American Meltdown: Book Two of The Economic Collapse Chronicles (24 page)

CHAPTER 53

“Unhappy it is, though, to reflect that a brother's sword has been sheathed in a brother's breast and that the once-happy plains of America are either to be drenched with blood, or inhabited by slaves. Sad alternative! But can a virtuous man hesitate in his choice?”

-George Washington

General Jefferson and Texas Governor Larry Jacobs came by Paul Randall’s ranch for a change of pace. It was Wednesday and they held their midweek pow-wow in person. The security of the internet connection was stellar, but these men preferred meeting face-to-face once in a while.

It was the first time either the governor or the general had been to Paul’s home since the improvements had been made. Paul showed the two of them around and pointed out all of the special features. General Jefferson had instructed the contractors on which improvements were to be made in Randall’s home, but he had not seen them in person.

“And through this steel door is my bunker.” Paul opened the heavy metal door and led the way.

“Now this is nice!” Jacobs exclaimed.

“It’s a smaller version of the subterranean bunker under the White House,” Jefferson said.

“I can’t tell you how thankful I am for all of this, General. Not for myself, but for Kimberly’s sake. She
’s still traumatized after the raid on the cabin that killed Robert,” Paul said.

“That’s understandable,” The general said. “It wasn’t a normal event. The bunker was no trouble at all. We have to
maintain continuity of leadership, Paul.”

The men conducted their meeting in the boardroom located inside the bunker.

“General, I know you have some bad news, so I’ll start with the good news,” Randall said. “The entire northwest section of the Coalition is completely severed from the western grid. Likewise, the Southern Coalition is also independent from the eastern grid.”

“And Texas is still independent from all the grids.” Larry Jacobs chuckled.

“This is a big step in the Coalition becoming a separate entity from the Federal States,” Randall said. “The cities in some of the Federal states are drawing much more power than they’re producing. It was starting to cause brownouts and dirty power in Coalition areas. Howe just doesn’t have the ability to keep it all going. Now that they aren’t sucking off of the Coalition, New York is in a complete blackout, Philly is off and on, and even D.C. is having rolling brownouts to spread the pain around.”

“And now
, I get to be the bearer of bad news,” Jefferson said. “Howe has taken most of the Gulf states except Florida. He has DHS controlling all of the major cities throughout Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia. There are a lot of militia down that way, but without the support of their states, they’re getting slaughtered. Don’t get me wrong, they’re putting a dent in Howe’s forces, but he is drawing from an unending pool of resources.

“
As far as the Coalition States are concerned, Kentucky has been invaded and occupied on the eastern border. The local militias are biting at their ankles while the state military organizes a response. One of their small towns has been completely taken over by DHS. Tennessee is sending support up to assist in a response, but they have to be careful not to hurt any citizens of the town.”

The men continued their meeting discussing the state of affairs in the Coalition and discussing their future plans.

CHAPTER 54

"You armed me with strength for battle."

-2 Samuel 22:40a

Early Thursday morning Adam, Wesley, Matt and Justin arrived at Lt. Joe’s. The plan was to rendezvous with the rest of Bravo and Alpha, pick up the weapons and vehicles for the ambush and head straight to the staging area.

Gary Brewer arrived with JC and rolled out of their truck.

Adam called out to them, “Gary! You guys were supposed to pick up Michael. What happened?”

Gary said, “He has the flu.”

“The flu?” Adam asked.

“Yeah, he couldn’t even come to the door. His wife Susan said he
’s been in the bathroom all morning,” Gary answered.

“Well,” Adam said, “that wouldn’t be good for anybody. We’ll just have to get it done without him. Is everyone else feeling okay? We don’t want anyone coming down with a fever in the middle of this operation.”

Everyone agreed that they all felt as well as could be expected the morning before a stressful operation like this.

Adam sighed. “Okay, but if anyone starts feeling sick, tap out right away. No one is going to think any less of you. If you get a fever or start vomiting in the middle of an operation like this, you’ll get yourself and your buddy killed. You
’re all heroes already. Don’t feel like you have to prove it by doing something stupid.”

Adam went inside to talk to Joe and inform him of the situation. “Joe, do you have a thermometer in your medical supplies?”

“I believe so,” The older gentleman replied.

Adam asked, “Could you do me a huge favor and go around and check everyone’s temperature? I can’t take any chances.”

“Be happy to. I’ll get a bit of the recipe to sterilize it with between checking each man,” Lt. Joe said.

“Which recipe might that be?” Adam’s curiosity was stirred up.

“Shine. It’s my granddaddy’s recipe.” Joe grinned. “I make up a batch now and again. For medicinal purposes you see.”

Adam shook his head and tried to conceal his smile. “Thank you, Lieutenant.”

Lt. Joe confirmed everyone’s temperature was within a normal range before they mounted up.

Everyone was given a set of the body armor that Bair Platoon had commandeered in the raid on US 421. They could have easily disguised themselves as federal troops since they had all of the DHS insignia on their body armor, helmets and the official weapons. They had also taken the uniforms and still had the two DHS Humvees parked out in the woods behind Lt. Joe’s. They decided against it as their mission was top secret and had not been announced to the other militia teams and National Guard patrolling the area. While evading the scrutiny of federal troops in Pikeville, they could attract friendly fire which could ruin the day.

Since they were obviously a coalition force, they decided to hook north past Pikeville and come back down to Raccoon Road. That would allow the militia to access the field without ever having to drive on US 119. The vehicle with the charges to blow the bridge could drive right underneath the end of the bridge. The low elevation of the bridge at the demolition point would make it much easier to repair than other points as the bridge towered nearly 200 feet in the center over Raccoon Road.

The men headed out and were set up about an hour before the convoy was scheduled to arrive.

Matt, Gary and Justin were the drivers for the vehicles that would be blocking the retreat after the bridge was blown. Adam, Brian Mitchum and Wesley were responsible for the demolition vehicle that would be going just beneath the bridge. A couple of guys from Alpha were one mile up the road and would be sending three clicks over the radio when they saw the convoy approaching. Lee and JC were at the top of the bluff overlooking the US 119 choke point from the southeast. They would be firing Stingers from their position. Jeff Nolon and Eddie Cooper would be doing the same thing from the northwestern bluff.

The rest of the guys from Alpha and Bravo were set up in firing positions to take out the drivers, machine gunners and any other personnel that did not surrender immediately.

Matt looked at his watch. He whispered, “It’s still fifty more minutes before the convoy is scheduled to arrive. I feel like I’ve already been waiting an hour.” He looked at Gary and Justin but they didn’t say anything. The tension and the suspense was crippling. Matt waited what felt like another hour when he looked at his watch.

Only fifteen minutes have passed
, he thought.

Five minutes later, he motioned for Justin and Gary to get into position at the wheels of their respective vehicles.

The plan was to drive their vehicles onto the road which would block the retreat as soon as they heard the bridge blow. They would then leave the vehicles there and run to the cover of the tree line to see if the supply vehicles would try to escape the kill zone. If they did, each man was in charge of blowing his vehicle as the federal supply vehicles approached. If the federal supply vehicles could be captured without destroying them, the militia’s vehicles loaded with charges would be taken back to Lt. Joe’s for use in another operation.

Matt looked at his watch again and there was still twenty minutes left before the scheduled time. Two minutes later, the men at the observation post one mile away broke radio silence.

The radio chirped. “We’ve got three helicopters coming out of the east. They have to be enemy. The choppers have a very thin frontal profile, I’d say Cobras.”

Matt heard Adam’s voice next. “Roger. Everybody look alive. We may have been spotted by a drone. Everyone take visual cover under trees or bushes. Matt, have your team pull those vehicles back inside the tree line. Do it quick!”

Matt depressed the talk button on his walkie and said, “Roger!” Matt, Gary and Wesley started the engines and pulled the trucks back into the tree line close to the road.

POP POP POP! Rifle fire was coming from across the open field from Matt’s position.

Matt called out on the radio, “We’re getting hit by rifle fire from the tree line on the northwest side of the field!”

Adam called out, “It’s a trap! Everybody bug out. Engage hostiles as necessary, but get out of here as fast as possible. I am going to blow this bridge anyway. Keep that in mind when you
’re planning your retreats. Can anyone on top of the western ridge give Matt and his team some suppressive fire?”

One of the M
arines that had crossed over from Virginia called out, “Roger!” Soon, gunfire was raining down into the tree line on the hostiles.

Matt motioned for
Gary and Justin to leave the vehicles. Adam was blowing the bridge which meant they couldn’t get back to the other side in the trucks. Besides, the trucks were loaded with explosives. One tracer round would light up any one of the trucks and cause a chain reaction which would incinerate them all. Matt’s team started working their way back into the woods to try to get back down the mountain to Raccoon Road.

When the charges blew that took out the southern side of the bridge, the earth rumbled beneath their feet. The vibration resonated all through their bones. Matt said a short prayer under his breath that Adam, Wesley and Brian had gotten far enough away when the explosives went off.

They heard gunfire from behind. Justin said, “Should we set up a position and try to fight it out?”

Matt said, “I think we need to get out of here. Adam has ordered a retreat. I think this is a trap.”

The radios chirped again. It was the voice of the observation post a mile up the road. “You guys have more choppers coming in from the north. Might be Apaches. We’re working our way towards you.”

Adam’s voice called back, “We are outfoxed. Don’t come this way. It is a trap. Everyone get out anyway you can.”

Matt’s team soon heard the Cobra helicopters overhead. The fire from the Cobras’ 30mm chain guns rang out through the hills.

Seconds later, Matt looked up as he saw a huge explosion.
The team on the bluff had taken out one of the Cobras with a Stinger. Shortly after, the northwest ridge was glowing from the Cobras’ 70mm rockets that pounded the top of the hill.

The suppressive fire coming down on Matt’s assailants stopped. The militia team on the northwestern ridge must have been killed. Matt’s heart sank. Another Cobra exploded in the air just as the three Apache helicopters arrived. Another stinger from the southeastern ridge
clipped the tail of one of the Apaches and it went spiraling down onto US 119. Matt heard the explosion then saw the smoke billow up from over the mountain ridge.

“Nice shot JC and Lee!” Matt said.

Soon, the remaining two Apaches were igniting the southeastern ridge with Hydra rockets. The resisting fire from the ridge ceased and Matt knew it meant he had just lost more of his militia brothers.

Matt, Justin and Gary reached the train tracks at the bottom of the mountain. They were in a hurry to escape their pursuers, but they still practiced precautions when crossing an open area. Gary crossed the tracks first then covered Justin as he crossed next. They covered the front and rear as Matt crossed the tracks last.

Meanwhile, Adam, Wesley and Brian were weighing their options. Their truck was down the hill on the side of Raccoon Road. Their current position was in the trees on top of the hill.

Adam said, “The path down the hill is exposed to the sight of the three remaining choppers. There are four Humvees and a Cougar driving up from the southwest on US 119. I think we should make a run for the truck below.”

Halfway down the hill, they saw four more Humvees approaching from the southeast on Raccoon road. There was no way they could get to the truck and escape.

Adam called out, “Drop down in those shrubs.” It was too late. Troops from the Humvees below started taking shots at them.

They laid down in prone positions. Adam said, “This is a bad situation. We’ve been spotted, we
’re cut off from our vehicle and we have bad guys closing in on two sides. We’re going to have to shoot and move. Those woods back there are about a thousand feet away. We’ve got some bushes between here and there, but nothing that will stop a bullet. I think we are just going to have to make a run for it. That bunch of shrubs looks like it might have a small ridge behind it for cover. It’s about halfway to the woods. We’ll leap frog to that point, then on to the woods.

“
Wes, you and Brian roll out first. I’ll lay down cover fire until you get there. Then you guys lay it down until I get to you. When we hit the woods, we’ll all run back into those woods as fast as we can.”

Wes and Brian nodded that they understood the plan. Adam put in a fresh magazine and yelled, “Go!”

Adam started firing and Wes and Brian started running. Adam went through three magazines before he heard suppressive fire coming from behind him. He knew that was his cue to make a run for it.

As he started running, he saw the muzzle flash from one gun in the brush he was running to.

He thought as he ran “One of their rifles must have jammed. Why isn’t he firing with his pistol?”

No sooner had the question crossed his mind than he got his answer.
Thirty feet in front of him lay his little brother’s body. A paralyzing wave of panic shot through his organs. Adam skidded in beside his brother. Wesley lay face down in the field. Adam called out, “Wesley, get up!”

He took five shots at the enemy before he rolled him over. He saw his throat covered in blood. He had been hit in the back of the neck. The bullet severed Wesley’s spinal cord and bl
ew out his windpipe. He was dead. He probably never felt a thing. Adam felt the emotion welling up inside. He had been through this in the sandbox, but this was his brother. It was different. Still, he knew what he had to do. Adam still had a wife and two little girls to get home to.

Adam whispered out loud, “I have to keep fighting and mourn later.”

He switched his magazine and pulled three magazines out of Wesley’s kangaroo mag pouch on the front of his plate carrier. Adam stuck them in his own empty magazine pouches and continued to the bush.

He slid in behind the bush where Brian was. Brian said, “Sorry, man.”

Adam shook his head and said, “Go!” Adam laid down fire as Brian took off toward the woods.  He seemed to take longer than he should have, but eventually, Adam heard the suppressive fire coming from over his shoulder. Quickly, he jumped up and ran as hard as he could.

Adam reached Brian in the tree line. He turned and laid down three shots. “O
kay, let’s go!” Adam said.

Brian said, “I’m all done Captain. You go, I’ll hold them down.”

“What are you talking about?” Adam demanded.

“I’m hit and bleeding bad.” Brian looked down at his leg.

Adam looked down. Brian was bleeding heavily out of the middle of his thigh. Adam took out an Israeli Battle Dressing and applied it to the wound. He tightened the compression as tight as he could get it.

“Adam. I
’m going. I can feel it. I’m getting cold and I can’t focus,” Brian said.