The Fall of America: Fatal Encounters (Book 2)

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the author and/or the publisher.  This is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events or locales, is entirely coincidental.

Author Photos © Copyright 2012, Melanie D. Calvert

© Contents Copyright 2014 by W.R. Benton

© Cover layout & design Copyright 2014 by
www.dancingfoxpublishing.com

Cover Photo by
Shutterstock.com
 used with permission

Edited by: Daniel Williams &
Bobbie La Cour

Books by W.R. Benton

The Fall of America: Book 2, Fatal Encounters

Hell Comes to Dixie

Adrift (Young Adult Fiction — Survival)

The Fall of America: Book 1, Premonition of Death

Nate Grisham, Black Mountain Man (Co-Authored with Grady Clark)

Nate Grisham, Black Mountain Man, in Renegade Trapper (Co-Authored with Grady Clark)

Red Runs the Plain

Fur Seekers (Co-Authored with Grady Clark)

Jake Masters: Bounty Hunter

Missouri in Flames, I Rode with Jesse James

War Paint

Bubba's Dawg Might be a Redneck (Southern Humor)

Silently Beats the Drum

James McKay, U. S. Army Scout

Alive and Alone
(Young Adult Fiction – Survival)
  - 
Also available as Audio Edition

Simple Survival, A Family Outdoors Guide

Impending Disasters

Dedication

WR Benton

To
Gunny MzTrouble Stitch,
James Smithson, Bob Allen, Chick Jones, Zilka M Bodon, Tom Croswell, and MaryAnn Hall, good friends on Facebook and good people.

A special dedication to Jo Ella Baker Glenn, Gayle Medders Hadaway, and Susie Walton, three caring women who are always there when I need someone to listen.

Many folks who read “
Fall of America: Premonition of Death
” asked why I had shotguns as the primary weapons used by the main characters. There are a number of reasons, but the principal one is the cost of assault rifles versus shoguns. Additionally, the most commonly found long gun in American homes today is a shotgun. Shotgun empties can easily be reloaded quickly and at a much cheaper cost and ease than rifle shells. The shotgun has choke and every single time you pull the trigger, you create a cone of fire filled with lead, with different types of chokes controlling your spread. Anyone hit within the pattern of fire will feel the shot, although it may not kill your adversary, depending on shot placement and distance, along with other factors. Shotguns can also fire lead slugs, which many folks have used historically to hunt deer. Slugs have fair accuracy, but nothing like a rifle. Additionally, since I prep for survival, it just makes good horse sense to me to stick to the more commonly found weapons, because if push comes to shove, the most common ammo found following a collapse will be for these weapons. Also, a shotgun can be sawed off, which is hard to beat in clearing rooms or in close contact with an enemy.

If a fall or collapse does happen in the future, most of us will be stuck with what we have on hand, so we'll either die or survive with what we own, can steal, or take from the dead hands of our enemies. I suspect military weapons will quickly make an appearance, but only after folks have gathered together and organized to fight for freedom. I suspect, little by little, weapons will change as they're taken along with ammunition, following raids, killings, and hijacked truck convoys.

There were also some doubts a man would cry over the death of his dog and then viciously maim a man for life during an interrogation. I happen to be a man that loves my dogs dearly, which I cannot say about many people I've met. I strongly suspect, when the end comes, folks will love their pets even more than now, because animals give us unconditional love and ask nothing in return and love will be hard to find. Actually, simple kindness will disappear. Interrogations will be crude and bloody affairs
and don't think they won't be. When lives may depend on information gathered, and quickly, the means will justify the end. Human life will be of little value, but knowledge of what a potential enemy may have planned will be great wealth. I, for one, will do what it takes to get information needed to protect myself and family.
 

WR Benton

Jackson, Mississippi

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty One

Chapter Twenty Two

Chapter Twenty Three

Chapter Twenty Four

Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty Six

Chapter Twenty Seven

About the Author

"The government is merely a servant
–
merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn't. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them."

—
Mark Twain

What is the series “The Fall of America” about?

What if it all came crashing down?
It started with the biggest stock market crash in history. Banks closed down under the weight of their bogus investments, and the financial sector failed. People looked to the government to make it all better.  However, they couldn't. Hyper-inflation, mass unemployment and infrastructure started to breakdown. The food trucks didn't show up at the stores, and the shelves went empty.

Things turned ugly fast when there was no power for long parts of the day —then forever. Cops, doctors, and trash collectors just stopped showing up for work when the paychecks were delayed too often, or never came. Things started falling apart quickly after that. Whole regions declared a "State of Emergency" in an effort to maintain order and civility, but it wasn't always enough. Starvation, looting and murder became the norm. Then, our American civilization collapsed completely.

The Fall of America, Book 1: Premonition of Death
is the beginning of a new series, about an average man who's life goes downhill fast, once society breaks down. Set in the rural south, a scorched-earth showdown with some local thugs leaves John and his wife homeless, and on the run. He encounters a member of a survivalist group, made up of former military personnel, and joining them may be his only hope.  Just basic survival becomes vicious, resistance is at any cost, as the devastated country comes under new siege—invading Russian troops

BOOK 2

Fatal Encounters

J
ohn was glad the prisoner exchange had gone fairly well, but they'd lost Colonel Parker, and picked up a large group of civilians, which would hinder the group more than help in most cases.  It meant more mouths to feed, and it's harder to hide a large group in the woods or their movements on a trail.  Both feeding and hiding them were serious problems now.  If Willy assumed command, which John was sure he would, then he'd release the people they'd saved.  He just hoped they'd be smart enough not to return to the same location the Russians had originally captured them in.  They'd weed through them and keep those with prior military training and those with medical experience.  The rest would be released and sadly, have to fend for themselves.

John had a few wounded with him; most were still bleeding, because they'd not stopped to properly treat their wounds.  The most serious were left behind for the medical folks and the ones with him were walking wounded.  They treated themselves as they walked.  John prayed the med techs would find the injured before the Russians did, or they'd be murdered in cold blood.

No one was sure of the number of dead, but he was heartbroken by the thought his wife, Sandra, might have been killed.  Tom had been an old buddy of his for years too, and his death would bother John more than just a little.  
Slow down
, he thought,
you have no idea if they've been killed or not.  If they've not been injured severely, they'll return if they're not captured.  We'll know something in a couple of days, if not sooner.

Kate dropped back beside him and said, “I don't know what you're thinking about, and really don't care, but pull your head out of your ass.  You're to be watching the right side of the path and you're not doing your job worth a damn.  Your dog is doing a better job than you.”

“I was wondering if my wife survived the chopper attack is all.”

Her eyes narrowed as she said, “Do it after we get back.”

He nodded and then said, “Listen.  Do you hear that?”

Kate suddenly commanded in a loud voice, “Off the trail and into the woods, now!”

As they ran for the relative safety of the trees John said,  “It's a chopper and I suspect they're looking for us.”

“Once in the trees, spread out and lay flat.  No movement at all.”  She yelled once more, and all could hear the “
wop-wop
” of the chopper blades growing louder.

John moved into the trees and lay flat on the short grasses that covered the area, Dolly lay beside him and her even breathing was comforting.  He hoped the tree limbs would hide them.  Then his mind switched quickly to Kate and her earlier comments.  
She's right, and I should be paying more attention.  These folks have never been soldiers, so I need to keep a clear mind
, he thought. John switched the safety off on his AK-47 and waited.  He'd picked the weapon up after attacking an air base some months back.

The chopper twisted and turned as it flew in a lazy box pattern, looking for any movement on the ground below them.  John grew anxious and tense, but there was nothing he could do but wait.  When he glanced at Kate, she smiled and winked; he felt it was done to give him confidence, not as a flirt.  She'd been flirting with him for months.

Suddenly, one of the rescued men on the right stood and started running through the trees.  John suspected the stress of hiding was too much for him to bare any longer.  When he'd traveled about fifty yards, a machine gun in the chopper gave a loud
tat, tat, tat
, and dirt flew high all around the man.

The man turned and opened fire with his pistol, which was really a wasted gesture as the machine gun coughed a few times and the man screamed, as his body flew apart.  When his head separated from his torso, John suspected the crew would not land to check him over.  He was a confirmed kill for the crew and hopefully they'd move on, looking for other easy targets.

Everyone could hear a woman crying from near where the man had been hidden, but John was absolutely sure the man was blown to pieces. Knowing the chopper crew couldn't hear him, he yelled out, “Stop the crying. Remain as quiet as you can.” Crying, regardless if it came from a wounded person, or a wife full of grief, got on the nerves of others. If others lost their nerve and ran, they'd not get far either.