Uprising: Book 2 in the After the Fall Series

by David Nees

  Lieutenant Cameron was barely an hour on his way when Frank Mason came to visit Captain Roper. Roper welcomed the politician with an enthusiastic handshake and offered him a cup of some precious but vile-tasting coffee. He watched Frank carefully during the usual pleasantries. It didn’t take Frank long to come to the point.

  “Larry, don’t you think it’s time for you to move out? I’m sure your men could be better utilized somewhere else.”

  Always the slick one, thought Roper.

  “I haven’t been given any orders to move yet,” he replied, feigning a note of surprise.

  Frank looked at him pleasantly. “I know,” he said deliberately, glancing back at the closed door, “but there’s not much more payoff we can send your way. I’m thinking you need to find new fields to plow.”

  Roper smiled and spread his hands. “I still provide you guys cover. My weekly reports to Colonel Stillman keep him happy. He thinks he has a thriving community back here, fully under control with everything going well. You still want that kind of report to go in, don’t you?”

  Frank’s tone became a little sharper. “I’m thinking we’re past needing any kind of report being sent in. We’re self-sufficient and under control. I’m thinking if Stillman knew that, you could get reassigned. Somewhere you could do some good.”

  “Somewhere I could do some good? Why, Frank. I think you just want to eliminate my share.”

  “That’s the problem. There isn’t much of a share of anything left. There’s no more gold or jewels, that’s all been picked over. We’re now just stocking weapons, ammunition, food and fuel…plus rebuilding our infrastructure. Not much loot for you in that.”

  “Not much for you either. What’re you going to do?”

  Frank had a thoughtful look on his face. “I’m in it for the long run,” he said. “Stansky’s not too smooth, he’s a gangster after all, but he’s the reason Hillsboro hasn’t come apart…a big reason why we’re not starving—”

  “A big reason why you’ve gotten wealthy.”

  “Maybe so, but it’s more than that. In spite of having to act harshly sometimes, we’re doing some good. And Hillsboro is able to protect itself and have a say about its future by being strong and organized.”

  Roper laughed. “Don’t give me that horseshit. Save it for the civilians. I know you, it’s all about power, power and wealth. You and Stansky are two of a kind. He’s just willing to break the law. You only want to bend it.”

  Frank actually seemed to look insulted. “I don’t expect you to see it from my perspective, but this is my home. I’ve spent my career here.”

  “So has Stansky. That doesn’t make either of you upstanding citizens.”

  Frank just shook his head. “So what do you believe in? What inspires you? Your future isn’t here in Hillsboro. Where do you want to end up?”

  Roper just stared back at Frank, his smile fading.

  Frank continued. “How do you see this playing out? This situation, what’s going on all over the country? At least I’m home and want to make the best of that. Where do you wind up?”

  “Where I wind up is my business.” Roper said. He glanced out the window, taking in the parking lot where they were encamped, the empty stores and deserted roads. It was a dismal place.

  “Well, the game seems to have run its course here. At least for you.”

  “You telling me to leave?” Roper turned back to Frank.

  “I’m not telling you to do anything. But I am telling you that Joe thinks it’s time we were on our own. He’s not interested in prolonging the situation. Now, before you get all worked up, he’s paid you well for your help, but it’s not needed any more. Time for you to get a new game going.”

  “And if I decide to wait? You know I can’t just move around on my own.”

  “You have to convince Stillman, we know that. But that shouldn’t be hard. I hope you’ll make that happen and we all can move on.”

  “And if it doesn’t happen?”

  Frank shook his head. He glanced down at the floor and then back at Roper. “You know I can’t fully control Joe. You know how much firepower he has. You have a delicate position here. I wouldn’t push it. Take what you got and get going, that’s my advice.”

  “Stillman would not be happy to hear his officer being threatened.”

  “Stillman would also wonder why he’d been receiving such glowing reports if things were going to shit here.” Frank let that sink in. “You see, your reports put you in a bit of a corner. The best way out is to move along, put Hillsboro behind you. Whatever happens after you leave can’t be pinned to you. Think about that.” He stood up. “I’ll come by tomorrow to see what you’ve decided. I know you’ll do the smart thing…you always have.”

  After Frank left, Roper sat behind his desk, thinking. He felt trapped. If there weren’t a clear threat to civilians, he’d load up the platoon and move out. He knew there was little else to milk from Stansky and Mason.

  He thought about what he wanted to do. The army had been his career. Before the EMP attack he had been getting close to becoming a major. All that had been put on hold as the army scrambled to get itself under control and then begin to pacify the countryside.

  A good job in Hillsboro could lock up that promotion. But to what end? Was the army going to be a solid career again? In the old days he had envisioned going on from major to lieutenant colonel. If he had topped out there, he could have easily retired. He would have had enough years at that point for a full pension, and he could have gotten a lucrative job consulting with the government or military—essentially getting re-hired to do what he had done as a colonel.

  None of that seemed so sure now. If the country didn’t recover soon, it could split up. The reports were that China was on the West Coast. Mexico had taken control over much of the Southwest. Some cities had fallen under the brutal control of some of the larger gangs. New York City was a war zone. St. Louis was controlled by a gang. New Orleans was in the middle of a gang war. Chicago was a mess. No, the real possibility was that the United States as he knew it, as everyone knew it, was over…at least for some time. There’d be no lucrative, easy retirement for now…if ever. The army itself was in danger. It was structured for emergencies and its organization had saved it, but it couldn’t keep functioning forever without an economy supporting it. There was a real possibility of the military coming apart.

  Hell, even the gold and gems he had amassed could turn out to be as meaningless an investment as paper money and U.S. bonds, if the infrastructure and economy didn’t recover. Going to Panama or somewhere else south of the border might be the only sensible thing to do. There was nothing really holding him here.

  But attacking civilians…that was a problem. Was it too late to stop Stansky? Maybe get him to back off, work out some compromise with the valley? It didn’t take a genius to see Hillsboro was doing well compared to other small cities. Maybe it was run by a gangster, but he had improved safety and living conditions. Could he, Mason and Cook convince Joe to make some kind of peace with the valley? At least so he could depart cleanly?

  But there was Leo. Leo was a killer. Not as smart as Joe, but even more deadly. Leo would relish the use of force; he wouldn’t be advising compromise.

  Still, should he give it a try? What was in it for him, a clear conscience?

  Damn it. He smiled at the harsh irony of it all. If he hadn’t known about the attack, his decision would have been easier. But he did know, and now he had to figure out what that meant to him.

  Chapter 32

  ___________________________________

  J oe Stansky stared out at the dark city from his office, high above the silent streets. He tried to imagine the city with electrical power back—the dark buildings lit, communication restored, refrigeration operational again. Life would become much closer to how it had been before. His position of power would be solidified and Hillsboro would be the dominant town in the region.

  But that wasn’t happeni
ng. Work had slowed on all the power projects. The cable project wasn’t reaching its targets on cable and wire production, the waterpower project seemed stuck in low gear, and the generator rebuild team was getting few units completed. Hell, he wasn’t sure how the technicians could tell if the refurbished units would work, since there was no way to drive them in order to test their output. The town, to Joe’s frustration, was still stuck with old gas or diesel generators that burned precious resources for the limited power they produced.

  He had asked his men to find out what was going on, and they had come back with long, technical explanations that were pretty much unintelligible. A few questions had shown him that his men had understood almost none of what they’d been told. Frank had gone down to the projects as well, and it was clear to Joe, when he reported back, that he understood just as little.

  The projects were all interconnected; if one was delayed, it affected the functionality of the others. The generators were waiting on wire, the waterwheel would be just a big toy when it was finished if it didn’t get its generators, and without the cable there would be no way to distribute the power. If all the projects were delayed, it would make the hope of power restoration look like a futile dream.

  Frank reported a loss of enthusiasm among the technicians that had been present for some time. Joe had his doubts that it was due to technical problems. He had a lifetime of ferreting out lame excuses. Now his instincts told him something more than obscure technical problems was causing the slowdown.

  He was not fuming; he’d gone through that phase earlier. Now he was thinking about his next steps. So what to do about the hold-up on the electricity?

  Some of the technicians seemed happy. With Joe’s approval, Frank had been effective at working out ways to reward them for their cooperation and expertise. They got special benefits for working on the infrastructure—more food, better quarters, and their spouses got exemptions from having to work on other projects.

  But some of them were not on board. There was a subversive element, plotting to undermine martial law. And this slowdown in progress seemed to be a part of that conspiracy.

  Why was it so hard for people to accept his authority?

  He had made things better in town. Hillsboro was in better shape than any community they had been in touch with, big or small. And a regional structure would solidify everything. With that in place, and with a little more time to expand and train his militia into a military grade fighting force, he figured he’d be in good shape when the feds showed up.

  Captain Roper could have been helpful there, but Joe knew Roper’s type. Roper wasn’t going to jump on any offer to run Joe’s army. That would be too much work, and he’d be under Joe’s authority. No, Roper would take the easy way. Joe would do it on his own.

  Electricity. That was the key. If Joe could just get the technicians on board for long enough to get that going, the people would settle down. Life would be better and people would accept his leadership. Feed them, protect them, make life easier, and he could do what he wanted. As far as Joe was concerned all they had to do was go along.

  A surge of enthusiasm went through him. If he kept moving faster than others around him, just like he’d done right after the EMP attack, the sky was the limit. The civilians of Hillsboro, they would be his gang members, his elite. That was how this would play this out. His citizens would be on the inside, part of the gang, when they spread their control to other towns. Joe smiled at the thought of a city-sized gang with him as the leader.

  He walked out into the hall and found the guard half-asleep behind the receptionist’s desk.

  “Wake up,” Joe snapped. The man jerked upright in the chair, fear on his face. “Go get someone to find Leo and Frank Mason and bring them here.”

  The man looked at the clock on the wall as he stood up. It was ten minutes past midnight.

  “I don’t give a damn what time it is, so don’t open your mouth. Just do it.”

  “Yes, sir,” the man said, and he ran down the hall toward the door to the stairwell. Joe went back into his office, smiling.

  Three minutes later he heard an engine and watched headlights splash on the empty buildings across the street as one of the cars burst out of the parking garage and turned right, disappearing around the block.

  Around twenty minutes later the sound of an engine announced the car’s return. He saw the headlights through the window as it pulled up to the front of the building. Joe sat down behind his desk and waited for the two men to appear.

  “Don’t you ever sleep?” Frank asked as the men entered Joe’s office. He looked sleepy, his clothes rumpled. Leo just sat down quietly.

  Joe looked at Frank coldly. “Don’t be cute. I got no time for cute. You’re here because we need to move forward. The electricity project isn’t going well. All I hear from you is some technical crap which don’t mean a thing to me.”

  Frank took the other chair, frowning. “It doesn’t mean much to me either, but it seems to be why progress is so slow.”

  “It could also be just a way to hold things up. The ones who don’t like my authority would like to keep the electricity shut off. Not so it looks like they stopped it, just so it looks like we can’t deliver. They know if we get the lights on, people will be happier with my running things.”

  Joe stood up and ran his hands through his hair. He allowed a slight smile to cross his face. “It’s actually pretty clever, the way they’re doing it. We don’t know how to bypass them and get the work done. We could complete the waterwheel project. It’s mostly grunt work. But for the rest of it we need the experts, and without them the waterwheel is useless. They seem to have us in a position where we gotta take their word on things. They could string us out for years, maybe.”

  Joe’s smile faded. He sat back down and leaned forward. When he spoke again, his voice was hard. “We don’t have time to wait. Who knows when the feds might show up? Which brings me to a conclusion. I want the town in better shape by then. I want other towns under my control by then. I want a larger, better-trained militia by the time anything calling itself the federal government comes nosing around us.”

  “What makes you think they’re going to show up soon? You hear something?” Frank asked. Joe could see he was getting nervous.

  Leo didn’t react at all. He sat relaxed, patient in his chair, waiting for Joe to make his point.

  “I haven’t,” he said. “But it doesn’t take a genius to figure out they’ll come around. Shit, the army has. There’s still a U.S. Army, and I’m bettin’ there’s a government behind it trying to regain control. If the army can let them get reorganized, the next thing you know we’ll have some government official show up with soldiers. Or Homeland Security.” The last name he spat out with disgust.

  “Well, we shouldn’t be too quick to do anything. I’m waiting to hear back from Roper. I think—”

  “He’ll go,” Joe said impatiently. “There’s nothing for him here. You just need to make sure he doesn’t think he can squeeze me for more. He’s got to go now or face the consequences.”

  Frank’s eyes widened. Leo glanced at Frank, and the ghost of a smile touched his mouth.

  “Now these technicians,” Joe continued. “I think it’s time we made an example of a couple of them.” He turned to Leo. “I want you to pick out two of the uncooperative ones. Try to get the ones involved in the slowdown, but, if you can’t, just pick out any two. Do it quick. We’ll put them on trial, in front of the whole town, and convict them of subversion, not helping their fellow citizens, sabotaging the public good. Then we execute them, publicly.” Joe paused for effect. “The rest will get the message, and we’ll be seen as being on the side of civic progress…and,” he looked hard at Frank, “as not allowing anyone to stop us.”

  Leo sat calm and still, like a statue. Frank looked distressed.

  “We haven’t done that since the early days, when we caught looters,” Frank said after a moment.

  “You afraid to do
it now?” Joe asked.

  Fear showed in Frank’s eyes. “I just don’t like upsetting people.”

  “I don’t like people disobeying me,” Joe answered coldly. “This works,” he swept his hand around the room, “because people do what they’re told. They have to understand that. And they have to understand they better not cross me. This group seems to have forgotten that fact. It’s time to remind them who’s in charge. And while we’re at it, we’ll show the rest of the town as well. They won’t miss the message. And then we’ll turn the lights on.” He smiled. “The sooner we get the electricity going, the happier everyone will be. They’ll follow my orders when they see how good things can be. I’m not letting a few traitors think they can screw with me and get away with it. We’re past that.”

  He went on without waiting for a reply. “Leo, get this done, tomorrow, first thing. Bring Charlie along, I want to be sure where he stands.” He locked eyes with Frank. “And, I expect you to get Roper out of my hair. You make that happen, quick, ‘cause Leo’s next job is taking care of the valley. With them out of the way there won’t be any heroes and we’ll get all the seed we want.”

  Frank looked surprised.

  “That Jason’s been back since the trading, maybe more than once. Why is he coming around? Seems to me the valley is sticking their nose in where it don’t belong.”

  “Are you sure about this?” Frank asked.

  Joe got up. He walked around his desk to where Frank was sitting, leaned over him, and stuck a finger in his chest. “I’m sure about one thing. Things ain’t going right and I’m going to change them. You better understand that. I’m tired of all your whining, Frank. Be careful you don’t become a problem for me.” He let that sink in. “Now go get some sleep, both of you. Tomorrow we act.”