American Meltdown: Book Two of The Economic Collapse Chronicles (9 page)

CHAPTER
17

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a monied aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. The issuing power (of money) should be taken away from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs."

-Thomas Jefferson

Larry Jacobs’ ranch was a fortified position. It was a large 400-acre ranch near Gatesville, Texas. It had a main house, guest quarters and staff housing. The ranch had good infrastructure to support a fair amount of people, so he set up the Texas command center there. It was staffed with Special Forces dressed in typical ranch hand attire to avoid unnecessary attention. Several Bradley fighting vehicles and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected or MRAP vehicles were parked inside the barns.

Paul Randall and his wife stayed in the main house with Larry and his family. Sonny Foster, Paul Randall's right-hand man also stayed in the main house with them. Sonny had been Paul's campaign manager during the presidential campaign last year. Paul had hoped to make him his Chief of Staff if he had won but even now, Sonny was indispensable.

General Allen Jefferson had been invited to stay at the ranch with them, but the general insisted on staying at nearby Fort Hood. It was close enough that he could drive up most weekdays to discuss the developments.

Paul, Larry and Sonny sat out on the porch with their coffee early Friday morning while they waited for breakfast to be ready.

Sonny broke the silence. "Can you believe American bank depositors lost everything they had in the bank? This is just like the 1930's. The FDIC was set up to guard them against a loss of their deposits."

Paul Randall nodded. "The FDIC has proved to be a false sense of security. Now it seems the FDIC
served only to make people neglect to consider the destructive practices by the banks. Had there been no FDIC, folks would have paid more attention to what the banks were doing.

“The public thought the FDIC would bail them out, so why
should they worry if the banks were using their money like poker chips in the casino? Had there been no FDIC, things would be different. If depositors knew their deposits were at risk, and bank A had deposits tied up in highly leveraged derivatives and bank B stayed with safe investments, where do you think the public would have put their money?

“The banks stole everything in the interest rate derivatives collapse. Howe is letting the IMF step in and take the FDIC insurance money that was supposed to cover depositors for th
e loss."

Larry set his coffee cup down. "The fox isn't just watching the hen house, he is making the rules and managing it.  There seems to be more foxes than you can shake a stick at and they are all fighting over the hens."

Sonny agreed, "It’s a bad day to be a hen."

Larry looked over at Paul
. "Well, you’ve been warning folks to get out of the banking system for a few years now. We all know how corrupt it’s become. Folks that listened to you shouldn't have lost too much."

Paul said
, "They’ve lost more through the stealth tax of new money creation by the Fed over the past several years than they did in the derivatives collapse or the IMF bail-in. They just see the numbers disappearing from their bank accounts this time. The Fed has been stealing the value of their dollars while leaving the same nominal amount in their accounts for over 100 years."

One of the staff stepped out onto the porch to alert the men that breakfast was being served.

“Let’s go eat!” Jacobs exclaimed.

General Jefferson came in as everyone was sitting down for breakfast. His wife, Candace, was accompanying him this morning.

Paul Randall's wife, Kimberly, greeted them both warmly. "Candace, I am so glad to see you. General, it is good to see you as always, but you don't bring your beautiful wife around here much. It
’s such a pleasant surprise."

Alice Jacobs chimed right in. "Do come in. We have places right here for you at the table."

The Jeffersons joined the others for breakfast.

Larry passed the biscuits. "General, I am used to seeing you in your battle dress uniform, but not Candace. I am assuming you two were trying to blend in when you left."

"There was quite a gathering at the front gate of the base this morning," Allen replied. "It seems Howe has convinced government benefit recipients that they can break us by protesting at the gates of the base."

Paul Randall said, "So
, they have weaponized the welfare class."

"I think that about sums it up," Jefferson said. "I saw several chartered buses dropping people off at the front gate with professionally printed protest signs. Howe has people inside Texas organizing this. I would never impose for myself, but I may take you up on the offer to stay here for a few days, for Candace's sake, Larry. That is, if it wouldn't be too much trouble for you, Mrs. Jacobs."

Alice was quick to reassure the couple. "It is no trouble at all. Kimberly and I will love having another lady around."

"Thank you very much.”
Candace smiled at Alice and Kimberly. "I told Allen that I would be fine at the base, but he thinks there could be trouble."

Allen explained, "I wouldn't put it past Howe to send in some serious rabble-rousers to instigate violence. If he can get us to fire on civilians, it will be heavy political capital in this war for public opinion. I have instructed the men to set up a deadline ten feet in front of the gate using barricades. If it’s breached, they are instructed to fire tear gas. If the protesters approach the gate, they are to use rubber slugs in their shotguns. And if the gate is breached, they are to shoot to kill."

"Rubber slugs won't kill them?" Alice asked.

"It is a projectile fired from a shotgun," Allen answered. "It can kill a person, but they are not designed to. The term is 'less lethal' but the possibility exists. Tear gas canisters can kill a person if they hit them in the head when fired. All weapons carry the potential for lethal force. That’s why we try to avoid it all together."

Sonny Foster paused from eating. He looked serious. "This is going to get ugly. Millions of people were just cut off from the government program they have been trained to be dependent on for decades. The ones who got them addicted to the handouts, then cut them off, are blaming this on us. Not to mention, Howe blamed the derivatives panic on the secession movement. All of the letters from the states came after the Wall Street meltdown. The so-called ‘secession’ letters specifically named military intervention within those states for crowd control as being the line in the sand. Declaring martial law was Howe’s response to the riots erupting from the market crisis. I can't believe anyone is buying his lies."

Paul Randall replied
, "They’ve been buying his lies ever since he first announced that he would run for president. I call it political denial. It’s like an abused wife that won’t admit she is getting beat up. She looks in the mirror, sees the bruises and thinks he still loves her."

Larry said, "I'm glad Howe is managing to live up to his predecessor. He had some mighty big shoes to fill. Al Mohammad could just about beat the devil in a lying contest." 

Sonny said, "Ladies, I am so sorry to talk business over breakfast, but I did receive some very good news this morning. Kentucky and Tennessee have joined the Carolinas to form what they are now calling the Southern Coalition. Mark Shea, Montana's Governor, has suggested to the other governors in the North West Coalition and the Southern Coalition that Paul serve as Commander in Chief of what is being called the American Coalition. All of the governors of those states, as well as Larry, support the motion to make Paul Commander in Chief."

"What do you say, Paul?" Larry asked.

Paul knew the governors had in mind to appoint him to a leadership role. "I am honored. Of course I'll serve."

Kimberly was speechless. She hugged her husband as tears streamed down her face. She had witnessed the disappointment when the presidency was taken from him even after he had won the popular vote.  Finally she said
, “I’m so proud of you, and so happy to see your opportunity to lead America back to a good path.”

They finished their breakfast and the men retired to Jacob’s study to talk strategies.

CHAPTER 18

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated."

-Thomas Paine

By late Friday evening, the riots in Texas and the other Coalition states were getting completely out of hand. Matt and Karen stayed home and watched the evening news on their television which only picked up two channels. It had snowed the night before and they had no desire to get out in it. Miss Mae was curled up in Karen's lap. She was happy to have them home all day for a change.

Matt's phone rang. It was Jack, Matt and Karen's next door neighbor from when they lived in South Florida.

Matt answered, "Jack, What a nice surprise. How are you and Tina?"

"Not good
," Jack replied. "Elvis and Blaine were shot to death last week. A bunch of guys who looked like gang members drove up to the checkpoint at the top of the street and opened fire on them. The gang had AK-47s. Elvis and Blaine never stood a chance with their pistols and shotguns. Dan and I were at the other end of the street. We wanted to get up there and help them out, but we were pretty much pinned down by constant gunfire. I can't explain it. There were probably ten guys shooting up Elvis and Blaine. It seemed like thousands of bullets were flying. I don't know how long it lasted. It felt like an hour, but it was probably less than two minutes. I feel terrible. I wish I could have stopped it.

“Trevor is dead too.
Some thugs pulled a home invasion on him in the middle of the night. There have been several other home invasions around here. They always kill the people in the house when they rob them.

“We quit the block watch. There aren't enough guys left to hold it down. Everyone left or got killed. We just stay up all night, then try to catch a couple hours sleep in the daytime
, with one eye open. This is an unimaginable hell. Everything is falling apart around here. It’s like we are living in a third world country. I know you said it was going to get rough around here, but I don't even think you could have imagined ....”

The signal went dead. "Jack?" Matt said
, "Hello?"

Karen asked
, "What happened?"

"I don't know
," Matt answered. "It was Jack. The call just dropped. Sounds like things are really bad there. He said Blaine, Elvis and Trevor are all dead."

Karen covered her mouth with her hand in shock. "How?"

"They were all shot to death." Matt was sad to hear of his former neighbors’ deaths.

The phone rang again. It was Jack’s number.

"Hey, Buddy," Jack said. "I only have one bar on my phone. Cell service is really bad these days. I only get one bar. I don’t really know why. It could be some of the towers were sabotaged back when we could actually call police. Maybe it’s because of the power irregularities from the fires. The internet is completely out. Cable too.  I think Comcast just gave up. Not that they were worth a bucket of horse manure when times were good. If the call drops, I'll call you right back."

Matt tried to lighten the mood. "Oh yeah, I remember good old Comtrash. It was an enigma to me how they were able to stay in business with the horrible service and lousy customer care even before the collapse. So you guys still have electricity?"

Jack chuckled. "Comtrash, that’s a new one. I always called them Comcrash. We have power most nights. There have been a lot of fires. There are blackouts in areas where they had to cut power because of downed lines from the fires. Those areas are zombie apocalypse territory. Anyway, I suppose they also lost some reducing stations in the fires and can't keep the power up 24/7. Most days, we only have power for three or four hours during daylight hours, but they are fighting to keep the lights on at night. I think the National Guard are the ones trying to keep the lights on. It would take some kind of military force to just stay alive at the power company.

“Remember how we would hear sirens from the time it started to get dark until the sun came up? Well, not anymore. We don't hear sirens around here at all. Police stopped showing up unless there was a murder, then they stopped showing up for murders as well. 911 has an 'all circuits are busy' message. We are completely on our own. The military came through. They were giving out MRE’s and water on the first day. After that, they just started busting heads. It was some semblance of order, but I guess they were called somewhere else, because they pulled out of here.

“Grocery stores are closed up. It wouldn't matter anyway, we lost all of our money in the bank. Even if we do get our $5,000 on Monday like the White House says, the banks around here won't be opening. They are all busted up or burnt down. I wish I had paid closer attention to you. We should’ve got out of here when you did. I just had no idea things would deteriorate to this level. We don't know what to do, Matt."

Matt could hear Jack's voice cracking. He hated to hear his neighbor in such distress. "Well, we can work you into our group up here. You have a valuable skill set. The handyman is going to be king in the new e
conomy. We won't be getting anymore cheap garbage from China, so folks are going to have to fix things when they break. Toasters and washing machines aren't going to be disposable anymore."

"Thanks, Matt," Jack said. "I just don't know how we would get up there. It is about 1,000 miles. We might have 5 gallons in the tank. With my van, that
’s probably about 100 miles. I have around $200 in cash, but there are no gas stations open around here. We could take a gamble and hope to find a station selling gas north of West Palm but, from what I am hearing on the radio, it’s near $40 a gallon. $200 bucks will only get me another 5 gallons."

Matt replied, "Well, you might want to ask around and see if any of the remaining neighbors might want to sell the gas for less than $40 a gallon. Nobody has any cash unless they already had it out of the bank before the bank holiday. What about Trevor's car? Did the home invaders steal it when they killed him?"

"No, it caught a stray bullet in the back tire, so it is still sitting there," Jack answered.

Matt said
, "Well, you should drain that tank before someone else gets it. He won't be needing it."

"That’s a good idea
," Jack said.

"At any rate, it sounds like you guys have to evacuate
," Matt said. "It’s a bad scenario. You don't have much to work with. Under normal circumstances, it’s always better to shelter in place if you don't have the means to make it to a better location. There’s a high probability that when you get on the road, you’ll hit more trouble than what you have now. But it sounds like the gangs are picking people off one by one."

Jack replied
, "That is exactly what it feels like. I feel like we're surrounded by predators, like sharks or wolves or something. It’s just a matter of time before they come in for the kill."

"You both have bikes don't you?" Matt inquired.

"Yes," Jack stated.

"I would use some of that old PVC and rig up some type of rickshaw to carry your gear on a bike. Go as far as you can in the van, then ditch it and head out on the bikes
," Matt suggested.

"Yeah, I think I can do that. I'll give you a call back in a day or two to let you know what we are able to do." Jack sounded relieved at the suggestion.

“Take care,” Matt said.

Matt hung up and looked at Karen. She had a look of horror on her face. She was watching television. Matt looked to see what could be so awful, and he couldn't believe his eyes. The Texas local news affiliate was reporting from Fort Hood. The soldiers
had just fired on the protestors.

The reporter in the studio of the Lexington, Kentucky, station broadcasting the coverage was speaking. "Folks, if you have young children in the room, you need to get them out. We are trying to maintain the live coverage and it is getting very violent."

Shots rang out and several protesters who had breached the deadline fell to the ground.

The reporter continued. “The soldiers standing guard at the main gate of Fort Hood just fired what looked to be shotguns at the wave of protestors who breached the barricades which are set up several feet in front of the actual gate. Some of those who were shot are running away. The ones who fell seem to be getting back up. We are going to listen in on coverage of the local affiliate."

The local reporter was speaking. "And it appears that the rounds fired by the soldiers were rubber bullets. They have also begun to fire tear gas into the crowd. The protestors began showing up by the hundreds this morning. They are blaming the governor and the military for
benefit cuts caused by Texas through their defiant stance taken against D.C. President Howe said that states who would not cooperate in allowing federal agencies to enforce martial law will not receive government benefits until the governors resign and the military base commanders step down."

POP, POP, POP. Gun fire erupted from the crowd. The camera panned over to the main gate.  Two soldiers lay on the ground in growing pools of blood.

The local reporter ducked down behind a concrete barrier. "There are people in the crowd firing back at the soldiers guarding the gate."

The cameraman found a safe spot and kept rolling. A huge segment of the crowd of protestors fell back, but there were still several armed gunmen left standing in the front. The gunmen continued to sporadically fire upon the guards. Two armored vehicles rolled out of the gate. Several soldiers came out on the sides of the armored vehicles using the vehicles for cover. They rained down a hail of automatic gunfire on the armed attackers. Once the armed men were dead, soldiers dressed in riot gear came out and began to take down the remaining protestors who would not disperse. They tackled them and restrained their feet and hands with plastic zip
-tie restraints.

After they were all effectively hog tied, the commanding officer came out and began speaking to the captives. "You people have committed an act of terrorism against the sovereign country of Texas. The simple fact that you are here proves that you are not in agreement with our sovereignty. You people have come here because you think the government owes you something. I will agree that the way President Howe cut you off was criminal, but he is the criminal and not Texas. Your act of aggression is treason against Texas and the punishment is death. As Governor Jacobs is a merciful man, he is giving you the option of a suspended sentence if you agree to leave Texas tonight. If you accept this offer, you will be branded on your right cheek with the letter X. Anyone found in Texas with this mark in 24 hours from the time we set you free will be shot on sight. If you do not accept this offer, the other option is to assume room temperature. You will be shot right here in the road. This is a time of war, we do not have the resources to support prisoners, and you are no longer welcome in this state.

“I think you will find that if you treat the brand on your cheek with aloe and don't pick the scab, it will be hardly noticeable in a year from now. Of course you have to stay alive for a year for that to even be an issue. Now how many takers do we have for the brand?"

All of the prisoners began calling out for the brand.

The commander said, "I've never seen a bunch of folks so anxious to get branded. I wish my cattle liked it this much.  Sergeant, get a nice hot fire going. We got some dogies to brand."

The reporter said
, “Similar actions are being reported all over Texas. They have officially adopted the 'run the deadbeats out of town' policy. The branding seems cruel, but it ensures the trouble makers won’t be back night after night.”

Matt and Karen looked at each other. Matt was stunned by what he had just seen.