hearing, also, the shouts and the shooting.
“Your husband is correct, ma’am, you shouldn’t tell,” Willie said. “And I apologize for asking. But my advice to you is this. If you have a car with fuel, pack as much food, water, blankets, matches, and other such items as you might have, then get as far away from there as you can. The farther away from people you are, the safer you will be. Over.”
There was a long silence, and Willie keyed the mic to speak again. “Yellowbird, do you read me? Over.”
Still no reply.
“What happened?” Julie asked. “Why doesn’t she answer?”
“I don’t know.” Willie keyed the mic again. “Yellowbird, if you can read me, pack as much food, water, blankets, matches, and other such items as you have, then get as far away from there as you can. Over.”
“Good advice, dipshit,” a man’s gruff voice replied. “But the little lady and her family won’t be needing it now. Over,” he added with a malevolent laugh.
Willie did not respond. Instead he pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. “Damn,” he said quietly.
“See if you can find a broadcast somewhere,” Jake suggested. “I mean a real news broadcast.”
“Yeah,” Willie said. “There’s nothing we can do for Yellowbird.”
Willie continued turning the dial, picking up whistles, static, sidetones, and carrier waves.
El gobierno Mexicano ha cerrado la frontera para impedir a Estadounidenses de inundar nuestro pais.
“What is he saying?” Jake asked Marcus.
Marcus chuckled. “How is this for irony? He is saying that the Mexican government has closed its borders to keep Americans from flooding into their country.”
“See if you can find something in English,” Clay said.
Willie turned the dial again, finally picking up an English broadcast.
. . . broadcasting over this shortwave frequency in the hope that there are some people out there with shortwave radios who can hear us.
“Hey, that’s George Gregoire,” Jake said. “I recognized his voice.”
“Damn, I used to watch him,” Clay said. “I thought they drug him off and killed him.”
“Evidently not. Let’s see what he has to say,” Jake said.
Everyone drew close to the radio.
Hello, America.
I can’t tell you where I am. As I’m sure you know, I am now a wanted man. I never broadcast from the same place twice for fear of the SPS homing in on my radio signal. And to be honest with you, I don’t even know if there is an SPS anymore.
I have a small group of dedicated people with me and they have been tuning in to shortwave broadcasts from around the world. We do that so we can keep you up to date on what is going on.
It has always been my belief that the peril we know is much less dangerous than the peril we don’t know. And, as of now, this is what we know.
There were three nuclear bombs detonated on our soil. One in New York, one in Boston, and one in Virginia. These were not small bombs, certainly not the “suitcase” bombs that were, for so long, the stuff of novels and action movies. The bombs were huge, and the devastation is great. It is believed that the bombs were smuggled into the country inside large cargo containers on board container ships.
There has been no word from any official of the New World Collective government, that is assuming that there is a government. We don’t know if the supreme leader of the New World . . .”
Gregoire paused in mid-broadcast for a moment; then, with a sigh, he continued.
To hell with that New World Collective nonsense, he said. I intend to refer to our country, or what is left of it, as the United States. And I think I am perfectly safe in doing so, since if we do have any government left, they are totally impotent now. We have tried to make contact by shortwave with anyone in Washington, D.C., who could give us some information on the status of Ohmshidi—indeed, the status of our country. They say that there is a silver lining to every cloud. It is hard to find one to this cloud, but if there is, it is that the government, and if I may be so bold, Ohmshidi, are no longer functioning.
As some of you may have heard on our initial broadcast, the United States was not the only nation to suffer these brutal nuclear attacks. Much of Europe seems to be in chaos right now, though they are not as bad as we are. We still don’t know anything about Israel, other than the fact that they were hit by at least three, and maybe more, nuclear missiles.
America, is there any question as to how and why all this has happened? For nearly a century now, going back to the First World War, America has been the bulwark of freedom and democracy. We defended Europe in the First World War, we freed Europe in the Second World War, and we stood at their side during the long, frightening days of the Cold War.
But the first thing Ohmshidi did when he took office was pull all American soldiers back from their overseas assignments. Then he systematically disarmed us, while at the same time destroying our nation from within. Without a strong America, there is nothing left to stand between the world and the evil that would engulf the world.
I cannot but hope that there are groups of you hearing my voice now, groups of you who have taken the necessary steps to survive. And, once survival is assured, it is my hope that we will come together again, reclaim our nation, and once more be a united country under the Stars and Stripes.
And now, a word about who we are, and why and how we are broadcasting. As I am sure everyone within the sound of my voice is aware, there are no longer any television networks, or even television stations that are broadcasting. Those of us who are continuing with the shortwave ’casts are no longer employed, nor are we being compensated. But we do this because we are newsmen and women, first, last, and always. We do it because we must. And if providing news to a shattered people who are desperate for information serves a mission greater than ourselves, then we are compensated enough.
I am signing off now, but will broadcast again sometime tomorrow. I’m sorry I can’t be more specific as to the time, but for now, I must err on the side of caution.
This is George Gregoire saying, good night, America, and God bless us all.
