“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.

 

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