Whatever their fate, in response to the event the remnants of the US government, mostly military bases, had announced to the world their findings that Russia was responsible for the Gulf refineries attack. There was some doubt about the authenticity of the claim, but the US had used it as a pretext to declare war on the Gold Bloc nations and warned that if foreign troops didn’t leave Canadian soil within the next month they would utilize their nuclear arsenal.
Chauncey’s personal opinion was that this was just saber rattling, considering the government remnants had also promised to start launching nukes if Canada was invaded in the first place and they hadn’t done that. Either way Trev found it hard to believe that after a winter where tens or even hundreds of millions of American citizens had died there were people out there willing to commit the nation to war against the world’s new superpower.
Then again the US troops stationed up there to protect, or perhaps more accurately secure, Canada’s supply of crude oil couldn’t be ignored. With their critically low reserve of fuel the nation couldn’t afford to bring those troops home, and possibly didn’t intend to either way. Likely one of the first things the Gold Bloc soldiers did on Canadian soil would be to attack those troops and secure the crude oil for themselves, at which point thousands or even tens of thousands of US soldiers would die. The government had to do something to prevent that, and this was the only card they had.
Unfortunately the rest of the world, particularly the Gold Bloc, expected the US to fold. Especially since Russia was offering fuel to help those troops get home to their families, as well as limited aid to the country in its current crisis. Nobody expected the government to pass up that kind of deal.
Trev certainly hoped they wouldn’t. There’d been enough chaos and death without adding war on top of it, and for the US holding Canada’s oil in a death grip when there was no hope of the country returning to sustainability in the near future, and perhaps not for decades, was foolish if not suicidal.
Lewis had another perspective, if not a pleasant one. “I have my doubts about whether anything the US does will ultimately change things,” he said grimly. “We’re struggling just to survive, with rebuilding a long way away and any sort of coordinated military presence even more distant. The Gold Bloc could’ve made deals for Canadian oil without invading Canada at all, which means if they were invited in then those troops aren’t meant to stay on Canadian soil.”
A trickle of ice spread down Trev’s spine. “You think they’re planning to invade the US once Canada’s secured?”
“They might not even wait that long.” Lewis shook his head. “Think about it. Most occupations are difficult because even after you’ve dealt with the occupied country’s military you still have to deal with resistance among the civilian population and the effort and expense of moving troops and keeping them supplied.”
“Well I’d say our military is very nearly dealt with,” Chauncey said grimly.
“Which gets us to occupation. The US’s greatest defense has always been that trying to occupy any of our territory would be a logistical nightmare for anyone on another continent, because taking supply lines across either the Atlantic or the Pacific would increase the time, expense, and difficulty to coordinate by orders of magnitude. And then once they got on US soil they’d be facing a population of hundreds of millions of people with a reputation as being one of the most well armed populaces in the world.
The only way they could hope to manage it is with the cooperation of either Canada or Mexico to use as a point to launch the invasion. Up until now the US would’ve immediately intervened if enemy troops had tried something like that, and we’d have shorter supply lines to our neighbors than an enemy preparing an invasion from their soil. It would be easier for us to defend than for them to attack.”
Trev nodded slowly, feeling sick. “So now that our military is out of the picture and hundreds of millions of US citizens have died, and the rest are stranded wherever they are with no fuel to mount any sort of resistance, an enemy could just drive right in and take our nation piece by piece.”
“We’d be an ideal target, too,” Chauncey muttered. “We were knocked out without needing to use nukes, disease, EMP, or even good old fashioned bombing. Our people are dead but all the infrastructure, commodities besides food, and wealth remains. They could even move settlers in to live in fully functional communities without too much trouble. Probably a tempting prospect for China with their large population.”
This wasn’t exactly the most heartening conversation. Trev knew it was probably something they’d have to prepare to deal with, assuming that was even possible, but for now the twitching between his shoulder blades was encouraging him to change the subject. Although there was one important thing he had to mention. “How far have you been able to go with your radio contacts?” he asked Chauncey.
The older man gave him an odd look. “Mostly local people. News gets passed on to them from people even farther away, kind of like dominos.”
Lewis guessed where his thoughts had taken him. “Uncle George probably knows all this already. I’m sure he’s ready to get your family to safety if it looks like the US is going to be invaded. For all we know they could already be on their way here.”
Chauncey glanced at him, eyes widening. “That’s right. Your family moved to Michigan, didn’t they? There’s a chance they’ll be right in the path of any invasion from Canada.”
That was in fact the unpleasant realization Trev’s thoughts had been dancing around. He could’ve done without his fears being spoken and made real. “Once you get your radio running do you think you can try to contact them?” he asked Lewis.
His cousin nodded. “I’ll try. HAM operators are a pretty cooperative bunch, I’ve found. I’m sure I can get some help relaying a message to Greenbush. Until then how about a change of subject? It’d be nice to know how the other towns in the area are doing.”
Chauncey grimaced. “Yeah, I suppose you’ll want to hear about Price.”
Trev frowned. “Is it good news?”
“I’ll give you one guess and a hint: the answer’s not “yes.” The retired teacher shook his head. “If you hadn’t heard, Price got hit by a disease late last fall. Some sort of flu in the refugee camp there that spread quickly, thanks to refugees thinking it was worse than it was and fleeing in a panic. High transference, low mortality. Might’ve even been a more common strain.”
“I’m guessing it was worse than you’re making it sound,” Lewis said. “Did it hit Aspen Hill?”
“No, Matt did a good job of keeping out anyone who might’ve carried it. But the problem is that even if it had a low mortality rate on its own, the refugees were all weakened by hunger and cold, and the people of Price and Carbonville it spread to weren’t much better off. It seemed to be just enough to push most of the infected over the edge, and by the time it played itself out tens of thousands of people ended up dead. Including a lot of people who survived it only to get hit by winter and find themselves too weak to respond.”
They shared a moment of grim silence for the fallen, then Trev cleared his throat. “Is Price still around?”
“Barely. The refugees ate up most of the food they had, including the stuff brought by the FETF convoy, before the flu struck. After that it was the same story of people doing what they could to survive. From what I hear there’s maybe five thousand people left, with more dying every day.”