Armageddon Rise Of The New World Order (24 page)

Colonel Jenkins looked out into the dark snowy forest lit slightly by the moon. He spoke in a slight southern drawl that many could tell was from Tennessee “That’s the question isn’t it.” Jenkins knew that the Lieutenant Commander was referring to the long term plan more so than the immediate one. Colonel Jenkins looked back to his second in command. “Honestly Price for the first time in my career maybe… I’m not sure. I never thought I would be turning against my own government so I hadn’t really mentally prepared for this one.” Commander Price Nodded as he too checked the parameter for movement. “I think it would be more accurate to say that our government turned on us sir.” Colonel Jenkins shook his head still in disbelief. “I knew those bastards had infiltrated the government but I never thought they had enough balls to attack our own people. What I wouldn’t give to get within reach of our commander and chief.”

The Commander nodded. “Me too, I just can’t believe how easily everyone fell for it.” Colonel Jenkins huffed. “Now that I can believe, this country has had its head so far up its ass looking at the shiny things over there while the constitution gets shredded and their rights get flushed down the toilet I’m actually surprised it took this long.” They both let out audible sighs disappointed and saddened by the state of their country. Colonel Jenkins looked to his second. “The only thing I can figure is to try and inform the people, free them maybe but I haven’t figured out how the hell to do that yet.”

Lieutenant Commander Price thought for a moment. “What about a surgical strike against the president?” Jenkins shook his head. “I thought about that, we might even succeed but these people, whoever they are, have far more influence than just Garrett. They would probably just turn his death somehow to their favor. All we can do is try to get others to resist…but I’m still working out how.”

With that they both went back to patrolling the camp each trying to think of a plan that might free the people and educate them about what was really going on. If only they had waited a few days before going AWOL they might have heard reports of an incident at a camp in Mississippi; unfortunately Colonel Jenkins and Nathan Turner were never destined to meet.

                              * * *

The sun was just beginning to crest and Deshad was already at Xeno squads last known coordinates. The assassin had many state of the art tracking tools but he liked to use more traditional methods before resorting to them. Deshad crouched at a small spot of discoloration in the snow, he lightly moved the snow around until he found one of the teams tracking chips covered in a thick glob of frozen blood. He then followed the multiple tire tracks until he saw a more distinct set heading in a northwesterly direction. Deshad got on his snowmobile and slowly followed the tracks pleased that there were no transports going northwest of Harrisburg; that combined with light to no snowfall had made the trail easy to follow. Deshad had followed the tracks for over two hours thinking that his task may be easier than he anticipated until he came to highway 80. The highway split east and west and so did the tracks. Deshad knew he was following two vehicles but did not anticipate that they would separate. He stopped his snowmobile in the center of the highway as he examined the tracks. At first he thought this was a simple double back maneuver meant to throw someone off your tail however upon closer inspection he couldn’t see where either set of tracks doubled back. After a few moments Deshad pulled up the sleeve on his left arm to reveal an armguard; on the inside of his arm just below the wrist Deshad opened the back of the armguard to reveal a small screen. Deshad pulled up the local satellite imagery with just a few taps. The assassin then zoomed in to see if he could see where the tracks led, unfortunately there wouldn’t be another surveillance satellite passing in orbit for another five hours and he didn’t intend to wait that long. He pulled up a map of the area trying to discern what Colonel Jenkins was thinking. After looking at the roadways Deshad came to the conclusion that one of the tracks would follow a different road but ultimately end up in the same destination. It wasn’t hard to surmise which roads they probably took and which direction they were heading as there were two county roads that circled north one from the east and one from the west; it was the final destination that was still unknown. Deshad followed the left trail which as he predicted turned north.

Deshad passed a sign that read Sproul State Forest affirming that his initial thoughts were correct; as he proceeded he almost missed a JLTV on the side of the road about three hundred yards in front of him. He immediately turned his snowmobile off the road into the forest. Deshad turned off the machine and quickly dove into a roll behind two trees hoping that he wasn’t seen. After a few minutes the assassin dropped down to the snow covered ground and lay so that his white clothing would blend in; he then slowly brought his rifle up to look thru the scope to survey the area. The vehicle looked deserted, after a few moments Deshad cautiously made his way to the JLTV thinking the whole time that this could be a trap. As he moved closer Deshad noticed the JLTV was empty, there was no sign other than a single set of footprints deep in the snow going into the forest. The assassin circled around keeping an eye on the tracks and his surroundings. After an hour of slow going the tracks disappeared as the snow ran into rocks and an overhanging rock face. There was a rope thrown around a low hanging tree to indicate whoever came this way went up the cliff but Deshad’s instincts told him something was off. “Why leave the rope?” Upon closer inspection it appeared like whoever made the footprints this way actually followed his own footprints out which immediately told Deshad that this trail was a choreographed misdirection. The assassin began the trek following the footprints back. Once he arrived back at the JLTV he began to inspect the area closer. Twenty feet down the footprint trail Deshad noticed several broken branches and moved to investigate, after a few moments he returned to the JLTV where the footprints began. He opened the door and noticed a couple of pine needles on the floor under the seat. The proverbial light bulb went off in Deshad’s head as he smiled. “Clever bastard.” Deshad moved to the other side of the JLTV where only a trained few would have noticed the swishes in the snow. The assassin crouched down and nodded at the confirmation of his theory. Whoever was here pulled over, lead a false trail into the woods and backtracked thru their own footprints then used branches and shrubs to make snow shoes. They then went thru the JLTV put on the makeshift snow shoes and walked down the road sweeping shrubs across the snow behind him to try and mask their departure. Deshad was impressed, a rare thing for the assassin. He assumed that the other JLTV was going to pick this man up down the road. Deshad retrieved his snowmobile and continued his pursuit this time with a bit more respect for his prey’s cunning.

                              * * *

It was 130 in the afternoon when Nathan approached the outskirts of Harrisburg, he had been riding all night and throughout the day his hands and fingers numb from exposure. As he looked over the compound Nathan was surprised to see much tighter security than was at the Jackson compound, he thought that maybe him and his teams escapades may have been the cause for this but quickly dismissed the thought thinking that it hadn’t even been twenty four hours yet. Nathan new that finding Kayla among fifty plus thousand people wouldn’t be easy his only thought was to get inside and blend in. After a couple hours of scouting Nathan concluded it would be pretty hard to sneak in without arousing suspicion; but he did notice a group of holdouts going to the south gate to check in probably due to lack of food and warmth. He could see from his vantage point the entry procedure as they went thru a security checkpoint and metal detector. After that they were inoculated and directed to the housing area. Nathan thought that his best bet might be to try and pose as a citizen looking for shelter; he knew that that meant he would have to go in unarmed but after weighing his options he thought that was his best approach. Nathan was happy he was able to find clothes at the house where the motorcycle was, even if they were a little snug. He laid the bike down in the snow and covered it with some light shrubs. After looking around for a bit Nathan found a spot with two trees fairly close together, he marked them both with a slash then buried his swords. Practitioners in the Japanese art of Bushido treat their sword as an extension of themselves some going as far as believing their sword holds a part of their soul. During his time in Japan Nathan adopted many Japanese traditions; he always felt a kinship with the history of the Japanese people and so it was now as he buried his swords in the snow between the two trees he felt as though he was buying a part of himself.

Nathan slowly made his way to the road and then towards the gate, as he approached the soldier took the same caution as he did with the previous entrants. “Stay where you are, place your hands out to your side.” Nathan complied. “Yes sir.” Another soldier approached Nathan as he was being patted down. “Where you coming from?” 

Nathan didn’t know much about the area but he did make note of a few of the roads he passed on his journey. “I gotta house down off of the 177.” Nathan was trying to assume the identity of someone who was just a camp holdout. “I’ve been preppin for somthin like this for a while, got plenty o food and water but I can’t handle this dang cold no more. All I do is cut trees and stay up all night trying to keep the fire going, I’m done.”

The soldier doing the pat down nodded at the one asking the questions who then directed Nathan. “Alright, after you pass thru the metal detector you’re going to get vaccinated; after that you’re to go to the housing office to check in, they will register you, assign you quarters and give you your meal chit.”

Nathan nodded. “Thank you.” After moving thru the metal detector Nathan raised up the sleeve on his arm to be vaccinated. Convinced that he had made it in without a problem Nathan began to scan the multitude of people in the distance, almost immediately he saw a woman from behind who looked exactly like Kayla. Nathans unchecked enthusiasm made him lose his usual situational awareness. Nathan felt a sharp pain on the back of his head, he only saw black but could feel himself falling forward towards the ground before he lost consciousness.

                      *  *  *

It was already dark when Nathan woke his head throbbing in pain; as he slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head Nathan could feel the dried blood on the back of his neck. Nathan was lightheaded and dizzy as he looked around trying to take stock of his situation. He was clothed in only his pants with his boots, shirt and jacket having been removed. Nathan’s shoulders and wrists hurt tremendously as he was suspended from handcuffs on both wrists attached to a pipe on either side so that he was spread eagle. Nathan slowly tried to stand so that he could relieve the stress on his shoulders but only the balls of his feet were touching the floor giving only minimal relief. As he looked around Nathan could see he was in what looked like a small warehouse. A man in a suit approached. Nathan took stock of the man as well as noticing two well dressed men several feet behind him. The man was about six foot and over two hundred pounds but wasn’t by any means obese, he had small round glasses, a full but trimmed gray beard and was wearing a Masonic ring. As the man moved closer he spoke to Nathan in a very professional almost aristocratic voice.

“Hello Mr. Turner, you’ve been asleep for quite a while.” Just from the minimal amount of information Nathan had just received several things where apparent to him. News from the Jackson compound had circulated much faster than he anticipated, this man was obviously the agent in charge of this compound… and he was Illuminati.

The man continued. “I apologize for the manner in which you were subdued but our men where on high alert after what you and your compatriots did in Mississippi. They say you and a young woman took down ten men by yourself, very impressive. But where are my manners I am Director Ackers, I am in charge of this compound as well as the senior Director for all the compounds in this state.” Director Ackers put out a hand to which one of his other agents placed a file. “And you are Nathan Turner, FBI profiler, and Marine Corps veteran. Graduated top of your class at Florida State University with a masters in psychology…” Ackers stopped for a minute shaking his head. “A masters really? Should have just gone ahead for your doctorate.”

Nathan’s wits had returned and he was already tiring of Ackers air of superiority. “Yeah well then I’d have to drive a BMW, buy an overpriced house in a high end suburb on half an acre of land, keep my lawn trimmed at three quarters of an inch NO MORE NO LESS, have a gold digging wife filled with a silicone ass, breasts and lips and talk like a pretentious jackass… kinda like you. And really who wants that?” Ackers agents began to move in to punish Nathan for his mouth but the director held his hand up to hold them in place as he smiled at Nathan and continued. “Father deceased, mother Julie LaFleur, brother Darion Turner, half sister Alexia LaFleur and stepfather Jean LaFleur.”

Nathan eyed down Ackers, he knew that the only reason Ackers would mention his family was as some sort of veiled threat. Once again however Nathan took more notice of what wasn’t said than what was. Not mentioning Anthony and Kayla meant that Ackers didn’t have as much information as he pretended to. Nathan hoped that information wouldn’t come thru, particularly about Kayla; if Ackers knew she was here he would most certainly use her to his advantage and Nathan knew he would fold.

The director continued his attempt at intimidation. “Not very bright to announce yourself at the beginning of a broadcast meant to instigate riots and anarchy.”