by Robert Boren
“Hell, there’s people with guns all over the state, even along the coast,” Frawley said. “Try buying ammo these days. The sporting goods stores can’t keep it in stock.”
“How does the UN fit into this puzzle?” Cooley asked.
“The Administration frowns on nation-states,” Katz said. “Pretty obvious to me. That being said, bringing in the UN is a giant miscalculation.”
“Yeah, they’ll tick people off in a hurry,” Cooley said. “I’ll bet those RV’ers killed them last night.”
“I hope you’re right,” Frawley said.
***
Sam, Clem, John, and Sid looked at the broken hulk of the UN armored vehicle.
“These body parts are liable to bring bears,” Sid said. “We probably should gather them up and bury them.”
“Or burn them,” Clem said.
“No burning,” Sam said. “We don’t know who else is around.”
“They already know where we are,” John said. “We might want to think about leaving this place.”
“I was thinking the same thing last night,” Sam said.
“It’s dangerous on the road, too,” Sid said.
“Sid’s right about that,” John said. “We’ll be leaving our most powerful weapons behind, too.”
“Let’s get these storage compartments open,” Sam said. “We’ll deal with the body parts afterwards.”
The other men nodded, and they started looking for keys.
“Why the UN?” Sid asked.
“We have a traitor in the White House,” Sam said. “Remember when the violence started up, and the governments of Europe and Asia started restricting their people from traveling here? There were calls for UN Peacekeepers to come in and settle things down. I’ll bet it’s related to that. You know how our President likes to bend over for the leftist leaders of the Globalist movement.”
Sid chuckled. “Yeah, he does it every damn time, while belittling the good this country has done for the world.”
“The President invited them in, making it look like an act of openness and good faith,” Clem said. “He hid the fact that they’re an occupying force.”
“There aren’t enough of these UN creeps to occupy jack,” John said. “They seem to be pretty easy to kill, too.”
“If we wouldn’t have had that artillery piece, they would’ve killed us,” Clem reminded them.
“They would’ve tried,” Sid said.
“Hey, look,” John said, pointing to a pile of goo next to the wrecked driver’s seat. “Keys.”
“Wish I would’ve brought my rubber gloves,” Sam said as he picked them up and wiped them on a torn piece of clothing. “Let’s see if these open the compartments.” He walked to the front one on the driver’s side and started trying keys.
“Why didn’t they use air power against us?” John asked.
“Maybe the air force isn’t dirty yet,” Clem said.
“Bingo,” Sam said, opening the compartment.
“Anything in there?” Clem asked. Sam turned and smiled at him.
“Something we can use?” John asked.
“Claymore mines,” Sam said. “Used these when I was in the service.”
“Will they stop vehicles like this?” Sid asked.
“No, they’re anti-personnel,” Sam said. “We could put some up at the front. They’d stop a civilian car, but they won’t blow up an armored vehicle like this.”
“We’d need to set up a camera down here in order to use them,” Clem said. “They’re remote control, right? Not passive.”
“Yeah,” Sam said. “Let’s see what’s in the other compartments.” He unlocked the rear compartment. “Whoa.”
“What’s in there?” Clem asked.
“More mines, but this kind will stop armored vehicles.”
“Really?” Clem asked. “What the hell is the UN doing with these? Remember that big push to get rid of mines about thirty years ago? I thought they were outlawed by civilized countries.”
“These are anti-tank mines, not anti-personnel mines,” Sam said. “We could put these up by the front gate.”
“If we blow up an armored vehicle up by the gate, won’t we be blocked in here?” Sid asked.
“Good point,” Sam said. “Bad enough with this thing here. We’ll have to move it somehow.”
“We could tow it out of the way with that mobile artillery piece, if we have any strong chain around here,” Clem said.
“I have some,” Sam said. “Let’s check the rest of the compartments.” He went to the passenger side of the vehicle, the others following him.
“Geez, kick that head out of the way,” John said, staring at the lifeless, bloody face on the ground. Sid got it rolling down into the ditch with his foot.
“That guy was northern European,” Sid said. “Young, too. Late teens, early twenties.”
“Yeah, well good riddance,” John said.
“What’s in that front one?” Clem asked. “More mines?”
“No, binders and pamphlets,” Sam said. “We’ll need to look at these. They might have battle plans and tactics in them.”
“Let me see one,” Clem asked, stepping forward. Sam picked up one of the large binders and gave it to him. He opened it. “It’s in English, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Dutch.”
Sam opened a second one. “This one is in Asian languages. I’ll bet it’s the same content.”
Clem laughed. “These idiots.”
“What?” John asked.
Clem glanced at him, then back at the book. He read.
“American people are more difficult to manage than people of European Heritage who live in the EU. They are well armed due to their Constitutional guarantee of the right to bear arms, and many of them believe in their antiquated Bill of Rights in the same manner that religious people believe in their holy books.”
“They got that right,” John said.
“The first priority when going into an area is to use the Federal Firearms Database to locate gun owners. Quietly confiscate the guns as quickly as possible. Neutralize the gun owners so word doesn’t spread.”
“What do they mean by neutralize?” John asked.
“Murder,” Sam said. “These are occupation instructions.”
“I think I need to study this whole book,” Clem said.
“Yeah, we all need to,” John said.
“Agree,” Sam said. “Let’s check the last compartment.” He unlocked it and looked inside. “Holy shit.”
“What’s in there?” Sid asked.
“Three mortars and a bunch of mortar rounds,” Sam said. He began pulling them out. “We can use these.”
“My God, are those white phosphorus rounds?” Clem asked, looking at one of the crates.
Sam’s head jerked around and he focused on the box more closely. “Willie pete? No way. They’re planning some really bad things.”
“What’s willie pete?” John asked.
“It’s basically like napalm,” Clem said. “You don’t want to be around when it goes off. It’ll burn you alive.”
“This tells me more about the UN’s intention than anything else I’ve seen here,” Sam said. “They want to crush opposition. They don’t care how many people die.” He was trembling with anger.
“You okay?” John asked.
“It’s not going to be enough to defend ourselves from these guys,” Sam said.
“What are you suggesting?” Clem asked.
“I’m suggesting that we become partisans. I’m suggesting that we turn from defense to offence.”
Sid was quiet for a moment, thinking. Then he looked at the others. “Sam’s right. We need to hit them. Hard as we can.”
“So we don’t fortify this place?” John asked.
“We fortify it enough to allow us to operate from here,” Sam said, “but only for the time being. We’ll have to leave eventually.”
“And just where do you think we’ll end up?” John asked.
&nb
sp; “We’ll end up in places where we can take the fight to the enemy.”
“We need to recruit,” Sid said.
“Yes, we do,” Sam said. “I know some people.”
“Yeah, me too,” Sid said.
“Hope these people you know have access to equipment,” Clem said. “We don’t have much.”
“Trust me, the folks I’m talking about have resources,” Sam said. “They may already be fighting.”
“We’ll have to convince our women about this,” John said. “Might not be easy.”
“We’ve got a target on our back now,” Sid said. “If the invaders and their government enablers win, we’re all dead. We can’t just wait around for that. We can’t try to hide. We need to be men.”
“Officer Ryan probably knows quite a bit,” Clem said. “I think we need to chat with him.”
“Yep,” Sam said. “Let’s put our munitions away and see about towing this hulk out of sight.”
“Yeah,” Clem said.
“I’ll start picking up body parts,” Sid said.
“Okay,” John said. “Let’s get to work. Maybe Ryan will be able to talk by the time we’re done.”
Chapter 3 – Special Invitation
The TV was still on in Ji-Ho’s living room, but everybody in there was numb to the stories. It was late. Ji-Ho came out of his bedroom.
“You get her?” Kaylee asked. “You’ve been in there a long time.”
“Yes, I get through to South Korea,” Ji-Ho said. “Your Aunt fine so far, but everybody worry. North Korea has missiles on launch pad. Long range. They say they fire at USA.”
“You don’t think they can hit us, do you?” Emma asked.
“They try,” Ji-Ho said. “Better to be here than in Seattle or Northern California. LA hard for them to hit.”
“I still can’t believe that Ventura Harbor got hit,” Matt said. “I had some friends there. Hope they weren’t in a bad place.”
Trevor’s phone rang. He looked at the number. “Whoa, it’s Gus!”
“You gonna answer it?” Angel asked.
Trevor nodded and put the phone to his ear, walking out of the room.
“Who’s Gus?” Kaylee asked.
“He was our combat range instructor,” Matt said. “A little gruff, but a cool guy.”
“Wonder what he wants?” Emma asked, brow furrowed.
Trevor walked back into the room. “Guys, let’s gather around the kitchen table. Gus wants to talk to all of us. I’ll put it on speaker.”
“Okay,” Seth said, getting up. The others got up too, while Ji-Ho picked up the TV remote and scanned channels.
“Can I come too?” Emma asked.
“Sure, don’t see why not,” Seth said. Trevor shot him a worried glance, but just shrugged his shoulders.
“I’ll set it up,” Trevor said. He set his phone in the middle of the kitchen table and pushed the speaker button as the others gathered around. “Gus, can you hear us okay?”
“Yeah, Trevor, I can hear you. Hi, guys. Hope all is well with you.”
“We’re good,” Seth said. “But things have been a little crazy.”
“So I heard,” Gus said. “Nice job so far.”
“What’s up?” Angel asked.
“We’re putting a partisan group together,” Gus said. “I thought about you guys. I was hoping you’d be interested.”
“Who would we be fighting?” Matt asked.
“Martial law and the invaders,” Gus said.
“Martial law?” Emma said, eyes wide. “You mean the National Guard?”
“Who’s that?” Gus asked.
“That’s Emma, Seth’s girlfriend,” Trevor said.
“Oh,” Gus said. “You haven’t been out and around yet, have you?”
“No, but a few of us have gotten calls from work this morning,” Seth said. “They want us to report back on Friday.”
Gus chuckled. “Yeah, got to keep the cash cow going for the Administration.”
“Why’d you ask about that?” Jamie asked.
“I don’t recognize that voice,” Gus said.
“It’s Jamie,” Trevor said. “Another friend of ours. Good in a battle, by the way.”
“Good,” Gus said. “The news is saying that the National Guard is gonna be handling the administration of martial law in California. They’re not the bulk of the force.”
“So who’s the bulk?” Matt asked. “The regular army?”
“No, they’re busy in Mexico now. It’s going to be UN Peacekeepers. That’s why I asked if you’d been out and around. Wondered if you saw their blue and white vehicles yet.”
“Oh bullshit,” Matt said. “No way.”
“Why would we let UN Peacekeepers into our country?” Kaylee asked. “They have a bad track record.”
“Who’s that?” Gus asked.
“Kaylee,” Trevor said. “She’s Matt’s girlfriend.”
“Anybody else there that I don’t know?” Gus asked.
“Just my Uncle Ji-Ho,” Kaylee said. “We’re at his house. He’s in the other room.”
“Okay,” Gus said. “Regardless of if you guys accept or not, you can’t talk about this to anybody, okay?”
“No problem,” Trevor said, looking at the others. “Is it, guys?”
“No problem here,” Seth said.
“Good,” Gus said. “You don’t have to decide right now. Live with martial law for a few days. Then call me back and we’ll talk.”
“What exactly do you have in mind?” Jamie asked.
“We’re setting up a resistance chapter in the South Bay,” Gus said. “You guys would be the core of that group. I’ll have to conduct some more training with you, of course.”
“And what would we be doing?” Seth asked.
“Throwing monkey wrenches,” Gus said.
“I don’t like this,” Emma said. “You can’t have Seth.”
“Don’t be that way, Emma,” Seth said. “Like Gus said, we’re going to live under martial law for a few days before we have to make any decisions. If he’s right about the UN, I’ll be leaning towards joining up.”
“Well, I don’t have a girlfriend holding me back,” Trevor said. “I’ll join.”
Kaylee snickered. “Yeah, that attitude is probably why you don’t have a girlfriend.”
“Funny,” Trevor said.
Kaylee shot him a smug look. “I’m with Emma. If Matt decides to go, he’ll lose me.”
“How about you other guys who aren’t tied down?” Trevor asked.
“I’ll wait and see what happens,” Jamie said, “but if I see UN trash pushing people around, I’ll probably join.”
“Same here,” Angel said.
“Good,” Gus said. “I’ll get off the phone now. Looks like North Korea has one of its long-range missiles on the pad ready to go. Gonna watch it. Talk to you soon.” The line went dead.
“Missile?” Emma asked.
“Hey, better come out here,” Ji-Ho called from the living room.
The group rushed in and sat in front of the TV, watching video of a rocket sitting on a pad, steam rising around the bottom as it was being fueled.
“Dammit,” Trevor said. “That’s the longest-range missile they have. Wonder how they’re getting this video.”
“Is that really live?” Kaylee asked, eyes wide.
“Say live, but who know?” Ji-Ho said.
“Don’t worry, their long-range missiles suck, remember?” Matt said.
“Matt right,” Ji-Ho said. “North Korean technology backwards.”
Suddenly there was a bright flash on the screen, and the video feed went dead.
“Whoa, dude, what just happened?” Angel asked.
“Looks to me like somebody blew up that missile on the pad,” Seth said.
“Yeah,” Trevor said.
“Quiet, they talk now,” Ji-Ho said.
The anchor came back on the screen.
“Although we don’t have confirmation yet, i
t appears that we have taken out that missile facility. We also have unconfirmed reports that there are other attacks happening against North Korea right now.”
“Good!” Matt said. Kaylee made eye contact with him and nodded at Ji-Ho, who was trembling, tears coming down his cheeks.
“They can’t get all artillery,” Ji-Ho said. “They have nuclear shells. Can hit wife.”
“We’re gonna be all over that,” Trevor said. “She’ll probably be okay.”
“I hope so,” Ji-Ho said. Kaylee went over and hugged him.
“Look, more breaking news,” Matt said. Ji-Ho watched, body tensing up. Kaylee went back to Matt and put her arm around him.
They watched video from different parts of Korea for a while. Most of the shots were from around the DMZ. Then a breaking news banner flashed across the screen.
“We are getting confirmed reports that the US Air Force has been able to take out all of the missile sites in North Korea. A huge force of North Korean infantry surged across the DMZ. As soon as they reached South Korea, they surrendered. There are reports of North Korean soldiers shooting their officers at that time. The Chinese army is now pushing southward from their border, taking out all North Korean military installations with little or no resistance.”
“Thank God,” Seth said, hugging Emma with a smile on his face.
“She be all right,” Ji-Ho said, beaming. “Good. I have relatives in North. Maybe I get to see. I barely remember them.”
“I hope they took out the stupid family that’s been running that country,” Trevor said. “Not so great to see China rushing in.”
“C’mon, man, this is good news,” Matt said. “Even you have to admit that.”
“Oh, yeah, it’s good news,” Trevor said. “Very good news.”
“More breaking news,” Seth said, nodding to the screen.
“In other news, there has been widespread violence in Great Britain, France, The Netherlands, and Denmark. The Muslim minorities in those countries have come out in force to protest the actions of western countries during this crisis. Angry mobs of natives in those countries have attacked the protesters, and in almost all cases, the local police have been standing aside and letting the violence go on, resulting in injury and death for many of the protesters. In London the police did draw the line when a group of hooligans attempted to go into a Muslim neighborhood and pull people out of their homes.”