The American Terrorist
Page 29
After his last target Doug decided to relax for a few days so he decided he would visit the famous Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. More than two and a half million people a year visit the 4.2 acre complex that is known worldwide as “The Alamo.” It has three buildings - the Shrine, Long Barrack Museum and the Gift Museum - house exhibits on the Texas Revolution and Texas History. It’s an old mission where a small band of Texans held out for thirteen days against the Centralist army of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. The Alamo fell in the early morning hours of March 6, 1836. The death of the Alamo defenders has come to symbolize courage and sacrifices for the cause of Liberty. This is the place where James Bowie, David Crockett, and William B. Travis along with the Texas Army under Sam Houston routed Mexican Santa Anna on April 21, 1836. It’s where Sam Houston shouted “Remember the Alamo!” It’s also only a short distance to the famous San Antonio River Walk. It was originally constructed in 1724 and named Mission San Antonio de Valero. It served as home to missionaries and their Indian converts for nearly seventy years. (1)
Doug spent the day reading everything he could about the Alamo and walking the grounds. As he walked along he could only imagine what it would be like to be back in history and being one of the men that had defended the Alamo for those thirteen days before losing their lives in battle. He couldn’t help but to wonder what it was going to be that would end his life.
The next day he got up early and took the famous River Walk along the San Antonio River. It’s a public park with a network of walkways along the banks of the river. The River Walk winds and loops under bridges with two parallel sidewalks lined with restaurants, shops, hotels and more. (1) Doug spent the entire day just leisurely walking along the paths. He enjoyed it but those long lonely walks gave him a lot of time to reflect on his life. He realized that he was just a shell of the man he used to be. Because he had become so used to being alone and not talking to or being around people he felt like a ghost walking the sidewalks of San Antonio. Sometimes he actually wished all his killing was over and that he truly was nothing but a ghost. When he had those thoughts there was always the reality of losing Michael that bought him back to the insanity of it all. When he returned to the motor home he decided it was time to head for his next target in Arkansas. He waited until morning and then packed everything up and headed out.
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Chapter 30 - Arkansas