Tyranny in the Homeland (5 page)

The signal from the cliff finally came. It meant that the enemy was advancing and would be in range soon. Scott looked over his team and wondered how many would be going home alive. Meg’s team had taken a beating and lost five and had seven wounded. Only Meg and Imelda were still able to fight. Was trying to stop this massacre worth these people’s lives? His dad had taught him that men have to stand up to tyranny every time it raised its ugly head or life just was not worth living. Live free or die!

Scott signaled the rest of his team and waited until about forty of the DHS had reached the point where the Claymores would be the most effective and twisted the handle and set them off. The explosions rocked the earth and mowed the enemy down. Most of them did not even get a shot off before they died.

His men on the cliff lobbed grenades down on the rear guard and decimated them in just a few minutes. They fought valiantly, but the IEDs and grenades exploded all around them and took their will to fight away.

Scott saw Jerry take a round in the head, which knocked him behind a log. He tried to crawl over to check on Jerry, when he felt the hot sting of a round in his shoulder.

“Damn, this hurts. I’ll make these bastards pay.”

He got to Jerry, found him dead and knew that he had living men to take care of.

“Jean, finish mopping up while Zeke checks my back.”

Zeke took a quick look at Scott’s back and said, “You’ll live, but your entrenching tool is quite dead.”

“I have a habit of wearing things that get shot. This is the second time that I have been saved by something stopping a bullet.”

The other four team members had killed the last DHS and reported to Scott.

“Get your gear and let’s head to help Jim with the main group. The Rangers have joined Meg’s group. All of the DHS thugs, but the ones facing Jim’s team have been killed. Let’s go!”

***

General Black had made contact with Field Marshall Anderson and both agreed that their services were needed back at headquarters more than on the battlefield. They met back at the camp and took a helicopter back to the Field Marshall’s headquarters.

“Major, the President has called us back to the fort to apprise him of our glorious victory over Decatur. Take charge and eliminate these last few combatants.”

“Sir, you know damn well we have had our butts handed to us on a platter and should retreat. Give the order and we’ll save the men for the next campaign.”

“Major, you have your orders. Execute them.”

“General, shove your orders up your ass. I’ll personally shoot you on sight the next time I see your sorry ass.”

“Men, I plan to surrender to the ISA and take my chances. I cannot support the killing of innocent civilians or ordering you to get killed for an evil cause.”

One soldier raised his rifle to shoot the Major and two more killed him on the spot.

“Men, if you want to head back to the USA, go with my blessing, but I am heading to the ISA and pleading for mercy.”

About twenty men headed back north while the remaining group followed the Major towards the ISA lines.

“Captain, strike some white flags and shoulder your weapons. We are going to march like the soldiers we were trained to be, not a bunch of ragtag mercenaries.”

***

Jim’s men were happy to see Scott’s team arrive to reinforce their position. They knew that the outcome of the upcoming attack would not be good and most thought that they would be overrun.

“Jim, we are here to save your sorry asses. Did you save some of those DHS weenies for us to kill?”

“That we did. There are over two hundred crack regular army troops heading our way. Find some cover now or you will get your butts shot to hell and back. They can’t be more than ten minutes away from our position.”

Scott’s troops found cover and quickly placed the remaining Claymores and a couple of IEDs to improve their defenses. When they finished, there was no sound at all. The woods ahead of them were devoid of any sound, not even birds or squirrels were chattering. It was eerie for over twenty minutes and then they heard a strange sound. No one could quite make it out.

“You won’t believe what I see coming towards us. There are over a hundred men with their rifles shouldered and waving white flags. They are whistling Dixie as they march."

Scott moved to get a better view of the approaching troops and was shocked to see the entire group surrendering to his eleven men and women. He told Jim to keep his men hidden and ready to fight while he took a couple of men to greet the enemy. Scott straightened and brushed off his BDUs and walked towards the enemy.

“Major, what can we do for you to make your stay more comfortable?”

“Sir, I am surrendering my command to you and place all of us at your mercy. We followed the USA too long. The President had us attacking innocent civilians and I take personal responsibility for this and my unit just followed my directions.”

“Major, I accept your surrender and our leaders will treat you fairly. That is all I can promise you. Now can you ask your troops to lay down their arms and move over to the open area where we can better watch them? I don’t want any misunderstandings.”

“I will give those orders. Captain, pass on the orders and move the men to the clearing. ”

Just when Scott was afraid that the Major would find out that he had surrendered over a hundred men to eleven worn out reserves, the Rangers filtered into the area.

“Major, I will turn you over to our Ranger Battalion to move your men to more appropriate accommodations. We will then fly you and your senior officers to Mobile for debriefing. You have my word that all of you will be treated well, assuming none of you try to escape or take up arms against the ISA.”

“One thing I need to tell you is that there was a KYNG unit attached to us that found out the plan to shell the civilians. They sabotaged many of the cannons and bugged out before the attack began. They are innocent and their families are in grave danger. When the President finds out what they did, he will slaughter them to keep everyone else in line.”

“Thanks for the heads up. Do you know where they went?”

“I don’t know for sure, but I’d look over in the Florence area. A couple of the officers mentioned playing at the Robert Trent Jones golf courses over that way. By the way, I don’t see any rank on your uniform. May I ask what your rank is?”

“Sir, I am Lieutenant Scott Harris of the 123
rd
Army Reserves.”

“Son, do you know John Harris? I’d like to talk with him.”

“He will be interviewing you tomorrow after you get a chance to clean up and get a hot meal.”

“Do you always treat your prisoners this good?”

“Sir, this is the first time I have taken any prisoners. We usually shoot them during the battle. I am learning as I go.”

***

There were a hundred fires still burning out of control with smoke columns rising hundreds of feet in the air over Decatur. The city was in ruins and what people were left were trying to put fires out or find their loved ones. Thousands of Decatur’s citizens were killed or wounded during the horrendous shelling and air assault.

John sent several medical teams and hundreds of soldiers to finish mopping up any DHS stragglers. The medical teams worked around the clock for days tending to the wounded. The large number of children with shrapnel wounds and missing limbs brought tears to the doctor and nurse’s eyes. The fires took several days to burn out and only then could the assessment of Decatur’s losses begin in earnest.

“John, it’s not a good situation up here. Scott, Jim, Meg and Imelda are doing well. Everyone except Scott is injured and he got shot in the shovel which left a hell of a bruise, but no serious damage.”

John laughed and replied, “Remind me to tell you about the time he got shot in his Colt 1911. Well, what are our losses?”

“Your team has nine KIA and fifteen wounded. I lost six Rangers and have twenty wounded. Our Claymores and IEDs were the difference. The losses in Decatur will never be known, but I’d guess two thousand are dead and over eight hundred wounded. John, we have several hundred orphans needing a home and a family. The parents hid them in cellars and culverts under roads and shielded them with their own bodies. These brave men and women could have held off an army, but had no defense for an artillery assault.”

John replied, “Captain, we can’t defend an outpost, can we?

“Not without better intelligence and air support. We have to get spies into the USA and a ring of observers all around our perimeter. We are also building you an Air Force. You now have ten Apaches and five A-10 Warthogs, thanks to the US Army. The pilots went AWOL when they found out that Decatur was full of civilians and not biker gangs as they were told. A company of Rangers captured their support team stationed at the Red Stone Arsenal. The entire base surrendered and wanted to join us. They only stayed with the USA under threat of harm to their families. They also bring numerous military and civilian planes to our party. They also have all of the maintenance support, spare parts and fuel to keep the birds flying for years.”

“I know just the woman to command the Apaches.”

Bob replied, “Meg would be a good choice. We will help bring her up to speed.”

John knew that air cover was probably the one thing that they had been missing. The fleet’s planes number one job was always to protect the fleet.

John ended the conversation with, “My new mission is to get spies on the move north and find more air assault planes.”

“John, it’s time.”

“Time for what? Oh crap, let’s get to the hospital! Call Dr. Ray and wake him up!"

“Darling, just get ready to go. Ray is waiting on us.”

It was only a short trip to the hospital and the staff met them at the curb. They wheeled Beth into the delivery room and told John to stay in the waiting room for a few minutes. Gus, Scott and Steve joined John a while later. They tried to keep his mind off the upcoming delivery, but John kept checking with the nurses until they finally let him rejoin Beth in the delivery room.

The head nurse came in the room and told John, “Mr. Harris the baby will come when it comes. My guess is we have about five to six hours to go. Get comfortable and give her lots of support and love.”

Jennifer Fox Harris was born twelve hours later to a world that had changed dramatically during her nine months of existence. She would only see constant threats, uncertainty and much love during her journey to adulthood.

***

              One of the Chief’s friends was in the inner circle of Sam’s group and told him about the meeting at the farm. Most of the people there were not happy to see him and saw him as the Mayor's lackey.

“Men, I know that my presence here worries some of you, but I want to assure you that I am on your side and not the Mayor’s.”

“Then why do you carry out his dirty work and hurt his opponents?”

“In a weak moment years ago, I had an affair with a young lady in town and we had a son. I did not know that the lady was only seventeen. My wife still doesn’t know about my son. The Mayor found out and blackmailed me into doing his bidding. As soon as we get free elections and him off your backs, I will back out of my job and you can find a replacement.”

There were many sidebars, but the men and women leaders of the resistance agreed to allow the Chief to join them.

“The only thing I ask is to allow me to tell my wife and son and not have them hear it on the streets. Neither knows anything about what I did. I have faithfully supported my other son who is now a man. He still lives with his mom and her husband in Pensacola and is doing okay.”

The meeting moved on to the main topic after the situation with the Chief was resolved. Sam quickly took charge of the meeting and framed the issue for all to discuss.

“This boils down to do we want to follow the Mayor and his buddies or do we want to join John Harris and the ISA. The Mayor wants us to start our own country, which has plusses and minuses. The plusses are independence from a central government and uh, uh. What the heck? I can’t think of anything else. Can y’all?"

No one came up with anything. They all broke out laughing.

“Now the minuses are that the Mayor is becoming a dictator, no protection or support from the military, no help getting our power back up and running like Mobile. Does anyone have any more? I can think of several more."

The team brought up a dozen more positive reasons for joining the ISA.