The teams used their flash bangs to shock those on the seventh level. The attack took the people by surprise. The battle took nine minutes before either the people were killed, wounded, or captured. The last room the soldiers broke into was the hostage area. They stopped when they saw the girl over the coals. They’d already cut meat off her legs and parts of her stomach. The young girl had mercifully died before they began cutting her up.
“Get the other kids out of here.” He counted them, “We’re missing one!” He turned to ask the hostages, “Where is the missing girl?”
A thirteen-year-old said, “They took her to the leader’s room, we don’t know where the room is.”
He turned to his soldiers, “FIND her and try to save their leader, he needs to be tried for crimes against humanity.”
They searched every space before two yelled, “Found them!”
“Is she safe?”
“Looks like it. We found their leader hiding in a hidden room.”
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
“Keep him that way!”
“Get the kids something to wear and lead them out of here. Form a phalanx around them. We don’t need any more of these people so kill any you see.”
One of the LAVs took the five children to the base. The soldiers allowed Frank and Trinity to ride together. They marched the two hostages for questioning through the snow back to the base. The leader of the church kept yelling, “This is cruel and inhuman punishment. My lawyer will get me off due to this.”
The Lt laughed, “You’ve been arrested as a war criminal for crimes against humanity. Maybe you don’t remember, but the President declared a state of Martial Law. There are no lawyers. After we learn everything you know, you’ll be judged by the military.”
“You can’t! That’s not right. I protest!”
“You’ve killed and eaten hundreds, maybe thousands. You’ve tortured I have no idea how many, but you’re going to pay for what you’ve done.”
“Just shoot me and be done with it…”
“Shooting you is too good for you. If torture was legal, I’d have you tortured to death. I’d like the parents of those you captured have a say in how you die.”
“You’ve already judged me?”
“We have all of the data we need for your military trial. We have hundreds of hours of video and then of course there is the room full of rotting skeletons and remains of people you butchered, including many of my brother and sister soldiers.”
“You have no proof I had a hand in it…”
“HA! We have all the proof we need. You’ll be seeing your master the devil very soon.”
Jon and Erin ran into the motor pool to hug their crying daughters. Jon also hugged Frank and thanked him. When the Coats girls had a hot shower and got dressed, they had a hot meal and then were gently questioned before being sent back to their parents. The church’s leader was kept under twenty-four hour suicide watch while Colonel Spivey decided what to do with him. Sergeant Miles knocked on the Colonel’s door, “Come on in Sarge. What’s on your mind?”
“Sir, many of the people are talking about taking matters into their own hands with our cannibal.”
“I know, I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out what to do with him. I’ve decided I will give him a quick trial, he is an American…”
“Sir, no disrespect, is he? He swears he worships Satan who told him where the garage and caverns were and what to do with the people he captured. He could claim insanity…”
“I won’t accept that.”
Two hours later the military court held the trial, the church leader refused to say anything other than he was instructed by his god to do what he did and since it was part of his religion, the court couldn’t touch him for exercising his First Amendment rights. Colonel Spivey laughed, “We find you guilty and to be honest with you, a couple of judges would like to put you against the wall and shoot you. I had another idea which the entire court agreed with. We are going to allow you to make your case to your lord and master. We aren’t going to kill you, we aren’t going to imprison you, since we don’t have any prisons above the freeze line any more and I’m not taking you south with us, you’ll live or die based on if your god is real or not.”
“You’re not going to kill me?”
“Nope. We’re going to give you a pair of boots and nothing else, and then dump you outside, far from here so you won’t be able to take shelter in your caves. If your god is real, he’ll save you. If you haven’t won his favor, he’ll allow you to die.”
“Wait, no one can survive outside without special clothing.”
“I suggest you pray and pray with all of your soul, whatever soul you have left.” Colonel Spivey motioned to the two MPs behind the accused, “give him a pair of boots and strip him of everything else. Then dump him outside, make it at least five miles from here.”
The MPs mocked the church leader as they blindfolded him and drove in circles and then dropped him off five miles north on I-81. The lead MP laughed, “Here you go. I hope you’ve been praying because it’s damn cold out there. I figure you’ll begin losing feeling from frost burn within minutes. Guess I’ll see you in Hell. Good for you it’s supposed
