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01/10

Chapter XI: Dawn over Amerika (The Day the Dollar Died Series)

10:11 by Administrator. Filed under: The Day The Dollar Died Series

by John Galt

January 6, 2010


Just a brief note about this chapter. For those that remember the old ABC miniseries Amerika, the striking resemblance of our compliance should a major no-win national emergency occur might just happen a lot faster than most of us might think. Thus the spelling in this week’s chapter and remember, everything below this portion is FICTION……

February 25, 2010 03:05 A.M.

WHACK! And with a sudden sharp pain in his back Tom fell out of the chair by the front window stunned by the object that just struck him. As he started to shake the cobwebs out of his head and wake up, reaching for the gun he forgot to put back in the holster, there was a very pissed off mother-in-law. “I told you not to fall asleep you idiot. Do you really think I want to die in my sleep because you got drunk and lazy? Get out of my chair and where the hell is my pistol?” Lillian said in about the rudest method she knew how to get a point across along with some strategically placed South Georgia cursings in case he wasn’t listening. Tom, stunned still from the cane slapping him in the back, looked around the room and then realized he left the pistol on the kitchen table. Like a scolded school kid he walked over to the table, gently picked the pistol up and handed it to his mother-in-law. “Mom, I…” Tom started before he was cut off. “I don’t want to hear it. Right now your wife and I could be held hostage by a gang and God knows what because you just HAD to get a nap in. Do you understand what the hell is happening out there? That fire you saw if probably that damned city of Atlanta being burned down by the gangs” and with that utterance by Lillian, Tom sulked to the bedroom to get some seriously overdue shut eye, mumbling under his breath down the hallway.

Lillian had seen it all in her lifetime so this was just one more step out the door in her mind. As she carefully placed the revolver in the holster, she then reached into her purse and grabbed the shoulder holster portion it clipped on to. “I guess I should have told him I had this part too” she thought to herself, smiling as she knew exactly how to deal with the situation at hand, at least in her mind. She sat down in the rocking chair after sliding it in front of the front picture window. Then she grabbed her cell phone out of her purse and set it on vibrate with an alarm that would go off every forty-five minutes and clipped it on her holster. “I’m not falling asleep like slacker boy” she thought to herself. She loved Tom but this was not the time to be tender or thoughtful. The children had been spoiled by a life of peace, quiet and pretty much having everything handed to them. Now they were going to learn what earning survival was all about.

The radio Tom was playing with was set to WSB on 750 AM but she fiddled with it to see if any of the other old clear channel stations came in or perhaps some South Georgia stations might be resisting the takeover of the airwaves. “Hmmm, let’s see if old Steve is still talking to the truckers” and with that idea in her head she tuned the radio to 700 on the dial looking for WLW’s famous “Talking to the Trucker’s” program and praying that someone was still doing their job to keep America informed. As she turned the volume down a wee bit so as not to disturb her kids, the music that blared out made her feel much better about the situation with the old Jerry Reed song ‘Wabash Cannonball’ which relieved her greatly that the entire nation hadn’t gone to hell in a hand basket. “3:37 a.m., sheesh, seven is a long, long way away” she whispered to herself.

There was no announcement after the song and for once it was back to back with some old Glen Campbell. She thought to herself about how unusual it was for Steve Sommers to play songs back to back without taking calls from truckers in between. “I wonder if it really is that bad out there” she muttered under her breath. As she grabbed her cane and walked into the kitchen to turn off the Mr. Coffee and clean up the mess from earlier. The pot had some hardened coffee on the bottom which would require a little scrubbing later on but to her it meant that the pot was flavored properly and ready for some Maxwell House extra dosage. After starting the pot off with six scoops for just eight cups, she wandered back to the chair and radio to hear the end of that old song that annoyed her when she was younger and still did to this day called ‘Wichita Lineman’ which in her mind was not Glen’s best.

The song ended and instead of some chatter, they went right into the worst of worst of Glen Campbell’s songs “Rhinestone Cowboy” at which point Lillian debated shooting the radio or changing stations. As the music churned on Lillian got up and grabbed her mug and said to herself “Screw this” and walked back to check the progress of good old reliable Mr. Coffee. “Thank God the power came on while Tom was asleep. I would have died without coffee” Lillian whispered as she poured a double cup of super strong coffee while the drip spilled over on to the counter top. With that, she settled back down into the chair by the window and the song ended with the voice that relieved her at first announcing “This is Truckin’ Steve Sommers with my new partner Frankie Wilkes, a Sergeant in the United States Army’s One Hundred and First Airborne Division here to chat the night away with all you truckers trying to keep the New America moving! God Love you guys that didn’t shut it down, we need your help and efforts from coast to coast to keep America moving, fed and get this economy moving again.” Lillian almost spilled all of the coffee on her lap with that announcement. But here it was three forty-six in the morning and the old ways were apparently changed on radio and for good within her comfortable little world. As Lillian slurped a deep gulp of the maximum strength coffee, Steve Sommers started an announcement:

“This morning’s checkpoints and security escorts will start at I-75 North of Cincinnati at the Highway 63, Hamilton-Lebanon Road exit; at I-74 westbound at exit 1 the New Haven Road exit; at exit 16 off I-275 in Indiana the Belleview  Avenue exit; the checkpoint at North Bend Road, exit 237 is now closed to all non-essential traffic but the check point on I-275 is still open; on the Southbound side off I-75 y’all need to get off at exit 184-B in Kentucky at Commonwealth Avenue for your escort assignments and checkpoint clearance; at the fork in the road of I-471 and I-275 southbound at the US 27 exit; and finally at Exit 59B the Milford Parkway exit for US Highway 50 going eastbound. All other exits on I-75, I-71, I-74, I-275, and I-471 are pretty much closed unless you have the Blue Permit for the next 48 hours. I apologize that I couldn’t do more but the cute Sarge here is telling me we’ll cover Indianapolis and Columbus Ohio on the next break. For local information tune to 1610 AM or Channel 8 on your CB to find out routings, closings, and more. This is Steve Sommers and now more music.”

February 25, 2010 06:58 A.M. Eastern Time

“Wake up son!” Mr. Lewis said as I was dead asleep in the other chair, losing track of time as he spun through the dials of his rigs looking for news. I was startled after only getting about two hours of sleep over the last twenty-four but his sources of information kept me fixated until finally I drifted off. I stood up and stretched, taking a swig of the now cold coffee and as I wiped the grunge out of my eyes and shook my head I noticed the time. “One minute until noon! I’ve got to get home” I yelled. “Calm down son, that’s GMT, not local, you can’t go home for another hour. Besides, don’t you want to know the news you’ve missed the last two hours?” Mr. Lewis said almost laughingly watching me panic for a brief moment.

He began, “Don’t worry, you can stay one more hour and when curfew is over, wow, will you have some tall tales for the wife. The news from Asia is that all container ships heading for the United States under Taiwanese, Japanese, or Chinese flags are to stop  at any non-American port before proceeding. Worse, the government of Singapore froze all of our assets in their banks and ordered all U.S. Dollars to be turned into the banks by noon tomorrow. I guess they want to get them all together to insure that there are no loose ends when they tell us to screw off.” Mr. Lewis was usually not this frank but now I was somewhat stunned. I asked him “Are we at war or something now?” Mr. Lewis laughed and dribbled some coffee down his chin while replying “Uh, no. Unless you count Goldman Sachs as the First Marine Division and President Obama as one of the Generals in the economic war. We’re getting shut down worldwide and the countries who have been holding our I.O.U.’s are demanding payment in full immediately. I guess this means we’re about to see what happens when the proverbial fan meets the big two hundred pound bag of fertilizer. These moron’s think they can intimidate the world and the rest of the world is mocking us on their domestic broadcasts. Hush now, let’s grab the nine o’clock evening news from Tokyo.

“This is Radio Japan and now the news. The American government has refused to release any gold reserves for foreign governments stored in their New York City reserve bank vaults. As a result of this, all American assets within the territories of the government of Japan are now frozen. All container ships have been ordered back to port. All transactions with the United States are officially frozen until the United States Treasury elects to inform us when obligations will be met in full using either payments in gold, commodities, or a non-dollar denominated currency acceptable to the Japanese Government.

In other news from the region, the Mexican government was arrested by the new military junta which has declared a state of martial law and frozen all U.S. assets  at all financial institutions and the Mexican military has been deployed along the U.S. border to prevent their migrant population from returning home and U.S. citizens from crossing. The Republic of South Africa has temporarily adopted a gold standard for the rand pegging the valuation of one hundred rand per ounce of gold, thus becoming the first nation to abandon a floating currency standard in the world. In Israel, the government has adopted the Euro and the Yuan as the only non-Shekel denominated currencies acceptable for trade in commerce outside of its borders. Lastly, the Indian government has terminated all business contracts with United States corporations and the U.S. government until guarantees of payment in a viable currency alternative to the dollar is presented by the American government.”

I looked over at Mr. Lewis and said “Uh, I’ve got to get home. This is spiraling out of control. I should never have left my wife.” Mr. Lewis nodded but grabbed my arm and said “Let’s try to call up some local contacts on two meters. Maybe they can tell us what is going on around here. We’re flying blind and you don’t need to be a hero and go out and get shot and leave your wife a widower.” He handed me an old citizen band radio walkie-talkie and told me how to use it and that if he ever needed my help to call out on Channel 39 as he has one radio tuned in there at all times. I sighed and thanked him as I had no communications at the moment with the phones being down and we resume dour band scanning to find out what else was happening to our nation. Despite taking a chance and calling out for his friends locally, there was no answer on any of the usual frequencies which seemed to disturb the old man greatly.

As his clock finally ticked over to eight o’clock local time, I left his house in broad daylight, expecting to see crazy people riding off road vehicles like the movie “Mad Max” but instead, things were disturbingly calm in Southwest Florida. I headed down the street and one of his neighbors was mowing their lawn as if nothing has happened. Another house had people painting the front of it as nothing was going on while the house beside that one had an elderly couple out front raking the leaves up and trimming their hedges. I thought to myself, “Was I drunk the last three days?” but kept on walking to the cul-de-sac where I lived, still stunned by what I had just seen and the news that I had heard. The old street sign was still there but as I rounded the corner I was somewhat freaked out to see my house and the condition it was in. “JAMES! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY HOUSE!” I started to scream at my neighbor’s home as I ran down the street. At this point in time I was beyond rational thinking because of what I had just seen.

February 25, 2010 07:00 A.M. Central Time-Fergus Falls, MN

“Sally, I want you to call 911 and find out if what she heard was the truth” Mike said. Mike continued, “I don’t buy the story.  The military would have contacted her, not some strange phone call from an unknown entity. If her husband was hit they would have come to get her or tell her, no matter how bad the situation is. I think they just wanted her out of her house.” Sally looked stunned and then realized that her husband who was just duped by a bunch of thieves might just be right. He has always been the suspicious type so this story hit home.

Sally called 911 and to her shock an operator answered and she went into the long story about last night’s events. The operator politely listened and then said “Ma’am the checkpoint just started this morning. Whoever called your friend is a fraud. We’re going to send a unit over to Deputy Monckton’s house to check things out.” Mike was right and now Sally felt relieved. Then again, that relief was over with when there was a loud knocking on the door. Mike grabbed the shotgun by the sofa and walked over to the door, peering into the peephole to see two men from the military at his door. Mike rested the gun behind the door and cracked it open slowly. “Mike Elmendorff? My name is Sergeant Blaine with the Minnesota National Guard. We’re here to register and inventory all firearms in this household. Can we come in please sir.?” The professionalism of the military did not shock Mike but the question he asked caused him to retort somewhat curtly “What the hell do you need that information for and why should I register any thing with you? I need to know before I open this door. When did the Constitution die in our country?”

February 25, 2010 07:05 A.M. Central Time – DeWitt, AR

“Pastor Lewis, my name is Lieutenant Wilson Akers of the third Arkansas Federalized Military District command. You have been brought in here with a wild story about a farmer being attacked, and undocumented citizens and migrants occupying your church at this time. Is this information correct?” Pastor Lewis was still in a state of shock after being stripped down and subjected to full body cavity search in a tent then handcuffed to twenty-five other prisoners in the holding tent wearing only his undershorts. The entire experience had him hesitant to speak and when he did, all he could utter was a shaky “Uh, yes sir, but…” and before he could finish the Lieutenant cut him off. “With the revelation that you have admitted to the accusations, I will need for you to sign here sir” and he pointed at a freshly computer printed form which stated that he acknowledged he violated curfew in a willing manner and that he sheltered other violators of the new General Act 1 of 2010 of the United States Federalized Law Enforcement Code.  “Uh, sir, I want to call my lawyer before I sign anything. Bless  you my son for doing your job, but I do not wish to surrender my rights by signing anything until I can call my lawyer” the gentle Pastor said.

The Lieutenant nodded his head, motioned for the MP to take the Pastor back to holding and then yelled out “Captain, we’ve got another Perry Mason. Should I follow order seven or just wait for the JAG?” The Captain in the back tent adjoining the interview area said “Is this the case of that liberal lying Lutheran or somebody else? I need to know!” The Lieutenant looked over at Pastor Lewis as the plastic zip cuffs were tightened around his hands behind his back then yelled out “No sir. This is a good old fashioned Baptist nutcase who doesn’t read the news or obey instructions.” The Captain pondered what was just said and yelled back “Take him to tent five and turn the heat off in there. Perhaps we’ll get all the turkeys to talk at once to get the information we need about the Little Rock incident.”

February 25, 2010 10:05 A.M. Central Time – Florida Panhandle

The massive mobilization and loaning of a National Guard Huey helicopter accelerated the ability of the Florida State Patrol to locate their fallen man. As the search combed far and wide around Sparks a trooper yelled out “Hey, I’ve found a body, over here everyone!” and that started the mad rush and sad consequence of finding Trooper Margate’s body, face down riddled with bullet holes in a ditch that was half frozen over from the late season winter cold snap. The ice would have melted without the sunshine this morning as fourteen state troopers wanted to exact revenge for the killing of their partner. Before they could even start to mutter obscenities or cry further about their discovery, the radio crackled with “Vehicle located, Unit 129 on the roof. It would appear that Margate’s cruiser is about 3 miles West Northwest of your location. Captain, should we land and investigate or wait for back up?” the chopper commander asked.

Captain Franklin was exhausted from five straight days on duty. This incident marked the fifth trooper killed in two days and he had has his limit. He grabbed the mike off of his chest and spoke into the mike “You take them sum bitches out. I’m tired of playing nice and these animals escaping. If they are camped there, take them all out, we can’t lose any more troopers!” and with that he slammed the mike back on to its clip on his shoulder. The chopper commander acknowledged and began to fire on a camp with the squad car and what appeared to be a lot of criminal looking and questionable elements. The machine guns on the Huey were old but quite effective. Even thought it was not a G.E. mini-gun he was able to chop the squad car up pretty good and also take out the gangster elements below. After a few minutes over the target he yelled into the radio “Most of the targets eliminated, some might show up on foot heading your way. Air Guard seventeen heading back to base. Out.”

Little did they know that two weeks later a group of transients would discover their group of now dead transients. The ones all shot to hell and back with bodies scattered everywhere. The location was now where six men, six women and thirteen children were killed. The government thought they had eliminated the criminal element, despite the fact that all the criminals did was abandon the vehicle near the homeless encampment hours after killing Trooper Margate. Everyone was a criminal now, in the eyes of the officers being shot at every day and caution before action might get you killed. The problem is that for every officer who cared, how many  did not care, and were more than willing to abandon the rule of law to protect their lives or the new government orders being sent down almost hourly. Time would tell as freedom was dying daily now, just like some had foreseen and prayed would not happen.

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Chapter XI: Dawn over Amerika (The Day the Dollar Died Series) by John Galt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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