Blue Plague: Sacrifice, page 52
“Did you get them?” Debbie asked as she struggled to stand up.
“Yes, I got two, Mama,” Buffy told her as Debbie moved to the game room door and locked it then joined Buffy, watching the hallway and seeing the pile of bodies in front of the door going into mission control.
‘The girls have been busy,’ Debbie thought, looking at the bodies. “Angela, Stephanie, we are in the den so watch your fire,” Debbie told them over the radio.
“We copy,” Angela said as they all waited for more targets to come inside.
The Bradley behind Bruce had pulled back to reload and was replaced by another one as Bruce pulled Omega off the berm. Half of Omega was off the berm when the Bradley was hit with a rocket, blowing it up and knocking the team to the ground. Sitting up, Bruce saw the shooter sixty yards away, inside the fence, dropping his empty AT-4. Bruce brought up his rifle, squeezing the trigger and hitting the man in the stomach and hip which made the man fall down screaming. The attackers had formed a large perimeter inside the farm but they were contained.
Bruce looked at where the semi hit and saw a different group of attackers run through, which make his blood cold. Bruce keyed his radio, “Blues are coming through the breach!” he yelled. All of Omega swung their weapons to the breach and opened up, cutting down those trying to get in. Bruce fired a grenade and joined in the fire to try to fight this new attacker.
Debbie heard Bruce yell over the radio and leaned to Buffy, “Cover me and remember the back door has no glass. I have to close and lock that door,” Debbie told Buffy as she stood up, fighting the pain.
“I’ll close the door, Mama,” Buffy told her.
“No, Buffy. I will. You stay here,” Debbie told her, and then told Angela and Stephanie over the radio.
Debbie slowly moved down the side of the hallway. Every time she moved her left leg, she wanted to puke. She continued to ease closer to the door, stepping on the pile of bodies and keeping her rifle aimed through the open door. When she saw a figure run past the opening, she fired, knocking it down as she continued moving down the hallway.
Reaching the open door, Debbie saw two more men and shot them both in the chest. As she changed magazines it occurred to Debbie that she had a great place to hit the attackers. Lowering her stance, she eased outside, saw a man run towards the front of the house, and shot him. Swinging her weapon to the back of the house, she shot four more. Then seeing something out of the corner of her eye, Debbie dropped to the ground as someone shot at her.
The bullets hit the house where her head was only a fraction of a second ago. Debbie rolled to her right and stopped, shooting the man who had shot at her. Changing magazines, Debbie turned around, looking at the holes in the side of the house. ‘They missed. That was supposed to be it. I made it’ she thought. Ignoring the pain, she got to her knees and started shooting at the attackers.
‘I’m going to live’ she wanted to scream as she swung from target to target. She thought about Angela and Stephanie, ‘Oh well, I get to stay with them after all, they make great wives’. Debbie saw five men dart from the orchard, running to the front of the house. Spinning around, Debbie dumped her full magazine, cutting them down. Then she felt fire on the back of her right arm, making her cry out.
She tried to pull her arm away from the fire but couldn’t. Turning her head, Debbie saw a woman who was about twenty with blue skin. She was latched on Debbie’s arm, shaking her head, driving her teeth through the sleeve into Debbie’s skin. The blue pulled back, taking a chunk of Debbie’s triceps with her.
Raising her right elbow up, Debbie drove it into the blue girl’s face knocking her down. Debbie let her AUG drop on its sling, grabbed her pistol, and emptied the magazine into the girl’s head. Grabbing her arm, she ran for the door, slamming it shut and locking it. Yelling to Stephanie and Angela, Debbie stumbled into the old mission control.
Angela and Stephanie saw Debbie enter with her left side covered in blood and blood on her right arm, and they ran to her. “Debbie, what happened?” Stephanie yelled, trying to get to Debbie’s arm, but Debbie turned away from her.
“I was bitten by a blue. Put a dressing on it, but nothing else,” Debbie told her as Angela grabbed her bandages and wrapped them around Debbie’s arm to stop the bleeding. They looked at Debbie with tears pouring out of their eyes.
“Debbie, you knew,” was all that Stephanie could say.
“What?” Angela gasped.
“She can tell you another day. Please help me to the couch and call Bruce,” Debbie told them. As they helped her to the couch, Buffy came running over.
“Mama, why didn’t you let me go?” Buffy cried out, hugging her.
“I had to go, Buffy. Besides, you saved me already,” Debbie said, rubbing Buffy’s head.
“Bruce, Debbie’s hurt. We’re in the den,” Angela called out over the radio, her voice breaking as she cried.
Bruce froze when he heard that. It was getting hard for him to breathe and his vision was getting fuzzy as he dropped to his knees. Shaking his head, Bruce yelled to Willie that he had command and took off to the house. Running across the patio, Bruce saw the window gone in the back door and jumped through it. Bounding through the kitchen, he stopped in the doorway to the den.
Debbie was lying on the couch with Angela, Stephanie, and Buffy beside her. Running to her, he noticed that blood covered her left side and right arm. The others moved as Bruce dropped to his knees beside her.
“Baby, what happened?” Bruce asked unzipping her vest but she stopped him.
“How is the battle going?” Debbie asked.
“They knocked out another Stryker and just reinforced with another group,” Bruce told her, trying to see her wounds.
Debbie closed her eyes, “How is the battle going?” she asked again.
Sighing, Bruce told her, “Not good. We have around two hundred still inside the fence, and they keep knocking out any vehicle we send. The tank is useless at that range, and every time we try to collapse their line, they reinforce.”
Tears came out of Debbie’s closed eyes, “Can we lose?” she asked.
“Easily. And some blues got in the breach. We stopped some, but some got through. I expect we will have a flood of them soon,” Bruce told her.
“I know. One bite me,” Debbie said, holding up her arm.
Bruce’s heart stopped when she said those words. He fell over her, hugging her tight and crying. Debbie hugged him back and asked him to sit up as she released him. Bruce sat on the edge of the couch, tears rolling down his face. Debbie looked at Bruce, smiling, then became serious, “I want to ask you to do something just for me,” she told him.
“Anything, baby,” Bruce told her.
Debbie smiled, “I want you to kill, Bruce. I want you to go on the wave and show me what you can do when you unleash everything, with no regrets. I want to feel the rage and hate on those that hurt me. Lying here, I want to hear their screams, yelling out, begging for mercy. I don’t want them to receive any mercy. I want them to feel pain, fear, and hate as hell comes for them. I want you to kill them all, unleash your hate. This I want just for me,” Debbie asked, grabbing his hand.
Bruce leaned forward and kissed her, then sat back up, “It will be done,” he said, standing up. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his face paint and smeared black over his face and head. Adjusting the sword on his back and taking the magazines from Debbie’s vest, he looked down at her. “Listen for your music. Buffy, lock the door when I’m through,” Bruce said, then turned and headed down the hall.
Keying his radio, “This is Big Daddy One to all units, hold positions. Do not advance, and check your targets before you fire. Mortar teams, keep your fire on the tree line. Hell has come and it’s time to see what it can do. No one is to shoot a wounded man until cleared to do so,” Bruce called out over the radio then turned it off. Bruce unlocked the door and grabbed the handle, going outside.
Stephanie looked at Debbie who was crying, “You said that you shouldn’t use hate on the wave,” she stated.
“You shouldn’t. Now I know why Bruce was fighting to stay sane in my dreams. I had to ask him that. It’s the only way we stand a chance. He has to unleash the hate and survive it,” Debbie said, crying.
“He’ll be okay,” Stephanie said, kneeling beside Debbie as Angela joined her.
“Yes, physically, he will,” Debbie said then looked at them. “I asked both of you to promise me something remember,” she asked them.
“To watch your family and take care of Bruce if anything happens to you,” Angela said, crying and Stephanie nodded, crying also.
“Will both of you do it?” Debbie asked.
“Yes,” they said together. “Until I die,” Stephanie added. “I’m with her,” Angela said.
“That red notebook you see me writing in is what I want each of you to read, but only the first ten pages. Then after Bruce reads it, I want you two to read it. Inside the front it is an envelope for each of you. When Bruce reads the notebook, I want you to give the other envelopes out in the back. The ones in my nightstand, you will know when,” Debbie said, hearing screams from outside over the gunfire. Closing her eyes, more tears rolled down her cheeks as Bruce moved, carrying out her wish.
“Okay,” Angela promised.
“You can’t do this. How do I know what to do? You’re still teaching me about Bruce and the family,” Stephanie said, falling over Debbie, bawling.
“Stephanie, in the cedar chest in my closet are the journals I have written over my whole life. In those, you will learn everything you need to know,” Debbie told her, hugging her as Angela hugged both of them. Buffy ran over and joined them as Mike ran into the room.
“Debbie, what the hell is going on? Bruce is running around in plain view, literally wading in blood,” Mike said as everyone moved off of her. Mike saw the wounds and looked at Angela. “Get the med kit from mission control and work on Debbie,” Mike told her. Angela got up, running downstairs as Mike looked back at Debbie.
“I unleashed Bruce. I’m sorry, but I just made your job of saving him a thousand times harder. In my nightstand drawer is your first letter, Mike,” Debbie told him and just looked at him with tears in her eyes. “I unleashed hell on earth. Tell our people to stay out of its way. It will kill indiscriminately until it’s saved,” Debbie finally said. More screams started to join the others outside. The difference between a hero and a villain was faith and love, and Bruce was losing both.
Chapter 33
When Bruce stepped out of the door, he broke into a dead run, heading to the fence. Seeing movement on his left, he snap aimed and fired, dropping two men. His skin was tingling as he watched them hit the ground as he continued to run for the fence. In front of him, he saw four men standing together. Bringing his rifle up, Bruce cut them down as he reached the fence. Turning slowly, he started dropping the attackers with gut and chest shots.
Changing magazines, Bruce headed south to the front of the farm until he found the enemy’s line, killing and wounding as he went. The sky was getting light when he found the base of their line and changed mags. They were spread out through the orchard, forming a line to the house and shooting into the farm. He snapped up his rifle, shooting them in the back with one shot apiece, until his thirty rounds were gone. He replaced his mag, repeating it again until the bolt locked back. Letting the SCAR drop, he pulled out the P-90 and continued moving up the line, dropping eighteen more. Then he put up the P-90 and pulled out his sword. Moving to the edge of the orchard at a full run, Bruce came up behind them, slashing and hacking.
No one ever turned around, the thought of them being attacked from behind never crossed their mind, as they continued to fire at the clan. With all the firing they had done without suppressors, all of the attackers’ ears were ringing, and they couldn’t hear the screams of the wounded around them. Bruce would run by one, chopping off an arm or leg. Others he slashed across their back, severing the spinal cord. When he reached the house another fifteen were down from his sword. Wiping the blade on his leg, he put it up and reloaded his weapons.
Bringing up the SCAR, he remembered this feeling from Africa, but this was much more intense. Looking out across the farm, he could feel where they were at. ‘Why didn’t I do this sooner’ he thought and smiled, hearing the screams coming from behind him. He was close to ecstasy as he moved forward and found the line at the corner of the house.
Kneeling down, he memorized where the enemy were hiding and shooting from. Bringing up his SCAR, he snapped off quick single shots, rapidly moving from body to body. Once again, Bruce only gave one shot apiece, in the center of the back. Feeling his bolt lock, Bruce dropped and replaced. Standing up, he ran right behind them shooting them, getting point blank on most, until his bolt locked back. Letting his SCAR hang, Bruce pulled the P-90, snapping off shots as he continued to run. Reaching the fence, Bruce knelt down and changed mags, then holstered the P-90 and reloaded the SCAR.
Listening, Bruce only heard sporadic gunfire from inside the farm, but did hear a lot of screaming, which made him smile. ‘That will make her happy’ he thought, hearing gunfire from the field. Bruce stood up, headed to the breach point, and jumped onto the truck to find six men talking into a radio at the base of the fence. None of them looked up as Bruce let his SCAR hang and pulled out his sword.
Jumping off the truck and landing beside them, he started swinging, slicing several in half. When they were down, Bruce took off to the north, heading to the creek. Seeing a group of blues in front of him that were coming from across the field where he was heading, Bruce reached across his back and pulled out his tomahawk. Running right at the blues then darting to one side, he chopped down seven with the tomahawk or sword, never losing his stride. The blues were spread out in a loose line as he ran forward and took out many more that came at him, which caused the others to stop.
Bruce was still running at the blues when they started letting out loud high pitched yelps and turned around, running away from Bruce. Other blues in the field heard the yelps and repeated them as they too ran away from the farm. Bruce tried to catch the blues, but they left him in the dust, jumping the twenty foot ravine and running across the field into the tree line. Stopping, Bruce pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the blood off his tomahawk and sword. Dropping the handkerchief, he broke into a run to the creek then followed it to the tree line.
On the berm, Paul lowered his M-4 in disbelief. He was fixing to help Bruce by clearing a path through the blues, but they ran away from him and he was chasing them. Paul headed to the house to check on everyone there. The rest of his family was in the mortar pits, still firing rounds into the far tree line. “Mike, tell the mortars to stop firing. Bruce is heading to the tree line,” Paul called over the radio as he headed inside. Walking into the house, everyone stopped and looked up at Paul, who looked scarred by what he just witnessed. Looking around at the crowd in the den, Paul saw Angela wrapping up Debbie’s arm and a large dressing on her side.
“What, Paul?” Nancy asked.
Paul shook his head, “I just watched Bruce charge a group of thirty plus blues with a sword and tomahawk. He cut down over half of them, and then the others stopped. They started yelping and ran away from him. Other blues in the field that were not even heading to Bruce started yelping and ran away also. What the fuck is going on?” Paul asked as Jake came in.
Mike looked at Jake. “I thought you were clearing out the tree line from the water tower?” he asked.
“Don’t have to. Dad is doing that and all the blues ran off,” Jake said, heading to his Mama.
“See, told ya,” Paul said.
Mike walked over to Jake, “Son, I know you want to stay with her, but I need you to get Omega and round up their wounded in one place. Tie up those that surrender who aren’t wounded, then kill all of their wounded. We will decide what to do with the prisoners later.” Mike directed. Debbie told Jake to go, and they would talk later.
Mike looked at Angela and Stephanie, “I need you two to go with Nancy and start tending our wounded. Buffy, stay with your Mama. I’ll send Danny in here. I have to get back to mission control then go help our wounded,” Mike said, watching everyone leave.
Mike looked at Debbie with tears in his eyes, “Debbie-,” was all he could say.
“Mike, it’s okay. Don’t say you wish Bruce would have taken me away, because everyone would be dead now or worse. Did you see him on the monitors killing them?” Debbie asked.
Mike nodded his head, “Yes, from the time he stepped out the door, I watched him shoot almost a hundred men. I lost count on the ones he got with his sword. I swear he was trying to wound them all and not kill them outright. The entire time he was smiling,” Mike admitted.
“I asked him to make them scream before they died as a gift to me,” Debbie told him.
Gasping, Mike replied, “Debbie-,” was all he could say.
“You see what you are up against, but you have to help save him. Give him some time first. You will know when. Remember your promise and just to let you know, Bruce can save humanity. You and the others have to save him first. It might cost you some lives, but you have to do it. Now, go Mike and take care of the clan. I have time,” Debbie said as Buffy laid down beside her. Mike walked back down to mission control as Debbie started talking, giving instructions to Buffy.
Two miles to the east.
Warren just looked at the radio, wanting to know why no one was answering him. Scott looked at him, “That is why you send in more than four radios,” he told him.
“I told you they can track you with them,” Warren growled, looking out at the dawn’s light.
“We are attacking them, who cares if they track us now. The mortars quit, and we took the main house early. They reported taking out Strykers and Bradleys. The heavy guns and snipers quit shooting and they reported blues leaving,” Scott said, leaning back. They were at the end of the road, sitting in the back seat of a Suburban.
