Sadly, there were plenty of combustible fumes pouring in from the ruptured fuel tank. Not all of that shot went straight through the target. They ricocheted all over the place. This, as well, shouldn’t have been a problem. The gas was diesel after all and not flammable…at room temperature. After being heated for five minutes by the fire though, things got considerably more dangerous.
When the bus finally exploded, Brown’s heart stopped, but his legs didn’t. He took maximum advantage of that brief opportunity when the soldiers thought they were being attacked from the rear. He dashed 10 yards to the nearest lot, vaulted over the low fence with one hand and got out of sight without a single shot following.
Brown paused long enough to take in his men, trapped in the locked prison transport, burn alive. Downwind of the inferno, the soul-killing stench of burning hair and oily flesh consumed him. In his long career, he’d seen some shit, but nothing like this.
He checked the rifle’s magazine while his stomach lurched. Seven rounds left. What could he do? The hardest thing Brown had ever done in his life was turn his back right then. It wouldn’t do his boys any good for him to get captured. Well, nothing would do them any good now. His legs were cement, his joints rusted, but he kept on pushing. He ran until clearly out of danger and then kept going. The adrenaline kept the pain at bay better than any pill.
To say anger propelled John Brown was wrong. The burning heat inside him could not be expressed in words, but it could be expressed in action. No mere man escaped from the scene. That was a nuclear bomb running loose in America.
The suggestion by some investigators that a lone wolf attacked the convoy was considered nonsense, at best. Others saw it as a blatant cover up. A single assailant didn’t kill nine armed policemen and soldiers and then murder all the prisoners. Obviously, the rebels slaughtered these defenseless detainees to send a message to the president. One congressman after another promised that such atrocities would not go unpunished.
For their part, no one in Florida’s command structure knew what the hell to make of the massacre. Why would the president send in a Special Forces rescue team after the prisoners were being turned over? There was only one possible explanation. The president must want to send a strong message that he didn’t need to negotiate, because he could just take what he wanted.
To the opposition leaders that was proof enough he’d gone way beyond political posturing. Full-blown dictator mode. The president, or at least his followers, truly wanted to seize permanent power. It terrified Dimone and his cohorts. When they realized that the great big game just got real…well, they were tempted to throw in the towel. They probably would have too, if they had lived in a world immune to public opinion.
If the speed of headline events had been pushing them along too fast before, after the massacre the train went totally off the rails. That simple initial press release from some clueless Florida bureaucrat stating that 30 federal soldiers perished during a routine prison transfer could not have been more inflammatory.
Since there were no reporters there to speculate on things, the facts of the attack were gathered quickly and leaked even faster. Everyone received the same information without spin. Unfortunately, the facts alone don’t always lead to the truth.
State officials were reluctant, at first, to admit they had tried to give the men back. Who wanted to appear weak when things were coming apart? That tightlipped strategy was all the proof that the pro-Fed media needed to run wild. For their part, the Federal Government’s contradictory statements and general confusion as to what the hell was going on proved their culpability in the bloodbath.
While everyone blamed everyone else, only one thing was clear: assassinations and atrocities were just the beginning. Fewer people cared every day who became president. The big national debate was over how to get revenge. How to change the system to keep this craziness from ever happening again came in second, but who should be president? Who cares!
Americans aren’t quick to collective anger, but once they’ve committed to something, they are unshakable. They must see it through to its dreadful end.
Atlanta, Georgia
“Brothers and sisters, this isn’t a matter of politics. This isn’t some squabble over legal technicalities or any other mundane human affair. This is a matter of good versus evil. As believers and as Americans, we don’t serve any one man. We serve the Lord of Righteousness. God is our master and liberty our reward. Sadly, in these dark days, God is ignored and freedom threatened. Are we to sit idly by while the Forces of Darkness consume our great land?”
The well-known preacher was in top form and not even warmed up yet. His “aw-shucks” demeanor wasn’t intended to hide his oratory mastery, but accentuate it. From his tone to the practiced pacing and power gestures, he kept the congregation hanging off every word. Whether they bought into his rhetoric or not, no one could just simply ignore him.
“What would have happened if Moses, or Thomas Jefferson, had just thrown up their hands? If they had said, ‘I’m not the political type. I don’t want to get involved. It’s not my fight.’ My dear friends, I haven’t seen such a worthy fight in all my life! Not since the days of the Apostle Matthew has the light of Truth been in such jeopardy! The wolf is at the door. The devil is trying to extinguish this world’s last flame of freedom with the cold, dark waters of tyranny!”
He shifted focus away from his congregation of 2,000 and towards the cameras reaching out to a million more. His tone softened. “I’m not saying that that man in the White House is necessarily the anti-Christ, as foretold in Revelations. He may be just laying the groundwork. An unwitting agent of the Prince of Darkness. I don’t know; the devil has not yet revealed his self. What he has made clear, however, is his ultimate purpose.” He carefully built up righteous fervor.
“In order to begin their reign of hell the forces of evil must destroy the only nation standing in the way! Not since the time of jack-booted Nazis have we been so close to the abyss. With ‘wars and rumors of wars’ abounding, you could argue that we are indeed approaching the End of Days, but why? Why, I ask you, must it be so? God warned us about these End Times, not to scare us, but so that we might fight for Him! That we might make ready and avoid this great calamity.” Perfectly timed tears welled in his kind eyes.
“I hope, nay, I must believe that my beloved America, God’s great gift of freedom and righteousness to mankind, cannot be beyond redemption. That we will not go easily into that dark night! That we will honor the memory of our forefathers that stood up to the last king America had and cried out in one loud voice: Give me liberty or give me death!” He stabbed that black Bible into the air like a sword.
“Whether you are saved or not doesn’t enter the question here. Even a non-believer can love freedom. However, as Christians, we have a special commandment from our Lord to defend liberty. The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to stand idly by. Will you do nothing? Fathers, look at your families. Mothers, look at your children. Do you think the gathering clouds will storm somewhere else? Do you really believe the Devil, or the ordinary variety of opportunistic evil men always following him around, will just leave you alone? That your loved ones will be magically safe? That they will take everyone else’s freedom but yours?!”