Forgotten Forbidden America: Rise of Tyranny (20 page)

Closing his eyes, the officer turned around away from Nelson and put his hands on the car. “Zeus, movement kill,” Nelson said, letting his rifle drop and hang from the sling at his side and pulling his pistol out.  

Slowly easing up, Nelson put the pistol at the base of the officer’s head. Reaching around, he undid the officer’s duty rig and let it fall. Seeing the hand mic attached to the officer’s shoulder, Nelson unclipped it, letting it fall with the belt.

Patting the officer down, Nelson found a pistol in the small of his back and another in an ankle holster. “Now, we have radios that can hear, so don’t lie,” Nelson said, backing up. “Where are the units with CBs tracking us?”

“One is eighteen miles to the south from here. The other is seven miles to the west,” he responded with a whimper.

“It’s not state police, so who is it?” Nelson asked, kicking the duty belt and guns away.

Starting to tremble, the officer answered, “Homeland.”

“Now, if I think you’re lying, you don’t live for sunrise,” Nelson said. “What the fuck are you and them out here for?”

“Catching people leaving cites with weapons,” the officer answered.

“You mean you’re catching preppers?” Nelson asked, and the officer nodded. “How many have you caught?”

“Sixteen,” he responded.

“People or vehicles?” Nelson asked, looking back down the dirt road but not seeing anything.

The officer’s breath quickened. “Vehicles,” he said quietly.

“Where’s your partner? And I know how to operate that computer in your car.”

He let out a shocked gasp. “She’s headed up 558 to see if the group headed north. Are you the group that calls out numbers?” he asked.

“Oh, so you have been listening,” Nelson growled as his finger dropped to the trigger of his pistol.

“You were following military-like procedures with your calls and changing channels. That’s what set them off,” the officer replied as the radio on the ground went off.

The radio sounded, “Unit four and unit eleven, new contact; move south toward Elkhead and will vector you in.”

“Who are you?” Nelson asked.

“Unit four,” the officer answered as the radio sounded again.

“This is eleven. Copy,” came a female voice.

“I’m going to handcuff you to the fence behind us. Your friends will eventually find you when they trace your low jack. I’m going to let you reply. If you try anything, you’ll die, and I’ll be long gone before they get here. Understand?” Nelson asked, and the officer nodded with tears of relief.

Nelson picked up the hand mic and put it by the officer’s mouth. “This is four. Copy,” he called out when Nelson pushed the button.

“How many people where in those sixteen vehicles?” Nelson asked, letting the microphone fall.

Taking a deep breath, he replied, “Twenty-seven.”

“That’s just today, isn’t it?” Nelson asked, and the officer nodded. “Zeus, heel,” Nelson commanded. “Officer, start stripping down to underwear, and don’t try shit, and before you complain, don’t. I’ll just shoot. You might have a key on you, so start stripping or die.”

Wisely, the officer did as he was told, keeping his back to Nelson as he stripped. “Where are those that your little team catches taken?”

“Homeland detention in Branson then shipped to the FEMA camp in Illinois,” the officer answered, taking off his pants.

“You’re sending those people to jail for leaving,” Nelson told him.

“They are breaking the law,” the officer shot back. “The president has signed an order prohibiting any firearms out of residence. This area is nothing compared to how they are setting up in others. Homeland knows there aren’t many preppers here, so they only have a few agents here for now. I mean, they had several agents in Springfield shot and don’t have anyone to send there to replace them for a few days.”

“Last I checked, he can’t pass law,” Nelson grumbled. “How many of your troopers are doing this?”

“Almost all. If we don’t, we are sent to the FEMA camp,” the officer told him. “We had some officers who didn’t report for work, and they along with their families were sent off.”

“Why didn’t you fight?” Nelson asked then noticed the wedding band. “You’re scared for your family?”

“Hell yes I’m scared for my family,” the officer shouted, and Zeus growled. In a lower voice, he continued, “If you try anything or don’t do what they say, they send you and your family off.”

Reaching down, Nelson pulled the two sets of cuffs from the duty belt. “Hands behind your back,” he said. Standing in only his briefs, the officer put his hands back, and Nelson handcuffed him. “Don’t move,” Nelson said as he moved to the car. He looked around and saw only the normal stuff in a cop car. Grabbing the brief case and clipboard, Nelson threw them out. Taking the keys, he moved back to the trunk and opened it.

A shotgun and M-16 were in a locked rack along with a gear bag. Seeing two green ammo cases, Nelson reached for them and noticed a large, black box storage case. At the side where the top lifted to open, there was a latch that one could put a padlock on, but there wasn’t one there.

Curious, he flipped the lid open, and his knees got a little weak seeing stacks of gold and silver coins. At the back edge were thick, cardboard sheets. Grabbing one, Nelson pulled it out and saw postage stamps in neat rows in plastic placeholders. He didn’t know much about stamps, but he could tell some of them were old.

Looking at the stamps more closely, Nelson saw each one was on a small card in the placeholder. On one, he could make out writing: “Happy Birthday Jared.” He walked over to the officer’s pants and pulled out his wallet. He saw his name was Scotty, and there was a picture of the officer with a woman and two small kids. “I’m only going to ask once: Where did you get the loot?”

The officer didn’t answer, and Nelson holstered his pistol and grabbed his rifle. “I ask; you answer or die,” he said, raising his rifle.

“From a group we caught four hours ago,” he answered quickly.

“So you are robbing the people you’re sending to their death?” Nelson asked in a flat voice.

The officer was about to turn, and Zeus growled, stopping him. Keeping his back to Nelson, he whimpered, “Homeland agent Tillman authorized us to take it.”

“He just gave that to you?”

Scotty shook his head. “No, me and Ginger were going to split it when we got off,” he answered.

“You sold your soul taking the money and sent the owners to die,” Nathan stated.

“What would you have me do?” the officer cried out.

“Protect and serve,” Nelson said, raising his rifle, then squeezed the trigger. The round hit the officer in the lower back right above the handcuffs. Letting out a wail, the officer dropped down, screaming. Nelson walked over and stomped on his back. “Shut up!” he shouted, and the wails died to a whimper. “You know if you die, your family will be hunted down by people knowing what you did?” Nelson asked as tears rolled down the officer’s face. “Homeland and your fellow officers won’t care as your family is raped and killed,” Nelson told him.

“Please!” the officer screamed.

“What, so you can continue to steal before people are sent to camps? This has happened in history once,” Nelson told him.

“I’ll fight them!” the officer screamed.

“Okay, I’ll let you,” Nelson said, raising his rifle. “You can fight them when you see them in Hell,” he said and squeezed the trigger, sending a round into the officer’s head.

Walking over to the car, he popped the hood and disconnected the battery so Homeland couldn’t use the computer to locate the car. He walked back to the pile and saw the officer’s cellphone on the duty belt. Nelson threw it down and shot it. Grabbing the duty belt and guns, he moved to the trunk and took out the gear bag and threw the stuff inside.

Closing and grabbing the handle of the black case, he tried to lift it, and the box didn’t budge. With both hands, he grunted, lifting the box out, and set it down, figuring it was well over a hundred pounds. Looking further into the trunk, he saw a bunch of electronics. “Shit,” he said and looked up at the back window, spotting a small camera.

“Figures,” Nelson said, grabbing the gear bag and putting the strap across his body then grabbed the box. As fast as he could, Nelson trotted to his truck and just threw them in the passenger floorboard then ran back, unlocked the weapons, and took them out.

Pulling out his knife, he knelt down and leaned under the car. Placing the tip of his knife on the gas tank, he hit the back hard, sinking the tip in the tank. As he yanked out the knife, a steady stream of fuel poured out.

Nelson dug in his tactical vest and pulled out a zippo, flipping the top open. “Zeus, truck,” he snapped, and Zeus took off as he picked up the weapons. The gas started pooling and running out the back on the ground. Leaning down and striking the lighter, a loud whoosh sounded as the fuel lit up.

In a dead sprint, he headed to the truck as the car started to catch on fire. Jumping in, he started the truck and stomped the pedal before closing the door. Throwing the weapons in the back, he unclipped the sling from his rifle as his door slammed shut from the momentum. Putting the rifle on the dash, he grabbed his phone from the console and dialed Michelle’s number.

“Motherfucker, I’m about to come back there!” she answered.

“Language as you tell me,” he snapped, looking in the side mirror and seeing the car in full flames now.

“What are you doing?” she screamed.

“On my way to you. It’s bad,” he said. “How far are ahead are you?”

He could hear Michelle talk to someone then answered, “We are five miles from that turn, about—”

“Don’t!” he shouted. “I’ll be there in a minute. It’s bad,” he said and hung up.

Chapter 11

It didn’t take Nelson long to catch up, but to everyone’s irritation, he didn’t explain anything when he stopped. “Don’t use the CB or cellphones unless it’s an emergency. Gerald, get us the hell out of here, and stop at the designated rest point,” Nelson said, climbing back in his truck.

Hearing the urgency in Nelson’s voice, the others took off, and the group was underway again. Turning onto another dirt road, they continued on without lights at thirty-five. It was two hours later when Gerald pulled over on the side of the road at a small bridge. The road was wider here, allowing people to park on the side of the road to fish.

Letting out a long sigh of relief, Nelson opened his door and found the entire group outside his door, looking at him. The look on most faces bordered on pissed off and worried. “Hey, don’t even think about getting pissed at me,” he snapped, jumping out. “We couldn’t risk the chance that cop wouldn’t make the right choice about which way we went,” he growled and saw Michelle take a breath with Devin in her arms. “Don’t. I mean it.” Stunned, Michelle clamped her mouth shut and took a step back.

“They are looking for people running,” he announced.

“So it was a cop?” Gerald asked.

“Yes, it was one of the ones we saw on that road,” Nelson informed everyone. He then told them what he found out, including the box of precious metals and stamps.

Michelle got in his face. “You better not have left him alive,” Michelle told him, narrowing her eyes. “At the very least, he knows what you sound like.”

“Please,” Nelson said. “I shot him in the head and burned the car,” he replied, shocking even Michelle. “What? The damn car had a dash cam in the front and back.”

Shaking his head, Matt said, “Nelson, they only turn on when the lights are turned on then have to be turned off manually.”

“Well, I didn’t know and wasn’t taking a chance,” Nelson told him as Gavin came over and hugged his waist.

“Dude, I’m at the back,” Matt said. “I have to take care of threats there.”

“No, you have two little ones with you, and Ashley’s job is to lean out, throwing lead till someone else, that meaning I or Gerald, stops and deals with the threat. We can’t outrun them, so we have to kill them and get out of the area quickly,” Nelson said.

Nodding in understanding but not liking it, Matt almost snapped, “You think it’s really the truth?”

“I was very persuasive,” Nelson replied with a flat expression and tone as he hugged Gavin with one arm.

With their imaginations running wild from Nelson’s decree, Michelle said, “Baby,” as she reached out to grab his other arm. “What did you do?”

“What I had to do to make sure I found out as much as I could in the shortest amount of time,” he answered and saw shock on her face. “Baby, I didn’t have time to set up and water board.”

Stepping up to him, Michelle wrapped her arm around him, hugging Nelson with Devin tapping his chest, babbling. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret later,” she almost pleaded.

“Let me tell you, baby,” Nelson said, hugging her. “I’ll skin someone alive and dip them in alcohol to keep my family and this group safe.”

Matt looked around at the group then at Nelson. “You think they’ve found him?”

“No, but they just started looking for him. Seems he didn’t show up to another location where they were tracking another group trying to leave Springfield,” Nelson told Matt, shocking him. “I took the asshole’s radio, and they started calling for him half an hour ago.”

Michelle looked up. “Lan—” she started but shook her head. “Never mind.”

“After what you screamed, you got that right,” Nelson chuckled. “Can I have a sandwich?” he asked, looking around.

Nellie walked back to the Suburban and came back carrying a small cooler. She pulled out a foil-wrapped sandwich and handed it over. “You done a fine job, Nelson,” she told him. When he took the sandwich, she stepped over and hugged Nelson with Michelle. After she let them go, Nellie walked around, passing out sandwiches.

Nelson picked Michelle up and set her on his seat with her facing out. “Gavin, will you let the dogs out to use the bathroom and feed them?” Nelson asked, and Gavin nodded. “Always in my sight,” Nelson added, and Gavin smiled and went to the passenger door to let Zeus out then headed to get Hera.

Finishing his sandwich in two bites, Nelson took Devin as Michelle ate. “When can we use the cellphones?” she asked.

“Oh, we can use the CBs now,” he said, playing with Devin’s belly, making him laugh. “They are only outside of cities, and the more preppers, the more they have set up. Springfield doesn’t have a large prepper crowd, so they don’t have many out. I didn’t ask about the cellphones to be honest, but I wasn’t taking the chance.”

Nellie came over and took Devin without asking. She carried him back to the Suburban and fed him as Ashley fed Mike. Seeing Nelson’s face as he watched Nellie just take Devin away, Michelle told him, “Well, it was smart not to use cellphones in the area anyway.”

“Yeah, we need to get rid of our throw-away phones,” Nelson said, grabbing a bottle of water. “Just in case they pull the cell tower records and start tracing numbers around that area.”

“We all need to get rid of them,” Gerald said, walking up. “You think outside the box rather well.”

“Hardly,” Nelson smiled. “That’s how we traced insurgents in Iraq.”

Gerald nodded. “Yes, we did, and it was quite effective,” he said with a grin. “Want to keep on the same route?”

“Don’t see why we need to change,” Nelson said. “I have to admit I forgot about that sharp turn.”

Shaking his head, Gerald said, “Son, that wasn’t a sharp turn; that was a backtrack. Thought you weren’t going to make that turn there for a minute.”

“Me too,” Nelson said and drained his bottle. Leaning into the truck beside Michelle to get another one, his mouth was right beside her ear. “How long do we have to wait till sneaking off into the woods?” he barely whispered but almost made Michelle choke on a bite of her sandwich.

She coughed out the bite. “You better be nice,” she croaked out with a grin.

He just looked at her with a gentle smile. “I love it when you smile,” he told her.

Reaching up, Michelle covered her face. “You’re going to make me blush,” she said with a giggle.

Looking over at Gerald, Nelson saw his eyebrows raised. “What?” he asked.

“I’m waiting on the Leia slave costume,” he declared, taking a bite of his sandwich.

Covering her face with her hands, Michelle jumped out of the truck and ran back to the Suburban. “I’ve tried to get her to wear that since I met her,” Nelson admitted. “She told me if I bought one, I would have to wear it before she did. Then, just a few days ago, she finally breaks down, giving in, and the world has collapsed.”

Gerald laughed. “Never took you for a Star Wars geek.”

“Don’t really advertise it,” Nelson said as Matt walked up.

“What did you say to Michelle?” Matt asked. “She has her face buried in her hands.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Nelson admitted.

Not even wanting to know what Gerald said, Matt changed the subject. “Nelson, you were right back there, and I’m sorry.”

“Don’t know what for,” Nelson told him, patting his shoulder. “How’s everyone’s fuel?”

“I can usually make it to the farm on three quarters of a tank, but I’m already below half,” Matt admitted.

“Should’ve bought the extra tank instead of the six-inch lift,” Nelson said.

“No, I like being up high,” Matt told him. “I’m going to fill mine, and Nancy said she was just above half.”

“I’ll get it,” Nelson said, walking back to the Blazer’s trailer. He pulled off five-gallon cans. It took three until it was full.

“You just had to have that souped-up engine,” he heard Michelle behind him.

Turning around, Nelson shrugged. “I put an extra tank in it,” he said, grabbing the gas cans.

Michelle walked up behind him and hugged him. “If you need to talk, I’m here,” she offered.

“It’s in the past, and that’s where it will stay,” Nelson said, tying the empty cans back on the trailer. “Slow speeds with heavy loads don’t make for great fuel efficiency,” he noted.

“Baby, we are going less than forty carrying the heaviest loads we’ve ever pulled to the farm; what did you expect?” she asked, still holding him.

“Ah, to be able to go faster,” he offered.

“We’re going; that’s all that matters.”

Grabbing her hands, he separated them and turned around to return the hug. “You are so right,” he agreed.

Soon, everyone was loaded back up and back on the road. Nelson looked down at his watch. “Two o’clock,” he said with disgust. He looked over at Zeus. “At least at this pace, we’ll be there before dawn,” he said, reaching over and scratching Zeus’ head.

Seeing his monocular giving him a low battery warning, Nelson took it off and changed the battery. He put it back on and settled back in his seat. “This is Big Long One. Load’s shifted; need to pull over at a choke and puke,” Gerald called out over the radio. Nelson had a good mind to call Gerald back and cuss the hell out of him for scaring the shit of him again.

Slowly pulling up behind Gerald’s trailer, Nelson was surprised to see Gerald standing there with an AR. When Nelson stopped, Gerald walked up to his window, and Nelson rolled it down. “Hey, stay here with everyone,” Gerald said, press-checking his AR. “Saw some lights coming from Highway 19.”

“Man, we’re only twenty-nine miles from the farm,” Nelson whined.

Looking back at their convoy, Gerald said, “Doesn’t matter how far we are if we don’t get there. You and Matt pull security here. Get everyone back in the tree line, and if anyone stops, deal with them.”

Opening his door, Nelson got out, grabbing his rifle. “Take mine,” he said, holding it out. “I have a suppressor.”

Letting out a soft laugh, Gerald said, “You think I don’t have some?” as he turned away. Nelson watched Gerald stop at his Bronco and pull something out as Duke jumped out. When Gerald attached something to the end of his rifle, Nelson grinned. Gerald broke in a jog, heading down the road with Duke trotting beside him.

Losing sight of Gerald as he rounded a curve, Nelson waved everyone up. As the group gathered, Nelson looked around, noting the tree line was twenty yards away from the side of the road with a shallow ditch.

When everyone came close, Nelson looked at them. “Gerald spotted lights on Highway 19 and is going to investigate. I want everyone to get back in the tree line until we move. Matt, you have the back of the convoy. If a regular car drives up and stops, we’ll deal with them. If a cop drives up, just unload, especially before he calls out on the radio.”

“It may be a cop that isn’t helping Homeland,” Matt replied.

Shaking his head, Nelson told him, “With our families here, we aren’t taking the chance. If it was just you and I, we could try and get the jump on him.”

Reluctantly, Matt nodded. “Yeah, it’s not worth the chance,” he sighed. “This sucks.”

“Matt,” Nelson said, stepping close, “I would’ve killed that trooper regardless of his involvement with Homeland. He would’ve taken down our names and license plates. The ones in charge of this would be able to narrow down where we went.”

Looking down, Matt checked his rifle. “Fair enough,” he said, knowing Nelson was right. “Hope no one stops, but if they, do we’ll put some steel on target.”

Matt and Nelson helped the others set up right inside the tree line, laying blankets out for the kids to lie on. Hearing whispers, Nelson looked over and saw Nancy adjusting an AR-15 across her chest, having a whispered conversation with Gavin. Both were sitting against a tree, looking at the road.

“Your son has a new friend,” Michelle said, walking up behind him.

“That one of your ARs?” Nelson asked because he noticed the AR Nancy was holding had a fourteen-inch barrel, and Michelle had several short ARs.

“You really think Gerald’s sister wouldn’t have her own weapons?” Michelle asked.

Thinking about that for a second, he admitted, “Yeah that was a dumb question on my part.” He looked down at her. Like all the adults, Michelle was armed and had a monocular on, and Nelson had to admit Michelle even looked good in his green-tinted vision.

“Nelson,” Michelle whispered, “get your thoughts off me, and get to the front.”

Shocked, Nelson jerked. “How in the hell did you know that?”

“The way you were grinning and looking at my body,” she whispered back.

He spun around. “Fine, I’ll go think about someone else as I sit in the woods,” he declared in a low voice, walking away.

“And I’ll break your little finger,” Michelle whispered with a smile, watching him.

Hearing someone move toward her, Michelle turned to see Nellie walking over. Out of everyone, Nellie couldn’t wear a monocular, so Nelson had dug out PVS-7 night vision goggles. Nellie was still getting used to no depth perception and was walking very slow. “I like being able to see in the dark, but how does anyone move with these things?” she asked, stopping beside Michelle.

“You get used to them real fast. Faster when people are shooting and chasing you,” Michelle said, looking over at all the kids asleep on the blankets except Gavin, who was still whispering with Nancy. Looking around, she spotted Ashley just a little further down, watching the road. “Didn’t take the kids long to go back to sleep.”