From The Ashes: America Reborn Read online

  WWJ: Frankly, yes.

  Ben Raines: Why?

  WWJ: Well . . . because, and please don’t take offense at this, for none is intended, this society, at least on the surface, is such a warlike society.

  Ben Raines: We’ll fight to protect our way of life, sure. And we’ll fight for others who subscribe to our philosophy. But if people leave us alone, we’ll be more than happy to leave them alone.

  WWJ: You told me you don’t attend church on a regular basis.

  Ben Raines: That’s right.

  WWJ: But you are the leader of the SUSA.

  Ben Raines: I am the commanding general of the armed forces. Cecil Jefferys is the elected president of the SUSA. Each district has an elected representative and a senator. They meet for a short time each year here in the capital of the SUSA. There really isn’t that much for them to do, for our basic laws are already set in place and they cannot be changed.

  WWJ: You have a constitution?

  Ben Raines: Certainly. And a Bill of Rights.

  WWJ: What does it take to change a law here in the SUSA?

  Ben Raines: Seventy-five percent of the popular vote.

  WWJ: Has any law ever been changed?

  Ben Raines: No.

  WWJ: Have any ever been challenged?

  Ben Raines: Not seriously challenged.

  WWJ: What do you mean?

  Ben Raines: Just that. No one paid any attention to the lawsuits. Those bringing the suits couldn’t find a lawyer down here to represent them. Lawyers outside our borders aren’t licensed to practice here. That sort of hamstrings attorneys who might want to rock the boat, so to speak, doesn’t it?

  WWJ: Greatly simplifies matters for the residents of the SUSA is another way of putting it.

  Ben Raines: We like our system of government. We don’t see any reason at all to change it.

  WWJ: Let’s get back to religion for a moment. Are all denominations welcome here?

  Ben Raines: As long as they worship God, and not the devil.

  WWJ: So there are no covens, for want of a better word, in the SUSA?

  Ben Raines: Oh, I suspect there might be a few scattered around. It’s a big area. But if there are, the members keep a very low profile. And they certainly don’t try to entice minors into that crap.

  WWJ: What would happen to them if they did?

  Ben Raines: It would be awfully grim if the parents got to them first.

  WWJ: Say it did happen, and minors were involved in devil worship—enticed there by adults—and the parents injured or killed some of the adult leaders of the coven, they would be arrested and prosecuted, right?

  Ben Raines: I doubt it. And even if they were brought to trial, no jury would convict them.

  I leaned back in the chair and mentally scratched my head. It was becoming very clear to me why so many people outside the SUSA were in a state of confusion about the laws here.

  Ben Raines: Confused, aren’t you?

  WWJ: No. I understand it. But I’m not sure I can convey that understanding to my readers.

  Ben Raines: It all goes back to common sense. Everything here is based on common sense. Common sense tells you not to stick your hand into an open flame. Common sense tells you not to stick your fingers into the blades of a running fan. Common sense tells you not to lie down on railroad tracks when a fast freight is approaching. The list goes on and on and on. You wouldn’t want to attend a convention of Jewish rabbis and start shouting that Hitler was a great man.

  WWJ: But there are people outside your borders who will say that the laws of the SUSA stifle individuality.

  Ben Raines: That wouldn’t be true. All you have to do is look at my battalion to know that. I’ve got some of the oddest characters ever to walk the face of the earth there. Some of them are so weird-looking they could haunt graveyards.

  WWJ: Long-haired type men? Ponytails?

  Ben Raines: Some of them, yes.

  WWJ: Earrings on the men?

  Ben Raines: Off duty, yes.

  WWJ: How are those types accepted in general society here?

  Ben Raines (after chuckling for a moment): People who live outside the SUSA sure are laboring under a misconception about us, aren’t they? People who are permanent residents of the SUSA are just people, that’s all. They’re short, tall, slim, fat . . . but just people. They share common beliefs in how government should be run, how and what kids should be taught in school, how laws should be enforced, and so forth. How they dress or wear their hair is their business. But basically they’re just people who want to live free.

  WWJ: Homosexuals?

  Ben Raines: What about them?

  WWJ: Are homosexuals accepted here in the SUSA?

  Ben Raines: That is a very iffy question. And I will admit that we have not found a really acceptable middle ground. Even here many people are not very tolerant of what they perceive as deviant behavior. That’s the human factor kicking in, I believe.

  WWJ: But there are gays living in the SUSA?

  Ben Raines: Oh, sure.

  WWJ: In the military?

  Ben Raines: Yes. There are gays in my battalion.

  WWJ: And they are accepted by others?

  Ben Raines: As long as they do their jobs, yes. But they don’t flaunt their homosexuality, and they don’t ask for special rights and privileges.

  WWJ: Are there gays in the teaching profession?

  Ben Raines: I’m sure there are. But there again, they are very discreet about it. The SUSA, as I have told you, is fast turning into a devout Christian nation. Not the blindly intolerant type, such as the old ultrareligious right, but a Christian nation. It has been pointed out to me many times, by various ministers in the SUSA, that the Bible is quite specific in its stance against homosexuality. There are no gay nightclubs in the SUSA, at least not openly.

  WWJ: Would it bother you if there were?

  Ben Raines: That would depend on the type of clubs. I’ve had many good and close gay friends over the years. I don’t approve of homosexuality, and they knew it. However, they also knew that I would fight for them if they were ever attacked by some lamebrain.

  WWJ: Have you ever been hit on by a gay person?

  Ben Raines: Fortunately for him, no. My tolerance only goes so far.

  WWJ: I have a number of questions about race and bigotry. Among others. But it’s getting late, and I’d like to get back to the hotel and get these notes in order. Same time tomorrow?

  Ben Raines: Same time. I’ll have a car pick you up.

  BOOK #5

  ALONE IN THE ASHES

  “All I want from you is a little servility, and that of the commonest goddammedest kind.”

  –Anonymous

  In the time after the destruction of Tri-States Ben and the Rebels have been encouraged by the spirit of many of the survivors they have met across the country. Instead of rebuilding a new Tri-States, they resolve to implement a new plan of establishing a network of Rebel outposts across the country.

  This process of establishing outposts will be slow going, and Ben sets out from Woodbury, Tennessee, on his first vacation in years to do some thinking and writing. Weary of the pressures of leadership, he hopes that during his time away the Rebels will get used to life without him.

  Before he gets very far down the road, he encounters Judy and Wally Williams, who tell him about the trouble caused by Jake Campo, West, Texas Red, and Cowboy Vic, local warlords who control most of Tennessee and some of Kentucky. Judy travels with Ben for a while, until they come to a settlement in Dyersburg, Tennessee. Ben radios back to the Rebels for support in setting up the first Rebel outpost there. Judy stays behind at the new Rebel outpost to help out and Ben continues to travel west toward Texas (Highway 142 to Neelyville and then to Gateway, Missouri).

  Ben continues on alone until he meets and adopts a ten-year-old boy named Jordy.

  The warlords are not pleased that Raines and the Rebels have liberated some of their territory, and they join forces to track
down Raines and make him pay.

  Raines and Jordy meet and team up with another group of fugitives. Rani Jordan, a beautiful thirty-year-old ex-cheerleader, is bringing a group of young children south to Terlingua where she hopes they can settle safely. (Raines and Jordy are traveling through the Southwest, including the towns of Valentine and Ruidosa, Texas.) Raines radios Rebel Captain Nolan to meet them all with reinforcements in Terlingua. Meanwhile, at the house in Terlingua, Ben, Rani, and the five children dig in and get ready to fight the six hundred warlord troops surrounding them.

  Ben, Rani, and the children fight hard and win their first battle against the warlords, holding them off until support from the Rebels arrives. Jordy is shot during the next encounter, and Ben avenges his death, hanging Cowboy Vic.

  Ben and Rani take off on their own farther west through New Mexico (Roswell, Santa Fe, Aztec, Albuquerque, Gallup, then back to the old Tri-States). They camp in Ike’s cabin near Boise National Forest for the winter. They stay there and defend themselves successfully from Jake Campo and his men.

  Four months later their peace and privacy are disrupted when the cabin is attacked by Ben’s mercenary nemesis, Sam Hartline. Ben is injured (and presumed dead by Hartline) and Rani is kidnapped and ultimately brought to General Striganov.

  The Rebels rejoin Ben in the area of the old Tri-States and plan their assault on the Russian and his allies. . . .

  SIX

  Ben Raines: How was your hotel room?

  WWJ: It was very nice, and that was the best dinner I’ve had in recent memory.

  Ben Raines: Everything you ate was raised right here in the SUSA.

  WWJ: How do you know what I ate? Did you have me followed?

  Ben Raines: No. But I do know the hotel menu. Did you get your notes and tapes in order last evening?

  WWJ: To some extent. I went for a long walk.

  Ben Raines: Did anyone bother you?

  WWJ: Quite the contrary. Everyone I met was very friendly. Don’t you have any unhappy people here in the SUSA?

  Ben Raines: Everyone who visits here asks that same question. I’m sure there must be some unhappy people residing in the SUSA. People being people. But I can’t imagine why they’re unhappy.

  WWJ: Life here is that good?

  Ben Raines: You’re taken the short tour. What do you think?

  WWJ: I’ll reserve judgment for a time.

  Ben Raines: You have a new stack of questions for me this morning?

  WWJ: I probably have many more questions than you care to answer.

  Ben Raines: I told you from the outset, I’ll give you all the time you need.

  WWJ: Let’s clear up the issue of gay people. The policy here is “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Right?

  Ben Raines: That about sums it up, I suppose. It’s my personal belief that as the SUSA grows and prospers and the threat of war eases, people here will become more tolerant. Right now, even though it’s really not visible to the uninitiated, we’re in a state of constant readiness. People are a little tense, not knowing when we’re going to be attacked from the outside.

  WWJ: You mean if, don’t you?

  Ben Raines: No, I mean when. We’ll be attacked, sooner or later. As we continue to prosper, and the rest of the country flounders around, resentment toward us will grow.

  WWJ: How can you be so sure the nations outside the SUSA will flounder and not grow?

  Ben Raines: Because they’re rushing back to the same old tired system they had before the revolution and Great War, and it was failing badly then. In our several sweeps across America, we put the most vicious gangs out of business, but we only touched the tip of the iceberg, really.

  WWJ: Then you think the gangs are once more forming?

  Ben Raines: Sure. Why not? Why shouldn’t they? Really, what do they have to fear?

  WWJ: How about the people?

  Ben Raines: You mean the gangs of punks should fear the people? Why should they fear them? Many of the law-abiding people don’t own a weapon that would stop a rampaging jackrabbit, and many of those who are armed wouldn’t even think about shooting an intruder until it’s too late. What do the punks have to fear?

  WWJ: How about the law?

  Ben Raines: The law? Outside of the SUSA, the lawyers are resurrecting the same tired old laws as before. The punks didn’t fear the law before, and they sure as hell aren’t going to be afraid of the law now.

  WWJ: But those with a criminal bent fear the law down here.

  Ben Raines: You’d better believe they do. You can walk down any street in any town in the SUSA at any time of the day or night and not fear for your life.

  WWJ: But most of the people down here are armed!

  Ben Raines: Some do go armed most of the time. Some people down here never carry pistols on them. But nearly everyone carries a weapon in their vehicle.

  WWJ: What are the requirements to become a citizen of the SUSA?

  Ben Raines: That is not as difficult a task as people outside our borders have been led to believe. An applicant is given an easy-to-understand pamphlet explaining our laws and judicial system. They agree to abide by those laws. They sign an agreement to that effect, they’re fingerprinted and their picture is taken, blood is drawn for DNA use, and they’re a citizen.

  WWJ: That’s it?

  Ben Raines: That’s all there is to it.

  WWJ: You are aware of all the misinformation being spread about the SUSA?

  Ben Raines: Oh, sure. We get a big kick out of it.

  WWJ: You know then that Bobby Day, a strong supporter of Simon Border, who was confined in a mental institution, is back working as a reporter for a major newspaper?

  Ben Raines: Yes. We keep up with all the hate he’s spewing about us.

  WWJ: That doesn’t bother you?

  Ben Raines: Not really. Bobby is a very frightened man. He’s convinced we have a contract out on him.

  WWJ: Do you?

  Ben Raines: Good Lord, no! We don’t have a contract out on anybody.

  WWJ: How many people outside the SUSA do you think will believe that?

  Ben Raines: I don’t give a damn if anyone outside our borders believes it. What is amusing to me is the degree of paranoia outside the SUSA, directed toward us. Most of those hankie-waving politicians are so opposed to our way of life, our system of government, that they’ve convinced their followers that we are going to attack them someday. But there is nothing outside our borders that we want. Nothing. All we want is to be left alone.

  WWJ: Then the Rebel army is not going to make any more sweeps, purges, of North America?

  Ben Raines: We certainly have no plans to do so. Not unless the governors of the states outside our borders ask us for help, or the situation outside our borders becomes a threat to our way of life.

  WWJ: What happens if someone who is not a resident of the SUSA is visiting here and breaks a law?

  Ben Raines: Every visitor is given a brochure explaining our laws and system of justice. Break one of our laws, and they’ll be treated just like anyone else.

  WWJ: That really frightens many people who would otherwise enjoy visiting here.

  Ben Raines: I don’t see why it should. Our laws are very easy to understand. All it takes is some degree of common sense.

  I had to smile at that. General Raines becomes very irritated with people who profess not to understand what he means by common sense.

  WWJ: Blame it on bad press.

  Ben Raines (after a very small smile): You say that as a joke, but it holds a lot of truth.

  WWJ: Changing the subject, with your permission, of course.

  Ben Raines: Go right ahead.

  WWJ: You seem to get along well with the Secretary-General of the newly formed United Nations.

  Ben Raines: He would still like to see us—the Rebels, I mean—used as a peacekeeping force in trouble spots around the world.

  WWJ: And . . . ?

  Ben Raines: That isn’t going to happen. We are not a peace
keeping force.

  WWJ: But I know the Rebels have gone in and helped people many times.

  Ben Raines: Oh, sure. Our medical teams have inoculated thousands of civilians outside our borders against diseases, especially children. But just as many people outside our borders have refused our help.

  WWJ: Why do you suppose they refused?

  Ben Raines: Stiff-necked pride for most of them. Some of them refused out of fear. Some out of pure ignorance.

  WWJ: Let’s talk about medical treatment here in the SUSA. There is a lot of talk on the outside about the quality of medicine here.

  Ben Raines: Probably the best in the world.

  WWJ: And it’s free?

  Ben Raines: A trip to the doctor or hospital costs ten dollars for anyone over eighteen years of age. There is no charge for children.

  WWJ: And that is all the patient pays?

  Ben Raines: That’s it. Unless it’s for cosmetic surgery. The patient will pay the total cost for that. There is no charge at all for a visit to one of our many aid stations.

  WWJ: Aid stations?

  Ben Raines: They are staffed by fully qualified and highly trained medics. They handle small emergencies. Cuts, bruises, childhood fights that result in black eyes and busted lips and loosened teeth, falls from bicycles. Minor things. That keeps our emergency rooms from being clogged with nonemergencies and frees up our doctors for more serious matters.

  WWJ: And the people go to these aid stations?

  Ben Raines: Sure. Or our paramedics go to the homes when called.

  WWJ: They’re open around the clock?

  Ben Raines: Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

  WWJ: It sounds good, but I’m not sure that system of medical care would work outside the SUSA.

  Ben Raines: It probably wouldn’t, but it wouldn’t be because of the average citizen’s refusal to go—once they understood the people staffing the aid stations are fully qualified. It would be because of lawyers suing everybody in sight.

  WWJ: You don’t much care for lawyers, do you, General Raines?

  Ben Raines: They have an important role to play in any society. But not to the extent they’re used outside the SUSA.