The State
Page 9
The bullets ricocheted off of the rocks around their enclosure.
“Oh my God! Oh my God!” she was beside herself.
The sound of the rocks exploding around them was deafening.
“Oh my God! Oh my God!”
Joshua did the only thing that he could think of; he wrapped his arms around her and tried to protect her from the shards of rock and bullets. He knew he couldn’t protect her from the reality that their parents were most likely dead.
“They killed our parents, they killed our parents!” she sobbed into his shoulder.
The bullets never let up. Joshua felt that it was only a matter of time before they had an angle on them. He knew he would never be fast enough to fire back at them. He just held Grace and prayed that they would trip up somehow, giving him some advantage to save their lives.
That is when they heard something different besides the noise of a helicopter, the firing of a high-powered machine gun or the impact of bullets on their position. The noise was whining and whistling.
“What’s that?” Grace asked, she lifted her face from Joshua’s shoulder.
“I don’t know.”
The sound grew with volume and intensity with each passing second.
< >
Wu smiled with each round fired at the soldiers. He had been smarter than they were. He was better trained. He was fighting for a cause. He was fighting to liberate the Americans, and if it meant killing some of them along the way, well, that was acceptable by the State…and by him.
He never heard the whistling noise closing in on his position.
< >
Just before the whistling noise peaked, Joshua pushed Grace’s head back into his chest and put his helmet-covered head on top of hers.
“Close your eyes, cover your ears and hold your breath!” Grace did as he said and flexed her body waiting on some sort of impact.
The whistling peaked and changed over to the sound of a rocket engine just before the missile impacted with the helicopter causing a massive explosion and an even larger secondary fireball.
The fireball washing over the hill and through their position, setting fire to the sap filled air and igniting the tinder. The wave of heat generated by the fireball cooked the outer layer of clothing and singed the hair on the back of Joshua’s neck. The pressure wave from the explosion reverberated the air trying to pound the oxygen from their lungs. The rocks took the brunt of the blast, with Joshua absorbing the rest for the pair.
Within a second or two, the fireball dissipated and the only noise they could hear was crackling fire. Both Joshua and Grace drew timid breaths of warm smoky air. They both coughed from the gasses and char in the air.
“You okay?” he asked.
She nodded, tears rolling down her cheek.
Joshua lifted his head up and looked around the rocks to see the metal frame of the helicopter burning on the ground. He released Grace and they both stood as a US fighter jet scream overhead.
“Our guys got’em,” Joshua said.
“Yea, but…” she took off down the hill, dodging fires and fallen trees at a full run towards the house and stables.
“Grace! Wait,” he yelled from behind. He too, started to run.
Grace came to a stop once she got to the bottom of the hill and could clearly see the burning and collapsed house and the partially collapsed barn. She dropped her rifle on the ground as Joshua came to a halt next to her.
“They’re dead,” she said softly and fell to her knees. “Joshua, they’re all dead. Everyone we love is dead.”
CHAPTER 16
The Port of New Orleans, LA
Former Senator Payne, now Governor of the Provence of North America, or PNA, walked past two Chinese soldiers, each one snapped off a sharp salute. He lazily saluted as he walked past them and stepped aboard his own helicopter.
“Welcome onboard, Sir,” the chief pilot said once the governor had settled into his seat and donned a communications headset.
“Thank you, it’s good to be onboard,” Payne responded. “Captain, I assume you know about the change in schedule and route?”
The pilot looked over at his copilot, and quickly exchanging puzzled looks before answering. It was not a good idea to be the last one to learn something in the military. “No sir. What changes to the schedule are you referring to?”
“I just cleared it with Commander Chi, we are headed to Birmingham, Alabama instead of Austin, Texas.”
The pilot checked his charts for the United States before responding. “But sir, Austin is where we just won the last battle against the Americans, and,” he looked down at the chart. “Birmingham is not even the capitol of Alabama, Montgomery is the capitol.”
Payne leaned forward, as if to make his point. “Like I just said, Captain, I cleared it with Commander Chi. We are going to Birmingham to make a point that the lines we drew are not up for negotiation. Their military is pushing into the state, and it will impact our resources. It’s also the last state with oil pipelines passing through it from Texas and Louisiana, and we apparently are having problems shutting the pipelines down. I want to see what is happening on the ground, and hear from Colonel Zyu personally. Besides, it’s the deadline today for the newly minted PNA states to tell us how much they love us,” he paused and turned to look at a ground crewman running towards the helo. “Furthermore I need to make an example of someone, it might as well be there.”
The ground crewman entered the main door of the helo and handed the pilot a new set of instructions. The pilot scanned the new documents and then turned to look at the governor.
“Governor, it looks like the new orders came in from Commander Chi. We are leaving for Birmingham in a few minutes. I am sorry about the confusion, please understand.”
“I will not report this to the Commander, if that is what you are asking,” Payne said, the corners of his lips turned up at the small manipulation of power.
“Thank you, sir,” the pilot nodded and then turned back to readying the helicopter for the journey.
Several minutes later, Payne watched out of the window of his helicopter as it lifted off of the deck of the super cargo ship docked at the New Orleans port. He was captivated with the sheer size of the presence of Chinese troops and equipment that now occupied the Big Easy. Formally a tourist trap of sex starved, beignet-eating drunkards, he felt that the new order of State rule would do the place good…as long as he remained on top to rule it.
“Sir, I just checked in with operations in Alabama, and Colonel Zyu is expecting you in Birmingham this afternoon. He said that he is excited that you have chosen his command to demonstrate to the Americans our resolve,” the pilot said, as if he actually believed what he was reporting. “We should have you there in approximately 2½ hours.”
“Thank you, Captain.”
Payne sat back and watched the city, give way to the marsh and pine trees as they traveled northeast. He poured himself a drink of Kentucky bourbon, something that would now be in short supply, and opened a folder. He put on his reading glasses and picked up the top paper inside of the folder. It was the last communication he had received from his secure source in Washington D.C.
Ian Burrows is still alive. We have facial recognition and voice recordings from 12 hours ago. Awaiting your orders.
To be continued…
The Worst Case Scenario Series
Book 5: Militia
Fall 2015
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More books by G. Allen Mercer
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