by Justin Price
William went ahead and walked into the recovery room where Liam Cain lay. He looked better than he did when he went into surgery. The white, ashy look had been replaced with more color in his cheeks.
He walked up to Liam and placed a hand on his shoulder; leaning over toward his ear and whispering.
“Mr. President, we need you to come out of this really quick. If you don’t bounce back from this within a few days, then I’m afraid that Donnelly and Assad will see to it that this country never becomes what it used to be. It will all be for nothing.”
William felt awkward speaking to a man who was lying unconscious. ‘Maybe he can hear me’, he thought. ‘It’s worth a shot. He needs all the motivation to wake up and get better that he can get.’
The door popped open and William almost jumped out of his skin. In walked Vice President Donnelly.
“How is he?” he asked.
“He is still in bad condition”, said William. “He is in a coma right now in order to allow his brain and body to heal over the next few days. He nearly died three times and didn’t have enough oxygen or blood going to his brain. It could be a very long road to recovery.”
“That’s too bad”, said Donnelly. “Well, at least he is alive. That would have been terrible to lose the President.”
“I agree”, said William.
“I do want to discuss with you the possibility of me acting as the President until he recovers and is able to resume his duties”, said Donnelly.
“Alright. Well, I think it is too early right now to do anything in the way of swearing you in as the acting President. The man is still alive after all”, said William.
“Yes, he is alive… but he is incapacitated. First of all, Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 says that if the president is, because of ‘Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office’ then the Vice President gets the job.”
“Well, I guess that would put you exactly where you want to be then wouldn’t it?” asked William harshly.
“Are you saying that I wanted this to happen?” asked Donnelly. “I’m offended that you would even entertain that notion.”
“It’s just convenient that this is all happening right now in light of the announcement that we made today. It makes me wonder who caught wind of it beforehand. You know as well as I do that the shooter could have been a government plant. I’m not ignorant of all of the cerebral reconditioning that had gone on with soldiers over the past year. It wouldn’t have been that hard.”
“That’s an amazing theory, Mr. Bernhart. It’s very intriguing to me that a man in your position as third in line would be accusing me of such subversion. I’m not sure what it is that caused a man as intelligent as Cain to defect to your side, but I will find out. I will do whatever it takes to make sure that you and your constituents, even President Cain himself, doesn’t threaten the state of national security because you want to be isolationists who cares only for themselves.”
“Do what you must”, said William. “But, let it be known that there are several of us in this country from the very top to the bottom that are willing to fight for our sovereignty and freedom. That’s what we were founded on after all; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Those things don’t really exist in the world government. The dictator won’t allow it.”
―――――
The riots had started almost immediately after the press conference at the White House. It was more subdued perhaps because of the President being shot and nearly killed, but there was definite unrest all over the country. People took to the streets to demonstrate their disdain for what they felt was Cain being a turncoat; a traitor to the new way of doing things.
The effect was felt the most in cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Detroit, and San Francisco but in smaller towns all across the country it was all people talked about. Although a minority, in the south and most western states, there were a lot of people that flew American flags and supported the move by Cain to take their sovereignty back.
Full-fledged battles hadn’t erupted yet due to the uncertainty of the presidency and whether this decision would be carried out or not. The uncertainty was the perfect tool to be used in the hands of Assad. While the world waited on the United States to make a move, he used the violence in America to make a point.
He was on screens all across the globe as he had been many times before; indoctrinating the masses with fear toward anyone who would dare defect and try to become individuals. It was suggested that individuality was dangerous. Outliers were not welcome and that included entire countries. There would be no world power except for him. He convinced many that it was the only way for world peace.
Like a glorified snake oil salesman, he shamed the president and those in the United States that would be such rebels against the world government:
“No, citizens of the world, true freedom is not in the sovereignty of your country. It is in fact in the unity of the world. Every person from every walk of life and every country under one banner…the banner of peace and prosperity. What you have seen take place in the United States over the past twenty-four hours has been the price of leaving that protective covering that I provide as the leader of the World Council. The rioting, the confusion, the hatred among people…all of those things come from a bigoted mindset that should have been put to rest long ago. It is still running rampant in certain parts of the world though; especially in the United States. It is not supposed to be this way. It has also been made known to me that Britain would also like to follow in the footsteps of the U.S. If this is the case, I would like to issue a warning to you and anyone else who wants to defy the World Council. Your desire to disrupt the new world order will not be without consequences. We have enough people in your own governments and citizenry that are more than capable of keeping your country where it is and that is part of the World Council. If you choose to continue to defy me, there will be an attack that will cripple your infrastructure and make you desolate as a nation. I do not enjoy using force, as I am a peaceful man. However, I will protect my believers throughout the world.”
This only fanned the flames in both the United States and Great Britain. Jails and hospitals were full and fire departments were continuously working in dangerous areas to put out fires. Local and state government buildings had to be protected by National Guard forces and the military had Washington, DC in lockdown per Jay Donnelly’s instructions.
Vice President Donnelly went on television and gave a speech, updating people on the condition of the President and the current state of affairs across the country.
“President Cain is in a medically induced coma at this time. He is in critical condition and it could take him days to wake up and months to function again. He may never be able to carry out the duties of President of the United States due to his current and future physical and mental state. With that being said, the Supreme leader Samyaza al Assad has placed me in charge as acting President until further notice. My first order as President is to institute martial law in every city across the United States with a population of one-hundred thousand or more. This will lift once the violence and looting stops. You will only be allowed to go out during the day. Anyone caught out at night will be imprisoned and fined. If you do not cooperate, the police and military units have authority to kill. Please be mindful of this and as always, we appreciate your cooperation.”
William Bernhart sunk in his chair. There wasn’t much he could do now, he thought. He wasn’t sure if he needed to create a hostile takeover with the other supporters in the government and military or if he needed to just go into hiding with his constituents. It was very clear to him that both Assad and Donnelly had no more patience for opposing viewpoints and he couldn’t hide behind his title or position in the government.
The rules of the Constitution no longer applied. The law was whatever Assad says it was at any given time. He spent the rest of the afternoon gathering his belongings and callin
g up every person he knew to call in the government to see what could be done. He decided to go to his secluded cabin in West Virginia where he could think and pray. He was the only person who knew it was there and that would come in handy for him in the coming days.
The game had changed drastically and every move would put him and many others at risk of death. ‘This is it’, he thought. ‘The time of tribulation that the bible talks about. I never would have thought it would have happened this way.’
―――――
The van carrying Maggie, Chaim, and Commander Murray was flying through the streets on the southern outskirts of New York, heading straight for the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. Murray was on the phone communicating with each unit leader as he drove down the road.
It still hadn’t sunk in that they all had lost their home and even probably a dozen lives during the bombing and subsequent pursuit by the World Council forces. It was Chad Murray’s job to hold it all together when difficulties came up and he was doing a fine job of it.
His analytical and self-critical mind just couldn’t let some things go. He wondered to himself if there was any decision he could have made along the way that would have changed the outcome. Even though he only had a few minutes to react, it was still a trait of his leadership to question himself.
They kept looking in the rearview mirror and in the sky wondering if they would pick up on them moving from the city. The one mistake that the World Council forces made was that they didn’t have enough air support set aside for the task. The bombers had already moved out and a small ground unit was making its way through the empty bunkers, but no further planes, drones, or helicopters were within sight.
The inexperienced forces of the World Council were still trying to get their methods together and strengthen their position in the United States. Finally, Murray decided that they were very fortunate to have escaped and not have anyone pursuing them outside of the city.
“Do we have a plan?” asked Chaim.
“Right now, we don’t have anything set in stone. We do have some brothers and sisters that have lived in the Appalachian Mountains for quite some time. We are going to go and see if they can help us get on our feet and begin a new life there. We will need a short term plan to have some families housed with some believers there and we need a long term plan to build small cabins for each family on the land. We are going from the city life, getting all of our resources from the black market to living completely off the land. It will be a big change and a learning curve for everyone.”
“You mean I get to grow my own squash now?” asked Chaim jokingly.
Joshua maintained a serious demeanor. “Yes, that’s correct.”
“Okayyyy…” said Chaim; obviously expecting more of a light hearted response.
“Listen, I am just a little on edge”, said Chad. “We are going to be going through Philadelphia, Baltimore, and then into Washington, DC before turning to the west and heading down through the mountains. All three of those cities are experiencing major riots right now and although it ties the hands of the World Council forces for us right now, the last thing I want is to run into an angry mob.”
“Understood”, said Chaim solemnly.
“Washington, DC?” asked Maggie. “That’s where my husband is believed to be.”
“Yes Mrs. Robertson. That’s correct”, said Joshua. “Unfortunately, we won’t be able to stop. Between the assassination attempt today and the political unrest there, the environment is far too volatile to do anything in.”
I know”, said Maggie. “It’s just so difficult knowing that he is out there somewhere and not knowing what they are doing to him. I would do anything to see him again.”
Murray shook his head in affirmation and said, “Believe me, if we were able to penetrate their security, we would be going in after him. I just don’t think it’s possible. Not with the World Council forces and the federal government being involved.”
As they were talking about the situation they were in and the whereabouts of John, Chad looked up and noticed a white car quickly approaching with blue lights flashing.
“Oh, not now Jesus”, he said. “Well…it looks like we may be getting pulled over. Probably local or state law enforcement by the looks of it. Still yet, the plates and tags are not legitimate. If they run this information, we will be in trouble.”
“They are still a little ways off”, said Chaim. “Do you think we should just try to pull off on a side road and maybe park off somewhere that he won’t see us?”
“I don’t know”, said Joshua. “I’m pretty sure he would find us and I don’t want to be accused of evading the police. That would be one more charge they could throw us in jail for. The problem with me is that I was too high profile in the government that they know what I’ve done. They know I have become a Christian and I am involved with the underground church. I will be in prison for the rest of my life. I could even be executed. Just pray guys.”
“Not to worry you even more”, said Chaim, “but we have weapons on board as well. That alone would have us arrested and put away for years. If they find anything at all, we will have no choice other than flee or attack. That’s the only way we will have a chance of getting out of this.”
“I just can’t believe this is happening”, said Maggie. “This early in the trip and we already have the police on our tails. How much worse can it get?”
“Don’t ask that”, said Chaim. “It could get a lot worse.”
The car continued to approach at a high rate of speed. It had almost caught up to them. They pulled over to the side of the road and prayed with everything they had in them.
CHAPTER 14
Abbie sat in her hotel room that evening after finding out that Charles Billingsley was without a doubt her biological father. She had a full range of emotions bombarding her at once. Anger at her mother for keeping it from both her and Charles and guilt for even showing up to drop the bombshell on her dad. The fear of rejection was overwhelming, yet the excitement of getting to know him was also a reality.
The one thing that she wished could be done was to turn back time to the time when she was a little girl. Most of the other kids in her neighborhood had their dads around. She remembers watching them in their yards playing ball or pushing them on the swing set. There was nothing she ever wanted more, but the experience was robbed from her. She used to feel bad for her mom for being left alone with a baby to raise.
It was an odd thing really. The anger she used to feel toward the unknown man who left her mother was now directed toward her mom and the sympathy she had for her mother was now directed toward her dad. She wondered if there was a father in her life, if she would have turned out any different…any better off.
She heard a knock at the door, so she got up off the bed and walked over to open it. Peering through the hole, she could see who it was. ‘Not now’, she thought. She took a deep breath anyway and opened the door.
“Hi honey”, said Susan.
“Hi mom”, said Abbie. “What brings you here?”
“I just wanted to know that I went and talked to your father tonight.”
“Oh, really? You mean the man that you never told me about? I had always thought it was some mystery, but you knew who my father was and where he was at all of these years.”
“Listen, I am really sorry. I have explained myself to Charles already and I know that you are both feeling a lot of emotions right now. You have a right to be angry, but I want you to know that I did it for your own good and his.”
“For our own good?” she asked. “For our own good? Are you kidding me? How was it in our best interests that he didn’t even know he had a daughter and I didn’t know I had a father, and one that could have been a good one at that?”
“Charles had so much going for him in his life after High School. I knew that a baby could change that. I didn’t want to slow him down or make him feel like he had to stay there in Arkansas for us.”
“Well God
forbid that a man has to take responsibility for something he helped create”, she snapped. “That’s part of life mom. You have to take responsibility for your own choices. You never even gave him a chance and because of that, I never had a chance.”
“Abbie, don’t you think I know about responsibility? I chose to raise you alone without him even knowing, not only for him but for you as well. I knew he had gotten married and started a new life within a few years. I didn’t want you trying to contact him at any point because I was afraid he would reject you out of fear of hurting his family. When I found out that he lost his wife a while back, I knew it was safe to tell you his identity.”
“That still doesn’t make it right mom”, said Abbie. “Yes, I understand your fear of me and Charles being hurt, but we have even more to work through and deal with now that we ever would have if we had known years earlier.”
“You might be right about that hon. I don’t know… Hindsight seems to be twenty-twenty. The fact of the matter is, we will never know how it could have turned out. All we have is today. That’s all any of us have.”
“Well, I have had about all I can handle today. Tomorrow is a new day and we will go from there, but right now I would like to be alone.”
Abbie opened the door for her mother to exit, not even looking her in the eye as she passed by with tears in her eyes.
“I just hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me Abbie”, said Susan.
“It’s not really about that right now mom. I’m sure I will. I have to; after all it’s in my nature now. Honestly, I just need to be mad and upset for a little while and process all of this. Maybe try to figure out what I am going to do with this.”
Susan nodded her head in understanding. “Good night honey. I love you.”
Abbie just turned around and let the door close behind her, immediately falling apart and bursting into tears. She turned the lights out and slipped under the covers of her bed; completely exhausted. She cried herself to sleep, but it seemed to happen within only a few minutes.