G Hopf - The End

A dozen men sitting in front of Barone threw up their arms.

“Go ahead, major,” Barone said to an officer in the room.

Standing up the, major asked, “Colonel, you didn’t mention the civilian population. We will be encountering them and they will look to us for food, water etc. What do we do with them? What are the SOPs?” The major sat down after asking his question.

“Good question, major. We will avoid the local civilian population, we cannot help them; we do not have the surplus resources to give them anything. Your mission, and it cannot deviate, is that we are here to secure those family members and bring them back. Just family members, not friends, not random people; I need you to make this clear to the men. Those caught bringing back stragglers will find the stragglers left adrift at sea, and they may join them if they wish to not follow orders,” Barone said sternly, he then pointed to a captain in the back.

Standing up, the captain asked, “Can you cover in more detail the rules of engagement?”

“Captain, the ROE’s for this mission are simple. Every Marine and sailor going ashore will have weapons and ammo, they will return fire if fired upon and if they see an incident where they can defend innocents then they can engage the hostiles. I do not want our men going out looking for a fight; we have a short window here and we must have them get to their family and return directly. I want to stress that this mission is to just go directly to residences or locations of their family members, pick them up and come directly back. I do not want our troops out on a joy ride or fucking off. We don’t have time for that.”

One by one he went through and picked each and every officer and senior NCO who had their hand up. He would not let anyone leave this room until they were all clear about the mission ahead. He was now down to the last two Marines.

“Go ahead master sergeant,” Barone said pointing toward the center of the room to a tall and bald older man.

“Colonel, what are we going to do with the prisoners? They are using up resources and there are a lot of them,” the master sergeant said.

“Master sergeant let me just be blunt, those Marines and sailors who are in the brig now will not be joining us after we depart. We are going to dump their asses on the beach with some MRE’s and water. We will provide them with them means to defend themselves because in the end they are still our brothers, but we will not be taking them with us. We will wish them well and that will be it. I think that answered your question.”

The master sergeant nodded and said, “Yes sir, it did. It was crystal clear.”

Looking around the room there was one last hand raised and Barone called on him, “You there, Captain..Ah…Smiley,” Barone said hesitating then grinning when he read the captain’s name.

“Thank you, colonel. Where are we going after we depart San Diego?”

“Another good question. Captain once we complete Operation Homestead we will be departing San Diego and heading north toward Oregon. We have spotted a good location to conduct an amphibious landing in Coos Bay. After we secure the beach head we will march toward Salem, the capital, and take it.”

Captain Smiley looked stunned when Barone finished what he said. He then asked, “Take it, sir?”

“Yes, captain, take it. We will need a new place to call home. We will need a new country to start. We have the means, we have the resources, hell, captain we have an army! What we don’t need are sniveling politicians telling us what they’re going to do with what we have. We don’t answer to them anymore; we only answer to ourselves. No longer will we be second-class citizens. We will go to Oregon to set up a new country where it’s not the politicians or the celebrities who are at the top of the food chain. We will build a country where the warrior is appreciated and where the warrior class is above everyone else. There is plenty of land in Oregon, good land. This is where we will settle down. I chose Oregon because there are no nuclear plants within 500 miles. The area is easily defended due to the mountains, there is plenty of wild game, and they have four seasons and get plenty of rain so agriculturally we can be self-sufficient. This will be our new home, gentlemen, and we won’t ask permission to come there. We will take what we need and not be sorry for it. We, all of us, have sacrificed a lot. Many of our brothers made the ultimate sacrifice and for what? For a country where half of the people don’t even care for them or respect them? We are no longer sacrificing for a lazy people. Does that answer your question?” Barone finished, his face flush.

“Yes, sir,” the captain said starting to sit down. He stopped, stood straight up again and asked another quick question. “Sir, what do we tell our men this new mission is called?”

“Rubicon, Operation Rubicon.”

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado

Conner stood staring at Julia sleeping; a range of emotions ran through him. Last night had finished better than it had started. She had finally given in and told him that she understood. Realizing that he had a tough job, she decided to support him. She made him promise that he wouldn’t do anything foolish and he agreed that he wouldn’t.

Before he tore his gaze away and left, he bent down and gave her one more kiss. Pressing his lips against her warm cheek, he held it there for a few seconds while taking a breath through his nose so he could capture and remember her smell. He gently touched her hair and whispered in her ear, “I love you, Julia.” It took a lot of inner strength to pull away. While he had made her that promise, he really couldn’t guarantee his safety. Standing at the door, he grabbed the knob but couldn’t turn it. He turned around and looked at the room. He wanted to create a mental image of everything in there. The trip would only take two weeks, but not knowing what he would encounter he wanted to remember this moment. .

An anxious curiosity gripped him as the gates first cracked open. The more they opened the more he became excited and nervous. He could see the deep blue mountain sky and the dark green of the trees. As the convoy slowly moved out into the warmth and comfort of the sun’s rays, it also exposed the harsh realities of life on the surface.

The main gate was riddled with debris, garbage and signs. By the looks of it, locals had gone to the base to find sanctuary, but obviously those requests were denied. What tore at Conner’s heartstrings was seeing a small child’s teddy bear lying among the debris and garbage. He wondered where that child might be and if they were safe. As their six-vehicle convoy of Humvees drove down the mountain, Conner sat thinking about that stuffed animal and the child who had once cherished it. He thought about all the people scattered across the country. How alone, desperate, disappointed and scared they must feel.

The route to Peterson Air Force Base took them carefully across major roads; his security detail wanted to ensure they avoided residential areas. With starvation now taking hold of the civilian population, there was greater risk traveling across the residential surface streets.

As they carefully drove, weaving around abandoned cars and wandering people, Conner could see that the city itself looked dead. He saw no lights, no movement except for the occasional person looking up as they drove by quickly. Conner could see those weary people scavenging through abandoned vehicles; he noticed many of the storefronts had their windows smashed; the streets were covered with debris and garbage. There was an occasional car or truck driving but the freeways were now a graveyard for most cars.

Seeing a large group to his right he thought it odd. Looking closer, he saw they were chasing two women. The mob was sizeable, about 20-plus people. He knew the situation was grave and that they should do something about it. When his convoy passed he saw the mob finally close in and catch them.