Tyranny in the Homeland (6 page)

Sam took charge again and said, “Now, how do we tell the Mayor what the town wants to do without his thugs throwing us in jail?”

“I can take care of the thugs. Most of the police force is on our side and take orders from me. You organize a town vote on the issue and I will make sure that the thugs stay out of the way. I will have enough loyal men to assure a safe vote and make sure the Mayor behaves himself.”

Sam’s wife stood up and said, “Chief, we thank you for coming clean with us. I don’t condone what you did, but we all make mistakes. It appears that you have done well by your son and will let the chips fall with your wife. We all wish you well there, but we don’t want to be around when you tell her.”

“Thanks, now I will give you some free advice. Y’all need to plan for success. Who will the new leader be and does he or she really share your values? Don’t start this without knowing where you will end up.”

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Scott heard Gus’ end of the conversation and knew what had to be done.”

“We only have my bodyguards and family. Let’s go. Listen up; Dad, Mom, Jenn and that reporter are trapped in a barn being shot to hell. We have to help them.”

“Sir, we can’t let you go into a firefight. Our duty is to protect you.”

“Then bring all of your guns and ammo; I’m going to help my family and that’s that. George, grab your boys and let’s go.”

Every adult had served in the military or was currently serving so there were over twenty combat proven soldiers around Scott. It only took a minute to get all of them loaded and flying down the highway.

              Sonny, George and Gus were in the lead Humvee with Scott and his bodyguards in the second vehicle in the four Humvee convoy. Two of the Humvees had Ma Deuces and the other two had twin M60s. All twenty-one of the warriors were armed to the teeth.

“This is Sonny, I know the Miller farm and we will be there in a minute. Scott, turn left off the street and go to the back left of the barn. I’ll be right behind you. Sammy, go to the house and hang a quick left watch for fire from the house. Meg, go around the house and attack from behind them."

Gus was on the phone with Jenn who passed on the latest positions for the enemy just as they drove through the fence and onto the farm.

The Humvees charged across the front of the farm and opened up with the machine guns blazing.

“John, hang on, the cavalry just arrived. Duck and cover; we might hit you with a stray round.”

“Marvin, the guy behind the truck has an RPG; kill the bastard.”

Marvin strafed the SOB with the twin 50 Cal Browning machine guns that are affectionately named the Ma Deuce.

“Did you see that? He literally was chopped to pieces. He won’t mess with John Harris again.”

The fighting was fierce, but there was never any doubt about the ending. A dozen heavily armed men stood no chance against the twin machine guns on the Humvees. Most of the team charged out of the vehicles spread out and took up positions while firing on the enemy. Several were wounded, but fought until the end of the battle. None wanted to be responsible for losing the first President of the ISA and his family.

“Dad, several of the bastards are escaping through the woods. Meg, Sammy, Marvin, let’s catch the SOBs.”

George replied, “Go get them, Sonny.”

They took off after the escaping assassins and quickly disappeared into the woods hot after their trail. A few minutes later, there was the sound of gunfire about a mile away. The shooting lasted for about five minutes and then abruptly stopped.

“George, I hope none of ours got killed in the battle.”

“Hell, Scott, that team was itching to kill some USA sons a bitches. They ate ‘em up and spit ‘em out.”

Inside George was praying for the team and said extra ones for his boys.

"Dad, you can come out now. We did all the hard work and saved your sorry ass again!”

***

The Wolf saw his men dying all around the barn and knew that he was defeated. He had one chance to keep his promise and he was not going to miss his last shot at killing John Harris. He had hid under the deck on the back of the house. He had a Savage .308 with a high-powered scope and waited for the targets to come out of the barn. He knew he had no chance of escaping so he had decided to take John and as many others out as possible before he was killed.

He had told his wife to head to his bug out cabin in Paraguay and hide until he showed up. She knew what to do if he didn’t show up in sixty days. Cortez would chase him down until he was caught, tortured and dead for this failure. The only way to keep his family alive was to kill John Harris.

***

John and Beth walked out together into the middle of the rescue team. Scott hugged his dad and stepmom and then saw Jenn and Josh limping out. Josh had an arm over Jenn’s shoulder and could hardly walk.

“Well, I guess we have to give Josh a Purple Heart for this nick. Where did you take the slug?”

“He got shot in the ass and is very touchy about it. Thank God, he stopped the bullet or it would have taken my head off. He saved my life.”

“So Jenn was he in the wrong place at the wrong time or did he jump between the bullet and you?”

“No, but he was trying to place a bale of hay behind me when he got wounded.”

“My ass hurts like a bitch. Can we get a doctor or an ambulance or something? Maybe an aspirin? Damn this hurts.”

“I thought you were a hero, but now I know you are a whiney punk,” Jenn said laughing.

Josh and Jenn joined the team and Scott and John moved over to them to thank Josh. Just as John went past Josh to hug Jenn, a shot rang out and Josh fell to the ground. Everyone hit the dirt and sought cover.

Another three shots hit around them, but didn’t find their target.

Gus yelled, “The shots came from the house. Strafe under the deck!”

The closest Humvee opened up on the deck and then the house. Several of the team charged the house when the machine guns ceased fire and found a wounded man under the deck hiding behind some cinder blocks. They dragged him out from under the deck and took him to Scott. They forced him to his knees and tied his hands behind his back.

“Aren’t you a bit old to be hiding under a deck and killing people?" Beth said.

“Fuck you, you whore.”

Beth kicked him in the face and knocked him to the ground.

Scott spoke up and said, “Mom, that is the Wolf. We have a million dollar reward on his ass. Dead or alive. This bastard has been trying to kill Dad for over twenty years. We will get him to talk about the Chupracabras.”

Meanwhile Jenn had started checking Josh’s wound.

“Dad, the unlucky boy just took another slug saving another Harris life. He has a wound in his upper arm that passed through his chest above all vital organs. Help me stop the bleeding and I think he will live.”

“Jenn, you need to stay away from this young man. He is a bullet magnet.”

“I’m wounded, not dead. I can hear you.”

Josh passed out as they were loading him into the ambulance. Jenn jumped in the ambulance and rode to the hospital with Josh.

***

Scott and John walked into the pressroom to a round of applause and a standing ovation. He waved several times, but the applause continued.

“Ladies and gentlemen. Ladies and gentlemen!”

The room fell silent and everyone was fixed on Scott.

“I want to start off by thanking everyone who had a hand in saving my Dad and family from these terrorists. Several of my bodyguards and family members were wounded in the battle.”

Scott read off their names and thanked them and their families for their sacrifice.

“A visiting reporter from the USA was caught in the crossfire and was also wounded. There were no deaths on our team and all will recover. The reporter was the most seriously injured since he was shot twice. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of them. I will now take questions.”

“Mr. President, we have information from several reliable sources that Josh Logan was wounded twice saving President Harris and your sister. Do you have any comment?”

“Yes, I do. The boy was in the wrong place at the wrong time. In both cases, he accidently stepped between my family and the bullet meant to kill them. Yes, I am happy that the bullets did not kill my family, but the boy was not an active participant in the battle. He was a reporter caught in a battle and he spent his time doing what a great reporter does. No more no less.”

“Mr. President, why did your sister give him a kiss on the forehead and ride in the ambulance back to the hospital with him, if he was just another reporter? My sources say that he personally killed four of the terrorists and was wounded trying to protect your sister.”

“We are in the middle of an investigation on this matter and I cannot give out more detail. As far as the kiss, I would kiss you if you took a bullet meant for me. Thanks for your support and prayers for the wounded.”

They left the pressroom and headed directly to the command center.

George got their attention and said, “Scott we have to get his parents out of the USA double quick. They will be dead before tomorrow night.”

“Son, I am afraid George is right. That egotistical bitch will have them killed just to make sure no one in the USA ever thinks about helping the ISA.”

“General Jones, can you get them out of Ohio before dawn?”

“Mr. President, I’d be lying if I said yes, but we will give it a hell of a try and I alerted my team when that reporter gave up Mr. Logan. The Team will be in the air in two hours. We know where they live from the vetting for him to interview President Harris, but need much more detail from Josh to improve our chances.”

“Gus has more info on the Logans and I’ll get more information from Josh. Dismissed!”

***

              “Mr. Wolf, are you comfortable? I want your stay with us to be as enjoyable as possible while we question you.”

              The Wolf was lying with his head lower than his feet with a wet towel over his face. He had been water boarded several times in his career and did not like it, but could concentrate his mind on young ladies and other important topics. He smiled when the woman took the towel off and said, “You really need to pour the water a little slower.”

              She slapped him and pulled him up by the cable attached to his handcuffs until he was standing. She waved a man over to help her pull the cable until the Wolf was standing only on his toes.

              “Let’s see if standing like this for a few hours will loosen your tongue.”

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“Sir, I have the clubhouse on camera now.”

The drone flew in over Lake Wilson from the east and had a bird’s eye view of the eighteenth hole, which was a par 3 looking at the majestic clubhouse. The clubhouse was setting on the south side high above the lake. The drone then flew around the north side of the clubhouse and went on to pass over most of the course before flying back to view the front of the clubhouse.

“Sarge, you have been to that clubhouse, haven’t you?”

“Yes, my buddies and I have played golf there many times over the years. Try to look into the open basement doors under the clubhouse. I’ll bet they have most of their Humvees and small vehicles stored there. The rest will be in the golf cart tunnels that go under the roads. There are several large garages and warehouses on the way to Muscle Shoals that could be used to hide the five ton trucks."

“Sir, there are some objects of interest.”

The Lieutenant walked over to the monitor and saw the golf course on the screen. There were several vehicles in the trees, which could not be hidden from IR detection.

“Sir, there is the tail end of a Humvee poking out from under the clubhouse and it’s still hot.”

“Thanks men. Keep a drone over the target until further notice. Give me the usual info - number of men, vehicles, arms and movement.”

The Lieutenant passed the information on to HQ, which passed it on to John’s team.

***

“Roger, put a team together to assist John with the mission to Florence. Be prepared for action if the NG troops are not friendly. I will have overwhelming air support in case they are not friendly.”

“Yes, sir. I don’t think we’ll need it, but who knows what we will encounter. The world has been turned upside down.”

Roger quickly left to organize the mission while Captain Bob Jones and John discussed his team’s role.

“I don’t think we should over-think this situation. Go meet with them and see if they want to join us and get their families moved on down here.”

“Bob, I agree. That’s why I had Scott drive over to the RTJ and make radio contact with Major Mills. He seems to be a nice guy in a bad jam. They can’t go back to Kentucky and save their families, but are afraid that we will attack them. Scott is having lunch with them and setting up a meeting with me.”

“So what do you need me for?”

“Muscle, in case they are playing us.”

Bob laughed and walked out the door. The door opened and Bob said, “Aren’t you supposed to be with Beth and the baby? How is little Jenn doing?"

“They are asleep and I snuck out for a minute. Both are doing great. Beth’s daughter and the women of the bunker are a big help. They keep shoving me out of the way. My daughter is so beautiful and so tiny. I am afraid to hold her because I think I might break her.”

“Kids are very tough, so don’t worry about breaking her. Just love her and take care of her."

***

“Do you think this John Harris and his band of merry men can be trusted? It seems too good to be true that there is this do-gooder going around trying to protect the weak and punish the bad.”

Jack paused to think about the last several months on how the world went dark and evil lurked around every corner.

“Ted, I don’t know what to think, but just like I want this golf course to reopen, I want to believe there is a force for good left in this world. We can’t go back to Kentucky to protect our families without being slaughtered before we get through Tennessee.”

“Jack, we have to do something. If we don’t develop a plan the men will disappear and go back home by themselves.”

Just then, Private Smith broke through the door.

“Sir, I just made contact with the Armory in Madisonville. They tipped me off that the call was being listened to, but did indicate all was well and we should come on back. Command would issue light punishment and we could quickly rejoin our families. Can I tell the men?”

“Alex, don’t tell the men. This is obviously a ploy to get us back and eliminate us. The radio operator was trying to warn us. Do you know him well?”

“Sir, it’s a she, and I know her very well.”

“Remind her of something only you two would know about and see how she answers.”

“Will do immediately. I know just what to bring up.”

Alex left the room hoping to get a correct response and get home to the lady that he missed and loved so much.

“Kate, are you alone?

“Yes, what do you need?

“I need you. I can’t get our last trip to Kentucky Lake out of my mind and I know you are dying to get back to Grand Rivers.”

“Yes, dear, I still can’t believe you were so sweet to take me down there to your favorite campground. I hope we get all of this behind us so we can get back together in that sleeping bag. Maybe in three to four months after the punishment is over, we can head down there.”

“Darling, I have to go now. I love you.”

“I love you too. I’ll give Sarah a hug for you.”

“Major Mills, it’s very bad up there. She hates Grand Rivers and camping, but told me she can’t wait to go again. She told me that she would give my 9mm a hug. You are right; they have guns to their heads. We have to go save them!”

“Son, we are going to do something, but I hope we don’t just die in vain.”

Scott, Maria and Roger walked towards the clubhouse with their hands in the air. They only had their 9mm side arms, a hidden GPS and listening devices planted on each one of them. Several heavily armed soldiers in full battle gear with armor greeted them.

“Which one of you is Scott?

“I am Scott and I am here to meet with Major Mills.”

“Please hand over your guns and we will take you to the Major.”

Scott motioned for them to hand over their weapons and handed his to the nearest soldier. They were ushered up the stairs and through the lobby and then were herded left into the dining room, which overlooked Lake Wheeler. They were alone in the room and stared out at the lake, when they heard someone entering the room behind them.

“I have always thought this was one of the most beautiful scenes one could lay their eyes on. I hope my men have treated you well. Have a seat and our cooks will prepare a nice meal for you.”

“Thanks for your hospitality, but we need to quickly inform you of the grave danger that your families are in.”

“We know. They are using them to get us to come back to Kentucky. They are sending a message that we will get off lightly and then freed if we behave. We know that we will be shot on sight.”

“All of that may be true, but our source says that your families will be rounded up next week and placed in a prison camp. No one gets out of one of those alive.”

The Major appeared to be shocked by this revelation and said, “Do you really think the President would be party to a mass murder?”

“Yes, we have proof that he and his cronies are the ones responsible for the nuclear attack on the USA and involvement in killing millions of US citizens since the attack. Why do you think most of the military defected and joined our side? We only have a few days to try to save your families. Will you travel to the USS Ford and listen to Admiral Jones? We will guarantee your safety.”

“Are you John Harris’ son?”

“Yes, I am, and you can trust my Dad and the Admiral.”

“Do you trust them enough to stay here as proof of their intentions?”

“I will gladly stay here as a hostage until you get back safely.”

Thirty minutes later three helicopters landed in the parking lot and took the Major and two aides to the Gulf Coast to meet John and the Admiral.

“Ted, do you see those jets that keep appearing?

“Yes, it appears that we have had a series of guards all along the way. There are over ten Apaches following at a distance. Four are ahead of us to draw fire in case of attack.”

“Ted, this is not a poorly equipped rebel force that has been beaten and on its last legs like we have been told.”

***

“Mom, there are some men in a car a couple of houses down that are watching our house.”

“Tad, your imagination is running wild. Why would anyone want to watch our house?" Julie Mills had chills running up and down her back as she opened the curtain, just enough to get a peak down the street. She saw the men in the car and saw that one had a camera with a telephoto lens aimed right at her. She quickly closed the curtain and gestured at Tad to come to her.

She grabbed a pen and a notebook and wrote,
'Tad, you are right. Someone is watching. Don’t talk, they probably have bugs in the house.'

She put a finger over her lips and cautioned Tad not to talk.

She wrote,
'We will carry on our usual conversation, but don’t mention those men or being watched. I love you.'

“Do you know who you are taking to the dance on Saturday?"

“Mom, I don’t know for sure, but Ruth is who I want to take.”

“Well ask her!”

“I am afraid that she will say no.”

“Son, grow a pair and go ask that girl right now.”

              She wrote a note that said,
'Go to Ruth’s house and give her mother this note.'

              She wrote another note for Ruth’s mother. Ruth’s father is in the Kentucky NG and is Ted Davies, her husband’s best friend. Julie wanted to know if they were also being watched and if so, what were they going to do about it?

              Tad came back in about an hour with a big old goofy grin on his face.

“Mom, Ruth said yes. We are going to the dance on Saturday!”

“That’s great son, now that wasn’t so hard was it? How was Ruth’s mom doing?”

He looked up and handed her a note, then said, “She is okay. She told me that she would kick my ass if I brought Ruth home late after the dance. Does she really have a Black Belt?”

“Yes, she does, and you’d better get Ruth home on time or she will come looking for you.”

Julie moved away from the curtain and read the note. It said
, 'I agree. It’s time to bug out. If the men return, they will be executed. I never trusted the DHS or the President. They will try to make an example out of us. Meet me at the market tomorrow at 9:00 am.'

***

“Admiral, thanks for the spectacular flight down to the coast. Do you always have this much security to cover a flight?"

“Major, to be honest we wanted to make sure that you got the whole picture that most of the USA and its military do not support the President or his thugs, the DHS. You saw about twenty major ships just before landing and several wings of F-18s buzzed your flight path. We are stronger, have more ships, planes tanks and men that the USA.”

The Major thought for a minute and replied, “Then why don’t you attack and remove the commie bastard from power?”

“That is an excellent question with a simple answer. The President still controls twenty-five nuclear bombs and will use them if we mount a major attack on him. We can fight as much as we want, but if we get close to winning or killing him he promised to use the nukes against the remaining major cities and our major strongholds.”

“MAD all over again”

“Yes, Jack, Mutually Assured Destruction and this mad man will use them. He already has nuked numerous American and foreign cities killing hundreds of millions of people. We want to take him out of power and prosecute him to the full extent of the law. Now for our current situation, we want you to join our team and help us save your families from certain torture and death.”

“Admiral, we are now under your command and will do our duties as we swore to do when we joined the service. Now, why do you think our families are in grave danger? Surely, even our President wouldn’t kill innocent people to get back at us."

The Admiral waved at an aide who started a recording that detailed the plan to execute all of the NG and their families. The aide then started another recording that again had the President discussing a nuclear attack on numerous US and European cities. Mills could identify the President and Secretary of DHS’ voices, but not the others.

“Jack, the voices are the President, the Secretary of DHS, the ex-President of Iran and the leader of a Mexican drug cartel. They were discussing the ongoing attack on the USA.”