Forgotten Forbidden America: Rise of Tyranny (15 page)

Chapter 9

When Michelle came back to the kitchen, she heard laughter coming from the backyard and went to the window over the sink. Looking out, she saw Nelson chasing the kids around the yard. He would catch one, taking them down, and chew on their belly then jump up and go after another one. Feeling the tension leaving her body as she watched, Michelle realized that was the answer:
Continue to live your life with your family, and fight to keep that.

Feeling someone beside her, Michelle glanced over to see Nellie smiling, watching the game outside. “That sound alone is worth fighting for,” Nellie said in a low voice.

Putting her arm around Nellie, Michelle nodded. “Yes it is,” she agreed. They watched for the better part of an hour then started to fix lunch.

It was almost noon when Nelson and the kids came in, drenched in sweat and breathing hard but with smiles on their faces. Olivia ran over to Michelle. “Momma, Daddy chased us and ate our bellies!” she cried out with a smile filling her face.

Reaching down and picking grass out of Olivia’s hair, she couldn’t help but smile. “I saw, baby. Do you still have a belly to eat?” she asked.

Throwing up her arms, Olivia cheered, “Yeah!”

As the kids moved to the table, Nelson headed to the sink, turned on the water, and stuck his head under the faucet. With water flowing over his head, he held his mouth open, gulping down mouthfuls. Seeing Nelson with his head under the faucet, Michelle ran over to the shelves above the washer, pulled down a towel, and ran over to Nelson. She draped the towel across his back as he slowly stood up, pulling the towel over his soaked head.

“Tired?” she asked, grinning, as he dried his head.

He cracked the edges of the towel open to peek out at her. “No, dying of thirst and hot as—”

Michelle’s hand shot up, putting a finger across his lips. “I get the idea,” she chuckled then reached over, grabbing the glass of iced tea she had made for him. “You hungry?” she asked, handing him the glass.

Letting the towel rest across his shoulders, Nelson took the glass and almost drained it. “I could eat,” he said, smacking his lips.

They all sat down at the table, and after prayer, they ate as the kids talked about the game. Hearing cries down the hall, Nellie and Michelle took off and came back with Mike and Devin. As they fed the babies, the group just sat, enjoying each other’s company.

It was well past noon when the dogs jumped up, giving off low growls and looking at the front of the house. The table became instantly quiet, and Nelson jumped up and pulled his rifle off the fridge. Walking into the living room, he looked out the window on the door.

“Gerald’s here,” he said, opening the door.

Gerald had driven past the house to the cul-de-sac, came back to the house, and pulled off the road onto the yard. His Bronco was pulling a packed trailer and pointed down the road in case he had to leave fast.

Closing the door behind him, Nelson walked across the yard as Gerald got out, followed by a Rottweiler. “Duke, sit,” Gerald said softly. The Rott looked up at him as he sat down. Duke was big but was still smaller than Zeus. Like Zeus and Hera, Duke was a trained attack dog.

Walking toward Gerald, Nelson saw someone get out the other side of the Bronco. When they walked around the front of the Bronco, he saw it was Gerald’s sister, Nancy. She was still slim with long, soft, black hair and her nerdy black glasses.

Slinging his rifle across his chest, Nelson stopped and held out his hand. “Have trouble? We were expecting you before noon,” Nelson asked as Gerald shook his hand.

“Nope, had to stop and get something,” Gerald said, looking at the AR across Nelson’s chest. “You had problems?”

Shaking his head, Nelson said, “Not really.”

Gerald looked at the driveway with the loaded trucks and trailers. “May want to think about hauling around the iron in plain sight.”

Like a switch had been thrown, the smile and happiness left Nelson’s face. “Nobody’s going to tell me I can’t be an American,” Nelson told him in a flat voice.

Gerald held up his hands. “I understand, but we aren’t in a place to have a battle yet,” he said, stressing “yet.”

“Best to stay on my feet and not act like I’m bowing down. I’ve noticed those that act like they accept a boot on their neck eventually live with it there,” Nelson said as Nancy walked over and hugged him.

“Just thinking of the others,” Gerald said, grinning.

“So am I,” Nelson said and looked down at Nancy. “Girl, it’s good to see you,” he said as she let him go.

“You too.” She smiled. “Michelle inside?”

“Yeah, go on in and get some food. Lunch is still on the table,” he told her. Nancy smiled and headed to the house.

Walking toward the driveway, Gerald snapped his fingers, and Duke jumped up and walked beside him. “I don’t recognize the stuff on your truck or that trailer on your truck. Just where did you get that monster? That thing looks almost thirty foot long and is sitting mighty low,” he noted, stopping beside Nelson’s truck.

“Just got it,” Nelson said and moved really close and whispered what all was on the truck and trailer. Gerald’s eyes slowly started getting wide as the tale continued. When Nelson was finished, Gerald was almost speechless.

Clearing his throat, he slowly turned to Nelson. “You’re right; we leave tonight,” he croaked.

“Glad you see why I’m so insistent,” Nelson smiled.

Lifting his arm, Gerald patted Nelson’s truck. “I thought I was getting some nice stuff. With this, we can really make a difference.”

“My thinking exactly,” Nelson said. “You hungry?”

Nodding, he said, “Yes I am,” and Nelson turned, heading to the house. Gerald followed with Duke beside him. “Hera isn’t in heat, is she?”

“No,” Nelson answered. That was the only time the dogs didn’t get along. Walking in, Duke moved over to the dogs as they touched noses in greeting.

When Gerald sat down next to Nancy, Nellie passed him a plate. “Thank you,” he said and started eating. “I trust you saw the idiot talk?”

“Yeah,” Nelson said glumly as Nellie and Michelle nodded.

Getting up, Michelle put Devin in his swing. “Gerald, you told me almost the whole speech when you called,” she said, sitting back down.

“It was circulated among the troops, and a major I know gave me a copy,” he said between bites.

“What is going on at the base?” Nelson asked.

“The base is almost empty,” Gerald told him as he grabbed his glass. “They almost didn’t let me leave. Wanted me to join the private contractors again.”

Letting out a groan, Nelson asked, “Are they going to be a problem?”

Putting his glass down, Gerald looked around the table at the kids then at Nelson, choosing his words carefully. “Yes,” he said. “There are over half a million contractors in the U.S. alone under Homeland now and double that of ones who have worked with them. Homeland picked up almost a quarter of a million of them. Those not picked by other alphabet agencies are operating under them. A lot of those guys are in it for the money and don’t care what they have to do. Now, take into account Homeland is flying in another quarter of a million private contractors from overseas, and they care nothing for America’s way of life. They will be the thorn in America’s side. When push comes to shove, I believe half of the military will balk and turn. I know the SOCOM boys are getting real antsy about taking on Americans. The same is true in all the elite forces from Green Berets, SEALs, Rangers, and Recon. They aren’t going to follow for long,” he said in a low voice.

“Any word if all the states are going to follow the drumbeat of Washington?” Nelson asked.

“Texas, Wyoming, Utah, and Montana are already talking secession. Word is Montana called up their guard and sent them along with a ton of cops and seized military bases. They let any troops go that wanted to leave and told the president the government could have the equipment back once Montana got back its gold reserve and all the money its citizens lost,” he chuckled.

“Any word how that went over?” Nelson asked.

“Government can’t really do much since the governor of Montana now has control of nuclear weapons and aircraft. It’s also rumored the governor of Texas is doing the same thing. Mutual destruction is a very big deterrent,” Gerald told him.

Nelson looked over at Michelle, who looked at ease. “How much trouble do you think we’ll have at the farm?” Nelson asked.

“For a few months, I don’t expect much, but trouble will eventually leak out of the cities. Food is about to become a big issue, and that’s how they are going to control the masses. They want the population to become totally dependent on them and report people who aren’t marching to the drumbeat of Washington,” Gerald said.

“What of the world?” Michelle asked.

Gerald gave a huff. “Hell, they have already laid down for their governments. America was the last bastion for any form of freedom. Granted, it was getting limited, but we had some. Those in other countries only have the illusion of freedom. But to answer your question, they don’t care,” he told her. “The European market crashed, and have you noticed you can’t get news on our market?” he asked, looking around.

All of them nodded, and Gerald’s face became remorseful. “Yesterday, the market took off, almost doubling before noon. Then, all of it was gone, and when it dropped twenty percent from opening before two, the government shut it down. This morning, the market was open for thirty minutes before it lost twenty percent, and the government closed it down. It didn’t matter how much gold they dumped on the market; it wouldn’t rebound. Nancy pulled it up on her computer before we got here, and gold is down to a hundred dollars an ounce,” he told them.

“Well, the twenty trillion they took from America’s savings really didn’t do much,” Nelson said.

“It brought down the house of cards,” Michelle said.

With a soft chuckle, Nelson said, “Yes, it did do that.” He looked up to see Ashley walk in. “You look like you slept hard,” Nelson grinned. Ashley’s hair was flat and tangled on one side with the other puffed out and tangled.

“Didn’t know where I was when I woke up,” she said, walking over to the baby bouncer and rubbed a sleeping Mike’s head. Moving over, she hugged Brittany. “Had to check Matt’s pulse to make sure he was still here.”

“You can use the shower,” Nelson told her.

“I would have, but I need to get some clothes,” she said and looked up at him. “Why, do I stink?”

Nelson shook his head. “No, but I’m fighting not to laugh at your hair,” Nelson admitted with a grin creeping up on his face.

“I like it,” Gerald declared. “She looks like a wild beast.”

Ashley spun around. “I’m going to get some clothes.” Ashley giggled as she headed for the door.

Gerald stood up. “I’m going to get my maps so we can lay out a really back road route out of here to the farm,” he announced.

“Why?” Michelle asked.

“Less chance of running into trouble,” Gerald answered.

Giving Gerald a look like he was the biggest dumbass ever, she said, “No, why are you going to map it out? We have nineteen routes to the farm and have driven all of them.”

Sitting back down with a wiry smile, he said, “Seems I’m out of my league here. Can I see them?”

Getting up, Michelle walked into the living room and opened Nelson’s tactical bag and pulled out an atlas and clipboard. “They’re not marked all the way, but I’m sure you will be able to understand,” she said, handing over the stuff.

“Very good to not mark it,” he said, taking it.

“We were both in the Army, Gerald, and we both have a brain,” she said as she got Devin out of his swing.

Setting the stuff on the table, Gerald shook his head. “I’m shutting up now before I get my ass kicked,” he announced.

The others laughed as Michelle took Devin to the living room. “Well, you have a brain as well,” she called back.

Nelson moved over and showed Gerald the routes, and they sat and discussed which would be the best. Both were still looking at the routes an hour later when they heard shuffling footsteps enter the kitchen. “You two have a homework assignment due,” Matt said, entering the kitchen.

Not even looking up, Nelson popped off, “Dude, don’t even start.”

Heading to the fridge, Matt opened it and pulled out the pitcher of tea. “What has you spinning?” he asked, grabbing a glass from a cabinet.

“First, your daughter joined my daughter beating me in my sleep,” Nelson announced, finally looking up. “Then, your wife sleeps in my bed, and if that’s not weird enough, my wife helps strip you so you can sleep in my bed,” he said in disbelief. “I never believed I would ever say something like that.”

In the act of pouring a glass of tea, Matt froze then started chuckling. “Yeah, I have to admit that sounds next-level kinky,” he admitted, cutting his eyes at Nelson.

“You better?” Nelson asked, being serious.

After draining one glass of tea, Matt poured another. “I don’t even remember getting here,” he said, draining another glass.

Pushing his chair back, Nelson got up and went over to stand beside Matt. “Fifty hours without sleep will do that,” Nelson informed him.