Broken Shield
Page 46
“Relax…” Clarence stated. “…I’m here alone.” John breathed a quick sigh of relief.
“But, I’m not sure it’s wise for you to be here.” he then added as he sidled up to John.
“I had to be…” he replied in a solemn voice turning his attention back to the funeral. “…it was the least I could do. He saved my life. He saved all of our lives.”
Clarence nodded his head. “I don’t suppose we’ll ever be hearing the whole story about that one on the news?”
“Probably not…”
“The media is touting this as a heroic victory against domestic terrorism by the National Governing Police and Wilmington’s new police chief has been more than happy to accept partial credit for assisting with the efforts to quell the riots and stop an attack on the US.” Clarence then paused momentarily before continuing in a more skeptical voice.
“It was very fortunate that she ordered Chris to that business center to investigate the reported suspicious activity when she did.”
“Of course…” John replied in a quietly sarcastic voice. He doubted that once the ballistic tests from the bullets and shell casings retrieved at the intersection where he and Chris had confronted the mob came back there would be much reverence given to Chris by the department. While John’s rifle was not registered and tracking it would be more difficult Wilmington PD would have every bit of information on Chris’s Smith and Wesson M&P15X immediately at its disposal.
“Right wing extremism is being postulated as the cause for all of this.” Clarence said.
“Who else could they blame?” John stated bitterly. After his remark the area grew silent as the playing of taps signified the closing ceremony for Chris’s funeral.
“They’ll be looking for both of you, don’t tell anyone where you are going; I don’t even want to know.” Clarence said, breaking the stillness.
“I hadn’t planned on it.” Quiet once again settled over the area and the only sound, save for the lone bugler that could be heard came from the rustling of grass and tree branches in the surrounding field. The whole scene was oddly peaceful. Finally, the music stopped.
“I should go pay my respects.” Clarence finally said as he turned to John. “It was good to see you…one last time.” He held out his hand. John pivoted to face him and took his hand, shaking it.
“You were always a good officer John.” Clarence said. “Don’t ever let them take that away from you.”
“Thank you.” John replied earnestly. “It was a pleasure working with you.”
“The pleasure was mine.” Clarence responded. “May God be with you and your friend.” The handshake broke and Clarence turned to move down the hill towards the small crowd of people leaving John alone on the hillside.
John stood quietly in the cemetery’s grassy field for another few minutes watching the group down below him. The memorial was breaking up and people were beginning to go their separate ways. Another few moments passed, he knew it was time for him to leave as well; Karina was still waiting for him back at his truck and he didn’t want to leave her alone any longer than necessary. He turned to leave, but then suddenly turned back around. He paused briefly staring out over the cemetery. Then he snapped to attention and brought his hand up into a rigid salute. John stood perfectly still; looking out over Chris’s burial ground for several seconds until finally, he slowly lowered his hand back down to his side. He turned and walked away.
….
The thudding blades of the Black Hawk Helicopter reverberated through Lieutenant Fearon’s body as he stared out the glass window of the aircraft and across the vast countryside that was passing by. His expression was mostly blank, but his eyes betrayed his boiling anger and fury. He was being recalled to Washington DC; to the National Governing Police’s Headquarters to answer for the disastrous outcome of events that had taken place in Wilmington. As if they were his fault!
Fearon had warned those arrogant, self-absorbed, paper pushing bastards that were his superiors that Darren Siegal could not be trusted and that the whole idea was rife with potential consequences, but they had all chosen to ignore his wisdom. They wanted their results “now” and being patient and formulating a more thought out and thorough plan just wasn’t acceptable to them. Adding insult to injury they now intended to place full blame for the entire catastrophe on him.
If they think they can pin this on me they have another thing coming… Fearon thought indignantly to himself. He knew he still had a few tricks up his sleeve and he would play them all and burn every bridge he had if necessary.
“Recovered information from Officer Fields’ Personal Data Recorder would indicate that both Mr. Lawrence and Ms. Cherry might have knowledge of the situation at hand.” NGP Officer Travis Jackson stated from his seat across from Fearon as he continued to scan over his laptop.
“Due to the extensive damage the unit sustained we may never be able to fully recover all the information from the hard drive, but we have been successful in extracting certain portions.” Jackson continued. Fearon nodded his head barely acknowledging his subordinate’s statement; then he cracked a subtle yet undeniably sly smile.
“Don’t worry…” he said in a low voice. “We’ll find them. We always find everyone.” Fearon then added as he went back to staring out the window of the Black Hawk listening to the drone of the rotor blades as they flew onward towards Washington DC.
….
As they traveled down the small two lane road headed towards the outskirts of the city the only sounds inside of John’s truck besides the radio which was set to a news broadcast channel were the howling noise of wind, the air conditioning, and the hum of all-terrain tires against the asphalt. With a crippled electrical grid the main highways would be far too congested with gridlock to risk using. Smaller, lesser known roadways would be the best avenue for their escape.
It was just the two of them now as John had discovered shortly after returning to his home that Samantha had fled his apartment leaving no trace of where she was headed or how to make contact with her again. He genuinely hoped she would be okay. However, both he and Karina were far too unsettled by the news broadcast to think about that now; they could only listen in eerie silence to the newscast.
In light of the events that had transpired in Wilmington, along with the successful disruption of the Eastern Interconnection Grid, and exasperated by the increased escalation of terrorist attacks and civil disturbances across the United States a country wide state of emergency had been declared by President Jordan. In order to, “help better preserve the peace and maintain control” President Jordan and his executive council had voted to extend the National Preservation Act indefinitely; until another more permanent law could be drafted and passed.
In his nationwide address the President blamed constitutional extremists and conservative right wing fanaticism for the provocation of dedicated, but misguided individuals within the “peaceful” Muslim religion. He informed the country that he would aggressively pursue any means necessary to help repress these fringe elements within the United States.
With most federal, state, county, and local police and military forces actively involved in quelling civil unrest throughout the country, Jordan expressed his gratitude to the United Nations for allowing their Peacekeeping Forces to be placed not only along the Mexican, Texas borders, but also along the US, Texas borders. This would be done in order to deter any possible outbreaks of violence that might ensue due to the state’s secession and the dastardly actions of Governor Lance Gabriel. President Jordan stated that he hoped that the deployment of UN troops would show the Governor and the citizens of Texas that the United States and the entire world condemned the actions of the Texas government. While the President did not mention it both John and Karina knew this would be the first time in history that foreign troops had been utilized by an American government on American soil and it gave them a sinking feeling in their gut. It would not be long before Texas was completely surrounded and cut
off from the rest of the world.
In a brief news point after replaying the account of Jordan’s national address the radio anchor relayed the information that war had broken out between Israel and a combined force of Iran and Syria. With the sympathetic help of an ISIS controlled Iraq and Jordan a full scale invasion of Israel had commenced from different locations around the country’s borders. Most military tacticians believed that the entire country of Israel would be overrun by enemy forces in a matter of weeks and that the country’s government would soon collapse. While President Jordan and representatives from the United Nations verbally condemned the violence they also declared the hope that Israel would find a diplomatic solution to resolve the situation rather than attempting to end the conflict themselves by utilizing needless brutality against the invading forces. No military or humanitarian aid would be given to Israel.
John’s attention was pulled away from the news broadcast when he felt Karina take him by the hand; she squeezed it gently and smiled at him.
“How long do you think it’ll take us to get to Texas?” Her smile blended love and encouragement.
“I’m not sure; a day, maybe two; I’m going to try and avoid as many of the main roads as I can until we at least get out of the Eastern Interconnection Grid. I’m sure a lot of the main highways will be either gridlocked or just too dangerous to travel on, so it’ll be best to avoid them all together and for as long as possible. Plus, there will be less of a chance of encountering any NGP Officers that way as well.”
John was unsure how much the National Governing Police knew about his and Karina’s involvement with the events that had played out in Wilmington, but he was sure that if they stayed anywhere in North Carolina, Karina was certain to wind up in a federal detention camp somewhere; and more than likely he would as well. Fleeing the area was the only option available to them. John realized that while he would be sad to leave his home, he could take comfort in the fact that the woman he loved would be at his side in this desperate venture.
“So what will you do?” Karina asked. “When we get there I mean?”
John thought for a moment, things had been happening so fast lately and they had left in such a rush he hadn’t had much time to really take the future into consideration. He remained silent for several seconds before a cavalier smirk crossed his face.
“Well…I hear Fort Worth has a good police department.” he said grinning at Karina as he glanced over at her. She responded with a loving smile in return and gripped his hand a little tighter. For now he only needed one hand on the steering wheel.
Just then, John heard sirens approaching from the distance. He looked a ways ahead of his truck and down the winding road that was so hot heat waves were rising from the asphalt. He saw two Wilmington Police Department Chargers headed towards his vehicle. All of their emergency equipment was activated and they were traveling at a very high rate of speed; even in the bright midday sunlight John was easily able to make out the various different strobing color patterns of the blue LED’s on their light bars. In a matter of seconds both white Police Chargers streaked past his truck and continued down the road in the opposite direction. John glanced in his side mirror and watched both vehicles until they disappeared around a bend.
Go get’em boys... John thought quietly to himself as a more serious look made its way across his face. He had no way of knowing where they were going or what was happening, but as always there was a part of him that wanted to go with them; to help out his fellow brothers in blue in any way he could. He hoped that when he and Karina reached Texas he might find a way to resume that part of his life. But, even if that were not possible he would still have her. That would be enough. The cab of the truck grew silent again as John and Karina drove down the empty roadway, together.
The End
United States Constitution
Article. 1.
Section 1.
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Article. 2.
Section 1.
The executive Powers shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.
Article. 3.
Section 1.
The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.
Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the person or things to be seized.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the State respectively, or to the people.
Amendment XXII
Section 1.
No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.