Shelter: Book 2, A Long Days Night (16 page)

“I think we start with Karen. She has a reason to do it.”

“Yes, she was Robert’s girlfriend, but is she strong willed enough to carry it out? It’s one thing to talk about killing, it’s another to do it while looking the person in the eye. She’ll have to kill him in cold blood while relatively defenseless.”

Jason looks at the ceiling of Fred’s living room, “All we can do is ask her, we have nothing to lose if she says no. I bet we find someone who is willing to do it.”

“Remember, we’re only going to get one chance. If she tries and fails, they will kill her and many of us, they will never allow anyone close to Dutch again. Whoever agrees to do it can’t get cold feet and back out at the last minute.”

Looking concerned, Bob continues, “Jason, if we ask her and she refuses for any reason, we have to be very careful she doesn’t say anything to anyone else about it. Dutch has ears everywhere. If he finds out what we’re planning, he’ll kill us all before we can move against him. We will also have to prepare for the aftermath of her success. We’re going to have an all-out war between our groups and the MC. They will come after us with everything they have. Taking Dutch down is going to cost us. We should be ready to attack their base of operations as soon as we know Dutch is gone. Surprise is our best friend. Hopefully, we’ll be able to strike them while they’re still confused.”

Jason looks at his friends, “We’ve been together for a long time. We’re the survivors of the long walk from Chicago. We’ve survived the weather, the illnesses, the hunger and each other. We can get through this. Sooner or later Dutch is going to drop his guard. He’s going to grow careless. He has a current favorite woman. He usually grows tired of one after a couple of weeks, let’s talk to Karen. If she’ll do it, we’ll have a couple of weeks to prep her. We’re also going to have to make sure she catches Dutch’s eye. We want to make sure he wants her so she can get next to him. It’s the only chance we’re going to have to get rid of him. We can’t tell anyone about our plans or Dutch will come after us. None of us can talk about this to anyone else. At the same time, we have to prepare and practice our defenses.”

Everyone agrees this is the only workable plan they can think of to kill Big Dutch. When the group leaves Fred’s house, Jason paces outside the house trying to draw up a mental plan of what to do if they succeed or more likely if they fail. He decides the best plan is to put some distance between his group and the MC. He goes back into Fred’s house to make a list of those people who have skills they will need in the future, the ones who have skills they need now and the ones who are only takers. Jason decides in order to protect those with critical skills he’ll whisper to them to begin leaving the farm. He’s selected an area on the map where he plans to meet when he gets everyone he needs away from the farm.

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Dutch laughed so hard watching the President’s speech, beer ran out of his nose. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Fair share, one percent, higher taxes” are what he and his lieutenants heard, most were laughing at the speech as the President spoke the words. One of Dutch’s staff was an ex-college economics professor they called ‘prof.' “Prof, what do you make of his speech?”

“Dutch, I can’t believe he’s repeating his normal mantra. We’re in a situation where the international markets aren’t accepting our dollar, we lost the reserve currency classification, we’ve lost most of the value of the dollar. Many of our allies won’t accept it for trading. We’re seeing hyperinflation begin, people’s saving and market holdings are dropping in value every day. The banking system is broken, most of the branches are closed, ATMs are out of money. Even if people could get their hands on money, nobody knows what’s its worth. Stores are either out of inventory or charging anything they want for whatever they have left. People have started to barter for things they need. Our economy has fallen back in time two hundred years. Unless something drastic happens, the country’s unemployment rate is going to exceed fifty percent. I’m not sure we’re going to be able to reverse course in our lifetimes. His merge with the UN is very dangerous. He said he’s going to send UN troops here to fight us. We should look for a way to stop them before they can get settled in our country. The army is Americans, they might not fire on other Americans while on the other hand the UN troops will take joy in killing us.” 

“Prof, repeat that again in English.”

“Dutch, the country is screwed, everything he’s saying is going to make the current situation worse. We’re about to have a civil war against the UN in our back yards.”

“Why didn’t you just say so?”

“I did.”

“Have another beer, you’ve got too many brain cells for me to deal with. Jose, you were in the Marines before they busted you out for punching your sergeant. What do you think about him sending the military to patrol the streets? Are we going to have to fight the Army?”

Jose laughs, “Dutch, he cut the military before and during the start of the economic crises, two months ago they were down to only half a million people in the military. It’s anybody’s guess how many are left in uniform, there’s not enough of them to patrol everywhere. Most of them are going to be tied up providing services to the starving population. It should be easy for us to stay away from them. If we do run into them, they will most likely be in very small numbers, numbers we’ll be able to handle. I worry about the UN troops, they are an unknown.”

“If I understand what the two of you are saying, we have nothing short term to worry about.”

Both Jose and the Prof nod their agreement. Dutch smiles, “In that case, I suggest we party. Someone bring the girls in.” Eight naked young ladies aged from eighteen to twenty-six are led into the large family room. Each walks to over to the man they’ve been sleeping with. They sit on the men’s laps, where they’re offered beer or glass of wine.

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Tony and I open the security door to find out what the code 1 problem is, “Todd, what’s the problem?”

“Dad, Tony, we’ve received reports that the US Army is in Illinois heading in our direction, there are also posting on a number of forums of Tea Party militia planning on attacking the Army patrols, they’re asking for other like-minded people to join them fighting against the Army and new world order. And there are videos of UN airplanes landing in the country. According to the HAM reports, the Army, the militia, and the UN are all headed to Nashville. Dad, there’s one report, which I think is pure BS that Russians have been spotted moving towards the Army.”

“Shit, we’re right in their path. The last thing we need is us getting caught in a mini world war.”

Todd asks, “Dad, what can we do about it?”

“I don’t know yet. I need to think about it. While, I’m thinking, let’s see what the assholes upstairs are doing.”

I watch Dutch launch his sex party from the security room, “Damn it, I’m going to have to burn all of my furniture and start all over again. Lacy won’t ever sit in any of those chairs again.”

Todd smiles while responding, “Dad, where are you going to find new furniture?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll have to find some before we return home. God knows what filthy diseases those scum are spreading in my house.” Tony enters the security room, he looks at the monitors, “Next time you decide to hide and watch a porn flick make sure you call me. Anyone have any popcorn?”

I jab him in his ribs with my elbow, “That’s my house they’re screwing in.”

Tony smiles saying, “So that’s how you made your money, you made porn flicks and you never told me, you shouldn’t keep secrets from me. You know I have a good distribution arm that can expand your sales.”

Everyone laughs, Tony is trying hard to hold his laugh in. “Jay, I think we need to pay these assholes a visit.”

“I agree. We need to pit these assholes against the other assholes, maybe we can maneuver them into killing each other off so we can move back into our homes. It’s better for us if they kill each other off versus us risking our lives.”

Tony and John grin, Todd says, “I think we have to start hitting them if for no other reason than the morale of our people is falling again. They thought that when Dad returned everything would return to normal. They thought we’d be quickly moving back into our homes. They don’t see us doing anything ‘constructive’ and they’re getting restless and depressed.”

“Todd, you talk to almost everyone, what did they think of the President’s speech?”

“Jay, most were confused, they don’t understand what he was saying or how anything he said, except for sending the military into the country to restore order, will make any difference. Some think the military will swarm in, crush the gangs and everything will return to the way it was. Some think working closer with the UN is a good thing.”

Tony shakes his head, “Are they that far gone? Can’t they see that life will never be the way it was? The federal government is meaningless. They have proven to be a useless, instigating part of the problem versus being part of the solution. My friends were able to make their living by building the cost of paying off the government into our cost of business, the only thing the government did for us was to turn their backs. If anything, their demise is going to help people like me. There will be fewer people to pay off. The unknown in the future is the UN.”

John looks at Tony, “Aren’t you afraid of the country breaking into many small countries with warlords?”

“No. If it happens, many of my friends are going to be those warlords. We’ve had the supplies, the weapons and the will to use them before the crash, we’re going to be in a perfect position to restore order.”

Todd asks, “Tony, restore order or establish the order you guys want?”

“Is there a difference?”

“Todd, you’re too young to remember how it used to be when we controlled areas. I’ll give you an example. Years ago, we ran Las Vegas. When we ran the city, the gambling, and the girls, your safety as a visitor was important to us. We wanted you to be safe, we wanted you to stay in our hotels, spend your money with us. We knew we would always win at the tables, the odds are stacked in our favor. All we wanted was for our visitors to spend their money in our casinos. You didn’t have to worry about being mugged, we kept the streets clean and crime free. We kept the city humming along making money for everyone. We knew drugs could be a problem so we controlled where they went and how much they sold for. We kept them away from schools and kids. We knew if kids got into drugs, their parents would want us gone, it would be bad for our overall business. We kept the streets clean to protect our customers.”

“Tony, what happened? It wasn’t like that the last time we visited Vegas.”

“Todd, once the various governments decided we were a threat, they forced us out of positions of control. You got unions who can shut down a hotel at a moment's notice, the police can’t patrol all of the streets. Hiring a girl of the night may result in you being mugged. Food costs more, rooms cost more, service went down, security decreased. We didn’t want you harmed, you were our golden goose. We knew if we made you feel safe, you would spend more. The more you spend, the more we made. We used to generate more cash than we knew what to do with. We were swimming in cash.”

“Why did the politicians want you guys out of control?”

“They were jealous of our control and power. Look at Atlantic City. When New Jersey legalized gambling in the late 1970’s, they wrote the laws to keep us out of Atlantic City. They made it almost impossible to comp a room or give away anything. They cracked down on prostitution, they refused to allow the lengthening of the Atlantic City’s airport runways. This one act blocked many large planes from landing at Atlantic City, visitors had to fly to Philly or Newark and take a bus or rent a car to visit the casinos. Their laws kept the whales, big spenders, from playing at the casinos. The whales expected to be treated in a certain way, the laws forbid them from being treated in the manner they expected. The whales didn’t go to Atlantic City. The casinos had to bus in little old ladies for day trips who spent spare change on the slot machines. Within a few years, the casino’s started failing. The financial benefit to the city never materialized. Just before the crash, Atlantic City was bankrupt. My friends know how to manage, they know how to provide security, they know how to build a system that will be able to provide a new beginning for everyone. Mark my words, my friends will be in the lead when the country begins to surface from the crash. Would you rather have my friends or corrupt politicians who caused this mess be in charge of the rebirth? People like me don’t want citizens harmed, we want you healthy and happy, you spend more on sin and with us when you’re doing well. We don’t like civil unrest, we want the country to be growing and happy, it’s better for our business.”