American Meltdown: Book Two of The Economic Collapse Chronicles (13 page)

CHAPTER
26

“No government ought to be without censors; and where the press is free no one ever will.”

-Thomas Jefferson

Matt acquired a mild case of frostbite on the tips of his toes during militia training Monday and Tuesday. Karen tried to dissuade him from walking.

“Really, it is not that bad. It doesn’t hurt much today. I think it was
only the surface of the skin,” Matt said.

On Tuesday when he
arrived home, his toes were a bit itchy and burning as he soaked them in warm water. Now, there was a small blister on the tip of one toe. Matt was learning how brutal February could be in the mountains of Kentucky.

“If we are going to go, we’ll drive,” Karen insisted. “Besides, it’s too cold to walk over there anyway. I don’t want to get frostbite on my toes.”

Karen won the debate and they drove over to Adam’s. They arrived just in time for lunch. Janice and Shelly were cooking a nice pot of venison stew. Wesley had bagged another big buck the day before, during militia training. Fortunately, this time he was able to use his .308 to take the deer. He could have never made the shot with a bow.

Mandy and Karissa were bickering with each other.

“Both of you! Knock it off!” Janice yelled.

Karen and Matt looked at each other. They had never heard Janice raise her voice at the girls before. They two girls quit arguing immediately and went into separate rooms.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Janice said to Matt and Karen. “We’re all getting on each other’s nerves a bit. This weather just makes it impossible to get outside. I’ve been trying to keep projects going for the girls, or keep them playing games and working puzzles, but I guess I’m getting a little cabin fever, too.”

Karen said, “Why don’t the girls come stay at our house tonight. It will give you a break and it will be a change of scenery for them.”

“I won’t argue with you on that one,” Janice said.

Karen called out to Mandy and Karissa, “Hey girls, do you want to come over to my house and play with Miss Mae?”

The two girls came running back into the kitchen.

“Yes, please, can we, Mom?” Mandy asked.

“I want to go, too!” Karissa added.

“OK, but you better be good for Aunt Karen and Uncle Matt
,” Janice answered.

“We will be!” Mandy insisted.
“I can’t wait to see Miss Mae.”

Miss Mae, like many cats, was not particularly fond of visitors, but for some reason she was more tolerant of children than other houseguests. She especially liked Mandy who would slip her a bit of food from her plate when she came to visit.

Everyone gathered around the big table for lunch.

Karen said, “You know, this is not the best of circumstances, but we’re all growing so close together as a family.”

Adam said, “I love having everyone here all the time. It feels like the way things are supposed to be.”

Shelly added, “Times like these force us to focus on what is important.”

“We are blessed. Not everyone’s families can get along this well.” Wesley winced as if he wished he could take back what he had just said. Shelly had not gotten along very well with her parents. They were polar opposites from the Bairs, and even from Shelly. They had come from Louisville for Wesley and Shelly’s wedding two months ago. Shelly had not been able to reach them since the wedding. No one said anything, but most assumed they were carjacked and possibly murdered on the way home from the wedding.
Gangs had taken over Louisville and these types of crimes were common in the city.

Wesley gave her a warm squeeze on her leg to let her know he was sorry. Shelly was tough though. She choked back the sadness and said
, “I am very blessed to be part of this family.”

She gave Wesley’s leg a squeeze to let him know it was OK.

The days of watching the mainstream news channels at Adam’s were over. Howe had clamped down on them and they were state-run stations now. They had gone from the puppet show that kept up the façade of independent reporting to the grossly obvious propaganda machines that operated in communist countries like China.

Matt, Adam and Wes went into Adam’s office to watch some alternative news stations on the internet. RT was reporting on the amnesty being offered to the US troops who were not willing to fight against the Coalition States
.

A female reporter stated, “This video footage sent to us by an anonymous soldier seems to be of a detention facility. The troops who elected to accept the offer to leave the military were told they would be brought to facilities like these to be debriefed and processed out.

“From what we know, thousands of conscientious objectors were brought to this facility yesterday, and we have had no reports of any soldiers who have been processed out. All of the footage we have received indicates this facility is very heavily secured. It
’s not at all what we would expect from a processing center.

“Our source told us they witnessed thousands of body bags being brought to this facility as well. The soldiers who did not defect to the Coalition
States are becoming very suspicious of the government now. If the reports turn out to be true, if President Howe has indeed detained all of the soldiers he vowed to release, it may have a very negative effect on the military men and women who are still with him.”

Adam went to Prison Planet Nightly News to see what was being reported there.

A caller was on the air. The caller was in the middle of his sentence. “….was dumping what looked like body bags into mass graves. I saw four bulldozers covering up the graves.”

The reporter replied, “And you
’re patrolling the site? We don’t want you to get in trouble for calling. Are you sure your phone is safe?”

“I just finished my patrol,” the caller said. “I had permission to leave the base after my patrol finished prior to this evening. I stopped and bought a burner phone just to call in. I’m ditching it as soon as we hang up. Then, I’m headed to Texas. I suggest your listeners
, not already in Coalition states, get to one as soon as possible. Yesterday, I didn’t even agree with the Coalition, but what I saw today woke me up.”

“Thanks for your call. Be safe.” The reporter disconnected from the call.

Matt looked up from the computer. “Are they killing everyone that took the offer to opt out?”

Adam said, “I don’t know what’s going on. It doesn’t sound good.”

Wesley added, “Howe may just be getting rid of the high-risk individuals, like anyone who has been in any type of special forces training. Then again, he may not have the food to feed the prisoners and he may be gassing them all. He is probably using gas chambers disguised as showers or waiting rooms. He doesn’t strike me as a very original thinker.”

Matt was disturbed. “I wish there was something we could do.”

“We’re pretty much powerless on this one,” Adam said. “We have to take this information and recognize who we are dealing with. Howe is ruthless. But mark my words, this is going to back fire on him.”

The men  continued to look for any information they could find on the processing centers.

CHAPTER 27

“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”

-Proverbs 16:18

Secretary of Defense Scott Hale and President Howe were meeting with the Joint Chiefs Saturday morning to finalize the plans for the action being taken against Pastor John Robinson’s compound on the following morning.

One of Scott Hale’s staff members burst through the door. “Mr. Secretary, I’m sorry to interrupt, but the soldiers being held in detention at the camp outside of Biloxi are taking over the camp as we speak.”

Scott Hale looked at President Howe without speaking.

President Howe said
, “Scramble jets out of Kessler and light the camp up. Make a surgical strike and eliminate all life forms within a half mile of the camp. This is war, Scott. Don’t look at me to do your job. If you can’t make these decisions on your own, you need to step down. There are plenty of men in this room that can do your job if you can’t.”

“Yes, Mr. President,” Hale said. He had just been embarrassed in front of all the Joint Chiefs. This President was a tyrant. Maybe the Coalition was right, but Scott Hale was not the type of person to rock the boat, particularly when he was in it.

“You heard the President, scramble the jets,” Hale said to his staff member who was still standing there.

The men reconvened their meeting.

“Gentlemen,” President Howe began. “I think we need to eliminate this threat. All of the soldiers presently being held around the country are deserters and guilty of treason against the United States. I feel I have been too soft on these traitors. The punishment for treason is death. I have a soft heart for these men and women because of their prior service to our country, but the reality is that we do not have the resources to dedicate to guarding them and caring for their nutritional and medical needs. I feel the humane thing is to put them down.”

Howe paused.
There was a look of shock among the Joint Chiefs at his recommendation to exterminate the prisoners. After Scott Hale’s reprimand for not being more proactive in his brutality, they didn’t question him.

Howe raised his voice, “Anyone who is not on board with the Federal States is free to hand in
their resignation and leave!”

It was obvious to t
he Joint Chiefs what that meant. If they resigned now, they would likely not make it out of the room alive.

They all muttered somewhat in unison, “No, Mr. President, we are with you, Mr. President.”

“Very well,” Howe said. “Since we are all in agreement, you gentlemen come up with a plan to carry out this mission. I think we should postpone the attack on Pastor John Robinson’s compound until after we have put our own house in order. One week should be plenty of time for that to be handled. Scott, you should coordinate with Jared Campbell to make sure this gets to the media in the right light. Don’t make us look like monsters.”

Howe walked out of the room.

Scott Hale took the reins and started off with his suggestions. “What type of chemicals can we use in the food supply or water supply to get rid of the prisoners?”

The Vice Chairman spoke up. “If we use a weaponized virus, we could eliminate them all through the food supply. The downside is that all of the guards will be eradicated along with the prisoners. The upside is that we could say the food supply came from the Coalition.”

The Chief of The National Guard Bureau spoke next. “That could work to our advantage. The casualties among the guards would be proof that we did not initiate the biological attack. We could simply say it was fate that caused us to distribute the food among the prison camps first. We will claim the reaction time was such that we were able to destroy the contaminated food supplies prior to it being fed to our troops.”

“I like it,” Scott Hale said. “Feel around and see what the rumor mill is spitting out about other bases that may be considering siding with the Coalition. We could send them contaminated supplies as well. That would make the story more credible and eliminate potential future threats. The proverbial two birds with one stone.”

Hale and the other finalized their plans to infect the prison camps.

CHAPTER
28

“We are persuaded that good Christians will always be good citizens, and that where righteousness prevails among individuals the Nation will be great and happy. Thus while just government protects all in their religious rights, true religion affords to government its surest support.”

-George Washington

Matt said to Adam, “Venison steaks and baked potatoes, what a feast.” The potatoes were the last ones remaining from the previous fall. There would be no more until this spring’s crop came in.

A couple of the men
from the militia, Eddie Cooper and Franklin Johnson, attended the same church as the Bairs. They came over to Adam’s for lunch Sunday afternoon.

Matt’s phone rang. He got better reception at Adam’s than on his own farm. He wasn’t sure where the cell tower was, but it must have been closer. It was his friend Frank in Saint Augustine.

“Hey, Frank. Still no word from my buddy, Jack?” Matt inquired.

“They just got here a couple of hours ago,” Frank answered. “They don’t look good man.”

“Wow,” Matt said. “Two weeks to go 300 miles?”

“Jack said they got robbed at a road block in West Palm Beach
,” Frank explained. “The bandits took everything they had, then beat the heck out of them. He says they just beat them for the fun it. They are both very dehydrated and malnourished. They wouldn’t have made it much further. Jack has a really bad infection on his arm from the attack. The girl isn’t talking. She looks catatonic.”

Matt shook his head. “That’s rough. I guess they’re blessed to be alive. Did they get any of their clothes or anything?”

“Nothing,” Frank said. “The only things they arrived with were the clothes on their backs and the things they scavenged on the way here. They had a shopping cart he picked up in Vero Beach. It was full of every kind of thing you could imagine. They had cardboard they used for making a bed, trash bags tied together to make a shelter, plastic bottles to get drinking water from creeks and streams. I don’t think they were purifying the water. We’ve got them eating some soup and drinking hot tea. It’s in the 60’s here, but they’re cold because they didn’t have the right clothing.

“
We’re going to try to get them to clean up after they eat. I can’t tell you how bad they smell. Angie is taking a collection from the rest of the group for clothes and personal items. When they get back to normal, I’ll dig up that little cache we buried last fall when you came through here.”

“O
h man, I forgot all about that. You still have those buried?” Matt asked.

When Matt and Karen had left South Florida to head to Kentucky last fall, Matt
was robbed at a rest station while filling up the gas tank with gas cans from his trailer. As soon as his assailants showed their weapons, Matt drew his Glock and shot them. In his panic, he picked up the bandits guns and threw them in the trailer. He then went to Frank’s to lay low for a while. Frank buried the guns in case anyone came around to ask questions. Matt killed the two men in self-defense, but the stuff had just hit the fan and he had no intention of getting caught up in an investigation.

“I’ll give that Berretta to Jack,” Frank said. “It only has one magazine, but it beats the heck out of the broken broom handle he
’s been carrying for a weapon. We have plenty of 9mm ammo for him. If the girl comes around… what’s her name again?”

“Tina
,” Matt said.

“Tina
,” Frank said. “If Tina comes around, I’ll give her the .357. No one has ammo for it, but it still has the six rounds it had when you brought it here. After what they’ve been through, the guns will make them feel safer.”

“I don’t know how to thank you Frank,” Matt said. “You came through for me again.”

Frank said, “Everything I have belongs to the Lord. If He sends someone in need by me, I have to do what I can to help out. Besides, you supplied the guns.”

“Yeah, don’t remind me.” Matt didn’t like to remember the event.

“Brother, you did what you had to do. It was them or you,” Frank reassured him.

“I still feel bad about it.” Matt fought with what he had done.

“You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t,” Frank said. “I’ll give you a call in a couple of days and let you know how they’re doing.”

Matt came back into the room and gave Karen an abbreviated version of what had happened.

She didn’t say anything. A single tear fell from her eye. She had not been very close with Tina, but they had been neighbors for several years.

Wesley and Shelly listened in as Matt told the tale of Jack and Tina’s ordeal. It was shocking how far downhill things had slid.

Everyone except the kids crammed into Adam’s study to listen to Paul Randall’s internet address. They brought a few extra chairs and a couple of people sat on cushions on the floor.

Franklin Johnson had a notepad to take notes. As Commander of the Eastern Kentucky Liberty Militia, he was using ham radio to coordinate with militia and military units in other Coalition states. This internet address was his only method to get direct communication from the Commander in Chief himself.

Paul Randall began his address.

“America, we have just received intelligence reports that a severe outbreak of a deadly disease has swept through the prison camps in the Federal States. President Howe had granted amnesty to any US troops who wished to leave bases located in Federal States. Those who took him up on that offer were detained in prison camps, and we now believe that they are being executed with a biological weapon.

“We think it may be a weaponized version of Ebola. Intercepted radio communications indicated severe flu like symptoms running rampant in the camps. The typical incubation period for Ebola could be up to two weeks, but we believe these prisoners were infected in the last
twenty-four hours. This would indicate a genetically modified strain of the virus. It leads us to believe the soldiers were infected on purpose. There have already been several deaths reported. The Federal States have quarantined the infected camps allowing no one in or out.

“It is obvious that Howe has ratcheted up his savagery. We must be ready. No atrocity is below him if he is willing to do this to his own soldiers.”

Adam got up and left the room. Janice followed him.

Matt looked at Wesley. “Is he OK?”

“He had a couple buddies that were supposed to leave Quantico during the amnesty period,” Wesley said somberly.

Everyone else remained in the office and turned their attention back to Paul Randall’s address as he continued.

“While we are deeply hurt over the loss of the lives of these brave men and women, we will not be drawn into an offensive position. With that said, we will defend the Coalition States to the last gun, the last bullet and the last man. We have drawn our line in the sand and we will surrender no further liberties. All those in the Federal States who wish to keep their liberties are free to join us here in the Coalition States.

“On a more upbeat topic, all federal agencies have been evicted from the Coalition States. Likewise, the employees of those agencies that did not see fit to resign from those agencies but decided to remain loyal to this criminal regime occupying Washington D.C. were also thrown out of the Coalition States.

“As of today, any federal employee or agent attempting to enforce any taxing authority or federal law within the Coalition will be shot on site; the same as any other traitor. Therefore, it goes without saying, there will be no banned firearm collection at any federal agency or an
ywhere else in a Coalition state.

“This is my last plea for liberty-loving patriots outside the wire to join us here. Your future is certain bondage and unimaginable tyranny if you stay where you are. I know many of you hope to fight and win freedom for your states as well, but without state-level leadership and military support in your state, your struggle will be very difficult. I realize it
’s hard to walk away from your homes and all you have worked for, but it may be stripped from your hands by Anthony Howe anyway.

“
I ask for your prayers patriots. Know that I will be praying for all of you in return. God bless and God speed!”

Wesley was the first to comment on the speech. “Yahoo! No more IRS!”

Eddie Cooper was right there with Wes for a high five.

Shelly asked, “Won’t the Coalition start their own IRS?”

Matt said, “They
’ll have taxes, but I don’t expect it to be anything that resembles the IRS. Paul Randall was running on dismantling the IRS slowly over time. I suppose the present situation just sort of fast-tracked that objective for the Coalition.”

The conversation quickly turned to what the government would look like in the Coalition. Matt loved the subject, but he excused himself to go check on Adam.

He found Adam and Janice sitting quietly on the front porch swing. The sun was just setting and the air was turning cold.

“You gonna be Okay, big guy?” Matt asked.

Adam had a solemn expression on his face. “I
’m just thinking about all those American heroes that survived countless firefights and attacks overseas only to be murdered by their own president.”

Matt said, “Especially your buddies at Quantico?”

“Especially them,” Adam said. “Their death will not be in vain. It will strengthen the resolve of this Marine to fight like I have never fought before. I don’t mean to brag, but I arranged many meetings between Allah and his jihadists when I was in the sandbox. I’m good at what I do, Matt.”

Even during militia training, Matt had never really seen the killer inside Adam before. When he looked into Adam’s eyes as he made his vow, Matt saw it and it spooked him just a bit.