by Ryan Garner
He had fallen on his sword for Karina and that was about all there was to it. Unwilling to risk her disappearing into a void of indefinite federal detention, especially with Jennifer in control of her fate, John had made what he felt was the only decision available to him. He found it ironic that one of his lieutenants had recently accused him of being overly stubborn and arrogant. Today that thought made him laugh since it appeared his stubbornness had finally caught up to him. If he had not known the particulars of the situation he might even have actually endorsed the actions of the department. Insubordination was insubordination. That thought caused him to further question whether his actions had been worth it. He had been forsaken by not only Karina, but by the department into which he had poured his heart and soul. He doubted that he would ever recover from the particular wound that he had just suffered.
In a time when there were virtually no jobs to be had anywhere, John found his entire future now at stake. Still, relatively “silly” questions seemed to be flooding his mind. How would he explain his situation to people who still assumed he was a police officer? What would he say to people that asked him about his past? It was a never ending curse that former law enforcement officers always seemed to carry around with them; a dark part of their life that they never wanted to discuss and now he had been thrust directly into that unending cycle of humiliation and blackness. He pulled another breath of smoke filled air into his lungs as he inhaled the cigarette smoke and then he slowly exhaled coughing a few times when he did so. The sun was still setting to the west behind him. He remained quiet and still on the sand dune staring out into the bluish green void as he continued to question everything he had done, and even his very own existence.
….
Johnnie Mercer's Pier was sparsely populated on this warm and humid summer's evening. With the economic downturn, recent suicide bombings, and spike in criminal activity most civilians chose to flee to the assumed safety of their home once the sun began to set. The Wrightsville Beach Town Council had barely been able to scrape together enough money to help keep this historic landmark open, and even then entry to the pier came at an exorbitant $25.00 per person price tag; seniors and children received a $4.00 off “discounted” price and those who presented a welfare or EBT card received an additional $10.00 off. Of course proper ID was never checked to ensure the proper usage of these identifiers; to do such a thing would be considered racially disparaging.
Now used primarily by fishermen who had lost their boats in the quickly collapsing economy, but who still wanted to maintain a vestige of their beloved hobby the guard rails that lined the pier were littered with fish remains and bits and pieces of bait and tackle. Even still, with the bright orange sun setting to the west over the island and the view of the greenish blue ocean the large concrete pier with ornate route iron lamps set down the center of its walkway had managed to maintain most of its picturesque beauty.
Black and white seagulls circled the area or hopped along the ground, cawing over and over again; incessantly begging the visitors of the pier for scraps of food. Each time a large ocean wave smacked into the concrete pylons of the pier the entire structure would shudder and produce a low grumbling sound sometimes startling the grounded birds and driving them to take flight.
Darren Siegal sat casually on a bench near the large squared off dead end of the pier. Dressed in khaki cargo pants, sneakers, and an untucked blue polo shirt that helped to conceal his Sig Sauer P220 he wore his stylish dark lensed Ray-Ban sunglasses and smoked a cigarette. It didn't matter to him that both smoking and the firearm were prohibited on the pier.
At first glance it would have appeared that he had a book in his hands, but in actuality it was a tablet computer in a leather bound case that he held open. In his ears he had a pair of wireless ear buds and he split his attention between the ocean view that surrounded him, the people milling about, and the news that was streaming from MSNBC on his iPad. Years ago New Hanover County had become a “White County”, which meant that it had managed to bring free WiFi internet coverage to the entire area; though in recent months there had been a large push to change this phrase to a more politically correct term such as, “Wireless County” or “Free Information County.”
Whatever the label, the county had inadvertently allowed cyber criminals even more easy access to the internet while making tracking their activities more difficult thanks to the added anonymity of using a county wide WiFi service. The idea to require an individual to input his or her state ID number in order to log into the system had been met with harsh criticism as an attack on the underprivileged, most notably “undocumented” immigrants who were allegedly unable to afford internet access and might not possess valid ID’s.
A news report of a shooting at a middle school in Colorado Springs momentarily caught Darren's attention and he glanced down at his tablet computer. He found it unusual to hear a report of such an incident, especially from several states away. In this day and age and after the steady increase in both “Sand Hook style” mass shootings and more terrifying “deadly sniper attacks”; shooting massacres had become almost as common place as ordinary robberies or murders that took place in every city. They were so typical in fact that the national news media would at times only gloss over them, allowing only local news outlets to report on these “insignificant” types of stories; that is, unless something truly unusual or horrific happened. Darren observed the streaming video on the screen as the news reporter described the incident.
The catastrophe had occurred at a middle school when three teenage suspects, one of whom had already been reported as having been suspended from the very same junior high school for making numerous death threats against students and several teachers, had forced their way into the Colorado Springs' school. Each young person had been armed with numerous firearms upon their entry. So far the news media was only confirming that the weapons included several handguns and what was now being labeled an, “assault shotgun;” something that seemed to readily confuse the news broadcaster who appeared to think that all shotguns had to be pump action. The reporter was also having trouble trying to distinguish between the terms, high capacity “clips, magazines,” and “drums.” It was readily apparent to anyone with the slightest bit of firearms knowledge that he was reporting on something which he and the rest of the news staff had virtually no technical knowledge of.
Darren chuckled slightly when he heard the term “assault shotgun,” He knew that in reality there was no such thing. The media was simply trying to sensationalize on a lesser known magazine fed, semi-automatic shotgun, such as the Saiga-12 or some other similarly designed weapon that looked very comparable in appearance to the AK-47 and other so called “assault rifles.”
With the recent suspension of all Level III permits and firearms confiscations now in full swing, no civilian could “legally” possess a firearm. Darren quickly ascertained that these teens must have illegally obtained their guns in some way or another, but that information was not even significant enough to warrant a mere foot note in the news report. It was much more imperative that the media report, “Armed teenagers with assault weapons storm middle school and detonate IED's!!”
The Improvised Explosive Devises that were being reported on had been a combination of both small and large propane tanks and quite a few homemade pipe bombs that the suspects had managed to unload from their vehicles before the police arrived. The large propane tanks which were used as more destructive stationary bombs had nails, screws, and roadway spikes duct tapped all around their metal body and were detonated using a combination of blasting caps and analog clocks. Small pipe bombs and hand held 14.1 ounce propane tanks doubled as fragmentation grenades. Several other reports were also indicating the apparent use of Molotov cocktails as part of the school was on fire.
Even though the event had lasted a relatively short period of time, in those fifteen minutes the deranged teenagers had shot their way through the junior high school carving out a swath of tot
al carnage. They managed to detonate several of their smaller propane cylinders and pipe bombs inside a number of different classrooms and two large propane tanks were used to destroy support struts at different locations inside the building causing a portion of the school to collapse on itself, killing and injuring dozens of people. This had all occurred before law enforcement had been able to storm the school. It was also being reported that the suspects had used hand held radios in order to coordinate their efforts and maximize lethality.
When finally confronted by police one suspect had detonated his IED, killing himself and at least one police officer and wounding several others. It was not known if this act was done intentionally or if the teenager had merely panicked upon seeing the officers and inadvertently set off his explosive. Another teen had shot and killed himself after briefly exchanging gunfire with officers, and the third suspect was being reported as having also been shot; his condition was listed as critical and it was not known if he would survive. Reports were still vague so it was unknown if this suspect had also attempted to kill himself or if police had shot him. All in all it had been confirmed that at least fifty-eight students and teachers were killed, not including the officer who had died in the IED explosion. Many more were being reported as injured, some so severely that it was unlikely they would survive. The event was already being recorded as the most deadly school attack since the Bath, Michigan massacre that occurred in 1927.
It was no surprise to Darren to see that MSNBC had already managed to set up a video conference interview between the news anchor and two of President Jordan's executive council members; his former vice president, James Bryan, and former Senator Dorothy Finkelstein. Before being ushered into the executive council both individuals had been more than outspoken about their desire to enact numerous different kinds of gun control policies and had in fact helped to draft several of the President’s own gun control laws even before the National Preservation Act had been passed.
“This is total malarkey! We as a civilized and progressive society shouldn't even be talking about such inhuman events such as this any longer!” Bryan shouted to the middle aged, husky, white male interviewer as the former VP slammed his fist down onto the dark wooden desk which he was sitting behind. The impact produced a resonating thud through the microphone.
Bryan wore a precision tailored, dark colored, three piece suit. He was often known for his immaculate attire; most likely an attempt to distract viewers from his thin, receding, gray hairline, and his extreme old age. The former vice president had often been called President Jordan's pit bull, well known for his voracious attacks on anyone who dared to speak out publicly against President Jordan. For the President it was a great trade off. Bryan could say virtually anything; even the most politically incorrect, ignorant, or insensitive of statements could be uttered by his associate anytime he wanted. If Bryan went too far or his comments were negatively received by the mainstream media’s viewing audience then the president could simply distance himself from Bryan for a short while in order to give the situation time to settle down and allow the easily distracted American people to cool off. After a certain amount of time had passed Bryan would then be ushered back into the fold; usually with secretive “congratulations” or “good jobs” whispered to him.
Bryan continued, “Innocent minorities, women, and children are dying every day in this country on our city streets or in deadly school and job place shootings as well as in preplanned sniper attacks and we still have individuals who are clinging to their guns as if it were their life's blood. They are allowing mentally unstable individuals such as these young boys along with numerous other criminals to have access to firearms. I, along with President Jordan, and many members of his executive council have for years helped to enact numerous different kinds of common sense firearms laws that have helped to reduce gun violence. Even now we have the National Governing Police actively collecting all civilian owned firearms through the use of our newly established government collection centers and various other proactive means. But, for whatever reason many right wing conservative extremists are still unwilling to turn over these weapons of mass destruction in order to help protect our society.”
The sniper attacks that Bryan referred to had begun a short time after the increase in school and workplace shootings. Using regular hunting rifles with high powered optical scopes several insane individuals had perched themselves on high vantage points and had begun to randomly fire at people, picking them off seemingly at random. The incidents were reminiscent of the beltway sniper attacks that had occurred in October of 2002, but on a larger scale and without the subtlety and tactics along with the fact that no AR-15 or similar “assault” style rifles were being used.
Most of these situations ended with either the suspect committing suicide, some by jumping off the very structure where they had placed themselves on, while others were killed by the responding police officers. Confounded by the use of ordinary rifles the news media had almost immediately begun to refer to all rifles with any type of optic as, “deadly sniper rifles” and often informed their viewing audience that these horrific weapons were only purchased by the most sick and unstable of individuals who planned to lay in wait in the shadows on top of tall buildings stalking their unsuspecting victims before ending the innocent’s lives with an “assassins bullet;” soon after the attacks started a ban on all types of magnified optic was enacted by President Jordan.
“I highly agree Council Member Bryan.” Former Senator Finkelstein stated from off camera. Immediately the streaming video which Darren watched went to a split screen view so that one could observe the interviewer, former VP Bryan, and the former Senator. Finkelstein wore a dark blue dress suit and had her brittle brown hair molded into place using what must have been an entire can of hair spray. This produced a helmet like effect not allowing her hair to move even when Finkelstein turned her head back and forth.
“Any type of gun is a weapon of mass destruction and only highly trained individuals like the NGP and US military should be allowed access to them. I tried for over a decade to get as many common sense gun control laws and high capacity clip bans passed as I could in order to help to preserve the peace of our society. Even after finally becoming a part of an administration that finally saw the true dangers of this country’s twisted love affair with firearms we still have these atrocities taking place thanks to the extremely irresponsible and downright criminal behavior of anarchal, gun harboring, right wing, militant individuals. The citizens from whom we believe these weapons of mass destruction were stolen from will also face charges of weapons trafficking and murder because if it was not for their carelessness these guns would never have made it into the hands of these confused, depressed, and unstable teenagers in the first place!”
“I agree Council Member Finkelstein...” The news reporter stated as he eagerly nodded his head. His excitement over the situation was noticeably obvious.
“Some gun advocates are suggesting that we put armed guards or police officers in every school in order to protect our children.”
“Ridiculous!!” Bryan shouted
“Foolishness!!” Finkelstein stated at nearly the same time.
“The answer to gun problems is not more guns!” Bryan yelled. “We live in a highly evolved, peaceful, and educated society and simply saying that more guns are the solution is complete lunacy; guns help to cause the problems, they are not the solution. If we can ensure that access to firearms by the civilian population is made impossible we will finally be able to put an end to these types of atrocious incidents. My hope is that with the suspension of all level III permits and the mandatory collection of firearms this joyous dream will become a reality.”
“Do we know for certain that these firearms were stolen and who they were stolen from? If so, will those law breaking citizens be facing charges as well?”
“I'm glad you asked that Andrew.” Bryan immediately stated in response to the interviewer's question. “All I
can tell you is we believe the teens may have broken into a civilian’s home who was formerly a member of the US military. The NGP is currently looking into that matter as we speak and I can say with absolute certainty that once all of the facts have been put together the criminals that were harboring these firearms will be prosecuted to the highest extent of the law possible.”
“Well I'm glad to hear that...” the rotund news caster responded back. “Will President Jordan be making any type of official statement on these events?” he then asked in a tone excited by the idea that he might be able to speak directly with the president.
“I'm not sure...” Bryan responded, “As you know President Jordan is very busy. His heart grieves for the families of this tragedy, but given his busy schedule I'm not sure there will be enough time set aside for any type of official response on his part. But, rest assured he is fully aware of the situation and official steps are being taken in order to bring everyone involved in this massacre to justice, including those who are responsible for the initial ownership of these illegal assault shotguns and handguns.”
Darren had to admit that he admired these teenagers; their ferocity, tenacity, and complete dedication to total anarchy was something that he held in great esteem. Their desire for total destruction and disorder was something he applauded. Darren believed that had their plan been slightly more thought out and better constructed they might have even gotten away with it; possibly escaping to join a local Occupy Congress movement. Hell, Darren would have accepted these enthusiastic youths with their ardent desire for pure unadulterated chaos with open arms into his own group. With the proper guidance individuals such as those could be put to very specific and needed purposes within his anarchy cells. It was something he would need to consider for future purposes. He grinned slyly as he continued to watch the news.