Patriots Awakening

by R. M. Strauhs

  A few minutes later they were out of the house and as they walked to the car, he whispered, “Don’t ask any questions in the car.”

  While backing out of the driveway, the General remembered Burt’s warning. If they not only had the car bugged, like Burt Logan had said, they might also be tracking them with a locater, and perhaps he wasn’t just being paranoid about someone having a tail on him, especially if there was something imminent in the air. “Girls, what if we make a stop at Blakely’s on our way to Hamburger Heaven? Might as well let you two juveniles blow your weekly allowance while I try and find Harvey a birthday gift. His party is tomorrow night, isn’t it honey?”

  “Oh, my goodness. It sure is, and I’d totally forgotten.” Evelyn answered, playing along with the whole charade. “I know what to get him too. When I ran into Aunt Molly at the meat market a couple of weeks ago she said he would like a new DVD player.”

  Of course, Blakely’s was one of their favorite places to shop. The store sold everything from clothes, to appliances, to toys, and all kinds of tools. As they walked through the parking lot, he quietly told them, “You each one will buy one complete set of clothes. Make them jeans and shirts, and grab a couple of extra underwear, and a couple of pairs of socks. No dilly-dallying around, though. Understood?”

  One thing about General Parker’s girls, and his wife, for that matter, they did exactly as he instructed when he was serious. And now, they seemed to sense the urgency in his voice. Twenty minutes later, they were at the register paying for the purchases in cash. It had occurred to him there was a car rental agency some four blocks south of the drive-in restaurant. He was still in uniform, but would take his newly purchased civvies into the bathroom at the restaurant and change. He even bought a Baltimore Orioles ball cap, hoping to change his image. He would walk, hopefully unnoticed, to the rental agency to get the car.

  As they were going through the outer entrance to the store, an ATM caught his eye and another thought occurred to him. If he paid for the rental car with a credit card, even a fake one, the folks tracking him could easily get information on what they were driving and the plate number. He maxed out the debit card the Pentagon supplied him and put the money in his pocket.

  He wore a big smile as they walked back across the parking lot. It was nearly laughable that he was planning their departure to West Virginia almost by the minute. The better part of his life, Parker had been so big on organizing things well ahead. Before reaching the car, he informed the girls and Evelyn of his plan. “Watch for me to pull up, then immediately come out and get in the car.”

  He parked on one side of the restaurant, returning to the other in the rental. Anyone watching would be looking for them to come out the same door they went in. He still had to give the people at the rental agency the fake ID and credit card to rent the car for a week. That bothered him. Nothing he could do about it now except pray for luck.

  The plan worked well as far as he knew. Forty minutes after pulling into the restaurant parking lot in the government furnished car, they drove out the opposite exit in the rental and, apparently, with no one following. Twenty minutes later, they crossed the Potomac into Arlington, Virginia and drove north to Interstate 66. An hour out of Arlington, he stopped at a convenience store and bought a map that showed both Virginia and West Virginia. He knew he was supposed to head for Richwood, West Virginia but had no idea where it was. After topping off the gas tank, he pulled to the side of the store to study the highway road map. It struck him that perhaps they should take the slow route and stay off the interstate. That might be a little overcautious, but it should be safer. It was close to six o’clock. General Parker estimated the alternate route to be a six-hour drive to Richwood.

  Parker looked at his wife and saw the worry on her face and lovingly reached over and held her hand. He glanced in the rearview mirror at the girls in the back seat. They were silent watching the countryside slide by.

  Another half hour up the interstate, he turned to the southwest on a two-lane highway. They were into the country now, and if it hadn’t been for their reason of being here, it would have been a nice drive. As anxious as he was to get as far from D.C. as possible, and as quickly as possible he drove right at the speed limit. They would pass through a number of small towns, and the last thing he wanted to do was get a traffic ticket by some energetic cop that would be put in a computer somewhere.

  It took watching for seven different roads he had marked on his map to arrive in Richwood by one in the morning. He pulled into an all-night restaurant and cut the engine. He rubbed his face wearily and then turned to check on his family. Everyone was still asleep. Even though Burt Logan would be waiting for them, he had to have a cup of coffee and a candy bar, or he would get a terrible headache. He wished he had eaten supper. They had been on the road for six and a half hours. He reached over and gently shook his wife awake. “Honey, do you want to wake the kids? I thought we probably ought to eat now.”

  “You go on in. I’ll stay with the girls. Just bring me a coffee.”

  Drinking coffee as he waited for the food order, he studied the map that Burt gave him to memorize. Logan’s place looked to be a few miles out of town. After finishing his sandwich and downing a second cup of coffee, he was ready to hit the road once more. Returning to the car, he handed Evelyn her coffee cup and a frosted donut.

  She yawned and straightened up in the seat. “Are we almost there?”

  “Yes. Now all I have to do is find Logan.”

  “Where’s that?”

  “It's not a where - but a Burt Logan. When we find Logan’s place, I promise I’ll explain everything. It’s a long, complicated story.”

  ~~~

  General Parker drove to the north side of town and turned back east into the low mountains on a narrow unpaved road.

  The car jouncing over the rough road awakened the girls, and Melissa yawned and rubbed her eyes. “Where are we, Dad?”

  “In the middle of nowhere, sweetie. Someplace in West Virginia.”

  Melissa answered “Oh,” as if it was a perfectly normal place to be.

  They traveled about a quarter mile until they came to a high steel gate across the road. General Parker said, “Well, I wonder how we get around this.” As he spoke, the gate slid slowly to the side, and he muttered under his breath, “I’ll be damned.”

  The road, which would be almost invisible from the air, curved around a hill covered with huge, dense pine trees. Rounding another short curve, they arrived at the destination. It looked like someone’s summer retreat. The log cabin was large, with a porch across the front.

  Melissa asked, “What is this place, Dad?”

  “You’ll find out soon enough, honey. Let’s see if there’s anyone home.”

  ~~~

  Burt Logan came through the door and bounced down the steps from the high porch as they got out of the car. “I was beginning to get worried, General.”

  “Burt I want you to meet my wife, Evelyn, and my daughters Melissa and Shelly. And I’ll tell you right now, they’re in the dark and curious to know what’s going on.”

  Burt Logan shook their hands and asked, “Have you good folks had breakfast?”

  “The girls haven’t but Evelyn and I ate a bite in Richwood. Sorry I worried you, but I had to rent the car, buy some clothes, and we took the back roads instead of the interstates. Probably shouldn’t have wasted the time in Richwood, but I was hungry and figured I’d give you a little more shuteye before we popped in.”

  “Well, you made it okay, and that’s the important thing. Taking the back roads was a good idea. Come on in, folks.” He turned toward the girls. “I have twin daughters just about your ages. They’re sound asleep right now, but you will meet them first thing in the morning.”

  Logan led them inside and introduced them to his wife Peggy. She had already started making hot roast beef sandwiches and had a fresh pot of coffee waiting. Sitting at the dining room table, Burt said, “Mrs. Parker, girls, just
listen to what I tell the General, then we will answer any questions.”

  He turned to face Parker. “General, whatever is going to happen is going to happen real soon. I mean in a matter of days. Less than two weeks ago, all those Senators and Representatives on our watch list started leaving town. It started with Bruce Weyeth, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee. The last one left town day before yesterday. We were able to trail some of them for awhile, but about half of them boarded overseas flights, including Weyeth. We’re right in the middle of the legislative session. Now that doesn’t make sense, does it? They effectively left some two thirds of the committees without a chairman. Within ten days, every single one of them was packed up and gone.

  Strange part is, even though we know something is amiss, except for those we managed to follow, no one seems to know where they are. We have people in both houses on our side. They informed us these people gave no hint of any sort of travel plans or plans to be absent. They just didn’t show up at their offices. And get this, General; we can tap into the flight reservations computers at all the airlines. None of those Senators or Representatives were listed as regular passengers, so they were traveling under assumed names.

  Day before yesterday, the President had a meeting scheduled at the White House with Yana Levy, Israeli Prime Minister; Donald True, the British Prime Minister; and Yusuf Kelebek, the Premier of Turkey. They all arrived at Andrews within an hour of one another but took off again without ever leaving their aircraft. Yesterday morning, damned near the entire President’s Cabinet, and the Vice President boarded Air Force Two and took off. An hour later, the President, along with his family and a few Aids, boarded Air Force One and left Andrews.”

  Burt Logan shook his head and continued, “None of it makes sense. The entire Presidential Cabinet and the Vice President flew to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and then they boarded several choppers. Of course, we can guess where they were going. The President went to Billings, Montana with a Marine escort of perhaps thirty people. Are you aware of the takeoff or landing roll needed for Air Force One? A hell of a lot more than Billings has to offer, but they did land safely – barely. The President, his family and the Marines all boarded Army transport choppers and flew off toward the Northern Montana site with six jet escorts. Whatever has been planned for a lot of years is going to happen, and it’s going to go down soon.”

  Evelyn listened to Logan intently and asked, “What in the world are you talking about? What’s going to happen?”

  General Parker lowered his voice and his eyes. “Evelyn, I’ve kept a lot of things from you for your own good for a number of years. I never wanted you to know about the conspiracy that has been put together by a small group of world leaders and a bunch of wealthy businessmen to create a one world society and government.”

  “You mean all that stuff I’ve heard for years and years?”

  “Yes. Exactly.”

  “So . . . what’s going to happen . . . to us?” Evelyn was scared but didn’t want to let it show in front of the girls.

  “Sweetheart, the truth is, there are those of us in the military, in the government, and in civilian organizations that have prepared for this for years. We’re going to fight them.”

  “You mean fight, like . . .” She started to tremble.

  “Yes, like war. There is going to be a war, I’m afraid, and it’s going to happen right here on our own soil, as well as in most every major nation in the world. They not only have their operatives placed all over the world, we have ours, too.”

  The girls sat wide-eyed, listening to all of this, and Melissa finally asked in a quivering small voice, “Will we be shot at?”

  “At this point, we’re going to sit tight and see what happens. Burt, you want to show us around the place?” Until Logan gave him the map, General Parker had no idea where this place was, but he knew exactly what it was . . . a safe haven.

  As he got up to help serve the sandwiches, Burt answered. “I will as soon as it gets light.”

  ~~~

  When everyone had finished eating breakfast and the table cleared at 8:00, Burt led them outside to a small outbuilding set against a rock outcrop. When he opened the door, he pressed a small remote and the back wall of the shed swung toward them, revealing a short tunnel leading to a steel door. The basic layout of the underground bunker was like what he had seen on his several visits to the Colorado site, but not built for as many people. He saw plenty of food, electronics and weapons, but rather crude living arrangements.

  Evelyn and the girls were amazed at the array of weapons.

  Logan then introduced the Parker family to four other civilians, all ex- Army Rangers living in the complex. General Parker learned they had the same sophisticated alarm and surveillance system as the Colorado site. After touring the entire underground complex, they returned to the house and started on another pot of coffee.

  ~~~

  As Burt and General Parker sat resting on the front porch, the General asked, “Well Logan, what do we do now or where do we go from here?” He was a little embarrassed by asking someone else what to do after having been the commander telling everyone what to do and when.

  “I guess this place is as good or as safe as anywhere until we see what happens. Look, I know you left the house with nothing but the clothes on your back. I told Peggy to take the girls and Evelyn back to the underground and get them fixed up with whatever they may need. We have plenty of clothing, toiletries, and such for them. I don’t want anyone going into town. What and when do you think their first move will be, General?”

  “I’ve thought a lot about it. I know there are those in our military who will follow orders regardless, but I believe the majority will only follow orders to a point. If it comes to using our troops against our own people, I’d bet you will see a lot of deserters going over to the resistance.” He laughed and repeated the word, “Resistance.” Then speaking in a much more somber tone . . . “Isn’t that a bitch? Never thought I’d ever use that word in connection with our own country. All these little half-assed dictatorial countries have had underground resistance movements for years, but the United States? What the shit happened, Burt? How in God’s name did we get to this?”

  Burt stretched his long legs out on the porch, his arms folded across his chest and a cigarette between his teeth. “Actually, General, I think we’ve been headed for this since the American Revolution. You know the old saying about power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. After the Revolution, who was it that took over and ran the country? Wealthy businessmen. Sure, they put together a well intentioned Constitution, Bill of Rights and all that, but if they really meant all of it, why would they say all men are created equal and at the same time own slaves? Did they mean it when they said we all had the right to freedom of speech? I could cite you case after case where people have been prosecuted, convicted, and imprisoned because they wouldn’t bow down to federal government controls ever since the Continental Congress wrote all those pretty sounding words.

  Look at how many people were hanged for sedition for preaching against the framers of our Constitution and the government they created. I think perhaps those folks never meant for the Constitution to be taken as literally as it has been. Most likely, they thought the powerful with money would always be in charge. If you take a really close look at how things operated back then, you’ll see that even at its inception, what the Constitution says didn’t quite jive with the way things were done. Did they allow the uneducated poor to vote? Did they allow women to vote? I think if those folks were alive today, they might believe all their efforts were wrong and vote for a monarchy that would do their bidding from now on. Oh, perhaps a few of them foresaw what the Constitution and Bill of Rights is today and truly believed all men and women are created equal and should have equality, but I doubt many did.”

  General Parker listened intently; fascinated that Burt could be so philosophical about things. “So you think we were doomed right from the beginning.”


  “Nope, not doomed. But I think we were destined to have another revolution that would bring the Constitution to reality. Make it what it really says. I think whatever is going on right now, with folks trying to take away our freedoms, and also trying to make us part of something larger than our own country; now is the time for real, true patriots to help our country find its true destiny. Peacefully, but with arms if necessary. We know it cannot be done peacefully, because the rich and powerful control everything today, just like they did two hundred and some odd years ago.”

  Burt laughed softly. “I’m afraid we’ll have something to shoot at soon enough, General. By the way, I want to give you a list of radio codes for other undergrounds around the country. You’ll have to burn the list after you study it. These are codes for short wave communications and they can tell you where folks are and what is happening. Try to memorize as many codes as you can, because you can’t keep a written list on you. By the way, Peggy is going to start teaching your daughters and wife how to fire a few of the weapons this afternoon. Is that okay with you?”

  General Parker frowned, but nodded his consent, thinking how tragic it would be if Evelyn or one of the girls ever had to kill another human being to survive.

  ~~~

  Over the next couple of days nothing happened. Regular television broadcast normally. Parker was truly amazed at Burt’s young children teaching his own daughters how to fire several different small arms. He was surprised that they learned the basic marksmanship and at the rate their skills had increased. Christ, children at war. He was slowly becoming quite depressed with the situation.

  June 2, 2009

  They had been at the compound for four days, and he was behind the house at the rifle range, sharpening his own skills, when Burt called him on his radio. “General. Come to the house. Quick!”