Forgotten Forbidden America:: Patriots Reborn (18 page)

“That’s the Daniels’ farm, and he has Ferguson tractors, not Deere,” Bernard growled.

Nelson closed his eyes and shook his head. “Bernard, it has the big, spinning blade and runs. I saw him using it last year on his fields,” he said, not in the mood for an argument. “Can’t we, just for a second, entertain the idea of bringing in equipment that isn’t green?”

“Nope,” Bernard declared, picking up his glass of tea.

“Forget it, Nelson,” Nellie said from the end of the table. “Bernard had someone ‘give’ him a tractor when he bought this farm. He traded it in for another new John Deere. Didn’t matter he had just bought one.”

Clearing his throat, Bernard set down his glass. “The Kimple farm has Deere, and if Casey is there, I’ll make a deal with him to harvest. If they have left, I’ll bring his combine over here for safe keeping,” Bernard said.

“Whatever,” Nelson mumbled.

Giving up on feeding Devin, Gerald pulled him out of the highchair. “Just where is the Kimple farm?” he asked, laying Devin on his chest.

“Other side of the highway.” Bernard grinned, watching Gerald pat Devin’s back.

Looking at the clock, Nancy got up. “I have to see something,” she said, walking into the living room. The others watched her walk out with a nervous gait. Curious, they all got up and followed. They found Nancy at the TV, staring at a snowy screen.

“Almost seven,” she said, clasping her hands nervously.

“What’s going on?” Gerald asked, sitting down carefully so he wouldn’t wake Devin.

Getting on her knees in front of the TV, Nancy shook her head. “If it worked, you’ll see. If it didn’t, this is going to suck.”

“Just what is ‘It?’” Gerald asked, watching Nancy rub sweaty palms on her jeans.

“If it doesn’t work, I’ll tell you later,” she said, and the screen suddenly came to life, showing a color bar test screen. “Oh my God,” Nancy moaned, looking at the screen as a grin spread across her face. Everyone looked at the test screen and at the bottom saw, ‘Texas Public Broadcasting System.’

Nelson looked up at the clock above the TV and saw the second hand sweeping around, almost marking seven o’clock. When the second hand was straight up, the screen blinked, making everyone jump.

It showed a room with a podium centered on a stage with people moving around. Suddenly, the camera focused, showing a man wearing jeans and a t-shirt walking to the lectern. Behind him were several men wearing military uniforms and two state troopers wearing Smokey Bear hats.

“The governor of Texas, Allen Fern,” someone announced, and people ran for chairs as the governor stepped behind the lectern flanked by the military men.

“I trust we are live?” the governor asked, looking at the back of the room at the camera.

“Yes sir, no jamming detected. We are transmitting to the nation,” someone behind the camera replied.

Nodding at the camera, the governor looked down at his notes then up at the camera. “Ladies and gentlemen of America, good evening. I’m the elected governor of Texas, Allen Fern. I stand before you today to tell you about the tyrannical federal government that is trying to force subjugation on all citizens of this nation. The states of Texas, Montana, Louisiana, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, North Dakota, Arkansas, and New Mexico have withdrawn from the union and formed the Free States of America. Until an election, the other governors have appointed me as president until elections can be held.

“Unlike the federal president, I’m a figurehead only. The governors of each state uses the Constitution and Bill of Rights to govern,” he said and looked down at his notes. “I truly am regretful of the situation we find ourselves in at this time. The federal government is trying to turn this great country into a fascist state. Thanks to one individual, we now have the undeniable proof.”

He looked up at the camera with a sad expression. “The images you are about to see are disturbing to say the least, but they are video clips from government agencies dealing with citizens of this great country. They haven’t been doctored or edited in any way and were taken from NSA’s own database before it crashed.” The screen changed, showing executions, people being herded into railcars, and beatings. In each video were federal officials wearing badges and windbreakers with different agency names on the back. All the videos showed at least one member of Homeland present. As each video played, the governor narrated where it took place and all the agencies and police departments involved.

Watching the screen, Nelson felt himself starting to get sick watching people being lined up and shot. After half an hour, the screen returned to the governor. “This is what we are fighting against,” the governor said, and the screen changed to show a house being stormed. “The federal government had houses in each state to supply agents as they fought against the population. This is one of over a hundred houses that were raided here in Texas.”

“Each house has a fifty-man ‘crisis team’ that are nothing more than terrorists. We now have over three thousand members of these teams in custody and are rounding up the ones that got away. They will be held without bail until we can conduct formal trials for their acts of treason. To the president of the federal government: No, we won’t hand them back. If you don’t stop letting criminals out to reign across the countryside, we will start executing all federal employees being held in the Free States,” the governor said with a grave expression.

After continuing for another thirty minutes outlining atrocities, the governor looked down at the lectern. “What I have told you, we suspected, but for the actions of one person, we now have proof,” he said, holding up a sheet of paper. “This is from the person who unleashed a torrent of viruses, shutting down the NSA and all government computers,” he said, smiling at the camera. “My people tell me you got them all, and the information stored in the data banks has been dumped. We got what you left for us, and as you see, we are showing you, someone up high is willing to fight,” the governor said as he grasped the paper and started reading.

“Dear Governor,

“I used to work for the NSA and was appalled at what I was witnessing. The NSA and Homeland Security along with other agencies operated above the law with the full blessing of the White House and oversight committees not to protect America but to oppress it.

“I’m not happy about my actions, but I watched many of my colleagues try to expose what was happening only to be imprisoned or, worse, killed. I have firsthand knowledge of family members of government employees being killed to keep control over those employees.”

Stopping, the governor looked up at the camera. “Yes, we looked and verified what you sent us. Three agents of the BATF have been arrested for the murder of a suspected whistleblower’s child.”

Looking back down at the letter, the governor took a deep breath and continued to read. “I tried once and only once to bring up these violations and was warned to keep my mouth shut. Knowing what would happen if I continued, I kept my mouth shut and continued my work but started my own war.

“The people of the United States refused to believe what other whistleblowers have come out with, and members of Congress called for those whistleblowers to be imprisoned without a fair trial. You can say I’m a coward, but I would rather be a living fighter than a dead martyr who no one believed. As you’ve seen, the areas I had access to were above and beyond what other whistleblowers have exposed, so I know I would’ve been killed along with friends and family.”

Looking up at the camera, the governor stopped reading. “I hate to say this, but you did the right thing,” he said in a regretful tone. “No one would’ve believed you, not even me. Until the federal government started the power grab, I didn’t believe anything was amiss. When I was shown what you sent, I almost fainted. Like I said, we suspected some of this, but what you have sent us shows just how far they have planned for this takeover.”

Shaking his head, the governor started reading again. “If you prove to me that you are in this fight to win it and restore America, I will send you the information you need. Four days after receiving this information at seven o’clock central time, broadcast to the nation what the federal government is doing to the citizens. I’ve risked much, and so has my group, but we will keep fighting until America is once again free. Thank you, and I hope you will stand tall with others who are fighting for freedom. Yours Truly, Nancy Wallace, NSA Programming Supervisor, G-10.”

A loud thump sounded as Nelson dropped to his knees. “Fuck me with a big stick,” he mumbled, feeling lightheaded.

“Nancy,” the governor said, looking up at the camera. “America owes you a debt that can never be repaid. I beg of you, please, you and your group make your way to one of the Free States. You have done enough, and we want to protect you.”

Nancy reached back to her pocket and pulled out a cellphone. “Fat chance on that,” she said, turning the phone on.

Gerald jumped up and forced Nellie to take Devin then ran over to Nancy. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he yelled as she sent a message.

“Telling the governor the passwords to my hard drives I had stored in a safe deposit box in Austin,” she said, looking up.

“You’re using a cellphone from here to there!” Gerald bellowed, waking up the sleeping babies.

Nancy looked up at him. “Yeah, I’m not stupid. I have relays, and we can’t fight this war from the bottom. We need havens, and for that, we need people from the top.”

“You’re one hundred and ten percent positive that signal can’t be traced here?” Gerald asked, lowering his voice when he heard the cries of the babies.

“Yes,” Nancy smiled. “I’ve been planning this for years. You wanted us to be safe and have a fighting chance. I wanted the rest of America to know what they were up against so they could have a chance to fight.”

“Damn, talk about sticking your dick in a hornet’s nest,” Nelson mumbled as Michelle slapped the back of his head.

Chapter Eight

Feeling the bed shift, Nelson cracked his eyes open and saw Michelle walking into the bathroom naked. “Um, papa bear like,” he grinned and crawled out of bed.

Nelson crept in to find Michelle turning on the shower. “Forget it,” she said, not even turning around.

“Oh come on, you’re already naked,” he moaned, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her.

“Yeah, I’m not working out sticky.”

“Well, you’re the one that got rambunctious last night, not me,” Nelson chuckled.

Turning around in his arms, Michelle kissed his cheek. “Yep, when I don’t have to worry about kids hearing, I like showing you that you’re no match for me,” she grinned.

“I’ll lose that bet any time you want.”

After showering, they headed to the gym to find the others already there and even all the boys. Gavin, Adam, and Alex followed the men and copied what they did. When Gerald picked up Devin to get in the hot tub, he let out a squeal, clapping his hands. Everyone stopped as Gerald threw in a dozen plastic balls that floated on the surface.

“Teaching him how to call in air strikes today,” Gerald said, climbing in.

Michelle grabbed Nelson’s arm. “Baby, I’m sorry,” she said, watching Gerald toss a ball up so it would land on the bubbles. “You never went to that extreme.”

“I’m jealous,” Nelson huffed. “I never thought about teaching them how to call in artillery and air strikes on the bubbles.”

As the adults climbed in, the bubble war was in full swing. Devin just held onto the balls, using them to beat the bubbles into submission. When Mike squealed and started fighting the bubbles in Nancy’s arms, Michelle grinned. “Looks like he’s committed to battle now.”

When the boys climbed in, the hot tub was packed and forced all the bubbles in the center with no escape. Devin gave a yell and tried to jump out of Gerald’s hands to dive on them. Michelle was relieved when Gerald only let Devin lean forward to beat the bubbles.

“How was X-box last night, Gavin?” Nelson asked, closing his eyes as Devin’s war started throwing water up.

“Man is Nancy good,” he grinned. “She beat all three of us by herself.”

Hearing coughing, Nelson looked over to see water dripping off Devin’s face. “Got a little carried away, didn’t you?” He smiled at Devin.

Giving a yell as he raised his hands, Devin started assaulting the bubbles again. “That’s it; don’t let them get you,” Gerald shouted with a grin.

After everyone had gotten out and as Gerald dried Devin off, he reached for the silent Jacuzzi. “We’ll get them tomorrow,” Gerald laughed.

Michelle walked over and took Devin. Gerald looked at her in shock. “I need to get him a change of clothes. You’ll see him at breakfast,” she said, hugging Devin.

“Okay,” Gerald droned as he dropped his shoulders.

Nelson wanted to carry Devin home, but Michelle wouldn’t let him. “Yep, time for another kid,” he mumbled.

After he was dressed, Nelson went to the kitchen and got the operating manuals for the FLYER that Nancy had printed out for him. He fixed a pot of coffee as Gavin and Michelle got dressed. Hearing a knock, he turned to see Gerald walk in the door.

“She doesn’t have Devin dressed yet?” he asked, walking over.

Seeing the look on Gerald’s face made Nelson chuckle. “He’s chasing her around the bed as she dresses.”

“Oh,” Gerald said then looked at the manuals. “So you started studying on your new toys?”

“Yep, read them once already.”

“You still want to go and get the stuff we found last night?” Gerald asked, looking down the hall when he heard a squeal.

“Yes, we can go and get it tonight,” Nelson said, hearing giggling coming down the hall. He turned to see Devin crawling down the hall with a wide grin, showing his tooth.

“There’s my warrior,” Gerald said as he clapped his hands. Devin squealed and crawled in high gear to his buddy.

Michelle came in carrying her vest and grinned upon seeing Gerald pick up Devin. “Wondered why he took off,” she said, putting on her vest.

When Gavin came in dressed, they all headed for the house. When they walked in, they found Olivia and Brittney sitting at the bar on stools with Bernard trying to gently brush their hair, moving from one to the other. The small brush looked like a toy in Bernard’s massive paws.

“Don’t pull so hard, Bernard,” Nellie said, putting a pan of biscuits in the oven.

“I’m not, woman,” he snapped.

Nelson hung up his vest and put his AR in the gun rack that had been mounted in the kitchen. “Here, Bernard, I’ll show you the tricks,” he said, walking over and grabbing the brush.

Moving over, Bernard watched Nelson’s hands as he brushed Olivia’s hair. “You know your wife and Ashley threatened to cut their hair off?” he almost growled. “I told Nellie, and she took their side. Can you believe that?”

“Why do you think I know how to brush Olivia’s hair?” Nelson said, showing Bernard how to brush without pulling as he worked a tangle out.

Nelson handed him the brush and stepped out of the way as Bernard copied him. “That’s just not right,” Bernard said, working the tangle out. Matt stepped up and grabbed a brush.

“I had to get Nelson to teach me before Ashley shaved Brittney’s head,” Matt mumbled.

Gerald moved over, still holding Devin, and watched. “They’re little girls; you can’t shave their heads.”

“Want to bet?” Michelle said as she placed plates around the table. “Olivia would have a short haircut if Nelson didn’t brush her hair.”

“Same for Brittney,” Ashley said, filling glasses with orange juice.

“That’s just not right,” Bernard grumbled. “They’re little girls.”

“Hey, you help keep it neat, and I’ll quit wanting to chop it off,” Michelle said, grinning and watching Bernard brush Olivia’s hair with determination.

Bernard stopped and turned to Nelson. “I’m warning you now if your wife chops off Olivia’s hair, I’m spanking her. You can call me out to the front yard afterwards.”

“I’ll find you the belt if she does,” Nelson grinned.

Michelle gasped as Bernard looked over at Ashley. “Same goes for you. I don’t care if your husband is the size of that bull out there.”

Matt laughed. “I’ll catch her for you, Bernard.”

“Bernard, you know nothing about long hair, so stop it,” Nellie snapped.

“Woman, I brushed yours, and you went and chopped it off.”

“It’s hot, heavy and gets in the way,” Nellie popped off.

Nelson laughed and grabbed some rubber bands and showed Bernard how to pull Olivia’s hair up in ponytails. “If you leave it down, it gets messed up, and Michelle starts looking for clippers,” Nelson said as Bernard put a ponytail on the other side of Olivia’s head.

As everyone sat down at the table, Nelson looked around. “Guys, not to act like a sissy, but I want some time to go over those FLYERS soon. Then I need to break apart that SUV that we destroyed to salvage some stuff,” he said, sitting down as everyone held hands for grace.

After Bernard finished with the prayer, Matt looked over at Nelson. “What are you salvaging that could really be of any use?” he asked as Nellie passed him the platter of bacon.

“I’m going to cut the body open, pull out all the ceramic plates, Kevlar, and bulletproof windows,” Nelson said, loading his plate. “I’m not really interested in much else. I pulled the gun out already.”

Nodding as he passed the platter around, Matt said, “Yeah, it would be neat to have, but what for?”

“I’m going to put some plates on one of the UTVs so we can ride around with some protection,” Nelson said. “I also need to weld up a steel barrier for Gerald.”

“I need to check the fence line and the crops,” Bernard said, loading his plate.

Reaching over the table, Nancy grabbed a biscuit. “I would like to get up our air warning system,” she said.

Gerald looked around the table. “Okay, everyone takes care of side projects today, and we will continue on the preparations tomorrow since we are going out to get supplies tonight.”

Putting his fork and knife down, Nelson put his hands on the table and turned to Bernard. “We are bringing that mini excavator and track steer back,” he said in an even voice.

“We have an excavator, and my tractor can do anything that little skid steer can,” Bernard said as he took a bite. As he swallowed, he turned to Nelson. “They’re not green.”

Throwing his hands up, Nelson cried out, “Bernard, we used those Bobcats in the sand box. My God, if they can take GIs abusing them, they can stand up to anything.”

“We’re bringing back a combine,” Bernard said. “What do we need more equipment for?”

Shocked that Bernard left it open, Nelson just blinked. “That mini excavator can come in handy with digging small fighting positions, and it doesn’t use anywhere near the diesel the big one uses. The track steer can go where those tractors can’t, but there are five attachments at that farm for it,” Nelson finally mumbled.

“Bernard,” Michelle said, shaking her head. “They are good equipment. We watched the engineers abuse the hell out of them, and they always ran,” she said then cut her eyes at Nelson. “They never let him play on them. I suspect he has ulterior motives, but I can see the reasons why Nelson wants them.”

Satisfied, Bernard nodded. “We’ll bring them here then, but if they are delicate, we get rid of them and find green ones if we need them that bad.”

“I never thought I would see the day,” Nellie mumbled, staring at Bernard. “You’re letting equipment on this farm that’s not Deere.”

“If our troops used it, I’m willing to give it a try. Besides, Bobcat doesn’t make tractors, so I’m not being disloyal,” Bernard said with a serious expression. Gerald took a breath to inform Bernard that they did but saw the look Nelson was giving him. Wisely, Gerald kept his mouth shut.

After breakfast, Nelson headed to the barn. The destroyed Suburban still sat in the back of the barn as he walked over to the area where Bernard let him set up his machine shop in the far back corner. Taking off his vest and hanging up his AR, Nelson grabbed his tools and went to work.

As he worked, Nelson was shocked at just how fast it was possible to tear a car apart. In two hours, he had the body cut open and stacks of ceramic plates and sections of Kevlar off to the side. He called Matt to the barn and got him to help take out the three-inch-thick windows.

After lunch, Nelson went to work on the steel barricade Gerald wanted him to build. When it was done, he called Matt and Gerald on the radio. With their help, he moved it to the loft of the barn and placed it at the back loft door that looked out over the field.

“Gerald, what did you want a steel parapet for?” Matt asked, wiping his brow. “It may stop bullets, but the walls on this barn won’t. If I have to fight from the barn, I’m doing it from the ground.”

“I’ll show you. Wait here,” Gerald said, heading to the stairs.

They watched Gerald leave and just looked out over the field. “Your son is in love with Nancy,” Matt blurted out.

A grin split Nelson’s face. “Yeah, and she’s a good one for him to have a crush on. She’s smart and can kick his butt playing games.”

Matt laughed. “Yes, Nancy definitely has tomboy tendencies.”

“I’m proud of what she did,” Nelson said, staring out at the field as the cows walked around.

“Me too,” Matt said then sighed. “I just wish she would’ve given us warning.”

“No, it would’ve gotten hopes up, and if it didn’t work, it would’ve been bad for morale.”

Glancing over at Nelson, Matt thought about that then turned to look back over the field. “Yeah, that would’ve been a big hit to morale,” he said.

They just stared at the cows as they moved around in the field until they heard Gerald grunting up the stairs. Glancing over his shoulder, Nelson saw Gerald carrying a large wrapped object with metal tripod legs. Struggling to walk and carry the object, Gerald duck-walked over and set the object down behind the metal barrier Nelson welded together.

Grabbing the burlap covering, Gerald pulled it off, exposing a huge gun mounted on an arm with electric motors. Mounted beside the gun was a camera. “Made a remote firing station, so whoever is sitting in the command area can keep an eye out and use this to make attackers go somewhere else,” he said with a grin.

“Is that a SAW?” Matt asked, looking at the gun.

“No, it’s an M240, a bigger version of the SAW. It fires 7.62 instead of 5.56,” Nelson said as Gerald moved the tripod and noticed the gun had a suppressor mounted on the end. “You suppressed it?”

“Well yeah,” Gerald said, unwinding an electric cord. “In case we are attacked from two sides, I don’t want everyone to know there is hell up here.”

“I’ll get some hay and stack it in front of it,” Matt said, moving over to stacks of hay.

Gerald grabbed his arm. “No, I was thinking empty feed bags. This thing gets hot, and I really don’t want it being responsible for burning down Bernard’s barn.”

“Yeah, that probably would piss him off,” Matt said, going to grab some empty feed sacks.

Nelson screwed the legs down as Gerald plugged up the remote gun station and started checking it over. “Just have to get the cable for the video and controls hooked up and load it, and we are in business,” Gerald said with a grin.