For some time, Chancellor Kohl had been pushing the members to increase military spending and that all troops be placed under a central command. Hers! She used the reason of recent Russian aggression, the threat from Iran, and the growth of ISIS.
The members resisted on all fronts, with Britain being the biggest opponent of the proposal. Also, the eastern European countries resisted as well, because in past years, they always felt that the United States would protect them from any aggressive behavior from Russia or the threat from Iran. But lately, they have started believing that with the agenda of the current American President, protecting Europe was not a priority.
France objected to the fact that British representatives were not present. The Chancellor stated that she just wanted to have informal talks, without their input and influence, as even with the present administration in Washington shunning the British leaders lately, they still support the United States on most issues and the U.S. had heard of her proposal and was adamantly opposed to the idea.
She started the meeting talking about the collapse of the American economy and the chaos that it had caused around the world. She also told them about the President’s request for monetary aid and explained the options that she had given the President.
France once again objected to the fact that she made the unilateral decision, without consulting the rest of the Union members and suggested other alternatives. Most the members didn’t want to challenge the Chancellor, so the objections were noted but then dismissed.
She listed the reasons for a unified military, using Russia, Iran, ISIS, and the fact that America wouldn’t have the ability to come to the defense of Europe. She also brought to their attention the fact that under the present administration in Washington, that America had shown that they no longer supported their allies and that was before their economic problems.
After hours of discussions, she called for an informal vote. The count was twenty-two for a unified military and five against.
The Chancellor had what she wanted. All she had to do is call a formal meeting that included the British. She was sure that they may swing a few votes over to vote against the proposal but not enough.
Chapter Nine
“When you justify jealousy, hate, and bitterness, you are quickly embraced by evil.”
We both were awakened early again, but this time it was due to a phone call. It was Mia. She called to let us know they were stuck temporarily in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I could tell by the tone of her voice that she was nervous.
“We landed at Riverside-Jones Airport, and they’re out of fuel, but they promised that a shipment would arrive at 6:00 this evening. They said to expect the price of aviation fuel to be around $34.00 a gallon.” She then chuckled,” It’s a darn good thing Carmen has a lot of money.”
Mia was kidding, of course, but Carmen’s family doesn’t have to worry about money. Her grandfather was the original owner and developer of some famous luggage company, and her father has several companies around the world. By accident, we found out that when Carmen’s grandfather died, even though he left his money to his son, he gave both Carmen and her sister a trust fund of three million dollars each that could only be used by them when they turned old enough to move out on their own. It was intended for expenses, to buy a home if they wanted to, and in case they had any kind of emergency.
Apparently by what Mia told us she rarely touches though, as she insists that she’s not going to be one of those people that live off of her grandfather or parent’s money; not when she makes an above average income herself. By what we’re told, her sister Brandy has the very same attitude.
From what I’ve seen, Carmen’s parents instilled in their daughter's very good values. They are humble and don’t think they’re better than anyone else just because they are blessed enough not to have to worry about money.
“I planned on flying into Tulsa International, but when we flew over Tulsa, it seemed like a fourth of the downtown area was on fire, so we flew to Riverside.”
“Riverside! That’s where I went to flight school. I’ve made many a landing at that airport. How’s Carmen doing?”
“She’s fine. She was scared flying through the mountain pass, but when Brandy started making fun of her, she at least put on a show like it wasn’t bothering her any longer.”
Carmen had a very bad experience on a small plane while she was being flown into some exotic island. The plane’s engine died, and they thought they were going to crash into the jungle area but luckily, the pilot got it started at the last minute, and they made it to the airport. Ever since then, she isn’t thrilled about flying in smaller planes.
Brandy is Carmen’s sister. She’s 34 and looks a lot like Carmen, except she has longer and a little darker hair. She had taken her vacation time and spent the last two weeks with Carmen in California.
She works as a registered nurse at the Kansas City Trauma Center.
We had only met Brandy once, but she seemed just as sweet as Carmen.
“All of us will just feel better when we get there. We’re all worn out.
You wouldn’t believe how much we’ve seen. So many smaller towns that we flew over had very little movement to speak of. And all the larger cities seem to be on fire. We could see riots happening in downtown Albuquerque, but thank God our fuel stop was uneventful, even though the price of fuel was outrageous.
Vince, things are going to hell all over, aren’t they?”
“Yeah, they are Mia. You need to get your butt’s up here as soon as you can. I assume you’re flying into Harrisonville?”
“That’s the plan. Like I said, we were originally going to fly into the downtown airport to drop off Brandy, but after watching the news, I don’t think we better.”
“You’re right. Don’t even think about that. Just fly into Harrisonville and call us about 2 hours out and we’ll pick you up. Also, if there is any delay in the fuel let us know and we’ll come there to pick you up.”
“I’m not leaving my plane, Vince!”
I knew she loved her plane but the only thing I was concerned with was their safety.
“Mia, let’s just see what happens. Are you guys safe right now? I mean is everything cool at the airport?”
“Yes, as far as the airport goes it seems to be business as usual, except for no fuel and very few flights.”
“Ok, call us just as soon as you know anything, ok?”
“We will for sure. We love you guys.”
“We love you too. Just get your butt’s up here.”
As soon as we hung up, Kim asked, “Are they going to be alright where they’re at?
“I hope so. Riverside isn’t that big, and it’s a training airport. It’s kind of out of the way, so I think they’ll be fine,” I responded, trying not to sound as worried as I was. After talking a short time and reassuring one another, Kim went back to sleep. I tried to stay up to watch the news but fell asleep in my recliner.
About an hour later, Kim came strolling into the living room with a smile on her face. “Good morning!”
I just grunted as I usually did most mornings.
“Well, give me the morning report.”
For some reason, she just appeared happy.
“You’re in an awfully good mood today.”
“Yep, I am. I’ve decided to accept whatever situation is going on. I know the reality is all bad news, but it doesn’t do a bit of good to be all gloomy and depressed. Yes, the world is falling apart. Yes, this could be the end of everything as we know it. And yes, we could sit around and worry. But what good does that do? I’m going to look at the few positive things that are going on instead of the hundreds of negative things. I’m going to have faith that Mia and Carmen are going to make it here alright. Again, I’m going to look at the positive things.”
“What positive things?”
She smiled, “First of all, I don’t have to go to work. That means you have the privilege of spending every day with me; we’re here on the
farm, relatively safe, with food and supplies. If it wasn’t for the news, or what we saw for ourselves, we wouldn’t even know that anything was going on. I know it’s temporary and I know things will happen, but at this very moment, we’re safe, happy, and together. Plus, I get to spend time with my husband and bug him all I want.”
“You know, you’re right. It doesn’t do a damn bit of good to act all doom and gloom. What’s going to happen is going to happen. I guess we need to just go with the flow. What I want to know is, when did you become so wise?”
“Well, I can’t be that wise. I mean, look who I ended up marrying?”
“Ha, Ha……You know, this must prove that you’re a good person.”
“How’s that?”
“God was so pleased with you that he blessed you with me.”
She then scoffed and acted as though she was about to vomit.
I decided I needed a break from the news and turned the television to a cable movie channel. Even with all hell breaking loose, the movie channels were still running.
While eating cereal, we watched the last half of “The Replacements,” with Keanu Reeves and Gene Hackman, which was one of our favorite “feel good” movies.
During a scene with the head cheerleader, I remarked, “You know, I would still do her.”
“Well, …. while you’re doing her, I’ll be doing Keanu Reeves.”
When the movie was over, she got up and said, “I’m going to get on the computer for a little bit and then go work out in the garden. But first, you still haven’t filled me in on the important news. I know I need to keep up with things.”
I looked at her, like saying “Really?” because it was nice to have a break from reality.
“If you insist. Well, Russia announced that today they’re launching a satellite for Iran if you can believe that. The Russians are saying that all nations have the right to have their own satellite systems. They also stated that Iran is paying for their services, they’re supplying their own satellite and compared it to the United States paying for their American astronauts, to be flown to the International Space Station. They also agreed to sell Iran their missile defense system. They scoffed at the objections that the United States or the United Nations were making.
The wildfires in California are now up to 500,000 acres, and there are fires now in Oregon and the state of Washington. Apparently, the firefighters in California are having problems keeping it contained because they have been having earthquake tremors again. Nothing like the last one but they’re worried.
Gold has risen to $2800 an ounce, while silver raised to $175.00. That’s good for us, with the silver that we’ve been buying.
At the same time, oil had its biggest jump in history, rising from the $42.00 a barrel it was four days ago, to $185.00 a barrel today. That explains the big jump in gas prices that Mike was talking about. I’ll bet the gas prices are a lot higher today and just keep going up. Everything else was on the riots.”
Kim, wanting to stay positive, went off to play her games on the computer and check her Facebook page.
I went out to drive the property. It had been a while since I had looked around. Before I left, I took a radio and set one beside Kim.
I decided to take the tractor that is a classic 1964 3020 John Deere which we bought at the same time as the farm. It always seemed to need to be worked on and several times I wanted to buy a new one, but each time I talked myself out of it because I only use it for general farm work and to plant some small food plots in the hidden field, we simply call the “wildlife field.” As far as the maintenance, Hey, it’s a 1964. How many vehicles hold up that long without a major overhaul?
I ran the perimeter of the farm, thinking about areas that may need patrolled if things really get bad when I heard Kim calling on the radio.
“Hey, do you know a Calvin Mosley? The reason I’m calling you is he just sent you a message on Facebook asking if you were the same Vince Johnson that was in the Third Infantry Division. And according to the time, he just sent it a few minutes ago.”
“Mo! Hell yeah, I do. That’s Mo from my army days. Except for a couple of letters, I haven’t heard from him since I got out. Reply quickly and tell him I’ll be back up in about five minutes. Ask him to send his phone number also.”
I flew up to the house and ran inside.
“Did he respond yet?”
“Yep!”
Kim knew how much I loved the guys I served with. Whenever I would tell the stories that I’ve told her or when we would watch the video that I made the day before I left the Army, Kim said she could see me just go back in time.
“Here’s his phone number and guess what? That’s a Missouri area code.”
I punched in the numbers. “Hello,” a young girl’s voice said.
“Hi! Is Mo there?”
“MOOOO???” she questioned like, “What does that mean?”
While chuckling I replied, “I’m sorry, is Calvin there?”
I could hear a man’s voice in the background laughing and saying, “Lulu, give me that. Johnson; is that you?”
“Mo, where the hell are you?”
Kim started chuckling because she noticed whenever I would talk to one of my army buddies years ago, and during this call, I used a lot more profanity while talking to them. It was obvious, that’s how we all talked to each other back in the day.
“Man, we’re in a motel in Columbia, Missouri. We got stuck here for a while because of all the bullshit that’s been going on.
Man, we’ve been trying to track you down for over a month. Where are you at?”
“We have a farm about 45 miles southeast of Kansas City. You’re only about two and a half hours away from us. What are you doing in Missouri?”
“We were heading over to Ft. Riley for a reunion. Guess who stayed in the Army and just retired? Witmer! That’s why we’ve been trying to track you and a couple of guys down. Guess who’s with him?”
“Don’t tell me, Red!”
“Yep, they’re waiting for us. Now for the big surprise. Tag’s with me, or us I should say. I’ve got my wife and daughter with me.”
“Oh my God! Let me talk to him,” Then whispered to Kim, “Tag is with him.”
Kim definitely knew who he was. Tag or Michael Tageson was my best friend when we were stationed in Germany. His enlistment ended about a year before Desert Storm. She had never met Tag, but he’s the one I contacted on the phone years back.
“He’s not here. Before I found Kim’s Facebook page, he ran over to get us all something to eat.”
“Damn! Well, you said you were kind of stuck in Columbia. How?”
“Well here’s the deal. We were going to have the reunion/party for Wit at Ft. Riley. That’s where Wit is retiring from. Red rode up there on his motorcycle. But due to all the “shit,” Ft. Riley is locked down.
We, on the other hand, have a full tank of fuel but with gas prices shooting up overnight and the stations that are open are only taking cash, we don’t know where we were going to go from here. Gas is $7.89 a gallon right now. Since no one is taking credit cards, we don’t have enough gas to get to Ft. Riley or especially home.”
I told Kim, “Gas is $7.89 a gallon.” Her mouth dropped open.
“It was just by chance, I found Kim’s Facebook page. I thought I recognized your picture. You haven’t changed that much.”
“Bullshit! I’m fat, old, and broken down. Listen, why don’t you guys come here? The house is small, but we’ll figure something out.”
“Man, that would be great, and the house size is no problem. We’re traveling in a large school bus that I converted into an RV. That’s why the fuel is a problem. We’re towing Tag’s Jeep, and because of that, we’re only getting about 6 miles to the gallon.”
“Does it run on gas? If so, we have a station close that did have gas and was still taking credit cards the last I heard. If not, I can help you out with the gas.
I assume you guys can contact Red and Wit
. If so, have them come here also.”
“The bus runs on gas and as far as Red and Wit are concerned, dude, they’re ready to get the hell out of there, and since they’re on motorcycles, I’m sure they’ll be ok. They’re carrying a big ass tent with them also. We’ll call them as soon as Tag gets back. He has their numbers on his cell phone.”
“Well start heading this way. Tell them to go well south of Kansas City. I’m sure you know that was the start of everything, and it’s a war zone.”
“Trust me, I know. We had to drive miles out of the way, to bypass St. Louis.”
I gave Mo the address and directions for getting to the farm. I also looked at the map for the best way for Red and Wit to get here.
I got off the phone and yelled, “YEAH! They’re coming here.” Then it hit me, “Oh man….I’m sorry Kim, I didn’t even ask you if you minded.”
“Are you kidding? I don’t mind at all. I’m concerned a bit about where everyone is going to sleep though. We don’t know if the motels in town have any rooms.”
I explained about the bus and the tent and then dashed over to her, grabbing her with a big bear hug.
“Which one is Mo? I remember Wit and Red from the video, but I don’t remember Mo.”
“Remember in the video; I kept walking around looking for him? Then I finally found him outside the orderly room? He was the tall black dude with the weird stocking cap on his head.”
She started laughing, “Oh yeah, I remember him. He was the ex-basketball player, wasn’t he?
Mo was about 6’5” tall and a big basketball star in college until he blew out his knee. When he found out that he couldn’t play professionally, as soon as he graduated, he joined the Army.
Suddenly it hit me how to come up with more sleeping area. Blake had a 25-ft. travel trailer that they used for camping. I picked up the phone and gave him a call.
After talking a bit about everything that happened, I told him about everyone heading this way for a visit.
“I owe you so much for helping me with going after Kim; I hate to ask you for another favor, but would it be possible for me to borrow your camping trailer?”
Apocalypse Coming Page 11