Decisions
Date: 2014-06-27 04:00:00+00:00
Description: In the wake of his wife’s death, Bruce took the bloodiest of revenges on the gangs who preyed upon the innocent, all while protecting the farm—now called Base Hope—against a seemingly endless horde of the infected. Returning from the very brink of sanity, Bruce makes the decision to rebuild America. He begins by planning the construction of the city of New Hope. But that doesn’t mean Bruce will sit quietly by while other gangs are continuing their murderous pursuits. Knowing Base Hope is in good hands, and New Hope is rapidly becoming a reality, he takes the forces of Omega and Gamma and goes

BLUE FALL: DECISIONS

By Thomas A. Watson

KINDLE EDITION

Blue Plague: Decisions

Copyright 2014

Thomas A. Watson

Kindle Edition

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real persons, events, or places are purely coincidental; any references to actual places, people, or brands are fictitious. All rights reserved.

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Edited by Monique Happy Editorial Services
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Art by Rhiannon Gallacher
https://www.facebook/rhiannon.gallacher.1

Acknowledgments

To Rhiannon Gallacher my co-worker, talented artist, and friend. Thank you for sharing
your artistic talent and taking your time to read an unedited copy to form an idea of my
books, then allowing me to place them on the cover for the world to see.

You continue to amaze me with your talent.

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.

Table of 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

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 1

Looking up after reading the last page again, Bruce closed the notebook with tears in his eyes. Over the last four days he had read the notebook twice. Pushing his chair back from the desk, Bruce looked up at the ceiling of the shop. “Well sugar mama, I have to say, you were right not to tell me because we would’ve bugged out. Keeping that in mind, when I can, I’m still spankin’ your ass,” Bruce said out loud to the empty shop. “You had no right to keep that from me, and to top it off you picked out not one, but ‘two’ women to take your place. Debbie, I’ll always love you and I don’t know if spanking’s hurt in heaven, but you will have a red ass for this.”

Looking around the empty shop, he sighed. He hadn’t smelt Debbie’s fragrance since the day his grandbaby was born. Try as he might, he couldn’t get Debbie to talk to him again like the day in the underground bunker. ‘Probably for the best because I would spin off now,’ Bruce thought.

Over the last four days he’d read in wonder Debbie’s words in which she described to him how she’d known. Jack, her father, had come to her in her dreams, telling her the time was getting near and she had a choice to make. She could run with the family and maybe survive, but mankind wouldn’t. The only times Bruce left the shop was to eat and spend a few hours a day playing with the kids. Stephanie and Angela were always nearby, checking on him; he liked it, but Bruce also liked and needed his space.

“Okay Debbie, I’ll keep my promise and love them but I can’t promise I’ll stay with them. I think they’re trying to drive me insane. I’m a little too old for the newlywed routine. As for the rest, I’ll do my best but I ain’t promising shit. That’s a tall order woman,” Bruce said, grabbing the notebook and heading for the door. He looked at his watch which read 1510.

Walking outside, the heat beat him down. “If you have any pull Debbie, see if the big guy will lighten up with the heat wave,” Bruce complained out loud. Hearing laughing from the swimming area, Bruce headed over.

The pool was packed, and looking over at one of the tables Bruce saw Stephanie, Angela, Mike, Nancy, Carroll, Marcus, Conner, Willie, Ted, and Carl. They were watching the kids swimming while talking to each other. Stephanie looked up at Bruce walking over and told the others, who all turned around as he approached.

“You done, baby?” Stephanie asked.

“Yeah,” Bruce said, throwing the red notebook on the table. “Those she wanted to read it, there it is. I want Jake to scan it into a computer, so can somebody let him know, please? That way all of ya can read it and not hafta wait,” Bruce said, looking over at the pool. There were almost five thousand people in the clan now and the pool was packed. Then Bruce noticed several lifeguard chairs along the pool with people sitting in them, watching the pool.

Stephanie got up and walked over to Bruce, wrapping her arm around him and leading him over to her chair. “Are you okay?” she asked.

Bruce looked down at her and smiled, “Yeah Little Red, I’m good, but if I get a chance I’m going to wear her ass out with a belt. I’m sure somewhere in the afterlife I can find a belt to use on her.” Bruce sat down and she sat in his lap, joined by Angela.

“Bruce, you have to respect her decision,” Angela told him.

“Oh I do, but she could’ve warned me. What really freaks me out is she knew I was going to go crazy,” Bruce said, then pointed at the notebook. “She describes it pretty good, even saying ‘if’ I came back, I would hit Mike and get drunk after. That’s not right,” Bruce told her.

“We know Bruce, we have letters of our own,” Angela said.

“I know and I don’t want to read ‘em. I feel like a pawn here and I don’t like it,” Bruce replied.

Carroll cleared her throat. “Bruce, ya don’t hafta like it. You be destined to lead, just do it, and if I hear ya threaten to switch Debbie again I’m going to cut one an' use it on ya. She knowed what she had to do and why. You can’t be goin’ against the Lord, Bruce,” Carroll warned him.

“Carroll, then you better get a switch. As for God, I don’t hate him but I’m still pissed at him. That’s the end of this discussion,” Bruce announced. Looking around the table he asked, “What’s today?”

“Tuesday,” Angela said, laying her head on his chest.

“Is Omega geared up and ready?” Bruce asked Willie.

“We’re ready. We have a hundred and fifty fighters and one hundred support personnel. You thinkin’ on going out?” Willie asked.

“Nope,” Bruce said, causing shock and worry around the table.

“Okay then Bruce, what’s chapping your ass? You yourself know if you had the choice Debbie had you would’ve done the same damn thing. You can deny it but you know it, so quit being a bitch,” Mike told him.

Bruce laughed before he replied, “That’s why I love ya, Mike. Yes, I would’ve done a lot of the same.” Looking at Paul, Bruce asked, “What’s the status of the farm?”

“Well we can’t take any more people here, that’s for sure. We have room for about a hundred more and that’s it. We have no more room. I’ve moved the helicopters out to the airfield and we’re expanding it. In case you haven’t noticed, a lot of people are just sitting around. We don’t have many projects left. They train, learn, and pull guard duty, then just sit around studying,” Paul told him.

“Oh, that’s fixing to change big time. Any blues near us?” Bruce asked.

“That’s funny you should ask because we were just talking about that. The closest one is forty-three miles to the east. They’re avoiding the area. I mean, they take a detour around us,” Conner told him.

Bruce chuckled then stated, “Mike, will you and Nancy watch the kids tonight for us? I need Angela and Stephanie to help with some plans. Then get Susan to watch them for us tomorrow. Command group, meeting tomorrow morning in the bunker at 0600. Bring notebooks. It’s time to kick this shit into high gear.” Stephanie and Angela stood up, letting Bruce out of the chair. “We have a lot of work to do and not a lot of time. Ask Millie to have food brought to the command bunker until we’re done. I figure we’ll be there most of the day,” Bruce told them, holding out his hands for Angela and Stephanie and leading them to the shop.

Nancy grabbed the notebook. “Wonder what we’re going to do now?” she asked no one.

“Well whatever it is, you know it’s going to be big and bad,” Ted chuckled.

“We’ll find out tomorrow. I for one will be goin’ to bed early tonight. Bruce is back, it’s time ta get ta work,” Marcus said, standing up and grabbing Carroll’s hand before leading her to the Center for an early supper.

“Tarzan, tell Jane I need her to watch the kids tomorrow please,” Mike said, standing up.

“You know she hates that,” Conner said, fighting off his blushing cheeks.

“Hey, she was the one that wanted Tarzan, not me,” Mike said as Nancy stood up with him, trying not to laugh.

“I’ll tell her. What do you think Bruce is fixin’ to start up?” Conner asked.

“I have no idea but I can guarantee ya, it’s going to leave us speechless. I’m going to sleep now so my mind can be fresh. I hate arguing with Bruce when my brain isn’t functioning,” Mike said heading to the house.

“Let’s go tell Omega not to get too comfortable,” Carl said, leaving with Ted following.

Bruce, along with Angela and Stephanie, worked until 0300 in the morning on Bruce’s plans, both thinking he was crazy at first. They grabbed a quick nap then gathered all the papers, maps, and laptops and headed to the command bunker at 0530. They hung maps up on the wall, arranged the papers in stacks, and set up the laptop with the projector. They ran upstairs, grabbing a quick shower, then came back to the bunker to find everyone waiting on them.

When they walked in, Mike looked up at Bruce. “Bruce, I want a medal. Holy shit, how can two little girls and two little boys beat you that bad? Cade burrowed under my pillow like a mole. How, I don’t know? The twins sprawl out until they can touch every person in the bed. PJ just keeps moving from person to person to sleep on them. They shouldn’t be able to make a grown up that sore in the mornings.”

“Like hell,” Stephanie said. “I’ve never had to work so hard to sleep until I became a mama. I love them with all my heart but I want to duct tape them to the wall,” she admitted.

Nancy giggled. “Stephanie, since you have become a mama your language has turned to the rough side,” she informed Stephanie.

“Rough? I had to leave the room last week because I almost started yelling at Emily for coloring outside the lines. Before that I had to bite my tongue because PJ climbed a tree in the front yard and wouldn’t come down. He better be glad Angela can climb trees because I was just going to cut the damn thing down to get him out,” Stephanie told her.

Bruce looked at Angela. “I knew you were part monkey,” he told her, grinning.

“Don’t start Bruce. Cade bit me that day and I almost body-slammed him. When I bit him back Stephanie tackled me. We wrestled on the floor until Cade came over and bit her. Then I put her in a headlock until she bit him back,” Angela told him. Bruce was laughing along with everyone else at the two.

“You got lucky with the headlock,” Stephanie told her.

“Whatever. Since you bit him back, has he bit ya again? No, he hasn’t. And Bruce, I just wanted to tell you Stephanie has incorporated your range rules as she teaches Buffy. Stephanie makes her do pushups after class,” Angela told him.

Bruce was laughing hard now as Stephanie leaned toward Angela. “She’s learning, isn’t she,” Stephanie grumbled.

“Stephanie, you made her learn the whole periodic table in two days!” Angela snapped.

“She did it, didn’t she!” Stephanie snapped back.

“Yeah, how many pushups later,” Angela said.

“Doesn’t matter,” Stephanie said, crossing her arms.

“Stephanie, you made the twins do pushups for the alphabet yesterday,” Angela almost yelled.

“You’re the one that came up with that,” Stephanie told her with an accusing voice.

“I was joking,” Angela said.

“I didn’t know that, besides, they learned it,” Stephanie told her and Angela just laid her head on the table.

“Well, now that everyone knows my family is totally insane, let’s get started,” Bruce said, standing up. “Okay, first it’s time to secure the area here,” Bruce said and Mike stood up.

“Bruce, before you start I wanted to ask what are your thoughts about heading to the other farm? It’s isolated, far from any danger, and we have the manpower now to make it secure,” Mike asked.

“I’m staying here. This land has been bought and paid for with the blood of this family,” Bruce told him.

“I know it has Bruce, that’s what I’m getting at. Don’t you think the farm in Nebraska would be safer since there’s nothing around for miles?” Mike asked.

“It would be if we were just going to hide. It’s time to secure the area and start saving people,” Bruce told Mike, making his choice to stand here at the farm.

“So we’re going to fight all the blues on the North American continent?” Mike asked, not really wanting the answer.

“You got it. We’re going to fight them and any group that lives off the pain and suffering of others. We are going to rebuild America,” Bruce told him.

“Not to be nit-picky, but after your last excursions that could be said about us,” Bill told him.

“No, I was punishing the guilty. They fear us now just like the blues here. If that’s what you think I’m doing Bill, then we have a problem,” Bruce told him.

Bill raised his hands up. “Bruce, honestly I don’t, but what happens later? Who are you going to turn the reins over to? You are deciding the fate of others with your own judgment. That isn’t America,” Bill told him.

“That’s fair, but I want to ask a question. Am I in charge?” Bruce asked.

“Yeah,” Bill answered.

“Then it’s on me. When or if this war can be won, I will step down and the people can elect their leaders; until then we’re at war. My word is law and the clan laws are what we live by, nothing else. The rest of the laws are shit anyway. I’m willing to lead this war. Anyone want to take my place?” Bruce asked.

“Okay Bruce, but with the power you have now please don’t let it go to your head,” Bill told him.

Stephanie stood up, looking at Bill. “Bill, you need a tampon real bad. Out of everyone here Bruce is the only one that can be trusted with this. I’m—” Stephanie stopped as Bruce held up his hand.

“Baby, let him talk. I want his concerns,” Bruce told her.

“He’s not going to disrespect you in my presence or I will stomp a mud hole in his ass and walk it dry,” Stephanie snapped.

“You’ve been around me too long,” Bruce said, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

“Stephanie, I didn’t mean anything. Please sit down!” Bill snapped.

Angela jumped out of her chair, “Motherfucker, you watch your tone with her or I’ll cut it off and use it for fish bait!” she yelled at Bill. Bill scooted his chair back, visibly going pale.

“Girls, please take your dicks off your shoulder. I can take care of myself but thank you, it does mean a lot to me,” Bruce told them as he started to rub his temples.

“Okay baby, but if he does it again Angela and I are going fishing,” Stephanie said as the two sat down. Bruce looked around the table. Mike was holding Nancy and both were laughing silently with tears on their faces. Shaking his head, Bruce turned and found Marcus and Carroll the same way, holding each other and laughing silently with tears on their faces.

“Something funny?” Bruce asked them.

“No,” Mike squeaked as he quivered with laughter.

Bruce looked at the girls. “Okay you two, I want people’s opinions and those opinions will not always sound good. Will you two please quit trying to shank members of the command group?”

“Not when they have attitude,” Angela told him and Stephanie nodded her head in agreement.

Paul looked at the two, then at Bruce. “Bruce, I just want to say I see what you’re doing and agree with it. Granted, it freaks me out but you’ve been fair to one and all. Even the gangs had a choice. They knew you were coming and could’ve left. They didn’t so they fell under our jurisdiction. Any that don’t like it can leave, it’s a big world. Unless you’re going after the whole world?” Paul asked, glancing at the two.

“No, I’m only going to try to save America,” Bruce told him as Paul continued to watch Angela and Stephanie for signs he had irritated them.

“Well if they don’t like the way we run this operation, they can leave or live by the rules,” Paul said. Bruce nodded and looked around the table and noticed Marcus, Carroll, Mike, and Nancy were still laughing silently.

He knew they were laughing about something to do with him and he didn’t want to know about it. “Bill, we will never go back to the old way of America. We will adopt the original Constitution and Bill of Rights when the time comes, but until then, clan law is the rule.”

“I can live with that, Bruce. I was just sayin’ that other rulers in history don’t do well with sole power. Once Hitler—” Bill started and Angela jumped up, slamming her knife into the table and burying the tip.

“Bitch! Compare him to Hitler, I dare ya! Fuck no, I double dare ya motherfucker!” Angela screamed. Mike and Nancy fell out of their chairs, crashing to the floor laughing. Marcus and Carroll stayed in theirs still laughing, but not silently anymore.

Bruce just stared at Angela, not sure if he wanted her attention right now or not. Stephanie stood up slowly and put her hand on Angela’s shoulder. “Bill, are the people here happy?” Stephanie asked. Bill just nodded his head yes, not wanting to talk anymore.

“They can do pretty much anything they want as long as they work or it hurts the clan. We have a group of people here that have a nice garden of marijuana. Do we care? No. They all work and do what’s necessary for the clan. Three weeks ago we had a complaint about four women laying out tanning nude. You didn’t like the command group’s ruling: ‘Don’t want to see them. Don’t look.’ I’m pretty sure you flipped out the night of the party with all the naked people running around. Have we received any complaints about that, Paul?” Stephanie asked.

“Ah no, I’ve been asked when y’all were going to do that again. They want to join in and take pictures. The guards that were on duty demanded to be on duty when y’all throw the next party also. They all said they’ve never laughed that much in their life,” Paul told her, getting a lot of smirks.

“It’s simple Bill. Don’t like seeing naked, don’t look. Don’t like drugs, don’t do them. Don’t like porn, don’t watch it. Don’t like to smoke, don’t do it. I can go on but the gist is, don’t take away someone else’s right in order to make yourself feel better. If someone wants to cut their dick off and sew it on their head, that’s their business. If they do what is required for the clan they have earned their right to live in peace,” Stephanie told him.

“Stephanie, that’s all good but there’s a lot of gray area there. What if someone stalks someone—” Bill started and she held up her hand.

“Primary rule, Bill, respect others. That is someone going out of their way to bother a clan member. There is no interpretation of law, Bill, it’s either right or wrong. That person is not respecting the right of another and is guilty. They are going out of their way to cause problems. If a clan member tries to kill another clan member that’s trying to hurt them and deadly force is used to stop them, they are not in trouble. Remember once you break clan law you’re not part of it nor do you hold its privileges,” Stephanie told him, then added, “I’ve been nice Bill, but if you ever try to compare Bruce to anyone else like Hitler again, Angela and I will come across this table. Then I’m calling Bruce’s kids down here and we’re all going outside.”

“Dude, you really don’t want to meet Herman,” Ted informed him.

“Herman?” Paul asked.

“Buffy’s knife. They talk to each other and it freaks me the hell out,” Ted told him.

Bill looked at Angela; she was still holding onto the knife that was stuck in the table and was glaring at him. “Angela, I’m sorry and I see where you’re coming from. It was a poor choice of words on my part. I just want to make sure we look at everything here. I’ve never been a parent and now I’m a dad. Every time I look at Frank, I’m scared. I want the world for him but it’s full of danger on a scale we can’t even measure,” Bill told her sincerely.

The anger left Angela’s face and she pulled her knife out of the table. “Bill, I can understand that but don’t disrespect my family. Y’all might be scared of Bruce and his kids, but I can guarantee you that if you deal with Stephanie and me, you will beg for them. I can honestly say the little sessions Bruce has put on the air are nothing compared to what we can do if you fuck with our family,” Angela said, sitting down as Mike and Nancy got off the floor, trying not to laugh out loud.

Bruce just stared at the two, wondering if he could talk now. Taking a chance he asked, “Are y’all finished?”

“Go ahead baby,” Stephanie told him, smiling.

“Okay, since they have their dicks out on the table, please watch your mouths. Now Mike, back to the topic. We are going to rebuild America. I’m staying here to live or die, better or worse, this is where I will make my stand,” Bruce told him.

Mike quit laughing. “I thought so Bruce, but I had to ask to let the others know what’s ahead.”

“First we are securing fifty square miles here,” Bruce said, looking down at his notebook. Looking back up, fixing to start, he found looks of shock on everyone except for Angela and Stephanie. They’d had the shocked looks last night.

“Y’all all right?” Bruce asked.

“What do you mean, secure fifty square miles?” Paul asked, dumbfounded.

“We’re going to enclose it,” Bruce answered.

Everyone started speaking at once and the voices started escalating. Bruce shook his head and pulled his pistol out and laid it on the table. Silence fell over the room. “That was rude, now don’t everyone talk at once. I will talk about it but not with everyone yelling at me. I won’t shoot you to kill ya but I’ll damn sure wound ya,” Bruce told them. He spoke into his radio, “I want Steve, Jake, Danny, Matt, David, Mary, Mindy, and Buffy to the command bunker now.”

“Why’d you call the kids?” Ted asked nervously.

“I wanted them to be here but I forgot to tell them,” Bruce answered, hearing the kids coming down the stairs.

“Bruce, don’t shoot me, but even if we put a ten-foot chain-link fence like we have now around that much of an area we couldn’t guard it,” Paul told him, and the others nodded their heads as the kids walked in and found a place to sit down. Bruce caught them up on what he had said, then answered Paul.

“Wouldn’t work Paul, too fragile and easy to overcome; I’m thinking bigger. I want a thirty-foot fence,” Bruce said and went to the wall and turned the map they had hung up. On the map was an outlined box with the farm in the southwest corner.

“Holy shit!” Paul cried out, looking at the map. “Bruce, a wall that size will take us years,” he predicted.

“Nope, it’ll be up in three weeks after we start. Now it won’t be complete for another two, and that includes the three gates to the north, east, and south,” Bruce replied.

“Did someone sell you some magic beans?” Mike asked, staring at the map.

“Would you like me to tell you how?” Bruce asked Paul, ignoring Mike.

“Bruce, what the hell do we need an area that size for with a Cajun Great Wall?” Mike asked.

“Okay, for one, a wall that tall can face a horde and we could engage them when we wanted. The area is so spread out they couldn’t just pile up at one spot. Well they could, but it would take tens of millions to breach the top. We could just burn ‘em out. I want an area big enough we can move around, and inside the area I have marked out are nine active oil wells,” Bruce told him.

“Bruce, don’t you think that’s just a little big?” Nancy asked.

“Forget it Nancy, we tried that last night. He can shoot down any argument you have, and I have to agree with him after he sold me on the idea,” Stephanie told her.

“Alright Bruce, talk but I’m not sold yet,” Nancy said.

“Well we are going to get forty-foot telephone poles. Bolt ten together which will make roughly a sixteen-foot section. Dig a ten-foot trench and set the sections in them, bolting the sections together. I’m putting the numbers at about eleven hundred poles per mile, just over thirty thousand for the whole fence. The north and south walls will be ten miles long and the east and west will be five miles,” Bruce said as Joe raised his hand. “Yeah Joe,” Bruce said.

“Bruce, where the hell are we going to get that many poles?” Joe asked.

“We have a large treatment yard here in Louisiana. I don’t think they have that many but the one in Mississippi or the one in Texas both have that many. The one in Texas alone has enough to make a fence double that size,” Bruce answered.

“Okay Bruce, we have a big ass wood wall around us but we can’t shoot over it and it can be knocked down,” Willie pointed out.

“Guys, will you please let him keep going. Shit, if Stephanie couldn’t shoot his plan down none here can even come close. Now we want the damn thing, so listen,” Angela told them.

Everyone looked from Angela to Bruce. “She really tried hard but she really likes the idea now,” Bruce told them. “First we have four surveyors and they will start tomorrow. A group will go into the area with heavy equipment and clear it and the surveyors will mark it out. Then a crew will come in and dig out a ten-foot trench. I’m giving them a head start because they will take the longest.

“Tomorrow, I’m taking Omega with a hundred trucks to the yard. It’s only sixty miles from here. We’ll empty them out and drop them off in the south field. Their teams will start to build the sections and I’m going to let them have a four-day start. I’m figuring ten sections completed an hour with twenty stations. I want one team per station, six men. A lift will line the poles up and they will bolt them together. A lift will move the completed section out and start over. I really feel we will go a lot faster than ten an hour.

“Then we will start putting them up on the fourth day, doing one and a half miles a day. We will be finished in three weeks. As for the gates, we will go to a train yard, gather two rail cars for each gate and three hundred feet of track for each gate. Then we’ll build a track at each gate site over the existing road for the cars to ride on. We can use winches to move them to open and close the gate. Now the cars weigh around twenty tons each but I want to make them heavier.

“The next part will take the longest,” Bruce said, and held up another map. This one had the outline of the fence but a blocked-out spot beside the west wall. “We’re going to dig a pit to our west and use the dirt to build a twenty-foot berm on the inside of the wall. We’ll use cable to anchor the wall on the inside so it won’t lean out later,” Bruce told them, and continued for another hour outlining what he wanted done now.

When he was finished he looked at the group. “Any questions?” he asked.

“Ah, what about the big hole to our west?” Matt asked.

“We’re going to divert the creek that runs behind the house into it and two more to the north and fill it up. Then use it for a hydroelectric station. But that is phase two,” Bruce told him.

“Told ya Stephanie and I already have been through this,” Angela told everyone.

“Bruce, could you give the surveyors a few more days? We don’t have the satellite GPS anymore and it may take ‘em a little while to go old school,” Paul asked. ‘Damn, didn’t think about that,’ Bruce thought.

Jake coughed and everyone looked at him. “Ah well, we kinda do have them back,” he said. Everyone just stared at him. “Matt and I brought them back online two days ago. But we have to program anything that wants to talk to them,” Jake said to all the shocked faces. “What? Nobody was using them,” Jake stated.

“You captured the military’s GPS system?” Mike asked.

“Well yeah Dad, they were just sitting there,” Matt said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Is that why there are several new satellite dishes in the east field and not for the UAVs?” Mike asked.

“Yeah Dad, we only needed two for the UAVs, and there are over forty dishes out there,” Matt admitted.

“How many satellites have you two captured?” Bruce asked in amazement.

“Just over a six hundred,” Jake admitted, looking down.

“Hey you caught ‘em, let’s use ‘em,” Bruce said. Jake and Matt looked up, smiling.

“What did you mean ‘program’ to use the GPS?” Stephanie asked.

“Well since it’s back up we didn’t want anyone but us to use it. It’s ours now and we don’t want to share. Your unit has to have the download code to use the system,” Matt told her.

“So only we can use it?” Mike asked, almost shouting in astonishment.

“Yeah Dad, there are still government troops out there and we didn’t want them using it against us,” Matt told him.

“I’m not mad, that is totally cool!” Mike shouted, making the boys grin wider.

“Ah gentlemen, can I ask a question,” Paul said. Jake and Matt both nodded. “I’m not some computer genius by any stretch of the imagination, but it would take you generations to hack that without some serious computing power. I just don’t think the computers you have in your rooms and Mission Control have that much power,” Paul stated.

“Well we have extra,” Matt answered.

“May I ask how much ‘extra’?” Paul inquired.

“Well, we sorta have a super computer spread over the farm. In the loft of the barn behind the simulators, in Mission Control, and in Mary’s room,” Jake told him.

“What do you mean in Mary’s room?” Nancy asked.

“It’s full of towers,” Jake answered.

“Is that why the power supply is really high on the farm?” Paul asked and they both nodded their head yes. “You could’ve told me. Hell, I’ve been walking the barracks thinking someone was wastin’ power. I was ready to start beatin’ people.”

“Boys, will you set up the surveyors’ equipment so they can use the system, then go to the choppers and planes. Next several handhelds for the ground troops and can you have it so we can change the code when we want?” Bruce asked in wonder. He liked the idea of having satellites at his disposal.

“Sure Dad, that’s easy,” Jake answered.

Bruce grinned, asking, “We have spy satellites?”

“Oh yeah Dad, we even have weather satellites,” Jake replied.

“Son, how did you get them with the government still active?” Bruce asked.

“Normally you couldn’t because someone is sitting there at a terminal linked to the satellite and they can stop it. The government in Colorado and Pennsylvania are shutting their systems down at night. Well when they did that, we took ‘em. Now the Navy has several that we can’t get because the fleet is still active in Australia,” Jake told him.

“So they know they lost them?” Mike asked.

“They know they can’t uplink to them, not that they’ve been hijacked,” Matt answered.

“Okay people, with them on our side we have it all. Any questions?” Bruce asked.

Marcus stood up. “Bruce, I like your idea but can I ask why?” he asked.

“Marcus, even if we do take back the country, we will never be able to live without walls. We will never kill all the infected. In a few thousand years they may figure out how to make ‘em extinct but until then man will live behind walls. I want an area big enough that we can do stuff inside the wall. This will be the first new city of America. Phase two, we are building a city in the center of this. It will cover one square mile and I want it to be able to house a hundred thousand. Then we will build more across the country but first we have to have everything set up here before we launch this war,” Bruce told him.

“You plannin’ way down tha road,” Marcus said, laughing.

“Yes Marcus, Debbie wanted me to try to save as many as I could. That’s my choice, to keep my promise,” Bruce told him.

“I like it,” Marcus said.

“So are we in agreement then? This project moves forward?” Bruce asked.

Everyone nodded and Nancy looked at Stephanie and Angela. “Well come on you two, let’s start making teams,” she said.

“We did them last night, Nancy,” Stephanie told her.

Nancy just started at her in shock. “What?” she managed to get out.

“Well we couldn’t shoot down his idea and the more we tried the more we liked it. It was our idea to turn the pit we’re going to make into a water reservoir to make hydroelectric power,” Stephanie answered.

Bruce grinned, “Well it’s almost lunch, let’s break it to the clan,” he informed everyone.

Chapter 2

The clan took the information very well and loved the idea that they would have a large wall around them to stop the blues and gangs. Bruce explained this was phase one of three phases of the project. Two thousand people were going to be put on this one project, and it would run around the clock until completed. This did make some nervous but they accepted the risk.

Bruce went to the table and sat down and the twins piled in his lap. “Girls, have I been neglecting you?” he asked them. They both just looked up at him, not understanding. “Have you missed Daddy?” Bruce asked. They both wrapped their arms around his neck, kissing him.

“Well I guessed that answered that question,” Bruce said out loud. PJ started beating his highchair, yelling. ‘That’s not fair, I can’t get out. I want some’ is what Bruce interpreted. “You know if you talked, people might listen to you,” Bruce said, looking at PJ.

“Dada,” PJ said, followed by a raspberry.

“Boy, you better rectify,” Bruce warned him. PJ just laughed and smiled at Bruce as Stephanie started feeding him.

“Well Bruce, since we start tomorrow, how are you going to run the convoys?” Willie asked.

“I’m flying down to the first yard this afternoon just to check the area. But Omega will leave at dawn with fifty trucks. We’ll secure the site and the salvaging team will load. I’m guessing but I figure about a fifty poles in a truck,” Bruce said.

Paul spoke up, “Yeah, no more than a hundred.”

“Well I’m figuring about five hundred truckloads. Anyway, when the first fifty are almost loaded we call for the next fifty. Gamma will provide transport security to and from the yard. We will just keep the trucks rolling until it’s empty or we have enough,” Bruce answered.

“That means we’re running hot at night?” Ted asked, a little worried.

“It’s alright Ted, I’ll find you a Teddy bear,” Bruce told him. Everyone laughed and continued eating. Bruce looked at Stephanie and Angela. “You two want to get your gear and the kids and fly down with me?” Bruce asked.

“Really?” Angela asked.

“Uh, yeah, unless you have other plans,” Bruce said.

“Girls, hurry and eat. PJ, I swear, would you cooperate just one time to eat,” Stephanie begged, trying speed up the feeding process.

PJ shook his head no and kept moving his mouth away from the spoon. “Boy, I would letcha starve if you do that to me,” Bruce warned. PJ just slapped his highchair, daring him to try.

Everyone ate, except PJ. Stephanie finally gave up. They all ran inside to get dressed. After getting in his flight suit, Bruce headed to the barn. Paul had moved most of the choppers out but five were still kept inside the fence. Bruce walked over to a Black Hawk that had an Omega symbol painted on the front. As he walked around the chopper to inspect it, Bruce heard his name called out.

Turning around, he saw Jimmy running up to him. “Hey Bruce, I see you found your chopper,” Jimmy said.

“My chopper?” Bruce asked.

“Yeah, you and Mike have your own choppers assigned to ya. Your Loach and Apache are over there,” Jimmy pointed. Bruce looked over and saw them by the west field.

“Why do I get my own?” Bruce asked.

“Well you and Mike are the bosses and each team has its own wing of ships. I guess I should tell ya that Mike has his own Warthog,” Jimmy told him.

“I’m so going to kick his ass,” Bruce threatened.

“Well Bruce, you were kinda busy tryin’ to kill every infected and gang around,” Jimmy pointed out as a chopper took off from the airfield.

Bruce turned to see a twin rotor Chinook take off. “When did we get those?” he asked.

“Two weeks ago. We went down to Polk and finished cleaning them out. We have sixty chopper pilots now. We are cross-training some on the Chinook,” Jimmy informed him. The Chinook was a monster able to carry fifty troops and was fast. Bruce always thought they looked like a bus with two rotors stuck on them.

“What about the Super Stallion we took from New Orleans?” Bruce asked.

“It’s almost finished being rebuilt. Joe has experience with that beast, I figured that was the one you wanted to fly,” Jimmy said smiling.

“Sorry, I love that big beast,” Bruce told him as he finished his walk around.

Throwing his gear inside, Bruce looked up and saw Stephanie carrying PJ and holding Emily’s hand, and Angela who was holding Cade’s and Sherry’s hands. They all had smiles as they walked up to him. “Hey guys, ready to fly?” Bruce asked. The twins and Cade started jumping up and down. PJ was just chewing on his fist. Bruce knew the other three were happy but he had no idea what PJ thought.

“Well if ya need us, give us a call. By the way, Jake came over and fixed your GPS,” Jimmy said, walking away.

“Cool,” Bruce said as he helped everyone inside. The twins just about died when they found out they couldn’t sit up front. Angela and Stephanie strapped everyone in as Bruce helped. Bruce heard the copilot door open and close behind him. Turning around, he didn’t see anyone so he finished buckling PJ in.

Bruce climbed out, then closed the cargo door and climbed inside to find Buffy sitting up front. “What, I can’t come?” she asked as Bruce looked at her.

“You know you can,” Bruce said, putting his helmet on. Buffy copied him then watched him go through the startup process.

“You have to do all that just to start it?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he replied as he gripped the sticks.

“Kinda stupid, they could just put a button to do all that,” she replied, making Bruce laugh as he lifted off after asking if the airspace was clear. Mission control said all UAVs were up at eight thousand feet and no micros were out.

“Y’all got your helmets on back there?” Bruce asked Angela and Stephanie.

“Yes,” they said together.

“Good, I want to make sure I can hear ya scream,” Bruce said as he opened the throttle, shooting forward. The chopper took off at three hundred feet as Bruce weaved side to side. Screams came over the intercom from Angela and Stephanie.

Bruce pulled back and the chopper shot up. “Bruce, this is not funny!” Angela finally yelled out between screams. Leveling at six thousand, Bruce dove down to the ground.

Buffy was clapping her hands laughing as the ground came up and Bruce leveled out at five hundred feet. “Bruce, I’m going to kick your ass for that. I think I peed my pants,” Stephanie said over the intercom. Bruce chuckled but took it easy after that, heading down to the treatment yard.

It took them thirty minutes to fly the eighty miles to the yard, and Bruce made slow circles around the yard at five hundred feet. “How big is this place?” Angela asked.

“Just guessing, I’d say just over a hundred acres,” Bruce replied. “Stephanie, this last row is fully treated poles. How many would you guess?”

“Can you get a little closer and please don’t do stupid shit?” Stephanie asked. Bruce eased down till he was just fifty feet above the stack. “Bruce, I’m putting it close to fifty thousand,” she answered.

“More than enough,” Bruce said, lifting off.

Buffy, who had watched Bruce fly, asked, “You mean you turn with the pedals, the stick between your legs moves you, and the one beside you makes it go up and down?”

“Basically, yeah,” Bruce said.

“A man invented this thing,” she stated.

“What’s that got to do with it?” Bruce asked.

“A girl would’ve made it easier,” Buffy declared.

“Just how did you come to that conclusion?” Bruce asked, almost yelling.

“The more stuff a toy has, the happier a boy is. I mean, just look at all the buttons and stuff,” she said, waving her hand at the instrument panel.

“What’s your point, half-pint?” Bruce growled.

“A girl would have made it easier with just one control,” Buffy predicted.

“Well one hasn’t done it yet,” Bruce told her.

“Well duh, if we did, it would just hurt boys’ feelings,” Buffy told him.

“You know you can get out and walk,” Bruce told her.

“I got my weapon, I don’t care,” Buffy told him in a sassy tone.

Bruce looked over at her as she looked out the window. “What’s wrong BB?” he asked.

“Nothing Daddy,” she said.

Bruce looked at her, knowing she was lying. “Buffy, what’s wrong, you can tell me,” Bruce said gently.

“My friend Julie and I got in a fight. I think she’s jealous,” Buffy finally answered.

Smiling, Bruce remembered finding Julie at the school in Haughton when he and Mike had walked home. “Buffy, friends fight, I mean look at me and Daddy Mike,” Bruce told her.

“I know Daddy, Danny said the same thing. I think Julie is jealous because she only has Ms. Lynn and Maria. She wants to stay with me when I’m around you. I think she wants a daddy,” Buffy said.

“Buffy, I’m not kidding, Daddy can’t handle any more kids. I’m going crazy as it is now,” Bruce told her truthfully.

“I know Daddy, and Julie couldn’t even keep up with our family,” Buffy said, looking out the window.

Bruce sighed, “Well she could hang out with us sometimes,” he offered.

“Daddy, the twins would kill her, not to mention Cade and PJ. They don’t like to share. Cade bit me last week when I came to sleep in your bed. I did bite him back but I did it just to make Angela let me out of a headlock,” Buffy told him.

“You had to do it Buffy,” Angela told her over the intercom.

“The only reason I did was so you would let me go,” Buffy shot back.

“Has he bit you again?” Angela asked.

“No,” Buffy admitted. Then she looked up at Bruce, “Daddy, I’m sorry I was mean to you. I never had a friend before and I just don’t like seeing Julie cry. She wants someone to hold her and be a mama and daddy. She really misses hers and doesn’t have anyone like that.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Bruce told her as they approached the farm.

Bruce set the chopper down and they climbed out. When Bruce opened the back door, Stephanie was standing in it. Her pants and boots were in one hand and she stood there in panties. “What the hell is wrong with you?” Bruce asked.

“You scared the piss out of me literally, Bruce!” Stephanie shouted. Bruce looked behind her and the kids were all clapping.

“They liked it,” Bruce pointed out.

“That’s only because they don’t know better. I’m not talking to you for at least an hour,” Stephanie said, getting out and walking to the house with her head held high.

“She’s going to get you Bruce,” Angela warned.

“Yeah, like that can happen,” Bruce said, getting the kids out. The ground crew came over to get the chopper ready.

They went inside to change, and true to her word Stephanie wouldn’t talk to Bruce no matter how hard he tried. Giving up, Bruce grabbed the kids and headed to the pool. Seeing most of the command crew at the big table, Bruce unleashed the kids and joined them.

“Well, whatcha find?” Mike asked.

“All the poles we need,” Bruce told him.

“You mean we finally caught a break?” Paul asked.

“Hell no, we still have to get them,” Bruce replied. He heard diesel engines off in the distance and looked at Mike. “You have Gamma out on patrols?” he asked.

“No, they’re on guard duty, well, two teams are,” Mike answered.

“They’re guarding the airfield?” Bruce asked. They never guarded the airfield because nothing was around.

“No, they’re guarding the surveyors. They wanted to start today,” Mike informed him.

“No seriously, what’s going on over there?” Bruce asked.

“I’m serious, the surveyors are out there now with forty men in heavy equipment. They started at the southwest corner and are moving north and east, leveling the area for the fence,” Mike said.

“I should’ve thought about that, moving two directions at once. What about the heavy equipment crews?” Bruce asked.

“We had to tell other people no. Right now we have fourteen bulldozers and six excavators out there along with other heavy equipment. If you would’ve flown over them you wouldn’t have believed your eyes,” Paul informed him.

“Huh?” Bruce asked.

“Bruce, they’ve been working for three hours and already have a half a mile north and east cleared. Gamma only has twenty people out on guard so I didn’t want to risk more but I had three hundred people who wanted to start today. More probably would’ve asked but I started yelling at everyone,” Paul told him and Mike started laughing. Paul just cut his eyes at him.

“You shouldn’t have yelled at them, Paul,” Bruce told him.

“Cheryl took care of it,” Mike informed Bruce.

“I told everyone I was sorry,” Paul whined.

“Paul, I’m not even goin’ ta say anything to your wife so forget it,” Bruce told him and Paul looked down at the table. Bruce looked over at Mike. “How strong is Gamma now?” he asked.

“No, you can’t have anyone off my team! Recruit your own people, asshole!” Mike snapped.

Bruce jumped back, “I wasn’t. I just wanted to make sure you had enough to guard the work crews and the convoys.”

“Oh, well, okay then. Gamma is a hundred and fifty strong with fifty support. Half will guard the fence and half the convoys,” Mike answered.

“Okay that’s good,” Bruce said as Stephanie sat down beside him. “You talking to me now?” Bruce asked her.

“Your hour is up,” she said as she sat down beside him and put her bare feet in his lap. She leaned over and handed him a bottle of nail polish. “Paint my toes please?” Stephanie asked.

Bruce looked around the table at Mike, Conner, Ted, Paul, and Carl. Then back to Stephanie. “Ah no, how about later,” he offered.

“No, that’s not fair, you were mean to me. If you love me, paint my toes please. Then I’ll know you were just playing with me,” Stephanie whined. Bruce looked around the table at the guys snickering.

“Baby, come on,” Bruce whined back.

“You don’t love me, that’s why you did it—” Stephanie shut up as Bruce took the top off the fingernail polish and started his task. The guys just snorted, trying to hold in their amusement as they watched Bruce paint Stephanie’s toes.

Angela came out the back door and looked over at them. “Bruce, paint mine too!” Angela yelled out and bounced over. The twins heard it and came running. By supper Bruce had Angela and Stephanie done and the twins wanted him to paint theirs at the table in the Center.

Bruce never tried to scare Stephanie or Angela with a helicopter ride again.

Chapter 3

The colonel ran down the hall to the command center. A sergeant had told him the general was there waiting on him. They’d lost the last of the satellites five days ago and couldn’t see anything around them anymore. The UAVs they had couldn’t go over the horizon so they were totally blind now. Walking through the door, the colonel saw the general at the main monitor which took up most of the wall. On the screen was the image of a Predator drone. “Satellites come back on line?” the colonel asked.

“No, we took over a communication satellite a few hours ago. We just got over Louisiana,” the general told him, looking at the monitor. “They are doing some major landscaping down there,” the general said.

The colonel looked at the monitor and saw bulldozers and heavy equipment working on a huge rectangle. “Our last flight over them was only six days ago and they’ve done that much?”

“Yeah, but what are they doing?” the general asked.

“If I didn’t know better, I would say they are putting up a big ass wall,” the colonel replied.

“That can’t be, the measurements are five miles north to south and ten miles east to west. They only have five thousand people there. They can’t cover an area that big,” the general said.

“Maybe they are just building an outer defense to stop the blues. We saw them plant over five hundred acres in the spring. They could just be creating a buffer zone,” the colonel guessed.

“That’s a lot of work for a buffer zone, and look at the flight area. They have more aircraft. Looks like over a two dozen Warthogs and a hundred choppers. This is going to get real tough, Colonel, if it comes to blows,” the general growled.

“Sir, we have never been in a position to attack them until winter. We would have to plow through several million infected just to get to them. We’ve been over this a thousand times. We can’t reach them with an assault force until winter. Yeah, you could send troops now but they will be wiped out by infected before they make it half way. Then if they find us with fewer troops they can just attack from a distance. Have they got the Patriots up yet?” the colonel asked with hope.

“No sir, we detect no radar and all of them are still parked,” a technician replied. ‘Damn it, why don’t they have those running yet,’ the colonel wondered. ‘If they at least knew, then they could get ready for us. All they have to do is take out our forward elements and they would be safe. Then maybe America would have a chance.’

“Colonel, why did you threaten the Homeland team yesterday?” the general asked.

“Sir, they were going to shoot one of my troops and his eight-year-old son. Just because someone escaped yesterday,” the colonel replied.

“That’s their job,” the general told him.

“Sir, they were going to kill one of my men who wasn’t even on duty at the time. They were doing it to scare others. That sergeant is a mechanic for the Apaches we have. Without him they don’t fly, sir. We only have a few mechanics left. If you want to attack this group you need to help me protect these troops from stupid acts like that,” the colonel told him.

“Watch your tone,” the general warned.

“Sir, how can we attack if they kill our troops? When they shoot one it lowers morale and we lose that experience. We don’t have troops in training anymore sir, this is all we have,” the colonel reminded him.

“Yes I see your point, but you played a dangerous game yesterday,” the general said.

“Sir, you instructed me to prepare for an assault and use what we have. I was just following your orders, sir. If they kill what we need then they are going against the President’s orders,” the colonel said.

“Damn you’re right,” the general said and turned around to a soldier standing by the door. “Troop, go tell the Homeland Director if he shoots another one of my soldiers without my written permission, I’ll have him shot,” the general told the soldier, who took off out the door.

‘It took all that for you to grow some balls, you slimy cocksucker,’ the colonel thought, smiling. “Sir, we only have two functioning Predators and the Global Hawk we got from Groom Lake before we lost contact with them. Since we have no satellites now we need to keep one over us at all times. We cannot let a horde sneak up on us. We have watched hordes cover two hundred miles in five hours. With us being down six hours we could wake up to find one a few miles from us,” the colonel informed him.

“Good point, I’ll authorize the command center to operate until I talk to the President,” the general told him. The colonel smiled. Now the President would have to shut off his air conditioner.

“Do we know who escaped, sir?” the colonel asked.

The general reached in his pocket, pulling out a piece of paper. “Sergeant First Class Adam Cole and his wife Karen. Last known contact with them was lunch yesterday,” the general read the names from the paper. The colonel smiled inside.

“Adam Cole. You’re shitting me? He was our scout for our Ranger attachment!” the colonel shouted.

“What? It doesn’t matter. Homeland is searching for him using micro UAVs,” the general replied.

“Ah sir, micro UAVs don’t have the range if he’s been gone for almost eighteen hours. Even on foot he would be fifty miles from here,” the colonel told him.

“You seem to know a lot, Colonel,” the general snapped.

“Sir, I talked to him three days ago and one of the Homeland agents tried to ‘push sexual advances’ on his wife. I tried to calm him down and I thought it worked—” the colonel said as the General yelled.

“If those fuckers get near any of my troops again, I want them shot on sight! You go and get Decker, the President’s aide, and bring him here now!” The general pointed at a technician as he screamed his orders at the top of his lungs.

“I’m sorry sir, I tried to keep them from hurting your men but they are everywhere. I really thought I had Cole calmed down, we really needed him for this attack,” the colonel told the general.

“Colonel, that’s alright. The next time you see them bothering my troops, you shoot the son of a bitches. How can I attack anything if they are doing this to my troops? We will fail,” the general said.

The colonel wanted to jump up and down then moon walk, but couldn’t dance to save his life. The general had finally found his balls. Granted, the only reason he wanted to protect the troops was so he could slaughter innocent Americans, but at least he was going to protect the troops.

A man in his late forties walked in behind the technician. “General, what’s the meaning of this?” Decker asked.

“I’ll tell you what the meaning of this is. I’m issuing an order to my troops that the next time a Homeland officer bothers them, they may use deadly force. They are destroying any chance we have of attacking in the winter. As of yesterday we have nine thousand six hundred eighty-five troops and we need every one of them. The escapee left because one of the Homeland boys wanted to screw his wife. Did the President not order me to prepare for a winter attack in Louisiana?” the general asked.

“Yes he did General, but don’t you think you’re blowing this a little out of proportion?” Decker asked.

“Are you going to grab a weapon and help?” the general asked.

“What?” Decker exclaimed.

“See, I need these troops. You tell the Homeland Director if he screws with my troops I’ll order all Homeland officers executed,” the general told him. The general then turned to the colonel, “Colonel, get word out to the troops now. If any Homeland officer bothers any of my troops they are to be shot on sight. If any Homeland officer apprehends any officer, all Homeland personnel are to be shot immediately.”

“I’ll relay your orders now,” the colonel said, walking over to a radio and giving out the orders.

“You can’t do that, General,” Decker blustered.

“Oh yes I can. I have an attack to lead that will hopefully get us out of this desolate valley. You should be standing with me unless you like it here. I don’t, and I need these troops to get us out of here,” the general told Decker.

Decker thought about what the general said and looked up at him. “You’re right, General. I’ll tell the President that I agreed with your order. I’ll find the officer responsible for threating your soldier’s wife and have him shot today,” Decker promised and left. If the colonel knew how to dance, he would have busted a move on the spot.

The general turned to the colonel. “Colonel, you don’t think Sergeant Cole would head to Louisiana and warn them, do you?” he asked.

“No sir, he had family in the mountains of Northern Idaho,” the colonel lied. He had spoken to Cole three days ago. Cole said if he left he was making for Louisiana. The colonel gave him all the information they had on them and possible safe routes.

“Well at least we have that. I hope that sergeant makes it,” the general said, turning back to the monitor.

“Me too, sir,” the colonel said and slowly smiled.

Chapter 4

Standing on top of his RG, a mine-resistant light armored vehicle, Bruce looked at the new fence in the late morning sunlight. He was at the south gate, guarding the only area open to the south. The clan had been working for two weeks nonstop and only had half a mile to go till they finished the fence. They’d totally blown his schedule right out of the water. They averaged three miles a day, double what he’d planned. This afternoon they would be done and the only way inside would be through one of the three gates they left open. Right now three teams were working on those and Bruce figured they would be done in a few days.

Bruce looked up at the wall, the top of which loomed thirty feet above him. The only thing visible were joiners on the outside; the round bolt heads at the top and middle that they used to bolt the ten poles together. They laid a three-quarter-inch thick, three-inch wide strip of steel, drilled holes through it and the poles, then bolted them together. The third row was underground and cemented in. Paul had thrown a fit and then just started rolling the cement trucks out, pouring cement into the trench. Now the poles were sitting in ten feet of concrete.

They had not seen any blues close to the base but did run into a few while out getting the poles. They even had several small groups follow them back but they’d stopped about forty miles from the base. The blues just turned around and left. When he watched that on the monitors in Mission Control, Bruce felt good.

He was in his own world when his radio went off. “Big Daddy One, this is Spook One.”

“This is Big Daddy One, go ahead Spook One,” Bruce called back.

“You need to come to Mission Control please. It’s not an attack but you need to move it,” Jake told him.

“On my way,” Bruce told him. “My squad, load up. Ted, you’re in command!” Bruce yelled out. As soon as Danny, Buffy, David, and Mindy loaded up, the driver took off. Jake and Matt were working on computers today. They’d tried to explain what they wanted to do to Bruce but he wouldn’t listen. He knew he wouldn’t understand and had no need for others to know his shortcomings.

The driver rolled through the gate. The gate work crews already had the train tracks across the road and were now extending it a hundred yards each way along the wall. The thought that they still had over ten miles to go to get to the farm, as they entered the fence, made Bruce grin. ‘We have some room now’, he thought as the driver floored the RG.

Pulling up to the farm, the driver slowed down and pulled inside. Bruce climbed out the back, followed by the rest. Bruce walked through the front door then headed down to Mission Control. Inside he found Jake, Matt, Mike, Conner, and Willie.

“Okay, what’s so important, son?” Bruce asked, laying his rifle on the table.

“This,” Jake said, and turned on a radio. The radio was playing AC/DC.

“Son, I have that album. What’s the big deal?” Bruce asked.

“Dad, this isn’t a being played here. It’s a real radio station broadcasting,” Jake told him.

“It took the end of the world to get a good radio station!” Bruce yelled.

Jake just shook his head at his dad and looked down at the table. “Daddy Bruce, we know the DJ,” Matt told him.

“Well who is it?” Bruce demanded.

“Hold on, he talks after every song,” Matt said. Bruce listened to Angus jam and fought the urge to start on his air guitar. When the song ended, Bruce turned pale when he heard the DJ’s voice.

“Hello out there America, we have music again. I want to tell Omega thank you again for bringing me this chance to deliver hope and some rock-n-roll. I have watched them fight the hordes and win. They are the new light for America. Now all you bad guys out there don’t be sad assholes, oops now I done it again the FCC is gonna get me. Oh I forgot, they’re gone. Now you bad guys, just because Omega hasn’t broadcast in a little while don’t be thinkin’ they aren’t around. I have it on good authority they just needed to get some down time and pick up some more drill bits. That Bruce loves his cordless drill. Now Gopher has some ‘Kiss’ for ya!” Gopher yelled out.

“What tha fuck is he doing!?” Bruce yelled.

“Playing some damn good music,” Mike said, bobbing his head with the beat.

“How far do you think he’s broadcasting?” Bruce asked Jake.

“Dad, I have no idea but our receiver here is maxed out and he is over a hundred and fifty miles from us. I bet they could get bounces up to Missouri, maybe further. I’ve never seen this kinda power from a radio station,” Jake answered, impressed.

“Is he insane?” Bruce asked.

“Obviously,” Matt said.

“Get ‘im on the radio!” Bruce yelled.

“Hey Bruce, if he’s takin’ requests let’s listen to some ‘Crew’,” Mike said. Bruce just slowly turned to look at Mike. “Well, I like ‘em,” Mike said.

“Dad, here,” Jake said, handing him a head set and mic.

“Gopher, it’s Bruce,” he said.

“Hey Bruce, long time no play, how are ya doin’?” Gopher asked.

“Gopher, I’m coming, will see you in an hour. Get your yard clear,” Bruce said, throwing down the headset.

“See ya soon,” Gopher said.

Mike looked at Bruce. “Dude, you didn’t put in my request!” Mike yelled.

“I don’t like you right now Mike,” Bruce said, walking out. He keyed his radio. “Little Red and Little Foot, get someone to babysit. Get your gear and meet me at my chopper. Squad one, get to the chopper and that means Matt and Jake. Steve, get the Apache warmed up with extra tanks and tell the ground crew I want one set on mine. We lift off in ten. Mike, get what you can of Gamma ready for a hot insertion.”

“What’s the deal, Bruce?” Mike asked over the radio.

“Mike, it doesn’t take a genius to track a radio broadcast. If a gang gets their hands on Gopher, they can destroy the fear we’ve spread!” Bruce yelled over the radio.

“Why the fuck didn’t any of you say that down here?” Mike yelled back.

“I thought you would’ve figured that one out!” Bruce yelled back. Bruce ran to his room and grabbed his flight bag and took off to the barn. Everyone was at the chopper waiting on him. “Jake, do the walk around. Danny, make sure the mini-gun is ready to rock in case we have to roll in hot. Steve, what’s your load!” Bruce yelled, stripping off his clothes.

“Two external fuel tanks and eight Hellfires, full load of 30mm!” Steve yelled back.

“Stephanie, tell Mission Control to get a UAV over Gopher’s. I want it loaded with Hellfires and stay at five thousand feet,” Bruce told her as he pulled on his flight suit. Stephanie radioed Mission Control. Bruce jumped in as Jake jumped in beside him.

“How long has he been broadcasting?” Bruce asked, starting his checklist.

“Have no idea, Dad. I just did a radio scan and found him,” Jake said, strapping in.

“Is everyone in?” Bruce asked.

“We’re ready, Bruce,” Angela told him.

Bruce started the Black Hawk up and when the turbine was up to speed he applied power and lifted off, followed by Steve in the Apache. Turning south, Bruce opened the throttle. “Angela and Stephanie, I promise I’m not trying to scare you but we need to get there fast,” Bruce told them.

“We know that Bruce,” Stephanie said.

“Told ya she would get ya, Bruce,” Angela said.

“Well you neutered me good, girls,” Bruce told them.

“You didn’t like doing my toes?” Stephanie asked.

“Yeah, but the shit I put up with afterwards, I’m getting ready to beat the hell out of people,” Bruce told her.

“I’m sorry Bruce. I should’ve thought of something else,” Stephanie replied.

“Nah, that was a good one, Little Red,” Bruce told her.

“Really?” Stephanie asked.

“Yeah, Debbie did that to me my second year in the Army when I embarrassed her,” Bruce told her.

“I know, that’s where I got the idea,” Stephanie told him.

His jaw hit his chest. “That’s so unfair,” Bruce told her.

“Well I’ll make it up to you Bruce,” Stephanie said. Bruce could hear Angela laughing and snorting over the intercom.

“Hey you guys, I think this is getting into gross territory,” Danny informed them.

Bruce laughed as he headed south. Jake had programed the GPS and Bruce had to admit he really liked that. Fifty minutes later they were hovering over a house out in the middle of a swamp south of I-10. “Steve, I’m sitting down first. If it goes to hell, level everything,” Bruce told him.

“We just heard him Bruce, they couldn’t get him that fast,” Angela said.

“What if they already had him, Little Foot?” Bruce said. “Danny, get on the mini-gun and dump the whole pack if the need arises. Angela and Stephanie, you two guard our ride if we have to go and get him.”

“Whoa bitch!” Angela yelled. “You aren’t going then. Who’s going to fly us home if you get shot?”

“Well that would be a problem then,” Bruce said as he slowly lowered down to the lawn, leaving the engine running. He yelled, “Let’s go!”

They jumped out and headed to the house. A short bald man in his fifties was at the door and got a worried expression seeing the group run at him. When Bruce and his team got close he raised his hands. “Bruce?” he asked.

“Gopher?” Bruce asked.

“Yeah,” he said.

“Are you alone?” Bruce asked.

“No, my family and a few friends are here,” Gopher answered.

“Are any bad guys here? If they are, let me know and we’ll rush the house!” Bruce yelled over the chopper noise.

“Hell no, there are no bad guys here!” Gopher yelled back.

Bruce turned around and walked back to the chopper and shut it down, telling Danny and Buffy to stay put for ten minutes, then tell Steve to land. Angela and Stephanie followed Bruce back to the house. Gopher was talking to Matt and Jake as they walked back to the porch.

“Bruce, I’m sorry. Jake here was telling my why you came in like that,” Gopher said.

“Gopher, I’m sorry but you have to leave here. I can’t afford to assign protection this far away from us yet. Any gang that heard you knows where you’re at now,” Bruce told him.

“You said you had my back,” Gopher accused.

“What do you think I’m doing here? It’s easy to sneak in a small team at a location like this and it took us almost an hour to get here,” Bruce told him.

“Damn, didn’t think about that,” Gopher said dejectedly.

“Tell ya what, come with us and you can broadcast from our location if you follow the clan rules,” Bruce said, and told him the rules.

“That’s it? Basically be a human?” Gopher asked, not believing what he heard.

“Yeah I never thought about it like that but yeah, just be human. You can do what ya want as long it doesn’t hurt others,” Bruce said.

“Let me ask my family. Come on inside,” Gopher said.

Bruce followed Gopher and saw a woman about Gopher’s age, two pretty women with dark hair that appeared in their early twenties, a young man about the same age, and another couple about the age of Gopher. The first woman Gopher introduced was his wife and the two women were his daughters. The young man was a friend, as was the couple. Bruce and the family shook hands and they introduced themselves. Bruce noticed that Gopher’s wife seemed terrified of him.

Gopher, or Charles as he introduced himself, spoke to the family and told them why Bruce had come and he apologized for endangering them. When he explained why they had to leave and the rules, they all agreed to leave. Turning around, Gopher looked at Bruce, “Can ya put up seven more?” he asked.

“Gopher, we have almost five thousand now. Just remember you have to keep the broadcast going. I’m sure we can have ya set up in a few days. Gather what ya need but space is at a premium, and Ma’am, you may bring all your photos,” Bruce told Gopher’s wife which made her smile.

“How much can we bring?” one of the women asked.

“Let’s say two hundred pounds apiece,” Bruce replied and they all took off as Bruce keyed his radio. “Base, this is Big Daddy One,” he called.

“This is Big Daddy Two, is everything cool?” Mike asked.

“Yeah, do we have anything around,” Bruce called back.

“If you’re talking about blues, the closet is a few miles from ya outside the swamp. We have no human sighting to speak of,” Mike called back.

“Scramble Gamma and have them bring a Chinook to bring Gopher and seven to join us,” Bruce said.

“What the hell are they bringing that they need a heavy lifter?” Mike shouted.

“Don’t know but we have ‘em, let’s use ‘em,” Bruce told him.

“Copy. Will be en route and see ya in an hour,” Mike told Bruce.

Looking up, Bruce saw his crew. Gopher and his family had gone to grab what they needed. Danny and Mary came over and stopped in front of Bruce with irritated expressions. “What?” Bruce asked.

“Daddy, Jake and Matt are drooling and you need to say something before we shoot them in the leg,” Danny told him.

“Danny, there is no way the boys were looking at those girls like that,” Bruce told her.

“What?” Danny shouted. “No Dad, they’re not drooling over those girls. They are drooling over a computer,” she clarified. “Daddy, they’re looking at it like they want to sleep with it. Make them stop and if they don’t, break something,” Danny commanded.

“They’re your husbands,” Bruce snapped.

“Daddy!” Danny said, stomping her foot.

Bruce just turned away to find the boys before the two took the matter in their own hands. He found them in a room staring at a really cool computer set up. Bruce had no idea what all the towers did. Some were six feet tall, but it damn sure looked cool. There were six monitors with the smallest at forty inches. Turning to the boys, he saw that they were indeed drooling over the setup. “Boys, you’re really pissing your wives off looking at this thing like you are,” Bruce informed them.

“Dad, this setup cost over a million dollars. He even has his towers on liquid cooling—” Jake continued on for a few minutes. Bruce understood the conjunctions and adjectives.

“So I take it this is a top setup,” Bruce said when Jake finished.

“Dad, you have no idea,” Jake said, never taking his eyes off of the computer. Matt pointed at the setup and moaned. “Yeah Matt, 3-D interface,” Jake said, understanding the moan. Even Bruce was starting to worry about the boys as Gopher walked in.

“You see my lair,” he said. Matt just continued to point, making moaning sounds. “Yeah I like it too,” Gopher said, answering the moan. Matt moaned again. “Yeah, it cost me a small mint and I’m going to miss it. I really hate to leave it here,” Gopher replied.

Matt and Jake spun around with wild looks in their eyes. “There is no way you can leave this!” Jake yelled. Matt just growled.

“I really don’t have a use for it guys. The power this thing uses is on the steep side. I haven’t turned it on in six months and when I did it drained my batteries in an hour,” Gopher told them.

“Can we have it then?” Jake asked.

“What the hell do you need it for?” Gopher asked. Jake went on to describe how they had taken over the military and civilian satellites, the computer network they had set up on the farm and how they’d set up a small intranet on the farm for the clan. “So you guys are in the game?” Gopher asked.

“Well duh,” Jake said, then froze. “Was your tag: g, zero, nine, h, three, R? (G-0-9-H-3-R),” Jake spelled out the word.

Gopher squinted his eyes, looking at Jake, “Yeah, Gopher. What‘s your tag?” Gopher asked.

“Oz Lord,” Jake replied. Gopher’s eyes widened in shock and he looked at Matt.

“So you’re Oz Ghost,” Gopher stated.

“Welcome to the land of Oz,” Jake said.

“Damn, I thought y’all were older. That hack you put on the FBI database last year was just too cool. Why didn’t you two ever join ‘Anonymous’?” Gopher asked and Bruce was just stunned to the core.

“They are a good group but we prefer to know our team,” Matt finally spoke.

“You hacked the FBI? Are you insane? And Anonymous who?” Bruce yelled as his shock finally wore off.

“I take it he’s not in the game?” Gopher asked Jake and Matt.

“Yeah, thank God. The crazy crap he does in real life we would all be in deep shit,” Jake told Gopher and turned to look at his dad. “Yeah Dad, I hacked them many times but I shut their site down last year. Haven’t you ever wondered why the ATF never came to check on your gun business? They make at least one inspection every year on all class three dealers but not you. Anonymous is a group of hackers that surfed the net together. They are the elite, but I want to know my teammates. I want to be able to look them in the eyes and see what kind of person they are. That’s why Matt and I started the Land of Oz,” Jake told him.

“You stopped the ATF from coming to the house?” Bruce asked.

“In a roundabout sort of way, yeah. Every year I would hack them and erase your orders and data from their data banks. They never knew you existed,” Jake replied.

“And you were worried I had a few hand grenades?” Bruce yelled.

“Dad, if for some reason they would’ve raided us they would’ve figured out I wiped their system. But the point would’ve been moot. They would’ve just shot us for the grenades,” Jake told him.

“You could’ve told me. I could have gotten more toys,” Bruce whined. He looked at Jake with a pissed-off expression. “I’m not talking to you for the rest of the week. That was information I needed. I could have gotten some really cool shit!” Bruce shouted, then stomped his foot and walked out.

“Dad, you have a bunch of cool toys now, come on. You even have a tank,” Jake called after him but Bruce didn’t respond. “I’m so going to get it,” Jake said to himself.

Gopher looked at the door Bruce had walked out of, then at Jake. “Touchy, isn’t he,” Gopher said.

“You have no idea,” Jake and Matt said together.

They gathered up all the stuff that Gopher’s crew was taking while Jake and Matt disassembled the computer. When Mike arrived with Gamma, Bruce still hadn’t said anything to Jake or Matt and just climbed in his chopper and started up the turbines. Danny and Mary joined Bruce in the silent treatment of the boys. As Gamma helped load Gopher’s family, Jake and Matt stayed to load the computer and rode back with Gamma. They told everyone that they wanted to make sure the computer wasn’t knocked around. But they were really afraid their wives were going to throw them out of the chopper on the ride home.

Danny was sitting up front with Bruce. She had already started flight simulators, having to wait and start another flight class because the first one she was going to take Bruce led Omega across the south, killing anything that pissed him off, which was a lot. Danny watched her dad’s hands and feet as Stephanie came over the intercom.

“Bruce, don’t you think you’re acting like a baby?” she said.

“No!” Bruce snapped back.

“Bruce, you have a lot of cool toys now, so it doesn’t really matter,” Angela chimed in.

“I could’ve had more,” Bruce almost yelled.

“Bruce, now that’s enough, the girls are joining you in this temper tantrum!” Stephanie shouted.

“Good!” Bruce shouted back.

“Angela and Stephanie, you just don’t understand. They were looking at that pile of crap like they should look at us!” Danny yelled back.

“Danny, undoubtedly you haven’t watched your father when he gets around weapons. I thought he was going to sleep with those artillery cannons they brought up from Fort Polk last week,” Angela snapped.

“That’s different, they were cool!” Danny almost screamed.

Angela looked at Stephanie, “Debbie was so right, Bruce gave birth to her,” she said. Nobody said anything for the rest of the flight home. When Bruce set down, Danny and Mary jumped out and ran inside the house. As the ground crew came over, Angela and Stephanie came up on each side of Bruce and held his hands.

“Bruce, you can’t let them fight like this,” Stephanie said.

“Don’t care, I’m not talking to either Jake or Matt till the end of the week,” Bruce told her. Stephanie just shook her head.

Bruce led them down to Mission Control to find Paul and Willie going over the plans of the base. Stopping beside them, Bruce told Paul, “Paul, when my sons get here find out what they need to set up the radio for Gopher. Then find out where we need to put it because I’m sure it needs to be away from here. I also don’t want it near anything vital in case someone launches a rocket to follow the signal down.”

“Ah, okay,” Paul replied, seeing Bruce was irritated.

“He’s mad at Jake and Matt. It’s a long story. If you see Danny or Mary around the boys just run, it’s not going to be pretty,” Angela told them.

Paul looked at Bruce. “Bruce, I don’t mean to meddle but when anyone in your family is pissed, it makes the rest of us uneasy,” he told him.

“I don’t care. I could’ve had more toys,” Bruce said and walked out. Willie and Paul just looked at Angela and Stephanie for an explanation. Stephanie tried to explain and to her surprise both Paul and Willie understood, even going as far as agreeing with Bruce.

Stephanie stomped her foot. “This is ridiculous, toys aren’t that important. Look what we have here now!” she yelled at them.

“It doesn’t matter,” Willie told her. Not wanting to get into a debate, Angela and Stephanie both left and headed upstairs to find Danny carrying a pile of clothes to their room. Neither one said anything and just turned around and went to the school to see the kids. Jake and Matt were not at the table for supper. Nancy took Angela and Stephanie’s side but no one cared.

Gopher joined them and told the group he had started broadcasting over a week ago. The ham radio was still alive, talking about Omega’s exploits. That’s when he looked at Bruce. “Bruce, I’m not judging but why have you stopped?” Gopher asked.

“Just taking a break and getting ready for the onslaught,” Bruce lied. He really didn’t know if he could do it anymore.

“It’s been over a month Bruce. You didn’t hit anyone in July. Now don’t think I’m complaining because I’m not. I know it’s only the first week of August—” Gopher stopped as everyone looked at him, making him nervous. “What?” he asked.

“Damn, it’s been a whole year,” Mike said.

“Feels like two lifetimes,” Angela said.

Bruce shook his head, not wanting to dwell too long in the past. “Gopher, I had to get the rest of the clan set up here. I’ll move out again soon,” Bruce assured him.

“Bruce, the only reason I’m saying anything is several gangs were getting on the radio saying Omega was wiped out. That’s why I started broadcasting in the open. People were scared that they were right. You do know that after the last excursion into Texas there were two gangs in central Texas that headed west, afraid Omega was coming. Y’all gave a lot of people hope,” Gopher told them.

“How long till you can broadcast again?” Bruce asked.

“Five days,” Gopher replied.

Bruce looked at Willie. “Tell Omega to get the vehicles out and prepped. We roll in seven days. I will lay out the mission in four days,” Bruce said in a remorseful voice. Standing up, he walked around the table and went outside. Stephanie and Angela told Danny and Buffy to watch the kids and followed.

Gopher looked around the table. “I’m sorry if I said something wrong,” he told them.

“You didn’t say nothin’ wrong, you just reminded Bruce he had work to do. Even if he doesn’t want ta do it anymore,” Marcus told him.

“Willie, recruit fifty more for Omega. If you need some from Gamma let me know. I still have the home guard to pull from,” Mike told Willie. The home guards were those that were trained and assigned guard duty for scavenging patrols and the farm as their primary job. They were over four hundred strong. Mike looked down the table at Joe, “Joe, get a group together and start the refinery on the east side of the base. Then I want three fuel storage areas like the million-gallon tank by the air field. You have one month,” Mike told him.

“Mike, we have one class of ten graduated, and fixin’ to have ten more graduated from basic machine school. Eight are going advanced, and that is going to put us shorthanded just keeping the equipment here going,” Joe informed him.

“Joe, Bruce is fixing to start again. I’m praying he doesn’t go insane out there but I’m not holding my breath. With the increase in size of Omega and air assets they’re going to be using around five thousand gallons a day. We are using that here with this construction. With the two refineries we treated, we have fuel for now. I want the refinery online so we can learn how to do it before we have to have it. I don’t want fuel to ever be an issue here,” Mike told Joe.

“Okay Mike, we can do it but it’s going to be assholes and elbows,” Joe promised him.

“Paul, tomorrow start on phase two and three,” Mike told him.

Shock spread across Paul’s face. “Mike, come on, you’re talking about building a small city one mile square. Then finishing the wall, guard towers, service roads, reservoir, dam, and hydroelectric station. We still have more storage containers to bury,” Paul blurted out.

“We have three hundred underground now. Put a skeleton crew to do the other two hundred. I’m not saying we have to finish all of them fast, I just want work going on all of them,” Mike told him.

“Okay Mike, but can I at least have skeleton night crews?” Paul asked.

“Yeah, I will have Gamma taking over and covering for the scavenging patrols, so make your list,” Mike said.

“List, hell, we have what we need around here already. We may have a lot of people but you want the pyramids built fast,” Paul told him.

“No, I want this done. I don’t want Bruce to worry about none of this here. I want his mind on what he’s doing,” Mike told him. Paul nodded his head. ‘If that’s what Bruce needs us to do then we’ll do it,’ Paul thought.

Bruce stopped beside the shop, looking out at the airfield to the west. Closing his eyes, he prayed that Debbie was right and the guilt was gone. He toyed with the idea of just wiping out gangs but knew that wouldn’t work; he had already set a precedent.

Angela and Stephanie saw Bruce and ran to his side. “You okay Bruce?” Angela asked.

Bruce turned to look at them and grinned. “Yeah I’m okay, Little Foot,” he said as they moved under each of his arms.

“The way you left had us worried,” Stephanie said, wrapping her arm around him.

“Sorry guys, I just have to get my mind in the game,” Bruce replied.

Stephanie looked up at Bruce. “You don’t have to do the same thing Bruce. Just fight the war,” she told him.

Squeezing both of them tight, he replied, “Yes I do, that’s what’s expected of Omega now, and to be honest, we need that fear factor. In time the gangs will just flee or surrender and we won’t have to fight them, but more importantly, I don’t want them to come here.”

“We will be here for you Bruce,” Angela promised him.

“I know you will, Little Foot. With this kind of support I can fight this war,” Bruce told them. The three just stood and watched the sun go down as the clan once again prepared for war.

Chapter 5

Three days later one of the UAVs sent video back that Gopher’s house was on fire. They never found out how, but knew it was set because of the sign in the front yard: ‘Omega next.’ Gopher loaded up a truck with a generator, ran in to Shreveport with a team, hooked the generator up and broadcasted out at noon the start of the four-hour Gopher block. Gopher made sure to say he was fine and they’d missed him. He announced he would be on the air soon and to keep monitoring.

Three thousand clan members were working on the construction projects. Now with the gates on the main fence up and a complete sweep of the inside of the fence, everyone felt safe. The only predators found were over a thousand gators. Paul announced that they would move them when the reservoir was complete. Matt and Jake put up a twenty by forty foot building beside the house and wouldn’t let anyone inside, except for Danny and Mary, who forgave them when they invited them inside. Bruce was just happy that Danny had only slept in his bed a few nights.

As Bruce was eating breakfast, he lined out Omega’s attack. He stopped eating and looked around the center eating area. When it was first built it had been twenty five hundred square feet. It was now over eight thousand square feet. Millie and Lynn had fifteen helpers assigned for each shift and Paul had expanded the kitchen in the last remodel. It took almost a thousand people just to make the farm run now. Cleaning solar panels, tending livestock, gardens, guard duty, working on vehicles, gathering food, teaching classes, and the list was endless just for the day-to-day operations. Bruce smiled, thinking how far they had come.

Angela looked over at Bruce and saw him smile. “What, baby?” she asked.

“Just thinking how far we’ve come. Then I remember we still have a long way to go,” Bruce told her as he started eating again.

“We’ll get there baby,” she told him.

“Yeah, with you leading us we can do anything,” Stephanie told him, smiling. Bruce just shook his head.

“Well at least Danny and Mary are back with their husbands. I have to admit Bruce, it was like full contact death match with her sleeping with us,” Angela told him.

Bruce laughed and stood up. “You two coming to the briefing?” he asked.

“Of course, as soon as we drop the kids off at school,” Stephanie replied.

“See ya there then,” Bruce said, kissing each of them, then the kids as he left. Walking outside, he breathed in the hot humid air. “In my next life I’m surviving on a tropical island,” Bruce thought to himself as he headed inside to Mission Control. He gathered his notes together and waited. Now that Omega was two hundred strong, Bruce had them broken into four platoons of fifty. Ted, Carl, Conner, and Jake were over the four platoons. Willie was in Third Platoon but he was over Third and Fourth Platoon. Jake was leading Bruce’s First Platoon with Bruce in overall command. Steve was over the air wing of Omega which now had a lot of firepower.

The command group was going to be there for the briefing just to see what was on the agenda. Bruce was pretty sure they would voice some opinions though. They all filed in in small groups and took their seats. Everyone pulled out notepads and looked up at Bruce.

“Now, first we’re hitting a gang in Oklahoma. They’re in the Ouachita Mountain National forest,” Bruce said and pushed a button on his laptop to show a UAV photo of the gang’s compound. “Estimates put this gang at three hundred to three-fifty. They have a lot of hostages. Also best estimate is four hundred. The compound they are in is far from any large concentrations of blues. Our overflights have only found a few hundred in a fifty mile radius. They are in the middle of nowhere and can live the good life. We’ve seen military hardware, Strykers, Hummers, and two Bradleys. We found them three weeks ago and have been keeping an eye on them. They make runs for supplies every few days in a single convoy. We are going to lie on a road and take ‘em out. Then pull up to the compound which is in a small valley. Sit snipers on the hills and snipe them for three days. If they haven’t surrendered by then we storm them. If they start killing hostages we just level the place.” Bruce stopped as Willie held up his hand. “Yeah Willie,” Bruce said.

“Boss, why not just hit them and be done with it?” Willie said and all the platoon leaders agreed.

“Well I was going to see if we could scare them into surrendering,” Bruce admitted.

“Boss, I’m not disagreeing with ya, but I don’t think we have the fear factor yet to make a group that size surrender. There’s another gang outside Boles, Arkansas that’s only sixty, let’s try making them surrender,” Willie suggested.

“Okay we’ll try it on them. We hit the big gang at three in the morning,” Bruce said and handed out folders to the platoon leaders. “These are your platoon assignments for the attack with maps of the compound.”

“You already had those?” Stephanie asked, looking at the folders.

“Yeah, just wanted to see what mood they were in,” Bruce told her.

“Ready to get this war over with,” Mindy said. Mindy was in his squad, so like the other kids she was allowed to the meeting.

“Well I can say it’s going to take a while but we can win it. Next we hit the gang at Boles, then another gang outside of Hot Springs. Then we start on blues. We roll to Little Rock, sit on the I-410 bridge, block off both ends and start a slaughter. We’ll be out fourteen days,” Bruce told them. Mike raised his hand and Bruce nodded his head.

“Bruce, why are you heading north? Just out of curiosity,” Mike asked.

“There is shit up there I want,” Bruce answered.

“Are you serious?” Nancy asked.

“Hell yeah, there’s a C130 squadron in Little Rock, then in Fort Smith they have an A-10 squadron with transports, and then I want the ammo storage areas in Missouri and Kansas,” Bruce told her.

Nancy just looked at him in disbelief. “Bruce, we have billions of rounds here now and are even making ammo on an industrial scale. And we have twenty-five A-10s now,” she finally said.

“If we have it then no one else does,” Bruce told her.

“Bruce, come on. We have MRLS, artillery, air defense, tanks, enough bombs to blow up the world, and I don’t know what else,” Nancy told him.

“Nancy, we either get it or blow it up. I prefer to get it, that way we can use it if we need it. I’m not getting the other jets, well, a few of them,” Bruce admitted. “But we need the attack planes. I hate to break it to you but all of Omega’s battles have been small scale so far.” When Bruce said that, several almost fell out of their chairs. “When we strike east and west we will face hordes in the multimillions at one time, not piecemeal. We found a gang in north Mississippi that numbers over three thousand and several more like them. Then we have the government and they have strength in the thousands. Colorado has more troops than we have people. We are still working on Pennsylvania numbers. The more we have, the better our odds,” Bruce told her.

Nancy closed her eyes and nodded. “You’re right Bruce, I wasn’t thinking about masses of humans attacking us. You would think that with this much against mankind we wouldn’t have to,” she said, and Angela and Stephanie put their arms around her.

“I know, Nancy,” Bruce said.

Steve stood up. “Dad, all your targets are outside of the attack radius of the chopper wings. They will all have to load extra tanks to help,” Steve pointed out.

“Can’t be helped, we have a war to fight. I have plans to start forward bases to refuel but that will be for a later date. Now remember, Gopher starts broadcasting tomorrow, putting a big ‘X’ on us. Mike, have Gamma ready to roll in five minutes once a contact is spotted near the base. Watch them because they might be refugees and not a gang. I’m telling Gopher not to tell people where we are, I don’t want them to try for us. It’s safer for them to stay put unless they are close. Now at noon tomorrow we start broadcasting around the clock. Gopher tells me we should reach out almost a thousand miles. I didn’t ask how. If you want to know, ask him yourself. Now work here needs to continue, as always Mike’s the boss. Now Mike, just because you’re the boss don’t be ordering Nancy to wear the red heels,” Bruce said, getting a round of laughs.

Mike looked at Nancy, replying, “Doesn’t work, she only follows orders sometimes but I’ll keep her around anyway.” Nancy smiled at him and mouthed ‘I love you’.

“That’s good. Omega, you have your orders, let’s get to it. Platoon leaders, go over the attacks at each point and drill on movements. We leave the day after tomorrow,” Bruce said. He went over to Angela and Stephanie, holding out his hands, and pulled them outside. “You two stay on task, okay,” Bruce told them.

“We will baby,” Stephanie told him.

Bruce wrapped his arms around both of them and they walked across the property. “Bruce, when can we come with you?” Angela asked.

“Maybe next time,” Bruce told her.

Stephanie stopped. “You’re serious?” she asked, not believing what she heard.

“You two have become pretty badass with your training and it wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t let you fight if you want to. You just have to get the kids used to spending the night with someone else,” Bruce told her.

“Thank you,” Stephanie said, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing him and Angela joined in.

“You may regret it,” Bruce told them truthfully.

“No, I want to stand by you,” Stephanie told him.

“Me too,” Angela agreed.

“You already have and continue to do so,” Bruce told them and continued walking again. “That means you’re only allowed outside the main fence with me. Don’t pull some crazy shit please.”

“If you’re good, we will be too,” Angela promised.

“I’ll take it,” Bruce said and they just walked around the outside fields until supper because they could.

The next day just before noon Bruce was sitting in the new radio studio they’d built. Gopher was sitting in his chair and Bruce was beside him. The ham radio was going crazy after a group came on saying they had killed Gopher, then Gopher went on saying they lied. What the clan didn’t know was millions were turning on radios across the nation. Some were looking for hope, others wanted to know if they were in trouble. The radio signal that Gopher thought would only reach a thousand miles was actually reaching up to fifteen hundred miles in some places. There was no competition with the signal like it would have been pre-plague and the relays were working.

“You ready Bruce?” Gopher asked.

Taking a deep breath, Bruce let out a long sigh. “Yeah, it’s time to get back in the war for the right reasons,” Bruce said, and Gopher just looked at him.

When the clock struck noon Gopher flipped a switch and the board lit up. “Hello America, the Gopher is back to bring you some rock-n-roll and hope on the airwaves. I know those bad guys lied and said they got me but hey, they’re bad guys and those fuckers lie. I have to say now I’m with Omega and you will never believe who is sitting right beside me in a studio that was built just to bring hope. I have the one and only Omega Team commander, Bruce,” Gopher almost yelled out. Bruce just watched in amazement. The little man just talked to the mic like he was a late night talk show host.

“Yes America, I’m here at Base—” Gopher paused. “I’m at Base Hope with Bruce right here in my studio. Bruce, say hello to America,” Gopher said.

“Hello America, I’m Bruce,” he said.

“Alright, now I know you good people out there have questions but I can only take requests via ham radio, but I do have some questions for Bruce. But we will get to those later. First, Bruce, why haven’t the people heard from you in over a month?” Gopher asked.

“Well I’ve been busy. After the run through Texas we were a little tired. Remember we killed an estimated six million blues and thousands of bad guys. I let the team rest because I want to double and triple that before the year is out. My team is a lot bigger now and I’m not going to say how big because I want it to be a surprise. I will say we have satellites and such and so far I haven’t found anyone that can compete with us,” Bruce said, getting caught up in the radio broadcast.

“Bruce, I’ve been asked, should people try to make it here, to Base Hope?” Gopher asked.

“No, the blues will get you, or a gang will. We are in Louisiana as most have figured, but moving now is dangerous. We are widening the safety area and you will know when we are near. Now this is for the gangs out there. I’m sure some of you have heard from the judges that we so kindly released. If you surrender, remember, half of you get to live. If we come in only the judges will leave to show we are fair. I picked up a new set of tools and I can’t wait to try them out on those who hurt others. To those that hurt the innocent remember, I’m better at pain than you are,” Bruce said.

Gopher was taken aback hearing that. “You’re still going to teach those that are caught?” he asked for himself, not for the audience.

“Oh yes Gopher, until this war is over I’ll move across the land saving who I can and punishing who I can. That will stop when I declare this war over,” Bruce said into the mic.

“I thought you were just going to fight,” Gopher said, forgetting about the radio.

“Omega will fight and I will lead and fight with them. They have become real good at catching people alive. They know the lessons are necessary because the scum of the earth only know fear and pain to learn. I have to show them they’re right. Now bad guys remember, when I string you up to make you scream, people will applaud me. They will not even remember your name. Now to those that surrender, half will leave alive but that does not include the bosses, they have to stay with me. If someone thinks they can trick us, the deal is off and everyone gets strung up. The new tools I got have great batteries,” Bruce replied.

“I still want to broadcast the lessons,” Gopher said to Bruce. A man was tapping on the window, reminding Gopher to speak into the mic. Looking at the man, Gopher realized he had forgotten the radio. “Yes, I still want to broadcast the lessons. The people in America need to know justice is coming,” Gopher said.

“I’m fine with that,” Bruce said.

“Now Bruce, how long do you think this war will last?” Gopher asked.

“Until it ends,” Bruce replied, closing his eyes.

Gopher and Bruce talked on the radio and Bruce answered questions for the next hour. “Well Gopher, I must say it’s time for me to go. We have a gang in Mississippi that needs our attention. So I must say so long for now,” Bruce told him.

“What song do you want this new radio station to start off with, Bruce?” Gopher asked.

“Here is my flash drive of music I listen to, and next time I’m on the radio I will tell the audience some stories. But to answer your question, let’s start with some Stones … ‘Satisfaction,’” Bruce said and the Stones came on. When the On Air light went off Bruce looked at Gopher. “You can broadcast but only highlights. I won’t be talking much anymore because they—” Bruce started to explain. “Never mind, you will play highlights, understand?”

Gopher grinned. “I can keep the original tapes, right?”

“If you want them go ahead, but tell Mike to show you the UAV video from North Louisiana. Don’t ever tell people where we are because you’ll kill innocents if you do. They will try to make it to us and die and that will be on you, not me. Think about families that have stayed safe so far being torn apart or worse because they found a destination,” Bruce told him, then stood up.

“I can do that Bruce,” Gopher told him.

Bruce patted his shoulder and walked out. Leaving the building, Bruce stopped outside. The studio was on the northeast corner a mile from the wall with a massive antenna up. Another one was being put up that was bigger. They wanted it way over here so the planes wouldn’t hit them so it was nine miles from the airfield. Bruce jumped on his ATV and sped off to the farm.

Pulling up to the shop, Bruce got off and headed to the house. He looked at the building the boys had put up and noticed it had air conditioning. Then he noticed a shipping container behind the shed and it too had A/C. ‘That is so not right,’ Bruce thought, heading inside. Not finding anyone, Bruce grabbed the twins' BB guns and went to the school. After getting the twins, the three of them walked around the property and Bruce let them shoot trees. Then he put up some paper targets and let them fire away.

They walked back for supper, and true to form the twins didn’t want to put up their BB guns. When they finally gave them up Bruce put them in the rack beside his rifle and sat down and enjoyed a meal with the family. They all talked and joked as Bruce set his soul for what was coming.

Chapter 6

Hearing the alarm clock, Bruce cracked his eyes and started moving bodies off of him. Stephanie and Angela were on each side and the twins, Cade, and PJ were on his chest and belly. As soon as he tried to move them they all woke up. They all latched on, giving him hugs.

Finally getting out of bed, Bruce showered and dressed. Stopping and looking around the room, he asked, “Where are the twins?”

“They went downstairs,” Angela said, fighting to dress PJ who wanted to go naked. “Damn it PJ, you’re almost two years old, stop it!” Angela shouted. PJ just looked at her like she had lost her mind. Angela took the reprieve to slide his clothes on. Stephanie was finishing dressing Cade who was cooperating.

Bruce went over to Cade. “Cade, you do so good getting dressed,” he said, picking him up and giving him loving. PJ saw that and ran to Bruce, holding out his arms. “No PJ, you’re not dressed and you’re making Mama mad,” Bruce told him. PJ looked down at the floor, poking out his bottom lip. “Let Mama put on your shoes, then you can get some love too,” Bruce told him. PJ trotted over to the bed and climbed up and stuck his feet over the side of the bed.

“Mama ooees,” he said to Angela, pointing as his feet.

“Good boy PJ,” Angela said, putting on his shoes and looking up at Bruce. “Sometimes I can hit you,” she told him.

“What?” Bruce said, holding Cade.

“Stephanie and I take turns getting him dressed because it’s a battle. The twins are getting better since they have so many little sets of camouflage uniforms now. But if all of them are dirty it’s a fight. This morning they jumped up and put on shorts and shirts and took off downstairs,” Angela told him.

“Baby, they’re almost six,” Bruce told her.

“Bruce, they’ve only been with us for a year,” Angela said.

“I know but I really think their birthday is in the late fall. They may have been four when we found them but I think they turned five shortly after,” Bruce told her.

Angela looked up with misty eyes. “This shit sucks. Our babies don’t even know their birthdays!” she shouted. PJ stood up on the bed and leaned out, hugging Angela.

Bruce walked over with Stephanie and they wrapped their arms around her. “They have a family, Little Foot,” Bruce told her. Angela hugged them back and kissed them. Bruce sat Cade on the floor and gave PJ the love he was promised. Then he grabbed his backpack and big SCAR; his other weapons were already in the RG. He led the group downstairs.

Walking into the living room, he found the twins. They both had on little ACUs with boonie hats and boots. In front of them were the little backpacks they used for school, and they had their BB guns over their shoulders. Angela and Stephanie saw them and both whipped out cameras, taking pictures. Bruce just looked at both of them then walked over to the twins. “Girls, what are you doing?” Bruce asked.

“Coming with you, Daddy,” Emily told him.

Hearing that, Bruce just wanted to go back to bed and start over. Kneeling down, he looked at them. “Emily, Sherry, you can’t come with Daddy this time, it’s too dangerous,” he told them.

“We can shoot,” Sherry said.

“Yes, and you’re good too, but you have a lot more to learn and can’t come until you learn it,” Bruce told them. They both lunged to Bruce, wrapping their arms around him.

“Please Daddy,” they said together.

Sighing, Bruce said, “Girls, look at me. I would love to take all of you but I can’t. Daddy has to make the world safe. You remember Mama Debbie, right?” They both nodded their head yes. “I promised her that I would keep you safe,” Bruce told them, and pointed at Angela and Stephanie. “And your other mamas did too. We can’t keep that promise out there. Remember, family first. Now you two will have to help the mommas with Cade and PJ. When I get back we will go and ride the horse,” Bruce told them.

“Okay Daddy,” they said together as the rest of the family came downstairs.

The family all headed outside in the false dawn. The convoy was parked on the road in front of the farm. It held over sixty vehicles now, forty just for the attack force alone. Most of the squads were in RG-33Ls or another 6x6 variant. They were designed to carry ten troops each but when the five squad members and the two drivers put their equipment inside there was little spare room. The supply group had twenty vehicles not including the RV. They had ten semi-trucks carrying supplies, ammo and the mobile barracks for the hostages they hoped to rescue. Another semi carried the water tank and two more were hauling fuel. All along the line of vehicles, families and friends were gathered to say good bye. All hoping this would not be the last time.

Bruce hugged and kissed everyone ‘bye’ then climbed inside the RG. Keying his radio, he called out, “Omega it’s time for war, mount up and last vehicle signal when ready, then pass it up the line.” From the last vehicle an arm stuck out with a thumb up. Then up the line it was repeated until it reached Bruce in the lead. “Driver, let’s go,” Bruce said over the intercom.

Angela and Stephanie watched the vehicles pull away. Each one had an American flag and an Omega flag on the back blowing in the wind. “He’ll be fine, Stephanie,” Angela told her.

“I know it but I’ll still miss him,” she said, wiping tears off her face.

“Me too,” Angela said, grabbing Stephanie’s hand and walking her and the kids to the Center for breakfast.

Bruce rode standing in the cupola and they did not see any blues until they were over a hundred miles into Arkansas. They rode into a small town and they just came out of everywhere. The teams barely had a chance to engage because the trucks ran them over. Jake called from the vehicle behind Bruce.

“Dad, I put that little group at around four to five hundred,” he said.

“Yeah, it seems funny a year ago a group that size made us shit our pants, but I didn’t even shoot one today. My driver has been taking lessons from Buffy,” Bruce called back.

“Ah, no Dad. He’s not as good as she is,” Jake pointed out.

“That’s a good point. We’ll have to let Buffy give him some more lessons,” Bruce told him.

“Can I give them now?” Buffy asked over the intercom with excitement in her voice.

“No, not right now Buffy, maybe later,” Bruce told her.

Ted came over the radio, “Bruce, that’s being kinda mean. She really likes going Grand Theft Auto on the blues.”

“Ted, she’s my daughter so back off,” Bruce warned.

“I’m just saying Bruce, she loves going GTA on them,” Ted called back.

“Ted, you know the predator machete I carry on my hip?” Bruce asked.

“Yeah,” Ted answered.

“It has a name, do you want me to introduce ya?” Bruce asked.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, giving all your blades names? That’s just not right. You’re only supposed to name your rifle!” Ted yelled back.

“Ted, it’s Danny, my knife’s name is Gene. He is so nice to me and we play all the time,” Danny told him.

“Man that’s not funny, Danny. Herman almost made me wet my pants!” Ted yelled over the radio.

“What do you mean almost, Ted. You pissed all over yourself,” Carl said over the radio.

“Who’s Herman?” someone asked over the radio.

“Buffy’s knife, and if she asks you if you want to play with Herman just smile and back away,” Ted called over the radio.

“Man, you need to quit,” someone else said on the radio.

“What, you don’t believe me? I have video of it boy, piss her off, or heaven forbid Danny, and they will chop it off and play with it in the dirt!” Ted yelled out over the radio.

“Man, you better be fuckin’ with us,” came over the radio.

“Hell no, Bruce’s kids are insane son, not as bad as he is. They ride the wave, taking bets who gets the most kills!” someone shouted over the radio.

“Man, come on, they’re just kids,” someone else said.

“Tell you what, if you’re bad, piss one of them off. Just make sure it’s not Buffy or Danny and make sure they aren’t around. I promise you will be buried in a shallow grave,” Willie told everyone.

“Yeah, but when the shit hits the fan, fuck the ghost busters. Call for Bruce or his kids,” Ted called out.

“Ted, you remember that gang member that shot at Danny in Oak Grove?” Carl asked.

“Hell yeah, she charged his ass and beat the shit out of him, then took out her knife and cut that boy up big time. Yelling ‘how dare you shoot at me asshole!’” Ted called out.

The new members of Omega didn’t know what to make of all the Ranger banter and the veterans were having a ball with it. Bruce was on the floor of the RG laughing, listening to them. When Carl announced that Danny shot anyone who acted like a pussy, several wanted to know just how a pussy acted. When Ted told everyone that Mary loved to break people’s legs to see them crawl, Bruce wanted them to shut up before he wet his pants.

It was 1515 when they reached the rally point ten miles from the camp. With the UAVs overhead, Mission Control informed them that the gang was locked inside the camp. Bruce led Omega on foot the last ten miles to the camp, reaching it at 1730. They spread out to wait.

First Platoon was on the south side and Bruce was watching the gate through his binoculars. Hearing a suppressed shot, he turned around to see Jake lowering his pistol. Bruce turned in the direction he was aiming and saw a lone blue twenty yards away. “Where did that come from?” Bruce asked.

“Have no idea, it was just walking towards us looking up at the sky,” Jake replied.

“All units, this is Big Daddy. We just shot a blue here. If you see one, shoot it with a pistol or sniper rifle, something suppressed. We’re too close to the camp for rifle fire, do you copy?” Bruce called over the radio and everyone replied back as Bruce called Mission Control. “Hey are you guys asleep or what? That damn thing was right on us,” Bruce said.

“This is Big Daddy Two and it just popped out. By the time we saw it someone shot it,” Mike called back.

“Okay, but watch our ass, I’m not in the mood for hand-to-hand with blues. Maybe next week but not today,” Bruce called back.

“You aren’t in the mood to get hands on? What drug are you on? Did you forget your sword or big knife?” Mike asked.

“I just want to save ‘em for later, now watch our ass,” Bruce said. He looked up at Jake. “Jake, you have the platoon. I’m going to see where that fucker came from and if it had friends,” Bruce told him.

Bruce got up and Buffy followed with Danny behind her. Bruce just looked at them. Not in the mood to argue, he just headed to the blue. Reaching it, he saw it was a female and young. Readying his rifle, he eased down the slope, following her path, and then noticed more footprints. Bruce held up his hand for Buffy and Danny to stop. Then he pointed to the footprints.

Moving forward slowly, Bruce noticed the tracks leading to some bushes. Walking around the bushes Bruce saw a hole about four foot tall and two feet wide. Bruce pulled the girls back and pointed to the small hole.

Bruce keyed his radio, “Jake, I have a small hole down here that looks like a cave. Send out two men a hundred yards in each direction to see if they find more. Then call the other teams and have them do the same,” Bruce whispered. Jake said he understood and Bruce looked at Buffy and Danny. He pointed to himself, then the hole. Then he pointed to them and where they were standing as he moved off, knowing they would want to fight about it.

Slinging his rifle, he pulled out his pistol, made sure the suppressor was seated and moved around to the hole. Lowering to his knees, he moved forward and noticed bodies inside the hole. Seeing that, he wanted to just throw a grenade inside but that would tell the hostiles they were here. Taking a deep breath because the smell was making his eyes water, he eased forward.

Easing in the small hole on his knees, his pistol pointed forward, he saw it was a cave with an area about ten by twenty feet with a six-foot ceiling. What he was looking at were the seven blue bodies on the floor. Aiming at the closest one’s head, Bruce squeezed the trigger and moved to the next one and squeezed. Snapping his pistol from head to head, he had five down as number six sat up only to be shot between the eyes. Moving to the last one, Bruce saw it was a male taking a deep breath as Bruce shot him in the face three times.

Changing magazines as the breath he was holding exploded out of him, Bruce swept his pistol over the bodies as he eased further inside. Then he noticed the last one he shot, the male that was fixing to roar. His body was moving and Bruce shot him in the back of the head, well what was left of the head. But the body continued to move from side to side. ‘What the hell? I have to blow you up now,’ Bruce thought as he shot the body in the back.

Just then a small blue body crawled out from under the dead male blue. It was the size of a five-year-old but moved incredibly fast. Bruce shot as the blue child jumped ten feet to the other side of the cave, hitting it in the leg. When it landed it collapsed in a heap. The blue demon spawn turned and hissed at Bruce and he saw it had a mouth of really sharp fucking teeth. That was all Bruce wanted to see as he squeezed the trigger ten times until the slide locked. Dropping the empty mag, he slammed in another one, trying to calm his breathing down. Not one to frighten easy, the small demon had scared the shit out of him.

“Dad, what the fuck is going on in there!” Danny called over the radio.

“I found Rosemary’s baby,” Bruce told her as he kicked the bodies to see if he saw any more demon spawn. Seeing several blues were pregnant, he shot them again. Bruce left the cave and headed back to Danny and Buffy. “The little ones can really fucking move fast,” he told them.

“You mean faster than the big ones?” Danny asked.

“Danny, I just saw one no bigger than the twins leap ten feet from a kneeling position,” Bruce told her.

“That’s really not fair, Daddy,” Danny told him.

“Well, we just have to kill them faster, sweet pea,” Bruce told her, leading them back to Jake. Jake reported that none of the other teams had found any caves. Bruce opened his radio and told Omega and Mission Control about the blue kangaroo demon spawn.

When he was finished he addressed the teams. “Omega teams, pull into tight coils until attack. No sleeping period, and support, you will stay inside the vehicles and button up. Under no circumstances are you to open up for those little blue kids,” Bruce told them.

“Who’s Rosemary’s baby, Daddy?” Buffy asked.

“An old movie from the seventies about a woman who gave birth to Satan’s child,” Bruce answered.

“Rosemary must have been a skanky whore then, sleeping with the devil,” Buffy stated as they walked back. Bruce laughed as they joined back with First Platoon.

Omega waited as the sun went down and everyone turned on night vision and thermal. They were over the ridge in case the gang was using thermals on the vehicles. At 0100 Bruce climbed up to the crest to look at the compound. He noticed several lights on and fires burning in barrels. “Has any over watch team seen the Strykers or Bradleys move?” Bruce called out.

“Negative Big Daddy, I’ve been watching since we got here and haven’t even seen the vehicles open up. If someone is inside they’ve been sweating their ass off and they have never cranked up either,” Willie called back.

“Have the guards changed again?” Bruce asked.

“Negative, they all look like they’re asleep,” Willie told him. Bruce lifted up his rifle and looked at the camp through the thermal and found the six guards. They all looked asleep like Willie said.

“Omega, we roll now just like we planned,” Bruce called over the radio. He motioned for First Platoon to follow him down. Moving slowly, First, Second, and Fourth Platoon moved down to the camp. It was laid out in a big rectangle. The compound at one time had been a mobile home park about ten acres in size. There was a ten-foot chain-link fence around it that the gang had since strengthened in places. There were twenty mobile home trailers, ten on each end of the rectangle with six semi-trailers in the middle. Bruce knew from the UAV that the hostages were held there. There was a large metal building in the far right forward corner; they had no idea what was inside it. Behind the building were more semi-trailers. Bruce figured it was a mess hall because the gang all moved through it during the day, and the trailers were used for storage. When he was a hundred yards away he notified Willie. Then Second and Fourth called Willie when they were at a hundred yards from the compound.

Willie notified his twelve snipers—two snipers each had been assigned to each guard—and all pulled the trigger, almost at the same time. Bruce watched the guard’s head closest to him disappear. “Clear to engage,” Willie called back. Bruce led his team to the fence and one of them ran up and started using bolt cutters on the fence. When they were done Bruce led them through. Each platoon was broken down into ten, five-man squads. For First Platoon, First and Second Squads were taking the big metal building. Squads Three through Six were fanning out to take out targets of opportunity in the compound, and Seven through Ten were heading to the hostages. Each mobile home was getting at least one squad from Second and Fourth Platoon.

When Bruce reached the door to the metal building, he waited for Willie to give him the go ahead. He only had to wait a few minutes, then Willie said, “Game time.” Bruce reached out and slowly opened the door and saw it was indeed a mess hall/party area. It was eighty feet long and forty feet wide, with tables in two rows running the length of the hall. From the light of several gas lanterns, he saw sleeping figures on several of the tables.

Easing inside, Bruce pointed to his squad to take the left and Squad Two to take the right. Making a quick count, Bruce put the targets at thirty-four. The only other door he saw was on the other end of the building. Pulling his pistol, Bruce walked up to the first person he saw. It was a man, snoring softly. Bruce lowered his pistol to his head as the rest of the squad passed him by, choosing the next target. Mindy, who was last, pointed her pistol at a sleeping figure as Bruce pulled the trigger, followed by everyone else a split second later.

All the targets started moving at the sound of the suppressed shot. Bruce moved to the center aisle, shooting two more targets. The rest of the team formed a line across the hall and started shooting any target they came to, knocking out others who didn’t even have time to wake up. Many of the targets in the hall were shot twice as the team moved down the hall. By the time Bruce was halfway down the hall, he didn’t see any more moving. They checked the bodies that had been shot and didn’t find anyone alive. The ones knocked out were being tied up. Bruce called Willie and told him the building was clear and they were coming out. Bruce led the team back out the door they’d come in.

When they were outside, Bruce heard the other teams calling clear. Five minutes later Willie called Bruce. “Boss, we have an all clear from all teams,” he reported.

“Copy that. Get Third Platoon down here inside the fence,” Bruce told him.

“Thank ya boss, it’s spooky out here at night,” Willie called back.

“Support, roll to our location. Mission Control, launch the wagons to get the hostages,” Bruce called. He looked up and noticed teams leading prisoners to the center of the compound. “Well shit,” Bruce said out loud.

“Dad, you don’t have to do it,” Jake told him. Bruce turned to see Jake standing beside him.

“Yes I do son. If I don’t, it will be seen as a sign of weakness,” Bruce told him, looking at the growing number of prisoners, watching the numbers grow. Willie ran over to him.

“Damn, talk about textbook, Boss. From the time the snipers took out the guards to all clear, eighteen minutes. All squads report no wounded and we’re doing a body count, prisoner count, and hostage count now,” Willie said, stopping beside him.

“Let me know the numbers,” Bruce said, hearing the support vehicles coming down the road. The gates were opened and the vehicles all pulled inside. It was a tight fit but they accomplished it. Bruce headed to the RV to find a familiar face coming out of the door.

“Bruce, just shoot ‘em,” Cook said, seeing a change in Bruce’s eyes. It was a change he was thankful for.

“No Cook, I started something and it has to continue,” Bruce told him.

“Where, sir?” Cook asked. Bruce pointed to the metal building he had just come out of. Cook grabbed two bags and called several soldiers over to help. Cook dropped one bag by Bruce and reached inside and grabbed another one and headed to the hall.

Bending down, Bruce grabbed the bag Cook had dropped at his feet. Opening it up, he found the branding irons. He turned and handed them to Jake. “Heat ‘em up.” Jake grabbed the bag and headed to one of the fires. Bruce climbed into the RV and sat down. Closing his eyes, he started to prepare for what was coming.

An hour later Willie called Bruce over the radio, “Hey Boss, where are ya?”

“RV,” Bruce called back.

A few minutes later Willie climbed in and saw the look in Bruce’s eyes. “You alright Boss?” he asked.

“Yeah, what’s the count?” Bruce asked.

“Two hundred thirty-six dead, three hundred and nine hostages, and sixty-two prisoners,” Willie told him.

“Sixty-two prisoners!” Bruce yelled at him.

“Yeah Boss, the teams got the entire command group. That’s what they’re used to doing,” Willie told him. Bruce looked up at the ceiling. ‘Oh boy have you dug yourself a deep hole,’ he thought.

“Ted, Carl, RV,” Bruce called over the radio. When they arrived Bruce looked at the three. “Get the platoons and start branding them dead and alive. Carl, you have a fan following now since you questioned several groups of prisoners. Requests have come in over the ham for you to keep doing it. You don’t have to but I just wanted you to know,” Bruce told him.

“Oh hell yeah I’ll do it, Vestri Permaneo Visum pro Nex,” Carl said, reciting the motto. “Hey Boss, can I say my name?” Carl asked.

“If you do, you become marked. I told them mine so they wouldn’t hurt any of you to find it out. I still wouldn’t give out your last name. Just in case you have family out there somewhere,” Bruce told him.

“That’s why you give your name?” Ted asked.

“Yeah,” Bruce told him.

“Damn, I thought you did it just to be a bad ass,” Ted said, realizing Bruce had been trying to protect them.

Bruce pointed to a radio on the table. “Call Mission Control when you start. They are going to record from that radio,” Bruce told them. “Rotate judge watchers starting with the new guys first,” he told Carl and Ted as they walked out.

Willie came over to Bruce and sat beside him. “Bruce, just let me shoot ‘em,” Willie said.

“No Willie, then we lose the fear,” Bruce told him.

“Well Boss, they’re afraid. When one of them saw the Omega patch he just fell down crying, peeing everywhere,” Willie told him. “Boss, let me do these for ya,” he offered.

“Nah Willie, I have this, I’m just tired and we have a shitload to do. Go make the offer to the hostages. Then I’m going to teach targets to fall down,” Bruce told him, standing up.

“I’m glad to hear you say targets,” Willie said.

“After the judges are picked, put twenty in the cages for bait,” Bruce told Willie as he left. Bruce stripped down to his boxers and put on his sandals. As he stepped outside, Danny ran over.

“Daddy, how many judges?” she asked.

“Pick five,” Bruce told her, rolling his head from side to side and popping his neck. Walking over to the prisoners, he saw Carl talking to them, or trying to. When the prisoners saw Bruce they all started screaming. When they saw him just in his underwear, they knew the stories were true. Even with hands and feet bound they tried to inchworm away.

“Look at you little pussies trying to get away. I wish you people at home could see this, Bruce walks over here in underwear and they start crying,” Carl said into the radio. “This is Carl here at the latest Omega rescue and the hostiles don’t even appreciate it. I mean we killed two hundred and thirty-six in eighteen minutes and they don’t even appreciate the skill.”

Carl leaned down. “The next one that makes a sound I promise won’t make judge,” he said, and all the prisoners shut up. “Now I’m going to ask you questions, and if you lie, no judge status for you,” he told them. Then moving around the prisoners, he began. They answered his questions about raping and killing. As Carl was talking to them a woman came over to Bruce.

Before she got near him, Danny, Buffy, Jake, Matt, David, Mary, and Mindy cut her off, forming a wall around Bruce. “Please, are you Bruce from the radio?” she asked as Carl came over, holding the mic out.

“Yes ma’am, I am,” Bruce told her.

“We prayed for you to come. They,” she pointed to the gang, “said you weren’t real but we could tell from the screams of the other ones you caught, that it was real. Thank you Bruce.”

“Ma’am, thank Omega. They put their lives on the line to fight the evil that has spread across the land. They attack whatever I say no matter how insane it seems. No commander could ask for a better army,” Bruce told her.

The woman turned and thanked every member of Omega she found as other hostages started doing the same thing. Bruce watched, then looked at the kids. “Thanks for the wall,” he told them.

“Well yeah Dad, if Buffy pulls out Herman, half the team is going to hide,” Jake said.

“Daddy Bruce, if Danny pulls out Gene the other half will walk back to the base,” Matt added.

Bruce grinned. “Brand ‘em!” he yelled out. Bruce had no idea where all the branding irons came from, but he saw over two dozen in the hands of Omega Team. The prisoners began to thrash around and plead for mercy. “Okay, you seven,” Bruce pointed at his kids, “each pick one judge then decide on three more, no leaders, and have them brought in and let’s get this done.” He turned around and headed to the building. Walking inside, he saw the lights and winch set up. On one table all his tools were spread out in a neat line and a video camera was on a stand, recording. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “They’re only targets,” Bruce said out loud hearing screams outside. The branding had begun.

Ten minutes later the judges were brought in and strapped down and the unlucky thirty-six were brought in with Carl still narrating. Looking up at Bruce, Carl grinned. “This is Carl, your narrator and leader of Fourth Platoon,” he said into the radio. Then Ted walked over.

“This is Ted, leader of Second Platoon,” he said into the mic. Carl walked over and left the radio on and nodded at Bruce.

Bruce looked at the crying targets. “Hello, I’m Bruce, in case you hadn’t guessed. Remember to mind your manners like a good target. I was asked one question by Gopher yesterday that I didn’t answer. The last time I was out I told several groups of targets something in Latin that wasn’t the motto of Omega: Vestri Permaneo Visum pro Nex. That’s our motto, ‘Your last vision before death’. When you see us, if you do, you’re going to die. Unless you surrender, of course. What I told the targets was from me and only me, Ego Addo Vereor Poena Quod Nex Hic Vobis. Since we don’t have the Internet anymore I will tell you so everyone will quit bothering poor Gopher,” Bruce said. Then he looked at the radio and said, “Ego Addo Vereor Poena Quod Nex Hic Vobis means, ‘I bring fear, pain and death here for you.’”

Chapter 7

Bruce walked out a little before noon, hearing the convoy from the base leaving with the hostages. Looking around he smiled. Debbie had really done it. He never once had a flashback or took pleasure from it. If he followed the rules he could do this. Bruce looked up, “Thank you Debbie, you can skip the spanking. I think I can do what you asked me now. If you see the big guy, tell ‘im I’m good. He may have had his reasons, and when I get there he can tell them to me. They better be good though,” Bruce said out loud.

Smiling, Bruce headed to the RV to see the platoon leaders waiting. They all relaxed when they saw Bruce’s face. “You good, Boss?” Willie asked.

“Yep, I’m good. Let the troops know I’m proud of the targets they gathered for me,” Bruce told him.

“You didn’t stay long with ‘em,” Willie said.

“No need, Willie. When your target is down just move to the next one, the target has served its purpose,” Bruce told him. “Let me shower, then we need to talk. I have a plan.” Bruce went inside the RV.

“Well he seems okay now,” Carl said looking at Willie.

“Yeah like before. I mean before he lost Debbie,” Ted said.

“Tell the men to start getting ready to leave. After he briefs us, we will brief our teams over the platoon channels,” Willie said as the platoon leaders headed inside the RV.

Inside Mission Control the command group was listening to the radio as Gopher played bits and pieces of the sessions with Bruce. “Well I don’t think he’s like he was in Texas,” Mike stated.

“I don’t know, that is some medieval shit,” Jimmy said, wide-eyed and pale.

“You need to listen to the ones from before, then,” Mike told him.

“If y’all can’t tell he’s different we can tell a big difference,” Angela told them.

“How so?” Nancy asked.

“He rarely talked to them and only referred to them as targets. He rarely even referred to them as human. Then you have to have noticed that when each one apologized for hurting and raping, they died. Bruce didn’t keep each one alive for hours at a time. Most were gone in thirty minutes,” Stephanie said.

“She’s right. Bruce sees it as a job now. Before, it was personal. I’m just amazed he could do it without remembering what he’s done. That kind of guilt can kill ya or drive ya insane,” Marcus said.

“It don’t matter none,” Carroll said. “He’s doin’ what needs doin’.”

Bill looked at her, “I thought you were a religious woman. How can you say that after hearing that?” he asked.

“You ain’t read tha good book,” Carroll told him. “It’s filled with war. When tha walls of Jericho fell all were slaughtered at God’s command: man, woman, child, and beast. You don’t question it, Bill. You do what the Lord commands,” Carroll warned.

“Okay Carroll,” Bill said.

“Well what do y’all think of his plan for the next two gangs?” Mike asked.

“If it works this will be great,” Paul answered and the others nodded.

The next afternoon Bruce was overlooking the gang at Hot Springs with First and Second Platoon. The group had listened to Angela and Stephanie give a news report at noon. They came on the air introducing themselves as Angela and Stephanie Williams. Then for an hour they gave a weather report for the nation and the location of sixty hordes with the speed and direction they were heading. Listing to the two, Bruce smiled at his team.

Willie had Third and Fourth at Boles watching the other gang. Both gangs were almost a hundred strong but Bruce wanted to try something new. Bruce keyed his radio. “Big Daddy Two, is Gopher ready?” he asked.

“He’s ready and said to make sure you didn’t have any radios playing close by,” Mike answered.

“Copy that, it’s time to see if the shit that’s been done is worth it,” Bruce answered.

A radio was playing in a truck forty feet from Bruce. It was tuned to the clan broadcast and ‘Priest’ was on now. When the song completed, Gopher came on. “Hello out there in America and I have to say I do appreciate the request. After Omega started again I have gotten almost a thousand calls on the ham cheering them on but I have a special treat for our listeners. Live from the field I have Bruce with Omega. How’s it going Bruce?” Gopher asked.

“Pretty good Gopher, but the heat is crazy out here,” Bruce replied, watching the gang through his binoculars.

“Well Bruce, what’s on the menu for today?” Gopher asked.

“Gopher, I’m looking at a gang’s camp right now and I have the other half of Omega looking at another one. We can see they are listening to the radio and one is looking around right now. Now several are standing up looking around,” Bruce said as one gang member looked around nervously, then others jumped up from a table, looking around and grabbing their weapons. “It doesn’t do any good to grab weapons, boys, we can kill you at will. I’m going to give you the option to surrender. Hand over your leaders and half of your group will leave alive. If not, only judges will leave alive and as small as these groups are, it will only be three. Then you have to remember the judges have to obey and watch. Last night I had to kill one judge because he turned away. Just to clarify, Omega is watching the gangs outside of Hot Springs and Boles, Arkansas,” Bruce finished. When he said Hot Springs, one of the gang members just dropped his weapon in shock and another passed out, hitting the ground hard.

Gopher asked, “So Omega will let half go if they surrender and if not, everyone dies?”

“Except the judges of course, but if any try to leave the deal is off and we kill everyone. The roads around them are already mined,” Bruce lied.

“How long do you give them to make up their minds?” Gopher asked.

“Well Gopher, if they surrender now I will be kind to the half I keep. If I wait over two hours then the half I keep will take hours to die per man. In three hours we roll in, the deal’s off,” Bruce said and watched the gang members in the compound start beating several others down. More ran out of buildings to join the fight. Danny walked over and told him the same thing was happing in Boles.

“Ah Bruce, I’m watching live camera feed from your area and it looks like a fight is going on down there,” Gopher said.

“Yes it is Gopher, but I have to tell the gang if the terms are accepted then all weapons are to be piled in the middle of the compound and they are to kneel down with their hands on their head in front of the gate. But if one member shoots at Omega, deal’s off. In case this gang is wondering, Omega already has members inside and along the fence.” Bruce stretched the truth some.

“Well Bruce, I think this is a good deal for these pieces of shit. Anyone else would just wipe them off the face of the earth,” Gopher replied as the gang members in front of Bruce started piling weapons in a pile. Six men were tied up by the table and another tied-up member was dragged out by his feet and left by the table.

“Gopher, we are trying to rebuild America. There are no more slaps on the wrist or prisons. The half chosen to live will be given a second chance, to live right. If Omega ever finds those chosen to live with another gang, they’ll receive a lesson that will last weeks. They have a fifty/fifty chance to live except the leaders of course, but that is the burden of leadership. I see from the activity below me that the gang is lining up as requested,” Bruce told Gopher, and nodded at Jake who whispered into his radio. Members of Second Platoon were cutting holes in the back fence and moving into the compound.

“Just to show the gang below just how hopeless it is to fight us, look out the front gate,” Bruce said to Gopher over the radio. Thirty members of First Platoon stood up along the fence as Jake whispered into his radio. They all had ghillie suits on with extra grass tied to them. They had moved in during the night in case the gang wanted to play instead of surrender. Many of the gang just shook their heads in disbelief, others just started crying. “Ah gang members, don’t make sudden movements because other members of Omega inside the compound already have you at gunpoint,” Bruce said as members of Second Platoon came up behind the kneeling group.

“Bruce, I think you have shown compassion even though you shouldn’t have. I hope those that leave understand that,” Gopher said.

“Me too Gopher, now I’m going to turn it over to Willie in Boles,” Bruce told Gopher.

“Hey Willie,” Gopher said.

“Hi Gopher, I hope you can see this,” Willie told him as Bruce gathered up the two squads with him and headed down into the compound. Like Bruce, Willie laid out the demands and the gang complied for at least a chance to live.

“Jake, tell your other two squads to hang back in cover. I don’t want them to know numbers,” Bruce said, walking into the gate Second Platoon had opened. Second Platoon was zip-tying the gang as Bruce walked up to them.

“You’re going to let half of us go, right?” one asked, crying.

“Yes I am. You’ll be marked then chosen at random. You’ll draw straws,” Bruce answered.

“Why do we hafta be marked?” one yelled out.

“You have committed crimes against your fellow man. I want everyone you meet to know that. If you make something of yourself then others will see you have improved. If you don’t, when I catch you again you’ll have two weeks of pain that won’t end,” Bruce answered as Ted walked up.

“They tied up the leaders real good and we have fifty-eight for choosing. There were sixty-nine hostages that we’re taking care of,” Ted told him.

Bruce nodded and looked at the gang. “You have no idea how easy it would’ve been to kill you but I have several that want to give pieces of shit a chance to change. What you see inside this compound is nowhere near the size of my force. You can’t fight us, you may kill one or two of us but then you will be taken alive. When you are marked with the brand and cut, don’t fight because you will forfeit your chance to live. You have committed a crime, take your punishment and learn. Go out and help in the wilderness. If you rape, kill, or harm again you will not have this option,” Bruce told them, then turned to Ted.

“Interview them. Make it good, and stay during the marking,” Bruce told him before walking over to the leaders. The radio in his hand went off.

“Hey Bruce, Willie is moving into camp. How is it going there?” Gopher asked.

“We’re in camp and I was just fixin’ to talk to the leaders,” Bruce told him.

“Well, let us listen please,” Gopher said.

Bruce left the mic on as he stood over the leaders. “Just isn’t your day, is it,” Bruce told them.

One rolled on his side. “Let me go and I’ll kick your ass, bitch!” he screamed.

“You couldn’t even beat your men down, dumbass. But since you’re so rude you will be burnt from the waist down and hung fifteen feet in the air to live with the pain until you die. Targets don’t talk,” Bruce told him and the guy started crying.

The prisoners were marked, all of them holding still for the brand to the forehead and the cutting off of two fingers. When it was finished, fifty-eight straws were made: twenty-nine long and twenty-nine short. The prisoners were not untied but a member of Omega held the handful of straws. Standing in front of them, one at a time, they waited as the prisoners nodded yes or no to the choice of straw. With the choices made, the unlucky were pulled forward. Then Bruce went by and tapped four of the youngest members of those chosen to die and pointed for them to lie down as the others kneeled down.

“Since you have behaved properly you will be given a painless death,” Bruce said. Then those that were kneeling were shot in the back of the head in one volley from Omega. Looking at the four on the ground, Bruce said, “You were spared to show that even after the choice, Omega has compassion. You will leave with the others.”

Bruce ordered their bonds released and told them they could leave, but they could not go south or they would be shot. The thirty-three took off to trucks and motorcycles and left quickly, most heading north and a few heading west. “Jake, get our rides down here. Burn Mr. Rude and shoot the others, it’s time to leave. We have killing to do!” Bruce yelled out.

“Killing is our business!” Ted yelled out.

“And business is good!” the hundred members of Omega roared back.

Bruce grinned as the convoy pulled up. The hostages were led to one of the semis that was set up to hold them as a medic went among them, treating as he could. Both platoons were sitting around talking. Bruce looked to his left and saw Buffy just looking up at him. He turned and looked for the rest of the kids but didn’t see them.

“Where’s Danny, Jake, and them?” Bruce asked her.

“Danny’s mad because we didn’t get to bust some caps,” Buffy said, and the members of Omega who were nearby became quiet.

“What?” Bruce asked.

“She wanted to scalp someone today and now she can’t,” Buffy told him.

Bruce shook his head. “So where are the others?” he asked.

“Trying to cheer her up,” Buffy answered.

“Well, you go and see if you can help,” Bruce told her and she ran to the RG. One of the new members of Omega came over to Bruce.

“Sir, they wouldn’t hurt us, would they?” he asked.

“Nah, you’re a teammate. But if you piss ’em off they would rough you up a bit,” Bruce told him as Ted walked up.

“Willie is done and on the way here, Boss,” Ted told Bruce and noticed several members of Second Platoon looking at Bruce. “What?” Ted asked.

“Danny’s mad that she didn’t get to scalp someone and everyone’s trying to cheer her up,” Bruce told him.

“Well Bruce, you can’t always give your kids what they want to make them happy. They have to have limits,” Ted told him.

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m going to talk to her. When Willie gets here we leave,” Bruce told him. Bruce went over to the RG and found the kids sitting around talking.

Matt looked up, grinning, “This bantering is kinda fun,” he said.

Laughing, Bruce answered, “Get some rest. We hit Little Rock tonight, then we move across the state.” He jumped out and headed to the RV where he went straight to the back communication room.

“This is Big Daddy, Mission Control,” Bruce called out, grabbing the mic.

“Hey, it’s Big Daddy Two. I have to say I’m impressed. You going to clear the area now?” Mike asked.

“Nah, we are heading to Little Rock. I want you to prep Gamma to move out with a scavenging convoy,” Bruce replied.

“What’s the deal?” Mike asked, getting worried.

“When we are done in Little Rock we are heading to Fort Smith. I want the base in Little Rock stripped and home in three days. Gamma can hit Pine Bluff tonight and secure the base, then move up to us. Then I’m heading north for two stops there,” Bruce replied.

“Bruce, we are balls to the wall down here now and you want us to pull the other attack team out? Remember we have been broadcasting, people can find us easy,” Mike told him.

“See someone, bomb them, but I want the stuff up here. Now grab your teddy bear and magic blanket and get your troops ready,” Bruce snapped.

“My blanket is in the washer, damn it! What’s your problem?” Mike yelled.

“Mike, pack heavy and do it. I want the scavenging teams to have three, hundred truck convoys. A hundred trucks will always be in transit between here and there. With both Omega and Gamma gone, along with the scavenging teams and drivers, that will leave four thousand people at home. That’s more than enough to do what needs to be done,” Bruce told him.

“It’s going to take you several days to wipe out Little Rock, so what’s the hurry!” Mike yelled.

“No it won’t, we’ll be done by tomorrow afternoon. I’m rolling in tonight,” Bruce answered. Mike just looked at the radio in shock.

“Bruce, there are over a million blues there. I don’t think they’ll surrender no matter how nice you ask,” Mike told him.

“I know Mike, just get your troops ready to roll,” Bruce said.

“I’m sending two Chinooks to get the hostages,” Mike told him.

“They can’t make it this far,” Bruce replied.

“We’re going to refuel them en route,” Mike answered.

“When did we get a tanker?” Bruce yelled.

“We’re using the Super Stallion to refuel them,” Mike answered.

“What!” Bruce yelled. “You’re using my big ass chopper that I was going to turn into a Pave Low as a tanker!” Bruce shouted at the radio.

“Bruce, this isn’t Call of Duty or another video game. They use the Stallion as a tanker all the time,” Mike shot back.

“Not mine! If you use it for a fuel truck, I’ll tear up your blanket!” Bruce shouted.

“You touch my blanket and I’ll cut your nipples off,” Mike threatened.

“I’m not talking to you anymore. This is Big Daddy One out,” Bruce said, putting down the mic.

Mike looked around the command bunker at the group. “He’s going to start stupid shit,” Mike said, and everyone nodded their head in agreement.

Chapter 8

Omega stopped outside of Benton at 2200 and off-loaded the rescued hostages into the choppers. Bruce was ready to run back to the farm and break Mike’s pinky toe for using his chopper as a fuel truck, but he didn’t have time. The blues were starting to charge them from Benton.

First and Second Platoon formed a line across the Interstate, mowing them down. Third Squad with Darrell and Eric was beside Bruce. Marcus’s boys were holding up real good and they could shoot. As the last wave from Benton was mowed down, Darrell yelled over at Bruce.

“Hey Bruce, don’t you think it’s a little crazy going inta Little Rock and just waitin’ on the blues?” he asked.

“Nah, I don’t like chasing ‘em down!” Bruce yelled back.

“Bruce, Little Rock is kinda big!” Eric yelled out, dropping several runners coming at them.

“Eric, when Omega wasn’t half this size we took on numbers a lot bigger!” Bruce shouted, sighting in on a runner and dropping it.

“Yeah but y’all were moving, not staying in place!” Eric yelled back.

“Don’t worry, if it gets bad we can jump off the bridge and float home!” Bruce yelled out, causing the brothers to stop shooting and look at him.

“Is he serious?” Eric asked Darrell.

“I think he is,” Darrell answered.

They joined back in the slaughter as the choppers lifted off and Bruce came over the radio. “Okay, we’re moving in. Drivers, you have seen the overflights of the road, it’s clear. Drive at sixty to the Interstate bridge. Platoon One and Two will secure the south. Platoon Three and Four, the north end and support, stay in the center. Mortar crew fire up a few flares, I want everyone to know we are here. Then fire off a round at random,” Bruce called out.

“Boss, not being a sissy but why couldn’t we wait till daylight?” Willie asked as the convoy headed north.

“We have other stuff to do besides play with blues,” Bruce told him. He brought up his rifle, shooting blues running at the convoy.

“That’s kind of rude, Boss, I mean the blues are trying real hard to be a pain in the ass and you’re just blowing them off,” Willie replied.

“Well they need to learn I wanted to stay home because when I leave they need to see what happens. Goober smoocher turns my cool chopper into a tanker truck. How the hell can I show up and blow someone up knowing my big ass chopper was used as a gas station!” Bruce yelled back.

“Boss, I won’t tell anyone, I promise, but the blues are starting to get real thick,” Willie said with rifle fire behind him almost drowning his voice out.

“Willie, we know you’re scared of the dark so turn on a flashlight and be brave. Just don’t open the closet because a monster is in there,” Bruce replied as his driver centered a large group. “Driver, if you keep doing that I’m letting Buffy drive,” Bruce said over the intercom. Buffy started to climb down out of her roof-firing station. “Buffy, get your ass back up here and shoot!” Bruce yelled at her.

“I want to drive and run over them!” Buffy yelled back over the CVC. The crew helmet Buffy had on was too big and the goggles she was wearing made her look like a bug. But with the convoy moving at sixty, without the CVC talking was out of the question, not to mention the wind in the eyes.

“Buffy!” Bruce snapped and she climbed back up into her firing spot and started shooting blues.

“Dad, you can’t get mad at her,” Danny said over the intercom, steadily dropping blues charging them.

“Danny, I want to get to the bridge fast, Buffy gets sidetracked too easy. If you remember, she wanted to turn around and drive back through Dallas,” Bruce told her. Seeing smoke pouring of his barrel, he put down his SCAR and grabbed an M-4.

“It’s not like she can put dents in it, Daddy,” Danny told him as she too changed rifles.

“Sweet pea, just shoot, I’m really close to grounding all of you right now,” Bruce said as they rolled into town.

“I didn’t do anything!” Jake yelled out.

“You didn’t take my side,” Bruce replied as the blues continued pouring onto the Interstate as they entered Little Rock. For the first time Bruce doubted his choice to roll in hot at night and wipe out a city. They were twenty-six miles from the bridge and the blues were coming in good numbers. “When we get to the bridge don’t get out of your truck. Wait until you get an all clear, we may have some hung-up underneath us,” Bruce called out over the radio.

The convoy plowed forward, driving on both sides of the freeway, using all four lanes. Ten miles out, Bruce jumped on the M-2 and started cranking out fifty-caliber rounds into the sea of blues coming at them. Seeing that, the rest of those in the lead vehicles grabbed belt-fed weapons and just plowed a road. When his gun ran dry, the co-driver handed up another box of ammo. As Bruce reloaded, he keyed his radio, “When we reach the bridge, First and Second Platoons pull off in the outside lanes and let the convoy pass. When they pass us, block off the bridge. Squad leaders, pick two per team to stay on belt-fed weapons to buy us some breathing room. Third and Fourth Platoons, you do the same at the north end. If any blues are on the bridge try to run them over. If you shoot some on the bridge, remember you have teams behind your target.” When Bruce finished, the deuce was loaded and he pressed the trigger flap.

The steady, deep-throated chatter of the deuce brought a smile to his face. Each hit blew a blue apart and in most cases he was getting more than one hit per bullet. Looking ahead, Bruce fought off a chill that ran up his spine. The whole road was filled with blues running at them, looking like a rush of water. The huge trucks just plowed through but were down to forty-five miles an hour due to the mass of bodies. There were just too many blues in their path to go faster. The huge diesel engines were doing the best they could but pushing twenty tons of truck through a wall of bodies was straining them. Bruce keyed his radio as his gun ran dry, “Don’t stop until the bridge or you’ll be swarmed. If you have to stop, button up and wait until we clear the area!” Bruce yelled in his mic.

Ted came back over the radio, “Boss, I like it better when they’re chasing us. Driving through them sucks. They seem really pissed off about something.”

“They are pissed. Willie took one of the little blue demons’ teddy bears and they want it back!” Bruce yelled back as he slammed the cover down on the M-2 and started firing. Looking up ahead, he saw the bridge.

“Willie, give them the damn teddy bear!” Carl yelled back.

“Ah no, I like it and teddy makes the monsters in the dark go away!” Willie yelled back.

The teams were keeping the blues away from the convoy for the most part but the trucks were having to drive over the dead and wounded. This was making them very difficult to handle. A Stryker pulled up between the lead trucks. It was armed with an MK-19 grenade launcher and opened up. On the other side of the highway another Stryker pulled between the other lead trucks. A hundred yards to the front of the convoy, blue bodies fell down as the fragments ripped into them with each explosion. When the Stryker emptied the magazine for MK-19 it fell back to be replaced by a LAV, and the same happened for the northbound team.

The LAVs rolled forward and opened up with the 25mm cannons cutting huge paths through the oncoming horde. When their magazines were empty, they pulled back, leaving few alive on the highway as Bruce keyed his radio.

“Bridge ahead. Make sure all that are firing belt weapons have a new belt. We will be vulnerable until we get set up. Every vehicle have at least one person looking every direction. These assholes are starting to get persistent!” Bruce yelled out over the radio as the convoy hit the bridge.

Bruce’s driver slowed down in the outside lane and the rest of the platoon passed him by with the convoy as Bruce and the girls started mowing down those close. Second Platoon did the same on the other two lanes. When the convoy passed through First and Second Platoon, the supply team pulled to the side, letting Third and Fourth Platoon by to seal the other end of the bridge.

When the last truck of the convoy passed, Bruce’s driver backed up, pulling across the road until he hit the lane divider between the north and southbound lanes. Then two more trucks pulled up, blocking the northbound lanes. The other trucks moved behind them and the squads piled out, jumping on the trucks that were at the front of the line. They kneeled where they could and opened up on the sea of blues to their front as Second Platoon sealed their lanes and did the same.

“We have about fifty on the bridge, Boss,” Willie called over the radio.

Bruce looked over the trucks behind him and could see several blues attacking the supply trucks. Climbing out of the cupola, Bruce motioned for Danny to get in. As she did so, Bruce heard a song he liked on the radio. Climbing down in the RG, he grabbed the huge ghetto blaster and climbed back out, turning up the volume to max so he could hear it over the machinegun fire. “Jake, you have control over First and Second, I’m going to clear our rear!” Bruce yelled out.

“Take some with you!” Jake yelled back as he changed magazines.

“There isn’t that many and you need the guns. Just remember, I’m to the rear so watch your fire!” Bruce yelled back as he jumped off the RG. Letting his SCAR hang from the sling, Bruce pulled his pistol out. Then, reaching over his back, he pulled his sword and let out a loud yell as he ran to the center of the bridge.

Back at Mission Control the command group had watched Omega wade into battle, literally. The blues were coming at them in such numbers that they looked like water. The Community Center was packed also; very few were asleep as they watched the live UAV feeds of Omega.

When the trucks blocked off the bridge, the command group watched fire pour out of the obstructing vehicles, cutting down the advancing blues. When the north end was blocked they looked in the center of the bridge and could see quite a few blues running around inside the perimeter. Then they heard Willie announce it over the radio.

“What the hell,” Mike said looking at the screen.

“What?” Nancy asked nervously.

Mike pointed at a lone figure charging the blues inside the perimeter. Since it was holding a pistol and a sword, everyone knew who it was. Ten blues charged the figure and were shot down as another five came from around a truck and charged. The figure just started swinging his sword, cutting several legs off and one blue in half. Then they watched as Bruce changed a magazine and with jerky motions kept moving forward, engaging blues.

“What the fuck is he doing?” Jimmy yelled out, looking at Angela and Stephanie.

They were both rubbing their temples with their eyes closed. “Will someone turn on the radio?” Angela asked.

“The radio is on,” Mike told her, gesturing to the team radio blaring in the background.

“Not the team radio, the radio station,” Angela snapped. Joe reached over and turned it on to hear ‘Rebel Yell’ playing. With the song on, they could now see Bruce fighting to the beat of the music. They watched Bruce come around one truck and find a group trying to climb up to a window.

Bruce charged the group and cut down seven with his sword; one actually tried to run away. They watched Bruce pull the tomahawk off his back and throw it at the blue running away, dropping it in its tracks. Then Bruce started playing air guitar when the solo came on, chopping any blue that tried to interrupt him.

“I’m going to kick his ass so bad,” Stephanie said, looking at the monitor.

Mike looked at her. “Well it’s not like he can use a rifle, Stephanie. He could damage a vehicle or hit one of the teams. Besides, he’s jamming pretty hard,” Mike said as the song ended. Hearing the next song, Mike went over to the radio and called the radio station. “Hey this is Big Daddy Two, did Big Daddy One ask you to play this song?” Mike asked.

“Yes sir, he told us to play his request until he gave the all clear,” a woman replied.

Turning around, Mike noticed he had some really mean looks from several in the command group. “What, that’s ‘The Boys are Back in Town’!” Mike yelled out. Everyone just looked at him in shock. “Hey, Bruce is jamming really hard and during a fight,” Mike told them, defending Bruce. Looking back at the monitor, Mike watched Bruce finish off the last of the blues inside the perimeter.

Stephanie turned to look at Nancy, “I know this is unethical but I’m going to shoot your husband in the leg,” she told her.

Nancy just continued to look at Mike. “No, I’ll shoot him first. Then you two can help me drag him outside,” she replied.

Before Mike could respond, Angela grabbed the radio. “Omega, this is Little Foot. Someone tell Big Daddy One to cut the shit!” she yelled over the radio.

“We tried ma’am but the blues inside the perimeter are down now and he’s heading back to his truck,” a radio operator answered.

“Have you relayed what I said?” Angela asked.

“Yes ma’am but he can hear you. Big Daddy monitors his squad and team nets on his radio,” the operator answered. They looked on the screen and saw Bruce talking on the radio then looking up at the sky to wave.

“Bruce, you’re pissing us off,” Angela told him over the radio as the song ended. When the next song started to play, Mike fell to the floor, laughing. Then he was joined by several other men. Angela listened to the lyrics and her little face turned red.

“What?” Stephanie asked.

“That song is ‘Don’t Bring Me Down.’ He’s telling her to leave him alone,” Nancy said with an irritated expression on her face, looking at the men laughing. Even Marcus started beating on the table after listening to the lyrics.

The women looked up at the screen and could now see Bruce dancing on top of his truck. Then Bruce reached down, grabbing one of the people in the back and pulling them out. When the helmet came off and they saw the hair, they knew it was Buffy. Then Bruce started to teach her how to disco. They were soon joined by the rest of the kids. The rest of the platoon kept firing into the mass of blues but the kill zone was moved back to a hundred yards now. The eight just kept dancing as the rest of the platoon kept killing.

When the song ended and the next started, the men started laughing harder. Angela didn’t know the song and looked at Nancy. “Play That Funky Music White Boy,” Nancy told her.

Angela looked at Stephanie. Stephanie looked back at her with a shrug as she said, “Well, Buffy is dancing a lot better.”

“We’re mad at him right now, remember,” Angela told her.

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” Stephanie told her and put her grumpy face on.

Angela looked at Carroll who was just smiling, watching the men laugh. “Carroll, can I ask you a favor?” Angela asked.

“Yes baby, whatcha need,” Carroll answered, looking away from the men.

“Will you watch the kids for us?” Angela said and the men quit laughing.

Mike stood up, “Angela, don’t even think about driving up there. I’ll blister your bottom,” he told her.

“Oh, we aren’t driving up there. Jimmy is going to fly us up there,” Angela told him.

“Angela, he had to engage the blues up close. Granted, he could’ve done it different but they had to be cleared,” Mike told her.

“I know Mike but he didn’t have to play Guitar Hero doing it,” Angela shot back. Angela turned back to Carroll. “Will you please?” she begged.

“Yes baby, we will watch them, you two go on,” Carroll told her.

Mike just stared at Angela as she looked at Jimmy. “Have a chopper ready in fifteen minutes,” she told him. Jimmy just nodded his head.

“Stephanie, get your gear and grab Max. From now on, Bruce is taking that stupid dog out with him when he goes,” Angela told her.

“You two be careful,” Nancy said, getting up and hugging them.

“What about your daily news reports?” Paul asked.

“We can do them from the field,” Stephanie answered with a smile. Angela just shook her head.

“Stephanie, remember we’re mad at Bruce,” Angela reminded her.

“Oh yeah,” Stephanie said, putting her grumpy face back on. Letting out a sigh, Angela grabbed Stephanie’s hand and led her out of the command bunker as she keyed her radio to call the radio station. As they walked out, Gopher walked in.

“Should we call and tell Bruce?” Joe asked.

“Absolutely not,” Nancy shouted. Just then the next song came on and Nancy smiled. “Besides, I think he can figure it out now,” she said as ‘The Bitch is Back’ started playing.

Stephanie and Angela kissed the sleeping kids then grabbed their backpacks and rifles. They left and ran to the barn to find Jimmy beside Bruce’s Black Hawk. “Ladies, if Bruce kills me I’m holding you responsible,” he told them.

“Don’t worry he won’t. We told you to,” Angela told him.

“How long will it take us to get there?” Stephanie asked excitedly, bouncing on her toes and smiling.

Angela grabbed her arm. “We’re mad,” she told her.

“Sorry,” Stephanie said, putting her grumpy face back on and calling for Max. Angela just shook her head and threw her backpack in the chopper as Jimmy did his walk around. Max came running over and jumped inside the cargo area. Stephanie and Angela followed him in and closed the door as Jimmy and his co-pilot climbed in.

“We should be there in an hour,” Jimmy called over the intercom. Stephanie just clapped her hands, smiling. Angela just looked down and didn’t say anything as the chopper lifted off.

In the command bunker they watched the chopper lift off and Paul looked back at the UAV over Omega. “I think Bruce is in deep doo doo. He may wipe out the horde around him but I think those two will take him down a notch.”

Thinking about that for a second, Mike reached in his pocket. “I got ten bucks on Bruce,” he stated.

“I got ten on the girls,” Nancy shot back. The command group was split down the middle, half betting on the girls and the other half on Bruce.

They watched the monitor as the mortar team started shooting up flares. The UAV crew widened the view to show around the team. The streets were filled with blues heading toward Omega. They looked over at another monitor that showed a second UAV circling Little Rock further out. Everywhere it looked, they saw blues running toward Omega.

“Damn, nobody is betting on the blues,” Gopher stated. Everyone just looked at him with expressionless faces. “What? I’m just saying that is a shitload of trouble heading for them,” he said, pointing at the monitors.

“Dude, once Omega reached the battle point and set up, it’s a done deal. The blues just don’t know they’re dead yet. The only chance they had was taking them on the run in,” Steve told him.

“Look at the numbers,” Gopher said, never taking his eyes off the monitor.

“Doesn’t matter,” Steve replied.

“Do they have enough bullets?” Gopher asked, a little worried.

“Gopher, four of those semis are carrying over twenty tons each of ammo. That’s almost two million rounds per truck. Then each squad has close to eighty thousand rounds in their truck. From our best estimates, Little Rock is just over one million,” Mike answered.

“That’s a lot of weight to put on a bridge!” Gopher shouted, looking at Mike.

“Look closely how Omega is set up. The 6x6 trucks each squad is in are almost twenty tons each. They are set up on the ends of the bridge over the earthen support ramps. The convoy is spread out along the bridge with each truck over a support. Gopher, Steve was right. The only chance the blues had at stopping Omega was before they set up. Now they are killing on an industrial scale. Each team member can average sixty aimed shots a minute with many getting more than that. That means Omega is killing over seventy thousand an hour. They will be done by noon,” Mike told him.

Gopher just turned back to the monitor in awe. “Not even fourteen hours,” he said more to himself than the others.

“Yes, the area won’t be pacified but the majority will be gone,” Mike answered.

“Why couldn’t the military do this?” Gopher asked.

“Gopher, they train soldiers to shoot center mass, and let’s face it. Hitting someone in the chest is a lot easier than the head. The average soldier gets to shoot a thousand rounds in basic training and advanced training. Each member of Omega and Gamma has shot five thousand in training at head-size targets with both pistol and rifle,” Mike answered. Gopher just stared at him as Paul spoke up.

“Yep, you have to admit that Bruce knows war,” Paul said.

“No shit,” Gopher replied.

“Gopher, you have to realize we figured out how to fight the blues months after the fall. If the military could’ve pulled back they could do what we’re doing. But their job was to try to fight and they lost big time. The military that’s left is led by dumbass politicians that just hold them close,” Mike informed him.

“So we do have a chance,” Gopher said, smiling at the thought.

“Yes we do have a chance, but we have to fight the blues and thousands of gangs to save the few million Americans out there now. It’s not much of one but we do have a chance,” Nancy said, looking at the screen. At the end of each bridge the bodies were piling up in a fan pattern out from the bridge.

The blues just climbed over the dead and wounded to try to attack Omega. Supply people could be seen bringing up armloads of ammo and dropping it off at the firing lines. Then they would grab bags of empty magazines and run back to get them reloaded. The people in the Community Center all watched in silence for half an hour. The blues never stopped. They just kept coming in waves.

“They never stop,” Gopher said.

“Nope, they never quit. That’s why they have to die,” Marcus said.

“Okay, I’m leaving with Gamma and heading to the Little Rock Air Force Base with the salvaging teams. Steve, you said we have two people that can fly the C-130? Let’s see if they can,” Mike said.

“What about Pine Bluff?” Marcus asked.

“A lot of stuff there we can’t use but we will get what we can,” Mike said.

“There are chemical weapons there, you be real careful with ‘em,” Marcus told him.

“Don’t worry, we will. Then we will set up booby traps for any that follow us. When Gamma seals the areas with chemical weapons, no one will be able to enter them,” Mike assured him.

Mike hugged Nancy bye, then looked at her. “You’re in charge now. Call if you need us.” Mike then looked at the rest of the command group. “Y’all better take good care of my girl,” he told them.

“Don’t worry Mike, we will, you just be careful,” Joe said as Mike walked out the door.

“Well, ain’t no denying it now. We have an army in the field,” Marcus said.

“No, we have two armies in the field,” Carroll corrected.

Chapter 9

Omega was still slaughtering blues an hour later when Bruce told the mortar team to quit firing. “Why are you telling them to stop, Boss? The blues stop and just stare at the flares,” Willie called back.

“We should have a chopper inbound soon,” Bruce called back.

“I haven’t heard one call in, Boss,” Willie told him.

“Trust me, one’s coming. How is it going on that end?” Bruce asked.

“Same old same old, the blues just keep coming at us. We are shooting them almost at a hundred meters away now. We have bodies stacked about five feet deep out that far. The tower lights shine out about half a mile.”

“Yeah, it’s the same down here. How much longer till you can start letting some of your troops rest?” Bruce asked.

“Already started Boss, I’ve pulled twenty-five off the line to rest,” Willie answered.

“I’m fixing to do the same here,” Bruce answered, then went to the supply convoy and had them move some trucks so the chopper could land on the bridge. Walking back to his truck, Bruce climbed up and looked over the mayhem.

The piles of dead blues forty meters in front of First and Second Platoon’s positions were six to seven feet tall and extended out over a hundred and fifty meters. The bodies formed a ramp that the charging blues were using to run up at them. The blues found out real quick that it is hard to run on a mass of dead bodies. They hit the edge and usually fell down; as they stood up, they were shot, joining the pile. Another would fall over them and would be shot in the head. Bruce just shook his head, watching waves of blues drop.

During almost all of the previous engagements with hordes, the team had been on the move. In Southern Arkansas they’d stayed in place but the blues came at them in waves with breaks in between. Granted, the breaks were only a few minutes, but they were breaks. What they were dealing with here was just like the horde that had attacked the farm: it was an endless wave. The advantage for Omega was that the blues could only come at them at the ends of the bridge. As the last flare went out Bruce could see the blues lining up half a mile away to join the pile. Another shiver ran down his spine as he thought of the pile of bodies that would be there in the morning.

“We have a chopper inbound that is requesting us to stop firing the mortars,” an operator came on to tell Bruce.

“Tell them we have ceased fire and they are to put down on the center of the bridge. Have the portable lights off so we don’t blind the pilots,” Bruce called back on the radio. Turning to the southwest, Bruce saw the Black Hawk coming in at a thousand feet. The chopper slowly came in and touched down.

Jumping off his RG, Bruce walked over to see the girls. Before he was halfway there, the chopper was lifting off and heading home. ‘Damn they used my chopper and didn’t even want to say hi,’ Bruce thought. Walking toward the landing zone, the lights came back on and Bruce heard a bark and saw a dog running at him. “Max, I thought I told you to stay home,” Bruce said as Max ran at him. When he reached Bruce, he sat down so Bruce could pet him.

Reaching down, Bruce rubbed Max as two figures headed toward him. Standing back up, Bruce yelled at them over the gunfire, “Took you two long enough!”

“So you figured out we were coming!” Angela yelled back over the gunfire with a pissed-off expression.

“No, I was expecting you before that. Come on, I have the rest of your gear in my rig!” Bruce yelled out.

“What?” Angela yelled out. Bruce repeated what he said. “No, I heard you the first time!” Angela yelled now from anger, not to be heard over the gunfire.

“I knew you two would come,” Bruce told her as he walked over to them and gave each a kiss. Grabbing their backpacks, he led them to First Squad’s ride. Weaving between the vehicles, Bruce called over the radio for the driver to open the passenger door. The back door was against the concrete divider and Bruce was not about to go to the driver’s door.

When the door opened, Bruce helped Max in, then the girls. “So the dog goes first!” Angela yelled.

“Just to make sure it was safe!” Bruce yelled back over the now very loud gunfire. Most of the weapons being fired now didn’t have suppressors. They wanted blues to know they were here and so far it was working.

“Bruce, the kids are in there. If something can take them that stupid dog doesn’t stand a chance!” Angela yelled back as he helped her inside. Then he helped Stephanie inside and followed her in. As they moved to the back cargo area they had to watch their step with all the empty magazines and empty shell cases laying everywhere. Danny had moved out of the cupola and let Buffy in to fire the M-2.

Shoving Angela and Stephanie’s backpacks to the side, Bruce pulled out a bag and handed each a CVC helmet so they could plug in and talk to the teams. The added bonus was it cut down on the noise big time. Then Bruce pulled out two sets of riot shin guards that Omega wore, more for protection from the truck than the blues. While climbing on the outside of the truck, one constantly banged up shins and knees.

When he put them on the girls just stared at him. Bruce plugged in his helmet and turned, facing the two. “Rack your AUGs, I have your M-4s and sniper rifles,” Bruce told them.

“Bruce, I don’t like the bolt action rifle,” Stephanie whined.

“Stephanie, I didn’t bring your precision rifle. I brought your M-110,” Bruce told her. Stephanie jumped up and down as Bruce handed her the rifle with a bag of magazines. Stephanie grabbed it and moved in beside Danny.

“I’m going to kick your ass when we kill all the blues,” Angela told him.

“If you try, I’ll put a hickey on your chin,” Bruce warned her.

“That made our heart stop when you went ninja on the blues, buster!” Angela yelled out.

“It worked,” Bruce told her.

“We’ll talk later, buddy,” Angela told him as he handed her a rifle.

“Bring it, Little Foot. I will tickle you till you pee,” Bruce told her as Angela climbed up beside Mindy. Max just found a place to lie down as the gunfire continued.

With the big SCAR in his hands, Bruce climbed up to join the squad. Calling over the radio, Bruce told the mortars to continue and was rewarded with an immediate thump as they fired. The driver and co-driver were trying to keep up, gathering empty magazines and giving them full ones. At 0300 Bruce told Jake to rest ten of his troops and for Ted to do the same.

At dawn the kill zone was at a hundred and fifty meters. The only reason it was not further was that they were letting the blues climb over the pile of bodies to get that close. Matt, Jake, Darrell, and Eric were playing a sniper game at five hundred meters. When Bruce noticed it, he grabbed his binoculars and looked at where the four were firing. Blues were stacked up in a pile almost three hundred meters from where the rest of the team was firing.

Blues were falling down in that one area—about the size of a football field—making a pile as others just tripped over them. Then Bruce noticed the blues stopped falling. Looking back at the four, he saw they had shifted their fire. Lifting his binoculars back up Bruce watched where they were firing. Sure enough, five hundred meters away a section of blues that were advancing at them just started melting away. Darrell and Eric would run through a twenty-round magazine in fifteen to twenty seconds and in most cases drop eighteen to twenty blues. Matt and Jake were running through a magazine in ten seconds and dropping twenty at a time.

Bruce heard Matt complain about having to reload as he looked over at Danny. Unlike the boys, she had an M-16A2, a bigger version of the M-4. The boys liked the M110 that shot the bigger 7.62; Danny liked the smaller 5.56. It may not have the range but she could send a lot out. Buffy, like Danny, had an M16-A2 and Bruce was sure if Danny pulled out a slingshot the little blond girl would run and find one too. Bringing up his rifle, Bruce joined in the slaughter.

When Bruce noticed smoke coming from the barrel of his SCAR he put it down and grabbed another rifle. Then he looked at Angela and Stephanie and noticed their barrels smoking. “Angela and Stephanie, change your rifles out before you damage your barrels,” Bruce called to them over the intercom as Mindy cranked up the M-2.

It wasn’t until 1000 that the tempo died down and the piles of bodies extended out almost a mile from the bridge on each side. “Jake and Ted, have two squads rotate back to get food. Then rotate out the rest. I’m going to eat,” Bruce told them over the radio.

“Boss, tell Cook I want a smiley face on my pancakes,” Ted called back.

Bruce just stopped and smiled hearing that. “Sorry Ted, only I get smiley face pancakes,” Bruce answered.

“That’s totally discriminating, Boss,” Ted called back. Bruce tapped Angela and Stephanie to follow him. Bruce motioned for them to take off the CVC helmets as he grabbed two small tactical helmets out of his bag. Handing one to each of them, Bruce turned around and headed to the cab with Angela and Stephanie following him. Seeing they were leaving, Max jumped up to follow as they climbed out the passenger door.

Reaching the ground, Bruce tightened his vest and checked his weapons. The wives saw what he did and copied him. Watching them, Bruce smiled and when they were finished he led them to the center of the bridge. Bruce saw a lot of Third and Fourth Platoons already there eating. “So are you two really that mad?” he asked.

“No, not really, Bruce. It just scared the shit out of us,” Angela told him. Then she looked over at Stephanie. “I had to keep reminding her we were mad at you,” Angela admitted.

“Yeah, I was mad but I figured you had a good reason for it,” Stephanie told him.

Bruce laughed. “What did you two do with the kids, and please don’t say they are in the RV or fishing off the side of the bridge?”

Stephanie stopped and had a very pissed-off look on her face. “Bruce, there is no way we would ever bring our kids out here to a battle when they could stay safe at home,” she snapped at him.

Angela laughed and snorted as Bruce grinned, looking at Stephanie. Seeing their reaction, the anger left Stephanie’s face and she looked down. “You were just playing again, weren’t you?” she asked.

“Yeah, but you can still spank me later,” Bruce told her as he pulled her close, hugging her.

“That’s what Angela likes, not me,” Stephanie said, trying to find a spot on Bruce’s chest that didn’t have something that poked her head as she laid it on his chest.

“That’s not true,” Angela snapped back. Bruce reached out and pulled her close.

“I’m taking Stephanie’s side on this,” Bruce told her.

“Bruce, when have I ever spanked you or Stephanie?” Angela challenged.

“Well that’s what we tell everyone,” Bruce replied.

The color drained from Angela’s face. “You two tell people I spank you? What, they think I’m some evil S&M woman?” she asked, staring up at them.

“Well after what they heard you did to Stephanie’s nipples it was easy for them to make that leap,” Bruce admitted, fighting off a smile.

“You said you were going to tell everyone that was only a joke to get you to smile, Bruce,” Angela whined.

“I forgot,” Bruce told her.

Angela stomped her foot as Stephanie kept her face buried in Bruce’s chest to hide her smile. “Bruce, you and Stephanie better set the record straight,” Angela warned.

“I will, only if you help Stephanie go for ten in a row,” Bruce answered.

Hearing that, the smile fell off Stephanie’s face as she stepped back, “What? Are you insane? Do you want to kill me?” Stephanie yelled out. Since the gunfire had died down, those close to them turned to see what the yelling was about.

Bruce smiled at her, then at Angela. “Let’s throw ‘im off the bridge,” Angela offered.

“No, we better keep him, he’s kind of important,” Stephanie told her.

“Okay, but he has to paint our toes at the dinner table when we get home,” Angela said and the grin fell off Bruce’s face.

“Gotcha,” Stephanie told him and they both hugged Bruce.

“Come on, let’s get some food. What are you two going to do about your news broadcast?” Bruce asked as they arrived at the RV and grabbed plates and coffee.

“We’re going to do them from the field. You aren’t mad about that, are you?” Stephanie asked, looking at Bruce.

“No, it’s a great idea. It lets people know they aren’t alone. Just don’t give information about us. Which one of you came up with the idea?” Bruce asked.

“We both did but we wanted Gopher to do it. He said no, that hot beautiful women needed to do it. I told him it was radio, not TV, but he wouldn’t listen,” Stephanie asked.

Laughing, Bruce looked at both of them. “So now I’m married to big time famous people,” he said.

“No, we’re married to the famous person. Bruce, we had to start up two more ham radios to keep up with the traffic,” Angela said as a young man came out and handed Angela and Stephanie a stack of handwritten notes.

“Where did this come from?” Stephanie asked.

“I’ve been writing for the past four hours, taking notes from Mission Control,” the young man replied.

“You can’t receive printouts?” Stephanie asked, shocked.

Bruce cleared his throat. “Ah, Stephanie the world did collapse. Fax machines are dead, baby.”

“Bruce, faxes were in use before the phone. We have the setup, already why aren’t we using it?” she demanded.

“Baby, we really don’t need faxes out in the field,” Bruce admitted.

Stephanie narrowed her eyes at Bruce, making him uneasy. “Baby, if you have the technology, use it,” she told him in a low voice.

Bruce keyed his radio, “Jake and Matt, please come to the RV,” he called out. When they ran up Bruce told them what he wanted and they just looked at him.

“You called us off the line to set up a fax machine?” Jake asked.

“Basically, yeah,” Bruce answered.

“Dad, I’m getting some food. Since we don’t have a fax machine to set up I’m going back to the line,” Jake told him, not believing his dad.

“What do we need to set one up, son?” Bruce asked again.

“A fax machine,” Jake answered as he walked away to get some food.

“And what else, smartass?” Bruce called after him. But Jake refused to answer.

Matt looked at Bruce. “Just a fax machine, Daddy Bruce.”

“Yeah, but how do I tell it to talk to one at the farm. I’m not stringing up a phone line,” Bruce told him.

“You don’t have to. You can use the radio or one of the satellite links in the RV,” Matt said.

Bruce took a step back. “We have satellite links to use for faxes?” he asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, Daddy Bruce, it’s just information,” Matt answered.

“Why in the hell would we have them?” Bruce yelled out.

“So we can fax back to Mission Control,” Matt replied.

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. “So if I find a fax machine, I can plug it up in the RV and use it?” he asked.

“Yes sir,” Matt replied.

“Matt, I want you and Jake to go and get a fax machine,” Bruce told him.

Matt just shrugged his shoulders, “Okay,” he said and walked away.

“Bruce, you can’t send them to go and get a fax machine,” Angela told him.

“The hell I can’t. If they get it, they have to hook it up,” Bruce told her as Willie walked up. Bruce looked up at Willie. “I swear if you say something about a fax machine I’ll pull the hair off your nipples,” Bruce warned.

Hearing that, Willie froze, “Dude, you pull the hair off my nipples, just shoot me first,” he said as his hands covered his chest.

“What is it, Willie?” Bruce asked, taking a bite of food.

“How are we getting out of here, Boss?” Willie asked.

Bruce just shook his head. “The same way we got here: drive,” Bruce told him.

“Ah Boss, I don’t mean this in a bad way but have you noticed the piles of bodies around us?” Willie asked.

“I might have glanced at them once or twice,” Bruce popped off, not feeling very hungry anymore. Max was, and as soon as Bruce lowered his plate the food vanished.

“Bruce, the pile is up to seven feet tall in places and stretches for almost a quarter of a mile on the road. The end of the pile is almost a mile away,” Willie told him.

“Duh Willie, we aren’t driving over them. We have the semi with the big plow on the front for a reason,” Bruce informed him.

“I don’t think that will work, Boss,” Willie informed him.

Bruce drew a breath to start yelling as Stephanie chimed in. “He’s right,” she said. Bruce let out the breath and looked at her in shock. “Well he is, it only takes ten infected to weigh a ton. Remember they are denser than we are. Your front is a hundred and twenty feet across—” Stephanie started to explain as Bruce held up his hand.

“My truck can make it through,” Bruce told her.

Stephanie shook her head, “Bruce, even with your plow, the truck is pushing something that weighs more than itself.”

“You two go and get ready for your news broadcast and let the ‘Man’ show you how it’s done,” Bruce said, stomping off.

“He’s going to try it,” Angela said.

“Doesn’t matter, that truck will get stuck,” Stephanie replied.

“Third Platoon, make a hole so I can get us out of here before people start crying. Keep me covered please!” Bruce yelled over the radio.

“Hey Boss, did someone eat your smiley pancakes?” Ted asked.

“Hell yeah asshole!” Bruce yelled back. He walked over to the plow truck and climbed inside. After the glow plugs turned off he fired it up. The squad’s trucks were still pulling out of the way as he charged at them. Seeing Bruce was not going to stop, the drivers floored it. The last truck was barely missed by the plow.

The truck hit the wall of bodies at ten miles an hour, throwing Bruce into the steering wheel, but it still plowed gamely through the bodies. Bruce made it eighty feet into the pile before the wheels started spinning. Backing up until he was out of the pile, Bruce then slammed it back in low and stomped the gas. The truck lurched forward and hit the pile again with a crash but plowed ahead another eighty feet.

Several blues were still coming at the bridge and when they saw the truck they roared and charged. None ever made it close as they were cut down, but they did try. On his third attempt Bruce made it another hundred feet. He backed out of the pile. Putting his seat belt on this time, he stomped the gas and lurched forward again. This time he hit the pile at twenty miles per hour. The truck pushed forward seventy yards and started losing momentum. Bruce tried to put his foot through the floorboard and the tires started to smoke as the truck continued to slowly plow through. The entire team was just staring at the spectacle.

Most were sure the only reason the truck was still moving was it was too scared of Bruce to stop. With determination, the truck plowed a path through the bodies and Bruce backed it up through the path he’d created. When he was back on the bridge he jumped out of the gore-covered truck as a team came over with power washers.

Walking over to the stunned group, Bruce popped off, “I told you it could make it.” Nobody said anything as he walked by. “Stephanie and Angela, get in the RV and do your news broadcast. Drivers, I want you to sleep, we leave in four hours. Jake and Matt, go get me a fax machine and take half of First Platoon with you. Let Buffy drive!” Bruce yelled out over the radio.

Jake groaned and heard a small squeal from the other end of the bridge. Looking up, he saw a little blonde girl dancing on top of her truck. “You had to make him mad,” Matt said, looking at Jake.

“Don’t you start, damn it!” Jake shouted and stomped back to First Platoon.

“You could’ve just been nice like me and answered his questions but noooo. You had to be a total ass and walk away. I stayed and answered his questions, asshole. Now we have to let Buffy play GTA over Little Rock in a twenty-ton truck!” Matt yelled after Jake.

Angela and Stephanie watched the two walk off, yelling at each other. Angela turned to Stephanie and asked, “Should we say something to them?”

“I’m not saying shit to anyone else here,” Stephanie replied as she walked over and climbed into the RV.

Bruce had walked to the edge of the bridge and was just looking out over the river. Willie approached him. “Ah Boss, don’t throw me over the bridge, I was just making a statement,” Willie told him.

“What is Gamma doing?” Bruce asked.

“They made it to Pine Bluff at 0300 and have loaded half the convoy up already. The blues have not been much of a problem for them like they have been here. They are reporting about ten thousand kills so far.”

“How much are they getting there?” Bruce asked.

“Mike reported that they will load all the trucks to max, which will be four thousand tons. They found about five hundred military personal with about the same civilians,” Willie answered.

“Does he need more time and trucks?” Bruce asked.

“No Boss, he says most of the stuff they are leaving we can’t use. They have booby- trapped the chemical stockpile with six tons of explosives and put signs up warning people not to open the doors,” Willie told him.

“That’s good. I really don’t want chemical weapons. I would really just like to blow the damn place up but that’s not an option,” Bruce said, still looking at the river. “When are they moving here to the Air Force Base?” Bruce asked.

“Mike reports that Gamma will be pulling out in three hours when the convoy heads home. The next convoy will link up with them as they head here,” Willie answered as First Platoon drove past them on their mission.

“What’s the area around us like now, including the base?” Bruce asked.

“A few infected but most are walkers. They shouldn’t have much trouble at the base,” Willie replied as they heard one of First Platoon’s trucks run over a car.

“That driver is going to have fun today,” Bruce said, grinning. Willie just looked at him, not understanding. “Buffy can’t reach the pedals so she sits in his lap telling him which pedal to push,” Bruce informed him. Willie wanted to say something but decided not to as Carl and Ted walked up.

“Little Buffy is having a blast. Danny called back saying the driver was starting to cry,” Carl told them.

Bruce keyed his radio, “Buffy, quit scaring the driver or I won’t let you drive anymore,” he called out.

“Aww Daddy,” Buffy whined, then yelled out, “Get your damn foot off the brake, pussy, and stomp the gas!”

“Buffy, I mean it,” Bruce warned over the radio.

“Daddy, it’s not my fault the blues are trying to hide behind cars!” she yelled back and they heard a crash over the radio—then the sound reached them without the radio.

“Buffy, that is not a tank you’re driving. If you break my truck you’ll push it back here,” Bruce told her.

“Are you crazy? You see how big this thing is? Get your damn hands off my steering wheel!” Buffy yelled out. Bruce was fixing to reply when Buffy came back over the radio. “I’m not kidding, you touch my steering wheel again and Herman is coming out!” she yelled at the driver.

Jake yelled over the radio next, “Damn it Buffy, slow down! You have a car stuck under your truck already!”

“That’s a little punk car, that doesn’t count!” she yelled back and there was another crash over the radio. “I got all of them, did you see that!” Buffy yelled out as the sound of the crash reverberated back to the bridge.

“Buffy, you just ran through a trailer!” Jake yelled on the radio.

“I got them bubba!” she shouted with glee.

“Jake, Buffy’s truck just shit out a Honda Civic,” Matt called over the radio.

“I can see Matt!” Jake yelled back.

“Don’t pop off at me, butt muncher!” Matt yelled back.

“Will you shut up? I’m trying to deal with a psycho preteen here!” Jake yelled out.

“Jake, you quit yelling at Matt and be nice to Buffy or we throw down, shit for brains!” Danny shouted over the radio.

“Danny, back off of Jake, he’s under a lot of stress!” Mary yelled at her.

“Hey, I will monkey stomp both of your asses, Mary. Don’t yell at me!” Danny shouted back as they heard another crash over the radio.

“Danny—” Mary started and Bruce turned his radio off. Looking at the others, he saw they were still listening over their ear buds.

“If my kids make it back alive, tell them they’re grounded. If my driver wants to, switch him out with someone. I’m going to take a nap. Wake me up at 1500,” Bruce said and headed to the RV. Climbing inside, he found everyone listening to the kids argue. Turning around, Bruce headed for the bunker truck and laid down. Even with the headache he had, he fell asleep fast as Angela and Stephanie went on the air.

Several million were listening as the two women came on the radio. Stephanie gave the weather report for the nation, then told how Omega had wiped out a million blues. She didn’t say where but described the scene for those over the radio. Then Angela came on, telling the movements of the sixty biggest hordes they were tracking. The largest was over twenty million and was moving down the coast toward Georgia. She mentioned that a horde of five million was moving across Nebraska along Interstate 80.

In the government facility, the colonel called the UAV back and sent for the general.

For the rest of the hour Stephanie and Angela talked about how to survive and advised the people to always be ready to move if the need arose. They went over how to travel silently, to make a suppressor, and charge batteries so people could listen to the radio. Many survivors listening held loved ones close with something they thought was gone: hope.

Chapter 10

Willie chickened out and made Angela and Stephanie wake Bruce up at 1500. Bruce sat up, looking at the two who had serious looks on their faces. “What?” he asked.

“Bruce, you have to talk to the kids,” Stephanie told him.

“Did they try to kill each other?” Bruce asked, throwing his legs off the cot.

“Not yet, but I’m not counting that out,” Angela told him.

“Okay, so what’s going on,” Bruce asked, standing up.

“The only ones talking to each other are Buffy and Danny. The others are off by themselves,” Angela told him.

“Well what happened?” Bruce asked. As Stephanie took a breath to explain, Bruce stopped her. “Never mind, I don’t want to know,” Bruce told her. Picking up his rifle, Bruce looked at the two. “You two can say something to them,” Bruce told them.

“Bruce, if we did we would have to yell and scream. You can use the Daddy voice without the headache,” Stephanie told him.

“What if I already have a headache?” Bruce asked.

“Bruce, go fix it. This is your fault anyway!” Angela yelled out, stomping her foot.

“How do ya figure that?” Bruce growled.

“You got mad at Jake and it went downhill from there,” she answered.

“So because the earth is round and the sky is blue it’s my fault the kids are fighting?” Bruce said, looking at her as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Cross your arms all you want, I’m not scared of you,” Angela snapped.

Stephanie grabbed Angela’s shoulders and pulled her back, then stepped in front of her and looked at Bruce. “Bruce, Angela is just saying the kids don’t need to be fighting out here in the middle of a mission. It could get them hurt.”

Bruce sighed and walked out of the trailer. When he left, Stephanie turned to Angela. “Are you fucking crazy? Don’t try to piss him off, he has enough to worry about,” she snapped.

“What, he won’t hurt me!” Angela popped off.

“I know that dumbass!” Stephanie shouted.

“Who are you calling a dumbass?” Angela shouted and stood up her full four foot ten inches.

“You!” Stephanie shouted. “We came up here because Bruce was starting to do stupid shit because it made us mad. What the fuck do you think he’s going to do if he gets mad at us?”

Angela’s mouth fell open as shock spread over her face. “Oh shit,” she said.

“Yeah, oh shit,” Stephanie told her. Angela spun around and took off running with Stephanie hot on her heels.

When Bruce climbed out of the truck he headed to First Platoon. He saw Jake on top of one RG working on something and Matt on another, working away. Bruce could see Mary, Mindy, David, Danny, and Buffy. The only ones together were Danny and Buffy. Bruce walked over to the RG and saw that Jake was putting something on the top. As he got closer Bruce realized they were speakers, or more appropriately, megaphone speakers.

Reaching the RG, Bruce looked up at Jake. “Did you put in the fax machine?” he asked.

“Yeah!” Jake popped back.

Bruce let it slide as he asked, “What are the speakers for?”

“What do you think they’re for?” Jake snapped.

Those closest would swear Bruce floated to the top of the RG, nine and a half feet off the ground. Jake saw his dad come at him and knew he had screwed up big time. Bruce grabbed him by the vest and lifted Jake up over his head. Bruce looked at him as he screamed, “Who the fuck do you think you are talking to boy! I will kill you and make another one just like ya! I’m your father and can kick your ass all day long with both legs broke, an egg beater shoved up my ass with a crazy monkey on the crank wheel!” Bruce sat Jake back down on the roof of the RG and yelled, “Get your ass on the ground before I throw you down there!”

Jake turned and jumped off, landing on his feet. He turned, expecting to see Bruce climb down but Bruce had already jumped off and continued to scream at him. Danny came running over to Bruce. “Daddy!” she yelled as Bruce grabbed her by the front of her vest. With one arm Bruce lifted her off her feet.

“I’m not some little punk, girl. You yell at me again I will put my foot so far up your ass the water on my knee will quench your thirst!” Bruce screamed out. Danny, like Jake, knew they had screwed up big time. Bruce put Danny back down on her feet as he bellowed out, “Matt, Mary, Mindy, David, and Buffy, get your ass over here now before I find you and break your legs slowly!” The five ran over to stand in front of Bruce as Angela came running over and Stephanie grabbed her arm.

“Debbie said mammas don’t interfere when Daddy punishes unless he goes too far,” Stephanie told her. Angela just looked at her, then turned back to the kids. The kids looked up at Bruce and saw a vein standing out on his forehead. Seeing that, they all just prayed when he hit them they would die immediately. Bruce turned around and for the first time noticed several people working in the wheel well of his RG. Walking over, Bruce saw a red car door jammed in it.

“What the fuck is a door doing there!” Bruce yelled out. He looked around but nobody would answer. He spun around and looked at Jake. “You want to pop off at me? That means you don’t respect me as your father. Well when I kick your ass you will respect me as your better!” Bruce screamed.

“Daddy Bruce—” Matt started to say.

“Did I tell anyone to talk? No! Get down on your face!” Bruce yelled at Matt. Matt dropped down into a pushup. Bruce looked at the other kids. “What the fuck are you waiting on? If I put you down it will be because you are knocked out!” he yelled and all of them dropped down like they had been shot. “Don’t just stay there, start knocking them out!” Bruce yelled as the kids started knocking out pushups.

Turning around, Bruce saw the rest of Omega looking on. “Did I tell anyone they could watch? Everyone here get down and start knocking out pushups!” he yelled. Even the snipers that were covering the area dropped down. They covered their areas but they still did pushups. The only two not down were Little Foot and Little Red as Bruce yelled at everyone for ten minutes. When he was finished, he told everyone to get up. Turning around, Bruce headed for the RV and everyone cleared out of his way.

When Bruce was inside Willie ran over to Jake. “What the hell did you do to piss him off like that?” he demanded.

“I disrespected him,” Jake said, looking down.

“I’m not telling you your business but you need to amend that fast,” Willie told him.

“We all disrespected him,” Danny said.

“Well it seems all of you have some fences to mend,” Willie said as the kids headed to the RV.

Willie walked over to Angela and Stephanie. “Think they heard that back at the base two hundred miles away,” he told them.

Bruce was sitting down at the table, rubbing his temples. Jake walked over. “Dad, I’m sorry,” he said with tears in his eyes. Then each one followed him over, apologizing. Bruce looked up at them.

“Kids, I’m sorry I lost my temper. Let’s forget about it, okay?” Bruce told them as he stood up. “Get ready to move out,” he said after he hugged each one. They left the RV and Bruce walked over to Angela, Stephanie and Willie. “I want to move in ten minutes,” Bruce told Willie.

“Okay, but Mike will be here in a few minutes,” Willie told him.

“You let me sleep long enough that Gamma is going to catch up with us?” Bruce asked in a cold voice.

“Bruce, you said to wake you at 1500. You never once said if Gamma gets close wake me up,” Willie said.

Angela stepped up in front of Bruce. “It’s my fault I wouldn’t let him baby. You looked tired,” she told him.

“Little Foot—” Bruce started to say, then just let out a breath. “It’s so not worth it,” he said, heading to his RG.

“Everyone, we are leaving in nine minutes, get in your rides,” Willie called out over the radio.

Carl snapped back, “Look around you butthead! We heard him and everyone is loaded up. Only you three are left.” The three looked around and sure enough Omega was loaded up. They ran for their trucks and climbed in.

Angela and Stephanie put on their CVC and looked up at Bruce in the cupola. Angela squeezed in beside him and looked up as the RG rolled out. “I’m sorry I made you mad, Bruce,” she told him.

Bruce didn’t look down as he replied, “Little Foot, you and Little Red can piss me off like pushing a button. Only one other person had that kind of power. Except when she did it she would throw punches at me.” Bruce sat up on the roof as the convoy rolled down the road. “Come on Little Red,” Bruce told Stephanie and she joined them in the cupola.

“If it will make you feel better, Bruce, I’ll throw punches and kicks at you,” Stephanie offered.

“I can fall down and bite your ankles,” Angela chimed in.

Bruce laughed as he looked at them. “No that’s okay, and Stephanie, thank you for not jumping in back there,” he said.

“Uh baby, actually she stopped me from jumping in,” Angela admitted. Bruce kissed both of them as Willie called over the radio.

“Where are we going, Boss?” he asked.

“Head to the Air Force Base and lets help Gamma clear it,” Bruce replied. Angela and Stephanie laid their heads on Bruce. They could see signs of Buffy’s rampage as they drove on. When they drove by a trailer park they saw where she’d driven through a trailer.

“Buffy, don’t ever ask to borrow my car,” Angela said over the intercom.

“I got ‘em though,” Buffy said.

“I hope so Buffy,” Stephanie said, then saw a small car with a tire track down the middle. “Buffy, why did you drive over that car?” she asked.

“A blue crawled under it,” Buffy replied. Looking closer, Stephanie saw a blue arm sticking out from under the car.

“There is no escaping you, is there?” Stephanie asked her.

“Stephanie, you should’ve seen it. One blue climbed a tree and Buffy kept ramming the tree until it fell over, knocking the blue out. Then she chased him down and flattened him,” Danny told her.

“You knocked over a tree with our truck!” Bruce exclaimed.

“It was a little tree, Dad. If I remember correctly you cut down a huge tree just to get out a squirrel that Danny had shot,” Jake informed him.

“I gave that squirrel every chance to come out peacefully,” Bruce responded.

“Dad, we ran out of bullets shooting the squirrel’s corpse trying to get it out of the tree,” Jake replied, making everyone laugh.

“Well you wouldn’t climb the tree,” Bruce shot back, laughing.

“It was ten feet around,” Jake answered.

“I was going to throw you up to the first tree limb,” Bruce reminded him.

“Dad, it was twenty feet off the ground!” Jake clarified.

By the time they reached the air field the tension was gone and all of Omega was laughing about Danny’s squirrel. They saw a few blues but they were mostly walkers and they were quickly put down. Bruce climbed out with Angela and Stephanie beside him. Max stuck his head out, waiting to see if the yelling was going to start again. When it didn’t, Max jumped down and walked over to Bruce.

Looking around at all the C-130s, Bruce smiled. “Let’s clear the hangers until Gamma gets here. Fourth Platoon, you have east and south security. Third, you have west and north security,” Bruce called out as he headed to the hangers. An hour later they were done as Mike rolled up with Gamma.

Mike climbed out and Mary ran over and hugged him, then he walked over to Bruce. “Bruce, why was your entire Omega team doing pushups with blues still around?” Mike asked.

Bruce was fixing to tell Mike why in great detail but Stephanie put her hand over his mouth. “It’s a secret Mike, and we can’t tell you. I’m sorry, it’s an Omega secret and you’re with Gamma.”

Mike looked at Stephanie like she was insane. “Is she serious?” he asked.

“Yes Mike, she is,” Angela told him.

Mike looked at Bruce and Bruce nodded his head. “I’m sorry Mike, it’s our trade secret.”

“Whatever,” Mike said, throwing his hands up in the air.

“Mike, we have the hangers cleared so the crews can load those tonight and move to the rest of the base,” Bruce told him.

Mike held up his hand. “Bruce, you command Omega. I command Gamma, so go command somewhere else.”

“Fine, we will see you in Fort Smith in two days,” Bruce said, hugging Mike.

“What if we empty the base sooner than that?” Mike asked.

“Mike, we will leave a lot behind; there is no way,” Bruce told him as the rest of the family gathered around and hugged Mike.

“We’ll see,” Mike said.

“We are stopping by the National Guard post before rolling on Fort Smith,” Bruce told him.

“See ya soon,” Mike said, winking at Bruce.

When Omega pulled off, Bruce announced over the radio, “Mike has something planned.”

“Yeah, but I’m not in the mood to figure out what it is,” Willie replied.

Omega drove on and halfway to Fort Smith they pulled off the highway and headed to a National Guard Armory. Thirty minutes later they pulled through the gate and drove through the base. There were no military vehicles to be seen. Several buildings had holes knocked in them. Bruce stopped the convoy and looked around.

“Dad, this base has been stripped,” Jake told him.

“No kidding, I see that. RV, do you see anything around us?” he asked.

“We have contact with blues one mile away but closing. Close to a hundred,” the RV radio operator replied.

“Willie, pull Third Platoon up and take them out,” Bruce said. “RV, do you see any humans around?” Bruce asked.

“Negative, none close, but we have seen small groups since we’ve been in Arkansas. I have called out their position and Mission Control has seen most of them. None appear to be gangs,” the operator replied as Third opened up on the blues.

In ten seconds the blues were gone and Willie came over the air. “Boss, the military did not take this. If they had, they wouldn’t have knocked holes in the walls of the armories.”

“I know Willie, remember, I’ve stripped a few bases. Some of the equipment was gone but that was what was being used by the troops. Hell, there’s nothing here,” Bruce replied. “Well, it’s not going to come back for us so let’s go.”

The convoy headed back to Interstate 40 and Fort Smith. The convoy drove for another hour until Bruce came over the radio. “Alright, we are fifteen miles out. We are heading to the airport. First Platoon has west side, Second north, Third east and Fourth south. Circle the wagons and kill everything.”

“Boss, not to seem like a killjoy here but we just wiped out a million. Estimates here are fifty thousand. I mean, it’s barely worth the effort,” Ted called back.

“Well try to stay awake, Ted. If you need to I’ll send Buffy and Herman over to keep you awake,” Bruce offered.

“Hell no! I’ll be just fine,” Ted answered quickly.

Bruce laughed as they rolled into town. Blues started running at them and Bruce ordered his driver to slow down before the first ones reached them. Willie called out over the radio. “Hey Boss, why are we slowing down? The airport is still ten miles away,” he asked.

“Making sure Ted stays awake,” Bruce answered as he opened up with the M-2.

“Ted, when we stop I’m so kicking your ass!” Willie yelled over the radio.

“Hey this is worse, it’s like my grandmother driving. We’re only doing twenty miles per hour,” Ted called back.

Everyone behind Bruce opened up as the blues charged. It wasn’t in big numbers but it was enough to get their attention. The blues were not in large groups so shots had to be taken slowly. Bruce could not just run the M-2 back and forth. He had to use the sight, sending out bursts to take out groups of two’s and three’s.

It was 1920 when they pulled into the airport, driving slowly to the runways. Second and Third Platoon had pulled to each side of the convoy to surround the supply trucks. When they reached the end of the runway, Omega formed a circle with the supply trucks in the middle. The blues came at them still but never in the waves like they had faced before. Bruce told the platoon leaders to bed down half of each platoon. By 2200 they were shooting walkers.

“Boss, I hate to admit it but Ted was right, this is really boring,” Willie said over the radio.

“Willie, catch some sleep. I’ll keep watch. We’ll pull over and clear the hangers at 0300,” Bruce told him. Bruce joined in the sniping game since Matt and Jake were asleep. By midnight there was nothing coming. Bruce called the mortar teams to fire up some flares but that only brought in another few hundred. From 0200 till 0300 they didn’t see anything. Bruce could see the A-10s on the far side of the airport and several times had to fight the urge to run over to them.

At 0300 everyone woke up and Omega headed to the hangers. They pulled up to the line of Warthogs and Second Platoon headed to the hangers but didn’t find anything. Pissed off that he couldn’t fly one, Bruce called everyone around. “Let’s eat. Keep one squad up. Platoon leaders and support leaders, meet with me!” Bruce yelled out. As dawn broke they ate in peace except for the occasional blue.

At 0700 the leaders gathered around Bruce. “Now, here is our next order of action. We are going to Missouri and hitting Kansas City,” Bruce told them. Everyone just stared at him, expecting him to say he was joking.

“Ah Bruce, I know we aren’t part of the team but what do you want there?” Angela asked.

“The biggest ammo plant the Army operates and the second largest ammo storage area,” Bruce answered.

“So you want more bullets?” Angela asked.

“Well kind of, from there we are going to Kansas to empty out Fort Riley,” Bruce answered.

“Bruce, that is a real long way from home and there are moving hordes. One is three hundred miles away to the east; another is only two hundred miles to the north,” Stephanie told him.

“Well it’s easier to kill them now. We’re here,” Bruce answered.

“How many can we expect in the city?” Willie asked.

“I’m thinking about a mill and a half,” Bruce answered.

“How big are the moving hordes?” This question from Ted.

“The one to the east, around five million. The one to the north is three million,” Stephanie said.

“So we might get raped by ten million. I don’t want to sound like a pussy but don’t you think that’s a little much?” Ted asked, a worried expression on his face.

“Sounds cool to me, I’m game,” Carl said. Everyone but Bruce looked at him.

“You takin’ drugs, dude? Because if you are, I want some,” Ted told him.

Carl looked around at everyone, grinning. “Anyone got something better to do?” he asked.

“Well I was going to rearrange my sock drawer when we got back but that can wait,” Ted answered.

“Willie, there’s a bulldozer on a flatbed trailer on the east fence. Get a crew and bring it with us,” Bruce told him.

“No problem Boss. The plow driver cried for an hour after you used his truck as a battering ram,” Willie said. “Bruce, how about ammo, we almost emptied one truck.”

“We’re going to take two of Gamma’s trucks. I’ve already called for a resupply,” Bruce said as his radio went off.

“Hey, this is Big Daddy Two. Gamma is coming in so don’t shoot at us,” Mike called over the radio.

“I thought you were going to empty the base before you left?” Bruce asked over the radio.

“It’s done,” Mike replied. A thousand questions flooded Bruce’s mind along with some not so nice words. Off in the distance he could hear the line of trucks coming.

“Damn, that’s not cool. We can be heard that far off,” David said as if reading Bruce’s mind.

Gamma pulled onto the runway followed by a line of semis that stretched well past the gates. The trucks started pulling up to one of the taxi runways and parking as Gamma headed over to Omega. When Gamma stopped, Bruce noticed several trucks moving along the runway and moving bodies off of it. Mike walked over, “Not many around here, are there brother,” he stated.

“No, I think they left on vacation. Why are you clearing the runway?” Bruce asked.

“You’ll see in a few minutes. They’re inbound now,” Mike replied, grinning and looking back to the southeast.

Bruce turned around and could see a line of dots coming at them. As the dots became bigger he could see they were planes, then he noticed they were C-130s. Looking down the line he counted eighteen coming in. “You had that many pilots trained and didn’t tell me!” Bruce shouted.

“No, we only had two and they flew the C130 while they were in the service. They were going to train others,” Mike told him.

“Then who is flying those?” Bruce demanded.

“We found a large group of people outside of Pine Bluff. Most were from the Air Force Base, and included a lot of pilots and ground crew,” Mike answered, grinning wider.

“That’s need-to-know information!” Bruce yelled at him.

“No, that was a Gamma secret,” Mike shot back.

Bruce just looked at Mike expressionlessly as Mike grinned at him. “I’m taking two of your ammo trucks,” Bruce told him.

“What? Why?” Mike responded back, the grin falling off his face.

“Secret,” Bruce told him.

“Well you can’t have them then,” Mike responded.

“Fine,” Bruce said, then looked around at Omega. “Omega, when you run out of ammo we go to hand-to-hand. Fight in twos!” Bruce yelled as Mike grabbed his arm.

“Where the hell are you going?” Mike asked.

“Kansas City,” Bruce responded.

Mike took a step back. “Bruce, that’s an awful big city and there are at least two moving hordes nearby,” he informed him.

“That’s why I want your ammo trucks,” Bruce said.

Mike lowered his head. “Can’t that wait until it gets colder?”

“No Mike, it can’t. We came across a National Guard Armory last night and it was stripped bare. I mean there was nothing,” Bruce told him.

“Yeah, we found the same thing at another National Guard station and several police stations in the smaller towns,” Mike admitted.

“That’s why we’re moving now,” Bruce told him.

“May I ask how you are going to do it?” Mike inquired.

“The downtown airport is on a peninsula. We are going to form a line with the river to our back and sides, then kill everything that we see. Killing is our business,” Bruce said.

“And business is good!” Omega’s command group yelled back.

“Go ahead Bruce, what do you want Gamma to do?” Mike asked, knowing that talking Bruce out of it was not an option.

“Get resupplied and empty the area. Wait here and if we get in deep shit use this airport as a resupply station. If we get in real deep shit we may need you to open up a line of travel to get us out,” Bruce answered.

“One of these days you’re going to bite off more than you can chew,” Mike told him.

“Maybe, but not today,” Bruce answered as he hugged Mike and jumped in his RG.

Omega pulled out with two of Gamma’s ammo trucks joining them and the almost empty staying with Gamma. Reaching the interstate, Omega headed back into Arkansas then up to Missouri. Bruce told his driver the route he wanted to take right to the airport. For two hours he made the driver repeat it back to him. Satisfied the driver wouldn’t take a wrong turn, Bruce keyed his radio. “Listen up Omega, when we roll in, don’t fire any weapon that doesn’t have a suppressor until we reach the airport. I would prefer if we didn’t fire at all but use your discretion. The blues are thicker here and could bog us down easily. RV, what is the latest on the hordes?” Bruce asked.

“The horde to the north is now northwest two hundred and thirty miles away. The horde to the east has split with about two million barely a hundred and fifty miles away,” the operator called back.

“Okay boys, that one is going to hit us. Remember to rotate your rifles and supply, break out the spares for each platoon. Keep your cool and remember, this is our job. We can’t lead the hordes here like we could at home. With swamps on both sides of a lot of I-10 they had to stay on the road. This is how we will have to fight them now. Mark an area as ours and let them come. Every member here has to perform at top form or we will get overrun,” Bruce announced over the radio.

“Hey Bruce, if we do good here can we go play putt-putt?” Ted asked.

“Ted, I’m really worried about you, son,” Bruce called back.

“I’m just thinking Boss, and there is a cool course here,” Ted called back.

“Ted, we’re kind of busy but the next time we are here we will stop and play,” Bruce answered.

“Oh Bruce, that’s not fair,” Ted whined.

The convoy rolled along with blues charging them at every small town. They would slow and wipe them out then continue on. When the convoy stopped to refuel, Angela and Stephanie went and recorded their news broadcast, then loaded back up as Omega pulled out. When Bruce could see Kansas City he announced, “This is it, game time, stay close together. I really don’t want to have to go and look for anyone.”

“Dad, if my driver was any closer to your truck, I could wipe your ass,” Jake said over the radio.

Bruce turned around and Second Squad’s truck was really close, Bruce could not even see the driver he was so close. “Ah son, your driver has his hand up my ass. Get him to back up just a little please?” Bruce asked.

“Copy Dad,” Jake called back and Second Squad’s truck fell back some.

“Watch your spacing and let’s do this!” Bruce yelled out as Omega rolled into the city. At first there were not many blues but that changed real fast. Five miles into the city the trucks were plowing through the masses. When Omega reached the river the blues thinned down some as Bruce’s driver pulled off the highway. Bruce looked behind them and saw a mass of infected after them.

Pulling down the ramp and into downtown, the blues started getting too thick for the speed they were traveling. The roads here were too narrow and the turns had to be taken slow so the trucks wouldn’t turn over. “Omega, engage with everything you have, they are bogging us down!” Bruce yelled over the radio.

A wall of gunfire poured out from the convoy, pushing the bodies back as the convoy continued on. Bruce swung the M-2 back and forth, opening a gap as the driver pulled up to the service entrance of the airport. Running over the gate, Bruce saw only a few blues inside the fence but knew that was not going to last. “Floor it to our rally point. Buy us some time to set up!” Bruce screamed over the radio.

The RG lurched forward as the engine opened up. The few blues inside the airport fence were quickly cut down as the team headed toward the end of the runway next to the river. When the driver was a hundred yards from the river he slowed down and turned the truck broadside. The passenger side was now facing the airport as everyone in the back set up on that side of the roof. The rest of First and Second Platoon formed a line together as the supply trucks pulled through the line they were forming. Bruce dropped in a new box of ammo in the heavy machine gun and looked up.

He was expecting a wall of blues heading toward them but didn’t see but a few, and those were cut down quickly. “Where did they go?” Bruce asked over the radio.

“Carl pulled a blocking action at the gate, Boss,” Willie told him.

Bruce lifted his CVC off his ears and could hear a lot of shooting at the gate. Putting his CVC back on, he keyed his radio. “Carl, get your ass over here now!” he yelled.

“One of these blue bitches had a swastika tattooed on his chest. I mean what the fuck? I have to deal with blue skin heads now!” Carl yelled back with tremendous amounts of gunfire in the background.

“Carl, if I come up there to get you and have to drag your ass back, I’ll make the skin head blush with the ass beating I put on you!” Bruce yelled.

“You can’t, I blew him up. We’re breaking contact now and let me tell you these motherfuckers are pissed off. They just knocked down a three-hundred-foot section of fence. I saw a blue kid running on the heads of the crowd outside the gate and he jumped over the fence. That little bitch could move, Boss!” Carl yelled back.

“Damn it, quit playing with the local kids and move your ass!” Bruce yelled as he saw the RG turn onto the runway over a mile away, speeding toward the line Omega had formed. Behind Carl’s truck was a mass of blues trying to get the truck but it was slowly pulling away. “Carl, can’t you go any faster!” Bruce yelled.

“We are floored and I have two people out pushing, this is as fast as we can go!” Carl yelled back.

“You have pussies in Fourth Platoon. Any two of my people could push my RG to at least eighty,” Ted told Carl.

“Back off boy, the only reason they got out to push was I told them if they didn’t they had to babysit Buffy,” Carl announced. Carl’s RG was halfway to the line and had opened up a two-hundred-yard gap between the blues.

When Carl was four hundred yards away Bruce yelled out, “Give them cover and fire at will!”

Two hundred weapons opened up along with two Strykers and two LAVs. The wall of blues behind Carl’s RG just melted with the impact of lead. Behind Bruce the two mortar-carrying Strykers opened up, dropping rounds three hundred yards away. Carl’s RG reached the line and turned broadside, closing the line, and then it joined the killing. The mass of bodies coming at them reminded Bruce of an amoeba as it crept closer in surges then was pushed back only to surge ahead again. “I don’t think this was such a good idea,” Bruce said out loud, not realizing his intercom with the vehicle was on.

“You just now figured that out!” Stephanie shouted back at him.

Bruce opened up with the M-2, cutting down rows at a time but they were just replaced as the bodies started piling up. The horde pushed in to seventy yards but Omega held the line. Changing ammo boxes, Bruce looked in the back and saw Buffy on a SAW swinging the belt-fed weapon from side to side. Watching her, Bruce realized she was shooting the horde in the legs. Looking back at the M-2, Bruce saw the barrel smoking. Cursing, he reached over, putting on a mitt and replacing the barrel. “Buffy, get on the M-2,” Bruce called to her over the intercom. Buffy bounced over as Bruce climbed out and stood up on the roof of the RG.

Omega had formed an arched line beginning and ending at the water’s edge on a peninsula, with the RGs almost bumper to bumper. The line was just over a hundred yards long with the supply group on the peninsula. Looking behind the line, Bruce could see the supply group bringing up ammo and taking back empty magazines. Turning back to the horde, Bruce couldn’t see the ground in the airport. The blues were densely packed as far as he could see. “Yep, not my greatest plan,” Bruce said out loud.

Bruce walked across the tops of the RGs, giving encouragement and telling the supply group where ammo was needed most. Walking over to Willie’s RG, Bruce found him in his cupola firing a mini-gun. Every other RG in the attack was armed with an M-2, a mini-gun, or an MK-19 automatic grenade launcher. The tracer fire coming out of the mini looked like a water hose of steaming red. The wall of bodies melted with the impact with body parts flying through the air.

Bruce heard a pop to his right and saw Jake standing up with an AT4 rocket launcher, shooting it into the crowd. When the round impacted Bruce saw bodies go spinning through the air. Walking down the line, he noticed Carl getting out of his RG and standing on the roof. Carl reached down and pulled up a bag. Reaching in, he pulled out a grenade and yanked the pin out. Before Bruce could question the wisdom of that choice, Carl let it fly.

Watching the small sphere sail through the air, Bruce was amazed at the distance Carl had gotten. Just as the grenade fell into the mass of charging bodies it detonated. Bruce watched a twenty-foot circle of blues just drop, only to be replaced by more bodies. Turning to tell Carl ‘good throw,’ he saw Carl throw another one. This time Bruce counted and the grenade had a four-second hang time as it dropped in the horde, blowing another circle. Looking at the site, Bruce guessed Carl was throwing grenades eighty yards, which was further than some people back at the farm could shoot.

He walked over as Carl sent another one sailing; before it hit the ground he threw another one. “Hey, you throw those much further and you’ll scare them away!” Bruce yelled. Carl just stopped as he was fixing to pull another pin.

“If they leave, we win by default,” Carl replied.

“Good point, just don’t let one go close,” Bruce said.

Carl just grinned as he pulled the pin and sent it sailing. Bruce walked back down the line then returned to his RG. “Big Daddy One, this is RV, do you copy,” the operator called over the radio.

“Go ahead RV,” Bruce called out, raising up his rifle and joined in the killing.

“We have the horde to the east bearing down on us. Numbers are still at two million, and across the countryside the blues are pouring in from a fifty-mile radius. Mission Control is putting the totals of everything coming and what’s already here at five, up to six million,” he called out.

“I copy. Tell the supply group to break out the spare weapons and put them in the RGs of each squad,” Bruce replied as he turned around. People were running everywhere inside the pocket. Then Bruce noticed four men working on the bulldozer they had just picked up. “RV, why are there people working on the bulldozer when we have a lot of pissed-off infected to our front?” Bruce asked.

“It won’t start, and when Cook saw the numbers coming at us he told someone to fix it in case we have to leave fast,” he called back.

“You mean Willie picked up a broken bulldozer with all the ones in the world to choose from?” Bruce asked.

Willie came on then, “You said make sure the truck worked, you never said anything about the ‘dozer,” he told Bruce.

“Willie, we have to talk soon. RV, don’t let too many people get tied up fixing that. If it gets much more interesting some of y’all will be getting on the line,” Bruce said.

“Copy that,” RV replied.

Turning around, Bruce dropped down inside and grabbed another rifle. Looking up, he noticed Stephanie shaking as she changed magazines. When she raised her rifle up Bruce saw her whole body was trembling. Bruce walked over and put his hand on her shoulder and she almost took his head off with the butt of her rifle. “Calm down Stephanie,” Bruce told her.

“Have you looked out there? This is bigger than the group that hit us at the farm, and more are coming!” Stephanie screamed at him.

Bruce could see the fear on her face but he could also see the rage in her eyes. Grabbing the front of her vest, Bruce knew how to get the rage out as he slammed her into the side of the RG. “That is fear and it makes you weak. They want to kill us. Those blues want to rip me and this group apart, making us scream with agony and you’re scared! Stop being a pussy and feel the anger inside you!” Bruce yelled at her. Anger spread across her face as she looked at him.

“That’s it, but not at me. Feel it, that’s the rage coming. Don’t hate them, just kill them, ride it Stephanie!” Bruce screamed. Stephanie began to tremble as the anger built in her, then she started to study this new sensation in her mind. “Stop that shit, don’t think, just let it out! Feel the tingling in your spine and let it move out to your body. They want to hurt us all and you want to think! If you don’t jump on the damn wave now I swear I’m going out there with my fucking sword!” Bruce bellowed in her face with his nose touching hers.

Stephanie pushed him back, her face wiped clean of emotion. “Back off! I have this!” she yelled and spun around and brought up her rifle. Stephanie squeezed the trigger in rapid succession with Bruce standing behind her watching. Thirty blues dropped in the mass eighty yards away as she dropped the empty and had another one in place before the mag hit the floor. Smiling, Bruce watched her fire into the horde as steady as a rock.

Angela had heard the exchange and closed her eyes, following what Bruce said. A calm spread over her; her body felt like it was going to explode as she pushed her fear aside. When she opened her eyes there was a small grin on her face but it was false. Angela felt no emotion as she joined Stephanie on the wave.

Many more joined the two on the wave as the horde just kept coming. By nightfall the bodies in front of the trucks were piled four feet high but the line of advance for the blues was pushed back to a hundred and fifty yards. “Cook, bring one plate of food to each truck and one person eats at a time. This is going to take us awhile,” Bruce called out.

Before midnight the mortars started throwing up illumination rounds, and Willie caught his breath looking out over the sea of bodies. The pile was six feet deep now across the entire line and over a hundred yards back before it started to slope down, but even there the pile continued for another two hundred yards. It was not quite six feet deep, yet. And still the infected were coming. It was over a mile to the airport buildings and in many places he could see for two miles and everywhere blues were pushing towards them. “Damn, I should give them back the teddy bear,” Willie said as he walked around Third and Fourth Platoon.

The UAVs overhead were showing Mission Control and Gamma what Omega was facing. They all just watched in morbid fascination. The infected were so close together they just pressed forward. Then as they neared the kill area they charged and were cut down, contributing to the pile. Nancy called Mike over the radio at 0300 as the horde still attacked. “Mike, can’t we do something?” she asked.

“Nancy, we can’t even pull them out by air. If they let up any they will be overrun,” Mike told her.

“Are they going to make, it baby?” Nancy asked.

Mike almost said he was surprised they had made it this long but didn’t. “Baby, they are holding their own and with the ammo trucks from me they have a full load. With the rate they are killing the infected they should be done by tomorrow. Keep the UAVs overhead and warn them about any other groups. If you see another large group heading to them, shoot some Hellfires into them. It may not kill a lot but it will slow a bunch down,” Mike told her. Nancy took that as ‘start a rain of Hellfires.’

It was 0332 when the first one hit at the airport, striking a fuel truck a mile away. For a split second everything stopped at the sound of the explosion. The infected stopped moving and roaring as Omega stopped firing. Bruce watched the concussion wave ripple across the advancing horde and a mushroom cloud rose up in the air. “Jake, what the fuck did you do?” Bruce yelled into his radio.

“Nothing, I swear Dad,” Jake answered back as Omega opened back up.

“Who popped a baby nuke?” Bruce yelled over the radio as he saw a streak cross the sky, heading to the airport buildings. The rocket impacted on the other side but this explosion was even bigger than the last one and leveled the small terminal. Bruce keyed his radio, “Damn it Mission Control, tell me before you start popping off Hellfires!” Bruce screamed.

“Kiss my ass Bruce, the babies are in that pocket surrounded by blues!” Nancy screamed at him. Wisely Bruce kept his mouth shut.

The rain of Hellfires continued until Mike told Nancy to stop at dawn. They could now see the end of the horde attacking Omega. It was five miles away. Bruce tried to start a sleep rotation with Omega but the blues advanced sixty yards with the loss of firepower. Not only did he have to wake them up, he had to throw thirty of the supply staff on the line. Angela and Stephanie were now using their long range sniper rifles and were racking up kills to rival any sniper, except for Jake and Matt.

At 1620 that afternoon the steady rate of fire suddenly stopped. Bruce looked up from grabbing another rifle expecting the worst, a wall of pissed off infected coming at them, but there was only a mass of dead. There were walkers still scrambling over the pile of bodies and wounded in the pile but not a wall coming at them. The pile started fifty feet from the line of trucks and was six feet tall. By the time you reached the hundred yard mark it was ten feet tall. Then it tapered down to six feet at two hundred yards. The pile ended five hundred yards away but even past that, bodies still covered the ground.

“Omega report,” Bruce called out. Each platoon sounded off with no casualties and then the RV operator came on.

“No casualties among supply but we are down to four hundred thousand rounds for 5.56, ten thousand of 50 cal, thirty thousand of 7.62, a thousand 40mm grenades, out of 25mm, less than twenty mortar rounds, and no hand grenades,” he called back.

“Dude, you better be fucking kidding me! That’s over sixty million rounds!” Bruce yelled back.

“No sir, that is what’s left in the supply trucks. We don’t know what’s on the line,” the operator called back.

Bruce looked down inside the RG and brass casings were two to three foot deep on the floor. “Whoa,” he said and looked along the line. Piles of brass casings, some four feet tall, surrounded the RGs. “My bad, RV, I see that you didn’t go and pawn them,” Bruce called out. “Fuck me hard core,” he said, looking at the field in front of him as the battle started registering with numbers in his head.

“Boss, I want Carl grounded,” Ted called out.

“It better be good,” Bruce answered.

“He ran over to my truck and took all my grenades last night,” Ted whined.

“Hey, you weren’t using ‘em,” Carl chimed in.

“I was saving them,” Ted informed him.

“Ted, he really was using them but Carl, you owe Ted an apology and at least one kiss to make up,” Bruce told him.

“Ah, that’s okay Boss, we’re good,” Ted replied.

“Oh yeah, where are you hiding, little white boy?” Carl called out.

“Second Platoon, protect your leader,” Ted called out.

“Second Platoon stand down. I gave Carl an order. If you interfere, you deal with me,” Bruce called over the radio.

“That is totally not fair. I’m on base so he can’t touch me,” Ted called back.

“Carl has two hexes and bases don’t count for him,” Jake called out.

“Well I have my magic hat and he can’t come near me,” Ted called the challenge.

“I gave Carl, Herman, and Herman cuts magic hats,” Buffy informed him.

“Damn it, nobody loves me!” Ted screamed.

“I do big boy, where are you at?” Carl yelled, running across the tops of the trucks.

“Carl, I’m not playing, don’t you kiss me. I have no desire to swap spit with you,” Ted warned.

Stephanie looked up at Bruce as Ted jumped out of his RG and took off running from Carl. “Bruce, I’m real shocked at you,” Stephanie said and Bruce jumped back in shock. “Ted is not allowing Carl to carry out your orders. I really thought you were tougher than that, letting your troops get away with that. Well when we get home I will sew you a dress to let them know you’re just a little girl,” Stephanie told him.

“Hey, wait a damn minute here, woman,” Bruce snapped.

“Oh I’m sorry, did you say something?” Stephanie asked.

“First and Second Squad follow me, a mutiny is at hand!” Bruce yelled out. They climbed off the RG and ran at Ted who was doing a good job of keeping away from Carl. When Ted noticed Bruce and his crew heading for him, he screamed like a little girl. Bruce tackled him as everyone held him down. “Lick his face, make it good and slobbery. I want him to know we love him!” Bruce yelled out as Ted screamed again.

For fifteen minutes they held him down, licking his face, and when they let him up Ted stomped his foot. “What the hell am I going to tell my girlfriend at home now? I just had a dozen men and women lick my face, one a twelve-year-old-girl, and Bruce. My ear is full of spit!” Ted yelled.

“We love you,” Bruce told him. Ted just turned and walked away, mumbling.

When Bruce reached the RG both Angela and Stephanie were sitting on the floor in the pile of brass. Bruce smiled at them and they returned it as he grabbed sleeping rolls. Closing the roof hatches, he then climbed onto the roof where he laid out the rolls. When he went back inside the crew area of the RG, Angela and Stephanie were sound asleep. Chuckling, Bruce moved to get them and noticed Buffy on the floor. Well, only half of her, because the other half was buried in empty shell casings. Grabbing Buffy, he stepped out the back door of the RG onto the hood of Second Squad’s RG behind them, then turned around and climbed up to the roof. Laying Buffy down, he repeated the process with Angela and Stephanie.

Then Bruce started cleaning out the RG, filling bags with empty shell casings. Halfway through he dropped out another bag of brass and found Cook holding a plate and glass. “Cook, I swear if you start bringing me food and not letting me get my own, we will have a problem,” Bruce told him.

“Nah Bruce, just wanted to see ya eat and let you know I told base we needed bullets,” Cook told him.

“That’s good,” Bruce replied, looking around. He could see about twenty on the line with an occasional shot ringing out. Looking at the roof of his RG he saw Danny, Mary, Mindy, and Matt asleep on the roof. Jake was cleaning out Second Squad’s RG. Turning back to Cook, Bruce confessed, “I was worried there for a minute that we were going to get overrun.”

“We weren’t. Granted, that many blues scared the shit out of everyone. But with you in charge the team doesn’t really fear much,” Cook told him as the supply team started cranking up the portable lights.

“Cook, help Willie and I to keep at least one person on each rig awake tonight,” Bruce asked him.

“Already doing that Bruce. If you need me, call me,” Cook said, walking off.

“That man is really weird,” Bruce said and continued cleaning out the RG. With that task complete he started on weapons. At 2200 Bruce woke Matt up to relieve Jake and Danny to relieve him. Bruce went to the RV and showered, then headed back. As he reached the RG, he could see Danny and Matt sitting on the roof of Second Squad’s RG, cleaning weapons. Bruce smiled and climbed inside the crew area and laid down. Sleep overtook him in seconds.

Bruce woke several hours later to find Angela and Stephanie coming into the crew area. They lay down beside him and started rubbing his chest. Then Angela kissed his cheek. “Guys, we are in the field, no hanky-panky,” Bruce told them. Undeterred, the two kept on. “Come on you two, we are in a war zone,” Bruce whined.

“You whine like a bitch,” Angela told him.

“Hello! I’m not in the mood,” Bruce told her. She laughed as she snuggled into his side and Stephanie lay down on the other side closing their eyes as Bruce sighed with relief.

Chapter 11

Ten days later, Omega was heading home. They had been out for eighteen days. Jake was in the lead as Bruce sat in the back of his RG making sketches in his notebook. It had taken four hours for the ‘dozer to dig them out of the pile of bodies in Kansas City. Fourth Platoon had gone and grabbed two tanker trucks and Omega saturated the pile of bodies at the airport then lit them up. The last UAV flight showed the pile was still burning and it would continue to burn for another two months.

Gamma had moved up and started emptying the Army’s ammo production and storage area. It was then that Bruce saw how Mike was emptying the areas so fast. Paul had added two hundred more trucks to the operation. One convoy was being loaded by four hundred scavengers with another waiting to be loaded. Another convoy was being unloaded at the base with a full one en route and an empty convoy on the way to get loaded. Every eight hours a convoy was leaving the storage area with four thousand tons of supplies.

After removing twenty thousand tons of ammo and equipment from the ammo storage area, Gamma led the convoys into Kansas after Omega cleared the bases. They emptied two army bases and an Air Force base. Then they emptied two more in Oklahoma. Bruce did not take on any more big cities, not to say they didn’t face a lot of blues, but not in the waves they had in Kansas and Little Rock.

They had lost thirty-six on this outing. One of the convoy trucks broke down and a security detachment stopped to cover it as mechanics worked on it. They were overrun by a group of blues. It wasn’t until a UAV overflew the area that Mission Control even knew about it. The UAV found the pack responsible and Steve led a flight of Apaches, wiping out the several-hundred-strong pack.

The only day Angela and Stephanie didn’t get to do their news report was during the siege of Kansas City. One of Gopher’s daughters had done the report and requests flooded over the ham for Angela and Stephanie to return. Every day after that the two would do the news broadcast at noon.

When the government site had heard the report of a horde heading close to them, they had moved all of their UAV flights close to home. The horde had stopped in Cheyenne, not even two hundred miles away and stayed there, making everyone at the government compound very nervous.

Bruce continued to outline what he wanted to improve with Omega and the base. Angela and Stephanie were sitting on either side of him watching him work. Buffy was asleep as Danny, Mary, and Mindy talked with each other.

The convoy stopped at the new decontamination area ten miles from the base. They used to have to get out and manually wash off the trucks, but several at the base had fixed that. A fifteen-foot archway spanned the road with pipes lying on the road. When a vehicle drove in it was blasted with bleach water from all sides. A pond beside the road provided the water and a solar array provided the power. It was totally automated and they just had to drive through.

Leaving the wash area, Bruce heard Jake call for the north gate to be opened. Bruce put down his notebook and climbed up into the cupola behind the wet M-2. Angela and Stephanie squeezed in beside him. Up ahead they saw the thirty-foot walls of the base; they looked intimidating but gave them comfort. The railroad box cars were slowly sliding out of the way as they approached. Coming through the gate, Bruce saw a small guard shack that housed the gate control. Next to it he could see a group working on the tower that would run the gate.

The work crews and guards stopped working as Omega drove in and cheered at them as they rolled by. Driving through the base, they saw the new compound taking shape. It had a twelve-foot telephone pole fence around it and they could already see several barracks and other buildings in it. Just as at the gate, the workers stopped working and waved and cheered as Omega passed by, heading to the farm. From the gate to the farm was six miles.

The convoy stopped on the road in front of the farm where the families and friends of the returning warriors were waiting. Angela pointed at Marcus and Carroll standing with the kids. The kids were just holding Marcus and Carroll’s hands, waving at them. “How did they get them to do that?” Angela asked. “They tried to kill us when you came home,” she said.

“I don’t know but I’m going to find out,” Stephanie answered.

“I guarantee you, a switch was involved,” Bruce told them.

“Bruce, I was thinking about putting shock collars on them,” Angela admitted, making Bruce laugh. They grabbed their gear and climbed out. Seeing their family, the kids lost all control and flew at them. Picking the kids up, they started giving out love and kisses. The big kids came over and joined in as Steve and Tonya came over carrying little Debbie. After the hugs, Bruce turned to Marcus and Carroll who were hugging Eric and Darrell.

Bruce walked over to them and Carroll wrapped her arms around him. “Bruce, you’re too rambunctious fight’n groups that big,” she told him as she kissed his cheek.

“Don’t tell me, Darrell said someone in Kansas City borrowed a CD from him and he wanted it back. The only reason we got to leave is we stopped by a store and picked up another one,” Bruce told her.

“Hey, that was some good music,” Darrell said.

“If you say so,” Bruce replied as Marcus came over and wrapped his arms around Bruce.

“Bruce, I think you have a screw loose,” Marcus said, releasing him.

“Marcus, don’t be fibbin’. You asked two pilots to fly ya up there with ‘em,” Carroll shot at him.

“Well it did look interestin’,” Marcus admitted.

“Way more interesting than I want to admit,” Bruce confided as Nancy walked up and hugged him. “Woman, don’t drop Hellfires like that unless you warn us first,” Bruce told her as he let her go and the rest of the family walked over to hug everyone.

“I was just trying to help,” Nancy told him.

“That’s fine, but I wet my pants with that first explosion,” Bruce told her.

“Bruce, it wasn’t that bad!” Nancy exclaimed.

“He tried to blame Jake when the first one hit,” Angela said, holding Cade. Seeing her hold Cade on her hip made Bruce’s back hurt.

“Yeah, from the tone he used I thought he was fixin’ to take off his belt,” Jake said.

“What did you think Jake had done?” Nancy asked.

“Have no idea, the only reason I didn’t yell at Matt is I have to talk to y’all before I can break his legs for scaring me like that. Jake is mine so I can just break his legs,” Bruce told her.

Nancy shook her head. “Well we did kill a few for you,” she said.

“Yes you did but, how many did you use?” Bruce asked.

“I don’t know, a few,” she answered.

“Nancy, at one time it looked like a continuous rain of falling stars,” Bruce told her.

“It wasn’t that bad.”

“How many?” Bruce asked.

“Thirty or forty,” Nancy replied and Bruce just stared at her. Bruce kept staring at her until she admitted, “Oh all right, we shot a hundred and four.”

“Thank God you didn’t launch the air wing,” Bruce said and Nancy started blushing. “Well it looks like you can run Mission Control during an operation,” he told her.

“Bruce, I don’t want to do that anymore.”

“I’m sorry but this is going to be a long war,” Bruce said.

“Well it might be, but we damn sure have the ammo for it,” Paul said, walking up and wrapping his arms around Bruce, then hugging everyone else.

“That’s what I like to hear,” Bruce told him. “Where’s Gamma?”

“An hour out with the last convoy, and we lost two scavengers,” Nancy told him. Bruce and everyone looked at her. “Two left the secured area to look around and were taken by a group of blues,” she informed them.

“Damn, that is thirty-eight on one outing. We can’t take losses like that,” Bruce said out loud.

“Bruce, they left the secured perimeter, that’s on them. Now the convoy team is another story,” Nancy replied.

“Nancy, when Mike gets here let him get showered but I want the command group to meet in the game room this afternoon. Let’s say 1700. I want to go over what has happened, construction here, and our next moves,” Bruce told her and turned to Marcus and Carroll. “Thank you two for watching the little heathens for us,” he said.

“Bruce, it was our pleasure,” Marcus said.

Carroll grabbed his hand, “It does me good ta have little ones around me again. I have ta admit that I’d forgots what it’s like sleepin’ with ‘em,” she told him, smiling.

“You should’ve made ‘em sleep on the floor,” Bruce said.

“Tried that but befo’ mornin’ they climbed in with us.”

“I’m sorry for the bruises and sore muscles,” Bruce told her.

“Weren’t nuttin’, Bruce. We’ll watch ‘em anytime. Marcus took the twins out every day teachin’ ‘em to shoot them little BB guns. Little Sherry shot a squirrel and we cooked it up one night. Then Marcus had to go find another one so Emily could shoot it. They walked this whole area, taking two days. I thinks Marcus was ready to catch one and tie it up so she could shoot it. But she finally gots one,” Carroll told Bruce and everyone was laughing.

“Thank you Carroll.” Bruce gave her a squeeze, followed by Angela and Stephanie.

“How did you make them stay put when we drove up?” Stephanie asked.

“Told ‘em to hold my hand and stay,” Carroll replied.

“I tell them that and they don’t do crap I say,” Stephanie told her with PJ in her arms.

Carroll reached up, patting Stephanie’s face. “Child, your heart is too tender and they knows it. You have ta have a tough heart to be a mama. Gives tha love but when needed, grab the switch.”

“How many times did you have to spank them before they listened to you?” Stephanie asked.

“Didn’t have ta. They knows I will. Now Marcus on tha other hand, them twins got him eatin’ out of they hand. I told ‘im not to be lettin’ ‘em run him around but do he listen, nope,” Carroll said.

“You a fine one ta talk woman. Cade wanted a cake and who went and made one for ‘im at night. The night staff tried to tell her she couldn’t be in the kitchen. What did she do? Went outside and came back with a switch, poppin’ several until Millie came in. When Millie finds out what is goin’ on she grabs a wood spoon, poppin’ any that Carroll’s missin’. Ten o’clock at night and Carroll makes Cade a cake,” Marcus informed a laughing crowd.

“That baby needed a cake, Marcus, don’t be startin’ with me. Theys plenty trees for me ta get a switch from for ya,” Carroll warned.

“Cut one and I do tha same, woman,” Marcus challenged. “The girls need to learn about the woods and land.”

Bruce wanted to intervene but couldn’t stop laughing. “Marcus, you was lettin’ the girls drive that big ole tractor around!” Carroll yelled at him.

“I let all our kids and grandbabies drive the tractor,” Marcus shot back.

“That one is bigger than our house,” Carroll told him.

“I was with ‘em,” Marcus snapped.

“Marcus, two days ago them girls wanted to ride tha horse and when the man at the stables said no, they runs and tells you and what do ya do? Take your belt off and start walking to the stables. You woulda popped that man if he wouldn’t have run so fast,” Carroll said.

“That man could move fast,” Marcus admitted. “But the girls got to ride didn’t they?”

“Yeah, and Bill told ya to stop threatenin’ people with spankins, didn’t he?”

“That man keeps on and my belt’s coming off for him,” Marcus warned.

“He’s tryin’ to be tha law,” Carroll snapped.

“Then he shoulda caught tha man for me for tellin’ the girls they couldn’t ride,” Marcus popped off.

Carroll shook her head, “You gettin’ my pressure up.”

“Well you actin’ crazy. The kids come home from school sayin’ someone was mean to ‘em, who was the one runnin’ over there? You threatened to beat every child there until the kids pointed out the two bullies. I would really like ta know how Susan stopped ya from wearin’ their hind ends out,” Marcus said.

“Those two are demon kids. Theys mess with ‘em again they gettin’ a switchin’ they’ll always remember. Then I gets they mama and daddy,” Carroll retorted.

“There’s no talkin’ with you,” Marcus said.

Bruce bent over to help Jake up who was on the ground laughing. “Well since my kids are now spoiled rotten, let’s get inside. I really want a shower and to sit in a chair to eat,” Bruce said.

“Dad, you’re getting really soft. I mean wanting to sit down and eat,” Danny said.

“Don’t start, Danny,” Bruce warned.

“Yeah, next he’s going to want a Jacuzzi to take in the field for his bones,” Jake said, wiping tears off his face.

They walked inside with Bruce mumbling about disrespectful kids. After they showered, Bruce taught the twins, Cade, and PJ some new words. Stephanie and Angela came back from their news report and showered. Once everyone was dressed they headed to the Center to eat. The command table was already full as the kids ran to Marcus and Carroll yelling out, “Mamaw and Papaw.”

When Marcus and Carroll heard that they squeezed the kids in big hugs. Carroll ran people to the other side of the table so the kids could sit by them. As Carroll and Marcus were sitting the kids down, Bruce looked over at Mike. “So what did you think of the run?” Bruce asked.

Mike looked at him for a moment. “Bruce, Gamma never faced what Omega did, and to be honest we don’t want to. We faced some large groups but why not engage them like you did in South Louisiana and Texas?”

“Mike, we had to wipe out an area then lead a horde back into it so we wouldn’t get swarmed. The terrain down there allows for that. I would take months to set that up elsewhere. I really don’t want to do that unless we have to. It wears down the troops too fast,” Bruce said.

“And facing a sea of infected doesn’t?” Mike asked.

“Not as bad,” Bruce replied. Mike just shook his head as Buffy walked in, heading to the table. As she sat down Bruce asked, “What took you so long? You never take that long to shower.”

“Had to take care of something,” Buffy answered as the kitchen staff started setting down plates. Bruce just stared at her as he started eating.

Bill and Susan walked in, heading to the table. “Buffy, what the hell was that about?” Susan demanded.

“Mess with my brothers and sisters and I kick your ass,” Buffy told her matter-of-factly.

“Buffy, you don’t take actions like that in your own hands,” Bill told her.

“Bill, you already on my shit list. Don’t move yourself to the top,” Marcus warned.

Bill was fixing to reply as Bruce held up his hand. “Stop Bill, Susan. What happened?” he asked.

“Buffy came to the school, walked into one of the classrooms and started beating the shit out of two boys. When the teacher came over she kicked him in the knee and busted his mouth open,” Susan told him.

Bruce looked at Buffy. “Carroll handled that,” he told her.

“No she didn’t. I asked Emily and Sherry and they told me the boys said if they ever told anyone again they would beat them up. I went and showed them what a beat down is,” Buffy told him.

“Buffy, you really hurt those two boys,” Susan told her.

“I didn’t break anything,” Buffy said, then added, “this time.”

“Buffy—” Bill started, and Marcus stood up. Bruce held up his hands again.

“Susan, how old are these two boys?” Bruce asked.

“Thirteen,” she replied.

“That’s a little old to be bullying six-year-olds and toddlers,” Bruce told her.

“We’ve talked with them,” Susan replied.

“It seems to have failed. From now on, those two are to report to Marcus every day for work duty. If they don’t complete the task he lays out, they report to Carroll or Millie for punishment,” Bruce informed her.

“Bruce, they’re kids, and Buffy beat the shit out of them,” Bill said.

“Be glad it was her and not Danny. I would’ve thrown the little shits through a wall,” Bruce told him.

“Bruce, come on,” Bill said.

“Bill, the clan doesn’t interfere with family until the family interferes with the clan. Obviously these kids aren’t being taught respect so it is now the clan’s responsibility to do that. Would you rather us do it now or when they get older and do something worse. Then they could be shot,” Bruce told him.

“Fine, Bruce,” Bill said, pacified.

“Bruce, what about the teacher? His knee is really swollen. He is over at medical now getting X-rays and having his lip sewn up,” Susan said.

“Buffy will apologize for that,” Bruce said, looking at Buffy and she just looked down at the table.

Carroll pushed back her chair and walked around the table to Buffy. “Come on Buffy, let’s go tell him you’re sorry,” she said, holding out her hand.

“Carroll, I’ll go with her to do that,” Bruce said, getting up, and Carroll looked at him, squinting her eyes. Bruce sat down. “On second thought Carroll, you can take her,” Bruce said as Buffy got up, holding Carroll’s hand, and they walked out. Mike was at the end of the table, laughing.

Bruce stood up and walked to the front of the Center. “May I have your attention please? I just want to clarify something. If Millie, Marcus, or Carroll threaten to spank you that means you earned it. You can take it from them or a beat down from me.” Bruce looked around and Mike stood up as Nancy finished whispering in his ear. Mike walked up to stand beside Bruce.

“People, if they can spank us then they can spank you. Millie has popped me with that damn spoon more than I want to admit. But I earned it. If you don’t like being taught manners and discipline, leave now,” Mike told them. “You would really prefer they do it instead of the discipline committee. We all know if you don’t listen to the discipline committee you get sentenced by the command group. We will have respect and discipline here, that is not an option. Questions?” Mike asked, and none were forthcoming.

They went back to the table and started to eat as Carroll and Buffy came back. Buffy was smiling as she sat down. Looking at her face, Bruce felt trouble. “Did you apologize?” he asked.

“Yes sir,” she answered, smiling.

“Anything else?” he asked.

“She said she apologized so drop it, Bruce,” Carroll snapped.

“Yes ma’am,” Bruce said and continued eating.

That evening the command group gathered in the house. Food was brought in and they made plates and sat down. “Alright, first Omega didn’t use the twenty prisoners we took from the first compound so I’m putting them on shit detail,” Bruce said, and Mike just stared at him with an open mouth full of food.

“Mike, don’t do that, it’s gross,” Nancy told him from the couch. Bruce had to agree with her, it was gross.

“You mean they’re still alive?” Mike asked after pushing his food out of his mouth onto the table.

Nodding his head, Bruce replied, “We were way too busy to set up bait.”

“So you’re going to let them live?” Mike asked.

“If they do what is asked of them. In time, if they prove themselves, they might even earn clan status,” Bruce told him.

The entire group just stared at Bruce in shock. Bill was the first to speak. “Bruce, these aren’t some white collar workers that think they are the center of the universe. These are hardened criminals. All of them have jailhouse tats. They could be a danger to us. Why not just let them go or shoot them?” Bill asked.

“From you, Bill?” Angela cried out.

Bill looked at her before responding. “Angela, this is different. These guys were caught raping and killing. We already know what they’re capable of.”

“Yeah, but from you?” Angela said. Bill just shook his head.

Everyone turned to Bruce, wanting an explanation. “I want to see if we can change them. If not, we kill them,” Bruce said.

“Bruce, they’ve been in prison,” Bill said. “That didn’t change them,” he added.

“Sorry Bill, but that’s not punishment. Here they will have punishment,” Bruce told him.

“Yeah but Bruce, some of the people here were raped and beaten by them,” Nancy said.

“I understand, but I want to make one thing clear. They can’t even be considered for clan status for ten years. I will show y’all tomorrow what I mean. Now I want to start the meeting.” Bruce turned to Paul. “Paul, how is construction coming?”

“We have barracks up in the new area. Each one will house five hundred and we have four done now with the first mess hall. We have started on a real rec center. It will even have a bowling alley with a movie theater. It takes six days to put up a barracks and we are doing four at a time. Taking your drawing, Bruce, I have designed pods in the new area. Five thousand people to a pod, with a mess hall with ten pods that will cover half of the site or section one. Then we will build ten pods on the other side. We are building two schools with a building for the adults to go to for classes for every five pods. We are putting in ten gyms and two swimming pools. Each section will house fifty thousand and we still have some room left over,” Paul said then looked around for questions.

Not getting any, he continued. “Next, the berm behind the fence should be completed in two weeks. Bruce, we had to make your man-made lake bigger. We were at sixty feet down and it was starting to get really muddy so we are making it a mile longer. Now we will have a dam in place and divert three creeks into the lake. Our electrical engineer is putting the power output at thirty mega-watts. Now before anyone says anything, that alone will be more than enough to power us. We can’t use the old-world calculations. With the barracks we have going now, one uses the same amount of power four homes would use before the fall, and they house a hundred and twenty people.” Paul paused, again looking around for questions. Bruce wasn’t asking shit, he hated working with electricity.

Seeing nobody wanted to ask anything, Paul continued. “Alright then, let’s continue. We have concreted thirty acres at the end of the runway and are fixing to put in another one. The pilots said the one we had was not for heavy loads. We are putting shelters up for most of the planes, which are now over a hundred and a hundred and fifty choppers. On the south wall we have buried munitions storage areas for the aircraft and we are putting in a flight control tower. We have two hundred people working on these projects alone.”

“Paul, have we emptied the Air Force base in town yet?” Bruce interrupted.

“Yes we have, and the first bunker built will house the bad boys.” Paul threw Bruce a set of keys. “Those are the only set, so don’t lose them. In case you’re wondering it was over a thousand warheads. There is a monitor in Mission Control to watch the area,” Paul told him.

Bruce nodded his head and Paul continued. “Tomorrow we are starting to expand Mission Control. That one container is not big enough for flight and field control operations. We are building a three thousand square foot room for that. Then we will move the base monitoring area into the empty container. This will be complete in four days. I want it done before you go and start shit again,” Paul said, looking at Bruce.

“On the fence project, now we are putting in towers over each gate. They will be better armored than the fort and bigger. Now Bruce, I know you had different phases to this project but I redid them and this is phase two.” Paul looked at Bruce.

“Fine with me,” Bruce said. “What about the supplies we gathered?”

“I’ve put up your toys, don’t worry. We have over six hundred containers buried now over the base in four storage areas. The twenty thousand tons of munitions are underground. We put the weapons in the empty containers still on the farm. Willie, don’t even ask. Yes we made a site for one of the damn Patriot systems. You know, if you knew how to operate it sooner it would’ve gone faster. One will be online this week; the rest should be online in a few weeks. We could bring it online now, I just don’t want to use the generator that thing has. It eats some serious fuel,” Paul explained, and Willie put on a pouty face. Bruce didn’t care, he wasn’t expecting an air raid. Yet.

“So Bruce, lay it on me, what else?” Paul said, expecting Bruce to lay out some more huge projects.

“I’m good with what you’re doing,” Bruce said.

“What? You don’t want a launch area for the shuttle, a pyramid, or a pond to put an aircraft carrier in?” Paul asked, not believing Bruce.

“That does sound cool but we have enough to do now,” Bruce said. Paul just collapsed down on the couch, not believing his ears. Bruce looked at Joe. “I do need something from you,” he said.

“Bruce, we’re working as fast as we can on the refinery. I expect to come online in a month,” Joe said.

“In a month!” Bill shouted.

“It’s a small refinery. At peak production it will only process about ten thousand gallons a day,” Joe said. “The big refineries can do millions of gallons a day,” he informed Bill.

“No Joe, that’s good,” Bruce said and handed him some of his drawings. “I need this done to all of Omega’s attack vehicles in two weeks.” Then Bruce handed him some more drawings. “I would like this done to a hundred trucks in a month,” he said.

“You’re joking, right?” Joe asked as Paul got up and started dancing.

“What are you doing?” Cheryl asked.

“I’m not the only one Bruce is asking to do the impossible every day,” Paul chimed as he danced.

“Paul, your wife does have the right to hit you when you embarrass her,” Cheryl said and Paul dropped down on the couch.

“Bruce, come on,” Joe said, looking at the drawings then up at Bruce.

“What, we don’t have the steel?” Bruce asked.

“Bruce, I have enough steel now to build a battleship. I have no idea what was going through Bill’s mind when he went shopping down south. I have stacks and not little stacks of sheet metal that are over my head. I have never seen that much metal in my life,” Joe said as Bill interrupted.

“Hey they told me to get everything!” Bill shouted.

“Bill, I could surround the farm in a three-quarter-inch steel wall that was twenty feet tall,” Joe shouted back. Bruce just smiled at that thought. “Bruce, I swear if you say it I will throw something at you,” Joe warned. “It’s not the material, I don’t have the people,” Joe told him.

“Joe, I need this so Omega doesn’t get overrun out there. With these additions we can fight a horde the size we did and the outcome won’t be in doubt,” Bruce said.

Nancy jumped up, screaming, “You had a doubt about that and still launched an attack!”

“By the time I had a doubt we were already committed to battle. I tried to call a time out but the blues wouldn’t listen,” Bruce told her. Nancy started mumbling and Angela and Stephanie ran over to her and sat down with her.

“I see what you’re saying Bruce, it will get done but please abstain your urges until then,” Joe said as he just crashed down in his chair.

“Alright Joe, but I’ll help out, okay?” Bruce tried to make amends.

“No offense Bruce, thank you but no. You’ll start working and think of something else to add,” Joe told him.

Not wanting to push his luck, Bruce nodded his head and continued. “Now when the new city is ready we will start moving people there. This area is going to be mainly for the warfighters. Now all schools and healthcare will be in the new city,” Bruce said. Mike spoke up.

“You’re getting close to creating two classes of people there, Bruce,” he said.

“There will be no difference except the warfighters will be here with their families. The home guard, survivor rescue, and scavengers will be in the new city. If people don’t want to leave they don’t have to if they like it here that much. But I expect most will want to since there will be more to do there. Now any that follow, unless they are a warfighter, they move into the new city,” Bruce said.

“What if our troops want to move down there?” Mike asked.

“If they want to,” Bruce said.

“What’s the deal then?”

“I want the fighters together in case we have to roll fast,” Bruce told him.

Mike nodded his head. “Now that makes sense,” he said.

“Now tell me about the crew we lost en route back to base,” Bruce asked.

Nancy looked down at her notes. “We pulled the video cards and the security team was stopped with a supply truck that broke down. The blues took them from the tree line. From the video, it was a mob of several hundred. They cleared the tree line to the road in four seconds and the fight was over in less than ninety seconds. They never even had the time to call for help. None of our personnel were infected. They were all killed, or I should say torn apart. Twenty from the security detail, seven on the maintenance team, five scavengers, and two drivers. Thirty-four in total,” Nancy finished sadly.

“There were two Strykers there, how did they get past them?” Bruce asked.

“The Strykers were aiming down the road and not into the tree line. And before you say anything, we can’t keep a UAV over everyone at the same time,” Nancy told him.

Bruce let out a sigh. “No, that’s impossible, but from now on when a truck breaks down and we can’t tow it, get the drivers out and leave the load. That was a tough lesson for us to learn,” he admitted, feeling responsible.

“That’s easy enough to do. When do we start the pacification of the area we hit?” Mike asked.

“We aren’t,” Bruce told him. “That would eat up time and resources we don’t have. We are just going to roll into an area and kill large concentrations. At least we can say we are making a dent in their numbers. By my guess, we are over fourteen million now,” Bruce said, grinning.

Stephanie looked up at Bruce, “Ah Bruce, I’m sorry to tell you that even with the numbers we’ve killed we are not even keeping them in check.” Bruce just looked at her in shock. “Think about it Bruce, there are over a hundred and fifty million in the States. Just taking into account half of them breeding, you are looking at them adding twenty million a year. I really think it’s more because I believe their birth survival rate will be pretty high,” Stephanie told him.

A wave of hopelessness washed over Bruce as he just collapsed in his chair. “Damn, this war is going to take a long time,” he said.

They discussed more items for another hour and then the meeting was adjourned. Bruce went to the shop and worked on several items for an hour, then Angela and Stephanie came to check on him. They saw what he was doing and started to help and then called Jake and Matt to help. Bruce bit his tongue to keep from telling them if he’d wanted help he would have called for it. The project was finished by 2300 and everyone went to bed, happy to sleep on something that was not steel.

Chapter 12

Bruce woke up and then woke up the kids, telling them to be quiet as they got dressed, leaving Angela and Stephanie asleep in the bed. The kids followed Bruce to the gym. After PJ shot himself off the treadmill for the second time, Bruce grabbed a rope and tied it around PJ’s waist. Then Bruce tied the PJ leash to his wrist. Needless to say, Bruce didn’t have a good workout but it was a workout.

When they came back to the room, Angela and Stephanie were getting dressed. “Bruce, you could’ve woken us up. You didn’t have to take the kids to your workout,” Angela told him.

“Nah, I pushed you two kind of hard out there and you earned yourself some snooze time,” Bruce said.

They bounced over to him and kissed him. Then the kids wanted some love. “Bruce, why is there a rope tied around PJ’s waist?” Stephanie asked.

“Because he wouldn’t quit jumping on the treadmills and shooting himself off the end,” Bruce responded.

“Just turn the treadmill off, Bruce,” Stephanie told him.

Bruce fought off ten smartass comments that came to mind instantly. “Stephanie, people were on them when daredevil would run and jump on them, landing on his belly. The person on the treadmill would fall down as PJ got shot off the end, sliding across the floor,” Bruce said in a flat tone.

Snatching PJ up, Stephanie asked, “Are you okay?” as she lifted his shirt up and looked him over closely.

“No Stephanie, he injured his liver. I took it out with a pocket knife and we’re gonna get him another this afternoon,” Bruce said. Stephanie just looked at Bruce, shaking her head.

“Go take a shower, we’ll get the kids to school,” Angela told him as she and Stephanie left with the kids.

Bruce walked into the bathroom and found another ‘I love you note’ from Stephanie on the mirror. Shaking his head and without looking down, he opened the drawer where his toothbrush was and pulled out a similar note from Angela. He had what seemed like hundreds of them. They would put them up for him to find. When they were with him in the field the notes were in his pockets, notebook, map case, stuck to the heavy machine gun, and many other places. He really loved the two but they were getting on his nerves.

After his shower and to be nice, he wrote each a small ‘I love you’ note and put it on their right boots. Grabbing his gear, he headed to the Center. As he dropped down in his chair, Mike looked up at him. “You okay brother?” Mike asked.

With an unconvincing face, “Yeah I’m good,” Bruce replied.

Mike looked at Bruce and knew he was lying. “What is it Bruce?” he asked.

“The man has two wives, a room full of kids and is a total bad ass. What more could you want from life?” Ted announced.

“I’m good,” Bruce answered as Millie put his coffee mug down.

“Bruce, you need some time off. Your color don’t look good,” Millie told him.

“I said I’m good,” Bruce told her and took a drink of coffee.

“Are you a pod person now?” Carl asked. Bruce just turned to him with a flat look. “My bad,” Carl said.

“Bruce, will you take some time off?” Millie asked him.

“Too much to do Millie,” Bruce told her. Mike just watched Bruce. He’d make a point to get him alone today and talk with him.

The rest of the command group came in and sat down talking. Bruce just watched and listened. When breakfast was done, Jake looked over at him. “Can we show them now, Dad?” he asked.

“Yeah son, go get it set up and I’ll bring everyone,” Bruce told him. Jake and the kids took off running as everyone looked at Bruce.

“What’s that about?” Willie asked.

“Our new jail demonstration,” Bruce replied. Angela and Stephanie patted his hands and just smiled at the rest of them.

Twenty minutes later Bruce led the group behind the barn to find the twenty prisoners lined up. The all looked malnourished and slightly dehydrated. Omega fed and watered them but only enough to keep them alive. The twenty were standing in underwear with their hands zip-tied behind them. Each prisoner had a numbered collar around their neck and an ankle bracelet on. Guards surrounded them and most of the prisoners looked scared. Bruce grinned at the two who weren’t scared; he knew they wouldn’t like the demonstration.

“Gentlemen, may I have your attention please? I’m here to offer you a chance to earn your way back to the human race. Take it, and once it has been deemed that you are ready, you’ll be allowed into the clan. If you don’t want this we will kill you now,” Bruce told them.

“Bullshit, man, you don’t give a chance to anyone,” number twelve collar said.

“That was rude, Number Twelve. Don’t let it happen again,” Bruce said, and Twelve snickered. “The collars you are wearing can kill you at any time. Let me demonstrate,” Bruce told them and keyed his radio. “Number Twelve,” Bruce said.

The collar on Number Twelve gave off what sounded like a shotgun blast. He fell down with his head hanging off the front of his body. Three-quarters of his neck was blown away. The other prisoners all jumped back as Bruce yelled out, “Hey, nobody told you to move!” They all froze, looking at him.

“The box on your collar has two ounces of C-4. Not a lot but enough to do that. Now before anyone thinks they could use the collar to hold someone hostage,” Bruce said, and keyed his radio. “Number Three,” he said and the big man wearing number three gave out a cry and collapsed with his feet jerking.

“There is also a syringe that holds three cc’s of cyanide that will inject in your neck. The collars are on a satellite so you have to get to the southern hemisphere for them not to work. If you try to cut them off, they blow. You try to pick the lock, they blow. They have a small port for a computer hook up. You have five seconds to give the pass code before you unlock the collar with a key. There are six keys all locked up. Just a word of warning, if you go in the house you will get a pain in the neck. I don’t want to clean up blood out of the house. Let’s get something clear. You are supposed to be dead already but I was busy. I’m not in the mood to take you back out and use you for bait. I can catch more for that. Now for the ankle bracelet,” Bruce said and keyed his radio. “Everyone,” he said.

All the prisoners fell down screaming, then stopped, mouths gaping open in shock. “As you can feel, they shock the shit out of you. Just to let you know that was the low setting. Would anyone like to feel the high setting?” Bruce asked and all the prisoners shook their heads no. “Stand up please,” Bruce said and all of them jumped up. “Any person here can call on the radio and yell your number. Escape and we just flip your number, and unless you can get to the southern hemisphere you lose your head. Cut their bonds,” Bruce told the guards who went to each one and cut them loose. None moved. “Every two weeks you will have the collars changed so we can download what you have done, what you’ve seen, what you’ve talked about and where you’ve been. I wanted this to be streamed back but I’ve been told that the battery life is not that powerful yet to send. In case you’re wondering, the batteries now will last in each unit for three months. We can kill you at our leisure. Now for the ankle bracelets. Don’t ever try to put something between the bracelet and you. An alarm sounds, then you get a pain in the neck. Any questions?” Bruce asked them. They looked at him with tears in their eyes.

Then Number Nineteen asked, “How long till we can be members?”

“That’s up to you. I will say from what you’ve done to some members here it will be several years. But you do have a chance if you want it,” Bruce answered. “Does everyone here want the chance?” he asked. They all nodded their heads. “Jim!” Bruce yelled out.

Jim came running over to him. Bruce looked at Jim who was still wearing the gun belt he’d been told to wear, still without a gun. “Yes sir,” Jim said, stopping beside Bruce.

“These are the newest ones we are going to try to get back to the human race. After a full day of work they can eat. After one week and they work well they can eat breakfast and supper,” Bruce told him.

“Yes sir, Mr. Bruce,” Jim replied.

“Jim, tomorrow I want you to report to weapons training. You have one week to complete it and I want to see a pistol in that holster, understood?” Bruce told him. Jim just stared at Bruce in shock with his mouth open. “Do you understand Jim?” Bruce asked. Jim, still not able to talk, just nodded his head. “Jim, you are part of this clan now and you must be prepared to fight for it,” Bruce told him.

“I will die for it, Bruce,” he finally said.

“I would prefer you to kill the attackers first,” Bruce told him.

“Yes sir,” Jim replied.

“Jim, report to Mission Control and get a radio. If any of them get out of hand, yell out the number and they will die,” Bruce told him.

“Yes sir, I will try to save some more, sir. I just wanted to let you know I think Skanky Whore and Bitch are ready,” Jim told him.

“I will talk to them, Jim,” Bruce told him. “Now get them to work,” Bruce said, and Jim led the eighteen away.

When they were gone, Mike walked over to him. “How the hell did you make those collars that fast? The explosive I can understand, but to put a lethal injection also?” Mike asked.

“Only one had that for now, but they don’t know that,” Bruce answered.

“Why did you kill two?” Bill asked.

“Those two were going to be the trouble makers,” Bruce answered.

“The ankle bracelets?” Paul asked.

“Shock collars for dogs that Jake and Matt amped up. What you saw was the high setting,” Bruce replied.

“Do they really record?” Nancy asked.

Bruce shook his head no. “The next model will and the boys are going to start on them today,” he replied.

“Man, look under cool in the dictionary and you will find a picture of yourself,” Ted said, shaking his head in disbelief.

Bruce smiled, “Thank you. Paul, I want you to ride around the property with me and the wives,” he said.

“Sure,” Paul replied.

Bruce took out four envelopes and handed them to Willie. “This is what Omega is going to do today. Our rides are being stripped today so we won’t be able to prep them. I would like it done in three days,” Bruce told him.

Without looking in the envelopes, Willie replied, “Unless it’s an ark, it’ll be done.”

Bruce left with Paul, Angela and Stephanie. They were fixing to jump on an electric buggy when Paul stopped them. “Bruce, the base is too big to look at on one of those. Let’s take one of the UTVs that seats four,” he told them. Bruce had to admit he hadn’t thought about that. The electric buggy only had a range of forty miles.

They jumped in a UTV with Paul driving and headed to the air field. The gate to the fenced-off area was gone, and inside the log fence Bruce saw the newly cemented area with planes parked everywhere in neat rows. “Where are the animals?” Bruce asked.

“We moved them west. They really don’t like the airplanes,” Paul told him. Bruce could see they were building two walls on each side of an airplane so if one caught fire, heaven forbid, it would not spread to the others. Bruce looked over the row of C130s then grabbed Paul’s arm.

“How in the hell did we get that!?” Bruce screamed.

“It was in Little Rock for maintenance,” Paul replied, grinning.

“What?” Stephanie asked and Bruce pointed at one of the C130s. “What’s that sticking out of the side?” she asked.

“Guns,” Bruce said as Paul stopped beside the airplane. Bruce got out and walked around the plane.

“Is this a Spooky?” Stephanie asked.

Bruce jerked his head around and gaped at her. “How in the hell did you know that?” he demanded.

“Honestly Bruce, we know if we stay around you we have to learn weapons. You know a lot of information about many things, but with weapons I think sometimes you go to sleep and dream about them. They are important to you so we’re learning them,” Stephanie told him. Bruce wanted to go and beat himself when he heard that. They were learning something just because he liked it.

“Is that really a 105 cannon?” Angela asked, looking at the big barrel sticking out from the back left side. Bruce looked at her in shock. “What, she just told you we’ve been studying,” Angela told him. Bruce just dropped down to his knees looking at the two. They ran over to him.

“Baby, if you don’t want us to study them we won’t, you can tell us about them,” Stephanie reassured him.

“That’s the sexiest shit I’ve ever heard,” Bruce told them.

“Ah guys, you aren’t alone out here,” Paul said, shaking his head and looking at them.

Bruce stood up as Angela and Stephanie hid their blushing faces. “Paul, I know we have pilots but do we have a crew?” he asked.

“No, but we are training one. It should be operational in a week,” Paul answered. Bruce walked down the row and saw the KC130 refueler. ‘Good now they don’t have to use my chopper,’ Bruce thought. Then he stopped, gaping again.

“Paul, how on earth did they land that here?” Bruce asked, pointing at a large plane.

“Very carefully,” Paul said.

“Why in the hell do we need a KC135 tanker when we have the KC130?” Stephanie asked. Bruce looked at her, grinning, but all her attention was on the huge jet.

“Bruce, do we really need this? It is nowhere near as fuel efficient as the KC130. I mean it can carry more fuel, like two hundred thousand pounds, and go faster. But the KC130 can carry sixty thousand pounds of fuel to refuel with. Our air force isn’t that big,” Angela chimed in, looking at the big jet. Bruce started looking around for some place to take the two. Just before he was fixing to jump both of them on the spot, Paul spoke up.

“The pilots wanted one so they brought one back,” he said.

“I’m worried about them, it doesn’t even do anything cool,” Stephanie said. Bruce was thinking about telling Paul to take a walk and they would join him later when Angela let out a squeal.

Bruce turned to look at her but she had taken off running. Then Stephanie squealed and took off running after her. Bruce looked to where they were running and felt dizzy. He turned around and jumped in the UTV and sped after the girls. They were already walking around two F15E Strike Eagles when he pulled up.

“Now this is some cool shit,” Stephanie said, looking up at them.

“Hell yeah! A thirteen-ton bomb load. Now that can fuck some shit up,” Angela said, rubbing the plane. Bruce started looking for somewhere to go again as Paul trotted up.

“Yeah, we have them but can’t use them yet,” he said.

“What?” Stephanie said.

“We only have one pilot and no operator or bombardier,” Paul told them.

“How long will that take?” Stephanie asked.

“A couple of weeks, maybe a month,” Paul answered.

“How many Warthogs do we have now?” Angela asked.

“Forty-nine,” Paul answered.

“Pilots?” Angela asked.

“In two weeks we will have fifty-four,” Paul told her.

They climbed back in the UTV and drove over to the helicopter field where lines and lines of choppers stood ready. Bruce saw his Super Stallion and another one sitting beside it. It was painted gray like the other one but had black tiger stripes painted across it.

“Yes Bruce, we went and got you another one since we used yours as a gas truck. Steve will be moving it inside the farm this week. It is outfitted with two mini-guns and one dual fifty cal on the ramp,” Paul told him. Bruce just grinned as the girls came over to him.

“Can we ride it with you?” Angela asked. Bruce was fixing to pull them inside the chopper but Paul walked away, gesturing for them to follow him.

“Come on, I want to show you the munitions storage area,” he said, getting in the UTV.

The three climbed in as Paul took off. He showed them huge bunkers half a mile from the south wall that would house the bombs for the planes once they were completed, which would be in a few weeks. He told them they had huge piles of bombs all over the base just waiting for housing. Then he showed them the artillery batteries and the MRLS batteries inside the base.

On their way to the refinery the radio went off. “Big Daddy One, this is base. You’re needed here in Mission Control. Right away.”

Bruce grabbed his radio. “On my way,” he said as Paul turned around and floored it back to the farm.

Paul pulled through the front gate where they saw a work crew digging a hole in the front yard to expand Mission Control. They ran into the house then down to Mission Control. In the command bunker they found Mike, Jake, and Matt looking at one monitor in particular, upon which was a Stryker going down the highway. “Who took a Stryker out?” Bruce asked.

“It’s not one of ours,” Mike said, then Bruce noticed a white sheet tied on the antenna. Then on the back of the Stryker he saw a sheet of plywood with ‘Friend Don’t Shoot’ written on it.

“I think he comes in peace,” Bruce said.

“Or is setting us up for something. Remember, we’re broadcasting and like you said it’s not that hard to find us now,” Mike warned.

“Fuck those bitches, we have a Spooky and Strike Eagles. We can fuck them anyway we want and at any time we want,” Angela said. Bruce grinned and thought about taking the day off.

“Bruce,” Mike said. When he didn’t answer, Mike looked at him and knew what was on his mind. “Bruce!” Mike snapped and Bruce turned to look at him. “Later. What do you want to do about him?” Mike asked, pointing at the monitor.

Bruce almost said blow him up but looked at the monitor. “Jake, can the Gray Eagles buzz someone?” he asked.

“It would be hard but that’s not a Gray Eagle, Dad. It’s a real Predator. The pilot is in the next room,” Jake told him.

“We have real Predators and no one told me?” Bruce asked.

“Dad, you only care about having a UAV up. You don’t care if it’s controlled by a computer or a pilot,” Jake told him.

Bruce was fixing to spin off as Stephanie said, “Jake, that’s not right. The Predator is a cool toy. We would at least like to look at them.” Bruce grinned and started looking at the table wondering if it would take their weight.

“Bruce, quit looking at the table, it’ll break!” Mike snapped. “Focus, man. What do you want to do?” he asked.

“Let’s watch him and see where he goes. Where is he now?” Bruce asked.

“On I-20,” Mike answered.

“Could just be survivors, an armored ride does go a long way nowadays,” Bruce said. “How far out did we pick him up?”

“Hundred and twenty miles,” Matt answered. Bruce liked that. If one Stryker could be found then a large group couldn’t sneak up on them. For thirty minutes they watched the Stryker drive through Shreveport and Bossier and turn off, heading toward them.

“Looks like he knows where he’s going,” Jake observed, watching the monitor.

“Does, doesn’t it,” Bruce said, then keyed his radio. “Willie, this is Boss. Get Third Platoon to Mission Control now.”

“See ya in ten, Boss,” Willie called back.

Ten minutes later Willie came running down the stairs into Mission Control. “Hey, there is a big ass hole dug in the front yard,” he told them.

“New Mission Control,” Paul said.

“Oh yeah,” Willie said, then looked at the monitor they were clustered around. “Who did we send out?” he asked.

“No one, it’s not ours and it will be here in twenty minutes,” Bruce said.

“One Stryker can’t do shit to us. Blow it up,” Willie said.

“What if it’s a survivor looking for shelter?” Mike asked.

“Well they have a sign on top of the rig. That tells me they know we have eyes in the sky. That means they have intel on us,” Willie said.

“Damn, didn’t think about that,” Mike said. “They could still be a friend,” he added.

“Yeah, or that Stryker is loaded with five tons of explosive,” Willie said.

“Damn, and I though Bruce was mistrustful,” Mike said.

“Expect the worse and hope for the best,” Willie said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Willie, get Third Platoon and head to the north gate. I’m sure that’s where they’re going. If he shoots we will just Hellfire his ass. If he doesn’t shoot, make them get out and check them out. If they look okay bring them to the Center,” Bruce told him.

“Will do Boss,” Willie told him and took off running.

They watched the Stryker head straight for the north gate on the monitor. Third Platoon set up and waited and soon spotted the Stryker coming down the road toward them. In Mission Control they watched the Stryker stop fifty yards from the gate. Then the driver’s hatch popped open and a man climbed out. They could see Willie on top of the boxcar gate talking with the driver.

“I want cameras on the gates ASAP with sound,” Bruce told everyone.

The man outside the gate lifted his shirt up and turned around, showing Willie he had no weapons. Then the man called out to the Stryker and a woman crawled out to stand beside him. The gate opened and one squad of Third Platoon held the two at gunpoint as the rest cleared the Stryker. They saw Willie walk away from the Stryker and shake hands with the man. Then Willie went back to the Stryker and pulled out a shoulder bag. Willie looked in it, then slung it over his shoulder and escorted the two inside the fence as a squad drove the Stryker in. Willie led the two to an RG and closed the door.

“Well looks like we have guests,” Bruce said, turning around and heading to the Center.

When Willie drove up, Nancy, Danny, and Mary had made it to the Center and Mike filled them in. They sat by their husbands and waited on Willie to bring the couple in. Buffy walked in before Willie and joined them.

Willie walked in with a man dressed in ACUs followed by a woman wearing t-shirt and jeans. The man was about six foot with a stocky build, black hair and a dark complexion. The woman had brown short hair and an athletic build. Willie led them to the table and sat them in the middle, then placed the shoulder bag in front of Bruce.

“Bruce, this is Sergeant First Class Adam Cole and his wife Karen,” Willie said, making introductions.

“Sergeant, what brings you to this neck of the woods?” Bruce asked.

“You,” the sergeant replied.

“Come again because I don’t know you,” Bruce said.

“We escaped from the government camp in Colorado several weeks ago. Out of all the communities still functioning, this is the only one that looks like it’s trying to rebuild.”

“How did you come to that conclusion?” Bruce asked.

“Because you go out and rescue people and wipe out gangs and rescue their hostages. Then you are attacking infected on a scale neither I nor anyone else thought possible,” the sergeant replied.

Bruce studied the man and wanted to like him, but was being very cautious. Then he noticed the tab on his shoulder. “When were you at Benning?” Bruce asked.

“Six years ago, and I have to tell you this tab is earned. You can’t just put one on,” he said.

Any kindness on Bruce’s face vanished. “Boy, you’re treading on thin ice now. You better clarify fast,” he told him.

“I see a lot of tabs and on some not even old enough to serve, not to mention females,” the sergeant replied.

Danny jumped up and Matt and Jake grabbed her. “I’m going to cut his dick off and make him eat it!” she screamed.

Nancy stood up calmly and leaned over the table. “Little boy, we need to play,” she told him.

“Ma’am, it takes more than a tab to be a Ranger,” he told her.

Nancy lunged across the table and Mike grabbed her. “Mike, let me go, he dies today!” she yelled as they both crashed down on the table. Matt and Jake were still fighting Danny and Mary was helping Mike control Nancy.

Bruce was looking at the sergeant when he noticed a red laser dot pop up on his face. The sergeant turned to his left and his eyes got wide. Bruce turned to see Buffy aiming her pistol at the man. “You disrespected my sisters and Mama Nancy, bitch boy. I’m going to see what your brains look like now,” Buffy told him with a flat face.

The door opened to the Center and Ted and Carl walked in. Ted saw Buffy aiming her pistol with the laser turned on. He followed the aim and froze. “Cole!” Ted said. Danny and Nancy quit fighting and looked at Ted. Carl looked up sharply and followed his gaze.

“Holy shit, Adam Cole,” he said. Sergeant Cole didn’t say a thing. He just stared at Buffy with sweat pouring off his face. He could see it in the little girl’s eyes, she would and wanted to kill him.

Ted walked over to the table and stood by the sergeant. “Buffy, why do you have him lit up like a Christmas tree?” he asked.

“He hurt Danny’s, Mary’s, and Mama Nancy’s feelings,” Buffy replied, never taking her eyes off of her target.

“Buffy, let me talk to him, okay? I know him. We went to Ranger school together. If he doesn’t apologize I’ll hold him down and you can let Herman play with him,” Ted offered.

Buffy lowered her pistol. “Okay,” she said with a smile.

Cole let out a breath as Ted popped him on the back of the head. “Are you fucking stupid? Come in and disrespect these people. I should just let her bust a cap in your ass!” Ted yelled at him.

Cole jumped up and pushed Ted back, and Carl flew at him and shoved him on the table. “You better rectify, bitch,” Carl told him, then let him stand up.

“Look at the tabs you dumb asses!” Cole yelled.

“Oh I know you didn’t go there. You wouldn’t have your tab if Carl and I wouldn’t have carried your ass on that last run,” Ted told him.

“There’s a woman and four teens, two of which are girls!” Cole yelled.

Ted dropped his gear and pulled out a knife. “I’m fixing to cut your ass good,” he said.

Carl stepped up to Ted. “The hell you are,” Carl told him and pulled out his knife. “I’m cutting his ass first,” he announced. Cole stepped back in terror from the two men he’d thought were friends.

Cole’s wife Karen was still sitting down at the table, shaking her head. She turned to Nancy and leaned over the table. “Ma’am, I’m sorry for my husband’s disrespectful remarks. But please don’t kill him. They are so hard to train. If you kill him I’ll have to start over with another one,” Karen asked her.

Nancy relaxed, looking at the woman. Mike, feeling her relax, let her go. “Karen, I know what you’re talking about but those remarks hurt. If that would have been my husband—” Nancy left it hanging.

“Oh I promise hell is coming,” Karen told her. Nancy smiled and sat down.

Cole heard the exchange and cringed. “Pull a blade, bitch, I’m waiting,” Carl told Cole.

“What the fuck is your deal?” Cole yelled at him.

“We drove the pin in each of them,” Carl snapped.

Cole took a breath to say something as Ted shouted, “Think about it. I’ll shank your ass if you dis my team!”

“Ted, Carl,” Bruce said with a small grin. He loved how they stood up for their team.

“No Bruce, this is a classmate. He knows better. It falls out of your jurisdiction,” Carl told him. Bruce just shook his head and started going through the shoulder bag.

“Dude, teens and girls,” Cole said, waving his hand across the table.

“Man, let’s get this straight. Any one of them can monkey stomp your ass and sing a song as they do it. We have stood side by side with them fighting gangs and blues. They have killed on a scale you can’t even begin to imagine. They have earned the right. The big shaved-headed guy is old school Ranger,” Carl told him.

“It still doesn’t seem right,” Cole said.

Ted walked up to the table and took out his pistol. He threw it on the table in front of Cole. “Just reach for it, dude,” Ted dared him.

Cole started for the pistol and was looking down ten pistols before he was half-way there. “Shit, that was fast,” he said, slowly pulling his hand back.

“Dude, this is the family you want on your side. They are hard core meat-eaters. Those ‘kids’ are top operators,” Ted told him. Cole just sat down in his seat and Ted grabbed his pistol off the table. Everyone but Buffy holstered their pistol. Once again, Cole had the dot on his forehead from Buffy’s pistol.

“Ma’am, the pistol is off the table,” Cole told her.

“I don’t need to have an additional justifiable reason to pop a cap in you. You’ve offended my family, therefore I’m perfectly able to squeeze one off and see what kind of face you’d create. You come in here with your Neanderthal beliefs to belittle others to inflate your self-worth. That is very uncivil and disrespectful, displaying poor etiquette on your part,” Buffy told him.

Stopping what he was doing, Bruce shook his head. “Stephanie, what in the hell are you teaching her? A twelve-year-old shouldn’t be using words like therefore and justifiable, not to mention etiquette,” he said.

“But she can say ‘bust a cap in your ass’!” Stephanie snapped.

Thinking about it for a second, “Well yeah,” Bruce answered.

“Shit Dad, I like it. Hell, I want to pop a cap in him after hearing Buffy,” Jake admitted.

“Buffy, let me talk, please. If he acts like an ass you can smoke him,” Bruce told her, and Buffy lowered her pistol but didn’t put it up.

Cole sighed and looked at Bruce. “I’m sorry sir,” he said.

“You didn’t dis me boy. You’re still breathing. You disrespected my family so I have to kill you slowly, with much pain,” Bruce told him.

Cole turned and looked at Nancy, Danny, Mary, Matt, and Jake. “I’m sorry for my remarks. I have been under a lot of stress the last few weeks. It’s no excuse but I’m sorry,” Cole said sincerely.

They all sat down and Buffy finally put up her pistol. “So you’re old school,” Cole directed at Bruce.

“Not that old,” Bruce said.

“What was your handle?” Cole asked as Millie brought out food and tea. Carl and Ted picked up their gear and took their seats.

“Dark Knight,” Bruce answered. Ted and Carl dropped their gear again, staring dumbfounded at Bruce. Bruce heard a glass drop beside him and turned to see Willie looking at him. Bruce shook his head and looked back at Cole who was just staring at him.

Ted was the first one to speak. “Are you fucking kidding me!?” he yelled out.

“Ted, you knew that,” Bruce told him.

“I knew that was your X-box tag not your Ranger handle!” Ted yelled.

“That was a long time ago,” Bruce said.

“Dude, you’re still talked about even by the instructor cadre. You moonwalked the last mile on a forced march!” Carl shouted.

“Yeah, and had to push Georgia down ten feet below sea level for that,” Bruce admitted with a cringe.

“Holy shit man, is what they say about Africa true?” Willie asked.

“I don’t know what they say about Africa, but I won’t tell you what I did there,” Bruce told him.

“What about the Philippines?” Ted asked.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about but I will say that jungle sucks,” Bruce replied.

Cole stood up. “Then you know Colonel Walker,” he said.

“I never met a Colonel Walker,” Bruce replied.

“No disrespect, Sergeant First Class Williams, but Colonel Walker has talked about you,” Cole replied.

“I don’t know a Colonel Walker,” Bruce told him again.

“Colonel Gene Walker,” Cole said, and Bruce froze. If Bruce would’ve been paying attention he would’ve seen and heard Stephanie and Angela gasp upon hearing the name.

“Black man, stocky as hell, and loves his troops?” Bruce asked.

“That’s him,” Cole said.

Bruce jumped out of his chair. “He’s only a colonel?” he yelled.

“Yes sir, he turned down the star,” Cole answered.

“How do you know Hammer?” Bruce asked.

“Hammer?” Ted asked.

“His handle,” Bruce told him.

“I hope he didn’t get from the singer,” Cole said.

“Please, that man can’t dance. He got it because if you fucked with his troops he came down on you like a hammer,” Bruce told him. “How do you know him?” he asked.

“He’s my commander, but more importantly he’s second-in-command at the government site,” Cole told him.

“What?” Bruce said.

For the next two hours Cole told them how the government had moved into a valley in northwest Colorado. There were over sixty thousand survivors at the start but Homeland was killing off any that they thought were going to cause trouble. At last count they were at fifty thousand. The Secretary of the Interior was now the President and ruled like a king. The military there used to be almost fifteen thousand strong but were now under ten thousand because the President wanted to act like a general. They had found this site in Louisiana where people were actually living and prospering. Cole told them they had watched Bruce’s people attack on a gang, then a horde. The President ordered the general to make plans to take over the site.

“Why hasn’t Gene shot the general?” Bruce asked.

“Major General Terry Givens is a world class dumbass but has too many followers. He replaced Lieutenant General Carl Center who died mysteriously one night. We all know Homeland and Givens killed him but we couldn’t prove it, and even if we could, who would we tell?” Cole said.

“So they like our set up huh?” Bruce asked.

“Oh yes,” Cole said.

“What about the government center in Pennsylvania?” Bruce asked.

“Don’t know, they won’t talk to us. We lost those satellites over a month ago so we don’t know if they’re still active,” Cole said.

“Sorry, the boys stole them,” Bruce told him, motioning to Matt and Jake.

Cole looked across the table. “Damn that’s cool,” he said.

“Thank you, but I don’t know if I like you yet. That was my wife, sister, and mother-in-law you disrespected when you came in,” Jake told him.

“I was way out of line, I’m sorry,” Cole apologized again.

“So do you have a timetable for this attack?” Bruce asked.

“Colonel Walker convinced them to wait until winter,” Cole answered.

“Why would Gene do that?” Bruce asked.

“He hopes a horde will find the government area and wipe it out,” Cole admitted.

“He is willing to sacrifice all those people?” Bruce shouted.

“Sir, if the group up there gets a secure position like this, then America is gone. I talked to the colonel before I left and he gave me photos and maps to get here,” Cole said.

“Yeah, I see,” Bruce said, holding up the stack.

“His exact words were ‘It’s better for all of them to die to give America a chance.’ We have watched this group go out and pacify areas of blues and gangs. Kids run around here without worry. Then the radio broadcast started. Let me tell you, everyone in that camp listens to your radio station,” Cole told him.

Bruce stood up. “Willie, Ted, Jake, and Carl, I want every member of Omega fitted with an interceptor vest today. Break out the Javelins and Stingers and I want everyone trained on them. I have plans to make. Tonight, command group meeting in the house. Cole, I would like you there and someone tell Gopher to be there,” Bruce said. Walking by Jake, Bruce leaned down, whispering in his ear, then he left.

Chapter 13

At the same time Bruce left the Center, Colonel Walker walked into the command center and saw General Givens looking at the monitor. “Yes sir,” Walker said.

“Colonel, they emptied the main ammo depot and the secondary at Riley. It looks like they hit every installation nearby, stripping it bare,” Givens said.

“So the horde north of us finally left?” Walker asked, fighting the urge to grin.

“Affirmative, they moved off last night moving north. We have been assessing where Omega went. They even hit the supply point at Pine Bluff.”

“Well that ain’t good,” Walker said.

“Colonel, you were the one to say let’s wait till winter,” Givens reminded him.

“Yes sir I did, and still am. We can’t get there any other way,” Walker told him.

“We could use the corridor they just opened up and follow them down,” Givens suggested.

“We could, but then if we get hit, which we would, it would be a running gun battle with infected. Hell, even Omega admitted to having a standing battle, wiping out five million, and intel said that was in Kansas City,” Walker said.

“Yeah, we found the site but it doesn’t change the fact they have chemical weapons now,” Givens said.

“Sir, you were standing beside me when they opened up the nuclear storage at Barksdale. Who gives a shit if they have chemical when they can plant mushrooms at will.”

“Our weapons have safety measures,” Givens said.

“Sir, I know kids that could hack our safety measures in an hour.”

“Colonel, we needed those munitions for this battle. There can’t be more than a thousand tons in this whole state. The next closest storage site is in New Mexico. They have a hundred thousand tons there but it’s crawling with infected,” Givens said sharply.

“General, I told you if it comes to a fight we will lose a substantial portion of our forces. Our best bet is to bluff. We know they have military there. If they don’t surrender then we deploy to the north over a wide area so we don’t offer a nuclear target and draw them out. We use our advantages in numbers,” Walker reminded him.

“I can see how that would work and we really don’t want to damage the base,” Givens replied, giving Walker a sharp nod.

Walker turned to the monitor as the UAV reached Base Hope. “Holy shit,” Givens said. “Look at the aircraft!”

“They have more planes than we have anti air rockets,” one of the technicians said.

“Look in the northeast corner, General, they’re building a refinery,” Walker pointed out.

“Someone find me an engineer!” Givens yelled out. “Why in the hell did they dig a big ass hole beside the base?” he asked. Walker had no idea so he kept his mouth shut. He only hoped Adam had made it. He, along with most everyone here, listened to the radio broadcast. Just the weather reports made it worthwhile. It was really ironic that the people they wanted to fight had saved them with the horde report. They’d been getting ready to send out a unit to secure more fuel, and they would have been directly in the path of the horde. But the report stopped that and they were able to call the UAV home. They sat and watched the horde for weeks.

Even the President listened to the radio, and told everyone he would keep it going once they took over Base Hope. Walker didn’t know what Angela and Stephanie looked like, but many men here wanted to marry them. Even he had to admit they sounded hot.

The doors opened behind him as a young engineering officer walked in. “Yes sir,” he said.

“What the hell is this big hole for, Captain?” the general asked, pointing at the monitor.

“Can you get me some close ups, sir?” the officer asked, walking over and staring at the monitor.

“You heard him,” Givens told the operator. The screen zoomed in on the dug-out area.

“Show me the area to the south where that group is working,” the young officer said. The operator complied. The officer studied the screen for ten minutes then stepped back. “Damn, they’re building a hydroelectric station,” he announced.

“Are you sure?” the general asked.

“Yes sir, granted it’s a small one, but those are turbines they are making next to the dam there, sir,” he told the general.

“Son, it will just be a pond. Even I know you can’t use a pond,” the general said.

“Sir, that ‘pond’ is four miles long and two miles across. If you look to the north there are three streams that could be diverted into it. Just from the looks of them, if you combined all them together I would guess about six hundred to a thousand gallons a minute flow,” the young officer said.

“That could supply the power for a base that size?” Givens asked.

“Yes sir, with ease,” he replied.

“Look at the walls where they have built a berm behind them. Could we blow through them?” Givens asked.

“Sir, it would take a lot of explosive on the order of ten tons and that would only work if you burrowed into the wall. It would take five times that to just blow it up,” the officer told him.

“What about the gates?” Givens asked.

Seeing the box cars, the officer shook his head, “Sir, each of those cars weighs tons. Just guessing, I’d say around twenty tons each, then they could fill them with dirt getting the weight to around forty tons each. Granted, we could knock them over but they would still be in the way.”

“So an Abrams couldn’t knock them down,” Givens asked.

“Not a chance in hell,” the officer replied.

“Thank you. That will be all.” Givens dismissed him and the engineer left.

“Okay it’s settled then. We’ll hit them this winter,” the general said. The monitor blinked and went to static, then came back online. “What the hell was that?” he yelled.

“Don’t know sir, could’ve been a solar flare. Since we don’t have solar watch satellites we can’t tell,” one of the technicians replied.

“Don’t lose that satellite, son. We have lost too many as it is,” Givens warned.

“Yes sir, we’ve tried to uplink with them again but they aren’t responding. That’s why I think a solar flare was giving us problems. This year was supposed to be a bad year for them,” the technician replied.

“I don’t care, I want to know what’s going on out there,” Givens demanded.

“Yes sir.”

Givens turned to Walker. “Has Homeland been leaving my troops alone?” he asked.

“Yes sir, after they executed six of their own, none have come near our troops,” Walker answered.

“That’s good. I should’ve done that sooner but the director had valid points,” Givens admitted.

“Sir, if I may say, that was a stroke of genius telling the director that if any high ranking officer was arrested or shot that all Homeland officers were to be killed. I really think if you wouldn’t have done that he would’ve come after you, sir,” Walker told him.

“Damn, I said that to protect officers like you. You really think so?” Givens asked.

“Yes sir, I think he wants your job,” Walker confided.

“I thought you wanted my job,” Givens said.

“General, you know I turned down my star. I like where I’m at,” Walker told him.

Givens looked at Walker measuringly. “Colonel, thank you for the warning. Now that you mention it I can see that. Once we move south we will take care of the director.”

“Yes sir,” Walker replied.

“I want you to draw up an attack plan and present it to the President for me in a week,” Givens told him.

“Yes sir, General,” Walker replied. “And General, if we can have six thousand of the troops we can take Base Hope. Eight thousand would be better and give us some breathing room since we will have a limited time for the campaign,” he added.

Givens looked at him. “Draw the attack up using eight thousand, Colonel,” Givens ordered.

“I’ll start now, sir,” Walker told him, then turned to leave.

As he walked out the door, he wished General Center was still there, but like the rest of the troops he knew Homeland had killed him. Gene steeled his heart. If he could kill Givens he would. He knew there were still more than enough cronies around Givens that would kill Gene if he tried. He was also sure most of the troops would join up with Omega if given the chance. If just half of them did so, then Base Hope wouldn’t need to worry about the government anymore. Gene had always known he would sacrifice his life for his country, but he never would’ve believed it would involve killing a superior officer to stop a crazy President from killing off mankind.

Stepping into his room, Gene closed his eyes. “I’m committed,” he said out loud to himself.

Chapter 14

Everyone was in the game room as Bruce walked in. “Hello everyone, as most of you know Adam Cole came to join us today—” Bruce stopped as he pointed at Adam. Adam’s eye and lip were swollen. “Alright, who popped him?” he asked.

“Bruce, this came from my wife after you left the mess hall. She told me that was for being stupid,” Adam replied.

“So you got a Ranger wife then?” Bruce asked, smiling.

“You have no idea,” Adam replied.

“Well I have two, so yes I do,” Bruce told him.

“Where are Jake and Matt?” Mike asked.

“I asked them to try to hack into the government compound. Their mainframe is on a local intranet but they are receiving a feed from a predator drone.”

“Bruce, if they are only receiving video feed from a Predator it won’t work. You could hijack the feed but not get into the system,” Gopher advised.

“That’s what I thought, so I told Jake and Matt it couldn’t be done,” Bruce told him.

Mike jumped up, knocking his chair to the floor. “I know you didn’t!” he shouted.

“Well it can’t be done,” Gopher said.

“If those two come in and say they couldn’t do it then I’ll believe it,” Mike said.

As if on cue, Matt and Jake walked in. “Okay Dad, we have their mainframe,” Jake said. The entire room fell silent, just looking at the two. “What?” Jake asked.

“That’s impossible,” Gopher said. “A Predator is controlled from a remote station. You could hack the Predator but what good would that do?”

“You’re right, a Predator is controlled from a remote station, but that station has wireless capabilities. We found the satellite they were using for their relay and slipped in a program that the remote station sent to the main frame. Since the remote station was sending a live feed to the mainframe, it was really easy. The mainframe has link capabilities but since the government-secure satellites are ours now they turned off the modem when they lost the connection. Our program turned it back on. Then Matt and I reprogrammed their computer to tell them the modem was off,” Jake told them.

“So you have their computer?” Bruce asked, hoping he understood what Jake had just said.

“That’s what I said, Dad.”

“So what part do we have?” Bruce asked.

“All of it,” Jake told him. He sat down and opened up his laptop. “I have the security cameras, the inventory of everything on the base, who is scheduled to see the President and the names of everyone at the base.” Jake showed everyone what he had pulled up on his laptop.

“Son, that’s great,” Bruce said, grinning.

“Well Dad, you have to thank Gopher. With his computer it was really easy. If I would’ve had a computer like that I would’ve made us millionaires and you could’ve had all the toys you wanted,” Jake told him.

“You tell me this now,” Bruce gasped, taking a step back.

Mike stepped in front of Bruce. “Do you two have the nuclear codes?” he asked.

“Dad, we had those months ago,” Matt said.

“You didn’t tell us!” Mike shouted.

“Well, we changed them,” Matt told him.

“Why did you do that?” Mike asked.

“So nobody could use them. Well they could, but they would have to reprogram every warhead,” Matt said.

“That’s impossible,” Gopher said again.

“He really likes that word,” Jake said, looking at Matt.

“It’s just a word,” Matt replied.

“You two would’ve went a long way in the NSA,” Gopher told them.

“The NSA isn’t that good,” Matt bragged.

“Have you ever hacked them?” Gopher challenged. Matt and Jake just smiled. “That’s impossible, it’s random—” Gopher said a lot of words Bruce didn’t understand.

“How do you think we crashed the FBI’s mainframe?” Jake asked.

Gopher stood up and bowed to them. “I bow to true electric samurais,” he said.

“Thank you Gopher, that means a lot coming from a former cyber spook,” Matt said, and Gopher winked at them.

“You two are good, we knew that. Are there any changes about when they are going to attack?” Bruce asked.

“Well, an entry into the President’s itinerary says your friend Colonel Walker is giving a presentation on the attack in one week. Another entry by General Givens says the attack will be winter—either December or January,” Matt answered.

“Damn, we have some time, it’s only the end of September,” Willie said.

“How are we playing this, Bruce?” Mike asked.

“First I want one thing clear. I don’t really want to kill those troops. They are merely following orders, but on the same token, I’ll kill each one if they threaten us,” Bruce told the group.

“Bruce, I can tell you ninety percent want to join you here. They’re scared for their families. Homeland executes anyone that stands up,” Adam told him.

“They don’t mess with the troops or their families anymore,” Jake chimed in.

“How do you know that?” Adam asked.

“From an email that Colonel Walker sent out. It says ‘If any officer of Homeland threatens any member of the military or their families they are to be shot on sight. If any Homeland officer arrests a military officer, all Homeland personnel are to be shot immediately,’” Jake read.

“How the hell did he do that?” Adam asked.

“It seems that when you escaped the general blamed them for the moral of the troops. Something about one of the Homeland officers making sexual advances on your wife which is why you took off. Homeland even executed six of their own,” Matt told him.

“Damn, that was good,” Adam said, impressed that Gene could get the general to go along with that.

“Again Bruce, how are we going to handle this?” Mike asked.

“Keep doing what we’re doing. We’ve found a lot of survivors in Arkansas. Let’s start gathering them up if they want to join us. We train, fix our defenses, and live life. Then we grab some more equipment like the heavy armor we left at Polk and maybe run to Fort Sill and grab some more stuff,” Bruce said.

“What about the UAV over us?” Mike asked.

“Mike, the damage is done. They know we’re here. We’ll use the radio to turn the troops to our side, then as winter approaches we let them know we’re ready for them. Angela and Stephanie are becoming very popular on the radio so they will start our psy-ops assault,” Bruce told him.

“What about that big ass gang in northeast Mississippi? They are several thousand strong and sooner or later they will try to take us,” Mike warned.

“Let ‘em try, I’ll nuke their ass,” Bruce said firmly.

Danny jumped up. “I get to push the button!” she yelled.

“I’m trying to figure out how Bruce gave birth to her,” Stephanie mumbled, turning toward Angela.

“C-section,” Angela replied.

“That was an excellent doctor. I mean, no scar,” Stephanie said, and Angela nodded. Everyone fought back snickers and grins.

“Sweet pea, if we pop a nuke you can push the button,” Bruce told her, ignoring the peanut gallery. Danny started dancing around. “So now the work continues. Since we can now say we have more bullets and guns than they do, I’m happy,” Bruce told everyone.

“I never would’ve believed that,” Paul said.

“Hell, we have enough to shoot every man, woman, child, dog, cat, and goat on the planet,” Nancy said.

“Not quite but almost,” Bruce said.

“Bruce, at last count, which I have to tell you the new one is still underway, 5.56 was over two billion rounds. That’s billion with a ‘B’,” Nancy said. “7.62 was over three quarters of a billion. Hell, even fifty caliber was over half a billion. We have enough 25mm to melt every barrel on the thirty Bradleys we have here. We just got artillery here but we can fire for weeks at a time. I mean, Bruce, come on, we have enough,” Nancy told him.

“What we don’t get they can use against us,” Bruce reminded her.

“Bruce, I didn’t say anything when you wanted a big playground. I have to admit I love the new base. The clan loves it but we have enough explosives here to pose a real danger if someone starts lobbing shells in. Just one of the aircraft munitions storage areas would kill us with the concussion,” Nancy stated.

“Actually no, they are three miles away from us and the concussive force would ring our ears but it wouldn’t kill us,” Stephanie told her. Nancy just looked at her. “I was just saying …” Stephanie told her, trailing off at Nancy’s further glare.

“Nancy, first of all, no one is going to lob shells in. They will want to take us intact. We have security, space to roam, electricity, food, and comfort. They want that,” Bruce told her.

“Okay Bruce, how can you be so sure?” Nancy asked.

Mike answered for him, “That’s what he would do.”

Nancy gave Mike an ugly look. “With that said Bruce, how would you take us?” she asked.

“How we are set up now really limits the options. I would use a small commando team to take over one of the gates to get it open. Then bring in a larger team to hold it as my attack force rolls in since they know we have eyes in the sky,” Bruce told her.

“How do we stop that?” Angela asked.

“Let me tell you,” Bruce said and everyone grabbed a notebook. “The guard towers at each gate need to be ready soon. Each guard shift will have four people manning the tower with none leaving the tower on their shift. We need six roving patrols around the base, and Jake, I want something like a burglar alarm if someone tries to climb the fence.”

“Bruce, that fence is thirty miles long. That’s impossible,” Willie complained.

Jake and Matt looked at Willie like he was an idiot. “We’ll have something in a week, Daddy Bruce,” Matt promised.

“Next, I want cameras around the fence, guard houses and gates. Then I want a tower on each corner of the fence. These will only need two guards each. Next I want the Patriot online this week. Then I want our own radar operating, but don’t turn it on yet. When we do, we will announce that we know a UAV is overhead but we don’t know who it belongs to,” Bruce said. “We need pilots now and maintenance. Joe, you need to get us some more machinists. We need to prep another two thousand acres to plant for next year.”

“Ah Bruce, about that, we’re doing more,” Paul admitted.

“How much more?” Bruce asked.

“Oh I don’t know, I was thinking three thousand acres,” Paul said. “With another thousand for hay,” he added.

“Paul, that’s a lot of the area we have inside,” Bruce said.

“Oh, we aren’t planting inside the base unless we have to. In phase three we are building some really big green houses and will have a thousand acres of corn; we’ll also start an orchard about the same size but I want our main growing areas outside,” Paul said.

“Why outside?” Bruce asked.

“People like just walking around, Bruce. I want to plant some more trees so people can enjoy it here,” Paul told him.

“Sounds good,” Bruce replied, and then continued for another two hours on the preparations. It was 2200 when he finished. Everyone left and Bruce told Angela and Stephanie he would be up in a second, and then walked out onto the patio. They tried to follow him but Bruce shook his head no.

Outside, Bruce smiled, looking up at the night sky. “I love you baby and miss you. I just want you to know those two are driving me insane,” he said. Hearing the door open and close behind him, Bruce prepared himself to start shouting as he spun around and saw Mike.

“Whoa dude, it’s just me,” Mike said, seeing the look on Bruce’s face.

“Sorry Mike,” Bruce said and turned back around.

“Hey, if you want me to, I’ll go back inside,” Mike offered.

“No, that’s alright.”

“Bruce, you looked like you were getting ready to take my head off,” Mike said.

“I thought you were Angela and Stephanie,” Bruce told him.

“What the hell did they do?” Mike asked, trying to think of anything they could’ve done to Bruce.

“Mike, they stay up my ass. They leave me little love notes everywhere,” Bruce admitted.

Mike laughed, “Bruce, you’re newlyweds,” he said as the door opened again. They both turned and saw Nancy come out.

“I’m sorry guys,” Nancy said and started to go back inside.

“It’s okay Nancy, come on over,” Bruce said, and Mike snapped his head back to Bruce in shock. “Dude, she let me watch you attack her as she wore high heels. You’re lucky she wears the damn things at all.”

“I’m not that bad,” Mike said.

“Shit, I’ve felt safer in a firefight. I swear if you would’ve looked at me, I’d have cut ya,” Bruce admitted.

“Brother, until Nancy told me later I never knew you were there,” Mike informed him.

“I threw away all of Debbie’s high heels the next day,” Bruce told him.

“Why?” Mike asked.

“I didn’t want you to hurt her.”

“I wouldn’t have touched Debbie,” Mike told him.

“I could have cared less about you having sex with her. I’m surprised Nancy’s pelvis hasn’t broke,” Bruce said.

“I’m sorry Bruce, but Nancy is really sexy in heels,” Mike told him.

“Thank you baby,” Nancy said. “Now what’s wrong Bruce, since Mike beat me out here?” Mike told her what Bruce had told him. Nancy smiled. “Bruce, they love you and I do have to say I feel kind of sorry for you. Without Debbie here to help them out, they are flying blind, so to speak. They are great friends and love each other as well. I’m surprised they haven’t started the ‘who loves who more,’” Nancy said, and Bruce just looked at her.

“I don’t even go there Nancy,” Bruce told her.

“Do you love them Bruce?” Nancy asked.

“Honestly? Yes I do.”

“You damn well better after the look you had on your face this afternoon,” Mike said.

“That’s different,” Bruce replied.

Mike sighed. “Bruce, I was there. You were getting ready to jump them on the table in the command bunker.”

“Mike, they’ve been studying weapons because I like them. They started spitting out stats on the Spooky and Strike Eagle. Holy shit, is that sexy,” Bruce admitted.

“Yeah, I have to agree with ya there,” Mike agreed.

“Forget it Mike, I learned football for you,” Nancy snapped.

“See, but you like it now.”

“It’s not my fault there’s no more football,” Nancy said.

“That’s what I mean. They’re learning weapons systems just for me,” Bruce said.

“Then what’s the problem?” Nancy asked.

“I don’t know which one I love more and I can’t hurt either one,” Bruce told her.

“Okay, why do you have to hurt one?” Nancy asked, smiling.

“Hello, there are two of them,” Bruce said.

“He can count,” Nancy said to Mike.

“Yeah, he just learned, I’m proud,” Mike said, putting his arm over her shoulders.

Bruce just growled at them. “What if one thinks I love the other more, who should I kiss first, did I write this note the same as the others,” he said.

“I understand,” Nancy said, smiling as Bruce sighed. “You don’t want either to think you love one more than the other. Why don’t you tell me which of your kids you love the most. I’ll shoot the others,” Nancy told him.

Bruce stepped back. “Why do you want to shoot my babies?” he asked in alarm.

“Well, since you can only love one I don’t want the others hurt,” Nancy told him.

“It’s not the same,” Bruce told her. “Sometimes I wish I could slap Debbie for those two.”

Mike balled his fist up. “Say something like that again and we go down,” Mike snapped.

“Dude, chill,” Bruce said.

“Bruce, I asked Debbie about those two and which one she thought you would choose. She said one, both, or neither. She didn’t care as long as you came back. She did what few can; prepare the one we love for our loss. That was how much love she had for you and this family,” Mike told him.

“I know Mike, but I can’t choose one or both,” Bruce said.

“Why don’t you tell them?” Mike asked.

“I don’t want to hurt them,” Bruce admitted.

“And why can’t you love both?” Nancy asked.

“One might think I love the other one more,” Bruce reminded her.

“So you still want me to kill all but one of your kids?” Nancy asked.

Mike laughed, “It’s because you had sex with them,” he blurted out.

“What’s that got to do with it?” Bruce accused.

“Bruce, Debbie told me that was when she knew she had you. This is the same thing, you’re bonded with them,” Mike said.

Bruce gritted his teeth. “You know, I’m glad Debbie felt the desire to tell everyone our life story. I have two upstairs now reading her damn journals. They know every detail of what took Debbie years to learn.”

“I’m glad she did because we would’ve lost ya,” Mike admitted.

“You don’t know that,” Bruce said.

“Yes I do. When we attacked Warren’s camp, it felt so good I was ready to roll with you across the land but I made a promise. I promised Debbie I wouldn’t follow you,” Mike told him.

“Alright, I’ll give you that,” Bruce admitted.

“So what’s the problem?” Nancy asked. Bruce just looked at her. “Bruce, can’t you count past two?”

Taking a deep breath, Bruce looked down. “I’m an old fart and they’re hot young mamas,” he tried to explain.

“Oh, now that you turned forty-one you’re ready for the retirement home,” Nancy noted with a nod.

Bruce’s head snapped up. “You can go inside now,” he said.

“I’m just trying to help. If you’re that old and decrepit, the girls need to learn how to change you,” Nancy told him.

“You’re supposed to be helping me.”

“I am,” Nancy replied. “Do you love them?” she asked again.

“I answered that question.”

“Okay Bruce, I will tell you something then. If you love something, set it free. If it comes back it was yours to begin with,” Nancy told him.

“And if it doesn’t come back, hunt it down and kill it right?” Bruce asked.

“No, that’s the demented boy version,” Nancy said. “Tell them how you feel, that you don’t want to hurt them and they need to be free.” She leaned in close to him. “Then you will know if they are there for you and not the promise,” she whispered.

Bruce staggered back, looking at Nancy like she was possessed. “H-How—” he tried to say.

Nancy put her hand on his mouth. “No matter what they choose, Bruce, Mike and I will stay by your side. You won’t be alone,” she promised him.

“Thank you Nancy,” Bruce said and hugged her. Then he hugged Mike. “See ya tomorrow, brother.”

“Love ya brother,” Mike said as Bruce walked inside. Then he looked at Nancy. “That sounded an awful lot like Debbie. How did you know that being alone is Bruce’s fear?” Mike asked.

“Debbie told me.”

“That’s what all that was about?” Mike asked.

“No, that’s what Debbie asked me to do. She said Bruce would believe the only reason those two would stay with him was because of their promise to Debbie. He doesn’t want them to feel obligated because of the promise they gave her.”

“I can understand that,” Mike said.

Nancy glared at him. “Boys give me such a headache,” she confessed.

“Nancy, they gave their word, that’s their bond,” Mike told her.

“Mike, I know Debbie told you that she told both Angela and Stephanie if they were unhappy they should leave Bruce.”

“Yes, she said that,” Mike said.

“Mike, they were willing to follow him into hell a few months ago. Not for an oath but because they love him. Bruce needs to see that. I’ve been trying to get him to talk about it for months and you finally fit him in your schedule for five minutes and he opens up,” Nancy snapped at him.

“You could’ve told me,” Mike accused.

“I wanted to do it by myself,” Nancy said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Well you did. There’s no way in hell I could’ve got him to do that,” Mike said.

“Really?” Nancy asked with a shocked smile.

“Really baby, only you could’ve done that,” Mike assured her.

“Come on baby, let’s go for a walk,” Nancy said, leading Mike by the hand.

Thinking about what had been said, Bruce walked upstairs and stopped at the door. He took several deep breaths and walked in. Angela and Stephanie were sitting on the end of the bed holding hands, both with tears on their faces. Bruce looked on the bed and didn’t see the kids. “Where are the babies?” he asked.

“We asked Danny and Buffy to watch them. We know you’re mad at us and we didn’t want them here,” Stephanie said.

“Whatever we did, we’re sorry Bruce. It’s because we flew out to the field, isn’t it? That was all me, you can’t be mad at Stephanie for that,” Angela said, tears running down her face.

“No Bruce, I agreed with her, you were doing stupid stuff and we didn’t want you to get hurt,” Stephanie cried out, tears pouring out of her eyes.

“What?” Bruce was confused.

Seeing Bruce’s face, Angela asked, “It’s not that? Then it must be because I told Stephanie we needed to check on you in the shop,” she said.

“No Bruce, I told her it wasn’t good for you to be by yourself,” Stephanie sobbed.

“Huh,” Bruce said, not understanding what the hell they were talking about.

“You’re mad because we won’t leave you alone!” Stephanie cried out.

“No, well, sometimes,” Bruce admitted.

They both wailed out. “Bruce, we’re sorry, we’ll leave you alone,” Angela said.

“Wait!” Bruce snapped, causing both of them to jump. “I’m sorry but I have to tell you two something,” he said. Angela and Stephanie held each other’s hands tight. “I love you both so much—” Bruce started talking and pacing in front of them. At the speed he was talking it sounded like loud yammering. The girls stopped crying to watch him. For ten minutes he continued blabbering and pacing back and forth, then Bruce looked at them. “I mean look at you two. You’re both beautiful and I’m an old fart. You understand?” he asked them.

Since he’d been talking a hundred miles an hour till he asked them that question, they both shook their head no. “Come on, I mean sometimes I think, who do I kiss first so one is not mad? Or did I hurt her feelings because I didn’t pick on her today—” and Bruce started talking real fast again and continued pacing.

Stephanie leaned into Angela. “What’s he saying?” she asked.

“I don’t know but it’s important,” Angela told her as Bruce kept pacing and speaking gibberish.

As he paced back and forth, they turned their heads to follow him, trying to understand what he was saying. Finally after fifteen minutes he stopped and looked at them again. “So that’s what I mean. I can’t choose either of you, I love you both. I don’t want you to stay because you gave your word,” Bruce finally got it out, feeling like the world had lifted off his shoulders.

Angela and Stephanie just stared at him in shock. Stephanie stood up. “You mean you can’t choose either of us because you love both of us and you think we’re here just because we gave our word to Debbie to watch over you and the kids? Then you think because you’re older, that should play a part in this?” she asked for clarification.

“Well yeah, in a condensed version,” Bruce said, thinking he had just taken forever to explain the same thing.

“Wha— How-n-sh—” Stephanie tried to say, throwing her hands in the air.

“What she’s trying to say is we’re here because we love you, not because of our promise. We could keep our promise being a part of your life and not in it. As far as choosing, you can choose both of us or neither. We have been through too much for that!” Angela finished in a shout.

Bruce stepped back as Stephanie found her words. “I’ve never truly been happy until Debbie brought me into this marriage. I’ve loved you since I met you and you think the promise is the only reason I would stay!” Stephanie screamed.

“So you’re staying for me?” Bruce asked, shocked.

“I’m going to hit you so hard you’re going to spit teeth out!” Stephanie shouted, balling up her fist and watching Bruce jump back. If the dresser wasn’t blocking him Bruce would’ve moved further back.

“I’m sorry but I didn’t want y’all stuck with an old fart because you gave your word. I mean you two are beautiful, smart, and totally cool to be around. You know I’m just Bruce,” he told them as his eyes misted over.

“What?!” they both shouted.

“Well yeah, look at y’all,” Bruce told them.

Angela jumped off the bed and walked up to Bruce. “Would you be happy without us? I want to know the truth,” she demanded.

“I’ll survive,” Bruce said honestly.

“I want the truth. Would you be happy?” she shouted.

“No,” Bruce told her.

“So we could leave here tonight and you could survive?” Angela asked.

“Yes,” Bruce replied, feeling really sad.

“If we left here tonight we could survive too,” Angela said as Stephanie stepped up beside her. “But surviving is not living,” she finished.

“So both of you want to stay with this old fart?” Bruce asked.

“Say that again and I swear I’ll pick up something and hit you,” Angela threatened.

“We will stay with you Bruce no matter what, but only if you want us to. If you would be happy without us we’ll leave,” Stephanie said.

Bruce smiled, “Surviving ain’t living.”

“I want to hear you say you want both of us through thick or thin,” Angela told him.

“I want both of you to stay with me through thick or thin,” Bruce said and they lunged at him, wrapping their arms around him.

“Just to let you know if you would’ve left, I would’ve hit you over the head with a bat, tied you up and put you in the closet,” Stephanie told him, crying.

“I could live with that,” Bruce admitted, squeezing them tight.

“I would’ve snuck you food but I wouldn’t have let you go,” Angela whispered.

“That’s even better. I’m sorry I hurt your feelings. I had to know,” Bruce said.

“Boys make my head hurt,” Stephanie admitted.

“Me too,” Bruce said.

“You’re a boy,” Stephanie pointed out.

“Doesn’t mean a thing,” Bruce said as he picked them up and put them in the bed. As he undressed he looked on the nightstand. Jane’s Small Arms Guide and Jane’s Tank Guide were sitting on it. Looking on the other side of the bed he saw Aircraft and Artillery. “You two don’t have to learn weapons just for me,” Bruce told them.

“Bruce, I thought you were crazy at first but they are so cool,” Stephanie said. “I mean, did you know the smaller the Uzi got the higher the rate of fire went up?” she pointed out.

“Yeah Bruce, I have to admit the Abrams is so damn cool, to hit a tank three miles away and kill it in one shot. That’s so awesome,” Angela said.

“You two need to stop talking about weapons like that,” Bruce warned.

“Bruce, no way, we just learned about artillery. You know the M777 can—” Stephanie tried to say.

“I mean it, you need to stop,” Bruce warned her.

“Okay Bruce, but you have to let us shoot the MRLS—” Angela started to say but Bruce dove in the bed.

“I warned you,” he said but they didn’t care. The decision had been made.

Chapter 15

Bruce woke up the next morning and crawled out from between the two. He kissed both of them as they murmured sleepily and went to the bathroom and showered. Stepping out of the bathroom, Bruce went to his nightstand, well, Stephanie’s because they made him sleep in the middle. He pulled out his notebook and took out two sheets of paper. He folded two origami cranes and wrote Stephanie on one and Angela on the other. Setting the cranes on the bathroom sink, Bruce grabbed his gear and headed for the family gym. Very few of the clan used it since it was small and that suited Bruce just fine.

Walking in, he didn’t see anyone and smiled. Hanging his gear on the wall, Bruce started stretching and heard the door open and close behind him. ‘Oh well, I knew it was too good to last,’ he thought. Turning around he found Danny and Buffy looking at him with their arms crossed across their chest. Both of them had a pissed-off look on their faces.

“What are you two mad about?” Bruce asked, putting on his workout gloves.

“You, acting like an asshole!” Danny yelled.

Bruce looked up. “You better watch your mouth little girl,” he warned.

“I heard yelling for almost two hours last night!” Danny screamed. “Angela and Stephanie have stood by your side no matter what stupid shit you pulled. They’ve done their damnedest to take care and love you. What do you do? Treat them like shit! I heard them crying!” Danny screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Danny, it’s taken care of,” Bruce said.

Danny dropped her hands by her side. “Daddy, I love you with all my heart but if you hurt them after what they’ve put up with and stayed by your side, I’m going to pop you. I know you can take me easily but damn it, you’ll know I was here,” she said.

“Girl, I’ll put you through that wall,” Bruce warned her.

“Don’t care, I told them I loved them because they proved to me that they loved you. I told ‘em I would stand beside them at all cost. That’s what I’m fixing to do,” Danny said, bending her knees and getting ready to fight.

Bruce looked at Buffy. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I’m goin’ to help her,” Buffy told him. Seeing Danny getting ready to fight, Buffy did the same.

“Little light in the ass to step in those shoes aren’t ya?” Bruce asked her.

“Don’t care, Daddy. When Mama Angela and Mama Stephanie are by you, you don’t look or feel sad. Mama told me sometimes we have to suffer pain for the ones we love. We’re willing to take some to make you see they love you and for you to quit being nasty to them,” Buffy told him.

A lump caught in Bruce’s throat. “Girls, it’s taken care of,” he assured them.

“Dad, I swear if you threw them out I’m leaving and I’ll not talk to you again,” Danny told him.

“No Danny, they’re upstairs in the bed asleep. It’s taken care of,” Bruce said.

Danny stood up straight. “We heard yelling and screaming,” she blurted out.

“That was the working out part,” Bruce told her.

“Working out part?” Buffy asked with a confused look.

“Yeah. I thought they were staying with me because they promised your mother. I didn’t want them to think they had to stay with me for that. They are two young women and I’m now over forty years old,” Bruce told her.

Danny looked at him with a shocked, flat expression. “You really doubted they loved you just for you?” she asked in a monotone.

“I knew they loved me Danny, but not just for being me,” Bruce told her.

“Dad, sometimes you’re so smart, then other times, you can be so dumb,” she said.

“Well I’m so sorry that I’m human, sweet pea,” Bruce said sarcastically.

“So everything is okay then?” Buffy asked.

“You could say that,” Bruce replied.

“It is or isn’t,” Danny demanded.

Bruce raised up his workout shirt. “They put hickeys on my chest,” he showed them.

“Oh Dad that’s gross,” Danny turned around, crying out. Buffy just sat down on a workout bench.

“I have a headache,” she said, rubbing her temples.

Danny walked over to Buffy and patted her back. “You’ve scarred her, Dad, and probably given her a brain tumor showing her that,” Danny told him.

“Hey, you asked,” Bruce informed her.

Danny walked over to Bruce and hugged him. Buffy stood up and followed, wrapping her arms around both of them. “Dad, I don’t like seeing you hurt yourself and those two love you and make you happy. They deserve you, Daddy,” Danny said.

“Thank you sweet pea, it means a lot to hear that from you,” Bruce told her.

Buffy looked up at him. “Daddy, I’m sorry I was going to try to hit you. I just like seeing you happy,” she said.

“You’re forgiven,” Bruce told her as they let him go. They kissed him and headed for the door.

“What, you two are just going to leave?” Bruce asked.

Danny turned around, “No, Jake and Steve are outside the door waiting to come in after you knocked us out. They were going to continue until Buffy and I got back up to help them,” Danny told him. Bruce just looked at her in disbelief. “What? We drew straws and Buffy and I won. We figured with just two of us you wouldn’t hit as hard,” she confessed. Danny opened the door and waved the boys in and told them what had been said.

They all walked back over to Bruce. “Boys, you were going to fight your dad?” Bruce asked, not believing what he was saying.

“Fight for what you believe in Dad, and I believe those two are good for you,” Jake told him as he wrapped his arms around his dad.

Steve wrapped his arms around both of them. “Dad, we know they will never replace Mom, but they have proven they are part of this family, and family first,” Steve said.

Bruce hugged them and stepped back with tears on his face as he smiled. “Well at least my other kids aren’t here to beat some sense in me,” he said and Jake grinned. Bruce looked at him. “What?” he asked.

“They’re inside the house waiting on you. They have baseball bats,” Jake told him.

“Bats?” Bruce asked with a worried expression.

“We figured one of us could knock some sense in you,” Steve admitted. Bruce hugged all of them and went to grab his gear. “What about your workout, Dad?” Steve asked.

“Too tired now,” Bruce said. “Come on, let’s eat.” They walked out together and he led them to the Center.

They walked in and Bruce saw Angela and Stephanie with the kids at the table. The twins took off running at Bruce, latching on each leg. Bruce picked them up and Cade hit his leg. Bending down, Bruce picked him up too and started giving out kisses. PJ was yelling in his highchair that he couldn’t get out, he wanted some too.

Buffy sat down and looked at her dad. “The twins are so bad. They don’t like anyone getting Daddy’s lovin’ but them,” she said.

Jake looked over at her. “Buffy, Danny used to trip me when we would run to hug Daddy.”

“Well, they’re little girls, I can’t like push them down,” Buffy said as Bruce walked to his spot, putting kids in their chairs. He walked over and gave PJ some love then sat down. PJ started hitting his highchair telling Daddy that wasn’t enough.

Bruce grabbed Angela and Stephanie’s hands and squeezed them. “That was a short workout baby. But I’m glad you worked out with the kids,” Stephanie told him.

“Never pushed any iron,” Bruce admitted.

“Why?” Angela asked.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Bruce replied. They just looked at him. Taking a deep breath, Bruce told them what had happened. When he finished, Angela and Stephanie turned to the kids.

Danny looked back at them. “I told you if you took care of my Daddy I would always have your back. If I have your back then we all do,” she told them as the door to the Center opened. Mike’s kids and Mindy walked in, and several of them were indeed carrying bats. Danny said, “It’s okay, it’s taken care of.” They all breathed a sigh of relief.

Mindy took off towards Bruce at a dead run and threw something on the table before wrapping her arms around him, almost turning his chair over. Bruce put his arms around her and Mindy started crying and climbed in his lap. Rubbing her head, Bruce looked on the table to see what Mindy had thrown down and saw a Taser. Bruce’s eyes widened in surprise, then he looked up at Jake and Danny with skepticism. Jake shook his head, “Sorry Dad but you were going to listen one way or the other,” he said firmly. Mindy was wailing on Bruce’s chest, soaking his shirt with her tears.

Danny shrugged her shoulders with a meek smile. “Mindy drew the short straw,” Danny told him.

Bruce started laughing and raised Mindy up to look her in the face. “It’s okay, I’m glad to know you love me that much,” he said.

Mindy smiled and wiped her eyes, then climbed out of his lap. “I didn’t want to do it but I would’ve,” she said, wiping her face with her forearm.

“Well I’m glad you didn’t,” Bruce said as she walked over to David and sat down.

Angela and Stephanie jumped up and ran to the kids, hugging them and covering each of their faces with kisses as Mike and Nancy came in. “We so missed out on something important,” Nancy told Mike as they sat down at the table. Matt was telling them what had happened as the rest of the clan came in for breakfast.

“Damn, talk about ‘goin’ to make someone listen,’” Mike said when Matt had finished. Angela and Stephanie sat back down with tears still on their faces. “How did you convince the kids to not try to take you down?” Mike asked.

“Showed them the hickeys the girls put on me last night,” Bruce told him. Stephanie and Angela looked at Bruce in shock.

“You showed them the hickeys?” Angela gasped.

“Not all of them,” Bruce assured her. They both sighed with relief as Danny looked down at Bruce.

“I really didn’t need to hear that, Dad,” she said flatly.

“Hey, y’all were the ones fixin’ to make me ride the lightning,” Bruce told her. He picked up his coffee mug and was taking a drink when he heard a scream from across the Center.

“Daddy!”

Looking up, Bruce saw Marty climbing over his table and jumping off. “Daddy!” he screamed again. Bruce looked on the other side of the hall in the direction Marty was running and saw several pilots in flight suits. They were all turned looking toward Marty when Bruce saw one man’s eyes get wide.

“Marty,” he said as Marty came running across the hall for everything he was worth. “Marty!” the man yelled out and took off running at Marty. Marty jumped up and the man caught him as Marty wrapped his arms around his neck and folded his legs around him. They were both crying as the man’s legs gave out and he collapsed to the floor holding Marty. The Center was silent except for the sounds of the father and son.

Bruce looked around the command table and Nancy spoke, “He was one of the pilots that Mike’s team rescued in Pine Bluff.”

Millie was standing by the command table fixing to pass out plates, and like everyone else was watching the happy reunion. Looking up at her, Bruce saw she had tears on her face. “Millie, would you find a place for them, they can have two of our plates. I think they have some catching up to do,” Bruce told her.

Millie put down his plate. “They can bring them food,” Millie told him and turned around. “Alright y’all, let them have a spot to sit down. Someone in the kitchen bring out two plates. Marty likes his oatmeal with some honey and a glass of orange juice. Bring it out here fast, don’t be makin’ me come and get it,” she warned. Then Millie started shooing people away.

Bruce stood up. “I’m taking today off so that means all of y’all are too. The pond that was down the road were we went crawfishing is now on the base. Get dressed and meet me at the shop. Buffy, invite Julie. Cole, you and your wife join us. And Mike, don’t even think about chasing Nancy with a crawfish,” Bruce warned. Mike had a smile on his face but it fell off hearing that.

“Bruce, she’s my wife, I can tease her about crawfish,” Mike protested.

“Thank you Bruce,” Nancy told him, then stuck her tongue out at Mike.

Bruce shook his head no. “Mike, the last time we went crawfishing you chased Nancy up a tree threatening to put a crawfish down her shirt,” Bruce reminded him.

“I wouldn’t really do it,” Mike said.

“Like hell! You threw a cup full of the ugly bastards on me in the truck on the way home!” Nancy yelled. Mike was straining not to laugh as were his kids. “It’s not funny, I almost jumped out of the truck while you were driving,” Nancy told him.

“Ah Mom, the only reason you didn’t jump out of the truck is Mary was holding the door closed and you were still trying to bite her hands to get them off the door,” Matt told her. Nancy blushed and the crowd at the table laughed.

“I’m sorry I bit you Mary,” Nancy told her.

“It’s okay Mom, we know you like to eat them but don’t like being in close proximity to them when they’re still alive,” Mary said.

Nancy turned to Bruce. “Bruce, if Mike tortures me like that again will you prank his ass?” she asked. Mike stopped laughing as a look of fear came to his face.

“That’s not fair, baby,” he said.

“Huh, you say,” Nancy told him.

Finally able to speak, Bruce looked at the table. “Okay guys, get dressed and that means all the command group. Any member not ready to leave in twenty minutes will face two weeks of pranks by me,” Bruce announced. Willie jumped up and grabbed his wife under one arm and his son under the other and took off running out to the Center. His wife was yelling for Willie to put her down as he bolted out the door.

“That man has bad memories,” Ted announced as he stood up with Carl and led their girlfriends out.

Millie came over to the table carrying her spoon. “Bruce, what did ya do to Willie?” she asked.

“Nothing. I told him he was taking today off with the family and command group. I just told him if he didn’t I was starting another war with him,” Bruce told her.

Millie looked at him and smiled. “If he don’t take today off with ya I’ll helps ya,” she promised.

Bruce laughed and hugged Millie. “Millie, I want you to get ready to start a crawfish boil for the evening,” he said.

Pushing him back, Millie looked at him. “Bruce, theys over five thousand here now,” she told him.

“Millie, the last time we harvested that pond we had over three hundred pounds in two hours. The only reason we stopped is because Mike wouldn’t quit chasing Nancy with the crawfish,” Bruce said.

“Mike, you leave her alone,” Millie snapped, looking at Mike, then turned back to Bruce. “I ain’t seen a crawfish hole like that in a long time, Bruce,” Millie told him.

“Well get your shit, girlfriend, but I want you to wear a string bikini,” Bruce told her.

Millie took a step back. “Bruce, they would runs away then,” she said primly.

“I wouldn’t,” Bruce told her. Millie laughed and hugged Bruce and left to get ready. Bruce looked at the table and the only people left were Carroll and Marcus. “What are you two waiting on?” he asked.

“We ready, Bruce,” Carroll told him.

Bruce smiled and grabbed his gear. If Carroll said they were ready he wasn’t going to argue. Leaving the Center, Bruce jogged to the house and ran upstairs to find the kids and mamas in a panic to get dressed. Stripping down, Bruce grabbed some shorts, a shirt, and rubber boots. Putting them on he helped the kids and grabbed the baby SCAR and his shoulder bag of magazines. Looking up he saw Stephanie and Angela walking out with the kids.

They all had on cut-off blue jean shorts, t-shirts, and rubber boots, except PJ. He refused to hold still so Stephanie just carried his boots as he followed barefoot. When they reached the shop, Jake and Matt had pulled the trucks around and were putting the nets and bait in the back of Bruce’s and Mike’s truck. Bruce jumped in his truck as everyone piled in a vehicle. Pulling out of the farm, the line of vehicles followed Bruce.

“Ah Bruce, just how do you catch crawfish?” Angela asked.

“It’s easy Angela, and I promise you that you will love it,” Stephanie answered, trying to keep PJ from climbing out the window.

“You’ve been?” Angela asked.

“Yes, I’ve been with them before. It is a lot of fun, granted I can do without the snakes though,” Stephanie told her.

“Snakes?” Angela asked.

“Yes Angela, we’re going to be at a pond with a bayou beside it. I can say that two years ago I saw the biggest water moccasin ever,” Stephanie told her.

Buffy stood up in the back seat. “I want some hand grenades,” she announced.

“Buffy, just keep your eyes open,” Bruce told her.

Giving Bruce an unsure look, Buffy said, “Daddy, I don’t like snakes.”

“Then leave them alone,” Bruce replied. Dropping down in the seat, Buffy pulled up her M-4. “Buffy, you don’t use an automatic weapon on a snake,” Bruce told her.

“Watch me,” she replied.

Before Bruce could answer Angela piped in, “Buffy, don’t worry I will open up with you on any we see.”

Shaking his head, Bruce pulled off the road to the pond. Getting out, he walked up to the pond. The shallow water looked like it was boiling with all the crawfish in it. Millie walked up beside Bruce.

“My word, look at that!” she cried out.

Marcus and Carroll came over to look. “That’s a sight, ain’t it,” Marcus said.

“Just be careful, guys. With all the gators around I’m sure a few have found this pond,” Bruce warned.

Marcus looked at the pond and pointed. “Yeah, there’s one and it looks kinda big,” he said. Just then the water around the gator erupted in a geyser of white water. From behind them they heard over a dozen suppressed weapons firing on full auto.

Turning around, Bruce saw all the family along with Paul lowering weapons. “A little overkill don’t you think?” Bruce asked.

“Don’t say anything to them Bruce, I was fixin to shoot a grenade at it,” Mike informed him, looking at the dead gator floating in the water.

Walking over to his truck, Bruce pulled out the nets and started setting them up. In an hour they threw out fifty nets and no sooner had they put them in than they were hauling them out. In thirty minutes they had every five-gallon bucket full. Bruce started emptying them in the bed of his truck. In two hours his bed was full and they started on Mike’s truck bed.

True to her word, Buffy saw a water moccasin and emptied a whole magazine at it, cutting it in half. PJ tried to catch a big crawfish that was crawling around and it grabbed his hand. PJ took off screaming with Stephanie chasing him. When she caught up to him, she had to tackle him to get the crawfish off and PJ didn’t want to play with the evil creatures anymore.

Marcus came over and showed PJ how to hold them so they couldn’t pinch him. With his newfound powers, PJ then wouldn’t leave the damn things alone. Joe and Harry drove the trucks back and emptied them in a metal tub that was used to water cattle. Stephanie and Angela left to do their broadcast at noon, and lunch was brought down to the group and they sat down in the shade.

Adam sat down by Ted and Carl. “Isn’t this taking advantage of your position? Taking time off?” he asked.

Carl looked at him, shaking his head. “Cole, when you’re on the command group, you work twice as hard and twice as long. Everyone at this base gets at least one day a week off plus nights. We don’t. If Bruce is going then so are we. In case you haven’t figured it out, we are still working. This is to feed the clan,” he told him.

“I only meant that this work seems like a lot of fun,” Adam replied.

“Adam, we are living here not just surviving. If Bruce wants us to catch crawfish we catch crawfish. He wants us to attack a horde we attack. Moral of the story, do what he tells you. Bruce never asks anyone to do something he wouldn’t do,” Ted said.

“Guys, I’m not being judgmental. For the last year I’ve been living a hell on earth. I’m not talking about the infection either. I’ve watched Homeland kill entire families for nothing more than they wanted to leave the compound. Some of my own men have been shot by them,” Adam told them.

Carl shook his head. “I know brother, but that is what we are fighting so hard for. So we can have the real America back that started over two hundred years ago,” he replied.

“I hope so,” Adam said, then looked at Carl. “Why am I here? I’m not on the command group,” he asked.

“So Bruce can watch you, dumbass,” Ted replied. Shock spread over Adam’s face. Ted shook his head. “Dude, you just came here from one of our biggest threats. He’s just making sure you’re on the up and up,” Ted said.

“Ted, how does he know if I’m a spy or not?” Adam asked.

“If you are he will know, and let me tell you, if you are, I’ll cap you myself,” Ted answered.

Adam chuckled, “Brother, if I could, I’d go up there and kill the Homeland boys and the remaining government just to give this place a chance,” he swore.

“I know, and I think Bruce does too, but you dissed his family, brother, and he wants to protect you until they see you as part of the clan,” Carl told him.

Adam just looked at Carl. “Dude, they’re kids,” he said.

“Brother, you haven’t seen shit yet. The only one over there that can’t take you in hand-to-hand is Buffy, and the only reason is she hasn’t trained as long as the others. The same for Angela and Stephanie but give them another year. Now I will tell you this, Buffy will pull her knife on you and cut you good. She has killed men with her knife so wipe that smirk off your face!” Carl snapped at Adam. Adam jumped back from the bark.

Ted leaned over to Adam. “He’s not kidding bro. Buffy was a hair’s breadth from capping you yesterday. Danny was going to beat you to death with her bare hands. I don’t even want to know what Nancy was going to do to ya,” Ted informed him.

“You’re serious,” Adam said.

Ted shook his head at Adam. “I’m going to prove a point to ya. I’m calling Jake over here. Out of all of them he has the most control. You should know he is the best sniper I’ve ever seen. If I were to call one of the girls you would have to be carried home,” Ted said. Adam shrugged his shoulders and chuckled.

Ted just looked at him with disappointment. “Jake, will you come over here for a minute?” Ted yelled out.

“He’s a young man, I don’t want to hurt him since I’m already on probation,” Adam said as Jake started over.

“Dude, you better get your ass up because when I talk to him he is going to monkey stomp your ass,” Ted replied. Adam stared at Ted as he stood up. Jake walked up and Ted turned to look at him. “Hey Jake, just wanted to let you know Adam thinks you’re a pansy ass pussy and Mary has the dick in your marriage,” Ted told Jake.

Adam never saw the chop to his neck that made his world go fuzzy. Wobbling on his feet, he felt both of his thighs explode in pain as Jake snapped out kicks to both of them. Sinking down to his knees, Adam felt a hundred horses start kicking him in the chest. When he tried to raise his arms up Adam felt like lightning struck them as they went numb. Then he felt what he would swear for years to come was the earth hit him in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Adam couldn’t breathe or scream. He felt his body being flipped then his right arm shot pain through his body that made the fuzziness in his head go away.

Jake was on Adam’s back with Adam’s right arm in an arm bar. Jake held the arm bar with his right arm then started raining down finger strikes on Adam’s back. Air found its way to Adam’s lungs but before he could yell, Jake palm-punched his back, knocking the air back out.

Ted leaned down by Adam’s head and Jake stopped the blows. “Dude, he could have broken both your legs and arms not to mention your rib cage if he wanted to,” Ted told Adam. Bruce came running over with the rest of the family. Looking up, Ted saw them and looked back at Adam. “Dude, if Buffy breaks out Herman just start crying. She wants to cut off a tallywhacker to see if it will crawl around on the ground,” Ted told him. Adam’s eyes became wide seeing the family come over but he couldn’t say anything because his lungs wouldn’t work.

Bruce stopped beside Jake who was still on Adam’s back. “Son, why are you beating the shit out of him?” Bruce asked Jake.

“I’m fixing to skull drag his ass!” Jake yelled out. Bruce took a step back as Ted stood up.

“Jake, he really didn’t say that but he didn’t think you could take him. I knew if you just sparred with him you wouldn’t get the point I wanted across,” Ted told Jake. “That this family is the best team I have ever seen,” Ted said with pride.

Shaking his head, Bruce looked at Ted. “Ted, Jake could’ve really hurt Adam,” he said.

“Some lessons need a little pain and fear. I knew that but had to learn it again in the back of a Stryker with two girls,” Ted said as Carl started laughing.

“Well, I will give you that,” Bruce said, grinning. “Jake, will you let him up please?” Bruce asked.

Jake looked down at Adam. “Did you say that about me?” Jake asked. Adam shook his head no. “Dude, you’re so glad they didn’t do that to Danny. She would be holding your dick right now trying to make you eat it, the same as Mary. We aren’t even going to talk about Mama Nancy,” Jake said, letting Adam’s arm go and standing up.

Struggling to stand up, Adam shook his head to try to clear the fog as Danny walked up to him. Seeing her, Adam raised up his hands. If she could do what Jake could but didn’t feel the need to control it, Adam knew he was heading for a wheelchair. “I’m sorry,” he said in a dry raspy voice.

“You’re really stupid. You could have just sparred with one of us and we could have proved it to you,” Danny told him as Buffy walked up and stood beside her. Adam looked at Buffy and then at her hand and saw a switchblade in it.

The blade popped out and Adam covered his groin. “It doesn’t crawl around if you cut it off,” he said, backing up.

“How will I know unless I cut it off and find out?” Buffy asked in a sassy tone.

Adam was fixing to reply when he felt a punch to the side of his face. Turning to his attacker, Adam saw his wife Karen rearing back and then she punched him in the mouth. “You stupid asshole, this meat eater shit is chapping my ass!” Karen screamed as she launched more punches which Adam took but boy did they hurt. Karen stopped and looked at Nancy. “Can you hit this son of a bitch so it hurts!” she yelled at Nancy.

Nancy grinned and started walking over and Mike grabbed her around the waist. “No baby, that is a private fight,” he told her.

Smiling, Bruce walked over by Adam. “Karen, hold on a second please,” Bruce asked her and she stepped back. Turning to face Adam, Bruce was still smiling. “Do you still think they haven’t earned the right to wear the tab?” Bruce asked.

“I’ll give them one of mine,” Adam said, bending down and putting his hands on his knees, trying to breathe.

“Wondered how long it was going to take you. You are assigned to First Platoon now, my platoon,” Bruce told Adam. Adam just looked up at Bruce and nodded. “Just a word of advice though. Don’t banter them for a while because I can’t keep an eye on you all the time. Danny has Buffy convinced a tallywhacker will crawl around if she cuts it off,” Bruce told Adam and he stood straight up.

“You mean it won’t?” Buffy cried out.

“Don’t listen to him Buffy, it will crawl around like a worm,” Danny assured her. Adam covered his groin as his wife walked over and stood in front of him.

“I should let that girl cut it off. I’m sick of hearing about how bad a man can be!” Karen yelled at him. Karen spun around looking at Nancy. “Teach me to be a bad ass. I want that tab and for Adam to put it on me. Then I’m going to stomp his ass in the dirt!” Karen yelled.

“It would be my honor, Karen,” Nancy told her.

“Baby—” Adam started to say but Karen spun around and hit him in the mouth again.

“If you say I can’t then I will get those girls to cut it off!” Karen yelled.

Adam stood up, rubbing his jaw. “Baby, I was just going to tell you if you want to learn I would teach you. I know you could do it,” he told her.

Karen’s body suddenly relaxed as she looked at Adam. “You really think that?” she asked.

“Hell yeah, you back down from no one,” Adam told her. Karen wrapped her arms around Adam as Joe and Harry pulled back up with Angela and Stephanie.

When Stephanie got out of the truck, PJ ran over to her. Picking PJ up, she saw the crowd and turned to Angela. “We so missed something good,” she said.

“Doesn’t matter, we can watch it on Bruce’s camera,” Angela said as Cade and the twins ran over.

“I love that little camera,” Stephanie said as they walked over.

The group went back to catching crawfish with Buffy and Julie doing a lot of squealing as they hauled in their nets and dumped them in the buckets. Bruce looked at them and walked over to Jimmy who was trying to get all the crawfish off his net.

“They don’t like to come off,” Bruce said.

Jimmy looked up and smiled. “Don’t care, this is a blast. I’ve ate ‘em but never caught them.”

“Where’s your girlfriend at?” Bruce asked.

“She has flight control today,” Jimmy said, putting his nets back out.

“You think about what I said to you?” Bruce asked.

Jimmy looked back at Bruce. “What, about a kid?” Jimmy asked and Bruce nodded. “Well yes I have Bruce, and we are talking to Father Thomas this week about getting married,” Jimmy replied.

“Your net is getting carried off,” Bruce said, pointing at the water. Jimmy turned around to see his net moving away from the bank.

“Shit!” Jimmy yelled as he reached out with his pole and picked up the net. When the net came out of the water, crawfish were stacked on top of the bait with a lot tumbling off.

“You have to stay on your toes when the crawfish are like this,” Bruce said, grinning. “Well I’m happy to hear about the marriage, but do you think you’re ready to be a daddy now,” he asked.

Dumping the net, Jimmy looked up at Bruce. “Bruce, I thought about what you said and I don’t think I will ever be ready for it but I want to try it,” he replied.

“You are so far ahead of the power curve you’ll never know,” Bruce said in response to that answer.

“Huh?” Jimmy said as he set the net back in the water and picked up another one.

“Nothing,” Bruce said. “I want to ask you to think about adopting a kid we have here.”

Jimmy dropped the net he was fixing to dump in the bucket. “Really? You think I’ll make that good of a dad?” he asked.

Seeing several crawfish trying to escape, Bruce knelt down and picked up the crawfish, throwing them in the bucket. When he was finished he looked up at Jimmy. “Yes,” Bruce told him.

Jimmy picked up the net and put it back out in the water. “Who were you thinking about?”

Bruce looked over at Buffy and Julie. “See that little girl playing with Buffy?”

“Who, Julie?” Jimmy asked.

Bruce looked back at Jimmy in shock. “How do you know her?”

“Bruce, she’s always at the flight school, every member of the ground team knows her. She’s our unofficial mascot,” Jimmy replied, smiling.

Bruce grinned, “Yes, Julie is the one I’m asking for.”

Jimmy stared at the two girls playing. “Bruce, I would be honored but I need to talk to the other half. One thing I’ve come to learn, if you do not talk to them about big decisions they get hostile,” he said, turning back to Bruce.

Bruce just shook his head in disbelief. “You learned that while you were still dating. Damn, son, forget the power curve, you’re at the head of the class.”

Jimmy laughed and pulled out another net. “Well to be honest, I got the tip from you. I watched and learned from you.”

“Well at least one of us learned,” Bruce said, putting his hand on Jimmy’s back.

“I’ll tell you this afternoon, fair enough,” Jimmy said and Bruce nodded. Then Bruce went over to Angela and Stephanie to help them pull in nets.

The group continued pulling nets until a scream split the air and everyone looked up and saw Mike chasing Nancy with a crawfish. Angela just shook her head. “That woman needs to nut up. She can fight a horde or a gang but runs from a moving crawfish. Am I missing something here?” she criticized.

“Uh yeah, have you looked at the damn things?” Stephanie asked, watching Mike chase Nancy. “They may taste good but when they move, they look like something out of a horror movie. They just walk backwards with their claws out daring you to try them.” Bruce and Angela slowly turned their heads to Stephanie with astonished looks. Stephanie looked at them. “What, the spawns of the abyss don’t freak y’all out?” she asked.

Bruce and Angela slowly turned to look at each other and they both smiled. Stephanie started backing away. “Don’t you dare,” she warned. Angela and Bruce reached down, each grabbing a crawfish and moving toward Stephanie. Seeing that, Stephanie screamed and took off running.

Millie and Carroll had to stop the torture, and after six truck loads the group stopped at 1600 and headed home. All work was stopped as the clan gathered for a crawfish boil. Bruce and Mike were sitting under a water sprinkler trying to cool off when Marty and his dad walked over. They stopped in front of the two.

Marty’s dad extended his hand. “Bruce, Mike, my name is Jacob,” he said, shaking their hands, the water sprinkler raining down on him. “I just wanted to say thank you for rescuing my boy and me. He told me how he got here and I will always be indebted to you.”

“You don’t owe us anything, brother. Marty has pulled his weight and learned a lot,” Mike said. Bruce just nodded his head, fighting off the urge to jump in the pool.

“Yes I do, and about teaching him, I will never be able to pay that debt off. Thank you,” Jacob said again. Marty and his dad sat down under the sprinkler and talked with Bruce and Mike for a while.

“Bruce, if I didn’t know better I would say you look like you’re trying to cool off like it’s hot out here,” Jimmy said, walking up with his girlfriend.

“Jimmy, I really like you but the sun is trying to exterminate me today. If you keep on, I’ll have to hold you down and spit in your ear,” Bruce warned.

Stepping back, Jimmy laughed. “Bruce, I just wanted to introduce you to my wife-to-be, Monica,” he told him.

Leaning his head back so the water would fall on his face, Bruce said, “Monica, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I hope you beat him at least once a week.”

Monica giggled. “No, I do it at least twice a week,” she replied. Bruce lifted his head up and smiled at them.

“Bruce, I just wanted to tell you Monica agrees with me and we would be honored to adopt Julie,” Jimmy said.

“That’s great!” Marty said, and his dad hushed him.

“Yes it is, Marty,” Bruce said. Mike just stared at him. “I’m not talking to you,” Bruce said.

“What did I do?” Mike asked.

Bruce ignored him as he yelled for Buffy and Julie. They both came over and Buffy jumped in his lap. Julie stood in front of his chair. Julie looked at Buffy in Bruce’s lap with a sadness that everyone saw. Bruce patted his other leg, motioning for Julie to sit down. Julie jumped in his lap and looked up at Bruce. “Julie, did you have fun today?” Bruce asked.

“Yes sir,” she answered.

“Ah Julie, it has come to my attention that you are spending a lot of time down at the flight school,” Bruce said.

Julie looked down. “I don’t bother nobody, sir,” she said softly.

“I didn’t say you did, Julie. They really enjoy you coming down there. They said you help out and watch them,” Bruce told her.

Julie looked up, glad she wasn’t in trouble. “Yes sir, they are super nice to me and teach me how to work on engines, and Mr. Jimmy,” Julie motioned to him, “even has let me in the simulator. I’m not very good though,” she admitted.

“Funny you should mention Jimmy. Julie, do you know Monica?” Bruce asked. Monica was fixing to answer but Julie beat her.

“Oh yeah Mr. Bruce, that’s his girlfriend and they’re going to get married. She said I can carry the flowers,” Julie told him with a beaming smile.

“Well Julie, Jimmy came to me today and asked me something. I can’t do it without your permission,” Bruce told her.

“What, they can’t get married?” Julie exclaimed.

Bruce shook his head. “No Julie, they can get married, but they asked me about asking you to be their daughter. They love you and want you to join their family. I wasn’t sure so I’m asking you,” Bruce told her. Julie froze upon hearing what Bruce said and started sliding off his lap. “Julie, are you okay? You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Bruce told her. Julie shot out of Bruce’s lap like a rocket and launched herself into Monica’s and Jimmy’s arms, almost knocking both of them over.

The three fell down, hugging each other, and Buffy turned to Bruce. “Thank you Daddy, you’re the best,” she said.

“You remember that when the mamas are after me, and take my side,” Bruce told her.

“But Daddy, they outrank you and most of the time you’re in the wrong when they’re yelling at you,” Buffy whined, and Mike fell out of his chair laughing.

“Just every once in a while take my side?” Bruce asked her, kicking Mike’s legs as he continued laughing.

“Okay Daddy,” Buffy said, squeezing him tight. Then she jumped off and went to tell Danny about Julie. Mike crawled back to his chair as Jimmy left with his new family, followed by Marty and his dad.

“You are really a softy,” Mike said when they were alone.

“Tell anyone and I’ll cut out your tongue,” Bruce warned.

“Who would believe me?” Mike said as Angela and Stephanie walked over.

“Bruce, Buffy told us. That was great,” Angela said. Stephanie came closer and threw something on his chest.

Bruce looked down to see two huge crawfish lying there. Looking up at Stephanie, he asked, “What, should I be scared?”

“Told ya he wouldn’t even jump,” Angela said to Stephanie.

“Bruce, they are scary and pinch you,” Stephanie educated him, as she stared at the crawfish.

Bruce picked up the crawfish and stood up. Stephanie got ready to run, then saw Bruce take his shirt off. In horror they watched as Bruce let the crawfish latch onto his nipples. “I think they are cute and make awesome jewelry,” Bruce said, looking up.

“You’re not human,” Stephanie said as Bruce strutted toward her, the crawfish swaying back and forth against his chest.

“Your turn,” Bruce said, grabbing her. Stephanie screamed out and the kids ran to her rescue. They ended up in the pool after that, the clan enjoying the time relaxing and spending time together.

That night Stephanie got her revenge on Bruce. After he fell asleep she slipped out of bed and put on some super fuzzy socks and climbed back into bed. The only part of her plan that backfired was that she’d forgotten about the kids lying on Bruce. When she started rubbing Bruce’s leg with the fuzzy socks, he jumped out of bed, kids flying everywhere as he screamed “Caterpillars!”

Bruce tripped over Max lying on the floor. Looking back at the bed, Bruce saw Stephanie laughing at him. After that he didn’t threaten her with crawfish anymore, well almost never.

Chapter 16

It was five days after the crawfish boil and Bruce was training with Omega. They were on the new gun range in the northwest corner. They were engaging steel targets about the size of human heads at two hundred yards. When the target was shot it would swing around and could be shot again. Fourth Platoon was working on room-clearing tactics in one of the shoot houses that had been built. This was what Omega had done for the last four days straight. Trained.

Yesterday they had gone over Javelins and Stingers. The Javelins would be used to take out the government’s armor and the Stingers would take out the aircraft. Two squads from each platoon were trained to operate an M-1 Abrams in case it came to an armor war, which Bruce doubted. Tomorrow they were working on chopper insertions and air assault again.

When Bruce’s turn came, he moved up to his firing position and brought up his SCAR. When the range officer yelled fire, Bruce started squeezing the trigger, emptying his thirty rounds. His spotter looked at him. “Pretty good sir, twenty-nine hits out of thirty rounds,” he said.

“It’s easy on these, son, they don’t jump around and want to rip you apart,” Bruce told him as he left the line.

Willie walked over to him and Bruce stopped and waited. “What is it, Willie?” Bruce asked.

“Bruce, the men are getting bored. They do this every time we come back. They’re ready for more air-assault training,” Willie told him.

“Well let‘s go for a nice little run first,” Bruce said.

Willie spun around and yelled, “Omega, fall in, on the double!”

Everyone stopped and came running. They formed up in platoons and Bruce looked at the Omega team. The four platoons were facing him and the two support platoons were behind them. Three hundred fighters he was getting ready to take out again. “Omega, I know you are getting bored and I don’t care. I want you to be able to shoot in your sleep. I want your movements to be drilled in so hard, you don’t think, you just do. Now since we are all bored let’s go for a run to show the clan its warriors are total bad asses!” Bruce yelled out.

“Omega!” they yelled back.

Willie moved up to the front. “Omega, right face double time march!” he yelled, and Omega broke into a steady jog. They ran through the farm to cheers from those that saw them. Omega ran to the new city and Bruce looked over and saw another recovery convoy roll in with half of Gamma.

In three days they had brought back over a thousand people from Arkansas and Oklahoma. Gamma had to assist because the blues were still in respectable numbers. In several recoveries, Gamma had to form a circle as the survivors were gathered up. Mike and Nancy were leading them as Bruce got Omega ready to roll again.

Everyone believed that the recovery would be complete in three more days, then Gamma would come home and Omega would leave. They were moving east this time and going after the gang outside of Grenada, Mississippi. At first it was not really known if they were a gang or just a large collection of survivors, so Bruce sent out a scout team and grabbed one of their patrols. When the patrol team saw the Omega symbols they started crying. They told the scout team horror stories they had all heard and seen, confirming it was a gang.

Not every large group they found were gangs. They had found two in Arkansas that were over three hundred and were survivors. One was a religious group that didn’t want to join, and Gamma left them. Then Mike called back and told Bruce he knew where a lot of the military weapons were at, having seen them at the religious compound. Bruce didn’t care because they might be religious nuts but the people there were there by choice and could leave when they wanted. In fact, a few had left with Mike. They confirmed that the only reason they left was that they didn’t like having to go to church every day.

All new members of the clan were on a six-month probation period and given a different colored ID bracelet. They weren’t allowed into the farm or any sensitive areas until they proved themselves to the clan with hard work. Two thousand people moved out of the farm to the new city, which was being called New Hope. The farm was being called Base Hope.

Willie stopped the run inside New Hope, leading the team to the new mess hall and let them go in and eat. Bruce left and walked around, watching the work going on. Then he heard Angela and Stephanie start their noon report over the loudspeakers that played Gopher’s Radio Freedom. Their broadcast was now an hour long. They were never unfriendly to the government but told everyone that here no one was shot for trying to leave. Then they continued to tell their listeners how good life was in New Hope.

With Jake and Matt’s hack into the government site they had real time intel on them and knew the government still allowed the population to listen to the radio. They could even listen to what was said in the government’s command center with a web cam on the main console. When Bruce heard Walker speak he instantly knew it was his old lieutenant. That voice was hard to forget.

Stopping as the convoy unloaded, Bruce watched the survivors walk into the processing center to join the clan. Most looked thin and a few looked very malnourished. Bruce walked over to the guards and asked them to give him a ride over to the radio station. As Bruce was dropped off, Angela and Stephanie walked out.

“Hey, can I have your autograph?” Bruce asked, walking up to them.

“Baby, you can have whatever you want,” Angela said as she pulled him down to kiss him.

Bruce leaned over and kissed Stephanie. “Hey baby, did you and the kids finish training?” she asked.

“Yeah, I came to get you so I can train with you two,” Bruce told them.

“We trained yesterday,” Angela said.

“Well you get to train today also,” Bruce said.

“What the hell are you getting ready for?” Stephanie asked.

Bruce just looked at them and smiled. “You two will be going out with Omega when we leave.”

“Well why didn’t you say so? Let’s go!” Angela said as she climbed in their UTV followed by Stephanie and Bruce.

That evening they picked the kids up at school and went to the Community Center to eat. Bruce dropped down in his chair feeling useless. Today he’d been going to train Angela and Stephanie on heavy weapons, and come to find out they really didn’t need him. It didn’t matter what he pointed at, they could set it up, shoot it, and clean it. Everything from a mini Gatling gun to a 120mm mortar; the only problem they had was that some of the weapon systems were heavy, weighing several hundred pounds, but they wrestled them into place and fired them anyway.

Joe came in and sat down and saw the look on Bruce’s face. “Who shot your dog?” Joe asked.

“Nobody shot my dog,” Bruce replied.

“Well you look like they did,” Joe told him.

“Joe, I took these two out and they already knew how to run every system we have. What the hell do y’all need me for?” Bruce asked.

“Bruce, first these two have been out shooting everything we have for the last six months so why are you surprised. Second, we need you to run this war, nobody else wants to,” Joe told him. Millie sat down the plates and Stephanie started the battle of letting PJ eat. Granted, she was getting better at it, but as food went in his mouth, that much ended up on him as well.

“You’re not proud of us, Bruce?” Angela asked.

“Oh yes, very, but you could’ve told me,” Bruce replied.

“If we would’ve told you, we wouldn’t have got to spend the afternoon with you,” Angela told him.

Thinking about that, Bruce nodded his head. “Well yeah you’re right about that.” Changing the subject, he asked, “What has Gamma reported?”

“Mike said there is no way they will be done in three days. His best guess is a week,” Willie said.

“Told ya,” Bruce replied.

“Bruce, you’re not always right and besides they are bringing in more people than we expected. When Gopher announced that anyone in Arkansas that wanted to be rescued should start a fire outside of their location, the numbers almost tripled,” Willie said.

Bruce harrumphed. “Paul, how is the work coming?”

“Ahead of schedule,” Paul answered between bites.

After supper Bruce stood up. “Omega leaves in seven days. Call Gamma and tell Mike I want him and Nancy back by Friday so we can outline the next excursion,” Bruce said as he pulled out an envelope from his pocket. “Jake, Matt, Danny, and Mary, you will not be going out this time,” he said, and threw the envelope at Jake. “You four have stuff I want done here so don’t bitch.” As usual, Danny jumped up and Bruce held out his hand.

“Danny, don’t start, Daddy’s not in the mood. You will continue your flight training along with the others, and you four will be in charge of the base while Omega is gone,” Bruce said. Shock spread across Danny’s face as she just dropped down in her chair.

“Dad, we don’t need to be in charge. Daddy Mike and Mama Nancy will be here,” Jake said.

“No, they will be out with Gamma,” Bruce said.

“Angela and Stephanie—” Danny started but Bruce interrupted.

“They will be with Omega,” he told her.

“Dad, Steve’s the oldest so he—” Jake started. Bruce held up his hand.

“Steve will be running flight operations for Omega. You four will be in charge of the base. Pick your area that you want to run and work it out. I have the projects I want you four to work on,” Bruce told them.

“That’s so not fair,” Danny said.

“Sorry sweet pea, but you have to learn to command,” Bruce told her. “David, you will be over First Platoon next outing,” Bruce said.

“Ah Bruce, don’t you think putting kids in charge of the base is going to piss some people off?” Bill asked.

“Probably, but I don’t care. I’m in charge and this is what I want to happen,” Bruce said. “If someone doesn’t like it then they can leave. If they pose a problem put them on shit detail. If they are a big problem, execute them,” he added.

“Bruce, they can’t kill our clan members,” Bill said.

“I was talking to you,” Bruce replied. Bill just looked at Bruce. “If they say, ‘do it Bill,’ you will get the whip or the gun. No questions, just do it,” Bruce ordered. Bill was speechless.

“Dad, why can’t Marcus and Carroll be in charge?” Jake asked.

“They will be your advisors and I shouldn’t have to tell you to listen to them. It’s time for y’all to get ready to lead. This war will be long and hard,” Bruce told him.

“Daddy Bruce, how long is Gamma and Omega staying out?” Matt asked.

“Two weeks at the minimum. I will lay out the planned assault area Friday at the command meeting,” Bruce said. He turned back to Joe. “When will the vehicles be ready?”

“They were finished today. We’re just adding some extra stuff now,” Joe answered.

“Extra stuff?” Bruce asked.

Joe grinned. “Well, there were a few extras we thought we needed to add.”

Chuckling, Bruce grabbed PJ from his highchair. “Cade, Emily, and Sherry, come on, let’s go for a walk,” Bruce said. They all got up and followed Bruce from the Center.

Angela looked at Stephanie as she stood up. “We didn’t get invited,” she said.

Grabbing her gear, Stephanie looked at Angela, “Debbie said mamas do what they want,” she said, heading for the door. Angela jumped up and followed. They saw Bruce walking out of the gate, heading toward the runways. Breaking into a jog, they caught up to him and the kids.

“Hope you don’t mind us tagging along,” Stephanie said.

“No, wondering what was keeping y’all,” Bruce said, watching the kids run through the field.

“You didn’t ask us,” Angela said.

“I don’t have to ask mamas,” Bruce said, and Stephanie nodded at Angela like ‘told ya.’

“Bruce, I think it’s a good idea to put the kids in charge, but don’t you think it would be better to just let them help the first time?” Stephanie asked.

“No, they’ll do a good job,” Bruce replied as PJ tried to tackle Cade.

“Why did you tell Bill he had to enforce the rules?” Angela asked, watching PJ fight the losing battle of tackling Cade.

“That’s his job. Bill has to learn the old world is dead,” Bruce told her. Angela looked up at Bruce with a questioning look. “When we left last winter I told Mike to watch the clan to find those that could pose a threat. I‘ve removed the others from any position except Bill. He’s not really a threat, he just wants the old world back. He wants someone to tell him right from wrong and make the bad go away. To be honest, it’s my fault for that,” Bruce told them as the twins ran over and helped PJ tackle Cade.

“How is it your fault?” Stephanie asked.

“After I had Bill adopt Frank, he became a total pushover. If Frank wasn’t such a good kid he would be a spoiled brat. Bill thinks the sun sets on his boy and I like that. But Bill needs to see the hard choices still have to be made. We may not like them but they have to be made,” Bruce replied.

“I have to say since you took Greene off shit detail and gave her name back she is one of the hardest workers we have. Hell, even her kids like her again and her husband let her move back in with him. So why doesn’t Bill see that?” Angela asked.

“Because there was no due process, no judge ordered it, and no jury sentenced it,” Bruce replied.

“He’ll come around,” Stephanie said as Cade let out a scream.

“Mama, PJ’s biting me!” he yelled. Bruce turned to find PJ latched onto Cade’s calf with his mouth. Angela took off running and popped PJ’s butt till he let go. Then Angela told Cade to bite PJ and Cade shook his head no. It wasn’t that long ago that he learned that if he bit someone they got to bite him back. Lunging forward, Angela tackled him and PJ took off running. Angela jumped up with Cade under her arm and caught PJ.

“Aren’t you going to do something?” Stephanie asked.

“Stephanie, daddies don’t interfere any more than mamas do when punishment is handed out. Jake was our biter and he bit me once when he was two. Debbie told me to bite him back and I wouldn’t. Debbie jumped on my back, putting me in a chokehold, and before I could get her off she grabbed my ear with her teeth. Now she didn’t bite hard but if I tried to get her off I was going to lose part of my ear. I had to chase Jake down with her on my back and bite him to get her off. So there is no way in hell I’m going to interrupt this,” Bruce told her as Angela put Cade in a headlock, yelling at him to bite PJ.

“Seems barbaric,” Stephanie said.

“Well you go do something,” Bruce offered.

“Hell no! She has taken me down, making me bite Cade,” Stephanie snapped.

“Did he bite you again?” Bruce asked.

“No, but I think it could have been handled better,” Stephanie said as Cade bit PJ so his mama would let him breathe.

Laughing at the scene, Bruce walked over and helped Angela up. PJ held out his hands wanting Bruce to pick him up. “No PJ, that was bad,” Bruce told him.

PJ ran to Stephanie, holding out his arms. “No PJ, and if you bite someone again I’m going to bite your fingers off!” Stephanie yelled at PJ. PJ just looked at Stephanie in shock. “I mean it PJ, now go and hug Cade and tell him you’re sorry or I’ll spank your butt,” Stephanie snapped. Turning around and pouting, PJ walked over to Cade and hugged him, then turned back to Stephanie. “What about Mama Angela?” Stephanie asked and Cade hugged her. Angela hugged him back and let him go.

“Damn Stephanie, you’re getting tough,” Angela said as the kids started playing again.

“Angela, I love you but if you ever wrestle me down to bite one of our kids again I’m going to hurt you, not much but I’m going to hurt you,” Stephanie told her.

“You can’t take me,” Angela told her.

“I’m bigger,” Stephanie said as Angela lunged at Stephanie. She latched onto Stephanie, taking her to the ground. Bruce watched the two wrestle around on the ground and had to admit they were pretty damn good. But Angela was part spider monkey so Stephanie couldn’t really use her size. The kids came over and watched with Bruce as the two wrestled for almost thirty minutes.

They both stopped at the same time and just rolled on their backs, looking up at the sky and breathing hard. “Do you two do that often?” Bruce asked.

“No, that was only the second time,” Stephanie gasped.

“What was the first about?” Bruce had to know.

“Stephanie wrestled me down because I wanted to wear socks in the bed when you were out with Omega. Bruce, she held me down and tickled me till I peed,” Angela said, getting up.

“Didn’t wear socks in the bed, did ya,” Stephanie said, also getting up.

Walking over to them, Bruce laughed and wrapped his arms around them. “I love you two,” he said, pulling them to him and kissing their foreheads one after the other.

“You damn well better, I can’t sleep in socks even when you aren’t here and I have to wrestle my wife to make her bite the kids back,” Angela said. They all laughed.

Bruce led them back to the house as the kids ran around after them, playing tag and giggling.

Friday morning Bruce was in the command bunker with the command group. Mike and Nancy had returned with Gamma the day before. When everyone was sitting down, Bruce started the meeting.

“Let me start by telling everyone we are way ahead of schedule. Gamma and the recovery teams have pulled in two thousand survivors. Mike, how long do you think you’ll need to get the others?” Bruce asked.

Mike thought for a second. “Two weeks and our current projections are two thousand more,” he said.

“Jake, what are the numbers of survivors in north Mississippi?” Bruce asked.

“Around nine thousand. And that’s not counting the two gangs we found. The large gang outside of Grenada holds around three thousand alone, with about that same number in hostiles. The gang to the south has around a thousand, with fifteen hundred hostages,” Jake reported.

“Yeah, we’ll talk about them in a minute,” Bruce said. “So if we strike out now we are looking at over ten thousand new members to the clan. I want home defense boosted from four hundred to a thousand. Bill, I want your officers boosted from ten to thirty. Have your candidates picked for command approval in two weeks,” Bruce said.

“How come my candidates have to be approved?” Bill asked.

“Bill, your officers must keep the peace here and we want to make sure they can. They have to be both soldier and law officer. That’s a lot of power to throw on someone. It takes Command Group authority to override them so we will have a voice in their approval. That being said, if they fuck up, I’m coming down on your ass, so pick them wisely,” Bruce answered.

“Fair enough, but thirty for fifteen to twenty thousand people … don’t we need more?” Bill asked.

“No. Troublemakers are punished or thrown out. Your crew is just to stamp out fires,” Bruce said, then looked at Paul. “Speaking of fires, we need to start a fire department.”

“Already have one started. We have a fire station in New Hope with four engines,” Paul replied.

“How come nobody told me?” Bruce said.

“Bruce, you fight the war, let us run the base. Unless of course we’re going to be attacked or you have a plan to stop one,” Paul said.

“Okay, I want the spillway, power station, and the dam on the lake we are building to be behind some type of fence,” Bruce said.

“We are putting up a twenty-foot wood fence up when we’re finished,” Paul answered.

“Is that why you were yelling at the engineers at the dam yesterday?” Joe asked.

Paul shook his head. “No, we were arguing about something else,” he said.

Curiosity got the better of Bruce as he asked, “About what?”

“The power output,” Paul answered.

Looking disappointed, Bruce said, “So we won’t get thirty megawatts a year.”

“No, we’ll have that,” Paul said.

Snapping his head up, his face brightening, Bruce asked, “So what’s the problem?”

“The engineers, in their infinite wisdom, put in three turbines each capable of doubling that,” Paul said.

“Hell, that’s good information,” Mike said, laughing.

“We had to go and get them,” Paul said. “We were going to make two small ones but they designed the set up differently.”

“Okay Paul, Omega will go and get them,” Bruce said.

“Bruce, they’re already here. We don’t need our war fighters going on supply runs unless we have to. We want y’all killing shit,” Paul said.

Nancy started laughing. “Thank you Paul, for putting it so eloquently.”

“Well he’s right,” Joe said.

“Paul, don’t be mean to the kids, they were trying to help. The engineers should have input,” Angela told him, and Paul just gave her a disgusted look.

“Do we need any more concrete?” Bruce asked.

“Bruce, I can almost concrete this entire fifty square miles we have enclosed and I’m not kidding,” Paul said.

“When will the guard tower come on line?” Mike asked.

“Few more days. Jake and Matt are designing the layout inside now,” Paul said.

Willie leaned forward over the table. “Paul, have you seen the new flight control area your crew built?”

“Yes I have, and I like it,” Paul said.

“Oh I do too, but if I remember you said three thousand square feet. The area beside us looks somewhat bigger,” Willie said.

“Talk to the engineers. They said they made it bigger so they wouldn’t have to expand it again in a few months,” Paul said, getting pissed off.

“Paul, I like it and your crews are doing top notch,” Bruce told him to try to calm Paul down.

Throwing his pen down on the table, Paul turned to Bruce. “What do you want now?” Paul almost shouted.

“Paul, I was just saying your crews are doing a good job,” Bruce said. Paul just continued to stare at him. “I want the area outside the fence cleared back three hundred yards so we have clear fields of fire,” Bruce mumbled, and Mike started snickering.

“What else? I know that’s not all,” Paul said. Bruce looked down again, mumbling. “What did you say? I didn’t hear you,” Paul prompted.

“I want a walkway built around the top of the fence six feet from the top of it so we can shoot over it without waiting for the mobile gun platforms,” Bruce said in a low voice.

Paul narrowed his eyes, looking at Bruce. “And …” he said.

“Guard towers every four hundred yards and lights at the top of the wall we can turn on to light up the field we are going to build around us,” Bruce mumbled, looking at his notebook and wishing Paul would chill out.

“Oh, that’s it? I should count myself lucky,” Paul said in a flat tone.

“I want enough horses so the home guard can patrol on horseback,” Bruce mumbled.

“Already working on that,” Paul said, rubbing his temples.

Laying down a piece of paper, Bruce mumbled, “Tear up the road system inside the base and build this one.”

Paul slapped the table and grabbed the map. Looking at it, he huffed. “Damn, now that makes sense,” he said, nodding approvingly. Bruce let out a long sigh, thankful Paul was not throwing a fit. Laying the piece of paper down, Paul looked at Bruce. “And …?”

“That’s it for now,” Bruce said, staring down at his notebook. Paul folded his arms across his chest, looking at Bruce. There was a long pause.

“Well, I would like the weather radar at the airport in Shreveport set up with a solar array so we can use it there,” Bruce said, then added, “that’s really all for now.”

“I can start on all of them next week except the radar. I’ll have to have Gamma or Omega guard my crews as they work. I know there are only a few thousand in Shreveport now, but the protection teams aren’t really trained to fight large groups,” Paul said.

“Fair enough,” Bruce said, looking at Joe and wanting Paul to relax. “When will the next trucks be ready?” Bruce asked.

“Monday,” Joe answered.

“You said you would be pressed to get them done in three weeks,” Bruce snapped.

“I lied,” Joe said, getting giggles around the table.

“You didn’t pull from the refinery, did you?” Stephanie asked.

“No, but if you don’t limit Bruce, he starts asking for a lot real fast. I’m not against what he wants, but if we push too hard we turn out crap and people could die, even this base. I know what Bruce asks for is needed but I just want him to have his priorities in order when he asks,” Joe said.

“So you ready for your next task?” Bruce asked.

“Lay it on me,” Joe said, leaning back in his chair.

Bruce picked up a folder and slid it down the table. “Let me know in a few weeks,” Bruce said as Joe started looking through the folder.

“What, no chemical laser?” Joe asked.

“You can build one?” Matt asked.

“If I had the equipment,” Joe said casually, shuffling through papers. Bruce smiled as Matt and Jake started whispering to each other.

Nancy stood up. “I’m putting my foot down now on that so shut up boys,” she said and Bruce dropped his smile as Nancy sat down.

“Okay, Monday is October and Omega leaves, heading to Mississippi. Gamma leaves heading back to Arkansas and Oklahoma to gather survivors. Jake, Matt, Danny, and Mary are staying to run the base. Danny, you and Mary will start with the training of the home defense force. Other than that you four will stick to your list unless you make a command choice to deviate, but you better have a good excuse when I get back,” Bruce told them.

“Ah Dad, can we talk about Omega’s targets now?” Jake asked.

“What about them?” Bruce asked.

“Not trying to be pessimistic, but you’re attacking a force with fifteen to one odds and they’re in defense with military weapons. They have Bradleys and Strykers with a shitload of weapons,” Jake pointed out.

“I know it’s not fair son, but Omega is going to attack them anyway. I really don’t want to wait till they catch up to us and make it a fair fight,” Bruce told him.

“Bruce, don’t ya think you might be bitin’ off more than you can chew?” Marcus asked.

“Not yet,” Bruce said, picking up another notebook.

“Care to tell us how you and Omega are going to do this without turning it into a slug fest?” Mike asked.

“Oh, I’m telling them today on the radio that we’re coming for them,” Bruce said.

Everyone just stared at him.

“Are you insane?” Willie shouted, jumping up.

Bruce thought about it for a minute. “Some days, but not today,” he said.

“What are you going to tell them?” Stephanie asked.

“Omega is coming and if they leave without the hostages we won’t follow them. If they stay and we circle them they have two hours to surrender, then half live. They don’t, you know the rest,” Bruce said.

“You’re taking away the element of surprise,” Carl said.

“I know, I want everyone else to know that too,” Bruce said.

“Boss, we could lose a lot of our troops. I’m not saying we can’t take it but at what cost?” Willie said.

“I’m putting our losses around two, maybe three dozen killed with double wounded. That’s another reason I want the home guard expanded … replacements for those killed in the field,” Bruce said, gesturing for everyone to shut up and look at him. When nobody spoke up, Bruce continued. “Let’s get something clear. Up till now we’ve been lucky. On our attacks we have lost what, five troops? That’s luck. The groups we are hitting now are bigger and better armed. We are going to start taking losses unless we just bomb everyone.”

“Bruce, you may call it luck but I’ve been on your attacks and they are totally off the chart. Please don’t start playing by the book now,” Carl said.

“Bruce, I agree with Carl, and I want to ask you something. Can I please tell the troops they can stop wearing the bulletproof vests now that they are wearing the interceptor vests. Those things will stop an AK round. We are going to have people overheating if they wear both,” Ted told him.

“Fine, they can leave their vests but remember that you asked for it,” Bruce told him, and Ted almost took it back.

Mike stood up. “Bruce, why not just do what you’ve been doing and hit them hard and fast without warning?” he asked.

“Mike, even if we hit them like we have been I’m putting the losses over twenty. They are too big for no losses by us,” Bruce told him.

“Well leave them until Omega gets more men,” Nancy said.

“Nancy, I really don’t want them coming here either. We have watched them put out observation posts to the west. They know where we are. They have a ten-man team on the interstate and we are looking for others. We need to wipe them out or make them leave,” Bruce told her.

“Then just bomb them like the gang in Texas,” she said.

“I would really like to avoid that if I can. We killed several thousand hostages in Texas but my team was not that strong in numbers. There is no way we could’ve attacked the two thousand plus and survived,” Bruce told her. “With two hundred, I would’ve attacked them,” he added.

Danny stood up. “I want to come,” she told him. Bruce narrowed his eyes at her and she sat down.

“Steve, do you have a security team and forward unit built yet?” Bruce asked.

“Yes sir, a fifty-man security team and thirty-man ground team,” Steve answered.

“Marcus, get another fifty to pitch in as drivers. Steve, when you get set up, start training the others in defense or as ground crew,” Bruce told him.

“Where are we putting the forward airbase?” Steve asked.

“Outside of Vicksburg,” Bruce said.

“Okay, but where?” Steve asked.

“Wherever we want it,” Bruce replied.

“Dad, just landing choppers is noisy and bound to attract attention. Even with the extra men we couldn’t fight off a determined attack from blues or a gang,” Steve said.

“Joe finished your base. He worked on a hundred semi-trucks and trailers. On the passenger side he mounted quarter-inch steel. When the rigs are parked you can totally block off the passenger side, including the rig. You unfold the panels, locking them together, and it makes a seventy-foot long, thirteen and a half feet tall steel wall. Joe finished a hundred trucks. That means each wall will have twenty-five trucks or just shy of six hundred yards. You will have a five hundred square yard, or sixty acres, mobile air field. Put it where you want it,” Bruce told him.

“You could’ve said something,” Steve snapped.

“I didn’t think they would be ready for this field trip with the class,” Bruce answered.

“You were going to attack without air?” Marcus asked.

“No, I was going to have them fly from here but they would’ve been two hundred miles away. Now they will be less than a hundred from us. If the air base comes under attack they can hold off the attack until Base Hope sends air assets to help,” Bruce told him. “What Omega’s air wing at now?” Bruce asked Steve.

“Ten Apaches, twenty Blackhawks, and four Loaches,” Steve answered.

“Jimmy, keep the fixed wings on standby. You decide how many but if we get in shit be ready to send everything you can,” Bruce told him, and Jimmy nodded.

“You still haven’t told us how you’re going to attack them yet,” Angela said.

“I haven’t made up my mind. It all depends on them,” Bruce told her, and Angela shook her head.

Stephanie stood up, looking at Bruce. “That’s okay Bruce, you will fix it, but I have a request,” she said. Bruce just nodded his head. “I want Omega to leave Friday. Wednesday is Buffy’s birthday and she’s turning thirteen,” Stephanie told him.

“I’m okay, Stephanie,” Buffy said from the back of the room. Stephanie just stared at her and Buffy looked down.

“Fine, then Omega and Gamma leaves Friday. Platoon leaders start vehicle checks by squad. I want all gear loaded by Sunday and all equipment and munitions loaded by Monday. Omega and Gamma will have Tuesday and Wednesday off, then we get back in the war,” Bruce said.

“Bruce, what are you going to say over the radio?” Stephanie asked.

“Still working on that too,” he said.

Angela leaned over to Stephanie. “If I hit him, will you protect me?” she asked.

“Just shoot him in the leg,” Stephanie told her.

“Well come on before you shoot me. Let me talk on the radio first,” Bruce said, grabbing his rifle and heading to the door with Angela and Stephanie hot on his heels. The rest of the command group watched them leave and turned to Mike.

“What? Don’t look at me. I have no idea what he’s going to do,” Mike told them.

“Mike, come on,” Willie said.

Adam cleared his throat from the back of the room as he stood up. “Has Bruce led all your attacks so far?” he asked.

“Yeah, why?” Marcus asked.

“Well, I’ve watched some of them with dozens of others and I have to admit he is very unorthodox, but he knows what he is doing,” Adam said.

“He pulls them out of his ass,” Mike said.

“That may be, but he knows what he’s going to do, or I should say he has several ideas,” Adam said.

“For most of our attacks he’s had plans laid out days in advance,” Willie told him.

“Most,” Adam said, grinning. “Those are the attacks he’s not worried about. He wants as many of the odds in his favor as he can get, then makes a plan. I bet if I ask him how to attack the government sites he could give me thirty plans off the top of his head.”

“He has sixteen working plans now,” Mike said.

“The more I know about Bruce, the more I like him,” Adam said and looked around him at the kids. “It’s his family that scares the shit out of me,” Adam stated.

“Bruce finally let me look at those videos he has and I can’t even begin to tell you how he comes up with his plans,” Marcus told them.

Paul stood up and looked around at the group. “I can say this to everyone’s face. He is the only one I want running this war. He has proven his ability to lead and command. He doesn’t sacrifice people for nothing and he loves this clan. I have not seen that in anyone else here. The next closest would be Mike,” Paul said, pointing at Mike. Then Paul stared at him. “Mike, you’re a great warrior but you let your heart get in the way of some of your decisions. For that I’m grateful though, because you are the only person that can stop Bruce if he gets out of hand.”

Mike smiled. “Thank you Paul.”

“I wasn’t saying it to make you feel better, I was just stating the truth,” Paul said and looked at the four new command members. “Each of you has the ability to lead but needs to work on it. I hope you’re taking the responsibility that Bruce put on you seriously.” Paul gathered up his stuff before continuing, “Because with both Bruce and Mike in the field fighting this war, you might be called on fast to lead.” He nodded curtly at them, then turned and walked out the door.

Chapter 17

Gopher was in his studio as the three walked in. There were three studios around one master control room for the radio station. Angela and Stephanie went to their studio and started going over the notes for their broadcast at noon.

Gopher saw Bruce and waved him in. Music was blaring out of the speakers and Gopher turned down the volume. “Hey Bruce, ready to address the nation?” Gopher asked.

“Yep,” Bruce said, laying down his rifle and grabbing a pair of headphones.

When the song ended, Gopher began. “Hello again, I’m still here, and to those that sent in requests for Lawrence Whelk, forget it. America, I’ve got a treat for you. Back from another successful trip in the wilderness we have Bruce, the commander of Omega,” Gopher almost shouted.

“Hello America,” Bruce stated calmly.

“Bruce, what brings you on the air today?” Gopher asked.

“Well Gopher, Omega has refitted and is heading back out and I just wanted to talk to America,” Bruce said.

“Bruce, is it true Omega’s sister unit Gamma has brought in over two thousand survivors?” Gopher asked.

“Yes it is, and we are projecting another two thousand,” Bruce told him.

“Bruce, can you talk about Kansas City?” Gopher asked.

“What do you want to know?”

Gopher asked, “What was it like facing over five million blues?”

“Well it was interesting for a few minutes. Omega is used to grilled steaks in the field, and with that many attacking us I had to cancel that and it pissed off the troops. I did make it up to them though and let them grill out when we burnt the bodies and to let America know, that pile is still burning,” Bruce said.

“You canceled their steaks?” Gopher blurted out.

“Yeah, I mean most of the time, after my troops eat steak they want to take a nap. It would be very unprofessional to take naps with that many attacking us. Now in Little Rock, since we only fought a million, I let them have their steak. I mean, it was just a million. Now before anyone takes off to those cities, I want to tell them they are not pacified. We just went to pick a fight with large hordes. Those cities still have thousands left in them and more have moved in since we left,” Bruce told him.

“You say million like it’s a small number,” Gopher said to Bruce and not the radio.

“Come on Gopher, Omega has bagged close to twenty million, give or take a million. My troops don’t even like to get excited unless we are picking a fight with at least half a million,” Bruce said.

“That’s a shitload of infected,” Gopher pointed out.

“You’ve seen the two hundred miles of I-10 piled up with bodies. Omega likes to kill lots of blues,” Bruce told him.

“No shit Bruce, but what about the gangs?” Gopher asked Bruce in disbelief.

“Well, since we have to go out long distances now to find hordes, the troops want to just kill the gangs wholesale. I reminded them I’m in command, and for the first time I allowed two gangs to surrender, as your audience heard. Omega just wanted to kill them all, but like I said, we are rebuilding America. I want the gangs, the lowest life form we have, to know they have a choice. Omega can pop a mushroom on your ass but the troops like working up close.” Bruce stretched the truth some.

“Omega wanted to kill the gangs instead of letting them surrender?” Gopher asked as the man in the control station was motioning for him to speak into the mic.

“Gopher, my troops are leaving their family and friends when we go out. They don’t mind it if we get to kill lots of blues and gangs, and of course, there’s always steak,” Bruce said.

“What’s the largest gang so far Omega has fought?” Gopher asked.

“The gang we wiped out in south Texas was almost five thousand. It was hard to get an actual count because of all the body parts. The team moved in and just waded in blood.” Bruce didn’t really stretch the truth that much.

“Five thousand,” Gopher said. He didn’t know Bruce had just wasted the camp with bombs.

“Yeah, it took a long time to kill them. I mean we were there for almost two days.” Bruce was really lying now.

“Two days!” Gopher shouted. “Bruce, have you found any more gangs that size?” he asked.

“Oh yeah, several. One is in Mississippi just outside of Grenada on the east side of the lake. They are about three thousand strong,” Bruce told him.

“Why in the hell are you saying this over the air?” Gopher asked, trying to cover his microphone up.

Bruce took Gopher’s hands off the mic. “Gopher, it’s not like they actually scare my troops. We’re going to attack them in two weeks.”

Gopher grabbed the mic and covered it with his hands again. “Bruce, they can hear you,” Gopher whispered loudly and he was right, America was listening.

Bruce moved his hands off the mic again. “Gopher, I hope they can because I want them to get ready if they are going to fight us. My troops are wanting to face a group that knows how to fight. They love taking prisoners that are fighting so I can teach them manners. Another reason I’m saying this is if that gang leaves and doesn’t take the hostages with them, Omega will let them go. Just as long as they don’t enter Arkansas or Louisiana, but if they take the hostages we follow and kill everyone. If we move to them and they are still there we will give them two hours to surrender, and if not we attack and America gets to listen as I teach,” Bruce told him.

“Are you fucking insane!?” Gopher shouted, causing some feedback from the sound system.

“You are the second person today that has asked me that, but no, not today. Just to let the group in Grenada know, we took some of your men,” Bruce said, then read off their names. “We know all about you and your little outpost to try to see us if we attack you. But they are forgetting our motto, ‘Your last vision before death.’ If you see us you’re already dead. Oh yeah, and I can’t forget about the gang in south Mississippi outside of Laurel. We know about you but y’all aren’t that big. If Omega shows up, I’m sorry but you won’t be given a chance to surrender. If we ride that far the troops will just have to kill you. If you leave the hostages unharmed I won’t follow you. To either gang, if you start trying to harm hostages to make us back off, I’ll just level your camp. Hostages, I’m sorry but I can’t allow them to escape,” Bruce said, grinning.

“Have you ever played Risk? This is not how you fight a war. You don’t tell your enemy you are coming and when,” Gopher said.

Bruce laughed, “Gopher, they aren’t that good of an enemy. If I could tell all the blues to come and see us I would,” he lied. “Omega isn’t scared. There is a super horde moving down the Eastern seaboard of about twenty million. I’ve had to talk my subordinates out of launching an attack on them. If they move closer we will, but I refuse to have several semi-trailers loaded just with steak to go that far,” Bruce ended, grinning.

“If I make you mad will you tell me so I can apologize?” Gopher asked and Bruce tapped the mic to remind him they were on the air. “I mean if—do you allow friends to apologize before you come and see them?” Gopher asked.

“My friends never fear me, that’s only for my enemies. The clock starts now for both gangs, and if the hostages are harmed we come for you. I don’t care how many steaks we have to bring. We will chase you off the continent,” Bruce said, scowling into the mic.

“Ah, thank you, Bruce, it’s now time for the news with Angela and Stephanie,” Gopher said and the on air light went off. “Bruce, how could you tell them you’re coming?” Gopher asked.

“Part of my plan, so don’t say anything else over the radio about it or you could cost me men,” Bruce said, standing up and grabbing his rifle. “I have given up too much of my soul Gopher, but I’m willing to give up the rest to win this war.”

“Bruce, you’re kind of important so please don’t take unnecessary risks,” Gopher said. Bruce didn’t answer as he walked out and sat in the control booth where he listened to the girls do the news. Gopher’s wife brought in food and took it in to him as Bruce waited on the girls.

When they finished and Gopher went back on the air, Bruce looked at the man running the control area. “How long does Gopher stay on?” he asked.

“0900 to 2100 and the rest of his family take turns covering the night shift,” he replied as Angela and Stephanie came out.

“Well, did you enjoy coming to work with us?” Angela asked.

“Hell no! They won’t let me play with the buttons,” Bruce said, getting up and walking out with them.

“Bruce, I hope you know what you’re doing,” Stephanie said as she climbed in Bruce’s truck.

“Me too, Little Red, me too,” Bruce said as he drove back to the farm.

Sunday morning, Bruce woke up to a knock on his door. Looking at the clock, Bruce read 0810. ‘If someone hung themselves I’m gonna be pissed’, Bruce thought, getting out of the bed. Opening the door, Bruce saw Jake in the hall. “Dad, you need to see this,” he said and headed downstairs. Bruce followed in his underwear.

Jake led him down to Mission Control flight area. The east wall was covered in large monitors and there were three rows of workstations running the width of the room. Jake stopped in the middle of the wall of monitors and Bruce stood beside him. “Replay,” Jake said over his shoulder.

A forty-inch monitor blinked and Bruce recognized the gang’s compound in south Mississippi. Then a shitload of motorcycles and trucks pulled out, heading north. “Damn, they left,” Bruce said.

“Not really, Dad,” Jake said.

“They didn’t leave the hostages?” Bruce asked.

“Most of them, but look at the route they’re taking,” Jake said, holding up a map.

“Shit, they’re moving to Grenada,” Bruce said. “When did they leave?” he asked.

“0651 this morning,” Jake said.

“How many hostages are left?” Bruce asked.

“They are just wandering around the compound, but we guess it’s close to eight hundred. It looks like they took a couple of hundred with them,” Jake told him. “Live feed of the gang,” Jake called over his shoulder.

“They aren’t even halfway,” Bruce said.

“No, it will take them three and a half hours to make it but I’m putting it at four and a half. They will have to stay on back roads and avoid all towns,” Jake said.

“What do you have overhead now?” Bruce asked.

“Two MQ-1 Predators, one armed with two Hellfires. I launched two Reapers and they will be on station in fifteen minutes. Each is armed with fourteen Hellfires,” Jake said.

“Fourteen!” Bruce yelled, making Jake jump back.

“Yeah Dad,” he said.

“How did you do that? The Predator can only carry two?” Bruce shouted.

“Not the Reaper Dad, it can carry fourteen,” Jake told him.

“So that’s how Nancy rained down Hellfires?” Bruce asked and Jake nodded. “How many Predator-type aircraft do we have?” Bruce asked.

“Twenty-one MQ-1, twenty Reapers, and twelve Gray Eagles,” Jake told him.

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why wasn’t I told?” he asked mildly.

“Dad, you’ve only cared about the pictures not the types,” Jake answered.

“Jake, if one can carry fourteen Hellfires that is a weapons platform first and an observation platform second,” Bruce told him. He looked back at the monitor. “Have they stopped yet?” he asked.

“No Dad, and they are averaging fifty-one miles per hour,” Jake told him.

“How many more of the Reapers can you launch and how fast can they get there?” Bruce asked.

“I have one team ready to launch one now and I can wake up some more pilots and operators and get the other seven up in thirty minutes, give or take. Flight time there is just over half an hour,” Jake said, and Bruce snapped his head at Jake. “The Reaper can fly over five hundred miles per hour,” Jake informed him.

“So not only can it carry a ton of shit, it’s fast,” Bruce said, shaking his head. “Launch the super Predator and wake up enough to launch four more. Someone get Steve and get Omega ready to roll in an hour,” Bruce said, and Jake pointed at people who took off running.

“What are you thinking, Dad?” Jake asked.

“To be honest, I was hoping the other gang would have been the one to move south. The compound there is easier to take. If I would have known we had super Predators I would’ve kept them on station and dumped on them when they stopped,” Bruce told him.

“They are Reapers,” Jake told him.

“Stack your planes every four hundred feet starting at five thousand feet. Keep the slow Predators over the gang and the Reapers on the edge, but close enough to start raining down on them when we need it,” Bruce told him.

“How do you know they are going to stop?” Jake asked.

“Son we have watched both of these gangs for months and they have never traveled to each other, have they?” Bruce asked, and Jake agreed. “They can’t just show up or they will get shot, and I told them the other gang has lookouts so they will have to stop. Then they will send in a few guys and talk to the other gang,” Bruce told him.

“That makes sense,” Jake said. “What if they don’t?” he asked.

“We hit them when they are fifty miles from the other camp,” Bruce told him as Steve walked in.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Steve, get your wing up. You will be taking half of Omega by air to the southern compound in Mississippi and they will be packing heavy. I don’t care how you get us there but we need to get them in a few hours. Let me know something in half an hour,” Bruce said, and Steve took off running.

Mike walked in and looked at Bruce standing in his underwear, barefoot, looking at the monitor. “What’s so important that you’re in underwear only?” he asked. Bruce told him and Mike looked at the screen. “Yeah that would do it,” he said.

“Jake, would you tell someone to go and get my robe and house shoes?” Bruce asked, never taking his eyes off the monitor. Jake pointed at someone and they took off. “Jake, what were you going to do?” Bruce asked.

“I was going to hit them en route, hoping the noise would draw enough blues to take care of them,” Jake said.

“That could work, but they are staying back country. You would have to drop a shitload to stop the convoy. They are spread out over two miles,” Bruce said.

Willie came running in wearing shorts with his vest and flip flops. “What do you need, Boss?” he asked, panting.

“Third and Fourth Platoon ready to lift off in an hour. Tell them to bring their heavy gear, you might have a fight before I can reach you by ground,” Bruce told him and Willie took off.

“Bruce, if they left then the hostages are okay,” Mike said.

“Mike, they don’t have weapons and blues are close by. The fence around that compound will only stop a few hundred. I would really hate that the gang left and the people got killed by blues,” Bruce told him.

“That’s a long way to drop our troops off and have to wait on ground to get them,” Mike said.

“Six hours by convoy,” Bruce said, watching the gang on the monitor.

“Third Reaper on station,” a woman called out behind them.

More teams came in and sat down at stations as Jake launched four more Reapers. Marcus walked in with Angela and Stephanie who brought Bruce’s robe, slippers, and a cup of coffee. Bruce put them on and grabbed the coffee. Between sips he filled them in as they watched the monitor.

Steve came back in and Bruce turned to see what he had to add. “Hey Dad, do you really have to drive to them?” he asked.

“Unless they are willing to hike here,” Bruce told him.

“No Dad, what about us just fly them here,” Steve said.

“That’s a lot of trips in the Blackhawks and we have a few Chinooks,” Bruce said.

“We have sixteen Chinooks,” Steve told him.

“Damn, then we can lift seven hundred and fifty in a flight,” Bruce said.

“If we send ten Blackhawks we can carry another hundred,” Steve added.

“Get them airborne and tell Willie to put Fourth Platoon in my Pave Low and you fly it. You land first with Willie and let Fourth Platoon break the people down into groups and have the choppers come in one at a time with the Apaches flying cover,” Bruce barked.

“We will have them here in a few hours,” Steve said, then turned and left at a sprint.

“I like that plan a lot better,” Stephanie said, looking back at the monitor.

“Four more Reapers on station,” someone called out behind them. Bruce watched the screen and the map in his hand, following the progress. When the convoy was seventy miles away from the gang on Grenada Lake, he was getting ready to start the attack when they pulled into a truck stop outside of Louisville. Bruce watched with everyone else as hundreds of motorcycles pulled into the truck stop followed by fifty trucks of various sizes.

“Okay, get ready to fire some Hellfires into the storage tanks and pumps. Then in that mass of vehicles,” Bruce said.

“What about the two, five-hundred-pound bombs?” Jake asked. Bruce just stared at Jake. “Well the Reaper can carry two, five-hundred-pound laser-guided bombs, too,” Jake told him.

Not taking his eyes off of Jake, Bruce gritted out, “Put the bombs in the center of those vehicles, launch Hellfires into the pumps and tanks, then put three into the store. Then start taking out targets of opportunity and scramble four more.” Jake turned around and gave the orders and they watched the monitor.

“On the way,” they heard from behind them. Then they heard four more, “On the way” calls. The gang was piled around the vehicles with perimeter guards shooting infected that showed up. The area at the vehicles suddenly went white as the two, five-hundred-pound bombs impacted. Then rockets hit the tanks and pumps and the whole area went white. When the picture came back, most of the building was gone, then the screen went white again. When the image filled the screen the building was gone. Cars that had been parked two hundred yards away from the attack were blown onto their sides.

“Target on the way,” Bruce heard behind him.

“Jake, pull up the shot right before the explosion and freeze it please?” Bruce asked. Jake went to a console and pulled up the video and froze it, then put it on another screen on the wall. “Stephanie, will you count for me please?” Bruce asked her.

Stephanie moved over to the screen and started counting. She turned around in four minutes. “One thousand, six hundred and thirty-two out in the open. But several of the box trucks had people in them. If you look at the top left of the parked trucks you can see somebody pulling out someone,” she said.

“Thank you Stephanie,” Bruce said as someone yelled out “On the way” behind him. Watching the monitor, Bruce saw the missiles impact wherever people moved. A tear ran down Bruce’s cheek as the Hellfires continued to rain down. Then the blues showed up, finding the remaining survivors. “Jake, keep an eye on our birds and call me if you need me, I’m going to eat,” Bruce said, then stood up and left.

Bruce ran up the stairs out of Mission Control and headed to the Center. Mike caught up with him. “How many hostages you thinking were with that group?” Mike asked.

“Around three hundred, and if they hold true it would’ve been young females I just ordered blown to hell with their tormentors,” Bruce said, walking inside and heading to his table. Ted stood up, looking at Bruce in a robe and without a weapon on him.

“Hey Boss, you okay?” Ted asked, and Bruce just walked by him and sat down in his chair. Angela and Stephanie sat down beside Bruce. Ted looked at Bruce’s face and could see tears on his cheeks as Bruce just stared with unfocused eyes straight ahead. Millie sat three plates down for them and looked at Bruce’s face.

“Bruce, you okay?” she asked.

“No,” he said, still staring at nothing.

“It will be alright, Bruce,” Millie said. Bruce didn’t answer her and she patted his shoulder and left. Everyone stared at Bruce, watching tears run down his face.

Father Thomas came over and stood beside Bruce. “Bruce, can I do anything,” he asked kindly.

“No Father,” Bruce replied.

“Can I start the service,” he asked.

“In a minute Father,” Bruce said.

Father Thomas put his hand on Bruce’s shoulder. “Will you stay today?” he asked. Since Debbie had died, Bruce had not been to any of the services.

“No Father, it would serve no purpose,” Bruce mumbled.

“Yes it would Bruce,” the priest told him.

Bruce turned his head, looking up at Father Thomas. “No Father, it wouldn’t. I’m going to pay for my sins in this world and of those I command and you know what, I don’t care. I will keep my family and this clan safe from harm. They will have a chance to live here on Earth in peace and go to heaven. The shit I’ve done, I’ll reach the gates then be thrown down. I’ll miss my family and friends but they will be happy,” Bruce told him.

“Bruce, forgiveness can be granted.”

“Father, I just ordered the killing of over fifteen hundred people, three hundred of whom were innocent,” Bruce told him.

“Bruce, He can forgive you of your sins,” Father Thomas told him.

Chuckling, Bruce answered, “What would be the point? I would just have to go out and slaughter more.”

“Bruce, you’re fighting war. When you went into Texas you were trying to save,” Father Thomas told him.

“No Father, I was a man just wanting to kill. I had no other desire,” Bruce said, and Angela and Stephanie looked at him. Bruce started breathing faster and started to grin. “But I’m fixing to start a war. We have watched gangs kill innocents. We have tracked the super horde across the land and wipe out whole communities that had survived so far.”

“You can still be with God,” Father Thomas said, watching Bruce carefully.

“God, huh?” Bruce laughed. “Where was he when we got attacked? When the virus hit? Me, I’m going to trust my family, my team, and my clan. They can go to heaven. I will buy them their ticket with what’s left of my soul.” Bruce turned to Buffy. “Buffy, go to Mission Control and tell Jake I want everything we have on the compound in Grenada. Then I want a complete inventory of what’s on the base and I want this in one hour. Have it brought to the shop,” Bruce told her.

Buffy took off running. Bruce looked at Ted and Carl. “I want Omega prepped and ready to roll. When Steve gets back I want those choppers turned and ready to leave again.” Bruce turned to Mike. “Mike, I want Gamma ready to roll in twelve hours and put on standby. I want every plane we have here loaded for war and ready to roll.” Bruce looked at the rest of the table. “Joe, make sure those rigs are ready to roll in twelve hours. Paul, I want you to start clearing the area around us starting today. I want everything that has to be done outside of the base completed in a week. I want all Patriot systems online by tomorrow. Danny, get your list to expand the home guard and start training tomorrow. Keep your radios on you, I’ll call you when I’m ready to brief you.”

“Now I want to be alone,” Bruce said as he reached down to his plate and picked up a handful of bacon and headed to the door. “Tell Jake I want two nukes ready for delivery by the end of the week,” Bruce called over his shoulder as he walked out.

Danny jumped out of her chair, pointing at Father Thomas. “Father quit pushing him, he will come back to God, Mama said so, but if you push him forget it. I don’t want to spend forever without my daddy!” Danny yelled at him.

Father Thomas walked over to her. “I’m sorry Danny, I was just trying but I’ll wait,” he promised her. Danny hugged him and sat back down, mollified.

“I can’t take him going crazy again,” Stephanie said.

“Oh he isn’t, he’s fixing to fight a war,” Marcus told her.

“That’s what he’s been doing,” she said.

“No, he was fighting battles that he stacked in his favor. Granted, a few times it almost bit him in the ass. Because he wasn’t taking this seriously,” Marcus told her.

“What the hell set him off?” Mike asked.

“You wasn’t watching the monitors close,” Marcus said.

“Marcus, I was watching, we killed a lot of people and some innocents in trucks,” Mike said.

Stephanie turned to Mike, “No Mike, you could see the women and some children being pulled along by men. They were using them as shields,” Stephanie told him.

“Bruce has seen that before,” Mike said.

“Mike, it’s one thing to see it in a gun fight, but to launch an attack knowing they are going to die is another,” Marcus told him.

“So he’s going to go crazy again?” Mike asked.

“No I don’t think so, he just knows he will have to fight everywhere and all the time,” Marcus told him.

Standing up, Mike nodded his head. “Let’s start this war then,” he said.

***

The command group was in Mission Control along with the platoon leaders of Omega and Gamma. Bruce had called on the radio at 0500 to tell them that he wanted them in Mission Control at 0630 . The entire day Bruce had stayed locked up in the shop. Those walking by could hear music blaring inside and most did not want to know what was going on.

At 0630 on the dot Bruce walked in, still in his underwear and bathrobe, carrying a stack of papers. Placing them on the table, Bruce looked at the group. Surveying the Gamma platoon leaders, Bruce stopped at one face. It was Wade, the man who’d tried to ask Stephanie out. Bruce shook his head and turned to Mike. “That is so uncool,” Bruce told him.

“What the hell did I do?” Mike asked. Bruce pointed at his platoon leader. Mike looked and just shrugged and grinned at Bruce.

“Alright listen up, let’s get started. The attack is set for Friday morning at 0500. The air wing field area team will leave the day before with Third Platoon of Omega and Omega support platoons. Third, you’ll be taking all of Omega’s assault vehicles. Y’all will be leaving by 1000. Gamma will leave with them to protect the mobile airfield as it’s set up. Then one platoon of Gamma will stay to cover the airfield and the other three platoons from Gamma will move up to the southeast of the compound by ground. Omega’s platoons will be air assaulting in. We will have sixteen Apaches that will set up three miles away. Four Apaches to the north, four to the west, and four to the south. Two will attack the wall sentry positions and two will attack targets of opportunity or assist. They will start the attack and the air assault will be the second wave. Fourth Platoon will take the hostage area to the north, Third will take the command area, and First and Second will take the main area to the south. This will be followed by Gamma coming through the front gate on the southeast end of the wall. Mike, you will disperse your platoons: One platoon will head to the south compound, another will move to the north area and the other will clear the wall of sentries and hold the gate. We will be making a shitload of noise and blues will be coming. Now unlike any gang we have fought before, this one has cleared the area of blues pretty good but that won’t last.”

“There will be six Reaper drones overhead to assist as needed, and two Predators for observation. Their primary targets are the armored vehicles and will also help the Apaches with the hostile barracks. Twenty of the thirty Blackhawks will be used for the air assault with the rest in reserve to haul out wounded or if needs be to withdraw an assault team. Gamma and Omega’s support crews will follow with the vehicles so pack heavy men. If needed, we will resupply by air but the turnaround time for a chopper will be forty minutes. With both attack forces we will be at an eight to one disadvantage but we have fought worse odds. We are going to kill gentlemen, but we are also there to rescue hostages. That is why we are risking this assault. If you can, rescue the hostages. If they are used as shields, do not hesitate to pull the trigger. This gang has the numbers to get in a war of attrition. We don’t. We have years of work to do,” Bruce said. Looking around the table, he saw astonishment on many faces.

“Let me guess. Some of you have questions?” he asked.

“Yes sir, why not just bomb them like Texas? They’re kinda big,” someone in the back asked.

“Our first job is to protect the clan. Our second is to rescue America. If we have a good chance, then we will rescue survivors and hostages, if we can’t do this with acceptable risk to the troops, we won’t attempt a rescue. Then we will use scorched earth. There are very few survivors out there and we need to try to rescue as many as we can, but let’s be clear. We are going to wipe out the blues and the gangs by any and all means,” Bruce said. “Are y’all ready to do this?”

“Hoorah!” they yelled out.

Grabbing a stack of papers, Bruce handed lists out with platoon directives and the attack plan. “This is each platoon’s assigned objectives. Platoon leaders, you will assign objectives to your squads. Steve, you will assign the air wing objectives,” Bruce told them. For the next hour he laid out the attack. Then Bruce asked for more questions.

Steve stood up. “Dad we have five more Apache pilots and gunners, and a lot more Apaches. Let’s take them for back up. If the attack moves as planned, all the Apaches will be close to running out of ordinance at the same time, leaving us without air power,” he pointed out.

“They really need to stay here for the base. We’ll have six Reapers overhead with eighty-four Hellfires,” Bruce told him.

“The base has over thirty Warthogs on standby. If they can’t handle it, those five whirly-birds won’t make that much of a difference,” Steve told him. “Also, when the air wing lifts off, let’s send ten Blackhawks from here to the airfield. If wounded are brought back, the landing choppers can off-load them so the wounded won’t have to wait on a refuel to lift off.”

Bruce nodded. “Sounds good. Any more comments?” he asked.

“Yeah Dad, it says First Squad of First Platoon will hold down the travel areas inside the compound. Most of First Squad is staying here,” Jake said.

“I have moved people to cover,” Bruce told him.

“We will be with him Jake,” Angela told him.

“No you won’t. Not for this attack,” Bruce told her.

“You said we could come,” Angela complained.

“Not for this attack. When we pull back and head back out you can fly to us,” Bruce told her, then looked at Buffy. “That means you too,” Bruce told her. Buffy jumped up and Bruce leaned over the table. “Did you say something?” he asked her.

“No Daddy,” Buffy huffed and sat back down.

“Are David and Mindy going?” Danny asked.

“Yes they are,” Bruce told her. Turning, Bruce looked at Nancy. “You’re staying too,” he said.

Nancy was fixing to stand up and Mike grabbed her arm.

“Teams, you have your orders, get to them. Command Group, please remain for a few more minutes,” Bruce said, and the platoon leaders left. When they were gone, Bruce looked at Nancy. “You distract him. I need his full attention,” Bruce told her pointblank. Then he stood up and looked at the group. “Get ready for wounded, survivors, and lock this place down when we leave,” Bruce said and walked out.

Chapter 18

All the ground vehicles left at 1000 as the choppers of the air wing prepped for battle. The one hundred trucks that would form a square wall around the air field carried the supplies for the choppers. When the trucks set up they would enclose almost sixty acres, more than enough room for the thirty choppers coming on the assault.

The compound they were attacking was located on Grenada Lake. On the east side of the lake was a large peninsula that jutted out into it. The gang had built a two and a half mile long wall across the peninsula, sealing it off on the east side with the lake surrounding the other three sides. When the UAV got close-ups of the wall, it was noted that the wall was made of semi-trailers and shipping containers with wood covering any exposed gaps. There were three main areas in the four square miles of the compound. In the north area was the hostage area and several large fields that they were forced to work. In this area was a small concentration of guards to oversee and guard the prisoners. The best guess was close to four hundred hostiles. On the south side was the main gang or barrack living area. Over two thousand hostiles had been counted here, and there was a small concentration of hostages as well. From the best the clan could tell, the gang had six hundred hostages, give or take a hundred, housed in a sealed-off area to the north side of the area. The UAVs had videoed several rapes and murders there over the two months of continuous coverage over the compound, so numbers were hard to keep track of. Beside this group there was a large, fenced-off area housing the rest of the hostages, almost two thousand of them.

Then at the tip or west end of the peninsula was a smaller compound that housed over four hundred hostiles and two hundred hostages. It was believed that this was the command area, and in this area the hostages were not kept in separate quarters. In the surveillance from the UAVs, Mission Control noted most hostages here were females or young kids.

When this group was spotted four months ago it was at first thought to be a camp of survivors due to the lack of blues in the area. Then one flight showed a group attacking a farmhouse twenty miles away; they also captured a rape in the front yard. When that was seen, the compound was put under continuous surveillance and Bruce sent out the scout team. It wasn’t long before the brutality of the gang was observed.

There were a lot of reasons Bruce had avoided this gang for so long besides how big they were. This gang had military equipment. A dozen Strykers, four Bradleys, an M-1 tank, and a shitload of Hummers. Along the wall every hundred yards was a guard station with a heavy machine gun. The members of the gang had military weapons as well. This gang was set up very well and was spread out over a large area: six square miles.

All three areas had to be hit at the same time or one could help the others. To make matters worse, each area behind the fence was over a mile and a half from the others, forming a triangle. So if one of Bruce’s teams secured an area, they would have to move almost two miles to help an attack at one of the other areas.

All this was going through Bruce’s mind as he stood on top of the wall of semi-trailers that surrounded the mobile air field. Looking around the wall, he noticed every third section or trailer had a heavy machine gun mounted on it. From the outside it looked like a steel wall. Inside was sixty acres of security. The choppers and vehicles were sitting inside the area with teams prepping them for the attack.

Bruce had wanted to move closer to the attack site but the area they were in, north of Vicksburg, had a low concentration of blues thanks to Omega’s summer of slaughter. That could change quickly because Jackson was only fifty miles from the mobile airfield and Jackson was full of blues. Latest estimates put the count just under half a million.

Omega’s First, Second and Fourth Platoons had flown in on the choppers landing at 1500. With the platoon from Gamma staying behind, as well as drivers and security force, the field would be protected by two hundred troops with another hundred ground crew and support that could be called on to help. Since they’d arrived, the guards had taken out over a hundred blues in the large field they were set up in. Turning around, Bruce looked at the closest tree line half a mile away to the north. On the east and west the tree line was over a mile away. To the south you had to look on a satellite map to see it six miles away. The field they were in had been used at one time for cattle, evidenced by the skeletal remains seen across the field. That was the reason it was chosen; the ground would be much firmer.

Looking at his watch, Bruce saw it was 1824. Turning around, he headed down one of the four portable stairways that led up the walls, then moved toward the RV. The troops were in high spirits but looked scared. They had never seen this much equipment used on an assault before and it was making many nervous. They all wondered why Bruce would want this much.

Walking over to the RV, Bruce found Mike and Wade, his second-in-command, with Willie, Carl, Ted, and Steve standing around the table looking at a map and pictures of the compound. Looking at Wade, he turned to Mike. “Dude, how could you make someone hit on Stephanie?” Bruce asked him.

Mike took a step back. “How do you know that?” he asked nervously.

“Duh, he’s standing right there. Your second-in-command. Do you know they still drive me crazy over that?” Bruce told him in an irritated voice.

“Well it did bring you out of your shell for a little while,” Mike said, grinning.

Bruce shook his head and turned to Wade. “What did he tell you to get you to do it?” he asked.

“The truth. How you were cutting off the outside world and the girls could bring you back,” Wade replied.

Grinning, Bruce said, “That takes some balls, young man.”

“That’s okay sir, Marines are born with them. The Army has to issue them out,” Wade replied, a grin creeping across his face.

The grin fell off Bruce’s face. “I should’ve known,” he said with a flat expression. “Marines have no intelligence.”

“Bruce, Marines may be born with them but they don’t know what to use them for. In the Army, ours are treated like weapons. We have to turn them in with our weapons so we don’t fuck shit up that we aren’t supposed to,” Ted popped off.

“A Marine is never without his weapon or his balls,” Wade snapped back.

“Because you can’t use either, so no one is scared you will hurt anyone,” Carl said, grinning.

“The hell with all of ya,” Joe said, walking over. “The Navy is the only real military force. We travel the world and attack regions and countries. You sissies attack objectives.”

“Navy, that’s a branch of the service?” Ted said, looking at Willie.

“Yeah, they’re like the Air Force. All play and no work,” Willie replied, getting a round of laughter.

Bruce looked at Joe with an irritated face. “What the hell are you doing out here?” he snapped.

“This is the first time this project was put together in the field. I wanted to make sure it would work right. Besides, the Navy has to have a showing here in the command group, someone with intelligence,” Joe told him.

“Joe—” Bruce started and Joe held up his hand.

“Bruce, we have other machinists now and besides, I can work on any aircraft out there. They teach us more than one thing in the Navy. When the other branches learn to count we might show y’all how to do that,” Joe told him.

“Meow hiss,” Carl said. “Enough with the claws,” he added, making Joe laugh and Bruce smile.

“Well since all the branches are here except the Air Force—” Bruce said, and Mike held up his hand.

“Bruce, we have Air Force present,” Mike said, pointing at the radio on the table. “The pilots at base are going to have ten A-10s up when we start,” Mike told him.

“Bruce, we’ve never been formally introduced but I’m Lieutenant Colonel Mack Turner,” a voice said over the radio. “I’m the ranking officer from Little Rock Air Force Base that Mike rescued from Pine Bluff. Jimmy and Steve put me over the fixed wing arm of our air force. I’ve told them thank you for not letting you ground dogs run the planes. Sometimes y’all forget they go up and down,” he jested.

“Mack, good to have you on board, but if you let someone take our home this will all be a moot point,” Bruce said.

“Ah Bruce we have all pilots on immediate standby on the airfield. In ten minutes I can have thirty hogs up, one Spooky, one Eagle, eight big King gun runners and one twin engine Cessna from hell. If they can get through that, you aren’t going to stop them. You ground boys forget there is more sky than ground,” Mack informed Bruce.

“Jake, are you there?” Bruce asked.

“Yes sir,” Jake replied laughing.

“Show Mack what a dick is and that’s why us Army men stand and pee as the Air Force boys squat,” Bruce said, making everyone laugh.

“Okay, that’s enough of the service battering,” Nancy said in the background over the radio.

“Hey Nancy, you’re an Army Ranger. You better not kneel down to an Air Force puke!” Bruce shouted at the radio.

“Bruce, I showed Mack my dick an hour ago and I just got him to quit crying so please leave him alone,” Nancy said, sending everyone including Mack into laughter.

“Okay team, let’s get our game faces on,” Bruce said, bringing everyone back to the here and now. “Gamma is set to leave in two hours. Any questions?”

“Bruce, we found an outpost on Gamma’s route up to Grenada,” Nancy told him.

“How far out?” Bruce asked.

“Eighteen miles,” Mack said.

“They’ll hear if we blow it up,” Bruce said out loud, more to himself than anyone else.

“Well, they are on one hour radio checks at the top of the hour, why not just jam them?” Mack asked.

“How in the hell do you know that?” Bruce asked.

“I showed your son how to operate the classified equipment on the Reaper,” Mack told him.

“You showed Jake how to operate something electronic? Who are you, Obi wan Kenobi?” Bruce asked, a little impressed.

“Ah no, and in his defense unless you know how to turn on the classified radio surveillance system you wouldn’t know it was there,” Mack told Bruce.

“So what are they saying?” Bruce asked.

Jake answered, “They are not really scared and don’t think we’ll attack. They did move out a small blocking force to the southeast on the highway we blew up the other gang on, but pulled them back. The commander, a man with the call sign Switch, spoke over the radio, telling his troops if they stayed in the fort we can’t touch them. Dad, they have some guesses about our numbers. Granted, they are low, like when Omega was only forty strong. It seems they have one of the judges there.”

“Wonder which one?” Bruce asked.

“Don’t know, but he gave a very good description of you, the squad leaders and the family in First Squad,” Jake said in a pissed-off voice.

“Couldn’t be helped,” Bruce said.

“You didn’t hear what he wanted to do with us,” Danny said over the radio. Bruce could tell by her voice she was livid.

“You didn’t by any chance narrow down where Switch was, did you?” Bruce asked hopefully.

“Oh yes, the house in the command area. It’s surrounded by mobile homes, first floor center of the northwest wall. But that was when he transmitted two hours ago,” Jake said.

“Tell me you’ve had a UAV over that house,” Bruce asked.

“No Dad, we never thought of that. We’ve been down here playing checkers,” Jake shot back in a pissed-off voice.

“Watch the attitude, son,” Bruce warned.

“Did you leave us in charge or what?” Jake snapped back. “Hell yes we have had a bird over that house. We got a picture of him and what appears to be several other members of the upper echelon.”

“Have they gone anywhere else?” Mike asked.

“Yes, they did a tour of the compound and went back to the house. We aren’t talking about what they brought with them from the hostage holding area,” Stephanie said over the radio. She was sitting in the flight control area with the rest of the command group with the radio in the middle of the table.

“Send us their pictures,” Willie said with a grin.

“Willie, play nice with them, they seem fragile,” Danny said over the radio.

“Oh I will Danny, I promise,” Willie said as the fax machine started printing. Turning around, he grabbed the first page as it fell off the fax machine and passed it around.

“You can fax in color? When could they do that?” Bruce shouted, looking at the color photo.

“Dad, you’re so embarrassing me,” Jake said over the radio.

Bruce ignored Jake and looked at the other photos. “Well Willie, you have your hit list,” he said. “The operation is a go. Mack, when Gamma gets close, jam their radio so Gamma can take them out after the 0400 check. Then let’s take the pieces of shit out.”

“Hey Bruce, could you talk to the troops before kick off? They’re a little nervous,” Mike said. He did not admit that he was, too.

“Gather them up now,” Bruce said. Then looking at the radio, “Base, hold the fort and keep the intel coming our way,” Bruce told them.

“We will, Bruce. I know this sounds crazy going into a battle, but please try to be careful and stay safe,” Nancy said.

“Fuck that, you damn well better be careful you son of a bitch. If you leave me with these kids and your other insane wife I’m so going to kick your ass!” Stephanie shouted at the radio.

“You’re the insane one, making kids do pushups for coloring outside the lines!” Angela yelled at Stephanie.

“I’m sorry guys, my family is insane,” Bruce said, grinning with pride.

“We heard that,” Angela said.

“I know. It’s game time, we love you and we need you to help run the battle. Keep the radio chatter down as much as possible. See y’all tomorrow,” Bruce said.

“Love y’all too,” the family shouted and moved to stations. Food was in the command bunker in the front of Mission Control. Jake didn’t want any liquids in the room. They started eating in shifts. All over the base, the clan was sitting in the Center, the other mess hall, or the new recreation center, watching the screens of TVs playing the UAV feeds of the gang’s compound. There were almost a thousand members of the clan out for this battle. Granted only four hundred, Gamma and Omega, were going to be on the ground, but they had a lot behind them and overhead.

Nine thousand plus people were going to stay awake to watch their warriors fight this battle. The survivors that had just joined felt just as close as the ones that had been with the clan for a while. For months they had listened to the rumors of a group fighting for others, and now they were part of it.

Bruce stepped out of the RV followed by the rest of the leaders. “Climb up on that Hummer,” Mike said, pointing to his right. “I’ve called the troops over. Turn your mic on so those on guard duty can hear too,” he added.

Climbing up on the Hummer, Bruce had no idea what he was going to say. As he stood on the roof he saw troops running over to him. They were men, women, black, white, Hispanic, young and old. But Bruce only saw them as his troops. They’d put their trust in him to lead them. They could have stayed and hid, but they believed in him and his dream of rebuilding America.

“Troops!” Bruce bellowed out in a loud, deep voice.

“Hoorah!” they shouted back.

“I stand before you as we prepare to launch an attack, our biggest to date, but I can guarantee it won’t be that way for long. There are bigger gangs out there and a shitload of blues that need killing and that’s our business!” Bruce bellowed.

“And business is good!” they yelled back.

Bruce smiled and spoke in a loud but normal voice. “Troops, I have seen some here that are nervous and some that are scared. Let me tell you that’s okay, but when we load up, let it all go. Too many people are depending on what we do. Men, women, and kids not even born yet are counting on you to make this land safe again. Without the clan behind us and the warriors here there is no hope for this land or mankind. The battles of yesteryear were fought for freedom or ideals. This war is being fought for survival from the infected and the freedom to live in peace from the evil of demented men. There are many out there like the ones we are fixing to attack that are hurting their fellow man for no other reason than to be malevolent. Mankind is teetering on extinction and this is how they act: raping, murdering, and torturing anyone they please. If you stand with me I will lead you in this war. I will stand beside you and fight with you. I’m ready to die for you. I only ask you to do the same for me because we will kill many before we go.”

Bruce started to raise his voice. “Do not have fear for yourself. Cover your buddies, fight for your clan, your friends and your family. Stand tall and be proud at all times, you are the elite of the clan and this land. The clan supports you to go forth in the wilderness and bring hope to others, be they trapped, hiding from the infected, or inside a gang’s camp enduring pain for just being alive. The clan supports you, believes in you, and has pride in you because they know you will fight the fight. Never give up! Follow me until this war is over. The clan knows that as long as one of its warriors is alive, the battle to save mankind is still being fought. As long as one of us breathes the war is still being fought,” Bruce started to shout.

“We are their warriors, the hope of America and mankind. We will fight the battles, we will wade in blood, we will take the wounds. If we die, our friends, family and clan, will continue the fight and remember us, that we stood with them. We will not stop until this land is free again. Moving across this land we will save those who need it and kill those who threaten the freedom and survival of others. The warriors I see before me are the new plague. We bring death but we also bring hope for a better future. Never will we oppress! We are the clan’s arm of hope to others. Never shall we bow down to any. Remember this day, my warriors, the day the war started to take back this land that has been paid for by generations of our families. The days of our small battles are over. Our baptism in blood has been paid. We stand tall, and as we go into battle our hearts are strong. We will win this war no matter how long it takes, no matter the cost. Failure is not an option. We will never falter as we move forward step by step, mile by mile, clearing the land of those that bring death to our fellow man and threaten the clan, be it from infected or evil men. They will fall one and all. We are the knights of old, fighting with everything we have. Those in our path may be scared of us but soon they will be in mortal fear of us. We are the warriors and this is our war! Are you with me my fellow warriors?” Bruce yelled at the top of his lungs.

Goosebumps were on everyone as they started yelling, “Yes” and jumping up and down. Mike had picked Ted up, yelling, caught up in the moment. Back at base a UAV overhead of the mobile air base had centered on Bruce and his radio carried back his words. Everywhere people were cheering and yelling, from Mission Control to those on guard duty who heard it over their radio. In the Center, mess halls, and recreation centers, people were standing and cheering. They were going to take back this land. The entire clan wanted to jump in something and find a blue or gang and beat the shit out of it. On the flight line on the west end of the base, men were jumping up and down and pilots were running for planes. Only when they started up the engines asking for permission to take off and kill something did Mack come over the radio to tell them to hold for just a little while.

Bruce reached down to a ground crewman and grabbed a mic that went to the speakers around the air field. “Gamma, load up, fly your flags proudly … Let’s start this war!” Bruce yelled out. Gamma took off to their vehicles, piling inside, many still yelling. At the southwest corner section, the truck forming the corner pulled forward, opening the mobile air field.

The assault vehicles of Gamma pulled out one after another until all forty were out. Then the truck forming the corner backed up, sealing the wall. Bruce walked among his warriors as they cheered him. He was proud of them. No matter what he asked of them they were willing to fight. He knew this war would take some if not a lot of their lives, might even take members of the family, but they were committed no matter what. Bruce was certain this war would not take him and he would live a long time to die alone. He was certain God hated him and just wanted to keep him away from Debbie to make him pay for his sins. Illusions did not fill his mind. Debbie had told him there was a heaven, but he wouldn’t end up there. She had told him he would see her one last time before he died, that’s why he knew it would be a long time. God hated him.

He would fight this war and do what he could to save mankind, keeping his promise to Debbie. He couldn’t leave the kids and Bruce knew if he hurt Angela and Stephanie, when next he saw Debbie she would bitch at him. So, sealed to his fate, Bruce walked forward among the men until some picked him up, putting him on their shoulders and carrying him around the still cheering crowd. There were only a few decisions that had to be made and this war was already starting. Bruce only hoped he could keep the cost in lives down.

Chapter 19

The formation of helicopters flew at one hundred feet with the doors of the Blackhawks open. Sitting in the left side of the Blackhawk with First and Second Squad, Bruce listened on the radio as Mike reported the outpost had been knocked out and they were moving forward. Looking outside, Bruce saw the twenty Blackhawks; to their front were the eighteen Apaches.

Bruce watched the land rushing by in the moonlight. It was bright out but Mission Control reported the compound was down for the night with no more than the usual guards out. No blues were within miles of the compound, but Bruce knew that would change when the noise started. At fifty miles out, the Blackhawks slowed and let the gunships pull forward. Then the Blackhawks split up into their formations. Bruce looked at the megaphones hanging off the pylons outside the door. Before they’d left, he’d pointed at them and asked Steve what they were for. Steve had replied, “We’re going to ‘Apocalypse Now’ their ass.”

Glancing down at his watch, he read 0448. Bruce took off the flight helmet and put his combat helmet on and made sure his NVG was on. Then he turned on his thermal scope on the big SCAR. Waving his hand, Bruce motioned for everyone to turn on their equipment. When they had done it everyone gave a thumbs up. The door gunner held up his hand with all five fingers extended, meaning five minutes.

‘God, you may hate me but let my troops survive and let me know I made the right call,’ Bruce thought to himself as he unbuckled his straps, getting out of the seat and moving toward the open door. The chopper rose slightly going over the dam then moved down to twenty feet off the water. Looking up, Bruce watched as his chopper went under the gunships, then he looked forward and could make out small lights ahead in the blackness. He realized they were small pinpoints of lights in the compound. Looking back to the gunships, Bruce saw each one release a Hellfire. Bruce even thought he saw the flash of a Hellfire off a Reaper.

Bruce watched the land getting closer, the explosions lighting up the night as the warheads exploded in the compound. Then two huge explosions ripped open as two Reapers dropped two, five-hundred pound bombs on the largest barracks. Then he heard ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ over the helicopter noise. ‘Damn that’s loud,’ Bruce thought as he looked forward to see the next explosions rip through the area his chopper flight was heading. Then he saw tracers streaking overhead from the gunships and hitting the compound. That was when he noticed flashes and tracers coming from the compound and passing them.

The door gunner leaned forward and opened up with his mini-gun. Like a red stream of lava the line of fire hit the compound and ricochets went off into the night sky. Then another huge explosion went off to his front and Bruce swore he saw bodies flying through the air. He knew another five-hundred pounder had detonated. The pilot flared the chopper as they crossed off the lake onto the peninsula. Flipping his NVG monocular over his left eye, Bruce saw the ground close and when the chopper stopped a few feet off the ground he jumped off, followed by everyone else.

Not stopping when he hit the ground, Bruce took off to his left. Reaching the edge of the compound, he saw men moving toward him and dropped down to his stomach and started firing bursts into their chest. Second Platoon was to take out the gang in the area as First went after the four buildings holding the prisoners. Feeling his bolt lock, Bruce pulled a grenade off his vest. Pulling the pin, he yelled, “Grenade!” as he threw it with everything he could muster. Laying his head down, he felt the earth shake as the grenade exploded.

“First Squad with me!” Bruce yelled. His squad was to hold the area between the barracks and the hostages. The only member on his squad he had never fought with before was Adam Cole; the others had been in Omega from the beginning. Then there was David and Mindy, like always side-by-side. Ted had told Bruce he’d spent time in the sandbox and the ‘Stan with Adam and that he was a good troop. Taking Ted at his word, Bruce had put him over the platoon. When they reached the dirt tracks that ran between the buildings which passed for roads, Bruce yelled out, “Form up, Adam, hold the line. I’m checking on the rest of Omega.”

“Form a fire line facing west five meters between each of us. Anything not wearing a wolf tail (a UV chemlite and two nine volt batteries connected together) light up like a Christmas tree!” Adam yelled out as the others spread out. As he kneeled down, he saw a large group coming at them. “Contact three o’clock!” Adam yelled out as he dropped down flat and opened up. Several of the attackers dropped as his bullets ripped into them, then his magazine went dry.

Hearing Adam yell out, Bruce spun around and with the rest of First Squad cutting down several dozen that were sighting in on Adam. Just for good measure, Bruce shot a grenade from his grenade launcher. Then he heard a machine gun open up and saw his squad machine gunner open up on another group trying to charge them. “Adam, we need to move further in, this position sucks!” Bruce yelled out.

“If we move further in we will leave the hostages exposed when they’re pulled to the shoreline!” Adam yelled back as Bruce opened up on the new group and Mindy threw a grenade and yelled it out.

With short bursts, Bruce moved from target to target, knocking down four, then dropped down and rolled to his right as the grenade detonated. Coming up on his right knee, Bruce picked up where he’d left off, dropping the three that were left from the grenade. “Adam, we either need to open up some distance or close it. We don’t have the number of weapons to stay at this range!” Bruce yelled out. Looking back at the buildings that were still standing in the barracks area, he saw one suddenly blow up and Bruce dropped down to his belly.

“A Hellfire only has a twenty-pound warhead. What are you dropping for? That building is over a hundred yards away,” Adam yelled.

“I had a building try to kill me when I blew it up one time!” Bruce yelled, and looked to his front. He could see about forty men trying to stand up between them and the blown-up building. Raising his rifle, Bruce snapped off quick single shots till his bolt locked back. Rolling to his right, Bruce pulled a magazine out of his vest and had it in as he finished his roll and sighted back in on the targets coming at them. Only seeing six left, Bruce started fixing that problem. When he dropped the last one he heard a ‘whop’ and yell to his left.

Turning his head, he saw Adam fall back from a kneeling firing position, hitting the ground hard. Looking back to the front, Bruce saw a dozen more targets start charging them. Pulling out another magazine, Bruce started dropping the ones he could with what was left in his magazine. Three were down as he felt his bolt lock back and he dropped the empty and slammed in the new one he had grabbed. Then his SAW gunner finished off the others. Bruce low crawled to Adam. “Adam, how bad are you hit!” he yelled out.

“I don’t know but it fucking hurts!” he yelled out, rubbing his chest and feeling for the wound.

Bruce reached him and saw a bullet hole in the middle of Adam’s interceptor vest over the trauma plate. “You sissy, it hit you in the plate!” Bruce yelled out, turning back to the area where the targets were coming from.

“Hell I don’t care, that fucking hurt!” Adam yelled out as he rolled into a prone position as Bruce opened up on another group charging them. The group was running past the building that had been blown up a hundred yards away. It was a big ass group of fifty plus.

“SAW gunner, targets front, what the hell are you waiting for!” Bruce yelled out, knowing there was no way they could take down that many. Then all of a sudden an explosion went off in the middle of the group, sending many skyward. Then Bruce noticed red tracers ripping through the barracks as one of the Blackhawks sped overhead with the door gunner sending out streams of death. “Fuck with me again cocksuckers, even my transports are getting some of this!” Bruce yelled out, changing magazines. Looking down his line his noticed his SAW gunner holding his right arm with blood coming out. “Adam, cover me!” Bruce yelled as he got up and ran to his man. Reaching down, Bruce saw a bullet had hit the man under the shoulder plate that started at the top of the shoulder and extended to the elbow. But underneath was where the bullet hit Bruce’s SAW gunner.

Reaching to examine the wound, Bruce felt through his gloves that the bullet had hit him under the arm in the tricep. Grabbing a bandage, Bruce plugged the wound and tied it down as the man yelled, “Behind you!” Dropping down and turning, Bruce saw four figures running at them from fifty yards away. When he hit the ground on his stomach, Bruce squeezed the trigger, seeing two drop and the other two swing their weapons at him and open up. Bullets impacted to his front as Bruce squeezed the trigger, holding it down and spraying the two targets across the chest, taking one’s arm off. Looking at David and Mindy, Bruce saw them engaging a group trying to low crawl up to them from over a hundred yards away. They just shot them in the head one after another.

Changing magazines, Bruce turned to his SAW gunner and saw he was holding his left thigh with blood coming out between his fingers. “Are you fucking shitting me! I just patched you up!” Bruce yelled at him.

“Well kill them faster next time!” the gunner yelled back at Bruce.

Risking a glance at the rest of the squad, Bruce saw they were changing magazines. “Adam, get on the fucking SAW and send some hate downrange at the assholes. David and Mindy have the end of the line. My fucking machine gunner is bound and determined to catch every bullet thrown at him!” Bruce yelled out, pulling another bandage out. Looking at the wound, Bruce saw the bullet had hit the outside of the thigh and blown out the back. Bruce grabbed one of the gunner’s bandages so he could bandage both wounds. When the dressing was in place, Bruce looked back to the barracks and saw another group coming. “Don’t catch any more bullets, we’re out of dressings,” Bruce told his gunner as he spun around in time to watch Adam cut the group down. “’Bout time you did something!” Bruce yelled.

“I took down twenty that were coming on our right while you were feeling up a wounded man!” Adam yelled back.

“Adam, we’re leaving. We’re taking him back to the rally point with the hostages,” Bruce said, changing magazines. Bruce looked for the rest of his squad and saw his sniper with her head blown apart. “First Squad, we are leaving now, grab Rachel!” Bruce yelled as he grabbed the machine gunner and started dragging him to the rally point. David and Mindy stayed in place, firing at the gang as Bruce pulled the wounded gunner past them. Bruce saw wolf tails ahead through his NVG and saw someone waving and running at him.

“Boss, get your ass over here. The locals are pissed off big time!” Ted yelled out. When he reached Bruce, he grabbed the wounded man’s other shoulder and helped Bruce drag him back to the rally point. Second Platoon had formed a fifty-yard perimeter with the lake to their back and were firing into the compound. Turning around, Bruce saw Adam fireman-carrying Rachel’s body.

Looking around him, Bruce noticed women and kids lying on the ground everywhere. “You did a count yet?” Bruce asked.

“Working on it!” Ted yelled back.

“Keep these fuckers off of me for two minutes so I can find out what the hell is going on!” Bruce yelled to everyone. “This is Big Daddy One to Wild Willie. What is your sit rep?” Bruce yelled into his radio, asking for a situation report as the perimeter opened up on another charge of attackers.

“Big Daddy One, this is Wild Willie. Objective is clear at command area,” Willie reported.

“Willie, how is Carl doing with the hostage area!” Bruce shouted as he kneeled down and sighted on four men sneaking down the shoreline to the team’s right. Squeezing the trigger four times, Bruce dropped each with a burst as Ted looked at what Bruce was shooting at and started barking out orders.

“Fourth Platoon is in deep shit, Boss. There were more bad guys there than we thought. He has hostages pulled to the shoreline and the Blackhawks are covering him from a distance,” Willie reported.

“Tell the fucking Apaches to get in here!” Bruce yelled.

“They’re all empty and the five relief choppers will be here in ten minutes!” Willie yelled over the radio.

“Tell Three to move to Fourth Platoon and Two to swing by here, we are in deep shit!” Bruce yelled back.

“Want me to head to you?” Willie asked.

“Negative, head to Fourth and the hostages!” Bruce yelled back, watching a group of targets run to a mobile home one hundred yards to his right front.

“Copy, moving to Fourth,” Willie called back.

“Big Daddy Two this is One. Where the fuck are you at?” Bruce yelled into the radio and saw a man a hundred and twenty yards away step out from behind a tree. Fire erupted from the end of his rifle and Bruce felt like someone kicked him in the chest, knocking him off his knee to the ground.

“Bruce!” Ted yelled and ran for him but Bruce jumped up as the man ducked back behind the tree. Taking off at a dead run, Bruce headed for the asshole behind the tree. Gunfire erupted behind him as his troops fired to cover him. When he was ten yards away, Bruce dropped his SCAR and pulled his tomahawk off his back as he rounded the tree with his arm swinging down. The man looked up and jumped, seeing Bruce come around the tree. Just as shock filled his eyes, the tomahawk blade buried deep in his skull, dropping him and pulling the tomahawk out of Bruce’s hand. Letting the handle go, Bruce grabbed his SCAR and looked around. Seeing two running at him Bruce raised up, sending two bursts into their chest.

Then Bruce remembered the group behind the mobile home. Kneeling down as he turned to his right, he saw a shitload of targets behind the mobile home. It was fifty yards away and twenty yards to his front. ‘Damn, was this stupid.’ Bruce thought as the mobile home exploded. The concussion hit Bruce, knocking him back. Rolling from the explosion, Bruce jumped up and took off running to his team. When he reached the line, Ted jumped in his face. “What the fuck is your problem?” Ted screamed at him.

“That fucker shot me!” Bruce screamed back.

“Well shoot him back dumbass, don’t go tomahawk him!” Ted yelled as Bruce kneeled down.

“Big Daddy Two, this is One, did not catch your last,” Bruce said.

Mike yelled over the radio, “Will you shoot motherfuckers and quit trying to shank them. Gamma is pinned at the gate. I got one platoon through to Fourth. Second linked up with them and they have pushed the bad guys back!” Mike yelled over the radio as 30mm rounds started impacting a hundred and fifty yards to Bruce’s front followed by 2.75 inch rockets. The earth shook and Bruce was knocked on his ass.

“I’m getting sick and tired of getting knocked on my ass!” Bruce yelled out as Mike tried to talk to him over the radio. “Big Daddy Two, we have Apaches dropping shit close. hold,” Bruce said, looking at the impact area. With each flash he could see masses of hostiles in the woods surrounding them. “Holy shit, that’s a lot of motherfuckers out there!” Bruce yelled as he lifted up his rifle and sighted through the thermal and started squeezing the trigger. The 30mm and rockets stopped, then all of a sudden started up again. Turning one of his radio channels to Mission Control, Bruce yelled out, “How fucking many are to my front? This is Big Daddy One in case you are wondering!”

“This is Little Foot, you have close to a thousand to your front,” Angela called back.

“Are you shitting me? What were they doing, sleeping in the woods?” Bruce hollered back.

“Not far from the truth. Some were sleeping in hide holes with thermal blankets over them but we way underestimated hostile troop strength. Little Red had been watching and is putting hostile strength at six thousand. Hostage area has seven to eight hundred around them but we are holding them off. Gamma has about the same around them. At your location we are putting the strength at fourteen hundred. Do you copy?” Angela asked.

In a calm voice, Bruce started, “Let me get this straight. They were almost double what we thought, they hid a large group in the woods to hit us when we attacked their troops. We have killed three thousand but have another three thousand to go,” Bruce finished.

Angela held the mic away from her face, wondering who she was talking to. “That’s a roger,” she finally managed.

“Radio the forward airbase and tell Gamma Platoon to mount up and join the party because this is bullshit and it’s fixing to get deep. Tell Mack if any of his boys are good let them hit with the Warthogs. Load up some of the home guard and bring them in,” Bruce said, raising up his rifle and firing into a charging group along with the rest of Omega. The attacking group turned around but not before losing about fifty.

“You have troops inbound now,” Angela called back.

“How far out?” Bruce asked.

“Five, maybe ten minutes, and they are bringing ammo,” Angela told him.

“Bring them to me,” Bruce told her.

“They wouldn’t land anywhere else, Big Daddy,” she replied.

“Tell them we are going to load up wounded and hostages,” Bruce called back, noticing the sky was really bright and it was light around him.

“Negative, Big Daddy One. This is Little Red. The rides they have are too big of a target to stay long. We will send you some Blackhawks when they clear the area,” Stephanie told him.

“Copy. If you need me, drop to the platoon nets,” Bruce told her and turned his channel back to First and Second Platoon radio frequency. “Mike, did you copy that?” he asked.

“Yeah, we are pushing them back and Mission Control, watch my ass for blues,” Mike said.

“I swear if someone parachutes in here I’m throwing a fit,” Bruce said as he rose to a kneeling position and saw several figures in the tree line with his thermal scope. Shooting eight, he dropped down to his stomach.

“I really don’t care how they get here!” Mike shouted.

“First Platoon! Casualties’ and ammo status,” Bruce called out, keying his radio.

“Five KIA, nine WIA, two serious. Down to four hundred rounds per man,” Adam called back.

“Second,” Bruce asked.

“Four KIA, sixteen WIA, one serious, five hundred rounds per man,” Ted called back.

“Third,” Bruce called out on the radio.

“Four WIA, eight hundred per man,” Willie replied.

“Fourth,” Bruce called.

“Seven KIA, ten WIA, none serious, four hundred rounds per man,” Carl called back.

“Mack, I know you’re listening, time to show how fucking good the Air Force is!” Bruce yelled out the challenge.

“Just fixing to call you, tell your troops to get down in twenty seconds and stay down. Things will be getting warm so don’t freak out,” Mack replied.

Having dealt with insane Air Force personnel before, Bruce yelled out, “Get the fuck down! Air is rolling in hot!” No sooner had he hit the ground than Bruce heard a low burrrp to his left and impacts to his front. Not able to resist, Bruce raised his head and saw steel rain falling a hundred and fifty yards to his front. Trees just exploded, falling to the ground as Bruce heard the whine of the A-10 engine to his left. Barely turning his head, he saw a large object that had fallen away from the Hog; the Hog itself was pulling off and away from them. “This is going to hurt,” Bruce said out loud as he watched the bomb fall. He had never been this close to a bomb drop and if he was going to die, be damned if he was going to miss it. The bomb hit the ground, and instead of the earthshattering ka-boom there was a deep-throated boom whoosh as a line of fire spread across the tree line.

The heat hit him like a microwave, then Bruce smelled the kerosene. Jumping up, he yelled, “Damn, napalm in the morning does smell good!” He looked around and spotted Ted. “Ted, take five men and move forty yards to our left, I’m moving to the right. Wounded, guard the hostages and our fallen troops!” Bruce yelled, tapping four men as he went by.

“Big Daddy One, this is Spook One, do you copy,” Jake called out.

“I copy, Spook One,” Bruce responded.

“Have two big birds coming up behind you bringing friends and toys, keep the bad guys down,” Jake called back.

“Everyone just fucking shoot anywhere but behind us!” Bruce yelled out as First and Second Platoon opened up, sending out a ton of lead. Hearing the rotors, Bruce turned and almost dropped his SCAR. Two huge Chinook choppers were five feet off the water, sending up a cloud of spray. When they were twenty yards from the bank people started jumping out the back. When the last ones hit the water the choppers eased over the beach and they each dropped pallets on the beach.

“Adam, secure that ammo!” Bruce yelled as Adam moved forward, jumping over women and kids.

Bruce ran up to a group coming out of the water and looked at their uniforms. Seeing they were home guard, he smiled. Jake must have launched them soon after the attack started, knowing it was going to go bad. The flying bus with rotors might look big but was fast, moving almost two hundred mile per hour.

“Who’s in charge of your team?” Bruce asked them as they kneeled down.

“Coming over now, sir,” one of them said, pointing at the area where the other chopper had unloaded.

Looking over, Bruce’s face split into a grin as he shook his head. “You know this is insubordination,” he said as the kids came up.

“So what, you’ll ground us?” Jake replied, kneeling down in front of Bruce. Then Danny, Mary, Matt, and Buffy came up. “You leave us for a few hours and look at the shit you get into,” Jake told him.

“Ready to play?” Bruce asked.

“Oh hell yeah,” Danny whooped.

Grinning Bruce whispered, “Get me some ammo.” He keyed his radio and called out, “Ted, Adam, David, and Mary, move to me. Ted and Adam, bring five men each from your platoon.”

“I take it we are fixing to get some,” Jake asked, grinning and looking at his watch.

“Yeah why, you on a time line?” Bruce asked.

“No but we need to wait six minutes,” Jake replied, still grinning.

Just then Angela came over the radio. “First, Second and Home Guard, Spooky inbound. You have hostiles trying to flank you on either side of the napalm strike,” she called out.

“These guys are persistent,” Bruce called back.

“Well if you could hear the radio, Gopher is on the radio station telling them you are going to rape their corpses and the only way they can win is to eat a bullet,” Angela told him.

“I love that man,” Bruce said. Looking up, he saw the black dot. Keying his radio, he yelled, “Hey, not to be a spoilsport but that’s kind of far away for a green crew to be firing dangerous close.”

“This is the air boss, trust me,” Mack called back.

Bruce looked at the kids as they handed him magazines to fill his vest up. “Jake, get us some choppers inbound to get our wounded out,” Bruce told him as he called the home guard. “Home guard, get the wounded ready, choppers inbound. If you have any room, put some kids on. None of the hostages will take room that one of my wounded need and I want my fallen troops home.”

“Already getting ready for a medevac,” a very familiar voice replied, and Bruce looked at Jake.

“I know you didn’t,” Bruce said, looking at Jake.

“It’s not like I can say anything to him,” Jake shot back.

“Marcus, what the hell are you doing out here!” Bruce shouted on the radio.

“This is my home guard platoon, Bruce. If they go, I go,” he cackled back.

“I swear, if Carroll shows up with a switch and Millie shows up with her damn spoon I’m walking out in this lake and drowning myself,” Bruce called out on the radio. Then to their left the world was ending for someone. The 25mm chain guns and 40mm Bofors cannons from the flying gunship blew the hell out of a twenty-acre area, then suddenly stopped. Then Spooky opened up with the same on the right but started to throw 105mm cannon rounds among the gang members to keep spice in the relationship. Bruce watched in awe as twenty acres of trees vanished. “Somebody else is not having a good day besides me,” Bruce said, and looked behind him.

“Stay on my ass, single file. We’re going to take some of the heat off of Mike,” Bruce told them and led them off. They moved three hundred yards in and found a group of women and kids hiding in a hole. Bruce counted twenty-three as he eased up, and then two men jumped up on their left. Bruce saw the movement and started to dive. His kids saw him move to drop and followed.

The two men opened up on full auto, spraying the tree branches over Bruce’s team’s head. Rolling over, Bruce aimed at the two and saw both go down as Jake and Danny lowered their weapons. Looking down the line, Bruce saw a man holding his forearm. Blood ran between his fingers as Matt moved to him, taking out a bandage. Moving to the man, Bruce knelt down.

“I’m good sir,” the troop told Bruce.

“You can’t keep going with us,” Bruce told him.

“It’s fine sir,” he replied.

“No, I’m sorry but I’m going to have to ask you to escort this group to our line and I can’t send anyone with you. I know you’re wounded and if you don’t feel comfortable, hold here until we get back and guard them,” Bruce told him.

“No sir, you’re right, I’ll lead them back. Nothing will harm them,” the young man promised. Bruce nodded and the young man moved to the hostages and began to lead them back to the secure area. As they moved off through the brush, Bruce held up his hand for everyone to stop.

Looking sixty yards to his front, Bruce saw Gamma and the gang battling it out. It was a stand-off. A blown-up RG was blocking the dirt road but on each side of the dirt road was an earthen berm. Against it, their backs to Bruce’s team, were a whole cluster of bad guys. Past them, Gamma was spread out in their vehicles in a two-hundred-yard semi-circle inside the fence. The gang didn’t have anything that could take out the vehicles and Gamma could not go over the six-foot berm. Like Omega, Gamma team had suppressors on their rifles. It wore the suppressor out fast but it didn’t matter, they had thousands. Bruce keyed his radio. “Big Daddy Two, this is One,” Bruce called out.

“This is Two,” Mike answered.

“I have a team behind the bad guys on your left flank. In three minutes open up with some unsuppressed heavy weapons. Just aim to your left,” Bruce told him.

“Okay, but Bruce, there are several hundred bad guys out there,” Mike called back.

“I know, we see them,” Bruce answered and turned his head around. “Move slowly to the left, forming a firing line two yards apart. When Gamma opens up with a heavy weapon, start from this side working around to the far left,” Bruce told them. The sixteen spread out and were no sooner in position when a fifty cal opened up from Gamma, aiming to the far left side of Bruce.

They raised up their rifles, firing aimed single shots and started hitting the gang cowering down behind the berm in the head. Over a hundred were down on the right side before those on the left knew anything was wrong. By the time they figured out their buddies on the left weren’t firing anymore, Bruce’s team was moving down the line, taking out forty more. With only sixty left, they made the stupid mistake of trying to run. Since he was no longer being shot at from the side, the gunner moved up into the machinegun cupola and fired over the berm, gunning down those that ran. Several threw up their hands and one put his rifle in his mouth and pulled the trigger.

“Damn, I have to tell Gopher about that,” Bruce said as he keyed his radio. “Hey Mike, push the blown up RG out of the way and give us a ride to the other side so we can help out our brothers,” Bruce called out.

An RG pulled forward and started pushing the blown-up truck out of the way. Then Bruce noticed a crater under the monster truck. “Willie, what is your situation?” Bruce called on the radio.

“Holding our own,” Willie called back.

“Describe the enemy’s line to me,” Bruce called out.

“Gamma’s Second Platoon has them bottled in from the east at the closest field to the wall. Fourth Platoon is at the edge of the hostage compound. Third starts at the edge of the compound and swings out two hundred yards. The enemy is two hundred yards from our line in the tree line. The A-10s are fixing to make another run in ten minutes,” Willie told him.

“Tell them to hold. I’m with Gamma and we will roll up behind them, so watch your shots. We either kill them or push them out,” Bruce called back. The platoon leaders had heard Bruce and told their drivers to fan out, forming a line three hundred yards across. They soon started seeing men crouching behind trees and opened up. Many died, never even hearing the big RGs moving through the trees. The trees weren’t clustered, they were spread out in rows spaced evenly apart, showing this was a harvested forest.

Those that figured out what was going on tried to charge the others’ line, especially when Gamma’s Second Platoon’s vehicles cranked up and joined in the charge. In fifteen minutes it was over.

“Mike, send a platoon to the busted gate to keep out the Smurfs. How far out is the supply convoy?” Bruce asked.

“They are waiting five miles out and have been for an hour. I have to reinforce the platoon on the wall with Second and send what’s left of First to the gate,” Mike told him.

Bruce looked down at his watch, which read 0922. Damn, that took too long. “Willie, start scouring the area for holdouts. I want counts of enemy and hostage dead and wounded. Supply group, get your asses in here now,” Bruce called out over the radio. He turned to Jake, “Jake, get First Squad and set up a temporary command post at their command area, then get me a picture of what is going on. I need to know what our strength is and what’s coming.” Jake grabbed First and left but Buffy stayed with Bruce.

It was almost 1100 when Bruce gathered with the rest of the platoon leaders at the RV. They had found several pockets of gang members but they were quickly wiped out. Carl was the last to arrive and just dropped down to the ground. “Damn, that was some shit,” he said, taking a long drink of water.

“Yeah, I had to admit I started to worry for a minute,” Adam said.

“Dude, you’re a sissy. We have the ‘Bruce,’” Ted told him, passing a plate of food to Carl.

Bruce laughed at the comment. “Well men, let me tell you I was starting to get a little worried. I did not expect that many hostiles here,” he admitted.

“You can keep that information to yourself, Boss,” Willie told him.

“Just being honest,” Bruce told him.

“Don’t care,” Willie said, shaking his head. “If you’d have known, what would you have done different?”

“I would have bombed out the command area and sent you with Carl,” Bruce admitted.

“Boss, we rescued over two hundred at the command area alone, all women and children. I have to say I’m glad you didn’t know,” Willie told him.

Bruce shook his head, not wanting to get started. “We’ll go over the attack at a later date. Willie, what are the numbers, and key your radio so they can hear at base,” Bruce asked.

Looking down at his notebook, Willie started to read off, “We have three thousand two hundred and forty hostages, and that includes the ones that were flown out, wounded and kids. Hostile strength was difficult to count since so much air was brought in, so I went and talked to Switch. Don’t worry, I asked real nice and he told me enemy strength was five thousand four hundred and sixty-one. We have accounted for all the bodies except a few hundred. We captured five hundred and twenty-three alive, it was more but we killed off the wounded,” Willie said, looking up.

“This gives a whole new meaning to we will fuck your world up,” Ted said out loud.

Grinning at the comment, Bruce looked over at Jake. “Well, tell us what’s going on,” he said.

Keying his radio, Jake began. “Jackson and Memphis emptied out and are heading to us. Both groups are moving around forty miles per hour. I figure they’ll reach us in six hours. Six miles to our east, blues are gathering, doing that relay thing with the hordes. Very few have come to the perimeter we set up. Gamma and Omega suffered eight-nine wounded and twenty-nine deaths. The word from base is a few more won’t make it,” Jake told him.

“Shit!” Bruce yelled out. “Alright, get the troops up to the wall and prepare for an attack.”

“Can’t we just bug out and call it even?” Adam asked.

“No Adam, there are a lot of people hiding out in the countryside. We can’t let those hordes spread out. Then we don’t have the means to transport the hostages back. We were only prepared for half that number,” Bruce told him.

“Start flying some out,” Adam offered.

“Hold on there, cowboy,” Mack shouted over the radio. “That is a major lift and would put a strain on our choppers, pilots, ground crews, and fuel.”

“Don’t worry Mack, we’ll stay here,” Bruce told him, keying his radio. “Base, I need y’all to get a dozen more semis heading to us. When we wipe out both hordes these people will need a ride. Mack, start resting the fly boys. When we engage the hordes I want you to have an air battle set up and I really don’t want you laying ordinance danger close to us. The napalm that was dropped singed my goatee.”

“I thought my boys did great,” Mack replied with a hurt tone.

“Oh they did,” Bruce replied back over the radio. “Without them we would have lost three-quarters of our troops if not totally wiped out. I just don’t like having fire that close to me, I didn’t even bring marshmallows.”

“I will let the air wing know you’re proud of them and they will drop some marshmallows off,” Mack laughed.

“Okay people, let’s get ready for the hordes. Danny, I want you to see if any of the hostages have weapons training. Set them up with captured weapons and have them hold up in the rear to strengthen any area on the wall when we are attacked. Now the gang only has a one-hundred-yard kill zone along the fence so the horde will be right on us. Tell the troops to start engaging on sight. Get every heavy machine gun here. I want one every twenty yards along the entire two and a half miles of the wall. That wall is only fourteen feet tall so we can’t let them get close.

“Marcus, get some of the captured gang and tie them up in the trees, hanging by their hands, about twenty feet off the ground,” Bruce said, turning to Marcus.

“Be my pleasure,” Marcus told him.

“Have each squad’s vehicles parked behind them on the wall in case they have to fall back. Have the lights on the RGs extended and light up the kill area. Let the fly boys know where we are. The hostages that are not on the wall will stay by the command center here. I want them ready to jump in any vehicle if we start to get overrun. Have Omega and Gamma’s mortar crews set up here. I want them to send up flares when it’s dark so the blues can find us with ease. I’m not in the mood to chase them down,” Bruce told everyone. “Platoon leaders, see to your teams, and Mike, make sure they are evenly spaced on the wall,” Bruce added.

The upgrades consisted of a second heavy machinegun cupola on the back of the RG. Then on the back was an array of ten powerful lights on a telescoping pole with a small generator to run them. On the inside were more gun racks and ammo storage. In each platoon leader’s rig were three monitors that could be fed video from the RV of the overhead UAVs, as well as two more radios.

“Hey Bruce, we caught the judge. He was one of the judges from Oak Grove. He told Switch, this gang’s leader, that Omega was only twenty to forty strong. That was why this group wasn’t scared of us,” Willie told him.

“Makes sense,” Bruce replied, thinking about it. “Please tell me you still have him,” he asked.

“Well hell yeah,” Willie answered. “The stupid idiot keeps trying to hold his breath to kill hisself. We had to tie him up special so he would quit hitting his head on the ground,” Willie added.

Keying his radio, Bruce looked at the group. “Are there any questions?” he asked.

“Yeah. It’s not really a question but I just wanted you to know I sent another fifty home guard to you,” Stephanie told him.

“Thank you baby, but that is starting to put the base at risk,” Bruce replied.

“Listen to me you son of a bitch. We sat and watched you lead that battle and everyone here knows the troops are tired. You’re lucky I haven’t ordered two hundred to follow me and Angela up there in a ground convoy. If you say anything else we will see you in an hour and I will cut you, not life threatening but it will hurt!” Stephanie yelled over the radio.

“Angela, can’t you control her?” Bruce asked over the radio.

“She’s not in here, she’s out loading a truck with supplies,” Nancy told him.

Letting out a sigh, Bruce answered back, “Stephanie, I’m sorry, you’re right. We can use the troops but please don’t send any more. I might need you to come for us in a convoy.”

“You’re forgiven,” Stephanie told him, causing Bruce to relax. “Just to let you know the convoy is ready to leave when you call for it,” she added.

“Thank you,” Bruce said and looked at Danny. “See what I mean? They don’t listen,” Bruce told her.

“Well Dad, they really don’t have to. And in their defense, Mom would have just left in a convoy,” Danny told him.

Since he couldn’t argue the point, Bruce looked at the others. “If there are no more questions let’s get the show on the road and prepare for our guests.” As everyone stood up and left, Bruce walked over to the RV, heading to the intel center in the back. On the wall screens he saw the two hordes heading toward them and the gathering of blues to the east.

Picking up the mic from the radio operator, Bruce keyed it. “Stephanie, what are the numbers you are coming up with in total?” Bruce asked.

“Just over two million altogether,” she answered.

Throwing down the mic, Bruce walked outside and looked around. “This war sucks,” he said out loud and went to the wall to help get ready.

Chapter 20

It was 1800 and Bruce was standing on the wall with Marcus and Mike, looking out over the kill zone. Marcus had taken a hundred prisoners out and tied them up in the trees like Bruce had asked. Then he told fifteen of his men to go get some chainsaws off the vehicles of Gamma and Omega. Then they just started to cut down trees, leaving them where they fell.

When Mike saw this he told the line to send half out and cut down trees. They only managed to cut back in most places fifty yards, leaving only the trees holding prisoners standing. With all the trees lying about haphazardly, they hoped it would slow down the blues some.

“The Memphis horde is rounding the lake and joining the group that was to your east. They are three miles away,” Nancy told them. “The Jackson horde just started moving off the road. They should be to you in an hour,” she added.

“Copy that, mortar teams start up,” Bruce replied over the radio. Behind him Bruce heard the four mortars open up. When he heard the explosions he said, “Well, looks like we have some killing to do.”

“There’s going to be killing to do for years to come,” Marcus said, walking over to join his platoon.

Mike and Bruce turned and watched Marcus walk away. Then Mike looked at Bruce. “Bruce, I just want you to know if I see you pull your sword and charge the blues I’m going to shoot you myself.”

“Nobody loves me today,” Bruce said, moving to his squad.

In Mission Control, they watched the horde move across the land off the interstate. On the interstate they had moved fast, but moving across the land the horde’s speed was cut in half. This made them group up in a huge mass of bodies following the edge of the lake to reach their pray. The front of the horde was over a mile across and two miles long. When the horde rounded the corner of the lake that formed the peninsula, Mission Control watched the mortars impact, sending bodies flying.

The horde didn’t scatter or run away, they just moved toward the line. When a mortar round exploded on the front of the group, it did slow the advance but not by much. When the horde had moved onto the peninsula, the front edge was less than a mile away. Mack was looking at the monitors along with everyone else as he keyed his radio. “Bruce, tell the mortars to hold, air is inbound,” he said, and the mortars stopped firing.

On the monitors, several different views from six UAVs showed two A-10s heading across the peninsula flying at two thousand feet. One was lined up with the leading edge, the other the rear. Those on the ground saw the plane closest to them release cluster bombs one after another. The bombs impacted along the entire leading edge as the second A-10 did the same to the rear of the blues. In Mission Control they watched the bombs send hundreds of bomblets out. These covered the front and back of the horde but the horde still pressed forward.

Those on the ground felt the earth shake from the explosions as the first two planes pulled up, only to be followed by two more. Like the two before them, these planes were carrying six, one-thousand-pound cluster bombs. Following the other two planes’ flight paths, they released their bombs inside the last bomb run. They were followed by two more A-10s for a total of five flights.

In Mission Control there was silence as the last two planes pulled off. In the attack area, few trees were standing, but the blues were still moving toward the team. Tens of thousands of blues were dead but with over a million it was not much of a dent. More importantly, hundreds of thousands were wounded and couldn’t move fast, making them easy targets when they reached the wall.

Then on the monitor they watched another flight of A-10s move in, flying in pairs, six more in total. This flight carried napalm and they worked from the back to the front, dropping fire bombs on the blues’ rear. When each bomb hit it exploded, sending out a huge fan of jelled fire. Trees exploded in flames and blues just evaporated. Those six planes by themselves killed over two hundred thousand blues.

As the last two planes pulled off, Mack called over the radio, “Gun runners coming in.” Bruce looked to the south and saw a twin engine plane at about five hundred feet. Then he saw four flames shoot from the nose. Looking to his front, Bruce watched shells descend to earth.

“What the hell is that?” Bruce asked over the radio.

“A King Air,” Mack called back. “We outfitted eight of them with guns; each has four, fifty cals in the nose. They carry almost a ton of ammo for the guns.”

The first plane was pulling off as the next followed in and Bruce heard gunfire to his left. “We have contact,” Ted called out from the far north end of the wall.

“You need reinforcements?” Bruce called back.

“Negative, Boss,” Ted responded. “You aren’t going to believe this, but most of the blues are just jumping up at the prisoners we have tied up,” Ted informed him.

“Hey, whatever it takes. Keep us up to date,” Bruce told him.

Ted joined the rest of his team in engaging the blues. The blues slowed, moving down the front of the wall. Those on the wall engaged the majority that were surrounding the prisoners. Starting on the outside, they dropped them down. The heavy guns took out small groups that tried to charge the wall. The fire burned to the east from the napalm strikes and blew off to the north.

“Choppers coming up to your rear,” Jimmy called out. Since nothing was in his area at the moment, Bruce turned around and saw four Apaches hover behind the wall four hundred feet up. None were carrying Hellfires. Instead they were all carrying rock pods for the 2.75 inch rockets, seventy-six per aircraft. Spellbound, Bruce watched them dump pod after pod into the horde. He couldn’t see what the rockets did but knew they were fucking some shit up. Once they emptied their rockets, the four started up with their chain guns.

Just as he was fixing to tell everyone he was going down there to watch, Ted came over the radio. “Choppers, don’t hit the lone trees to our front. We have bait there,” he told them. Bruce could hear a lot of gunfire coming from the other end.

“Ted, is it still good down there?” Bruce asked.

“Yeah Boss, none have made it within eighty yards of us. Most of the ones coming at us are wounded something fierce,” Ted told him. The four Apaches pulled off and four more pulled up and started firing, then left when they were empty.

“Spooky on scene,” Mack called out, and Bruce looked up. He didn’t see it until it started firing. It was a mile up and a mile to the west, sending streams of lead out. Then Bruce saw a big flash at the back of the plane and heard the impact of the cannon round. Spooky circled the kill zone, firing at will. “Air is clear, mortars can start,” Mack called out.

The words had no sooner come over the radio than Bruce heard the thumps of the mortars firing. “Omega and Gamma, the Jackson horde is rounding onto the peninsula,” Nancy called out. Lifting up his arm and glancing at his watch, Bruce saw the air attack had lasted an hour and a half. “You have approximately two hundred thousand in the Memphis horde still coming at you. The Jackson horde is double that,” Nancy warned them.

“That horde was almost one and a half million!” Bruce yelled over the radio.

“Bruce, we dropped over a hundred thousand pounds of ordinance on them, then tons of ammo. They tend to die when you do that,” Nancy told him.

“South end of the wall, get ready,” Bruce called out over the radio, ignoring Nancy.

“Mortars hold fire, air inbound,” Mack called out and the mortars stopped. In the twilight, Bruce could make out two A-10s coming in low and releasing their bombs. The cluster bombs opened up, sending out a rain of explosives along the front and back of the advancing horde. They then lowered their noses and opened up with their cannons into the Memphis horde on the north end of the wall. The first two were followed by four more dropping cluster bombs, then eight followed dropping napalm.

Looking out at the forest to his front, Bruce could see flames reaching to the sky. When the first shot sounded to his right it scared the shit out of him, causing him to jump. Looking to his front, he could see blues under the bait. He brought his rifle to his shoulder but each time he sighted on a blue it would drop as someone else shot it.

As before, the gun runners followed the A-10s but this time Bruce could watch. The planes were higher than before, due to the fire in the woods, but that did not stop them from dumping death on the horde.

The horde melted under the onslaught from the air as the wall engaged the blues that jumped up at the bait. Lowering his rifle, Bruce just watched the show. When the last gun plane left he heard the Apaches move up behind them. When they started dumping rockets on the horde, Bruce smiled, watching the explosions three hundred yards away. “That is totally cool, Daddy,” Buffy said from his side.

Looking down, Bruce saw her where she always was: on his left side. She was grinning as the Apaches opened up with their guns. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool, BB,” Bruce said, turning back to the show. By 2200 the hordes were wiped out and the wall was just shooting stragglers.

Bruce called the platoon leaders together at the RV. The area around the RV was lit up with lights, and hostages were lying around listening to Gopher on the radio. When the platoon leaders all arrived, Bruce started. “Okay, since our air wing is full of insane, bloodthirsty people, I want you to start letting your people eat and sleep. Base has a convoy en route that will be here tomorrow at 0600. Supply group, I want anything of value here. I’m going to talk to Switch,” Bruce told them.

“Boss, I want to talk to Switch,” Willie told him.

“Willie, this is on me,” Bruce said sternly.

Shaking his head, Willie said, “Boss, you didn’t see what I saw going into that house. I will never tell you, so don’t ask. If you have to know you can watch my helmet cam.”

Bruce closed his eyes and pulled off his helmet, rubbing his shaved head. “It’s him,” Bruce heard from behind him. Turning around, Bruce saw a shitload of people coming at him. The platoon leaders, his kids and the supply group jumped between Bruce and the rescued hostages. The group stopped, seeing the wall of rifles pointing at them.

A young man stepped forward, holding up his hands. “We aren’t going to hurt him. We’ve heard of Bruce on the radio. We saw some of the troops here with the Omega patch but we saw others with a different patch so we weren’t sure if we were really rescued,” he said.

Bruce eased through his wall of protection to stand in front of the young man. “Young man, that is our second army. They are Gamma. This group was kinda big to be tackling with just Omega,” Bruce told him, and his wall of protection spread out to his sides.

A woman ran up to him and dropped down, hugging his right leg and crying. “Thank you,” she wailed. More started moving toward Bruce and Willie jumped in front of him.

“I’m sorry, but you people have not been cleared and there might be a gang member in with you. We can’t let you get any closer to Bruce; we’ve grown kinda fond of him. I hope you understand,” Willie told them. Many shook their head in understanding and the others looked down dejectedly.

Looking down at the woman still hugging his leg, Bruce reached down and pulled her up. When she was on her feet Bruce saw she was young, no older that twenty-two, but her eyes looked old. “Young lady, if you want to thank me, help me save others and rebuild this nation,” Bruce told her.

The young woman staggered on her feet. That he wanted her to help filled her with pride. “I swear I’ll do whatever it takes to help you,” she told him with tears in her eyes.

“I want you to go around and make sure all the survivors have eaten, and ask if they want to come to Base Hope with us. Let them know not to run up to me, it makes the rest of my team nervous,” Bruce told her. “Especially my daughters,” he said, motioning to his left and right. The young woman looked on Bruce’s left and saw Buffy aiming her rifle at her head, then on Bruce’s right where Danny was doing the same.

“I’m sorry,” the woman said, stepping back as they lowered their rifles.

“It’s okay but I’m not losing my daddy,” Danny told her.

“I understand,” the woman said as she turned away, then looked over her shoulder. “Thank you again,” she said.

“Ma’am, it wasn’t me. You have to thank my troops here for following an insane, shaved-headed man into battle,” Bruce called out to her. The crowd started moving away, thanking any troop they found.

Willie came over and stopped in front of Bruce. “Damn it, you have to grow some hair or shave your goatee!” he yelled out. “You are too damn easy to recognize,” he added.

“Forget that,” Bruce replied, turning around.

“Where you going, Boss?” Willie asked.

“Talk to Switch, they knew a lot about us,” Bruce answered.

“I’m the one who gets to make him answer!” Willie yelled out. Bruce stopped and turned around. “Don’t try that ‘I will carry the burden shit’ on this one. Either you let me or I hang up my spurs,” Willie warned him.

Sighing, Bruce replied, “Fine, Willie, but you don’t really want to.” Willie calmly walked over to the RV and grabbed Bruce’s bags. Bruce was relieved when he saw Willie was not jumping with joy. When Bruce walked over to the prisoner area he just stopped. Seeing over five hundred prisoners tied up made him get weak. There were more prisoners than there were members of Omega and Gamma.

All were bound with hands zip-tied behind their backs, ankles together, lying on their stomachs. Bruce could smell the stench of urine, defecation, and fear. There were only ten members of Omega supply group guarding them.

Willie led Bruce to a group of prisoners held off to the side. “These were the ones we caught at the command area,” he said and pointed to a man with long black hair. “That is Switch,” Willie said.

As Bruce walked over, he noticed the man was crying. “Ah, Switch, don’t be that way. I was going to play with you but Willie has demanded to take my place for now. If you don’t answer, it’s going to go bad for you,” Bruce said. He turned to Willie and took a bottle of lighter fluid out of his bag. Walking over to the other prisoners, Bruce pulled out his pistol and shot two in the knees and elbows, making them scream. Then Bruce soaked them down with lighter fluid and set them afire. The other prisoners started screaming until Bruce yelled out, “Those that make noise are next!” Silence fell over the group of prisoners except for the shrieks of the two still burning.

“See Switch, I like for you to hear your men praise you while we talk,” Bruce said, putting the lighter fluid back in the bag. He pulled out the radio. “Start recording,” Bruce told them in Mission Control. “Now Switch, you will talk,” Bruce said, sitting the radio down by him. And talk he did, for three hours straight.

Switch told them about the judge that they had caught. After he’d joined them, he’d told Switch that Omega was no bigger that forty men. They knew Omega had but a few choppers. The gang had tracked the radio signal to the farm and they were the ones who’d hit Gopher’s house. Switch told them about the other gangs they had talked to all over the States. He admitted to letting them know Omega was only forty strong but he wouldn’t tell the other gangs where they had found Base Hope. Switch wanted to be the one to take out Hope in the winter. He told Bruce of the map in the house that was marked with other gang locations, one hundred and nine so far.

Willie just had to stand beside Switch and never even touched him as he continued to talk. Then Switch told Bruce about sending several of his troops to Ohio to a big gang there. When his troops came back, they told Switch that gang was over seven thousand strong. Switch had even sent five men to the government camp in Pennsylvania and Colorado just to scout them out. They had taken pictures and notes. Keeping with the tone, he told Bruce how they had hit several military posts, gathering weapons. When Switch would get off topic Bruce would guide him back.

It was at the end of the third hour when Switch asked for something to drink. Willie dropped the tools and pissed in his face. When Switch turned away, Willie grabbed the tools and started making him scream. With two toes burnt off with a torch, Willie stopped and Switch started talking again until dawn.

Finally, Bruce stood up and looked at Willie. “Willie, don’t kill him but he is rude. Make him scream for two hours nonstop,” Bruce told him and looked at the others. “Brand ‘em,” he said, walking to the RV.

With no blues close by, all of Omega and Gamma came for the branding. Mike came over holding a bag and started passing out branding irons. Bruce looked at them and saw a two-inch Gamma symbol on the end. “What? You didn’t think I was going to let my boys use your irons, did you?” Mike said.

“Watch the kids,” Bruce told him, and yelled for Carl. When Carl came over, Bruce said, “Get your radio and start.” Bruce started to walk off, then noticed the hostages watching the branding. Most were clapping with each scream. Turning around, Bruce headed for the command house to see Marcus come out with several others carrying boxes. Seeing Bruce, Marcus walked over to him.

Stopping in front of Bruce, he held out his hand and put it on Bruce’s chest. “Don’t go inside, Bruce, I have what we need out of there,” Marcus told him. Bruce moved to get around Marcus and Marcus blocked him. “Please Bruce, don’t go in there. I’m begging you. I’m asking you not to go in and if our friendship means anything, you won’t go,” Marcus begged him.

Bruce looked at Marcus and could tell he had been crying; tears were still running down his face. “Okay Marcus, but don’t let my kids go in then if it’s that bad,” Bruce told him.

“I’m fixing to burn it down,” Marcus told him. Nodding, Bruce walked back to the RV where Cook was holding a plate of food for him and Buffy.

“What do you think was in there, Daddy?” Buffy asked.

“Don’t want to know. If Marcus said I shouldn’t see it then I didn’t need to see it,” Bruce answered. He noticed Marcus walking by, heading to the prisoners.

“Daddy, he’s fixing to do some bad stuff,” Buffy said, watching Marcus.

“It won’t be his first time,” Bruce answered.

“Daddy, you can’t let him,” Buffy told him.

Bruce keyed his radio, “Marcus, don’t do it,” he called out over the radio.

“I’m only after one,” he called back, and Bruce saw him reach the command prisoners and pull out a man with blond hair. “This one is mine,” Marcus called back.

Several from Gamma and Omega ran over and branded Marcus’s prisoner, then some of Marcus’s platoon came over and dragged him off. For as long as he lived, Bruce would never forget the look on the faces of Marcus’s platoon members as they pulled the man away. Marcus had them stretch him out on a table and went to work until the trucks from base arrived. Then Marcus had his troops load up his prisoner in a pick-up truck. When all the hostages and prisoners were loaded up, the teams loaded up and left, driving through the bomb area. The destruction was beyond belief.

It took them six hours to drive back to base, where they received a hero’s welcome as they drove through the gate. When the convoy stopped, the clan rushed in to help the survivors and hug their warriors. Bruce climbed out of his RG and walked over to Angela, Stephanie, and the kids. Holding them in a long hug, Bruce finally let them go, smiling. “Where are my casualties?” he asked them.

“They’re in the hospital,” Stephanie asked.

“All of them?” Bruce asked.

“The ones that died are behind it in the morgue. It’s a refrigerated trailer,” Angela told him.

“Will y’all come with me?” Bruce asked them. They both nodded and followed Bruce to the hospital that had been built in Hope.

When Bruce walked in, the wounded troops yelled out. Bruce went to each one and hugged and thanked them for their service to the clan. He told them he still needed them. They all started cheering, knowing that Bruce still wanted them to fight. Walking through the ward, Bruce stopped to talk to families of those that hadn’t made it, then he walked outside.

Spotting the refrigerated trailer, Bruce turned to Angela and Stephanie. “Take the kids and I’ll join you later,” he told them. Reluctantly, they left with the kids as Bruce headed to the trailer. Opening the door, Bruce stepped inside and turned on the light. Closing the door behind him, he looked at the bodies of his dead troops. With tears on his face, he stopped at each one and burned their faces and names into his memory. Once he had been to each body in the trailer, Bruce collapsed to the floor on his knees, crying.

Two hours later, Stephanie and Angela found him and led Bruce out of the trailer, still crying.

Chapter 21

A week had passed since the attack, or what was now called the Battle of Grenada. The family had thrown Buffy her birthday party and the kids were still in charge of running the base. Bruce had cancelled the command meeting Friday night.

Marcus had taken his captive and moved him out to a field where he worked him over for days. When Carroll went to him on the first day, he told her what he’d seen in the house. Carroll left him and came back with her own knives to join in.

The scenes were broadcast to warn others after the noon report. The judge was still alive, Bruce keeping his promise that he would live two weeks in pure hell. Several gangs started getting real worried when Omega reported taking down a gang they knew numbered in the thousands. Many started gathering together for strength.

It was Wednesday morning as Bruce sat in his chair eating breakfast. They had cremated those that had died and put them in the mausoleum that the clan had built. As with all the others, a small bit of their ashes were added to a massive urn in front of Debbie’s statue. That was when Bruce learned that Henry had locked himself up in a barn several miles away, where he’d started working on another project. Bruce let it be known that Henry was to be left alone. The family would pull his weight.

Looking around the table, Bruce was amazed to see that PJ was feeding himself and getting most in his mouth.

“Willie, have we got replacements yet?” Bruce asked, watching PJ.

“We’re good, Boss,” Willie said, playing with his son.

“How are the rescue teams coming, Mike?” Bruce asked.

“They’ve brought in over two thousand so far,” Mike answered.

“What’s the clan’s population now?” Bruce asked.

“Almost fourteen thousand,” Paul answered.

“Willie, have Omega ready to roll out Monday,” Bruce told him.

Snapping his head around, Willie looked at Bruce. “Who are we going after?” he asked.

“Not sure yet, but we will be killing some blues, that’s for sure,” Bruce told him.

“Can we please stay in air cover range?” Willie asked.

Chuckling, Bruce replied, “We will do our best but I’m not making promises.”

The front door opened and the watch commander for Mission Control came over to the table. It was a middle-aged woman and she stopped beside Bruce. “Sir, our patrol in Shreveport has picked up a survivor,” she told Bruce.

“Damn, we missed someone that close? That’s really disheartening,” Bruce told her.

The watch commander looked at Bruce in shock. “No sir, they were driving a Hummer and the patrol stopped them,” she told Bruce.

“Well if they seem alright and want to join, bring them in,” Bruce told her.

“Ah, yes sir, but it seems this survivor knows your wife, Stephanie,” she said.

“Watch Commander, a lot of men out there know Stephanie and Angela,” Bruce told her, grinning.

“No sir, the survivor is a female and she really does know Stephanie,” she told him and the table became very quiet. “She said she worked with her at the CDC. That’s how we knew she was telling the truth.”

“What’s her name?” Stephanie asked.

“Sandy Malcolm, Dr. Sandy Malcolm,” the watch commander told her.

Shock and disbelief spread over Stephanie’s face. “That’s impossible,” she said, more to herself than anyone else.

“Ma’am, she has a CDC ID badge and describes you to a tee,” the commander said.

“Where is she now?” Angela asked.

“Ma’am, the patrol is bringing her in now. They should be here in forty minutes.”

“Watch Commander, call me ma’am again and we’ll see how good you are. Have the patrol bring Sandy here, please,” Angela told her.

“Yes Ma—” she started to reply. “Yes Angela,” she finished and walked out.

Bruce looked at Angela, “They address you that way out of respect,” he told her.

“Don’t care,” Angela said, holding up her hand. “I’m getting close to thirty and I don’t want to be reminded about it,” she informed Bruce.

Turning to Stephanie, he asked, “Stephanie, do you think this could really be Sandy?”

Stephanie looked at Bruce. “How do you know Sandy?”

“When you gave us the report after the fall, you told us the person who gave you the information from the CDC was Sandy,” Bruce told her.

Stephanie closed her eyes, thinking about it, then looked at Bruce. “You remembered a name I mentioned one time over a year ago?” she asked.

“What, I wasn’t supposed to?” Bruce asked.

Narrowing her eyes at him, she said, “No, it just reconfirms what I already knew.” Before Bruce could ask what she meant, Danny spoke up.

“Stephanie, could the Sandy you knew make it on the outside for over a year?” Danny asked.

“To be honest, no. Sandy is smart but has a problem working through an idea,” Stephanie told her.

“So she’s not as smart as you are?” Jake asked.

“In some areas yes, and others smarter. But for the most part she knows the subject matter but can’t combine what she knows in her head to work out a problem. She has to physically work out the problem to understand it. She makes an excellent lab partner,” Stephanie told him.

“Thank God. I can’t take another one as smart as you,” Ted mumbled.

“Sandy has two doctorates and three masters,” Stephanie told him.

“Great, another one to make me feel stupid as shit,” Ted mumbled back.

“Well let’s get the kids to school and welcome Sandy in,” Bruce said, standing up.

“Awful trusting for someone you never met,” Carl told him.

“Carl, she gave Stephanie information that the government could’ve killed her for,” Bruce told him.

“Well that’s a horse of a different color,” Carl said, standing up.

The family walked outside and walked the kids to school. Then they waited on the back porch for the patrol to bring Sandy in. Ten minutes later, the gate called that the patrol had returned and was en route to the house.

“I hope it’s really her,” Stephanie said, looking at Angela and Bruce. “Sandy was the only friend I had at the CDC. I felt guilty about leaving her but she was scared and I didn’t ask Debbie if I could bring someone.”

“Debbie wouldn’t have cared,” Bruce told her.

“Well it would have been rude, Bruce,” Stephanie told him.

“Damn, if that is rude then Bruce was way out of line for bringing in all of us,” Angela said jokingly.

Smiling, Stephanie looked at her. “Okay I get it,” she said as Bruce and Angela hugged her.

The patrol pulled up beside the Community Center and started getting out. Stephanie turned around and when a woman in her late forties got out of the back of one of the Hummers, Stephanie yelled, “Sandy!”

The woman turned to the yell. “Stephanie,” Sandy gasped. “Stephanie!” she yelled and took off running to Stephanie. Stephanie ran to her, meeting her halfway and they wrapped their arms around each other, crying.

Angela squirmed under Bruce’s arm. “Well I guess Stephanie has a new buddy,” she said.

“No, that’s a colleague, maybe a friend,” Bruce told her and Angela looked up at him.

“Care to explain?” she asked him.

“Angela, we go through life and we have acquaintances. Some will be friends and fewer still will be buddies. A friend will help you move a couch. A buddy will help you move and dispose of a body,” Bruce told her. “You and Stephanie are buddies,” he told her.

“You are so weird but you’re right. But it’s not like I was jealous of Sandy,” Angela told him.

“You were getting ready to be,” Bruce told her.

“How do you figure that?” Angela asked, getting mad.

“When I told you that you and Stephanie were buddies you completely relaxed. The three of us have to be the weirdest people to survive with this three-way marriage,” Bruce told her.

“You don’t regret it, do you?” Angela asked.

“No,” Bruce answered truthfully, watching Sandy and Stephanie talk. “If Debbie was still here it would be a four-way marriage,” Bruce told her.

“I’m glad you finally come to your senses. I really didn’t want to tie you up in the closet,” Angela told him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

“The closet seems tame compared to what my kids were getting ready to do to me,” Bruce answered her as Stephanie led Sandy over to them.

“You better remember that too,” Angela said as Stephanie stopped in front of the group.

“Everyone, this is Sandy Malcolm. She was the one who sent me the information a year ago,” Stephanie told them, and pulled Sandy over and started to introduce her around. When Stephanie had finished, she stopped in front of Bruce and Angela. “This is my wife, Angela, and my husband, Bruce,” Stephanie said proudly.

Sandy just looked from Stephanie to Angela, then to Bruce, then back to Stephanie. She did this five times. The expression on her face was questioning. Stephanie grabbed her chin lovingly. “I will explain later,” she told Sandy.

“So that means she is your wife and he is Angela’s husband too?” Sandy asked.

“Yes,” Stephanie said as she clapped her hands, happy Sandy understood.

“I thought you couldn’t do that,” Sandy said, looking at Stephanie.

“Well we made new rules to follow here. If it doesn’t hurt others you can do what you want,” Stephanie told her.

“That is a lot of leeway,” Sandy told her. It was with that one conversation that Bruce could see Sandy’s entire life. He knew she had lived in books and a lab. It scared him that this would’ve been an older version of Stephanie if she had not joined the family years ago.

“That’s the point, Sandy. We let people live with only the basic rules. Don’t hurt or impinge on others and you can do whatever you want as long as you work for the clan,” Bruce told her.

“What if someone walks around nude?” Sandy asked.

“If it offends you, don’t look,” Bruce told her.

“But curiosity would make me,” she told him.

“Well then, that’s on you,” Bruce said.

“But that would offend me,” she told him.

“If you continue to look then it’s on you. You are doing it by choice,” Bruce told her.

Sandy thought about it as she looked at Bruce. “Oh, I understand now. If something bothers me I just don’t have to look at it,” she said.

“Almost,” Bruce said. “Let’s go inside the Center and let Millie fix you some food.”

“It’s after breakfast,” Sandy told him.

“Doesn’t matter, we’ll feed you a breakfast/lunch,” Bruce told her. Sandy just gave him a weird look as Stephanie led her to the Center. When Sandy had finished a plate, Bruce asked her, “Sandy, how did you get here?”

“Drove the HUMVEE,” she answered. Bruce let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Seeing Bruce was getting a headache, Stephanie asked, “No, where did you drive from?”

“Maryland,” Sandy answered.

Putting his hands on the table, Bruce looked at Sandy. “Sandy, tell us what happened to you after Stephanie left the CDC. Where you went, how you got there, what you did there, and who else was there. Why did you stop sending Stephanie information and how did you cross fifteen hundred miles of territory crawling with infected and gangs?” Bruce asked.

“Oh,” Sandy said. “Well when Stephanie escaped the CDC,” she started, and Bruce noted she used escape and not left. “The whole place was locked down. The Homeland officer over us was not very happy about her leaving. He told everyone he wanted to marry Stephanie and even sent some men after her. When they didn’t come back either, he sealed the entire complex off. Nobody but guards were allowed to leave, but not many went outside. We stayed there for two months and I had to stop sending Stephanie updates because they were getting suspicious of my firewall hacks to send her the e-mails.”

Bruce stopped her, “You had to hack out just to e-mail the information to Stephanie?” he asked carefully.

“Yes,” she told him.

“What kind of firewall?” Jake asked.

“Standard NSA encryption,” Sandy told him.

“And you still did it?” Bruce asked, amazed.

“Yes, Stephanie told me to send until I felt I couldn’t any longer, so I did. They put a sleeper program that I couldn’t take out. It notified them anytime someone was on the computer system. I tried twice but couldn’t hack it before they started looking for me,” Sandy told Bruce, and Jake let out a low whistle.

“Okay, so what next?” Bruce asked.

“We continued our work on the virus and studied the behavior of the infected. When food became an issue, Homeland moved us to Fort Dix and we continued our work. When I got there I checked and saw that Stephanie had downloaded my messages. I was going to upload more but I noticed someone was trying to track me on the web. I sent them to Australia and continued my work. We had satellite surveillance but we lost that months ago,” she told him and the family laughed. “What is funny about that? Those satellites are expensive,” she said.

“We know. We took them,” Jake told her.

“That’s stealing,” Sandy said, aghast.

“Not really, Sandy,” Stephanie told her. “The government was using them to hurt others and was not using them for the right reasons.”

“Well that’s different then,” Sandy said. “So we continued our work and Homeland even brought in two scientists who’d made the virus from the research lab in the Congo. They were here in the States on vacation. I have to say those two are the biggest idiots I have ever met. They had no idea of the forces that they were playing with. Then in April we heard on the shortwave of a group in Louisiana that was fighting the infected. This was before we lost the satellites and we even had pictures of the area but couldn’t lock onto Northwest Louisiana. I tried to tell them it was a white-out virus but they wouldn’t listen to me,” Sandy said, and Jake and Matt leaned back, looking at her in shock.

“This summer it started getting real bad inside the compound. Homeland executed two researchers because we had not found a cure. One was Dr. Supolvado,” Sandy said, and Stephanie gasped. “Yes, little old Supolvado. They shot him in the dining room,” Sandy told her sadly.

“It was then I knew I had to leave, among other reasons. I didn’t want to get shot because the virus was very complicated. I knew Stephanie had talked about a Bruce and I had heard it was a Bruce leading the group in Louisiana. I was hoping it was the same person. Then we started picking up a radio broadcast, then I heard Stephanie on the radio and knew it was her. Since this is the only place I had to go, I snuck out of the compound three weeks ago and signed out a HUMVEE,” Sandy said.

“You signed out a HUMVEE?” Angela asked.

“Well I just couldn’t take it,” Sandy told her, and Angela shook her head.

“How did you drive that far in a vehicle that gets crappy mileage?” Bruce asked.

“I brought forty gallons with me and stopped at two military storage areas that I knew had treated fuel,” Sandy explained.

“Let me guess. You signed out the fuel too?” Bruce said, shaking his head.

“Only at one place. I couldn’t find the fuel log so I left a note at the other,” Sandy told him.

“You didn’t write where you were going on any of those sheets, did you?” Bruce asked, concern pulling down the corners of his mouth.

“No of course not, I put it down as personal,” Sandy told him.

“You must be able to read a map very well,” Angela said.

Sandy turned and looked at her quizzically. “Oh I can, but I used my GPS to get here.”

Jake slammed his fist on the table. “That’s impossible, I put wave algorithm on them for a code!” he yelled.

“Well don’t get mad at me,” Sandy told him. “It was a good code but the pattern was predictable … and you have no right to block the system anyway.”

Jake was getting ready to unleash a torrent of words but Bruce held up his hand. “Sandy, how many other people do you know that could break that code?”

“No one now except Stephanie,” Sandy answered.

Jake turned to Stephanie with wide eyes. “I only did it once Jake, so don’t look at me that way. I had to make sure it was a good code and it is,” Stephanie assured him. Bruce’s body shook with silent laughter as he watched Jake just drop down in his chair.

“Did you have to kill any blues to get here?” Angela asked.

“That is such a foolish name. They are not technically blue—” Sandy started.

“Sandy, please answer the question,” Angela snapped, getting tired of the side trips.

“Well yes, seventy-four,” Sandy answered.

“Any humans?” Bruce asked.

“Yes, but it was self-defense,” Sandy told him. “It’s not like you can say anything because you have stolen the entire GPS and surveillance satellite system,” she shot back at his raised eyebrows.

“It’s okay, Bruce is the President now for the next decade,” Stephanie told her.

“What?” Sandy gasped. “I didn’t get to vote,” she said.

“That’s okay, I put your ballot in for you,” Stephanie told her.

“Stephanie, you can’t do that and I like to know who I vote for,” Sandy said, looking at her accusingly.

“Sandy, it’s okay, the only other opponent was a man who raped and murdered children. Then he wanted to stop all learning,” Stephanie told her.

Gasping, Sandy replied, “Well that’s good then, and thank you for casting my vote,” she told Stephanie.

“Stephanie, why don’t you show Sandy around the base and get her a room assigned,” Bruce suggested.

Stephanie stood up and grabbed Sandy’s hand. “Come on, let me show you your new home,” Stephanie said, and Sandy followed her out of the Center.

Angela wrapped her arms around Bruce. “Thank you for not letting Stephanie turn out like that,” she said.

Jake jumped up, kicking his chair to the wall. “Well I guess everyone here thinks we are two stupid idiots!” he yelled.

“Jake, it’s not that bad,” Danny told him.

To everyone’s surprise, Matt jumped up. “How can you say that? She hacked our system like it was easy!” he yelled at Danny.

“Matt, don’t yell at me,” Danny snapped.

“Hell yeah I am, and I’m going to continue to. You are not taking our side!” Matt screamed at her. “I don’t want to talk to you today,” he said, and left with Jake following him out.

Danny turned to Bruce. “Don’t look at me, he’s right to be mad at you for that,” Bruce said. Danny jumped up out of her chair and ran for the door.

“Bruce, I think that woman could be a danger without even knowing it,” Mike said.

“True, but we don’t have to worry. She follows Stephanie hook, line, and sinker,” Bruce told him.

Carroll looked at Mike. “She’s alright. She may be brilliant but she’s almost stupid. I feel sorry for her, she ain’t been around many people and has the mind of a child,” she said. Marcus nodded in agreement, reaching out to hold her hand.

“So what’s on the agenda today?” Bruce asked.

“Well, today is the day Stephanie and I do our first televised newscast,” Angela told him.

Bruce just stared at her, mouth agape. “What?” he finally asked.

“Bruce, we told you four days ago,” Angela reminded him.

Closing his eyes, Bruce tried to remember and had vague recollection but that was it. “So Gopher wants to broadcast television now?” Bruce asked.

“No, at first this will be just for the clan. Later we will broadcast it out,” Angela told him.

Looking at the table, Bruce said plaintively, “Anything else I was told like that?”

Paul leaned over the table. “Well Boss, we have talked about a lot of stuff. Since the meeting was canceled we talk where we can.”

“Meeting Friday at 1700, just keep going until then,” Bruce told everyone. “So I take it you are busy today?” he asked Angela.

“Yeah, without Stephanie there to help beforehand I’m going to be busy,” she admitted.

Smiling, Bruce asked, “You need any help?”

“No, unless you don’t have anything planned,” she told him.

Hugging her, Bruce said, “Actually I do, but if you need help I will move it.”

“No, go do your thing and let others do theirs. Your gig keeps us alive and guides us in our tasks,” Angela told him.

Letting Angela go, Bruce looked at Buffy. “Stay with Danny today and don’t let her hit Matt, because he will lay her out,” he told her.

“Matt hits Danny like that and I’ll break his legs,” Nancy said.

“Buffy, stay with her and if it gets bad call me,” Bruce said, and Buffy nodded, then left.

“Bruce, the community we met in southern Arkansas wants to know if they can trade us for some fuel. They can’t find much that wasn’t treated,” Mike told him.

“We will talk about it Friday,” Bruce told him, and Mike nodded his head in understanding. “Willie, make sure the troops are ready and let it be known Gamma and Omega will be doubling in size. Then announce that the air wing will need an attachment to guard the mobile airfield,” Bruce said.

“Boss, we can’t take that many from the home guard, that would cut them almost in half,” Willie protested.

“I want home guard increased also, two thousand strong,” Bruce told him.

Willie started to ask a question, then stopped. “I’ll ask it Friday,” he said.

“Fair enough,” Bruce said, and left with the rest of the command group to start the day. Heading to the shop, Bruce worked a few hours on some plans he had, then headed out to see Joe and Harry in the machine shop next door.

Once outside, Bruce looked around and noticed a lot of work near the mausoleum. Walking over, he noticed several trucks with white marble slabs. Bruce noticed Henry talking with several people.

“Hey Henry,” Bruce called out.

Turning around, Henry smiled at him. “Hello Mr. Bruce,” he said.

“So this is what you’ve been working on,” Bruce said, motioning to the crew who was bustling about.

“No sir, I have been working on other tasks and you will see them before Christmas. When I heard about the last battle I could not let our clan members be laid to rest in a wood building no matter how pretty it was,” Henry told him.

“Thank you Henry,” Bruce said.

“This building will last a thousand years,” Henry told him as men started sitting up the marble slabs for walls.

“I hope mankind last that long,” Bruce admitted.

“We will now, Mr. Bruce,” Henry told him.

“Henry, please drop the Mister,” Bruce asked.

“I’m sorry, Bruce,” Henry said as Bruce walked over to the statue of Debbie. Whenever he was on the farm he always stopped by once a day.

“I hope I’m doing what you wanted,” Bruce said to the statue and turned around to Henry. “Henry, keep going, if you need more men, let Nancy know,” Bruce said and walked over to the machine shop.

Inside, Bruce found Harry working on the lathe, teaching several others. Looking up, he saw Bruce and waved. Pointing at one of his students to take over, he walked over to Bruce. “How’s it going Bruce?” he asked.

Bruce looked around and saw people working everywhere. “Looks like it’s going pretty good here. Damn, we may need to build a bigger shop.”

“We have a much bigger shop in Hope and one this size beside the flight line,” Harry told him. Bruce looked at him in shock. “Bruce, we have too many projects to work on from this one building and those damn planes have to have their own shop. Here we mainly train the new machinists and work on Omega and Gamma’s equipment,” Harry told him.

“When?” was all Bruce could manage.

“Well, Paul came over and saw how many of us were working in here and asked what needed to be done. We told him and in two weeks he had the new areas up,” Harry said. “How do you like the upgrades on your vehicles?” Harry asked.

“We didn’t get to use much of them yet,” Bruce admitted. “Where is Joe? I wanted to ask you two something.”

“He’s on the flight line. One of the jet engines had to have an overhaul off an A-10. He is walking the guys through it,” Harry told him.

“Okay. I want another set of trucks for another mobile airfield and I want Gamma’s trucks outfitted like Omega’s. Then I want another forty like them for more members,” Bruce said.

Harry sighed and looked down. “When do you want them?” he asked in a miserable tone.

“Two months,” Bruce replied.

Snapping his head up in surprise, Harry said, “What?”

“Two months. If you need longer I can make arrangements,” Bruce told him.

“Who are you and where is Bruce?” Harry asked. Bruce just looked at him like he was insane. “Bruce, you always want shit done yesterday, now you’re giving us months?”

“I don’t have the men yet,” Bruce admitted.

“Bruce, we can do that with ease. We have over a hundred 6x6 MMRVs (medium mine-resistant vehicles). They are not all RGs but close enough, and if needed, we can convert some five-ton M54s. I bet we have a hundred of them as well,” Harry told him.

Relief flooded over Bruce. “Thank you Harry, the troops need protection,” Bruce said, and pulled out the drawings he had been working on. Handing them to Harry, he asked, “Can y’all build this?”

Opening the papers, Harry looked through them slowly, then looked up at Bruce. “What the hell do you need something like this for?” he asked.

“To replace the RV,” Bruce answered. “Let’s face it, the RV is an RV covered with steel. The suspension is beefed up along with the engine but my troops deserve the best. I know I designed it but I did it before I knew what I needed. The RV is our command and control for the entire unit. I’m still going to keep it but I’m turning it into a full mess hall. Now just because y’all build that don’t think I won’t be back later for upgrades or a replacement. Can y’all help me?” Bruce asked.

“Bruce, you don’t have to explain that to me. Joe and I both knew you would want something better for your command and control. If you need it to fight this war we will make it. Even if you don’t, we will still make what you want. The only reason we complain about the deadlines is ‘cause we know lives are on the line with what we make and we want it perfect or as close as we can get it,” Harry told him. Looking at the drawing again, he pointed out, “You left a lot of leeway on our part.”

“Yes. Get Matt and Jake to help with the electronics and what is needed for them,” Bruce answered.

“When do you want this?” Harry asked.

“The sooner the better,” Bruce said.

“It’s eighty feet long, fifteen feet tall, and ten feet wide. Just guessing, I’m putting the weight close to thirty tons,” Harry said.

“I was putting it closer to thirty-five tons,” Bruce admitted. “So how long?”

Letting out a long breath, Harry said, “I’m guessing here, and I’ll have to talk to Joe, but I’d say four weeks.”

“No shit,” Bruce said in disbelief.

“Like I said, I’m just guessing but it should be pretty close. Not much about it is totally new but putting it all in one vehicle is,” Harry replied.

“Thank you Harry, and remember command meeting Friday. I have to go and check on the base,” Bruce told him, shaking his hand. Stepping outside, Bruce saw an A-10 take off to the west. ‘I’m so going to learn how to fly a plane,’ Bruce thought.

Instead of going to check on the base, he headed to the barn. When he walked in the door he stopped. It wasn’t a barn anymore. The floor had been cemented in, and twenty students were sitting in chairs, listening to the instructor. Behind them, on the right side of the barn where horse stalls used to be, Bruce saw a dozen simulators. It was then that he noticed it was air conditioned.

The class had stopped the moment he came in but Bruce didn’t pay them any attention. On the left-hand side he saw two really big simulators where horse stalls used to be.

The instructor looked at Bruce. “Can I help you Bruce?”

“Where did all the shit go?” Bruce asked.

“If you mean the stuff for the animals, it’s out in the new barn that was built in the pasture for the horses and cows,” he said.

“When the hell did y’all rebuild my barn?” Bruce asked incredulously.

“Several months ago,” the instructor told him. “I’m in the middle of a lecture,” he hinted.

Biting his tongue, Bruce stopped half a dozen smart ass comments. “Where are Jimmy and Mack?”

“Jimmy is upstairs giving a lecture and Mack is up there in the office,” the instructor told him, pointing. Bruce nodded his thanks and took off up the stairs.

Reaching the top, Bruce spotted Jimmy who was indeed giving a lecture. “The whole barn,” Bruce blurted out.

Jimmy just stopped, looking at Bruce. “The whole barn what?” he said.

“The whole barn is a flight school?” Bruce asked.

“Well yeah, Bruce,” Jimmy told him. “We are adding another addition on so we can move the chopper class downstairs. Paul won’t let us put any more simulators up here. They start next week.”

“The whole barn?” Bruce asked again.

“Sorry Bruce, but you said to build you an Air Force,” Jimmy said.

Bruce started rubbing his temples. “Where’s Mack?” he asked. Jimmy pointed to the corner where an office stood. It was just a closed-in section that had been built when the clan housed people in the barn’s loft. Bruce walked over and stepped into the office.

Mack looked up. “Hey Bruce,” he said, standing up and holding out his hand.

Shaking Mack’s hand, Bruce looked at him. “What books do I need to start flying the A-10?” he asked.

“I’m starting a new class in a week, want to join?” Mack asked.

“Not yet. Give me the books so I can start. I can’t pause the war for that long,” Bruce told him with a little hostility in his voice.

“Something wrong, Bruce?” Mack asked.

“The whole barn,” Bruce told him. Mack just looked at Bruce, waiting on the punch line. “Will you give me the books please?” Bruce asked.

Mack turned around and grabbed a stack of folders and books. “Here you go,” Mack said cheerfully, handing them over.

“What are you doing here?” Bruce asked.

“Going over what we have and what we need, which is not much. Then I’m breaking the groups into squadrons and teams,” Mack told him.

“Command meeting Friday,” Bruce told him and left. Walking by Jimmy, Bruce said, “Command meeting Friday.” Jimmy just nodded.

Leaving the flight school, or the family’s old barn, Bruce headed to the shop and dropped the books off. Then Bruce opened the bay door and climbed onto a four-wheeler. Putting his assault rifle in the gun rack, Bruce started it up and took off to check on the gate towers. The whole way, Bruce simmered, mad that nobody had asked about transforming the entire barn.

Ten minutes later, Bruce stopped at the south gate and looked at the huge tower standing next to the gate overlooking the fence. Grabbing his rifle, Bruce walked over to the door. A man was fixing to stop him, but seeing the look on his face he let him pass. Running up three flights of stairs, Bruce stopped and looked at the large area. A crew was putting up a one-inch steel wall dividing the room in half.

Walking over to the windows, Bruce could see the area outside the fence had been cleared back over three hundred yards. Then he noticed people laying pipe a hundred yards out. “I swear, if that’s a sprinkler system I’m getting pissed,” Bruce said out loud.

Studying the area, Bruce noticed the windows were only two feet wide but ran all the way around the room. Then looking at them more closely, Bruce saw they were almost a foot thick. Looking down at the wall, he then noticed it was steel, not wood. “Holy shit, an armored box in the sky,” Bruce said, smiling. The group of workers just watched him as he turned around and smiled at them as he left.

Bruce checked the other towers, then drove around the inside of the wall. The walkway was starting at each gate and moving out. It was six feet from the top of the fence and nine feet wide, supported with posts from the top of the berm. The entire east wall was done and the north and south walls had a walkway halfway along their width. Bruce stopped at the Center and ate lunch while watching Angela and Stephanie give their first televised broadcast. He could tell they were nervous but were enjoying what they were doing.

When it was over, he left and headed to the dam by way of the south gate. The dam was only a mile and a half from the farm but outside the wall. He had to drive miles to the south gate, then follow the fence six miles to reach the dam itself. Bruce cold see heavy equipment working as he got closer but when he rounded the corner of the wall he locked the brakes up on his four-wheeler.

“Holy shit is that a big hole,” Bruce said, looking at the huge pit, then followed it back with his eyes and noticed it extended further north than the west wall did, meaning it was over five miles long. Letting off the brake, Bruce headed to the dam. His drawing had just been two holes dug out for the turbines, but he could tell the entire area had been dug out and filled back in with tons of cement around the spillway.

Turning around, Bruce muttered to himself, “I’m so out of the loop.” Opening the throttle, he sped back to the farm where he went straight back to the shop. Closing the door behind him, he grabbed his books, moved them over to his desk, and started reading.

It was 1700 when Buffy walked in. “Hey Daddy, it’s almost time to eat,” she told him.

Bruce looked up at her, then at his watch. “Which one sent you?” he asked.

“Stephanie,” Buffy answered, stopping by his desk and looking at his books.

“From now on make them come in. They have to know I don’t mind. They can’t throw you to the wolves,” Bruce told her.

“All right Daddy,” Buffy said, then asked, “So you’re going to learn to fly a plane?”

“Yeah, I’m just reading the books now and I’ll take the class later,” Bruce told her. “What do you think of Sandy?” he asked, curious for her opinion.

Thinking about it for a second, Buffy said, “Well, she’s smart, but man is she weird. You can’t joke with her at all. She is the first person outside of the family I have ever seen Stephanie really talk to, but she isn’t really talking to her, if you understand what I mean.”

“I understand, BB,” Bruce said.

“Daddy, I want to go driving tomorrow,” Buffy said.

“Okay, what do you want to drive?” he asked.

Stunned, Buffy couldn’t answer right away. “I want to drive a big truck, a four-wheeler, and a fast car,” she finally spit out.

“Sounds good,” Bruce said, standing up.

“You mean it?” Buffy said, jumping up and down and clapping.

Looking at her, Bruce saw the little girl everyone always saw and not the small warrior he usually saw. A moment of regret washed over him. All of his kids had had a childhood before they were pushed into this world, yet he felt Buffy had been cheated, along with all the other kids and future generations.

“I said so, didn’t I?” Bruce told her, smiling. Buffy started yelling as she jumped up and down.

Grabbing her hand, Bruce led her out of the shop. “Did Danny and Matt fight any more?” he asked when they were outside.

“No sir, Danny ran to him and apologized. Then she said she would go and beat down Sandy and Matt told her that it wouldn’t be necessary. After that they stayed in that computer center they built by the house,” Buffy told him.

“Are you learning computers?” Bruce asked.

“Yes sir, I’m learning basic programing now. I had to do fifty push-ups for Stephanie yesterday,” Buffy said.

“Well, you’re learning,” Bruce told her.

“And getting stronger,” Buffy mumbled.

Laughing, Bruce asked, “Do you see why it’s necessary that you learn?”

Stopping, Buffy looked up at him. “Can’t I just be a warrior?” she asked.

“A warrior must know as much as they can about everything. Because one day that warrior will have to lead. It may not be in a battle but they may have to help build something or teach something,” Bruce told her.

“Okay Daddy, I understand,” Buffy told him. Looking at her sweet face, Bruce knew he was going to talk to Stephanie about making her do a lot of pushups.

They walked into the Center and Bruce saw the entire command group there. Angela and Stephanie were in their seats, with Stephanie to the left of his chair with a twin next to her, and Angela on the right with the other twin. Cade was sitting by Angela, and Sandy was beside him, talking across the table to Stephanie and listening to the others.

Kissing each of his wives and the little ones, Bruce put up his rifle and sat down. “Did you have fun today, baby?” Stephanie asked, trying to get PJ to stay in his chair.

“No,” Bruce replied.

Stephanie and Angela looked at him. “What’s wrong?” Angela asked, bewildered.

“We’ll talk about it later,” Bruce told her. “I saw the broadcast and you two looked beautiful, by the way.”

“So what did you think about the program?” Stephanie asked.

“To be honest, I wasn’t listening. I saw two hotties and just drooled,” Bruce admitted. They both started blushing, looking away. “Hey, I’m being honest,” Bruce said, making them blush even harder.

They each leaned over the twin that was sitting beside Bruce and kissed his cheek, saying, “Thank you.”

“I’m taking Buffy driving tomorrow,” Bruce told them, and they both looked at him with shock and a little fear. “I want an area where she can’t chase blues down and run them over,” Bruce said.

“She’s awful young to be driving,” Sandy said.

“Nah, she’s a good daughter and an excellent warrior,” Bruce told her. Sandy just blinked at his response, lost for words. “I’m going into town to get some vehicles in the morning, then I’ll teach her out here, outside the base of course,” Bruce told Angela and Stephanie.

“That’s good, baby, we will come and watch when we’re finished with the broadcast,” Stephanie said.

“Ah Bruce, since you are the President now, I wanted to ask you something. Can I continue the research?” Sandy asked.

“Sandy, to be honest we have more important things to do. I really wanted to ask you to start setting up a lab to make medicine. Once that is up and running we will talk about setting up a lab outside of the base. I don’t want that living virus inside these walls,” Bruce told her.

“But Bruce, we have made great strides in the year we have been studying it. Then when we got the original blueprint from the company that created it, we got it almost completely mapped out,” Sandy told him.

“Sandy, we have too much to do now. It will take years to make an inoculation for it. Until then we just have to avoid getting infected. We can function without being immune,” Bruce replied.

“We already had immune cases,” Sandy told him. The entire table became quiet when she said those words.

“What?” Bruce asked.

“We already have reported cases of people being bitten and not transforming into homo inficiuntur. They are immune,” Sandy said.

“Homo what?” Bruce asked.

“Infected human,” Stephanie told him.

“What do you mean, ‘reported cases’?” Bruce asked.

“Eighteen so far. We even had one at the lab but those idiots at Homeland shot him when he tried to escape,” Sandy said.

“Okay Sandy, listen close. When did you start getting reports of people being bitten and not turning? Do you have any idea how that happened? Are there any similarities between the cases? How do you know the party bitten didn’t get the wound real clean and were not really immune?” Bruce asked slowly, enunciating each word.

“You can talk faster, I do understand English,” she told him.

“But not what I want to know,” Bruce shot back.

“Very well. Our first case was in May this year, the twenty-first to be exact. An outpost reported someone that was bitten but didn’t turn after two weeks. They thought the virus was gone but six more people got bitten and turned. The scientist I worked with just chalked it up to the one-tenth of one percent,” Sandy said. “But a week later we received another report from Pennsylvania and that is the one the military went to pick up. They brought him back to the research center, and sure enough he had a bite out of his left arm, the medial dorsal aspect of his forearm. It took us two days but we isolated the virus in his blood and found that it was inactivated and being destroyed by his immune system. We took samples of his blood and tried to introduce the virus, but his body killed it off with an immune response,” Sandy told him.

“How do you know he just wasn’t immune?” Bruce asked.

“Those odds don’t exist. Two people that close after how many billions have succumbed to the virus?” Sandy replied. “Then we started getting reports from more outposts.”

“Outposts?” Bruce asked.

“Most are military units holed up in isolated areas in the northeast, but some were civilians who were hiding,” Sandy explained.

“Any similarities between patients?” Stephanie asked.

“No. They were male, female, young and old, with many different nationalities,” Sandy told her.

“Were you able to sequence any virus from your patient,” Stephanie asked.

“Yes. I downloaded everything we had. What is weird is that the virus was incomplete when we sequenced it out. The company was very close to reaching their goal. They were working on making the virus not so transmittable, and so it wouldn’t destroy the higher areas of the brain. They wanted the higher areas left alone so humans could retain their minds. Then they could charge whatever they wanted so people could become next to immortal,” Sandy told her.

“Sandy, was the genetic material—” Stephanie started and continued for five minutes with words no one understood. Well except Sandy.

When Stephanie finished, Sandy thought for a second, then replied, “The molecular bond—” and went on for a while. When Sandy stopped, Stephanie started up again, each talking so far above everyone’s head they felt the stars were closer.

Bruce leaned over to Angela. “What are they saying?” he whispered.

“I think it’s English, but I’m not sure. I can only catch bits and pieces,” Angela whispered back.

“Are they saying the virus had missing parts?” Bruce asked her.

“Yeah, that’s the part I understand,” Angela whispered back.

“What the hell is the rest of this then?” Bruce asked her.

“I think they are trying to explain the missing parts,” Angela said.

“Why?” Bruce asked.

Angela looked up at him. “I have no idea and I don’t even know what half of the words they are using mean,” she admitted.

“That’s more than me,” Bruce said, still listening to them.

Stephanie looked at them. “We are talking about the genetic alteration after infection. The genetic code starts using eighty percent of the DNA genome. The virus that was pulled out of the survivor would not replicate,” she explained.

Bruce shook his head and pushed back from the table. “Wait, the human genome only uses twenty percent of the genetic code for protein synthesis. The other eighty percent is thought to be passed down, implying these noncoding sections are under evolutionary force and positive selection. We don’t use them but it is there to pass down traits and is not true DNA junk. How can the infected use eighty percent then? I know many other species do but no homo species has done that according to research,” Bruce said.

Mike, Nancy, and the kids just stared at Bruce in shock. Stephanie smiled at him. “That’s right, Bruce, but the group that designed this virus put parts of many different species into it to push the traits they wanted. Now what I think is that the virus is so complicated, if a person is infected with a small portion of a virus that is incomplete but enough like the original, they will develop antibodies.”

“Okay, so they get innate immunity but that doesn’t help us out. That’s immunity on the genetic level,” Bruce said.

“Bruce, what are you talking about?” Ted asked.

“The body can detect genetic material that it will recognize and destroy on the genetic level. If you are infected with a small portion of the virus, your body will sense it and destroy it. During that time, if the real virus enters your body, it will be killed also, because it’s seen as an invader. Once the attack is over, the body goes back to the status quo. If you get the real virus later you don’t fight it. Innate immunity does not store memory,” Bruce told him.

“So we just take small parts of the dead virus and we stay immune?” Ted asked hopefully.

“No, sometimes the body will just see them as genetic junk and try to incorporate them,” Bruce told him.

“That’s not totally true,” Sandy said.

“Shut up, Sandy,” Stephanie told her.

“Stephanie, if he is going to tell them he has to do it correctly,” Sandy told her. Before Stephanie could say anything, Sandy started explaining what Bruce was trying to say. For all Bruce knew she was speaking ‘hamster’ and telling him the meaning of life.

When she stopped, Bruce just stared at her. “Huh?” was all he could say.

“If you explain it, do it correctly,” Sandy told him.

“What fucking language were you using?” Bruce asked, still playing the conversation over in his head and trying to decipher it.

Sandy looked at Stephanie. “I thought you said he was smart,” she said.

“Watch your mouth, Sandy,” Stephanie growled, slowly standing up.

“Well come on, that was a basic explanation of innate immunity and he asked what language I was using. That is very infantile, I expected better,” Sandy told her, picking up a fork to start eating.

Stephanie jumped on the table, sending plates and glasses to the floor and crawling toward Sandy with hate on her face. Sandy looked up at the noise and saw the look on Stephanie’s face and knew pain was coming. Just as Stephanie reached out to grab Sandy, Angela jumped up on the table, wrapping her arm around Stephanie’s neck and pulling Stephanie toward her. Stephanie rolled toward Angela as Angela brought up her other arm, securing the headlock as Stephanie rolled on her.

Feeling what Angela was doing, Stephanie moved her arms to break the chokehold headlock. When Stephanie reached up, Angela rolled hard away from Sandy toward Bruce. Bruce grabbed the twins, clearing the battle zone. Unsure what the rules were when one’s wives were fighting, Bruce just watched along with everyone else.

With plates and glasses flying everywhere, the two rolled off the table onto the floor, landing on their sides and continuing to roll. Once Angela was on her back, Stephanie stopped the roll and arched her back up, pushing her head up and trying to break the chokehold. Lifting her right leg up, Angela wrapped it through Stephanie’s right arm, catching her at the elbow, then she did the same on the left. When she was finished, Angela had Stephanie in a chokehold with her arms trapped behind her with Angela’s legs.

“Stephanie, calm down!” Angela yelled at her.

“Bullshit,” Stephanie said and started to roll to try to break the hold.

“You can’t roll me out, Stephanie, so quit trying,” Angela told her. “Don’t make me choke you out,” she warned.

“You try it and I will get out but I don’t want to hurt you,” Stephanie told her with determination.

“Stephanie, she didn’t mean anything by it. Shit, she’s your friend, you know that!” Angela shouted and relaxed her chokehold so Stephanie wouldn’t try to get out. Angela had no idea how but she was certain Stephanie was telling her the truth, and she was not going to get hurt stopping Stephanie from kicking Sandy’s ass.

“Did you hear what she said about Bruce!” Stephanie screamed. Listening to the two with the twins in his arms, Bruce was trying to remember when he’d been insulted.

Sandy jumped out of her chair and ran over, looking down at Stephanie. “Stephanie, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. You told me that Bruce was the smartest person you’d ever met, smarter than either of us. I didn’t mean to make you mad, I was just disappointed,” Sandy whined.

“He fucking is smarter than you, that’s for sure!” Stephanie yelled at her. “He is a lot smarter than me!” Stephanie shouted.

“Who the fuck are you two talking about?” Bruce asked, looking at those standing around the table.

“You,” Sandy said, pointing at him.

Bruce looked behind him to see who she was pointing at and saw that the entire center was gathered around watching. “You’re kidding, right?” Bruce said, turning back around.

“Goddamn it Bruce, if you start that shit, I swear I will break one of your legs!” Stephanie screamed. Bruce moved the twins in front of him. “You’re going to hide behind the kids?” she asked disbelievingly.

“Ah yes, absolutely,” Bruce admitted without shame.

“Stephanie, relax!” Angela yelled at her. Stephanie relaxed and Angela started talking to her. “Stephanie, when you talk about Bruce, I have to remember who you’re talking about and I’m married to both of you. You are nowhere near as bad as you were, and I can only imagine what you were like before the fall. Don’t start hitting a friend because they see what you don’t,” Angela told her.

Taking a deep breath, Stephanie said, “Angela, I love you but you’re wrong, and what’s worse, you know it. Now let me go before I hurt you, and I promise I can,” Stephanie told her in a calm voice. Angela let Stephanie go and Stephanie stood up, then helped Angela up. Sandy moved away from the two and Bruce moved behind PJ, who was still in his chair, looking at the two in shock.

Stephanie looked over at Bruce and saw everyone gathered around. “I don’t remember asking for anyone to come over here so get your asses back at your table,” Stephanie told them, and everyone scattered. Bruce set the twins down and moved them behind him, then stepped away from PJ. He didn’t want them to get hurt. “Emily, Sherry, get in your chairs,” Stephanie told them and they ran for their chairs.

Angela walked up beside Stephanie. “Are you okay? And please hold your temper,” she told her.

“Yes I’m okay, and I’m not going to beat anyone down, yet,” Stephanie told her.

“How were you going to get out of the chokehold?” Angela asked she had to know.

“I would’ve broken your back,” Stephanie told her. Angela gasped and stepped back. “I’m sorry but that was the only option you left me, but I would’ve taken care of you afterwards though,” Stephanie reassured her.

Smiling, Angela started smoothing Stephanie’s hair down and picking food out of her hair. “Your temper has really gotten out of hand lately,” Angela told her.

“Being a mama in this family can do that to you,” Stephanie told her. Angela hugged her and sat down, grabbing Sandy and making her sit down also. Looking up, Stephanie locked eyes with Bruce and he took a step back.

“I really don’t want to hurt you but I don’t want my leg broke,” Bruce told her.

Ignoring that, she said, “Bruce, I don’t know why you try not to let others know how smart you are, but most do know it. Granted, they don’t know how smart you are but I’m fixing to enlighten them,” Stephanie told him.

“Stephanie, let’s just eat,” Bruce told her.

“See, trying to change the subject, your first tactic,” Stephanie said, smiling. “Your next is deferring.”

“Hey, just because you read Debbie’s journals …” Bruce snapped.

“I rest my case,” Stephanie said, then added as Bruce narrowed his eyes, “next you start to get angry.”

Bruce made his body relax. “Stephanie, just quit,” he said.

“No Bruce, I think you deserve some more credit,” Stephanie said.

“I don’t,” Bruce said in a flat voice.

“Okay Bruce,” Stephanie told him. “But can I ask you some questions?” she requested.

“Like what?” Bruce asked.

“What was the compression ratio for the 1968 Corvette?” Stephanie asked.

“Which model. There were eleven?” Bruce asked.

“Oh, let’s just say the regular floor model,” Stephanie asked.

“The HE had a 10:1 ratio,” Bruce told her.

“Yeah, but what’s the blast radius of a Mark 82?” Stephanie asked.

“Depends, with air burst you get lethal fragments out to four hundred meters,” Bruce said.

For the next twenty minutes Stephanie asked questions ranging from physics to computers and Bruce answered them all, not knowing what she was after. Then she asked, “Luke 5:2?”

“And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets,” Bruce told her.

“Thank you Bruce, now will you answer one more question truthfully?” Stephanie asked.

“I have answered all of them truthfully,” Bruce told her.

“I know, baby,” Stephanie said. “How long did it take you to read that material on refining oil?” she asked.

“Two months. I told you that,” Bruce said.

Smiling at him, she asked, “No, how many hours did you read during those two months, and to let you know, Debbie knew.”

“I’m going to bed,” Bruce said, and left the Center before anyone could stop him.

Stephanie turned around and went to her chair and started eating. “You made Daddy mad,” Buffy told her.

“Yes I did,” Stephanie replied.

“I swear, if he holds us under the covers again and farts I’m punching you in the mouth,” Angela warned.

“How long did it take him to read those books and make that drawing?” Mike asked.

“Debbie told me around thirty hours,” Stephanie replied.

“You did it in nine,” Danny told her.

“Yes, but I already have a master’s in chemistry and I can speed read,” Stephanie told her.

Once Angela and Stephanie had finished, they ushered the kids to the house. They walked in their room to find Bruce in the bed reading.

“Bruce, I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, and if pay back is coming please don’t include Angela,” Stephanie told him.

Putting his book down, Bruce looked at her. “Why?” was all he asked.

“They need to see how smart you are,” Stephanie told him.

“No they didn’t. Stephanie, I know how smart I am but I don’t need others knowing it. That is my ace in the hole,” Bruce told her.

“You still have your ace, Bruce. But you need to quit pushing your ideas in a roundabout way till someone else comes up with what you want to do. Just tell them and let them modify it,” Stephanie said.

“I don’t like modifying my ideas,” Bruce said, remembering the barn and dam.

“Bruce, you really don’t care as long as they tell you so you can make sure the end result is the same,” Stephanie told him.

Bruce narrowed his eyes at Stephanie. “I’m hiding her journals tomorrow,” he threatened.

“I don’t care, I have them scanned in the computer,” Stephanie said smugly.

“That’s not fair, you’re using the knowledge that someone else gathered!” Bruce yelled out.

“I hope you listened to what you just said,” Stephanie said.

Throwing his book on the floor, Bruce turned on his side on the edge of the bed, facing away from her. “I’m not talking to you,” he said.

“That’s okay, I will paint your toes in the Center tomorrow,” Stephanie told him, making Angela laugh and snort. They all climbed into bed with a happy Stephanie and a pissed-off Bruce.

Chapter 22

Bruce kept his promise to Buffy and took her into Shreveport where they got a huge pickup, a Mini, and a Corvette. Then he taught her how to drive a manual, and when she had the hang of it they played. When they came back, Bruce avoided most people and wore a grouchy face. So nobody really talked to him.

On Friday afternoon the command group gathered in the command bunker in Mission Control. When everyone was present, Bruce stood up to start the meeting.

“Ah Bruce, can I please ask you a question?” Mack asked.

Looking at Mack, Bruce reached down and pulled out his knife, stabbing it into the table. “It has a name and the first person that tries to quiz me or ask me how smart I am will get introduced,” Bruce threatened.

“His knife is a girl and its name is Charlotte,” Angela whispered so everyone at the table could hear.

“Et tu Angela? Et tu?” Bruce said, and she just smiled at him. “Paul, bring us up to speed,” Bruce said, sitting down.

Standing up, Paul looked at his notes. “The perimeter is cleared and all the towers will be manned by Monday. We have half of the walkway up on the fence and have enough barracks built to house fifty thousand. In the six hundred and sixty acres of the city Hope we have over three hundred acres empty. The dam is finished and the spillway is being dug out one mile to the creek south of us. We have almost got the diversion paths dug for the three creeks to our north. Now the engineer said if that was not enough water we can tie in several more creeks to the three we are rerouting further to the east,” Paul said, looking up and smiling. “We start filling the lake in a week. Now considering how big that hole is, it will take a couple of weeks or so to fill up. But the station will come online in two weeks once the lake is full,” Paul told them, getting smiles from the group.

“Next, the refinery is done and we start a test run Tuesday. Now we will be able to refine ten thousand gallons a day,” Paul said.

“Ah no Paul, that’s not correct,” Bruce told him. Paul looked at Bruce, fixing to say something but Bruce cut him off. “When I designed it I was basing it on an eight-hour processing time using solar and wind power; not very effective but that’s what I was basing it off of. With the hydro station we can run around the clock,” Bruce said.

Stephanie leaned forward. “Bruce, since we aren’t using the natural gas for anything, let’s use it to power the refinery and not waste the hydro station,” she offered.

“Yes, that will save a lot of juice for us,” Bruce said after thinking about it.

Paul made some notes, then looked at Bruce, “How many more barracks do you want built?” he asked.

“Well I’ve seen the inside of them and they are much nicer than the ones we have here,” Bruce told him.

“I’m sorry, but we were a bit rushed back then,” Paul replied in an injured tone.

“What is the population of Hope now?” Bruce asked.

“Just over nine thousand, with four thousand here on the farm,” Paul said.

Thinking it over, Bruce finally told him, “Fill it up with housing, we will keep all the manufacturing out of the city.” Looking at Paul with a stern look, he said, “And Paul, when I was checking out the towers, please tell me you didn’t put in a sprinkler system around the base?”

Grinning, Paul replied, “Well yeah, we have put in two separate systems. One is to water the field around us, and the other is to spray napalm around us. I got the idea from watching some old TV shows.”

Mike started laughing. “Well that puts a whole new spin on TV destroying life,” he said.

“Before I forget, we need to make an announcement that no one can get near the new lake. I know it’s not full and only has about ten feet of water, but it has over a thousand gators in it. We are still searching inside the base for more in all the small ponds, but people can’t get near that lake,” Paul told everyone and sat down.

“Jimmy, status on the rotor wing?” Bruce asked.

Standing up, Jimmy started. “First, seven of our birds took some damage in the battle of Grenada, but they have been repaired. The mobile air field worked great, Bruce, it cut flight time down along with wear and tear. Not to mention saving several of our troops’ lives,” Jimmy told him. “I’ve been asked by the medical staff if they can put a detachment in the field to stabilize the most critical before sending them here?”

“Sounds good, get a team to start on several of the trailers,” Bruce told him.

“Well I figured you would want it so I already gave the go ahead,” Jimmy replied.

“Don’t be ashamed of making a command decision like that, Jimmy. If it’s for the troops, let’s give them the best we can,” Bruce said. “What is the chopper pilot situation?” he asked.

“As of right now I can put all one hundred and sixty-two in the air at one time with a few pilots to spare. We are graduating forty every month now; I’m getting ready to start cutting back on classes,” Jimmy told him.

“Don’t,” Bruce said. “If people want to learn, let them, but the choppers here are for the clan. If they want their own they can go out and get one.” Jimmy nodded. Bruce continued, “Jimmy, I want two of the scout choppers assigned to each scavenging group. We are going to designate four groups and then we will assign a permanent group to each one, with the only exception being the truck drivers. I’m thinking fifty guards and fifty scavengers.” Grabbing a notebook, Bruce slid it across the table to Angela. “Angela, you are now over the scavenging teams. I have outlined vehicles and load-outs, but change what you need to,” Bruce told her.

Angela looked at the notebook like it was a snake. “What if I don’t want to?” she said.

“Then I put PJ over it,” Bruce said, and Angela looked up at him in shock.

“Bruce, this is too important and I have no formal training,” she told him.

“Bullshit, you have held the line and will do fine. Don’t show fear and don’t let me down, but I’m here with the others to help,” Bruce said as she picked up the notebook. “Jimmy, anything else?” Bruce asked, and Jimmy shook his head no.

“Mack, how is the Air Wing coming along?” Bruce asked.

“Great. We are running at eighty-five percent combat readiness. If needed, we could go up to ninety but I don’t want to push the ground crews that hard unless we need to. We have graduated fifty more pilots this week and will have another class out in three weeks. Then we will be putting out fifty every month,” Mack told him.

“How many of those are prop and jet pilots?” Bruce asked.

“Half and half,” Mack replied.

“Mack, get me a list of bases that house the A-10. I would really like more,” Bruce told him.

“Cool. Any other planes?” Mack asked.

“Not really, unless you mean the C-130s. We need planes that can carry a shitload of ordinance and hang around. The super jets mean next to nothing to us. If the blues learn to fly, we are so screwed,” Bruce said and everyone started laughing.

When the laughter died down, Mack asked, “Bruce, we have two Marine Harrier pilots here. How about getting some of those?”

“What?” Bruce asked with a stunned look.

“Well the Harrier can carry a heavy payload and it’s damn rugged. I think it could be a real asset,” Mack told him.

“I know what the Harrier can do, I’ve seen it in action. What do you mean we have two pilots?” Bruce asked.

“They were at the base with us during the fall. When Mike rescued us, they tagged along, him being a Marine and all,” Mack said.

Closing his eyes, Bruce started going through U.S. military bases. “Damn, the closest is in North Carolina and the next would be Arizona,” he said.

“Don’t forget Florida, but there are four down in New Orleans,” Mack told him.

“What the hell are they doing there that’s a reserve base?” Bruce asked.

“Hell I don’t know, but Bill told me about them when they went down to get the other Super Stallion,” Mack said.

“How long to train some pilots?” Bruce asked.

“We will have to train some of the jet pilots. The Harrier can be a bit picky but I think we can have ten out in a couple of months,” Mack said.

Bruce looked at Angela. “Get those planes up here,” he told her. “Remember, you run the operation, not lead it,” he said, letting her know she was to stay put. Angela was fixing to say something but saw the look on Bruce’s face and thought better of it.

“Anything else, Mack?” Bruce asked.

“No. Jake, Matt, Danny, and Mary have been helping me design what was needed for the squadrons,” Mack told him.

“Danny, I want the home guard increased to four thousand in four months. We have sixty-two M-1 tanks and one hundred and nine Bradleys. I want them trained on half the tanks and half the Bradleys for home defense. Get the simulators from Polk up here and get started. Divide them up in fighting platoons,” Bruce told her.

“Ah Dad, not to complain or anything but with our current training program we only graduate a hundred a month,” she said.

“Well I guess you will have to increase it then,” Bruce told her.

“No shit,” Danny popped back. “The entire clan goes through the two-week course, then the home guard goes through the four-week course. Those that want join Omega or Gamma have to take another four-week course then wait on an opening.”

“Well you better get started then,” Bruce said.

“Dad, you are not listening!” Danny shouted. “I have four thousand now that have been through the home guard training but they are also our major work force. The others have not been here that long; we have tripled in size in two months.”

“So a quarter of the clan is already trained to be home guard?” Bruce asked.

“Yes Dad,” Danny told him. “Mama and Mama Nancy designed the teaching to start with learning to fight first. Everyone must take the two-week course or they’re kicked out. Granted, we’ve never had to kick anyone out. They want to learn to fight,” Danny added. “Then those that graduate are asked if they want to continue and damn near everyone takes the four-week extended course. We’ve only allowed those currently assigned on home guard to take the four-week course for Omega and Gamma,” Danny went on.

Ted jumped up. “You mean even the supply group has had ten weeks of training?” he asked.

“Well yeah, Ted,” Bruce told him.

“If you knew that, why did you let me explain it?” Danny shouted.

“I don’t see what the problem is,” Bruce told her.

“If I bring home guard to four thousand I kill the work force until we can train the new people!” Danny yelled.

“I told you that you had four months to bring them up to strength,” Bruce told her. “We have to step up operations in this war, people. The survivors will not last forever. We will start moving east until winter, then deal with the government,” Bruce said.

Sandy cleared her throat from her seat next to Stephanie. “Bruce, I should tell you that the super horde moving down the East Coast is wiping out survivors at an astronomical rate,” she said.

“Yes, they are moving into Georgia now, we have some time,” Bruce said.

“Have you watched them?” Sandy asked.

“Yeah, they move several hundred miles and fan out for a few months, then move again,” Bruce replied.

“Yes, they kill everything in the area. If any survivors are in the area they must lay low for months or get overrun. We watched them until we lost satellite feed. This spring alone they wiped out hundreds of thousands of survivors in North and South Carolina,” Sandy told him.

“Have we seen that?” Bruce asked the table.

“Ah Dad, we haven’t been watching them that close, we’ve been kind of busy for the last year just watching around us,” Jake told him.

“Sandy, are you sure about this?” Bruce asked.

“Yes, in my bags I have video on flash drives along with all the research,” she told him, and Bruce looked at Stephanie.

“If she says it’s true then it’s true,” Stephanie said calmly.

“Jake, with what we have rescued from Arkansas and Mississippi, how many survivors do you think are in Alabama and Georgia?” Bruce asked.

“Combined, I would say close to fifteen to twenty thousand. We still have several thousand we found in southern Mississippi,” Jake told him.

“How many have we come across that didn’t want to join?” Bruce asked.

“Thousands. Two are big communities that the gangs wouldn’t take on. One in south Tennessee and the other in central Mississippi, but we have small groups everywhere,” Matt answered, looking at his notes.

“You can’t just leave them there,” Sandy told Matt.

“Yes we can Sandy, it’s their choice. We are not conquerors. If they want to try their luck, so be it. If we just brought everyone here and forced them to work then we would be no better than the gangs or what’s left of the government,” Bruce said gravely.

“But they can get wiped out,” she cried out.

“Several communities and groups we left out there have been wiped out,” Bruce told her.

“But you’re the President! Make them come here,” she pleaded.

“We will never force our decisions on others. The groups we attack, we have watched, and if we see they are holding others against their will or hurting those trying to survive, we wipe them out. If they live through oppression and tyranny then they have made the decision for us, to wipe them out. There is no more babysitting. Each person must live with their own choices,” Bruce told her. Tears welled up in Sandy’s eyes, and Bruce felt like he’d just told a child the cold hard facts about death after their pet goldfish died.

Stephanie put her arm around Sandy. “Sandy, we can’t live their life for them,” she told her softly.

Feeling bad for Sandy, Bruce took a deep breath and let it out. “Nancy, get a surveillance team to backtrack over the route that the super horde has been through and look for survivors,” Bruce requested. “Jake, how is the surveillance system coming?” Bruce asked.

“Great Dad, but it’s too big to put in Mission Control. I’m having a secondary site built inside Hope. They will monitor the feeds from the cameras at the gate, the wall, inside the base and the surrounding area,” Jake told him.

“Son, that’s splitting our monitoring capabilities,” Bruce interrupted.

“Well if you would let me finish,” Jake told him. “The monitoring station will also have the ability to act as a back-up to Mission Control. Mission Control will have all the same feeds but not that many monitors, and we are not increasing the monitoring staff.”

“Good idea,” Bruce admitted. “Paul, on the north and south gate I want you to make a lock with a chain-link fence so when the gate is open someone can’t just rush in and the vehicles can be cleared before entering the base.”

“Damn that’s a good idea,” Mike said.

“I want the artillery set up in batteries around the base along with the Patriots. I would like this done in the next few days,” Bruce told everyone.

“We have some batteries already set up and two Patriots are ready to go, we just have to turn on the radar,” Willie told him.

“I want all of them set up. When the time comes I want to have a steel rain at my command,” Bruce said.

“That’s over a hundred cannons, MRLSs and twenty more Patriots,” Willie exclaimed.

“Well we can send out some serious hate then,” Bruce said.

Willie just sighed and nodded.

“Bruce, what’s our next plan of operation?” Mike asked.

“How much longer do we need to gather those that want to join us in Mississippi?” Bruce asked.

“We should have those that want to come in the next four days,” Nancy told him. Bruce stopped and looked at a map of the U.S. on the wall. He stared at it for ten minutes as everyone looked at each other, trying to guess what he was thinking.

“Ah Bruce, what are you thinking?” Nancy finally asked.

Bruce ignored her and moved closer to the map. Five minutes later he turned to the group. “We are going to attack the super horde,” he told them.

Mike jumped out of his chair as everyone started talking at once. Mike yelled at the top of his lungs, “Are you fucking insane!? You saw what just five million coming at you did and you yourself said that was a close call!” Mike was huffing as he finished and everyone fell silent.

“Oh it was a close call, and I admit, not one of my better ideas,” Bruce told him.

“Bruce let me tell you something, okay. Twenty million is a lot bigger than five million,” Mike said very slowly. “Even with Gamma and Omega we can’t take on a horde that size,” Mike finished.

“I’m glad everyone knows how to count,” Bruce replied sarcastically. “We are not going to wipe them out in the field, we are going to lead them here,” Bruce told him. Mike just collapsed in his chair and everyone looked at Bruce, flabbergasted. “Guys, we have thirty-foot walls around us for a reason,” Bruce told them.

“Bruce, we are talking about twenty … million … blues. That many can pile up enough to come over the top of the wall,” Paul said.

“If they attacked at one place they could, but we will spread them out along the wall. We set up markers on poles around the outside of the wall at fifty and one hundred yards. Nobody is to shoot any blues that are past the fifty yard marker. That way the dead can’t build a ramp up to us. Then Paul’s napalm sprinkler system can burn out the bodies we kill at the hundred yard mark. We just feed them into a meat grinder,” Bruce explained.

“Baby, I want you to think about this for longer than a few minutes, please,” Stephanie told him.

“Hey, you were the one who said I was so smart,” Bruce popped off.

“Oh you are, but when your balls start to drag the ground you get all Neanderthal on us,” she popped back.

“Guys, I haven’t made my decision yet,” Bruce said, and the others breathed out in relief.

“Bruce, it’s just we have security now and you’re wanting to drag a super horde here,” Stephanie told him.

“No, I want them to get here earlier than they would otherwise,” Bruce corrected her.

“We don’t know that, Bruce,” Angela said.

“Yes we do, if you look at their movement,” Bruce said, pointing at the map. “They avoid the coast by a hundred or so miles. They will hit us and I really don’t want them any bigger until I can make sure we can handle that many. If there was a smaller horde around I would try it out on them, but we wiped them all out.”

“So why not just wait?” Ted asked.

“If what Sandy said is correct, we could lose a lot of survivors if we do. That’s what Nancy is going to find out,” Bruce told them.

“Okay Bruce, let’s let Nancy find out before you go picking a fight with them,” Mike said.

“That’s fine then,” Bruce replied and looked back at his notebook. “I want Omega and Gamma’s troop strength doubled in a month. Then I want Omega and Gamma to have a heavy weapons platoon that will have five M-1 tanks and ten Bradleys, so those platoons will be sixty strong. For each of the other platoons they will have one Stryker and one LAV assigned to them for light armor.”

“Can I ask why without you killing me?” Carl asked.

“I want the option for us when we need it. The heavy transport trucks can carry four people so each track crew will drive the heavy transport trucks loaded with their track. If they offload, then support will bring the trucks,” Bruce said.

“Okay, but what option?” Carl asked.

“I should have used armor in Grenada to punch through their gate and take out the troop concentrations when the attack started to falter. If I’d have done that our casualties wouldn’t have been so bad, but hindsight is 20/20,” Bruce said.

“Yes, and if you had a spell book and turned them into fairies we could have left them alone,” Willie told him. Bruce gave him a confused look. “Bruce, we attacked a force that was twelve times bigger and came out in great condition. Don’t try to get more complicated. I can speak for the men, we take the risk,” Willie told him.

“Well I don’t, the armor stays and I want the new teams to rotate off so half of Omega and Gamma is always home,” Bruce said.

“Why leave that many troops out of the fight?” Ted asked.

“Those are the warriors and we need them,” Bruce said.

“Yes, in the field,” Ted replied.

“No, we need them to pass on their genes. The survivors here are what you need to build the new world, but if I keep the warriors in the field many will die off without passing along that trait. We are going to need warriors for generations,” Bruce told them.

“Sometimes you scare the living shit out of me,” Carl told him.

“Sometimes?” Adam asked.

“Listen, when this started I was just going to carve out an area and hold it for us to survive in. If I would have done that we would have died. I would’ve probably lived and my kids might have survived, but their kids would have been wiped out. The infected will wipe us out if we don’t kill them first,” Bruce said.

Mike stood up. “Alright Bruce, so what’s the plan?” he asked.

“Nancy, get your group together and start. Have a report by morning. Command group here tomorrow morning. Carroll, can you ask Millie to have breakfast served here for us?” Bruce asked.

Carroll nodded and asked, “When are you going to tell the clan if you decide to take this big group?”

“The day after my decision,” Bruce replied.

“That’s why you were meant for this. You hide nothing from the clan,” she told him approvingly.

“Till the morning then,” Bruce said, gathering his stuff and standing up to leave with the others.

A few minutes after Bruce left Mission Control, Jake came and got him so he could listen to another meeting …  this one in Colorado.

Chapter 23

General Givens was sitting at the table in the command center, waiting on the colonel. The President and his staff were at the other end talking. In the corner of the room the security camera sent the video out to Louisiana just as Bruce was sitting down with several others of the command group. Several web cams captured the sound and more video, giving the group surround sound. Givens had made sure this meeting was held in the late evening because most of the President’s staff liked to go to sleep early. The thought that he was interrupting their sleep made him smile.

“Something funny, General?” the President asked from the other end of the table.

“Just thinking about us leaving this damn valley, sir,” Givens replied.

The President slapped the table. “Now you’re talking, General,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “I’m ready to have real food again and play some golf,” the President said grandiosely, smiling and looking around at his people.

“They have a golf course?” one of the aides asked.

“Not yet, but they will when we get there,” the President said, laughing, and the others joined in.

The colonel walked in the room and moved to the end of the table where he laid down stacks of charts and maps. He pulled a monitor over to them, then set up a map of Base Hope. Colonel Walker turned on his laptop, giving Jake another camera angle. Then the camera on the monitor Walker had pulled over came on. Bruce wanted to laugh at all the camera angles he had.

“Are we ready?” Walker asked.

“Start it off, Colonel,” Givens told him.

“All right, gentleman, for this campaign—” Walker stopped as an aide raised his hand.

“Colonel, could you describe the layout of the base first?” he asked.

“That’s a good idea, let us know what we are getting,” the President said.

Walker looked over at Givens and he nodded to go ahead. The only reason he did it was to give Givens the impression he was under his control. “Okay sir, the base is now surrounded by a thirty-foot fence covering fifty square miles,” Walker said, and pushed a button on the computer. Shots from the UAV started playing on the monitor. As Walker called out what they were looking at he would point it out on the map. “There are three gates coming into the base and each consists of modified rail cars loaded with dirt. Our estimates put the weight of each gate at one hundred tons,” Walker said, pointing out the gates.

“Damn, that’s heavy,” the Homeland director said.

“Yes sir, but the wall that surrounds the base has a dirt berm twenty feet tall and slopes back one hundred feet around it. We don’t even have enough explosives to blow a hole in it. Maybe if we had some penetrator JDAMs we could blow a hole in it,” Walker told them.

“We aren’t going to knock down the fence, are we?” the President asked.

“No sir, our goal is to take the base intact so we can move the population here down there,” Walker said.

“Whew, that’s good. I really like the idea of having a walled city,” the President said.

Walker fought off a thousand comments and continued, “The large, dug-out area to the west is going to be a lake to supply hydroelectric power. On the west end you can see the Air Wing of the base. The runway that runs north and south has already been in operation, with the other one that runs southwest to northeast just being completed. Our engineer said this is a heavy transport runway able to take heavy lifters. With all the C-130s, the big fat transport planes, we think they are fixing to start air-lifting supplies in,” Walker told them.

“General, you told us they emptied the military bases in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Why on earth would they need more supplies?” the President asked.

“They did sir, and bases in Louisiana. Our thoughts are they just want lots of equipment to fight the blues with. From what we can tell they were almost overrun in Kansas City,” Givens told him.

“Why hasn’t the military eavesdropped on their radios?” one of the aides asked with a condescending attitude.

“Well, since I only have half of my intelligence company that’s kind of hard, and most of the NSA boys we had are gone,” the general snapped.

“Did they escape?” the aide asked.

“No, they were shot,” Givens told him, glaring at the Homeland director.

“They posed a serious risk,” the director yelled at Givens.

The President held up his hand. “Jacob, if another one of your boys shoots any member of the government you will be the next person shot. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes sir,” he responded with a scowl at Givens.

The President turned to his protection detail. “Gentlemen, please take Jacob’s weapon. If any of his boys come near me with a weapon, kill them,” he told them calmly and Jacob was suddenly looking down several submachine guns. One of the agents came over and took his weapons. “Jacob, when you have proved yourself you will be given another chance,” the President said.

Jacob just nodded, his face pale. Walker grinned and continued, “Now, for their air force they have over a hundred and sixty planes with about that many choppers. If you look at the base of the runway, you can see where they store them with the facilities needed to maintain them. Next is the original base, what once was a farm. We have seen several flight simulators put in the barn and we have concluded that this is the flight school. Now, since the new city they call Hope was built, we have noticed most of the group here are in their military. They have a total of fifty acres of solar panels now but they won’t need them once the hydro station comes online,” Walker said, looking around.

“How many people do they have there now?” the President asked.

“It’s hard to tell because they are bringing in so many,” Walker told him.

“So they are bringing in all they find?” one of the aides asked.

“No sir, they have left several groups out. From what we can tell they are just survivors that chose not to join them,” Walker said.

“We will get them later,” the President said. “What is the estimate on their count?” he asked Walker.

“Between fifteen and twenty thousand.” Walker told him the exaggerated number.

“They are finding that many people?” another aide asked.

“Yes sir, they move into an area, making a lot of noise and pulling a lot of infected in, wiping them out, then search teams come in after they announce their presence on the radio. They have people hang white sheets up if they want to join, or any other color if they don’t but want to talk. They are to put X’s up if they want to be left alone. So far no one has put up X’s,” Walker told them.

“Is everyone working there?” the President asked, indicating the base.

“Yes sir,” Walker said and pulled up another slide. “If you look here you can see they train everyone to shoot; then we have seen them training more on an advanced basis. But everyone carries a gun. We have images of kids around the age of twelve carrying weapons.”

“Well that will stop when we take it over. Only the government will be allowed weapons. The civilian population has already proved they can’t handle them,” the President told him.

“Sir, they’ve fought off hordes,” Walker reminded him.

“Their military has,” the President responded.

“Yes they have, but so has the civilian population. This spring they stopped a horde of one and a half million,” Walker informed him.

“Well with those big walls they won’t need them anymore,” the President told him, letting Walker know it was not a topic he was going to give on.

“Yes sir,” Walker said, and clicked another slide. “They have over six thousand acres prepared for farming outside of the walled area of Hope, and if you look you can see they are surrounding each field with a fence also. We are putting the height around twenty feet but without berms. Then they are doing the same for the fields with the livestock.”

“Okay I understand about the livestock, but why the fields?” an aide asked.

“We don’t know, but one of my troops was raised on a farm. He thinks it’s to keep wildlife out so they don’t eat it and the infected don’t follow them into the field, hurting the crops,” Walker told him.

“Damn, that’s smart,” the aide said.

The President listened and held up his hand as several more questions were fired off. “Colonel, is there a good chance we can take the majority of the command group? They seem rather resourceful and we might need that,” he asked.

“Well sir, I’m hoping they will surrender when they see us coming. They have announced over the radio station that they don’t want to fight U.S. troops,” Walker told him.

“Yes, I listen to their radio station all the time, Colonel, but they have also said if push comes to shove they will kill them. One of my aides was in here last week when this Omega attacked a very large group in Grenada, Mississippi. He told me that group was much bigger than Omega,” the President said.

“Yes sir, but they have another group called Gamma that is just as big and as well trained as Omega. We have seen them before flying flags with the Gamma symbol and thought they were just a support group. They always were with those rescuing or guarding convoys, but they participated in that attack and are just as trained and motivated as Omega,” Walker said, and fifteen hundred miles away Mike beamed with pride. “For all we know, sir, Omega and Gamma could be the same team that just rotates out on duty,” Walker added.

“What is their strength?” the President asked.

“Around three hundred apiece,” Walker answered.

“What was the size of the group they attacked?” the President asked.

“Our first estimate was around three thousand but it was actually closer to five,” Walker answered.

“What, your men can’t count?” Jacob popped off.

“Jacob, you’re fired. Leave my sight. Your deputy is to take your place effective immediately. You are no longer allowed a weapon and will be put on work detail,” the President told him.

“But sir,” Jacob whined.

“Leave before I have you shot,” the President told him. Jacob stood up and was escorted out of the room. “I’m sorry, Colonel, but could you tell me why such a large change in numbers?” the President asked.

“Sir, the area has heavy tree cover and people move around. With small groups it’s pretty easy to count them. But when the groups get big, or the people don’t congregate in groups and get spread out over a large area, all you can do is make an educated guess,” Walker replied.

“That’s why you’re not sure about Base Hope’s count?” the President asked.

“Yes sir,” Walker responded.

An aide raised his hand and the President nodded that he could ask a question. “Colonel, how can we hear their radio broadcast?” he asked.

“They have about twenty relays set up around them. They put them up before they started broadcasting and have them set up with solar power. One of the Air Force captains said since the air waves are not chocked with other FM and AM signals they get great distance off of their broadcasts,” Walker explained.

“Well, they have in place what I will need to address the nation,” the President said. “Back to the Grenada attack, Colonel. How can you take out a group like that in a set battle?” he asked.

“Sir, Rangers and other elite forces have been taking out groups like that for decades. If you have the intelligence and fast strike capabilities it’s not that difficult with a trained group,” Walker said. He pushed some buttons and the screen changed. It showed a feed of the armada of choppers coming over the Grenada Lake dam. Then they broke apart into sections, and the Apaches and UAVs started dropping Hellfires and five-hundred-pound bombs.

Walker paused the video. “You see, they took out the main barracks there. We estimate over a thousand died in their sleep in the first few seconds of the attack. The barracks started emptying but the attack continued and whittled them down. If you keep watching they did not hit areas hard with air if they had hostages nearby. They were willing to take the loss to save them,” Walker told them.

“Well I must admit if this Bruce wasn’t so rambunctious and such a loose cannon I might give him a job,” the President said.

The colonel took a step back as an aide asked, “Are you serious, sir?”

“Of course not. This Bruce and his family will have to be killed so everyone knows who is in charge,” the President told him. In Louisiana, inside the computer area Jake and Matt had built, a fight broke out as the kids ran to the Mission Control air bunker to start firing Hellfires into the government compound. They only shut up when Bruce started yelling for calm.

The President looked at the colonel. “So we can’t do an attack like that?” he asked.

“No sir, not with what we have. At most we could put our two Ranger platoons in with an air assault platoon. But unlike the gang you just watched, Base Hope has an attack force up at all times,” the colonel said and started pushing buttons. On the screen came a live feed from the UAV overhead. “There are a thousand people working right now. Remember, they are all armed and can shoot. Look at the walls and towers and you will see roving patrols. We counted ninety-seven in roving patrols last night and that doesn’t include what is in the command area,” he told them.

“Where is their command area?” the President asked.

“We aren’t sure but we think it’s in the barn and this building beside it, the marble building being built,” Walker told them. In Louisiana, Bruce was thankful for those big ass oak trees in his yard now.

“Why not the house?” an aide asked.

“Nothing is really running to the house. If you look on the barn you will see several antennas, cameras, and small satellite dishes. The large dishes in the field are closer to the barn than the house,” Walker replied.

“Why don’t they have radar up yet?” another aide asked. Walker almost screamed he didn’t know why but wished they would hurry and turn it on.

“We don’t know but they have several Patriots set up, and on the airfield they have a complete satellite array on the tower. Then in Shreveport they have set up the NOAA weather satellite complete with solar arrays but haven’t turned it on yet,” Walker told them.

“Maybe they took our satellites?” an aide offered.

Walker shook his head. “We have two NSA personnel here, some of the last of that group, that guarantee me that the satellites are off-line. They told me if they had been taken over they could still talk to them through some back door. One of them told the general that after we take over Base Hope and they have more power they will try to reprogram them,” Walker answered.

“Why do they need all those dishes in the field, it looks like a lot,” the same aide asked.

“Seventy-four to be exact, and they have taken over some communication satellites. They need them for the same reason we do, to control their UAVs over the horizon. The two NSA spooks said they should be able to hack the transmission, but they told me that a week ago,” Walker said. In Louisiana, Bruce looked over at Jake, and Jake just smiled, shaking his head no.

“Okay Colonel, now after your first briefing you wanted to use seven thousand of my troops. Now after everything you have told me, why do you still need that many?” the President asked.

Almost shouting ‘your troops?’ Walker bit his tongue. “Sir, we need this base intact and those were your orders. If we did a lightning assault we don’t have the follow-on forces for it. As it stands now, we only have forty-one operational choppers and we only have enough fuel to keep them airborne for a limited time.”

“Go get more fuel,” someone offered.

“It’s gone bad by now. The fuel we have has been treated,” Walker answered with a lie, not knowing who spoke.

“That’s what we need that refinery for,” General Givens said, looking at the President and his aides.

“Yes sir,” Walker said. “If we tried a limited strike they would repel it and then we would have to do a frontal assault which would wipe us out. Our best bet if they don’t surrender is to base out of south Arkansas along the state line with Louisiana and draw them out into battle. They have not shown that they can fight a protracted battle but our troops have trained for that. We’ll keep the engagements short, then pull them into us and take out Omega and Gamma. With those gone they will surrender,” Walker told them.

“Why would they not just bomb our troops?” an aide asked.

“We have anti-air missiles,” Walker told him.

“They have more planes than we have missiles,” the aide answered.

“They don’t know that,” Walker replied. “You don’t keep wasting air assets. When the enemy shows they can deny you air space, you go in on the ground and remove them.” Back in Jake and Matt’s computer control room, Bruce started telling everyone that wasn’t right and they shushed him down.

“That leaves very few troops here to guard us, Colonel,” the President told him.

“Yes sir, it does, and the general wouldn’t let me ask for more, concerned for your safety,” Walker told him and the President smiled and nodded to the general. “But sir, if we don’t do this right the first time we won’t get a second chance. If we take too few troops and they beat off the attack they could launch an attack on us,” Walker warned him.

“The people here would resist them,” an aide said, smiling and leaning back. ‘Yeah right,’ thought Walker.

“I’m sure they would too but I would rather not leave too much to chance,” the President said.

“Colonel, the area of your attack is pretty much clear now. Why not attack now?” an aide asked.

The general stood and walked up beside the colonel. “Gentlemen, as I have explained, along with the colonel, we don’t have the ammunition to fight the infected and those at Base Hope. Now, thanks to them, when we attack this winter the area will be pretty much clear even if we get a few warm days. Our best bet is this winter attack. Of course, if the President orders, we will roll now but we aren’t guaranteeing a victory or even a total rout of your troops, sir. The military is controlled by the civilian body and will do what you order, sir,” Givens said, looking at the President.

Smiling, the President straightened in his chair. “Thank you, Terry, and I agree with you that the winter attack is our best option. But I want to know what our chances are if they don’t surrender?” he asked.

“Sir, with seven thousand troops there is no maybe, it’s a lock. I have gone over the attack with a fine-toothed comb. Even with the worst case scenario the colonel laid out, we will lose four thousand troops but we still win the base,” the general told him.

The President and his staff relaxed upon hearing that and started smiling, patting each other on the shoulder. Pushing his chair back, the President stood up. “The troops that die will all be awarded valor for their sacrifice for their commander-in-chief,” he said.

“Mister President, when we take control of Base Hope it’s going to be a tight squeeze getting all the people here inside,” Walker told him, wanting to confirm his fears.

“Colonel, we will be leaving half of the civilians here. We’ve had to force them to work, but at Base Hope they work on their own. We will take the young and breeding-age women and will leave the rest here with a small detachment to farm this valley. We will send food for the troops, and if the civilians don’t grow it they don’t eat,” the President said. Walker stood frozen as the President walked out, followed by his staff.

Givens put his hand on Walker’s shoulder. “Gene, that was a good presentation and we even got Jacob removed,” he told him.

Walker shook off the shock and looked at the general. “Sir, his deputy is worse than Jacob ever was. We have to be real careful now, sir,” Walker told him and Givens stepped back.

“What do you mean?” Givens asked, shocked.

“Sir if you go back and look at the death orders, most of them were signed by Denis, Jacob’s deputy. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that you and I had Jacob thrown out on his ass. I don’t know about you, but I’m fixing to start carrying a concealed pistol,” Walker told him.

“That won’t be necessary, Colonel, I’m passing an order that all field grade officers are to have two armed troops beside them at all times,” Givens told him.

“That’s good sir, but can I get them to taste my food for me too?” Walker asked.

“Damn, you aren’t kidding,” Givens said, looking Walker closely in the eyes.

“Denis is going to come after us sir, you can bet on it. Remember, he still has two thousand officers here and that’s a lot of firepower at his disposal,” Walker told him, stretching the lie.

“He can’t be that stupid. We have over nine thousand troops,” Givens said.

“Sir, of the nine thousand troops, only four thousand are combat troops. Granted, the others have fought but we are still in this valley. That is why I told the President his safety was your concern,” Walker said, blowing smoke with the lie.

“I thought that was just some brownie points for me,” Givens said.

“It was sir, but did you see how much he relaxed when he heard it? He knows that Homeland is a viable threat and I can guess that’s going to be the detachment chosen to stay here,” Walker said, coating the deceit.

The general started pacing back and forth, thinking about what Walker was telling him. “Damn, you’re right, and that’s why the President won’t come out and say it because there are more Homeland officers in the command compound than troops,” Givens said.

“Exactly sir, they won’t act against him directly, but if they thought they could get away with it you damn sure better believe they will act against us. Remember, most of the Homeland upper echelon is former military, and if we happen to die …” Walker left it hanging.

“They can kill us and get the President to appoint them over the military,” Givens concluded, setting the fear Walker wanted in him.

“Sir, I know you are the boss but can I ask for one order, please?” Walker asked.

“What is it?” Givens asked.

“A standing order from you: no Homeland officer can come into the military command area unescorted, but don’t say it like that. Sir, you have a way with words. Say something like, they are needed to monitor the population and make our troops nervous when they are around,” Walker offered.

“That’s good, Colonel, and when they need to come here an officer must be notified and approve, then an escort is to be provided for them. To keep the troops’ minds at ease, of course, with the big operation planned,” Givens said.

“See, that’s what I mean sir, when you say that it sounds like we are doing them a favor,” Walker told him, making the general grin.

“Thank you Gene, and when we are alone you can call me Terry,” Givens said.

“I’m sorry, sir, but that wouldn’t be correct. And one of the troops might overhear me and we need discipline now,” Walker told him, knowing that was a big lie. He only addressed friends like that, and Givens was definitely not his friend.

“You’re right, Colonel,” Givens said.

“No sir, you still use my first name. It lets the men know you see us as individuals,” Walker told him.

Laughing, Givens grabbed his shoulder. “That is why you’re my second in command. Thinking about the small things,” Givens said.

“Thank you sir. If you don’t mind, I’m going to get a pistol now,” Walker said, grabbing his stuff.

“You’re still worried?” Givens asked.

“Sir, Denis has been notified by now and your order has not been made. Even after you do I’m still carrying. Strike hard and fast, sir,” Walker told him, erasing the joy off Givens’ face.

“I’m coming with you to get one also,” Givens said. “You want to listen to the news report with me tomorrow?”

“Love to, sir, I never miss it,” Walker told him as he headed for the door.

“I’m going to ask the President if we can let those two live,” Givens said, and followed him out.

Chapter 24

Those present in Matt and Jake’s computer area watched the two walk out and just stared at the screen as the technicians started moving around. “Jake, tell me you had that recorded?” Bruce asked.

“Of course Dad, from all six cameras,” he replied with a wounded tone.

“Get the rest of the command group in the bunker. I want them to watch,” Bruce said, looking around.

They gathered the other fifteen members of the command group in the bunker and Jake played the meeting. Bruce had Gopher attend even though he wasn’t part of the command group. As the meeting played, Bruce watched the group’s reactions. On most he saw pure hate; on the others, shock then hate. When Jake turned off the monitor, Willie jumped up. “When do we fuckin’ attack!” he yelled.

“We aren’t attacking them, Willie, we still have a super horde to deal with,” Bruce told him.

“Bruce, they mean to come down here and make the clan nothing more than slaves! I haven’t fought for this clan just to see that happen!” Willie yelled.

“I didn’t say we were going to surrender, but I’m not leading the troops fifteen hundred miles away. Attacking a trained force that outnumbers us in fighting manpower almost thirty to one, we would be wiped out. When we fight them it will be when they move down,” Bruce told him.

“Well trust a grunt to spread a false impression about anti-air missiles,” Mack said.

“Oh, Gene knows about the abilities and counter measures for anti-air, that I know for sure,” Bruce told him, and everyone looked at him.

“You know the colonel?” Mack asked.

Stephanie looked at him. “Yes, Bruce served with him when Gene was a second and first lieutenant,” she said.

“I didn’t tell you all that,” Bruce said.

“I know. When you said you served with him I skipped ahead in Debbie’s journals to when you were in the Army. She met Gene several times and liked him. The only down side she pointed out was that he needed a wife,” Stephanie said, not telling Bruce about one more letter upstairs. Bruce looked at Angela.

“Don’t look at me. I’m still reading about when Debbie was in high school and choosing the names of her kids,” Angela told him.

“Mom knew what she was going to call us in high school?” Steve asked.

“Yep, she had five boy names and five girl names picked out. The next girl was going to be Abigail and the next boy was going to be Richard,” Angela told him.

“That’s kind of freaky,” Danny said.

“I want to know why she had ten names picked out,” Jake said.

“She wanted five kids,” Stephanie told him.

“Why did you stop then, Dad?” Jake asked.

“Son, we have other things to talk about,” Bruce said, and Jake just stared at him. “Okay, we couldn’t really afford more kids, y’all are kind of expensive,” Bruce told him.

“Seems like a cop out,” Jake mumbled.

Shaking his head and looking at Jake, Bruce said, “Son it would be easier and cheaper to raise kids now than before the fall. When every dollar you made was taxed five times, you were lucky to have a sister.”

“You couldn’t have left me out,” Danny gasped.

“No Danny, we weren’t stopping till I got my little girl,” Bruce told her, making her smile. “Now that everyone knows how screwed up my family truly is,” Bruce said, turning to Mack. “Gene knows the abilities of air power. I have to agree with Adam and he wants to lose this battle,” Bruce said.

“Care to explain, Bruce?” Mike asked.

“Mike, if they set up like the battle plans we downloaded, how would you attack it?” Bruce asked.

“Bruce, they were spread out on a fifty to a hundred mile front with miles between each unit. If you attacked one the others would be all over you,” Mike answered.

“That’s why you attack the entire line at once,” Bruce told him.

“But even they know we don’t have the manpower for that, and they can hold our air off,” Mike told him.

“No, they can’t hold our air off. That is the advantage of standoff weapons. Sit twenty-five miles away and rain down steel,” Bruce said.

“Damn, a grunt that knows air power,” Mack said, looking at Bruce.

“Oh, he’s just getting warmed up,” Angela told him.

Bruce looked at her, expecting more, then continued, “You can’t move during an air attack no matter what Hollywood says. If you do you take serious casualties; then if you throw artillery in you can keep them pinned. If your enemy has the time to dig fortifications they can ride them out, but if they don’t they have to hunker down and pray the next one doesn’t have their name on it.”

“Bruce, if your group is caught in a continuous barrage you do try to get out of it,” Willie told him.

“Yeah, but you suffer sixty to eighty percent casualties with a company-sized barrage. That’s a shell impacting every two seconds, then throw in the standoff weapons. You can cut down a thousand-strong force to a few hundred in an hour if they try to move,” Bruce said.

“I’m sure they will bring some counter-artillery batteries,” Willie told him.

“Counter artillery?” Bill asked.

Stephanie answered, “Yes, when an artillery shell is shot, a radar tracks its trajectory and backtracks it to the place it was fired. In modern warfare, artillery has to shoot and move.”

“You just told us to get all of our artillery in place. What good will it do if they can knock it out?” Paul asked.

“First the artillery we use from here will be for infected, and if attacked by a force we can jam their radar. Then we have these cool things called planes and choppers that can go and kill their artillery,” Bruce told him. “We engage all the positions at once with air and artillery, then move to one far side of the line and roll down the entire line. Stopping the steel rain when we are almost on top of them,” Bruce finished.

“Okay, but in their battle plan it calls for their choppers to engage targets outside of the base to lure us into battle. How are you going to deal with those?” Mike asked.

“Bruce, allow me, please,” Mack asked. Bruce nodded and motioned for him to proceed. “All we have to do is turn on our radar and we own the area around here out to a hundred miles. Now radar is a two-edged sword. You can see them but they can also see you. If you keep them far enough away it doesn’t matter, they can’t use it against you,” Mack said.

“They can take out our radar,” Mike said.

“No, they would have to get close to do that and I mean like miles. I had one of my pilots lock up their UAV last week and they didn’t even register the threat,” Mack said.

“I really didn’t want them to know that we know they are there,” Bruce said.

“Nah, they were acting like they were dog fighting and the lead pulled out with the tail man still in active search and it locked on the UAV and he broke off,” Mack said.

“Please refrain till we are ready to let them know,” Bruce begged.

“Hey, you want me to build this big Air Force but we have people overhead mapping us out. That makes me nervous, those are my boys and planes down there,” Mack told him. Bruce shook his head. “Bruce, with what they know about us they could send two F-15Es fully loaded and wipe out this entire Air Force,” Mack told him.

“You just said they couldn’t do that,” Mike said.

“Not with choppers, but the Eagle can fly at Mach 2 fifty feet off the deck. By the time the radar picked them up they’d be over us in seconds dropping fifteen tons per plane on us,” Mack told him.

“If they get planes, we nuke them,” Danny said.

Bruce held up his hands. “Everyone, let’s take it down a notch. I really don’t want to kill these troops unless we have no other alternative.”

“Boss, I understand, but they are not leaving us a lot of options,” Willie told him.

“One is,” Bruce said.

“How do you know the colonel is on our side?” Joe asked.

“He is setting up his troops to be slaughtered,” Bruce said. “That gives us a chance to continue what we are doing, saving America,” Bruce finished.

“He’s right, Colonel Walker told me that more than once,” Adam said.

“Well since he’s not in charge, how can we make them surrender?” Jimmy asked.

“That is what I want to talk to everyone about. How can we let him know?” Bruce asked.

“How much of a risk are you willing to take?” Jake asked.

“I’m not going there if that’s what you mean,” Bruce replied.

“No, I mean are you willing to risk letting them know we are hacked into them? Maybe even risking the colonel’s life?” Jake asked.

“If they figure out the hack, can you shut them down?” Bruce asked.

“Oh yeah, we have two programs buried that will burn out their boards,” Matt said, smiling.

“How would we do it?” Bruce asked.

“Send him an e-mail,” Jake told him.

“Come again,” Bruce said.

“It would be the first e-mail that would be the trickiest. They monitor the computers up there pretty hard. We could shield it but only for so long. They check everyone’s e-mail several times a day,” Jake told him.

“So those NSA boys can’t hack us?” Bruce asked.

“Not those idiots,” Matt said.

“Hey, they have to be good to get in the NSA,” Gopher said. “How do you know they aren’t trying to hack you now?” he challenged.

“One’s asleep; the other is watching a porn,” Jake told him.

“How do you know?” Gopher asked, and Jake leaned over his laptop that he’d used to play the recording of the President’s meeting. Punching a few keys, Jake pointed at the main monitor.

“That’s what he’s watching,” Jake said. On the screen was a full blown orgy. Danny reached around and blocked Buffy’s eyes, and Stephanie did the same for Sandy.

“How do you know that’s not a shield program?” Gopher asked, and Jake pushed another button and half the screen showed a man masturbating with severe determination.

“Because that’s the agent,” Jake said, and pushed another button and the screen went blank.

“Can you bring the movie back up?” Bruce asked.

“It’s not that good, Dad,” Jake told him and Mary slapped his arm. “What, you were the one who said it sucked,” Jake told her as he rubbed his arm. Mary’s jaw fell open and she turned four shades of red.

“Bruce, back to the here and now,” Stephanie said, taking her hands off of Sandy’s eyes.

“I haven’t seen that one,” Bruce told her.

“And you aren’t going to now, baby,” Stephanie said.

“You and Angela are way too bitchy lately,” Bruce said and looked at Jake. “So they can’t hack us,” Bruce asked.

“No, and the GPS is secure now. If any are tampered with we are notified, and we are training five others to help us,” Jake told him.

“Guys, if you need some help I will throw you a couple of hours a day after I get off the radio,” Gopher volunteered.

“Welcome to Oz,” Jake said.

“So now we have our own NSA,” Mike said.

“No, we have Oz, Dad,” Matt said grinning.

“Fine, so how do we do it?” Bruce asked.

“It would be better if we could get him to check his e-mail as soon as we send it. Then he would need to print it and erase the original with a tracer,” Jake said.

“Tracer?” Paul asked.

“It’s a program that erases the e-mail off the main frame,” Sandy told him.

“Okay, so he reads what we send him to let him know …” Bruce said.

“Yes, but we tell him we are sending him a program that will shield him for small sections of time so we can communicate with him. We also set up a schedule. Like I said, it’s easy to shield when we know he’s on. They have more computer guys there than the two idiots from NSA and a handful of Homeland boys,” Jake told him.

Bruce looked up at the ceiling, thinking, then smiled. “I think I can have him on tomorrow after the news broadcast,” Bruce said.

“Well give me your message and I will add what needs to be said,” Jake told him.

“Okay people, since it’s late let’s move the meeting tomorrow to 1700 again. Nancy, you and your team can start tomorrow,” Bruce told her.

“No, I have to know Bruce. I have three already searching,” she said, getting up. Angela and Stephanie stood up and walked around the table, following Nancy.

“Where are y’all going?” Bruce asked.

“With Nancy,” Angela told him. “When one of us gets a task we all jump on it. You didn’t think I was going to set up the scavenging teams by myself, did you?” she asked.

“Ah well, yeah,” Bruce told her. Angela just gave him the look, followed by Stephanie. “What, I have to deal with all four evil monkeys alone?” Bruce asked.

“You’re a big boy,” Stephanie said as she headed to flight control. Sandy jumped up and ran after her.

Bruce made Danny and Buffy help him carry Emily, Sherry, PJ, and Cade from Susan’s room upstairs. They put them in bed and left. Bruce stripped and was asleep in seconds.

Bruce woke up with a wet tongue licking his face. “Quit it, the kids are here,” he groaned and heard a whine. Knowing that whine did not come from Angela or Stephanie, Bruce sat up and found Max on the side of the bed. “Max, what the hell are you doing in here?” Bruce asked him. Max just looked down. He’d been banned from the bedroom after chewing some of Angela and Stephanie’s panties. “If they find you in here they will make a German Shepard rug out of you,” Bruce told Max as he got out of the bed.

Seeing Bruce get up, Max started wagging his tail. Bruce looked at the clock and saw it was 0510. “You could’ve let me sleep,” he told Max. Max barked then started panting with his tongue hanging out. “You are so playing with a time bomb,” Bruce said.

Then Bruce heard a squeal from the bed. “Max!” He turned to see Cade sitting up. Max saw one of his playmates and jumped on the bed as Cade wrapped his arms around him. The other kids woke up and started loving on Max.

Watching the kids play with Max, Bruce grinned until Sherry looked at him. “Both mamas are going to be mad at you, Daddy,” she said gravely.

“That’s okay, but let’s get up and get ready,” Bruce told them, then stopped. Looking at the bed, he noticed Angela and Stephanie weren’t there. Bruce quickly got the kids ready and headed downstairs. Walking into the office, Bruce looked at the stairs going down into Mission Control then around the room. ‘We’ve come a long way,’ he thought as he led the kids and Max down to Mission Control. He didn’t see anyone in the command area so moved on into the monitor section where he saw only the crew on watch. Continuing on into flight control, Bruce found Stephanie and Angela there with Nancy and Sandy.

The four were sitting behind a folding table looking at the wall of monitors. The kids saw the mamas and let out yells and ran to them. They all turned and Angela and Stephanie kneeled down, picking up the kids and giving them love. Max walked over to a young man sitting at a console watching the monitors of the UAVs that circled to the north, south, east, and west of the base. Max laid his head in the young man’s lap and wouldn’t move it until he petted him.

Bruce walked over to the table the women were working at and saw pages filled with notes and numbers. “So I take it it’s been a productive night?” he asked.

Nancy looked at him. “Bruce, it’s worse than we imagined,” she said.

“Nancy, infected kill all the time, how is this worse?” he asked.

Nancy turned around and yelled out, “Pull up zone one replay on monitor four!” She turned back to the wall and one of the fifty-inch screens showed a countryside in thermal. “You see?” she said.

“I don’t see shit,” Bruce said.

“Exactly Bruce, there is nothing there. This is the area the horde just left. We searched a four hundred square mile area and couldn’t even find a deer,” Nancy told him. “Show control zone one replay on monitor three,” she called out over her shoulder. The monitor showed a thermal countryside and Bruce could make out hot spots across the screen. “This is just a section of north Alabama we used as a base line. We found animals, infected, and some survivors. Using this as our guide, we averaged finding humans every hundred miles, five deer per mile, and a shitload of infected,” Nancy told him.

“Ten per square mile,” Stephanie said, putting PJ down.

“Yep, there are a lot of them out there,” Bruce said.

“Don’t you get it, Bruce? That super horde moves through and nothing is left alive. Even the infected move out because there is nothing left,” Nancy almost yelled. “Zone zero outside west quadrant replay on monitor four,” Nancy called out.

The screen changed and Bruce could see hot spots filling the screen. He knew from looking through thermal scopes they were infected. The numbers were hard to process. “Looks like a massive concert,” Bruce said as the UAV suddenly zoomed in on an area and he saw gunfire and the hot spots of humans standing on some kind of wall, shooting at the wall of infected. As the UAV flew in a slow circle, Bruce saw it was over a walled-off area someone had made with semi-trailers. People were on the wall dumping an impressive amount of fire down on the blues but it wasn’t making a dent.

“We found this group five hours ago,” Nancy told him.

“They don’t have a chance,” Bruce said.

“We know. They were overrun three hours ago,” Angela told him, watching Cade and PJ play in the floor.

“Their perimeter is too small, it can’t be more than five hundred square yards inside,” Bruce said.

“Seven hundred and sixty,” Sandy told him.

“But look, they are shooting the ones right next to the wall. That just gives the next one something to step on, getting them closer,” Bruce said.

“Didn’t matter, the wall failed,” Stephanie said, holding the twins’ hands.

“How many were there?” Bruce asked, watching the fight that had taken place.

“Seventy-three died on the walls. We don’t know how many inside the buildings,” Nancy said as the camera panned out. The blues were over a mile deep in every direction. Then the camera panned out more and Bruce could see more coming in. They were so tightly packed they looked like a river flowing to the area.

“Holy shit, that is not even a tenth of that group,” Bruce shouted.

“Stephanie put the number around the compound at four million with more coming,” Nancy said.

“Well we’ve taken out groups that big,” Bruce said, looking at the monitor.

“Yes we have, but not coming in like that. You always find a place to funnel the blues in so they can’t attack all the way around you. The closest we have to compare to is Kansas City. After watching this I now realize if you had not put the river to your back and concentrated everything you had in one direction you would’ve been overrun,” Nancy said, watching the screen. “Now are you ready for the bad news?” she asked.

“What bad news?” Bruce asked.

“Show the pan out after the fall and freeze it when I call. On monitor three, show the satellite image and freeze it,” Nancy called over her shoulder. The video changed and she called freeze and the screen froze.

The screen showed a pan out with the UAV high up. Looking at the corner of the screen, Bruce saw it was at 10,000 feet. Filling the screen from edge to edge, top to bottom, were infected. “That’s not possible,” Bruce said out loud.

“Look at screen three,” Nancy said. Looking over, Bruce saw it was a satellite image of the same area but much further out. He could still see roads and he could damn sure see the mass of infected. “Highlight UAV field on three,” Nancy called out. A red outline box appeared on the screen in the center of the mass of infected. Bruce guessed there were still a few miles to the edge.

“That’s a lot of fucking trouble,” Bruce mumbled.

“Stephanie is putting the count at thirty-three million,” Nancy told him.

“Margin of error?” Bruce asked, hoping for a big number.

“Plus or minus four million,” Stephanie said, crushing out his hopes.

“That is almost big enough to breach us,” Bruce admitted.

“We found two more super hordes,” Angela told him.

“If you say they are bigger we’re leaving,” Bruce said, turning to look at her.

“No, they’re smaller. One is moving up the West Coast. It’s around twenty million. And the other is grouping in Illinois. Four hordes merged there,” she told him.

“And there’s still a hundred million more out there not in those super hordes,” Bruce said slowly. “What happened to them breaking down into small groups?” Bruce asked, dropping down into a chair.

Sandy looked at him. “Oh, they are doing that but for some reason they start to mass, then move off,” she told him.

“Bruce, I hate to tell you these hordes are small compared to what we found in China and India. We have pictures of hordes over a hundred million strong,” Stephanie said.

“If they learn to swim we’re going to the space station,” Bruce said, holding his head between his legs.

“They can’t swim, their bodies are too dense,” Sandy said.

Sliding out of the chair, Bruce sprawled out on the floor. “Let’s get the message to Walker and let me figure out how to start a fight with this group,” he said, looking back at the screen.

“Bruce, we might want to see if they pass us by,” Nancy offered.

“Nancy, there are several large cities around them now. We can’t let it get bigger. I was only doing rough calculations when I did the perimeter fence and the infected won’t attack on the west side because of the lake. There may be four hundred yards between the wall and lake so they can’t mass there. That means they will line up on the twenty-five miles of fence we have. They will be stacked over three miles deep around us,” Bruce told her.

“That’s what Stephanie said. Fifty million could stack up faster than we could kill them,” Nancy told him.

Bruce sat up and smiled. “Well, we have the ammo and rifles for it now,” he said, grinning.

“How can you smile?” Nancy asked.

Shrugging his shoulder, he said, “We can either kill them or let them kill us. I prefer to kill them.” He stood up. “You guys go get some sleep. I’ll wake you before we go on the air,” Bruce said, looking at Angela and Stephanie.

“You’re going on with us?” Angela asked, smiling.

“Yep, I have a message to send,” Bruce told her before gathering the kids and Max and heading to the Center for breakfast.

Chapter 25

Bruce was sitting in the studio with Angela and Stephanie. The camera crew was finishing getting set up as Gopher handed them their notes and moved back, looking at the clock. When the second hand crossed the twelve at straight up noon, Gopher pointed at them.

“Good afternoon America, I’m Angela Williams,” Angela said, looking at the camera.

“And I’m Stephanie Williams,” Stephanie said. Bruce was sitting on the other side of Stephanie and the camera had not shown him yet. The two went over the news, via radio for America and via televised feed for the clan. They covered the weather first, then the activities of the clan. Nothing specific, just to let people know a normal life was out there. Then they went over the hordes moving across the land. Nine hordes numbering around two million, and the three super hordes. They instructed people to stockpile what they could if they were in the path of a horde, and for the first time told the people to run, if they could.

They told how the super horde stayed in an area, wiping out everything. When they left, roughly everything was gone in a four hundred square mile radius. Unless the persons or groups could seal themselves behind concrete, if the horde found them they wouldn’t give up till they had gotten them. Then the girls instructed their listeners that if a horde attacked they were not to shoot the ones at the wall, if the compound had one. Rather, they should shoot those further out and form a pile of dead infected beyond the wall.

“Remember, if you take on a horde you must have millions of rounds of ammunition,” Angela said. “Now we have a special guest in the studio, our husband, Bruce,” she said. All across America, men groaned. They were both married, and to make matters worse, both of them were married to the same man.

“Good afternoon, Bruce,” Angela said, looking over at Bruce as the camera panned out.

“Hello, Angela baby and Stephanie sweetie,” Bruce said.

“Bruce, you have faced down several hordes with Omega. What can you tell the people of America?” Stephanie asked.

“Well, unless you have twenty tons of ammo I wouldn’t advise it,” Bruce said. “You have to realize Omega and our sister unit Gamma has trained to fight infected and gangs. They can hit a six-inch plate at three hundred yards. When we’re engaging a horde with a full team we can kill three hundred thousand an hour,” Bruce lied, but didn’t lie much. He wanted to give hope to those hiding and fear to those that oppressed.

“That’s very impressive, baby,” Stephanie said, smiling.

“Hey, in Kansas City, you two girls were with me mowing down infected and made me proud,” Bruce said, smiling himself and Stephanie blushed.

Angela came to her rescue, “Well the horde didn’t leave us much choice, Bruce. They came at us like the ocean,” she said.

“Yes they did, and you stood your ground and kept shooting. The entire team ruined many barrels on that one,” Bruce said.

“That’s true,” Stephanie said, finally getting her blush to go away. “The barrel of the assault rifles we were using had to be replaced after twenty thousand rounds,” she finished.

“Correct, sweetie, the people of America need to know that if you fight a horde you need lots of guns and lots of bullets,” Bruce said.

“Baby, can you tell us about the battle of Grenada, Mississippi?” Angela asked.

“Yes I can. What do you want to know?” Bruce asked.

“How many gang members were there?” Angela asked.

“Oh, the leader told us five thousand, four hundred and sixty-one. We asked him real nice and he told us. Then I peeled his skin off inch by inch,” Bruce said.

“You know I don’t like hearing how you played with your targets,” Angela said.

“I know baby, but the other oppressors out there need to know what we do to them,” Bruce told her.

“Okay, and Gopher has asked if he can start to play the tapes?” Angela asked.

“Yes he can,” Bruce said.

“Bruce, we have had several radio messages asking why we aren’t rescuing everyone in an area we come to,” Stephanie asked.

“We only rescue people that want to come. If they want to stay behind they can, we don’t force anyone to join us. Any here are free to leave if they want. Now, that being said, if you don’t help the clan, you don’t get a free ride here. You must work guarding the clan, building the base, harvesting food, and gathering supplies. Then you must learn to fight. Next you just have to learn. We have classes going on covering everything. Everyone must be enrolled in a class every month. The only other requirements are to follow the clan laws first and foremost, and always treat others with respect,” Bruce said.

“So just like Gopher says, just be human,” Angela said.

“That’s right, baby,” Bruce said.

“Were you worried in the battle of Grenada?” she asked.

“Yes I was, but more for the hostages we were rescuing. We lost quite a few,” Bruce told her.

“But you saved over thirty-two hundred,” Angela said.

“Yes we did, and it felt good to see them smile again knowing that they weren’t going to be beaten or raped again,” Bruce told her.

“Have you ever been scared in combat before?” Stephanie asked.

“Oh yes, the worst was in Africa but we weren’t really there, you understand,” Bruce said.

“Was it worse than Grenada?” Stephanie asked.

“We were surrounded, running low on ammo, and my lieutenant yelled out to me, ‘Dark Knight, think we should ask them to surrender?’ I yelled back, ‘Lieutenant, the boys are just getting warmed up, let’s hammer them.’ We broke out and had a running gun battle, then called in air twice so we could get out the wounded. As we ran for the border I asked the lieutenant what his hurry was. He looked at me and said, ‘I get important e-mail at 0200 that I have to check.’ I think he was having women send him naked pictures but he wouldn’t tell me,” Bruce said as Stephanie faked her laughter, reading over her notes to make sure she got it right.

Fifteen hundred miles away, Walker faked a smile as he listened to the radio but his heart almost stopped.

“Whatever happened to your lieutenant?” Angela asked.

“Don’t know, but I’m sure he’s still out there. I’ve spoken to some friends he saw recently,” Bruce said.

“How do you think the absence of his e-mail is affecting him?” Stephanie asked.

“I’m sure he still checks it at 0200 every morning on the dot,” Bruce said.

“Well I hope the electricity comes back so he can check his e-mail,” Stephanie said.

“Me too,” Bruce said.

“Any final words for America?” Angela asked.

“Keep your hope alive. We are fighting the war but I need my ‘hammer.’ I want to let the other judges know I caught a judge in Grenada with the gang there and it took two weeks for him to die. On the last day I’m sure he didn’t know much but he could still scream,” Bruce said.

“Keep on and you’ll be painting toes again,” Angela said, smiling.

“Can’t wait,” Bruce said.

“America, we are another day closer to the end of this war. Stay strong, stay safe, and stay free. I’m Angela Williams,” Angela said.

“And I’m Stephanie Williams here at Base Hope. We wish you well until tomorrow when we will be here again delivering truth and hope. Have a safe day,” Stephanie said, and Gopher moved his hand across his throat and walked up to them.

“You know how many hearts broke today?” Gopher asked.

“They’re mine and they can’t have them,” Bruce said, standing up as people came over to take off his mic.

“It was just the thought,” Gopher told him.

“Don’t care, they’ve bought and paid for me. They can’t return me,” Bruce said as Stephanie wrapped her arms around him.

“I’d never return you,” she said.

Moving over, Angela wrapped her arms around him too. “You weren’t that expensive, Bruce,” she said.

“Damn, I thought I was a high dollar item,” Bruce said, hugging both of them.

“Oh you were, but they just let us have you. They didn’t think anyone had that much money,” Angela said.

“Keep this up and I’m going to start crying,” Bruce said.

“Yeah right,” Stephanie said. “Let’s get changed,” she said to Angela, then looked at Bruce. “I wish you would have worn regular clothes,” she said, looking at Bruce in ACUs, combat vest filled with weapons and ammo, with his rifle lying on the counter.

“I’m not trying to impress anyone. I want people to always see me ready for battle,” Bruce told her.

“Okay, G.I. Joe, but it’s been over a year since I saw you in regular clothes,” Stephanie told him.

“Hey, it’s been longer than that for me. I saw Bruce at work in scrubs,” Angela said, following Stephanie to the changing room. When they went inside, Bruce walked over to Gopher and he handed Bruce two roses.

“Those are two good girls,” Gopher told him, heading back to his studio.

“You should have met the first one,” Bruce said softly, watching Gopher walk into his studio. A few minutes later, upon hearing the girls come out, he turned around and held out the two roses. “For my girls from a shaved-headed Neanderthal,” Bruce said. They looked at the flowers, exclaiming, and wrapped their arms around him. “It’s not much, but I just wanted to remind you that I love you two even if y’all age me a year every day,” he told them, hugging them tight.

“We have you, so who cares,” Stephanie said, letting him go and taking the flower.

Angela let him go and took hers. “Do you have any idea how much you age us?” she asked. “I found a gray hair yesterday. I’m not even thirty yet,” she said.

“It wasn’t gray, Angela,” Stephanie told her as she stared at her rose.

“It wasn’t my hair color,” Angela told her.

“Well be glad you aren’t a boy. We lose hair on our head and it starts growing out our ears and nose,” Bruce told them, leading them out of the station and putting on his boonie hat. Stepping outside, he led them to his truck. He opened the door and Angela jumped in. When Stephanie didn’t jump in right after her, he turned around and didn’t see her beside him. She was stopped at the front of the truck, looking at her flower with tears rolling down her face.

Angela jumped out of the truck as she and Bruce ran to Stephanie. “What’s wrong Stephanie?” Angela asked.

Lifting up her tear-streaked face, Stephanie showed them a small smile. “It’s my first flower from a boy,” she said. Angela smiled and hugged Stephanie.

Bruce just stepped back. “You better be shitting me,” was all he could say.

Angela spun around with fire in her eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked.

“She better be shitting me,” Bruce said again.

“Why?” Angela asked.

“If she isn’t, I’m fixing to spin off. My girls should be used to the best I can give them,” Bruce said and Angela smiled.

Stephanie stepped up beside Angela. “My mom sent me flowers a few times and Debbie sent me some every year for my birthday from the first year I started hanging out with the family. But I never got flowers from a boy before,” she told him.

“But it’s only one flower,” Bruce told her.

“It doesn’t matter, this is one of the best days ever,” she said, smelling the rose.

“Best day ever,” Bruce said, a little irritated. He grabbed both of them by the arm, pulled them to the truck and lifted each to the front seat before shutting the door. “One damn flower, you would think they would tell someone about this. But oh no, a boy has to find out the hard way, feeling like an idiot for one damn flower,” Bruce mumbled as he climbed in the truck.

“Bruce, I love my flower,” Stephanie told him.

“It’s only one damn flower. You should have a damn armful for your first time,” Bruce told her with attitude in his voice, not at her but directed towards himself. Bruce started the truck and stomped the pedal, sending up a cloud of dust as he sped toward the north gate. Angela just looked at Stephanie who still had her face buried in her rose.

Bruce slowed to a stop at the gate as the ground guards came over. “Open the gate,” he told them.

“We have to call Mission Control, sir,” one of the guards told him.

“No, I said open the fucking gate now!” Bruce yelled this time.

“Sir, I said we have to call it in,” the guard yelled back.

Bruce jumped out of the truck, grabbing his rifle as Angela keyed her radio. “I run this Mickey Mouse shit show and if that gate doesn’t start to move in thirty seconds I start killing people and open it myself. I know the combination to both control rooms so I can kill them too!” Bruce bellowed and the gate started opening. “I damn well better not wait for it to open when I get back either, one fucking flower!” Bruce yelled at the guard.

Bruce climbed in the truck and sped off down the road. Mike and Nancy started calling around the base wanting to know who had pissed Bruce off and couldn’t find anyone who knew.

Stopping the truck by a field ten miles from the base, Bruce climbed out. “Stay here,” he told them gruffly and closed the door.

Angela looked over at Stephanie, who was still looking at her rose. “I wanted flowers from my date at the prom but he brought me a box of chocolate,” Stephanie said, looking at the flower.

Putting her arm over Stephanie’s shoulders, Angela laid her head on Stephanie’s shoulder. “It’s the prettiest rose ever, Stephanie,” she said.

Stephanie leaned her head over, resting her head on top of Angela’s. “Thank you Angela, I love you so much,” she said.

“I love you too,” Angela said and watched Stephanie caress her rose.

The passenger door opened and they looked over and saw the open door filled with flowers. Then they parted, revealing Bruce. “Will both of you step out please,” Bruce asked. They climbed out and Bruce held out one bouquet to Stephanie. In the middle was a magnolia surrounded by yellow and blue flowers with a ring of white flowers around the entire arrangement. “Stephanie, I’m sorry the male half of the species is full of idiots and assholes. You should have gotten flowers from every man in your life and that includes me long before now. I’m sorry your first bouquet was only one rose,” Bruce told her. Gasping, Stephanie grabbed them and smiled before flinging herself at Bruce.

When she let him go, Bruce turned to Angela. “I’m sorry you found out about the male half’s shortcomings in her treatment. Please accept these,” Bruce told her, handing her the other bouquet. Angela reached out, taking the arrangement and was shocked at the weight. Looking at the flowers, she saw the stems were tied together with a strip of ACU. Looking back at Bruce, she saw his left sleeve was gone.

“This is the best ever, Bruce, and you make up for any shortcomings of the male half of the species,” she said with tears in her eyes. Angela looked at Stephanie who was looking at her flowers with tears in her eyes also but still held her rose with one gentle hand. Bruce lifted them back into the truck and drove back to the base.

The guards in the tower saw his truck coming and the gate was open long before he got there and closed after he sped through. Mike called over the radio, “Ah Bruce, the command group has food down here in the bunker and wanted to start the meeting,” he said.

“Be there in ten,” Bruce said, stomping on the gas. He took the turn into the farm on two wheels, passing the empty fort. Angela and Stephanie never noticed Bruce was driving like a bat out of hell. Slamming on the brakes, Bruce got out and walked around, opening the door for the girls and lifting them out. Putting his arms around them, Bruce led them down into Mission Control, stopping in the command area.

Mike looked at Bruce leading the two in with his arms over their shoulders. Then Mike noticed the huge bouquets each was holding with the huge magnolia in the center of each. The women in the room noticed them when the girls walked through the door. “You left to pick flowers, are you kidding me?” Mike asked and Bruce spun around with a feral look in his eyes.

“Men are ass sucking pigs!” Bruce shouted at him.

Mike pulled out his pistol. “Dude, tell me who pissed you off and they will not live to see tomorrow, I swear it,” Mike told him vehemently.

“One flower!” Bruce yelled at him.

Not knowing what the hell Bruce was talking about but not wanting that attitude directed at him, Mike tried to fake it. “Dude, you want me to have some people go plant some?” he asked.

“I found some!” Bruce yelled. The women had gathered around Angela and Stephanie and were admiring their flowers.

Carroll hugged them. “You two need to go put them in some water,” she told them. They smiled and left as the other women sat back down. Carroll turned to look at Bruce. “What has steamed your pot?” she asked.

“Men suck!” he yelled.

Dumbfounded, Carroll just stared at him. “Who pissed you off Bruce, because I’m going to get a switch and use it on ‘em till they falls down crying,” she told him.

“I did,” Bruce snapped at her.

Letting out a sigh, Carroll turned around and looked at Marcus, “I swears, just when I thinks you boys can’t shock me something like this happens. This is way out of my league,” she said, sitting down.

Mike holstered his pistol and held his hands up, forming a T in front of him. “Time out Bruce,” Mike said as Bruce turned to him. “Can you explain what has you so pissed off? You’re not making sense,” he said.

Closing his eyes, Bruce took a deep breath then opened them. “Mike, Stephanie has never gotten flowers from a boy before,” Bruce told him.

“Bullshit!” Willie said, jumping up.

“That’s what I said but she hasn’t,” Bruce snapped.

Mike clapped his hands, smiling, “Well you gave her some today,” he said.

“I gave her one!” Bruce snapped and the smile fell off Mike’s face seeing that Bruce wanted everyone to be mad.

“Bruce, they both came in with an armload of flowers, and I have to say the arrangement was very pretty,” Nancy said.

“I went and got those after I gave her one,” Bruce popped off, waving his hands in the air.

Nancy thought hard, trying to decipher the male psyche, and felt a headache coming on. “So you gave a rose each to Angela and Stephanie. Then you found out Stephanie has never gotten flowers from a boy before and you’re mad about that. But you’re also mad at yourself because you didn’t get her a huge bouquet for her first flowers from a boy. To make amends you took them and picked them some flowers?” she asked, trying to piece the puzzle together.

“Well yeah, men suck!” Bruce yelled.

“I hate to say it but I agree with Bruce on this. In a weird way it makes sense. I’m a guy and I want to go kick my own ass. Stephanie is a pretty and sweet girl and that no guy has given her flowers before pisses me off,” Willie said, with several other men agreeing with him.

“I only gave her one, Nancy!” Bruce yelled and Nancy smiled.

“The rose she was holding like it was made of crystal,” Nancy told him.

“Yes, one lousy flower, and Angela was there to see it. I should have been giving her flowers when we first met her but I didn’t know. Every man in her life sucked,” Bruce said, slapping the table. Then he turned around and walked to the end of the bunker. Every man except Marcus got up and left the command bunker, running up the stairs. Reaching across the table, Marcus grabbed a notebook and pulled out two sheets of paper.

Nancy walked over to Bruce. “Bruce, you may not understand but you will. One or a hundred flowers, we don’t care Bruce. That you were thinking about them is what matters. The one flower was actually perfect,” she told him.

“It was one lousy flower, Nancy. I need to know stuff like this but they don’t tell me shit like that,” Bruce told her.

“Have you asked?” Nancy inquired.

“You don’t ask stuff like that Nancy, they’re supposed to just tell you,” Bruce said.

Closing her eyes, Nancy pushed the headache away then opened them, looking at Bruce. “Okay Bruce, we will come back to that some other time. But Bruce, I can take you upstairs right now and open up your family Bible showing you the first flower you gave to Debbie. It was a daisy. You gave her one flower,” Nancy said.

“I was twelve years old, Nancy,” Bruce replied in a monotone.

“It doesn’t matter, Bruce, trust me,” Nancy told him.

“It matters to me,” Bruce said, making Nancy smile.

“You can’t change the past Bruce, just make the future better. If I’m not mistaken you’ve said that a few times,” Nancy said, feeling her headache going away.

Smiling, Bruce pulled Nancy to him, wrapping his arms around her. “Thank you Nancy,” Bruce said.

“It’s okay, Bruce, we’ve all been through a lot. You most of all. Then you get not one but two new wives. I’m surprised you’re still sane. I’m a girl and I know what we can do to y’all,” she said as Bruce let her go. Angela and Stephanie walked in, each wearing the rose Bruce had given them in their hair.

“See,” Nancy said and Bruce grinned.

“Where did everyone go?” Stephanie asked, sitting down.

Bruce looked around the table. “Where did everyone go?” he repeated.

“I have no idea,” Nancy said, sitting down as Marcus stood up and walked over to Angela and Stephanie.

Holding out a hand to each them, he said, “Here you go ladies. All men aren’t dumbasses all the time,” he said. In each hand was an origami flower he had folded from the sheets of paper. Then the rest of the men came back, all carrying flowers, giving some to each lady at the table. And so began a new custom in the clan, one that would last generations: that in the last week of October, boys would walk around giving flowers to girls.

“Okay, let Nancy and the girls tell y’all what they found out about the hordes,” Bruce said, and Nancy stood up and started to tell everyone what they had found.

Fifteen hundred miles away, after Walker’s heart paused hearing Dark Knight’s speech over the radio, he left the room where he and the general had been listing to the broadcast. When he reached his room, he closed the door and sat down on his bed. Replaying the broadcast in his head, Walker tried to remain calm. The last time he had spoken with Bruce, he and Debbie had bought a farm outside of Shreveport, and this made his heart pause again.

“It can only be him, but what happened to Debbie?” Walker asked out loud. He remembered the fire fight Bruce had talked about on the radio, but there had been no e-mail then, or it was not so widely used. It was only in the last few years he’d even started using the Internet, and he didn’t do shit at 0200 unless he had to.

Then Bruce had said he had talked to a mutual friend recently … and then Walker smiled. ‘Adam made it!’ he thought to himself. But what the hell was Bruce trying to tell him about the e-mail? The Internet had gone down four months after the fall. Glancing over at his desk, Walker saw his laptop computer sitting there. He reached over and pulled it onto his lap and opened it up, only to find he had two e-mails, one from the general and one from the President. His hands paused before he opened them. ‘There is no way,’ he thought.

A smile spread across his face. If you learned anything serving four years with Dark Knight it was to never doubt him. “Well if not, it will only cost me some sleep,” he said to himself.

Just as Walker was figuring out the meaning to Bruce’s message, Nancy was finishing her report.

“This is bad,” Paul said.

“No it’s not, Paul, we get to kill some shit,” Bruce told him.

Paul opened his mouth to say something but then closed it. Then he blurted out, “I ain’t saying shit.”

“Paul, just make sure the walkway is complete. Then I want some scavengers to head out and bring back as many fuel trucks filled with old fuel as possible,” Bruce said.

“So we’re attacking them?” Willie asked.

“Oh, that’s a definite,” Bruce nodded.

“When?” asked Mike.

“Not sure yet. I want to see if Walker got the message. Then I want to talk to him and see where he stands,” Bruce answered.

“What if we played out our hand and he burns us?” Carl asked.

Jake smiled. “Then they lose all electronics and their generators,” he said.

“Generators are engines, Jake, you can’t have a computer wreck them,” Paul told him.

“Wanna bet?” Matt told him. Paul just gawked at Matt. “Those generators are controlled by the computers to regulate the power maintaining optimum output. We put in a virus that tells the generators to open up wide, sending a power surge and frying electronics. Then the control board is going to shut off power to their grid. Thirty seconds later the control board is going to send the power from one generator to another, frying them,” Matt related.

“They have safety measures for that,” Paul answered.

“They can be removed,” Matt told him.

Ted started laughing. “Welcome to the land of Oz,” he said, and the others started laughing with him.

“Bruce,” Mike called out from the other end of the table. Bruce looked up at Mike. “Do you want to give that religious community in Arkansas some diesel? I told them I would have them an answer by next week,” Mike told him.

Thinking about it, Bruce nodded his head. “I think we should. Hell, we’ve given out assault weapons, food, explosives, and chickens to the other groups out there, what’s a little fuel?” Mike nodded and made a note on his papers.

“What’s the total on the groups we found that didn’t want to join us?” Bruce asked.

“Don’t really have a number, Dad,” Jake told him. “But it’s close to five thousand.”

“Okay,” Bruce said. “Mike, remember when they get the fuel we ask for their allegiance,” Bruce told him.

“Allegiance?” Adam asked.

“We have nine communities that have not wanted to join us which is fine, but they have asked for stuff. We give nothing away here,” Nancy said. “We ask in return that they follow the basic clan laws. Basically, don’t become a gang and oppress others. If we are nearby and in trouble, they are to lend assistance if they can.”

Adam stood up, stunned. “You mean those clan laws are all you expect from everyone? We give them weapons, food, livestock, and fuel, and we just ask them to be good? We don’t ask for help in securing America?” he barked.

“Yes Adam, if they want to try to live quietly then that is their choice, but they must defend themselves and others if needed. Remember the clan laws,” Mike told him.

“Yes. Respect others; your word is your bond; no stealing; everyone works; everyone fights; family first; orders are to be followed; no laziness; help those that need it but give nothing away: nothing free is respected; learn until you die and pass it on to others; no oppression and help those that are oppressed,” he read them out. “That is the only allegiance we ask?” he asked skeptically.

Bruce laughed. “Yes Adam, your honor in this clan is how you are judged. That’s all that we ask for from others.”

“What if one of those groups adds more laws?” Adam asked.

“Adam, let me put it to you this way,” Bruce said. “I don’t care if a community says every time you see green Jell-O you must bow to it, as long as they don’t force people to do it. Men must be men, Adam, and by men that includes women. I could say human but I’m not politically correct,” Bruce told him.

“No shit, and I was fixing to hit you,” Stephanie told him. “Men must be men, then you clarified,” she added.

“Stephanie, your balls are bigger than mine,” he told her.

Laughing at Bruce, Stephanie replied, “Bruce, nobody’s balls are bigger than yours.”

With a serious face, Bruce looked at her and she stopped laughing. “Stephanie, you and most of the women here will launch yourself into battle without a second thought,” Bruce told her.

“So a woman’s life is somehow more valuable than a man’s?” she claimed.

“No,” he said. “Omega is two hundred strong. Eighty-three were women. I don’t have the current numbers after the replacements were added. They passed the requirements doing the same push-ups, carrying a pack that was forty percent of their body weight for twenty miles, hitting thirty targets in one minute at a hundred yards, and the list goes on. There is no ‘girl course’ in anything we do here. Even with the basic fighting course the only limits placed are on age. Everyone is the same here,” Bruce told her.

“I know Bruce, I helped design most of those courses,” she said proudly.

“That’s right, you did. But in this new world we’ve all seen what women go through if they are caught. Yet y’all grab a weapon, load up, and help save the world. If I’m captured I will face pain and death, but for the women they face pain, oppression, degradation, and cruelty. I can’t honestly say if I were a woman I would go outside these walls. I would fight if it came to defending our home, but I really don’t know if I would go out there,” he said.

Angela listened to Bruce and then shook her head. “Bruce, if you were a woman you would go outside the walls. You would still lead patrols and fight no matter what. Women view it differently. We may be caught but if we are alive we have a chance. Men are usually killed and not taken prisoner. Y'all are insane to go out there but you do. One thing I could say for certain though: you would lead patrol but every twenty-eight days your troops would make you go out by yourself,” Angela told him and everyone laughed at that.

“If one of the female troops was captured we would deliver hell on earth, right? I mean worse than it is now?” Adam asked.

Standing up, Bruce looked at Adam. “Adam, you haven’t been here through all of this clan’s turmoil. I don’t care if it’s a female troop or a male troop, you hurt my people, I’ll kill you. The first gang that attacked us killed some of our people as they gathered supplies. We just wanted to live but they attacked us, killing several. I led a small group and we killed them all. You know about the gang that attacked us here. Now some said that they held the women against their will but they weren’t locked up. They could’ve left. We wiped the camp out, and every man and woman was killed. In Texas, we were ambushed, losing several, and we wiped them out to the last man, woman, and child. You were with us in Grenada and we captured five hundred. They killed some of my troops. I took the leaders out and videoed the lessons, then killed them. The many others I threw in a huge wood chipper. I kept a hundred alive on shit detail till I get rid of them,” Bruce told him.

“That’s where the wood chipper went to,” Paul said, looking around.

“Sorry Paul, I needed it,” Bruce said, looking at him, and Paul just smiled. “You hurt my people I kill you, everyone with you, and if I can find anyone that stands with you they die as well,” Bruce said adamantly, turning back to Adam.

“But we are attacking them,” Adam said.

“I don’t care, they are defending their right to cause pain and suffering. You can call it evil or the lesser side of mankind, I don’t care. We want to live in peace and if someone hurts my people as they do it, they die with much pain,” Bruce said.

“Hey, you don’t have to sell me, Boss,” Adam said. “I like going into battle with the gray area removed.”

“Boss, I heard you say that Gopher can start playing the tapes. You know that they’ll start fighting to the last man if they have no hope of survival,” Willie told him.

“They can have a hope, just don’t kill any of my troops when we attack you,” Bruce said.

“That’s demented and twisted on a level I can’t even comprehend,” Willie said. “But it’s cool,” he added, nodding his head. “By the way, I’m fixing to issue out second sets of the Interceptor vests, Boss. I want every troop to have two to alternate out. Our casualties would have been double, easy, without that thirty pounds of armor.”

“That gear has saved my life so many times it’s hard to believe; four in the ‘Stan and once in Grenada,” Adam said, grinning. “But damn, it still hurts like a mofo when you get shot,” he added.

“Well at least you didn’t run and bury your tomahawk in the fucker that shot you,” Ted said.

Bruce’s eyes bulged as Angela and Stephanie at the same time slapped the table with both hands. “What!” they cried out together.

“Daddy was issuing orders and someone shot him in the chest,” Mindy started telling the story as Bruce was shaking his head ‘no’ at her. “We were backed up against the lake with the enemy all along our perimeter. Daddy pops up after he got shot, sees a man duck back behind a tree, and takes off running at him. The man was over a hundred and fifty yards away but the enemy’s line started eighty yards from us. Daddy had to run through their line as David and I shot those he ran by as they tried to shoot him in the back. Does he grab a pistol or use his rifle? No, he pulls his damn tomahawk and buries it in the man’s skull. Then he almost gets blown up when an Apache blows up a trailer fifty yards away from him that a hundred attackers were hiding behind,” Mindy said with a peeved voice.

“You said you didn’t know where that bruise on your chest came from!” Stephanie yelled.

“Well to be honest I didn’t until I watched my helmet cam two days ago,” Bruce replied truthfully.

“You were shot but didn’t remember that?” Angela asked, not believing him.

“I do remember I was really pissed at that asshole but—” Bruce shrugged, leaving it hanging.

Ted coughed to get their attention. “Uh ladies, I have to say when Bruce jumped up he was actually foaming at the mouth. I could’ve stopped him but by the look in his eyes, I didn’t want to set him off behind our lines,” Ted told them.

“We will talk later,” Stephanie said, sitting down.

‘Maybe I should get her some more flowers … that might help’, Bruce thought.

The meeting lasted another hour, then Bruce dismissed the rest of the command group. He sat there for another hour, writing out his note to Walker.

Chapter 26

Walker was sitting in his room for a while, then got up and started pacing back and forth. He looked at his watch, which read 0141. ‘What if I just imagined it,’ he thought. ‘If I did, then so what,’ crossed his mind. ‘What am I prepared to do if it’s really Bruce,’ he asked himself for the thousandth time. And the same response crossed his mind, ‘You’re willing to kill the senior leadership and sacrifice the people here, troops and civilians alike, just to give New Hope a chance.’

Then Walker stopped pacing as a thought occurred to him. ‘Holy shit, I can save the people and my troops if I get some help,’ he thought. He smiled. He loved his troops, and if he could give them a chance he would, along with the people they were sworn to protect. Glancing over at his laptop, he saw his inbox was still empty and he started pacing again. A few moments later, his computer beeped. He looked at his inbox and saw one message from ‘Unknown.’ Walker looked at his watch: 0154. He reached for his laptop just as his printer went off and the message disappeared. He gaped at the screen in confusion.

Then a communication box popped up on his screen. ‘Never mind the delete part, already did it. Please read hard copy that printed and you need to get more ink for your printer,’ he read, and then the box disappeared. Walker moved over to the printer and grabbed the papers and started reading.

“Print this now and delete the e-mail with the attachment before reading. Your network is under surveillance,” was printed across the top in huge letters. The he moved to the body of the message.

“Hey Hammer (Gene) from Dark Knight (Bruce). Just to let you know it’s me. To prove it, we were right in the Philippines.”

Walker took a breath when he read that. ‘Only Bruce would know that,’ he thought, and continued reading.

“Gene. First, Adam made it here with his wife and they’re okay. He is part of Omega now and his wife is in training. We know about your UAVs and have hacked your entire network. It’s good to know you are okay old friend, but if the government attacks us we will wipe you out. I watched your briefing with the president and after what Adam told me I have to agree, you appear willing to sacrifice them to give us a chance.

Your attack looks good on paper but we both know it would wipe you out even facing a smaller force. My LT would never be that stupid (only a Colonel? I thought the Army would be yours by now). If you are willing we will help you anyway we can, but I will not sacrifice my clan for anyone. It has been bought and paid for with blood, our blood. I know I’m asking a lot but if you are willing to sacrifice troops, which is against everything you are, working together I’m sure we can come up with a way to save them and the people up there (not the president or his entourage and that goes for Homeland also. Very sore subject here.).

If you are willing, get a one gigabyte flash drive and put it in your computer. If you have a web cam hook it up also. My son says your laptop is ancient, a piece of crap, and he hacked your password in seventy seconds. Gene, come on, your name and social? He suggests at least reversing the number and spelling.

When you put in the flash drive we will know you want to talk. If you don’t have one put one in tomorrow at midnight. All times will be your time not ours. My son Jake wants to add something.

Hello Sir if you try to double cross us I promise your system will crash and I will use the UAVs to drag every horde I can to your doorstep. Thank you, Jake.

Hope to hear from you. If not you will always be remembered as a friend no matter what.

Dark Knight

P.S. Love the shaved head look and destroy this note no matter what you choose.”

Walker went to the sink, took out his lighter and lit the corner of the paper and tossed it in the sink; then he moved to his desk, taking out some flash drives and his web cam. He went back to the table, laying the things by the computer. “Well, put up or shut up,” Walker said, sitting down. He plugged in the web cam, then plugged in the flash drive.

His computer started to whine as the hard drive started working. New program screens came up, asking permission to add software, and someone was clicking ‘yes’ but not him. With all the noise his computer was making he started worrying that it was going to break. Then he saw the red light on his web cam come on, then the screen went blank. When it came back he saw a shaved-headed white male with a goatee looking at him. Then he realized he was looking at Bruce.

“Bruce?” he asked.

“Gene, you are one to question my looks. You always looked like someone chiseled you from a block of marble,” Bruce said, grinning.

“Well they ran out of marble so they started using play dough on me,” Gene replied, smiling.

“Okay Gene, I would love to sit and chat but my son has me on a clock here. Do you want to try to save them up there? If you do, you realize you might have to kill a few of them,” Bruce said somberly.

“I’d already made that choice, Bruce. At least now my sacrifice won’t be in vain,” Gene told him.

“Well then, keep selling your plan, but I’m going to tell you I’m fixing to knock out your UAVs,” Bruce said.

“Took you long enough, shit, you’ve had Patriots for over six months. I know you can read a field manual,” Gene popped at him.

“Gene, we’ve been a little busy and by the time we knew about you the damage was done. Then I just let y’all watch as my sons took over your system,” Bruce told him.

“We keep a UAV over you at all times and when you move to the field,” Gene said.

“I know, we’ve been watching it. The boys took your satellites, then hacked your system. But like I said I’m fixing to destroy all three of your UAVs,” Bruce said.

“You know how many we have?” Gene asked.

“Gene, we know how much you have of everything: guns, bullets, people, and food. If it’s in a computer, we have it,” Bruce told him.

“Oh that’s good,” Gene said.

“Gene, if you need to talk to us, go to the camera at the end of the hall outside your door and stretch. Wait five minutes, then hold up fingers telling us how many hours until your call. At that time plug in that flash drive. Don’t plug it in any other computer because it will crash it, then the system. If your old laptop dies, get a new one and change it to your name and plug it up in your room. Don’t worry, right now you are being shielded so they can’t see what’s going on, but we can only talk for ten to fifteen minutes at a time. The NSA guys are a joke, but you have two there that are pretty good on a computer, according to my son,” Bruce said.

“Those would be the Homeland cyber officers,” Gene told him. “You mean you can see every camera?” he asked in awe.

“Sure can. Right now, the President is fondling two teenage girls, General Givens is passed out on his bed, and the NSA guy is watching another porn and spanking his monkey again. That man needs a woman,” Bruce told him.

“There are no cameras in the President’s area or the general’s quarters,” Gene said.

“That’s true, but the President leaves his laptop open and on, as does the general. But they have monitors in the troops’ quarters,” Bruce told him.

“Can you tell me where?” Gene asked with a grin.

“Yes. Each tent has a heating and cooling element in the center. They are all on the exhaust going to the outside,” Bruce told him.

“Can you tell who is monitoring them?” Gene asked, and saw Bruce look away.

Turning back to the monitor, Bruce replied, “Homeland.”

“Thank you Bruce, we have a lot of different agencies here. I will address that tomorrow,” he told Bruce.

“Why take the risk?” Bruce asked.

“Bruce, Homeland is trying to rule through total fear and oppression. I finally have been able to throw some mistrust at them and got some of their power taken away,” Gene said. Gene watched Bruce look up and move over as a young man that looked a lot like Bruce leaned in front of the camera. “Sir, do you have an IPhone?” he asked.

“No, but one of my captains does,” Gene said.

“Borrow it tomorrow and hook it to your computer. I will download the satellite radio on it and a regular FM download. Go in a tent and act like you are going to listen to the news broadcast and you will get a live feed when you are twenty feet from the cameras,” he said.

“You must be Jake,” Gene said. “The last time I saw you, you were in diapers. I’m glad to see you’ve grown into a good man.”

“Thank you sir, and try to get the phone before 0900. That’s when the mob squad hits the main frame,” Jake said, moving away, and Bruce moved back to the screen.

“Bruce, I have to ask, where’s Debbie and why do you have two wives?” Gene asked. When he saw the look on Bruce’s face, Gene would have given anything to take his question back.

“She died Gene, in that attack in March. She was shot, then infected. The rest will have to wait for another day,” Bruce said.

“I’m sorry, more sorry than you know, Bruce. Debbie was an awesome woman even though she tried to get me married three times,” Gene said.

Bruce started laughing at that. “You could have picked one of them,” he said.

“I will tell you the story of the last one, my friend, another day. And Debbie would be proud of me,” Gene said with a remorseful tone.

“Gene, the only way we will contact you will be when you are around a monitor. It will start to blink and turn off. You contact us with the camera at the end of the hall. If you get compromised, call out ‘gold’ and we will come and get you. I promise you that. When you call, the person sitting in this chair will let me know, if I’m not in it myself. Have a war to fight and all. We are fixing to attack the super horde that is moving out of Georgia,” Bruce told him.

“Bruce, that group is twenty million strong,” Gene gasped.

“No, they are over thirty million strong,” Bruce corrected him.

“Bruce, they shouldn’t cross three states before winter. Wait,” Gene begged.

“Gene, they are wiping out the survivors who have managed to stay hidden. If we don’t start taking the war to them, there won’t be much of America left to save,” Bruce said.

“Damn it, you better save some for me, asshole. You remember I’m the officer,” Gene told him.

“Yes, but I’m the boss now. Till next time, Gene, stay safe,” Bruce said, and the screen went blank. The Windows desktop came back on, then a small communication box popped up and Gene read,

“You have a new file. It says hubba hubba. It’s just porno videos in case anyone tries to hack you while you’re shielded. Don’t worry, when Dad saw what I was going to load up he freaked and sent these. They’re good ones, Dad said.”

Then the box disappeared as Gene started laughing. ‘That boy is just like his daddy, he tries to cover as many bases as humanly possible, and if not just bulls through,’ Gene thought. Getting up, he walked over to the sink where he washed the ashes down, then looked in the mirror. He saw something he had not seen in over a year on his face. A smile filled with hope.

Back in Louisiana, Bruce was stepping out of ‘Oz Control,’ also known as Jake and Matt’s computer area. It was almost 0300, and he headed into Mission Control. He stopped in the command bunker and started working on a plan to fight the super horde.

It was 0600 when the camera crew came in and started setting up so Bruce could broadcast the Sunday meeting to the clan. It had been months since he had done it. He felt guilty about it but he’d had so much to do. Mike and Marcus had taken over the responsibility and would travel around the base updating everyone.

Bending back over his maps and notes, Bruce continued to work for another thirty minutes until Angela and Stephanie came in. He laid down his pen and stood up. “Hello hotties,” Bruce told them, grinning.

“Baby, you should’ve got some sleep,” Stephanie told him, kissing him and moving over for Angela.

“You’re bitchy when you’re tired,” Angela said, standing on her tiptoes as he bent down and kissed her.

“I’ll sleep tonight. How about y’all get Millie to pack a lunch and let’s take the kids out and have a picnic after the meeting,” Bruce suggested.

“You have to wait till after church, but it’s a deal,” Stephanie told him.

“Fine with me,” Bruce said as Angela held up some clean and pressed ACUs. “What are those for?” Bruce asked.

“For you, dummy,” she said. “You can’t go on wearing clothes that look like shit.” She started to undo his shirt.

“I’m a boy who cares,” Bruce said.

“This is our job, so drop it,” Stephanie said, bending down and untying his boots. “Don’t wear your vest, either.” She tapped his leg to pull his boot off.

“You know I can undress myself, I’ve been doing it for a while,” he told them as they stripped him down.

“Yes, but you would just talk and try to stall. This way we take you out of the equation,” Angela said, pulling his shirt off and trying to get his t-shirt off.

“You two act like I’m a special-needs child,” Bruce said, taking his t-shirt off for her.

“Well to be honest, you are at times,” Stephanie said after taking off his other boot and standing up. She turned around to one of the camera crew. “Upstairs to the kitchen, get a bowl, fill it with hot water and bring it here,” she told them.

“You’re going to bathe me?” Bruce cried out.

“No, just shave you. Right now you look like a serial killer,” Stephanie told him, setting down his shaving kit.

“Don’t y’all think this is just a tad overboard?” he groaned as the Mission Control crew walked through, changing shifts. They all grinned at the sight of two women working Bruce over.

“Sit down, please,” Angela told Bruce, who was now down to his boxers.

“This is ridiculous,” Bruce said grumpily, sitting down.

“Did you say something, baby?” Stephanie asked.

“No,” Bruce said as a bowl of hot water was placed on the table. Jake came in as the two worked on Bruce and he just grinned at his dad as he set up his computer. As Stephanie shaved, Angela trimmed Bruce’s goatee with little scissors. Then Angela started on his nose and ears. Bruce wanted to say something but figured it didn’t pay to piss off someone who had a sharp instrument stuck up your nose.

When the two finished, they dressed Bruce and then stepped back, looking very satisfied with their work. Bruce had to agree, looking down at his pressed uniform and shined boots. He looked at the girls and smiled. “Thank you, but I could’ve done it myself.”

“We like stripping you down, baby,” Angela told him.

“Hey, I’m down here and don’t need to know that!” Jake yelled out.

“Cover your ears, sweetie,” Angela said, and Bruce wondered why he had never said that.

“You look good baby,” Stephanie said, smiling.

“Thank you, but what is the point? I want people to see me as a warrior, not a cleaned-up troop,” Bruce said.

“Baby, everyone here knows you are a warrior, but Angela and I thought they needed to see you cleaned up. It’s much easier to listen to someone who has a clean, commanding appearance than one who has been back at base for days and still looks like crap,” Stephanie told him.

“They know I’ve been working to keep them safe,” he replied, pouting a little.

“Now they know you’re keeping us safe and taking care of yourself, too,” Angela told him.

Giving up, Bruce sat down and started getting the maps and pictures of the horde out of the way. The two started helping him until the end of the table was neat with everything in stacks. “Thank you again,” he told them. “You two staying for the broadcast?”

“If you want us to. Are you nervous?” Angela asked.

“No,” Bruce replied truthfully.

“Don’t you get nervous?” she inquired.

“Oh yes,” Bruce told her as he pulled out his notes for the broadcast.

“But not now,” she said.

“No, nobody is shooting at me or trying to eat me alive.”

Stephanie grinned and leaned forward. “I thought about when we stripped you,” she stage-whispered.

Bruce’s entire head started turning red as Jake popped off, “Hey, did you not hear, I’m in the same room and don’t like hearing this!”

“Well if your hands were over your ears you wouldn’t have heard that,” Stephanie said, glancing over her shoulder at Jake. Mumbling, Jake just typed away on his computer. “By the way, your new firewall is excellent; it took me almost an hour to hack it,” she said, turning back to Bruce and winking.

Jake took a sharp breath in shock. “There is no way you could have … the network would have notified me,” he finally managed to squeak out.

“Oh it tried to, but I intercepted the message. If you look in the garbage file I left you a message to prove it,” she told him. Jake stood up, mumbling. “Don’t worry Jake, the only way I could do it was hacking directly into your Oz network in the building you and Matt built. Since no one can get that close to it we don’t have to worry,” she told him.

“That’s cheating!” he shouted.

“Five minutes,” one of the camera crew said.

“Of course it is,” Stephanie said and kissed Bruce on the head, followed by Angela. “We’re going to watch it with the kids,” she said, walking out with Angela following. Both of them tried not to laugh but Stephanie couldn’t stop her little snorts of mirth.

When they were gone, Jake looked at his dad. “Sometimes I don’t like them very much,” he told Bruce.

“I’m not going to argue that point, but I’ve grown kinda fond of them,” Bruce said as the camera crew finished setting up the mic. One of them began counting down, then pointed at Bruce as the light came on over the camera, almost blinding him.

“Good morning, clan, if I’m squinting a lot, I’m sorry. I have a camera crew trying to blind me with a spotlight,” Bruce said, and they turned it down. “I have a lot of information to give out today so let me get to it. First, this is how the weekly meetings will be given from now on. We are getting too big for one of the command group to go around and bring everyone up to date. In each mess hall and the Center we have people there that can send some questions to me, but I can only answer so many. Boxes will be placed in the mess halls around the base for questions, and if you need to have one addressed quickly, talk to the leader that you elected for your barrack,” Bruce said, then picked up his papers.

“First, we have some bad information and some real bad information. Keeping true to the clan’s mission, we don’t hold back anything from the clan,” Bruce said. Then he took a deep breath. “It has been confirmed that the government is going to attack us this winter. We hacked into the government site and recorded it and we are going to play it for you. The clan has a member of the upper echelon on our side that informed us of this. On the recording, Jake has put the name and position of each person at this meeting. Now listen to it for yourself,” Bruce said, and Jake played the recording. The screens behind the camera crew came on, showing the mess halls and Community Center where the clan was gathered. Bruce was happy to see the entire clan get pissed-off looks as they listened to the meeting.

When the recording ended, the camera cut back to Bruce. “As you can see, they aren’t very nice. They want to take what we have built and use it to subject oppression over the land. Let me make this perfectly clear. We will fight them when they come!” he yelled, and watched the monitors erupt in cheers as people jumped up and began clapping. When the cheering stopped, everyone sat back down to listen to the rest of the broadcast. Bruce started again.

“I have made it known that I do not want to kill American troops, but if they threaten this clan I will. Each of you took an oath when you joined us to fight any threat to the clan, and this is a threat. After the broadcast, Jake has footage of Homeland executing people at this government compound. Before we let that happen here, I’ll be dead,” Bruce said, and the monitors erupted in cheers again. When the cheering stopped, Bruce continued.

“I wish that was all, but I’m sorry, it’s not. Moving into Georgia now is the super horde that y’all have heard about on the news broadcast. It was estimated at twenty million but that was low. Current estimates put it at thirty-three million. We are going to attack it,” Bruce said, and on the monitors he saw the clan’s shocked faces. “We have no choice in this matter; they will find us. But right now they are wiping out survivors on an alarming scale. Jake is going to play the video of our surveillance as I narrate.”

The broadcast started. Jake showed slides and video of the horde and the desolation it left in its wake. Many watching the video of the group that was overrun started crying. Then a slide came up showing the horde’s projected path right at the base. Small dots indicating bands of survivors showed up in its path. Bruce explained that they didn’t know if these were genuine survivors or gangs because they had only just located them and had not done surveillance yet.

When the last slide finished, the camera cut back to Bruce, who stood up. “Clan, we can’t let that many survivors die. It is going to take a lot more of us to rebuild America. Any that join will have to take the same oath we all did here. Your word is your bond. The attack will be risky, but if we can pull it off we can wipe out the horde without getting too close. Omega and Gamma will attack the leading edge and lead the horde to the base. From the safety of these walls, we will engage them and wipe them out. Now I didn’t come to this conclusion lightly, but know this: that horde will find us but probably not until spring. If we’re still fighting the government then, that’s a war on two fronts, which we don’t want. Many of you were here during the construction of the outer wall and know it was built to hold off an attack of fifty million.”

“To be honest, I didn’t think a horde would ever get that big, but I have come to realize I was wrong. Leave it to the blues to fuck up a good plan,” Bruce said, and many on the monitors nodded in agreement. “This horde can very easily get to that mark if those in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama join in with them. That is why I’m leading them here before they get any bigger. We are too big a target to hide, and to be honest, we don’t want to hide. It would defeat our purpose: to save America and rebuild it,” he told them.

“But we aren’t going to die doing it. Some of us may, but not all. Our mission and goal is more important than any one person here, me included. Look at the kids around you and remember the sixty new births we’ve had since we started New Hope. If we don’t complete this goal, those children have no future. All they will ever know is that they must hide, and they will always be afraid of the infected and those that thrive on tyranny, cruelty, and oppression. I know the men and women here refuse to allow that because they took the oath the same as me. I have been asked many times how long this war will last, and all I can say is, until it ends,” Bruce said, putting his hands on his hips and looking at the monitor.

“What I can say is this. I will lead and fight with you until it ends, or I will die and someone will take my place until it ends,” Bruce shouted as the clan stood up, roaring, ready for battle, one and all.

Chapter 27

That same afternoon, with the IPhone in hand, Walker went looking for the general. He had already been in one tent getting ready to listen to the noon news, or rather, acting like it. Earlier that day, he’d been through several and had seen what Bruce was talking about.

Opening the doors in the command center, he saw the general at the table looking at pictures. “General, we need to talk,” Walker said, knowing this area was monitored.

“Hey Colonel, how about that news broadcast, huh?” Givens said, looking up.

“Yes sir, but can you come with me please? It’s urgent,” Walker asked with a feigned worried expression.

“Sure Colonel,” Givens said, getting up and following Walker outside.

When they were out of earshot of anyone else, Walker turned to Givens. “Sir, we have big problems.”

“What is it?” the general asked gruffly.

“Sir, I was walking amongst the troops to boost morale. I borrowed an IPhone from one of the captains to listen to the radio broadcast. When I walked into one of the tents, I intercepted a video feed. Homeland is having all the troops monitored,” Walker told him.

Givens let out a puff of air. “That’s not that bad, Colonel.”

“Sir, if they’re monitoring them in their tents, they can be doing the same with us in our quarters,” Walker pressed.

“I’m pissed, yeah, but we don’t have anything to hide,” Givens said, wrinkling his brow in confusion.

“Sir, they can monitor our movements. If they can do that, they can take us out at their leisure.”

Givens’ shoulders stiffened as realization sunk in. “Let’s take that thing around our rooms,” he said.

“I’ve walked around the outside of the officer quarters and couldn’t find any signals, but in the command center I was getting static. They may be broadcasting on a different frequency,” Walker told him.

“How should we handle this?” Givens asked.

Walker smiled on the inside. “Sir, if one of the troops finds out they have been observed in their own areas, think how bad that will be for morale. To be honest, I don’t want those assholes to know where I’m at or be able to figure out my routines, whether it be taking a dump or going to sleep. They may have to be escorted around when they come in the command center, but if they know we’re sleeping, one of them can sneak in and give us a shot of something, making it look like we died in our sleep.”

Color drained from Givens’ face, making Walker very suspicious. “Get a detachment of troops to the command area and tell Denis to bring his top boys and some of the President’s aides,” Givens ordered. Walker nodded. “Make sure you have your pistol, Colonel,” Givens said, striding quickly back to the command building.

Moving off at a fast walk, Walker grabbed a platoon of soldiers and put them on the other side of the command area. Then he had two officers go after the Homeland director. After they left, he found the general in the hallway outside of Mission Control. “It’s done, sir,” he said.

“Thank you, Gene,” Givens said. “You think Homeland was monitoring the President also?” he asked.

Walker didn’t think they would be that stupid, and Bruce had never said they had cameras in there, but one never knew. “I don’t think so, sir, but I wouldn’t be surprised,” he answered.

“Well come on and be ready to call the troops if this goes south,” Givens told him.

“Yes sir,” Walker replied, following him into the command area. On the main monitor the UAV still circled Base Hope in Louisiana. Ten minutes later, Denis and four others walked in with five Homeland officers all carrying submachine guns.

“What the hell is the meaning of this, Terry!” Denis yelled out.

“We’re waiting for one of the President’s aides, Denis, so please sit,” Givens told him.

“You can’t make me do shit,” Denis blustered as his officers flanked him.

“Denis, right outside those doors are over a hundred of my troops. If any of your boys so much as lifts a finger at me they will come in here, and three companies of my troops are going to move into your compound and kill every man, woman, and child,” Givens told him, sitting down.

“You can’t do that,” the Homeland officer told Givens, sweat beginning to bead across his forehead.

“You’re spying on my troops and in here. You’re getting information that you don’t need,” Givens said as the door busted open and the President walked in with his security and aides.

“Hands off weapons now,” one of the agents yelled out. “Any hand on a weapon will be viewed as a threat against the President,” he finished, and the Homeland officers raised up their hands.

The President sat down at the table and looked at Givens. “Terry, I hope you have a good reason for this. Denis said you were trying to take over,” he said.

“Quite the contrary sir, I found monitoring equipment in my troop’s tents and in here. I’m currently looking for more. I feel that the upper element of Homeland is preparing to take over, sir, or at least gather dirt on those of us at the top,” Givens said, looking at the President gravely.

The President looked at Denis. “If you have put any equipment in my area I’ll have you shot in minutes,” he told him.

“Of course not, sir,” Denis replied wanly.

“We’ll know shortly, sir. I have some men in their surveillance trailer going through their computers,” Givens told him.

“You can’t do that!” Denis yelled out.

“Denis, if they find so much as a picture of the living room of my quarters on those computers, you along with every other member of the Homeland upper staff will be shot,” the President told him.

“Sir, I was just placed in control, I have no idea what was done before my appointment,” Denis replied, sweating profusely.

“That won’t work. Your upper staff better start praying that they don’t find any or it’s nite nite time,” the President said. Then one of the upper staff that had walked in with Denis stepped forward.

“Mr. President, there was a camera in your bedroom but it was removed three months ago,” he told him.

“Thank you, ah … what’s your name?” the President asked.

“Milton, sir,” he replied.

“Thank you, Milton, you are now the director. Agents, please take the others out and shoot them,” the President ordered.

Denis reached toward the small of his back and was shot down by two Secret Service agents. The other SS agents opened up on the three officers who’d come in with Denis. Milton dropped to the floor when the gunfire started, as did everyone else. The President just sat and watched. “I don’t need another J. Edgar Hoover,” the President said, shaking his head to clear the ringing in his ears.

The general and colonel got up off the floor, brushed themselves off and took seats at the table. “Mr. President, what do you want my troops to do with their monitoring trailer?” Givens asked.

“Don’t let anyone near it. I will get one of my guys to go through it. Until then, just keep it locked up. And Milton, if there are any copies I strongly suggest you make sure they are destroyed,” the President warned him. Looking at the general, he said, “Terry, you better make sure you don’t have any seditious troops.”

Walker stood up. “Mr. President, that is what the NCOs are for and why I do my morning walk through at the general’s request. To make sure the men know we have their best interests at heart. The use of electronics does not convey trust and improve the mood of the troops,” he said.

“Damn, that’s smart, Terry,” the President said admiringly as the bodies were dragged out by their heels.

“Thank you sir, you can always count on your troops, sir,” Givens said, smiling.

“Of that I’m glad. Now I want to ask you about today’s broadcast,” the President said. “Why on earth would they attack that super horde?”

“Hit the enemy before they hit you, sir,” the general told him.

“Terry, they went on the radio telling everyone in those states to hide, that they were going to wipe out the horde. I understand about hitting your enemy, but why not wait till the horde just got to their base?” the President asked.

“Sir, I believe they want to hit them and lead them to the base to save survivors. Angela said that any area the horde left was void of life for four hundred miles,” Givens said, shocking Walker that the idiot could think.

“Noble. Stupid but noble,” the President said.

One of the aides stepped up. “With Omega and Gamma gone, why not attack now?” he asked.

The President spun around. “Are you insane!” he yelled. “They are fighting a horde of thirty million, idiot. If we attack, Omega and Gamma come running home. Guess who will follow them, asshole!” the President screamed. “The general has already said we can’t gain entry of the base, so we would be stuck outside fighting the base then get run over by the horde.”

“Pretty good military assessment, sir,” Givens told him.

“Unlike my staff, I listen to your briefings, General,” the President said.

“Thank you, sir,” Givens said, filling with pride.

“Do you think Omega and Gamma will lose many troops in this operation?” the President asked.

“I’ll let the colonel answer that, sir. I’ve had him watching them since we found them and he has become an expert on their moves,” Givens said, holding up his hand to Walker.

For a minute Walker thought about blowing smoke up their asses but decided not to. “Not a chance in hell,” he said.

“You’re that certain?” the President asked with shock.

“Sir, if they lose troops it will be because of a big FUBAR (fucked up beyond all recognition). We have watched them attack hordes and hostiles. To date, with the exception of the Israelis, they are the only group to wipe out an attacking horde, and they’ve done it more than once and without a nuke. Then they go out and find more. I think they know what they’re doing,” Walker replied.

“You admire them,” the President said slowly.

“If you don’t admire your enemy, sir, you underestimate them,” Walker replied.

“How do you think they will do it?” the President asked.

“If I could watch them prepare, I could tell you,” Walker said.

“Well watch them,” the President said.

“Sir, I have several inspections this afternoon and in the morning to keep the troops’ morale up,” Walker replied.

“Colonel, you heard the President. I will do the inspections myself or I’ll get another officer to do it,” Givens said.

“Sir, you are going over the attack plans. Your days are kind of full,” Walker said, and the President looked at Givens.

“Your colonel watches out for you, Terry,” the President said.

“Yes sir, he does. I really don’t know what I would do without him,” Givens replied, smiling. “But when do you think you would know, Gene?” he asked.

Walker turned around and looked at the monitor. “Tomorrow morning, sir, by 1000. They are moving equipment already. I’ll have to look at some maps,” Walker replied.

“Then we shall see you then,” the President said, standing up.

When he and his aides left, Givens came over, grinning. “How was that for getting rid of the threat?” he asked.

“Your plan worked great, sir,” Walker told him.

“Anyone can come up with a plan if they have the right people behind them,” Givens replied generously. “You really think you can tell us how they are going to attack the horde?” he asked.

“I should be able to get real close, sir,” Walker replied.

“Well then Colonel, I will leave you to it. If you need me I’ll be in my quarters,” Givens said, then walked out.

Walker looked at his watch. It was 1730. He headed toward his room and stopped at the camera at the end of the hall. He held up two fingers on each hand, then made two circles with both hands and walked back to the command area where he watched the monitor. He made notes, playing the part until 2130, then returned to his room. He sat everything down on his table; just then his computer started beeping.

As he walked over to stand in front of the laptop, the screen was suddenly filled with Bruce’s grinning face. “Well you have been a busy, bad boy,” he said.

“Hey, I had to get those assholes to stop killing people and off my back. I really think they were going to take me out,” Walker said.

“You’re probably right,” Bruce told him.

“Bruce, do you think you can give me the overview of your battle plan really fast?” Walker asked.

“Why?” Bruce asked.

“If I can blow enough smoke up their asses they won’t question anything about my plans,” Walker told him.

“I know that, why do I have to tell you fast?” Bruce asked.

“So they can’t track us,” Walker replied.

“Dude, there is no one monitoring your system. Jake is having a field day,” Bruce bragged.

Walker thought for a moment, then cleared his throat. “Bruce, can you get Jake to see if they talked about offing Lieutenant General Center?” Walker asked.

“Gene, he found that two hours ago,” Bruce told him.

“How did he even know?” Gene asked.

“Adam told us. Jake found e-mails between the President, Homeland, and Givens,” Bruce said.

“They didn’t erase them?” Gene shouted.

“Dude, not so loud. If they walk in and see you talking to me, the game is up,” Bruce warned. “No, they did erase them but not off the main frame. One of the Homeland officers injected him with something,” Bruce said and looked off-screen as someone said something to him. Looking back at Gene, he said, “Jake said he is uploading it to your computer. Look in documents.”

“You know the NSA would have snagged up Jake if the shit hadn’t gone down,” Gene said.

“I doubt that,” Bruce replied, then laid out his plan of attack as Gene made notes.

When he was finished, Gene looked up. “You’re spreading out too much. Move your choppers sixty miles closer and leave tomorrow, clearing out the corridor in Mississippi, or hold your UAVs back for a day. In your run through Louisiana and Texas when you played Pied Piper, the area that the horde was pulled into was clear except for stragglers. If you only give yourself twelve hours you can get some pretty big groups with a majority of your weapons pointed the other way. Then you need to rotate your crews sooner.”

“My crews are good,” Bruce said.

“I know, I’ve watched them. But with ten rigs side by side you can rotate them off every thirty minutes. One rig at a time, then in Alabama at your start point, that bridge beside the interstate bridge? You need to blow it up. The blues will see it and you don’t have enough to cover both and your back,” Gene told him.

“I really didn’t want to blow up a bridge. It’s going to be awhile before any new ones are built,” Bruce said.

“Williams, fight the war, worry about rebuilding later,” Gene snapped.

Shaking his head, Bruce said, “You so need to get laid.”

“I’m not talking to you, Bruce. I’ve only heard their voices and they sound beautiful,” Gene told him.

“Come here you two,” Bruce said to someone off screen. And Angela and Stephanie sat down in Bruce’s lap. “Here are the two newscasters of America,” Bruce said, kissing each of them on the cheek.

“Hello Gene,” they said together and smiled into the camera.

“You’re married to two angels? I’m fixing to come down there and kick your ass. You put their halos back on and let them get back to heaven,” Gene said.

“Oh, I really like him,” Angela said, smiling at Gene.

“Told ya he was a smooth talker,” Stephanie said. “Thank you Gene,” she said, smiling at him.

Gene looked at Stephanie and shook his head. “There is no way we have met because I damn sure would’ve remembered seeing you.”

“No, Debbie wrote about you in her journals and liked you a lot,” Stephanie said.

Gene looked down at the table. “Debbie was a good woman. I tried telling her Bruce was a pain and she needed me but she just loved that big lug,” he said softly.

“Yeah, she was the best, and Bruce has kind of grown on us too,” Stephanie said as Gene looked up.

“It’s an honor to meet you two,” Gene told them candidly.

“Gene, you be careful up there, we were reading some of the other e-mails and it’s not pretty,” Angela told him.

“Hey, you aren’t telling me anything I don’t know, but I think I’ve bought me some breathing room. Bruce, let me know when they start monitoring the system again,” Gene asked.

“It doesn’t matter, Gene. Jake said he has enough stuff on your system they can put whoever they want on it and we still own your system,” Bruce told him.

“Okay Bruce, I gotta go. I have a meeting at 1000,” Gene said.

“Yes, with the President,” Bruce finished.

“So when are you going to kick off?” Gene asked.

“We’ll leave tomorrow around 1200,” Bruce told him.

“That will be 1100 here; enough time for me to start blowing smoke,” Gene said, as Bruce looked off screen again.

“Hey, Jake said keep that phone on you. If an alarm goes off it means we want to talk. He’s gonna let them think they hacked into one of our radio frequencies,” Bruce told him. “Jake wants them to feel relaxed and stay off his net up there,” Bruce added.

“That’s kind of a big risk,” Gene said.

“I know, but don’t worry, it’ll only be the command frequency of Omega and only the command group knows about you. Plus no one is allowed to talk about the government site. It will still be on a ten-second delay, just in case,” Bruce told him.

“Dark Knight … and you ladies, make sure he takes care of himself. Bruce has the tendency to get worked up and do fucked-up shit when the shooting starts,” Gene said.

“Believe me, we know, Gene,” Angela said, rolling her eyes.

“Bruce, don’t you be making them girls go crazy,” Gene warned.

“I got ya, Hammer, now stay safe and keep us up to date,” Bruce said.

“Shit, your boy down there will be able to tell you before I can,” Gene said as the screen went blank.

The next morning, Gene walked into the command center at 0930 to find everyone already there. He stopped with stacks of paper under each arm and in his hands. As he struggled to lift up his arm to see his watch, Givens spoke up. “No, Colonel, you aren’t late. We just showed up early. I had one of the troops bring you some food,” he added.

“Thank you sir, but I ate an MRE as I got ready,” Walker said, looking at the plate.

“You can live on them but they taste like shit,” Givens said as Walker came over, putting down his stuff. He picked up his coffee cup and took a sip. “When do you think they will launch?” Givens asked.

“I expect around noon their time,” Gene said, then finally looked up at the monitor. “Yes, no more than an hour and a half,” he said, nodding his head.

“How in the earth can you guess that?” an aide asked.

“They have all the trucks out on the road in front of the farm but no people yet,” Walker told him.

“Why can’t they just have them there till they leave, like tonight?” the aide asked.

“You don’t block off a major road like that with equipment unless you plan to move it soon,” Walker said, grabbing some stuff.

“Well then, tell us what you think they are going to do,” the President said.

For the next two hours, Gene laid out the attack. At fifteen minutes before noon, when the technician announced that the New Hope forces were leaving, everyone looked at Gene with admiration.

“Can you tell me how you came up with this?” the President asked.

“Well sir, I’m basing it on what they’ve done in the past and how they have learned from their mistakes. They will clear central Mississippi out along their planned route. Set up their mobile airfield, then launch missiles from their UAVs to get the horde’s attention then attack in front of them, leading them to the kill zone. I feel they will use each major water boundary as a chokepoint and whittle them down until they start getting close to a breakthrough, then pull back,” Walker told him.

“Gene, how can you know they’ll set up in Alabama on the Tombigbee River?” the President asked.

“Because that’s what I’d do. That’s as close as they can get to Birmingham, sir. Any closer and those in the city will hit them, making them pull back before the horde reaches them. It’s the biggest river closest to the battle area. They will use the I-20 bridge as another chokepoint to kill as many as they can. If they get close to a breach in the chokepoint, they’ll fall back to the next chokepoint. I think they’ll repeat this all the way to Monroe, but to be honest I think they will hold at the first if they use their air power correctly,” Gene told him. “They’ve done all of this before and I’m sure they will have a few surprises for me, but that’s what I think the battle plan is,” he finished.

“Shit, I just wanted to know how they were going to get the horde to follow. You came up with the nuts and bolts of their operation,” the President said admiringly.

“Well sir, to be honest I want to make sure I can outthink them before we attack. I’ve never had the opportunity to try it out,” Walker said.

“Gene, if you are even half right that base is as good as ours,” Givens said.

“What would you do different, Colonel?” an aide asked.

“I would blow up any bridge close to each of my chokepoints. I really feel they will blow up the first, but I don’t think they will do many more. They seem to want to keep a lot of infrastructure intact. Then I would have men already at each chokepoint so I could just pull through. This group keeps their entire fighting force together. Then I would have all that artillery they’ve set up at the chokepoints working on the horde as soon as they got in range. Granted, they’d only get to fire a few volleys, but that would give the blocking force time to set up and take out a few blues,” Walker replied.

“Well they don’t have as many men as you do, Colonel,” the aide replied.

“They have thousands at the base. I would arm some and have them sitting in a blocking action until my unit pulled in,” Walker replied.

“Well Colonel, I have to say I’m impressed,” the President said, smiling.

“Mr. President, if the general had not told me to learn them months ago I wouldn’t be able to think like them,” Gene told him.

Givens stood up. “Mr. President, you told me to take that base so I put the best man I had for tactics on them,” he said.

“You did good, General. When we get in that base you will have your third star and when you start running operations like they are now you will have your fourth,” the President told him, pushing away from the table and getting to his feet.

“Thank you sir,” Givens said as the President left, smiling, his entourage trailing behind him. Once they were gone, Givens looked at Walker. “Can you have our force fighting like theirs in a few months?” he asked.

“Sir, as long as you don’t let Homeland shoot the troops, I’ll get them to do whatever you want,” Walker told him.

Givens smiled, knowing he had Walker’s weak spot now. “That’s one thing I guarantee. If they do, I’ll let you take them out on a patrol,” he said.

“Then I will get you an army, sir,” Walker promised.

Chapter 28

As Colonel Walker was running his meeting, Bruce was stepping out of the Community Center to look over Omega. He found them around the swimming pool. The first thing Bruce noticed was how many shaved heads he saw. Willie and Adam walked over to Bruce, both with shaved heads. “Why do I see so many of you with shaved heads?” Bruce asked.

“Well, since your description is out there, we shaved our heads and told the troops we did it so you can’t be singled out. After we told them, most went and did the same thing. Don’t worry, Bruce, in a week or two everyone will have a goatee,” Willie told him, grinning.

“You are putting the troops at unnecessary risk,” Bruce said.

“Bruce, it is too easy to take you out if someone really wanted to, like the UAV overhead. If they see a bald head they can launch a Hellfire and just blow you up. With a bunch of shaved heads it’s kind of hard,” Adam told him.

“Your skin, I really don’t like it but to each his own,” Bruce replied.

“I have to agree with everyone. You are kind of important and if someone did manage to take you out, the killing that would follow would be total. With this many targets it’s not worth the risk,” Adam replied.

“Besides, I’m not leading this Mickey Mouse outfit,” Willie said. “You aren’t alone. In Gamma, everyone is buzz cutting their hair like Mike’s,” he added.

“Copycats,” Bruce grinned.

“Well, they are second best,” Willie said.

“Did Joe get the new trucks ready?” Bruce asked, changing the subject.

Adam busted out laughing. “Hell yeah, we are going road warrior on something out there,” he said.

“Who came up with the idea of putting quad fifty cals on a thirty-foot boom arm? Then mounting the arm on a truck?” Willie asked.

“Angela and Stephanie,” Bruce admitted. Both Adam and Willie gaped at him. “What, they wanted something to be able to sit behind the trucks and shoot over them. I have to admit it’s a good idea.”

“I think you are a bad influence on your family,” Willie said.

“Never said I wasn’t,” Bruce said cheerfully.

“I like it,” Adam said.

Willie looked at Bruce with a serious face. “Remember, you promised to run this operation from the command vehicle and not run off and play,” he said.

“I know, will you please shut up about that,” Bruce said in an irritated voice.

“Bruce, I’m not happy about taking Omega and Gamma, four hundred troops with two hundred support, and facing thirty plus million infected. In fact the idea makes my balls crawl up inside me,” Willie told him.

“We’ll have the chopper wing deployed with us and a buttload of air assets behind us,” Bruce told him.

“Yeah, behind us, that’s the point. If you are running this battle the troops and I will feel a lot better. When you start getting in the fight you tend to lose track of the overall picture. With thirty million blues out there, we really want your attention on the big picture,” Willie told him.

“Hate to say it but I agree with Willie here on that. In Grenada you were a little too happy on the line. It’s hard to run a battle when you’re on the line,” Adam told him.

“Okay, I get the point!” Bruce shouted. “I said I would control the urges and run the war. Drop it,” he said, scowling.

Adam put his hand on Bruce’s shoulder. “Boss, you are just a little too important to be runnin’ and gunnin’. Not to mention the fact you do really stupid shit in a firefight,” Adam said.

“You two worry way too much,” Bruce told them.

“Boss, in Kansas City I’m not lying, I thought we were dead,” Willie confessed. “Seeing that many infected come at you really makes the sphincter tingle,” he added.

“I’ve admitted that was not one of my brighter ideas,” Bruce said sheepishly.

“Yes, but you ran the battle and barely had gun time. I believe that’s the only reason we came out of that alive. You shifting people where they needed to be,” Willie told him.

“Don’t forget Nancy raining down Hellfires,” Bruce added.

“Okay, so the UAVs killed maybe ten, let’s say twenty thousand. What about the other four plus million?” Willie asked. Bruce just stared at Willie. “Boss, unlike Kansas City, this horde is going to hit us as a group. Yes, we killed five million in a set battle in Kansas, but they were spread out and had to come to us. Granted it was in huge masses of hundreds of thousands, but this horde is going to hit us like a brick wall.”

“I know Willie, but this time we will have fifty plus aircraft to bomb their asses,” Bruce said, trying to calm Willie down.

“Bruce, don’t think I’m not ready, but in Kansas the troops saw you walking around on the top of the trucks up and down the line. You put them at ease. When they see you like that they think they can take on the ocean and win,” Willie told him. “To be honest I do too,” he admitted.

Laughing, Bruce grabbed Willie’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, this won’t be easy but we will wipe them out. To tell you the truth I’m a little frightened,” Bruce said.

“I didn’t need to hear that,” Adam said, frowning.

“What? I’m not insane,” Bruce said, glancing over at him. “Each of our troops will have to kill over seventy thousand apiece. I hope the cluster bombs and napalm will make a big impact but I’m not counting on it.”

“If you don’t mind, I’m going to keep you in my mind as the insane commander that always figures out the battle,” Adam told him as Ted and Carl walked up, both with shaved heads.

“Couldn’t help but overhear and I have to say I agree with Adam. You keep your fears to yourself, Boss,” Ted added.

“Okay boys, let’s check the troops and get this show on the road,” Bruce said, walking past them.

After checking the troops, Bruce headed down to Mission Control. Jake was with Mack, looking at the map with Danny, Angela, and Stephanie listening to them. “We’re getting ready to pull out. Make sure the planes are ready when we get in the shit. I still want the trees around the bridge on the west side burnt out tonight. I want to be able to spread out if I need to. Leave those on the east side alone,” Bruce said, stopping at the table.

“Don’t worry, Dad, we have six hogs loaded with napalm; they’re taking off in a few hours,” Jake told him.

“Daddy, you sure you don’t want us to come?” Danny asked again.

“No, sweet pea, you, Jake, Mary, and Matt have to learn to run a battle,” Bruce told her. “Before you ask, Buffy will learn this too, but right now she is coming with me,” Bruce added as Danny took a breath to argue. Mumbling under her breath, Danny just nodded. “Danny, I’m not going to lie. I left y’all here the last time to learn this but I also wanted to know that each of you wanted to fight by your own choice,” Bruce admitted.

“Well duh,” Danny said with an attitude that spoke volumes.

Bruce was getting ready to address that attitude when Angela spoke up. “What about us, Bruce?” she asked.

“Y’all have gone out and will again, but I want two complete crews here to run the supply and air operations. There can be no screw ups or we will get overrun,” Bruce told her.

“If you get overrun, I’m going to kick your ass,” Stephanie warned.

“Well I will do my best then,” Bruce said, grinning as he walked over to everyone and hugged them. He even pulled Mack into the group hug. They all stood like that for a moment until Bruce stepped back and cleared his throat. “Let’s go get the kids so they can watch us leave,” he said.

As Omega and Gamma loaded up at noon, the clan gathered to tell their warriors goodbye and to wish them luck. With the trucks loaded, the two teams pulled out, heading to battle once again. It was after 1400 when they reached the Mississippi River.

When Omega and Gamma crossed the Mississippi River they spread out in platoons, clearing a hundred mile corridor moving east. Each platoon of fifty was assigned a path through the corridor to wipe out, heading toward Alabama. Keeping his word, Bruce relented and stayed in the center of the line with Mike. Omega was to the north of Jackson and Gamma to the south. They encountered only a few infected all the way to the Mississippi River and small groups inside Mississippi.

When they reached the outskirts of Jackson, Bruce radioed Mike. “Hey Mike, how’s Gamma reporting?” he asked.

“Bruce, we couldn’t have killed more than a few thousand since we got in this state,” Mike answered.

“Yeah, Omega is reporting the same thing. I have to say the UAV overflights were pretty much right. We killed most at Grenada when they decided to pay us a visit,” Bruce concluded.

“Well serves them right coming to a party they weren’t invited to,” Mike answered.

Laughing, Bruce keyed his mic, “I have to say I’m glad they decided to come now. I really wasn’t in the mood to clear the state then fight a mega horde. Tell your troops we continue to the battle site, no stopping to kill walkers.” Just then several troops in his vehicle opened up. Turning around, Bruce saw a dozen blues drop down.

“I copy that. Will meet you on the other side of Jackson,” Mike told him.

With only an occasional shot being fired, Bruce dropped down inside the truck, leaving the rest of his squad to drop blues. Buffy came over to him. “I want to drive,” she told him.

Bruce looked at her with a blank expression. “Buffy, I’m not in the mood to drive through houses and run over cars,” he said.

“Daddy please, I won’t drive over cars and stuff,” she whined.

Closing his eyes, Bruce sighed. “If you do, you won’t drive when I’m in here again,” he told her. Buffy jumped up, clapping her hands, then moved to the cab of the truck.

“Move your hands, I’m driving,” she told the driver, and Bruce could swear he saw the man start to shake as Buffy climbed in his lap. The rest of the squad heard her and started grabbing rope and tying themselves to the truck.

“I mean it Buffy, the troops are top side shooting. If you start Grand Theft Auto you are grounded and lose your driving privileges,” Bruce called out over the intercom.

“I won’t, I promise,” she said. Bruce watched the entire crew relax upon hearing that.

“Don’t shoot any to our front. Let Buffy have them,” someone said over the intercom.

“If they are near a house or car you drop the damn thing. I’m not in the mood,” Bruce called out.

“Yes sir,” they called back.

The two groups met up at the Tombigbee River at 2200 with an irritated Buffy. She’d only gotten to run over a few hundred. Much to Bruce’s surprise, she’d stayed on the highway and never hit any cars. She did go in the median several times, only to have Bruce yell at her to get back on the road.

The two troops formed a big circle on the highway on the west side of the river and Bruce left his RG. He walked over to the RV command center with Buffy in tow.

“That sucked,” Buffy said with a pouty face.

“Buffy, I think you’ve killed enough with a moving vehicle,” Bruce said, spotting Mike walking toward them.

“Daddy, that’s not fair,” she whined.

“You can run over some on another trip. We have work to do here,” Bruce told her. She crossed her arms, letting out a big huff of air.

When Mike reached them, he was grinning. “Buffy, you drove very well. I’m really proud of you for not getting off the highway and chasing that group in Madison,” he told her.

“Daddy wouldn’t let me,” she said and turned around, storming off inside the RV.

“When I saw the group I just knew she was going to go after them,” Mike said laughing.

“Oh she wanted to but I was not in the mood to get the hell beat out of me bouncing around the back of that damn rig,” Bruce said.

“Hey you’re the one who started that,” Mike told him.

“Fine, then she drives you next time,” Bruce threatened.

“Ah no, I don’t want to take her away from Omega,” Mike said quickly.

Laughing, Bruce climbed in the RV with Mike following him. Buffy was sitting at the table looking at the maps as Mike and Bruce hung up their rifles. Walking over to the map, Bruce looked at Mike. “You want guard first or clearing woods?” he asked.

“We should have let them napalm the other side too,” Mike said.

“We need those trees to make a funnel,” Bruce reminded him.

“That’s what the bridge is for,” Mike shot back.

“Not for thirty plus million. We need to make a mile wide and two-mile-long corridor for them. Guard or clearing?” Bruce asked again.

“We’ll clear first,” Mike answered, dreading the next day more now.

“Did your boys set up the firewood on the two bridges to the south of us?” Bruce asked.

“Yeah, each is full of logs and soaked down with a remote charge on them,” Mike answered.

“Okay, the one to the north is also,” Bruce said.

“Why not just blow them up? Hell, even your buddy Gene wanted to,” Mike said.

“If we have to we can, but I’m really not in the mood to build bridges,” Bruce said. He turned on the radio and looked up at the monitor which showed the command area in Mission Control. The group was looking at him as he and Mike waved hi.

“Buffy, I’m so proud of you for not driving through the entire town of Madison,” Jake told her.

“Daddy wouldn’t let me,” she said, laying her head down on the table.

“Dad, that’s not fair, she got to chase them with us,” Jake said.

“Son, if you remember, I took Buffy to drive a few weeks ago and she chased one down in a Mini Cooper. I have ridden with her going insane plenty,” Bruce said.

“The apple don’t fall far from the tree. I remember you plowing through several in a Mini when we left Shreveport,” Angela reminded him.

“I didn’t chase them down,” Bruce said, making everyone laugh. “Jake, how is the area around us?” he asked.

Another monitor on the wall came on and started showing still shots from the UAVs as Jake described what they were seeing. “It’s not bad, but it’s not good either. You have several small towns around you that are full, and as you can probably hear from your perimeter, they have heard you,” Jake said. As Bruce listened, he could hear the steady tempo of single-shot gunfire from outside. “Our best guess is you have close to six to nine thousand in the twenty-mile-radius around you,” Jake told him.

“How is the horde doing?” Mike asked.

“Oh, they are just spread out but we saw them take out another group of survivors,” Stephanie said.

Bruce shook his head. Jake said, “If we start leading them tomorrow afternoon they should be to you the following morning.”

Turning to Bruce, Mike said, “I love how he so casually says that. They can cover five hundred miles on foot in twelve hours.”

“Well we are fixing to start a sleep cycle here and I suggest you do the same,” Bruce said.

Mack stood up, waving at the camera. “Hey Bruce, I just wanted to tell you when we say pull back we mean it. The minimum safe distance for an Mk83 is one kilometer,” he said.

“Just hold off on the big boys till the end, and don’t drop this bridge because I’ll be damned if I’m going to give them a boat ride over,” Bruce replied and Mack nodded.

Bruce signed off and started a sleep schedule, as did Mike. Throughout the night, infected continued to show up since all the rigs had loudspeakers blaring rock and roll. The troops took care of them. By morning, the tally was almost five thousand infected down. Omega loaded up and crossed the bridge, then pulled over after a mile and continued taking out any infected that showed up. Gamma started clearing the kill area around the bridge. They moved in with chain saws, just dropping trees from the edge of the highway and out approximately four hundred yards.

Fifty chainsaws on each side of the interstate dropped a ton of trees in short order. The other platoons covered them without incident. At 1000 Jake called out to let them know that the UAVs were firing in Georgia, making the horde group up. At noon, Omega switched out with Gamma. Gamma had only cleared a corridor a mile long and a mile wide. Bruce told his troops to get out the det cord.

They ran through the woods, wrapping it around trees as bulldozers pushed back what Gamma had cut down, forming up fifteen-foot mounds of cut-down trees. Two hours and over two miles of cord later, Bruce called everyone to the bridge as the cord was detonated. Everyone watched in stunned silence as a mile of trees fell back on both sides of the highway.

“They heard that in Tuscaloosa,” Jake called out over the radio.

“That’s seventy miles away!” Bruce yelled over the radio.

“Bruce, you just blew up three miles of det cord!” Mike yelled back.

“It was barely two,” Bruce shot back.

“That was over a thousand pounds of explosives, dumbass. Shit, I had two fillings fall out!” Mike complained.

“Well we can get warmed up then,” Bruce called back as the dozers went to work. “Mike, pull out front and start on them when they get in range.”

“Hey, we were quiet. Your boys were the ones that made all the noise!” Mike shouted.

“Quit bitching, I’m ready to get this shit over!” Bruce shouted back.

“Hey you two, shut up. You have a fucking gaggle of them coming at you from Tuscaloosa!” Stephanie shouted over the radio.

“It will take them over an hour to get here,” Bruce responded. “Chopper wing, are you set up yet?”

“Yeah, we’re up, Dad,” Steve replied.

“Get some Apaches up and go and welcome our guests,” Bruce said, standing up in the cupola of his RG. A few minutes went by and he turned around to see four Apaches passing over them heading east. The chopper area was ten miles behind them in a field off the side of the interstate. After a lot of debate, they had also brought five MRLS rocket launchers.

Not once did Bruce say they didn’t need them, but the infected could run faster than those damn things could go. He compromised when Willie loaded them up on flat-bed semis and hauled them with the chopper trucks.

Ten minutes later, Bruce heard explosions to the east as the Apaches went to work. He watched the bulldozers push the trees up as Mike pulled Gamma ten miles forward where they engaged a group from the small town of Boligee.

“The group from Tuscaloosa looks to be getting close to the hundred thousand mark,” Stephanie called over the radio.

“Driver, pull back to the RV,” Bruce called over the intercom as the driver turned around.

“Hey, the blues are coming and we are going the other way!” Buffy yelled out over the intercom.

“I have to go to the RV to see what’s going on,” Bruce replied.

“They can tell you from Mission Control!” Buffy yelled at him.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Bruce replied, “You were there when everyone wanted me to run this battle.”

“I didn’t get to chase any blues down and now I can’t even bust a cap in some!” Buffy screeched.

“Buffy, you have your radio mic on,” Jake told her over the radio.

“I don’t care, this sucks!” she screamed as the RG pulled up to the RV. Buffy climbed out of the RG yelling and jumped down to the ground. She walked into the RV and slammed the door.

Bruce looked up at the sky. “Lord, grant me patience,” he said.

“Why should he do that? I can’t even shoot the blues now! I have to sit in here and watch these stupid monitors!” Buffy yelled over the radio.

“Hey Buffy, you’re missing out too. The interstate has water on each side and the blues are just staying on the road,” Mike told her over the radio. “Easy pickins.”

‘I’m so going to kick his ass for that’, Bruce thought.

“I don’t want to hear it, Daddy Mike, I can see it,” she told him as Bruce climbed out of the RG and got into the RV.

“Hey, you’re the one that wanted to come,” Bruce said, hanging his rifle up. Buffy just ignored him. Walking back to the command area in the back of the RV, Bruce grabbed a headset. Studying the monitors for a minute, he keyed the mic for Omega. “First Platoon, pull forward to cover the dozers. Everyone else stay in place. Third and Fourth, you watch our ass. Second, be ready to roll anywhere,” he said and the ten trucks pulled forward.

Looking closely at the monitor, Bruce watched Gamma barely slow down as they took out several thousand infected, then continue on. Turning to another monitor, Bruce saw the horde coming out of Tuscaloosa and he had to agree it was over a hundred thousand. “Mike, don’t get too far out there,” Bruce warned.

“Will you shut up? You pissed them off and I’m going to take care of it,” Mike snapped. He’d met the horde from Tuscaloosa fifty miles away and was leading them back as Gamma shot them down.

“Michael, you watch your mouth. Bruce is in charge and if you don’t listen I’m coming up there!” Nancy yelled out on the radio.

“Yes baby, I’m sorry,” Mike apologized.

“Jake, get a UAV to head to Mobile and lead whatever you can up here, make them follow I-65,” Bruce told him.

“Ah Dad, Atlanta is emptying out, as is Chattanooga. It looks like those two alone are going to add another five million, and that doesn’t include Birmingham. As it stands now you are looking at forty million,” Jake warned.

“Son, if I can clear this state in one go, I will. I really don’t want to travel all over the state drawing them out,” Bruce said.

“Bruce, you are talking about adding another couple of million,” Stephanie said over the radio.

“What’s another few million when I have forty coming at me?” Bruce said, trying to joke.

“Hey buster, that’s not funny!” Angela shouted. “Keep on like that and I will call y’all back and let Danny pop a nuke,” she said.

“Don’t you dare start dropping nukes, there is way too much here we need,” Bruce told her.

On one monitor Bruce had been watching Mike leading Gamma in front of the horde from Tuscaloosa, engaging them as he led them the fifty miles back. On another monitor was a shot of the mega horde. Though Bruce would never admit it out loud, the sight of it made a shiver run up his spine. It literally looked like the road was packed with a single life form a hundred miles long. It was half an hour before Bruce took his eyes off of it and looked back at the monitor with Gamma, not surprised to find them less than ten miles away. There were less than a few thousand blues left and they were just melting away under the steady fire.

Gamma rejoined the group as the dozers finished the kill box. They now had a mile wide by a three-mile-long box with ten- to fifteen-foot piles of logs on the sides of the box all the way to the bank of the river. Two fuel trucks drove down the road, soaking the pile down; then the teams pulled back and waited. Omega stayed on the bridge and Gamma pulled to the rear to protect their backs. First Platoon pulled four RGs across the westbound lane and Second did the same on the eastbound lane where the bridge left the embankment.

At midnight, Jake called out over the radio, “The horde just hit the Alabama line and is merging with the group in Birmingham. You have close to two million coming up from Mobile.”

“Third and Fourth Platoon, get off the bridge and deploy on the bank. We can’t let them just flood across,” Bruce said over the radio. “MRLS batteries, when they are ten miles out I want all of y’all to walk your rockets down the interstate.” Bruce watched the monitors. Turning to the front of the RV, he saw Buffy asleep in the chair at the table. Smiling, he let her sleep.

It was 0410 when Bruce heard the rockets firing behind him. Stepping outside and turning around, he saw the sky light up as all five batteries launched their twelve rockets in sixty seconds. “Well let’s see how good we really are,” Bruce said, walking back inside the RV. Moving over to the monitors, he waited for impact.

The horde covered the entire roadway and median, seventy yards across, and they were running. Just then at the leading edge the rockets dropped their submunitions. Small explosions ran down the road, dropping the blues for eight miles. The UAV panned out and Bruce grinned. The road there had water on both sides, forcing the blues to stay on the road, but with all the bodies in their way it slowed them down, packing them tighter.

Keying his radio, he watched many fall down only to be run over or trip more, packing the horde tighter minute by minute. “Rocket team … when you are reloaded, fire again, same thing,” Bruce said, and eight minutes later the rockets roared again. The horde had only made it half a mile from the first impact site. Again they were just mowed down, all the way from the front rank and eight miles back. Bruce could see on the monitor that most of those down were moving feebly but they weren’t getting up. To his joy, he watched other blues trample them down.

After those two strikes, the blues were really packed tightly as they continued forward at a slow walk. They were so close together they couldn’t even run. “Apaches, start your run,” Bruce said on the radio. “Rocket team, when the Apaches are done and the horde reaches the box, hit them again,” he ordered, watching the monitor as the Apaches started firing rockets. Looking at another screen, Bruce saw the horde still stretching thirty miles away; he was unable to see the end with the UAV. “That is a shitload of trouble,” Bruce muttered.

“Damn it, Bruce, when you are talking to yourself don’t do it so we can all hear!” Mike yelled at him over the radio.

“Sorry,” Bruce said, taking his hand off the mic switch. He almost wanted to laugh watching the blues just trample each other. The front of the horde was so tightly packed they could barely walk now, and the front ranks were still falling down and being trampled. When the last Apache finished shooting, the horde was just a few miles away. It had taken them half an hour to go eight miles.

“Mortars,” Bruce called out.

He watched the monitor in amazement as the rounds impacted, creating thirty-yard-circles, then the circles just filled up with more bodies. As the front line hit the end of the box, the rockets launched again, impacting eight miles back. Unlike before, there were so many blues they kept pushing forward. There just wasn’t enough shrapnel to knock them all down. Then Bruce heard Omega and the guns on the boom arms open up.

Nobody was ready for the response of the blues. They all roared at once. They knew the gunshots meant, ‘Man is close.’

“I hope I have some fixed air close,” Bruce said over the radio.

“Just waiting on you to tell me when,” Mack called back.

“When,” Bruce replied.

“Mortars hold,” Mack said. “Two Eagles coming in fully loaded.”

Thunder raced overhead as the jets streaked by. On the monitor, Bruce saw the two jets pass over the horde. The RV shook as the twenty thousand pounds of bombs hit the earth a mile away. Bruce could almost swear the RV was bouncing on the road with each impact. “Hey, tell those sky jockeys there are friendlies down here!” Adam yelled over the radio.

“Hey, somebody look for my balls on the floor, they fell off!” Ted yelled out over the radio. Looking at the screen, Bruce just stared. The bombing run had wiped the horde out four miles back and nothing in the kill zone was moving.

“Find your balls, Ted,” Bruce replied, keying the mic. “Mack, we want some more of that, and when the horde fills the box, hit the sides with napalm,” Bruce called out.

“Twenty hogs rolling in!” Mack yelled.

“Buffy, wake up and watch!” Bruce yelled.

“I’m right here,” she said, standing beside him. “I thought those rockets were loud,” she added.

“Watch this,” he said, pointing at the screen. The horde had been pushed back four miles and had not been able to push forward because of the bodies. An A-10 flew over the horde, dropping bombs on the leading edge and continuing to drop down the line. When the last bomb left, the plane pulled off as the first bombs hit, shaking the ground again but nowhere near like the F-15s had. One by one they flew down the line, decimating the horde back another eight miles. The bodies on the interstate now were stacked yards high, slowing the advance even more and making them pack even tighter.

Looking at another view from a different UAV, Bruce could see the end of the blue lines. Granted, it was forty miles away, but he could see it. “Mack, hold the air up. I don’t want them getting off the road. Let the front edge reach the kill box, then have the boys start at the back of the column and work forward,” Bruce called out on the radio.

“Okay Daddy,” Danny called back.

“Where’s Mack?” Bruce asked.

“He had to go and fly a plane. He said that looked like too much fun,” she told him.

“Oh, so he can have fun but I can’t?” Bruce mumbled jealously. He continued watching the monitors. The horde moved like a huge single life form. Climbing over the fallen blues and bomb craters, the horde moved forward, filling the kill box the teams had created. At two miles, the gun nest on the boom arms opened back up and once again the horde roared as one.

“Just to let you know Bruce, they heard the mob roar at the airfield ten miles away,” Mike called out over the radio.

“Shit, it rattled the windows here,” Bruce answered back, watching the horde close the distance to the bridge where First and Second Platoon were set up. ‘That’s way too many for them,’ Bruce thought. “First and Second Platoons, have half of each squad on belt-fed weapons. This is going to be too many to just pop down,” Bruce instructed.

“You just now figured that out?” Ted yelled.

Ignoring Ted, Bruce keyed his mic. “Supply, get extra barrels and ammo up there. Nobody is to be more than ten yards from their vehicle. This is fixing to get touchy and we may have to leave in a hurry.”

On the main monitor Bruce watched as the horde filled the kill box, all three square miles of it, as they continued to come at the bridge. When they were less than five hundred yards out, the platoons opened up. The line of guns fired as one hundred weapons mowed down the front line, but the blues just kept pushing forward. Unlike before, the blues had the numbers to take the losses in such a small area.

When the horde was one hundred yards from the bridge, they were still gaining ground but at a horrible cost. The east and west lanes were two separate bridges, and the horde managed to reach the ends. The volume of gun fire coming from the two platoons and the boom arm platforms was unbelievable, and still the blues came.

Those not pushing onto the bridges just moved to the water’s edge. Third and Fourth greeted them, opening fire with rifles from the opposite bank a hundred and twenty yards away. Watching in horror, Bruce saw the blues push some of the leading edge into the water. The bodies started stacking up, building a bridge ten feet out from the bank.

“Mike, send a platoon to reinforce my Third and Fourth on the bank. They are pushing the leading edge in and building a bridge with bodies. Have your troops open up with nothing but belt-fed machine guns!” Bruce roared over the radio.

“Okay Bruce, I’m sending Third but we are starting to get blues behind us. Not big numbers but enough to let us know they are here,” Mike called back.

Buffy reached up, pulling on his arm. “Daddy, the helicopter base reports they are getting a lot of blues there,” she said, holding her headset over her ears.

“All teams, be ready to move on short notice,” Bruce called out, then Buffy grabbed his arm again.

“Daddy, the bridge to the south! Blues are trying to get over the logs we put on it,” she said, pointing at a monitor.

“Light it, Buffy,” Bruce told her, looking at the monitor.

Buffy flipped a switch, sending a radio signal which detonated the fuel barrels on the bridge and set the logs ablaze. Bruce guessed that there were only fifteen to twenty thousand blues trying to get across there. When the fire started, those not burned turned and headed north.

Looking back to the main monitor, Bruce could see the kill box was full and the blues were on the bridges, only a hundred yards from the line. The UAV over the bridge zoomed in, and in front of the platoons all he could see were body parts. The volume of fire they were pouring out was just blowing the blues apart, yet they still pushed forward.

“Boss, we are getting in some deep shit here. I’m having to alternate machine guns so the barrels don’t overheat, and they are really pressing us!” Ted yelled.

“Hold as long as you can,” Bruce called back. “Mortars, concentrate your fire fifty yards from the end of the bridge, but don’t hit the bridge. Rocket batteries launch now!” Bruce yelled out as the first mortar rounds started hitting at the end of the bridge. Every three seconds a mortar round would hit, creating a thirty-yard void for a split second … then it would fill up.

Looking at another monitor, Bruce saw the end of the blue horde six miles away. They were packing in the area the teams had made with water on each side of the road. Then rockets hit at the back of the line moving forward, sending body parts in the air. “Base, where is my air cover? These fuckers are really pissed off. I need the north and south box lines set on fire now!” Bruce ordered.

“Six hogs coming in, Dad, loaded with napalm. Tell the boys it’s fixing to get hot,” Danny replied.

“Mortars and rockets, cease fire. We have air coming in. Omega, get ready for air,” Bruce told them. The mortars fell silent and the blues that were being held back by the wall of steel surged forward. On the monitor, Bruce watched two A-10s fly over the piles of trees they had bulldozed up to form the north and south lines of the kill box.

Flying down the line, they dropped napalm canisters, one at a time, setting the wood ablaze. When the first two peeled off they left a line of fire a mile long as two more came in.

“That’s all good, but get me some fire at the base of the bridge. We can’t keep up this volume of fire. We’ve already lost four gun barrels and the bottom of the RGs are three feet deep in brass casings!” Ted shouted into the radio.

“Choppers, fly to the south and set up out of the mortar line. Stay under a thousand feet to stay out of the fixed wing space and lay down some fire!” Bruce yelled.

“They are thirty yards out into the river now!” Carl called out. Looking at the area under the bridges, Bruce saw the pile of blue bodies Carl was referring to.

Mike came over the radio. “Don’t ask, Bruce, because I can’t send anything. We are just barely keeping the rear clear.”

Looking at the monitor, Bruce saw the entire horde had filled the kill box. “Air wing, when can you hit the box? We are fixing to have to pull out!” Bruce said.

“We have steel rain on the way, no more that fifteen minutes,” Danny called back.

“What the hell are those air jockeys doing to take so long?” Bruce yelled back.

Stephanie got on the radio. “Bruce, we are turning planes around as fast as we can.”

It was 0800. Bruce shook his head; there was no way he could hold them until the air could roll in.

“Daddy, the rocket batteries are saying they are out of rockets with this last volley,” Buffy told him.

“What?” Bruce yelled.

“Hey, don’t yell at me, I’m just telling what they said,” Buffy replied.

Grabbing his microphone, Bruce started yelling, “What do you mean you’re out of rockets?”

“Bruce, they’ve dumped over five hundred rockets into that horde. We can only carry so much shit!” Mike yelled back.

Bruce started cussing as Buffy looked up at him. “Daddy, the mortars are saying they have to slow down because the tubes are getting too hot,” she said, which only expanded Bruce’s vocabulary.

Bruce spat out orders. “Teams, prepare to pull out. Third and Fourth, pull out from under the bridge now and take Gamma’s platoon with you. Stop at the line Gamma is holding to the rear. First and Second, be ready to move in three minutes. Supply on the bridge, off-load them some ammo and get out of their way. Air field, get the choppers up and fall back to the next battle line. Team leaders, make sure your people are accounted for before you pull out.”

“Dad, hold them just a few more minutes. I have a hog that’s fixing to drop some napalm on the end of the bridge to hold them off. When it hits, get the hell away from the area,” Danny told him.

Bruce froze upon hearing Danny. He could tell she was smiling when she said that. “Danny, you better not even think about popping a nuke, we are too close,” Bruce warned her.

“I know that, Dad. We are fixing to wipe the box clean. When the hog hits the bridge you need to move back fast. Jake says you will have four minutes and need to be two miles back at least,” Danny called back over the radio.

“Damn it Bruce, control your kids!” Adam yelled over the radio.

“Just how am I supposed to do that when they are two states away?” Bruce asked him. “Mike, pull your line two miles back and hold the area. Third and Fourth Platoon, take up their positions until we leave,” Bruce called out.

“Gamma is moving,” Mike called back.

As Third and Fourth Platoons pulled into Gamma’s position, an A-10 roared in from the south, dropping napalm at the base of the bridge. “Y’all need to get the hell out of there now!” Danny yelled.

“First and Second, let’s get the hell out of here before my kids kill us!” Bruce shouted. Moving back to the front of the RV, he climbed the ladder, opening the top hatch on the roof. Sticking his head out, he saw the boom lifts drive by the RV and the RGs of First and Second Platoon moving toward him. “Okay, move us out!” Bruce yelled down to the driver.

The RV pulled out with First and Second behind them and Third and Fourth in front of them. “All choppers clear the area now, five-mile safe zone,” Danny called over the radio. ‘Oh shit,’ Bruce thought.

Looking up, he saw choppers screaming away as fast as they could fly. As he watched them leave, Bruce looked up toward the west and froze. Slowly pressing his mic, Bruce called out, “Ah, base, I see a B-52 coming at me. Please tell me that it belongs to us.”

“Yes Daddy, that’s ours. That’s what Mack flies, the BUFF,” Danny called back in a cheery voice.

“You know if I would’ve known that we had one of those I would have changed my whole attack plan,” Bruce called out in a pissed tone.

“We didn’t know if it would be ready in time,” Angela called back.

Unable to reply, Bruce just watched the plane fly overhead. It was up high but he could see that the bomb bays were open and the wing pylons held full racks of bombs. “It’s loaded with forty thousand pounds of bombs, Dad, and we have twenty A-10s behind it, each carrying six tons. That area is fixing to become nonexistent,” Jake called out on the radio, knowing his dad had lost the power of speech.

Still looking up, Bruce saw the bombs start to fall from the plane, heading to earth and steering themselves to the kill box. When the first thousand-pound bomb hit, he felt the RV shake, then it was followed by thirty-nine more. Bruce could feel the air being sucked out of his lungs from two miles away from the concussion. Unable to resist, Bruce climbed out onto the roof of the RV to watch.

Those watching back at base saw the kill box raked from one end to the other with explosions. Each explosion wiped out a four-hundred-yard area of blues. Even with forty thousand-pound bombs, over half the area was still untouched. That was what the rest of the planes were rolling in for. From three thousand feet the A-10s flew in straight lines and dropped their bombs over the area.

The rest of Gamma and Omega had climbed out onto the roofs of their vehicles to watch with Bruce. The kill box area was shrouded in a cloud of dust, smoke, and fire. When the last explosion hit, they were still just staring at the sight.

Jake came on the radio. “Area clear and the bridge is up, but I wouldn’t drive on it. I’m sure the explosions weakened the foundation,” he called out.

“Is anything moving over there?” Bruce finally asked, keying his radio.

“Not in the kill box. We have some small groups that are running away. If you look to the horizon you will see the Hellfires coming down on them,” Jake called back.

Looking at the horizon, Bruce couldn’t see the missiles but he could sure hear them impacting. “Damn, Daddy, that was awesome,” Buffy said, standing beside him.

Finally shaking himself out of the trance, Bruce keyed his mic. “All elements, this is Big Daddy One. Let’s go home,” he called out.

In Colorado, the command area was sitting in stunned silence as the teams pulled out. The destruction they had watched was absolute. They had watched the battle unfold and had listened in on the radio chatter between Bruce and the base, mesmerized.

“Why didn’t they tell him about the BUFF?” Givens asked.

“You heard them sir, they didn’t think it would be ready. They really didn’t need it though. I didn’t think they had that much ordinance for the planes. With fifty A-10s to call on they could have pounded the area into submission,” Walker replied. He was going to talk to Bruce about that. If they had that kind of ordinance on hand, there was never a need to make that many battle lines to fall back to.

“Can we still take them, Colonel?” the President asked in concern.

“Oh yes sir, I have taken into account their air power. We just have to stay under our umbrella,” Walker answered.

“That’s what I like to hear,” the President answered. “You still think we have to wait until winter?” he added.

“Yes sir. We don’t have the ammunition reserves to fight the blues and then a battle if needed. I hope to scare them into surrender but I’m not counting on it anymore. I know we can take them now if needed, I know how they think,” Walker answered with confidence.

Givens stood up and patted Walker on the back. “That’s what I want to hear. We can wipe them out at will,” he said.

“General, that’s fine, but you will not hurt that site,” the President said firmly.

“Of course, sir,” Givens answered.

“We will take them over and then take back America,” the President said, standing up and strolling out of the room. His minions followed in his wake.

“You’re half right,” Walker mumbled, grinning.

Chapter 29

Three days after leaving to fight the mega horde, the attack force was pulling through the spray areas and heading to the north gate. Bruce was sitting in the driver’s seat of his RG with Buffy on his lap, letting her drive. They pulled through the gate and stopped, letting the home guard check the vehicles with dogs to ensure no infected were hung up. When they were cleared, they pulled forward and turned to the farm.

“Stop!” Bruce yelled, scaring the shit out of Buffy.

“What? There’s nothing in front of me!” Buffy yelled back as Bruce lifted her out of his lap and opened the door. Getting out, Bruce walked around the front of the truck and off to the side of the road where he stood, staring at a work crew as Buffy walked up beside him. “It’s just a work crew, Dad,” Buffy said.

Ignoring her, Bruce keyed his radio. “Who the hell is in Mission Control?” he called out.

“Spook One here,” Jake called back.

“Ah son, why is there a cell tower being put up?” Bruce asked, watching the work crew.

“Progress, Big Daddy One, that’s number two. Will fill you in at Mission Control,” Jake told him.

Shaking his head, Bruce walked back to the RG and climbed in. Buffy drove them to the farm and Bruce jumped out, heading to Mission Control as Mike pulled in and followed. Walking into the command area, they found everyone sitting at the table waiting on them.

Jake jumped up as Bruce came in. “Dad, it was my idea with the towers so don’t get mad at anyone else,” he said.

“Why would I get mad?” Bruce asked.

“Ah, I don’t know,” Jake admitted.

“Son, I just want to be kept up to date with what’s going on,” Bruce told him.

“Oh well then, we are putting up cell towers here and activating several around us. I want us to have coverage out to fifty miles. That way anyone outside working can be contacted. This week everyone gets a phone,” Jake told him.

“That’s cool,” Bruce said, dropping down in his chair. “Are the Patriots ready to knock out the bothersome peeping toms?” he asked.

“Yes Dad, but I want to postpone that,” Jake said.

“Son, I know you like having their whole area hacked but they pose a threat,” Bruce told him.

“Not really,” Jake replied.

“Those things are armed just like ours are. I really don’t want them to fire one off and hit one of the fuel storage areas, or heaven forbid a bomb storage area,” Bruce told him as the rest of the assault group leaders came in and sat down.

“Dad, they can’t shoot shit at us. We own those drones. If they press the button to fire we have to allow it,” Jake told him. Shocked, Bruce just gawked at him. “Really Dad, you thought Matt and I would allow them to shoot at us?” Jake asked with an injured tone.

“Well—” was all Bruce could manage.

“Daddy Bruce, that was one of the first things we took away from them. We want to keep an eye on them, and if we take out their UAVs there is no reason for them to keep the command area up and running. Then we won’t even be able to talk to Colonel Walker,” Matt told him.

“Damn, I didn’t think about that,” Bruce said out loud to himself. Looking at the boys, he asked, “You two are sure they can’t hit us here with Hellfires from the UAVs?”

“Yes,” they said together.

“Okay, then we just keep spying on them,” Bruce said, then looked at Angela and Stephanie. “How many do you think we took out?” he asked them.

“Between thirty-two to thirty-three million,” Stephanie answered.

Flabbergasted, Bruce just stuttered as Mike asked, “How many did we miss?”

“Maybe a couple of million, and of that, fewer than a hundred thousand that weren’t wounded,” Angela answered, leaving Mike speechless.

Mack stood up, looking at Bruce. “Fly boys like to kill on the astronomical scale,” he said, smiling.

Ted jumped up. “Yeah, but we had to line them up for ya,” he shouted.

“Alright, y’all helped a little,” Mack said, sitting down.

“A little?” Ted yelled. “Bitch, those things were coming in a flood. Not waves; one big massive fucking wave. There was brass over four feet deep in my rig. I was standing up to my waist in spent bullet casings. We melted seventeen barrels on the heavy guns!” Ted shouted.

“Okay, fine, y’all helped a lot,” Mack admitted.

“My balls fell off and are under that pile of brass in my rig,” Ted snapped and then sat down.

Laughing, Bruce stood up. “Gentlemen, we did a great job. We can now say we have made a dent in the infected,” Bruce said, grinning at them all.

“Yes, just a hundred million more to go,” Sandy declared, smiling.

Bruce sighed as the wind left his sails. Looking at her, he could tell she’d never meant to be condescending; she was just stating a fact. “Sandy, we know. Let us just enjoy it for a minute,” Bruce said, sitting down.

“Was that rude?” she asked, looking at Stephanie. Stephanie had her hands over her face. Sandy looked at Bruce. “Bruce, I didn’t mean to be rude. What you have accomplished is amazing. In one year this group has wiped out fifty million infected. Not only that but you have left the infrastructure intact, which nobody thought was possible,” she said as Stephanie dropped her hands and looked at her, smiling.

“Thank you Sandy, I just don’t like hearing the big numbers like that after facing a horde that size,” Bruce told her.

Ted drew a breath for a smart ass comment but Carl put his hand on Ted’s shoulder. “Ted, if you say something to piss off Bruce, I won’t help you find your balls,” Carl told him.

“Thank you Carl,” Bruce said. Looking around the table, Bruce raised his voice. “Tomorrow I want the scavenging teams to leave and empty every military base in Alabama and Georgia. They have two weeks,” he said.

“Bruce, we have enough shit,” Nancy said.

“That’s okay, I’ll go and get them,” Bruce said as Mike lunged forward in his seat.

“Bruce, what Nancy meant to say is ‘we don’t have enough shit yet but you need to stay here.’ The teams will leave tomorrow morning!” Mike yelled out, kicking Nancy under the table.

“That’s right Bruce, you need to stay close,” Nancy told Bruce, realizing what she had said.

“Oh alright,” Bruce said, sitting down and scowling.

“Gamma, get ready to roll if the scavengers need us. Have the mobile airfield ready to deploy tomorrow. We will have them set up in Alabama to cover the scavengers,” Mike said, and his team leaders nodded in agreement. “Omega, turn around your group in case the government tries to leave early,” Mike said, glancing at Bruce.

“Walker will tell us before they leave,” Bruce said.

“Unless they kill him. I don’t want you to leave this area again until they are either neutralized or part of us,” Mike said, hoping to keep Bruce there. If Bruce went to those bases, he would bring everything in them back.

“You know you take all the fun out of everything,” Bruce said, standing up.

“Bruce—” Mike started.

“Okay Mike, I’ll stay here until they are taken care of. Let’s go eat,” Bruce said, leading Stephanie and Angela out.

That evening, Bruce walked into his bedroom to find only Angela and Stephanie waiting on him. Stopping in his tracks and feeling a bit nervous, he looked at the two. Both were grinning ear to ear. “Ah, I know this may sound cliché but I’m really tired,” Bruce told them.

“Oh that’s okay, Bruce,” Stephanie said, walking past him and closing the door.

Feeling trapped, he moved toward the bathroom and turned around, only to see them behind him. “Where are the kids?” Bruce asked.

“With Jake and Danny,” Angela said, moving closer to him. “We want to tell you something.”

“Ah, okay …” Bruce replied.

Grabbing each other’s hands, Angela and Stephanie looked at each other, then at Bruce. “We’re pregnant,” they said in unison.

Suddenly, Bruce noticed several cracks in the paint on the ceiling. ‘Damn, I need to repaint that,’ was the last thought through his mind as he hit the floor in a dead faint.

* * *

Thanks for reading Decisions. Look for Book 6 in the Blue Plague series in 2014.