Blue Plague: Decisions, page 1
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
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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 whateve
“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.
