Blue Plague The Fall

by Watson, Thomas A.

  Chapter 36

  It was 12:15 when Bruce walked out on the other side of the bayou, then he fell to his knees, then collapsed on his stomach. With everything he had on his vest, that hurt a lot. Forcing himself up, Bruce rolled over and rested on his pack. Buffy was watching him and dropped to her butt, falling back on her pack. The rest of the group pretty much did the same as soon as they hit the bank. Everyone was wet and covered with thick gumbo mud that stank. Even the weapons that they had tried so hard to keep out of the muck were covered in mud.

  The trip had been ten times harder than Bruce had imagined. In several places, the water had been up to his chest. It would have only been to his abdomen, but he was sinking almost to his knees in the mud. Making each step took a force of determination. He had never seen more snakes in his life than on that trip through the bayou. When they saw the first alligator, he thought the group was going to start climbing trees. Bruce told them to quit acting like pussies and tighten the lineup; he wanted no more than two feet in between each person.

  Just after 9 a.m. they’d heard gunfire from the checkpoint. It carried on for over forty minutes then just stopped like someone threw a switch. The group had stopped once on a small island to take a breather and drink water. Bruce was looking at his map when he heard something and turned and saw all five kids beating the shit out of Jim with their staffs. He did not care if they killed him, but apparently Lynn did because she had made them stop.

  Bruce stood up after a few minutes and told everyone to get ready to move. He had to get them going again; they were still too close to the dam. He called Mike and Paul over to him as he pulled out his map.

  “Paul, is there a farm close by where we can wash this mud off and refill up on water?” Bruce asked.

  “We can go there. I know them, and it’s close––less than a mile from here,” he replied as he pointed at a spot on the map.

  “The house and barn are too close to the road, as is the property. I want something like yours, way off the main road,” Bruce told him.

  Looking at the satellite map, he pointed and said, “Then we can go to the Snead farm here.”

  Bruce looked at where he pointed. It was actually on the route he had planned. On the map, he saw the small dirt parish road that left the blacktop and passed the farm. Then off the parish road was a driveway that cut back and forth through the fields that led to the house. It was less than four miles away.

  “You know them?” Bruce asked.

  “Yeah, I cut hay for Marcus every year because my tractor and hay baler are bigger than his. He always tries to pay me, but I can’t take money from him,” Paul told him.

  Bruce told him thank you and put his map up. He turned to the group and told them they were moving out and they were going fast. They needed to get away from the dam because infected could hear the gunfire. Next, he told them he thought the military position had been overrun. They had not heard it again, and it stopped too fast. That had gotten everyone’s attention.

  Bruce turned and started walking as Buffy came up to his left side. He led the wet, muddy, and smelly group at a quick pace. The mud that covered everyone started to dry in the heat. Mike called him on the radio several times for him to slow his pace for a few hundred yards to give the group a break.

  They reached the dirt road in less than an hour, but the group did pay a price for the speed. All the water was now gone, and they were approaching exhaustion. They crossed the road and the fence into the Snead farm. The house and barn were almost a mile back, and they still could not see it. Bruce asked Paul how big the farm was, and he said it was over twelve hundred acres. Damn, Bruce thought, almost two square miles makes our farm seem little.

  He saw a small stand of trees in the field and led the group to it. Once they got to the other side of the small stand of trees, Bruce could see the house off in the distance––an easy five hundred yards. He turned to the group and told them he was going to check it out. Paul tried to convince Bruce that he should go, too. Bruce told him no, that there was no way they knew what was up there. It could be infected, bandits, or nothing. He told Mike, if anything happened, to bug out. Mike just nodded at him.

  Bruce walked out of the trees toward the house with Buffy beside him. He almost told her to go back but decided not to. If they were normal people, they would be less likely to shoot someone with a little girl beside him. As they got closer, he could make out a man working on the fence around the house. He told Buffy to put her weapon on her back as he slid his around to his. When they were two hundred yards away, he told her to raise her hands up like him and wave. Just as they raised their hands, Bruce saw a dog run from the house and stand by the man as the man grabbed something that was leaning on the fence.

  As they got closer, he saw an old black man in coveralls holding a pump shotgun with a bloodhound beside him. When he got within twenty-five yards, Bruce stopped and yelled just loud enough for the man to hear, “We mean you no harm, sir.” The old man waved them closer.

  When they got ten feet from the old man, they stopped with their hands still up. “Y’all can put your hands down. I ain’t goin’ to rob you,” he said, smiling. “I don’t know what swamp you two done climbed through, but y’all brought half of it with ya,” the old man said.

  “Yes, sir, we did. My name is Bruce Williams. I am leading a group of men, women, and children to my farm. We just crossed the bayou. One of your neighbors, Paul Stewart, said we might get some water from Marcus Snead,” Bruce told him.

  “Paul is with ya?” the old man asked.

  “Yes, sir, him and his family were trapped up in a tree by the infected when we rescued them this morning,” Bruce told him.

  “You rescued Paul and his family? Bruce, you and your group are welcome to anything at my farm. I will get Carroll, my wife, to get ya some food, and I am Marcus, Bruce. Tell them to come on up, just don’t be yelling; them infected are everywhere,” Marcus said.

  “Sir, just water, a place to rest and clean up. Food is going to be scarce soon, and I don’t want to burden you or your family,” Bruce stated, then keyed his radio telling Mike to come up.

  “Won’t be a burden. We have plenty, and if the rest of your group looks like you, they need it. Then y’all can come inside and wash up,” Marcus said.

  “Please, sir, I wouldn’t feel right about the food, and we can wash in buckets outside,” Bruce pleaded.

  “Okay, Bruce, I won’t offer any, but I ain’t promising for my wife. You can take that up with her yourself, and the name is Marcus. I know my age, Bruce,” Marcus told him.

  “Marcus, I do appreciate this more than you know,” Bruce told him then looked down and saw a bat with nails driven through the end leaning on the fence.

  Marcus saw what Bruce was staring at and said, “You can shoot those crazy blue people, but it just brings more. I made that a few days ago, and it works pretty well.”

  “You have used it?” Bruce asked in astonishment.

  “Yeah, shot one Thursday and then three more showed up. I shot them and ran to the barn and made this up real quick, and ol’ Moose here,” Marcus was patting the bloodhound, “told me more was coming, and I ran down the driveway, and sure enough, seven more were coming. Let me tell you, some of those things can move fast,” Marcus said.

  “You killed a runner with that?” Bruce said in wonder.

  “Runner, eh-, that’s a good name for ‘em. Yeah, Moose grabbed him as he ran at me. As he was trying to get Moose, I whacked him in the head then I popped his friends. Was going to leave them but do they stink. Me and Carroll grabbed a cart from the barn, loaded them up, and dragged them to the edge of the property. Didn’t want to use the tractor; too much noise, why I don’t have the ginny running,” Marcus told him, looking behind Bruce and seeing everyone walking up.

  “Did y’all leave any mud in the bayou, Bruce?” Marcus asked, watching the group walk up.

  “A little but not much,” Bruce replied.

  As the grou
p got closer, introductions were made. They crossed the fence and walked up to the house. Marcus led them to the backyard and four picnic tables sitting under a huge oak tree. Marcus pointed out the water faucet in the middle of the yard.

  “I thought you did not have power?” Bruce asked.

  “Don’t. One of my kids bought me a solar water pump few years back ‘cause we lose power so often here. Let me get Carroll,” Marcus said, heading to the house. A few seconds later, an old black lady wearing a dress came out the door with him. Cheryl got up and went to her but didn’t want to hug her, motioning to her clothes. Carroll grabbed her in a hug then they walked to the group.

  “My word, I can plant two gardens with the mud and dirt on all of you,” Carroll said, stopping in front of the group. “Let me get some soap so you can wash your clothes and selves. Then I will fix something to eat,” Carroll told the group, turning and heading to the house with Cheryl in tow.

  “Ma’am, no food, please. We don’t want to burden you. Times are fixing to be real hard,” Bruce said.

  She just waved her hand at him then walked to the house while Cheryl waited by the back door. Carroll soon came back out and handed her a pile of towels, rags, bars of soap, and bottles of soap. Cheryl started to the group as Carroll went back inside.

  Bruce turned to Marcus and asked, “You don’t mind some of us running around half naked and others naked, do you, while our clothes dry?”

  “Bruce, if I had that much mud on me I would have stripped buck naked and walked home not giving a rat’s ass who saw me. I’m sure y’all have mud in some good places,” Marcus said.

  Bruce laughed and said, “I have at least enough mud in the crack of my ass to plant two or three rows of that garden that Carroll talked about. Can I ask another favor, please?”

  “Sure,” Marcus said.

  “Do you have a large bucket to wash clothes in and some rags so we can clean our weapons?” Bruce asked.

  “Be right back,” Marcus said, heading to the barn.

  Bruce turned to the group. “Lynn, Maria, put your weapons on a table; we will clean them. Take the fearsome five,” what Bruce started calling the kids from the school, “and start washing your clothes, shoes, and packs. Cheryl, you and Chad go with them. Susan, you and the kids go with them, also,” Bruce said, not even acknowledging Jim.

  “The rest of us will start cleaning weapons. Rinse them off with the water hose first,” Bruce said. Everyone nodded as Marcus walked up with a metal washbasin and a new roll of cotton shop towels. Marcus laid the towels on a table and carried the basin to Lynn, who was telling the kids to strip. Everyone went over to rinse off their weapons then headed back to the picnic tables.

  Bruce dropped his pack and dug out a plastic box that had his cleaning kit in it. As he was digging it out, he saw the inner bag had kept everything dry. The outside of the pack was a different story. Mike dug out his cleaning kit as Alex and Paul put two of the tables end to end. Then they started laying weapons out as Bruce took the P90 and SAW off the sides of his pack and put them on the table. Bruce, Buffy, and Angela were on one side of the two tables that were pushed together with their backs to the rest of the group. Mike, Alex, and Paul were on the other side of the table.

  Bruce and Mike took off their tactical gloves, throwing them down, walking over to Lynn, and washing their hands. They came back and sat down at the table as Marcus walked back to see if he could help. Those at the table sat back down after washing their hands with Marcus and watched as Mike and Bruce disassembled their SCARs in less than thirty seconds. They did a complete disassemble on the other parts in another thirty seconds then they took the suppressors apart. There were springs and small pieces of metal spread out in front of them. As they started wiping them down, Bruce stopped and looked up to see they had an audience.

  “Guys, we need to get these weapons cleaned,” Bruce said to the shocked faces.

  They all turned to the weapons in front of them and started field stripping them. No one except Bruce and Mike did a complete disassemble.

  “Never seen anyone but gunsmiths take guns apart that far before,” Marcus said, watching Bruce’s and Mike’s hands fly over the pieces, wiping each one down.

  “I am a gunsmith,” Bruce said, shoving a cleaning rod down the barrel.

  “I ain’t ever seen anyone move their hands that fast over a weapon,” Marcus said.

  Bruce laughed as he finished the big things and then took out a small metal dental pick. Then he started cleaning the little cracks on the SCAR and scopes. In less than ten minutes, he and Mike put their weapons back together. They took off their three-point slings, throwing them by their gloves. They got up and put the SCARs on an empty table without loading them then walked back to the table. Both walked behind the people on their side of the table and disassembled the field-stripped parts. Buffy watched as Bruce took the pieces of her gun and made them smaller. When he walked away, Buffy started wiping down the little pieces, hoping Daddy would put them back together.

  Angela watched Bruce reach over her, take the three pieces of her field-stripped P90, and turn them into more than twenty. She looked up at him.

  “I hope you don’t expect me to put it back together,” she said with hope in her voice. When Bruce told her he would put it back together for her, she sighed in relief and started cleaning.

  Lynn walked up behind Bruce and said, “All right, all of you strip so we can start on your stuff.”

  “That’s okay, I will do mine,” Bruce said, not looking back, grabbing the SAW and getting ready to disassemble it. Mike and everyone else had already stood up and started undressing.

  “Bruce, I was telling not asking. You will let us help you, or I will spank you now, young man,” Lynn told him.

  He turned around, and Lynn was standing there in her bra and bloomers with her hands on her hips. He bent down and started undoing his boots then he kicked them off. He started undoing buckles on his tactical vest and drop holster so he could lay it on his pack.

  Lynn told him, “Take everything out of those vests so we can clean them also.”

  Bruce was going to tell Lynn no but when he looked up at her, decided not to. He stepped over to the empty table and started making a pile and telling everyone they would have to clean magazines, to.

  “Magazines, too?” Alex whined.

  Bruce pulled one magazine out of his vest, turning it upside down and pouring water out to demonstrate why. He then took and separated his vest from the ballistic vest. Then Bruce handed his tactical vest to Lynn, who had her hand out for it. Maria ran over, grabbing the ballistic vest. When she lifted it up, shocked at the weight, she just stared at Bruce as she took it over to the hose. Then Bruce started taking off his clothes, handing each item to Lynn. As he was taking his pants off, Angela turned to him.

  “Leave your boxers on, Bruce,” she told him.

  “I had planned on it, Angela,” Bruce said, looking at her standing in her bra and panties.

  Bruce looked at Buffy, who was standing barefoot in her panties and muddy blue tank top telling Lynn she would wash it later. Bruce walked over to Buffy and sat her back down beside Angela and asked her what was wrong.

  “Everyone will see my boobies,” she said to him in a low voice. “Christina and Julie have bras on, so I don’t want no one seeing my boobies,” she told Bruce in a firm voice.

  Bruce turned around and, sure enough, the two other girls had on training bras and panties while scrubbing clothes. Bruce was sure Buffy had never worn a training bra, but be damned if he was telling Buffy she had to show people her boobies. Bruce looked at Lynn to tell her no one else was telling Buffy, either, when Angela said hold on and went to her pack and pulled out a sports bra that they had gotten from the looted trailer.

  There in front of everyone, Buffy pulled off her shirt, handing it to Lynn, and waited for Angela to bring over the sports bra. Bruce was fixing to say something about her standing there with her boobies exposed as Angela put the
sports bra on Buffy. He decided not to as he watched Buffy jump back to the table with a sports bra that was too big, picking back up where she left off cleaning weapons.

  Bruce walked back to his spot at the table in his boxers and the cake of mud and dirt on him then went back to cleaning weapons. After he finished with the SAW, he put it on the clean table and grabbed his pistols.

  Putting his pistols at his spot, he leaned over Buffy, reassembling her UMP and suppressor then he did the same to Angela’s P90. He told them to put them on the clean table and for Buffy to grab two Berettas, and Angela an M-4. He disassembled his pistols then showed Buffy how to unload and field strip a Beretta. Then Bruce walked behind Angela and broke down the M-4 she had field stripped. Walking back to Buffy, who had field stripped the Berettas, Bruce then broke both of them down.

  With Bruce on one side of the table and Mike on the other, the little assembly line continued. In less than an hour, all the weapons were cleaned. Then Mike told everyone to grab magazines and told everyone to unload them, making piles by caliber. Mike and Bruce showed the assembly line how to take the magazines apart to clean them. This took almost as long as the weapons.

  Hearing giggling behind him, Bruce turned around and saw the four naked boys washing themselves and their underwear with their backs to everyone. It was Julie and Christina doing the giggling, pointing at the boys. When Chad and Ben tried to put their underwear back on, Cheryl told them their bodies were not clean yet. Bruce heard Cheryl yell if they did not get clean she would come over there and do it. The boys started scrubbing with soapy rags really hard. Bruce thought that skin might come off just to keep Cheryl from coming over.

  The toddlers were running around naked, playing in the water in front of Susan. She was holding a naked Joshua while wearing her bra and panties. He saw Jim get up from near the back porch, take off his muddy clothes, and walk over to Susan, holding them out and saying something to her. Then Susan turned around, told him something, and turned back to the kids. Jim started walking toward Susan and stopped when Lynn said something to him, pointing her finger at him. Bruce could not hear what was being said but knew Jim did not like it as he walked over to the wash bucket and started washing his clothes.