“Thank you. My S2 has a list of things we could use. Please tell me about your command. How long have you been here? What about the attacks?”
“I assume you were attacked on the way here. I-81 has turned into a highway of death. Hundreds of raiders wait for people to travel it in attempts to move south. The attacks have gotten worse as the number of travelers has almost stopped due to the worsening road and weather conditions. They’ve tried four times to attack our base. The first time they came we thought they were refugees looking for help. Once they entered the base, they opened fire and killed ten of us. I learned my lesson after that. I set up the hardened guard locations and built defensive positions. I also sent out recon patrols to catch the raiders before they struck us.”
“Very wise. The Binghamton base was complete wiped out. There were zero survivors. A group of cannibals took them. Their leader said he did it on the instructions of his leader who was Satan.”
“Satan? At least he picked a powerful god. Did you capture or kill him?”
“We captured him and killed most of his people. We stripped him naked and dumped him outside to die in the cold.”
“Good plan.”
“I figured he will get warm enough when he reaches hell and says hello to his lord and master.”
“By the way, I have a ground line that’s connected to the new Pentagon…”
“The new Pentagon? I didn’t know there was one. Where is it located?”
“It was built deep underground with the President’s new shelter. I am supposed to call whenever any military group arrives here. Do you have a list of everyone in your convoy? They will want to know.”
“My S2 has it. Why don’t you connect me with HQ?”
“Please follow me to the SCIF. All communications with the Pentagon are made only from a secure room. We don’t think any of the raiders have the ability to intercept our comms, as you know radios and wireless comms are still offline, but rules are rules. I’ll show you where our SCIF is. I’ll also get you a pot of hot coffee.”
“Thank you.”
Colonel Spivey was surprised when Major General Johnson got on the line to thank him for what he’s accomplished. The Colonel was surprised when he learned the SCIF had a fiber connection to the Pentagon for the transmission of secure data. The Colonel connected his laptop to the fiber and downloaded his report. He was told to call back in four hours. General Johnson picked up the line when Spivey called back.
Spivey was surprised when the General gave him new orders, “Colonel, you’ve accomplished a lot, more than we thought possible. I have a new assignment for you. I want you to send two platoons of your people to escort the civilians south and I want you to hunt down these raiders and exterminate them. Your report is one of many we’ve received of a strange new and even satanic religion. These can’t be allowed to flourish in the frozen lands. Think of what could happen if they took hold and flourished. When the glaciers finally melted, we could be facing a large satanic army.”
“Sir, surely there can’t be many who are living above the freeze line. Shouldn’t we just let Mother Nature handle them for us? Surely she will kill them all.”
“Man quickly learns to adopt. The raiders you’ve fought proves that.”
“General, we killed the leader of the Satanic Church…”
“No, you didn’t. Your report said you left him to die in the snow. He could have survived and if he did, he could be rebuilding his army, an army we can’t allow to exist.”
“Let me see if I understand my new orders. You want me to re-equip and turn around and return to the FOB we closed and search for the raiders and the person we left naked in the snow more than two days ago. The average temperature outside is minus 15 and you believe he could have survived buck ass naked?”
“Colonel, we do.”
“General, my people have been looking forward to seeing the sun again. They were promised they could move south after their eighteen months which they’ve all served and I’ve served above the freeze line for twenty-seven months.”
“Colonel, I know. You’re our most experienced officer when it comes to operating above the freeze line. You’re the best person to handle this assignment. In fact, your name was on the top of the list.”
“How many names were on that list?”
“Only one. By the way, congratulations on your promotion to BG. Congress has approved your promotion. I’m sure there are some stars in the FOB, put them on. You earned them.”
“You hand me a promotion and a kick sending me back north where I’ll spend how long freezing my balls off again?”
“General, the quicker you complete your assignment, the quicker you can move south.”
“Sir, thank you. Can I take a couple of days to resupply before I turn around?”
“You can set your own schedule, but remember, the quicker you complete the assignment, the quicker you can complete your travel south. I’d like you to report to me at the new Pentagon…
“Yes, sir. Only sir, I don’t know where the Pentagon is located. There’s nothing I’ve seen here that lays out where the new shelters are.”
Laughing General Smither answered, “There better not be anything there. The new location of the new shelters are classified. I’ll contact you when you arrive at the Huntsville, Alabama base.”
“Yes, sir.”
“General, we’re counting on you to terminate this Satanic Church before it gets a foothold and spreads across the country. Do you
