“Isn’t that a pretty small plane to be flying here from California?”
“Well, it’s a four-seater, but I’ve flown a 177RG on trips about that long before, and it’s about the same size. It’ll make it ok. They just won’t be able to bring a ton of luggage with them.”
“What kind of plane is it again?”
“It’s a 1964 Cessna 182G. It cruises around 150 knots per hour. I think she said it had a 60-gallon tank on it. My only worry is when they fly over the mountains. Flying over mountains can be tricky but Mia’s a good pilot though.”
“Ok Superman; speak English. What’s a knot and how fast is 150 knots per hour?”
“Sorry, I got carried away to my flying days. A knot is a nautical mile, and a nautical mile is 1.151 miles.” I reached into the drawer and grabbed a calculator and continued, “So 150 knots per hour would be 172.5 miles per hour.”
“Then why didn’t you just say that?”
I started to explain, but she looked at me with a dull look like, “I really don’t care.”
Moving on, I continued, “One other concern is, she bought it as a classic and show plane, and she even had to get a special airworthiness certificate, so it doesn’t have to have any of the updated navigation equipment that most planes are required to have. She wanted the plane original though, just like the one her grandfather used to have years ago.
I have to admit, that worries me a little bit. Even the 177 I flew had all the upgraded navigation equipment.
They said they wanted to get out of California as soon as possible though, as things are really starting to go to hell out there, but she refuses to leave her plane out there.”
Then I tried grasping at straws, “Don’t you want to stay home and get the house ready for their visit?”
“I’ll be home long before they get here, plus I’ve already cleaned the house,” knowing exactly what I was up to.
I grumbled a bit and then reluctantly agreed.
“But you keep your gun close.”
“I always have my gun with me.”
“Yeah, but why don’t you wear it on your side today, instead of in your purse?”
“I can’t wear my holster at work; my clothes don’t cover it up. It’s not like I’ll be wearing a coat to cover it. You do realize that it’s been 95 degrees every day lately?”
I had been on Kim off and on about getting used to wearing the holster more often. For the meantime though, I bought her a concealment purse which had a special compartment with a sewn-in holster. I knew that was the only way to get her to keep a gun on her most of the time.
She said again in a calming voice, “Listen, I have my gun in my purse, and we have the gun in the console of the car. I’ll be just fine.”
She left the room to take her shower, so I had the chance to change the channel back to the national news.
“Twenty-one large wildfires are now burning in California, from as far south as the San Diego area and reaching all the way into northern California. The spread of these fires is due to the ongoing drought that’s devastating the state. An anonymous White House source has revealed that the interior department has admitted that many of the fires would’ve been avoided if it wasn’t for the extreme environmental laws that California has in place that prevent the clearing of underbrush and removal of dead trees that has built up over the years.”
I said aloud, “California, you’re sure paying for your extremist ways.”
Besides the earthquakes, California had been going through the worst drought in their history. It had gotten to the point that they were warning their residents not to wash their cars, water their lawns and even had a time limit how long a person could take a shower.
I chuckled when I first heard this and thought, “What are they going to do, form some special agency to start busting in on people’s showers to see how long they take?”
Suddenly, the Breaking News banner came on. “We have breaking news from the Kansas City area. Riots have broken out overnight in downtown Kansas City. We take you to Barbara Stanton with our local affiliate in Kansas City.”
“During a demonstration being held by Socialists United, violence erupted during the protest and had spread throughout the downtown area. It’s been confirmed that many of the demonstrators were bused in from Chicago, Detroit, East St. Louis and even as far away as Atlanta. One anonymous source revealed that this outbreak of violence had been planned for a couple of weeks. Kansas City has requested help from the Missouri Highway Patrol and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department.”
I immediately sent a text to Mike who was working the night shift. Being 6:00 am, I knew he’d be getting ready to get off work at 7:00.
“Have you heard what’s going on in Kansas City?”
Mike replied, “Yes, I won’t be getting any sleep today. Our tactical unit has been put on standby, and for the meantime, we have most of our units patrolling our border with Kansas City.”
“Be careful. Kim wants to go to work today. I’m trying to talk her out of it.”
After a long pause, Mike replied, “I don’t think she should. You never know how far this is going to spread.” Then another text came through, “I have to go.”
When Kim came out ready to go to work, I said, “All the networks are now talking about the riot. I just talked to Mike and he said he’s going to be working today also, as their tactical unit has been put on alert. I really don’t think you should go to work.”
I had turned the TV back to the local coverage which was still live on the scene. She watched the coverage for a few minutes and then asked, “Is it still only in the downtown area?”
“Yes, but you don’t know for how long.”
In most cases, I wouldn’t try to order Kim around, but she also had enough respect for my judgment that if I would have “put my foot down,” she would comply and not take it as though I was trying to boss her around.
“If you’re telling me not to go, I won’t go. But if you’re not, I’m going. You know we have a special project at work today. If I don’t get those titles sent out, they aren’t going to be happy campers.”
I grumbled again but left it up to her judgment.
She bent over, gave me a kiss, and I said “I love you. Be careful.”
Chapter Three
Jerome Jackson was the chapter leader of the Atlanta Urban Warriors. He was a tall man, 6’3” and 210 lbs. He was very well spoken, and if you saw him, you wouldn’t think he was associated with the Urban Warriors. Normally, he wore a suit and tie and looked more like an attorney. He had received his degree in political science from Berkley University. Many thought he had the personality and the smile of a game show host, but a game show host he was not.
He was known as a specialist in escalating any protest which someone may desire to be more than a peaceful demonstration. He’d have his chapter travel to whatever area was having a demonstration which wanted national attention.
He was suspected of being behind the Urban Warrior members that were investigated by the justice department for intimidating voters during President Prescott election.
During the Ferguson demonstration in eastern Missouri, his chapter was monumental in the organization of the demonstration and the riot that followed.
Where they got their funding from no one except a select few knew for sure. Rumor had it that a great deal of their funding, plus a very large payday for Jerome, came from the far-left billionaire, George Sorosman, who was determined to bring down Capitalism and transform our country into a secular socialist society. Jerome wouldn’t even tell his top lieutenant where all the money came from.
He was very good at his job. He was recruited by the Urban Warriors back in the 1990’s. After proving he’d do whatever it took, he was called upon for almost all major demonstrations.
In his mind, he was important to the cause, failing to do his part wasn’t an option. Besides, he was becoming rich from his work, and he also controlled a small army that wouldn
’t dare disobey his orders.
“Money and know-how are all it takes to be in control,” he’d always tell his lieutenants.
He wouldn’t let anyone get in his way either. There had been a few that questioned his decisions. When they did, just to send a message to anyone else that would dare question him, he’d walk up to them with a smile, put his hand on their shoulder while looking them right in the eyes, pull out a folding razor that he always carried and cut the person’s throat from ear-to-ear. It was messier than just shooting them, but it sent one hell of a message. The only regret that he would have would be if he got blood on his clothes. He achieved a notorious reputation.
Over the years, he had learned the trick to inciting violence at any demonstration, which was to start the protest with a very aggressive speech, usually talking about the injustices by the police. The speech would be given by some famous celebrity or activist as they would get national coverage. If the other networks didn’t seem interested, they knew they could depend on MSNBC or CNN to give them the coverage.
They would announce the time and place of the demonstration, which would always bring out groups like Antifa, a violent far-left hate group that always wore masks and usually black clothing. Antifa is the far-left version of the KKK, and just like the Klan, are full of hate and too cowardly to show their faces.
Then Jerome and his lieutenants would work up the crowd with aggressive hate driven speeches. Finally, at the proper time, he’d have two or three of his “soldiers” start to break a few car windows. This would always work up the crowd and get the attention of the cameras. Then the final step would be to break open the storefront of some business. Preferably something like a liquor store or his favorite was an electronics store. Any business that had products that people wanted and could loot. That’s all it would take.
He knew that at that point some group of wannabe gang bangers or just some juvenile delinquents would want to get involved in the looting and be a part of the violence. Usually, it would explode from there. He would then pull out his people, except to fire the crowd back up if it started mellowing out. He had it down to an art and was well known within the inner circles as the man to call to incite “the event” as he would call it.
Jerome had arrived in Kansas City two weeks before the riot. Using the success that he had in Ferguson, he realized that Kansas City would be an ideal location as the city wouldn’t be expecting it. Most of all, they wouldn’t be prepared. He also noticed that Missouri’s Democratic governor seemed to be sympathetic to their cause, or at least so weak he wouldn’t authorize aggressive police action.
For example, during the Ferguson riots, the governor was pressured to call out the National Guard, but he gave orders for them only to be used in support. Under no circumstances were they to be on the front lines.
Jerome had an added bonus this time, which would make things much easier for him to gather larger crowds. Recently, Congressman Christine Waterson from the state of California had been calling for all members of her party to start confronting anyone that opposed their cause. She stated that anyone that opposed her or President Prescott was a traitor. She called for them to go to people’s homes and even confront them if they saw them on the streets or in a restaurant. She even suggested they confront any of the opposition’s family members.
She fell short of calling for actual violence, but to many, that is exactly what she was calling for. It was a big enough concern that the House of Representatives was calling for her to be censured, which is a strong reprimand by the House. Many felt that being censured wasn’t enough and they felt she should be expelled from Congress.
Jerome didn’t care whether she was expelled or not. All he knew was she made it possible for the crowds to be much larger and more aggressive. That’s exactly what he needed.
He thought about St. Louis as his location, but because it was so close to Ferguson, he felt there was a chance they had learned from what happened and may just be ready for any such event. But Kansas City had no reason to.
He had been contacted by an activist working in Kansas City as she wanted him to use his talents to bring national attention to a planned Socialists United demonstration. As soon as he heard the request he thought “This is perfect!” and immediately agreed.
Socialists United was a growing cause, and it was very easy to recruit new members. So many of the young people would get excited about being a part of such an organization. And he also knew that he could get a lot of token rich liberals to join in, just to look good for the cameras. You have some poor street kid wrestled down by the police; it was no big deal. But if they could get some rich liberal to take some lumps by the police, then it was news.
But when it came down to it, Jerome didn’t care whether they were black, white, green, rich, or poor. They were insignificant anyway. As long as it was on camera, that’s all that mattered.
He had decided to use Socialists United protest as his catapult. His goal was to put the city under siege. If he could engulf the entire metropolitan area, then there would be no doubt about his skills. And this would be known worldwide. All of America’s adversaries love to show America’s problems. No telling what kind of contracts he could get from overseas. There is always some group that wants to disrupt and distract America. He wouldn’t care what their cause was as long as he got paid and his reputation grew.
Socialists United had their demonstration to protest the death of a female that committed suicide while in the custody of the police. Of course, they put out the word that it wasn’t a suicide, and that the police officers killed her while she was awaiting trial.
Once the demonstration started, the NBC affiliate in Kansas City sent out a news crew for coverage of the protest. Jerome counted on them being there. All he had to use was nine of his men. One to throw a bottle at the reporter. Three to act like spectators that would run to assist the reporter once he was hit. Three more to start a fake fight with the spectators, and finally two more standing by with the Molotov Cocktails for when the police would intercede.
The plan worked perfectly. After the violence had started, he withdrew most of his men, and all they had to do was keep the violence motivated and then take complete command and use the rioters as his temporary army.
The riot had spread throughout the entire downtown area. Cars were overturned and burning, businesses were looted and set on fire, and any vehicles that were driving in the downtown area were carjacked by the rioters. Most store owners chose to leave the area, but some stayed to try and protect their businesses. Most that didn't carry a gun were overrun. Many were beaten if they resisted. Some of the owners had metal cages that would be pulled down over their windows at night. The stores that were left this way but had no one guarding them would still be looted as the rioters used a city truck and a chain to pull the cages down.
A few of the business owners did carry guns but the violence got so bad, they ended up firing at anyone that approached their store. Gunshots were heard throughout the downtown area. When the police helicopters flew over the area, they would report dozens of walking wounded, and several bodies lying in the street. An ambulance led by a fire truck attempted to get into the area but had to turn back due to shots being fired at them. Three shots had hit the fire truck, and one had hit the ambulance.
A multi-department task force was formed, led by the Missouri Highway Patrol and the Kansas City police chief, which immediately called the governor’s office requesting the National Guard. After a 30-minute conversation, the governor consented but stated that it would be at least 24 hours before they’d have an effective force in place.
They immediately ordered a curfew for the downtown area and 15 blocks in all directions.
Downtown was encircled by two interstate highways; I-35 and I-70. The police were instructed to use these highways as a containment perimeter. No vehicles or people were allowed in. Anyone coming out of the downtown area had to be cleared by personnel set up at the exiting intersecti
ons. The only buildings that were secure in the downtown area were the Downtown Police Department, the federal courthouse, the federal building, which contained offices from the FBI and Federal Marshals Service and the correctional facility.
Jerome was ahead of the game. Knowing exactly when his people were going to start the violence, he had his soldiers carjack two delivery trucks, a semi, three dump trucks and three sanitation trucks, which were used to block the exits at police headquarters.
At the same time, he set up shooters on three buildings around the police department. He knew he couldn’t keep them at bay for very long. He only needed to just long enough to prevent any tow trucks from coming in and removing the vehicles until he could direct a large number of the rioters to the police department and the correction facility, giving the impression they were going to break the prisoners out.
He realized that the odds of breaking anyone out were a million to one as he knew the police wouldn’t allow this to happen. He knew that police snipers would take out his gunmen and as soon as gas and rubber bullets were shot at the crowd, they would back off giving the police enough time to re-enforce the department and the corrections facility. But it would keep the downtown police occupied long enough for the riot to spread.
He also had the foresight to bring in several buses of professional agitators and activist to join the protest before the violence started. They’d been through riots before and knew what to expect from the police. Many had their own gas masks and firearms, and a large number of these agitators were used during the Ferguson riot. Some would be used to confront the police; others were there to incite the crowd, plus to relay orders before they turned into too much of an uncontrolled mob.
Jerome’s plan worked. Within the two-hour window that he had planned on, police snipers had taken out his gunmen. But by then, he had most of the protesters confronting the police at the department. The police were able to open one of their exits, but the officers were instructed to set up on the interstate perimeter to prevent further protesters from entering the area, and to control all the spectators that rushed to the downtown area to “watch the show.”
Apocalypse Coming Page 3
