by A J Newman
Bo drove on through Cairo to the east side where he had set up residence in a nice home on a lake. His team cleared the immediate area of all problem people and took the best houses for themselves. No one complained or passed on word of the atrocities because they were carefully executed and buried in the woods. As with all of their outposts, they quickly got on the good side of Cairo’s townspeople by supplying food and other needed supplies. Then, per plan, they ran off or killed any problem people. All Mexicans and Blacks were problem people.
Bo had been an 16 year old punk breaking into cars and rolling drunks when Joshua took him in and became a father to him. He even gave him a job in his company delivering packages and containers to the branch facilities. Bo quickly noticed that all of the facilities had security fences, armed guards and no signs in front of them. In fact, most were off the beaten path back in the woods or in the desert. He learned quickly to not ask too many questions and concentrated on learning the family business. He was sure it wasn’t on the up and up, but Joshua had a great home and money was flowing. Most of the shipments consisted of guns, ammo and military type supplies. After a year of making deliveries, Joshua started Bo in an intensive training program that consisted of weapons and military tactics. Every facility had a training compound complete with shooting ranges and obstacle courses. Bo mastered all of them.
Bo and Joshua’s oldest daughter fell in love and married when she turned 18. Joshua’s wife liked Bo, but was not happy with the marriage because she wanted her daughter to go on to college. Joshua had told him on many occasions that women should stay home, have kids and take good care of their men.
After the marriage, Joshua introduced Bo to Luke, who was in charge of the indoctrination training which stressed the fact that white people were chosen by God to rule the earth. After a year of courses that reinforced that white people are God’s chosen people, the indoctrination slowly changed to how other races were great people, but must serve the whites. There was no hatred, only pity for the others.
The Chosen People had over a hundred facilities and nearly 50 thousand followers when TSHTF. The country fell apart and they didn’t have to fire a shot. God delivered the USA to them and it was theirs to conquer. They were prepared when almost everyone else was starving and living as people did back in the early 1800s. They had large farms, EMP proof power systems and a well-equipped army. Their plan was to keep a low profile while the remnants of the USA self-destructed, but the new ISA was an unforeseen threat to be dealt with.
“Honey, I’m home.”
“Mom, Dad’s home. Dad, what did you bring us? I asked for a crossbow.”
“Calm down and give Daddy a hug. Now look at this.”
“Wow, Dad, thanks! An M7 bayonet. I still want the crossbow, but this is great."
“Here Suzie, I think that you will like your gift.”
“Another doll! Daddy, I am a big girl now and I want a rifle or a pistol just like Zeke has. I want to be able to fight for the People just like you are training Zeke to do."
“Suzie, you know that girls are supposed to learn how to cook and keep their husband’s house running smoothly, not fight.
Bo’s wife walked into the room and said, “Suzie, I thought we had ended this argument and you were happy to be a good girl and contribute to the cause as a woman and not some rough as a cob boy. If this continues, I will have your Dad take you out to the woodshed and get this notion out of your head for good. Now go set the table like a good little girl.”
“Bo, now that the kids are in bed, tell me about your trip. Should Dad be worried about the ISA and their threat to the People?”
“Darling, I had other things on my mind and as you told our daughter, you need to take care of your husband. Now that I've said that and know you so well... yes, he should be worried and I will fill you in after breakfast. Now back to more important things.”
After breakfast, Bo and his wife went for a walk out to the garden while she brought him up to speed on events in the area.
“What bothers me about these people is that they are just like us, want the same good future for their kids and strongly believe in God just like us.”
“Then, why is my dad so fearful of them? There must be something wrong about them, if dad doesn’t like them.”
“This has to stay between us and no one else or I could be in deep trouble.”
“Of course Bo, I would never betray the love of my life.”
“The only difference is that the ISA sees all people as truly equal whether Black, Red, Christian or Jews. They don’t just say it; they live it and breathe it. John Harris treats all of his people the same regardless of skin color or religion. His second in charge is dating a young black woman.”
“So, Mr. Harris does not understand how dangerous these people can be if not kept in their place. None of the People would ever harm one of the non-People, but we can’t have them making their own decisions, wasting valuable resources or heaven forbid breeding with the People. Yes, honey, I do know that many of our men have sex with some of the young pretty ones, but that is just men being men.”
Bo had to stop and take a deep breath before speaking again. His wife may say she won’t pass his thoughts on to her father, but blood is thicker than water. He never warmed up to the racism, however, this was his family and they were what they were.
“Darling, I have never been with one of them if that is what you are inferring.”
“Not even on these long reconnaissance missions. A man gets lonely; I would understand.”
Bo saw the trap and sidestepped it, “Darling, I love only you and would not do that. I believe that they are no more than animals that God put on this earth for us to use just like a pack mule or guard dog. Your Dad has taught me well and I want to be the Supreme Leader when he retires. Screwing the servants would look bad.”
“Good answer,Darling!”
“The rest of the story is that the ISA is very well armed and supported by the rogue US Navy. They are disorganized, but are a very formidable force with conventional and nuclear weapons at their command. We could never confront them head to head which fits into our plan of nibbling off one village at a time in an area, then moving on. Keep below the radar and convert as many people as possible.
Bo had told her the truth about not sleeping with the non-People, but had been with many women on his scouting and undercover operations. Hell, her dad had paired him up with Jessica to be his wife on the last mission to infiltrate the ISA. He wondered if she knew how many undesirable non-people had been eliminated by her father.
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Chapter 14
The Hospital
Nashville, Tennessee, ISA
December, 2048
John and Scott were allowed to go into Josh’s room only after the security force had searched the room. They walked in to see Jenn sitting beside Josh’s bed. She had her head on the bed beside him and held his hand in hers. Josh had an IV in his left arm and several monitors hooked into him. John tapped Jenn on the shoulder and woke her up. She was still holding Josh’s hand and did not release it until she saw her Dad and Scott staring at her.
“Daughter, are you a bit closer to this young lad than you are telling us? God knows you need a man in your life, but a man from the USA?”
“Dad, don’t jump to conclusions. I owe him my life. I do like him and would like to see him outside of work, but I am not falling for him.”
“Darling, I owe him my life also, but you don’t see me sleeping in his room overnight clutching his hand. It’s okay if you are falling in love with him, but don’t lie to yourself. He is a good man and could make a good addition to our country.”
Scott said, “Jenn, we have to wake him up and get some info from him. The news will release a story stating that Josh is a hero and saved Dad’s and your lives during the battle.”
“Well that’s great isn’t it? He will be… Oh shit, his parents will be persecuted. Scott can you do someth
ing?”
The doctor gave Josh an injection into the IV line and Josh was trying to wake up a few minutes later. He woke up, but was very groggy and was mumbling about shooting bad guys.
Scott shook Josh’s good shoulder and said, “Josh, wake up, your mom and dad need your help. The USA is going to hurt your folks if we can’t get to them first and bring them down here.”
“Mr. President, my head is pounding and I feel like crap. Now what did you say about my parents?”
Scott explained the situation in detail and Josh immediately grasped the situation.
“Scott, can you do anything to help them? Our ruthless President will hold this against them. He will make their lives miserable at best.”
“Josh, we are going to try to go get them and bring them back here. We need your help. Tell the Captain and his men everything you know about your hometown and the area around it, how many people we need to rescue and any other pertinent information.”
They interviewed Josh for a couple of hours, while feeding the information directly to the rescue team.
***
The helicopters had left on schedule and were approaching the Kentucky and Ohio border when the first information came streaming in from the hospital. There were seven potential hostages to rescue and they should be at two locations within a mile of each other. These were Josh’s closest relatives and his sister’s husband. The plan was to arrive just below Columbus about midnight and send three helicopters with twenty four men to Josh’s dad’s house and the remaining two helicopters with sixteen men to his grandfather’s home. They hoped that the DHS would not arrive in force until the next morning, but did expect a small force to be watching over both Logan houses.
An advance team of Rangers was to perform a HALO jump into the target about an hour before the helicopters arrived. Their mission was to perform a quick reconnaissance, take out any serious threats and have the families ready for transport. If there were any major targets, they would paint them with a laser and the F-18s would take out the targets.
The high altitude low open fall was exhilarating. Will could see the school that was on the next block from the Logan’s house. He was about five hundred feet up and about to land with his team on the front lawn of the school. There was no indication that they had been spotted so far.
“Charlie Two, this is Charlie One. What is your location?”
“Charlie One. Just landed east of the target. Target in sight.”
“Charlie Two watch for bogies close to the home.”
The Rangers regrouped in the shadows of the school and then moved out towards the Logan home.
***
Scott’s team left after pumping him for all relevant intelligence about his family and their neighborhood. One Sergeant stayed just in case they needed any questions answered once the team landed in Columbus. Jenn was at Josh’s bedside when John came back to the room.
“Son, are you feeling any better?"
“Yes sir. My wounds hurt like hell, but overall I guess that I am lucky to be alive. With that in mind, I feel great. God has truly blessed me.”
“Josh, we are glad that you came down here; you are making an impact on our lives. I trust you and will be glad to help you with your documentary and any books you decide to write.”
“Thanks, John. I know that you have been misquoted and slandered. I will only tell your story in your words. I will also tell the world what I see and experience.”
“Don’t worry Dad; I’ll make sure Josh does a good job reporting about our history. If not, I’ll shoot him in the other cheek.”
“Speaking about getting shot in the ass reminds me when Scott came home from Decatur after the battle.”
“Dad, you told him that story the other day. Do you think the Sergeant and you could leave us alone for a while? I want to tell Josh about some of the battles that I have fought.”
Josh and Jenn were finally alone and both wanted to tell the other how they felt, but every few minutes a nurse or doctor came in to check on Josh. Jenn walked to the nursing station.
“Ma'am are you the head nurse?”
“Yes Miss Harris, I am. What can I do for you?"
“There seems to be someone checking on Josh every few minutes. Is he doing okay? Is there something we should know?”
The lady started laughing and said, “Your dad bribed the floor nurses to make sure that you two weren’t left alone for more than five minutes.”
“Damn his old sorry hide. Here is a hundred dollars. Buy pizza for the team and stay away for a while!”
“Thanks and we will. Don’t tell your dad.”
“I won’t, I promise.”
Jenn went back in the room and said, “Josh, I want to get to know you better and want to spend more time with you. I like you and would like to know how you feel?”
Josh mumbled, “Humph, unnngh saying?"
Josh was sound asleep. Jenn had been tricked! The nurses had increased the pain meds to dull Josh’s pain and were now laughing at her with their mouths full of pizza.
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Chapter 15
Surviving
South Alabama
March, 2021
“Team, our interrogation of the USA soldiers has yielded a lot of info about the USA’s intentions. Most of the soldiers only knew that they were attacking the leadership of a rebel force. The officers knew that the real mission was to capture John alive and take him back to the USA. There are similar missions planned for Port Arthur and the Military leaders. The President called his top military people together and placed a bounty on our leadership. Dead or Alive in most cases.”
John spoke up, “Do they know that we attacked the President’s motorcade? Could this be in retaliation?”
“The President thinks exactly what we wanted him to think. He has secretly captured several of the Cabras and tortured them to get intel. He is not convinced, but at least he is not looking at us for the attack.”
Bob caught John off to the side and said, “John, I know that you have a lot on your mind, but the interrogations also yielded some rather sensitive information about an ongoing biological attack on the ISA.”
John quickly replied, “Dead birds.”
“Yes, John, the vets owe you an answer on the dead birds. The USA is attempting to use a new strain of bird flu as a potential weapon against us. They don’t have the necessary resources to manufacture the flu antidote so they have only conducted a few field tests of a weaker virus to test the distribution properties. The strain released was only effective on larger birds for an as yet unknown reason and had little effect on humans.”
“So, Bob, can I assume that a major attack is on the way?"
“Yes, if we don’t stop them first, but it’s not as bad as it appears. We control the CDC in Atlanta and all, but one of the bioweapons labs. The other one was destroyed when TSHTF. The Israelis and our labs are quickly manufacturing a vaccine that has been proven to stop the virus. We only have enough at this time for our military and our country's leaders. Of course your family will be given the vaccine.”
“What about the rest of our people?
“The labs are producing the vaccine every hour of the day and we have three more labs being constructed, but it will be three months before we can make enough of the stuff for the existing ISA population and nine for the rest of the country.”
“What can we do to delay their program or stop it completely?”
“Nothing right now, but keep in touch with your spies in the north and continue to feed us info on dead birds. We have destroyed several of their labs and made the destruction appear to be caused by improper lab procedures. Now we want to find them all and wipe them out in one coordinated attack. I will keep you posted. A doctor will contact you about the vaccinations.”
John left Bob and walked toward the house when he looked up and saw Gus and Scott walking towards him with long faces. Gus had tears in his eyes.
“John, we have s
earched for a mile around the Bunker and there is no sign of Beth or Jenn. Our guess is that they were taken with the others.”
“I hear what you are saying, but I just don’t believe Beth would allow herself and the baby to be taken. She would find a cave like a momma bear and hide until the fight was over.”
“John, we have been searching for 24 hours to no avail. I will ask our contacts in the USA to listen for any chatter about them, but other than that we have nothing to work with.”
“What about the others?”
“We have witnesses that positively ID them and saw them dragged into the chopper.”
“Did any other choppers land near the Bunker?”
“No, and that’s a good point. The witnesses say she wasn’t on the chopper so that takes us back to where the hell is she?”
“Scott, go get our best detectives and do a little CSI work. If we can’t find them, we’ll let the evidence lead us to them.”
***
“What do you mean Harris wasn’t even at his place above Mobile? Where the hell was he? We lost numerous men and more importantly nine aircraft in this operation and you tell me we captured three citizens of the ISA of no importance? Does Harris even know these three?”
“Field Marshall, we are researching these people and will interrogate them to see if they have a connection to Harris. We need 24 hours to complete the interrogation.”
