Overthrown: The Death of America....Book Three
How did it happen? Russell didn't understand. It made no sense. America was the most powerful nation on earth, once. It was the virtual bread basket of the world. It was the great bastion of freedom and opportunity for all people. At least it was. It wasn't any of those things now. So what happened? How did it happen? How could the American people become a nation under siege from their own government? He shook his head as he sat in the darkened room, thinking of the recent past. Trying to figure it all out, he thought of the time line of events.
Why was it such a surprise when California finally had 'the big one' when
everyone knew it was coming for so long? His mind went back to his former
girlfriend. When she had suggested moving to Los Angeles, he had told her in no uncertain terms that he wouldn't do it, and why.
"I refuse to live any place where the ground moves under you."
"But you could make a lot more money out there." Rebbecca had insisted.
"What good will that do us when everything comes crashing down around our ears? Besides, I admit that people make a lot of money out there. They have to make a lot, because everything is so expensive. Have you ever seen what they charge for rent out there?"
"Well, if you are making more money, that doesn't matter. You'll be able to afford it. And what about all of the people who already live there? They live with earthquakes all the time. They aren't afraid of it like you are."
"I see. So if everyone jumps off of a sky scraper because it is such an exciting trip on the way down, you think we should do the same. What about that sudden stop at the bottom? It's quite a heart stopper I've heard."
"Oh, you're just being paranoid."
Things had only gotten worse there. Rebbecca had her heart set on moving to L.A. Not long after that she left him to become rich and famous. That had been three years ago. He never heard from her again. After the quake, he did hear from her sister. Somehow she felt that if Rebbecca had died in the quake, it was all his fault. She did her best to make the point, rather loudly, that if he had been with her, he could have saved her. But like so many other things lately, that made no sense either.
He explained to her that from what he had heard, the coastline of California was riddled with underwater caves that went who knew how far inland. Was it his fault that when the quake happened those caves were weakened and collapsed? From what had been shown on T.V. back then, major portions of the entire coast had dropped anywhere from two to forty feet straight down. What hadn't been knocked down had been flooded when the Pacific Ocean roared in. There were places where the new coastline was thirty to fifty miles from where it used to be. Even Death Valley had been flooded. Finally, she had to admit that the quake and the resulting loss of life wasn't his fault. But then he was responsible because he didn't talk her out of going to L.A.
Russell did his best to explain he couldn't stop her from going. He had proposed to Rebbecca. She was thrilled and immediately answered yes. Then she started talking about how they would need a suitable place for the two of them, hopefully near the beach. Once he made it clear that he was serious and wouldn't move there, she called it off. He had told her there was no reason to go to California. He had a good job right here. There had even been talk of a promotion, with a hefty raise to go along with it. Nothing he said made the slightest difference.
"Well, if you love your job more than you do me, I hope the two of you are very happy together."
After that announcement, she had stormed out and refused to see him or even accept his phone calls. Two weeks later she left. He didn't hold out any hope that she was still alive. Casualty reports he had heard placed the toll of known dead and missing at about eighty percent of the population anywhere near the former coast.
Russell shifted his weight in the chair as he sat in the dimly lighted room. All of that had happened in the spring of that year and had been bad enough. Then the mega-hurricane had slammed into the southeastern part of the country, in the early fall. When the storm had gotten big enough there was a mass exodus of the entire coastline from South Carolina to Texas. It had saved countless lives, especially in Florida. However once the storm had finally ended, most of the refugees refused to go home again. With the amount of damage done, there wasn't any point. Half of Florida simply wasn't there anymore, and the damage to the rest of the southeast was almost as bad. Why go home, spend months cleaning up and then start over, when they could just start over where they were?
Russell, by his own admission, had always been something of a 'geek' and ran his companies web site. He had never realized just how much of the countries produce, fruit and citrus had come from there. He found out when the cost of all of it went through the roof. Most of it had to be imported now. And the lack of quality control in many of the exporting countries that sold to America caused an occasional outbreak of disease.
Not only that, but the storm had done much more. Virtually the entire fishing fleet down there had been wiped out. Fishermen in other parts of the country saw this as an opportunity, and honestly did their best to supply the needs of the nation. At a modest profit, of course. But there simply was no way do it. Some saw this as a chance to expand not only the size of their individual companies, but also the size of their fishing grounds. For a short time, they did. But with everything else going on, people had forgotten something. Oil wells throughout the Gulf of Mexico had been destroyed. That oil was now pouring into the Gulf, where it was picked up by the Gulf Stream and carried to points further north. There wasn't any chance of stopping them before sea life became affected all along the eastern sea board. The result? The cost of sea food followed that of produce.
But it didn't stop there. Not only were the oil wells gone, but so were many of the refineries. It didn't matter if they could pump crude or not. There was no way to turn it into fuel. The cost of gas followed the others. But that didn't really matter very much. The government was taking all o0f the fuel for the military and to at least attempt to provide electricity for the major cities. There was no fuel to be had at any price by the general public.
That was when the second mass migration started. Since the cities were the only places with power people began moving there in droves. Most people simply were not prepared to live as their ancestors had done. They didn't have homes that were able to protect them in cold weather without electricity. Some weren't able to stay in the smaller towns or in homes and farms scattered across the land because of reasons of either health or age. And so began a mass migration to the cities. The government even encouraged the idea. They announced that with most of the people in or near the cities, it would be much easier to provide all the necessary services.
On the other hand, cities which were already crowded now became almost intolerable. The influx of people overwhelmed everything. Grocery stores which had already been in short supply of everything except customers, now had shelves that remained empty. Medical services got to the point that the only people actually admitted were those with life threatening injuries who were deemed by the government to be worth trying to save. Elective surgery became a thing of the past, and anyone over the age of sixty weren't treated at all. Any not needing round the clock care were sent home to recover, if they could. Some rooms did become available when terminal patients were sent to die someplace else. No treatment, no drugs and no chance was given them. After all, they were dieing anyway. Supplies and services were to be saved for those who could be helped. As long as the government said they would be allowed to be helped.
As overcrowding became worse, city, county, state and the federal government passed measures which required anyone with even the smallest of spare rooms, to open their homes to the refugees. It didn't go over very well.
Law enforcement, which was already spread to it's limit, were ineffective in combating the mushrooming crime which took place. It started with home owners and refugees going at each other. Police were called out time and again to stop fights or even to find the killer of one or the other. Gangs and members of organized crime took full advantage of the situation. Robbery, murder,burglary, especially of any place that might have either food or fuel, became commonplace.
As he remembered it, that was about the time martial law was declared. Russell wasn't a stupid man. He knew that the government must have been planning this for some time. How else could the sudden appearance of so many foreign troops, encircling the major cities be explained? Once they had surrounded a city, nearly every road leading out of town was permanently blocked. The few that remained open all had checkpoints. They were run by hard men with cold eyes, body armor and automatic weapons. Anyone trying to run the checkpoint was shot. The only ones allowed to leave the city had to have a special permit that was impossible to get, unless you worked for the government.
Yes, he knew the time line of events. But how could God allow it to happen like this? Russell was a Christian, but when asked would admit he hadn't seen the inside of a church for years.
"Russell. Are you still out here? It's almost nine-thirty. I thought you were going to bed an hour ago."
He turned his head to see his mother standing in the hallway, with an old fashioned oil lamp burning brightly in her hand. Inwardly he sighed. He had warned her repeatedly not to do that. There was no point in letting people outside the home know they still had oil for their lamps. But this was Mom. Her eyesight wasn't as good as it used to be. Everyone went to bed early these days. With no electricity for the T.V., radio or other entertainments they used to have, there was little else to do. Her question wasn't unusual. He thanked God that just before martial law was declared he had managed to talk her into coming to stay with him in the small town nestled in the Smokey Mountains.
"Hi Mom. Yeah, I was going to after I locked up. But I've just been sitting here kind of thinking about things."
She smiled at him gently as only a mother can do.
"Let me guess. It's Rebbecca again."
"No. Not really. Maybe a little, but mainly I've been thinking about how we got into this mess. I just don't understand how God could let all of this happen to us."
"Oh, Son.I thought you knew better than that. I tried to explain what could happen if this nation didn't change it's way years ago."
"I know. I just believed He was on our side and nothing like this could happen."
"I'll tell you what. Let's get some sleep, and we'll go over it again in the morning."
"I guess you're right. It's not like I can change anything."
"Of course I'm right. I'm your mother." She smiled at him again. "Now off to bed with you, young man. Before I have to spank you."
"Yes, Mother."