Amy was sitting on the couch with Anna and Brad. “You know, I think since the Military deposed the president and refused to use force on American soil, maybe the 'most wanted man in America' should step up his messages some,” she said.
“Yeah Mi- I mean Thomas - General Paine!” Taylor said as she laughed. “You need to try to get more of the fighters from small towns to go help the people in the cities.”
“Exactly,” added Amy.
He just stood there, not really know what to think. His emotions were still in a whirlwind from Stacy's death, Anthony's birth, and the full day of fighting. Jessica came up and put her arms around him. “You always do the right thing.”
“It helps to feel like I know what the right thing is,” he replied.
She kissed him on the cheek. “You'll figure it out,” she said as she went to lay Anthony down for a nap.
They were right, and he knew it. The best way to end the bloodshed was to speed it up, and try to get more of those who had already defeated their local Guard stations to go help do the same thing in the cities. He recorded another short message of congratulations for all the success. He praised the overthrow of the president and the Joint Chief's refusal to allow an attack on American soil, partly in hopes of lowering himself on any priority lists. He then went on to ask for help for all those fighting for their freedom in the cities across the county. He made public that he had been shot in Cedar City, but would recover quickly. And he said he wished he could be out taking shots with them at guardsmen again.
As the next week went by, Jessica regained much of her strength that she had lost during the labor, and had started handling most of the chores around the ranch for exercise. It was very helpful for Mike, since he was right handed. And she didn't want Brad doing anything for quite a while. Plus, for her, she was eager to lose the weight she had put on, and had set a personal goal of Mike's birthday to have her weight down to where she wanted it.
Mike spent much of his time listening to the news and what he could find of military broadcasts. He wasn't hearing any Guard transmissions anymore. It was all about readiness for possible war with The People's Republic of Pacific States and the Soviet Union. There seemed to be a great deal of activity going on. The European Union was fighting to hold off the Soviets from expanding further west. The P.R.P.S had managed to fully expel all American troops from foreign bases in their newly acquired territory. They ultimately resorted to bombing USAG Yongsan in Seoul, South Korea, which really escalated the tensions between the two nations. But with America weakened so much on the home front by the crash and fighting, there was little choice but a full withdrawal.
Mike was sitting by the canyon reading, tired of hearing how the two other superpowers were growing, as his own country was forced by it's own economic recklessness to withdraw. He decided to head down to the reservoir to see if it was starting to get warm enough to swim in yet. He didn't even make it to his gun range when he heard Brad and Jason calling for him.
He headed back to the house, where everyone else was all huddled around the radio listening to NANN. Taylor screamed and lunged at Mike to hug him. “You're a hero! You started this off, and now it's finished! You did it Mike!”
“Um, well, okay. Mind telling me what I did?”
“The Joint Chief's has ordered the Guard be fully disbanded. They're asking for leaders from each region to start rebuilding local governments. And they said they will have a new currency within the next month!” she said excitedly. “This wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for you!” she continued.
Mike didn't know what to think. And coming from NANN, he didn't know what to believe. He showed no emotion. “Alright, I'm going to head down to the reservoir and see how well it's warming up.”
“That's it? The Guard is done, and all you have to say is you're going for a walk?” Taylor said in dismay.
Amy and Jessica shared his pessimism. Jessica jumped up and asked Taylor to keep an eye on Anthony. She wanted to join him on his walk.
“So, what's your thoughts on this Guard stuff?” she asked, once they were out of sight and sound range from the house.
“It might be bullshit, it might be true. Either way I can't believe it's done. It's been almost a year since this crap all started. Some days, it feels like it's always been this way. And other days, it's like it just started.” He put his arm around her as they kept on walking silently.
“So, do you think the Guard will disband, if that order is true?” she asked, as they were returning home.
“It probably is true. NANN has to at least try to appear trustworthy, and that's too big of a story to falsely report. I think some of what's left of it will disband. But I've got a bad feeling there's going to be a few groups who don't take their removal from authority well. If that's the case, they'll probably do some damage before fleeing and hiding like cowards.”
“Why do you say that?”
“History. Things like that just tend to happen when a militaristic type group finds itself without power anymore.”
That evening, while Jessica and Taylor worked on dinner, Mike was trying to think of something, anything, to occupy their minds from all the outside world nonsense for a good while. By the time Taylor was putting his plate down in front of him, he had thought of something. “Hey, you know what we all seemed to have completely forgotten about?”
“No. What?” Jessica responded.
“We still need to build a new house or something. Did y'all ever come up with a plan?”
It was a bit emotional, as that had been a project they had worked on with Stacy. “We never really came up with anything we really liked,” replied Jessica.
“Why do you want another house? What's wrong with this one?” Amy wondered out loud.
“Well, when I first asked them to move in with me, I said it would just be for the winter. I knew that wouldn't be the case though. Brad had his loft, and I had my room. But they all kind of rotated around. Two would sleep on the couch, and one in there with me,” he told her.
“So do you have like a schedule of who to sleep with each night?”
“No, not really,” Taylor answered.
“It still kind of baffles me how you two seem so comfortable sharing him like that?” Amy said
“Oh, no. It's not like that,” Taylor said, as she blushed. “I was the first one to sleep with him, but when I'm in there, we just sleep. Nothing else. He's just my big cuddle bear.”
“Okay, anyways,” Mike was determined to change the subject back to the house. “Even before we found y'all in the snow, we had agreed we wanted to stay under one roof together. So I told them to come up with a plan to either expand this house or build a new one.”
“Mike, can we talk about this later? I just.. I don't...” Jessica asked, fighting back her emotions.
“Sure, Jess,” he answered. “I understand.”
They did discuss it later that night. Taylor suggested moving Mike's book collection to the barn loft with the radio station, and enclosing the other loft to be her bedroom. She wanted Jessica to have Mike's bedroom for herself and Anthony, and he could be the one not sleeping in the same bed every night. So that was it. They would stick with the same house until Anthony was older and needed his own room.
“Hey, you there? It's urgent! Are you there?” came the voice of Bishop Christensen over the radio. Mike wondered what could be so damn important for him to climb that hill in the middle of the night.
Beep, Mike returned.
“We need to talk. Can you come down?”
Beep. Beep. Mike had no desire to get dressed and drive down the hill in the dark.
“You really need to come down. I think the whole region is about to have a disaster on our hands.”
Mike was annoyed, and exhausted, but relented.
Beep.
As Mike pulled up to their meeting spot, he saw the Bishop standing there, and two other people in the truck.
“Thomas, I'm so sorry -”
&n
bsp; “What the hell is such a big damn deal you had to wake me up in the middle -”
“Vegas!” the Bishop yelled over Mike's voice. “Vegas is the big damn deal. And it's gotten worse since I first called you.”
“Why the hell should I care about Vegas?” Mike retorted.
“We think it was a group of remaining Guard who did it after they were ordered by the Joint Chief's to disband,” he went on in a somewhat panicked voice. “Some are saying it was Chinese or Soviet spies. But someone went around and blew up the Vegas water pumping stations. And then while we were waiting on you we heard that Hoover Dam has been seized and the generators blown up.”
“Oh, shit,” Mike replied softly. “This is going to be ugly,” he continued with a hint of a chuckle in his voice.
“There's some rumors that they're planning to blow the dam, but that's not happened yet.”
Mike calmly tried to assure the Bishop that blowing up Hoover Damn was all but impossible. “Unless whoever this is had found a way to sneak a really large nuclear bomb inside the dam, they're not going to blow it up. And even then it might stay up. So stop worrying about that.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, that ain't happenin'. Vegas not having water or power... that's something to seriously worry about. Be glad they've not really had any tourism this last year, because a large number of people from there are about to make their way over here.”
“That's why I woke you up. Amanda here -”
“Amanda Matheson? Mike inquired.”
“You know her?”
“Yep,” Mike said with an almost disappointed tone of voice. “I know her.”
“Well. She said the same thing about blowing the dam. You know, her father died the other day when you guys took down the Guard station,” Bishop Christensen informed him.
“Damn,” Mike replied. “Sorry to hear that.”
“Anyways, she said we could have upwards of a million people swarming us over the next several days.”
Mike walked over to the truck where Amanda was sitting with Susan. “Get out here young lady,” he said in a commanding voice. She was hoping to avoid talking with him, still feeling embarrassed about her proposition in the motel.
“Yes sir, Mr. Paine?” she said, showing her intimidation.
Mike gently put his arms around her. “Sorry to hear about your old man. He seemed like a good guy.”
“Thanks,” she said softly, seeming hesitant and tense.
“Relax, alright. So you told them Hoover damn can't be blown up?”
“Yes sir. I -”
“She's smarter than you Bishop. Shit, she's probably smarter than all of us. Next time, listen to her.”
Mike turned back to Amanda. “Starting half way between Vegas and Mesquite, how many bridges are there between the two cities?”
“About a dozen sir.”
“Stop this 'sir' shit. Call me Thomas.”
“Yes sir, Thomas,” she replied, getting a dirty look from Mike.
“How many of those bridges do you think you have the ability to destroy with explosives?”
She thought for a moment. “I'd guess three to five.”
“You want us to blow up bridges on I-15?” Bishop Christensen interjected.
“Do you have the ability to feed and house an additional million people?”
“Oh goodness no. The farmers around here are -”
“Do you have any better ideas for either diverting or stopping those million people from getting here?”
“No, Mr. Paine,” he replied.
They stood silent for a few minutes, all of them wishing they could come up with any other idea. “Well, with such short notice, I don't have any other ideas,” Mike said, breaking the tense silence.
“I can't believe we're going to do this,” the Bishop sighed.
“Well, Bishop, I guess you better get busy deciding which bridges are going to be the most effective to drop.”
“Sir.. I mean.. Thomas,” Amanda spoke up. “Glendale.”
“Glendale?” Mike questioned.
“Yes si..,” she stopped herself. “Yes, Glendale. That will be the most effective place to do this.”
“Well, then, get to it,” Mike stated.
The Bishop, still in shock, asked, “You're ordering us to blow up bridges in Nevada?”
Mike just gave the Bishop a disgruntled look and walked to his truck.
“Oh, Thomas,” The Bishop spoke up again as Mike was leaving. “I'm not a bishop anymore. So you can just call me James.”
“Why aren't you a bishop anymore?”
“I resigned to take on another job I was asked to do.”
“Oh? And that is?”
“I got asked to be the head of security and restructuring for Washington County and Saint George,” he said proudly.
“Well that's interesting,” Mike replied, trying not to be too obvious that he didn't care.
“It's a single position,” James continued. “Amanda here is my assistant.”
“I'm sure you'll do a damn good job at restructuring, Bishop. But let her make the security decisions.”
Amanda held her head up high and shoulders back. Him saying she should make security decisions swelled her ego quite a bit.
Mike added as he walked off, “Show her how to get a hold of me in case you can't. And you,” he continued, talking now to Amanda, “Don't bug me unless it's life or death.”
Mike got home and found Taylor, Jessica and Brad finishing their breakfast. He couldn't wait to tell them that 'James' was the head of security.
“Well,” he added “Part of his job is overseeing restructuring of the city and county government down there too. And Taylor, remember that girl Amanda, from the airport?” Taylor nodded that she did.
“Was she down there too?”
“Yep, she was there. So was Susan. They took her in. Apparently her dad died in the fighting the other day. And she's his assistant in his new job.”
“You better be careful mister,” Taylor warned. “I saw how that girl was looking at you.”
Jessica laughed, remembering what Mike had told her about Amanda's advance in the motel room. “Hey now,” she joked. “I didn't mind sharing you with Stacy, but I don't know about this other girl.”
“Shut up! Amanda's eyes are full of nothing but youthful ambition,” he brushed her off. “She wants to be important and powerful. And her brain will get her there. She just wants to use her body to speed up the process.”
“So you think she just wants you because you can help make her famous?” Taylor said doubtfully.
“I don't know. But she'll grow out of any infatuation with me long before she does her ambition,” Mike said as he walked out to go to the barn.
Chapter 16
Heavy Heart
Over the next several weeks a lot of rebuilding and repairing of infrastructure took place across the country. The Joint Chief's were pretty angry about the blowing up of the bridges. Amanda stepped up to take responsibility for it, saying the human toll would have been worse if she hadn't done it. Publicly, NANN had reported the destruction in Vegas, and similar attacks in Ohio and Tennessee, as being the work of Chinese spies.
The government kept a steady flow of trains and aircraft going in to and out of Glendale and Vegas, bringing supplies in and people out. The water pumping stations had been rebuilt, and generator replacement was underway at Hoover Dam. Only a few who found the right back roads, and had enough fuel, made it over to southern Utah. There was a lot of rioting initially, but the relief supplies managed to bring that under control quickly.
The Joint Chief's had asked 'Thomas' and sixteen other leaders from different regions across the country to form a temporary Congressional body to help with rebuilding a functioning government. Mike tried to decline, but arrangements were made for him to have Amanda serve as his liaison, and he kept in touch via a satellite messenger unit that also kept him fully informed of all intelligence in the escalating war-
of-words with the two allied super powers that Russia and China had become.
Soviet troops were making occasional rogue flights over Alaska, and statements were coming from the Kremlin that they intended to reclaim the massive peninsula for it's natural resources. The P.R.P.S. had it's ships positioning for a possible attack and seizure of Hawaii to finalize it's consolidation of Pacific islands. The NAU had Carrier Strike Groups in place at both far western states, ready to defend them at any cost.
All seventeen members of the temporary congress had unanimously agreed to release Mexico, returning it to it's own sovereign nation and ally. Leaders from the northern regions of the former nation of Canada requested to remain part of the NAU, but again the vote came down to release it. That vote had been split, with Amanda casting the final vote how she assumed Mike wanted her to. He didn't care much what happened, and had purposely left his “satellite gizmo,” as he called it, at the house while they all went swimming.
A new currency had been in circulation since its launch May 1st. Mike, Jessica, and Taylor wanted nothing to do with it. Most people still referred to it as the “dollar,” but it was a fully digital currency, legally called the “Bit,” that functioned through accounts people could utilize with their smart phones, computers, or any other number of devices. They chose to continue trading with Phillip, and he used his Bits to buy them what it was they wanted. For the most part, Mike always asked for gold or silver, which were very cheap under the new currency. Mike had Amanda submit a proposal to reinstate gold and silver coins. It got one vote, besides her, from an older man out of New York who seemed to want a very young girlfriend.
Back at the ranch, Brad was grilling burgers while Taylor made baked potatoes. Today would have been Stacy's thirty-eighth birthday, and they wanted to celebrate her memory. Anna was now staying close by Brad's side to keep him company while he cooked. She was walking again, needing crutches for longer distances, and wasn't leaving the side of the boy who had stayed by her so much while she recovered.
Crashed: The Death Of The Dollar Page 18