PROJECT BlueBolt - BOOK II - THE GULAG JOURNAL: BOOK II - The Gulag Journal

by Marshall Huffman

  PROJECT BLUEBOLT

  BOOK II

  The Gulag Journal

  By

  MW Huffman

  Project BlueBolt Book II – The Gulag Journal©2013 MW Huffman

  All Rights Reserved

  A WaJe Production

  MAJOR CHARACTERS – The Gulag Diary

  Mark Walker – Former Reporter now Inmate 12125

  Nick Tate – Inmate 9433 - Above Mark

  James Damon – Inmate 1050 – Below Mark

  Damon Lee James – 642 The 7 foot benefactor

  Carl Riker - Camp Commander

  Kyle Jones - Assistant Commander

  Lyle Baker - Security Guard (Red Diamond) – Doesn’t like Mark

  General Lamb – (Actually a spy on the inside)

  Colonel Bigelow – Used to break up protest

  PATCHES FOR ID

  The double gold diamond patch was the camp commander

  The single gold diamond was the assistant commander

  The red diamond were for the Security Force

  Blue diamond patches were Work Force Leaders

  Green diamond patches were Barrack Commanders

  Political prisoners had Yellow Circles

  Criminal prisoners had White Circles

  Non-Classified wore White Square patches

  RESISTANCE/MILITIA (ARM AMERICAN RESISTANCE MOVEMENT)

  General Randal Lamb – Inside man for Thomas Waggener

  General Thomas Waggener

  Admiral Lincoln Bix

  General Lance Uber

  General Ivan Baker

  General Ashcroft

  Major Pearson

  2nd Idaho Militia Leader – Don Casey

  XO Idaho Militia – Al Sharp

  Commander of Idaho Militia – ALBERT (AJ) Watson

  “What is a rebel? A man that says NO!”

  - Albert Camus –

  “Rebellion against tyrants is obedience to God”

  - Thomas Jefferson –

  “Patriotism means to stand by your country. It does not mean to stand by the President or any other public official.”

  - Theodore Roosevelt -

  CHAPTER ONE

  I was still reeling from what had just transpired. I lay on my bunk trying to figure out just how things had managed to get this crazy. I am a reporter, or was, and my name was Mark Walker before I became known only as 12125. I had my finger on the pulse of what was going on in the world. At least I certainly thought I did. How could I have been so blind, especially after people tried to warn me? Was it because I just didn’t want to believe such a thing was possible in America or had I just been one of those that stuck their heads in the ground and hoped it would all work out in the end?

  It didn’t really matter; the results were the same. I had been arrested for unspecified charges, told I had been found guilty in a trial I didn’t know even took place, and been sentenced for an unspecified length of time. If it wasn’t so serious it would almost be funny. Laying here on my bunk it didn’t seem so funny at the moment.

  The indoctrination had been nothing short of frightening. I was there until such time that they determined I was no longer a threat to the government. What threat? What had I really done? Follow a couple of story leads? What difference did it really make? The government had already suspended the 1st Amendment when they created the Media Czar and forced all reporters to have credentials approved by the Czar. Anyone that didn’t follow the government’s reporting policies would find they no longer had a job so what was the big deal?

  At this point it didn’t really matter. Here I was in an internment camp in the middle of Nowhere, New Mexico and not a soul knew where I was. For all practical purposes I had just vanished off the face of the earth.

  My mind was still reeling with the rules of the camp. I would have to learn all the designation patches quickly or I would find myself in a lot of trouble. They had made it very clear that the slightest infraction would be met with severe punishment. What the punishment was, wasn’t spelled out, and I didn’t have any desire to find out what they meant.

  The double gold diamond patch was the camp commander

  The single gold diamond was the assistant commander

  The red diamonds were for the Security Force

  Blue diamond patches were Work Force Leaders

  Green diamond patches were Barrack Commanders

  Political prisoners had Yellow Circles

  Criminal prisoners had White Circles

  Non-Classified wore White Square patches

  I wasn’t too concerned with the last three but the five others were the most important ones. The gold ones were no brainers but the others I would have to be careful of until I was sure what each stood for.

  It was difficult to fall asleep. Men snoring, having nightmares, and suddenly yelling out in the night were constant deterrents. Added to that was the bed itself. The mattress was thin and I couldn’t find a way to get comfortable.

  I didn’t know what time it was when I had finally drifted off but it seemed like only moments before a blaring noise came over the loudspeaker. Immediately men piled out of their bunks, most grabbing clothes and heading for the bathrooms.

  “I take it that means it’s time to get up,” I asked but no one bothered to answer me.

  A few minutes later I was standing there alone. I dressed, looking around wondering what was really going on. Men would finish in the bathroom and immediately leave the barracks. I finished dressing and headed to the bathroom. There were lines everywhere. I was amazed that with all these men, no one said a word.

  “Kind of busy,” I said to the guy next to me but he didn’t even look over.

  “Okay,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

  I stood there watching as men hurried about their business and just as I was getting near the bathroom stall a loud whistle sounded. Men groaned and started shoving me out of the way as they took off out of the building. I looked around and found I was standing all alone. I walked to the barrack’s door and stepped outside.

  I was immediately knocked to the ground by someone grabbing me by the back of the hair and tossing me like a discarded rag. I looked up just as a hand yanked me up by the front of my shirt.

  “You scumbag. Don’t you dare come walking out here like you are on your way to a picnic. You run like everyone else or do you think you are too good?”

  “I didn’t…”

  A fist slammed into my stomach causing me to double over.

  “Did I ask you to talk? Who the hell do you think you are? This is my barracks and I will not have someone like you disgracing it. Building G is mine and you will comply with my rules do you understand?” the man shouted.

  I decided the best thing to do was just nod my head. I stayed down until the man finally told me to get up and get in line. I scrambled to my feet and fell in at the end of the line.

  We stood there while each man’s number was called out. I was slightly freaked out. I knew my number was 1212 but wasn’t sure of the last number. Finally I decided I was the last one arrested as far as I knew so I would just call out when the last number was called. Fortunately for me it worked.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Day 1

  I decided I would keep a diary of each day that I was incarcerated. My first task was to get the necessary materials. That would not be easy. I knew better than to ask anyone so I would just have to figure it out for myself.

  As soon as roll call was over those assigned to various groups were sent to gather the necessary to
ols. I knew I had been assigned to do road work whatever that meant. I got in line and moved along as each person stepped up and was given a shovel, hoe or rake. I was given a shovel and my number was recorded next to the one on the shovel. I wondered what would happen if I lost it. Probably nothing good, I decided.

  Once we all had tools we were walked in a line to one of the gates. A soldier with a red diamond on his shirt opened the gate. Red diamond. Security Force I decided. I really needed to learn them before I got into trouble. If I was asked what the patch was for and I didn’t give the right answer I could be disciplined, whatever that meant.

  We were matched to an area almost a mile from the camp. Several armed men with the same red diamond on their shirts were walking along beside us. Definitely Security Forces, I decided. The man at the head of the column had a blue diamond patch. I figured he must be the work leader. I looked around and saw the group of workers was made up of different prisoner designations.

  Political prisoners, criminals and non-classified were all inter-mingled. It was the criminal prisoners I was most curious about. What did you do to be classified as a criminal? Did that mean they had murdered someone or had robbed a bank? Maybe they did nothing more than spit on the sidewalk for all I knew. One thing for sure, I would try to stay clear of them until I learned more about who was placed in each classification.

  I looked at my yellow circle. I was designated a political prisoner just because I was a reporter. Unbelievable. Finally the leader called a halt and men began spreading out and going to work. I had no idea what I was supposed to actually be doing so I stood next to another man with a shovel and started doing what he was doing. It didn’t seem like he was doing much of anything really. He would take a small scoop of dirt and toss it over to the side of the road. I shrugged and started doing the same thing.

  Every few minutes the man would move a few feet and start doing the same thing. It didn’t seem like anything was really getting accomplished but it didn’t seem to matter. I looked around and saw most people were just going through the motions of working. What the heck was this really all about?

  We went on like that for five hours before the work leader called a halt. Men began pulling out small chunks of bread and chewing on them. A water bucket was placed in the center of the road and a few walked over and got a drink.

  Where did they get the bread I wondered? We weren’t given breakfast so how did they get it? That’s when I realized just how hungry I was. I wasn’t given dinner last night and nothing this morning. It looked like getting something for lunch was out of the question. One thing for sure, if I was going to live I needed to understand what was going on and how a person survived.

  The indoctrination had been almost totally worthless. It wasn’t much more than a list of what I had better not do. It didn’t give me any information about how to survive. Maybe that was the idea. I wondered how many died because they couldn’t adapt to this kind of life.

  I looked around and saw that not one man was sleeping even though the temperature had continued to rise through the course of the morning. Maybe there was a punishment for sleeping. One thing I knew for sure, I damn sure didn’t want to find out.

  Twenty minutes later we were told to get back to work. I got up and resumed the mindless task of moving dirt. Maybe that’s how they killed you, made your mind just give up. It would have been pretty funny if it didn’t seem to have an element of truth to it.

  ****

  We worked five more hours before we were told to stop, line up, and march back to the camp. I was parched and starving by the time we finally reached the camp. A different guard opened the gate and each prisoner was marched to the work shed and their name checked against the tool number. I hadn’t let mine out of my hand so I wasn’t the least concerned.

  I wasn’t sure what to do next so I just watched. Most men went to what I assumed was their barracks. I found G barracks and just stood there watching. No one seemed to be going inside. Maybe you had to have permission. Most of the men were sitting or leaning against the wall. I walked over and sat down between two other guys.

  I looked over at them and wondered how long they had been there. Their faces were weathered and lined. They could have been the outdoor type for all I knew but as I started looking around I realized there was an inordinate amount of weather worn faces.

  Both men on either side of me had on the same yellow circle patches that I had.

  “Political prisoner huh?” I said to the one on my right.

  The guy didn’t reply. I turned to the other man.

  “Does anyone talk here or is that against the rules?” I asked.

  The guy used his finger to write ‘QUIET’ in the dirt and then quickly erased it.

  What the hell? They didn’t say anything about not being able to talk. A whistle sounded and the men immediately went to the barracks. I followed along as confused as ever. Most of the men went to the bathroom and a few showered in open stalls, some used the facilities, and others washed in the hand sinks. I decided I would just use the sink. I waited my turn and then splashed water on my face and head. I used my fingers to comb my hair the best I could. When I came out most of the men had gone back outside.

  I went out and saw they were starting to get into lines. Supper time I decided and joined in one of the lines. We stood there for a good twenty minutes before the same man with the green diamond patch who had knocked me around earlier came out and stood at the head of the three lines.

  I wondered what we were waiting for but a few minutes later a man with a single gold diamond came from someplace. The Barracks Commander handed him a paper. The man took it and looked it over before handing it back and nodding his head.

  A few minutes later we were being led to what I hoped was the chow hall. I was starved and was more than ready to eat. I was shocked when we were led to a huge open area. Thousands of others were already there in long lines. It was going to take forever to get in. We joined in behind the line directly in front of us. One line would move up and go into the chow hall and then the next would take its place.

  At least we weren’t the last ones. I noticed others continued to come into the staging area. It was almost another hour before we were able to enter the mess hall. The line moved fairly fast and no one was given a choice I soon discovered. Food was slopped on the tray and we were quickly moved along.

  I found a place to sit and looked at the meal. Rice and beans, a chunk of bread, some kind of vegetable that I did not recognize and two raw carrots. I started gulping it down but the man next to me reached over and placed his hand on my arm. I looked at him and then he reached into his own tray, broke the bread in half and placed part of it in his pocket and nodded at me.

  I nodded back and did the same. Then the man took a couple scoops of the rice and beans and put them in his shirt pocket. I looked at him a second and the man nodded. Hey, he is still alive. I did the same. Just as quickly the guy started eating again. He ate every morsel on the tray and looked like he wanted to lick it but instead he got up and took his tray to the dirty tray stack.

  I wasn’t too sure about the vegetable but I ate it anyway because I noticed no one was leaving anything on their plate. I wanted to ask if this was the only meal they got but decided I would just wait and see. If it was, it was going to be necessary to not only conserve energy, but to horde food whenever I could.

  Once we had finished, we were marched back to the barracks. Marched isn’t the exact word. We were in rows of four but no one made any effort to stay in step and no cadence was called. When we reached the G barracks we went inside and immediately brooms, mops and scrub brushes were distributed. The men seemed to know the routine and immediately set to work. I was given a mop and bucket of water so I immediately started mopping the floor.

  “Are you stupid?” the Barracks Commander screamed at me when the mop hit the floor.

  “I...

  “Shut up you moron. You mop after the floor has been swept. Are you al
ways this stupid or is this a special day?” he screamed at me.

  I knew there was nothing I could say that would help so I just stood there waiting.

  “Idiot, get the water off the floor, you’re holding everything up,” the Commander shouted and stormed off.

  I looked around and everyone was watching me. I wasn’t sure what to do so I wrung the mop out with my hands the best I could and soaked up as much water as possible. Everyone else had gone back to work. Someone threw me a towel and I used it to get up the rest of it.

  We spent the next three hours cleaning every inch of the place. At 9:50 p.m. all the cleaning gear was collected. As soon as the men turned their equipment in, they made their way quickly to the bathrooms. As soon as they were done they would come and stand at the end of the bunks. I joined my group and stood there the same as they did.

  At 10:00 p.m the barracks commander came in and did a walk through inspection. He checked everything from the window sills to the sinks and commodes. Evidently he was happy enough and we were immediately told to turn in. The lights were turned off and everyone scrambled into their rack.

  I climbed in my bunk and tried to put my feelings into perspective about the day. It hadn’t been all that hard physically but the lack of meals was a concern. Surely they didn’t expect people to live on one meal a day. It didn’t take me nearly as long to fall asleep this time.

  CHAPTER THREE

  DAY 2

  I was disoriented for the first few seconds and then I realized where I was and that I needed to a move or get the same treatment as yesterday. I grabbed my clothes and immediately headed to the bathroom. Several others were already there but I dressed as I stood in line. Just as soon as I finished brushing my teeth with my finger I headed out the door and got in line.

  I wasn’t about to get knocked around this time. Finally the last of the men came out and joined the others. Once again we were all taken to the work shed and given tools. I signed for a hoe this time. The same routine of being marched out of the gate and down the road was followed just like the day before.