Patriots Awakening

by R. M. Strauhs

  ~ 30 ~

  The tapes of Stephan’s speech began playing at 0500 in the morning. Freedom Fighters were positioned near Denver awaiting activity from the enemy after the airing. Four large concentration camps were set up around Denver and had perhaps ten thousand people in each. Stephan’s speech spooked the enemy guarding these camps because the foreign troops abandoned their posts around those encampments and headed for the airport where the enemy commander had his headquarters. By 0900, there were no guards at the camps, and the civilians immediately broke and ran from the city in all directions. The enemy withdrew in such haste they not only left their breakfast sitting on tables in their dining halls, but also left a building filled with weapons at each of the camps.

  The freed citizens helped themselves to all the weapons and ammo they could carry and fanned out through the city in groups of a hundred to a hundred-fifty, with hopes of finding the enemy and taking out their fair share. It was apparent that few of the enemy forces remained in the city but, those that had stayed were killed, some with their hands high in surrender. Had General Parker known the fate of this enemy, he wouldn’t have worried whether or not patriots were taking prisoners. The imprisoned citizens had seen either the traitors or the imported soldiers murder their families and fellow citizens in cold blood. It was payback time.

  At 1100 on the dot, a cruise missile hit the terminal at the Denver International Airport. Two fighter-bombers strafed and bombed a long line of vans, pickups, and cars rushing toward the airport from the city. One of Stephan’s men called in the strike when he saw blue helmets in every vehicle. Later, they would estimate they had killed nearly seven hundred of the enemy in that one convoy.

  At the airport, the enemy scrambled to get to commercial passenger planes in hopes of making an escape. Some of the original patriots from the train that left Ohio were now outside the airport taking down anything that left the runway with SAM missiles, including passenger planes and fighters. Other planes were damaged with grenade launchers or recoilless rocket launchers. The entire area in and around the airport was complete chaos, with enemy troops running in all directions in an attempt to find shelter from the withering fire of large and small weapons alike. All they found were flames, smoke, and flying debris.

  Another cruise missile hit the concourse within five minutes of the first. The Freedom Fighters were then clear to fly in with the jets and helicopters to take out what was left. The citizen’s side of the battle was not without casualties. A piece of debris got sucked into the engine of the jet Dwight flew, but he managed to swoop upward to an altitude where it was safe to blow the canopy and jerk the red handle for the ejection seat. He landed two miles from the airport, and a search party was immediately dispatched to find him. His chute had opened dangerously close to the ground, and he hit hard, suffering a broken left leg. When his troops got to him, his first words were, “Son-of-a-bitch! Dammit to hell! I had to get shot down by a goddamned piece of flying sheet metal.” As they got him on a stretcher and placed him in the back of the pickup, he continued to cuss a blue streak.

  ~~~

  In the Holden cave, the wives walked the floor all day, worried sick about their men’s safety in the battle for Denver. Irma offered to fix them food but they were too nervous to eat. She was told to make sure the kids were all fed and was glad for the opportunity to be doing something. The children, understanding how serious it was, stayed in the schoolroom and the gym.

  Ralph, Mike, Dan, and Don sat in the control room waiting for news on the short wave and watched the monitors. The television in the main room was on, but the volume turned low in hopes someone would come on to give an announcement. The video of Stephan calling the citizens to arms had stopped around three, and now a picture of the flag filled the screen. The songs playing in the background were, ‘This Land is Our Land’, ‘America the Beautiful’, ‘Grand Ole Flag’, ‘My Country Tis of Thee’ and, of course, the ‘Star Spangled Banner’.

  At ten p.m., the music stopped. “Hey turn up the TV. Maybe something is going to come on,” The twins yelled from the control room.

  The women sat on the edge of the sofas, waiting. The song, ‘Celebration’, played for a few seconds, then, “Ladies and gentlemen, the Denver Freedom Television Station is now on the air,” a male voice stated.

  Stephan walked into view of the camera, a smile on his face. He stood before a map of Colorado with another American flag added. The flag was placed on Denver.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, my fellow Americans, it is with the greatest of pleasure that I can report to you, Denver is now free of all enemy forces.” His grin widened, and he seemed on the verge of laughter. “If anyone doubts the veracity of my statement, look at this video. The entire assault was filmed, but I’m only going to show you highlights. Here you see the Denver airport at nine this morning. Notice the enemy soldiers hurrying toward the airport from the city after hearing this morning’s broadcast. Now, take a look at the aircraft trying to leave.” The screen filled with exploding planes as they climbed into the air. “Those were SAM missiles taking them out. This next series is interesting. At eleven o’clock, cruise missiles slammed into the airport complex from the sea.” Graphic pictures showed the terminal and the concourse both go up in a fireball.

  “Here, our courageous citizens and patriots go into action.” The film showed the jets and helicopter gun ships zooming in on the airport and the grenade launchers and rocket launchers in action from the ground forces. “This next scene is interesting. Sitting on the tarmac in row after row were captured foreign forces. We have a tally so far of 2,782 prisoners. The number of dead is twice that figure. After looking at that video, do you still think a few patriots cannot change things? We changed a heck of a lot this week. Look at the freed cities in Colorado alone. I want everyone across America to report in and say what cities are liberated. We will have a map and update as we get word. I understand this station is linked to the communications satellites and is being shown around the world and will be on 24/7 for all the latest updates of news. The same coverage will be broadcast via short wave and regular radio stations. I do want to thank all the good people in Denver for pitching in and helping to fight the fight. Yes, we lost several patriots today, but they died making our country free again. God Bless you, and God Bless America. Goodnight.”

  The camera left Stephan to show several men and women standing in front of a map of the entire United States. “Hello, my name is Charles Goodloe, and I am going to be one of the anchors to keep all of you informed of any news we hear. It’s been over a year since we lost control of our country. Tonight we have taken a giant step forward to restoring it. But we need your help. We here in the mid-west do not know what’s going on in your part of the country. We need info on what the storms did to the coastlines. How much was washed away or how much is under water? Anyone know anything about California? We know much of that state was completely destroyed, but did it sink into the ocean? We know the New Madrid Fault that parallels the Mississippi opened and allowed the Gulf waters to flow north, but we have no idea how wide or long it is. We also need to know, as Stephan mentioned, what parts of the country are free of the enemy and where do you need help to kill the bastards? Please notify us of anything you think important. We know short wave radio operators are out there, and we can’t wait to hear from them. You ships and subs at sea, contact us! Tell us what you know.

  “I want to explain to you, we anchors will not be talking all the time straight to you. We will have the short wave sitting here so you can hear what is said and our responses to them. We will announce what cities are liberated and show you the updated map in the background. We’ll try to redraw the map of the U.S. as we get info on the new coastlines. Be patient, and, above all, if you need help in your area to liberate a city, town, or village, please let us know. I’m sure in no time at all you will have fellow patriots at your side. We’re playing this off the cuff and are bound to make a few mistakes, or trip and fall over the c
ables. So continue to watch our live feed. Don’t forget to call in. We’re waiting.”

  Tears of joy flowed from the Holden women’s eyes, and they let out a big sigh of relief.

  “Don’t be too happy just yet. Stephan didn’t name the dead,” Simon commented and ran to his room. He was worried about Cord. He’d already lost one father and was scared to death he might have lost a second one in the Battle for Denver.

  Almost immediately, the short wave came alive. “Macaroon here. Base, you copy? Over.” Stephan was calling home.

  “It’s Stephan,” yelled the twins in unison from the control room.

  “Base copies. Over,” answered Ralph.

  “Group’s fine and heading home. Out.”

  The twins ran to tell Simon that Cord and all the men were coming home.

  ~~~

  As Stephan was putting together transportation for those returning with him, his uncle, General Parker, approached him at the airport, all smiles, threw his arms around Stephan, and held him in a bear hug. Then, he stood back and said, “Can’t tell you how glad I am to see you again, Stephan. Everyone in your group make it out okay?”

  “Everyone is just fine, General. Looks as though the enemy is pretty well defeated everywhere, so we’re heading back to the compound for now. I know I’m still in the Army, so I’m available whenever you need me or if you find out where a base is going to reopen. Haven’t heard anything about Bragg or Campbell, have you?”

  “No, but our first priority will be to reestablish a military headquarters somewhere. We’ll set it up here for now. Take this cell phone.” Parker handed Stephan a small leather case and said, “This will call just one number. Mine. I found out the satellite we use is back on line, so you can get in touch, or I can get you.”

  General Parker smiled broadly and told Stephan, “You guys are real heroes, you know.”

  “Just doing our job, Sir.” Stephan returned his smile as the General shook his hand.

  An hour later, Stephan, Cord, and the others flew toward their mountain hideaway.

  ~~~

  Cord was in his own thoughts all the way back to the farm. He hadn’t told Stephan what had happened to the prisoners on the tarmac, as Stephan was broadcasting the good news of freeing Denver and showing film clips.

  Over 2,000 prisoners sat in a huddle, when out of nowhere an A-10 flew in and dropped cluster bombs over the group of prisoners. The large canisters came apart in mid-air . . . releasing hundreds of sub-munitions which spread out over the prisoners and rained down death. Each detonated upon impact, killing all . . . including several Patriot guards. The plane turned and landed at the end of the runway.

  Cord heard yelling and laughing from the A-10 as an older man came running and jumping towards him.

  “I showed them bastards, sir, yes I did. Those sonsabitches killed my wife and daughters and grandkids. But before they killed them, they were raped over and over and over. Nothing I could do as they had me held down and tied to a chair. Made me watch, they did. Well, by God, those bastards won’t be a rapin’ or killin’ any more of our lady folks.” The man, wearing an old military shirt with pilot’s wings, then fell down and beat the cement with his fits, sobbing like no man should.

  Cord wondered if other prisoners across the country were meeting the same kind of fate for having committed the same kinds of horrible deeds. Well, so much for the problem of housing and feeding the prisoners. There were no Geneva Convention rules to follow anymore. All that was left to do with them now was scrape what was left of them off the tarmac and burn it.

  The pent up stress of the past few months and now the euphoric feeling of taking back cities and crushing the enemy made Cord tear up. He turned his face away so none of the other men in the helicopter could see his tears.

  ~ 31 ~

  At ten o’clock in the morning, the President of the United States sat before the camera for his first contact with the American people since the announcement of the asteroid the year before.

  Television sets, radios, and short wave radios blared out the theme song always played before the President entered a room, ‘Hail to the Chief’. Then, a man’s voice . . . “Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States of America.”

  “Good morning, my fellow Americans. I’m sorry for having been absent for so long, but I’m sure you’ll understand it was technically impossible for me to do any sort of broadcast. If this broadcast is interrupted, I can assure you it is only because of technical difficulties.

  Never in my wildest dreams could I have foreseen what we would go through this past year. Never could I have envisioned having traitors right within my Cabinet and in the Congress of our great country. But, most of all, I am ashamed to say I had never considered that so many Americans would be willing to lay down their lives fighting to save our country. I have to give a truly special heart-felt thank you to all the patriots, in and out of the military, who saved us all from the hideous monster, Jarmain Euclaid. Euclaid tried to destroy not only our country, but all the countries around the world.

  Never in the history of this nation and, indeed, the world, has so much destruction and evil been heaped upon the human race since Noah’s flood. It is such a tribute to that same human race that we have defeated this enemy. I know the cost has been high. So much of our country has been destroyed. So much of our country has literally disappeared under the oceans. For those of you who are not in a position to know how extensive the havoc has been, the largest portion of the east coast no longer exists. The Mississippi River has inundated half of Illinois, about a third of the state of Missouri, a large portion of Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and Louisiana.”

  The President sighed and took a sip of water before continuing. “On the west coast, a major portion of California, Washington, and Oregon no longer exist. Millions of our citizens have vanished. The earthquakes along the New Madrid Fault killed twenty-five to forty million people. We estimate some forty million lost their lives on the west coast and fifty million on the east coast. Quite frankly, it will be a long while before our systems are back up and running, and we know the true number of Americans who have perished and how many people are still alive in the United States. My family and I grieve for everyone who lost their family or loved ones.

  “I watched the broadcast last night that came out of a studio in Denver, and I am proud of all of you who fought and laid your lives on the line for others. We are glued to the screen to learn the news from around the country just as you are. It was a wonderful idea to have the map and information flowing into one center. My hat’s off to you technicians in Denver for getting the live feed linked up. What lies ahead of us in this country is a monumental task, but with the spirit we now . . .”

  ~~~

  “Well, he’s still alive, at least,” Alice said when the President’s connection suddenly quit. “I was worried we might have lost him.”

  ~~~

  Mad as hell, Jarmain, along with the other nine men, watched the television showing how his Army was defeated in eastern Colorado, the communications gathering information from around the country and posting it live, and the President’s short talk. They refused to believe they were defeated, and it was all over. Their grandiose plans had not counted on the patriotism and the will of so many to die for what they believed in. The fat lady had sung, and for them it was a funeral dirge. For the people Jarmain had tried to conquer, her song was a beautiful aria.

  “We have got to stop this . . . this . . .” Jarmain said, as he flung his arms and paced before the televisions. He looked like a wild man as he pounded the tables, his face red with anger.

  “YOU men did not do your jobs,” Jarmain yelled at the men in the room. “This is your fault. You are the traitors. I could have had it all.”

  Without saying another word, Jarmain grabbed an M4 and opened fire on the men in the room. His cohorts lay dead in seconds.

  Not to go down in dishonor, a desperate Jarmain walked into the control room
, flipped the switches on, and then hurried to get in front of the camera.

  “Good evening, my fellow world citizens. I am here to tell you the reports by those outlaws are all lies. None of the action you saw was real. That was all made in a lab to trick you. Do not believe the maps and their lying. We . . .”

  The television screens around the world still picking up his insane broadcasts went blank, but a few minutes later a man’s voice came on, followed by a blurry picture.

  ~~~

  “Skydog here. To those in what’s left of the real military and government of the United States and other countries, may I have your attention please? What I have to say is important, and I don’t have much time. I’m aboard the International Space Station.”

  The man on the screen looked ill as he stared straight into the camera.

  “I’m the last person alive on the station. I’ve monitored as many communications as possible, and I’d like for you to know that would-be dictator will bother the world no more. After pinpointing his exact location during his broadcast a minute ago, I sent a laser blast at his mountain hideout. I’ve worked for the last two months rewiring and rerouting all the power I could to the laser weapon we were testing. When everyone aboard began getting ill months ago, I knew it had to be fate that put me in the shuttle at the time the sickness started. Fearing some biological agent was causing the problem, I have lived inside my suit ever since. But now I have had to abandon the suit for lack of an oxygen supply.”