by A J Newman
Tyranny in the Homeland
The Adventures of
John Harris
Book III
By A. J. Newman
This book is dedicated to my beautiful wife of over thirty years, fellow Preppers and anyone who understands that Big Government is bad government.
Thanks to Wes Newman and Forrest Parker for being great sounding boards for many of the ideas in this novel.
Thanks to Carole Lewis and Michelle Butler for helping with the proofreading. I still can’t afford real proofreaders and editors, but this team has greatly improved the quality of my work.
Copyright © 2014 Anthony J Newman. All rights reserved.
ISBN 978-0-9912334-2-7
This book is a work of fiction. All events, names characters and places are the product of the author’s imagination or are used as a fictitious event. That means that I thought up this whole book from my imagination and nothing in it is true.
Prologue
The USA is in decline thanks to the poor stewardship of our elected officials for the past 25 years. Democrats, Progressives and Socialists are taking away our liberty and spending us into bankruptcy. Republicans won’t stand up for their beliefs when they are in power. Both want cheap illegal labor and won’t seal our borders. All of them just want another term and place politics above our country. My story just takes what they are currently doing to our country and expands on their misdeeds.
Tyranny in the Homeland is the third novel in a series of novels that tell how John Harris leads a group of survivors through the chaos of a country that has fallen apart. The US President and a coalition of Third World Leaders have launched a major nuclear and EMP attack on all of the major powers and killed over 100 million Americans. The USA is in chaos with criminals and thugs attacking innocent citizens while John and his Team fight the corrupt Department of Homeland Security and the President.
I hope you have as much fun reading them as I did writing them.
I don’t claim to be an author. I think of myself as a pretty good storyteller. I would like to tell these stories to you around a campfire, but the campfire is just not large enough.
Writing a novel had been on my bucket list since I was a skinny young lad sitting on the front porch reading science fiction. I started the first book, Surviving, in this series in 2001. I was between jobs and had time on my hands. I finished it thirteen years later. Book II, Hell in the Homeland only took thirteen weeks and Book III took 19 weeks. I hope you enjoy this series and can relate to John and his team’s mission to save the good parts of our country.
Chapter 1
Ambush
Smyrna, Tennessee, ISA
December, 2048
Jenn knew that they had to get her Dad to safety even if they had to die doing it. Losing John Harris, the first President of the ISA, would be a devastating blow to the country.
John yelled, “Pile up some hay bales for cover. We’ve got a fight on our hands!”
Bullets were pounding the sides of the barn and many were slicing through the first wall and embedding in or ricocheting off the next wall.
“Damn, we need to get some bales behind us before a ricochet hits us from behind.”
Josh moved a bale behind Jenn and another behind Beth. He started moving another behind Jenn when she doubled over and dropped her M4.
“Shit, I got one in my arm.”
She tore her blouse and saw a deep graze. Josh came over and used his tie to bandage her arm. He was finishing her arm when he took a round in the butt. He fell down and Jenn rushed to his side.
“Pull your pants down. Hurry, you’re bleeding.”
“You just want to see my ass; I knew you had the hots for me, but you didn’t have to wait until I got shot to make your play.”
Jenn elbowed Josh in the side and said, “You are a legend in your own mind. No decent woman would waste her time on a boy like you.”
She quickly examined him, made a compress out of part of her skirt and secured it to his ass with strips from the rest of her skirt. When she finished binding the wound, she slapped him on the ass and crawled back to her station.
“You’ll live, but you’re going to have an ugly scar on that snow white ass of yours.”
“Stop flirting and get shooting. They’re going to try to overrun us eventually. Beth, are you holding up okay?”
“John, this reminds me of our first few years. We were always being attacked and having to shoot our way out of trouble. Josh, we can give you some real stories about how many fought and died to get this country born. John, tell him about the disaster at Decatur. This is probably how they felt when no one came to save them.”
“Perhaps, I’ll tell them about the shit house.”
“Do it, and sleep on the couch for a year!”
***
“Yes, Senior, we will kill him this time. We also have his wife and daughter pinned down in the barn. Yes, the bitch that killed your son.”
“Wolf, I want Beth and John’s head delivered to me no later than next Wednesday. I will have your head if you fail me again.”
The Wolf was afraid for only the second time in his life. He was too old to be fighting wars and planned to retire after this mission. He had a small villa on the Pacific Coast and his girlfriend and two kids already lived there; his wife could go to hell.
“Pass the word. I will give a million pesos to the man who delivers John Harris’ head. There is another five hundred thousand for his daughter’s head.”
***
Josh saw three men running from the woods towards the barn. He shot three times and got two. Jenn killed the last of the three.
“Report in on what you see, how many you’ve shot and how much ammo you have left.”
“Beth. One by the house and two behind the tractor. Killed two. About fifty rounds.”
“Jenn. Three in the woods. Shot four. Two of them dead. Sixty rounds."
"Josh. Another two on my end of the woods. Killed two and shot another three. About forty rounds.”
“I see four sneaking down the fence row. Three dead and one wounded. Fifty rounds.”
John shot twice and said, “Only two on the fence line. The cowards ducked quickly”
“Has anyone tried to call for help? I know we have been busy, but we won’t last much longer.”
“Damn, Dad, I just thought Scott would send the army. I’ll call.”
Jenn dialed several numbers before she got an answer.”
“Gus, we need help. We are pinned down in a barn on Old Nashville Highway just after Florence Road on the left side going south. I think it’s the old Miller place.”
“Jenn, the SWAT Team is thirty minutes out and the Army about forty minutes away.”
John took the phone and said, “Old buddy, we’ll be dead in twenty minutes. Get help here quick or send ambulances.”
“We’re on the way John. Leave some for us to kill.”
✺ ✺ ✺ ✺ ✺ ✺
Chapter 2
High School
Lower Alabama
February, 2021
The man at the podium droned on and on. He looked at the sleepy bunch of high school kids sitting on rough-hewn log benches in a barn that made do as the high school. He had hated teaching before TSHTF, but now it was no longer a chore, because the students were actually interested in their studies. The elimination of all electronic toys, cell phones and computers for the average citizen greatly reduced the distractions his class had previously.
His mind came back to his class and said, “The world changed overnight a little under a year ago on May 22, 2020. That was the day that The Shit Hit The Fan and The End Of The World As We Know It happened. The U.S. President and a group of rich and p
owerful men had joined the Iranians in launching a major nuclear attack on all of the major nations. They used nuclear bombs to create multiple EMP blasts over most of the same countries. The world had descended into chaos.
Millions were killed directly by nuclear bombs that blew major cities off the face of the earth, but many more died when their medications ran out or starved to death. Bands of criminals, thugs and want to be dictators ruled the day around the globe. Most people were unprepared or lacked the will to do what it took to survive. It had descended into a "kill or be killed" scenario for day to day survival.”
A brave student raised her hand and asked, “How many people are left alive in what was the old 50 states that made up the old USA?”
“The short answer is that no one knows. Our military thinks that there are about 5-10 million people in the old USA, 2 million in Canada, 15 million in Mexico and 50-60 million in all of South America.”
Another asked, “Why does South America and Mexico have more people than all of North America?”
“A very good question! Our leaders strongly feel that a Latin American drug lord was part of the group that engineered the attacks on the rest of the world. Yes, they had losses, but no bombs or EMP attacks occurred except for the ones against Brazil. No bombs fell on Iran either, at least until the US Navy nuked the bastards."
"You must also realize that Mexico and South America had many people that were already living without modern conveniences. Many had no electricity and did not have the level of medical assistance that we had grown to depend on. Many died every day from diabetes, heart issues and other ailments that we took pills to keep our illnesses in check. Millions died in the developed countries within weeks of running out of medicine.”
***
“Beth, where are my underwear? All I see are these briefs. I only wear boxers.”
“John, they all had holes and were threadbare. I burned them and got these from supply. I will order the boxers as soon as I get over to the supply house tomorrow.”
John tried a pair of the briefs on and loudly said, “Beth, they don’t fit.”
Beth came into the room and saw John standing there naked except for a small pair of underwear halfway up his thighs.
She started laughing and said, “Well I’ll bet Randy’s are very loose on him. Sorry, I mixed them up. I had to get different sizes for you, Randy and Scott and I must have mixed them up.”
Scott was John’s son from his first marriage to Ann. He was a strong young man who was becoming a fierce warrior and good citizen of the newly formed ISA. He was moving out that week to live with his girlfriend, Joan, who was also a soldier in the ISA’s army.
Beth had two children, Kristie and Randy, from her previous marriage and had a baby on the way. John and Beth fell in love when John rescued her and her friends from a ruthless drug gang. He later traveled to her hometown in Tennessee to bring her home to Mobile to live with him when TSHTF.
John and his partner, Gus McCoy, had been instrumental in leading the group from the Nashville area to just north of Mobile and saving their lives on several occasions. On the way to Mobile, they found several small children without parents and all were adopted by the group. John and Beth took in Billy and Lindsey, two homeless black children, to raise as their own.
John was chosen by the Navy to lead the Southern Territory of the new nation, which was called The Independent States of America, until elections could be held.
“Beth, I’m heading over to the barn to meet with the council. I’ll be back in two to three hours.”
“Tell Gus and the gang I said hello.”
“I will. Now give your husband a big kiss.”
***
“Now class, who wants to explain the reason the founding fathers stressed the need for the 10th Amendment? It says, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”
“Judy, you can give me the answer.”
“The founding fathers were afraid of a single strong leader or government subjugating its citizens like King George III did to the colonies.”
“Great answer, Judy! Now, what other constitutional guarantees did the founding fathers put in our constitution that would prevent a tyrant from taking over?"
A boy at the back of the class spoke up, “None.”
“Son, I know that you, along with the rest of the class, can recite the entire Constitution. Why the wrong answer?”
“Sir, my answer is correct. None of the words in the Constitution did a thing to prevent our President and his socialist party from taking away our rights and nuking our country! He is still in charge of the old USA and kills his people at will.”
Silence fell over the classroom and the teacher’s face got very red. The teacher walked over to the boy and stuck his hand out. The boy raised his hand and they shook hands.
“Forrest is absolutely correct. No laws can save you if you don’t stand up to tyranny every time it raises its ugly head. You must stomp it out of existence before it grows to be a dragon that runs you down and steals your liberty. Forrest, you get to skip class this afternoon as your reward."
"The USA lost many of its freedoms because good people did nothing when the liberals came for their guns. They did nothing when the government came for their free speech. They did nothing when the government came for their property. Our Motto, "Never Again” is based on the promise that all of our citizens will be trained to fight for their freedom and understand the Constitution. Since we abolished government handouts, it is impossible to buy large blocks of voters as in the past. Only truly disabled people get help from their communities. Work, leave or starve is practiced in every part of the ISA.”
***
Robin had been dead for almost a year, but Gus still grieved for her. He was a big strong man, who was an ex-army type who could whip the world, but had a soft heart. A motorcycle gang had attacked the Bunker and Robin was killed during the fight. Gus hated thugs, riffraff and gang bangers. Without anyone knowing, Gus would slip out of camp, go find and kill as many of them as possible. He had been doing this for four months. It was getting harder and harder to find the scumbags. He did not find even one during his last three outings.
Gus had been appointed Secretary of Defense and remembered John saying, “Get rid of all of the scum.” So, he took John at his word. Gus was itching to expand the territory that John governed so he could look for his daughters and grandkids. He had not heard from them for almost a year and prayed every day that they were still alive.
A beautiful, young black girl walked up to Gus and put her hand on his shoulder.
She said, “Gus, can you come over this afternoon to show me how to set the points on my jeep? I put the distributer in just like you told me, but it isn’t getting fire. I think the points aren’t set right.”
“Ginny, your father can help you with that. He is probably better than I am on that kind of stuff.”
“Dad doesn’t have much patience with me when it comes to cars and men stuff. You are always so good to me and I really like you because you are honest, kind and gentle.”
Gus blushed and said, “You need to hang out with people closer to your own age. I like being around you, but don’t you think I’m a bit old to be hanging out with?”
“No. I really like you and I like the way you show me respect and treat me like an equal. You were good to me when I got shot at the battle for the compound. You kissed me and I liked it.”
George’s daughter, Ginny, was flirting with Gus every chance she got and even though Gus was somewhat embarrassed, he really liked being courted by a lady half his age.
Ginny had decided that Gus was going to be her husband and help her raise her two small children. She would chase Gus until he caught her.
***
“Class, what do the 13th, 15th and 19th amendments accomplish for citizens of the USA?
A kid who had
been paying attention spoke up and said, “Nothing.”
“That was easy to say after Forrest paved the way, but back up your statements.”
“Those amendments to the Constitution abolished slavery, gave everyone but women the right to vote and then the 19th gave women the right to vote. The problem is that our Congress and President can choose not to enforce the laws as Obama did during his administration. Nixon broke many laws and so have most presidents. That is why “We the People,” have to enforce all laws or change the laws.”
“Great answers. Now, how do ordinary people enforce laws?”
“Sir, our new country, the ISA, requires that every citizen vote in every election, serve in the military and carry their weapons at all times. No dictator stands a chance against an educated and motivated citizenship. They key is that everyone must stand up for what is right and pull their weight.”
***
Jim looked at Scott and saw that his best friend was nervous and somewhat distracted. He waved to get Jim’s attention and said, “You know that you are just moving in with Joan, not marrying her, don’t you?”
“I know, but it’s still a big commitment and a lot of responsibility. I have been in love with Joan for five years and don’t ever want to hurt her.”