John Returns Read online

  Whoa, shouted the General, “You do not have the authority to promote to Officer Status.

  Jim, and Imelda, you are herewith promoted to Captain.” John then mumbled, “Try to take me out of the loop? Ha, not likely.”

  Everyone laughed and applauded the General’s decree.

  Tim went on to say, “Imelda, I want you to develop a plan to infiltrate the major cities in Kentucky and bring back Intel, so we will be ready when the Tennessee operation winds down.

  Check out every bridge and dam across the Ohio River and the entire border with the USA to help us determine where to build fortifications.

  Bring back detailed pictures of all bridges and dams. Imelda, I am adding two more platoons of Rangers and two Recon platoons to your command.

  Now, I want, I mean, I would be eternally grateful if the General would be kind enough to pin these Captains bars on Imelda and Jim.”

  Unable to stop smiling, John proudly pinned the bars on two of his top soldiers. He said, “You two demonstrate what a person can do when they are challenged.

  We threw the shit at you, and you not only handled it, but you also thrived and developed hundreds of Rangers and soldiers along the way. Now you get to select your replacements and squad leaders.”

  They both thanked John, shook his hand and Imelda gave him a hug.

  John thought, hugs from Army Rangers, oh, dear Lord.

  John addressed Tim, “Colonel, you need to select someone to head up a recruiting team to get civilians to join our little army. Gus won’t give Scott’s group to me, so we’ll have to double our size through recruiting.”

  “Sir, I’m ahead of you. I’ve asked Jim to head that up along with his training mission. His team will seek out every prior service person from 22 to 55. He will recruit from that group. We will get them in shape, review their training, then test them on non-mission critical assignments until we can trust them.”

  “Great, now I want all of you to party by the pool and have some drinks. The day starts at noon tomorrow. Enjoy.”

  ***

  Cody, Colorado

  The morning dawned gray, with a slow drizzle that threatened to increase in intensity as the day wore on. Billie sipped her coffee and thought, “Today’s not going to be fit for man, nor beast.”

  Joe and Billie lived with her grandfather, Eric. After the wedding, they planned to remain with him until they built their own cabin.

  Joe’s new job was ISA Military Liaison for Wyoming and Montana. He was also happy to see the Army Drill Sergeants at work training the new militia and turning them into an effective fighting force.

  They had been married for over a month when the Sheriff radioed for help, “Joe we’ve been attacked. Explosions destroyed or damaged four buildings and killed over 15 people. There were two explosions on the south side of Cody and one at the airport that destroyed two planes. Could you come in and help coordinate the effort to find the perpetrators?”

  “Have there been any threats or new people in town lately?”

  “There haven’t been any threats and only the usual stragglers. I don’t recall seeing anything out of the ordinary.”

  “I’ll be there in half an hour.”

  “There has been an attack on Cody, and the Sheriff has asked me to assist them. Billie, I’ll call in later today and let you know how long I’ll be gone. I’ll probably stay there for a while.”

  Eric caught Joe and said, “If you don’t mind, I’ll go with you. I might be able to help out.”

  “Good idea.”

  Joe and Billie kissed and said goodbye.

  ***

  “What makes you so sure that bastard will leave that sweet young thing to help out in town?”

  “He’s one of those ISA Rangers with a big ego and shit for brains. His boss killed my brother and took his woman. I can’t bring my brother back, but I will kill this son of a bitch, and take Billie for myself. I’ll kill her grampa just for the fun of watching him die.”

  “Zeke and Tim have the cabin staked out and will capture the girl for you, but they may have to kill the old man.”

  “That’s okay, but if they lay a hand on my woman, I’ll kill them.”

  “They may have to slap her to get her attention and hog tie her, but I told them not to feel her up or anything.”

  “They’d damn well better not feel her up.”

  “Hey, that’s the Ranger’s truck heading to us. Get ready. I’ll blow the IED as planned.”

  At the last instant, Joe saw the wires crossing the road ahead. He turned the wheel and slammed on the brakes. This swerved the truck off the road and into the grass. Joe floored the truck to head away from the trap.

  The truck was only fifty feet away when the device exploded with a blast wave and shrapnel that turned the truck over and shredded the back of the truck.

  “Eric, are you okay?”

  “Ow, damn, I got hit in the neck. It’s just a small slice, but hurts like hell.”

  “What about you. There’s blood on your shoulder and coming from your head.”

  “We don’t have time to patch us up now. Whoever tried to kill us will be charging our position any second. Grab your M4 and stay low so we can use the brush for concealment and get away from the truck.”

  “I’m right on your six.”

  “We’ll ambush those fuckers when they try to see if they killed us.”

  “Lem, they almost got away. Come on with me, and we’ll finish them off if they’re still alive.”

  “No way they survived that explosion. They’s fried meat in that truck.”

  “Be careful and let’s make sure they’s dead.”

  “Keep your shotgun aimed towards the truck. Don’t shoot me in the ass. As a matter of fact, you go first.”

  The two killers walked up to the truck and saw the windows were blown out and the doors open.”

  “Don’t ask questions, just shoot into the cab. I want this over so I can get a piece of Billie this afternoon.”

  They both started shooting at the Ford pickup and had to reload to finish the job.

  The last thing they heard was, “Now.”

  Shots rang out from the bushes, and both men died before they hit the ground.

  “Eric, we have to get back to the cabin and check on Billie. It’s only three miles back, and I’ll run ahead. Follow as fast as you can.”

  Joe was in great shape and ran just about every day. He grabbed three more 30 round magazines from the truck and headed cross country to the cabin to save time. He didn’t notice the weight of the extra magazines, his M4 and Berretta made as he tore across the grassy field towards the forest between his wife and him. He prayed as he ran and hoped for the best.

  ***

  Zeke heard the explosion and said, “Come on Tim let’s catch that pretty little bitch.”

  Billie was out back in the garden when they tried to sneak around the cabin and grab her. Her German Shepard growled, she drew her 9mm and turned in time to see a man charging her from the left side of the house. She aimed, squeezed the trigger and hit the man in the chest knocking him to the ground. She didn’t see the other man running at her from behind. Her dog leaped on the man and bit him on the throat.

  “Help! Get him off me. He’s killing me.”

  He had a pistol in his hand and tried to shoot the dog, but kept missing. The dog ripped his jugular vein, and the man fell to his knees and then dropped prone on the ground dead.

  Billie stood there watching the man die and then fell to the ground. Her shirt had a hole in the chest and blood was running out on the ground. Her dog laid his head on her chest until Joe came running up and fell to his knees beside her.

  Joe was holding Billie’s head on his lap crying when Eric arrived. He was out of breath and passed out when he saw his granddaughter lying dead on the ground behind the cabin.

  They held a funeral for Billie the next day. Eric and Joe then hunted down the rest of the family that had killed Billie, as well as having te
rrorized the town. For that family, things did not end well.

  ***

  “Scott, I want to rejoin your team as soon as I can tie up some loose ends up here. They’ve picked a new liaison, and I can’t stay here now that Billie’s gone.”

  “I’m so sorry for your loss. Billie was a great person. Of course, you can rejoin us. Take some time off and let me know when you will be available. I’ll send a plane for you.

  “Send it Thursday, and I’m ready for duty. I have to work to keep centered.”

  “Okay, you’re a big boy. I’ll send the plane, but I think you still need some time to grieve.”

  “Thanks, just point me at some assholes, and I’ll take my grief out on them.”

  ✪

  Chapter 8

  Wildcats and Wombats

  Kentucky

  2022

  Beth didn’t wait for John to finish securing the Smyrna area before she pulled rank and came up to Tennessee to join her husband. John gave in and asked Gus to fly her, Jenn and Randy up to the Smyrna airport.

  Gus also sent four Rangers to be Beth’s personal security. Beth protested at first, and Gus insisted that once the USA caught wind that John and Beth were in Tennessee, they might try to attack in force or perhaps with lone wolf assassins. She relented and allowed the four to join her after Scott called and convinced her that the soldiers were the best from his group for providing her families personal security.

  John met the flight at the ISA Veterans Memorial Airport. John changed the name to honor the men and women who had lost their lives fighting to build their new country. He watched the plane land and taxi down the runway towards the small terminal and thought about the progress that had been made since TSHTF. He wondered how long it would take to clear the entire country of the crooked politicians, traitorous news media, and moneymen behind the president and his cronies who attacked their own country. The plane stopped, and the passengers began disembarking.

  John hugged Beth and Randy and took little Jenn in his arms as he said, “Beth, how was the flight from Mobile. You know darn well that you should have stayed there where it’s safe.”

  They kissed, and Beth replied, “I won’t be away from you for any reason. We live together, and perhaps we’ll die together, but we’ll be together.”

  John knew it was a losing argument, so he ushered them to his SUV and drove to their new home followed by three heavily armed Humvees. They drove down the driveway, Beth looked around, and a smile came over her face.

  “This is the Sam Davis Plantation. Is our house nearby?”

  “This is our house for the next year or so. I’m trying to decide if it will be the new home of the President or the home of the ex-president.”

  “So you just take any home you want?”

  “Pretty much any abandoned home is fair game. The Capitol Building is that school over there towards downtown Smyrna. I have several construction crews refitting, remodeling and in general making it a safe place to run our government until we can build a permanent one.

  We have our own bowling alley and airport, all on Capitol grounds. We traded much nicer homes and businesses with running water and electricity to the owners and moved them to their new homes, or businesses. Everything for a mile radius around this area is now vacant, and several fences are being installed until we can fortify the Capitol properly.

  We are reviewing the structures contained within the grounds to determine if we need to save any of them, but my plan is to have a vast mall around the Capitol that will eventually have monuments, a national park, and our government buildings.

  You probably noted a large amount of gravel piled in berms around the perimeter. The gravel is coming from the underground compound currently under construction. It will rival the Compound in Mobile and would take a direct hit from a nuke to take it out. It will take a year to build, but will be worth the effort.”

  “John the enemy will assume you have a bomb shelter and nuke it.”

  “Darling, the top secret part is that the bomb shelter is actually a mile away and 500 feet under limestone. We brought in one of those small tunnel-boring machines and have had it working for a month.

  We are installing a rail system to shuttle people to and from the bomb shelter, which actually is our real Capitol building. Our largest problem is hauling away the gravel from the boring. We slanted the tunnel down to the lowest depth so we can use the railroad to haul the gravel away. We are pouring it on dirt roads and covering parking lots, but need to find a way to use the gravel, so the disposal won’t raise too many questions about where it’s coming from.”

  “Wow, you’ve really thought this through.”

  “Our military engineers get all of the credit.”

  “So what will be in the buildings?”

  “The above ground structure will have meeting rooms and offices for visitors, but the real offices will be a mile away and take a top secret clearance to enter.

  When we are through with the Capitol Building/bomb shelter, I plan to bore out concentric circles under Smyrna to have bomb shelters for the entire population.”

  Their new home was large and had been a tourist attraction for years. It had been kept in period furnishings from the time of the Civil War and had never been updated accept for heating and air-conditioning. Beth put Jenn down for a nap and examined every room before telling John that they had to hire a crew to paint every room and upgrade all lights and plumbing.

  “Beth, I have several crews working in the area, so just make a list and give it to Sarge. He not only is your head of security, but also your liaison with my team.”

  “John, I thought you are my liaison with your team.”

  “I am for the important stuff like bombing the enemy.”

  “Speaking of which, I didn’t want to say anything in front of the others, but there are tracked vehicles in the woods and parked in several buildings that look like tanks but have weird square rails poking out of them instead of cannons. I have never seen anything like them. What are they?”

  “Those vehicles are our protection against an enemy attack. They have magnetic rail guns and can destroy a plane or missile miles away. They were under development in the countries laboratories when we were nuked.

  The Admiral captured the facilities and kept the research going. Now we have science fiction weapons that no one else has. They are the reason that we are not worried about a direct hit on our Capitol.”

  “Does the USA know those weapons are here?”

  “No, and we are doing our best to keep them secret.”

  Al and Tom quickly secured Nashville and the state of Tennessee. They used the military air power to wipe out all of the larger gangs and Rangers to secure the towns as they trained the civilians to take care of themselves. It would take over a year to rid the state of all of the smaller gangs and criminals, but Tennessee had reached the point where it no longer took much of John’s time.

  ***

  Elizabethtown, KY

  Imelda divided her team into four units. There were three to perform the infiltration and one to handle any hot spots or give emergency backup to the three infiltration teams.

  Ziva had the eastern part of Kentucky from Lexington East.

  Sam had Central Kentucky, and Ziva had Western Kentucky from Owensboro west. Imelda chose Addington Air Field on the eastern outskirts of Elizabeth Town for her home base. Elizabeth Town was centrally located and had major highways running north south and east west.

  Each team was to set up a base of operations close to the middle of their area of responsibility away from the local population in warehouses and manufacturing complexes so they could hide their Humvees and equipment. The teams were dressed in civilian clothing, used older cars and trucks for transportation and were armed with civilian ARs, and an assortment of 9mm and .45 caliber handguns to avoid appearing to be part of a military unit. Imelda’s teams left Nashville as the sun set and went their separate way to their assigned Areas of Respo
nsibility (AOR).

  They separated into small two vehicle groups and only traveled at night to maintain the advantage of night vision equipment. They avoided any confrontation and slipped by roadblocks and gang strongholds to their assigned base AOR.

  Supporting Imelda’s group were two Apache and four Black Hawk helicopters. They were hidden in a hangar at the airfield and would only be used to enable Imelda to support her teams in an emergency.

  Aircraft drew too much attention, and this was an infiltration mission that if conducted perfectly, the scouting mission would go undetected. The helicopters were scheduled to arrive upon securing the airfield and would be flown in after dark.

  There were four parts to Imelda’s mission:

  Ascertain the strength of any USA forces in Kentucky

  Locate suitable positions for fortifications along the Ohio River

  Determine gang controlled areas

  Gauge local support for the ISA.

  To avoid detection the trip up to Elizabeth Town was slow, and took two days to complete.

  They hid the Humvees allowing the teams to travel in daylight to blend in with the locals.

  Imelda sent scouts to inspect the small communities scattered along Highway 65. They reported that the rural areas were mainly free of gangs and violence. Many of the small communities ran the gangs and criminals out of their area and hung them as fast as they were rooted out. Kentuckians were sick and tired of seeing drug dealers going to jail and being released a week later due to some liberal, soft on crime judge, or slick lawyer finding ways around the law.

  They tried, convicted and executed these scumbags very quickly in this new post-apocalyptic world.

  The operatives also reported that the ISA was widely preferred to the USA, which was despised by most citizens.