Tyranny in the Homeland (7 page)

Jack was suddenly floored by the realization that his family was in extreme danger.

“Admiral, I have to leave now. Please get me back to my team now so we can go home and get our families before they are captured.”

“Jack, slow down. We are putting a plan together to rescue them as early as tomorrow. Do you have any code words or message that we can get to one of your wives so that they will trust us?”

The Major quickly responded and the Admiral laughed at the reply.

“She might shoot the soldier that delivers the message, but I agree that she will know it came from you.”

“Sir, what will the message state?”

“Simply to have all of the families that want to live at the Armory at 8:00 p.m. sharp. She will be told that the families will be brought here and not to let this get to anyone she doesn’t trust. How many adults and children can we expect to transport back here?”

“I would guess about a hundred and twenty five adults and twice that many children. Do you have enough air transport to get them out safely?”

“The best answer that I can give you is, I don’t know, but I do know that more will live through a major battle than survive the torture camps.”

“What can my men and I do to help with the extraction?

“Jack, Captain Bob Jones will fill you in and give you your assignments. He is in Decatur and will join you at your camp to finish the rescue plan.”

***

              Julie took the garbage to the garage. She walked past the car when someone grabbed her from behind.

“Your husband sent me. I won’t hurt you, but don’t yell. He said that if I told you this message, that you would trust me. The message is--he has the key to your dad’s boat.”

He took his hand off her mouth and she started laughing.

“That’s a boat trip that I will never forget.”

He told her, “Have the team’s families at the Armory tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. sharp or be prepared to die. Bring nothing that would look suspicious. Look like you are going to a meeting to discuss how to get your NG member home safely. Leave the rest to us.”

Julie thanked the man dressed in black and he disappeared.

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“Mom, can I go over to Bill’s house tonight?”

“Sorry son, but I need you to come with me tonight. I’ve called a meeting for the NG families at 8:00 p.m. and want you to attend. We may be able to hear your dad on the radio.”

Julie handed her son a note that said,
'We are bugging out tonight. We are in danger and Dad is coming to rescue us tonight. Don’t worry Ruth’s family will be going with us.'

Tad answered with a note,
'Mom, I love you. This scares me. How will we get out of here? They are looking for Dad and the rest of the NG.'

She answered by kneeling down and saying the Lord’s Prayer with Tad. He got the message.

Tad took the note from his mom, tore it up and flushed it in the toilet.

***

The surveillance team reports the same every day.

“Sir, the subjects are praying for their loved ones to come back in one piece and they pray for forgiveness from the President. The only thing new is a prayer vigil at the Armory tonight. The rest is just general family BS."

“Follow your subjects to the meeting. Watch for any odd strangers or exchange of items. They may use this meeting to pass info to the enemy.”

“General, are you sure that you have this situation under control? I can’t have another fiasco like the one in Decatur.”

“Field Marshall, I have fifty DHS watching every move the families make. I have a hundred crack-militia stationed around the town in case some of the families try to escape. The state of Tennessee is between Madisonville and the closest fighting force the ISA has in the field. You can stop worrying.”

“General Black, your life is on the line here. I won’t be made a fool of again!”

***

The twenty Rangers had parachuted into the area at two in the morning to make sure they weren’t noticed. They hid along the banks of the Ohio on the Kentucky side of the river. The key to success was taking out the four Apache helicopters guarding the convoy and escape before any jets arrived. They had plenty of Stinger LAWS and a couple of TOW missiles to get the job done. The TOW for the President's limo would be fired high and wide, but would explode close enough to scare the shit out of the occupants.

The President of the USA was traveling from Indianapolis through Evansville, Henderson, Bowling Green and on to Louisville. He was giving speeches at the various relocation centers and collective farms along the Indiana-Kentucky route. His motorcade would cross the bridge between Evansville, Indiana and Henderson, Kentucky at approximately 8:00 p.m. The sun would be down and by the time the attack was over, it would be dark for their escape.

“Will, the motorcade will be here in ten minutes. Our drone has it in its sights. It’s a shame that we don’t take him out with a Hellfire missile and end this shit right now instead of faking an attack as a diversion.”

“Look sonny, they would probably let loose some nukes on us and the situation would escalate into a nuclear exchange. Let’s just keep the chess game going for now and obey orders.”

***

The President felt good about the visit to the Evansville Relocation Compound. His wife and son joined him in pressing the flesh with his supporters and appearing in front of the detainees to help make them feel better about their meager existence. He gave them hope and promised that he would change their lives for the better. The DHS agents and Compound Security were cheering and clapping during his presentation, while the detainees just stared at him and only clapped when forced to clap.

“The Indiana detainees don’t appear to be fond of my message.”

His aide quickly replied, “Sir, do we care if they like what we tell them to do, as long as they work in our fields and factories?”

“I don’t give a fuck what they think; I just don’t want them revolting on us. After all we need someone to do the work.”

“Mr. President, it’s time to load up and head to the next stop.”

The President’s eleven-year-old son ran up and pleaded, “Dad can I ride in one of the Humvees? Please?”

“Bill, will it be okay for my son to ride in the Humvee with you? The limo is just not as exciting.”

“Yes sir, there are no enemy forces within 150 miles of our location. I will personally watch over him.”

“Thanks, I owe you.”

Johnny was a pain in the ass, but no one wanted to get on the President’s bad side. Agents on his security detail were reassigned to war zones for pissing him off. He tried to help Johnny into the seat behind the driver, but the boy pitched a fit to ride in the front seat next to the driver. The agents gave in quickly and the Presidential convoy left for Kentucky.

“Johnny, have you rode in a Humvee before?”

“I’ve been in every Army vehicle, but have not been allowed to ride in a moving one before. Can we shoot the machine gun at something? I want to shoot the machine gun.”

“Johnny, you can see the bridges over the Ohio up ahead. If there were enemy in the area that is where I would attack this convoy, but don’t worry we have the area secured.”

The convoy travelled across the bridge and was proceeding at a good pace when all hell broke loose.

***

“Zack, get the LAWs ready! Jesus, get the Stingers armed. Only shoot at the first and last Humvees in the motorcade. We can’t kill the SOB.”

“Here they come.”

The first rocket took out the lead Humvee while another team took out all four of the air support helicopters.

“Don’t try too hard. This must look like we got beaten back and failed. They can only hear Jesus, Hector and Tim giving orders in Spanish."

The last Humvee in the column exploded in a ball of flames and flying parts. The remaining four Humvees began laying down suppressing fire to cover the limo’s escape. Suddenly there was an explosion a few yards from the President’s limo as it rocketed back onto the bridge and back across the river. Two Humvees followed while they kept firing at the Rangers. One of the two remaining Humvees exploded as several LAWS rockets hit them from several directions. Several DHS Agents climbed out of the smoking vehicles and tried to find targets, but only heard the planned orders to retreat spoken in Spanish. The remaining one fired on the Rangers and found its target. Several Rangers fell and others scrambled for cover. The firefight was intense, but quickly over when a LAW rocket took out the Humvee.

***

“John, everyone is in place. The diversion started five minutes ago and the rescue starts in thirty minutes. We hope that all the troops and most of the DHS go to rescue the President. We will blow them to pieces if they turn around and head back towards Madisonville. We are prepared to take out all of the small bridges and roads around Madisonville so they can’t send re-enforcements back in to stop our rescue of the NG families. We want them to think the Mexicans are attacking as long as possible. There will be three diversions besides the attempt on the President of the USA. They will think the diversions are to keep them away from saving the President.”

“Do you think that they will buy the Mexican assault on the President?”

“No way to know what they will think, but using only Hispanic troops to be seen at the attack will at least make them think that the Chupracabras are pissed at them for cutting off the sale of drugs in the northeast until their cut of the profit is raised."

***

DHS and Army troops began loading up and moving north up Highway 41 and the Pennyrile Parkway headed towards Henderson, Kentucky. They had received urgent orders to assist the President.

“Ignore the other attacks; they are just diversions. We must stop the attack on Army One.”

“The plan is working. Fire up the choppers. We will have the area secure in fifteen minutes.”

The Rangers had silenced M4s, took out the remaining twenty DHS agents and then secured the field behind the Armory.

“It’s safe to land. Let’s get the families out to the field."

Several Rangers burst into the Armory meeting hall and the leader addressed the crowd.

“We are here from the ISA and are ready to take you to your husbands and wives in Alabama. Major Mills here is proof.”

“All of you know me; I command the Madisonville National Guard unit. You are all in danger and we are here to take you to safety.”

Julie and Tad saw him, ran to him and gave him hugs and kisses.

“The President said that we would all be safe and that the unit would be treated fairly when it surrendered.”

“Mr. Freels, they had us assaulting a town full of women and children. They killed thousands of innocent people. We would not go along with this mass murder. Please go to the field behind the Armory and prepare to be flown out of here.”

A man came out of the crowd and started shooting. The closest Ranger tackled him and brought him down quickly, but not before several people were dead or wounded.

“Tad, are you okay?”

Tad had been hit by the shots aimed at his dad. He lay there writhing in pain while being attended to by a medic and his mom.

“Ma'am, we need to get him to the hospital quickly. Load him up on the first chopper out of here now!

Major Mills walked over to the man who did the shooting and asked, “Why did you start shooting?”

“Because our President has declared you to be traitors and I won’t let you escape.”

The Major raised his 9mm and said, “May the Lord forgive you and me.”  He shot the man in the middle of the forehead.

“Well, that SOB won’t get a trial and get off easy. If any of the rest of you support the President, keep your sorry asses here. If not, get on a chopper now.”

Twelve families stayed in the Armory.

There were twenty-one troop carrying choppers transporting the families back to safety. Another thirty Apaches and F-18s kept the skies and path back to Florence clear of any enemy. The flight took a little over an hour and a half and was uneventful. The Rangers in Henderson were not as lucky. Three of the original twenty were dead, eight wounded and four missing in action. Their attack had cleared the way for the rescue, but at a dear price.

***

“What the fuck just happened? I was assured that there were no ISA soldiers within 150 miles of Evansville. Where is Bill? Who the hell is in charge and where is my son?”

The agent looked at the President and said, “Sir, we need to attend to you and the first Lady while we find out what happened. Let the medic patch you up while I tell you what we know.”

“Okay, but make it quick, I want someone getting my son to me right now!”

“Sir, we were attacked by several hundred soldiers just as we left the bridge on the Kentucky side.”

“No shitting Sherlock, I was there.”

“Sir, let me continue. They took out the lead and tail Humvees with light anti-tank weapons, and then tried to take out your limo with a TOW missile. Our fire caused their missile to miss you; however, it did rock the limo and cause you to be shaken up.”

The first Lady said, “Our son was in the lead Humvee. Is he okay? Where is he?"

The agent gulped and replied, “I’m sorry to tell you, but there were no survivors from the lead vehicle.”

The first Lady fainted in the agent’s arms and the President went into an uncontrollable rage.

“Who killed my son? I want the SOBs dead!"

***

While the rescued families were being reunited with their soldiers, the ones who remained were being relocated to a prison in the new capital of the USA. The Mayor, City Council and all City Department heads were shipped out of town and executed for failure to warn the Field Marshall about the escape plans. Their families were sent to relocation camps. The Field Marshall held a town meeting and installed his own people to manage the town. General Black was court martialed and executed.

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