Liberty or Tyranny (11 page)

MacKay nodded. “Yes, thanks to Nate, Mel, Deni, Colonel Donovan, and many others in Glenwood.”

“Still,” Ramiro said, “if the soldiers find us, we’ll be at their mercy. All of this is for other threats. As before, if the soldiers come, we must surrender. Their weapons are too strong for us to fight.”

MacKay raised her voice, “They must not find us this time. Watch them. Make sure everyone stays under the cover of trees. I have a bad feeling about this one. I fear that if they find us, we’ll lose more people than last time.”

Ramiro turned grim. He had lost his wife during a military raid on the farm. That raid had been ordered by an insane Army officer. “The man on the radio said someone in Washington was out for blood. He said, ‘Run like hell.’”

She looked around, near-panic in her eyes. “Maybe half a dozen adults should take the children deeper into the woods. This time they may not need an excuse before they open fire on us.”

Caroline was checking her M4 when she heard. “Maybe we should spread out in groups of ten and rendezvous back here in a couple days.”

“I hate to do that.” MacKay rubbed her hands together. Her face lined with worry and doubt as to what course to take. “But it seems like it may be the best thing to do.”

Ramiro agreed. “The radio message was very ominous. I think Caroline’s idea is a good one. It will be much more difficult for them to find all of us if we are spread out.”

“Let’s do it,” MacKay said. “We will need time to make camp before dark, and if we are to spread out far enough to do any good we will need time to travel.”

~~~

Captain Cleef pulled off the dirt drive just inside the gate and let the other Humvees go on by. Colonel Donovan was on the radio warning Captain Cleef not to harm any innocents. “I’m almost certain the individuals you are after are not at that farm. If you allow any unnecessary killing of civilians, you will answer to me. And I don’t give a damn what Washington or the Pentagon says.”

Cleef grew indignant. “Colonel, I have never allowed the murder of civilians. My men have strict orders to fire only when fired upon.”

“Good. Stay on your toes and make sure they follow those orders.”

“Yes Sir. Colonel, we have just arrived, and I will give you a report in 10 or 15 minutes.”

“Fine. You do that.”

Ten minutes later, Captain Cleef’s voice came over the radio speaker in Donovan’s office. “Colonel, the farm has been evacuated. It’s obvious someone tipped them off. I have men out searching the area at this moment. But so far, we have found no sign of large groups of people having traveled through the woods and the surrounding area recently. There are only a few vehicles on the compound and those seem to be disabled. That tells me they left by motor vehicle. I request at least one Black Hawk to search for them.”

“We have one in the area already,” Donovan answered. “Load up and be ready to move out at a moment’s notice.” He did not mention that his sincerest hope was the pilot would come up empty. It would be dark soon, and if those being hunted were careful enough to stay under a thick canopy of cover, their chances of not being found were better than even.

Something woke Nate. He scrambled out of his sleeping bag and sat up, listening. He looked over and saw Brian sitting up also, his rifle in his hands. It was then he realized that he too had his rifle sitting on his lap. The sound of a distant helicopter faded away.

Deni was on watch. She heard the commotion when Nate woke and stepped closer. “They’ve been searching for hours. South of us.”

“What terrible criminals we are,” Brian said. “That they should burn so much fuel looking for us.” He lay back down and got comfortable in his sleeping bag. Still several hours before dawn, the temperature was in the 30s. His breath misted as he turned on his side and propped his head up with a rolled jacket. “I’m going back to sleep. Wake me when the war starts.”

Deni dropped to one knee beside Nate. Speaking in a whisper, she said, “You go back to sleep also. It’ll be Tyrone’s turn to pull security in about 30 minutes.”

“Wake him now, and get some shuteye. I want you to come with me to check out the farm. The others will stay here again.”

Relieved to learn he wasn’t going alone, she didn’t argue. “Okay.”

~~~

The dark night woods gradually lightened to gunmetal gray and revealed the world around Nate and Deni a little at a time, until they could see well enough to leave the others and head for the farm.

Brian watched them sink into the cold mist that hung only feet above the forest floor and disappear into the towering gloom of the wilderness, swallowed by the forest, its obscurity offering at least some refuge from a modern army. The temperature had dropped below 30 and he didn’t really want to leave his warm sleeping bag, but he knew Tyrone was tired and it was time for him to pull security and let Tyrone get warm in his bag and catch a few hours of sleep. Atticus was ten feet away, snoring peacefully.
At his age, things are going to get really rough for him out here in the woods,
Brian thought.
Let him sleep. He can pull security during the middle of the day when it’s warm and he’s rested.

~~~

Approaching the farm with extreme caution, Nate and Deni bounded from cover to cover, one overwatching with rifle shouldered, while the other moved forward, leapfrogging past each other. As soon as they were close enough to see through the brush, Nate used his binoculars to scan the north side of the farm.

“The horses are in the pasture. There’s not a single human out there visible to me.” After lowering the binoculars, he said “Let’s move around to another angle. I want to take a look at the front of the house.”

Ten minutes later, Deni caught a glimpse of the front porch and door. “Front door’s smashed. Porch furniture is overturned. They’ve been there all right. Question is, did the people get out before the soldiers arrived?”

Nate scanned the porch with binoculars. “I think the helicopters last night answered that question for us. They were searching for Mrs. MacKay’s people.”

“Could’ve been searching for us.”

“Yep.” After scanning the front yard, he put his binoculars away. “But if they had taken prisoners from the farm, they would’ve learned we hadn’t been in the area in a long time. In that case, they probably would’ve been searching at our farm, perhaps Mel’s bunker. No, they were searching for Mrs. MacKay’s people. Besides, most of the vehicles are gone. I’d say they left before the soldiers got here.”

“So,” Deni said, “it’s probably safe to assume everyone on the farm got away, at least for now.”

Nate nodded. “Either way, it’s too late to warn them.”

A reassuring thought lit Deni’s face. “It’s almost a sure thing they were warned. And if they were it must have been Colonel Donovan.” She appeared to be in a better mood than she should be under the circumstances. “Nice to know you can still trust a friend. Doing the right thing may cost him.”

Nate nodded. “Yeah.”

Something on his face prompted Deni to ask, “What?”

“Donovan can only go so far. Once he does, his usefulness to us or anyone else will be over. This may be the last time he can help us. In fact, he may be already relieved of duty and under arrest. Those in power aren’t completely stupid. They’ve already figured out that someone warned Mrs. MacKay’s people.”

Keeping low, they backed away from the farm and started their journey to return to the others.

~~~

Colonel Donovan had not left his office all night. The only sleep he managed was two hours of lying on a blanket on the cold hard floor. He paced back and forth in the small room, waiting for the next report from Captain Cleef and praying his soldiers would not find the civilians they were looking for.
This entire operation is bullshit. Nate and the others have committed no crimes.
He stopped pacing his office.
They get them, I’m next. All to keep corrupt politics undercover. How many more people are going to die?

Realizing his predicament, he collapsed into the chair behind his desk. He was willing to die for the people of Glenwood and his friends, but he had no idea how he could help them. He feared what little power he had to change things would soon be taken away. He felt cornered. And when a man like him is cornered, he becomes dangerous.

Send a protest up the chain of command?
He cast his eyes around the room, but he was looking inward.
What good will that do? The orders came straight from the Pentagon. And they got their orders straight from the president.
A thought came to him that lived and died within the span of a millisecond.
Stage some kind of a revolt? How many soldiers will follow me?
He shook his head.
Don’t go crazy. We have enough bat shit blowing in the wind as it is.

Capt. Cleef’s voice came over the radio speaker. “We found six of them, all adults. They refuse to tell us where the others are. They did tell us they haven’t seen our fugitives in weeks. They say the last they heard, the ones we are hunting were still in Glenwood.”

Donovan’s face turned white. His last hope, the small chance that they would not find any of Mrs. MacKay’s people, just vanished into thin air. “Do not harm any of them. They’re not wanted for anything. They’re American citizens.”

Capt. Cleef responded, “Yes, sir. We’ve been through that already. None of them have been harmed. They surrendered peacefully.”

“Keep it that way. Remember, it’s their right not to talk to us.”

“Yes sir. We will hold them and continue to search for the others.”

The two Army officers signed off.

Sergeant First Class (SFC) Quint Bartow could hear the conversation from his desk outside. Agitated by what he heard, he entered the office. “Excuse my bluntness, but what the hell is going on, sir? This looks like déjà vu all over again.”

Donovan raised an eyebrow and looked across his desk at Bartow. “It is, but this time the nut’s in the White House, and he’s more crazy like a fox than anything else. It’s a long story, but the gist of it is the president wants total control. Right now food is power, and that means he wants control over all food supplies in the country. He’s obviously worried about the large farm the people of Glenwood have been working on. He doesn’t want anyone to be able to feed themselves. He wants them reliant on government. The idea is to keep them hungry, while maintaining control of all food production, so he can hand it out a little at a time and keep the people compliant. Most people don’t even know we have a new president, because they didn’t elect him. In fact, most people outside of the Northeast don’t even know we had an election. His tenure in power is tenuous and bound to come to a screeching halt as soon as the rest of the country understands what’s happened and demands a real election. One that includes all 50 states and every eligible voter. If he doesn’t consolidate his power soon, he’ll be kicked out of office before the end of the year. He’s desperate. And a desperate tyrant is the most dangerous kind.”

Bartow stood erect; though it was obvious Donovan didn’t expect him to be so formal. “You mean the president is a ruthless son of a bitch politician willing to do anything to gain more power, sir.”

A light flashed behind Donovan’s eyes. “Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. It’s possible more civilian innocents are going to be harmed before nightfall today. A team of Black Ops types flew in last night and immediately joined the search. They wouldn’t talk to me, directing all questions to the Pentagon. Other than giving me a little deference to my rank, they pretty much told me to go play with myself. I suspect they’re CIA. Whatever they are, they’re spooks and not regular military. We can’t allow them to get their hands on those civilians. If they do, there’s no telling how far they’ll go to get information.”

Bartow swallowed. His face grew grim. “Sir, my allegiance is to the American people and the Constitution of the United States of America. And I don’t give a damn about some fake tinhorn would-be dictator in Washington.” He cleared his throat. “In case you didn’t already know what side I’m on. Because it looks like things are going to get bloody in this country and people are going to have to decide what kind of Americans they are. I know you, Colonel, and I know what side you’re on. Now you know what side I’m on.” He saluted and left the office.

Surprised but not shocked, Donovan’s mind raced. At that moment, he began to rethink his entire life. A cold realization of what he and the American people faced settled into his stomach and weighed him down.
A civil war? Oh God, how much more do the people have to suffer?
He resolved to do what he could to head off the looming tragedy and prayed there were people in much higher positions than him already working on the problem. But he could not wait on others to help Mrs. MacKay and her little group of survivors. The local problem had to be dealt with immediately, and as for the bigger problem of Washington, he would need help from people with a lot more power than him. But who could he trust? He could be executed for treason if things went bad.

~~~

General Carl Strovenov watched the scene of apocalyptic atrocities race by the window of his armored limousine. Even after so many months, over a year, he found it almost impossible to believe that Washington DC, the capital of America, could appear as squalid, violent, and lawless as any third-world country, worse in fact. His vehicle was the third in a convoy of five. The other vehicles were all armored-up Humvees except for the leading vehicle, which was an armored personnel carrier. The APC was armed with two .50 caliber Browning machine guns on the top, mounted in tandem and electrically controlled. Sweeping the streets of Washington with machine-gun fire had become a necessary and frequent event. There were times government officials couldn’t get from their office to the White House without resorting to such drastic measures. As they raced down the streets, the more peaceful citizens held up crudely hand-painted signs that said things like ‘We’re starving Mister President. Where is the food?’

The entire city smelled of sewage. The system hadn’t worked since the first wave of death came, brought by the plague from across the sea. Rotting bodies swarming with flies littered the sidewalks and even the streets, flattened by government vehicles like road-killed stray dogs. Most government officials had become almost complacent to the horrors, but not the smell.

The worst of it was he knew that every major city in America was in just as bad a condition, if not worse.
It didn’t have to be so bad. Damn it.
He shook his head.
Not this long. We should be much further down the road to recovery by now.

Thinking back on the plague, he shuddered. The first responders were wiped out almost immediately, leaving America with almost no law enforcement officers, very few firefighters and paramedics. And then the nurses and doctors began to fall to the disease. He shuddered again. The damn plague almost wiped out the entire medical profession. Imagine, if every doctor, nurse, pathologist, pharmacist, and everyone else trained in the field of medicine had died! That was close. Damn close. It would’ve taken 20 years to train medical professionals. No, who would train them? What schools of medicine would they go to, and who would train the trainers? As bad as it was, it could have been worse. What few medical professionals were left alive were worth 10 times their weight in gold to the American people and the country. Just about every other technical field also clung to a thin thread, dangling over a black void, the know-how and technology on the verge of being lost for a generation, if not forever.

But the aftermath, all of this time wasted, all of those who died in the violence and famine; that is on those in governmental positions of power and responsibility.
He swallowed and looked inward.
We in the military are not without blame. We let Washington handle things and make most of the decisions. We turned a blind eye to what we knew was happening. We saw the takeover, the fake elections, the dismantling of constitutional limitations on federal government, and we stepped aside and let it happen. Like good military officers, we stayed in our place and took our orders from the civilian government. Fear of violating our oath as military officers by stepping in and interfering with civilian governance of the United States of America meant that we violated our oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. In the end, we are just as guilty as if we had violated our oath in the first place, and if we had, hundreds of thousands of Americans would still be alive today. We are damned for not acting. And if we had acted, we would still be damned.