William Johnstone - Phoenix Rising

“Let’s go!” he called.

Seeing that the Jeep wasn’t going to stop, the three men with weapons—two rifles and a pistol—began firing.

Deon opened fire with the machine gun and the two men with rifles went down. The one with the pistol threw his weapon on the ground and put his hands up.

“Drive on through!” Deon called down to Clay.

Clay accelerated, then left the road to go around the block when he got there.

“You boys have a nice day now, you hear?” Deon shouted as they drove by.

The two who were still on their feet glared back, but said nothing.

“Oh, yeah, this will work just fine,” John said when he saw the tissues they had brought back. “I’ll have these filters better than new. Marcus, how are you coming on the hydro mechanical unit?”

“I’ve about got the HMU up and running. I’ve got the variable geometry actuator, the compressor inlet sensor, and the high-pressure fuel pump installed,” he said.

“Good, good, we’re cookin’ with gas now.”

“Cooking with gas? I thought this helicopter used jet fuel,” Julie said.

“It does. When we say cooking with gas we mean . . .”

Julie started laughing.

“I think Julie is pulling a couple of legs,” Karin said.

For the next several minutes John and Marcus worked on the helicopter engine while the others watched and handed them tools when asked. Deon took a pair of binoculars and an M-16 with him, then went up into the tower where he would have a panoramic view of the entire airfield.

“Phoenix,” he called down a few moments after he left. “There are some people over in the far northeast corner of the field.”

“What are they doing?”

“Looks like they are trying to find a helicopter that still has some fuel.”

“Keep an eye on them, but don’t do anything unless they start something.”

“Roger.”

That night they scheduled a guard detail. John was first on, and he went up into the tower to keep watch while the others spread out their sleeping bags. Willie cranked up one of the radios and after some searching, found a broadcast. The voice they heard was that of Ohmshidi.

“Damn, you mean that son of a bitch is still around?” Clay asked.

To my fellow citizens of the great commonwealth of the New World Collective, I send my greetings, and my assurances that I am well, and I am working very hard to restore order and hasten the recovery.

As I am sure all within the sound of this broadcast know, there were three nuclear detonations upon our soil. While I believe my peace overtures to the Islamic nations were bearing fruit, I neglected the danger from within. It is my sincere belief that the bombs were detonated not by foreign enemies but by domestic terrorists incited to do so by the seditious broadcasts of George Gregoire. I have declared Gregoire to be an enemy of the state, and hereby grant to any citizen who comes in contact with Gregoire the authority to shoot him on sight.

This may seem like a drastic measure, but under our current situation, drastic measures are allowed—indeed, even required.

Since the nuclear attack against us, I have, under the authority granted me by the Enabling Act, taken additional action to insure our security. So that there may be efficiency of operation, I have dissolved the government. Congress, as you once knew it, no longer exists, nor does the Supreme Court. Under the aegis of the Enabling Act I have taken on the total responsibility of the government. I assure you this is only a temporary condition and as soon as order is restored and I am assured that recovery is well underway, I will authorize new elections to replace the Congress. I will then, on a gradual basis, return some of the authority I have assumed to the newly elected body, which shall be known as the People’s Collective. I have also dissolved the entire military, from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, down to the lowest-ranking private. If you are in the military, and you hear this broadcast, you may take this as your authority to leave the post, base, or ship to which you are assigned. You are free to go home, or to anyplace you wish. I thank you for your service. All police and military authority now rests with me, and me alone, to be carried out by the SPS units, which I will be expanding.

Because of the unrest that is rampant throughout the country, and as a matter of personal security, I will tell you that I am no longer in New World City, the place once known as Washington, D. C., but have established the capital in a location that, for now, I shall not disclose. But, as you can tell by this broadcast, the government, through me, is still functioning, and that means that the NWC is still a member nation in the world of nations.

Thank you, and good night.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“Holy crap, can you believe that?” Willie said. “He has actually dismissed the entire Army.”

“It is a stupid and empty gesture,” Jake said. “He destroyed the Army with his incompetent meddling, so there is no more Army anyway. He is just saying this to make it appear as if he is still in charge.”

“Who were the idiots who voted for this man?” Clay asked. “How could we have possibly elected someone like this?”

“When more than half the voting public got their news and opinions from stand-up comedians, what did you expect?” Jake asked.

“I don’t know,” Clay replied. “But I sure didn’t expect anything like this.”

“Always before, when our country got into serious straits someone would say something like, ‘We are Americans, we’ve been through hard times before. We got through that, and we’ll get through this,’” John said. He shook his head. “But I don’t think we have ever been through anything like this.”

“Anybody else broadcasting?” Jake asked.

“There’s nothing left on this frequency but carrier wave,” Willie said. “Let me see what else I can find.”

El huracán hará la recalada en Point de Mobile antes de medianoche esta noche. Es ahora una categoría cinco, pero disminuirá en la fuerza antes de la recalada a categoría tres . . .

“I’ll see if I can find something in English,” Willie said.

“No, wait! It’s a hurricane!” Marcus said, holding his hand out to stop Willie.

“A hurricane? Where? When?”

“It’s in the Gulf now, should make landfall by midnight tonight at Mobile Point.”

“Mobile Point? Isn’t that where Fort Morgan is?” John asked.

“Yes,” Jake said. “Marcus, what’s the strength, did he say?”

“It’s a cat five now,” Marcus said. “They are saying it should be a three by landfall.”

“Whoa, that’s quite a storm.”

“Does that change our plans any?” Deon asked. “I mean, do we still plan to go to Fort Morgan?”

“Fort Morgan has been there since 1834,” Jake said. “I imagine it has gone through its share of storms. We’re still going. But we are going to get a lot of rain and wind here tonight, so we need to be ready for it.”

Willie continued to search the dial, stopping when he heard English being spoken. It was not only English, it was English with a British accent.

This is the BBC World Broadcast on 5.110 megahertz. Now, here is the news.

Authorities in Southampton have stopped looking for survivors and are now cordoning off the entire area to prevent entry into the contaminated area. The final count of casualties is believed to be a little over one hundred fifty thousand dead, with another one hundred thousand injured. There is no way of knowing the number of people who will ultimately die of radiation exposure, though it is thought to be very high.