Forgotten Forbidden America:: Patriots Reborn

by Thomas A. Watson

  “Cell and satellite phones,” Nancy said.

  “Matt, let’s go. Gerald, I need you to gather something that will burn a building down but not blow a hole in the Earth,” Nelson said, walking into the living room. He hugged the kids then ran to the cabin.

  As he dressed, Michelle came in and changed tactical vests to the one he had given her with ballistic plates. “Put that vest on,” she said as Nelson grabbed a dark blue polo shirt. Sighing, Nelson reached in the closet and pulled out the concealable vest Matt had taken from Homeland.

  “Thank you; I was going to wear my old one,” Nelson said, pointing at the vest lying on the bed.

  “Nelson, you keep your head in the game. Matt hasn’t pulled the trigger, so you be ready to call for us to back you up,” Michelle said, tightening her vest.

  “I know, but Matt knows how to act like a cop. I know you know how to act like an MP, but I need you on the outside to help Gerald keep a path open if this goes bad.”

  Stepping over and helping Nelson tuck in his shirt, Michelle smiled. “I understand, baby,” she said and kissed him. “You promise not to act like an idiotic ass, and I’ll wear the Leia slave outfit again this weekend.”

  Lust filled his eyes as Nelson’s jaw dropped to his chest. “Just what constitutes being an ass so I don’t screw it up?”

  “Don’t get shot or get us shot.”

  “Whew,” Nelson sighed with a lopsided grin. “That, I can do.”

  When they walked outside, they found Bernard waiting on them. “I’m going over to check on Hank,” he told them, slinging his M-14 over his shoulder.

  “No,” Nelson said, grabbing his arm. “His brother sold us and him out. Steven told them we gave them food, weapons, and ammo, wanting a reward.”

  Bernard turned away. “I’ll kill the son of a bitch myself.”

  “No,” Nelson said, running around then stopping in front of him. “Wait till we get this handled; then, we can go over. You don’t know how Hank is going to react to us capping his brother. He may hate him, but it’s family.”

  “Tomorrow,” Bernard said, turning for the house, and Nelson grabbed his arm.

  “You will take care of the kids if this goes bad, right?” Nelson said in a low voice.

  “You know I will,” Bernard said, reaching over and putting his hand on Nelson’s shoulder. “You two just stay safe.” He dropped his hand and started heading for the house. “I tell you one damn thing; Gerald is about to start giving me some time with Devin; that I can damn well guarantee.”

  Nelson looked at Michelle, and they both said, “We need another kid.”

  Ashley walked out with Matt hugging her as Gerald drove up in his Bronco. “Round trip to kick some ass,” Gerald said, rolling down the windows.

  “We’ll take two tickets,” Michelle said, opening the passenger door as Matt and Nelson climbed into the back.

  “Put this on your neck,” Nelson said and handed a balaclava to Matt as Michelle handed one to Gerald. “When we kill the deputies, put it on so the ones we rescue can’t identify us if they are captured.”

  Matt pulled it over his head and put on his sunglasses. “Why? No one knows us here.”

  “If they identify us, I don’t want them to start tracking phone records and cellphones that have been to our house,” Nelson said as Gerald pulled out of the driveway, and Bernard closed the gate behind the only way in from the berm. “We did call Bernard, and they had cellphones registered to them when they came over to visit.”

  “Dude, what got you so freaked?” Matt asked as Nelson put on his sunglasses.

  “The shit Nancy was asking in the barn when I wasn’t talking. She pulled out a knife, asking about an OpCom center. That’s when Palmer blurted out about the place near Eminence,” Nelson said in a scared voice. “She knows some shit about the spook works, and when I get back, we are sitting down and having a long talk.”

  Gerald looked over his shoulder. “She will answer those questions now that she doesn’t work for them, and we are all wanted now, but if she would’ve ever said anything and they found out, she would be dead, and I would be dead or in prison. I would’ve started a one-man killing spree.”

  “Fair enough,” Nelson said as Gerald weaved around the turned over truck and trailer. Nelson got out and waited on Matt. He held out a badge that clipped on the belt and an ID holder with a badge. “It’s Ivan Stonavitch’s badge. I have Palmer’s.”

  Matt nodded, clipping the badge on his belt and tucking the ID in his back pocket. He adjusted the sling for the UMP that was under his right arm. “How many magazines do you have for your UMP?”

  “Six in spandex webbing on my back,” Nelson said and lifted his left arm as he pulled out a 1911 with a suppressor. “I have my XDM and this as well.”

  Matt looked Nelson over and could tell he had the UMP under his right arm like he did. “Not to sound gay, but let me carry the 1911. I’m bigger and can hide more shit.”

  Looking at Matt’s wide shoulders and narrow waist, Nelson had to admit he couldn’t really tell he was carrying a submachine gun. “Point taken,” Nelson said, handing over the 1911. He pulled off his holster for the 1911 and passed it over as well.

  “You boys going to play dress up, or are we going to kick someone’s ass?” Gerald yelled out from the Bronco.

  Matt shook his head. “I hate taking him anywhere,” he moaned, adjusting the shoulder harness until it fit. It wasn’t that Nelson was small; it was Matt was a freaking huge, muscle-bound mountain.

  “Yeah, but the boy has played in some serious games, so we need to have him along,” Nelson said, putting on his windbreaker. “You drive,” he said as he got in the passenger seat.

  As they drove, Nelson drilled the layout of the building to Matt and the location of all the guards. When they pulled out on Highway 60 fifteen minutes later, Matt started reciting the layout back. Nelson looked back to see the Bronco barely a car length behind them.

  Turning around, Nelson shook his head looking at the empty highway. “This isn’t right,” he mumbled. They drove past Birch Tree and only saw one car—a sheriff patrol car moving around.

  Matt was suddenly turning off Highway 60 onto 19, which led them through Winona. It wasn’t a big town by any means. Nelson would be surprised if it had more than a thousand people, but it was empty. They passed an empty school yard as Matt turned off the road, heading to the church on the north side.

  “Pull up under the awning,” Nelson said, seeing the large church ahead.

  “I’m ready for this,” Matt said in a steady voice.

  As Matt pulled under the awning, a deputy stepped out of the church. He looked up to see Gerald pull up behind the sedan. “Who are they?” the deputy asked as Nelson got out.

  “Heavy hitters,” Nelson growled. “Seems some people around here like fighting back.”

  The deputy laughed. “I haven’t heard of anyone fighting back. We can do whatever we want around here.”

  Fighting the urge to kill the deputy, Nelson moved his coat, revealing the badge at his waist. “I’m State SAC Homeland Agent Kent. If that’s hard for you to understand, it means special agent in charge, and I’m the big dick in this state. I’m looking for Agent Jakowski. He’s wanted for questioning in unwarranted food distribution.”

  “He’s inside,” the deputy said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder.

  “Deputy, unless you want to be on the bus heading to St. Louis in the morning with the dissidents inside, I suggest you show me,” Nelson said, closing his coat.

  “Yes sir,” the deputy said as he started trembling. “That looks a lot like Agent Palmer’s car.”

  “Shows your intelligence, Deputy. It’s a government sedan just like his,” Nelson said, following the deputy inside. The deputy nodded as he yanked the door open and led them inside. An older female deputy was sitting behind a desk, monitoring radios and watching monitors. Nelson paused and confirmed what Palmer told him. The monitors were watching the inside of
the worship area where the people were being held.

  “How many dissidents are you holding now?” Matt asked, moving up beside Nelson as they followed the deputy down a hall. From around the church, they could hear people talking and screams from somewhere inside.

  “One hundred and four,” the deputy said, stopping at a door. “Agent Jakowski is in the rec hall.”

  “I know you know how to open a door; I’ve seen you do it. Open the door, let us in, and follow us inside. While we take Jakowski into custody, make sure no one else comes in, or you will be number one hundred and five,” Nelson said, staring at the deputy behind his sunglasses.

  “Yes sir,” the deputy said, yanking the door open.

  Nelson stormed in the room to find another blond, lean, and fit man sitting at a folding table watching porn on a laptop. “Agent Jakowski, I’m State SAC Homeland Agent Kent. You are requested to the command substation to answer charges of giving unauthorized food to dissidents before they are transferred to St. Louis.”

  Jakowski jumped up, and Matt and Nelson pulled their pistols. “Whoa, hey man, no need for that. I no give food out,” he said, struggling with his TV English.

  “If this is unwarranted, then you will be released back to active duty. Agent Stonavitch has already said the people on the last bus to St. Louis were lying, but we have to make sure,” Nelson said as Matt moved behind Jakowski, putting handcuffs on him.

  “Ivan tell it like it is; we don’t even give food to bitches that suck us,” Jakowski said as Matt locked the cuffs.

  Matt forced Jakowski in a seat and closed his laptop as Nelson keyed his radio. “In custody,” he said, turning to the deputy. “Deputy, you have done well. When I get back to St. Louis, I think I’ll have to promote you around here.”

  The deputy grinned, looking off as Nelson pulled out his spring-assisted knife, flipped it open as he brought his hand up, and quickly swiped the blade across the deputy’s throat. Stepping aside as a fountain of blood shot out, Nelson watched the deputy grab his throat, making gargling sounds as he dropped to his knees. Before Jakowski could yell, Matt drove his fist into the back of his head, knocking him out.

  Nelson watched the deputy fall to the floor, and the light slowly left his eyes. “Guess you don’t get the promotion,” Nelson said, bending down and taking the Taser gun off his belt. Flipping the switch to contact, Nelson walked over to the unconscious Jakowski and pushed the Taser into his shoulder and pulled the trigger.

  Jakowski’s body jerked as the voltage hit him, making him slide out of the chair onto the floor. “Always wanted to do that,” Nelson said, grinning and looking at the Taser.

  “Fun, isn’t it?” Matt grinned as he stomped Jakowski’s face. Matt pulled out a roll of duct tape, taped Jakowski’s mouth, and put a hood over his head. “Let me get the woman by the door, then let’s move to the other side where the deputies take their breaks.”

  Taking off his sunglasses, Nelson nodded as Matt pulled out the 1911, press checked it, and walked out. With his hand behind his back, Matt strolled over to the lady as she looked up. Matt raised the pistol and pulled the trigger as the gun went pfft like a nail gun, making the lady’s head yank back. The monitors behind her were covered in blood and brains.

  “Party’s started,” Nelson said on his radio, pulling the UMP out from under his windbreaker.

  Matt moved over beside him. “I swear that was really fucking loud,” he said, moving down the hall.

  “With all the noise in here, it should have gone unnoticed,” Nelson said as they moved down the hall. They heard a woman scream behind a door to their right and stopped, seeing it was the preacher’s office. “I don’t think she’s giving confession.”

  “I have it,” Matt said, holding up the pistol, and eased the door open. Nelson raised his submachine gun, covering the hall as Matt went inside.

  Walking in, Matt saw a young girl bent over and tied to the desk as a deputy with his pants at his ankles raped her. Lowering his pistol, Matt pulled out his knife and flipped the blade open. He yanked the man’s head back and nearly decapitated the deputy as he sliced through his throat.

  The woman stopped screaming as the man quit thrusting and felt hot, sticky fluid covering her back. She looked down at the desk and saw blood then slowly turned her head to see the head of the deputy barely connected to the body as jets of blood spurted out.

  Matt let the body fall as she took a breath to scream, and he lunged forward, covering her mouth. “We are here to rescue you, but if you scream, they will come and continue this; do you understand?” Matt whispered. The young girl cried with thankfulness and nodded. “Don’t leave this room, or you could get shot. When it is over, I’ll come and get you so you can leave. I want you to sit in that chair, and every few seconds, scream like you were, okay?” he asked, and the girl nodded.

  Slowly, Matt took his hand off her mouth. “Are they doing this to any other girls not in the worship hall?”

  “In the cafeteria, they have some girls tied up at the end of the hall,” she said in a low voice.

  “We were told two officers are always back there, and three are out in the worship hall. Is that right?”

  “Yes, unless some are in the bathroom right down the hall.”

  Matt cut her hands and legs loose. “Stay here, and when we are done, I will come and get you.”

  She scurried over behind the desk as Matt walked out. Nelson moved down the hall with Matt behind him when the girl in the office screamed out, making Nelson stop. “She’s doing that to cover for us,” Matt said, moving past him.

  He stopped beside the bathrooms. Pointing at the door, Nelson nodded as Matt eased in the ladies’ bathroom first and found it empty. When Matt came out, Nelson eased into the men’s room and saw a stall door closed. “Grady, you done with that little girl yet?” a male voice asked.

  Need to work on sneaking in, Nelson thought, pulling his knife out and easing the blade open. “Not yet,” Nelson said, clearing his throat to try and disguise his voice.

  “Damn, Grady, that girl have you screaming,” the voice said as the door unlatched. Nelson shoved the door open as the deputy was standing up. Driving the knife up, Nelson buried it in the deputy’s neck then pushed it across, severing half the neck.

  “Don’t forget to wash your hands,” Nelson said, stepping back and letting the deputy fall as blood spurted out of his neck. When the deputy started flailing, Nelson pulled out the Taser and shocked him. The deputy gave a spasm then became still as the blood continued to pour. “I hate tattletales.”

  As Nelson stepped back into the hall, Matt whispered, “Should only be one more then the three in the worship hall.” Nelson nodded as Matt led the way down the hall then stopped at a door marked, “Cafeteria.”

  “Together,” Nelson whispered as a woman screamed behind the door. Matt nodded as Nelson eased the door open. They found a man on top of a woman tied up on the floor. Looking around and only seeing another woman tied up in a corner, Matt walked over, yanking the man’s head back and dragging his knife across his throat.

  “You know, that is very satisfying,” Matt said, shoving the man off the woman as he grasped at his throat, trying to hold it together. The woman looked up at him, and Matt brought his fingers to his lips. “Don’t, or more will come, and we can’t free you,” he whispered, and the woman nodded.

  “Thank you,” she whimpered. “Can I go to my daughter?” she asked pointing to the corner.

  “Yes ma’am,” Matt said, cutting her loose. “Do the guards stay in one spot in the worship hall?”

  She got up, trying to cover her body with her torn clothing. “Yes, one always stays behind the podium, and the other two stay by the front doors. I don’t know why because they are chained shut,” she said, moving over to the young girl curled up in the corner.

  Matt turned to find Nelson looking at him. “What?” Matt asked.

  “How much blood do I have on me?” Nelson asked.

  “Just some
on your face and windbreaker.”

  Nelson moved over to a sink and washed it off as best he could. “I’m going to go in and call them up to the podium,” Nelson said as Matt took his blood-soaked windbreaker off.

  “I’m ready,” Matt said, holstering the 1911 and bringing up the UMP. Matt followed Nelson out, and Nelson took the choir entrance to the raised area of the worship hall. “That Palmer really did a good job of giving a building layout,” Matt mumbled, following Nelson up the steps.

  “I’m SAC Homeland Agent Kent,” Nelson said, stepping out and holding up his badge. “You officers in the back, get up here. Buses are en route to pick up these dissidents early. We have a large group coming in from Fremont this afternoon.”

  The two officers in back ran down the middle aisle as people jumped out of their way. As they came up the steps, Nelson raised his UMP to the deputy beside him, and Matt stepped out, aiming at the two coming up the stairs. “April fools,” Nelson said, squeezing the trigger and sending three rounds into the deputy’s chest, making him cry out.

  Matt sent a three-round burst into one deputy’s chest then swung his aim, pressing the trigger to send three rounds into the other deputy’s neck and face. People in the worship hall screamed and moved to the sides as Nelson stepped up, squeezing a round in the face of the deputy he had shot.

  Nelson reached down and pulled his balaclava over his head, leaving only his eyes exposed. Seeing that Matt did the same, Nelson held up a hand. “Quiet, or more will come and just kill you outright!” he shouted.

  The group quieted down as Nelson spoke. “We came to free you. All of you have been marked for execution by the government,” Nelson said, knowing that many of these would die one way or the other if they ended up in the camps. “I suggest you leave quickly and quietly out the back. Hit the trees, and get to an area or person you know that will help. Don’t go anywhere near a city. They are sympathizers with the government; that’s why they are still there. Head to a farm or one of the Free States.”

  “Can’t you take us?” a man called out.

  “Dude, we just killed their stooges. They are coming, and we intend to fight them. It will buy you some time. Don’t stay inside because we are destroying the building and hope they think all of you died in here so they don’t look for you anymore.”