by Mark Goodwin
By the time they cleared the house and went outside, the first light of dawn was glowing from the east. The team members from the Cougar were bringing water to the various wounded militia men. Adam walked up to Sam Hart. “How bad is it?”
Sam said, “We killed ‘em all. You gotta take that as a win, Adam. Good planning on your part.”
Adam rubbed his face. “We lost a lot of men, though.”
Sam said, “Looks like about forty. We’ve got a few badly injured. Some might not make it. Several just have superficial wounds.”
Adam said, “Franklin is dead.”
Sam shook his head. “That’s awful.”
Adam said, “Maybe we should have just pulled out.”
Sam said, “Don’t go second-guessing yourself. Besides, Franklin was the one who made the final call to fight it out here. He wouldn’t have pulled out, even on your recommendation. I’ll talk with the captains of the other three companies, but I’d say you are the obvious choice to take over for Franklin. You’d make a good commander.”
Adam shook his head. “I can’t do it, Sam. I’ve got to find my cousin. I’ve got a family and a farm to run when I’m not fighting this war. I’ll fight to the end, but I can’t be as dedicated as Franklin was.”
Sam said, “No one will be as dedicated as Franklin was. You know, the fellow who wants the job might not be the best one for the position.”
“Why don’t you do it?” Adam asked. “You could promote Jeff to Captain of Manchester Company.”
Sam loaded a fresh magazine into his rifle. “Jeff, Jeremy and I are a team. We’re killers. I’m no leader.”
“You’ve done a heck of a job leading Manchester,” Adam replied.
Sam looked up from his weapon. “Those boys know what to do. I just get out front and do it first.”
Adam said, “That’s a leader, Sam.”
Sam rebutted, “Let’s see if some glory hound from one of the other companies wants the spot. If nobody else will take it, I’ll talk it over with Jeff and Jeremy. In the meantime, we need to get everyone out of this area. DHS will be back, and they won’t be putting boots on the ground this time. It’ll be an airstrike or a missile.”
The rest of the day was spent ferrying the men back to their vehicles and evacuating the wounded to the nearby Colony Elementary School which was set up as a makeshift hospital. Adam and Gary stripped the communications room of essential components and took as many of Joe’s personal belongings as they could fit in Adam’s truck. They stopped by the school on the way home to check on Joe’s condition.
The lead medic said, “He’s stable, but I want to keep an eye on him overnight.”
“Then I’ll be by in the morning to pick him up,” Adam said.
Adam and Gary left. By the time Adam dropped Gary off, it was nearly dark. When he finally arrived home, Janice and the girls met him on the porch with tears. Adam was covered in dried blood and tried to keep his distance, but he was overpowered by the hugs of his loving family.
cHAPTER 19
“If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.”
-Samuel Adams
President Howe breathed in the air of the Oval Office. He missed the darkness of the underground bunker at Mount Weather, but the Oval Office felt like his throne room and reminded him of his power. The phone rang. Howe detested it. It had to be bad news, it always was. The secretary’s voice came over the speaker, “Mr. President, it’s IMF Director Klauser for you.”
Howe gritted his teeth. “Put him through.”
Howe lifted the receiver. “Mr. Director, How is everything?”
Klauser shot back, “Not good, Mr. President. We had an agreement that the US would have this issue with secession dealt with by tomorrow. You understand that in order to have a world of peace, we need more global unity, not more division. As I told you before, the IMF will not be able to grant you any more loans until this civil conflict has reached a permanent solution.”
Howe’s fleeting sensation of omnipotent power was gone. “Mr. Director, I assure you that this temporary situation will be over within a few days. I have done everything I know to show that the United States is part of the global community. I have granted full authorization for the Hangyun Corporation of China to assist with relief efforts and security on the west coast. We have sold a huge portion of our military assets to China, Russia, India and Brazil in order to raise capital and provide collateral to the IMF. You can be confident that this will be settled by the end of May.”
Klauser was direct with his response. “I’m sorry Mr. President. I’ve done all I can do. I will make a recommendation to the UN Secretary General Boris Gavrikov to provide the US with nutritional aid. Perhaps you can invite the UN to send in their global peacekeeping force since you are unable to handle it yourself. Good day, Mr. President.”
Howe was furious at the blatant insult, but he knew he had to suck it up for now. “Mr. Director, I can promise you that.…”
Klauser cut him off. “I said good day.”
The line went dead.
Howe slammed the receiver down, then buzzed his secretary. “Get Scott Hale in here right now.” Howe breathed out, then remembered Al Mohammad’s advice about treating his staff more humanely. He buzzed the secretary again and said, “Please.”
The voice came back over the speaker phone, “Right away, Mr. President.”
Within minutes, Scott Hale entered the oval office. “You wanted to see me, Mr. President?”
Howe had cooled off since his conversation with Klauser. “Scott, how far out are we from being ready for Operation Black Out?”
Hale answered, “The engineers are finalizing the computer models that will generate the maximum pulse and the least amount of radiation. That should be finished by the end of the week. After that, each AGM-158 JASSM will be loaded with a precise payload for its target location. Then, the missiles will be transported to their respective B-2 launch vehicles. We could launch the strike in two weeks.”
“Make it one week,” Howe snapped.
Scott Hale said, “I can certainly push the time table to fit your demands, Sir, but please understand that it will greatly reduce the precision of the attack.”
Howe sat silent for a moment as he thought. “Scott, I appreciate what you’re saying, but we’ve just lost all our financial support from the IMF due to these rebels. Klauser is already recommending that I allow UN troops to assist us. If that happens, I’ll lose all control. We have to end this and end it now. I have a few extraordinary measures that I can use to tide us over financially for one more month, but we need to have this nation put back together by June first.”
Scott Hale sighed. “Our original plan was to let the Coalition wither away over the course of three months. We don’t have the soldiers or equipment to take out the Coalition forces in one month.”
Howe said, “Let’s institute a draft. That will solve two problems. We’ll have the soldiers we need to fight the Coalition and for each one who dies in action, we’ll have one less mouth to feed.”
Secretary Hale responded, “The ration system has already convinced most everyone fit for combat to sign up voluntarily.”
The president countered, “Not those in the FEMA camps. Let’s draft everyone from age sixteen to forty-five. Also open up voluntary service to men and women from age sixteen to fifty. I’ll have the rations cut in half for those who don’t serve and double it for those who are drafted or volunteer. Hunger is a great motivator.”
Scott Hale said, “I think it’s a great idea. You’re not worried about the political fallout?”
Howe laughed, “Scott, we’re not holding elections anymore. I’m not putting all of this blood, sweat and tears into keeping this nation together only to hand the keys over to some fool in four years. This is an investment. And your seat at the table will always be secure as well.”
Hale said, “Thank you, Mr. President.”
“So we’ll be ready to go in one week?” Howe inquired.
Scott said, “If you can give me ten days, I think we could still make a relatively surgical strike.”
“And then how long do I have to wait for the invasion?” Howe was impatient.
Scott Hale responded, “Let’s give them three weeks to run out of food and lose hope from having no electricity. After that, the Coalition will be much weaker. We’ll be able to roll in with much less resistance. We’ll invade on June first.”
Howe poured them both a drink. The president knew Hale hated straight whiskey, but he liked to watch him gag on it. Howe handed him the drink. “Okay, but don’t come back to me begging for more time.”
Hale took the glass reluctantly. “You have my word, Mr. President. June first.”
CHAPTER 20
“You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it. You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.”
-Psalm 65:9-11
Karen sat at the kitchen table and stared out the window Sunday evening. She thought about where Matt was. She wondered if he was alive. She didn’t want to give up hope, but how long could she deal with not knowing? The sun was setting and another day without him would soon be past. Karen pondered the raid on Lt. Joe’s and wanted to know how it had turned out. “Maybe I should walk over to Janice’s and see what she knows about the attack,” she said to herself. Then she remembered the horrible ordeal of killing and burying the intruders the last time she came home after dark. The memories of the shooting, dragging the dead body out of her house and digging the shallow grave in the night were playing in her head. Just then, she caught a shadow out of the corner of her eye. Her heart jumped and she looked for her gun. “It’s on the bedside table!” she whispered. She jumped up to run for the gun when the handle of the door turned.
“Karen?” Rene called as she opened the door.
“You’re back!” Karen exclaimed.
“Happy to see us?” Justin inquired.
“Yes,” she said. “I was just thinking about the burglars when you came home. I’m happy to see that it’s you. I got a little scared for a second.”
“Where is your pistol?” Justin asked.
Karen answered, “By the bed. I had just jumped up to get it.”
Justin said kindly, “I can’t tell you what to do, but you should really keep it with you all the time; especially when you’re home alone. Just wear your holster. It might feel a little clumsy at first when you’re doing stuff around the house, but you’ll get used to it being there.”
Karen admitted, “You’re right. Matt would say the same thing. Did you find any mushrooms?”
“We did!” Rene exclaimed. “We also found some wild garlic and dandelion greens. Are you hungry?”
Karen said, “I could have a little snack.”
Rene then asked, “Have you had morel mushrooms before?”
“I can’t say that I have,” Karen answered.
Rene said, “They’re fantastic. I’ll put some of that goat cheese you made with a little bit of this fresh wild garlic and a few bread crumbs on the mushrooms and you won’t believe how good they are.”
Karen said, “Oh, stuffed mushrooms. How delicious. Too bad we don’t have any crab meat to toss in there.”
Rene looked at Justin and smiled.
Karen asked, “What? Don’t tell me you found crabs.”
Justin said “I caught five small crayfish in the creek. I’ll boil them, shell them and throw the meat in the stuffing. You’ll be surprised how much it tastes like crab.”
Soon, the mushrooms were ready and the three sat down to eat. Justin prayed, “Lord, we thank you for this bountiful feast. We know that you always provide for your people. You provided manna in the desert for the Israelites and you have provided so many wonderful things for us during this painful period of adjustment. We thank you for watching over us and protecting us and pray that you will soon bring Matt home as well. Amen.”
Karen echoed, “Amen.”
After dinner, Karen cleaned up the dishes while Rene washed the remaining morels. They required a bit more care in the cleaning because of the porous, sponge-like texture on the top of the mushrooms. Once they were cleaned, Rene used a needle and thread to string the mushrooms together so they could be hung up and dried.
Karen said, “Tomorrow is our day to take food to the National Guardsmen working at the power plant. I wonder if we could make enough of these to go around.”
Rene said, “I doubt we could catch enough crayfish, but we probably could do mushrooms with just goat cheese and garlic.”
Karen added, “That’ll be a nice touch. I’ll make a big pot of rice and beans with some of the venison I made with Janice while you were gone.”
Justin took a quick shower, got dressed and grabbed his rifle. “Ladies, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to run over to Adam’s and see how the assault went this morning.”
Rene said, “Don’t stay over there too long. We want to know what happened, too.”
Justin replied, “I’ll try to be back in an hour or so.”
Justin left and Karen put on a pot of tea. “I wish I had seeds for chamomile. It would probably grow well around here.”
Rene said, “My grandmother used to pick wild chamomile.”
Karen asked, “Are all of the daisies around here chamomile?”
Rene answered, “No, chamomile has more of a ball-like center, whereas daisies have a flat yellow center. Wild chamomile just has the yellow ball, it doesn’t have the little white petals.”
“Could you make tea out of daisies or are they poisonous?” Karen asked.
Rene answered, “Grandma used to make tea out of daisies for coughs. She would load it with honey, so I only remember it being sweet. I don’t remember what the actual daisy tea tasted like.”
Karen said, “Good to know if we’re ever in a pinch.”
The tea kettle whistled and Karen poured them each a cup. “I’m really having a hard time. I don’t know whether to keep hoping or start going through the grief process. I just wish I knew if Matt was alive or dead.”
Rene hugged Karen. “I think you should keep hoping and keep praying. God is faithful.”
Karen replied, “I know He is, but sometimes He is faithful to take you through the pain and grief. Shelly was only married a few weeks and God saw fit to take Wesley home. Wesley tried to do things right and God still allowed him to die.”
Rene retrieved her cup and sat at the table. “I just believe Matt is going to be alright.”
“Do you know something?” Karen asked.
“I know God is watching over you and He is watching over Matt,” Rene said.
Karen could tell by the way Rene answered that she was trying to feed her hope. “So you know he is alive. Rene, I cannot possibly relay the pain that I am going through right now simply because I don’t know if my husband is alive or dead. If you have any information, you have to tell me. Please, Rene. Put yourself in my shoes. How would you feel if you didn’t know whether Justin was alive or dead? If I knew something, I would tell you. You know I would. Rene, please!”
Rene shook her head. “Karen, you can’t tell anyone that you know. If Adam finds out that you know, he’ll punish Justin. I don’t know how, but he’ll do something. If that happens, it will put a strain on my marriage. Times are stressful enough without having any additional pressure on my marriage. If you tell anyone, Justin and I will leave. That’s how important it is that you don’t say anything. You’ve been very kind to us. I feel like we’ve grown to be close friends in a very short amount of time. It would be tough for us to find another place to stay, but we’ll leave if you say anything to anyone. Okay?”
Rene said, “Matt’s alive. He is healthy and the boys are making a plan to go get him. I’m not saying anything else, so please don’t ask me. Adam is worried that if you know, you’ll want to go or you’ll try to push the timeline on the rescue or that something will go wrong and they won’t be able to get Matt and you’ll be disappointed. If you have any respect for our friendship, promise me you won’t say anything.”
Karen shook her head to affirm the promise. She grabbed Rene to hug her as the tears flowed and she began to sob. When she was finally able to speak, Karen said, “Thank you.”
CHAPTER 21
“The people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government and to reform, alter, or totally change the same when their protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness require it. And the federal Constitution, according to the mode prescribed therein, has already undergone such amendments in several parts of it as from experience has been judged necessary.”
-Samuel Adams
Paul Randall opened the door for his guests early Monday morning. Texas Governor Larry Jacobs and General Allen Jefferson attended the Coalition meeting at Paul Randall’s ranch in person. They both arrived at 7:30, well before the meeting was to begin. They joined Paul at the breakfast table where Kimberly was setting out an early morning feast.
Larry asked, “Where is Sonny?”
Paul replied, “He’s double-checking all of the connections and going over the security program.”
Jefferson joked, “You better be paying Sonny well. If I ever hear that he’s looking for new opportunities, I’d be tempted to let him name his price.”
Paul said, “I couldn’t do it without him. Besides being a great advisor and assistant, he’s one of my best friends.”
Kimberly put the biscuits on the table and sat down with the men to eat. “Does anyone need more coffee?” she started to get back up.