Blue Plague The Fall

by Watson, Thomas A.

  Bruce turned to the women and said, “We are here for some supplies then we are leaving. I suggest you do the same. We have killed what was in the school. And we did not see many around as we came here.”

  “About an hour ago a van raced by, and all the ones outside went after it,” Maria told him.

  The van would have been Darrell and Eric. “About how many were outside until the van came by?” Bruce asked her.

  “About a thousand,” she replied. A chill ran down his spine; they had almost walked into a large group.

  “Did the state bring any food here?” Bruce asked hopefully.

  “Yes, the gym is full of those packaged meals soldiers eat,” Lynn replied.

  “Where is the gym, and do we have to go outside to get to it?” Bruce asked.

  “No, you don’t have to go outside. It’s through those doors over there,” she said, pointing to doors on the left side of the auditorium.

  Bruce walked over to the dead officer, taking his duty belt off, slinging it over his shoulder, and putting the pistol back in the holster. Then he patted the dead man down, finding a compact Glock on his ankle. Taking it off, Bruce stood up. After pulling the officer’s keys off the duty belt, he motioned Alex over.

  “Take your ear bud out and listen in on what’s going on. Do not try to talk to anyone; just listen,” Bruce said, handing him the belt. Alex put the earpiece in and turned on the radio.

  “We are out of here in fifteen minutes,” he told his group. He turned to the women and kids, “I suggest you gather what you can and get the hell out of here before more infected or gangs show up. Take as much food and water as you can,” he said to the group.

  “Can’t we come with you? These kids watched their families get killed, out of the gym windows. Maria and I are not prepared to protect them,” Lynn pleaded.

  Bruce was getting ready to say hell no when Mike said, “Of course you can. Bruce, could you come over here, please?”

  When Bruce got close to Mike, with Buffy in tow, he kept his voice low, “Are you crazy? Look at them. They will slow us down a lot. We can’t save the world, Mike,” Bruce told him.

  “I’m not trying to save the world Bruce, just little pieces of it. If we leave them, they will be dead before nightfall. If you won’t lead them out, I will. Now what is wrong with you?” Mike stated, talking low so no one could overhear.

  “I want to be home with our families, Mike. I miss them. Who knows what they are facing without us? I don’t want those kids or the ladies to get hurt. I just want to get home,” Bruce confessed, looking down at the floor.

  “Do you think anyone in the family would want us to leave them, Bruce?” Mike asked.

  “No, you are right, Mike, as always the voice of reason,” Bruce said then added, “Asshole.”

  Bruce turned around and walked across the stage with his shadow following him. Bruce was no more than three feet from the little group as he stopped, looking at each of them. The kids all took a step back, but the ladies stayed in place. Bruce looked the group over; Maria had on flip flops as did both of the little girls. All the boys had on tennis shoes. Lynn had on dress shoes with low heels. Bruce stared at the group, shifting his gaze from one to the other.

  He began, “If you come with us, I’m the boss. Mike is second in command. When we say do something, you do it, no questions asked. If we say go piss on a tree, you do it. You will not ask why or how, just do it. If you see something outside, you will not scream or yell. You will carry your weight, or you will be left behind. You will not eat, drink, shit, or cry until told you can. Do I make myself clear?”

  “You don’t have to cuss, sir,” Lynn said like a teacher.

  “The fuck I don’t. It is a war out there, and people are dying by the millions. Others out there want to rape and kill you then toss your body away like trash,” Bruce said, noticing one of the girls had tears in her eyes.

  Bruce continued, “If you come with us, you will work on the farm as part of our group. It may be one of the last safe places in Louisiana. If you come with us, we will teach you how to fight with guns, knives, sticks, and hands. You will become a badass, but you will always listen to us. Do I make myself clear?”

  The five kids replied, “Yes sir,” together. Hope could be seen on their faces that they could learn how to be safe. Both Lynn and Maria said yes with grateful expressions on their faces.

  “Now, you women will find shoes you can walk in, along with the girls. You each will find a backpack, gloves, and glasses if you can find some. None of you are to put anything in your pack until Mike or I tell you. Now hop to it. We leave in twenty minutes. I don’t care if you are ready or not,” Bruce said. “Where are the patrol cars parked?” Bruce asked.

  “Out back from the auditorium on the far side of the parking lot. You can take the door behind the stage,” Maria informed him.

  “Alex take Cade, Angela will come with us, hold the door open and watch our backs. Call over the radio if you see anything. Alex, you will take the group to the gym. No one is allowed in the school or allowed to leave the gym until we get back,” Bruce finished giving orders, changing magazines in his rifle.

  Alex was taking Cade in his arms, and Susan was moving with her kids, following them to the gym. No one had paid Jim any attention. He was still staring at the dead officer in shock.

  “You killed a cop, you stupid asshole,” he finally managed to get out.

  “Yep,” replied Bruce.

  “He could have shot me, you idiot,” Jim exclaimed as his face turned red.

  “That does it. I’m going to rape him,” Bruce said, starting toward Jim.

  Mike grabbed his arm, “We don’t have the time now. Maybe later.”

  “Did you hear me?” Jim asked with a pissed-off look.

  “Would not been much of a loss,” Bruce replied.

  “He was arresting you, and you shot him,” Jim stated.

  “I was not in the mood to be disarmed, shit for brains. If I remember, you were willing to help him,” Bruce said with his temper rising.

  “Hell yeah, I was. You two are mindless barbarians. Just running around shooting everything,” Jim stated angrily.

  Buffy left Bruce’s side, walking over to Jim at an even pace. She stopped in front of him as Jim looked down at her. Buffy reared her leg back, kicking him on his shin with her little hiking boots. She might be little, but Bruce heard the impact. Jim collapsed on the stage holding his leg. Buffy walked back across the stage to stand beside Bruce, looking back at Jim on the floor. Jim looked at her and was fixing to say something when Bruce brought up his rifle, aiming at Jim’s head.

  “Say anything, and I will kill you. The only reason I have not done so is because of your kids. Piss me off again, and they will lose their father,” Bruce said, looking at Jim.

  Jim became pale looking at Bruce. He could see Bruce’s eye through the scope. He nodded his head to Bruce. Mike came up to Bruce and started pulling him to the back of the stage.

  “Alex, if Jim comes with you, he is to get a backpack, too. If he doesn’t, then he stays here,” Bruce said, looking at Alex with Cade in his left arm and the 1911 in his right hand.

  “No problem, Bruce,” Alex replied, grinning.

  The large group headed to the gym. Bruce, Buffy, Mike, and Angela went to the door behind the stage. They stopped at the door.

  “We are going to the patrol cars. Mike, grab everything in them we will leave behind what we can’t carry in the gym. But we will decide that after we bring it back to the gym. Angela, you will hold the door and call us on the radio if you see anything. Buffy, when we get there, you will stand on top of one of the cars keeping a look out. If you see something, just tell us in a low voice. We have to be fast; we don’t want to get trapped here,” Bruce said to everyone, dropping his pack inside. Mike did the same.

  Reaching down, Bruce pushed the door open, bringing his rifle up and scanning the area outside of the door. Not seeing anything, he went out with Buffy
holding his pants leg and Mike following. Mike moved to Bruce’s left as they headed to the parking lot. Bruce saw the trooper vehicles across the parking lot. One was a Suburban; the other was a regular patrol car, and they were about a hundred yards away. As they moved across the parking lot, Bruce wondered if the troopers’ vehicles had alarms on them. He only had one set of keys, and the idea of setting off a car alarm breaking into the other did not appeal to him. As they walked up to the vehicles, the dilemma was solved for Bruce.

  The door to the Suburban was open, and the other officer was lying on the ground––or more correctly what was left of him. The infected had torn him apart. One leg was missing, and his chest was ripped open. In his right hand was his pistol, and the back of his head was gone. He had made it to the vehicle, but the infected got him and he shot himself in the head.

  Bruce motioned Mike to the patrol car, throwing him the keys. He lifted Buffy to the top of the SUV. Then he stepped over the body and hit the unlock button. Looking in the front, all he saw was a satchel. Grabbing it, Bruce moved to the back. Stopping and glancing in the second door, he saw it had a cage for prisoner transport so he moved to the back. When he opened the door, his radio went off in his ear, and he crouched down. Angela said she was looking at a couple of infected in her binoculars out on the road and several in the trees on the other side of the road.

  Bruce looked toward the road. The school was set about three-quarters of a mile off the road, and Bruce thought he saw something moving but could not be sure. He told her to keep watching and don’t forget about looking to her right and left. He stood back up, looking in the Suburban with awe.

  There were three soft gun cases, one hard one, and six ammo cans. Grabbing the cases and setting them on the ground, he looked back at the ammo cans and realized there was no way he could carry all of this in one trip. A thought hit him, and he walked back to the driver’s door, pulling out his knife. Pulling the seatbelt all the way out, Bruce cut the top then the bottom then he threw the latch back into the cab.

  Walking back to the rear, he slid the belt through the handles on the plastic ammo cans, tying it off. Lifting them up, Bruce was glad he’d left his pack. Slinging them over his shoulder, he grabbed Buffy off the top of the truck. Looking back in, Bruce saw a large tote bag that SWAT teams used to carry gear, and he grabbed it. He motioned Buffy to pick up one of the soft cases, and he grabbed the other two plus the hard case. Turning around, Mike was waiting for him with two soft cases and a tote bag plus plastic ammo cans like the ones Bruce had. He motioned to the dead officer’s pistol on the ground. Bruce whispered, “Leave it.”

  As they started back to the school, their hands were full. If they had to fight, they would have to drop a lot of equipment. Moving as fast as they could, they finally made it back to Angela holding the door open for them. After they made it inside, Angela slowly closed the door. Bruce handed her the two soft cases. She slung the shoulder straps across her shoulder, and Mike handed her one of his.

  Bruce and Mike picked up their packs and almost fell down with the added weight. Bruce told Angela to take the lead since she was the only one who could do something. They followed her to the gym. When they entered, the kids had packs lined up on the floor, and all the girls had on tennis shoes. After Bruce and Mike dropped the spoils on the floor in a pile they stood up stretching. Looking up, Bruce saw the five kids were standing in a line. All of them had on batting gloves and safety glasses. In the center of the basketball court were two pallets of MREs and three pallets of bottled water.

  Bruce looked at the kids, “You with the red hair, get up on the bleachers and look out the window. Tell me if you see anything coming toward us, but don’t yell. Keep your head low so you can’t be seen from the outside. You with the brown hair, take the other side and do the same thing,” Bruce told the two boys, and they each took off to look out the windows. The two girls and the black boy were standing looking at Bruce.

  “You three open up those cases and put ten packages in front of each person’s pack. Then set five bottles of water by them,” Bruce instructed as the three took off running to the pallets.

  Bruce and Mike started to unpack the stuff from the patrol cars as Alex walked over spraying them with the bleach water. They got two M-4s that were full auto; each had reflex sights on them with forward grips and ten magazines each. Then two UMP 45s with suppressors attached were also equipped with reflex sights. Next was what brought a smile to Bruce’s face two P90s with suppressors, lights, and reflex sights. The hard case held a bolt-action sniper rifle. Of the seven ammo cases they brought in, two held 5.7x28 ammo for the P90s––twenty-five hundred rounds in total for the P90s. The rest broke down; two cases of .45, four thousand rounds, two cases of 5.56, two thousand rounds, and the last case held .40 caliber for the cops’ pistols. The next great find was a thermal scope. Like the one Mike carried, it attached in front of a regular scope so you had thermal vision. Now both Mike and Bruce had a thermal scope.

  Bruce called Alex, Angela, Lynn, and Maria over. He asked Lynn and Maria if they had ever shot a gun; they both said they had. Bruce looked at Alex and Angela, telling them to hand over their M-4s to Lynn and Maria. After they passed them off, he handed the M-4s they had gotten from the patrol cars. He explained that they were fully automatic, and Bruce saw Alex smile. He told them to only fire on auto when you want to keep someone’s head down because as soon as you open up, you will become a primary target. Next, Bruce then handed Alex a UMP 45. The UMP was a .45 caliber submachine gun based on an MP-5. It was very controllable but sucked for range. In reality, it was just a big .45 caliber pistol. Bruce then handed the other UMP to Buffy; he told her not to play with it and he would show it to her later. He quickly showed Alex the selector switch safe, single shot, burst, and full auto. There were a total of twenty magazines for the UMPs; he gave each of them ten. Bruce then picked up two magazine pouches for the UMPs; each could hold ten magazines and was worn over the shoulder like a purse.

  Next Bruce picked up a P90, handing it to Angela along with ten magazines and a magazine pouch. He had Mike show her how to operate it fast. The other P90 was going on the other side of his pack with the other ten magazines. He then pulled knee and elbow pads out of the two gear bags, handing them to Alex and Angela. Then he picked up the bags, handing them to Lynn and Maria. He told them to try the BDUs on but to put on the tactical vest no matter what. The two took off to change. He opened the 5.56 boxes and reloaded his empty magazines. Bruce then started breaking the ammo down, spreading it around, laying a stack in front of each of the eight packs, putting a lot in front of Jim’s. Thinking of the asshole, Bruce looked up.

  He was sitting on the bleachers holding his head in his hands, with his elbows on his knees, looking at the floor. Susan was feeding the baby, and Cassandra was sitting watching her. They were sitting on the other side of the gym from Jim. As Bruce was watching them, Lynn and Maria came out wearing woodland BDUs, each wearing a tactical vest and tactical gloves. Maria had on combat boots; Lynn had on the tennis shoes she had found. He called the two boys down from the windows; each said he did not see anything. He told the kids to go to their packs. He wanted the ammo in first then food with the water on top.

  Watching the kids put the stuff in like they were told, he noticed that Lynn and Maria had moved their backpacks and had the tote bags. The bags were a lot bigger than the backpacks they had found, and the tote bags could be carried like backpacks. Bruce had to admit he was proud of them and mad at himself for not thinking of it. He was ever more surprised as they went to the pallets, putting in more MREs and water. Even Jim was loading his pack. Then Bruce sat down beside Mike as he reloaded his empty magazines from the ammo cans. Motioning Buffy over, Bruce loaded her pack with two bricks of .45, a thousand rounds. Then he put five MREs in her pack. Then Bruce put more ammo in his pack, as did Mike.

  Looking at the sniper rifle, Bruce really wanted to take it, but they could not afford the weight. Unless they let Ji
m take it, and that was out of the question. Sighing, Bruce leaned down, patting the rifle. “We have to leave you here. I hope you help someone and not hurt someone. I really want to take you home, but I can’t,” Bruce said quietly to the rifle.

  Once everyone had loaded up their packs, Bruce called everyone over. He watched the kids pick up each pack, putting them on. They were heavy for the kids––Bruce was figuring about thirty pounds per pack. Buffy was carrying as much as they were, plus her clothes, and ammo, so they better not complain. He smiled as Jim grunted picking up his pack, wearing his dress slacks and loafers. Susan was dressed practically with good shoes, jeans, a t-shirt, and batting gloves and safety glasses the kids had found for her. The kids did not give Jim any gloves or glasses, which was fine by Bruce. Once everyone gathered around Bruce, he gave Maria the pistol off the officer’s belt with the extra magazines. Bruce then gave Lynn the compact Glock. He told both to grab a few boxes of ammo out of the ammo can. Looking down at the belt, Bruce took off the Taser and put it on his right thigh. They were leaving the rifle, the ammo for it, and some .40 caliber ammo; the rest was coming.

  “Okay, listen up. This is going to be the order of march,” Bruce said as the red-headed boy raised his hand. “Yes,” Bruce said to the boy.

  “What is an ‘order of march’?” he asked.

  “It’s just how we are to move and what orders you have to follow while we move,” Bruce told him. The boy said thank you, and Bruce started again.

  “Buffy and I will be in the lead. Alex and Angela will be next. Then Susan, Jim, and you kids will be behind them. Lynn, you and Maria will follow the kids, and Mike will protect our ass. No talking, and if you have to, it is only in a whisper; sound carries a long way. Unless your weapon has a suppressor on it, you are not to shoot unless we are overrun. If you shoot a weapon without a suppressor we will have to run, and I mean run for miles,” Bruce stopped as a hand raised from one of the kids.

  “A suppressor makes a gun shoot quieter. Some people call them a silencer,” Bruce said, and the hand went down. “I will set the pace, and you will keep it. I am carrying over 145 pounds of shit. That is almost half my body weight, so keep up. I will not move fast, but I will move steady. We rest when I stop and only then. We will be moving through the woods and only going on the road as a last resort. The batting gloves and glasses that each of you have––keep them on. Do not touch your face with your hands unless you take your gloves off in case you touch something an infected touched. Infected are out there, so we must be quiet. If you see one, do not yell out. Get someone’s attention with a snap of the fingers or a soft clap of the hands. If you yell, you will die and probably get some of us killed,” Bruce finished.