Collapsing World_Stolen Treasure_Book 3

by G. Allen Mercer

  Clark nodded. “I’ll bet there’s thousands of other like it.”

  “Maybe, but, I don't really think so. She’s spent a lot of time waiting outside of the ICU, waiting on any words from David. Since she’s not related to him, and is a minor, she’s not allowed in. I halfway thought about taking her over to the child refugee camp, but…”

  “You can’t do that,” Clark said, his voice firm, and he shook his head.

  “Then what would you have me do with her? David’s in a medically induced coma for the next few days, I can’t exactly ask him, seeing that he’s as next to kin as it gets.”

  “She needs a job, a purpose. When it was she and David, she had him to focus on. What about here at the hospital, she seems to have a deep faith. Is there a priest on staff, or an Army chaplain that she can talk to, or help out in some way?”

  Emma raised her eyebrows at the suggestion. “That’s a great idea, I’ll ask around.”

  “Let me know, I don’t want to lose her to this, she’s too good of a person,” Clark surmised.

  “Agreed,” Emma said, putting her shoes back on and standing up, ready to change the subject away from the status report of their ragtag group. “You know, there’s a rumor that a shipment of hamburgers came in, and some of the doctors are going to have a cook out for the hospital staff.”

  “Wow, with all things considered, that’s a nice treat.”

  “You bet it is,” she said smiling. “Maybe things are starting to get back to normal. I’m going to see if I can get us a couple.” She leaned over to kiss him.

  He accepted the kiss, not believing for an instant that things were starting to get back to normal. “Get going, you don't want to miss them,” he patted her on the butt as she turned.

  She put her hand on the doorknob, just as there was a knock on the door.

  “Oh, Sir,” she said, opening the door and stepping back.

  Colonel Horn stepped into the room. “Sorry if I’m interrupting. Do you mind if we speak in private?” It wasn’t really a question.

  “No, Sir,” she said, walking behind him to exit, but not before she turned to look at Clark with big ‘what’s this about’ eyes. He ignored her.

  “Sir.”

  “I’ve only got a minute, but I wanted to check on you. How are you doing, son?”

  “Fine, Sir. They say I can get discharged tomorrow. I should have been released yesterday.”

  “That’s good,” he said, nodding, that it was indeed good news. But, Clark wondered if the man had actually heard him.

  Horn walked to the window and looked out over the town that he had converted to a military base. He stroked his day-old beard, thinking carefully about what he was about to say and do.

  “Shaw was a fine soldier,” Horn started, the idea of the man’s death hitting him harder than he thought it would. “He served with me in Iraq before taking the National Guard position.”

  “He died saving our lives, Sir. He was indeed a fine soldier, and I can never repay him for his sacrifice.”

  “I’m afraid there will be many more sacrifices made before this damn thing’s over,” Horn said, glimpsing a future that he knew was coming.

  “Yes, Sir, I think you’re right.”

  Horn cleared his throat and straightened his shirt before returning to all business. “You know that prisoner that you helped question?”

  Clark remembered it more like an interrogation than a question session. “Yes, Sir.”

  “Son-of-a-bitch killed himself the first night here. Besides what you got out of him, we never got a thimble full of actionable intelligence from the bastard.” Horn breathed in hard a few times.

  “That sucks, Sir.”

  Horn nodded. “Listen, before I go, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

  “Of course, Sir.”

  “I have given this considerable thought. It’s people like you, your friend Dukes, and perhaps a handful of other crazy resourceful sons-of-bitches that I think are going to help get our country back.”

  Clark didn’t know what to say at that one, so he defaulted. “Thank you, Sir.”

  “You know, I read your file before I met you last week at the farmhouse. You have what I call the big three.”

  “The big three, Sir?”

  “Individuality, creativity and an innate ability to survive. You have them, and that’s why I want to consider what this man is about to ask of you, son.” Horn moved to the door, opened it, and leaned out, using the handle as a pivot point. He never said anything, but simply made eye contact with the person in the hall.

  “Lieutenant Clark, this is Colonel Burrows,” he said, introducing the man as he entered the room.

  Clark sat up just a little more, seeing now that there were two colonels standing in his hospital room.

  “Take care, son,” Horn said, and then exited the room, closing the door behind him.

  There was a brief silence as Colonel Burrows looked at the man in the bed.

  “So, I hear that you’ve seen almost every angle of this war?” It was a question, not a statement.

  “Ah, yes, Sir,” Clark started. “We were in Atlanta when the bomb went off, and I…”

  “I know, I read the action reports,” Burrows said, cutting him off, and taking a step closer to the bed.

  “Yes, of course, Sir.”

  “Colonel Horn seems to think that you are a lone wolf in a pack of sheep.”

  Clark didn’t answer.

  “He goes on to say, according to his research, that you would make one hell of a spy. And, I’d have to agree. You are plainly built, but seem to be incredibly strong with a long endurance and ability to block out pain. Your aptitude test results are pretty damn good. I’d almost bet that you slow played that to stay under the radar.”

  Clark opened his mouth, but had nothing to say. Burrows took that as a, ‘yes.’

  “Did you know,” Burrows continued. “That the bullet that was removed from your leg was sitting on the never running to the L4 vertebrae in your back, and not one person in this hospital heard you complain. You are resourceful, having found a way to survive a nuclear detonation. You escaped fires in tunnels that a handful of people knew existed while trapped under the Atlanta airport. You rescued civilians and were able to convince them, not only to follow you to safety, but also to help you operationally. Having that help, sporadic intelligence from the Pentagon, and some cosmic good luck, you survived attacks by freakers, and a full-frontal assault that included two friggin’ APCs. Oh, and I need not mention the downing of several helicopters, and the admiration of the entire Fort Rucker air wing. Finally, you were somehow able to save civilian hostages from the clutches of the Chinese military, take out two of their troop transports with a fucking tree and another APC. And the only thing that happened to you was you took a round in the leg while you were on the way here. You, Lieutenant, are someone that I wanted to meet, and someone that want on my team.”

  Clark swallowed; he didn’t know what to say. Listening to the traumatic and plausibly heroic events of his life over the last few weeks seemed like things action movies were made of, not his life.

  “Sir, that all sounds quite fantastic, but I had a great deal of help. It wasn’t all me, Sir.”

  “I’ll add humility to the list,” Burrows said, with a smile. “Look, I get it, you didn’t do all of that by yourself. But, you played a part in orchestrating it.”

  “Sir,” Clark said, not believing he was about to ask the question. “What do you want from me?”

  Burrows breathed in and out heavily before answering. “Look, Lieutenant, I’m putting together a resistance.”

  “A resistance, Sir?”

  “More like a militia than a resistance,” Burrows corrected. “And, I need people that have the ability to think independently and still have the capability to lead a team.” He lowered his eyes on Clark.

  “But, Sir, I’m in the Army, I can’t join a militia,” Clark stammered.

  �
��Listen, the world has just changed on a magnitude that is so high that we don't even know how to score it. You’re still going to be defending the people of the United States, but, from a different angle.”

  “Is this legal, Sir?”

  “Actually, yes. By our founding document, the Constitution, it is. And, I have authority and support by the Pentagon and Colonel Horn; if that makes you feel better.” Burrows turned towards the door. “So, what do you say?”

  Clark chewed on his thoughts longer than he felt the colonel wanted him to do before answering. “I’ll do it, but…”

  “There’s a ‘but’?” Burrows raised an eyebrow and put one hand on the doorknob.

  “Sorry, Sir, but yes, there’s a ‘but’.”

  “Well?”

  “Like I said, I didn’t do everything that you just detailed, I had help.”

  “Go on.”

  “Well, Sir, assuming that your militia is not mutually exclusive to military personnel…”

  “It’s not.”

  “Then, Sir, I’d like to recruit some of those folks that helped me along the way.”

  Burrows nodded, and was about to turn the doorknob.

  “And, Sir.”

  Burrows stopped. “I think I know before you ask.”

  It was Clark’s turn to raise his eyebrow in question. “Sir?”

  “The Humvee. That damned Presidential peace of shit that helped save your life.”

  Clark smiled.

  “I guess you want that, too?”

  “Sir, yes, Sir!”

  “Way ahead of you. I’ve already got the boys in the depot working on fixing it up.” He was met with a broad smile. “Now, once you heal up, report into me before going on your recruiting mission. Colonel Horn will know how to contact me. I’ll expect you in our camp in no less than two weeks. Understood?”

  “Sir, thank you, Sir,” Clark said, watching Colonel Burrows open the door to exit the room. “Colonel Burrows!” he called before the door shut.

  “What is it, son,” the man said, sticking his head back in the room.

  “What is the name of your militia, Sir?”

  Colonel Ian Burrows smiled and shook his head at the question. “Lieutenant Clark, you’re now part of the militia known as the War Dawgs.”

  CHAPTER 45

  As her final act for the day, Airman Perez passed her last piece of credible intelligence on Leah Burrows over to the contact on the other end of the secured instant messaging program. She had firsthand knowledge of the War Dawgs militia forming in Alabama, and knew that Colonel Burrows, his wife Leah and their daughter, Grace, were all involved.

  She had briefed the Admiral on her actions, and after complementing her on her service; he sent her home with four combat ready soldiers as an escort.

  The power was back on to her building, and someone had set up an old tube television table in front of the bank of dead flat screen TVs. It used an aerial antenna, and showed a fuzzy picture of the local news station. She walked past the archaic device, and called the elevator for the first time in weeks.

  Once at her apartment, she found that the body of the dead Russian agent had disappears, as well as any sign of blood, shell casings or scuffle. Satisfied that she was safe, she dismissed the security detail with the assurance that they would be stationed outside of the building.

  She shut the door behind the detail and thought about the status of Sergeant Fields; the Russians told her that were dropping him off once they knew that Leah Burrows had received her activation. She hoped it wasn’t a lie, and if he was really dead. Admiral Faulk had promised to use his leverage with the CIA to see what they could do to return Fields safely.

  She locked the door, and without stopping, she tossed her items on the bed, stripped and turned on the shower, praying that there was hot water. She looked in the mirror, wondered if what she had done was right, and that is when her cell phone rang.

  She thought about ignoring it, and simply stepping into the shower, but she wasn’t that kind of person. She turned off the shower and grabbed the phone from off of her bed.

  “This is Airman Perez.”

  “Hello, Nina,” said a woman in English, her voice accented with the Russian tongue. “We have one more job for you.”

  What’s Next?

  This Concludes the Collapsing World Series. This storyline, along with the storyline from Worst Case Scenario have been merged into a great new series that takes you a few years into the future; where the world as we know is hanging by a thread. Look for the new series, Survival Republic late 2018. Subscribers to our mailing list will get to read the first chapter to Survival Republic, soon.

  The Perez and Fields storyline, as well as a new storyline about the Naval taskforce leading the Louisiana invasion will headline as a new Subscriber Only, online web series in 2018.

  Join our mailing list to know about the new books, and author exclusive content. Sign up, today!

  http://eepurl.com/4_AQ1

  Also, please follow me at:

  www.facebook.com/GAllenMercer

  www.GAllenMercer.com

  www.twitter.com/GAllenMercer

  Blogging at: www.allenmercer.wordpress.com

  Acknowledgments

  My family is central to everything that I do. Without the loving support of my wife and children, I would wind up writing How To manuals about plugging in toasters!

  Seriously, besides giving me their love, they provide the some of the building blocks for several key characters in the Worst Case Scenario and Collapsing World series. But, if you really want to peal the layers back on this humble wordsmith and his motivation, you should read one of my first books, Underlying Grace.

  Thank you, again, to Mellessia. I’ll try not to put those pressing deadlines on you next time.

  I’d also like to thank the fans of the Worst Case Scenario and Collapsing World series of books. I know there is a following, and frankly, I think that’s pretty cool. Please reach out via the website or Facebook, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this book, or any of the other books in the fold.

  Finally, I’m excited about what you will read in Survival Republic. The world in this new book is a very different place, and characters that you know and love will have to figure out how to save it.

  Thank you for reading!

  -- GAM 

  More Books By G. Allen Mercer

  Worst Case Scenario Series:

  This brand new action adventure series follows Ian, Leah and Grace Burrows after the unthinkable has happened; a foreign country has detonated nuclear bombs on US soil in and has launched an invasion force.

  Their family is prepared for almost any emergency, but they never imagined that they would actually face their worst case scenario; a massive attack on America while the family is spread apart from each other.

  Worst Case Scenario: Book 1

  Worst Case Scenario: Book 2 Bug Out

  Worst Case Scenario: Book 3 Invasion

  Worst Case Scenario: Book 4 The State

  Worst Case Scenario: Book 5 Militia

  Worst Case Scenario: Book 6 War Dawgs

  Collapsing World Series:

  (This series uses the events found in Worst Case Scenario)

  Teen brother and sister, Jack and Lucy, are trapped under the Atlanta airport after a nuclear bomb has been detonated in downtown Atlanta. Join them as they fight to survive what comes next.

  Collapsing World: Book 1

  Collapsing World: Kill Zone - Book 2

  Collapsing World: Stolen Treasure – Book 3

  Underlying Grace Series

  Underlying Grace Series:

  Have you ever questioned what God might have in store for your life? In this work of fiction, Neil Abrams and his family find themselves in the crossroads of this very question. The Underlying Grace series is action, questions and belief all rolled into compelling stories about the will to survive…and thrive!

  Book 1: Underlying Grace

  Book 2:
Mighty To Save

  Happy reading, and please stay prepared!

  G. Allen Mercer

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