THE WARNING A Novel of America in the Last Days (The End of America Series Book 2) (18 page)

Fort
Carson

Colorado
Springs, Colorado

        
Doug Hammer, U.S. Army Green Beret, retired, knew what he
had to do. It only took him a few seconds after reading the letter from the VA.
He’d been called by other vets in the last week telling Doug that they had
received the same VA letter, but in his wildest imagination he couldn’t conceive
that his government would send him such a notice. But, there it was. The letter
to Doug said that the VA had determined that due to his prior experience in
combat and his personal injury suffered in combat, that Doug was “not able to
handle” his VA benefits “because of a physical or mental condition” and would
be rated as “incompetent”.

        
 
As bad as that
sentence was, Doug lost it when he turned to page two of the VA letter. The VA
informed him that a “
determination of
incompetency will prohibit you from purchasing, possessing, receiving or
transporting a firearm or ammunition.
” He was then warned by the VA that if
he violated the prohibition against owning firearms that he could be “
fined, imprisoned, or both
” pursuant to
prevailing federal law. What about the exceptions to the McAlister Act, he
asked himself, that allowed hunters and sportsmen to retain ownership of
firearms?

        
When the McAlister Act was affirmed as Constitutional by the
U.S. Supreme Court, Doug filed for a sportsman license and then immediately
buried his several firearms and ammo in a waterproof stainless steel container
the location of which only he knew. He prayed that he would never have to dig
up his cache of weapons though in his heart he knew that someday it would come
to it. As he held the VA letter in his hand he knew it would soon be time.
Incompetent?
He could be held to be
incompetent
by his government because he
fought
for his country
in combat
? And his incompetency meant he
couldn’t possess a firearm even as a sportsman or a hunter?

        
Doug knew when he buried his firearms that he could someday
be charged with committing a felony under the McAlister Act. Most of his buried
weapons had nothing to do with hunting. But, he knew from many conversations
and communications that hundreds of thousands of fellow veterans were doing the
same thing. To a man, they had each decided that it was worth being accused of
a crime for possessing a firearm, not selling it to the government. On the
other hand, most did not want to take a chance of being caught and charged with
a felony, so they carefully hid their weapons in case they needed them someday.
That day had arrived. Besides the offensive letter from the VA, the car
bombings of federal buildings didn’t smell right to Doug. As a former Green
Beret he knew something about false flags and their use in the military to
justify taking action to avenge a purported wrong. Doug felt in his gut that
there was something wrong with what the government was claiming.

        
For Doug, it was time to unearth his firearms. In
anticipation of what he feared would happen, as soon as McAlister was affirmed,
Doug began to quietly look up other recent vets who lived in the Colorado area.
He developed contacts, in some cases friendships, with tough, battle-hardened
veterans of the United States military. By the time Doug Hammer received his
incompetency letter from the VA he had developed over seventy platoon leaders,
each of whom had recruited between thirty and fifty veterans as members of
their individual platoons. In total Doug soon commanded almost three thousand
veterans, all of whom were dedicated to fighting, again, for their country, if
the call to arms were to come. The over-reaction of the federal government to
the purported right wing car bombings almost brought Doug into action. The
rumors he heard about pastors being arrested and Christians being interred in
FEMA camps almost did it, but the rumors were never reported by America’s
mainstream media, so, for many, these things had never actually happened. All
of these atrocities, and other efforts to undermine the Constitution, were each
another straw heaped on the proverbial camel’s back. But, all it took was the
VA letter - the final straw. The camel couldn’t bear it any longer.

        
Doug met his seventy platoon leaders in a most conspicuous
location. They gathered in a Sunday school classroom in a large church in
Colorado Springs. Security was tight as Doug and his fellow veterans discussed
what they would do. Unanimously, the seventy one veterans decided that it was
time to let the federal government know that it had finally gone too far.

        
They didn’t intend to just take a public stand and be
slaughtered, as they understood had happened to their fellow patriots at the
Alamo. America’s veterans would now send a message that no one in DC could
mistake as an amateur effort. These men were trained professional soldiers who
could inflict maximum pain, when necessary. They decided that it was now
necessary. Their best case scenario envisioned their assault on Fort Carson as
the beginning of a nationwide uprising of similarly minded, and armed,
Americans. Their plan was to sound the trumpet calling America’s veterans to
arms to take back their country.

        
Named for famed Army scout General Christopher “Kit” Carson,
Fort Carson, a United States Army base, is located south of Colorado Springs.
The residents of Colorado Springs were well acquainted with the fact that Fort
Carson was the location of hundreds of Russian troops who were tasked to the
Army installation, often referred to as “The Mountain Post”. They were also
acquainted with the widespread rumors that the Russian troops had been used in
the western United States to execute Americans in areas in which American
soldiers refused to fire on their fellow citizens. It was decided that the
first phase of their armed resistance in Colorado would be to take out the
foreign troops. Doug and his fellow leaders were friends with soldiers who were
on active duty with the Army and residents of Fort Carson. As a consequence,
they were able to obtain details as to which barracks were the location where
the Russian troops were housed.

        
Working surreptitiously, Doug and his veterans arranged for
bombs to be secreted in three barracks in which the Russian troops were
billeted. Precisely at midnight three bombs tore apart the three barracks,
killing nearly all of the Russian soldiers, except for a handful who were
severely injured. Within twenty-four hours word had been passed inside Fort
Carson that the bombings were arranged by a large, well-organized group of
American veterans, the American Resistance. Word was further spread among the
troops at Fort Carson that the veterans were planning to seize control of the
Fort the next day and would allow the soldiers on active duty to join the
veterans in armed resistance to the federal government. Word was passed into
the base that once Fort Carson fell into the hands of America’s armed resistance
that other commands in other bases across the nation would soon follow suit, as
America’s military coalesced in turning ‘its Communist President and his
Communist staff out of power’.

        
What happened next was later described as the “Battle of
Fort Carson”. Hearing a high level of encouragement from Fort Carson active
duty personnel, Doug and his platoon leaders made plans to besiege Gate 20
southeast of the Fort, roll into the Fort and grab control of the command
headquarters. Wording had been drafted for the public video announcement that
would be beamed to the world from Fort Carson. Doug Hammer had been selected as
the leader of the American Resistance who would read the statement. He had
practiced and was prepared to say:

        
I am Doug Hammer, U.S.
Army Green Beret, retired. I served my country in two wars, in combat and
received the Purple Heart for my war wounds. Until recently, I was willing to
put up with my country imprisoning conservatives who did not agree with the
President. I was willing to accept the imprisoning of pastors and others who
were not favored by the White House. My thought was that America elected the
President, so we get what we deserve. However, I have concluded that the
President is not legitimately in office, that he has the worst interests of the
country at heart and that he is attempting to destroy the capitalistic system
and install a socialist, even Communist, system in its place. I finally
concluded that rumors of Russian troops, stationed at this base, being used to
execute Americans were true. Our band of veterans, which we have named the
American Resistance, has taken out those foreign troops. We take full
responsibility for doing so. We are now in control of Fort Carson, along with
the command structure of the active duty troops stationed at this base. We call
on all American military personnel, wherever located in the world, to join with
us in resisting this illegitimate administration, rebuking them and removing
them from office, by force of arms, if necessary. May God bless America.

        
Doug’s invading resisters were initially successful as they
drove their Hummers and pick-up trucks in a caravan to Gate 20 of Fort Carson.
The six soldiers on duty laid down their arms as soon as the caravan approached
the Gate. They smiled at the incoming veterans and waved them on into Fort
Carson. Things were going exactly as I thought they would, Doug thought, as he
motioned for the caravan to head for the command headquarters. What Doug did
not know was that his caravan was squarely in view on the monitor screens of
drone controllers at nearby Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Base. Fifteen
controllers at Cheyenne were watching the live feed from their individually
controlled drones, each armed with high impact Hellfire missiles.

        
Command of the drone controllers was in the hands of an Air
Force General who was thoroughly committed to defending his friend the
President, whatever the cost.
The
General was on a direct line to the White House. The person on the phone in the
Oval Office was the Attorney General, seated across the desk from the
President, both watching a desk monitor displaying a live drone feed from
Colorado.

        
The Air Force General asked the Attorney General, “General,
can you see the caravan on your drone feed?”

        
The Attorney General responded, “Yes, General I see the lead
Hummer and the following vehicles. Great technology.”

        
“Mister Attorney General, do I have authority from the
President to take out these rebels?”

        
The Attorney General looked over at the Commander in Chief
and asked, “Okay to launch? The General wants your authorization….well,
here
,” he said handing the phone across
the desk, “you can tell him
yourself
.”

        
The President, without taking his eyes from the monitor,
grabbed the phone and said, “General, you are good to go. Take them out.
Now.
”

        
Within seconds fifteen high-flying drone aircraft had fired
their Hellfire missiles. One missile took out Gate 20 and the soldiers who had
failed to resist the caravan. Eight missiles violently exploded into the motor
vehicles of the entering caravan, flinging burning men and metal in all
directions, the exploding gasoline of the vehicles adding to the conflagration.
Three missiles tore apart the command headquarters of Fort Carson, throwing
bricks and glass across the area surrounding the command center. One missile
powered from the sky into Interstate 25 north of Fort Carson, with another
striking the interstate south of the Fort, in an effort to isolate the base
from any other resistance troops that might be planning to assault the base.
The final Hellfire missile deviated from the paths of the fourteen missiles
which were centered south of Colorado Springs. The fifteenth missile flew
northwest of Colorado Springs into a suburb in which was located the home of
Doug Hammer, destroying his home and over twenty houses surrounding it.

        
Before DHS could secure the video tape Channel 9 in Colorado
Springs aired a full report on the destruction at Fort Carson. The local news
reporter estimated that nearly three thousand “rebels” were killed in the
attack, with about the same number of active duty personnel dying in the
“Battle of Fort Carson”. The initial Channel 9 news flash referred to “drone
missiles used to repel the rebels”, but all subsequent news coverage omitted
any reference to the use of drones. Local news outlets only reported that a
small group of right wing gun owners had attacked Fort Carson and had all been
killed, omitting any mention of other loss of life and failing to mention how
the deaths took place. No news source carried any report on the neighborhood
destruction that occurred in a northwest Colorado Springs suburb. National
mainstream media completely ignored the story. The Battle of Fort Carson was
over.

Solid
Word Baptist Church

Lansing,
Michigan

“We are confounded, because we have heard
reproach:

shame hath covered our faces:

for strangers are come into the
sanctuaries

of the
 
Lord
's house.”

(Jeremiah
51:51)

        
The Pastor of Solid Word Baptist Church received a considerable
amount of feedback after the overflow meeting at his church. Local media were
generally fair, sensing that they should report the truth of what was said by
the incensed local residents. The conservative talk radio station in town was
abuzz for several days after the meeting at Solid Word, with callers applauding
the growing antagonism against the President. Though most of the residents of
Lansing were pleased with the outcry for something to be done to take back
their country, official Washington was less than pleased.

        
The President himself reviewed highlighted parts of the
transcript of the meeting. His review hastened his approval of the DHS plan to
punish America’s religious leaders who refused to sign the Loyalty Oath. It
also increased his determination to make an example of the Lansing Pastor whose
church was the site of a meeting that he considered to be treasonous. He was
not about to allow radical right wing religious zealots to rabble rouse others
to oppose his rule. He authorized DHS to take the appropriate action.

        
Three armored trucks pulled up in front of the Solid Word
Baptist Church just as the second service started. The dark green, almost
black, armored SWAT trucks were painted with the logo and name of the
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, an American Flag and the words SPECIAL
RESPONSE TEAM. Twenty-one armed DHS employees with body armor and helmets
quickly exited their SWAT trucks, formed up and ran towards the church’s three
entry doors. The leader of the DHS assault team held up his hand until he
confirmed that his full team was in place. He then dropped his hand, motioning
towards the church. The lead assaulter in each of the three sub-teams jerked
open their assigned doors, as all twenty-one SWAT team members ran into the church,
entering the sanctuary.

        
 
The armed men and
women trotted down the middle aisle and the two aisles on the side of the
sanctuary, reaching the front of the church in seconds. Congregants were hushed
as their eyes saw something that didn’t match with reality – armed, helmeted,
uniformed men and women in their sacred space. Half of the strangers entering
the sanctuary had their guns trained on the Pastor and the three men seated
behind him on the front platform of the church. The other half turned and trained
their guns on the people - men, women and children, seated in the pews. For
almost everyone present this incursion represented the first time that any of
them had experienced someone training a gun on them.

        
Solid Word Baptist Church, like most American churches,
organized a security team a few years ago in the off chance that some deluded
soul would attempt to enter a church service to harm or kill. Four of the
members of Solid Word’s security team were in attendance at the second service
when it was invaded by DHS armed employees. Three were off duty police
officers, with the fourth a retired SEAL.

        
The leader of the DHS SWAT team moved across the podium next
to the Pastor, handing him a document. He said in a loud voice, “Pastor, our
agency records show that your church has been used for meetings to plot
the overthrow
of the government. In
addition you have thus far refused to sign the President’s Church Leader
National Loyalty Oath, swearing allegiance to our President and agreeing not to
engage in any attempt to overthrow the government….Pastor, this is your last
opportunity to sign this Loyalty Oath….
Will
you
sign
this Loyalty Oath,
Pastor
?”

        
The Pastor was the wrong man to try to intimidate. He
glanced down at the document and then looked up at the armed man standing with
him behind his church’s pulpit. The Pastor said, loud enough for everyone in
the sanctuary to hear his voice, “We recognize in this church
only one king
– the king of kings –
King Jesus
. We pledge all of our loyalty
and allegiance to King Jesus,
not
to
any other king, ruler nor even a President. Now, please leave this sanctuary.
You, sir are on
holy ground
…..and you
stand on the brink of eternal judgment depending on what
you do
in this holy place. And, sir, the meeting you referred to
was a community meeting, not an official meeting sponsored by our church, if
that makes any difference to you.”

        
The DHS SWAT team leader had been carefully prepped for this
moment. The leader was given a prior rule of engagement that allowed him to take
any action he might choose. His superiors advised him prior to the assault that
the Pastor would most likely react as he did. The leader also knew that a team
member was videoing everything that happened, for later viewing at DHS and the
White House.

        
“Pastor, the President’s executive order requires religious
leaders who
refuse
to sign the
Loyalty Oath to be incarcerated in a local FEMA Emergency Camp for
re-education.” The SWAT team leader raised his assault rifle, placing the
barrel of the rifle in the center of the Pastor’s chest, He raised his voice by
several decibels to make sure that the video properly captured his DHS bravado,
saying, “As a result of your
refusal to
comply with the President’s request
to sign this Loyalty Oath I am
authorized to
arrest you
and convey
you
immediately
to the FEMA Emergency
Camp west of Detroit.”

        
The Pastor said a silent prayer, stared into the agent’s
eyes then said, “Sir, this country threw over 100,000 Japanese-Americans into
internment camps during the Second World War, so I guess what is happening here
today shouldn’t surprise me. Just do what you
have
to do.”

        
The off-duty police officer seated at the end of the front
pew couldn’t contain himself any further. The pastor’s words were a cold
reminder of the loss of his grandfather’s California farm as a result of the
Japanese internment. The family never recovered. The officer knew he was
out-gunned, but all of his years of training had taught him that he had to
respond to the placement of a firearm in the chest of the man he was sworn to
protect.

        
He stood, shouting at the team leader “
Lower that gun….now….,”
while also withdrawing his side arm from
the holster under his arm. Before he could raise it though, he was hit by
numerous rounds, catapulting him back across his pew, his blood splattering on
those behind him. Two persons behind the off-duty officer, an elderly woman and
a teen-ager, were hit, both in their foreheads, by bullets meant for the
officer. The other three armed security team members who were scattered across
the sanctuary, started to reach for their weapons. Each, though, wisely
realized that he would invite instant death for himself and most likely those
around them. They left their weapons holstered.

        
Within a short time the Pastor and the three men who had
been seated behind him on the platform were restrained and hustled out of the
sanctuary before anyone could further resist their actions. The three dead
parishioners were attended to by those around them, with many using their cell
phones to call 911 for medical help. Those who called local media to report
what had just happened in their church were soon disappointed as they learned
that a total news blackout had been placed on local and national media by the
DHS for ‘security reasons’.