Forgotten Forbidden America | Book 7 | Highway To Hell, page 1
part #7 of Forgotten Forbidden America Series
FORGOTTEN
FORBIDDEN
AMERICA
Highway to Hell
Book Seven
…….
THOMAS A. WATSON
Copyright © June 15, 2021
THOMAS A. WATSON
A-POC PRESS
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
A special Thank you to the following people for all your help:
Tina Watson
Sabrina Jean
Leslie Bryant
Yalonda Butler
Rebecca Larsen
Deb Serres
Sara Andrews
Cora Burke
Cheryl Dearsio
Joseph Ruffolo
Arthur Maybee
Jim Broach
William Beedie
Jon Speilman
Anna Shirley
Tina Rush
Jan Tice
Johnny King
Kathy Roberts
Claude Franks
Credits
EDITED BY SABRINA JEAN
www.fasttrackediting.com
COVER ART BY CHRISTIAN BENTULAN
www.coversbychristian
This book is a work of Fiction. People, places, events, and situations are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or historical events, is purely coincidental.
This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the written consent of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
Thank you for acknowledging the hard work of this author. If you did not purchase this book or it wasn’t purchased for you, please go purchase your own copy now.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter One
From my cold, dead hands
With no thought of the actions that had just been committed and wiping the blade of his sword off, Reaper looked around at all the dismembered bodies. He was inside a home south of Cleveland, Ohio. The small neighborhood was chosen at random, just like the houses they entered. Sin Eaters were moving through the neighborhood in the dead of night, killing everyone they found in the selected houses. Shifting the sword, Reaper glanced at his wrist and saw he didn’t have time to go to another house, since he still had to arrange and pose some of the sins he’d consumed to entertain Marshall.
After heading back to Hades for a refit and five days of training, he’d led the Sin Eaters out again. They’d started off south into Tennessee and then came up through Kentucky where they’d hit four different police departments. Like the last month, they had slipped in a few sins that hadn’t involved killing anyone, and to keep Marshall on his toes, they hadn’t left any cards. Outside of Cincinnati, they’d hit a food distribution center during the middle of the day.
The line to get inside stretched for blocks and gave them many sins to be consumed. Hitting fast and hard with belt fed machine guns and explosives, they had then used the drainage system to move away. They’d been miles away when the first troops arrived at the distribution center, and nobody had even registered the other sins were actually attacks.
Holding his sword out to Pain, “Sheath it for me please,” Reaper told her.
Taking the sword, Pain moved around and shoved it into the scabbard on the side of Reaper’s small pack. “What is it with you and this sword? Use a machete, you can hang it on your hip,” she told him.
Reaper whipped his gaze to her. “You will drop that line of questions now, do you understand?!” he barked, and Pain took a step back feeling a boiling hate from Reaper.
Holding up both hands, “I didn’t mean anything, Reaper, I swear,” she actually pleaded. “But, I don’t know if you know it, umm, that sword looks just like a Star Wars light saber. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the movies, but I think it looks like Luke Skywalker’s. The one he got from Obi Wan, from what I can remember. I don’t think anyone in the feds deserves to get killed by it.” She paused for a minute dropping her hands, “Well, Gifford, yeah. I can see President Gifford being worth it.”
Realizing Pain was referring to the uniqueness and rarity of the well-made sword, like it was a luxury none here deserved to die by and not its tie to his past, Reaper calmed down. “No. In that, you’re wrong. It’s perfect for what I want and let’s leave it at that,” he told her and Pain nodded. “As of tonight, that sword has killed six hundred and eighteen. I want to triple that before this is over.”
The others in his group all made mental notes to never mention the sword. This was the only time they had ever seen anger from Reaper directed at one of them. Unless it was a Sin Eater who had broken the canon, but thankfully there hadn’t been but two so far. “Damn, I’m on my third meat cleaver,” Pain admitted.
Not liking the fact her sister had pissed off Reaper, Misery eased over to stand beside her. “Well, I have to get another machete. I broke my new one.”
“Sisters,” Reaper chuckled. “When we get back to Hades, I’ll get Grinder to make you some meat cleavers and machetes. I can assure you, what he makes for you will last much longer.”
Shrugging, “That’s okay. I want the pieces of shit to see I’m killing them with crappy knives, just to show they aren’t worth the effort,” Pain told him, confirming what Reaper had suspected.
“No. You need to be proud of your work and to do good work, you need quality gear,” he reminded them.
“Hey, we still go contractor hunting,” Misery shot back. “Man, I love the shit we get off them.”
Pain was about to respond when their earbuds went off. “Havoc to Reaper.”
Tapping his phone, “Reaper,” he called out.
“Oracle just sent a message, Water Well has been postponed,” Havoc reported, and Reaper started spewing curses.
Pausing his rant, “Pull out to rally!” Reaper shouted, then started cursing again.
Twenty minutes later, they were climbing in rides. “Havoc,” Reaper called out while climbing into his Flyer as Havoc climbed into his parked ride beside them. “Move us to South Carolina.”
“Boss, you said that attack was two weeks away,” Havoc reminded him.
“Well, since the feds are pussies and not attacking, I have to push them into a corner,” Reaper snapped.
Climbing out and walking over to stand outside Reaper’s Flyer, Havoc lowered his voice. “Reaper, I’m not going to argue and will do what you order, as always, but please listen. Fern doesn’t need Water Well to launch against China. He can back the feds into the corner and if they don’t, then we can head to Georgia. Hell, the Kraken is out for eighty days. They can drive home to pick up supplies and head right back out. We have time,” Havoc explained, then added, “And I’m not in the mood to sit with your ass on a boat in the ocean for longer than I have to.”
Even though she had pissed Reaper off, Pain let go of the steering wheel and grabbed Reaper’s arm. “I’m not in the mood to sit on the water waiting longer than we have to, either,” she informed him.
Finally nodding, “Okay. I didn’t take having to chase them down into account,” Reaper admitted.
“So, can we continue with our original plan?” Havoc asked.
Letting out a long sigh, “Yes, let’s go,” Reaper replied in a very somber tone. It was only then, Havoc realized Reaper didn’t want to stick to the attack plan. For the first time, they knew Sin Eaters were going to die and even who they were, because they had volunteered.
When the plan had been announced and volunteers asked for, half had immediately shouted to go. Many more would have joined, but Reaper had stopped the shouting. He’d told everyone who wanted to volunteer to write their name down and place it in a bucket he would put in front of Tartarus.
Unknown to all the Sin Eaters, captains included, Reaper had gone through the names and selected six who were good fighters but they could afford to lose. Lo and behold, those were the six names he’d selected from the bucket. In the end, the only name that hadn’t been in the bucket was Reaper’s because he had to lead, but he’d wanted to volunteer.
“I’ll take one of their places if you’re worried about the team,” Pain told him for the thousandth time.
“I’m not worried,” Reaper said and felt Zeus rest his head on him. Reaching back and rubbing Zeus’ head, “Let’s go, Havoc,” Reaper said, then turned back toward the subdivision, “Sin Consumed.”
***
In Dallas, Fern yawned as he walked into the secure room in the basement. He saw all his military brass there, including General Thompson over the Air Force. “Your plane broke?” Fern asked with the yawn.
Shaking his head, “No, Mr. President,” Thompson chuckled. “I got my thirty kills, so I can let the youngsters handle it for now.”
Realizing he was the only one wearing pajamas, “Do all of you sleep in your damn uniforms?” Fern asked, moving around the table to his chair.
All of them watched Fern drop into his chair. “No, sir, I don’t,” Wagner told him, but had a very serious expression. “I got a message from our little bird an hour ago.”
“That bird’s messages are usually very good,” Thompson said, since he had been there that night when the Sin Eaters showed up.
Just hearing that Reaper sent a message, Fern felt a headache starting and the familiar burning in his belly. “What did the bird say?”
Clearing his throat, “He says we need to deal with China now and not wait for Water Well because it was postponed again,” Wagner said, and everyone got a look of panic. “Before you ask me, yes, I did ask how in the fuck he found out about our plan because only nine people and the pilots know the plan. Reaper replied, he didn’t know the plan, but for some reason, I don’t believe him,” Wagner confessed.
“Anyway,” Wagner continued. “He said if we didn’t have a plan already, then he’d made a mistake to trust us to end this war. He told us to limit activity in the eastern theater only. Well, when he sent that back I felt like a jackass and informed him that yes, we did have a plan and it was a good one. He then replied,” Wagner paused and held up a sheet of paper.
“I quote, ‘We have shit to do and the feds are holding Water Well like it’s a genie that’ll grant them the wish to win the war. Get those fucks off our soil, so the troops can move over here to scare the shit out of the feds and they’ll be easier for us to kill. The sooner, the better. I don’t like the fact they think they still have a chance. When we kill them, I want them to already know they don’t have a chance and just die’, end quote,” Wagner recited.
“You have to admire his confidence in this struggle,” Thompson chuckled.
“He wants us to push them,” Reynolds stated. “Well, since he’s pushed so much, I guess it’s our turn.”
“So you’ve got confirmation the Sin Eaters really did use chemical weapons?” Fern asked.
“Yes, sir, and the reports we got said the Sin Eaters used enough VX to wipe out a large city and didn’t need that much on the Air Force base,” Reynolds answered, and Fern turned to one of the Rangers telling him to find some Motrin.
When the Ranger pulled a bottle from his own pocket, even Fern chuckled while taking the pills. “You think none of the Sin Eaters know how to use chemical weapons? Because I find that hard to believe,” Fern stated and tossed the pills in his mouth.
Shaking his head, “No, sir. I’m certain they know how, and Reaper does too. I think he was sending a message to Gifford, ‘I have so much I’m going to waste it’. In the message, he told Gifford if he stopped using chemical weapons, the Sin Eaters would stop as well,” Reynolds replied.
“You found out what the message was? I thought we couldn’t get it,” Fern said.
“Our Cyber Warfare got a copy,” Reynolds said and saw Fern take a breath to ask, and he held up his hand to stop him. “Sir, you told me to never mention ‘that person’,” he stressed. “But holy fuck, that person is good,” Reynolds informed him.
Knowing very well he was talking about Nancy, “I understand,” he nodded, “give that person whatever they need to keep up the work and take the secret to your grave, only telling the one who replaces you. I gave you the presidential order so you’re excused,” Fern told him, not wanting to know anything else about Nancy.
Of course Nancy had the message, she’s the one who sent it to Gifford and she was the one who edited all the videos. But, if any in the room ever knew that, most would have a heart attack and die on the spot to realize a Sin Eater was that close to the inner circle. Nancy was now second-in-command over the Cyber Warfare department.
“Recommendations?” Fern asked.
“Army says launch,” Reynolds responded. “We need those Chinese off our backs and our troops off the West Coast over here. If Reaper advises us to get more troops over here, ‘the sooner, the better’, I think yesterday was too late. I don’t know what he’s going to do, but I want more bodies here to deal with it.”
“Navy says launch,” Wagner called out. “This will free up some assets that we can move to deal with Mexico.”
“Air Force says launch,” Thompson agreed. “With those ground troops here, I can bring back those fighter wings we have covering them, and more fighters means more losses for the feds. Besides, the Chinese have killed several million of our people. I say, it’s time to return the favor.”
Staring at Thompson, “Surprised you haven’t asked to fly the mission,” Fern stated in a drone.
“I’m not qualified on the YFA-33 Storm. Hell, until you gave me this job I didn’t even know it existed, and now I know I was stationed at Groom Lake when it was being tested,” Thompson confessed.
“And we have to use a plane that’s never been in combat and is still a prototype?” Fern asked.
“First, Mr. President, that plane will never go into production. Hell, I’m Air Force and love jets, but when one plane has the projected price tag of four point nine Billion! dollars each, even I think that’s a bit much,” Thompson told him.
Looking off, “Now I know where all our money went besides handouts,” Fern mumbled. “The House of Representatives wasn’t minding the store.”
“Sir,” Thompson called out and Fern turned back to the table. “The plane can do it and the pilots are excellent. We can’t send in the B-2s and B-21 Raiders without assistance.”
“Have the odds improved?” Fern asked.
“If both Storms arrive, the targets will get hit. Normally, on an operation like this we would send two flights, four planes, but we only have two. I’m not worried about them getting shot down. I’m worried about malfunctions and they happen, that’s part of flying,” Thompson stated. “It’s the B-2s and Raiders getting out that will be the problem. Yes, they are stealth and the B-2s have been upgraded four times since they were built, but when shit blows up on the ground, everyone knows something’s in the air and stealth doesn’t protect against eyesight. They get enough fighters in the air, in the right spot and time, they can see the B-2s and Raiders. Anything that can be seen can be shot down.”
Thinking it over, Fern finally nodded. “Launch it,” he told them, and the brass stood up and headed for the door. “I fucking hate being in charge,” Fern admitted feeling the familiar burning in his belly, and just laid his head down on the table.
***
Michelle climbed off her four-wheeler in the predawn darkness at the Governor’s office in Jack Fork while the Sin Eaters headed east. Many representatives of the state assembly had asked Brandy to move the governor’s office back to Jefferson City since much of it was intact. Brandy, being Brandy, had told them to ‘fuck off’. Jefferson City structures were mostly intact, but the city was damn near vacant with no power or running water. To move there would take resources the state wouldn’t and couldn’t afford to use.
Understanding very well Brandy’s reasons why, Michelle just wished Brandy would’ve used more tact. Telling the full state assembly to ‘fuck off’ wasn’t doing that, but it also let the assembly know she was for the people. The assembly met in Springfield for the most part, but Brandy had called several meetings here in Mountain View using the basketball gym as the assembly hall.
The national guardsman standing guard at the door waved at her and then opened the door. “Is she in?” Michelle asked.
“Yes, Lieutenant Governor,” he answered.
Pausing mid-step, “When it’s just me, Michelle, please,” she told him, again. He just smiled and gave a nod. Not in the mood, Michelle headed inside and wasn’t surprised to see people already here. Normally, staff didn’t get here until eight, but Michelle and Brandy were flying to Dallas this afternoon to meet with Fern and sit in on a military briefing.
Oh, when Fern had told Brandy that, she’d bitched and screamed so hard and loud Fern had hung up on her, and Brandy promptly called him back to continue. And after talking to the man who answered the phone and he’d transferred the call, Brandy had waited until Fern picked up and continued the torrent. When she’d paused to take a breath, Fern had told her it was important and Brandy was to bring Michelle.
