American Meltdown: Book Two of The Economic Collapse Chronicles (21 page)

The team turned out to be Navy SEALS. They cleared the rest of the hostiles in seconds. When the smoke cleared, it was obvious that the room was a weapons cache. This building had been labeled as offices which was the reason it had been assigned to militia instead of the regular military. It turned out to be a stash of Hellfire, Maverick, and Harpoon Air to Ground Missiles.

One of the SEALs explained to Pastor John, “These are missiles that would typically be fired from a jet or a chopper and not the standard stockpile that would be dropped from the B-52s stationed at Minot. The only reason they would have been here is that Howe must have been planning to launch and attack from this position.”

Pastor John was glad that Albert had not died in vain. He said to the SEAL “So this was an important building to take.”

“Very important,” The man replied.

The base was secured and the prisoners were held on the base. Many of them would be interviewed over the coming days to gather intelligence.

Pastor John and the other survivors from his team collected Albert’s body and the bodies of the other men from Young Field and headed back. It would be a long, sad drive home.

CHAPTER
45

“The alien who lives among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower. He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, but you will be the tail. All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the LORD your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you.”

-Deuteronomy 28:43-45

President Anthony Howe sat with the Joint Chiefs, Secretary of Homeland Security Rosa Ortiz and Secretary of Defense Scott Hale.

“The bad news, gentlemen,” Howe said, “is that Minot Air Force Base was to be our launch site to invade the Northwest Coalition. We are also losing control of the Bakken
oil field. We really needed those resources. I am less concerned with the loss of the missile silos as neither party wants to be the guy who pushes the button and turns the entire continent into a radioactive wasteland.

“Of course, the public doesn’t know that, and we can certainly use the fear of a nuclear attack from the Coalition to justify all of our future actions against the Coalition States. What we lost in the assault can quickly be converted into political capital both for the opinions of the American people and those of the international community. Our national sovereignty has been attacked and the UN will sign off on any action we take.

“We have to secure the loose cannon states that have not taken sides yet. I think we all know by now that ‘neutral’ means ‘future Coalition state.’  We need to get a thick presence of DHS troops in all the towns and cities of the so-called neutral states. I want DHS agents overseeing every state and local law enforcement agency in those states. We can’t afford to have disloyal people working in those jobs. The towns where the police are being paid by the residents through barter networks need to have that system replaced. If law enforcement are paid by the people, they’ll get the idea that they work for the people. They need to know they work for us, so they need to be compensated by us.

“Start with West Virginia. I hear entirely too much about militia activity in that state.
It is practically our own backyard. Anyone caught displaying any militia, revolutionary or Coalition insignias are to be sent straight to a work camp. In West Virginia, I want the DHS and Department of Energy to begin to convert the FEMA camps into work programs that mine for coal. We need every bit of energy we can get.

“Next, we need to take the southern states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. Convert all the relief camps and prison camps into food production work camps in those states.

“I don’t think Florida is worth dealing with right now. The population far outweighs the agricultural production in Florida. We’ll put up a fence from the northern suburbs of Jacksonville to Apalachee Bay. The rest of the panhandle can be annexed by Georgia. There is enough militia activity down there to declare it a hostile territory. That will protect us from political fallout from the decision. 90% of the population will die off in a couple of years without support from the rest of the country. Two years from now, we will be in a much better position to go in and take over after we have dealt with the Coalition. Mother Nature will take care of most of the dirty work for us while we wait.

“New Hampshire is another rabble-rouser. Fortunately for us, they
’re completely isolated from the rest of the rebellious states. Because of New Hampshire’s location in the heart of our Northeastern stronghold, we cannot afford to have them spreading this anti-government cancer. I want to fence off the entire state and turn it into a work camp. Start the fence west of I-95. That will allow commerce to flow from Maine to the lower states. Make sure the areas of the state east of I-95 are very well patrolled. At the first sign of disrespect for a federal officer from a resident east of the fence, immediately process them to the work camp.

“We have to do all of this with an iron fist. The people are going to learn that they cannot just declare themselves free from their federal obligations. They will respect this government or they will be sent to a work camp. If they can’t get along in the work camps, we
’ll execute them.”

Secretary of Homeland Defense Rosa Ortiz voiced her concern. “Mr. President, you are talking about thousands of miles of fence.”

“It’s fence, Rosa!” Howe yelled. “It is a metal pole in the ground with some metal wire. I’m not asking you to build the Great Wall of China. The relief camps across the nation are full of able-bodied laborers. Order the materials from wherever you need to get them. We are in a global depression, I am sure someone will be willing to sell us some material to build a fence.

“All of you need to start thinking outside of the box about how to get things done. I don’t want excuses, I want action. We have plenty of resources. We have military equipment. We still have the country’s gold reserves in the New York Federal Reserve.

“That reminds me, as soon as we lock down West Virginia, I want to launch an invasion to occupy Kentucky. It’s relatively vulnerable as it only has its southern border that it can rely on for assistance. I want to take back Fort Knox so we will also have that gold reserve. Kentucky is a key state strategically for us to have the ability to break up the Southern Coalition.

Any more questions or excuses?” Howe glared at each person around the table.

No one said a word. They simply nodded and prepared to get out of the meeting room as quick as possible.

“Good,” Howe said. “Let’s get to work.”

Minutes later, Howe’s phone buzzed.

It was California Congressman Juan Marcos. Marcos had run against Howe and Paul Randall in the previous election. Marcos was a Republican, but had not proved to be a troublemaker… yet.

Howe looked at his phone. “I wonder why he would be calling me. I’m in no mood to be putting up with any more dissenters. There is plenty of room in one of our black site political prisons if Marcos feels the need to rock the boat.”

“Juan,” The P
resident answered. “It has been a while since we spoke.”

“Yes, Mr. President,” Marcos replied. “We have not spoken since I call
ed to congratulate you on your presidential victory.”

Howe liked the tone in Marcos’ voice. It wasn’t apparently disrespectful.

“What can I do for you, Juan?” the President asked.

Marcos said, “The California State legislature has asked me to try to broker an agreement between the State of California, the White House and a Chinese company called Hangyun Hong.

“Hangyun is a globally integrated conglomerate that is willing to donate vast amounts of relief to California in exchange for control of the Ports of Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.

“The breakdown in the American economy is hurting the entire country of China. The lack of security in the ports make it difficult for them to do business in the west. They are offering to bring in their own security that will both secure their interest and lock down those major ports from outside terrorist threats to the United States.
This deal will allow them to branch out to do more business with Canada as well as Central and South America.

“For California, it will mean much needed nutritional aid as well as other needed forms of aid. They have pledged to assist in getting our infrastructure back up and running and to do everything they can to get California back on line economically.

“This would greatly reduce the burden to Washington, D.C. as you would no longer be obligated to provide nutritional supplements to the state. DHS would have resources freed up as they would no longer have to keep the ports secure. I don’t have to tell you that those ports are currently shut down because of the riots and instability. The Port of Los Angeles isn’t even functional in its present condition. It is essentially a burned-out shell. Everything has been looted from all of the containers in L.A., and people are living in the containers. It looks like a scene from a movie.

“As I see it sir, we have nothing to lose.”

Anthony Howe sat quietly for a moment after Congressman Marcos laid out his case. Howe knew it was a threat to the sovereignty of the country, but California was a wasteland right now anyway. This deal would keep it out of the hands of the Coalition and signal to the international community that Howe was a team player.

Howe didn’t need to look into Hangyun Hong to find out if it was a shell corporation operated by the Chinese government. He just assumed it was. He had never heard of them before, and if they were a company large enough to do everything Marcos was claiming, he would have heard of them. Even if, by chance, they weren’t a shell corporation, any international company this big based in China would have the state as a partner.

After pondering his response, Howe said, “Send over the specifics of the deal. It sounds like something we could work on. I want to have Corey Ericson over at Justice comb through it. You can tell the representative from Hangyun that we will consider the offer very carefully. Thank them for their generosity and casually mention that there will likely be a licensing fee from the Federal Government that will need to be paid in gold due to the current instability of the currencies market. Of course we can structure the fee to be set for twenty years before it can be increased.”

Congressman Marcos and President Howe finished their conversation.

Howe was happy to have someone from the other side of the aisle treating him with respect. With all of the recent house cleaning that had been done in Washington, there was a seat at the table for a Republican who knew how to play ball.

For Howe personally, having someone like Marcos involved in the affairs of the country
would show the public that he wasn’t the socialist tyrant the alternative media tried to make him out to be.

CHAPTER
46

“ ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'”

-Matthew 25: 35-40

Matt and Karen were busy getting their garden planted. They had several small seed trays that they germinated in the covered back porch area of the farmhouse. The mountain nights had the potential for frost until the middle of April. They had to get a head start with the seedlings indoors because the growing season was short.

Matt said to Karen, “If we can get the lettuce, cabbage, corn, peas, potatoes and tomatoes in the ground this week, we
’ll be doing great.”

Karen said, “I think we can handle that. This is going to be a big garden plot. If we have even a mediocre year, it should be plenty to sustain us until next year with a little left over to barter with.”

Matt heard Adam’s truck pulling up and went to meet him.

“Hey, C
ousin!” He yelled.

“How y’all doin’?” Adam asked.

Matt smiled. “Very good. Karen is happy that winter is finally over. I feel less anxious since I can get out and start getting some crops in the ground. I’m finished with your tiller. It helped a lot. I could’ve never completed all that by hand.”

Adam said
, “Hopefully that foal will be born soon and you’ll be able to use a plow in a couple of years. Smokey is getting big. It shouldn’t be too much longer before she gives birth.”

Matt said, “That’s exciting.”

Adam had a solemn look on his face and Matt knew he wasn’t here to talk about gardening and horses.

“So, what’s up?” Matt asked.

Adam answered, “I spoke with Franklin this morning. We’re getting hit with a wave of militia and refugees from West Virginia.

DHS are moving into the state in force. They have completely locked down Huntington. It looks like something from the holocaust from what the refugees are saying.

“I don’t know what that means for us, but it ain’t good. The Kentucky National Guard is setting up a militia camp just across the river from Huntington. I-64 runs right across the river from Huntington to Kentucky. If Howe was going to invade Kentucky, it would probably be through there.

“They are trying to incorporate the refugees into the militia camp up there, but there are too many and they just can’t handle it. Franklin told them we would take twenty or so.

“I hate to impose, but do you think you could give up your extra bedroom to a couple? Keep in mind, it could have just as easily been us hoping our state would do the right thing. If the Kentucky legislature would have dragged its heels the way West Virginia did, we might be refugees somewhere. It ain’t over, either. We could still end up being overrun and having to bug out.”

Matt sat silent for a moment. He just realized how selfish he was as he hesitated and tried to think his way out of it. There was the obvious inconvenience of having to share. That side of it was pure selfishness. But there was also the issue of not trusting people. Many lesson over the years had taught him not to trust everyone he met. As he counted the times he had been let down after giving folks the benefit of the doubt, he quickly ran out of fingers. As he thought deeper, he soon ran out of toes as well.

Matt finally answered, “I have to talk to Karen. Who are these people? Are they militia? How do we know they aren’t DHS spies?”

Adam replied, “The two that would be staying with you is a young couple, early 20’s, from West Virginia. Franklin has already prescreened the twenty people he is accepting from up there. They are all staying out at Lt. Joe’s. He is letting them all use his facilities and they
’re sleeping in tents.

“This young man is going on patrol with us next week. I’ll put him with you and Gary for the week. If you get along with him, that’ll be great. If not, we’ll find them somewhere else to go.”

Finally, Matt said, “Okay. If Karen approves and he checks out during patrol, I’ll give it a shot. What else do you know about this invasion? Who are the refugees? Are they all able to volunteer for the militia?”

Adam answered, “About the refugees, they range anywhere from well-armed, well-trained militia, to single moms with two or three kids who have nothing more than a backpack, to elderly people. It’s a cross section of society. The thing they all have in common is that they would rather die free here in Kentucky than live under oppression in West Virginia.

“About the invasion, it happened all of a sudden. Franklin says thousands of DHS agents in armored vehicles are flooding into the ports by ship in Savannah and Mobile. Sounds like Howe is going to choose for the states who had trouble making up their minds. He can’t afford to lose any more oil refineries after North Dakota sided with the Coalition. If he can lock down the Gulf coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, he can get his filthy little fingers on the oil coming out of the Gulf of Mexico.

“The refugees said the West Virginia Militia tried fighting the first wave of DHS, but they were outnumbered and under-equipped. The West Virginia National Guard wouldn’t lift a finger. Franklin says the National Guard is probably under federal command at this point.

“A lot of the militia are unaccounted for according to the ones who got out. They don’t know if they have been captured or if they are staying behind on purpose to try and fight an insurgency battle. At this point, there is no getting across the border. DHS has them all locked down. I suppose we’ll be having staring contests with DHS at our checkpoint. They’re setting up hard roadblocks all along the Virginia border as well.

“The only good news is some intelligence we got from a couple veterans. They sai
d the DHS agents look like they’re made up of mostly nineteen and twenty year old kids. They said they’re undisciplined and appear to have little or no training. I bet they’ve all been recruited in the last month or two. If you have to fight against somebody, these are the type of people you want to fight. They’re not physically nor mentally ready for a fight and their heart is not in it. Even if they outnumber us ten-to-one, we can whip ‘em.”

Matt said, “They probably all signed up after Howe cut the assistance programs. He gave them the choice of fight or starve. The enslavement of the poor through entitlements is paying off quite well for the left, isn’t it?”

Adam chuckled. “Yes, it is. All of a sudden free isn’t so free. Well, I’m going to head home. I’ll let you get back to your garden. Might be nice to have a young buck around to do some of this heavy farm work. Make sure you talk it over with Karen.”

“I will.” Matt waved to his cousin.

Matt went back to the garden where Karen was still working. He explained the situation. She had a big generous heart, but she also had enough bad experiences with people to not trust them further than she could spit. Matt explained that he would check the young man out during the patrol.

“What about the girl?” Karen asked, “How will we know if she
’s going to be a good fit?”

“I don’t know,” Matt answered. “I guess we
’ll just have to hope the boy made a good choice when he got married.”

“And they are at Lt. Joe’s sleeping in a tent right now?” Karen inquired
.

“Yes, with all of the others,” Matt said.

“Why don’t you have the girl come stay with me for the week while you are out on patrol with the boy?” Karen kept working as they talked.

“It
’ll be that much harder to say ‘no’ after she’s already in the house.” Matt continued planting the row of corn he had started.

“I know,” Karen replied. “If we were homeless refugees, I would want someone to take us in. If they can’t abide by the rules or if they are disrespectful, they can leave just as fast as they got here.”

Matt smiled. “That’s very true, my love.”