World of Ashes (42 page)

After pushing Allen out of his bunk the next morning they were all escorted to the main office to meet with the general who’d requested them. The men were not prepared for bad news. “I don’t understand. Why would you pull the men out of the power plant?” Lee was almost distraught.

             
“Because it’s a coal burning plant, Captain. In case you didn’t know, most coal in the US comes from a lot of different places, places where we don’t yet have a presence. We’ve been fueling the power plant with coal trains that were already loaded and sitting on various lines, but the fuel’s run out, Gentlemen.” The man they spoke to, a four star general by the name of Vierling, shrugged. “Look, we’re not abandoning your town. It’s the only thing keeping your entire region from belonging to the infected or the gangs. We’re building four brand new nuclear power plants here, and we plan to run a direct line from Dallas to Ely, Minnesota along the Mississippi. You’ll get power back, but you’re going to have to weather this winter yourselves. I’m truly sorry.”

             
“Where are we exactly?” Ethan asked, changing the subject. “This place doesn’t look big enough to be Dallas or Huston.”

             
“You’re in Longview, Texas, Sheriff.” Vierling confirmed. “Trust me, you don’t want to be in Huston or Dallas. Those places are overcrowded and filthy. It’s like the 1800s all over again. We’re really struggling just to keep people fed, let alone housed. If the fucking plague doesn’t get us, shit like cholera, bubonic plague, smallpox, and common colds are going to be the next big killer of Americans. Sanitation is at an all-time low, I’m afraid. Anyone involved in the medical or sanitation fields is either dead or has quit. Thank God there hasn’t been any civil disobedience recently. I think everyone’s too concerned about Mexico and Columbia for infighting.”             

             
“How worried should we be about Mexico?” Lee was quickly losing his composure in front of a general officer.

             
“You? Not at all. Even if we lost the fight, and we won’t by the way, they’d never have the manpower to reach your town.” Vierling reassured. “The Navy, at least the assets we control, has been pounding the Mexicans hard. It’s a big public affairs event, the shipyards are actually refurbishing the USS Missouri and USS Iowa. We’re going to use them to smash what’s left of their navy and harbors, send the Columbians to the bottom of the South Atlantic and end this war in a hurry.” Viering wasn’t a professional politician, which meant he probably wasn’t a general officer before the plague. Real leadership was finally starting to pop up in the ranks now that the useless were devoured.

             
“How long before the power lines reach us?”

             
“A year at least.”

             
“So our hospital has to be without power for an entire year?” Ethan closed his eyes. Lots of people were going to die if that were true. All vehicle powered missions would have to be postponed, horses pressed into service and scavenged fuel rerouted to the hospital’s generators.

             
“We’ll do our best to fly in fuel for your generators, but if you have sick or wounded it would be a lot better to call for a medevac. We can have a plane to you in under six hours.”

             
“What are you wanting in return for all this?” Lee had lost his shiny venire of cooperation.

             
“Sergeant Winters didn’t cover this with you?”

             
“He did. But you’ll excuse us if we’re skeptical.” Ethan crossed his legs.

             
“And rightfully so.” Vierling didn’t have the pompous sense of entitlement and self-absorption and obsession with etiquette that most officers of his rank demanded. “I would be asking the same questions if I were you. For starters, yes, we plan to resurrect the United States of America because I don’t know about you two boys, but I seem to remember swearing an oath when I was about seventeen years old. In that oath I swore to uphold and defend the Constitution of the
United States of America
from all enemies, foreign and domestic. I haven’t, and won’t, swear any oaths that supersede that.”

             
“I have a few more questions.” Lee pulled a notepad out of his pocket. “These come from myself, and from Mayor Kenly.”

             
“Go ahead, Captain. My afternoon is completely cleared for this meeting.” Vierling shifted in his seat, making himself comfortable.

             
“The First Cav.” Ethan pointed to the OD green shield shaped patch on Lee’s shoulder. “What are your feelings about our town having an independent fighting force?”

             
“I’ve read the Marine’s reports on your cavalry company. I must say, I am impressed, and also worried.” General Vierling pointed to a framed picture on the wall. It was his original commission as a second lieutenant, dated 1990. Around it, OD green, DCU tan and ACU “green” unit patches. Ethan smiled when he noticed a distinct lack of a “broken tv” patch in the display. Maybe they could be friends after all.

             
“Worried, Sir?”

             
“This government doesn’t have the time or resources to be worried about a lot of things. This includes, at least right now, the loyalties of your town and it’s military. If there were still a federal government you’d been seen as a private militia, potentially hostile to the government. They’d probably attack you like Waco, Ruby Ridge or that first outbreak in Nogales.”

             
Ethan couldn’t help but laugh. Lee scowled, “I would have thought Major Donovan would have been thorough enough to include the oath of enlistment I require all of my soldiers to memorize and recite, as well as the company’s mission statement.” Lee didn’t wait for Vierling to say anything, “All of my soldiers swear an oath to The Constitution of the United States of America. Just like the one all three of us took. Our mission statement is to protect the town of Sullivan and the state of Missouri, and to provide assistance and protection to any citizen of the US who requests it. We are no more of a threat to this or any government than you want us to be.”

             
“So what if the gangs struck a deal with your mayor and requested assistance in fighting us?”

             
“General George Washington said, and I’m paraphrasing, ‘Have no foreign alliances.’” Lee folded his fingers together. “Should an entity, other than a Recognized American Governing Body, such as this one, make a demand of us we would first consider the arguments of both sides, attempt to mediate, and side with whoever is in the right. If neutrality is called for, expect us to uphold it like Ireland during World War Two, taking captive combatants from both sides that stray into our territory until the conflict is over.”

             
Vierling narrowed his eyes, an almost imperceptible smirk crossing his face, “Thought this all out have you?”

             
“We’ve had to. Until we arrived here we had no knowledge of any towns in our region besides our own. No allies other than yourself. No one, not even the possibility of remnants of the old Federal Government were there for us. Just Texas. Though we will never, and I mean never upon pain of death, swear allegiance solely to Texas, we are your allies. Please, Sir, remember we are not your property.”

             
Vierling’s smile was wide enough to see now. He stood, walked over to a desk and pushed a button on a phone. A green light the brothers hadn’t noticed before turned red. Their entire conversation had been recorded at the very least. And now Vierling’s face was deadpan, his eyes were all that betrayed emotion. It was fear. He leaned against the desk, looking around the corner at the receptionist’s desk. Satisfied she was busy, he spoke in hushed tones.

             
“I had to make sure I could trust you first… The Federal Government is still hold up in the Cheyenne Mountain facility.” Vierling chose his next words carefully, the bombshell of this news was quite unwelcome in most circles, folks feeling rather independent at this point. “They are aware of the progress we’ve made. We intercept their communications daily thanks to a number of agents on the inside. We first started noticing an increased amount of encrypted satellite communications after the liberation of New Mexico. Our informants have provided us with most of their lower level codes, but their cover was nearly blown. We won’t get a second chance if they change their encryption styles. Whoever it is, DHS, CIA , NSA, they’ve been watching us hold back South America, and they’ve certainly been watching Alaska’s colonization of Hawaii… Intelligence suggests they are also aware of every single township that’s held out.” He swallowed, his mouth dry. “You can expect advanced probes during the year we’ll be gone. Spies. Drifters who don’t quite fit the bill, maybe even a direct approach. We’ve found them here, but we haven’t shown our hand yet. Like Britain during the Second World War, we’re turning their agents as quickly as they can send them.”

             
“Why is this a bad thing?” Lee kept his tone hushed as well. He knew why, living with Ethan he had heard every anti-government speech imaginable. He just wanted to see if General Vierling was truly of a like mind.

             
“Think about it.” Ethan wanted to slap his brother, “They’re not going to uphold the ideals we’re fighting for. The Constitution doesn’t mean any more to them than toilet paper, they’ve proved that through eight consecutive terms. Neither party gives a fuck about the American Dream, man. They’ll roll over this land again and turn us into a Communist Ghetto just like they’ve been trying to do since that sonofabitch was elected in ‘08! We’re talking nothing short of reorganization of America into... Well, you’ve seen what Russia looked like after the USSR fell. Destroying America was International Economic Terrorist George Soros’ plan from day one. Hell, if he’s behind this… Think about it. The Democrats were in power when all this started. They knew they couldn’t win another election because they put the wrong man on a pedestal and bold-face
lied
to an entire nation
twice!
Hell, they gave him one of the most prestigious awards in the world simply for not being a White Republican. They still have their agenda, Lee, and if they’re still out there, this whole mess is their golden ticket for a new world order. And the order of that day will be Socialist Totalitarianism.”

             
“You’re a lunatic, you know that right?” Lee glared at his brother.

             
“I fail to see your point.” Ethan countered.

             
“No, no he’s right this time.” Vierling said between gritted teeth. “Normally I’d agree with you, Captain, but your brother and the other ‘Right Wing Extremists’ hold up in their basements with MRE’s and guns are actually onto something real this time.” Vierling checked down the hall again. The phone at the main desk rang, the clerk answered and after a brief conversation stepped out to use the restroom. Vierling went on. “I’d get in a lot of trouble if it was known I told you any of this. None of its confirmed and the rumors are classified. I wouldn’t even give these reports a second glance had I not gone through OCS and three tours in the ‘Stan with the woman feeding us information from the inside of Cheyenne Mountain itself. She sends a coded letter with a “castaway”, someone who doesn’t fit the ‘Idealist Vision’ of what they want our future America to be, people with a mind of their own like you and me have no place in their world. They literally toss them out of their colony and into the wild rather than have anyone question their agenda and laws. They’re planning a worse-case scenario for their new America. No Second Amendment, half what the First Amendment guarantees, no Fourth or Fifth Amendments, taxes that make Taxation Without Representation seem like a good thing, socialized medicine with Candy Stripers instead of EMTs and Nurses, death panels, endless unionized red tape… I mean, my God men… The list goes on. What we’re doing here is the
real
America. The dream of the Founding Fathers is alive for the first time in living memory. This
reimagined
Federal Government will crush that dream like ChiCom tanks rolling over protesters in Tiananmen.”

             
“And after the year of darkness you’ll be there at our side?”

             
“Absolutely.” Vierling’s face brightened, as if their conversation had never happened and he pushed the record button again. “At the end of the year it is projected to take to complete the direct line to your township we will be no more than a phone call and a flight away.” Pulling a locked suitcase out from under his desk Vierling handed it to Lee. “In this briefcase is everything you’ll need for calling for assistance. Direct satellite lines to Dallas and such. Even during your isolation we will still respond should a crisis occur.”

             
Standing, Vierling put his uniform blouse on. The Army’s Dress Blues hadn’t changed since Texas took over, but like Sullivan’s First Cav, a new unit patch was on his left shoulder. A giant red “T” replaced whatever patch had been there before, from the stitching lines, probably 82nd Airborne.

             
“We appreciate everything you’re doing.” Ethan said, deciding he needed to say at least one positive thing to the general.