside a bridge we need, fuckwad!” Matt screamed over the radio and Bruce quickly tried to bring up the correct menu to turn the volume down. Behind Bruce, Carl and Ted were looking out the sides manning miniguns and Bonnie was at the rear manning a M240 with a water jacket. Many of the belt fed weapons now had water jackets, thanks to Joe, to keep down on barrel damage.

Carl and Ted tried to ignore Bruce as he waved his hands in front of him searching menus. Feeling movement, Carl turned to see Bonnie moving to help but he stopped her and tapped his forearm so he was only communicating with her.

“You jump in and show him again how simple it is… and Bruce will have you pushing this MRAP all the way to Fort Hood,” Carl warned. It was only ten a.m. and Bonnie had already interfaced with Bruce’s suit five times. It was how Bonnie navigated the endless menus so effortlessly that seemed to piss Bruce off. Since they had been with Bruce so long, Ted and Carl swore at their suits, even though they didn’t have much of a problem navigating the system. They did it to show unity with Bruce; they hated their suits operating system, just like he did.

“He needs to know,” Bonnie replied, looking at the back of Bruce whose arm movements were becoming much more tense as he surfed menus in his HUD (heads-up display) on his visor, a sure sign Bruce was getting mad.

“He can hear every channel he needs to and if he wants help, he’ll ask. I know you want to help but trust me, computers hold a grudge with Bruce because he swears at them and beats them.” Bonnie never turned to look toward Carl because in the suits you couldn’t see a face. “The boss will figure it out or he’ll ask for help but I’m just warning you, you show him one more time how simple it is and Bruce will spin off on your ass.”

Taking Carl’s advice, and not wanting to push the MRAP, Bonnie gave a sigh and moved back behind her gun.

“You motherfucking communist piece of shit! Give me the menu I need to turn down Bat Three's volume!” Bruce screamed. Normally, if one screamed in the suit, no matter how loud, it couldn’t be heard, but Bruce had several radio channels open. Every battalion commander, Prometheus, and those in his rig were just a few who heard it.

“Dad, Bonnie can show you,” Jake called over the radio, making Carl cringe and Ted groan.

“You shut the hell up with your communist suit or I’ll have everyone tape a fucking knife to their rifle to clear the countryside!” Bruce shouted back, waving his arms faster, tossing all the open menus on his display off so he could start over. Suddenly, Bruce stopped waving his arms and they saw his head moving and knew he was watching something on his screen moving about. “Natasha, get your ass out of my suit!” Bruce bellowed.

“Is it me or did that sound fucking weird?” Ted snickered and really liked the suits because he could talk to Carl and Bonnie without the boss hearing.

In a converted semitrailer packed with computers and following Prometheus six miles away, “Bruce, you’re in the wrong directory,” Natasha offered as she tried to figure out just where in the hell Bruce was in the menus. Scanning quickly, Natasha couldn’t remember many of these files and wondered how Bruce even pulled them up.

“No, I’m not! It was right there an hour ago when I turned down the volume for Bat One! This fascist sack of shit suit moved it just to piss me the fuck off!” Having never dealt with the evil, or asshole Bruce, Natasha turned her link off getting out of Bruce’s suit.

As Bruce started going through menus again, Matt came over the radio talking in a low voice since his volume was up in Bruce’s suit. “Bat One, area is done. Bat Three ready to move,” Matt called out in a voice just above a whisper.

“All first regiment units continue to the next forward line,” Jake replied in a normal tone since his dad had fixed the volume for his channel.

Carl looked out over the land and was thankful it was cold. Blues moved more now in the cold than they had done before, but they weren’t fast and clearly still didn’t like the cold which was fine with everyone in Omega. They were all behind their mounted weapons but were holding their Caiman rifles. So far, only a few clusters of blues had charged units in Omega that had to be cut down with heavy guns. Several thousand had been taken down with rifles, but most were being dealt with by a blast from Bruce’s past: MRAPs with flame throwers.

The four original flame units built by Joe that first winter were hauled out to the line and thirty-six more were made. Spread out among the regiments, they were pulling up to locations blues were using and torching them. Unlike that first winter, all the blues didn’t stay inside as vehicles approached, but most did. The few that did come out to attack were quickly cut down as the flamer unit pulled up and lit the structure.

Omega was spread out over a twenty-mile-wide front with the railway line at the center and they were clearing a path for trains to move without having to wade through blues. Columns of smoke rose behind them like signposts marking the demise of a pack of blues.

Like Bruce, Carl loved his suit because he wasn’t cold, but there were others that weren’t wearing suits who were having to operate in the cold. Lifting his gaze up, Carl gave a shiver at Spartan One a mile to the south of them, hovering in the air at two thousand feet. A Blackhawk was coming in to land and Carl felt a bit sorry for the crews up there. “She’s tough,” Carl mumbled and turned his head just enough that he could see Bruce at the edge of his screen.

Watching Bruce hold out his middle finger flipping the heads-up display off, “I sure hope he can’t break his suit,” Carl said.

“Bruce can break anything,” Ted stated with confidence and Carl had to acknowledge, Ted was right.

***

Ten miles north of Palestine, Dani was in her cupola also glancing at a tablet, but hers only displayed her fourth battalion. Bringing up her menu, Dani tapped the air and lowered her father’s voice as he cussed his suit, the Cyber Ninjas, basically everyone who he thought was responsible, including Mike. It seemed Bruce was convinced the Cyber Ninjas were moving his menus around to fuck with him or Mike was pranking his ass.

It wasn’t unnoticed that nobody, not even Stephanie and Angela were stepping in trying to reason with Bruce. Like the others, Dani knew when Daddy was acting like this, just let him be until he cooled off. The only person who would wasn’t here anymore and very rarely did Debbie confront what she referred to as Asshole Bruce.

Dani glanced back at Buffy manning the right side of the rig. She was behind the minigun but like everyone, was holding her rifle. The Caiman looked really big when Buffy held it compared to the others. One thing Buffy didn’t like was she couldn’t drive in her suit and she wasn’t taking it off to drive.

Dani was proud of Buffy and that Buffy had understood the why. True, it was only after Dani snuck Buffy out to drive in her suit that Buffy found out it really was very easy to rip a steering wheel off. Thankfully, Dani had Mary and Bonnie following them in another truck and they left the one Buffy broke. To make sure it wasn’t found with the steering wheel ripped off and to hide the evidence, they pushed it into a pond.

Just looking at Buffy, Dani knew Buffy was bored and that was almost as terrifying as a bored Bruce. “You good, BB?” she asked.

Scanning her area, “Yeah,” Buffy replied in a depressed tone. “I’ve only shot sixty-one blues in two hours. This is bullshit.”

“Momma, I don’t know how, but Daddy cheated on you,” Dani mumbled. Only one rig, or MRAP, in her entire battalion had even used a belt fed gun since they pulled out and that was only because they got too close to the building one of the flamers was getting ready to torch. Nearly a hundred blues poured out, but were promptly mowed down in short order. The rest had been taken by single or short bursts from rifles.

Dani liked shooting them with her rifle, as did Buffy. Buffy just wanted a target rich environment. The last time Dani wanted that, fucking blues crawled up walls, so she would deal with blues as they showed up. “How’s Julie been doing?” Dani asked, trying to get Buffy to think about anything else besides boredom. Julie was the only kid Buffy hung out with. Marty didn’t count because he just tagged along, but Dani did feel a bit sorry for Marty. There wasn’t any doubt in Dani’s mind, that boy was in love with Buffy despite his age.

“She’s doing okay,” Buffy answered with a giggle. “She was mad at Jimmy because he won’t let her fly by herself.”

“I’m taking Jimmy’s side on that one,” Dani confessed. Dani, like the other kids, was qualified to fly planes and helicopters now and she agreed with her dad, choppers were much harder. So far, only David hadn’t taken the classes and Dani wasn’t surprised because David really didn’t like heights.

“I took Jimmy’s side too and Julie didn’t like that much.”

All the rest of those Buffy hung out with were adults. Most were in Omega or the command group. Of all those Buffy spent time with, two stood out, Ted and Carl. Those two were buddies to Buffy. “How did Ted’s and Carl’s wives act when they told them bye?” Dani asked and Buffy shifted to face her.

“Why would they tell Melanie and Monica bye?”

“Buffy, we are out in the field,” Dani sang out.

“Duh,” Buffy replied in the same sing-song tone. “Dani, Melanie is commander over Spartan One. Monica is over the Apaches on Spartan Two. Steve said Monica can make an Apache do things that even he won’t try.”

Somewhat startled that she didn’t know that, “Oh,” Dani mumbled. “When did that happen?”

“When did what happen?” Buffy responded.

“Never mind,” Dani said, and it just confirmed Buffy was more adult than teen. But since she somehow had Bruce’s DNA, that canceled much of the adult out. Before Buffy could continue, one of the company commanders called out.

“Bat Four, this is company two, we have a large nest and request a flame unit,” came over the radio.

Tapping the air to only speak on that frequency, “Copy, second company. Sending a flame unit,” Dani replied, then changed frequencies and sent one of the flame units. Still in the background, she heard her father cursing his suit.

“I’m proud of Bonnie for not trying to help,” Buffy admitted.

“Yeah, we have to tell her,” Dani agreed but was surprised because Bonnie always tried to help her dad, even if he didn’t want it. “What do you think of Sandy working on Prometheus?”

“After Stephanie talked to Sandy, she’s doing really well,” Buffy replied.

Sandy wanted to learn how to operate air like Stephanie, Angela, and Nancy so if she was needed, Sandy could do it for Gene. Like everything, Sandy went overboard. On her first call for air support, Sandy instructed the pilots on the glide path, angle of attack, direction, and optimum attack height for each run. Dani knew she hadn’t been the only one to look off in the direction toward Prometheus each time Sandy did that.

After the sixth time, Stephanie came on the air and told the pilot to just gun the blues down and then pulled Sandy off the air. Stephanie explained to Sandy she didn’t have to be that specific but Dani was impressed because each time, Sandy had been correct on the information she had relayed to the pilot, and Sandy wasn’t a pilot.

Unlike the first time Omega rolled out in force, it was air calling in ground forces. Helicopters were roaming about and taking out blues, but mainly they were calling in ground units to burn out occupied buildings. One thing that hadn’t changed was blues congregated in large packs inside big buildings when it was cold. Instead of using ordnance or butt loads of ammo, choppers would just request a ground unit to come in and torch the blues.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out the clan could only make so many magic bullets. Just one of God’s Mowers, when fully loaded, carried a large chunk of a day’s worth of production and could burn through half a million rounds in thirty minutes. No unit ever wasted ammo even before magic bullets but now, troops were stingy with the bullets unless a tsunami of blues were coming. Then Dani corrected that thought, or blues started climbing buildings like Spiderman.

“Can we move off on our own to kill some blues?” Buffy asked.

“Sure, you tell Dad I’m turning over Fourth Battalion to someone else,” Dani offered.

“Screw that!” Buffy shouted.

“Yes!” Bruce cried out over the radio. “I knew it was there! Now I want everyone to stop moving my menus!”

“Will you tell Daddy nobody can do that on a read-only operating system?” Buffy asked.

“Not even on a bet,” Dani informed her. “He’ll figure it out like he always does, but I think learning the menus for the suit are going to push him a bit.”

“I’m betting Daddy will break his suit if he can’t find the correct menu a few more times,” Buffy predicted.

Thinking about how tough the suit was, Dani was about to object but stopped. Coming to the conclusion her dad could break anything if he wanted, Dani just agreed silently. To date, there had not been any big problems with the suits. There were problems like a glove would quit working, a helmet would freeze up, and other small things. Even Dani’s right boot had frozen up a week ago.

The Cyber Ninjas just printed her a new one and before recycling, tore the old one apart. Like ninety-nine percent of the other problems, several specks of dust were found that had gotten trapped when her boot was printed. They were doing all they could to make the clean room where the suits were made cleaner, but it was nearly impossible.

Watching the flame unit rush past, Dani grinned in her helmet. One thing they had plenty of at Hope was napalm. Storage tanks of fuel that hadn’t been treated were now just hauled back. There wasn’t a doubt in Dani’s mind, the napalm they made at Hope would’ve been banned by every nation on the planet. It was gelled fuel like all napalm, but was much thicker and had more added to it, like oil, thermite, and even ground-up charcoal.

Hope made it for napalm canisters the planes dropped because blues fucking hated fire and Dani couldn’t fault blues for that. There were even Blackhawks that had bomb racks added because Hope had plenty. One gallon of the napalm weighed fourteen pounds and if lit, could burn on its own for over ten minutes, but it burned very hot. Napalm drops had been done in pouring rain and still caused fires to engulf structures. There were only two versions of aluminum canisters made, a five-hundred-pounder and a two-hundred-and-fifty-pounder. A plant in Hope was turning out a hundred of each every day. The plant could turn out more, but that was all Nancy, Stephanie, and Angela would allow it to put out since the plant had been going for nearly a year.

Many wanted to limit production further and use the manpower and material elsewhere, but Bruce wouldn’t allow it. Dani understood why. If worse came to worst, Hope could build a wall of fire to stop blues.

“Why didn’t we use the flame units last winter?” Buffy asked.

“You really have to ask?” Dani scoffed.

Thinking for a second, “Yeah,” Buffy answered.

“Burning was too easy on the blues as far as Daddy was concerned. He wanted the blues to know we were killing. Those he set on fire, he wanted them to fear him and not the fire,” Dani answered.

“Oh, yeah,” Buffy mumbled because she didn’t like to remember her daddy like that. Hearing the chain gun of an Apache to the south, both turned to see an Apache hovering and unloading on something with its thirty millimeter cannon. After a few hundred rounds, a steady stream of red streaked out as the Apache cut loose with the minigun mounted beside the autocannon. “I like the upgrade,” Buffy voiced.

Watching the stream of red end and the Apache move south in a slow hover, “I hope that was a large pack to justify dumping that much out,” Dani said, which did shock Buffy and the others in the rig. Bruce was very adamant; no ammo is to ever be spared to kill blues. No commander could punish or demote a trooper for using too much ammo or they would face the wrath of Bruce. Waves of blues were preferred to be faced than the wrath of Bruce.

“Daddy probably called that in on his suit,” Buffy offered with a giggle which caused the others in the rig to laugh, but Dani didn’t even smile because she could see that.

Chapter Sixteen

It was late afternoon when Bruce looked off a bridge over Killeen, Texas and was feeling much better. The wall that surrounded Fort Hood stood tall to the north. They weren’t going to stop at the fort, there wasn’t a need to. Bruce had been down several times to check on the fort, and Daryl and Eric. When told why they were chosen to run Fort Hood both had understood, and it turned out they were very good at running it.

Omega had stopped to refuel and grab a meal since Killeen had been pacified but wasn’t cleared of blues. Sweeps were still done weekly and blues were found that had snuck back in. Daryl and Eric had pushed patrols out fifty miles in every direction so compared to the rest of Texas, the blues were thin there.

Turning around and looking at the base of the bridge, Bruce saw a pile of rotting blues. Unlike the area around Hope, they were very far behind on removing the bodies and once again, Bruce loved his suit because he couldn’t smell the corpses. Blues still smelled like rotting sewage, but dead and rotting ones stunk worse. “Man, this summer is going to suck ass here,” Bruce predicted and couldn’t help but shiver at the imagined funk that would permeate the air.

“They’d need another five thousand Praetorians to start removal crews,” Ted offered behind him but recognized Bruce already knew that. Those in support weren’t in suits, so they had pulled on gas masks to cut down on the funk despite the cold. Ted wasn’t going to take his helmet off unless ordered to. Bruce had told them to eat, but Ted was saving his meal until they were outside of town like most of the others.

“Maybe after we get the wall up, we can spare the bodies,” Bruce said, still looking at the pile of bodies.

“The stench isn’t that bad behind the wall at Fort Hood,” Carl chimed in. “Like everyone at Hope, those stationed and training here would prefer to kill all the blues and we can clean up later.”

Laughing, Bruce walked off. “Damn, you go and get married and get all wise on our asses.”

“Monica wants kids and I do too, but I don’t want my kids to have to scour the land eradicating blues,” Carl admitted as he and Ted followed Bruce to the base of the bridge past the pile of rotting corpses.

“I hear ya,” Bruce said, coming to a stop and looking at the forty MRAPs in his headquarters group. He didn’t think he needed so many in the beginning, but was glad they were there. All were veterans since his insane run through Texas and no matter what, they followed him.

Looking at an MRAP, Bruce realized it was the MRAP he’d modified by adding a cupola to the rear. Then he started looking harder and noticed six other MRAPs he used to drive that he had modified. Bruce knew his own work, so he could spot them easily. The modifications he liked, Joe passed them onto others. “Why is the gang driving my old rigs?” Bruce asked because he’d just never noticed before.

“Because they are your old rigs,” Ted sang out. “Those rigs got Bruce out of the shit he got himself into, so everyone feels good they will get themselves out. Joe and his group do great work but your modifications were the proving ground, so the troops always snatch up your old rigs.”

Moving slowly as he studied each one, Bruce could understand the reasoning. The only modification he hadn’t done to several was the tracked undercarriage. The twin cupolas he loved, but it didn’t leave room for anyone to stand and man the sides. Then there was the MRAP that had four mounted belt fed guns on each side and Bruce had realized that was overkill on the first trip out.

Ted and Carl followed as Bruce moved around each of his old rigs. What they couldn’t understand, it seemed Bruce was studying them, and they couldn’t understand why since he’d built them and they had helped on most. After Ted and Carl helped, they had gone and modified their own MRAPs with the same upgrades until they’d transferred to Bruce’s full time.

When Bruce crawled under an MRAP both did wonder why, but didn’t even bother to guess. “Tell Louis to get the rig over here,” Bruce told them while he was under the rig. Because of the suit he didn’t have to shout, but they could also hear him mumbling to himself. That, neither liked it because it seemed intrusive.

Ted turned around as dummy drove the rig over and came to a stop. Since the day Carl had threatened to shove the fake wand through his head, Louis was a changed person. His driving had improved and nobody had threatened to kill Louis since that day. “Should’ve used the wand sooner,” Ted smirked, looking in the cab at Louis. Like all not in suits, Louis had on a gas mask.

“Jake,” Bruce called out on the radio, to all thirty channels his suit was monitoring.

“Yeah, Dad,” Jake answered hesitantly and had no intention of informing Bruce he was talking on thirty different channels.

“Where was the closest office supply store?”

All chatter on the nets stopped instantly, even on the channels Bruce wasn’t broadcasting on. Everyone was racking their brains, wondering what the hell was coming. More than one person was thinking Bruce was about to arm them with pencils to chase down and stab blues to death, just to keep life interesting.

It was nearly two minutes later, “There was one seven miles to the north of your location,” Jake finally answered, even though one of the Cyber Ninjas had sent him a list mere seconds after Bruce had spoken. Jake was one of those with visions of chasing blues with sharpened pencils.

Crawling out from under the MRAP, Bruce tapped the panel on his left forearm disengaging the radio. “Bonnie, give Louis the directions,” Bruce said, and only Ted, Carl, and Bonnie could hear him now.

“Oh, man,” Ted mumbled, getting in the rig.

“Ted,” Angela sounded off in his helmet, but was speaking in a whisper for some reason. “What the hell is he doing?”

“I have no idea and can’t even guess,” Ted confessed. “The only thing I know, he’s onto something. What, I have no idea, but his mind is in overdrive and from past experiences, it’s very important.”

Sounding very relieved when she replied, “Oh, thank God,” Angela panted. “Don’t let anyone bother him so Bruce doesn’t lose the train of thought.”

“We never do unless it’s you or Stephanie,” Ted informed her.

“Stephanie heard, so we won’t bother him,” Angela told him, then quickly sent word out on secure links to commanders so she didn’t have to use a radio and they could spread the word to leave Bruce alone.

After he got the word those in the back were ready, Louis took off following the directions Bonnie had given him. Behind them, forty MRAPs followed wondering what was in store now. Ted looked at the rundown buildings as they drove along. Many were dilapidated from weather and others from weapon fire. Bushes were growing through cracks in the roadway as nature started picking up the pace to reclaim the areas humans had built upon.

When they stopped in a strip mall, nobody was surprised to see the office supply store intact since the Fall. There was nothing inside that one needed to fight the blues and no food inside for animals. The windows were intact and there were bars over them so blues weren’t using it for shelter and because of blues, there weren’t many rodents to eat what little there could’ve been inside.

Before the MRAP had even stopped, Bruce leapt from the cupola to the ground. Ted knew without the suit Bruce’s knees would’ve buckled on impact, but the suit could sustain drops from over thirty feet with no damage to the one inside. It was designed to absorb impacts through the feet and legs even if the operator wasn’t. The feet would point downward for the toes to hit first, then contract from the ankles to the hips to absorb the energy. Climbing out and jumping off the top of the rig, Ted barely felt the impact from the nine-foot drop and hoped the suit would save Bruce’s knees.

As the rest of the group fanned out, Ted and Carl realized Bruce didn’t even have his rifle and knew he was in a one-track frame of mind now. Both jumped as Max ran past them to Bruce and they were glad when Tiger didn’t join Max, but Bonnie ran up behind them. They had their rifles.

Reaching the roll-up gate that protected the front door Bruce grabbed it and yanked hard, ripping it from its frame along the doorway. “Being able to do shit like that is what makes these suits addictive,” Ted confessed as Bruce weaved under the dangling metal gate and ripped a door off, shattering the glass with Max darting inside first.

“I went and found an abandoned house outside of Hope and just ran through a wall,” Carl laughed, following Bruce inside, then Ted and Bonnie followed him. All three froze as Bruce grabbed a shopping cart and headed into the interior of the dust-caked store.

“Boss does some wild shit,” Bonnie finally said as Bruce headed down an aisle.

“Oh, you ain’t seen shit yet, young grasshopper,” Carl informed her, slowly moving to join Bruce and he now started pondering what in the hell Bruce was after and why. Ted and Bonnie moved deeper into the store just to make sure it was clear, but Max was calm and he could sniff out a blue a mile away.

Because of the suit, the store wasn’t dark to them and Carl had no problem seeing what Bruce was grabbing. Bruce took an entire stack of 17”x 11” graphing notepads tossing them in the cart, then grabbed art notepads the same size. For the first time, Carl was about to ask why but stopped when Bruce grabbed stacks of a larger size of graphing pads and drawing notepads.

Grabbing the cart, Bruce moved to the next aisle and Carl watched Bruce empty hanging racks of rulers, protractors, compasses, squares, and dividers, then Bruce took all six swinging drawing arms on the shelf. “Okay, he’s going to draw,” Carl figured out seeing stacks of geometric drawing template measuring rulers.

“Draw what?” Ted asked since they were still linked.

“Don’t know, but he has lots of rulers and drawing stuff,” Carl answered as Bruce moved down the aisle and took racks of mechanical pencils and continued emptying hanging racks.

“I have an engineering program on his tablet,” Bonnie chimed in.

“You keep that shit to yourself, young grasshopper,” Carl told her. “Bruce hates computers today and the mood doesn’t look to improve anytime soon.”

“Carl, is there a copy machine in Prometheus?” Bruce asked suddenly as he racked stuff from a shelf into the already full cart.

Tapping his forearm so he could talk to Bruce, “Have no idea,” Carl confessed, and was about to tell Bruce they could hear him and when he was tapping the control pad on his forearm.

“Yes, there is one, but it’s an 8.5 x 11 desktop model,” Bonnie called out and Bruce just gave a groan as he grabbed the full cart and headed to another aisle.

“Bonnie, go to the copy machines and find one that can scan and print on 11 x 22 paper,” Bruce told her.

Needing a little more information, Bonnie just turned to Ted. “Make sure it’s big, has lots of buttons, lights, with screens, and looks complicated,” Ted informed her.

“Does it need to correlate, bind, print double sided, in color-,” Bonnie stopped when Ted held up his hand.

“Get the one that does it all, but make sure it has lots of buttons, is big with lights and screens, and looks complicated,” Ted stressed again. With a hesitant nod, Bonnie moved off to find the copy machines as Ted headed for Bruce.

He found Bruce pushing an empty cart and Carl pushing a full one on another aisle. When Bruce pulled off laptop pads one could set in their lap for their computer, Ted didn’t even try to follow the reasoning. Then Bruce grabbed drafting tables, then lights that bolted to the side.

With the cart full, he shoved it to Ted and headed back to the front for another. Just as lost as Ted, Carl guided his full cart trailing Bruce. Bruce stopped on the aisle that had racks of calculators and just started emptying racks of large calculators and graphing calculators. “I don’t want to know what he’s drawing that requires that many graphing calculators,” Ted confessed.

“He may be helping Buffy with her homework,” Carl finally put forth a theory.

Looking at his cart, then Carl’s, and finally Bruce’s, all full, “I hope not because if she has this much homework from Stephanie, we need to run away with her,” Ted said.

Both turned as Bonnie came over with a flatbed cart loaded with a very large box. “It’s the biggest, has everything you said, and does more than I’ve ever seen a copy machine could do,” she told them.

Finally, Bruce turned away from the racks and saw the cart Bonnie was pushing. “Now we are talking!” he shouted in joy, looking at the one that Bonnie chose. Because it made Bruce happy, all three were happy. “Call some of the troops in and load up what we have while I finish,” Bruce told them. “Bonnie, get all the cartridges they have for that machine.” For a brief second, Bonnie almost told Bruce the machine only took ink because the cartridges were reusable, but just grabbed a cart to fill it up.

As others came in and started loading the stuff, Ted was shocked when he saw someone had the forethought to grab empty boxes to put the stuff in before tossing it in the rigs. Still, not one person had asked what any of it was for when Bruce came out pushing another full cart.

He turned to see troops strapping the copy machine box to the top of an MRAP. “Get that to Prometheus and tell Angela and Stephanie to learn how to operate it,” Bruce said, stopping beside their ride. Carl jumped back when Bruce took his helmet off and then started the process of extracting himself from the suit, and the MRAP carrying the copy machine took off.

Taking his own helmet off, “What the hell are you doing?” Carl finally asked.

“Can’t work in this,” Bruce answered, wrestling the upper shell off, and Carl stepped over with Ted to help. Five minutes later, Bruce was standing in the base suit and realized it was a bit nippy without the suit. “Oh, the smell is worse than I imagined,” he confessed, then moved about the rigs gathering some of the items they had looted. Ted and Carl put Bruce’s suit in the MRAP and both wondered if they should notify the wives.

With his arms loaded, Bruce didn’t give them the chance as he climbed up in the passenger side door to sit in the cab with Louis. “Carl, man the cupola,” Bruce said with a huge grin then shut the door. Lost, Carl just put his helmet back on because the stench was beyond rank.

“Bruce, why in the hell do we need to learn how to operate a copy machine?” Stephanie called out, but Bruce wasn’t in a suit to hear the message.

Climbing up on the rig and into the cupola, “Stephanie,” Carl sighed. “Bruce isn’t in his suit. He’s sitting in the cab with Louis wearing his base suit and a shitload of rulers with some big notepads and calculators.” Waiting a few minutes and not getting a response, “I just want to add, Bruce is giddy.”

“What the fuck is he designing?!” Dani screamed over the radio and Carl knew Dani was excited and that couldn’t be good.

“Don’t know, but he was damn close to skipping with joy around the aisles when we raided this store,” Carl replied and all the kids came over the net very excited, and Carl wasn’t the only one who got worried about that.

“Ask him if he needs me to come over, I have a great CAD program on the computer in my rig!” Jake howled.

“Tell Daddy I don’t need a calculator if he needs me,” Buffy chimed in.

“Enough!” Angela bellowed over the radio, stopping further offers. “Leave him alone or he might lose his train of thought,” she told them in a much lower volume.

“What if we want him to lose the train of thought?” Ted threw out, but it wasn’t over the radio. Carl came close to relaying that but didn’t because most of the stuff Bruce came up with was awesome, but he had created a few contraptions that were just as dangerous to themselves as the blues.

“This is first regiment, Bat One, all Omega elements report,” Jake called out cheerfully, and all of the first and second regiments responded. “This is Bat One, I have command. Roll out is in ten mikes. Keep forward line deployment at a twenty-mile-wide corridor. Rotate lines at each line of advance and let’s get to Laughlin.”

“Jake,” Willie called out. “I think I’m next in line.”

“Shut the fuck up, pussy, or you’ll suck my dick until I DIE!” Jake shouted. “You move like an old grandma! We are moving and moving now!”

“I got your back, brother!” Dani shouted out followed by the others.

“Willie better shut his ass up,” Carl muttered.

“Jake, I was just saying, but hell, you want the reins, you can have ‘em,” Willie called back laughing. “What do you think Bruce is designing?”

“Shit if I know, but if Dad’s giddy, it’s got to be awesome!” Jake cheered.

“Someone needs to tell Louis to be very careful as he’s driving,” Bonnie said. “I can see Bruce drawing and if Louis messes it up, I don’t think even Bruce could save Louis before his kids kill him.”

“We ain’t saying shit,” Carl huffed. “They kill Louis, I’m grabbing pom-poms to cheer them on.”

Chapter Seventeen

Omega pulled into Laughlin at 0430 that morning and spread out to secure the base as the first train pulled out of Fort Hood bringing supplies and the construction crew. Everyone had been impressed at how efficient Jake had run Omega. Carl knew when Bruce went back over the movement, he would be proud not only of Jake, but of all the kids.

Not one time did Buffy even ask to venture off to kill blues.

When they reached Laughlin, Bruce had Louis pull onto the airfield to a hangar with his detail. Despite it being thirty-six degrees, Bruce started setting up the drafting tables in the hangar. Realizing Bruce was going to work right there, Ted and Carl started gathering supplies. Those supplies being propane tanks, heaters, lights, and generators.

By the time Bruce was done, still wearing the base suit only, Ted and Carl had three generators and twenty construction heaters going that sounded like jet engines, blowing hot air where Bruce was set up. Before the first train reached Laughlin, Bruce had called all the kids to him as he went to Prometheus and used the copy machine. Well, he gave what he needed to be copied to Angela and Stephanie and they made copies.

For years, Carl would wonder how they all seemed to just appear. Bruce told them to get out of their suits and all of Omega was certain the kids set records that would never be beaten on getting out of the suit.

With all their suits standing empty like statues, Jake, Dani, Matt, Mary, and David all gathered around Bruce as he went over the drawings while Buffy and Mindy stood at the very edge listening. When Bruce was done, Jake, Dani, Matt, Mary, and David each went to a drafting table to start work. Thanks to Ted and Carl, they sat down in chairs they had pulled from a nearby office.

It was now 1600 and Carl was standing outside the hangar, still in his suit but had his helmet off and tucked under his left arm. Bruce and the kids were still working away but now, there were others. When Mike had called to talk to Bruce at 1400, Stephanie had told Mike what Bruce and the kids were doing. Mike never ended the conversation and took off to the airfield. The A10 Mike flew in was the first clan plane to land at Laughlin one hour and twenty minutes after leaving Hope. He didn’t care that Omega was still clearing the base and the runway had several dead blues on it, all Mike said climbing out, “They are doing something cool!” and headed to the hangar. When Mike got there, Bruce seemed relieved and talked to Mike before showing him drawings, then Mike was at a drafting table.

Paul was already in Laughlin leading the construction crew, and nobody in Omega could remember that in any briefing. All Carl knew, Bruce had drawn very detailed schematics on a vehicle, from the few glances he got. One of the few who had the nerve to get close to the group was Paul, but he didn’t bother them. Leaning over and peeking over shoulders at drawings, Paul left the hangar with a wide grin.

Angela and Stephanie didn’t count because they would leave Prometheus, that was parked right outside the hangar, to check on Bruce, Mike, and the kids, then head right back to run the air operations. Ted had tried to get information out of them, but Angela and Stephanie just shrugged.

Before Mike even landed, Nancy had called when she’d found Mike had just jumped in a jet and hauled ass across Texas. When she heard what was going on, Nancy left Hope in a state of panic with images of the group blowing up the Rocky Mountains. As she headed to the airport for a jet, Joe met up with her because word had spread fast that Bruce was working on something with the kids.

Many had expected fireworks when Nancy landed. Walking into the hangar, Nancy seemed a little pissed but as she talked to Mike, who never stopped drawing, Nancy relaxed. Kissing Mike, then all the kids, Nancy stopped at Bruce to rub his shaved head and then went to Prometheus to talk to Angela and Stephanie before heading back.

Joe had followed Nancy in, but never said anything. Instead, he looked at each of the drawings, then started making phone calls.

Mindy and Buffy never sat at a table but would move among the group, watching and helping. The help consisted of grabbing stuff, but it let the others continue. Joe was still making calls moving from table to table, looking over shoulders, but he was never on the phone when he was looking over shoulders.

Walking up behind Carl and taking his helmet off, “You know, seeing Bruce, Mike, and the kids grinning like they are, if I was a blue I’d drown myself,” Ted admitted and Carl agreed with a nod. The smiles on all their faces were a bit malevolent mixed with joy. Basically, the smiles were fucking creepy. It wasn’t helping that Buffy would dance around every so often.

“You find out anything new?” Ted asked, and Carl just shook his head. “Can we send Bonnie over? I don’t think any of them would hurt her.”

It was a few seconds before Carl finally spoke. “I told her to get a closer look and Bonnie pulled her knife on me,” Carl informed him. “She said that was a suicide order and she had the right to defend herself.”

“Damn, that girl is smart,” Ted chuckled.

“What the hell are you two doing standing out here?” Stephanie asked, walking up wearing a coat because it was still nippy and when the sun went down, the forecast was that the temperature would hit freezing. The next few days would be cold, but the lows were only predicted down to the upper forties.

“Staying out of their way,” Carl told her flatly.

“Stephanie, what are they working on?” Ted begged.

“Vehicles,” she answered. “I’m waiting till they are done because now all they talk is gibberish because they’re too excited. Why don’t you go closer and look?”

“Fuck that,” both sang out.

“Pussies,” Stephanie laughed.

“Why the hell was Nancy mad when she landed?” Ted asked, hoping for more information beside ‘vehicles ’.

Rolling her eyes, “Nancy was afraid nobody was supervising them and they were going to blow up the Rocky Mountains or build something to reverse the rotation of the planet,” Stephanie answered.

Slapping Carl’s shoulder, “I told you blowing up the Rockies wasn’t far-fetched if Nancy thought of it too,” Ted snapped.

Watching the group in wonder as they toiled away in a happy bliss, “Why are the kids helping?” Carl asked.

“Duh,” Stephanie laughed. “You know how many four wheelers, tractors, cars, trucks, and engines they have helped Bruce and Mike build? A shitload. All the vehicles at the farm at the beginning were bought rundown and broken. They rebuilt them.”

Finally turning away from the group, “Why isn’t Steve here then?” Carl asked. Steve was over the air and on Spartan One. He had landed around ten, but only stayed a few minutes before taking off again.

“Steve is a fly boy now,” Stephanie smirked. That, Carl and Ted understood. Steve flew every day unless there was harsh weather. Like most in the family he could fly planes, but Steve stayed with his helicopters. When Steve was flying, he was always grinning. “Now, if Bruce was designing a chopper Steve would have his ass in there, but what they are working on doesn’t fly with a blade overhead so Steve would only help if they asked.”

Taking a deep breath, “What kind of vehicles?” Carl asked. The last time Bruce had designed a vehicle, Prometheus was born. They didn’t need new command vehicles.

“I told you I don’t know, but they both have tracks,” Stephanie replied, and they caught ‘both’ so knew it was two.

“Damn, they are still going,” Gene laughed walking up.

Ted and Carl spun around. “When the hell did you get here?” Ted asked.

“Few hours ago,” Gene grinned. “Heard they were designing something.”

“What is it?” Ted asked hopefully.

“Shit if I know,” Gene confessed. “I was waiting until they took a break,” he said, and Stephanie laughed at that.

“Go over and just peek,” Ted offered.

“Boy, you can kiss my black ass,” Gene barked. “When Bruce is working like that, you leave his ass the fuck alone. I don’t want to know how his kids react if they are interrupted.”

“Jake is the worst if you interrupt his train of thought when he’s working,” Carl admitted.

“Figures,” Gene said, turning to Stephanie. “Are you going to ask?”

“Yes,” she smiled. “I’m not scared of any of them.”

“You’re married to Bruce and his kids call you Momma, what the fuck should you be scared of?” Gene replied. “Bruce’s kids were willing to fight him for you and Angela. There’s nothing on the Earth you should fear with that on your side.”

“Why are you out here then, if you didn’t come to ask?” Stephanie just grinned.

“To see if they at least pause and I can find out what they are working on to see if I could help,” Gene answered.

“Gene, they aren’t going to stop until they are done and it may be a day or two,” Stephanie told him.

Cocking his head to the side, “Even Mike?” Gene asked in a high voice.

Nodding, “When Mike is focused on a task, he’s actually worse than Bruce. That’s why Nancy was worried, both get excited and focused. I can confirm, in the past that was when Mike and Bruce always got in trouble. They passed that along to the kids, so I can see why Nancy wanted to confirm with her own eyes what the hell they are doing,” Stephanie told him.

The three looked at Stephanie in various states of bewilderment.

“Stephanie,” Gene said, clearing his throat. “It seems you’re suggesting Mike and Bruce together isn’t a good thing.”

“I didn’t suggest shit,” Stephanie spat. “They know together, they do shit that isn’t right. It does amaze me that they know it and actually avoid it.” The bewilderment went into utter shock. “Guys, that’s why Mike and Bruce are not on the same team. If they had ever been, I’m nearly certain both would have died long ago. You can see it when we are at Hope. The longer they are in close proximity to each other, the bad tendencies start to increase. Yes, Mike is much better at defense, but each one chose where they were going to be. Why? Because they know together they can get wild and irresponsible. Mike loses his rational side and Bruce’s wild hair up his ass turns into a fucking beard.”

“Wow,” Ted mumbled. “That’s very mature,” he noted.

“Trust me, it kills them that they aren’t fighting side by side, but both know it’s for the best,” Stephanie told them.

“You’re that sure?” Gene asked, just not being able to fit Mike acting like Bruce in his mind.

“You’ve heard of their trip from the hospital, right?” Stephanie asked and Gene nodded. “Knowing Mike like you do now and Bruce from your past, would either have attacked a gang as large as the one that was holding Conner?”

Shaking his head, “I still can’t believe Bruce even did that,” Gene admitted.

“Yeah, Mike put up a token opposition but even Nancy will tell you, Mike wanted to attack. Mike feels and is the reasoning side of the two, but that goes away quickly. Together they feel they can take anything and the longer they’re together, the feeling grows. I’m pretty sure if they hadn’t come home after that attack, Mike and Bruce would’ve just moved across the state killing blues or gangs, it wouldn’t have mattered. It would’ve been a game, but one that would’ve killed them and us.”

Gene started getting lightheaded as pieces started falling into place. That was why Mike and Bruce were rarely out fighting at the same time. Mike knew Bruce was better, letting Bruce take the lead and stayed behind on his own because nobody tells Mike what to do, except Nancy. The few times they were out at the same time, only a few of those times were they ever close and never fought side by side. Bruce was clearly the wild influence, but Mike knew he could back Bruce up on anything, even if he was at Hope and Bruce was in the field. In close proximity, the two lost any desire for control because they felt together nothing could stop them.

“Whoa,” Gene mumbled at the realization and fought the desire to tell Bruce and Mike to separate.

“Exactly,” Stephanie smiled and strolled off heading to the hangar.

“Angela and Stephanie need to get a tighter rein on Bruce,” Carl said with a shiver and both turned to look at him. “Nancy is the one controlling Mike and Bruce and it’s wearing her down.”

“We are setting Nancy up for a day at the spa at Base Hope,” Gene informed them and they liked that idea.

Walking over and standing behind Bruce, “Hey, baby,” Stephanie said, kissing the top of Bruce’s head.

“Hey, Little Red,” Bruce replied but didn’t look up as he continued working, drawing a line on a ruler he was using.

“Baby, you promised Sandy some lab rats and we found a gang north of Comstock. It’s more than twenty, but no more than fifty,” Stephanie said looking at the drawing. It was a profile of what looked like a very long tank. Because of Bruce, Stephanie knew the tank was larger than an Abrams. The turret was much farther forward and the barrel was very tiny. A large tank with a tiny gun went against everything that was Bruce. Not about to disturb the thought process, she knew in time it would become clear.

“Uh huh,” Bruce replied, nodding slightly as he repositioned the ruler.

“Can we send some to pick them up?” Stephanie asked as she started rubbing Bruce’s shoulders.

“Okay,” Bruce agreed, grabbing a protractor.

“Who do you want me to send?”

Finally, Bruce lifted his head up and saw Ted, Carl, and Gene standing just outside the hangar looking toward him in what looked like shock. “Ted! Carl!” he barked, then went back to drawing as they both jumped and sprinted inside.

“Yeah, boss,” Ted said, stopping on the other side of the table as Bruce continued to draw.

“Get the team gathered up and go get this gang and bring them back. Sandy needs lab rats,” Bruce told them then turned around. “Buffy,” he called out, and Buffy skipped over with a grin. Sliding a page over with columns listing various dimensions of metal, “Get the calculator and give me a rough estimate on weight,” Bruce told her and Buffy went to work.

“Anything special on the gang you want done?” Carl asked, putting his helmet on.

“Just as many alive as you can get,” Bruce answered, toiling away.

Stephanie kissed Bruce on the head again and as she went to leave, couldn’t help but grin watching Cook rolling a cart into the hangar loaded with plates of food. “Make sure they eat,” she smiled at him.

“They all ate everything I brought for lunch,” Cook laughed, passing her.

Gene joined them as they passed, heading for Prometheus. Before they got there, Sandy came out carrying a cardboard box nearly three feet long and a foot tall and wide. The way she was holding the box, it seemed heavy. “Sandy, I told you I would get that,” Gene called out, rushing over and taking the box.

“I didn’t want to forget, and specimens become lost or damaged through punitive actions.”

“So, we're going to get you some lab rats?” Ted laughed and put his helmet on.

Turning to Ted, “I like lab rats, they are nice. You are obtaining me cocksuckers,” she told him flatly.

“How many do you need?” Carl laughed.

“Bruce had an addition to the Blue Analysis and Experimentation Area built. It can house a hundred cocksuckers. I’m sure with a hundred, I can successfully evaluate the four peptide markers needed for innate immunity.”

Both stopped laughing instantly at that. “Sandy, you’ll have your hundred before we get back to Hope,” Carl pledged.

Smiling and leaning her head on Gene, “Gene told me he was going to procure some cocksuckers, but I don’t want it viewed as favoritism since we are married,” Sandy told them.

“If any person ever called that favoritism, I’ll tell Buffy they called Herman gay,” Ted blurted out.

“Dude, that’s just cold,” Carl said, glancing over. Then changed his opinion, “I’d back you up on that.”

Looking up at Gene, “I thought the young man’s name attempting to court Buffy was Marty,” Sandy said.

“Herman is Buffy’s knife, and she really loves her knife,” Gene smiled, and Ted and Carl didn’t like the word ‘court’ applied in the same sentence with Buffy.

Reaching in the box, “I brought some of the devices Bruce has at the Analysis area used to control blues,” Sandy said, taking out what looked like a police baton. Ted and Carl stepped closer, noticing it was fatter than a baton and wasn’t wood.

“I thought they had guys in suits to handle the blues,” Ted said, noticing two probes at the end and thick wires that ran along the shaft.

“They do, but these are used to teach the subjects they are behaving improperly,” Sandy told them, holding it out. Carl had seen similar things used in prisons around the world, but never with wire along the shaft. It was a human cattle prod. “It will subdue a blue with one discharge despite state of anxiety or size,” Sandy told them.

“Bruce made this,” Carl stated confidently, taking the baton. “I got to see the first blue prod in action.”

“Cocksuckers are rendered unconscious after an application, regardless of a strike or jab,” Sandy said and both looked up at her.

“Yeah, Sandy’s used them on the cocksuckers she has now,” Gene smirked, trying hard not to laugh.

“How many do you have?” Ted asked, leaning closer to look in the box.

“Two dozen,” Sandy answered and Ted took the box from Gene.

“Want me to come?” Gene asked, hugging Sandy tight to his side.

“You have your suit?” Ted asked and Gene shook his head. “Then you can’t come.”

“He could ride up front with a driver,” Carl pointed out and Ted nodded at that.

“I’ll let you boys take care of this, but don’t act stupid or Bruce will flip out on your ass,” Gene warned.

“Please, after our runs with Bruce? Omega can take prisoners with ease,” Ted scoffed as he spun around and walked off.

“We’ll be back shortly with your cocksuckers,” Carl laughed and took off after Ted, calling for the protection detail to mount up. They didn’t like leaving Bruce, but he was surrounded by family and they each had members protecting them. Besides the fact, Bruce told them to go and get Sandy some lab rats.

Reaching in the box and taking out a baton, “I get to use it first,” Carl said pressing a button on the handle and electricity arced between the two probes at the end but also along the wires that ran along the shaft.

“Excuse me?” Ted scoffed as the team loaded up.

“You got to drive the babies twice before we left,” Carl informed him. When Ted went to complain, “Keep on and I’ll use it on you,” he warned.

“Fine,” Ted sighed as Bonnie climbed behind her gun and they told her what the mission was.

Snatching up a baton, “I’m using one,” she said.

“Okay, but I get to use it first,” Carl told her, and Bonnie didn’t even argue because she'd gotten to take the babies riding on a tractor which had pissed both Ted and Carl off.

Chapter Eighteen

North of Comstock, Texas, in a large wooden barn, Art Culver looked out over the scrub grass and mesquite trees to the small rolling hills in the landscape as the sun set. Off in the distance, he could still hear helicopters flying and knew it was Omega. He had encountered Omega nearly a year ago in South Carolina and was one of seven that survived. The rest of the ‘Bones’, over six thousand, had been wiped out.

One of the survivors with Art had been in the military and said Omega had dropped MOABs. It would’ve only taken two, but Omega had dropped six. Shank had sent Art and the others to make contact with a military group in Pennsylvania to join up. They had been twelve miles away when the explosion hit. All six bombs had hit simultaneously, obliterating the eight square miles the Bones had set up.

Before Art reached the military group, somehow a horde had formed and wiped the base out. They were less than fifty miles away when calls started coming out of a horde moving across the land. There was no doubt in Art’s mind, Omega was responsible for that horde. He didn’t know how, but he was certain. After that, Art had one goal: Get the hell out of North America.

He was the only one of the original seven to make it this far. Four had died and the other two had stayed in Ohio with a group on Lake Erie. The group didn’t call themselves a gang because they were run by a bunch of former rich pricks, but they were a gang because Art knew gangs.

Along the way, Art had collected others. What was strange was there were thirty-four of them in total, and thirty-one had encountered Omega in some form or another. Despite having never been in a gang until after the Fall, Art had built his own gang for one purpose, to get the hell out of North America.

It had taken this long to cross the country and Art felt lucky. Not because he had avoided blues, but he had avoided Omega. He wasn’t a fool, everyone who was with this Bruce was Omega, no matter what they called themselves. Clan, Beta, Gamma, or some type of guard. In his journey, Art had learned a lot about Omega. Everything he learned just reinforced, get the hell out of North America.

But in the last few months, he’d been hearing stuff from fantasy. Omega had huge floating air ships that launched helicopters. They were wearing Ironman-like super suits and it just went on. The information came from gangs or groups he met along the way. Some of the groups were with him now as drones to keep the others happy while they got the hell out of North America. He had a goal, and it was an island off the coast of Belize. Which one, he didn’t give a shit, but he was getting the hell out of North America.

Some of the groups he met along the way would laugh at the tales of Omega, but not Art. He warned them all to never underestimate Omega before he continued on his trek with those following him. They still listened to the radio broadcast that was twenty-four/seven now and when they were in a group’s compound, watched the television broadcast. Omega hadn’t shown these wonders like the airships and suits to the world, but Art was certain they were true.

Many gangs wanted Art to stay because he was smart, and two had tried to force the issue. Art had lost some members, but gained supplies in the short battles.

Hoping to go unnoticed, his first choice was to take a boat down the Mississippi to the coast, but Omega was now moving on large rivers. In the beginning, they’d had electric buggies and carried a generator to charge them when they stopped, but all had broken and blues were always near so they couldn’t take the time to repair.

Knowing Omega now had a base in Missouri, Art had skirted Kansas and still saw groups of Omega. These called themselves Scavengers and some type of guard, but Art knew they were Omega. True, they didn’t have super suits and air ships, but they also didn’t have the masses of armor and war machines Art had seen with his own eyes. Figuring they were a minor group of Omega, Art had led his group further west before turning south.

They had been listening to the radio and were relieved when Omega wasn’t roaming about, because they always flaunted their movements. But this morning before the sun rose helicopters could be heard, and Art knew it was Omega. He took two men and followed the sound, and with his own eyes saw floating airships, that should’ve been impossible, floating six miles away high above Laughlin.

He wasn’t getting closer to witness the suits and literally ran fifteen miles back to the barn where the others were. Because Art was the one in charge and of their own encounters, the others shared his fear. Three started crying and Art nearly joined them.

After traveling over two thousand miles fighting blues and other gangs that wouldn’t take no for an answer, Omega had cut him off. Art was really wondering if one in his group was wanted by Omega. If he found out, Art would hand them over. They all had their fingers, so he knew none had been a judge. Art had actually felt everyone’s fingers in case they were using a prosthetic.

One of the others convinced Art they needed to know what Omega was doing and Art finally agreed because they had enough food to hide in the barn for a week. Art didn’t have a problem with that plan.

The two he sent to scout returned just an hour ago. Climbing a water tower and using a telescope they’d gotten to see super suits, but when they told Art that Omega was putting up a concrete wall, even Art had problems believing that. Then when the two explained how, by what they had seen, Art had to step outside and puke.

It was cold, and moving around was much easier in the cold but somehow, Omega had chosen the spot Art was at to build a base before he’d even reached Mexico. “America is big, how are they here?” Art mumbled, sitting down on a bale of hay. Glancing around the barn, Art saw all of his gang lost in thought with a lot of fear. Normally drones would be whimpering now, but all sixteen were cowered in a corner.

For a brief instant, Art wondered if Omega could somehow hone in on a drone’s hopelessness but quickly concluded that was far-fetched, even for him.

“BAMMMM” sounded with the splintering of wood and everyone dove for guns as something busted through the wall of the barn thinking blues had spotted them. Swinging the pistol he was holding around, Art froze. A camouflaged armor clad figure that looked like a robot was walking toward him holding a police baton. Realizing it was Omega, Art’s eyes rolled back as he dropped in a dead faint.

“I never touched you, asshole!” Carl shouted, watching Art collapse in a dead faint. Other crashes started sounding out as more crashed through the walls and Carl spun as one of the gang shot him. Storming over, Carl noticed it was a Glock the man was firing rapidly and he could barely register the 9mm impacts. All the rounds hit and ricocheted off the suit before he reached the man as his slide locked back.

Poking the man with the baton and hitting the button, Carl gave a startle as the man sailed back from the jolt to smack a support beam. “I like it,” Carl said, watching the man hit the dirt floor face first.

Hitting a woman shooting at him as she ran for the hole he’d put in the wall, Carl watched her bite through her own tongue as the jolt sent her sailing back and not the hit. “I’m getting one of these,” Carl said, moving over as a young man unloaded an AK. He wasn’t aiming, just shooting in Omega troopers’ general direction. Despite being less than ten yards away, he only managed two hits before his magazine ran dry.

Touching the young man lightly in the chest with the end, “Bow before Omega!” Carl shouted and hit the button.

“Ugh,” he let out as his body jerked violently, sending him sailing backwards. Hitting the wall and collapsing in a sprawl, Carl just laughed, turning away.

“I’ll count that as a bow.”

Looking around the barn, he saw the other gang members down and let out a groan because he didn’t get to shock more. Tapping his left forearm and turning to the sixteen women and kids cowering in the corner, the visor slid open and they all gasped, seeing eyes inside the helmet of what they all thought was some form of alien robot. “We are Omega,” Carl told them and normally hostages relaxed hearing that, but they didn’t. “You are free to go but if you want, we’ll take you to get you fed. If you follow the rules, you can join or head your own way.”

A young boy who looked to be around ten stood up with his mouth hanging open. “Can I be a robot?” he asked.

Laughing, “You can try out, but it takes a lot to earn a suit. When you put it on, your job is to protect and kill blues,” Carl told him.

“Okay,” the boy replied instantly.

“Would everyone like to eat and then decide what they want to do?” Carl asked and they all nodded. “Let us gather up your hosts, then we’ll take off.”

“I thought Omega killed those who hurt,” the oldest woman said. Carl knew she couldn’t have been over twenty-five, but she looked fifty.

“Normally, but we need these to try out medicine that won’t let you turn into a blue.”

Somewhat surprised when the oldest nodded in understanding, “Wait here because a few blues followed us and the team outside is dealing with them,” Carl said and the group huddled together with wide eyes, not believing what they were seeing.

When he turned around, Carl saw Ted looking at the one who’d fainted after Carl came through the wall. “What?” Carl asked and Ted took his helmet off, almost making Carl spin off on his ass.

“I know this sack of shit from somewhere,” Ted answered, stopping Carl’s ass chewing.

Stepping closer looking at the form, “You sure? Like before the Fall?” Carl asked because he couldn’t see Ted meeting the figure on the floor. It wasn’t the beard but the unconscious form just gave off a sleazy vibe, and Carl had been with Ted a long time. Sleazy guys, Ted never hung around, but sleazy women were another story. That was why Carl really liked Melanie, she was the best girl Ted had ever gone after.

“No, I mean recently,” Ted said, pushing Art until he was lying on his back. “He has one fucking eyebrow across his forehead. I’ve seen him.” There was no denying the eyebrow. It looked like a ten-inch-long black caterpillar was on the man’s forehead above his eyes.

“Want us to start loading them up?” Bonnie asked, coming over. “Holy shit!” she said looking down at Art. “Is that real hair?” she asked, looking at the eyebrow.

“Yeah, Ted’s seen him before,” Carl said, studying the face hard, but there wasn’t a doubt in Carl’s mind he would remember a stripe of fur on a man’s head. “You never said anything about seeing a werewolf eyebrow to me.”

Pondering that for a second, emotions started returning from Ted’s mind. “I was mad as hell when I saw him.”

“We’ve killed those we were mad at,” Bonnie pointed out.

Slapping his leg hard as the memory popped into his mind, “He was in South Carolina! He was with that Bones gang!” Ted cried out, thankful to remember. “I saw him while I was walking around inside.”

Turning to Ted and taking her own helmet off. “Just why in the hell did you do that anyway?” Bonnie asked.

Shrugging, “Trying to start a fight,” Ted answered honestly.

“Wonder how he escaped the MOABs?” Carl mused.

“The bag is in Bruce’s rig, let’s get it and ask the fur head,” Ted suggested.

Scoffing as he took his helmet off, “Bruce wouldn’t let us use the bag,” Carl stated.

Pointing at Bonnie, “Let’s make her ask. Bruce gives in to her more than us,” Ted countered.

“Because I don’t whine,” Bonnie said but they ignored her.

Thinking for a minute, “Let’s load them up and send Bonnie with Stephanie to ask if we can question one when we get back. Bruce seems distracted and with Stephanie, if Bonnie asks, Bruce will probably just say yeah,” Carl offered a plan.

“We can’t say why because Bruce would want to do it and that would make him lose his train of thought,” Ted added.

“You two really want to question him?” Bonnie asked and they both turned to her nodding. “Call Buffy over when we get back and get her to ask for you. Buffy will ask for you two and I guarantee you, Bruce will just tell her sure.”

Shifting his eyes to Carl, “Buffy does this, we get her something special,” Ted said and Carl nodded.

“Can we go now?” Bonnie chuckled while pulling her helmet on.

“Yeah,” Carl said, leaning over and poking Art with the baton to make his body jolt a foot off the ground. He looked up at Ted. “The bitch fainted before I could shock him and he wasn’t getting off that easy.”

Since the hostages weren’t part of Omega, they were allowed to ride in vehicles with troopers in suits but were cautioned to keep their distance. None of the sixteen had any problem with that.

Reaching Laughlin, they found Bruce and the rest still at work in the hangar. Motioning Buffy over, Ted and Carl talked to her and Buffy just went over to Bruce and asked. Never looking up, Bruce said ‘fine’.

Sandy was very happy with the group of cocksuckers. Ted grabbed the bag from the rig as he and Carl carried Art off to a vacant building to chat, but assured Sandy they would bring him back. Looking at the fur across Art’s forehead, Sandy wasn’t sure she wanted him back.

For two days, Bruce and the others continued on their task as the walls went up and the new base was stocked. None in the group slept, proving just how goal-oriented they all were. When they finished, Joe collected the drawings and promptly left. Bruce and the others collapsed and slept for half a day.

When they woke, they joined in on the walkthrough to clear the area inside the wall. Laughlin, like Fort Hood, wasn’t a box or rectangle but a sloppy-looking circle. Compared to Fort Hood, Laughlin was tiny at eighty square miles inside the wall. Within a week of the wall being up there were thirty thousand clan members inside Laughlin, getting the base ready to join in the war.

With the Praetorian Guard at Laughlin in strength, Bruce almost had Omega load up vehicles on one of the trains heading back to Hope. He knew they needed to kill blues, but didn’t want to drain the stockpile of ammo they were building for the Mexico campaign.

Since the temperature was staying in the fifties for the high, Bruce took off with Omega because that was their job, kill blues to save as many as they could. Taking a different route home Omega continued the campaign of torching nests, but blues were much more active with the increase in temperature. Bruce didn’t care in the end because he’d made a promise and was going to keep it.

Chapter Nineteen

It was January thirty-first when Omega rolled back into Base Hope with emotions running high. They were greeted with crowds lining the road and cheering. “We didn’t do much of shit,” Bruce said, waving.

Loving the suit more because no one could even read Bruce’s lips, “Bruce, we went out kicking ass and coming home with no losses,” Carl told him.

“You know, getting Buffy to ask me was low,” Bruce shot back as he waved at the crowd on both sides of the road.

“We knew she wouldn’t disturb your train of thought, boss,” Bonnie chimed in. “You were really focused and we knew she could ask and not disturb you.”

Bruce’s hand paused in his wave thinking about that. It sounded legit but at the same time, it sounded like coercion. Giving the benefit of the doubt, “Well, I misspoke, I’m thankful,” Bruce said, and Ted and Carl made mental notes to get Bonnie something.

Reaching the road that headed toward what used to be the farm, the crowd ended as Louis turned with the line of Omega following behind. “Louis, for the first time, you’ve done an excellent job,” Bruce said, shocking the others because Bruce had never given Louis praise.

“Thank you, sir,” Louis sounded off.

“Let me off at the house and take our rig down to the motor pool,” Bruce said.

“You got it, sir,” Louis replied with pride.

“I still hate you, Louis,” Carl chimed in. Louis didn’t reply and Bruce didn’t chastise because that was between them.

Stopping in front of the house they got out and Louis continued on to the motor pool. Prometheus was the next vehicle, so Angela, Stephanie, and Sandy got out before the convoy continued on as Bruce and his crew took off their helmets. Seeing his welcoming committee waiting with Marcus and Carroll, Bruce really wished he had taken his suit off as he watched the kids run toward him.

“Hold up,” Bruce said as the twins skidded to a stop and PJ and Cade nearly ran into them. “Daddy is in his suit and I can’t pick you up yet, okay?” The twins smiled and just hugged Bruce’s legs.

The power of the suit scared all who wore it. There had been one casualty on this outing. A young captain over Dani’s fifth company. In the hangar they used as a mess hall, she’d had her helmet off to eat. A bug, which Bruce suspected was a moth, had landed on the captain’s cheek and she’d swatted it. It was simply a reflex and without the suit wouldn’t have even left a mark. Well, the captain had knocked herself out and broken her cheekbone. She woke up on a helicopter flying her back to Hope. Reports came back she would be fine but it just reaffirmed how dangerous the suits were, even to the wearer.

After hugging Bruce’s legs, the kids ran to Angela and Stephanie who didn’t have on suits, so lots of hugs and kisses were dealt out. Walking up to Marcus and Carroll and looking in the triple stroller loaded with babies. “If you three weren’t so cute, I’d have to throw you away,” Bruce told the babies and they all smiled with toothless grins. When their battalion reached the house, the kids got out and then sent their rigs on to the motor pool.

Not deterred, Carroll stepped up and kissed Bruce’s cheek. When he turned to her, “I do what I want,” she told him calmly. “They goin’ ta’ operate on that trooper you sent back on the third. The doctor say the bone ain’t linin’ up and she be a cute girl and don’t be needin’ a lopsided face.”

“I’ll go visit her since I have a doctor’s appointment on the third,” Bruce replied as the twins came over and grabbed a finger on each of his hands. Looking at their tiny hands barely around his gloved fingers Bruce wanted them to let go, but when he shifted his eyes to their faces to tell them he saw huge smiles, and just didn’t have the heart. Forcing his mind to ignore the fact he had hands and control them to remain limp, “Joe still working?”

“Yeah, but he built what you sent back,” Marcus answered. “He’s beside the center waiting.”

“Damn, he’s fast,” Bruce said, slowly moving to make sure the twins would walk with him. Seeing just how nervous Bruce was in his suit with the twins beside him, Carroll went to push the stroller, acting like it was too hard.

“Emily, Sherry, can you two help me push?” Carroll asked and they were only more than happy because they never got to push.

“You still think we can kick off Mexico in March?” Marcus asked as the others followed.

“Yeah, we didn’t use much ammunition. A shitload of napalm, but not much ammo,” Bruce answered as Mike came around the side of the house with a shit-eating grin.

“How do they look?” Bruce asked.

“Oh, they are works of art, Bruce,” Mike cooed. “We outdid ourselves.”

Almost breaking into a run, Bruce held his excitement because he didn’t want the kids to run after him. “Marcus said he built more than one, I’m shocked at that,” Bruce said as Mike joined the group heading around the house.

“He built five of the combat units, but only one of the flamers,” Mike grinned. “The flamer has already been named and I like it, they call it ‘Demon’.”

“They tested it?” Bruce asked, still impressed Joe’s group could build prototype units that fast because two weeks was fast when building armor from concept, blueprint to working model.

“Demon spits a stream of fire a hundred and fifty yards,” Mike laughed sinisterly. “With the five-hundred-gallon tanks, it can spray continuously for eighteen minutes and twenty-six seconds.”

With his step faltering, “Whoa,” Bruce gasped because his calculations had said eleven minutes. Demon would never need to spray that long, Bruce thought, because it only needed a few bursts to set a structure on fire but with that reserve, it would be able to burn a shitload of structures. The converted MRAPs had to constantly be refilled, only carrying a hundred and fifty gallons, for something that was just thrown together. Bruce was happy with them but had wanted something dependable to stay with units permanently.

Continuing around the house, Bruce spotted the line of new vehicles and froze as he felt a peace settle over him and for the briefest second, he felt Debbie near. “All of you did a great job,” he heard faintly in his mind, and he knew that voice better than his own. Just as fast, the feeling was gone and he could still smell her, but it was fading fast. Panting hard, Bruce felt his legs shaking inside his suit. Debbie had been close.

Mike stopped beside Bruce and saw his face was pale. “Dude, I like them a lot, but you’re taking it a little far,” Mike told him. If Bruce wouldn’t have been in a suit Mike would’ve moved closer, in case he needed to catch him. But in a suit, Mike was going to let Bruce crash to the ground because if Bruce grabbed to steady himself, he could crush Mike’s bones.

Angela and Stephanie moved up and like Mike, didn’t get close. “Bruce, you okay?” Angela asked and noticed Bruce’s eyes weren’t even fixed on the vehicles.

Holding close the dear moment, “Need a minute,” Bruce said as he stopped panting and the peace settled into him. In time he would share it with Angela and Stephanie, but for now Bruce just held the moment. Not saying anything else, Bruce continued on to the line of vehicles.

Demon really did look like a deformed tank. The blocky turret sat at the front of the long body, but seemed much too small for such a large structure. Poking out six feet was the two inch “Gun”. In the middle was a large protrusion, which was the third high-pressure pump. When the thick napalm exited the barrel it was at two thousand PSI, and Bruce was certain the one-inch stream could cut a blue in half out to twenty yards. Demon was built on the same chassis as the assault vehicle, but from the top of the turret it was three feet taller. There was an M240 coaxial machine gun beside the flame barrel because Bruce just couldn’t see Demon without one. On top of the turret was an M2 fifty caliber. There were more M2s mounted on vehicles than any other heavy weapon or belt fed machine gun.

Bruce used them as anti-material weapons because blues liked to hide in structures or charge en masse. Ma Deuce could chew up any structure and at four hundred yards, go through six blues. They quit producing magic fifty caliber shells because even if a blue was hit in one extremity, that extremity was torn off. Thanks to the Analysis Center preliminary report, they knew the blue only had a twenty percent chance of survival with a hit severing an extremity from the trunk. A hit to the torso was fatal almost as fast as a magic bullet. That’s why there were so many M2s or other variants of the fifty among the clan.

On Bruce’s rig he still had the GAU fifty caliber mounted with his minigun and because Bruce had done it, most of Omega did as well. Mike just had an M2 mounted in his turret with his minigun because he wanted the slower rate of fire, if six hundred rounds a minute of half-inch projectiles could be called slow. Bruce liked sending out two thousand a minute.

Thinking about it, Bruce knew why only one Demon had been built by Joe and Harry. Of all vehicles, it was the best protected and only it had polygraphenoid sheets for armor. Polygraphenoid was a priority for the airships so it was very restricted, but Demon was carrying five hundred gallons of highly flammable gel and made a great target for humans to go after. Because polygraphenoid was in such high demand, Bruce only wanted one Demon for every company. It was manned only with two, a driver and a gunner in the turret. Nothing short of a tank round could take out the Demon because it also had reactive armor to stop missiles.

In time, the assault vehicle would get polygraphenoid added and they had designed it that way but everyone who’d helped agreed, the two in the Demon were going to be protected.

The others watched Bruce moving around in a zen-like state, which was very out of character when Bruce came near new weapons. More than one watching him was getting a little worried. After inspecting the Demon, Bruce moved over to the assault vehicle.

It was six feet longer than the MRAP at thirty-five feet and three feet wider at eleven. There were two cupolas, one forward and one rear. Just like the MRAP, from the top of each cupola to the ground was nine and a half feet. On each side was a minigun, but there was now plenty of room for four bodies in the back, even wearing suits. Like the command vehicles there were no windows, but to an onlooker there wasn’t even a visible cab.

The vehicle looked like a long, wide rectangle with a wedge at the front end. While the converted MRAPs had tracks eighteen inches wide, the assault vehicle’s tracks were twenty-six inches wide. Despite being larger, the assault vehicle only weighed fourteen tons fully loaded. Since the hull was watertight it was amphibious, just like the command vehicles.

Bruce moved around to the back and just grinned. The rear was a ramp but when the ramp was closed, there was a hatch that could be used just like the MRAP. Inside the rear was a spacious area. What caused Bruce to grin, inside there were four mannequins to represent suits in each corner of the rear area. The mannequins were standing, but you could only see them from the knee up. Depressions at each corner allowed for the suits to be stood up and could be strapped in. This really made it easier to get in the damn things, but it still let the crew have room since they would be living out of vehicles during this war.

On each side of the rear compartment were two, forty-inch flat screens that relayed images from cameras around the hull. In the rear compartment there were no periscopes, but the driver had two. Stepping in the rear, Bruce moved up under the front cupola and opened a forward hatch to the driver’s area.

Now, drivers could be completely sealed and separate from the rear compartment in case blues breached. In the driver’s area, there was a reclined chair and four flat screens that the driver would use to navigate. There was a hatch above that opened just forward of the primary cupola where the driver could get out or even drive sticking their head out. Out of the entire crew, the driver’s area was the most comfortable because the driver would stay there more than those in the rear would stay in their area. Four hammocks could be strung up in the back, but the driver’s chair was like a recliner and would serve as the driver’s place to sleep.

Very happy, Bruce looked over the other things they’d added and then climbed out to find all were looking at him with open mouths. “I like it,” Bruce stated.

“Um,” Joe mumbled. “You aren’t jumping up and down hollering,” he noted, like they had failed to impress Bruce.

“No, it’s perfect,” Bruce said with a sigh. “How’s it handle?”

“We just started trials,” Harry answered.

“Buffy!” Bruce called out, and that shook Joe and Harry out of their stupor. With her helmet tucked under her arm, Buffy skipped over with a huge smile. “Take your suit off, look it over, and then take it out with Dani,” Bruce told her and Buffy started cheering and danced up the ramp disappearing inside. They could hear Buffy coming out of her suit, laughing.

Storming over and dropping her helmet to the ground, “Why me?!” Dani cried out.

“You’re the big sister,” Bruce reminded her.

Jerking her thumb over her shoulder, “Hello?! Mindy’s four months older than me!” Dani shouted.

“Mindy’s pregnant,” Bruce pointed out and Dani almost called Matt over to get her pregnant, right here and now. Usually with Dani, Buffy drove good but a bit wild. There wasn’t any arguing that Buffy was very good despite her age and size, but Buffy had no fear. Dani would admit to anyone that Buffy could get a vehicle to do things she couldn’t or wouldn’t try. But when Bruce told Buffy she could ‘test’ a vehicle, that removed any restraint, and Buffy didn’t have much to begin with.

Dani knew vehicles needed to be tested. Usually, over months to find weak areas and signs of wear. What took others months, Buffy could do in a day.

“Daddy!” Dani whined and stomped her right foot and because of the suit, the ground shook.

“Don’t go out further than forty miles,” Bruce just smiled at her.

Knowing arguing or whining wasn’t going to change his mind, Dani snatched her helmet up as Buffy shouted for Dani to hurry up. “We’ll go with you, sis,” Jake said, coming up with Mary and Matt.

“If it wasn’t for this suit we would still be arguing, Daddy!” Dani informed him, shoving her helmet on. When it closed forming to her head, Dani looked back at Jake, Matt, and Mary. “None of you better dare Buffy to do anything because she damn sure will do it.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Matt said walking past her and up the ramp.

“Dani,” Bruce said and when she turned, Bruce was happy the helmet hid what he knew was a pissed-off face. “Try to get her to high center it. I want to know how hard it is to get moving again.”

“Daddy, the last time you told Buffy to high center a vehicle, she drove an Abrams through a fucking building and the damn thing fell down on us,” Dani snapped spinning around and stomping up the ramp.

“About time, damn it!” Buffy shouted, and the eight hundred horsepower diesel cranked up. When Bruce turned to tell the others to get back, he found everyone had already moved up next to the house.

Joining them, he saw Dani man the forward cupola, Matt the rear, Jake manned the right side minigun, and Mary the left. “You’re clear to turn,” Dani called out and the assault vehicle slowly pivoted in place to spin around and slowly moved away at a crawl, going around the house and out of sight. The reason, there were people there and they were family so Buffy was very careful. When Buffy reached the road, that shit was over.

The engine roared and the tracks gave a whine as Buffy took off.

“Why didn’t you go?” Angela asked because the last test Buffy had done was in Florida on the new tracks for the MRAP. Oh, Dani had thrown a fit from hell for being made to ride with Buffy then.

“Because the one person Buffy will listen to is Dani. I have to get mad and threaten to beat her, Dani just has to speak in a harsh tone and Buffy stops. Dani just doesn’t like to come down on Buffy,” Bruce told her. Angela and Stephanie nodded at that because they knew it was true.

Turning to Ted and Carl, “I know we just got back, but get some of the group to follow them,” Bruce said.

“We’ll go too,” Carl replied and left with Ted.

When Bruce turned to Mike, he found Mike on his cellphone telling the guards and police force that Buffy was testing a vehicle and leaving the base. That was understood to mean, ‘Stay out of her way and leave her alone’.

“Millie made the babies some cupcakes,” Carroll said, and Emily, Sherry, Cade, and PJ started cheering. “We’ll meet you inside,” Carroll laughed as she pushed the stroller and Marcus helped corral the four, herding them toward the center.

“I’m going to take my suit off, but I’ll be there in a bit,” Bruce smiled at Angela and Stephanie.

As he walked off, Joe and Harry felt cheated. Bruce hadn’t acted, well, like Bruce at the toys they had built. Feeling depressed, they moseyed off and Mike went after them to tell them Bruce was just preoccupied.

“Something’s off with Bruce,” Stephanie said watching Bruce walk past the swimming pool then around the house out of sight.

“Duh,” Angela sang out. “He was startled, but then happy in a weird way.”

Still looking at the corner of the house Bruce had walked past, “Should we check on him?” Stephanie asked with a hint of worry.

“Hell, yeah,” Angela snapped. “I don’t like it when he acts weird, and that shit was weird. Bruce gets wood around cool shit and he didn’t even act excited, and what they designed is cool as shit!”

Reaching out they took each other’s hand and headed off, following the path Bruce took. “I’m so proud of you two,” they both heard around them and jerked to a stop, feeling peace around them but panic inside. “I love both of you so much and thank you.”

Knowing that voice and it shouldn’t be possible, Stephanie’s eyes rolled back as she crumpled in a dead faint. “That’s what I was afraid of happening.”

“Debbie?” Angela panted, cutting her eyes side to side, then jerked her head around looking behind her, but Angela never let go of Stephanie’s hand as she lay crumpled at her side.

“Alex says he loves you and is glad you listened. He told me to tell you, don’t get down, Jessica will be the size she was meant to be and if she’s tiny, Jessica is just copying her momma.”

Wobbling on her feet, panting with an increasing heart rate, Alex had told her the exact same words with Cade and only Alex would know that. “Debbie?” Angela whimpered with tears filling her eyes.

“I couldn’t have chosen better and thank you for standing with him. I know Bruce can be difficult.”

Not able to pinpoint where the words were coming from, Angela blinked tears from her eyes. “Thank you for trusting us with him. Bruce may be difficult, but he’s great.”

“Time is short so continue to stand with him and comfort Stephanie, she’s going to be depressed because she fainted. Tell her I love her and will wait on all of you.”

“I will,” Angela said, but the presence she felt was gone. Angela’s watery eyes rolled back and she joined Stephanie on the ground. Mike came back just as Angela collapsed and he broke into a run yelling. When he reached them, Mike felt the same presence he had outside the underground storage the day Bruce had rejoined the living.

“Debbie?” he called out looking around, but no response came and the feeling left. Pulling out his phone, Mike called Bruce and flagged down some passing Gamma troops as he straightened the two out until they were lying flat on their backs.

Chapter Twenty

Riding in the back of the armored SUV, Bruce looked out the window as a new day started. It was the third and he was on his way to the hospital for his appointment. Granted, yesterday he had spent the entire day at the hospital. Bruce had a CT, MRI, X-rays, ultrasound, EKG, stress test, and every bodily fluid tested. Not a fool, Bruce knew the doctor he was meeting didn’t order any of the tests. The two doctors who had were dropping kids off at school at the moment.

Never saying a word, Bruce just went from test to test. The way he saw it, Angela and Stephanie were getting an update on what they had paid for. Bruce still wanted them to go to the doctor because they were the ones who had fainted behind the house the day they’d gotten back. He had his suspicions on why but kept them to his himself because Stephanie was in a very depressed funk.

When he had gotten to the hospital yesterday, in a rare instance, Bruce was glad to be the one in charge. He never had to wait or fill out anything. The nurse assigned to him was shocked when Bruce just tossed the hospital gown to the side and strolled around the hospital in his boxers from test to test. Despite being in boxers, people stopped Bruce to shake his hand and still took pictures with him.

Korey Bowmen was the doctor he was meeting that Angela and Stephanie had chosen for him. There were two reasons Bruce suspected. First, Mike saw Korey and second, Korey was a family practice doctor but also a chiropractor. Bruce had been a nurse for a long time and had only met one other who was dual board certified in medicine and chiropractic.

Before the Fall, Bruce saw a doctor when he needed to, which meant when Debbie told him, but Bruce would find his own chiropractor and had no problem making an appointment. The only thing Bruce would never allow was his neck popped. Bruce trusted no one enough for that and those he did trust enough, family, didn’t know how.

Ted, Carl, and Bonnie had been walking on eggshells around Bruce because they knew he hadn’t made the appointment, and they all knew Korey hadn’t ordered the tests yesterday. They were all expecting a tantrum from Bruce any second, but Bruce just appeared calm and relaxed. Even though Bruce had ordered Louis to drive him, Ted and Carl had sent Louis to train on the assault vehicle because they didn’t want Louis to set Bruce off.

Sitting up front with Carl who was driving, Ted glanced back at Bruce. Seeing Bruce relaxed and just looking out the window, Ted felt uneasy. Needless to say, Bonnie was in the back with Bruce, she was junior in rank and Bonnie rarely irritated him.

“You’ll like Korey, boss,” Ted said over his shoulder, trying to ease the tension the three suspected was hidden inside of Bruce.

“Mike does, so I’m sure I will,” Bruce replied and Ted looked at Bonnie hard, squinting his eyes and nodding to Bruce. This was his way of telling Bonnie to make small talk with the boss and Bonnie promptly flipped him off.

Yesterday, they had all been surprised when Bruce had come out of the house dressed in jeans and a Pink Floyd t-shirt. Like always, Bruce took casual to a new meaning, but even they were surprised when Bruce walked around the hospital in his boxers. Shy and Bruce were on opposite ends of the spectrum, but it seemed to bother Angela and Stephanie when Bruce lost his body morals, but only in Hope. In the field, Angela and Stephanie were just as bad as Bruce and the kids. If they had bras and panties on coming out of the shower trailers, many were actually shocked.

“You need to tell him,” Carl mumbled and Ted just glared back, shaking his head. Angela and Stephanie had scheduled a round of golf for March fourth. Because Bruce sucked on a scale none knew was even possible, Carl and Ted had reserved a time on the driving range with an instructor before March fourth.

‘Fuck you’, Ted mouthed to Carl when Carl nodded again to Bruce.

Bonnie knew what it was about and damn sure wasn’t going to be the one to bring it up. She had never even been on a golf course until the day Bruce went with Angela and Stephanie. They could all tell Bruce was really trying and that’s what pissed him off. On some levels, it was good to see Bruce wasn’t good at everything but on others, it sucked ass. They all saw Bruce capable of anything, but if the survival of the human race came down to a round of golf by Bruce… they were all fucked.

Today they were dressed casually like Bruce, just not as casual as Bruce. They were in slacks, polo shirts, and light jackets. Bruce had on jeans and an AC/DC t-shirt today.

Pulling to the front of the hospital, Carl stopped as Ted and Bonnie got out and the rest of the protection detail pulled in, fanning out. Like most times, Bruce got out before anyone opened his door. Despite being casual and the protection detail, Bruce had a custom 1911 on his right hip.

Carl got out of the driver’s seat, leaving the door open as one of the detail team got in and pulled off in the SUV. With Ted and Bonnie flanking Bruce, Carl jogged up slowly as he was a few paces behind Bruce. Security at the door was holding the doors open before they got there.

Inside, the hospital director was waiting on them and Bruce came to a stop as three kids ran over. He talked to them and took pictures with them, then let the director lead them. Along the way, Bruce stopped and shook hands with a few people and of course, pictures.

Reaching the office area, Bruce was surprised to see the waiting room vacant. “Where is everybody?” Bruce asked the director.

“Doctor Bowmen’s staff cleared the schedule for the day,” the director replied as he left. A door opened by the reception desk and a stocky black man wearing a lab coat stepped out with a male and two female nurses with him.

“Glad to finally meet you, I’m Korey Bowmen,” the black man said, holding out his hand.

“Mike speaks highly of you,” Bruce said, shaking the doctor’s hand.

“I’m glad, because doctor’s make bad patients,” Korey laughed.

“Oh, wait till you see how a former nurse acts,” Ted mumbled, but they all heard it.

Giving a nod to the brunette female nurse behind him, “I’m already familiar. My wife, Norma, holds the record as the worst patient I’ve ever seen, and I’m not her doctor,” Korey laughed.

“She’s not a six-foot-four, two-hundred-and-twenty-pound ranger by chance, is she?” Carl scoffed, looking around the waiting room.

Turning to Ted and Carl, “Do you two want to wait in the car?’ Bruce asked, but they both just looked around, not answering as Bruce shook the three nurses’ hands.

When Korey waved Bruce toward the door, “You three will sit your asses down and wait,” Bruce told them. Ted, Carl, and Bonnie all moved quickly to chairs and dropped down. “Don’t make me have to come back out here,” Bruce warned, then followed Korey.

Walking past the exam rooms, Bruce wondered where Korey was leading him. Stopping at the end of the hall, Korey waved Bruce inside the last doorway. Walking in, Bruce saw it was Korey’s office. It looked like most doctor’s offices he had been in, just neater. Unlike any doctor’s office he had been in, there was an exam table and a chiropractic table off to the side. “Never seen that before,” Bruce admitted.

“I’m a primary care physician to many on the command group,” Korey replied, gesturing to one of the nice chairs in front of the desk. “On days I see any of the command group, I clear the time so none are tempted to come in and talk with them. I have to admit, I’ve never had a patient intimidate me, but Ms. Carroll damn sure does.”

Sitting down in the chair, Bruce smiled. “You are a very intelligent man.”

“For people at their age, Carroll and Marcus are in excellent health,” Korey noted, lifting a very thick folder and opening it as he sat down. “You had some serious tests done yesterday.”

“Yep,” Bruce answered.

“Bruce,” Korey said, looking up at him. “I didn’t order any of them. I tried talking to those who did, but it accomplished nothing.”

Shaking his head, “You wasted your breath,” Bruce informed him. “Don’t worry, they won’t interfere with you, even though both are doctors. If the test isn’t bad, I’ll do it. They are just making sure I’m okay.”

“I beg to differ,” Korey said, holding up a piece of paper that had typing on it. “This is from both of your wives and signed by both. It informs me if I give you any type of narcotic, benzodiazepine, or similar compound, without informing them prior, I will have all hair removed from my body with tweezers, one at a time.”

Bruce couldn’t help but nod at that. “I don’t respond well to those.”

“So you have an allergy? Because your file says no known drug allergies.”

“No, I’m not allergic and can use them, but I act like an asshole and don’t remember shit,” Bruce informed him.

Looking at the paper and then to Bruce, “I’m telling you now, I’m not ever going to tell you to take any of these without their permission.”

Smiling, “What did Carroll tell you?” Bruce asked and watched Korey shiver.

“After my hair was ripped off, Marcus was coming with a knotted plow line,” Korey confessed.

Knowing why Carroll scared the shit out of Korey, Bruce understood. “I don’t like any of those medications anyway,” Bruce said. It was on the tip of Korey’s tongue to inform Bruce there had been others to offer up punishment if Korey didn’t adhere to that order. From Gene to Nancy, all had threatened bodily harm.

Putting the page down, “The reason I bring it up is I’ve reviewed your history and the tests done yesterday,” Korey told him which surprised Bruce.

“You mean to tell me you have the reports of all the tests I had done just yesterday?”

“Bruce, I had the results of most tests right after you were done with them. The only thing I waited on were the labs that take longer to run,” Korey replied.

Bruce felt a bit down at that because he was put ahead of others. He wasn’t surprised Korey had his history because Debbie had kept a copy of everything dealing with Bruce and medical history. From CDs of x-rays to labs going back when he was in the Army.

“So, tell me, how are you feeling?” Korey asked.

“I’m fine,” Bruce shrugged.

“Bruce,” Korey said leaning back in his chair, “the reason I brought up that letter is you aren’t fine. Your knees must hurt, along with your left shoulder. I’m willing to bet your right foot and ankle give you pain. Not to mention, a partial ruptured disk in your back.”

Not denying any of that, “I’m fine,” Bruce shrugged again.

“This works better if you are forthcoming,” Korey told him.

Leaning back in his chair and locking eyes with Korey, “What the hell do you want to hear? Yeah, I wake up and my knees fucking feel like ground-up glass is in them. Some days, my left shoulder drops me to the ground when I wake up. But you know what? I get up and start moving and the pain decreases. By the time I’m done with my workout, the pain is very subdued. Life is pain and I just deal with it. Pain is just weakness leaving the body. I just never knew I had so much weakness,” Bruce told him.

“Thank you,” Korey replied. “Bruce, you’ve put a lot of miles on your body. The fact you work out daily is your saving grace. Anyone else, I would recommend knee replacement and left shoulder replacement.”

“That ain’t happening,” Bruce scoffed. “My knees and shoulder work. I’ll be dead before anyone cuts on my spine.”

Waving at the folder in front of him, “Yeah, I’ve read the notes from others you’ve seen in the past. But the one that sticks out the most is a note from your wife Debbie and that is the one I’m following. It says you’re a big boy and know your body and if anyone tried to pressure you into surgery, lawsuits were the least of their concerns.”

Bruce knew the letter and when it was put in. “And that’s how Bruce will always roll.”

“Are you still taking this list of vitamins and supplements?” Korey asked.

“I will be for the next three months, then my stockpile is out.”

“The fort in Alabama you established has started vitamin and supplement production. I’ll have them delivered to you,” Korey told him.

Cocking his head to the side and looking out the window behind Korey, Bruce racked his brain trying to remember if anyone had told him about that. That was information he was positive he would’ve remembered. “You’re certain of the production in Alabama?” he asked.

Nodding, “Yes, we have a lab set up here at Base Hope that is producing medications, but I’m told it’s going to be moved to the City of Hope. I’ve been to Alabama, just to make sure the lab producing the vitamins and supplements was up to basic standards, and they are way above basic standards,” Korey answered.

“I don’t remember anyone telling me,” Bruce grunted.

“Bruce,” Korey scoffed. “You’re rebuilding civilization, there isn’t any way you can learn of everything being rebuilt! My God, man, you are human! Granted, a very unique human, but we all have limits. You can’t hold yourself to impossible standards or you will drive your body into the ground. You have the heart and lungs of a teenager, but your joints…” Korey just paused. “You have cartilage, but keep on like you are and you’ll grind what you have away. Don’t try to do everything is all I’m saying. Take care of yourself because I agree with everyone, only you can offer the chance for us to rebuild and do it better.”

“Trust me, I don’t try to do everything,” Bruce replied.

Nodding at the folder, “I’ve seen you used a chiropractor more than doctors, are you willing to continue that?” Korey asked.

“Oh, hell yeah,” Bruce sighed out. “But nobody pops my neck.”

Not remembering that in the file, Korey just took it. “Have you ever had a deep tissue massage?”

Unable to help it, Bruce winced. “Yeah, it was okay.”

“You’re supposed to be sore a few days afterwards,” Korey told him. “Are you open to that?”

Twisting his face up, “You do deep tissue massage?” Bruce asked in five different octaves.

“I was certified, but my wife Norma is, well, was licensed and she’s much better.”

“I don’t care,” Bruce said, really glad he had come to see Korey.

Getting up and moving to the exam table. “Let’s do the exam, then get started on adjustments. Then I’ll get Norma in here,” Kory told him.

***

Walking into his office at the Land of Oz, Jake found Matt using the LED microscope looking over a computer board. “You find the problem?” Jake asked, heading for his desk.

“Yeah, it was just a defective relay,” Matt answered. “I’m just making sure that was all.”

The computer board was from an assault vehicle’s engine operating subsystem that Joe and Harry had built, but malfunctioned right off the bat. Because he and Matt were over the Land of Oz, Jake knew what Harry and Joe were doing. He damn sure wasn’t telling his dad.

“Do we need to make changes?” Jake asked, putting a stack of folders on his desk.

“Hell no,” Matt laughed. “The relay was made defective. The board should’ve been caught before it was put in, so I’ll make sure the ninjas we have helping Joe and Harry don’t make the mistake again.”

Looking over at the wall Jake sighed, looking at the three models one of the ninjas had made in perfect detail and scale to each other. One was the Spartan and the next was the flying carrier and the last was the flying base. With the work they were doing on the Spartan, Jake dreaded the headache the flying base was going to cause them.

The carrier and base Jake was sure, like the Spartan, wouldn’t be the size they had planned. Spartan now was just as long as a World War Two Essex class aircraft carrier and twice as wide and sixty feet from bottom of the hull to the flight deck. Even though the ship was huge, over fourteen million cubic feet, they were using just over twenty percent. That was the problem, to float in the air it had to be big but the bigger it got, the more problems they ran into.

Wind would slap Spartan around like a little bitch. Thanks to Natasha, they had solved many problems and were working out many more.

Thinking about Natasha, Jake couldn’t help but sigh with relief. He and Matt had almost three thousand Cyber Ninjas working for them. All were excellent on computers, but few had actually worked in hardcore processing. Oh, they were doing that now, but Natasha had done it for over a decade before being sent to Groom Lake by the Space Force.

It was Natasha, and her alone, who’d made the last changes to the Spartan class. The first of the changes had lifted off yesterday and the next was going to launch this week. When you looked at a Spartan ship now, it looked like a blimp with the top quarter sliced off. Wind didn’t affect it as badly and they had a much easier time keeping the deck level with the new shape.

The ships that went out with them weren’t even going to be called Spartans anymore, they were just flying airfields, Flat Tops. Natasha had added a hangar bay to the ship, that’s why the hull was sixty feet deep instead of thirty. Both Jake and Matt understood why, they just needed more information for the next class, and shit sitting on the deck caught wind.

But Jake and Matt were just going to address that with the next class. Well, Natasha wanted to start now and they couldn’t deny her reasoning was sound. The hangar they added, all three were happy with. Fifteen Blackhawks could be parked inside and another ten could be parked topside. Since the Blackhawk was the heaviest chopper the Spartans were going to run, that’s what they used, but the Spartan would also carry ten Apaches which were lighter. Because the Apache was smaller, all ten could be stowed in the hangar deck with the fifteen Blackhawks.

Well, as they were standing in the new hangar with ten parked Blackhawks, Joe and Harry had shown up. Being Navy boys, they’d chastised the group. “You don’t park aircraft like that on a carrier!” Joe shouted. “It doesn’t matter if it’s in the air or water!”

Joe and Harry went to work moving around the helicopters, placing them around the hangar, then started adding more. When they were done in the hangar, where Jake and Matt had ten Blackhawks parked side by side neatly, Joe and Harry had eighteen parked. Granted, the parking job looked like PJ had done it, but there was room to walk between the helicopters. Then Joe and Harry had come over to tell them if they moved the right wall back six and a half feet, they could fit twenty in the hangar plus the ten Apaches.

The Spartan launching this week would be able to hold twenty Blackhawks in the hangar, along with ten Apaches.

Changes made by Natasha also included a crew quarters, but Jake and Matt both refused on beds of any type. Those fighting on the ground slept in hammocks and beds weighed too much, so Natasha didn’t argue. Both also refused the showers, there were showers on the ground, but did expand the bathroom since the crew was increased to forty. Bruce had already forbidden the tiny toilets, and Jake couldn’t help but agree, but they were trying to save weight wherever they could.

Spartan now had a working lift of two hundred and seventy-four tons. Twenty Blackhawks weighed one hundred and twenty tons so finally, Jake and Matt were both satisfied. Known only to Jake and Matt was the reason they wanted more lift. Yes, choppers overhead would save lives, but they wanted to provide a last option. In the book Bruce had put together outlining the war, he’d said they would lose companies and possibly battalions. With the Spartans, a battalion could drop suits, hop on choppers to ferry them up, and get away. If all the ammo and choppers were tossed off, a Spartan could carry two thousand, three hundred bodies. With the five combat companies and headquarter company, a battalion averaged two thousand, two hundred personnel. Jake was certain his dad would see this, but he and Matt didn’t care. They wanted to provide an option.

A battalion getting wiped out would devastate morale and they wanted an option to always be open.

The airfields without hangars, Flat Tops, would go to the forts like they were intended. Forts swept out a hundred miles and they didn’t need to have as many helicopters on hand. They needed some copters closer, and the airfield would provide that.

Building a Spartan was actually very easy. The most labor-intensive part was the four massive fans. When the hull was laid out, it looked like a massive scaffolding project. Polygraphenoid was what took the longest, but two more machines would be coming online this month and two more were being built. The last two wouldn’t be able to operate until the new power plants were up in the City of Hope. The next two were going to be run from generators the Cyber Ninjas had built.

One polygraphenoid machine used more power than thirty thousand homes did before the Fall, and that was just the machine. The supercomputer that ran the machine feeding in the material matrix took two megawatts to operate. There were too many projects going for Jake and Matt to free up the team to build more generators. That, and they were certain Bruce would flip when he found out because those generators used massive amounts of fuel, but Hope had the fuel. So instead of asking for permission, they would ask for forgiveness if they were busted.

Even with the changes to Spartan, by March they would have five and number six would be able to join them when it was completed in April. That was if everything stayed on schedule. Jake and Matt had both agreed they would just take the airfields already built, if they had to, if the Spartans weren’t ready.

Moving over to his desk, Jake glanced over to see Matt grinning as he texted on his phone. Jake knew who Matt was texting, Dani. Like it was yesterday, Jake could recall vividly the first time he’d met Matt when they were just little kids. His mom and dad had taken him and Steve over to Mike and Nancy’s apartment for supper. Dani had girl scouts and was spending the night with a friend, so she wasn’t there for that first encounter.

To be honest, and Jake had told his wife, Jake didn’t think much of Mary when he’d first met her. She was barely a year younger than him, but Mary was a princess through and through back then. If it wasn’t Barbie, Mary wouldn’t wear it. He and Matt, on the other hand, were best friends from the instant they met.

It was the next weekend that Mike and Nancy came out to eat at the house when Matt met Dani for the first time. At nine years old, Jake knew Matt was in love with his sister. Dani was out in the driveway playing in the dirt. To Mary’s horror, Dani was playing in the dirt with Barbie dolls. Matt didn’t know girls played in the dirt because he was discouraged from doing that.

Jake was very happy Momma Nancy had loosened up and there was only one person who could take the credit, his mom.

When Nancy saw her kids covered in mud and dirt, she promptly grabbed a washcloth. What Jake found weird even now, Momma Nancy had extra clothes for Matt, Mary, and David like they were still babies. It took time, but by the time Mike and Nancy moved out to the house, Momma Nancy had stopped that.

But from that first day, Matt had been infatuated with Dani. A girl who played in the dirt and could climb a tree better than he could.

It wasn’t until they had been living at the house and Mary was twelve when Jake realized he really liked Mary. Unlike anyone in the house, Mary was a tender soul. She could endear anyone without trying. Hanging around Dani, Mary developed her Tomboy side but even now, Mary was a princess first. Granted, a princess who could kick your ass, but still had the tender soul. The only person who could really piss Mary off was Jake, and he hated to admit that, but at times Mary was a bit overbearing. His dad had told him all women were like that over their man.

Jake had had girlfriends and they’d never liked Mary. It was true the kids had never looked at each other like brothers and sisters. They’d looked at each other like buddies. Jake never understood why then, but now he did. Those girls had seen what he hadn’t, Mary liked him just as he liked her, but Jake had never thought the Princess Tomboy was interested in him.

Despite being a princess type, Mary latched onto Dani and Dani latched on to her, instantly best friends. Like Jake, Matt never thought Dani saw him more than a buddy because she was a Tomboy Princess. Unable to help it, Jake laughed at the memories as he watched Matt texting.

Jake and Matt both knew they were smart but young, so they didn’t know everything. That’s why they loved Natasha, she was teaching the areas they needed and was good at it. Even Natasha had no problem saying Stephanie was the smartest person she had ever met. Jake and Matt liked learning from Stephanie but when she got rolling, Stephanie would leave them far behind as she taught.

Stephanie was good at teaching if she didn’t get too excited, there was plenty of proof besides Buffy. Emily, Sherry, Cade, and PJ were so far past kids their age it was remarkable, and it was all because of Stephanie. She took the momma role very seriously and Jake was glad he wasn’t a kid anymore. But there was a safety measure there and it was Angela. Yes, she helped teach, but she also kept Stephanie reined in.

For a brief instant, Jake imagined his mom still here and his heart started aching. At first, he’d thought his mom was insane and going through a crisis, but it didn’t take long to realize, Momma knew what she was doing. If Momma was still there, Jake knew it would be near perfect but Dad, he was certain, would be insane. Momma could control Dad, but with Angela and Stephanie, Dad was always outvoted and never gotten away with anything.

“I miss you, Momma,” Jake sighed then leaned over his desk, opening the first report he had to go over. A feeling of serenity came over Jake that put him at ease, filling his face with a grin as he worked.

***

Sore as hell, Bruce hobbled to his shop. “You need help, boss?” Carl asked.

“Go kill Korey and his wife,” Bruce groaned, feeling like someone beat the fuck out of him. He knew in a few days he was going to feel great but right now, he wanted violence upon Korey and his wife.

Watching Bruce hobble, Bonnie made a mental note to never get a deep tissue massage. Not running, she quickly moved past Bruce to scan her badge and open the door to the shop. She wanted to help but didn’t even know what to offer and fought the urge to help Bruce.

Bent over holding his back as he hobbled into the shop, “Getting old sucks ass!” Bruce screamed.

Walking in and closing the door, Carl was understanding why Mike and Nancy were in Fort Hood meeting with Daryl and Eric all of a sudden. Reaching his desk, Bruce started grimacing as he sat down slowly. “Oh, I better feel so great in a few days just walking around, I should have orgasms.” Knowing that wasn’t going to happen, Carl wondered if he and Ted didn’t need to take a few days off.

Wondering if he should fix Bruce a drink, Carl turned as the door opened and Stephanie came in. He didn’t know what had made her and Angela faint the day they’d gotten back but since then, Stephanie had been very depressed. It was very uncharacteristic of her and had many feeling apprehension. She and Angela set the mood Bruce and many in the family displayed, and nobody wanted to see Bruce or others in the family depressed.

“Hey, Little Red,” Bruce called out and Stephanie didn’t respond as she headed for him. Even her posture drooped as Stephanie dragged her feet. Before Bruce turned to tell Ted, Carl, and Bonnie to leave, they were already heading for the door. They were out the door before Stephanie stopped beside Bruce’s chair. “What is wrong?”

“Angela told me I had to come talk to you,” Stephanie droned.

“Okay, but what has you so down?” Bruce asked and instantly Stephanie’s eyes got watery and her bottom lip started trembling. Ignoring the soreness of his body, Bruce reached out to pull Stephanie to his lap and cradled her into his chest. “Tell me so I can do whatever I have to and fix it.”

“Debbie talked to us and I fainted like a bitch!” Stephanie wailed out, burying her face into Bruce’s chest.

For some reason that didn’t shock Bruce, not that Stephanie fainted but Debbie had talked to them. “Stephanie, it’s okay,” Bruce told her.

“She was my wife and best friend! Somehow, she talked to me and I fainted like a bitch!”

Reaching over and lifting Stephanie’s chin up to look at her, “She’s talked to me. The first time in the underground storage. I nearly fainted, but I did collapse to the ground.”

“Bruce,” Stephanie said, sitting up and pointing at her ears. “I heard her with my auditory nerves. Debbie’s voice wasn’t in my mind.”

“Yeah, same here,” Bruce scoffed, but Stephanie didn’t act shocked. “Debbie spoke to me the first day we got back also. She told me we did good designing the assault vehicle. It wasn’t in my mind.”

“You didn’t faint,” Stephanie sniffled.

“Stephanie, you’re trying to rationalize it. Take it on faith. Just look at what we are facing now,” Bruce told her, and that really confused her. “Man was trying to design a virus that would alter some to live forever. A group thought they understood enough after reading what others had done, and look where that got us.” Bruce explained. “I hate to tell you, but mankind doesn’t know shit about the world and the universe. I think it would take humans millions of years to discover and understand even the basic fundamentals of the universe. I knew there was something more when I was in the Army. But after I became a nurse, I knew whatever was next, it was so far beyond our understanding I could only take it on faith.”

“Debbie has to think I’m horrible,” she mumbled.

“Hey,” Bruce said and slowly she looked at him. “I know for a fact, that’s bullshit.”

Dragging her arm across her nose, “She chose me with Angela to join her family and I fainted,” Stephanie whimpered.

Gently grabbing Stephanie’s chin and holding it so she was looking in his eyes, “Stephanie, I killed her and went insane. Debbie doesn’t hold that against me. To be honest, I think Debbie feels bad because you fainted, so you need to stop. You know she can now, so just be prepared if she does again.”

“What if she doesn’t?”

Letting her chin go and using his thumb to wipe tears off her face, “Then be thankful that by some miracle she was able to speak to you.”

Feeling better at least, “Sometimes I can feel her close and I swear, I hear her in my mind, but this was so different.”

“I understand completely,” Bruce agreed, pulling her to his chest and hugging her tight. “She’s doing what she can to watch over us and that gives me comfort.”

Snuggling into Bruce’s chest, “I just don’t want to disappoint her,” she admitted.

“That would be damn near impossible,” Bruce laughed, which shocked Stephanie. “We make mistakes, it’s called being human. Don’t do something you know is wrong because that isn’t a mistake. If anyone disappoints her, it would be me,” he said and Stephanie scoffed. “I mean, I don’t do the cards like you do. When I read to the kids, I don’t change voices for each character like Angela does.”

Finally understanding what Bruce was trying to get through to her, Stephanie gave a relieved sigh as the weight she had placed on herself vanished. “I think Debbie finds that funny. But, you could never disappoint her. Irritate her, yeah, but not disappoint.

“I’m sorry I fainted,” she said, casting her eyes down.

“Stephanie,” Bruce scoffed. “I yanked my fucking gun out the first time Debbie talked to me. I know the voice, but it was inside that underground storage section and that should’ve been impossible. Fainting ain’t shit.”

Hearing that, Stephanie really didn’t feel bad anymore. Debbie was Bruce’s everything and if he had reacted like that, then she could forgive herself. Wiping her face off, “What did the doctor say?”

“I think I’m going to kill Korey and his wife,” Bruce replied flatly.

Rolling her eyes to look at the ceiling, “I knew one of us should’ve gone with you,” Stephanie moaned.

“I like them, but Korey adjusted me and then his wife gave me a deep tissue massage. I feel like someone beat me with a bat.”

Jumping out of Bruce’s lap, “I’m sorry,” Stephanie gasped only to have Bruce yank her back down to his lap.

“The day my wives or kids can’t sit in my lap, someone better throw dirt in my face,” Bruce told her, pulling her tight.

Chapter Twenty-One

The next morning after leaving the gym, Bruce hobbled toward his shop. “Oh, I hate Korey and his demented wife,” Bruce winced. As he knew it would, the next day his body felt worse. Giving up on working out, Bruce just sat in the hot tub for an hour. In truth, he probably would still be there but Ted, Carl, and Bonnie had to keep waking him up.

Before reaching his shop, Bruce glanced over at the cedar fence around the garden and saw Javier, the gardener Paul had recommended to tend the garden Bruce was building. If it had been anyone else, Bruce would’ve politely but firmly said no. But not Paul. Paul had earned a level of respect few would ever reach in Bruce’s mind. If Paul recommended Javier, Bruce would accept him, and did right after Christmas. Paul had told Bruce before the Fall, in his career Javier had been a supervisor over two of the largest botanical gardens in the states before starting his own business. Bruce had never even heard of the degrees Javier had, but looked them up just to confirm there really was doctorate study in those fields.

When Javier had introduced himself, Bruce thought someone was pranking his ass. He had pulled information on Javier and there was a photo when Javier joined them from the government complex in Colorado. Like the other detainees Javier looked like shit, so Bruce was in for a bit of a shock when they met. There was no doubt Javier wasn’t Hispanic but looking at Javier, Bruce saw a banker or stockbroker. Javier was physically fit, had striking facial features, piercing gray eyes, and a head full of thick perfect black hair. Javier worked out twice every day. Had been through all three training courses and had been assigned as a greenhouse supervisor.

Well, Paul laid claim to Javier a month after Javier took over a greenhouse. Knowing what was coming for the City of Hope, Paul had Javier set up a grass farm along the banks of the Red River. Some of the best farmland in Louisiana, some ten thousand acres, were now growing lawn grass to put on the inside berm of the City of Hope’s wall.

Not able to picture Javier even remotely in his mind’s eye doing anything with dirt, Bruce had reached out grabbing Javier’s wrist just to check his ID bracelet. It wasn’t long into their discussion when Bruce realized Javier was exactly who Paul had said he was. Escorting Javier through his garden, Bruce was going to explain what he was doing and his goal. Bruce just listened as Javier, without being told, explained the design and gave very high praises. Granted, Bruce was going a bit overboard to achieve the results. Javier started describing Japanese gardens he had helped start and some he’d visited in Japan.

In awe, Bruce had just listened. Javier saw the different moss and lichen Bruce had scraped up trying to transplant and Javier said it was just easier to grow. Well, Bruce didn’t know how to make moss or lichen grow and learning about it anytime soon didn’t look good. Javier had disappeared and returned with blenders… kitchen blenders and buttermilk. Tossing some moss in the blender, after telling Bruce the name of the moss, which Bruce wasn’t ever going to pronounce, Javier had added some buttermilk and turned the blender on. The stench was strong but after smelling blues for so long, it wasn’t that bad.

Getting a paint brush, Javier moved into the garden painting rocks with the concoction. Lo and behold, in a week the moss was growing. After that, Javier was a genius wizard as far as Bruce was concerned.

Forgetting about heading to his shop, Bruce changed course heading for Javier. A long garden shed had been built on the outside of the garden fence that Javier was setting up with supplies to tend the garden. “Boss,” Ted asked, walking up beside him, “Want me to tell Carl to bring breakfast to the garden?”

“No, tell him to take it to the shop. I’m just seeing what Javier is doing,” Bruce answered. Ted just looked at Bruce moving stiffly as he walked and vowed he was never getting a deep tissue massage.

Even though he had been put under Paul’s construction crew, Javier still worked in the greenhouses and over the grass farm. “Javier, you don’t have to work here every day,” Bruce said walking up.

Turning around, the perfect smile fell off Javier’s face seeing Bruce stiff and in obvious pain. “What the hell happened to you?”

“Deep tissue massage,” Bruce winced as he came to a stop.

Nodding in understanding, “Yes, they are great, but it’s a shame it takes a few days to get the benefits,” Javier told him.

“I’m never doing that shit again,” Bruce vowed, but that’s what he’d said last time.

“Speaking from experience, you need to have them done every other month and then they don’t take so much out of you.”

“Fuck that,” Bruce gasped. “You don’t have to put so much time in here.”

Tilting his head toward the cedar fence, “Working on a garden is very relaxing and I’m just dropping off some stuff a scavenging crew picked up for me,” Javier explained. “Can I get you a chair to sit down in?”

“I sit down, I’m not getting up for an hour,” Bruce stated flatly, and Javier didn’t know if that was a yes or no, so he just stayed put. “I don’t want you to spend all your free time here, is what I’m getting at.”

“I don’t,” Javier grinned. “Besides, I know how important this spot is for you. You knew what you wanted and were going to accomplish it no matter what. I’m just going to help you get it there a bit faster.”

Feeling a kink in his back, Bruce winced. “Ted,” he grunted. “Remind me, when I see Korey’s wife, to punch her in the face.”

Knowing Bruce was just kidding Ted was glad Javier grinned, knowing Bruce wasn’t serious. “Bruce, if she can hurt you like this with a deep tissue massage, do you really want to get on her bad side?” Ted asked with a smirk.

Straightening up his back to work out the kink, “Put that bitch on Omega,” he winced. “If she hurts me like this, everything before us will bow in surrender.”

Trying not to laugh, “Bruce, I meant to ask, why aren’t you placing any bonsai trees in your garden? With the atmosphere you’re going for, I think they would fit in well and you would like them,” Javier asked.

Clearly liking that line of thinking, “Can’t grow any. I’ve killed hundreds over the years trying to grow some. I’ve read books, taken two classes and the longest I’ve ever had a tree to live was a year and a half.”

Laughing now, “I can teach you,” Javier stated rather confidently.

With the kink letting up, Bruce turned away. “Javier, I’ve tried on thirty different species and even bought a six-year-old Yew Bonsai. If Bonsai trees dying under your care was a crime, I’d be on death row.”

“If you can’t, then I’ll grow some but I promise you, I can teach you.”

Really liking it but not about to get his hopes up, “Tell me what you need then,” Bruce said.

Tilting his head to the garden shed, “I’ve already started collecting what we need,” Javier admitted.

“Just don’t spend all your time working here,” Bruce said, seeing Carl and Bonnie heading for the shop carrying plates.

Knowing what Bruce was getting at, “I have plenty of free time, Bruce,” Javier assured him. “Helping you with your garden also helps me and everyone else here in the clan.”

Really wanting to go sit in  his garden, but it was cold and he wanted to sit his sore ass down, Bruce told Javier ‘bye’ and hobbled to the shop. “Hey boss, you learn to do those little trees, can I learn them with you?” Ted asked timidly.

“I don’t care,” Bruce grinned at Ted’s excitement. Reaching the shop, they found Bonnie holding the door open. Bruce didn’t like to be seen when he was sore and didn’t want kids crawling over him, which made him feel even worse. Heading to his desk and yanking open the drawer, Bruce grabbed a bottle of ibuprofen. Most people would take six or even eight hundred milligrams. Bruce tossed a single two hundred milligram tablet into his mouth, swallowing it dry, and knew even that one tablet was going to give him a head rush.

Ted and Carl didn’t say a word because they knew Bruce hated taking shit, and now they knew why. Plus, they knew that was the only medicine inside the desk. They weren’t getting the wives angry at them for shit.

By the time they were finished with breakfast, Bruce felt better.  He was still sore as hell, but at least could move better without groaning and wincing. Glancing at his watch, “Time for school,” he sighed, getting up to head to the command meeting.

They were all happy to see Bruce moving better, but still noticed he was moving stiff. “You know, when Bruce takes ibuprofen, I’m reminded of guys in high school taking a Quaalude,” Ted admitted. Nodding, Carl had to agree with that.

Approaching the back door, Bruce sounded rather chipper telling the guard good morning. “What the hell is a Quaalude?” Bonnie whispered because she had never heard of it.

“A sedative like Valium, it can chill anyone out,” Carl told her and Bonnie wondered where she could get some because there were a lot of people she wanted to chill out.

Walking down into the bunker, Bruce wasn’t surprised to see everyone already there. “Before we start, Marcus, Jake, get me an update on the spy ring,” Bruce said heading to his chair, pausing to kiss Angela and Stephanie before he sat down.

Both were a little shocked by the kiss, but more so on how mellow Bruce was acting. Then both realized Bruce was moving much better than he had when he’d woken up. “Babe,” Stephanie called out getting his attention. “Did you take some medicine?” she asked and around the table everyone tensed up, preparing to make a run for the door.

“Yeah, I’m a pussy and took some ibuprofen,” Bruce replied, and a collective sigh sounded from around the table.

Jake looked over at Marcus, “You fill him in, Jake,” Marcus told him.

“Well, we have the entire group now, except for one. The one Dietrich replaced” Jake said. “We’ve recorded Dietrich and two others mentioning him, but only by Vincent. We have thirty-seven Vincent’s in the clan, but none match up with this group. All we know is Vincent was transferred to a position in the clan where he can’t risk contact. That’s why Dietrich was sent in to run the ring.”

Pausing, Jake turned to look at Bruce who was calmly putting on his reading glasses and arranging his paperwork. “We can’t find this Vincent unless we dragnet the clan, and the Cyber Ninjas aren’t going to do that,” Jake said and Bruce just nodded, opening a notepad to take notes then finally looked up.

“How many in the ring?” Bruce asked.

“Seven. Eight, if you count this Vincent,” Jake answered.

“They manage to steal anything else?” Bruce asked as he played with his ink pen.

Shaking his head, “No, they are just collecting information now. Numbers of people and diagrams of each fort, along with Base and City of Hope. They are trying to get one assigned to Fort Hood, but not Laughlin.”

“Marcus,” Bruce said, stopping Jake. “Get in touch with Daryl and Eric. Get one of the group assigned out there, in some mundane area. You tell them, and only them why, and to keep watch on who you send.”

“Why?” Marcus asked, and Jake was glad because he was about to.

“To see if Vincent is there,” Bruce answered, spinning his pen around on his notepad with his finger. Looking up, “You have a list of who is in this little goober smooching ring?” Bruce asked Jake.

Sliding a thick folder down the table, Jake was surprised his dad didn’t open it and just put it in a stack of folders beside him. “You’re not going to look it over?” Jake asked.

“Nah, not right now,” Bruce answered looking up and saw Jake was confused. “They can’t hurt us,” Bruce stated and Jake just blinked. “We wiped out the one and only unit that had the chance, ability, and numbers to hurt us in Pennsylvania. If they had gotten magic bullets, I would’ve had to drop a nuke. After watching us, they understood to hunt blues, fortify your area to deal with large groups, and they understood to stay mobile when fighting blues. They just never figured some asshole would be sending a mega horde to visit. The groups we have found, none have grasped that concept. Unless there is a division in one of the deep underground bases, none can take us out. Cause us problems, sure, but moving about the countryside can get your ass eaten. Only we are moving about, able to gather large amounts of supplies, and I aim to keep it that way.”

“Brother, you okay?” Mike asked, staring at Bruce hard.

“Fuck, no,” Bruce spat. “I’m going to kick Korey’s ass and break his wife’s fingers.”

Nancy rolled her eyes as she sighed hard. “You say that every time you get a deep tissue massage.”

“I mean it this time,” Bruce replied.

“You say that too,” Nancy sang out. “You will not touch either of them. They are great. My back feels great.”

“My hip be feelin’ better than it be in a long time,” Carroll said with a smile. “Never knew ‘em popping bones and massaging you could make ya feel dat good.”

Curling his lip to Nancy, Bruce turned to look down the table at Joe and Harry. “Joe, how long will it take to get the assault vehicle into production?” Bruce asked.

“We ahh…” Joe paused. “Production started on the twentieth before you got back.”

Bruce just stared, blinking more than normal at Joe, which was freaking out more than just Joe. “Babe,” Angela said, tapping his arm.

Not turning to Angela, “Excuse me?” Bruce asked Joe. “You went right to production?”

“Yeah,” Joe nodded. “Bruce, when you know what you want, you give very detailed drawings and schematics. All your alterations on the MRAPs, LAVs, and other vehicles have been piecemeal. Yes, you gave us plans, but they weren’t that detailed. When you handed me the drawings for the command vehicles, I knew you had figured out what you wanted and what was going to work. The whole reason we designed the tracked undercarriage for the MRAPs was to let you know it wasn’t a waste of time to build a purpose-built vehicle for this war. You had been trying to alter what was available to make it work. We’ve just been waiting for you to give us schematics like the command vehicle again. We knew you would eventually,” Joe grinned.

“That’s why the building we’ve been using to upgrade your MRAPs was even built,” Joe told him. “It’s half a mile long for a reason, it’s an assembly line.”

“What if I had wanted changes?”

Shrugging, “We can make changes,” Joe shot back. “Buffy did show us three weak areas in the suspension, but they have been corrected.”

“I have to admit, the damn vehicle is tougher than I thought,” Dani sang out and Buffy just sat smiling.

“Just how many are you building?” Bruce asked.

“As many as you tell me to,” Joe answered. “If you’re asking numbers, there are twenty-six hundred people in three shifts and we are putting out twenty a day.”

Holding his eyes wide, Bruce leaned back in his chair. “Bruce,” Joe said nervously. “Before you ask, we can increase production, but we are going to have to expand the line and the sub assembly areas. When the lines get in rhythm, Harry and I think thirty a day will be the limit. These aren’t gun barrels, so it will take time and a lot of effort to increase production.”

“Whoa,” Bruce said, then held up both hands. “twenty is fine,” Bruce assured him.

Joe furrowed his brow, wondering what the hell was going on. Bruce always wanted more, along with the impossible, and wanted it yesterday. Giving Harry a quick glance, who just shrugged, Joe glanced around the table. Paul looked insulted because Joe and Harry weren’t being asked to do the impossible like he was constantly. Really wanting to ask Bruce if he was joking, Joe kept his mouth shut.

“Dad, what are we going to call it?” Dani asked. “I know, ‘attack vehicle’, but AV sounds like some predator alien porno.”

Looking up, “Main ground battle weapons usually have been named after a person like Abrams, Bradley, Patton and such. This one can only be named after one person,” Bruce scoffed. “It can go anywhere. It can do everything except fly, damn near unstoppable. The thing is tough as hell, yet gives the troops luxury of space and comfort while it protects.”  Racking her brain, Dani couldn’t think of a real person and cocked her head to the side as she glanced around the table and saw everyone perplexed.

“Who?” she asked.

With a huge grin, “It can only be named after one person. We are calling it: Trump.”

The End

Thanks for reading War Years. Look for Book 9 in the Blue Plague War Years series coming later in 2022.

Other Books in the Blue Plague Series

Book 1- The Fall

Book 2- Survival

Book 3-Sacrifice

Book 4-Rage

Book 5-Decisions

Book 6-War

Book 7-Hope

Book 8

Blue Plague: War Years: Countdown

Go to Apocpress dot com to find other works by Thomas A. Watson

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