The Forgiven The Fallen The Forsaken (25 page)

By the time
Helen landed at the village airstrip in the late afternoon, they were very
happy to be out of the small plane.  There was a large Chinook transport
helicopter on the pad as well.

Rob, Denise,
and Jim met them as they exited the plane.  There were hugs all around and Jim
grabbed on to Luke and Jamie and said, “You two did an amazing job.  Now hold
on to your hats because things are going to get interesting!”

They all
stashed their things in their RV’s.  Luke and Jamie put their bags in the
Airstream.  It felt like years ago that they had refurbished it.

When they met
in the clubhouse, they were surprised to see all of the original crew there,
along with Deepak, Zach, Jake and the rest of the NAU girls.  Rita had made a
pasta dinner that Luke thought was the best he had ever eaten.  Even the bread
was freshly made. 

After dinner,
they toasted to the village and to the health of the nation. 

Jim stood in
front of the group, “I’m delighted to see all of you here.  To those of you who
were out on missions, thank you for coming in on short notice.   For the group
that stayed here, thank you for keeping the village functioning for us, and for
the outstanding job you’ve done at producing food here.   Jake, Deepak, and
Zach, I couldn’t be more pleased at what you’ve done to get Flagstaff and the
surrounding area up and running.  I’ve always loved this area and it’s a
pleasure to see it coming around so quickly.”  There were cheers and whistles
around the room.

“As you know,
I’ve found myself in a position that I never expected or wanted.”  This time
there was cheers and laughter.  “And you know the saying,
shit rolls
downhill.
”

“Oh, no,” said Will.

“As usual, Will
has it right on the money.  Things are moving at light speed and I’m left in
the position where I need people I know and can trust. I’m going to be asking a
number of you to be my eyes, ears, and hands all around the country.  I'll be
sending you around to accomplish unofficial tasks for the Executive Branch and
to be my eyes and ears across the entire nation.  Some of these jobs will be
tedious and others may be dangerous but I can assure you that all are crucial.

"So, for
starters, who speaks decent Spanish?"  Julie and Helen both raised their
hands.  "Good.  I need you recording radio announcements and programs that
we can release in Latin America."

Jim launched
into the details of everything else he needed.  By the end of it, the entire
group was stunned.  Luke thought,
How the hell can we do all of that? 

"I know it
sounds like moving a mountain, but this is something that we can and must
do," said Jim.  "The alternative ends with the permanent collapse of
the United States."

"I know
each of you well.  I know what you are capable of doing, and I'm not going to
accept anything less than that.  We need you to get the country back on its
feet and no one else can do it right now.  I need you to help me keep the
country alive.  Are you with me?"

The room
exploded in cheers and applause. "Damn straight!" yelled Will.

I think
we're going to make it,
thought Luke.  

SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA

Jim looked out
the window of the Marine Super Stallion heavy lift helicopter to see what was
left of Los Angeles.  Fires had ravaged the city and most of the roads were
gridlocked with cars that had been trying to flee when the EMP had hit. 

He was now in
control of most of the country.  California was the most difficult problem between
local gangs and groups of invaders that had arrived by ship from all over the
world to loot and destroy.  He had ordered a focus on farm land and ports first,
then on evacuating people from problem cities while troops sorted out the
undesirables. 

People who were
evacuated testified to the crimes that had been committed in the cities by the
various gangs and criminal elements.  It had been horrific experience for them.    
   

The military
were separating out those with gang prison tattoos and giving them the choice
of working government farms for a fair wage or being cut loose from all aid. 
Most chose not to work on the farms and were quietly shot then disposed of
discretely. 

It had taken a
couple of weeks to get the cities emptied of all of the people who would
willingly leave.  Starting with San Diego, they were retaking the cities from
the criminals.  The Navy and Marines swept though San Diego, quickly tracking
and eliminating anyone who would not surrender. 

Soldiers
surrounded Los Angeles and were steadily closing in toward the center of the
city.  Predator drones were used for reconnaissance and to fire Hellfire
missiles at remaining hostile concentrations.  Jim didn’t want to think about
the rebuilding cost, but there was no point in even starting until these
parasites were eliminated. 

Marine One
landed at the Port of Long Beach, where two Navy transport ships were unloading
equipment.  Admiral Chin was waiting for him as he landed, and saluted as Jim
walked up.  He returned the salute and shook the Admiral’s hand.

Jim said, “Good
work, Admiral.  I’ll sleep a lot better at night once we get this port up and
running again.”

“We’re on track
to have it running on a small scale immediately.  We’ll have the cargo cranes
up and running soon, though we won’t be at full capacity for a few months.  I’m
not expecting much traffic before then anyway.”

“Good enough. 
I want to make sure we can accommodate the transport ships from Australia next
week.”

“That won’t be
a problem, sir.”

The Admiral led
Jim onto the nearest Navy ship and into a briefing room.  On the monitor was a
cargo ship about a hundred miles from the California coast. 

“This is the
ship we told you about.  It sailed out of Spain and has not been answering
hails.  People on the ship have fired at the planes we sent out to make
contact.  We believe that it is more pirates looking to loot California.”

Jim asked, “What’s
the environmental cost of sinking it?" 

"The ships
diesel fuel would make a mess, but nothing that didn’t happen often, even
before the virus.” 

“What are the
options?”  

“Leave it
alone, let it land, and deal with them on the ground.  Disable the ship and
leave it adrift.  Capture it.  Sink it with the attack sub following it or with
aircraft.”

“They have
already been warned off adequately?”

“I believe so,
sir.” 

“Sink it now
and be done with it.  No survivors.”

The Admiral picked
phone and said, “Send the following order:  USS Key West: Your orders are to
attack and destroy your target as soon as possible.  No survivors.” He turned
back to Jim, “The Key West will engage it shortly.”

“Good.  Now
give me a run down on how the Navy is doing and what you need.”

The next
several hours were very productive.

100
MILES OFF THE COAST OF CALIFORNIA

The stolen
Japanese cargo ship was filled to the rafters with Muslim refugees fleeing the
slaughter in Europe.  They were well armed with light weapons and headed for
the United States where they would carve out a new land for Islam and attack
the infidel at home.  Abdul Haq smoked one of his last cigarettes and
daydreamed of how good it would feel to kill Americans.  His father had died
fighting them in Iraq, and now it was his turn to kill those pigs. 

Standing on
the deck looking over the port side, he was the first to see the three
torpedoes approaching the ship. He screamed and ran toward the center of the
ship.  He managed to avoid dying in the first few seconds.

He ran for
the nearby lifeboat.  Thirteen of them entered before he cut the boat loose and
it crashed into the ocean, leaving hundreds to die on deck.

They watched
through the windows as the ship broke apart and quickly sank.  He thought about
how he would avenge his brothers and sisters.  One of the men yelled.  He
looked out the other side window as the Submarine rose above the surface and a
group of sailors boarded a small inflatable craft.  He looked around quickly. 
None of his people had weapons with them.

He hated the
thought of being captured by the Americans, but at least he would live to fight
another day. 
Americans were always stupid enough to take prisoners and
someday they would have to let him go,
he thought.  He was furious when the SEALs
stared using his craft for target practice.  It soon began taking on water.  It
wasn't right!

Abdul Haq
and the others ran to get to the deck of the escape craft where they were
picked off, one by one, by the laughing Americans.  The other lifeboat soon
suffered the same fate.  Abdul managed to stay afloat for almost an hour,
despite the gunshot wound in his abdomen.

As ordered,
there were no survivors.

FLAGSTAFF,
ARIZONA

JULY 21
^st

Rob’s group met
back at the
Village Pub.
 Julie, Helen, Matt, Luke, Jamie, and Ricky
were now included in the group, and all were anxious to hear what the mission
would be. 

“We’ve found
one of the last holdouts on our list and we are going to take him out,” Rob
said to the group.  “Ralph Simmons is one of the few people in on the conspiracy
to kill the V.P. who is still alive.  He is surrounded by security, servants,
and family.  He bought, borrowed, and stole a number of art and historical treasures
before everything went to hell and has them squirreled away at his compound
near Portland.  We also know he bought up a very large fortune worth of gold
and silver coins and bars.

“We believe
that he may still have military connections so Jim asked me to handle this in
house.  Our goal is to kill him and his immediate family while preserving the
property that he may have taken.  Everyone else on the property is at your
discretion, but anyone we eliminate will be considered an enemy combatant
regardless of the circumstances.

“Whatever we
find that is not a historical treasure is ours to keep.”

Stewart said,
“Did I hear that correctly?”

“Yes, you did. 
Whatever precious metals, currency, or whatever else we find of value, we split
between us.”

Will asked,
“What about Jim?”

“He signed off
on it with the provision that art and historical items are to be carefully
loaded into trucks and shipped to a safe place for return to the US Government.
  

Will yelled,
“Oh, yeah!  Payday! Your brother in law is alright in
my
book!”

“Here’s the reconnaissance
photos of the compound,” said Rob as he placed photos on the table in front of
them, “and here are pictures of our targets.”

They reviewed
the pictures and soon a plan was coming together.

Ann looked over
the shots.  “You know there is going to be heavy electronic surveillance.  He
will supplement the small staff with lots of heavy weapons and technology.  He will
have stashed electronics just like we did or use only hardened systems.  I’d
put money on the former.   Can we get a short range EMP bomb?”

Rob said, “It’s
possible.” 

Ann thought for
a moment.  “I’m thinking we take down the electronics then go in with attack
choppers to hit the vehicles and guard positions.” 

Frank asked,
“What if we take out the principle first with a sniper round or Hellfire
missile?  The rest are going to be looking to abandon ship after that because
their cushy lives just went away. We let them into vehicles then take out the
vehicles one by one.”

Manny looked
thoughtful.  “You know pecker head has escape plan.  Probably underground vault
and tunnel exit somewhere that looks unlikely.  Right there,” he said, pointing
to a small ravine a good 80 meters behind the house.  “There will be quick
access to transportation.  There.”  He pointed out a camouflaged building that
the others had missed and a flat area in front of it.  There will be helicopter
there.  Here’s where they hid the tailings from the dig.  We borrow tank and
knock on the front door.  The rats run out the back door.  Poof!  We bag
them."

The others just
stared.  After a moment, Will said, “Damn, Manny, you’re a fucking Filipino genius.” 

Manny just
smiled and said, “And don’t you forget it.”

LOUISIANA

JULY 24
^th

Jim and Susan
toured the refinery in Lake Charles with Louisiana Senator Bill Rollins and met
with the remaining workers there. Jim told them, “The country has taken the
biggest hit we’ve ever experienced.  Even the Civil War wasn’t this horrific. 
You are absolutely essential to getting the country up and running again.

“I know what
you’ve been through.  I know your losses.  I will support you in any way I can. 

“I’ve brought
several hundred volunteers to help.  Please teach them and help them to learn
how to do what needs to be done.  Most of them are new to your work, but they
will be successful because they have to be.  We will do our part and do
everything we can to support you.”

He and Susan
spent an hour meeting the refinery workers and their families.  He quickly won
them over, but they wanted to be won over.  They needed to be.  It was the same
everywhere Jim had been on this tour.

That afternoon,
they travelled to New Orleans where they met the engineers who had managed to
keep the pumps functioning.  Jim felt encouraged by seeing what they had
overcome with few resources.

Later in the
day he would be meeting with Governor Jackson, then fisherman from around the
area.   He said to Susan, “This dog and pony show existence is going to get
old.”