Chapter 27: Locked His Basement Door Behind Him

Chapter 27

Locked His Basement Door Behind Him

            Eagle, Idaho. Ben Thomas walked out of his basement and into the kitchen of his suburban Idaho home. Ben always counted himself amongst the lucky few that had the pleasure of a beautiful wife, beautiful kids, and a picturesque home. He walked up and grabbed his jacket that was sitting on the kitchen counter.

            “Hunny, I’m running to the store.” Ben called out to his wife.

            “Ok hun. Your wallet is on the kitchen table.”

            “Thank you.” Ben grabbed his wallet and opened the kitchen door to the outside.

            “Hurry back.”

            “I won’t be long.” Ben answered and walked outside. His neighborhood was just like any other suburb. He walked past the houses of his neighbors like he always had only now some of the driveways were empty. Some of the neighbors had left the state before the California invasion; they had packed up their lives and headed east. Ben and his wife were lifelong Idaho residents and had no relatives out east, so they were one of the few who remained.

            The streets of Eagle were lined with paper. Everywhere Ben could see was covered in the paper pamphlets. He could see in big bold letters “LIBERATION!” on the front of the pamphlets. These were California propaganda pamphlets made to try to win over the hearts and mind of the people of Idaho. Idaho was still under military rule and martial law after the California General Assembly voted against Idaho representation in the ROC central government. The bold print was overlaying a silhouette of Idaho’s borders with a California Grizzly overlapped.

            “Liberation my ass. ‘Unneeded occupiers’ is more like it.” Ben said to himself.

            “Annoying aren’t they?” a man asked.

            Ben looked up and saw his neighbor from across the street. “Hey Bob. Hell yeah these things are annoying. You think we can get them on that $100 fine for littering?” The two men shared a laugh. “Guess not. How are you Bob?”

            “Good. And yourself Ben?” Bob said as he shook Ben’s hand.

            “As fine as someone can be in Idaho these days.” Ben let go of Bob’s hand. He pocketed a piece of paper that Bob had slipped to him during the handshake.

            “I hear ya. What are you up to Ben?

            “I was on my way to the store. Wanna join me?

            “Sure. Nothing better to do.”

            The two men walked down the street together. Once outside their neighborhood, the scenery around them changed. The landscape went from picturesque suburbia to the warzone that befell Idaho. Buildings destroyed by bombing runs. Houses burnt to ashes. Eagle may not be Boise, but you couldn’t tell the townspeople that. Wrecked cars lined the streets as Ben and Bob walked. At that time a dark green armored army cargo truck rolled past.

            “Damn jackasses plow through here like it’s nothing. They just come here and play army. Do what they wish and don’t take the responsibility of cleaning up the mess.” Ben said to Bob.

            “I hear ya Ben. But this is kind of what we should’ve expected when the US abandoned the state. They just gave us up. Now California is here and we have to live with it. For now.” His friend replied.

            The two men arrived at their local grocery store. Ben had been shopping here for the past twenty years. But he wouldn’t be shopping today. Instead he stepped into a line which began outside the store.

            “We have to live with these damn ration lines too.” After the occupation started, the Californian Army requisitioned half of all cattle farms in Idaho for supplies for the war effort. Because of that, the Military Council of Idaho has had to institute rationing inside of Idaho. At the front of the line stood ROC Military Police. They were wearing dark blue uniforms. One of them had a Seattle PD patch on his uniform, and another had Portland PD on his signaling that these men and been called up to the military straight from city policing. California was reinforcing up their ranks however they could. Manpower was a scare resource for the ROC and they grabbed it where ever they could find it. Ben was also able to see other men in uniforms. These uniforms were the dark green camouflage signifying that they were from one of California’s mountain divisions. These were active duty soldiers patrolling Eagle, ID. The soldiers carried M4 assault rifles with them. While inspecting the soldiers Ben heard a commotion from further up the line. Ben stuck his head out to the side to look at what was going on.

            “Come on. Let us have our food. This lines are ridiculous.” A Man yelled at one of the ROC soldiers. The crowd cheered the man on. “We all know that this meat is coming from our farms. So give us our damn food.”

            “Yeah!...You tell ‘em…give ‘em some.” Other voices from the crowd yelled back.

            “Sir, can you please get back in line and calm down.” One of the soldiers told the man.

            “No! How about you calm down? You occupying scum!”

            “The man asked you to please get back in line.” Another soldier said.

            “How about you go back to your god damn hippie Hollywood and get the hell out of our Idaho.” The man pushed the ROC first solider. The second soldier hit the man in the head with the butt of his rifle. The man lay on the ground with a cut on his head. The crowd started to get even more rowdy. The ROC soldiers drew their rifles in order to protect themselves while the crowd screamed at them.

            Bang. A gunshot rang out from the front of the store. There stood an ROC officer. “Everybody calm down and everybody back in line. You will quickly move through the line, receive your rations, and then return home.” The officer turned towards his soldiers. “Pick this man up and escort him to the hospital.” He then turned around and returned inside the store.

            “Ben, do you know who that was?” Bob whispered.

            “No. Do you?”

            “That was Colonel Riles David. He is the officer in charge of the West Boise military district. He is a member of the Military Council under General Grant. I don’t know what he is doing in our town though.”

            “Strange.” Ben tried to get his mind off the man who was just taken to the hospital. At this point, Ben didn’t care about anything other than getting his food and getting back to his home.

            While trying to put the fight behind him, Ben continued moving forward in the line. When he reached the front of the store he caught a glimpse of the newspapers. The store was handing out issues of the Sacramento Bee. The Military Council has outlawed all local Idaho papers and only allowed papers from the west. He picked up one of the papers and read the headline on the front page.

            “Top US General Defects.” General Mike Hickson has resigned and defected from the US Army. The native of New Mexico is set to return to his home state and take up leadership within the state that has become the latest of secede from the United States. New Mexico has stated their intention to join the Republic of California, but no action has been taken by the General Assembly. Hickson, a former member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is expected to be the senior most officer in the newly formed New Mexican Army. The US Army has responded by saying that General Hickson is now wanted by military tribunal for desertion and treason…

            Nearing the front of the line, Ben rolled up the paper and put in under his arm. He could see the man behind the desk where the line was heading. The man sitting behind the desk was wearing a white dress shirt with a black tie. He was a fat, sweaty man with little left of what appeared to be blonde hair. He wore thick square glasses on top of bushy walrus moustache.

            “Next,” bellowed the walrus. Ben stepped up to desk. “Name?”

            “Thomas. Ben Thomas.” The walrus’ eyes skimmed the list in front of him.

            “Ration number?”

            “4687.” Ben answered.

The man looked back at the paper. He then turned his right and said, “Five pounds, beef. Five pounds, steak.”

Ben’s face dropped. He worriedly said, “Five? That’s it?”

“Rations have been cut for this cycle.”

“But I have kids at home.”

“Everyone has somebody or something.” The walrus said dryly.

Ben got his wallet out. He pulled out his ration stub and handed it to the man behind the desk. “Do you think you can do me a favor and just check the list again?”

The walrus grabbed the stub. He noticed that with it was a $50 bill. His eyes moved down from Ben to his list and back up to Ben again.

“Sorry my mistake. That was ten pounds of beef.” Another store clerk appeared from the back with Ben’s meat. Ben grabbed it and Bob helped. “Next.” Ben heard the walrus say again while he walked away from the store. The two men casually chatted on their way back home.

“Later Bob. See you tomorrow.” Ben said when they reached his house.

“See ya.” Bob replied and walked across the street to his home.

Ben walked back into his house through the side door leading to the kitchen. He threw the meat rations onto the kitchen counter.

“Hun, I’m home.” He called to his wife.

“Oh good. Did you have a smooth trip?” His wife answered.

Hesitating, Ben said, “Yep. Just fine. I hate those stupid ration lines, but besides that everything went just fine.”

“Just leave the rations on the counter and I’ll take care of them.”

Ben pulled out his wallet and placed it back on the counter in the same place from which he grabbed it before he left. He took off his jacket and hung it up on the coat rack next to the door.

He then walked over to another door leading out of the kitchen. He reached into his pockets and pulled out a set of keys. Choosing one of the keys, Ben used it to open the door. He flipped a light switch and walked into the doorway. Closing the door and locking it behind him, he started to walk down the flight of stairs that led him into his basement.

He pulled a string that turned on an overhead light. It illuminated the entire basement. Ben sat down at his work desk. On the wall hung an American flag along with maps of the United States with push pins in it. The pins were concentrated mostly in the west in ROC cities, but some also in borer US cities. Some pins also were stuck in Canadian cities. Arrows were drawn pointing from US border states into ROC states.

Ben reached into his pocket once more and pulled out the piece of paper that Bob had given to him earlier. He unfolded it and read “AM 853 at 6:35pm” written on it. He pulled a radio sitting on his desk closer to him. He turned it on and turned the dial to the station. The radio just blared out white noise. He looked at his clock and saw that it was only 6:34. He sat back and waited. At 6:35 exactly a voice came on over the air.

“You are now listening to Radio Free Idaho. If you are listening to this you are either already involved in the Idaho resistance or you have recently joined. In both instances you have decided that you are a loyal citizen of the United States of American and will not be subjugated by the invaders from California. I am the Vandal and I am bringing you news and information from outside the occupation zone. By now most of you have heard of the defection by General Hickson. My sources within the Army have told me that Hickson’s defection is a huge blow to the command. They have likened it to Robert E. Lee joining the Confederacy. But they will persevere and move on. There are other up and coming officers just waiting to take the old man’s place. They Army will get Hickson and bring him to justice along with the rest of the insurgents. In other news the US continues to say that they will entertain the ceasefire for as long as the ROC does. Talks between the two sides are scheduled to meet soon in Mexico City…”

Ben continued to listen to the radio until the Vandal signed off. He turned off all the lights, locked the door again, and went to bed. In the morning he was awoken by his wife yelling and screaming.

“Ben, get down here quick.” She yelled. Ben grabbed his robe and as quick as he could went down his stairs. His wife was waiting for him by the front door and pulled him outside. “Look. Look.”

She pointed at Bob’s house across the street. Outside of Bob’s house were police cars, an armored Army truck, and an armored personnel carrier. Ben’s wife was now consoling Bob’s wife.

“The Army is arresting Bob. They have him in the van right now.” Ben’s wife said.

“Why?”

“The think he is part of the Resistance. They think he is a spy.” Bob’s wife said while crying.

Ben swallowed nervously. “What are they doing now?”

“Searching the house for Resistance paraphernalia. Pretty much anything linked to the resistance. They are hoping to find names.” She said. “I had no idea he was involved in that. If I had known I would’ve stopped him. I just want to keep him safe.”

“I’m glad that you aren’t involved in anything like that. I don’t know what I would do if this happened to you.” Ben’s wife said while hugging him. Ben held her for a moment.

He then turned and walked back into the house. He grabbed his keys and opened his basement. He walked inside and locked his basement door behind him.

Coming Soon: Radical Liberals debate their future. California’s General Assembly decides what to do about New Mexico. US and ROC officials meet in Mexico City. Will the ceasefire hold?

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