Once the convoy left the area tightly controlled by the Rebels, the highways were in bad shape and the convoy was slowed down considerably.
Ben ordered the convoy over just west of Meridian, Mississippi with about three hours of light left, at a small deserted town. Scouts had checked out the town and found certain 250.
areas of it functioning-in a manner of speaking. The town had been one of the outposts, but those there had not been able to effectively combat the roaming gangs of thugs and could not bring themselves to adopt the harsh law of the Rebels. So they had left-no one knew where-and the town, at least parts of it, had turned into a squatter"s camp.
"They"re heavily armed," Ben was told. "And not at all friendly."
"Before you tell me," Ben said, "I can guess. They have hordes of half-naked kids running around, most of them with runny noses and rashes, and dirty diapers, or no diapers at all. They have no schools, no proper sanitation facilities, no doctors. The men all consider themselves to be "rough, tough, rugged individualists," who hunt and fish while their wives work the gardens, keep house, and bear children.
All of whom are illiterate."
The Scout laughed. "It never changes, does it, General?"
"Unfortunately, no. It does not. d.a.m.nit!" Ben kicked at a rock and succeeded only in scuffing the toe of his boot. "We had this place all set up and fully functioning. We spent a lot of time and effort in this place. Why in the h.e.l.l did the good people turn tail and run?"
No one answered him because they knew he didn"t expect any reply.
"Maybe," Ben said softly, "it was because they were good people. Maybe we"ve been the bad guys all these years."
"Sure we are, to an extent," a company commander said. "You said yourself that a nice guy could never be President of the United States, or Prime Minister of England, 251.
or the leader of any large country. It takes someone who is part son of a b.i.t.c.h."
Ben smiled. "Did I say that? Yeah. I guess I did, at that. Well, I was right. What does Meridian up the road look like, as if I didn"t know."
"Burned out, looted, picked over five thousand times," the Scout replied. "Some pretty sorry outlaw-looking types in there, General."
"Any sorrier than the ones now occupying what used to be our outpost?""No, sir. Just about the same."
"Company coming," Corrie said. "Be here in about five minutes. Fifty or so men, all heavily armed. And all in need of a bath. Badly in need, according to the patrol."
"That figures," Ben said. "The easiest thing in the world to make is soap. But will these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds do it? No. Come on. Let"s get this over with."
The men, all bearded and blue-jeaned and booted, carried a wide variety of weapons, but carried them like men who understood guns. And Ben had no doubt but what they did.
Ben halted them about twenty-five feet from where he stood in the room.
"That"s far enough, boys! I can smell you from here."
"I always knowed we"d meet up someday, Mr. Big Shot General Raines.
Yeah, I knows who you is. I seen your pitcher. You just as ugly as your pitcher made you out to be. I reckon you come here to tell what to do, right?"
"Judging from your appearance and body odor, I doubt that even your mother could tell you what to do ... or if she tried you didn"t listen."
252.
The man flushed under the grime on his face and c.o.c.ked his head to one side. He narrowed his eyes. "You got a rale smart mouth on you, Raines."
"Why thank you. I take that as a compliment."
"I din mean it thataways."
"I"m sure. What do you men want?"
"To tell you to git, that"s what. W"un"s run this area around here."
"Oh, my!" Ben feigned great consternation. "He"s ordering us to leave.
Should we pack up, people?"
"He"s just scaring me to death, General," the usually quiet Beth said, but she hated this type of men they were facing. If Beth could have her way, she"d line them all up and shoot them on the spot.
"Yeah, me, too," Jersey said, then quite unladylike spat on the broken asphalt. "Just about that much."
Corrie was leaning against the fender of a six-by, her CAR-15 pointed straight at the knot of men. There was a strange smile on her lips.
"You c.u.n.ts got rale smart mouths, ain"t you?" the spokesman said.
"If you don"t back off and apologize for that remark," Ben told the man.
"You"re going to be in serious trouble."
"Oh, yeah? How"s that?"
"Because I might be forced to turn these ladies loose. And believe me, boys, you don"t want that.""s.h.i.t!" one of the men said.
A slim but very shapely oriental Rebel stepped forward. Kim filled out her BDU"s very nicely. She was one of the highly motivated and trained-to-the-edge Scouts, and she was lethal. At her side, in a pouch, she carried throwing stars, and was extremely accurate with 253.
them. She could also kill with her bare hands, and did, often, working behind enemy lines.
"What"s that G.o.dd.a.m.n gook want?" the spokesman asked.
A whole gaggle of women and malnourished kids had appeared behind the knot of rednecks. The women were not much better to look upon than their men. Ben felt sorry for the kids, for he knew they did not have a chance in life. They would, in all probability, grow up to be just like their parents. Worthless. There would be the exception among them, of course.
The occasional kid who would defy their parents" self-imposed ignorance and cruelty and learn to enjoy reading and expanding his or her mind, who would break away and better themselves. But those break-aways would be rare.
"Get your kids out of here," Ben told the group of men. "I don"t want them to see this."
"You don"t tell me to do nothin" wif my younguns, Raines," the man responded.
"Back off, Kim," Ben told the young woman, quickly sizing up the situation. "These kids have had a tough enough time of it without seeing more violence."
"I knowed all the time that you was yeller, Raines!" the man said with a grin. His teeth were rotted and blackened.
Ben"s eyes turned cold. "You ignorant son of a b.i.t.c.h!" Ben lashed out at the man. "I see it daily but I still have a hard time believing just how G.o.dd.a.m.n stupid some people can be. Look at us, you fool. You"re looking at over a thousand troops. The finest weapons known to exist in the world today. One of those main battle tanks parked over there could wipe out your whole little gathering of stupidity. Look at these troops around me. Look 254.
at their weapons. In five seconds you could all be lying on the road, dead or dying. And you dare to get all up in my face with threats? Turn around and return to your stinking hovels. Go on, continue your lives of ignorance and bigotry. Raise a new generation of fools. We"ll just come back here at a later date and wipe them out, just like we should do with you, right this minute!" Ben pointed a finger at the man. "Don"t open your mouth again to me. Don"t say another word. Because if you do, I will kill you on the spot!"
The man raised a hand to his face. The hand trembled slightly.
"We got a right to live decent lak and you cain"t come in here and tellus what to do," a woman uttered one of the whining statements that most Rebels had learned to despise over the long warring years.
"Shut up!" Ben roared at her. "I"ll tell you your rights. You have the right to work and to better yourself. You have the right to respect the land you squat on. You have the right to expect the same treatment you offer others. And under the present conditions, that is just about it.
What do you want from us, lady? Tell me. Go on, tell me. Because you are looking at the only government that now exists in this battered nation."
The woman said nothing. But her eyes glared hate at Ben and the healthy and well-fed Rebels gathered all around him. Ben knew the look only too well. And the unspoken words that lie behind those eyes: Give me. You owe me. I demand. I got a right. I can f.u.c.k whenever I wants to and you gots to feed my b.a.s.t.a.r.d children. You gots to give me money for doing nothing. You cain"t make me work ifn I don"t wants to. You gots 255.
something and I ain"t got nothin" so you gots to give me half of what you got. Whenever I wants to.
Words that helped to bring down what was once the most powerful nation in all the world.
"Hit"s been a rale hard winter, General," another woman said. "And we din have no good crop last season."
"And that is my fault, I suppose," Ben said sarcastically. He knew he should just turn around and walk away. Knew he would never get through to these people. No one had been able to get through to them for decades. The government-when there had been a government-had wasted trillions of taxpayer dollars on people such as these. And gained nothing. The Rebels had learned that the only way to combat ignorance and bigotry was to go into the home and catch the young during their formative years, and if necessary, take the young from their parents and put them in caring foster homes. But those homes were now filled to overflowing. The Rebels were now taking few young as they traveled.
There simply was no more room.
"Well," the woman said, "y"all seem to have a-plenty and we ain"t got nothin". You could share wif us."
Ben shook his head in disgust. Same old story. "And when what we give you runs out...?"
She shrugged, as Ben had expected she would. Nothing ever changes.
"I bet you share with n.i.g.g.e.rs all the time, don"t you, Raines?" another man said with a sneer.
This stupid bunch was really beginning to annoy Ben.
"You d.a.m.n sh.o.r.e got enough of "em with you," the ignoramus added, looking at the growing ranks of Rebels.
256.
Less than eight percent of his battalion was black."What is your name?" Ben asked.
"Carl Ray. Folks call me Jigger. Been called that near"bouts all my life." He narrowed his eyes. "Why for you want to know "at?"
"I"m sure I"m not in the least interested in finding out why folks call you that."
"Is you gonna hep us, or not?" Jigger asked. "We help those whom we know will try to help themselves," Ben told the man, trying to hold on to his temper. It was beginning to be a losing proposition. "That does not include your group. Now why don"t you just leave us alone and we"ll be more than happy to do the same for your, ah, group."
"We ain"t a-gonna beg y"all for hep, Raines," Jigger said.
"Good. Now why don"t you go away?"
"And we ain"t takin" no orders from you, neither."
Ben turned around and looked at his troops. They were sitting on fenders, squatting on the ground, standing around him, all grinning at him, and all thoroughly enjoying this exchange.
"You think this is funny?" he asked.
They all nodded their heads.
"Except for their kids," Cooper put a damper on it, standing off to one side. "But what can we do?"
"Nothing," Beth said. "And it"ll break your heart if you let it. Maybe we could take the very youngest...?" She trailed that off, knowing they could not. The Rebel adoption and foster home placement people were overloaded and terribly overcrowded. They simply could not do any more.
Cooper snapped his fingers. "Corrie. I got an idea."
257.
"Wonderful," Jersey said. "All this time I thought you were brain-dead."
"What is it, Coop?" Ben said, overhearing much of the exchange.
"General Jahn and his people."
"What about them? Oh! Hey," Ben said. "That"s right, Coop. Von Hanstein said that Jahn and his troops were always getting into trouble with the field marshal for taking in kids and being careful not to harm any ...
if at all possible. Corrie, find out where Jahn and company are located and give them a shout. Jahn said many of his men were married and they were going to try to get their wives up here, one way or the other. I ..."
"Hey!" Jigger shouted, interrupting Ben. "Whut"s all that d.a.m.n whisperin" "bout over thar?"
Ben glanced at him. "Shut up, Jugger ..."
"Jigger!" Carl Ray hollered."Whatever. Just be quiet. Every time you exhale you pollute the air."
Jigger looked at a friend. "Did that son of a b.i.t.c.h insult me, Flapper?"
"I do believe he did, Jigger. But I ain"t rat sh.o.r.e, since I can"t catch the jist of all them words he spouts. Whut do you say, Billy Joe?"
Billy Joe ruminated on the question "Ah personal thank he"s been in-sultin" us ever" since we got up here."
Jigger thought about that for a moment. Then he grunted. "Ah thank I"ll just, by gawd, walk up yonder and whup his uppity a.s.s," Jigger said. He pulled at the waist of his jeans in a futile attempt to get them over his enormous gut.
"Ah"ll be yore second, Jigger," Flapper said. " "At"s the way them folks in the olden times done "er."
258.
"My second what?" Jigger asked.
"Never mind, I know what to do. Come on."
The three men walked up to Ben, who had his back to them, talking with his personal team.
"Three locals coming up," Cooper said.
"Ignore them," Ben replied.