Tyranny in the Homeland (13 page)

The Logans

Columbus, Ohio, USA

December, 2048

Will saw the figure just as the enemy saw him and shot first. The silenced 9mm made very little noise. The figure hiding by the shed was knocked backwards and fell to the ground. His team scouted around the house and neighborhood. His men killed eleven other guards before they knew they were under attack. Josh took out a lock pick and picked the front door. He slowly opened the door to see a 1911 .45 aimed at his face.

“Kilo?”

“Xray?”

“Thank God you are here. They were getting ready to round us up and take us away.”

“Sir, get your family ready.”

“They are ready to move out now. The whole family is in this house. Betty, bring everyone out of the basement now!”

“Baker Two, this is Charlie One. Ready for extract.”

“Charlie One, this is Baker Two. Be there in ten minutes. There are about twenty armed men heading your way from the south and radar shows bogie helicopters inbound. May be hot heading home.”

Per plan, Will set his men up to intercept the intruders a block away from the Logan house. Every soldier had night vision scopes or goggles. Will’s team started picking off the opposing force one shot at a time when suddenly several flares were shot into the air. The light blinded his men and they were quickly overrun by the enemy.

Gabe saw the disaster rolling out from his window and knew he had to help. He quickly retrieved his rifle from the closet and began picking off the DHS one at a time. His son-in-law grabbed another rifle and joined in the fight. His wife and daughter were firing at the DHS from upstairs windows. This gave Will’s men time to regroup and counter attack. The fighting was hand-to-hand and the result was in doubt until the last DHS thug was killed. Will surveyed his team and had three dead and six wounded. The wounded were all able to walk except one, and she had a wound in her thigh.

“Mr. Logan thanks for the help. You and your family saved our lives.”

“Glad to help the people who came here to save our lives.’

“Y’all did pretty good with those rifles. Were you in the military?”

“A long, long time ago in a faraway place.”

Just then, there was an explosion just over the horizon and then two jets passed overhead at rooftop. They circled back and there were three more explosions. A minute later five helicopters landed in the schoolyard and they loaded the Logan’s in the first chopper and then loaded the wounded and dead.

              “Gabe, do you think we will be welcome in the ISA? After all, we lived in the country that they despise. I hate starting over with nothing but the shirts on our backs.”

“Betty, they will be happy to have us join them and Josh says that they are really good people. I also have some property down in Tennessee that should be worth something.”

“Gabe, we have been married for over thirty two years and I don’t know about this property. Is there anything else I need to know?”

“Yes, dear, but now is not the time.”

***

Jenn woke up the next morning, still at Josh’s side with her head on his chest. She felt his hand stroking her hair, pulled herself up, and kissed him.

“I woke up an hour ago and saw that God had sent an angel to watch over me. A beautiful angel had her head on my chest most of the night.”

He rose up, kissed Jenn and held her with his good arm. She pulled herself up on the bed and lay down beside him.

No words passed between them for a while then Josh said, “Jenn, I know that I have only known you for a few days, but I can’t imagine my life without you.”

“I feel the same way. Honestly, I fell for you the first time I looked into your eyes.”

The door swung open and they heard footsteps coming towards them.

“Do I need to throw some water on you two? You’re as bad as two dogs in heat."

"Ice water would do the trick,"Gus said as he entered the room just ahead of John.

“Well, daughter, you could at least get out of bed with him when company comes in the room. Have you no respect?” said John as he tried to keep a straight face.

“I remember when you had the hots for her momma and I caught you two in bed in that cabin in the woods before TSHTF. So don’t act holier than thou partner.”

“Damn, Gus, I was just pulling my daughter’s leg. Josh, how are you doing?”

“Mr. Harris, I am still pretty sore, but I am feeling much better.

“Yeah, I saw you feeling up my daughter when we came in the room.”

Jenn threw a pillow at her dad who ducked and the pillow went sailing out into the hallway.

Jenn looked up and a strange man and woman walked into the room.

“Son, I’d ask how you are doing, but I see you have a beautiful woman in bed with you and I think you must be doing fine.”

Jenn jumped out of the hospital bed and stood beside her father. Josh’s mom came over to Josh, gave him a big hug and started crying.

“They didn’t tell us that you had been shot until a few minutes ago. I must agree with your father though. You appear to be recovering very well. Young lady, are you a nurse? How is my son doing?”

“Ma'am, I am a friend of Josh’s and was very worried about him. He saved my dad’s and my lives yesterday. We owe him a lot.”

Gus walked over to Gabe gave him a hug and said, “How the hell are you doing, you old SOB? Long time, no see.”

John shook Gabe’s hand and said, “Let me know of anything we can do for you and your family. My team has your house ready and you have a fat bank account ready to go. The driver who brought you here and a security group will stay with you until we know that you are safe. Just ask and it’s yours.”

Josh’s mom said, “So Gabe, is this more of the stuff you need to tell me?”

“Dad, what the heck is going on here? How do the ex-President and Secretary of Defense know a used car salesman from Columbus, Ohio?"

“Jenn, it’s classified. Need to know stuff and you don’t need to know yet. I can tell you that Gabe was instrumental in almost every intelligence coup for the past twenty years and has saved our asses more than any single person. When the USA figures this out, Josh will have to get a job in the ISA.”

“Son, concentrate on getting well. I think you need to tell us about this young woman who was crawling all over you when we walked in. Do we have any grandchildren on the way?”

John broke out laughing and a nurse came in and ordered them all to leave the room. John and Gus quickly left while laughing all the way to the elevator.

The nurse promptly let Jenn sneak back in after the crowd had disappeared.

“Josh, do you know what the heck just happened? My Dad, Gus and your Dad appear to be old friends.”

Josh had a puzzled look on his face and said, “The plot thickens.”

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✺

Massacre

              Lucio knew that he was taking his life in his hands traveling to the Corpus Christie area to get information on the Cabras for his friend, Gus. He had taken over a week to travel the 128 miles after dark to avoid the Cabra’s patrols. He was slowly probing the outskirts of Corpus Christie starting in the north and working his way back south. He knew that he would have to sneak into the city before his mission was over and was avoiding that until he knew more about what the Cabras had accomplished so far. He heard sporadic gunfire every now and then and hoped that was the American resistance overthrowing these monsters. Then one afternoon to his dismay, he saw ten citizens lined up and shot. He learned that the Cabras shot ten Americans for every Cabra killed during this siege.

              He reported his findings to Naval Intelligence every night at 2:00 a.m. using code words and phrases to help disguise his mission.

              “Walter, I am losing ten fish for every shark I catch. This is causing me to want to give up fishing. Also my boat is in bad repair and barely afloat. I need help fixing the boat quickly.”

              “Jose, you always complain. How many sharks are there to be caught? Perhaps I will send your brother to help you with the bait.”

              “There are at least five to six sharks and they have big teeth.”

              This went on every night, and every night Lucio kept giving more and more info to the Navy.

***

              “Sir, the Iranians have placed the mines and will detonate them when the ISA Navy carriers get close enough. We are meeting with General Rezah at 1:00 p.m. if okay with you, my fearless leader.”

              Pablo looked at his aide and said, “What the fuck was all of that ass kissing about? You are the one person that I count on to stand up to me and tell me what you think.”

              “O, fearless one, I started ass kissing when you shot your other three aides last week. The entire staff is scared shitless that you will be killing all of us.’

              “You know that we caught them passing information on to the USA. They were spies.”

              “I know that, but your staff doesn’t. They have never been this afraid of you. They hear about what the Cabras do, but it never hit home until this week.”

              “Thanks for the reminder. I am the nice guy who keeps the Cabras in line. I can’t be seen as the bad guy! As an award, you can have the next young blond gringo girl they bring to me for my entourage.”

              “Thank you! I will remind you of the meeting!”

              General Rezah began the meeting by thanking his Latin friends for allowing Iran to build the base in Mexico and for helping to keep it secret for several years.

              “Admiral, give our friends an overview of the plan to eliminate the ISA Navy from the Gulf of Mexico."

              “The plan is simple; we will draw the Ford carrier group further out in the Gulf towards Texas and the Bush carrier group will shift over towards Mobile to guard their base there. Two nuclear mines have been placed on the ocean floor to be set off when the ships get nearby. The first is sitting beside the Sigsbee Escarpment several hundred miles east of Corpus Christie, and the other by the Florida Escarpment a few hundred miles west of Tampa. While the devices have extra lead shielding to help keep them from being detected, we feel that hiding them on the other side of the underwater cliffs will aid in hiding them.”

              “How can you get both groups in position at the same time? Obviously you want both bombs to go off at the same time.”

              Oscar tried to interrupt, but Pablo waved him off.

              “You are correct, however our plan is to destroy the Ford first and then damage the other carrier group as much as possible. These bombs are crude by US and Russian standards, but they were the best Iran had developed by the time of the event. Both are 20 MT bombs, or the equivalent of 20 million tons of TNT. Each one is over a thousand times more explosive than the Hiroshima bomb. Even one carrier destroyed will significantly reduce their fighting power. You must also remember that each carrier has many ships that protect or tend to its needs. There are over 7,500 sailors in a Carrier Strike Group with 5,500 of them on the carrier. So, even an unsuccessful strike on the second group will kill thousands of soldiers, sink several ships and help break their will power.”

              Pablo spoke up, “And how do you plan to draw these ships towards Corpus Christie and, better yet, how close to the bombs do the ships have to get for destruction? You are counting on my Cabras to create a situation so dire that the bleeding heart Americans will move their fleet to save the day. Correct? Even my men can’t make the US Navy steer their fleet to within a small range of ocean.”

              “Mr. Cortez, I thought that you knew that part of the plan. Is there a problem?”

              “There will be if at least half of the Navy ships aren’t destroyed and one carrier sunk.”

              “Mr. Cortez, our military has been tracking the Ford Carrier Strike Group for many years. We know how and where they will travel. I assure you that we will either damage the Ford beyond repair or kill the entire crew with radiation.”

              “How many bombs do you possess? I know about the mines and a few suitcase nukes. Are there others?”

              The General looked over at a civilian in a dark suit and got a nod.

              “We have two more of this type bomb that are about one half the yield of the mines, plus seven of the small portable bombs, all of which are at our base."

              “Okay, let’s proceed, but there can be no trace back to us because eventually my Caballeros have to begin changing their image so that we can govern this new land. This will be their last great massacre. I will instruct them to begin this reign of terror in 10-15 days.”

              “Speaking of this new country to be ruled by you and your Caballeros, I need to speak with you in private."

              The Iranian General appeared to be nervous, but gained composure as he started talking.

              “Pablo, as you know, our homeland has been utterly destroyed and we are guests in your country. I want your help in choosing and taking control of some land to be our own. We are doing your bidding by eliminating a threat to both of us and just want you to be happy with whatever land we decide to make our new home. “

              “So, to make sure that we are on the same page, are you wanting to move back to the Mideast or stay in our neighborhood?”

              “We like this part of the world. Every country hates every other country in the Mideast. Besides the Israelis will kill us on sight if they ever hear that we returned to their part of the globe. We were thinking that Brazil would be a good place to start a new country.”

              “All of Brazil or just a big part of it?”

              “We think that we would eventually like all of it, but we only number about five thousand strong, so it will take a while to subjugate the entire country.”

              Pablo, was seething on the inside, but maintained his calm and replied, “Let me talk with my council and get back with you. There is more land than can be maintained, surely we can work something out.”

              Pablo saw his aide and gestured for him to approach. "Gather my Council in the library and have the servants prepare food and drink. We will be here for a while."

              “Those bastards want Brazil. What are they thinking? Brazil is mine and Gorges. Surely you aren’t going to give into this demand from this rag headed son of a bitch?”

              "First, we have to plan to terrorize Corpus Christie so horribly that the ISA will have their Admiral move the fleet towards that city. Gorge plan and execute this with a start in 10 days, but no later than 15 days from now.”

              “Pablo, are murder, rape and torture okay with you?”

              “Much worse than that, unleash your worst men and let them kill thousands. Cut heads off and disembowel them. After all of this has been done, place a thousand men, women and children in a building and threaten to burn them alive unless John Harris surrenders to you. Give him ten days. Kill ten people every day until he shows up or the fleet moves into range. Film this and send copies electronically so we can let them fall into the American's hands. This will bring out their Navy so we can attack it.”

              “Yes, I will start on this in the morning.”

              “No, you will leave the room and give orders tonight!”

"Second, Oscar will destroy the Iranian base after the attack on the carriers. I will fill you in on the detail, but the bottom line is that the Iranians will be blamed for the strike on the fleet and the USA will be blamed for attacking and demolishing the Iranian base. My plan is to get those dogs to fight each other until they are so weak that a gentle breeze will blow them away. We had planned to be able to destroy that base when the Iranians became a problem. There is a suitcase nuke in an underground vault in the middle of the base. Oscar, there are seven other nukes there. Seize them and take them to our compound in Veracruz. Make sure all of the Iranians are killed! We may need these bombs later if we can’t get the ISA, USA and Iranians destroyed. Gorge will give you the maps of our tunnels. ”

"Third, our plan is to take over the entire continent of North America by 2025. We will have control of the west coast and southeast by this time next year. The east coast and northeast will be in our control in two years. Canada will fall the next year. I need all of you to choose who will govern the various territories that you will be assigned. Gorge, I want you to take on the southeast part of the old USA. Yes, that is the land occupied by the new ISA. I want John Harris’ head and all of his leadership killed. You keep Brazil. But before you go down there, you have to finish this work here."

"Oscar, please stay. I have an assignment for you.”

The others left the room and Pablo took Oscar into his smoking room and offered him one of his finest Cuban cigars.

"Oscar, what are your thoughts on the Iranian's plan?”

“The plan counts on the Americans driving right into their trap and being blown up by this big bomb. Things never go as planned. I would have a backup plan.”

“Good, here are my thoughts.”

They discussed the new plan for several hours and then Oscar left.

***

“Admiral, the UN has requested safe passage for a humanitarian flight over the Gulf to deliver aid to Tampico in Mexico. The local drug lords have killed thousands and burned the crops during their infighting. The UN wants to send planes with food and water until they can get ships to the area.”

This surprised the Admiral since aid was only being shipped to Islamic and African countries since TSHTF.

“Give them the okay as long as we can board the ships and search for weapons and soldiers. I don’t want to have a surprise attack from the UN on our southern border. The damn Cabras are enough to handle.”

***

              The selection of Gorge to lead the terror campaign was a good choice. Pablo knew that Gorge liked to personally torture young women during sex and was rumored to keep women and children chained in a special room.

              The terror campaign started exactly ten days later with Gorge’s men making up a reason to kill 50 people because one of them “disrespected” a Cabra by looking at him wrong. Then his men took hundreds of women from their families, raped and shot them in front of their families. This was the mild horror that the Cabras perpetrated on this city. Pablo received film of the atrocities each day and had to stop watching them after the second day.

              On the fourth day of this new reign of terror, a hundred men and women were placed in a house with boarded up windows and doors. The locals were told that these people would be burned alive if the leaders of the resistance didn’t turn themselves in by noon the next day. There was no organized resistance in the city. The house was set on fire and allowed to burn to the ground with hundreds of citizens forced to hear the screams.

              On the fifth day, over a thousand men, women and kids were rounded up and forced to go into a high school gym. The ISA was put on notice that John Harris must surrender or these people would die a horrible death.

***

              Lucio was witness to many of these attacks and murders. The beheading of three young children sickened him. These were monsters. He was ashamed that many of these monsters were from his own country. Lucio had vomited until his chest hurt when he took in a breath. He vowed never to tell his wife about the horrendous things that he had seen during the siege of Corpus Christie. He had filmed many of the atrocities and had finally left on the third day to get the film back to the ISA.