The Shelter: WAR

by Ira Tabankin

  “Whether we want another civil war or not, we have to accept it’s out of our hands. We have no say in it. I suggest we assume the war is coming and we do everything we can to prepare for it. Increasing our supplies, yes, building the new shelter, yes. We should also increase our defensive walls and fences. I suggest we dig tank traps and traps to slow, stop personal attacks.”

  Jay looks at Fred,

  “My friend, we all agree. My problem is where are we going to find the manpower to handle the extra tasks and try to maintain the fields?”

  Fred lowers his head,

  “I know I’m about to catch shit for saying this, how about our wives? They can double our workforce. Most aren’t used to hard labor, they can drive the trucks, store supplies and assist in the building of new berms and walls.”

  The room is silent for three very long minutes; Jay nods his head.

  “Fred, it’s a good idea. I suggest we ask for volunteers from our wives and children.”

  The rest agree to ask.

  Jay says,

  “I’ll send an all eyes email and text to everyone, any who want to volunteer should meet us at my main garage in an hour.”

  The message goes out and is responded to in numbers which surprise Jay, he looks at his tablet,

  “We have a 98% volunteer rate, I’m very proud of everyone. This should greatly help accelerate our building projects.”

  Tony smiles asking,

  “What are we going to do with the Governor? We can’t spare people to wait on him or kiss his ass. Does he understand he’s going to have to do things for himself? His staff is going to be very limited.”

  “He understands. I’ve told him his staff is going to have to work. We don’t have the people to provide him with the level of ass kissing he’s used to.”

  Tony spits up his coffee,

  “Please tell us you didn’t say that to the Governor.”

  “I did, word for word. I have nothing to fear from him. How is he going to take our shelter from us? He has a very small number of police; I doubt the militia are going to back him taking private property from citizens. It goes against everything he says he wants to bring back to government. The sooner he learns the reality of this new world he’s trying to create, the better we’re all going to be.”

  “I agree, I pray he’s serious and follows through with what he says.”

  “What have we got to lose? He’s already announced the secession; the next step is the election.”

  “For once our futures are in our own hands. For once, this election is really going to be meaningful. Either way, we’re going to get what we ask for. Remember the old saying, be careful what you ask for, you might get it.”

  They’re interrupted by a knock on the door, Tony opens it, his eyes open wide before he breaks out laughing. Standing in the door is Nancy and Lacy dressed in overalls and work gloves.

  “Is this where we report to work? Are we earning Union wage? Do we get two fifteen minute breaks and an hour for lunch? Time and a half for overtime?”

  The group breaks up laughing.

  Jay smiles,

  “Let’s see who else wants to work.”

  He’s surprised to see almost every woman and child in front of the garage waiting for instructions. He begins applauding everyone. Quickly everyone follows his lead. Everyone hugs each other.

  “Here're our tasks, raise your hand if you want to work on one of these projects, new shelter?”

  A few hands go up.

  “You know where to report to Franco. Defensive positions?”

  Jay looks at the hands,

  “Please take four steps to the left. Tony and John will take you to the position. Placing mines and traps?”

  Most of the kids raise their hands.

  “Fred will lead you. We’re going to send some away teams to search for supplies in Kentucky.”

  Two hands go up. Jay looks at the hands, he swallows hard seeing Nancy and Lacy’s hands up.

  “Are the two of you sure you want to join this mission? You’ll be away overnight, it’s going to be rough and might be dangerous.”

  Nancy smiles.

  “We know; we remember the original searches. We want to do our part. We decided since you and Tony are always putting your lives at risk, we want to do all we can to help the community.”

  “Okay, you’ll leave with the team in one hour. You better return.”

  Lacy follows Jay back to the castle.

  “Honey, are you upset with me?”

  Jay stops mid-step. He holds Lacy’s face in his hands.

  “Honey, I love you. I’m very proud of you, I’m also very worried about you going on the mission. It could be very dangerous.”

  “Do you think I won’t be able to take care of myself? I’m a good shot, I have armor.”

  “I worry you could be wounded, or kidnapped to get to me.”

  “I promise you, I won’t get kidnapped. We’ll fight like you would towards anyone who attacks us.”

  “I know you will. I also know you and Nancy will take care of each other. Return to me safe and unharmed. Don’t make stupid mistakes. Listen to your team leader. The leaders have done this before. They know what they’re doing and the signs that someone is there, or has been there. Don’t be overly brave. You have nothing to prove. I mean that. I love you, I respect you. You have nothing to prove to anyone.”

  “I’ll just be another body and gun on the mission.”

  “Stay in touch the entire time.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Go get your armor and weapons. I want to check them.”

  “Anything else sir?’

  “Don’t pull that sir shit with me. I’m worried.”

  “Now you know how I felt every time you and Tony rode off on a mission. Nancy and I would cling to each other praying the two of you would return to us safe and sound.”

  “Is this some form of revenge? Did we do something to piss you off?”

  “No, not any more than normal. We want to pull our share and show we’re not any different because we’re your and Tony’s wives.”

  “Okay, go get ready. I’ll wait here.”

  Lacy smiles as she jogs to the castle’s armory to get her body armor, helmet and M4.

  @@@@@

  The President is furious,

  “How dare they reword the Declaration of Independence! Isn’t there a law about not altering the wording of the Declaration? Isn’t there something we can arrest them for?”

  “Sir, there aren’t any laws about using the language of the Declaration.”

  “There should be. Remind me to issue an Executive Order to stop others from doing the same thing. What can we do to stop them?”

  “We’re meeting with the heads of the three major networks, they want to do everything they can to stop or convince people to vote no.”

  “Good. I don’t want the election to happen, let me be very clear, I want the election stopped. Find any way possible. Get the AG here to find a way to legally block them. I want tens of thousands of Union members sent to disrupt their elections. Send those Black Panther assholes from Philadelphia too. Maybe if they break some Southern heads these morons in the South will come to their senses and drop the election.”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll call the heads of the Unions to begin busing people to the South.”

  “Good, let’s see how the assholes who cling to their Bibles and guns handle thousands of Union members blocking their voting places. Get the media to cover the interactions between the Union members and Southerners. I want to see the Southerners starting fights and getting the blame for the bloodletting. Make sure the media blames the rednecks for every act of violence and I want to see a lot of violence. Set up a couple of teams to attack a few of the Union buses. Set up a few bodies from the attack on the buses, we’ll say they were black single parents. The media will turn it into a prime time tear jerker. Have them show the crying kids asking for their mommies. Show them begging for help.
We can turn the tide against the South. We can get the majority of people to stop the secession.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The Unions begin loading buses with yellow and purple-shirted Union members to flock to the South to interrupt their vote.

  Chapter 12

  “Mr. President, we’re launching a massive social media campaign to sway public opinion.”

  “What do the numbers look like?”

  “Sir, remember, we’ve only just started the campaign, we’re sure the numbers will be different in a few days. We’re making excellent progress in New York City and Boston, Chicago by the way is…”

  “New York, Boston and Chicago aren’t holding an election to secede. I want to know how the numbers are in the targeted markets. Either tell me or consider yourself fired.”

  “Sir, the data is still very raw, we need to smooth the data and review the responses.”

  “Get out! Leave the report and get out. Get out of the Oval Office, get out of the White House, in fact, get out of town.”

  The President opens the report and is surprised at the data. He skims the five-page report before throwing it across the room. Yelling, he throws an antique crystal vase against a wall. Two armed secret service agents burst into the office.

  “Sir, are you alright?”

  “Get out before I have you arrested.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The CoS knocks on the door frame.

  “Sir, you wanted to see me?”

  “Have you seen the data from the social network campaign?”

  “Yes, sir. On the surface, it doesn’t look great…”

  “On the surface? Doesn’t look great? Are we reading the same report? The one I read told me that 74% of the people we reached are planning on voting for secession. This is way above the numbers anyone expected. I believe you told me you didn’t think it was possible for them to reach 45% let alone 60%! If this data is correct, they will easily sail over their threshold and we’re screwed. This country can’t afford to pay the interest on our debt if we lose a quarter of our states. We’ve already lost Hawaii; we can’t afford to lose the South. I won’t have my legacy be another civil war.”

  “Mr. President, give the program a little time. The report covers only the initial twenty-four hours. We needed a baseline to know how many minds we needed to change.”

  “Good answer, I’ve done this before, we don’t have the time to change 20% of the hearts and minds. This is a disaster.”

  Smiling the President’s CoS says,

  “Sir, we were thinking of a ‘Black Swan’ event.”

  “I like this already. I’m all ears, tell me what you’re planning.”

  “Sir, we’re planning to attack two of their state houses with people dressed as members of the Tea Party.”

  “How will they know the attackers are the Tea Party?”

  “They’ll be wearing yellow Gadsden flags so everyone will know they’re with the Tea Party. They won’t survive the attack so the media will see the flags.”

  “Do they know they won’t survive?”

  “No. We’re going to have a sniper shoot them just before the police arrive. Dead men tell no tales.”

  “When is this going to happen?”

  “Tomorrow at noon. We have to leave enough time for the video to be edited and shown on the evening news.”

  “Excellent, you may proceed. I like your thinking.”

  @@@@@

  The next day, as planned, twelve men dressed in different camo rush the State Houses in Atlanta, Georgia and Tallahassee, Florida. They enter the buildings armed with AR15s and Glock sidearms. They’re wearing bright yellow Gadsden Flags over their mouth and noses. They begin shooting everyone they encounter. Bodies begin filling the halls, dark copper smelling blood flows on the freshly waxed marble floors. Shocked workers scream when they see the slaughter going on around them, 5.56mm bullets respond to their screams, killing the men and women who screamed. The men rapidly race into the main hearing room where they open fire, killing a total of three-hundred-fifty-six people. The media quickly broadcasts the bloody scene. People watching are shocked at the bloody disaster. The gunmen expect to be picked up by friendly helicopters, they are met at the front door of the State Houses by SWAT squads who kill all twelve men. The snipers on the roofs across the street called 911 before the assassins enter the State Houses.

  The media’s cameras zoom in on the Gadsden Flag, reporting the Tea Party was behind the murders.

  Right wing talk radio doesn’t believe the mainstream media, they say the Tea Party supports the idea of the election and potential new Confederacy, they wouldn’t attack and murder over three hundred people.

  Rush goes out on a limb saying,

  “In my opinion, this was a ‘Black Swan’ event. The Federal Government set this up to make it look like the Tea Party was behind it. They planned and committed mass murder to throw a wet blanket over the elections. Do not believe that the Tea Party was behind this. I’m telling you, all you have to do it look at the White House for the planner of this crime.”

  The President reads a transcript of Rush’s program; he orders the FCC to revoke Rush’s broadcast license. The next morning Rush begins his program as normal when three FCC agents enter his Florida home studio, they hand him the FCC revocation of his broadcast license. They kill the power to his broadcast transmitter and repeater. Rush sits behind his desk with a surprised look on his face. He speed dials his lawyer.

  Jay is listening to Rush’s program when the power is cut. He thinks something happened to his radio, he tries different channels, all broadcast normally, he figures out that the government took his favorite radio program off the air because Rush most likely got it right. The White House was most likely behind the attacks. The other talk radio hosts invite Rush to call into their programs, giving him the public voice the government took away. The President’s plan backfired. The majority of people believe the attack was set up by the Federal Government. The mood in the South and Central areas of the country swing to support secession. The Southern Governors go into hiding so the Federal Government can’t kill them. They issue press releases every day asking their people to vote in the election and support secession.

  The media goes all out to sway the people to vote no. All they manage to do is convince people to vote for secession. Election day dawns bright and without a cloud in the sky, the polls open at 7 AM, when the poll workers arrive they’re surprised to find lines of people waiting for their chance to vote in a history making election. Every voting place is busy all day. The media asks the people in line why they’re voting, a majority say they want to leave the corrupt government, they want to start over. The media tries, as people are standing in line, to sway to get them to vote no, many people tell the media to leave them alone.

  The President calls the Chairman of the Joint Staffs,

  “General, if the vote goes for secession, I want you to take out the governors.”

  “Mr. President, I can’t follow that order. I consider that an illegal order. I took an oath to protect the American people, I won’t send a hit team into the South to kill elected officials.”

  “I accept your resignation.”

  The General leaves the Pentagon after telling his fellow officers what happened,

  “He’s gone insane, be careful. He’s going to push us into another civil war, one I don’t think we’re going to win. The Chinese will take advantage of the war to gain an upper hand on us. Be alert check your six.”

  The CNO asks,

  “General, what are you going to do? I don’t see you playing golf.”

  “I always wanted to visit Orlando, you know, take my grandkids to Disney.”

  “I understand; I have a feeling I may be joining you soon. Good luck.”

  “I’m sure our paths will cross again.”

  Chapter 13

  The country holds its collective breath waiting for the results of the secession election. The mainstre
am media’s ‘talking head’ experts say they are sure the results will be close, but the majority of people will see the light and vote to remain in the Union. FOX News reports they expect the vote to be for secession which causes most of the media to publicly ridicule FOX News. The thirteen Governors announce they will jointly announce the election results at 9:30 PM Eastern time. Every broadcast program will be interrupted with the announcement that the balance of the evening's programs will be interrupted to bring the country live discussions about the election’s impact on the country’s future.