Suicide Six_Post Apocalyptic EMP Survival Fiction Page 17

  Major was summoned by President Burnett to Austin, ostensibly to go over his thoughts about the recovery effort. He braved the icy wind, which had accompanied a cold front’s arrival the night before. Over the past few centuries, the art of weather predicting changed from the spiritual to the mathematical to the current-day scientific methods.

  Commensurate with the collapse of the power grid, life in North America was thrown back to the nineteenth century in many respects. Gone were the days of triple-Doppler radar graphics, twenty-four-seven weather channels, and predictors of hurricane activity that were remarkably accurate months in advance.

  On the farms and ranches of Texas, those schooled in the ancient art of weather prognostication practiced during the 1800s studied things like the color of the sky. Greenish hues of the sky near the horizon was a predictor of wet weather. Whereas, in the fall, a purple haze at sunset was often a sign of continued fine weather.

  At night, when the moon took on a fiery red color, like copper, then wind could be expected, while a pale moon with ragged edges was a predictor of rain.

  As Major made his way to the front entrance of the Mansion, escorted by his security detail, he took a quick glance at the sky. The clouds had formed into an anvil-like shape, and said anvil was pointing directly at Austin.

  One of the security guards opened the door for him, and he was making his way inside when the sound of another helicopter landing grabbed his attention. He couldn’t identify it from a distance, but it appeared to belong to the military. Major shrugged and continued to the president’s office.

  He milled about, making small talk with President Burnett’s secretary and a few other staffers who stopped by to wish him congratulations. Major accepted a black cup of coffee and began to sip it when he was suddenly joined by Duncan.

  “Hey, son. What are you doing here?”

  Duncan leaned forward and whispered to his dad, “I was told the president wanted to speak with me directly about the, quote, North Korean problem.” Duncan used the index and middle fingers of both hands to create air quotes.

  Major whispered back, “This is no coincidence. Let me do the talking, okay?”

  “Please do.”

  The secretary interrupted them. “Gentlemen, the president will see you now.” She stood and opened the door for Major and Duncan.

  Before either of them could greet President Burnett, she spoke in an unusually loud, gruff voice. “Gentlemen, I’m gonna get straight to the point. Please sit. And shut that door! I don’t want to be disturbed!”

  Duncan shot his dad a glance, and Major lowered his brows to indicate his concern. There was something wrong.

  As soon as the door was shut, the president stood and put her right index finger to her lips to indicate the guys should be quiet. She nodded her head and pointed toward the couches. Now Major was really confused. What’s with all the cloak and dagger?

  As they found a spot on the sofa, the president reached out and touched them both on their hands. “Sorry, boys. That was all for show. We’ve got a real problem.”

  “What is it?” asked Major.

  “Yesterday, I was approached by my adjutant general to inform me of supposedly credible information as it relates to Duncan. Information that was damaging enough to derail your consideration as my vice president.”

  “Like what?” asked a perturbed Duncan.

  “Hear me out, Duncan,” said the president reassuringly. “Kregg claimed to have received information from his Deputy Director of Clandestine Services, Pauline Hart, who also happened to work for the CIA. Let me add one more thing about this attractive young woman. She’s Kregg’s sister-in-law.”

  “What did she do with the CIA?” asked Duncan.

  “I don’t know. All I remember from the introductions was that she was qualified for the position in my government based upon her past duties in Washington.”

  “Let’s get her checked out,” insisted Duncan. “I’ve still got some friends who owe me a favor. I just need to see if they’re still around.”

  Major patted Duncan on the leg and spoke up. “Son, let’s see what this is about before we go digging around the CIA, shall we?”

  The president continued. “Basically, Kregg relayed to me everything that you guys have told me already about Duncan’s mission in North Korea except he characterized it as a rogue operation, unauthorized by Washington.”

  “How would he know? Based upon this Hart woman’s allegations?”

  “Hold on, son,” Major tried to encourage Duncan to tone down his rhetoric. “Turn your boil down to a simmer. Let Marion finish.”

  The president gave an appreciative smile to her future vice president. “Duncan, trust me. I ain’t buyin’ any of this BS. Let me finish; then we’ll discuss what to do about it.”

  Duncan took a deep breath and nodded. He remained quiet as the president laid out the sequence of events from yesterday.

  “Kregg relayed what Hart said, which not only included the phrase rogue operation, but also implied you pulled the trigger that killed Monty based upon some vendetta.”

  The president sensed that Duncan was about to react, but she held her hands up to calm him down. “This is where it gets curiouser and curiouser, as Alice in Wonderland said. A few hours later, I get an extremely cordial phone call from Charles Acton, President Harman’s chief of staff. Now, keep in mind, this man hates me. Yesterday, however, he was sooo peaches and cream it made me wanna puke. Seriously. After we discussed a few mundane matters about intergovernmental cooperation, blah-blah-blah, he hits me with this friendly advice. Using the same lingo that Hart, via Kregg, used, he called you a rogue operator and also accused you of killing Monty for a vendetta.”

  “Same words. Unbelievable,” said Major. “Marion, I know my son, and I can assure you he told the entire truth the other day. Someone in Washington is trying to torpedo my nomination to be your VP.”

  “Yes, they are,” said the president. “They are very threatened by you and especially the two of us as a team. I’m starting to see a pattern emerging. It’s one that points to a logical conclusion—they want us to fail.”

  “They want us back,” interjected Major.

  “Bingo. Well, it ain’t gonna happen.”

  Duncan leaned forward and interrupted. “Madam President, I wasn’t one hundred percent truthful with you. I was angry with Secretary Gregg. I believe he was one of two people who gave the order to cancel the extraction of me and my partner from North Korea. They left us there to die, and Park did. I guarantee you, Gregg and Billy Yancey, who planned the operation, either gave the order or knew of it.”

  Major added, “That’s consistent with Monty’s final words to his wife before he died. He said tell Armstrong it was Yancey.”

  “Do you believe he was referring to Duncan’s situation, or the hiring of the sniper to kill him?” asked the president.

  “I believe he was referring to Duncan and here’s why. In that dying moment, he’d have no idea that I’d be assigned by you to investigate his shooting. It is likely he was feeling remorseful over leaving my son stranded in North Korea. I watched his body language the day the four of us met here, in your office. He was extremely nervous. I believe he knew exactly who Duncan was, and after meeting him in person, he felt guilty for leaving a man behind on the battlefield.”

  President Burnett turned to Duncan. “Do you agree with your dad’s assessment?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I do. Yancey’s job at the CIA is regime change, and it’s possible Pauline Hart works for him in some capacity. They’ve screwed up by sticking to the script too closely. How often do you hear the words rogue operator and vendetta used? They were used at the same time and originated from a single voice, in my opinion.”

  “Billy Yancey,” the president surmised.

  “Yes, ma’am,” said Duncan.

  President Burnett leaned back on the settee and crossed her legs. She tapped her knees with her fingers as she digested the conversation.


  “Okay,” she began. “I suspected something was wrong about the conversations from yesterday, which is why I wanted to put on a façade as you entered my office. I don’t know who to trust outside this room. I wanna believe that Kregg is a loyal soldier, but he did express some reservations early on when the concept of secession was discussed. He’s also been hesitant at times to use force to protect our borders. That said, he has never given me reason to doubt his loyalty until his sister-in-law entered the picture.”

  “Ma’am, if she works for Billy Yancey, she’s a master of manipulation. Your adjutant general is likely blinded by the family relationship too.”

  “I hope you’re right, young man. Either way, I have to be careful what Kregg’s made privy to in the short term. Let me ask you something. Do you want revenge on Billy Yancey for what he did to you and your partner?”

  “Now more than ever,” replied Duncan.

  She turned her attention to Major. “Nothing leaves this room. Ever. You gotta swear to me, Major.”

  “Marion, I swear my loyalty, so help me God.”

  The president of Texas looked at Duncan. “You take care of this North Korean problem for me, and I will give your father every resource at my disposal for you to settle your score with Yancey. Frankly, I don’t know which is a bigger threat to our nation—the devil we know or the devil we don’t.”

  Duncan looked his president in the eyes, and then he whispered to her, “The devil works best in the dark. Unfortunately for him, so do I.”

  Chapter 39

  January 30

  The Armstrong Ranch

  Borden County, Texas

  Cooper was not unlike any new manager inserted into a business operation. He had to demonstrate to his team that he was capable of leading them in a manner they respected. He couldn’t come in heavy-handed, as that might alienate them. He couldn’t pretend to still be one of them, as they might not afford his decision making the requisite deference. Cooper’s job was further complicated by the fact that half of his team were family, one was the fiancée of his older brother, and the fourth had worked under his predecessor for many years.

  He decided to follow his daddy’s sage advice. Don’t ask them to do anything that you’re not willing to do yourself. And with that principle guiding his daily interaction with everyone, Cooper set about filling the mighty big shoes of Preacher.

  The challenges began on day one as they made the decision to consolidate the herd back at the ranch. With Espy’s men on constant patrol, they no longer had to worry about marauders trying to steal their cattle. The day before, he’d informed Antonio and Riley that first thing this morning, he wanted to drive the steers from the eastern part of the ranch back up to their grazing fields nearest the barn.

  This morning, however, Riley elected to sleep in. This resulted in an argument as Cooper tried to roust his brother out of bed. Although he was successful in herding his brother out the front door, Riley repaid his brother with a fussy demeanor the entire day. After two days in charge, Cooper had managed to turn his director of livestock management into a dude with a ’tude.

  The next order of business was to clean out the Slaughters’ house over at the Reinecke operation. Cooper called upon Palmer and Sook for assistance. Sook was more than willing, but Palmer thought the brutal cold weather moving in meant the clean-out job could wait for another few days.

  Cooper got half of the dynamic duo to help. Palmer stubbornly remained in the house while Sook joined Cooper and a couple of the ranch hands’ wives in the cleanup process. Cooper wanted to prepare the home for guests or newly hired ranch hands to move into, as the homes on the ranch were occupied by existing families and soldiers.

  Except for Preacher’s home. Lucy and Major insisted they’d package up his things and make the home available to Espy, who’d asked to live at the ranch full-time. While his men would rotate between their homes, Camp Lubbock, and the temporary quarters at the ranch, Espy preferred to be there all day, every day.

  The Armstrong family was better prepared than most because they’d made the effort to study preparedness websites and sacrificed expenditures on other, frivolous items in favor of the necessities of shelter, water, food, and security. As a result, once they’d survived the attack upon their ranch by the commandos, returning to a normal life was easier.

  Granted, the presence of the security team gave them the peace of mind to go about their daily activities without fear of getting injured or killed. But the building blocks Lucy and Major had laid certainly expedited their return to normalcy.

  By the end of his fourth day running the ranch, Cooper, utilizing the organizational skills learned from his mother, had returned the operations of the ranch back to a normal routine. Now his biggest challenge was finding warm bodies to work the ranch in order to get it ready for spring.

  Fields needed to be tilled. Fences were in a state of disrepair following the attack. He and Lucy had discussed tripling the size of their gardens in order to feed the soldiers who were stationed there. Despite the president’s promises of additional food supplies, Major warned that the Texas food supply was greatly diminished, and they’d have to continue to grow their own.

  Cooper considered his options in adding to the ranch’s workforce. He could travel to nearby cattle ranchers and ask if they had anyone they could spare. He considered riding into Lubbock with Espy one day to look for potential workers. He was concerned that the people he would bring on board were unknowns. He had no ability to check their backgrounds, so he decided against it.

  After he finished locking up the Reinecke property, he walked through the milking machines, which had been reinstalled from the Slaughters’ ranch. He either needed to move this entire dairy operation to the protected confines of the Armstrong Ranch, or he’d need to widen Espy’s secured perimeter to include the oil fields and the Reinecke buildings. That wasn’t a long-term solution because he assumed, at some point, the company that owned the property would return.

  To return to the ranch, he decided to retrace the route he and Riley had taken the night they had fought the commandos at the south gate guard tower. Everything that had happened was fresh in his mind, including how different the firefight was from what he’d seen in movies. He recalled how loud the shooting was. His ears were still ringing for days afterwards.

  Also, the stop-and-go aspect of the shooting seemed odd to him. When the commandos had shot at him, it sounded like a bunch of angry bees whizzing by his head. Then the shooting would stop, and the world became deathly silent. In those few seconds between volleys, the ranch looked different to Cooper. He saw the sky differently. He could hear the winds blow through the tall grasses. His senses had kicked into overdrive.

  Then the oncoming vehicles amped his adrenaline into overdrive as threats closed on him from two directions. The concept of dying became very real for Cooper at that point. That was when he fell in love with his rifle. Duncan always referred to it as a tool, but Cooper began to see it as his lifeline. Without it, he was going to die. He even recalled saying a prayer thanking God for his rifle, and then he chuckled to himself when he wondered if God was pro-Second Amendment.

  As the battle had raged on, Cooper learned several things about himself. He discovered he was capable of killing. When his bullets tore into the commandos, he didn’t see them as human beings but rather as machines hell-bent on his destruction. A coldness had washed over him as he transitioned from mid-twenties rodeo star to soldier.

  His acceptance of killing had culminated with his asking Riley why he didn’t just shoot the last commando they’d chased through the field. Riley’s response was meant to be humorous when he replied that he missed steer wrestling. What struck Cooper the most was that in the moment when the two brothers risked death, they remained calm and capable of carrying on a somewhat casual conversation in the face of mortal danger.

  They’d both evolved from rodeo kids raised on a ranch to hardened soldiers taught on the battlefield. Now they
’d have to find a way to turn back into ranchers.

  Chapter 40

  January 30

  The Armstrong Ranch

  Borden County, Texas

  Palmer told her mother she was going to ride over to the Slaughter property to check on Sook and Cooper when she happened upon Espy meeting with two of his men. She remained a respectful distance away to allow him to complete his instructions; then she moseyed closer to his Humvee. Palmer blushed as a huge genuine smile came over Espy’s face when she caught his eye. The butterflies in her stomach told her the feeling was mutual.

  “How’re ya holdin’ up?” Espy asked as he helped Palmer dismount from her horse.

  “Good, actually,” she replied.

  He took the reins and tied them to a black handle on the hood of the truck. The hood of a Humvee opened with the hinges positioned near the front grille, requiring the handles to pull the heavy piece of steel forward. “I was fixin’ to ride over to Reinecke’s to check on Coop and Sook when I saw you. I just thought I’d stop by and say hi.”

  “I’m glad you did. Um, I’ve been meaning to talk with you alone, but sometimes that’s hard to do with so many people around, you know?”

  “Yeah.” Palmer felt a little nervous. The more she was around Espy, the more she could tell she had feelings for him. The question she kept asking herself was what to do about it. The whole situation was awkward. Espy technically worked for her brother, but he was also the head of the detail assigned to protect her father, the vice president. A relationship would be complicated.

  “It’s gettin’ cold. You wanna sit inside?”

  “Sure,” Palmer replied as she walked around to the passenger’s side. Espy hustled around her and opened the door to help her in. He gently pushed the door closed so it didn’t slam. Palmer tried to recall if any other guy she was sweet on ever opened the truck door for her. Usually their lack of manners resembled something along the lines of git in the truck.