Whiskey Black Book Set: The Complete Tyrant Series (Box Set 1) (51 page)

“I was thinking of reinstituting the Constitution. Perhaps restoring it and amending it. In that regard, we can fix the holes that led us to this day. America changed.”

“No! That’s the thinking that got us to where we are. The people stopped respecting the Constitution and its elected officials disregarded it. But the people continued to enjoy their freedom at the expense of the wealthy. The wealthy became slave to the government and it cost us liberty. That’s not the American way!”

“You’re talking about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

“Correct. The Declaration of Independence set the stage for individual liberty.”

“But individual liberty was swallowed by democracy.”

“Correct again. We have to get America back on track. What type of republic is the question.”

“We are to be a constitutional republic.”

“I see now why you command so many men, Charles. When you strip away the Constitution, what do you see?”

“Absolute tyranny.”

“Absolute tyranny is correct. When the people are governed by a Constitution that protects individual liberty, it allows them to be free of tyranny, only because one person’s rights cannot trump another person’s rights. Without a constitutional republic, the people sink into a state of degradation that allows them to herd into larger bodies of people. When that happens, the majority gain control of the rights of the minority. In absolute tyranny, this happens on a smaller level. It happens individually.”

“One man’s desire will become the rule over another.”

“Democracy and tyranny are not distant relatives. They’re bedfellows.”

“Where are you going with this, John?”

“I have a Marine Corps regiment in South Dakota. We must reach them if we are to have any chance of salvaging America.”

Charles was shocked at the idea of a fully functioning Marine Corps regiment. The possibilities would be endless and would certainly turn the tide and set the course for a successful second American revolution.

“That’s the best news you could have given. But I fail to follow your point with the tyranny line of questioning.”

“Charles, I had to do some brutal things to get here. I’m not proud of what I’ve done, but I did it without commanding a single person to follow me. When I was given men, I made them strong and they learned to stand on their own. I’m not going to command you or your men to go with me to South Dakota. That would be tyrannical of me. I’m not going to call for a majority vote, because that would be tyrannical, too. I’m going to ask for volunteers and hope that I have enough support to safely make the journey.”

“And if you don’t?”

“Then I continue on, as I have.”

“Well, since you’re sharing secrets, I have one of my own.”

John’s curiousness was noticed by Charles in the way he raised his eyebrow.

“John, we have been working our way toward Chicago, where we have intelligence on a FEMA camp. The camp is located on Goose Island and is heavily fortified with walls, towers, and rivers surrounding it.”

John felt a little let down.

“That’s not a secret. Not to me, anyway. Being a Joint Chiefs member, I had access to all kinds of black documents. There’s twelve FEMA headquarters and far more FEMA camps. Before the Flip went down, there was a meeting with President Baker on the transitioning of federal prisons into FEMA detention centers. Virtually every prison and many state prisons were being looked into for modification.”

“I also have a man that escaped from one of them. The guys call him
the oracle
because he knows so much about the Chicago FEMA camp.”

“Then I suggest you use him. But he’s a bag fry. There’s many more needing saving and we need the numbers to make it happen.”

“I’ll have a meeting with my top NCOs and let them in on everything.”

“I look forward to moving forward with you, Charles. I just hope it’s in a westward direction.”

Both men smiled and shared a short chuckle before John said one more thing.

“We better head back, I almost forgot the admiral.”

“The admiral?”

“Yes, I brought a squid along. He’s an alright guy. I’ve known him for years. The two of us saw this coming for years and had developed a contingency plan just in case. It all worked out. His name is Belt McKanty.”

“Belt?”

“I don’t know,” John said confusingly. “That’s what his mammy and pappy called him at birth.”

“Popeye! Good one!”

General John James and Colonel Charles Buchanan made their way back to the pavilion and spent the rest of the day getting to know each other.

Just outside the residential area of Benton, Illinois

Nathan had selected Jess and a few others to sneak into Benton city limits, along with them was a small group of reconnaissance Marines that they had met months earlier at their old homestead in Gorham.

As they approached the outskirts of the residential areas, Nathan was taking in any type of movement or sounds he could pick up. Jess was doing the same, but facing in a separate direction. Nathan maintained a low profile as he moved from point to point, walked up to one of the Marines and said, “Can you take your team northeast into town and head toward the square?”

“Yeah, not a problem,” Sergeant Banks replied.

“Great, you’ll be looking for a federal building in the center. I suspect there’ll be some activity of sorts.”

The Marines checked their equipment again, for operational readiness, and stepped off.

“Jess, it’s great having my Marine Corps brothers along, but it’s more like home when it’s just us.”

“Are you suffering from low blood sugar, too?”

“No, why do you ask?”

“Because you’re getting mushy on me. Stay on target, Marine.”

“That’s too funny. I’m glad you find humor in despair.”

“Just making the best of things. So, what’s the plan?”

“Plan? No plan. We just head northwest and towards the square. See what we can see and head back. Simple.”

Nathan looked back at the group. He had about ten with him, including Morgan and Blake, two members of the original Posse, and others he didn’t know real well, but knew how to handle their firearms. From that he had gathered they were experienced to some degree.

“I’m not sure what we’ll run into, but if we find a SNAFU, everybody is to meet back here! Copy?”

“Forgive my ignorance,” Jess said, “but what is a SNAFU?”

“Situation Normal: All Fouled Up,” Morgan answered before Nathan could open his mouth.

“He’s right. If things get foul, or go south, meet back here. Then we’ll head back and rejoin the rest as a group.”

Nathan led them into a house with an open back door. The smells were horrendous. Nathan was hit first by the pungent odors of old human waste. He looked back at Jess and saw that she was tying a handkerchief around her face, the way the old American West bandits used to do. Her eyes were visible, and he couldn’t help but wonder why she would think the handkerchief would filter the smell. He just smiled at her as they made their way through the house. In doing so, they walked by the bathroom and saw that the toilet and sink were full of human excrement.

“There’s the source for the perfumes of tomorrow,” Nathan joked as he whispered with a smile.

“You’re disgusting!” Jess said, striking Nathan in the shoulder. Her shoulder had healed up nicely since she was shot, but every once in a while, she would feel a tight pinching sensation when she exerted a little force on it. This was one of those moments. She struck Nathan and that made her wince.

Seeing her wince caught Nathan’s attention. “Is your shoulder still bothering you?”

“Yeah. It only happens once in a while.”

As the group made their way to the front door, Nathan stopped them and peeked out of the curtains.

“We’re going to have to travel from house to house like this until we reach the square.”

“That’s going to take us hours,” Morgan said.

“Do you have a better plan?”

Blake interrupted and said, “Why don’t we send one guy a block ahead and he signals us to move forward?”

“Okay,” Nathan said. “Who’s going to volunteer for that detail?”

Morgan looked back to Blake and saw that Blake was looking at him.

“Don’t look at me; it was your idea.”

“Rock, paper, scissors?”

“No way!”

“Fine, I’ll do it,” Blake said. “Me and my big mouth.”

Nathan stopped him at the door. “You don’t have to do this. We can continue on as we started and use the houses as cover and concealment.”

“If I can get us there quicker, I’ll gladly donate myself for the detail.”

“Okay, then. Be careful, check yourself for danglies, and make sure you’re as silent as a ninja.”

“Danglies?”

“Things that hang from your gear and cause sounds.”

Nathan helped him search for any noise makers and secured a couple straps with electrical tape.

“Good luck,” Nathan said, patting Blake on the back.

Blake stuck his head out the door and looked both ways. When he felt it was safe to move, he inhaled deeply and stepped out. Nathan caught the screen door and watched closely from the window.

As soon as Blake reached the next street, he looked back at the group and motioned them to proceed forward. This tactic lasted several blocks before they saw their first sign of life.

The group was now entering what used to be the business district. Blake saw a child run from the outside of one of the buildings into the back door, where he vanished from sight.

Nathan was waiting a block back and saw Blake enter the building.

“What’s he doing?”

“What do you see?” Jess asked.

“Blake just ran into the back door of an old two-story storefront.”

“Wonderful,” Jess said sarcastically.

“That’s something Ash would have done,” Nathan blurted out. The comment made him remember their mission. “Has anybody seen any sugar products that they can take back to Ash?”

“We’re out of the residential living area now, Nathan,” one of the guys said. “If we’re going to find anything, it would be from some of the homes we passed, instead of going through.”

Nathan looked back at Morgan and said, “Would you mind heading back the way we came, checking the cabinets of the homes for any sugar products you can salvage?”

“Sure, can I have a couple guys?”

“Of course. Anybody want to head back with Morg?”

Two men raised their hands and the three of them headed back.

Nathan was down to six members. He looked at each of them and said, “You guys okay with going into that building?”

They all looked at each other and everyone volunteered to tag along. They stepped off and traveled a block ahead. When they reached the back of the building, Nathan quietly opened the back door and peeked in. Inside the door, he saw a blackened-out staircase that went upwards at a steep pitch. Stepping in, he pointed his rifle straight upwards towards the overlook that he could barely see from his position. He whispered to Jess, who was right behind him, “Prop the storm door open so we can see the stairwell.”

Jess passed the word down to the sixth person in line and he locked it open with the locking mechanism on the storm door closer.

Nathan was now in a position where he had to awkwardly step up the stairs in a side-strafing pattern so that he could keep an eye on the stairwell overlook. When the group reached the top, there was another door that was slightly cracked open. Nathan signaled for Jess to walk up next to him for a possible breach entry. He could hear voices coming from the room but had no idea how many people were there, only that the voices weren’t Blake’s. Nathan stepped to the left side of the door to make room for Jess to take the right side. The others staggered behind Jess and waited for the word.

North Marion, Illinois

Tori was now entering the northernmost parts of Marion. She hadn’t taken this exact route earlier, so the location was all new to her. She had stopped along the way and rummaged through an abandoned house; finding a pair of tennis shoes, she latched them onto the ends of the gurney to prevent them from grinding away against the surface of the road.

She had finally reached the destination as it was explained to her by Mike. Her motorcycle came to a slow and steady stop. Her legs now firmly planted on the earth, she turned the bike off to listen for sounds of life. She could clearly see the signs of a battle on the sides of the train. They told a story as she read the clues. According to Mike, a group of military men and a ragtag group of civilians came through here. She could clearly see that bullets had left their sting as the Marines were missed and returned fire back towards the homes, where a trail of machine-gun fire was visible across the siding.

When she had completed her initial examination of the evidence, she removed her rifle from the latch on the saddlebags. She put her kickstand down and leaned the bike against it. Maintaining a constant eye on her environment, she became concerned that perhaps she was being watched, and that feeling irritated her and made her feel vulnerable; a feeling she had promised herself that she would never succumb to again.

“Hello?” she called, in an attempt to discover the men. “Mike sent me. I have a man that was wounded here. Mike asked me to bring him back.”

She stopped talking for a moment to wait on a reply. As she waited, she looked back at the wounded stranger and saw that his bandages were in need of replacing.

“This man is wounded. He has a fever and needs new bandages,” she called.

Inside the shacks were several men taking cover in the shadows. The day had been long, and the evening sun was casting a long shadow to Tori’s benefit. The men were not moving because they had the sun in their eyes, but soon it would be below the train. Tori knew that soon she would be caught in the dark, so she had to make a rash decision.

“Sorry, dude,” she said to the wounded stranger, “but this is where we part ways.”

She walked to the back of the bike, and keeping her rifle pointed towards the shacks, she unfastened the gurney from her bike and left Cade near the ditch.