Blue Plague: Decisions, page 39
“Well at least you didn’t run and bury your tomahawk in the fucker that shot you,” Ted said.
Bruce’s eyes bulged as Angela and Stephanie at the same time slapped the table with both hands. “What!” they cried out together.
“Daddy was issuing orders and someone shot him in the chest,” Mindy started telling the story as Bruce was shaking his head ‘no’ at her. “We were backed up against the lake with the enemy all along our perimeter. Daddy pops up after he got shot, sees a man duck back behind a tree, and takes off running at him. The man was over a hundred and fifty yards away but the enemy’s line started eighty yards from us. Daddy had to run through their line as David and I shot those he ran by as they tried to shoot him in the back. Does he grab a pistol or use his rifle? No, he pulls his damn tomahawk and buries it in the man’s skull. Then he almost gets blown up when an Apache blows up a trailer fifty yards away from him that a hundred attackers were hiding behind,” Mindy said with a peeved voice.
“You said you didn’t know where that bruise on your chest came from!” Stephanie yelled.
“Well to be honest I didn’t until I watched my helmet cam two days ago,” Bruce replied truthfully.
“You were shot but didn’t remember that?” Angela asked, not believing him.
“I do remember I was really pissed at that asshole but—” Bruce shrugged, leaving it hanging.
Ted coughed to get their attention. “Uh ladies, I have to say when Bruce jumped up he was actually foaming at the mouth. I could’ve stopped him but by the look in his eyes, I didn’t want to set him off behind our lines,” Ted told them.
“We will talk later,” Stephanie said, sitting down.
‘Maybe I should get her some more flowers … that might help’, Bruce thought.
The meeting lasted another hour, then Bruce dismissed the rest of the command group. He sat there for another hour, writing out his note to Walker.
Chapter 26
Walker was sitting in his room for a while, then got up and started pacing back and forth. He looked at his watch, which read 0141. ‘What if I just imagined it,’ he thought. ‘If I did, then so what,’ crossed his mind. ‘What am I prepared to do if it’s really Bruce,’ he asked himself for the thousandth time. And the same response crossed his mind, ‘You’re willing to kill the senior leadership and sacrifice the people here, troops and civilians alike, just to give New Hope a chance.’
Then Walker stopped pacing as a thought occurred to him. ‘Holy shit, I can save the people and my troops if I get some help,’ he thought. He smiled. He loved his troops, and if he could give them a chance he would, along with the people they were sworn to protect. Glancing over at his laptop, he saw his inbox was still empty and he started pacing again. A few moments later, his computer beeped. He looked at his inbox and saw one message from ‘Unknown.’ Walker looked at his watch: 0154. He reached for his laptop just as his printer went off and the message disappeared. He gaped at the screen in confusion.
Then a communication box popped up on his screen. ‘Never mind the delete part, already did it. Please read hard copy that printed and you need to get more ink for your printer,’ he read, and then the box disappeared. Walker moved over to the printer and grabbed the papers and started reading.
“Print this now and delete the e-mail with the attachment before reading. Your network is under surveillance,” was printed across the top in huge letters. The he moved to the body of the message.
“Hey Hammer (Gene) from Dark Knight (Bruce). Just to let you know it’s me. To prove it, we were right in the Philippines.”
Walker took a breath when he read that. ‘Only Bruce would know that,’ he thought, and continued reading.
“Gene. First, Adam made it here with his wife and they’re okay. He is part of Omega now and his wife is in training. We know about your UAVs and have hacked your entire network. It’s good to know you are okay old friend, but if the government attacks us we will wipe you out. I watched your briefing with the president and after what Adam told me I have to agree, you appear willing to sacrifice them to give us a chance.
Your attack looks good on paper but we both know it would wipe you out even facing a smaller force. My LT would never be that stupid (only a Colonel? I thought the Army would be yours by now). If you are willing we will help you anyway we can, but I will not sacrifice my clan for anyone. It has been bought and paid for with blood, our blood. I know I’m asking a lot but if you are willing to sacrifice troops, which is against everything you are, working together I’m sure we can come up with a way to save them and the people up there (not the president or his entourage and that goes for Homeland also. Very sore subject here.).
If you are willing, get a one gigabyte flash drive and put it in your computer. If you have a web cam hook it up also. My son says your laptop is ancient, a piece of crap, and he hacked your password in seventy seconds. Gene, come on, your name and social? He suggests at least reversing the number and spelling.
When you put in the flash drive we will know you want to talk. If you don’t have one put one in tomorrow at midnight. All times will be your time not ours. My son Jake wants to add something.
Hello Sir if you try to double cross us I promise your system will crash and I will use the UAVs to drag every horde I can to your doorstep. Thank you, Jake.
Hope to hear from you. If not you will always be remembered as a friend no matter what.
Dark Knight
P.S. Love the shaved head look and destroy this note no matter what you choose.”
Walker went to the sink, took out his lighter and lit the corner of the paper and tossed it in the sink; then he moved to his desk, taking out some flash drives and his web cam. He went back to the table, laying the things by the computer. “Well, put up or shut up,” Walker said, sitting down. He plugged in the web cam, then plugged in the flash drive.
His computer started to whine as the hard drive started working. New program screens came up, asking permission to add software, and someone was clicking ‘yes’ but not him. With all the noise his computer was making he started worrying that it was going to break. Then he saw the red light on his web cam come on, then the screen went blank. When it came back he saw a shaved-headed white male with a goatee looking at him. Then he realized he was looking at Bruce.
“Bruce?” he asked.
“Gene, you are one to question my looks. You always looked like someone chiseled you from a block of marble,” Bruce said, grinning.
“Well they ran out of marble so they started using play dough on me,” Gene replied, smiling.
“Okay Gene, I would love to sit and chat but my son has me on a clock here. Do you want to try to save them up there? If you do, you realize you might have to kill a few of them,” Bruce said somberly.
“I’d already made that choice, Bruce. At least now my sacrifice won’t be in vain,” Gene told him.
“Well then, keep selling your plan, but I’m going to tell you I’m fixing to knock out your UAVs,” Bruce said.
“Took you long enough, shit, you’ve had Patriots for over six months. I know you can read a field manual,” Gene popped at him.
“Gene, we’ve been a little busy and by the time we knew about you the damage was done. Then I just let y’all watch as my sons took over your system,” Bruce told him.
“We keep a UAV over you at all times and when you move to the field,” Gene said.
“I know, we’ve been watching it. The boys took your satellites, then hacked your system. But like I said I’m fixing to destroy all three of your UAVs,” Bruce said.
“You know how many we have?” Gene asked.
“Gene, we know how much you have of everything: guns, bullets, people, and food. If it’s in a computer, we have it,” Bruce told him.
“Oh that’s good,” Gene said.
“Gene, if you need to talk to us, go to the camera at the end of the hall outside your door and stretch. Wait five minutes, then hold up fingers telling us how many hours until your call. At that time plug in that flash drive. Don’t plug it in any other computer because it will crash it, then the system. If your old laptop dies, get a new one and change it to your name and plug it up in your room. Don’t worry, right now you are being shielded so they can’t see what’s going on, but we can only talk for ten to fifteen minutes at a time. The NSA guys are a joke, but you have two there that are pretty good on a computer, according to my son,” Bruce said.
“Those would be the Homeland cyber officers,” Gene told him. “You mean you can see every camera?” he asked in awe.
“Sure can. Right now, the President is fondling two teenage girls, General Givens is passed out on his bed, and the NSA guy is watching another porn and spanking his monkey again. That man needs a woman,” Bruce told him.
“There are no cameras in the President’s area or the general’s quarters,” Gene said.
“That’s true, but the President leaves his laptop open and on, as does the general. But they have monitors in the troops’ quarters,” Bruce told him.
“Can you tell me where?” Gene asked with a grin.
“Yes. Each tent has a heating and cooling element in the center. They are all on the exhaust going to the outside,” Bruce told him.
“Can you tell who is monitoring them?” Gene asked, and saw Bruce look away.
Turning back to the monitor, Bruce replied, “Homeland.”
“Thank you Bruce, we have a lot of different agencies here. I will address that tomorrow,” he told Bruce.
“Why take the risk?” Bruce asked.
“Bruce, Homeland is trying to rule through total fear and oppression. I finally have been able to throw some mistrust at them and got some of their power taken away,” Gene said. Gene watched Bruce look up and move over as a young man that looked a lot like Bruce leaned in front of the camera. “Sir, do you have an IPhone?” he asked.
“No, but one of my captains does,” Gene said.
“Borrow it tomorrow and hook it to your computer. I will download the satellite radio on it and a regular FM download. Go in a tent and act like you are going to listen to the news broadcast and you will get a live feed when you are twenty feet from the cameras,” he said.
“You must be Jake,” Gene said. “The last time I saw you, you were in diapers. I’m glad to see you’ve grown into a good man.”
“Thank you sir, and try to get the phone before 0900. That’s when the mob squad hits the main frame,” Jake said, moving away, and Bruce moved back to the screen.
“Bruce, I have to ask, where’s Debbie and why do you have two wives?” Gene asked. When he saw the look on Bruce’s face, Gene would have given anything to take his question back.
“She died Gene, in that attack in March. She was shot, then infected. The rest will have to wait for another day,” Bruce said.
“I’m sorry, more sorry than you know, Bruce. Debbie was an awesome woman even though she tried to get me married three times,” Gene said.
Bruce started laughing at that. “You could have picked one of them,” he said.
“I will tell you the story of the last one, my friend, another day. And Debbie would be proud of me,” Gene said with a remorseful tone.
“Gene, the only way we will contact you will be when you are around a monitor. It will start to blink and turn off. You contact us with the camera at the end of the hall. If you get compromised, call out ‘gold’ and we will come and get you. I promise you that. When you call, the person sitting in this chair will let me know, if I’m not in it myself. Have a war to fight and all. We are fixing to attack the super horde that is moving out of Georgia,” Bruce told him.
“Bruce, that group is twenty million strong,” Gene gasped.
“No, they are over thirty million strong,” Bruce corrected him.
“Bruce, they shouldn’t cross three states before winter. Wait,” Gene begged.
“Gene, they are wiping out the survivors who have managed to stay hidden. If we don’t start taking the war to them, there won’t be much of America left to save,” Bruce said.
“Damn it, you better save some for me, asshole. You remember I’m the officer,” Gene told him.
“Yes, but I’m the boss now. Till next time, Gene, stay safe,” Bruce said, and the screen went blank. The Windows desktop came back on, then a small communication box popped up and Gene read,
“You have a new file. It says hubba hubba. It’s just porno videos in case anyone tries to hack you while you’re shielded. Don’t worry, when Dad saw what I was going to load up he freaked and sent these. They’re good ones, Dad said.”
Then the box disappeared as Gene started laughing. ‘That boy is just like his daddy, he tries to cover as many bases as humanly possible, and if not just bulls through,’ Gene thought. Getting up, he walked over to the sink where he washed the ashes down, then looked in the mirror. He saw something he had not seen in over a year on his face. A smile filled with hope.
Back in Louisiana, Bruce was stepping out of ‘Oz Control,’ also known as Jake and Matt’s computer area. It was almost 0300, and he headed into Mission Control. He stopped in the command bunker and started working on a plan to fight the super horde.
It was 0600 when the camera crew came in and started setting up so Bruce could broadcast the Sunday meeting to the clan. It had been months since he had done it. He felt guilty about it but he’d had so much to do. Mike and Marcus had taken over the responsibility and would travel around the base updating everyone.
Bending back over his maps and notes, Bruce continued to work for another thirty minutes until Angela and Stephanie came in. He laid down his pen and stood up. “Hello hotties,” Bruce told them, grinning.
“Baby, you should’ve got some sleep,” Stephanie told him, kissing him and moving over for Angela.
“You’re bitchy when you’re tired,” Angela said, standing on her tiptoes as he bent down and kissed her.
“I’ll sleep tonight. How about y’all get Millie to pack a lunch and let’s take the kids out and have a picnic after the meeting,” Bruce suggested.
“You have to wait till after church, but it’s a deal,” Stephanie told him.
“Fine with me,” Bruce said as Angela held up some clean and pressed ACUs. “What are those for?” Bruce asked.
“For you, dummy,” she said. “You can’t go on wearing clothes that look like shit.” She started to undo his shirt.
“I’m a boy who cares,” Bruce said.
“This is our job, so drop it,” Stephanie said, bending down and untying his boots. “Don’t wear your vest, either.” She tapped his leg to pull his boot off.
“You know I can undress myself, I’ve been doing it for a while,” he told them as they stripped him down.
“Yes, but you would just talk and try to stall. This way we take you out of the equation,” Angela said, pulling his shirt off and trying to get his t-shirt off.
“You two act like I’m a special-needs child,” Bruce said, taking his t-shirt off for her.
“Well to be honest, you are at times,” Stephanie said after taking off his other boot and standing up. She turned around to one of the camera crew. “Upstairs to the kitchen, get a bowl, fill it with hot water and bring it here,” she told them.
“You’re going to bathe me?” Bruce cried out.
“No, just shave you. Right now you look like a serial killer,” Stephanie told him, setting down his shaving kit.
“Don’t y’all think this is just a tad overboard?” he groaned as the Mission Control crew walked through, changing shifts. They all grinned at the sight of two women working Bruce over.
“Sit down, please,” Angela told Bruce, who was now down to his boxers.
“This is ridiculous,” Bruce said grumpily, sitting down.
“Did you say something, baby?” Stephanie asked.
“No,” Bruce said as a bowl of hot water was placed on the table. Jake came in as the two worked on Bruce and he just grinned at his dad as he set up his computer. As Stephanie shaved, Angela trimmed Bruce’s goatee with little scissors. Then Angela started on his nose and ears. Bruce wanted to say something but figured it didn’t pay to piss off someone who had a sharp instrument stuck up your nose.
When the two finished, they dressed Bruce and then stepped back, looking very satisfied with their work. Bruce had to agree, looking down at his pressed uniform and shined boots. He looked at the girls and smiled. “Thank you, but I could’ve done it myself.”
“We like stripping you down, baby,” Angela told him.
“Hey, I’m down here and don’t need to know that!” Jake yelled out.
“Cover your ears, sweetie,” Angela said, and Bruce wondered why he had never said that.
“You look good baby,” Stephanie said, smiling.
“Thank you, but what is the point? I want people to see me as a warrior, not a cleaned-up troop,” Bruce said.
“Baby, everyone here knows you are a warrior, but Angela and I thought they needed to see you cleaned up. It’s much easier to listen to someone who has a clean, commanding appearance than one who has been back at base for days and still looks like crap,” Stephanie told him.
“They know I’ve been working to keep them safe,” he replied, pouting a little.
“Now they know you’re keeping us safe and taking care of yourself, too,” Angela told him.
Giving up, Bruce sat down and started getting the maps and pictures of the horde out of the way. The two started helping him until the end of the table was neat with everything in stacks. “Thank you again,” he told them. “You two staying for the broadcast?”
“If you want us to. Are you nervous?” Angela asked.
“No,” Bruce replied truthfully.
“Don’t you get nervous?” she inquired.
“Oh yes,” Bruce told her as he pulled out his notes for the broadcast.
“But not now,” she said.
“No, nobody is shooting at me or trying to eat me alive.”
Stephanie grinned and leaned forward. “I thought about when we stripped you,” she stage-whispered.
Bruce’s entire head started turning red as Jake popped off, “Hey, did you not hear, I’m in the same room and don’t like hearing this!”
