Blue Plague: War (Blue Plague Book 6) Read Free

yeah,” Bruce said and looked at Paul. “Paul, how goes the building world?”
    “All towers are fully operational, and the walkway around the inside of the wall is up. The lake is almost full, and the hydro station will be online in two days. We did a test run, and it works great. The road system you wanted for the compound is underway and should be finished in a month. The air crews asked if we could build some hangers for the aircraft, and I have started that. The barracks are up in Hope. We can now take seventy thousand people here. We will have the dining halls and rec areas completed in a month,” Paul said.
    “I said fifty thousand,” Bruce clarified.
    “Yes you did, but at least this will buy me some time before you ask for skyscrapers,” Paul answered. Bruce shook his head, looking at Paul. “What? I’ve learned if you want something, always do more to save myself a headache later.”
    “Fine, Paul, your point is taken,” Bruce said, grinning.
    Paul looked at Bruce for a minute then started talking. “Bruce, I remember when we were fighting to just keep control of a few miles around us. Where we were going to get food and fight a battle with every blue in northwest Louisiana. Now, we are fighting blues over the Midwest and Eastern seaboard. I remember being stuck in a tree with my family thinking we were going to die up there. You come along and start a war on a scale few can imagine and try to save humanity. That is forward thinking on a scale few are capable of.” Everyone in the command group nodded.
    “Paul, I’m not the one you should be thanking,” Bruce said.
    Looking Bruce in the eyes, Paul said, “I know Debbie asked you to keep this going, but you were doing it.”
    “No, that’s not what I meant. Debbie asked me to save everyone I could and rebuild. I’m still not the one to thank.”
    “What the hell do you mean?” Paul asked.
    Bruce sighed and looked at Paul. “Paul, it was never my plan to bring people here that were not already an asset to the family. If I would have followed my plan, we would be dead.”
    “What the hell do you mean, Bruce?” Nancy asked.
    “I asked Angela and Alex here because they were an asset. They work hard and grew up on farms. It wouldn’t take much for us to invest in them. I never asked Susan and them to join; they just followed. It was after the school Mike and I hit to get supplies that I started to think. I was going to leave Maria and Lynn with those kids; Susan and her two were slowing us enough already. It was Mike who convinced me I was wrong. If people wanted to survive and could live by our rules, then we should save them. That’s not what Mike said, but it’s what he meant. I didn’t understand at first, but if I wouldn’t have listened to him, we all would be dead now. If Maria and Lynn wouldn’t have been there to pass us their magazines when that mob hit us in the woods, we would’ve been overrun and died. The rest I leave to your imagination. Maria and Lynn didn’t know anything, but they tried and it saved us. If anyone needs thanking, it’s Mike. Without him, I can honestly say we would all be dead several times over.”
    Mike gasped, looking at Bruce, then everyone at the table turned to look at Mike. Mike’s face started turning red as everyone stared at him. Nancy hugged and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you, Mike,” Paul said.
    Conner nodded toward Mike and looked at Bruce. “Well, since we have diverted off the subject, I want to ask. Do we have enough to fight this war now?” he asked.
    “Not really. It will take us two decades to fight it, and even then, it would just be a stalemate,” Bruce said.
    “What?” Willie asked.
    “We need to have a five thousand strong attack group out at all times fighting this war. Right now, that is half our total strength, and you can’t keep men out under constant combat conditions.”
    “When did you come up with this?” Willie asked.
    “A few months ago,” Bruce