Even though he wanted to sleep late, Bruce was up at 0700 hours. He looked around and noticed everyone was still in the bed. Reaching out, Bruce pulled everyone closer in a hug. PJ immediately reminded him he didn’t like to be woken up. “You need to sleep some more, baby,” Stephanie said as she stretched out.
“Can’t, so I’m going to check on the refueling points,” Bruce said, kissing everyone. When he got out of the bed, the twins jumped on his back. “Guess they’re going with me,” he said, walking out of the room. The guard at the bottom of the stairs scared the shit out of him as he headed to mission control.
Walking in, he found Mike and Marcus looking at a map. “Why aren’t you asleep?” Mike asked, not even looking up.
“Couldn’t,” Bruce said, taking the twins off his back.
They ran to Marcus. “Papaw,” they cried in unison, wrapping their arms around him.
Loving on the twins, Marcus sat down and pulled the twins in his lap. “Bruce, you need to sleep. Once you kick off, it will be close to thirty-six hours before you get downtime,” Marcus said.
“I can’t, and be damned if I take something,” he said, walking over to the map they were looking at. “The fuel points make it to the rally points?” he asked.
“Yep,” Mike said. “We have a few A-10s up over them in case they have trouble.”
“Any trouble around them?” Bruce asked.
“None they aren’t handling.”
Bruce looked up. “What, Mike?”
“Bruce, for an operation, this excursion is very complex with a lot of moving parts.”
Not able to argue, Bruce agreed, “That it is.”
“Bruce, we are sending out twenty Chinooks, ten Blackhawks, and two Super Stallions. We will have to refuel them all three times there and three times back. I know you have the backup refueling points in case they miss an aerial refuel, but this is hit or miss out there,” Mike said.
“Mike, it’s either this or we fight up there and fight back.”
“Why can’t we just launch the choppers after you leave? Why wait till you secure the site if you can? They can be there in case you get repulsed,” Mike said.
“Can’t. If we get beat back, that means the choppers would have to make the extract hot, and most of those choppers make a big target. This way, we will be able to pull back to a safer area for extract,” Bruce explained.
Seeing he wasn’t going to change Bruce’s mind, Mike gave up. “Have it your way,” he said, throwing up his hands. Bruce grabbed the twins and headed upstairs, getting dressed and grabbing his weapons. When he came back down with the family, Ted and Carl were waiting.
“Guys, you should be asleep,” Bruce said, walking past them.
“Hey, you aren’t, so knock it off,” Ted replied, yawning.
Giving up, Bruce led everyone out the back door to the Center. Looking over, he saw the marble statue of Debbie. “I’ll join you in a second,” Bruce said, breaking away from the group. Seeing where he was going, Angela and Stephanie herded the kids inside as Ted and Carl followed him over.
Giving Bruce some privacy, they stopped several yards back as Bruce stopped in front of the statue. “I know you had something to do with the twins,” he said in a low voice, and in his mind, he heard Debbie giggle.
“I really don’t see anything funny about that,” Bruce said, looking at the statue, and the giggle turned into a laugh that slowly faded in his mind. “I’m sorry I got the kids blown up, but I was trying to save as many as I could.”
Suddenly, he could smell Debbie near him, and Bruce closed his eyes and in his mind heard a low groan that turned to a soft whisper. They must learn war is danger, and some lessons are very hard, but I will be with them.
Stephanie and Angela walked over and stopped by Ted and Carl, but something seemed to push them. They cautiously walked over, standing on each side of Bruce. Stephanie smiled, closing her eyes. “I smell her,” she whispered.
Angela sniffed but only smelled jet fuel from Bruce’s uniform, then a calm spread over her, making her close her eyes. With his eyes closed, Bruce reached out, taking their hands. The three stood hand in hand, smiling, as Ted and Carl looked on, confused.
The three just stood, feeling the presence they sorely missed until it slowly left. It was several minutes later that Bruce opened his eyes and pulled the two close. “Glad you two were here that time,” he admitted. “Let’s me know I’m not insane.”
Angela looked up. “Bruce, we feel her close a lot,” she informed him.
Hearing that, Bruce let out a long breath. “That makes me feel even better,” he said, turning around with one under each arm.
“What, you think she wouldn’t check up on us?” Stephanie asked.
Bruce shook his head. “No, that someone else could feel it.”
Totally lost, Ted and Carl just followed them inside, joining the others at the table. The mood was one of joy even though that evening, parts of the clan would once again be at war.
Chapter 18
After breakfast, Bruce walked around with the girls checking on each squad as they went through the plan of taking the government facility. Satisfied things were going well, Bruce led them back inside the command bunker.
They found Mike looking over a blown-up layout of the facility, “Find anything out?” Bruce asked, walking in.
“You know you’re going to have to seal this site when you leave, right?” Mike asked, not looking up.
Sitting at the table, Bruce nodded. “Yeah, Matt and Jake showed me the manifest there.”
Freezing as she was about to sit down, Stephanie looked over at Bruce. “What’s up there?”
“A ton of shit but more importantly a list of buried government supply sites,” Bruce answered.
Relieved, Stephanie sat down. “Had me worried for a minute,” she mumbled.
Looking over his shoulder at Stephanie, Mike said, “The ‘ton of shit’ Bruce so casually mentions is several small tactical nukes.”
“What?” Stephanie asked, sitting up straight.
Shrugging, Bruce replied, “Small tactical devices that can fit in a backpack.”
Very calmly, Angela pulled out her pistol and laid it on the table. Seeing this, Bruce’s pulse shot up as she looked at him with a small, forced smile. “Baby,” Angela said, clearing her throat, “don’t you think this is something we should’ve known about?”
Not taking his eyes off the pistol, he answered quickly, “Ah, they are all locked in a vault, and Jake changed the combination. The door is over a foot thick and would take some time to cut through.”
Satisfied, Angela showed him a real smile and put her pistol away. “Don’t hide shit like that from us,” she warned with a tone that spoke volumes.
Relief flooded Bruce’s body. “Shit, I don’t know what you two know,” he said. “I was just going over the supplies there last night.”
“So there could be shit there we don’t even know about?” Stephanie asked, and Bruce nodded. She looked over at Angela. “Let’s just launch the planes.”
“I’m game,” Angela smiled.
“Girls,” Bruce said, “we don’t have to breach the site. Jake and Matt will have the doors open for us. Even if they have surprises, we will move too fast for anyone to use them.”
“Shit,” Stephanie scoffed. “If you thought we were about to be overrun, Bruce, you wouldn’t hesitate to pop a nuke. What makes you think others won’t do the exact same thing?”
Shrugging his shoulders, he replied, “Not many think they will be overrun.”
“You would pop a nuke?” Mike asked, dumbfounded.
“Hell yes,” Bruce popped off. “Be damn if I become infected or any of my family. Same goes for being overrun by a human force.”
Walking over Mike dropped in his seat. “You could’ve at least said som
ething about it.”
Stunned by Mike’s reaction, Bruce asked, “What, you wouldn’t?”
Thinking for a minute, Mike admitted, “Yeah, I would grow a mushroom here. But I would have to be damn sure we had no other alternative.”
“Mike,” Bruce said, shaking his head, “I wouldn’t do that unless I was sure there was no way out for any of us.”
Mike let out a relieved breath. “Whew, had me worried there.”
Wanting to ask more about that, Stephanie paused then just let those questions go. “What do you really think your chances of success following this attack plan are?” she asked instead.
Leaning over the table, Bruce clasped his hands resting them on the table. “If everything goes off without a hitch, we won’t have a problem. It all depends on our rides; that’s the only thing that worries me. The assault doesn’t bother me—we will have minimal resistance from most.”
“Oh, so Homeland doesn’t bother you?” Mike asked.
Shaking his head, Bruce confessed, “No not really. They may be good against civilians, but against troops, they won’t be a factor.”
“Well, there are troops there, baby,” Stephanie reminded him.
“Yes, but the rank and file doesn’t like the leadership. Jake has caught several talking about trying to leave. The only ones carrying weapons are Homeland and only when on duty. When off duty, all officers must turn in weapons. Matt and Jake have the vault they lock the weapons in and will secure it when the battle starts.”
A snort filled the room as Angela laughed. “I don’t remember that part of the plan,” she chuckled.
“Didn’t want to announce it in case the boys can’t pull it off,” Bruce responded.
Mike slowly stood. “Brother, you need to start telling me these little bits of information.”
“Where’s your folder I gave you outlining the attack?” Bruce asked, and Mike walked over to a table sitting in the back. He carried it over to Bruce. Taking the folder, Bruce dug through it and held up a sheet of paper. At the top were bold, printed letters that read, For Your Eyes Only.
There were numbered paragraphs on the page, and Bruce pointed at number three. “Well, look at this,” he said. “It says, ‘before breaching the compound, the weapon vaults will be attempted to be taken over via computer, so access will be impossible. I’m assured by Matt and Jake they can do it, but I’m not informing the attack team so they expect resistance,’” Bruce read and looked up at Mike.
Dumbfounded, Mike stuttered, “Well, I haven’t read everything.”
“Not my fault,” Bruce said, putting the page down. “I can’t tell everyone everything, and I can’t make time to get just you and me alone.”
Angela slapped the table. “What about us, bitch!”
Expecting the pistol to be back out, Bruce was shocked as he turned and only saw Angela’s pissed off face. “Both of you have the same in your folder,” Bruce said.
Angela looked over at Stephanie, and Stephanie just shrugged. “I didn’t read it; Bruce went over the attack,” she admitted.
“I only tell the command group every detail,” Bruce said, digging through the folder.
“That’s shit,” Angela mumbled. “Not even you know what the hell you’re going to do when you start fighting.”
“All planning goes to shit when the first shot is fired,” Bruce said, looking over the pages. “Yes, I have several backup plans, but I can’t write them all down because I don’t know what could go wrong. I’ve put down some of them so you’ll know what I’m trying to do. It would take me weeks to type that much up.”
Reaching over, Angela grabbed his forearm and squeezed it. “I know, baby, and you keep doing that.” She smiled. “If you make me go through this birth and Stephanie’s birth alone, I’ll find you in the afterlife and cripple you.”
Pushing the folder away, he asked, “Will both of you quit threatening me?”
Angela looked at Stephanie, who just tilted her head to the side. Angela turned back to Bruce. “It seems to be the only thing you’re worried about,” Angela stated. “We love you with all of our hearts, but don’t even think about leaving us alone.”
Wanting backup, Bruce looked over at Mike, who held up his hands. “Don’t look at me, dude,” he said. “You piss them off, I’m handing them the tools to use on you. Bruce, you know as well as I if I interfere, Nancy will make whatever they do to you seem like child’s play.”
Thinking about that, Bruce admitted to himself Mike had a valid point. Turning to the girls, “Believe me when I say I would never dream of leaving you two alone,” he told them. “Do you want me to stay here and run this war?”
The color drained from Angela, Stephanie, and Mike’s face hearing that. “What?” Stephanie mumbled.
“If you want, I will stay behind and run this war,” Bruce clarified. Mike’s eyes rolled back as his face slammed into the table. Startled by the impact, Bruce jumped and saw where the sound came from. Leaping up, Bruce moved over to check on Mike. Noticing he was alone, Bruce looked over at the girls. Both were just staring at the chair where he had been sitting in utter shock.
“Hey, you two, I’m over here,” Bruce said, pulling Mike’s head off the table. Blood was flowing out of Mike’s swollen nose. Pulling out a handkerchief, Bruce used it to pinch Mike’s nose. Lifting up one of Mike’s eyelids, Bruce only saw white as Mike’s eyes were still rolled back. Feeling along Mike’s neck, Bruce felt a strong pulse. “Can one of you get me a glass of water?” he asked, looking Mike over.
Not hearing either of the girls move, Bruce looked over, and both were still looking at his vacant chair. “Guys,” Bruce called out, but neither moved. “Shit,” Bruce grunted, bunching the handkerchief up tighter on Mike’s nose.
Behind Bruce, Nancy walked in seeing Bruce holding a bloody rag to Mike’s face. “What the hell did you do to my husband?”
“Nancy, he fainted,” Bruce said, not looking back, trying to stop the blood. Feeling the nasal cartilage, Bruce knew Mike’s nose was broken.
“What the hell did you do to make him faint?” she asked, running over as Bruce pulled the rag back. Nancy gasped at the sight of Mike’s swollen nose then looked over at Angela and Stephanie staring at Brue’s empty chair in a catatonic state. “What’s wrong with them?”
Glancing up, Bruce looked over, bunching up the rag. “I just told them if they didn’t want me fighting on the front I would run the war from here,” he explained.
Hearing that, her body locked up, “Huh?” Nancy asked in disbelief.
“They were worried I would get hurt, so I offered to stay behind if it would make them feel better,” Bruce clarified, putting the handkerchief back over Mike’s nose. Hearing a thump, Bruce looked over to see Nancy sprawled out on the floor. “This is exactly why I don’t like to change my behavior,” he groaned. “Can I get some help in here?”
Several people from the monitoring room next door ran in and were stunned by what they saw. They followed Bruce’s instructions, straightening out Nancy on the floor and brought Bruce a bigger rag for Mike’s nose.
Using both hands, Bruce put one on either side of Mike’s nose. “You won’t like this,” Bruce said and pulled it. Mike never moved as Bruce straightened his nose. A person handed Bruce a glass of water, which he drained. He gave the glass back. “Give me another.”
When the full glass was handed back, Bruce poured it over Mike’s face. Mike coughed and flung his arms up, blocking his face, “Ow,” he groaned, bringing his hands to his face.
“It’s your own damn fault,” Bruce said, handing over a new rag. “Check on your wife,” he said and walked around the table.
Mike looked around as he held his nose. “What’s wrong with Nancy?” he asked, not seeing her.
“She’s on the floor,” Bruce said, stopping between Angela and Stephanie. Turning both chairs unti
l they were looking at him, Bruce snapped his fingers in front of their faces. Neither blinked. Hearing running footsteps coming down the stairs, Bruce looked up to see Ted and Carl followed by the kids.
“What happened?” Ted asked, walking over, and saw Mike kneeling beside Nancy, who was laid out on the floor. Then, Ted noticed the bloody rag Mike was holding to his face. “Who got in a fight?”
“No one, Ted,” Bruce snapped as he waved his hand in front of Angela’s and Stephanie’s faces. The kids stopped, spellbound by the sight as Bruce walked over to the table in the back of the room and carried back a glass of water. He looked up at all the kids. “Don’t ask; I’m not in the mood,” he warned.
“What the hell did you do?” Danny screamed, running over to Angela and Stephanie.
Ignoring her, Bruce dipped his hand in the glass and flicked water off his fingers into Stephanie’s face. Giving a startle, Stephanie gasped and looked at Bruce in astonishment. Dipping his hand back in the water, Bruce did the same for Angela, who looked away, then as her brain reminded Angela what she had heard, she whipped her head toward Bruce, locking her gaze on him.
Setting the glass down, Bruce got down on his knees, looking at the two. “I don’t know why that would surprise both of you,” he confessed. “I meant it when I said I would do whatever I had to do to make both of you happy.”
At the same time, both lunged forward, launching themselves out of their chairs. Angela and Stephanie wrapped their arms around Bruce as their weight hit him, knocking him off his knees. As they hit the floor, Bruce grunted with the impact as they kissed his face.
Carl looked over at Ted. “I’m not doing shit about that. If Bruce is in danger from them, he’s on his own.”
Looking away, Ted started to speak but just shook his head and turned to see Mike helping Nancy up. “What caused this?” he asked anyone.
With his eyes watering from the broken nose, Mike lowered the rag from his face as he helped Nancy sit down. Everyone groaned seeing Mike’s swollen nose and eyes. “I’m not saying because no one would believe me,” Mike said, sitting down beside Nancy as a technician brought him a rag with ice in it.
Blue Plague: War (Blue Plague Book 6) Page 25
