The Revolution Begins (Molon Labe) (9 page)

A
llison shook her head, threw her arms up in defeat, and stomped away.  She got ten feet away when she heard Kyle’s voice. “If there’s one thing I love, it’s a spirited chick.”  She stopped dead in her tracks and grabbed Kyle by the good arm.  She dragged him back around the corner and shoved him at us. “If you have to go, take this jackass with you. He needs an outlet for his testosterone.”  She then walked over to Neil and gave him a wet sloppy kiss he clearly wasn’t expecting. Then she turned sharply and walked away, this time not in a huff, but with a noticeable swing in her hips just because she knew we would all be watching.

“I
sure hope you have a plan”, was all that Neil said.

Chapter 24

"This year will go down in history. For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration. Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future!"
Adolph Hitler
Chancellor, Germany, 1933

With the recruitment complete. Captain John and I laid out our plan and we set out on our operation.  We dressed in the uniforms we had taken from soldiers we had fought earlier. With as much blood washed away as possible, and armed with their weapons, we looked the part perfectly.  To get to town, we left on foot until we found the ATV’s we had taken from the checkpoint.  Two on each ATV, we rode to within a mile of town.  The plan was fairly simple. Neil and I knew the layout of the town, so we would be assigned point on each team.  Neil would go with the Captain to one side of town, and Kyle would go with me to get the family.  Neil and Captain John would create a diversion that would draw troop strength away from our target.  We would get the family out and then we would all meet up outside of town.

Neil and John ditched the ATV on the outskirts of town and walked in
, mimicking foot patrols that we had seen for a week.  They were headed for Jimmy’s house.  Inside they would get more Intel, and then figure out the best way to create a diversion using the C-4 we had loaded into day packs.  Captain John was taking in every detail while walking and avoiding other troops that appeared to be on nearly every street corner.  Neil took the time to more completely brief the captain about our earlier mission.  Watching the troop movement and seeing more and more troop carriers and heavy weapons, Captain John began to form a more complete picture about the types of operations that his unit would conduct most effectively.

Their walk took twenty mi
nutes and they arrived at Jimmy’s house. They walked in the back door. 

“Man, what the hell you want now?  We done worked all day for you at the base.
Can’t we get some sleep?” Jimmy said.

Neil Lif
ted his hat and smiled at Jimmy.  “Gerome and Jimmie both jumped to greet him and shake his hand. “Dude, you look just like them.  You got a set of stones to be walking around wearing that shit.  There’s been someone out there shooting at soldiers dressed like you.”

Neil laughed and said, “Yeah, but I think those guys are off duty tonight.”

Gerome looked at him seriously and said, “We ain’t talking about you guys.  Right after you left, two soldiers got popped and dropped dead on the street just a couple of blocks over.”

John and Neil l
ooked surprised. “Well, it wasn’t us.  We left silently. We just came back for a side mission. No shooting right now, if we can help it.  This is Captain John“, Neil said.

Introductions were made all around and John thanked the crew for what they had done.  Gerome gave a memory card to Neil and said
, “I think this might be what you guys were talking about.  They got two or three busses a day coming in right now and heading back into the far corner of the base.  We ain’t allowed back there, but it looks like they got a lot of people shoved in these busses.”

Neil and John looked at each other and frowned.
“I hate to think about our country doing this to people.  If they are putting our people in concentration camps, they need to be destroyed.  Every last one of them needs to die.  It makes me sick to even be wearing this uniform knowing what they might be doing”, John said.

The look on John’s face and th
e steel in his voice made Jimmy shudder. “Dude, when you blow that place up, just remember there are a few good guys in there. It would be nice to maybe call in sick that day if you know what I mean”, Jimmy said.

John laughed and said. ”You are either with us or against us, and from what I hear, you guys are on our side, so I’ll take care of you.  The only ones who have to worry are the guys who
really wear these uniforms.”

Jimmy
and his crew breathed a sigh of relief.

Neil broke the ice by saying, “
Who wants to blow some shit up tonight?” 

Chapter 25

On the Outskirts of
Queenwood, West Virginia….

A pair of eyes watched intently through binoculars from a hidden location.  Two four wheelers with two soldiers each had ridden across his path and he watched them closely deciding quickly that although these guys were wearing blue uniforms, they were not bad guys.  Through his scope he could see that blood had been washed away from the clothing.  He watched as they parked the
bikes and took a defensive position to watch and listen.  “Nope, definitely not UN Troops”, he thought to himself.  He watched as two took a route that would bring them into a part of town he didn’t want to go to, so he followed the other two.

Chapter 26

..”
.to disarm the people - that was the best and most effectual way to enslave them." (George Mason, 3 Elliot, Debates at 380)

Kyle and I were walking down the street three blocks from Matthew’s house. We had been walking for fifteen minutes and had passed five other foot patrols that seemed to have their heads on swivels looking for something at the wood-line and paying us no mind.   Kyle said “You guys must have really spooked them.  They look like they are afraid someone is gonna pop them any second.”

I had my doubts that it
was us.  “I don’t think it’s
us
these guys are afraid of.  We’ve only taken out officers so far.  These guys are all line grunts with no real rank”, I said.

We found Matthew’s street and took notice of the two man patrol walking in front of his house.  They were walking up and down the block a bit quicker than I would be expecting for this late in the afternoon.

Kyle and I had to kill some time, so we went around to the back yards and decided our entry into Matthew’s house would be from the back door.  Our distraction was scheduled to come in fifteen minutes.

Chapter 26

"Americans have the right and advantage of being armed - unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms." (James Madison, The Federalist Papers #46 at 243-244)

Neil and John had set the timers of the C4 and casually walked past the building dropping the small bombs every five feet at its base.  They casually walked back to their hide site and waited for the fireworks with a very excited Jimmie and crew. 

A lone officer stepped outside the front door and straightened his shirt.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette.  He tapped it on the box and placed it in his lips.  He opened his lighter and brought the flame up to the end of the cigarette. Just as he was looking down the end of the cancer stick a small flashing red led light caught his attention. He followed the base of the wall and saw at least seven more lights flashing faster and faster until they all stopped flashing and a solid light stayed on.  The instant he recognized the meaning of the lights, he was blown apart and became one with the crumbling cement and brick.

From their basement window, they watched as the front of the public housin
g unit that had once “belonged” to Jimmie blew apart.  Six officers and a few non-coms were destroyed in the blast.  Jimmie had been able to warn his girls to stay in the back of their unit, keeping them as safe as possible from the blast. 

Chapter 27

Two hundred yards from Matthew’s house in the wood-line

From his spot he could clearly see the two disguised soldiers enter the back yard and stage at a back door of a house.  They looked at their watches and nodded just as he felt and heard an explosion from the other side of town.  “This is better than cable”, he thought as he switched from binoculars to his rifle scope for the increased magnification.

Chapter 28

"the ultimate authority ... resides in the people alone," (James Madison, author of the Bill of Rights, in Federalist Paper #46.)

The ground shook as we heard a
blast from across town.  We were just knocking on the back door and Mathew’s wife Marcie was opening it. “Can I help you?” she asked with some fear and a good bit of disdain in her voice.

“Marcie, we need to come in and
talk and we don’t have a lot of time”, I said

“How do you know my name?  W
ho are you?”  She asked

“My name is Chris.  Matthew was my driver today.”

A look of instant recognition and fear leapt to her face.

“Matthew was hurt today trying to help us, and if we don’t get you and your boys out of town
RIGHT NOW, the guys who really wear this stuff (pointing to my uniform) will be coming to get you. Believe me, the place we want to take you is a much better alternative.”

“Where is Matthew? Is he alright?
How bad is he hurt?” She asked.

“We are taking you to him.  That boom you
just heard and felt was our distraction.  You need to put a very few things in a small bag and grab the boys. We don’t have much time”, I said.

Through
frightened tears she said, “Conner, Tanner, put on your winter coats and boots.  We are going for a walk.”

Marcie gathered up
some clothes for her and the boys and I suggested that she grab something for Matthew.  She put all of the medicines her boys would need (their youngest, Tanner, was an insulin dependent diabetic) and we went to the front door.  The foot patrol was still outside.  Kyle signaled for me and we agreed to neutralize the soldiers before we brought out the family. 

We walked out the back door and around to the corner of the street.  We had placed silencers on our .22 pistols and had them drawn behind our backs as we w
alked toward the pair.  We were stalking silently and took our shots from five feet away.  Both soldiers fell to the sidewalk lifeless.  We drug them off the walkway and into a hedgerow and returned to the Adam’s house. We had just gotten the kids out the door when we heard a man’s voice barking out orders to us.

Chapter 29

From the wood line

He watched as the two imposter soldiers appeared from the front door, alone.  For a brief moment he was disgusted at the thought that they may have hurt the woman who had let them in the back door.  He watched with his finger on the trigger as the pair drew pistols and snuck up on the two soldiers patrolling the street.  Two simultaneous expert shots that were silenced dropped the unsuspecting foot patrol.  The two now obvious good guys quickly went back to the front door unaware that another soldier had emerged from across the street and was coming up behind them.

Chapter 30

"Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American... The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state government, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people"

(Tench Coxe, Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788)

I turned around to see a sergeant standing at the bottom of the steps with his sidearm drawn. He was pointing it at us.  I quickly went over the options in my head.  I could draw and shoot, hoping I got him before he shot me, but if I had a firefight right here, there was too much of a chance that Marcie and the kids would be hit.  I was beginning to raise my hands when I watched the left side of the soldier’s head come apart.  Then I heard the shot. We all ducked and I instinctively drew and looked to the right to see who was shooting.  No shooter was in sight. I looked at Kyle and we both agreed that we should leave from the back door and find a less visible route out of town.

We walked cautiously from back yard to back yard and came out a block from where we started.  Kyle and I
flanked the Adams family and walked as casually as we could to the point where we would re-enter the wood-line. I explained to Marcie that it was important that we walk with no hurry and act as though we were supposed to be where we were, doing what we were doing.  Nothing draws more attention than a group of people walking quickly looking nervous.  It sounded good, but in actuality, Kyle and I were trying our best not to look worried.  We had just watched as someone took an expert shot at a head from at least 200 yards away. The fact that the dead soldier was wearing the same uniform we were brought us no comfort. We both knew we could be next in the crosshairs.  Mission first however, get the Adams family safely to base.

Chapter 31

Executive Order 10999
–Allows the government to take over all food resources and farms.

The distraction Neil and John had created worked wonderfully.  Not a soul seemed to notice us escorting a woman and two children into the woods.  There was an abundance of traffic heading towards the scene of the explosion and no-one bothered to stop and look at us.  We reached the ATV’s in less than twenty minutes.  When we got there, Kyle motioned to me with a small look of concern and asked, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t we only leave two ATV’s here?”

I looked and saw what he was talking about.  There were now four ATV’s parked
at our dismount point. Closer inspection revealed that the two additional ATV’s had the keys in the ignition, and at least a half tank of gas each.  “Well, we must be in God’s graces”, I laughed while nervously eyeing our surroundings. “I guess no one has to walk back now.”

Kyle and I both knew that the new ATV’s could have been left there as part of an ambush plan, and we inspected the bikes closely for any tracking device or booby traps.  Neither of us could find anything wrong with the bikes
aside from blood stains that someone had made an attempt to wipe away.  We waited for five more minutes until Neil and John arrived. 

I introduced our co-conspirators to Mrs.
Adams and her sons. John looked at the additional bikes first and then me and I simply shrugged my shoulders and said, “I don’t have a clue. We checked them and they are good to go, clean and free.”

John said
, “Ok, let’s get out of here as quietly as we can on four of these things.  Chris you take the lead.  Kyle you take the rear.  Mrs. Adams, rides with me, Chris and Neil get one boy each. Move out.”

The ride back took an hour and a half.  The boy (
Conner) riding with me seemed excited, like he was on a grand adventure.  If he only knew. I laughed inside at the innocence and thought of my own children whom I missed dearly. We parked the bikes and concealed them. The rest of the trip was on foot and in the dark. Conner rode on my back, and Tanner rode on Neil’s. John led Mrs. Adams by hand. Since we only had night vision goggles for us, the hand guided tour was necessary if she didn’t want to walk into a tree or step over a steep embankment. 

Chapter 32

Whiteman Air Force Base

Knob Noster, Missouri

Airman
Amy Adams was monitoring feed from a satellite on a routine sweep of her region. Just a half hour prior, a request from the UN had come in to monitor the area in and around the city of Queenwood, WV.  The locals had formed a resistance movement against the UN and they believed the militia was behind several sniper attacks on officers. 

“
Sir, satellites are picking up multiple heat signatures departing the town of Queenwood heading north on small vehicles, possibly ATV’s. 

“Why does this interest me
Airman Adams?” asked the watch officer.

“Sir,
Queenwood, WV is the town where UN officers are taking sniper fire, and an explosion just wiped out a large number of officers in a public housing complex.  Your orders sir?” Amy asked.

Follow the heat signature and allocate a global hawk asset to the area.  Don’t lose them.
Report back to me with their location”, he said.

“Yes sir.”

An hour later she reported, “A Global Hawk drone was over the area within ten minutes and acquired the heat signatures of four ATV’s until they stopped. It followed the heat signatures of five adults and two children to these coordinates sir.”

“Where are they now?” asked the
officer.

“Sir, they appear to have gone into a covered lo
cation. We aren’t picking up any heat signatures.”

“Well
Airman, they didn’t just disappear.”

“Sir, the state of West Virginia has a few places that we can’t track heat signatures due to
natural and man-made features”, said Amy.

“Do please educate me
Airman Adams. “

“Caves and coal mines sir
”, she said.

“Tell me what is in that are
an Airman.  I want a briefing packet in less than three hours. I want to know exactly what is at those coordinates you gave me.”  He added “Good work.”

Airman
Amy Adams from Morgantown, West Virginia felt anything but pride for the work and intelligence she had just given to her watch officer. She had a feeling of betrayal in her gut and knew what her next step must be. She dialed a number. “This is Airman Adams.  I need to speak with Sergeant Jones.”  Jones was a veteran Sergeant who had been working with the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Reconnaissance Program since its inception.  Jones was also had a passion for computers and programing.  He used a pseudonym for his more controversial work on the internet. To say he was a hacker was like calling Tiger Woods
just
a golfer, or Michael Jordan
just
a basketball player.  He was one of the best and he owed Amy a few favors.  She hoped he would help her.

When
Sergeant Jones picked up the phone, Amy quickly cut to the chase. “Jonesy, I need THE favor. We have to talk. Meet me in the cafeteria in a half hour. Jonesy agreed. 

Chapter 33

Executive Order 10990 Allows the government to take over all modes of transportation and control of highways and seaports.

When we got Marcie
and the boys into the cave we warned he of her husband’s condition and Allison and Neil agreed to keep the boys occupied while Marcie went to him.  She stood by his bedside and cried while stroking his graying hair.  His shoulder was a mess.  Dr. Martin made no promises but said, “As long as we can keep it from getting infected, he shouldn’t lose the arm. I’m not optimistic about his use of it though. There was a lot of damage.  We did our best.”

Marcie
kissed her husband and stayed by his side for a while.  She promised she would return as soon as she took care of the boys and then she went to find Allison. 

Allison and Neil had taken the two boys through the areas of the mines that they would be allowed to roam.  The boys were fascinated with it all and the imaginations of their young minds we
nt crazy with adventure.  Marcie caught up with them at the mess hall and hugged them both.  They were alive with questions and each wanted to share with their mother the cool things they had seen.  “Thank you both for watching them, and thank you for bringing us here”, she said.

“It was our
pleasure to help with the boys”, Allison said while holding Neil’s hand.

“A promise was made to your husband
by a man who keeps his word.  Chris is the one to thank.  But we were all more than happy to help”, Neil said and smiled.

Marcie
began the task of checking Tanner’s blood sugar level.  Upon seeing this Allison’s eyes arched in concern.  She asked “How much insulin do you have with you?” 

Marcie
replied, “I grabbed everything I had in the fridge.  I think there is about two month’s worth here if we can keep it cool.”

Allison showed a small smile of relief but Neil noticed the small look of c
oncern and said nothing.  “I’ll show you guys to the VIP quarters”, she laughed.

“It
’s not the Ritz, but at least you’ll be warm and dry”, she said as she led them to an area with makeshift cots lining the wall. “This is where the women bunk. We’ll set you up here for now.  The engineers are working on quarters for married couples. If you guys are still with us when they are ready, we’ll see about moving you there.”

Marcie
began to cry and Allison reached out to hug her. There was no way for her to understand the grief Marcie carried around.  Marcie had lost two brothers in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.  At the time, she and Matthew had been dating, and Matthew had seen the devastation it had brought to her life.  He did all that he could to console her.  He had wanted to join the military and prior to her brother’s deaths, she had been in favor of it.  She wasn’t against the military, but she knew she couldn’t bear the death of another man in her life. She only asked him once, and after seeing the look in her eyes he held her close and promised her he would not join.  They married shortly after that and he chose to run the machine shop his father had started as a family business.  He was good at his work, but Marcie knew his heart had been set on a life in the service of his country.  He had jumped at the chance to prove his patriotism and had sought out the militia to offer whatever service he could for the cause, short of fighting.  Despite this, here she was, and there he was.

“He is going to be alright
”, Allison said. “I wouldn’t lie to you. He’s pretty tough. He wouldn’t let us work on him until he was sure we were going to bring you back here. Chris made him the promise and he went under believing you would be here when he wakes up.”