Blue Plague: War (Blue Plague Book 6)
Author: Thomas A. Watson
Date: 2018-07-17 00:56:52+00:00
Keywords: Fiction; Science Fiction; Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic; Dystopian; Horror; General
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: Permuted Press

The blue saw him and started hobbling faster. As it got closer, Bruce saw the knife was a large kitchen knife; it was covered in blood, and the tip was bent. Then the blue stopped and crouched down, looking at Bruce. “Oh, I know you didn’t,” Bruce said, spreading his feet, looking at the blue.

The blue was ten yards away, growling, holding the knife out to its side with the point up. A small surge of panic hit Bruce, but he slowed his breathing and twirled his sword and turned his body to the side, looking at the blue. “Mine’s bigger; let’s play,” Bruce said, shuffling toward the blue.

When he was eight yards away, the blue jumped, not lunged, and sprang through the air in a dive at Bruce’s chest, holding the knife out in front of it. Stepping back, Bruce moved to the side, bringing the blade down, slicing the blue’s hand off at the elbow as it sailed past. Bruce created distance as the blue hit the ground in a roll and jumped up, moving over to the hand Bruce cut off.

To everyone’s horror, the blue ignored his wound and reached down with his left hand, picking up the knife from his chopped-off hand. He looked up at Bruce, holding out the knife and growling. “Bullshit!” Bruce yelled, pulled his pistol, and emptied the magazine in the blue’s head. All thirteen rounds hit the blue in the head before it hit the ground.

Bruce dropped the pistol, brought up his SCAR, and started shooting what was left of the head. When his bolt locked back, he changed magazines and looked around. He could see a few blues still coming out of the woods around the field. Walking over, he grabbed his pistol and sword, cleaning them and putting them up. Climbing up on Willie’s rig, he looked him in the face.

Willie was pale and sweating. “Boss, this is a whole new ball game.”

BLUE PLAGUE:

WAR

Book 6

By Thomas A. Watson

A WINLOCK PRESS BOOK

ISBN: 978-1-61868-733-3

ISBN (eBook): 978-1-61868-732-6

BLUE PLAGUE: WAR

Book 6

© 2015 by Thomas A. Watson

All Rights Reserved

Edited by Monique Happy Editorial Services

Covers by Christian

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. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author and publisher.

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Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

About the Author

Acknowledgments

The Worlds of Thomas A. Watson

Other Winlock Books You’ll Love

Chapter 1

Mike stepped out of the bathroom dressed in his lounge pants, drying off his head as Nancy put on one of his t-shirts and moved toward the bed. Then, they heard something hit the floor hard and felt the floor shake from Bruce’s room next door, and they looked at each other. That’s when they heard Stephanie and Angela scream, “Bruce!”

They both took off running toward Bruce’s room. Throwing the door open, they saw Angela and Stephanie on each side of a comatose Bruce. “What the hell did y’all do to him?” Mike shouted, moving over to Bruce.

“Nothing. We told him something, and he passed out,” Stephanie said, rubbing Bruce’s face.

“That’s impossible; nothing can make Bruce pass out,” Mike said, kneeling beside Bruce. Angela scooted over, letting Mike get closer to examine him. “Did you hit him with something? Like a bat?”

“No Mike, we didn’t hit him,” Stephanie snapped as she leaned over Bruce. “Bruce, baby, are you okay?”

“Well, what the hell did you tell him?” Mike asked, finding Bruce had a strong pulse, his breathing was good, but his eyes were rolled back in his head. Not hearing an answer, Mike stopped his exam and looked at each of them and found them blushing. “If it’s something kinky, I’m leaving,” Mike said as Nancy slapped the back of his head hard. Knowing he deserved it, Mike didn’t say a word.

“Mike, keep on, and I’ll knock you out,” Nancy said, kneeling with them next to Bruce.

Mike just gave her a sour look as Angela looked at Nancy. “We’re pregnant,” she said.

Shock spread across Nancy’s face, then she lunged toward Angela, wrapping her arms around her then pulled Stephanie over Bruce, hugging both at the same time. “I’m so happy for you two,” Nancy told them.

Shocked to the core, Mike fell back on his knees and hit the side of the bed. That’s the only reason he didn’t hit the ground. Finally getting his power of speech, back Mike muttered, “Well, yeah that would knock Bruce on his ass.”

Stephanie pushed back from Nancy. “You don’t think Bruce is mad, do you?” she asked.

Nancy kissed Angela on the cheek and turned to Stephanie. “Are you kidding? How can he be mad? This is just the kind of information that takes men by surprise.”

“Ah, Nancy, he has kids, so it’s not like he hasn’t heard this before,” Stephanie said, looking back down at Bruce.

Before Nancy could answer, Mike pushed them away and leaned over until he was over Bruce’s face. Slapping Bruce’s face, Mike yelled, “Bruce! Bruce, you’re being a pussy. Wake up!” Nancy popped Mike on the back of the head again.

Ignoring the slap, Mike continued to pop Bruce on the cheeks till he heard a groan escape Bruce’s lips. Cracking his eyes open, Bruce saw Mike over him. “Hey Mike, where am I?” he asked, shaking his head.

“In your bedroom, brother,” Mike answered with a grin.

“I know that, but what happened? The last thing I remember was I need to paint the ceiling.”

“You don’t remember anything else?” Mike asked, grinning wider.

Closing his eyes, Bruce started to think as the fog cleared his mind. His eyes flew open. “Holy shit!” he screamed.

Mike grinned as Bruce sat up and scooted away from them. Chuckling, Mike said, “Yep, that pretty much sums it up.” Nancy popped the back of his head again, harder this time.

Looking from Mike, he turned to Angela and Stephanie and could see shock on their faces. “How could that happen?” Bruce asked.

The smile dropped off Mike’s face as he brought his fingertips together. “Well, you have two bees—”

“Mike, shove it!” Bruce snapped and looked at Angela and Stephanie.

Shaking his head, Mike started to grin again. “Bruce, you should know by now how babies are made,” Mike said.

“Mike, I had a vasectomy!” Bruce yelled at him.

Reaching out, Mike grabbed Bruce’s hand, making him look in his eyes. “I know, Bruce; I had one also. But Debbie was always on Depo, so you could’ve been fertile since the operation,” Mike said. “Vasectomy has a one in a hundred failure rate, Bruce, and you are spunky monkey.”

Sweat started beading on Bruce’s forehead as he turned to look at Angela and Stephanie. He could see alarm on their faces and tears in their eyes. They lunged forward, wrapped their arms around him, and started crying. “Bruce, I’m sorry,” Stephanie blurted out.

Reaching up, Bruce pushed both back and put his fingers on their lips. “First, there is nothing to be sorry about. Don’t think I’m mad, girls—just shocked,” Bruce said and pulled them close, wrapping his arms around them, hugging them tight. Seeing Bruce hold them tight, Mike pulled Nancy close and hugged her.

Taking a breath to say something, Mike looked at Nancy. Nancy put her hand over his mouth. “If it’s a smart ass comment, I’m punching you in the mouth,” she said. Knowing Nancy meant it, Mike turned to look at the three, keeping his mouth shut.

After holding the two in his arms, Bruce blurted, “Holy shit, I’m going to be a daddy. Again.”

Angela looked up at him with a dubious expression. “You aren’t happy?” she asked.

“Yeah, just shocked, floored, numb, flabbergasted, and stunned,” Bruce said.

Letting Bruce, go Stephanie looked at him. “Those all mean the same thing, Bruce.”

“Not right now they don’t,” Bruce said. “Because I can feel each one,” he added, shaking his head and stuttering.

“You only fell down to your knees when Debbie told you each time she was pregnant,” Stephanie said.

Closing his eyes and dropping his head he said, “Stephanie, I thought my baby making days were over. I’m sorry, but I’m a little shocked.”

“So you’re not mad, only shocked?” Angela asked, smiling.

Lifting his head up with a nervous smile, he replied, “I can’t be mad over something like this. But shocked, oh yeah.”

Angela started snorting as she laughed. “I’m glad because if you would’ve said something about us sleeping with someone else, I was going to shank your ass,” she said truthfully.

The emotion fell off Bruce’s face as he looked at her. “You really thought I would’ve said something like that?” he asked in a monotone.

Shrugging, she said, “No, but if you would have, Mike would’ve had to stop the bleeding.”

Bruce pulled both of them to him, wrapping his arms around them again. “For better or worse,” he said and looked at Mike and Nancy. Nancy had tears coming out of her eyes, and Mike was just grinning. “I’m going to have a grandchild older than some of my kids,” Bruce said. “I’m an old fart fixing to be a daddy again,” he chuckled.

Stephanie burrowed her head in his shoulder. “Call yourself an old fart again, and I shank you. Mike is still here to sew you up,” she said.

“Mike, will you stay in here tonight? I might slip up,” Bruce asked.

“That is a negative, Ghostrider. If they cut ya, I can make it over here before you bleed out.”

Bruce looked down at the top of Angela’s and Stephanie’s head. “I take it you haven’t told the rest of the family yet?” he asked.

“I thought you said he was smart, Stephanie,” Angela said, not looking up.

“He is, but when he listens to the boy side of his brain, he loses a lot of IQ points,” Stephanie replied.

Laughing, Bruce struggled to his feet, holding the two in his arms. Then, he looked at Mike. “Mike will you and Nancy help gather the family in the kitchen so we can tell them?”

Excitedly, Nancy clapped her hands. “I know something before the kids do,” she said, standing, and pulled Mike to his feet.

Nancy and Mike left to get the kids as Bruce stripped and put on some lounge pants. Then, holding hands with Angela and Stephanie, he led them downstairs. When they reached the kitchen, everyone was there. PJ was beating Danny, wanting to get down, and the twins were sitting in Jake’s lap. Cade was with his buddy Mindy, sitting in her lap, resting his head on her shoulder.

Further down the table, Steve was quietly arguing with Tonya that it was his turn to hold little Debbie. Tonya and Nathan just ignored him. Nathan was in Tonya’s lap, and they were talking with the baby. Seeing the family around the table made Bruce smile.

Danny looked up at Bruce and saw the shit eating grin. “Dad, if you’re going to go crazy again, I want a vacation first,” she said with a straight face.

Blinking rapidly, Bruce took a step back, not even sure how to address that statement. So he shook his head and did the next best thing: ignored it. “Everyone, we have something to tell you,” he said in a firm voice.

Everyone turned to look at Bruce, who was still holding Angela’s and Stephanie’s hands. He pulled them close and put his arms over their shoulders. “I’m going to be a daddy again. Angela and Stephanie are pregnant,” Bruce declared. The shock on the faces at the table was absolute with everyone’s mouths falling open.

Breaking his shocked trace, Steve chuckled and asked, “That’s a good one, Dad, but why did you call us down here?”

“I’m serious son,” Bruce said, and Steve’s face froze in his chuckle.

Danny leaned over the table, letting PJ go. PJ climbed out of her lap and crawled across the table to Stephanie, laughing. “What!?” Danny yelled. Stephanie moved over to grab PJ before he made it to the edge. He still had no fear.

Starting to get irritated, Bruce nearly shouted, “How many times do I have to say they are pregnant and I’m the daddy?”

Danny jumped to her feet. “How!?” she shrieked.

Bruce looked from Danny to Mike then back to Danny. Putting his fingertips together, Bruce started, “Well, you have these two bees—”

Slapping the table interrupting him, “I know how they are made, but how could you make them? Mom said you got clipped so there wouldn’t be anymore,” Danny snapped as Matt put his hand on her shoulder.

“Well, it doesn’t always work, and your mom was on the shot, so we have no idea how long it hasn’t worked,” Bruce informed her.

Dumbfounded, Danny blurted, “I’m eighteen now, and I’m married.”

With PJ in her arms, Stephanie looked at Angela. “You would think that since he gave birth to Danny, we could at least find a scar on him,” she said.

Angela laid her head on Bruce’s chest. “He had a good doctor,” she said, grinning.

Bruce closed his eyes, wishing this would go over easier. “Danny, no one is more shocked than me, and yes, I know all that, but I hope y’all are as happy as we are.”

Just staring at her dad with her mouth open, Danny finally found her voice. “Of course I’m happy, just a little taken back,” she said.

“I said almost the same thing.”

“Try floored, flabbergasted, shocked and stunned,” Danny said, dropping down in her chair.

Angela reached down, pulled up Bruce’s shirt, and started rubbing his belly. “Quit that,” Bruce said, slapping her hand away.

“I don’t care how good that doctor was, I should at least be able to feel the scar,” she said.

Buffy got out of her chair and ran over to Stephanie, wrapping her arms around her waist. “I’m going to be a big sister again,” she said as she kissed Stephanie’s belly and went over to Angela, doing the same thing.

Moving as one, everyone at the table stood and went over to embrace the three. When Jake made it to his Dad, he grinned. “You know, it’s supposed to be the other way around. We have the kids, and you babysit,” he said.

Bruce shrugged. “Hey, I didn’t know.”

Jake laughed as he hugged his dad. The family talked and laughed then headed back to bed. Danny, Jake, and Mindy kept the little ones as Bruce led Angela and Stephanie back to bed. They climbed into bed, and Bruce pulled the two close as they talked for several hours until Angela and Stephanie drifted off to sleep.

When the two were asleep, Bruce climbed out of bed and dressed. Looking back in the bed, Bruce smiled and opened the drawer to the night stand, taking out two sheets of paper. He folded two origami swans with their wings out and put one on each side of the bed. Grabbing his vest and rifle off the rack, he eased over to the bed, kissed both on the forehead, and left the room.

Coming downstairs, Bruce headed to the game room and stopped. He stared at the mantle over the fireplace at Debbie’s urn. He moved over and stood in front of it. “I really think you had something to do with this, and I don’t think it’s all that funny,” Bruce said out loud, and he could swear for an instant, he could hear Debbie laughing. He shook his head and looked at the urn. “Debbie, I told you I would love them no matter what; I was just getting used to the newlywed routine. Now, I have to go through not one but two pregnant wives at the same time. That’s so uncool,” Bruce said as he closed his eyes. Then, he could smell Debbie and could feel her close by.

“You must continue to live this life and not just wander through it,” a whisper sounded in Bruce’s mind.

The worries washed away, and Bruce smiled. “I don’t know the reason, but this is still uncool. I really think my life is fixing to get very complicated,” he said, standing in front of the urn. How long he stood there, he didn’t know, but when he opened his eyes, he couldn’t smell Debbie anymore. “I miss you and will always love you. I think I understand now,” Bruce said, turning around.

Walking outside, Max ran up to him. “Where have you been?” Bruce asked, rubbing Max’s head. Max just looked up at him like he was saying, “No one let me in.” Slinging his rifle over his shoulder, Bruce walked to the west fence around the farm. Climbing up on the berm, he looked out across the field and could see work lights as crews readied the vehicles to leave the next day for the scavenging patrols. They were heading to the military bases in Alabama and Georgia to empty them out. Looking at his watch, Bruce saw it was close to 0500 hours. Lowering his arm, he stared out across the field as tears ran down his cheeks.

***

Coming out of the Center, Father Thomas saw someone standing on the berm and headed over to see who it was. When he saw it was Bruce, he almost turned and left but continued toward him. Hearing someone walking up behind him, Bruce looked over his shoulder. You don’t have to make it that obvious, Debbie, he thought. “Hello, Father,” Bruce said, turning back toward the field.

“Hello, Bruce.”

“What are you doing out now?” Bruce asked.

“I was heading over to pray with the teams before they left this morning,” he said, stopping beside Bruce. Father Thomas looked over at him, and from the lights in the field, he could see tears on his cheeks. “Is everything all right, Bruce?” he asked.

Bruce closed his eyes and sighed. “Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned,” he said.

Chapter 2

It was Friday evening over a week later when the command group met in mission control. As everyone sat down Bruce moved to the head of the table. “Now, let’s get down to business,” he said as everyone took out notebooks, and Paul took out a bottle of Tylenol and set it on the table.

Grinning at Paul, Bruce started, “Angela, how long until the scavenging crews are done?”

“At our current rate, we will have all the bases in Alabama emptied of what we want in four days, six at the most,” she said.

“Now, that’s what I want to hear,” Bruce said, smiling at her. “Stephanie how, is the supply inventory coming?” he asked, turning to her.

“Everything we have stored has been logged, and what is taken out is marked off. From this moment, we can eat for five years if we only eat canned food we have stored here. We have enough food put up to last forty thousand for that long. The refinery is ready to start when we need it,” she said.

“Oh yeah,” Bruce said and looked at Paul. “Paul, how goes the building world?”

“All towers are fully operational, and the walkway around the inside of the wall is up. The lake is almost full, and the hydro station will be online in two days. We did a test run, and it works great. The road system you wanted for the compound is underway and should be finished in a month. The air crews asked if we could build some hangers for the aircraft, and I have started that. The barracks are up in Hope. We can now take seventy thousand people here. We will have the dining halls and rec areas completed in a month,” Paul said.

“I said fifty thousand,” Bruce clarified.

“Yes you did, but at least this will buy me some time before you ask for skyscrapers,” Paul answered. Bruce shook his head, looking at Paul. “What? I’ve learned if you want something, always do more to save myself a headache later.”

“Fine, Paul, your point is taken,” Bruce said, grinning.

Paul looked at Bruce for a minute then started talking. “Bruce, I remember when we were fighting to just keep control of a few miles around us. Where we were going to get food and fight a battle with every blue in northwest Louisiana. Now, we are fighting blues over the Midwest and Eastern seaboard. I remember being stuck in a tree with my family thinking we were going to die up there. You come along and start a war on a scale few can imagine and try to save humanity. That is forward thinking on a scale few are capable of.” Everyone in the command group nodded.

“Paul, I’m not the one you should be thanking,” Bruce said.

Looking Bruce in the eyes, Paul said, “I know Debbie asked you to keep this going, but you were doing it.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. Debbie asked me to save everyone I could and rebuild. I’m still not the one to thank.”

“What the hell do you mean?” Paul asked.

Bruce sighed and looked at Paul. “Paul, it was never my plan to bring people here that were not already an asset to the family. If I would have followed my plan, we would be dead.”

“What the hell do you mean, Bruce?” Nancy asked.

“I asked Angela and Alex here because they were an asset. They work hard and grew up on farms. It wouldn’t take much for us to invest in them. I never asked Susan and them to join; they just followed. It was after the school Mike and I hit to get supplies that I started to think. I was going to leave Maria and Lynn with those kids; Susan and her two were slowing us enough already. It was Mike who convinced me I was wrong. If people wanted to survive and could live by our rules, then we should save them. That’s not what Mike said, but it’s what he meant. I didn’t understand at first, but if I wouldn’t have listened to him, we all would be dead now. If Maria and Lynn wouldn’t have been there to pass us their magazines when that mob hit us in the woods, we would’ve been overrun and died. The rest I leave to your imagination. Maria and Lynn didn’t know anything, but they tried and it saved us. If anyone needs thanking, it’s Mike. Without him, I can honestly say we would all be dead several times over.”

Mike gasped, looking at Bruce, then everyone at the table turned to look at Mike. Mike’s face started turning red as everyone stared at him. Nancy hugged and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you, Mike,” Paul said.

Conner nodded toward Mike and looked at Bruce. “Well, since we have diverted off the subject, I want to ask. Do we have enough to fight this war now?” he asked.

“Not really. It will take us two decades to fight it, and even then, it would just be a stalemate,” Bruce said.

“What?” Willie asked.

“We need to have a five thousand strong attack group out at all times fighting this war. Right now, that is half our total strength, and you can’t keep men out under constant combat conditions.”

“When did you come up with this?” Willie asked.

“A few months ago,” Bruce replied. “During my insane run through Texas, I realized I had to have a shit load of troops to fight this war. The best I could do there was run and gun. Granted, it worked, but as Stephanie pointed out, all we could do was hold them in check in that one area. To win this war, we need a lot more troops.”

“That was why you wanted to be ready for fifty thousand. You were planning on getting those in the government camp,” Stephanie said.

With a slight grimace, Bruce said, “No, to be honest, I was going to nuke them.” Everyone froze hearing that. “What? I’m not going to lie. They are bigger than we are and have more troops. Why is it so hard to imagine my reaction?” Bruce asked.

“Bruce, we hit that group in Grenada, and they were a lot bigger than we were,” Conner blurted.

“Untrained with very little knowledge on the military weapons they had. We had the advantage. If they would’ve been a little larger or I would’ve known just how large they were, I would have just wiped them off the Earth,” Bruce answered.

“Damn, you play for keeps,” Adam said, glad he had left Colorado.

“Make no mistake, I’m going to save what I can, but I won’t risk what we have to do it. If Walker can pull off his plan and get those troops join us, we can win this war in ten years. If not, we will pass this war off onto our kids,” Bruce answered.

“Do you think Gene can pull it off?” Stephanie asked.

“I give it fifty/fifty,” Bruce answered, shrugging.

Adam looked at Bruce with hesitation. “If he can’t, are we going to kill those troops?” he asked.

“Down to the last man,” Bruce replied. “That is the commitment I asked for and you gave.”

“I know, and I will, but it’s not fair. They are just doing what they are told. They know if they don’t, most have families there that will be hurt if they don’t follow orders,” Adam said.

“I know that, Adam, but nobody is going to hurt this family or this clan as long as I have a breath left in my body. You really think the clan would have a chance if those idiots up there were in charge?” Bruce asked.

Adam sighed. “No, Bruce, I know we would all live in a state of terror. Just like when I left. I will do it, but I won’t like it.”

“None of us like it, but we will do it,” Bruce replied. “We have a week left in November. I want all the crap from those bases here now. The weather is getting nippy, and the blues aren’t pulling up like they did last year. I feel they are going to be active longer this year. If Walker can work his magic, the government won’t roll till January. That gives us a little over a month,” Bruce said.

“Can we beat them if Gene can’t work his magic?” Mike asked.

“Without a doubt,” Bruce replied.

Raising his eyebrows, Mike added, “Without popping a nuke?”

“Yeah, I’m not popping a nuke unless I have no choice,” Bruce said.

“How can you be so sure?” Mike asked.

“I have more planes than they have anti-aircraft missiles.”

“Well. how is he going to do it?” Angela asked.

“Have no idea, but I’m talking to him tonight. He’s been busy, so we haven’t been able to talk,” Bruce told her.

Jake looked down at his notebook. “They have been scraping up fuel and sending out patrols, getting more. It’s been colder up there, and they have very little movement of blues around them. They will be coming at us with seven thousand troops. Three regiments of two thousand each and a command regiment of a thousand. The three regiments are going to be in flying wedges with the command regiment in a reverse wedge behind them. Their principle is if we hit them, they can drop one wedge back to form a circular defense while two regiments attack us. They have twenty-five choppers in support. Twenty of those are Apaches. They don’t have fuel for prolonged operations for the rest. They will have six Patriot systems, ten MRLS, fifty artillery, a dozen tanks, and several dozen Bradleys. The rest will be Strykers, Hummers, and troop trucks. All track vehicles will be driven down on trucks along with the choppers,” Jake said and looked up.

“Walker, come up with that?” Bruce asked.

“Yeah, Dad,” Jake replied.

“Well, if they stay in that formation, we can take them apart easy enough,” Bruce said.

“How?” Mike asked.

Shrugging, he said, “Same thing I said before; hit them on the side with a small group, make them deploy to chase us, and when they leave their air umbrella, wipe them out with air.”

“Sometimes, you scare me,” Mike admitted.

Bruce blew him a kiss. “Okay, when we start prepping our battle area, I want the UAV from over our head gone,” Bruce said.

“Dad, we will lose our intel,” Jake reminded him.

“No, they will keep one close to the troops to watch them on the way down but won’t put any above us. I’m sending out the first platoon to warn the groups in Arkansas and Oklahoma. We found that the government will be coming soon and to stay put or join us. There are several thousand people, and I really want to warn them, especially the two large groups. I want at least one armed UAV over each one at all times until this is over. We gave our word to help them if we could,” Bruce said.

“How long do you think this will last?” Nancy asked.

“I’ll know tomorrow or at least enough to give an educated guess,” Bruce answered.

Nancy looked around the table. “Command meeting tomorrow night,” she said, and everyone nodded.

“Jake, let Walker know I want to talk to him tonight,” Bruce said.

“Bruce, will you please call him by his first name, Gene?” Nancy said.

“Sorry, babe, but I have known and called him Walker longer than you have called him Gene.”

“No problem, Dad,” Jake said, standing, and started passing out boxes. Danny and Mary both let out squeals, ripping them open. Jake slid one down for Bruce, and he opened it, finding a cellphone.

Letting out a long remorseful sigh, “Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later,” Bruce said, taking out the phone and looking at it. Hearing a phone ringing, he looked up and saw Danny and Mary texting. “Are you kidding me, Danny? Y’all are sitting right beside each other,” Bruce shouted.

“Back off, Daddy,” Danny popped off as she answered Mary’s text.

Bruce just shook his head as Jake finished passing out phones. “The clan will get theirs tomorrow,” Jake said.

Marcus looked at his phone then at Jake. “I never had one to begin with,” he said.

“Mr. Marcus, this is the fastest way to talk to someone. I can show you how to work it,” Jake said with confidence. Marcus looked at him, unconvinced.

“So I hafta have one too?” Carroll asked, looking at the phone like it was a snake.

“Yes ma’am. The command group has to be able to talk to each other, and now, we can do it without radios,” Jake said.

“Okay, Jake, I’ll dos it, but I ain’t liken it,” Carroll said, and Bruce smiled. At least he wasn’t the only one who hated the damn things.

The meeting continued for another hour and then adjourned with Bruce heading to the boys’ computer area beside the house.

Chapter 3

Colonel Walker was sitting in the command area at the table with General Givens, the President, and the other advisors as the meeting let out. The general leaned over the map and pointed at an area. “Colonel, don’t you think you are bunching us up real close?” Givens asked.

“Sir, the units will be ten miles apart. Any closer and we make a good air strike target, conventional or unconventional,” Walker answered.

“You think they will use nukes?” the President asked.

“No sir. They don’t like causing collateral damage. You saw they didn’t blow up any bridges over the river when they fought that mega horde. They want to keep the infrastructure intact,” Walker replied.

“Then why mention it?” he asked.

“Sir, when we start wiping out their army, I don’t want them to think they can launch one nuke and be rid of us. As we present now, we will be moving along a hundred mile front with thirty mile depth. It would take a dozen nukes with the terrain we will be in to take us out,” Walker said.

“Fair enough,” the President replied. “When do you think on launching?”

“First week of January. The news reports they have put out say the temperature is starting to fall there. I hope the blues are bedded down by then, or we will have to move it further out. We were only able to secure twenty tons of ammo in Idaho. That along with what we have is not enough to clear a path to them,” Walker said. Looking down at the map, he added, “From what they were reporting against the mega horde and their movements around the area, they used close to that much ammunition alone. Against the horde, they used three times that. Their troops shoot better than ours like I detailed in my report. If we had the ammunition and time, we could’ve trained ours, but we don’t have the luxury of having a truly secured area, sir.”

“Well, that will change shortly, Colonel,” Givens said, grinning. Just the thought of getting out of these mountains made him happy.

“Yes sir,” Walker replied, looking at Givens’ grin. I wish I could shoot you now, you son of a bitch, Walker thought.

“How long do you think it will take?” one of the aides asked.

“It all depends on when they engage us. Once they commit, it will be over in a week, two tops,” Walker answered.

“Why would they engage us? Why not just sit behind their wall?” the aide asked.

“They don’t know we want their site. You don’t let a hostile army camp around you and lob explosives over your walls and poke holes in them. They have a defensible position and will defend it or surrender. If they knew we weren’t willing to risk hurting the site, they would just wait it out,” Walker replied.

“So you think they will surrender?” the President asked.

“They might when we show up but definitely will after the shooting starts. This will be the first time they come up against a force that can fight on the same level they do, and we are bigger,” Walker answered, feeling the phone in his pocket vibrate.

“How many do you think we will have to kill to get them to the peace table?” Givens asked.

“We will have to wipe out one of their strike teams: Omega or Gamma. When they are down to half strength, they should try to negotiate a deal,” Walker answered.

“What do you advise then?” the President asked.

“Negotiate in good faith, and accept the offer to join them. Ask the remaining strike team to lead a thousand of our troops back here to get the others and wipe them out while the rest of the force takes over the compound,” Walker answered.

Sneering in disgust, “Seems like chicken shit to me,” Givens said.

“It will save our troops’ lives, sir, and we need them for the coming battles ahead,” Walker said, looking at Givens.

“I like that,” the President said. “When will my staff be able to join?” he asked.

“Sir it will take us three days to secure the site, and the troops here can escort you, the command group, and Homeland down to the site. The troops that wipe out the remaining strike team can lead the civilians down,” Walker said.

Shaking his head, the President smiled and said, “We will only be taking half of the civilians, remember, Colonel?” Seeing the President smile as he spoke made Walker want to puke.

“What’s the worst-case scenario for our troop survival?” Givens asked.

Never expecting a question like that from Givens, Walker studied Givens before he answered. The general never cared about the troops before, and now, he was asking questions about their survival rate. “If it comes to a slug fest, we will lose three thousand, possibly four,” Walker answered.

“That’s manageable,” Givens replied, making Walker’s skin crawl.

“Sir, that’s half our force. We can’t sustain casualties like that,” Walker replied.

“Colonel, that will still leave us with a force of five thousand, more than enough,” Givens said, smiling.

“Are the troops ready?” the President asked.

“Almost, sir. We are getting all the tracked vehicles on trailers along with the choppers. We will be ready to roll in a week if need be, but I still want to wait until the blues bed down. I also want to go over the attack with the regiment commanders and company commanders several times. I want them to know the area,” Walker said.

“I agree, Colonel,” the President said. “Let’s say January the fourth for the launch of attack.”

“Sounds good, sir,” Walker replied with the aides agreeing.

“Mr. President, what if the weather gets colder before then? We could launch earlier,” Givens said.

“No, General. The colonel is right; we need our troops ready for this battle. They will have many more after it, but this will be the most important,” the President said, and Givens nodded but didn’t agree.

Walker straightened and stretched his arms out. “Gentlemen, if you would excuse me, I have not stopped in the last four days. I really want to grab some rack time,” Walker said.

The President looked at him with alarm. “Colonel, you will get some rest now. If I had known that, I would have asked for a briefing tomorrow. You are too valuable to me and this country. I command you to take tomorrow off.”

“Well, sir, I would like to sleep a little late, but we still have a lot of work to do. Besides, what else is there to do?” Walker pointed out.

The President laughed. “Colonel, go grab some rack, but at least sleep late. If anyone disturbs you, let me know; I’ll have them shot.” Walker wanted to laugh, but he knew the President was being serious. Grabbing his papers and shaking hands, Walker headed out of the room.

Reaching the hall, he pulled out the cellphone and read, “need to talk.” Walking down to his room, he looked at the camera on the wall and smiled. Over the last week, he had talked to Jake and Matt but also Angela and Stephanie without Bruce knowing. They told him about Debbie and the months of Bruce going insane.

When he heard the reason for Bruce’s actions, Walker felt much better about Bruce. The Williams he knew was crazy and loved the wave, but that was taking things to a whole new level. Closing his door behind him and locking it, he put down his papers and grabbed a bottle of water as his laptop came on. It still unnerved him that Jake and Matt had that much control over this base.

After the screen warmed up, he saw Bruce looking at him. “That better be water you’re drinking. You made me do pushups for sneaking in some Vodka,” Bruce said, grinning.

“Williams, you snuck Vodka into a war zone. That is not the best time to be drinking.”

“Oh, but it’s the best time to do pushups,” Bruce shot back.

“I bought you another bottle when we got state side,” Walker answered.

Bruce leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “We wanted it over there.”

Collapsing back in his chair, Walker smiled at the memories. “Well, did you hear that meeting?” he asked.

“Of course I did. I know how you’re going to attack. Your line of advance, troop disposition, supply status, equipment, and manpower. I have to say it’s a fair plan for suicide,” Bruce said.

Almost dropping his bottle of water, Walker looked at him in shock. “How? Nothing has been put in a computer. And we didn’t talk about it in the command center,” he blurted.

“You didn’t put it in the computer, but one of the general’s aides did. Plus, we were watching when you briefed the general in his office. His web cam is really good.”

“Your boy is very scary.”

“Walker, he is the joy of my wonder years.”

Shaking his head at Bruce, Walker looked at the screen. “Bruce, you will either call me Gene or Hammer. You aren’t in the green machine anymore, and I would appreciate it,” Gene said.

Letting out a sigh, Bruce looked at the screen. “Fine, Gene,” Bruce said, knowing somehow, Stephanie had been involved in that.

“Thank you, Bruce.”

“Well now, since we are on first-name basis. What’s your plan?” Bruce asked.

“Once we deploy, you will test our line from a distance. We have a few long distance skirmishes, and one of my regiments is going to defect to you. Then, you will call for a meeting to discuss terms, and I will kill the general and take control of the forces and turn them over to you,” Gene said.

“You throw that around real easy, Gene. Skirmishes can get my troops hurt for nothing.”

“Mine as well.”

Narrowing his eyes, Bruce said, “Gene, you’re asking me to risk my troops for a charade.”

“It’s a risk, yes, but worth it. I know my troops are good, but they will listen.”

“Your troops aren’t that good, Gene. I could launch Omega now and have that area destroyed in a week.”

“Your troops aren’t that good,” Gene said.

Leaning closer to the camera, Bruce’s face filled Gene’s screen. “You have a mega horde six hundred miles from you. We could led them right to that valley and never even face you. Or wait till you leave and take out your convoy en route. I can name a hundred different ways, Gene,” Bruce informed him with confidence.

“Bruce, what the hell are you getting at?” Gene asked, getting pissed off.

Leaning back again in his chair, Bruce said, “You’re asking me to risk my troop’s lives for nothing.”

“Nothing?” Gene gasped, jerking his head back.

“Yes, we have security, which we have fought hard and died for. This clan has paid for what we have with our blood. You’re asking me to risk their lives in a charade to set up this coup,” Bruce said.

Gene looked at Bruce and sighed, nodding. “You’re right, Bruce. I am, but I think it’s worth the risk. I’m trying to save these troops’ lives and these civilians here. I think it’s worth the risk.”

With a minute nod, Bruce said, “Well then, Gene, if you think it’s worth the risk, we’ll do it.”

Gene let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Bruce.”

“I’m sorry, Gene, but the war after this battle is going to take a long time, and I’m going to need my troops.”

“I understand, and I want you to have these troops as well.”

“I’m sure most of those troops will not continue the fight that I need. This is going to be a war of attrition on a scale never seen before,” Bruce said.

A broad grin filled Gene’s face. “Oh, I’m sure they will. Most want to join you now. The only thing holding them back is they have families here. I was ready to come and follow you when I heard about Omega, and I didn’t even know it was you, Bruce.”

“They will be your troops, Gene; I will just tell you where to attack.”

The grin fell off Gene’s face replaced by a scowl. “That is a big fat Fuck-You-Fat-Lady,” Gene popped off. “I’m joining your army, Bruce, and my troops are as well. You are the boss, troop.”

Throwing up his hands, Bruce snapped, “Okay Hammer, shit, back off.”

“You need to go and get a tampon, boy,” Gene said.

Bruce cracked his knuckles in front of the camera. “Gene, I’ve had enough shock to my system. I’m not in the mood,” Bruce said with narrowed eyes. Slowly. Bruce’s expression softened and he sighed. “I’m going to be a daddy again.”

Letting out a whoop, Gene threw up his fist, pumping it up and down. “Bruce, they are lovely girls, and to put up with you, they deserve a medal. You should feel lucky that they are having your kids.”

Watching Gene’s reaction, Bruce smiled then became serious. “Givens wants to fight a battle and become a hero.”

“Yes, that’s what I think,” Gene said.

“I don’t think; I know. He told his aide he wanted to wipe us out so he could go down in history as the greatest general of America.”

“Oh, that’s why you’re bitchy,” Gene groaned and continued. “Bruce, if I thought it would go down that way, I would get a group and leave then just let you lay waste to this place, but I really think we can save a bunch here.”

Feeling better after hearing that, Bruce tried to relax. “Okay, Gene, get some rest. Matt said your security blanket is under the bed, and your night light is out, so fix it, and get some sleep. We will talk some more Sunday night.”

“You better leave my woobie alone. It’s mine, and you can’t have it.”

With a wide grin and holding out his fist, Bruce said, “Hoorah.”

“Hoorah, troop,” Gene said, turning off the screen and smiling.

Bruce turned to the group to see Angela, Stephanie, Marcus, Carroll, Mike, Nancy, and the kids staring at him in ogle-eyed shock. “What?” he asked.

“You thought he wouldn’t join? Then you were just going to let him command the largest part of the troops?” Angela yelled, stomping her foot.

Crossing his arms, Bruce said, “I would have commanded them.”

“Commanded?” Stephanie screeched.

Dropping his arms, “Oh shit the hormones are here,” Bruce said, shaking his head.

Angela and Stephanie reached down, grabbed their notebooks, and threw them at Bruce. Dropping to his knees as the notebooks sailed over his head, Bruce looked at the two like they were crazy. They turned and started grabbing whatever their hands fell on for another volley.

Danny jumped in front of them. “Hold on; let him finish. Then, you can throw shit at him. I might even help,” Danny said as they lowered their arms. Danny spun around, looking at Bruce. “Now Daddy, spill it, and no bullshit, or I unleash them.”

With a weary look, Bruce stared at them. “I was hoping he would lead the army?” Bruce said. They all stared back at him with dazed expressions. “What, I can’t be tired? I’m getting sick of this shit. I want to sit the fuck down and rest for a minute. Maybe read a book for no other reason than to read something for fun. I want to take a minute to breathe. I’m fixing to be a daddy—again—and I can’t even enjoy the moment because I have to get ready for a fucking battle, which I hope doesn’t happen. I think that fucking Givens is going to throw monkey wrenches in this fucking escapade! Then, I have to plan an entire war across this continent that will last years and cost us a lot in lives, manpower, and supplies. I’m getting pissed off just thinking about all this shit, and when I get pissed off, I want to ride through the land wading in blood!” Bruce finished, yelling at the top of his lungs.

When Bruce finished, Mike reached up and stuck a finger in his ear, shaking it to stop the ringing. Angela and Stephanie ran over, wrapping their arms around Bruce. “We’re sorry, Bruce, we didn’t know,” Stephanie said, crying.

Closing his eyes, Bruce hugged them back and said, “Now, I feel like a complete shithead.”

Mike came over with Nancy. “Bruce, take a few days off. We can take it for a few days.”

Bruce looked up at Mike with a weak smile as Carroll and Marcus walked over, joining them. “Bruce, you go an’ take some time off an’ rest,” Carroll said.

Slumping his shoulders and feeling the weight of the world, he said, “Too much to do, Carroll.”

“No, Bruce, we be here for that. But be makin’ no mistake. You have ta lead us, an’ it can’t be no other. You the one that must blaze the trail in this war.”

“I know, Carroll. I’m just getting tired of it. If I guess wrong, then we lose troops we can’t afford and possibly everything here. I didn’t mind when it was only a few hundred, but now, we are getting to large troop movements. I would rather be a soldier or a smaller commander,” Bruce confessed.

“I knowed, Bruce, but you can’t be that now. You’s the big boss, and that’s the way it has ta be,” she told him and hugged is neck. “Go on inside befo’ I find me a switch.”

Not giving Bruce the chance to argue, Angela and Stephanie pulled him out of the building. When the door closed behind them, Carroll looked at everyone. “No one else is ta be hearin’ of this. The clan and people out in the wilderness think he be unstoppable, and they must always be seein’ that. Tell everyone we had a fight ta make him take two days off. They knowed he be listenin’ ta me. Bruce isn’t ta do anything till Tuesday unless it really be needin’ him,” Carroll said, and they nodded in agreement.

Nancy gasped and looked around at everyone. “The meeting tomorrow,” she said with alarm.

Holding up her hand, Carroll shook her head. “Tell the others on the command group it be moved ta Tuesday. Any complaints, an’ theys can come an’ see me. Just tell ‘em they have ta be gettin’ through Marcus first,” Carroll said, grinning at Marcus.

Suddenly Danny took off running to the door. “Where are you going?” Matt called after her.

Looking over her shoulder, she said, “I have to make sure they don’t get the kids. They are with Mindy and David.”

“Danny!” Carroll barked, and Danny stopped in her tracks obediently and turned around. “Bring the babies to me and Marcus. We gonna watch ‘em,” she said. Danny was fixing to complain but thought better of it, knowing Carroll would use a switch on her butt.

Walking up the stairs, Angela and Stephanie led Bruce inside to the bedroom. They showered, and Stephanie and Angela dried their hair as Bruce went to the bed. When they came out, they found him lying across the bed, snoring. They looked at each other then laid down beside him and curled up, drifting off to sleep.

Chapter 4

Awareness eased its way into Bruce’s dream that someone was stabbing him in the bladder with a really big and long knife. Struggling out of his sleep, he slowly cracked his eyes open and didn’t see anyone stabbing him then realized he had to pee—bad. Rolling to the side of the bed, he fought the pain as he gently stood and waddled to the bathroom.

Five minutes later, Bruce walked back into the bedroom, looked at the bed, and didn’t see anyone in it. He looked at the clock and noticed it was 1542 hours. Startled, he looked at his watch to find out it was Saturday. Relieved that he hadn’t slept for his off days, he went back to the bathroom and shaved then dressed, feeling much better.

With a pep in his step, Bruce snapped his fingers, wondering what to do on his off time. Heading downstairs, he found Danny, Mary, and Buffy at the table, working on laptops, each one stopping every once and a while to text someone. Grinning, Bruce stepped in and walked around, kissing each one on the head. “How are y’all doing today?” Bruce asked.

Lifting her head and brushing the hair out of her face, Danny looked up at him, smiling. “You were tired, Daddy. I thought you were going to sleep till tomorrow.”

“Might have if I wouldn’t have had to pee,” he said. “What are y’all doing?” he asked, looking over her shoulder at the computer screen.

Letting out a groan as she looked back down at her computer, Danny replied, “Making teams and training schedules?”

“Where’s Angela and Stephanie?” Bruce asked, feeling let down. He wanted someone to do something with.

“Dad, you have a phone now; call them,” Buffy said, looking up at him.

“Yeah, Dad, or just text them,” Danny said, glancing back up at him. Bruce just stared at her with a bland expression. “Oh, alright. They were in the front yard with the kids after lunch,” Danny said, looking back down at her laptop.

“Thank you, sweet pea,” Bruce said, turning around and heading to the front door. Walking into the front yard, he looked around and saw Stephanie standing by a tree. She was looking up in it and pointing at the ground. Following her line of sight, Bruce saw two kids thirty feet up in the top of the tree and someone else halfway up.

“Shit!” Bruce yelled and took off running toward her. Getting closer, he saw it was Angela climbing up the tree, and it was PJ and Cade at the top. “What the hell is going on?” Bruce asked, stopping beside her.

Stephanie wheeled around with a pissed off expression. “Your sons!” she expressed, “think that it’s funny to climb this damn tree and not come down!”

Taking a step back from Stephanie, he looked up in the tree. “Angela, get your ass down here right now!” Bruce yelled at her. “You’re pregnant, remember!”

Pausing her climb and looking down, Angela glared at Bruce. “I’m going to beat your kids first, after I throw ‘em out of this tree!” she screamed back at him.

I should’ve gone back to sleep, Bruce thought. “They will come down,” Bruce tried to assure her as he looked at the tree from top to bottom.

Turning back and continuing her climb, she snapped, “Oh yeah, we’ve been telling them that for an hour.”

Not in the mood for any of this, Bruce looked up at the boys. “Boys, get your ass down here!”

Lifting his little chin up in defiance, Cade yelled, “No!”

“See, I told you!” Angela yelled as she continued her climb up.

“Angela, get down. You’re pregnant and don’t need to be climbing up a tree! I’ll take care of this,” Bruce bellowed, walking to the garage. Hearing anger in Bruce’s voice, Angela scampered down the tree as Bruce came back, carrying a chainsaw.

As Angela reached the ground, Stephanie yelled, “What the hell are you going to do?”

“Get them down,” Bruce said calmly, walking over to the tree. Looking up, Bruce yelled, “Boys, Daddy is cutting this tree down, and when it hits, you’re going to get hurt bad! Then, as you are bleeding and crying, I’m going to take my belt off and beat you with it!” As he finished, Bruce started pulling the chainsaw cord, making it cough and sputter.

“No!” both boys screamed together, climbing down. They had seen the trees cut down around the farm and even in their little minds knew this was going to be bad. When they reached the halfway point, the chainsaw roared to life as Bruce walked over to the tree and started to saw it down. “Daddy!” They screamed, moving faster as a blizzard of saw dust surrounded Bruce.

“Bruce, holy shit, quit,” Angela said, grabbing his arm, but he kept sawing. Looking up when he was halfway through the tree, Bruce saw the boys close to the bottom. Taking the chainsaw off, the boys jumped, landing in a roll. When they were on the ground, Bruce finished cutting the tree down.

Slowly, the tree started leaning with a groan and picking up speed. When it crashed, shanking the ground, he turned the chainsaw off and turned to the boys. “Don’t you ever tell your mothers or me ‘no’ again,” Bruce warned in a low voice, walking back to the garage. When he came back, he was carrying two small hand saws.

“Use these to cut off all the branches. You two will come out here every day until it’s done,” Bruce said, handing the two little boys the saws. They just looked at their cool climbing tree in disbelief. Hearing someone running up behind him, Bruce turned around to see Matt and Jake stop, looking at the tree.

“Told ya Dad would cut the tree down,” Jake said, looking at Matt.

“I knew he would, but I didn’t think they would let him,” Matt said, waving his arm out at Angela and Stephanie.

Still staring at the downed tree, Angela yelled, “Bruce, you could’ve hurt them!”

“I’m not finished yet,” Bruce said. Stephanie was still staring at the tree with an open mouth. “I could care less if they climb trees. Hell, all kids do, but they will not tell us no!” Bruce snapped. “Don’t think this is the first tree I’ve cut down because kids wouldn’t come down,” he added, looking at Matt and Jake.

“What?” Angela asked.

Frozen in disbelief at what she had just witnessed and still looking at the tree, Stephanie mumbled, “Jake and Matt got in trouble with Nancy and Debbie. They took off running because they were going to get a spanking and climbed up an oak tree.”

Angela looked over at Bruce, and he was pointing at the other side of the yard to a stump that was three feet tall. It was at least seven feet around. “Mike and I get a call at work saying, ‘Come home and kill the boys now.’ Knowing it was us or the boys, we chose them and left work to come kill them. We get here and see the two up in the tree, laughing at their mommas. We grabbed chainsaws and just cut it down,” Bruce said.

Letting out a huff, Matt said, “Yeah, after the beating, they gave us hatchets and made us cut it up. It took us six months.”

“Bruce!” Angela gasped.

“What? There are consequences for not listening to the parents, Angela. If the boys wanted to climb the tree, who cares? If they fall, they learn a lesson. Gravity works. Think about it; if they fall, they will hit branches, slowing them down. Granted, they will break a few bones, but that will reaffirm the lesson. All actions must be thought out, and after some painful experiences, sometimes, you figure out they aren’t worth the risk,” Bruce snapped.

Finally, Stephanie regained her composure and looked at Bruce. “Bruce, I’m not saying I don’t agree, but you started cutting it down while they were at the top. It could have fallen on them,” she cried out.

With a nonchalant attitude, Bruce said, “They wouldn’t have been hurt bad.” He walked over to a branch and snapped off two limbs. Pulling out his knife, Bruce started shaving the leaves off.

“Bruce, I’m just saying,” Stephanie said, watching him.

Not looking up from his task, “Where are the twins?” Bruce asked as leaves flew off the limbs.

“Marcus took them hunting,” Angela said, watching Bruce.

When he was done, Bruce handed the two switches he made to them. “Here, use them and tell them why,” Bruce said.

Stumbling back, Stephanie yelled, “Now?!”

“Little boys have the attention span of a sparrow. You don’t beat them, Stephanie, just spank them,” Bruce said, forcing the switch in her hand.

Not needing any encouragement, Angela grabbed the remaining switch. Moving to Cade first, Angela started popping his butt, and PJ started backing away from them. “Don’t run, PJ; it will only be worse,” Jake advised. PJ looked at Jake like he was foolish as Stephanie grabbed him, popping his butt. Then, Angela and Stephanie traded kids. Finished, they moved back by Bruce.

The two tree climbers looked at them with shock. They had blue jeans on, so the switches didn’t really hurt; it was just the thought that the mommas had spanked them.

“Jake, Matt, stay here with the boys, and show them the correct way to use the saws,” Bruce said and looked at the two tree-climbing boys. Both had tears in their eyes as Bruce spoke. “Be careful with those saws. If you cut yourself, you won’t get to use them anymore. You will have to chew the branches off,” Bruce said, guiding Angela and Stephanie away.

When they were around the corner of the house, out of sight of the boys, Stephanie collapsed down on her knees. “I can’t believe I beat the kids!” she wailed, throwing her hands up.

Putting her hands on her hips, Angela said, “Stephanie, you barely popped them.”

“They were crying hard,” Stephanie wailed covering her face.

“Jesus,” Angela huffed. “Stephanie, you have got to get tougher than this.”

“I’m a monster,” Stephanie moaned.

“Damn it,” Angela shouted and dove on Stephanie. Stephanie let out a yelp as Angela knocked her on her back. “Quit it!” Angela shouted, sitting on her chest.

“Get the hell off of me!” Stephanie shouted. Seeing Angela had no intention of getting off, Stephanie rolled, throwing Angela off her chest. Spinning around and getting on Angela’s back, Stephanie put her in a headlock. “Doesn’t feel good, does it?” Stephanie shouted, getting to her knees, but Stephanie’s victory was short-lived. Angela forced her weight to one side, throwing Stephanie off-balance popping her head out of the headlock.

As Stephanie fought on her knees to keep her balance, Angela spun around and pushed her over, diving on Stephanie’s back. She wrapped her arms around Stephanie’s chest, catching her in a bear hug. “Damn it, you’re squishing my boobs!” Stephanie screamed in pain. Reaching up and grabbing Angela’s wrist, she broke the hug and rolled on top of her. “That hurt!” Stephanie yelled at her.

“Sissy!” Angela yelled as she rolled, throwing Stephanie off her. The two continued to wrestle hard and even threw a few elbows at each other as Bruce watched.

Feeling a monster headache coming, Bruce started rubbing his temples. “If I ever get back in the bed, I’m never getting out,” Bruce vowed then heard snickering behind him. Turning around, he saw Danny, Buffy, and Mary with a shitload of people behind them watching the two wrestle on the ground. Then, from around the crowd, he saw Carroll walking over, and that made Bruce smile.

When she stopped beside him, Bruce looked back at the two on the ground, still going strong. “Will you stop them, Carroll?” Bruce asked.

“Nope,” Carroll said, making Bruce step back in shock. Seeing Bruce’s reaction, Carroll said, “Bruce, one thing I’ve learnt is you be leaven a pregnant woman the hell alone, and you gots two of ‘em. Let ‘em go until they get tired,” Carroll advised. “We can patch ‘em up if theys get hurt.”

“Great,” Bruce said as Danny came over.

“Dad, they do this quite frequently now, like you and Daddy Mike used to and Matt and Jake do now. I think they’re part boy,” Danny said.

“Danny, if I’m not mistaken, you and Mary had a wrestling match just a few weeks ago,” Bruce said as Angela finally got Stephanie in a headlock.

“Ah no, I was showing her I can yell at Jake whenever I want to; he’s my brother,” Danny snapped.

“He’s my husband, and that was mean!” Mary yelled.

“I can yell at him when I want to, girlfriend!” Danny yelled, spinning around.

“You want another beat down!” Mary yelled.

Danny held her arms out. “You damn sure didn’t whoop this ass, girl!”

“You two quit it,” Carroll snapped at them.

“Ms. Carroll, with all due respect, butt out,” Danny said, dropping her vest to the ground. Seeing that, Mary dropped hers, and they charged each other like football players landing in a crash. Then, the two started wrestling around.

Bruce put his face in his hands. “The women in my life are totally insane and will not be happy until they take my sanity with them,” he moaned.

“Bruce, what the hell is going on?” Nancy yelled, walking up with Mike.

“They’re talking it out,” Bruce said, taking his hands off his face.

“Now, this is enough!” Nancy yelled. None of the four listened to her and kept going.

“Nancy, even you and Debbie wrestled several times,” Mike said with a grin.

“Mike, shut it,” Nancy snapped and walked over to Angela and Stephanie. “You two stop it right now before I put my foot up both your asses!” Nancy yelled at them.

Both stopped wrestling, looking up at her with dirt and grass strewn through their hair. “Maybe not the best choice of words, Nancy,” Bruce advised.

Ignoring Bruce, Nancy continued. “Now, get up. This is immature!” she barked at them.

Angela and Stephanie lunged at Nancy, grabbing her legs, taking her down. Angela put her in a headlock as Stephanie put one of Nancy’s legs in a leg bar. “Who’s immature now with a whooped ass?” Stephanie yelled.

Carroll grabbed Bruce’s arm. “That’s why you leave ‘em be. Don’t go givin’ ‘em a common enemy,” she said wisely.

“Bruce, make ‘em stop,” Mike said.

“Damn it, Mary, quit biting me!” Danny yelled.

“Mary, you quit biting her now!” Matt yelled, running over to pull Mary off. He never saw Jake.

Jake hit him at a full run, taking him down. Mike looked at Bruce. “Bruce, stop them before they hurt Nancy.”

“You do it; Nancy earned this ass whoopin’,” Bruce said. Mike moved over to the three as Bruce added, “But if you touch either of them, we go down as well.”

Hearing that, Mike stopped and considered his options. He was not in the mood, and he saw from Bruce’s face he felt the same. Shrugging, Mike stepped over the pile, walked to the side of the house, and grabbed the water hose. Tuning it on, he started to spray each of the three wrestling matches.

Everyone stopped as Mike sprayed them down with the water. Nancy sat up, coughing. “What the hell did you spray me for?”

Shrugging, Mike said, “Friendly fire,” and turned around to shut the water off.

Getting up, Stephanie held out her hand and pulled Angela up. “I’m sorry I pulled your hair, Angela.”

Angela shivered. “I’m sorry I hurt your boobs,” she said, hugging Stephanie. Angela turned to Nancy. “I’m sorry for trying to choke you out.”

“That’s okay,” Nancy said, hugging her.

Matt walked over to his dad. “That was really uncool and unnecessary,” he said.

The wet people went inside to get more clothes as everyone else left. Bruce went to watch PJ and Cade until Matt and Jake came back out. In the time Bruce was waiting on them, he was toying with the idea of going to sleep for three or four years. When Jake and Matt showed back up, Bruce went to the Center and sat in his chair.

Contemplating on how he could just disappear, Bruce just sat and stared straight ahead as Millie set a plate down with a glass of tea. “Bruce, don’t say nothin’ to ‘em. Just agree with ‘em,” she said.

“I know, Millie; I’ve had a pregnant wife before. I think God is punishing me for hating him earlier,” Bruce told her.

“Maybe,” Millie said, grinning and patting his shaved head.

“This could be regarded as cruel and unusual punishment,” Bruce said, grabbing the glass of tea.

Millie chuckled. “No, Bruce, if that was the case, then Danny and Mary would be pregnant also.”

Bruce nodded. “Yeah, didn’t think about that,” he admitted.

Millie laughed and left him to eat as Mike came in and sat down. “You could’ve stopped them. Now, I’m not getting some for a few days because of that water hose,” Mike said as a plate was set down in front of him.

Bruce chose to ignore him as the rest of the family came in. Matt and Jake led the two wood cutters to their seats and sat down by their wives, who were texting each other. It didn’t matter they were sitting beside each other. As was the way of the family, nobody was mad at each other as the plates were sat down. Those that missed it were laughing as the descriptions of the wrestling match. Marcus and the twins were the only ones not at the table.

Pausing his eating, Bruce looked up at Angela. “How far along are you?” he asked.

“About ten weeks,” she replied.

“And you told me one week ago!” Bruce yelled.

“Well, excuse me,” Angela snapped as Bruce turned to Stephanie.

“How about you?” he asked.

“The same,” she said, making a funny face and sipping her tea.

“Excuse me,” Bruce said.

“Ten weeks. You know, it’s after nine weeks and before eleven,” Stephanie shot back.

“You mean neither of you know?” Bruce said, looking at both of them.

“Well, since we were both on Depo and it wore off around the first part of August, that is the timeline we used. When you come off Depo, your cycles don’t become regular for months. It wasn’t until two weeks ago that I was throwing up in the bathroom that Angela said something,” Stephanie snapped, and Angela started.

“I never threw up, but Stephanie was trying to puke up her toenails, and I noticed my boobs were getting bigger,” she said, and Bruce snickered. “Hey, they aren’t much, so I can see when they get bigger, shithead,” she snapped. Ted spit tea out his nose and took off running to the bathroom.

Angela ignored him. “We didn’t use anymore Depo because we’re almost out. The ones brought in lately haven’t been stored correctly. We knew you’d been neutered, so we didn’t worry about it. We used Depo like the others here just to stop the damn periods!” she yelled.

“I had a vasectomy; I wasn’t neutered!” Bruce yelled.

“Same thing!” Angela yelled back as Carl jumped up and took off running to the bathroom, laughing.

Bruce took a deep breath. “What I’m trying to say, baby, is you told me ten weeks in,” he said then froze, seeing the looks on both of their faces.

“Bruce, we just found out. With the hospital we built in Hope, we went down and did a blood test for Beta-HCG, and it was at the ten-week range. You were off killing the mega horde when we found out. Call me old-fashioned, but neither of us wanted to blurt it out over the radio. We waited till we could get you alone,” Angela popped off.

Stephanie threw down her fork. “What the hell stinks!?” she yelled.

Willie looked up. “I don’t smell anything,” he said. His wife, Nancy, Mike, and Cheryl all kicked him under the table. “Shit!” Willie yelled, and his wife, Maggie, stomped on his foot. Finally getting the meaning, Willie just looked down at his plate and continued eating.

“What the hell do you mean you can’t smell it? Shit, it’s about to make me pass out!” Stephanie yelled, looking down the table at Willie daring him to say otherwise.

“It’s probably something the cleaning crew used; it’s making me sick too,” Nancy offered.

“Let’s shoot their asses for using it,” Stephanie snapped as she covered her nose.

Looking at Stephanie, Bruce said, “Stephanie, you can’t shoot anyone until you talk to me.”

“Fine, I don’t care. I’m good with my knife now; I’ll just shank ‘em,” she barked.

“No, baby, tell me; I’ll do it.”

With a soft sigh and cooing eyes, Stephanie smiled. “Thank you, baby.”

Angela started laughing and snorting. “I’ve tried to tell her about the smells, but she doesn’t listen,” she said.

“Pipe down, Little Foot,” Stephanie advised. “Emily hit my boob last night, and I woke up crying. All I ever heard about pregnancy was how good it was. If this is good, then the female half of the species is fucking insane!” Stephanie yelled.

“You’ll get used to it,” Angela said.

“Oh, like you are the role model. You pulled a knife on the radio operator when you just busted out crying for no reason,” Stephanie said.

“He was snickering at me.”

“I never heard it,” Stephanie said as Marcus and the twins came in. The twins came running over to Bruce. Each was holding a dead squirrel up by the tail.

“Look, Daddy, what we got,” they cried out together.

“Good girls,” Bruce said, hugging each of them.

Angela busted out crying. “How could you? They’re so cute!” she wailed, jumping out of her chair and running out of the Center.

Stephanie stood up so fast her chair hit the floor. “They stink!” she yelled then put her hand over her mouth as she started to gag and ran after Angela.

Watching both mommas run out, the twins turned back to Bruce with confused expressions, and he just shook his head. Cade and PJ were in their places beside the spots the two just ran from. Bruce looked at the twins then at the boys. “Kids, I would like to tell you your mommas are possessed by aliens, but I can’t. Remember they are pregnant and have crazy hormones racing through their bodies. They will yell at us and cry for no reason. Just do whatever they say as fast as you can. Be really nice to them, and hurt anyone that makes them mad so they don’t get mad at you.”

“That ain’t nice to be sayin’, Bruce,” Carroll said.

“I’m being honest,” Bruce said as Steve started laughing.

“He told me and Jake the same thing when Mom was pregnant with Danny,” Steve said.

Carroll just shook her head at Bruce, giving up. Bruce looked at the kids again. “You don’t have to understand; just do it. If they start to go crazy, run for me,” Bruce told them and they nodded at him with stunned expressions. “It will get better, I hope.”

Buffy just shook her head. “It only gets worse the older you get,” she said, making Bruce look at her. Throwing down her fork, she yelled, “How come I have to be a girl and not a boy? They don’t have this crazy possession shit!”

“BB, I’m sorry, but you’re a princess,” Bruce said.

“Whatever!” she yelled, jumping out of her chair and stomping out of the Center. Danny jumped up and followed her.

Bruce looked around the table and stopped at Marcus. “Marcus, can I sleep in yours and Carroll’s room tonight?” he asked.

“Nope, they might follow ya. I can’t run like I use ta.”

Putting the twins on the floor, Bruce stood, looking down at them. “Let’s get Millie to clean your squirrels, and she can cook them up for us tomorrow,” Bruce told them.

Sherry looked up at him, still holding her squirrel up by its tail, proud of her trophy. “Daddy, why is Mama Angela mad about our squirrels? She shot some with us before,” she asked.

“Baby, like I said, they are going through some tough times. Mama Angela will go hunting with you two again, but it may be a while,” Bruce said, leading them to the back. Millie took the squirrels, and Bruce went back to the table to get the boys.

“Dad, we can take them,” Jake offered.

Putting his arms around the smaller kids, Bruce said, “I’m not going in there alone, son.”

“Chicken,” Jake said, smiling.

“I will remember you said that for future reference,” Bruce said, grinning at him. The smile fell off Jake’s face as he looked at Mary.

When he had the four little kids outside, Bruce stopped and looked at the two boys. “PJ, Cade, I’m still disappointed with you for not listening. Tomorrow after church, you will get back to the front yard and finish that tree. Your mommas told you something, and you did not do it. That is wrong,” Bruce said, leading them to the house when he finished.

Marching his troops in, he found them both in the bed. Stephanie had a towel over her head and a heating pad on her chest. Angela had her face burrowed in a pillow. Feeling like he was herding chickens, Bruce drove the kids to the bathroom and showered all of them, hoping to kill any smell.

Opening the bathroom door, Bruce ushered the kids toward the bed. PJ and Cade ran to the bed and crawled between the two. Cade hugged Angela, and PJ hugged Stephanie. “We’re sorry,” they said. Angela and Stephanie let out wails and hugged the two tight. Bruce picked up the twins, ready to run. He figured he could save at least two if things went bad.

Cade and PJ swapped mommas and apologized again, followed by another wail. Seeing the kids were safe, Bruce sat the twins on the bed, and they crawled up, hugging the mommas. Bruce crawled up in the bed and joined them. It did cross his mind that it would be good to start a war now, but he was better than that. He would stay by them through this. He made that mistake once and was determined not to repeat it as they all drifted off to sleep.

Bruce opened his eyes, hearing someone gagging. He sat up in bed, wiping his eyes, and the gagging turned to hurling. Then, he heard another person gagging. Looking beside him, he didn’t see Angela or Stephanie. Climbing over kids, he raced to the bathroom to find both of them over the commode. The heave would leave one only to hit the other.

He reached under the sink and grabbed washcloths, wet them in cold water, and put one on each of their foreheads.

With a pale face, Stephanie looked up at him, smiling. “Thank you, baby,” she said. Angela was talking to the porcelain altar so she couldn’t say anything. He wet two more rags and placed them on the back of their necks.

Angela finished talking to the altar and looked up at him with a weak smile. “Thank you, baby,” she said.

“I though you didn’t throw up?” Bruce asked.

Exhausted, she said, “I never did with Cade. This is bullshit,” she said, laying her head on the toilet.

He looked at Stephanie. “Are you done?” he asked.

“I think so. Nothing really comes up, and that’s what makes me mad. All that work, I want to see something,” she said. Bruce reached down, picked her up, and carried her to bed. When he went back to the bathroom, Angela was laid out on the floor.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m just going to sleep here. The floor’s cold and feels good,” she said, covering her face with a rag.

Chuckling, Bruce carried her to bed and laid her beside Stephanie. Going back to the bathroom, he wet more rags and replaced theirs. They soon drifted off to sleep again, and Bruce went to the bathroom and pulled out cleaning supplies. For the next hour, he sterilized the commode and the floor around it. When he put up the supplies, he was certain no microbe was living on the toilet, at least for a little while.

It was 0400 as Bruce sat on the side of the bed, caressing Angela and Stephanie’s faces for an hour. Standing, Bruce grabbed some workout clothes and headed to the gym. Working out really fast, he was back in less than an hour covered in sweat. Walking in the room he saw everyone was still asleep. Afraid of the super sniffers the women were now equipped with, Bruce jumped in the shower. Getting dressed, he tried to wake the kids without waking the mommas, but that didn’t work.

“Hey, baby,” Angela said sitting up.

“Hey, Little Foot, you go back to sleep. I have the kids,” he said, dragging Sherry out of the bed by her arm. Standing her up on her feet, he was sure she was awake, but when he let go, Sherry collapsed to the floor. “Sherry, get up,” Bruce whispered at her.

“No, baby, I’m getting up. You’re supposed to be taking time off,” Angela said, climbing out of bed.

With a startle, Stephanie sat up with her auburn hair going everywhere. “Who has a teddy bear?” she shouted.

Startled, Bruce just stared at her, not even going to try to answer that one. “Go back to sleep, Little Red,” Angela said, yawning.

Blinking, Stephanie looked around and realized she wasn’t dreaming. “I’m up,” she said, throwing the covers off. She climbed out of the bed, going to the bathroom. “Screw a goose! Who soaked the bathroom in bleach?” she cried out.

“Ah, I cleaned the commode since y’all are getting real close to it,” Bruce answered shyly, saying a silent prayer that fury wasn’t headed his way.

With wide eyes, Stephanie looked at the sparkling toilet. The bolts holding it down were shiny now, and even the caulk around the base was white. Lifting the seat up, she saw he had even taken it apart and cleaned it. “Holy shit, Bruce, you sterilized it!”

Angela went in the bathroom and stood beside Stephanie to look. The commode was never dirty, but like most altars, it had tattletale areas. Then, Angela looked at the floor, which was composed of small, one-inch square tiles with grout. The grout three feet around the commode was shiny white with the rest of the floor an off gray. “I didn’t want y’all to get sick from anything else,” Bruce called from the bedroom. The twins were finally up, but PJ was burrowing under the covers.

Angela laid her head on Stephanie’s shoulder, and Stephanie put her arm around her. They both walked out that way with tears in their eyes. Not noticing them, Bruce reached under the covers and grabbed PJ by the ankle and hoisted him out. Holding PJ over the bed by one ankle, he lifted PJ up to his face. “I’m not in the mood today, PJ. Get dressed, or you chew branches off that tree,” Bruce said, putting him down.

Looking over at the two women, Bruce’s heart froze, seeing they had tears on their face. “Ah, I’m sorry. Whatever I did, I’m sorry,” he said as they ran over to hug him.

“You’re the best ever,” Stephanie said. Angela just cried.

Bruce hugged them, thankful he would get to keep his testicles for a while longer. “Come on, you two. If you’re up, let’s go eat,” he said. They nodded and started getting dressed. Sherry and Emily dressed themselves as he finished dressing PJ and Cade.

When Emily finished dressing, she ran over to Bruce. “Daddy, I want to go with you to the shop today during church,” she asked. “Me too,” Sherry piped in.

“Girls, Daddy will be at church today,” he said, and everyone froze. Since Debbie’s death, he had not gone.

“What?” Stephanie asked, letting her pants fall down.

“I’m going to church with y’all. I’m setting a bad example for the kids,” Bruce said. Stephanie let out a yelp and tried to run to him but fell. Angela ran over the bed at him. Stephanie finally freed herself from the demon pants and ran to them. When the hugging was over, they finished dressing and headed to the Center.

Bruce was walking on eggshells. He knew the weeks before he found out they were pregnant, they were getting moody, but now, that was a mild description.

They all entered the Center to find it was full. Heading to the command table, they sat down. Plates were placed in front of them, and Bruce dove in. Angela put her coffee down. “That’s burned,” she cried out.

“Wait till you taste the oatmeal. I think they put PJ’s diaper in it,” Stephanie said curling her lips in disgust.

Wanting to head this off before it got out of hand Bruce stood and walked to the kitchen. When Millie saw him walk in, she pointed her finger at him. “Shut it, Millie,” Bruce snapped, making her take a step back. “Angela thinks the coffee is burned, and Stephanie thinks the oatmeal has PJ’s dirty diaper in it. I want honey, jam, sugar, and anything else that will flavor something, and I want it now. They are getting close to spinning off,” Bruce said.

In a near panic Millie ran over to some shelves, grabbing jars and handing them to Bruce. When his arms were full, he headed back to the table with Millie in tow, her arms full as well. They set the jars down, and Millie looked at Stephanie and Angela. “I’m sorry I let new people cook today,” she said, putting some honey in Angela’s coffee. Bruce was putting spoonfuls of strawberry jelly in Stephanie’s oatmeal.

“Put’em on shit detail,” Stephanie barked, cautiously talking a bite and liking it with the strawberry jelly. From that point on, only Millie made their food.

***

That night, Bruce was in Matt and Jake’s computer lair. He had watched for the last hour all the cameras over the government compound. The President, along with several others, had webcams, and the boys had turned those on as well. Watching the activity at the government base Bruce just shook his head in wonder. The boys had totally infiltrated the base. Everything that had a computer belonged to them. Matt had even designed a program to infiltrate the helicopters.

The choppers had no outside access, but the maintenance crew plugged up laptops to run diagnostics. Then these were plugged back into the network. The virus would allow the chopper to run for one hour then shut down. If they wanted the chopper back up, the ground crews would have to dump the system, replace the motherboard, and reboot it. Matt figured if they had the motherboards, it would take two hours per chopper to get back in the air.

A part of Bruce really felt sorry for them. Matt and Jake really owned them. Anything connected to a computer was under their control. All the Strykers had the command and control system, but since the government didn’t have GPS, it was not being used. Well, it wasn’t being used by them. Jake had turned it on and could monitor each vehicle’s location to within a few feet, and no one there suspected anything. That was the job of counter intelligence, but there was none, so the group just went through the motions.

There were cameras around the camp, and the clan could see how the people were treated. They had already seen a dozen executions; one was a couple with a twelve-year-old boy. Bruce had broadcast that one out to the clan. He wanted them to know what they were fighting.

On a screen, Bruce saw Gene walking down the hallway to his room. He motioned Angela and Stephanie over to him as he pointed to his lap. They smiled and ran over. Bruce was of the mind that he didn’t care what he had to do to make them happy. Truth be told, if one had told him they wanted a piece of the moon, Bruce would try to get there.

When Gene locked his door, Matt turned on his computer. Gene put his stuff on the table, hung his rifle up, and saw Bruce with the girls in his lap. All of them were smiling at him. “Hold on, guys,” he said, stepping to the bathroom. Walking out, he smiled at the computer. “Sorry about that. I’ve been holding for a while,” he said, sitting down.

“Gene, how are you planning on dealing with Homeland? They have two thousand officers there, and we have seen quite a few executions just today,” Bruce asked.

“I’m working on that, Bruce,” he replied.

“I’ll try to think of something as well,” Bruce said. “Gene, just to let you know, your UAV will go bye-bye tomorrow. I’m getting ready to prepare my field of battle, and I want it gone,” Bruce said.

“Okay,” Gene replied then asked, “What do you mean prepare your field of battle?”

“We are moving out to wipe out the blues forward of your deployment line. Our count is in the thousands, but they are in small groups, mostly thirty to fifty strong, but I want them gone. I’m not deploying my troops with that many infected in the area,” Bruce said.

“What about my troops, Bruce?” Gene asked.

“Hey, y’all are coming here. I’m not preparing your area for you. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t want nothing to happen to your troops, but if something happens to you, I have to kill them anyway.”

“I understand, Bruce, but at least one regiment will be defecting to you when we deploy. I have talked to the Lt. Colonel over it. He’s a buddy, and he agrees this is our shot to get out of here and save America,” Gene said.

“That’s good, Gene, but you tell him when he defects, his troops will lay down their arms and equipment until this is over. They will be treated well and will not be harmed unless they try to harm us. We will have an area for them, and one of my groups will talk to them and explain why they are being kept separate from the clan.”

“Fair enough.”

“Gene, you need to find you ten loyal troops to surround yourself with at all times,” Bruce said.

“Why? What did you find out?” Gene asked.

“I think Givens will kill you if he can. He really wants to be the hero of this battle.”

“I’ve been feeling that a lot today.”

Stephanie cleared her throat. “Gene, how about getting ten more troops loyal to you and have them guard the general? That way if he plans something, they can tell you,” she said.

Gene just stared at her on his screen then looked at Bruce. “How do you find these smart, beautiful women, Bruce? I know you and have fought beside you and love you like a brother, but if I was a woman, I would pick me,” he said.

“It’s my hair,” Bruce said, rubbing his shaved head.

“Hey, we have the same barber now,” Gene said, rubbing his own shaved head.

Angela leaned forward and grinned. “He kinda grows on ya.”

Gene let out a laugh. “Yes, that he does,” he said. “Have you given any thought on how we are going to keep in touch when I’m in the field?”

“No,” Bruce replied.

Rubbing his face, Gene said, “Bruce, that is kind of important.”

“I wasn’t thinking about it because it’s been solved for some time,” Bruce said.

“Care to let me know?” Gene asked.

“Well, since you asked now, stay on your planned route down. Stop at the Arkansas welcome station, and go to the men’s bathroom. Inside the garbage can will be a computer and radio that you can talk to us on,” Bruce said.

Impressed, Gene asked, “You already have it there?”

“No, I have this tattletale plane over me. I think even Givens would get suspicious if he saw us moving up and down your travel corridor. It will be placed when we tell the groups in Arkansas and Oklahoma about this party,” Bruce said.

Gene stared at Bruce, slack-jawed. “You have a ton of shit in place that you haven’t told me about, don’t you?” he asked.

“Not even you would believe how much.”

“Bruce, I need to know some stuff.”

“Gene, I trust you with the lives of my kids and family, but if something happens to you and they make you talk, I have to be ready,” Bruce said candidly. “Once you get your protection squad, I will tell you much more. If something happens, your protection crew can buy you time to get out. I will say this; don’t ride in any chopper.”

“I understand, Bruce, and you’re doing the right thing,” Gene said. “I’m just trying to figure out a way to request it,” he admitted. Then, he caught what Bruce said at the end. “Don’t ride in a chopper?” he asked.

With a shit-eating grin, Bruce said, “Oh, you won’t have to ask for troops. They will be offered and on the chopper; just trust me,” and he winked.

“If you tell me your son has hacked someone’s brain, I’m locking myself in my closet,” Gene said.

Thinking that sounded neat, Bruce raised his eyebrows and leaned over to the side till he could look at Jake. “Can you do that?” he asked.

“Not yet, Dad, but I want to try,” Jake admitted.

Gene heard the exchange and just shook his head. “He says he can’t yet,” Bruce said.

“Okay, then how?” Gene asked.

“Jake is going to send the President an e-mail from one of the Homeland officers suggesting it.”

“What happens if the President talks to that officer?” Gene asked.

Not able to hold it, Bruce started laughing. “He can’t; he’s dead.”

Totally lost and worried about the conversation, Gene said, “So this agent sends an e-mail from Hell, and the President just accepts it?”

Bruce shook his head. “Gene, the boys tell me it’s called a blabbermouth program. You type in shit, and if you don’t type in a password every so often, like ’get killed,’ it sends out this information. They tell me many in the computer world do this. Me, I just have friends that will come and kill you,” Bruce said.

“I feel so old right now,” Gene said, rubbing his hands over his face. “You can make your computer reach out from the grave,” he mumbled.

“Well, the boys put one in this officer’s computer, and it will send the President this message tomorrow,” he said. Gene stared at the computer screen for minutes until Bruce asked, “What?”

“I want to ask you a question,” Gene stated.

“Okay.”

“When were you going to hit us?” he asked.

Looking away from the camera, Bruce answered, “After I found out you were there from Adam, I wasn’t,” Bruce answered.

“When?” Gene asked.

Bruce looked back at the screen. “Thanksgiving.”

“Where you going to try to save the people?” he asked.

“Yes, but the troops would have died in the airstrike, and it was going to be a big one. I’m just guessing, but I was expecting only a quarter of the civilians to make it through,” Bruce told him.

“Thank you, and to let you know,” Gene paused, “that is the right answer. We have to save America and mankind.”

“I’m glad to hear that from you, Gene,” Bruce said. “You will have a busy day tomorrow. I have the day off. Then, I’m going to take my troops and clear the area.”

“You deserve more than a day off, Bruce,” Gene said.

Moving in front of Bruce, Angela said, “We keep telling him the same thing.”

Bruce smiled. “We have too much to do, and that means suck it up and drive on,” he said.

“Hoorah,” Gene said.

“Hoorah, brother,” Bruce said. “Gene, someone will always be monitoring. As usual, if you need us, let us know. Listen to the radio show tomorrow,” Bruce said.

“I will, Bruce,” Gene said as the screen went blank.

Chapter 5

In Colorado the next morning, the technicians were sitting at the monitors, watching the three UAVs. One UAV was flying around their perimeter, one was following the supply groups in Alabama, and the other was flying in a circle around Base Hope in Louisiana. Others in the command room were watching monitors that were fed by cameras around the base.

At 0700 hours in Louisiana, they turned on the radar, and the flight technician sitting at the UAV console yelled, “Radar is on and tracking me!”

“Get the general!” the watch officer yelled out.

“Taking evasive action. They have lock!” the flight technician yelled. In Louisiana, the clan watched the Patriot system as a rocket shot out of one of the boxes racing up in the sky.

One of the monitor technicians called, “We have launch!” Ten seconds later, the screen went blank.

The flight technician looked around. “They got us,” he said.

Givens busted in the room wearing only boxers and t-shirts. “What?” he yelled.

“Sir, they turned on their radar and shot down our UAV,” the watch officer said.

Givens just stared at him as Gene came in the room. “What’s going on? We have a horde?” he asked.

“No sir, they shot down our UAV,” the watch officer replied.

“Surprised it took them that long,” Gene said, walking over to the coffee pot.

“You’re taking this pretty calm, Colonel!” Givens shouted as one of the President’s aides came in.

“Sir, we knew sooner or later they were going to turn it on. Officer, pull the UAVs following the supply groups out before we lose them,” Gene said, taking a sip of coffee.

Givens narrowed his eyes. “We just lost one of our UAVs, Colonel. We could have used it to launch a few rockets, taking out some of their aircraft,” he said.

Fighting not to laugh in Givens face, Gene took a deep breath. “Sir, think about that for a minute. If we had done that, they would have tracked the signal or seen where it went to land. Since we are the only ones around this area, they would know it’s us. Then, they could have sent planes, sir, not UAVs, to repay the bombing. Or worse yet watch us and see us leave and hit us en route,” Gene said.

“We still could’ve used it,” Givens grumbled.

“Sir, we lost some equipment. No men were involved,” Gene said and looked at the watch officer. “How long after the radar came on did they shoot us down?” he asked.

“Seconds, sir.”

“See, General, they don’t want air over them. They are worried about someone doing what you said. Dropping bombs on them,” Gene said, sitting down in a chair.

“Colonel, like you said before, we don’t have a lot of equipment,” Givens said.

“True, but we didn’t lose any men, sir,” Gene said. Givens snorted and walked out. “Watch officer, load up the recording. I want to know how much airspace they control.”

“Don’t have to, sir. They control the sky a hundred miles in any direction,” the officer told him. “Sir, I think you should also know we detected counter battery radar as well as Doppler.”

“They turned all of them on at the same time,” Gene said, smiling.

“Yes sir,” he said.

“Were they still bringing in equipment?” Gene asked.

“Yes sir. A convoy of a hundred trucks arrived at 0332 carrying choppers,” the officer said, looking at his notebook.

“How many choppers?”

“A hundred, sir.”

Gene spat his coffee, getting it on his chest. “A hundred,” he coughed, standing up.

“Yes sir, on that load. They have already brought in that many easy. I doubt there are many choppers left in Alabama, but they have moved to Georgia now. They hit every base in Bama, sir,” the officer said.

“Son, I haven’t been watching them for over a week. How much shit are they bringing back?” Gene asked.

“They have a hundred trucks pulling in fully loaded every five hours with a hundred trucks pulling out. They have a rotation system going really good, sir. There is always one hundred trucks at the area they are loading, a hundred heading back to be unloaded, a hundred being unloaded, and a hundred en route to be loaded,” the officer said.

“Damn, I wish I had their quarter master,” Givens said.

Nodding, the officer said, “Yes sir, their S-4 is top notch and has a shit load of equipment.”

“That means they are bringing in around eight thousand tons a day,” Gene said, making a few quick guesses out loud.

“I think it’s a lot more than that, sir. They are overloading the trucks but spacing their convoys out so not to overload bridges. I would put it closer to fifteen thousand tons a day,” the officer replied.

“How long did they spend at each post?”

“Most bases they spend two days, three at the larger ones.”

Gene shook his head. “Tell me how they are operating at the bases.”

“They have close to seven hundred people stripping the place down and bring it back to one area, usually away from everything. Each group has guards even though they have not encountered many infected. When they get close to emptying the base, half leave, going to the next base and start gathering stuff up. They leave some armor, artillery, vehicles, and such, but most everything else leaves with them,” the officer said.

Very impressed with Bruce’s group Gene looked at the officer. “They want a lot of shit, son,” he said, turning and walking out of the command center. Walking back in his room, he dressed and was thinking about going to talk to the troops when he heard a knock on his door. Gene shook his head. “Those boys of Bruce’s could almost be considered a menace,” he said, buttoning up his shirt.

Opening the door, he found one of the President’s aides. “Can I help you?” Gene asked.

“The President would like to see you, Colonel.”

Acting surprised, Gene asked, “I was going to check on the troops. How about at lunch?”

“Colonel, he said it was important,” the aide said and nodded his head out the door. Gene looked out in the hallway to see two Secret Service officers.

“Okay,” Gene said, turning around and getting his satchel bag. Stepping out in the hallway, he closed his door and followed the aide down the hall with the officers behind him. Gene knew what it was about but was silently praying that Jake and Matt knew what they were doing.

Walking outside, they crossed the compound to the President’s private area. The aide waved at the officers at the gate and the door, leading Gene in one of the main buildings. Gene saw the President sitting in a chair at a table with several other aides and Homeland officers. The President looked up and saw Gene walk in and looked around the table. “Gentlemen, would you excuse us? I need to talk to the Colonel,” the President said. They all left, leaving only the protection agents in the room.

“Colonel, please have a seat,” the President said.

Appearing calm Gene dropped down in the chair. “Thank you, sir.”

“I take it you want to know why you’re here?” the President asked.

“It crossed my mind, sir, and why the armed escort?” Gene replied.

“Colonel, I have received information that your life is in danger,” the President said.

“Sir, I’m a soldier. I’m always in danger,” Gene answered.

The President laughed. “A true soldier, but I mean inside the camp,” the President said.

Gene faked a good surprised look. “What?” he blurted.

“I can’t tell you how, but I must express to you that I need to place you under guard.”

Gene looked at the protection officers then back to the President. “Sir, you need your officers more than I do. I’m just a cog in the machine; you’re the operator.”

The President stood and walked over, patting Gene on the shoulder, and the two officers followed, standing behind him, watching Gene. “That is why I like you, Colonel. You see the world how it really is, but I have to correct you. You are ‘the cog’ of the machine. Without you, the machine doesn’t run.” The President told him pulling up a chair and sat beside Gene.

Fighting the urge to hit the man, Gene replied, “Thank you, sir.”

“No thanks; it’s the truth,” the President said. “That is why I want you under protection,” he added.

“Sir, I can’t take any of your protection for that,” Gene replied.

“Thank you, Colonel, but I was thinking some of your own troops. They love you and fight for you. I believe with my order, they will die for you,” the President said.

Actual shock hit Gene’s face as if someone threw cold water on him. This idiot thinks people will die for him because he tells them to, Gene thought. “Sir, thank you. I will grab a couple of troops to watch over me,” Gene finally got out.

“No, Colonel, you will assign a platoon to watch over you,” the President replied.

“Mr. President, the general only has two MPs to protect him at any given time,” Gene said.

“He’s not the cog I want protected, and Colonel, you will tell these troops they are to follow your orders only. The only exception is if they hear it come out of my mouth, looking me in the face,” the President said.

Gene looked at the President for several minutes, and when the President was fixing to ask if he understood, Gene spoke. “I understand, sir, crystal clear,” Gene said, making the President smile. “What is the general being told?” he asked.

“That there are rogue agents in Homeland that want you gone. Which is another reason I want you guarded by your own men.”

“Sir, can I ask that some of my troops guard him as well since he did threaten Homeland?” Gene asked.

The President smiled at him. “Would you like me to have him shot?” he asked.

Jumping back from the casual tone the President used, Gene gasped at the request and was about to answer when he noticed the computer in the corner blinking at him. When he looked at the screen, “Don’t” blinked two times, and the screen went blank. Looking back at the President, Gene shook his head. “No sir. He is my superior officer.”

“I knew you wouldn’t, but I had to make sure. I need people loyal to me not wanting to settle vendettas, but rest assured if the general tries anything, he will be dealt with. He still has his uses,” the President said.

Yeah, like killing for you, Gene thought. “Yes sir, Mr. President,” he replied.

“Go pick your men, Colonel, and tell the general whatever you want,” he said.

“Yes sir. I will tell him you are worried about me because it was me who suggested the actions but want him protected because he ordered it.”

“Very good, Colonel,” the President said, handing him and envelope. “This is to show your troops. It is my order that they only listen to you.”

Gene took the envelope, stood, and saluted the President. “Thank you, sir,” he said.

The President waved his salute away. “Colonel, just get us in that compound so we can take back America,” the President said.

Gene wanted to tell him they could have done the same thing like build up an area but didn’t and smiled. “I will, sir,” Gene said, turning around and walking out. He stopped outside and let out a long breath as the phone in his pocket vibrated. Looking around, he saw a lot of people, so he headed toward the troop area. He didn’t want to pull out a cellphone and read a text when they weren’t supposed to work. The “it’s my iPod” would only work so many times.

Walking into a porta-potty, he closed the door and took out the phone, reading.

“If you would’ve said yes they were going to shoot you. The President wanted to make sure you were loyal to your superiors. Sorry they were talking about it on your walk over. Your room is now bugged, it’s under your bed Givens had it done. Trying to find the frequency for it so don’t talk in your room. They tried your computer but laughed at all the porn on it (sorry) and left it alone. Watch your ass.”

As he was reading the message the second time, the phone rang, scaring the shit out of him. The number came up Unknown. Gene pressed the answer button and timidly said, “Hello.”

“Sorry about the porn on your computer and not able to tell you about the President’s offer. He was going to have you killed only if you answered yes you wanted Givens killed. Once you picked up on the threat from Givens. He is scared of you because he knows the troops really like you,” Jake said.

Totally amazed, Gene asked, “Jake, how did you call me?”

“Duh, I’ve been sending you text messages for a month, Gene,” Jake said.

“Jake, that’s different. I’m talking to you now.”

“What is it with you? You’re just like Dad. It’s information I’m sending to the phone, be it my voice or a message,” Jake said in a big sigh.

“Your father is a wise man,” Gene said, glad he was not the only idiot Jake saw.

“I’m not replying to or denying that,” Jake said. “Give me a day on the bug, and I will burn it out.”

“Don’t worry about it; I will get rid of it,” Gene said.

“That could go badly.”

“Don’t worry; what can they do, ask me to give it back?”

“I’ve grown quite fond of you, Gene, so don’t start doing stupid shit.”

Laughing, Gene said, “That’s your father’s job, Jake. He wrote the book on stupid shit.”

“Believe me I know,” Jake said with a sigh that spoke volumes.

“When we meet and get some down time, I’ll give you a mountain of stupid shit he’s done.”

“That might be useful. Gene, be careful,” Jake said.

“I will, Jake. Keep in touch.”

“I will, but will you get you some ear plugs so that damn phone can at least pass for your iPod?”

“Give me ten minutes.”

“Okay, Gene. If you need us, just call. In case you don’t know how, look in history and hit the unknown number,” Jake said, hanging up.

“That kid is too smart for his own good,” Gene said out loud. A text message popped up.

“I heard that. Hang up your phone before you down grade someone.”

Chuckling as he read the message, Gene hung up the phone and walked out of the potty, heading to the troop area. Walking into the Ranger company tent, he told the captain to give him a platoon and some ear buds for his iPod. When the men were outside, Gene walked away, leading them to an open field and waved them closer.

Pulling out the letter from the President, he told them about the threats to him but named no one. They were to follow his orders only, and only the President standing in front of them could override that. The men looked at him in alarm, and he assured them the letter would stay on his body at all times. No repercussions would fall on them unless someone tried to kill him and them in the process.

The sergeant looked at him. “Sir, who have you pissed off?” he asked.

“I want to save my troops and the civilians here, Sergeant, and some people don’t like that. I want to rebuild America.”

The sergeant looked at his men timidly and then back at Gene. “If that’s the case, sir, let’s get our families and make for Louisiana and join Omega and Gamma,” he said.

Loving that response, Gene replied, “Hold that thought, Sergeant.”

“Sir, we are going to attack them,” he pointed out.

“We haven’t yet. Now, you talk to no one about what we talk about. If you answer, evade and lie, or they will kill you,” Gene said.

The sergeant looked at his troops then back at Gene. “We’re with you, sir.”

“Okay, five of you will stay by me at all times, and two will stay in my room. Five more will stay with the general, and if he orders you to hurt the President or me, you will tell him sure and come find me so I can have him arrested or shot,” Gene said. They all nodded, smiling.

The sergeant broke them up in detachments as Gene walked back to the command area with his security force. Walking inside, he asked the front desk where the general was, and they reported that he was in his room.

Gene walked down the hall and knocked on the door. “Who is it?” Givens barked.

“Colonel Walker, sir,” Gene yelled.

Givens opened the door, and shock spread across his face upon seeing all the armed troops. “What is the meaning of this?” he bellowed.

Gene looked at the troops. “Wait here, men,” he said and looked at the general. “We have to talk now, sir,” he said.

“Come then,” Givens said, closing the door behind Gene.

Gene spun around. “Sir, there are segments of Homeland that want to kill us,” Gene said.

Givens took a step back. “One of the aides came over here and told me that,” he said, starting to believe it.

“It’s true, sir, the President wouldn’t tell me how he found out, but mine and your lives are in danger. The President instructed me to pick some men I could trust to protect us.”

“I have two MPs that follow me around,” Givens said.

“Sir, I didn’t pick them, so I can’t trust them.”

“How many?”

“I’m assigning five to each of us around the clock, and I put two in my room at all times,” Givens said.

“Why in your room?” he inquired.

“I don’t want a bomb planted or my room bugged. The Secret Service is coming over to sweep my room this afternoon,” Gene said, and Givens’ eyes got wide with fear. “What, sir?”

Givens sighed and looked at the floor. “Colonel, I had a bug put in your room when I found out you were going to talk to the President. I thought you were going after my job, and that means kill me.”

“General, I’ve told you I have no ambition to go any further than I am. I love my troops.”

“I’m sorry, Colonel,” Givens said.

“No need to apologize, sir. Where is the bug before they come over and find it?” Gene asked.

“Let them find it and think it was Homeland,” Givens said, smiling.

“Sir, there is a camera watching each hallway that is being recorded. They find it and review the film, see your aide going into my room after leaving yours. What do you think they will expect?” Gene said.

“Shit,” Givens said. “It’s under your bed.”

“Thank you, sir. Your men will be in the hall,” Gene said, walking out.

With his group following him Gene had to admit he felt much safer with five Rangers watching his back at all times. He led them all in his room and removed the bug. That ought to surprise Jake, Gene thought, breaking it.

Chapter 6

Tuesday morning, Bruce was standing in front of the command group in mission control. Picking up his notebook to start, Jake stood.

“Hold on a second, Dad, I’m starting,” Jake said. “You have got to get Gopher under control. He is over the radio telling everyone in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia that wants to be rescued to hang white flags out. Those groups that don’t want to be rescued to hang another color of sheets out, then he tells gangs to just hide; we will find them.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Bruce asked not seeing a problem.

“Dad, we missed a lot of people. I found twenty-three groups in south Louisiana yesterday with white flags hanging out!” Jake yelled.

Disappointed, Bruce asked, “How many have you found so far?”

“Thousands,” Jake replied.

“What about gangs?”

Mike stood. “Bruce, I was going to tell you in the meeting, but we have found several. One of them is huge—I mean thousands. They are bigger than Grenada easy. They are in eastern Georgia at a paper mill. Our best estimates so far put the bad guy count close to five thousand,” Mike said. “The scavenging group saw where someone tried to get supplies at Benning, but the blues wiped them out. We sent out UAVs and found the gang.”

“Any others?” Bruce asked, feeling a headache.

“Yeah, several dozen. They average a hundred or so.”

“What are you not saying?”

“Well, we have found several in Alabama that are going out finding white sheets hanging out and capturing survivors,” Mike said.

Feeling the world crash back on his shoulders, Bruce dropped in his chair. “Someone tell Gopher to shut his trap and announce only bring out sheets when they hear choppers because gangs are moving in before we can get everyone,” Bruce said.

“May I continue now?” Jake said, looking at him and Mike.

“Go ahead, son,” Bruce said.

“Like I was saying, Gopher is making promises we can’t keep yet. When the savaging crews get back to rotate out with new crews, they all just collapsed, so we can’t use them to pick up the survivors. The crews only have one day off before rotating back out,” Jake said.

“Okay, from now on, the scavengers unit will be called Sigma, and the home guard will be the Praetorian Guard,” Bruce said. “We will use some of the units of Sigma that were here—”

“Ah no, Bruce, my Sigma units are still storing the crap brought in and are working fifteen hour shifts; they are tired,” Stephanie interrupted.

Angela stood. “Bruce, the Sigma units out now are only getting five hours rest a day. They are getting down time even if I have to lengthen time out. The ‘Praetorian Guard,’” she exemplified, “barely got that. Gamma had to send out several platoons just to replace them so they could rest.”

“Why the Praetorian Guard?” Mike asked, curious.

“First, when I think home guard, I think of the old men in England during World War Two: not the image I want. Second, the Praetorians guarded the seat of power in Rome. Now, they guard something we can’t live without. Our home.”

Mike shrugged. “Oh, I like that. I just though you came up with it when you were tired. You hallucinate some wild shit when you’re tired.”

Bruce shook his head, not even going there. “Well then, I will take Omega out to gather the survivors that are close—” he stopped as everyone jumped up and started yelling and pointing fingers at him. Bruce fought the urge to run.

“Shut the fuck up!” Mike screamed at the top of his lungs, and the room fell silent with everyone looking at him. “I’m first, so back off,” he said, looking around the table. Then, he turned to Bruce. “Okay, you want to leave and go get some survivors. Correct me if I’m wrong, but we all agreed that you would stay here until the government troops were handled one way or another,” Mike growled. “I don’t see Gene here, and I haven’t been told you wiped them out, so that means they are still a threat. Just because there is something going on elsewhere, don’t think you can just take your toys and go play.”

Throwing up his hands in disgust, Bruce said, “Mike, the attack is over a month away.”

“Bruce, they could leave in a few days. I know they just can’t up and leave on short notice with seven thousand men, but they can decide to leave today and start in two days. If you go out, you could get tangled up with a gang, a mob of infected, find the Grail, or get abducted by aliens. Point is, we want you close until this is over,” Mike told him.

“Mike, I could be back here long before they get close,” Bruce said.

Shaking his head, Mike glared at Bruce. “You get distracted in the field too easy. We want your entire attention on this until it’s over,” Mike said. “Bruce, they are coming with seven thousand troops. They have been trained to fight and have the same shit we do, granted no fixed wing air, but they have toys.”

“We are not trying to fight them, Mike.”

“Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. Sound familiar?”

“I have, Mike. If it comes to that, we will wipe them out by air. I’m not going to get in a slug fest with them.”

Mike threw up his hands in disgust. Marcus leaned over the table. “Bruce, what he is trying to say is we want you to plan for everything even if we have to get in a slug fest.”

“We can’t; that’s the point. They will win,” Bruce said.

“No they won’t, Bruce, and you know it. We will lose a lot, but we can beat them.”

Giving up, Bruce said, “Alright, Omega leaves tomorrow to prepare the battle line. What about the survivors?”

“They have survived for over a year out there. A few more days won’t mean much, especially if it puts us at risk,” Marcus said.

Feeling he let those survivors down, Bruce groaned. He didn’t like it, but he nodded. Mike put his hand on Bruce’s shoulder. “Brother, we all want to bring in those people, but we are stretched thin even with nine thousand people working and the others training. Everyone in this clan is busting ass every day.”

“Fine. When is the hydro station coming online?” Bruce asked, and everyone sat back down.

Paul stood up, grinning. “Noon today,” he announced, and everyone started clapping. When the applause stopped, Paul looked at Bruce. “Tonight, we will light up the wall, roads, Hope, and the farm.”

“Kind of a waste of power,” Bruce said.

“We have it, and the people need to know man is not living in a cave,” Paul said.

Jake looked at Bruce. “Dad, I want to broadcast the news program via satellite for video,” he announced.

“Son, I haven’t seen much in the way of power out in the wasteland. How are people going to watch it?” Bruce asked.

“Do you ever listen to our radio broadcast?” Jake asked. Before Bruce answered, he continued, “We have been telling people how to charge batteries and build them in banks. The short wave is bursting with survivors now; they are listening to what we put out. We can use one of the current satellite providers we took over since the equipment is everywhere out there. They just plug it up to their banks of batteries and watch us. With that, we can give one-hour visual classes on how to survive.”

Impressed with the thought of having broadcast television, Bruce said, “Cool, you can try it,” not sure how to tell him no.

“Thank you. The first broadcast will be in two days,” Jake said. Seeing everyone just gawk at him, Jake shrugged. “I was just going to do it, but Danny and Matt wanted to ask first. It’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission,” he said.

“Okay, son, but you and the others will be rolling out with Omega tomorrow to prepare the area,” Bruce said.

Cocking his head to the side and sighing heavily, Jake said, “Dad, we kinda have a lot goin’ on here now.”

Bruce smiled. “Son, I’ve seen your little nerd group. They can handle it.”

“We prefer to think of them as ‘Minions of Oz,’” Jake said, getting pissed and throwing down his notebook.

Bruce laughed at Jake. “Sounds good. You gathered a group and made a team to carry out the task, as did the others. Now, it’s time to get back in the war,” Bruce said. “Joe is the command vehicle ready?” he asked, looking down the table.

“Yep,” Joe said.

“After the meeting, it’s time to introduce it to Omega,” Bruce said, grinning.

“Oh, you are so going to love it,” Joe promised.

Mike gave a hurt expression. “Doesn’t Gamma get one?” he asked.

“Already started on yours, Mike. Bruce asked first,” Joe said.

The meeting continued for another hour, and Bruce told Willie to gather Omega to look at the new command vehicle. Bruce was walking over to the machine shop area, holding Angela and Stephanie’s hand. Passing the shop, he looked out toward Debbie’s statue and saw the building that was for the mausoleum was getting much bigger.

Feeling the ground shake, he turned to see a behemoth of a vehicle drive through the west gate. It was as tall as a semi-truck with a connected trailer but looked longer. There were four wheel groups, each dual wheel tandem axles, one on each end and two in the middle. As the vehicle turned in, Bruce saw both sets of wheels turned on the front, allowing the vehicle to turn rather sharply for its size. Right in the middle of the vehicle, it bent like the back half was a trailer but was connected to the front like an articulated bus. The front end looked like a wedge with the wedge horizontal and the point seven feet off the ground.

It stopped in front of the group, and Bruce was still in awe at the size. Then, he noticed something and yelled at Joe. “Hey Joe, where are the windows?”

“Doesn’t have any; Jake didn’t want them. I have to agree it made building it a lot easier,” Joe said.

Glancing over at Joe, Bruce replied, “Hey dude, I can’t use the force to drive the damn thing, and Danny has already told me no one else in Omega has the force either.”

“Come inside, and let me show you,” Joe said, walking around the side. A door opened, and steps popped out.

Following Joe inside, Bruce was in awe of the size. There were computer screens everywhere, and in the middle of the floor were two tables that had large monitors face up for the surface. The monitor tables created a large touch screen that could be used to monitor everything the vehicle could do. Jake came over, standing by Bruce. “Dad, this thing can monitor radar, all communication, comes with its own UAVs, and keep track of all units out with it,” Jake said.

Feeling like he was in a vehicle of the future, Bruce grinned and walked to the front, stopping at the driver’s seat with Jake following. “The driver can look at the monitors like in the beast, or he can turn them into 3-D and put on the goggles to give him depth. In case of massive electrical failure, it does have a periscope,” Jake said.

“We have armored glass now,” Bruce pointed out.

“Not enough to equal two inches of slanted, rolled steel with reactive armor. Once it’s sealed, this thing is airtight; it floats,” Jake said. Bruce’s eyes got real wide, and he grinned. “Wait, Dad, it doesn’t have the propulsion system yet,” Jake said.

“It floats?” Bruce yelled.

“Yeah, we put it in a pond two days ago,” Joe said behind him. “Almost didn’t get it out. Had to pull it out with a dozer.”

Stephanie looked at Joe. “This is the command vehicle. Why is it built to go into battle?” she asked, more than a little worried.

Joe shrugged. “Well, Bruce wanted something big and gave me a rough drawing. Since he is kind of important, I wanted to make sure he was protected. I’m sorry, Stephanie, but sometimes, your husband acts irresponsible.”

Angela and Stephanie ran over to Joe, hugging him. Angela pulled his face down, kissing him. “Thank you. It will be much easier dealing with him out in this.”

Joe looked up at Bruce, seeing the wild look in his eyes. “Hey, Bruce, don’t think you can take this thing into front-line battle. It’s made like you wanted to run the war, not participate in it. I wanted to make it strong in case the battle found you.”

“How much does it weigh?” Bruce asked.

“Around twenty-four tons loaded out,” Jake answered. Bruce nodded. Better than he first guessed.

“What kind of gas mileage does it get?” Angela asked.

“Three miles to the gallon,” Jake said, looking away.

“Let’s take it out tomorrow,” Bruce said, grabbing Joe and wrapping his arms around him in a bear hug. “I want five more, and name each one after a Titan. This one will be Prometheus,” Bruce said.

“Why six?” Joe asked as Bruce let him go.

Walking away, Bruce said, “We will eventually have another strike team, and I want Sigma and the Praetorians to have their own when they go out. Like you said, they are new, and I want backups when they break.” He stopped, looking at the bank of monitors on the walls at work stations. After his tour, Bruce headed to the shop to outline what he wanted to do.

***

The next morning, Omega was gathering around their vehicles parked on the road in front of the farm. Bruce was hugging Angela and Stephanie when Emily and Sherry came running up. Both had on their little multi cam uniforms like Bruce and Omega now wore. With a backpack and their little BB guns slung over their shoulders.

Not able to help it, Bruce smiled. “Girls, what are you doing?” he asked, thinking the twins looked cute.

“Going with you, Daddy,” they said in unison.

Angela looked down at them. “Girls, it’s dangerous out there. When you get bigger and learn how to fight, you can go,” she told them. Tears started welling up in their eyes, and Bruce let out a sigh.

“Okay, girls, go get in Daddy’s rig with Buffy,” Bruce said, and the twins let out shouts of joy, running over and hugging his legs. Then, they took off to Bruce’s RG, which was in front of Prometheus.

In a tower of fury, Angela spun around with her face red. “They can go just because they get tears in their eyes!” she yelled. “We have to stay here, and they can go?”

Seeing the look in her eye, Bruce was seriously considering running. “Go get your gear,” Bruce said. Angela and Stephanie ran over to him and kissed him.

“I have to ask Carroll to watch PJ and Cade,” Stephanie said.

“No, bring them too,” Bruce said, which made the boys really happy. Neither one questioned that as they took off running to the house.

Buffy came over the radio. “Why the hell are the twins climbing up in here with me?” she asked.

“They are coming with us,” Bruce replied over the radio. All the chatter died down on the road, hearing them on the radio.

“Have you lost your mind, Daddy?” Buffy yelled out over the radio.

“Well, the Mommas, PJ, and Cade just went to get their stuff to join us on this little outing,” Bruce popped off.

Climbing out of the roof hatch, Buffy stood on the roof looking back at Bruce. “I can’t believe I wanted to be a boy hearing you saying something this stupid. PJ acts like a butthead here!” she yelled.

Feeling the day go straight to hell, Bruce yelled back, not even bothering to key his radio. “That is your brother, young lady!”

“We are going to fight, and the last time I checked, BB guns didn’t do shit to a blue!” Buffy yelled, also not using the radio.

The entire area was quiet, listening to the two with many trying not to laugh. “Just because you’re thirteen doesn’t give you permission to talk back to me, young lady,” Bruce bellowed. “I’ll spank your ass right here in front of everyone,” he threatened, grabbing his belt and shaking it.

Not wanting to test that, Buffy just kept her mouth shut and climbed back in the RG as the twins moved over beside her. Danny was Buffy’s hero, but Buffy was theirs. Bruce keyed his radio, “Omega roll out time is pushed back fifteen minutes and the first son of a bitch that says something about it gets shot in the leg!” Bruce yelled walking to the house.

Breaking into a run he ran to the basement and grabbed two UMP45 submachine guns, magazines and ammunition then ran back to the convoy. When he got closer he saw Angela and Stephanie in his RG standing in the copula behind the machine gun. The twins were beside Buffy looking out the top. Danny and Matt were standing out the top with PJ between them. In the next RG that was Jake’s, Bruce saw Cade standing with Mindy and David but he saw another person he didn’t know beside Jake.

Walking over to Jake’s RG getting closer he saw it was Marty. Jake jumped down as Bruce came closer. “What’s Marty doing here?” he asked.

“I’ve been working with him for the last six months, and he wanted to come out. He’s fourteen now, and I think he’s ready,” Jake said, and Bruce just stared at him. “Dad, he wants to come,” Jake said.

“Jake,” Bruce said with a mountain of sarcasm.

Jake sighed. “Dad, he’s in love with Buffy, and she talks to nobody unless they are tough. Marty has asked anyone to train him in anything. I wasn’t at first. That’s my sister, but the boy is determined to have Buffy notice him. So Matt and I have started training him, and he is getting really good,” Jake stated.

Rolling his head around, trying to relieve the tension building in his shoulders and neck, Bruce said, “Son, I don’t want him to die trying to impress Buffy. Hell, she’s mad about turning thirteen, something about going insane at sixteen,” Bruce said, remembering Marty as the scared kid from the school in Haughton he and Mike found on their journey home.

“Dad, Marty wants to try, and I’m not telling him different. I think he’s ready to come out on this patrol,” Jake said.

Impressed that Jake was standing by his position, Bruce said, “Okay, son, you have made the choice. I won’t say otherwise. I hope you made it for the right reason,” Bruce said, walking away to his RG. Climbing in the back door, Bruce shut it and weaved through those inside to the front, pushing Max out of the way. Crawling between Angela and Stephanie, he stood up with one on each side. After taking off his helmet, he put on his CVC and keyed the radio.

“Omega, light the fires, and kick the tires,” Bruce called out. One by one, the vehicles’ engines started up, and families and friends stepped back, waving. “Last vehicle, give a thumb’s up when ready, and pass it forward,” Bruce called out. The three hundred of Omega, two hundred in the strike team, and one hundred support were in sixty plus vehicles.

The last RG gave a thumb’s up, and the one in front of it gave one, and it went down the line until it reached Bruce. “Omega, let’s roll and start killing again,” Bruce called over the radio. The troops started yelling as the convoy started rolling forward.

The north gate was open as they turned on the main road to see thousands from Hope lining the road, waving at them as they rolled through. Seeing all the people waving made Bruce feel good and pride made goose bumps come up on his arms. Looking up he saw four Apaches fly over him in single file heading north. ‘I don’t remember asking for air cover,’ Bruce thought as four more Apaches flew over. The crowd was going insane now.

When they went through the gate Bruce keyed the radio again. “Omega, kick it up to sixty, ten yard spacing. We’re late, and shit needs killin’,” Bruce called over the radio as the driver stomped on the gas. The RG lunged forward, picking up speed. Once again, Omega was rolling off to battle as Bruce wrapped his arms around Angela and Stephanie. Watching the world go by, the cold air was trying to fight its way through the layers of clothes.

Chapter 7

Omega pulled into a huge field south of the Arkansas line. The platoons formed a massive square with the support and command vehicles in the center. The field was a mile wide and just over a mile long, so they would have long fields of fire. When the vehicles were set up, Bruce told them to turn on the loudspeakers. Each strike RG had two megaphone speakers that could be fed via radio or inside the RG. Today, they played what was coming from Gopher. Angela and Stephanie gathered up PJ and Cade, taking them to the command vehicle as they prepared the daily news show.

Once the music started, Omega didn’t have to wait long before blues showed up in force. The reports of suppressed shots started sounding off around the circle. Unless they were fighting mass waves, the team left the suppressors on. They all hated the ringing ears when you took your hearing protection off.

Climbing out from behind the machine gun, Bruce grabbed the twins, and they climbed down to the center of the ring of vehicles. Bruce took the UMPs off his shoulder and gave them to the twins. They had both shot the submachine guns several times out with the family but this time they were going to carry them. Giving each one a satchel with ten magazines Bruce stood up and looked at them. “You will not load them until I tell you. Is that clear?” Bruce said. They both looked up at Bruce, smiling and nodding. “Remember, no finger on trigger until…?” Bruce asked.

“You see your target and are ready to shoot,” they replied in unison.

Kneeling down, Bruce hugged them, saying, “Good girls. Now, follow Daddy. We have to check the line.” Buffy watched the exchange and fought down a wave of jealousy as Danny scooted over.

“Don’t be jealous, BB,” she said.

“They have him all the time when we’re at home. Now, they get Daddy out here too,” Buffy whined.

Remembering her jealousy of Buffy, Danny busted out laughing. “BB, you are so my sister. I’m not going to lie; I almost went over there and pushed them down when Daddy hugged them,” Danny admitted. “But we are the older ones, and they are princesses also. We have to let them have some Daddy time.”

“I haven’t got that much Daddy time,” Buffy pouted as Matt started shooting blues behind them.

Reaching over and squeezing Buffy’s hand, Danny said, “You will have a lifetime of it BB. That’s what’s so good about being the princess, it never ends.”

Letting out a moan, Buffy said, “They don’t have to rub it in.”

“They aren’t. Momma told me something when you came here and I felt just like you do now. She told me Daddy expects more from me because I am his princess. Now, you are one of his princesses, and you have to take the same advice. I have to admit I was hurt by it, but I soon found out I loved being a big sister as much as being a princess,” Danny said.

Buffy looked up at her with a smile. “That’s right; I’m their big sister!” she shouted.

“That’s right, and you have to show them like I showed you.”

Confused, Buffy pointed out, “But you’re still showing me.”

Danny shrugged. “It’s a never-ending job, BB.”

Pausing his firing, Matt looked over his shoulder at them. “This is all very touching, but could you two help some?” he asked then started shooting blues again.

Danny looked out across the field and saw blues coming at them. “Matt, there’s barely a hundred out there,” she said.

Matt looked at the light of his life. “But they are spread out and moving fast,” he whined.

“Okay, Matt. I’ll help make the monsters go away,” Danny said, bringing her rifle up, and she started shooting.

Matt shook his head. “I really want to know how Daddy Bruce gave birth to you. I really thought it was impossible for a male to give birth, but now, I’m not so sure,” he mumbled as he continued shooting blues.

Matt and the other snipers were shooting at the blues at a thousand yards. Granted, only Matt and Jake were racking up serious kills at that range, but that was where the onslaught started for the blues. The rest of Omega started at four hundred yards.

Suddenly, Buffy started cussing as she fired at a blue male running at them. Because he was running, his head was moving side to side, and she had watched one of her tracers go right by his head at three hundred yards. Letting out a stream of curses, she flipped her SCAR to burst and hit him in the chest, slowing him down, then popped him in the head with another burst. “Yeah, bitch, move now!” she yelled out, lining up her sites on another one and repeating her tactics.

The RGs were pulled bumper to bumper, and Jake walked over his and onto Bruce’s, heading over to Buffy. “Buffy, I taught you how to shoot long distance. That’s tacky,” Jake said, bringing his rifle up to his shoulder and dropping three at six hundred yards.

Disgusted at the carefree display, Buffy turned around, looking up at him with a scowl. Jake looked down at her with blonde hair coming out of her CVC and her sunglasses. Jake thought she looked like a little bug. “Bubba, then you tell them to quit moving!” she yelled at him.

“You’re getting mad, and you can’t shoot then, remember?” he said, bringing up his rifle. Buffy looked back toward the field and watched five drop six hundred yards away.

“Jake, leave her alone. BB is doing great,” Danny snapped.

“This coming from someone who just shot at a blue two hundred yards away nine times,” Jake said, never lowering his rifle. He slowly squeezed the trigger in a smooth fashion, watching a blue drop eight hundred yards away.

“We like close work. It’s not our fault you and Matt are scaredy cats. We like them to know it was us that shot them and not some natural act of nature,” Danny popped off.

“You’re so weird,” Jake said, walking back to his RG.

Buffy was looking through her scope, sending out bursts, hitting the blues in the chest then popping them in the head. Lowering her rifle, she saw a large group bust out of the tree line, running full bore. When they were half a mile away, she still couldn’t tell how many. Jumping up, she ran over to the M2, climbing behind the machine gun. Rotating the gun toward the group, Buffy flipped the safety off. “Watch this, bubba!” she yelled and pressed the butterfly trigger down.

The big fifty started to roar as Buffy walked the rounds at the group over fifteen hundred yards away. When she had the range, Buffy started firing short bursts until the group was literally blown away. Buffy looked toward Jake on his RG. “I shot those further than you did,” she yelled.

Not to be outdone, Jake leaned down into his RG and pulled up an AT4, a shoulder-launched rocket. Popping the sights out, he aimed at the trees where several blues were running out of, two thousand yards away almost the maximum range. “Clear behind!” he yelled as he fired with a loud thump. The rocket streaked across the field and slammed into a tree, killing several blues and the tree.

“Mine was further!” he yelled back at Buffy.

When Bruce heard the fifty open up, he was on the other side of the square of vehicles with the twins checking on troops. Hearing that he thought a large group had found them as he grabbed the twins and climbed up on the ring of RGs. Reaching the top, the fifty quit, then he heard an AT4 launch. Before he keyed his radio to find out what was going on Willie, told him.

“Damn it, Bruce, your kids are getting out of hand!”

Bruce shook his head, keying his radio. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“Well, it seems Jake was picking on Buffy about shooting, so she opened up with ma deuce, taking out a group. Then, she yelled at Jake, and he popped a rocket at some more,” Willie said.

Danny came in next to clarify. “Dad, Jake was picking on Buffy, saying she wasn’t shooting them far enough, so she got on a weapon that she could hit them far enough.” Bruce nodded. That was good thinking on Buffy’s part, he thought.

“That’s not true, Dad. I told Buffy she was using too many rounds to bring them down. I told her that was tacky,” Jake said over the radio. Bruce decided not to answer because he agreed with Buffy’s method.

Then, he heard the fifty open up again and heard Buffy yell over the radio, “Look at that little shit run and bounce!”

As the fifty fell silent, Danny came over the radio. “Damn, BB shot it out of the air!”

“If y’all are telling me those fuckers are flying, we are going home,” Bruce said into his radio.

“No, it was a kid blue, and Dad, it moved like it was on the Matrix,” Danny called back. Then, Bruce started hearing other fifties open up around the circle.

“Are they coming in numbers?” he asked.

Ted replied, “No, my boys are mad that your kids get to play with the big toys and they couldn’t.”

Not even replying, Bruce led the twins around the circle on the top of the trucks, walking by the teams out the top of each rig, shooting blues. Reaching his RG, Bruce saw Buffy reloading the fifty. Watching her reload the massive gun always made him smile. Walking up to her when she was done, he looked down at her. “That is a workout for ya, huh?” he said.

“Yeah, but it’s worth it,” she said, grinning.

“Will you show the twins?” Bruce asked, and the twins looked at Buffy, grinning.

“Come on, sis,” Buffy said as the twins ran over. Buffy took their submachine guns, putting them inside the RG. Then, the twins got on each side of her as she looked out across the field and pressed the trigger. The twins had on earplugs but still put their hands over their ears as the big gun fired.

Bruce brought his own rifle up and started popping off shots at blues. Like Buffy, he would hit them in the chest then in the head. Sure enough, Jake had to comment on it. “Well, I see where she got that from,” he popped off over the radio.

“Jake, I’m busy now. Be quiet,” Bruce yelled back, dropping another blue. Then, he saw something bouncing through the field as it ran.

“Matrix blue!” Danny yelled. Bruce looked through his scope as everyone started firing. He saw it was a blue child about the size of a ten-year-old. As the little blue ran it would pause in its run on two legs falling forward bouncing along on all fours. The bounces were ten to fifteen feet high spanning twenty yards. After a few bounces it would land on its feet and run a few hundred yards then repeat the process.

“How in the fuck did it get that big!?” Bruce yelled.

In a very calm and soothing voice, Jake came over the radio. “I’m sure they have a balanced diet and caring parents.”

Lowering his rifle, Bruce was fighting the urge to walk over and punch Jake in the mouth as he called Stephanie. “Stephanie, I’m looking at a child that’s the size of a ten-year-old that is really moving like it’s in the Matrix,” he said over the radio.

“Bruce, it was probably a child when it got infected. The blues have an expedited growth, but the ones born would only be about the size of a five-year-old now,” she said.

The bouncing blue was hit and blown apart by Buffy as Bruce called back. “Stephanie, I’ve seen infected kids before, but they didn’t move like that,” he said.

“Bruce, you have to remember kids are growing, and the virus would adapt to them better than adults,” she said.

Not liking that at all, he said, “That is so not fair,” as if Stephanie had some control over it.

“Oh, the little blue bouncing Matrix kids make your pee-pee hurt,” Jake called out over the radio.

Getting irritated, Bruce looked over at Jake, keying his mic. “I’m fixing to come over there and punch you in the damn face.”

Mary came on. “I wish you would. His head is so big today I’m surprised he could fit his helmet on.”

Fighting the urge to walk over and beat his child, Bruce sat down and joined in on the killing as the news came on. Hearing Angela and Stephanie give out hope over the radio made him very proud of them. It was slow at first, but he started noticing a difference in the blue activity.

When the music was playing, they charged out at them, but when they heard the voices of Angela and Stephanie, they became insane. They roared, running at them full speed and in a frenzy. Bruce was fixing to call on the radio to see if anyone else noticed when he heard Ted.

“What the hell are those two saying that’s pissing them off?” he yelled over the radio.

“Shit, they must be using subliminal messages talking about their mommas?” Carl yelled back.

Bruce stood up, watching the blues as the team kept on killing until the news went off. Then, like a switch, the blues charged, but it was in a fast jog, not the dead-out run, until they got in around the five hundred yard mark. Standing lost in thought, Bruce watched until Buffy yelled out.

“Hey Daddy, one in the tree line is holding an axe.”

Not sure he heard right, Bruce turned to Buffy, seeing her looking through his binoculars. “What?” he asked.

“One in the tree line is holding an axe,” she repeated. “Now, he’s running at us,” she added.

Walking over, he took the binoculars and looked out across the field. Sure enough, a male blue was running at them with the axe raised above his head. “We have seen them use pipes and other bludgeoning weapons before!” Jake yelled back.

Bruce keyed his radio, “Jake, he’s holding the axe right to use it, and if I’m not mistaken, there is blood on the blade,” Bruce said, and he heard the firing slow down around him.

“What?” about a hundred people yelled.

“Jake, Matt, let axe man through. Everyone else, start taking down everything!” Bruce yelled over the radio.

“What are you going to do, Bruce?” Angela yelled back.

“I want to know if he knows how to use it,” Bruce said, jumping down off the RG on the outside of the circle.

“Motherfucker, if you pull that damn sword, I will shove it up your ass!” Stephanie yelled over the radio.

Danny leaned over the RG and looked down at him. “Don’t do it, Dad. She means it, and I think that would hurt.”

With his face red, Bruce turned around, looking at Danny with a scowl. Fixing to key his radio, he stopped, knowing what he was going to say was going to start a shit storm. Spinning around, Bruce walked thirty yards away from the line. The axe man saw him and let out a roar, busting into a sprint right at Bruce from six hundred yards away. Seeing the blue bound toward him, Bruce could only guess, but he was sure the blue was coming at him around fifty miles per hour.

In most cases, seeing a blue, naked man running at you going faster than a horse with an axe raised above his head, roaring, would unnerve some. It totally pissed Bruce off as he felt the wave crash over him.

Seeing that her dad was on the wave, Danny sighted in on the blue, getting ready to blow it away. She reasoned Daddy could only be mad at her for a little while anyway. When the blue was a hundred yards away from Bruce, she put her finger on the trigger only to see bullets hit the blue in the left leg. The blue crashed down, dropping its axe, going end over end.

Confused, Danny lowered her weapon to see Bruce drop his SCAR, letting it hang by its sling. He reached over his back and pulled his sword, twirling it in his hand. Looking back to the blue, Danny saw it stand up and look at her daddy, then it looked around on the ground until it saw the axe. It hobbled over, picked it up, and spun around, roaring as it hobbled in a jog at Bruce.

Buffy firing the fifty shook Danny out of watching the fight to see blues coming. She shot six then turned back to watch. The blue was ten yards away as it suddenly picked up speed, bringing the axe down toward Bruce.

Stepping to the side as the blue swung, Bruce sliced it across the belly as it went past and kicked it in the back of the leg. The blue hit the ground but sprang right back up. Holding the axe like a bat, he swung at Bruce. Bruce leaned back, letting the axe swing in front of him and swung his sword low, catching the blue on the calf. The blade severed the muscle clean in half, making the blue drop to the ground in a roll, but once again, it sprang up to its feet.

It stood looking at Bruce, growling with saliva coming out of its mouth. It put no weight on the leg with the bullets and severed calf muscle. Rather, it hopped toward Bruce, raising the axe above its head. Bruce lunged forward, slicing the thigh muscle on the other leg as the blue swung the axe down. The blade missed Bruce as the blue fell down again. This time, it used the axe to stand back up.

Getting back to its feet, the blue grabbed the axe like a bat again, looking at Bruce with what could only be seen as hate. “Hey, you started it, fuck wad,” Bruce said. The blue roared, hurting Bruce’s ears as it limped toward him.

Smiling, Bruce reached down and pulled out his pistol, shooting the blue in the knee, dropping it. “See what I can do,” Bruce said, walking over. The blue looked up as Bruce walked over, trying to raise the axe as Bruce shot him in the head. Standing beside the blue, he studied the blade of the double-headed axe, and it was covered in dried blood. From what he didn’t know, and he wasn’t going to touch it. The blades looked very dull and chipped.

Shaking his head, he turned around, heading back to the line. Everyone shook themselves out of the day dream and started shooting again as Bruce climbed up to the top of the RG. He pulled a bottle of bleach from his pocket, dousing the blade, then wiped it down and put it back in the scabbard on his back. Looking up, he saw two pissed off women coming at him.

He jumped down, and his knees told him that he was going to pay for that later. When Angela and Stephanie came closer, they both took in a deep breath to start. He drew his hand across his throat to let them know to shut it. They both closed their mouths, but the anger stayed on their face.

“What did you two just see, and don’t say stupid shit, okay? What did you just see?” he asked.

“A blue trying to chop you in half!” Angela yelled.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought also,” Bruce said, looking down.

Huffing and puffing, Stephanie screamed, “What the fuck is so hard to figure out, Bruce!? He wanted to chop you up in little pieces!”

“Enough with the yelling please. It gives me a headache,” Bruce said.

Narrowing her eyes, Angela said, “Oh you are fixin’ to get a headache.”

“God damn it, don’t you see?” he screamed, making both jump back. “It never attacked without the axe. It knew the axe was a more powerful weapon than his hands were. It understood the concept of using a weapon to make itself more powerful!” Bruce yelled.

Angela thought about what he said as Stephanie spoke. “Bruce, we’ve seen them use sticks and rocks. Hell, in Kansas, we saw two with baseball bats.”

“Yes, but they dropped them after they were hit and continued to attack. They didn’t know that the weapon gave them distance and more power,” Bruce said. Stephanie listened to what he said, playing the fight out, and her eyes grew wide.

“Fuck me with a rubber duck,” Angela yelled out. “That’s why you played with it?” she yelled.

“Yes,” Bruce replied. “The way he was carrying it suggested he knew it was a weapon. I needed to know how much he considered it a weapon,” he explained.

“He saw it as a weapon, Bruce,” Stephanie said in a calm voice.

“Believe me, I know; I saw his eyes when he first charged.”

Angela lunged toward him, but he held out his hand to stop her. “I don’t know if I have blood on me,” he said.

Angela stopped and looked at him. “Thank you for shooting it in the leg first.”

Bruce looked at her like she had lost her mind. “I wasn’t letting that fucker near me until I evened the playing field,” Bruce said, making Angela step back.

“Even the playing field?” Angela asked. “Bruce, I’ve seen you with that damn sword take out ten blues,” she said.

“Unarmed,” Bruce reminded her. “Yes, even the field. If I hadn’t hit his leg, that fucker would have killed me. He was way too fast with that damn axe.”

Stephanie took a step back with Angela; they had never heard Bruce admit something could kill him. “It was that fast?” Stephanie asked.

“Fast and strong. On that first swing, I’m sure that axe would have buried in the side of one of the armor on the trucks,” Bruce said. Stephanie’s eyes got wide as Bruce stepped up to her. “Stephanie, I want your best guess. Was this a fluke? He just happened to come across an axe and used it till he found out it was a weapon because there was blood over the blade and the edges were dull?”

With a concerned expression, Stephanie thought looking at Bruce then shook her head. “No, Bruce, the odds are too astronomical. I figure he saw a human use it and mimicked it once. Then, he knew it saved him energy, making him more powerful,” she told him.

“Damn it, that’s what I figured,” Bruce said, heading to the command vehicle. After spraying down, he walked inside and grabbed the radio. “Mike, I need for people to get on the short wave and for Gopher to ask over the radio if they have seen blues using tools as real weapons. Not bludgeoning weapons but really use weapons,” Bruce said, waiting on Mike to answer.

“Brother, you have to do better than that to justify playing with one carrying an axe!” Mike yelled back. Getting irritated, Bruce dropped the microphone and started rubbing his temples.

Knowing Bruce was getting close to spinning off, Angela grabbed the microphone, “Mike, he had good reason to, so shut up and listen!” Angela yelled and told Mike what was said.

When she finished a few seconds later, Mike came back over the radio in a low voice. “That is so uncool.”

Taking the microphone from Angela, Bruce asked, “I guess you haven’t really been watching here then?”

“Ah, yes we have, Bruce,” Mike said.

“Mike, what’s the temperature outside?” Bruce asked.

There was a slight pause. “Fifty-two degrees.”

“Mike, when we pulled into this field this morning, it was forty degrees, and they were running at us full speed,” Bruce said.

“Shit, Bruce, in Georgia, it was thirty, and they were doing that,” Mike said.

Closing his eyes, Bruce said with malice, “And you tell me this just now.”

“I wasn’t thinking, Bruce. We just had blues, and we shot them,” Mike snapped.

Feeling wore out, “They’re evolving,” Bruce mumbled.

“Well, Stephanie and Sandy said they are as smart as chimps,” Mike pointed out.

“Mike, it takes a chimp five years to learn how to put a stick down a hole and pull out ants. I just had a blue try to chop my head off with an axe. I think that shows they’re smarter!” Bruce yelled.

“Where did you learn all this information?” Mike asked.

“All right, Mike, I’m going to tell you a secret. There are these rectangular things out there that have squiggly lines in them called books. If you know what the squiggly lines mean, you learn from them,” Bruce told him in a hypocritical voice.

A few seconds went by before Mike replied. “Bruce, I love you like a brother, but when you get back, I’m punching you in the dick.”

Stephanie snatched the microphone out of Bruce’s hand and shoved him back. “Do that, and I’ll cut yours off. Punch him in the stomach,” she barked at Mike.

Afraid to get near Stephanie, Bruce said, “Stephanie, get Sandi on the radio, and talk about what we figured out. Then, come and tell me what you think. Make sure Mike gets Gopher to announce on the radio.”

The team radio crackled, breaking the conversation. “Hey, boss, I have a blue out here running at us with a knife,” Willie called over the radio.

Keying his radio as he shook his head, Bruce asked, “How far out?”

“Six hundred yards,” Willie said.

“Shoot it in the leg, and see if it keeps the knife.”

A minute went by, then Willie replied, “Yep, he dropped it and picked it back up, and it’s running toward us.” Bruce took off running out of the command vehicle.

Sprinting across the perimeter to Willie’s section, he climbed over Willie’s RG and could see the blue hobbling toward them, holding a large knife. Pulling his sword, Bruce yelled, “Keep the others off of me!” as he jumped down.

The blue saw him and started hobbling faster. As it got closer, Bruce saw the knife was a large kitchen knife; it was covered in blood, and the tip was bent. Then the blue stopped and crouched down, looking at Bruce. “Oh, I know you didn’t,” Bruce said, spreading his feet, looking at the blue.

The blue was ten yards away, growling, holding the knife out to its side with the point up. A small surge of panic hit Bruce, but he slowed his breathing and twirled his sword and turned his body to the side, looking at the blue. “Mine’s bigger; let’s play,” Bruce said, shuffling toward the blue.

When he was eight yards away, the blue jumped, not lunged, and sprang through the air in a dive at Bruce’s chest, holding the knife out in front of it. Stepping back, Bruce moved to the side, bringing the blade down, slicing the blue’s hand off at the elbow as it sailed past. Bruce created distance as the blue hit the ground in a roll and jumped up, moving over to the hand Bruce cut off.

To everyone’s horror, the blue ignored his wound and reached down with his left hand, picking up the knife from his chopped-off hand. He looked up at Bruce, holding out the knife and growling. “Bullshit!” Bruce yelled, pulled his pistol, and emptied the magazine in the blue’s head. All thirteen rounds hit the blue in the head before it hit the ground.

Bruce dropped the pistol, brought up his SCAR, and started shooting what was left of the head. When his bolt locked back, he changed magazines and looked around. He could see a few blues still coming out of the woods around the field. Walking over, he grabbed his pistol and sword, cleaning them and putting them up. Climbing up on Willie’s rig, he looked him in the face.

Willie was pale and sweating. “Boss, this is a whole new ball game.”

“Yeah, and this game is going to suck,” Bruce agreed.

“Bruce, he went back and picked the knife up out of the hand you fucking chopped off!” Willie yelled.

“I saw, Willie. Remember, I chopped it off,” Bruce said. “But it studied me before it attacked. It knew I had range. That’s why it lunged.”

Willie shook his head. “Boss, that means before long, they are going to understand guns.”

“I think they do already,” Bruce said.

Fear spread through Willie’s body, “That is not funny, Bruce,” Willie said as Bruce opened his voice microphone so everyone could hear.

“I don’t think they will be picking them up and using them anytime soon, but they understand we can kill them from a distance. That’s why sometimes, they have ambushed us; other times, they have waited till they had numbers to attack us.”

Wanting clarification on Bruce’s theory, Willie asked, “When you say ‘pick up and use anytime soon,’ please clarify?”

“Perhaps a hundred years,” Bruce said, and that made Willie feel a little better.

“But what I think is if we were in a smaller field, we would have more coming in at us in larger groups,” Bruce said.

“Bruce, they are coming at us from all sides. Not in strength but enough. We have been killing about three hundred an hour,” Willie said.

“Willie, they are probing us on all sides. Those roars we hear out in the distance? I think that is actual communication. I think it tells others where we are, how we are set up, if there is a bunch of us, how many blues are here, and maybe how they think they can take us,” Bruce said.

Stepping back, Willie said, “Bruce, that’s crazy.”

“I bet if we were in a smaller field, we would see more blues coming in from further out to attack us. You’ve seen that roaring relay they use. I think more blues would come if we were in a smaller field. They don’t like the large field for the reason we like it. They can’t get close before we engage them.”

Willie raised his hands, pausing Bruce, “Why the hell do they attack us on the roads then? We can outrun them.”

“Willie, you are using a higher level of thinking. Look at it from an animal’s point of view. Your prey is right there only a hundred yards away. We never really run off and leave them; just lead them on, killing them right at arm’s reach. Like the dogs that chased us on bikes when we were kids,” Bruce said.

Willie shivered. “Okay, but Bruce, those are just roars. How could they say all that in a roar?”

“Wolves can call a pack into an ambush with howls,” Bruce said. “Then remember when we made the females roar. Everything came in pissed off.”

Stomping his foot and spinning around, Willie yelled, “Fuck this!”

“Tomorrow, we will see if my hypothesis is right. There is a field half the size of this one sixty miles from here. When we set up in the middle, we will have only two hundred yards to hit them once they clear the tree line.”

“That’s cutting the playing field down a lot, Bruce—to their advantage. They already have speed, strength, and the ability to take damage.”

“Willie, in a month, Omega will be here with Gamma going toe to toe with the government. I really don’t want to worry that much about blues,” Bruce said. “What worries me is if we get in a slug fest and a mega horde shows up. We can’t call time out and run home.”

“Dude, you keep those thoughts to yourself. I don’t want to hear them. I don’t know about anyone else wanting too, but I don’t. If you’re leading, I’ll follow and fight with you, but you keep those thoughts to yourself,” Willie told him, turning around.

The radio crackled. “I agree with Willie, Bruce. Next time, don’t open your radio up when you talk about what worries you,” Ted called over the radio.

“I want my blanket,” Carl said over the radio.

When Carl’s transmission clicked off, a small voice came over the radio. “Carl, I’m getting you a knife that will talk to you,” Buffy chimed in.

Very quickly, the radio clicked on. “That’s okay, Buffy,” Carl answered.

“I’m serious, Carl. Herman tells me it’s going to be okay and who to poke holes in. Then, everything is better,” she said in a small cheerful voice, and Bruce smiled.

“Bruce, make her stop it,” Carl whined.

“Buffy, put Herman to bed, and keep shooting blues. Knives scare Carl because they say bad things to him,” Bruce said.

“Daddy, he just has to find the right one,” she said.

Keying his radio, Bruce tried not to laugh. “Buffy,” he snapped.

“Okay, Daddy,” Buffy said. Bruce started laughing and saw Willie looking at him.

“That’s what I mean, Bruce. With you and your insane family with us, I’ll attack the ocean. We may not win, but it damn sure would know we had been there,” Willie said as Bruce climbed down. His knees had informed Bruce that anymore jumping and they were quitting.

Walking over to the command vehicle, Angela opened the door for him. PJ and Cade were playing with cars on the floor as she grabbed his face and turned it to her. “Reports are already coming in about blues using knives, axes, hammers, and poles. One person in Ohio reported blues throwing rocks at him. And Bruce, they’re saying the blues aren’t hibernating till the temperature get below twenty now.”

“That’s evolution. Ain’t it a bitch?” Bruce said.

Chapter 8

The next morning, the platoon leaders and kids gathered with Bruce in the command vehicle, eating breakfast. Once the sun went down, the blues started coming in bigger groups but never massed or pressed them hard. There just weren’t the numbers to do that here anymore. When the numbers were tallied up close to nine thousand, blues were thought to have been taken out. Not the numbers Omega was used to facing, but it was enough to damn sure keep their attention.

UAV flights over the area showed very few blues within fifty miles. Stephanie had talked with Sandi over the radio through the night then started watching the UAV flights, getting numbers for Bruce.

Taking a sip of coffee, Bruce looked around at the group. Everyone had gotten at least seven hours of sleep through the night and were in good spirits. They had killed several blues carrying weapons through the night, but Bruce had learned what he wanted to know. They just shot them now. One blue they shot was carrying a pitchfork and charging them like a pike man.

“Listen up, everyone; let’s get this started. We have more killing to do,” Bruce said.

“And business is good!” the team shouted. Even Angela and Stephanie joined in.

Not able to help it, Bruce smiled. “We are at the far east end of the line we will be fighting at in January. According to their battle plan, the government’s left flank will be anchored at Strong, Arkansas, and their right flank will be anchored at the Texas line. That is a front of a hundred miles with three regiments of two thousand men each. I know we are planning on them joining us, but I want to be ready in case it goes to shit. They are spread out enough where an airstrike can’t wipe out large portions, and they will have anti-air capabilities,” Bruce said, standing at one of the tables that had an LCD monitor for a top, pointing at the image of the map on the screen.

Grabbing a stylus, he drew the line he’d just explained across the map on the touch screen. “I want our area clear of as many blues as we can get. If we have to dismount, I don’t want to wade through a group of blues. That will give us an advantage. The area they are going through is going to still have blues in the strength we are killing them in our area now, and as the government pushes forward, the blues will stay with them. That will give us an edge. Now, Stephanie, what’s the area like around us?” Bruce asked.

She pointed at their location ten miles east of Farmerville and drew a circle around it. “This circle is roughly twenty-five mile radius, or twenty-five miles in every direction. In the last hour, we counted six hundred and nine blues moving. Less than a hundred are moving toward us. So the density of blues was roughly eighteen per square mile, which means all the running and gunning Omega has done has paid off,” she said as Ted pointed at the circle.

“How can you say that by that circle?” he asked.

“Louisiana had a population density of a little over a hundred people per square mile. I know the big cites skew the data, but for this area, it’s pretty much right on the money. That circle is almost five hundred square miles. If Omega would’ve been wasting time, we would have faced thirty-seven thousand with a seventy-five percent infection rate. We faced less than a quarter of that,” Stephanie explained.

Ted stood up straight, squaring his shoulders. “All this shit does mean something. I just wanted it pointed out,” he said, raising his chin.

Everyone laughed at him as Stephanie pointed back at the map. “We barely pulled in any blues outside this circle. Why? I don’t know.”

Holding up his hand, pausing Stephanie, Willie asked, “Is it me, but where the hell are all the walkers at? Every other time we did this, we had walkers dragging their slow ass in here after we set up and started killing. I mean, I bet we didn’t kill but five, maybe ten, on my side all day and night,” he said, and everyone agreed.

Stephanie shrugged. “I don’t know, but most of those we have seen are runners with a few joggers,” she said, and her eyebrows came together as she thought. “Now that you mention it, I don’t remember seeing any walkers on the UAV flights,” she said.

“Maybe they hibernate like they’re supposed to when it’s cold,” Carl offered.

“Sounds good because they aren’t fully functioning infected,” Stephanie said.

“I don’t care. I can moon walk faster than a walker can move,” Bruce said and scrolled the map to their next location. “We are setting up here south of Lisbon in this field,” he said, pointing at the spot on the map.

Everyone groaned, seeing the small field, “Dude, that’s not a field; it’s a tennis court,” Ted exclaimed.

“It’s four hundred yards wide and five hundred long. We’ll have at least two-hundred-yard fields of fire,” Bruce said.

Shaking his head, Ted said, “I want to see the curvature of the Earth when we set up.”

“I’m willing to bet after we set up, we’ll be done in six hours,” Bruce said.

“You want to bet on this?” Ted cried.

Angela put her hand on Bruce’s arm. “Baby, I have to agree. You admitted in Kansas leading that horde to the river that wasn’t a good idea,” she said.

“In these numbers, I don’t care. Keep on, and we set up in a parking lot with twenty-yard fields of fire,” Bruce told everyone.

Carl grabbed Ted’s arm. “You say something else, and I’ll get Buffy to cut ya,” he said.

Stephanie looked at Angela. “I’ll just spank you,” she said.

Bruce laughed. “I’m serious. I think they’ll attack us faster with shorter fields of fire. We’ll pack our perimeter tighter with the only way in being under the vehicles,” Bruce said.

Stepping back from the table top monitor, Willie shook his head. “Dude, they don’t have to go under. In Oklahoma, we had one jump over our RG as we rode down the road. Not jump on but over it! I have no idea why, but it jumped over that ten foot tall, ten foot wide RG and never touched it. I guess one of his buddies bet him he couldn’t do it.”

“Did he try to attack you after that?” Angela asked.

“No, Buffy took off into the median and ran him over,” Willie said.

Everyone laughed as Bruce drained his coffee. “Let’s get the show on the road; business is waiting,” he said, bent down, kissed PJ and Cade, then turned to Angela and Stephanie. “Stay in here with the boys, and feed me the picture over the radio.” Bruce told them kissing each of them. “When we get there, the doors stay closed until needed, and the boys don’t get out period. If it starts getting touchy, one of you come and get the twins.”

Getting worried, Stephanie asked, “You feel something bad?”

“No,” Bruce said, shrugging. “Always be ready.”

Walking over to his RG, Bruce climbed up to the cupola, and got behind the fifty. He checked to make sure it was ready after he and Buffy cleaned it that morning. Seeing it was in shape to do business, Bruce told the driver to pull out. He turned around to see the twins standing beside Buffy and Danny. They had on CVCs like everyone else, and Bruce had no idea how or where they got them. The helmets were way too big, but they didn’t seem to mind; both were smiling ear to ear.

The temperature was in the high thirties as they pulled onto the road, and the drivers started speeding up. When they were up to speed, Bruce told everyone to get inside and close the hatches. No need to freeze without a good reason.

An hour later, they were slowing down, and Bruce opened the hatch and got behind the M2. Everyone, seeing Bruce move, copied him and opened the top hatches, standing up with their torsos out of the RGs. His driver eased off the road and drove into the middle of the field. As Bruce’s driver stopped, the rest of the first platoon came up till their bumpers touched the truck to the front of them. The ten rigs formed a wall two hundred and eighty feet long on the north end of their box. The second platoon drove up to Bruce’s RG’s front wheel on the west side of the box till the trucks bumped, and then the rest formed up behind the first vehicle. Third did the same on the east. The supply vehicles pulled in the box as the fourth platoon closed the box on the south end.

It was cramped, but like the day before, they had room to move around between the supply vehicles. The blues started showing up as fourth was pulling into position, just small groups of twos and threes. Everyone started setting up ammo and rifles as Bruce called over the radio.

“Remember, we have short fields of fire. I want one belt-fired weapon ready in each vehicle and the copula weapon manned at all times. I really don’t want to talk to them face to face, so don’t let them get close,” Bruce said. “Start the music,” he ordered, and the speakers stared to blast music.

They didn’t have to wait long, and the groups started getting bigger. Still behind the machine gun, Bruce called the twins over, and they mowed down blues on their corner. Bruce let Sherry get behind the M2, and when she mowed down a pack, she started jumping up and down, yelling. Moving her to the side, Emily mowed down another group. Bruce reloaded the weapon as Stephanie came over the radio.

“Fuck a duck, Bruce. They are pouring over the land like water coming here,” she said.

He stopped loading. “In bigger numbers?” he asked.

“No, but much faster, like we are giving away free shit here.”

Finishing loading the fifty, Bruce let the twins get behind it and start cutting down blues. They were actually getting pretty good. They would look down the site and tap the trigger, sending out a small burst, which just made a blue disappear in a mist. Then, they moved to another target.

An hour after they started, a steady rate of fire was coming from all sides of the box, but blues rarely made it within a hundred yards. Bruce was now stopping the twins before the gun ran dry and throwing another belt on the last few rounds then let them go.

The second hour, the rate of fire was starting to fall because the blues were thinning out, and by the third hour, it was only single shots every few minutes. Hearing the tempo of fire die down, Bruce keyed his radio. “Now, what does the area look like?”

“It’s clearer than the area we just left. I don’t know what we did to piss them off, but they started coming from around fifty miles away,” Angela said.

“Well, let’s eat and move to the next area,” Bruce called out, getting out to the copula. He motioned Buffy over with the twins. “I’ll bring y’all something to eat,” he said as he climbed to the ground.

Willie ran over to him. “See, that’s why I don’t want to know your fears. If you would’ve kept ‘em to yourself, I wouldn’t have wasted all that good worrying.”

“Hey, I have to share my fears with someone,” Bruce said.

“Not me. Tell your kids,” Willie said. “They don’t care.” Cook stepped out of the RV that used to be the command vehicle but was now serving as the mobile kitchen. Carrying a plate for Bruce, Cook stopped and held it out without saying a word.

“Cook, I need three more for Buffy and the twins,” he said, and Cook nodded and turned around. Bruce started shoving food down his throat when he felt two hands grab his butt, making him choke as he jumped.

Turning around, he saw Angela and Stephanie. “It’s ours; if we want to grab it, we can,” Angela said as he coughed out the food that was trying to choke him.

Bending over, trying to catch his breath, Bruce looked up at them with his eyes watering. “You scared the shit out of me. I thought one of the troops was taking the closeness of the team a little too literal,” he said with a dry, raspy voice. Grabbing his cup, he drained it as Cook brought over more plates.

“Let someone else touch that, and I’ll let Stephanie show them how good she has gotten with her knife,” Angela said.

Bruce smiled at her then saw Carl walking back to his line. “Carl, take these plates to Buffy and the twins,” Bruce told him.

“Sure,” Carl said, taking the plates.

“Bruce, you have to eat slower. It can’t be good to just shovel food like that into your stomach,” Stephanie said with a concerned face.

“It comes in handy when you’re in a hurry,” he said as Cook brought over four plates. “Come on; I’ll help you take the plates to PJ and Cade,” Bruce said, grabbing two plates. “How are the boys doing in the command vehicle?” he asked.

“Oh, they’re doing great,” Stephanie told him. “They sit and watch everyone most of the time and then will play in the floor. Then, when it’s nap time, we get a laptop and put on a movie.”

Chuckling, Bruce followed them in to find the boys sitting in two of the radio operator’s laps. When the boys turned around and saw them, they yelled out and jumped down to run over. Bruce picked them up and carried them to the back, where a small table was set up. Putting the boys down, they all started eating. Well, Cade did. PJ picked food up with his hand then put his whole hand in his mouth and let the food go.

Watching PJ, Bruce laughed and started helping him eat until PJ started hitting him, meaning he could and wanted to do it by himself. Leaving the boys, Bruce walked over to one of the display tables. Angela and Stephanie came over, standing by him. “Where to next?” Stephanie asked.

Bruce pointed at the map. “This field between Sarepta and Plain Dealing,” he said.

“That field is big. I though you wanted small fields?” Angela asked.

“No, I just wanted to see if I was right, and I was,” Bruce answered. “Plus, by the time we move and set up, it will be 1400 hours. I don’t want to move and set up somewhere else at night.” Bruce keyed his radio. “Platoon leaders, command vehicle now.”

Ten minutes later, Carl was the last one in as he stopped at the door after closing it, looking at Bruce with what could only be described as disbelief. “What?” Bruce asked.

“Bruce, why in the hell would you give two six-year-old girls switchblades and submachine guns?” he asked.

“It’s a dangerous world, Carl,” he replied, not knowing about the switchblades.

“Switchblades?” Angela asked.

Jake stepped up to the table. “Yeah, I gave them each one. They really love them,” he said.

“Jake, they are sitting with Buffy in a circle eating, talking to their knives,” Carl said hysterically waving his hands.

“We all do, Carl. It’s not my fault you can’t find a knife that likes you,” Jake said as Bruce fought off his laughter.

“Jake, it’s bad enough with Buffy, but the twins are talking in unison to their blades,” Carl said, and a visible shiver ran up Ted’s spine.

“Yeah, they make good little sisters,” Jake said, smiling.

Bruce held up his hand before he started laughing. “Alright, guys. We’re rolling out to here,” Bruce said, pointing to the field.

“Now, that’s what I’m talking about,” Ted said.

“I have to agree with Ted. I don’t like having those speed demons only open to shots at two hundred yards,” Adam said, and Ted patted him on the shoulder.

“Bruce, I thought you were on a timeline? That’s what we set up to kill everything fast,” Willie asked.

“No, but this area will have a few more, and I don’t want Ted to wet his pants again. It’s really embarrassing when one of your troops wets his pants, Willie. I have to answer all kind of questions.”

“Yeah, I have to take his pants and have them washed,” Willie replied, smiling.

“Both of y’all, pucker up, and kiss my lily white ass!” Ted expressed.

“Okay, gentlemen, let’s do it again,” Bruce said. He kissed the family bye and left with the others.

The first platoon pulled out, followed by second, then supply followed by the third and fourth platoons. Like before, a few blues ran onto the road, but they exploded when the trucks hit them, and a Stryker was at the back of the convoy, gunning down followers.

Omega was set up in the field before 1400 hours, and the blues didn’t even wait on the music. Bruce told the driver to get up and man the fifty as he sat on the roof with the twins. The rest of the rig, like Omega, was sending hate downrange to greet the blues.

Sitting with the twins, Bruce watched them load and shoot at a bush he pointed out. Each UMP had a low-power scope, and with the stock opened up one click, it fit the twins nice. He let each one shoot at the bush with a whole magazine then told them to put in another one. He smiled when each one checked the safety before and after they reloaded.

Bruce looked up and saw a blue running at them. “Let me have this blue to my front, female black hair!” Bruce yelled. When the blue was two hundred yards away, Bruce shot her in the legs, making her fall down. When the blue got back up, she hobbled at them.

“Sherry, aim at her head, and don’t fire until I tell you, but when I tell you, I want you to keep shooting till she’s dead,” Bruce said. Sherry nodded and brought the submachine gun to her shoulder. “Safety off.” When the blue was a hundred yards away, he said, “Shoot her.”

Sherry slowly squeezed the trigger, hitting the blue in the shoulder. Like Bruce told her, she kept firing, hitting the blue in the chest, neck, arm, and throat, then at seventy yards, the blue’s head snapped back, and she hit the ground. Sherry put the gun on safe and looked up at Bruce, smiling. “That’s a girl,” Bruce said as Buffy and Danny started cheering.

Bruce looked at Emily. “You ready?” he asked. Grinning, Emily nodded. Looking out across the field, Bruce saw a Matrix kid coming, but he let Matt kill it. He had trouble hitting those damn things. A few minutes later, a blue male with long hair stepped out of the tree line. “Male long hair—let him through!” Bruce yelled.

When the blue was two hundred yards out, Bruce shot his legs. “Emily, get ready, and shoot when I say, and don’t stop till it’s dead.” Emily brought up her gun and like Sherry didn’t take the safety off or put her finger on the trigger. “Safety off,” Bruce said, and she flipped the safety. When the blue was at one hundred yards, Bruce said, “Shoot ‘im.”

Emily squeezed the trigger, missing the blue but slowly kept firing. Her next shots hit the blue in the chest and neck, then his head snapped back. Putting the safety on, she looked up at Bruce. “Good girl,” Bruce told her as he hugged both of them.

“Jake, come here!” Bruce yelled, and Jake jumped from the hood of his tuck and walked across the roof of Bruce’s.

“Yeah, Dad,” he said.

“Sit here with the twins, and slow one down like I did. Then, let them shoot ‘em.”

“Cool,” Jake said, grinning and sitting down between them after Bruce stood up.

“Jake, for every infraction they do, you will give me fifty pushups,” Bruce said.

“Infractions? These two? I’ll do a hundred for each one,” Jake said. “Blue to my front, male. Let him through!” he yelled.

Bruce smiled and walked around the top of the trucks, talking to the troops. When he was at the fourth platoon, Carl came over the radio, yelling, “Jake, you’re letting the twins shoot blues?! They’re little girls!”

“Yeah, they have been since yesterday,” Jake shot back.

Bruce turned the volume up on his radio so he could hear the conversation better. “You’re wounding the blues before they shoot them?” Carl asked.

“Well yeah. I asked the blues to slow down, but they are being total assholes,” Jake said.

“If I see one of those twins jump off and shank a blue, I’m leaving,” Carl said.

“Well, you just missed it. Emily wounded one, and it wouldn’t lift its head up, so she jumped off and ran over and stabbed it in the head.”

In a panicked voice, Ted called, “You better be kidding, dude.”

“Come over here and see it for yourself,” Buffy said over the radio.

“I mean it; if she did that, I’m leaving with Carl,” Ted told them.

“Ted, she only stabbed it one time,” Buffy said.

“We’re packing our bags, Carl,” Ted announced.

Bruce laughed as he jumped down and walked over to the command vehicle. Stepping inside, he saw Angela and Stephanie at one of the display tables. “Whatcha lookin’ at?” he asked.

“Bruce, the blues are coming but not like they did at the other field. I figure there are around ten to twelve thousand closing but they are just jogging here. It’s like they know we are powerful here, but they hate us so much they have to try to kill us. When we were at the other field, they thought they had a chance, so they all ran,” Angela said.

“Shit, that’s kinda what I figured in a roundabout sorta way.”

“Boss,” Willie called out on the radio.

“Willie, leave the twins alone,” Bruce replied.

“Not talking about them, but you’re not going to believe this. I have a blue at the tree line carrying a samurai sword.”

Feeling irritated, Bruce yelled, “Are you sure?”

“I’ll kiss your ass if I’m lying,” Willie said. “HOLY SHIT! He just cut a walker in half and is chopping it up.”

“I’m coming. That one is mine!” Bruce yelled.

“Bruce!” Angela yelled, making him stop.

“What?” Bruce said, turning around at the door.

“You have proved your point. They know about the advantages of weapons,” she said.

“Boss, he just chopped another walker in half!” Willie yelled over the radio.

“Leave that one; alone he’s mine!” Bruce yelled again. Looking at Angela, he said, “That blue is acting like a badass with a sword. I take that personal.”

Stephanie grabbed Angela’s arm. “Let him go show the stupid creature he is better,” she said.

Angela never took her eyes off of Bruce. “Bruce, if you get infected, we won’t kill you. I’ll muzzle you and keep you alive until we die. Do I make myself clear?” she said.

Feeling his knees get weak, “You’re cold as ice,” Bruce said, leaving. Angela turned to the crew and told them to watch the boys as she and Stephanie grabbed their rifles and followed.

Bruce ran over to Willie and climbed up on the truck. “Look, boss, he’s going after a jogger,” Willie said as Bruce climbed up. He looked where Willie was pointing three hundred yards away as Willie pushed binoculars in his hands. Watching through the binoculars, Bruce saw what Willie was pointing at. Its muscles jerked as it jogged, giving its gait a wobbling appearance. The sword-carrying blue ran up and sliced it from the shoulder to the pelvis.

The sword-carrying blue let out a roar, standing over the bisected jogger. Bruce saw movement on the ground and was amazed to see the jogger trying to drag itself away from the other blue. Sword blue then started chopping it up. “Boss, that blue has major attitude,” Willie said.

“Yep,” Bruce said, handing the binoculars back as Angela and Stephanie came over. Looking out across the field, Bruce yelled, getting the sword-carrying blue’s attention and scaring the shit out of everyone in Omega.

“Don’t shoot him; he’s mine,” Bruce said, jumping down.

“Willie from now on, just shoot the weird ones,” Adam called over the radio.

“Yeah, Willie, just shoot them,” Angela said.

Seeing Bruce jump down, the sword carrier took off in a dead run, actually leaving a trail of dust. “He better wound it before it gets here,” Stephanie said.

“Why do you think I ran out here?” Angela said, bringing her AUG up to her shoulder. Bruce was only ten yards from the line, still watching the blue run at him. Calmly, Bruce watched as the blue held his sword out to its side. When the blue was a thirty yards away, Angela squeezed the trigger, sending a burst into the blue’s left leg.

Bruce turned around. “Let that motherfucker get a little close, didn’t you?” he yelled.

“I thought about letting it get to you without shooting it!” she yelled back.

Leaning over, Stephanie whispered, “I would’ve spanked you really hard.”

The blue stood and hobbled toward Bruce, growling. Bruce just stood with his hands clasped to his front. Seeing Bruce not moving, the blue picked up his pace, which wasn’t much with his left femur shattered. When he was twenty yards away, Bruce reached over his back and pulled his sword.

Seeing that, the blue stopped and watched Bruce as he twirled the blade in his hand through the air and held it out in front of him. The blue looked at Bruce’s sword then at his. Holding his arm out, the blue moved his entire arm in a circle, trying to copy the movement. Going pale, Stephanie said, “That’s not good.”

“No, bitch, like this!” Bruce yelled and twirled the blade deftly in his hands, then he slashed the air in an X. The blue looked at Bruce’s sword then at his and waved his arm across his body. Looking back at Bruce, the blue growled. “Oh, you scare me so much,” Bruce mocked, and the blue grunted back at him, hobbling forward.

“Stomp my dick with golf shoes,” Stephanie exclaimed, watching the blue mimic Bruce’s stance.

“That is totally fucked up,” Angela said.

When the blue was six yards away from Bruce, he lunged bring his sword up over his head and swung it down. Bruce stepped to the side and swung his sword chopping the blues hands off still holding the sword. Spinning around with the swing Bruce continued his swing like he was swinging a bat, catching the blue in the back severing the spine. Continuing with the swing Bruce forced the blade through the stomach cutting the blue in half.

The blue fell in two pieces letting out a roar as Bruce walked over and swung the blade down cutting off the blue’s head. Everyone near saw the blue’s mouth and eyes still moving as Bruce calmly disinfected his sword and sheathed it. Then he walked over to the blue’s sword still being held in the severed hands.

Prying the hands off, Bruce walked over and stuck the blade into the ground and bent down, picking the severed head off the ground, holding it by the hair. Holding it up, he looked at those on Willie’s rig, “Anyone want a little head?” Bruce asked, grinning. They all looked at the still-living head and Bruce in abstract fear. Shaking his head, Bruce grumbled, “Tough crowd.”

Turning to where he shoved the blue’s sword in the ground, Bruce looked into the blue’s face. It was still filled with hate as Bruce smiled at it, and the eyes got wide, and for a second, the face lost its hateful expression. Angela dropped to her knees as several others threw up. “Thought just because you had a sword you were big and bad, huh?” Bruce said, ignoring the others.

The hate returned to the blue’s face, and the teeth started chomping in the air. “No, you’ve had your last meal. You will spend a week looking out over this field where I kicked your ass,” Bruce said, putting the head on the handle of the blue’s sword he stuck in the ground.

Taking off his gloves, Bruce threw them on the ground and pulled out his bottle of bleach, washing his hands. Then, he took out another pair of gloves and put them on. Climbing up onto the RG, Bruce looked at Willie, grinning.

Willie pointed at the head, saying, “Come on, Bruce; it’s looking at us.”

“It’s okay, Willie. It can’t hurt you, but leave it alone,” Bruce said, looking at the head. “Hey look, blue, I can scratch my nose,” Bruce said, rubbing his nose, and the blue’s face grimaced at him. He turned, walking away on top of the trucks toward his RG. The kids were all jumping up and down, cheering as Bruce came over.

“That man is so off the chain it’s unreal,” Willie announced. “Who in their right mind would want to fight him?” he asked no one then shrugged. “Guess that’s why we stay with him.” Willie looked at Stephanie. “Didn’t that gross you out?” he asked.

“That was cool as shit,” Stephanie gasped, still looking at the head moving its mouth, trying to growl and roar.

“Angela doesn’t think so,” Willie said, looking down at Angela, who was still on her knees.

“That’s so fucking cool! It’s still alive and pissed off!” she yelled, grinning. Giving up, Willie turned around.

“You two are a perfect fit for that family,” he said, walking away.

Chapter 9

Two days later, Omega was heading home from the Texas/Louisiana border. Bruce was riding in the command vehicle, playing with the boys. Angela and Stephanie were standing by one of the display tables, talking to each other. Bruce could tell from the expressions on their faces they were in a deep discussion. Walking over beside them, Bruce put his arms around them. “What are you two talking about?” he asked, looking down at the table.

Angela looked up at him, smiling. “Talking about how the blues are fighting each other now.”

“They aren’t fighting each other,” Stephanie said.

Angela pointed at the table with several pictures on the screen of blues attacking blues. “I beg to differ.”

“Those are walkers and a few joggers. They are viewed as weak and competition that can be removed,” Stephanie said. “If you look, the males take out the weak males, and the females take out the females.”

“That’s still fighting among themselves,” Angela replied.

“No it isn’t. It is only removing the weak. Look all through the animal kingdom, and you see the same thing. Granted, animals don’t use tools to do it,” Stephanie admitted.

Angela looked up at Bruce. “What do you think?” she asked.

Looking at the pictures and small video feeds from a UAV of two blue females tearing apart a female blue walker, Bruce shrugged. “I have to agree with Stephanie; they’re removing the weak competition.”

Throwing her hands up in the air, she said, “Okay, I’ll give y’all that, but it is only one step away from infighting.”

Stephanie shook her head. “No, you can’t make that assessment until you can prove it. Removing the weak is very common in the animal kingdom among all species.”

Angela just looked at both of them with a flat expression. “So you mean they are blue Nazis trying to create a master race of blue people?” she asked.

Hearing that, Bruce busted out laughing, which Angela didn’t care for. Stephanie shook her head. “No, not like the Nazis. They are removing the weak to decrease competition for food and mates, killing off the weak. Didn’t you ever watch the Discovery Channel and Nat Geo?” she asked.

“Of course I did, and I did read also. Yes, animals do remove the weak, but if you look at what we have, the blues are grouping together in packs. It won’t be long until the packs start fighting each other,” Angela said.

Getting his laughter under control, Bruce looked at Angela, grinning. “Little Foot, you are making a big leap there. No species with the exception of man will mark an entire species for extermination. The blues attack us on sight and actively hunt us. They care nothing for their losses, which goes against everything in nature. The goal of life is to survive, and if they wanted to do that, then they would leave us alone.”

Angela thought about what he said and looked back at the table. “I really don’t think they care about their life. They act like insects when they attack. Trying to overwhelm a target with no thought except to eradicate us,” she said.

“Yes, I can see that, but that would mean they won’t infight with each other to the degree you are talking about. They band together too easily to fight us, and nowhere in the animal kingdom do you see multiple packs of animals banding together, fighting a common enemy. They only pack together for benefit and can leave one pack and join another,” Stephanie said.

Still looking at the display table, Angela touched the screen and flipped through pictures until it stopped on a satellite photo of China. “Guys, if they don’t start fighting each other, we are going to die out fast,” she said, pointing at the picture on the screen. “You can’t even call this a mega horde. There are over seventy million in this one group moving up into Russia. The minions have seen four other hordes like this one and two over a hundred million. We can’t fight groups like this,” she said with tears running down her cheeks.

Bruce pulled her close. “Little Foot, they are on the other side of the world. We only have to worry about what’s over here,” he said with Stephanie agreeing.

Not convinced, Angela shook her head. “No, they will find a way to get here, and we can take out mega hordes of twenty to forty million, but a group that size could eat everything we throw at it and still get us,” she said.

“Like hell. I’d nuke one that size,” Bruce said.

Reaching over, grabbing his forearm, Stephanie said, “Ah Bruce, I wouldn’t do that.”

Bruce looked at Stephanie like she was insane. “Stephanie, I don’t think they can get here, but if they do, I’ll be damned if we will fight them like we are. Angela is right; they would roll over us like we weren’t even there.”

“Bruce, the infected repair DNA much better than we do, and the radiation would pose a bigger danger to us than them. In all probability, it would make them mutate to more lethal creatures,” she said.

“You just said they repair their DNA, so how can they mutate?” he asked.

“Their DNA wouldn’t start the accelerated growth of cancer common among radiation exposure. They could grow two hearts, run faster, get stronger, skulls get thicker—hell, any number of things,” she said.

“That is disturbing,” he said, looking at the satellite image.

“I’m not saying they can, but we can’t use nuclear against them until we know for sure. The ones we have are bad enough. Let’s not give them more of an advantage,” Stephanie said, putting her arm around his waist and looking at the table.

Angela looked up at Stephanie. “So you don’t think they will start fighting amongst each other anytime soon?” she asked.

“No, not really, but I do wish for it. They are a true separate species, and from the work Sandy brought, they have thirty-four different animal genes and six plant genes in their DNA. They are truly more genetically advanced that we are. They don’t get sick, injuries are healed very fast, and have the metabolism of a rock until they need it. By all rights, they should be dead. No life form should be able to adapt as fast as they are to their surroundings in the numbers they are in,” Stephanie said.

“Well, that means we just have to work harder at getting rid of them,” Bruce said.

“We will never be rid of them,” Stephanie said. “I only hope we can beat them down enough that they don’t evolve much more. When I watched you fight that one with the sword is when I became scared. He copied you,” she said.

“Stephanie, that’s where I think they picked up weapons from. They saw someone, a human, use that weapon and copied them.”

Angela looked up at him. “Bruce, we saw one charge us with a bicycle pump,” she reminded him.

“I think he saw a human use it beating a blue to death and picked it up,” he said.

“That’s what I mean; they can be taught,” Stephanie said.

“They have seen hundreds killed with guns. Why haven’t they picked one up yet?” Angela asked.

“Oh, I’m sure some have, but a gun is much more complicated, and they just beat people with them,” Bruce told her then looked at Stephanie. “What do you mean taught?”

“If we get one stupid human who captures a blue and tries to befriend it to teach it, we are fucked,” Stephanie said.

“What?” Bruce asked.

“Someone could teach them to use weapons, Bruce.”

“That is kinda far-fetched, don’t ya think?” he asked.

“No, you could teach a chimp, and the military even taught dolphins to use weapons. It can be done, but blues accept other blues readily into packs unlike other animals. If one learns, then it would spread,” she said.

“Nobody would teach a blue,” Angela scoffed.

“They already tried,” Stephanie said.

Both Bruce and Angela looked at her in abject horror. “What!” they both yelled, scaring everyone in the command vehicle.

“Sandy told me they tried twice, and one blue even fired a pistol. Granted, it wasn’t that good with it, but it did shoot it. The test subjects would try to kill the handlers and did on several occasions.”

“Why would anyone want to teach a blue that?” Angela yelled.

“To go out and kill other blues,” Stephanie replied.

“That’s insane!” Angela screamed.

“Of course it is. Why do you think Sandy is here?” Stephanie said.

“I thought—” Angela started.

“Yeah, she knew it was going downhill, but when she found out all this, she knew the scientists were grasping at straws. They had one test subject that was showing signs of hostility toward blues and were fixing to advance the training. Going through the reports, it only showed hostility toward midlevel infected: joggers.”

“Holy shit. We have to stop them,” Angela said.

“Don’t worry; the test subject is dead. Sandy killed the subject and wiped their computer system,” Stephanie said.

“Sandy!?” Bruce yelled out.

“Quit yelling,” Stephanie barked. “Yes, she saw where that was going and how easily it was going to turn against them. You don’t give your enemy knowledge to wipe out itself; you do it. She’s having a real hard time dealing with that.”

“I’ll talk to her,” Bruce promised.

“How many scientists are there?” Angela asked.

“Hundreds,” Stephanie replied.

“Do you think they will try that again?” Bruce asked.

“Oh, I’m sure they will if they haven’t already,” Stephanie said.

“We have to stop them,” Angela said.

“Absolutely. We are going to bomb them out,” Bruce replied, and they just looked at him. “What? I’m not driving up there and taking that base, nor am I waiting till this little war with the government is over. The idea of blues shooting at me terrifies me to no end. It scares me so much it inverts my penis.”

“Not all the scientists up there are doing that, Bruce. Some are doing real work we really need,” Stephanie said.

Bruce let out a sigh. “Stephanie, I know, and it’s a shitty thing to do, but we have no choice. I hate to condemn them all to death for the actions of a few, but teaching blues is way over the line.”

“Can’t we at least give them the option to stop?” she asked.

“No, baby. I’m sorry; they might just move and keep on training them,” Bruce answered as tears ran down her face.

“Stephanie, we can’t let them continue. You know that,” Angela said, putting her hand on Stephanie’s.

“I know, but this is not fair. Most of those scientists just want to help,” she whined.

“I know, baby, and some of the hostages we’ve killed just wanted to live, but we had no choice. This is threatening humanity, baby,” Bruce said.

“Part of me wishes I never said anything, and the other part wants to help load the bombs,” Stephanie said, crying.

“We would have found out soon enough. The spooks are hacking their system,” Bruce said.

Wiping her face with the back of her hand, Stephanie pleaded, “Let me tell Sandy.”

“Okay, baby.”

“I’ll come with you,” Angela said, hugging her.

“Thank you,” Stephanie said.

Bruce’s cellphone rang, scaring him. After so long without it, he was still getting used to it. “Hello,” he answered.

“Hey Bruce,” Mike said.

“Hey Mike, how goes the home front?” Bruce asked.

“Really well so far. The command group is here waiting on y’all to discuss what you three were just talking about,” Mike said.

Confused, Bruce yelled, “What?”

“Bruce, that is a command area, and it’s being monitored.”

“All right. Let’s get something straight here and now. The next command area that is ‘monitored’ without the commander’s permission, all responsible will be put on shit detail for one month. That does include the two lords of Oz. I don’t mind piece of mind for the clan, but eavesdropping on me pisses me off!”

“Bruce, you told them they could,” Mike reminded him.

“Well, I’m rescinding that order right now!” Bruce screamed.

“Okay, Bruce, don’t be mad at me, but Jake and Matt found out the same thing, and they have restarted trying to train blues,” Mike said.

“Tell Mack to get the F-15s loaded to wipe the site clean.”

“Already started that, Bruce. We will be here waiting.”

“I’m sorry I yelled at you, Mike, but this was a private moment.”

“I know, Bruce. That’s why I called in case it became more private.”

“I have crew members and kids here. It wasn’t going to get more private,” Bruce assured him.

“Whatever, dude. See you in twenty minutes,” Mike said, hanging up.

Bruce looked at the two. “Did y’all know we were being broadcast?” he asked.

“Yes, we are in a clan command center. The clan can see what goes on here,” Stephanie said, wiping the tear streaks off her face.

“They do but after we know it. I will not let bogus information and half-truths spread fear through the clan,” Bruce said.

“Bruce, they helped build it and do supply us,” Angela said.

“Well, if they want to know what’s going on at the front, I suggest they grab a weapon and join,” Bruce said.

“Bruce, they like seeing you fight the blues. It gives them peace,” Angela said.

“That’s fine, but I speak my thoughts and ask others for information to make my decisions. I don’t want that broadcast from the front.”

“That’s fine, Bruce. It will stop,” Angela said, seeing Bruce was really pissed off.

They rode in silence the rest of the trip back. The command vehicle pulled up to the gate, and Bruce, followed by the duo, climbed out carrying sleeping kids. It was 2100 hours as they walked inside the house and laid the kids on the floor in the living room. Jake and Matt came in carrying the twins, also asleep, and laid them by the boys.

After covering the kids up, Bruce walked down to command bunker. When he walked through the door, Jake ran over to his spot and looked at his dad. “Dad, you told us we could do that. I didn’t think it was that good of an idea, but I asked you, and you said, ‘I don’t care.’”

“You weren’t with me or here. How in the hell could you know about this?” Bruce yelled.

Jake lifted up his cellphone. “My minions called me,” he said.

“Well, son, I will take that one, but from now on all cameras are out of command areas. I’m not hiding information, but I want all the information before I let others know.”

“Hey, you aren’t telling me anything. The people of the clan are smart, but I want them to know facts, and I really don’t ever want them to see you scared,” Jake replied.

“Whoa, Bruce scared? When did that happen?” Carl asked, sitting down.

“When he heard that someone was trying to teach blues to shoot,” Matt said.

“WHAT!!!” Ted, Carl, Willie, and Adam all yelled.

Bruce held up his hands for quiet and, to his surprise, got it. “Son, how—” Bruce started but stopped as Jake held up his hand.

“Dad, just because Matt and I are out in the field, don’t think the minions aren’t working keeping us up to date. We have conferences with them twice a day and more when they need it.”

“How much did those little nerds tell you out there that you didn’t tell me?” Bruce snapped.

“They aren’t nerds. They are warriors of Oz, our minions,” Jake popped off.

“Boy, if I come down there, I will put you through a wall,” Bruce growled, narrowing his eyes.

“Dad, they broke into the underground research database site yesterday. They started forwarding us stuff, and one of them saw a video feed from a cell with a blue and someone trying to teach it to pick up a gun on a table. All the blue does is try to attack the glass to get to the human behind it,” Jake said. “There is a lot of information on their database, so we are downloading it.”

“And you tell me this now?” Bruce asked, pinching the bridge of his nose, fighting the headache.

“I always brief you when I have the information. If I start halfway, all you say is go find out more,” Jake snapped.

“This is kinda important,” Bruce said, squeezing his eyes closed and massaging the bridge of his nose.

“Oh, then I guess I should tell you three months ago, a nuclear submarine tried to launch a missile to hit a mega horde on the west coast, but the rocket failed. We wiped all the rocket boards months ago. There is another government group at Groom Lake or Area 51, but they aren’t talking to anyone. They tried to hack us is the only reason we found them in April. We let them hack the computer over the fort that watches the camera over the driveway then took their system. They have several hundred people there, but they aren’t doing anything. They quit talking to the President and made them think they were overrun. Let’s not forget the group in Tennessee in a nuclear bunker. We still don’t know what branch of the government they’re from, but there is close to eight thousand of them. Then there is a huge military group in Pennsylvania, close to sixteen thousand, and they have a valley locked down. We hacked their system three weeks ago, and some general is running it like regime. We find out so much shit from UAVs, satellites, hacking, and radio transmissions I can’t tell you everything, so I tell you what the current threats are!” Jake screamed at the top of his lungs.

Bruce stood up and started unbuckling his vest, and Angela and Stephanie jumped up, dropping their vests. Stephanie yelled at Bruce, “Move one inch toward him, and I will monkey stomp your ass!”

Startled, Bruce stumbled back with shock and fear spread over his face. “What?” he mumbled.

“You heard her, bitch! Take a step toward Jake; I dare ya. Fuck no, I double dare ya!” Angela yelled, moving toward Bruce.

“Have you two lost your damn minds?” Bruce yelled.

“You move toward him, and I’ll shoot you in the knees and let Angela choke you out,” Stephanie snarled, holding a pistol in her hand.

Visibly shaken, Bruce just stared at the two as Mike eased over, not getting between them. “Hey guys, let’s all calm down,” he begged as Angela crouched, ready to attack Bruce.

“Mike, butt out. If he touches those kids for doing what he asked and trying their best to please him, he will hobble with a cane. We’ll take care of him, but he will lose one kneecap,” Stephanie warned.

Seeing the look on her face, Mike turned to Bruce. “You’re on your own, dude. I’m keeping my knees,” he said, heading back to his chair.

With her face twitching trying not to grin, Carroll eased out of her chair. “Now, that be enough, all of ya, sit down,” she snapped.

“Carroll, I love you with all my heart, but you will shut up and leave this to us,” Angela popped off, never taking her eyes off of Bruce. Carroll smiled and sat back down.

Seeing the two ready to attack, Bruce took a step back only to see the two reposition themselves. Holding up his hands, he said, “Okay, you win.”

“Oh, there is no win. You were wrong, buster, and taking it out on the kids. We will protect them with our life even from a spanking that wasn’t warranted,” Angela said.

“Bruce, you are wrong and made a mistake. Jake and Matt are doing everything you asked and told them to do just like all of our kids. If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at us. Angela and I could have gone over the information they gathered and brought it to you. Even though we are over ten other projects, it is more our responsibility than theirs,” Stephanie said.

Looking at them, Bruce sighed. “I’m sorry, Jake. You’re right. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. I was wrong, son. I’m very proud of you.”

With his eyes bulging, Jake along with the rest of the kids looked at Bruce in something close to amazement. “Wow,” was all Jake could manage.

Though Bruce really wanted to go to bed, he turned to look at Jake and saw the other kids with the same expression. “I’ve admitted when I’m wrong and apologized before to you,” he said.

“Yeah, days later. Never at the moment,” Danny said.

“Well, I’m fixing to get shot and choked out,” Bruce said, looking at Angela and Stephanie.

“Hey, you earned it,” Stephanie snapped.

Nodding and shrugging, he admitted, “Yes, I did.” He turned to the group. “Everyone, I’m sorry.” Angela and Stephanie just moved back to their chairs and sat down as Bruce watched them. When they sat, Bruce turned to them. “When I got too big for my britches, Debbie never got ready to shoot me,” Bruce said.

“We know. She told us we would never be good enough to fight you to keep your attention. She told us when you got out of hand with the kids to shoot you in the leg and stomp on you,” Stephanie said.

Feeling lightheaded Bruce grabbed the table as his knees got weak. “She what?!”

Angela shook her head. “Yeah, Bruce, she trained with you for over two decades so she could keep your attention when she fought you. Sorry, but we won’t be that good for years if ever. So Debbie just told us to threaten you and if you didn’t listen to shoot you in the knee. She did say only one in case we had to give you another lesson we had one more knee to shoot out.”

Feeling lightheaded and somewhat fearful, he asked, “You were really going to shoot me?”

“I’ll leave that up to you, Bruce,” Stephanie said. “I promised the kids would be taken care of, and so would you. You can use a cane to get up and down the stairs,” Stephanie said, grinning at him.

Bruce collapsed in his chair and noticed Mike and Nancy laughing silently. Looking at Marcus and Carroll, he saw the same thing. “Damn,” was all he could say. “I’m really sorry. They’re right; I was mad at myself and taking it out on others,” he said.

“See, that is so much easier than yelling,” Angela said.

Looking down the table at Jake, Bruce smiled. “There is no denying they belong to this family, is there?” he asked.

“Ah, duh. That’s why Mom brought them into this family,” Jake said, grinning.

Looking around the table, Bruce announced, “Okay, from now on, 1000 every morning, a security briefing by Jake followed by everyone else over your areas. We are just too big to do this once every week or two weeks now. And the cameras in here and other command areas are off and are only turned on when the command person in charge gives the approval,” Bruce added.

“Ah, Dad, can I say something without you going postal again?” Jake asked.

“You can ask, Jake. He may go postal, but he won’t get near any of you unless you earn it,” Angela said like a royal decree.

Jake laughed along with everyone else. “Dad, I don’t want any cameras down here or in any command area. Just in case someone hacks our system.”

Stunned, Bruce replied, “You said they couldn’t.”

“With me and Matt here, I don’t think they can, but since we are back in the fight, I really don’t want to take the chance. I don’t care what the clan thinks; it’s a chance I don’t like taking.”

“Fair enough,” Bruce said, looking down. “Jake and Matt, after the battle with the government, one of you are to stay in garrison at all times. You can decide amongst each other each time, but one of you will stay over the Land of Oz.”

“We can monitor Oz from the command vehicle, Dad,” Jake said.

“Jake.”

“Oh, alright. We will play rock, paper, scissors,” Jake said.

“Thank you. Now, what have you found out?” Bruce asked.

“Well, we are still downloading, and the stuff we are downloading is mostly scientific research, which I hate to say the minions, Matt, and I are having a hard time deciphering what it is. Like I said, we saw them physically trying to teach a blue to use a weapon. That is the only reason we know that.”

“What kind of facility are they in?” Bruce asked, and Jake pulled out his laptop.

Typing away, Jake looked up at the monitor on the wall as a diagram came up looking like four boxes staked on top of each other. “This is their site. It’s buried forty feet underground to the first level with the last level a hundred and twenty feet down. They have power, running water, and enough food for two more years.”

“What is their power source?” Mike asked.

Looking up, Matt answered, “Not sure yet, but I really think it’s nuclear.”

“What?” Stephanie asked.

“Well, when I had one of the minions try to go into that file, it was blocked with an Atomic Research warning,” Matt said.

“Well, that puts a damper on just bombing them,” Mack said.

“How so?” Bruce asked.

“Bruce, if there is an atomic reactor there, we really don’t want to drop a bomb on them,” Mack replied.

“Afraid it would kill them too fast or something?” Bruce asked.

“No, leaking radioactive waste into the ground,” Mack said.

“I don’t care. The thought of armed blues is too much of a risk,” Bruce said.

Sandy leaned over the table to look at Bruce. “Bruce, please don’t get mad at me, but a lot of those scientists don’t even know about that research. The only reason I did was because I hacked into the mainframe. I killed their star infected that took them five months to teach her to just pick up a gun. Believe me, I know the danger they are playing with, and it is the Homeland and military liaison who are running that program.”

“I’m not going to get mad, but what are you doing here?” he asked.

Mike cleared his throat. “I, ah, asked her here, Bruce, to tell the minions what they were downloading. I didn’t think much of it was English, but Sandy assured me it is.”

“That’s acceptable. So Mack, you don’t think we should just bomb them because it might hit a reactor that we don’t even know is there. Sandy, you think we shouldn’t because not many of the scientists know about this research,” Bruce stated.

They both nodded in agreement as Angela spoke. “Bruce, since we can watch them, how about waiting and forming a plan?” she asked.

“Guys, what if someone could have stopped Hitler, Tojo, Mussolini, or Stalin from killing millions when they were just kids? Those alone are responsible for killing over hundreds of millions of people. Let me tell you I would have blown up each one’s kindergarten class to stop them. They make the cluster fuck we are in look like a second grade class trip. If this group teaches a blue how to shoot, humans are dead. Even if they can’t hit a target ten feet away, we lose our only edge: engaging at a distance. I’m talking about our survival period,” Bruce laid out the scenario.

“Bruce, I hear you, but the other scientists can help us,” Sandy said.

“Sandy, do you really want to risk the species?” Bruce asked.

“No, but can’t you just go up there and take out the military and get them out?”

Shaking his head and rolling his eyes, he said, “Contrary to popular belief, it’s not that easy.”

“You hit Grenada,” she said.

Willie spoke up. “Ah, ma’am, that was only several hundred miles away. We had ground forces ready to back us up. You are talking launching an attack over a thousand miles away with only a small force and no ground backup. Let’s not forget that there is still a very heavy presence of blues in the area who will come and see what the noise is all about.” Sandy lowered her head.

“Bruce, can’t we just watch them for a few days?” Stephanie asked.

Letting out a sigh, Bruce said, “Stephanie, I don’t want to kill all of them, but be damned if I’m going to risk what little chance we have in this war. If they succeed, we’re done for.” Seeing her still stare at him, he added, “You’re willing to risk the kids’ chance in this war?” Stephanie looked down and shook her head.

Bruce looked at Mack. “Mack, I want both F-15s ready to fly at a moment’s notice. One I want armed with deep penetrators and the other a small yield nuke,” Bruce said, and that got everyone’s attention.

Stephanie looked up at him. “Bruce, we talked about this. We don’t know how it will affect the blues,” she reminded him.

“The known evil faced now or a suspected unknown evil faced later. We will watch them around the clock, and after Jake and Matt’s security brief tomorrow, I’ll make the decision. People, this is for the species past, present, and future. Now, any other business?” Bruce asked.

“The government got more ammo and UAVs,” Matt said.

“Where from?” Adam asked.

“Montana,” Matt answered.

“Are they any threat to us?” Bruce asked.

“No. As soon as they powered them up, we owned them,” Matt said, which earned a kiss from Danny.

“Well then, people, 1000 tomorrow, let’s all get some rest,” Bruce said, standing up. Walking to the living room, he picked up one twin and turned around to see Danny pop Angela on the butt when she tried to pick up PJ. Bruce smiled as the others grabbed a kid, taking them upstairs.

After some debate, they brought the kids to his room. Bruce was still scared he was going to get shot. Stripping the kids, the three showered and got ready for bed.

Angela turned to Bruce. “In case you’re wondering, we would have stopped you. It would’ve hurt us, but we would’ve done it.”

Chuckling, Bruce answered, “Well, I can’t say I wouldn’t have earned it.” Angela kissed him and left the bathroom.

Stephanie turned around, wrapping her arms around Bruce. “I love you with all my heart, but I can’t disappoint Debbie. She gave me everything that I’m happy for. I hope you understand. Angela feels the same way,” she said, laying her head on his chest.

Bruce wrapped his arms around her. “I understand. Even now, she is trying to keep me happy even though y’all are driving me insane.”

“You insane?” Stephanie blurted out leaning back to look at him. “My hormones are so out of whack I cried for ten minutes because someone left the toilet seat up in the command vehicle today. I don’t know why, but I did,” she told him.

“I’m sorry, baby,” Bruce said laughing.

Stephanie pulled Bruce, leading him to the bed. Angela sat up. “Did she tell you she cried about the toilet seat today?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Bruce admitted.

“Stephanie, you don’t have to tell him everything,” Angela said.

Stephanie looked at Bruce. “Angela cried because PJ wouldn’t use his spoon.”

Angela’s bottom lip started quivering. “I just wanted him to use the spoon. It’s not that hard. He makes such a mess,” Angela whined with tears welling up in her eyes. Bruce pushed all the kids over and went over, picked up Angela, and laid down in the bed, pulling Stephanie to him.

Wrapping his arms around both of them, Stephanie started crying with Angela. I’m going to go insane; there is no helping it, Bruce thought. The two started squeezing him tight, making him smile. Oh well. It’s not like I have anything better to do.

Chapter 10

The next morning after breakfast, they dropped the kids off at school and headed to the command bunker to go over their areas before the meeting. When they walked in, they found everyone else doing the same thing. The tempo of the base was increasing the closer January got, and it was only two weeks away.

At 1000 hours, Jake stood. “Well, everyone, let me get started,” he said, walking over to the monitor. On the screen, a map of the United States came up. “Okay, these are the active government sites we know of so far,” he said, and several red marks came on the screen. “Pennsylvania, Maryland, Tennessee, Area 51, Alaska, and Washington all have active sites. None are in contact with the ruling government now. Area 51 and Pennsylvania were in contact but separated several months ago. Why? We don’t know.”

Adam raised his hand, and Jake nodded at him. “It may only be a rumor, but we were told Groom Lake or Area 51 was at odds with the President. Over what I don’t know. We were told they were overrun before I left Colorado. Pennsylvania is under a renegade general who thinks he is a god now.”

“That makes a lot of sense,” Matt said, working on his laptop.

“What about the other sites?” Bruce asked, looking at Jake.

“Don’t know. We are looking through their systems, but it’s a lot of information. Area 51 has some good people there, so we are being real careful. We let two NSA satellites come online, and all the sites went apeshit up linking to them. This let us in their systems, and we are now doing a complete takeover like the government site we own,” Jake said.

“What can they see with those satellites?” Bruce asked.

“They both are orbiting, but we have it fixed so they can’t see anything we don’t want them to see. They think the Navy slipped up and has control of them. They are all trying to take them over real quiet, but we own them. We just needed a faster way to take over their systems,” Jake replied.

“I like that,” Bruce said, nodding.

“Next, we are getting actual locations of gangs from the radios now. The green dots are reported gang locations,” Jake said, and suddenly, they sprung up all over the map.

“That is not good,” Mike said. “Map looks like a Christmas tree.”

“Remember, these are only reported gang locations. We are still checking them out. It could be a group that is just weird or someone pissed off at them,” Jake said.

“How many is that?” Willie asked.

“Three thousand four hundred and twenty-two,” Matt answered.

Giving a low whistle, Carl said, “Damn, that’s almost a half a million bad guys with just a hundred each.”

“That’s why we are starting to check them out, starting close and moving out. It really isn’t much of a surprise that none are near us thanks to the radio broadcast. The closest is a hundred miles north of Memphis. This is a gang confirmed yesterday,” Jake said, and a few of the green dots changed to orange, and one turned white.

“The ones that are now orange are confirmed gangs. This group in Florida, represented by the white dot, is not a gang. They are one of the weird ones. No one is being held against their will, but everyone is smoking some serious dope. We have video of a group passing around a three-foot joint. They are on a shit load of boats and stay in this bay and have a field of several hundred acres of pot growing. They are just a bunch of real happy people,” Jake said.

“How do you know then if they are not a gang?” Bill asked.

“Two days ago, they all moved out into the Gulf and moved to a beach and had a pretty wild party. The beach was on a barrier island, so they looked comfortable. There was no rape unless you count the three women who started stripping one of the guys down, but he didn’t look like he minded. There are kids there, but the party didn’t start getting really wild until they went to bed late at night. They fish and hit greenhouses and orchards to survive,” Jake answered.

“Damn, a rolling endless summer,” Bruce said, grinning. “How many are there?”

“Hard to tell, but all the boats are cabin boats, and some are huge, closer to yachts. I’m guessing close to two thousand,” Jake said.

“Well, they will run out of fuel before long,” Mike said, feeling sorry for them.

“I don’t think so, Dad. We saw them move up to Mobile and take on some crude oil. I think they are refining it.”

“Cool,” Bruce said. “How did they get reported as a gang?”

“They use drugs,” Jake answered and Bruce shrugged not caring about that. “We are going to check each site out, but as you can see, it’s going to take some time. Now, the Navy has done two scouting missions this year: one on the east coast, the other on the west coast. We know they came ashore each time, but we don’t know why or for how long. On the east coast, they landed south of Charleston, and on the west coast, north of Portland. The group on the west coast did pick up some survivors in Alaska. Over two hundred.”

“How do you know this if you didn’t see them?” Nancy asked.

“We finally finished hacking into their systems a month ago. We had their nuclear ability taken away a long time ago; then, we were able to get into their satellites then in the subs, erasing the computer guidance for the missiles. We are still going through the database, but the trips here undoubtedly were top secret and not just lying around. From the time they left Australia, it couldn’t have been too long, like only a few days at the sites, but there is not much at those sites.”

“Can they shoot a nuke at us?” Ted asked.

Jake thought about it and shrugged. “I guess they can, but it wouldn’t work. We had the codes long ago and used those to shut down the systems. Then, we burned out the firing boards for nuclear detonation. The sub on the west coast that tried to launch a missile shot it out, and it fell right back in the water.”

“So they can’t plant mushrooms around us?” Ted asked.

“Well, if they took one of the warheads out and rewired it then flew a plane over and dropped it on us, they could,” Jake said.

“They could also fix the missile to follow gyro stabilization,” Matt added.

“You know, boys, sometimes, you really piss me off,” Ted said.

Stephanie looked at Ted. “Ted, what they are trying to tell you is the Navy would have to go old school to do it or basically rebuild the missile.”

“Oh, okay,” Ted replied, liking that answer.

Looking at the map, Bruce asked, “So they were going to nuke a mega horde?”

“Yes, in Oregon,” Jake said.

“What did they think when it didn’t work?” Mike asked.

“They knew the warheads had been erased, and the government did it. A memo was put out not to use them anymore in case they detonate at launch,” Matt said.

“You can do that?” Bruce asked.

“Oh yeah, that is one of the safety procedures you can enact,” Jake said.

“Can’t they just reboot them?” Willie asked.

“Yes, but that can also activate one of the detonation protocols,” Jake said.

“Glad I never had to be around those damn things then,” Willie said.

Jake looked at everyone then hit the switch, and the screen showed the now familiar group in Colorado. “Our friends are fully loaded,” Jake said as Matt started pulling up photos inside the compound. “They are going over the attack every day, and the morale is improving but not much,” Jake said, then a picture of a man came on the screen. “This is Lt. Colonel Fredrick. He is the one that is going to defect to us. The troops love him, and he seems to be a rather nice guy.”

“Hold on. How do you know that is the one who is going to defect? Gene would never put that in a computer no matter how well it’s controlled, and he has not even told me,” Bruce blurted out.

“Well, Dad, Gene doesn’t know how to hang up an iPhone, and we heard the conversation they had as they walked the perimeter. Fredrick wants to kill Givens, the President, and Homeland outright and just grab everyone and run down here. Gene talked him out of it but didn’t tell him the plan,” Jake replied.

“Have you told him you know yet?” Bruce asked.

“No,” Jake answered.

Bruce smiled. “Good. I want to,” he said, then his smile fell off. “Jake, the nerd patrol knows to keep their mouth shut, right?” he asked.

“Really, Dad?” Jake said. Bruce shrugged shyly. “Dad, they know what’s at stake, and to be honest, most were hackers before, and to do this as a job is a dream come true. I really think it would take a lot to make one talk.”

“That was a good briefing, son. Thank you. Anything else?” Bruce asked.

“No, we will update each day,” Jake said, heading back to his chair.

Shuffling some papers in front of him, Bruce looked up, “Willie, when are you heading out to warn those groups in the path?” he asked.

“When I leave this meeting,” he answered.

“You take care, and don’t cause any damage,” Mike said.

Laughing, Willie said, “Bruce is staying here.”

“How long until you’re back?” Mike asked.

“Tomorrow night at the latest.”

Bruce stood. “Good, I will have the battle plan ready then,” he said. “Alright, Paul, lay it on us,” Bruce said, heading for the coffeepot. The meeting continued for another hour, then everyone walked out with Willie and the rest of Omega telling them bye. Only Bruce’s crew was staying behind, and even though he wouldn’t admit it, Bruce was resentful seeing Omega leave him behind.

As they walked back to the house, Danny walked over to Bruce. “Not cool seeing your team leave without you, is it?” she asked.

Nodding with a regretful sigh, he said, “No, sweet pea, it isn’t.”

“Well, now you have a little bit of what we felt when you left us behind,” she snapped.

“Danny, you have to learn this. I’m sorry. I need others that can lead if something happens to me,” Bruce answered.

Danny froze. “Daddy, don’t ever say that again to me,” she whispered.

Bruce wrapped his arms around her. “Baby girl, it’s a possibility you have to accept. That is why you have to learn how to run the show along with the others. Part of me really wants you to stay here and be safe, but like commanding, you have to learn how to fight a war. I’m very proud of you, and thank you for teaching the rest of the family. The only way you learn to fight is to practice and get in the shit.”

“I can’t lose you, Daddy,” she said as she started crying.

“Hey, I have no plans on going, but this is a war, and you have to expect it. Think about me worrying about my kids out there fighting with me,” he said.

Danny looked up at him with tears running down her face. “Daddy, when you left with Buffy wanting to die, I knew what you wanted to do, and I thought I was going to die. Momma was right to make her go with you. I would’ve either let you leave or went with you. Either way, I would’ve joined you, Daddy,” she said.

Bruce’s blood froze hearing her say that. “Don’t worry, baby; that part is over, Daddy is back,” Bruce said, squeezing her tight.

“I can’t lose my mom and my dad in this crap,” she sobbed.

“You have the rest of the family, baby, and you, like your brothers, must stay strong to lead them.”

Angela and Stephanie had stopped with them and listened. They were now both crying as they wrapped their arms around both Bruce and Danny. “Will you two stop? My hormones are real bad today!” Stephanie bawled.

Danny looked up at Bruce. “Daddy, if my hormones are that bad, I’m only having one kid,” she said.

Throwing his head back, Bruce started laughing. “Your mom said the same thing when she was pregnant with Steve,” he said.

“I don’t think I could handle crying that much,” Danny said.

“You don’t know the half of it, Danny. I can smell stuff no human should have to smell,” Stephanie whined, putting her head on Danny’s shoulder. “I don’t know how dogs can handle smelling this much of the world. Then, my God, why do my boobs have to hurt when the wind blows on them? I have increased two bra sizes and looked deformed, and my bladder is getting smaller,” Stephanie wailed.

Danny let go of Bruce and hugged Angela and Stephanie but looked at him. “I mean it; if it affects me like this, you only get one grandchild from me.”

“Hey, don’t look at me. If I had to push a watermelon out of my body, I wouldn’t have any kids,” Bruce confessed.

Gasping in shock, Stephanie looked up at Bruce. “Watermelon out of my body!” she yelled.

Bruce looked at Stephanie then Danny and Angela. “Ah, yeah Little Red. The baby has to come out.”

“Nobody said anything about a watermelon,” she wailed, burying her face in Danny’s shoulder.

Angela looked at Bruce with tears still on her face. “Don’t say anything more, Bruce.”

“I thought she knew,” he said.

“It’s not the size of a watermelon,” Angela snapped, crying.

“You may only get grandkids from the boys, Dad,” Danny told him hugging the two.

Bruce and Danny led the two to the Center and sat them down to eat. Several looked up, seeing them crying, and Bruce and Danny just motioned for no questions. Millie ran out with their plates of food she cooked for them. Neither one wanted to eat, so the kids and Bruce fed them.

When they finished eating, Bruce convinced them to go and take a nap with the kids, which they agreed to. When they left the Center, Bruce just sat back in his chair in bewilderment. Carroll looked at Bruce and started cackling. “What’s so funny?” he asked.

“You’s sitting there looking like you seen a ghost. Bruce, they’s both with child, and they feed off each other. Don’t be comparing them to Debbie. A woman has moods when she be with child, but two together, it’s too many feelings close together. I had two sisters at home pregnant, and we all wanted to move until the childs was birthed.”

“Well, that explains a lot then,” Bruce said.

Buffy looked at Bruce. “How does that explain anything?” she snapped. “You become an adult and you go crazy. I think it sucks.”

“Buffy, it’s not that bad,” Bruce said.

“Oh yeah, because you can’t see how y’all act. I can, and I don’t want to be one,” she said, getting up.

Bruce stood and left with her, trying to put her mind at ease. The only thing he heard was it started at sixteen. Not sure what the hell Buffy was talking about, he just asked her to go and talk to her friend Julie. Hugging her before she left, he watched her run off. Looking up at the sky, he said, “God, I don’t know what you did to the other side of the human species, but sometimes, I think they are totally separate from men.”

Not getting a response, Bruce headed to the shop to work on his battle plan until supper. The duo was much better then, to Bruce’s relief, and then, they headed over to the Oz area so Bruce could talk to Gene. They sat and watched the comings and goings at the base over the many cameras till Bruce saw Gene heading to his room.

When Gene walked in his room, the two Rangers inside went to stand in the hallway with the other five. Seeing the Rangers in the hallway, Jake woke up Gene’s computer as he sat down. Gene saw Bruce and the girls looking at him, and he smiled. “It still freaks me out when Jake turns on my computer,” Gene said.

“Your computer is only in standby. It’s not turned off, Gene!” Jake yelled from across the room.

Bruce was fixing to relay, but Gene spoke. “I heard him, Bruce, but the screen is dark, and it’s not making a lot of noise, so it’s off,” he said.

“Dad, you really need to talk to your friends about computers,” Jake said.

Bruce leaned toward the webcam. “It’s a special ‘off,’ Gene,” Bruce whispered.

Jake just looked at Bruce with his eyes narrowed. “You would think you would’ve given birth to your boys, not your daughter. Sometimes, I think y’all found me,” Jake said.

“Well, I didn’t want to tell you, but we picked you up at Wal-Mart,” Bruce said.

“Wal-Mart!” Jake yelled. “Not Best Buy or Game Stop? That’s disgusting,” Jake snapped.

Bruce looked at Gene. “He grows on ya,” he said.

“Of that I have no doubt,” Gene said, taking a drink of water.

“Well, how comes the planning?” Bruce asked.

“Once we deploy after the first skirmish, one regiment on my right flank will pull out, heading toward your lines. Then, I will have to condense my front. You will probe twice on each flank, and I will launch an artillery strike at a predetermined area, taking out some equipment. We will launch a micro UAV to see the damage, and you will call for a meeting,” Gene said and started calling out quadrant numbers. Bruce found where he was looking, then Gene continued.

“I will give you this building and will make the general relaxed since we called the meeting place. You say only ten people per side for security and five to meet. I will take care of the general and pull the rest of the troops in. Next, I will call here and tell them the general is taking over, and I’m going to stop him, but the President needs to get here fast. I will make him take my route down, and we can deal with him.”

“He has to die, Gene, along with his Homeland officers,” Bruce said.

“Bruce, they are not that much of a threat.”

“They are two thousand strong and could hook up with any number of gangs. They know locations of weapons and our layout. They are not coming here, and that means the families as well. Those officers have slaughtered hundreds, and their families will be targets here. I’m not going to have a volatile situation inside of Hope.”

“I can understand about the officers, but they have families here also. You’re talking about killing close to five thousand people.”

“Gene, what would the refugees there do to those families once they got here? They have lived in a separate compound, living well,” Bruce said.

“We can’t just kill them because of association,” Gene said.

“Shit, I’ve killed entire groups because I couldn’t take them out without massive loss on my side, so everyone died.”

“The families are innocent.”

“They maybe, but you are bringing those that were oppressed by members of them.”

“Can’t we at least try?” Gene asked.

“Okay, Gene, we can try,” Bruce said, getting a shock from everyone in the room and Gene. “I will arrange a place to for them to gather. You can tell the President you are sending some choppers in to get him and lead his group in by armored column. I will give the officers there the chance to let their families enter Hope without them. The only catch is you and you alone will carry out the punishment that is demanded for every member that comes from Colorado that breaks our law. You know our laws.”

Gene looked at Bruce and nodded. “I agree to those terms.”

“I will come up with a plan before then,” Bruce said.

“I can do it, Bruce. I’m the one who is asking for their entry.”

“No, Gene, I will because if they refuse or try to fight, they will all be wiped off the face of the Earth. No matter what, the President, his staff, and the entire leadership of Homeland will not leave that site.”

“Now, that I want to help on.”

Seeing Gene had no idea what was needed, Bruce just stared at him with a flat expression. “Gene, you need to get ready for this war. It’s nothing like we have ever fought before, and it’s only going to get worse. We can’t save everyone and must be ready to sacrifice to save what we have,” Bruce said.

Looking away, Gene said, “I know, Bruce, but I have been up here with these people and watched them all suffer. I want to try and save as many as I can.”

“I will save all these people here in Hope, Gene. They are my first responsibility. You need to be ready for this, brother, but I will risk my troop’s lives one more time for you to do this for those families,” Bruce stated.

Gene shook his head. “That’s why I want my troops to handle this. Yours will already be risking a lot.”

“No, Gene, your troops have lived with them in fear. When the time comes, I want to know the ones there can kill them.”

Gene nodded. “Understandable, Bruce, and thank you. I will fight this war with you until the end. I may even get to repay my debt,” he said, grinning.

“I doubt that. You can’t carry someone that far now,” Bruce said, grinning back.

“I can hotwire a car though.”

“Hoorah.”

“Thank you, Bruce. Hoorah.”

Bruce looked at Jake and nodded. The screen went black as Stephanie and Angela got out of his lap. Bruce stood up and stretched as Mike came over. “Brother, you really didn’t want to kill those families, did you?” he asked.

“No, but I will. That is a lot of people that would be hostile towards us, Mike. I would rather do it in one place.”

“If you think they are hostile, then why let them in?” Mike asked.

Looking away and staring at the wall, Bruce answered, “To show Gene what this new world is going to require.”

“I don’t want them hurting our people, Bruce,” Mike grumbled.

“Oh, they won’t hurt those already here, but some of the refugees are going to attack some of the families of the Homeland officers. They will be clan members, and Gene will be the one to hold the gun and kill them. Those people that have suffered and starved, the Homeland agent might be dead, but their families will be here, and some will lash out, and Gene will be the one holding the gun, not me.”

Chapter 11

It was Christmas evening as Bruce sat in the Center with the family and clan. Presents this year were very simple. All the kids got toys, and Bruce was watching them play on the floor. As much as he tried, he couldn’t enjoy the moment. Events were rushing toward the clan too fast. Getting up, he walked around and kissed everyone and hugged the kids and then headed to the shop.

Sitting at his desk, he pulled out his notebook and maps to go over everything again. The group in Maryland was still trying to teach a blue to use a weapon, and had lost another lab technician. The blue did use the gun, but it beat the man to death with it. The Pennsylvania group’s leaders were totally insane. Bruce wanted to just bomb them, but there were over five thousand hostages there. Many of the reported gang locations were turning out to be real gang locations. Some were borderline, but they would watch them real close. As long as people could come and go as they pleased and were treated well, he didn’t care what people did.

Many people in the clan were starting to get the opinion that if the people being held by gangs didn’t try to fight, they didn’t need to be rescued. Bruce could see their point of view but didn’t agree with them. As long as he was in charge, he would do what he could to stop the gangs and save who he could just as long as it didn’t endanger too many of his troops.

Looking through his notes, he knew once the government was handled, the group in Maryland had to be dealt with and soon. He really didn’t want to kill that many scientists, but that was a long way from them. Then, the area was still full of infected. The site was not far from Camp David and had been under constant UAV surveillance, and holy hell was the area crawling with blues.

The first time he saw the area, Bruce thanked God he was in Louisiana. If the temperature was above freezing, the blues were out in force. Once it got down below freezing, the blues went inside but did not stay there. They watched a group of blues try to hunt down a deer in the snow. At two hundred feet off the ground, the UAV told them it was four degrees Fahrenheit. They didn’t get the deer nor were they moving fast, but they were moving. In the UAV’s thermal view, to everyone’s surprise, the blues were showing hotter than a human would, even their extremities.

Shaking his head, Bruce pulled out the map and went over the attack plan again. They had gone back out and were clearing the area again, even clearing several buildings and small villages house to house. Max, along with the other dogs at the base, were very instrumental in this. They had moved out a hundred vehicles and camouflaged them for Gene’s artillery strike. There were Hummers and other military vehicles that were stripped down and broken. Bruce wasn’t about to let Gene blow up good shit.

Omega was going to take the left flank on the Texas line, Gamma the right. Bruce had sections of the Praetorians in the center that had been trained on armor. They had over two dozen tanks and thirty Bradleys blocking the route in. With them was also another Patriot system, MRLSs, artillery, counter battery radar, and several Avengers. The Avenger was just a Hummer with eight Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. They also had several of the Bradleys that were set up with anti-aircraft missiles instead of TOWs or Javelins. Jake kept telling him that they didn’t need to worry about the choppers, but Bruce wasn’t taking any chances.

Gene had informed them that they had two Patriot systems now covering the government base. Bruce didn’t have the heart to tell him they knew from satellite feeds, but Jake did. Jake was in hog heaven when he told Gene that he owned both systems. The systems that were with the attack force were not linked up to the command network, so Jake couldn’t hack into them. Mack assured everyone his boys could handle them with ease. Once again, Bruce didn’t listen to anyone. He knew where they were going to be deployed and had several positions dug with Javelins waiting outside of Magnolia, Arkansas.

Teams were still clearing out Shreveport and the area around Independence Stadium. The stadium was being wired up for power, and equipment was being placed to get rid of the President and his cronies. Most in the command group agreed with Gene to try to save the families. To everyone’s surprise, it was Bill who agreed with Bruce. “Just kill them all and save us some headaches,” he had told everyone. Bill knew like several others that the regular people at the government camp would hold resentment against those families and had a right to.

Bruce was running his finger along battle lines when his cellphone went off vibrating, scaring the shit out of him. Jumping up, thinking some animal had jumped in his pocket, Bruce felt relief as he grabbed it and saw it was Angela.

“Hey, Little Foot,” Bruce answered.

“Bruce, where are you?” she asked with an uncertain voice.

“In the shop. What’s wrong?” Bruce asked, feeling worried as he headed to the door, grabbing his assault rifle.

“Baby, meet us in the command bunker in mission control. Bill is there waiting on us.”

“I’m heading there now, baby,” Bruce said, shutting the door of the shop and seeing people leaving the Center, heading toward the house. He saw two people stop at the back door as he broke into a jog. They waited, looking toward him, and knew it was Angela and Stephanie. “What’s going on?” Bruce asked as he neared them.

They lunged at him, wrapping their arms around him as Stephanie sobbed, “Bill says a woman in Hope was raped.”

Dragging the two inside, Bruce cried out, “What!” They both started babbling, and Bruce pulled them faster down the stairs to the command bunker in mission control. Giving up on information from them when they reached the bottom, Bruce saw Bill talking to Mike. “Bill, what’s going on?” Bruce demanded.

Hearing Bruce’s voice, Bill spun around. “One of the roving patrols found a woman who was raped in one of the abandoned houses on base. I brought her to the infirmary here to be treated. They tried to strangle her,” Bill said.

“Did she name them?” Bruce asked, furious.

“Yes, she did, and we have them on security cameras leading her to the house. It seems she went willingly with the two,” Bill said.

Feeling the tingling in his neck as the rage built, Bruce asked, “Where are they?”

“Community Center three in Hope. I have two officers and one squad of Praetorians watching the building,” Bill said.

“Jake, tell me where they are in the building, and monitor them if they leave with their cellphones,” Bruce said, looking at him.

“You knew we could follow them with cellphones?” Jake asked, surprised.

“Son, I’ve seen CSI,” Bruce said, looking at Mike.

“Ted, Carl, Willie, Adam, and Mike, let’s go around and introduce ourselves to the people of the clan. We will walk in like we are saying Merry Christmas. Staying in a line, we will move toward them and at the last second jump them. Ted, Carl, and I will get one. Mike, Willie and Adam the other one. I want this done fast, and I want them alive at all cost,” Bruce said then looked back at Jake. “I want all the video of them from one hour prior of event till we take them in custody, and I want it by the time I get back,” Bruce instructed.

“I’ll have it done by the time you take them down, Dad,” Jake said, leaving with Matt to the monitor area.

“Nancy, Angela, and Stephanie, I want to know who they are and everything about them before I get there,” Bruce said, leaving with everyone in tow.

Trying to suppress the rage, Bruce headed out the front door to the garage and climbed into Debbie’s SUV with his team as Mike did the same in Nancy’s. Bill followed in his Hummer. As he was pulling out, Stephanie called his phone. “Talk to me,” Bruce said with a low growl then hit speaker and noticed it was on three way with Mike.

“Suspect one is Oscar Jefferson, known as ‘OJ.’ He is twenty, a Caucasian, black hair, five foot seven at one hundred and seventy pounds. He joined us from Grenada. He is on a Sigma foraging team and construction crew. He has been through both the two and four-week course for combat. Review board gives him fair marks. For classes, he has only taken construction and some electrical courses. Barely maintains the basic gym requirements. Says he wants to join Omega or Gamma. He went in front of the punishment board twice. Once for showing up for duty intoxicated. Punishment: two hundred pushups and fifty hours extra work. Second time for showing up for work an hour late. Punishment: hundred pushups and ten-mile run with sixty-pound pack.

“Suspect two is Gage Thompson, no nickname. He is twenty-nine, Caucasian, brown hair, five foot nine at one hundred and eighty-three pounds. He joined us from Texarkana. He is also on Sigma foraging team and construction crew. He has only been through the two-week combat course. Review board gives him low marks. Classes are only engines. He has seen the punishment board five times, three times for showing up late for work, two times for showing up impaired, and once for not keeping required gym attendance. He has no stated goals.”

“Only one guess who the troublemaker in these two is,” Carl said beside Bruce.

“Bruce, the girl is Bonnie Lewis, seventeen, Caucasian, dark blond hair, five foot two, one hundred and ten pounds. Joined us with Bill’s group. She is in the Praetorian Guard and has been for almost a year. She has been through all three combat courses. Review board gives her high marks. Classes are a shit load. The only time she has been to the punishment board was showing up for duty ten minutes late. Twenty pushups for punishment, but she did forty. Goal is to be on Omega,” Stephanie said.

Clearing his throat from the backseat, Ted said, “Boss, I want to nominate her for the team.”

“Well, let’s see how she pulls through this,” Bruce said, pulling into Hope.

“What? I don’t understand, Boss. There are almost three women here for every man. Why do they have to rape someone?” Carl asked with misty eyes.

Calm broke over Bruce as he hit the wave. “I have no idea, Carl,” Bruce replied in a bland tone.

“Gamma and Omega are almost half and half male to female. The Praetorians are three-quarters female; there are women everywhere,” Ted chimed in.

Wanting to ride the wave and not answer questions, Bruce said, “Men, I have no idea, but we will stop it here,” as he pulled up to Center Three. In Hope, the areas were set up in units, housing seven to ten thousand with two centers per unit and one rec area. Center One was at the farm. Getting out of the SUV, Bruce slung his rifle as Bill trotted over.

Stopping in front of Bruce, Bill held out his hand, holding two Tasers. “Bruce, we may not have seen eye to eye on how you treated prisoners, but she was one of ours. This better not be the time you want to try to rain down,” Bill said.

Ted snorted. “Bruce rain down; are you kidding?” he said, looking at Bill as Mike and the others came over.

With his face set in stone, Bruce took one of the Tasers and gave the other to Mike. “We will see what they have to say and the evidence against them; then, I will pass judgment,” Bruce told Bill.

Satisfied with that, Bill asked, “Can I carry it out?”

“No. You enforce the clan laws, not the punishment. Mike, you and I will now just walk up to them and taze their asses,” Bruce said, looking at Mike. Mike just grinned as his cellphone rang. “I like those things sometimes, but other times, I want to throw the damn things away,” Bruce said as Mike answered the phone.

Mike looked up at Bruce. “Nancy says Angela and Stephanie had the roving patrol go in to eat. They have three weapons on them now.”

Not liking others running plans along with his, Bruce said, “This is my op, not theirs.” He turned around. “Carl, go in first and tell everyone that the leaders of Omega and Gamma are here to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Tell them to remain seated. We will walk around and talk to them,” Bruce said, and Carl jogged to the door.

Mike put his hand on Bill’s chest. “Wait here till we get them. If they see you, they might panic,” Mike said as Bill handed him some flex cuffs.

“I will, but I want to put them in the vehicle,” Bill stated.

Checking his weapons, Bruce said, “Don’t get too carried away, Bill. They are innocent until proven guilty.”

“How long is this due process going to take?” Bill shot off.

“Oh, the trial will be tonight or in the morning,” Bruce replied as he heard Carl announce them and a cheer erupted inside. Bruce walked in with Mike to everyone clapping. Bruce put on his earpiece for his phone and dialed Jake.

Jake answered, “To your right, second table from the wall. They are sitting beside each other with three others, and both have pistols. Their rifles are on the wall. Look at your phone. I sent you pictures,” Jake said. Really starting to like his phone, Bruce lifted it and noticed Mike doing the same. Seeing the pictures, Bruce glanced where Jake told him they were and spotted them.

Leading Mike to the right, Bruce started shaking hands and talking to people as he eased toward them. In five minutes, he was beside their table. Bruce looked at both of them and could see the girl hadn’t gone down without a fight. Oscar had a swollen lip, and Gage had a swollen eye. As Mike and Bruce walked over, Oscar and Gage stood, holding out their hands. Mike and Bruce raised their Tasers. “You two need to come with us,” Bruce said, and Gage’s arm twitched. Both Bruce and Mike squeezed triggers, sending darts into their chests.

The two locked up and fell back, hitting their heads on the chairs behind them. Everyone in the mess hall fell silent as the two were put in cuffs and searched. Bruce turned to the crowd. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but a girl was raped a few hours ago and named these two. Gage moved, so both were incapacitated. They will be tried, and if guilty, punishment will be passed. If they are innocent, then they will be freed. Please listen to the radio and TV for instructions,” Bruce said, turning to Mike. “Ready?”

Grabbing Bruce’s shoulder, Mike said, “Bruce, we still need to go around and shake everyone’s hand. We can’t just come in here like this,” Mike said. Caught off-guard, Bruce just stared at Mike. “Bruce—” Mike started.

“Alright, Mike, you’re acting like a damn politician,” Bruce grumbled, turning around. He started working the tables. As the two walked around shaking hands, Bill and the others took the two outside, not being gentle either. Everyone was happy to see Bruce and Mike, and all asked questions, but they were told to listen to the radio or the TV station. It took them an hour and a half to see everyone and leave.

Walking outside, they saw Oscar standing in his underwear beside Debbie’s SUV. Getting closer, Bruce saw several red areas over his chest and a bite mark on his shoulder. “Bill, did you do that?” Bruce asked, walking over.

With an uncharacteristic dark look on his face, Bill cracked his knuckles and said, “Haven’t touched him yet.”

Nodding, impressed, Bruce said, “That girl put up a fight.” Bruce looked at Oscar. “Oscar, you better do some serious thinking on the way back to the farm. I’m going to talk to you there. If you lie and are found guilty, a very long and painful death awaits you,” Bruce said.

“Sir, I didn’t do anything—”

Bill slammed his fist into his stomach. “Never once did he say speak,” Bill said, grabbing him by his hair. “That is rude,” Bill said, pulling him up. Everyone looked at Bill in shock.

Feeling cheated that he didn’t get to hit Oscar, Bruce asked, “Where’s the other one?”

“He wanted to kick, so we tied him up and threw him in the back of Mike’s ride,” Bill said.

“Bill, go to their rooms, and search them. As commanding officer here, I authorize it,” Bruce said. They looked at the other. “Alright, let’s do this,” Bruce said, jumping in.

On the ride back, Bruce tried to relax and leave the wave so his judgment wouldn’t be clouded, but it was proving difficult. Pulling up to the back at the house, Bruce told the guards to watch them as he went inside. He found the entire command group waiting on them. Walking to his spot, Bruce sat down. “Jake, what do you have?” Bruce asked, laying his rifle on the table.

Not even looking up from his computer, he replied, “They are so guilty it’s not even funny.”

“Son, evidence first,” Bruce replied, shaking his head.

“Well, okay,” Jake snapped. Looking at the main monitor on the wall, he gave a playback. “This is a camera on the outside of the main gate in Hope of them walking out with her,” Jake said, and everyone saw the girl between both of them, and there was no denying it was them. “Now, we have cameras on every road inside the base and a micro UAV flying over the inside in an oval pattern, watching for inside attacks. We have them taking her to the house where she was found but not actually taking her inside,” Jake said, showing several different camera angles then a UAV shot of the three heading toward the house, but their visual was lost.

Jake hit some keys then looked up. “This is two hours and seven minutes since they were last seen. Luckily, the UAV caught them perfect,” Jake said as the video played. They saw the two leaving the house laughing and passing a bottle back and forth. As the UAV continued overhead, it caught shots of the two heading back to Hope. Jake fast-forwarded again, and the next shots were of a Hummer pulling up to the house with troops around it. Then, the video went blank. “Like I said. Guilty,” Jake finished in a singsong voice.

Leaning over the table, looking down a Jake, Angela asked, “Just curious, how did those troops know to show up?” Angela asked.

Jake looked up from his laptop. “Someone was jogging by, Burt Ryson, and heard crying. The UAV didn’t catch him. He went inside thinking it was a cat and found her then called in the roving guard.”

“We will do the interview with the victim first then each of the suspects. They are not to be near each other for any reason nor is anyone except guards to be near them. Leave them in the vehicles, and hog tie Oscar like his friend,” Bruce said, standing up.

Offended, Ted jumped up. “What? You think we would just leave his ass with only his hands bound?” he challenged.

Bruce shook his head. “Thank you, Ted. Someone get a video camera please, and Jake, rig it so it can be seen on your laptop. Only Stephanie, Angela, and I are going inside to talk to Bonnie,” Bruce said as he trotted up the stairs.

As they crossed the yard, Bruce continued to take slow breaths to calm down, even stopping on the patio of the infirmary. Giving up, he led the others into the school house/infirmary and waited on Jake as one of the doctors came out. “She has asked for you, Bruce,” she said, walking over.

Bruce closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “How is she?” he asked as everyone crowded around.

“They did a number on her; that’s for sure. Left forearm broke. I can’t tell how many broken ribs or facial bones. She is passing blood in her urine, and we had to put in a chest tube because she dropped a lung. I’m running labs now, but I need to get her to the main hospital in Hope. The CT is up, and she needs one.”

Looking over his shoulder, Bruce said, “Steve, get my chopper up for an airlift.” Mike keyed his radio as we walked outside, and Steve took off running.

“It’s not that far,” the doctor told Bruce.

“My chopper will be here before the ambulance. I need to talk to her,” Bruce said, moving past the doctor.

“Okay, but please keep it short,” she said, following them.

“Who’s with her for family?” Bruce asked.

“Her roommate. She has no family; they are dead.”

Stunned, Bruce stopped abruptly and looked at the doctor. “How fucking long have you been here? Do you listen to anything that goes on here? We are her family. That is why I come down hard on those that break the clan laws; you are hurting family. This clan is one big ass family, woman,” Bruce snapped.

The doctor stepped back. “I’m sorry, Bruce, but this has shaken me,” she said.

Studying the doctor for a few seconds, Bruce then glanced at Stephanie, nodding toward the doctor. Knowing what Bruce wanted, Stephanie closed her eyes for a minute then opened them. “Stance Cooper, doctor of Veterinary Medicine University of Arkansas, joined us from Little Rock. That’s all I can remember right now,” Stephanie said.

Impressed at Stephanie’s memory again, Bruce gave her a smile then turned to the doctor. “Stance, this has shaken all of us, but it will be dealt with tonight.” He looked at Angela. “Tell Mike to ride with her to the hospital.”

“What, you don’t think a vet can take care of her?” Stance shot at him.

Pulling his shoulders back and narrowing his eyes, he glared at the doctor. “Shit, woman, my own dad trusted the vet who came to the farm more than a doctor. He said vets were smarter, learning hundreds of animals where doctors only had to learn one. I’m sending Mike because he has read thousands of human CTs; how many have you read?” Bruce snapped back.

Seeing the anger on his face, the doctor stepped back. “I’m sorry again, Bruce. I just thought—” Stance started but stopped.

Relaxing, knowing he had no reason to be mad at the doctor, he said, “I’m sorry as well. You’re doing an excellent job; now, let me do mine.” Bruce walked into the same room his grandchild was born in. Lying in the bed was a body with its face wrapped up in gauze. The nurse in Bruce started looking at monitors and IV drips, seeing what was going on. Before he knew it, his hands were moving to do his exam, but he stopped and remembered he was a different caregiver now. Reaching out, he placed his hand on the patient gently.

“Bonnie, it’s Bruce. Can I talk to you?” he asked in a low voice.

Bonnie’s eyes fluttered open, and she tried to smile under the gauze but stopped. “Hey, Mr. Bruce. I fought as hard as I could,” she said in a weak, dry voice.

“I know you did, Bonnie. Why did you go with them?” Bruce asked as tears started welling up in her eyes. “Bonnie, it’s not your fault. I just need to know before I question them. I have both tied up in the back of some trucks,” Bruce said, fighting back his own tears.

Grimacing as she took a breath. “Oscar said we could go and have a drink where he would give me a Christmas present,” she said with tears running into the gauze on her face. Bruce leaned over, looking closely at her eyes and could see the retinal hemorrhages from the attempted strangulation.

Unable to help it, tears ran down Bruce’s face. “How did it start?” he asked.

Sobbing, she said, “When we walked into the house, they passed me the bottle, and I took a drink. Then, I asked where the present was. They both started unbuckling their pants, and I tried to run, but Gage grabbed me. I fought as hard as I could, kicking, biting, hitting and pulling their hair, but they were just too strong.”

Reaching over, Bruce took one of Bonnie’s hands in his as his other hand caressed her hair. “I’m only going to ask this once just for the record. Did they rape you?”

“Yes. I don’t know how many times because they kept knocking me out because I tried to fight them off when I woke up,” she answered in a whisper.

Leaning down over her face, Bruce said, “You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

As tears ran out of her eyes, she said, “I lost; they won.”

“No. You may have lost that battle, but you won that war. You survived. That is the first goal. Then, you live to complete your victory for the war. If you think I have never had my ass kicked, think again, Bonnie. Everyone gets a beat down in life. It’s what you do after is how you’re judged. Stand tall, and walk proud you fought; you didn’t give up; you refused to be dominated. That is what a true warrior is. Someone who never stops,” Bruce said and rubbed the bandages on her head.

“Thank you, Mr. Bruce,” she said with a smile.

Pulling his face back, he asked, “I hear you applied to Omega?”

A small smile appeared under the exposed gauze. “Yes sir. I want to help you. I remember the day you and your family rescued me and how Omega fights for us. I want to do that,” she said.

“When you’re better, come and see me. I have a spot open, and if you’re walking tall and holding your head high, I have some patches for you to wear.”

Trying to sit up, she cried, “Really!” then grimaced in pain as spasms shot through her chest.

Easing Bonnie back down to the bed, Bruce said, “Yes, but now, be still, and get better.” He heard a chopper landing outside. “My son, Steve, is flying you down to the hospital in my chopper,” Bruce said, kissing her on the forehead. Then, he looked up at the lady beside the bed. She was in her thirties with her hand on Bonnie’s side. “Watch her, and if you need anything, call me. I don’t know my number, but call the Command Center, and they can send you to me,” Bruce said, and she nodded.

Walking out, Angela turned the camera off and wiped tears from her face. “Bruce, I want the card from the camera on your hat also,” Stephanie told him, wiping tears off her face.

“Okay,” Bruce said, stepping out into the waiting room. Everyone was crying as he headed outside, getting hit with the rotor wash from his Blackhawk. Pausing to wipe the tears off his face, he stood there until Bonnie was carried to the chopper. When she was loaded, Bruce turned and went into the house, headed down to the command bunker, and dropped down into his chair. Stephanie grabbed his hat, taking out the memory card. She put another one in then put his hat back on. Nancy was in the corner, talking with one of the guards.

Closing his eyes, Bruce tried to control his breathing, feeling the rage return as Angela and Stephanie sat down. They reached over, grabbing his hands and squeezed, bringing him back. Opening his eyes, he smiled at them and had to remember it was Christmas. Nancy walked over and sat down in Mike’s chair.

“Bruce, there’s a woman outside wanting to talk to you about Oscar. She’s his aunt,” Nancy said.

“I’ll talk to her later. Have her wait in the Center with one of the guards,” Bruce said.

“Oh, I got it, Nancy,” Ted said, walking out and taking a guard with him.

“The aunt has her husband with her,” Nancy said.

“I really don’t care,” Bruce said as one of the technicians came by and put a bottle of water in front of him. “Bring Oscar down, and sit him down at that end,” Bruce said, pointing at the other end of the table between Marcus and Willie.

Excited, Willie jumped up and said, “Oh hell yeah; I’m the bailiff.”

Marcus just smiled. “I’m the long arm of the law then,” he said, pulling out a knife.

“Everyone, keep your emotions in check. I want to hear what they have to say. If you keep on, I’ll call Cook and ask for my bags,” Bruce said then drained his bottle of water. Looking over at Angela, he saw her talking on the phone. When she hung up, Bruce asked, “Was that Mike?”

“No,” she replied and turned around, grabbing her laptop.

“Checking on the kids?” Bruce asked.

“I did that already. They are with Susan upstairs in the bedroom. The twins put makeup on PJ and were trying to do it to Cade,” she answered, tapping her keyboard.

Smiling and shaking his head, Bruce asked, “Just who were you talking to then?”

Looking up, she asked, “Are you jealous?”

Caught off-guard, Bruce stopped to think about it as Angela waited on his reply. After a few minutes, he answered, “I don’t know, but I think I am a little bit.”

Angela smiled as Stephanie pouted. “You’re not jealous over me?” she accused.

Danny leaned over the table. “Stephanie, don’t even start. Last week in the gym, you had two men really checking you out on the treadmill. It was the day you had on some really short shorts. Dad threatened to eat their eyes. I had to threaten to call Carroll before he would leave them alone,” Danny said, and Stephanie smiled.

“I told you to keep that between us, Danny,” Bruce said, looking at her with a scowl.

Danny waved her hand over her head. “Whatever,” she said. “I never seen you jealous except once around Mama. I think it’s cute. It reminds me you’re not all warrior.”

“Never said I was,” Bruce said as Angela and Stephanie gave him lovey dovey eyes. Looking back at Angela, he asked, “Well?”

“I called Cook to bring your bag,” she said, batting her eyelashes at him.

“What the hell for?” he asked.

“I’m not keeping my emotions under control, baby, and to warn you, neither is your other wife,” Angela said, smiling. “If you don’t get medieval on some ass, we will.”

Feeling somewhat out of place, Bruce shook his head. He was the one that was supposed to be reined in, not everyone else. “I’m not breaking open the bag on Christmas,” he said.

“Wait till midnight,” she answered, still smiling. “You have our permission.”

Closing his eyes, Bruce said, “Please control yourselves so I can talk to him.” Then, he opened his eyes and looked at them.

With a large smile, Angela proudly said, “I’m going to chop his dick off.”

“Then, I’m kicking it around in the dirt,” Stephanie added. “Where’s Buffy? She’ll want to watch and see if it crawls around.”

“I’m not getting blood all over the command bunker,” Bruce snapped as Carroll stood up, leaving. “Where are you going?” Bruce asked.

“Some plastic to put on the floor and on the walls,” she said, heading toward the stairs.

Jumping to his feet, Bruce shouted, “Hey now, this is enough. I’m the one you’re supposed to control!”

Carroll turned around. “Bruce, this was done here in our home. We be responsible for these people. This didn’t happen out in the wasteland; it happened here in these walls we built to keep out evil, but it still found us. That camera down there is going to record what we dos ta those that be bringin’ evil amongst our family. I’m going ta dos it myself; I don’t be needin’ you. I’ve skinned hogs and many other animals. I’ve seen how you done it many times,” she said, turning back to the stairs.

“Carroll,” Bruce called out, shaking his head. When she turned to look at him, he said, “That is for the sentencing phase. I want to see if either of them have some semblance of remorse or honor.”

Letting out a cackle, she said, “Oh I’m sure they do, but only because theys got caught.”

“Carroll, please. You all agreed I’m in charge,” Bruce said. Then, his eyes got hard. “I know this hurts, but I also want the people to see we do listen. I’m going to say this before I question them. If they admit to what they did, I’ll give them a release from the pain fast. If they don’t, after the display I put on, we shouldn’t have a repeat here for a long time.”

Her old face broke into a grin. “Okie dokie, Bruce. You right; you be in charge. I shouldn’t be doubtin’ ya, but in our home, I hope you forgives me. It’s just be a bit much,” she said, sitting back down. “I can’t believe one in here be doin’ that,” she said, putting her hands over her face. Marcus leaned over and hugged her tight.

Seeing that Carroll was under control, Bruce leaned back in his chair. “I’m sorry, Carroll, but the evil in mankind’s heart knows no bounds. Only when it sees that it won’t be tolerated and what it gives out is returned tenfold do we stand a chance to stop it.”

Ted was helping a guard drag Oscar down the stairs. His hands were still cuffed behind his back and his feet tied together. When they put him in the chair, Bill walked in carrying two laptop computers and two plastic bags. Without being told or them asking, Bill handed the laptops to Matt and Jake then tossed the bags to Bruce. “Just some dope and cameras. Didn’t look through the cameras,” Bill said, sitting down.

Matt and Jake opened the laptops and went to work as Bruce stood up. “Oscar, I want you to tell me what happened, and I want the truth,” Bruce said.

Oscar looked around the table and swallowed hard. “We didn’t mean no harm. We were just going to party,” he said.

With his gaze burrowing holes in Oscar’s face, Bruce asked, “So you call beating a girl unconscious, raping her, and trying to kill her partying?”

Oscar shook his head rapidly. “No, we weren’t going to rape her, and we didn’t. She acted like she wanted it then changed her mind,” he said, and Carroll reached down, pulled out her knife, and put it on the table. Oscar looked at the knife then at Bruce.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Bruce asked, “Oscar, want to try again?”

“Shit, Bonnie is always teasing and flaunting it around,” he said, looking at Bruce.

Feeling the rage build, Bruce’s face started getting red. He leaned over the table, glaring at Oscar as Willie and Marcus scooted away from him. “I’ve talked to her and have it recorded. You’re just lucky she’s alive. If she would’ve been found dead, you and your buddy would be in the shop strung up. I know you’ve heard I can keep people alive for weeks to show them the errors of their ways. I don’t do it to teach you in this life; it’s for the next,” Bruce said as Cook came in, out of breath and carrying the two bags, putting them on the table in front of Bruce. Like everyone at Hope, Oscar had seen and heard about those bags and became very pale. He had seen one of the programs on the base TV channel what Bruce did with them.

“You can’t. You rescued me!” he shouted.

“I may have, but you condemned yourself. I’m trying to give you some semblance of honor,” Bruce said, standing up.

Oscar hung his head, sobbing, and looked back up. “Yes sir, we planned it out.”

“You were just going to leave her body there?” he asked.

“No. Tomorrow, we were going to take it down the road and leave it so it could be found. Everyone was going to think a gang did it,” he said.

“Damn, you’re even more stupid than I could’ve imagined,” Nancy said, looking at him through narrowed eyes.

Wanting to open his bags, Bruce never took his eyes off of Oscar. “Oscar, I find you guilty of rape and attempted murder. Sentence will be passed tomorrow after your crimes are announced to the clan. Because you did admit to your crime, I will take leniency into account.” Oscar started crying. “Ted, take him to the shop, and he is not to be untied for any reason. He can piss and shit on himself. Two guards on the inside and four on the outside. Deadly force is authorized to stop anyone trying to get in that is not in the command group. Oscar no longer has clan status or privileges,” Bruce said, and Ted moved over with the guard and hauled Oscar out.

“Carl, bring in the other one. Willie, will you give him a hand?” Bruce asked, and Willie followed him out.

Nancy looked at Bruce. “We get some say in this right?” she asked.

“Yes, Nancy,” Bruce said with a flat expression. “The entire command group will be there, and you will have to agree with the sentence on this one. If there is another one, someone else on the command group will be the ruling party for the sentence. The clan has to know we are united in punishment just like we are in safety and security,” he said as he walked over and poured a cup of coffee.

“Bruce, I’ll take this one,” she offered.

“No, all of you would let them off too easy,” Bruce said, walking back to his chair. Everyone took a sharp breath and stared at Bruce, but he just drank his coffee. A few minutes later, Mike walked in. Bruce jumped up. “How is she?” he asked.

“She’ll be fine in a month and back up in three. She has a small liver lac and a small amount of blood around her spleen. We’re going to watch her to see if the spleen is okay. If not, they’ll operate tomorrow. She has nine broken ribs, broken jaw, forearm, she broke four metacarpals in her right hand and two in her left, and two cracked vertebrae T-5 and T-6. The chest tube is starting to drain off blood from her hemothorax, and she has a small subdural bleed, but it looks okay for now. Her H&H is a little low, and if they are still low or lower in a few hours, we are going to transfuse two units in her,” Mike said.

Sitting back in her chair, Danny said, “Damn, that girl is tough.”

“Yeah, they did a number on her,” Mike said, sitting down. “What have I missed?” he asked as Steve came in with Buffy and sat down. Nancy filled him in as Willie and Carl sat Gage in the chair. Unlike Oscar, he was fighting them.

“Bitch, you better rectify!” Carl shouted as Gage leaned over and tried to bite him. Carl backhanded him. “Want to try again?” Carl asked.

“Fuck you, nigger!” Gage yelled.

Carl moved toward Gage, raising his fist as Bruce yelled, “Thank you, Carl!” Carl looked at Bruce and lowered his fist. Turning around, he walked to his chair and sat down. Bruce looked over at Cook. “Are my batteries charged?” he asked.

Astonishment flooded Cook’s face. “When have I ever brought you your bag with dirty tools or dead batteries?” Cook asked, offended.

Bruce stepped back. “Cook, it has been a while since they’ve been used. I was just asking.”

“I keep them with me. Mr. Paul has given me permission to have extra power to my room for them,” Cook replied. “I know they will be needed.”

“I’m sorry, Cook,” Bruce apologized, reaching out and patting Cook on the shoulder.

Giving a grin and waving his hand, brushing off the apology, Cook said, “That’s quite alright, Mr. Bruce. Do you need your sandals? I have them outside along with several rolls of plastic.”

“No, that’s okay,” Bruce said, reaching over to open the bags, taking stuff out.

“Your bag doesn’t scare me, bitch!” Gage yelled.

“Shit, and I though the other one was dumb,” Nancy said, pulling out her camera. “Finally, I get to watch a cure for dumb.”

Taking a breath, Bruce took out a roll of duct tape and threw it to Danny. “Tape him to the chair. Y’all help her,” Bruce said, reaching back inside the bag. “Gage, for your actions I have observed here your clan status is revoked retroactive from the time you were taken into custody,” Bruce said, pulling out a branding iron and the propane torch.

“You can’t use that on me. You have to throw me out!” he yelled as the others held him down, and Danny taped him to the chair.

Hearing that, Bruce actually stopped and looked up at him. “No, that is if you aren’t working, dipshit. Once you are a danger to the clan, the punishment must be appropriate and served before you can leave,” Bruce said.

“I didn’t do anything!” he yelled as more hands held him. Danny continued taping him to the chair.

Digging in his bag, Bruce handed the iron to Mike and Nancy. “Heat that up, please,” he told them as Nancy took it. Gage started struggling as Mike heated up the iron Nancy was holding. When Bruce pulled out the nail gun, Gage froze. “Put some nails in this for me please, Angela,” Bruce said, handing it to her. Angela smiled and took it from him. Next, Bruce brought out a sander and handed it to Stephanie. “Put a pad on for me please.” Letting out a giggle, she grabbed it.

Reaching in, Bruce pulled out his drill, put in a battery, and squeezed the trigger. Everyone stopped as it started to whine as it spun, watching Bruce put a drill bit in the chuck. “Alright, I’ll talk. Just put that shit up!” Gage yelled.

With the drill in one hand, Bruce started walking toward him, taking the nail gun from Angela in his other hand. “This has nothing to do with why you were brought here, Gage. You fought those that detained you and tried to attack them. What makes it worse is they are in the command group. You have no honor or pride, so I must teach you manners. Then, I’ll talk to you about the crime you are accused of,” Bruce said, driving the drill in his thigh.

An hour later, two guards carried Gage to the shop. He apologized to everyone in the command group in fifteen minutes, then the questioning started, and he described the event in graphic detail. Bruce had to stop Danny several times from cutting off parts of Gage’s body during the confession.

Feeling a hundred years old as he sat down on the table, Bruce rubbed his temples. “Is Oscar’s aunt still in the Center?”

“Yes, they had to stop her from trying to get in the house twice,” Nancy said.

“Tell them to bring her down,” Bruce said as Cook started gathering up the tools.

“Nancy, tell the guards to search them first,” Stephanie said.

“If they have weapons, they got them after I put them in the Center because I took two off of each of them,” Ted said.

“If they have weapons, then I’m putting them on shit detail,” Angela told everyone and Bruce just left her alone.

“There is an awful lot of blood down here,” Willie pointed out, but he was grinning.

“It’s not mine, so I don’t care,” Bruce said, dropping down in his chair, looking at his watch. 2312 hours. I’m getting too old for this shit, Bruce thought, letting out a sigh. Hearing someone coming down the stairs, he looked up to see a woman in her forties come in with a man the same age. The woman saw the blood and let out a scream. When the man saw it, he grabbed her, pulling her to himself.

“Is that from Oscar?” she yelled.

Shaking his head as he yawned, Bruce stretched his arms over his head and said, “No, it’s from Gage.”

“This is how you question clan members?” the man shouted.

Bruce dropped his arms. “No, Gage was being rude and lost his clan status before we even started to question him. He attacked his guards and had no honor, so I taught him manners.”

“This is barbaric and no better than the gangs out there!” the man bellowed.

Calmly, Bruce looked at the man and woman and spoke in a flat voice. “Yell again and you lose clan status and go on shit detail. The command group agreed to meet with you. We are tired, hungry, and have missed Christmas.”

“Well, torture does that to you,” the man shot back.

“Keep on, boy. You used your last pass. The next time you show rudeness, you get a collar and get thrown to shit detail,” Bruce warned, and the man backed up. “Now, what do you want to see us about?” Bruce asked.

The woman looked at Bruce. “Oscar couldn’t have done this, he’s a good boy,” she said.

“Beg to differ, ma’am,” Bruce said.

“I demand to represent my nephew,” the man said. “What are the charges and evidence?” he asked.

“You represent yourself in the clan. Others aren’t allowed to argue your charges. Your word is your bond. Treat others with respect. Any of those ring a bell? As for the charges: rape and attempted murder,” Bruce said.

“He can’t represent himself, and I demand to see the evidence,” he said with his voice getting louder.

Mike leaned over the table. “Voice control, boy. Use it,” he said, looking at the man.

“Cook, don’t leave just yet with the bags,” Bruce said, standing up, and they both took a step back. “Let me guess; you were a lawyer?” Bruce asked, and the man nodded. “Well, the evidence has been presented, and like I said, you represent yourself. You are tried at the earliest opportunity now, not months or years away. A member of the command group passes judgment. Then, a trial is held, and several forms of punishment are offered, and the command group agrees on punishment,” Bruce informed him.

“That’s not right,” he said. “Others need to see the evidence and need to let his peers judge him,” the man said.

“Maybe later down the road, but we are at war now, and those are the rules. Now, is there anything else?” Bruce asked.

“How do you know he did it?” the aunt asked again.

“Stephanie, play the victim’s and Oscar’s video,” Bruce said, and she did. At least the aunt jumped back at seeing the video of Bonnie, which gave Bruce some semblance of hope. When it was over, they looked at Bruce.

The man stepped toward the table, and Ted and Carl jumped up. Danny just pulled her pistol. Seeing that, the man froze as a laser shot from across the room right between the man’s eyes. Looking up, he spotted a smiling Buffy. “You are basing judgment of her testimony while she is under the influence of drugs and severe trauma. My nephew has confessed only because of intimidation,” he snapped.

A rumble rattled in Bruce’s chest as he closed his eyes and started rubbing his temples hard. Everyone on that side of the table between him and the aunt and uncle moved to the other side, not wanting to get caught in the hellfire and brimstone. The man moved back beside his wife seeing everyone leave. “Command group, I’m introducing a new clan law. Lawyers are not allowed to hold any position of authority on any committee, office, or position of authority. They may run crews no larger than five but in no position to pass any type of decree,” Bruce said, and everyone replied, “Aye,” passing the law.

The man started stuttering.

“Don’t; I’m fighting a headache. She was under the influence because of Oscar’s actions. His confession will be viewed as a positive in his sentencing,” Bruce said.

“When was the trial?” he inquired.

“After his questioning, he was found guilty, and his clan status was revoked from time of arrest,” Bruce said. The man raised his hand, pointing at Bruce. “Mister, I’m getting pissed. If you say anything stupid, you get a collar, and it’s shit detail,” Bruce said, and the man lowered his arm.

The aunt stepped up. “It was his first offense,” she said.

Jumping up, Bruce asked, “What, you want us to let him perfect his technique for the next time and kill the girl and get rid of her body?”

“You don’t know he would do that? Can’t he go on shit detail and prove himself?” she asked.

“Ma’am, the people on shit detail are there for actions like this that happened outside of here and only for that. It didn’t happen here. That is crime against humanity, and only those that start to prove themselves will get off. We’ve had six success stories, but none of them, with the exception of a judge, were charged with murder. But she got put there for trying to incite a revolt and threatening my family. The others, well, you can find out. I’m tired,” Bruce said, sitting back down.

“Can’t we say anything?” she asked.

“Yes, tomorrow during sentencing,” Bruce replied. “Now, please leave. I think I have been kind considering what Oscar has done. I have honor, as do most here at Base Hope. Don’t push it. I have a long war ahead and a battle in weeks.”

“Sir—” she started as Carroll stood.

“Lady, he done told ya to get. If that was my nephew, they’d just hand him over ta me, and I’d kill ‘em myself. He’s disrespected you, and you be too stupid ta see it. Keep on and I’ll call for collars for both of ya. Bruce has gone above showin’ yous some respect. I’m gettin’ tired of hearin’ y’alls’ voice,” Carroll told them and turned to Marcus. “Marcus, they not out of here in five seconds, shoot ‘em in the leg,” she said, and the two took off running up the stairs.

When they were gone, Carroll turned to Bruce. “You says somethin’, and I’m gettin’ a switch. I can’t believe them two,” she said, sitting back down as everyone did.

“Jake, announce that all clan members not on guard duty must be in a center or a mess hall at 0900 hours tomorrow for the sentencing phase. Everyone, get some sleep,” Bruce said, standing up. He looked at Angela and Stephanie. “You two go to bed. I’ll be there later,” Bruce said, kissing each one.

Heading up the stairs, Bruce walked outside and stopped on the patio, taking a deep breath. Pushing the wave down inside him, he headed to the back of the property. When he reached the barn, he noticed two people following him, so he stopped and waited for them to catch up and saw it was Carl and Ted. “Where are you two going?” Bruce asked.

“Just following ya, boss,” Ted replied.

“I won’t get lost,” Bruce said.

Slinging his rifle, Carl said, “We know, Bruce, but we are just going to stay close.”

Bruce shook his head. “I can take care of myself.”

“It’s for our own piece of mind,” Ted stated.

Spinning around, “Guys, get some sleep. I need space,” Bruce told them heading to the pond, and they fell in behind them. “You’re still following me,” Bruce said over his shoulder.

“Yeah, seems that way. We’re just worried. We should’ve been doing this a long time ago,” Carl said.

“The girls put you up to this?” Bruce asked.

“No, we asked them if they would mind, and they loved the idea. They said if you had a problem, you could talk with them about it,” Ted informed him.

Not wanting to have the duo pissed off, Bruce just sighed and shook his head, continuing to the pond. Reaching the pond, he walked out on the pier and knelt, sitting on his heels. Then, he started controlling his breathing and eased into mediation.

At 0300 hours, Angela went down to mission control and saw Bruce still meditating on the pier with Ted and Carl keeping an eye out for him.

Chapter 12

After breakfast, the main Center was rearranged with a row of tables next to the wall with the projection screen over the tables. This was where the command group started sitting down. Monitors were on the command table, showing the command group views of the other mess halls.

At 0900 hours, Bruce stood up and called the clan to order. Then, he announced the charges against the two and the verdict of guilty. He showed the evidence, and many in the clan started crying, and several people attempted to charge the two convicted men that were sitting in front of the command group. But the fifteen members of Omega dressed for battle had the deterrent Bruce wanted.

When quiet returned, Bruce looked at the two. “If any member of the clan has something we need to take into account for the guilty before punishment is passed, asked to be recognized for your statement,” Bruce said. Monitors sat on the command table showing the other mess halls and hundreds had their hands raised at the other Centers. Even in front of him, he had several hundred. “Ah, shit,” Bruce mumbled. Bruce pointed at an elderly man in the front row.

The man moved up to the podium. “Yes sir, Bruce, I just want to say when I was a kid, I got hot tar over my leg, and I never felt pain like that then or since. If you want, I can go find some for these two,” he offered.

Liking that, Bruce chuckled. “Thank you, sir; I’ll keep that in mind,” he said. He pointed at some others to his front and in the other Centers, and all gave him their ideas on how to deliver pain. The two started crying, and after forty people, Bruce stood.

“Clan, I’m sorry, but what I want to know—does anyone have something positive to say about these two? Describe an act of honor, how hard they worked, saved a puppy, helped a member of the clan in some way before punishment is passed. Honor for self and clan is how we are now judged, and that is the only thing that can sway the punishment,” Bruce said, and all the hands went down.

“Sir, we have a hand here in mess hall two,” a guard told him over the monitor.

“Let her speak,” Bruce said looking at his monitor. The projection screen behind the command group showed a woman in her sixties walking up to the podium.

“Yes, Bruce. I don’t have nothing good ta say about ‘em, but Bonnie lives beside me in barracks nineteen, and nobody will tell me how she’s doing. I’m really worried about her. She’s a sweet girl who works and tries hard. Please, Bruce, they won’t let me in the hospital, and her roommate hasn’t come home. I was with Bonnie and Bill at that refugee center, and I’m worried about her, and all I’ve heard about is these two pieces of human garbage,” she said with tears in her eyes.

Letting out a sigh, Bruce bowed his head and raised the microphone to his bowed face. “Ma’am, I’m sorry. I should’ve informed the clan how she was doing, but we focused on the criminals and not our fallen member. That is my fault, and I’m sorry. Bonnie has a long road to travel before she is better. She was hurt bad and by all rights should’ve died but didn’t. She fought to live,” Bruce said and read off her injures.

When he was finished, the lady leaned to the microphone. “Bruce, can you please let me see little Bonnie? I know they are working hard on her, but I’ll do extra work in the kitchen for gettin’ in their way, but please,” she begged.

Lifting his head up, Bruce asked, “Ma’am, may I have your name?”

“Ida Winters.”

“Ms. Ida, I can guarantee you after this meeting, you’ll be beside her. Bill will drive you himself, and you will be given time off of work. That is honor, Ida: willing to do what it takes for your friend and family.”

Bill stood up. “Ida, I’ll take you there when this is done,” he said.

“Bill, there is this female doctor there that can yell really loud,” Ida said, and several people laughed.

“Carroll, go with Bill, and put Stance in her place,” Bruce said, satisfied. Then, he looked at Oscar’s aunt and uncle. “Manny and Patrice Stinson, do you want to speak on Oscar’s behalf of his honor?” Bruce asked, and they moved over to the podium.

Patrice moved to the microphone. “Oscar has never done anything like this before or anything to break the law. He has always been a good boy and watched his mother killed in the camp we were at. His father was killed by blues along with his sister. We need to give him another chance. He has gone through a tough time,” she said.

Bill leaned forward. “Ma’am, lies will not be tolerated here in front of the clan,” he said.

Manny moved to the microphone. “She has told no lie, and you watch your tone with my wife,” he snapped.

“You watch your tone, sir. Oscar was on probation for car theft and breaking and entering. He was under investigation for sexual assault when the infection hit,” Bill said.

Manny took a step back then regained his composure. “That is in his past—”

Standing up, Bill asked, “So you knew and lied about his past?” Manny clamped his mouth shut.

Patrice grabbed the microphone. “He was only under investigation, and the rest was a misunderstanding,” she babbled.

“So you knew also,” Bill said, and she dropped the microphone.

Wanting this day to end, Bruce stood. “By your own admission, you lied to the clan. Your weapons privileges are hereby revoked, and you each will be given one hundred extra hours of work to be completed in one month. The punishment committee will give you the rest.”

“You said we can’t be judged by our past!” Manny yelled.

“Oscar never was. I never cared what he did, but you and your wife lied to the clan to try and sway his punishment—a danger to the clan. Bill went and asked some people that knew him before the plague,” Bruce said.

“This is an outrage. You can’t do this!” he bellowed.

Carroll stood. “Your clan privileges now be revoked. Put a collar on ’im. You’ll have monthly assessments from the punishment committee to see when they recommend to me to see when you can rejoin the clan,” she snapped. Manny’s face drained of color then became red before he opened his mouth. Carroll leveled her finger at him. “Don’t or you getin’ lashes first then every day until you rejoin the clan,” she warned him.

“Let us leave then,” he said as two Omega guards came up.

“You can after your debt is paid to the clan,” Carroll said, sitting down. When the guards hauled Manny out, Patrice looked at Oscar then Bruce.

“Please,” was all she said.

“Noted. Patrice, please retake your seat,” Bruce said, and a guard led Manny away. Bruce passed envelopes down to the entire command group. “There is one for each guilty party. I have requested the punishment. Circle yes or no if you agree with the punishment or cross out points you don’t agree with, then pass them to Nancy,” Bruce said.

The clan watched as the envelopes were passed back to Nancy, and she counted them. Nancy turned to Bruce. “Both punishments passed unanimously as written,” she said.

With no emotion on his face, Bruce never took his eyes off the two guilty men. “Oscar, because you admitted your crime, showing some semblance of honor, your punishment is torture for three hours and to be shot. Gage, your punishment is torture for twelve hours, then a tank will roll over your legs, and you will be left to die in pain with IVs keeping you hydrated for one week or death finds you first. No food. Pain will be all you feel. Sentence to be carried out immediately by myself,” Bruce said, and both prisoners fainted.

It was dark when Bruce finished carrying out the sentences. With Ted and Carl walking beside Bruce as they headed to Oz to have a talk with Gene, Father Thomas ran over to them. “Bruce, can I please talk to you?” he asked as Ted stopped him. Bruce smiled at Ted.

“Make it fast, Father,” Bruce said.

Seeing Bruce was covered in blood, Father Thomas jumped back. “Bruce, this is wrong. We must try to help those that fall from God’s grace. Killing them is vengeance. We need to try and forgive.”

“You’re right, Father; it’s vengeance. Forgiveness comes from the victim. Vengeance comes from society; you hurt one of ours and pose a risk to us, we will kill you to remove you, but we make you face pain to deter anyone else. We will not warehouse people, Father. Don’t want people to die like that, tell them to be good to the clan,” Bruce said as Ted pulled out a handkerchief, wiping blood off Bruce’s face.

“You’re getting ready to fight a battle with the government. Have you offered them sanctuary?” he asked.

“Hell no. Their idea of sanctuary is ruling us as slaves. Well, y’all. Me they want to kill along with my family.”

With pleading eyes, Father Thomas asked, “You can’t try?”

“Father, you’re overstepping your bounds. You save their souls. I have to save their lives. I asked you when you came here if you would fight to save these people, and you said you would. You have seen what they do with your own eyes, and yet you want to risk the clan? Let them kill whole families here?” Bruce asked.

“No, I don’t, Bruce, but can’t we at least ask them?” he begged.

“No, Father, because we will lose a lot of people if they know we are waiting on them. I’m going to tell you this. I’m working on a way to save most of the troops and almost all the civilians. Now that you know this, if you tell anyone, I’m sorry, but you will be banned from here.”

For several seconds, Father Thomas couldn’t speak but nodded. “Thank you, Bruce. If you’re trying, that’s all that matters,” he finally managed to get out.

“It might seem like a surprise, Father, but I’m tired of this shit. I want people to behave and work together so we can fight the blues. Now, you remember this; I made a promise to save as many as I can during this war, and I will do the best I can. But we are not to have this conversation again,” Bruce said, turning away.

“Thank you, Bruce,” Father Thomas said as he walked away.

Walking inside, Bruce dropped down in a chair inside the Oz Center, waiting on Gene. Gage was still alive, screaming in a trailer with a video camera broadcasting him on the TV. He looked at his two new shadows, Ted and Carl, who were bringing over wet towels.

As Bruce cleaned himself up, he thought about what Ted and Carl had told him. The house now had scanners, and only the command group and family could scan in. Everyone else had to call to mission control and wait to be buzzed in. All areas into the farm were now monitored, and people had to be let in unless they lived there or had business. Willie had informed the clan after the trial they needed to protect Bruce and Mike at all cost. The clan agreed, and since Bruce was busy with the guilty, he never got his input, which was what everyone wanted. Since this was power for the command group, a vote was passed and forwarded to the clan. The clan passed it with over ninety-six percent voting in favor.

Looking at his watch, Bruce went to get a cup of coffee and sat back down, waiting on Gene. He could see him walking around the troops on the monitors. Even the President was out among the troops. Seeing Gene walk toward his building, Bruce smiled. Looking over at Jake, he asked, “Hey, Jake, are those troops still in Gene’s room?”

“Yeah, Dad. They don’t leave the room till he gets there,” he answered.

Smiling, Bruce said, “Turn his computer on for me.”

“Dad, it’s going to be a little while till he’s there.”

“I know. Did you load up that file I gave you to put on there?”

“Well yeah,” Jake said, smiling, and turned on Gene’s computer.

Two Rangers were in Gene’s room, one laying on the bed and the other at the table, slumped in a chair, both reading books. All of a sudden, the computer came on showing a very, very kinky porno. They both sat up, staring at the screen. There were men, women, midgets, and one donkey, and everyone was having sex.

The scene moved around the group orgy when the soldier on the bed said, “Damn, that is some kinky shit.”

“I never even heard of some of the things I’m seeing,” the other said as they just watched the screen.

Gene walked into the room to see the two watching a porno. “Men, what the hell are you doing?” he asked as they both jumped up.

“Ah, sir, it just came on playing a porno,” the one at the table replied.

“Right,” Gene said, smiling.

“It did, sir,” the one sitting up on the bed told him as Gene moved over to look at the screen.

“Son of a bitch. That’s a donkey. And what is—Where did the midget come from?” Gene asked. Watching the screen, all three started tilting their heads to the right side following the action. “That can’t feel that good,” Gene said with his head titled ninety degrees to the right.

“Well, the midget thinks so, and the guy she’s with seems happy. Balloons. What the hell do you do with balloons?” the one at the table said then jumped back. “Damn, look at that. Now, that’s some kinky shit, dude!” he yelled.

“I think that would pull a lot of hair. How do they get it out?” Gene said, watching.

The man that was on the bed looked at Gene. “Colonel, it’s your computer. You act like you’ve never seen this before,” he said.

“Boy, I have so many flicks on here it would take me years to watch ‘em all,” Gene said.

Not taking his eyes off the screen, the man asked, “Ah, sir, you think you can burn me a few?”

“Maybe. Now, get out, and let me work,” Gene said, laughing.

“Yes sir, and we won’t lay on your bed anymore,” he said, laughing and walking out.

Gene turned back to the screen and started watching when the screen suddenly showed Bruce laughing. “Hey, damn it, put the movie back on. I want to know about the midget and the blonde with the balloon,” Gene snapped.

“It’s a good one. Kinda weird, but it’s watchable. Not much of plot,” Bruce said, still laughing.

Feeling somewhat offended by that statement, “Who cares about a plot with a skin flick?” Gene asked.

“Mike,” Bruce answered.

“Damn, Marines can even screw up a skin flick. I don’t care if they’re mute as long as they look good,” Gene said, sitting down.

“How does it look so far up there?” Bruce asked.

Chuckling, Gene said, “You know as much as I do, so why ask?”

“I mean how are your troops acting?” Bruce clarified.

“They don’t want to attack you. Most want to join you. I’ve had several hint they are going to go AWOL,” Gene replied.

“As long as they don’t shoot at us, we’ll take them in,” Bruce said.

Gene studied Bruce’s face and noticed his uniform was bloody. “What’s wrong, Bruce?”

“Running the war, Gene,” he replied, and Gene let it drop. “I hope you realize if your boys shoot at us, we are going to kill them, so keep them on a leash,” Bruce said as Ted brought over another cup of coffee.

“Bruce, I’m not going to ask your troops to be targets. We knock down targets. If it happens, let the cards fall,” Gene replied.

“Keep your general on that leash. Y’all will be going by several communities, and if he attacks them, you are going to lose troops. We have agreements with those groups,” Bruce said.

“Agreements?” Gene asked.

“Yep. If they follow clan law, we will trade with them and protect them, counting them part of us. They can add more rules as long as they don’t conflict with the laws,” Bruce said.

Impressed that the clan’s law extended beyond Hope, Gene said, “Rebuilding America is what it sounds like, Bruce.”

“Slowly,” Bruce agreed.

“Do what you have to, but please don’t go insane. These are good troops,” Gene said.

“Did the girls tell you what happened here? I know they talked to you today.”

“Yes, Bruce. A bit graphic but necessary,” Gene said. “I take that’s where the blood on your clothes came from?”

Bruce nodded. “That is what you will have to do, Gene. Are you sure you want to save those families of Homeland?”

“Bruce, I can’t condemn them to death like that. I know what you’re saying, and I’ll do it.”

“Remember, don’t get in any chopper for any reason.”

“You can’t just shoot down all our choppers,” Gene said.

“We aren’t. They will have massive engine failure after one hour of flight time. If your pilots are good, they’ll survive, but you really shouldn’t let them fly.”

Slumping his shoulders, Gene knew if it went bad, his troops didn’t stand much of a chance. “Are you going to have forward Radar deployed?”

“Shit, we have so much in place, I’ll know when someone farts,” Bruce said confidently.

“Then I can keep them grounded.”

Smiling, Bruce said, “Your artillery targets are in place.”

“You make damn sure your people are well away,” Gene said.

“Oh, don’t worry. We aren’t anywhere close, but we will have some realism,” Bruce said.

“Realism?”

“It’s a surprise. Just make sure you are in the main command area when you call for the artillery.”

Gene threw his hands up. “Bruce—”

“We are deploying forward elements tomorrow to finish the line. Keep your radio and phone near you so we know where you are if the shit goes south,” Bruce said.

“Well, if all goes well, I want to get drunk with ya,” Gene said.

Leaning back in his chair, Bruce said, “Oh that is a definite.”

“First weekend,” Gene said.

“Have to wait a little longer than that,” Bruce said. “We have trouble and need to nip it in the bud,” Bruce added.

Leaning over his laptop, Gene asked, “What trouble?”

Bruce took a deep breath. “Some idiots in Maryland are trying to teach blues how to shoot.”

“WHAT!” Gene screamed, jumping up and sending his chair crashing against the wall. One of the troops busted in holding a pistol, ready to fire.

“Are you okay, sir?” he asked, and the porno came back on the screen.

“Huh,” Gene said, looking at the soldier then back to the monitor. “Sorry, the midget. I can’t explain it. Yeah, I’m good, troop,” he said, and the soldier closed the door.

Bruce popped back on the screen. “Damn it, Gene, what part of covert did you not catch a Benning?” Bruce shouted.

Gene just stared at him. “What the fuck do you mean, teaching blues how to shoot?” he asked.

“Some idiots think they can teach blues to shoot other blues,” Bruce answered.

“You know this and where they are?” Gene asked. Bruce looked over at Jake and nodded. Gene’s screen split in two, and on the left side, he saw a man behind some glass trying to show a blue how to chamber a round in a pistol. When the blue looked at the gun, the man threw in a rat that the blue grabbed and ate. “You know where this is at?” Gene asked, not believing what he was watching.

“Not far from Camp David.”

“The underground facility at Mt. Weather?”

“Yeah. I’m not even going to ask how you knew that.”

Staring with skepticism at the screen, Gene said, “Nuke their ass.”

“Have planes already loaded,” Bruce said.

“Well, troop, we haven’t received a nuclear detonation signal,” Gene said, watching the man in disbelief.

“Gene, there are a lot of scientists there we need.”

“Bruce, if my momma was alive and there, I would plant a mushroom. If they succeed, we are finished,” Gene said as Jake removed the video.

“Yeah, the plane launches when the blue pulls the trigger. I hope I can get you here and we figure out something to save the scientists.”

“What have they got that we need so bad?” Gene asked.

“They are getting close to immunity,” Bruce said.

Hearing that, Gene sat back, giving a low whistle. “Okay, that’s worth taking a risk for, but if the Smurf pops a cap, please pop a nuke. Immunity won’t mean shit if they can shoot,” Gene said.

“I know,” Bruce said.

Seeing Bruce still tense, Gene asked, “That’s what has you so rattled?”

“Oh, I have more, but that’s at the top of the list. I’m sorry, but your group is number four right now.”

Not even wanting to know the others things on the list, “How long do you think it will take the blue to shoot?” Gene asked.

“Well, the first one learned in five months. This is a new one. They have been working with him for two,” Bruce said.

Leaning forward, Gene grumbled, “One has already shot a gun, and they’re alive.”

“That blue is dead. One of the scientists killed it and escaped to us. That’s how we found out.”

“Bruce, if you have to, you nuke us or bomb us if you have to turn your attention to them. We can’t let them do this; humanity will die.”

“Gene, I know, and I have people here that want to act stupid. There is a general in Pennsylvania that thinks he’s a god and a hundred other things.”

“No, Bruce, that is the only problem,” Gene said, and Bruce just looked at him. “Everything else takes a back seat. How far along are your fortifications?”

“Just have to dig a few holes.”

“What’s the temp running there?”

“Staying in the thirties.”

Nodding, Gene said, “Let your people know we are leaving here early. Get the girls to say a cold front is moving in tomorrow and will be there for a week. We need to get this over with and get to Maryland.”

“Hoorah,” Bruce said.

“Hoorah,” Gene replied. “If the Smurf shoots, pop ‘em.”

“Will do,” Bruce promised.

With a wide grin, Gene asked, “Hey, Bruce, you think you can put that movie back on?”

Chapter 13

After a few hours of sleep, Bruce was walking to the road with the family the next afternoon. He looked down at the twins; they didn’t like that they were staying behind, but they promised to take care of everybody. After Bruce told the command group what Gene had said, they agreed this business with the government needed to get settled fast so matters could be handled in Maryland.

Stopping, Bruce pulled the wives close. “You two stay close at all times. This may get hairy, and you’ll have to run it here with Nancy. Remember; if the blue learns how to shoot, launch the planes. Don’t wait for me,” he said, hugging them.

“We promise, Bruce. We are kinda smart too,” Angela said, hugging him tight. “Well, I’m a little smart. I haven’t figured out just how smart Stephanie is; she knows everything.”

With her face buried in Bruce’s chest, Stephanie said, “I do not.”

“Love you two,” Bruce said, letting them go hugging the boys.

“Enemy convoy is still bogged down in snow,” came over the radio.

Bruce looked at the two. “Well, it should start tomorrow morning.”

“Hopefully not,” Stephanie said.

“If it goes bad, follow the backup plan, and run the war,” Bruce said, walking to the command vehicle Prometheus.

Climbing inside, he hung up his gear and keyed his radio. “Willie, leave when we’re ready,” Bruce called out. Now relegated to Prometheus to run the war, Bruce felt like a fifth wheel.

“Roger that. Last vehicle, give a thumb up when you’re ready, and pass it up.”

Minutes later, they were rolling out. Gamma was leaving an hour later with Sigma and the Praetorians. Omega and Gamma both now numbered four hundred, three hundred assault and a hundred support with Sigma and the Praetorians each at three hundred. Fourteen hundred against seven thousand. Visions of the Alamo started filling Bruce’s head, and he blew them off. Even if it went to shit, they would win, but it was going to cost dearly.

When they reached the area, Omega broke up in platoons and deployed out. Jake was running the first platoon as Bruce sat in the command vehicle. This time out, he had two UAV operators with him in the command vehicle. They would be flying reapers, each carrying sixteen Hellfires. Watching the UAVs overhead, he watched Omega get ready for a war he hoped they wouldn’t fight.

Looking at another monitor, he saw the attacking convoy. They had to plow through snow, and it was slow going. Bruce had known snow was there, but he just couldn’t tell how deep it was and now he could see it was deep. The convoy was barely going thirty and stretched for fifty miles. Better them than us, Bruce thought as he took a nap.

Nineteen hours later, Gene was pissed as they started heading down into Missouri. The snow was hell, and they had lost four vehicles already just from engine failure. He was at the back of the convoy with third regiment, and Lt. Colonel Fredrick was leading it with first regiment. At least now they were making good time. There was some snow but no cars on the road since Omega had cleared them off.

Gene was over two hours behind the main group since one of the transports broke down and it was carrying an Apache. They had to empty a trailer of ammo, drop the trailer, and hook up to the Apache. Gene almost told them to leave it since it wouldn’t work anyway.

As the sun started to rise, butterflies started twisting his guts into knots. Fredrick had called and said he had entered into Arkansas twenty minutes ago. In Kansas, they started separating out, and it was up to third regiment to pick up the broken rigs. Looking out across the country, Gene tried to relax.

An hour later, his radio went off. “Colonel, we are picking up traffic on HAM notifying Omega they are under attack,” Gene heard an operator say.

Grabbing the microphone, he said, “Say again.”

“Sir, the group in in Wesley, Arkansas is reporting the government is attacking them and calling Omega,” the operator said.

“Who is fucking attacking them?” Gene yelled into the radio.

“Headquarter troop, sir.”

Gene turned the other radio on and turned it to the general’s frequency. He immediately started hearing calls of battle. “General, this is Colonel Walker. Do you copy?”

“I’m busy, Colonel, what do you want?” Givens called back.

“What are you doing?” Gene asked.

“Picking up a few dissidents,” Givens answered.

“They’re telling Omega we are here!” Gene yelled back.

“We are jamming them,” Givens shouted.

“My com track caught them calling, so I’m sure Omega did also!”

“Colonel, watch your tone!” Givens yelled back. Gene shook his head.

That asshole is going to start a war, Gene thought.

“Get back. Pull them back now,” he heard Givens scream. Gene tried calling, but no one would stop yelling long enough to answer him.

Giving up, he called his com track. “Com, what is going on down there?”

“Colonel, someone is dropping Hellfires like it’s raining. They have lost all three of their Patriots and six Abrams on the trucks and two supply trucks,” he answered.

“Hope they got the general,” one of Gene’s troops said from the back of the Hummer.

“We can’t get that lucky,” Gene said, keying the radio. “Com, what is the casualty situation like?”

“Quite a few. They attacked the compound with four Strykers and two Hummers, sir, and they lost all of them. Still not sure on the convoy itself since Hellfires are still falling.”

“Fuck!” Gene yelled, throwing the microphone. “He got a lot of men killed for nothing!” Gene yelled when he saw the Arkansas welcoming center. “Pull over here,” he told his driver.

“Yes sir,” the driver said, pulling into the welcoming center.

His guards jumped out as the convoy stopped on the road. Gene headed to the restroom, and when his guards saw him, they ran forward and cleared it out. Walking in, they just stared at him. “Men, give me a minute, please. You are going to hear me yell and cuss, but you say nothing.”

He found the radio and phone in the second garbage can. When he turned the radio on, he keyed the microphone. “Bruce, this is Gene,” he said.

“Took your sweet fucking time, didn’t you, bitch!” Bruce yelled at him.

Turning the volume down on the radio, “It’s a long way from me. What the fuck is going on?”

“Oh, your general is getting a lesson on air superiority. He rides up and just starts shooting at motherfuckers. That compound is telling me they lost nine people because of that asshole and twenty-six wounded—eleven of them kids, Gene!” Bruce screamed.

Gene shook his head. I’m so going to kill that son of bitch, he thought. “Bruce, can you stop the rain of Hellfires? They’re pulling back.”

“Yeah, I’m stopping because my UAVs are empty. They are going back for more. Now, is Givens in a Hummer or Stryker?” Bruce asked.

Taking a breath and keeping his tone neutral, Gene said, “Bruce, you proved your point. Now, you are just slaughtering troops.”

“I told you that bitch was going to throw monkey wrenches,” Bruce snapped but turned away from his microphone. “I don’t care. Fry the fuckers!” Gene heard Bruce yell at someone.

“Okay, deploy along your line. I’ll take care of Givens,” Gene said, saying a silent prayer for his troops with the general.

“When you get to your line of attack, you will be able to use your phone, Gene. I’m going to send some choppers to pull out their seriously wounded. I even get a hint of a radar lock, I’m sending in the BUFF,” Bruce said coldly.

“Bruce, if they try to lock you up, I’ll take them out. See what you can do for those people the general attacked,” Gene said, turning off the radio and putting it in his shoulder bag. Looking at the phone, he put it in his pocket then walked out to his Hummer and climbed in.

As the driver pulled out, the convoy fell in with them. Gene grabbed the radio. “General, this is Colonel Walker,” he called.

“Walker, what the fuck do you want!?” Givens screamed.

“Move your unit through, sir.”

“We have a lot of wounded and damaged equipment here, Colonel.”

“Yeah, and none of it needed to be wasted, but you did it. You did not stick to the attack plan, and look what it cost us. Move the men out now, sir,” Gene said.

“Colonel, I’m the ranking officer here,” Givens shouted.

“Listen, you slimy cocksucker; you killed my troops with your stupidity, you son of a bitch. I can call the President right now and have you killed. He told me he has over twenty Homeland officers around you at all times. Omega is rearming, but I’m sure they are fixing to send heavy loads at you, and you lost your air cover. You have no more than thirty minutes to get out of there. You just cost us the element of surprise, shit monkey! Move up behind second regiment to use their air cover!” Gene screamed and waited for a reply. When he didn’t get one, he yelled, “Are you fucking sucking your thumb, you shit fuck?”

“This is General Givens. I copy; we are pulling out and leaving equipment behind.”

Disgusted at the whole situation, Gene threw the microphone down. The platoon sergeant in the backseat looked at Gene with awe. “Fuck me with a coke bottle. Can we kill the cocksucker when we see him now, Colonel?” he asked.

“Martin, I swear I’ll do it,” Gene said.

“Well, sir, I say let’s just roll right past our lines and join up with Omega. When this is over, we will just sneak back and get our families,” Martin said.

Taken aback, Gene turned around and looked at him. “You’re serious?” Givens asked.

Martin looked at his boys then at Gene. “Yes sir. I don’t want to be a Nazi, and that’s what we’d be, sir.”

Gene smiled. “If any of you say anything about what I’m fixing to do, I’ll kill you first. Is that clear?” Gene asked, and they nodded. He pulled the radio of his bag. “Bruce, you copy?”

The others jaws fell open hearing Bruce answer. “I love that radio talk, you black, bald, sexy motherfucker.” They all recognized the voice.

“Givens is pulling out. You can send in choppers to pick up the wounded,” Gene said as the troops looked at each other in shock.

“Oh, the compound’s wounded are okay. I’m going to get yours. That bitch left over thirty on the field. The motherfuckers they shot at are treating them. I had to do a lot of talking to convince them not to run out and kill everyone.”

Letting out a relieved sigh, Gene said, “Thank you, Bruce.”

“Why is Fredrick driving right through his line now, heading to us?” Bruce asked.

Not surprised about anything now, Gene pressed the transmit button. “Guess he doesn’t want to take the chance shit monkey will fuck something up.”

“How long till you get to that asshole?”

Leaning over and looking out the window up at the sky, Gene asked, “You can’t see me?”

“Ah, I used all my missiles and hand to send my Reapers back to get rearmed, and the other UAVs are keeping over watch on the wounded for air evac.”

“Bruce, how many missiles did you fire?”

“All I had,” Bruce shot back.

“How many?”

“Thirty-two.”

“You knocked out thirty-two vehicles?”

“Ah no, thirty-three. One of your boys popped off a Stinger and wounded one of my birds, and I told the controller to kamikaze a Hummer.”

Startled to say the least, “You ran a UAV into a Hummer?” Gene asked not believing what he was saying or hearing.

“Well, it was going to crash anyway,” Bruce said. “Hey, I see you now.”

Spellbound, Gene looked at the destruction around him as his com officer called on the radio, “Colonel, I’m getting encoded traffic on a radio frequency. You want me to jam or triangulate?”

Gene grabbed the other radio. “No,” he said, still looking at the destruction.

“You sure, sir?”

Martin leaned forward, taking the microphone from Gene. “Henderson, it’s Martin. You even try that, and I will rape your ass tonight after I coat my dick in ground up glass; you hear me? They are already pissed off. Look around you. Call back, and tell Scotty if he so much as turns on a Stinger, he will know if I can shove it up his ass!” he yelled.

“Yes, Sergeant,” Henderson replied as Martin handed back the handset.

“I like that Martin. I want him on Omega, Gene,” they heard over the radio as Gene lifted a handset, still looking at the destruction.

Grabbing Gene’s hand, Martin said, “Not that one sir.” He took the handset for the troops out of Gene’s hand and gave him the other one.

“That would’ve been wired calling Bruce on our net,” Gene said as the other guys started high-fiving Martin.

“Hey, Bruce, just to let you know, Martin is sitting in my Hummer with me. I kinda let the cat out of the bag,” Gene said.

“That’s the platoon sergeant with no neck?” Bruce asked, and everyone became quiet.

Gene laughed. “That’s the one along with my porn buddies,” he said.

“Martin, you guarded Hammer well. You and your boys have a place on Omega but only if your dicks touch the ground. We do have standards,” Bruce said, and Gene fell over against the door laughing.

“Give me that mic,” Martin said. “This is Martin; my handle is Conan. All my boys pack heavy. Even after we wrap it around our leg three times, it still drags the ground.”

“Oh, hell yeah. You’re on Omega,” Bruce said as Martin handed the mic back.

“Bruce, I’m heading to third regiment’s area then back to Givens. We push our table up, okay?”

“Hey, dude, we were sitting here playing video games till your damn general fucked everything up,” Bruce said. “Now, I have troops moving to forward deployment areas.”

“I’m sorry, Bruce. And Bruce, don’t you think you went a little overboard here?” Gene asked, seeing the tail of a UAV sticking straight up out of a destroyed Hummer.

“Gene, that compound you just passed has four hundred plus, and over a hundred are kids. They survived blues and gangs. I’d be damned if I was letting Givens kill them. If your boys don’t have the balls to pop a cap in his ass, that’s not my fault. We have been fighting the war. I was getting ready to call in heavy air.”

“Understand, Bruce, and it was the right call,” Gene said.

“Can’t you let third regiment sit up and just go to Givens?” Bruce asked.

“Bruce, third is led by a major who has trouble tying his boots. If I leave him, he will bump into your line. I really want to keep casualties down.”

“You’re right. Stay safe, and my choppers are out heading to your boys.”

“Those are your troops, Bruce, just like we will be before long,” Gene said. “Stay safe. I’m out.” Gene looked around the Hummer, at everyone looking at him in awe.

Martin shook his head. “Sir, I’m really fighting the urge to pop you in the head. Me and the boys have been trying to figure out how we could knock you out and tie you up so we could join up with Omega. All this time, you were with them,” he said.

“Tie me up?” Gene asked.

“Yes sir. We couldn’t leave you here because it’s no secret that Givens wants to kill you along with several in Homeland. They don’t mind killing; that’s why Givens has the job. We all know they killed General Center.”

“Oh, I know. Bruce sent me their e-mails. They own that base,” Gene said.

“You could’ve told us sir,” Martin said.

“I had to be sure, and when we finish here, we have to join Omega and Gamma in the war fast, but I will fill you in on that later.”

“How in the hell do you know Bruce, sir?” Martin asked.

“Martin, when you were at Benning, did you hear of Dark Knight?”

Shaking his head, chuckling, he said, “Shit not many wearing the tab haven’t heard of him.”

“Bruce is Dark Knight, and I was his LT for four years.”

“No fucking way!”

Gene started laughing. “Oh yeah. That man aged me twenty years in those four he was under me.”

Martin leaned forward. “Is he really married to both Angela and Stephanie? We hooked up a dish and watched a broadcast last week,” he asked.

“Pretty, ain’t they?” Gene said. “And yes, he’s married to them both, and they are both pregnant now,” Gene said.

“You’ve seen and talked to them?” Martin asked.

“Yeah, I talked to them on my computer many times,” Gene said and sighed. “But the light of his life is dead. He lost his wife in an attack by a gang. Now that was a woman. Angela and Stephanie are doing a good job taking care of him now. Bruce has a tendency to go ballistic in the stupid shit area.”

“Sir, those stories can’t all be true,” Martin said.

“No, they’re embellished a lot now, but they really happened.”

They all just looked at each other. “Sir, you going to join Omega with us?” Martin asked.

“I’ll fight wherever Bruce tells me to,” Gene answered and started laying out how Bruce contacted him and the plan to get the families out.

Bruce was watching the screens as Omega redeployed further out in case Givens attacked. They had moved out after Fredrick was led through their lines, going to Hope. The center of his line was at Plain Dealing with a platoon there, and the others spread out. Just as they finished setting up, he watched in horror as second regiment overshot their line.

Just as he was about to start an artillery strike, they stopped at the town of Bradley, Arkansas. They were now thirteen miles from his line, ten miles closer to him than they were supposed to be. Bruce was getting ready to pull his troops back when radar started picking up the micro UAVs. He told everyone to stay put because they were inside the government’s artillery now.

Looking at the screens around him, Bruce made sure all their artillery was marked for death if they so much as sneezed and radioed his troops to stay under cover. When he heard Gene come over the air and tell them not to turn any radar on until he got there, Bruce relaxed. He watched them for an hour, spreading out their line, and behind them, the headquarter element spread out and started working on the wounded. Seeing all the wounded, Bruce started to feel guilty for raining down so many Hellfires.

“Sir, we have vehicles heading toward Plain Dealing!” one of the technicians yelled at him.

“Light them up!” Bruce yelled.

“Sir, they will be there before we get lock!” Bruce moved over behind him and watched the line of vehicles speed down the road, reaching the outside of Plain Dealing in four minutes.

Bruce keyed his mic. “Omega, we have enemy in Plain Dealing.”

“No shit, Dad, we see them,” Jake shot back.

Bruce broke out in a cold sweat when he head Jake’s voice. “Son, you’re supposed to be to the east.”

“Well our positions for our rigs weren’t completed, Dad, so we had to hide our rigs here, and we were getting ready to move on foot to our bunkers when we heard motors coming.”

“Jake, it looks like a company-sized element. Is that about what you get?” Bruce asked, trying to calm down.

“Yeah, and if this is keeping our distance, you tell Gene I’m kicking his ass.”

“You might have to stand in line, son.” Bruce watched the vehicles stop inside of Plain Dealing. Then, Bruce saw more vehicles move out toward other areas of his line.

“Willie, get ready to engage and pull back,” Bruce called over the radio.

“Ah, Bruce, that’s good for you to say, but they are bigger than we are. If we pull back, I’m going to have to do it under fire and take a lot of casualties.”

“Scramble the Apaches!” Bruce yelled.

Jake came over the radio. “Dad, I’m fixing to engage. They are getting too close and have numbers.”

“Jake, they are four times your size, son.”

“Yeah, and if they get closer, they will just be able to overrun me.”

“Mike, are you seeing this?” Bruce asked.

“Yes, Bruce,” Mike answered.

“Run this, and use the artillery and Hellfires. I have the Apaches en route,” Bruce said, heading toward the door.

“Damn it, Bruce, second and third regiment is starting to move down,” Mike shot back.

“Shove it, Mike,” Bruce yelled. “Jake, before you start, call for artillery on their forward position so they can’t reinforce,” Bruce said, climbing into a Hummer and getting behind the mini gun. “Driver, get me to Plain Dealing now!” Bruce screamed.

“Sir, it’s ten miles away,” the driver said, pulling out and throwing up rocks and dirt.

“Go really fucking fast!” Bruce screamed.

In an old, brick building, Jake was on the upper floor, looking out over the street. The troops were within a hundred yards. “Matt, you and Danny get ready to take out the four Strykers with the Javelins. Everyone with an AT-4, go for the Hummers. When the artillery hits, open up, and don’t stop.”

“This is first platoon. Need artillery on their forward elements now. Mortars, drop right at the edge of town, and don’t stop till I tell you,” he said, bringing his rifle up to his shoulder. Behind him, off in the distance, he heard the MRLS and mortars, and so did the enemy. They started dropping down and moving away from their vehicles faster toward the shelter of the buildings.

When the first shell hit, first platoon opened up. Fifty troops died instantly as Danny and Matt shot off the Javelins from the roof of the building Jake was in. One of the Strykers saw them and opened up with the Mk-19, throwing grenades.

As the first ones hit the roof, the Javelin hit it, blowing it up, but the grenades impacted the side of the roof, throwing Danny and Matt back. All the air in Matt’s lungs left his body as something hit him in the chest. As he crashed against the roof, he heard Danny yell. Rolling over, he saw her right arm covered in blood then saw blood on her face. Crawling over to her, he grabbed her. “Are you okay?” he yelled.

“Fuck no. That son of bitch shot me!” she yelled, pulling a grenade off with her left hand and threw it off the roof.

Matt threw two more and keyed his radio. “Jake, Danny’s hit,” he yelled.

“Get her to the street. I have two down here. Will meet you there,” Jake replied.

Matt tried to look at Danny’s arm, but she stopped him, hearing an AT4 launch beneath them. “Look at it later; let’s get the fuck out of here! Jake only had two AT4s!” she screamed, grabbing her rifle and hearing another AT4 launch. Matt lifted her up and moved to the stairs. Gripping his rifle, Matt let Danny move down the stairs, and he noticed she wasn’t moving her right arm, and there was more blood dripping from it. When they reached the bottom, they saw Buffy run out the side door heading toward the front of the building. Ripping a grenade off her vest, Buffy threw it around the corner and ducked back as bullets hit the corner, sending brick chips flying.

“Matt, I have my wounded at the top of the stairs. Come help me get them down!” Jake yelled over the radio. Using her good arm to hold her rifle, Danny ran up to Buffy, and they started firing around the corner. Matt ran inside, heading upstairs. He saw two wounded at the top of the stairs and Jake and Mary firing out the window. Grabbing one of the wounded, Matt yelled, “Jake, let’s go!” He lifted a wounded woman over his shoulder and glanced at Jake before turning and running down the stairs. He looked up to see Jake pick up the other woman and him and Mary coming down. An explosion hit behind them that threw Jake, Mary and the wounded woman down the stairs on top of Matt.

Outside, Danny and Buffy were firing at the advancing troops, using all their grenades to buy time for Jake, Matt, and Mary. “Jake, move your ass. These assholes really want this building!” Danny yelled over the radio and changed magazines. With only one hand, it was quite challenging, and she was not in the mood for a challenge.

“Some cocksucker tried to blow us up!” Jake called back.

“Yeah, he shot an AT-4, but Buffy dropped him. Now, come on; we can’t last much longer!” She leaned out, firing. From behind a smoking Hummer, Danny saw a green sphere flying through the air at her. “Oh shit,” she moaned.

Buffy was shooting at anything that was moving and even a few bodies that weren’t. Seeing two men running toward her, she aimed and squeezed, hearing Danny tell Jake to move it as both men dropped, screaming. When she heard Danny say “Oh shit,” Buffy looked up and saw the grenade flying toward them.

She watched it hit the ground in front of her bouncing, and yelled, “Grenade!” as she jumped back, hitting Danny in the chest with her back, knocking Danny behind the corner with her as the grenade exploded.

Jake and Matt stepped outside just as the grenade exploded and saw Danny and Buffy fall back, crashing hard on the sidewalk. “Danny!” Matt screamed and ran to her.

“Danny and Buffy are down. Half the platoon is wounded or dead. First platoon is staying in place! No surrender; kill everything!” Jake yelled on the radio as he ran behind Matt toward Danny and Buffy. He saw Danny’s right arm was a bloody mess, and Buffy had blood on her left hip, and her pants were starting to soak through with blood. Both had their eyes open, but their eyes were rolled back.

Grabbing a grenade off his vest, he pulled the pin and threw it behind a burning Hummer then saw a line of troops moving toward them, stepping over a lot of bodies. Well, it took a bunch of them to take us out, Jake thought as he pulled his rifle up to his shoulder, sighting in on one. Then, a stream of red cut the line of troops coming at them in half.

Jumping back, Jake turned and saw his dad coming at them, firing a mini gun out of the top of a Hummer. Jake spun back around the corner. “Oh yeah, y’all fucked up now, my Dad is here!” he yelled as he shot two men trying to retreat. The Hummer stopped in front of them, and Bruce jumped out and ran over to them.

He saw Danny and Buffy laying down, not moving, and Matt and Jake were covered in blood, and he didn’t see Mary. The once suppressed rage filled his body as Bruce spun around and charged the line of attacking troops, screaming. His life meant nothing now as the wave filled his being. Coming around the burning Hummer, he saw a pile of wounded soldiers and started shooting all of them then rushed forward. Ignoring the pleas, Bruce shot anything not Omega.

Matt and Jake took off after him to join in the killing. How many they killed they didn’t know, but it didn’t matter. Not finding any more, they ran back to the corner of the building. As they reached the girls, all through the distance, the sound of war raged on.

Chapter 14

Gene was walking the major around, showing him where to deploy, when to the west, he heard thunderous explosions and felt the ground shake under his feet. “What the hell is that?” the major asked.

“War,” Gene said, running to the command track. “What the hell is going on?” he yelled.

“The general ordered a probing attack to the front, and they hit heavy resistance. Then, Omega dumped rockets and artillery on our forward edge. Next, they brought down Hellfires, taking out the Patriots that they missed and all the MRLSes. The casualties are in the hundreds so far. They strobed their radar and saw planes coming in from Shreveport; then, they lost the radar. All of our micro UAVs suddenly just dropped. We think they jammed the frequencies. Then, we lost one of our main UAVs, and we pulled the other one back,” Henderson said.

Gene grabbed the handset from Henderson. “This is Colonel Walker. All units, pull back to scrimmage line now. Any unit not pulling back will be hit by friendly artillery!”

“This is General Givens; you will ignore that order and continue contact!” Givens yelled.

“General, shut the fuck up, or I will drop some artillery rounds on you. All units, you have three minutes before impact. The enemy is calling in massive air, and we have no long-range air cover, only short-range. You will be wiped out by them or us if you don’t pull back now. General, I’m on my way, bitch!” Gene shouted.

Martin ran over to him, carrying his shoulder bag. “Sir, Mike wants to talk to you,” he said in a hushed voice.

Gene looked at the major. “If you follow anyone’s order but mine, I’ll kill; do you hear me?” Gene said.

“Yes sir,” the major said as Gene ran for the Hummer.

When he climbed in, he grabbed the microphone. “Gene,” he barked.

“What the fuck is going on?” Mike yelled.

“Givens ordered probing attacks,” Gene told him.

“No shit, but they are ten miles forward of your departure line,” Mike said, and Gene started cussing.

“Mike, call off your air. I ordered them back.”

“Bruce called in the Apaches, and they are fixing to hit you now!” Mike yelled.

“Mike, pull them back; I’m going back there now. Call Bruce,” Gene begged.

“His kids were in that attack line, motherfucker, along with mine. It was called out half the platoon was down. All of y’all are dickless pieces of shit and couldn’t fight your own fucking battle. You made us do it, cocksucker. You and your men could’ve overthrown those fuckers, but no, you don’t want to do this bullshit. You are fucking spineless. If my kids are dead, I will hunt every one of you fuckers down and kill you with my own hands!” Mike screamed at the top of his lungs.

“Mike, I just wanted to save all of them.”

“You can’t, you stupid motherfucker. You save as many as you can!” Mike yelled. Tears ran down Gene’s cheeks hearing Mike. In a normal voice, Mike called back but was breathing heavily. “Gene, I’m waiting on word from the units. Bruce went to the kids. If any of them are dead, so are your troops and refugees.”

“I understand, Mike. I have all my positions holding. After you take us out, make sure you take out Maryland. I’m sorry, Mike,” Gene said.

“I am too, Gene,” Mike said.

Gene dropped the microphone and turned to Martin. “Tell your boys we may have to fight our way in to the general. You will kill anyone that stands in our way.”

Martin whispered in his mic then looked at Gene. “Sir, you can’t blame them. They were trying to help us, and their kids get shot. If it was me, I’d be coming with a dull wood saw to kill us.”

“I know, Martin,” Gene said as they pulled up to the headquarters area. Gene got out, and two MPs walked over to him.

“Sir, you are under arrest,” one said as Gene drew his pistol and shot him in the face then spun and shot the other one. Then, Martin’s platoon flanked Gene as he walked forward. Troops cleared the way. An MP came running from the tent and was shot by one of the Rangers. Gene stepped over the body into the tent, and the general pulled his pistol only to have one of his Ranger “guards” knock it from his hands.

Gene looked at a table in the center of the tent and saw the President. “I told you, sir; he has gone insane!” Givens yelled.

“General, you do realize that we can hear your radios up here, right? And we have been watching. You didn’t follow any of the ordered battle plan. Have you heard from first regiment? No, you wouldn’t because they are not there,” the President said.

“Sir, first regiment defected to Omega,” Gene said.

“Are you sure?” the President asked.

“Yes sir. Fredrick called me and said Givens was going to get us killed and you didn’t care enough to stop him because you don’t a have dick. His words, sir,” Gene lied.

“So General, you have killed a lot of my troops and caused three thousand to defect. You will be shot and go down in history as a bigger traitor than Benedict Arnold,” the President said, and Givens started crying. “Colonel, you are in charge. Can you save this operation?” he asked.

“I don’t know, sir. I have to wait on information; then, I’ll know,” he said.

“I understand, Colonel. For now, I’m fixing to let Homeland deal with the traitor’s families,” he said.

“Sir, I wouldn’t do that. If you want the men to follow the commanding officer’s orders, you can’t. They will question every order given and not fight. We lose our army. They are not to blame.”

“You’re right. If at all possible, capture Fredrick.”

“Yes sir,” Gene said.

“Let me know,” the President said.

“Sir, we are against the wall. Either we do or don’t. Now, our only option is an all-out attack, but I will keep you updated,” Gene said and turned the monitor off. “Tie up the general,” Gene said and pointed at five other officers.

One of the Rangers pointed at a captain. “Sir, you really want him tied up also?”

Gene nodded. “Men, tell me what are casualties are.”

On the other side of the battle lines, Bruce ran over to the corner of the building dropping his rifle and found Mary holding a bandage to Buffy’s hip. Then looking at Danny he saw her sitting up. Falling to his knees he moved Mary’s hands and ripped Buffy’s pants open. He saw several gashes in the flesh of her thigh and a big one over her hip bone. Pulling out his dressing, he bandaged her up and saw several rips in her vest showing the Kevlar underneath.

Then he moved to Danny and ripped her shirt open to see a huge gash in her bicep and another on her thigh. “Can you feel me touch your hand?” Bruce asked.

Danny grit her teeth. “Yeah.”

“Can you move it?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Well, do it.”

“Hell no. It hurts like hell!” she shouted. He put a dressing on the bleeding wounds and searched her to find she had a large gash in her scalp. Then, he moved to Mary and saw she had a dressing on her neck. Not seeing blood coming out, he left it alone. Looking Mary over, Bruce noticed her vest was ripped up with several hits to the chest and abdomen. He said a small prayer of thanks that the kids had them on as he continued to look Mary over.

Flipping his voice mic on, Bruce moved to Jake. “Willie, I want med evac inbound now,” Bruce said. “How many casualties?” he asked Jake, kneeling next to him.

“Eleven dead, twenty-six wounded that I know of. I haven’t heard from third squad yet.” Bruce bandaged the cut on Jake’s face and leg then moved to Matt and put several dressings on his wounds.

Seeing David and Mindy walk up, Bruce motioned them to him. “Get first platoon, and after the med evac, pull back. You’re in charge, David. Pull back to the command vehicle. If they blink, launch everything you have,” Bruce said. “Willie, what’s the damage to Omega?”

“Second platoon: six dead and eight wounded. Fourth: two dead five wounded. We are still trying to get to third squad of first platoon. The rest are at full strength.”

“Pull up here, and cover first platoon as they pull out, and have someone do the same for the others. David is over first,” Bruce said.

“What about our playmates?” Willie asked.

“I don’t care if they all die right now,” Bruce said, looking around at the destruction.

Huffing, Danny looked at him. “You don’t care if we save them? I got blown up for fucking nothing, and some of our team is dead!” she screamed.

“That’s bullshit, Dad. If that’s the case, we could’ve just bombed there asses,” Buffy said through clenched teeth.

“Let me get y’all home first. Then, I’ll worry about them,” Bruce said. “Does it hurt bad, BB?” Bruce asked, wishing the choppers could move faster.

“You remember when you had that stick stuck in your arm and you said it wasn’t that bad?” Buffy said, grimacing.

“Yes, BB,” Bruce smiled.

“YOU FUCKING LIED! THIS HURTS!”

“Buffy, don’t ever listen to Dad about pain,” Danny said.

Bruce heard the choppers coming in and turned around. “Big Daddy One, this is son number one. I’m coming in hot. Get the guys, and I’ll have you home in minutes!” Steve yelled.

“Jake, Matt, get your wives. Someone, put two more wounded on here, and remember our dead!” Bruce shouted. “Base, this is Big Daddy One. I’m bringing the kids home. Some of them are busted up good, but they’re still bitching.”

“We’re waiting, baby,” Angela cried out.

True to his word, it looked like Steve was going to crash as fast as he was coming in, but he flared out at the last second and touched down softly. Bruce picked up Buffy and carried her to the chopper as everyone followed. When everyone was loaded, Steve took off like a bat out of hell, and Bruce watched the world pass by in a blur.

Two hours later, covered in his own kids’ blood, Bruce was sitting alone in the command bunker as Marcus came in and sat down with him. “What are you going to do about the army out there?” he asked.

Staring down at the table, Bruce replied, “Don’t know.”

“Well, why don’t we just finish the plan, Bruce? Everything’s in place,” Marcus asked.

“That’s what I’m leaning toward. We’ve sacrificed a lot for this, and I don’t want it to be in vain.”

“Well, Bruce, it’s cold out there, and they have lots of wounded.”

“Alright, Marcus,” Bruce said, walking back to flight control. He grabbed a headset. “Gene, this is Bruce. You out there?”

A few seconds later, Gene asked, “This is Gene. Good to hear from ya. The kids okay?”

“Buffy and Danny are still in surgery but should be okay. Jake, Matt, and Mary got a shit load of stiches.”

“What was your cost?” he asked.

“Thirty-two dead and seventy-nine wounded. You?”

“Two hundred nine dead, four hundred sixty-two wounded,” Gene said.

Taking a deep breath, Bruce asked, “You ready to finish this?”

“No,” Gene said, and Bruce took a step back from the radio.

“No?” he asked.

“Enough of this charade shit. Can you get this UAV from over my head?” Gene asked.

Lowering the headset, Bruce turned to the room. “Tell everyone to shoot at the UAV. Whoever hits it gets a prize,” he said. Suddenly, thirty missiles were screaming through the sky eighty miles away over the battlefield. A Patriot hit it, but the other twenty-nine hit the wreckage as it fell to Earth.

“Thank you. I’ll bring in my troops, and can I borrow some trucks to go get our people?” Gene asked.

“Okay, Gene, and we will send Gamma to help ya,” Bruce said.

“No, Bruce. Hope has done enough for us. We will take care of this, but I am going to need your air assets to wipe out what I leave behind in Colorado,” Gene said.

“You’re going to lose a lot of your men trying to get the families of Homeland,” Bruce said.

“Nope, had a man tell me today I can’t save everyone—just try to save as many as I can. Their husband, fathers, mothers, and wives are responsible for their family’s death. They took the job at Homeland; the others there didn’t,” Gene said.

Closing his eyes, thankful Gene finally understood, Bruce said, “I told a man that long ago after I almost got killed trying to save everyone. He wanted us to try.”

“Yep, and he told me, and he’s right.”

“Gene, the gate will be open, but most of the family is wounded or working on wounded.”

“That’s okay. I can meet them when I get back. Can you have those trucks ready tonight?” Gene asked.

“How many?” Bruce asked.

“About three hundred.”

“Yeah, around midnight.”

“See ya soon, brother, and I’m sorry; I should’ve listened to ya,” Gene said.

“No, I had a very wise woman tell me you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink. I just thought she was calling me a stupid horse,” Bruce said.

“Debbie would never call you stupid unless you really pissed her off,” Gene said.

“Hoorah,” Bruce said.

“Hoorah,” Gene replied.

Grabbing another headset, Bruce called Willie and told him to lead the troops in. Throwing the headsets down, Bruce walked outside to his truck. Climbing in, he headed toward the hospital. When he reached it, he never remembered driving over as he climbed out and headed inside. A guard saw him and stepped up to stop him. Then, he noticed who it was and wisely let him pass. Bruce saw the family gathered around several beds and headed toward them.

Stephanie and Angela saw him and ran over to him then wrapped their arms around him. “They’re going to be okay, Bruce,” Angela said.

“So they will all be fully functional?” he asked.

“Oh yeah, Bruce. Danny and Buffy will be on light duty for a while and have some scars, but other than that, they’ll be fine,” Stephanie told him.

Letting out a huge sigh, Bruce walked over to the others and saw Jake, Matt, and Mary in beds side by side. Mike was arguing with Matt to stay in bed as he walked over. Feeling someone beside him, Mike looked over and saw Bruce. Wrapping his arms around him, Mike said, “Brother, I have never been so scared in all my life.”

“I know, brother. I’m glad they are all okay. What’s the story on the other two?” Bruce asked.

“Danny’s bicep was pretty bad, but they did a good job on cleaning it out and saving it. Except for a lot of scars, she’ll be fine. Buffy had shrapnel all in her right thigh and a large piece imbedded in her iliac crest. They were able to remove it, and like Danny, she’ll have scars but should be fine. They are out of surgery and should be out here soon.”

“The rest of the wounded?” Bruce asked.

Pulling Bruce tight, Mike closed his eyes. “They’re working on them now. The medics and docs that surrendered with the military are in here helping. I’m fixing to suit up and lend a hand with Angela and Stephanie. Nancy’s already back there. We have four operating rooms running, and it looks like they will be running for some time,” Mike said as he let Bruce go.

“Gene is on the way in; I will have the rest of his medical staff over here and get set up,” Bruce said.

Feeling bad, Mike looked down at his boots. “Bruce, I shouldn’t have yelled at him like that.”

Bruce scoffed. “Mike, if Gene would’ve been here, I would’ve capped his ass. I know we play with death every time we go out, but we were trying to help them, and it bit us in the ass. I’m sorry I can’t see our kids as just regular troops. I would make them stay here, but they have a right to fight like we do.”

“I know, Bruce, but I still owe Gene an apology,” Mike replied.

“That’s up to you. I don’t. He’ll be lucky if I only punch him in the face,” Bruce said, looking up as the doors at the end of the room opened, and two stretchers rolled in. Bruce smiled upon seeing the two girls awake but with stoned looks on their faces. Swallowing hard, Bruce hugged all the kids and went outside to the morgue. Walking in, he saw the rows of bodies and groups of people weeping around some and others cleaning the bodies.

Walking around the room, Bruce stopped at each body and talked to the ones left behind. He was shocked at the sight of so many young men and women who had paid in blood trying to save some of mankind. At each body, Bruce would lay a hand on the forehead and say a prayer, giving thanks to them and their families. Father Thomas walked in, saw Bruce, and joined him. When Bruce left the last table, he knelt on the floor and said a last prayer.

When he finished, he stood and noticed Father Thomas standing up with him. Father Thomas looked at him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Go lead us. I will help those here.”

“Thank you, Father,” Bruce said, wiping tears off his face and turned around to see Ted and Carl. “What are you two doing here?” Bruce asked.

“Our platoons are in garrison, so we’re just following you,” Carl said.

“Guys, I’m sure you can be more useful somewhere else. I don’t need bodyguards.”

“If you want, we can call Angela and Stephanie,” Ted offered.

Letting out a moan, Bruce slumped his shoulders. “Fine, what’s going on now?” Bruce asked.

“We put the military in the area set up for them. Gene has all his medical staff working with ours. All the military wounded have been put in with ours. They are setting up the mobile hospitals now. Gene is gathering up his troops to head out tonight to get the refugees. Boss, we went over there to lead them in, and our artillery did a number on them,” Carl said.

Shrugging, Bruce said, “I really don’t care.”

“Boss, what Carl is saying is most of their wounded are really messed up. Remember, boss, you told us we needed them for this war coming, so don’t hold any grudges. The troops coming in don’t. Gene announced to all of them what his plan was and how the general and his staff fucked it up. We had to take over guarding the general and his staff. Gene didn’t trust his troops to do it when they found out. They want to join us, boss, and feel bad about the fight after Gene filled them in. By the way, he’s outside,” Ted said.

“Why didn’t he come in?” Bruce asked, still not feeling bad.

“He did, and you were busy talking to a family. He’s outside in his command Stryker, directing his troops till you come out,” Carl said.

Cracking his knuckles, Bruce said, “Let’s go see him.” He walked past them, heading outside. When he was outside, he saw a Stryker in the middle of the parking lot, so he headed over. When he got close, he saw a platoon of troops snap to attention and a sergeant salute him. “At ease, gentlemen,” Bruce said, walking up and looking at the man’s name tag. “Martin, the offer still stands for you and your boys,” Bruce said, holding out his hand.

Shock spread across Martin’s face as he shook Bruce’s hand. “Sir, the colonel really tried to keep the general under control, but like most desk jockeys, he fucked it up big time, sir. Don’t hold it against us, sir,” Martin said.

“I know, Martin, but I’m not apologizing about hitting your elements. Your troops are lucky the air wing got called back,” Bruce said as Gene walked out of the track.

“Sir, if that would’ve been my kids, I would’ve wiped us off the Earth,” Martin replied.

“The thought crossed my mind, but it would have served no purpose. The troops were just doing what they were told,” Bruce said as Gene walked up. Bruce looked at Gene, and a smile spread across his face. All the years and hardships they suffered together flashed through his mind. Walking toward Gene, Bruce wrapped his arms around him. “My brother,” Bruce said, hugging Gene, and the desire to punch Gene in the face slowly faded away.

“Bruce, I would’ve died before I would let harm come to your family. I hope you know that,” Gene said, returning the bear hug.

“I know, Gene, but I had to stop the attack to save my kids.”

“Bruce, like Martin, I would have laid waste to everything for my kids. I’m glad they’re okay,” Gene said as Bruce released him.

“Come on; let’s go see them,” Bruce said, turning and walking away. Gene followed him as the others fell in behind them. The guard stood, blocking the door seeing the group heading toward him. Ted ran ahead and talked to him, and the guard opened the door. Having bodyguards might not be so bad, Bruce thought.

Walking over to the kids, Bruce saw Carroll standing at the foot of the beds with a switch in her hand. All the kids were staring at her then noticed Bruce walk up. “Daddy, tell her I don’t want to drink this nasty tea,” Danny said.

Having no intention of doing any such thing, Bruce just smiled. “Danny, it will help you get better,” Bruce said, not wanting a switch on his ass any more than the kids did.

Looking down in the cup of tea, she said, “I don’t care. It taste like rotten sludge from a gator’s ass.”

Trying not to laugh Bruce looked at Carroll. “Is that the tea I drank?” he asked.

“Yep, and they’s gonna drink it,” she announced. “They can be drinkin’ it or I pours it down ‘em.”

Knowing he would help hold them down, Bruce looked at Danny and said, “Guys drink up.”

“Daddy, I got blown up and now I have to drink this?” Buffy whined.

“If you don’t, I’ll hold you down and pour it down you,” Bruce threatened.

Huffing, Buffy looked at Gene with a hard face. “Mr. Gene, I can forgive you about getting blown up, but this is pushing it. I think I’m going to punch you in the mouth when I can get up,” Buffy said.

Jake said, “Dad, I’m sorry, but when I get to Heaven I’m telling Mom you had an affair.”

Bruce jumped back. “What?” Bruce spouted.

“Dad, there is no way Buffy is not blood related to us; it’s impossible. She acts too much like you.”

Ted shook his head. “Shit, she acts like this whole damn family,” he mumbled.

Laughing, Bruce introduced Gene to the family, and Gene looked at Buffy. “Buffy, if I could, I’d drink that for you, but it wouldn’t do you any good,” he said.

“You haven’t tasted it,” Buffy said, and he stepped over and took a drink. Gene never gasped or made a face as he took a gulp and set her glass down.

“It’s a little tart, but you can handle it,” Gene said. The kids looked at him in amazement.

Shaking her head, Danny looked over at Buffy. “I think he’s going to be a bad influence on Dad,” she said, picking up her glass and draining it. Buffy saw that and drained her own, as did the others.

Gene laughed and went over to Danny. “Danny, your mother told me Bruce was the bad influence on me,” he informed her, and he kissed her on the head. Moving to Buffy, Gene did the same to her and the rest of the kids.

When he was finished, he stood beside Bruce as Buffy was trying to focus her eyes on him. “What the hell is going on?” she slurred out.

“Buffy, you’s mouth is getting way out of line fo a girl. I knows you fights, but you watch your mouth, young’un,” Carroll warned.

Buffy made a funny face, trying to look at her mouth. “I can’t see my mouth, and I feel like I’m floating,” she slurred as she laid her head back and started snoring.

“Wow,” Bruce laughed and noticed the other kids already asleep. “Thank you, Carroll,” Bruce said, hugging her.

“They’s my kids too, Bruce; now, go do what you have ta. I’ll be with ‘em,” Carroll said, moving over and covering them up.

Bruce and Gene headed back outside as Gene stopped and grabbed on to Bruce’s shoulder, steadying himself. “Holy hell, what was in that?” Gene asked, shaking his head.

“Have no idea, but it will knock you on your ass if you drink a glass of it,” Bruce said.

“I was fixing to until it touched my tongue. I felt my balls pull up inside my skull,” Gene acknowledged.

“Only a sip shouldn’t knock you down, but don’t drive,” Bruce warned him.

Shaking his head, Gene looked at Bruce. “I have the field hospitals set up behind the hospital. We now have four more operating rooms. A man named Paul came over and told me where to put our troops. I have talked over my game plan with my staff, and we will leave tonight.”

“They have UAVs overhead, Gene,” Bruce reminded him.

“Paul and another man named Marcus told me the ‘minions of Oz’ would take care of them before we got close,” Gene said.

Putting a hand on Gene’s shoulder, Bruce said, “I hope you don’t get in a firefight with them. I think they have caused enough troops to die.”

“Oh, we won’t. I’m taking everyone out during the night to load them up and head home. I talked to the major I left in charge. He’s getting the people ready to leave now at dark to meet us away from the camp. Then, you need to lay waste to the area.”

Wanting to see if Gene understood what was needed, Bruce offered, “We could just let them starve to death.”

“No Bruce, you were right; they know too much. Locations of storage sites, weapons, and a lot more. We can’t let them get control of a large gang and come after us. They have to die. I wish we could save the families, but they made their choice staying in the Homeland compound.”

Relieved, Bruce smiled. “I know, Gene; I just wanted to hear you say it. How many of your boys are you taking?”

“I’m only taking one regiment: Fredrick’s. Don’t worry; your drivers will be protected at all cost. You go back to your family, and I’ll be back soon,” Gene said.

“Take care, and hurry back. I’m going to check on the troops.”

“I’ve already told my troops about what happened, and you are now in charge.”

“Yeah, I was told that, but where’s the general?” Bruce asked.

“Marcus put the general and his staff somewhere. I don’t know. Will you wait till I get back before you deal with them?” Gene asked.

“Certainly,” Bruce said, holding out his hand. “I’ll make sure Cook brings the bags.”

Gene gripped his hand, shaking it. “Bruce, I’m sorry. I just wanted to save them all. I have watched them live under total fear. I should’ve known better, and I lost a lot of troops for it and a lot of yours. I won’t make that mistake again.”

Bruce chuckled. “Gene, to be honest, I didn’t think it would work, but I was really hoping we could pull it off,” he said then became serious. “I’m getting real tired of this war, and it’s only the beginning of it. I will never see my kids just get to live a life without war. They along with everyone here is in for a war that will last years. Even if we win it, we can never let our guard down. I’m under no illusion that the blues will just go away or we can kill all of them.”

“It’s the only choice we have, Bruce. We can fight it or just lay down and die. If we don’t take the war to the blues and other gangs out there, they will get stronger and become a serious threat to us.”

“Hurry back, Gene, and be careful,” Bruce said, patting Gene on the back. Gene smiled as Bruce walked away with Ted and Carl in tow.

Martin came over to stand beside Gene as Bruce left. “Sir, that is a good man there,” he said.

“Yes, it is, and that is just what we need to rebuild this nation,” Gene said and turned, walking to his Stryker to get his troops ready.

Chapter 15

The President was sitting in his reception area, talking to his staff, waiting on breakfast when one of the Homeland guards came running in. “Mr. President, they’re gone!” he shouted.

“Who’s gone?” the President asked.

“The refugees and the military, sir.”

“Where did they go?” an aide asked.

“We don’t know, sir. We were getting ready to make morning rounds through the camp and didn’t find anyone. The military barracks and command center are empty. We found tracks in the snow leading south. We tried to follow, but snipers took out five of my men, sir,” the guard said.

“Get a UAV up, and start shooting at them,” the President said. “I will not have anyone else just decide they don’t want to be part of America.”

“Ah, sir, the UAVs are still grounded; the flight computers have been wiped out,” the director of Homeland said.

“Damn it, this is a conspiracy. Load up, and go after them. I want half of them shot on sight to teach the others what happens when you disobey my orders,” the President shouted, standing up.

All of a sudden, the large screen on the wall came to life. The group gasped, seeing Bruce look at them. They along with many others in America had watched the new satellite broadcast. “Hello guys,” Bruce said.

Looking over his shoulder, the President asked his staff, “How did he do that?”

Bruce laughed. “Oh, I can do a lot more.”

“I’m waiting?” the President said, looking at his staff, who were looking at the monitor. The President still hadn’t registered Bruce was talking to him.

“Shit for brains that thinks he’s the President, I can hear you,” Bruce said.

The President spun around, looking at the monitor. “I’m the President, and you will address me with respect!” he screamed.

“Sorry, douche, respect is earned. I just wanted to let you know the people are safe and headed here,” Bruce said.

Charging the monitor, the President shouted, “Those are my people!”

“No, they aren’t. When they get here, they will be given the choice like all the others. They can stay here or leave.”

“I’m loading up what I have and heading to you. I know you couldn’t have wiped out all my troops. They will follow me into battle!” the President bellowed.

“Of course I didn’t kill the troops; they joined us.”

The President stumbled back. “That’s impossible. I’m the President, everyone must do what I say.”

“Sorry, dude, but you’re a dweeb with a little dick. I don’t think many would follow you willingly into a whorehouse,” Bruce told him.

The President heard laughter from the monitor as others around Bruce laughed. “You must obey me; I’m the ruler here, not you!” he shouted.

“In three more minutes, you won’t be anything. I’m erasing another mistake,” Bruce said with a smile.

One of the staff members jumped up. “Our families are here!” he yelled.

“That’s on you, not me. You followed the orders of that shitwad, disrespecting everything that America was built on,” Bruce said, looking at his watch.

“We had no choice,” another one shouted.

“Oh, you had a choice, but you took the easy, boot-licking way out. You could’ve fought. We have fought here and will continue to rebuild America. Just to let you know, we’ve had your base’s computers and monitors for a while and recorded a lot of stuff. I will make sure future generations know just what you did to Americans.”

The President became pale. “Please let us leave. I don’t want to die.”

“Sorry, you have killed too many, and judgment has been passed,” Bruce said as some of the aides ran for the door.

Dropping to his knees, the President pleaded, “I want to join you.”

“No you don’t; you want to try to rule. If you would’ve been even half decent, I would’ve spared you, but your actions dictated you must die and all those with you,” Bruce said, looking off the screen.

“There are women and kids here,” one of the aides who stayed shouted.

“For that, I’m sorry, but this group has cost a lot of lives. I was not willing to risk trying to save them risking anymore from here,” Bruce informed him.

“Let us get them out,” the President pleaded.

“Sorry, dude. You have twenty, two-thousand-pound bombs already falling. I figure about thirty more seconds,” Bruce said, and the President fainted. When he hit the floor, the first explosion ripped through the compound.

When his monitor went blank, Bruce turned, dropping the fake smile, and watched on another screen from a UAV as the explosions went off in a tight-packed circle. A tear ran down his cheek as the explosions stopped. The UAV widened the field of view, and he could see the huge cloud hanging over the area.

“Sir, the Buff is reporting target destroyed and is returning home,” one of the controllers said.

“Tell Mack to hurry home; we have more work to do,” Bruce said, getting up and walking out of the command area.

When Bruce was outside, he bent over, dropped to his knees, and threw up. Looking behind him, he saw Ted and Carl. “Don’t tell anyone what you saw,” Bruce said, struggling to stand up, wiping his mouth.

Glancing around, Ted said, “I saw you tie your boot, boss. I’m sure everyone here knows you can do that.”

“That includes the wives,” Bruce said, walking away, and they followed.

Feeling a hundred years older, Bruce walked up to the berm looking out over the west field and stopped watching the airport. Ted moved by his side. “Bruce, can I tell you something?” Ted asked.

“Yeah, but I can’t promise I won’t pop you for it,” Bruce said, trying to spit the taste out of his mouth.

“It makes me feel better when you act like that taking out noncombatants instead of just blowing it off,” Ted said, and Carl was whispering for Ted to shut up.

Sighing, Bruce closed his eyes and turned slowly then opened his eyes, looking at them. “It makes me feel better also guys. I want to remember that those were people that were just at the wrong place at the wrong time, trying to survive. They were too scared to fight, but I couldn’t risk them laying down again. We need fighters, not pacifists. What I tell you now you will take to the grave,” Bruce said. “I’m scared; the power of what I can order this group to do now scares the shit out of me. I have to always guess if I’m doing what’s right.”

“Boss, that is why we follow you, Bruce. You lead from your heart,” Carl said. “You do wild shit, but you have a reason. I really don’t think we will have another rape here for decades. You expect nothing more than what you’re capable of.”

“Thank you, guys, but don’t tell the girls; it will only make them worry, and their hormones are at least simmering down,” Bruce pleaded.

“Don’t worry, boss,” Ted said, and Carl agreed. As always, the small camera on the side of Bruce’s hat recorded all.

***

Two days after the bombing, the command group was in the bunker with a new addition: Gene. Mike had tried to apologize to Gene, but Gene wouldn’t accept it. Bruce smiled, seeing the kids sitting at the table. Danny still had her arm in a sling, and Buffy was hobbling around with a leg brace and crutches. Bruce’s smile fell off his face upon seeing Gene’s uniform.

Several noticed the reaction and stopped talking. The others noticed it and looked at Bruce, still staring at Gene. “Gene what is that?” Bruce asked, pointing at him.

Confused, thinking he spilled something on his uniform, Gene looked around him then at his shirt. “What?”

Getting up, Bruce walked over and put his finger on the tab on his shoulder that said “Special Forces.” “That,” Bruce said.

“Bruce, I went through the year after you got out,” Gene said.

Stepping back, Bruce gawked, “And you just now tell me?”

“Ah, Bruce, we’ve been busy,” Gene said.

With a longing, Bruce asked, “Was it tough?”

“Tough doesn’t even begin to describe it,” Gene said, leaning back.

“Damn,” Bruce said, staring at the tab with a dreamy expression.

“I would’ve loved to have had your ass there with me,” Gene said, smiling.

Shaking his head and stepping back, Bruce quickly said, “Nah, I would’ve phased out.”

Gene chuckled. “Bruce, you graduated top of the class at Benning. You would’ve completed the course. Granted, I don’t think you would’ve had the smart ass attitude at graduation, but I could be wrong.” Several at the table chuckled.

“I wouldn’t have completed,” Bruce mumbled, still looking at the tab with longing desire.

Hearing the yearning in Bruce’s voice, Gene stopped chuckling and turned to Bruce. “What?” he snapped.

Spinning around and heading back to his spot, Bruce said, “Another time, my friend.”

Angela stood. “Bruce, before we start, Stephanie and I have to do something,” she said.

“Ah, okay,” Bruce said, a little worried.

They both stood and walked over to Gene, and Stephanie took out an envelope from her pocket. “This is from Debbie,” she said, handing him the envelope. The entire room became silent as a tomb. Bruce wobbled on his feet and crashed back into his chair, and no one even looked at him.

Gene looked at the letter then up at them. “I thought y’all were kidding me,” he said, taking the letter.

“We don’t kid about Debbie,” Angela said.

“Y’all didn’t tell me,” Bruce blurted out.

“Debbie said not to, but we had to give it to Gene when the command group was together,” Angela said.

Carroll smiled and stood. “Gene, you can read that later. We has some business ta attend to,” she said, looking at Bruce. His face was pale, and his mouth was hanging open. “Bruce, you knowed she saw what was comin’. Let’s get this meetin’ started,” Carroll said, sitting back down as Angela and Stephanie walked back around the table and sat down.

Bruce was staring at them, and Gene was staring at the envelope like it was a snake. Finally, Bruce spoke. “How many more do you have to hand out?” he asked.

Straightening out a stack of papers in front of her, Stephanie said, “That was the last one.”

“You could’ve at least hinted about it,” Bruce barked at them.

“No, Debbie wasn’t sure we would get them here and told us not to,” she said.

Before Bruce could speak, Angela leaned over the table. “Bruce, I used to be a skeptic, but I can say I’m totally convinced. I won’t disappoint Debbie, so don’t try to make me.”

Not sure what he wanted to ask or if he wanted to ask anything at all, Bruce shook his head, clearing the cobwebs, and looked at her. “I wouldn’t do that, Little Foot, but can we at least talk about what she wrote y’all?” he asked.

“We told you that you could read the letters she wrote us after you read the notebook,” Stephanie said. “If you had, you would have read about that letter.”

“We will talk later,” Bruce said, trying to clear his mind. He stood up looking at Jake. “Jake, fill us in on what is going on at the lab in Maryland.”

“Well, the blue did pull the trigger, but it shot itself and won’t touch the gun. They killed it and are starting over.”

Bruce glared at Jake. “Son, I told you I wanted to be notified when it pulled the trigger,” he growled.

“Dad, it shot itself and wouldn’t touch the gun again,” Jake said.

“When?” Bruce asked.

“Yesterday.”

“Son.”

“Dad, come on; they killed it and are starting over,” Jake said.

Bruce threw his hands up in the air. “Okay, but the morning intelligence reports start again tomorrow. If I’m not here, someone get word to me please,” Bruce said, looking around the table. “What is the weather like up there?”

“Cold and lots of snow,” Matt said.

“What’s the population there?” Bruce asked.

Jake looked down at his computer. “One hundred and seventy-three scientists, five medical doctors, nine nurses, a dentist, several dozen assistants, one hundred and six Homeland officers, two hundred and fifty-four military personnel, just over a hundred personnel that run the base. Then you have the families. In total, just over eight hundred,” Jake said then looked up.

“Jake, I want you to fly a UAV from here to there, finding all the open roads. I don’t care about snow; we will plow our way through. We will launch a ground assault in. We will attempt to take them prisoners, but if not, we will just kill them,” Bruce said.

Not in the mood for another coup, Willie said, “Bruce, if that’s the case, let’s just bomb their asses.”

“No, Willie. If we can get those that want to leave, we will. We will take out the guards and rush them fast.” Willie shrugged his shoulders and nodded.

Ted stood up, “Boss, Carl and I are taking over first platoon to cover your ass.”

“I really need you on your platoons and not babysitting me,” Bruce answered.

Stephanie stood up, “I like that idea. At least when you go off on a rampage, you will have a wall of troops around you,” she announced, and Angela grinned in agreement.

Feeling outmaneuvered, Bruce leaned back in his chair, covering his face with his hands. “Ted, Carl, build a fifty-man team to be the headquarters troop. Gene, get a hundred troops to put in Omega for the attack; you are now over Omega.” Everyone jumped up and started yelling at Bruce, who still had his hands over his face.

Lowering his hands, Bruce jerked a finger across his throat. When everyone shut up, he spoke. “I’m over the war, but since everyone here keeps pushing me back behind the line, I have to have a commander on the ground with Omega.” Hearing Bruce say he would stay behind the line, everyone was satisfied and sat down. “Willie, when this attack is over, I want you to build another strike team and command it. It will be beta. Each strike team has until February to get to five thousand strong. We start the war this spring. We will move up the eastern seaboard first. When I’m not leading in the field, Mike is. Steve and Mack, I want the air wing broken down to three units to rotate them out. One here ready to fight, one in the field giving support, and the other in down time,” Bruce announced, and everyone just looked at him.

Seeing the looks, Bruce said, “Guys, it’s time to kick this war into high gear.”

“Bruce, that leaves a lot of leeway in our battle plan,” Gene said.

“That is not our battle plan, just a rough overview. Since everyone here wants to bitch when I say something, I had to tell y’all so you would shut up. Now, can I go back to the laying out the attack on the lab?” Bruce asked.

Seeing everyone nodding, Bruce opened his laptop and brought up the layout of the compound. Going over the attack for an hour, Bruce told everyone to go and start the preparations. They would continue the next day after the security briefing. Wanting to be alone, Bruce walked out lost in thought, followed by Ted and Carl. Not knowing where he was going until he stopped in front of the shop, Bruce walked in and sat down at the desk. Ted and Carl walked over to a table and sat down.

A few minutes later, Angela and Stephanie came in. Bruce looked up with a smirk. “How did you know where to find me?” he asked.

“Hello, there are cameras everywhere out there, Bruce,” Stephanie said, kissing him, followed by Angela. “Granted, they are looking for attacks or infected getting through, but since they are there, we used them to find you.”

Laughing, Bruce asked, “What do I owe for the pleasure of your company?”

They sat down in his lap. “Bruce, when are you going to deal with the general and his staff?” Angela asked.

“When we get back from Maryland.”

“Can’t Angela and I just take them out and pop a cap in them?” Stephanie asked. Bruce started laughing and couldn’t stop as Stephanie’s face became angry. “What, you don’t think we can?” she demanded.

Grabbing both of them in a hug, Bruce shook his head and looked at Stephanie, smiling. “Oh, I know you could, both of you, but to hear you say it lets me know I’m kind of a bad influence on y’all,” Bruce said with Ted and Carl nodding in agreement.

Angela looked at him with a serious expression, “How do you figure that? You’ve taught us how to fight, survive, and live. Accepted us into this family and made us happy. So if we want to scalp the bitches that hurt our kids, you find it hard to believe?” she asked.

“No, but it lets me know I always have backup,” he said, pulling them close.

“I can’t believe you even doubted that,” Stephanie said.

“How are you two doing?” Bruce asked, changing the subject.

Stephanie sat up. “I felt the baby move,” she said, smiling. Bruce hugged her tighter.

Angela started to laugh and snort. “You should have seen her, Bruce. She thought something was wrong and started freaking out,” she said.

Stephanie lightly slapped Angela’s arm. “Hey, that’s weird.”

“Well, thank God you quit throwing up,” Angela said.

Pulling away from Bruce’s chest and sitting up on Bruce’s lap, Stephanie stated, “I didn’t tell you to throw up with me.”

“Stephanie, you started jumping on the bed when you felt the baby move, yelling you were fixing to die,” Angela said.

With her eyes getting really big, Stephanie said, “It freaked me out.”

“Not as much as the twins,” Angela said, snorting.

Bruce laughed and looked at Stephanie. “Didn’t you read books about pregnancy?”

“Oh, she has read like fifty of them, baby,” Angela told him.

Stephanie shook her head. “Bruce baby, those people that wrote those books are stupid. They talk about heightened ‘sense of smell’ and everything along with it. I smell shit I don’t even know what the hell it is. Yesterday, I smelt something and traced it down, and it was someone painting a plane on the runway half a mile from the house. I’m really trying to be tough, Bruce, but this is taxing,” she said, looking down.

Feeling sorry for her, Bruce lifted her face up. “Hey, if it was me pregnant I would be beyond freaking out. But to be honest, I would’ve had a hysterectomy after my first period,” Bruce admitted.

“Damn, I thought Stephanie could get wimpy,” Angela said.

“Hey, if you think I want to push—”

Angela slapped her hand over his mouth. “No, Bruce, don’t say it. We’re still working on that.” Bruce raised his eyebrows in shock.

Stephanie buried her face in his chest. “You will be there, won’t you?” she asked with her voice cracking.

He rubbed her head and pulled Angela to him. “The only way I would miss it is if you have them early. Then, you would have to wait till I fly in.”

Angela looked up at him. “You damn well better because we aren’t going through this alone.”

“I wouldn’t think of it,” Bruce said.

“We have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow. You will come with us, right?” Angela asked.

“Well yeah,” Bruce said.

Clapping her hands, Angela said, “We have our first ultrasound tomorrow, and guess what? One of the doctors from Colorado is an OB/GYN.”

“Cool,” Bruce said as Stephanie looked at him.

“Bruce, there was a study put out several years ago about ultrasounds—” Stephanie started, and Bruce held up his hand.

“Stephanie, it wasn’t a real study. It was only based on lab experiments. Ultrasounds don’t cook a baby’s brains,” Bruce said.

With a look of uncertainty, she asked, “Bruce, the science is sound; how can you be so sure?”

“Little Red, there have been hundreds of millions of ultrasounds of babies, and none have been reported to have been born with a cooked brain.”

“Well, I don’t want to have the long odds one,” she said, and Angela was snorting.

Bruce smiled then asked, “Guys, what did Debbie write to Gene?”

Both looked at Bruce in disbelief. “We don’t know, Bruce. We didn’t read the other letters,” Stephanie told him.

“What do you think she told him?” Bruce asked.

“Have no idea?” Angela said then added, “Bruce, I want you to know there were letters to give to many people here, but we had one addressed to Gene. Debbie told us he would come later and you would know him. That is why when Adam told us Gene was in Colorado, we kinda freaked.”

“Kinda freaked is a little mild,” Stephanie said. “When we were alone, we screamed for an hour,” she admitted with a pale face.

“Yeah, I could see that,” Bruce admitted. “What do you guys think is going to happen?”

Angela smiled. “You are going to lead this war and win it. Then, we will live happily ever after.”

Stephanie and Bruce just stared at her. “What did you do to her?” Stephanie asked Bruce.

“Ah nothing,” Bruce replied. Angela laughed as Bruce hugged them. “Go get the kids, and let’s ride around the base,” Bruce said, kissing them. They jumped off his lap, running for the door. Bruce looked at Ted and Carl, who were grinning. “One word, and you eat your testicles,” Bruce warned, and shock hit their faces.

“Dude, that was private talk. We would never talk about that,” Ted snapped. Then he smiled. “But I have to say I’m using some of that with my woman tonight,” he informed Bruce.

Carl grinned. “Bruce, I used to think you were lucky to have two women, but now, I think you’re cursed. You never win an argument, they have you outnumbered, you can’t argue with just one of them, their hormones are always insane, and they have you in the palm of their hands.”

Grunting in agreement, Bruce said, “It took you that long to figure it out? I thought you were the smart one.”

Carl shrugged his shoulders, “I would’ve ran away,” he said.

Bruce smiled. “I made a promise; then, I realized I loved them, and for some reason, they love me. Now, I’m fixing to be a dad—again—times two,” Bruce said, dropping the smile.

Ted jumped up. “Come on, boss; let’s gather your crew,” he said, walking to the door.

“What do you want to take, boss?” Carl asked.

“I’ll take the family in Debbie’s SUV, and y’all follow in a Hummer,” Bruce said, heading to the garage.

“Hey, boss, just wait here; it will be brought here,” Ted said.

Getting ready to explode, Bruce turned around to see Carl talking into the radio. “There is no way you two could’ve put together your team. You’ve been stuck up my ass all day!” Bruce shouted.

“Well, we put together a fifty-man team yesterday, we were going to ask you if we could expand it,” Ted told him as Carl looked up smiling.

“I don’t need fifty men guarding me here at the base,” Bruce snapped.

“Boss, please just let us do this. We have too many people here now,” Ted said.

“Exactly. I don’t want others getting hurt protecting me,” Bruce snapped.

“Well, boss, sorry, but we are going to follow you, so just let us, okay,” Carl more stated than asked as a Hummer and Debbie’s SUV pulled up.

Watching the vehicles stop, Bruce asked, “What about the rest of the command group? They are just as important.”

“Oh, they all have bodyguards, just not as many. They agreed you were the most important, and we volunteered,” Carl told him.

Turning to look at them, Bruce shouted, “But you two are on the command group!”

Ted grinned. “Yeah, that’s why you and your family have so many,” he said.

“My family!” Bruce shouted, and Carl hit Ted on the arm and turned to Bruce.

“Yeah, they each have at least two on them at all times,” Carl said.

“So everyone on the command group has bodyguards?” Bruce asked.

Visibly scared, Carl looked down. “Ah no, Marcus and Carroll don’t,” he said and looked up. “I don’t know what ‘rend my fat to lye soap is,’ but I’ll be damned if I want to find out.”

Nodding that he had to agree with that, “What about Gene?”

“Yeah, Martin has a four-man team with him at all times,” Ted said.

Making a few quick calculations, Bruce shook his head. “With what you have told me, we have over a hundred people assigned to bodyguards,” he said.

“One hundred and twenty plus our fifty-man platoon,” Ted corrected.

Stepping back, Bruce shook his head, looked around, and for the first time noticed men and women spread around the area holding weapons, looking around. Angela and Stephanie were leading the twins, PJ, and Cade over as he turned back to Ted and Carl. “Know this, men; without my family, I’m nothing.”

“We know, Bruce. That’s why they are being guarded,” Ted said as the group walked up, and Angela and Stephanie were talking on the phone.

“If you two are talking to each other, I’m going to bed,” Bruce said as they walked up.

Pulling her phone away from her ear, Stephanie looked at him with hard eyes. “Of course not. We were calling the other kids, asking them if they wanted to join us.”

“Well, are they coming?” Bruce asked.

“Yep, they will be here in a minute,” Angela said, hanging up her cellphone.

Carl whispered in his radio, and another SUV pulled up behind Debbie’s. Then, Bruce noticed several Hummers and a Stryker sitting off to the side. “Please tell me they’re not all following us,” Bruce said, pointing at the vehicles.

“Yep, and we have another three out on the road,” Ted told him. Bruce started mumbling, going over to the kids, and Ted decided not to tell him about the micro UAV overhead.

The kids came out and piled in vehicles. They went to the dam to look at the spillway then drove around the perimeter, stopping at the towers. Bruce carried Buffy up the flights of stairs to the top. Then, they drove to Hope and ate in one of the mess halls then headed to the airport. Bruce just wanted to see the base and the new people but enjoyed the time out with the family.

That evening, Bruce was sitting in the main Center at the farm, waiting on supper, and looked around. It was packed to capacity as was Hope now. Every barrack was full, and they still had two thousand troops sleeping in tents. The base’s population was now over seventy thousand, and the supply of clothes and toiletries had taken a huge hit.

Everywhere Bruce went, the new refugees ran over to thank him. Bruce could see many had hope again. He was very pleased and knew in his heart that Debbie was too.

Chapter 16

The next morning, Bruce woke early and snuck out of the room at five. Walking downstairs, he was startled to see a guard at the foot of the stairs. The guard smiled as Bruce walked by and talked into a radio as he reached the back door. Behind him, he heard movement and turned around to see five armed people following him.

“Can I help you?” he asked, opening the door.

They all came to a stop. “Just following, sir,” one of them replied. Bruce grumbled and headed to the gym with the five guards following.

As Bruce started his workout, Ted and Carl came in, motioning the five guards outside. They joined Bruce in his workout, and halfway through, Bruce stopped, wiping sweat off his face. “Guys, the guards are starting to get old,” he said.

Ted racked the dumbbells they were using and turned to Bruce, smiling. “They have only been following you for a day.”

“Yeah, and it’s getting old already,” Bruce said, continuing his workout.

When Bruce was finished with his set, Carl climbed onto the bench. “Well, boss, sorry you’re so popular and important. Surely, you understand why everyone wants you protected,” he said, lifting the bar off the rack.

Draining his water bottle, Bruce watched Carl slowly lower the bar to his chest and push it up in a slow, controlled movement. “We’ve been running for over a year, guys, and I’ve been fine. I do appreciate guarding the family, but I can handle myself,” he said as Carl racked the bar.

Sitting up, Carl looked at him with a grave face. “Bruce, we know you like your space, but we have added too many people for us to know them all. It would be too easy for a gang to get someone inside. Not to mention what’s left of the government; you did just wipe out the ruling class and take their military,” he reminded Bruce.

Not responding, Bruce studied Carl’s face as Ted spoke up. “Bruce, we still have more government out there, and I’m sure they don’t like you or us. Since you’re in charge, you are the target, not us.”

Not able to argue his way out of it, Bruce threw down his empty bottle. “Fine, but when I say leave me alone for a small amount of time, I mean it.”

Relieved, Carl walked over, slapping Bruce’s back. “Hey, no problem, but we will stay close.” The door to the gym opened up as Bruce was thinking about his reply. Carl noticed the look on Bruce’s face and knew he was fixing to unload. Turning away, Carl looked to the front of the gym and saw Gene walking over. Thankful for the distraction, Carl nodded at him. “How you doin’, Gene?”

Walking over with a scowl, he replied, “Pretty good, but can I ask why Millie won’t let me get my own food?” He noticed the look on Bruce’s face.

Ted chuckled. “Dude, don’t even go there. You’re on the command group, and she wants to serve us. I trust you found out about the spoon?” he asked.

Never taking his eyes off of Bruce, who was staring a hole through Carl, he said, “She popped the shit out of me till I got out of line. She left bruises.”

“Chalk it up to lesson learned,” Carl said, ignoring Bruce’s stare.

Not able to take it anymore, Gene stepped in front of Bruce, breaking the glare at Carl. “Bruce, what’s your problem?”

Slowly turning away from Carl, Bruce locked eyes with Gene. “I don’t need babysitters,” Bruce growled.

Relieved, Gene laughed and slapped his leg, “I beg to differ, sir,” he chuckled. “You forget; I’ve fought with you before. You can piss off a saint.”

Glad he had someone to argue with, he replied, “Gene, we could use these troops on the line going down range, not guarding me.”

The laughter left Gene’s face as he became serious. “Bruce, their job is just as important. You are a symbol now. If something happens to you, people will lose focus and hope. Everything you and this clan have fought and died for will be for nothing.”

Letting out a snort, Bruce took a step back, smiling. “Yeah right,” he snickered.

“Bruce, what your people are not telling you is you’re just as important as this war we are fighting. I knew in our first firefight you had the knack. When you slipped away, sneaking up behind those skinny’s, taking out their entire left flank like you were out for a Sunday stroll, I knew you were a born warrior. Your only problem is you get sidetracked, losing the big picture. I’ve watched you the last few months, and you are much better, but you still take a battle to personal, getting sidetracked,” Gene told him as he sat down on the bench.

Letting out a long sigh and sitting down across from Gene, “So even you think this is necessary?”

Nodding as he spoke, Gene answered, “Yes Bruce; everyone on the command group needs protection but you most of all.”

“Gene, don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t want all this. I just want to get this war over with before I’m driven insane. I don’t like putting others in harm’s way while I’m stuck back in the rear.”

“That is the job of the commander.”

As the wheels in his head turned, Bruce just looked at Gene for a few minutes then smiled. “Well, if I’m the commander, I can do what I want,” Bruce declared.

Knowing that was coming, Gene closed his eyes. “I have never known you not to do what you wanted even when ordered not to,” Gene said, shaking his head.

Laughing, Bruce reached over and patted Gene’s leg. “I take it you didn’t come over here for this talk, so what’s on your mind?”

“Well, you’re right on that,” Gene said. “I want to talk to you about this assault in Maryland.”

Bruce got up. “What about it?”

“You really want to launch a ground offensive, punching a hole through enemy territory, advancing over a thousand miles, then turn back around and come home?” Gene asked.

Not liking his plan so much but unable to come up with alternatives, he said, “It’s the most viable option to rescue those there.”

“Bruce, I don’t doubt you, but that is a long way to go, and we will be fighting battles to get there. Then fight an assault on a closed complex and turn back around, fighting our way out. Omega has never been that far away from resupply. I think this can go bad in a hurry.”

“Hey, this is my best option; otherwise, I just plant a mushroom,” Bruce said and started pacing.

“How about going in by air?” Gene asked.

Stopping his pacing, Bruce shook his head. “No, those choppers will ring the dinner bell for miles, letting everything know we are there.”

Pointing at the ceiling, Gene said, “I’m talking about parachuting in.”

“Gene, besides my kids, who are out of action for a while, Omega only has four with jump time,” Bruce said as he started pacing again.

Laughing, Gene stood. “Well, you haven’t looked at Omega recently then. I have forty-six HALO Rangers in Omega now.”

Startled, Bruce stopped pacing again. “Hell, I don’t even have HALO training,” he replied.

“Bruce, we don’t need to drop from thirty thousand feet. We only need to drop at fifteen thousand. You skydived, so you can use a ram-foil chute,” Gene said.

Ted coughed, “Why would he have to go?” he inquired.

Gene looked over at Ted. “I guess you didn’t listen closely at yesterday’s briefing. Over half a dozen times, Bruce said he was leading this charge into Maryland.”

“He never said that,” Ted replied.

“Oh, yes he did. It was very subtle and elusive, but he informed everyone he was leading it,” Gene said.

Ted looked at Bruce, “Did you?” he asked.

“Hell yes!” Bruce barked. “My troops will not be in the field without me!”

Ted looked at Carl, and Carl held up his hands. “Hey, I never caught it either,” Carl admitted.

Gene laughed at the two and looked at Bruce. “Well, what do you think about that?” Gene asked.

Bruce thought about it. “We could do it. We would need a sixty-man team, so we would have to train a few more really fast. After the assault, we could have the Chinooks come and pull us out. I just don’t like being that far away without some form of support.”

“We can have the A-10s on standby, but this will be a lighting strike. If we are not in control of the complex in an hour and not out of it in three hours, we are screwed. The blues would swarm us by then no matter how cold it is,” Gene said.

Bruce looked at Ted and Carl. “It’s got possibilities. What do you two think?” he asked.

“You were going to lead the battle?” Ted asked, still replaying the briefing yesterday in his head.

Bruce narrowed his eyes. “Ted, if you don’t pull your head out of your third point of contact, I’m going to take it off your shoulders. I said ‘we’ yesterday, and that means me.”

Carl slapped Ted to make him shut up. “Bruce, it’s got a lot of pluses, that’s for sure, but it’s very risky leaving a lot of our best with their dicks hanging out in the wind,” Carl said.

“Let’s head to the shop,” Bruce said, gathering his stuff. “Call Willie to join us.”

At 1000 hours, the command group was gathering as Bruce walked with them into the Command Center. “Change of plans on the attack,” Bruce said, walking to the head of the table.

Dropping his head to the table, Paul mumbled, “Oh shit.”

“We’re going to do an airborne assault on the complex,” Bruce said, sitting down.

Marcus started chuckling. “Damn, didn’t see that one coming,” he said.

Mike leaned over. “When did you train Omega to jump?” he asked.

“I didn’t. Gene has a platoon of Rangers that are HALO trained,” Bruce said.

“HALO?” Paul asked.

Stephanie leaned over the table. “High Altitude Low Opening,” she told Paul then turned to Bruce. “They might be, but you aren’t,” she reminded Bruce with a frown.

“Don’t need to be; we are jumping at fifteen thousand feet. We just need people that can jump with a ram chute,” Bruce explained.

Standing up and putting her hands on her hips, Angela glared at Bruce. “You better explain in great detail how you are going to do this, or I’ll go out to the runway and break every damn plane there,” she warned him.

Leaning over the table toward her, Ted asked, “How did you know he was going?”

Whipping her head around, Angela looked at Ted like he was a special needs child. “He said ‘we,’ not ‘the team.’ I think if Bruce were forced to stay behind, he would whine like a bitch and have a nervous breakdown.”

Smiling at Angela, Gene said to Ted, “You need to pay better attention, troop.”

Tapping her foot, Angela said, “Well, I’m waiting.”

Taking a deep breath, Bruce started laying out his notes, going over the plan. When he finished, he looked up at Angela. “Any questions?” he asked.

Angela looked at Stephanie, who shrugged her shoulders, “Not right now,” Angela finally said.

As Angela sat down, Danny slapped the table. “This sucks; I can’t go!” she yelled.

Knowing this was coming, Bruce closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Danny, even if you weren’t injured, you wouldn’t be going. You haven’t trained to jump with equipment into combat.”

“You just said you were going to train more people!” She slapped the table again then grabbed her hurt arm.

Letting out a long breath, he explained, “Danny, we are going to train some that are airborne to jump with a ram chute.”

Thinking it over, Stephanie leaned over to Angela. “I want Bruce to have my baby; he’s already had Danny, so he should be used to it,” she whispered.

Patting Stephanie’s leg, Angela whispered back, “It’s already in you.”

As Stephanie let out a groan, Bruce looked at them out of the corner of his eye. “Danny, I know you want to go but not this time. Everyone in Omega is going to be trained to jump this year; we need this capability,” Brue tried to reason with her.

Willie reached over the table and held out his hand to Gene. “Pay up, sucker,” he said, grinning. Gene reached in his pocket and pulled out his Swiss Army knife, handing it over to Willie. Taking the knife, Willie sat back and noticed everyone was looking at him. “What? He didn’t believe Danny would be pissed and Bruce wouldn’t promise her she could train to jump,” he said, sitting back.

Really pissed, Gene shook his head, looking at Bruce with a scowl on his face. “Don’t look at me in that tone of voice, Gene,” Bruce warned.

“What about me, damnit!” Buffy snapped. “I’ve busted my butt learning how to fight, and Mama Stephanie has made me do like a thousand push-ups just learning! Now, you are going to be doing cool shit!”

Willie leaned back across the table. “Hand it over,” he said, holding out his hand. Grumbling, Gene reached to his belt and handed over his Leatherman.

“I hope that is all you bet, Gene,” Bruce said, watching the exchange.

Shaking his head, mumbling, Gene didn’t respond. Willie didn’t hesitate. “No, we have several others.”

“Buffy, you will train as well but only after the doctor clears you, and that goes for all of you,” Bruce said, looking at his kids.

Clearing his throat, Jake smiled and said, “I only have stiches, Dad; I can go.”

Wanting to resign his position, Bruce shook his head. “No, son, you have sixty-two stitches and had a dislocated elbow. You’re on light duty until cleared, so don’t even start,” Bruce replied.

“Fuck!” Gene shouted as he jumped up and threw a pocket pistol, sheath knife, and a compass on the table and pushed them over to Willie. “You can come and get the rest of the shit tonight. I believe you,” he popped off.

“Hey, I told you, but oh no, you just didn’t believe me. Now you see what we have had fighting beside us. The kids are almost as bad as he is,” Willie said, grabbing the stuff.

Wanting to yell at someone, Gene looked at Mack. “Get us a pilot for a C-130 today. We need him all day and all tomorrow!” Gene snapped, heading for the door. “I’ll be outside.”

Smiling, Willie sat back in his chair, looking at all the loot he won. “Touchy, isn’t he?”

“Willie, I’m not even going to start,” Bruce said, gathering up his papers.

Carl jumped up. “Bruce, I tried to tell Gene not to take the bets, but he wouldn’t listen,” he explained.

“Jake, you and Matt get with your geeks to find out the easiest breach point. Steve, you and Mack work out the air operations,” Bruce said and pushed a stack of papers to Danny. “I want that gathered and packaged to jump with us,” Bruce said.

Jake jumped up. “They are ‘minions of Oz,’ not geeks!” he shouted.

Never stopping, Bruce shook his head, gathering his stuff. “Son, when I think of minions, I see small, yellow creatures that speak gibberish to Gru, not people,” he explained and looked at Angela and Stephanie. “Ready for your doctor’s appointment?” he asked.

“You remembered?” Angela asked, shocked.

With a smart ass response on his lips, Bruce wisely didn’t respond as he shouldered his rifle and held out his hands. The two jumped up, grabbing his hands. They walked out with Ted and Carl following. When they were gone, Jake looked around at the table. “If someone calls me Gru, we hit the floor. They are not geeks,” he said, getting up.

Shaking his head, Matt stood up grabbing his stuff. “I never thought about it, but Daddy Bruce has a point. We need a new name for the team. I don’t think I can call them minions again without laughing,” he said as they walked out.

The girls started laughing. Buffy looked at Danny and Mary. “Daddy’s so cool,” she said, straining to get out of her chair.

“Trust dad to find something funny like that,” Danny said, holding her arm then helping Buffy up. With Mary on one side of Buffy and Danny on the other, they left.

Bill looked at Marcus. “When those kids get older, I feel sorry for whoever pisses them off,” he said.

Willie gathered his winnings. “Shit, I feel sorry for them now,” he said, leaving.

Walking outside, Bruce led the two to a waiting, brand-new, large, black Suburban, and they climbed inside. Carl closed the door as Ted climbed in the driver’s seat. Carl jumped in the passenger seat as Ted took off. Bruce looked behind them to see a Hummer following. “What, I only get one Hummer today?” Bruce asked with a swaggering tone.

“No, boss,” Carl said as Ted pulled out of the farm. A Stryker, two more Hummers, and two Suburbans that were identical to the one they were in were waiting for them on the road.

“Where did you get the new Suburbans?” Angela asked.

“Found them,” Ted answered as Carl talked on the radio.

Studying the interior of the Suburban, Bruce said, “My guess is they sent someone to Dallas to get them.”

“Why Dallas?” Stephanie asked, looking around. “There are a lot of car lots around.”

“It’s the closest place that makes armored rides,” Bruce said.

“It’s armored?” Angela said, sitting up and looking around in shock.

Nodding, he pointed. “Look at the windows; they are two inches thick. Feel how it rides? That’s because of the armor.”

Spinning around in his seat, Carl asked, “How in the hell did you know we got these in Dallas?”

Shrugging his shoulders, “I could’ve taken you there; Mike and I went there to see if we could buy some stuff for the Beast when we were making it.”

Carl turned around, disgusted. “You know entirely too much. It took us four days to find that place.”

Stephanie smiled. “Bruce knows a lot,” she said then leaned her head on his shoulder. “Baby, I’m glad you have let Ted and Carl keep your protection detail in place.”

Wanting to object, Ted opened his mouth to speak, and Carl grabbed his arm. “Say anything, and I’ll put my foot so far up your ass you will taste leather,” Carl threatened softly.

Getting comfortable, Bruce put his arms around Stephanie then Angela. “That’s the only reason I’m agreeing to this.”

The convoy sped through the base to Hope. Everyone working stopped and watched the procession speed by. When they reached the hospital, Ted pulled up to the door, and the other vehicles fanned out to provide protection. Carl jumped out, opened the back door, and turned around, holding his rifle up.

“I feel like a queen with this protection,” Angela said as Bruce moved around her.

Jumping out, Bruce said, “Guys, not so flashy with the hardware,” and helped the girls out.

“Forget it; everyone here is armed like we want them to be. If anyone thinks about it, I want them to know we can play too,” Carl replied.

Shaking his head, Bruce led the two up to the door. “I’m really beginning to start to not like this building,” he said as Ted opened the door.

Squeezing his hand, Stephanie said, “It will have good memories soon.”

A man came up and took them to the back of the hospital, where they met their doctor. She was medium height with brown hair. “Hi, I’m Dr. Shelly,” she said, holding her hand out to them. They all shook her hand, and Shelly led them to an examination room. “Since you both wanted to be examined together, we made up this room,” she said then ushered them in.

She pointed at two examination tables sitting side by side. “Get into those gowns please; I’m sure you know the rest,” she said and left.

As the two started to undress, Bruce smiled, seeing their little baby bumps. When they took off their shirts, he grinned. “Wow, where did those come from?” he asked.

“Well, if you paid attention,” Angela said, putting on her gown.

“I don’t want him to; they hurt all the time, and any touch is like a railroad spike,” Stephanie said, getting in her gown. “Bruce, put your rifle somewhere; you’re holding my hand for this.”

Taking off his vest, he laid it and his rifle on the floor. “Women have been having babies for years, Little Red,” Bruce assured her.

“I don’t give a shit. They are a bunch of lying bitches; this sucks,” she informed him. Bruce just smiled and lifted her up to one table then went and lifted Angela up to hers.

“Just to let you two know, I stay up here,” he informed them, moving up to the head of the beds.

When he was standing between their heads, “Hey I don’t have a problem with that,” Angela said.

“Bruce, you’ve done these examinations before,” Stephanie said.

Staring straight ahead, he said, “Only because I had to. This is like some morbid torture to me. The post-hole diggers send shivers up my spine.”

“Post-hole diggers?” Stephanie asked with trepidation.

“The vaginal speculum. I loved it when Bruce would pay people to take his GYN patients at the hospital,” Angela said, snorting.

Dr. Shelly walked in. “Ready?” she asked.

Angela nodded. “Yes, and start with me. Stephanie thinks you’re going to fry her baby’s brain with the ultrasound,” she said as Bruce moved between the tables.

Dr. Shelly smiled. “That study wasn’t conclusive and had a lot of assumptions,” she said, looking at Stephanie.

“Hey, the theory is sound,” Stephanie snapped, grabbing Bruce’s hand.

Expecting to hear bones snapping in his hand any minute, Bruce shook his head. “Shelly, don’t bother; we’ve tried.”

“Okay then, but call me Carrie. Shelly is my last name,” she said, moving the ultrasound machine over to Angela. “Hold on; I need some gel,” she said, leaving the room.

When she was gone, Angela sat up. “That woman better rectify,” she said, looking at the door.

“What?” Stephanie and Bruce asked together.

“She flirts with you one more time, and it’s ass-whoopin’ time,” Angela warned.

Stephanie sat up. “She was flirting with Bruce?” she asked, worried.

“No, she wasn’t,” Bruce told her.

With her face turning red, Angela threw her legs over the side of her table. “Oh, you can call me Carrie,” she said, batting her eyes imitating Carrie.

Letting go of Bruce’s hand, Stephanie said, “Where’s my gun?!” She threw her legs over the side of her bed.

Grabbing Stephanie, stopping her from getting down, Bruce begged, “Hey, will you two calm down? She was just being nice.”

“Bruce, I don’t mind when women flirt with you but not in front of me,” Angela said, moving to get down. Pulling Stephanie back on her table, Bruce stopped Angela then grabbed her exam table and moved it closer to him so he could hold both and keep them from getting down.

He looked from one to the other. “Now that is enough, you two. I’m here because you wanted me here, and I want to be here. What in the hell? Shit, I don’t even notice other women.”

“You really wanted to be here?” Stephanie asked, smiling.

“Well yes,” Bruce said, caught off-guard.

Angela tapped his arm, “You really don’t notice other women?” she asked, smiling.

“Why in the hell would I? Shit, I’ve got two of the best there is,” he said. Bruce wanted to tell her he was secretly thinking of becoming a monk.

The two leaned over, hugging him tight. “I love you,” they said in unison.

“I love you too,” Bruce said as Carrie came back in.

“Oh, I’m sorry; am I interrupting?” she asked.

Shaking his head, “No, just happy,” he lied, hoping the two didn’t jump off and start a beat down.

With a bottle of gel in her hand, Carrie smiled and moved over to Angela as she laid down. Carrie finished her exam then grabbed the ultrasound. “The gel’s cold,” Carrie said as she squirted some on Angela’s skin. She placed the probe on Angela’s belly and slowly moved it around as they all watched. “There we are,” Carrie said, pointing at the screen, but they all saw the tiny human.

“It’s so cute,” Stephanie sighed as Carrie took measurements with the ultrasound.

“Angela, I’m putting you about twenty-two weeks,” she said. “The baby shows good viability and activity,” she said as the baby moved on the screen.

Startled at the numbers, Angela sat up. “What?”

“That’s what the measurements say,” Carrie said as she printed off pictures.

Going over the numbers again, Angela said, “My calculations are only fourteen to eighteen.”

“I doubt it, but maybe,” Carrie said, moving over to Stephanie. “Let’s get the exam done,” she said. Angela jumped off her table and went to the other side of Stephanie to hold her hand. Bruce fought the urge to laugh. Angela looked like a kid in her hospital gown that was dragging the floor.

When the exam was over, Carrie stood up and grabbed the gel. “Don’t worry, Stephanie,” she said, putting some gel on her belly. Bruce moved to the other side with Angela so he wouldn’t be in the way. Angela was holding Stephanie’s hand, and he held both of them.

Gently, Carrie put the probe on Stephanie’s belly and started scanning. “There we are,” she said, looking at the baby. After making measurements, Carrie smiled and said, “I’m putting you about twenty weeks as well.” Stephanie was just staring at the screen.

“That’s really my baby?” Stephanie asked with tears on her cheeks.

Leaning over, Bruce kissed her head. “Well, I hope so,” he said.

“Whoa,” Carrie said, moving the probe.

“What!?” Stephanie yelled. “Its brain isn’t fried, is it?” she wailed.

“No,” Carrie said with a furrowed brow, concentrating on the screen.

Getting pissed, Angela leaned over. “Well, what the hell was the ‘whoa’ for?” she snapped.

“Hold on just a second,” Carrie said, and even Bruce was getting worried. They all stared at the screen hard and could see the baby move in and out of the picture as Carrie moved the probe. Then, Carrie froze the probe. “Thought so,” she said, but nobody asked anything. On the screen were two babies. “You’re having twins,” Carrie announced loudly.

A loud crash followed by a thump sounded behind the exam table. The three women looked back to see Bruce face down, comatose on the floor. Carrie moved toward him, and Stephanie grabbed her arm. “He’s tough; don’t worry about him,” she said.

Carrie looked at Angela in shock. Angela shrugged her shoulders, “He’s fine,” she said.

“Show me some more of my babies,” Stephanie said, pulling Carrie back around.

Chapter 17

The three were back at the Center for lunch. Bruce was in his chair staring off in a daze. His nose and right side of his face were swollen from where he hit the floor. Angela and Stephanie were showing ultrasound pictures to everyone at the other end of the table.

Leaving the crowd, Mike came over to Bruce. “Hey, you okay?” he asked, and when Bruce didn’t even look at him, Mike hit his shoulder, and Bruce looked up. “You okay?”

“Twins,” Bruce said.

Mike smiled. “I’m happy for you, brother,” he said, patting Bruce’s back.

“Twins,” Bruce said, and Mike stopped patting his back.

“Aren’t you happy about that?” Mike asked.

“Twins,” Bruce said, staring straight ahead.

Slowly, Ted and Carl came over to Mike. “That’s all he’s said since—” Carl started but stopped.

Worried about a concussion, Mike leaned down and looked Bruce over. “Hey, are you hurt?” he asked, feeling the knot on Bruce’s face.

“Twins,” Bruce repeated.

Grabbing Bruce’s face, Mike turned it to him. “They aren’t that rare. You adopted a set already,” Mike said.

Not giving any indication he heard Mike, Bruce said, “Twins and a baby.”

Ted looked up, smiling. “Hey, you got him to say something else.”

Having watched the exchange, Gene walked over to Mike, “Mike, may I talk to him?” Gene asked.

“Sure,” Mike said, moving back.

Gene leaned over and whispered into Bruce’s ear for several minutes, and Bruce slowly turned to look at Gene. Suddenly, Gene stood up straight. “You better man up, troop. Keep this act up, and I’ll get you a pretty dress,” he warned.

“You. Are an asshole,” Bruce said, looking at Gene.

“Big, deep, and wide,” Gene said, walking away. Mike ran after him.

“What did you say?” Mike asked.

“Same thing I did when Debbie told him about Steve,” Gene replied. “You don’t have to do anything but love the baby. The woman has the hard job; all you had to do was have some fun making it. Be thankful a woman would bear your child. Don’t be a total pussy, and stand tall. When the labor starts, your job is just a fucking cheerleader,” Gene said as he sat down by Willie.

Patting Gene on the back, Mike laughed as Angela and Stephanie ran down to their seats. “I wish you would’ve visited us before this, Gene. You can rein Bruce in some,” Mike said, heading to his seat. As he sat down, he saw Angela and Stephanie in Bruce’s lap, showing him the pictures.

Danny, Buffy, Tonya, Mary, and Mindy were surrounding them, and everyone was talking. Mike looked at Nancy. “Think they’re identical?” he asked.

“Yep, it’s confirmed,” Nancy said.

Grabbing Nancy’s hand, Mike leaned over. “I kind of feel sorry for Bruce,” he admitted.

“I do too, but remember, they will be our kids as well,” Nancy said.

As his plate hit the table, Mike dove in. “I hope they don’t have too many,” he said.

“Shit, don’t count on it. I’ve never seen Stephanie this ecstatic,” Nancy said.

After lunch, Bruce headed to the airfield to train with the Omega. Gene and Willie were waiting for him by the C-130. Bruce climbed out of the SUV as Ted and Carl started pulling gear out of the back of the Suburban. Seeing his chute, Bruce grabbed it and headed over. Everyone was smiling as he walked up. “Guys, don’t,” Bruce said, dropping his chute and putting his backpack on his chest.

“I’m jealous,” Willie said.

“Willie, keep it up, and I’ll push you out without a chute,” Bruce warned, grabbing his own chute and putting it on.

“Hey, that’s not a military chute,” Gene said.

“Hell, I know that. I bought this one; it’s mine. I know it works, and I packed it,” Bruce said as Ted handed him a padded rifle case.

“You aren’t going to let that rest, huh?” Gene asked.

“What?” Ted asked.

“When Bruce first jumped, the supply sergeant that handed Bruce his chute told him, ‘Don’t worry; if it doesn’t work, bring it back. I’ll give you another one.’”

Carl shook his head. “I’d have punched his ass,” he said.

“Bruce tried,” Gene said, grabbing his rifle case. “Since I helped, Bruce and I had to run with full packs for six hours.” Looking over at Bruce, he asked, “You sure you’re up for this?”

“Shit, as much shock as I’ve had today, my pulse wouldn’t even jump if my chute didn’t open,” Bruce said, walking into the plane.

“I pull my cord, and it doesn’t open, and my backup fails, I eat a bullet,” Ted said, walking in the plane.

For Bruce, Ted, and Carl, this was the first jump of the day, but for everyone else, it was number three. The C-130 taxied, and when permission was given, the pilot gunned the engines, slamming those in the seats in the rear toward the back of the plane. The plane’s front wheel lifted off, and the pilot yanked back. “What is this guy’s problem!?” Ted screamed.

“Don’t know, but the fucker does it every time. I think he’s scared of the ground and wants to get away from it as soon as possible!” Willie yelled back.

Everyone started trying to swallow as their ears popped. Suddenly, the plane leveled out and made a lazy turn. Gene stood up, “Sticks up, check the guy to your front!” he yelled. Everyone started checking the man’s chute in front of them then turned around and repeated the process.

Standing by the ramp, Bruce finished checking Gene’s chute and tapped his shoulder. Willie tapped Bruce’s shoulder when he finished checking Bruce’s. Bruce leaned over to Gene, “You still look scared!” Bruce yelled over the noise pulling down his goggles.

“I don’t like trusting a piece of cloth and some string with my life,” Gene shouted back trying to get his breathing under control and keep his goggles from fogging up.

With a shit-eating grin, Bruce said, “Gene, this is the best.”

“If man was supposed to fly, we’d have wings,” Gene informed him.

Bruce shook his head. “We are not flying! We are falling!”

“I really hate you sometimes!”

The jumpmaster walked over, holding up two fingers. “Two minutes!” he yelled.

Gene and Bruce turned around to the men holding up two fingers and yelling, “Two minutes!”

The group lined up, making sure gear was still strapped as the ramp lowered and cold air filled the bay. “Oh yeah, baby!” Bruce yelled. Gene looked over at him with a repulsed look.

The jumpmaster yelled, “Go,” as a green light came on, and the group poured out the back. Leaping out, Bruce threw his arms out so he wouldn’t flip over and kept moving his arms and legs till he was falling belly down. Glancing back, he saw everyone was in a tight group. Looking to his left, he spotted Gene, and his goggles were fogged over from all his sweating. Bruce smiled at Gene, and Gene gave him the finger.

Giving Gene a salute, Bruce lowered his head and folded his arms back. With bulging eyes, Gene gasped, seeing Bruce shoot toward the Earth head-first. Looking at his altimeter, Gene had thirty more seconds before hitting the silk. Looking down, he saw Bruce’s chute open, and it looked really close to the ground. Watching his altimeter, Gene motioned with his arms for the groups to spread some, and he pulled his chute.

Feeling the chute open and yank him up, Gene looked up. “Thank you,” he sighed and looked down but didn’t see Bruce’s chute. He aimed for his target, a big X on the ground. Getting closer, he noticed Bruce standing to the side with his chute folded up and over his shoulder. Reaching over his head, Gene grabbed his toggles and guided his chute to the mark, touching the bottom of the X.

Spinning around, he wrapped the lines in his arms in a figure eight while moving out of the drop zone. Reaching his canopy, he continued pulling down. When he was finished, the last man was landing. Gene threw his chute over his shoulder and walked over to Bruce. “I see you still have no concept of gravity, Bruce,” Gene said.

“Hell yes I do. I hit two hundred miles per hour,” Bruce said, walking over to some long tables that were set up.

“When did you open your chute?” Gene asked.

“Thousand feet, and before you ask, I hit the middle of the X,” Bruce said, throwing his chute on the table and started spreading it out, checking it over. Somewhat envious of Bruce’s lack of fear, Gene laughed as he put his chute on the table. The others came over and followed suit.

Carl walked over to Bruce. “Hey, you free fall belly first, not dive head first like a lawn dart,” he said.

“Nope, if I have a malfunction, I want to make sure I won’t live through it,” Bruce said.

Everyone stopped when he said that, and Bruce spread out his chute and folded over, getting all the air out. “Well, I’m not following you down that fast,” Carl said, walking away. In twenty minutes, Bruce was done and putting his gear back on as the plane landed.

It took the others longer to get their chutes ready, but an hour later, they were going back up. After four more jumps and Bruce acting like a showoff, Gene called a stop and for everyone to go to the Center for supper. The family was at the drop zone for the last two, and they were all talking on the ride over.

“Please Bruce?” Angela begged.

“After you two have the babies, you can jump out with me,” he promised her.

Stephanie shook her head. “That should have no bearing on it. We want to do that,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest, gently.

“No, that’s final,” he told them, and they pouted. Bruce looked over at Danny, who was talking to Buffy. Buffy had a pale complexion as she listened. “What’s wrong, BB?” Bruce asked.

“I don’t know if I want to jump out of a plane,” she said, trembling.

“Don’t worry; it’s fun. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to,” Bruce said, and Jake leaned over to Buffy.

“Dad told Danny that then pushed her out of the plane,” he said.

With her heart fluttering, Buffy looked at Danny, who was smiling. “Yeah, but it turned out to be fun,” she admitted.

“I’ll just jump out of a helicopter and slide down the rope,” Buffy let everyone know as they pulled up to the Center.

The group ate, and after supper, Omega did two more jumps then met to go over the attack till midnight. They gathered up equipment and laid it all out. Choppers were readied, as were the airplanes for the attack the next night. Several choppers left that night to set up refueling points as Omega bedded down.

Even though he wanted to sleep late, Bruce was up at 0700 hours. He looked around and noticed everyone was still in the bed. Reaching out, Bruce pulled everyone closer in a hug. PJ immediately reminded him he didn’t like to be woken up. “You need to sleep some more, baby,” Stephanie said as she stretched out.

“Can’t, so I’m going to check on the refueling points,” Bruce said, kissing everyone. When he got out of the bed, the twins jumped on his back. “Guess they’re going with me,” he said, walking out of the room. The guard at the bottom of the stairs scared the shit out of him as he headed to mission control.

Walking in, he found Mike and Marcus looking at a map. “Why aren’t you asleep?” Mike asked, not even looking up.

“Couldn’t,” Bruce said, taking the twins off his back.

They ran to Marcus. “Papaw,” they cried in unison, wrapping their arms around him.

Loving on the twins, Marcus sat down and pulled the twins in his lap. “Bruce, you need to sleep. Once you kick off, it will be close to thirty-six hours before you get downtime,” Marcus said.

“I can’t, and be damned if I take something,” he said, walking over to the map they were looking at. “The fuel points make it to the rally points?” he asked.

“Yep,” Mike said. “We have a few A-10s up over them in case they have trouble.”

“Any trouble around them?” Bruce asked.

“None they aren’t handling.”

Bruce looked up. “What, Mike?”

“Bruce, for an operation, this excursion is very complex with a lot of moving parts.”

Not able to argue, Bruce agreed, “That it is.”

“Bruce, we are sending out twenty Chinooks, ten Blackhawks, and two Super Stallions. We will have to refuel them all three times there and three times back. I know you have the backup refueling points in case they miss an aerial refuel, but this is hit or miss out there,” Mike said.

“Mike, it’s either this or we fight up there and fight back.”

“Why can’t we just launch the choppers after you leave? Why wait till you secure the site if you can? They can be there in case you get repulsed,” Mike said.

“Can’t. If we get beat back, that means the choppers would have to make the extract hot, and most of those choppers make a big target. This way, we will be able to pull back to a safer area for extract,” Bruce explained.

Seeing he wasn’t going to change Bruce’s mind, Mike gave up. “Have it your way,” he said, throwing up his hands. Bruce grabbed the twins and headed upstairs, getting dressed and grabbing his weapons. When he came back down with the family, Ted and Carl were waiting.

“Guys, you should be asleep,” Bruce said, walking past them.

“Hey, you aren’t, so knock it off,” Ted replied, yawning.

Giving up, Bruce led everyone out the back door to the Center. Looking over, he saw the marble statue of Debbie. “I’ll join you in a second,” Bruce said, breaking away from the group. Seeing where he was going, Angela and Stephanie herded the kids inside as Ted and Carl followed him over.

Giving Bruce some privacy, they stopped several yards back as Bruce stopped in front of the statue. “I know you had something to do with the twins,” he said in a low voice, and in his mind, he heard Debbie giggle.

“I really don’t see anything funny about that,” Bruce said, looking at the statue, and the giggle turned into a laugh that slowly faded in his mind. “I’m sorry I got the kids blown up, but I was trying to save as many as I could.”

Suddenly, he could smell Debbie near him, and Bruce closed his eyes and in his mind heard a low groan that turned to a soft whisper. They must learn war is danger, and some lessons are very hard, but I will be with them.

Stephanie and Angela walked over and stopped by Ted and Carl, but something seemed to push them. They cautiously walked over, standing on each side of Bruce. Stephanie smiled, closing her eyes. “I smell her,” she whispered.

Angela sniffed but only smelled jet fuel from Bruce’s uniform, then a calm spread over her, making her close her eyes. With his eyes closed, Bruce reached out, taking their hands. The three stood hand in hand, smiling, as Ted and Carl looked on, confused.

The three just stood, feeling the presence they sorely missed until it slowly left. It was several minutes later that Bruce opened his eyes and pulled the two close. “Glad you two were here that time,” he admitted. “Let’s me know I’m not insane.”

Angela looked up. “Bruce, we feel her close a lot,” she informed him.

Hearing that, Bruce let out a long breath. “That makes me feel even better,” he said, turning around with one under each arm.

“What, you think she wouldn’t check up on us?” Stephanie asked.

Bruce shook his head. “No, that someone else could feel it.”

Totally lost, Ted and Carl just followed them inside, joining the others at the table. The mood was one of joy even though that evening, parts of the clan would once again be at war.

Chapter 18

After breakfast, Bruce walked around with the girls checking on each squad as they went through the plan of taking the government facility. Satisfied things were going well, Bruce led them back inside the command bunker.

They found Mike looking over a blown-up layout of the facility, “Find anything out?” Bruce asked, walking in.

“You know you’re going to have to seal this site when you leave, right?” Mike asked, not looking up.

Sitting at the table, Bruce nodded. “Yeah, Matt and Jake showed me the manifest there.”

Freezing as she was about to sit down, Stephanie looked over at Bruce. “What’s up there?”

“A ton of shit but more importantly a list of buried government supply sites,” Bruce answered.

Relieved, Stephanie sat down. “Had me worried for a minute,” she mumbled.

Looking over his shoulder at Stephanie, Mike said, “The ‘ton of shit’ Bruce so casually mentions is several small tactical nukes.”

“What?” Stephanie asked, sitting up straight.

Shrugging, Bruce replied, “Small tactical devices that can fit in a backpack.”

Very calmly, Angela pulled out her pistol and laid it on the table. Seeing this, Bruce’s pulse shot up as she looked at him with a small, forced smile. “Baby,” Angela said, clearing her throat, “don’t you think this is something we should’ve known about?”

Not taking his eyes off the pistol, he answered quickly, “Ah, they are all locked in a vault, and Jake changed the combination. The door is over a foot thick and would take some time to cut through.”

Satisfied, Angela showed him a real smile and put her pistol away. “Don’t hide shit like that from us,” she warned with a tone that spoke volumes.

Relief flooded Bruce’s body. “Shit, I don’t know what you two know,” he said. “I was just going over the supplies there last night.”

“So there could be shit there we don’t even know about?” Stephanie asked, and Bruce nodded. She looked over at Angela. “Let’s just launch the planes.”

“I’m game,” Angela smiled.

“Girls,” Bruce said, “we don’t have to breach the site. Jake and Matt will have the doors open for us. Even if they have surprises, we will move too fast for anyone to use them.”

“Shit,” Stephanie scoffed. “If you thought we were about to be overrun, Bruce, you wouldn’t hesitate to pop a nuke. What makes you think others won’t do the exact same thing?”

Shrugging his shoulders, he replied, “Not many think they will be overrun.”

“You would pop a nuke?” Mike asked, dumbfounded.

“Hell yes,” Bruce popped off. “Be damn if I become infected or any of my family. Same goes for being overrun by a human force.”

Walking over Mike dropped in his seat. “You could’ve at least said something about it.”

Stunned by Mike’s reaction, Bruce asked, “What, you wouldn’t?”

Thinking for a minute, Mike admitted, “Yeah, I would grow a mushroom here. But I would have to be damn sure we had no other alternative.”

“Mike,” Bruce said, shaking his head, “I wouldn’t do that unless I was sure there was no way out for any of us.”

Mike let out a relieved breath. “Whew, had me worried there.”

Wanting to ask more about that, Stephanie paused then just let those questions go. “What do you really think your chances of success following this attack plan are?” she asked instead.

Leaning over the table, Bruce clasped his hands resting them on the table. “If everything goes off without a hitch, we won’t have a problem. It all depends on our rides; that’s the only thing that worries me. The assault doesn’t bother me—we will have minimal resistance from most.”

“Oh, so Homeland doesn’t bother you?” Mike asked.

Shaking his head, Bruce confessed, “No not really. They may be good against civilians, but against troops, they won’t be a factor.”

“Well, there are troops there, baby,” Stephanie reminded him.

“Yes, but the rank and file doesn’t like the leadership. Jake has caught several talking about trying to leave. The only ones carrying weapons are Homeland and only when on duty. When off duty, all officers must turn in weapons. Matt and Jake have the vault they lock the weapons in and will secure it when the battle starts.”

A snort filled the room as Angela laughed. “I don’t remember that part of the plan,” she chuckled.

“Didn’t want to announce it in case the boys can’t pull it off,” Bruce responded.

Mike slowly stood. “Brother, you need to start telling me these little bits of information.”

“Where’s your folder I gave you outlining the attack?” Bruce asked, and Mike walked over to a table sitting in the back. He carried it over to Bruce. Taking the folder, Bruce dug through it and held up a sheet of paper. At the top were bold, printed letters that read, For Your Eyes Only.

There were numbered paragraphs on the page, and Bruce pointed at number three. “Well, look at this,” he said. “It says, ‘before breaching the compound, the weapon vaults will be attempted to be taken over via computer, so access will be impossible. I’m assured by Matt and Jake they can do it, but I’m not informing the attack team so they expect resistance,’” Bruce read and looked up at Mike.

Dumbfounded, Mike stuttered, “Well, I haven’t read everything.”

“Not my fault,” Bruce said, putting the page down. “I can’t tell everyone everything, and I can’t make time to get just you and me alone.”

Angela slapped the table. “What about us, bitch!”

Expecting the pistol to be back out, Bruce was shocked as he turned and only saw Angela’s pissed off face. “Both of you have the same in your folder,” Bruce said.

Angela looked over at Stephanie, and Stephanie just shrugged. “I didn’t read it; Bruce went over the attack,” she admitted.

“I only tell the command group every detail,” Bruce said, digging through the folder.

“That’s shit,” Angela mumbled. “Not even you know what the hell you’re going to do when you start fighting.”

“All planning goes to shit when the first shot is fired,” Bruce said, looking over the pages. “Yes, I have several backup plans, but I can’t write them all down because I don’t know what could go wrong. I’ve put down some of them so you’ll know what I’m trying to do. It would take me weeks to type that much up.”

Reaching over, Angela grabbed his forearm and squeezed it. “I know, baby, and you keep doing that.” She smiled. “If you make me go through this birth and Stephanie’s birth alone, I’ll find you in the afterlife and cripple you.”

Pushing the folder away, he asked, “Will both of you quit threatening me?”

Angela looked at Stephanie, who just tilted her head to the side. Angela turned back to Bruce. “It seems to be the only thing you’re worried about,” Angela stated. “We love you with all of our hearts, but don’t even think about leaving us alone.”

Wanting backup, Bruce looked over at Mike, who held up his hands. “Don’t look at me, dude,” he said. “You piss them off, I’m handing them the tools to use on you. Bruce, you know as well as I if I interfere, Nancy will make whatever they do to you seem like child’s play.”

Thinking about that, Bruce admitted to himself Mike had a valid point. Turning to the girls, “Believe me when I say I would never dream of leaving you two alone,” he told them. “Do you want me to stay here and run this war?”

The color drained from Angela, Stephanie, and Mike’s face hearing that. “What?” Stephanie mumbled.

“If you want, I will stay behind and run this war,” Bruce clarified. Mike’s eyes rolled back as his face slammed into the table. Startled by the impact, Bruce jumped and saw where the sound came from. Leaping up, Bruce moved over to check on Mike. Noticing he was alone, Bruce looked over at the girls. Both were just staring at the chair where he had been sitting in utter shock.

“Hey, you two, I’m over here,” Bruce said, pulling Mike’s head off the table. Blood was flowing out of Mike’s swollen nose. Pulling out a handkerchief, Bruce used it to pinch Mike’s nose. Lifting up one of Mike’s eyelids, Bruce only saw white as Mike’s eyes were still rolled back. Feeling along Mike’s neck, Bruce felt a strong pulse. “Can one of you get me a glass of water?” he asked, looking Mike over.

Not hearing either of the girls move, Bruce looked over, and both were still looking at his vacant chair. “Guys,” Bruce called out, but neither moved. “Shit,” Bruce grunted, bunching the handkerchief up tighter on Mike’s nose.

Behind Bruce, Nancy walked in seeing Bruce holding a bloody rag to Mike’s face. “What the hell did you do to my husband?”

“Nancy, he fainted,” Bruce said, not looking back, trying to stop the blood. Feeling the nasal cartilage, Bruce knew Mike’s nose was broken.

“What the hell did you do to make him faint?” she asked, running over as Bruce pulled the rag back. Nancy gasped at the sight of Mike’s swollen nose then looked over at Angela and Stephanie staring at Brue’s empty chair in a catatonic state. “What’s wrong with them?”

Glancing up, Bruce looked over, bunching up the rag. “I just told them if they didn’t want me fighting on the front I would run the war from here,” he explained.

Hearing that, her body locked up, “Huh?” Nancy asked in disbelief.

“They were worried I would get hurt, so I offered to stay behind if it would make them feel better,” Bruce clarified, putting the handkerchief back over Mike’s nose. Hearing a thump, Bruce looked over to see Nancy sprawled out on the floor. “This is exactly why I don’t like to change my behavior,” he groaned. “Can I get some help in here?”

Several people from the monitoring room next door ran in and were stunned by what they saw. They followed Bruce’s instructions, straightening out Nancy on the floor and brought Bruce a bigger rag for Mike’s nose.

Using both hands, Bruce put one on either side of Mike’s nose. “You won’t like this,” Bruce said and pulled it. Mike never moved as Bruce straightened his nose. A person handed Bruce a glass of water, which he drained. He gave the glass back. “Give me another.”

When the full glass was handed back, Bruce poured it over Mike’s face. Mike coughed and flung his arms up, blocking his face, “Ow,” he groaned, bringing his hands to his face.

“It’s your own damn fault,” Bruce said, handing over a new rag. “Check on your wife,” he said and walked around the table.

Mike looked around as he held his nose. “What’s wrong with Nancy?” he asked, not seeing her.

“She’s on the floor,” Bruce said, stopping between Angela and Stephanie. Turning both chairs until they were looking at him, Bruce snapped his fingers in front of their faces. Neither blinked. Hearing running footsteps coming down the stairs, Bruce looked up to see Ted and Carl followed by the kids.

“What happened?” Ted asked, walking over, and saw Mike kneeling beside Nancy, who was laid out on the floor. Then, Ted noticed the bloody rag Mike was holding to his face. “Who got in a fight?”

“No one, Ted,” Bruce snapped as he waved his hand in front of Angela’s and Stephanie’s faces. The kids stopped, spellbound by the sight as Bruce walked over to the table in the back of the room and carried back a glass of water. He looked up at all the kids. “Don’t ask; I’m not in the mood,” he warned.

“What the hell did you do?” Danny screamed, running over to Angela and Stephanie.

Ignoring her, Bruce dipped his hand in the glass and flicked water off his fingers into Stephanie’s face. Giving a startle, Stephanie gasped and looked at Bruce in astonishment. Dipping his hand back in the water, Bruce did the same for Angela, who looked away, then as her brain reminded Angela what she had heard, she whipped her head toward Bruce, locking her gaze on him.

Setting the glass down, Bruce got down on his knees, looking at the two. “I don’t know why that would surprise both of you,” he confessed. “I meant it when I said I would do whatever I had to do to make both of you happy.”

At the same time, both lunged forward, launching themselves out of their chairs. Angela and Stephanie wrapped their arms around Bruce as their weight hit him, knocking him off his knees. As they hit the floor, Bruce grunted with the impact as they kissed his face.

Carl looked over at Ted. “I’m not doing shit about that. If Bruce is in danger from them, he’s on his own.”

Looking away, Ted started to speak but just shook his head and turned to see Mike helping Nancy up. “What caused this?” he asked anyone.

With his eyes watering from the broken nose, Mike lowered the rag from his face as he helped Nancy sit down. Everyone groaned seeing Mike’s swollen nose and eyes. “I’m not saying because no one would believe me,” Mike said, sitting down beside Nancy as a technician brought him a rag with ice in it.

“Girls,” Bruce groaned as the pain in his head from hitting the floor sent stars in his vision.

“Oh, baby,” Stephanie gasped, looking at Bruce’s face, seeing him grimace.

They jumped off and helped him stand up but latched back on, hugging him. “You don’t have to do that, baby,” Angela said with her face buried in his chest.

Wanting an explanation now, Danny raised her fist, about to hit the table, then realized that would really hurt. “What the hell is going on?” she screamed.

Stephanie whipped her head around. “Danny, stop yelling,” she commanded in a sharp snap.

Taken aback, Danny actually stumbled and leaned against the table. “I was just worried about you two,” she offered, not liking the look Stephanie gave her.

With a wide smile, Stephanie reached out with her hand and caressed Danny’s face. “Your dad was just proving how much he loved us.”

“I’m out of here,” Jake said, spinning around, heading up the stairs.

Having a feeling mushy stuff was coming, Buffy limped over and grabbed Danny’s hand. “I don’t want to hear it, Danny. Let’s go,” she said, pulling her sister.

Seeing Buffy try to pull Danny out, Bruce couldn’t help but laugh. “Buffy, one day a boy will catch you and make you fall in love.”

“Not before I kick his ass,” Buffy replied, making Bruce laugh harder. “I’m not going insane, and I think that’s what starts it: getting married.”

Not able to argue that, Bruce just laughed as Danny looked over at him. “Dad, I don’t know what you said or how Daddy Mike’s nose got broke, but you remember they are pregnant. You be easy with them.”

“Danny, I broke my own nose,” Mike clarified, and everyone looked at him, waiting for more. Letting out a sigh, Mike lowered the bloody, ice-filled rag. “I passed out, hitting my face on the table.”

“Let’s go,” Ted said, grabbing Carl’s arm. “Anything Bruce would say that would make Mike pass out would make you and I drop dead,” he explained, yanking Carl up the stairs.

As the exodus ended, only Mike and Nancy were in the room with Bruce and the girls. Releasing Bruce from her hug, Angela looked up at him. “Bruce, we don’t want you to do that because to be honest, we don’t think you could do it as well as leading from the front. We just want you to be careful. Don’t think we are stupid, and don’t think it isn’t dangerous. We just don’t like it when you take risks you don’t have to,” she explained.

Nancy reached over, taking the bloody ice rag from Mike. Placing it on the back of her head, Nancy stated, “I don’t really know what emotion I’m feeling right now.”

“I do,” Angela said, burying her face in Bruce’s chest.

“Me too,” Stephanie said joining her in Bruce’s chest.

“Well,” Bruce said, leaning down to kiss the top of each one’s head, “I hope you two never doubt how much I love you again.”

Reaching over, Mike took the ice rag from Nancy. “I can tell you if they ever do, I’m getting my belt and wearing their asses out,” he said, putting the rag on his face.

Pulling Bruce’s face down, Stephanie kissed him. “Go check your gear, baby,” she said with a gentle smile.

Before he could stand up, Angela reached over, pulling his face further down to kiss him. “Check it twice, and then go and check the team,” she said.

In a blissful state, Bruce was tempted to tell the team to go without him. “I will, and you two be careful while I’m gone,” he said, letting them go.

As Bruce left, they both sat down as Nancy leaned over the table. “Please don’t ever pressure him like that again,” she practically begged.

“Nancy,” Mike groaned, lowering the rag. “They never asked Bruce to stay behind; he offered.”

Nancy’s eyes got wide as Angela and Stephanie grinned. “He just offered,” Angela said and smiled.

“We could never actually let him do it though,” Stephanie sighed. “That would be going against what Debbie asked him. He can’t win this war from that control room,” she said, pointing next door. “Bruce needs to be close to the action, or he can’t lead. He has to reassure himself if worse comes to worst, he can charge in and try to fix the situation just like he did with the kids.”

Agreeing with that, Angela nodded. “I don’t think he would slaughter people like he did coming to the kids. I’ve talked to one survivor, and he said Bruce was screaming they hurt his kids, shooting and stabbing anything that looked like the enemy.”

“Gene doesn’t know how lucky he was that Bruce didn’t wipe them off the face of the Earth. Lord knows I came close to launching everything we had hearing the kids were hurt,” Stephanie admitted.

Mike stood. “Again, he was doing what Debbie told him to do,” he said, walking to the control room. “Bruce knew we couldn’t fight and win this war without them. Without those troops, in the end, I really think our grandkids would still be fighting the same war and losing. Having them with us, I believe we can wipe this country clean inside of a decade.”

“No,” Stephanie said, making Mike stop and turn around.

Angela shook her head. “Debbie said when Bruce started, the major campaign would be over in five years.” Hearing that, Mike felt better and nodded.

“I used to freak out hearing you two say that stuff, but now, it reassures me,” Mike admitted then turned around and walked into the control room.

Flopping back in her seat, Nancy reached up, rubbing her head. “It certainly is falling into place,” Nancy groaned.

“It seemed to freak you out,” Angela snorted and giggled.

Dropping her hands in her lap, Nancy just looked over at her and Stephanie. “I knew he loved you, but hearing Bruce, the Bruce I’ve known for close to a decade, say he would stay out of the fight for you two, did shock me,” Nancy admitted. “That you didn’t force it makes me proud of you.”

“Debbie warned us but didn’t tell us we couldn’t,” Stephanie said. “Like you, we know he loves us. We just wanted him to start being more cautious. I can say neither of us expected him to make that revelation.”

Angela clapped her hands. “But I’m so glad he did,” she said with excitement. “On his own, he was willing to prove it to us, and we proved it to him.”

Seeing the happiness on the two, Nancy couldn’t help but smile. “That means this is the year the war starts,” she reminded them.

“And in five years, it will be over,” Stephanie sighed.

The excitement left Angela. “Yes, and some of our loved ones will fall,” she moaned.

Nancy raised her hand. “Debbie wrote ‘fall,’ not ‘die,’” she pointed out.

Angela looked at Stephanie, and both smiled. “Our kids were hurt,” Stephanie pointed out.

Nancy jumped up. “Let’s check everything on the plan and make sure they are the only ones that are hurt.”

***

As the girls ran into the control room, Bruce was walking to the shop with Ted and Carl following. “Have you two packed your gear?” Bruce asked over his shoulder.

“Last night,” Ted answered, still shaken by what he had witnessed downstairs.

Stopping, Bruce turned. “Get your shit, and we are checking it again, then we are going to check the team.”

“I’ll get it,” Ted said, running off.

Bruce watched him leave. “Too much unnerves that boy,” Bruce mumbled.

Carl chuckled. “Bruce, your family isn’t exactly the American family, and neither is Mike’s.”

Turning around, Bruce headed to the shop. “Would you really want us to be?”

“Hell no because we would all be dead,” Carl said, following him.

“It’s not my fault my daughters scare him,” Bruce said, opening the door.

As Bruce walked inside, Carl followed. “I want to meet the motherfucker those girls don’t scare the shit out of,” Carl mumbled, but Bruce heard.

Just smiling, Bruce pulled out his vest and gear, spreading it out on a table. Digging in his pocket, Bruce pulled out his cellphone and went through his address book. Bruce found Gene’s number and tapped it.

“Hello,” Gene answered.

“Hey, Gene, Bruce here. Where are you at?”

“In my room, getting my shit,” Gene replied.

“I’m in the shop. Bring it in here, and let’s check it and go over the team.”

There was a pause. “Okay, but I thought you would want to spend some time with your family,” Gene said.

“Angela and Stephanie told me to do this,” Bruce said.

“Be there in a minute,” Gene said, hanging up.

Putting his phone down, Bruce looked at the backpacks and gear bags on the wall. He had taken them out of his room since they had to put kids’ clothes in the closet as well as their own. Picking up the light assault pack, Bruce emptied it. It held a lot of ammo, two meals, and basic gear with a camelback.

“How much can those chutes handle?” Carl asked.

“Mine can handle three hundred and fifty pounds. I don’t know what yours can handle,” Bruce said, picking up his SCAR, breaking it apart.

Carl let out a groan. “Great, now I’m going to panic I’m over my weight limit,” Carl said as the door opened. Ted walked in, struggling to carry both of their gear. He dropped it on the table next to Bruce’s, and the door closed behind him. Turning around, they saw Gene walk in carrying his.

“Just me, ladies,” Gene grinned.

Seeing his SCAR was clean and ready, Bruce put it back together. “Ladies,” he scoffed. “I’m not the one who jumped into the jungle leaving my weapon on the aircraft.”

Throwing his gear on the table, Gene snapped, “I told you, Bruce. I had to push Benny out of the aircraft, and he pulled me.”

“What the hell did you take the damn thing off for?” Bruce asked, grinning, picking up his NVG and thermals to check them.

Getting pissed, Gene snatched up his M-4 and disassembled it. “I was the officer in charge and had to do the jump check. That damn drop bag caught on everything.”

Putting new batteries in his thermal monocular, Bruce mounted it on the SCAR. “I would’ve left Benny’s ass on the plane and brought my weapon,” he chided.

Gene threw down the pieces of his rifle. “How many times are you going to rub that in my face?”

Raising his hands, Bruce asked, “How many times did you jump my ass in the Philippines?”

“Bruce, we had a job to do, and that job wasn’t to start a war with every guerrilla unit in the country,” Gene shot back, making Ted and Carl back away from the table.

Dropping his hands, Bruce started packing his backpack. “Who went and got you another weapon?”

Closing his eyes, Gene sighed. “Bruce, you stole it out of a police station. You know the general yelled at me for hours over that alone.”

“Not my fault the guerrilla units used AKs. The police had a whole rack of M-16s. I only took one,” Bruce said, closing his pack.

Opening his eyes, Gene started putting his weapon back together. “I did say thank you.”

“I only heard a bellow,” Bruce said, grabbing his P-90 and stripping it down.

With his weapon assembled, Gene slid it in his drop bag. “Bruce, you snuck off in the middle of the night and took a dump on the province police chief’s desk. Then, you disable five Land Rovers. If that weren’t enough, you leave a card telling them it’s from the 75th Rangers and hope they enjoy stuck in the pile of shit you left on the desk. How the hell was I supposed to react?”

Afraid of getting hit, Ted shoved his hand in his mouth and bit down so he wouldn’t laugh, and Carl bit his bottom lip. Bruce inspected his submachine gun. “The guys thought it was awesome.”

“Bruce, I had the Secretary of State call me on my SAT phone in the middle of the jungle while we were on mission and remove my ass. Hell, I still don’t know the meaning of half of the words he screamed at me,” Gene shouted.

Calmly, Bruce put the P-90 together. “We knew that police chief was on the rebel’s payroll.”

“God damn it, Bruce. We weren’t supposed to be there, and you take a dump and—” Gene stuttered, he was so mad. “That chief sent a picture of it to the State Department, and it looked like a cow took a shit on his desk. How one person could shit that much still mystifies me, but you leave a post card stuck in the pile of shit. What part of ‘hit and fade away, leaving no trace’ did you not understand in the briefing?”

Feeling his legs get weak, Carl squatted and sat on the floor, trying not to laugh out loud. Bruce reached over, checking the magazines for the P-90. “I felt they needed to know this time, it was us that kicked their ass again. Three times in hitting the same group pushes even my sense of duty.”

“Troop, your job was to do, not make policy! Only to follow orders!” Gene shouted.

Packing his submachine gun in a small drop bag, Bruce tied it closed. “We didn’t have to go back,” he pointed out.

Seeing how calm Bruce was, Gene took a breath to control his temper. “Bruce, you made a mistake. Accept it. I had to reprimand you.”

“Oh, I have no problem with that,” Bruce said, finally looking up at Gene with a straight face. “You still don’t get it, do you?”

Caught off-guard, Gene blinked rapidly, “Huh, what?”

“I know you took shit for that, Gene, and I’m sorry,” Bruce said. “But I couldn’t let them punish you for leaving your weapon on the drop plane.” Gene’s eyes got wide as he stumbled back. “That’s why I always ‘rubbed it in your face.’ I know you looked down on me after that, but I couldn’t let the brass come after you. I just wanted you to figure that out and not hold it against me.”

Feeling lightheaded, Gene sat on the table, looking away from Bruce. “Bruce you didn’t have to do that,” he finally said.

“Gene, Lt. Gilmore was kicked out of the Rangers for losing his side arm, remember?” Bruce said as he started examining his vest. “I just didn’t want you to think I did that stupid shit just to get you in trouble and think I wasn’t a good troop. It was the only thing I could think of to get the attention off of you.”

Looking over his shoulder, Gene felt like that pile of shit Bruce had left. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“I wanted you to see it and forgive me,” Bruce replied as he loaded the magazine pouches on his vest.

“For fuck’s sake, Bruce, the major himself put you through thirty hours of PT for that stunt and restricted you to base for two weeks!”

“Huh,” Bruce grunted. “Yeah, it pissed the major off when the post commander made him stop, and I started break dancing, begging for more.”

Gene tried not to laugh. “Bruce, you pulled your dick out, waving it at them, yelling, ‘Real Rangers can go forever.’” Gene smiled.

Ted hit the ground beside Carl as both busted out laughing. “Pussies couldn’t take a joke,” Bruce mumbled.

Jumping off the table, Gene looked over at Bruce. “I never once though you weren’t the best soldier I ever worked with then or now,” Gene said. “If that was the reason you did that I wish you wouldn’t have, Bruce, the division commander had recommended you for the Special Forces but retracted it after that.”

Pulling out his pistol, Bruce shrugged his shoulders, “I had already told Debbie I wasn’t going to reenlist at the end of the year.”

Ted and Carl slowly stood, using the table for support. “Damn, Bruce,” Carl said, wiping his eyes. “I would give anything to have been with you then.”

Bruce looked away as the memories flooded through his mind. “It was some good times,” Bruce admitted and looked at Gene. After decades, Bruce was glad Gene understood now. Stacking his gear together, he asked, “Gene, what happened to that nurse Debbie fixed you up with? When we left, you two seemed to be getting pretty close.”

A dark cloud passed over Gene’s face, and he looked down continuing to check his gear. The others looked at him, then Ted and Carl started going through their gear. “She died in a car wreck two years later,” Gene mumbled. “We were engaged.”

Hearing that, pieces started falling into place in Bruce’s mind. “Sorry,” he said. “So you forgive me, right?”

Looking up with a grin, Gene said, “Shit, I forgave you then. It’s not every day a second lieutenant gets chewed out by the Secretary of State. You know, they still talked about that at the Pentagon before the fall.”

Bruce laughed. “Shit, I’m glad they didn’t find out about the other shit we did.”

When their gear was checked, they left, checking on the rest of the team. As they were looking at everyone’s weapons, Willie walked over. “Hey, Jake just announced cloud cover at nine thousand feet with snow.”

Gene looked over at Bruce. “How good are those pilots?”

“Shit, so far, they’ve been top notch,” Bruce replied.

“Bruce, they are going to have to do a pinpoint jump with no land marks. I really don’t want to jump and find out we’re miles off target. That wasn’t a problem before, but the locals want to eat our ass now,” Gene complained.

“Hey, this is your plan. Don’t bitch at me because Mother Nature threw clouds over the area,” Bruce shot back. “There will be four pathfinders already on the ground before we jump. I’m sure the aviators will be able to go off them.”

“What if the pathfinders are off target?” Gene asked.

Growling, Bruce threw the weapon he was looking at back to the man it belonged to, hitting him hard in the chest. “You want to bitch at me for shit that hasn’t even happened?” Bruce snapped. “Hell, I wanted to drive up there and just start killing now, but no, you want to do this air assault.”

“I’m just worried about leaving our dicks out in the wind,” Gene popped off.

Grabbing his crotch, Bruce said, “My dick is staying right here thank you.”

Gene shook his head. “Let’s just move the drop back till we have clear skies.”

“Bullshit,” Bruce said, spinning around, walking toward the house. “I’m getting this shit over with and taking some time off before spring. You are going to build the units while I baby Angela and Stephanie so they don’t drive me insane.”

Seeing Bruce leaving, Gene took off running with Ted, Carl, and Willie following Bruce. Grabbing the handle on the back door, Bruce pulled, but the door wouldn’t open. “Open the fucking door!” he shouted. Ted ran up beside Bruce, swiping a card on a reader beside the door.

The door popped open with a click. “I have to have a fucking card to get in my own fucking house!” Bruce bellowed, snatching the door open.

Downstairs in the control room, Mike looked up, hearing Bruce’s bellow. “Someone pissed Bruce off,” he announced.

“Whoever it is, baby, put them in the wood chipper,” Nancy said, not even looking up from the computer.

Hearing footsteps stomping down the stairs, Angela and Stephanie got up and walked over to the door, waiting on Bruce to come in. When he walked in the room, they stepped in front of him, smiling. “Who made you mad?” Stephanie asked.

“We’re going to help Mike put them in the wood chipper,” Angela grinned.

Looking at the two smiling, Bruce’s anger left. “Ah, I just heard clouds rolled in over the facility.”

Angela looked at Stephanie. “We aren’t fighting nature,” she said, and Stephanie nodded in agreement.

Stephanie looked at Bruce. “Yes, cloud cover rolled over about an hour ago. If it keeps moving at its current speed, it should clear the area by 0300.”

Leaning down, Bruce kissed both and walked over to the wall of monitors. Stopping at one that showed a satellite image of the northeast, he studied the monitor. “We have a UAV over the area?” he asked.

“Screen nine,” Angela said, walking up beside him, pointing down the row of monitors.

Bruce walked down then stopped. “There wasn’t that much snow yesterday,” he noted, looking at the monitor.

“Yes, the cloud cover is the last part of a system that rolled in yesterday,” Stephanie said, walking over. “There’s about twenty inches of new snow on the ground.”

“Just how much snow are we talking about?” Bruce asked, feeling tired.

“Around three feet,” someone behind him announced.

Bruce covered his face with both hands. “Was anyone planning on telling me this?”

“Baby, we told you it was snowing there yesterday,” Angela informed him in a gentle voice.

Dropping his hands, he said, “I don’t recall hearing ‘feet of snow.’”

“When you laid out your plan to drive up, I know I told you there were places along the route that were under yards of snow,” Stephanie said, stepping over and wrapping her arm around his waist.

Fighting the urge to just go to bed, Bruce studied the monitor. “Thermal please,” he called out, and the image turned to black and white heat. “Where the hell are the blues?”

“We haven’t seen any within twenty miles of the facility in days. The buildings aboveground are cleared out by the troops there,” Stephanie reported.

Liking the sound of that, he asked, “Are the blues moving any better in the deep snow?”

Mike stepped over. “No. It now seems that snow over a foot is sending them into hibernation.”

“Someone ask Mack or Steve how certain they are about getting us to the drop site without any visual markers?” Bruce called out.

“What?” Angela asked, grabbing his arm.

“I know pilots use instruments, but I’ve been dropped off course before, and it sucked,” Bruce explained. “Then, the locals just wanted to shoot at me. Now, they want to eat me.”

Mike laughed. “Mack’s already said he guaranteed they could drop you at the site. All you had to do was glide to it.”

“Damn sure going to suck treading through that much snow,” Bruce moaned and turned to Gene. “We go; launch the pathfinders at dusk. Main body follows half an hour later.”

Angela shook Bruce’s arm until he looked down. “Baby, the ground refueling point hasn’t had a blue near them in twelve hours. The blues seem to really hate snow. If you’re worried, we can move the assault back.”

“We aren’t moving through the snow,” Bruce smiled at her. “No, the emergency refueling point is already out there, and I’m not going to ask those troops to stay longer than necessary.”

That Bruce was thinking of those troops already out, Angela smiled and looked at the clock on the wall, seeing it was almost 1700, “Well, let’s get you and your troops fed,” she said.

They both guided Bruce out with the rest following. Ted leaned over to Carl as they walked up the stairs. “Those two have put a beatdown on that man,” he whispered. “Debbie would be proud.”

“Yep,” Carl replied. “Don’t forget it because they won’t beat someone else down like they did Bruce. They will use weapons.” Raising his eyebrows Ted nodded at the advice.

When they were outside, Gene called over the radio for the team to gather in the Center for supper. Willie shook his head. “I would rather not eat,” he said. “I prefer to just dry heave and not give my stomach ammunition.”

The Center slowly filled as others filed in to wish the team luck, and more than one member of Omega was disappointed they weren’t going. The loudspeaker on the wall suddenly squawked, “Pathfinders, report to airfield. Wheels up in thirty.”

Bruce stood up as Mike walked over and hugged him. “I’m heading to mission control. You stay safe, and hurry back.”

“Watch the family for me,” Brue said, letting Mike go. The family followed Bruce to the shop as he got his gear. As Bruce started strapping on his vest, he looked over at Gene talking with Danny and Buffy.

Angela and Stephanie helped Bruce tighten his vest even though he had done it a thousand times over the last year. “Baby, you need to let me and Stephanie clean your gear when you get back,” Angela informed him.

“I just went over it, and it’s clean,” Bruce protested.

Sniffing the vest, Stephanie wrinkled her nose. “Your vest stinks.”

“Says the woman who can smell the flowers in Brazil,” Bruce said.

Angela shook her head. “No the vest definitely has an aroma that can water the eyes. I’m surprised Stephanie is still standing.”

“Girls, I’m going to war, not a pageant,” Bruce reminded them.

“You don’t have to gross out everyone, and a vest that smells good wouldn’t hurt,” Angela said.

With visions of a vest smelling like spring flowers, Bruce gave a shiver. “Ah, I’ll clean it when I get back.”

“We’ll do it,” they said in unison. Giving up, Bruce walked over, grabbed his chute, put it on, and then hugged all the kids. Buffy walked up and hugged Bruce tight.

“Daddy, don’t be gone long,” she said.

Hugging her back, Bruce chuckled, “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Letting Bruce go, Buffy spun around and walked over to Ted, who was putting on his gear, talking to his girlfriend. Stopping in front of Ted, Buffy pointed at him. “You take care of my daddy.”

Looking at Buffy, Ted smiled. “I promise.”

Buffy stepped forward and hugged Ted. “You take care of yourself too, you big dummy.”

Startled to say the least, Ted hugged her back. “Ah, I will, Buffy.”

Letting Ted go, Buffy stepped over to Carl, who had watched the scene spellbound. Carl’s girlfriend moved over beside him as Buffy stepped over, hugging Carl. “You be careful too, weirdo,” Buffy said, burying her face in Carl’s stomach.

Confused, Carl nodded and looked at his girlfriend, who just shrugged. “I will, and thank you, Buffy,” he finally said as she let him go.

“You and Ted are kinda cool,” Buffy stated. “I like having you on my team.”

As Buffy walked away, Carl looked at Ted, who was just staring at Buffy, waiting for the knife to come out. “What was that about?” Carl asked.

“Have no idea?” Ted replied as his girlfriend stepped over to help him finish getting ready. As she handed Ted his drop bag with his rifle, Ted looked back up and noticed a young boy following Buffy, trying to talk to her. “Who’s that boy talking to Buffy?”

“Marty I think,” Carl answered. “He was in Jake’s platoon on our last patrols.”

Suddenly feeling very protective, Ted stormed over to Bruce with Carl close behind. Ted tapped Bruce’s shoulder. “What do you know of this Marty kid?”

“What?” Bruce asked, confused.

Wanting answers, Carl pushed Bruce’s shoulder, spinning him around. “The boy talking to Buffy?” Carl clarified.

Looking across the shop, Bruce spotted Buffy beside Jake and Marty standing behind her, just staring at Buffy. “He’s not talking, guys. Marty is just staring at her,” Bruce stated.

Turning his head, Carl narrowed his eyes. “He’s a stalker,” he growled.

“Guys—” Bruce started, and Ted interrupted.

“Just what the hell do you know about him, Bruce?” Ted interrogated as Angela and Stephanie grinned.

“I rescued him from a school in Haughton on the way home. His dad is one of the pilots we rescued in Pine Bluff,” Bruce answered, seeing worry on both of their faces.

Carl got up in Bruce’s face. “Is he good enough for Buffy?”

Ted shoved Carl aside and stepped up in Bruce’s face. “What classes has he taken? What is he planning on doing?”

“Guys,” Bruce said, stepping back. “They aren’t getting married. Hell, I don’t know if Buffy even knows he’s alive.”

“Married?” they both said, stepping up to Bruce. It was the only word they had heard.

Carl put his finger on Bruce’s chest. “That boy hurts her feelings, and he disappears.”

“Damn straight,” Ted chimed in. “That lake is slap full of gators.”

Feeling somewhat deprived, Bruce said, “Buffy is my daughter; I’ll watch her.”

“She’s our teammate,” Carl shot back. “That boy better treat her with respect.”

Ted spun around. “I’m going to throw him up against the wall and tell him if he hurts her, his short life will be hell.”

Lunging forward, Bruce grabbed Ted’s chute, yanking him back. “Don’t you even think about embarrassing Buffy like that.”

Pulling against Bruce, Ted promised, “I’ll do it quiet.”

“Guys, do you really think Buffy is scared of a boy?” Bruce asked.

Carl stepped closer. “Boys are scum.”

“Carl, you are a boy,” Bruce pointed out and heard stifled laughing behind him from Angela and Stephanie.

“Yeah, and at that age, I was scum,” Carl said, getting an angry look. “I was only after one thing.”

Letting out a yelp, “I’m going to kill Marty,” he snapped and attempted to take off again.

Yanking Ted back, Bruce pushed both to the wall. “Guys, I’m glad you think so much of Buffy, but she has Danny watching over her along with her brothers. Jake likes Marty and is tutoring him.”

They looked at each other then at Bruce. “Does Danny know?” Carl asked.

Thinking about that, Bruce shrugged his shoulders, “Hell, I don’t know.”

“We’re going to tell her,” Ted informed Bruce.

“Oh, no you’re not,” Bruce corrected. “I will make a deal with you. If Marty seems to be getting out of hand, I’ll let you two take care of it.”

Liking the sound of that, they both nodded. Ted looked Bruce in the eyes. “Buffy went with me when I started dating Melanie. She stood beside me, her teammate. Because of her, I have Melanie. That boy disrespects her, and I’m taking steps.”

“She did the same here,” Carl agreed.

With his mouth hanging open Bruce wasn’t even sure how to respond. With Bruce’s mind blank and no thoughts on the horizon, Angela stepped over. “Guys, thank you,” she said. “But if you go over there like this, you can actually force Buffy to acknowledge Marty exists. Right now, Buffy doesn’t even talk to him because she doesn’t think he’s tough.”

Baring his teeth, Carl growled, “A wimp. How dare he even think he’s good enough for her?”

“How dare that little limp dick think he can even talk to Buffy?” Ted said and tried to step away from them only to have Bruce push him harder into the wall.

Seeing the commotion, Gene stepped over. “What’s going on?”

“Butt the fuck out, Gene,” Bruce snapped as Stephanie came over and grabbed Bruce’s arms, pushing them down, letting Carl and Ted go.

“Listen to Angela, guys,” Stephanie said, stepping between them and Bruce. “You could give Marty a bad boy persona if you interfere.”

Ted looked over at Carl. “We watch his ass close.”

“Like white on rice,” Carl responded.

Ted’s girlfriend Melanie came over, grabbing Ted’s arm. “Ted, don’t worry. I love Buffy just as much as you do, and if that boy does anything, I’ll help you.” Carl’s girlfriend Monica came over, trying not to laugh, pulling him away.

Bruce closed his eyes, wanting to just crawl in a hole and disappear. “My life is so fucked up I can’t even begin to think about how to work on it,” he groaned.

“All of your life?” Stephanie asked.

“Please don’t start,” Bruce begged. “I don’t even know how to respond to those two.”

“Buffy is Omega’s daughter, Bruce,” Stephanie grinned. “They all look at her like that. Granted, she scares the shit out of them, but they love her like a daughter.”

“When I get back, I’m going to sleep for a decade, and I want everything fixed when I wake up,” Bruce announced, stepping over to the table and putting his backpack on his chest.

Angela was explaining what had happened to Gene, who stepped over to Bruce. “I’ll take care of it,” Gene assured him and walked off.

“Aw shit,” Bruce moaned, looking up, but Gene just went back to his gear, putting the rest on. Thankful, Bruce turned to Stephanie as Angela walked over. “I want you two to pull Danny aside and tell her what transpired here. She scares people more than Buffy,” Bruce said.

“Bruce, out of all your kids, everyone fears Jake the most,” Angela informed him, shocking Bruce. “They figure they can outrun the others, but with Jake, they know they will only die tired when he pulls out his rifle.”

“We’ll tell Danny,” Stephanie assured him.

“Assault team, prepare to load,” a voice called out over the radio and loudspeaker outside.

Feeling like he had aged several years since he walked in the shop just a half an hour ago, Bruce headed to the door, following the others. Several trucks were outside that the team was loading up in. Bruce climbed up in a truck with Angela and Stephanie joining him. Knowing getting comfortable was out of the question, Bruce just knelt down, watching the kids climb up with them.

“Ted, Carl, keep your mouth shut,” Bruce growled as Buffy climbed in the back of the truck with others helping her.

They both knelt like Bruce with their girlfriends beside them. When they reached the airfield, several A-10s were taking off, and a C-130 was sitting in the middle of the runway with its engines running. The huge props sent a strong wind back as the team unloaded from the trucks.

Jumping out of the truck, Gene walked to the end of the ramp, and the troops started loading as Gene called them out. Bruce looked at his family and smiled. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Danny ran over and hugged him. “I love you, Daddy.”

“Love you, sweet pea,” Bruce said, trying to hug her back with all of his equipment on. The others filed over, hugging him.

“All accounted for!” Gene yelled from the back of the plane over the engine noise.

The family let Bruce go, and he walked over to the ramp and stopped beside Gene. “Don’t ever remember having my family hugging me before I jumped into a hot zone,” Bruce shouted as the engines roared louder.

“I think it’s a great idea!” Gene shouted as they walked up the ramp, and the load master closed it. “Lets us know what we are fighting for.”

Bruce dropped in his cargo seat, adjusting his gear. “I’ve always known what I was fighting for,” Bruce said in a low voice as the plane started to roll down the runway. Turning his watch over, he looked at a picture of Debbie with the family. “I lost part of it, and be damned if I lose any more.”

The family, along with the clan, watched the large plane take off, carrying friends, loved ones, and members of their clan off into the night sky. In small groups, they started leaving the runway as other planes taxied out, preparing once again to fight a war that no one could see the end of.

About the Author

Thomas A. Watson lives in Northwestern Montana, but grew up in Doyline, Louisiana and Grenada, Mississippi. He moved to Shreveport, Louisiana to start a family. He graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelors in Science. Watson’s love of reading, which was instilled in him at a young age by his parents, inspired him to begin his writing career.

Working currently as an RN in an emergency room in Missoula, Watson loves the outdoors and taking time off of work.

By the author: The books in my Blue Plague series are no holds barred about the end of civilization and are not for the faint of heart. The language and actions are harsh, even by the main characters. It is my portrayal of what it would take to survive an event of this magnitude. It deals with the harsh reality of those that prey on the weak when no one is around to save and protect them. There is humor, honor, family, and hope in this series, because a world without these is another name for hell. The world has seen small scale deterioration from disasters, but nothing on the scale of this series. If you don’t think society would not break down like this then you are sorely mistaken. Bad people are everywhere in our society. If your neighbor was starving or scared, could you trust them to leave you alone or help protect your family?

I wrote this series based on what I saw after hurricanes Katrina and Rita about what would happen if society broke down worldwide.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to my readers. To all those who provided support, read, wrote and offered comments. I would not be where I am today without all of you.

To my family: Thank you all for giving me the courage and strength to pursue my dreams. I love you very much. Nick, Khristian, and Phillip, you three make my days brighter.

To Monique Happy: Thank you. You have been a pleasure to work with, and your work is amazing. Thanks for the recommendation, Shawn Chesser, she truly is the best.

And finally to my wife, Tina. Thank you for putting up with me and keeping my side of the bed warm on the long nights I was clicking away at the keyboard, for all your insightful input, and for just being there for me. I would have never made it this far without all your help and encouragement.

The Worlds of Thomas A. Watson

Thomas A. Watson has created an exciting and often terrifying array of worlds, including The Blue Plague series and Dark Titan: Journey, both available from Winlock Books in 2015.

Learn more about The Blue Plague

More about the Dark Titan series can be found on The Dark Titan: Journey

… and you can stay in touch with Thomas and all his work at

Thomas A. Watson on Facebook
and

Thomas A. Watson on Twitter

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Winlock Press has a stunning range of post-apocalyptic adventures for fans of Thomas A. Watson. Be sure to click on the links below and enters the worlds of

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first in The Reanimates series!

It took no time at all for Shelton’s Disease to spread from an ugly rumor on the internet to the end of the world as Cali Anglin, RN, knew it. Now the half-abandoned gated community that she has taken for granted is all that stands between her family and the endless, ravenous hordes of reanimates. And with the government gone, electricity extinguished, and the food supply dwindling, she has to face questions she’s never asked herself before: just how far would she go to save her family, her friends, her rapidly collapsing community? Would she kill for them? Would she die for them? She’s about to find out.

In the terrifying tradition of George Romero’s Day of the Dead and Mira Grant’s Feed, Julie Rudolph gives us a fresh and frightening look at the zombie apocalypse from the ground level, when ordinary people like you and me are forced to face extraordinary evil… and survive.

Tristan Vick’s Bitten: Resurrection,
first in the Bitten apocalypse series!

Rachael Ramirez has always been tough. Raising a son on her own in Newcastle City has made her that way. Alyssa Briggs, a Newcastle veterinarian, has always shown a gentler side. But when the world went crazy, and she literally ran into Rachael Ramirez as the risen dead overran them, everything changed. Now these bright and beautiful women will build a team of strange, courageous survivors, including a schizophrenic nymphomaniac, a narcissistic playboy, and a ragtag group of hardened soldiers: just what they need to stay alive in this weird new world. And none of them know that Rachael holds a shocking secret to the Resurrection Virus that may be the key to humanity’s salvation… or prove to be its worst curse.

Strong women and smart men in hand-to-hand combat with the walking dead, deep in the Big City. What more could you want in an apocalypse?

Table of Contents

- Contents
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Chapter 16
- Chapter 17
- Chapter 18
- About the Author
- Acknowledgments
- The Worlds of Thomas A. Watson
- Other Winlock Books You’ll Love